BusinessDay 22 Oct 2017

FEATURE POLITICS SundayInterview 

Wanted: Better 

transport 

system, 

infrastructure 

for Tomaro 

Island 

residents 

Page 14 

Every section 

of Nigeria 

should 

develop 

at its pace 

- Nkem- 

Abonta 

‘I don’t 

believe 

Buhari was 

equipped 

to run a 

country like 

Nigeria’ 

Page 16 Pages 24-25 

BUSINESS DAY 

BD SUNDAY 

Sunday 22 October 2017* Vol 1, No. 188 N300 

Abused, rejected, 

stigmatised 

…Tears of Ajegunle teen-mothers seeking second chance 

See story 

on page 4 

NEWS 

Lagosians 

in earnest 

expectation 17 

days to Bonnke’s 

Gospel Crusade 

Page 9 

FOCUS 

9 days to go: Will 

FG meet ASUU’s 

conditions? 

Page 19 

ARTS 

Art X Lagos 2017 

will deepen 

Nigeria’s 

connection 

to the 

contemporary art 

- Tokini Peterside 

Yakubu Gowon (r), former military head of state, cutting his 83rd birthday cake with Sama’ila Kazaure, director general, National 

Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and Corps members in his office in Abuja at the weekend. 

NAN 

Page 34

2 BD SUNDAY 

C002D5556 Sunday 22 October 2017 

IssueOfTheWeek 

Okorocha’s newfound villain worship 

CHUKS OLUIGBO 

Since he came to power 

as governor of Imo State 

on May 29, 2011, Rochas 

Okorocha has always 

been in the news often 

for the wrong reasons. If 

he is not sacking duly elected 

local government chairmen 

and councillors and replacing 

them with puppet transition 

committees, he is dumping and 

badmouthing the party that 

brought him to power on a platter 

of gold, or he is busy dissolving 

town unions and working to 

constitute an unconstitutional 

fourth tier Community Government 

Council, or constructing, 

demolishing, and reconstructing 

useless roundabouts, or naming 

a government building after his 

first daughter Uloma, or slashing 

salaries of civil servants and reducing 

their work days to three 

instead of five compelling them 

to become farmers overnight, or 

issuing dud cheques to pensioners, 

or pulling down residential 

homes of his opponents in the 

guise of road expansion, or erecting 

billboards showing him in a 

handshake with Barack Obama, 

or publicly threatening to deal 

ruthlessly with journalists and 

chase them out of Imo State for 

daring to ask him to account for 

the state’s revenue and expenditure 

since 2011, or turning the 

state legislators into errand boys 

and girls or heads of all manner 

of task forces, or celebrating 

his 55th birthday with 27 giant 

cakes, or telling Imo people to 

plant palm trees to make the 

state financially self-sufficient 

while the state-owned Ada Palm 

Plantation, formerly a viable 

source of revenue, lies waste – or 

simply carrying out any other 

absurdity that his mind can 

conceive. 

This was a man who waxed 

lyrical during his swearing-in 

in 2011, telling the mammoth 

crowd of Imo people who gathered 

at Dan Anyiam Stadium, 

Owerri that he was on a rescue 

mission and in a hurry to develop 

the state. 

“Today, the Lord has loosened 

the captivity of Imo people. 

Today is indeed the day of freedom, 

the day of emancipation, 

the day of resurrection. I know 

you expect so much from me. I 

know you believe in me. I know 

you believe I can deliver. And 

I promise I will deliver. If the 

only reason that I will be poor 

in this life is to serve my people 

without being corrupt, then I 

declare myself a poor man from 

today onwards,” Okorocha had 

said, punctuating his speech 

with elaborate Bible quotations. 

However, with the passage 

of time, many Imo citizens 

have kept wondering how they 

Statue of Jacob Zuma in Owerri, Imo State 

walked into such a deadly trap 

with their eyes wide open as 

they see that the only rescue that 

has occurred in the state in the 

last six-and-a-half years is that 

of the Okorocha family and their 

near and far relatives. 

Now again, Okorocha was 

in the news for the most part of 

last week – for the wrong reason, 

as usual. It had to do with 

South African President Jacob 

Zuma’s visit to Imo State. During 

the two-day visit, Okorocha 

got the puppet chairman of the 

Imo State Council of Traditional 

Rulers, Eze Samuel Ohiri, to 

confer Zuma with a traditional 

chieftaincy title of Ochiagha 

Imo and former President Olusegun 

Obasanjo to issue the title 

certificate, unveiled a life-sized 

bronze statue of Zuma standing 

at over 25 metres, named a road 

in Owerri after Zuma, and conferred 

on Zuma a superfluous 

Imo Merit Award. 

This was even while the dust 

raised by a similar 30-ft monument 

in honour of Zuma in the 

North West region of his own 

country in the first week of 

October was yet to settle, with 

aggrieved South Africans asking 

that the statue be pulled down; 

while 783 charges of corruption, 

fraud and racketeering stare 

Zuma, whose presidency has 

been anything but inspiring, in 

the face; while Nigerian citizens 

living in South Africa face constant 

harassment in the hands 

of the locals and several cases 

of Nigerians murdered in series 

of xenophobic attacks by South 

Africans remain unresolved; 

and just a few days after yet another 

Nigerian, 35-year-old Jelili 

Omoyele, was killed in Zuma’s 

enclave. 

But why was Zuma in Imo 

State in the first place? Of what 

benefit was his visit to Imo citizens? 

Zuma was in Imo State, on 

behalf of his Zuma Foundation, 

to sign a Memorandum of 

Understanding with the Rochas 

Foundation. Okorocha himself 

admitted this. 

If that were truly the case, 

then Zuma’s visit and the meeting 

between the two men was an 

entirely private affair, in which 

case there was no need for the 

pomp and glamour that attended 

the visit, no need to confer Zuma 

with an Imo Merit Award, even 

if superfluous, and there was absolutely 

no need to waste public 

space and about N520 million of 

public fund to erect and unveil 

Zuma’s statue or to name a road 

after him. The right thing would 

have been for Okorocha to take 

Zuma to his private living room 

or to the premises of a Rochas 

Foundation College, sign whatever 

needed to be signed and 

that would have been it. If he 

incurred any cost in the process 

or if he needed press coverage, 

that should have been settled 

from his private purse. That’s 

what private businessmen do. 

But Okorocha says no, you 

don’t get it. It was not just about 

the MoU; there was something 

else, something bigger and with 

public benefit. His administration 

decided to honour Zuma 

so as to encourage the South 

African president to do more and 

appreciate him for visiting the 

state, Okorocha said. He said the 

South African president during 

his visit met with some businessmen 

at the Ikemba Ojukwu 

Centre in Owerri, including Leo 

Stan Ekeh of Zinox Computers, 

Pascal Dozie of Diamond Bank, 

Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson 

Motors, among others. 

Well, it is good to encourage 

someone who has done something 

good to do more. But saying 

you are encouraging Zuma 

to do more means he has done 

something already. So, what is 

this thing that Zuma has done 

for Imo State? How much benefit 

did Zuma’s visit bring to the 

ordinary people of Imo State 

who have in the last six-anda-half 

years borne the brunt 

of Okorocha’s malgovernance 

and often impulsive, irrational 

policies? And what does meeting 

with a group of private businesspeople 

whose businesses have 

no footprint in Imo State have 

to do with the development of 

the state? How does erecting 

Zuma’s statue in Owerri attract 

investments to Imo? How many 

South African businesspeople 

accompanied Zuma on that trip? 

In what sectors will their investments 

go, assuming that there 

are even potential investors? 

Does the Okorocha government 

even know where investment 

opportunities exist in the state? 

But the avalanche of negative 

reactions, from Nigerians 

and South Africans alike, did 

not deter the All Progressives 

Congress (APC), the ruling party 

at the centre, from singing that 

all-too-familiar solidarity tune 

for one of their own. At a meeting 

of the party’s National Working 

Committee with its 24 state 

governors and principal officers 

of the National Assembly, John 

Odigie-Oyegun, its national 

chairman, praised Okorocha’s 

efforts at attracting foreign investment 

to the country and 

for his “feat in bringing some of 

the significant figures from the 

African continent”. And that 

includes Zuma? 

Amid the widespread controversy, 

Okorocha turned around 

to grind axe with the opposition 

People’s Democratic Party (PDP), 

just as the APC-led Federal Government 

continues to blame its 

inadequacies on either the immediate 

past government or the 

opposition PDP as a whole. 

“If it was in the days of PDP, 

schools and markets would have 

been shut down and roads closed 

because President Zuma was 

coming. But none of such things 

was done because Rochas and 

his government have human 

face. The PDP for the 12 years 

they held sway never attracted 

any meaningful visitor to the 

state except PDP NEC members 

who were coming to loot the 

state,” the state government said 

in a statement signed by Sam 

Onwuemeodo, the governor’s 

chief press secretary. 

The statement further said 

the governor owed no apology 

to anyone for erecting the 

statue and that if erecting statues 

would develop Imo State, the 

government was ready to erect 

as many of such structures as 

possible. 

And while we were still on 

the question of the relevance of 

the Zuma visit, an unrepentant 

Okorocha sycophant who used 

to have some sense in his former 

life wrote on his Facebook wall, 

“With Zuma’s visit, commitment 

towards stopping xenophobic 

killings of Nigerians have [sic] 

been made. That’s a remarkable 

point scored by Owelle!” Owelle, 

of course, is an unmerited title 

that Okorocha gave to himself 

and parades everywhere to give 

him a false sense of importance. 

Clearly, Okorocha’s association 

with Zuma will bring the 

governor some personal gain, 

but it has absolutely nothing to 

offer Imo citizens or Nigerians 

in general. And for those who 

are surprised that Okorocha 

may find Zuma or his style of 

governance admirable, don’t 

you see that both men are hewn 

out of the same stone? Both are 

impunity personified. 

The greater worry is that 

Zuma is standing in the middle of 

six other images – three on either 

side – that are yet to be unveiled. 

The guys behind those veils may 

even be worse than Zuma.

Sunday 22 October 2017 

BD SUNDAY 3

4 BD SUNDAY 


Cover 

Abused, rejected, stigmatised 

…Tears of Ajegunle teen-mothers seeking second chance 

David Ibemere 

Cradling her baby, 15-year-old 

Janet Vasinica sat on a wooden 

bench under the shade of a 

corrugated iron roof facing the 

door as she welcomed visitors 

with a broad smile. 

“Bros, I have not seen you before,” she 

said in Pidgin English as she noticed me 

standing at the door. She still wore her 

beautiful smile. I smiled back. 

“She is so lovely, your baby,” I said, 

pointing at the fair-skinned baby in her 

arms as I drew closer. 

“Thank you,” she said. 

An ominous silence followed. 

“Where is your husband? I will love to 

greet him also,” I said. 

I saw tears well in her eyes as she bent 

face downward. The smile in her face 

disappeared. She was reluctant to speak 

to me. 

“I am in Ajegunle to explore the lives 

of teenage mothers,” I told her. 

Ajegunle, located in the Ajeromi Ifelodun 

Local Council Area of Lagos State, 

is reputed to be one of the city’s biggest 

ghettos. 

“I grew up in this area and I have a bit 

of an idea what happens here,” I continued 

when I saw her reluctance. 

She began to relax, the smile on her 

face returned, and she offered me a seat. 

“You felt sad immediately I asked you 

about your husband. I hope all is well,” I 

asked, trying hard not to rattle her. 

“I never planned to get pregnant. 

When I realized I was, I could not tell anyone 

or even ask for help. I was ashamed 

because I had so many dreams of bringing 

my family out of poverty,” Janet opened 

up. 

She spoke to me in a very light tone 

that mirrored her age. 

“I would have loved to wait. I have 

dreams of becoming a doctor. At school 

I was always among the first five. Since I 

got pregnant, I have not been to school. I 

doubt if I will have the opportunity again. 

Many other girls that got pregnant in my 

area never went back to school, but I will 

love to go back. 

“I am the first daughter of my parents. 

My mum is a petty trader. After my dad 

was arrested for a crime he never committed, 

I was constantly refused access 

to him, until I met an officer who had 

seen me at the police station crying to be 

allowed access to my dad. 

“He should be above 40 years old, the 

officer. He offered to help me, so every 

time I needed to visit my dad he was 

always available. We became very close 

and I was so comfortable around him until 

he invited me to meet him at a place. I did 

without hesitation. He had been more 

than helpful to me, but that day changed 

everything for me. We became more than 

just friends and I just could not resist him. 

“I didn’t even know I was pregnant 

until my mum caught me spitting. I immediately 

ran to meet Mr Charles (the 

officer), but he only gave me money to 

go have an abortion, saying he had been 

transferred out of Lagos and that I should 

never call him again,” Janet narrated in a 

tear-filled voice. 

Soon after she discovered she was 

pregnant, Janet said she decided to run 

away from home to a friend who already 

had two children. Their relationship 

quickly descended into drug addiction 

and a strong will to survive. 

“The first time I smoked Marijuana, I 

felt sleepy. I slept really well. I smoked 

more and more just to forget what I was 

going through. 

“At that stage, I met Abraham, a boy 

from the area, although I never told him 

I was pregnant. We started a relationship 

but his drug addiction made him so 

aggressive that he beat me at any small 

provocation,” she said amidst tears. 

She paused, glanced at some men and 

young girls in another shack smoking, 

jeering and sucking their teeth. Their 

sleepy, yellow eyes betrayed the fact they 

were high on something strong. 

“Bros, I have suffered! If not for my 

mum that later accepted me back, after 

I was delivered of my baby, I would 

have became a prostitute to survive 

after I was rejected,” Janet said with 

a sigh. 

“As a teenage expectant mother away 

from home, I suffered. Sometimes I had 

to beg. I even encountered a woman 

who gave me N10,000 and promised to 

take care of me until I put to bed if I was 

willing to let go of the child after birth. I 

refused because I believe the child is my 

future,” she said. 

Not many teenage girls in Ajegunle 

have her kind of resolve. Most are selling 

off their babies to survive. 

“I know a particular girl, Chisom, who 

after she gave birth complained that the 

suffering was too much. Suddenly the 

baby was gone. When asked, she said 

the baby died. She packed out after two 

weeks,” she said. 

An ugly trend 

Janet is one out of the many teen 

mothers with so much potential that may 

never be realized as they are trapped in 

a circle of prostitution, early pregnancy, 

drug abuse and rejection. 

At JMG Quarters, a settlement at the 

heart of Ajegunle populated by the Ilajes 

who are native to Ondo State, southwest 

Nigeria, brothels are a common sight. 

Here, girls of different ages display their 

skins to lustful men. 

At one corner of the street, a shanty 

faces the canal. Inside it are bags of 

clothes, lots of boxes and a kitchen setup 

next to the window. Outside, two girls, 

Maria and Doyin, sat breastfeeding their 

babies. They were visibly angry as I approached. 

After much persuasion, the two the 

girls agreed to share their stories. 

“I had my first son, Machi, at 15, with 

my long-time boyfriend,” Maria began. 

“Today I have two sons for him. I came 

to Lagos four years ago with three of my 

friends – Doyin, Salome and Irene – to 

help sell fish. Today we are all mothers, 

except Irene whose child died of malaria 

at six months.” 

Doyin, 18, has two children – two-yearold 

Herine and 2-month-old Shane. She 

sells bread in the morning and parties in 

the evening, she told me. 

She was 15 when she met John, the 

father of her baby. She has no desire for 

school but would like to join a vocation 

centre and train as a tailor. 

Cry for a second chance 

Despite the rampant cases of teenage 

pregnancy in Ajegunle, it is often 

met with rebuff, disdain, and stigma. 

The young mothers are seen as a bad 

influence to other girls and are openly 

ostracized. 

Daina Madu, a resident of Sadik Street, 

who got pregnant at 16, is a sad case. 

“I can’t tell who the father of my child 

is,” Daina lamented. “I discovered I was 

pregnant while preparing for my Junior 

Secondary School Certificate exams and 

attempted suicide twice. I knew it was the 

end, because I knew my parents would 

never sponsor me, but I could not abort 

it. I didn’t want to die.” 

She now sells fairly-used clothes for 

her parents at the popular Boundary 

Market in Ajegunle. 

“I am seen as a plague in the family. 

My life changed drastically. If only I can 

get a sponsor to assist me through school 

to pursue my dreams of being a doctor. It 

was a big mistake I now have to live with 

all my life,” she said. 

Chidimma Adaku who lives with a 

friend in Omololu Street said that ever 

since she got pregnant, she has been 

abandoned by her family. 

“They all see me as a failure. Daily I 

have to fend for myself and my child. 

Many people know me in Boundary as a 

beggar, not because I am but I have to look 

for a way to feed my child. I left the father 

of my child because of domestic abuse. I 

will love to go back to school but nobody 

is ready to train me, so now it is all about 

survival,” Chidimma told me as she wiped 

the tears streaming down her face.


BD SUNDAY 5

6 BD SUNDAY 


News 

2019: APC now jittery of reunited PDP in Oyo - Makinde 

Akinremi Feyisipo, Ibadan 

A 

Chieftain of 

the People’s 

Democratic 

Party (PDP), in 

Oyo State, Seyi 

Makinde has said that the 

ruling All Progressives Congress 

(APC) is now jittery 

and afraid of stalwarts in 

the state who rejoined the 

party recently. 

A good number of the 

bigwigs who left for Accord 

Party, Labour Party and 

Social Democratic Party 

before or in 2015 are now 

back to the PDP. 

Makinde, who was governorship 

candidate of SDP 

in 2015, but now back in 

PDP, said that media campaign 

against the umbrella 

party in the state by the 

APC has shown that the 

broom party is truly afraid 

of the imminent defeat it 

would suffer in the state 

in 2019. 

Addressing journalists 

after the PDP caretaker 

committee members’ meeting 

in Ibadan, the state 

capital, Makinde advised 

the APC to look for other 

ways of clearing the mess 

it brought to the state six 

years ago, adding that the 

Makinde 

recent condemnation allegedly 

being sponsored 

against PDP by APC will not 

hamper the chances of the 

party in winning the state 

in 2019. 

The meeting was called 

to fine-tune ways of ensuring 

smooth Ward, Local and 

State congresses of the party 

which began yesterday. 

While saying that the 

APC should look for other 

ways of appealing to the 

people instead of looking at 

the faults of the opposition, 

Makinde said: “They should 

look for ways of appealing 

to the people instead of 

blackmail; they are afraid 

of our coming together, and 

if I were them, they have 

spent six years in the state, 

they should start and put 

forward how they utilised 

people’s money and tell 

us whether Oyo State is 

far better than when they 

came in”. 

“What the APC is saying 

is that they will soon 

be fighting but we are not 

fighting and more united 

than ever before, reconciliation 

has been done and still 

on going to bring all our 

members back to the fold,” 

he added. 

Speaking on the forthcoming 

congresses, Makinde 

said: “We are prepared 

and not something 

that is new. PDP has been 

in existence since 1998, we 

did it in 1999; this is something 

they do every now 

and then. Preparation is 

ongoing.” 

On the chairmanship 

position of the party which 

is being contested by two 

indigenes of the state, 

Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja 

and Tahoeed Adedoja , Makinde 

said it was a good 

omen for the party and the 

state in particular. 

“There would not be any 

clash of interest; I think the 

constitution of the party 

and also constitution of the 

country allows people to go 

forward and vote for candidates 

of their choice. 

“I think is good for Oyo 

State, we have eminently 

qualified sons of the state 

that can go and fight it at 

the national level; it is something 

good for us. 

Present at the meeting 

include, Chairman of 

the Caretaker Committee, 

Tunde Akogun; Secretary, 

Kola Ademujimi; Jumoke 

Akinjide; Senator Ayoade 

Adeseun; Sarafadeen Abiodun 

Alli and Senator Hosea 

Agboola. 

Others are Yemi 

Aderibigbe, Senator Olufemi 

Lanlehin, Muraina 

Ajibola, Fatai Aborode, 

Mulikat Adeola Akande and 

Isiaka Adeola. 

On his part, Chairman, 

People’s Democratic Party 

(PDP) Caretaker Committee 

in Oyo State, Tunde Akogun 

has declared that the 

position of National Chairman 

of the party is yet to 

be zoned to South West as 

being speculated in some 

quarters. 

Akogun, while clearing 

the air on the rumour that 

the slot was supposed to be 

occupied by South West, 

noted that the position was 

meant to be occupied by 

anybody from the Southern 

part of the country and not 

specifically for South West. 

While speaking with reporters, 

he however, assured 

that adequate arrangements 

have been made to ensure 

that the party recorded 

success in the forthcoming 

congresses. 

Some leaders of the party 

in the zone after their meeting 

held in Ibadan recently 

resolved that the only thing 

that can make the party relaunch 

itself fully ahead of 

2019 elections was to uphold 

the Port Harcourt zoning 

decision which conceded 

National Chairmanship of 

the party to the South West. 

But, Akogun while 

speaking on the request 

noted that anyone from 

the South either from South 

West or South-South is free 

to contest and occupy the 

position. 

According to him, “I 

know that at the end of 

the day, they are going to 

confirm at the party’s headquarters 

level whether is 

really zoned to South West 

or South-South. 

“Really, the prayer was 

that we are going to appeal 

to the headquarters to 

specifically zone it to South 

West but is it still in the 

South. 

“We have made all the 

adequate arrangement to 

conduct a free and fair election 

in terms of procedures, 

totally acceptable and flawless.” 

Ondo moves to end bitumen importation into Nigeria 

YOMI AYELESO, Akure 

The Ondo State government 

has said 

bitumen importation 

into the country 

would soon become a thing 

of the past with the establishment 

of the State Development 

and Investment 

Promotion Agency (ONDIPA) 

to woo investors to tap into 

its huge deposit in the state. 

The Special Adviser to 

state Governor on Development 

and Investment, who 

also doubles as Chief Executive 

Officer, Ondo State 

Development and Investment 

Promotion Agency 

(ONDIPA), Boye Oyewumi, 

disclosed this in Akure, the 

Ondo state capital. 

The state governor had 

earlier launched Ondo State 

Development and Investment 

Promotion Agency 

(ONDIPA) with a promise to 

provide necessary assistance 

and enact enabling laws to 

Bitumen importation 

remove bureaucratic bottlenecks 

that may hinder rapid 

development in every sector 

of the state. 

At the International Culture 

and Event Centre (The 

Dome), venue of the event, 

the Governor said the state 

would be the next investment 

hub, calling on genuine 

investors to seize the opportunity. 

According to him, the 

State Governor, Rotimi 

Akeredolu, was providing 

an enabling environment 

which has been making serious 

investors to partner with 

the government and ensure 

that bitumen importation 

into the country becomes 

history. 

He particularly said one of 

the cardinal goals of ONDIPA 

was to end importation of 

bitumen into Nigeria as soon 

as possible. 

“I don’t think it is the business 

of any government to 

run a business. What they 

are meant to do and which 

this government is doing is 

to provide an enabling environment, 

so we have serious 

investors partnering with 

the state to make sure that 

bitumen importation in the 

country becomes a thing of 

the past. 

“This government is not in 

the habit of conducting business 

on the pages of newspaper, 

take it from me. The 

Akeredolu’s government 

with the support of the Federal 

Government be sure that 

importation of bitumen will 

soon be a thing of the past in 

Nigeria,” he emphasised. 

Report has it that Nigerian 

government spends over 

N300billion annually on 

bitumen importation when 

Ondo State has the largest 

deposit of bitumen in Africa. 

Oyewumi noted that Akeredolu-led 

administration 

in the state was opening opportunities 

to new investors 

and also ensuring access of 

different infrastructural development 

to investors. 

He said presently, investors 

have access by air to 

come to the state from Lagos 

in 35 minutes through Air 

Peace daily business flight to 

do their business and go back. 

He noted that the mandate 

of the new agency was 

to tell the business world 

who we are, how we have 

fared and what we intend to 

do to make life worth living 

for our people. 

Group boosts entrepreneurship capacity of 1000 Edo indigenes 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin 

As part of its deliberate 

policy 

to fight poverty 

among Nigerians, 

the management of 

Inspirextra Empowerment 

Initiative (I-Extra) has organised 

a one-day workshop 

to build the human 

capacity development of 

over 1000 citizens in Edo 

State. 

The workshop with the 

theme, ‘Greatness Possibility’ 

saw participants 

mentored on leadership 

and entrepreneurship, film 

production, communication 

and entertainment, 

agribusiness and creativity 

and innovation. 

In his welcome remarks, 

the President of 

the organisation, Blessing 

Obehi Ayemehre said the 

programme was geared 

towards adding value to 

lives, teaching people how 

to be outstanding and maximise 

opportunities that 

abound in their neighbourhood. 

Ayemhere explained 

that the capacity building 

workshop would bestow 

on the participants 

spirit of self-independence 

and self-sustenance that 

will make life better and 

accommodative of new 

Entrepreneurship training 

innovation, “where man 

articulates his vision in a 

society devoid of acrimony 

but positively engaged 

persons.” 

