SATURDAY 24TH DECEMBER 2022 by THISDAY Newspapers Ltd

Oil Spills: Shell Set to Pay €15m Compensation to N’Delta Farmers Confirms installation of leak detection system on 20 pipeline segments Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) yesterday announced that it would pay

€15 million to farmers in three Niger Delta communities as compensation for damages to their farms from pipeline leaks between 2004 and 2007. The villages are Goi in Ogoni

land, Rivers State; Oruma in Bayelsa State; and Ikot Ada Udo in Akwa Ibom State. A Dutch Appeal court ruled last year, following 15 years of legal battles, that Shell’s Nigerian

branch must pay out for a series of leaks and that the parent company must install new pipeline equipment to prevent further devastating spills. Shell announced yesterday

that it had reached a deal with the Dutch environmental group Milieudefensie that has helped the affected communities. “Under the settlement, the Shell Petroleum Development

Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC), as operator of the SPDC joint venture, will pay an amount of €15 million for the benefit of the Continued on page 5

Rivers State Seals Atiku’s Campaign Oﬃce over Violation of Wike’s Order... Page 6 Saturday 24 December, 2022 Vol 27. No 10119

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Akeredolu: Agitation for Yoruba Nation Won't Succeed Fidelis David in Akure

L-R: Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and former president, Goodluck Jonathan, when the former Anambra governor, who was in Bayelsa State on campaign, visited Jonathan at his home in Yenagoa…yesterday.

The Chairman of the South-west Governors’ Forum/Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu yesterday warned those in the region agitating for Oodua Nation to perish the Continued on page 5

Bleak Christmas, Prices of Goods, Services Continue Steep Rise Nigerians living in dark times, says NLC Bennett Oghifo in Lagos With Christmas just 24 hours away, majority of Nigerians shopping for the festivity are going through harrowing times. Many may end up with bleak celebrations. This is because the prices of essential goods and services have continued a steep rise. Petrol scarcity has also persisted, resulting in very high intra-state and inter-state transportation fares. Apparently echoing the pains of the masses, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in a Christmas message issued yesterday in Abuja lamented that Nigerians were currently going through “dark times,” and called for urgent action from government. At the top of the essential commodities whose prices are Continued on page 5

GLO FESTIVAL OF JOY… L-R: Globacom’s Regional Activation Manager, Akinsola Williams; Executive Chairman of Ibeju Lekki Local Government, Engineer Abdullahi Olowa; House winner in Glo Festival of Joy, Abiodun Lawal and his wife, Azeezat; Baale Oribanwa, Ibeju-Lekki, Alhaji Musbau Akanni Igiaba; and Chief Admin Oﬃcer of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mrs Ene Ochagla, at the presentation of keys to a 3-Bedroom apartment to Lawal in Lagos…yesterday.

Return Govt Vehicles, Osun Panel Directs Oyetola, Appointees... Page 8

SATURDAY DECEMBER 24, 2022 • T H I S D AY

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2022 • T H I S D AY, T H E S AT U R D AY N E W S PA P E R

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Terrorists on Rampage, Kill Village Head, Vigilantes in Niger, Anambra; Abduct Priests in Benue Ahamefula Ogbu in Lagos and Laleye Dipo in Minna Insecurity, which has been pervasive across the country, continues to take its toll as the village head of Mulo, Mashegu Local Government Area of Niger State, as well as two vigilantes in Anambra State were late last Thursday killed by terrorists, while a Catholic priest was kidnapped in Benue State. Sources said the village head, Mallam Usman Garba was abducted along with three other members of his community, and while being led into their hideout, the terrorists suddenly turned against the traditional ruler and killed him before taking away the remaining victims. It was learnt that the heavily armed terrorists also sacked the community and escaped

with valuable items including agricultural produce. The State Commissioner for Internal Security and Humanitarian Affairs, Emmanuel Umar when contacted yesterday morning confirmed the incident saying security operatives are after the terrorists According to Umar, Mashegu Local Government Area has witnessed a series of attacks in the last two weeks but regretted that the murder of the village head of Malo community "is the height of the attacks." He said Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has directed all security agencies to mobilise in full force to flush out the terrorists and completely eradicate insecurity in Mashegu LGA. According to him, although the security situation across the state had reduced, there were

still some threats and pockets of attacks in some communities including Mashegu, Mariga, and Kontagora local government areas. "There is improvement in the security situation in the state. There has been a reduction in attacks but we are aware that the threat is still there and still exists. Recently, we have seen attacks in the fringes of Mashegu, Mariga, and Kontagora," he said. Umar assured the residents across the state of a peaceful Christmas and New Year celebration, adding that the security agencies would increase patrol and visibility to curb any further attack or terror incident. "We are providing a call number for communities and residents. If there is any movement or sighting of any act of terror or any criminals, the communities should dial

OIL SPILLS: SHELL SET TO PAY €15M COMPENSATION TO N’DELTA FARMERS communities and the individual claimants,” it said in a statement. The deal also confirms the installation of a leak detection system on 20 pipeline segments in accordance with the Dutch court’s ruling and that remediation work has been completed. Despite acknowledging that the settlement follows upon the Dutch court ruling, the oil firm said the agreement “is on a no admission of liability basis, and settles all claims and ends all pending litigation related to the spills.” Four Niger Delta farmers and fishermen had 13 years ago sued Shell in the Netherlands to pay for cleaning up spills from its pipelines in the Niger Delta, a major oil-producing region. They were aided by Milieudefensie, the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth. Shell has always attributed pollution to sabotage and said it had cleaned up affected areas. The legal battle has lasted so long that the original farmers have now all died, but their survivors and the affected communities pushed on. “It is a great relief to all of us that after the years of legal battle with Shell, we will soon be recipients of this money as compensation for all we have lost,” said Eric Dooh, one of the current plaintiffs. Milieudefensie’s Director, Donald Pols, said the settlement would allow the plaintiffs and their communities to finally get on with their lives. “If we look at the court case as a whole, the major gain is that a new standard has been set: companies will no longer be able to get away with pollution and with ignoring human rights. Now they can be called to account,” Pols said.

A statement yesterday by the Environment Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth (ERA/ FoN), said Shell’s agreement to pay the compensation is a victory for all. Recall that in 2007, the farmers and fishermen, together with Friends of the Earth Netherlands, initiated legal proceedings against the headquarters of Shell in The Hague because of the oil pollution in the three Niger Delta villages. Friends of the Earth Netherlands, together with lawyers, Chima Williams, current Executive Director of ERA/FoEN, and Channa Samkalden, took up the case in 2008. The proceedings took so long that all the original claimants (Barizah Dooh, Chief Oguru, Elder Friday and Alali Efanga) have since died. Now, over 15 years later, the farmers and their fellow villagers are to receive compensation. According to one of the Plaintiffs, Eric Dooh, “The compensation we receive from the court case in the Netherlands will enhance a total transformation of the community and myself in terms of reinvestment in our environment. It will be a relief for all of us when the money is finally paid as compensation for our losses after a long time of legal action against Shell.” Executive Director of the ERA/FoEN Chima Williams said: “Justice may have been delayed but it has now been served. The resilience of the farmers, their communities, and determination to make Shell pay is a model that will galvanise other impacted communities in the Niger Delta and elsewhere to act and stay on course. “Shell’s acceptance to pay compensation and install leak detection systems is both

unprecedented and signals victory for all parties - the victims, environmental justice campaigners and Shell. Furthermore, if Shell can do this, it means that there is no hiding place for any corporate polluter as they may run, but cannot hide from the long arm of the law.” Member, Board of Environmental Rights Development Foundation, Nnimmo Bassey said: “The victory of the Niger Delta farmers is a testament that big polluters may run but will find nowhere on earth to hide because they will be sought out. “We celebrate the farmers still alive to savour this victory and believe the spirit of the deceased four Niger Delta farmers and others will now rest, but corporate polluters will never rest until their operations and attitudes in respect for their hosts, protection of their environment, livelihoods and humanity is guaranteed.” Celebrating, HRH Pere Wapeabiama David Amakiri, Paramount Ruler of Oruma Community said: “Though, the compensation Shell agreed to cannot replace human life, we have been able to show through our patience and determination in the last 15 years that people's power will always triumph corporate behemoths. Shell has learnt a good lesson.” On his part, Mene Stephen Kobani, Paramount Ruler of Goi Community said: “We anticipate that other co-travelers in the fossil fuels industry will now understand that the fires the Niger Delta farmers and fishermen lit in 2008 will continue to rage until they pay up and cleanup for their mess in every Niger Delta environment.”

07031964389. "The Governor is reassuring Nigerlites that he is still committed to ensuring that the state is safe and that all is in place to ensure an attack-free and hitch-free festive period." Umar then urged communities to liaise with the security agencies around them and draw their attention to anything that would cause a threat to the lives of the people.

Killings in Anambra, Abduction in Benue Two vigilantes simply identified as Elochukwu, alias Ogbaka Ekwu, and Comrade Abiriwa were killed in Umuora village, Uga, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, late last Thursday, while Mark Ojotu, a Catholic priest of Oturkpo diocese was kidnapped.

Elochukwu and Abiriwa were allegedly abducted from their duty posts at night and their lifeless bodies were found at different locations some hours later. According to sources, Agbaka's body was found dumped in an area called Akpulu hours later, while Abiriwa was found dead at an unnamed location in Imo State. Ojotu, who is the chaplain of St. Mary’s Hospital, Okpoga in Okpokwu LGA of Benue State, was kidnapped along OkpogaOjapo road. The incident was confirmed by chancellor of the diocesan secretariat, Joseph Itodo. “We write to notify you of the kidnap of one of our priests, Rev. Fr. Mark Ojotu. He is the Chaplain of St. Mary’s Hospital, Okpoga. The sad incident occurred today, 22nd December 2022 at about 5.00pm along Okpoga-Ojapo Road, Okpokwu LGA, Benue

BLEAK CHRISTMAS, PRICES OF GOODS, SERVICES CONTINUE STEEP RISE rising steeply is Nigeria’s staple food, rice, which was on display yesterday at one of the outlets of Spar in Ikoyi, Lagos bearing a price tag of N51,000. This is Nigeria-grown 50kg bag of rice. The cheapest of such local rice in the open market in Lagos is N40,000 per 50kg bag. Foreign rice was selling for as high as N50,000 per 50kg bag. Prices of Chicken, Turkey and beef that go along with rice are also still rising. A large size chicken was going for N12,000 last night at the popular Oyingbo market in Lagos. Nigerians planning to join their families across the nation are also having problems with the cost of transportation which is increasing daily as Christmas and end of year festivities approach. Young Shall Grow transport, Lagos to Owerri mini bus is N20,000; Luxury and Coaster are the same price - N15,100. Other popular bus services such as ABC Transport, GIG Motors, are all fully booked for today and Christmas day. The informal motor parks in street corners in Lagos and other cities have increased fares, citing petrol shortage and the high number of people that need their services. Flying is also very expensive. A Lagos-Abuja return ticket was going for an average of N160,000 yesterday. Nationwide petrol scarcity worsened less than a day before the festivity, resulting in a boom in the black market. Many fuel stations remained shut. There is no part of the country where the price of this vital commodity has not gone up astronomically. In Lagos, petrol is selling for as high as N400 per litre in the black market. This is why Nigerians

are paying heavily for inter-state transport. In Abuja yesterday, only a few stations were dispensing fuel. The NNPC stations still selling the product are witnessing queues. Black market is also booming in Abuja, with petrol selling for as high as N350 per litre in some places.

forms of terrorism, banditry and insurgencies in the North-east, North-west and other parts of the country and who had in the process, paid the supreme sacrifice. "Without the sacrifice and commitment of these officers and men of the Armed Forces, it would have been a matter of time before the whole country was overrun. The month-long Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration is, therefore, a golden opportunity for the government and the society at large to empathise and associate with widows and relations of our fallen heroes, especially those that were cut down in their prime. "The onus is on us to soberly reflect on the plight of these categories of people and resolve to ensure that they live socially

acceptable lives. It should be noted that the major reason for the Emblem Appeal Fund is to provide financial and material support to families of the fallen heroes, as well as veterans who survived various military operations with some sustaining varying degrees of injuries that had rendered them incapacitated. "There is nothing too good or too much that we can offer that could replace the precious lives lost or remedy the deprivations and untold hardship suffered by the dependants of these heroes. We must, however, at all times and at every opportunity, give our financial and moral support so that those still alive and serving will be encouraged to give their best in the service of our dear fatherland," the Ondo State governor declared.

Nigerians Living in Dark Times, Laments NLC in Christmas Message The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in a Christmas message issued yesterday in Abuja lamented that Nigerians are currently going through “dark times”. The message which was signed by the national president of the Congress, Ayuba Wabba, decried the poor living conditions of the workers in the country. The union also encouraged Christians to “resonate the light of hope birthed through Jesus Christ.” The message partly reads, “This Christmas, we urge Nigerian workers and people to resonate in the light of hope birthed by the love of God conveyed through the birth of His son Jesus Christ. “It is the illumination of this hope that inspires confidence in our hearts that however dark our night as a country might be, light would certainly emerge and shine at the end of our tunnel. Many Nigerian workers and ordinary people are currently going through the dark tunnel of soaring inflation marked by very steep increases in the prices of essential goods and services. “Many Nigerian families are

AKEREDOLU: AGITATION FOR YORUBA NATION WON'T SUCCEED thought. Akeredolu said many lives had been laid down for the unity of the country, vowing that states in the South-west will not allow any agitation that will scuttle the sacrifices of the nation’s heroes. The Governor spoke at an emblem appeal programme, to flag off the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebrations held at the state Internal Revenue Service (ODIRS) Hall, Akure. Akeredolu, who stressed that the country is too important to him and his administration, said no sit-at-home order will be tolerated in any state in the South-west. He said: "Those clamouring for Oodua nation will not succeed. People have not laid down their lives for this country for unscrupulous individuals to

scuttle it. This country is very important to some of us. We recognise the right of the people to protest or agitate. But if the police feel your actions are treasonable, they will arrest and prosecute you. It is not at this stage in the history of this country that we will repeat IPOB in Yoruba land. Opportunity beacons at us. We cannot afford to throw away that opportunity. “We must work to ensure that there is a power-shift. The opportunity for the presidency to come to the south, especially the South-west, is around the corner. We will not sit down and support anyone clamouring for Oodua nation. We will not support it. We have fought for this with everything we had. Nigeria will be good. “The security agencies will

checkmate these unscrupulous enemies embarking on such frivolous activities. We have responsibilities now to soberly reflect on the plight of those who have laid down their lives and those who are still laying down their lives for the unity and peace of this country." Akeredolu particularly saluted the selfless and sacrificial services of the fallen heroes, who had laid down their lives in wars and peacekeeping missions around the world, and those currently serving, day and night, to guarantee the peace and unity of the country. He also expressed his belief that special recognition and appreciation must be accorded the gallant military men who had been involved in the war against Boko Haram, other

State. “The Local Ordinary, Most Rev. Michael Ekwoyi Apochi, has called on all Christ’s Faithful in the Catholic Diocese of Oturkpo and beyond to earnestly pray for his quick and safe release as we intensify efforts to ensure his release. “We commend our brother and all those in the kidnappers’ den throughout the country to the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary for their speedy and safe release from the hands of their abductors.” Benue State police spokesperson, Catherine Anene while confirming the development said; “The abduction was reported this morning. We have commenced investigations. The last reported priest abduction in Benue was in July when Peter Amodu was seized while working in the Catholic diocese of Otukpo."

going through the dark tunnel of general apprehension about their security and personal safety as criminals and terrorists hold sway in many parts of the country looting, raping, kidnapping, and killing. Many Nigerians who would be traveling this festive season would be going through the dark tunnel of bruised, broken and battered infrastructure, especially roads. “While the light of Christmas would be celebrated across many cities, towns and villages around the world with bright illumination which are by-products of stability in public electricity supply, many Nigerians would be battling with queuing for hours to get petrol to power their generators. “It is difficult to keep urging workers and ordinary Nigerians to hold on to the life buoy of hope in the midst of a burgeoning bay of darkness. Yet, hope is Christmas’ sublime message. It is only prudent that we take sinew from the knowledge that the darkest night usually births the brightest mornings. We believe that Nigeria’s brightest morning is just ahead of us.” Speaking further, the NLC boss encouraged Nigerian workers to be deliberate during the 2023 political season. “After this Christmas, the next major event that will face us as a country would be the 2023 general elections. There is no bigger harbinger of hope than the opportunity to select a fresh set of political leaders. Political leadership is the match that lights the torch of hope. Every country would rise and fall with its choice of political leadership. Nigeria is no exception. “We urge our compatriots, especially workers to be very deliberate in their engagement with the political process come 2023. Elections are the time to ask critical questions and make rational choices. Workers must identify with political party candidates who demonstrate commitment to lighting up the end of the tunnels of economic downturns marked by soaring inflation, widespread insecurity, deepening poverty, escalating crisis of unemployment, especially among the youth demography of our country, decadent physical infrastructure, and brazen corruption in high places. “We urge Nigerians to rise up to the challenge using the 2023 general poll as an enabling platform to elect a political leadership that is conscientious, prudent, and completely obedient to our demands as a people. 2023 is our torch of hope,” the statement concluded.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾DECEMBER 24, 2022

NEWS

News Editor Charles Ajunwa 09157401421 (sms only) Email charles.ajunwa@thisdaylive.com

Rivers State Seals Atiku’s Campaign Ofﬁce over Violation of Wike’s Order Ahamefula Ogbu The intra-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) squabbles that birthed the Integrity group also known as G5 led by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike against the presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar came to a head yesterday as the governor sealed the Atiku campaign office in Port Harcourt using a court order. According to Wike’s Spokesman, Mr. Kelvin Ebiri, the sealing of the campaign office was in line with the directive of his principal that campaign offices should not be located in residential areas. Ebiri explained that Executive Order 22 of the state prohibited siting campaign offices in residential areas and that to ensure the rule of law was followed, the government approached a court which ordered the facility to be

sealed for fouling the Executive Order “The Rivers State Executive Order 22 prohibits the location of a political campaign office in a residential area. It was the court that ordered the place to be sealed up. “The Rivers State government approached a court which ordered that the place should be sealed up,” Ebiri said. Since the national convention of the party to choose a presidential candidate where Atiku defeated Wike to clinch the ticket, there has been no love lost between the duo with Wike staying on in the party and giving conditions for reconciliation. Wike who has been operating with Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu,

Benue State Governor, Mr. Samuel Ortom, his Enugu State counterpart, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and their Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde had insisted that the National Chairman of the Party, Iyorchia Ayu must resign to pave way for a Southern candidate for the position, insisting that the north had too many important positions in the party which sidelined the South. The group which had met all over the world and holding on to their grouses without let

have refused to be placated except Ayu was removed. Atiku on his part has also held on to Ayu but insisted that he has severally met Wike with a view to resolving the impasse without success. Prior to the sealing of the office, some supporters of Atiku had cried out that they and their interests had become targets of the governor. Things deteriorated to the extent that an attack on Lee Meaba’s house, the arrowhead of Atiku support-

ers in Rivers State saw cars damaged in an early morning invasion. Meaba fingered Wike in the attack claiming that the invaders wanted to kill him but Wike yesterday shortly before sealing the office had denied knowledge of or having a hand in the said attack. He said shortly before inaugurating a dual carriage way in Bori that there was no need for such and that he never

contemplated an attack on Meaba as it was not necessary, with Meaba not constituting any obstacle to his political interests. Reacting to the development, one of the spokespersons for Atiku Campaign Organisation, Mr. Charles Aniagwu condemned the sealing of the office, dismissing it as an infringement on the rights of the people to freedom of choice and hoped the decision would be reversed.

Max Air Vice Chairman/CEO, Bashir Barau Mangal Dies in Abuja Chinedu Eze The Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Max Air, Alhaji Bashir Barau Mangal, is dead. Bashir, who was the younger brother of the business mogul and Chairman of Max Air, Alhaji Dahiru Bara’u Mangal, died in the early hours of yesterday in Abuja after a brief illness. The deceased was described as a seasoned administrator, an excellent manager of human and material resources, a consummate investor and a complete gentleman whose words were his bonds. Bashir Mangal was at the route of the establishment of Max Air who worked ardently with his brother to actualise the dream of operating an airline, which has been doing very well over the years.

The airline was established in 2006 as Mangal Airlines and rebranded Max Air in 2008. It operated its first commercial flight to King Abdulaziz International Airport from Kano. The airline began its operations with two Boeing 747-400 aircraft for its Umrah and Hajj operation services. Max Air is one of Nigeria’s leading airlines operating a domestic, regional and international flight network. In June 2018, Max Air began domestic operations to three destinations, which include Abuja, Lagos from the airline’s main hub (Kano). On November 1, 2018, Max Air announced two new routes to its domestic operations, which include Port Harcourt and Yola as part of its expansion drive.

Glo Festival of Joy Produces 6th House Winner Globacom’s Festival of Joy promotion has produced another house winner. He is 38-year-old supervisor with Pacific Coast Trading company, Lawal Olayinka Abiodun. He thus becomes the sixth Glo subscriber to win a three-bedroom apartment since the promo started in November. He was presented with the keys to the house at a ceremony in Lekki, Lagos, yesterday. A resident of Ajah, Lagos, Lawal was shocked to his marrow by his sudden turn of fortune, and was still shaking as he received the house keys and took a tour round the facility. An expectant father who only got married in June, Lawal confessed that the whole episode “has been much like a dream to me. Is this how people become landlord? It is like a fairy tale encounter that one gets to read in books.” The Chairman, Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area, Engineer Abdullahi Olowa, who was the special guest at the event, commended Glo for its pioneering leadership in the market. He said the company has always distinguished itself as the

industry pacesetter from inception. “You are not only providing services to subscribers, you are also impacting lives across the country”, he said. Globacom’s Regional Manager, Lagos 4, Mr Oseghale Odion, enjoined Glo subscribers to participate in the promo by dialing *611# to opt in for the promo and recharge their lines as appropriate for the various prizes. He explained that “subscribers who desire to become owners of 3-bedroom houses like today’s winner courtesy of Glo Festival of Joy must make data subscription(s) of at least N20,000 during the promo period”. The event had in attendance guests including Mrs Ene Ochagla, Chief Admin Officer of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, brand influencers, Rotimi Salami and Bimbo Thomas. The Glo Festival of Joy promo is offering 20 houses and thousands of other amazing prizes including 24 brand new cars, 100 power generators, 200 sewing machines and 1,000 rechargeable fans to subscribers to reward their loyalty.

ENDING A FRUITFUL YEAR… L-R; The Civil Asset Manager, Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited (LPLEL),Architect Mathew Oloyede; Head of Legal, Opeyemi EmmanuelOlubake; the Managing Director, Du Ruogang; Chief Operating Officer, Laurence Smith; the Chief Commercial Officer, Ray Yi Chengwei; and the Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Daniel Odibe during the Lekki Port End of Year Media Parley held in Lagos ….yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

Obi Promises to End Incessant ASUU Strike if Elected President Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa Presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, has vowed to end the incessant shutting down of the nation’s universities because of strikes by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) when elected as the president. He also promised to dredge major rivers in the country including River Niger and Benue River to tackle devastating flooding across Nigeria. Speaking yesterday in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital during the flag off of the party’s campaigns

in the state, Obi promised to clean all the environmental pollution in the state as well as other Niger Delta states. He said, “We will ensure there is no strike again in our universities, four years will be four years, five years will be five years, I and Datti will secure Nigeria, we will make sure there is rule of law in Nigeria, police will not harass anyone on the road, police will not stop students from carrying their laptops again. “We will ensure Bayelsa get a fair share of what they are giving to Nigeria, I will clean

up all environmental pollution in Bayelsa, people must be able to fish in their water again, most importantly, we are going to dredge River Niger and Benue River to stop the problem of flooding. “This is time for Nigerian youths to take up their government, we want to build a Nigeria that Nigerians will be proud to say they are Nigerians, we will support our youths to be very productive. “I and Datti are wealth creators, we want to create wealth for Nigeria, we will fight corruption, Nigeria requires people who have capacity, people who have

commitments and people with physical and mental energy, a new Nigeria is possible,” he said. However, the campaign was almost marred when supporters of the presidential candidate booed the Bayelsa State Chairman of the party, Eneyi Zidougha away from the podium. He was not allowed to address the crowd as they threatened to beat him for allegedly not accounting for some money released by the party for the campaign.

Again, Seriake Dickson Bags Award for Transparency Sunday Aborisade in Abuja Former governor of Bayelsa State who is now representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Seriake Dickson, has said contrary to widespread claims, all public servants were not devils. Dickson stated this when he bagged an award for Transparency in Leadership presented to him by a coalition of over 90 civil society organisations under the aegis of the Centre for Credible Leadership and Citizens Awareness. Director General of the nongovernmental organisation, Dr. Gabriel Nwambu, said it was in recognition of Dickson’s sterling antecedents in the pursuit of transparency as Governor of

Bayelsa State. In his reaction, Dickson dedicated the award to the people of Bayelsa and his restoration team while in office. He expressed surprise at the award and urged all other civil society organisations to ensure that those who have done well were encouraged with duerecognitionratherthanthetraditional focus on criticism alone. “Onbehalfofmyfamily,onbehalfof the Restoration Government, the good people of Bayelsa, I thank the DG, and the organisers. “Idedicatetheawardtothemembers of the restoration team, the deputy governor, Gboribiogha John Jonah, and all the top government operatives. I also appreciate those who put me on my toes, criticising us for eight years.

“I thank you even as I urge the NGOs not only to criticise but to also appreciate those who have done well. “Public servants are not all devils. This country has a reservoir of great minds in the various sectors doing very well. “Nation building cannot be done alone by one good person. It takes all to make concerted efforts, the total aggregate of every profession that determines whether a nation is great or not. “I thank the DG for the recognition of the modest efforts and contributions in advancing the frontiers of promoting public accountability and development in Bayelsa. “The Transparency Law is still effective in Bayelsa and I want to recommend it to other states. The

people have a right to know the financial decisions: income and expenditure in their state. “Bayelsa still operates the law, and the government of the day continues with it. Also, the councils in Bayelsa enjoy financial autonomy.” Dickson had won the 2018 Transparency Award organised by the management of the Africa Independent Television (AIT). The Director General of CCLCA added that the award to the former governor at the Press Centre of the Senate yesterday, said that it was given to him in appreciation of his “unique dimension of governance, conceived and implemented, especially in the area of transparency, accountability, probity and integrity.”

