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Buhari: We Committed N2.3tn to Save Nigeria from COVID-19 Economic Disaster Says FG, World Bank in talks over $30m for vaccine plants Seriki Adinoyi in Jos President Muhamadu Buhari has revealed that the federal government put forward a stimulus plan of N2.3 trillion to avert an economic disaster

that could last for years as a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The president further disclosed that the economic agenda put in place by his government to stop

the country's economic downturn in the aftermath of the pandemic was still on course, noting that the damage done to the economy by the pandemic and the global lockdown was enormous.

Speaking in Jos, the Plateau State capital yesterday during the graduation ceremony for Senior Executive Course (SEC) 43 participants of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies

(NIPSS), the president, who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said that Nigeria was in talks with the World Bank to raise $30 million to establish bio vaccine plants in the country

to facilitate local production of the COVID-19 vaccine.

He lamented the scale of the damage done to the Nigerian economy, noting that the Continued on page 12

PenCom: Leadway Didn’t Breach Investment Rules by Investing in First Bank... Page 5 Sunday 21 November, 2021 Vol 26. No 9722

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After Abduction of 83 Villagers, Niger Bans Sale of Motorcycles Katsina recruits 500 more vigilance operatives to tackle banditry Laleye Dipo in Minna To curb incessant banditry and kidnapping in Niger

State, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has banned the sale of motorcycles in the state.

This is coming as bandits

have invaded Zagzaga community in the Munya Local Government Area of Niger State, the third within

one week, and abducted 10 more villagers, bringing the total number of persons with the bandits to 83.

They have also demanded The Katsina State for N150million ransom by Government has however, the bandits before those in Continued on page 5 captivity would be set free.

In Double Standard, US Threatens Nigeria with Arms Embargo, While Silent on Israel Trains 100 NAF personnel as force reviews safety standards CAN faults removal of Nigeria from religious violations list Gboyega Akinsanmi in Lagos, Kingsley Nwezeh and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja In what seems to be a clear case of double standard, the United States has threatened that Nigeria risks arms embargo for alleged violations of the laws on armed conflicts in the fight against banditry, terrorism, and other forms of violence in different parts of the federation.

Speaking in an interview with CNN International released yesterday by the US Department of State, the US Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, threatened that his country would apply the Leahy Laws against Nigeria if the allegations of rights violations were found to be credible.

The threat came just as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) faulted the removal of Nigeria from the US 2021 list of religious violators, insisting that Christians are still being persecuted by terrorist groups and other Islamic associations in the country.

According to reports, the United States was said to have vetoed over 50 United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions critical of Israel since 1972.

During the last escalation of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, the US had reportedly stuck to that playbook, blocking a joint statement calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Continued on page 66

Davido Donates N250m to Orphanages, Sets up 5-man Committee for Disbursement...Page 12

TINUBU CONSULTS… National Leader, All Progressives Congress, Senator Bola Tinubu (left), with Senate Chief Whip, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, during Tinubu's visit to Kalu's residence in Abuja…yesterday

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DIPLOMATIC VISIT… Ambassador of the Royal Kingdom of Norway, Mr. Knut Eiliv Lein (left), and Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, when the envoy paid courtesy visit on the governor at the Lagos House, Marina…weekend

PenCom: Leadway Didn’t Breach Investment Rules by Investing in First Bank Festus Akanbi The National Pension Commission (PenCom) yesterday said that Leadway Pensure Limited was not in breach of the investment regulation by investing pension funds in the equities of FBN Holding Plc. The commission had in an earlier statement on Friday clarified that the equity investments in FBN Holdings made by Leadway Pensure Limited on behalf of the pension funds under its management “are in the name of the pension fund and belong to the RSA” and “cannot be appropriated or classified as shareholdings of any related party to the PFA”.

However, spokesperson for the commission, Mr. Peter Aghahowa, in a statement yesterday, said the clarification was necessary following several publications alleging breach of its regulation on investment of pension fund assets by Leadway Pensure in FBN Holdings equities.

“The commission categorically states that the allegations are not correct and must have been made based on the lack of understanding of the investment regulation issued by the commission.

“For the avoidance of doubt; the equity investments in FBN Holdings made by Leadway Pensure Ltd., on behalf of the pension funds under its management are in the name of the pension fund and belong to the Retirement Savings Account

(RSA) holders.

“Therefore, the equity investments in FBN Holdings Plc., as stated cannot be appropriated or classified as shareholdings of any related party to the Pension Fund Administrators (PFA’s).

“Leadway Pensure Limited is not in breach of the Investment Regulation by investing pension funds in the equities of FBN Holding Plc. “Records which can be confirmed from the

Securities and Exchange Commission shows that the equity investments in FBN Holdings Plc are in the name of the pension fund on behalf of the RSA holders,” it said.

According to PenCom, pension fund assets are managed by licensed PFAs and held in custody by Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) on behalf of RSA holders and other beneficiaries of the Contributory Pension

Scheme (CPS), in line with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act 2014 (PRA 2014).

“In view of the foregoing, PenCom reiterates that there was no breach of its Investment Regulation whatsoever and urged the general public to be guided accordingly,” it said.

The commission, however, restated its commitment to fulfilling its regulatory and supervisory functions as well as ensuring the safety

of pension assets and the soundness of the pension industry.

The clarifications by PenCom would appear to put to rest claims that Tunde Hassan-Odukale and related entities own a 5.36 per cent stake in FBNH — which would have made him the single largest shareholder.

After Femi Otedola, the billionaire businessman, acquired a 5.07 per cent stake in FBNH, Seye

Kosoko, the company secretary, had written to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) attributing Leadway Pensure PFA’s entire 2.11 per cent stake to HassanOdukale.

Kosoko also listed 1.36 per cent of the “ZPC/Leadway Assurance Prem & Inv Coll Acct” investment in favour of Hassan-Odukale.

The latest development is bound to reconfigure the shareholding structure in the holding company.

AFTER ABDUCTION OF 83 VILLAGERS, NIGER BANS SALE OF MOTORCYCLES recruited 500 more persons as vigilance operatives to complement efforts of other security agencies in rural communities.

Secretary to the Niger State Government, Mr. Ahmed Matane, said in a statement issued in Minna yesterday that the ban on sales of motorcycle resulted from incessant security challenges in some parts of state.

He stated that the ban was also informed by the fact that bandits and kidnappers now demand motorcycles as ransom.

He explained that the ban covered the sale of “any motorcycle (Bajaj, Boxer, Qiujeng, Honda ACE, Jingchen) with engine capacity from 185 Cubic Centimetres (cc) and above’’.

Matane stated also that the measure was aimed at eradicating the activities of criminals, bandits and kidnappers who unleashed mayhem on innocent citizens.

He condemned the degree of carnage and pandemonium bandits and kidnappers caused in parts

of the state and reiterated its continued determination to rid the state of security threats.

Matane added that the government was aware of the inconveniences the measure would cause the people, but the decision was taken in the overall interest of the state.

He appealed to dealers in motorcycles in the state to comply with the directive.

He urged the citizens to cooperate with security agencies on the security measures being put in place to put an end to activities of criminal elements.

The secretary to the state government also stated that government had ordered security agencies in the state to ensure effective and strict compliance and enforcement of the directive.

Matane reaffirmed that commercial motorcycling and operation of illegal garages remained banned in Minna and its environs.

Meanwhile, bandits have invaded Zagzaga community in the Munya

Local Government Area of Niger State, the third within one week, and abducted 10 more villagers, bringing the total number of persons with the bandits to 83.

They have also demanded for N150million ransom by the bandits before those in captivity will be set free.

An eyewitness told THISDAY yesterday that the bandits returned to the community in the early morning hours, riding 10 motorcycles.

"They parked their motorcycles about 500 metres to our village and came on foot, and began to select those they wanted to take away "They were asking for names of some particular set of people which gave us the impression that they were working with informants," the eyewitness further said.

It was learnt that before the Saturday morning invasion the bandits had phoned to demand for the N150million ransom.

THISDAY gathered that people are now leaving

Zagzaga in droves as a result of the activities of the bandits who have set up a camp at Sohon Kabula with not less than 30 motorcycles at their disposal.

Meanwhile, the Katsina State Government has recruited 500 more persons as vigilance operatives to complement efforts of other security agencies in rural communities.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mustapha Inuwa, said this was part of efforts to check banditry.

He spoke while receving the interim report on the recruitment of vigilance groups, led by the Special Adviser on Security, Alhaji Ibrahim Katsina.

He said the measures were part of sustained efforts by the administration to restore peace and security.

‘Each state in the Northwest that is currently facing security challenges has been given the mandate to recruit credible vigilance members to boost their security architecture,’’ Inuwa said.

Also speaking, a member of the Security Committee representing Katsina Emirate Council, Kauran Katsina and district head of Rimi, Alhaji Nuhu Abdulkadir, said the Committee had lived up to its mandates and had searched diligently for trustworthy and reliable people in the communities, who had the needed qualities to be trained and work alongside security personnel for the restoration of peace in Katsina.

A member of the Security Committee representing Daura Emirate Council, and also a retired Deputy Commissioner of Police, Lawal Al-Hassan said the Committee selected 13 vigilantes from each local government area of the state, who were of proven courage and integrity, with the right disposition to get the job done.

With the previous 500 persons that were recruited, the total number of vigilantes in the state is now 1,000.

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NEWS

I COME IN PEACE… Aiteo Global Group Director, Asset Protection, Security Services and Community Matters, Chief Andrew Oru (left); and Amanyanabo of Opu-Nembe Kingdom, HRM King Biobelemoye Josiah-Ogbodo VIII, during a courtesy visit to the community and distribution of relief materials following a well head leak in the Kingdom in Nembe, Bayelsa State…recently

Davido Donates N250m to Orphanages, Sets up Five-man Committee for Disbursement Vanessa Obioha Award-winning singer, David Adeleke, better known as ‘Davido,’ yesterday set up a five-man committee to supervise the disbursement of his N250million donation to orphanages across Nigeria.

According to the singer, the

N250 million came from his N100million challenge, which raked in N200million in three days.

Announcing his Instagram page, Davido explained that he received a total of N200million for the challenge, and also made a personal donation of an N50million, bringing the

total amount to N250million, to be distributed to orphanage homes across the country On Wednesday, David had asked his friends and fans to donate N1million each to him for his birthday.

Though he added that the goal was to get N100million, the singer received over

N53million in cash transfers in less than one hour.

Some of his donors included Nigerian businessmen, Obi Cubana and Femi Otedola.

The singer, however, did not disclose the amount sent to him from the likes of Otedola, Obi Cubana, E-Money, Patoranking, and some others.

Gbajabiamila: Direct Primaries Can Foster Youth Participation in Governance Udora Orizu in Abuja The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, yesterday said direct primaries for political parties would enhance the participation of youths in politics and governance.

Gbajabiamila, who spoke at the National Children's Dialogue to mark the 2021 Universal Children's Day in Abuja, said that deliberate efforts must be made to prepare the children and youth of Nigeria to become the leaders of tomorrow.

According to him, though

the National Assembly had passed the ‘Not Too Young to Run Bill,’ it still did not create an enabling environment for the young ones.

He explained that this was the reason he championed an amendment to the Electoral Bill, 2021 for the use of Direct Primaries by political parties as a method of choosing candidates for elective offices.

He said that with direct primaries, a youth with leadership qualities had equal chances of becoming a candidate for an elective office just like any other person.

He noted that this was one of the surest ways of securing the future of Nigeria, by giving people with multiple ideas the opportunity to be at the very top of governance.

He said: "That debate on direct primaries, which I championed, is about the future of our country. Our position in the 9th House of Representatives is that everyone must have equal opportunities to participate in governance and the democratic process. Our young people must have a seat at the high table and we must create the

enabling environment for them to be in leadership such that a young man with bold ideas can come out to vie for any position, be it legislator, governor or any other office. That can only be achieved through direct primaries, which will give a fair chance to the youth of this country to be involved in governance.

"Technology has changed our world. We no longer exist in communal or national silos but as part of a broad fabric of humanity in a global village where opportunities and challenges abound."

Celebrities that gifted Davido N1million include Zlatan Ibile, Adekunle Gold, Mr. Eazi, Nengi, Chike, Teni, Charles of Play, Cubana Chief Priest, Naira Marley, M.I, Phyno, Eniola Badmus, Nasboi, Sydney Talker, and Peruzzi.

Following the successful contribution, the singer has decided to give back to society.

Davido also set up a fiveman committee to oversee the disbursement of the funds, as he promised that their activities would be made public.

The singer also revealed that he intends to do fundraising every year to celebrate his birthday and give back the donation to the poor.

David, who shared a copy of the statement via his Instagram account, wrote: “I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my friends, colleagues, fans, and the public for the generous expressions of love in recent days. In my usual playful manner, I requested a few days ago that my friends and colleagues send money in celebration of my birthday.”

“The response and outcome exceeded my expectations, as I received about NGN 200,000,000.00 in less than two days. I truly appreciate

BUHARI: WE COMMITTED N2.3TN TO SAVE NIGERIA FROM COVID-19 ECONOMIC DISASTER country’s GDP contracted to 6.10 per cent during the second quarter of 2020, even as oil price at one point went down to as low as about $10 per barrel before it finally settled at about $45 per barrel during the second quarter of 2020.

"Unemployment went up to 33.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020. The transportation sector declined by 49 per cent, the hospitality sector fell 40 per cent, the education sector fell 24 per cent, real estate declined by 22 per cent, trade declined by 17 per cent and construction declined by 40 per cent.

"Nigeria was in a terrible economic situation and response, the President took two swift steps; One was to set up a small inter-ministerial Committee headed by the Minister of Finance, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, to quickly work out the implications and

the immediate mitigation for the economic shocks we were headed for,” Buhari explained.

Osinbajo, who spoke specifically on what President Buhari did to avert economic disaster stated that the “second thing the president did swiftly was to direct a team of ministers and inter-agency heads to draw up a 12-month economic emergency plan, which became known as the Economic Sustainability Plan.

"We were clear that the only way of avoiding an economic disaster that could last for years was for the government to essentially put forward a major fiscal stimulus plan.

Such a plan must have clear objectives of saving jobs and creating new ones, supporting businesses that may close down, and employees that may not be paid during lockdowns, and, of course, healthcare support to reduce

the COVID-19 caseload. So we promptly put forward a stimulus plan in the order of N2.3 trillion," he explained.

According to him, "We took quick fiscal measures including Grant of additional moratorium of one year on CBN intervention facilities; reduction in the interest rate on intervention facilities from nine to five per cent; grant of regulatory forbearance to banks to give borrowers some breathing space, including through restructuring of outstanding debts.

“The CBN also reports the disbursement of N798billion to 3.9million smallholder farmers under the Anchor Borrowers Programme, N134.6 billion to 38,140 beneficiaries under AGSMEIS and N343billion to 726,158 beneficiaries, the release of N1trillion to 269 real sector projects, and N103billion disbursed to 110 healthcare

projects," he added.

The president said that the main fiscal policy challenge facing Nigeria was inadequate revenues especially in the face of lower oil revenues.

He said it was essential to improve tax administration, vigorous collection of all revenues due to the federal government from its Ministries, Departments, and Agencies; bring all high earning agencies into the federal budget.

Concurrently, we must lower customs duties and tariffs on raw materials and intermediate goods used in manufacturing while giving reciprocal, non-tariff-based support like procurement, subsidies, and tax breaks to priority sectors.

He charged the new graduands to team up with his administration to build a better future for Nigerians.

Earlier, the Director-General

of NIPSS, Brigadier General Chukwuemeka Udaya (rtd), said that 85 Senior Executive Course participants passed out during the graduation ceremony.

He said that the participants toured 14 states within Nigeria and also visited six African countries and five countries outside the continent in the course of the Senior Executive Course which began in February 2021.

He added that the participants had been well equipped through rigorous and intense research and training processes to contribute to the Nigerians government's strategic plans and actions towards getting things done in their different roles and capacities.

Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State and the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammdu Sa'ad Abubakar, were among other dignitaries that attended the graduation ceremony.

everyone who donated hardearned funds and I am very thankful for your generosity. “ “I have always been passionate about giving back and helping people. Given this, I am delighted to announce that all the funds received, totaling NGN 200,000,000.00, will be donated to orphanages across Nigeria as well as the Paroche Foundation.

“In addition, I will be making a personal donation of NGN 50,000,000.00, bringing the total amount to NGN 250,000,000.00.”

“To oversee the distribution of funds to beneficiaries, I have established a five-person Disbursement Committee.

Members of the committee include: Mrs. Titi Adebayo, chairman of the committee; Professor Jonathan Nwosu, secretary to the committee; Professor Yahana Joel Asabe of the Northern Nigeria Seventh Day Adventist Union Conference; Pastor Oyalabu of Spring Time Development Foundation (SDF); and Professor Uloma Onuoha “The committee will compile a list of orphanages across Nigeria. They will determine the number of children and their needs at each orphanage and then divide the funds accordingly.

The committee will also determine the portion of the money that will be donated to the Paroche foundation.

To maintain transparency, the committee will make public the names of the beneficiary orphanages and how much each will receive.

“A list of all beneficiaries and their verified account details will be submitted to Wema Bank, who will then be instructed to credit each beneficiary’s account.

“My goal is to do this fundraising every year to celebrate my birthday and give back to people in need.

I hope that my friends, fans, colleagues in the industry, and the public will continue to support me as I drive this cause. “ “Once again, I express my sincere gratitude to my friends, colleagues, fans, and everyone that made this possible. God bless you all. We rise by lifting others.”

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 21, 2021

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EDITORIAL

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

CONFRONTING THE SECURITY CHALLENGE Security agencies could do more to contain the worrying situation

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ll over, the country now seems like a strange place to live in. Never in the history of Nigeria have we seen these many sundry cartels of criminals waging a sophisticated war on the people.

In North-East, the general security situation remains largely volatile.

Since taking out Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, insurgents from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have engaged the military in serious confrontations. Recently, they ambushed and killed the commander of the 28 Task Force in Chibok, Brigadier General Dzarma Zirkusu in Bulguma, Askira Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.

In the Northwest, banditry has been raised to an art. The deteriorating security situation in the states of Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina has led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people. On Monday, bandits invaded Goronyo and Illela communities in Sokoto State, killing 43 people, according to Governor Aminu Tambuwal. Same day, Manga, a communit y in Takum local government area of Taraba State, was attacked by suspected members of Ambazonia rebels, a Cameroonian separatist group, killing about a dozen people, including a traditional ruler. But Katsina perhaps provides a better picture of horror unleashed on innocent targets. Last Thursday, the Katsina State government said that within a period of four months this year (July to October) bandits had killed no fewer than 213 persons and kidnapped 676 others.

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum has lately been strident in their call for state police.

Their position now seems unassailable.

As things stand, the huge responsibilities for the upkeep and maintenance of the police in form of equipment, logistics and allowances may be better handled at subnational levels.

That will necessitate tinkering with the current structure

Letters to the Editor

So badly compromised and tarnished is the security situation in most of the northern states that governors have practically been reduced to undertakers. Yet, the violence that defines this season in Nigeria speaks to a national psychology that has devalued human life to the lowest level. From North to South and East, hundreds of people are being killed almost daily either by criminal cartels or lone wolves who seem to have overpowered the capacity of the state.

As we had cause to point out recently, perhaps aside the 30-month civil war, Nigeria has never been so threatened by security challenges as it is today.

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S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR DAVIDSON IRIEKPEN DEPUTY EDITORS FESTUS AKANBI, EJIOFOR ALIKE MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

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

hat these criminal gangs now target schools from where they abduct students and teachers has compounded the problem. The challenge of insecurity becomes more perplexing when parents can no longer send their children or wards to school without the fear that they could be abducted.

Repeated attacks on schools in recent years have created fear in many vulnerable students and their parents, especially in some sections of the country and is affecting the attitude to education. The pertinent questions to ask therefore are: What have the security agencies done to understand the nature of the sundry forms of criminality that now engulf the country? What are the strategies for countering them?

With a growing pattern of roving genocidal gangs, we must challenge the federal government and the authorities in many of the states concerned to do a little more than the usual blame game that has deepened our insecurity. But it is also important that we isolate recourse to negotiations with bandits as a separate outrage which has its own complexity and multiple implications. Suspending telecommunications services in some states because of bandits has also proved to be counterproductive since these criminals now resort to using walkietalkies while their victims have no means to communicate.

While asking the federal government for a special intervention fund to enable states contain the myriad of security crises that have now rendered our country unsafe, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has lately been strident in their call for state police. Their position now seems unassailable. As things stand, the huge responsibilities for the upkeep and maintenance of the police in form of equipment, logistics, allowances, and other forms of assistance may be better handled at subnational levels. That of course will necessitate tinkering with the current structure to devolve more powers and resources from the centre to the states.

It is perhaps the only solution to the current crisis of insecurity that puts Nigeria at the risk of becoming a failed state.

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.

TARABA AND THE TANTRUMS OF TERRORISM

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o, Nigeria has now become so loose and lawlessness that foreign terrorists having had their fill of blood and gore in the countries where they primarily operate now come in to slaughter innocent villagers?

It recently fell the turn of the good people of Manga in Takum local government area of Taraba State to feel the razor-edge of terror. However, in their own case, unlike countless communities in Nigeria`s north-east, north-central and northwest, the fingers of culpability are pointing not to homegrown terror but foreign terror – one so emboldened by Nigeria`s vulnerability that it has decided to join the bazaar of death and destruction.

As 11 people including a traditional ruler lay dead in

Manga, Ambazonian separatists soldiers from neighbouring Republic of Cameroon have been fingered as bearing responsibility for the lethal attacks.

Although a leader of the separatist group, Ambazonian Governing Council, has denied their involvement in the attack, blaming the Cameroonian government instead, it beggars belief that while citizens of the so-called giant of Africa lie dead, blame is being passed between a separatist group and the government in a country suffocating under an aging dictator.

It was always going to come to this. It was always going to happen that killer vultures would also come to wreak havoc on Nigerians from outside Nigeria.

As Boko Haram terrorists and killer bandits have slaughtered their way to local and interna-

tional prominence, there was always the terrifying chance that a weakened security architecture would encourage other criminals within and outside the country to participate in the killing orgy.

As has always been the case, it is the rural communities that are most vulnerable. In Nigeria, living in rural areas is very hard work: road networks are either poor or non-existent; power supply is either epileptic or outrightly unavailable; healthcare is shockingly poor, and a lack of quality education is a signage of extreme privation. These feature prominently in Nigeria`s rural communities and rural citizens.

Rural communities, in spite of their striking poverty used to be places of warmth and welcome where one could escape from the cut-throat bustle of cities.

But not anymore. Rampant

insecurity and rampaging killers have ensured that the tremendous tranquility that used to be a feature of rural areas has been replaced by ceaseless gunfire.

Nigeria`s insecurity nightmare has especially struck Nigeria`s soft underbelly – the rural areas. Majority of IDPs used to live in the rural areas. Many of those who have lost everything to terrorism used to live in rural areas.

Boko Haram and bandits occupy some of these rural areas where the menace they pose is clearly palpable.

Something must be done urgently.

A country with terrorists anywhere is a country with terrorists everywhere. It is no secret that today, many of Nigeria`s public officers are stuck in and around the Federal Capital Territory. They simply cannot visit their respective villages for fear of bandits and Boko Haram terrorists.

As insecurity has garnered temerity

in Nigeria, gaining territory in the process, there has been a lot of public frustration about whether those tasked with securing lives and property are not breaking enough sweat to secure Nigerian tax payers.

While the security personnel on the battle fronts fight valiantly at great personal cost, it is doubtful that the government is getting its security priorities right. It appears that those tasked with the responsibility of beating back terror are round pegs in square holes.

It is not just Manga that must be kept free of the invaders. Every rural area in Nigeria must be kept beyond the reach of killers foreign and homegrown alike. For the sake of rural children, killers must never be allowed to operate anywhere.

Kene Obiezu, Keneobiezu@ gmail.com

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 21, 2021

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LETTERS

THE NORTH AND 2023 ELECTION

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n Nigeria’s politics, the north holds the trump card – an inconvenient reality.

By the inexorable contrivance of the divine, the northern region is a chief decider of the nation’s leadership. Since the country’s independence in 1960, the north has had the political Midas touch.

Although some Nigerians are of the opinion that the British contrived the political advantage the north enjoys, the region has over the years shown more purpose, singularity and direction on matters of Nigeria’s leadership. The north has never wavered or quivered about its interest in Nigeria.

Ignore the north at your own peril. We can ruminate over and skirt around issues on the repository of political power; make arguments of how the south is Nigeria’s economic bulwark, but the truth is the north holds the ace in the emanation of power. It has been so since the 1950s/60s when Ahmadu Bello’s Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) went into an entente with Nnamdi Azikiwe’s National Council

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of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) – an accord which resulted in the emergence of Tafawa Balewa as prime minister, and Azikiwe as ceremonial president.

The 1979 Shehu Shagari and Alex Ekwueme novelty as well as even the presumed victory of MKO Abiola and Olusegun Obasanjo’s odyssey from prison to Aso Villa -- all had the imprimatur of the north. I believe the divine configured Nigeria so. While the south wields the economic reins, the north holds the political lever. To me, this is fair as it ensures a balance of power. We have to appreciate our unique strengths and harness them for the progress of Nigeria.

The north is the kingmaker region; hence any clamour for power shift to the south that obviates and threatens the north is injudicious.

Governors of the south have at different times demanded a southern transposition in the geography of power in 2023. The demands of the southern region governors unnerved the power proprietors in the north who felt threatened and isolated on an issue that concerns all Nigerians.

Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, responded to the threats by the south with a commination. He said the north would not accept a second-class position and that it could choose to hold on to power for as long as it wanted.

As I said in ‘These reckless comments on 2023 presidency’, when leaders in the south make indecorous statements about power shifting to the region in 2023, naturally it provokes a reaction from the other side. I think matters of this complexion require tact and diplomacy – not threats

or counter threats. Even if most people agree that power should orbit to the south in 2023, there is still a need for popular consensus. We all have to work together.

Leaders only deepen the sectional fears and widen the chasm by making uncontrolled comments.

Where the next president should come from is a collective decision, no region or group should be isolated or made to feel threatened over this.

Personally, I do not think the northern custodians of authority want to retain power in the region beyond 2023.

The north is mature in its politics and knows when

WHY APGA SHOULD BE GRATEFUL TO PETER OBI

ecently, the national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Oye was quoted in the media as saying that former Governor Peter Obi would never make any progress again in politics unless he returned to APGA. If the reports were anything to go by, he was apparently mocking Mr. Obi following the outcome of the recently concluded Anambra governorship election in which his party’s candidate, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, was declared as the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Chief Oye has the liberty to celebrate the victory of his party at the polls, but does Peter Obi deserve mockery and invectives from APGA members?

Perhaps a rehash of history will answer this poser. APGA was registered as a political party sometimes in 2001. The founding national chairman was Chief Chekwas Okorie.

The immediate past chairman of the party, Senator Victor Umeh, was one of the national officers of the party.

Late Ikemba Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was the chairman of the board of trustees of the party. Prior to 2001, this I had never heard the name Peter Obi. Most Nigerians never knew before that time, that he existed even though he was doing exploits in the business world. It was late in 2001 that a certain Peter Obi came up with this poser; “Is Anambra State cursed or are we the cause”?

Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju was the governor of the state at the time. That was a time all government and missionary schools were closed down for over a year. Pensioners and civil servants were owed arrears of pensions and salaries for years. Political killings were a daily menu in the state apparently orchestrated by Mbadinuju’s political opponents to cripple his government. Anambra State was always in the news at the time for wrong reasons.

Political godfathers held the state hostage. That was why Peter Obi came out from the private sector to liberate the state. That was how Peter Obi became the issue in Anambra politics.

When Peter Obi eventually contested the 2003 governorship election on the platform of APGA, his mandate was stolen. Peter Obi was not the only candidate who contested the governorship election on the platform of APGA across Nigeria. In Imo State, late Engineer Ezekiel Izuogu, contested on the same platform. In Enugu State, Chief Ugochukwu Agballah, the current chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, was the candidate of the party. There were strong candidates in Abia and Ebonyi States. However, of all those candidates who apparently won the election in their various states, Peter Obi, was the only candidate who pursed the retrieval of his stolen mandate to a logical conclusion.

The erroneous belief at the time was that no defeated candidate would ever retrieve his mandate from an

incumbent governor in Nigeria’s history. It was obvious to every Dick and Harry that late Engineer Izuogu won the 2003 Imo State governorship election. He defeated the then incumbent Governor Achike Udenwa who performed abysmally poor in his first term. Sadly, Izuogu couldn’t pursue the retrieval of his mandate. He gave up with the belief that it was impossible to retrieve it from a sitting governor.