He said the Inspirextra 

Empowerment Initiarive 

is an organisation set up 

to bridge information gap, 

help people discover their 

potentials and maximise 

their potentials and also 

unleash the greatness inherent 

in them. 

Ayemehre, a business 

strategist, consultant and 

trainer, was strategically 

organised to open up the 

minds of people living in 

Edo state to their hidden 

abilities to create jobs for 

themselves and impact 

society positively. 

Ayemehre, a business 

strategist, consultant and 

trainer added that about 

600 persons benefitted 

from the first edition of the 

programme held last year 

in Benin-City while over 

1000 persons benefitted 

from this year edition. 

He noted that the access 

to adequate information 

was vital to empowerment 

and fight against poverty, 

pointing out that with 

flow of information people 

would be well informed, 

educated and knowledgeable 

to deal with economic 

and unemployment challenges 

confronting them. 

Speaking on the topic, 

‘Untapped Agribusiness 

Opportunities’, African 

Farmer Mogaji, noted that 

agriculture is the most potent 

weapon against poverty 

and unemployment. 

He urged the participants 

to key into the ongoing 

various government’s 

agriculture initiatives by 

forming functioning cooperative 

societies to boost 

agribusinesses in their 

various locality.


BD SUNDAY 7

8 BD SUNDAY 


News 

We are ready for Kwara LG polls - KWASIEC 

SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin 

The Kwara State Independent 

Electoral 

Commission 

(KWASIEC) says 

it has concluded 

arrangements to conduct 

local government election 

on November 18, 2017. 

Abdulrahman Ajidagba, 

the KWASIEC chairman, 

who disclosed this while 

briefing journalists, said 

that the reason for the 

change of the election date 

before was to enable the 

commission look inward 

and put necessary mechanism 

in place to avoid inconsistency, 

election malpractice 

and ensure credible 

and fair election. 

According to him, the 

state has 36 political parties 

but only 11 showed interest 

and would be partaking in 

the forthcoming election. 

“We have 36 political parties 

in Kwara State but 11 

parties indicated interest to 

participate in the election. 

“We are guided by law 

and everything is on course. 

We are ready, prepared, 

willing and enormous to 

conduct free, credible and 

fair election on 18th November, 

2017. There will be 

no change of election date,” 

said Ajidagba 

The All Progressives 

Congress (APC) in 

Edo State has described 

as a lie, the 

claim by the People’s Democratic 

Party (PDP) that the 

state’s governor, 

Godwin Obaseki, used a 

public school as venue for the 

recent tour of some wards in 

the state. 

The Publicity Secretary 

of the APC in the state, Chris 

Azebamwan, said: “Our attention 

has been drawn to 

the lie by the fragmented 

People’s 

Democratic Party in Edo 

State, by its Publicity Secretary, 

Chris Nehikhare, who 

accused Governor Godwin 

Obaseki of using a public 

school compound as venue 

for the ‘thank you visit’ to 

members of the APC at some 

wards.” 

Azebamwan explained 

that in the news report published 

by an online news site, 

Nehikhare alleged that the 

Obaseki-led APC government 

acted in breach of its 

own policy by organising a 

thank you 

rally at a public school, 

after placing a ban on the 

use of public primary and 

secondary schools for social 

events in the state. 

He promised that 

KWASIEC will give every 

party equal right and will 

not disappoint the general 

public. 

Meanwhile, the People’s 

Democratic Party (PDP) 

in the state has suffered a 

major setback in its bid to 

stop the conduct of the local 

government election in 

the state. 

An Ilorin High Court 

dismissed the PDP’s plea 

to stop the conduct of the 

council poll. 

The PDP, through its 

lead counsel Salman Jawondo, 

had approached the 

court, asking it to restrain 

the Kwara State Independent 

Electoral Commission 

(KWASIEC) from conducting 

the said election into the 

16 local councils. 

Also joined in the suit 

was the state Attorney General 

and Commissioner for 

Justice, Kamaldeen Ajibade 

(SAN). 

The party had hinged its 

claims on the alleged unconstitutionality 

inherent 

in KWSIEC’s guidelines for 

candidates participating in 

the council poll. 

The PDP argued that 

the 2006 local government 

Obaseki did not use school compound for rally as alleged by PDP, says APC 

“In the most hypocritical 

manner and with total disrespect 

to Edo people, Governor 

Godwin Obaseki-led 

APC government, is now 

using the prohibited public 

school fields for his so-called 

thank you rally,” Nehikhare 

was quoted as saying in the 

news report. 

But the state APC scribe 

debunked the claim, saying 

that “the Edo State APC 

is aghast at the ease with 

which the PDP is applying 

Azebamwan 

its last breath in 

the propagation of falsehood 

in the state as it struggles 

desperately to come to 

terms with its new reality 

of an obscure party that is 

ready for 

decommissioning.” 

Azebamwan maintained 

that at the said 

rallies, Governor Obaseki 

was treated to a warm and 

carnival-like reception everywhere 

he went, across 

several local government 

electoral law passed by the 

Kwara State House of Assembly 

is inconsistent with 

the National 

Assembly Act and the 

1999 Constitution. 

The party also averred 

in its application that some 

requirements for candidates 

in the Kwara State local 

government electoral law 

and the guidelines for the 

conduct of the council poll 

are preconditions not 

within the purviews 

of the 1999 Constitution 

as amended and the 2010 

Electoral Act as amended. 

It listed such requirements 

as the screening and 

disqualification of candidates 

by the KWASIEC. 

But in his judgment, 

Justice Sulaiman Akanbi 

said that there was nothing 

unconstitutional by the legislation 

passed by the state 

House of Assembly. 

He, therefore, ordered 

the state electoral umpire 

to go ahead with the November 

18th, 2017 local 

government elections. 

“What the Kwara State 

House of Assembly did 

constitutionally and additionally 

is to aid the Federal 

Law; the state law is 

not inconsistent with the 

Electoral law. Kwara State 

House of Assembly did not 

run foul of the Constitution 

rather it complemented it. 

headquarters and stressed 

that “None was held at a 

public school.” 

He further said that the 

videos and photographs of 

the tour of some wards have 

been broadcast severally and 

printed in newspapers and 

magazines in national and 

local media. “The contents 

are the same and there is no 

media content of the governor 

at a public school during 

the tour.” 

According to the state 

APC Publicity Secretary, “the 

fact that Governor Obaseki 

is a man of rules, law and order 

cannot be controverted. 

This can be verified by his 

administration’s policies that 

have since rid bus stops and 

locations in Benin City of 

chaos, which many people 

thought was impossible. So it 

is laughable to even imagine 

that the same 

governor, whose rising 

profile in public administration 

has caught the attention 

of world leaders can break 

his own rules.” 

He advised the PDP that 

“the resort to barefaced lies 

is clearly not a strategy to regenerate 

a dead political idea 

like the PDP. Truthfulness 

and constructive criticism is 

the way to go.” 

Port Harcourt Literary Society: 

NDDC imagemaker, Amu-Nnadi, now resident poet 

Ignatius Chukwu 

The Port Harcourt 

Literary Society has 

appointed Chijioke 

Amu-Nnadi, an 

award winning poet and a 

deputy director in the Niger 

Delta Development Commission 

(NDDC) as ‘Resident 

Poet’ of the society. 

This is coming on the 

heels of a recent honour 

from the Associa tion of 

Nigerian Authors (ANA), 

Rivers State chapter, for his 

con tributions to literature, 

at the 2017 Literary Excellence 

Day of the association 

in Port Harcourt. 

Presenting the appointment 

letter and keys to his 

office, during a brief ceremony 

at the NDDC headquarters, 

Chidinma Ubakanwa, 

Programme Coordinator of 

Port Harcourt Literary Society, 

underlined the need 

to provide mentorship for 

young writers. She said 

that the appointment of 

Amu-Nnadi as resident poet 

would create new opportunities 

for budding writers to 

hone their skills. 

“This is done in recognition 

of your works, literary 

awards and as an inspiring 

figure who would make a 

positive impact and help 

advance the objectives of 

our Society,” the letter read. 

The Chairman of the 

Rivers State chapter of ANA, 

Uzo Nwa mara, described 

Amu-Nnadi as one of the 

best poets in Africa. He 

declared: “He has been a big 

inspiration to many young 

writers and that is why 

ANA found him worthy of 

recognition.” 

Nwa mara lauded the 

NDDC for promoting literary 

excellence through the 

sponsorship of the literary 

prizes, one of which was the 

ANA/NDDC Gabriel Okara 

Prize for Poetry in 2002 won 

by the fire within written 

by Chijioke Amu-Nnadi. 

Accepting his new role, 

Amu-Nnadi, promised to 

live up to the expectations 

of the literary society, noting 

that he derived joy from 

writing. 

He recalled that he got 

into writing poetry by 

chance. According to him, 

a challenge from a fellow 

student drew him into poetry. 

“As a first year student 

of Mass Communication at 

the University of Nigeria, 

Nsukka, I had the privilege 

of sharing the same class 

with a few young men who 

loved poetry. But I was the 

only one who had no time 

for poetry. So, I was forced 

to rise to the challenge.” 

In his remarks, the 

NDDC Director Corporate 

Affairs, Ibitoye Abosede, 

gave kudos to Amu-Nnadi 

for his literary prowess, 

which he said had produced 

several books, including the 

fire within, pilgrim’s passage, 

through the window 

of a sandcastle (which won 

the 2013 ANA Poetry Prize 

and the 2014 Glenna Luschei 

Prize for African Poetry), 

a river’s journey, a field 

of echoes, among others. 

2017 US-Nigeria legislative, executive 

leadership forum to focus on Africa 

SEYI JOHN SALAU 

Leaders of thought 

and industry experts 

from Nigeria and the 

United States will 

focus on development across 

Africa in the 2017 US-Nigeria 

Legislative, Executive 

Leadership Forum, organisers 

have said. The forum 

billed for November 15-18, 

in Washington DC, USA, will 

discuss Africa’s influences 

on global economy, arts and 

culture, and entertainment 

through exchange of expertise, 

idea-sharing and 

effective policy discussions 

to affect a truly restructured 

Africa and the world 

at large. 

The forum, which will 

provide an conducive environment 

to build new 

connections and long lasting 

business relationships 

between Nigeria and the 

U.S will also explore efficient 

border security and 

migration management, 

weigh the benefits and risks 

of International Trade, import 

and export in global 

economy, as well as ways 

of maximizing microeconomic 

reforms and policies 

through legislation and best 

practice sharing. 

Asha Okojie-Osazuwa, 

founder, Festival of Arts & 

Culture Expo Inc. (FACE), 

organiser of the US-Nigeria 

Legislative and Executive 

Leadership Forum in a statement 

said the forum would 

provide a platform for young 

leaders to engage in productive 

dialogue on the global 

stage. 

Tagged ‘Nigeria Revitalisation 

Initiative: Global 

Partnership for Effective 

Development & Restructuring,’ 

Asha opined that the 

forum will review the legal 

and regulatory framework 

of Public Private Partnership 

(PPP) and Foreign Direct 

Investment (FDI) Policies, the 

future of aviation, transportation 

and food safety in 

emerging markets, improving 

health and educational 

systems for Job creation 

and community capacity 

development.

Sunday 22 October 2017 C002D5556 

BD SUNDAY 9 

News 

Lagosians in earnest expectation 17 

days to Bonnke’s Gospel Crusade 

Seyi John Salau 

The news of the forthcoming 

farewell gospel 

crusade to be addressed 

by Evangelist Reinhard 

Bonnke is all over the 

place. It is being noised about in the 

print media, the Radio and television, 

and the internet is abuzz also. 

Bonnke, the German-born 

evangelist, is being mightily used 

of God and through his global outreaches; 

countless souls have been 

won for Christ. 

At a time in the life of Nigeria, 

when unrighteousness is on 

the increase and people passing 

through socio-economic and political 

afflictions, Bonnke said, God 

directed him to return to the most 

populous black nation in Africa, 

just the same way the Almighty 

sent Prophet Jonah to Nineveh. 

His vision for Africa in general 

and Nigeria in particular, has 

remained unshaken. Despite the 

threats to his life at some points in 

the course of his evangelisation, he 

remains undaunted. He described 

Nigeria as a “trigger” (referring to 

Nigeria’s location on the map of 

Africa). What has remained a wonder 

to many people, particularly as 

Bonnke plans to stage the mother 

of all crusades in Lagos is about 

how a man of his age (77) could address 

a huge crowd at the crusade 

ground, for five days. However, it 

is his belief that the command to 

him to return to Lagos, Nigeria for 

the final time is not for the sake of 

it, but must have been orchestrated 

for something spectacular. 

Again, the question goes, why 

Nigeria? The country has so fallen 

under all manner of sins and 

criminality that it will only take 

divine intervention to redeem her 

from that nadir of hopelessness. 

The country appears to be under 

satanic stranglehold and needs 

urgent deliverance. The Evangelist 

also has assured the Christendom 

in Nigeria that his coming would 

stoke the fire of revival and that 

ministers of the gospel would 

receive fresh unction for greater 

exploit. Indeed, the high level of 

unrighteousness in the country 

is an indictment on ministers of 

the gospel in the country. Despite 

many churches and worship centres 

at every nook and cranny of 

the Nigerian society, it appears 

that many a minister is more interested 

in the mundane things 

of this world than soul-winning. 

“Bonnke’s coming is expected to 

re-ignite that spiritual fire,” said 

an interested observer who would 

not want her name in print. 

At a well-attended world press 

conference in Lagos to announce 

the crusade a few days ago, journalists 

were told that Bonnke 

would apply divine approach to 

resolving Nigeria’s conflicts and 

violence. 

Apostle Alexander Bamgbola, 

chairman, Central Working Committee 

(CWC) of the Evangelist 

Reinhard Bonnke’s Farewell Crusade 

and Passing the Burning 

Torch Conference in Africa, said 

the worldwide minister of the 

gospel is being led by God to apply 

the divine approach in bringing 

solutions and healings to Nigeria. 

The crusade, scheduled to hold 

from Wednesday, 8th to Sunday, 

L-R: Angelique N. Ikwuka, publicity secretary, Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN Lagos 

Chapter) chairman; Chinyere Peace Nnabugwu Applied Physicist ,and vice chairman (APWEN Lagos Chapter) Laolu 

Aisida, during Career talk for Girls in Public Secondary District 1 Agege, Organised by (APWEN Lagos Chapter) 

Why Osun launches citizen identification initiative - Govt 

BOLA BAMIGBOLA, Osogbo 

Osun State government 

has explained that it introduced 

a citizen identification 

initiative called 

‘Kaadi Omoluabi’ to ensure more 

effective planning for the citizens. 

This was disclosed by the State 

Commissioner for Commerce, Industries 

and Cooperatives, Ismail 

Jayeoba Alagbada, while speaking 

on the initiative ahead of its formal 

launch. 

Alagbada said the society is 

changing and becoming more 

mobile which necessitated the 

growing need for the government 

to integrate the residents of the state 

into its e-government initiatives to 

enable the services provided by 

government to be fully utilised 

and provide an accurate picture for 

government policy and planning. 

‘Kaadi Omoluabi’ residents’ registration 

identification initiative 

which had commenced since 2012; 

when it becomes operational, will 

assist government to establish a 

reliable and updateable database 

of all residents of the state including 

pupils in all schools as well as 

artisans for efficient planning and 

allocation of resources to meet the 

needs of the citizenry. 

The initiative will also enable 

the government’s e-government 

strategy and implementation in 

ensuring government service delivery 

and facilitate transactions for 

economic growth of the state. 

The commissioner further explained 

that the card will also ease 

loan facilities to artisans, as well as, 

Bonnke 

12th of November, will take place 

beside the Sparklight Estate, opposite 

OPIC Events Centre, Isheri, 

after the Berger Bus Stop. It is expected 

to attract about 30 million 

Nigerians, with at least 10 million 

people attending it every day with 

participants from the neighbouring 

countries of Ghana, Cameroun, 

Togo, Benin, Mali, among others. 

Bamgbola noted that the present 

challenges confronting the 

country appear to have defied 

mere human and logical solutions. 

According to him, “Nigeria is 

plagued by socio-economic corruption 

and spiritual pollution 

like the menace of the Badoo Boys 

of Ikorodu, the ritual killings and 

armed robbery in some parts of the 

country; the ethnic disturbances 

and secessionist tendencies. Jesus 

feels the pain Nigerians feel, and so 

does Bonnke. And this is why God 

specifically told him to go back to 

Nigeria this one more time.” 

The chairman added that the 

Farewell Crusade would be complemented 

by a sideline event 

called “Passing the Burning Torch” 

Conference where willing ministers 

of Godin Africa are expected 

to catch the Reinhard Bonnke Fire 

for greater exploits. 

According to Bamgbola, “He 

(Bonnke) had said many times that 

this country has great potentials 

but being held down by forces 

militating against it. The result is 

market men and women because 

it will serve as guarantor to people 

seeking to obtain loan facilities 

from banks in the state. 

Alagbada also said that the 

card will also serve as means of 

re-introducing discipline back to 

schools in the state stressing that 

any student without the card will 

not be allowed in school and any 

erring pupils could easily be identified 

through the card. 

He said further that any contractors 

engaged by the state government 

will have access to all artisans 

what we see as social vices that 

have held down economic growth. 

Inflation has remained high at 

double digit just as unemployment 

rate ensures more than 29 million 

employable youths remain out 

of jobs. 

“We hear of a number of kidnap 

cases in Nigeria; rising incidents 

of armed robbery as well as rape 

and sexual harassments against 

minors becoming daily occurrences. 

Youth restiveness across 

the country seems to have created 

pockets of violence in some 

regions forcing the Army to take 

certain measures to police the 

country. While these persist, we 

see Government struggle with lean 

resources and rising corruption in 

private and public sectors.” 

He lamented that the Millennium 

Development Goals (MDG) 

introduced by the United Nations 

Organization did not achieve much 

for Africa. By the time it was rested 

in 2015, the level of success of its 

eight goals in Africa was dismal. 

As the curtains were being 

drawn, 65 per cent of Nigerians 

still remained in poverty; only 

six of every 10 Nigerian children 

were in school; combat against 

HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other 

dieses, mortality of mothers, and 

of children under five years was 

merely tolerable; and there was 

no progress in efforts to provide 

access to safe drinking water for 

all, or to significantly stem erosion 

and coastal flooding. 

The cleric however said by 

the Grace of God, on Wednesday, 

November 8, 2017, Evangelist Reinhard 

Bonnke will hit the shores 

of Lagos for a five-day farewell crusade 

that will unleash the power of 

God on Nigeria and liberate it from 

the very present forces eating up 

its socio-economic and spiritual 

potentials. 

He said those who are conversant 

with the Holy Bible know that 

Prophet Elisha did greater exploits 

for God after he got a double portion 

of Prophet Elijah’s anointing 

by prayerfully taking the Burning 

Torch from Elijah. 

and others for gainful employment 

adding that contractual jobs or activities 

would be done through the 

issuance of the card. 

The commissioner however 

disclosed that the card will be issued 

to students across the state 

free of charge, while adults are to 

pay token for it. 

Alagbada therefore called on the 

residents of the avail themselves for 

the benefits inherent in the card 

and called for the continue support 

of the government in its bid to move 

the state’s economy forward.

10 BD SUNDAY 


News 

Panel says Abia judiciary 

overstaffed, submits 

report on reform 

UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia 

The Committee on the 

Reform of the Judiciary 

set up by the Abia 

State Government has 

submitted its report to 

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, disclosing 

that the state judiciary is 

overstaffed. 

While receiving the report, 

Ikpeazu frowned at some of 

the findings of the committee, 

describing them as unfortunate. 

Ikpeazu noted that what was 

happening in the socio-political 

milieu of the country called for 

sober reflection. 

“I see the judiciary as a sacred 

institution which is not supposed 

to produce persons who 

are not sincere and patriotic to 

the state through their attitude 

to government work,” he said. 

The governor commended 

the committee for its dedication 

in discharging its assignment on 

time and promised to study and 

implement the recommendations 

of the committee. 

While presenting the report 

earlier, Umeh Kalu (SAN), chairman 

of the committee and commissioner 

for Justice, said that in 

line with the panel’s mandate of 

identifying the staff strength of 

the judiciary and Court harmonisation, 

it toured the 17 LGAs, 

visited 31 magistrate courts, 54 

customary courts and 1 customary 

Court of Appeal. 

He disclosed that the committee 

observed falsification of age 

affidavit, recruitment of 85 staff 

without waiver and existence of 

Udom Emmanuel, governor (middle) in a group photograph with conference of pdp state chairmen during a courtesy visit on the governor at government house, Uyo. 

too many courts and magistrate 

districts that were overstaffed, 

among others. 

According to him, some of 

the committee’s recommendations 

include: “That those 

who falsified affidavit of age 

be compulsorily retired; that 

the judiciary service commission 

redeploys the excess staff 

to the ministries where their 

services may be needed and 

that lawyers among them be 

assigned to judges.” 

The committee further recommended 

that the magisterial 

districts be reduced from 43 to 

17, one per LGA. 

Nigeria’s request for foreign loan is in order – Varsity don 


Sebastine Uremadu, a professor 

in the Department 

of Banking and Finance, 

Michael Okpara University 

of Agriculture, Umudike ( 

MOUAU), Abia State, has said 

there was nothing wrong with 

Nigeria requesting for foreign 

loans, so far the money when 

received, will be put to good use. 

Uremadu, who was reacting 

to the alarm raised by the 

International Monetary Fund 

(IMF) concerning Nigerian government’s 

plan to source loans 

to finance the 2017 budget, said 

that the alarm from the IMF 

was only cautionary, adding 

that if the money is channeled 

to investable projects, the gains 

would be wonderful and far- 

Ezekwem Nnabuihe 

Odigbo, the newly installed 

2nd President of 

Rotary Club of Umuahia 

North District 9142 Nigeria, has 

pledged to donate educational 

materials to Primary schools in 

Umuahia and also plant at least 

1000 trees within the district. 

He also promised to create 

awareness for cervical and 

prostate cancer, provide one 

blood bank fridge to Federal 

Medical Centre, (FMC) Umuahia 

and carry out blood donation 

campaign in the same hospital. 

In his speech during the 

event which took place at the 

reaching. 

The Financial expert warned 

against “Consumptive utilisation 

of the loan, when sourced, because 

that had been the bane of 

previous credit facilities.” 

He expressed satisfaction 

with the recent appointment of 

Aisha Ahmad as the deputy governor 

of Central Bank of Nigeria 

(CBN), describing the development 

as a good thing to happen 

to Nigeria’s economy. 

The University don, who 

revealed that he was a lecturer 

to Ahmad at the University 

of Abuja, recalled the sterling 

qualities she was made of as a 

student, adding that the country’s 

financial policies and asset 

management would receive a 

boost because of her appointment, 

while also canvassing 

support for her. 

He reiterated his earlier call 

for the re-jigging of President 

Muhammadu Buhari’s economic 

team, arguing that if technocrats 

were brought in to give the best 

advice in financial policy formulation 

and implementation, 

the economy would rebound to 

strength and profitability. 

Newly installed rotary president promises to plant 1000 trees in Aba 


multipurpose hall, Umuahia 

North L.G.A, the Chairman of 

the occasion, Chimechefulam 

Emelogu Obioma encouraged 

members of the Club to 

strive to promote the course 

of humanity in their services 

and imbibe what they teach/ 

preach, doing it objectively so 

that they would be successful 

as a chapter. 

He reminded those at the 

event that Rotary Club only 

engages those who are willing to 

give out, who care about others 

and the society at large. 

Earlier in his valedictory 

speech, the immediate past president, 

Rtn. Onugu Okechukwu 

Mba admitted that his tenures 

as both the chapter president 

and as first president of the Club 

were very challenging, adding, 

“but when I remembered the 

promises I made during my installation, 

I did not allow these 

challenges to weigh me down”. 

In his remarks, the Chairman 

2017/2018 Installation 

Committee, Rtn. Michael Chukwudi 

Ibegbulam, said the Club is 

poised to encourage and foster 

the ideal of service as a basis of 

worthy enterprise in particular, 

to encourage and foster the 

development of acquaintances 

as an opportunity for service, 

among others. 

The event featured inauguration 

of board of directors, 

induction of new members and 

presentation of awards. 

400 artistes set to light up MUPAN 

inauguration on October 27 

No fewer than 400 Nigerian 

musical artistes 

have concluded arrangement 

to light-up 

the inauguration of the Music 

Promoters Association of Nigeria 

(MUPAN Lagos State chapter at 

Genesis Hotels, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos 

State on October 27, 2017. 

Kollington Ayinla and Wasiu 

Alabi Pasuma, ace Fuji crooners, 

will be leading all other Fuji 

musicians to the venue while 

Ebenezer Obey Fabiyi will lead 

Juju, and Small Doctor will be 

at the forefront of upcoming artistes. 

