18082017 - Restrucrure Nigeria before 2019 polls - EMINENT NIGERIANS

TSA: FG 

appoints 2 firms 

to audit banks' 

remittances 

Strange 

disease 

kills 50 

in Kogi 

16 34 

14-yr-old girl 

deflowered by brother, 

impregnated by father 

6 

** ** 

VOL. 25: NO. 63358 FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 

Restructure Nigeria before 

2019 polls — EMINENT NIGERIANS 

•Only restructuring can save Nigeria — Adebanjo, 

Nwodo, Akinrinade, Maku, Ann-Kio Briggs, others... 

•Obasanjo attacks NASS members again 

COLLOQUIUM 

From left: Mr. Yinka Odunmakin, Moderator; Dr. Amos Akingba, President/CEO, Investment and Management Consulting 

Associates; Chief Ayo Adebanjo; Ms Ann-Kio Briggs, Spokesperson for Ijaw Republican Assembly; Prof. Banji Akintoye, Lead 

Speaker; Mr. Olabanji Oladapo, Chairman, Island Club; Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, former Governor of Ondo State; General Alani 

Akinrinade; Mr. Labaran Maku, former Minister of Information and Prof. Chigozie Ogbu, former Deputy Governor of Ebonyi 

State at the Island Club Colloquium on Restructuring Challenges, implications and the way forward, held at Island Club, Lagos, 

yesterday. PHOTO: AKEEM SALAU. 

Hate speech peddlers'll be 

treated as terrorists — OSINBAJO 

STRIKE: FG, 

ASUU meeting 

ends in deadlock 

COLUMNISTS: 

4 

OWEI LAKEMFA 

31 

CONVERSATIONS WITH AZU 

INEC sets up 

20-man c'ttee 

on e-voting 

10 

Buhari lauds 

govs, as Saraki, 

Dogara visit 

again in London 4 

36 

4 

8 

SEE 

INSIDE 

By Dapo Akinrefon 

& Kelechuckwu 

Iruoma 

L eminent AGOS—SOME 

Nigerians, 

i n c l u d i n g 

representatives of 

Afenifere and Ohanaeze 

converged in Lagos, 

yesterday, with a call for 

restructuring of the 

country before the 2019 

general elections. 

The gathering at a 

colloquium sponsored by 

one of the country’s 

leading social groups, 

Island Club, affirmed that 

restructuring remains the 

only panacea to the 

nationality problem facing 

the country. 

Among those at the 

Continues on page 5 

Naira 

appreciates 

to N368/$ in 

parallel 

market 

Mr & Mrs 

5

2 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 — 3

4—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 

:Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058 

VISIT: President Muhammadu Buhari (middle) receives Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki (left) 

and Speaker of House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, during a visit to the President at Abuja 

House, London, yesterday. 

FG declares hate speech as terrorism 

•Injustice, insecurity fuel agitations —CJN 

•We don’t want threats but action —Afenifere 

•Govt’s declaration, a welcome devt —Ohanaeze 

By Emeka Mamah, 

Dapo Akinrefon, 

Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru & 

Stephanie Afer 

ABUJA—THE Federal 

Government, yesterday, 

drew the line on hate speech 

in the country, saying the 

offence would now be seen 

as terrorism. 

Acting President, Prof, 

Yemi Osinbajo, who made 

the declaration at the 

security summit for members 

of National Economic 

Council, NEC, at the 

Presidential Villa, Abuja, 

said technology and internet 

had amplified the efforts and 

impact of terrorists, warmongers, 

secessionists and 

peddlers of hate speech. 

Osinbajo spoke as Chief 

Justice of Nigeria, CJN, 

Justice Walter Onnoghen, 

said the issue of agitations 

in the country would die 

down, if there was justice and 

security for every section of 

the country. 

His declaration drew 

mixed reactions from 

stakeholders. While 

Afenifere urged action and 

not mere rhetorics, 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo saw it as 

a welcome development, 

which would help pull the 

country together. 

The Acting President said: 

“I have spoken at a number 

of fora about how technology 

and internet have altered the 

nature of conflicts and war 

in contemporary times, 

enabling and amplifying the 

efforts and impacts of 

terrorists, war-mongers, 

secessionists and paddlers of 

hate speech. 

“This is bad but the 

question we should be 

asking ourselves as 

governors, especially as chief 

security officers in our states 

or law enforcement agents, 

is: how can we take 

advantage of these same 

tools and technology to stay 

permanently ahead of those 

who seek to use them to 

create mischief and cause 

terror, fear and bloodshed? 

“These are the 

conversations that we must 

have and at the highest level 

of government. 

"Please permit me to 

comment on hate speech. 

The Federal Government 

has drown a line on hate 

speech. Hate speech is a 

specie of terrorism. As it is 

defined popularly, it is the 

unlawful use of violence or 

intimidation against 

individuals or groups, 

especially for political aims. 

“The law on hate speech, 

Terrorism Act 2011, defines 

hate speech, among other 

definitions, as an act 

deliberately done with 

malice and which may 

seriously harm or damage a 

country or seriously 

intimidate a population. 

“The intimidation of a 

population by words, speech 

is an act of terrorism and this 

government intends to take 

this matter seriously. As I 

have said, we have drawn a 

line against hate speech, it 

will not be tolerated, it will 

be taken as an act of terrorism 

and all of the consequences 

will follow. 

Tasks business, 

political religious 

leaders 

“I call on business, 

political and religious 

leaders, whatever your 

political leanings or religion 

or tribe or faith, to condemn 

in the strongest possible 

terms at all times hate speech 

that promotes violence 

against an individual or a 

group, especially when 

such speech comes from 

people of your own faith, 

tribe or group. Your silence 

in such situation can only be 

seen as an endorsement." 

Justice, security 'll 

reduce agitations 

Speaking at the summit, 

Chief Justice of Nigeria, 

Justice Walter Onnoghen, 

said with justice and security, 

the issue of agitations will 

drastically reduce in the 

polity. 

He said: “I want to tell you 

also that though we also say 

that there are two sides to a 

coin, in reality there are three 

sides to a coin. In our 

condition, in terms of where 

we find ourselves today, it is 

my personal view that 

insecurity, corruption and 

impunity are the three sides 

of the same coin which ought 

to be taken together 

holistically if we are to move 

the country forward. 

“I want us to think about 

that and to carry this through. 

We need the support of 

Nigerians, particularly the 

Nigerian on the street who 

feels deprived one way or the 

other, rightly or wrongly." 

We don’t want threats 

but action 

—Afenifere 

Reacting, Afenifere’s 

National Publicity Secretary, 

Mr Yinka Odumakin, said it 

was time for the Federal 

Government to take action 

against those making hate 

speech. 

Odumakin said: “That is 

not a new line, he has been 

threatening but nobody has 

been moved against. There 

have been litany of hate 

speech; there have been 

recorded songs and videos 

all over the place. Is it when 

the country has been burned 

down that he would move 

against them? We do not want 

any threat anymore; we want 

to see action against those 

making hate speeches.” 

Govt’s declaration, a 

welcome devt 

—Ohanaeze 

In its reaction, Ohanaeze 

Ndigbo welcomed the 

declaration by the Acting 

President, saying it would 

help pull the country 

together. 

President General of 

Ohanaeze, Chief Nnia 

Nwodo, who spoke in a 

telephone interview with 

Vanguard, said he was 

waiting for a bill sponsored 

by the Minister of Interior to 

the National Assembly, 

specifying what amounted to 

hate speech and how 

offenders would be 

punished. 

Buhari lauds govs, 

as Saraki, Dogara 

visit again in London 

By Henry Umoru 

ABUJA 

—PRESI 

DENT Muhammadu 

Buhari has praised the 36 

state governors for holding 

the country together in his 

absence. 

This came on a day the 

President received Senate 

President, Dr Bukola 

Saraki, and Speaker of the 

House of Representatives, 

Yakubu Dogara, in London. 

He also lauded the governors 

for cooperating with 

the Acting President, Prof. 

Yemi Osinbajo, and urged 

them to continue to put their 

faith in his leadership 

Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ 

Forum, NGF, and 

governor of Zamfara State, 

Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari 

Abubakar, who disclosed 

this to newsmen while 

briefing on governors’ visit 

to the President in London 

last month, said the visit by 

the governors formed what 

many termed a first-hand 

assessment of the President’s 

state of health, and 

also a platform to deliver the 

governors’ goodwill message 

to PMB. 

Six governors, including 

those of Zamfara, Akwa 

Ibom, Oyo, Kano, Benue 

and Zamfara states, had on 

July 26 visited the President 

in London to deliver a 

goodwill message on behalf 

of their colleagues. 

In a statement by the 

Head, Media & Public Affairs, 

NGF, Abulrazque B. 

Barkindo, chairman of the 

Nigeria Governors Forum, 

described President Buhari 

as being “in a very good 

health,” while assuring 

them that he delivered the 

forum’s message of goodwill 

to the President in response 

to which President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

thanked the governors for 

“holding Nigeria together 

in his absence.” 

The statement read: “ 

This would be the first time 

anyone visiting the President 

is delivering any word 

from him or revealing anything 

that they discussed 

with President Muhammadu 

Buhari who is on his 

103rd day out of the country. 

“Although President 

Buhari is reported to have 

felt fit enough to return and 

continue his duties of presiding 

over the affairs of the 

country, it wouldn’t be until 

his doctors give him the 

nod." 

Buhari’s health has 

improved tremendously, 

says Dogara 

Tweeting via his verified 

official Twitter handle 

@Yakubdogara, the Speaker 

said he was glad to see 

that the President’s health 

status had greatly improved. 

He also urged Nigerians 

to continue to pray and offer 

thanks for answered 

prayers and for the safe return 

of the President. 

Strike: FG, ASUU meeting ends in 

deadlock 

By Henry Umoru, 

Dayo Adesulu, Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru, & 

Joseph Erunke 

ABUJA— THE meeting 

held between the Federal 

Government and Academic 

Staff Union of Universities, 

ASUU, yesterday, 

to resolve the ongoing 

strike embarked upon the 

union ended in a deadlock. 

Both parties, however, 

agreed to reconvene within 

a week to continue the negotiations. 

While Minister of Labour 

and Employment, Senator 

Chris Ngige, and his counterpart 

in Education, 

Adamu Adamu, represented 

the Federal Government, 

ASUU president, 

Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, 

led the union’s team. 

Vanguard investigation 

revealed that the government 

made some offers 

during the less than one 

hour meeting, which both 

sides refused to disclose to 

the media. 

It was learned that the 

offers were, however, acceptable 

to the union leaders. 

Briefing newsmen shortly 

*Buhari’s health has improved 

tremendously, says Dogara 

•We'll get back to govt within a week 

— ASUU President 

•ASUU'll call off strike next week, we'll release 

N53bn — FG 

after the meeting, both sides 

said there was tremendous 

progress, following offers 

made by government and 

position of the union on the 

new offers. 

But both the representatives 

of government and 

ASUU refused to disclose 

the offers just as ASUU 

President said he was taking 

the deliberations and 

offers by government to 

members, with a view to 

responding appropriately 

to them within one week. 

Ngige said: “The meeting, 

as you can see, was not 

very long and we touched 

on various areas of the dispute. 

The major issue is 

for us to see that the strike 

is called off so that our children 

can go back to school 

and ASUU graciously said 

they would come back to us 

on a date within the next 

one week.” 

On his part, ASUU president, 

Prof. Ogunyemi, said: 

“Well, like the Honourable 

Minister said, there were 

some offers by government 

and we have taken copious 

notes of their offers but we 

have to get back to our 

members, lay all the information 

available to them 

first to consider and advise 

us. 

"So, based on their advice, 

based on their positions, we 

will come back to government, 

with a view to getting 

responses.” 

ASUU'll call off 

strike next week, 

we'll release 

N53bn — FG 

Meanwhile, Minister of 

Education, Adamu Adamu, 

said yesterday, that the ongoing 

strike by ASUU 

would be called off next 

week, adding that N53 billion 

would be released to 

the union. 

Speaking before the Senate 

Committee on Tertiary 

Institutions and 

TETFUND, led by Senator 

Jibrin Barau APC, Kano 

North, the Minister disclosed 

that the executive 

arm of government had 

commenced plans to ensure 

that it honoured the agreement 

with ASUU.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, 

AUGUST 18, 2017—5 

POCKET CARTOON 

From Left: Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas; Chief of 

Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai; National Security Adviser, retired Brig.- 

Gen Babagana Monguno; Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum/Governor 

of Zamfara, Abdullaziz Yari; Chief of Staff, Alhaji Abba Kyari and Acting 

President, Yemi Osinbajo, during Special National Economic Council (NEC) 

Security Retreat at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN. 

Restructure Nigeria before 2019 

polls — EMINENT NIGERIANS 

Continues from page 1 

gathering, yesterday, 

were former Chief of 

Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Alani 

Akinrinade (retd); 

Afenifere Chieftains, 

Chief Ayo Adebanjo and 

Yinka Odumakin; 

immediate past governor 

of Ondo State, Dr 

Olusegun Mimiko; former 

Minister of Information, 

Mr Labaran Maku; 

former deputy governor of 

Ebonyi State, Prof. 

Chigozie Ogbu, who 

represented President- 

General of Ohaneze, Dr. 

John Nwodo; Niger Delta 

activist, Ann-Kio Briggs; 

and notable historian and 

writer, Prof. Adebanji 

Akintoye, who was lead 

discussant. 

They spoke at a 

colloquium hosted by 

Island Club which had 

the 

theme: 

“Restructuring: 

Challenges, implications 

and the Way forward.” 

They spoke in response to 

the lead paper presented 

by Prof. Akintoye. 

Presenting his paper 

yesterday, Akintoye said: 

“Virtually my audience 

today are highly 

respected citizens of our 

country, and have 

probably said or written 

some things about the 

reason the Nigerian 

federation, as it is today, 

needs to be restructured 

urgently. 

Nigeria, a country of 

many nations 

—Akintoye 

“Our country is not one 

nation. It is a country of 

very many nations, some 

of which rank among the 

largest in the world. The 

accumulated wisdom of 

the human race has 

established that a country 

that is made up in this 

way, the best structure is 

a federation and not the 

unitary system that it has 

tacitly operated. 

“Another reason we need 

to restructure the 

Nigerian federation is 

what we may call the 

need for productivity. 

Productivity demands 

IT'S UP TO YOU 

BY AYO ADIO - 08104802192 

Until we come to the realization that the fact that 

we come from the same village, or attend the same 

schools does not mean we are running the same 

race in life, we will be subjecting ourselves to undue 

pressures. It's up to you. 

TAKE HEART — Ella Randle 

“Don’t tell people your dream, show them.” 

START by drawing a picture of the idea state 

where you want to be, and whenever there is a 

lock jam, you should ask yourself why? Could it be 

fear of handling a bigger future, a fear of change, 

or maybe guilt, feeling that you are undeserving of 

achieving success. Most of our belief system is 

formed in the teenage formative years and if we do 

not correct erroneous beliefs that keep telling us we 

are not good enough, no matter how hard we try, 

we will subconsciously try to sabotage every effort 

towards progress. 

SAYINGS OF OUR PEOPLE 

A man who wishes to be buried with 10 

goats, should provide five before he dies. 

that in a healthy 

federation, each 

federating unit shall 

control its God-given 

resources for the good of 

the people. 

“We have allowed overcentralization 

to do 

almost irreversible 

damage to the country. 

But there are enough 

citizens, who will not give 

up and more people are 

showing their hands. In 

this growing heat, control 

of everything by a federal 

authority is beginning to 

look unreasonable to 

more Nigerians. 

“The economic realities 

are thus wading into the 

struggle; it needs to be 

recognised by Nigerians 

that the situation is now 

seriously desperate and 

that there is not much 

time left for Nigeria to 

mend its ways, revive its 

productivity, calm its 

disenchanted youths and 

go on to resume the 

journey to prosperity,” the 

notable historian said. 

“Restructuring has 

become inescapable 

among Nigerians. The 

struggle for a rational 

federal structure has been 

a major concern since we 

were young men and 

women,” he said, 

affirming that Nigeria 

needs to restructure due 

to the "harsh affects of the 

federal structure of 

Nigeria.” 

Responding to criticisms 

that restructuring is a 

confused and confusing 

idea, he said: “Their 

strategy is clever but not 

clever enough. We want 

a federalism that is 

widely acceptable. We 

have to embrace 

restructuring for the sake 

of the masses. 

"Best structure is 

federalism whereby each 

region should be a federal 

unit which would control 

and develop its own 

resources for the good of 

its people thereby, 

spreading wealth to its 

people. This is the only 

solution to our nationality 

problem. 

“The structure we 

operated in 1963 

supported productivity. 

Each region had its 

constitution and 

controlled its resources." 

He said the Federal 

Government had become 

inefficient and corrupt 

from the revenue of oil in 

the Niger Delta, noting 

further that the 

abandonment of export 

products that was helping 

Nigeria has become a 

problem. 

He said: “The youths in 

the South East, Niger 

Delta, and South West are 

telling us that they do not 

want to be part of Nigeria 

anymore. It is under this 

that the cry for 

restructuring is growing 

louder." 

It's not about North 

against South — Mimiko 

Following his 

presentation, Mimiko 

said: “Restructuring is not 

about the North against 

the South. Restructuring 

is decentralizing power to 

make way for distribution 

and consuming 

arrangement so that every 

federating unit can 

increase its fiscal 

resources for 

development.” 

He noted that any 

country that cannot 

protect or boast of security 

for its citizens and property 

is not worth to be called a 

country. “We need to have 

state and local police to 

protect the lives of citizens 

and property. Let the states 

control their resources. We 

must restructure.” 

Restructure now 

— Adebanjo, Maku 

On his part, Afenifere 

leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo 

advocated a restructuring 

that would allow each 

region of the country to 

have a distinct Constitution 

to reflect the autonomy and 

differences among the 

regional units. 

He said: “Nigeria is 

running a unitary system 

of government; you cannot 

run Nigeria as a military 

system of government 

considering the ethnic 

groups. We have passed 

that stage. 

“Don’t let anybody tell 

you lies, the word 

restructuring is not a 

strange or new word. All 

we are fighting for today 

dated back to 1954.” 

Noting the role of the 

military in dismantling the 

autonomy of the various 

regions, he said: “It was the 

military that destructured 

Nigeria. Awolowo fought to 

have an arrangement that 

ensured a true federal 

system, he never went to 

the Federal Government to 

ask for subsidy. Each region 

had its constitution. 

Western Region had its 

Agent-General in Britain. 

Regions built their own 

universities. Obasanjo 

federalised the 

universities,” he said. 

“Nigeria is running a 

unitary system of 

government; you cannot 

run Nigeria as a unitary 

system of government 

considering the ethnic 

groups. We have passed 

that stage. 

“Let us restructure now, 

without it, there would be 

no Nigeria. It must be now, 

not in 2019,” he added. 

In his remarks, Mr. Maku 

said: “Nigeria is in need of 

restructuring. Nigeria 

offers Africa and Africans a 

great hope if we can reform 

the structure and its internal 

powers. The majority of us 

believe that restructuring 

will make Nigeria a great 

country. These kinds of 

debates are needed to 

ensure that restructuring 

works. 

Restructure before 

2019— Ann-Kio Briggs 

A Niger Delta activist, 

Ann-Kio Briggs, described 

Nigeria as a fast-moving 

train without brake, saying 

restructuring is the only 

thing that would allow for 

controlled development of 

the country. 

She said: “We are still 

going on that train handed 

over to us by the British and 

we will soon crash. In 

order not to crash, we need 

to restructure. All regions 

must come together and 

agree on restructuring and 

everybody must say what 

restructuring means to 

them, and we must agree 

on restructuring before 

2019 election.” 

“There are 419 local 

government areas in the 

North and 365 local 

governments in the South 

and they are getting more 

than the people producing 

oil in the country. Niger 

Delta is producing more 

and getting less. 

“We must have a new 

Constitution, or we can use 

the 1963 constitution and 

work on it. We can have a 

new Constitution that will 

take care of these injustices 

like the issue of Fulani 

herdsmen and religion. We 

must have political and 

economic restructuring. If 

we cannot restructure, we 

will call the regions 

together to call for a 

referendum,” she said. 

In his contribution, 

former Deputy Governor of 

Ebonyi State, Prof. Ogbu, 

who represented the 

Ohaneze President- 

General, Dr. Nwodo said 

that “the best form of 

government for a country 

like ours is a federation.” 

He said restructuring 

could be done by amending 

the 1999 constitution or by 

creating a new constitution, 

noting that restructuring 

does not mean 

disintegration of Nigeria 

but making Nigeria a 

federation. 

“Restructuring is 

changing the unitary 

system of government that 

the military handed to us 

to a federal system of 

government to ensure 

security.” 

Gen. Akinrinade, while 

commending Island Club 

for organising the 

colloquium, said he would 

refrain from speaking on 

restructuring, nevertheless, 

condemned the quit notice 

issued by Northern youths 

to the Igbo and the one 

issued by Niger Delta 

youths to northerners to exit 

the Niger Delta. 

“Things are getting 

ominously dangerous for 

the country,” the retired 

general said. 

Naira Watch 

Naira appreciates to N368/$ 

in parallel market 

By Babajide Komolafe 

THE naira, yesterday, appreciated for the first 

time this week in the parallel market to N368 

per dollar. 

Vanguard survey revealed that the parallel market 

exchange rate which rose by N3 this week to N370 

per dollar, dropped to N368 per dollar yesterday, 

prompted by reduction in dollar demand. This 

translated to N2 appreciation for the naira in the 

parallel market. 

The naira however depreciated by N1.48 in the 

Investors and Exporters (I&E) window as the 

indicative exchange rate for the window rose to 

N361.17 per dollar yesterday from N359.69 per dollar 

on Wednesday. 

This was in spite of 12 per cent increase in the 

volume of dollar traded in the window to $265.59 

million yesterday from $236.97 million on 

Wednesday.


By Egufe Yafugborhi, 

Perez Brisibe & Bashir Bello 

WARRI—A man in his mid- 

40s, Lucky Akuna, 

popularly known as Orutebe, and 

his son are currently on the run 

for sleeping with his 14-year-old 

daughter (names withheld), 

resulting in her pregnancy. 

The father, who was said to 

have admitted being responsible 

for the pregnancy, is an indigene 


14-yr-old girl deflowered by brother, impregnated by father 

of Ogulagha Kingdom, Burutu 

Local Government Area, Delta 

State, and husband of two 

wives. 

He was reportedly stripped to 

his underwear, booed by 

residents and taken to the 

community hall of Ugboroke, 

where he resides in Uvwie 

council area and consequently 

sanctioned by the community 

leaders. 

This is just as another man in 

Katsina State, who turned his 

14-year-old daughter to a sex 

slave, said that the good luck 

charm prepared for him can 

only be effective if he sleeps 

with his daughter. 

Daughter exposes father 

A source in the community 

told Vanguard that the bubble 

burst when the girl, who had 

started showing signs of 

pregnancy, disclosed that her 

father was responsible for the 

pregnancy. 

The source, who spoke on 

condition of anonymity, said: 

“This is not the first time he 

is indulging in such act, as 

he also impregnated his niece 

on two separate occasions. 

“The girl, on further 

interrogation, also revealed 

that aside her father, her elder 

brother from another mother, 

who is also on the run, 

deflowered her and had also 

been sleeping with her.” 

Confirming the incident to 

Vanguard, a source at the Warri 

‘B’ Division, were the case was 

reported, disclosed that one of 

the wives of the suspect, was 

arrested in connection with the 

incident. 

The source added: “The wife 

has since been released, 

following intervention by an 

Ijaw monarch. But we are still 

FRSC 

rescues 44 

minors from 

traffickers 

in Kaduna 

THE Kaduna State 

Sector Command of 

the Federal Road Safety 

Corps, FRSC, says it has 

intercepted two suspected 

human traffickers and 

rescued 44 minors in 

Kaduna. 

The Sector Commander, 

Malam Umar Ibrahim, said 

yesterday in Kaduna that 

the suspects, a driver and 

one other adult, were 

arrested on Wednesday on 

Kaduna-Zaria Expressway. 

According to him, the 

suspects were arrested by 

FRSC patrol team led by 

Assistant Route 

Commander Audu Usman, 

when he stopped a Fiat 

Bus (J5) with number plates 

XC 532 ZAR for 

overloading. 

His words: “Our patrol 

men along Kaduna-Zaria 

Expressway, around 3p.m., 

on Wednesday, stopped a 

white and blue-coloured fiat 

bus, popularly known as J5, 

for overloading. 

“On checking to see what 

the bus was loaded with, 

our men discovered it was 

stuffed with 44 minors and 

one adult. 

“When asked, the driver, 

one Dauda Ezekiel of 

Gubuchi Village, Makarfi 

Local Government Area of 

the state, said he was hired 

to transport the occupants 

to an unidentified location. 

“But the other adult 

claimed they were going 

for a church programme. 

“Our men became 

suspicious and 

immediately impounded 

the vehicle and booked the 

driver for overloading and 

speed limit device 

violation.” 

Ibrahim said he later 

alerted the Commissioner 

of Police, Kaduna State 

Command, and handed 

over the vehicle and the 

suspects for further 

investigation. 

ILLEGAL MODULAR REFINERY: Troops of Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS Pathfinder, Port Harcourt, destroying 

illegal refineries with capacity to produce four million litres of diesel daily in Iyalama community, Asari Toru Local 

Government Area of Rivers State, yesterday. NAN PHOTO. 

Hunters kill 2 Boko Haram Commanders in Adamawa 

By Umar Yusuf & 

Joseph Erunke 

THERE was wild jubilation 

in Madagali Local 

Government Area of Adamawa 

State when news of two Boko 

Haram Commanders killed by 

hunters was announced. 

The state’s Commissioner for 

Information and Strategy, Mr. 

Ahmed Sajoh, told newsmen 

that the feat recorded by the 

hunters received wide 

accolade, saying government 

will surely reciprocate the 

gesture through provision of 

logistic support. 

The hunters repelled an attack 

by Boko Haram on Bakin Dutse 

and Gadamayo villages in 

Madagali council, killing two 

top commanders in the process. 

Locals said that the 

insurgents attacked Gadamayo 

and Bakin Dutse to steal food 

and medical supplies after 

residents fled to the bush, but 

failed in their mission. 

Spokesman of the hunters in 

Madagali, Ali Hammajabu, 

said: “Yesterday (Wednesday), 

at bout 11p.m., our hunters 

successfully averted a massive 

raid on villages of Bitu, 

Gadamayo and Bakin Dutsi. 

“The terrorists, who were on 

their way to attack selected 

communities, were ambushed 

on receiving intelligence report 

of the terrorists’ intention. We 

•... as troops kill 10 in Borno, recover 52 cows 

engaged them and in the 

process, two Boko Haram 

members, in military 

camouflage were killed. 

“We found two AK-47 rifles 

and Police teargas cannisters, 

which we handed over to 

soldiers in Madagali.” 

In Borno 

Meanwhile, troops of 8 Task 

Force Division of Operation 

Lafiya Dole, have killed 10 

Boko Haram terrorists in an 

ambush at Maza village in 

By Evelyn Usman 

PLAN by a suspected 

member of the dreaded 

Badoo cult group to kill a 

member of Ori-Oke branch of 

a white garment church at 

Irapade area of Agbowa 

Lagos, has been foiled, 

following his arrest. 

The suspect, Ahmed 

Adeleke, 29, who disguised as 

a worshipper, attended the 

church’s vigil, at the end 

which a female member, who 

was sleeping at a corner of the 

church, was heard shouting 

that she had been attacked. 

When curious members got 

to her, it was discovered that 

her head had been smashed. 

Marte Local Government 

Area of Borno State. 

The terrorists fell into the 

ambush laid by troops at about 

9p.m., as they attempted to 

sneak back into their swampy 

hideouts in the Lake Chad. 

Deputy Director, Army 

Public Relations, 8 Task 

Force Division, Colonel 

Timothy Antigha, said items 

recovered from the terrorists 

include 10 bicycles, 11 carts 

containing food items and 

two cows. 

She was said to have pointed 

to the direction where the 

suspect took. 

Some church members went 

in the direction and 

reportedly found the suspect 

changing his clothes. 

He was said to have denied 

the allegation. 

But on further observation, 

the white garment which he 

pulled off was discovered to 

be blood stained. 

Parading the suspect 

yesterday at the Police 

Officers Mess, Ikeja, the 

Lagos State Command boss, 

Fatai Owoseni said: 

“Policemen from Ipakodo 

Division rushed to the church. 

“Although the suspect 

In a related development, 

troops also recovered 50 cows 

abandoned by fleeing 

terrorists, during clearance 

operations conducted in 

Danari and Mowo villages in 

Monguno Local Government 

Area, the statement said. 

“It should be noted that as 

the noose continue to tighten 

on Boko Haram terrorists, 

coupled with the wet season, 

they have resorted to the use 

of bicycles and charts as means 

of transportation,” it added. 

Badoo member arrested during Church vigil 

denied the accusation, when 

the area was searched, three 

handkerchiefs (white, blue and 

red) were recovered from him. 

Also, a grinding stone, which 

he used to hit his victim on the 

head, was also found.” 

The suspect, however, denied 

being a Badoo member. 

He said: “I was a Muslim, but 

later converted to Christianity. 

I live at 9, Ojokoro Street, Agric. 

I was invited to worship there 

that night by a senior colleague, 

Kehinde, at the tailoring shop 

where I work.” 

However, asked if Kehinde 

had come to identify him, he 

shook his head, saying “how 

would she come? She may be 

afraid of being arrested as well.”

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017—7 

looking for father and son.” 

In Katsina 

The Katsina State Police 

Command has arrested a man, 

Inusa Aliyu, who turned his 14- 

year-old daughter to a sex slave. 

The incident, confirmed by the 

state’s Police Public Relations 

Officer, DSP Gambo Isah, 

happened in Rafin Makade 

area, in Rimi council. 

Isah said luck ran out for the 


•... as another turns daughter to sex slave in Katsina 

By Emmanuel Agha & 

Jefferson Okeke 

Aself-confessed cultist, Aroba 

Jamiu, was arrested by the 

Police when he stepped out to 

buy a cigarette after initiating 

new members. He told newsmen 

that he was forcefully initiated 

into cultism. 

Jamiu, who was arrested 

alongside other suspected 

cultists by the Police yesterday, 

during an initiation in Obalende 

area of the state, was said to be 

a member of the Eiye 

confraternity. 

During preliminary 

investigation, Jamiu, who 

confessed to be the group’s 

second in-command, was 

discovered to have been on the 

father, when the daughter 

opened up to her mother about 

their secret sex affairs, leading 

to his arrest. 

He said Aliyu has admitted to 

having sexual intercourse with 

his daughter several times, 

alleging that a herbalist gave 

him some charms for good luck, 

which can only be effective if he 

sleeps with his daughter. 

Isah said: “The daughter 

informed her mother about the 

Police wanted list, over an 

alleged murder of a member of 

a rival cult, five years ago. 

Weapons such as axes, knives 

and cutlasses were reportedly 

found on the arrested suspects. 

‘We don’t drink blood’ 

In an interview with 

Vanguard, the suspect who was 

clad in his confraternity’s full 

regalia, disclosed that he was 

arrested when he came out of 

the initiation venue to buy a stick 

of cigarette. 

He said: “I am the second-incommand, 

but I am not a robber. 

We just finished initiating new 

members into our group in a 

hotel around Obalende and I 

came out to look for cigarette, 

when I saw people running. 

affair with her father, but she 

did not believe until she 

caught him having sex with 

the daughter at night. 

“She reported the case at 

the Police Headquarters in 

Rimi Local Government Area 

and he was arrested. The girl 

was taken to Rimi General 

Hospital for medical attention. 

The case has been transferred 

to the state CID for further 

investigations.” 

Everyone started running when I 

came out to buy cigarette— Cult leader 

A 

court in Miami-Dade 

County, Florida, US, has 

struck out charges of credit card 

forgery, armed conspiracy and 

grand theft filed against 

Nigerian singer, Oyindamola 

Emmanuel Johnson-Hunga 

a.ka. Dammy Krane. 

Dammy Krane was, in June, 

arrested for allegedly booking 

a private jet service with stolen 

credit card details. 

Krane was arrested alongside 

Ilochukwu Gabriel and was 

detained at Turner Guilford 

Knight Correctional Centre 

before making bail. 

The singer was represented 

by Erik Courtney, when he 

appeared before Judge De La 

O Miguel yesterday morning. 

According to the information 

available on Miami-Dade 

County Criminal Justice online 

system, Krane was acquitted of 

all the charges. 

The present status of the case 

is ‘closed’, according to the 

criminal justice online system. 

“I stood where I was 

because I did not know what 

was after them. Before I knew 

it, some policemen came and 

arrested me. 

“I was initiated into the 

group without my knowledge 

10 years ago. On that day, a 

friend invited me for a drink. 

But on getting to the 

supposed joint, some boys 

held me, blindfolded me and 

started beating me. 

“Later they removed the 

blindfold and informed me 

that I had been initiated into 

Eiye confraternity. Before 

then, I used to think that cult 

members were students of 

higher institutions, I never 

expected to be one because I 

am just a welder. 

“We do not drink human 

blood during initiation. We 

only become vicious when 

anyone steps on our toes.” 

Police Commissioner 

Speaking while parading 

the suspects, Commissioner of 

Police, Lagos State Police 

Command, Fatai Owoseni, 

said the arrest was made 

during raid at a crime-prone 

area in Obalende area, where 

criminals used as haven. 

He said: “Some cult groups 

identify certain days as 

revenge day. Such as August 

8 (8/8). More suspects of the 

8/8 phenomenon have been 

arrested and these are some 

of them. They would be 

charged to court accordingly.” 

Credit Card Fraud Case: US court acquits Dammy Krane 

By Onozure Dania 

THREE suspected fraudsters 

were, yesterday, arraigned 

before a Lagos magistrate’s 

court, sitting at Igbosere, for 

allegedly hacking into an 

account at First Bank Plc and 

VICTORY: Dammy Krane 

fraudulently withdrawing N39 

million. 

The defendants are Ahmed 

Shehu, 27; Umar Mohammed, 

30 and Ibrahim Ahmed, 41. 

They were arrested following 

a complaint by the management 

of First Bank Plc through the 

Head of the Department of 

Forensic Auditors, Mr. 

Akhanolu Solomon. 

The suspects, who pleaded 

not guilty to the charge, were 

remanded in prison's custody 

pending when they are able 

to perfect their bail conditions. 

Man docked over 

possession of human parts 

By Demola Akinyemi 

ILORIN—A magistrate's 

court sitting in Ilorin, 

Kwara State, yesterday, 

arraigned one Suleiman 

Babatunde of Eleran 

compound in Oloje area of 

the state capital, for exhuming 

human corpse and for 

unlawful possession of 

... gives thanks 

The singer has 

taken to Twitter to 

thank those who 

stood by him while 

the case lasted. 

He wrote: 

“Sometimes life 

puts you through 

trials and 

tribulations, not to 

bring you down but 

to make you 

stronger. It will also 

show you who is 

truly with you, who 

really cares. 

“First, I will like to 

thank God, my 

family, friends and 

supporters. Without 

you, what is my 

purpose? 

“Case closed. I’m 

a free man. Let’s get 

back to the music. 

One love. Back in 

the studio! New 

music on the way.” 

3 remanded in prison for hacking into bank, stealing N39m 

The Police prosecutor, 

Inspector Steven Molo, told 

the court that the defendants 

committed the offence on 

January 25 at First Bank Plc, 

Oshodi Branch, Lagos. 

He said the defendants 

forged the fund transfer 

human parts. 

Babatunde was said to have 

conspired with his two sons, 

Abdulwahab Olaitan and Aliyu 

Olaitan, now at large, to 

excavate and exhume the 

corpse of one Suleiman Saka. 

He was dragged before 

magistrate Bio Saliu for criminal 

conspiracy and unlawful 

possession of human head and 

parts contrary to Section 97 

and 219 of the Penal Code. 

According to the Police 

First Information Report 

obtained from the court by 

Vanguard, one Aliyu Baba 

of Onilu compound, Oloje, 

was said to have reported 

the matter at Oloje Police 

Station before it was 

transferred to the Police 

Criminal Investigative and 

Intelligent Department in 

Ilorin. 

At the resumed hearing 

yesterday, the state 

prosecutor, Adewumi 

Johnson, prayed the court 

not to grant the accused 

person bail. 

Immigration 

Assistant 

Controller 

nabbed for job 

racketeering 

By Omeiza Ajayi 

THE 

Nigeria 

Immigration Service, 

NIS, has arrested one of 

its senior officers, an 

Assistant Controller, for 

allegedly swindling some 

members of the public, 

including his own family 

members, under the 

pretence of providing 

them jobs. 

Service Public Relations 

Officer, Sunday James, in 

a statement, said the 

agency had commenced 

investigations into the 

matter. 

James said: “The 

Service has started 

swooping down on and 

arresting these dubious 

elements who 

unfortunately include an 

Assistant Comptroller of 

Immigration, ACI. The 

ACI allegedly defrauded 

innocent citizens, 

including lecturers and 

family members in Jos. 

He is currently facing 

disciplinary action.” 

documents of First Bank Plc, 

and hacked into the account of 

the bank and fraudulently 

withdrew N39 million and 

shared it amongst themselves. 

He added that the bank 

uncovered the fraud when it 

audited its account book.



N400bn bribe: Fight against corruption not achieving 

anything—NLC •As Yusuf Ali expresses shock at Judiciary corruption rating 

By Demola 

Akinyemi, 

Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru & 


ABUJA—THE Nigeria 

Labour Congress, NLC, 

yesterday, took a swipe at the 

anti-corruption war of the 

Federal Government, saying 

the revelation by the National 

Bureau of Statistics, NBS, that 

public officials in the country 

took N400 billion bribe in one 

year was an indication that 

the fight against graft was not 

yielding any result. 

BOOK PRESENTATION: From left, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research, University of Ibadan, 

Prof. Nike Adeyemo; author of the book, entitled: “I am Kagara,” Prof. Mark Nwagwu; Chief Olusegun 

Obasanjo; the author's wife, Helen; former Minister of Education, Dr Oby Ezekwesili; and Deputy Vice 

Chancellor, Administration, Prof. Emilolorun Ayelari, during presentation of the book at the University 

of Ibadan, yesterday. Photo: NAN. 

Obasanjo, Agbakoba express concern 

over quality of political leadership 

I BADAN—FORMER 

President, Chief 

Olusegun Obasanjo, and ex- 

President of Nigerian Bar 

Association, NBA, Mr. Olisa 

Agbakoba, SAN, have 

expressed concern over 

quality of political leadership 

in the country. 

Agbakoba had written the 

former President, asking him 

to lead the way in efforts to 

galvanize the nation’s 

political elite to produce 

young and vibrant leaders in 

the same manner it 

happened in France and 

Casnada recently. 

In the letter, dated July 20, 

entitled "Nigeria Needs a 

Generational Shift in Political 

Leadership," Agbakoba 

noted that the nation’s past 

leaders, including Obasanjo, 

Yakubu Gowon, Nnamdi 

Azikiwe, among others, 

were thrown up in their 

young ages. 

Obasanjo, in his reply, 

dated July 28, said: ‘’I write 

to acknowledge the receipt 

of your letter dated 20 July, 

2017, and to reassure you 

that I share some of the 

sentiments expressed in the 

letter. 

"I am actually not oblivious 

of the points you raised 

concerning how General 

NLC also called on the 

affected institutions to put in 

place in-house mechanism 

to cleanse themselves to stop 

the cankerworm that had 

effected the economic growth 

of the country. 

This is even as Mallam 

Yusuf Ali, SAN, yesterday, 

expressed shock that the 

judiciary was ranked as one 

of the most corrupt 

institutions in the country by 

the NBS, next to the Police 

Force. 

Reacting to the NBS 

revelation, the General 

Secretary of NLC, Dr. Peter 

Gowon, myself and some 

others you mentioned 

became prominent figures 

in the running of the affairs 

of the country at a rather 

young age. 

"Be that as it may, what 

you must not lose sight of is 

the fact that some of us were 

thrown up and brought into 

limelight by circumstances 

which were not of our own 

making. 

"Having been thrown into 

the deeper end of the pool, 

so to speak, some of us made 

great efforts with 

determination, commitment, 

broad national outlook, 

integrity and uncommon 

zeal to shoulder the 

responsibilities thrust on us. 

We recorded varying 

degrees of successes. 

"By and large, what those 

early leaders and some of us, 

who assumed the mantle of 

leadership in public offices 

at reatively early age, lost in 

advanced age, was more 

than made up for in 

dynamism, nationalism, 

commitment and lofty ideas. 

Whatever exceptions, there 

might have been were few. 

Patriotism, 

selflessness 

"We demonstrated 

Ozo-Eson, said: “Well, for 

such amount of money to be 

taken as bribe in one year 

by public officers clearly 

demonstrates why we are 

facing economic challenges 

and why the country is 

underdeveloped. 

“It also points to the fact, 

given that this is happening 

under this regime that has 

made fighting corruption a 

principal issue, we are not 

achieving much yet because 

if N400 billion can be taken 

in just one year for bribe 

shows how critical the 

corruption situation in the 

country is." 

patriotism, selflessness and 

also acquitted ourselves 

creditably with our 

uncommon contributions to 

the socio-political 

development of Nigeria. 

"Most members of the 

younger generation of 

Nigerians are mostly 

contented with waiting for 

dead men’s shoes and are 

unwilling to beat an 

alternative path to 

leadership. 