Even the then national chairman of APGA, Chief Chekwas Okorie, abandoned Peter Obi at the tribunal and was hobnobbing and paying courtesy visits to then Governor Chris Ngige who stole his party’s mandate. If Peter Obi had given up just like others, APGA wouldn’t have ruled the state for eight years under his leadership.

His successor Chief Willie Obiano, wouldn’t have become a governor, he would have remained anonymous as he was prior to 2014 when he was elected the governor of the state.

The governor-elect, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, wouldn’t have been elected a governor on the platform of APGA. Chief Victor Umeh may not have become a senator. Even the man mocking Peter Obi, Chief Victor Oye, wouldn’t have tasted the seat of the national chairman of the party. If Peter Obi didn’t contest for the interpretation of his tenure at the Supreme Court, PDP would have taken over the state since 2007.

The history of Nigeria

democracy cannot be written without a page or two dedicated to Peter Obi for his landmark judicial exploits. APGA would have since become a defunct political party just like many others since 2003, if Peter Obi didn’t show resilience, gravitas and grit in politics. Peter Obi was deliberately chased out of APGA by the current government in Anambra State.

He never wanted to leave the party, but some people were uncomfortable with his presence in the party. In any case, what more would Peter Obi have achieved in politics if he had remained in APGA? The party, is a one-state party which cannot make anybody a President of Nigeria. When APGA pushed Peter Obi out, PDP embraced him. He has also made a substantial progress in PDP. He became the vice-presidential candidate of the party just few years after he joined the party. That was not a mean feat. Peter Obi is now a national figure and it is only a national party that can take him higher in politics, not a one-state party like APGA. Even if an angel is made the presidential candidate of APGA, that angel cannot win the presidential election judging by the present configuration of Nigerian politics. Peter Obi is in a better place politically speaking as a member of PDP, and the earlier APGA joins him in the party, the better for Chief Victor Oye and his APGA Members.

APGA should be eternally grateful to Peter Obi. ––Ifeanyi Maduako, Owerri

to let go. Prominent Nigerians from the north like Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna State, and Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno, have publicly said power should orbit to the south in 2023 for the sake of justice. Other eminent Nigerians from the north have also called for power shift to the south.

So, the speculations and conjectures of the north angling to keep power in the region after the tenure of President Buhari are vacant of materiality. History has shown that if the north wants power it does not dilly-dally about it or engage in a hide-andseek sport, it goes all out for it -- brazenly.

However, in the case of the 2023 presidential election, the north clearly has no interest in housing power but perhaps only in ensuring that any emergent leadership does not become a threat to the region.

The south – southeast, south-west and south-south – whichever zone within the region that seeks power at the centre in 2023 will only be chasing a will-o-the-wisp if it discounts the principal ingredient of forging an alliance with the north as well as other groups and building confidence.

The south cannot go at it alone. The north remains a dominant character among the dramatis personae of power.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide says it is speaking with northern groups on 2023 Igbo presidency. According to the group, “there are ongoing talks with the northern elders and the Arewa chieftains, especially the youths. We believe that the discussions through sincere engagements will change the northern fears over 2023 Igbo presidency. One of the practical steps to be taken seriously is the engagement of the other sections of the country especially the north. We are building up a new alliance with the north, but definitely, we will achieve this lofty position through building consensus and confidence’’.

I believe this is a sensible approach – rather than stay in an ethnic igloo and retch threats.

Building confidence and consensus is necessary on matters of power geopositioning. Other groups in the south should broker talks and forge pacts with other regions.

Power shift to the south in 2023 is a decision the south only cannot make.

- Fredrick Nwabufo is a journalist and writer

THE GREAT RETIREMENT?

I

s the great retirement really fake news?

Are people just tired and looking for a better option or have they really given up completely? There seems to be three main areas which are reporting that many of their workers have left, and it is worth examining each of them, Nurses, Teachers and Hospitality workers.

The COVID pandemic has had a great impact on our medical workers, but nurses are in short supply. The main problem, partially a result of staff shortages, is the amount of extra work they have to do including extra shifts, handling difficult relatives who want to visit the patient but aren't allowed to, difficult patients and relatives who want unapproved treatments that they have seen on social media and even just being masked up for their whole shift. Overseas nurses are rarely available as many states and countries have closed their borders. We need nurses and they need a positive working environment.

Many parents are now more aware of what teachers do as they have had to home school their own children and may have found this surprisingly difficult.

The teachers have provided materials, run numerous video conference classes while also teaching some students on site. They have also had to work with disenchanted students who are missing the classroom community and have difficulty giving individual feedback to students and even seeing what the students are writing. They are also available for email questions and are still often required to attend school meetings.

Teachers need to be respected for doing a wonderful job from '9 to 5' and shouldn't need to be missing out on their own family time in the evenings.

The hospitality workers are leaving their worksites because in many cases they have closed or reduced their hours to the extent where it is no longer financially viable. When the restrictions go everyone will want to go to their favourite restaurant but might not be happy to see it understaffed.

They need to have secure employment at a better rate of pay than seems to be the current rate.

People need to be respected, supported and paid well or they will actually resign.

Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia

14

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 21, 2021

OPINION

WHY NIGERIA’S RULING CLASS MUST BE REPLACED The ruling class can no longer be trusted to keep the various parts of the country together as one, contends Ike Okonta

N

igeria began life in 1900 as a British commercial enterprise. In other words, the inhabitants of present-day Nigeria did not will the country into existence. The primary impetus came from British merchants who began to operate on the coasts of Lagos and the Niger Delta following the abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade in the middle of the 19th century. These merchants were at first content to use indigenous Nigerians as middlemen, sending them into the interior to purchase such commodities as palm oil and rubber and then shipping them to Great Britain and other European countries.

This arrangement worked well for all the parties at first.

Then the European merchants became greedy and began to penetrate into the interior to purchase the commodities from growers at a lower price, thus cutting out the indigenous coastal middlemen like Jaja, King of the powerful Opobo city state. King Jaja, angry at this turn of events, retaliated by shipping palm oil directly to buyers in Great Britain. British merchants, outraged, conspired among themselves and lured King Jaja into a British ship and exiled him. Then they replaced him with local traders willing to do their bidding, paying growers in the interior as little as possible for their commodities and keeping the bulk of the profit for themselves.

The tragic story of King Jaja of Opobo has been documented in Professor Kenneth Dike’s brilliant book, ‘Trade And Politics In The Niger Delta.’ This book is no longer available here in Nigeria. Nigerian intellectuals rarely read it, but it is the principal text in explaining the politics and economics of British colonialism in Nigeria. From 1900 until independence in October 1960 British merchants had a free run of Nigeria. For them, Nigeria was a territory they brought into being to serve Britain’s need for cheap raw materials. As long as Nigeria continued to meet this need, then they were perfectly satisfied.

The interests of indigenous Nigerians – the inhabitants of the land – were not factored into the equation. These inhabitants

were expendable. They did not matter. Whether they ate or starved; went to school or remained illiterate; became ill or were healed in a hospital – all these were secondary to the primary objective of British colonialism – Nigeria playing her role as a dependent satellite of the Western capitalist system.

When Independence came in October 1960, Nigeria’s new indigenous rulers did not question this arrangement. They did not ask themselves the urgent question: What should we do to redesign Nigeria away from the intents of British colonial rulers to a new country serving the interests of the inhabitants? The fundamental economic order – one in which farmers toiled in the rural areas to produce palm oil and cocoa and groundnuts for European industry – was left as British colonial officials established it. These rural farmers were poor, badly housed, and lacked such amenities as electricity, roads, schools, and hospitals.

Yet it was them that powered the post-independence economy.

It did not occur to Nigeria’s new rulers that these rural dwellers deserved a new lease of life; that it was only fair that now independence had come, they should enjoy a fair share of the proceeds of their labour.

Even worse, Nigeria’s new rulers did not seek to move the country away from its dependent status in the international capitalist system – from producers of cheap raw materials to producers of capital goods. They could not initiate an industrialization process that would see the establishment of factories using Nigerian raw materials to produce finished goods made in Nigeria. Attempts to establish an iron and steel industry in the

Sixty-one years of drift and aimlessness should be enough to convince ordinary Nigerians that the time has come for Nigeria’s ruling class to be replaced

early 1960s were stymied by inter-ethnic politics – with the Northern Peoples Congress, National Council of Nigerian Citizens and the Action Group bickering viciously over where the iron and steel mill should be located. As the inter-party bickering intensified, Nigerian middlemen and their British principals continued to import finished goods into the country, locking Nigeria firmly into the orbit of the dependent economic colony which British colonialists had placed her at the turn of the 20th century.

It is now 61 years since Nigeria gained independence from Britain, but the fundamental economic arrangement bequeathed by colonial rule is still firmly in place. The little shift there is that crude oil has taken the place of palm oil and cocoa and groundnuts. Even so, the crude oil is shipped unrefined to Europe and America and Nigeria’s ruling class has been unable to use this oil to power a petro-chemical industry in the country and launch Nigeria into the orbit of industrialised countries. The rural people of the Niger Delta have taken the place of the colonial era rural people. The former regularly protest that their land and rivers are being destroyed by the oil companies. When they organize themselves to do something about this unhealthy state of things, Nigeria’s ruling class dispatch armed soldiers to beat them into submission. Like Lord Lugard’s colonial soldiers, so too the soldiers of Nigeria’s present ruling class.

Sixty-one years of drift and aimlessness should be enough to convince ordinary Nigerians that the time has come for Nigeria’s ruling class to be replaced. They have been tested and found wanting.

–– Dr Okonta was until recently a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Department of Politics, University of Oxford. He lives in Abuja.

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CLIMATE AFRICA: RESILIENCE AND ADAPTATION Mark Mwandosya writes that the continent must be wise and cautious in carrying out instructions on climate change “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one most adaptable to change”.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

T

he 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP26) met in Glasgow this November 2021. The expectations are high. I must add that it depends on one’s perception of success when it comes to global negotiations on climate change. My anticipation is measured and is borne out of a long experience of participating in a number of Conferences of the Parties. I had the unenviable, yet unique task of chairing the group of 133+ countries, the Group of 77 (G77) and speaking for the G77 and China in 1997 during the negotiations, which led to the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, a multilateral instrument that was the precursor to the Paris Agreement. I worked closely with Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo (Nigeria), Bernarditas Muller (The Philippines), Rungano Karimanzira (Zimbabwe), Madeleine Diouf (Senegal), Mohamed Salem al Saban (Saudi Arabia), Zhenmin Liu (China), Tuiloma Neroni Slade (Samoa), Buruhani Salum Nyenzi (Tanzania), Eric Mugurusi (Tanzania), Verdiana Macha (Tanzania), and other delegates. My friend, colleague and fellow university alumni, Abdoulaye Bathily, was then Minister for Environment of Senegal.

Background. In 1985, scientists from across the world met in Villach, Austria under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), in order to discuss the effect of greenhouse gases on the climate. They concluded that climate change was plausible and its occurrence a serious probability. From then onwards, a number of studies and meetings have supported these conclusions. Policies for the reduction of greenhouse gases (mitigation), and strategies to minimise the impact of climate change (adaptation) were proposed. These efforts led to the establishment of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988 and the inception of World Climate Conferences.

The United Nations took the lead in the matter and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was signed by 154 states in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the ‘Earth Summit’ held in June 1992.

The main objective of the Convention is, “to achieve stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”. The objective has a timeframe, that which is “sufficient to allow eco-systems to adapt naturally to climate change to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner”. Through the Convention structure, intergovernmental

negotiations take place under its Conference of Parties arrangements. The main objective of these negotiations is to arrive at a global consensus on the setting of, and agreeing upon, the temperature increase beyond which the earth would be propelled into catastrophic circumstances, and how to adapt to the impacts of climate change that are now discernible.

I attended the first Conference of the Parties (COP1) to the Convention, which took place in Berlin in March to April 1995. Angela Merkel, the then Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany responsible for the environment, nature conservation and nuclear safety was the president of COP1.

The ongoing multilateral discussions on climate change have resulted from the decisions taken at COP1, and specifically Decision 1 of COP1 (the Berlin Mandate). COP1 reviewed the implementation by member states of their obligations under the Convention, and found them to be inadequate in the quest to stabilise the global climate system. The Conference, therefore, decided to kick-start a process to strengthen the commitments of developed countries, through the setting of quantified limitation and reduction objectives, within specified timeframes. It was mindful of the global nature of climate change, which calls for “widest possible cooperation by all countries and their participation in effective and appropriate international response, in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and their social and economic conditions”. The negotiations during the subsequent COPs have centred on the review of the commitments and obligations of member states in furtherance of the objective of the Convention, and informed by science. The foregoing provides the context for COP26 meeting in Glasgow.

The industrialised world is responsible for historic emissions concentrations. The Kyoto Protocol did set quantified limitation and reduction objectives within specified timeframes for them. However, even at that early stage, it was realised that emerging nations, such China and India, were on a trajectory to overtake developed nations in ‘current emissions’. The Paris Agreement has as its goal to limit global warming to well below two degrees, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. Greenhouse gas emissions peaking before, and neutrality by 2050, is central to the achievement of the temperature goal. Unlike the Kyoto Protocol, which targeted industrialised countries only in greenhouse gas mitigation, the Paris Agreement embraces all nations, within the remit of the Convention.

Poverty reduction is the paramount objective of Africa, and developing countries in general. Climate change has become an added burden. Greenhouse gas emissions from them are minimal. According to the Brookings Institution,

Africa contributes about 3.8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Consequences of climate change, however, are more marked and more severe in developing countries due to their inability to meet the costs of vulnerability and adaptation.

In the book I wrote in the aftermath of Kyoto, I referred to emissions by developing countries as ‘survival emissions’, those emissions that are absolutely necessary to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. The Paris Agreement adopts the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities among nations by recognizing that peaking, and greenhouse gas emissions neutrality, will take longer for developing countries to achieve.

Central in the discussions in Glasgow is the authenticity of goals set by industrialised countries to attain greenhouse gas emission peaking and neutrality. The phasing out of coal is bound to feature prominently. In respect of coal, it will be interesting to hear the positions of United States, Australia, Japan, Germany, China, India and South Africa, and other coal producers and users. Low to zero-carbon technologies (and the transition to renewable energy technologies) and other solutions, which are required in mitigating climate change, should form an important part of the negotiations. It is worthwhile to bear in mind that the development and ownership of the technologies is largely the preserve of developed countries.

Developing countries comprise of a disparate group.

They include, among others: India and China; highly populated, huge economies and high greenhouse gas emitting countries; and the continent of Africa. The classification also includes petroleum-producing countries, mainly members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and associated petroleum producers. The main concern of the latter group relates to the sustainability of their economies in the light of future drop in demand for petroleum. Small island states are highly vulnerable to sea water level rise. They are, and rightly so, the conscience of the world when it comes to forcing the pace of negotiations.

They are likely to demand, as they have done so often, that nations have to take drastic actions, urgently, in order to avert a looming catastrophe.

–– Prof. Mwandosya, former Minister of Communications and Transport; Water and Irrigation; Water; and former Minister of State, Environment; and Special Duties of the United Republic of Tanzania, and currently Chairman of Stanbic Bank Tanzania Ltd.

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16

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2021 • T H I S D AY

17

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER NOVEMBER 21, 2021

BUSINESS

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

Again, Emefiele Banks on 100 for 100 Policy to Fight FX Crisis 'etermined to shield the SrodXctiYe sectors Irom the challenJes in the IoreiJn e[chanJe marNet, the *oYernor oI the &entral %anN oI 1iJeria, *odZin (meÀele, is leadinJ the ¶ Ior 3olic\·, Zhich he sa\s Zill catal\se sXstainaEle emSlo\ment-led economic JroZth throXJh increased domestic SrodXction and SrodXctiYit\, reSorts Festus Akanbi

F

rom all indications, the relentless eͿorts oI the &entral %anN oI 1iJeria &%1 to address the sXstained shortaJe oI IoreiJn e[chanJe needed Ior EXsiness and JoYernment transactions Zill EeJin to Sa\ oͿ, in a matter oI time, E\ the time the latest Slan to IocXs on the SrodXctiYe sector oI the econom\ is carried to the letters.

7he &%1 *oYernor, *odZin (meÀele, had in an interYieZ Zith $5,6( 1(:6 &hannel on the sidelines oI the 1iJeria ,nternational 3artnershiS ForXm in 3aris, France, Eoasted that the Ior 333 initiatiYe, e[Slained as 3olic\ on 3rodXction and 3rodXctiYit\ , Zill catal\se sXstainaEle emSlo\ment-led economic JroZth throXJh increased domestic SrodXction and SrodXctiYit\ in the near term.

7he oYerall eͿect oI this initiatiYe, accordinJ to the monetar\ aXthorities, is to siJniÀcantl\ redXce aYoidaEle SressXre Irom imSorters on the F; marNet. Boosting Local Productivity :hile rollinJ oXt the neZ Ànancial instrXment, the &%1 Zas conÀdent it ZoXld sXSSort comSanies to Eoost local SrodXctiYit\, create Zealth and staYe oͿ imSortation resSonsiEle Ior 1iJeria·s IoreiJn e[chanJe crisis.

7he Ior 333 initiatiYe Zill emSoZer comSanies in da\s, and hXndreds more in the cominJ months. (meÀele said the moYe is to reYerse the coXntr\·s oYer-reliance on imSorts.

7he EanN has laXnched seYeral initiatiYes in recent \ears to sXSSort 1iJeria·s SriYate sector, as it Eattles an imSortation-IXelled IoreiJn e[chanJe crisis that has sent the naira crashinJ oYer Ser cent in the last on \ear.

FieldinJ TXestions Irom the $5,6( 79, (meÀele descriEed the Ior initiatiYe as another SroJramme that came XS oXt oI the need to sa\ that ´Ze mXst sXSSort and do eYer\thinJ to create emSlo\ment Ior oXr SeoSle.µ +e insisted that the aSe[ EanN mXst see the measXraEle leYel oI emSlo\ment that ZoXld Ee SroYided E\ that SroMect. $ccordinJ to him, the\ haYe to Ee neZ SroMects and the central EanN Zill do eYer\thinJ SossiEle to SroYide IoreiJn e[chanJe to imSort Slants and machiner\ so that E\ the time the Slant or machiner\ are set XS, the imSort content oI raZ material ZoXld Ee near ]ero and then Ze can EeJin to looN at oXr aYailaEle local raZ material, rather than imSortinJ them. ´,t is meant aJain to comSlement Zhat 0r. 3resident said, that Ze haYe to create million MoEs in \ears and that is somethinJ Ze need to ZorN toZards. 7his initiatiYe Zill helS to redXce the leYel oI XnemSlo\ment, it Zill maNe credit aYailaEle at a cheaS rate and it Zill maNe credit aYailaEle Ior a lonJ tenXre,µ he stated, addinJ hoZeYer that ´,n terms oI the SrereTXisites, at least Ser cent oI the emSlo\ees Zithin these neZ comSanies· entities ZoXld haYe to Ee 1iJerian.µ Close Monitoring 2n Zhat the central EanN is JoinJ to do to maNe sXre that these comSanies meet those reTXirements and not reneJe on the aJreement once the\ haYe Jotten the sXSSort the\ reTXire, (meÀele said, ´:e NnoZ that SeoSle ZoXld liNe to Sla\ some James EXt , can assXre \oX that the central EanN has the resoXrces to monitor. (Yen oXr cXrrent interYention SroJrammes, Zhether in aJricXltXre or in manXIactXrinJ, those Zho haYe accessed those Iacilities Zill tell \oX that at least

Emefiele

tZice a \ear, oXr SeoSle Jo to checN and inYestiJate to NnoZ Zhether those SroMects haYe Eeen set XS and are meetinJ their oEMectiYe. ´6o, , don·t Zant to sa\ that Ze Zill not haYe a IeZ misses, EXt , can assXre \oX the\ Zill Ee monitored and that is the reason Ze haYe Eeen Yer\ clear that Ze said Ze Zill adYertise, scrXtinise it, monitor it so the 1iJerians trXl\ NnoZ. ´6o, iI Ior instance, \oX tooN the mone\, and it is not Zithin the oEMectiYe, 1iJerians Zho are JoinJ to read \oXr name on the SaJes oI the neZsSaSer Zill sa\ no, this man didn·t do the riJht thinJ.µ 7he aSe[ EanN chieI e[Slained that the aEoYe are some oI the selI-censorshiS SroJrammes that had to Ee SXt in Slace EecaXse ´Ze need to Ee Yer\ trXthIXl and honest, adoSt the Eest leYel oI JoYernance in SroJrammes liNe this that is meant to create MoEs, redXce XnemSlo\ment, and indeed helS redXce the leYel oI insecXrit\ in oXr coXntr\. ´:e don·t haYe a choice Ze oZe oXr SeoSle that. *od has SXt Xs in a Sosition and it is SroYidence that cast on Xs to Iend Ior the SeoSle. 6o, Ze haYe to SXt in Slace Solicies that ZoXld imSroYe the liYes oI oXr SeoSle. $nd , dare sa\ Ze don·t haYe a choice, Ze mXst do Zhat

is e[Sected oI Xs.µ CBN Won’t Subsidise Foreign Education 7he &%1 as an institXtion doesn·t EelieYe the limited YolXme oI IoreiJn e[chanJe shoXld Ee released Ior Sa\ment oI school Iees aEroad e[ceSt it·s meant Ior tertiar\ institXtions, a Sosition that enMo\s oYerZhelminJ sXSSort oI the EXsiness commXnit\. (meÀele said, ´2n accessinJ IoreiJn e[chanJe ,I Ze looN at those Zho need to Sa\ school Iees aEroad issXe, it is Yer\ clear that the\ had to Ee tertiar\ institXtions onl\. 7he TXestion is Zhat haSSens to Sarents in 1iJeria Zho send their children aEroad Ior secondar\ school" 7he &%1 *oYernor said it is Xnrealistic to e[Sect the JoYernment to sXEsidise IoreiJn edXcation, esSeciall\ at the Srimar\ and secondar\ school leYels JiYen the Sresent sitXation. *oinJ doZn memor\ lane, (meÀele said, ´$Jain, , Jo EacN to Zhat , said aEoXt Zhat 1iJeria·s edXcation Zas Zhen , Zas Eorn. , Zas Eorn in 1iJeria. , Zent to Srimar\ school in 1iJeria. , did m\ secondar\ school and m\ XniYersit\ in 1iJeria. ,ndeed, SeoSle Zere cominJ Irom other Sarts oI the Zorld to attend XniYersities in 1iJeria. ´:hat has haSSened Ior Xs to noZ EeJin to thinN aEoXt oXr children JoinJ to secondar\ school aEroad.

´7his is not aEoXt a SoSXlarit\ contest, it is aEoXt the Iact that iI \oX can aͿord it, Jood Ior \oX. , thinN Zhat Ze shoXld Ee doinJ is to imSroYe edXcational standards and edXcational institXtions so that SeoSle can Jo to secondar\ school in 1iJeria. $nd Zhen Ze EeJin to achieYe that, then , Zill EeJin to thinN that 1iJeria is cominJ EacN to the 1iJeria oI m\ Eirth.µ Criteria for Selection /istinJ its criteria Ior the initiatiYe, the aSe[ EanN had e[Slained that the selection Ior SarticiSatinJ EXsinesses ZoXld Ee Eased on the immediate imSact the EXsiness has on economic JroZth, MoEs creation, and social imSact. ,t stated, ´7hese are SroMects that mXst catal\se sXstainaEle emSlo\ment-led economic JroZth throXJh increased domestic SrodXction and SrodXctiYit\ in the near term. ´7he SroMects Ior consideration shall Ee neZ SroMects in e[istinJ comSanies reTXirinJ neZ machiner\ and other sXSSort and mXst haYe the Jreatest Sotential to achieYe siJniÀcant scale in their in-coXntr\ SrodXction and Ior domestic consXmStion and e[Sorts,µ it stated.

7he EanN stated that it listed criteria to ensXre the oSerational IrameZorN Ior a roEXst and transSarent Srocess Ior identiI\inJ and selectinJ hiJh-imSact comSanies and SroMects Xnder its Ior 333.

7he &%1 added that the instrXment shall SroYide naira interYention IXndinJ Xnder e[istinJ &%1 interYention Srocesses and comSlete IoreiJn e[chanJe IXndinJ Ior neZ machiner\. ´7his instrXment is Ior onl\ neZ SroMects >it@ Zill not coYer an\ reÀnance oI e[istinJ Iacilities and Zill Ee sXEMect to an indeSendent eYalXation E\ international aXdit Àrms. ´$ll interYention Xnder this SroMect Zill Ee made SXElic and SXElished in national dailies. 7he &%1 Zill ZorN Zith Àscal aXthorities to Iacilitate SoZer sector, Sort, and e[Sort reIorms as Zell as ease oI doinJ EXsiness to imSroYe comSetitiYeness in 1iJeria to comSlement and SroSel this initiatiYe. ´&andidate comSanies Zith satisIactor\ SerIormance are inYited to aSSl\ throXJh their EanNs eͿectiYe, toda\ 1oYemEer , , to the &%1 'eSartment oI 'eYeloSment Finance, 2΀ce oI &%1 *oYernor,µ it added.

Dollars Shortage 7he SroElem oI shortaJe oI IoreiJn e[chanJe can Ee Eetter aSSreciated Zhen one recalls that EacN in , &hairman oI the 'anJote *roXS, $liNo 'anJote, Zas aEle to easil\ raise . En Irom a consortiXm oI 1iJerian EanNs to Iinance the constrXction oI the 'anJote 5eIiner\.

2n comSletion, the Slant Zill Ee aEle to reIine aEoXt , Earrels oI crXde oil Ser da\. 7he deal Zas Sart oI a . En deEt IinancinJ arranJement to aXJment the eTXit\ contriEXtion in the SroMect E\ the JroXS. +oZeYer, there are indications that EanNs are noZ IindinJ it diIIicXlt to IXnd clients seeNinJ to acTXire oil assets SXt on sale E\ the 5o\al 'Xtch 6hell 3lc. 7his Zas conIirmed E\ the &(2 oI *7%anN, 6eJXn $JEaMe, Zho Zas TXoted as sa\inJ that the EanNs Zere XnliNel\ to Ee aEle to raise the estimated . En needed Ior SXrchasinJ the 6hell assets. ´6Xch a deal ZoXld reTXire a s\ndication oI XS to . En and it Zill Ee Yer\ toXJh to raise sXch IXndinJ locall\ at the moment EecaXse oI diSSinJ dollar liTXidit\ in the EanNs,µ he Zas TXoted as sa\inJ.

18

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER NOVEMBER 21, 2021

ECONOMY

Cautious Optimism Trails Sustained (DVH LQ +HDGOLQH ,QÁDWLRQ Although the moderation in the October inÁation Àgures released by the National Bureau of Statistics last week has begun to instill conÀdence in the economy, some analysts insist the prohibitive cost of commodities still give cause for concern, reports Festus Akanbi

A

s the Yuletide season beckons, it is not a surprise that Nigerian households and businesses are beginning to plan for the end of the year festivities.

However, economic watchers said given the latest inÁation Àgures churned out by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), it might turn out to be a di΀cult season unless practical steps are taken to tackle the prohibitive costs of basic household items.

7he 2ctober inÁation report by NBS showed sustained ease in headline inÁation, the seventh consecutive disinÁation, to 15.99% in October (from 16.63% recorded in September) and the lowest inÁation rate in 2021.

7his was chieÁy driven by a slower increase in food inÁation. Slower inÁation rates were also registered in both urban and rural areas at 16.52% (from 17.19%) and 15.48% (from 16.08%) respectively in October; also based on moderation in food inÁation.

Against the backdrop of the harvest season coupled with sustained high-base eͿect, the food inde[ rose at a slower pace, by 18.34% in October (compared to 19.57% recorded in September) as there were weaker y-o-y increases in prices of oils fats, bread cereals, Àsh, coͿee, tea & cocoa, tubers, dairy, and egg. Similarly, the core inÁation rate eased to 13.27% (from 13.74% in September) on the back of a slower y-o-y rise in prices of clothing & footwear, housing water, electricity, gas & other utilities, as well as furnishings & household equipment maintenance.

0eanwhile, the imported food inde[ rose by 17.24% (as against 17.19% in September) as naira further depreciated against the greenback at the parallel market and the interbank window.

Two months moving average foreign e[change rate at the parallel market rose mo-m by 4.94% to N562.80/USD in October 2021. On a month-on-month basis, headline inÁation declined in October to 0.98% (from 1.15%) amid sustained moderation in prices of food items (food inÁation rate fell to 0.91% from 1.26%) even as the core inÁation rate moderated to 0.80% (from 1.24%).

Rise in Food Index According to the bureau, this rise in the food inde[ was caused by increases in prices of food products, coͿee, tea and cocoa, milk, cheese and eggs, bread and cereals, vegetables and potatoes, yam, and other tubers.