Other artistes from Gospel 

Musician Association of Nigeria 

(GOMA), Nigerian Association of 

Juju Musician (AJUM), Islamic 

Singers Association of Nigeria, 

Fuji Musician Association of 

Nigeria (FUMAN), Indigenous 

Musician Association of Nigeria 

among others and the umbrella 

body of the music industry 

Performing Musician Association 

of Nigeria (PMAN) have all 

confirmed attendance and performance. 

Also, yester-years music promoters 

in the state, Musical and 

Instruments Hiring Association 

of Nigeria, Freelance Independent 

Broadcasting Association 

of Nigeria, Movie Producers 

Association of Nigeria, Music 

Advertisers Association of Nigeria 

among others are expected at 

the inauguration. 

Other invited dignitaries 

that have confirmed attendance 

include but not limited to captains 

of music industry, chief 

executives, hoteliers, top media 

executives and many other distinguished 

Nigerians. 

According to a statement 

from Abiodun Awogbemi, the 

secretary of the association, at 

this year’s inauguration, upcoming 

artistes and outstanding 

musician and individuals, 

especially music lovers will 

be in attendance to enjoy the 

musicians, as well as, listen to 

some up-coming artistes with 

new creativity. The event, apart 

from entertaining the mind is 

expected to be a forum for discovering 

new creative artistes, as 

well as, meet and network with 

experienced music promoters. 

The National body of the 

Music Promoters Association of 

Nigeria (MUPAN), comprising of 

all music promoters in Nigeria 

will be inaugurating its Lagos 

State Chapter and the executives 

during the occasion.


C002D5556 

SUNDAY 

BD 

11 

Feature 

L-R: Simidele Onabajo; deputy director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Kingsley Ejiofor, director, Investigation and Enforcement, and Abubakar Jimoh, director, Special Duties, all 

of NAFDAC, displaying ‘GLUCOZEAID ENERGY DRINK’, an imitation drink produced by Tasty Time Nigeria Limited at the NAFDAC Head Office in Lagos. 

Sustaining efforts at tackling the scourge 

of counterfeit products in Nigeria 

OBINNA EMELIKE 

Stanley, a stock-broker 

in his early thirties, 

is no stranger to the 

Lagos lifestyle. It is 

the fifth year since he 

relocated from Benue State and 

his strong desire to succeed in 

Lagos has firmly integrated 

him into the regular hustle 

that makes the city bustle. Unlike 

everyone else, Stanley has 

found a way to remain calm in 

traffic congestion that Lagosians 

are regularly subjected to; 

thanks to the access to bottled 

water and cold beverages displayed 

by roadside vendors. 

Unfortunately, obeying his 

thirst while in traffic almost 

got Stanley into trouble one of 

those days. It was thirty minutes 

after gulping a cold bottle 

of his preferred beverage drink, 

that he realized it was not ‘the 

real thing’, and possibly a counterfeit 

product. His reaction 

after taking the drink required 

immediate medical attention. 

The truth is, not everyone 

will be as fortunate as Stanley 

who had an immediate access 

to medical attention and to be 

attentive to connect the product 

with his symptoms. This 

raises grave concerns about the 

damaging effect of counterfeit 

products in our society. 

It was thus another breakthrough 

when the Investigation 

& Enforcement team of 

the National Agency for Food 

and Drug Administration and 

Control (NAFDAC) busted mobs 

of counterfeiters and paraded 

their unregistered products 

at a press briefing held penultimate 

week at the agency’s 

head office. 

Of major interest at the 

briefing was the revelation of 

GLUCOZEAID Energy Drink, 

an imitation (or pass off) of the 

popular energy drink, Lucozade, 

originally produced by 

Suntory Beverage and Foods 

Nigeria Limited. The drink was 

produced with a fake NAFDAC 

Registration number NRN: 01- 

2474L by Tasty Time Ltd. The 

suspect and owner of the company 

identified as Kola Isaac, 

clandestinely copied the label 

and artwork of Lucozade and 

inserted an expired NAFDAC 

registration number of one of 

their products. 

Revealing the imitated and 

unregistered products, Kingsley 

Ejiofor, director of investigation 

and enforcement, 

NAFDAC, expressed concern 

over the affront at the law by 

the counterfeiters. According 

to him, “the brazen imitation of 

the popular drink is very sad. 

NAFDAC has always endeavoured 

to carry out its functions 

as diligently as possible but 

these unscrupulous elements 

are always bent on carrying out 

their nefarious acts”. 

A first look at the product 

would deceive an unsuspecting 

consumer who may be willing 

to quickly quench their thirst, 

not aware of the danger lurking 

within the imitated product. 

“NAFDAC’s duty is to safeguard 

public health by ensuring 

that the right quality food, 

drugs and other regulated 

products are manufactured, 

exported, imported, advertised, 

sold and used by the public. 

So, we are fully committed to 

saving the lives of Nigerians 

by arresting and prosecuting 

those involved in these illegal 

activities” Ejiofor said. 

Apart from parading 17 

other unregistered products 

found in the company’s warehouse, 

Ejiofor stated that the 

Management of Tasty Time 

Nigeria Ltd, at first resisted 

arrest despite the glaring evidences. 

The arrest was also 

made successful largely due to 

the intelligent activities of the 

agency’s Pharmacovigilance 

and Post-Marketing Surveillance 

Directorate. As part of 

their drive to eliminate this 

scourge, NAFDAC is taking 

steps to address the situation 

through renewed enforcement 

and post registration/market 

surveillance. 

In addition, two other cases 

of counterfeit products were 

presented. One was the unauthorised 

production of herbal 

medicine with a forged of NAF- 

DAC number and the other 

involved the illegal distribution 

and sale of counterfeit 

insecticides and hair relaxer in 

Edo State. 

“The agency has over 60 

cases at various stages of prosecution 

at the courts. I thank 

everyone for supporting NAF- 

DAC regulated products and 

our determination to safeguard 

the health of the nation” Ejiofor 

said. 

When contacted on the 

development, Ola Ehinmoro, 

Human Resources & Corporate 

Affairs Director, Suntory Beverage 

and Food Nigeria Ltd, 

expressed his appreciation to 

NAFDAC for living up to its 

mandate. He reiterated that 

Nigerians, like other citizens 

anywhere in the world, have 

a right to quality, safe and 

wholesome regulated products. 

He urged everyone to support 

NAFDAC and other regulatory 

agencies to expose the activities 

of the undesirable elements 

who are bent on reaping from 

illegality to the detriment of 

innocent and law-abiding citizens. 

The menace of counterfeit 

products is endemic in Nigeria. 

It is a form of corruption that is 

causing great damage and loss 

of many lives. Not many will 

forget the news about certain 

plastic rice, imported from Asia 

during the latter part of 2016 

by some unscrupulous Nigerians. 

The news created panic 

and tension during the festive 

season when the consumption 

of rice was supposed to be on 

the increase. 

It is an undeniable fact that 

counterfeiters want to project 

Nigeria’s image in bad light, 

making the country a haven 

of adulterated and counterfeit 

products to their sole advantage 

and the detriment of the 

public. These counterfeiters 

could be individuals or corporate 

bodies who cheat the system 

by producing substandard 

goods and fake commodities to 

increase their profit margins. 

It is against this backdrop that 

three government agencies 

were established to standardize 

and regulate products and 

services in Nigeria. These are 

the Standards Organisation 

of Nigeria (SON), the National 

Agency for Food and Drug 

Administration and Control 

(NAFDAC) and the Consumer 

Protection Council (CPC). These 

agencies individually and collectively, 

have the duty to standardise, 

regulate, enforce or 

sanction erring manufacturers 

and producers of sub-standard 

goods and services. 

As NAFDAC steps up enforcement 

activities to rid 

Nigeria of counterfeited 

products, the dragnet has 

been thrown across the 

country to catch the enemies 

of the Nigerian society, 

who flourish by producing 

poison as products. It is 

therefore in the interest of 

everyone to be on the alert 

and understand that it is no 

longer business as usual for 

counterfeiters. It is time 

to support these agencies 

in safeguarding the health 

and well-being of Nigerians. 

Nigerians all need to wake 

up to their responsibility 

by exposing the activities 

of these unscrupulous individuals 

and not patronise or 

buy counterfeited products.

C002D5556 

12BD 

SUNDAY 


Feature 

How FG can help DisCos instead 

of revoking transaction 

IGNATIUS CHUKWU 

Experts and other deep 

players in the power 

distribution industry 

have suggested how 

the Federal Government 

may help the DisCos instead 

of thinking of re-acquisition, 

an option the government 

had openly discarded. 

The minister of power had 

told the Lagos Chamber of Commerce 

that the present administration 

had decided against 

revoking the sale of power to 

private owners to avoid creating 

negative records and disturbing 

the international investment 

community. 

Despite this, however, a top 

business tycoon last week in 

Abuja pointedly urged the FG 

through the vice president, Yemi 

Osinbajo, to re-acquire through 

a technique he suggested in the 

form of buy majority shares and 

reselling same to new investors 

for the purpose of injecting new 

capital into the sector. 

Some of those who play deep 

in the power distribution sector 

in the oil region however, 

said there were some ways the 

FG can help the Discos to take 

stronger control of the sensitive 

power sector. 

Chinedu Ama, CEO of Spark 

Media online, fighting vandalism 

and power theft as well as selling 

the distribution business through 

integrated messaging systems, 

said: “Two key places where the 

government can come in are policies 

and funding. In terms of policies, 

there is need for policies and 

regulations that guide against 

infractions, and sourcing funding 

for investments into the Discos. I 

remember seeing statistics which 

showed that in January 2017 

forex allocation to power sector 

was only one per cent. This 

is against the high demand for 

forex to source equipment such 

as meters, transformers, etc. I 

have not seen enough capacity 

to produce meters and meeting 

the demand. So, there is need 

to import meters. It means the 

Discos have to source forex, but 

how easy is it for them to access 

forex? Now, is it more important 

to tackle pilgrimage or source 

meters?” 

He went on: “When you talk 

of capacity, there is a lot of talk 

about the licensing of the Discos 

but people need to look at it 

critically. What knowledge level 

exists amongst Nigerians for 

discipline in use of energy? The 

government needs to step in on 

sensitisation of the masses. How 

much can the Discos commit 

to this important task and still 

fund investments in the sector, 

Chinedu Amah, CEO, Sparkonline.com 

the government can push the 

National Orientation Agency 

to take up this task and join the 

fight on proper use of power.” 

He said he read where the 

Gencos were promised N700billion 

to grow capacity. “Some say 

it’s a loan, others say its funding, 

but for me, a large chunk of that 

fund can be committed for bulb 

exchange programmes for rural 

areas because if we can meter 

and change the bulbs, energy 

would be freed up for large urban 

areas with more population 

and higher demand for power. 

These are the areas with industries 

that would create jobs and 

production.” 

So, he said, Nigeria must look 

at policies that drive the sector 

and control attitudes. “FG needs 

to critically look at these areas. 

They are doing a good job but 

there is need to carry everybody 

along with monthly all-industry 

meetings and direct interface 

between the Discos and the 

customers with the government 

agency as the meeting point. 

There is a lot of ignorance in 

the power sector. Investors are 

torn between investing in power 

and educating a huge populace. 

Government can bridge this gap 

and improve capacity.” 

On what the FG can do about 

energy theft and efforts to reduce 

vandalism and tampering 

with meters, Amah said punishment 

for energy theft so far 

is very minimal. “There is need 

to upgrade it to the status of an 

economic crime. The individual 

or organization tampering with 

power items should be treated 

as saboteurs. There is need for 

upward review and making the 

penalty harsher. Along that, 

there is need for massive education. 

Nigerians for now see 

stealing of power as a right or 

act of bravery. They used to see it 

as government property but it is 

now owned by private interests. 

These investors need to recoup 

their investment to reinvest. You 

cannot demand improved services 

of more investment when 

the investor is losing minimum 

of 30 per cent per month. An average 

Disco loses at least N1.5Bn 

every month. That amount is 

huge. This can get you well over 

Babatunde Fashola 

100 transformers every month. 

If you have people that steal energy, 

policies should aim at curtailing 

such wastes. We are not 

talking of federal levels alone but 

also at state levels. Strict actions 

must be taken against refusal to 

pay or theft of electricity.” 

In her contribution, Chioma 

Aninwe, the CSR Engagement 

Officer for PHED, under the 

Corporate Communications Department, 

harped on safety and 

need for the FG to step in to help 

the Discos. 

Aninwe said one of the hardest 

aspects in the power sector 

was visiting a woman to tell her 

that her husband, bread winner, 

would not be coming home that 

day; that something happened to 

him to say, “We are sorry that a 

line snapped and unfortunately 

your loved one stepped on it. It is 

so difficult to be the first person 

to convey bad news or tragedy 

to a child, a wife. The FG should 

look at safety again. There may 

be regulations, but are they being 

observed or enforced? 

She went on: “Another issue is 

right of way (RoW) and buildings 

under high tension. What is the 

government doing about this? 

Such matters should not be left 

to Discos or push them against 

members of the public. There 

should be huge advocacy. Discos 

cannot do this. Let the National 

Assembly should step in too. It 

can happen to anybody. Disaster 

is taking place everywhere, from 

Kaduna to Aba. The FG should 

take this matter very seriously. 

Let action start from the FG and 

cascade down to the Discos. If 

you see someone living under 

tension, even a child can say no, 

no, no. It can even become part of 

the primary education system so 

that children can be very safety 

conscious as it is abroad where 

they are taught about hazards 

early in life. The FG should make 

safety a nationwide campaign.” 

She said her department has a 

responsibility to visit customers 

and engage with them heartto-heart, 

get it raw from their 

mouths and feel what they feel. 

You can go back to report to 

Management. The issue is that 

we are in business because of 

our customers.”


C002D5556 

BD SUNDAY 13 

Feature 

What type of future are we leaving for our children? 

AYO OYOZE BAJE 

One of the most 

distinguished, 

yet unsung 

nationalists 

who remains 

an inspiration to Nigeria’s 

youths in their educational 

development was the Efikborn 

Professor Eyo Ita (of 

blessed memory). Returning 

to Nigeria in 1933 after 

two masters’ degrees and 

a doctorate in Philosophy, 

the educationist saw to the 

birth of the Nigerian Youth 

Movement (NYM) in 1934. 

The matching mandate was 

on the palm philosophy 

with the five fingers of 

Health, Economy, Beauty, 

Knowledge, Patriotism and 

Religion. 

So profound and influential 

the NYM became 

that in March of that same 

year the Lagos Youth Movement 

was launched with Dr. 

J.C.Vaughan as the president. 

Other members such 

Ernest Ikoli, Samuel Akinsanya 

and H.O.Davies became 

the moving spirits. Its 

patriotic aim and cardinal 

objectives included seeking 

inter-tribal harmony, 

nationalism and selfless 

service. 

In fact, soon after its coming 

into being it saw to the 

training of the junior cadre 

of doctors, engineers and 

teachers in protest against 

the shoddy educational 

standard at the then Yaba 

Higher College. Eventually, 

it evolved as the catalyst 

for national cohesion that 

influenced the return of 

the great Zik of Africa from 

Ghana and the increased 

tempo in the demand for 

political independence. 

The rest, as they say is 

history. But how would 

these patriots feel, were it 

possible to bring them back 

to life to witness the Nigeria 

of today, 57 years after 

independence? That is the 

billion (sorry, the trillion) 

Naira question. 

Too often, we blame our 

youths for the escalating 

wave of crimes such as 

armed robbery, kidnapping 

for ransom, rape and 

terrorism without asking 

ourselves if we, as their 

elders have been there for 

them, or playing our parts. 

Do the perpetrators of these 

heinous crimes appear from 

Mars or Jupiter? Don’t they 

Obarilomate Ollor 

have parents, teachers, pastors 

or Imams? Have the 

governments (local, state 

and federal) acted as the 

father-figure to provide 

for their welfare and protect 

them against social 

and food insecurity as enshrined 

in Section 14,Sub 

section 2(b) of the 1999 

Constitution,(as amended)? 

The answers are obvious. 

Let us for a moment consider 

the mind-boggling and 

humungous sums of public 

funds serially siphoned to 

feather the nests of members 

of the political class 

ever since independence 

in 1960.Couldn’t that have 

facilitated in providing 

quality education, sustainable 

food security, sound 

healthcare delivery and 

the enabling infrastructural 

environment to provide 

mass employment for the 

youths? 

Indeed, one’s increasing 

fear about the nature 

and texture of the future 

the current crop of Nigeria’s 

political leaders is bequeathing 

to our rudderless 

youths is predicated on 

the prevailing climate of 

institutional failure of governance. 

Consider the scary 

scenario where instilling 

the Fear Factor on a hapless, 

hungry citizenry through 

flexing of military muscle 

in a pseudo-democratic 

dispensation has become 

the rule of the leadership 

thumb. Or, how else can 

we explain the recent controversial 

Operation Python 

Dance in the overtly 

marginalized South-East 

geo-political zone and the 

provocative Crocodile Smile 

version in the more peaceful 

South-South and South- 

West axes? 

What moral lessons are 

we teaching our children, 

who have to grow up daily 

in a thorny, political jungle 

peopled by power-poaching 

hyenas and jackals; where 

rats and rodents chase the 

Lion King from the hallowed 

palace? Yet, there is 

more to worry about. 

That a government has 

to ask it military (whose 

constitutional function is 

to protect its territorial 

integrity) to monitor the 

social media is simply preposterous! 

Talk Shows on 

television stations are being 

closely monitored by 

the National Broadcasting 

Commission (NBC) to 

strangulate the views of 

the led majority. Perplexing 

still is that of government 

demanding details of its 

citizens on social platforms 

such as Google, Twitter and 

Facebook. No one is asking 

questions about Nigeria’s 

sudden withdrawal from 

some international collaborations 

and how they affect 

the future of the youths of 

this country. 

These outrageous moves 

are clearly antithetical to 

the mores of the United 

Nation’s Freedom of Expression 

Law as the outcome of 

the its conference on freedom 

of information, held 

at Geneva, Switzerland, 

March 23–April 21, 1948. 

Also known as access to information 

(ATI), it took root 

in 1766 when a Freedom of 

Information Law was introduced 

in Sweden-Finland. 

Since then more than 110 

countries (2004- 2011) have 

adopted such laws affecting 

about 5.5 billion (2012) 

inhabitants. 

The recent monitoring 

mechanisms also run 

against the grains of the 

Freedom of Information 

Act(FOIA), 2011 which was 

duly signed into law by the 

then President Goodluck 

Jonathan on 28 May 2011. 

“The underlying philosophy 

of the Act is that public officers 

are custodians of a 

public trust on behalf of a 

population who have a right 

to know what they do.” So, 

who really is afraid of the 

people’s power? 

Perhaps, our current 

leaders should climb from 

their high political horses to 

drink from the fountains of 

knowledge of history. How 

did democracy evolve and 

what are its axioms? For the 

records, ancient city-states 

of Greece were for instance, 

ruled by autocratic kings. 

But about 700B.C. they 

were expelled as more people 

wanted a share in the 

government process. Soon 

after, monarchy gave way 

to aristocracy as the lever of 

power was held by the few 

rich men. But at about 500 

B.C. many cities adopted 

democracy. This was a new 

type of government that 

was more people-inclusive. 

Good enough, their cities 

were small enough to enable 

the people to meet together 

to make decisions in 

the overall interest of their 

welfare. They did not need 

to elect representatives. 

What Nigerian leaders 

need to learn from Greek 

history was the different 

modes of youth development 

in the two city-states 

of Sparta and Athens. Sparta 

was governed by two 

kings aided by the nobles. 

While their youths were 

groomed under harsh, oldfashioned 

conditions; caring 

little for literature, commerce, 

art and science, their 

counterparts in Athens 

were brought up in a sophisticated 

setting under a 

more progressive and openminded 

city. 

According to H.A. Clement, 

the author of the ‘Story 

of The Ancient World’, 

while boys in Sparta who 

could not withstand severe 

conditions to become soldiers 

were left to die in a 

cold mountain valley, those 

in Athens were exposed to 

the arts, science, literature 

and commerce from an 

early age. While the youths 

of Sparta who survived 

were brought up as soldiers, 

who were taken from home 

at the tender age of seven 

and brought up together, 

to wear same clothes, with 

much physical exercise to 

build their bodies, there 

was a law in Athens that 

banished any leader that 

became too powerful for 

ten years! 

Again, while Spartan 

youths were publicly 

thrashed once a year to be 

used to pains and conditioned 

to speak as little as 

possible, the laws in Athens 

honoured talents, guaranteed 

justice and threw its 

gates open to strangers. In 

all of this, Athens became a 

democracy but Sparta never 

became one! 

The question before Nigerian 

youths therefore, 

is to choose between the 

command-and-obey stringent 

structure of Spartan 

leadership style and the 

more liberal and minddeveloping 

format as provided 

by Athens. We are 

in a democracy and this is 

the 21st century globalized 

world. A word is enough for 

the wise.

14 BD SUNDAY 

C002D5556 

Feature 


Wanted: Better transport system, 

infrastructure for Tomaro Island residents 

NATHANIEL AKHIGBE 

Unless there is a better 

alternative means of 

transporting humans 

as well as goods and 

services on the Tomaro-Onisiwo 

Island in Amuwo- 

Odofin Local Government Area 

of Lagos State, residents of Shiku, 

Okoata, Agala 1, Ifako, Sabokunjo, 

Agala 2 and other neighbouring 

communities in the area will 

continue to rely on aged wooden 

canoes, exposing themselves to 

fatal dangers. 

Residents of these riverine 

communities rely on small, rickety 

wooden canoes to transport 

themselves and their goods. At the 

cost of N150 per trip, these small 

canoes are relatively affordable 

to the residents. They know the 

dangers involved, but they do not 

have a viable alternative. Only a 

few can afford the bigger, perhaps 

just a little safer but no less risky, 

painted wooden canoes which 

cost N300 per trip. 

Boat mishaps, of course, are 

a frequent occurrence on the 

Lagos waterways. Only recently, 

Mary Adesoba, a police sergeant 

attached to the Zone 2 Police Command, 

Onikan, lost her life after 

a boat en route Ebute Ero from 

Ikorodu capsized on the Third 

Mainland Bridge waterways, 

while 19 other passengers were 

rescued by the Marine Police 

operatives who responded to the 

emergency. 

Earlier in August, no fewer than 

12 persons died in a boat accident in 

the Ilashe area of the state when a 

boat capsized shortly after leaving 

an unauthorised jetty. 

Some residents of the Tomaro- 

Onisiwo Island communities and 

those who do one work or the 

other in the area say they are compelled 

to use the wooden canoes 

because the cost of alternating 

it with steel boats is too high for 

them to contemplate. As at the 

time of this report, steel boats remained 

the exclusive preserve of 

tourists who can afford between 

N2,500 and N3,000 per trip. 

Curiously, the operators of the 

privately-run ferries that ply the 

CSM/Apapa, CSM/Ikorodu and 

many other routes on the Lagos waterways 

appear not to be interested 

in plying Tomaro and its neighbouring 

communities, even though there 

is a large number of potential passengers 

on the Tomaro axis. 

A resident alleged that the 

canoe owners, who are largely 

overseers of the coastland, and 

the canoe operators themselves 

have been the ones preventing 

the modern boat operators from 

going to the route because of 

the fear that such change would 

deprive them of their source of 

livelihood. 

When this writer embarked on 

a journey to the Tomaro coastal 

line right from the Liverpool Boat 

Jetty, the dangers of sailing on 

these wooden canoes stared him 

right in the face. 

Wading through the ever busy 

perishable food market just at the 

mouth of the bridge, one soon 

got to the water garage to behold 

an array of mainly aged wooden 

canoes overloaded with passengers 

– old and young, pregnant 

women, nursing mothers with 

little children, and piles of luggage. 

Women with babies strapped on 

their backs and heavy loads on 

their heads walked on the edge 

of several closely-lined-up boats 

before boarding a boat whose turn 

it was to depart. 

Sailing to the coastal communities 

in these canoes is itself characterised 

by fright – with water 

threatening to flow inside the canoe 

anytime a bigger boat or ship 

passed by as the canoe dangled 

like a pendulum, with passengers 

clutching at any available object to 

avoid falling off. This is a constant 

reminder that a dangerous eventuality 

is not farfetched after all. 

It takes only an adventurous spirit 

to stay calm. 

And lives have been lost on 

these waters. While some residents 

blame these accidents on 

negligence on the part of canoe 

operators and carelessness on the 

part of passengers, the bigger issue, 

however, is the apparent lack of 

government regulatory presence 

on the waterways. It does not appear 

that there is a government 

agency currently monitoring strict 

adherence to existing safety standards 

on these waterways. 