SATURDAY DECEMBER 24, 2022 • T H I S D AY

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾DECEMBER 24, 2022

NEWS Buhari: FG”ll Consider Domiciling Whistleblowing Policy in Public Complaints Commission Deji Elumoye in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has given an assurance that the federal government will consider the possibility of domiciling the Whistleblowing policy in the Public Complaints Commission (PCC). According to him, the Public Complaints Commission is the best suited Agency to domicile the Whistleblowing policy of the federal government. The President was responding yesterday to requests by the Chief Commissioner of the Commission, Hon. Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf and members of the Management team

during a courtesy visit to him at the State House, Abuja. On the requests by the Commission, the President said: ‘‘I want to assure you that the Commission would be considered as the Agency where the policy will be domiciled given your widespread network of offices and the fact that your mandate on referral of complaints with criminal contents to appropriate Law Enforcement Agencies make your Commission the best suited Agency for domiciling Whistleblowing policy of the federal government.’’ The President also promised speedy consideration of the

Commission’s application to own a radio station to facilitate dissemination of its activities to the citizenry and to enhance its public enlightenment programmes. On the 2023 elections and the need to protect the will of Nigerians, President Buhari urged the Commission to use their privileged position and network of numerous offices in all the states of the federation and presence in many local government areas to protect the interest of the down- trodden and sensitise the citizenry on their rights and obligations. He underscored the role of

the Commission in ensuring free, fair and credible elections and a smooth democratic transition and transfer of power in 2023. ‘‘The Public Complaints Commission is an Ombudsman Institution set up in 1975. The reason for its establishment by its founding fathers was to bridge the gap between the government and the governed and between the big man and the little man. ‘‘It was designed to act as a bastion of justice for the ‘little man’ who has no one or place to turn to for relief, just as it was conceived by the Swedes

who originated it. ‘‘The mandate of the Commission is to principally attend to complaints by members of the public concerning the administrative action of any authority and companies or their officials. ‘‘This fits into this Administration’s policies of restoring transparency, accountability and zero tolerance for corruption and all forms of administrative injustice. ‘‘I therefore promise to assist the Commission to provide the needed tools and infrastructure to strengthen and empower it to perform effectively.’’ The President also thanked the

Commission for conferring on him the award of the Grand Ombudsman Of The Federal Republic Of Nigeria, pledging to continue to do his best in expanding the frontiers of anti-corruption, rule of law and good governance in Nigeria. Speaking earlier on the honorary award presented to the President, Ayo-Yusuf praised President Buhari for releasing all outstanding pension liabilities, from 2014, to retirees of the federal government, especially those of the treasury-funded Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), under the contributory pension scheme.

Absence of Senators, Minister, NCC’s CEO, Others, Stalls NITDA Bill Sunday Aborisade in Abuja A public hearing organised by the National Assembly Joint Committee on Information Communications Technology on a Bill for an Act to Repeal the National Information Technology Development Agency Act No. 28, 2007 and Enact the National Information Technology Development Agency Act, was truncated at the federal parliament yesterday. The Bill, according to the Chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Yakubu Oseni, was also to provide for the administration, implementation and regulation of information technology systems and practices as well as digital economy in Nigeria and for related matters. The parley was stalled due to the absence of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Mr. Isa Ali Pantami, the Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications, Professor Umar Garba

Danbatta, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, among other stakeholders. Only the Chairman of the Senate panel, Yakubu Oseni and Ibrahim Hadejia were present while four House of Representatives members- Hon. Isiaka Ibrahim, Samsudeen Bello, Zaiyad Ibrahim, and Idem Unyime were in attendance. The invited stakeholders were Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal and State Governments, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and the entire business community among others Stakeholders and members of the general public who were invited by the joint Senate and House of Representatives committees attended the event except the Heads of critical MDAs in the communication sector. The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, who was represented by the Deputy Whip, Senator Aliu Sabi Abdullahi, declared the event open.

Osun Govt Directs Ex-Gov Oyetola, Other Appointees to Return Vehicles Worth N2.9bn Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo The Assets Recovery Panel of the Osun State Government has directed former governor Gboyega Oyetola, his wife, Hajia Kafayat Oyetola and other former appointees to immediately return assorted vehicles valued at N2.9 billion presently in their possession. Former Governor Oyetola and some officials allegedly took away various models of vehicles without any legal basis for such action. As of today, there is no law that authorises any elected or appointed officials to go with state vehicles after completing their tenure of office. According to a statement signed by Spokesman to Governor Ademola Adeleke, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, said the Chairman of the Asset Recovery Committee, Dr. BT Salami, reported that due diligence has been conducted and the committee has concluded that the affected past officials should return government vehicles in their possession. “This is the first batch of vehicles to be retrieved. We will soon come up with the second batch. All affected officials should return the vehicles in their possession

immediately to avoid coercive procedures for recovery of State assets,” the Committee Chairman said. In the list of affected officials, Governor Oyetola alone has 11 vehicles ranging from Lexus Jeep, Toyota Prado jeeps and assorted models of costly vehicles. The wife, Mrs. Kafayat also has in her possession several brands of government vehicles which were taken away against provisions of the law. Other former officials listed include immediate past Special Adviser on Security, former Chief Details, former Personal Assistant to the Governor, former Special Assistants to the Governor, former Senior Special Assistants, former Special Advisers, former local government caretaker chairmen and members, former board chairmen and members, former Chief of Staff, former Deputy Chief of Staff, former Deputy Governor, former Secretary to the State Government, former commissioners among others The former deputy governor had more than seven government vehicles in his custody contrary to the provisions of the law.

TALKING DIGITISATION... L-R: Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Mr. Isa Pantami and Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Isah Jere when the former visited him in Abuja... recently

Shettima’s Friends, Allies Rally Support for APC Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Close friends and associates of the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Kashim Shettima, have come together to seek support for his vice presidential ambition in the 2023 general election. They said they were recommending him to Nigerians as a detribalised political leader, a unifier and bridge builder. The friends who addressed journalists in Abuja under the auspices of Friends of Kashim Shettima Mustapha (KSM), said they were made up of highly distinguished men and women whose career paths have crossed with Senator Shettima in the last 50 years. Speaking on the qualities of

APC vice presidential candidate, National Coordinator of KSM, Waziri Bulama, said that Shettima is a competent and fair-minded administrator. He described Shettima as an astute resources manager and transformational leader. “KSM is a detribalised political leader who is a unifier and bridge builder. He has friends and political associates across the country. We are convinced that in a diverse, and complex country like Nigeria, we need a liberal and fair-minded vice president that will complement the nation-building and national integration efforts of the president. “This is why well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians should support Tinubu-Shettima presidential ticket in next year’s

election. Like Asiwaju Tinubu, KSM appointed non-indigenes and competent people of different faiths into top government positions in Borno State,” he said. Bulama said that Shettima’s enviable track record of infrastructural transformation, administrative sagacity, visionary and dynamic leadership as well as astute management of lean resources of Borno State during his eight years stewardship as governor should be enough reason to give the duo of Tinubu-Shettima presidential ticket a chance to fix the economy and restore Nigeria to the path of prosperity. According to Bulama, it is imperative for Nigerians to know the true character and attributes of the leaders that would be elected into various offices

in the 2023 general elections, adding that, “the emergence of a president of our dream is of paramount importance”. “Tinubu and Shettima have done it before in Lagos and Borno states and they will replicate the delivery of the dividends of democracy nationwide if given the mandate. “As Borno State governor, Senator Kashim Shettima administered a state challenged by insecurity delivering massive social and physical infrastructure. Since economic management responsibility is often assigned to the vice president, Shettima as consummate banker conveniently fits the bill and complements Asiwaju Tinubu who is a Chartered Accountant and astute manager of human and material resources,” he said.

2023: Kano PDP Governorship Candidate Heads for Appeal Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano The sacked Kano Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Sadiq Aminu Wali, has revealed his intention to go to the Appeal Court after a Federal high court judgment nullified his candidacy as the party’s standard bearer in the state. A Federal High Court sitting in Kano had Thursday declared Mohammed Sani Abacha, as the duly elected gubernatorial candidate of the PDP in Kano. Reacting to the judgment, Wali, son of former Minister of Foreign

Affairs, Aminu Wali, said he would reclaim his mandate at the Appeal Court. Speaking to journalists in Kano yesterday, Alhaji Wali called on PDP supporters to remain calm, saying that his lawyers are studying the “error-laden judgment” in preparation for appeal. According to Wali, his lawyers had already discovered several errors in the judgment, which would give him a firm ground to reclaim what he described as “mandate of Kano people” at the Appeal Court. “This judgment is riddled with

errors but because I am not a legal practitioner, I cannot say much about this, but my lawyers will speak about it.” “This judgment is riddled with errors but because I am not a legal practitioner, I cannot say much on this, but my lawyers will speak about it.” He said another error made by the judge was that the notice of the primary election was served to the national body of INEC, not state headquarters. Against this backdrop, Wali explained that section 82 of the Electoral Act 2022 says notice of

primary election should be served to national headquarters of INEC, not state, in not less than 21 days. “We served the notice before the deadline, but the judge declared the primary election illegal because the national body of PDP served headquarters of INEC not state headquarters. This is a big mistake. The PDP was on course to have served INEC national headquarters,” he explained. On his part, Wali’s counsel, Nasir Adamu Aliyu (SAN) said they had recorded more than 20 grounds for defense at the Appeal.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 24, 2022 • T H I S D AY

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER DECEMBER 24, 2022

NEWS Okowa: Investment in Primary Healthcare Will Save Nation’s Ailing Health Sector Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba Delta State Governor and vice presidential candidate of the 3HRSOHV 'HPRFUDWLF 3DUW\ 3'3 'U ,IHDQ\L 2NRZD KDV UHLWHUDWHG WKH PRWLYH EHKLQG KLV DGPLQLVWUDWLRQ·V KHDOWKFDUH SROLFLHV ZLWK FRQVFLRXV LQYHVWPHQW LQ SULPDU\ KHDOWKFDUH centres and sued for the replication of such approach across the country in order to invigorate the country’s IDLOLQJ KHDOWKFDUH V\V WHP 2NRZD ZKR PDGH WKH DVVHUWLRQ in AsabD ZKLOH LQDXJXUDWLQJ WHQV RI WKRXVDQGV RI HVVHQWLDO PRGHUQ PHGLFDO HTXLSPHQW DQG FRQVXPables donated by the Delta State 2LO 3URGXFLQJ $UHDV 'HYHORSPHQW &RPPLVVLRQ '(623$'(& IRU

FOR GENDER INCLUSION… L-R: Ugwumba Uche Nwosu; the Ambassador of Denmark to Nigeria, Sune Krogstrup; Dr. Kema Chikwe; and Rotarian Bibey Kalakala, National Coordinator, Ugwumba Women Academy, during the 5th Edition of the annual Enterprise Challenge of the Ugwumba Leadership Centre held in Abuja…recently

Again, Emenike Wins as Appeal Court Upholds APC Guber Primary in Abia Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia The Court of Appeal in Abuja \HVWHUGD\ IXUWKHU FRQÀUPHG 0U ,NHFKL (PHQLNH DV WKH GXO\ elected governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia for the 2023 general election. ,Q D XQDQLPRXV MXGJHPHQW delivered on three appeal cases before it, the appeal panel led by Hon. Justice Peter Olabisi Ige held that the May 26, 2022 SULPDU\ HOHFWLRQ WKURXJK ZKLFK (PHQLNH HPHUJHG ZDV YDOLG DQG KLV FDQGLGDF\ KDG QR EOHPLVK Both APC and its gubernatorial FDQGLGDWH (PHQLNH KDG ILOHG separate appeals challenging the verdict delivered by Justice Binta Nyako validating a purported GLUHFW SULPDU\ HOHFWLRQ WKDW 6DPSVRQ 8FKH 2JDK FODLPHG KH KDG FRQGXFWHG DQG ZRQ One of the governorship aspirants, Dan Eke also filed KLV RZQ DSSHDO FKDOOHQJLQJ WKH MXGJHPHQW RI WKH WULDO MXGJH WKDW

recognised Ogah’s purported candidacy. But the Appellate Court in WKH MXGJHPHQWV GHOLYHUHG RQH after the other on Appeal No. CA/ABJ/1258 High Chief Ikechi (PHQLNH 9V 'U 6DPSVRQ 8FKH Ogah & 3 Ors; CA/ABJ/1257 $3& 9V 'U 6DPSVRQ 8FKH 2JDK & 3 Ors resolved the appeals in favour of the appellants. It also held that the appeal No. CA/ABJ/1297 filed by Dr. Eke ZDV VXFFHVVIXO WKHUHE\ GHDOLQJ D FUXVKLQJ EORZ WR 2JDK·V FODLP to the Abia APC governorship ticket. -XVWLFH ,JH UHSULPDQGHG 1\DNR for ignoring the issue of jurisdiction instead of resolving the issue JLYHQ WKDW LW ZDV IXQGDPHQWDO in adjudication. The panel also held that Ogah lacked the locus to challenge the RXWFRPH RI WKH SDUW\ SULPDU\ since he did not participate in the H[HUFLVH EXW LQVWHDG FODLPHG WKDW KH FRQGXFWHG D VHSDUDWH SULPDU\ ZKLFK ZDV QRW VDQFWLRQHG E\ his party.

7KH MXGJHPHQW RI WKH WULDO FRXUW ZDV YRLGHG E\ WKH DSpellate court as it upheld the HDUOLHU MXGJHPHQW RI WKH $SSHDO &RXUW LQ 2ZHUUL ZKLFK DIILUPHG (PHQLNH·V FDQGLGDF\ In her verdict, Justice Nyako KDG LJQRUHG WKH MXGJHPHQW RI WKH $SSHOODWH &RXUW LQ 2ZHUUL DQG WZR RWKHU $SSHDO &RXUW YHUGLFWV WKDW ZHUH DOO UHVROYHG LQ IDYRXU RI (PHQLNH But Justice Ige and his learned FROOHDJXHV KHOG WKDW WKH\ ZHUH ERXQG E\ WKH MXGJHPHQW RI -XVWLFH 3HPX RI WKH &RXUW RI $SSHDO 2ZHUUL VD\LQJ WKDW 1\DNR·V MXGJHPHQW FDQQRW GLVSODFH WKH MXGJHPHQW RI WKH $SSHDO &RXUW 2ZHUUL 'LYLVLRQ On the issue of Justice Nyako’s IDLOXUH WR LQYLWH DQ DGGUHVV IURP counsel in the sole issue she had UDLVHG ZDV D EUHDFK RI IDLU KHDUing and therefore resolved it in (PHQLNH·V IDYRXU The Appellate Court therefore KHOG WKDW WKH LQGLUHFW SULPDU\ conducted by APC in Abia ZDV YDOLG DQG IURZQHG DW WKH

action of Nyako for upholding WKH SXUSRUWHG GLUHFW SULPDU\ RI Ogah thereby suggesting that the VDPH ZDV UDWLILHG E\ D FHUWDLQ state chapter. ,Q GHOLYHULQJ WKH XQDQLPRXV verdict, Justice Ige read out the QDPHV RI WKH PHPEHUV RI WKH panel sent by the National Secretariat of APC to conduct WKH JRYHUQRUVKLS SULPDU\ WKDW SURGXFHG (PHQLNH DIILUPLQJ WKDW WKH H[HUFLVH ZDV YDOLG He faulted the report of INEC ZKLFK 2JDK KDG XVHG WR EDFN KLV FODLPV VD\LQJ WKDW D UHSRUW E\ WKH HOHFWRUDO XPSLUH ´FDQQRW YDOLGDWH DQ RWKHUZLVH LQYDOLG SULPDULHVµ ´<RX FDQQRW SODFH VRPHWKLQJ on nothing and expect it to stand. The INEC report is inchoate and FDQQRW YDOLGDWH WKH SULPDULHV UHOLHG RQ E\ 2JDK µ WKH $SSHOODWH Court held. :LWK WKLV MXGJHPHQW (PHQLNH UHPDLQV WKH DXWKHQWLF JRYHUQRUVKLS ÁDJ EHDUHU RI the All Progressives Congress in Abia State.

Sanwo-Olu Inaugurates Three Projects in Alimosho Segun James Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide 6DQZR 2OX KDV VDLG WKDW KH ZLOO FRQWLQXH WR HPEDUN RQ ODQGPDUN SURMHFWV LQ $OLPRVKR /RFDO *RYHUQPHQW $UHD HYHQ DV KH XUJHG WKHP WR UHFLSURFDWH KLV JHVWXUHV E\ YRWLQJ PDVVLYHO\ IRU WKH $OO Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s general election. 7KH JRYHUQRU ZKR LQDXJXUDWHG SURMHFWV IURP ,VKHIXQ FRPPXQLW\ in Ipaja-Ayobo Local Council 'HYHORSPHQW $UHD RI /DJRV 6WDWH ZKHUH 2JXQ 6WDWH ERXQG WUDYHOOHUV FDQ QRZ JHW WR WKHLU GHVWLQDWLRQ WKURXJK ZDWHUZD\V LQ VHYHQ PLQXWHV WR WKH QHZO\ rehabilitated Isuti Road in Igando, ,VKHIXQ &DPS 'DYLHV 5RDG DQG Ijon-Liasu Ojo-Ijo Road, relieving the residents of traffic burden and WKH QHZO\ EXLOW 7 VKDSHG MHWW\ LQ

7KH 3HRSOHV 'HPRFUDWLF 3DUW\ (PDP) has described the reports that the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, is leading in the opinion poll FRQGXFWHG E\ 12, 3ROOV /LPLWHG VWDWLQJ WKDW WKHUH ZHUH QR SROOLQJ XQLWV LQ WKH VRFLDO PHGLD It also described the NOI Poll as a hatchet job and highly teleguided. In a report by the NOI Polls /LPLWHG FRPPLVVLRQHG E\ $1$3 )RXQGDWLRQ LQ 'HFHPEHU the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, ZDV DKHDG RI WKH WKUHH RWKHU frontline candidates. 7KH SROO VKRZHG WKDW 2EL OHG Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC); Atiku Abubakar RI WKH 3HRSOHV 'HPRFUDWLF 3DUW\ 3'3 DQG 5DELX .ZDQNZDVR RI WKH 1HZ 1LJHULD 3HRSOH·V 3DUW\ (NNPP). %XW LQ D VZLIW UHDFWLRQ 6HQDWRU Dino Melaye, Spokesperson and Director Public Affairs of the PDP 3UHVLGHQWLDO &DPSDLJQ 0DQDJHPHQW &RPPLWWHH GHVFULEHG WKH VRFLDO PHGLD UHSRUW DV D KDWFKHW PDQ·V MRE ,Q D VWDWHPHQW 6HQDWRU 0HOD\H VDLG ´7KDW LV UXEELVK DQG D KDWFKHW PDQ·V MRE 3HWHU FDQ FRQWLQXH WR

ZLQ RQ VRFLDO PHGLD DQG WHOHJXLGHG VXUYH\V ZKLOH $WLNX LV ZLQQLQJ LQ reality and on the ground. ´7KHUH LV QR SRROLQJ XQLW RQ VRFLDO PHGLD RU RQ ODSWRSV $WLNX is evangelising and spreading the JRVSHO RI D QHZ 1LJHULD ´+H LV VSHDNLQJ WR WKH YHU\ issues bedeviling our people and offering concrete solutions. Only $WLNX DPRQJ WKH FDQGLGDWHV FDQ unite our country and stop the pervasive insecurity and hunger WKDW KDYH FROODSVHG RXU HFRQRP\ 7KH VXUYH\ LV PDGH LQ 7DLZDQ DQG RQO\ JRRG IRU WKH WUDVK µ the spokesperson of the PDP 3UHVLGHQWLDO &DPSDLJQ VWDWHG ANAP Foundation President, Atedo Peterside disclosed in a teleYLVLRQ SURJUDPPH RQ :HGQHVGD\ that Obi is ahead of Atiku, Tinubu and other presidential candidates +H VDLG WKH HOHFWLRQ KDV PRYHG past a three-horse race as said in an HDUOLHU SROO UHOHDVHG LQ 6HSWHPEHU to a four-horse race. Peterside said Obi has 23 per cent, Tinubu scored 13 per cent, Atiku got 10 per FHQW DQG .ZDQNZDVR SROOHG WZR SHU FHQW LQ WKH IUHVK SROO UHOHDVHG LQ 'HFHPEHU ´1RERG\ KDV JDLQHG RU ORVW PRUH WKDQ WZR WKUHH SHU FHQW , GRQ·W NQRZ ZKHWKHU WKDW LV JRRG QHZV RU

EDG QHZV EXW LW LV DV LI QRWKLQJ KDV KDSSHQHG IXQGDPHQWDOO\ QR VLJQLÀFDQW VKLIW µ KH VDLG 3HWHUVLGH VDLG PRELOH SKRQHV ZHUH WKH LQVWUXPHQWV XVHG WR conduct the poll because of LQFUHDVHG PRELOH SKRQH SHQHWUDtion in the country, adding that a large percentage of people are undecided. He also said the interest level in the next general elections is GULYHQ E\ HFRQRPLF FKDOOHQJHV

,VKHIXQ ULYHULQH FRPPXQLW\ WR IDFLOLWDWH VHDPOHVV IHUU\ VHUYLFHV WR RWKHU ERXQGDU\ WRZQV DORQJ the river channel. 6DQZR 2OX OHG PHPEHUV RI WKH VWDWH FDELQHW WR $OLPRVKR IRU WKH IRUPDO LQDXJXUDWLRQ RI the projects. Excited residents received the JRYHUQRU DQG KLV HQWRXUDJH ZLWK SODFDUGV EHDULQJ PHVVDJHV RI DSSUHFLDWLRQ RQ WKH GHYHORSPHQW 6DQZR 2OX VDLG WKH SURMHFWV ZHUH WHVWLPRQ\ RI KLV DGPLQLVWUDWLRQ·V GHWHUPLQDWLRQ WR LPSURYH WKH ZHOO EHLQJ RI WKH SHRSOH regardless of their status. He VDLG WKH GHYHORSPHQW KDG VROYHG WKH SHUHQQLDO WUD΀F congestion experienced in the area, adding that the ancillary lighting facilities KDG LPSURYHG WKH VHFXULW\ situation in the area.

Tinubu’s Presidency Will Benefit Gombe, Gov Inuwa Assures Segun Awofadeji in Gombe

*RPEH 6WDWH *RYHUQRU $OKDML 0XKDPPDGX ,QXZD <DKD\D has said that the victory of the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), $VLZDMX %ROD $KPHG 7LQXEX in the 2023 general election ZLOO EHQHÀW WKH SHRSOH RI WKH state. *RYHUQRU <DKD\D ZKR disclosed this at the venues plaguing the nation, poverty, RI WKH $3& &DPSDLJQ UDOOLHV held at Kulishin, Boh, Lapan LQVHFXULW\ DPRQJVW RWKHUV He noted that the appetite DQG /DODLSLGR ZDUGV RI of the youths in this election is 6KRQJRP /RFDO *RYHUQPHQW high and carpeted candidates Area yesterday, assured the ZKR KDYH GRGJHG SUHVLGHQWLDO people that the state stood to EHQHÀW D ORW IURP 7LQXEX·V debates. ANAP Foundation had presidency. +H VDLG 7LQXEX LV FRPPLWUHOHDVHG D VLPLODU SROO LQ 6HSWHPEHU LQ ZKLFK 2EL DOVR WHG WR WKH LPSOHPHQWDWLRQ led the other 17 candidates in RI .ROPDQL ,QWHJUDWHG the race for Aso Rock’s top job 'HYHORSPHQW 3URMHFW LQDXin 2023.

PDP Rejects NOI Poll, Says It’s a Hatchet Job Chuks Okocha in Abuja

GLVWULEXWLRQ WR RYHU SULPDU\ healthcare centres in the state, said WKDW ZDV WKH ZD\ WR JR LQ WKH OLJKW RI 1LJHULD·V JURZLQJ SRSXODWLRQ and the disturbing pressure on WHUWLDU\ PHGLFDO IDFLOLWLHV LQ WKH country. The governor pointed out that such deliberate intervention and LQYHVWPHQW LQ SULPDU\ KHDOWKFDUH IDFLOLWLHV ZLOO JUHDWO\ HQKDQFH healthcare service delivery at JUDVVURRWV DQG LPSURYH WKH RYHUDOO SHUIRUPDQFH RI WKH KHDOWK VHFWRU significantly. (TXLSPHQW DQG RWKHU LWHPV donated by DESOPADEC included ZKHHOFKDLUV EHGV KRVSLWDO PDWWUHVVHV FDELQHWV ZDUG VFUHHQV gynaecological tables and various FRQVXPDEOHV

gurated recently by President 0XKDPPDGX %XKDUL KHQFH D YRWH IRU KLP DQG WKH $3& DW DOO OHYHOV ´LV D YRWH IRU UHQHZHG KRSH GHYHORSPHQW DQG SURVSHULW\ RI WKH SHRSOH µ He called on the electorate, HVSHFLDOO\ ZRPHQ DQG \RXWKV WR FRPH RXW HQ PDVVH RQ election day and vote for the APC candidates at all levels, VWDWLQJ WKDW ´,I \RX VXSSRUW a party, then you should also support its candidates DOWRJHWKHU µ KH DVVHUWHG ,QXZD VDLG WKH UHFRUGV RI DFKLHYHPHQWV RI WKH $3& OHG DGPLQLVWUDWLRQ LQ 6KRQJRP and other places are unprecedented and unbeatable, H[SUHVVLQJ FRQÀGHQFH WKDW $3& ZLOO KDYH D UHVRXQGLQJ YLFWRU\ LQ WKH IRUWKFRPLQJ elections in the area and the state at large.

NAICOM Unveils New Premium Rates for Motor Insurance January 1 James Emejo in Abuja 7KH 1DWLRQDO ,QVXUDQFH &RPPLVVLRQ 1$,&20 \HVWHUGD\ LQWURGXFHG QHZ SUHPLXP UDWHV IRU PRWRU LQVXUDQFH LQ WKH country. 7KH FRPPLVVLRQ VWDWHG WKDW WKH QHZ UDWHV WDNHV HͿHFW IURP January 1, 2023. NAICOM in a circular dated 'HFHPEHU VLJQHG E\ LWV Director, Policy and Regulation, Dr. L.M. Akah, and addressed to all insurance institutions stated WKDW WKH XSZDUG DGMXVWPHQW RI

UDWH ZDV SXUVXDQW WR WKH UHJXODtor’s exercise of its function of approving rates of insurance SUHPLXP XQGHU WKH 6HFWLRQ of NAICOM Act 1997, and RWKHU H[WDQW ODZV 8QGHU WKH QHZ WHPSODWH IRU PRWRU LQVXUDQFH SUHPLXP ZKLFK ZDV PDGH DYDLODEOH WR 7+,6'$< WKLUG SDUW\ LQVXUDQFH policies inclusive of ECOWAS EURZQ FDUG (%& KDG EHHQ UHYLHZHG 7KH FRPPLVVLRQ QRWHG WKDW HͿHFWLYH -DQXDU\ SUHPLXP RQ SULYDWH PRWRU VKDOO EH 1 ZKLOH 7KLUG 3DUW\ 3URSHUW\

'DPDJH 733' ZKLFK LV WKH OLPLW RI FODLPV DQ LQVXUHG FDQ enjoy on the policy shall be N3, 000. Also, under the private FDWHJRU\ 2ZQ *RRGV VKDOO KHQFHIRUWK DWWUDFW D QHZ SUHPLXP RI 1 DQG 733' RI 1 ZKLOH VWDͿ EXV ZLOO EH VXEMHFWHG WR D QHZ SUHPLXP RI N20, 000, and TPPD of N3, 000. )RU WKH FRPPHUFLDO FDWHJRU\ the insurance regulator stated that trucks/general cartage shall DWWUDFW 1 SUHPLXP DQG TPPD of N5, 000. Also, special type insurance

ZLOO DWWUDFW 1 SUHPLXP DQG 733' RI 1 ZKLOH WULF\FOH ZLOO DWWUDFW 1 SUHPLXP UDWH and N2,000 in TPPD. Motorcycle ZLOO DOVR SD\ 1 SUHPLXP and N1, 000 as TPPD. 7KH FRPPLVVLRQ IXUWKHU VWDWHG WKDW FRPSUHKHQVLYH PRWRU LQVXUDQFH SROLF\ SUHPLXP UDWH VKDOO not be less than five per cent of WKH VXP LQVXUHG DIWHU DOO UHEDWHV discounts. 7KH FRPPLVVLRQ DOVR ZDUQHG WKDW IDLOXUH E\ LQVXUDQFH ILUPV WR FRPSO\ ZLWK WKH GLUHFWLYH VKDOO attract appropriate regulatory sanction.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 24, 2022 • T H I S D AY

DECEMBER 24, 2022 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

COMMENTARY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE HOME BOY Olayinka Oyebode pays tribute to Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, at age 55

t was an uneasy task for me last week when the lot fell on me, as Mr Governor’s spokesperson, to make a public announcement that Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji would not be marking his 55th birthday on December 21st, and would rather have his friends, associates and well wishers convert their planned events, gifts and advertorials into material and ﬁnancial support to some state- owned schools for the physically challenged. The fact I was privy to some private arrangements by some groups and individuals to celebrate the governor on his special day made me put up a little case for some form of waivers. I was overruled, as the governor insisted that material and ﬁnancial donations to the three schools would be a more appreciated celebration for him, stressing that the country is at a point where well-meaning citizens should make deliberate efforts at reaching out to the less privileged in the society.