It added that on a month-on-month basis, the food sub-inde[ increased by 0.91 per cent in October 2021, down by 0.35 per cent points from 1.26 per cent recorded in September 2021.

“The average annual rate of change of the Food sub-inde[ for the 12 months ending October 2021 over the previous twelvemonth average was 20.75 per cent, 0.04 per cent points from the average the annual rate of change recorded in September 2021 (20.71) per cent,” it said.

Nigeria·s inÁation continues to run contrary to market reality. In the last year, the average price of commodities surged by over 50 per cent due to e[change rate passthrough, supply chain disruptions, money supply saturation, higher energy and logistics costs. The naira lost 18.4 per cent in the parallel market to trade at N547/$ from N462/$ in Oct’20.

In their commentary, analysts from Cowrie Assets Management Company believed that the e[pected harvest season in November may be the change agent needed to bring down foodstuͿ prices, warning however that the anticipated increases in consumer spending in December may push the inÁation rate higher.

“Recently, we have seen naira appreciate against other foreign currencies, especially the greenback hence, easing the foreign

Sale of foodstuff in a regular Nigerian market

COMMODITY PRICES Commodity Flour (50kg) Beans (50kg) Onions (50kg) Cooking gas (12.5kg) Vegetable Oil(5litres) Transport fair Sept, ave PMS litre

Oct 2020 13,000 20,000 40,000 3,800 5,800 309,73 161.17

Oct 2021 21,350 56,000 50,000 10,000 8,000 435.36 165

Change(%) 64.23 180 25 163.16 37.93 46.56 2.38

Source: FDI Economic Bulletin for the Month of October 2021

e[change volatility the country e[perienced a couple of months ago. Also, the increase in food supply on account of the ongoing harvest season would as well ease inÁation in November. However, we might see upward pressures in the annual inÁation rate in December amid retail price increases associated with consumer spending in the yuletide season.

Between the Data and Market Realities However, analysts from Financial Derivatives do not seem to agree with the latest inÁation Àgure released by the NBS, insisting that while the sustained moderation in inÁation was widely anticipated, the slope of the curve was higher than e[pected.

Whilst the slope of the curve was higher than e[pected (0.64%). The consensus forecasts ranged between 16.2%-16.4%.

According to the position contained in the latest edition of the FDC Economic Bulletin, “the divergence with the global food price inde[ at a decade-high of 133.2 points and with inÁation in advanced economies aggressively on the rise, the integrity of Nigeria’s o΀cial inÁation numbers comes to question.”

They noted that the US inÁation soared to its highest level in three decades (6.2%) in October. They also pointed that the lower inÁation Àgure is not in tandem with the

prevailing prices of commodities. “There appears to be a divergence between the o΀cial data and market reality as the price of major commodities like cooking gas, vegetable oil, Áour, pasta have surged by over 50% in the last year. The principal drivers are the usual suspects ² e[change rate passthrough, supply chain disruptions, money supply saturation, higher energy, and logistics costs. In the last year, the naira has lost 18.4% at the parallel market (N547/$).”, the report stated.

In their estimation, most of the low rates were a reÁection of base-year eͿects. “A breakdown of the report showed a broadbased moderation across the inÁation baskets. On an annual basis, food inÁation declined by 1.23% to 18.34%, core (inÁation less seasonalities) dipped 0.50% to 13.24%, urban slowed by 0.67% to 16.52% while rural dropped by 0.60% to 15.48%. This is largely due to base year eͿects. The agric sector also beneÀtted from the CBN’s intervention,” the FDC economists said.

Managing Director/Chief Executive O΀cer, SD&D Capital Management Limited, Mr. Idakolo Gabriel Gbolade said, “Although the inÁation rate in Nigeria has witnessed a steady decline for the past seven months with that of October following the same patter, this has however not

reÁected the realities on ground because of soaring food prices and the fast eroding purchasing power of the populace.”

He is of the opinion that the inÁation inde[ continues to decrease based on measures taken by government especially the CBN, saying however that the issues of insecurity and high cost of cooking gas and the impending hike in petroleum prices is a source of concern.

Nigeria’s inÁation rate for the year so far has averaged 17.28% between January and October 2021, while the 12-month average change currently stands at 16.96%.

Analysts from Nairametrics observed that as the Central Bank continues to ensure increased spending in the economy by leaving the benchmark interest rate at 11.5%, the inÁation rate continues to moderate from the signiÀcant upsurge recorded in the previous year.

They maintained that the fact remains that the average price of goods and services in the country increased by 15.99% in October 2021 compared to the corresponding period of 2020, indicating that the purchasing power of Nigerians has eroded further.

InÁation is the general rise in the price of goods and services over time. When an economy faces high inÁation, people have to spend more money to buy the same quantity of goods and services before the rise in inÁation.

Nigerians often complain that even when o΀cial statistics show that inÁation is falling, they don’t feel the impact in their everyday lives. To understand why this is so, we must understand how the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) calculates the inÁation rate.

According to an economist and former Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf “inÁation is the major accelerator of poverty in Nigeria because it reduces the purchasing power of the citizens. It also reduces the real income and when we are faced with a situation that can be described as “StagÁation” it means nominal incomes are reducing”.

Speaking further he stated that inÁation also has adverse eͿects on the mortality of businesses because as prices gallop not many businesses would be able to survive, regardless of sector.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER NOVEMBER 21, 2021

19

ENERGY customers were unmetered.

In2017,thenumbergrewasNERCreportedthat over 4 million unmetered customers were without meters, while in 2019 a NERC document showed that over 5 million Nigerians were unmetered. In 2021, the number has hit about 8 million. &ODULÀFDWLRQ DQG 0RUH &RQIXVLRQ A few days later, NERC, in a release said that its announcement had been misconstrued by the public, without really saying anything diͿerent from the initial release.

Following the backlash which followed the hike, the regulator in a public notice stated that the 4 million meters to be provided under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) would not be paid for ‘directly’ by the customers.

It said, “The NMMP designed to provide all consumers of electricity with meters is a policy intervention of the federal government supported

by CBN concessionary loans to distribution companies.

“This laudable initiative is still very much on course.Atotal of over 900,000 units of meters have so far been installed under the take-oͿ phase of the scheme without any payment by beneÀtting consumers.

“While this doesn’t cover many of the unmetered customers, we are pleased to inform electricity consumers that the next phase under which about 4 million units of meters would be procured from local meter manufacturers has commenced.

Electricity meters

As NERC Endorses Another Meter Price Hike It would appear that the only time the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission is in the news, is when the body is either increasing electricity tariͿs or raising meter prices. Beyond this incessant hike in prices, which comes with additional burden on already beleaguered Nigerians, Emmanuel Addeh writes that the industry regulator must protect the ordinary Nigerian, who most times, is at the receiving end

T

heNigerianElectricityRegulatory Commission (NERC) describes itself as an independent body, established by the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 to undertake technical and economic regulation of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

Aside setting “cost reÁective industry tariͿs”, NERC is saddled with the responsibility of licensing operators, determining operating codes and standards as well as “establishing customer rights and obligations.”

However, the belief by many Nigerians is that the “customer rights” portion of that role has always been the missing link. While NERC’s capacity to enforce the rules against industry operators remains in doubt, its activities have always been perceived to be mostly in favour of the businessmen, rather than pursuing fairness for customers.

On its website, NERC, in trying to beat its own chest vis-j-vis its “achievements” notes that it “has issued licences for electricity generation, transmission and distribution, as well as the development of industry codes and standards, market rules and a multi-year tariͿ order,” yet nowherewasthecustomer,whoordinarilyshould be the centre of its operations, mentioned.

But then again, many say it is understandable.

The higher the tariͿ collected, the higher NERC’s cut of the dough. The regulator currently collects 1.5percentofmarketrevenueasregulatorycharge vide the market operator.

Consumer Rights Routinely Ignored The NERC is empowered by the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act, 2005 to ensure an efÀciently managed electricity supply industry that meets the yearnings of Nigerians for stable, adequate and safe electricity supply.

For instance, as part of its laws, NERC says all new electricity connections must be done strictly based on metering before connection.

“That is, no new customer should be connected by a Disco without a meter Àrst being installed at the premises.”

In addition, part of the organisation’s guidelines says that all customers have a right to electricity supply in a “safe and reliable manner” and that “all customers have a right to a “properly installed and functional meter”.

Furthermore, the rules say that: “All customers have a right to be properly informed and educated on the electricity service and that all customers have a right to transparent electricity billing.”

It notes that: “It is the customer’s right to be notiÀed in writing ahead of disconnection of electricity service by the Disco serving the customer in line with NERC’s guidelines”, pointing out that “customers have a right to refund when over-billed.

In the same vein, NERC a΀rms that :“All customers have a right to Àle complaints and to the prompt investigation of complaints”, as “It is the customer’s right to contest any electricity bill.”

“Any unmetered customer who is disputing his or her estimated bill has the right not to pay the disputed bill, but pay only the last undisputed bill as the contested bill go through the dispute resolution process of NERC. Yet, many Nigerians continue to be ripped oͿ by the Discos, with electricity supply worse oͿ following reduction in number of hours, yet customers continue to pay the higher price band without being moved to a lower band.

Another Meter Price Hike On the 15th of November this year, the federal government through NERC, again increased the price Nigerians pay for the single phase and threephase meters by between 30.6 per cent and 32.3 per cent respectively.

Making the announcement in a circular signed by the commission’s Chairman, Sanusi Garba, dated November 11, 2021, NERC stated that the new prices were e[clusive of 9alue Added Ta[ (9AT).

The commission’s order which hiked the single-phase meter from the current cost of N44,896.17 to a revised price of N58,661.69 and the three-phase meter from N82,855.19 to a revised rate of N109,684.36 was addressed to managing directors of all Discos and all Meter Asset Providers (MAP).

By implication, it meant that Nigerians would pay N13,766 and N26,829 more to get the 11 Discos to provide them with the single phase and threephase meters, according to the new order.

To make matters worse, NERC added that the prices were not inclusive of the 7.5 percent 9AT which the Discos and other meter providers are expected to include at the point of sale.

When the mandatory 9AT is calculated along with the new prices, a single meter phase will now have N4,400 included to sell at N63,061.69 while a three phase meter will have additional N8,227 for 9AT to sell for N117,911.36.

Cumulatively, the addition of the N18,166 and N35,227 plus 9AT increases come ahead of the commencement of the phase 1 of the federal government’s National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) and the MAP, the current metering schemes in operation in the country.

Before last week’s increase, Nigerians had been confronted with several hikes in the prices of meters, with one of them taking place in June 2020 when the industry regulator increased the price by about 14 per cent. Again, it increased in July of the same year, when the new 7.5 per cent 9AT was introduced and on the back of falling naira value.

The pricing template indicated that in April 2020, a single phase meter sold for N39,991.50 while a three phase meter went for N67,055.85.

But in June 2020, the single phase meter rose to N44,896.17 while the three phase meter sold for N82,855.19.

Statistics show that the number of unmetered customers across Nigeria has continued to rise. In 2016, a metering status report from NERC showed that about 3 million of the registered accounts of

$QRWKHU 7DUL; ,QFUHDVH LQ WKH 2ͿQJ Yet, Nigerians may have to prepare for another increase next month, despite dwindling supply in several parts of the country, if this week’s signal by a top member of the commission is anything to go by.

Deputy General Manager, Consumer AͿairs, NERC, Shittu Shuaibu ,speaking during a live radio programme monitored in Abuja, was quoted as listing the upcoming actions as the Extraordinary Review of Transmission Company of Nigeria’s (TCN) Loss Factor (TLF) in the MYTO and the processes for the December 2021 review of MYTO 2021.

He said the December 2021 MYTO review was to consider changes in relevant macroeconomic indices, generation capacity and capital expenditure required for evacuation and distribution of the available generation capacity in compliance with extant rules.

The commission explained that pursuant to the provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, the NERC adopted the MYTO methodology in setting out the basis and procedures for reviewing electricity tariͿs in Nigeria. <RXWK &RDOLWLRQ 2SSRVHV 0HWHU 3ULFH ,QFUHDVH In a reaction to the price increase, the Coalition of South-east Youth Leaders (COSEYL) faulted the move, arguing that it will cause more hardship in the country.

President-GeneralofCOSEYL,GoodluckIbem, said while electricity consumers were already Ànding it di΀cult to pay the old electricity meter price of N44.896.17 for single phase meter and N82.855.19 for three-phase meter.

WhileadvocatingapricereductiontoN30,896.17 for single phase meter and N55,855.19 for threephase meter, he argued that “most essential goods and services are already above the reach of the common man.”

Despiteover300%IncreaseinTariͿ,NoMarked Improvement In the last four years, electricity tariͿs have increased by more than 300 per cent. Yet , Nigerians have not enjoyed commensurate quality of power supply.

Forinstance,between2015and2019,theaverage electricity tariͿ climbed from N12 kWh to about N32kWh and had since climbed by about 30 per cent in 2020 to about N49 for some bands.

But despite the increases in tariͿs, Nigeria’s powergenerationhascontinuedtohoverbetween a paltry 3,500 megawatts and 4,500MW since the sector was o΀cially privatised in November 2013. :LWK :HDN 5HJXODWRU )&&3& 6WHSV ,Q But power consumers have now turned to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) for salvation, having apparently waited in vain for the industry regulator to act.

From time to time, the consumer protection organisation has taken up Discos for ripping oͿ consumers, declaring for instance that arbitrary billing and group disconnection of electricity consumers without consideration for those paying their bills constitute a gross abuse of consumer rights.

In one of those meetings, the Director General of the Council, Babatunde Irukera, told the Discos that “there is no excuse for how consumers are treated”.

20

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • NOVEMBER 21, 2021

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

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

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

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

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

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

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 18Nov-2021, unless otherwise stated.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS

MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS

AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 167.02 168.48 3.18% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 9.03% Nigeria International Debt Fund 321.50 321.50 -20.31% Afrinvest Dollar Fund 104.60 105.65 -5.46% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.55% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.32 3.38 -3.71% ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 8.69% Anchoria Equity Fund 139.69 141.46 5.02% info@anchoriaam.com Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.14 1.14 -13.96% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 20.60 21.22 13.61% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 455.34 469.07 13.73% ARM Ethical Fund 39.76 40.96 17.95% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.08 1.09 -1.22% ARM Fixed Income Fund 0.99 0.99 -5.76% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.50% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 107.36 107.36 5.56% AVA GAM Fixed Income Naira Fund 1,054.11 1,054.11 5.41% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.31 2.31 22.69% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) N/A N/A N/A mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com ; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund 1.03 1.03 4.80% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.07% Paramount Equity Fund 17.47 17.79 9.23% Women's Investment Fund 141.63 143.26 6.42% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 8.75% Cordros Milestone Fund 133.04 133.88 13.34% Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 109.87 109.87 5.38% CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 7.62% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 8.32% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,169.35 1,192.49 1.74% assetmanagement@emergingafricafroup.com EMERGING AFRICA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web:www.emergingafricagroup.com/emerging-africa-assetmanagement-limited/, Tel: 08039492594 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Emerging Africa Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.71% Emerging Africa Bond Fund 1.03 1.03 3.08% Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund 1.12 Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund 104.10 FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price FBN Bond Fund 1,373.77 FBN Balanced Fund 174.28 FBN Halal Fund 114.41 FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 FBN Dollar Fund (Retail) FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Legacy Money Market Fund Legacy Debt Fund Legacy Equity Fund Legacy USD Bond Fund

121.82 149.68 Bid Price 1.00 3.99 1.73 1.20

1.12 11.10% 104.10 4.06% invest@fbnquest.com Offer Price 1,373.77 175.56 114.41 100.00

Yield / T-Rtn 11.43% 4.61% 9.24% 8.91%

121.82 4.07% 151.70 13.19% fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Offer Price 1.00 3.99 1.77 1.20

Yield / T-Rtn 7.00% 3.09% 13.81% 5.37%

FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coral Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Coral Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.73% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.89 2.96 1.30% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 4.50% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 155.07 155.34 -0.28% Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End 1.27 1.32 1.13% Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End 1.06 1.06 3.78% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.49 1.51 9.03% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,148.94 1,148.94 7.70% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 11.85 11.92 13.25% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 10.02% NORRENBERGER INVESTMENT AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED enquiries@norrenberger.com Web: www.norrenberger.com, Tel: +234 (0) 908 781 2026 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Norrenberger Islamic Fund (NIF) 100.99 101.00 7.47% Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) 100.00 100.00 7.98% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.59 1.61 13.12% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.06 11.08 -8.95% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 7.54% PACAM Equity Fund 1.45 1.47 -7.94% PACAM EuroBond Fund 112.50 114.68 2.56% SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 135.52 137.88 11.73% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.07 1.07 10.01% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 3,393.58 3,421.78 5.54% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 234.68 234.68 4.37% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.27 1.29 8.47% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 310.77 310.77 5.47% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 239.92 243.55 9.94% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.50% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 11,118.57 11,279.70 5.96% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.28 1.28 4.76% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 116.41 116.41 4.80% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 105.36 105.36 UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.35 1.37 5.19% United Capital Bond Fund 1.94 1.94 5.99% United Capital Equity Fund 0.93 0.95 16.14% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.85% United Capital Eurobond Fund 121.59 121.59 6.20% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.09 1.10 6.50% United capital Sukuk Fund 1.07 1.07 6.89% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Balanced Strategy Fund 13.11 13.23 10.50% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 14.57 14.73 19.40% Zenith Income Fund 24.63 24.63 2.65% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.48%

REITS

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

124.98 54.20

10.62% 7.24%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

15.41 130.64 104.98 17.71 21.79

15.51 133.89 107.28 17.81 21.89

16.56% 8.65% 5.81% -0.25% 15.47%

Fund Name SFS REIT Union Homes REIT

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

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.90 5.59 18.07 1.00 21.85 157.83

4.00 5.69 18.27 1.00 22.05 159.83

3.99% -1.56% 11.51% 6.61% 6.43% -14.99%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.28

13.11%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

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

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A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

21.11.2021

“H

AKINTAYO ADARALEGBE THE PHENOMENAL RISE OF A REAL ESTATE MAGNATE Emerging from very humble beginnings, Akintayo Adaralegbe ascended through the rungs of the ladder to emerge a successful businessman in real estate. Named as the Real Estate Personality of the year by Global Excellence Recognition Awards 2021, his breakthrough is etched on his ability to add value to infrastructural development and the environment. His company T.Pumpy Concept Limited is one of the leading property developers in the country. In a recent encounter with Vanessa Obioha, he shared his grass-to-grace story supported by the scaffold of his childhood and maternal influence.

ave you bought any land before?”

Akintayo Adaralegbe posed the question to his Public Relations agent Bolaji Salami-Ajayi who sat across from him. We were in his hotel room on a cloudy morning.

His gaze never left her face, his eyes probing like a detective’s. Shyly, Salami-Ajayi responded in the negative. Adaralegbe pushed on, asking questions why she is yet to do so.

The mock interview continued for a while before Salami-Ajayi gave up helplessly. Turning to this reporter, Adaralegbe smiled as if he was expecting me to give him a good grade for his performance.

“I really want to learn how to become a journalist,” he said, still smiling. A good ice-breaker, nonetheless. The imagery of the property developer as a journalist was hard to form at that moment.

Adaralegbe comes across as a jovial person. This good sense of humour is what makes him approachable to anyone, including his employees.

“This is me,” he began. “If you ask my staff, they will tell you this is how I am. We talk and joke a lot.

It makes the work easier for me and them too because I’m accessible to them. They can call me anytime to talk to me. Mostly, it makes me know their mind and to know what was not done. They can easily walk up to me and let me know what things are supposed to be done and how we can do it better, so it makes the work easier for me.”

Over a decade ago, Adaralegbe, a native of Ekiti had no inkling that he would be the founder of one of the prominent property companies in Nigeria. Born in Ilorin, he was raised by a father who made a living out of photography and a mother whose entrepreneurial spirit was evident in the various businesses she engaged in. Adaralegbe knew poverty as a child but refused to be stuck in it.

Till date, he has never worked for anyone. He exhibited his mother’s entrepreneurial spirit while in the university, engaging in all kinds of business. First, he worked as a thrift collector, then moved on to photography and later sold recharge cards. His business acumen came in handy when he was posted to Ebonyi State for his National Youth Service Corps. From a tender age, the real estate tycoon was guided by the principle that having a good marketing strategy is one of the keys to running a successful business.

While in Ebonyi selling recharge cards, he offered customers a good price for his products and services.

ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/victoria.olaode@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 21, 2021

51

COVER

Wealth is Not All About Cash, Cars or Houses. It is About Human Capital This was during the GSM boom in Nigeria when mobile phones were still very expensive to acquire. Gradually, his booth became a Mecca of sorts to many.

“If others were selling recharge cards for N50, I sold mine for N15 and that made people rush to my booth. I had about five phones in my booth which were constantly busy at any given time. Sometimes, about 20 people would be in my booth making or receiving calls, and some were still queuing up to use my services. My employees and I were constantly busy,” he narrated.

It was during that period that he was introduced to the real estate business as other business inclined people saw an opportunity to market their products to his customers.

Sometimes, he allowed them to put up signage for their businesses which sometimes were mostly lands or properties.

“Someone walked up to me and told me that he had a property he wanted me to manage. I told him I was not interested, moreover, I have no experience in that business, but he insisted.”

Whether Adaralegbe had a magic wand that day or not, he cannot recall for the moment he stepped his feet into that property, he got someone to buy it instantly. He made N30,000 from that transaction. He was given another property which fetched him N300,000 profit. He would eventually own the first property he sold. By 2010, he registered his company. He spent the next five years buying and reselling lands until 2015 when he officially opened the revolving doors of his office in Abuja with just three employees. Of the three, only one still works with him.

His staff strength now runs into hundreds and the young man admitted that he is not familiar with all of his workers.

“There are people in the head office that I don’t know who work for me. I just see them around and have to ask their supervisors if they are now a staff member.”

T.Pumpy prides itself as a progressive property developer that offers a range of services that cater for all categories of subscribers seeking land and housing solutions. Plans are underway to expand to other parts of the country. Adaralegbe revealed that it was one of the reasons he came to Lagos.

“We plan to have an office in Lagos before the end of the year,” he revealed.

Having spent 21 years in Abuja, Adaralegbe was convinced that any developer who can survive real estate hurdles in Abuja can survive anywhere.

“There are a lot of hurdles for one to cross in Abuja. First, people need to believe in you, secondly, getting the right property, and the right document.”

The lack of these obstacles in Ekiti made him open an office there last September. After studying the law of the state that prohibits fraud on land

transactions, he felt it was the right place for his business.

For him, the hassles of securing documents for property was non existing in his homestead.

“That’s because the system is working. You don’t have much to do in Ekiti. They are ready to give you approval within one week.”

Currently, he is eyeing Oyo State and hopes to establish his office before the year runs out. Adaralegbe is known for his philanthropic gestures.

Not a few have benefited from his largesse. To celebrate his birthday last year, he donated a plot of land to an orphanage, Shining Star Orphanage Home located at the Lugbe Federal Housing Estate in Abuja.

A happily married man, Adaralegbe is also a recipient of many awards including the Global Excellence Awards as the Real Estate Personality of the Year. He was specifically recognised for adding value to infrastructural development and the environment in Nigeria and conducting real estate business without sacrificing sincerity, transparency and humanity.

Perhaps, this is the reason his company is known as a property developer that cares. It is evident in the way the company treats its subscribers — most of them are mainly from referrals, even though it has an array of ambassadors to promote the brand. Having noticed that sincerity is an important requisite in this sector, Adaralegbe ensured that all

Adaralegbe

his transactions are transparent.

Reportedly, subscribers are always given the value for their money.

Making sincerity and excellence a hallmark of his business was not an arduous task, for the businessman revealed that it was a value instilled in him by his parents.

“Back when I started, the problem was that people didn’t get value for their money. It was one of the things that made many entrust their property to me. I always make sure I give people the value for their money.”

Such occurrences, in his estimation, have dwindled over the years in the real estate sector as many now understood the importance of transparency in the business. However, he wished that the government would create an enabling environment for developers and for developers to adhere to the rules of the government to curb housing deficits in the country.

Easy-going, the real estate mogul’s simplicity is often taken

for granted. There have been instances in the past when subscribers fail to pay as at when due. To avoid such reoccurrence, he has put measures in place. One of his objectives for the future is to go fully into construction.

More changes, he revealed, would be happening in his company as he aims to take it to a higher level.

Having come from a humble background, Adaralegbe has a profound understanding of wealth.

“Wealth is not all about cash, cars or houses. It is about human capital.

How many people are you impacting?

It’s not about giving them money but what you are doing, how impactful it is in society. If you are doing something and it can affect three or more people within a given area, it makes you wealthy.”

When asked if he considered himself a wealthy man, he deflected the question like a pugilist, with laughter.

However, he admitted that he has a wild lust for exotic cars.

Does he have a Rolls Royce or a Ferrari? Adaralegbe refused to divulge that information, deftly laughing and leaving that to my imagination.

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 21, 2021

TRIBUTE

Babafemi Ogundipe: 50 Years After Jide Ogundipe pays glowing tribute to his father, the first Chief of Staff, Supreme Military Headquarters and former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Brigadier-General Babafemi Ogundipe (rtd)

I

t is the evening of Friday November 19 1971; I am overcome by a feeling of unease. I am due to travel with the Brentwood School (where I was a student in the lower VI form) 1st XI football team to play at a school on the outskirts of London the following day, Saturday November 20 1971. I cannot remember which school it was (it may have been John Lyon), but I do remember that the coach ride would take us past a London Underground station, and I had received permission from my house master to go home after the game and to return to school on Sunday evening. My plan was to go and watch the recently released Shaft on Saturday night. I remember saying to my good friend, William Goodway, whose bed was next to mine, that I felt as if something was wrong at home. It was just a thought. I was 16 years old, and the feeling didn’t last long.

My memory of the game was that I played poorly. I can’t remember if we won (we probably did, as the Brentwood School football teams were among the best in Southeast England at the time).

I do remember an awful, muddy pitch.

After the game, as the coach made its way back to Brentwood, I was dropped off at an Underground station, again I don’t remember which one, to make my way home. I don’t even remember whether I took a train to High Street Kensington station or to Earl’s Court station, the two nearest stations to our home. I suspect it was more likely to have been Earl’s Court, as I think I travelled on the Central line.

When I arrived home, I discovered that my life had changed. It was a dark, late November evening. I must have reached the house around 6 or so. The house seemed to have fewer lights on than usual. The living room, into which one walked upon entering the house, was full of people. My mother was sitting on a settee, looking distraught, flanked by a number of people. My older sister Funlola was sitting by the front door.

She shook her head and told me that our father had died that day.

Daddy was 47 years old and had been suffering from poor health for some time. He had a stroke earlier in the year, which caused him some paralysis on his left side, but he recovered well enough

by July to take us, his first four children, on a holiday to Montreux in Switzerland, from where we made trips to France and Italy. Daddy rented a car and drove, which indicated that he had recovered well. I still have memories of being in a nightclub, aged 15, chatting up a young woman with whom I had been dancing (with my O’ level French) and looking up to see my father, who had left me there to go to the casino, sitting on the other side of the dance floor watching me. I immediately ended my conversation with an abrupt “au revoir”, walked over to my father and told him it was time to leave! He teased me about the incident throughout the rest of the holiday.

Barely three weeks before Daddy died, I and another good friend from school, David Green, had spent my 16th birthday out until after 3.00 am at a club in Leicester Square. I don’t know where my father was at that time, he

Late Brigadier-General Ogundipe

may have been at home, he may have been on a business trip, or he may even have been back in hospital. I remember he had another stroke after the summer and had been in hospital again. When he was discharged, he was given strict instructions by his doctors not to work, but nobody could stop him going to his office, which was in the basement of the house.

My brother Kunle was the only one of the first four of us not in boarding school at the time, so he was at home when my father had another stroke on Friday November 19, and an ambulance had come to take him to hospital. It must have been unnerving for him, as a 13-year-old, to have witnessed his father, unresponsive, being taken out of the house on a stretcher. He died the following day. I was, most probably, playing football when he passed. Perhaps that explained my poor performance that afternoon.

I started to write this in the morning of November 16 2021. On my way home from the office the previous evening, I passed a friend on the stairs as I walked down to the car park. He recognised me, despite my mask (these are COVID-19 days!), and we had a brief conversation.

He was on his way to see his wife, whose office is also in the building, and he introduced me to two of his children and told me that he had just celebrated the 50th anniversary of his mother’s passing, which was why the children were there, and not in school. The conversation reminded me that the 50th anniversary of my father’s passing was just five days away. Earlier in the year, one of my sisters and I had discussed marking the event in some public manner, such as a paid advert in a newspaper, but I hadn’t been keen on the idea. Her subsequent encounter with ill health appears to have pushed the thought out of her mind, and we haven’t discussed the matter in a number of months now. Thankfully, her health is now much improved.