"In such a situation, it is to 

be expected and actually it is 

human that those with some 

head start in life will not 

concede such advantages 

freely and based on their 

innate goodness. 

"The world, as I know it, is 

powered by shrewd hardheaded, 

calculating 

individuals and the 

cornucopia of their mercy is 

decidedly thin and it is unlike 

God’s rain that falls on the 

just and the wicked alike. 

"The point to ponder is how 

have the successor 

Meanwhile, Mallam 

Yusuf Ali, SAN, yesterday, 

expressed shock about the 

high incidents of corruption 

found in the judicial sector 

by the National Bureau of 

Statistics, NBS. 

Speaking with journalists 

in Ilorin, yesterday, Ali said: 

‘’The surprising thing to me 

in this report is the very high 

incident of corruption found 

by the NBS in the judicial 

sector. I’m shocked because 

I never thought that it would 

be this wide spread, almost 

to the level of competing 

with the Nigerian police.” 

generation positioned 

themselves to lead? I look 

back at some members of the 

younger generation and I 

am miffed at the missed 

opportunities. 

"I am equally saddened 

that although we the socalled 

older generation did 

facilitate some semblance of 

infrastructural development. 

Today, the gains made have 

been mostly pushed down 

the drain by some of those 

privileged young people 

saddled with similar 

responsibilities in the recent 

past. 

"You should know that 

some of these same young 

people, whose interest we 

canvass, have in the recent 

past been a complete 

disappointment and failures 

in their various appointed or 

elected positions. 

"For me, if I find men and 

women who have shown 

profound commitment and 

exemplary integrity in their 

various chosen careers or 

professions as well as zeal 

for the service of our 

fatherland, I will, of course, 

give such both my support 

and inspiration, 

notwithstanding their age, 

circumstances or place of 

birth. 

"I ask you, dear Olisa, you 

are at a point where you 

should step forward and 

develop a mobilization 

framework that seeks to 

rearrange Nigeria on a 

different basis of legitimacy." 

INEC sets up 20-man 

c'ttee on e-voting 

By Omeiza Ajayi & 


ABUJA— AS part of 

efforts to actualise 

electronic voting system in 

the country, the Independent 

National Electoral 

Commission, INEC, has 

inaugurated a 20-member 

inter-agency technical 

committee to evaluate 

requirements for the 

successful deployment of 

solutions developed by the 

National Agency for Science 

and Engineering 

Infrastructure, NASENI. 

INEC in its bulletin, 

yesterday, recalled that the 

agency had in June 2017, 

paid a courtesy visit to the 

commission, led by Minister 

for Science and Technology, 

Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, for a 

demonstration of a prototype 

e-voting machine developed 

by NASENI. 

Inaugurating the 

committee, which comprises 

members from INEC, 

NASENI and the Federal 

Ministry of Science and 

Technology, INEC 

chairman, Prof. Mahmood 

Yakubu, said it was out of 

that gratitude and excitement 

that the commission 

proposed the setting up of 

the technical committee. 

He reiterated the 

commission’s commitment 

towards increasing the 

application of technology in 

the electoral process and 

expressed the gratitude that 

NASENI had gone that far 

in developing a machine that 

would not only help the 

process, but more was 

importantly, indigenously 

developed. 

Represented by a National 

Commissioner, Prof, 

Okechukwu Ibeanu, Yakubu 

noted that “there is no 

gainsaying the importance of 

Bode George may emerge 

PDP chair —Investigation 

By Dirisu Yakubu 

ABUJA— AS the 

Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, prepares for its 

elective national 

convention to elect new 

officers before the end of the 

year to pilot its affairs 

preparatory for the 2019 

general elections, 

investigations have shown 

that former Board chairman 

of the Nigerian Ports 

Authority, NPA, Chief 

Olabode George, may 

emerge the new national 

chairman of the party. 

Although George appears 

to be the frontrunner, a 

chieftain of the party, who 

spoke with Vanguard in 

confidence, said the PDP 

would guard against repeat 

of past mistakes, adding 

that whoever will emerge 

must come through the 

electronic application of 

technology to the electoral 

process, particularly to the 

voting process. 

"It not only increases the 

confidence of the electorate 

in the outcome, but also in 

many ways facilitates the 

work of the Commission.” 

Responding on behalf of 

the committee, Abbas 

Gummi, assured that the 

committee would live up to 

the expectations of the 

confidence reposed on it and 

would deliver a very good 

report. 

Members of 

the c'ttee 

Members of the committee 

are: INEC Director ICT, 

Chidi Nwafor (Chairman) ; 

INEC Director Voter 

Registry, Iro Gambo; INEC 

Director Voter Education & 

Publicity, Oluwole Osaze 

Uzzi; INEC Director of 

Electoral Operations, A. T 

Yusuf; INEC Director 

Planning & Monitoring, 

Okechukwu Ndeche; INEC 

Director Legal Services, Mrs. 

Oluwatosin Babalola; INEC 

Deputy Director ICT, Mr. 

Pascal Ukaenwe; INEC 

Deputy Director Voter 

Registry, Mr. Tony Nyema; 

and INEC Assistant Director 

ICT, Mr Moses Naiya. 

Other members from 

NASENI and Federal 

Ministry of Science and 

Technology (FMST) are 

Abbas Gummi; Mr. Leon 

Alibo; Mr. N. Pawa, Dr. P. 

I.Okwu, Dr. Suleiman A. A, 

Abdulkareem Umar, Samuel 

Kehinde, Yakubu Aliyu 

Doma and Mohammed 

Abdulazeez Aliyu, while 

Abimbola Oladunjoue and 

Anthonia E. Idemudia, both 

of ICT Department, INEC, 

would serve in the 

committee’s secretariat. 

electoral process at an 

elective convention, against 

“imposition or selection.” 

While maintaining that 

the South-West has a strong 

case in pushing for the 

party’s chairmanship, the 

source said the ‘clear 

cheating’ of the South-West 

from producing Speaker of 

the House of 

Representatives in 2011 

should not be allowed to 

play out this time around. 

On the chances of those 

reportedly gunning for the 

seat, the source warned 

against jumping the gun 

but noted that George’s 

consultation across board 

might swing the pendulum 

in his favour. 

He said: “It is too early to 

mention names because 

the three sub-zones in the 

South bloc are yet to agree 

on a common ground."

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 — 9 


We won’t lose sleep over 

The Economist’s ranking 

— LASG 

By Monsuru 

Olowoopejo 

LAGOS—THE Lagos 

State government 

yesterday said it won’t lose 

sleep over the ranking by 

The Economist of London, 

which says the state is the 

worst global city to live in 

after Damascus in war-torn 

Syria. 

In an exclusive interview 

with Vanguard, 

Commissioner for 

Information and Strategy, 

Mr. Steve Ayorinde, 

described the ranking as not 

representing the successes 

the state had recorded 

which had made it one of 

the most preferable 

destinations for every 

investor coming to Africa. 

He noted that due to the 

status of Lagos, it has 

become a city of 

consideration whenever 

anyone intend to embark on 

any ranking. 

According to him; ‘’What 

is more gratifying is that 

inspite of all those ranking, 

we are receiving global 

recognition. So we are not 

losing any sleep about the 

ranking. 

‘’And since the ranking 

started, there is no year that 

Lagos has not featured. It 

does not matter where 

Lagos is listed. To us, Lagos 

is in reckoning in any type 

of ranking that anyone may 

want to consider. 

“It is not an issue to worry 

about because it is a yearly 

ranking on liveability by 

the Economist and its 

partners, which captures 

the perspective of the 

magazine on what they 

perceived makes the 

indices that makes a city 

liveable. 

“Lagos will always be in 

reckoning. What is 

important is that liveability 

indices is a subjective 

analyses. What everyone 

needs to know is that the 

type of megacity Lagos 

benchmarks itself with is 

also on that ranking but not 

in top 10,” he added. 

According to EIU’s 2017 

liveability report, which 

considers 140 major cities, 

Melbourne in Australia 

retained its crown as the 

best city to live anywhere 

in the world, for seven years 

running. 

Vienna, Austria, where 

the headquarters of the 

Organisation of Petroleum 

Exporting Countries, 

OPEC is located, comes in 

as the second most liveable 

city in the world. 

Court orders forfeiture of 

seized N50.15m goods to FG 

•Also fund recovered from Perm Sec 

By Innocent Anaba 

LAGOS—A Federal 

High Court sitting in 

Lagos, yesterday, ordered 

a permanent forfeiture of 

the various illegally 

imported goods valued at 

N50.15milliion to the 

Federal Government. 

Trial judge, Justice 

Abdulaziz Anka made the 

order, following an 

application brought the 

Nigeria Customs Service 

Board. 

The goods, include bales 

of fairly used clothes, shoes, 

bags, bed sheets, porcelain 

plates, 7,163 bags of foreign 

parboiled rice, and 147 jerry 

cans of vegetable oil. The 

goods were said to have 

been intercepted between 

April and June, 2017. 

Others include seven 

vehicles which values were, 

however, not stated. 

According to the 

agency’s Assistant Legal 

Adviser Federal 

Operations Unit, Zone A, 

Ikeja, Shehu Bodinga, the 

owners refused to show up 

after the goods were 

intercepted. 

In the application, the 

Service reminded the court 

of the need to order the 

forfeiture of the goods 

because some of them were 

perishable. 

The Customs, according 

to him, had been ordered 

by the Presidency to 

distribute some of the 

seized items to victims of 

the Boko Haram 

insurgency living in the 

Internally Displaced 

Persons, IDPs camp in the 

North-East. 

...Also interim forfeiture 

of fund recovered from 

Perm Sec 

Also, a Federal High 

Court sitting in Lagos, 

yesterday, ordered the 

interim forfeiture of 

N664,475,246.6 and 

$137,680.11 recovered from 

a serving Permanent 

Secretary in the Federal 

Ministry of Labour and 

Productivity, Dr Clement 

Illoh. 

Trial judge, Justice 

Abdulaziz Anka made 

the order, following an 

ex-parte application by 

the Economic and 

Financial Crimes 

Commission, EFCC. 

FG officially hands over State House, Marina 

to Lagos •As LASG hands over modern bus park to Marina NURTW 

By Olasunkanmi 

Akoni 

L AGOS—THE 

F e d e r a l 

Government yesterday, 

officially handed over its 

State House in Marina to 

the Lagos State 

Government. 

Mr Jalal Arabi, the 

Permanent Secretary, State 

House, Abuja, while 

handing over the property, 

urged Lagos State 

Government to judiciously 

use the edifice, maintain it 

and protect its structural 

and historic integrity. 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari had in 2016 

approved the handing over 

of the State House to Lagos. 

Governor Akinwunmi 

Ambode had made a 

formal request to the 

Presidency to have the 

presidential lodge 

released to Lagos to 

enable the state to transform 

the Marina-Onikan axis 

into a world-class arts and 

tourism hub. 

The edifice built before 

Independence in 1960 

housed several Presidents 

and Military Heads of 

State, before the 

relocation of the nation’s 

capital to Abuja. 

“We are gathered here to 

transfer the State House, 

Marina to the Lagos State 

Government and it is all in 

the spirit of togetherness, 

the same Nigeria, unity for 

a purpose. 

“Nothing has changed 

and nothing is lost,” 

Arabi said in an emotion 

laden speech. 

INSPECTION: From left: Director, Engineering Services, FCDA, Hadi 

Shehu, Minister of FCT, Mallam Musa Bello, Minister of Information and 

Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the Executive Secretary, Federal Capital 

Development Authority, Engr. Umar Jibrin during the inspection of the 

Extension of Inner Southern Expressway in Abuja yesterday. 

Also, Mr Tunji Bello, 

Secretary to the State 

Government, while 

receiving the structure, 

commended President 

Muhammadu Buhari for 

releasing the edifice to 

Lagos. 

Bello said that handing 

over of the edifice was an 

affirmation of the healthy 

intergovernmental 

relationship between the 

Federal and Lagos State 

Government. 

He assured the 

presidency that the state 

government would put the 

edifice to the best and most 

judicious use, “ensure its 

transformation without 

compromising its structural 

integrity and preserve its 

architectural finesse”. 

Bello said, “We will 

ensure that the edifice 

becomes a tourist 

destination which residents 

of Lagos, in particular and 

Nigerians in general, will 

not only be proud of, but 

compares to similar ones in 

distant locations.” 

LASG hands over 

modern bus park to 

Marina NURTW 

Meantime, as part of 

measures to eliminate the 

persistent traffic gridlock 

on the Marina- 

Apongbon axis, Lagos 

State Government, 

yesterday, handed over 

a newly built bus park at 

“Ajeigboro,” Marina to 

officials of National 

Union of Road Transport 

Workers, NURTW, for 

public use. 

The Special Adviser to the 

Governor on Central 

Business District, CBD, Mr. 

Agboola Dabiri, while 

commissioning the park, 

said the decision to create 

a bus park at Apongbon 

axis was taken at the State 

Executive Council meeting 

where Governor 

Akinwunmi Ambode 

mandated his agency to 

create the park as part of 

effort at seeking lasting 

solution to the incessant 

traffic situation 

experienced in the axis. 

Dabiri, revealed that with 

the commissioning and 

hand-over of the facility to 

members of the union, the 

State Government would 

no longer tolerate the 

indiscriminate boarding 

and alighting of passengers 

by commercial vehicles 

from Broad Street, Marina 

and Apongbon environs. 

MODULAR REFINERIES: 38 investors yet to start projects 

...NNPC refineries not for sale — Kachikwu 

By Prince Okafor 

LAGOS—THERE are 

indications that it 

would take much longer for 

Nigeria to reap the fruits of 

its planned modular 

refineries as 38 investors 

who got licenses from the 

Federal Government have 

not yet started work on their 

projects. 

The Minister of State for 

Petroleum Resources, Dr. 

Ibe Kachikwu, who 

disclosed this yesterday, at 

the 2017 conference of the 

Association of Energy 

Correspondents of Nigeria 

(NAEC) in Lagos 

yesterday, said that only 

two investors have made 

significant progress toward 

the establishment of their 

modular refineries. 

Kachikwu, who noted that 

the passage of Petroleum 

Industry Governance Bill 

(PIGB) would enhance 

investment in the industry, 

stated that the PIGB was 

designed to, establish clear 

and enduring good 

governance principles as 

well as provide for fiscal 

regimes that are flexible 

and capable of 

guaranteeing optimal take 

for the government. 

“In Nigeria today, the 

Airtel’s CEO, Ogunsanya, to lead discourse at NBA 

conference 

LAGOS—THE Chief 

Executive Officer and 

Managing Director of Airtel 

Nigeria, Mr. Segun 

Ogunsanya, has been 

listed among important 

thought leaders in the 

corporate and government 

circles that will speak at this 

year’s edition of the 

prestigious Nigerian Bar 

Association, NBA, 2017 

situation is such that 

foreign direct investment 

flows into the country are 

at high cost. An example is 

the high cost of production 

of oil at about $32/barrel. 

Initiatives to reduce the cost 

of crude oil production to 

$15/ barrel are ongoing; 

initial consultants with 

stakeholders have held 

Conference. 

Ogunsanya, who was 

recently named African 

CEO of the Year by a pan 

African platform that 

and cost drivers have been 

identified. The outcome of 

this initiative would be a 

win-win for investors and 

the nation. 

“In addition, the need for 

a National Operator, which 

will be the National 

Petroleum Company 

(NPC) to be partly 

autonomous, cannot be 

watered down.'' 

recognizes customer 

service, innovation and 

excellence in Africa Telecom 

and Information 

Technology Industry, will 

join other panelist to 

discuss the theme, “African 

Business: The Road Less 

Travelled,” at the weeklong 

NBA conference, 

which kicks off today. 

The conference, which 

will hold in Lagos, will 

attract over 8,000 delegates 

and it will be opened by the 

Acting President Yemi 

Osinbajo. 

Airtel will also play a 

major role as the lead 

sponsor of the conference, 

owning the event as the 

official telecoms and 

technology partner.

10 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 

Ajimobi appoints his deputy, 

SSG, 237 others as JPs 

IBADAN—OYO State 

Governor, Senator 

Abiola Ajimobi, has 

appointed his Deputy, Chief 

Moses Adeyemo; Secretary 

to the State Government, 

Mr. Olalekan Alli, Chief 

Imam of Ibadan, Sheik 

Abduganiyu Abubakar and 

236 others as Justices of the 

Peace. 

The appointees were 

inaugurated by the 

governor, who was 

represented by his deputy, 

at the House of Chiefs, 

Parliament Building, 

Secretariat, Ibadan, 

yesterday. 

Among those sworn in as 

JPs were the Chief of Staff 

to the Governor, Dr. Gbade 

Ojo; Special Adviser, 

Communication and 

Strategy, Mr. Yomi Layinka; 

Special Adviser, Due 

Process, Mrs. Rose 

Oyedele, as well as other 

EXPULSION FROM PDP: Sen 

Kashamu carpets Fayose 

THE 

lawmaker 

representing Ogun 

East Senatorial District, 

Senator Buruji Kashamu 

has described his purported 

expulsion from the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, as a 

charade. 

Senator Kashamu, in a 

statement by his Media 

Adviser, Austin Oniyokor 

faulted the action taken by 

Governor Ayodele Fayose, 

who heads the reconciliation 

committee of the party in the 

South West, saying he 

cannot decide who stays or 

leaves the PDP. 

The statement reads: “The 

attention of the media office 

of the Senator representing 

Ogun East Senatorial 

District, Buruji Kashamu, 

has been drawn to the 

purported call for his 

LASSA FEVER: Ondo trains 54 

surveillance officers, informants 

By Dayo Johnson 

A KURE—ONDO 

State government 

has trained 54 surveillance 

officers and informants as a 

proactive measure against 

possible outbreak of Lassa 

fever. 

The outbreak of Lassa 

Fever has been reported in 

no fewer than 20 State of the 

federation. 

Disease Surveillance and 

Notification Officers, their 

Deputies and informants 

from across the 18 Local 

Government Areas were 

trained on latest 

technologies of preventing 

its spread as well as 

protecting themselves from 

being infected. 


top officials of the 

government. 

Also on the list were the 

State Chairman of the 

Christian Association of 

Nigeria, Mr. Benjamin 

Akanmu; a former Director 

of the Institute of African 

Studies, University of 

Ibadan, Prof. Dele Layiwola, 

among other eminent 

members of the society. 

In his speech read by the 

deputy governor, Ajimobi 

said that the new 

appointees were carefully 

selected, based on their 

pedigree, to assist the 

government in the 

dispensation of justice and 

sustenance of peace and 

harmony across the state. 

A retired high court judge, 

Justice Akintunde Boade, 

administered the oath of 

office on the deputy 

governor, who in turn swore 

in all others on the JP list. 

expulsion from the Peoples 

Democratic Party (PDP) by 

some dissidents who 

gathered today (Thursday) 

at the Government House, 

Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State 

capital. 

“We wish to state that the 

so-called resolution was the 

brain-child of the Governor 

of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo 

Fayose, who claims to be the 

Chairman of the South West 

Reconciliation Committee. 

Pray, what kind of 

reconciliation can this 

cantankerous man 

deliver? He is not the 

owner of the PDP. So, he 

cannot decide who stays or 

leaves. He tried it last 

weekend during the 

National Convention but 

failed even when Senator 

Kashamu was not there.” 

Speaking during the 

training, the Permanent 

Secretary Ministry of Health, 

Dr Taiye Oni said the 

training was necessary to 

build the capacity of the 

trainees for qualitative and 

effective service delivery. 

Oni, who spoke through 

the Deputy Director Public 

Health, Dr Ayodele Adelusi 

said Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu 

approved the training to 

combat any likely outbreak 

of Lassa fever in any part of 

the state. 

“The trainees are the 

generals on the field that 

would alert the appropriate 

authorities if there is an 

outbreak or there is anything 

strange in their respective 

assigned areas.'' Oni said. 

Obasanjo attacks NASS members again 

By Ola Ajayi 

IBADAN—THE frosty 

relationship between 

lawmakers in the 

National Assembly and 

former President, 

Olusegun Obasanjo, 

worsened yesterday as he 

said with their monthly 

take-home pay which 

remains the highest in 

the world, they can best 

be described as: ‘’a bunch 

of unarmed robbers” 

Chief Obasanjo who 

was the chief host at a 

public presentation of a 

book, entitled: I am 

Kagara, I Weave the 

Sands of Sahara, held at 

VISIT: From left; Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Munta Abimbola; an 

High Court judge, Justice Aderonke Aderemi; Attorney-General and 

Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Seun Abimbola; and the Governor, Senator 

Abiola Ajimobi, during the governor's visit to the High Court Complex, Ibadan. 

S-WEST PDP: Ogun exco kicks as reconciliatory 

parley wants Buruji expelled 

By Gbenga Oke & 

Daud Olatunji 

LAGOS and a faction 

of the Ogun State 

chapters of the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, have 

called for the expulsion of 


from the party, accusing him 

of anti-party activities and 

antics meant to destroy the 

party. 

They stated this in their 

resolutions in Ado-Ekiti 

during the meeting of the 

reconciliation committee set 

up by the national 

leadership of the party in the 

South-West zone chaired by 

Ekiti State Governor, Mr 

Ayodele Fayose. 

But in swift reaction, the 

embattled leadership of the 

PDP in Ogun State, said the 

constitution of the party 

does not recognize Governor 

Ayodele Fayose as the 

leader of the party in South- 

West. 

The dissolved Ogun exco 

led by the Chairman of the 

PDP in the state, Adebayo 

University of Ibadan said 

though he knew the 

legislators would call him 

names for speaking out 

his mind once again, he 

vowed never to stop until 

they empathised with the 

poor people who he said 

were more than 75 per 

cent of the population. 

The ex-president, at the 

book launch which was 

authored by Prof Mark 

Nwagwu said; “It is even 

worse for the National 

Assembly. They will abuse 

me again but I will never 

stop talking about them. 

They are a bunch of 

unarmed robbers. 

“They are one of the 

Dayo described Fayose as 

the biggest problem PDP has 

in the South-West. 

Briefing newsmen at the 

end of the Ekiti meeting, the 

Zonal Secretary, Reverend 

Bunmi Jenyo, said leaders 

from the two states endorsed 

the resolutions. 

Among PDP leaders who 

signed the resolutions were 

former Deputy Governor of 

Lagos State, Mrs 

Kofoworola Bucknor- 

Akerele, Capt. Tunji Shelle, 

Chief Joju Fadairo, Alhaji 

Sikirulahi Olawale among 

others. 

The resolutions read: 

“After extensive 

deliberations with the 

Reconciliation Committee, 

we, party delegates from 

Lagos and Ogun States, 

arrived at the following 

resolutions: To work 

together as one united party 

and to learn from the past 

mistakes and happenings in 

the party; that the National 

Working Committee of our 

great party should deal and 

relate with the true leaders 

highest paid in the world 

where we have 75 percent 

of our people living in 

abject poverty. They will 

abuse me tomorrow and if 

they don’t, maybe they 

are sleeping. The 

behaviour and character of 

the National Assembly 

should be roundly 

condemned.” 

The former President also 

used the occasion to advise 

the Federal Government 

to honour the 2009 

agreement it signed with 

the striking members of 

the Academic Staff Union 

of Universities, ASUU. 

According to him, since 

the government had 

of Lagos and Ogun PDP 

under the Makarfi-led 

National Caretaker 

Committee. 

Also, they called for the 

immediate expulsion of 


for his anti-party actions 

and destructive antics in the 

South-West. 

Speaking during the 

meetings, Fayose said 

while the party was 

interested in reconciliation, 

those who have gone astray 

must repent first and 

promise not to go astray 

again or undermine the 

progress of the party. 

He called on the leaders 

of the party in both states 

to give room for genuine 

repentant dissidents to 

come back. 

The governor added that 

with unity amongst them, 

PDP would win subsequent 

polls in the states. 

The Zonal Chairman, 

Olorogun Eddy Olafeso, 

thanked members for their 

support and steadfastness 

during turbulent period the 

allowed itself to be 

stampeded into signing the 

agreements without full 

consultation within 

government, it behoved on 

it to honour the agreement. 

“Government allows itself 

to be stampeded into 

signing agreement 

particularly when one 

group or the other 

withdraws their service and 

go on strike. After the 

agreement has been 

signed, without full 

consultation within 

government, and 

implementation becomes 

an issue. An agreement is 

an agreement whoever the 

agent is that signed that 

agreement on your behalf, 

you are bound by it. You 

may now have to 

renegotiate to have a new 

agreement but the 

agreement earlier signed 

remains an agreement. 

“The way we are going 

about spending all our 

revenue to pay overhead, 

we will not develop. And 

we will have ourselves to 

blame. 90 percent of 

revenue is used to pay 

overhead, allowances, 

salaries and not much is left 

for capital development. In 

a situation like that, we 

have to rethink,” he 

stressed. 

Former Minister of 

Education, Oby 

Ezekwesili, at the occasion, 

called for positive 

attitudinal changes for 

national development. 

•‘Fayose not PDP S-West leader' 

party went through. 

Fayose not PDP S-West 

leader - Ogun dissolved 

exco 

Meantime, the embattled 

leadership of the party in 

Ogun State yesterday, said 

the constitution of the party 

does not recognize Ekiti 

State governor ,Ayodele 

Fayose as the leader of the 

party in South West, saying, 

the party constitution has 

been amended and 

entrusted the leadership of 

the party in the state to the 

Chairmen . 

The embattled Chairman 

in the state, Adebayo Dayo, 

stated this at the state party 

Secretariat ,Kuto, Abeokuta 

during a press conference, 

describing the governor as 

rather the biggest problem 

of the party in the region. 

The national Caretaker 

Committee had announced 

the dissolution of executives 

in Ogun, Oyo, Osun and 

four other states during the 

recent non-elective national 

convention in Abuja.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 — 11 

INSECURITY: FG may set up 

National Guard — MINISTER 

A BUJA—THE 

F e d e r a l 

Government is considering 

the establishment of a 

National Guard to address 

emerging security threats 

and emergencies in the 

country. 

The Minister of Interior, 

Abdulrahman 

Dambazzau, disclosed 

this yesterday in Abuja 

when the Adjutant- 

General of the California 

National Guard, U.S, paid 

him a courtesy visit. 

The minister however 

stressed that a lot of 

consultations would be 

done before any decision 

is taken in that regard. 

He recalled that several 

years ago, the government 

had planned the 

establishment of a National 

Guard, but the idea did not 

come to fruition due to a 

number of challenges. 

General Dambazzau 

explained that the National 

Guard would help to fill the 

gap between the operations 

of the Military and the 

Nigerian Police in tackling 

security challenges and 

emergencies. 

He said the military was 

becoming increasingly 


involved in dealing with 

security threats in the 

country which is outside 

their constitutional 

mandate while the police 

might be overstretched in 

dealing with such issues. 

He said Nigeria would 

continue to collaborate with 

the international 

community, including 

sharing experiences with 

the U.S Army in the 

training of Nigeria’s 

security personnel. 

He added that the visit of 

U.S military officials would 

help strengthen the cordial 

relationship between both 

countries, especially as 

regards security. 

Earlier, the adjutant 

general, David Baldwin, a 

Maj.-Gen., said he and his 

team were in Nigeria to 

foster partnership between 

both countries. 

He said that California as 

one of the biggest states in 

the U.S had its own 

National Guard like other 

states which is responsible 

for security and 

emergencies. 

He said the California 

National Guard will be 

involved in the training of 

Nigeria’s security agencies 

under the Ministry of 

Interior such as the Nigeria 

Immigration Service, 

Federal Fire Service, 

NSCDC and Prisons to 

deal with security 

challenges/emergencies. 

Mr. Baldwin said the 

training was designed for 

two to three years to equip 

the security personnel with 

modern trend in security 

and emergency operations. 

On the establishment of 

a National Guard in 

Nigeria, he said that it was 

up to the Nigerian 

government to decide the 

modalities for the 

establishment of any 

security outfit. 

IBEDC rehabilitates Sawmill, Agba 

Dam injection substations in Kwara 

By Ediri Ejoor 

IN a bid to meet 

customers’ demand, 

the Ibadan Electricity 

Distribution Company has 

completed the renovation of 

Sawmill 3x15MVA, 33/ 

11KV and Agba Dam 

2x15MVA,33/11KV 

Injection Substations in 

Kwara State. 

The upgrade, according 

to the company, will serve 

communities such as Oko- 

Erin, ItaAmodu, Niger, 

Edun, Balogun Fulani, Ori 

oko/Ago/Fagba, Taiwo, 

Osere, Opo-Malu, Sabon 

line, Okesuna,Basin/Fate 

area, Sabo oke/Agric, 

TankeAlakowe, Nupe 

roadand Ojagboro/Ipata, 

bringing much needed 

regular power supply to 

homes and businesses. 


company, the substations 

received significant repairs, 

including the purchase and 

replacement of new 11KV 

panels, breakers and other 

structural improvement to 

the whole network. 

Before now, the 

communities being served 

by the substations, 

experienced frequent 

outages due to the 

inability of the aged 

switchgear to distribute 

power effectively. 

The Chief Technical 

Officer of the company, 

Engr. Ade Ayileka, said: 

“This renovation work in 

Kwara State is part of 

IBEDC’s vision to steadily 

improve the state of its 

network infrastructure. 

NADECO didn't start 

pro-democracy struggle 

in US — OPADOKUN 

By Bartholomew 

Madukwe 

N ATIONAL 

Democratic 

Coalition, NADECO, has 

dismissed reports that it 

started its struggle for 

democracy in the United 

States of America for fear of 

clampdown. 

Mr. Uyi Meshack, who 

claimed to be a 

representative of 

NADECO, and Mr. M. 

Miller of Institute of 

Strategic Studies, ISS, 

had stated that the group 

started its campaign for 

democracy for Nigeria 

oversea, to avoid 

clampdown from the 

military government of the 

late former Head of State, 

General Sani Abacha. 

But NADECO’s 

General Secretary, Mr. 

Ayo Opadokun, dismissed 

the claim in a statement 

issued on Tuesday, saying 

the group was home-grown 

and only relocated some of 

its leaders overseas to 

regularly present its 

position to the international 

community. 

The statement read: ‘’The 

ISLAND CLUB'S COLLOQUIM ON RESTRUCTURING CHALLENGES, 

IMPLICATIONS AND THE WAY FORWARD 

National Democratic 

Coalition, NADECO’s 

attention has been drawn 

to a story titled ‘We chose 

US for our Conference to 

avoid Clampdown – 

NADECO’. 

‘’NADECO disassociates 

itself from the views and 

opinions expressed by 

those who claimed to be 

representative of 

NADECO, Mr Uyi 

Meshack and Dr. M. 

Miller, representative of 

Institute for Strategic 

Studies, ISS. This is 

because, the two persons 

are unknown to NADECO 

and are not known to be our 

members. 

‘’Secondly, we like to state 

categorically that it is 

historically false and 

inaccurate to claim that 

NADECO began its prodemocracy 

struggle 

outside Nigeria. Their 

wrong view is a further 

proof of their ignorance 

about the history of the 

formation of NADECO that 

it was an home-grown in 

conception, and 

presentation to both 

local and international 

publics in Nigeria. 

Ex-Gov Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State and Mr Labaran Maku, former Minister of Information were among dignitaries at the Island Club, Lagos 

colloquium on Restructuring Challenges, Implications & the Way Forward at Island Club, Lagos, yesterday. PHOTOS BY AKEEM SALAU. 

From left; Chief Hakeem Awe, former Chairman, Island Club; Chief Samuel 

Jegede, former Vice Chairman, Island Club and Col Tony Nyiam (retd). 

From left; Mr Olabanji Oladapo, Chairman, Island Club; former Governor Olusegun 

Mimiko of Ondo State and Mr Labaran Maku, former Minister of Information. 

From left; Chief Olu Falomo; Chief Tunde Fanimokun, President, Dr Adewale Oloyede (left) and Mr Kole Prince Adelana Adesida,Vice Chiarman, Island 

Eko Club and Arc. Wunmi Agbaje,Vice Chairman, Yoruba Tennis Club. Abe, CEO, Tink Tank Ltd. 

Club (left) and Prince Lateef Dosunmu.


Bayelsa community laments 

whereabouts of three 

indigenes arrested by soldiers 

By Samuel 

Oyadongha 

O GBIA—THE 

families of three 

men, allegedly arrested 

by soldiers at Ibelebiri 

community in Ogbia 

Local Government Area 

of Bayelsa State have 

called on the authorities 

to make their 

whereabouts known to 

them. 

They lamented that 15 

months after the men 

were picked up, they are 

yet to hear from them. 

The three men were 

picked up by men in 

uniform, described as 

soldiers by community 

members sometime in 

May last year. 


indigenes, some armed 

men dressed in military 

uniforms had stormed 

Ibelebiri community about 

20 minutes past midnight, 

picking up the three men 

after the operation. 

The names of those 

taken away were given as 

35-year-old Bobanimibofa 

Clinton, Ebikeme 

Mathew, 37 and 

Bobayenimibofa James, 

also in his 30s. 

Mother of Ebikeme 

Mathew, Madam Celina 

Mathew said life has not 

been the same since the 

disappearance of her son, 

as she has to battle with 

stroke in addition to 

feeding his five children. 

She lamented that she 

had experienced one 

tragedy too many with her 

husband, an inspector in 

the police, allegedly 

killed in Isiokpo, Rivers 

State by fellow 

policeman on a special 

duty some years back. 


Also, wife of Mathew, 

Mrs Celestina maintained 

that her husband was an 

innocent man arrested 

unjustly. 

For the spouse of 

Bobayenimibofa James, 

Mrs. Tari James the family 

is still at a loss on the 

whereabouts of her 

husband, one year and 

three months after he was 

picked up. 

Mr. Tubokeyiba Clinton, 

elder brother of 

Bobanimibofa Clinton 

appealed to the 

authorities to take them to 

court if they had 

committed any crime. 

Chairman of the council 

of chiefs of Ibelebiri 

community, Chief 

Godpower Ogoli wants 

government to ensure that 

the whereabouts of the 

three arrested persons are 

made known. 

By Emma Amaize 

W 

A R R I — 

LEADERSHIP 

Transformation and 

Empowerment Initiative, 

LITE-Africa, a nongovernmental 

organisation 

has urged the Judicial 

Commission recently 

inaugurated by acting 

President Yemi Osinbajo, to 

review the compliance of 

the armed forces with 

human rights obligation 

and rules of engagement to 

comprehensively evaluate 

the problems and come up 

with enduring solutions. 

Executive Director of Lite- 

Africa, co-chair of the incountry 

implementation 

Ex-Edo Deputy Speaker vows 

not to return official vehicles 

•Says they were given to her by Oshiomhole 

By Gabriel 

Enogholase 

B ENIN—FORMER 

Deputy Speaker of 

the Edo State House of 

Assembly, Mrs Elizabeth 

Ativie, who was removed 

from office on Monday 

following the change of 

leadership in the House, 

has vowed not to return the 

official vehicles allocated to 

her office as then Speaker 

of the Assembly, insisting 

that the said vehicles were 

personally given to her by 

ex-Governor Adams 

Oshiomhole. 

In a letter to the Clerk of 


Assembly, Mr James 

Omoataman, through her 

counsel, Mr Olayiwola 

Afolabi, she stated that 

former governor signed a 

letter dated July 19, 2016 

giving the vehicles to her 

LITE-Africa tasks military 

commission on human rights 

working group on 

Voluntary Principles, Joel 

Bisina, said “Nigeria is 

currently facing series of 

internal security challenges 

and the military is often 

called upon to provide 

security, but several reports 

by the local and 

international groups and 

media have accused the 

military of always going 

out of its rules of 

engagement in carrying 

out its operations.'' 

“Some of the accusations 

border on the excessive 

uses of force which 

oftentimes result in extrajudicial 

killings,” he added. 

He charged the sevenman 

judicial commission 

headed by Justice Biobele 

Georgewill of the Court of 

Appeal “to also look at the 

areas of business and 

human rights as well as 

the integration of 

voluntary principles in 

the extractive industry in 

protecting human rights, 

promoting development, 

and avoiding or 

reducing conflict.” 

U GHELLI—NO 

fewer than 500 

widows, yesterday at 

Ughelli, Delta State 

received free health care, 

food items and financial 

packages from the Peters 

Mission for the Less 

Privilege. 

The women drawn from 

different enclaves within 

in acknowledgement of the 

sacrifices she was expected 

to make for the peace, 

security and well- being of 

the state. 

The Clerk of the House 

had in an earlier letter to 

the former Deputy Speaker 

dated August 14, 2017, 

directed her to return the 

official vehicles which 

included one Lexus Jeep- 

2016 Model, one Prado 

Jeep and two Hilux Vans 

as Deputy Speaker and 

hand over the keys of the 

vehicles to him on or before 

the close of work on August 

15, 2017. 

However, Mrs Ativie 

buttressing her ownership 

of the vehicles, was quoted 

to have said: “I wish to 

convey my compliments 

and recall the discussion 

between the leadership of 


Assembly and the 

executive branch on the geo 

-political stability of Edo 

State and the need to 

engender equity, fairness 

and sense of belonging 

amongst all sections and 

citizens of our dear state. 

“Given the exceptional 

circumstances surrounding 

the issues and in an explicit 

acknowledgement of the 

enormous sacrifices you are 

required to make for the 

peace, security, stability 

and well-being of our 

beloved state, the official 

vehicles attached to the 

office of the Speaker are 

now yours “ 

She stated that the current 

Speaker, Mr Kabiru Adjoto, 

who was the then Chief 

Whip of House led a 

delegation of the House to 

the executive arm of 

government where the 

decision to give her as the 

then Speaker the official 

vehicles was taken and 

implemented. 

She explained that 

thereafter, she went to the 

licence office with the said 

letter by the former 

governor to register the 

vehicles in her name. 

She, therefore, urged 

the Clerk of the House to 

advise the state 

legislature properly as he 

was in the best position to 

do so in view of the facts 

presented above. 

BLOOD BANK DONATION: From left; PRO, Sector District 9110, Rotary 

International, Mr Ramesh Biswal with the blood bank donation Project Coordinator, 

Rotary Mega Club of Lagos Island, Dr Anil Grover; the Club President, Mr Sanjeey 

Tandon, Club Secretary, Rotn Mamta Debroy and the newly-installed District 911 

chairman, Inner Wheel Nigeria, IWM Adegbemisola Rufai and her entourage at the 

blood bank donation project powered by the Rotary Club of Lagos Island in conjunction 

with Airtels telecomms at their Banana Island Ikoyi, Lagos headquaters. 

Assessment of teachers to strengthen civil 

service not to sack workers — OBASEKI 

B 

E 

By Simon 

Ebegbulem 

N I N — 

GOVERNOR 

Godwin Obaseki of Edo 

State, has said that the 

ongoing assessment of 

senior civil servants in the 

state was not designed to 

sack workers, but to 

strengthen the civil 

service for effective 

service delivery. 

and around Ekuigbo 

community, applauded the 

mission for its 

humanitarian efforts to the 

less privilege, describing it 

as one of a kind. 

In his remarks, Chief 

Executive Officer of the 

mission, Peterson Onoriobe 

said: “We have been 

embarking on skills 

acquisition and rendering 

free health care services to 

Obaseki who disclosed this 

at Imaguero College, venue 

of the exercise, denied 

allegation that it was part of 

the plans by the state 

government to sack workers, 

saying that the exercise was 

not a competency test as it 

was being rumoured. 

According to him, “Edo 

civil servants are competent 

and do not require any 

further competency test. 

Before they were employed, 

Peters Mission renders free health care to 500 widows 

in Delta 

prisoners and wives of 

deceased policemen who 

died in the line of duty.” 

Describing the gesture as 

one of its kind in the 

community, President 

General of Ekuigbo 

Community, Emmanuel 

Ovwigho said: “I want to 

commend Peters Mission 

for this laudable gesture in 

remembering the less 

privilege in the society.'' 

their competency was tested 

and that is why they are 

working in the Civil Service. 

But before promotions are 

made in the Civil Service, 

senior civil servants go 

through assessments to fill 

vacant positions in the 

directorate cadre.” 

He said that the recent 

examination conducted for 

staff on levels 16 and 17 in 

the state was an eye opener 

as some civil servants were 

discovered to be very good 

and were appointed 

Permanent Secretaries. 

“We are not sacking 

anybody, but want to 

strengthen the service so 

that it can deliver quality 

services to the state. The 

assessment is not 

compulsory but necessary 

for promotion as those who 

need to be promoted will 

have to be assessed. If you 

refuse, then there may be no 

basis for your promotion,” 

Obaseki said.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 —13 


Ologbotsere title: I've not disqualified 

anybody —Olu of Warri 

How we picked Ayiri —Ologbotsere family secribe 

By Egufe 

Yafugborhi 

WARRI— THE Olu of 

Warri, His Majesty, 

Ogiame Ikenwoli, has said 

he has not disqualified any 

nominee for conferment of 

Ologbotsere, Iyatsere and 

Uwangue traditional 

chieftaincy titles, though he 

suspended the exercise 

following revolt by his 

subjects. 

The Warri monarch stated 

this, yesterday, at the 

Aghofen Palace, Warri, 

Delta State, where he spoke 

on the raging chieftaincy 

saga before leaders of 

Itsekiri communities, 

opinion leaders and those 

from the descendants of 

families, which hold title to 

the traditional chieftaincies 

including, Iyasere and 

Ologbotsere. 

The Olu who addressed 

the gathering in Itsekiri, 

said recent tension being 

generated by his subjects’ 

perception of his actions 

were based on deliberate 

lies to malign his person, 

paint him in bad light, 

tasking anyone confronted 

with stories and allegations 

to speak to the palace to 

ascertain the truth of such 

matters. 