Abisola Kamson, managing 

director, Lagos State Waterways 

Authority, while commiserating 

with the families that lost their 

loved ones during the boat mishap 

that happened in August, had 

said the accident was caused by 

overloading of passengers on a 

Banana boat as well as operation 

of illegal jetty. 

Kamson, who said the accident 

brought to the fore the need for the 

National Inland Waterways Authority 

to respect the verdict of the Court 

of Appeal which upheld the powers 

of a state government to control its 

intra-inland waterways, urged boat 

operators and other stakeholders 

in the inland waterways sector to 

always adhere to safety standards. 

In other words, adherence to safety 

standards is left at the discretion of 

the boat operators. No government 

regulator is on ground to enforce it. 

Many residents, even though 

they cherish their lives in the coastal 

communities, lamented that the 

communities are utterly neglected. 

One resident, who simply gave 

his name as Daniel, said he decided 

to relocate to the coastal community 

earlier in the year after his 

landlord threw out his belongings 

over his inability to pay rent, saying 

that many of the people living 

in the area are there for the same 

reason. 

“I was staying in Ilaje, Ajah, and 

I was working at a factory around 

Awoyaya up till February this year 

when the company folded up and 

I couldn’t afford to pay my rent 

anymore. My landlord was initially 

patient but he became tired when 

I continued telling stories and he 

issued me a quit notice. 

“That was when my brother 

who was already living here 

asked me to join him, instead of 

begging for where to sleep. I work 

in Apapa now and that makes it 

easier for me. Life is easy here. I 

actually started living in the house 

my brother got for me before I paid 

my landlord. The security here 

is also good; no kidnapping and 

stealing here. 

“But our major challenges are 

those basic things like water and 

electricity and having to cross this 

water every now and then. I was 

afraid of the water when I first 

came but my mind is stronger now. 

Government should help us get 

better transport because where 

we are belongs to Lagos. Within 

the few months that I have lived 

here I have seen people falling into 

this water at the garage and I have 

seen canoes capsize,” Daniel said. 

A teacher, who resides outside 

the communities but teaches in 

one of the two schools run by the 

Lagos State Government in the 

area, also complained that the attitude 

of the government towards 

its teachers in Tomaro as regards 

transportation was not inspiring, 

adding that the government 

appears not to care whether the 

teachers die in the water or not 

while trying to access their places 

of assignment. 

“The other day I nearly fell inside 

the water from this wooden 

canoe. I have seen people falling 

inside the water and canoes capsizing. 

As teachers, coming here 

from Monday to Friday is a must 

for us. Many days we arrive late 

to school because no matter how 

early you arrive at the Liverpool 

Jetty, you will have to wait for the 

canoe to fill to capacity before the 

operator can proceed. To be able to 

arrive earlier on a day like that, one 

would have to charter a canoe or a 

boat, but how much is my salary? 

By not providing safe water transport 

system for us teaching in the 

government schools there, doesn’t 

it mean they want us to relocate to 

Tomaro? You can see that there is 

no electricity and medical service 

here,” said the teacher who did not 

want his name mentioned for fear 

of victimization. 

He said the people living in the 

area were mainly the Badagry Yoruba, 

the Togolese, the Beninese, 

the Ilajes, very few Igbo people, 

and other people who like living 

close to the water. 

“Maybe the Lagos State government 

is not interested in the place 

because the people there are not 

Lagosians, otherwise there is no 

explanation for the way the place 

has been abandoned by successive 

governments of the state. Even 

those of us teaching in government 

schools are being forced 

to face the dangerous journey to 

school on a daily basis. This is our 

main concern and we are praying 

that the government will address 

it in the interest of the school children,” 

said the teacher. 

A resident of Tomaro, who said 

he loves the place, told BDSUN- 

DAY at the Liverpool Jetty that 

apart from the sandy island and 

the tranquillity of the area, he also 

loves the place because it is safe. 

“Tomaro is very safe. You can 

walk around anytime of the day 

and night. You can come out at 

night without fear of robbers. The 

waterways are also very safe. No 

kidnapping and hostage taking. 

You can take a boat ride to Ojo, 

Badagry even at night,” said the 

resident who did not want his 

name mentioned. 

“The schools are not bad, but 

the small clinic donated by the 

Americans needs a major upgrade. 

The community needs to be connected 

to the island. It also needs 

to be connected to the national 

grid so that the people there can 

have power supply that they are 

badly in need of,” he said. 

He said his house is a decent 

one and not a shanty and that the 

view from the window of his room 

is what some people will kill for. 

“The small lake and the backdrop 

of the rising Eko Atlantic is 

what I wake up to every day,” he 

said.


C002D5556 

SUNDAY 

BD 

15 

Politics 

The Zuma statue in Imo and the 

opportunity cost 

ZEBULON AGOMUO 

The Governor of Imo 

State, Rochas Anayo 

Okorocha, is a man 

who lives big in controversy. 

For him, it is 

one week, one controversy or 

call it scandal. Last week, Okorocha 

occupied yet again a vantage 

position in the “infamy” book 

in Nigeria’s chequered history 

when he declared a worship of 

human god in his state. What 

struck many people is that those 

who worship certain objects 

or beings believe in certain supernatural 

power of such gods 

which the one projected for the 

people of Imo State seriously 

lack. In his country, many citizens 

see him as an unfit person 

to occupy such an exalted position 

as a result of the man’s moral 

deficiencies that are legion! So, 

the argument is, if you are looking 

for a god to worship, critics 

believe, Zuma does not possess 

the credentials. So, what’s the 

attraction? 

Okorocha, who tore apart his 

party, All Progressives Grand 

Alliance (APGA) when he went 

into a political marriage with the 

All Progressives Congress (APC), 

had carried himself as if he could 

die for President Muhammadu 

Buhari, talking about his love 

and loyalty to the president. Yet, 

he did not consider the President 

presidential enough to carve 

him a bust, but he gave a total 

stranger a full length statue. 

Loyalty my foot! 

What transpired last week 

in Imo clearly showed where 

his true love and loyalty lie. In 

a state where the government 

had declared two days workfree 

for civil servants, saying 

they could go to the farm to 

reduce their dependence on the 

state government; a state where 

workers protest ceaselessly over 

non-payment of salaries and 

allowances, Okorocha’s administration 

found the resources 

to sink close to N600 million in 

the name of the statue for Jacob 

Zuma, president of South Africa. 

The question has been, why 

Zuma of all the presidents in the 

world? Here’s a man that has no 

good record in his home country. 

A man accused of many things 

and has serial court cases. A man 

that should be rotting away in 

prison were it not for the immunity 

on him as president. 

Critics say that what Okorocha 

did, though appeared ordinary 

to a natural eye, has a 

spiritual nuance and explains 

a dangerous bond between the 

two men. Just as it is said, ‘deep 

calleth unto deep’, by the same 

token, ‘shallow calleth unto 

shallow’. 

Here is a governor, a leader of 

“progressive” governors, whose 

country is just coming out of re- 

Zuma and Governor Okorocha 

cession, who also is complaining 

about paucity of funds to carry 

out people-oriented projects; he 

also is a member of the Nigerian 

Governors’ Forum (NGF) that 

‘besieged’ the President a few 

days ago demanding for release 

of another tranche of the Paris 

club refund, yet lacks the conscience 

to channel the money 

into a worthy project that could 

positively impact the lives of the 

people. After erecting the Zuma 

idol, he must have proclaimed to 

the Imo people “here is your god, 

O Imolites, worship him”. This 

thing that Okorocha has done 

may have opened a negative 

chapter of affliction. All those 

who took that step in the Bible 

days regretted it when it was 

very late for them to make any 

amends. Had Okorocha erected 

President Buhari’s statue in 

Imo, it would have been more 

tolerable. That Okorocha chose 

to so honour the President of a 

country, where his brothers are 

being slaughtered in recurring 

xenophobic attacks is numbing. 

On Wednesday, August 30, 2017, 

Okorocha’s ‘brother’ Kingsley 

Ikeri, 27, a native of Mbaitolu in 

Imo State, was reportedly killed 

at Vryheid town in Kwazulu Natal 

Province, South Africa. What 

may be going on in the minds of 

Ikeri’s relations while Okorocha 

was celebrating and presenting 

Zuma for reverence can only be 

imagined. 

The Imo State governor took 

a serious matter to an infantile 

level to the point of insulting 

President Buhari by inviting 

him over to Owerri to commission 

the idol and to watch him 

lavish all manner of eulogies on 

Zuma. It appears that many of 

our leaders lack common sense. 

Did Okorocha actually consider 

how President Buhari would 

feel, unveiling a half-a-billion 

naira statue of a less-fanciful 

counterpart at a time Okorocha 

and others are suffocating him 

(Buhari) for a fresh bailout and at 

a dangerous time when workers 

in many states of the federation, 

including Imo, are going to 

bed without food as a result of 

unpaid salaries, a situation that 

causes the President migraine? 

Not only that Okorocha erected 

an idol of Zuma, he proclaimed 

him “The Grand Commander” 

(Ochiagha). This, indeed, is a 

dangerous sign for Imo. Well, like 

every ephemeral thing on earth, 

Okorocha reign in Imo will not 

be everlasting. There shall come 

a time, when a king who does not 

know Zuma comes on stage, then 

shall the statue kiss the dust. 

The opportunity cost 

Opportunity cost refers to a 

benefit that a person could have 

received, but gave up, to take another 

course of action. Stated differently, 

an opportunity cost represents 

an alternative given up 

when a decision is made. This cost 

is, therefore, most relevant for 

two mutually exclusive events. 

It is estimated that the Zuma 

statue in Owerri may have cost 

the state government a princely 

sum of N520 million. Many civil 

servants in the state say that since 

2016, they have been on half salary 

even after the state government 

sometime ago renegotiated 

the salaries of civil servants because 

he said his administration 

would not be able to pay. 

Supposed the minimum wage 

of junior civil servants in the 

state is N50,000. About 1040 

workers could have been paid 

their one month salary in full 

with the money that was sunk 

into the statue project. 

On the other hand, if some 

local schools in Imo state that 

collects N10,000 per term were 

to be given N520 million, about 

5,200 pupils would have gone to 

school unhindered for a whole 

term and their poor parents 

saved the trauma of school fees. 

Or if the money was deployed 

to the school feeding project of 

the APC government, many pupils 

would have been positively 

impacted and the multiplier effects 

on businesses in the state 

would have been massive. 

Critics flay Okorocha’s justification 

It would be recalled that 

Okorocha tried to defend the 

extraordinary honour done to 

Zuma, saying it was to encourage 

business relationship between 

the state and South Africa. 

According to him, Zuma was 

in the state principally to sign a 

Memorandum of Understanding 

(MoU), between the Jacob 

Zuma Educational Foundation 

and Rochas Foundation College 

of Africa. 

He also went political, pointing 

fingers at the People’s Democratic 

Party (PDP) family as those 

behind the condemnation of the 

bazaar, accusing the umbrella 

party of failing to build the image 

of the state, while looting 

public treasury. 

But an angry retired civil servant 

in Owerri, who spoke with 

BDSUNDAY on condition of 

anonymity, queried the morality 

of the governor in pointing finger 

at the PDP, “when he should 

be man enough” to defend his 

action in a most convincing and 

logical way. 

“I find it very insensitive 

on the part of Okorocha to 

sink so much money erecting 

a statue in honour of 

President Zuma. Our governor 

was talking about promoting 

business with South Africa 

as the reason for the statue, 

that to me is nonsensical. 

He has done six years as the 

governor of Imo State, is it the 

first time he would be talking 

with foreign investors or was 

it the first time he would be 

signing an MoU with foreign 

businessmen? What is he talking 

about? He has not told us 

what is special about Zuma. 

There must be something special 

about this individual, and 

we want to know,” the retired 

civil servant said. 

Timothy Osuagwu, a human 

resources expert, said that the 

timing was wrong. 

Osuagwu said: “When I first 

heard of the news, I thought it 

was one of those internet hypes 

and stunts, and I was like, can 

that be possible in this country? 

But the next morning, the news 

was all over the newspapers 

and in some of the online sites, 

I was sad. Sad because you don’t 

engage in such a jamboree at a 

time when you have not paid 

workers’ salaries; you don’t get 

involved in a project of that magnitude 

when there are hungry 

and suffering masses. I have read 

what the governor said was the 

reason for erecting the statue, 

yet I think it is unwieldy.”

C002D5556 

16 BD SUNDAY 


Politics 

Every section of Nigeria should 

develop at its pace - Nkem-Abonta 

Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) representing Ukwa East and West Federal 

Constituency of Abia State in the House of Representatives, in this interview with KEHINDE AKINTOLA, speaks on 

the current Nigeria’s socio-economic and political situation; devolution of power and agricultural development, 

among other issues of national importance. Excerpts: 

Many Nigerians are 

agitating for restructuring, 

self-determination 

or outright 

secession. How 

would you describe the state of the 

nation at the moment, particularly 

the economic and security situation? 

If you start from the economy of 

the state, there is no doubt that we 

are hard hit by the recession and I 

have said earlier that the lessons and 

blessings coming out of recession 

that made us to look inwardly and 

we are being told that Nigeria is out 

of recession, so we are waiting to see 

the effects, the impact, though they 

may not be in the immediate. But I 

think that Nigerians are yearning for 

more, Nigerians are demanding for 

more, Nigerians are expecting more, 

Nigerians are looking for a brighter 

future. Economically, we are suffering; 

we can no longer do the things 

we used to do at ease because of no 

faults of ours, no fault of the masses. 

You can see that demands are now 

higher than supply and if you look 

at the economic theory that would 

also bring scarcity; we are now in 

scarcity and in want. So it is bringing 

a lot of issues. Anything that would 

make people not to have three square 

meals then we will know that there 

is problem. So if you look at the state 

of Nigeria in terms of economy, our 

economy is not growing as it should. 

We used to say before that we have 

the largest and fastest growing economy 

in Africa; I don’t know whether 

we can as a matter of fact say so 

emphatically and with any proof. 

We are not because we are suffering 

from decline, because largely, before 

recession we based absolutely on oil 

supply for our earners and when oil 

declined and when there was crisis, 

a lot of factors affected oil. And we 

paid less attention to other things that 

will diversify our earners which is 

largely agriculture. If you check the 

total budget and look at what we 

have assigned to agriculture, power 

and other critical areas, then you see 

whether we are paying lip services to 

diversifying the economy. 

What I tell the youths now is, go 

into farming, and they are reluctant 

but it shouldn’t be so. They can train 

in the act of brokerage in commodities, 

they can be trained in the act of 

warehousing of agricultural produce, 

and they can be trained in act of invoicing 

where traders can now begin 

to invoice produce. If I have 20tons of 

maize that are invoiced, I can discount 

that with a bank, where they can also 

learn what I call futuristic trading. 

These are all what a young person 

can sit down and figure out. 

How would you describe the 

security situation of the country? 

Security is ever bugging us; it is a 

big challenge. If you look at the security 

of Nigeria, the primary assignment 

of government is to secure lives and 

Uzoma Nkem-Abonta 

property. Today, we have security 

challenges here and there. We are just 

dealing with Boko Haram, the IPOB, 

the people of Biafra have just come 

up and the Niger Delta is still there, it 

is not resolved. 

What I would want government 

to do is to look at what is the primary 

issue, what is the root cause of these 

agitations? Nigeria’s strength will lie 

in our unity but because of what 

I may call mismanagement and 

inconsistency, agitations are coming 

from here and there. Why must we 

suffer this, we just had Boko Haram 

that hit the country very hard, if you 

can count the economic lose of that, 

particularly in foreign investors, you 

will begin to understand why we 

should not have such. 

If you look at the Niger Delta crisis, 

it short down our oil production; 

if you look at the IPOB now what 

they are doing, it is also affecting the 

eastern region now. So government 

should address the security issues by 

trying to nip in the bud the causes of 

these agitations. When I argued the 

Bill on South East, I spelt out things 

that are now very decimal and current. 

You must nip that in the bud, 

you must stop what is causing the 

agitations because a hungry man is 

an angry man. If you feel cheated you 

also ask for equity. If you say you see 

a short man who is 2-feet tall, is he a 

tall man who is 1metre tall, and you 

see another one and you put the same 

level of broom for them to stand. So 

you must adjust the man with 2-feet, 

you give him a higher pedestal to 

stand so that all of them would be 

able to see across the wall. 

But are we having equity and 

justice the way Nigeria is constituted? 

The answer is no. There is crack on 

the wall. 

Talking about imbalance- South 

East has five states, South-South six 

states, North East six states, North 

West seven states- are you canvassing 

for the creation of additional 

states for the South East? 

Strictly speaking, I am not going 

to canvass for state creation knowing 

that the existing states are not viable. 

But if equity demands that you balance 

the states so do; since wealth 

sharing is dependent on the states 

and local governments, so balance it. 

Let me give you an example; if you 

have many wives and you are sharing 

things to your wives based on the 

number of children they have, there 

will be tendency for others to want 

to have more children so that they 

can get more. But if you are sharing 

according to needs, there won’t be 

any rancour. So if you are sharing 

Nigerian money according to states 

then some regions will feel left out 

because they don’t have enough 

states or they don’t have enough local 

governments. 

That is why the agitation for 

creation of states and autonomy and 

whatever is very rife now. If you 

say states we are giving you X, Y, Z 

amount, if you like go and have 100 

local governments. But now some 

states will take 44 portions for local 

governments, some will 12 portions 

or 8 portions as the case may be; so we 

must restructure Nigeria for greater 

efficiency and equity. 

Is Nigeria really independent? 

Are we seeing those fruits of Independence? 

I gave a lecture some time ago, ‘The 

project Nigeria 50 years after, how 

far, is it still viable?’ If after 50years 

and you are trying to do a thing, it is 

just like Ajaokuta Steel Mill, we have 

been doing it for several years, so we 

must restructure Ajaokuta for it to be 

functional; is that not what we have 

agreed to do now? So compare project 

Nigeria to Ajaokuta; there is Russian 

technology, there is US technology, 

let us apply Nigeria technology it will 

work; so we must restructure Nigeria, 

it is not working. 

So, I cannot say that we are independent 

in the real sense of it but 

we are independent that we are no 

longer under colonial administration. 

Some said we got independence too 

early, I don’t think so. Just that the 

amalgamation was done without 

involving the people, the union was 

done without making the people 

understand the union; can two walk 

together except they agree? Are you 

going to marry a wife you do not 

know? Along the line when you must 

have produced kids and you find out 

that you are not compatible, what 

happens next is divorce, except you 

restructure and understand yourself 

again. 

So, the British who joined us 

together did not take time to breed 

the people and teach them that you 

have to work together; otherwise if 

you look at the politics in the time of 

Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa and others, 

the kind of hate speeches was are 

hearing now weren’t there. Zik won 

in Lagos very clearly, until things 

went bad. At what point did we get 

it wrong? So we should retrace our 

steps and go back to history and forge 

ahead. 

What is the role of the National 

Assembly in all of this because they 

are the ones given the powers under 

the constitution to actually get most 

of these things done? 

I am surprised you are asking me 

the role of the National Assembly, is 

just as I am asking you now the role 

of your editor and your publisher; 

when you write a story they say no, 

we cannot publish it, are you going 

to float your own newspaper when 

they tell you that? No. The question to 

ask is, at the National Assembly how 

many bills have been rejected or not 

seen the light of day? Our political 

orientation too is affecting us at the 

National Assembly. That is why I 

am saying if we are operating from 

regional basis, we will look at what is 

our party’s interest, what our regional 

interest is when we are doing things 

rather than looking at what is the 

national interest. 

At the floor of the House, the 

Bill for the South East Commission 

died; why? 

Divergent interests; that it lacks 

national look. We also gave North 

East a Commission, so why won’t you 

give South East? And I asked if there 

is anything that has happened in the 

North East that had not happened in 

the South East? Tell me one. Is it the 

insurgency? It has come and now it is 

ending. So, if they need a commission, 

likewise any other region. You talk 

of IDP, most of the IDP persons from 

the North East are from other zones; 

are you going there to keep them, is 

it because they are their brother’s 

keeper. Do you know the number 

of people that have lost their goods 

and are homeless and they fled the 

North East. So tell me what had happened 

in the North East that has not 

happened elsewhere, I want to know. 

So the National Assembly is prepared 

and competent to restructure Nigeria 

and we will start doing that by also 

amending the constitution. The 

basis of Nigeria’s problem is that this 

constitution we use now came from 

the military. If you compare our 

various constitutional sojourns from 

1954 till 1963, you will see that 1963 

constitution needs a little bit brush 

up and it was wholesome; so we must 

review it.


From the Red Chamber 

With 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE 

Will the Senate 

bow to 

pressure and 

abandon its 

investigations 

into the alleged corruption in 

the award of N9trillion contracts 

in the Nigerian National 

Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)? 

This is a question begging 

for answer, as the nation’s apex 

legislative chamber embarks 

on another probe when multibillion 

dollar investigations are 

yet to see the light of the day. 

There are vested interests 

in the Presidency and international 

oil companies who are 

piling pressure on the Aliyu 

Wammako-led ad-hoc committee 

to abandon the probe. 

This was why the committee’s 

meeting meant to adopt 

the modalities to conduct the 

investigation was called off 

two weeks ago, while another 

meeting slated for last week was 

BD SUNDAY 17 

AssemblyWatch 

Sweeping N9trn NNPC probe under the carpet? 

postponed at the last minute at 

the instance of the Deputy Senate 

President Ike Ekweremadu. 

Senate President Bukola Saraki 

who announced the nine-man 

committee, was away in Russia 

at the time and in a bid to buy 

more time, Ekweremadu asked 

the panel to postpone the meeting. 

It would be recalled that in 

a leaked letter dated August 

30th, 2017 and addressed to 

President Muhammadu Buhari, 

Minister of State (Petroleum 

Resources) and Chairman of 

the NNPC Board, Ibe Kachikwu, 

had accused the Group Managing 

Director of the Corporation, 

Maikanti Baru of insubordination 

and illegal practices. 

He said he was disturbed that 

$25 billion (N9 trillion) contracts 

were awarded by Baru without 

his input and that of the NNPC 

Board. 

He also accused the NNPC 

GMD of effecting changes in 

personnel at the NNPC without 

recourse to NNPC Board or the 

Ministry. 

But following denial by the 

Presidency, the Senate leadership 

is under pressure from 

members of the President’s 

kitchen cabinet not to portray 

the present administration in 

bad light with an ‘embarrassing’ 

report. 

There are concerns that the 

probe may end up like the $12billion 

capital flight allegedly 

moved by a serving minister, 

telecommunications giant, MTN 

Nigeria and four commercial 

banks. 

The investigation had been 

lingering since September 2016 

after the Committee on Banking, 

Insurance and other Financial 

Institutions was mandated to 

unravel the circumstances leading 

to the capital flight. But the 

committee’s report is yet to see 

the light of the day, as lawmakers 

rejected its submission in 

July this year for absolving the 

telecommunications firm while 

blaming the Central Bank of 

Nigeria (CBN). Since then, nothing 

has been heard about the 

committee’s report. 

Another investigation that 

has dragged for so long is the 

probe of 33 revenue generating 

agencies of the Federal Government 

over non-remittance, 

under-remittance and misuse 

of revenue generated between 

2012 and 2016 amounting to 

N450 billion. 

Like the MTN scenario, the 

probe has been hanging for over 

a year. 

The Solomon Adeola-led adhoc 

committee has met on several 

occasions with the heads 

of the affected agencies but its 

report has not been presented 

for consideration. 

According to Max Weber, 

German sociologist and political 

economist, every society is a 

reflection of the people inhabiting 

it. Just the way discourse in 

Nigeria takes ethnic and religious 

leaning, the probe by the Wammako 

Committee has also assumed 

the same colouration. For 

instance, while Muslim senators 

from the Northern region in support 

of Baru (a Northerner) are 

insisting that the investigation 

must be halted, their colleagues 

from the South behind Kachikwu 

(Southerner) have argued that 

the probe must go on. 

This is the dilemma Senate 

President Bukola Saraki is currently 

facing, as he seeks to pacify 

angry senators on the matter. 

Nigerians are earnestly waiting 

to see if the matter will be 

swept under the carpet. 

In another development, immediate 

past Senate President 

David Mark spoke on the floor 

of the Senate for the first time 

since the inauguration of the 

Eighth National Assembly on 

June 9, 2015. 

He spoke when his only sponsored 

bill in two years titled: ‘A 

Bill for an Act to Establish the 

Federal University of Health Science, 

Utukpo and other related 

matters connected thereto, 2017’ 

passed Second Reading. 

Since his election in the Eighth 

Senate, the lawmaker has continued 

to occupy the back seat and 

has never spoken on issues during 

debates. 

Notwithstanding, many lawmakers 

who wanted to speak on 

the issue were restricted by the 

Deputy President of the Senate 

Ekweremadu who presided over 

the session. 