In my firm, it is the tradition that the partners treat the staff to lunch in celebration of their birthdays. This usually occurs on a Friday after the birthday, so weekends can start early, after the food and drink. We brought this tradition from Chief Rotimi Williams’ Chambers where counsel would celebrate their birthdays by treating colleagues to wine to accompany the sumptuous lunches that Mrs Williams would provide for us on a daily basis.

As I was away on the Friday after my birthday, I shall be providing lunch this Friday, November 19. My first grandchild marks his 8th birthday on November 18. November 16 is the birthday of my two youngest siblings, and one of their children was 19 on November 15. November is a month of much significance in my life: one of my sons was born in November.

Fifty years after his death, my father’s nine children (eight natural and one adopted) have all prospered in their own ways, and we are all well.

The nine children produced seventeen grandchildren. He only saw one of them in his lifetime. The grandchildren have produced great grandchildren, too many for me to start counting right now! For a person who played a part in how Nigeria came to be what it is today, very few people are aware of who he was, or what his role was in Nigeria’s history. Other than a photograph of him that I am told is on display in the conference room of the Vice-President, I thought there was no public recognition of him. However, just last week, my first son, who I named after him, sent me a photograph of a street sign bearing the name “Babafemi Ogundipe Boulevard”. I had no idea there was such a place! It is in Wuye, Abuja.

So, as the fiftieth anniversary of his death arrives, I remember him, especially. As I do, I reflect on the fact that, in truth, I barely knew him. I missed the opportunity to learn from him, essentially having to become a man without his guidance and support.

Whilst it is not for me to judge whether my life has been a success so far, I can look back and acknowledge that some people may view my life as having been moderately successful. I am fortunate that I have seen my two sons grow into adulthood and that I have seen two grandchildren. I hope to live long enough to see more grandchildren and to see them embark upon meaningful and successful lives. I also hope that this country, to which I chose to return, and which has given me the life that I have enjoyed, will start to fulfil its true potential and be a source of inspiration, and not despair, to its citizens, the African continent and to black people all around the world.

Our mother went to join Daddy twenty-eight years ago. We buried her next to him on the last piece of land that he had purchased in Ago Iwoye that we were able to salvage. The few years he spent away from Nigeria after the July 1966 coup, meant that he was unable to secure most of the land he had acquired.

We commissioned an Abayomi Barber bust to mark his grave. When Mummy departed, we commissioned another bust (Mr Barber’s eyesight had become so bad by this time that he declined to do her bust, instead recommending a former student to do it for us). I was told that the people living in the vicinity of their tombs commented that over the many years that he had been there, he only started smiling when his wife arrived. I like that story, implausible as it is, as it suggests that he is resting in peace.

t 0HVOEJQF JT B MBXZFS JO -BHPT

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 21, 2021

53

GLITZ ENTERTAINMENT

P-Square Brings Back Memorable Moments with Reunion announcement and fans again suggested that they have a December concert to mark their reunion.

Since the news of the reconciliation of the The birthday party was well musical twins Peter and Paul Okoye, better attended by big wigs in the media and known as P-Square, last week, fans have entertainment industry. The twins took continued to flood social media with memories their guests down memory lane, singing of their past songs and performances. Some some of their popular songs such as ‘E even urged the singers to ditch their individual No Easy’. At one point, they invited Don music labels. Following their breakup, Peter and Jazzy on stage to sing ‘Collabo’.

Paul identified themselves as solo artists Mr P P-Square’s rift was one of the most and Rudeboy respectively, but they never really discussed in the entertainment industry. got their groove back.

Not a few waded into the matter, but However, fans became elated when at efforts to reconcile them continued their 40th birthday bash, Paul announced to to hit a recalcitrant block. The duo the crowd that it was time to bring P-Square officially made their reunion public on back again. A rousing cheer greeted the

Stories by Vanessa Obioha

Davido Solidifies Celebrity Status with Million Naira Challenge

Davido

Nigerian afro-pop superstar, Davido, has reached his N200 million target. The music star stunned Nigerians and even the world when he demanded that friends should donate N1million each to his account. He received N7 million within 10 minutes of making the announcement. By the end of that day, his account was close to N150 million.

Not a few caught up on the frenzy; socialites, entertainers, brands sent in their donations.

The challenge undoubtedly is a testament to Davido’s popularity.

No entertainer in this digital age has recorded such feats.

While many hailed his influential power, others have advised he channels his influence to a greater cause. A good place to start will be mobilising young people to take part in the upcoming elections by getting their voters cards. Imagine if he holds a concert that can only be accessed through voter cards as suggested by the convener of Alert Africa conference, Iboro Otu. Perhaps, entertainers should start including voter cards as one of the prerequisites to attend their concerts.

If executed, it will help not only in encouraging youth participation intl elections but bring about the desired political leadership change.

All Roads Lead to AFRIMA Music stars and fans from all parts of Africa will be convening at Eko Hotels and Suites for the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) award ceremony holding today. The award is the most prominent on the continent that recognises and rewards creative talents.

This year, over 8,800 songs were received as entries and were screened down to 400 songs by the Jury into continental and regional categories cutting across African talents and creatives living on the continent and in the Diaspora.

Winners of the 38 categories will be rewarded at the event tonight, hosted jointly by South African actress, model and presenter, Pearl Thusi and BritishCongolese comedian, presenter and actor, Eddie Kadi. The Red-carpet event will be hosted

by Cameroonian television personality, Pamela Happi also known as Miss P and celebrity Video Jockey, VJ Adams.

In partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC), AFRIMA 2021 will be broadcast live on 84 television stations in 109 countries.

the eve of their birthday when a video of the brothers embracing each other circulated on social media. On Thursday, November 18, when they turned 40, they took to Instagram to celebrate themselves, a clear indication that indeed P-Square is back again.

That same day, Peter released his new single ‘I Love You’ featuring Simi and international artist Tamar Braxton.

Whether the twins would give in to fans’ pleas to host a December concert or not, time will tell. But what is certain though is that the twins are back again and may soon release a single together. P-Square

A new TV talk show hosted by media personality Toke Makinwa is now airing on MultiChoice’s panAfrican channel, HONEY. The hour-long show ‘Talk with Toke Makinwa’ features the host interviewing some of Africa’s biggest celebrities on diverse, intimate and controversial topics.

Some of the big names penned for the first season include DJ Zinhle, Bobrisky, Zari “The Boss Lady” and Mutale Mwanza on the couch.

“This show is dynamic and

Talk with Toke Makinwa Premières

Makinwa

unpredictable. It has all the conversations that viewers have been waiting to hear, straight from the source,” says Zinzi Velelo, HONEY’s Head of Content.

“Africa’s biggest celebrities are setting the record straight, once and for all.”

Excited about her new venture, Makinwa said that it was a dream come true to host the show which format is considered a contender for the African version of a Jimmy Kimmel Live.

The show is currently filming two seasons of thirteen episodes each and airs every Friday.

AMPAS Addresses Digital Preservation of Motion Pictures To address the issues surrounding digital preservation of motion pictures and offer sustainable solutions, the Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) — the organising committee of the Oscars — has launched the Academy Digital Preservation Forum (ADPF), a global online gathering place dedicated to the cause.

The forum which is an initiative of the Academy’s Science and Technology Council will host original content and resources and will serve as an ongoing discussion place for stakeholders and practitioners within the field and those interested in learning more.

“Preserving motion pictures – whether film or digital – is an imperative from both cultural and commercial perspectives,” said Andy Maltz, Senior Vice President, Science and Technology Council. “As long as digital motion picture technologies evolve, there will be a need for collaboration between archivists, technologists and filmmakers. The ADPF provides a foundation for productive communication and problem-solving to ensure future generations can access the movies we enjoy today and those yet to come.”

ADPF intends to bring online community members, including Academy members, filmmakers, studio executives, archivists, operations professionals, technologists and other practitioners to reinforce the importance of digital preservation to modern filmmaking and help shape the future of this work.

It will be followed by the publications of ‘The Digital Dilemma’ in 2007 and ‘The Digital Dilemma 2’ in 2012, the Council’s two groundbreaking reports on the longterm preservation of digital motion picture materials.

Pearl Thusi and Eddie Kadi are AFRIMA hosts

Sinach Brings Colourful Christmas Concert to Lagos

Sinach

Plans are underway to make this Christmas season unforgettable as famed Nigerian gospel Singer and songwriter, Sinachi Kalu Okoro Egbu, popularly known as Sinach stages a live Christmas concert.

Tagged: ‘Christmas Concert with Sinach and Friends’, the concert will feature award-winning gospel artists from various parts of the world like Todd Dulaney (USA), Adlan Cruz (Puetorico), Da’dra Great House (USA), Onyeka Onwenu, Ayo Vincent (Lagos) and the phenomenal Gosgem Choir.

At a strategic media partnership meeting with Neita Uwaibi, a corporate communication officer for cool FM, Wazobia FM and Nigeria info FM, Project Director for GosGem concepts, Hillary Vincent explained that the event is to remind people of the true essence of Christmas beyond all of the festivities that come with the season.

“It is also a good time for friends and families to unite in gratitude to God for a fruitful year,” he said.

The concert is slated for Sunday, December 12 at Monarch Event Centre Lekki, Lagos.

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 21, 2021

HighLife

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

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

Sad Moment as Relatives, Friends, Associates Mourn Sani Dangote

Olanipekun

Legal Icon: Wole Olanipekun at 70 Nigeria is blessed with legendary characters that dominate every aspect of its society and economy. In the legal arena, Chief Wole Olanipekun is one of the figures that has attained a degree of hegemony due to the dignity and integrity he brought to the practice of law in the country. Consequently, as he clocked 70 years on Thursday, November 18, 2021, folks from all walks of life did not hesitate to send along a deluge of prayers and praises.

Reaching the age of 70 is a blessing and clear evidence of God’s kindness and favour.

The man, it can be said, started from the bottom, depending on his smarts and assiduousness until he reached the highest point possible for constitutional lawyers in Nigeria.

Most people know Olanipekun as the no-nonsense Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who became the President of the Nigerian Bar Association in 2002. Before then, the only high-interest position he held was as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Ondo State (1991). Thus, one cannot say that Chief Olanipekun speedily climbed the ranks. His journey from the nadir to the apex was one of many resolved steps. For this, Olanipekun is one of the foremost role models for young and candid lawyers in the country.

Apart from his exemplary legal career, one of the most interesting facts about Olanipekun is the fact that he has four children and all four of them are lawyers. The children, Oladapo Olumide Olanipekun (SAN), Olubukola Araromi nee Olanipekun, Olabode Olutoyin Olanipekun (SAN), and Temitope Adesina nee Olanipekun, have been described as portraits of their father. The man in question, however, never fails to give credit to their mother, Erelu Omolara Olanipekun.

At 70, Chief Olanipekun is one and only. So far, his life, career, and family reflect his personality as a respectable and praiseworthy individual.

If man “had world enough and time”, as English poet Andrew Marvell captured it, we might have conquered the entire universe already.

Alas, death comes to every one of us. This is one of the prevailing sentiments sweeping across the high shelf of Nigerian society at the moment.

Sani Dangote, the younger brother of Aliko Dangote and Vice President of Dangote Group and Chairman of Dansa Holdings, passed on last week.

The news of the younger Dangote’s demise is still ravaging the minds of relatives, friends and associates, even though he passed away on Sunday, November 14, 2021. According to reports, Dangote died in the United States after a protracted illness. At the time of writing this report, nothing concrete has been confirmed about the nature of the illness.

Although he was not as well known as his big brother, the billionaire and number one wealthiest man in Africa, Aliko, Dangote was also a boss of several prestigious business domains. Folks that regularly parley with Dangote Group would

recognise the deceased as the Vice President of the multinational conglomerate company.

However, besides the Group, Dangote also had controlling interests in several other successful corporate entities.

Dangote was best known with Dansa Holdings, one of the companies under the Dangote Group that produces and distributes beverages exclusively. Dangote was also reported to have owned a chain of several other companies, including Dansa Foods Limited, Dansa Energy, Sagas Energy Limited, Bulk Pack Services Limited, Dansa Agro Allied Limited, and Dangote Farms Limited.

Much like his older brother, he was also an astute businessman who sat on the Executive Board of high-tier companies like Nigerian Textile Mills Plc, Alsan Insurance Brokers, and Gum Arabic Limited, to name a few.

Thus, Aliko and the rest of the family will not be the only ones that will miss Sani. His imprints are all over Nigeria, even in Lagos where he was a two-time President of Lagos Polo Club.

How Tony Elumelu Runs the Biggest Foundation

Elumelu

There are a handful of state governors that are currently winning the hearts of their people. One is fighting banditry with everything in his arsenal. Another is building infrastructure to improve all kinds of accessibility to bigger and better economic opportunities. Compared to the contributions of these two, Udom Emmanuel, the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom, can only be placed on the same pedestal, nothing less.

According to the latest reports from the Land of Promise, the Emmanuel-led administration is poring over the numbers to acquire new aircraft for Ibom Air, the airline owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government. As the governor explained, the impending acquisition will ensure that 10 A220-300 series aircraft are added to the Ibom Air fleet, so the legacy can continue even after he leaves office.

Governor Emmanuel revealed his plans to Obong Etim Abia, the Monarch of Eket in Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, at the latter’s 85th birthday ceremony.

It is not easy to determine the most successful business person in Nigeria, as many names will be on the ballot. However, determining who the most impactful person in Nigeria is will not be an arduous task. Chances are that Tony Elumelu would be ranked as the most visible business person that has made the best impression on Nigerians, especially the nation’s youths and entrepreneurs.

Small business owners all over the African continent are pumping their fists into the air in excitement. This is the most conservative response to the empowerment move of Tony Elumelu, within the framework of his Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), for African entrepreneurs. Upon selecting 4,949 entrepreneurs from over 400,000 applicants and applications, Elumelu sent out $5,000 to each of the winners of the TEF 2021 Entrepreneurship Programme.

Elumelu’s style of corporate leadership is unequalled. He continues to adhere to his long-held belief that the African private sector

Thunderous Accolades for Udom Emmanuel

Emmanuel

Late Dangote

can transform the continent through longterm investments, creating both economic prosperity and social wealth. As the main proponent for this economic philosophy of Africapitalism, Elumelu is a beacon that others are reluctant to imitate. This is understandable because doing so would mean that they have to wholeheartedly commit themselves to the lives of other people.

It seems as if only Elumelu, in all of Africa, is decisive and devoted enough to plant seeds of opportunities for social and economic transformation. His foundation, TEF, is the biggest advocate for entrepreneurship. Who else would give a grant of $5,000 to almost 5,000 strangers and only ask that they “... work hard, dream dreams, and be very disciplined...”?

With Elumelu and his TEF, young African entrepreneurs have someone to look up to. In a few years, this foundation could become the bedrock of youth development and economic advancement on the African continent.

Considering grand gestures like this from Elumelu, it will hardly be a surprise when this eventually happens.

Emmanuel explained that his administration has encountered far more challenges than they anticipated, starting with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the heavy rains of 2021. These challenges have stretched the time for the completion and take-off of some of the government’s prearranged projects.

Despite these obstacles, folks are unreservedly praising Emmanuel for his commitment to duty. Some of his peers jumped on the debilitating effects of the pandemic, took months off to slacken their ties, and eased into a culture of doing close to nothing for their people. Thus, Emmanuel has become like refined gold in a woven basket of muddy stones.

To say that the governor’s contributions to Ibom Air are the main pillars for the airline is to understate matters. A few days ago, on November 3, 2021, precisely, the airline celebrated its one-millionth passenger. For an airline that began operations in the middle of 2019 and had pitifully low patronage in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this celebration was worth it.

Revealed! Why Oyetola is Rooting for Omisore’s Senatorial Ambition Senator Iyiola Omisore is interested in going to the Senate again. Omisore, now a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), is a former Deputy Governor of Osun State (1999 – 2003) and a two-term senator (2003 – 2011).

Information filtering in suggested the incumbent Governor of Osun State, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola is seriously pushing for his emergence as the candidate of APC ahead of the 2023 general election.

And the reason for this is straightforward. He believes giving the party ticket to Omisore, who played a vital role in his emergence as governor, will largely help boost his chance of returning for another term in office. Oyetola sees Omisore as a political figure who can help diminish the influence of the opposition PDP in the Ife/Ijesa district and possibly enhance his chance in the coming gubernatorial election in the state, an insider pointed out, especially now that he (the

governor) is reportedly having a running battle with his predecessor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who is currently the Minister of Interior in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Omisore, 64, who was the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) during the 2018 governorship election in Osun, and Aregbesola are both from Osun East.

Interestingly, the district is largely regarded as the base of the opposition, PDP. The Senate seat is currently occupied by Adenigba Fadahunsi, a member of PDP. Also, two out of the three House of Representatives members (Busayo Oluwole Oke and Taofeek Abimbola Ajilesoro) from the district are of the PDP. The governorship election in Osun State is scheduled to hold on July 16, 2022, while the senatorial contest Otunba Omisore is eying, along with other elections will take place in 2023.

Oyetola

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 21, 2021

HIGHLIFE

Lai Mohammed, Kwara Governor’s Fight Get Messier Given the latitude of the feud between Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, and Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq, Governor of Kwara State, we don’t need to wait for 2023. Folks are already bearing witness (and will likely continue) to the dramatics that usually characterises direct political contests. However, the contest between Mohammed and AbdulRazaq is not direct, which makes it all the more interesting.

Only a handful of influential people have commented on the fight between Mohammed and Governor AbdulRazaq.

From the occasional scoff at the mention of the other’s name to a full-blown war of words, the pair are going all out to show their supremacy. However, given the scale of their quarrel (and how long it has been going on), doesn’t anybody care enough to intervene? Apparently not. Then again, maybe the minister really did shut the door on possible reconciliation, as one report claims.

Considering that the main reason for their feud is control over the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara

Mohammed

State, even ordinary folks have begun to take sides. This was the case especially after Mohammed claimed that it was he who bankrolled AbdulRazaq’s campaign in 2019, while AbdulRazaq accused Mohammed of pocketing N100 million that a well-wisher had sent in for the said campaign.

The fight is no longer one of mockery since associations within the APC are getting involved. One of such associations recently rebuked Mohammed for attempting to put down the governor when he (Mohammed) had not accrued enough political momentum (in Kwara) to do so. Curiously, this is the same conclusion that Mohammed himself came to on the reason why AbdulRazaq is not qualified for the gubernatorial seat as he only tricked the APC to get in.

So, as the fight between Mohammed and AbdulRazaq gets messier, who will stand where? Will the APC in Kwara fracture along with these hegemonic figures or choose one at the expense of the other? Time will tell.

Babajide Akeredolu in the News Again Will a jaguar give birth to a dog or a mountain bear to a goat? Never! Then, Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo State, will only produce something like him. This is the rejoinder from some folks to the trending personality that is the son of Governor Akeredolu, Babajide.

Whether this reaction is for good or bad, eulogy or jest, that remains to be seen.

Based on the reports coming from the Sunshine State, members of the Ondo State Concerned Timber Merchants (OSCTIM) have banded together to accuse Babajide of attempting to take ownership of the state’s forest reserves. According to the organisation, Babajide is hiding behind a consultancy firm to carve his name into the sector, without the knowledge of the public.

Interestingly, the Commissioner for Information in Ondo State, Donald Ojogo, recently informed the public that some plans were afoot to humiliate the immediate family of Governor Akeredolu. There were only a

handful of hours between Ojogo’s press release and that of OSCTIM. So, whose words should the public accept as true?

This is the second time that Babajide has been thrown into the den of lions that is the world of political allegations and image smearing. The first time, it was his father’s former deputy, Agboola Ajayi, that threw him under the bus.

The candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for the October 2020 Ondo gubernatorial election had accused Babajide of taking charge of 10 per cent of the N4.3 billion reported to be kept in a hidden account by certain individuals of the current administration.

In response to Ajayi’s allegation, Babajide had stated that “This allegation which I deny, can only come from someone so lowly and frivolous and unexpected of anyone who holds the high office of a Deputy Governor.” And that is how that matter ended.

It does not seem like the Deputy Governor is responsible for the latest dart thrown at Babajide.

Akeredolu

However, the fact that the Information Commissioner and co. knew that something was up before members of OSCTIM made their report, is telling. Whatever the case, Babajide has entered the limelight again.

Exceptional Doctor: From Medicine to Radio Station, Babatunde Okewale Floats St. Ives Property

Okewale

There is a time for everything: a time to soar like a crane and a time to live like a badger. This is a wisdom that applies to all and sundry, including the Dan Amana Dutse, Alhaji Nasiru Haladu Danu. For the reputable businessman, the time to live like a badger is now.

Crouching, goes the old Chinese proverb, does not always suggest fatigue or retirement. Sometimes, it is a preparatory step to jump. This might be the case for Danu who has kept out of the public eye for some time now. More specifically, Danu started living under the radar when it became obvious that he had caught the ire of some very mischievous individuals or political groups.

Folks would recall that Danu has not enjoyed a prolonged period of respite since the start of 2021. He has been hopping from one libellous accusation to another. The most recent of these accusations came on the heels of President Muhammadu Buhari’s

Some are born to greatness. Others have greatness thrust upon them. Considering the life and achievements of Dr Babatunde Okewale, one more line should be added to this aphorism: some befriend greatness along the way. And that is really the case with Okewale, the renowned fertility physician. From hospital wards to radio stations, the man has dominated. Now that real estate has caught his attention, will Okewale bring his innate grasp of excellence to board again?

In Nigeria, when it comes to issues of conception and fertility, Okewale is anyone’s first mention and best bet. As a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist trained in the United Kingdom, there is much to be said about Okewale’s medical practice. The fact that he has been actively sharing and loosening the burdens of families battling with infertility for over 30 years says something about the happy doctor.

When it comes to Okewale, one is tempted to insist that talent is the determinant of success and prestige. After all, besides building the nowesteemed St. Ives Specialist Hospital in 1996, Okewale also founded WFM 91.7, the first radio

station for women and families in Nigeria.

Thanks to his dedication to the problem of infertility, Okewale has been credited with big wins such as setting the pace for the health of women and children, particularly concerning In-vitro Fertilization (IVF). The birth of over 2,000 babies (through IVF) has been ascribed to Okewale’s skilled and committed practice.

At least, Okewale was still operating within his domain.

Recently, Okewale decided to make a new move. According to those in the know, the exceptional doctor made plans to extend his vision and interests to the property market.

And he has started pulling in resources to set up the first block of business in Lagos.

Then again, that’s a man of vision for you. When he committed himself to fertility matters and thought of using the radio to help the world, many could not see how he would achieve anything. Now, he has. Perhaps, something huge is truly on the horizon for Lagosians and Nigerians, thanks to Okewale’s new venture.

The New Private Lifestyle of Nasiru Danu

brief stay in the United States. There were reports that Danu had hustled up a few individuals to proclaim their support for the president, there in New York.

The report further claimed that Danu had allegedly paid the pro-Buhari protesters (who numbered over 50) $50 for every hour they chanted their appreciation of the president’s many good works. As damning as this allegation was, the one that came before was worse.

Needless to say, that matter was a big mess. Somehow, it was resolved with Danu preserving his dignity—although some folks have said that not much of it was left after he had been thoroughly rubbished by the allegations.

Overall, Danu’s insistence on living off the grid is no big surprise. Anybody else would have done the same after they have been thrown into a grinder of accusations and borne the censure of the entire country.

Danu

Okonkwo

Who is After Nnamdi Okonkwo?

“It was you!”“It wasn’t me!”“But you know it was you.”“I have no idea what you mean!”This is the kind of dialogue folks are seeing between Nnamdi Okonkwo and news bodies all over social media and report networks in Nigeria.

The latter keeps insisting that the former has been caught in the snare of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), but the person in question insists otherwise. Truly a vertiginous experience for folks keeping up with both parties.

The last few days have been exciting for Nigerians and are beyond cheering the new corporate ‘identity tag’ of former Fidelity Bank MD/CEO, Okonkwo. His confirmed appointment as the Group MD of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Holdings Group delighted his large offline and online following. Then EFCC allegedly got involved.

The reports of Okonkwo’s alleged tango entered mainstream news on Sunday, November 14, 2021. The well-known super banker had reportedly been remanded in the custody of the anti-graft agency for his old association with former Petroleum Minister, Diezani AlisonMadueke. The matter of Okonkwo participating in Alison-Madueke’s mess has been around since 2016.

According to the EFCC back then, Okonkwo was a central figure in Alison-Madueke’s fraudulent gambit. Following her bidding, he allegedly transferred $153.3 million from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Okonkwo was Fidelity Bank’s MD/CEO and was already piling up awards for his achievements back then.Thus, many people were flabbergasted.The same reaction has met the allegation of Okonkwo’s arrest almost immediately after winning the FBN Holdings top seat. From his end, Okonkwo has expressed befuddlement over his purported arrest by the EFCC.The man has asked his accusers how he manages to be at two places at the same time: in EFCC’s custody, as they have alleged, and at the comfort of his home.

Not a few are stumped on who to believe. Nevertheless, considering that the allegations are coming at the time the man is wearing the FBN Holdings GMD mantle, many are convinced that someone somewhere is unhappy with Okonkwo.

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 21, 2021

LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

Pastor Taiwo Odukoya: Lightning Strikes Again Ohhh my God!!! That was all I could say when Duchess called in that Pastor Nomthi just passed. Pastor Nomthi is the very beautiful wife of my Pastor, Pastor Odukoya.

She had been ill for a bit and had just passed to be with the Lord. Now, Duchess is a devoted member of the Fountain of Life Church, so by extension that is my church. I used to attend the church regularly until one night during the Passover service, when I was just standing on my own jeje and the security men came to catch me for throwing ‘Banga’.

It took a lot of convincing from many people that as a responsible member of society I cannot be throwing banga in church. Since then, my energy faded. But

I still dey go once in a while and Pastor Nomthi touched me as a perfect fit for Pastor Taiwo.

She was svelte, sweet and humble. She locked in with his charms and helped deepen his vision. The church grew under both of them and ‘we’ opened the magnificent auditorium that makes worshiping wonderful.

Lightning has struck pastor a second time.

How he still manages to stand tall beats me. The once, the thing hit me, I am still reeling, talk less of twice.

As my mummy Mrs Dawodu said, “God really has big plans for this man, for these things to keep happening to him.” Need I say more? Pastor, God has you in his sights.

No be me go tell you this, you already know. Stay blessed and be consoled.

ALHAJI LATEEF JAKANDE: A LEGACY REVISITED Let me officially announce that I have begun the process of mounting one of my most powerful projects ever. No mind me, na so I dey always talk am.

Every project na powerful. My brother, Chike would shout scam and we go laugh.

Anyways, my new play ‘Baba Kekere’ is taking a cursory look at the life and times of one of the most respected Nigerian leaders ever, Alhaji Lateef Jakande. The play written and directed by my brother Makinde Adeniran has already received the support of His Excellency Babajide Sanwo-Olu and so as not to embarrass him, we decided to pay a courtesy call on the family.

Almost all members of the family were on standby to receive our team. That day, I bathed and wore perfume o.

From Deji to Seyi and the young Segun to mummy, the Jakande Family exuded warmth, simplicity and true love.

They were happy we came, they received us and engaged us in a way that made me so so happy. My friend and brother who made this happenKayode Olowu had said it. He had said, “Duke, these are very simple people. You sef, you go see when you reach. No call my name o, mummy too like me o.” As I landed, that was the first thing I said. “Mummy, it is

Kayode that sent me o.” she asked “Which Kayode? and Deji responded, ‘Nummy, eh ranti Kayode mo? Bobo nye to ma like ko nmu ogi gan” – na me add that one sha.

At the end of the meeting, we were taken on a tour of the house and we ended up in daddy’s room and Deji said, “that is the room where he passed on.”

It was a simple room, sparse and not in any way arrogant if you know what I mean.

What touched me again was his files.

Plenty o. Real plenty in a long row of cabinets illustrating his huge passion and love for work.

We have been receiving a lot of offers from normal people that we should do a play on them. People should be respecting themselves na. Can’t they see the subjects we are dealing with – Awo, Aremu and now Jakande and Nelson Umo-Etuk will now say I should do a play on him.

Our history has to be retold in a very positive light, our heroes have to be celebrated and their legacy thrown out there so that emerging leaders will see the kind of historical figures that once led us.

‘Baba Kekere’ is a passion project, because if not for Alhaji, wetin for happen to me? We attended the so-called ‘Jakande’ school o and see us today. Immortal.

DAVIDO: A REAL POWERSHOW At times, things happen, we just engage with the ‘feferity’ and move on. The real import of it is lost and we continue in our ‘mummuness’.

This man- Davido went on social media to ask his friends to contribute N1million so he can clear his new car.