The monarch, who said it 

was not in his place to 

nominate candidates for the 

sensitive titles, noted that 

grievances from any 

quarter should be targeted 

at the title families, which 

he gave up till October to 

reopen broader interactions 

and carry relevant persons 

along to resolve all 

differences and present 

consensus candidates 

amicably. 

The Olu made it clear that 

the right man must be truly 

loyal, bold, vibrant and has 

the pains of the Itsekiri 

nation at heart, adding that 

he will not install a 

chicken-hearted person, 

who cannot hold his own 

and would bolt at the 

slightest sign of trouble. 

He charged the 

concerned families to be 

guided by these criteria in 

nominating the desired 

Ologbotsere to assist him 

and the entire kingdom in 

functioning effectively. 

How we picked Ayiri 

— Ologbotsere family 

secibe 

Meanwhile, Secretary 

General to the Ologbotsere 

family, Mr. William 

Anukun, taking a queue 

from the Olu’s charge, 

reaffirmed that the process 

which produced Chief Ayiri 

had the participatory 

approval of all 12 families 

representing the children of 

Ologbotsere. 

“With due respect to His 

Majesty, he gave the charge 

that all aggrieved persons 

should direct concerns to us 

since July 25, following the 

protest. As I speak with you, 

no one has come forth to 

raise any issue. I believe it 

speaks to the fact that those 

raising issues are aware that 

we followed due process. 

“All Itsekiris know that 

picking Ologbotsere is not 

every Itsekiri’s 

DESTROYED: 

Troops of 

Nigerian Navy 

Ship, NNS, 

Pathfinder, Port 

Harcourt, 

destroying 

illegal refineries 

with capacity to 

produce four 

million litres of 

diesel daily in 

Iyalama 

community, Asari 

Toru Local 

Government 

Area of Rivers 

State, yesterday. 

Photo: NAN. 

responsibility. The rigours 

that went into the selection 

of Ayiri is probably the most 

painstaking in the history 

of selecting an 

Ologbotsere. 

“After arriving at the final 

candidate, Pa Hugson 

Oporokun, current head of 

Ologbotsere family, going 

extra mile, insisted that all 

heads of the 12 families 

sign the final nomination 

document. 

"However, we have heard 

the Olu. We are waiting for 

the dissenting voices to 

come up, but I doubt if we 

will arrive at a different 

conclusion, that is if 

anybody comes up at all.” 

Those who issued quit notice to northerners, 

Yoruba are miscreants — Urhobo group 

By Emma Amaize 

UDU— THE Urhobo 

Youth Leaders 

Association, UYLA, in Delta 

State, yesterday, distanced 

itself from the quit notice 

issued northerners and 

Yoruba, last Thursday, to 

vacate the Niger Delta 

before October 1, saying 

the ‘so-called’ agitators, 

who issued the illegal 

notice under the aegis of 

Coalition of Niger Delta 

Agitators, CNDA, were 

miscreants. 

Spokesperson of the 

association, Terryson 

Orhiunu, in a statement, 

said: “On the issue of the 

quit notice given to 

northerners and Yoruba by 

some Niger Delta 

miscreants, we disassociate 

ourselves from the faceless 

coalition. Our area is open 

for everybody to do 

business and all we want 

is equity and justice in 

Nigeria's affairs.” 

UYLA called on the 

Federal Government “to 

speedily implement the 

demands of the Pan-Niger 

Delta Forum, PANDEF, by 

setting up a dialogue team 

to quickly resolve the Niger 

Delta problems. 

“We must be involved in 

the exploration and 

exploitation of oil and gas 

business in our land, not 

the situation where those 

who do not have a drop of 

oil in their domain are now 

the ones determining all that 

is happening in the oil and 

gas industry,” it added. 

The Urhobo group 

frowned at a recent 

publication by a self-styled 

APC leader in the state who 

criticized PANDEF, saying 

the politician was seeking 

cheap popularity. 

It said: “We do not see 

PANDEF as a political 

organisation, it is a regional 

organisation genuinely 

advocating the well-being 

of Niger Deltans and all 

ethnic groups are carried 

along in its activities." 

NAPIMS: NUPENG threatens 

to shut down oil industry 

By Progress 

Okpalaebule 

WARRI— NIGERIA 

Union of Petroleum 

and Natural Gas Workers, 

NUPENG, has threatened 

to shut down the oil 

industry over perceived 

moves to reduce the 

regulatory powers of 

Nigerian Petroleum 

Investment Management 

Services Limited, NAPIMS, 

in the new petroleum policy 

approved by the Federal 

Executive Council. 

Describing the move as 

inimical to the nation’s oil 

sector, NUPENG’s General 

Secretary, Mr. Joseph 

Ogbebor, in a statement, 

yesterday, in Warri, Delta 

State, said: “We will resist 

the move to strip NAPIMS 

of its responsibility of 

regulatory costing of 

projects and using an 

independent consultant. 

"We kick against it because 

of the past failures of 

government restructuring 

and privatisation process of 

PHCN and others. 

“This is a way of robbing 

Peter to pay Paul by 

pushing the costing of 

projects to an independent 

regulator, which will 

emerge from the 

restructuring of the 

Department of Petroleum 

Resources, DPR. 

"The move is self-serving, 

selfish, unjustifiable, not 

workable, uncalled for and 

meant to serve the interest 

of the promoter and will do 

the oil and gas industry no 

good. We, therefore, call for 

its stoppage forthwith or 

else we may be forced to 

embark on an industrial 

action to reverse the trend." 

East-West road now a death 

trap, Rivers monarch 

laments 

By Davies 

Iheamnachor 

PORT HARCOURT— 

HIS Royal Majesty, Eze 

Robinson Robinson, Eze 

Ekpeye Logbo, has decried 

the worsening poor condition 

of the East-West Road, 

adding that it has turned into 

a death trap for commuters. 

Robinson also said the 

Federal Government was 

playing politics with the 

development of Niger Delta, 

adding that the people were 

tired of promises. 

The royal father, who 

spoke in Port Harcourt, Rivers 

State, said people die on the 

road daily, regretting that 

hoodlums take advantage of 

the condition of the road to 

NBC, NTC exams: 31,712 

record credit pass in English, 

Maths —NABTEB 

By Gabriel 

Enogholase 

B ENIN—NATIONAL 

Business and 

Technical Examinations 

Board, NABTEB, has 

released the results of the 

May/June 2017 

examination, saying 31,712 

candidates, who sat for the 

National Business 

Certificate, NBC, and 

National Technical 

Certificate, NTC, 

examinations recorded 

credit pass in English 

Language and 

Mathematics. 

NABTEB Registrar, Prof 

Mercy Isuigo-Abanihe, 

who disclosed this in Benin 

City, Edo State, said the 

figure represents 58.75 per 

cent of the total number of 

candidates who sat for the 

examination. 

She said: “A total of 58,448 

candidates sat for the 

examination. Also, 31,712 

candidates scored five 

credits and above, 

including English 

Bayelsa to commission new 

sets of projects 

By Samuel 

Oyadongha 

Y ENAGOA—BAYELSA 

State Government has 

announced plans to 

commission another round 

of its completed projects 

spread across the state. 

The planned 

commissioning is coming 

few weeks after former 

Head of State, Gen. Yakubu 

Gowon (retd) and Nobel 

laureate, Prof. Wole 

Soyinka, visited the state to 

inaugurate some key 

projects, including the new 

Governor’s Office and the 

freely attack travellers. 

Robinson said: “The East- 

West Road has been left 

undone and people are 

dying on that road daily. Bad 

things happen on that road. 

Nothing in terms of 

repairing the road is 

happening and we are tired 

of promises. 

“The Federal Government 

is not serious about the 

development of the Niger 

Delta. The East-West Road 

is one major project in the 

Niger Delta and it is taking 

several years and yet it is not 

completed.” 

The monarch expressed 

worry with the delays in the 

remediation process in 

Ogoniland, noting that the 

people of the state were not 

encouraged with the pace of 

work. 

Language and 

Mathematics, representing 

58.75 per cent while 47,360 

scored five credit and above 

with or without English 

Language and 

Mathematics, representing 

82.53 per cent.” 

She noted that 1,905 

candidates were involved 

in examination malpractices, 

which, according 

to her, represents a 

marginal reduction from the 

figures of previous year’s 

examination. 

The registrar called for the 

implementation of 30 to 70 

percent admission ratio in 

favour of technical and 

vocational education in the 

admission of students to 

Federal Sciences and 

Technical Colleges, if the 

country was to advance 

technologically. 

She also called on all tiers 

of government to 

collaborate with NABTAB 

in the provision of skill 

empowerment for youths 

certified through its various 

skill-oriented certificates. 

Ijaw National Academy. 

A statement by the 

Secretary to State 

Government, David 

Serena-Dokubo Spiff, in 

Yenagoa, enjoined the 

public and all wellmeaning 

Bayelsans to get 

ready for the epoch events. 


commissioning will take 

place as soon as Governor 

Seriake Dickson returns 

from his annual vacation 

abroad. 

The SSG also said key 

personalities and very 

accomplished Nigerians 

will be called to perform the 

exercise.



By Chioma 

Gabriel, Vincent 

Ujumadu & Anayo 

Okoli 

TWO Igbo groups, the 

Igbo Peoples Congress, 

and the Igbo Aborigines, 

have warned the Nigerian 

Army and security agents to 

stop killing pro-Biafran 

agitators, who are not armed 

or obstructing public peace. 

The warning came on the 

heels of recent shootings and 

killings of some pro-Biafran 

members in Ekwulobia, 

Anambra State. 

Meanwhile, Movement 

for the Actualization of the 

Sovereign State of Biafra, 

MASSOB, has condemned 

Wednesday’s clash between 

members of the Indigenous 

People of Biafra, IPOB, and 

security operatives at 

Ekwulobia in Aguata Local 

Government Area, saying 

the alleged invasion of a 

peaceful and non-violence 

gathering of IPOB members 

was a primitive act. 

According to Igbo Peoples 

Congress and the Igbo 

Aborigenes in a statement, 

“the killing of more than 150 

pro-Biafran agitators by 

Nigerian security agents as 

reported by the Amnesty 

International is still fresh in 

our mind. 

"The Ezu River killings by 

SARS operatives at Awkuzu 

in Anambra State is also still 

fresh in our psyche. The quit 

notice by misled Arewa 

youths and the ongoing hate 

song in the north are still 

endangering the polity and 

yet these overzealous 

soldiers and other security 

agents are not bothered by 

all these challenges." 

They called on the 

International Court of Justice 

at The Hague to take note 

and bring to justice the killer 

soldiers and their 

commanders who also 

murdered more than one 

thousand Shiite followers in 

Zaria some months ago. 

The groups insisted that all 

Nigerians have the right to 

peaceful agitations, 

including even secession 

where marriages are not 

working. 

The groups lambasted the 

security agents for harassing 

the ‘Return or Resign” 

protesters in Abuja and the 

attack on them by some 

misled Arewa youths. 

Slam Sultan over 

comments on 

restructuring 

In a similar vein, the 

groups slammed the Sultan 

of Sokoto over his comments 

that what Nigeria needs is 

the restructuring of the dams 

in the country and not 

restructuring of Nigeria. 

They expressed shock at 

this position of the Sultan 

who hitherto was lamenting 

the culture of impunity in 

Nigeria, wondering why the 

Sultan reached this bizzare 

conclusion when he knows 

that Nigeria, as it is currently 

run, is an unjust polity. 

CONDOLENCE VISIT: Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State signing 

the condolence register during his visit to family of his late Chief of Staff, 

Chijioke Nwakodo, at his country home, Ndume Ibeku in Umuahia North 

Local Government Area of the state. 

Nigeria may sink if attacks 

on IPOB members continue 

—Groups 

•Slam Sultan over comments on restructuring 

•IPOB, Police clash primitive —MASSOB 

The groups noted that the 

Sultan may either have 

been misquoted or if he 

really made such comments 

, then it is one of the greatest 

anti-progressive statements 

of the century. 

They called on the Sultan 

whom Nigerians look up to 

to be dispassionate on 

national issues to explain 

what he means by 

restructuring of dams in 

Nigeria. 

"What has Dams and 

Agriculture got to do with our 

unjust polity?" they queried. 

"The Sultan needs to clarify 

these issues so that the 

confidence Nigerians have 

in him will not be tainted," 

they noted. 

The spokesmen of the 

groups, Pastor Okey Colbert 

and Chidi Obisike finally 

noted that Nigeria can never 

make any head way until it 

is restuctured. 

IPOB, Police 

Ekwulobia clash 

primitive –MASSOB 

A statement by the 

MASSOB leader, Comrade 

Uchenna Madu, regretted 

that Nigeria's security 

operatives were still 

operating in an uncultured 

manner full of religious and 

tribal sentiments. 

His statement read: “This 

overzealousness of Nigerian 

army and police against the 

non-violenct and armless 

Biafra agitators speaks 

volume of rejection, 

subjection, marginalisation 

and annihilation plan of 

Nigerian security agencies 

against the industrious 

people of Biafra. 

“The wicked and violent 

activities of Fulani herdsmen 

and Boko Haram against the 

Christian Middle Beltans 

and people of Biafra have not 

been challenged by Hausa- 

Fulani dominated Nigeria 

security agencies. 

"This hypocritical and bias 

of Nigeria security agencies 

are being monitored and 

recorded by the international 

organisations for human 

rights abuses for reckoning 

at the appropriate time." 

Groups warn 

against re-arrest of 

Kanu 

Meantime, three other 

Igbo groups have warned 

against any plan to re-arrest 

the leader of IPOB, Mazi 

Nnamdi Kanu, saying such 

action will spell doom for the 

country. 

The group said the action 

of the coalition of Arewa 

youths, who gave the Igbo 

in the north quit notice, was 

more offensive than the 

activities of the IPOB seeking 

peaceful actualisation of 

Biafra. 

The groups, World Igbo 

Youth Movement; Igbo 

Students’ Forum and Igbo 

Diaspora Women 

Professionals, said they 

would not fold their hands 

and see Igbo being driven 

out of the north where they 

made huge investments. 

A joint statement signed 

by Mazi Alex Okemiri for 

the World Igbo Youth 

Council; Prof. Helen 

Ogbonna for Igbo in 

Diaspora Women 

Professionals and Comrade 

Obi Izuo for Igbo Students’ 

Forum, said: "We caution that 

Nigeria may cease to exist if 

Nnamdi Kanu is re-arrested. 

This may also be the fate of 

the country if the planned 

October 1 massacre is carried 

out against Ndigbo living in 

the north." 

Meanwhile, the groups 

have urged Ndigbo to vie for 

the presidency of the country 

in 2019, saying it is their 

constitutional right to do that, 

insisting that there was no 

going back on the Igbo 

presidency project in 2019. 

Firm unveils app to ease 

banking transactions 

By Christopher 

Njoku 

THE introduction of 

Cloud Automated 

Spend Bank Analysis, 

CASBA, an artificial 

intelligence solution 

developed by Josla Electric 

is expected to offer a new 

dimension of convenience 

and time saving by 

significantly cutting down 

on transaction problems, by 

making 24-hour banking 

possible. 

The artificial intelligence 

solution, CASBA has an A.I 

robot called Kira, which has 

been infused into it for 

AD seeks funding for political parties, wants 

5-party system 

By Enyim Enyim 

O NITSHA—THE 

National Vice 

Chairman of Alliance for 

Democracy, AD, for South- 

East, Chief Perry 

Iloegbunam, yesterday, 

called on the Federal 

Government to give grants 

to political parties to enable 

them have a level playing 

ground in elections. 

Iloegbunam also 

advocated for five-political 

party system in the country 

to bring sanity in the polity. 

Speaking exclusively 

with Vanguard shortly after 

the re-launch of the AD in 

Anambra State ahead of the 

governorship election in 

the state fixed for November 

18, 2017, he said political 

parties should be 

adequately funded to put 

them at par with others. 

He said: “I believe that 

the number of political 

parties we have in this 

country is too much and I 

am advocating that the 

Independent National 

Over 300 staff shut down 

IMUTH over half salaries 

By Chinonso 

Alozie 

OWERRI— OVER 300 

staff of Imo State 

University Teaching 

Hospital, IMUTH, Orlu, 

yesterday, blocked the 

administrative complex of 

the hospital, over the 

allegation of half payment 

of salaries among other 

issues. 

Their grievances were 

outlined by the chairman, 

Joint Action Committee, 

JAC, Mr. Bright 

Chukwunta, who led the 

protest. 

According to him, they 

have also declared a 21-day 

prayer and fasting to seek 

the face of God in order to 

intervene in their 

predicament. 

He said: “We are not 

happy that our salaries 

have been arbitrarily 

reduced by 30 percent for 

the past 18 months and the 

salaries of the past three 

months, May, June and 

July of 2017, are yet to be 

paid. We cannot even pay 

our wards' school fees. 

“We conduct child 

delivery operation with 

torchlight. 

“And we have a member 

of the top management 

committee who has 

collected three months 

Electoral Commission, 

INEC, should deregister 

many political parties and 

bring the number to three 

or maximum of five political 

parties. Many political 

parties we have today are 

just there for the sake of 

being there.” 

Earlier at the meeting, 

Iloegbunam urged 

members of the party to go 

to their wards and mobilise 

support for the party to 

enable AD produce the 

governor for the state come 

November 18. 

salary in advance, while 

we are not paid. There's no 

staff clinic and the 

management is running 

on the hospital’s billing. 

“The people you are 

seeing here are made up 

of Association of Resident 

Doctors, Medical and 

Dental Consultants of 

Nigeria, National 

Association of Nurses and 

Midwives, Medical and 

Health Workers Union of 

Nigeria and National 

Union of Allied 

Professionals. 

“We have declared a 21- 

day fasting and prayer in 

the hospital for God to hear 

our cry.” 

In his reaction, the Chief 

Medical Director of 

IMUTH, Mr. Fredrick 

Anolu, said: “It is true that 

we are owing our staff 

three months salaries and 

have been paying 70 per 

cent for sometime now but 

it is not our making. The 

70 per cent payment is the 

policy of the state 

government, which was 

implemented across the 

state.” 

He said that efforts are on 

to address the issues raised 

by the staff, adding that if 

the staff go on strike, it 

would affect their means of 

their income. 

communication with users. 

Speaking at the soft 

launch recently in Lagos, 

Chief Executive Officer of 

Josla Electric Company 

Limited, Akinlabi Ajelabi, 

said the solution is an 

application that 

incorporates cloud 

computing data strategy, 

digital applications and 

also cognitive computing, 

known as artificial 

intelligence. 

He said: “We want to be 

able to interact with 

customers in a way that a 

machine can understand 

what you need to get done, 

and also helps you to get it 

done. The A.I can keep you 

engaged as a customer, it 

can be connected to CRM 

systems, payment systems 

and more. 

“The app will allow any 

person to open an account 

in three minutes with the 

Biometric Verification 

Number. It is a 24/7 

automated buyer help 

system. It helps one find 

dishing out machines from 

a location map." 

Also speaking, the 

business lead and cofounder, 

Akintola Adesomi, 

said CASBA is not going 

to push away the banks 

existing e-payment 

platform, but will be infused 

into those platforms for 

extreme efficiency.



Ozubulu youths 

association 

moves to fish 

out killers at 

church 

By Chimaobi 

Nwaiwu 

N NEWI—THE 

Ozubulu Youths 

Association, OYA, 

yesterday said they will not 

take the law into their hands 

over the killing of their 

parents, brothers and sisters 

who died in the St Philips 

Catholic Church attack on 

August 6, 2017, but they are 

willing and ready to cooperate 

with the security 

agencies to fish out the 

perpetrators of the heinous 

crime against their people. 

Rising from an 

emergency meeting of its 

national executives, the 

youths urged security 

agencies to carry out a 

thorough investigation into 

the massacre of 

worshippers at Ofufe 

Amakwa Ozubulu Catholic 

Church. 

They also pleaded with 

the Anambra State 

Government and the 

security agencies to beef up 

security in the entire state 

and its environs at least now 

that the governorship 

election is approaching, just 

as it called for the 

establishment of more police 

posts in the remote areas of 

Ozubulu town to beef up 

security. 

This was contained in a 

statement the association 

issued after its meeting, 

signed by Chief Emeka 

Anaekwe, National 

Chairman, and Val 

Iwuchukwu, National 

Secretary respectively, of 

OYA, which was also copied 

to the Divisional Police 

Officer in charge of 

Ozubulu and others. 

Herdsmen invade, destroy 200 farms in Imo 

•Millions have been lost — President General 

By Chinonso 

Alozie 

O WERRI— 

HERDSMEN 

yesterday, invaded 

farmlands in Imo State and 

destroyed over 200 farms in 

Amakohia-Ubi 

Autonomous community, 

Owerri west Local 

Government Area of Imo 

state. 

The farmers are now 

counting losses following 

the invasion of their 

farmlands by herdsmen. 

By Peter Okutu 

A BAKALIKI— 

EBONYI State 

government yesterday 

released the sum of N1.5 

billion for the payment of 

arrears of pensions and 

gratuities owed Ebonyi 

workers from 1996 to 2017. 

In a statement issued in 

Abakaliki, the state 

commissioner for 

Information and State 

Orientation, Senator 

Emmanuel Onwe stated 

that the payment cut across 

both state and local 

government workers in the 

state. 

The statement read in 

part: “Following the 

conclusion of the work of 

the Committee on the 

Verification of the State 

Pensions & Gratuities from 

2nd October, 1996 to 6th 

June, 2017, and following 

the presentation and 

consideration of the 

Committee’s Report by the 

Executive Council of 

Ebonyi State on Tuesday 

the 15th of August, 2017, the 

President General of the 

community, Mr. Cyril 

Ndumanya confirmed this 

to Vanguard, yesterday, in 

Owerri. 

He said that millions 

have been lost and hunger 

could ravage the 

community. 

Ndumanya said: “What 

we are seeing in the hands 

of these herdsmen is 

causing us unforgettable 

pains. 

“Last month, we reached 

an agreement to stop this 

ugly trend but you can see 

Ebonyi releases N1.5bn for 

payment of workers' pension, 

gratuities arrears 

council has authorized the 

release of the sum of N1.5 

billion for the payment of 

arrears of pensions and 

gratuities of Ebonyi workers 

from 1996 to 2017. 

“Specifically, the sum of 

N750 million has been 

approved for the payment 

of the pensions arrears and 

gratuities of retired State 

Civil Servants and an equal 

amount of N750 million has 

also been approved by the 

council for the payment of 

the pensions arrears and 

gratuities of Local 

Government workers. 

that they have started 

again. This time around, 

what they have destroyed 

are worth millions of naira. 

No issue of rape, killings 

but the level of destructions 

may bring hunger. 

“Our cassava, vegetables, 

maize have been 

completely destroyed and 

used by herdsmen to feed 

their cattle.” 

Vanguard gathered that 

farmers were bewildered 

early morning Thursday, 

when they came for their 

normal farm activities to 

behold their crops had 

been destroyed by 

herdsmen. 

A farmer, who simply 

introduced herself as 

Benedict told Vanguard, “ 

I came to my farm to 

harvest my cassava only to 

see that cattle have 

destroyed them. 

“I want to collect some 

cassava to go and sell in the 

market and used the 

money to buy what me and 

my husband and children 

will eat. I am shedding 

tears, I don’t know what to 

do now.” 

A titled chief, who 

preferred the name Nze, 

said that it was not the first 

time such a thing was 

happening in the 

community and that his 

PEOPLE SPEAK 

relatives had been affected 

by the recent invasion of 

their farmlands by 

herdsmen. 

Nze said: “We have more 

than 200 people farming in 

the area and some of them 

went to the farm to harvest 

what they will eat. You can 

see thatthe people are 

On calls for President Buhari to resume office or resign 

Disengaged workers cry to 

Buhari over entitlements 

By Ugochukwu 

Alaribe 

A BA—WORKERS 

disengaged from 

the Abia State civil service 

have sent a save our soul 

message to President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

over the inability of the 

state government to pay 

their entitlements. 

Former Abia state 

governor, Theodore Orji, 

had on October 1, 2011, 

ordered 

the 

disengagement of over 4, 

000 non indigenous 

workers from its 

workforce and later 

recalled those from non 

Igbo states. 

The disengaged 

workers had on February 

2016, petitioned President 

Muhammadu Buhari on 

how they were 

Drug abuse, a threat to national devt — Sen Ashafa 

THE 

Senator 

representing Lagos 

East, Senator Gbenga 

Ashafa has described the 

rate of drug abuse in the 

country as “a threat to 

national development” 

and called on pharmacists 

to lead in the fight against 

the abuse of over the 

counter and prescription 

pills. 

Ashafa made the call at 

the 2017 Edition of the 

Association of Community 

Pharmacist’s, Day, Lagos 

Chapter, themed: “National 

development,” with a sub 

theme, “The role of 

pharmaceutical sector in 

building a healthy nation: 

role of community 

pharmacists.” 

Ashafa, who was 

represented by Dr. Rotimi 

Adesanya, a family 

Physician and Head of 

Ashafa’s Medical outreach 

team, commended the role 

of community pharmacists 

as first responders in the 

community health value 

chain. 

He decried the rise in the 

abuse of prescription 

medications and over the 

counter pills which he 

described as dangerous to 

national development. 

suffering. I want to ask 

what will these people 

affected do ? 

“The problem is not that 

they destroyed our crops 

but when will this type 

of thing stop? Whenever 

the herdsmen destroy 

our farmlands, there is 

always so much hunger 

in the land.” 

disengaged on October, 

2011, without any 

monetary compensation. 

Leader of the 

disengaged workers, Mrs. 

Fidelia Ihejirika, who 

spoke to Vanguard in Aba, 

lamented that their appeal 

to Governor Okezie 

Ikpeazu to deploy part of 

the state’s share of the 

Paris Club to pay off their 

entitlements, has not 

yielded fruit and urged 

the presidency to come to 

their aid. 

Ihejirika urged the 

federal government to 

prevail on the state 

government to pay off the 

disengaged workers to 

save them from further 

suffering. 

She disclosed that about 

81 of the disengaged 

workers have died out of 

frustration as the exercise 

was carried out without 

regard to those who had put 

in almost 35 years of service 

and were not given any 

terminal benefit. 

“The President through 

the Federal ministry of 

Justice acknowledged 

receipt of our petition in 

March 2016, but since then, 

we have not heard from 

them again. We are 

appealing to the presidency 

not to abandon us to our 

plight. We are going 

through untold suffering." 

By Bartholomew 

Madukwe (08051019450) 

nwamad@yahoo.com 

What will be the bene 

fit of President Buhari’s 

resignation? The 

man has done what the law 

requires of him. He has not 

failed any known Nigerian 

or international law in this 

matter. He did not make 

himself unwell. We all get 

sick. Miss Walter Promise, 

Communicator 

Let me tell you, those 

people who do not 

want President Buhari 

alive are deceiving themselves, 

I love him. I am 

praying for God to grant 

him full recovery. It is important 

that we consider 

that is not him that create 

this illness to himself. Mr 

Awwal Kanta, Worker 

Isupport the call for Bu 

hari's resignation or resumption. 

Enough of holding 

the citizens who elected 

him to be the president 

into ridicule and reproach 

in the international community 

at the expense of 

our expended money. Mr 

Wale Orijemiseye, Administrator 

This project Nigeria in 

volves all of us and we 

know President Buhari's 

current state may not let 

him continue as we wish. 

He should come back and 

go home to rest and allow 

either the acting president 

to continue or for a new 

election. Miss Anne 

Kelechi, Graduate 

Well, what I have to 

say is more like a 

question, which is, who 

will coordinate activities 

of the North and Fulani 

herdsmen if Buhari 

resigns? The only work 

they know in the North 

is to be in power. Mr 

Victor Inyang- 

Edung, Businessman 

From what I have seen 

about our Constitution, 

it is more like a camouflage 

that its followed according 

to as it is written. The Nigerian 

law fight the poor and 

not the big people. If not, 

President Buhari would 

have been impeached or 

resign. Mr Monday Abalaka, 

Entrepreneur


NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058 

PRESIDENTIAL LODGE: From left— Director, Finance and 

Accounts, State House, Mr. Bashir Alkali; Permanent Secretary, State House, 

representing Presidency, Mr. Jalal Arabi; Secretary to Lagos State Government, 

Mr. Tunji Bello, and Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental 

Relations, Mr. Seye Oladejo, at the signing of the Memorandum of 

Understanding, MoU, during the handing over of the Presidential Lodgee, 

Marina, to Lagos State government by the Federal Government, in Lagos, 

yesterday. PHOTO: Bunmi Azeez. 

FUTA: From left— A student of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, 

Oladipo Jegede; Vice-Chancellor, Professor Joseph Fuwape; and Director, 

International Office, Professor Tom Ofuya, all of Federal University of 

Technology, Akure, FUTA, during the presentation of documents to Jegede, 

one of the six students proceeding to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical 

University, FAMU, Tallahassee, USA, at a send off held for the students in 

Akure, yesterday. 

TSA: FG appoints 2 firms to audit 

banks' remittances 

By Emma Ujah, Abuja 

Bureau Chief 

ABUJA—THE Federal 

Government has 

appointed Pricewaterhouse 

Cooper as well as Ernst and 

Young for a comprehensive 

audit of deposit banks’ 

remittances to the Treasury 

Single Account, TSA. 

The Director of Funds, 

Office of the Accountant 

General of the Federation, 

Mr Alexander Adeyemi, 

disclosed this at a workshop 

in Abuja, yesterday. 

He said: "The AGF has 

given approval for the audit 

of the entire TSA and 

possibly we have very 

reputable accounting firms 

like Pricewaterhouse 

Cooper, Ernst and Young 

and they are there now in 

the field doing that audit of 

the entire TSA so that any 

money that is still 

remaining in commercial 

banks believe we would be 

able to discover them. 

"They are doing a threelegged 

reconciliation. We 

are starting out with the 

balance of the MDAs 

(Ministries, Departments 

and Agencies) before the 

presidential directive. Then 

we are proceeding to CBN 

in terms of how much was 

moved, was it the total 

money in banks? We are 

also auditing that. 

"We are also auditing 

what is the balance now in 

these various accounts so 

it's a comprehensive thing 

that is currently going on. I 

must say that the truth about 

the position of things and 

some of the lapses we are 

seeing, especially among 

the banks not adhering to 

the presidential directive, 

will surely come out." 

The federal government’s 

decision to audit the banks’ 

remittances was based on 

financial intelligence that 

some of them had failed to 

remit all federal 

government funds with 

them to the TSA domiciled 

in the Central Bank of 


Indeed, seven of such 

banks had been dragged to 

court over the breaches but 

the federal government 

was pressured to withdraw 

the suits against them only 

a few days ago. 

Mr. Adeyemi disclosed 

that SystemSpec, the 

consultant to TSA, had 

demanded the payment of 

N12 billion but noted that 

the amount could be less 

after proper scrutiny. 

He added that the 

President had given 

approval for the payment 

but did not state the 

amount. 

"The president has 

approved the amount to be 

paid to Remita for their 

services and we have been 

working in line with that 

presidential directive. The 

only problem is that Remita 

is looking before the 

directive that there is an 

agreement with the 

government. 

"But we are saying that 

looking at the quantum of 

transaction of the TSA, if 

you calculate it based on 

that, the money that would 

be paid would be running 

into over N12bn. 

"Initially when it started, 

nobody knew it would be 

like this and we looked at 

it again and government 

said let us look at it again 

and that is why government 

has put a committee to 

work round the clock on this 

and I believe between now 

and next week, all that 

would be cleared.'' 

STARTIMES DONATES: From left—Startimes School Donation: 

From left— Director General, Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, Mr. Ibn 

Mohammed; Vice President, Startimes, Gvo Zigi; Vice Minister of State Council 

Information Office, China, Mr. Guo Weimin; Seriki Jiwa, Samuel Kaura, other 

officials and pupils of Hulumi village, during the presentation of special donation 

to Hulumi Primary School by Startimes in Abuja. PHOTO: Gbemiga Olamikan. 

CONFAB: From left—Member, House of Representatives Committee on 

Petroleum, Mr. Simon Arobo; Deputy Director, Engineering and Standard 

Division, Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Mr. Olumide Adeleke; Group 

Managing Director, Aiteo Production and Development Company/Chairman of 

the occasion, Dr. Chike Onyejekwe; Managing Director, National Engineering 

and Technical Company, Engineer Siky Aliyu, and Chairman, Association of 

Energy Correspondents of Nigeria, NAEC, Mr. Yusuf Yunus, during the 

Association's conference on the theme PIGB: Prospects and Challenges to Nigerian 

Oil and Gas Industry, in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: Lamidi Bamidele.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 —17 

LAST week, I wrote about 

OurMumuDonDo, the 

protest group that is tired of 

the mystery surrounding Mr. 

President’s health, concerned 

about the fact that he has been 

away from his desk for most 

of this year while receiving 

medical treatment and 

insisting that he either 

returns from the UK soon or 

resigns. 

A foreign diplomat 

subsequently asked me to 

explain the exact meaning of 

OurMumuDonDo. I told him 

that it is a pidgin English way 

of saying that Nigerians have 

been stupidly submissive or 

daftly tolerant for long 

enough. 

Anguish in foreign 

hospitals 

I then added, reflectively, 

that Nigerian “mumu” is very 

small compared to the 

MASSIVE mumu that is 

manifested by the citizens of 

countries in which leaders do 

MUCH worse than hide the 

exact nature of their illnesses 

and languish in foreign 

hospitals for several weeks at 

a time! 

North Korea is a classic 

example. Kim Jong-un, aged 

33, is the Chairman of the 

Workers’ Party and Supreme 

Leader. His father and 

grandfather were also 

THE National Chairman 

of the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, Chief John 

Odigie-Oyegun, recently 

inuagurated a 23-member 

committee to investigate 

options around “true 

federalism” and restructuring. 

The committee will be chaired 

by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of 

Kaduna state and he has said 

that it will distill from the APC 

Constitution and manifesto, 

“the various ideas canvassed in 

the different constitutional 

conference reports and the 

ongoing public debate, the 

aggregation of the views of our 

people for a consensus 

TheirMumuDonDo 

Will this committee help? 

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, centre, falls after addressing supporters 

North Korea leader Kim Jong Il, left, walks by his son Kim Jong Un 

Supreme Leaders and the 

young man is a real chip off 

arrangement that is sustainable 

and conducive to the prosperity 

and peaceful coexistence of all 

Nigerians”. 

I must confess that when I 

saw the names of the committee 

members, only two or three 

inspired any faith! Not that they 

are bad people per se. Just that 

I don’t think they are going to 

help much within this context. 

It really worries me that the 

states that have the most to gain 

from constructive change are 

not adequately represented. 

I and most Niger Deltans are 

tired of empty platitudes, futile 

window-dressing exercises 

and disrespectful attempts on 

the old blocks…as in 

uncompromisingly dictatorial, 

the part of the authorities to 

insult our intelligence. 

I guess it’s possible that I am 

being unfair and that this 

committee will deliver progress 

and not just slyly use style to 

maintain the status quo, plus a 

couple of largely irrelevant 

systemic tweaks. If past 

experience on the “reform” 

front is anything to go by, we 

will continue to be cheated until 

oil/gas runs out or ceases to 

have much economic value. 

Let’s wait and see what 

happens in the near future or 

medium-term. In the 

m e a n t i m e , 

NigerDeltaMumuDon-Do! 

chillingly brutal and 

p a r a n o i d l y 

psychotic. 

He is extremely 

secretive. He 

executed his uncle 

(with anti-aircraft 

artillery, no less) for 

“treachery” and sent 

assassins after his 

elder brother (a gentle 

soul who minded his 

business and never 

harmed anyone). 

There are about 

200,000 “dissidents” 

in North Korean slave 

labour camps. 

North Koreans are 

so oppressed and so 

terrified of this frightening 

family that when Jong-un’s 

father died, they - senior 

officials as well as ordinary 

folks – fell over themselves 

engaging in flamboyant 

displays of grief. Similarly, 

wherever Jong-un goes, he is 

greeted rapturously as his 

compatriots clap maniacally. 

Sychophantic 

weepers 

Pic. AP 

When I told a friend who has 

studied the Asian political 

scene for years that I was 

“disgusted by the fake tears 

and fake applause”, my friend 

assured me that the 

sychophantic weepers and 

praise singers are not 

pretending. 

In other words, they have 

been so comprehensively 

brainwashed that they really 

believe that they love Jongun 

and his awful 

predecessors…and it’s very 

unlikely that they will see the 

light anytime soon - and rise 

up and liberate themselves 

from the torture and tyranny 

they have endured for 3 

generations. 

Na wa for North Koreans! 

TheirMumuDonDo-O! 

Nigerians would never put 

up with that kind of 

nonsense 

THE same can be said of the 

difference between Nigerians 

and Zimbabweans. We can be 

mumu-ish to a frustrating 

degree, but our President is a 

saint and icon of democracy 

and transparency compared to 

many other heads of state and 

we are icons of self-esteem 

and gra-gra compared to 

Robert Mugabe’s subjects. 

Mugabe, a onetime globally 

admired freedom fighter, has 

been at the helm for decades. 

He is now in his 90s. But 

there is no sign of retirement 

on the horizon. His pushy 

wife Grace is in everyone’s 

face. 

ZimMumuDonDo-o! 

Responses to: 

donzol2002@yahoo.co.uk 

or to 0802 747 6458 OR 0811 

675 9752 (texts only). 

PLEASE KINDLY NOTE 

THAT UNLESS YOU 

SPECIFICALLY REQUEST 

ANONYMITY, YOUR 

COMMENTS M AY BE 

PUBLISHED, WITH YOUR 

NAMES AND CONTACT 

DETAILS ATTACHED. 

C 

M 

Y 

K


The Academic Staff Union of 

Universities (ASUU) has embarked 

upon another “indefinite and total” 

strike, which has shut down no less 

than 40 Federal and 44 state 

universities. 

The union called the strike after 

its recent National Executive 

Council, NEC, meeting in Abuja. 

President of the Union, Dr Biodun 

Ogunyemi, justified the strike on the 

grounds of alleged breach of the 

2009 Memorandum of 

Understanding, MOU, it signed with 

the Federal Government on funding 

of universities and refusal to honour 

the conditions of service and the 

Earned Academic Allowances, EAA. 

ASUU is unhappy that 

governments have been 

unenthusiastic in implementing the 

conditions of service, university 

autonomy and academic freedom 

demands of the Union which have 

been long-standing causes of strikes 

down the ages. The government is 

also accused of failure to release a 

Let this ASUU strike end soonest 

balance of N880 billion required 

for implementation of the needs 

assessment report for rejuvenation 

of facilities in the universities. 

Failure of government to 

implement agreed terms has always 

put it at loggerheads with not only 

ASUU but other various unions 

within the public service. The 

Muhammadu Buhari regime had 

raised hope that it could end this 

vicious cycle when in January this 

year, it set up the 16-member Dr B. 

O. Babalakin panel to re-negotiate 

the 2009 agreement with ASUU as 

a strategy of close engagement to 

foreclose further strikes. 

Unfortunately, that hope was 

dashed with this fresh work 

stoppage. 

We see the assurance of the 

Minister of Education, Malam 

Adamu Adamu that the strike will 

end “next week” as a metaphor for 

its early resolution as a result of 

what the Minister calls the 

government’s “policy of engaging 

the unions”. We believe that 

continuous constructive 

engagement with ASUU and the 

demonstration of goodwill in 

implementing agreed terms of 

settlement is a panacea for 

uninterrupted flow of the academic 

calendar. 

The two sides should set a template 

for the implementation of 

agreements and abide by it. 

Government has a duty to give the 

Union a sense of commitment to the 

implementation of pacts once 

agreed. A lot will be achieved if 

efforts are made to release a 

sizeable sum of money to carry out 

the capital needs of the universities 

and attend to the welfare of their 

workers. 

We urge ASUU to be mindful of 

the economic recession we are 

struggling with, and demonstrate 

good faith and patriotism once 

government demonstrate 

willingness to improve on its past 

record of abandoning pacts. 

We hope the strike will be 

resolved before the beginning of 

the next academic calendar. We can 

no longer afford the situation 

whereby our children waste many 

years waiting to graduate from 

universities. It is the children of the 

middle and lower classes that suffer 

the most. 

By Sufuyan Ojeifo & Ariyo Dare-Atoy 

THE Muhammadu Buhari government 

should do the needful by blocking some 

entrenched political interests who are in the 

habit of exploiting the influence and authorities 

of the state to takeover businesses they never 

laboured for. This habit is a product of 

politically-induced conspiracies that have been 

on for decades. Sadly, this conspiracy is rearing 

its ugly head in a devious manner to encumber, 

ex-post facto, the acquisition of former Nigerian 

Telecommunication Limited (NiTEL/MTEL) 

by NatCom Development and Investment 

Limited (NatCom); and has been on since the 

company won the bid and launched its brand, 

ntel. The intention of the conspirators is to 

retrieve the growing concern. 

Our nation has suffered from bad decisions, 

petty and unhealthy political interferences in 

big businesses, while the unbridled influence 

of people who lack the sagacity, capacity and 

acumen to build their own business interests 

from the scratch to prominence, have cost us 

dearly. They always lurk around the corners, 

search out for corporations with one challenge 

or the other, and use such malevolent advantage 

to hijack them. Sometimes, the influence of 

government is used in a most appalling manner, 

to settle old scores. This is a destructive line of 

attack that has become a recurring decimal in 

our nation. 