In his characteristic leadership style, Governor Oyebanji immediately directed that gifts and cash be sent to the three schools – Government Special School for the Deaf, Ikoro-Ekiti; Government Special School for the Physically Challenged and Mentally Retarded, Ido-Ekiti; and Government Special School for the Blind, Ikere-Ekiti as his “birthday gift” to the students. The interesting thing is that shortly after the governor’s directive was published on December 17th, many citizens of the state both at home and in the Diaspora started making enquiries on how to donate to the schools. Immediately the account details of the three schools were made public by their management, rains of credit alerts followed. Again, a caveat from the Governor’s office followed, urging the schools’ management to keep proper records of the donations and assuring the public that every dime would be duly acknowledged and accounted for. For those who have followed Oyebanji’s trajectory from his student days through pro- democracy agitation and the current political participation, his action did not come as a surprise. He is guided by the social democratic principle of lifting the weak and vulnerable in the society and the biblical injunction of love your neighbour as yourself. His three and a half years stint as Secretary to the Government of Ekiti State between October 2018 and December 2021 witnessed a massive turn around in the fortunes of many young Ekiti men and women. Many of them got seed funds for their businesses, trading as well as financial and material support for sundry requests including payment of hospital bills, scholarship for indigent students, empowerment for widows and massive support for youth development programmes. Oyebanji’s genuine concern includes how to support the weak and make them stand on their feet; how to defend the defenceless; how to instil the ‘I can do’ spirit in the younger citizens and how transactional politics can be replaced with transformational leadership. Whereas some critics faulted those ideals then, describing them as unsustainable, but his consistency in identifying with and doing good to the less privileged was the genesis of his ascendance to political greatness and created a permanent space for what is aptly described as the “BAO Phenomenon” in the innermost sanctum of the hearts of Ekitikete. Oyebanji’s penchant for human capital development and insatiable desire to get the government to provide for the weak and vulnerable in the society informed his administration’s huge investment in social security support, free, compulsory primary and secondary education; comprehensive renovation of roads, human capital development, welfare of workers and pensioners a la prompt payment of salaries, pensions and deductions. Regarded as a promoter of peace, BAO demonstrated his statesmanship and penchant for peace and social justice with the unprecedented way he set aside political differences, visited and held consultations with several Ekiti leaders ahead of his inauguration as governor. He has also made some deft moves which culminated in reconcili-

OYEBANJI’S PENCHANT FOR HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT AND INSATIABLE DESIRE TO GET THE GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE FOR THE WEAK AND VULNERABLE IN THE SOCIETY INFORMED HIS ADMINISTRATION’S HUGE INVESTMENT IN SOCIAL SECURITY SUPPORT, FREE, COMPULSORY PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

ation with former political foes with attendant peace and stability within the ruling APC and across party lines. His reputation as a lover and promoter of peace has been on the rise since then, making him a reference point in pragmatic leadership style and peace initiatives. BAO, in his bridge-building efforts, creates relationships that cut across the lines of conflict, helps to forge ties across borders, cultures, religions, power bloc. He establishes relationships, and build trust between conflicting people and groups which helps opposing groups of people to understand each other better. His political handlers who anchored his governorship campaign on three key words - character, competence and compassion - didn’t make any mistake. BAO has, within a short period, successfully exhibited these three virtues to the admiration of the vast majority of the people of the state who see him as the governor, in whom they are well pleased. His testimonials as an “Omoluabi Governor” by the likes of Aare Afe Babalola (SAN); Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN); Chief Deji Fasuan, Prince Julius AdelusiAdeluyi as well as his predecessors in office speak volume. Like the American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century, Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Oyebanji, no doubt, is already trotting where there seems to be no path and leaving a trail – impactful leadership, peaceful atmosphere and accelerated progress. As BAO turns 55 years old, the question is no longer about what he is capable of doing as a leader and statesman. He has been able to demonstrate his capacity as an innovative, credible, competent and compassionate leader. Rather, the question will be about what he would not do as a leader as many believe that his past has adequately prepared him for the present and the future. Born on December 21, 1967, in Ikogosi-Ekiti, Oyebanji was inaugurated as Governor of Ekiti State on October 16, 2022. As a “homegrown” Ekiti man, his entire early education was in his home state and in institutions such as Baptist Primary School, Ikogosi-Ekiti, Awo Community High School, Awo-Ekiti, C.A.C. Grammar School, Efon-Alaaye, District Commercial Secondary School, Aramoko-Ekiti and Federal School of Arts and Science, Ondo. He acquired a Bachelor of Science degree from the Ondo State University (OSUA) (now Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti) in 1989 and continued his quest for honours at the University of Ibadan in 1992 where he bagged his Masters’ degree in Political Science (International Relations and Strategic Studies). Oyebanji started his career as a Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, OSUA, and worked for four years (1993 – 1997) and later proceeded to work as Manager, Treasury, and Financial Services at the defunct Omega Bank Plc (now Heritage Bank) till May 1999, when he commenced an illustrious career in politics and governance. He is one of the longest serving political office holders in the Government of Ekiti State, having served for over 11 years in various capacities. He was Special Assistant (Parliamentary Affairs) to the Governor of Ekiti State (8th June 1999 – July 2000); Special Adviser (Parliamentary Affairs) to the Governor ( Aug. 2000 – Sept. 2001); Chief of Staff to the Governor (September 2001 – May 29, 2003); Chairman, Governing Board, Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (June 2009 – December 2010); Commissioner, Ministry of Integration and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Ekiti State ( December 2010 – December 2011); Head, Office of Transformation, Strategy and Delivery (OTSD), Ekiti State (December 2011 – 9th January 2013); Commissioner, Ministry of Budget, Economic Planning and Service Delivery, Ekiti State (10th January 2013 – 16th October 2014); Secretary, Ekiti State Government ( October 2018 –till December 2021). Oyebode, Special Adviser (Media) to the Governor, writes from Ado-Ekiti.

MANAGING FLOOD THROUGH PROPER USE OF ECOLOGICAL FUNDS Sub-national governments should apply their resources judiciously in line with national emergency policies, writes Tajudeen Kareem

looding is one of the most devastating and dreaded forms of natural disasters that man must contend with. In most cases, it is caused by heavy rainfall or when rivers overﬂow their banks due to excess volume of water. Flooding can also be precipitated by human activities such as blockage of water channels with illegal structures and refuse, as well as periodic release of water from an over filled dam. The flooding of towns and villages across the country this year was generally blamed on heavy rainfall and the impact of Climate Change. This generated arguments from many quarters; that ecological challenges such as flooding can be mitigated with proper planning and proactive actions. The Derivation Ecology, otherwise known as Ecological Fund is the 2.3 percent of monthly accruals that is derived from the Federation Account. This Fund was established through the Federation Account Act of 1981, based on the recommendation of the Okigbo Commission. Subsequently, it was modified through Decree 36 of 1984 and Decree 106 of 1992 as well as the Allocation of Federation Account modification order of 2002. The prime objective of this initiative was to have a pool

of funds that will be solely devoted to funding emergency ecological challenges in the country. Presently, the Fund is shared between the federal government, states and local governments including the Federal Capital Territory Area Councils. Out of 2.3 percent, the federal government takes 1 percent, the state governments take 0.72 percent while the local governments take 0.60 percent. It is instructive that four federal agencies take the chunk of the 45 percent accruing to the federal government from the Derivation Ecology Fund. These are the National Emergency Management Agency with 20 percent, the National Agency for the Great Green Wall with 5 percent, the North-East Development Commission with 10 percent and the National Agriculture and Land Development Authority with 10 percent, thereby leaving the Ecological Project Office (EPO), with the remaining 55 percent. It is necessary to recall that at the federal level, the management of the Ecological Fund was initially handled by the National Committee on Ecological Project which was bedevilled by numerous challenges before it was moved to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to advise the President on the disbursement and management of the

funds. Indeed, there is a general misconception on the management of the fund. Recently, a nongovernmental organisation, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, wrote an open letter to the President to question the disbursement of the fund. Among several allegations and insinuations, SERAP claimed that although ecological funds are shared across the three tiers of government contrary to records that the fund is domiciled and disbursed by the Federal Ministry of Finance. It is on record that the federal government in 2021 renamed the coordinating office the Ecological Project Office in line with its functions; and ensuring that state and local governments get their share directly from the Federal Ministry of Finance to facilitate quality, timely and efficient approval of projects across the country. There is no doubt that an effective management of the Ecological Project Office will drive the federal government’s policy on ecological intervention and sustainability to mitigate the ecological challenges in many communities across the country. Now with a new management at the Ecological Project Office, there is no doubt that the federal government is determined

to strengthen and reposition the office for effective service delivery, especially in mitigating incessant flood in Nigeria. However, state and local governments must brace up to work in synergy with the national policy being pursued by the federal government. This will help to establish a workable national strategy that will facilitate quick response and intervention in ecological challenges across the country. The completion of over 260 ecological projects across the six geo-political zones by the Buhari Administration is a testimony to the judicious use of the funds accruing to the Ecological project Office in recent times. Moreover, the setting up of a Presidential Committee for the Development of a Comprehensive Plan of Action for the Prevention of Flood Disasters in Nigeria will no doubt provide a durable platform to plan ahead for future emergencies. For the country to meet the desired expectations in the control and quick intervention during disasters such as flooding, sub-national governments must be proactive and apply their resources judiciously in line with national emergency policies. Kareem, mnipr is Chief Consultant/CEO PROEDGE Limited

DECEMBER 24, 2022 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

INSIGHT

Christmas with tears...

Gender as a Danger Signal

omen continue to face signiﬁcant hurdles in the Nigerian society. These hurdles which are spread out across homes, workplace, politics, economics pose a serious threat to the genuine development of the country and must be removed if Nigeria is to move forward. It appears even to the blind that Nigeria’s constant battle to end gender violence in Nigeria will go down to the wire. It has been a formidable challenge to ensure that as a mark of equity and justice, gender equality is enshrined in the Nigerian society. But maybe, Nigeria has not fought any battle as difficult as this, because the country continues to be at the receiving end of one loss after the other. Where women should be treated as equal partners in the Nigerian project, they’re forced to lag behind out of sheer sabotage. What makes the pills women are always forced to swallow especially bitter is that women can give as much as they take if they are given equal opportunity. But they are not and Nigeria has continued to live this reality for years now with the main challenge coming in costs and missed opportunities. For who can tell the difference it would have made if women were allowed to fully participate in, and shape the Nigerian project? Perhaps, they would have shaped it into something better, and contribute to shaping what remains unsightly because it is shapeless. Nigeria has a slew of legislations that seek to protect women and create a safe space for them to thrive. There is a National Gender Policy and of course, it is noteworthy that there is a subsisting decision of the Federal High Court mandating 35% of political appointments in the public sector be reserved for women. But Nigeria must do more. Leaders must show more political will by showing more commitment to the issues that affect women. Women continue to be criminally undermined and underutilized in public life. To fix this, they ought to be given more political appointments especially into key positions where their visibility will help open up the space for other groups that are on the margins of the society. The laws that codify the protection of women must also be reviewed. Do they have enough thrust and teeth? If they don’t, what can be done to ensure that they do? There is also a need to change age-long beliefs about women. Some of these beliefs are rooted in customs and traditions while some of them are rooted in religion. In the face of current realities, those realities are as archaic

Sheikh Abduljabar’s Death Sentence

umanists are outraged by the death sentence that was handed down to an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abduljabar Nasir Kabara for blasphemy. A sharia court in Kano convicted Sheikh Abduljabar after it found him guilty of spreading lies about the prophet of Islam and making inciteful preaching. Sheikh Abduljabar denied the charges. That means he objected to the claim that he was spreading messages that were not true about the prophet Muhammad. Or that he was making provocative statements in his preaching. It is not clear how the sharia court was able to establish beyond reasonable doubt that this cleric blasphemed or used his preaching to incite people. The death sentence violates Sheikh Abduljabar’s human and constitutional rights including his rights to freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression. Sheikh Abduljabar has the right to say whatever he thinks or believes about the prophet of Islam even though other Muslims may disagree. The Islamic religion is not a homogenous faith. It has many traditions, sects, and schools of thought that espouse diverse contradictory dogmas and doctrines. The teachings of some sects are seen as lies by others. The preachings by some schools are regarded as provocative and forms of incitement by those who belong to other traditions. Islamic schools of thought and traditions mutually blaspheme and constitute embodiments of incitement. So, if blasphemy were to be a crime, then every Muslim would be a criminal because every Muslim blasphemes as a matter of faith. But blasphemy is not a crime. Blasphemy is a human right. What Abduljabar did was an exercise of his right, not an offence by any stretch of religious or Islamic imagination. Unfortunately as enforced in Kano and other sharia implementing states, blasphemy T H E SAT U R DAY N E W S PA P E R constitutes a device to delegitimize, oppress and EDITOR YEMI ADEBOWALE suppress Islamic or ir/religious others. BlaspheDEPUTY EDITOR AHAMEFULA OGBU my is a weapon for the abuse and persecution of MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO minority sects and traditions. Blasphemy is used DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI to sanctify Muslim inhumanity to other Muslims EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN and non-Muslims. MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI So the conviction of Sheikh Abduljabar THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE shames us all. It is an indictment of our collective conscience and demonstrates the disconnect between Northern/Nigerian Muslim conscience and humanity. It is sad to note that Muslim T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D jihadists who enslaved and killed Africans EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA who espoused traditional beliefs and practices GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, introduced Islam to the region. After centuries ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS SHAKA MOMODU, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE of indoctrination and brainwashing, African DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI jihadists are killing fellow Muslims and fellow SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH Africans for expressing a different idea or belief. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PATRICK EIMIUHI Humanists hope that reason, good conscience, CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI and natural justice would prevail and this death DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO sentence would be quashed. TO SEND EMAIL: ﬁrst name.surname@thisdaylive.com Leo Igwe, human rights activist

as they come. Nigerian leaders in all walks of life must also be seen to be standing up for women, their rights and their interests. Traditional leaders and religious leaders must speak up for the protection of women more often so that gradually, those spheres which are usually immutable when it comes to the rights of women can gradually turn a corner. There is also the need to catch them young. It is important that in raising children, Nigerians should strive to inculcate in children that there should be no unhealthy discrimination between girls and boys. Nigeria continues to scandalously fail women in defiance of the sterling examples of countries like Sweden and Rwanda who continue to show that there is really no limits to what can be achieved when gender equality is given priority. A country where domestic violence continues to be treated with kid gloves is a country that is not yet ready to give women their dues. To become a country where women count, the root, stem and branches of domestic violence of any kind must be cut down and cast into the fire of change. Nigeria can do so only if her leaders can summon enough political will. Kene Obiezu, keneobiezu@gmail.com

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER DECEMBER 24, 2022

NEWS

FCTA Vows to Continue Crushing Errant Okadas Olawale Ajimotokan inAbuja The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has resolved to continue with its policy of crushing commercial motorcycles impounded from errant riders to stem the tide of lawlessness and disregard to approved standards. The Mandate Secretary of FCTA Transportation Secretariat, Àbdullahi Candido, who supervised the fourth edition of the ‘impound and crush exercise’ at the popular AYA Junction in Asokoro, described it as a hard and painful decision. He vowed that the operation would continue and no violator spared. He noted that given the established reports linking insecurity and multiple road crashes challenges within the city to commercial motorcycles operators, the gradual processes of phasing out of Okada activities, would not be compromised. “We all believe that Okada operation is a contributing factor to the insecurity in town. We are concerned and won’t rest in appealing to Okada riders to desist from doing what they do, and if they refuse, government will not be tired of getting them impounded and instantly

Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

ENRICHING KNOWLEDGE… LR : Teacher at Lagoon School, Lekki, Owoyi Esiere; President and CEO of Transcorp plc. Mrs. Owen Omogiafo; CEO and Publisher of Savvy Media, Ms Tofunmi Akinseye; CEO and Founder of STEM Bridge; Kaosi Anyanwu; and Managing Director and CEO of Afriland Properties plc. Mrs. Uzo Oshogwe, , at STEM Bridge maiden event, at Lagoon Secondary School, Lekki , Lagos

FUXVKHG µ &DQGLGR VDLG Also, the Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, Ikharo Attah, warned that those who intended to take advantage of the Yuletide to violate the laws, especially the commercial motorcyclists who have continued to abuse rules

and regulations. He noted that though the operation was borne out of a very difficult and painful decision, enforcement must be sustained to make Abuja what it ought to be. “We could see the consistency in doing this and the reduction in crime vis a vis the reduction in commercial motorcycles operating

in an unapproved area. And from what I have seen in them and the directive the minister has given, the operation will continue through the Christmas period. And for those who feel that it is Christmas, and go to commit illegalities, certainly know that enforcement will be going on.

Sanwo-Olu: Over 600 Surveillance Cameras in Lagos Wale Igbintade

2019 and 2021 over 120 per cent increase in Venture Capital In a bid to have a safer state, LQÁRZ LQWR /DJRV ZDV UHDOLVHG Lagos State Government has in- resulting in 1.5 billion dollars stalled over 600 Smart Intelligent in VC funding in 2021 alone. Video Surveillance Cameras as The governor said, “We have well as Intelligent Transportation records of over 2,000 startups &DPHUDV IRU WUD΀F PRQLWRULQJ creating and contributing value and security management. across Fintech, Agritech, construcLagos State Governor, Mr. tion, health and so on. All of these Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who points to an open and enabling disclosed this at the Fourth environment for the growth and Edition of The Art of Technology proliferation of entrepreneurial (AOT) held at Landmark Event activity within the technology Centre, Victoria Island, added ecosystem. As was witnessed that the innovation has reduced during the telecommunication drastically in person enforcement boom of the early 2000s, Lagos that usually leads to issues with has provided the central core WUD΀F R΀FHUV of business and technological According to him, between development in Nigeria for

decades. Most major technology DQG WHOHFRP ÀUPV LQ 1LJHULD DUH headquartered and do most of their business in Lagos. “The entrepreneurial environment and the open support for technology informed this administration’s increasing focus on innovation in a bid to drive value outputs for this ecosystem. He said the state has begun a VLJQLÀFDQW LGHQWLW\ PDQDJHPHQW programme through Lagos State Residents Registration Agency that will seek to identify all Lagos inhabitants. He said “Current projections state that Lagos will have 30 million inhabitants by 2035. It is imperative to drive the

identity management ecosystem for a smarter city. This will OHQG WR PRUH H΀FLHQW UHVRXUFH allocation and planning for the state. LASSRA has undergone a fundamental restructuring of its operational model. With a new digital identification card with capabilities that enable access to benefits, electronic ticketing and so on, it further drives the digital inclusion benchmark for Lagos. “Currently about 6.5 million residents have been captured. We are targeting another 10 million within the next .We are deeply grateful for your participation and commitment to partner with us in having the relevant conversations, co-creating the strategies

Upward Review of Major Contracts Inevitable, Says Delta Govt Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba The Delta State Government has reiterated that the reality of the prevailing economic situation in Nigeria makes the upward review of contracts for many of its infrastructural projects inevitable. The State Commissioner for Works (Highways and Urban Roads), Mr. Noel Omodon, stated this in Asaba while briefing journalists on major decisions reached at this week’s State Executive Council (EXCO) meet-

ing at the Government House, presided over by the State Deputy Governor, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro. However, Omodon said that the council has approved the re-award of contracts for the construction of Ayakoromo Bridge as well as ‘Sector A’ of the Ughelli-Asaba Expressway dual-carriageway project “to a more credible and competent FRQWUDFWRUµ EHIRUH WKH HQG RI next week. State EXCO recently approved the repudiation of the contracts

FRSC Vows to Rid Abuja-Okene Highway of Gridlock, Warms Motorists Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja Ahead of Yuletide, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has vowed to rid the Abuja -Okene road, especially the notorious Obajana Junction and other points of gridlock during the Christmas and New Year celebrations in Kogi State. Kogi State FRSC Sector Commander, Stephen Dawulung, made the vow at the Corps’ end of year special intervention sensitisation campaign for gridlock and crash prone areas nationwide held in Lokoja yesterday . The campaign which has the theme: ‘Driving tired is as

TCN, Community to Complete Electricity Project Abandoned for 10 Years

dangerous as driving drunk: Observe 30 minutes rest period after every four hours’ was the sole initiative of the Acting Corps Marshall, FRSC, Dauda Ali-Biu. Dawulung explained that the campaign was one of the several strategies initiated by the Acting Corps Marshall and management of the corps wants to address and remedy causes of road traffic crashes and fatality along specific crash prone areas. He said that FRSC had, therefore, deployed 870 personnel, 22 patrol vehicles, three ambulances and a towing truck to critical routes and accident prone areas within Kogi to ensure robust enforcement

for the two projects on grounds of non-performance. Nonetheless, the commissioner explained that the projects to be re-awarded have been approved by the Council following the “completion of all the processes IRU WKH SURMHFWV WR EH UH DZDUGHG µ “The state government had equally engaged a contractor to carry out some palliative works on some bad spots of the road to ensure seamless flow of traffic GXULQJ WKH <XOHWLGH µ KH VDLG He said that the meeting also

approved the award of a contract for the construction of bridge at Ohoror/Bomadi Road. “We are also supplying new furniture and equipment in the new Faculty of Agriculture, Dennis Osadebe University, Asaba. “The Ogbe-Ijaw internal roads were considered for construction. Some of these roads have been awarded before but the contractors could not complete WKH SURMHFWV EHFDXVH RI ÁXFWXDtions in prices of materials.

Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and host community of Pankshin have resolved to ensure the completion of Makeri-Guratop-Pankshin 132 KVA line in Pankshin Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State meant to supply power to 14 LGAs of the state. This is even as Governor Simon Lalong has expressed delight over the project, describing it as a Christmas gift from President Muhammadu Buhari. General Manager, Engineering, TCN, Engr. Shehu Abbah Aliyu, gave the assurance that the project will be completed in three months when he met the governor during a courtesy call on the latter at Old Government House, Rayfield Jos, yesterday. Aliyu explained that the Makeri-Guratop-Pankshi line is a 122 km long high-tension line that is expected to provide

steady power supply to 14 Local governments of the state when completed. He said, “The honourable Minister of Power and Mines is passionate about the project and wants it to be among projects completed under the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. “On our part as TCN, we can assure the state government that we shall ensure the project is completed in the next three months. This is because everything needed for the project is already on ground in terms of funds and equipment. “TCN is full of appreciation to the state government for seeing to the out-of-court resolution RI WKH FRQÁLFWV HPDQDWLQJ IURP right-of-way which the host community earlier took to court. But we still have one more challenge; the issue of vandalism of our facilities by FULPLQDOV µ

Yuletide: Police Deploy Operatives to Fortify Entry, Exit Routes in Nasarawa Igbawase Ukumba in Laﬁa

'LYLVLRQDO 3ROLFH 2΀FHUV +HDG of Tactical Teams, Intelligence The Nasarawa State Com- and Operational Units to masmissioner of Police, Maiyaki sively deploy their operatives Muhammed Baba, has ordered to fortify all the entry and exit the deployment of operatives to routes in the state, highways fortify all entry and exit routes in and recreational centres. Nasarawa State to ensure public The statement read: “Fursafety during the yuletide. thermore, the Commissioner This was disclosed yesterday of Police has ordered consistent in a statement by the Public Rela- UDLGV RI DOO ÁDVK SRLQWV DFURVV WLRQV 2΀FHU RI WKH 1DVDUDZD the state devoid of fundamental State Police Command, DSP human rights infringement and extortion, deployment of Police Nansel Ramhan. The order by the CP, as personnel to worship centers contained in the statement, DQG WR DOVR HQVXUH IUHH ÁRZ RI directed all Area Commanders, WUD΀F RQ PDMRU URDGV µ

LEAP Africa Announces New Board Leaders, Members Sunday Okobi One of Africa’s leading youthfocused leadership development QRQ SURÀW RUJDQLVDWLRQV /HDGHUVKLS (ͿHFWLYHQHVV $FFRXQWDELOLW\ and Professionalism (LEAP) Africa, has announced the appointment of a new Board Chair, Co-Chair, and acting Executive Director. Mrs. Clare Omatseye and Mr. Larry Ettah have been appointed as Board Chair and Co-Chair respectively. The organisation described Omatseye and Ettah as astute business leaders of great repute who have led and managed many successful projects and organisations with a track record of success, innovation, and scaling.