Mark, the most ranking senator 

in the country’s history, was 

immediately ushered into the 

Press Centre of the Senate Press 

Corps after plenary and spoke in 

less than one minute, expressing 

delight at the honour accorded 

him. “I am simply humbled by the 

respect that the Senate accorded 

me; the way they just took the 

bill. I can’t express my gratitude 

enough. This will be a wrong day 

for me to talk to the media. And 

whatever I can do for the unity of 

this country even at the expense 

of my own life, I will do it”. 

The lawmaker has, however, 

come under intense criticism 

from the social media community 

for being a benchwarmer. 

Some have wondered why a 

lawmaker with such institutional 

memory would opt to be 

a benchwarmer, amid myriad 

of challenges facing the country. 

The reason is simple: he 

contested the 2015 National Assembly 

elections with a mindset 

of returning as Senate President. 

Consequently, when former 

President Goodluck Jonathan 

and the then ruling party, the 

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), 

lost the general election, it became 

obvious that he would not 

be the nation’s Number Three 

Citizen. Consequently, he withdrew 

into his shell and became 

an ‘observer senator’. 

Need for thoroughness in legislative activities 

It is evident that the House has 

not been thorough in tracking 

its activities, especially on some 

of the resolutions passed before 

now. For instance, the resolution 

passed on Thursday, 19th October, 

2017 on the motion which seeks 

to set up an Ad-hoc Committee to 

investigate the activities of NER- 

FUND and its current status with 

a view to justifying the planned 

closure and also the high profile 

debtors to the Fund, the condition 

of the projects that benefitted from 

the loans and the roles played by 

intermediary banks, was unnecessary 

and should be reversed. 

I’m aware that there’s an Ad-hoc 

Committee set up by the Speaker 

to investigate the activities of the 

Development Financial Institutions 

(DFIs) including NERFUND, 

SMEDAN, Infrastructure Bank, 

among others. The activities of 

that committee is still ongoing, 

so why the duplication? Aside 

the fact that there’s a standing 

and relevant committee which 

should prosecute such investigation, 

assigning such responsibility 

to another committee to which 

millions of naira will be allocated 

to amount to waste of scarce financial 

resources that require prudent 

management. Rather, such information 

as reflected in the body of 

the motion should be transferred 

to the already constituted Ad-hoc 

Committee to enhance its work, 

at most. Of course, there’s need 

for that same committee to know 

that its track are being put under 

surveillance by the anti-graft 

agencies, to say the least. I recall 

that there was a press briefing held 

by one of the lawmakers in the 

same committee which suggests 

unwholesome practice! On this, I 

will not overstretched the issue. 

The House leadership should also 

be wary of setting up fresh Ad-hoc 

Committee for obvious reason, of 

dousing tension among the standing 

committees. I recall that the 

House vexed its anger over the 

performance of some of the committees 

constituted over the past 

two years without turning in any 

reports on the bills and investigative 

public hearings assigned to 

them. However, the work done 

by the House during Thursday 

plenary, on certain motions such 

as the proposed investigations into 

the ‘loss of over $14 billion due to 

non-payment of gas flared penalties 

by International Oil Companies 

(IOCs)’, N895 billion payment 

approved by Federal Executive 

Council (FEC) for ‘emergency and 

long term power sector recovery 

plan and gas supply’ as well as the 

need for governments intervention 

towards curbing deaths arising 

from the scourge of sickle cell 

disease are really commendable. 

The House also took a giant 

steps by passing a resolution on the 

need to embark on public enlightenment 

against tobacco smoking 

and upward review of tax regime 

though commendable but beyond 

that, something drastic must be 

done to reduce the scourge of cancer 

in the country. Since its been 

established that tobacco smoking 

is a major cause of this dreaded 

disease called cancer, why looking 

for money through same killerbusiness? 

Imagine few minutes 

after passing the above resolution, 

the same House considered 

another motion which vividly 

show the level of unpreparedness 

of Nigeria towards tackling the 

menace. According to the motion 

co-sponsored by Zubairu 

Bungudu and James Faleke, calling 

on Federal Government to 

provide subsidies for palliative 

care drugs, chemotherapy and 

radiotherapy machines for cancer 

patients estimated at two million. 

According to them, countries with 

lower population and human and 

resource endowed such as South 

Africa has 92 machines, Algeria 

has 20 machines, Moroccohas 

28 machines, Tunisiahas 16 machines, 

Egypthas 76 machines, 

while Nigeria with overbearing 

rating as the largest economy 

and most populated African nation 

on planet earth, has about 

seven radiotherapy machine out 

of which only one is working. This 

simply shows the level of failure 

of the system and governance. 

The only expectation that will 

clear the House of compromise is 

by including in the 2018 budget, 

mandatory procurement of at least 

37 Radiotherapy machines for the 

year and ensure that the project is 

awarded and cash-backed in the 

first quarter of the year, installed 

and commissioned immediately. 

This will not reduce capital flight 

on medical tourism but increase 

life expectancy, reduce mortality 

rate and survival of bread-winners 

and put Nigeria among comity of 

nations who put value of human 

lives. 

A friend who saw the level 

of my frustration on this subject 

matter while putting this report 

together simply described the 

scenario as “Penny wise, pound 

foolish’! 

During the legislative week 

also, the Ad-hoc Committee investigating 

the ‘abuse of pioneer 

status’ chaired by Jonathan Gaza 

(APC-Nasarawa) continues its 

work. The 15 companies enlisted 

for interrogation by the committee 

are: Rockview conference & 

seminar; Pure Flour Mills Ltd; BUA 

Sugar Refinery Ltd; CR Service Ltd; 

Me Cure Health Services; Paints 

& Coating Manufacturing Ltd; 

Nutricima Ltd; Maths Metals Recycling 

Ltd; Coronation Power & Gas 

Ltd; Arm and a International Ltd; 

GVE Projects Ltd; VConnect Global 

Services Ltd; PZ Tower Ltd; GZ Industries 

Ltd and Rainbownet Ltd. 

Others include: Radiant Agro 

Allied Ventures Ltd; Monarch 

Steels Ltd; Universal Malting 

Company Ltd; Metec Wes Africa 

Ltd; Novo Gas Ltd; Assur Property 

Development Ltd; Hingxing Steel 

Company Ltd; Rasa Industries Ltd; 

Bagad Nigeria Ltd; Hypo Hygiene 

Products Ltd; Super Flux International 

Ltd; Ibad Oil Palm Estate 

From the Green House 

With 

KEHINDE AKINTOLA 

Ltd; Ibom Dockyard Ltd; Bankers 

Warehouse Ltd and Bayswater 

Industries Ltd. 

Penultimate week, similar 

exercise was carried out by the 

Committee. Without doubts, the 

committee is making progress 

and is expected to come out with 

a damning report of compromise 

and connivance with public officials 

responsible for the granting 

of the pioneer status. According 

to the reports coming from the 

committee so far, Nigeria has lost 

hundreds of billions worth of 

revenue to this unguided policy. 

To the extent that Federal Inland 

Revenue Service (FIRS) and other 

regulatory agencies are at loss over 

the efficiency of the policy. Comprehensive 

report on the outcome 

of the investigation will be reeled 

out as soon as I get details on the 

exercise.

SUNDAY 

18 BD 


S ketches 

With Zebulon 

Governors as Oliver Twist 

Last Tuesday, a delegation of the 

36 state governors on the platform 

of Nigerian Governors’ 

Forum, led by Abdul-Aziz Yari, 

Zamfara State governor and 

Rebuilding the ruins 

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), 

a onetime largest single party in 

Africa, is trying to pick its pieces. 

The party held the levers of power 

for 16 straight years, but when it lost its innocence, 

it died a natural death. Given the 

calibre of men and women that were in PDP 

and the deep pockets in terms of financial 

wealth, it was inconceivable that by now 

the party would be a laughing stock. Just 

like a film, the party died. In 2015, it paid a 

huge price for its pride. 

Today, the party is so dead that it cannot 

even speak to the ills in society, unlike the 

vibrancy exhibited by the APC when it 

was in opposition. It has so lost its voice and 

emasculated that the ruling party, with its 

excesses, is having a field day. 

The PDP may just be living in name; it 

has lost its soul. What is not clear is whether 

election of a new national chairman and 

other members of the national working 

committee (NWC) will deliver the umbrella 

association from the nadir of hopelessness 

it has sunken. It has been said again and 

Hunting the hunter? 

These are perilous times indeed! The 

Police in a civil society are saddled 

with the protection of lives and 

property. By their training, policemen are 

supposed to ward off enemies. 

Before now, in the days when security 

was tight, robbers operated only at 

night and fled whenever they sighted 

the police. In those days, most robbers 

did not have big guns. Such sophisticated 

chairman of the Forum, met with President 

Muhammadu Buhari to demand 

for release of more Paris Club refund 

to them. 

At the meeting, Yari told the President 

that they appreciated the financial support 

he had given them ranging from 

bailout, restructuring of their debts to 

London-Paris Club exit payment. 

Controversy has continued to trail the 

use of the huge amounts of money that 

has been accessed by state governments. 

Some state governors are being accused 

of cornering a large portion of the money 

for their individual projects. The Federal 

Government is aware of the diversion. 

Yari began with sweet talk; lavishing 

the President with encomiums. “…We 

want to crave your indulgence so that 

we can factor the numbers in our 2018 

budget so that we can use it for projects 

and other recurrent spending, according 

again that PDP may not bounce back to 

power even though the APC has proven 

very disastrous. Observers say the best 

thing that would happen to the party is for 

it to change name. 

Those who canvass the name change 

say that the name “PDP” is now vibrating 

a negative aura. The atrocities of the party 

yesteryear are still fresh in the mind of 

many a Nigerian. The fortunes of the party 

is not getting brighter as big names have 

left, leaving and will also leave. 

firm arms were exclusively seen with 

members of the armed forces. And the 

security agencies had the capacity to 

dispense brutality and brought criminals 

into subjection. 

Today, I can’t understand what is 

happening any longer. Recently, the 

Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris 

got pissed off, castigating his officers for 

being careless to the extent that they are 

now being kidnapped by street boys. 

The IG’s anger stemmed from a number 

of abductions of some policemen in 

the last few weeks. He challenged the 

Commissioners of Police at a meeting in 

Abuja to take the protection of their officers 

seriously. 

“You allow the useless kidnappers 

to pick you and your orderly. 

It is very embarrassing…”, he said. What 

the development has shown is that no one 

is safe. It appears everyone appears to be 

on his/her own nowadays. There is fire 

on the mountain and there is no brother 

in this jungle! 

For some time now, many indigenes 

of Plateau State have been in a 

mourning mood. Tears and loud 

lamentation have become the order 

of the day in a state that used to be calm. 

Last week, blood suckers visited the state 

and left anguish behind. What is baffling 

is the ease with which the murderers sucto 

the specification given by our respective 

Houses of Assembly, and that’s why 

we are here.” 

The request was couched in an alluring 

way that the President must be 

ensnared. They talked about projects as if 

they were speaking to aliens who did not 

know what they do with public funds. 

What manner of projects? How many 

states boast of good and viable projects 

or is it not the white elephant projects 

that dot the landscape in many states, 

through which they siphon money? 

Recall that early in the life of the current 

administration, the Federal Government 

released what it termed a bailout 

fund to the states. In December 2016, the 

first tranche of the Parish Club refund 

was also shared among the states; they 

also received a second tranche in July 

this year. With all these interventions, 

many states are still grappling with nonpayment 

of workers’ salaries leading to 

endless industrial action and protests. 

Nigerians lose confidence in govt 

When a child sees his father and 

takes to his heels; it means something 

is wrong somewhere, particularly, 

when that father is trying to give the 

child something that is vital to his wellbeing. 

It is not natural for a man to give his son a 

serpent in place of fish. But when a child has 

any cause to believe that his father is giving 

him a suspicious offer, therefore, there is every 

reason for investigation. For the greater 

part of last week, parents in various parts of 

the country were in panic. 

Many of them rushed to their children’s 

schools and withdrew them from classrooms 

over rumoured vaccination that was meant 

to introduce some forms of deadly diseases 

into the children. It happened in the South 

East, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), 

North Central; South-South and South West. 

Rumours had spread that certain people 

had perfected plans to carry out some fake 

inoculation, with the intent to inject dangerous 

disease-causing substances (Monkey 

pox) into the children. It is unfortunate that 

Nigeria is retrogressing rather than making 

progress in terms of building bridges and 

cementing the bonds of unity among the 

Tears for Plateau State 

On the day the governors visited to 

beg for more money, the President lamented 

that the Federal Government’s 

intervention had not helped as workers 

are still crying and suffering all over 

the place. 

Today, there are allegations that some 

state governors bought houses with part 

of the money and engaged in other mundane 

extravagancies. It is sad that these 

monies have not been able to take care 

of the workers and pensioners in some 

states. The more the money is released, 

the more protests are staged by angry 

workers. The President lamented the inability 

of the bailout fund, the Paris Club 

refund and other interventionist efforts 

by the Federal Government to positively 

impact the lives of workers in the states. 

Now that they have gone to ambush 

Buhari again, more money is as good as 

released albeit to the celebration of the 

governors and lamentation of the longsuffering 

masses of the states. Mindless! 

ethnic nationalities. 

Nigerians have become detached from 

one another and many are now living in mortal 

fear of the government of the day. Enmity 

is the order of the day. It is the government 

of the day that has fuelled this and has sown 

a terrible seed of discord among Nigerians. 

When citizens begin to doubt the protection 

from government, you know then that 

things have really gone out of hand. I think 

that the Federal Government must, and as a 

matter of urgency, do everything humanly 

possible to reassure the citizens that they are 

secure in the country. 

cessfully carry out their heinous mission 

on the noses of soldiers drafted to the area 

to safeguard the people since there was 

curfew in the area. 

Since the massacre, indigenes and the 

soldiers have been embroiled in blame 

game over whose fault. Although the 

military has denied the allegation of complicity 

in the reported killing of 29 persons, 

including women and children in the 

Nkiedonwhro community, saying it was 

simply overwhelmed by the numerical 

strength and tactics of the attackers, a community 

leader in the area, Sunday Abdu, 

was quoted as saying that soldiers deployed 

in the community had a hand in the killings. 

This was also what transpired some 

months back when herdsmen were killing 

some people in Southern Kaduna. It is not 

possible to say that these Fulani herdsmen 

are more powerful than the government of 

the day, what may be lacking is the will to 

end the orgy of blood-letting by the powers 

that be. Too bad!


C002D5556 

BD SUNDAY 19 

Focus 

9 days to go: Will FG meet ASUU’s conditions? 

MABEL DIMMA 

It is just nine days to the end of the 

month and expiration of the ultimatum 

issued by the Academic Staff 

Union of Universities (ASUU), to the 

Federal Government to meet the six 

new conditions it rolled out. Lecturers, 

parents and students alike are watching the 

development with bated breath. And the 

question on their lips is, “will this present 

administration of President Muhammadu 

Buhari finally put to rest the imbroglio between 

ASUU and the government?” 

The union, which embarked on an industrial 

action on Monday, August 14, 2017, 

accused government of failure to redeem 

the terms of agreement signed in 2009 and 

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) endorsed 

by both parties in 2012. 

The action, which lasted five weeks, 

one of the shortest in the country’s history, 

was called off as a ‘conditional suspension’ 

to give the Federal Government time to 

implement what was contained in the 

memorandum of action the two parties 

entered into. 

There were several meetings between 

both parties. The last meeting with ASUU, 

led by Prof. Abiodun Ogunyemi, its national 

president and Senator Chris Ngige, 

minister of labour and employment, who 

led the Federal Government team was 

meant to last for an hour, but both parties 

ended up negotiating for almost four hours 

before any agreement was reached the 

various contending issues. 

After the meeting, Ogunyemi said in 

event the government in her characteristic 

nature failed to implement the agreement, 

the union will not hesitate to take appropri- 

ASUU Leaders 

ate action and that all the items on the list 

had a time line. 

The union went ahead to issue a statement 

which read in part: “After an elaborate 

and extensive consultation process, 

the National Executive Council (NEC) of 

ASUU has agreed to conditionally suspend 

the on-going action, taking into cognisance 

that major proposals from government 

to address the contending issues in the 

strike action has a deadline of the end of 

October, 2017. 

“As a Union of intellectuals, ASUU shall 

not relent in confronting all human and artificial 

barriers to a transformed university 

education for the betterment of Nigerians 

and our dear Nation. For us, this may be a 

life-time project. We owe it to prosperity, 

for the sake of our children and their children’s 

children.” 

After the said meeting, Ngige said all 

the grey areas had been sorted out and an 

agreement reached and that the content of 

the agreement was taken from the series 

of meeting with the union since the commencement 

of the strike. He said members 

of the union had insisted that they were 

tired of having agreements which were 

never implemented 

Ngige also said that both the government 

and the union understood themselves 

and agreed in several issues, and 

thus gave his assurance that the agreement 

reached will be implemented by the gov- 

ernment in line with available resources. 

According to reports, the areas of agreement 

include funding for revitalization of 

public universities and the issue of Earn 

Academic Allowances; the issue of University 

Staff Schools and the implementation 

of the judgment of the National Industrial 

Court; National Universities Pension Management 

Company; and guidelines for pension 

matters for Professors. 

Ngige said the union agreed to the 

exemption offered by the government 

regarding the TSA, which include the issue 

of grants, endowment fund as well as 

salary short fall which he said is already 

being implemented by government. On 

the issue of state universities, he said they 

agreed that the union will submit a position 

paper to the federal government on their 

observation with a view for government to 

advise state government on the funding of 

state universities. 

He described the union as patriotic 

members of the society, pointing out that 

anybody who demands better working 

equipment is no doubt a patriot. 

While the expiry date is round the 

corner, parents, students and several 

other affiliate unions pray that the federal 

government will make good its promises 

in order to avert another such protest with 

universities shutting down for several 

weeks. 

Meanwhile since the agreements 

were reached and the industrial action 

called off, and initial statements 

made, nothing else has been heard 

from both parties. There are talks in 

some quarters that the deal is still 

on; probably government is taking 

its time to come out with something 

worthwhile. 

Aishah Ahmad: Coming to the party with class and competence 

HASSAN UMAR 

As the world awaits the response of 

the Senate to President Muhammadu 

Buhari’s request for the 

confirmation of Aishah Ahmad’s 

appointment as a Deputy Governor of the 

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), it has become 

necessary to revisit and address the misplaced 

objections that greeted the appointment. 

Our society is fast becoming a corridor 

of contradictions. In one breath, we want 

the young to rule, in another we see them 

as too young to rule. In one breath, we want 

women in office, in another; we see them 

through the limiting prism of religion. It will 

be a tragic disservice to this great nation if 

the Bukola Saraki-led Senate cannot rise to 

the occasion and place merit above any other 

consideration. The Senate must do us proud 

by focusing on nothing but Aishah’s technical 

and leadership competence. 

What needs to dominate the debate by the 

Senate should be whether Aishah Ahmad has 

the technical knowledge of the task ahead of 

her. A cursory look at her profile shows that 

she perhaps has a deep knowledge of the 

assignment. 

Ahmad, a holder of Master of Science, 

M.Sc degree in Finance & Management from 

the Cranfield School of Management, United 

Kingdom (2006-2007) and a Master of Business 

Administration, MBA in Finance, University 

of Lagos (1999-2001), was the Executive 

Director (Retail Banking) at Diamond Bank Plc 

before her appointment. 

Having obtained her bachelor’s degree in 

Accounting from the University of Abuja, 

Ahmad has progressed to become a globally 

recognised investment analyst and portfolio 

manager, being a Chartered Financial Analyst 

(CFA) and a Chartered Alternative Investment 

Analyst (CAIA). 

With about 20 years’ experience in investment 

banking, retail banking, wealth 

management, as well as consulting and financial 

advisory, Ahmad is a thorough-bred 

professional with an enviable track record 

as a creative, versatile expert in finance, 

banking and capital markets. She is known 

for enhancing the value of institutions and 

driving exceptional business performance; an 

evidence she possesses abilities that make her 

a perfect fit for the role of Deputy Governor 

at Nigeria’s Apex bank. 

In her previous role as the Head, Consumer 

Banking at Diamond Bank, Ahmad was responsible 

for strategic retail products and 

customer segments such as consumer banking, 

retail assets, private wealth management 

and bancassurance, and was accountable for 

a customer base of over 7 million. 

Prior to joining Diamond Bank, Ahmad 

worked with global financial institutions such 

as Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, a member of Standard 

Bank Group, where she was responsible 

for Standard Bank’s private wealth business 

in West Africa. She also worked with Bank 

of New York Mellon (UK), NAL Bank Plc and 

Zenith Bank Plc. 

The position also requires leadership and 

people management skills. Ahmad will not 

only be managing numbers, she will also be 

managing people. She serves as the Executive 

Council Chairperson of Women in Management, 

Business & Public Service, WIMBIZ; a 

reputable non-governmental organisation in 

Sub-Saharan Africa peopled by women who 

have excelled in their different callings in life. 

What this means is that at 41, Aishah Ahmad 

has had the rare privilege of leading a number 

of female CEOs, female and entrepreneurs and 

outstanding women of diverse callings. 

Aishah Ahmad 

Under her leadership, WIMBIZ has reached 

several heights such as holding its first international 

conference themed ‘Breaking New 

Frontiers in Accra, Ghana, and launching 

‘The Big Sister Programme’ a volunteer-based 

grassroots female empowerment initiative, 

which has benefitted over 2,000 girls across 

30 schools in three states of Nigeria. 

Ahmad is credited with conceiving and 

helping develop the WIMBIZ mobile application, 

an online platform for global female 

engagement. With Ahmad at the helm of 

affairs, WIMBIZ has seen more awareness 

of its many initiatives, and its position as the 

foremost female-focused NGO for women in 

careers, business and public service has been 

strengthened and there has been a significant 

improvement in the diversity and attendance 

rates of its programmes. 

She serves on the board of SOS Children’s 

Villages Nigeria, a global initiative for disadvantaged 

children; and as a Steering Committee 

Member for Cherie Blair Foundation’s 

Technology for Growth project, a groundbreaking 

learning intervention programme 

for female entrepreneurs developed in conjunction 

with Enterprise Development Centre 

(EDC) at Lagos Business School. 

At the top echelon of any organisation, 

the ideal candidate must have more than the 

technical knowledge of the business. He or she 

must have leadership and people management 

skills. Ahmad appears to have had these skills 

tested within and outside the banking hall. 

Born October 26, 1977, Ahmad, who is 

married to Brigadier Gen. Abdullah Ahmad 

(Rtd), with who she has two sons, has over the 

years shown competence and commitment 

in the areas of finance and socioeconomic 

development. 

In all, it’s rather preposterous that some 

have questioned Ahmad’s appointment on 

the basis of her age. At 41, Ahmad is older than 

39-year-old French President, Emmanuel 

Macron, and the 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz, 

the former foreign minister, who was recently 

elected Chancellor in Austria. Like these 

world leaders, Ahmad has done enough to 

deserve the position to which she has been 

appointed. 

It now behooves the Senate of the Federal 

Republic of Nigeria to complete the process 

that would avail the CBN the services of 

Ahmad, who brings with her: youthfulness, 

vigour, experience and leadership to the serious 

business at the apex bank. 

Umar is a public affairs analyst

20 BD SUNDAY 


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The FIFA World Cup 

remains the most 

important football event 

across the world. Since 

Uruguay hosted the 

first edition of the World Cup in 

1930, during the era of revered 

FIFA President, Jules Rimet, the 

competition has continued to grow 

in leap and bound. From a 13 team 

event, with which it started in 1930, 

it grew to become a 32 team affair 

during the1998 edition, which 

was hosted and won by France. 

Today, the World Cup commands 

a global TV audience in excess of 

one billion. Every nation desires to 

be represented at the quadrennial 

international football tournament. 

The event has become more than a 

football affair. It is now a huge public 

relations platform for nations. 

Hence, the sheer ecstasy and 

electrifying jubilation that greeted 

the 74th minute Alex Iwobi’s goal 

that gave Nigeria qualification 

for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in 

Russia. As Nigerians continue 

to savour the joy of the hard won 

Nigeria and the metaphor of football 

victory against Zambia, one thing 

that is quite instructive is the unifying 

power of football. It is quite mystifying 

how a nation that is faced with diverse 

agitations suddenly decided to bury 

the hatchet in order to pursue a 

common goal. 

While various groups complain 

about marginalization in political 

appointments, resource control 

among others, it is hard to see anyone 

complain that a particular section 

of the country dominates the Super 

Eagles. Nobody cares about that. 

No matter where the players come 

from, the song on every lip remains: 

“Halleluiah, Eagles are winning 

today!” Muslims, Christians and 

Atheists were united in singing this 

song. 