As I write, the amount sent to him has crossed the N100million mark and is still climbing very feverishly.

We should look beyond the act and allow the young ones on social media to be enjoying the fun of the whole episode and they are really enjoying it o.

I even hear some people are sending in as little as N1,000.

For us adults, we should take a much more serious look at this phenomenon.

This is raw social power that can be directed into different uses. It could be harnessed in politics, marketing and advocacy to mention a few.

I have always talked about this particular boy’s power especially during the Osun State elections where his uncle almost toppled the structure.

His power was apparent there. Again, did you see what he did during the #EndSARS protests before it was hijacked?

Davido is a very powerful weapon for socio-political cohesion and mobilisation and those who have sense should begin to look at not only him but others like him in that mould with a view to properly harnessing it for good.

Jakande

Davido

Deziani

Late Odukoya

This reminds me of when I was looking for money for my new playlay ‘Ufok Ibaan’. I got some referrals. Na only N200,000 I am asking for o. Come and see the questions like I was facing a military trial. Who send you, why they send you, what is my name, why are you coming to me, I have not been in Uyo for years, are you sure it’s my own Usenekong?

Common N200k o and full red cap chiefs were denying their heritage.

Laugh nearly kill me. One even asked me to spell his name to be sure that it’s his own Akan because there are three other Akans with one who fought the Biafran war.

Come and see as our children are just dropping without questions. Kai. THE ALISON DEZIANI BRA FOLLIES This story will not go anywhere o.

That is how as I was working towards the bathroom, I just saw the new EFCC man - I don forget him name talking with some very nice looking ladies. I stopped to watch. I kinda like him. He looks so young and almost handsome. I had said, he looks like my in-law Olumide Olude.

Anyways, as I sat on the bowl, preparatory to finish watching him and continuing with my daily task of exploring the world of nudity and

Onyeagwu

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 21, 2021

LOUD WHISPERS porn – I am a permanent researcher- he dropped the bombshell. “There was no diamond bra, if there was I would have known because I was the lead investigator.”

I’m weak. These social media people will not kill someone o. The story that had gone viral and even a very respectable newspaper outlet carried the news on their front page and people were analysing the thing on TV and radio and even me talked about the kind of nipples that would be ensconced in that kind of bra.

So, it was all a ruse. You see why Lai Mohammed is fighting to regulate social media. Imagine that kind of talk and see how far it went. I am still in shock, even the ladies too where in shock to the point that one of them shouted, “but I saw the picture na.”

Bawa said very calmly, “nothing like that.” I don’t even know what to say at this point. I remain in shock.

retail space which is largely huge and untapped.

I have been invited to another session in Abuja which has so many top people speaking from the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to my brother Jallo Waziri who is the head at the CSCS and my great brother Temi Popoola who is the head at the NGX. Mbok see Temi o. Me and him were at CSL Stockbrokers under Gboyega Balogun and when we are doing weekly meetings, Gboyega will say “Temi, can we hear from you?” That one will carry his big head and be quoting all the billions of trades he had done and when he reached my turn, I would say, “Gboyega you know there was fuel scarcity last week.” That one will just stand up and carry him file comot.

The NGX seems to be on the right track now and we all can only support them meaningfully.

EBENEZER ONYEAGWU: ACCEPT MY HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES I heard the sad news very surreptitiously and you know how sensitive these things can be; you handle such news with ultimate care. I had heard that this brilliant gentleman recently lost a very close and dear loved one.

So, I sent a small message via Whatsapp to him and he responded in the affirmative. You see loss is something else. You can never get used to it and you can never be a ‘man’ about it.

Me, I used to cry o. I will cry well with my people and I have really cried in the last 24 months so I know how it is and the feeling of numbness that comes with it.

My brother, please remain strong and stand firm, remaining the pillar of the family that every other person will lean on.

God will keep you guys and continue to give you the fortitude to bear this obviously very painful loss. This is not the time to ask if I could send you a bowl of well-made Afang so I will not ask. But sha know that the bowl is just a call away. Bless you my brother.

RITA OPIAH: THE DAMSEL ATTHE PARK “We have the first female General Manager in the Radisson Group here with us.”

This was Emmanuel, the very dutiful

NGX: REFOCUSED, RE-ENERGISED AND ON COURSE Those days after my father finishes beating me black and blue, he will call me and say he is beating me because he loves me. I will look at him and mutter under my breath ‘which kind mumu love’. One day, I stupidly said, “mbok, kpong mien” meaning “leave me.” The second round of beating passed the first one o.

Na so my relationship with the NGX be. The Capital Market is my first constituency. I still play there but independently and that is why I can shout when things are going wrong.

The other time when Oscar was trying to play a Mugabe, I shout o. I shout everywhere. People were calling me, “Edgar wetin Oscar do you?” I replied them: “He no thief my wife o, he no just fit hold the two positions. Na against all known corporate governance ethics.”

Luckily he heard the cry and resigned for one.

Today, the NGX is doing what we have always been saying they should do. They are reaching out to the market. They are organising strategic engagements trying to pull in the

and passionate Manager at the Park Inn Radisson in Victoria Island. He had come to catch me. I wanted to do a photo shoot and had gone to the place to case it out.

Last time I was there, it was still under the Protea management but this time Radisson people had taken over.

I loved it instantly and started taking pictures and videos to send to my director. The people didn’t come to me o. It was Emmanuel they sent. That one came and was doing detective, doing his face like LASTMA that knows that he cannot do anything but will still be doing shakara.

He was too young for me to give the ‘do you know who I am’ attitude. I didn’t have to because he was very professional, respectful and nice.

We became friends and he started selling the facility and then he dropped it. The thing about the female General Manager. I asked for her profile and saw that she started as a receptionist at my friend Emeka Offor’s Victoria Plaza Hotel just down the road.

I simply love these kinds of stories. The humble story that leads to real success in a merit driven environment. These

KWAM 1: SHOW ME THE WAY It was my brother, Maestro Mudi who sent me the pictures. I saw one baba stand there and one angel siddon.

Ohh my God! The beauty radiated. The skin was smooth and the eyes were fluffy. As Mudi was talking I was not listening again o. He said, “Edgar see na me sew that cloth Kwam 1 dey wear.” I say Kwam who?

What is even wrong with these Mudi these days.

He had just sent me a picture of a Yoruba Mona Lisa. I had not seen such beauty in years.

She was demure. She looked celestial; she was the picture of resilient beauty. A classic and

Kwam 1 and his new wife, Ropo

evocatively, provocatively and assuredly edifice of paradagonistic beauty.

Then, I saw the picture again somewhere. They say it’s Kwam 1’s new wife. It was then I really looked at the man. Wasiuooo! Wasiu Baba. Kai, this one is a winner.

I can only very reluctantly wish him a happy married life but should there be a slightest, tiniest chance of a ‘scatter’, please I am first to be given the first option of refusal. Congratulations Lord Kwam 1. You enter the market well. Kabiyesi ooo.

stories are the ones we need to be screaming so that our youths and even our elders will be inspired.

By the time Emmanuel finished with me, I found myself staying the night and I must tell you if there is anything you should do before the new year, na to go and baff for that hotel. The shower na magic. I bathed five times, my mama go don shift for grave cos we had a running battle with my quarrel with water. Well-done Rita and crew.

MAYEN ADETIBA: A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE This one does not concern me but let me sha put my mouth. This amazon is running for the position of the Deputy President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE).

I didn’t know the elections were such a big deal until I stumbled on her and we had a discussion. I had reached out to ask if she would be in Uyo this December and she responded that she was running for an election.

I said OK o, send me something and let me send to some people and she sent me her profile. Mbok, the things I saw there – several Board seats in real strategic institutions like the CBN, NNPC. Service in various government committees, selfless services to the NSE and other such noble causes.

I was so proud of her when my friend in Kaduna, Abdul Aliyu called in to say, ‘Edgar, what is your own in this matter because I am voting in this election’? I said my candidate na Nma Adetiba and he said, ‘Ohh I know of her’. I say mbok vote. He keep quiet. I leave am.

Nma Adetiba has been around the block as you can see and I am of the firm opinion that if given the opportunity, she will do well hence this endorsement.

SEC: A DISTRESSED REGULATOR? While we are still on this matter of the Capital Market, the Securities and Exchange Commission comes to view.

The place is looking like it is on one big roller coaster ride - The Obi Cubanna type.

We have seen that they have been reported to be spending a whopping N6billion out of their N9billion generated periodically on salaries and emoluments. I am sure if you dig into the N6billion in more detail, you will see some diamond encrusted bra and jacuzzi, the type you will see in a Rap Star’s apartment.

When they asked the oga why it was like this, he simply quipped that he met it like that. Abi what else will he say when the appointment would have mostly been gotten on the altar of one Aladura church somewhere or through a handwritten note on the back of a complimentary card. I am not saying anything o.

We will continue to remain in the backwaters if we keep manning strategic organisations like these with these kinds of journeymen.

So, this new man cannot immediately roll back costs, generate new income streams and generally just carry out far reaching reforms to pull it out of the situation it finds itself in.

When the SEC itself is distressed, how will it regulate a system. A distressed SEC? Only in kalakuta Republic.

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 21, 2021

Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

SOCIETY WATCH

Andy Uba: Twice Unlucky!

Uanseru

Billionaire Businessman Greg Uanseru’s Entrepreneurial Skills Undoubtedly, if you ask the average Nigerian businessman to share his or her experience, he or she will inundate you with some bitter-sweet tales.

Indeed, you may not doubt him or her considering the inclement business climate under which many entrepreneurs around the world operated in 2020 and 2021 owing largely to the outbreak of COVID-19.

But despite this doleful experience forced on many as a result of the pandemic, this year has ended on a happy note for Greg Uanseru, president and CEO of GCA Energy Limited, a production plant offering a wide range of cutting-edge support services. The company focuses mainly on onshore and offshore procurement support, metering and calibration, fire engineering, and environmental services.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone who has been following his inspiring story with abiding interest. Over the years, Uanseru has sailed untroubled in the entrepreneurial ocean, navigating numerous business boats with the grace and nous of a veteran captain. Those that say money making is an art and that the Edo born businessman is a maestro in the field may be right after all.

While many who have worked with him in the past confirmed that he is a go-getter, it is also a fact that his clear vision has given GCA an edge over its competitors, thereby making it one of the leading oil services firms not only in Nigeria but also in Africa. He has glided from the lowest rung of the lather to the limelight, and this is evident in the phenomenal growth of the business that he started many years ago.

Uba

If you ask Andy Uba, a former Senator, to spell out his most cherished ambition, he will most probably tell you that he wants to be the Number One Citizen of his state. This is one

flown the party umbrella. He was said to have been full of hope and wasted money on his campaign like a drunken sailor. But again, his balloon of hope was punctured as he came a distant third - the election was won by the former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Charles Soludo.

With his recent humiliation, many say that his political clout may be on the precipice. As some political watchers say, he should have known that he is no longer a force to be reckoned with in the political circle of the state; hence, he should have saved his sweat and money for comfort.

It was gathered that when he signified interest in the governorship race, the former member of the Red Chamber became the anvil of criticisms in the political circle, as many in the state understood that he is no longer relevant, politically. But for his overbloated ago, he failed to realise that he is no more than a paper tiger.

A source revealed that the former political gladiator is distressed and feels like someone whose birthright has been denied him; so, he has reportedly vowed to reclaim his ‘mandate’, in the court of law.

Princess Folasade Omotade-Odumosu’s Glowing Moment Again, history beckons to Princess Folasade Omotade-Odumosu, a billionaire businesswoman. Over the years, the Yeye Ajagun Fiwajoye of Ibadanland has done great things that have caught the fancy of her compatriots in many areas of life. In other words, she has always been in the warm embrace of fame and recognition, all for her worthy and inspiring deeds in society.

Despite the wealth and influence she commands in society, the successful woman has no airs about her; she willingly lends her shoulder to anyone to lean on in a moment of need. She has always told those who care to listen that she achieved all she has through God’s grace and mercy, so she is willing to spend it all on humanitarian work.

However, she loathes people singing her praise for such acts of humaneness. She is not the

kind of billionaire that calls for publicity over little donations.

Indeed, those whose paths have crossed hers always affirm that the Ogun State-born entrepreneur understands the true meaning of friendship and has made huge sacrifices, at different times, to keep the sanctity of friendship as humanly possible. OmotadeOdumosu had in the past been dedicated to proffering solutions to an avalanche of problems at various levels of our educational institutions with huge donations.

Her philanthropy is aptly reflected in this saying of the popular Bishop of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, who said “A good deed is never lost. He who sows courtesy reaps friendship; he who plants kindness gathers love; pleasure bestowed on a grateful mind

Omotade-Odumosu

was never sterile, but generally, gratitude begets reward.”

Day of Glory for Senator Tokunbo Abiru’s wife, Feyisola

Dumo Lulu-Briggs’ Profile on the Rise Dumo Lulu-Briggs, a lawyer and Chairman of Platform Petroleum, has consistently proven that he has all it takes to sustain the legacy of his late billionaire father and founder of Moni Pulo Limited, O.B. Lulu-Briggs.

When he took over the reins of the management of his father’s company, which had previously been handled by expatriates, his critics expressed doubts in his ability to keep it afloat. But in no time, he successfully turned around the ailing company into one that many now do business with.

Even so, it was in recognition of his sterling qualities that he was honoured with the enviable title of Iniikeiroari V of Kalabari Kingdom. Indeed, those who made him the paramount Head of Oruwari House of Abonnema knew (still know) that he would never literally desecrate the title, particularly because of his disciplined lifestyle.

Interestingly today, the graduate of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria is one of the few whose profiles have been on the rise in River State. Among other reasons, he is loved by many for his several humane gestures that have continuously put smiles on the faces of many in and outside the state.

It, therefore, did not come as a surprise when Lulu-Briggs, who also holds a Master’s degree from the University of London, was honoured by Garden City Advancement Award (GCAA) as Rivers Man of the Year 2021 at a high-octane event held at Stadium Road Aztech Arcum Event Centre on November 7, 2021.

dream he has always pursued with great determination. But either by design or accident, the most sought-after position has again eluded him. With his power and connection, it is confounding that his dream has always been met with a kiss of death.

Uba first experienced political baptism of fire in 2007. Not one to easily give up on his hope, Uba jumped from one political party to the other to realise his ambition, all to no avail. He left his former political party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2017 for the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) in a bid to realise his governorship goal.

But the billionaire suffered another humiliation of his life in 2018 when he lost the APC primaries to a political rookie, Tony Nwoye. His defeat confirmed the fears expressed by his friends who had begun to see him as a serial loser.

However, Uba was unbothered. Like the typical Nigerian politician with incurable optimism, he refused to yield to the words of wisdom and again threw his hat into the rings for the November 6, 2021 governorship election in Anambra. He was buoyed, particularly after he had won the primary election of APC and

Abiru

When Feyisola Abiru set up her furniture business, Home and You Furniture Manufacturers in 1994, many wondered why such an educated and beautiful lady would go into a man’s dominated business.

But she was unperturbed. She welcomed the criticisms but resolved to shame her critics.

Today, the business that she began on a shoe-string budget has grown in leaps and bound, even beyond Nigeria.

For beautiful Feyisola, wife of Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru, last Monday will remain indelible in her mind, as she had a rare opportunity of showing her company’s products to President Muhammadu Buhari at the AFREXIM Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 in Durban, South Africa.

At the event, she was applauded by the President and also received some words of

encouragement from him.

H&Y Furniture Manufacturers is a lifestyle design and space enhancement company dedicated to improving the lives of people wherever they live, work or play.

It specialises in designing, manufacturing and installing modular furniture for all kinds of spaces - business, educational and residential projects.

Abiru, an industrialist, was born in Scotland, but later returned home with her family, five years after. She graduated from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, where she studied Dramatic Arts. The brilliant entrepreneur also attended the Lagos Business School and IMD Business School, Switzerland. Her furniture manufacturing factory is located in Ikorodu, Lagos State, with the state-ofthe-art showroom located at Admiralty Road Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

Oyo Speaker Debo Ogundoyin Walks down the Aisle with Olamidun Majekodunmi It is becoming evident that the Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Adebo Edward Ogundoyin can no longer wait to change his status from single to married!

Earlier in June, the youthful Speaker had proposed to his girlfriend, Olamidun Majekodunmi. Interestingly, he took another bold step, a few days ago, by meeting his fiancée’s family members in an introduction ceremony held in Abeokuta. The brief ceremony was attended by family, friends and some members of the Governor Seyi Makindeled administration.

The high octane party will start with engagement/ traditional marriage on Thursday, November 25, 2021, at the UI International Conference Centre while the white wedding and reception is expected to take place on Saturday,

November 27, at the Polo Club, Eleyele, Ibadan.

Olamidun is the daughter of the popular Dr. Femi Majekodunmi, the Baagbile of Egbaland while her mother is Honourable Justice Tokunbo Majekodunmi.

A source revealed that Chief (Mrs) Tina Ogundoyin, mother of the groom, is a close friend of Tokunbo. The friendship as hinted has lasted for over two decades.

As disclosed, the two prominent families are not leaving any stone unturned and are neck-deep in preparation to make the ceremony a huge success and also to make the wedding a colourful and mind-blowing one that would become a yardstick to measure a good social event

Debo and wife

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ JUNE 24 2012

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

21.11.2021

A THREE-COURSE VISUAL FEAST AND ITS VARIED FLAVOURS Featuring a not-so-well-known artist at the same salon exhibition with two more established painters turns out to be a deft curatorial balancing act after all. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke writes

C

hances are that these somewhat Picassoesque depictions of lowlifes might have resonated with quite a few of the visitors to the salon exhibition. And – come to think of it – isn’t there something about these grotesque forms that is starkly reminiscent of the expressions of man’s true inner life? For in the subtler material realms, every expression of the inner man immediately is embodied and expressed in a form that is identical with its essential meaning. Hence, not even the dapper looks of the men and women in the paintings, nor the gorgeous raiment of some of the women, seem enough to conceal who they truly are.

It is also possible that an open-minded collector among the visitors – whose arrival to the Ikoyi, Lagos-based residence came in spurts – might have thought privately to himself: “What a great artist, he is!” That, of course, would depend on how much his sensibilities tolerated stylised Àgurative forms or the artist’s rather eccentric aesthetic canons.

Talking about this artist, he is called Kingsley Obasi. A 40-year-old Yaba College of Technology graduate, he was until recently an art teacher at Caleb International School, which is located in a low-density Lagos mainland neighbourhood. As for his paintings, which have not yet asserted themselves well enough in the art public’s consciousness, they are largely being promoted by the Signature Art Gallery in the more commercialised part of the upmarket Ikoyi neighbourhood.

But more interesting – and, perhaps, remarkable – is his inclusion in the three-man salon show, which also featured well-established artists like Muraina Oyelami and Alex Nwokolo and was held from Saturday, November 13 to Sunday, November 14. “We needed to exhibit ‘masters’ only.

We considered three-generational ‘masters’, having looked at their precedence,” explains Emmanuel Odokwu the curator of the exhibition, which was sponsored by Arian Capital Management Limited.

Odokwu’s allusion to precedence seems to have a lot more to do with the artist’s diligence and less to do with his renown in the talent-glutted Lagos art scene. For aren’t there, after all, among artists of his generation quite a handful, whose fame had extended beyond the country’s borders? Of course, there could also have been logic-defying curatorial whims, which might have inÁuenced the choice of the exhibiting trio.

First to confront a visitor at the ground Áoor foyer of the triplex are the works of Alex Nwokolo, some of which are vaguely reminiscent of the works of the great octogenarian Ghanaian master Ablade Glover. With an ascent up the U-shaped staircase, more works emerge, jostling for attention and oͿering themselves to contemplation.

Standing out among these, a 72 x 72-inch tetraptych mixedmedia painting, titled “Red Beirut”, calls out to the viewer from its position on the wall. If this work, which was produced in 2020, seems incongruous with the rest of the artist’s oͿerings, it is because its spherical representation, set against a red backdrop, seems more like the 2-D equivalent of the metal sculptor Olu Amoda’s now-patented sculpture series.

Nwokolo, a 58-year-old Auchi Polytechnic graduate, is better known for fuzzy depictions of aerial impressions evident in such mixed media works as “Humanity” I and II, and “Holding Cell Series” as well as oil on textured canvas paintings like “Palmview Estate”, “Isale-Eko Greys” II and “High Street”. But then, in this exhibition, these are complemented with other oil on textured canvas oͿerings like “Alaye”, “Bayode”, Masquerades (Egungun), “Celestial Visitors”, the “Tuareg” series and the “Gelede Masquerade” series.

The Delta State native, who has so far held 11 solo exhibitions and 60 group exhibitions at galleries in Nigeria, the UK, France, Holland, South Africa and the US, has also featured in respectable auctions both within and outside Nigeria.

Moving on into the Àrst-Áoor living room, which is split into three unequal compartments, Obasi’s paintings hold court here. Among them are two acrylic-on-canvas works – one untitled and the other, titled “Room 4” – whose themes would

Friends with benefits II, 64 x 47 inches, Acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 2021

High street, 44 x 41.5 inches, Oil on textured canvas, 2021 have made even the 19th Century French novelist Émile Zola blush from embarrassment. And talking about Zola, parallels can be drawn between his apparent Àxation on obscenities and Obasi’s unvarnished – sometimes unÁattering – depictions of decadent underlife hidden beneath the façade of respectability.

Through the eyes and the countenance of his subjects, the artist claims, all the hidden intrinsic qualities of the human spirit could be discerned. Yet, there is nothing about his depiction of

the eyes – albeit in their grossly exaggerated proportions – that corroborates his assertion. Perhaps, he should have restricted his allusion to the faces, which indeed proclaim mankind’s inherent ugliness and inconsistent natures from the rooftops.

Unforgettable is the acrylic and charcoal on canvas painting, titled “Friends with BeneÀts” II, the memory of which trail the viewer as he ascends another staircase past the artist’s series of acrylic-on-paper works, titled “Portraits” I – VI. Muraina Oyelami’s paintings, which are often spin-oͿs of his interaction with his environment, adorn the last Áoor. As one of the Àrst-generation Osogbo Art School artists, he was mentored by the late German-born writer Ulli Beier and his wife English-born wife Georgina. His paintings, which are delightfully childlike in their expressions, hark back to his years at this experimental workshop cobbled together by the European couple in Osogbo.

There were also his antecedents as a founding member of the late Duro Ladipo Theatre Company as both an actor and a musician. These stood him in good stead to straddle both the worlds of the performing and the visual arts.

First, he was still with the theatre company when it performed at the Berlin Festival of Art (Berliner Festwochen) in 1964 and featured at the Àrst Commonwealth Arts Festival in the UK in 1965. Then, in 1973, he was an artist in residence and a fellow of The National Black Theatre in Harlem, New York, US. He also did a technical theatre course at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in Ile-Ife, where he also taught traditional music from 1975 and 1987. It was about midway into this period, in 1981/82 precisely, that he had a brief stint as a guest professor at the University of Bayreuth’s Iwalewa-Haus in Germany during the winter semester.

Indeed, saving Oyelami’s works for last at this salon exhibition deserves to be labelled a curatorial deft stroke. To the viewer, the dreamlike ambience of the landscape paintings “Housing Unit” II (oil on board) and “Labule” (oil on paper) as well as the oversimpliÀed expressions like “Ashake” (oil on board), “Ibeji” (oil on paper), “Liade” (oil on paper) and “Abeke” oͿer a welcome reprieve from the previous insalubrious visual fare.

Thumbs up nonetheless to the organisers of the two-day salon exhibition, which has familiarised the featured artists more with a growing art audience.

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER NOVEMBER 21, 2021

PERSPECTIVE How Bazoum Grilled Me About Chibok Girls in Paris

Nigerien President, Mohamed Bazoum Nuraddeen Muhammad

T

he visit by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari to the Elysee Palace in Paris on Wednesday, the 10th of November, 2021 to discuss regional security, peace and development, reminds me of an awkward encounter I had with Mr. Mohamed Bazoum, the incumbent President of the Republic of Niger about eight years ago during a similar meeting in the same palace.

President Bazoum was then Republic of Niger’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Franchapone & African Integration between 2011 and 2015 while I was the Minister of State Foreign Affairs in charge of african integration and regional cooperation.

The volume and intensity of diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Niger was so incredibly robust and organic in ways that we were together quite often, as the foreign ministers of our respective countries. Bazoum was a passionately tough voice against any form of terrorism and armed struggle in the sahel. In the very few circumstances that Nigeria would like to moderate its positions on issues of the Touareg rebels in Northern Mali, Bazoum would privately caution me: “Nuruddeen wallahi ba ku san mutanennan ba” (Nuruddeen, you don’t know this people).

Together, we planned and successfully got the approval of President Goodluck Jonathan to execute a very ambitious and comprehensive programme to patrol and secure the entire 999miles stretch of our joint border under the Joint Border Patrol initiative of the Nigeria Niger Joint Commission (NNJC).

Part of the package are dozens of off

the road trucks and SUVs all fitted with real time communication. There were also plans under the same NNJC platform to establish multiple barracks on either sides of the border to accommodate the joint border patrol personnel that were to be drawn from the military, gendarmerie, police, customs and immigrations of both countries. In the same spirit too, Nigeria generously supported Niger to procure arms and also with intelligence gathering logistics to monitor, intercept as well as disrupt the flow of light arms, small weapons and criminal elements passing through its vast territory enroute Northern Nigeria from Libya and Northern Mali.

The mind chemistry between myself and Bazoum was to become so seamless that we often discussed matters frankly devoid of all the layers of pretences that normally define relationships amomg top diplomats. Besides, both countries almost always sat next to each other because of their unique alphabetical similarities. That was to also give us ample time to engage as we sat behind our principals or besides each other in the event that we were in charge in ministerial meetings.

But beneath the glitzy surfaces, measured gazes and tones, flawless etiquettes and sophistication of international diplomacy could be truckloads of nerve racking embarrassments, frustrations and not infrequently even outright burn out!

Elysee Palace is no stranger to very high level meetings involving presidents; most importantly those of the Sahelo -Saharan states and precisely the Lake Chad region.

Nigeria is not only the lone none French speaking enclave in the

territory but remarkably the biggest elephant in the house too. The other countries are Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Nigeria accordingly expected (as a responsible member of this community) the total and unconditional support of our four Francophone neighbours when Boko Haram terrorists effortlessly shepherd about 240 school girls from Government Girls Secondary School Chibok in Borno State; in the early morning hours of 15th of April, 2014 and disappeared into what appeared then like a thin air.

Most unfortunately though, one of such neighbours was not remotely forthcoming or interested in ways that reflected the urgency of the moment. Meanwhile the entire administration was on trial at the world stage and every second, opportunity and assistance counted.

Naturally, Paris was therefore the place to turn to for the much needed help to bring all the five Heads of States of the Lake Chad region, including the uncooperative one together. President Francoise Hollande graciously agreed to host the meeting. Britain, the United States and European Union also joined to participate at the top level regional security meeting scheduled for the 17th of May, 2014 within the walls of the famed Elysee Palace in Paris As we sat behind our respective leaders that day while the meeting at the Elysee Palace progressed, Bazoum leaned and said to me in Hausa, “Mallam Nuruddeen don Allah in tambayeka wani abu mana”. Roughly translated as “Mr Nuruddeen can I please ask you something”? My heart sank as I replied yes Mr Minister.

It had better not to be about Chibok girls.... I had told myself!

He then looked me in the eyes with all the honesty he could summon and continued....

“I honesty want to know how a convoy of vehicles with scores of fighters could mobilise, and then boldly drive a fair distance within the Nigerian territory to reach their target; then take their time, perhaps hours... to fetch, sort and upload hundreds of terrified girls into those vehicles; and finally drove off, with everything and everyone disappearing into the darkness of the night without any attempt at intervention from your security and defense forces?”.

Bazoum was by that time already getting agitated as he stretched out his hands to touch my shaky shoulders and with a finality in his voice added...

“You know that it is you people who usually assist us in some of our hours of need, but I swear by Allah that that can never happen in Niger”.

He finally concluded with an unusual confidence to his tone....

“We would have gotten the intelligence about their movement while they were approaching their target. If however that is lost, we will certainly know while they were still collecting the girls within the school. And assuming but not conceding that too was lost on us, then we will certainly know where they were headed; and with a characteristic Niger accent he thundered...”kuma wallahi sai mun afka mu su” (and by Allah we shall attack them).

I am supposed to have some expertise in reading body language, most especially eye contact and the stream, form and content of speech. And it didn’t take long for me to figure out that it was evidently a very wrong time to respond.

Because what Bazoum had queried were the exact exact same questions that had bugged my mind since the abduction happened. And whether that was a mere grandstanding (about what his country would have done under the circumstances) or not, the bitter truth as at today is that no outlaw had ever dared to pull off such nonsense within their sovereign territory. I cannot for all the brain in my head remember exactly how that session of humilating interrogation ended. All I could recall was that I was left a red eyed, mortiftying and sweaty empty wreck with a dry mouth who was dodging eye contact when it eventually did.