We must admit that it has taken exceptional 

courage, strong determination, discreet 

government backing and some sort of waivers 

and incentives to successfully manage big 

businesses in Nigeria, in the last five years. 

Virtually all the foreign ones have the backing, 

support and protection of their home 

OPINION 

ntel: We’re just making economic sense 

governments. That is why the latest desperate 

action of the management of one of the leading 

banks against NatCom is quite unfortunate, 

sad and injurious to the economy of this nation. 

While the bank’s management has caused a 

politically-coated petition against NatCom and 

the submission of the same to the Presidency, it 

has equally launched a most vicious and 

embarrassing media onslaught against the 

We must reject the 

medieval practice of 

allowing others to take 

over what they did not 

labour for 

telecom firm and its owners. The petition and 

media attacks are laced with political vendetta. 

They simply want the current government to 

act on their petition on the basis that one of the 

owners of the firm, Tunde Ayeni, allegedly 

supported a different political party in the 2015 

presidential election. 

The bank, in a similar vindictive fashion, is 

pushing for a takeover of ntel through the 

Presidency, alleging that Ayeni, its former 

chairman, used loan facilities from the bank to 

acquire Ibadan and Yola Discos; and, NiTEL 

for his company, NatCom; that he exposed the 

bank to too many loans that have gone bad 

and most scathingly, that he used money from 

the bank to support the failed re-election bid of 

former President Goodluck Jonathan. 

Apparently, the chief executive officer of the 

bank is inadvertently saying he is for the ruling 

All Progressives Party, APC, while Ayeni is not. 

The practice in which heads of big firms support 

one party or the other during general election 

has become a major trapping of capitalism. 

Conversely, the support of the State is becoming 

increasingly needed to survive difficult times. 

Unfortunately, and unknown to the 

management of the bank, the public is very 

sensitive to this misguided media onslaught, 

which is gradually de-marketing the bank and 

fast affecting the rising brand of ntel altogether, 

and consequently putting investments and jobs 

at risk. In the end, if this is not stopped or 

mitigated, Nigeria, as a country, would 

automatically become the ultimate loser in this 

unhealthy rivalry, because jobs and 

opportunities would be lost and destroyed. This 

is not how to grow a nation’s economic capacity. 

We may need to study how the Obama 

government intervened in the US to save jobs 

and investments by supporting many firms with 

bailout funds. Aside the bad economy, a lot of 

things also went wrong in several US 

corporations at the time, but the government 

considered the bigger picture first and elected 

to save jobs and investments from collapsing. It 

is curious that the bank’s management is taking 

the current step even while the NatCom, 

according to authoritative reports, is 

consistently paying back the NiTEL facility with 

the payment of $10 million as recent as about 

two weeks ago. 

NatCom is also said to be discussing with a 

potential investor for the injection of $200 

million into NiTel to repay the bank’s loan. 

Ayeni is also said to be making a quarterly 

repayment of $4.5 million to defray the loan 

facility for Ibadan and Yola distribution 

companies. So, the question is: if there is this 

fidelity to repayment of the facility why are the 

forces behind the conspiracy against ntel not 

letting up? The Presidency, which is already in 

receipt of the bank’s petition, should bear in 

mind that angels do not do businesses on earth. 

Human beings do and these human beings 

have different affiliations; and, their interests 

are well defined. 

The most fundamental thing, however, is to 

ensure that the rules in the books are followed 

at all times. Even when there are violations of 

corporate governance regulations or when 

sharp practices occur, sanctions and fines that 

will not in any away jeopardise the entire 

business, should be applied. This is what is 

applicable globally. We must reject the 

medieval practice of allowing others to take 

over what they did not labour for. It is in the 

interest of the state to prevent businesses from 

going down. 

For instance, the US economy depends 

heavily on lending to finance many 

expenditures of the business community; so 

also are other nations of the world. And when 

the business community is in distress, the State 

comes to rescue it. Behind a great business lies 

a great influence or protection of the State. 

The way the South African government and 

other countries have been supporting their 

business interests in Nigeria is worthy of note. 

This is now a global capitalist tradition that 

was then done in secret but which is now an 

open secret. 

•Ojeifo and Dare-Atoye, wrote from Abuja.

N200bn Agric loan: CBN orders beneficiaries 

to insure projects with NAIC 

From left: Dr. Chike Onyejekwe, Group Managing Director, Aiteo Production and Development 

Company receiving a plaque from Mr. Siky Aliyu, representative of the Group Managing Director 

of NNPC and Mr. Yunus Yusuf, Chairman, Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria 

(NAEC) during the 2017 conference of NAEC in Lagos. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele 

By Babajide Komolafe 

THE Central Bank of Ni 

geria (CBN) has ordered 

beneficiaries of the N200 billion 

Commercial Agricultural 

Credit Scheme (CACS) to 

henceforth obtain insurance 

cover for their projects from the 

Nigeria Agricultural Insurance 

Company (NAIC). 

The order followed the release 

of the amended guidelines 

for the CACS in a circular 

signed by the Director, Financial 

Policy and Regulation 

Department, CBN, Mr. Kelvin 

Amugo. 

Entitled: “Amendment to the 

CACS Guidelines”, the circular 

stated: “The CBN has reviewed 

the guidelines for 

$129. 05 -1.90 

$1,858.00 +14.00 

$13.17 +0.23 

$14. 71 

$50. 10 -0.17 

$46. 58 -0. 20 

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING 

US DOLLAR 304.65 305.15 305.65 

POUNDS 392.2064 392. 8501 393.4938 

EURO 356. 867 357. 4527 358. 0384 

FRANC 312. 7181 313. 2314 313.7446 

YEN 2.7488 2.7533 2.7578 

CFA 0.5255 0.5355 0.5455 

WAUA 428. 2207 428.9235 429.6263 

RENMINBI 45.5161 45. 5913 45.6664 

RIYAL 81.2335 81. 3668 81.5001 

SDR 428. 7339 429.4376 430.1412 

RAND 23.014 23. 0518 23.0895 

CBN Exchange rate as at 17/08/2017 

CACS, to enhance its effectiveness 

and further mitigate the 

risks faced by participating financial 

institutions in financing 

the agricultural sector. This 

revision affects sections 16 and 

17 of the guidelines and introduces 

significant changes, 

including a requirement that 

henceforth, NAIC should provide 

insurance cover for all 

agricultural facilities/projects 

under CACS in line with NAIC 

Act”. 

While section 16(vi) incorporates 

NAIC as one of the key 

stakeholders in the scheme, 

Section 17e (f) of the amended 

guidelines states that: “A 

farmer whose crop or livestock 

is covered by Section 7 of this 

guidelines may take out an 

insurance cover under the 

scheme, but where the farmer 

is also a beneficiary of an agriculture 

loan or credit facility 

from the government, a bank 

or other financial institution (in 

Lekki Free Zone: Lagos State set to 

demolish illegal structures 


this guidelines referred to as 

“lending institution”), he 

shall take out an insurance 

cover under the scheme (sub- 

Section 13 of NAIC Act).” 

Furthermore, Section 17f 

spells out the responsibilities 

of NAIC under the scheme. It 

states, “NAIC’s responsibilities 

shall include: Provision of 

insurance cover for all the agricultural 

projects in the event 

of losses arising from the various 

hazards insured in the 

value chain; Ensure that the 

subsidized portion of the premium 

in the production policies 

is collected from both the 

Federal and State Governments 

and; Provide the predetermined 

premium rate from 

time to time to the lending 

bank.” 

Other responsibilities are: 

“Prompt settlement of claims 

in an efficient and effective 

manner; Issue and incorporate 

the financial interest of the 

lending bank as the first loss 

payee into the policy document 

to the extent of their right 

and interests; Provision of 

advisory and other risk management 

services; Inspection 

and monitoring of farms and 

projects; The provision of 

training for the agricultural 

desk officers of banks on the 

Agricultural Insurance needs 

of CACS loan beneficiaries; 

and Provision of extension services 

and other ancillary services 

that may arise from time 

to time.” 

By Franklin Alli 

LAGOS State Government said it will 

soon start demolishing all illegal structures 

on land within the Lekki Free Zone 

(LFZ). 

The state’s Commissioner for Commerce, 

Industry and Co-operatives, Prince Rotimi 

Ogunleye, said in a statement that private 

estate developers and land grabbers have 

illegally encroached on the land and are 

to face the wrath of the law. 

He said the massive encroachments were 

needless on a land already acquired by 

government and committed to a project 

that would bring succour to residents of 

the State. 

Ogunleye advised members of the public 

to be wary of dubious advertisements 

on land purchase beside the Lekki Free 

Zone sponsored by private estate developers, 

stressing that the 16,347 hectares 

Lekki Free Zone land acquired for development 

by the state government remains 

a ‘No-Go-Area’ for any developmental activities 

other than the purpose for which it 

was acquired. 

He said, “Any private developer or land 

speculator deceiving members of the public 

into purchasing the parcels of land 

at LFZ are on their own because the 

state government will start demolishing 

all illegal structures already 

erected within the acquired areas by 

the Lagos state government.” 

Also speaking, the state’s Commissioner 

for Physical Planning and Urban 

Development, Wasiu Anifowose, 

advised potential land buyers to always 

approach the Ministry for necessary 

planning information that 

would be provided free-of-charge. 

Commissioner for Local Government 

and Community Affairs, Hon. 

Muslim Folami, urged residents of the 

area to key into the long term benefits 

of the Zone to the various communities 

instead of encroaching on 

the land. 

“The benefits to Lekki Free Zone to 

Epe division is enormous, about 750 

hectares of land had been given as 

resettlement, in addition to the excision 

granted by the state government 

and several other intervention in form 

of monetary compensation from the 

state government to the beneficiaries,” 

Folami stated. 

SON to 

introduce product 

authentication 

scheme 

By Yinka Kolawole, 

with agency report 

STANDARDS Organisation 

of Nigeria (SON) has engaged 

the services of MSP Secure 

Technologies Nigeria Ltd, 

the Nigerian affiliate of an international 

security printing 

outfit, Mandras Security Printing 

Private Limited of India, to 

introduce a product authentication 

scheme in Nigeria. 

The scheme is aimed at assisting 

consumers to determine 

the genuineness of products 

before purchase. 

Speaking at the signing of the 

agreement with the company in 

Abuja, Director General, SON, 

Mr. Osita Aboloma, said the 

scheme is to ensure that consumers 

get value for their 

money while also protecting 

genuine manufacturers and 

importers from faking, cloning 

and product counterfeiting. 

He said: “The management of 

SON had since May, 2016 approved 

the project as part of 

strategies to combat the negative 

effects of product cloning, 

faking, counterfeiting and substandard 

products in general in 

the Nigerian market”. 

Aboloma welcomed the 

agreement with the security 

printing outfit from India, 

stressing that SON is relying on 

the firm’s more than two decades 

experience in successfully 

deploying similar schemes 

in many African countries. 

Modular refineries 

will save Nigeria 

N2trn annually 

— Ihenacho 

By Godfrey Bivbere 

FORMER Minister of 

Interior and Chairman of 

Integrated Oil and Gas Limited, 

Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho, has 

said that the introduction of 

modular refineries in the country 

will save the nation the loss 

of freight worth about two trillion 

naira annually. 

Ihenacho stated this in Lagos 

at the signing ceremony of $1 

million grant (about N360 million) 

with the United States 

Trade Development Agency 

(USTDA) for the detailed engineering 

design of his 

company’s 20,000 barrel per 

day (bpd) modular refinery. 

He added that the modular 

refineries would also help in 

changing trade balance from 

the present Free on Board, 

FOB, to Cost Insurance and 

Freight, CIF. 

In FOB trade, the buyer pays 

the cost of marine freight transport, 

insurance, unloading, and 

transportation from the arrival 

port to the final destination, 

while in CIF, insurance and 

other costs are assumed by the 

seller, with liability and costs 

associated with successful transit 

paid by the seller up until 

the goods arrived at destination 

port.


By Theodore Opara 

MERCEDES-Benz has 

continued its successful 

streak of double-digit 

growth since the beginning of 

the year. The renowned luxury 

car maker started the third 

quarter with a new sales 

record of 181,791 vehicles sold 

in July. This now adds up to a 

total global sale of 1,326,065 

vehicles worldwide - a percentage 

growth of 13.3 per 

cent compared to 2016. 

“With growth in unit sales 

of eleven percent in July, Mercedes-Benz 

started the third 

quarter with a new sales 

record. Additional demand 

will be stimulated by the new 

S-Class Saloon, which we 

started delivering to our customers 

in Europe in July. 

The Mercedes-Benz flagship 

has set another milestone 

along the way to autonomous 

driving with a new driver-assistance 

package,” stated Britta 

Seeger, Member of the 

Board of Management of 

Daimler AG responsible for 

Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing 

and Sales. 

Autonomous 

driving 

The countries with the most 

new car registrations for the 

month of July included Germany, 

Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, 

Portugal, Taiwan and 

Canada. Europe continued to 

be the biggest sales region for 

Mercedes-Benz, with a total 

of 76,153 cars sold in July 

(+10.4 per cent). In the first 

seven months of this year, 

560,273 units were delivered 

to customers in Europe (+9.1 

per cent). 

More than a third of the cars 

sold in Europe in July went to 

customers in Germany 

(26,679 units, +8.7 per cent). 

Other major European sales 

markets also significantly surpassed 

their unit sales of July 

last year: France (+10.1 per 

cent), Italy (+8.0 per cent), 

Spain (+18.0 per cent), Belgium 

(+17.7 per cent) and 

Switzerland (+11.8 per cent). 

In the Asia-Pacific region, a 

new sales high was set for the 

month of July with 70,266 

Mercedes-Benz automobiles 

sold (+22.7 per cent). In the 

first seven months of the year, 

508,976 vehicles with the 

three-pointed star were delivered 

to customers (+26.1 per 

cent). In addition to China, 

where 48,588 units were sold 

in July (+31.8 per cent), the 

region’s success was supported 

also by new records in the 

markets South Korea (+41.0 

per cent) and India (+20.9 per 

cent). 

In the NAFTA region, more 

vehicles with the star were 

sold than ever before in the 

first seven months of a year 

(224,106 units, +0.6 per cent). 

A total of 187,869 Mercedes- 

Mercedes-Benz records 

impressive first half 

•Grows sales by 13.3 per cent 

THE current wave in the 

economy has continued to 

dampen the spirit of industrialists 

and has made the policy makers 

to intensify their efforts in 

ameliorating the economic 

condition. In an expected 

reaction from the economic 

instability, harried auto makers 

and some stakeholders in the 

country remain perturbed as 

economic growth declines and 

consumer buying power dips to 

a record low. 

As an advocate of the policy 

and a major stakeholder in the 

industrialization of the economy, 

Kia Motors Nigeria, has 

continued to produce made in 

Nigeria cars from its plant in 

Lagos. With a capacity to produce 

27,000 cars per annum, it’s 

evident that Kia Motors Nigeria 

is committed to meeting the local 

demands. 

Marketing Manager of Kia 

Motors, Mr. Jimoh Olawale, told 

Vanguard Motoring that on the 

heels of the establishments of 

assembly plants, the company 

localized the production of its 

cars in the country. He said, “In 

a move that’s reassuring and in 

consonance with the policy 

framework by the National 

Automotive Design and 

Benz cars were delivered to 

customers in the USA since 

the beginning of the year. 

New unit-sales records were 

set for the first seven months 

in Canada (+11.8 per cent) 

and Mexico (+28.0 per cent). 

The model with the highest 

growth in sales was the E- 

Class Saloon and Estate, its 

64.6 per cent increase made a 

major contribution to the success 

of Mercedes-Benz in July. 

Total sales of those two models 

added up to 28.693 units worldwide, 

more than ever before in 

a July. The biggest sales market 

for the E-Class is China, 

where the long-wheelbase version 

of the E-Class Saloon is 

especially popular. Unit sales 

of Mercedes-Benz SUVs increased 

last month by 14.6 per 

cent to a new high of 64,521 

Development Council 

(NADDC), Kia has remained 

committed to making Nigeria a 

manufacturing hub of 

automobiles in sub-Saharan 

Africa. The present economic 

challenges can be daunting, but 

the company remains undeterred 

and committed to strengthening 

the nation’s economy through the 

automobile industry.” 

He noted that “since the 

inception of the plant’s 

operations, all Kia cars are 

produced locally and are 

manufactured to the exact 

standard of the brand’s global 

quality”. 

According to Olawale, Kia’s 

footprint in the country cannot be 

overemphasized. “With 

showrooms spread across the 

states in all the regions of the 

nation, the company has taken 

Made in Nigeria Kia cars, catalyst to nation’s auto devt — Olawale 

its cars to the hinterlands, 

bringing it closer to teeming 

customers. Equally important, 

Kia’s after-sales service centres 

remain one of the best in the 

industry with its exceptional 

service deliveries to the 

customers thereby making the 

Kia model range of cars a 

preferred automobile brand in the 

country.” 

Olawale who took time to x-ray 

the performance of the auto 

industry in the country said 

“There is no gainsaying the fact 

that Nigeria’s automobile 

industry is one of the worst hit 

sectors in the current downturn 

as the nation’s economy is at its 

lowest ebb. However, a return to 

the hitherto influx of imported 

used cars will recline the 

trajectory growth of the industry. 

Reeling some appreciable gains 

units. The GLA and GLC were 

particularly successful with 

new sales records. Since the beginning 

of the year, approximately 

450,000 SUVs with the 

star have been delivered to 

customers all over the world 

(+13.6 per cent). 

Demand was very strong in 

July also for the coupés, convertibles 

and roadsters, which 

are grouped together at Mer- 

cedes-Benz 

under the 

heading of 

dream cars. 

T h e y 

achieved 

growth of 

18.2 per cent 

to sales of 

more than 

14,000 units. 

In the first 

s e v e n 

months of the 

year, over 

100,000 

dream cars 

were sold 

(+29.5 per 

cent). The 

new E-Class 

Coupé is extremely 

popular 

in the 

first months following its market 

launch; more units of this 

model were handed over to 

customers than ever before in 

a July. 

“This is yet another significant 

milestone by Mercedes- 

Benz. For all of us at Weststar, 

we are proud to a part of this 

success story. As Authorized 

General Distributors of Mercedes-Benz 

in Nigeria, we 

aim to remain relentless in our 

efforts to deliver the best sales 

and aftersales services at our 

premises and all our authorized 

dealerships nationwide.” 

– Mirko Plath, MD/ 

CEO, Weststar Associates 

Limited. 

for the past three years, the auto 

policy by the NADDC has led to 

the setting up of auto assembly 

plants to supply the vehicular 

requirements of the nation, an 

initiative many applauded as a 

move towards economic 

industrialization.” 

He stated that typical of every 

developmental policy across the 

globe, there is always a teething 

period prior to the realization of 

its full gains, noting that the 

current Nigerian auto policy can 

be likened to the teething period. 

However, with a concerted effort 

by the government and 

unalloyed support from the 

stakeholders, he noted that the 

policy will help advance the 

economy and increase the GDP 

of the country. 

At this phase of the industry 

development, it’s apparently 

evident that the auto assembly 

plants in the country, particularly 

Kia, have the capacity to meet the 

demands of the Nigerian market. 

Having locally produced the all 

new Kia Sportage, Optima and 

Sorento amongst others, the 

made-in-Nigeria KIA cars will 

continue to remain a catalyst for 

nation’s automotive 

development” he concluded.


By Theodore Opara 

Tips on 

purchasing 

your first car, 

by Ford 

IN recognition of International Youth 

Day, observed annually on August 12, 

Ford Motor Company and its local dealer 

Coscharis Motors would like to provide 

the youth of Nigeria with tips on 

purchasing their first car. Here are eight 

tips that will help in making the correct 

car purchase decision. 

Budget: The price tag on the car is only 

a part of the total cost of ownership. There 

are many additional costs that catch many 

first-time buyers off guard. Whilst doing 

your research and deciding which car you 

want to buy, keep the following in mind: 

Insurance: How much will your car of 

choice cost to insure? Visit insurance 

websites and request quotes to get an idea 

of what you’ll be paying for vehicle 

insurance. This would depend on whether 

you are taking comprehensive or third 

party insurance. 

Maintenance/Warranty: Most first-time 

car buyers have a very tight budget, but 

it’s worth paying a little more for a decent 

maintenance/warranty plan. 

Expected mileage and fuel 

consumption: Many first-time car buyers 

often don’t realise the impact fuel costs will 

have on their monthly expenses. If you 

THE Federal Road Safety Corps 

(FRSC) has disclosed that its 

operatives along Kaduna-Zaria route in 

Kaduna State arrested a Fiat Bus Vehicle, 

for overloading, only to discover that the 

vehicle was stacked with 44 minors and 

two adults who were suspected to be child 

traffickers. 

According to Bisi Kazeem, Corps Public 

Education Officer of FRSC, on suspicion 

of the two occupants of the vehicle with 

plate number XC 532 ZAR, the Patrol team 

quizzed the occupants and got 

unsatisfactory response from the adult 

occupants who claimed they were going 

for a church programme in a location they 

could not name. Kazeem further disclosed 

that the driver of the vehicle, claimed that 

he was hired to transport the minors. 

The sector commander who got wind of 

the case as soon as the vehicle was 

impounded alerted the Commissioner of 

tend to do a lot of driving, 

you’ll need to be very conscious of fuel 

consumption figures whilst shopping 

around. 

Research: Research is probably the most 

important part of buying a new car. Once 

you’ve narrowed down the type (size and 

use), start looking at your available 

options. Do thorough research (company 

websites, reviews, word-of-mouth) and 

narrow it down to a handful of options. 

Choose your Dealer: Finding a good 

dealership is important because they are 

the people who will be looking after you 

and your car for many years to come. 

Ford’s local dealer in Nigeria, Coscharis 

Motors has 12 major dealership outlets 

across Nigeria where you can find a 

suitable Ford vehicle. These dealerships 

include four in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, 

Kano, Akure, Port Harcourt, Calabar, 

Enugu and Uyo. 

Specification & Accessories: Some 

people find reading through specification 

and accessory lists a little tiresome and 

even daunting, but many manufacturers 

have brilliant brochures you can 

FRSC intercepts suspected child 

traffickers in Kaduna, resues 44 minors 

Hyundai Sonata named one 

of ‘10 Most Awarded Cars 

C 

APPING 

Police in Kaduna State where the vehicle 

and the occupants were handed over to 

the Criminal Investigation Department for 

further investigation. It will be recalled 

that the FRSC in Kaduna State on April 

27, 2017 had earlier reported a similar case 

of a Ford Galaxy model vehicle which had 

17 minors and three suspected adult 

traffickers to the Comptroller of 

Immigration and NAPTIP. 

Kazeem disclosed that the Corps 

Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, has 

applauded the vigilance of the officials of 

the FRSC which led to the apprehension 

of the suspected child traffickers. 

According to him, the corps marshal 

believes that security of lives and 

properties of the citizens will be better 

assured with inter agency collaboration 

the security agencies, Oyeyemi futher 

urged increased and sustained vigilance 

on the part of the operatives. 

off a successful award season, the all new Hyundai 

Sonata has earned a spot on Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com “10 Most Awarded 

Cars of 2017” list. In addition, Hyundai was one of the “10 Most Awarded Brands of 

2017,” with vehicles throughout its lineup being honoured for their design, 

engineering, technology and value. In a crowded midsize-sedan market, the Sonata 

shines with its powerful, engines, handsome styling, comfortable and quiet driving 

environment and wide array of standard features. Unfortunately, the new Sonata is 

hardly seen on Nigeria road, no thanks to the unavailable of foreign exchange. 

“Even in one of the industry’s most competitive classes, the Sonata continues to 

distinguish itself with dynamic style and luxury features at a best-in-class value,” 

said Brandon Ramirez, senior group manager, product planning, Hyundai Motor 

America. “We strive to provide our customers with ‘better’ and Sonata delivers on 

this commitment by innovating and exciting drivers with each new release and 

customers are seeing that today” 

With multiple recognitions, the Sonata and Hyundai have impressed in a wide 

range of categories. 

download. This gives you an overview 

of the most important features of the car 

and will also help you narrow down your 

questions for the dealer. We know it’s 

tempting to only look at the fun stuff 

such as entertainment features and cool 

wheel options, but it’s best to start with 

safety and comfort features. If you choose 

a car that already has excellent standard 

safety features, you’ll have more room 

to play with accessories. 

Paying for your new car: Majority of 

customers don’t have the cash available 

to purchase a car outright. This is where 

you should carefully consider how you 

wish to finance your vehicle. When you 

take a loan to finance your vehicle, a 

finance company will calculate your 

monthly repayment based upon a 

number of factors, which include your 

ability to repay the loan, your credit 

worthiness, the amount you wish to 

borrow, and the period over which you 

wish to repay the loan. As you are 

borrowing money, you will be charged 

interest. It is therefore important to 

ensure you receive a competitive 

rate of interest, as interest rates 

will vary by lender. 

Understand the terms and 

conditions: It’s not pleasant, but 

make yourself a cup of coffee 

and read through the terms and 

conditions – you don’t want 

any surprises later on. And, 

because not everyone is a legal 

eagle, ask your dealer to run 

through the T&C’s with you. 

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and make 

sure you fully understand all the fine print 

before signing on the dotted line. 

Insurance: Aside from shopping for the 

most cost-effective insurance, it’s important 

to understand exactly what your insurance 

covers. Vehicle insurance is not a one-sizefits-all 

product and you need to make sure 

you get the right cover. Shop around and get 

to grips with the detail of different insurance 

policies. Love your Car: Once you’ve bought 

your awesome new wheels, make sure you 

take care of it properly. Follow the 

maintenance guide and ensure your car is 

booked in for scheduled services. 

The most important thing to remember is to 

take the time to look at your options –do your 

research on the car you want to buy as well 

as finance, insurance and details of the 

warranty plan. You’ll be driving this car for 

many years and you want to ensure you get 

the one that’s perfect for you. In addition, 

always do some extra research such as a 

Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) check 

and custom paper verification to ensure that 

the import duty is paid.


America FAA to visit, assess Nigeria civil 

aviation industry 

Stories by 

Lawani Mikairu 

THE American Federal 

Aviation Administration, 

FAA, is to visit Nigeria later in 

August to assess the country’s 

civil aviation industry, three 

years after it carried out 

similar assessment of the 

sector. The FAA team is led by 

Louis Alvarez, Louis Vanstroy 

(Operations Specialist), 

Benjamin Garrido 

(Airworthiness Specialist) and 

Jeffrey Klang (Attorney). 

This was disclosed by the 

General Manager, Public 

Affairs, Nigeria Civil Aviation 

Authority, NCAA, Mr. Sam 

Adurogboye, while interacting 

with aviation reporters at the 

Murtala Muhammed Airport, 

MMA. 

He said that the FAA team is 

expected in the country on 

Monday, August 21, 2017 and 

would round up on Friday, 

August 25, 2017. 

Adurogboye said that the 

team would assess “ NCAA’s 

compliance with sections of 

the International Civil Aviation 

Organisation (ICAO) 

Standards and Recommended 

Practises (SARPs) as 

contained in Annexes 1, 6 Part 

1 and 8". 

He added that the Nigerian 

civil aviation industry scaled 

the hurdle of the FAA in 2014 

when the team came for 

reassessment of the industry 

and assured that “Nigeria 

would again scale the hurdle”. 

The NCAA spokesman 

revealed that Med-View 

Airline, the sole Nigerian 

carrier that operates long haul 

had also been selected for 

facilities test by FAA. He also 

said that FAA had already sent 

its checklist to the regulatory 

Air ticket fraud: NANTA moves to 

curb activities of fraudulent travel 

agency operators 

IN an effort to check air ticket 

fraud, the National 

Association of Nigerian Travel 

Agencies, NANTA, has taken a 

bold step towards sanitizing the 

travel and tours industry by 

initiating a project tagged, “Travel 

Practitioners Identification 

Project”, aimed at checking 

activities of fraudulent illegal 

travel and tour operators in the 

country. 

President of the National 

Association of Nigerian Travel 

Agencies, NANTA, Mr. Bankole 

Bernard, who disclosed the 

initiative to industry stakeholders 

at the Nigerian Civil Aviation 

Authority (NCAA) Annex, 

Murtala Muhammed Airport 

(MMA), Lagos yesterday while 

presenting the “Travel 

Practitioners Identification 

Project” he said it was “aimed at 

sanitising the travel agencies 

downstream sector.” 

Bernard said the initiative 

would ensure that every travel 

and tour operator, whether owner 

or employee of travel agency must 

have identity card with Unique 

Identification Number(UIN). He 

also said a database of travel 

agencies and their personnel 

would be created to facilitate 

identification of genuine 

Chairman of Air Peace Airline, Chief Allen Onyema, (m) with Governor of Ondo State Chief 

Rotimi Akeredolu, (r) at the Akure Airport during the inaugural flight of Air Peace to Akure. 

members. 

According to the NANTA 

President, this project became 

necessary following a series of 

negative happenings and reports 

about the fraudulent activities of 

some travel agencies, stressing 

that this would assist government 

agencies, airlines and other 

stakeholders to identify genuine 

travel agencies operating in the 

country and prevent 

unsuspecting air traveling public 

from being swindled. 

Bernard who disclosed that 90 

per cent of the estimated 6,000 

travel agencies in the country 

were not registered with NANTA, 

lamented that the economic 

situation in the country had 

further compounded the 

situation, pointing out that “when 

people lose their jobs today, the 

first thing they do is to quickly go 

into travel business creating the 

impression that travel agency 

business is for every Dick, Tom 

and Harry”. He cited the case of 

a lady travel agent who defrauded 

unsuspecting Nigerian travellers 

of more than N56 million and this 

has compelled passengers to now 

go straight to airlines to purchase 

their tickets as they “cannot 

differentiate between the real, 

fake travel agencies”. 

agency, which “include the 

current International Aviation 

Chairman of Air Peace 

Airline, Chief Allen 

Onyema said his airline’s 

decision to go to Akure with a 

very low fare of Ten Thousand 

Naira, (N10,000) is part of Air 

Peace drive to contribute to the 

unity and development of the 

country. He said the airline 

believes there is a lot of human 

and mineral resources in Ondo 

State, “so we want to help 

investors go into the state and 

Ekiti state”. 

Onyema disclosed this while 

fielding questions from aviation 

reporters during the inaugural 

flight of Air Peace to Akure at 

the General Aviation Terminal , 

GAT, of the Muritala 

Muhammed Airport, Lagos. 

According to Onyema: “You 

can see N10,000 for one-way 

Safety Assessment (IASA) and 

the International Civil Aviation 

Organisation (ICAO) 

guidance material”. 

He further said the FAA 

would assess eight critical 

areas: legislation, regulations, 

organisations, technical staff, 

technical guidance tools, 

licensing, continuous 

surveillance and resolution of 

safety concerns. 

According to him: “NCAA is 

expected to complete the latest 

IASA checklist and return 

completed form to FAA before 

the team’s arrival. The FAA 

team will visit the 

maintenance organisation of 

Med-View Airline and any 

other necessary airline 

operator. 

“The Director-General, 

NCAA, Capt. Muhtar Usman 

has, therefore, activated the 

Authority's standing audit 

team and they have since 

swung into action. Meetings 

are being held in readiness for 

the exercise to ensure a 

successful outing. There will 

be a de-briefing at the end of 

the exercise and a written 

report will be sent from the 

FAA headquarters to NCAA 

thereafter.” 

Air Peace low fare to Akure is part of our 

contribution to national dev…Onyema 

trip, it has never happen before, 

the least fare in this country 

should be about N35,000 but we 

are doing N10,000 to Akure 

same amount they use in doing 

Lagos to Akure by road or even 

more, we decided to do that in 

order to help Ondo to develop, 

we believe there is a lot in Ondo 

state, there is human and 

mineral resources, so we want 

to help investors go into Ondo 

and Ekiti states”. 

The Air Peace boss who was 

elated after the return flight 

from Akure to Lagos told 

newsmen that in a few months 

from now, more aircraft would 

be acquired to service more 

routes to be opened by the 

airline 

He said ,”We are coming into 

the country in the next one 

Dana Air introduces ‘buy two, get 

one free’ promo for Owerri route 

DANA Air has announced 

a ‘Buy two, get one 

free’ promo for passengers on 

its Lagos - Owerri - Lagos route, 

as part of the benefits of its 

existing partnership with the 

Imo State Government. 


communications manager of 

Dana Air, Kingsley Ezenwa, 

“we are delighted to have 

introduced the ‘Buy two, get 

one free’ promo; which is not 

only for the hospitable people 

of Imo State, but for business 

and leisure travellers on our 

Lagos - Owerri - Lagos routes. 

This promo and many more 

initiatives to come are some of 

the benefits of the existing 

partnership that we have with 

the Imo state Government.” 

Kingsley added that, “as an 

airline committed to satisfying 

our guests, especially our Dana 

Miles Guests, this offer is also 

our way of encouraging people 

to fly more to the beautiful city 

of Owerri. This is definitely a 

good time for our Owerri 

passengers, as all they need to 

do to get their free ticket is to 

visit our website or any of our 

outlets in Lagos," or Owerri, pay 

for two tickets on our Lagos – 

Owerri- Lagos route, and send 

an email with their booking 

code. 

month with six embraer CRJ 

jets that will take fifty 

passengers only, we will 

develop the route with these 

ones and later move in the 

Boeing jet because we believe 

that we shall get to a point when 

this one will be too small”. 

“I set up the airline to give 

jobs to the indigents to 

encourage massive 

employment of people and the 

only way we can do that is to 

encourage the economy 

development that is the only 

way, we can ensure and assure 

the security of lives in this 

country,” the Air Peace 

chairman added. 

Meanwhile, the Governor of 

Ondo State Chief Rotimi 

Akeredolu weekend said the 

state decided to partner Air 

Peace Airline to boost economic 

investment in the state by 

protecting potential investors 

coming to Ondo State from the 

hazard of road transportation 

and the risk of falling into the 

hands of kidnappers who have 

their dens littering the road 

from Lagos to Akure, the state 

capital. 

Governor Akeredolu while 

fielding questions from aviation 

reporters during the inaugural 

flight of Air Peace to Akure at 

the General Aviation Terminal , 

GAT, of the Muritala 

Muhammed Airport, Lagos, 

said the abundant economic 

resources of the state have 

remained hugely untapped 

because of lack of effective air 

link to the state as investors 

have been unwilling to return 

to Akure for further discussion 

after a tortuous journey by road

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 —23 

Concessionaires short-listed for 

Kirikiri lighter terminal 

By Godwin Oritse 

THE Acting Director- 

General of the 

Infrastructure Concession 

Regulatory Commission, 

ICRC, Mr. Chidi Izuwah, has 

said that concessionaires have 

been short-listed for 

concessioning exercise at the 

Kirikiri Lighter Terminal. 

Izuwah said in an interview 

with Vanguard that the Outline 

Business Case for the fishing 

terminal has also been 

concluded. He explained that 

concessioning this part of the 

nation’s port facilities was to 

ensure that the facilities were 

used maximally while earning 

monies for both government 

and the concessionaires. 

Recall that Izuwah who 

visited fishing trawling firms in 

Kirikiri, had told the occupants 

of both the phase one and two 

to brace up for the forth-coming 

concession exercise of the 

terminal so as not to lose out in 

the process. 

He advised them to form a 

consortium with a view to 

coming up with formidable 

bidding team. While 

maintaining that Public Private 

Partnership (PPP) remained 

the best option to finance 

infrastructure gap, he said that 

By Godfrey Bivbere 

STAKEHOLDERS in the 

m a r i t i m e 

industry have called on the 

Federal Government to adopt 

the public-private partnership 

(PPP) model for the development 

of port infrastructure in the 

country. The stakeholders made 

this call in Lagos at the second 

edition of the Taiwo Afolabi 

Annual Maritime Conference, a 

partnership between SIFAX 

Group and Maritime Forum of 

the University of Lagos. 

Group Executive Vice 

Chairman of Sifax Group, Taiwo 

Afolabi, who spoke at the event, 

noted that the high-level of 

efficiency synonymous with the 

private sector would improve 

service delivery and facility if the 

government deepens the 

involvement of the private sector 

in the maritime sector. 

Vicky Haastrup, Executive Vice 

Chairman, 

ENL 

Consortium, explained that the 

successes recorded by the 

terminal operators in the port 

concession should help 

government decide in favour of 

the PPP model. 

Bola Ashiru, Strategy and 

Operations Lead, Deloitte West 

Africa, noted that attracting 

private sector funds requires the 

buy-in of all stakeholders in the 

sector which will give confidence 

to private investor to bring in 

their funds. 

Similarly, Executive Director, 

with the present economic 

situation, government cannot 

muster the kind of funding 

needed to build more 

infrastructure. 

Izuwah said, “The public 

private partnership (PPP) 

Sifax Haulage & Logistics 

Limited, Major Henry 

Ajetunmobi (retd), in his key note 

address said that the publicprivate 

partnership model 

remains the most attractive 

option opened to the government 

to develop and maintain critical 

port infrastructure due to its 

inherent benefits. 

Ajetunmobi said that the 

benefits of PPP include 

maintaining and improving 

upon service level; leveraging 

on private sector skills and 

competencies in project 

execution and service delivery 

through improved skills, 

technologies 

and 

innovation; unlocking access to 

capital and cost efficiencies; 

maintaining safe and secure 

operations and freeing 

government funding for other 

sectors of the national economy, 

other than port development and 

port renewal. 

He stated, “As the 

government’s concession of the 

ports to private terminal operators 

enters the second decade of its 

existence, one expects stronger 

consolidation of the gains of 

concession that are already 

witnessed beyond dispute by 

various classes of port users and 

operators as well as government 

agencies. Consolidation can 

come only through greater 

investments in port infrastructure 

anchored on stronger publicprivate 

enterprise involvement. 

should not be seen as 

privatisation; PPP allows the 

private sector to repair and 

rebuild infrastructure as well as 

recoup their investment for a 

stipulated time. The ICRC is 

involved in the monitoring of 

“The current bad state of port 

access roads, especially to the two 

ports in Lagos, Apapa and Tincan, 

the ports that receive over 

70 percent of the total cargo 

throughput in Nigeria, is a rather 

sad commentary on the way we 

have fared as a nation even on 

the one transport mode we 

appear to have chosen. As it is 

well known, the negative 

consequences of this 

development are not just telling 

on the economy and the state of 

equipment; they also impact 

adversely on human health both 

of port users, operators, and 

residents of the host communities 

the projects to ensure delivery 

at the expected time.” 

He said that the Federal 

Government was not buoyant 

to invest in such new projects, 

except in partnership with the 

private sector. 

CONFERENCE: Head, Shipping Development and Engineering, Mr. Anthony Ogadi; Group 

Executive Vice Chairman, SIFAX Group, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi; Head, Compliance Monitoring 

Department, Nigeria Shippers’ Council, Mrs. Ifeora Celine and Acting General Manager, Business 

Development, Nigerian Ports Authority, Mr. Stanley Yitnoe at the 2017 Taiwo Afolabi Annual 

Maritime Conference held at UNILAG, sponsored by SIFAX Group 

Stakeholders want FG to adopt PPP for port infrastructure development 

By Godfrey Bivbere and 

Providence Emmanuel 

THE Federal Operations 

Unit (FOU) Zone ‘A’ of the 

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), 

has intercepted smuggled 

vehicles and other items with 

Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1.4 

billion. About 37 assorted vehicles 

(eight Lexus Jeep LX 570; 12 

Land Cruiser Jeep, all 2017 

model and 17 Toyota Hilux) 

12,081 parboiled rice with DPV 

of N149.01 million; antismuggling 

operations yielded 

156 assorted seizures including 

bales of used clothing, Indian 

Hemp and used Tyres were 

smuggled into the country via 

unapproved routes. 

themselves. 

“This is one area that would 

benefit from decisive PPP-driven 

investment intervention. Perhaps 

the time is now right to start 

considering adoption of other 

options and models of 

maintaining and improving 

upon the quality of our port access 

roads, including concessioning 

through tolling. Or perhaps we 

should strive for bolder and more 

ambitious option”. 

Other speakers at the event 

were also in support of adoption 

of the PPP model for the 

development of the much needed 

port infrastructure. 

By Godwin Oritse 

THE Nigerian Maritime 

Administration and Safety 

Agency, NIMASA, has said 

that Nigeria is currently 

compliant to the International 

Ship and Port Security, ISPS, 

Code, following a renewed 

enforcement drive. 

Disclosing this to Vanguard, 

Head of ISPS Unit of the 

NIMAS, Captain Green 

Egbodi, said that all Nigerian 

facilities that are compliant are 

also listed on the Global 

Integrated Safety Information 

System, GISIS. 

Egbodi said the agency had 

to embark on a regular 

verification inspection exercise 

with a view to ensuring that 

facilities are kept in check. He 

also disclosed that there over 

120 port facilities across the 

country with 44 in Lagos alone. 

Similarly, the Head of ISPS 

Committee in NIMASA, Mr. 

Adebayo Olatoke, enjoined all 

port security officers to be 

abreast with Port Security Plan, 

PSP and Port Facility Security 

Assessment, PFSA, as this will 

make them to be alive to their 

responsibilities as first point of 

contact at their facility. Olatoke 

also warned that not being 

abreast with the PSP and PFSA 

could render them ineffective 

in times of security breaches 

and threats. 

The port security expert 

opined that a secured port 

environment will lead to 

increased vessel calls and 

consequently lead to more 

businesses for the facilities. He 

noted that the compliance level 

has eliminated wharf rats, 

hawking and even touting 

within the ports’ vicinity, 

adding that unlike in the past; 

one can now import goods and 

be sure that the goods will 

arrive intact without the usual 

dreadful experiences. 