Now, the question is: How come 

we easily unite when it comes to 

the passionate matter of football 

and the Super Eagles and yet don’t 

seem to see eye to eye on other 

major national issues? Well, while 

there might not be a straight jacket 

explanation for this, my take is that 

the ordinary Nigerians from diverse 

walks of life don’t really care about 

most of these seemingly divisive 

stuffs. The ordinary compatriots don’t 

really bother much about religion, 

tribalism and other such conflictridden 

tendencies. This much was 

demonstrated in the botched June 

12 1993 Presidential election when 

they overwhelmingly voted for the 

defunct Social Democratic Party, 

SDP, Muslim-Muslim ticket of the late 

Chief M.K.O. Abiola and Ambassador 

Babagana Kingibe. 

The bane of our nation is the 

elite (political, religious, traditional, 

bureaucratic, academic, professional 

etc) who through pointless egotistic, 

parochial and avaricious tendencies 

have continued to hold the nation by 

the jugular. Whenever it suits them, 

they could agree to work together, 

intermarry, preach tolerance and act 

as harbingers of goodness. But then, 

when their egos are bruised, business 

interests and political concerns 

collide, they could set the country on 

fire. Yes, the nation could burn, for 

all they care. 

Sadly, whenever they decide 

to go on rampage, it is the hapless 

commoners whose rights and 

privileges they so deliberately and 

viciously trample upon that are 

often used as canon fodders. When 

some of the most tumultuous sociopolitical 

crises that have engulfed this 

nation are properly scrutinized, major 

victims of such crisis have always 

been the common folks on the street 

who are subtly hoodwinked into being 

active participants in a skirmish they 

nothing about. Ours is a nation where 

‘warlords’ trick the ordinary folks into 

coming into the battle front, unarmed 

and ill prepared, only to flee at the 

slightest prospect of trouble. 

The Nigerian elite need to come to 

term with the reality of the time. The 

times are changing and very soon, 

there would be no more guinea pigs 

available for exploitation. Rather than 

continually engage in destructive 

selfish agenda that will do our nation 

more harm than good, the elite need 

to allow the metaphoric message of 

football sink deep into every sphere 

of our national life. We should allow 

the football process serves as model 

and reflection to our real life in the 

society. Being a team sport, every 

player in a football team including the 

coaching crew pursues one common 

goal: Victory. 

The Super Eagles achieved victory 

against Zambia because everyone 

worked together. Everyone worked to 

ensure that the weakness of the team 

was not unduly exposed. Everyone 

worked to ensure that the strength of 

the team was fully maximized. Team 

spirit and focus which are the main 

forces in football are the hallmarks 

of nation building. No nation that is 

against itself can stand. Just as any 

football team that encourages infighting 

can’t achieve victory. This is 

the time for the elite to think Nigeria 

first in all that they do. This is also the 

time for the common folks to stop 

being willing tools in any agenda that 

could bring the country down. As the 

saying goes in my part of the country, 

“It is not everyone that knows the 

beginning of a war that would live to 

recount it”. God bless Nigeria. 

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SUNDAY 

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21 

C002D5556 

Comment 

KAYODE OKUNUBI 

Okunubi writes from Oregun, Lagos 

Health specialists endorse 

walking as a tremendous 

way to exercise and keep 

fit.This is unarguably the easiest 

form of exercise. Personally, I 

always feel good at the end of 

the day because of the regular 

walks I take. 

Research has shown that a 

simple walk reduces the risk 

of heart disease and stroke. It 

also improves the management 

of health conditions such as 

hypertension (high blood 

pressure), high cholesterol, joint 

and muscular pain or stiffness, 

and diabetes but as a result of 

my health condition as a sickle 

cell patient, I do not get involved 

in strenuous exercises to keep 

fit so I would prefer to simply go 

for a walk. 

So when I received an 

invitation from MultiChoice to 

be part of the Dowen College 

Sickle Cell Walk, I was so excited 

because besides keeping fit, the 

walk would be an avenue to 

increase awareness around the 

sickle cell disorder in Nigeria 

ADESEGUN OGUNDEJI 

Ogundeji is Deputy Director, Public Affairs, 

Lagos State Ministry of Education, Alausa, 

Ikeja, Lagos 

According to famous American 

scientist, George Washington 

Carver, ‘education is the 

key to unlock the golden door of 

freedom’. Really, education is critical 

to the growth and development of any 

society. It empowers the individual 

with necessary knowledge and set 

of skills to actualize potential and 

maximize opportunities in life. It is for 

this reason that governments across 

the world devote a good chunk of 

available resources to the development 

of the educational sector. 

In Nigeria, Lagos is unarguably 

the State with the highest number 

of public schools, students and 

teachers. It has consistently been 

churning out the highest number of 

candidates for public examinations 

in Nigeria since 1967. As a melting 

point with a bourgeoning population 

in excess of 20 million, provision of 

qualitative education in Lagos State 

has been a daunting task. 

The current administration in 

the state clearly understands that 

the task of making Lagos State 

“the model of excellence in the 

provision of education in Africa” 

requires meticulous attention. To 

this end, the sum of 92.4 billion 

naira, representing 11.37 percent 

was allocated to education sector in 

the State budget for 2017. 

Government has directed the 

policy toward ensuring equal 

educational opportunity in the 

State, encourage parents who 

might otherwise neglect their 

children’s education to send their 

children to school and making 

education affordable for everyone. 

So, within the half- time of the 

Walking for sickle cell awareness 

and get the government and 

corporate bodies to fund the 

Bone Marrow Transplant Center 

in as this medical breakthrough 

now gives lasting hope for the 

treatment of the sickle cell 

disorder around the world. 

The sickle cell disorder is a 

medical condition that many in 

Nigeria find difficult to discuss. 

To some Nigerians whose loved 

ones are battling with this 

disorder, discussions and issues 

surrounding the disorder are 

seen as an anathema. But no 

matter how much we try to 

avoid these discussions, the 

sickle cell disorder is here with 

us andincreased awareness is 

needed to ameliorate or totally 

eradicate the scourge in Nigeria. 

On the slated date for the 

Dowen College Sickle Cell 

Walk, we all assembled at Muri 

Okunola Park in Victoria Island. 

Before we commenced the 23 

kilometer walk to Dowen College 

in Lekki, the Chairman of the 

Sickle Cell Foundation, Nigeria, 

Prof. OluAkinyanju commended 

MultiChoice and other corporate 

bodies who came out to support 

the walk. 

According to Prof. Akinyanju 

the sickle cell disorder is one of 

the major ailments afflicting 

black persons globally with over 

150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty 

Thousand) children born each 

year with the sickle cell anaemia 

while 25 percent of Nigeria’s 

population are sickle cell carriers. 

Prof. Akinyanju while 

explaining that the Foundation is 

planning to build a Bone Marrow 

Transplant Center here in Lagos 

so as to reduce the cost of patients 

travelling abroad to have a bone 

marrow transplant operation, 

urged the government and 

corporate bodies to support the 

fight against sickle cell disorder 

in the country. 

When you participate in 

charity walks, you can spread 

your compassion for vital causes 

and raise money to help change 

the world and the Dowen College 

Sickle Cell walk; entitled; “Walk 

for Love” made me realize that 

am not alone in my struggle 

for good health and a better 

life and indeed the three-hour 

walk to Dowen College in Lekki 

was fun. As we walked, we 

discussed, we shared ideas on 

issues concerning the disorder 

and everyone was happy 

because while people walked 

for cancer, HIV/AIDS, malaria 

among others, we also had the 

joy of walking for a cause that 

affected us directly or indirectly. 

When we finally reached the 

finish line i.e. Dowen College, 

the Principle of the college, Mrs. 

Olawumi Togonu-Bickersteth, in 

her vote of thanks commended 

all who participated in the walk. 

According to her, the walk 

was part of the school’s 20th 

anniversary celebration and in 

the school’s effort to celebrate 

two decades of impacting 

knowledge to young ones in 

the community, there was 

the need to create awareness 

around the sickle cell disorder. 

She said, “This is another way of 

providing quality teaching. This 

On Lagos’ new lease of life for education 

administration’s tenure, the wheels 

of what is mutating to be a historic 

education revolution in Lagos 

were rolled off with aggressive 

rehabilitation of public schools 

throughout the length and breadth 

of the state. Several hundreds of 

classroom blocks have been built 

and renovated while thousands of 

students and teachers furniture 

supplied to various primary and 

secondary schools. 

In line with the commitment of 

the present administration to expand 

access to knowledge for Lagosians, 

the State’ science laboratories 

are now better equipped and the 

enthusiasm of students to be science 

inclined has become very high with 

a lot of success recorded. Equally, the 

state government has completed the 

renovation and upgrade of public 

libraries in eighteen secondary 

schools across the State with top 

class facilities. Lagos Digital Library, 

an online repository of education 

content, is ready and will as well be 

launched in February, 2017. 

The Lagos state government 

appreciates that as much as physical 

infrastructure is important, adequate 

and quality teachers in schools 

are as important. Thus, as part of 

measures to bridge the gap in the 

teacher/pupil ratio in the state, the 

government recruited one thousand, 

three hundred (1,300) teachers for 

primary schools while another 1000 

teachers were recruited for public 

secondary schools in 2016. Similarly, 

government has been paying 

attention to teachers’ welfare. 

Also, since April 2017, Code 

Lagos centres have been launched 

in primary, secondary and tertiary 

institutions (private and public) 

across the State, as well as in all 

public libraries and ICT spaces. 

The ultimate goal is for one million 

students in the state to have access 

to the coding system by the year 

2019. 

Cheeringly, the dividend of the 

state’s investment in education is 

paying off. For instance, Governor 

Akinwunmi Ambode was declared 

the “Teachers Most Friendly 

Governor” by the Nigeria Union 

of Teachers during the celebration 

of the last World Teachers’ Day 

in Abuja. The same day, President 

Muhammadu Buhari rewarded 

the hardwork, high performance 

and high productivity of three 

Lagos State School teachers and 

administrator with the “President’s 

Teachers and Schools Excellence 

Award”. Nominees of the State 

clinched three out of the nine 

categories of award available to 

contestants from 36 States of the 

Federation and the Federal Capital 

Territory, Abuja. 

The awardees, Mrs. Lufadeju 

Dolapo Olufunke received the 

Best School Award on behalf of 

Ojodu Junior Grammar School, Ikeja. 

The “Best School Administrator 

Award” (Senior Secondary School 

category) went to Mrs. Oluderu 

Bilikisu Oluwaseyi of Magbon 

Alade Senior Grammar School while 

Mrs. Adelegan Moronike Sarat of 

Civil Service Junior Model College, 

Igbogbo was selected as the First 

Runner up, Best Administrator of 

the Year 2017. 

Earlier, five students of Lagos 

State public secondary schools 

had excelled at the Y2017 National 

Robot Olympiad and qualified to 

represent Nigeria at the World 

Robot Olympiad to be held in Costa 

Rica. It is worthy of note that Lagos 

State has been representing Nigeria 

in this competition since 2015. 

On September 22nd, 2017, 

Oluwasegun Durojaiye of Lagos 

State Model College, Igbokuta 

qualified to represent the South- 

West Zone at the National Finals of 

the NNPC Science Quiz Competition 

and Atabo Ufedejo of Model College, 

Kankon emerged one of the best 

students at the national finals of the 

2017 Oluwole Awokoya Chemistry 

Competition held in Kaduna from 

17th to 22nd September, 2017. 

Lagos State took the first position 

in the National Free Choice (Senior) 

Project presented by the students 

of Government Technical College, 

Agidingbi at the 2017 National 

Junior Engineers, Technicians and 

Scientists (JETS) competition in 

March, 2017. The State won 10 

trophies and 10 medals at the event 

and 7 of the trophies won went to 

State public schools students. 

Also, Seven Students/Teachers 

from the State Public Schools were 

awarded medals and Certificates 

at the 2017 edition of National 

Mathematics and Science Olympiad 

award ceremony organized by the 

National Mathematical Centre, Abuja. 

The Key Performance Indices of 

the Education Sector is not limited 

to competition awards as the State 

has made tremendous progress in 

external examinations since Y2015. 

The result of the States performance 

at the 2017 WASSCE is put at 66% 

pass in at least 5 subjects including 

English and Mathematics, compared 

to the 50.41% in 2016, 37.27% in 2015 

and 21.22% in 2014. 

The question that comes to 

programme is a pre-event to our 

20th anniversary and geared 

toward raising funds for the 

Sickle Cell Foundation, Nigeria. 

We are working towards giving 

our support to the Bone Marrow 

Transplant Centre in Lagos” 

Mrs. Togonu-Bickersteth, 

while applauding the support 

of MultiChoice for using the 

DStv platform in increasing 

awareness on the sickle cell 

disorder, also appealed to 

corporate organizations and 

philanthropists to support the 

initiative to bring a cure closer 

to sickle cell disorder patients. 

I am delighted that I was 

part of this walk project. With 

just over 600 participants who 

were involved in the walk, the 

whole exercise may seem like 

a drop of water in the ocean 

but with corporate bodies like 

MultiChoice supporting this 

cause, it is a good indication that 

awareness on sickle disorder 

would increase and the fight 

against the disorder in Nigeria 

has fully commenced. 

mind from the above is this: Is 

there a nexus among these various 

achievements? The answer, of 

course, is yes! Teachers’ training 

and staff welfare have been given 

priority attention with teachers’ 

salary being consistently paid 

regularly on the 23rd day of every 

month. 

It is also on record that all eligible 

teachers since 2015 to date have 

been promoted as at when due 

while 2,320 (Two Thousand Three 

Hundred And Twenty) Officers 

were trained between May, 2016- 

17 and many more has been done 

thereafter. 

Car loans were awarded to 425 

beneficiaries to the tune of N30, 

302, 252.75k, N30Million Housing 

Loan was approved for 55 (fifty five) 

beneficiaries in the teaching service 

and 4601 pensioners on the payroll 

of the Teachers Establishment and 

Pensions Office were paid regularly. 

To further encourage service 

delivery, Education Merit Award 

is organized annually in honour 

of outstanding performers in the 

various categories of Award in the 

Education Sector of Lagos State. 

More than 100 Education Merit 

Awards are given out with the 

Star prize being a brand new car 

awarded to the Best Teacher in 

both the Primary Secondary School 

Categories. 

Apart from improved teachers’ 

welfare, the state government’s 

huge investment in education 

infrastructure contributed 

immensely to the improved status of 

education in the State. Fortunately, 

the state government isn’t resting on 

its oars as it is poised to do more in 

the months ahead. 

We cherish readers’ reactions to stories and articles published in BusinessDay. All such reactions, which must not be more than 250 words, 

should be sent to bdsundayletter@businessdayonline.com with names and addresses of writers. The star letter every week will be rewarded.

C002D5556 

22 Sunday 22 October 2017 

BD 

SUNDAY 

Panorama 

with CHUKS OLUIGBO 

chuks.oluigbo@businessdayonline.com (08116759816) 

Origin of mammy market and other untold histories 

The relevance or otherwise 

of history 

to human society 

can no longer be a 

subject of honest 

debate. Societies that ignore 

their history do so at their 

peril. 

And when historians 

want to impress upon you 

the crucial role that history 

plays in society, they simply 

ask you to imagine a world 

where no one remembers 

what happened yesterday. 

“A people without the 

knowledge of their past history, 

origin and culture is like 

a tree without roots,” Marcus 

Mosiah Garvey, the late Jamaican 

political leader and 

proponent of the Pan-Africanism 

movement, once said. 

Gerald W. Schlabach, associate 

professor of Theology 

at the University of St. Thomas, 

Minnesota, and former 

teacher of History at Bluffton 

(Ohio) College, USA, in a 1996 

note to his students ‘A sense 

of history: some components’, 

puts it this way: “Without a 

memory, would you recognize 

your family? Recognize your 

house? Know how to say your 

A special word to ladies 

It was the popular song legend, 

Fela Anikulapo Kuti, 

who sang about the difference 

between a lady and a 

woman. What is the difference 

between a lady and a woman, 

you may ask? It definitely is not 

a gender issue. Then what is it? 

A lesson from the Koko 

Mansion Show 

Reality shows are all the 

rage nowadays. Some of them 

actually come packed with 

lessons but most of them are 

strictly for entertainment. The 

objective usually is to test for 

strength, resilience, creativity, 

talent and so forth. The 

question is: do they achieve 

their objective? Your guess 

is as good as mine. Consider 

the Koko Mansion show in 

search of an ideal woman! 

Apparently, the goal was to test 

for character and values – attributes 

which every woman 

is expected to possess. I went 

on Facebook to check out the 

comments posted by young 

Nigerians at home and abroad 

and was shocked at their obvious 

choice of the ideal woman. 

It appeared that one of the 

most uncouth girls was being 

championed as the most likely 

to go home with the prize. 

Their primary concern was 

that she was unassuming, had 

no airs, was natural and anxious 

to learn. It was amazing 

how people made excuses for 

her inadequacies and coarse 

behaviour when they should 

have been advising her to go 

spend time to develop herself 

in the things that matter. The 

truth about what was happening 

was the normal habit 

prayers or know why you 

have stopped praying? Learn 

from your mistakes? Know 

which friends to embrace? 

Stay in love when you fall in 

love? Be the person you are? 

Now, how is all of this true 

for entire families, neighborhoods, 

societies, nations, 

civilizations? The answer is 

the reason we study history.” 

George Santayana, Spanish-born 

American philosopher, 

essayist, poet, novelist, 

and author of The Life of 

Reason, also says, “Progress, 

far from consisting in change, 

depends on retentiveness. 

When change is absolute there 

remains no being to improve 

and no direction is set for possible 

improvement: and when 

experience is not retained, 

as among savages, infancy is 

perpetual. Those who cannot 

remember the past are condemned 

to repeat it.” 

Closer home, Peter Olisanwuche 

Esedebe, eminent 

historian and emeritus professor 

of history at the University 

of Nigeria, Nsukka, 

says of history: “Nothing can 

be explained in human affairs 

without reference to 

of people taking sides with the 

underdog, so to speak and voting 

accordingly in sympathy. I 

wonder if people understood 

what the show was about 

before voting for anyone. The 

programme was to discover 

the ideal woman and not to 

create the ideal woman. It was 

not about having mercy on 

any of the kokolites nor was 

it about projecting Nigerians 

as crude and uncultured but 

about projecting the desirable 

qualities of a wife. I wonder 

when raw and brash came to 

be perceived as open and untarnished. 

When a girl freely 

uses swear words, dresses like 

a tart, lacks self worth and 

is tactless, she still has a long 

way to go to being considered 

the ideal woman anywhere in 

the world, including in Nigeria. 

Attributes we must cheer 

in women are good character, 

attitude and behaviour, refinement 

and finesse, good carriage 

and grooming, cultured 

speech and intelligence and 

especially common sense. For 

a reality show that seeks to 

encourage these virtues anything 

less would be begging 

the issueand misleading the 

younger generation of Nigerians. 

We must realise that 

these are issues of character 

and values. We cannot afford 

to go wrong here because the 

consequences are dire and 

have a domino effect on the 

impressionable future generation. 

Should an uncouth and 

ill-mannered person be showcased 

as the representative 

of decent women in Nigeria? 

Every man wants a wife he 

the past. A group of people 

cannot talk for long without 

referring to the past. It is the 

only means whereby we 

may understand the present. 

Hence it has been described 

as the collective memory of 

mankind. A man who loses 

memory of what went before 

will be a man adrift. He would 

not know where he came 

from and where he intended 

to go or what he wanted to 

do. The same is true of society. 

History is to society what 

remembered experience is 

to the individual. Like individuals, 

communities strive to 

learn from their mistakes and 

derive encouragement from 

their triumphs.” 

This is why it is worrisome 

that Nigeria as a country does 

not seem to value history, nor 

do its citizens appear to give 

a damn, to such an extent 

that history as a subject was 

removed from the country’s 

secondary school curriculum 

without qualms. One sometimes 

wonders what role the 

Historical Society of Nigeria 

(HSN) actually plays. 

I have in several articles 

in the past amply expressed 

can be proud of, a wife he can 

take home to ‘Mom’, that he can 

show off to his friends, a wife 

that can step up to the plate 

when the need arises. Ladies, 

if you had to choose a wife 

for your brother, would you, 

for sympathetic reasons, go 

for raw, crass, brash, and foul 

mouthed? What will be your 

criteria? What are the qualities 

we should be looking for 

in the ideal woman? We must 

not forget, the ideal mother! 

What values will your choice 

of the ideal wife be teaching 

her children? Please! I think 

we have enough miscreants 

on our streets, let’s not produce 

more. 

The Lady 

On another occasion, I met 

another character. She stepped 

in with two little girls in tow, 

chewing gum vigorously and 

broadcasting in a not so subtle 

way that she was the wife of 

a foreigner. Hardly had she 

taken a seat, when she started 

sounding off, “Excuse me’’, in a 

loud voice. “Who is doing my 

hair. I have been sitting here 

since. Can somebody please attend 

to me?’’ Shortly after, one 

of her little girls started crying. 

“Why is she crying? She 

never cries when her hair is 

being washed. It must be the 

shampoo or the conditioner you 

are using. Don’t comb her hair 

like that. Her hair is very soft. 

This is the first time I am using 

this salon and I am disappointed’’. 

Then her phone rings, and 

in an affected voice, she says, 

“Hello darling. These people 

are doing rubbish here. I have 

told them I will not use them 

concern about the shoddy 

treatment given to the study 

of history by Nigeria and 

Nigerians. This is no time for 

lament. Just to repeat what 

many of us already know: 

that the neglect of history is 

a key reason Nigeria is in the 

doldrums today. 

Earlier before Donald J. 

Trump’s inauguration as the 

45th President of the United 

States of America, a presidential 

historian was on CNN 

regaling us with interesting 

historical details about the US 

Presidency, including how immediate 

past President Barack 

Obama took the oath of office 

four good times. My retort 

as I watched the report was 

simply: “This can’t happen in 

my country.” 

We simply do not care in 

this country. As Esedebe again 

asks, “How many of our countrymen 

and women in private 

employment, public service, 

politics and business – how 

many of them have a nodding 

acquaintance with the history 

of the nation-state they are 

serving or aspire to serve?” 

That is why it was gratifying 

to read recently a report 

on the origin of Mammy 

market in military barracks 

across Nigeria. I’m sure many 

have read it because it went 

viral on the internet almost 

immediately. 

But just to sum up. In 

1959, Mammy Ode, a young 

girl from Jericho-Ugboju in 

the present Otukpo LGA of 

Benue State, was married to 

Anthony Aboki Ochefu, a 

young Non-Commissioned 

military officer who had just 

been posted to Enugu from 

Abeokuta. At the Army Barracks, 

Abakpa, Enugu, where 

they were quartered, Mrs. 

Mammy Ochefu established 

a soft drinks business to earn 

some money to support her 

young family. There, she prepared 

gruel (kunu in Hausa, 

umu or enyi in Idoma) for sale 

to soldiers and soon became 

popular as soldiers trooped 

to her house to buy the stuff. 

But one of the Non-Commissioned 

Officers, the RSM, 

who did not quite flow with 

the enthusiasm Mammy’s 

gruel generated among other 

military men in the barracks, 

complained that the stuff was 

attracting flies into the barracks 

and ordered the woman 

to stop its production and sale. 

She stopped as ordered, but 

not without agonizing. 

Upon pressure from officers 

and men of the Nigerian 

Army who enjoyed the enyi 

because of its freshness and 

nutritional value, the RSM reversed 

the order and directed 

that a section of the barracks 

be reserved for Mrs. Mammy 

Ochefu to produce and sell 

her enyi. Few days after, a 

section of the barracks was 

given to her, where she built a 

small shop and soon, her business 

began to boom. Other 

women in the barracks soon 

tapped into her fortune and 

started selling other items. 

And so, that portion of the 

barracks soon became known 

as Mammy Market. It also 

became a policy to establish 

markets inside or near military 

barracks in the country, 

initially for the exclusive use 

of officers and men. 

An untold part of this history 

is that the first son of the 

Ochefu family, Yakubu Aboki 

Etiquette 

with 

MAVI ISIBOR 

Imebong Okon 

again. Where are you? Okay, I 

am coming.’’ To the attendants, 

she turns and says, “You people 

should hurry. My husband 

is waiting. I have to go”. 

Now, people think that 

becoming a lady is by affiliation 

or by status. By affiliation 

I mean: marriage, hobnobbing 

with the right class of people or 

attending short programmes 

at Ivy League schools. Status 

on the other hand, suggests: 

achieving success in career 

by sheer dint of hard work 

or political connections, but 

do these make you a lady? No! 

A lady would be careful to 

keep her voice down while on 

the phone. Her conversation 

is private and personal to her. 

She must also respect the rights 

of others not to have their 

ears assaulted by unwanted 

conversations. 

Chewing gum in any form 

is associated with people of low 

morals and poor upbringing. 

Comporting yourself in a 

manner that speaks of class 

and finesse comes from years 

of training and exposure to 

the right habits. Many people 

believe that poise is inborn 

but studies have shown that 

refinement comes from a compelling 

aspiration to improve 

ourselves. So all you need is a 

willing heart in order to start 

your training. 