Time flies and a lot had happened since then. First, with Dapchi in 2016, then K’ank’ara, Jengebe, Birnin Yauri, Kagara, Tegina and the Bethel Baptist High School in quick successions over the last two years, the international community is perhaps well adjusted to the possibilities of such kidnap spectacles coming out of Nigeria. Significantly also, Mohamed Bazoum is now the President of the Republic of Niger, who symbolises its sovereignity, and with that, sits shoulder to shoulder with Mr Buhari. This new role would probably determine how much of his mind Bazoum may be willing to share with his new friend and what he must keep to himself out of diplomatic courtesies.

I for one was to totally lose any appetite for foreign travels since that extraordinarily embarrassing encounter with Mr Bazoum at le Palais Elise that cold afternoon in May 2014 until I resigned from government to contest elections about 10 months later ˾ ßÒË××ËÎ ÓÝ Ë ÐÙÜ×ÏÜ ÓØÓÝÞÏÜ ÙÐ ÞËÞÏ ÙÜÏÓÑØ ÐÐËÓÜÝ ËØÎ ÓØÓÝÞÏÜ ÏÎÏÜËÖ ÓØÓÝÞÜã ÙÐ ØÐÙÜ×ËÞÓÙØ˛

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER NOVEMBER 21, 2021

CICERO

Editor: Ejiofor Alike SMS: 08066066268 email:ejiofor.alike@thisdaylive.com

IN THE ARENA

What Next After EndSARS Report?

Gboyega Akinsanmi writes that unless the federal and state governments implement the recommendations of the Lekki Incident Investigation Report dispassionately, the culture of brutality and impunity will persist among security agencies, especially the Nigeria Police

A

fter sitting for one year and 27 days, the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS and Lekki Tollgate Incident submitted its report last Monday. Despite diverse allegations of cover-up, the eight-man panel under the chairmanship of Justice Doris Okuwobi carried out its task with a view to delivering justice to the victims of police brutality.

The report put an end to controversies on whether officers of the Nigerian Army committed massacre against defenceless protesters at the Lekki Tollgate at the dusk of October 20, 2020. It also put an end to controversies on whether officers of the Nigeria Police assaulted and battered unarmed protesters in the night of October 20, 2020 and in the morning after.

The 309-report confirmed the video evidence that some #EndSARS protesters were actually killed by the soldiers.

The strength of the report does not lie in its revelations.

Rather, its strength lies more in the methodology adopted to get to the roots of the circumstances surrounding the armed attack on the unarmed protesters, who were exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association as guaranteed under Sections 38-40 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

As indicated in the report, 80 per cent of those summoned by the panel to testify or give evidence, honoured the panel’s invitations and gave evidence that eventually led it to a meaningful conclusion.

Apart from cross-examining forensics experts, pathologists and personnel of philanthropic private hospitals that treated victims of armed operations at the Lekki Tollgate, the panel visited the scene of the shootings.

The Managing Director of Lekki Concessioning Company (LCC), Mr. Yomi Omomuwasan conducted members of the panel around the facility.

Despite all the institutional constraints encountered during its proceedings, the panel was able to come up with some findings, which again provided the basis for justice if the federal and state government would make good its promises to look into the report and implement its recommendations.

Also, the report did not only expose the lies in the claim by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed that there was no massacre at the tollgate, but also debunked the insistence by the state governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, that only two deaths were confirmed after the incident.

The panel noted that the #EndSARS protesters at the tollgate were defenceless, helpless and unarmed youths, who were purely campaigning against police brutality, demanding dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and calling for comprehensive police reforms that would make officers of the Nigeria Police accountable.

Anchored on empirical evidence provided by different stakeholders, the panel proved that both federal and state governments were aware of the status, objectives and the frustration of the #EndSARS protesters.

By implication, according to the panel, the presence of the protesters at the tollgate did not threaten Nigeria in any way, neither could it be considered as a civil insurrection that could warrant the intervention of the military.

Apart from firing live bullets at the unarmed protesters at the Lekki tollgate, the report established that the soldiers denied the victims of the armed attack access to rescue and emergency services, which compounded fatalities recorded. In specific terms, the solders turned back ambulances invited to render first aid and assistance to

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu (left) receiving the report of the state Judicial Panel of Inquiry Report on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and other matters by the Chairman of the Panel, Justice Doris Okuwobi (rtd) the wounded protesters. In view of its findings, the report concluded that there was a massacre at the tollgate on the night of October 20, 2020.

Despite denying inviting the military, the panel explained how Governor Sanwo-Olu invited the Nigerian Army to the venue of the #EndSARS protesters.

Contrary to the provision of the law, the army did not adhere to the guidelines for curfew, which Sanwo-Olu laid down in a state broadcast on October 20, 2020.

It is obvious that the military deployment to the tollgate violated the provisions of the 1999 Constitution because the presence of the protesters never threatened Nigeria in any way.

The panel made some far-reaching recommendations, which if fully implemented, could bring an end to the entrenched culture of brutality and impunity among security agencies. It first recommended comprehensive police reforms covering welfare, training and proper equipping of its personnel and their work environment.

Also, the report recommended disciplinary actions for General Officer Commanding, 81 Division, Maj.Gen. Godwin Umelo and Commanding Officer of 65 Battalion, Lt. Col. Salisu Bello for refusing to honour summons on two different occasions.

In addition, it recommended that all officers deployed to the tollgate should face appropriate disciplinary action.

With the exception of Commander, 81 Division Garrison, Brig. Gen. Francis Omata, the panel demanded that all military officers involved in the operations should be stripped of their status and dismissed on the grounds that they “are not fit and proper to serve in any public or security service of the nation.”

The panel equally recommended that the Divisional Police Officer, Maroko Police Division, Mr. Raji Ganiyu and all police officers deployed for operation between October 20 and 21, 2020 should be prosecuted for arbitrary and indiscriminate shooting and killing of the #EndSARS protesters.

The panel also challenged the federal government to publicly apologise to the youth for abruptly undermin-

ing the protest with their state actors for the purpose of restitution, healing and reconciliation, three major pillars that would deepen the roots of social justice and internal stability.

To preserve the memory of the #EndSARS protest, the panel also recommended that Lekki Tollgate should be rechristened ‘EndSARS Tollgate.’

It also proposed that October 20 be adopted as the EndSARS National Day and Toll Free Day in remembrance of the fallen youths at the Lekki Tollgate.

The panel also recommended the establishment of a special trust fund and Standing Human Rights Tribunal.

While the former will be responsible for the compensation of the victims of the Lekki Tollgate incident and other established human rights abuses, the latter will investigate all petitions that the panel could not entertain due to time constraints.

However, Governor Sanwo-Olu has constituted a four-man committee under the chairmanship of the Attorney General of the state and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Moyo sore Onigbanjo (SAN) to come up with a white paper on the report of the panel within a fortnight.

On his part, the federal government is yet to respond almost one week after the panel submitted its report.

While many have hailed the report as a good effort to end police brutality in the country, others have equally condemned it, describing it as a lazy and hurriedly rehashed document.

Those who faulted the report added that it was full of contradictions and incoherence.

But the United Nations has demanded a thorough execution of the recommendations of the judicial panel to rebuild trust and start the process of healing and reconciliation.

Others are urging civil society organisations (CSOs), international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), diplomatic community and other international institutions to mount pressure on the federal government to implement the panel’s recommendations as a strategy to end the culture of brutality and impunity among security agencies.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER NOVEMBER 21, 2021

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BRIEFINGNOTES

Malami’s Many Controversies Since the advent of democracy in 1999, no Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice has courted controversies like the incumbent, Abubakar Malami, writes Ejiofor Alike

S

ince President Muhammadu Buhari appointed ministers to help him pilot the affairs of the country, none has courted controversies like the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN).

In the course of performing his duties, he has always been in the news, for the wrong reasons.

His closest rival in courting controversies is Mr. Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), who was the AGF during the administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

But Malami seems to have broken the record in terms of notoriety for alleged abuse of power and privileges.

However, these have remained mere allegations in the realm of public speculations as no court of law has ever indicted him.

In the early life of Buhari’s administration, Malami was allegedly involved in the controversial reinstatement of the now jailed former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, into the Federal Civil Service.

Maina was dismissed from service in 2013 for absconding from duty after the office of the Head of Service had made some recommendations.

He was at some point a fugitive, having been declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He was however recalled and deployed to the Ministry of Interior under controversial circumstances in 2017 on the alleged advice of Malami.

Following public outcry that greeted his reinstatement, Buhari ordered Maina’s sack again while the then Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, was asked to probe the embarrassing situation.

On October 24, 2017, the Senate also mandated its committees on Public Service, Internal Affairs, Anti-corruption, Establishment and Judiciary to probe the circumstances leading to Maina’s return to the country and recall into the public service.

Malami denied any involvement in Maina’s recall when he appeared before the House of Representatives in November 2017.

Curiously, the minister sought for an order of interim injunction restraining the National Assembly from probing him over the restatement of Maina, which was rejected by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in January 2018.

Malami was also accused of seeking approval for the payment of $16.9 million fees to two lawyers for the recovery of Abacha loot worth $321 million, which was also rejected by a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.

Adeosun was said to have written a strongly-worded letter to Buhari, raising objections to the payment.

The House of Representatives had also in April 2018 urged Buhari to suspend the payment of the $16.9 million or any part thereof to two Nigerian lawyers engaged by Malami to recover the Abacha Loot pending investigation on the matter.

Presenting the motion at its plenary session of April 12, 2018, Hon. Mark Terseer Gbillah (PDP: Benue) expressed surprise that

Malami the minister engaged the services of two Nigerian lawyers for a fee of $16.9 million without following due process.

The AGF was also said to be behind the travails of the former acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, by recommending his sack to Buhari.

Again, on October 6, 2016, Nigerians were woken up by the sad news that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) had raided the residences of some judges in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Gombe, Kano, Enugu and Sokoto.

Malami had admitted that he ordered the raids.

He claimed that there were reasonable grounds to justify the arrest of the judges, citing the high number of petitions that had been received by his office, the DSS, the EFCC and other

anti-graft agencies.

Also citing Section 15 (5) of the 1999 Constitution, the minister had stated that the state had a responsibility to halt all acts of corruption and could deploy any agency with the capacity to achieve that purpose.

Malami argued that the judges had no immunity against prosecution and that there was no requirement of law, which stipulated that only the EFCC must investigate financial crimes.

Malami had also attracted public flak with his controversial response to the ban on open grazing by the 17 southern governors.

Also very recently on October 29, about 50 security operatives made up of police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) invaded the Abuja residence of the Supreme

Court judge, Justice Mary Peter-Odili over an allegation that illegal activities were going on there.

A search warrant was reportedly granted to one Lawrence Ajodo, later identified as a fake Chief Superintendent of Police who had claimed to be attached to the AGF’s office.

Upon his arrest, Ajodo confessed to have been working for the minister as a consultant and recovery agent, even though he said the AGF did not know anything about the invasion of Justice Odili’s residence.

Some hours after the parade, the AGF in a statement released by his spokesman, Dr. Umar Gwandu, denied any alleged connection with the suspect.

Also reacting to the development last Sunday, Malami said he had never met with the suspect before, adding that there is no relationship — distant or close — between him and the suspect.

The minister said Ajodo should provide “formal evidence” of his engagement by the office of the attorney-general, adding that is the only source to prove his alleged relationship with the suspect.

In spite of frantic denial, many Nigerians have refused to accept Malami’s narrative, given his antecedents.

A few days earlier, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) had argued that Malami risks losing the SAN title over the same Justice Odili’s issue.

President of the NBA, Olumide Akpata, recalled how operatives of the DSS had in 2016 raided the homes of seven judges as well as how a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, was “illegally removed from office,” ahead of the 2019 general election.

Akpata called on President Muhammadu Buhari to set up an independent panel to investigate the matter.

While this was ongoing, the House of Representatives last week queried why Malami allegedly ordered Keystone Bank to pay the sum of $40 million belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Naira equivalent, using N305 as the exchange rate. The Executive Director, North and Public Sector Directorate of the bank, Mr. Lawal Ahmed, had revealed this when he appeared before the ad hoc committee on the assessment and status of all recovered loots, movable and immovable assets from 2002 to 2020 by agencies of the federal government of Nigeria for effective and efficient management.

Before then, Malami was credited with a statement that there was no going back on the federal government’s decision to commence deducting $418million from the 36 states’ accounts to settle their indebtedness to consultants and private firms concerning the Paris and London clubs refund.

This is despite the governors’ opposition to it and the recent order issued by the Federal High Court in Abuja stopping the deduction of the money from the accounts of the 36 states to settle the judgment debts.

The debts had accrued from court judgments awarding some consultants and contractors to the states and local governments, various sums of money which currently stand at $418 million. Expectedly, his statement attracted a lot of reactions with the governors, some individuals and groups, accusing the Minister of working for consultants instead of defending the interest of the country.

NOTES FOR FILE

Odili: Still Waiting for the Police

Baba

One week has since passed since the Nigeria Police Force paraded 14 suspects in connection with the siege on the residence of a Supreme Court judge, Justice Mary Odili in Abuja, and nothing new is forthcoming from the Force.

The respected Supreme Court judge was on Friday, October 29, 2021, subjected to intimidation when a combined team of security operatives comprising over 50 armed operatives who were executing a search suspicious warrant from the Joint Panel on Recovery in the Federal Ministry of Justice.

The incident had drawn criticisms from many quarters including the National Assem-

bly, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), senior lawyers and civil society organisations.

While the police were beating their chest thinking that they had done a good job by arresting a few of the suspects, many Nigerians were not convinced. They sense that the Force was desperate to bury the truth. Otherwise, why would they parade private citizens and leave the over 50 armed security operatives involved in the raid. Who then authorised the release of all those armed policemen involved?

To buttress the foolery, the Force Spokesman, Frank Mba, told the whole world that the police officers and officials of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC)

involved in the incident are all at large. What is “at large?”

One week after, the issue has not come up again. The questions the Force needs to answer are: Did the police and EFCC officials involved in the raid disappear into thin air?

Have they left the Force?

Many sense desperation on the part of the police to cover the facts of the matter. They believe that the Force quickly paraded the 14 suspects to pre-empt independent investigations by the Supreme Court and others.

Otherwise, is it shocking that over one week after the suspects were paraded, nothing has happened and nobody is telling Nigerians anything further? That’s Nigeria for you.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER NOVEMBER 21, 2021

CICERO/REPORT

General Zirkushu

As War against Insurgency Claims Army General On the heels of the killing of the Commander of the 28 Task Force Brigade in Chibok, Brigadier General Dzarma Zirkushu, in an ambush by terrorists in Borno State last week, curious eyebrows are being raised as regards Nigeria’s capacity to win the war against insurgency, writes Vanessa Obioha

D

espite the usual claim of winning the war against insurgents in the North-east, the Nigerian Army penultimate Saturday announced the killing of one of its highest ranking officers fighting the insurgency war, Brigadier General Dzarma Zirkushu.

Zirkushu, the Commander of the 28 Task Force Brigade in Chibok, was attacked and killed alongside three soldiers by the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), in Askira Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.

In January 2021, the late Brigadier General was redeployed from the Headquarters 1 Brigade, Gusau, Zamfara State to Headquarters 28 Task Force Brigade, Chibok, and appointed commander.

Before he was killed last week, the highest ranking army officers killed by terrorists in the North-east were colonels. While the Commander of the 25 Task Force Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Damboa, Colonel Dahiru Bako, was killed by Boko Haram terrorists in September 2020, the Commanding Officer of the Chief of Army Staff Mobile Intervention Battalion in Borno, Col. Hussaini Samaila Sankara died in July 2021 following the injuries he sustained when his vehicle ran into a landmine/IED of Boko Haram.

The IED blast incident, which occurred on May 30 between Marte and Dikwa, also killed some soldiers who were in the same vehicle with the late Sankara.

According to the sources, the troops of 28 Task Force Brigade, Chibok, were ambushed on their way to provide reinforcement in Askira, which was under attack by the ISWAP fighters. The said fighters had reportedly stormed the town in a large convoy of gun trucks.

In a statement issued by the Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, the Army stated that the troops of Joint Task Force, North-east Operation Hadin Kai were engaged in a fierce gun battle with the terrorists which also led to the death of the Brigadier General and three other soldiers.

The statement read in part: “A gallant senior officer, Brigadier General Dzarma Zirkushu, and three soldiers paid the supreme sacrifice in a very rare display of gallantry as they provided reinforcement in a counter-offensive against the terrorists and successfully defended the location.”

While giving the reason why Brigadier General Zirkushu was attacked and killed, the Senator representing Borno South Senatorial District, Ali Ndume, said the general was killed because he was a major obstacle to ISWAP operations in the area. He also disclosed that he died after a

bomb-laden car rammed into his vehicle.

He said: “They know that the general was the major obstacle to their operation. They laid an ambush and rammed a bomb-laden car into his vehicle. The military is aware and the air force is providing surveillance in the area. It was a revenge mission. The army has been taking out key ISWAP commanders and they have their revenge.”

According to Ndume, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, the terrorists were regrouping in Borno North Senatorial District.

“They (ISWAP terrorists) are also regrouping around Borno North, that’s Lake Chad axis, planning to launch a fresh attack. The military is aware and the Air Force is conducting surveillance in the area right now.”

Many observers are of the opinion that if many soldiers, including officers can still be killed in Borno State, not only does it mean that the war against insurgency is not in any way near abating, it also reveals what the civilian population in the state is going through in the hands of the terorrist groups.

Before now, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and the Army had always engaged in propaganda with claims that the terrorist groups in the North-east had either been “technically” degraded or outrightly

decimated and defeated.

Though very little is heard about Boko Haram these days with the death of its leader, Abubakar Shekau, in the hands of ISWAP, the breakaway group has remained deadly.

For instance, in December 2015, President Buhari had claimed that war against the Islamist militants had been “technically won.” He said the militant group could no longer mount “conventional attacks” against security forces or population centres.

This was followed by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed who in 2019 said the military had “successfully defeated” Boko Haram insurgents. He said the country is now facing a fresh crisis, which is called a “global insurgency.”

Mohammed also said Nigerian troops have “successfully cleared the remnant of the home-grown insurgency called Boko Haram and are now being confronted by a fresh crisis, a global insurgency.”

“A faction of Boko Haram has aligned with the global terror group, ISIS, to form ISWAP, the Islamic State’s West African Province. In other words, ISIS now has a strong foothold in West Africa – with Nigeria at the forefront of the battle against them.

“With ISIS largely dislodged from Iraq and Syria, there is undoubtedly a flush of fresh fighters and weapons to ISWAP. Therefore, our military is fighting a global insurgency, without the kind of global coalition, including the United States, that battled ISIS in Syria and Iraq,” he said.

Former Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, had equally claimed that Boko Haram group had been defeated but the Nigerian military is now fighting an international criminal gang known as Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) which is a breakaway faction of Boko Haram.

He then explained that what is currently playing out in the North-east is the “metamorphosis of ISWAP which is an attempt by a group of international criminal organisations to explore the loopholes created by the breakdown of law and order in some neighbouring countries to perpetrate criminality in the West African sub-region.”

He then explained that what is currently playing out in the North-east is the “metamorphosis of ISWAP which is an attempt by a group of international criminal organisations to explore the loopholes created by the breakdown of law and order in some neighbouring countries to perpetrate criminality in the West African sub-region.”

Apart from the then army chief, other officials of the Buhari administration have made different claims about the group being ‘defeated’, ‘technically defeated’ or ‘decimated.’

Yet, the more these claims were being made, the more the terrorist groups were launching more deadly attacks and assaults on the military and residents of Borno as well as other neighbouring states. Government critics argue that it has exaggerated the scale of its success against the militants, and that each time the army claims to have wiped out Boko Haram, the militants have quietly rebuilt.

Although from time to time, the military would regale Nigerians with statements on how tens of the terrorists are neutralised, they are still able to gather, attack civilian and military targets killing hundreds of people.

After many years of claiming that it had killed Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, it was ISWAP that eventually killed him. Also, it was the ISWAP group that was responsible for the eventual decimation of Boko Haram group in order to take full control of the Sambisa Forest.

On several occasions, the Nigerian military had complained about lack of equipment to effectively prosecute the war against the insurgency. The arrival of 12 A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets ordered from the United States and other 28 platforms, including 10 Super Mushshak aircraft, five Mi-35M helicopter gunships, two Bell 412 helicopters, four Agusta 109 Power attack helicopters, two Mi-171E helicopter, three JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft, and other armoured vehicles procured for the military, this year alone, had raised all hopes that a difference would be seen in the raging war against insurgency and banditary.

But unfortunately, nothing reasonable has been seen. Almost on a weekly basis, Nigerians are inundated with stories of how soldiers were killed in ambushes.

President Buhari was first elected into office in 2015 primarily because of the past administration’s inability to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency and end the insecurity in the country.

After six years into his administration, Nigerians have seen more attacks from the insurgents and bandits in more states outside the North-east.

Also, banditry, other forms of crime and violence still remain huge challenges in other parts of the country.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER NOVEMBER 21, 2021

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INTERNATIONAL #EndSARS Killings and Report: The Challenge of Institutional Dishonesty and Impunity for Foreign Policy

T

he 20 October 2020 protests by the #EndSARS, organised to demand an end to police brutality in the country and the reaction of both the military and the policemen by way of brutal killing of some protesters who were all singing patriotic songs and the National Anthem, as well as waving the national flag, clearly suggest that there is no jot of democratic freedom in Nigeria, that Nigeria is playing host to civilian rule but not to democratic rule. In a normal democratic setting, freedom of expression is always taken for granted. Freedom of expression can be verbal or expressed by way of protests. This was what happened on 20 October 2020, but which the security agencies brutally suppressed. The brutal suppression was a coup on democracy, on democratic will and an expression of unwanted militarizing democracy.

Put differently, consistent with Nemo dat Quod non Habet, which simply means that no one can give what he or she does not have, the fatal mistreatment of peaceful protesters is an acknowledgement of the fact that Nigeria does not have democracy as a value. Nemo dat Quod non Habet is a basic legal principle according to which, without adequate ownership of a thing, ownership of such a product cannot be transferable. Acquisition and ownership of democratic values is yet to be imbibed by the security agencies in Nigeria. The security agencies operate as if Nigeria is under a military junta, as if PMB is still an active soldier where obeying the last order must be complied with without complaint. This is one way of explaining and understanding the killing of peaceful protesters who want a better Nigeria that will be free from dishonesty and impunity.

Most unfortunately, however, this cannot but be so, because democracy is more of an aspiration than an acquired asset in Africa, and particularly in Nigeria. It is generally believed that no one is above the law, principle of nemo est supra leges. In Nigeria, the truth is that the principle does not apply. Where the principle applies, the security forces are always above the law. Security agents generally behave as if they are above the law. They operate above the law because they are in possession of the instruments of force. More significantly, they do and undo freely because of the Nigerian environment is that of general impunity.

In fact, corruption, societal indiscipline, and political chicanery thrive with ease in Nigeria and have become the hallmark of political governance. The report of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters, submitted to the Lagos State on Monday, 15 November 2021, was in two parts. One was on investigation on petitions on several abuses. The other was on the 20 October 2020 Lekki Tollgate shootings. The report lends justification to non-democracy or democratic lawlessness in Nigeria, the implications of which are very critical for Nigeria’s foreign policy.

Institutional Dishonesty Political governance under President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) has been largely fraught with institutional dishonesty and impunity, especially in terms of saying one thing and acting the contrary; saying another thing in the morning and denying same the following morning; encouraging political chicanery, while protecting the same by fiat; adopting policy measures that divide Nigeria, on the one hand, and also preaching the gospel of indissolubility and indivisibility of Nigeria, on the other.

Unbelievable but true, Nigeria has become a terra cognita of political contradictions, institutional dishonesty, and impunity, because they are openly manifested and acquiesced to by the people. The contradictions occur and are also uncatered to, as if they do not matter to national survival. What the report of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters has clearly shown is not simply the brutality of Nigeria’s security forces, but particularly all efforts to cover up the aspect of brutality of the 20 October 2021 saga, which has been referred to as ‘a massacre’ in the report of the retired Justice Doris Okuwobiled judicial panel. Attempts at cover up are an expression of institutional dishonesty.

Polemologically, the use of the word, ‘massacre,’ raises the issue of institutional corruption and dishonesty at the

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Onyema government level. First, Nigeria is said to be fantastically corrupt, to borrow the words of a former British Prime Minister, simply because of rampant institutional dishonesty. And true, any act or manifestation of dishonesty is necessarily corrupt in design and character. Corruption is an act of dishonesty.

Put differently, when the EndSARS protesters embarked on their very peaceful protests with the waving of Nigerian Flags and chanting of Nigeria’s National Anthem, many of them were brutally killed. Most unfortunate, but this is a feature that has become a characteristic of PMB’s political governance of Nigeria. The reactions of the security forces to the protests were manu militari in operation. They are designed to cover up in objective, and most unfortunately, they are denials of truism that enable the international community to see Nigeria and her people in bad light.

Chief Duro Onabule, former editor of the National Concord newspaper, has reminded us about many cases of institutional dishonesty in Nigeria: ‘clandestine attempt to re-absorb Rasheed Maina into the top hierarchy in the Federal Civil Service, despite the fact that that he had been declared wanted by the EFCC for stealing over two billion naira from the Pensions Commission’ (vide his “Futile Bid to Cover Up Lekki Report,” Daily Sun, Friday, November 19, 2021, p.31). Why should anyone want to embezzle common patrimony, money meant for retirees? If the EFCC is seeking prosecution of the accused, why is that prosecution not the priority rather than seeking a top appointment in the public service to cover up as the priority?

Duro Onabule also recalled the case of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, ‘who had been on suspension for an entirely different reason. The vacillation over Babachir’s trial almost made Nigerians forget the man’s fate.’ Why is it that government officials and politicians are hardly on record to defend fairness and justice, but are always on record to cover up insanities, wrong doings, and wickedness? When the public was debating international al-

No wonder, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Amnesty International are insisting on transparency in the handling of the report, particularly the White Paper. In this regard, arms embargo may be placed on Nigeria by the United States because of the Leahy vetting which prohibits the US Government from providing military assistance to foreign security units that infringe on human rights with impunity. Nigeria may also be dragged to the International Criminal Court under the Rome Statutes. Besides the saga of Boko Haram insurgency, armed banditry, Fulanisation and Islamisation agenda controversy, self-determination and secession agitation, Nigeria’s international image is being tainted, regardless of PMB’s international marketing of Nigeria in many countries. The marketing is more of frolicking around than a serious positive image making. No international self-projection can impact meaningfully when the domestic setting is fraught with lawlessness. The denials of non-killing by the Army are not as incriminating as the use of live bullets to deal with peaceful protests. Consequently, whether it is the blank bullets shot in the air that killed, or the non-used live bullets that were preserved that eventual accounted mysteriously for the death of the protesters, time will tell, but the future of Nigeria, as a united, indissoluble, and indivisible nation cannot be bright if Government continues to cultivate the culture of dishonesty and denial of truisms as a mania of life.

legations against the immediate past Service Chiefs at a point in time, PMB made them extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors to make them enjoy diplomatic immunity, but which may not cover offences committed before the grant of their agréments. This factor of vacillation and self-denials is still much reflected in the various reactions to the judicial panel’s report. In the words of Onabule, ‘more irritating were (sic) the arrogance and lies thrown about all over the place in vain attempt to cover up the bloodshed’ (ibidem).

One of the notable members of the Panel, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, noted during a Channels Television discussion programme that ‘since the submission of the EndSARS Panel Report to the Governor of Lagos State on November 15, 2021, members of the Panel have become the subject of vicious attacks by those suspected to be agents of the government. All manner of allegations has been heaped upon Panel Members, some of whom have been called unprintable names.’ Arguments on discrepancies between evidence and findings by the Panel are being raised, not necessarily to establish the truth, but to suppress it. Why is truth not a value in the governance of Nigeria? With a White Paper or not, any attempt at cover up of the truth cannot be a vain attempt, regardless of the faultfindings and effort at ‘panel beating’ of the nexus between evidences adduced and findings of the Panel.

It cannot but be an act of dishonesty to voluntarily set up a panel of people believed to be of impeccable integrity, to voluntarily fund well the Panel, and then thereafter, begin to hesitate in accepting the findings and recommendations of the Panel. Without doubt, it can be argued that the Government had fully and well funded the Panel in expectation that the Panel would help to cover up the aspect of massacre in its report. Justice Doris Okuwobi is a retired Justice and may have the fear of God to contend with in the rest of her life. Therefore, she might have no fear of Government or no special needs from Government. In other words, there is nothing preventing her from operating on the basis of objectivity of purpose, which the Government of Lagos might have not expected.