Customs intercepts vehicles, others worth N1.4bn DPV 

Speaking at a briefing on 

seizures, Comptroller-General of 

Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, (retd) 

said that the service would 

continue to work towards 

crippling smugglers and getting 

them out of the illegitimate 

business, adding that smuggling 

is not a war that can be fought by 

the Nigerian customs alone but 

a war that must be fought by every 

Nigerian. 

He said the federal policies 

banning the importation of rice 

and vehicles through the land 

borders are still in force, adding, 

“in the face of security and 

economic challenges, no 

responsible government will fold 

its hands while unpatriotic 

elements continue to engage in 

NIMASA reaches 

96% ISPS 

compliance level, 

lists facilities on 

GISIS 

illegal activities that will further 

compromise national economic 

and security well-being of her 

people. This is a job for all 

patriotic Nigerians, customs 

alone cannot stop this, therefore 

whatever we do, especially major 

interceptions, would be brought 

to the notice of Nigerians so that 

the public can know the great 

consequences of what 

smuggling is doing to our own 

economy, this is one of the most 

terrible aspect of sabotage. 

“It is not government because 

government acts on behalf of the 

180 million Nigerians and it is 

not the customs. We do paper 

works, we don’t see the money. 

This deprivation is to the entire 

180 million Nigerians.”

24—Vanguard, FRIDAY,AUGUST 18, 2017 

Oluwo of Iwo's large heart 

•as he leads special prayer session for Buhari, Aregbesola 

By Benjamin Njoku 

societyvanguard@yahoo.com 

THE Oluwo of Iwo Kingdom, Osun State, 

Oba AbdulRasheed Adewale Akanbi 

Ilufemiloye, Telu 1 is a traditional ruler with a 

large heart. 

The Oluwo has taken it upon himself to 

organize a special prayer session for President 

Muhammadu Buhari, and the Governor of 

Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. And 

many are commending the paramount ruler for 

this singular move to seek the face of God. 

For Oba AbdulRasheed, the prayer session 

has become imperative at this time in Nigeria 

to foster quick recovery of the President, and 

plead God’s guidance in the governance of both 

Nigeria and his home state, Osun. 

The special prayer session which is also targeted at 

other National leaders and traditional 

rulers has been scheduled to hold at 

the traditional ruler's palace, i n 

Iwo, on Thursday, August 24. 

While sons and daughters 

of Ayedire and Ola-Oluwa 

LGAs are expected to be 

part of this 'royal prayer 

session' for our leaders, 

those in the know said 

the King has promised 

to provide buses to 

convey people to 

his palace. 

•Bella, 

Adenuga’s 

Daughter 

Oba-Abdul- 

Rasheed-Akanbi, 

Oluwo-of-Iwo 

By Akinwunmi Ibrahim 

CHAIRMAN/Chief Executive Officer of Mobil 

Oil Nigeria Plc, Mr. Tunji Oyebanji, deserved 

all the encomiums he got recently as a pragmatic, 

courageous and decent business leader when he 

celebrated his 60th birthday anniversary. 

Indeed, he’s everything that has been said about 

him. Little wonder, despite coding his private party 

to mark his 60th birthday last week, many uninvited 

guests still found their way to the venue of the party. 

The Mobil big boy kick-started his day with a 

thanksgiving at ‘Our Saviour’s Church’ (TBS), in 

Lagos, after which he ferried few family members 

and close friends to party with him at the Bay lounge, 

along Admiralty way, in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. 

It was a party of class as expensive classic liquors 

and sumptuous meals littered the well-prepared 

table. Tunji’s enlarging profile speaks for him despite 

Niyi Adebayo’s lawyer son takes a wife 

By Akinwunmi Ibrahim 

FORMER Ekiti State governor, Otunba Niyi 

Adebayo and his wife, Angela, have every 

cause to rock the social scene again after months 

of grieving over the loss of his father, Gen. 

Robert Adeyinka Adebayo (retd), who 

was the former Military Governor of the 

now defunct Western Region of Nigeria. 

Niyi and his beloved wife stepped 

out in grand style last week as his 

lawyer-son, Richard, held his 

traditional marriage rites. The first 

of the two-legged event tagged 

‘Engagement/traditional 

marriage’ was held at the 

Balmoral Event Centre, Federal 

Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, 

Lagos, with a jaw-dropping 

ceremony which had society high 

flyers in attendance. 

Three scores birthday bash for oil big boy, Tunji 

Oyebanji 

Eghosa old boys reunites in Benin 

IT was a homecoming affair for old boys of Eghosa 

Anglican Grammar School, Benin City recently, when 

they held their sixth global convention/60th anniversary gala/ 

award in Benin, the Edo State capital. The old boys took 

time to visit their alma mater. 

Led by Bishop Agbe Davies, 

the delegates to the 

convention inspected the 

school premises and 

facilities and after seeing 

the decay of the structures, 

resolved to ask the state 

government to take over the 

school in the interest of 

•Niyi 

Adebayo‘s 

son with his 

wife 

having sour taste of life before life took positive 

twist on him to have him head various positions 

in one of the most successful multinational 

companies operating in Nigeria. 

For the chubby cheek boss, a lesson he had learnt 

over time is the fact that one should never despise 

small beginnings. 

Today, Tunji Oyebanji is the Chairman and Chief 

Executive Officer of Mobil Oil Nigeria (MON). Mobil 

Nigeria is one of the six major petroleum products 

marketers in Nigeria and leader in the oil industry 

in efficiency and brand management. 

Tunji once posited that he wants to leave a 

legacy that must have built a stronger 

company than he met, considering that 

the oil company has existed for over a 

hundred years; and would want to add 

up another 100 years. 

education in the state and the students who are learning 

under unconducive environment. The highpoint of the 

event was the presentation of awards of excellence to 

deserving old boys of the school including the Governor 

of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki 

and Secretary to the Government, 

Barrister Osarodion Ogie. Other 

deserving old boys association 

members were honoured at the 

event. The event also witnessed 

the election of new executive 

members into various positions to 

steer the ship of the association 

for the next two years. 

The second leg will be the white wedding 

where the bride and the groom will exchange 

marital vows. Sources said the epochal event 

will hold in far away New York, the United 

States. It was not surprising that Niyi was able 

to attract the power brokers from across the 

country even when he’s no longer in 

government. He was first Executive Governor 

of Ekiti State between 1999 and 2003. 

While little or nothing is known about the bride, 

Rennie, 30-year-old Dotun already heads his own 

company, Fortis Projects Services, as Executive 

Director. He handles the affairs of the thriving 

hybrid construction company with Loatsad 

Promomedia boss, Seyi Tinubu, who is widely 

expected to be his best 

man at the 

upcoming 

wedding. 

•Tunji 

Oyebanji 

Elected members were Col. Paul Osa Ihianle (Lagos 

Chapter) as the Global President, Lucky Ikponmwosa 

(UK Chapter) - Vice President, Eboigbe Victor Idahosa 

- Secretary General(Benin City Chapter), George 

Obaroghedo (Chicago Chapter) - Asst Secretary General, 

MR. Vincent Nehikhare (Port Harcourt)- Treasurer, 

Pastor, Ken Okungbowa - Welfare Officer (Benin City 

Chapter), others are Henry Omoregie Esq. - Legal 

Officer (Benin City Chapter), Christian Omatsone - Asst. 

Legal Officer (Benin City Chapter), Harry Omatsone - 

Director Of Social and Publicity (Benin City Chapter), 

Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen - Assistant Director of Social 

and Publicity as well as Capt. Amadasu Esosa who is 

the Electoral Officer.


Why I embraced comedy 

—Nkem Owoh 

A master screen comic, Nkem Owoh, was honoured with the 

Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 African Movie Academy 

Awards, AMAA, for his contributions towards the development of the 

Nigerian film industry. The awards ceremony held last month at Eko 

Hotel, Lagos. He spoke fleetingly with J.K. Obatala, amidst the post 

adjournment hubbub at the venue. 

YOU won the Special Life 

time Achievement 

Award… 

Yes. And I appreciate it very 

well - more so than others I’ve 

received in the past. I must single 

out this honour, because it 

covers all the previous ones. This 

is “Life Achievement.” All the other 

awards are also achievements. 

But this one is different. That’s the 

way I interpret it. That’s why this 

one is so precious to me. 

Where does Nkem Owoh go 

from here, professionally? 

I am in this country. I’m in Nigeria 

and the world. So I just have to 

follow the trends around me. And 

what the trends suggest, I do...That 

is me. I shouldn’t be having ambitions 

of diverting from this profession. 

So I am going for anything 

that has to do with the film industry. 

Next Titan 

reality TV 

show returns 

with season 4 

By Benjamin 

Njoku 

H ERITAGE 

Bank’s 

sponsored entrepreneurial 

competition 

show, which is Nigeria’s 

foremost entrepreneurial 

reality TV show; ‘The 

Next Titan’ is back for 

the fourth season. The reality 

TV show is scouting 

for ambitious entrepreneurs 

seeking to demonstrate 

their entrepreneurial 

acumens with unbeatable 

business ideas, commercial 

insight and business 

savvy to stay out of eviction line in order to 

win the star prize of N5 million and a brand new 

car for the support of their business. The season 

4 auditions will commence next week in Abuja, 

before moving to Port Harcourt and Lagos. 

Addressing the press earlier in the week, the 

Executive producer of the show, MideKunle-Akinlaja, 

said Season 4 promises to be more exciting 

as auditions will kick start next week in Abuja, 

before moving to Port Harcourt; and then Lagos 

with a lot of exciting pre-show activities such as Top 

50 Boot Camp holding in Lagos, Premiere Show 

Gala Evening and many others. In this season 4, 

Akinlaja said they have extended auditions to the 

South East which will hold in the city of Enugu, 

You don’t want to emulate colleagues 

like Kanayo O. Kanayo? 

No. I am not going into politics. I 

have refused it. I don’t want to go 

into any other profession but “show 

business,” “film making,” “entertainment” 

and all the things that 

flags it. 

What is the state of the industry 

now? 

Well, it should have gone better 

than it is going. But with what is 

happening in the country, you 

know, recession and what-haveyou, 

that is drawing everything 

back-it’s affecting the industry too. 

I think by the time the economy and 

everything that should move the 

country forward comes up, the movie 

industry will start to move forward. 

What are you doing now? 

I’m working on some projects. 

courtesy of Hero Lager. 

On the importance of The Next Titan, the executive 

producer said ‘It lies in igniting entrepreneurial 

spirit, and showcasing the possibility of entrepreneurship 

in transforming lives with just an idea 

that can be scaled to greatness with a market and 

with Nigeria’s population. Also the show, by scouting 

for young talented people who have entrepreneurial 

acumens, grooming them through a rigorous 

task and boardroom process and eventually 

funding a winner’s idea, leading to an opportunity 

to create jobs for themselves and others, is indeed a 

b i g 

contributor to the socio-economic 

development of 

Nigeria,” he added. 

He said the show which 

has top Nigerian business 

leaders such as Kyari Bukar, 

chairman, Nigerian Economic 

Summit Group; 

Tonye Cole, CEO, Sahara 

Group; and other captains 

of industry as judges is 

designed to sharpen and 

ignite the entrepreneurial 

spirit in young Nigerians, 

and represents opportunity, 

inspiration and 

more importantly recognizes 

ordinary Nigerians that have determination, 

gusto and a ‘can-do’ attitude with some of the best 

business ideas. 

16 finalists will live together for 10 weeks, battle 

one another over 10 tough business tasks and they 

will be gradually eliminated until one remains. The 

contestants will have very real street smarts in order 

to make it through the challenges, and the contestants 

will prove their entrepreneurial acumens 

through various business-challenges on the 10-week 

show. The winner of season 3 edition, Marvis Marshal-Idio, 

a graduate of Architecture from University 

of Uyo, and holder of Master’s Degree in Interior 

Designs from Florence Designs Academy, Italy 

had a crazy business idea of turning trashes into 

furniture and furnishings. 

One is for 

cable television-which 

I 

wouldn’t like to disclose, 

at this time. It’s 

a series. The other is a 

film, a box-office film. If the 

economy doesn’t get worse, you can 

expect to see them before next year 

runs out. One is a comedy and the 

other is not. 

You play mainly comic roles. How 

did you get started as a screen comic? 

Yes. I play mainly comedy. I also 

act in serious roles - tragedy, drama 

and all that. But when I found 

out that “comedy” moves ahead of 

the others, I plunged into it! 

Do you do standup comedy? 

I don’t do standup comedy. But I 

go to clubs to entertain myself. I attend 

public function-to which people 

invite me, from all over the worldjust 

to do a show of comedy. 

How did you get into film? 

I don’t know. You see, I was working 

with a broadcasting outfit, down 

in my place - in Enugu, to be precise. 

People felt that I had a natural 

gift, for making them laugh. I was 

basically a script writer. I was composing 

scripts for all these big sitcoms 

(situation comedies) in the 

country. But they kept saying I 

should come in front of the camera. 

One day I tried it; and it worked. I 

had to put my head where my pillow 

is! It was making more money 

for me, than writing scripts. So I followed 

it! This was around 1994. Up 

to this day, I haven’t stopped! 

How many film have you done? 

I’ve produced about seven or eight 

films of my own, me as the sponsor, 

12 year-old singer, Iseoluwa drops ‘Iseoluwa’ 

INDICATIONS that a lot of un 

tapped talents abound among the 

kindergartens emerged recently when 

a 12-year old gospel singer, Iseoluwa 

Abidemi, was unveiled alongside her 

maiden album “Iseoluwa.” 

The single tracked album is a project 

made possible by her hard work, parents 

and project manager/producer. 

Speaking at a press parley to announce 

the work at her family residence 

in Shimawa, Ogun State, Iseoluwa appreciated 

God, her parents and the 

producer who worked tirelessly to see 

the birth of the project. 

“I thank everyone present at this conference, 

I thank my parents as well for 

the opportunity. I also appreciate my 

producer, Mr. Frank for the encouragement. 

I want to go far in music and I 

want to also excel at my studies,” she 

said. 

Continuing, the young artiste who 

prefers to stay on the gospel music 

genre said “I want to show the wonderful 

works of God and His existence 

through my music. So I am not going 

secular because I want to sing gospel. 

“Asa and Nathaniel Bassey are my 

role models and I want to use my music 

to influence my world positively. I 

also want to study Law though music 

is my passion,” she added. 

Speaking at the press parley, project 

•Nkem Owoh 

the producer, director and the writer 

of the film. As for the movies I’ve 

appeared in, I don’t know. I cannot 

put my fingers on the figures, just 

now. 

What has been your most successful 

movie? 

I don’t like to place my movies in 

those types of categories. Because 

some are so good, economically, in 

the sense that they bring more money 

than others. Then some bring 

out what I have inside me - so I 

create them. Like one film I did, for 

instance, that didn’t even make so 

much money. But it was a story my 

granny told me, when I was eight. 

I had to write the story and bring it 

out, just like a folktale. That turned 

out to be one of the best stories I’ve 

done. It was filmed as “King Of The 

Forest,” in 2004. 

manager and producer, Harrison Frank 

said, “Iseoluwa’s work has been encouraging. 

After the likes of Tosin 

Jegede and Benita, there has been no 

kid stars and this has made the children 

adopt adults music. Iseoluwa is 

young and she needs to be promoted.” 

Harrison added that, it is one thing 

for an artiste to bring out a work, but it 

is another thing for the work to be sustained. 

“We have 

been able to put 

things together 

and we have 

drawn a plan. She 

needs to be on the 

faces of the people 

therefore we 

want to ensure 

she 

i s 

very 

busy 

musically 

we 

would 

work on 

different 

p r o - 

grams 

at different 

•Iseoluwa 

times.”

26—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 

Amazing beauty of Madinatul Munawarah 

THE dream of every 

Muslim is to visit the holy 

land, Makkah and Madinah, in 

the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

Undoubtedly, much as it is 

desired, with its accompanying 

huge financial demand, it is also 

a gracious call by Allah. If you 

are not called, no matter the 

financial might, it may not be 

possible. Examples abound of 

many with financial prowess and 

yet have not made the journey. 

Lucky are those who are called 

upon by Allah for this lifetime 

journey. Alhamdullilah for this 

grace upon me and those who 

facilitated it. 

Madinah which is the first port 

of call for Pilgrims is located in 

Western Saudi Arabia. It has 

remained a destination for large 

numbers of Muslims on their 

annual pilgrimage after the first 

hijrah in 622 AD. 

The feeling of spiritually 

fulfilment grew when we got to 

Madinah. No journalist will hold 

down his pen with the amazing 

and spectacular sight of 

Madinah, the birth place of the 

Seal of Prophets, Muhammad, 

(s.a.w); and of course 

magnificient scenes of buildings, 

markets, of people, worshipers; 

of values and culture. 

Modern 

design 

To the people, beauty is part of 

divinity, to praise God spend 

huge time and money in erecting 

edifice with modern design 

especially places of worship; and 

they reveal it in most of their 

activities. The roads, the 

shopping malls, hotels, clinics, 

and mosques are quite befitting. 

The people are friendly and 

receptive just like their 

forebearers who welcomed 

Prophet Muhammad who was 

not an indegene giving him all 

the comfort at their disposal. 

The nook and crany of the city 

still reverberate with the 

teachings of the Prophet after 

thousands of year. The market 

place explains some of the morms 

and culture of the people. They 

show honesty as required in by 

Allah in any deal, although there 

are a few others who are cheats 

and they take advantage of the 

pilgrims but the alibi is that the 

real indigenes of Madinah are 

not involved in such activities. In 

fact they rarely do strenous job. 

So, the illicit activities are 

perpetrated by the immigrants. 

Prophet Mosque 

The great architecture and 

dramatic landscapes were 

incredible, they exude a 

mystifying and powerful spiritual 

force, truly capturing the absolute 

devotion and spirituality of a 

people. 

Zhul-Qaada 25, 1438 A.H. 

Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) 

built the first ever mosque of 

Islam in Qubaa, as well as Masjid 

Al Nabawi in the city. After Holy 

Ka’aba in Makkah, the Masjid 

Al Nabawi is one of the most 

visited places of worship by 

Muslims. 

The sacred mosque with its 

mind blowing marble columns, 

gold plated walls and exquisite 

fittings, accomodates over four 

million people at a time, with over 

77 gates. It has massive 

underground places of 

convinience, ablution area and 

car parks for both men and 

women. The beautiful huge 

synthetic umbrellas opening 

when it is scorchingly hot and 

closing automatically when its not 

is one of the esthetic and new 

development of the Prophet 

mosque. 

Cleaning is done every 

mininute with about 500 skilled 

men and 200 machines carrying 

out both inside and outside area 

sanitation. 

Again, efforts were made to 

convey zam-zam water from 

Makkah to Madinah serving 

millions of people every minute. 

The most revered grave 

(Rawdha) of the Noble 

Messenger of Allah is another 

compelling force which kindles 

The great 

architecture and 

dramatic 

landscapes were 

incredible, they 

exude a mystifying 

and powerful 

spiritual force, 

truly capturing the 

absolute devotion 

and spirituality of a 

people 

the heart for love and immense 

attachment for the city of Prophet 

Muhammad. (s.a.w). Most of the 

pilgrims who went to see grave 

of the Prophet were moved to 

tears as they chant payers and 

supplication for the Noble 

messanger of Allah. 

Madinatul Munawwarah, or 

‘the City of Light’, is home to the 

all believers, a believer is a brother 

to the other inrespective of colour, 

tribe or language. After a few days 

in Madinah, many pilgrims 

attested to the fact that they have 

been impacted spiritually through 

the sactity of the environment. No 

doubt, the city of Madinah, just 

like Makkah is pure and sacred 

to such an extent that it has the 

ability to purify its inhabitants. 

The dates of Madinatul 

Munawwarah are special. Inspite 

of being a dry land, the blessed 

soil grows a special and 

medicinal dates called Ajwa 

which according to some 

narrations contain great benefits. 

The Prophet was reported to 

have said, “If somebody takes 

some Ajwa dates every morning, 

he will not be affected by poison 

or magic on that day till night.” 

(Another narrator said seven 

dates). [Bukhari]. In another 

narration, it was said that the 

sacredness of the Madinah is 

such that even its dust and soil 

are pure. These blessings sem 

from the Prophet prayer (s.a.w): 

“O Allah! Bestow on Madinah 

twice the blessings You bestowed 

on Makkah.” (Bukhari, Vol. 3, 

Book 30, Hadith no. 109) Another 

prayer of the Prophet goes thus: 

“O Allah, Ibrahim was Your 

servant, Your friend, and Your 

apostle; and I am Your servant 

and Your apostle. He (Ibrahim) 

made supplication to You for (the 

showering of blessings upon) 

Makkah, and I am making 

supplication to You for Madinah 

just as he made supplication to 

You for Makkah, and the like of it 

in addition.” (Muslim, Book 7, 

Hadith no. 3170). Allah answered 

the prayers and made to be 

eternally blessed just as He chose 

its ground as the final resting 

place for the Prophet (s.a.w). 

No wonder this second holiest 

city for Muslims has been 

attracting millions of Muslims 

since the death of the Prophet, 

making it one of the most visited 

cities in the world. It is a place 

one will like to visit over and over 

again. 

BARKA JUMAH 

Prayer as compass of life 

Prayer is life, compass and purpose! 

If we pray and always do good deeds, life can only 

bloom in joy, be by far more peaceful, offer the 

assurance of hope, knit ambition with success, ease 

worries and attain balance that yield sound wellness. 

Absence of prayers produces misery. Bad deeds 

obliterate Allah’s mercy and blessings. 

Ever do good. May the good that you do please 

Allah and earn you a blissful personal life of Allah’s 

unending rewards. 

Happy jumat. – Dr Adewale Adeeyo, OON 

Ahmadiyya Elders’ group holds 

conference in Kogi 

THE Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Elders group, (Majlis 

Ansarullah Silsla Aliya Ahmadiyya) Nigeria, will hold its 

42nd annual National Islamic conference (Ijtema) in Lokoja, Kogi 

State. 

The three-day event which begins today Friday 18th to 20th 

August at the Al-Azhar International College, Lokoja, will feature 

free medical camp, courtesy visits on the Governor of Kogi state, 

and the orphanage. HRH of Ebira Land, Chief Imam of Lokoja, 

Commissioner of Police and the Chairman of the Christian 

Association of Nigeria, CAN among other dignitaries will grace 

the occasion. 

According to the Head, National Publicity and Media Relations, 

Dr Qasim Akinreti, the theme of the gathering is ‘Mankind and 

The Search For Peace’. 

He stated that other programmes included special prayers for 

Nigeria, Quranic competitions, Quiz,sports, Debates on topical 

issues on Islam. Special lectures on Corruption: An Impediment 

to Economic and Spiritual Progress will be delivered by Barrister 

Uthman Robiu. The Amir Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat ,Nigeria, 

Dr Mashuud Fasola will be the chairman of the occasion. 

A section of the streets of Madinah close to Masjid Al 

Haram. 

The huge authomatic umbrellas at the Madinah mosque which opens only when the whether is 

hot and closes when it is not.


2017 Hajj: Pilgrims in Madinah 

Zhul-Qaada 25, 1438 A.H. 

‘Zakat & Sadaqat’ empowers youth for 

economic sustenance 

DETERMINED 

to 

eradicate poverty from the 

country, Zakat and Sadaqat 

Foundation (ZSF) has 

empowered new corps of smallscale 

entrepreneurs to be 

economic independent and boost 

the nation’s Gross Domestic 

Product (GDP). 

The group rewarded eight 

winners who were selected out of 

the 606 youths that applied for the 

third edition of its 

entrepreneurship development 

project tagged: “Business Plan 

Competition (BPC)” in Lagos. 

Speaking at the presentation 

ceremony, the Chairman, 

Advisory Board, Zakat and 

Sadaqat Foundation, Alhaji 

Umaru Abdul Mutalib, said 

Nigeria economy depend on the 

small and medium enterprises for 

development of the country, 

adding that “the Small Scale 

Entrepreneurs (SMEs) of today 

are the conglomerate of tomorrow, 

this program is very critical to the 

economy development of Nigeria 

because it provide employment to 

teeming population. Anybody 

that support this type of initiative 

for the youth is doing a lot of favour 

to the nation,” 

Umaru said the government has 

a lot responsibility in providing 

enabling environment before 

other stakeholders like Zakat and 

Sadakat Foundation can come to 

assist in achieving the goals and 

objective of the government. 

He urged government to 

provide an enabling environment 

for SMEs adding that the youth 

should be gainfully employed. 

“The government should 

support and make it easy for 

people to set up small-scale 

business before it grows into large 

scale. A supporting environment 

is a conglomeration of so many 

things including infrastructure. 

Provision of social amenities and 

easy registration of business with 

the government will enable youths 

the opportunities to set up 

SMES.” 

He appealed to the benefactors 

of the program to use the fund 

judiciously to assist the foundation 

to sustain the trust identify with 

the foundation’s aims, particularly 

in the areas of eradicating poverty 

and bringing the gap between the 

rich and the poor. 

Entrepreneurship 

development 

The Executive Director of Zakat 

and Sadaqat Foundation, Prince 

Sulayman Olagunju, said the 

entrepreneurship development 

project was put in place about 

three years ago to challenge the 

business creativity of youths and 

develop their skills. 

“The idea was specifically aimed 

at grooming and nurturing new 

crops of small scale entrepreneurs 

that will grow into doyen of 

Nigeria business and employers 

of labour. With an encouraging 

success on this programe in the 

last three years, zakat and 

Sadaqat foundation have 

significantly contributed to the 

wellbeing of some Nigerians and 

economic growth of the country”. 

“The process leading to this 

ceremony has been rigorous and 

painstaking. Within the period of 

call for proposals, about 606 

youths applied. Our team of 

consultant adopted two screening 

approach to arrive at the final 8 

winners. The first procedure 

entails participants filling an 

online form detailing vital and 

necessary information about their 

businesses. These information 

was analyzed and the best twenty 

applicants were invited for oral 

presentation and interview after 

which the final 8 were selected, 

four winners from each category 

and the 6 runner ups in both 

categories who receive a 

consolation cash prize award of 

N100,000 each. 

Olagunju appealed to the 

winners to make judicious use of 

the fund allocated to them, just 

like previous winners have done. 

“It is our hope that in not too 

distant future, we shall celebrate 

many of the past recipients that 

have turned around their 

businesses, recorded impressive 

returns and have added more 

hands. It is my hope and prayer 

that some of today’s recipient will 

be part of the future celebration”. 

The Chief Executive Officer of 

Baytuzzeenah, Hajia Saidat Otiti, 

urged the winners to key into the 

global initiative locally and 

internationally. If the award is 

used judiciously, it will be easy to 

get people to support the charity 

initiatives. 

Some Pilgrims coming out from the Rawdah, a special place in 

Masjid Al Haram in Madinah, where supplications to Allah are 

accepted. 

Pilgrims supplicating within the marked area of Rawdah-l- 

Janah 

Some of the over 200 machines deployed for cleaning Masjid 

Al Haram in Madinah 

The first mosque built by the Prophet in Quba. 

Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation (ZSF) Board of Directors Chairman, Dr Tajudeen Yusuf (second 

right) presenting N750,000 dummy cheque to Sulaymon Adekunle one of the winners of Third 

Entrepreneurship Development Project organised by ZSF at Westwood Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos. 

With them are ZSF Executive Director Prince Sulayman Olagunju (left) and ZSF Consultant 

AbdulWasi Ayoola. 

The grave of the over 70 Rashidun, Muslims who memorised 

the Quran and who were killed during the battle of Uhud


By Sola Ogundipe 

IN the last fortnight or 

thereabouts, the 

Southwest has been on edge 

over Lassa fever outbreak in 

Lagos and Ogun states. 

Between the two states, a total 

of six confirmed cases and two 

deaths were recorded, while 

256 were placed on 

surveillance at the Lagos 

University Teaching Hospital, 

LUTH; Mainland Hospital, 

Yaba, Lagos, and Federal 

Medical Centre, Abeokuta. 

Surveillance officers and 

health workers in the two 

states have since been on high 

alert, even as Ogun State 

confirmed case of Lassa fever 

and the LUTH, assured that 

confirmed cases in the 

institution are responding to 

treatment. In Lagos, two 

deaths were recorded with five 

confirmed infected cases and 

at least 150 suspected cases 

under surveillance, while 

Ogun had one confirmed case 

and around 106 placed under 

watch. 

A deluge of media reports 

have trailed the development 

since the LUTH, confirmed 

deaths of patients and 

infections of healthcare 

workers by the deadly virus. 

Both patients were said to have 

presented themselves very 

late and died in spite of 

spirited efforts to save them. 

Management of the LUTH 

confirmed the deaths during 

a press conference Tuesday 

last week even as it revealed 

that a Resident doctor that was 

infected with the Lassa virus 

was admitted into the isolation 

centre. 

Lassa fever 

infection 

The newest outbreak began 

with an unnamed 32-year old 

pregnant woman that was 

presented at the LUTH with a 

bleeding disorder, died three 

days later after a stillbirth. She 

had been referred from a 

private hospital in Imota Town 

in Ikorodu and a post-mortem 

examination later confirmed 

Lassa fever infection, but the 

corpse had been released prior 

to this discovery. 

The woman’s family had 

collected the corpse for burial, 

unaware of the cause of death 

and made arrangements to 

transport the body to Ilesha. 

However, the Disease and 

Epidemiology Unit of the 

Lagos State Ministry of Health 

stepped in and alerted state 

epidemiologists in Osun State. 

All HODs in lkorodu LGA and 

the five LCDAs were put on 

alert. 

The Resident doctor that was 

infected who was from the 

Department of Anatomic and 

•FMC, Abeokuta 

Molecular Pathology took part 

in the autopsy and later came 

down with the disease. No less 

than 150 contacts including 

hospital workers exposed to 

the index case were placed 

under watch. The second 

victim simply identified as Mr. 

O, a known sickle cell 

anaemia patient, died within 

24 hours after admission. He 

was said to have travelled from 

a neighbouring state and came 

down with the disease on 

arrival in Lagos. 

Unlike the index case, 

officials of the Lagos State 

Environmental Health 

Monitoring Unit, SEHMU, 

took over possession of the 

body for burial in accordance 

In fact, Lagos and 

Ogun have 

witnessed several 

Lassa fever 

outbreaks in the 

past, one incident 

was in January 

2016, when Lagos 

confirmed two 

deaths from three 

confirmed cases 

with over 500 

contacts placed 

under surveillance 

in the state 

with regulations of the World 

Health Organisation. The 

Director, Disease Control, 

Lagos State Ministry of Health 

Dr. Eniola Erinosho, who 

confirmed the burial said 

consent was obtained from the 

family and that the outbreak 

was being confirmed. At the 

time of this report, LUTH had 

•LUTH 

Lagos, Ogun 

recovering from 

Lassa fever 

discharged one of the infected 

patients who fully recovered, 

and also cleared 60 of those 

under watch. 

In Ogun, the Commissioner 

for Health, Dr. Babatunde 

Ipaye, who confirmed the 

outbreak, said a 20-year-old 

patient tested positive for the 

Lassa virus and had been 

moved to an isolation centre 

in the Federal Medical 

Centre, Abeokuta. The 

patient, a resident of 

Abeokuta, reportedly travelled 

to Lagos and came down with 

the symptoms on returning to 

Abeokuta. He is currently 

recovering. 

Lassa fever or Lassa 

haemorrhagic fever (the 

bleeding fever), an acute viral 

haemorrhagic illness caused 

by Lassa virus, is transmitted 

to humans from contacts with 

food or household items 

contaminated with rodent 

faeces or urine. According to 

the experts, just one 

confirmed case of Lassa fever 

is an epidemic. However, the 

outbreaks tend to be small and 

self-limiting. 

The disorder is often a 

predictor of a significantly 

higher risk of death preceded 

by shock and vascular 

collapse. Experts say even 

though 80 per cent of 

infections elicit no symptoms, 

if they do occur, they can be 

quite nasty. 

It would not be the first time 

LUTH would be having Lassa 

fever outbreak. In fact, Lagos 

and Ogun have witnessed 

several Lassa fever outbreaks 

in the past. One incident was 

in January 2016, when Lagos 

confirmed two deaths from 

three confirmed cases with 

over 500 contacts placed under 

surveillance in the state. 

One of the victims was a 27- 

year-old lady that died after 

admission at Ijede General 

Hospital where she presented 

with fever, vomiting, diarrhoea 

and body weakness. The 

unnamed lady had earlier 

travelled to Edo State in 

December, 2015 and returned 

to Lagos earlier in January, 

2016. 

Ogun State also recorded a 

series of Lassa fever outbreaks 

in 2016. The deaths included 

a 28-year-old man admitted 

into the isolation unit of the 

Olabisi Onabanjo University 

Teaching Hospital; a mortician 

and a nurse, both died after 

they contracted the deadly 

infection from a Lebanese that 

also later died at the Federal 

Medical Centre, Abeokuta. 

Starting with a fever, Lassa 

infections can develop into 

chest pain, vomiting and 

diarrhoea. In at least a third 

of cases, victims develop 

various degrees of deafness, 

sometimes leading to 

permanent hearing loss. An 

infected person may die within 

two weeks of manifesting 

initial symptoms because of 

multi-organ failure.


•Founder, Hope for Women in Nigeria Initiative (HOFOWEM) and wife of Lagos 

State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode (middle), to her left is C.E.O, HOFOWEM, 

Ms. Oyefunke Adeleke (left), in a group photograph with aspiring entrepreneurs 

during the closing of a two-day Hope for Youth Entrepreneurship Training 

Programme, organized by HOFOWEM to mark the 2017 International Youth 

Day, at the HOFOWEM’s office in Oregun, Lagos. 

•Chairman, Osun House of Assembly Committee on Information and Strategy 

representing Obokun State Constituency, Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye (2nd 

left) presenting farm inputs to Chairman, Ibokun Majiyagbe Farmers, Omiwole 

Samson (2nd right) assisted by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, 

Hon. Adelani Baderinwa (right) and Chief Executive Officer, Osun State 

Signage, Hoardings and Advertisement Agency, Mrs. Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, 

during the distribution of farm inputs and other empowerment materials to 

farmers and other residents of Obokun Local Government area. 

Oyintiloye empowers 759 

farmers, senior citizens 

•L-R: General Counsel, Dr. Wunmi Bewaji; Chairman, APC Ward C Disciplinary 

Committee in Mushin, Mr. Bolaji Abass; Secretary of the Committee, Mr. 

Laide Badru and member, Mrs. Muinat Mustapha during a sitting of the Committee 

on Petition against Dr. Muiz Banire at Bishop Aggey Memorial School, 

Ilasamaja, Mushin, Lagos. 

AMEMBER of the Osun State 

House of Assembly, representing 

Obokun State Constituency, 

Olatunbosun Oyintiloye has distributed 

farm inputs, and other empowerment 

materials to farmers and some other 

residents of his constituency. 

About one thousand people including 

125 farmers, 65 widows, 83 senior 

citizens and 486 vulnerable individuals 

benefited from the empowerment 

initiatives. 

Some of the materials distributed were 

herbicides, cutlasses, farm sprayers, as 

well as cash gifts and cloth to widows 

and elderly women among others. 

Oyintiloye said the distribution of the 

materials was part of his gesture to give 

back to the society and empower his 

constituents, particularly in the area of 

agricultural venture. 

He said, the idea behind the 

distribution of the farm inputs was in 

line with the government's decision to 

encourage agriculture, saying, “my 

constituency is made up of agrarian 

communities and 75 per cent of the 

residents are farmers. 

“This distribution is as a result of 

baseline studies of the need of the 

people in my constituency, materials 

are not just being distributed, they 

were chosen after due consultation, 

who all reiterated my belief that the 

appropriate empowerment materials 

for my people are agricultural inputs. 

I am convinced that these materials, 

with the various supports from the 

state government would assist 

farmers in this constituency to 

increase their yields.” 

Oyintiloye then hinted that 

though, the economy was faced with 

challenges, but he has resolved to 

continue to make impacts in the lives 

of the people in line with the 

mandate given to him. 

He then assured those that were 

yet to benefit from the gesture not to 

be discouraged, saying that he 

would soon roll out similar 

empowerment programmes for 

them. 

•L-R: Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Munta Abimbola; an High Court judge, 

Justice Aderonke Aderemi; Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, 

Mr. Seun Abimbola; and the Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, during the 

governor's visit to the High Court complex, Ibadan. 

EDITOR: 

Adeleke Adeseri 

CORRESPONDENTS: 

Dapo Akinrefon 

Ola Ajayi 

Gbenga Olarinoye 

Dayo Johnson 

Olasunkanmi Akoni 

Daud Olatunji 

Rotimi Ojomoyela 

Monsuru Olowoepejo 

THE TEAM 

08054682557 (sms only) 

Lagos 

Ibadan 

Osogbo 

Akure 

Lagos 

Abeokuta 

Ekiti 

Gani Adams bags Tayese of Amuwo Odofin 

NATIONAL Coordinator of the 

Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, 

Otunba Gani Adams has been 

conferred with the chieftaincy title 

Tayese of Amuwo Odofin. 

Conferring the title on Adams, over 

the weekend at his palace, Alamuwo 

of Kuje Amuwo, Oba Isaac Olayemi, 

said the OPC leader was given the title 

as an honour for service. 

The monarch said it shows he is 

recognized, and people appreciate the 

work he has been doing. 

In the same vein, the Alabiran of 

Ikare, Oba Kayode Akinyemi, who was 

present at the coronation, commended 

Adams for his support in making sure 

the criminal activities of Badoo becomes 

a thing of the past in Lagos. He 

appealed to Adams not to relent in his 

efforts with respect to cultural 

promotions as well as security of Yoruba 

land as a whole. 

In his acceptance speech, Otunba 

Adams said “arrangements for this 

title had been on for the past seven 

years. Kabiyesi insisted that I must 

take the title now. Based on the 

efficiency and integrity of Obas, I 

have no choice, it is an honor for an 

Oba to give you a chieftaincy title in 

Yoruba land. I have been with the 

kabiyesi since 1998, that is 19 years 

now." 

•Adams


ONDO STATE 

How students of two 

Ondo State institutions 

raped 18-yr-old serially 

By Dayo Johnson 

AKURE — NO doubt the 

sex romp by the students 

of both Adeyemi College of 

Education, Ondo city and Rufus 

Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, in Ondo 

State and a barber was a well 

planned script. The barber, who 

is also a friend to the lover boy, 

Vanguard, gathered, was 

involved in order to make his 

room available as the slaughter 

slab on the day of the operation. 

They also thought it best to 

record their escapade with the 

18-year-old lady which they 

intended to use after as a tool to 

blackmail her if eventually she 

decided to go to either the 

college authorities or the law 

enforcement agencies. 

Solomon Timilehin is the one 

dating the victim and the others 

ate deciding to have a “taste after 

he opened the gate for them.” 

Other suspected rapists include 

Olagbaju Tobi, Adetuyi 

Olakunle, Adeyemi Adebisi and 

Eric Nwage. Infact an 

unconfirmed source said that the 

suspects used the video 

recording as a bargaining tool 

to have sex with the victim twice 

before she opened up. Police 

reports had it that after they 

raped her they abandoned her 

to go with a threat that they will 

use charms on her if she ever 

reveals the incident to anyone. 

Sexual 

advances 

Vanguard gathered that the 

boyfriend who had been having 

a misunderstanding with the 

victim for dumping him for 

another student decided to teach 

her a lesson she would never 

forget. Findings showed that the 

two lovers have been dating for 

over six months and the girl had 

not yielded to his sexual 

advances. Timilehin was said to 

have been infuriated when he 

saw another lover boy's name 

registered on the victim's 

telephone and reported to his 

friends who promised to help 

him out of his predicament by 

teaching the “cheat” the lesson 

of her life. The friends later 

agreed that the treatment the 

victim deserved was for the five 

of them to mess her up by taking 

turns to rape her. 

One of them, according to a 

police detective, suggested that 

he would pretend to be a 

peacemaker wanting to settle the 

misunderstanding between the 

two estranged lovers by inviting 

her to a neutral venue outside 

the campus. The victim who had 

no premonition of their devilish 

plan blindly walked into it and 

they took turns to rape her at 

Road17, Funbi Fagun Housing 

Estate, Ondo town. 

Vanguard gathered that it was 

the supposed peacemaker and 

the estranged boyfriend that first 

showed up at the venue while 

the other three who were lurking 

around later joined in the show 

of shame. A police detective 

confided in Vanguard that the 

suspects while raping the victim 

threatened to stab her to death 

with a knife if she raised the 

alarm to attract the neighbours' 

attention. 

The five friends successfully 

had their turns and chased the 

victim out of the room with a 

warning that it would be in her 

interest to keep her mouth shut 

or she would live to regret it if 

she reported to the school 

authorities or police. Vanguard 

learned that out of fear that the 

recording may go viral, the 

victim remained silent though 

it was painful taking the 

incident as her cross. 

The friend, it was gathered, 

hinted the Dean of the student 

Affairs who in turn notified the 

college security guards. 

An ambush was laid for the 

suspects and they were picked 

one after the other. The lover 

It was Tobi that 

promised the girl 

N20,000 before she 

consented to 

having sexual 

relationship with 

us, it was not a 

rape but mutual 

sexual relationship 

boy was the first to be picked 

and subsequently fingered his 

other accomplices. They were 

later taken to the Ondo 

Divisional Police station and 

thereafter transferred to the 

state police headquarters in 

Akure. 