Winners Emerge at CFAO Yamaha’s Road Music Challenge Salami Adeyinka

Fashoro Taiye Temitope and Kusagba Oluwadamilola have Select Leaders Who Have Capacity, emerged the winners of CFAO RoadMusicChallenge. Niger CAN Chairman Tells Nigerians Yamaha’s AFFRUGLQJ WR WKH ÀUP LW ZDV D sure that we use our God-given intelLaleye Dipo in Minna ligence to select leaders who have the very competitive one with all the capacity, credibility, good character, to contestantsbringingtheirbestfoot The Chairman Christian Associa- create an enabling environment for all forwardwiththeirsongs,rapand tion of Nigeria (CAN) Niger State Nigerians to thrive, live in dignity and dance moves to win the grand chapter, Most Reverend Bulus Dauwa LQ SHDFH DQG LQ *RG JLYHQ IUHHGRP µ prize of N1 million and a 3.5kva Yamaha generator, N500,000 and Yohanna, has told Christians to vote he said. for leaders who have the capacity that He also “implored all the leaders of a Crux Rev Motorcycle for the will take Nigeria to the next level in our churches to take our call seriously second place, and N250,000 for next year’s general election. by encouraging their members to go the third position. Yohanna, who disclosed this in and collect their PVCs and not be As a way to wrap up the show, a Christmas message also advised discouraged by the wait time that the contestants were invited to Nigerians to vote only people with PD\ EH UHTXLUHG µ VWUHVVLQJ WKDW &)$2 <DPDKD·V R΀FH IRU WKH credibility and integrity. “we should not stop at the stage ÀQDO VKRZFDVH RI WKH ZLQQHUV DQG “As we approach 2023 general of encouragement; we must actively election, let us see this time and be promote the Christian duty of active prize presentation for everyone reminded that it is another golden participation in our civic responsibility present, as entries lasted from opportunity being afforded us by God by going out to cast our vote on the 17th of October, 2022 till the 24th of November. and do our due diligence in making (OHFWLRQ 'D\µ

A statement signed by its Media Director, Ms Ellen Ukpi, said that Omatseye succeeded Mr. Udeme Ufot, who retired from the Board after serving two tenures in that position.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾DECEMBER 24, 2022

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Yemi

Adebowale

yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com

Kagoro Killings and Unending Security Ineptitude

ecurity ineptitude is unending in beloved Nigeria. It comes with all the trappings of a failed government. I shed tears and often left hugely disappointed whenever incompetence is displayed in this vital area of our life. For example, what kind of explanation will our security agencies put up in defence of their failings, nine days back, in Kagoro Chiefdom, Kaura LGA of Kaduna State? How would they explain that terrorists spent almost a whole day in Malagum and Sokwong communities of Kagoro without appropriate response from them? The terrorists confidently burnt almost all the buildings in Sokwong. These two communities are supposedly covered by a special military task force called Operation Safe Haven. But the terrorists were not in a hurry to leave because they were very sure they would not be repelled by security agents. By the time they eventually left, 39 people had been killed and the two communities left in ruins. It is also pertinent to note that Kaduna is a garrison state, with a huge number of military formations. Yet, terrorists roam unimpeded. The Commander-in Chief, President Muhammadu Buhari, who promised to lead the war against terrorists Army Chief, General Yahaya from the front has not raised queries on the Kagoro killings. No security man has been the payment of ransom. Okoye, a popular fired. No commander has been relieved of cream dealer, was kidnapped alongside his his job. The most shocking is that Buhari wife, along the Isua-Ise Akoko highway has not deemed it fit to condole with the on their way home from the market. people of Kagoro. What about the story of a couple Sadly, attacks in Kagoro in particular brutally murdered in Anambra State by and the entire Southern Kaduna in general kidnappers after collecting N7.5m ransom? have been endless in the last eight years. Emmanuel Chukwuemeka, 36, and his Terrorists, who are largely Fulani militias, wife, Mirian Chinwendu, 30, who got have been shedding the blood of innocent married on May 29, 2021, were returning people unhindered. These killers are scarcely home after attending a programme at the apprehended. As the Legislative Speaker Holy Ghost Adoration, Uke, in Idemili of Kaura Local Government Area, Atuk North LGA, when they were abducted. Stephen, rightly noted, efforts of security They spent months in the dungeon of the operatives and the government are hardly kidnappers, before eventually being killed. seen or felt. They were buried in their hometown at A former federal lawmaker, Shehu Sani, Isiekwulu, Ukpo, in Dunukofia LGA of agrees, while lamenting the unending killings Anambra State, seven days back. in Southern Kaduna. He said: “No part Few days back, the District Head of of Kaduna is spared of terrorist attacks, Yankuzo in Tsafe LGA of Zamfara State, violence, and kidnappings. However, the Kogo Hamza, was shot dead by terrorists killings in Southern Kaduna by terrorists along Tsafe Yankuzo Road. Yankuzo is the are systemic. The people of that part of hometown of the dreaded terror leader, the state are also institutionally treated like Ado Aliero, who was declared wanted by the blacks under apartheid South Africa.” the military. The District Head, who was There is hardly any part of Nigeria returning to his domain after a meeting that is spared of killings by terrorists. with the Emir of Tsafe, is strongly believed The Buhari years have been the most to have been killed by Aliero and his boys. worrisome. There is the pathetic story of As usual, Hamza’s killers may never be a kidnapped businessman in Ugbe Akoko, apprehended. Ondo State, Augustine Okoye, who was In this same Zamfara State ravaged killed this week by his abductors after

by terrorists, the wife and four children, as well as two neighbours of a member of the state’s House of Assembly, Aminu Ardo Jangebe were last week kidnapped by terrorists in Jangebe town, Talata Mafara LGA. As at press time, the lawmaker was still struggling to meet the demands of the terrorists. The killings across our country pour. What we have in Nigeria today is a government that can’t protect its citizens. This is a tragedy. The state governors have also failed woefully to protect citizens. Governor Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna State is a big disaster in this direction. This governor has never been there for anybody in this state. He enjoys showboating and persistently spins rubbish, without offering relief to victims of killings and kidnappings in his state. Persistent attacks by terrorists in Kaduna State have exposed El-rufai’s incompetence. Our President also derives so much joy grandstanding about curbing terrorism. He has nothing, in practical terms, to justify his “vows” to crush terrorists. Daily, scores are killed, many abducted and houses burnt across our country. The security glitches under Buhari’s government are ceaseless and consuming too many innocent lives. The security of the people is no longer on the priority list of this jaded federal government. When terrorists strike and there are no consequences, they are emboldened. This is exactly what has been happening in almost eight years of the Buhari government. The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Kukah, rightly stated in his 2021 Easter message thus: “Taunted by Boko Haram, ravaged by bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, and other merchants of death across the nation, there is collective fear as to whether Nigeria’s glory is about to depart! Traumatised citizens are tortured daily by bandits. The nation has since become a massive killing field, as both government and the governed look on helplessly. “A thick and suffocating cloud of desperation, despondency, desolation, gloom, and misery hangs in the hot air. We have no message and have no idea how long this will last. Our people seek solace and protection, but frustration and darkness threaten to drown them. Is their government on AWOL? Sadly, human life is hemorrhaging so badly in Nigeria, but the greatest tragedy is the death of empathy from those in power.” Back in April, Jama’atu Nasir Islam (JNI),

JAMB Must Reduce Exam Fees

he Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Ishaq Oloyede, is no doubt doing a good job in terms of fighting corruption and restoring the credibility of the exam body. He recently disclosed that the board remitted over N29 billion into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in the last six years. The N29 billion was the excess from the fees paid for matriculation exams, after expenses on conducting the tests. In all, Oloyede has recorded over N50 billion as surplus while running the show as JAMB’s boss. According to the professor, “the remittance was due to measures put in place on cost control, prevention of financial leakages and minimisation of financial corruption.” This professor is doing a decent job at JAMB, but I am not comfortable with the huge amount he declared as surplus. It simply means that JAMB’s examination fees are excessive. Oloyede should stop talking about massive

returns to the national coffers by JAMB. This agency is not a revenue-generating one. He knows much better than those around him that education must not be commercialised. But at JAMB, parents and students are being exploited. His argument that JAMB’s charges “are extremely minimal compared with similar charges within and outside Nigeria, and so, exploitation is ruled out” is balderdash. Oloyede must face the reality that there is exploitation of students and parents by his agency. JAMB’s fees must be reduced drastically. Yes, the Board reduced its charges in 2018 and in 2020 by about 30 per cent. It should go down further. Recording N50 billion excess revenue from the conduct of exams is immoral. My dear Oloyede, you have no business with remitting huge money into the Federation Account. The offence you have been committing in the last six years is exploitation of parents and students. You are guilty as charged. Obviously,

Oloyede

JAMB can afford a 100 per cent reduction in exam fees and still continue to expand its facilities and support institutions from its well-managed finances. Today, I urge you to spend quality time looking at my submission and act appropriately.

the umbrella body for Northern Muslims, declared that any government incapable of protecting the lives of its citizens has lost the moral justification of being there in the first place. The group adds, “It appears that the continuous callous acts of mayhem, killings and arson happening almost on daily or weekly basis around us; either within communities and/or on the roads we ply, have automatically reset our human psyche that we now have accepted such dastardly acts as part of our lives, to the extent that we no longer feel it. In Islam and by all global standards, the essence of government and governance is solely to protect the five principal cardinal rights of the human race, the most important of which is life.” Back to Kagoro, the sad news today is that not a single one of those responsible for the killings in Malagum and Sokwong has been apprehended. The main duty of the State is protection of lives. The Nigerian State has failed the people of Kagoro because of its crooked and compromised leadership. A compromised leadership makes it difficult for security agents to arrest terrorists. In beloved Nigeria, terrorists and religious fanatics are emboldened because they are hardly made to pay for their atrocities. The responsibility of a good government is to immediately ensure that those who commit crimes are identified, detained and quickly prosecuted. In this regard, I thought our President will direct the Inspector General of Police, Baba Usman to relocate to Kaduna State to smoke out all those responsible for the odious crime against humanity in Kagoro. It did not happen. It may never happen.

Malaria as Giant Killer in Nigeria

alaria killed precisely 191,890 Nigerians nationwide last year. This is according to figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO). WHO adds that Nigeria accounted for 31 per cent of malaria deaths recorded globally in 2021. This country was among the four that accounted for almost half of all malaria cases globally and also among the four countries that accounted for over half of malaria deaths in 2021. This news is clearly a bad one. So many deaths from Malaria in this country in 2021 were obviously not captured in this statistic, particularly those outside hospitals. Malaria can be treated with as little as N1000, yet, it is the biggest killer in Nigeria. This is an indication of the level of poverty and bad leadership in this country. It is a big shame that a disease as common as Malaria is claiming thousands of lives annually in this country. Nigerians should have access to free treatment for this disease. But this has not been the case. The “Roll Back Malaria” programmes across the country are not working. I doubt if there is any government hospital where one can walk in and get treated free for Malaria. Nigerian governments at all levels must get serious about reducing deaths from Malaria. There must be a deliberate effort to pull Nigeria out of this inglorious club of Malaria-ravaged countries. As a first step, primary health centres across the country must offer free Malaria treatment. State-owned health centres must do the same.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER DECEMBER 24, 2022

MILESTONE

Biodun @50: Tribute to a Singing Jewel

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Promoting ‘Badagry Beyond the Chain’ Justina Uzo

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GOtv’s Unveils Festive Season Oﬀer and Content Lineup

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺͼ˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ

Ferdinand Ekechukwu 08035011394 Email: ferdi_adthisday@yahoo.com

SHOWBIZFLAIR

Davido Hints on New Album Ferdinand Ekechukwu

till basking in the euphoria of his historic performance at the FIFA World Cup 2022 closing ceremony recently, Afrobeats superstar David Adeleke aka Davido may drop an album soon. The singer hinted on Twitter at the release of a new album in March 2023. Davido who has had a mix year in the tweet, included an emoji of a music track while asking his fans to anticipate his return.

He wrote, “See y’all in March,” 7KH VLQJHU KDV EHHQ RͿ VRFLDO PHGLD following the tragic death of his son. 'DYLGR KRZHYHU SRVWHG IRU WKH ÀUVW time last Sunday ahead of his performance in Qatar. The post accumulated over 1.6 million likes on Instagram WR EHFRPH WKH ÀUVW 1LJHULDQ FHOHEULW\ with most likes on the platform as his fans, friends and colleagues were happy to have him back on social media.

The multi-award-winning megastar who continues to record new achievements made history on December WK DIWHU KH EHFDPH WKH ÀUVW HYHU 1LJHULDQ DUWLVWH WR SHUIRUP DW WKH :RUOG &XS ÀQDO 'DYLGR LQ D record-making event joined the duo of Quatari singer, Aisha and Trinidad and Tobago artiste, Cardona to perform ‘Hayya Hayya’ (Better Together) at the ÀQDO RI WKH ),)$ :RUOG &XS 7KH WUDFN LV WKH ÀUVW VLQJOH RI WKH multi-song FIFA 2022 World Cup R΀FLDO VRXQGWUDFN 7KH SHUIRUPDQFH was preceded by a social media post on which Davido announced his return through a picture of him and his partner Chioma. The ‘Stand Strong’ crooner also posted a picture of him and his Lawyer Bobo Ajudua and Manager Asa Asika. The post was quickly met with hearty cheers by fans, friends and colleagues who celebrated his return after he withdrew from public life following the loss of his son.

Davido and Chioma

‘Philomena’ Returns to Port Harcourt This Christmas Ferdinand Ekechukwu

A scene from ‘Philomena’

WV ÀUVW VKRZLQJ ZDV well received and applauded. Same for its second. In the spirit of VDPH H[SHFWDWLRQ 1Lgerian theater lovers in the city of Port Harcourt will again be treated to four nights of brilliant storytelling and exhilarating performances DV YHWHUDQ 1ROO\ZRRG DFWRUV Monalisa Chinda, Charles Inojie, Francis Duru, Ejike Asiegbu, Don Kester and Tammy Abusi tell the phenomenal story of ‘Philomena’ on stage. Witty, satiric, the lessons, the spontaneity behind the characters PDNH LW D PXVW VHH ¶3KLORPHQD Interview with A Prostitute’,

Paul Okoye, Anita Legally Part Ways Ferdinand Ekechukwu

t might just be that Anita Okoye and her estranged husband Paul have accepted their fate prior to the judgment of an Abuja High court which formerly dissolved their marriage. Anita who has been living in the US with their kids since the divorce process began has remained mute. While Paul, better known as Rude Boy and one-half of the singing duo, Psquare has however been in the news for a while now, after he proudly showed off his young new lover. Both Paul and Anita have not made any

Paul and Anita

comment regarding the divorce. Recall that in August 2021, Anita Okoye filed for divorce after eight years of marriage. Anita claimed that cheating, separation, being an absent father, fraud, and difficult experiences were her major reasons for seeking a divorce. She also requested a monthly settlement of $20,000 and a number of her husband’s mansions. Paul got married to Anita in 2014 after dating for 10 years. Both were campus sweethearts in their days at University of Abuja before their very flamboyant wedding ceremony held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. They welcomed their first son, Andre, the previous year. In 2017, they welcomed a set of WZLQV 1DWKDQ DQG 1DGLD However, in a surprise move, Anita filed for divorce in August 2021. She requested the dissolution of her marriage with Paul, as per a court document that went viral on social media platforms. According to the petition filed at the High Court of Abuja, Anita cited “irreconcilable difference” as her reason. Anita was, however, not given any money in the form of alimony or settlement. The court, in its judgment, only granted joint custody of the children to the parties in the ruling on the case.

promises the magic of the peerless play following a very successful showings in Port Harcourt in February and Abuja in July. The executive-producer, Monalisa Chinda expressed excitement and DZHG E\ WKH ÁRRG RI UHTXHVWV WKH play had received. With the previous two successful SUHVHQWDWLRQV 1ROO\ZRRG SHUVRQDOLties, Bimbo Manuel and Monalisa Chinda, alongside her team at K’ike Productions, continue the tour at The Atlantic Hall, Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt this Christmas. Opening December 29, 2022 till January 1, 2023, the play, will thrill, entertain and also inspire audiences. The play deftly tells an extraordinary tale revolving around the experiences of three dramatic char-

acters – Wesley a failed journalist, Philomena a retired prostitute, and Area a frustrated teacher – that the QDWXUH RI 1LJHULDQ VRFLDO HFRQRPLF and cultural factors had stagnated their lives. Written and directed by Bimbo Manuel, and K’Ike Productions — the force behind the gripping stage play — presents ‘Philomena’ as a refreshingly creative masterpiece bursting with music, dance and unbridled humour, all carefully synchronized to deliver top notch artistry. ‘Philomena’ was inspired by an actual interview the director, Bimbo Manuel had with a stripper and is a story that was demanded to be told with humour, satire and anecdotes.

Flavour’s Captivates Fans with New Song, Video Ferdinand Ekechukwu

ecember is here and Flavour has again dropped in this season his new single, “Game Changer (Dike).” The 1LJHULDQ KLJKOLIH PDHVWUR RQ Tuesday released the music video to the aptly titled song which was an early Christmas gift to his fans. The cultural song is Flavour ’s second single this year, following “My Sweetie,” released in September. Backed by a medley of background vocals, the song oozes pure strength and domination. According to a statement announcing the release, “It’s the perfect marriage of melody and lyrical artistry that has made him one of highlife’s and pop’s most popular sons. The song itself is a visual celebration of his affluence, praising God for success and celebrating life”. The music video directed by Dammy Twitch captures Flavour, real name Chinedu Okoli, in his natural element with some cultural costumes to depict the song. Performed in Igbo dialect, Flavour delivers a cultural song spiced with some indigenous instruments to give the song a unique feel. Flavour in “Game Changer (Dike)” captivates his

adoring fans and music enthusiasts with the song. Shot in Lagos, the “Game Changer (Dike)” video opens with a procession of exhilarating dancers and attendants dressed in artistic black and gold clothes complete with gold pieces of Jewelry. The colourful Dammy Twitch-directed visual was spiced with some cultural costumes to depict the song. The song is projected to command the airwaves due to its powerful lyrics and amazing rhythm.

Flavour

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺͼ˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ

SHOWBIZFLAIR

BAP Productions, Terra Kulture Present ‘Motherland the Musical’

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otherland the MusiFDOµ D MRLQW HͿRUW RI BAP Productions and Terra Kulture has started showing at Terra Kulture Arena, Lagos State and will run till January 2, 2023. The musical is directed by awardZLQQLQJ WKHDWUH DQG ÀOP GLUHFWRU %RODQOH Austen-Peters and features performances from Francis Onwochei, Temi Otedola, Tosin Adeyemi, KelvinMary Ndukwe and Uzo Osimkpa among many others. When confronted by a group of young political rallyists who are fed up with the state of the country, an Igbo man and a Fulani woman share the story of their romance starting in 1957, on the brink of Nigeria’s independence, and how the country’s history has shaped their love. Through music, romance and necessary conversations, “Motherland the Musical” tells the story of Nigeria; the past, the present and the hopes for the future. After its premier yesterday, the musical play will then run two shows (afternoon

and evening) from today, Saturday December 24th; and also on the 26th, 27th, 30th and 31st, 2022. In the new year, the show will also maintain its afternoon and evening shows on January 1st and 2nd 2023 with tickets purchased through www.terrakulture. com. For a premium treat according to the producers, the VVIP experience comes with increased comfort with seats that have extra legroom, drinks and canapés, and a gift bag with show merchandise. The director, Bolanle Austen-Peters, described her vision for the musical as “a showcase of the story of Nigeria, KLJKOLJKWLQJ WKH EHDXW\ RI RXU GLͿHUHQW cultures while also acknowledging the perspective of the young people who want to be a part of the change that takes this nation to greater heights,” adding, “it will be an entertaining, colourful and rich show with an engaging story, exciting musical numbers and a beautiful message.” Bolanle Austen-Peters (BAP) Produc-

tions is a company committed to showcasing the culture, the experiences, and the glamour of Nigerians through art. With almost a decade worth of experience, the company has produced nine plays that have been performed on three continents including Saro the Musical, Wakaa the Musical, Fela and The Kalakuta Queens and Death and the King’s Horseman written by Wole Soyinka. BAP Productions has also produced ÀYH PRYLHV WKDW KDYH EHFRPH ER[ R΀FH KLWV QXPEHU RQH RQ 1HWÁL[ 1LJHULD DQG haYH VFUHHQHG DW ÀOP IHVWLYDOV DOO RYHU the world. The projects have garnered numerous award nominations and wins including Best Movie West Africa at the 2022 Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards (Collision Course) and Best Nigerian Film at the 2022 African Movie Academy Awards (Man of God). Terra Kulture Arts and Studios Limited is an educational and recreational organization set up in 2003 to promote the richness and diversity of Nigerian languages, arts and culture. Bolanle Austen-Peters

Rafsbeat: Nigerians Hungry for Good Music Nigerian music has gained wide recognition globally, and the country still has a ORW WR RͿHU ZLWK SURPLVLQJ young talents springing up daily. Rafsbeat David is one of such brilliant youngsters. Having worked with artistes like Skibbi, Teni, Michael Blackson, Kido Blanko, and more, he is a producer to watch-out in 2023. In this interview with Chinedu Ibeabuchi, he talks about his music career and hurdles musicians must scale to breakthrough

As a Young artiste and producer, what are the hurdles you are facing? Sometimes I don’t get enough encouragement I need but you must encourage yourself to do better. My parents as at then didn’t feel the music vibe as a career. At first, it didn’t really go down well with my confidence to propel my music, but it’s all good now. Another thing is lack of finance, and knowledge because not knowing how the music market works can be setback to push your music. You must be acquainted with promotion, branding and marketing as an artiste. I have grown to build my confidence and music to where everyone around me sees life in it and loves every bit of it. Looking back, I don’t see it as a hurdle but a steppingstone to build myself and my music to where it impacts the world positively.

Rafsbeat Tell us a bit about Rafsbeat I am Raphael Chukwunweike Emmanuel, also known as Rafsbeat David. I hail from Umu Ome in Enugu state. Born 27 years ago into the family of Emmanuel Okwu and Patricia Okwu. I am the 4th born out of 7 siblings. Take us through a sneak peek at your music career I grew up loving music, having a family that loves music so much. My siblings play instruments and sing too. My mom took me to her choir rehearsals when I was about five. By the time I was nine years old, I was already singing in the choir and playing the keyboard, among other instruments like drums, acoustic guitar, percussion, and the bass guitar. I grew with that and became a member of my secondary school acapella group (Choral Group) at The O Cornell High School also known as GSS MX in Niger state. That’s where I gained confidence to sing in the crowd. I started off my singing and production career as a gospel artiste producing some songs and working with some gospel artistes and producers, which was great at the time. Still, then I also had the conviction I could cut across all genres in music, not just Gospel music. So, I started experimenting to get my first studio equipment. I produced for a while in Abuja before moving to Lagos to start my music officially. All the adrenaline in my body was telling me I was going to break into limelight in six months, hahaha (laughs), but Eko will humble you. It was a process of growth for me. I learnt a lot meeting people who helped me grow from Dozie, Sunday, JAFFY, D Ten, Dtunes, and my cousin, Stephen Damian, the Nollywood actor.

What Songs have you produced? I have been opportune to work with some known artistes in Nigeria and the international scene like Skibbi whom I co-produced the Legend Dtunes on his song, “Skibobo”; also, Kolosi by Teni Ft Dtunes. I also worked with Michael Blackson, the popular American comedian on his first song “MUTUMBO” which I produced and last year December, I produced for the Famous American rapper Chief Keef Sosa on his album 4nem by producing one of the amazing tracks there (Ice cream man ). Also, I have worked with Kido Blanko, Charass Melody, Nkadi, Neky, among many others. I have released a couple of tracks over the years. I dropped my first Ep called “Old Records” and some singles too like AUNTY NIKE, WATCH YA SIDE, COCO, 21 BARS, RIGHT BEHIND YOU. I am set to drop my new project called HABIT next year. I am also releasing a single this year called OLAMIDE on the Ep project, all produced by me

What Sound are you Inventing? My sound defines me. As my name would imply, “Rafsbeat” is an infusion of different genres, experiences, and emotions but with an Afrobeats foundation cutting across all genres of music, from soul to RnB, Hip-hop, Highlife and any other genre worth exploring. I am that flexible, but in all, when you hear it you will know this is Rafsbeat Who do you look up to as an inspiration in the music industry? Don Jazzy. I can see a reflection of him on my path as a producer/artiste; Wizkid in terms of

grace that the guy carries, and his talent too is amazing; Davido in terms of being Relentless and hardworking; Burnaboy in terms of understanding music and coming from nowhere to the top in a snap and as a performing artiste with great sense and choice of music. While growing up I listened to a lot of Whitney Houston, Don Williams, Christy Lane, Osadebe, Fela, Oliver de Coque, Back Street Boys, Boys 2 men, Westlife, Celine Dion, Micheal Jackson, Don Moen, Panam Pasy Paul. I listen to them for inspiration.

Why the name Rafsbeat? As I said earlier, Rafsbeat is like an invented genre for my sound but the fun fact about that name was way back when I started music production. My cousin, Stephen, started calling me that whenever I make a dope beat. He would say, ‘Rafsbeat! RAF on the beat!!!, Rafsbeating!!! So, Rafsbeat was inspired by dope beats and thanks to him who figured it out. How Would you rate the Nigerian Music Industry: I would give it a five star because we are at the peak of it all in the world rating though it has not been an easy ride, but we are grateful to the amazing legends who have collectively put the Nigerian music industry and Afrobeats on the world map. Some of them I look up to. It’s a proud moment to be alive to experience it, and I am here to give my own contribution to keep that fire burning for Afrobeats. Where Do we see you in ﬁve years? I see myself making the world a better place to live in, in a much larger scale with my music in everyone’s lips and my sound in everyone’s ears bringing joy across to every part of the world.

Do you think the market is welcoming to a new act, or it’s a situation of a dog-eating dog? I don’t think it’s the dog case. There’s room for every artiste to thrive if you know what you are doing and have the required knowledge and experience. Even if you don’t have backing from a team who understands the market and understands you, you would thrive regardless. people are hungry for good music, and they will always listen to one and fall in love with the music. As an artiste you need to build not just your music but yourself as a brand for your fans to fall in love with your music; people are moved by what they see and hear; so, you should always have a marketing strategy before releasing any music. How do you relax? I relax by creating music. I love movies, and food, especially our locally-made Nigerian food. If a lady wants a way into my heart, that’s the hint. Love, career breakthrough, Enjoyment. Rank these in order of preference You need all the love you can get for that career breakthrough and when that happens, enjoyment everywhere Sometimes, music is inspired by a situation. Can you share one of such incidents? One of the events in my life that inspired my music was in 2020/2021. I had health issues with a growth in my lungs, but I kept on praying to God for healing, and I tried to resolve it medically. It was concluded I needed surgery, EXW WKHUH ZDV QR ZD\ , FRXOG HYHU DͿRUG WKDW ÀQDQFLDOO\ EHFDXVH , ZRXOG EH ÁRZQ WR India. Miraculously, God came through. I went back for scanning and the doctors couldn’t ÀQG DQ\WKLQJ DQ\PRUH ,W ZDV DOO JRQH DQG I have been well and healthy with no issues or trace of that illness ever since. That event inspired the song at that perilous time with the whole #EndSars movement going on. I made and released the song “21 Bars” and shot a video for it too.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺͼ˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ

SHOWBIZFLAIR

‘The Voice Nigeria’ Season 4 Premieres

ay-TV platform, StarTimes Nigeria will air Season 4 of The Voice Nigeria, which premieres today. ST Nollywood Plus will air the show at 5:30pm while ST Nollywood airs at 7pm every Saturday. This is even as the producers, FAME Studios, have revealed Niyola, Praiz, Naeto C and Waje as the coaches of The Voice Nigeria Season 4. This year, talents can look forward to versatile and dynamic coaches that would be exposing them to all they need to be unstoppable in their music careers. 7KH OLQHXS RI ÀUVW WLPH FRDFKHV IRU WKLV VHDVRQ of The Voice Nigeria are well known for their uniqueness in the music industry. Niyola, a multitalented singer and songwriter with over 17 years of experience and counting as a professional musician with an incredible pitch and voice texture. Praiz, one of Nigeria’s most incredible voices, a member of the Grammy academy, producer and songwriter and Naeto C, a rapper, Afrobeat and record producer all of whom are known to be professionals in the music industry and have long-standing history of hit albums with multiple awards to their names. While returning as a coach is Waje, who has already established herself as one of the most accomplished female voices in the music industry

in Nigeria and beyond the shores of Africa with hit albums and numerous awards. Each of them is an industry veteran and has a record of a successful and WKULYLQJ PXVLF FDUHHU DFURVV GLͿHUHQW genres. Talents will be able to draw on their years of experience making excellent music, becoming superb performing artists, and connecting with people, especially Nigerians, through art. The show’s engaging format features IRXU VWDJHV RI FRPSHWLWLRQ WKH ÀUVW begins with the Blind Auditions, then WKH .QRFNRXWV %DWWOH 5RXQGV DQG ÀQDOO\ the Live Performance Shows. The four seasoned coaches of the show, Naeto C, Niyola, Waje and Praiz will seek twelve talents each for their teams who they will work with during the show to hone their skills and prepare the successful acts who make it to the Live Performance Shows to serenade views in exchange for votes. The season will be hosted by awardwinning actress, Kate Henshaw alongside popular TV presenter, producer and actress, Zainab Balogun-Nwachukwu. The winning talent of The Voice Nigeria Season 4 winner will be walking away with a monetary reward, a brand-new car, and an international recording contract.

Waje

Iyabo Ojo and Paul O: A Mystery Love Story Ferdinand Ekechukwu

Iyabo Ojo and Paul O

ROO\ZRRG FHOHEULW\ ,\DER 2MR DQG KHU QHZ lover Paul Okoye, popularly known as Paul O are no doubt the hottest gist on social media. The controversial actress, who is currently in a happy mood after several years of indulging in a hide and seek game, had previously PDGH KLQWV LQ DQ ,QVWDJUDP SRVW VRPH ZHHNV DJR WKDW VKH KDG ÀQDOO\ EHHQ FDSWXUHG E\ DQ ,JER PDQ ,Q RQH RI KHU FDSWLRQV VKH ZURWH ´7KDQNV 2ELP for loving me so much and lifting my spirit….