It might also be true that the good funding of the Panel might have been sincerely done in the spirit of good governance and objectivity of purpose, the truth is that unnecessary pressures are being mounted to ensure that the indictment of the security agencies is not reckoned with in the implementation of the report. Without any doubt, the Lagos State Government is not much happy about the observations made on what happened on 20 October 2021 at Lekki, especially that it was more of a massacre. It is therefore understandable if there are people strongly believed to be working for the Lagos State Government are lambasting members of the Panel in such away as to destroy the essence of the report. This is again a manifestation of institutional dishonesty. To what extent can the politics of cover up go in the governance of Nigeria? Truth and honesty are what exalt a nation, we are told in the Bible.

How does God perceive Nigeria of today?

The Foreign Policy Dimensions The report of the Doris Okuwobi judicial panel directly negated the earlier pretensions and denials of the security agencies regarding the massacre of the #EndSARS peaceful protesters. The issue of massacre, according to the Panel, or ‘massacre without bodies,’ according to Lai Mohammed, has many foreign policy implications. Let us begin with the domestic level, since it is generally agreed that foreign policy is the continuation of domestic policies at the external level.

First is the factor of denials at various levels in October 2020. The Nigerian army vehemently denied its presence at the scene of the protests. Later, it admitted its presence at the venue but added that its presence was on the invitation of the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who explained, in his own reaction, that he was not the Commander-in-Chief and therefore did not have any control over the Nigerian Army.

He denied, by so doing, that he ever invited the Army. The army was not happy with the denial.

What is noteworthy is that the Army claimed not to have killed anyone but admitted that the soldiers deployed to the Lekki Tollgate were given both live and blank bullets. In the words of Brigadier General Ahmed Taiwo on 14 November 2020 at the session of the Panel, there were ‘peaceful protests no doubt. But there were also hoodlums who sought to take advantage. That is why they were armed with blank bullets in addition to the live bullets they were carrying.’

Most unfortunately, it is not clear how many of the infiltrators were accosted, prosecuted, or killed. What is clear is that it is the peaceful demonstrators that have been fatally dealt with. The Army claimed it had fired their weapons in the air and used blanks, not live rounds. The question to be answered is how the blank bullets have killed defenceless people and why the live round bullets have not been preserved. The truth of the matter here is that both the CNN investigation reports, the analyses of some ballistics experts, and military officials have clearly shown that the shape of the bullet casings used at the scene were live rounds. Thus, the soldiers fired live rounds and not blanks.

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NEWS IN DOUBLE STANDARD, US THREATENS NIGERIA WITH ARMS EMBARGO, WHILE SILENT ON ISRAEL Several resolutions condemning violence against Palestine protesters, and the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, were also reportedly thwarted by the US. The UN resolutions had also stated that East Jerusalem should not be considered Israeli territory, but the US recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.

In contrast to Washington’s blanket support for Israel, concerns have heightened that the US wants to tie Nigeria’s hand behind her back in the face of attacks by terrorists, and bandits by threatening arms embargo against the country in the fight against insurgent groups.

But Blinken, in a surprise move, said his country would apply the Leahy Laws against Nigeria.

The Leahy Laws prohibit the US Department of State and Department of Defence from providing military assistance to foreign security force units that violate human rights with impunity.

Blinken said: “Of course, we also have laws in place – the Leahy laws, for example. That makes sure that if there are units that have committed abuses; we are not going to provide equipment to those units.”

Asked whether the US would invoke the Leahy Laws against Nigeria, the secretary of state promised: “Well, we look in any instance if there are credible allegations that prove out or that we believe meet the standard of the law, of course, we will apply the law.

“If there is genuine transparency, accountability, and change that follows from these incidents and these abuses, I think that is very important, not only to our administration. It is also important to the US Congress in making judgments about continuing to assist the security forces,” Blinken explained.

The secretary of state, however, explained the nature of military assistance the US had been giving Nigeria, noting that it was not all about the sale of military hardware alone, but also about the software.

According to Blinken, “the military assistance itself is not just the hardware that we might provide – airplanes or helicopters. It is also the software as well as the human software”.

He said: “Because one of the things that we are doing is making sure that as we are providing equipment to deal with profound security challenges that are faced here in Nigeria – terrorism, criminal activity, other violence, those who will be using the equipment are trained.

“Security forces must be trained in a way that makes sure that they are doing it to avoid hurting the good guys, even as they are going after the bad guys, to make sure that the laws of armed conflict are fully in mind. If they make mistakes, they are corrected and they are brought to light immediately,” Blinken explained.

Reacting to the report on the Lekki Tollgate incident, Blinken admitted that the report of the Lekki Incident had brought transparency to

GOOD TO SEE YOU… Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (left), and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar III, at the graduation ceremony of Senior Executive Course 43 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, Jos, Plateau State…yesterday

what happened on the night of October 20, 2020.

He said: “I think the first of all, the fact of the report, of the panel’s work is usually important because it is bringing vital transparency to what happened, to the violence that took place around the #EndSARS protests and the allegations of abuses by the security forces.

“I have not seen the published report yet. I think it will hopefully be coming out very, very soon. But a couple of things are really important,” Blinken added.

He explained that the report was important to make sure that such an incident would not happen again.

He argued that reforms “are necessary to build and rebuild trust between the citizens and the security services, between citizens and the state. That is an obligation of both the state government and the federal government.”

Blinken insisted that officers of the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police, who played one role or the other in the Lekki Incident should be made to account for their roles.

He said: “If there are individuals that – as it emerges from this report – who are responsible for committing abuses, there has to be accountability in terms of those individuals.

That too is vital to rebuilding trust between citizens and the state and the security services.”

The panel’s report had recommended that all officers deployed to the tollgate should face appropriate disciplinary action. Except for Commander, 81 Division Garrison, Brig. Gen. Francis Omata, the panel demanded that all military officers involved in the operations should be stripped of their status and dismissed on the ground that they “are not fit and proper to serve in any

public or security service of the nation.”

The panel equally recommended that the Divisional Police Officer, Maroko Police Division, Mr. Raji Ganiyu, and all police officers deployed for operation between October 20 and 21, 2020 should be prosecuted for arbitrary and indiscriminate shooting and killing of the #EndSARS protesters.

On the Ethiopia-Tigray conflict, Blinken disclosed that the US “is acting in close coordination with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, supporting his efforts, and other leaders on the continent including Kenyan President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta to end the conflict.”

He emphasised the African-led solutions to end the Ethiopia-Tigray conflict, noting that the African Union with Obasanjo “is doing exactly that. It is a very important approach and it is something that we will support.”

CAN Faults Removal of Nigeria from Religious Violations List In another development, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday faulted the removal of Nigeria Nigeria from the US 2021 list of religious violators, insisting that Christians are still being persecuted by terrorist groups and other Islamic associations in the country.

The apex Christian organisation said that it was at a loss on the data or statistics used by the US government in arriving at delisting Nigeria from the list of ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ on the issue of freedom of religion.

US Secretary of State, Blinken, had in a statement on Wednesday, blacklisted

Russia, China, and eight other countries as religious violators, leaving out Nigeria which was placed on the same list in 2020.

Speaking in Nigeria during a two-day official visit that ended on Friday, Blinken had disclosed that the delisting of Nigeria was based on facts.

But CAN in a statement yesterday condemned the decision, saying that Christians were still being ferociously attacked and that nothing has changed between 2020 and 2021 to warrant the removal of Nigeria from the list of religious violators.

The statement signed

by CAN President, Rev Samson Ayokunle, read in part: “The US government did not contact us when they were listing Nigeria among the countries of ‘Particular Concern’ on religious freedom, neither did they seek our opinion before removing Nigeria from the list. If they had done, we would have been able to compare the statistics then and now on the issue of freedom of religion in Nigeria.

“Whatever may be the data they used, our prayer is that Nigeria would be a country where no religious group is discriminated against or persecuted and that our government would see to it that all religiously biased policies are discontinued.

“Christians had faced and are still facing persecution from ISWAP and the Boko Haram Islamic Group till today as before. These are the people who said their agenda was to wipe away Christianity from Nigeria and to plant Islam as the only religion from the North down to the Atlantic Ocean in the South. That agenda with the killing of Christians has not stopped till today and Nigerians are living witnesses.

“The bandits have joined other militant Islamic groups

to be ferociously attacking churches, killing worshippers, and kidnapping for ransom.

The herdsmen are equally doing their havoc. We have lost many people and places of worship to their assault, especially in the North-central part of the country and the northeast.

“Though the madness has grown now and those who are not Christians are being attacked, killed, and kidnapped, this is because these criminal acts have become a lucrative business and it is whoever you can kidnap for money! If the government had responded appropriately when this criminal madness began and subdued these evil groups immediately, we wouldn’t be where we are now!”

The Christian association also said discrimination against Christians, especially in Northern Nigeria has not stopped.

“Up till today, our government is still funding the membership of Nigeria in all the International Islamic organisations like OIC and its allies without being part of any international Christian organisation.”

US Trains 100 NAF Personnel as Force Reviews Safety Standards Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has stated that it would collaborate with the United States Air Force to conduct a training programme for its personnel on safety standards, disclosing the US had trained 100 of its personnel in the last six months.

The training is coming as the air force began a review of its safety standards in a bid to maintain high standards.

About four air force planes had recently crashed

in Abuja, Kaduna, and Borno within three months, recording high casualty figures and raising safety issues about the health of the air force fleet.

The air force, has, however, replenished its fleet with 12 A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets made up of six attack aircraft and six reconnaissance mission jets.

The air force said: "Efforts were on to collaborate with the United States Air Force to organise an in-country safety management training for more NAF personnel before the end of the year".

It said so far 100 NAF personnel have undergone various safety courses within and outside the country in the last six months as part of measures to maintain international best practices in its operations.

A statement issued by NAF said the review was predicated on the need to continually review and evaluate key safety strategies affecting its operations while ensuring the service remained a credible reference point for maintenance of high safety standards which was at the forefront of discussions at the just concluded 2021 NAF Safety Review Board (SRB) meeting.

The statement signed

by NAF Spokesman, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, said the meeting, which was held at the NAF Headquarters Abuja, "allowed the service to take stock and appraise its safety practices and procedures for enhanced operational effectiveness and efficiency".

In his remarks at the meeting, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, disclosed that as a highly technical service operating sophisticated aircraft, equipment, and military hardware, flight safety should be inherent in all NAF daily activities.

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NEWS

Zamfara APC Crisis Deepens as Marafa's Faction Holds Parallel LG Congresses Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The crisis rocking the Zamfara State All Progressives Congress (APC) deepened yesterday as the Senator Kabiru Garba

Marafa-led faction conducted parallel congresses in the 14 local government areas of the state.

However, the faction loyal to the former governor of

the state, Abdulaziz Yari, said it boycotted the congress following its pending suit at the Federal High Court Gusau.

The Publicity Secretary of Yari’s camp, Mr. Ibrahim

Magaji, in a statement issued yesterday described the exercise as illegal.

According to him, "Our stand is that we will not be party to an illegality. The

exercise they call congress to us is a charade because we have a subsisting case before the Federal High Court, Gusau."

But, the state leader of the faction loyal to Marafa,

Lawan, Okowa, PDP Celebrate Jonathan at 64 Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan; Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday celebrated former President Goodluck Jonathan on his 64th birthday.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP said Nigerians, across the divides, “are proud of former President Jonathan as an exceptionally patriotic leader and national icon.”

The party added that Jonathan’s achievements and personal sacrifices towards the unity and stability of the nation remained indelible in the history of the nation.

It said: “Over the years, as deputy governor, governor, vice president, President, African Union (AU) Envoy and Chairman, International Summit Council for Peace in Africa (ISCP-Africa), Jonathan has continued to distinguish himself as a humble, forthright, selfless and excellent administrator, who puts the interest of the people above every other consideration.

"Jonathan’s efforts in entrenching democratic tenets of good governance, equity, fairness, justice, rule of law, credible elections, tolerance, mutual respect as well as accountability in governance, stabilised and strengthened the bond of unity among Nigerians during his tenure in office," the party explained.

Furthermore, the party said Jonathan’s landmark achievements, including legacy projects and programmes brought unprecedented massive development and empowerment of citizens in all critical sectors, in line with the manifesto of the PDP, leading to the economy being ranked as one of the fastest

growing in the world under the party’s watch.

"Jonathan’s personal sacrifices in ensuring the unity and stability of our nation, particularly after the 2015 election, stand him out as a statesman who put the wellbeing of the nation above personal ambitions.

"Even outside of office, our party is proud of the role the former President Jonathan is playing in ensuring peace, unity, stability, credible elections and good governance in other parts of the world", the main opposition party said. .

On his part, Lawan rejoiced with the former Nigerian leader for his good health and for the selfless service that he continues to offer in Nigeria and in Africa.

The Senate in a statement from his office, said: "Since leaving office in Nigeria, President Jonathan has put his high standing, experience and energy to working for peace, democracy and development in Africa.

"The former President has demonstrated how a great leader can continue to play very significant role even out of office.

"President Jonathan believes in the Nigerian project and has amply demonstrated this by promoting unity and peaceful coexistence in Nigeria.

"His acts of statesmanship have been recognised even outside Nigeria and have made him a good example of leadership in Africa.

"I join his friends, political associates and numerous well-wishers in wishing him many more happy celebrations of this day and many more years of impactful service," Lawan said.

Okowa in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Olisa Ifeajika, Okowa saluted Jonathan, saying his statemanly commitment to

peace and democracy in Africa had earned him well-deserved international recognition.

He lauded the former Nigerian president for his outstanding efforts towards international peace and reconciliation in the West African sub-region and across the continent.

The governor said Jonathan’s meteoric rise in international diplomacy and entrenchment of peace and democracy in Africa “has been definite and impactful.

Jonathan’s remarkable mediation effort has earned him the honourable position as ECOWAS Peace Envoy in Mali.”

He also observed that the commitment to rule of law and respect for freedom of expression makes the Jonathan administration unmatched in the light of prevailing situation in Nigeria.

Okowa said, "On behalf of the government and people of Delta State, I congratulate our leader and ebullient statesman, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, as he celebrates his 64th birth anniversary.

“Your Excellency, it gives me pleasure to celebrate you for your laudable role in deepening democracy in our dear country and Africa.

“Your administration will long be remembered as leading the government that practised rule of law and respected freedom of expression, which has long become an 'expensive commodity', if not 'off-theshelf' in recent times in our polity.

“As our dear former President clocks 64 years today, it is my prayer, and that of numerous Nigerians, that God will continue to strengthen you in your commitment to ensuring greater peace, good governance and enduring democracy in Nigeria and Africa."

Alhaji Surajo Maikatako, in a statement issued yesterday said thousands of their members across the 14 local government areas of the state participated in the exercise.

He said: "The parallel congress was conducted peacefully."

Maikatako commended security agencies for the support given to them during the exercise.

He, however, alleged that the National leadership of the APC under the leadership of Governor Mai Mala Buni had taken side with the Zamfara State governor.

Maikatako said immediately after the state APC congress, the faction would drag the national leadership of the party to court to challenge their action.

He said: “We are going to challenge the APC national leadership for siding with the state governor. We will go to court to compel the national leadership of the party to recognise our camp. We are the legitimate faction."

INVESTMENT DRIVE… Group Chairman, United Bank for Africa Plc and Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation, Mr. Tony Elumelu (left), and President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, during Elumelu’s visit to the president at the Presidential Palace in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania…recently

Senate Renews Commitment to Pass 2022 Budget before Christmas Ejiofor Alike The President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, has renewed the commitment of the National Assembly to pass the 2022 Appropriation Bill before Christmas.

Speaking on Friday night, while receiving the New Telegraph’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Politics, alongside other Nigerians who had distinguished themselves in public service and the private sector, the Lawan said: “This is my fourth term in the Senate; when we came in 2019, our colleagues decided to give us the

opportunity to serve them “As a member, I have never seen a Senate chamber that is so united, determined and focused on achieving great deeds of legislation and development for our dear nation as this.

“The ninth Senate and indeed the ninth National Assembly has recorded great success and that is not to say that we have no differences, we all decided that this time around, we must work for Nigeria, together in spite of our political dispositions.

“It is in this regard that we have said that the 2022 appropriation budget would be passed before Christmas

so the executive would begin to act on it in the following year,’’ Lawan said.

He also said criminals should be made to face the full wrath of the law and not enjoy any special support from any ethnic group.

The Senate President advised Nigerians to remain united to be able to fight insecurity.

He said: “Crime committed by anyone is crime. If someone from an ethnic group commits a crime, he is a criminal.

Is that not what he is?

“The country is supposed to fight against that person.

Criminals should not enjoy any support from any group, even if it is from their ethnic group.

“Nigeria faces security challenges, but I feel there is determination by all levels of government to fight the insecurity that we face.

“In some areas, we succeeded; in others, we are still working hard to succeed. What is important is for us to think to remain focused, undivided and united as a people,” he said.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who received award for good governance of the Year 2021, said he dedicated it to the

over 22 million Nigerians living in the state.

“Indeed it is an honour and every sense of humility that I receive this award on behalf of the entire 22 million Lagosians who continue to support our government, who continue to see that indeed the journey of a greater Lagos is on course, who continue to bear with the little inconveniences of all of the infrastructure that we are doing “I also dedicate it to them for continuing to believe that their hope is not lost on us and those who continue to encourage us to do more

that is required, I want to thank all of you,’’ he said.

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele said while receiving the Number One Banker of the year award, that he believed the award was a drive for him and his team to do more to better the country.

“I think it will be an impetus for us and the team around me to continue to do the work for the betterment of the bank, the country and all Nigerians,’’ he said.

Emefiele was represented by the Deputy Governor in charge of Economic Policy, Dr. Kingsley Obiora.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER NOVEMBER 21, 2021

with ChidiAmuta e-mail:chidi.amuta@gmail.com

ENGAGEMENTS

Bad Manners at a Toll Gate Chidi Amuta

Y

outh going out to sing the national anthem and wave the flag in open protest should not be rewarded with death. Nor should an open protest against police bestiality by unarmed citizens qualify as such a grave threat to national security to warrant the invocation of the full war powers of the state. Worse still, for the Nigerian state to feel so frightened at the sight of its own innocent unarmed citizens as to deploy combat army troops and wild police detachments with live ammunition and an order to shoot to death indicates an unusual type of state power nervousness.

All these and more are what happened during the #EndSARS protests at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos on 20th October, 2020. The Nigerian state, instead of behaving like a democratic authority, displayed the traits of a banana garrison republic.

Whatbeganasaninnocentpeacefulprotestagainst a rogue police unit ended up as a drama of blood and tears.The protesters were mostly young.They were unarmed.Theywereofinnocentsoulandpureheart.

Someofthemwereartists,entertainersanddiverse social media influencers.Their many voices rose in unison against the evils of a deviant state.They gave voice to an optimism that shattered the pessimism ofaworldruledbytheirfathersandgrandfathers.At theheightoftheprotest,theirunitedvoicerosewith an inspired version of the national anthem to lift the gloom of the dark night of our days. In the cold of the night, they covered themselves with shrouds of the nationalflagandlayontheflooroftheNigerianearth, their own earth. The common good of all Nigerians deservedanightofvigilbyambassadorsofthefuture.

This piece of the Nigerian earth was now theirs for a shortmemorablewhile.Theyraisedtheirvoicesonly hoping to be heard. They carried neither guns nor knives.Theydeclaredtheirinnocencewithopenarms andevenextendedtheirhandsofpatrioticfellowship to law enforcement, sharing their snacks with them.

They did not hurt anyone neither did they intend to revenge the cumulative violence of SARS with any form of violence.

They were exuding the idealism that is the entitlement of all youth.They shared the optimism that the ill of Nigeria can be chased away by the united voice of optimistic youth. It was a tacit rejection of the old societycreatedandpresidedoverbythepopulation of geriatric leaders. For a brief while, we old ones at home raised a voice in praise of our youth.They had found the courage to raise the questions that most of us had spent a lifetime merely contemplating and too timid to name.The social media had made their world smaller, imbuing in them the confidence of globalsolidarity.Citizensofaworldwithoutborders, they believed that what is possible in Washington, London, Cairo,Tunis and Paris can happen in Lagos, Benin, Kano and Abuja. They were armed with the eternal hope that if youth of all nations cry out loud enough against our police brutality perhaps things could change for the better.

Attheapproachofdusk,allhellwasletloose.Truck loadsofarmedsoldiersandpolicepersonnelarrived to shred the peace and vigil tranquility of LekkiToll Gate.The protesters mistook them for protectors of the innocent. But multiple shots rent the air. The tranquil solemnity of a night of songs and speeches was converted into a cacophony of cries of anguish and death. A place of innocent communal protest had become a blood spattered canvas.

Before dawn, officialdom tried to clean up the scene, tom water hose the blood and bullet casings in preparation for a cascade of denials and lies. But word had gone round the country. Our children who went out to peacefully protest an unjust police unit had been bitten by the dogs of war. Incendiary anger swept through the length and breadth of the nation. Irate mobs took to the streets. The hungry, the angry, the unemployed and assorted crowds from hell unleashed an orgy of looting, arson and brigandage. Government and its movable and fixed presence became targets. Soldiers and policemen became unsafe and tossed away their uniforms just totakecoverintheanonymityofcivilianordinariness.

Thereafter,anelaborateandsloppyshowofshamefuldenialsfollowed.Untidycover-ups,serialdenials, staged lies even by armed forces personnel on oath and in uniform followed when investigative panels wasconvened.Therewasofcoursetheusualfederal government knee jerk denials. “No one was killed at LekkiTollGate!No live ammunitionswereused”!The ubiquitous Lai Mohammed, George Orwell’s Animal FarmSqueler,evenpickedanopenquarrelwithCNN

Sanwo-olu over its evidence based report of casualties and repressive stampede at Lekki Toll Gate.

All these were taking place in a world ruled by instant satellite and digital imaging techniques of instant reporting.

In all fairness, Governor Sanwo Olu of Lagos did the logical thing for any responsible government.Ayounggovernorwhosepopularityrating was quite high was in trouble. He needed to look good in the eyes of his youthful admirers while discharging the obligations of a responsible state to guarantee peace and order. He may have panicked by inviting the army but had no control over the rules of engagement.

Hesetupajudicialinvestigationpanelheaded

by Justice Okuwobi with a membership that looked credible, including representatives of the youths who powered the #EndSARS protests. He was intent on finding out the truth.

All participants, victims and relevant agencies testified in the open. At some point, the public almostlosttrackoftheproceedingsastorrents of testimonies and crowds of witnesses came forward with unnerving revelations.

Atlasttheinvestigationshavebeenconcluded and the report of findings has gone public.The quantum of killings at Lekki qualifies as a ‘massacre’. A total of 48 persons were either shot dead or maimed by soldiers and policemen.

Nine were confirmed killed and four persons remainmissingandpresumeddead.Inthewords ofthereport:‘Theatrociousmaimingorkillingof unarmed, helpless and unresisting protesters, whilesittingonthefloorandwavingtheirNigerian flags,whilesingingtheNationalAnthemcanonly be equated to a ‘massacre’ in context”.

Othersignificantfindingsincludethefactthat soldiersandpolicemenusedliveammunitionon innocent protesters.The army used its vans to remove corpses from the scene of the protest and refused ambulances to help take victims to receive help. The police, on its part, assaulted, shotatandbatteredunarmedprotesterswhich led to injuries and deaths.

While the protests raged, the federal government initiated actions towards some reform of thepolice.Ithurriedlydisbandedthecontroversial criminalSARSunitandreplaceditwithanewanti crime unit called Special Weapons andTactics (SWAT)unit.Sinceafterthe#EndSARSprotests, however,notmuchhasbeenheardorseenofthe new unit. Arguably, there has been a statistical reduction in SARS- type police harassment and brutality.Yettherehavebeenreported instances of police brutality, robbery and extra judicial killings especially in the troubled South-eastern stateswherespecialsecurityoperationsagainst

IPOB militants has invoked old police habits.

On the scale of government investigation panels, the Lagos #EndSARS panel is one of the few times in Nigeria where a panel set up bygovernmenthascomeuptoindictgovernment and the security agencies.The series of indictmentsbeginswiththeLagosStateGovernment itself which invited the army in the first place.

There is no evidence from the proceedings that the invitation to the army was preceded by any indication that the protests were of such aviolentas naturetooverwhelmtheLagosstate police command. There is also no record that the local police detachment at Maroko or its environs had requested for reinforcement at LekkiToll Gate. Similarly, there was no mention by any of the witnesses that the protests were in any way violent or a threat to public peace.

The understandable obstruction of traffic at theTollGatewasonlytemporary.Andyetarmed soldiers were called in with conflicting rules of engagement. An order to arrive the scene and start shooting live bullets indiscriminately at unarmed protesters cannot pass as a ‘rule of engagement’ by any definition.

The panel clearly indicted the military, the police and the Lekki Concession Company which owns the toll gate. In the case of the latter, they were found guilty of evidence tampering by interfering with the close circuit television camerarecordingsoftheproceedingsandevents on the said dates.

The implications of the Lagos ENDSARS judicial panel go far beyond the immediate context of the 2020 #EndSARS protests.They once again raise questions as to the character of the Nigerian states especially in its use of force to manage the freedoms and rights of citizensunderthelaw.Themostcriticalquestion is that of the right of citizens in a democracy to protest and express themselves in matters of public concern. The corollary is of course the obligationofthestatetomaintainlawandorder in situations where the free expression of the righttoprotestandexpressionleadstoanupset oflawandorder.Onthismostimportantancient questionofdemocracy,theNigerianstatefailed flatly even on the scale of banana republics in its handling of the Lekki Toll Gate incident.

Whilegovernmenthastheultimateresponsibility to restore law and order in situations where thereiscredibleevidenceofabreachorcollapse, it must do so in a manner that respects the right of citizens to openly process and protest public policiesthattheyconsiderinimicaltotheirlawful interests as a public. Of course the immediate recourse of government in such situations is to

the police as a civil law enforcement agency. Police response in all such situations must be calibrated in response to the degree of the threat to public order. Where the conduct of the public at a public procession or protest is peaceful and sedate, the role of the police becomes protective, to prevent a peaceful protest from deteriorating into anarchy or mayhem.Ordinarily,thisshouldhavebeenthecasein theLekkiTollGateincident.Theusualpoliceargument that a peaceful protest could be hijacked by riotous hoodlums and criminals is only a ready made alibi to be deployed in case the police over reaches its peaceful mandate.

The involvement of the military is a totally different dimension. The general rule in a democracy is that the military can only be invited by the civilian authority into a civil law enforcement role only in a situation where the threat to public order has escalated into a national security threat. In such a situation, the available police strength and capacity is overwhelmed to a level that necessitates a higher level of coercion to restore order. In such an eventuality, the protocols of authorisation must obey the chain of command between civilian authority and the echelons of the various service chiefs. Similarly, the rules of engagement must be clearly spelt out. In mostdemocracies,wheresoldiersaredraftedtocivil law and order assignments, they are subordinated to the command and control of the police hierarchy.

It is squarely the call of civilian authority.

Ultimately, the central concern that has arisen from the report of the LekkiToll Gate investigation panel is an interrogation of the doctrinal basis of the use of force by the various levels of government in Nigeria.Repeatedeventshaveshownthattheculture of Nigeria’s security forces in their relationship with the civilian populace has remained instinctually adversarial.Thisisacarryoverfromthecolonialheritage in which the public has now replaced the ‘natives’ as objects of police and military rough treatment. It is noteworthythattheNigeriapoliceretaintheepithetof ‘force’initsveryname.Thiscolonialtraditionhasbeen reinforcedbydecadesofmilitaryauthoritarianismin whichapresumptivesuperiormilitaryorderwasout to instill discipline on an ‘idle’ civilian populace. The spontaneous reflex of the Nigeria military, like the police, is brutal hostility towards the civilian public thatpaysitsbills.Repeatedlytherefore,theNigerian state has retained a certain unsavoury character as a ‘garrison’ state in dealing with citizens.

Nigeria would ordinarily want to parade the credentialsofademocraticstate.Whattheinternational interest in the LekkiToll Gate episode has done is to call out Nigeria to fully account for its democratic credentials.We cannot hoist the banner of a democracy and expect the world to erect a different set of standards and value system for measuring our behavior especially in the way we treat our citizens.

Norshouldweexpecttheworldtolooktheotherway while we deploy soldiers and policemen to mete out medieval sadisms on our citizens.