Speaking with Vanguard 

when the state police command 

paraded the suspected rapists 

alongside 15 other suspected 

cultists, the suspects except the 

victim's boyfriend denied that 

she was raped but consented to 

their demand for a fee. 

One of the suspects, Adetuyi 

Olakunle, who confessed using 

his mobile telephone to record 

the gang rape said they decided 

to do so “to make sure the 

incident was not reported to the 

school authorities or law 

enforcement agencies''. 

Olakunle said: “I recorded the 

video so that the girl will not be 

able to tell anyone. I was afraid 

that she might report to the 

school authorities if the scene 

•The suspected rapists in Ondo 

was not recorded.” 

The boyfriend Timilehim, a 

200 level Sociology student, 

said he only invited “her to his 

friend’s house so that they could 

help us settle our 

misunderstanding." 

He said: “She called me when I 

was in the classroom that she 

wanted to see me; I have not seen 

By Ebun Sessou 

IN a renewed move to tackle 

the growing level of 

insecurity in the state, the Lagos 

State House of Assembly has 

enacted laws to nip the worrying 

trend in the bud. This came to 

the fore during the second edition 

of the Lagos State House of 

Assembly media parley in 

commemoration of the 2 nd 

anniversary of the eight assembly 

held in Lagos. The event, which 

took place at the Alhaji Lateef 

Jakande Auditorium Complex in 

Lagos Assembly Premises, 

Lagos, had security as one of the 

key issues discussed at the forum. 

The aim is to curb security 

challenges that have taken their 

toll on residents in Lagos. 

Speaking at the event, Speaker 

of the Lagos State House of 

Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, 

said that the incessant increase 

in crime in the state has triggered 

some of the bills including Lagos 

State Neighbourhood Safety 

Corps Bill, 2016; Bill on 

Kidnapping and Abduction. 

According to him, the bill on 

the Neighbourhood Safety Corps 

was sponsored because crime is 

growing and the police is not up 

to the task. We want to provide 

something to complement the 

efforts of the Police. “The Bill on 

Kidnapping and Abduction, 

according to Obasa, is to tackle 

the new dynamics of the crime 

in the society. Crime is beggining 

to take on a different dimension 

which the existing laws have not 

really captured. Kidnapping and 

abduction have become a new 

trend. So, we have to look at it 

and generate something that 

would provide for where we are 

her for a while. I took her to the 

house of one of my friends so 

that we can settle our 

differences. 

“Eventually, when we were in 

the room, one of my friends 

called her and was doing a lot 

of things to her. Later we agreed 

to have ‘fun’. As we were 

having fun, one of my friends 

came in, he had sex with her. 

The second one came, later the 

third and fourth came to make 

love to her. I was not feeling fine 

when they were having sex with 

her.” Also, another suspect 

Nwage said: “it was Tobi that 

promised the girl N20,000 

before she consented to having 

sexual relationship with us. 

Lagos Assembly moves to tackle security issues 

•Obasa: Speaker, Lagos 

House of Assembly 

lacking. 

“Policing is not totally about 

carrying arms. You can police 

with communication gadgets, by 

being vigilant and alert. We want 

to recruit people and position 

them somewhere to cover and 

monitor the area; people who can 

then signal or alert the police to 

come around and make arrests 

where necessary or stop the 

impending danger, so that we 

can have protection of life and 

property, which is the total sum 

of any government's responsibility 

of. 

“One of the major challenges 

that this present government 

faced was a high level of 

insecurity in the state. This 

therefore made the House rev its 

engines, re-ordering the state 

budget to enable Governor 

Ambode deliver on his promises 

to the people of the state in good 

times. This, no doubt, was like a 

stitch that saved nine, as the reordering 

of the budget enabled 

the government to purchase 

state-of-the-art crime fighting 

equipment running into billions 

of naira. 

Bills and Resolutions 

On bills and resolutions, Obasa 

said the eighth Assembly in the 

first session has considered 31 

bills and passed more than 85 

resolutions. The House has 

passed eight bills into laws in the 

second session while 72 

resolutions have been made; 

other bills are at various stages 

of passage, one of which is the 

bill targeted at tackling cancer in 

our society. 

Speaking, a member 

representing Kosofe II, in the 

Lagos State House of Assembly, 

Tunde Braimoh, said “The Lagos 

State Cancer Research Institute 

Bill, is to create more awareness 

about the life terminator, cancer 

and to set up screening centres 

in all local governments. 

"The goal of the Local 

Government Administration Law 

(Amendment) 2015 is to increase 

the tenure of chairmen and 

councilors at the councils to four 

years from the current three years 

and also give the House a say in 

the removal of erring chairmen 

and councilors. 

“The Lagos State Properties 

Protection Bill, otherwise called 

the Ajagungbale or land 

speculators bill is to check the 

criminal activities of land 

grabbers in the state who have 

constituted themselves into a 

menace and security threat. On 

the environmental bill, Braimoh 

said, it is to ensure proper and 

total sanitisation of Lagos 

environs and also to adapt and 

mitigate the challenges posed by 

climate change to the state.''

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 — 31 

Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

The tragedy of separation: The 

Story of India 

THE famous psychiatrist and 

Pan-Africanist, Franz Fanon 

after a clinical study, came to the 

conclusion that “Colonialism is a 

one-arm bandit”. No colonial 

power better illustrated this than 

Great Britain which in its quest for 

power and colonies, invaded about 

90 percent of the 195 countries in 

today’s world. In fact, only 22 

countries escaped invasion by 

Britain. In Africa for instance 

which has 55 countries, only 

seven; Burundi, Central African 

Republic, Congo Republic, Sao 

Tome, Chad, Mali and Cote 

d’Ivoire escaped British invasion. 

At the height of its rule, British 

Colonies, Dominions, Mandates, 

Protectorates and Territories had 

412 million persons or 23 percent 

of world population and covered 

24 percent of the world’s surface. 

Its seizure and colonisation of 

what is today’s United States, 

Canada, New Zealand and 

Australia forever changed their 

demography as their original 

inhabitants were virtually wiped 

out of the earth’s surface. 

The largest British colonial 

expanse and the most populous 

was the British India which gave 

birth to countries like Malaysia, 

Sri Lanka, Nepal and Afghanistan. 

In 1867, Singapore was sliced 

from India; in 1898, British 

Somalis was excised from it and 

in 1937, Burma (now Myanmar) 

was cut from India. What was left 

of India struggled for 

independence. It was a much 

abused country from which the 

British looted cotton, silk, salt and 

dye. It became the major place the 

colonialists produced opium and 

forced it on countries like China. 

As it did in colonies like Nigeria 

and Uganda, Britain did not begin 

a direct colonisation of India. 

Rather, it used one of the bloodiest, 

tyrannical and conscienceless 

trade monopolies in human 

history, the East India Company 

or the Honourable East India 

Company, HEIC, as it preferred to 

call itself. The company was a 

coalition of 218 British merchants 

who on December 31, 1600 were 

granted monopoly of all trade on 

the east of the Cape of Good Hope 

by Queen Elizabeth I. The Charter 

they received from the Queen was 

under the curious name "Governor 

and Company of Merchants of 

London trading into the East 

Indies". 

By 1800 the HEIC had a 

standing army of 200,000 with 

which it colonised countries in the 

region, imposed tax, ran a 

mercenary government and 

carried out massacres especially 

in Bengal. It began its direct 

colonisation of India in 1757 and 

ruled for 101 years when a revolt 

by the colonised forced it out. The 

British Government then took over 

the colonisation from 1858, ruling 

for 89 years. 

Britain was badly bruised in the 

Second World War and it declined 

as a world power. Part of the fallout 

was that it no longer had a strong 

hold on the colonies and it dawned 

on it that its colonial sun had set. 

Muhammad Ali 

Jinnah, proposed a 

two-nation 

hypothesis which 

argued that India 

actually has two 

nations in its womb; 

the majority Hindus, 

and the minority 

Muslims who do not 

want to be governed 

by a non-believer 

But rather than depart peacefully, 

the colonial mentality in it, 

triggered its old past time of ‘Divide 

and Rule’. The most telling effect 

of this was in India whose peoples 

were actively engaging the 

colonialists and demanding 

independence. While Britain in the 

case of Nigeria, encouraged 

ethnic, regional and religious 

divides, its primary weapon in 

India was religion. 

It had a willing ally in the 

Muslim League founded in 1906 

primarily as a counter to the 

Indian National Congress. Some 

Muslims feared that as a minority, 

they may not get a good deal under 

the majority Hindus who also had 

Sikhs as allies. As the struggle for 

independence intensified on the 

one hand, the League under its new 

leader and former member of the 

Indian Congress, Muhammad Ali 

Jinnah, proposed a two-nation 

hypothesis which argued that 

India actually has two nations in 

its womb; the majority Hindus, 

and the minority Muslims who do 

not want to be governed by a nonbeliever. 

They argued that what is 

needed is a holy land (Pakistan) for 

the Muslim faithful. 

On the other, the majority argued 

that Mother India can 

accommodate all her children and 

that the primary issue is to force 

the colonialists out, gain 

independence and address all 

matters including religious 

affiliation. Jinnah argued that the 

only basis the League can accept 

one country is if power is handed 

over to it. Mahatma Ghandi, 

leader of the majority agreed to 

this, but Jinnah declined; to the 

League, it is a sin not just to be ruled 

by the Hindu, but even to continue 

cohabitation with them. Ghandi 

tried to get the British to postpone 

independence by two or more years 

to enable a resolution of the 

contrived crisis. He also proposed 

within the period, a “Treaty of 

Separation” that would see India 

run like a confederacy with a 

common Foreign Policy, Defence, 

Communication and Currency. 

This was rejected. 

Ghandi warned: "It is worse than 

anarchy to partition a poor country 

like India whose every corner is 

populated by Hindus and 

Muslims living side by side. It is 

like cutting up a living body into 

pieces. No one will be able to 

tolerate this plain murder.” On 

another occasion he lamented: 

"We are not inhabiting a country 

full of deserts and wastelands. We 

are a densely populated country 

and I do not see the slightest 

chance for such redistribution.” 

But his protests were brushed 

aside. The British ignored all pleas 

and began its programme of 

partition with indecent haste 

which resulted in avoidable 

tragedy. Prime Minister Clement 

Atlee on February 20, 1947 

appointed Admiral Louis 

Mountbatten as Viceroy of India 

with the task of overseeing the 

Partition and transition to 

independence not later than June 

30, 1948. On June 3, 1947, that is 

within four months, Mounbatten 

submitted his plans for Indian 

independence to the government 

and based on this, the British 

Parliament on July 5, passed The 

Indian Independence Act. 

Two days later, Jinnah moved to 

Karachi where the Constituent 

Assembly proclaimed him 

President. The next day, the British 

sent Sir Cyril Radcliffe as 

Chairman of the India Boundary 

Commission to split the country 

into two parts. Within seven weeks, 

a man who had never been to India 

who confessed he did not know the 

people or their culture, drew a line 

(The Radcliffe Line) on Indian soil 

and proclaimed one part India, the 

other, Pakistan. 

Immediately, the scramble 

Ghandi had feared began; about 

15 million people moved either 

way, and in the process, between 

one and two million people were 

murdered by opposing sides in 

horrendous massacres from which 

neither India nor Pakistan have 

recovered. Both marked the 70th 

anniversary of their independence 

this week (August 14-15) It was 

more a commemoration of a 

tragic past with both countries yet 

to even agree on their exact 

borders especially Kashmir. They 

have been to war four times 

including an undeclared one, and 

both are armed with nuclear 

weapons. The separation of India 

was simply a tragedy which is still 

unfolding seven decades later. 

Nigeria: One quit notice, too many 

By Clement Udegbe 

WHEN some ’Boys’ gathered in the 

month of May this year to issue 

Quit Notice to Igbos to vacate the north by 

October 2017, they must have thought to 

themselves that they will shake Igbos, put 

fear in them, send them crawling on their 

bellies, and ask for mercies from the 

northern youths. But they did not and it 

will not happen. In 45 days from today 

the time for Igbos to leave the north will 

expire, yet Nigeria has refused to listen to 

the Arewa Spoiled brats! 

In spite of the moral support they had 

from their elders in the north, who came 

out spewing lies against the Igbos, courting 

violence, nothing happened. Then they 

coined that hate song against Igbos in the 

hope that it would invite the wrath of God 

upon Nigeria, for this madness shall pass 

too. After all, harder, more violent words 

were used against Nigeria, and Igbos by 

implication in 2014, and three years later 

it has all come and gone. Buhari has 

become president, he is now in London 

resting, all the noise about cleaning up 

Nigeria have come and passed. 

We were told back then, that the People's 

Democratic Party, PDP, was the problem of 

Nigeria, only a hand full of South 

Southerners, South Easterners, supporters 

of Jonathan Ebele Goodluck, GEJ, were 

the only corrupt politicians. But APC has 

been in charge for over two years and 

running nothing has changed. PDP's 

corruption has blended so well with APC's 

thievery, to marry the APC kleptomaniacs, 

so that all that noise has passed. 

We heard that no civil servant or top 

Federal Government official would travel 

overseas for medical treatment, but today, 

my beloved President enjoys prolonged 

medical stay in London, and all the 

expectations have passed. Think of it, is it 

not nice that the Nigerian State is paying 

The idea from the Arewa 

Youths and their supporters 

must have been to distract 

us from noticing the 

absence of Mr. President 

from office for some 

months and running 

for it all? Our presidential plane parked 

permanently there, the conquered territory 

of the rich and powerful, retired but not 

tired military politicians of Nigeria, is 

picking up the bills, and nothing will 

happen, it all shall soon pass away too, 

without any lessons learnt. 

Time was when I almost accepted and 

thought that with Buhari, and the APC 

Change mantra, it will only be a matter of 

days and the law and rules of Nigeria will 

begin to apply to us all, that all men will 

become equal before the law, there would 

be orderliness, electricity would be 

available and regular, our roads would be 

tarred, second Niger Bridge would be 

built, politicians who stole since 1999 

would be caught, exposed and prosecuted. 

But days became weeks, months and years, 

nothing really changed for good. Instead, 

Naira ran away from the US dollar, robbery 

increased, kidnapping, hunger increased, 

the judicial system faced the most violent 

assault in the history of Nigeria, almost 

everybody in government started to lie, 

and believe lies. And it became clear that 

all those talks have passed away, while 

we continue to trust God for His hand for 

deliverance for the poor. 

The idea from the Arewa Youths and their 

supporters must have been to distract us 

from noticing the absence of Mr. President 

from office for some months and running. 

The talk about impeachment for abdication 

of his duty post, has passed away, the 

crushing of Boko Haram, the plan to deal 

with Fulani herdsmen even from behind 

have all passed away too. It is a pleasant 

surprise that Igbos did not respond with 

harsh words to the Arewa Youth, even 

IPOB spoke with measured caution, 

attached little weight to the threat, and 

continued with their God given quest, 

knowing that this distraction too, shall 

pass away but with a difference - Igbos 

have woken up to the hatred by the 

northern youths and will become wiser at 

last for it. 

Igbos have realised that go north, west 

or south there is no place like Igboland. 

Igbos now know and have accepted that 

their youth could be shot at without cause 

by the Police, and the Army and no one in 

government would bat an eye lid. They 

have realised though painfully, that we 

need each other in Nigeria, but we also 

hate each other in such a strange but 

passionate way, that Igbo Christianity and 

this new violent Islam propagated using 

Fulani herdsmen will not work. 

Much as Nigeria will not split in a hurry, 

the Arewa Youths are bent on setting her 

ablaze. Something must be done by those 

who profess the God who is Love, not 

because of our sentiments, but because the 

Bible says so, that God is Love. We must 

pray and act for violence to stop in Nigeria. 

All Igbos must pray for the siege to 

dissipate, while they look forward to the 

land of their promise, wherever and 

whenever that may be. 

If the Arewa Youths do not know love, 

then we all must take them for what they 

are, and be more circumspect in dealing 

with the loveless, and hateful. They gave 

Igbos quite notice, but in return Nigeria is 

receiving Quit Notice from the Niger Delta, 

source of oil our livelihood, the very source 

that Nigeria has insulted, neglected, 

abused and deliberately allowed to 

deteriorate. The same source where divide 

and rule reign most supreme in the nation. 

That is why since the Quit Notice by a 

Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators, CNDA, 

for all other tribes to leave the oil region 

before October 1, “stake holders ” and 

leeches have jumped up saying it was 

illegal, irrational, superfluous and not the 

solution to the problems facing the country. 

I think it's about time Igbos opened their 

eyes! 

*Mr. Udegbe, a lawyer, wrote from 

ceeaai@yahoo.com, Lagos. 

C 

M 

Y 

K


YOUR LUCK TODAY 

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 

LEO: Romantic interlude that started late yesterday may 

become excitingly louder and melodious to the satisfaction of 

your soul. 

VIRGO: If you allow domestic pressure to affect your working 

pattern, your senior colleagues may not understand and make 

things a bit more difficult. IF you’re stable, you will have more to 

gain financially. 

LIBRA: After snappy aggressive approach exhibited by you 

yesterday ,you are back at your being pleasant self to the 

admiration of others. This is the wrong time to take law and it’s 

agents for granted. Young-at-heart are favoured so also 

commercial activities. 

SCORPIO: Some of you will wake up from slumber and 

realise mistakes about your finances early enough and make 

amendment but those who are reckless will commit more 

blunder. Beware of joint venture. 

SAGITTARIUS: Although erratic people from unexpected 

quarters may oppose you openly, your being self assertive will 

earn you both victory and financial success. Then tomorrow will 

prove more successful. 

CAPRICORN: Yes! It’s your day again. The more ambitious 

you are the better for you. Then you will need to ignore those 

with queer characteristics within your working arena.. 

AQUARIUS: Mixed trends are indicated. If you take good 

advice from your cool headed friends, you will benefit more 

than you imagine, but if you take to unpredictable attitude, you 

will today start fire that will burn with great intensity tomorrow. 

PISCES: If you take the veterans within your base for granted, 

they will fail you painfully. Yet here is a lucky day for you when 

your being secretive and self reliant will earn you success. Be 

more ambitious. 

L E I S U R E 

THOUGHT FOR TODAY 

“If a man is to shed the light of the sun upon other men, he 

must first of all have it within himself.” 

—Romain Rolland 

“Believe something and the Universe is on its way to being 

changed. Because you’ve changed, by believing. Once 

you’ve changed, other things start to follow. Isn’t that the 

way it works?” 

—Diane Duane 

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” 

By Kola Fayemi 

ARIES: Some of the people around you may get on your nerve 

via careless remarks, you must not allow them to disorganise 

your plans. The closer you are to the influential people the better 

for you. 

TAURUS: “Money is the root of all evils” says an adage. And 

if care is not taken, money may set you and some other people 

fiercely against each other to the detriment of your cause. Be 

cautious. 

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Pretty Lunatic’ By Andy Akman 

GEMINI: Opposition between the Moon and Venus may 

induce personality clashes you don’t need at lest for now. What 

can help you now is love and your being persuasive. Think of the 

future. 

CANCER: Positive events that started yesterday will continue 

today. Rely more on your ability to be as bold as necessary so 

that you can get things done your own way at work. 

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING 

Send your date e and place of birth th to the Astr 

trological 

Counselling, P.M.B 100 

007, 7, Apapa, Lagos 

Why constant frustration? 

Dear Joshua, 

Although I am a healthy person yet I want your Astrological 

ex-ray about my star and tell me what to expect health-wise 

and/or how to manage myself, career and financially. Right 

now I am in the Military as a Soldier. 

Lawal, Lokoja. 

Dear Lawal, 

Your parents must have gone through a few numbers of 

troubled moment while trying to raise you as you have what 

looked like a dirty childhood from both health and other 

areas of your life as indicated by opposition between 

conjoined planets across Pisces and Virgo when you were 

born 

Luckily for you however, as your natal Moon strongly got 

positive aspect from Venus, Your survival is assured. And there 

are indications of better health for you as you out-grow the 

childhood problems. 

Nonetheless what you will need to take seriously include 

constant worries, toothache, skin infection, headache 

(fever)lungs, stomach-ache, feet and sometimes the bones 

(dislocation). Nothing fatalistic about everything stated here 

but mere warnings. 

Yours is a rugged personality suitable for military career 

of any type. And whenever you opt out of the military, it will 

be wise of you to give consideration to involvement with 

liquid related business especially the oil industry. The 

computer world and essential needs of women. Actually 

dealing with women along your business line will prove most 

fortunate for you. 

Fish farming and other agro-allied can be favourable but 

because of your love of changes, you may not be able to see 

such through. 

As your natal Moon got good aspects from comfortably 

placed Venus (another money related planet), financial 

success is within your reach. 

T-square aspects formed by your natal Sun/Saturn, Uranus/ 

Pluto and Jupiter will bring delay related frustrations. 

Miscalculation and gambling like tendencies are other 

things capable of militating against your finance. Financial 

success will eventually be earned by you but you will need to 

embrace discipline nature in handling your finance. 

VIRGINIA 

HOME & ABROAD 

dadadekola@yahoo.com 

By Lawrence Akapa



DBS UBULU-UKU: Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah (3rd right); 

General Manager, Delta Broadcasting Service, DBS, Tansmitting Station, Ubulu Uku, Lady Evelyn Binitie 

(2nd right); Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Mr. Paul Osahor (4th right) and others, 

inspecting ongoing work on the conversion from 11KV to 33KV network, yesterday. 

Okowa gives account of N10bn 

Paris Club refund 

By Festus Ahon 

ASABA—DELTA State 

Government, 

yesterday, has urged 

opposition political parties 

in the state not to heat up 

the polity, insisting that the 

N10 billion received 

recently from the Federal 

Government as the state’s 

share of the Paris Club 

refund was used 

judiciously. 

Chief Press Secretary to 

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, 

Mr. Charles Aniagwu, who 

stated this in Asaba, said: 

“We have observed the 

continued misinformation 

by some leaders of the 

opposition All Progressive 

Congress, APC, in the 

state, in which they painted 

pictures that are at variance 

with the realities on ground 

about our projects and 

programmes both 

completed and ongoing. 

“Those who have elected 

to politicise everything tend 

to have found a very fertile 

ground in our deployment 

of the second tranche of the 

Paris Fund Club refund, 

even after we offered an 

explanation to that effect. 

N10b breakdown 

“At the risk of repeating 

our initial explanation, 

these are the breakdown: 

N2.1 billion was allocated 

to Local Government 

Councils for salary arrears 

and N7.9 billion was due 

to Delta State Government. 

“The government spent 

N1.3 billion, being 7.5 

percent of the money, on 

contributory pension 

arrears; N1.7 billion on 

deductions due to cooperatives 

societies; N315 

million, state contributions 

to pension for May 2016; 

N174 million, restoration of 

BVN issues related salaries; 

“N475 million, 

augmentation for July 2017 

salary; N300 million, part 

payment for outstanding 

arrears of past services of 

state Contributory Pension 

Scheme; N318 million, 

support to LGAs to pay 

June 2017 salaries; N3.5 

billion, capital/recurrent 

expenditure approvals and 

it totals, N7.9 billion.” 

By Onozure Dania 

IJAW Youth Council, IYC, 

has said they hold the ace 

to the actualisation of the 

sovereign state of Biafra, 

cautioning the leader of the 

Indigenous People of 

Biafra, IPOB, Mazi 

Nnamdi Kanu, to be 

mindful of his utterances 

against Ijaw leader, Chief 

Edwin Clark. 

IYC, led by Mr. 

Oweilaemi Pereotubo, who 

gave the warning to IPOB 

leader, Kanu, while 

addressing journalists in 

•...tasks opposition on 

constructive criticism 

He said the state 

government will remain 

committed to bringing 

prosperity to all Deltans, 

urging opposition political 

parties to “avoid engaging 

in deceptive acts that could 

heat up the polity ahead of 

the 2019 general election, 

but to rather engage in 

actions that will unite 

Deltans the more and make 

the state more peaceful. 

“For the avoidance of 

doubt, we expect criticism 

from anybody because it is 

an essential ingredient of 

democracy; but we believe 

that such criticisms should 

find a reasonable space on 

the track of objectivity and 

patriotism.” 

IYC cautions Nnamdi Kanu over Clark 

By Ike Uchechukwu 

C ALABAR—CROSS 

River State 

Government has restated its 

commitment to boost 

tourism through agrocultural 

festivals in the three 

senatorial districts of the 

state, adding that it had 

created three new Agro- 

Cultural Festivals to boost 

its tourism potentials. 

The festivals, which 

include Leboku, adopted 

for the Central district, 

Otumobong for the 

Southern district and a yetto-be-named 

festival for the 

Northern zone, will come 

up between August and 

September 30, every year. 

Briefing journalists on 

activities to mark this year’s 

Warri, Delta State, 

reiterated that it was naive 

and callous for someone to 

address Chief Clark as a 

slave, knowing full well that 

Clark was only cautioning 

Kanu not to further 

marginalise the Igbo in the 

scheme of things by 

boycotting the November 

governorship election in 

Anambra State. 

Pereotubo said though 

Clark calls for the re-arrest 

of Kanu, he was only giving 

wise counsel for Kanu to 

stop the move of trying to 

deny the political rights of 

Leboku International New 

Yam Festival in Yakurr, 

Special Adviser to the 

Governor on Events 

Management, Mr. 

Kenneth Akla, said the 

festivals will further ensure 

By Innocent Onoja 

U GHELLI—THE 

member representing 

Olomu Ward 2 in Ughelli 

South Local Government 

Area of Delta State, Mr. 

Friday Ijomone, yesterday, 

gave out sewing machines, 

motor bikes, hair dryer, 

cash gift, among other 

items, to his constituents. 

Speaking at the event, 

Ijomone said his 

the Anambra State people. 

He said: “We, the Ijaw, 

have what it takes to 

liberate ourselves and do 

not need help from IPOB.” 

Pereotubo asked Kanu to 

study the history of the 

Civil War, noting that “it 

was one single Ijaw man, 

Major Jasper Adaka Boro, 

that stopped the invading 

Biafran soldiers from Port 

Harcourt, Rivers State, and 

chased them back.” 

He urged Kanu to know 

the geography of the South- 

East and exert his effort in 

liberating the Igbo. 

C-River launches 3 agro-cultural festivals to boost tourism 

peace and unity among the 

various communities in the 

state. 

It will be recalled that the 

Paramount Ruler of Yakurr 

and Obol Lopon of Ugep, 

HRM Obol Ofem 

Delta councillor empowers constituents 

empowerment package 

was in line with the 

SMART agenda of 

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. 

While lamenting that his 

initial plan was hard to 

accomplish due to the 

critical economic crunch, he 

said he had to embark on 

the programme out of 

necessity because he 

shared in the pains of his 

constituents. 

Responding to the 

PTI gets new Finance Director 

THE Governing 

Council of 

Petroleum Training 

Institute, PTI, 

Effurun, Delta State, 

has appointed Mr. 

Aliyu Mafindi as 

Director of Finance 

and Accounts. 

This was contained 

in a 13-paragraph 

letter by the Registrar 

and Secretary to 

Council, Abubakar 

Tanimu. 

Born on August 25, 

1968, at Tudum 

Wada, Zaria, prior to 

this appointment, 

Mr. Mafindi was 

Deputy Bursar in 

Ahmadu Bello 

University, ABU, 

Zaria, Kaduna State. 

He holds two Master 

degrees and a 

Bachelor’s degree in 

B u s i n e s s 

Administration. All 

from ABU. 

Mafindi is a 

Burial 

CHIEF 

Joseph 

Inyang, 78, of Ibesit 

in Oruk Anam LGA of 

Akwa Ibom State is dead. 

He died on April 27 and 

will be buried at his 

family compound on 

Saturday, August 26 after 

funeral 

and 

thanksgiving service by 

The Apostolic Church 

Nigeria, Ibesit District. 

He is survived by a 

widow, seven children 

and relations. 

Late Chief Inyang 

Ubangha Eteng, had, a 

day earlier, assured 

visitors coming for the 

Leboku International 

New Year to feel free 

because their safety was 

guaranteed. 

gesture, one of the 

beneficiaries, Mrs Kati 

Omo-ohwo, who got a 

sewing machine, 

expressed gratitude to 

their representative, noting 

that the package will 

transform their life for the 

better. 

In the same vein, a 

leader of the party in the 

council, Chief C. Omonemu, 

commended the 

councillor for the gesture. 

Mr. Aliyu Mafindi 

member of Certified 

National Accountant, 

CNA; Association of 

National Accountants of 

Nigeria, ANAN; Institute 

of Management Consultant, 

IMC; Chartered 

member, Nigerian 

Institute of Management, 

NIM; Fellow, Chartered 

Institute of Cost 

Management, CICMA, 

among others. 

Passage 

MR. 

Anselm 

Okonkwor, 52, is 

dead. He died August 1. 

He was the Public 

Relations Officer, 

Enforcement Directorate, 

National Agency for Food 

and Drug Administration 

and Control, NAFDAC. 

He is survived by widow, 

Ann, four children, aged 

father and brothers. Burial 

is at his hometown 

Oboloukwu, Aniocha 

North LGA, Delta State, 

tomorrow. 

Late Mr. Okonkwor 

Transition 

MRS. Victoria Apah, 

87, of Oginibo in 

Ughelli South LGA, Delta 

State is dead. Funeral 

service for the greatgrandmother 

holds today 

at St. Michael’s Anglican 

Church, Oginibo. 

Reception is at Oginibo 

Secondary School. She is 

survived by children and 

relatives, among whom is 

Mr Sunday Apah, leader, 

Ughelli South Legislative 

Arm, Delta State. 

Mrs. Victoria Apah



PZ Cussons boosts science education with mobile lab in Katsina 

PZ 

Cussons 

Foundation, in 

conjunction with Voluntary 

Services Overseas, VSO, 

has signed a 

Memorandum of Understanding, 

MoU, with the 

Katsina State Government 

to assist in solving the 

problem of inadequate 

science laboratories in 

secondary schools, boost 

science education and 

improve performance. 

Also embedded in the 

package is intervention to 

increase training of science 

and mathematics teachers, 

particularly in rural 

schools. 

Kick-starting the MoU, 

PZ Cussons Foundation 

has donated a mobile 

laboratory, called Science 

on Wheels, to Katsina 

State, to help students 

acquaint themselves with 

practical science classes 

and maximise the use of 

PZ CUSSONS: From left— Katsina State Commissioner for Education, 

Professor Halimatu Idris; Company Secretary, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, Mrs. 

Abiola Laseinde, representing PZ Cussons Foundation, and Country Director, 

Voluntary Services Overseas, VSO, Mrs. Lucia Balonwu, at the handing over 

ceremony held at Katsina State Government House. 

the facility across schools 

in the State. 

The ceremony was 

performed by the state 

IDPs get 990metric tons of grains in Gombe 

By Vincent 

Ekhoragbon 

G OMBE—THE 

N a t i o n a l 

Emergency Management 

Agency, NEMA, has 

commenced the 

distribution of 990 metric 

tonnes of assorted relief 

food to internallydisplaced 

persons, IDPs, 

in Gombe State under the 

Federal Government 

Food Initiative in the 

North-East. 

A b d u l s a l a m 

Mohammed, Leader of 

the distribution team, said 

Commissioner for 

Education, Professor 

Halimatu Idris, who 

received the vehicle on 

the it had been on for about 

a week and will cover every 

single community that 

harbours an IDP camp in 

all the local government 

areas of the state. 

He said the distribution 

exercise, which is being 

done on door-to-door 

basis, started with the 

enumeration of IDPs a few 

weeks ago and it is 

expected to cover over 

40,000 beneficiaries. 

Mohammed added that 

each household is served 

a single ration of grains 

made up of 50kg of maize, 

12.5kg of soya beans and 

behalf of the state 

government with PZ 

Cussons Foundation and 

VSO in attendance. 

Strange disease kills 50 in Kogi 

•WHO, Irrua Specialist Hospital take samples 

AN 

unidentified 

disease, with 

diarrhoea, blood-stained 

vomit and high fever as 

symptoms, has killed 50 

people at Okunran, 

Okoloke and Isanlu-Esa 

villages in Yagba West 

Local Government Area of 

Kogi State. 

Saka Audu, the state 

Commissioner for Health, 

who visited the affected 

areas yesterday, said 

medical personnel told 

him the disease was 

unknown. 

“We initially suspected 

Lassa Fever after getting 

some misleading reports 

about people bleeding. 

So we made a diagnosis 

for viral haemorrhagic 

(Lassa) fever, but the 

result was negative,” 

Jannette Hathorn, a 

consultant at ECWA 

Hospital, Egbe, 

reportedly told Audu. 

She said the first case 

was that of a two-and-half 

years old child, who died 

12 hours after he was 

brought to the hospital. 

Hathorn said: “We are 

sure it is not Lassa Fever; 

but our concern is that we 

do not know exactly what 

is happening. We have 

not arrived at a definitive 

diagnosis. 

“Two adult patients were 

also brought here; one 

showed symptoms of 

ulcer-viral illness, but 

there was no bleeding 

component of any 

haemorrhagic symptom. 

“We isolated them and 

both of them were treated 

for malaria. When they 

started improving, we let 

them go. 

“Another parent brought 

a child to the hospital and 

pleaded for help. He said 

that 50 people had died 

in their village with 

similar symptoms of 

blood-stained vomiting, 

diarrhoea and fever. 

“When the child died, 

we called the World 

Health Organisation, 

WHO. Yesterday 

(Wednesday), their 

officials came and took 

samples of everything; 

we must know exactly 

what we are dealing 

with.” 

Audu said government 

got the information about 

the outbreak of the 

disease last week and a 

technical team was 

immediately sent to take 

samples, which were sent 

to General Hospital Irrua, 

Edo State, “for definitive 

investigation.” 

Fulani worst hit 


Fulani settlers have been 

reported to be the worst 

hit by the disease, which 

broke out three weeks 

ago. 

Damina Ibrahim, leader 

of the Fulani settlement, 

told journalists that 

children were worst hit. 

He explained that 

parents became more 

confused when doctors 

could not ascertain the 

cause of the illness, 

saying many died in the 

hospital, while others 

were discharged without 

any cure. 

He said: “We at first 

used herbs to treat the 

patients, but had to rush 

to the hospital after 

recording several deaths. 

“We have lost more than 

50 people and still have 

many helpless patients at 

home.” 

Audu said: “We want to 

determine the cause of 

these mysterious deaths 

and then proffer solution 

to it. 

For now, what is clear 

and confirmed is that it is 

not Lassa Fever; but 

whatever it is, we will 

carry out further 

investigation and come 

up with definitive 

diagnosis. 

“We are digging into the 

real cause of this ailment. 

All hands are on deck 

toward unravelling the 

definitive cause of the 

mysterious deaths among 

the kids. 

“We want to reassure the 

people that government is 

with them and will take 

full responsibility of those 

who are already ill, so as 

to arrest the spread of this 

disease.” 

12.5kg of guinea corn. 

The beneficiaries, led by 

their state Chairman, Abba 

Jatto Damboa, applauded 

the Federal Government 

for the initiative and 

appreciated NEMA for 

delivering the goods to 

those they are meant for. 

They said it is the best 

food relief distribution 

they had witnessed as it 

takes into consideration the 

size of the various families, 

unlike the previous ones 

where even a single 

adults got the same as 

families as large as 20 and 

even more. 

Kwara council polls now Nov 18 

By Demola 

Akinyemi 

I LORIN—KWARA 

State Independent 

Electoral Commission, 

KWSIEC, yesterday, 

announced that the local 

government elections, 

earlier scheduled for 

November 4, will now 

hold on November 18. 

Chairman of 

KWASIEC, Dr. Uthman 

Ajidagba, told newsmen 

at a briefing in Ilorin, 

yesterday, that the two 

weeks postponement was 

to enable those on Hajj 

pilgrimage participate. 

He also reiterated that 

the commission will not 

make use of the card 

readers for the election. 

By Rosemary 

Onuoha 

AS 

government 

intensifies energy 

and resources to diversify 

the economy and make 

agriculture its mainstay, 

two young Nigerian 

entrepreneurs have 

developed a state-of-theart 

App that will connect 

farmers, broaden 

knowledge base of 

stakeholders in the sector 

with the ultimate aim of 

broadening agribusiness 

in the country. 

Speaking with 

journalists in Lagos on 

the new tool, Olushola 

Ogunniyi, Co-Founder 

and CEO of Probityfarms, 

explained that the new 

technology is a simpleto-use 

farm management 

app to help farmers 

manage both the day-to- 

Socio-economic trends 

threaten faith—Cleric 

By Oboh 

Agbonkhese 

THE Spiritual Leader/ 

General Overseer of 

Christ’s Chosen Church 

of God International, Snr. 

Apostle Joshua Osasuyi, 

has called on Christians 

to wake up and be wise 

as the political, economic 

and social trends in the 

country were negatively 

affecting their faith. 

Speaking at the 

Church’s 10th 

international convention 

at its Central Cathedral 

Complex, Benin, on the 

theme Be Still and Know 

that I Am God, Dr. 

Osasuyi said as the 

country is tottering, “it is 

time for us to maintain our 

focus on God and fully 

rely on his promises.” 

He said: “A proclamation 

was issued on July 31 on 

the elections in accordance 

with the provisions of the 

extant laws. We were 

prepared for free, fair, 

transparent, peaceful and 

credible elections in the 16 

local government area in 

the state. 

“However, shortly after 

the proclamation, my 

commission was awash 

with emissaries from 

stakeholders, including 

individual electorate. 

“They all pleaded with 

the commission to consider 

the interest of our Muslim 

brothers and sisters, who 

are currently in the 

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 

performing one of their 

religious obligations.” 

Firm unveils new 

farm App to boost yields 

day activities of the farm 

and even the business side 

of their operations. 

Farmers can use the 

application throughout the 

value chain of all farming 

activities. 

According to Ogunniyi, 

“we understand that there 

are two sides to running 

successful farming; the 

business side and the 

technical side. However, 

many farmers today lack 

the professional and 

business skills needed to 

manage these two farm 

operations successfully. 

“With ProbityFarms, our 

pilot farmers depended on 

our simple dashboard to 

solve these important 

needs. After creating their 

farm profiles, they can 

easily capture all activities 

on the farm, from crop 

production, livestock 

production to economics.” 

He said the week-long 

convention, which will 

end on Monday, August 

21, is an opportunity for 

Christians nationwide to 

embrace righteousness, 

charity and pray without 

ceasing to ensure victory 

for the Christian faith and 

the Nigerian project, 

noting that Nigerians 

should put the interests of 

others before self. 

Other minister who 

spoke were Director of 

Administration/First Vice 

Chairman, Snr. Apostle Dr. 

David Unuefe-Ikhuiwu; 

Second Vice Chairman, 

Snr. Apostle Jonathan 

Onaghise; Snr. Apostle 

David Unuefe-Iknuiwu; 

Snr. Apostle Onaghise; 

Secretary, Apostle Nosa 

Atoe; Chairman, Apostle 

Jones Ikebeh.

Vanguard, FRIDAY , AUGUST 18, 2017 --35 

Amosun’s artificial boundaries 

Dear sir, 

AT the Monday, July 24, 2017 

summit of the South West 

governors (now Western Nigeria 

Governors’ Forum) in Abeokuta, the 

Ogun State helmsman, Senator Ibikunle 

Amosun, rued the partition of the old 

Western Region in the following words: 

“Instead of building bridges, some of 

our people are digging trenches for 

protection against their own brothers 

and sisters.” 

The artificial partition of Africa, a 

product of the 1884/85 Berlin 

Conference, has had the same 

centrifugal effect on the landscape of 

Africa. Time and time again, brothers 

who had lived together in peace for 

centuries, have had to meet at the 

abattoir of mutual annihilation in 

defence of artificial boundaries and 

resolution of otherwise communal 

differences. 

Wrote Soyinka in The Man Died, “It 

is better to believe in people than 

nations... And any exercise of selfdecimation 

sorely in defence of the 

inviolability of the temporal 

demarcations called nations is a 

Dear sir, 

WORKING with the conventional 

calendar, 2019 may be seen to be 

miles away. But a peep into the calendar 

of an average Nigerian politician, and a 

feel of their body language tell a different 

narrative. For most politicians, 2019 is an 

election. The Nigerian political class 

knows that as in war that “whoever arrives 

first and takes position is at ease while he 

that arrives late labours’’. This is evident 

in their early preparation coupled with the 

fact that seeking elective positions in 

Nigeria is a capital intensive project. 

Parts of the early preparation may 

include the proliferation of political 

groups, political alignments and 

realignments, flag-off of people oriented 

but politically motivated programmes 

by political office holders among others. 

The new entrants or the political noviates 

are not left out in this 2019 electioneering 

fever as they are now more on ground, 

organising one skill training programme 

or the other for their constituents. They 

are also now visibly involved in community 

development efforts in their localities. 

The political class’ posturing could be 

best described as the ‘’nobles’’ who know 

how to’’ take care of their own and tknow 

how to take care of them’. They have from 

inception been united by one common 

denominator and that is the quest to gain 

mindless travesty of idealism. People are 

not temporal because they can be 

defined by infinite ideas. Boundaries 

cannot.” 

“And to further worsen the situation,” 

observed Governor Amosun, “some of 

our people are also making themselves 

available as instruments of division 

because of their selfish political gains. 

The consequence is that our people 

begin to see themselves as a people of 

one State or the other rather than as a 

sub-unit of the Yoruba entity.” 

He there and then counselled: “We 

cannot allow artificial boundaries such 

as geography, religion, politics, etc. to 

hinder our joint development. We 

should explore the common heritage in 

culture and tradition as a spring-board 

for the development of our different 

States and the entire Region as a whole.” 