‘Far from Home’ Débuts Tosin Clegg

eleasedonDecember16,2022,“Far from Home”, a young adult series SURGXFHG E\ 1HWÁL[ DQG ,QNEORW takes viewers on the journey of a ÀQDQFLDOO\ VWUXJJOLQJ WHHQ ZKR ÀQGV KLPVHOI LQ D ZRUOG RI OX[XU\ drama and exploits, then, a desire of his took him round turns of unprecedented events.

Created by Chinaza Onuzo and Dami Elebe, its casts revolve around a star-studded list in Nollywood such as Funke Akindele, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Adesua Etomi, Bolanle Ninalowo, Bimbo Akintola through to emerging names like its lead character, Mike Afolarin featuring also Elma Mbadiwe, Gbubemi Ejeye, Genoveva Umeh, Tomi Ojo, Emeka Nwagbaraocha, Ruby P. Okezie and Raymond Umenze. The five-part series is a roller coaster of emotions, love, passion, crimes and a full dose of different shades of life. 0LNH $IRODULQ ZKR SOD\HG ,VKD\D WKH OHDG character kicked off the series with an imagined world of what he would have loved to be and

Cast of ‘Far from Home’

in a quest for this he gets into a drive to achieve his dreams. Cut short by the actions of his family which seemed insignificant at the beginning of the story, but this singular action more or less started his unprecedented journey of love, friendships and crime. ,Q DQ KDUPOHVV ELG WR JHW KLV JRDO DFKLHYHG he stole from his boss which took a wrong turn when his hopes were dashed. That moment more or less changed his life and veered him into a world bigger than him which uncontrollably leads him to betrayals, more crimes and reality of not believing that his supposedly harmless decision to make it would make him sink deeper into depths of no return. ,Q OHVV WKDQ D ZHHN RI LWV UHOHDVH 1LJHULDQV FXWWLQJ across all ages have come to accept the series as it sheds light on some societal concerns and the depiction of characters also gave everyone someone to relate with. ,Q D QXWVKHOO D QG VHDVRQ LV EHHQ ORRNHG IRUZDUG to as the concluding scene of the 1st season shows the whole drama has just started. The entire location choice, characterization, directing, quality of production and interpretation of scenes tell the story in such an applauding way, detailing each scene into scene in a fine relay of course.

&KDL WKLV <RUXED JLUO·V KHDUW KDV ÀQDOO\ EHHQ FDSWXUHG E\ DQ ,JER PDQ µ VKH ZURWH RQ ,* ,Q DQRWKHU SRVW WKH VFUHHQ GLYD UHPLQLVFHG on the gains of love. According to her, “to love is nothing, to be loved is something. But to love and to be loved by the one you love, that is everything.” Gushing, she teased and left many wonderLQJ ZKR WKH P\VWHU\ ,JER ORYHU LV $QG DIWHU several guesses, following a video she posted, WKH ORYHU ZDV LGHQWLÀHG DV 3DXOR 2 3DXO 2 57, is the CEO of Upfront and Personal Global 0DQDJHPHQW ,\DER 2MR ODVW :HGQHVGD\ clocked 45 years and to commemorate her VSHFLDO GD\ WKH DFWUHVV DOVR R΀FLDOO\ XQYHLOHG her lover to the public. ,Q KHU ELUWKGD\ SRVW WKH PRWKHU RI WZR UHYHDOHG WKDW 3DXO 2 LV KHU ORYHU ,W DSSHDUHG to be the right time on her birthday as she VKDUHG DQ ,QVWDJUDP UHHO ZLWK YLGHRV DQG SLFWXUHV RI KHUVHOI DQG 3DXO 2 ,Q WKH FDSWLRQ she referred to Paul O as Obi’m, which loosely WUDQVODWHG DV ¶P\ KHDUW· LQ ,JER ODQJXDJH Ojo wrote, “My Obi’m. Happy 45th birthday

,\VH[\ 1HZ DJH QHZ OLIH QHZ ZLQV &KHHUV WR forever #iypaulo.” 3DXOR DOVR WRRN WR KLV ,QVWDJUDP SDJH WR FHOHEUDWH his lover, whom he described as ‘Ezenwanyi’, PHDQLQJ ¶4XHHQ RI DOO ZRPHQ· LQ ,JER ODQJXDJH Sharing a picture of himself and Ojo, Paul O wrote, “Happy Birthday My Eze Nwanyi. We celebrate you today. Party time. Pure heart! Pure beauty!!” 6KH UHSOLHG ´, ORYH \RX ZLWK DOO RI PH P\ 2ELP µ Paul O is well known in the Nigerian showbiz scene as he manages popular music and movie celebrities like Kizz Daniel, Dakore Egbuson$NDQGH 7HNQR ,\DQ\D DQG )ODYRXU DPRQJ others. Big Brother Naija housemates Mercy Eke and Erica Nlewedim are also under his PDQDJHPHQW /LNH ,\DER KH WRR KDV D VRQ and a daughter. ,W LV KRZHYHU XQFOHDU LI KH LV D GLYRUFHH ,QWHUHVWLQJO\ 3DXO 2 XQGHUVWDQGV WKH language of business in showbiz and with KLV LQÁXHQFH DQG UHDFK LQ HQWHUWDLQPHQW ,\DER 2MR PD\ KDYH ÀQDOO\ QHWWHG ORYH DQG romance along the path of lasting career success with Paul O.

Asake to Thrill Fans at ‘Beer With Us’ Festival Tosin Clegg

ave of the moment cum ‘Mr Money’ crooner, Ololade Ahmed better known as Asake has been announced as a performing act at the debut edition of the Beer With Us Festival billed for January 6, 2023 at the Landmark Leisure Beach,, Oniru, Lagos. g Announcing the choice of artistes for the evening; g; Achievas Entertainment executive,, Chiori Daniell Cole noted

that they were selected based on popularity demand, stage presence, crowd control and above all their impeccable personalities. He added, “No doubt Asake has been crowned the reigning artiste of 2022, what better way to usher in the new year with DQ HQHUJHWLF PXVLF ÁRZ DQG GRQ·W IRUJHW records have shown that our featured act is a show killer who is 100% charged to thrill over 10,000 expected music lovers.” Speaking further, Cole stated that guests could get a premium opportunity to enjoy entertainment under a lush space with a beautiful ocean view and tickets are available at the Landmark Citizen App and Nairabox. Achievas Entertainment are producers of some of the biggest concerts in Nigeria so far and this one is expected to match up to their records as well.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 24, 2022 • T H I S D AY

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER DECEMBER 24, 2022

MEDIAGAFFES

EXPRESSION

‘Alright’ Informal

e begin today with wrongdoings by News around the city of December 14: “Araromi Ale demolition: Residents commend Sanwo-Olu over (for)

stop order” “Ebonyi: Women miners lament rising gender based (gender-based) violence” “Mammoth crowd cheers Peter Obi in Kogi” Get it right: ‘Mammoth’ has become an old-fashioned expression—be creative by employing fresh (novel possibly) expressions. “Happy 64th Birthday Anniversary” This way: Just Happy 64th Birthday “Pictures and video clips of underage voting were circulated on (in) the social media to the chagrin of many people.” “…police oﬃcers had actually taken law into their hands….” Extra-judicial killings: taken the law into their own hands…. “Our education system is in shambles (in a shambles)….” “Majority (A majority) of our graduates are graduating into unemployment….” The next disaster is from DAILY INDEPENDENT of December 9: “…Dickson paying his last respect to his departed colleague….” A rewrite: Dickson paying last respects to his colleague. THE GUARDIAN of December 8 disseminated copious goofs: “Imo oﬀers reward for information on doctor abductors” This way: doctor’s abductors “Years after, thousands in N/Korea mourn late leader” Would they have mourned their living leader? Fatalistic thinking! North Koreans mourn ex-leader

Still on The Guardian which contributed three more solecisms: “But the lawmakers failed to tell Nigerians what they plan to do about the siege currently laid on (to) the country by armed gangs.” “…armed bandits ravaging the country is worrisome.” Conscience, Nurtured by Truth: banditry inevitably involves the use of arms/ weaponry. So, delete ‘armed’! “Besides, are there genuine political reasons behind the activities of terror organisations such as Boko Haram and how could it (they) be addressed?” Not yet over with The Guardian: “Stylish pet bottle that adds class to your occassion” (Full-page advertisement by CWAY) Spell-check: occasion. “Free, handy, extra cap for better hygeine (hygiene)” Source: as above “The proposed initiative will ensure that only road worthy (road-worthy) vehicles driven by….” Last Tuesday’s edition of Leadership goofed in its lead story: “It was however gathered that a former Managing Director of the NDDC… cheated death by the whiskers (by a whisker). And my own oversight last week: “Your Excellency, we at AEL pray that the Almighty God continue (not continues) to grant you good health….” “We heard a gunshot and saw his police orderly walking briskly towards us, with a crowd in tow (not toe).” Apologies and thanks to the few eagle-eyed readers who pointed them out. This is the basic essence of this column: exchange of scholastic ideas with human fallibility in purview. “The Igue Festival, with it’s (its) glorious history and rich heritage, is here once again.” Vanguard of December 13 donated four

blunders to the pool of infractions today: “… which has raised hope of restoring democratic rule at (to) the grassroots after….” “…it has been controversy (controversies) galore.” “The warning came on the heel (heels) of moves by the EFCC to adopt it in the trial of….” “Last Wednesday, educationists, under (on) the platform….” “…nobody would nurse the ambition of visiting those places talkless of (let alone) going there to eke out a living.” “...the opportunity divinely offered him to transform a country touted as one of the richest in (on) the continent into a haven for investors and a paradise for his people.” “…the people of Umuchu can pool resources together to do a final battle with the erosion menace.” When you pool resources, there is no need for ‘together.’ “The falllouts of the Kaduna riot are large scale (large-scale) destruction and looting….” Justice in service of community: ‘fallout’ is non-count. “…Mark survived an impeachment attempt as senators in an overwhelming decision passed a vote of confidence on (in) the leadership of the Senate.” “…but rather accusing fingers pointed at the Presidency.” The finger pointed at the Presidency. No lexical decoration (accusing). “Nigerians can no longer silently acquiesce to (in) the persecution (prosecution?) of such illegitimacies for whatever reason by whosoever.” “Pomp and pageantry as Asiwaju of…is installed” Either pomp and ceremony or pomp and circumstance. Simply, pomp, too. “…another feather was added to (in) his cap as he was initiated into the royal circle with all the paraphernalia of royalty.”

Revisiting Remnants of a Great Country

e all hope, I would like to think, that 2023 shall be a year when our best imaginations and expectations would have a chance to become real. Most of us have nowhere else to go beyond our villages, and thus would want the country to receive a massive dose of positive and profound injection of good policies, tireless application and pragmatic ﬁscal discipline and investment. We are overdue. Looking back to 20 months ago when we published a series of articles (Great Country, Poor People), one has had reasons to reﬂect on the sundry issues highlighted in these articles, and sadly, not much has changed. We have not done much to improve our stature, nor have our political leaders - appointed or self-anointed - done much to advance the cause of peace, progress and prosperity - our over-hyped national mantra. Nonetheless, for whatever it is worth, let us deliberately cherry-pick salient points in those articles to remind us how far we have failed ourselves, and the generations afterwards…perhaps, we can still redeem the slide. “Frankly, we cannot remember the number of times we have read, written and complained about the quality of the Nigerian followership, in comparison to the usefulness or failure of the Nigerian leadership bloc. We have used the famous line of “a people get the leaders they deserve” to force down our shame and absurdities of a nation so blessed in human and natural resources; yet so prodigal and retrogressive in harnessing these resources for high growth and widespread prosperity. We recognise this seed of split personality in the mainframe of most Nigerians: we love peace, but explode at our neighbour’s slightest provocation; we drive into a mall in our big SUVs, and scurry away in a gale of jeers after slapping rude park attendants; we exclaim a sense of re-

sponsibility, but swiftly defend the malfeasance of public looters who happen to come from our villages… frankly, the distressing statistics are inexhaustible. While we admit that it will take much more than whining and lamenting about our poverty of civic aptitude, occasioned by sundry inter-locking incidents and failings of our nation-building actors, we must find the means and occasions to alert our people to the slippery paths we currently travel and the urgent need to change our ways, apply a more liberal, more civil, more neighbourly and more proprietary relationship with public utilities and infrastructures. In every area of our influence and authority, we must lead by examples, both in thoughts and deeds; in private and in public. However, we need to own up to our failings, and understand that current perplexities are not merely the handiwork of irresponsible and incompetent leadership; that many leaders are currently enabled, endorsed and actively lionised by vast sections of the followership. Even standoffish, siddon-look followership should not see themselves as immune or beyond reproach in this current dilemma. We will attempt to explore some of what we believe are the root causes of our present anomie; such as: the family and the home, our educational system and policies, politics and governance, public service and infrastructure, sociological perspectives, erosion of ethos and values, broken communication practices, and crimes as cornerstones of our informal economy. ‘First thing first’, the Family and the Home: This minutest unit of the society has been gradually and steadily liberalised and fragmented since the ascendancy of millennial

parenthood. The discipline and firmness that corralled the children of the 50s, 60s and perhaps up to the mid-70s - just before the reckless flush of petrodollars inflamed our appetites and bloated our indulgent stomachs - vanished from our lifestyles. By the 1990s, single parenting was no longer an aberration; the 2000s embraced deviant behaviours - transgenders, same sex marriages and such ordinarily abhorrent lifestyles in years of yore became more acceptable... shattering the landscape for puritans and moralists. Those vigorous lifestyle paradigm shifts also had influence in thawing the admittedly strong influence of disciplinarian parenting. Children of the latter days were mostly not exposed to corporal punishment, even when they indulged in quasi-criminal activities. Teachers and school owners concerned about return on investment held back the rod of correction. Some of the children took cues, and began a reign of terror and bragging conquests. These later graduated into cultism, which in the past decade, has filtered into levels below tertiary education; into thuggery, gang-rape, and assorted acts that question the quality of recent parenting received by our children. The second element that has led us to this sorry state is the way we have handled our educational system and policies over the past six decades. In the 50s, before we became independent, we read about the great exploits of our sons and daughters who travelled abroad; or stayed at home, with the few institutions available: same results mostly - excellent grades, inspiring stories of out-witting grinding poverty to grab some certificates. Scholarships were fairly common, and they were judiciously and indiscriminately deployed - irrespective of time and zone. When you merited it, you got served. Progress was easy and predictable. Then the politicians went overboard, clutching at inanities, and creating dogfights over territories and captive constituencies. Of course, the military

EBERE WABARA

ewabara@yahoo.com, 08055001948

“For that reason, we state it as our opinion that the police owes (owe) the nation.…” “I score the late Maduekwe and the other diehard opponents of Kalu who are at (in) the corridors of power in Abuja very lowly for their lack of foresight.” “They should know that they can never be allowed the luxury of holding society to ransome.” Spell-check: ransom. “…the president should concentrate his efforts in (on) the prime projects of his in the remaining part of his tenure.” “The president must be conversant with the types of ammunitions and explosions (explosives) kept in such big armouries.” Get it right: ‘ammunition’ is non-count. “For instance, in a case of ghastly (fatal) accident where many lives are lost....” “You may work on one side of the town, your children school on the other and you spend the days tensed up because either of the two sides can erupt in flames.” ‘Either of the two sides’ smacks of illiteracy. Either of the sides please. “If you as much as bumped into an Osun legislator on (in) the corridor….” “The Senate will be seen to be practicing (American spelling version) double standards (standard) if it does not heed the motion....” “The only difference this time around was that the police was (were) striking against their masters and against themselves.” “If it is rented, it could fetch between N.8m to N1m per annum.” My perspective: between N.8m and N1m. “…they destroyed four government vans, while a private car packed (parked)….”

COUNTERPOINT

FEMI

AKINTUNDE-JOHNSON fajalive1@gmail.com 08033622806- (SMS Only)

- restless and unoccupied - rolled in to “sanitize the corrupt system”. And coups and counter-coups later, the “corrupt system” became more intractable, laughably monstrous, to the point when the military had to high-tail out of power; relinquishing it to the sons and daughters of the older bands of civilian marauders. While we were being steam-rolled into all sorts of knee-jerked governance, our educational system suffered all sorts of devastations and dumping down, to accommodate and compensate political exigencies, and conceited agendas. Suddenly, idiotic appendages like quota system, catchment areas, deregulated cut-off marks in government-owned secondary schools and universities became a lingo. Thus began the unconscionable socio-cultural marginalisations, where brilliant students from the south of Nigeria could score excess of 150 in so-called common entrance examinations into federal “unity” colleges; and yet would have to queue behind abysmally low scores from their mates from the North of the same country. Don’t laugh when you hear that marks could be as ridiculously low as fifteen (15)! Yes, even much less in some blighted states. The vastly ridiculous excuse is that those educationally poor states would be completely left behind if they were subjected to the same stringent cut-off - somewhere between 130 and 150! And lumping students who score consistently above 150 with those struggling to get 10 would somehow make the laggards become smart, and mould them into effective and efficient manpower for the development of their beloved states? The answer is staring at us all over the northern states now.” (To Continue…)

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾DECEMBER 24, 2022

POLITY

L-R: Samad, Adenuga, Dangote

Ranking Nigeria’s Richest: Let’s Play By Logic Stephen Okorie

very other week, we see news reports of one Nigerian billionaire toppling another off the top 2 positions – it is never the 1st position as that bit appears to be set in stone - irrespective of the prevailing realities around the true earning positions of the men who occupy them. At times, you would think this were a Formula 1 race with the frontrunners neck and neck and overtaking one another at intervals, except that in this particular race, only the top 2 and 3 positions are interchanged. About time we permitted some logic and nuance in this game, since it matters to us to keep this otherwise insignificant score. Who is richer, Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga or Abdulsamad Rabiu? Well, it depends on who you ask. If you put it to Forbes, it is always Aliko Dangote. Who is richer in the straight run between Mike Adenuga and Abdulsamad Rabiu? That’s where the turbulence sets in because from my count, Abdulsamad is always overtaking Mike Adenuga in the newspapers. This is even more interesting when you realise that the same papers who say he was now in the 2nd position return to say he has again overtaken Mike Adenuga into the 2nd position – Logic doesn’t appear to be their forte. How many times can a man be overtaken in a year? It does look like there appears to be an obsessive need to force a debate where none exist. That way, if it is repeated long enough, may be - just may be - reality would eventually bend to the wishes of those who believe that repeating an anomaly long enough will make it normal. In a Super Brands ‘Coolest Billionaires In The World’ feature piece, Mike Adenuga is said to be worth some $20b. Unlike his Forbes estimate that methodically use his stock earnings and prices, this nuanced his wealth across some of his major economic interests and investments including Conoil, Glo, Julius Berger, banking interests, real estate etc. These are only the investments we know are owned by the quite private billionaire. It would not be shocking to find out that he’s got a lot more in his kitty. Unlike his peers who appear to enjoy the attention of the media and are quick to give interviews and appear

Who is richer, Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga or Abdulsamad Rabiu? Well, it depends on who you ask. If you put it to Forbes, it is always Aliko Dangote. Who is richer in the straight run between Mike Adenuga and Abdulsamad Rabiu? That’s where the turbulence sets in because from my count, Abdulsamad is always overtaking Mike Adenuga in the newspapers. This is even more interesting when you realise that the same papers who say he was now in the 2nd position return to say he has again overtaken Mike Adenuga into the 2nd position at events – nothing wrong with these, different strokes for different folks – Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr. has pointedly kept himself away from the news, public events and other such matters. We know a lot less about him and we do know a lot more about the rest. May be that is why it is easy for the media games to be played against him, where he ought to be seen as the richest in Nigeria, going by assets and spread of investments, he is being

made to look like even the 2nd position isn’t his. Money and the business of counting money is a numbers game, obviously. If the media intends to play it, numbers are dealt in the science of mathematics and mathematics is an exercise in numbers, not noise. Enough of twisting and bending logic, where we are made to read – and some believe – that those with profitable assets, including platforms that earn billions by the nanosecond must be seen to be poorer than those whose wealth are counted by the ticks, tocks and vagaries of stock exchanges. Even if this was some Tik Tok challenge, we would still need to permit reason as the preeminent decider of what we believe or don’t. The internet and books are replete with reports of the inaccuracy of Forbes rankings – often the basis for newspaper reports on ranking the rich. It is no surprise for instance that the Bloomberg rankings of the rich and the Forbes ranking at often unaligned. Forbes almost completely ignores wealth held in private investments; Bloomberg makes an effort to accommodate those. For instance, in 2019 Forbes claimed Candy Empire’s Jacqueline Mars was worth $29.7b, but Bloomberg valued the same billionaire at $43.8b. That’s a whopping $14.1 billion worth of errors. There are several disparities like this with these reports. These disparities make it appear like guesswork at best. At worst? Let us not be seen to be imagining that there are billionaires who pay to be valued higher than they really are. We must define what we mean by wealth this side of the world. Elsewhere, one could be swimming in oceans of debts and still be deemed to be wealthy as long as they have managed to build a sophisticated system that only permits for their perceived income to be taken into account. This may look permissible in a credit system. To copy and paste this into our reporting and perception of wealth in Nigeria is to swallow the hook, the line and the sinker without question – also known as to be gullible. We can do better. Let’s define wealth by the obvious; who’s got more investments? Who’s got the bigger investments? Who’s got more diversity in their investments? Who is less exposed to debts? And when all is said and done, who is able to drop the money on the table when push comes to shove? We know who, enough with the predictable musical chairs. It’s a poor look on all of us.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾DECEMBER 24, 2022

POLITY

ARALOLA OLAMUYIWA

Christmas will Be Nostalgic for Me This Year Africa’s ﬁrst female talking drummer, Aralola Olamuyiwa popularly known by her stage name, Ara, is not just a singer and entertainer but also a philanthropist who donates her time, money, experience and talent to help create a better world.The foremost female drummer in Africa as a way of celebrating Christmas with the poor. and on Wednesday, December 21 held a medical outreach for some of the youths and children under her initiative, “Eko Inspire Me” at Ketu Garage, Ketu, Lagos. In this interview with MARY NNAH, she spoke about the inspiration behind her initiative and what Christmas means to her at Oshodi during which I realised that they also have people who inspire them, whom they look up to and want o to be like. So there and then this project was conceived in my heart. Being the mother of a boy, whenever I see those miscreants, I feel serious for them, perhaps that was why God gave me a boy. And whenever I am taking my boy to school, I say, ‘you see those boys, the difference between you and them is that you have a caring mother and you are privileged, they are not as privileged as you are otherwise you are not different from them.’ And one thing that I have done that I thank God for allowing me to do is that as my boy was growing up I used to take him to the orphanages, less privileged homes, and SOS where he mingled with them and thereby realise that he has a mother like a father. They don’t have any but you have one, so appreciate that you even have a mother. Some of them are even deformed from birth and their parents threw them away from birth. So it is good to understand that not all of us have privileges so that he will know how to relate with them and of course our society will be a lot better, safer, tourist friendly and we can sleep with both eyes closed at night. Whether we take it or not, it is this group of people that cause damage in traffic, robbery and all kinds of things and I can tell you that these people don’t want to live this life but there are no platforms for them to live a good life. The initiative is called Eko Inspire me because it is taking place in Lagos. Tomorrow we might go to Delta State, Ebonyi or Abia or Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, and so on.

Why did you embark on today’s exercise?

oday we are having a medical outreach for our mentees and the beneficiaries of the “Eko Inspire me” project alongside their loved ones and friends. It is the end of the year and ever since we unveiled on October 19th this year to date, God has been very faithful. God has been good to us and has granted us speed. So we thought it was worthwhile to do this medical outreach for them today. And also in course of our engaging them, we realised that there are a lot of minor medical issues and some critical medical issues that they are suffering from, especially for people who live in this kind of deplorable condition. And even people who live in better conditions have medical issues as well, so you can imagine what it is like with them here. So we decide to go for a diabetes check, eye test, blood pressure, malaria, etc. So far, the turnout has been massive and they have been so appreciative. We have been here since morning and we have done a lot today. Why at this particular period? This is our major event to round off the year but that does not stop other projects going on underground. We want our beneficiaries to enjoy Christmas in good health and sound mind. That is why we are giving the less privileged this medical check-up for free so that if there is anything wrong you can easily treat yourself. There was a man that could barely see and when they checked him, they wrote a medication for him and he said he doesn’t have the money to buy it. Do you know that I sent someone to the pharmacy a few minutes after and when the person came back, she said the drugs cost just N500? These are things that touch me. 12 years ago when God was training me, my son was sick and I didn’t have money to buy malaria medication for him, and my boy nearly died. By the time I got the money and took him to the hospital, he collapsed just when I was going to get his medication. They gave him Oxygen and did everything possible, but my son didn’t come back. The doctor said I should put my mouth in his mouth and start breathing into him. You can imagine a mother in that state - my only child! But God brought him back and I told myself if I could go through that what about others who are less privileged? Soon after that incident, I started paying for medications for pregnant women and children. I also made a promise to God that if he blesses me, I will always do this. So it is a way of redeeming my vows to God to always reach out in love - it is not until you have billions.

Aralola grandchildren will usually come together at her place for Christmas. But then, it is a season to show love and we should show love every day but you know Christmas is special. The atmosphere is always different, somehow beautiful but for me, it is different this year.

Most people will expect food stuff at Christmas and not medicals. How do you convince them that they need this medical exercise? I know what you mean, celebrating Christmas, people want to see chicken, jollof rice, drinks and music. All these are equally important but health is more important, it is those who are alive that celebrate Christmas. So let us start from here so that you know what your health status is and when Christmas comes, you are alive to celebrate. Christmas is about showing love and this is our way of showing loving and showing that we care and they are obliviously appreciative. We have over 300 people here today and I know more are still coming.