Unfortunately, the federal government stepped forward to take the bullets for the Lekki Toll Gate and the international responses to it. Mr. Lai Mohammed and the Abuja cohort saw this as another opportunity for grandstanding in a ‘we’ versus ‘them’ Cold War type propaganda contest. Managing the information around ENDSARS became a federal government business. Unfortunately, our federals lack the technological know how to contest facts adduced by media and governments with superior digital and social media capabilities. In this regard, LekkiToll Gate happens to be within earshot of the Lagosdiplomaticprecinct.Nearlyeverymajornation hasitsconsuloreffectivediplomaticoutpostaround Victoria Island.Those of them interested in security threatsinNigeriahadtheiroperativesontheground atLekkiTollGatewithallthetechnologicalcapacities to capture the happenings in real time.

Now the verdict is out.The indictments have been handed down. Remedies have been recommended.

This is no moment for arrogant posturing. It is time for sober and penitent compassion.The federal and state governments should apologize openly to the public: for the lives cut short, for destinies altered permanentlythroughmaiming,forcareersdisrupted and for the public trauma of televised authorized mass murder by agents of the state. For these and more, our governments must find the humility and grace to show respect for Nigerians for once. It is an opportunity to revise the reputation of the Nigerian state from a garrison state to a truly democratic republic in which the rights of a peaceful people matter. Most importantly, those we put in uniform and armed to protect us must NEVER AGAIN turn their weapons against us.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2021 • T H I S D AY

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NEWS

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

Nigerians Charge Buhari to Sign Electoral Bill Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja Relieved that the National Assembly eventually passed the much-awaited amended Electoral Bill, a cross section of Nigerians have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the bill transmitted to him by both chambers of the National Assembly at the weekend.

In separate interviews with THISDAY yesterday, they urged him not to allow the recently passed bill suffer the same setback that the previous one suffered when he refused to assent to it due to some disagreeable clauses.

A lawyer and public affairs analyst, Paschal Njoku, said the position that the federal lawmakers took was in line with the wishes of the majority of Nigerians that they represent, noting that even after assenting to a bill there is always a provision for amendment.

He said: “I know that many governors, especially of the All Progressives Congress (APC), are not happy with the direct primaries imposed on political parties by the amended bill and I believe the President will likely be on the same side with them, but that is not a reason for him not to assent to it.

“Many democracies of the world, like the United States go by direct primary. So, there may actually be nothing wrong with it, but even with his opposition, he can assent to it and then seek amendments later. We need to move forward.”

A university teacher, Tokunboh Adisa, wondered why some Nigerian leaders would refuse to do what “is right even when they know that is the right thing to do.

“I am still at a loss why the President refused to sign the Electoral Bill the last time, and I hope such will not be repeated this time around, because if care is not taken he can still hide under such flimsy excuses and refuse to sign it again but I hope that will not happen.

“I am especially concerned because the government did not get what it wanted, due to the popular outcry; otherwise they were going to shoot us on the foot by rejecting electronic transmission of result. But how can we be sure that the President will not because of that find a reason not to sign it?

“But from what I see of the people, there is determination to ensure the right thing is done and the right platform is put on ground to have a credible election. So the best thing for all of us is for him to sign the bill; it will be good for all of us.”

A Niger Delta philanthropist, Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, who is also a chieftain of APC and its House of Representatives candidate in the 2019 general election, said the direct primaries “will put an end to hijacking party structure by moneybags to enable them impose candidates on the electorate.”

Ahmad Yusuf, a human rights activist and expert in constitutional law, said for the

electronic transmission of election result and the use of technology, the result of the just-concluded Anambra State governorship poll would probably be different.

Yusuf said: “The result of the Anambra State election was a shock to many people, even though the turnout was low. The use of technology, especially the electronic transmission of result and the use of BVAS machine made a lot of difference and I think we should think more of this and embrace more of technology.

“The President should sign this

quickly, even though I expect an amendment to the bill soon to accommodate electronic and diaspora voting, but we will celebrate what we have for now and wish he signs immediately.”

A security expert and consultant, Prince Ehize Oribhabor, reasoned that signing the amended electoral act at this time would not only put the President in the good books of many Nigerians, but give his political party, the APC, a major campaign instrument and make the people to believe that they do not have ulterior motive on

the 2023 election.

“Actually, I will say signing the electoral bill into law is in the interest of the President and the APC, his party, because refusing to sign it gives the impression that they have something they are afraid of, but signing it will give the impression that they are on the side of the people.

So, if I were in his shoes I will sign it without delay,” Oribhabor said.

In 2019, the Director-General (DG) of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Salihu Mohammed Lukman, supported the direct

primaries for selecting parties’ candidates for elections. Lukman works directly under Alhaji Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, one of the governors vehemently opposing the direct primary mode today.

Lukman supported the direct primary mode when he wrote in a book titled, ‘Power of Possibility and Politics of Change in Nigeria’ that: “The announcement that the party (APC) would resort to direct primary in the selection of candidates elicited excitement among APC members.

PROUD SON …

L-R: Father, Alhaji Kamaldeen Ademola Oladosu; Son, Al-Mubaraq Ayokunle Oladosu; and Mother, Alhaja Ademola-Oladosu, at the convocation ceremony of Al-Mubaraq who bagged a first class in Law at Lead City University, Ibadan…recently

NAFDAC Uncovers N3bn Fake Drugs, Beverages in Lagos Warehouses Rebecca Ejifoma The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) at the weekend said it had uncovered two warehouses at Trade Fair Complex, Lagos loaded with N3 billion worth of counterfeit drugs and children’s cereals picked from dump sites.

The Director General, NAF-

DAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye made this disclosure at a news conference held at the NAFDAC Administrative Office, Isolo on Friday, warning unsuspecting public to refrain from purchasing unpacked cereals.

Giving details of the seized products, the director-general listed the unwholesome foods include children cereals and dairy foods.

She also listed counterfeit products to include 10 cartons of Tramadol 225mg; 1,200 cartons of banned Analgin Injection (2.5g/5ml); 2,200 cartons of banned Codeine in Syrup and suspected fake 500 cartons of Azmal; Artemether Injection.

According to her, there are 534 cartons plus 300 packets of Binomial; Artesunate Injection; 188 cartons of Hydra and Black

Cobra (sildenafil citrate 200mg); and 198 cartons of Super Artesunate Injection among others were discovered and evacuated.

Adeyeye noted that although over 20 truckloads of offensive products were evacuated from the two locations, the importer is still at large.

She added: “The officers of investigation and enforcement

directorate of NAFDAC and the Federal Task Force on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods raided the two warehouses where multiple cartons of banned drugs were discovered and evacuated.

“The banned and falsified drugs in the warehouses owned by one Chuka (Akuamia), who is still at large, is

estimated to be worth over N3 billion. The products were stored at temperatures above 40°C which ordinarily would denature some of the active ingredients and the excipients.”

The director-general, also, lamented that the agency discovered some counterfeit products are brought into the country through a system known as “Groupage”.

Tinubu, Kalu Hold Private Meeting in Abuja

Train Operations Resume as Railway Workers Suspend Strike

PDP, APC Disagree over Closure of Ekiti Schools

Deji Elumoye in Abuja and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

The National Leader of the All Progressive’s Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu yesterday visited the Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, at his Asokoro, Abuja residence.

Tinubu was said to have arrived Kalu’s residence at about 4.25pm to the warm embrace of his host before going into a private meeting at one of the living rooms in Kalu’s one-storey duplex home.

Before the commencement of the closed-door meeting, Kalu expressed his gratitude to God for the speedy recovery of Tinubu who returned to Nigeria on October 8 from London, the United Kingdom, where he underwent knee surgery.

Though details of their meeting appears sketchy as at press time but it might not be unconnected

with political developments in the country especially the 2023 Presidential elections.

The duo refused to talk to the media at the end of their meeting.

Tinubu’s visit came amid talks that both men are eyeing the 2023 Presidential poll to succeed incumbent President Buhari in May, 2023 Both men served as former Governors of their respective states at the beginning of the Fourth Republic from 1999 to 2007While Tinubu was a former Senator in the ill fated Third Republic, Kalu is the current Senator representing Abia North Senatorial District in the 9th Senate.

The Volunteers for Tinubu 2023 Media Roundtable Steering Committee was inaugurated in Benin City yesterday with a call on Nigerians to make Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu their choice as President

The Nigeria Union of Railway Workers has suspended a three-day warning strike, which it declared on Thursday to demand improved welfare.

Consequently, train operations earlier suspended over the railway workers’ strike have resumed across stations in the country.

The Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr. Fidet Okhiria told NAN that the Abuja-Kaduna train operations resumed at 9:15 a.m. on Saturday.

However, after a meeting involving the federal ministry of transport and the management of the NRC, the strike was suspended on Friday.

According to a communique announcing the suspension of the strike, among other agreements

reached at the meeting, it was agreed that a committee would be set up to review the conditions of service for railway workers.

In Abuja the nation’s capital, prior to calling off the strike, workers in Idu had locked the station and displayed various placards in protest.

Aggrieved workers were also seen at the Mobolaji Johnson Train Station in Ebute-Metta in Lagos, with placards, lamenting poor welfare and poor salary.

Train service at the Professor Wole Soyinka railway station in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital was equally paralysed because of the industrial action.

The railway terminus was deserted as workers abandoned their duty posts.

No passenger was also seen around the passengers’ lounge areas as they were under lock and key.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Ekiti State, yesterday described the decision of the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi to shut public and private schools due to the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) as ridiculous and unreasonable.

However, the All Progressives Congress (APC) disputed the position of the main opposition party, claiming that Fayemi has not committed any crime for declaring the holiday for students while hosting the national festival.

While the PDP faulted the closure of primary and secondary schools in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Raphael Adeyanju yesterday, the APC defended Fayemi’s decision in a telephone conversation by its spokesperson, Segun Dipe.

Faulting Fayemi’s decision in its

statement yesterday, Ekiti PDP said it was appalling that Ekiti children had been made to stay at home since last week just because the state is hosting NAFEST. The statement disclosed the State Working Committee (SWC) presided over by its acting chairman, Hon Lanre Omolase unequivocally declared Fayemi’s administration as an enemy of education.

“While we are not against the celebration of our culture and tradition, it is unexplainable that a government who goes about claiming to be restoring our values in Ekiti could close schools for two weeks just because the State is holding NAFEST.” It lamented that education, which is the pride of Ekiti and its people, had been sacrificed for a mere festival of arts and culture by the APC government ostensibly because Fayemi and his party did not value education.

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NEWSXTRA Aiteo: We’re Working with Experts to Curb Bayelsa Oil Spill Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO), operator of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation/Aiteo Joint Venture (JV), Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 yesterday disclosed that it was working with both foreign and local experts

to curtail the oil leakage, which occurred in one of its Niger Delta assets earlier in the month.

On Friday, the company had reported a hydrocarbon wellhead leak in its Santa Barbara, Southwest Field, in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

It stated that the well, which the company acquired in 2015,

Mbaise Leadership Forum Seeks Prosecution of Invaders of Odili’s Home A group, Mbaise Leadership Forum (MLF), has condemned the invasion of the home of Supreme Court judge, Justice Mary Odili and seeks the prosecution of the perpetrators who fraudulently obtained a court warrant and posed as state actors.

MLF is a group formed to harness the enormous socioeconomic and political potentials of Mbaise people.

The group also aims to rebuild Mbaise into a first world community in a third world nation, a community not defined or limited by geographical boundaries.

Justice Odili’s parents hail from Mbaise, a community in Imo State. She later married Dr. Peter Odili, former governor of Rivers State.

MLF said it has followed with interest developments arising

from the siege and invasion on October 29 and has been paying attention to “comments and other reactions to this unfortunate incident.”

A statement issued by MLF Board of Trustees Chairman, Dr. Sylvester Ugoh, former Minister of Education; and Moderator, Chris Ohanele, cited the resolution of Ezuruezu Mbaise.

The statement reads: “We strongly condemn the said siege and the invasion of the residence of Justice Mary Odili. The culprits who carried out this act and those behind them should be uncovered, apprehended, and brought to account regardless of how highly placed or connected they may be. We note that this process is ongoing and should continue until there is full accountability.

Glo Subscribers Explain Plan for Joy Unlimited Extravaganza Prizes No fewer than 200 subscribers of Nigeria’s second largest telecom company, Globacom yesterday explained how they planned to use their Joy Unlimited Extravaganza prizes.

While some subscribers planned to use the prizes to start up small-scale businesses, others said they would use the prizes for the comfort of their families.

These testimonies were contained in a statement the Glo Corporate Communications Office released yesterday, At least 203 lucky subscribers had emerged winners from the first draw of the promotion with 71 winning television sets, 61 refrigerators and 71 generators.

In its statement yesterday, the telecom giant said over 200 winners who received the household items they won in the Glo Joy Unlimited Extravaganza had disclosed

what they would do with their prizes.

The statement said: “Afusat Jamiu from Ogun State, a generator winner, said, “I live in Ijede, in Ikorodu area of Lagos where I sell clothes. Glo has made very happy with the generator that I won in their promo.

“It came at the right time. The generator will be very useful to power my fridge to boost my new turkey business. God bless Glo”.

Also, cited in the statement, the telecom giant said a refrigerator winner, Chika Nwachukwu from Enugu State and who works with Oando Plc said Glo “is a very supportive network.

“I truly appreciate this prize.

To tell you the truth, I was surprised when I was told I won.

I thank Globacom immensely for providing another fridge for my family”.

had been mostly dormant, having been securely isolated since then.

Aiteo, in a statement signed by its Media Contact, Mr Matthew Ndiana, explained that aside urgent possible technical responses to contain the leak, it had sought the collaboration of Clean Nigeria Associates (CNA) which has since mobilised to site.

While pointing out that the company had deployed its

internal resources to reinforce containment and recovery efforts, Aiteo said that “well killing” assessment site visit had been carried out to evaluate the assets and earmark the resources required to bring the effusion under control.

“CNA is the industry non-profit umbrella body with expertise and resource to contain spills of this nature. In the meantime however,

the area has been cordoned off and CNA is mobilising additional resources to strengthen the containment effort.

“The required apparatus, including heavy duty and specialist equipment are presently being mobilised, locally and internationally, on a fast-track basis, to bring the well under control.

“For this purpose, Aiteo has

on-boarded the involvement of the renowned, Boots & Coots, arguably the leading well control company in the world, working with a local resource.

“Upon this intervention and conclusion, it is expected that the persistence of the leak alongside its functional consequences will be abated and significantly diminished,” the statement stressed.

GOOD AMBASSADOR… L-R: Enugu State Governor, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; Winner of Big Brother Naija Season 6, Mazi Hazel Oyeze Onoduenyi, popularly known as Whitemoney; and his ex-Housemate, Mr. Emmanuel Umoh, when the governor hosted Whitemoney at the Government House, Enugu… yesterday.

Fagbohun Laments Failing of Justice System, Canvasses Reforms Sunday Ehigiator A former Vice Chancellor of the Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun (SAN) yesterday lamented that the country’s judicial process “is consistently failing to address substantive issues of justice.”

Fagbohun, a professor of Environmental Law at the LASU, added that the legal practitioners were attached to a model that “has become antithetical to implementing justice reform.”

He expressed these concern yesterday at the 2021 Wole Olanipekun & Co Justice Summit held at Harbour Point Marquee, Victoria Island to mark Olanipekun’s 70-year anniversary.

Among others, the summit, focused on Implementing Justice Sector Reform in Nigeria: Connecting the Disconnect, was attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat and a human rights

lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana.

Speaking at the summit, Fagbohun said significant hardship and anxiety was still the order of the day in Nigeria’s justice sector, decrying delay in accessing justice due to what he ascribed to complexity of proceedings at the Nigeria’s court of appeal, He said: “We are running a sector that is well connected on paper, but disconnected in reality.

While we can tick the boxes on several critical justice sector reforms, what ought to be the dividends in terms of the desired outcomes have remained elusive.

“The situation at hand is that members of the public are wailing loudly at the demise of justice, while we, the ministers in the temple of justice’ simply assume the positive impact and dynamics of reform efforts, as we wine and dine in our dinner suits and other accoutrements of our profession.”

Cape Verde Establishes Mission in Nigeria, ECOWAS Michael Olugbode in Abuja Cape Verde, a member state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with a population of about 555,988, has established a diplomatic mission in Nigeria to strengthen diplomatic ties with

the member states of ECOWAS. The Prime Minister of the West African state, Dr. Ulisses Silva disclosed this in Abuja during a visit to the ECOWAS Commission as part of activities marking his working visit to Nigeria.

He explained that the purpose of the mission “is to inaugurate

Women to Discuss Impact of Insurgency, Banditry Worried by attacks on women and girls, Nigerian women are coming together to discuss the impact of insurgency and banditry on the womenfolk.

This was contained in a statement by the Communication Officer, Nigerian Feminist Forum (NFF), Angela Nkwo.

He said women would, at the meeting, develop an action plan and strategies to address the increasing cases of violence against women and girls (VAWG) and the acceleration of gender equality for an inclusive society.

The conference tagged: “Women

Peace and Security, Perspective on Inclusion, Issues and Progress,” will also address the surge of insecurity and crime across the country.

Other expected outcomes include the development of effective strategies that will ensure the peaceful existence and safety of women and girls in Nigeria; strengthened voices of women to challenge oppressive practices and human rights violation; improved respect for the human rights of women and girls; and the advancement of gender equality in Nigeria.

the new embassy of Cape Verde in Nigeria; present the first resident ambassador who will be representing Cape Verde in Nigeria and ECOWAS Commission while and strengthen the relationship of Cape Verde with Nigeria, the ECOWAS Commission and all member states in the organisation.”

At the meeting with the Commissioners at the ECOWAS Commission, the prime minister said establishing an embassy would go a long way in strengthening relations of friendship and cooperation with Nigeria, the ECOWAS Commission and all member states of ECOWAS. He said: “Cape Verde intends to be more dynamic in its participation in the sub-region and consequently boost its regional Integration. I am fully aware of what at this moment the region is going through. There remains a hard fight that still remains to be fought for the damages caused by the COVID-19, especially the actions of economic recovery.

He said: “The pandemic is still

present and demands from all of us more cooperation, more solidarity and more concerted action. For Cape Verde, since its national independence, this is the greatest challenge to its economy.”

“In the process of regional integration, Cape Verde is faced with several constraints, such as insularity, its dispersion in islands that entails exorbitant costs of infrastructure and development, the demographic and territorial smallness, in addition to various other vulnerabilities that create asymmetries and imbalances that make the integration of Cape Verde extremely difficult.

In fact, inequality does not integrate.”

He lamented that the drama and cost of Cape Verde development, a country with 500,000 inhabitants is obliged to have nine ports, airports, among others because the populations are dispersed throughout the nine islands, and the government is obliged to multiply everything, including services, by the number of inhabited islands.

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Religion, Politics and Prejudice

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s I was saying, an unliberated mind is instinctively sold to prejudice. It is a form of imprisonment. I had barely shut down my laptop after writing on ‘Yoruba Muslims and the Fifth Columnists’ last week when I received a WhatsApp broadcast that helped make my case even better. It was a post by Saminu Maigoro on the appointment of Prof Tanko Ishaya as the vice chancellor of the University of Jos. Many Muslims, he said, were excited that a fellow Muslim had been appointed VC. Many Plateau Christians started condemning the appointment — on the basis of religion. When the fact came out that Ishaya is a Christian from Kebbi state, the mood and tone in both camps changed.

That, exactly, is how prejudice works — shoot first, think later. Lives might be lost in the process but who cares? That is how prejudice can inflict an irreparable damage on a society. It has become inconceivable that a Muslim would be VC of a federal university located in Plateau state without Christians raising hell. In the same northern Nigeria, Prof Daniel Saror, a Tiv Christian from Benue state, was VC of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) from 1991 to 1995 years after Nigeria’s membership of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) sparked Muslim/Christian animosity in the country. The truth, as I see it, is that certain things have deteriorated beyond repairs in this society.

In my previous article, I tried to caution the Yoruba against allowing people to sow religious strife in their midst. I alleged that the Muslim Rights Council (MURIC) has been working round the clock to politicise religion in the south-west the same way the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) did at national level in the 1980s and 1990s. I knew that would rile many people — on both sides. Some Christians were triggered because I mentioned CAN. In their understanding, I was just pandering to some interest or trying to “sit on the fence”.

What I have observed over time is that when people accuse you of sitting on the fence, it is because you are not helping them amplify their prejudices.

It is possible that some of them were too young to understand what some Christian groups did in the 80s and 90s and why I drew a present-day parallel with the mission of MURIC — which is borrowing extensively from the playbook. Of course, Christians could justify their opposition to Nigeria’s membership of OIC. For one, Gen Ibrahim Babangida went about it suspiciously, maybe out of desperation for the economic benefits because Nigeria was in a terrible state. However, in a country where neither of the two major religions could be treated as a minority, there was always going to be a big backlash. Fear of domination was inevitable. This led to the Islamisation hysteria.

I use the word “hysteria” advisedly. If the Christian groups had stuck to opposing Nigeria’s membership of OIC, that would have been perfect. That was a natural thing to do under the circumstance. However, the wholesale politicisation of religion thereafter did us no good. Every step by Babangida was described as Islamisation. They said the National Assembly looked like a mosque because it has a dome — unaware that the Capitol Hill, which houses the US Congress, also has a dome. Ironically, St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican also has a dome.

Is that Islamisation? Some even went as far as saying the bus stops in Abuja were designed like mosques. It was that bad.

In 1990, Babangida appointed new service chiefs and, as it transpired, all of them were Muslims: Gen Sani Abacha, a Kanuri from Kano

CAN president, Dr. Samson Ayokunle state, as chief of general staff; Gen Salihu Ibrahim, an Ebirra from Kogi (then Kwara) state, army chief; Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako, a Fulani from Adamawa (then Gongola) state, naval chief; and Air Vice Marshal Nuraini Yussuff, a Yoruba from Lagos, air chief. The inspectorgeneral of police was Alhaji Aliyu Atta, an Ebirra like the army chief. Christian groups went to town, saying “authoritatively” that the appointment of an all-Muslim leadership was one of the “conditionalities” given to Babangida

by OIC to conclude the Islamisation process.

Plausible, right?

But wait for this. In April 1980, President Shehu Shagari assembled an all-Christian military leadership: Gen Alani Akinrinade, chief of defence staff; Gen Gibson Jalo, army chief; Rear Admiral Alade Adelanwa, naval chief; and Air Vice Marshal Abdullahi Bello, air chief. Mr Sunday Adewusi was the IGP. All of them were Christians. I repeat: ALL of them were Christians. Years before then, when Gen Yakubu Gowon, a Christian, was head of state, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, also a Christian, was effectively his No 2 as minister of finance and vice-chairman of the federal executive council. Muslims did not scream “Christianisation agenda”. Today, the politics of religion has ruined Nigeria.

And talking about Awo, I was also accosted by some Yoruba Muslims who insisted that the sense of religious harmony in Yorubaland is a myth, that Muslims are marginalised and MURIC is doing a great job of amplifying their plight. In fact, one pointedly said Awo foisted Christian leadership on Yorubaland. Someone said the system has been rigged against Yoruba Muslims from the very beginning. I have heard this a thousand times, along with anecdotes of discrimination against Yoruba Muslims by Yoruba Christians, and I honestly have nothing new to say to that. I have already argued my case and presented sizeable evidence. After all, nobody employed me to change anybody’s mind.

I understand Awo was accused of religious insensitivity at some point and he immediately took remedial steps. This aligns with my central argument — that the Yoruba do not deny their religious differences but have never allowed that to get in the way of their political and socio-economic affinity. Till the world comes to an end, there will always be conflicts. It is human nature. But the biggest tragedy that would befall the Yoruba is to allow outsiders and their inside collaborators to take advantage

of these occasional frictions to sow religious strife in Yorubaland. It will not end well. They will live to regret it. Kaduna state has never recovered from the seed planted decades ago.

For sure, in the past, Yoruba Muslims were asked to covert to Christianity if they wanted to attend Christian missionary schools. At the time, Christian schools clearly had the upper hand.

Even at that, Chief MKO Abiola, Prince Bola Ajibola and Mr Tunji Oseni attended Baptist Boys’ High School, Abeokuta, and never converted to Christianity. More so, Muslims have since caught up and changed the tide. There are now Muslim primary, secondary and tertiary schools in super abundance. In truth, it would be disingenuous to say discrimination is limited to adherents of one religion. Many Yoruba Christians also complain about experiencing discrimination from some Yoruba Muslims.

In fact, Yoruba Christians and Muslims say unflattering things about each other. But these banters and insults have not led to deep-seated enmity or blood-letting as seen so often elsewhere.

Something should explain this. I grew up in a multi-religious environment. Muslims freely ate Christmas chicken and Christians devoured Ileya meat with pleasure. It was when I started attending a Pentecostal church that I was told I would go to hell for eating Ileya meat. And because I did not want to go to hell, I decided to change churches. Meanwhile, there are also Muslims who preach a similar message against eating Christmas chicken. No religion has monopoly of discrimination.

Someone said Afenifere is a Christian organisation created to side-line Yoruba Muslims.

I was a bit taken aback. The most relevant period of Afenifere’s existence was under Gen Sani Abacha when Abiola was imprisoned for trying to reclaim the June 12 mandate. “Christian Afenifere” leaders such as Chief Michael Ajasin, Chief Abraham Adesanya, Chief Bola Ige and Chief Olu Falae were arrested and detained

by Abacha for fighting for Abiola, a Muslim.

Religion, for all you care, was the last thing on their minds. I can assure you that Adesanya, who escaped an assassination attempt, knew that “Moshood” was a Muslim name. And you know what? Alhaji AbdulAzeez Arisekola Alao, then Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland (leader of Yoruba Muslims), was busy wining and dining with Abacha.

In fairness, I can understand why some selfappointed messiahs want to “liberate” Yoruba Muslims. Across Nigeria, every ethnic group has a dominant religion. The Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Efik, Tiv, Urhobo, and Ijaw, among others, are either overwhelmingly Muslims or Christians.

But in Yorubaland, you have an overwhelming mix of Muslims and Christians. That is probably why the Yoruba do not front-load religion in their socio-political order. The husband could be a Muslim and the wife a Christian. Outsiders, who deploy religion as an identity marker in their own regions, cannot understand this phenomenon, so they begin to use their prism to analyse it and to impose their own worldview.

Above all, I accept that we all have our biases and prejudices. The only difference is that prejudice is dominant in some people but recessive in others. I can speak for myself: I am implicitly and explicitly biased against those who stoke toxic ethnic and religious agenda anywhere in the world. I can’t stand them. This is obvious in my contributions to national discourse. Apart from the fact that I believe it is very dangerous to be promoting discord and rancour in any society, I know that one day I will stand before my Maker to give an account of how I tried to contribute to peace-building. Therefore, until I draw my last breath, I will keep on promoting my own bias: war against prejudice.

And Four Other Things… #ENDSARS STORM I am a bit disappointed that an all-important report on the #EndSARS protests in Lagos state was leaked to the public shortly after it was presented to Governor Babajide SanwoOlu. This has left room for speculation.

Someone even said it looked like a report written by the protesters themselves. At least three of those listed as dead are said to be alive and there seems to be no diligence on the part of the panel beyond compiling the testimonies. The credibility is now a subject of public debate. It is very sad that such a critical work on a major landmark in our history has been handled this way, but I am hopeful that something worthwhile will still come out of this. Crucial.

ROLL OUT Davido, the Afrobeats artiste, performed a social experiment on Wednesday when he took to social media to solicit donations to raise N100m supposedly to pay customs duties for his Rolls-Royce. He raised an incredible N185m within 24 hours. It has now emerged that he had a different motive: to raise funds for orphanages. He has promised to add N50m to the N200m he has realised for this purpose. I have read loads of comments on the stunt. Someone suggested that this may provide a funding template for 2023 polls: imagine youths endorsing a presidential candidate and crowd-sourcing on social media for the campaign. I don’t know if it will work but why not? Fascinating.

HALF STORY It is fashionable for Nigerian politicians and public officers to splash pictures of their children’s graduation from foreign universities on social media, but a recent one stood out. A photo of Prof Edward Olanipekun, the vice chancellor of Ekiti State University (EKSU), attending his son’s graduation from Oxford sent tongues wagging. A lot was said about how even VCs don’t believe in the Nigerian education system. As it turned out, the son actually studied in Nigeria, bagged a first class and got a scholarship for post-graduate in the UK. Let’s pray social media will not induce premature Armageddon. Still, some things should just not be shared on social media.

Wisdom.

ADIEU, SANI DANGOTE Listening to Alhaji Aliko Dangote narrate how he watched his younger brother, Sani, die in the hospital was really heart-rending.

Recounting the experience to Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu who was on a condolence visit, Dangote said: “The most painful thing is when you are told that your brother will be passing on in about an hour and you stand by watching as the machine is going down until it stops working. He died in front of myself, our mother and all his children.” As someone who has lost a beloved sibling before, I can imagine Dangote’s agony. Sani, who had been ill for a while, was always well spoken of by those who knew him. My condolences to the Dangote family. RIP.

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