I believe the message of the Ogun 

State governor is most pertinent and has 

the same appeal to the people of 

Nigeria, especially at this time of sociopolitical 

agitations. 

Soyombo Opeyemi, Abeokuta, Ogun 

State. 

2019: The political class and the rest of us 

and hold on to power. This, they dissipate 

energy to actualize. They are always 

proactive thereby forcing the electorate to 

be responsive. Above all, they are 

specialists, though in a negative way, in 

the incubation and implementation of 

sustainable political development. They 

are propelled by selfishness, pride, egotism 

and self aggrandizement. 

We are not worried that most of our 

current crop of political players who are 

specialists in political harlotry are lacing 

up their shoes coming with basket full of 

promises. Just the way they did in the time 

past promised much but fulfilled none. If 

we as a people, especially the youths, can 

keep quiet at this point and allow these 

people to have their way, it shows that we 

have not learnt any lesson. We are not also 

worried that the political parties that 

receive massive support but performed 

below average are once again equally 

bracing up for another go at political battle. 

It is germane that we use this 2019 

election as a defining watershed in the 

anal of this nation. We have to do this 

bearing in mind that our wrong decisions 

and choices in the past is affecting our 

present. We should also be mindful of the 

fact that our present is present in the future. 

So, whatever choice we make in 2019 will 

go a long way in shaping our political 

future as a nation. 

Jerome-Mario, Lagos. 

BRT and restoration of U-Turn bus terminal 

Dear sir, 

THE Lagos State Bus Rapid Transit 

(BRT) vehicles that ply the Lagos- 

Abeokuta expressway, which terminate 

journeys at Sango Ota toll gate, before 

now, maintained a park at U-Turn bus stop 

for commuters and residents of Abule Egba 

connurbation to board and disembark. 

That was before the construction of the 

recently commissioned Jubilee bridge at 

Abule Egba. 

However, the moment the new bridge 

was commissioned by Governor 

Akinwunmui Ambode, the BRT buses 

virtually abandoned the U-turn bus stop. 

All of them now move only to the toll gate 

and return to Oshodi, with possible stops 

at Iyana Ipaja and Ikeja. None of the buses 

stops at U-Turn bus stop to pick passengers 

any more. And commuters at U-Turn and 

Abule Egba connurbations are now left to 

fend for themselves. This obviously is 

against the spirit behind the provision of 

these buses. 

The Lagos State government should 

intervene and order BRT to restore the U- 

Turn bus terminal so that residents at this 

axis can board them either to Oshodi or 

Sango Ota as was the case hitherto. 

Government should reassign these buses 

to U-Turn bus terminal because their 

absence has added to the sufferings of 

residents of this area. 

Daniel Temi 

Abule Egba U-Turn, Ojokoro LCDA, 

Lagos State 

FERMA should be 

scrapped 

WHAT is the job schedule of 

FERMA? What functions are they 

supposed to perform? There are so 

many bad roads and yet FERMA’s 

executives and workers are just 

sitting in their offices receiving 

salaries without the prospect of 

maintaining our roads. In case the 

Senate has forgotten that such 

agency still exists, FERMA should 

be scrapped if it is not functioning 

properly. 

Happiness Aduke 08054040349 

Buhari’s administration and 

capitalism 

Past administrations and especially 

the President Goodluck Jonathan’s 

administration had blindly followed 

the directives of the IMF and World 

Bank and even some other directives 

by the western countries with the 

false hope that it is through 

capitalism that poverty can be 

defeated in Nigeria. The only 

exception was during the short 

period of Gen. Muhammadu 

Buhari’s rule as military Head of 

State; when he shunned all 

entreaties to embrace all these and 

Nigeria was better for it. 

This is why the coming of Okonjo- 

Iweala from the World Bank for 

several years has been so disastrous 

as she has succeeded in thoroughly 

pummelling our economy. Needless 

advising, one is absolutely certain 

that the Buhari’s administration 

should again shun all capitalist 

directives that will only impoverish 

the people. 

Truman 

Abiama. 

+2348095581808. 

Evans allegedly sues 

Nigerian Police 

Evans should have slammed 

N15billion suit against the Nigeria 

Police for wasting the time he would 

have used in kidnapping. What an 

insult! A notorious criminal who has 

carried out several high profile 

crimes. 

The Federal Government should 

not allow Evans go free. In fact, he 

should be sentenced to death along 

with his accomplices. 

Mike 08063897516 

Where are the pre-paid 

meters 

For several years that the 

privatisation of the energy sector was 

concluded, Nigerians felt highly 

relieved not knowing that an 

unending agony had only just begun. 

The case had been that meters are 

not read, lack of meters, continuous 

issuance of estimated bills, all just 

to ruin all of us! This must stop! 

Let the installation of pre-paid 

meters take off immediately. No more 

crazy bills, no pre-paid meter, no bill. 

The rights of consumers must be 

protected,else the concessionaires must 

be arrested and prosecuted. 

Tony 

ogun-Amahwe 

+2348051112924 

The economy and corrupt 

officials 

The recent looted money found in 

Ikoyi by the EFCC from all indications 

and revelations, goes without telling 

that Nigeria has been milked real dry 

by unscrupulous people aided by 

unpatriotic officials. 

President Buhari’s administration 

must get to the root of these matter and 

bring the culprits to justice to 

discourage others who are bent on 

destroying our economy. People must 

realise that it is no longer going to be 

business as usual. Let me admonish 

all compatriots to embrace the wind of 

change that is blowing across Nigeria 

by doing the right thing in the interest 

of Nigeria and all Nigerians. 

Mike 08063897516 

Buhari: Adjust policies and reduce 

the sufferings 

Perfection is an attribute of God. 

President Buahri’s policies on land 

borders, foods importation, forex and 

increase in pension/tax of workers, 

tokunbo cars and clothes, etc. are the 

products that have direct impact on the 

masses, and any leader that wants to 

have total control of the people he 

leads, must put human face in his 

policies. 

To err is human, but to forgive is 

divine. Finally, we have no doubt about 

your integrity but the masses are 

always at the receiving end of all your 

policies. 

Habeeb Sadiq Jos 08028981730 

Trailers to travel by night 

Night travel for all trailers plying 

Abuja Okene/ Benin road is the best. 

Road users plying Abuja/ Okene/ Benin 

road no longer find it funny, as many 

trucks fall on the road and cause a lot of 

accidents and traffic jam. I wish the federal 

government introduces night travel 

for all trucks plying those roads. 

Happiness Aduku 2348136582917 

Insurgency 

Terrorism has been in existence for a 

long time. And for us in Nigeria we are 

facing our own share of it presently 

through the Boko Haram. Unfortunately, 

it is not going to be an easy battle to 

fight because of Boko Haram’s link with 

the deadly ISIS, and alleged covert support 

from sponsors like the Saudi government. 

How then are we to rid the 

country of this devilish campaign of killings 

and bombings, and where do we 

go from here?. 

Clem Eruke 08153089490 

SAYINGS OF OUR ELDERS 

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks . 

- Igbo proverb 

Send us your Sayings of Our Elders. They must be African sayings or 

proverbs. Biblical or English proverbs are unacceptable. Address 

your sayings to: opinions1234@yahoo.com


AT last, former President 

Goodluck Jonathan appears to 

have found his mojo. In recent 

speech after speech, he’s been 

taking the fight to the doorstep 

of the ruling All Progressives 

Congress and causing quite a 

stir. 

Until now, the only thing 

Jonathan could remember as 

his achievement after six years 

in office was the transfer of 

power. Yet, he often spoke 

about this considerable feat in 

whispers at the end of which 

he would usually remark, 

almost as an afterthought, that 

it was also on his watch that 

Nigeria became Africa’s 

largest economy. 

That awkwardness is 

changing. At the recent nonelective 

convention of the 

Peoples Democratic Party in 

Abuja, Jonathan, who led his 

party to a historic defeat in 

2015, made one of his boldest 

statements yet. 

He said that apart from a few 

loopholes that he failed to 

plug, 

President 

MuhammaduBuhari’s 

government could so far not 

compare with his record of 

performance in office. 

He spoke about the stable 

prices of agricultural produce 

in spite of a major flood in 

2012; his government’s 

programmes and policies that 

were copied in other parts of 

the world; the sterling qualities 

of his cabinet; and the 

reduction of inflation to a 

single digit. 

When the crowd thought he 

had finished, he blew his 

trumpet one more time, 

declaring that the sunshine at 

the Eagle Square on that day 

was the irrefutable sign that if 

God was not a member of the 

PDP, then He is the party’s 

most ardent cheerleader. 

Jonathan’s comment 

obviously provoked the 

Director General of the Voice 

of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, 

who took up the former 

president for God and party. 

But why? Why was 

Jonathan’s comment more 

concerning than the 

performance of the APC 

government since it assumed 

power over two years ago? 

Don't blame Jonathan 

Of loopholes and 

black holes 

Okay, Jonathan tried to 

understate the massive 

corruption in his government, 

his loss of grip and the 

devastating effect of his 

incompetence on the country. 

Diezani Allison-Madueke 

alone was more than a 

loophole. She was a black hole 

that sucked and sucked. 

At an average of $120 per 

barrel for nearly four years, 

the country made more money 

than sense and Jonathan 

couldn’t resist the temptation 

of running a government of 

pirates, by pirates, for pirates. 

A “piratocracy”, if you like. 

But that was supposed to 

have ended two years ago. 

Voters took their revenge at 

the poll and voted Jonathan 

and PDP out for the change 

that the APC promised. 

It’s a waste of time getting 

mad at Jonathan for giving 

himself a pass mark where 

voters had failed him. The 

question Okechukwu should 

be asking himself is whether 

the APC government will pass 

the electoral test that the last 

government failed, if an 

election were held today. 

The embarrassingly plain 

answer is no. 

The tea 

leaves 

Buhari has dealt a serious 

blow to Boko Haram and 

retrieved local governments 

seized by the terror group in 

the North East; but new 

franchises of violence – 

Former President Goodluck-Jonathan. 

kidnappings, a rash of 

separatist tensions, attacks by 

herdsmen and armed gangs – 

have left the country on edge. 

Buhari said if Nigeria does 

not kill corruption, corruption 

would kill Nigeria. The fight 

against corruption has been 

audacious in ambition and it’s 

not business as usual. 

But it should worry 

Okechukwu that intra-agency 

infighting, intra-party 

rebellion, malicious halfmeasures 

by government 

insiders and outright 

complicity in a few cases, have 

severely hobbled the fight 

against corruption, causing 

more damage than any 

supposed fight-back by 

corruption has done. 

Details of 

recovered loot 

Where Jonathan covered up 

corruption with his party’s 

rickety umbrella, Buhari’s 

government has attempted to 

sweep it with a few loose sticks 

of a frazzled broom. Attempts 

to reform the judiciary are 

stuck in the mud. But let’s face 

it: in this war on corruption, 

the government is sometimes 

its own worst enemy. 

For example: if the 

government was trying hard 

not to offend any special 

interests by publishing 1) the 

full details of recovered loot 

from 1999 to date, and 2) the 

full list of looted funds 

recovered under the present 

government and the names of 

the looters and the amounts 

involved, the court judgments 

obtained by Socio-Economic 

Rights and Accountability 

Project (SERAP) should have 

been a convenient excuse to 

slay any sacred cows. 

But 17 months after the first 

judgment was obtained and 

two months after the second, 

giving the government what 

appears to be its best chance 

Buhari’s 

government has 

two more years to 

go and 

Okechukwu’s 

concern should be 

how the 

government can 

recover grounds 

lost to the 

increasingly 

growing feeling of 

despair and 

frustration 

yet to ramp up its anticorruption 

war, the 

government is still fiddling 

with the rulings. 

That was not what Buhari 

promised and that should 

worry Okechukwu more than 

any bombastic claims to 

sainthood by Jonathan. 

The economy was worse than 

most expected at the time 

Buhari took over. A collapse 

was inevitable regardless of 

what Jonathan says. When 

Buhari took over the crisis of 

expectations only made 

things worse. 

If Okechukwu was in this 

country, however, he might 

agree that if corruption and 

incompetence under Jonathan 

set the stage for the collapse 

of the economy, Buhari’s slow, 

confused and hardened 

response hastened it. And 

with what we know now, the 

awkward and confused state of 

affairs may have been 

compounded by the 

President’s fragile health at 

the time. 

Be my 

scapegoat 

There’s no need to blame 

Jonathan or to be mad at him. 

Instead, if Okechukwu still 

has any clout in the circles that 

matter he would do well to 

advise his people to learn from 

what happened to Jonathan’s 

government. 

Jonathan did not lose in 

2015; he lost at least three 

years earlier. The first clear 

signs that his government 

would fall appeared in 

January 2012, barely one year 

after he took office in defiance 

of a supposed “gentleman’s 

agreement” not to run. The 

subsidy riots exposed the 

government’s rotten core and 

prepared the ground for what 

happened three years later. 

The writing is on the wall 

and die-hard supporters of the 

Buhari government who are 

too embarrassed to admit it 

openly are nursing their grief 

privately. There’s trouble 

ahead. 

Buhari’s government has two 

more years to go and 

Okechukwu’s concern should 

be how the government can 

recover grounds lost to the 

increasingly growing feeling 

of despair and frustration. 

The last three months of the 

President’s absence have been 

particularly difficult both for 

those who wish his 

government well and those 

who don’t. The former group 

is keenly aware that every 

single day he spends away 

strengthens the hands of “the 

hyenas and the jackals”, the 

latter is keenly aware, too, that 

even if they push him over the 

edge, there’s no guarantee 

what happens next or that it 

would be in their favour. 

What both sides have in 

common is a feeling of déjà vu 

complicated by frustration. 

Okechukwu should be 

thankful that APC has a 

scapegoat in Jonathan to learn 

from. 

Ishiekwene is the MD/ 

Editor-In-Chief of The 

Interview magazine and 

board member of the Parisbased 

Global Editors 

Network.


NNABUIFE 

I, formerly known and 

addressed as Miss 

Nnabuife Amarachi 

Esther, now wish to be 

known and addressed 

as Mrs. Onuabuchi 

Amarachi Esther. All 

former documents 

remain valid. General 

public please take note. 

MUHAMMED 


addressed as 

Muhammed Usman 

Olatunde, now wish to 

be known and 

addressed as Abioye 

Tunde Usman. All 



public please take 

note. 

IHEANACHO 


addressed as 

Iheanacho Ugochi 

Juliet, now wish to be 


as Nworah Ugochi 

Juliet. All former 

documents remain 

valid. General public 

please take note. 

FAITH 


addressed as Faith 

John, now wish to be 


as Tary Faith-John 

Cida West. All former 




OCHE 



Oche Christiana 

Oyine, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Ogunrinde 

Christiana Oyine. All 




EJOH 

Correction and Addition 

of Name 

My name was wrongly 

written as Ejor Margaret, 

instead of my supposed 

former name Ejoh 

Margaret. I now wish to 

add my second name 

Enakemeh, to be known 

and addressed as Ejoh 

Enakemeh Margaret. All 

former documents remain 



ODOM 



Odom Esther 

Chinyere, now wish to 

be known and 

addressed as Mrs. 

Odom-Ihejieto Esther 

Chinyere. All former 




FOLARIN 


addressed as Folarin 

Omolara Grace, now 

wish to be known and 

addressed as 

Fadahunsi Omolara 

Grace. All former 




OMORODION 



Helen Iriagbonse 

Omorodion, now wish 

to be known and 


Helen Ojuolape 

Olaniyan. All former 



should take note. 

MGBENKA 



Mgbenka Adaobi 

Marie, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Onyia Adaobi 

Marie. All former 




OSAIGBOVO 


addressed as 

Miss Patience 

Ighayere Osaigbovo, 

now wish to be known 

and addressed as Mrs. 

Patience Ighayere 

Ikhidero. All former 




EJEMEIRE 


addressed as 

Miss Ejemeire 

Jennifer Ebohomen, 



Ejemeire Jennifer 

Ebohomen Bakumo. 

All former documents 



OJO 


addressed as Ojo 

Mariam Esther, now 


addressed as 

Majekodunmi Mariam 

Esther. All former 




DIM 



Philomena Onyinyechi 

Dim, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Udeh 

P h i l o m e n a 

Onyinyechi. All former 




JAMES 



Aino Imoh James, now 



Aino Victor Ita Peter. 




AUGUSTINE 


addressed as Onuoha 

Mmaduabuchi 

Augustine, now wish to 

be known and 

addressed as Onuoha 

Maduabuchi Austin. 


remain valid. First 

Bank and general 


OKPOGADIE 



Okpogadie Esther 

Emamoke, now wish 



Oghenekaro Esther 

Emamoke. All former 




IWEHA 



Beatrice Kasarachi 

Iweha, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Beatrice 

Kasarachi Ofotoku. All 




UKAZU 


addressed as Ukazu 

Nkiruka Celestian, 


and addressed as 

Ebenezer Nkiruka 

Celestian. All former 




UDEMGBA 



Gladys Udemgba, now 



Okolo Gladys 

Chizoba. All former 




OGUNLANA 



Adenike Mary 

Olujoke Ogunlana, 



Adenike Mary 

Olaoye. All former 




ODINAKA 


addressed as Ekeh 

Rosemary, now wish to 

be known and 

addressed as Ekeh 

Rosemary Odinaka. All 




SAMUEL 


addressed as Mr. 

Laleye Samuel 

Beyioku, now wish to 

be known and 


Laleye Beyioku Ishola. 




ECHE 


addressed as Akor 

Gabriel Eche, now 


addressed as Akor 

Isaac Gabriel. All 




OSHADARE 

ARE 


addressed as 

Olufunmilayo .A. 

Oshadare, now wish to 

be known and 

addressed as 

Olufunmilayo .A. 

Omogbehin. All former 




VINCENT 


addressed as Vincent 

Stella Ezinne, now 


addressed as Ikebudu 

Stella Ezinne. All 




ABDULGAF 

GAFAR 

AR 



Humulkhair 

Adewunmi Abdulgafar, 



Semiu Humulkhair 

Adewunmi. All former 




KOLADE 


addressed as Kolade 

Oluwatosin Ajoke, now 


addressed as Oyeleye 

Oluwatosin Ajoke. All 




SHODUNKE 



Anuoluwapo 

Shodunke, now wish 



Anuoluwapo 

Oluwaseun Faroun. 




note. 

ONOMUEFE 



Ufuoma Onomuefe, 



Ufuoma Jigbale. All 




DAFE 


addressed as Dafe 

Okiemute Amanda, 



Honda-Oluku 

Okiemute Amanda. All 




DAFE 


addressed as Dafe 

Ejiro Miranda, now 


addressed as Honda- 

Oluku Ejiro Miranda. 




IMADE 



Igbinoba Osaruyi 

Imade, now wish to be 


as Mrs Osaruyi Araka. 




ETETEKIE 

Confirmation of Name 

This is to confirm that the 

name Etetekie Ewesiri 

Judith and Etetekie Ewesiri 

Martha refer to one and 

the same person, but now 


addressed as Etetekie 

Ewesiri Judith. All former 

documents remain valid. 

General public please take 

note. 

IDIGO 


addressed as Idigo 

Blessing Anwuilika, 



Okechukwu Princess 

Anwuilika. All other 


valid. GTBank, Access, 

Diamond, Fidelity and 

general public please 

take note. 

AGEGE 



name Agege Francis 

Omoghenekevwe Rus 

Ometa and Omo-Agege 

Francis Rus Ometa refer 

to one and the same 

person, but now wish to 

be known and addressed 

as Omo-Agege Francis 

Rus Ometa. All former 


General public please take 

note.


CHANGE OF NAME 

ONYERO SOKPLO OCHULOR ONWUDIEGWU SUSAN OYOLUMA 



Idegbekwu Promise 

Onyero, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Promise 

Emmanuel Okonta. All 




PATRICK EVANS MAYA OMENE UKOMATIMI 


I, Ogechi Tariere Patrick 

Odili hereby confirm that 

the names Odili Ogechi 

Patrick, Odili Eunice 

Ogechi Tariere and 

Ogechi Tariere Odili refers 

to one and same me. I now 


addressed as Ogechi 

Tariere Patrick Odili. All 


valid. NDU and general 


IDUDU ONOITA EZELI OJU ALIYU GBEGBAJE 



Idudu Any Beatrice, 



Oghoeme Evi 

Beatrice. All former 




JEREMIAH WILSON 

NWOYE NORISON EYEBOKA 


addressed as Jeremiah 

Queen, now wish to be 


as Queen Omamojasa. 




OSUAGWU 

Addition of Name 


addressed as 

Osuagwu Victoria, 



Osuagwu Victoria 

Chinwe. All former 




EDEA BAKPA PATIENCE BIEFA OKPE NNAJIOFOR 


addressed as Uzo 

John Edea, now wish 


addressed as Edeh 

John Uzo. All former 




ERAKPOVWERI 

Reconciliation of Name 


names Erakpovweri 

Patrick and Erakpovweri 

Victor Otaoghene refer to 

one and the same person. 

I wish to be known and 

addressed as 

Erakpovweri Patrick. All 





addressed as Mrs 

Queen Akporido 

Sokplo, now wish to be 


as Mrs Queen Ugo 

Ogegere. All former 


valid. Ecobank and 


take note. 



names Orighomisan 

Evans Uruntajinere and 

Amonoo Ogheneruemu 

Tajinere are my names and 

belong to me but 

henceforth I now wish to 

be known, called and 

addressed as 

Orighomisan Evans 

Uruntajinere. All former 


The general public is to 




Onoita Augustina 

Oghenevoke, now 



Ekere Augustina 

Moses. All former 






Caroline Wilson 

Eyimofe, now wish to 

be known and 


Omor Caro Eyimofe. 





I, Bakpa Patience Flourish 

hereby confirm that the 

names Bakpa Flourish and 

Bakpa Patience as they 

appear on some of my 

documents refer to one 

and same me. I now wish 


addressed as Bakpa 

Patience Flourish. All 





addressed as Ochulor 

Chidinma Blessing, 



Nwankwo Chidinma 

Blessing. All former 





addressed as 

Anomuoghanran Roli 

Maya, now wish to be 


as Anomu Roli Maya. 






Afoma Jennifer Ezeli, 



Afoma Jennifer 

Ogunde. All former 






Chidimma Deborah 

Nwoye, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Chidimma 

Deborah Ezedozie. All 





addressed as Patience 

Merhiakpore, now 


addressed as 

Merhiakpore 

Ighotegwolor. All 





addressed as Ebunoluwa 

Elochukwu Onwudiegwu, 



Ebunoluwa Elochukwu 

Ukatu. All former 


Medical and Dental 

Council of Nigeria 

(MDCN) and general 




Omene Ogheakprobo 

Bridget, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Danagogo Jack 

Ogheneakprobo 

Bridget. All former 






Oju Enetaroro Eleanor, 



Enetaroro Eleanor Efe- 

Onyoh. All former 





addressed as Norison 

Aminobi, now wish to 

be known and 

addressed as Noris 

Aminobi. All former 





addressed as Biefa 

Kenneth Zikala, now 


addressed as 

Uromieyaghan 

Kenneth Odeworitse. 




VWERI EFI OGHORODJE OMOREGIE MBAOMA OKEKE 

Correction of Name 

This is to notify the general 

public that Efi Ewomazino 

Oghenerabome Joy or Joy 

Ewomazino Jeffrey is one 

and the same person but 

now wish to be known and 

addressed as Efi 

Ewomazino Oghenerabome 

Joy. All former documents 

remain valid. Unity Bank, 

General public take note. 



Obakore Patience 

Oghorodje, now wish 



Obakore Patience 

Evivie. All former 



take note. 


This is to confirm that 

the name Florence 

Omoregie, Florence 

Osariemen Omoregie 

and Florence Jimoh 

Omoregie refer to one 

and the same person. 




JOACHIN ADEDEJI BRENDANT AJIBULU 


addressed as Chigozie 

Ejim, now wish to be 


as Chigozie Ejim 

Joachin. All former 



take note. 


My name was 

mistakenly written as 

Adedeji Paul 

Aderibigbe in my BVN 

with Diamond Bank, 

instead of Adesoji Paul 

Aderibigbe. My 

correct name is 

Adesoji Paul 

Aderibigbe. All former 



take note. 



name Brendant Augustine 

Uduak and Imo 

Augustine Uduak refer to 

one and the same person, 



Brendant Augustine 

Uduak. All former 


Zenith Bank and general 



My name was 

mistakenly written as 

Ajibulu Monday 

Rotimi, instead of 

Ajibulu Monday. My 

correct name is Ajibulu 

Monday. All former 



take note. 



Enakerakpo Susan 



Susan Enakerakpo 

Oghenejobor. All 

f o r m e r 





addressed as Edafe 

Ukomatimi, now wish 


addressed as Collins 

Edafe. All former 



take note. 


addressed as Aliyu 

Musah Akhanamoya, 


and addressed as Aliyu 

Musah Saliu. All 





addressed as Eyeboka 

Tunde Kelly, now wish 


addressed as Eyeboka 

Ismaila Tunde Kelly. 




note. 



Okpe Pamela 

Blessing, now wish to 

be known and 


Garuwa Pamela 

Blessing. All former 






Mbaoma Chiamaka 

Love, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Love 

Chiamaka Kelechukwu 

Uwaoma. All former 






Oyoluma Sandra 

Kemfuni, now wish to 

be known and 


Amapakabo Sandra 

Hanson. All former 




ONORIJI 



Julie Ufuoma Isaiah 

Onoriji, now wish to 

be known and 


Juliet Ufuoma 

Anthony. All former 



take note. 


addressed as Gbegbaje 

Osolobrughwerukeme 

Stephenie, now wish to 

be known and 

addressed as Ofuafo 

G b e g b a j e 

Osolobrughwerukeme 

Stephenie. All former 






Nnajiofor Evelyn 

Onyinyechi, now wish 



Onyiaike Evelyn 

Onyinyechi. All former 





addressed as Miss Nzube 

Ndeghe Okeke, now wish 


addressed as Mrs. Nzube 

Ndeghe Komolafe. All 


valid. Federal 

Government Girls College, 

Calabar; University of 

Calabar and general 


SPACE FOR 

SALE

OVIE 


addressed as Ovie 

Ejiro Christiana, now 


addressed as Edjere 

Ejiro Christiana. All 



public take note. 

MARY 



Agbajogor Mary, now 



Agbajogor Praise 

Anomoughanran 

Palmer. All former 



take note. 

CHANGE OF NAME 

OGAH 

OSUAGWU 

AGALI 

EJEH 

OKORO 

MUSA OMOTIVWE CHEGWE 



Musa Maminetu 

Blessing, now wish to 

be known and 


Ugbah Helen 

Maminetu. All former 



take note. 

GBIBOR WINNING OKORIE 


addressed as Gbibor 

Mercy, now wish to be 


as Olowu Mercy 

Altante. All former 



take note. 

IBEM EBEREBE NTEDENG 



Ibem Augustina Lucy, 



Nwanyanwu Lucy 

Ezinne. All former 


valid. FUTO, NYSC 

and general public 


MOKWUNYE 



Chinedu Mokwunye, 

henceforth wish to be 


as Mrs. Chinedu 

Onijare. All former 


valid. Corporate 

bodies, Institutions 

and General to please 

take note. 



Ogah Akiroso Patricia 

and Mrs Ogedengbe 

Akiroso Patricia, now 



Peter Akiroso Patricia. 






Osuagwu Josiah 

Izuchukwu, now wish 



Ihechukwu Josiah 

Izuchukwu. All former 



take note. 


That the name Prince 

Omotivwe Adjara and 

Prince Adjara Felix 

belong to me as one 

person, now wish to be 

known as Prince 

Omotivwe Adjara. All 





addressed as Winning 

Faith, now wish to be 


as Winny Faith. All 






Eberebe Mary 

Adanma, now wish to 

be known and 


Agoha Mary Adanma. 


remain valid. GTB and 


take note. 



Agali Cynthia Iruaku, 



Okoroama Cynthia 

Iruaku. All former 





addressed as Ejeh 

Patience Enewa, now 



Onwumah Patience 

Enewa. All former 



take note. 


That the names, Okoro 

James, Okoro James A. J. 

Okoro Avwenagbiku 

James, Ajayi James Okoro, 

Ajayi James and James 

Avwenagbiku Okoro Ajayi 

refer to one and the same 

person, now wish to be 

known as James 

Avwenagbiku Okoro 

Ajayi. All former 


General public take note. 



Chioma Chegwe, now 



Chioma Osugo. All 






Bernadeth Chioma 

Okorie, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Bernadeth 

Chioma Emetuche. All 


remain valid. NYSC 

and general public 




Dorah Ntedeng, now 



Dorah Ogina 

Nkangwun. All former 


valid and general 


note. 

IGBOKWE 



P a t r i c i a 

Onyeiroechemma 

Igbokwe, now wish to 

be known and 


P a t r i c i a 

Onyeiroechemma 

Ahiwe. All former 




FOR ADVERT PLACEMENT VISIT 

TRINITY MALL, BESIDE ZENITH 

BANK BALOGUN BUS STOP, 

OBAFEMI AWOLOWO WAY, 

IKEJA, OR MURPHIS PLAZA, 

SANUSI FAFUNWA STREET, 

VICTORIA ISLAND LAGOS 


UNILEVER DJ SEARCH PROMO: From left— AXE Nigeria 

Influencer, Denrele Edun; Rotimi Alakija, alias DJ Xclusive; Thomas 

Amar-Aigbe, alais DJ Sose; Assistant Category Manager, Skin Care & 

Deodorants, Unilever Nigeria Plc, George Enema; Chukwunonso Ajufo, 

alias DJ Big N, and Modern Trade Lead, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Omotade 

Oke-Egbe, at the AXE 'Find Your Magic' consumer promo draws and DJ 

search in Lagos. 

CHIEF AGBA AKIN: From left— Olori Kafayat Oyetunji; Olori 

Jelilat Oyetunji; their husband, Ataoja of Osogboland, Laaroye II, Oba 

Jimoh Oyetunji Olaonipekun; National Coordinator, Oodua Peoples's 

Congress, Otunba Gani Adams; Olori Balikis Oyetunji, and Olori Kafayat 

Oyetunji, during the conferment of the Agba Akin of Osogboland on 

Otunba Gani Adams in Osun State, yesterday. 

INAUGURATION: From left— Former Director of Works, Nigerian 

Army, Gen. Abel Osemwota (rtd.); Chairman, School of Management 

and Security, Dr. Ona Ekhomu; and Security Manager, Ikeja Electric, 

Mr. Mandu Obot, at the inauguration of the Certified Protection 

Officer Course L20 in Lagos. 

EMPOWERMENT: Chairman, Osun House of Assembly Committee 

on Information and Strategy, representing Obokun State Constituency, 

Olatunbosun Oyintiloye (left) presenting a cheque to a widow, 

Mrs Deborah Olukanni, during the distribution of farm inputs and other 

empowerment materials to farmers and other residents of Obokun Local 

Government Area.


What does Google’s N13,000 smart phone 

offer Nigerian users 

By Tare Youdeowei 

THE average 

Nigerian seeking to 

purchase a mobile phone 

does so for numerous 

reasons besides making 

calls and sending text 

messages. Being a clime 

where laptops or personal 

computers are not quite 

within arm’s reach, mobile 

phones serve dual 

functions for Nigerians. 

Battery life, durability, 

speed and memory 

capacity are topmost on the 

minds of consumers but 

money knocks all others off. 

Hence, the need for pocket 

friendly and customer 

satisfying smart phones. 

In this light, Google is set 

to launch an affordable 

mobile device for the 

Nigerian market on 

September 2017, as 

announced by Chief 

Executive Officer, Google, 

Sundar Pitchai, during the 

Google for Nigeria event. 

Produced by Japanese 

smart phone brand, 

Freetel, the ICE 2 smart 

phone will go on sale for 

N13,000 (about $40) and 

six distinct features are 

expected; 

1. Google Play Protect: 

The ICE 2 smart phone will 

be the first device 

equipped with Google Play 

Protect, a new security 

software which 

continuously works to keep 

one’s device, data and 

apps safe. It actively scans 

your device and is 

constantly improving to 

ensure you have the latest 

in mobile security so users 

can rest easy. 

2.Android 7.0: The ICE 

2 smart phone will run on 

Android 7.0, one of 

Google’s most recent 

Android operating system 

which boasts of a suite of 

impressive features 

including the ability to use 

two or more languages at 

a time, as well as the ability 

to switch between apps 

with a double tap, and run 

two apps side by side. In 

addition, the device will 

come pre-loaded with the 

latest Google apps. Vice 

President, Product 

Management at Google, 

Cesar Segunutpane 

disclosed that: “Android is 

the largest tech ecosystem 

in the world today. In nine 

years, it grew from one 

phone to 2billion smart 

phones across the world. 

The ICE 2 device comes 

with all Google apps and 

will start shipping in 

September.” 

3.MTN apps-enabled: As 

disclosed by Google, the 

company is also working in 

partnership with MTN on 

the ICE 2 smart phone. 

While speaking at the 

Google for Nigeria 

event,Segunutpane 

highlighted the fact that 

Google has continued to 

work with partners and 

OEMs to develop devices 

for Africans, especially 

Nigerians, noting that the 

ICE2 is being rolled out in 

partnership with MTN. 

For prospective users of the 

device, the foregoing 

means access to some of 

the latest MTN apps and 

special data bundles. 

4.Japanese Quality: 

Designed for the Nigerian 

market, the ICE 2 smart 

phone is one of the devices 

from the stable of Japanese 

brand, Freetel. Others 

include the ICE 2 Plus, ICE 

3 LTE and Priori 4. Japanese 

products are generally 

associated with good quality 

– a factor that will go a long 

way to assuage some of the 

fears expressed by industry 

watchers over the low price 

point of the ICE 2 device 

while also bucking the trend 

of the influx of poor quality 

phones in the market. 

5. Furthermore, the device 

is Google GMS certified, 

which is a confirmation that 

it meets Google’s 

performance requirements 

and properly runs the 

Google apps. 

How far has Samsung Galaxy S series redefined user experience? 

6.Disruptive effect on 

smart phone market: The 

imminent launch of the 

affordable ICE 2 smart 

phone will ignite keen 

competition and cause a 

ripple effect that will 

potentially drive down 

prices in the market. 

Furthermore, the entry of 

the ICE 2 smart phone will 

encourage the influx of more 

quality-minded but pricesensitive 

manufacturers into 

the Nigerian market, all of 

which will translate to more 

investments, job 

opportunities and other 

benefits for Nigerians. 

Nigeria, with its booming 

youth population remains 

one of Africa’s most attractive 

smart phone markets. 

However, the percentage of 

the population which owns 

a smart phone, while 

admittedly on the rise, has 

been hampered by the high 

price points of smart phones. 

With the entry of the ICE 2, 

Nigerians will have a 

relatively affordable and 

quality smart phone, a factor 

that will not only boost the 

country’s smart phone 

penetration rate but also 

encourage more people to 

make the transition from 

feature phones to smart 

phones. 

By Prince Osuagwu 

WITH about 4.77 billion mobile 

phone users worldwide and 2.5 

million applications available across 

digital marketplaces, smart phones 

have become an integral part of our 

lives, constantly being referred to as 

Personal Digital Assistant, PDA. Smart 

phones, have become learning centres, 

entertainment hubs, mobile offices, personal 

assistants and so much more, giving 

the impression that most users are 

still very much besotted by how much 

can be accomplished from such a device, 

enhanced further by many upgrades 

that occur from time to time. 

The game changer 

Apple’s iPhone, HTC’s One, and 

Samsung’s Galaxy Note series all come 

to mind and have remained relevant, 

partly because they are attuned to catering 

to a large and diverse user base 

with incremental innovative iterations. 

However, the Samsung Galaxy S series 

is in a class of its own as the game 

changer from a Korean company 

which started out selling dried Korean 

fish to Manchuria and Beijing in 1938. 

The Samsung Galaxy S, announced 

in March 2010, was Samsung’s first S 

series to enter the smart phone market. 

The device featured a 4-inch Super 

AMOLED capacitive touch screen 

display, and a 1GHz ARM Hummingbird 

processor. The smart phone was 

well received in tech circles and 

achieved more than decent sales figures 

of around 24 million worldwide becoming 

one of the highest selling smart 

phones in the market at the time. This 

legacy android phone was listed by 

TIME as the number two device in Top 

10 Gadgets of 2010 while another tech 

review described it as the “new leader 

of the Android pack,” praising the 

phone’s superior all-round performance. 

Samsung unpacked 

Unveiled at the Mobile World Congress 

in February 2011, the Galaxy SII recorded 

a huge success with more than 20 

million units sold worldwide within a 

year. The smart phone featured an improved 

Super AMOLED Plus screen that 

was expanded to 4.3 inches, a faster 

dual-core 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM and a 

superior Mali-400MP GPU. It also featured 

Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread which 

would eventually get as far as 4.1 Jelly 

Bean. In terms of storage space, 16GB 

and 32GB models were available. The 

camera was also bumped up to 8 megapixels 

and had a flash, while the 

1650mAh battery was good for almost two 

days on an average use. 

Galaxy SIII was announced at Samsung 

Unpacked event in London in May 

2012, with the smart phone recording 

over 9 million pre-orders just two weeks 

after unveiling. Over 10 million units 

were sold in less than three months. 

Some phone aficionados referred to the 

device as “the best smart phone around 

right now.” 

The smart phone featured a Super 

AMOLED display screen of 4.8 inches, 

a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, a quadcore 

of 1.4GHz, 1GB of RAM, an 8- 

megapixel camera, and a storage of 

16GB, 32GB and 64GB options were 

available. Thanks to its processing 

speed, design, battery life 2100mAh 

battery said to be good for about eight 

hours of heavy use, perfect blend of software, 

responsiveness, software upgrade 

which helped create better pictures than 

its predecessors, the device was said to 

be the favourite amongst other handsets 

in 2012 scoring highly in most areas. 

Galaxy S4 was launched in April 2013 

with a 5-inch Super AMOLED screen 

1080 x 1920 pixel, an upgraded 13- 

megapixel camera, Android 4.2.2 Jelly 

Bean, a quad-core 1.6GHz, 2GB of 

RAM and 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of builtin 

storage as well as a 2600mAh battery 

that typically lasts at least the length of 

a day. Thanks to the slimmer design, 

unimaginable quality as well as the 

processor performance, Samsung sold 

40 million units of the S4. 

In February 2014 the Galaxy S5 was 

launched into the smartphone market 

with a heart rate sensor, a blazing fast 

autofocus, and a fingerprint scanner. 

The CPU was faster at 2.5GHz, the 

screen was larger at a 5.1-inch Super 

AMOLED HD option, the camera boosted 

to 16MP and the battery now rocking 

up at 2800mAh. 

The 4.4.2 Android made things look 

slicker, an overhauling of the interface 

generally improved the flow through 

the device. The fitness elements were 

boosted through S Health 3.0, a holistic 

tracking app for your fitness; great 

camera, strong screen, impressive packaging, 

and a waterproof casing.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 


Protesters should go look for work, says Garba Shehu as 

pro, anti-Buhari groups clash in Abuja 

Ogbuefi Chime Emmanuel 

Please, Shehu Garba, where 

are the jobs? 

Aby Love 

You do not have family land to 

farm? There are enough 

vacancies in farming though. 

Objectivity View 

Shehu Garba would have 

made sense if he had said that 

the protesters should go and 

create jobs. 

Adebayo Objectivity View 

His utterance is a true definition 

of hate speech. You don’t tell 

citizens that pay your salary to 

go look for work on national TV 

and expect them to start singing 

your praise. 

Anusa peter Ogar Vic 

Simple analogy and you find 

it hard to comprehend, Nigeria 

is like a company with a 

business life that must be run in 

such way to bring about 

profitability. The profit in this case 

is the general good which the 

society must attain.I must state 

here that one is not oblivious of 

the fact that there are paid 

propagandist whose sole aim is 

to defend the indefensible, 

always making a case for the pay 

master but we must understand 

that what affects the eyes affects 

the nose. 

A bad Nigeria is a bad country 

for us all and a good one is good 

for us all. God bless the Federal 

Republic of Nigeria. 

•Garba Shehu 

•Protesters 

Quit notice to northerners, Yoruba: N-Delta leaders, 

stakeholders disagree with militants 

Eric Joshua Oleju Benson 

We the Niger-Deltans don’t see the Yorubas and 

the Igbos as the same. Igbos are part of Niger-Delta. 

Afamefuna C Sampson 

Good move. How I wish that the Northern elite 

should also condemn the Arewa youths action the same 

way. 

Halimatu Muhammad 

The Niger Delta people are so mature. I respect their 

sense of reasoning and I also expect my follower 

northerners to act the same way and withdraw the quit 

notice given to Igbos . 

•Niger Delta Militants 

Concern 

Niger Delta cannot and did not give any quit notice 

to Northerners and Yoruba. There are native Ijaw in 

the South-West who have intermingled with the Yoruba. 

Are you going to ask such persons to leave the Niger 

Delta? We don’t have to take seriously the utterances 

of some faceless juveniles at the level of the 

kindergarten. 

Concerned Nigerian NigerDelta. 

Ijaw do not want Yoruba to leave their own part of 

the Niger Delta because there are native Ijaw in the 

South-West and those Ijaw are active in the Ijaw 

National Congress and the Ijaw Youth Council. 