Tell us a bit about Eko Inspire me by Ara? Eko Inspire me is a CSR initiative of my humble self, Ara. It is a way of giving back to my society has gone through a series of storms in my life as well. For somebody who has been up there and then God took me on a training; that is the way, I see it. It was training because I believe that when God wants to use you or work with you, He will empower you and one of the ways that God empowers you as His own is through thorough training. I had to go through that so that I can have full empathy and understand how people who are not as privileged as I am, survive. We are looking at having a 100-bed space facility that will have facilities such as an educational center, skill and vocational trialing centre, farmland, where different areas of farming will be done, a talent factory, and so on. We look at those on the streets we call them street kings and queens who have prospects and are not beyond redemption and who try to work with God as a tool to change their lives and their stories. This was born out of an experience I had over 10 years ago with the calibre of people we are helping out of the street now

What does Christmas mean to you and how do you expect people? For me, what Christmas meant to me years ago, is no longer what Christmas means to me now and I will tell you why. It is going to be the year I lost my mother, she passed on precisely on the 28 of last month. What Christmas meant to me when both parents were alive is different from what Christmas meant when my father passed about 10 years ago. Now, it is going to be my first Christmas without my Mom. I was at an event and they played Boney M and I got so emotional because these were songs we played growing up with my parents in Warri. We used to have the UBA End of Year/Children Christmas party because my father was a top manager with UBA and then different clubs that my dad belonged to will hold Christmas parties and we would attend with my dad. So for me, I have already had mixed feelings about Christmas. It is going to be nostalgic for me this year. It is going to be quite emotional for me this year - the first Christmas without my mother. I won’t get her call and prayers this year. And we won’t get to go visit her as all the children and

What Christmas meant to me years ago, is no longer what Christmas means to me now and I will tell you why. It is going to be the year I lost my mother, she passed on precisely on the 28 of last month. What Christmas meant to me when both parents were alive is different from what Christmas meant when my father passed about 10 years ago. Now, it is going to be my ﬁrst Christmas without my Mom

So what happens to the name, ‘Eko Inspire me’ when you start taking the campaign to other states in Nigeria? If we go to Ebonyi state, for instance, it will be ‘Ebonyi Inspire Me’, if we go to Oyo, ‘Oyo Inspire me,’ so because we are in Lagos that is why it is Eko Inspire me. It is an ARA initiative fully supported by the government of Lagos Babajide Sanwo-Olu. When we wrote a series of letters to about 10 of their ministries asking for partnership, a lot of people didn’t understand why but from the onset, I knew that institutional support is paramount in this kind of project. Of course, I had to meet with MC Oluomo about four years ago telling him the plans I had on the ground and he gave me his full support. Like the governor said when he hosted us a few weeks ago, the government of Lagos state cannot turn its back on this kind of project because Eko Inspire me By ARA is assisting Lagos to carry out some of their responsibility. You said an experience you had 10 years ago inspired the initiative. Can you shed more light on the incident? The car that I drove on that which happened to be my youngest brother’s car broke down in Oshodi that night. That was about 10 years ago and we all know what Oshodi was like 10 years ago. While this happened around that NAFDAC area, I was scared and within three minutes, they came out I was scared and what I did first was to hide my phone in my boot because I like wearing boost all the time and then I told them ‘guys please help me take care of this car for me, let me quickly get something over there.’ And I ran for dear life. When I got to where people were, I brought my phone out and started making calls telling people what had just happened and so when my backup came, I went back and of course, more than 10 of them were all over the car some sitting on top of the care and all smoking. Of course, I had backup then and so I was confident when I git there I engaged them asking why there were always on the streets, if they were never tired of being on the streets and if the police were not harassing them and they responded in Yoruba that it’s the police that will get tired, that the police keep picking them and also keep dropping them back. I then asked them what they want to become in life and if they had anyone that inspire them in life and they started mentioning names of celebrities one of them mentioned Prof. Wole Soyinka and that he wants to be; like Prof. Soyinka and I was like really? He said yes, that the man speaks posh English and that he would like to be speaking good English like him, which means that he wants to go to school and be educated. So, there and then I realised so much within that one hour that I was there. They became so friendly and of course, I gave them money when I was leaving. I felt it was God that made me stop there. It was God that made that car break down there to enable this project to kick off. And I thank God that He put me through that process. Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾DECEMBER 24, 2022

POLITY

Caverton Shareholders Support Cancellation of Company’s 1.65 billion Unissued Shares Funke Olaode

n compliance with the amendment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA 2020), signed into Law by President Muhammadu Buhari, recently, Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc, has deleted about 1.65 billion ordinary shares that remained unissued as at December 23, 2022. Shareholders at the Extraordinary General Meeting ( ( EGM) held in Lagos yesterday, voted to support the decision of the Board of Directors. According to Coronation Registrar Limited, registrar to Caverton, 124 shareholders were physically present at the meeting while those who voted virtually represented 54.57 percent of the total issued capital of the company. Explaining the rationale behind the decision by the Board of Directors of Caverton, the Chairman of Caverton Plc, Mr. Aderemi Makanjuola who was represented by the chairman of the day and Non-Executive Director, Mr. Bashiru Bakare, noted that the meeting was in line with Section 124 that stipulates that no company shall have a share capital which is less than its minimum issued share capital. He told shareholders present at the meeting that the company does not have more than six months from the commencement of CAMA 2020 to comply with the law. Mr. Sunny Nwosu, a shareholder, noted that the life of any company evolves around issuing capital, paying bonus and dividend. He argued that shareholders can only benefit from the exercise by getting a bonus from the Company. He urged the Board to consider the interest of shareholders in taking such decision for the future. Tunji Bamidele, leader of a shareholder group based in Ibaban said consideration should have been given for other options apart from cancellation of the shares. However, the decision was acceptable to him and other

L-R: Non-Executive Director, Caverton Offshore Support Group, Mallam Bello Gwandu; Company Secretary, Ms. Amaka Obiora; Non-Executive Director, Mr. Bashiru Bakare (representing Group Chairman, Mr. Aderemi Makanjuola); and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Olabode Makanjuola during the Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) of Caverton Offshore Support Group held at Caverton Helipad, Ozumba Mbadiwe, V.I., Lagos...yesterday. : Etup Ukutt. shareholders. Martin Akinlade, another shareholder, corroborated Bamidele but also pledged his support for the decision of the Board. Bamidele commended the financial performance of the company, hoping that it will be better in the coming financial year. He urged the Board to pay dividend to shareholders at the end of the ongoing financial year. In attendance were Mallam Bello Gwandu, Ms Amaka Obiora, Mr. Bashiru Bakare and Mr. Olabode Makanjuola while Mr. Aderemi Makanjuola, HRM King Edmund Daukoru, Mr. Akinsola Fashola, Mr. Akin Kekere-Ekun and Mr. Raymond Iyhembe joined virtually.

Convener, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu Youth Professional Support (BOSYOPS), Ms. Abisola Olusanya (3rd left) ﬂanked with other members of the group during unveiling of Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu Youth Professional Support (BOSYOPS) Group in Lagos …. Recently SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R: Council Manager, Iru-Victoria Island LCDA, Mr. Olanrewaju Fatai Olalere; Vice-Chairman, Hon Olusegun Ogunbiyi; Chairman Iru-Victoria Island LCDA, Hon. Princess Rasheedat Abiodun Adu; Guess Lecturer, Dr Onosoga Badejo; and HOD, Budget Planning and Statistics, Mrs. Bola Adebayo during Iru-Victoria Island LCDA, Year 2023 Budget Retreat at Oluremi Tinubu Hall, Council Secretariat in Lagos.. recently

In his brief remarks, Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Olabode Makanjuola thanked the shareholders for their continued support for the company. According to him, the company is restructuring for growth. “Over the last 15 years, our sources of income are generated from chartered helicopters but we are expanding. Early this year, a 40 seaters passenger ferry was locally built” Makanjuola reiterated the company’s commitment to its shareholders and praised them for their unwavering support to be a profitable company. The chairman also expressed pleasure over the attendance of shareholders at the meeting.

L-R: Regional Sales Director; Access Bank Group, Njideka Esomeju; Group Head, Consumer Banking, Adaeze Umeh; N5million Winner, DiamondXtra Mega Billion Wins promo, Emmanuel Ikenna Ireafor; and Team Lead, Consumer Assets/Liabilities, Access Bank Jacob Danjuma at the DiamondXtra Season 14 Billion Wins prize presentation ceremony held in Lagos…. recently

L-R: General Secretary, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Ibafo Province, Pastor Duro Omogbemi; Province Governor, Dr. Fola Oyebade; Province ﬁrst Lady,Pastor Mrs. Remi Oyebade; and Province Chief of Staﬀ, Dr. Akorede Elebute at the end of the year and award giving celebration of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Ibafo Province, Ogun State… recently

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾DECEMBER 24, 2022

POLITY

Sanwo-Olu: Political Marketing Made Simple Raheem Akingbolu examines the media campaign strategy of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, for their re-election in Lagos State, saying with the way the campaign team has hit the streets, it is obvious they are not giving in yet to the threat of complacency

n the build-up to the 2019 governorship election in Lagos, there were mixed feelings in the state’s political landscape. Some intrigues that preceded the emergence of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had created a crack within the party. Though the reality had dawned on Lagosians that former Governor Akinwumi Ambode had left the stage, the personality of the new choice of the party for the governorship position was that of the underdog, especially in the minds of the state’s apolitical class. In some quarters, observers believed the crisis could boost the chance of the opposition party and consume the ruling APC. The complex scenario thus gave the handlers of the incoming Babajide Sanwo-Olu a huge task of fresh marketing and positioning. With cutting-edge strategies, Sanwo-Olu’s strategists deplored relevant tools of political marketing, first to calm the nerves and later to sell the new brand -Sanwo-Olu. At the end of the exercise, not only did he win, but the work done on his brand left Lagos residents perplexed until May 29 when the ‘star boy was formally inaugurated to oversee the affairs of the country’s economic nerve centre.

Brand Re-launch

At a well-attended event last week in Lagos, the drum was rolled-out again for what was themed; “A Greater Lagos Rising” to unveil the re-election campaign of the Lagos Governor. Perhaps because of the exploits and the audacity of Sanwo-Olu to weather the storm, despite the odds, the occasion provided more opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the governor than the campaign for another four years. Any day, anytime, Lagos remains the most cosmopolitan, complex and difficult to govern in Nigeria but with the COVID-19 pandemic and the #EndSARS imbroglio, the situation became tougher under Sanwo-Olu. To date, it’s still a misery to many observers how he was able to curtail the challenge at such difficult periods.

Brand is Personality

Arek Dvornechcuck, a branding expert and graphic designer based in New York, USA, while opening his well-known article on the personality of leading global brands said: “Brand personality plays a crucial role in developing and maintaining strong brands—it’s a set of human characteristics attributed to a brand. Brands stand out not only by how they position themselves in the marketplace but also by how well they connect with customers.” BOS handlers seem to understand this. The DNA of branding is purely its capacity to deliver an experience or value as promised. The character that epitomises the person of Sanwo-Olu is that of a disciplined, simple and pleasant man. How best can one explain it other than to be marvelled that despite having reached the peak of Lagos politics, BOS remains himself -unassumingly humble and focused. Of course, God knew ab-initio that a man who could maintain his calmness amid a crisis was needed between 2020 and 2021 and He used his men to bring in a Sanwo-Olu, who would remain calm amid hostility. Looking back, it’s easy to conclude that Lagos didn’t need short-fuse characters during those critical periods to bring stability and avert calamity in the state. Like harmattan fire, Sanwo-Olu soon started gaining traction through positive word-of-mouth marketing. It’s simple logic; when your brand tells a story that people want to hear, they’ll repeat it to friends, family, and strangers at the bus stop. They’re your brand ambassadors. With word-of-mouth advertising, BOS quickly became the social proof that his brand is credible. Thus, he confirmed the conclusion of Sprout Social on word-of-mouth advertising that it “can improve the overall impact of your marketing campaigns by up to 54%.”

Import of the Lagos Rising Campaign

As demonstrated by Lagos politician, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, it was clear that having a good brand to work on is far-reaching than rolling out multibillion naira campaigns to position a bad brand. One after the other, Obanikoro and Omotoso accepted the fact that building a brand is one thing, but capturing the target consumer is a whole other feat. From start-ups to big corporations, brand awareness will always be a factor crucial to a business’s success. For the Sanwo-Olu brand, it’s a case of a successful brand whose sustainability becomes easy. From the beautiful campaign theme song to the subtle references to the governor’s legacy projects in three and a half years, despite the challenges, the handlers of the project displayed a core understanding of Lagos landscape as a discerning cosmopolitan city that would not settle for

less. Besides, the right campaign themes offer the electorate the context to better understand a public figure’s priorities, concerns and reasons for seeking public office. Like a person, a brand must have unique and defining characteristics that engender affinity, walkability and loyalty. The Sanwo-Olu handlers successfully amplified his superior charisma to create a candidate who is very, very ‘gubernatorial’. This is evident in the promo pictures of the governor and his deputy that appeared in the media and various outof-home platforms. The team raised the bar in the subsequent materials, with the deliberate pairing of these number one and two citizens, who have remained inseparable since day one in office. The promotion of Sanwo-Olu’s personality leveraging his pragmatism, integrity and calmness appealed more to the new generation of voters, who constitute a larger part of Lagos’ population. These youths by extension constitute the larger pool of the electorates. The campaign, with the theme, “A Greater Lagos Rising”, is indeed an innovative concept in political advertising. Unveiling the campaign on behalf of the governor, Omotoso said the governor has assured indigenes of the state that his re-election in 2023 will increase the greatness of the state. He said the campaign team had come to the incontrovertible conclusion that the fitting theme of the 2023 re-election campaign for the governor and his deputy, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat should be: “A Greater Lagos Rising! It is a thematic continuum of what we promised in 2019.” In a speech delivered on behalf of Sanwo-Olu, he was quoted to have said: “We promised our people Greater Lagos. What do we see around us? We see abundant evidence of a new city rising from the womb of time. We do not make a false claim of having reached the zenith of our journey. Our contextual usage of the word is as an adjective that suggests an upward swing, an increase, and an upward movement. These are the signs Lagosians can see all around the state. “All of our campaign assets capture the place of the audacity of the spirit of Lagos in the rising of the city. The campaign assets are not some forms of self-adulation but fitting credit to the contributions of Lagosians, especially the youth to the height Lagos has attained today.”

Marketing Messaging

If there is anything that stands out in the process of selling the Brand Sanwo-Olu to the electorate, it lies in its clear brand message. The handlers cleverly used the act of marketing messaging, which represents how a brand communicates to its customers and highlighted the value of its products. “Messages” refer to not only the actual words and phrases used by a brand in advertising but also feelings and emotions associated with what they say. This is the core of Sanwo-Olu’s new campaign. The newly unveiled campaign theme by the Lagos State Governor is a reaffirmation of the brand promise. In marketing, a brand promise is a value or experience a company’s customers can expect to receive every single time they interact with the company. The more a company can deliver on that promise, the stronger the brand value in the mind of customers and employees. For Governor Sanwo-Olu, the political theme for his re-election is a re-affirmation of a promise he made in 2019 when he campaigned for election into the state’s topmost job. This was well encapsulated in his speech when he said: “Now we have seen signs of greatness in Lagos all around us.” Although he said his government may not have attained the peak, the greater Lagos the administration promised at inception is now rising. It is therefore expected that Lagosians and indeed the electorate will be disposed to re-electing him having created value for them with the promise kept.

Not Yielding to Complacency

Many marketing experts have argued and concluded that complacency is a silent killer of strong brands. With the vigour with which Sanwo-Olu and his team hit the streets with many campaign materials, it is obvious they are not giving in yet to the threat of complacency. When it comes to most things in life, complacency is rarely something that can be seen as a positive. For business, it is a silent killer as brand complacency can lead to a loss of key individuals and a failure to attract bright ambitious people. To appeal to Lagosians, the team had on December 1 deployed an array of their campaign assets comprising digital banners, A-Frames, Static Billboards, Digital Billboards, Gantries, Branded BRT Buses, and Venticulars to strategic locations in the state. Also, to underscore their place as the State of Aquatic Splendour, they embarked on a laser branding of the Lagos Lagoon along the Third Mainland Bridge to the delight of many Lagosians who ply that route in the early hours of the morning. Those away from that route have also not been left out as the laser branding campaign is being well amplified on social media to reach millions of Lagosians in the nooks and crannies of the state. By 4:30 am of the same day, a thousand energetic young

Sanwo-Olu Lagosians took strategic locations in the state dressed as Campaign Mascots to alert Lagosians that the official campaign of Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat had commenced. They were also on the Third Mainland Bridge, Oshodi, Lekki, Ikorodu, Ojota and Abule Egba. At 6:30am, hundreds of Lagos citizens in the riverine communities also rolled out branded canoes in a special Sea Show to commemorate the start of the re-election campaign. This was climaxed with a multi-dimensional Road Show comprising Power Bikers, Activation Rigs and Mobile Advertising Vans that commenced from Ikeja through Ikorodu Road to Lagos Island. Meanwhile, as all these were going on, by 1p.m., the campaign jingles hit the airwaves and by 7p.m., their first set of TV campaigns was deployed. Indeed, it’s campaign season One thing Sanwo-Olu has shown with the disruptive launch of his campaign is that he has surrounded himself with a team of professionals who truly understand their craft.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ APRIL 24, 2011

GLOBAL SOCCER A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

NEWS

BEYOND A LONDON DERBY

24.12.2022 PAGE. 29

Tobi Amusan A Continent’s Best

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾DECEMBER 24, 2022

GLOBAL SOCCER

Amusan leads the pack

Tobi Amusan

A Continent’s Best

She may have missed out of the Women’s World Athlete of theYear Awards-coming third behind American Sydney McLaughlin and Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce respectively. Tobi Amusan however rules Africa by a mile as the world record holder on Tuesday was named Africa’s Best Female Athlete

igeria’s Tobi Amusan was on Tuesday named Africa’s Best Female Athlete for the Year 2022 ahead of Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon and Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey, who are both world champions in the 1500m and 1000m were ranked second and third respectively behind Amusan The latest honour was conferred on Amusan by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) on Tuesday. Winner at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where she set a record and also the World Championships in Oregon, where she set a new World Record of 12.12s in the Hurdles event, Amusan has been far above her contemporaries this year. She also won the Diamond League trophy for the second successive season, highlighting her rating as one of the world’s best and Africa’s undisputed number one at the moment. Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon and Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey who are both world champions in the 1500m and 1000m were ranked second and third respectively behind Amusan who has enjoyed a phenomenal year. Amusan will be proud of her unprecedented feats in the period under review despite failing to claim the global accolade of the World female Athlete of the year won by America’s Sydney McLaughlin. Amusan started 2022 with a successful defence of her African Championships title in Mauritius in early June. Thereafter she was off to Paris to improve

on her 12.42 seconds African record as she ran 12.41 seconds at the Diamond League meeting in Paris. In Benin City, Edo State, at the All-Nigerian Championships, Amusan effortlessly erased the 12.63 seconds record set in 1997 by Angela Atede as she won another national title for herself, having run an impressive 12.58 seconds. The biggest moment for Amusan was in Eugene, Oregon where she produced one of the biggest surprises of the World Championships. The Nigerian superstar sped to a word record 12.12 seconds in the semifinals of the 100m hurdles, following it with a windassisted 12.06 seconds in the final to win gold. Prior to the World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year for 2022 season award ceremony, it looked promising for Amusan who broke the World Record in the women’s 100m hurdles with a time of 12.12s at the World Championships in Oregon, successfully defended her Commonwealth Games title setting a new Games Record of 12.30s, retained her Diamond League title clocking a Meeting Record and won the African title. Doing this, she became the first Nigerian and African female athlete to achieve these feats, which put her in a solid contention for the prestigious award. However, it was McLaughlin who took the night having had a fantastic season herself. The American broke the 400m hurdles World Record on two occasions and won two gold medals at the World Championships in Oregon. The two-time Olympics and three-time

World 400m hurdles champion first broke the World Record in June at the USA World Championships trials in Eugene, running an outstanding 51.41s. Barely a month later, the 23-year-old ran an incredible 50.68s to successfully retain her World title, breaking the World Record for the second time this year. Thereafter, she helped the USA 4x400m relay team secure a third consecutive World title, with a blazing split time of 47.91s. Amusan however took solace in the fact that she’s the first Nigerian athlete in history to be amongst the five finalist for the distinguished award, and eventually finish as second runner-up. Meanwhile, Amusan’s bid for a third consecutive Diamond League title will begin in May, next year after she successfully retained her Diamond League title in 2022. Her quest for a third consecutive Diamond League title will begin at the event’s season opener in Doha, Qatar, on May 5, 2023, as the World Athletics has released the 2023 provisional calendar. The two-time Diamond League Champion may be competing in Doha if the meeting organisers include the 100m Hurdles among the events to be competed for at the meet for the second year running. Amusan started her Diamond League campaign at the same meet this year, finishing a close second behind former World Record holder Keni Harrison, who clocked a windaided time of 12.43s, ahead of the Nigerians’ 12.44s. However, Amusan turned it around by gathering enough points during the season, which earned her a spot in the final leg in

Zurich, where the newly crowned World Champion and record holder successfully retained her Diamond League title with a new Meeting Record of 12.29s. Doing this, she became the first Nigerian athlete in history to win two Diamond League titles, her first win in 2021 when she sped to a then African Record of 12.42s, to become the first Nigerian in the Diamond League era to win a trophy. The 2023 provisional Diamond League calendar, which for the first time includes 15 host cities across 12 countries and four continents, was released by the World Athletics and the final scheduled to hold outside Europe for the first time in 14 years. The final is scheduled for Eugene, Oregon, at the Prefontaine Classic, where Amusan will seek to be among the 32 champions for the third time in a row. Meanwhile, Amusan has been ranked the fifth best female athlete in 2022, according to World Athletics. The World Athletics ranked each athlete according to the points they amassed from their performances during the season, using the scoring tables of athletics. The 25-year-old hurdler had a fantastic year and became the first Nigerian world champion in an athletics event when she won the 2022 World Championships 100m hurdles gold medal, setting the current world record of 12.12 seconds in the semifinal, followed up by a 12.06s in the final. She also won gold again at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, before retaining her Diamond League Trophy in Zurich in a new meet record of 12.29s.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾DECEMBER 24, 2022

GLOBAL SOCCER

Arsenal Premier League Dream Continues with West Ham Visit The English Premier League resumes on Boxing Day after six weeks break due to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and leaders, Arsenal, would be hoping to continue from where they stopped before the break.The Gunners resume their title charge with the visit of West Ham at the Emirate and can open up an eight-point lead with victory in north London, ahead of Manchester City playing two days later

Emile Smith Rowe was one of the players on target for Arsenal against Aston Villa last season

rsenal entered the World Cupenforced break unbeaten in eight Premier League matches and five points clear at the top of the table and, even with an injury to starting striker Gabriel Jesus, they can be backed to pick up from where they left off on Boxing Day. The Gunners have hardly put a foot wrong this season, with Mikel Arteta’s long-term plan finally coming to fruition in flawless fashion. They have the joint-best defensive record (11) and the second-best attacking record (33), leaving them five points clear of defending champions Manchester City. Their most recent run of results is perhaps most impressive, with four wins from five and a clean sheet in all of those victories. They have beaten Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs already this season and their only defeat of the campaign came away to Manchester United. West Ham, by contrast, have endured a shocking season so far and will be hoping the break has rejuvenated what was looking a laboured squad. David Moyes’ men have lost four of their last five league games, failing to score in three of those defeats and only managing to pick up points against Bournemouth. They find themselves 16th in the table and everything points towards them failing to increase their points tally on Monday. Arsenal, with four wins and just one goal conceded in their last five games, should get by fine without Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian started life emphatically in North London but failed to score in any of his last 14 appearances for club and country. West Ham manager, David Moyes has described Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta as a diligent boy, adding that he is not surprised to see the Gunners making an early Premier League title challenge.

Moyes said he has always believed in Arteta even when some were questioning his credentials as a Gunners boss. “It doesn’t surprise me,” Moyes told talkSPORT when asked about Arsenal’s title-winning form. “I used to listen to pundits criticising Arsenal but they have been a really good team for a while and nobody was giving them respect. ‘He’s a really diligent boy and a young manager learning his way. He’ll make a few mistakes, but I did too and everybody does when you are in management in the early years.” Interestingly, Arteta had said Moyes made him a better person during their time together at Everton and hailed his West Ham United counterpart for shaping his managerial career. Spaniard Arteta played under Moyes for six years at Everton after joining the club as a 22-year-old, helping them finish in the top four and reach the Champions League qualifiers. “He was the one that introduced me to the Premier League and he has been a huge influence,” Arteta said. “I think he made me a better person, made me mature in the earlier stages of my career. “He was really demanding and challenging but at the same time really supportive. I have great memories with him and we had some great times together. “He really installed a real belief around the club to be together all the time...He really created a special atmosphere when we were together and I think that is why everyone involved at that time really enjoyed our time together.” Arteta said he was delighted to see his former manager thrive after difficult spells with Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland. “I suffered when he had a difficult time

because I didn’t think it was fair that he was given no time in some places,” Arteta said. “I know his qualities and I’m glad to see that now he is enjoying it and doing what he is really good at. I can see his team being what he is and what he likes to do.” Another interesting clash on Boxing Day is the encounter between Liverpool and Aston Villa. Liverpool have been the Premier League’s biggest underachievers this season so Jurgen Klopp’s men will be desperate to return from the World Cup break with a momentum-building win at Aston Villa. Having come so close to a second league title under Klopp on the final day last term, most people expected the Anfield giants to be the biggest challengers to Manchester City once more. But when the Premier League went into shutdown for Qatar 2022, Liverpool found themselves sitting in seventh place, 10 points behind City and whopping 15 adrift of surprise pace-setters Arsenal. A title push looks beyond them but the more immediate concern is a Champions League place, with Klopp’s side currently seven points behind fourth-placed Spurs. However, Aston Villa’s season has also been a major disappointment with manager Steven Gerrard axed back in October with his team closer to the drop zone than the upper reaches of the table. Despite heavy investment in the squad, Villa made little if no progress under the former Rangers boss, with Unai Emery now charged with taking them forward. The Spaniard has made a decent start and his team headed into the break having won three of their last five games. That lifted them five points clear of the drop zone but Emery won’t be able to relax until his team climb further up the table. Successive wins over Manchester United and high-flying Brighton proved that Aston

Premier League Table Arsenal Man City Newcastle Tottenham Man Utd Liverpool Brighton Chelsea Fulham Brentford Crystal Palace Aston Villa Leicester Bournemouth Leeds West Ham Everton Nottm Forest Southampton Wolves

14 14 15 15 14 14 14 14 15 15 14 15 15 15 14 15 15 15 15 15

22 26 18 10 0 11 4 0 -2 -2 -3 -6 0 -14 -4 -5 -6 -19 -14 -16

37 32 30 29 26 22 21 21 19 19 19 18 17 16 15 14 14 13 12 10

Premier League TODAY

Brentford v Tottenham Crystal Palace v Fulham Everton v Wolves Leicester City v Newcastle Southampton v Brighton Aston Villa v Liverpool Arsenal v West Ham

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

TODAY

Barcelona v Espanyol Sociedad v Osasuna Villarreal v Valencia 15:15

13:00 15:15

Villa have the class to beat any team on their day so it will be interesting to see how Liverpool fare in the Midlands.

em in C

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾DECEMBER 24, 2022

GLOBAL SOCCER

L-R: Chief Operating Oﬃcer, Non-Steel, African Foundries Ltd, Arindam Gupta; Chief human resource Oﬃcer, African Foundries Ltd, Jiternder Badwe; Olujijo of Ojijo, His Royal Majesty, Oba Kezeem Olaonipekun Gbadamosi; Captain of the team, Esan Olufowora; CEO. African Foundries Ltd, Rayeev Ranjan, and CEO, Orbit woods, African Foundries Ltd, Ashok vairaramorthy, during the African Industries group novelty football Match, held in Lagos recently

Esepor, Pumicpic Boast on Arrival for GOtv Boxing Night 27 Undefeated West African Boxing Union (WABU) featherweight champion, Taiwo “Esepor” Agbaje and Richard Taruc Pumicpic of the Philippines, arrived Nigeria on Friday for their World Boxing Federation (WBF) Intercontinental featherweight title bout at GOtv Boxing Night 27. The much awaited fight is the biggest of the six bouts billed to take place at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos on December 26. In an interview at Muritala International Airport, both boxers vowed to outbox each other when they take to the ring at Africa’s biggest boxing show.

“If you know me, you know I don’t play with people in the ring. I am coming back home to become a world champion. This is my dream and I’m here to win it. This guy can’t stop me. He can’t stand me,” Esepor said. Pumicpic also boasted that he’s in Nigeria to beat Esepor in front of his fans and take home the world championship title. “It doesn’t matter that he is at home. It’s two of us in the ring. I am here to beat him in front of his supporters and win the world title, he said. Organized by FlyKite Productions, GOtv Boxing Night 27 is a double dose of music and boxing

which will feature performances by Nigerian music stars such as Ruger, Pheelz, 9ice, Chinko Ekun and internationally recognised DJ Xclusive. Chief Operating Officer of Flykite Productions, Bamidele Johnson, has also assured fans coming to watch the show of maximum security in and around the venue. He said no security breach experienced in the previous 26 editions, and this will not be an exception. Sponsored by GOtv and supported by Supa Komando, GOtv Boxing Night 27 will be broadcast live on DStv channel 209 and GOtv Channel 34.