A lady must always remember 

that muted sophistication, 

right diction, correct 

grammar and soft tones will 

always win over crass, crude, 

loud and brash communication. 

Now is a good time to include 

Salon Etiquette 

For the savvy lady, do observe 

the following etiquette 

every time you visit the salon: 

Please dress decently to 

the salon. If you are wearing 

a short dress and are going to 

do your nails, please ask for a 

towel. It is unladylike to expose 

yourself even if the salon is 

populated by only females. 

Greet and accept greetings 

from the salon attendants 

and other users graciously. It 

does not matter who greets 

who first. 

•If the salon is busy and 

you have to wait, please, do 

so patiently. Do not shout or 

complain loudly of how much 

of a hurry you are in. 

•Do not monopolise your 

favourite salon attendant. 

•Do not smoke. It is no 

longer fashionable to smoke in 

public, so restrict your smoking 

to designated smoking areas. 

Do not chew gum loudly. 

If you are visiting the salon 

with a friend, do desist from 

discussing personal details 

or talking at the top of your 

voices. There is no need to 

regale the world with your 

personal antics. 

Respect other people’s per- 

Ochefu, is a distinguished professor 

of History with glowing 

academic records. Prof Ochefu 

was my external examiner 

for my Masters Degree thesis. 

He currently serves as 

vice-chancellor of Kwararafa 

University in Taraba State, if 

my records are still accurate. 

It is possible that his historical 

background is the reason the 

origin of Mammy market has 

been documented. 

Before this true history 

came out, a research work 

on https://myproject.com.ng 

titled “The Impact of Mammy 

Market on the Livelihood 

of Military Personnel in the 

Barracks” and a feature article 

“Life in Barrack Mammy 

Market” on http://weekend. 

peoplesdailyng.com/ had 

erroneously assumed that 

Mammy market was “coined 

from mini-market”. 

But there are too many 

untold histories that may 

remain untold because no 

one cares. For instance, in a 

bid to immortalise some past 

leaders and achievers, federal 

and state governments have 

named universities, university 

hostels, libraries, airports, 

stadiums, streets, major roads, 

and other monuments after 

these men and women. 

But how many people today 

know who these people were 

and what roles they played 

in the development of the 

country? No need to list some 

of these names. Just begin 

with the street where you live. 

Who is it named after? Who 

was he/she? What role did 

he/she play and in what field? 

When you decipher this, we’ll 

continue the discussion. Enjoy 

your Sunday. 

sonal space, that means - 

•Don’t shout or speak loudly 

on the phone. 

•Don’t touch the hair of 

other customers no matter 

how much you admire them. 

Don’t move their head about 

while you examine the quality 

of the weave-on or the style. 

A simple compliment will do. 

•Don’t ask how much or 

where they purchased the 

weave-on or extension. People 

usually like to enjoy the 

uniqueness of their purchase, 

at least for a while before it 

becomes common. 

•Please pay your bills quietly. 

If you are a first time user of 

the salon, the amount should 

have been discussed and 

agreed upon before service is 

rendered. If this was not done 

and you are in disagreement 

with the amount charged, sort 

it out quietly and where this 

is not possible, please refrain 

from making a scene. You may 

decide to leave and not use that 

salon again. It is better to walk 

out with your dignity. 

It is courteous to leave a 

word of courtesy and a tip 

(optional) for the stylist. This act 

puts you on a higher pedestal.


BD SUNDAY 23 

Interview 

‘Nigeria can achieve its development 

goal by assisting entrepreneurs’ 

Walter Madu, chief executive officer, Vocational Entrepreneurship Development Association (VEDAM), in this interview 

with REGIS ANUKWUOJI speaks on the need for vocational education as a key to economic development, 

among other issues. Excerpts: 

May we know the 

reason for the 

establishment 

of the organisation? 

VEDAM is an acronym for 

Vocational Entrepreneurship 

Development Association. It has 

been registered by the Corporate 

Affairs Commission (CAC) and 

our intention, purposes and our 

objectives are well spelt out. The 

association as the name implies, 

is a national organisation, but 

Enugu is a pilot state, so we are 

taking off from Enugu State. 

We are trying to spread it 

gradually starting with the 

South-East; we are already in 

Abakaliki. We have inaugurated 

the Onitsha, Anambra State 

chapter; we are looking forward 

to inaugurating Cross River 

chapter, Akwa Ibom chapter 

and Rivers State chapter in the 

next few weeks. We have also 

stepped into Imo State and Abia 

State chapters. By the time the 

South-East is fully established, 

we now begin to move. We have 

held meetings with the Federal 

Ministry of Industry and Trade 

and Investment and Federal 

Ministry of Labour. 

It was two meetings put together 

and we met some friends 

who developed serious interest 

in what we are doing. Since 

then, they have been calling 

on me to come to establish it in 

Abuja. For now, I do not want to 

over-stretch our hands, so that 

we can control what is already 

on ground. We decided to start 

from a point and move gradually 

to other areas of the nation. We 

wish that every part of the states 

would come up soonest so that 

the objectives of this association 

will be realised. 

The reason why we come 

into this association is because 

we discovered challenges faced 

by entrepreneurs, technicians 

and other professionals who 

are in various vocations and 

then we discovered that some of 

the associations we had earlier 

before now, like chambers of 

commerce which I am a member, 

MAN, Small scale industrialists 

and so many of them, some of 

them take care of the welfare 

of various organisations here in 

Nigeria. 

We discovered that some time 

some of the welfare programmes 

they take are quite limited to the 

challenges to the purposes of 

welfare, but the very challenges 

that are facing these ones have 

not been addressed and we look 

at it and saw that most challenges 

private people are facing 

today are that they are not being 

taken care of. While the government 

of the day sometimes has 

Walter Madu 

provided democracy dividends 

they do not remember people in 

the private sector. In some Asian 

countries and Europe they proffer 

a system whereby the private 

sector is being taken care of as 

well as the civil servants but our 

case here is different. 

Let me talk about society’s 

little or no regard for service 

providers. Whatever service 

you provide should be regarded 

and you should be respected for 

that service. I remember sometime 

there was a scenario where 

a ‘big man’, a company’s MD, was 

disregarding his driver every 

time as if the driver was not a 

human being. One day, they 

were travelling along the high 

way and he was addressing the 

driver as if he was nobody, and 

this has been happening for a 

long time. At a point, the driver 

said to his Director ‘enough is 

enough’; he parked the vehicle 

by the road side and handed 

the car key to his boss. The man 

jumped down from the car and 

started begging the driver. The 

driver now asked him, ‘so you 

can give me an attention?’ 

The Director started to pay 

him attention, change his attitude 

towards him and promised 

to increase his salary. So if you 

look at this story, we can now 

direct our minds towards the 

way people are being handled. 

So we want service providers to 

be regarded in their little way, 

whether a driver, house keeper, 

housemaid, Carpenter, mason 

or iron bender; whichever level 

you are, you have your own 

respect at that level. You will at 

the same time respect the authorities 

you are working under. 

We also discovered that vocational 

apprenticeship of which 

our people are known for are 

quietly dying away. The people 

are now running for quick 

money. Nobody is interested 

in learning, in production, in 

proper services. If you look 

at what happened with the 

MMM ponzi saga, you will notice 

that Nigerians are going into a 

cheaper way of making money. 

Actually, some of the millions of 

naira that people lost to MMM 

can be channelled into building 

an industry that can employ a 

good number of people. 

Our motto is promotion of 

wealth creation through excellent 

services. We are also trying 

to bring people into specialisation. 

There is no more apprenticeship, 

no more training. You 

hardly get somebody to come 

and serve you in a shop, to learn 

the trade and at the end become 

a shop owner. It is difficult now 

because if you bring anybody, 

there is the likelihood that he 

might abscond with your money 

because everybody is looking 

for how to make cheap money, 

to buy car and live big with big 

phones. These are most of the 

challenges we looked at and 

decided that we have to package 

this association. We brought all 

the ideas we got from various 

seminars and different countries 

and arranged them the way we 

can, to tackle challenges. In our 

objectives, number one is that 

we will promote our members 

in developing entrepreneurial 

skills. Second is that we provide 

unique orientation service to 

providers, like professionals, artisans 

and the likes. We also try 

to train and retrain people to be 

able to provide various areas of 

specialisation. 

May we know some of the 

things your organisation has so 

far done and what it intends to 

do next? 

In this association we provide 

advocacy that is legal cover for 

our members who registered 

with us. We also partner with 

SMEs to provide loans, because if 

you train people and push them 

to the labour market like what is 

happening in our universities today, 

they will still remain where 

they are. We want to train these 

people and at the end help them 

to get a loan as a force. We also 

plan to organise our IGR where 

we will have enough money to 

give loans to our people easily 

without bottlenecks. If you finish 

learning how to fabricate 

iron, we will help you build a 

workshop, provide tools and 

then you start off. 

If you learn how to service 

vehicles as a mechanic, we also 

help you to put up a workshop; if 

you are an entrepreneur on how 

to buy and sale, we help you to 

build a shop and see that you are 

doing well. By the time we have 

this number of people scattered 

everywhere and we are building 

a cluster, just like we mentioned 

here, our aim is as we finish with 

the state level, we go down to the 

local government areas and then 

from there to clusters; clusters of 

production and clusters of trade. 

In the cluster of production 

we intend to build a place where 

in the same place you have 

some people who produce various 

components of a particular 

product. For instance, it will be 

easy for a shoe maker in the 

cluster to access materials with 

the clusters and assemble a shoe; 

the other one is in business, all of 

them will be in business at a time 

in the same clusters. 

We are partnering with Federal 

Ministry of Labour and 

Productivity and they have 

promised that whatever certificate 

that comes from us will be 

given a national certification. 

The Federal Ministry of Trade 

and Industry has also linked us 

with the ITF and SMEDAN. Since 

after our registration, people 

have been registering with us 

and the solid foundation which 

we are building is that we are 

already developing relationship 

with the people we mentioned. 

Those government agencies, 

because we know we cannot do 

it alone, just like the YouWin 

programme that is on now, the 

Federal Ministry of Finance 

called me, having seen all our 

performances within the short 

time; asked us to mobilise our 

men for what is going on. What 

we are working out for is for our 

members to be reconsidered. 

How encouraging is the registration? 

Our membership is growing 

tremendously; within the short 

period we were inaugurated in 

June and within then and now 

we have taken some projects. 

We have taken people to 

South-East alternative energy 

projects, people paid N20,000 

to participate, but all our members 

participated free. That is 

one of the benefits. We also had 

training on entrepreneurship 

business plan development by 

SMEDAN; that training costs 

above N40,000, but all our members 

got it free with N1,000 

transport fare. We also have 

educational technical training 

centre in collaboration with 

CIDJAP, under it we have metal 

fabrication, woodwork centre, 

mechatronic where motor 

mechanics are trained cum 

electronics and electrical, both 

motor and installations. We are 

admitting people who want to 

go there, at a very reduced price. 

They pay between N10,000 

and N15,000 for one to go on six 

months’ training. 

Since the establishment, how 

many people have you trained 

or are still undergoing training? 

We have trained people in 

numbers; if you go there, you 

see pictures. I do not have the 

number of hand, but in the 

entrepreneurship services we 

have trained about 36 people. 

In digital marketing, we have 

trained about 55 people that 

attended; Alternative Energy 

we trained about 30 people and 

YouWin sensitisation, they 

were about 35 people that were 

involved. We trained about 35 

women on skills acquisition 

but at the end, 12 of them came 

out successfully. Under World 

Bank-assisted projects, they will 

be given materials free. We have 

also done training programme 

with SME Enugu. We are also 

planning for certification programme. 

We want to draw in 

some Youth Corps members, 

some school leavers, and some 

who are working already will 

be exposed to the availability of 

industrial participation where 

they can get good jobs. 

We trained them on how to 

serve people. So certification programme 

is about to take place.

C002D5556 

24 BD SUNDAY 

SundayInterview 


‘I don’t believe Buhari was equipped 

to run a country like Nigeria’ 

Professor Mark Odu, popularly known as M.A.C. Odu, is a real estate professional and charismatic intellectual. He is an acclaimed realtor 

and appraiser in the real estate and building construction field, with extensive experience in Oil Valuations, Urban Real Estate Development 

Studies and Farm Valuations. Odu is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers and a leading proponent of the 

“Cooperative Paradigm for Rural Development.” He has taught in many institutions of higher learning, such as the University of Lagos 

(senior lecturer and acting head of department), the University of Nigeria Nsukka (as visiting lecturer), and Imo State University (adjunct 

pioneer establishment faculty). Today, he is a traditional ruler from Amaohuru Nguru in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State. 

He spoke to SABY ELEMBA, tracing the cause and origin of the alleged hatred for Igbo by other ethnic groups in Nigeria, including the 

fever of fear of domination by the Igbo which, according to him, has gripped the Hausa-Fulani; the disunity among Nigerians, among other 

issues. The monarch said that that Nigeria may implode if the process of restructuring was not started now and that it would be like an ill 

wind that blows no one good. Excerpts: 

My interactions with many 

Nigerians show that a good 

number of them are of the 

opinion that the country is 

drifting in many respects. 

May we have your perspective on the current 

state of the nation? 

Alright, I am Eze, Professor Mark Odu. I 

was born in this village (town) Amaohuru 

Nguru in the year 1944 and we moved to 

Lafia in the Southern Plateau then but now 

Nassarawa State four days after I was born. 

So, I was technically born here but where I 

got my certificate was in Lafia; that is, I grew 

up in Hausa land. I have travelled along 

the road and rail lines through secondary 

schools but I am thoroughly Nigerian. I 

schooled for secondary school in Lagos in 

St. Finbars. I speak Yoruba; I speak Hausa, 

English and Igbo. There is no plural for Igbo 

“the Igbos”, I do not like it, it is not correct, 

but “the Igbo”, the plural or singular is Igbo. 

So with that background, the first thing 

you asked was the current state of the nation. 

You know, to have lamentations at 

my 73 years on earth is not so nice because 

I saw when this country was moving up. I 

saw Ndigbo spread out so evenly through 

railway through transportation, through 

education throughout Nigeria. And Ndigbo 

held sway in most parts of governance that 

people were frightened of us because we 

held up for one another. When a fellow got 

to the position of power he brought his own 

people to help them more, unfortunately 

through this historic war experience and 

so on we fragmented our unity and it is no 

longer comfortable with our neighbours. 

One of our serious errors is not to have 

developed the North when we were there; 

we did not give education to the Hausa 

down-trodden; had we given education to 

the Hausa people they would have been 

doing their fighting by now themselves. 

There is a class feeling over the heads of 

their majority preventing them from rising. 

Why should a community have people 

whose job is to beg for food around in the 

villages and towns where there are big 

people? These were the people who have 

grown up to become the Boko Harams of 

our time. Our problem is lack of love for 

one another even within each ethnic group 

there is no love. 

The Hausa believe in the fragmentation 

of the society, the elite must not be touched 

then the down-trodden, there is no middle 

class. But the problem they have now is that 

Mark Odu 

the middle class is claiming their space and 

it has to be turbulent. 

The East, the war made us atomic, the 

point that held us together is no longer 

there. Property and possession have taken 

the frontal brain of all Igbo people; our 

neighbours, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers 

even up to Delta and so on and so forth 

they are frightened of us because we did not 

love them enough to spread resources when 

we were in charge in the Eastern Nigerian. 

I am sure that you know that the war 

was fought on the basis of the importance 

of the Igbo man in the Nigerian geo-politics. 

Ojukwu was hasty with that war, we 

were not prepared. He gave the impression 

that no power in black Africa could subdue 

Biafra, it was wrong. To start with, he was 

Quarter Master General in Nigerian Army; 

he ought to have known the massive nature 

of the armament in Nigeria as Quarter master-general. 

He ought not to have chosen to 

even go to war because with that knowledge 

he knew we did not stand a chance. 

He also had an opportunity to revisit Aburi, 

consent to going back even when Gowon 

denied the agreement reached over there. 

It was the greatest error of the past century. 

This century is a difficult kettle of fish. 

Now that war led to our losing the bond 

that held Ndigbo together. As soon as it 

ended, everybody to himself, all the structures 

collapsed. I am a witness that before 

that war we could send a message over night 

through Amel transport or other transports 

like We-We, Wahehe, etc throughout this 

country to North, South East and West of 

this country and tell Igbo how to react to 

political situation but after the war, it is ‘to 

your tents O Israel’. 

To worsen matters, after the war we 

recovered so fast that Nigerians hated us 

so much. The Hausa people who came first 

after the war went back to report to their 

people that these men, the Igbo have started 

a new civilisation and that they (Hausa) 

were in trouble, the hatred worsened. We 

rebuilt our place, the scars of war did not last 

ten years, I saw because I was in maximum 

security prison as a prisoner of war. 

I saw when I came back the damage of 

war, buildings blown down, holes in almost 

all the properties in major centres and war 

theatres. But we did not have love as bond 

anymore; people were ready to sell one 

another. The Hausa people knew that and 

that is what they have been capitalising to 

create distance between various elements 

of the Nigerian polity to have elements of 

the majority entrenched. 

The other factor is of course the English 

man, who left us angrily, favoured the 

Hausa in allocation of population. 

They gave them 33 percent more people 

than they had in order to put population 

over to them to control the Houses of 

legislature, the Westminster system of 

Government. 

The man who did this, wrote it in a book 

called ‘White Collar Law Man’, the name is 

Harold Wilson; he was a senior personnel 

of the British government, Lagos. He wrote 

this book as a confession of what Britain did 

to rule Nigeria and made certain that they 

kept to that margin of population. And that 

is why till today counting of population is 

difficult in the North, they just write what 

they want but it is dishonesty and dishonesty 

must have its reward or punishment 

later in history of the people. 

I have driven through this country to 

every local government in various services 

including my profession and having served 

as a member of the commission on review 

of Higher Education in Nigeria. But beyond 

that, I have been president of University of 

Nigeria alumni association for four years 

and we had meetings all over the country. 

I have been an estate surveyor, I have travelled 

round down jobs in all the parts of the 

country, and the Hausas do not have the 

people they claim to have. Their ability to 

bear children is not as high as in the South, 

they make fewer children even though 

they marry up to four, and the Koran allows 

them to marry. But I am not angry with the 

North even with all they have done, they 

fear domination and this fear brings their 

aggression in their own psyche. Their elites 

fear domination so all they do is to protect 

their access to power. And that is why they 

have wrong people in the parastatals running 

this country. In the ministries, departments 

and agencies, they want to nominate 

people to be there whether they qualify or 

not because the technically qualified people 

are in the south. 

Now what is your opinion on the current 

state of the nation? 

We must restructure. And we must 

restructure to give each state or zone the 

power to develop at its own pace. If that is 

not done the country will implode. The Yoruba 

have accommodated this in the Yoruba 

Agenda; I read it page to page. I have written 

Igbo Agenda in Nigeria project, nobody has 

cared about it, it is on the internet. I have 

done what I can do in the life time. I have 

also written eight books about the Nigeria 

experience; whoever wants can read it.


BD SUNDAY25 

SundayInterview 

Now, the condition is that Nigeria cannot 

move forward until the restructuring is 

done. 

In your view, when do you think this 

restructuring should be done and how? 

It should be started now because it is 

clear that greed and avarice have powered 

corruption and corruption is killing the 

country. And not even because of want, 

people are greedy and avaricious. Can you 

imagine a woman who was in the Petroleum 

Ministry is owning much? It is not necessary; 

she does not have love in her heart. If 

they fail to restructure, cataclysm will be 

our product and we will also suffer it. 

What do you consider as Nigeria’s most 

pressing issues that need urgent attention? 

The most pressing issue is to decide on 

restructuring. Let individual component 

states have autonomy to develop, that 

is very urgent. When the autonomy is 

granted, nationalism can feature in the 

Nigeria project. People will now believe in 

the Nigeria project and subscribe at will by 

their own will and in their measure what 

will make Nigeria great. 

Agitations for secession and self-determinations 

have been on the increase 

recently in Nigeria- Oduduwa, Arewa, 

Niger Delta, Biafra etc, how did we get to 

this story state? 

You can see that the structures are 

shaking by agitations of self-determination 

which arose from imbalance occasioned 

by the treatment of the states from the 

centre. And you know the Army caused 

this because they unified the country and 

took most powers that the regions originally 

could share, they took the most powers from 

the states to the centre; it was a wrong step. 

Now the federal disposes of all the 

resources in favour of the North because 

they are now in the majority. The South is 

given very little, and because our people 

are greedy and avaricious they do not even 

contribute the required quota funds, those 

funds that are deposited by states for the 

federal funds, they do not make it available 

to the federal because their problems are 

so compounded. Bad leaders have been the 

inheritance of states in the south except a 

few that are fairly stable- western states. 

The Eastern states are full of greedy 

people even Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom. 

They are greedy people but the important 

thing is that let every component of the 

federation develop on its own with little 

attention to the centre. 

Some observers say that Nigeria is more 

divided now than at any other time in the 

history of the country; do you share the 

same view? 

Yes I do. And the basis is greed and avarice 

as I said. Love is lacking, nationalism is 

lacking, nobody believes in the nation state 

of Nigeria, very few people can conceive it. 

They see people as Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa- 

Fulani. The Benue used to be a warrior 

nation they have been cowed to submission 

by the Hausa-Fulani. The Alafia chiefs 

have been subdued by the Hausa-Fulani, in 

fact, there are mosques in Nassarawa State 

whereas when were growing up there was 

a Christian zone. Kafanchan in the North 

Central was where I read my Standard Six; 

the Catholic school where I went is now a 

mosque. I do not have record of my Standard 

Six now because no school there again, that 

Mark Odu 

is the gravity of the situation. 

Can you assess the incumbent administration’s 

war against corruption? 

I can only guess, I can say that they are 

accumulating a record of those whom they 

will fight. I do not know how long it will take 

them to start prosecuting but I have not seen 

much prosecution. There is this plea bargain 

which they are adopting. When somebody 

has stolen N2billion you first take what he 

offers and hold it in an account, but no real 

disincentives to corruption has been taken, 

nobody has been caught and tried and given 

the essential punishment required for such 

a crime. But Buhari has at least started to 

name people and get people go after them 

and seize assets that are congruent with 

fraud. 

But do you share the view by some 

critics that the fight is targeted at the opponents 

of the government? 

Not totally. To start with, there is no defined 

line between the parties, they are the 

same human beings; they just change party 

when it is not favourable for them. We don’t 

have politicians or leaders. Politicians are 

those who look for leaders, leaders are those 

who the people respect. We do not have 

them yet and leaders are not in the corridors 

of power. The chaps who are politicians are 

those who should look for leaders, accept 

power now because they are in the corridors 

of power. Politicians do not become 

leaders, they look for leaders and bring 

them to come and run the public offices as 

technocrats and only technocrats can run 

government effectively, politicians can’t. 

There is no reasonable basis for people 

who do not know the country enough by 

dint of personal experience to angle to lead 

a country. Technocrats use the resources of 

the country to bring about development. 

You have toured almost all the regions 

of this country; what can you say of the 

level of development in Nigeria, 57 years 

after independence? 

It is true there is no real development. 

The problem is indices are not known 

by the leaders. Look at Mbaise, there is a 

power project here, a massive substation 

that cost the government billions of naira. 

It is now taken over by weeds because they 

have put the money in private pockets that 

should have brought life to that substation. 

Compensation has not been paid to people 

whose houses have been marked for demolition 

so that the power line does not affect 

them, this is my own community. So, that is 

what is happening, projects that are viable 

and important for the evolution of people 

are left because the profit from it has been 

extracted by those who made it possible at 

first instance. That is not nationalism that 

is destructive governance. 

Do you think there is a deliberate policy 

by successive governments in Nigeria to 

keep the Igbo nation down? 

Yes. I told you already- the envy, our 

people are looked at as people too daring for 

the rest of the country, and our neighbours 

fear us. Our opponents up North are very 

upset with our progress. In actual fact, we 

have overstayed our welcome in all parts 

of the Nigeria in the sense that we do not 

know where to stop accumulating wealth. 

You came to a man’s place and you alone 

Look at Mbaise, there is a power 

project here, a massive substation 

that cost the government billions of 

naira. It is now taken over by weeds 

because they have put the money 

in private pockets that should have 

brought life to that substation 

have 50 percent of the buildings there; how 

would he feel? 

So you carry your building and go to your 

place. Our people are not selective of their 

investment destinations. And we still have 

Igbo land to develop. So, that feeling of being 

too forward is in the minds of our opponents 

and countrymen. We should learn to stop 

and invest back home. I am insisting that we 

should not front our images in distant lands 

in Nigeria. We should make this place, Igbo 

land the industrial and commercial hub of 

Nigeria and leave them to come here and 

purchase what they need, we can do it. 