Moreover the Yoruba have not issued any quit notice 

to anyone. Tell us your part of the Niger Delta so that 

we can ask those you do not want to stay away. We 

don’t have to fight and insult each other over every 

issue. Ijaw have spoken saying they’re against quit 

notice. 

Barack Obama 

“No one is born hating another person 

because of the colour of his skin or his 

background or his religion” 

larry Iloh @larryIloh 

Charolettes ville terrorism. Donald 

Trump desperate to defend the alt-right 

decided to invent alt-left. He won’t even 

call it terrorism. 

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 

Itz Saint 

Sir, come back to Nigeria, let us face the issues 

on ground. 

BABUYANMA John Graves 

Trump decided to disband the Councils 

because the members of the councils were 

quitting already. Seven members of the councils 

had left since Monday. 

John Graves BABUYANMA 

Real leaders quit the same day Trump 

defended the alt-right movement led by a black 

CEO while the only African on the board was 

shilly-shallying. 

TRENDING ON THE TWITTER 

Femi Fani-Kayode 

Greek meets Greek, lion meets lion, 

warrior meets warrior.....God bless PDP!! 

ncc.gov.ng @NgComCommission 

#622forall -Make use of our Toll Free 

Line (622) to escalate unresolved 

Trump sacks Nigeria’s 

Ogunlesi as adviser 

complaints between you and your service 

providers.8am- 8pm, Monday to Friday. 

Ben Murray-Bruce 

‘If Oil Can’t Save Venezuela, It Sure 

Can’t Save Nigeria!’ 

FRSC, NIGERIA Verified 

A rush hour is a part of the day during 

•Ogunlesi 

which traffic congestion on roads is at its 

peak. Usually, this occurs twice every 

weekday. 

World Food Programme 

Hunger is the world’s most solvable 

problem. Join WFP in the fight against 

hunger.

42—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 

35% AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: 

Female senators fight back 

•Olujimi: Seeks understanding from male senators 

•Garba: Accuses men of dumping women after 

campaigns 

•Oko: Other African countries treat women better 

By Henry Umoru 

THREE of Nigeria’s 

serving female senators 

have bemoaned the failure of 

the National Assembly to 

approve proposals for 

affirmative action in 

appointive positions in the 

country. The Senate during the 

recent Constitution Alteration 

Exercise failed to push 

through the proposal that 

would have entitled women to 

35 per cent of all appointive 

positions in the country. 

The three, Senators Biodun 

Olujumi, the Senate Deputy 

Minority Whip, Binta Garba, 

APC, Adamawa and Rose 

Oko, PDP, Cross River were 

united in alleging that their 

male colleagues were unfair 

in rejecting the proposal for 

affirmative action. 

Rejecting the 

proposal 

The female senators stressed 

that the action of the male 

senators was indicative of the 

fact that the country was not 

prepared to fulfill its 

international obligations 

undertaken through the 

ratifications of the United 

Nations Convention on the 

Elimination of All Forms of 

Discrimination Against 

Women (CEDAW), the African 

Charter on Human and 

Peoples Rights, the Protocol to 

the African Charter on the 

Rights of Women in Africa, the 

African Charter on the Rights 

and Welfare of the Child 

among others. 

Even though the women lost 

out, they have not given up 

as they were quick to insert a 

proposal on affirmative action 

in another bill, the Gender 

and Equal Opportunity Bill, 

GEO Bill. Pleading for 

understanding from their male 

colleagues, Senator Olujumi, 

the highest ranking woman in 

the Senate said: 

“The Gender and Equal 

Opportunities (GEO) Bill 

seeks to achieve equal 

opportunities for men and 

women and boys and girls in 

all spheres of life specifically 

in the fields of health, 

education, governance, 

employment as well as in the 

social and economic fields. Its 

focus is on the elimination of 

discrimination in these areas 

and on the grounds of gender, 

age or disability. 

“The bill protects the widow 

from inhuman, humiliating or 

degrading treatment and 

guarantees her the rights to 

guardianship and custody of 

her children after the death of 

her husband, unless this is 

contrary to the interests and 

the welfare of the children; the 

right to remarry the person of 

her choice; the right to a fair 

share in the inheritance of the 

property of her husband and 

the right to continue to live in 

the matrimonial house 

provided that in the case of remarriage, 

she shall retain this 

right only if the house belongs 

to her.” 

Also speaking with 

Vanguard on the rejected Bill, 

Senator Binta Masi Garba, 

APC, Adamawa North said, “it 

is rather unfortunate that the 

Nigerian Senate could not 

stand behind the affirmative 

Must it be during 

politicking that 

you will look for 

women to dance 

and sing for you 

action of appointing a 

percentage of women into 

positions. It is rather 

unfortunate, these are the 

same women that they use 

during campaigns, these are 

the same women again that are 

just asking for just a fair share 

of governance so that they can 

now be participating in the 

activities of government. 

“But today, unfortunately, 

the northern legislators kicked 

against it bringing in some 

certain sentiments on religion. 

Saudi Arabia is the custodian 

of Islam, but it has opened its 

doors and allowed women to 

participate fully even in 

elective positions. The Shura 

of Arabia has more women 

than the American Congress 

holding elective and 

appointive positions, Dubai 

and others. 

“I don’t know why we hide 

under sentiments of religion 

which is not going to take us 

anywhere. We thought we 

were supposed to be partners 

in progress. There are eligible 

women who want to contribute 

their quota to nation building. 

Must it be during politicking 

that you will look for women 

to dance and sing for you? We 

are supposed to come together 

and be partners in progress. I 

WOMEN IN THE SENATE 1999 TO DATE 

Fourth Senate 1999 – 2003 3 

Fifth Senate 2003 – 2007 4 

Sixth Senate 2007 – 2011 7 

Seventh Senate 2011 – 2015 6 

Eight Senate 2015 – 2019 7 

implore most of the male 

senators that stood by us, 

almost 43 of them, if 43 believe 

in our course, there is still 

light in the tunnel, and one 

day, we will overcome." 

Also speaking to Vanguard, 

Senator Rose Oko, PDP, Cross 

River North said, “I will say it 

is unfortunate, it happened in 

that way. I would have 

thought that we had come to 

a point when issues on 

affirmative action especially in 

a country like Nigeria would 

have been more favourably 

looked into. 

“In other climes, East Africa, 

Rwanda and South Africa, 

there is already legislation. As 

a matter of fact in Rwanda, it 

is a constitutional provision 

that women have to fill a 

certain percentage of elective 

positions not even appointive. 

But this we are seeking for 35 

per cent in appointive 

positions specifically in 

appointment of ministers and 

commissioners in the state, but 

it didn’t go through.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017—43 

vanguardpolitics@gmail.com 

PDP begins to bubble again 

By Vincent Ujumadu 

THE Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, is beginning 

to bubble again in Anambra 

State with the Professor 

Alphonsus Nwosu –led 

caretaker committee assuring 

that it would provide a levelplaying 

field for all aspirants 

in the party. 

Before the inauguration of its 

local government caretaker 

committee in Awka, yesterday, 

the major stakeholders, 

including Professor Nwosu, 

former Governor Peter Obi and 

others took part at a preinauguration 

meeting at the 

Geogold Hotel in the Anambra 

State capital to harmonize the 

committees. 

Essentially, the caretaker 

committee chairman said he 

had set the machinery for a 

credible membership register of 

the party at the ward level, 

adding that every election 

concerning PDP must be 

transparently conducted so as 

to regain the confidence of the 

electorate in the party. 

Chidoka 

expresses 

optimism of 

winning 

CHIEF Osita Chidoka has 

said that with the 

widespread support from the 

people and the soaring 

popularity of his party, the United 

Progressive Party (UPP), it is 

certain that he will win the 

governorship election. 

The former Corps Marshal of 

the Federal Road Safety 

Commission (FRSC), who has 

been on very extensive 

grassroots mobilization and tours 

of his campaign offices and 

structures in all the 326 electoral 

wards across the state, has since 

become the electoral face for the 

actualization of the aspiration and 

struggle of the ordinary people 

in Anambra state. 

Speaking while receiving some 

political associates and some 

professional groups in Anambra 

who visited his campaign office 

in Awka, the Anambra state 

capital, Chief Chidoka said:”the 

game is already up for the All 

Progressives Grand Alliance 

(APGA) which has completely 

squandered the goodwill initially 

reposed in it by the people.” 

Speaking further, Chidoka said 

“the people of Anambra, who are 

the ultimate deciders at the polls 

are intensely yearning for an 

entirely new era; a government 

run by persons of proven 

experience, integrity and 

character; a new, transparent, 

resourceful and prudent 

administration that guarantees 

them full and equal access to 

resources and opportunities." 

•Makarfi: 

He said: “Our strategies are 

our main weapon for 

reconnecting with the people of 

Anambra State and getting 

their mandate. Since we are 

determined that the people 

By Vincent Ujumadu 

THE national leadership 

of the United Progressive 

Party, UPP, yesterday, reversed 

the decision of the acting state 

executive of the party 

which on Tuesday announced 

the suspension of its two 

governorship aspirants, 

namely Chief Chudi Offodile 

and Chief Osita Chidoka, 

saying the state executive 

lacked the power to suspend 

them. 

The Dr. Sylvester Igwilo-led 

state executive had leveled 

allegations against the two, 

who are the only governorship 

aspirants of the party for 

the November 18 election in 

Anambra State and said they 

were suspended for anti party 

activities. 

Senseless 

rebellion 

But at a press briefing in 

Awka, the national publicity 

secretary of UPP, Chief 

Ogbuehi Dike, described the 

action of the state executive as 

an unfortunate and senseless 

rebellion by some misguided 

members of the acting State 

Working Committee. 

Ogbuehi said that the 

Anambra executive remained 

dissolved, adding that in 

addition to constituting a 

caretaker committee for the 

state immediately to take 

control of affairs of the party 

in the state, the affected 

officials would face a 

disciplinary action. 

He also announced that the 

planned UPP governorship 

primary scheduled 

for Saturdaywould still be 

held because the Independent 

National Electoral 

Commission, INEC, had 

already been contacted. 

According to him, both 

Offodile and Chidoka had 

been screened and cleared by 

the NWC, assuring that the 

must choose who governs 

them, our main task is 

therefore to connect with Ndi 

Anambra so that they can 

choose our candidate to govern 

them. 

“What we shall do to 

reconnect cannot be revealed 

to our competitors. Our 

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu 

YOUTHS of Anambra 

North Senatorial Zone, 

under the aegis of Odinma 

Anambra North Youths 

Initiatives, ODIANYI, are 

urging APC delegates to 

ensure that Dr. Tony Nwoye 

emerges as the candidate of 

the party. 

The group leader, Mr. Tony 

Okafor who spoke with 

Vanguard after their town hall 

meeting attended by all youth 

leaders from all the 

communities in the seven local 

government areas that make up 

Anambra North at Tourist 

Garden Hotel Aguleri said Dr. 

Nwoye was their preferred 

candidates among all APC 

aspirants. 

“The youths are in total 

support of zoning the office to 

their senatorial zone. We have 

deliberated on the pedigree of 

all the candidates in various 

political parties and arrived at 

the choice of Dr. Tony Nwoye 

on account of his grass root 

appeal, and commitment to the 

welfare of the people especially 

promise, however, is that we 

shall be open, we shall canvass 

superior solutions to Anambra 

problem and we shall unveil 

a superior vision of where 

Anambra shall be and how we 

shall get there and finally we 

shall be decent in executing 

our strategies because 

Anambra State, in recent 

weeks, had seen the kind of 

violence that is abhorrent to the 

human soul.” 

He explained that with the 

calibre of members of the 

caretaker committee, which 

include Iyom Josephine 

Anenih, Senator Annie 

Okonkwo, Elder Linus 

Ukachukwu, Senator 

Ugochukwu Uba, Chief 

Obiora Okonkwo, among 

others, they were prepared to 

give Anambra people the best. 

State exco cannot sack aspirants—UPP 

•Chidoka: Get reprieve 

party would follow strictly the 

guidelines for the primaries. 

He denied the allegation by 

the dissolved Anambra State 

executive that money 

•Offodile: Also reprieved 

exchanged hands at the 

national level, insisting that 

the allegations were aimed at 

causing distraction in UPP. 

Anambra North youths unite for 

Nwoye 

the youths, women, elderly 

poor. 

“All the senatorial zone 

youths have unanimously 

endorsed Dr. Tony Nwoye. He 

is our choice for the zoning 

arrangement in the state, we 

are urging APC to choose him 

to be their governorship flag 

bearer of the party. 

"Dr. Nwoye has a brighter 

chance of winning the election 

if he is chosen. We are 

waiting for him to be selected 

for us to work for his victory, 

he has no rival, you see what 

happened today all the youths 

in the state attended and 

unanimously endorsed him." 

•Nwoye: Gets endorsement 

We'll not be 

passive 

— ONICCHMA 

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu 

THE Onitsha Chamber of 

Commerce Industry Mines 

and Agriculture, ONICCIMA, 

has said that it will not be passive 

in the November 18, 

2017 Governorship election in 

Anambra State, especially when 

there is a lot of tension being 

generated in the state over the 

election. 

President of ONICCIMA, Mr. 

Donatus Ebubeogu, disclosed 

this in an interview with 

Vanguard shortly after his 

installation as the 12th President 

of the chamber and the 10 edition 

of “The Perspective” the Annual 

Lecture Series of the Chamber, 

held at Dolly Hills Hotel Onitsha. 

Mr. Ebubeogu who is also 

managing director and chief 

executive, Tiger Food Limited 

Onitsha, urged the people of the 

state to ensure they have their 

voter cards to vote for the 

candidate of their choice in the 

election, as it is their power to 

enthrone any candidate of their 

choice. 

“However, in electing who will 

be the governor of the State, we 

have to look at so many variables. 

Before we take a decision on the 

way forward, and on who to vote 

for, we have to look at the 

character of the candidate, we 

have to look at the security 

situation of the state and its 

implication on who to vote into 

office as governor. 

“The general environmental 

situation in Anambra State will 

also be put into consideration, and 

by the time we look as some of 

these things and many more, we 

should be able to know who to be 

elected as the qualified candidate 

to be the next governor of the State 

on November 18, 2017. 

“I am urging the electorate who 

are eligible, and yet to get their 

voters card to go and get it ready, 

it is within the powers of the 

Anambra citizens and residents to 

elect whom they want, to lead the 

state as governor. 

“My only concern is the cost of 

election in Anambra State, the 

aspirants who are coming from 

various political parties are 

spending huge amount of money 

to be governor of the state, and 

the same thing is also applicable 

in trying to be a lawmaker in 

Anambra State, the cost of getting 

into elected office in the state is 

very high. We need to reduce the 

cost of election in Anambra State, 

so that poor people who are well 

qualified, more qualified can join 

the race for the seat of the 

governor, electoral power should 

not be for the rich alone. An 

average qualified person should 

vie for office in the state, because 

this governorship election is very 

important to Anambra state.

44 — VANGUARD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 

•People flee after a van drove into crowds in centre of Barcelona, killing 13 people with many injured. 

Photo: Mailonline 

Trump defends monuments to 

slavery confederacy, inflames 

tensions 

PRESIDENT Donald 

Trump on Thursday 

decried the removal of 

monuments to the proslavery 

Civil War 

Confederacy, echoing 

white nationalists and 

refusing to let go of a 

controversy that has 

inflamed U.S. racial 

tensions and threatens to 

further derail his policy 

agenda. 

As crisis deepened over 

Trump’s response to 

violence last Saturday in 

the Virginia college town 

of Charlottesville arising 

from a white nationalist 

protest against the 

removal of a Confederate 

statue, the White House 

knocked down rumours 

that Trump economic 

adviser Gary Cohn might 

resign. 

U.S stocks were rattled 

amid speculation that 

Cohn would quit over 

Trump’s comments on the 

Charlottesville events 

and were down in 

afternoon trading. A 

White House official said 

Cohn “intends to remain 

in his position” as 

National Economic 

Council director at the 

White House. 

In a series of Twitter 

posts, Trump unleashed 

attacks on two fellow 

Republicans in the U.S. 

Senate, Jeff Flake and 

Lindsey Graham, raising 

fresh doubts about his 

ability to work with 

lawmakers in his own 

party to win passage of his 

legislative goals such as 

tax cuts and infrastructure 

spending. 

Trump also denied he 

had spoken of “moral 

equivalency” between 

white supremacists, neo- 

Nazis and the Ku Klux 

Klan, and the anti-racism 

activists who clashed in 

Charlottesville. 

His condemnation of the 

removal of Confederate 

statues and monuments 

in numerous U.S. cities 

War with N/Korea will be 

horrific—Gen Dunfor 

Amilitary response to 

North Korea would 

be “horrific” but remains 

an option, the top 

military adviser to US 

President Donald Trump 

says. 

Gen Joseph Dunford, 

chairman of the US Joint 

Chiefs of Staff, made the 

comments while visiting 

China. 

He was responding to 

remarks by a top Trump 

aide ruling out military 

action over North Korea’s 

nuclear programme. 

Tensions have flared 

between the US and 

North Korea after 

Pyongyang made 

advances in its missile 

testing. 

Mr Trump has warned 

the North that it faces 

“fire and fury”, while 

Saudi border to open for Qatari pilgrims 

QATAR has confirmed 

that Saudi Arabia will 

open its border to allow 

Qatar’s Muslim pilgrims to 

attend the annual Hajj in 

Mecca beginning this 

month. 

The announcement came 

after the first high-level 

meeting between the 

neighbours since Saudi 

Arabia and three other 

states cut all links in June. 

They accuse Qatar of 

aiding terrorists - a charge 

the emirate denies. 

The closure of the Saudi 

border has forced Qatar to 

import food by sea and air 

for its population of 2.7 

million. 

Qatari pilgrims wishing to 

attend the Hajj will be able 

to pass through the Salwa 

border crossing without 

needing electronic permits, 

a statement on the official 

Saudi Press Agency said. 

They would also be welcome 

through Saudi Arabia’s 

airports, it added. 

Qatari Foreign Minister 

Sheikh Mohammed bin 

Abdulrahman al-Thani 

confirmed the development 

on a visit to Sweden on 

Thursday. 

He said his government 

welcomed the measure but 

labelled both the ban and 

the backtrack as “politically 

motivated”. 

It was a “step forward”, he 

said, adding that any 

resolution to the Qatar crisis 

needed “to be based on clear 

principles of respecting 

everyone’s sovereignty and 

not interfering in others’ 

affairs”. Last month, Saudi 

Arabia warned that Qatari 

pilgrims would face certain 

restrictions if they wanted to 

was delivered a day after 

he announced the 

disbanding of presidential 

business advisory 

councils following the 

resignation of a parade of 

corporate executives over 

his Charlottesville 

remarks. 

“Sad to see the history 

and culture of our great 

country being ripped 

apart with the removal of 

our beautiful statues and 

monuments." 

Pyongyang has 

threatened to strike the 

American territory of 

Guam. 

But the sharp rhetoric of 

last week has since 

softened, with North 

Korea leader Kim Jongun 

putting the Guam 

plans on hold - a move 

praised by President 

Trump. 

Chief White House 

strategist Steve Bannon 

said on Wednesday there 

could be no military 

solution to the stand-off. 

“Until somebody solves 

the part of the equation 

that shows me that 10 

million people in Seoul 

don’t die in the first 30 

minutes from 

conventional weapons, I 

don’t know what you’re 

talking about, there’s no 

military solution here, 

they got us,” he told The 

American Prospect. 

Gen Dunford agreed a 

military solution would be 

“horrific” but went on to 

say 

“what’s 

unimaginable to me is 

not a military option”. 

Nobel winner Malala wins 

place at Oxford University 

TWENTY-year-old Pakistani education activist and 

the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 

Malala Yousafzai has gained a place at Britain’s Oxford 

University. 

“So excited to go to Oxford!!” she tweeted her 

acceptance to Oxford after getting her A-level results. 

Malala congratulated other students receiving their 

results, tweeting “Best wishes for life ahead!” on 

Thursday. 

As it appeared on her Twitter post she will study 

philosophy, politics and economics. 

The University of Oxford has confirmed Yousafzai’s 

acceptance to DPA. 

Yousafzai has said in March during an education 

conference in Birmingham that she has received an 

offer to study at a British university.. 

Yousafzai first came to international prominence in 

2012 after a gunman shot her in the head near her 

school in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. 

She wrote then under the pen name “Gul Makai”, 

the name of the heroine from a local Pashtun folk tale. 

Yousafzai now lives in the UK, where she received 

medical treatment following her shooting. 

Ten-year-old rape victim 

delivers baby in India 

A10-year-old sexual abuse victim in India whose 

abortion plea was turned down by the country’s 

Supreme Court has delivered a baby. 

The child, who was repeatedly raped, had a 

Caesarean section on Thursday. 

The girl did not know she was pregnant and was 

unaware she had delivered a baby. 

Her parents told their daughter she was undergoing 

stomach surgery to remove a stone. 

“The girl is doing fine, she is recovering. We expect 

she will be discharged early next week,” said Dasari 

Harish, a physician who heads a committee overseeing 

the girl’s care. 

The minor, whose identity has been kept secret, 

delivered a baby girl in a state hospital in the 

northwestern city of Chandigarh, Harish said. 

The girl was repeatedly raped by her uncle over 

seven months. 

Van mows down crowd in 

Barcelona, 13 reported killed 

A 

van ploughed into crowds in the heart of Barcelona 

on Thursday and Spanish media reported at least 

13 people were killed, in what police said they were 

treating as a terrorist attack. 

The death toll was reported by Cadena Ser radio, 

citing police sources. Police said some people were 

dead and injured but did not confirm the number of 

casualties. They said were searching for the driver of 

the van. 

Spanish newspaper El Periodico said two armed 

men were holed up in a bar in Barcelona’s city centre, 

and reported gunfire in the area, although it did not 

cite the source of the information. 

It was not immediately clear whether the incidents 

were connected. 

“It wasn’t slowing down at all. It was just going 

straight through the middle of the crowds in the middle 

of the Ramblas.” 

Mobile phone footage posted on Twitter showed 

several bodies strewn along the Ramblas, some 

motionless. Paramedics and bystanders bent over 

them, treating them and trying to comfort those still 

conscious. 

Queen Elizabeth sends condolences 

to victims of mudslide 

BRITAIN’S Queen Elizabeth sent her deepest 

sympathies to hundreds of victims of a mudslide 

in Sierra Leone that swept away homes on the edge 

of country’s capital city in one of Africa’s worst flood 

disasters in living memory. 

The African nation gained independence from Britain 

in 1961 after more than 150 years of colonial rule and 

still has many traces of its British past. 

On Wednesday, hundreds of Freetown residents 

queued to identify relatives crushed by the mudslide 

on Monday. 

“Prince Philip and I were deeply saddened to learn 

of the terrible flooding and landslides in Freetown 

that have led to the deaths of so many people,” Queen 

Elizabeth wrote in a message to the president of Sierra 

Leone. 

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all who have 

lost loved ones and those whose homes and 

livelihoods have been affected,” she said.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017— 45 

Competent, resourceful and diligent: 

Tribute to Folashade Ogunnaike 

By Akintola Benson-Oke 

"Everybody is standing, but you must stand out. 

Everybody is breaking grounds; but you must 

breakthrough! 

Everybody scratching it; but you must scratch it 

hard! 

Everybody is going, but you must keep going 

extra miles! 

Dare to be exceptionally excellent and why not?" 

-Israelmore Ayivor. 

IT is never difficult to write a 

tribute in honour of 

exceptional people. Indeed, one 

would suppose that Mrs. Folasade 

Oluwatosin Ogunnaike personally 

received and imbibed the 

admonition of Israelmore Ayivor 

right at the outset of her illustrious 

career. Anyone who takes a cursory 

look at her profile or who sets out 

to evaluate her career trajectory 

finds the story of a hardworking, 

principled, energetic and 

competent civil servant. 

Did she stand when duty called 

for standing? Yes. But she not only 

stood but 'stood out.' Did she 

attempt to break new grounds in 

her various career positions? Yes, 

indeed. And, what is more, she 

broke through to establish new 

standards of competence and 

earnestness. Did she merely work? 

No! She worked hard! Did she 

merely obediently go where duty 

sent her? No! She always went the 

extra miles. She dared to be 

exceptional. She reached for 

excellence. She left indelible marks 

of competence on the projects she 

worked on. It is therefore not 

surprising that, concerning her, the 

saying of the Holy Book has become 

fulfilled that the one who is diligent 

in his/her work will not stand before 

mere men but will stand before 

kings and princes. It is a testimony 

to her diligence, competence, hard 

work and passion that she was 

entrusted with many high profile 

and delicate assignments during 

her service years. 

In Mrs.Ogunnaike, we celebrate 

a well-rounded and vastly 

experienced loyal civil servant. Her 

career in the civil service has taken 

her round the entire gamut of the 

administration of Lagos State. She 

dutifully served at the then Ministry 

of Employment and Civil Service 

Matters as an Administrative 

Officer; she faithfully executed her 

duties at the then Office of Head 

of Service and Secretary to the 

State Military Government; and at 

the Lagos State Council for Arts 

and Culture, she showed class and 

creativity as the Principal Personnel 

Officer and Board Secretary 

seconded from the Ministry of 

Information. Vibrant and 

enterprising, she was appointed as 

an Assistant Director to head the 

Women Affairs Department in the 

Ministry of Women Affairs and 

Poverty Alleviation, rose to the 

position of director, was appointed 

a Permanent Secretary in February, 

2015 and now ends her illustrious 

career as the Permanent Secretary 

of the Office of Establishments and 

Training in the foundational and 

*Mrs. Folasade Ogunnaike, the 

retiring Permanent Secretary, 

Office of Establishments and 

Training. 

most important Civil Servantsfocused 

ministry, the Ministry of 

Establishments, Training and 

Pensions. 

When I first started working 

closely with Mrs. Ogunnaike in 

2015, I had no doubt that she had 

in her the qualities, experience 

and wisdom required to execute 

the vision I have for the Ministry 

of Establishments, Training and 

Pensions. One could depend on her 

If the laws permit 

us, we would 

want to keep her 

in service. Yet, we 

realise the value 

of rest after years 

of labour and 

hard work in the 

service of the 

government of 

Lagos State 

to have a bespoke solution to the 

most intricate problem or 

challenge; one could depend on 

her to come up with the novel and 

creative ideas needed to justify 

groundbreaking proposals, one 

could count on her to identify the 

pitfalls in proposals under 

consideration, one could be sure 

that she knew where to turn and to 

whom in times of crises and 

emergencies, and, very 

importantly, one could trust her to 

say the truth at all times. Added to 

her competence and experience, 

everybody at the Ministry of 


Pensions found in her a graceful 

and beautiful woman with a 

compassionate heart. It is no 

wonder then that I fondly refer to 

her as the Amazon of the entire 

Ministry of Establishments, 

Training and Pensions. 

As the Permanent Secretary in the 

Office of Establishments and 

Training, she had responsibility as 

the accounting officer for 

formulating Establishments and 

Training policies for the entire State 

Public Service; for determining 

Establishments matters, including 

staff complements, grading and 

conditions of appointments in 

conjunction with the Office of the 

Head of Service; for coordinating 

attendance and participation at 

the meetings of the National 

Council on Establishments; for 

the issuance of Establishments 

circulars, guidelines and 

interpretation on the use of Public 

Service Rules and Schemes of 

Service; for the Service-wide 

management of the staff records; 

for the organisation of the Joint 

Public Service Negotiation 

Council meetings; and for the 

Management of industrial 

relations with the accredited Trade 

Unions. 

As the supervising authority for 

the Ministry of Establishments, 

Training and Pensions, I can attest 

that she performed creditably and 

excellently as the Permanent 

Secretary of the Office of 

Establishments and Training. For 

these reasons and many more, 

the Ministry of Establishments, 

Training and Pensions and, 

indeed, the entire Lagos State 

Civil Service will surely miss Mrs. 

Ogunnaike's deep knowledge, 

wide experience, exceptional 

competence and good-natured 

personality. 

It is therefore with joy that I, Dr. 

Akintola Benson Oke, the 

Honourable Commissioner for the 

Lagos State Ministry of 


Pensions, on behalf of His 

Excellency, Mr. Akinwunmi 

Ambode, the Governor of Lagos 

State, lead the entire Public 

Service of Lagos State in 

congratulating Mrs. Folasade 

Oluwatosin Ogunnaike on this 

occasion of her meritorious 

retirement. The accolades in this 

tribute and in the many other 

tributes written and unwritten are 

well deserved and, if the laws 

permit us, we would want to keep 

her in service. Yet, we realise the 

value of rest after years of labour 

and hard work in the service of 

the government of Lagos State. 

I wish the ebullient and 

dynamic administrator, Mrs. 

Folasade Oluwatosin Ogunnaike 

God’s speed. In the words of the 

famous Irish Blessing, here is a 

prayer from the entire staff of the 


Training and Pensions: 

May the road rise up to meet you. 

May the wind always be at your 

back. 

May the sun shine warm upon 

your face, 

and rains fall soft upon your 

fields. 

And until we meet again, 

May God hold you in the palm of 

His hand. 

Congratulations. 

*Dr. Benson Oke, Hon. 

Commissioner, Lagos State 


Training and Pensions. 

*Nduka Irabor 

Irabor calls for urgent 

re-organisation of Nigeria sports 

PIONEER chairman of the League Management 

Company and one-time chairman of the Federal House 

of Representatives Committee on Communications, Hon 

Nduka Irabor, has called for urgent action for the revival 

of Nigeria sports, pointing out that the sports sector has 

been on a steady downward slide and there is no visible 

effort and deliberate pattern towards working it out of the 

woods. 

Speaking on the topic “Nigeria Sports: Strategies for 

Revival and Growth”, at a seminar organised by the Lagos 

chapter of the Sports Writers Association Lagos Nigeria 

(SWAN) as part of activities to mark their Merrybet-Lagos 

SWAN Week, Irabor outline a number of measures that 

should be taken to stem the ugly tide and build capacity to 

enable the realisation of the full capacity of the sports sector. 

He also decried the prevailing situation where the 

Nigeria business community have developed a penchant 

for association and sponsorship of foreign sports bodies to 

the negligence of such bodies in the country. He pointed 

out that while all the football leagues in Nigeria received 

only $10m in sponsorship in one year, the Nigeria 

corporate community paid out about N150b to foreign 

football leagues and clubs, an attitude which he stressed 

seriously injures and negates efforts at nation building. 

Principal among the solutions proffered by Hon Irabor 

are that the government should properly re-articulate its 

policy for sports, taking into consideration the fact that 

sports has become a serious global economic and business 

factor, while the government should also, as a matter of 

imperative, develop new creative ways for the funding of 

sports, such as would involve businesses, communities, 

the public and individuals to contribute in tackling the 

critical inadequacy of access to sports by a huge mass of 

the population as a result the debilitating deficit in sports 

facilities, equipment and trainers across communities and 

schools nationwide. 

Pointing out that the sports trust and lottery system has 

been developed and applied for the funding of both 

grassroots and elite sports in countries like the United 

Kingdom and Australia, he regretted that the Nigeria 

version of the same set up has remained only so in name 

with Nigerians not knowing how much is raked in and 

where and how the income is applied. 

Irabor also advised that the nations sports governing 

establishment should be re-invented to give way for 

competent professionals in various sports administration, 

management and technical disciplines to be engaged in 

the implementation of planned programmes as against the 

present civil service driven system which is further 

worsened by the leadership of constantly changed political 

appointees who act at their whims and idionsyncracies with 

check from any quarter. 

He advised that no investment is too much in sports 

considering its social, economic and health benefits, noting 

that it behooves the government and people to realise their 

faults and seek to make amends in policies, institutions 

and practices if they are truly desirous of achieving global 

competitiveness in the sector. 

The two discussants at the seminar, Dr Kweku Tandoh, 

former Director of Sport at the Lagos State Sports Council 

and current Chairman of the Nigeria Sports Award Panel, 

and Mr Mitchel Obi, President of AIPS Africa, 

strengthened Irabor’s pisition with Obi crying out that 

Nigeria sports has hit a “crisis situation’ while Tandoh 

called out for the “political will” for action.


FIFA World Player of the Year: 

Ronaldo, 

Messi 

lead the 

pack 

•Ronaldo 

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel 

Messi will again go head to 

head for the title of world’s best footballer. 

The Real Madrid and Barcelona stars head the shortlist 

for the FIFA World Player of the Year. 

Ronaldo enjoyed another remarkable season in which he inspired 

Real to a La Liga and Champions League double while Messi 

topped him in the Spanish goalscoring charts. 

Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham are all 

represented as well. 

Real are the most represented side with a massive seven players 

of their own in the running for the gong. 

CHAN Eagles go for goals 

against Squirrels of Benin 

Kick-off: 4p.m. 

The home-based Super 

Eagles under coach 

Salisu Yusuf will be going all 

out for goals with a new 4-4-2 

formation so as to turn the table 

against Benin on Saturday and 

qualify for next year’s CHAN 

in Kenya. 

Nigeria lost the first game in 

Cotonou 1-0 courtesy of a late 

penalty goal. 

Yusuf will now favour a more 

attacking formation of 4-4-2 as 

against his more favoured 4-2- 

3-1 formation, which he used 

in the first leg playoff in Benin. 

Typical of modern managers, 

Super Eagles coach Gernot 

Rohr has flagged off the mind 

game as he gets set to 

assemble his wards ahead of 

the double header 2018 FIFA 

World Cup qualifier against the 

dreaded Indomitable Lions of 

Cameroon. 

Rohr has rated the Lions far 

ahead of his Super Eagles as 

he observed that the 

Cameroonians were in a better 

shape than Nigeria. The 

assertion, as logical as it 

sounds, could ignite the 

fighting spirit in the Super 

Eagles players and also douse 

the high level of expectations 

among Nigerian football fans. 

Nigeria are currently leading 

group B of the Africa World 

Cup 2018 Qualifiers with six 

points, four more than second 

placed Cameroon their next 

opponent when the qualifiers 

resume in September. Rohr 

said Cameroon have played 

more games than Nigeria in the 

year leading to the game and 

that will naturally give them a 

psychological edge over 


“I’m not afraid, we are not 

afraid playing against 

The coach used this formation 

in yesterday’s friendly against 

Kano Pillars, which his team 

won 1-0, and he will stick with 

it on Saturday. 

The new formation means 

one of two defensive 

midfielders will be sacrificed for 

a more attacking midfielder 

and it is now looking very much 

like Akwa United defensive 

midfielder Ifeanyi Ifeanyi will 

give way to more attacking 

Samuel Matthias, who has 

netted a dozen goals for El 

Kanemi Warriors this season. 

Afeez Aremu appears to be 

the more preferred defensive 

Indomitable Lions better 

than Eagles – Rohr 

Cameroon. They are a good 

team of course but I think if we 

are able to win the first game, 

we’ll see what will happen in 

the second game. 

“The problem is that 

Cameroon have psychological 

advantage, Since after winning 

the AFCON they have played 

13 games while we have 

played only three, they are 

really a team now and we have 

to be able to present a team in 

a few days to beat them”. 

Benin delegation for 

Saturday’s CHAN 

2018 qualifier rejected local 

transportation provided for 

them on arrival yesterday in 

Kano. 

“They refused to ride in the 

cars provided by the Kano State 

Government for their local 

transportation as stipulated by 

CAF,” the official disclosed. 

“Instead, they made a private 

arrangement for their own 

transportation to the hotel.” 

It will be recalled that in 

•Messi 

midfielder and he also started 

against Pillars on Wednesday. 

Leading scorers in the NPFL, 

Stephen Odey and Alhassan 

Ibrahim ‘Muazzam’, will play 

on the flanks to compliment a 

strike force of Kingsley Eduwo 

and Rabiu Ali. 

Thomas Zenke and Sikiru 

Olatunbosun will therefore lose 

their first-team places after they 

started in the first leg in Benin. 

The other change from the 

starting XI in Cotonou will be 

Akwa United defender 

Emmanuel Ariwachukwu in for 

suspended Kalu Orji in central 

defence. 

•Aubameyang and 

Omagbemi 

Benin reject Nigerian cars 

on arrival in Kano 

March, NFF president Amaju 

Pinnick defeated Benin FA 

boss Moucharafou Anjorin to 

get on the CAF executive 

committee. 

The 35-man Benin delegation 

landed by 11 am and were 

booked into the Grand Central 

Hotel in Kano. 

Benin recorded a famous win 

when they pipped Nigeria 1-0 

on Sunday in Cotonou. 

The overall winners of this 

playoff will qualify for next 

year’s CHAN in Kenya. 

I’ll sack Wenger once I 

buy Arsenal — Dangote 

AFRICA’S richest man 

wants to buy Arsenal 

and sack Arsene Wenger. 

Nigerian billionaire 

Aliko Dangote plans to 

make an offer to owner 

Stan Kroenke. 

Dangote – who is worth 

£8.6billion – has supported 

the Gunners since the mid- 

Eighties. 

He aims to submit his bid 

once the construction of a new 

oil refinery in Lagos, Nigeria, 

is completed. 

Dangote told Bloomberg: 

“The first thing I would 

change is the coach. He has 

done a good job, but someone 

else should also try his luck.” 

Wenger has been boss at 

Arsenal for 21 years and is 

the longest-serving 

manager of any side in 

Europe. 

Fan protests against his 

rule rumbled on 

throughout last season 

but the Frenchman 

agreed a two-year 

contract extension in 

May. 

Kroenke’s fellow 

Arsenal shareholder Alisher 

Usmanov had a £1bn takeover 

offer for the club turned down 

earlier this year. 

But Dangote, 60, believes 

his power of 

persuasion can 

work on the 

billionaire 

shareholders. 

He said: “If 

they get the 

right offer, 

I’m sure 

t h e y 

Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick 

Aubameyang and 

Nigeria’s women’s coach 

Florence Omagbemi are the only 

Africans in contention for Fifa’s 

annual awards. 

Aubameyang is one of 24 players 

nominated for The Best Fifa 

Men’s Player award. 

The 27-year-old was the top 

scorer in the Bundesliga last 

season with 31 goals for Borussia 

Dortmund. 

Omagbemi led Nigeria to an 

eighth continental title in 

Cameroon last year and is one of 

Gerard Piqué has admitted 

he felt “inferior” to 

Real Madrid for the first time 

in his nine years as a 

Barcelona defender, after they 

were beaten 5-1 on aggregate 

in the Spanish Super Cup. A 

2-0 defeat at the Bernabéu on 

Wednesday night saw 

Barcelona humiliated by their 

rivals, with Sergio Ramos 

winding up Lionel Messi by 

throwing the ball over the 

Argentinian when he readied 

his hands to collect. 

The victory means Zinedine 

Zidane has won seven 

would walk away. 

“Someone will give them an 

offer that will make them 

seriously consider walking 

away. 

“And when we finish the 

refinery, I think we will be in 

a position to do that. 

“It’s a great team, well-run. 

It could be run better, so I will 

be there. 

“I will wait. Even if things 

change I will take it.” 

Dangote, who counts former 

Arsenal vice-chairman David 

Dein as a good friend, has 

previously spoken of his 

desire to purchase the North 

London side. 

He put a four-year time 

frame on his plan to complete 

the takeover when speaking 

last September. 

Dangote said at the time: 

“Maybe three to four years. 

The issue is that we have 

more challenging headwinds. 

“I need to get those out the 

way first and start having 

tailwinds. Then I’ll focus on 

this.” 

•Dangote 

Aubameyang, Omagbemi only 

Africans on FIFA shortlists 

the 10 names on the list for The 

Best Fifa Women’s Coach. 

There were no Africans among 

the nominations for the awards 

for men’s coach or women’s 

player that were announced by 

football’s world governing body 

yesterday. 

The winners from each category 

will be revealed at a ceremony in 

London on 23 October. 

Two panels of experts from 

across the six confederations 

chose the shortlisted candidates 

for the top performers of the 2016- 

17 season. 

I feel inferior to Real Madrid 

for first time — Pique 

trophies during his 20 months 

in charge of Real Madrid. 

Goals from Marco Asensio and 

Karim Benzema sealed the 

latest triumph, as Barcelona 

appeared to struggle again 

without Neymar, who joined 

Paris Saint-Germain for a 

world-record fee earlier this 

month. 

“This is a long process and 

there is room for improvement 

but in the nine years that I have 

been here, it is the first time that 

I feel inferior to Madrid,” Piqué 

said.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 — 47

Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 

Omagbemi 

TODAY’S PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER 

TODAY’S CROSSWORD 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION 

ACROSS 

1 Rim (4) 

3 London rail terminus (8) 

9 European language (7) 

10 Learner (5) 

11 Fast (5) 

12 Mend (6) 

14 Inn (6) 

16 Dealer (4,5) 

19 Entertained (6) 

21 Flower (5) 

24 Porcelain (5) 

25 Pasta dish (7) 

26 Unnecessary (8) 

27 Formerly (4) 

DOWN 

1 Leave the country (8) 

2 Clutch (5) 

4 Take no notice of (6) 

5 Replenish (5) 

6 Responded (7) 

7 Proficient (4) 

8 Impede (4, 6) 

13 First showing of a film (8) 

15 Blood-sucker (7) 

17 Strong and sturdy (6) 

18 Grown-ups (6) 

20 Little (5) 

22 Keyboard instrument (5) 

23 Scrutinise (4) 

How to Play Sudoku 

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No 

line can have two of the same number). 

Each row (nine lines from left to right), 

column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) 

and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine 

blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. 

This means that no number can appear 

twice in any block, column or row. 

No mathematics is involved – no adding, 

subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain 

logic and your imagination. 

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Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: EZE ANABA. Phone: 01—4548355, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

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