Egypt 2023: Flying Eagles to Play Host Nation, Senegal, Mozambique Seven-time champions Nigeria will square up to host nation Egypt, Senegal and Mozambique in the group stage of the 2023 Africa U20 Cup of Nations finals scheduled for Egypt February 19–March 11. The four teams are in Group A. The draw held in Cairo yesterday evening also placed Uganda, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Congo in Group B, while The Gambia, Tunisia, Benin

Republic and Zambia will slot it out in Group C. It is the first time that the Africa U20 Cup of Nations will witness 12 teams, with the four top teams in Egypt qualifying to represent Africa at the FIFA U20 World Cup finals already slated for May 20 – June 11, in Indonesia. From the result of the draw, the Flying Eagles, who qualified as champions of WAFU B zone,

will play their first match of the tournament against Senegal, who emerged from WAFU A zone. Egypt qualified automatically as hosts, while Tunisia emerged from North Africa and Mozambique and Zambia emerged from the COSAFA zone. The Gambia joined Senegal from WAFU A just as Benin Republic, who lost to Nigeria in the WAFU B Final in Niamey in May, joined Nigeria from WAFU B zone.

Richarlison Scissor kick for Brazil against Serbia Voted Best Richarlison overhead strike in the FIFA World Cup group stage match against Serbia has been voted the goal of the tournament, the world body announced today. FIFA tweeted that the goal was voted by fans as the best among the 10 nominees that included Kylian Mbappe’s goal against Poland, Neymar’s dribble

and finish against Croatia and Enzo Fernandez volley against Mexico. Richarlison scored both goals for Brazil in the 2-0 win. His spectacular finish came off a looping cross from Vinicius Jr. Richarlison received the ball and slammed it into the net with his second touch. The Tottenham Hotspur

forward was in fine form when wearing the golden yellow kit of Brazil prior to the World Cup and he opened the scoring with an easy tap-in before doubling the lead with his acrobatic effort. Brazil finished top of Group G and crushed South Korea 4-1 in the round of 16 before falling to Croatia in the quarterfinals.

Hadji Hit with Five-year Ban in Coaching Licence Scandal Former Morocco international Mustapha Hadji has refused to say whether he will appeal a five-year ban for forging an A-standard coaching license. The 51-year-old was found guilty of falsifying the license and suspended for five years from all football-related activities by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) disciplinary committee. Despite having three days to appeal the ban, the 1998 African Player of the Year refused to comment when asked about the possibility of submitting

an appeal by local media. Hadji appeared for Morocco at two World Cups (1994 and 1998), while he subsequently served as his nation’s assistant coach from 2014 until earlier this year. “The Caf disciplinary panel noted that after investigation, it was established that the license certificate ‘A’ in the name of Mr Mustapha Hadji is falsified and that he has never registered for License A training and that no diploma has been issued to him by the federa-

tion,” read a statement signed by Raymond Hack, president of Caf’s disciplinary board. “Fraud is a serious offence which undermines Caf’s values and principles of ethics. “Moreover, after having examined all the available elements, the disciplinary panel considers that the offense committed by Mustapha Hadji is likely to harm the credibility of the governing institutions of football, including CAF, and must be sanctioned accordingly.”

Winner of Ultimate Golf Challenge, Vincent Torgah and Chairman Organizing Committee of Ultimate Golf Challenge Akin Semowo

Torgah Wins Ultimate Golf Challenge Season 3 Vincent Torgah stole the show on Thursday to emerge winner of the third in the series of the annual Ultimate Golf Challenge. To come top in the competition, the Ghanaian shot a closing 3-under par 68 for 7-under total 135-over 36-holes, winning the competition by 6-shots. Torgah had shot an opening 67 and closed with 68 to win the highly lucrative competition. His efforts earned him the events top prize of N3m. Speaking shortly after being declared winner, Torgah, who lost narrowly in 2021, said it was the lessons learned from the previous loss that helped to overcome.

“I actually did well last year but a missed putt on the closing hole stopped my dream then. This time around, I came back stronger and won. Ultimate Golf Challenge is a great tournament and highly competitive. I am happy winning it”, he said. Vincent Ikemefuna of the golf section of Ikoyi Club 1938 grossed a closing round of 69 for 1-under par 141-total to come second. Tokunbo Pedro, the USPGA Pro who inspired the tournament also gave a good account of himself opening with 1-over 72 and a closing -2under 69 to share the second position with Ikemefuna. Also in the second position

is Chukwudi Okoro of Benin Golf Club and Port-Harcourt’s Will Gift. Justifying the need for the tournament, Grand Patron of Ultimate Golf Challenge, Olufemi Pedro said all effort would be made to make subsequent editions better. Satisfied with the outcome of the competition Chairman, Organising Committee of Ultimate Golf Challenge, Akin Semowo said the organisers will continue to do all they can to sustain the tournament, saying the desire of the organisers to uplift the standard of professional golf in the country remain the ultimate goal.

Nigerian Football Fans to Enjoy Great Bet Builder with GreatOdds With the launch of the Bet Builder and numerous market opportunities on GreatOdds’ online sports betting platform, football enthusiasts across Nigeria can enjoy top-notch technology in sports betting. “We’ve activated an outstanding feature called “Build a Bet”. This allows punters to build and create their own bets and so setting the scene for the best gaming experience possible” said Scott Canny, Managing Director at GreatOdds. With

many gaming options to choose from, and cashouts in good time, GreatOdds gives all players a chance to win big. Scott further noted that, “With us at GreatOdds, new customers enjoy a whopping 100% welcome bonus on their first deposit up to N25,000. Beyond that, we have several other mind-blowing gaming features to aid the winning chances of punters.” GreatOdds sports betting is taking the lead in providing

unbeatable gaming offers and promotions for sports enthusiasts in Nigeria. On the official website, www. greatodds.ng, the sportsbook has exciting promotions such as GO-Boost and Football Acca Insurance that will increase the chances of winning and cashing out! Many punters have been taking advantage of GreatOdds’ amazing sportsbooks, and their reactions are quite inspiring.

IGCC Palle Kitty Group Donates to Charity Home It was another moment of celebrating with the less privileged persons in the society as Palle Kitty Group, Ibori Golf and Country Club (IGCC) made a presentation of a cheque for the sum of N500,000 to the Divine Grace Orphanage, Asaba, Delta State. This was done during the Palle Kitty Group End Of Year Charity Kitty held on December 17, at the IGCC golf course, Asaba. Ranger Kwache emerged winner of the men’s category

of the Kitty with a net score of 77 while former Club Captains, Gabriel Okpuno and Frank Esenwah played 78 and 80 net respectively to place second and third. The ladies event was won by C. Okorodudu with 73 net just as runner-up Edith Umeh beat Omo Monday on count-back having both played 75 net respectively. Former Lady Captain, Chief Hetty Egbai won the veteran ladies event with 77 net as Nkechi Nwanekezie

placed second with 91 net. The veteran men award went to Chike Onukwu who returned 75 net beating former Captain, George Ugboma with 80 net to second place while third placed Kingsley Emu returned 83 net. Club Captain, Larry Osai emerged winner in the super veteran category with 81 net as Peter Iweze settled for second place with 82 net. Rita Izoje and H. Oniawa won the longest drive ladies and men respectively.

Abeokuta Captain Hails 1st Beginners Golf Classic Debut Bashorun Ladi Adegbite, the Captain of Abeokuta Golf Club has hailed the 1st Beginner’s Golf Classic which successfully held over the weekend in the Ogun State capital saying “it was a welcome development.” The club’s Captain in his address during the closing ceremony of the one-day event, affirmed that he was happy people were beginning to respond to the call of ‘thinking outside’ the box to improve the

game of golf. He congratulated the founder, ‘Pro Mubasiru Sanusi, “for the audacity to conceive, develop and execute, this nouveau concept of golfing competition for Abeokuta,” and added, ‘may this not be the last one.” The Captain in his address also relished the positivity of his quest for people to be innovative: “This out of the box idea has produced results; it has met the criteria of

golf as a sport, providing an ideal level playing field for beginner golfers to compete.” However, Pro Mubasiru in his response maintained, “The aim and objectives of Beginners Golf Classic is to celebrate new golfers at end of year,” just as he believes, “They have competed and have boost their interest in the game; it is an avenue to enjoy golf tips that will improve their game.”

L-R: IGCC Capt Larry Osai; Rev Sister Martina Paul; Ishmael khalil; Henry Onianwa; Ifeanyi Osuoza; Kingsley Emu (Leader Palle Kitty Group), and Lady Vice Captain Vivian Ebreneyin during presentation.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾DECEMBER 24, 2022

GLOBAL SOCCER

Alex Iwobi Expecting Big Money From Goodison Park

After a scintillating performance for Everton, the Merseysider’s hierarchy have decided to reward Super Eagles midﬁelder, Alex Iwobi with a handsome contract. Though the details of the contract have not been made known, feelers coming out of Goodison Park says Everton agreed to a‘big-money’deal for the Nigeria international

ccording to sources, Everton have agreed to the terms of a new contract with Alex Iwobi and the 26-year-old is set to put pen to paper on an extended deal after transforming his Goodison career this season in a new central midfield role. Everton have been in talks with Iwobi for months and have now secured a breakthrough in negotiations ahead of the January transfer window. The former Arsenal has accepted Everton’s contract offer and landed a ‘big’ pay hike on his current deal, which is worth around £90,000-a-week and runs until the summer of 2024. He has started all 15 of Everton’s Premier League matches this season, completing 14 of them, and became instrumental to the team’s set-up under Frank Lampard. Iwobi has already provided six assists for his teammates this term, with five of them coming in the league, and scored in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United. The 58-times Nigeria international had previously been used almost exclusively as a winger in his Everton career and during his time at Arsenal. However, his transition into midfield has given him a new lease of life and he was thriving alongside Idrissa Gueye and Amadou Onana before the mid-season break. Iwobi joined Everton from Arsenal in the summer of 2019 and has now made 114 appearances for the club in all competitions.

At the Gunners, he played 149 times after graduating from their youth team set-up. Iwobi has been “phenomenal” for Everton in the past nine months and has proven former Crystal Palace chairman, Simon Jordan wrong after previous criticism. The Nigerian international is on the brink of signing a new long-term contract to remain at the club, and despite some characteristic trashing of the squad, the manager, and the owner, former Crystal Palace chairman Jordan admitted Iwobi has been a silver lining. During a discussion with Jim White and Danny Murphy on talkSPORT he had to take time out of criticising everything else about the current direction Everton are heading in to praise the former Arsenal man. Speaking live on talkSPORT on Wednesday afternoon Jordan said: “Anyone can spend money. Anyone can say, ‘I’ve spent £500million’. Ok, fantastic. But who did you spend it on and what does it look like? “It looks like now a team that is sinking. I don’t think Frank Lampard’s the answer but that’s for others to decide. “It does come to something, because I was massively critical of Alex Iwobi but I have to turn round and say that his performances over the last six to nine months at that club have been nothing short of phenomenal.” Iwobi has certainly earned a new contract with a major break out under Lampard which has made him one of the first names on the team sheet. He looked like exactly the sort of overpriced and underwhelming signing that has derailed the operation under Farhad Moshiri when he was signed from Arse-

nal but deserves huge credit for adapting his game. If even Jordan, who is never shy in pouring scorn on the goings on at Goodison Park, has to admit that he deserves praise then he is clearly doing plenty right. He is part of an Everton side which is slowly starting to look substantial when looked at from back to front, but the gaping holes in attack are what is currently holding things back. Cementing himself as perhaps the only truly consistent performer in the Toffees’ midfield, Iwobi has scored one goal and delivered six assists across those showings. Now that domestic football is set to return following the conclusion of the 2022 World Cup, some behindthe-scenes rumblings have been going on at Goodison Park regarding Iwobi’s future at the club. According to a recent report from Football Insider, Everton have agreed the terms of a ‘big money’ new contract with Iwobi after months of talks. The report reveals a ‘breakthrough in negotiations’ ahead of the winter transfer window and claims a significant pay increase is coming the Nigerian’s way. In addition to providing more assists in the league than any other Everton player this season, Iwobi has also made more progressive passes (49) and key passes (27) than anyone else in Lampard’s squad. The former Arsenal figure has also shown how useful he can be off the ball as well as only Amadou Onana (20) has won more tackles in the middle third of the pitch than Iwobi (12). His overall performances have earned the midfielder a season rating of 6.75/10 from WhoScored,

making him the third-highest outfield player at the club. This backs up why his performances this season have been lauded as “exceptional” by Frank Leboeuf. It also makes it easy to see why the Toffees have been so keen to tie the player down to a new deal at the club. Meanwhile, Iwobi has been praised by his Everton teammate, Amadou Onana for his contributions in the centre of the park for the Toffees so far this season. In an interview with Sky Sports, Onana paid tribute to both Iwobi and Idrissa Gana Gueye after returning to Merseyside following his World Cup group stage exit with Belgium. Onana says he has been so impressed with the midfield duo since arriving at Goodison Park and cannot wait to get back out there on the same pitch as them. “In terms of the midfield three (alongside Gana and Iwobi), I feel it worked. I feel quite comfortable playing with Gana and Alex as they’re amazing players and they make it quite easy for me. “Playing as a number eight or in a deeper position in the number six, I don’t mind. Wherever the gaffer needs me, that’s where I’m going to play. I feel I have the ability to play in both positions. G LO B A L S O C C E R ASSISTANT EDITOR KUNLE ADEWALE THISDAY ON SATURDAY EDITOR YEMI ADEBOWALE DEPUTY EDITOR AHAMIFULA OGBU THISDAY NEWSPAPERS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾DECEMBER 24, 2022

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER DECEMBER 24, 2022

AUTO WORLD

Bennett Oghifo 07052343083 Email:bennett.oghifo@thisdaylive.com

All-new Mercedes-Benz C-Class Arrives Nigeria

he all-new C-Class is the perfect combination of comfort and performance. It is built with the singular objective of helping people escape the stress of everyday life into a luxurious retreat, into your own comfort zone. Being one of Mercedes-Benz’s best sellers & longest running model series, over 10.5 million MercedesBenz C-Class models have been delivered to customers globally since its inception in 1982. This all-new model generation takes things many steps further with even more digitised features as well as stunning and expressive design features. The all-new Mercedes-Benz C-Class is now available in Nigeria, courtesy of Weststar Associates Limited, the Authorized General Distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Nigeria and its dealerships nationwide - Barbedos Cars Limited, MB Automobile Services Limited, Skymit Motors Limited, Sunny Motors Limited and Tetralog Nigeria Limited. The most prominent highlight in the all-new C-Class is most certainly the latest generation of the Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) infotainment system, which is more intuitively operated and has a higher learning capacity. Like the new S-Class, the new C-Class is equipped with the second generation of MBUX. The vehicle interior becomes even more digital and intelligent, as both the hardware and software have made great strides. i.e. brilliant images on the LCD screens make it easy to control vehicle and comfort functions. Other key highlights of the MBUX in the new C-Class include; an increasingly sharp “Hey Mercedes” voice assistant, music streaming available with the “Online Music” service, a stunning widescreen central display, Augmented Video DQG D ÀQJHUSULQW VFDQQHU IRU SHUVRQDOL]DWLRQ of MBUX settings. The modern and luxurious design of the all-new C-Class is most certainly another stand out feature. The all-new C-Class can be described as slimmer, sportier and more stylish, featuring bold exterior accents like the power domes on the bonnet, the radiator grille with the Mercedes-Benz pattern design

Electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular every day, and for good reason. They are cost-effective to operate compared to petrol vehicles, they’re better for the environment, and they’re fun to drive. But if you’re new to driving an EV, there are a few things you should know to make the experience even better. Here are 10 tips to help you make the most of your electric vehicle. 1. Plan ahead It’s important to plan your route in advance and make use of online or onboard mapping services, apps, and other tools to identify which public charging points you can use.

The all-new Mercedes-Benz C-Class interior DQG ÁXVK WR LQFK ZKHHOV LQ PRGHUQ designs. Another key feature in the exterior design of the new C-Class is the DIGITAL LIGHT which is inherited from the S-Class, it has a light module with three extremely powerful LEDs in each headlamp that pr+-oject resolutions of more than 2.6 million pixels. The interior design on the other hand, is ÁXVKHG ZLWK QHZ VXUIDFHV DQG HOHPHQWV RQ the instrument panel and center console. There is a new air vent design which is reminiscent of aircraft engine nacelles and customers who go for the AMG line interior get more extra special features like the two-tone upholstery. Thanks to the longer body design & a longer wheelbase there is even more space and leg room for rear seat passengers. Other luxury features in the interior include a high-resolution LCD screen housing the instrument cluster, DPELHQW OLJKWLQJ IHDWXULQJ RSWLFDO ÀEUHV DQG the Burmester 3D surround sound system. The driving experience in the all-new C-Class comes with more power and inFUHDVHG H΀FLHQF\ WKDQNV WR SRZHUIXO QHZ 4-cylinder M 254 petrol engines with outputs

at 150kw/204hp - 190kw/258hp and a peak torque of 300nm – 400nm. These 4-cylinder HQJLQHV FRPH ZLWK PLOG K\EULG HOHFWULÀHG drivetrains equipped with a 48-volt integrated stater alternator (EQ Boost), the additional output RI WKHVH HOHFWULÀHG GULYHWUDLQV LV FDSSHG DW 15kw/20hp. On the new C-Class the shifting is carried out smoothly with the 9GTRONIC automatic transmission. Also, the suspension FRQÀJXUDWLRQ LQ WKH QHZ & &ODVV SURYLGHV D high level of suspension, ride and noise comfort, agile handling and driving fun, this thanks to a new four-link axle at the front and a multi-link axle at the rear mounted to a subframe. 7KH DOO QHZ & &ODVV LV ORDGHG ZLWK D ÁXUU\ of safety and assistance systems that ensure you’re always out of harm’s way. Owners RI WKH QHZ & &ODVV FDQ EHQHÀW IURP D UDQJH of features from the Mercedes-Benz S-Class which are a part of the Driving Assistance package Plus. Some of these features include the Active Steering Assist with 360° camera, Active Brake Assist, Parking Package with 360° camera and additional safety features with the DIGITAL LIGHT.

Ford Mustang Dark Horse Upgrades, Delivers 500 Horsepower, Most Powerful 5.0-Liter V8 Ever

ord is spreading the holiday cheer this season by giving Mustang fans exactly what they had on their wish list: more horses across every engine offering for the all-new, seventh-generation 2024 Mustang, including 500 horsepower with the Mustang Dark Horse. According to a statement by the automaker, “Mustang has always pushed the envelope. From Mustang GT to Dark Horse, this is our best 5.0-liter V8 yet. It’s naturally aspirated awesomeness,” said Ed Krenz, Mustang chief engineer. “And Mustang EcoBoost fans are also getting a boost in power to make every Mustang more fun and visceral to drive.” First-ever Mustang Dark Horse delivers 500 horsepower For the pinnacle of 5.0-liter V8 performance and track capability, the Mustang Dark Horse features a uniquely engineered fourth-generation Coyote V8 engine with 500 horsepower and 418 ft.-lb. of torque* to set a new benchmark for Mustang street and track performance, and the most powerful non-Shelby edition ever. Powered by Ford Performance know-how, the Coyote engine was upgraded even further to produce 500 horsepower, delivering its most powerful naturally aspirated V8 yet. These upgrades include a uniquely balanced crankshaft and forged piston connecting rods – the latter first introduced in the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 – to handle higher cylinder pressures and piston speeds. Mustang Dark Horse also sports strengthened camshafts for track-durability needs, including extended operation closer to its 7,500-rpm redline. “Every time someone gets behind the wheel of a Mustang, we know they want to feel that strong connection to their vehicle – and we’re just as invested in creating that bond,” said Suzanne Robinson, Coyote engine program supervisor. “With the increased responsiveness you get from the new dual throttle bodies, we’re wringing every ounce of performance we can out of our engine so Mustang enthusiasts can have that experience.”

TIPS OF THE WEEK 10 EV Charging Tips for New Drivers

2. Understand your EV Knowing and understanding your EVs range and what charge rate it can handle is essential for any new EV driver. If you need to stop at a rapid charger, make sure you know the maximum charge rate for your vehicle. For example, if your EV’s maximum charge rate is 50kW, it will not be able to charge any faster than 50kW when using a 50kW charge point. 3. Master EV Etiquette As New Zealand’s electric fleet grows, our charging network will expand with it. Even so, you may have to wait at a charging station for your turn occasionally. Fortunately, early EV adopters put together a set of charging etiquette that helps prevent bad behaviour. Learn more about EV Etiquette. 4. Download EV Apps Apps can be helpful to ensure you don’t find yourself stranded somewhere without a charge. Good map and weather apps are also a must-have for your trip. With these apps, you can plan your route, check for detours, and see real-time traffic conditions. Here are a couple of our favourite apps: $IWHU VHWWLQJ XS DQ DFFRXQW RQ WKH &KDUJH1HW app, you’ll have access to the network of over 280 charge points nationwide. With so many stations, it’s easy to plan your trip without making detours. Plus, when you’re on the road, you can see which chargers are currently in use. 3OXJVKDUH LV D JUHDW UHVRXUFH IRU YLHZLQJ chargers open to the public. The app is community driven and shows all DC fast chargers as well as Type 2 AC charging available in New Zealand. It also allows you to filter your charging stops based on the activities you want to do on the charging stops. For example, do you want to take lunch as your charge? :LWK 3RZHU 7ULS \RX FDQ ILQG FKDUJLQJ stations, plan your electric vehicle (EV) road trips and reduce your EV charging costs. The Power Trip route planner predicts your charging needs and schedules charging stops that optimize the amount of time you spend charging your EV while you’re travelling. 5. Drive Efficiently One way to help maximise your EV’s range is to drive efficiently. This means avoiding fast acceleration and harsh braking and making use of your vehicle’s eco mode. Another tip is to check your tyres – improperly inflated tyres will increase energy consumption and drain your battery.

The new Ford Mustang Dark Horse Most Powerful Mustang GT 5.0-liter V8 At the core of making the all-new Mustang the most exhilarating and visceral Mustang yet is a new fourth-generation Coyote V8 engine. The available active-valve performance exhaust system enables the Mustang GT coupe and convertible to deliver 486 horsepower and 418 ft.-lb. of torque**. Beyond the boost in power, the system’s free-flowing design delivers a custom-V8 sound with the ability to close the valves to restrict the amount of noise made by the car. Those opting for the standard Mustang GT still enjoy 480 horsepower* -- the most standard power in a naturally aspirated V8-powered Mustang ever. In addition, the engine delivers 415 ft.-lb. of torque for the most standard torque ever. The fourth-generation Coyote V8 features a segmentfirst, dual intake and dual throttle body induction system that’s matched with structural improvements

and upgraded oil pan. This helps minimize induction loss by enabling higher air flow rates. For Mustang GT and Mustang Dark Horse, horsepower and torque ratings are the same for automatic and manual transmissions. Turbocharged Mustang EcoBoost delivers up to 315 horsepower Continuing a tradition of affordable performance, the all-new 2024 Mustang EcoBoost delivers on the nameplate’s legacy with its all-new 2.3-liter EcoBoost engine that produces 315 horsepower*, the most standard power in a four- or six-cylinder Mustang ever. In addition, the engine delivers 350 ft.-lb. of torque. Mustang EcoBoost also offers the optional active-valve performance exhaust system designed for even more excitement from its turbochargedsoundtrack.

6. Avoid charging over 80% When it comes to charging and the advancement in the lithium-ion batteries EVs use, it’s best to charge to around 80% rather than to a full 100%. This allows the vehicle’s regenerative braking to store the additional kinetic energy it captures within the remaining capacity of your battery. 7. Explore the whole range of available charging options There are a number of different options when it comes to charging your electric vehicle. If you’re in a hurry, you can use a hyper-rapid charging station, which will charge your car much faster than a standard 8-10amp socket. However, if you’re not in a hurry, charging at home or your hotel overnight is perfectly safe and will take less time overall. (Source: Chevrolet)

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER DECEMBER 24, 2022

AUTO

Commandments for Buying NewTyres

n about 24 hours, it will be another Christmas. In my usual practice during this season, I wish to focus RQ VSHFLÀF VDIHW\ LVVXHV WKDW VKRXOG interest the average traveller. My focus for this week is on tyres because of the yearly worry by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on the increasing cases of tyre burst and the need to address this. The FRSC report for 2021 for instance, indicates WKDW D WRWDO RI RͿHQGHUV ZHUH DUUHVWHG IRU FRPPLWWLQJ WUD΀F LQIUDFWLRQV 7\UH violations which is my focus today accounted for 63,714 while speed limit violations which I hope to treat later, stood at 45,081.The record LQGLFDWHV WKDW URDG WUD΀F FUDVKHV ZHUH recorded with 4,800 killed while 30,506 were injured. Meanwhile the record between September 3, 2022 and November 25, 2022 indicates that WKHUH ZHUH IRXU W\UH UHODWHG URDG WUD΀F FUDVKHV recorded only within Bauchi State. Out of these numbers, one was fatal claiming two lives while six injuries were recorded. The fatal crash occurred along Bauchi Jos road. Interestingly the report also indicates that there were three serious tyre related crashes with fourteen injuries. Interestingly, these crashes occurred between 1659hrs and 1800hours. Tyres are among the most important parts of a vehicle but unfortunately the least understood. Without tyres your vehicle is useless. You need them to start, move and stop the vehicle. So buying tyres is a task you need to undertake very carefully otherwise your safety and that of others could be put in great danger. Before you buy any tyre, give serious consideration to the size, age and its physical condition. /HW XV VWDUW ÀUVW ZLWK WKH VL]H RI D W\UH 2Q WKH VLGHZDOO RI \RXU W\UHV \RX ZLOO VHH ÀJXUHV like 215/75/15r, 195/65/14r and so on. These are designations for your tyre sizes. Check your own tyre to know what is written on it. The ÀUVW ÀJXUH IURP WKH OHIW LV WKH ZLGWK IURP sidewall to sidewall) of the tyre in millimetres; the middle number is what is known as the aspect ratio used to calculate the height of the sidewall of the tyre. The last number is the rim diameter. When you go to buy tyres you will mention all of WKHVH ÀJXUHV WR WKH VHOOHU VR WKDW KH ZLOO JLYH you exactly what you want. There are various VL]HV RI W\UHV LQ WKH PDUNHW WKDW FDQ ÀW \RXU type of vehicle but that does not mean that those sizes are good/safe for your vehicle. (YHU\ YHKLFOH KDV W\UH VL]HV VSHFLÀHG E\ the vehicle manufacturer. If you check the tyre placard by the end of the driver’s door, hood or the vehicle’s manual, \RX ZLOO VHH WKH VSHFLÀFDWLRQ IRU \RXU YHKLFOH·V W\UH VL]HV SOHDVH VWLFN WR WKHVH VSHFLÀFDWLRQV while buying replacements. Don’t let the tyre seller give you something else. Your vehicle’s manufacturer has taken a lot of factors into consideration before specifying the tyre sizes. If you change that, your vehicle may not handle well and may be risking a blowout and a crash. Changing to fatter tyres like some people do may look better but not safer. In most cases, the manufacturer provides alternatives VKRXOG \RX QRW ÀQG WKH RULJLQDO VL]HV WKH YHKLFOH came with. The tyre placard will specify these alternatives. However, there are some calculations you can make to get sizes apart from what the PDQXIDFWXUHU VSHFLÀHV WKDW ZLOO JLYH \RX WKH VDPH UHVXOW DV WKH RULJLQDO VSHFLÀFDWLRQ EXW you need to know how to do the calculations otherwise stick to the original. Next is on how to determine the age of your tyre. Even more important than the tyre size is its age. Unfortunately, most motorists as well as tyre sellers don’t know how to check for the tyre age; they depend only on visual inspection of the physical conditions. Some will invite a vulcanizer who will do a press up (or is it press down?) on the tyre to certify if it is okay; what a wrong and dangerous thing to do! Why the emphasis on age? Just as age can disqualify an otherwise promising marriage mate or job applicant in some cases , age will disqualify a tyre even if every other thing seems alright from a visual inspection. Do not be deceived by looks, every tyre has an HͿHFWLYH OLIHVSDQ EH\RQG ZKLFK \RX ZLOO EH entering the danger zone. As a general rule, any tyre that is more than six years old should be discarded. This rule, however, applies to quality tyres with known brand names. Less quality tyres of course, may not last that long. So how do you determine the age of a tyre?

SAFE DRIVING with Jonas Agwu amnipr, mcipr,mprsa,arpa Assistant Corps Marshal Zonal Commanding Officer Federal Road Safety Corps.

Unlike humans who can hide their ages, every tyre provides information about its age but in a coded form. Look at the side walls of your tyre and check for the letters dot. Look around the dot (to the left or to the right) until you get to either a three digit or four digit number boldly imprinted on the tyre without any alphabet attached to it. Some tyres though, may not have the letters DOT printed on them.Just look around the VLGH ZDOO \RX GHÀQLWHO\ ZLOO VHH D WKUHH RU four digit number clearly imprinted on the tyre; that is the code designating the date of manufacture of the tyre. Since it is a code, you need to decode it to get the age of the tyre. So let’s decode it. If it is a three digit number, check to see if it has a triangle sign attached to it. A three digit number without a triangle means the tyre was manufactured LQ WKH V WKH ÀUVW WZR QXPEHUV IURP WKH left tell you the week in the year while the last number tells you the year in the ‘80s. For example, if you have the number 341 (without a triangle) it means 34th week of LV WKH ÀUVW WZR QXPEHUV IURP WKH left indicating the week while 1 is the last number indicating the year in the 80s) .If the three digit number has a triangle, it means the tyre was made in the 90s. So 341 with a triangle means the tyre was made in the 34th week in 1991. If it is a 4 digit number, it means the tyre was made any year from 2000. For example, a tyre with 2302 means WKH UG ZHHN RI WKH \HDU 7KH ÀUVW two numbers from the left indicate the week while the last two numbers indicate the year. Four digit numbers do not have triangle signs with them. From the date of manufacture you can now determine how old the tyre is, do a simple calculation on tyres made in the 80s or the 90s and see how old such tyres could be. Even if a tyre looks brand new don’t be deceived. Check the age AND I repeat, check the age. ,I SRVVLEOH ÀQG RXW IRU KRZ ORQJ LW KDV EHHQ left unused because the more unused a tyre is, the more unsafe the tyre becomes. Please note that you start calculating the age of tyre from the date it was manufactured and not from the date you bought it. Our next focus is the physical conditions RI \RXU W\UHV $IWHU \RX DUH VDWLVÀHG ZLWK WKH signs and age, check for cuts, wears (either at the edges or the centre), bulges, swells, cracks, and warp. This may be the time to do your press up (or is it press down) with the tyres. Any of these deformities could be D ZDUQLQJ VLJQDO WR VWD\ RͿ WKH W\UH Spare tyres could be a death trap if…Given two tyres of the same age, the one not in use (for a long time) is more dangerous than the one constantly in use. Surprised? Well that is the way it goes with tyres. For instance, if you bought two brand new tyres and kept one as spare and didn’t use it for say 12 months, the one in constant use is far safer than the one not in use. Why? When not in use, atmospheric gases have D PRUH GDPDJLQJ HͿHFW RQ W\UHV ZKHWKHU brand new or not) such gases harden unused tyres and make them brittle. When such tyres are eventually engaged, they could simply disintegrate and cause a crash. A tyre that is in use counteracts with the HͿHFW RI WKH DWPRVSKHULF JDVHV DV LW UROOV DQG ÁH[HV 6R LI \RX KDYH WR HQJDJH VSDUH tyres that you have not used for a long time, drastically reduce your speed and change to a better tyre as soon as you can. From this you can see that those who park their vehicles for a long time may need to change the tyres when they eventually engage the vehicle again. It doesn’t matter if you removed the tyres and stored them somewhere else DV ORQJ DV WKH\ DUH DͿHFWHG E\ DLU \RX FDQ be sure the damaging atmospheric damages will impact on them.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 24, 2022 • T H I S D AY

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER DECEMBER 24, 2022

MARKET PLACE with Omolabake Fasogbon... 08155131874

Mission Director, House on The Rock Church, Pastor Goke Coker (M) presenting items to beneﬁciaries of the Project Spread charity, an initiative of House on The Rock Church, held in Lagos...recently

L-R: Publisher, Consumer Assembly, Godwin Anyebe, Group Finance Director, MABISCO, Segun Matthew, Group CEO, Oracle Experience/MABISCO, Dr. Felix King and COO/ED, Oracle Experience, Andrew Eiremiokhae during the presentation of Consumers’ Assembly local content compliance company of the year award to MABISCO, (Biscuits Category) at the company’s head oﬃce in Lagos....recently

Nigerian Firm Enters India’s $250m Video Conferencing Market

ndigenous information technology company, New Waves Eco-Systems has extended its footprint to India’s $250 million video conferencing market. New Waves Eco-Systems in partnership with Indian leading tech firm, Infocareer, launched Konn3ct, Africa’s premier web conferencing and meeting solution in the Indian market. Founder and Director of Infocareer, Shri A. Chandrasekaran stated that the launch was part of the organisation’s 15th anniversary, adding that technology was evolving at the speed of light. He maintained that robust solutions are essential for or-

ganisations to remain relevant. Chandrasekaran said, “Konn3ct is a revolutionary product that will transform the tech space. The product has key features and advanced modules which are ingenious and will be appreciated by the international software industry. “The software aims to make virtual meetings and conferences more accessible and productive”. On his part, CEO of New Waves Eco-Systems, Nigeria, Femi Williams avowed to deliver necessary support and upgrades to make Konn3ct a preferred video conferencing and virtual meeting solution in the Indian market. “Nigeria and India have a lot in common in terms of growing

internet adoption and economic development. These and other variables have made collaboration a must between the two countries. We are happy to collaborate with Infocareer to bring this solution to a very demanding Indian market,” he said. I n d i a n v i d e o c o n f e re n c i n g market is projected to grow significantly during the next five years. Integration of video communication services and solutions with advanced, novel, and innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet of things, and cloudbased solutions are expected to drive market growth in the coming years.

New Horizons CEO Emerges Champion of Youth Empowerment Chief Executive Officer and founder of New Horizons Nigerian, Tim Akano has been awarded ‘Champion of Youth Empowerment’ at the Top Ten Magazine award. According to the award organisers, the initiative aimed to spotlight and celebrate individuals and organisations who have shown resilience and determination amid 2022 challenges to come out strong. Akano emerged winner in the category given his strides and contributions to the youth segment

across Africa. Commenting, Publisher of Top Ten magazine, Tony Iji described him as an icon of youth empowerment. “Talking of youths development in Africa, Akano readily comes to the mind. His impact among the youths and ensuring that the continent bridged ICT gap, to level up with developed countries is what has earned him the recognition”. Responding, Akano thanked the organisers for the award, adding that he is being motivated

to impact more lives: “I’m glad that our efforts are recognised out there and rewarded. More importantly, I am more fulfilled about the success of our mentees and this remains my biggest recognition. “The award is just a validation of our existence and impact. During COVID-19, we were able to come up with one African initiative, under which we mentored over 5000 youths from about 32 countries. This is my life and calling. I’m happy for the impact we have recorded along this line.”

Firm Bags Outstanding Engineering and Construction Award Still Earth Limited has been declared “Global Most Outstanding Engineering and Construction Company of the Year” at the Global Quality Day Award. According to the award organisers, World Quality Alliance, the award was in recognition of Still Earth’s disposition towards quality in the execution of contracts, which distinguishes it

from most of its peers. Commenting, Project Manager of Still Earth, Oladimeji Oseni stated that the organisation places premium on quality, being the bedrock of all engineering and construction works. “As a company with quality as a core value, we adopt a principled and uncompromising approach to our professional and value standards and qual-

ity assurance processes. This ensures that we consistently produce reliable products that meet the specifications of all our projects,” said Oseni. Also speaking, Corporate Communications ManDJHU RI WKH ÀUP /LO\ $GLPHIH thanked the organisers, while assuring of continued priority on quality. She said, “We are excited by the award. This will further spur us to continue to

invest in qualified talents and lead a workforce of trained individuals that will position us as an industry major player.” In her remark, Secretary of the award committee, Ifeoma Okeke explained that the award was part of activities to commemorate World Quality Day and reward excellence, while creating awareness on the importance of quality to health and economy.

Foundation Shines at SERAS CSR Award

he Biodun and Ibikunle Foundation has emerged WKH QRQ SURÀW organisation of the year at the 2022 Sustainability, Enterprise and Responsibility (SERAS) CSR Awards that held recently in Lagos. According to the SERAS organisers, the foundation became the preferred for the award category given the impact generated by its SeedInvest Acceleration Programme. Commenting, President of the Foundation, Oriyomi Adebare-Anthony stated, ´$V D QRQ SURÀW RUJDQLVDWLRQ working to help entrepreneurs increase their capacity, we are really glad that we won this award. This serves as a recognition of the work we are

doing and we are motivated to do more to ensure more Nigerian entrepreneurs are supported with needed asset grants to grow their businesses.” So far, the SeedInvest Acceleration Programme has supported over 100 Nigerian businesses with asset grants to enhance their output. The foundation also provides essential interventions in the areas of education and healthcare through its School Kit and Healthwize initiatives respectively. Now in its 16th edition, the SERAS CSR Award is recognised as a leading promoter of corporate social responsibility and sustainability in Africa. The initiative has contributed to boosting the public image and positive perceptions of corporations by promoting best practices emanating from them.

House on the Rock Extends Love to the Needy at Christmas The House on the Rock church has expressed love and support to no fewer than 30,000 persons in Lagos state. The act was part of the church’s ‘Project Spread’ initiative, held annually to identify with the needy during Christmas celebrations. The project held across three locations simultaneously in the state, with variety of staple foods distributed to over 30,000 that thronged the collection centres. Speaking on the project, Senior Pastor of House on the Rock Church, Paul Adefarasin stressed that the project aimed to identify with the needy and less privileged especially at Christmas. He said,”Project Spread is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of House on The Rock under the auspices of the Rock Foundation” Represented by African Mission of the church, Adegoke Coker, he stated

that the move was to compliment government’s HͿRUWV LQ DOOHYLDWLQJ KDUGship, urging the authority WR GRXEOH HͿRUWV DW LPproving living condition of Nigerians. He added that the Ministry also run other programmes that caters to the capacity and economic development of the needy. “For four years, we have consistently fed over 500 persons every sunday and we are glad doing this. Our Urban alternative service initiative which has been for 20 years has touched numerous lives both medically and economically.” +H HQMRLQHG EHQHÀFLDULHV to continue to intercede for Nigeria and the leaders, even as he expressed optimism in the country’s future. Commenting, one of the EHQHÀFLDULHV 6WHSKHQ )ULday thanked the giver, and pray for their enlargement. He said,”I hope to also give out to the needy someday.”

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER DECEMBER 24, 2022

PERSPECTIVE

Amnesty: Where We Are Coming From Walter Dadinson

he Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, a peace-building initiative by President Umar Yar ’Adua heralded hope upon proclamation. For a nation already on the cliff, especially on the economic front, owing to militancy, it presented a glimer of hope. With the key mandate of disarmament, training and reintegration, PAP was programmed to succeed. With the size of the mandate, funding has been critical to the success of the scheme and this wasn’t lost on the federal government. Since 2009, budgetary annual allocations have been provided to ensure that all components of the programme are realised. Past administrators of PAP worked within resources available to them to achieve the noble objectives of the scheme. Given that up until recently, the number of agitators continued to increase from the original 30,000, the financial obligations of the programme grew as well. Following the current efforts at eliminating all forms of inconsistencies in PAP’s data base, questions are being raised regarding the management of resources at PAP before now. Such puzzles were informed by the need for the public to know where PAP is coming from and the direction it is headed. Before now, stakeholders apart from expressing concerns about the management of the scheme’s resources, they also made a case for transparency. For instance, the House of Representatives, last year, said the agency was “grossly mismanaged.” The House said this when it quizzed the then Interim administrator, Col Dixon over N3.7bn paid to ex-agitators. House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts had said that the Presidential Amnesty has been grossly mismanaged. The committee made the allegation following alleged inability of the interim administration to account for monies paid to ex-agitators and contractors. In a session with the officials of the programme arising from the audit query from the auditor general of the federation, the chairman of the committee, Hon. Wole Oke said the office could not account for the monies expended. Taking three out of the 21 audit queries, Oke said that over N3.9 billion was reportedly expended by the Agency without proper documents to back up the expenditures. The committee said that the Programme paid over N3.7bn for Ex-agitators and that the payments violated e-payment policy of the Federal Government as they were made into a single account instead of the individual beneficiaries accounts. The Audit query had also accused the office of paying N136 million to two different contractors without proper rendition of accounts of the beneficiaries. The committee further accused the programme of approving the sum of N79m to 11 individual as Cash advancement without retirement of the same. In his response, Dikio pleaded for more time to organize himself for the

Ndiomu answers, saying he was new to the office. But the Committee frowned at the response, saying that government was a continuum, urging him to take responsibility. The table later turned to the Director, Finance and Accounts, DFA, Mr Ityohume Isaac, who said the N3.7 billion was paid to Camp Leaders of the former agitators who in turn paid to those under them. He added that not all the former agitators were on the Bank Verification Number, BVN of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. However, the Committee Chairman ruled that the Agency should provide the Committee relevant documents on the expenditures detailing the number of the beneficiaries, amount involved, their addresses and the names of the hotels used which they claimed issued them receipts The Committee also ruled that the details of the beneficiaries of the programme should be published in three different national dailies,

The data management system inherited by the new administration was fraught with all kinds distortions. Persons other than genuine ex-agitators are listed as beneficiaries under a supposed‘impacted communities’rationale that was never properly articulated nor documented

adding that the relevant documents should also be subjected to forensic investigation. The House sitting, which was widely reported last year, apart from raising questions on how PAP was being managed at the time, also gave rise to doubt on the possibility of realising the scheme’s mandate. Just recently, Niger Delta Integrity Group ,NDIG, while making a case for accountability at PAP, said any effort at ensuring same should be supported. Dr. Boma Horsfall, NDIG’s Convener, in a statement to that effect, had urged Dikkio to rally round the new Interim Coordinator of PAP, retired Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu and other stakeholders to fast-track moves at achieving the mandate of PAP, and move the entire Niger Delta region forward. He said: “The NDIG, a leading voice in the Niger Delta, thus, urges Dikio to desist from reeling out false figures to the media, and instead rally round Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (rtd) and other stakeholdera to fast-track achieving the mandate of the PAP, and move the entire Niger Delta region forward. “Therefore, for purpose of clarity and emphasis, it is worthy to note that: A debt liability of 49,995,480,634.49 representing monies for work done was outstanding. This quoted figure is the debt for the Reintegration Department Only. “The Reintegration department of the PAP is the core driver of the PAP operations and directly oversees all matters associated with the management of Programme beneficiaries. “The monthly subvention to the PAP stands at N5.4bn. Therefore, on his resumption as Interim Administrator, Ndiomu

was to expect monthly allocations of four months to draw from i.e., September to December 2022 totaling N21.6bn. “The Formal Education segment had been over-subscribed in terms of award of scholarships without due recourse to budgetary provisions. Between January 2022-August 2022 a total number of 1,662 persons were deployed to universities onshore (Mostly privately-owned institutions) this was for the 2021/2022 academic year. “Also, between August 2021 and August 2022, fifty-three (53) persons were awarded foreign scholarships. The criteria for selection and eventual award of scholarships did not follow any laid down procedure. It was observed that children and wards of political powerbrokers, and other classes of influential persons formed the bulk of those who enjoyed the privilege. A scholarship programme of this kind is designed and meant for the indigent only. “None of the 1,717 persons awarded scholarship and subsequently deployed to schools underwent any form of pre-deployment orientation of physical screening beyond the digital selection process conducted via the PAP web portal. Deployed persons were not made to sign a student sponsorship charter or code of conduct. “The repercussion of this omission has resulted in the PAP having to deal with a plethora of cases of student indiscipline and character deficit. As a result of the oversubscribed scholarship program, the debt liability required to offset all expenses associated with the more than 3,000 sponsored persons in schools (onshore and offshore) for just October-December 2022 is N5,502633,219.21. “The Train, Employ & Mentor (TEM) scheme may have been a smart model on paper however, it did not consider realities on ground. The tuition fee component of the various contracts awarded under the TEM scheme were evidently overpriced and didn’t emanate from any standard benchmarking markers or yardstick. “This realization is what necessitated my directing the renegotiation of all the TEM contracts which was a very successful exercise that saw the PAP save approximately 1.3 billion naira. “The ‘Employ’ component of the TEM model was faulty because a key feature of the ‘Employment’ offer was tied to a specific period i.e., 30 months and only available to 50% of the total number of delegates trained. Furthermore, the devasting effects of the flooding that ravaged some core states of the Niger Delta between September and October 2022, saw the destruction of farmlands and factory machineries.” On the supposed 7.5 billion Naira “special supplementary fund to engage and train identified participants who had been involved in illegal refining”, the NDIG’s Convener said the supposed fund is yet to be recorded as a received inflow into the PAP financial accounts i.e. it never came. “The data management system inherited by the new administration was fraught with all kinds distortions. Persons other than genuine ex-agitators are listed as beneficiaries under a supposed ‘impacted communities’ rationale that was never properly articulated nor documented,” said NDIG. ––Dadinson, an activist and environmentalist, writes from Port Harcourt

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MISSILE

Shehu Sani on Killings in Southern Kaduna “No part of Kaduna is spared of terrorist attacks, violence, and kidnappings. However, the killings in Southern Kaduna by terrorists are systemic. The people of that part of the state are also institutionally treated like the blacks under apartheid South Africa” –A former federal lawmaker, Shehu Sani, lamenting the unending killings in Southern Kaduna.

MATTHEW HASSAN KUKAH GUEST COLUMNIST

Yearning for One Nation Bound in Freedom, Peace and Unity

oday, most Nigerians have become cynical about conferences, seminars, committees, commissions and so on, because it is generally perceived that these initiatives are largely a distraction from the main problems of our dear country. There are two classes of respondents to these events. The first are those who believe that governments do not have the political will to follow through with recommendations no matter how laudable they are because often, they present inconvenient truths that are not politically rewarding at the time. Then there are those who believe that these initiatives are empty of content and government often simply wants to be seen doing something or that they want to score political points. I can speak rather authoritatively on this because I have served in about five Presidential initiatives and one initiative undertaken by the Northern governors nearly 10 years ago since our return to Democracy. In 2015 or 16, the Northern governors then created the impression that they wanted to deal with the problems of Boko Haram. In each of these cases, members of the committee work, hand in a report which is received in Government Houses amidst a rainbow of klieg lights and media bash. They shake hands, thank and smile with the members and everyone goes home to await the fire next time. We can say the same thing about our endless national and international conferences, conversations, seminars about dialogue and peace. The rituals continue and there is a sense in which we can say Nigeria is a country governed by conferences and seminars. Despite my seeming cynicism, I remain optimistic that these diagnostic initiatives are very important. For example, a good number of the issues being discussed in INEC today were debated and discussed at the Political Reform Conference in which I had the honour of being the Secretary and the Justice Uwais Committee on Electoral Reforms set up by the late President Yar’adua who had the sense of decency and honesty to admit that the elections that he won were flawed and he decided to do something about them by setting up the Committee. It was significant that your son, Professor Attahiru Jega was a member of that committee and he turned up as the Chairman of INEC. He laid a good foundation which our brother Professor Mahmud is working on today. So, we should not give up. At some point, serious minded people can and will dig up these reports and make use of them. For now, my hope is that even within the shortest time available to us that His Excellency can do something no matter how small so that others can build on it for the future. You have chosen the theme of Diversity, a theme that I am very interested in because without it, we have no future as a country. Our inability to manage our diversity has accounted for the tragedy that we find ourselves in today as a country. Rather than facing some terrible choices that the political class has made in managing our differences, we have ended up with the wrong diagnosis. These wrong diagnoses have led us to the popularization of ill-conceived ideas to which we now ascribe our differences and problems. For example, it is common to hear Nigerians say that Religion has become a problem for our country. We follow through with this falsehood by suggesting that the problems of Nigeria centre around an inherent conflict between Christians and Muslims. At the elite levels, we also say that there are problems between northerners and southerners.

Sir Ahmadu Bello At another level, we hear that there are problems between minorities and majorities. At another level, we say that ethnicity is what is killing our nation and so on. In my view, these ideas may be popular but they are more a symptom than a disease as I will illustrate. You are welcome to disagree with me and that is fine because it will expand my own knowledge. Indeed, it is the lack of debate around these issues that has compounded our problems as I will show. First, if we say that there are problems between Christians and Muslim, what exactly are the problems and how are we going to resolve them? Will these problems be resolved by Christians converting to Islam or vice versa? I once received a gift of a rather provocative book from a friend of mine titled, A World Without Islam. I recall my friend calling me on the phone with a lot of excitement and saying, I have just read a book which I know you will like and so I bought a copy for you. I was quite intrigued about the contents of the book and wondered who could be crazy to write a book like this. However, the book, based on good scholarship simply concluded that if Islam or Muslims vanished from the world, there will still be no peace because communities or nations will simply go back to the wars they were fighting before Islam emerged. We can come to the same conclusion with a book titled, A World Without Christianity! And by the way, my friend who gave me this book is a northern Muslim! I am arguing that we must find other reasons to explain the deep hatred in our society today and I want to argue that it is tied to other sources not what has become popular today. The Kano civil war of 1984 was fought because the Caliph of Sokoto, not the Pope installed a new Emir. When Ife fought Modakeke over the years, how many Fulanis or Ijaws fought with either side? When the people of Umuleri and Aguleri in Anambra fought and killed themselves, how many Hausas or Kanuris were there? The people of Somalia have only one single ethnic group and they speak one language, but who wants to go and live in Somali today? We must therefore find other reasons for conflict in our society. We must look elsewhere if we are really and truly looking for how to build a good society and how to live in

peace with one another. So, our hatred and violence against one another does not have much to do with Religion, Ethnicity or even region. It has to do with how politicians handle identities, how they manage the concepts of fairness and justice. So, you might ask, what is the source of our conflicts in Nigeria? I do not have the answers but I wish to refer to a theory in the Sociology of violence advanced by an American scholar called, the theory of relative deprivation by a man called, Ted Gurr. In his view, first of all, deprivation is relative, that is, our perception of what we do not have is often relative to our situation or conditions. Some communities might be feeling deprived because they do not have roads, others because they have no water, no jobs, or they have no schools or that they have no representation at the highest levels of government. Where there is a threshold of deprivation, people might react violently if they feel that the reason why they do not have is because others have. Thus, Christians have been upset by the Buhari administration because of the skewed nature of his appointments and how these appointments are perceived to have favoured Northern Muslims. The President and his team say, but other Christian leaders have done the same. You may not agree, but that is not the issue. The issue is what the aggrieved persons feel at a critical point. The point is that when people feel that others are better than them, they get jealous and may resort to violence to resolve their discontentment. The challenge therefore is not that people are angry or are tempted to violence, but the reasons are, who left the door of justice open for injustice to enter? Why, when and how did injustice creep in? Today, northern Nigerians romanticize the past by evoking the spirit of the Sardauna of Sokoto and we all create the impression that we all was well. Mention is made of how people like Audu Buba, Sunday Awoniyi, Jolly Tanko Yusuf and others were incorporated into power. The past was not perfect but at that time, people felt a sense of belonging. Today, with the creation of states which balkanized the north, how do people feel? We cannot answer these questions if we do not create the space to answer one another. I grew up watching how our grandmother dealt with us. If a child stumbled and fell on the ground and started crying, our grandmother will ask what happened. May be the child fell down through his or her carelessness. She will clean your tears while asking, what happened? If the child cannot speak, he or she could point to the ground suggesting that it is the ground that made him or her fall. The child will do this by pointing at the ground. Grandmother will use her hand to hit the ground saying Shege, why did you make my Hassan fall? The victim will feel relieved and we will all return to the field of play. Your Excellency, I want to thank you for giving me a platform to raise some issues today, those issues that as a Christian and a northerner, I feel have made me fall to the ground. I will like you not to judge or dismiss what I am saying. I am not a young man and I am also a Christian leader and an elder statesman. I believe that there is an urgent need for us to talk, and talk in a way that gets us results in the short, medium and long terms for a prosperous Nigeria. You may not resolve the issues now, but at least as a prominent politician, I will want you to accept that without talking and listening to one another, things will get progressively worse for our region and country. Here, I will list

only five Questions and hope that through them we can begin to plan for a more harmonious future in our country and get beyond the politics of religion, region, social class and ethnicity. If we can address these issues, I can assure you, Nigeria will be on its way to achieving national cohesion. We can add to the list from both sides so that over time, generations will do their bit and pass on to the other generation. The first point I want us to look at is our common citizenship. Today, Nigerians speak of themselves as Muslims and Christians, Northerners and Southerners not as citizens. This is very unfortunate because it only feeds into and creates deeper fault lines that separate us. A study undertaken by a good friend of mine, the late Professor Rauf Al-Mustapha who taught here in Bayero University observed clear perceived grievances and feeling of being outsiders in Kano by certain groups based on ethnicity or denomination despite being Muslim. Such groups include women, youth, southerners and groups like Shiites and sub groups that are treated as outsiders within Islam. How do we close the gap and focus not on our religious faithfulness to God and our common citizenship? We are living in one country, held together by a Constitution which most people are not happy with but it is what we have. Despite its imperfections, our Constitution has enough provisions to ensure national cohesion. Second, Christians in Northern Nigeria are under severe stress and this has been so from the beginning. It is often not easy for those who are in power and have privileges to understand how the perceived victims feel. Christians do not feel a sense of belonging despite their enormous contribution in the areas of Business, Education and so on. Whether this is true or false is not the issue, it is that this is how they feel. Beyond Kano, Christians feel merely tolerated and their freedoms compromised. Perhaps you can say this language is strong or, as my critics sometimes say, Bishop Kukah you are being divisive. My job is to say how I feel not how you think I should feel. Often, those in the minorities in given situations of injustice, whether they are Women or Youth, Christians or Muslims outside their comfort zones are often accused of being ungrateful and that they do not appreciate the generosity of their hosts. But, we are in one country, given out to us by Lord Lugard and today, no one should be treated as a stranger anywhere nor should anyone claim to be host to anyone. It is the duty of government to make the laws that guarantee that we all obey such laws. For example, how do we explain the fact that Churches are seen but not accepted as part of our heritage in our cities? Why is burning of Churches tolerated? Why and how can a citizen taken the life of another on the grounds of religion and nothing happens? How is it that across the northern states, you can find land to build a Restaurant, a Hotel, a Cinema House and so on with no problem, but there is no land to build a Church? Governments in the North for example, often say that Christians should seek written permission from those around where they want to build a Church. •This paper was presented by Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah at the conference on Harnessing Nigeria’s Religious Diversity for Sustainable Peace and National Development, held in Kano on December 1, 2022. NOTE: Read full article online on www.thisdaylive.com

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