Technically, Nigeria is said to have 

exited the recession, what is your candid 

understanding of the whole recession and 

do you read any political meaning to it? 

Recession was real in the sense that two 

much money was chasing few products. 

Manufacturing has gone down since six 

or seven years. We are mainly consumers 

of foreign industrialists’ products and 

individual productivity has gone down 

because there is much chasing of goods not 

produced here. Do you know that in Abuja 

more champagne is had, and flown in from 

Europe than has ever occurred because 

the people in Abuja are over spending our 

government money; they are not producing? 

The houses springing up in Abuja 

are the highest growth point in the whole 

world in terms of building production but 

nothing is manufactured there; they are all 

brought in from foreign lands to assemble 

here. Very little has backward integration 

potentials. Until we have nationalists to 

drive productivity recession cannot repair 

itself. We have to sweat to get out of real 

recession into sustainable growth. And you 

know that in the Eastern Nigeria, palm trees 

produced the income with which Okpara 

developed this part of the world and built 

university of Nigeria. And those palm trees 

are idlying, unkempt, palm nuts are wasting 

in the vast plantation which he built 

because the farm settlement scheme has 

collapsed. And our Eastern Nigeria brothers 

have no sights in that direction. We are 

doomed to low productivity until we drive 

agriculture, use it to power industrialism 

and industrialism will produce jobs, jobs will 

create further income, income will lead to 

further investments and people will have 

prices down for food and there will be peace 

and plenty for all. 

Finally, can you assess the Buhari administration? 

I do not believe that Buhari was equipped 

to run a country like this frankly. He was 

a soldier and he came first as an autocrat. 

Buhari should not have returned because 

things have changed. I don’t think he is 

computer literate; if he were, he would 

have measured himself and not contesting 

for president. See the army recycling itself, 

getting to civilian regime and all that as if 

there is nobody else; is annoying. Obasanjo 

went as a soldier and came back as a civilian, 

Danjuma has been there now he is doing 

the North East rehabilitation and chairing 

the committee. Is it scarcity of leaders or 

technocrats that made them to come back, 

it is greed. I am against any other military 

coming in to run this country, they do not 

have the qualification they do have the 

ingredients.

26 BD SUNDAY 


TheWorshippers 

Church leaders need to take support for 

mission work more seriously – Rev. Ajiboye 

Rev. Dare Ajiboye took over the mantle of leadership as the eighth general secretary and chief executive officer of 

the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN) in 2014. In this interview with Seyi John Salau, Ajiboye speaks on the journey so 

far, the need for church leaders to do more in supporting mission work, and the state of affairs in the polity. 

How has the journey been 

for you so far as the general 

secretary and chief executive 

officer of the Bible Society of 

Nigeria? 

If I say it has been smooth, 

then it is a great deceit. I 

came on board as the CEO 

specifically on 20th August, 

2013 when the economy 

of this country was good, but 

you would agree with me that 

within the last two years the 

economy of Nigeria has nosedived. 

Of course, that does not 

mean that the economy started 

nose-diving in the last two years. 

The negative impact that we see 

in our economy started long ago. 

Being a leader at a time as 

this is not an easy task: you are 

struggling with how to get fund 

to pay the salaries of staff; you 

are struggling with how to even 

bring in the Bible, which is the 

core activity that we do. It simply 

means that to translate the 

Bible to different languages is 

becoming very difficult. But the 

economy is affecting the donors 

and by extension affecting us because 

we are not getting enough 

funds again. Besides that, we are 

finding it difficult to get dollar 

to bring in published translated 

Bibles because in Nigeria today, 

for me, there is no printing press 

that can handle the quantity and 

quality of the Bibles we bring in. 

And if we have to rely on dollar, 

how do we go about getting 

these dollars? 

Again, our roads are in a bad 

shape adding to the cost of leadership. 

If you come in through 

Western Avenue to our office 

here in Apapa, you can see how 

bad the roads are and we have to 

bring in our vehicles every day. 

And some of these vehicles are 

heavily loaded. We spend the 

little money we get to fix the 

vehicles with which the Bibles 

are delivered. 

Leadership has to do with 

leading people. I must say that 

I used to think I understood 

leadership, having led at various 

departmental levels in school as 

the president of the fellowship 

and leading in the various arms 

of the church. Within the last 

four years I want to tell you that 

I now know what leadership is 

all about. Leadership is a difficult 

thing. You even blame leaders 

for not taking your suggestions 

but looking at it holistically, I 

know why some decisions are 

not taken. Again, it is not an easy 

task to be able to bring people 

Dare Ajiboye 

to your life to see and run with 

the vision and probably still run 

with that vision when you leave. 

I have also seen that leadership 

involves relying on God, I have 

seen challenges within these 

four years and if God had not 

called me to BSN, I would have 

felt like going back and just leaving 

the job. Sometimes I tell God, 

‘But I prayed to you before applying 

for this job and accepting 

it. You gave me this job, I did not 

lobby for it and I did not want 

to apply even after you told me 

to apply for it.’ With the help of 

God I have been given solutions 

to them by God, though it has 

not been easy, especially in a 

time of economic recession. To 

be candid, God has been faithful. 

What can you tell us about 

the projects being executed by 

BSN? 

BSN has translated the Bible 

into 24 Nigerian languages and 

we also have two that have 

been completed. We are only 

waiting for funding that God 

would provide to publish Okrika 

and Kalabari Bible. The two 

languages are spoken in Rivers 

State. We are trusting God for 

funding. Currently we have 

10 translations ongoing; one 

of them is my own language, 

Okun. It is a language spoken 

in about five local government 

areas in Kogi and Kwara States 

and some local government 

areas in Ekiti State. So it is a 

vast language. Though it is 

not spoken the same way in 

these places, we understand 

ourselves. We are also working 

on Epie and Ogbia languages 

which are spoken in Bayelsa 

State, and we also have other 

languages. But in total we have 

10 Nigerian languages that we 

are working on. It costs about 

a minimum of N44 million to 

translate the Bible into a language, 

that is why we ask for 

funds from Christians who are 

willing to support us. 

Earlier you spoke about 

funding for your activities. How 

has the support been like since 

you came onboard? 

I must say this is one of the 

major challenges that we are 

facing. Some churches feel we 

are competing with them. Some 

do not see BSN as adding any 

value to Christendom and this 

has been a major concern. They 

use the Bible, have branches in 

the rural area where they use 

the Bible in indigenous translations 

– Efik, Tiv, etc – yet they do 

not see us as relevant. We even 

try to educate them but they 

are more concerned about doing 

their own things. Yes, it is a good 

thing to have structures, mammoth 

crowd following us, but 

without the Bible there would be 

no church in the first place. And 

if there is no church there would 

be no pastors, and that is why I 

expect church leaders to take 

support for BSN with seriousness. 

We thank God for the few 

that are supporting us, whereas 

some do not even want to see us. 

I must say that The Apostolic 

Church, even when we go there 

and they sight us, they would 

announce our presence. They 

have been helpful. Christ Apostolic 

Church, Mountain of 

Fire and Miracles, The Baptist 

Church and ECWA are great supporters 

of BSN. Even some with 

all formality still do not want to 

see us because they think we are 

coming to beg from them. But I 

keep saying this to everybody 

that cares to listen: God has 

called me and I do not need to 

be a beggar to do this job. I do not 

need money for myself. Even if 

I have any personal challenge, I 

talk to God about it and thank 

God he has been taking care of 

my personal challenges. I have 

never begged. But the BSN needs 

the support of these leaders and 

they should know that without 

the Bible there would be no 

church and without church 

there would be no pastor. They 

use the word of God to preach, 

teach and grow their members. 

Then they should begin to think 

about how to support Bible 

translations. 

Away from the BSN now. 

The President Muhammadu 

Buhari administration seems 

to have fallen short of its campaign 

promises to Nigerians, 

which has resulted in calls for 

resignation in some quarters. 

Are the electorate right to have 

made such call? 

I do not know about what they 

mean by incompetence. To me 

competence is a combination of 

skills that leaders need to influence 

others to get positive result. 

So competence is a component of 

the type of knowledge, skill and 

attitude. When people voted for 

him, I think they believed he had 

the competence to lead. I agree 

that Nigerians ought to have got 

something better even from the 

present government, but people 

should not also forget that leadership 

is sequential. Somebody 

stayed 100 years and people who 

come after build on what they 

met. When the colonial masters 

handed power to us, things were 

not like this; those who took over 

after them were not selfish, but 

gradually things started changing, 

even Jonathan must have 

inherited challenges as well as 

Buhari and these challenges may 

be overwhelming, and people 

looking at it want quick fixes. If 

we want Nigeria to be better, then 

we cannot have quick fixes; it 

would take time, though what we 

want to see is not talking about 

the past again. 

As far as I am concerned, a 

leader should be less concerned 

about the negative things the 

predecessor did but know that 

he or she has been brought to 

leadership to do well. So they 

should stop talking about the 

past. Managers do not change 

situations but maintain status 

quo, but leaders influence 

changes, make things better no 

matter how bad the situation is; 

they do not make things static. 

Another thing is that you 

might have competency but may 

not have the right people around 

you. He might be handicapped 

in making some laws because it 

has to go through the lower and 

higher chamber which at the 

end of the day might take three 

years and he is handicapped 

and cannot do anything. If the 

judiciary and legislature arms do 

not have the competent people 

to help the executive, then we 

are wasting time. At this time 

we cannot ask him to resign 

because we voted him there and 

we would be disappointed if he 

resigns because we thought he 

could do it; so we are praying for 

him for good health and competencies 

to carry on. It is only by 

him succeeding that we would 

succeed. I encourage people to 

stop castigating, especially from 

a narrow perspective.


C002D5556 

SUNDAY 

BD 

27 

Perspective 

When Wike hosted editors the 2nd time… 

IGNATIUS CHUKWU 

Governor Nyesom 

Wike of Rivers State 

has made it clear that 

his administration 

was not competing 

with anybody and any state. 

He told Editors that came for 

the 2017 conference that Rivers 

State was marching ahead 

with an avalanche of project execution 

where most other states 

were struggling with salaries. 

Wike played host again to 

13th Nigerian Guild of Editors 

(NGE) after the 2015 hosting, 

saying it was too huge an opportunity 

for an opposition government 

to pass up. He said editors 

were in the best position to tell 

the world the truth about his 

administrations achievements 

and the security situation in the 

oil state. 

At the opening ceremony of 

the 2017 Association of Nigerian 

Editors Conference (ANEC) 

in Port Harcourt, Wike said he 

had many projects to show to 

his guests; “When you undertake 

the tour, you will see the 

projects we’ve accomplished 

across the different priority 

areas, particularly, on road infrastructure, 

healthcare, education 

and security. You will see that 

we have since reconstructed 

almost all the bad roads in Port 

ernment Area roads we have 

either completed or are ongoing. 

For instance, you will see completed 

or ongoing road projects 

in Abua/Odual, Akuku Toru 

Andoni, Etche, Ikwerre, OkrikaObio/Akpor, 

Emohua, Eleme, 

Tai, Gokana and Khana Local 

Government Areas of the State. 

You will further see our efforts 

in healthcare delivery. You will 

see that we have comprehensively 

reconstructed general 

Harcourt city, including the ones 

in Diobu, mile one to mile three, 

Port Harcourt Township, old and 

new Government Reservation 

Areas, Harold Wilson Drive, 

Borokiri, D/Line, Oro-Worokwo, 

Ogbunabali, Nkporgu, Dr. Peter 

Odili road and other neighbourhoods 

of the State capital.” 

Mentioning others, he said; 

“You will also see the intra, 

inter-city and inter-local govhospitals 

in Abua, Nchia, Isiokpo, 

Rumuigbo, Abonnema, Bodo 

city, Opobo, Eberi-Omuma, Ngo, 

Emohua, Buguma and Okrika 

towns and communities across 

the State.” 

He said he had remobilised 

contractors to work on the 

‘mother and child hospital’ and 

three of the four regional hospitals 

started and abandoned 

by the previous administration. 

“You will also see several other 

projects that are already in use, 

including the Port Harcourt 

ultra-modern Pleasure Park, 

the Okrika jetty, the Ecumenical 

Centre, and the Port Harcourt 

NBA Law Centre complex. 

Again, you will also notice that 

we have initiated some new 

projects you did not see during 

your first visit, including 

the construction of internal 

roads and land reclamation in 

Emohua, Ikwerre, Asari Toru, 

Okirika, Degema Local Government 

Areas and the renovation 

of 185 basic education schools 

across the State.” 

He said; “It is important to 

emphasise that we are not competing 

with anybody or any 

other State for laurels or for 

anything. We are simply doing 

our job as mandated by the 

good people of Rivers State and 

we are both grateful and encouraged 

by the outpourings of 

support and affection from our 

people. Furthermore, we are in 

a democracy and so we do fully 

acknowledge and respect the 

right of the opposition to criticize 

us as much as they can, but this 

right ought to be exercised in 

good faith and with all sense of 

responsibility. However, instead 

of projecting their relevance, if 

any, with alternative policies 

and programmes, the political 

opposition continues to live 

in denial of our achievements 

within two years as against the 

complete mess they left behind 

after being in power for eight 

unbroken years.” 

He criticised his opponents 

saying when they were on seat, 

many things including the judiciary 

crumbled. “For goodness 

sake, how do we compare? They 

viciously closed down the courts 

for no good reason and subjected 

every one of us in Rivers State to 

suffer the consequences of their 

obnoxious action for nearly two 

years.” 

He went on: “We are all aware 

that even in the height of militancy 

by Niger Delta youths, 

not even a single oil facility 

was attacked, occupied or shut 

down in Rivers State because of 

the measures we put in place in 

conjunction with the security 

agencies to ensure security for 

all the vital national economic 

assets located in the State. We 

believe that the media will do 

Rivers people a lot of good, if 

they hold every public office 

holder, including those at the 

Federal level to the same levels 

of scrutiny accountability.” 

He said the media in the 

state always goes into what he 

called muffled tones even when 

the political opposition goes to 

the extremity of using national 

institutions to undermine the 

authority of State Government, 

sabotage their security architecture, 

assault the national electoral 

system and intimidate 

the judiciary for self-seeking 

partisan goals. From the days of 

Mbu Mbu as commissioner of 

police, sitting governors in the 

state have always accused the 

police of carrying out hostile actions 

against the interest of the 

state and the media had always 

reported it. 

Wike however charged: “How 

else can we situate the active 

and virulent involvement of the 

Nigerian Police in rigging the legislative 

re-run elections that took 

place in the State in March and 

December 2016 in favour of the 

opposition All Peoples Congress? 

Is it not offensively true that the 

Nigerian police has refused to investigate 

and prosecute those that 

were caught and arrested in the 

D/Line area of Port Harcourt for 

printing fake ballot papers with 

INEC’s authentic serial numbers 

to be used for the December 2016 

re-run elections?’ 

He pursued: “Similarly, why 

has the Federal Government 

refused to prosecute the State 

Commander of the Special Anti- 

Robbery Squad (SARS), Mr. Akin 

Fakorede, who was caught on tape 

and seen on national television 

brutalising an electoral officer at 

a collation centre in furtherance 

of his partisan commitment to 

deliver fake results to the candidates 

of the All Progress Congress 

in the December 2016 rerun 

elections? How can we accept 

the situation where an election 

tribunal discarded authentic results 

declared by the Independent 

National Electoral Commission, 

which is lawfully responsible for 

the management of elections, and 

in its place accepted fake results 

from the credibility-challenged 

Nigerian Police as the basis to 

provocatively award electoral 

victories to candidates of the All 

peoples Congress.’ 

Wike has continued to accuse 

the former SARS boss of 

offences. “Unassailable facts 

have just emerged about how 

SARS under Akin Fakorode has 

become an organize criminal 

robbery gang in the State, yet 

the Inspector General of Police 

would simply dismiss such serious 

allegations with a wave of 

the hand because the victims 

are Rivers people who are not 

entitled do justice. 35. We do 

believe that these recurrent acts 

of impunity, political intimidation, 

economic sabotage, state 

repression, election rigging, and 

abuse of power are wrongs not 

only against Rivers State; they 

are wrongs against the entire 

country.” 

The president of the Guild, 

Funke Egbomode, said Rivers 

State was a good place for conferences 

and that no amount 

of propaganda would change 

that view


28 BD SUNDAY 

PhotoSplash 

L-R: Ayo Oluwatosin, group managing director, Rosabel; John Harris, president and chief executive officer of 

Worldwide Partners; Lisa Kettman-Kervinen, executive director of EMEA, Worldwide Partners and Ayo Kupoluyi, 

managing director, Media Seal, at the WPI global agency summit in Paris, France recently. 

Mabel George, vice president, business development division, Sigma Pensions, deliver his Paper at the Sigma 

Pensions Desk Officers Forum in Pentonrise Center Bodija Ibadan. 

L-R: Bharat Soni, CISO, GTBank Plc; Adedoyin Odunfa, MD/CEO, Digital Jewels Ltd; Nsuhoridem Okon, head, 

IT Strategy CBN and Gboyega Dada, group CIO Stanbic IBTC at the Digital Jewels Q4 Information Value Chain 

Breakfast forum (69th Session) in Lagos. 

L-R: Felicia Obozuwa, divisional head, corporate services, First City Monument Bank (FCMB); Idiat Adebule, 

Deputy Governor, Lagos State; Obafela Bank-Olemoh, special adviser to the governor on education, and, Sola 

Oyegbade, head, training academy, FCMB, during the graduation ceremony of the Ready Set Work (RSW) 

entrepreneurship empowerment programme for youths in partnership with FCMB in Lagos State. 

L-R: Girish Sharma, COO, Dufil Primq Foods Plc; Bentsi Enchill Kobby, executive director, Stanbic IBTC Capital 

Ltd; Olarenwaju Oluwafemi, winner, 2017 Indomie Independence Day Awards (IIDA) Social Bravery, and Abubakar 

Jimoh, MD/CEO, Coronation Bank, at the 2017 Indomie Independence Day Heroes Awards ceremony in Lagos. 

Udeme Ufot, Group Managing Director, SO&U with Moray Maclennan, CEO of M&C Saatchi Worldwide at the 

meeting of M&C Saatchi Africa Network in Cape Town, South Africa recently 

James Ilori, chief executive officer of First City Asset Management (FCAM) Limited, (r), receiving on behalf of the 

Company the award of ‘’Best Managed Fund in Equity’’ from the Jumoke Oduwole, senior special assistant to the 

president on industry, trade and investment, during the BusinessDay Banking Awards ceremony held in Lagos. 

L-R: Adenike Adebola, marketing and innovation director, Guinness Nigeria PLC; Christine Ogbeh ,MD/CEO, 

Quorum West Africa; Viola Graham-Douglas, corporate relations director, and Nnamdi Nnake, new channel 

development manager, both of Guinness Nigeria PLC, during the relaunch of Guinness Nigeria Party Serve in 

Lagos.


BD SUNDAY 29 

SundayBusiness 

PPP initiative will restore forestry sub-sector 

for greater productivity, says Akeredolu 

Yomi Ayeleso Akure 

Ondo State 

Governor, 

Oluwarotimi 

Akeredolu 

(SAN), has said 

that his administration’s 

Public-Private Partnership 

(PPP) initiative was meant 

to restore the forestry subsector 

of the state for greater 

productivity. 

He explained that the 

PPP initiative was planned 

to stop the activities of encroachers, 

illegal loggers 

and Indian hemp growers 

in the state. 

Akeredolu lamented 

that the state afforestation 

project, which he said used 

to be a centre of attraction 

for both local and foreign 

interest groups, is now in a 

sorry state. 

The governor expressed 

the concern during the flagoff 

ceremony of the planting 

of teak/gmelina seedlings 

by the West Africa Forest 

Plantations Limited at the 

Ondo State Afforestation 

Project in Ore, Odigbo Local 

Government Area of 

the state. 

He said: “The state of our 

forest confirms deliberate 

acts of omission or commission, 

on the part of those 

whose responsibility it is 

to ensure and promote the 

preservation of the environment, 

have resulted in vast 

devastation of the forest 

reserves. 

“Our administration has 

resolved to seize the gauntlet 

by taking a courageous 

step to halt the relentless 

despoliation of our common 

heritage by some mindless 

persons. 

“The need to privatise 

Ondo State Afforestation 

project becomes inevitable 

in order to avert dire consequences 

for the environment. 

“The vast devastation, 

occasioned by flitching, 

encroachment and other 

vices, currently going on 

in the project, has become 

unbearable to our administration. 

We are determined 

to put a stop to this unpatriotic 

act.” 

Akeredolu added that 

the development of the 

environment for the benefit 

of the people was the reason 

behind all his administra- 

R-L: Rotimi Akeredolu and Roy Fredricks at the meeting 

tion’s decisions. 

“We shall remain focused 

and courageous in 

the discharge of this sacred 

mandate,” he said. 

The governor stated that 

his administration’s partnership 

with Wewood Limited 

and West Africa Forest 

Plantations Limited for the 

afforestation project would, 

among others, lead to gmelina/teak 

development, pulp 

and paper manufacturing, 

integrated agricultural food 

production and fish farming, 

employment generation; 

and wood processing and 

furniture production. 

Akeredolu, therefore, 

asked the management 

of the West Africa Forest 

Plantations Limited, led 

by Mr. Roy Fredricks, to be 

faithful to the terms and 

conditions of the Memorandum 

of Understanding 

the company signed with 

his administration for the 

revitalisation of the afforestation 

project. 

He warned that anything 

done to the contrary 

would not be tolerated. 

“We remain keenly interested 

in the activities of 

our partners with specific 

regard to redemption expectation,” 

the governor added. 

Fredricks while giving 

his remark promised that 

West Africa Forest Plantation 

Limited would not 

neglect its Social Corporate 

Responsibility to the 

communities.He revealed 

that his company planned 

to provide portable water, 

health care centers and access 

roads for the benefit of 

the host communities 

‘Future generations require right skills set to boost career prospect’ 

Kelechi Ewuzie 

UAC Nigeria Plc 

says it has for a 

decade committed 

resources toward 

impacting students with 

soft and hard skills across 

several government secondary 

schools in Lagos State, 

through its Free Weekend 

Classes organised as part of 

the Goodness League initiative. 

Joe Dada, executive director, 

corporate services 

UAC while speaking during 

the closing ceremony 

of the 2017 UAC of Nigeria 

Goodness League initiative 

in Lagos said the initiative 

was set up ten years ago as 

a Corporate Social Responsibility 

Initiative to supplement 

government’s efforts 

in addressing the ills of the 

education sector. 

The company was gravely 

worried by the falling 

standards of education in 

the country and fully aware 

that the progress a nation 

makes is heavily linked and 

interwoven to the progress 

such a nation makes in 

education. 

“Education must not only 

be available and accessible 

but also acceptable and 

adaptable. 

The factors that hinder 

quality education in Nigeria 

are well known, multi-varied 

and bear no need repeating 

here, suffice to reiterate that 

a lot of work still needs to be 

done in finding sustainable 

solutions to the problems of 

the sector. 

“This is our modest contribution 

to joining forces 

with other stakeholders in 

uplifting the standards of 

education in Nigeria. 

The programme was conceived 

to not just impart 

knowledge but more importantly 

inspire future generations 

to rise to the pinnacle 

of their career and have the 

best out of life,” Dada added. 

In the words of Larry 

Ettah, Group Managing 

Director/Chief Executive 

Officer UAC of Nigeria PLC, 

“Each generation should 

be an improvement from 

the previous one and that 

the son of an okada rider 

(commercial motorcyclist) 

must not also end up as 

okada man. 

L-R: Hakeem Ogunniran, managing director, UPDC Plc; Godwin 

Samuel of Abibat Mogaji Secondary School, the Most Outstanding 

student; Olufolayimika Abiose Ayandele,Tutor General/Permanent 

Secretary, Educational District One, and John Gradidge, finance 

director, MDS Logistics at the closing ceremony of UAC Goodness 

League Free weekend classes in Lagos, recently. 

Presidential initiative: FG, C’River partner on agric/industrial development 

MIKE ABANG Calabar 

The Federal Government 

has agreed to 

partner with the 

Cross River State 

government to develop the 

agricultural sector and to 

help attract investors to the 

state, in accordance with 

the Presidential initiative 

on Niger-Delta Agricultural 

and Industrial development, 

says the Minister of Niger 

Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru 

Usani. 

The Minister, who 

flagged off the Presidential 

Initiative on Niger Delta 

Agricultural and Industrial 

Development in Calabar, 

said the Federal Government 

was working with 

states to ensure that the 

country moved away from 

dependence on oil. 

Usani, who appealed to 

investors to consider Cross 

River State for investment 

in the agricultural sector, assured 

that the government 

at the centre would work 

with the state to provide 

needed facilities which, according 

to him, will engender 

agricultural and industrial 

revolution. 

“We are ready to work 

with the state government 

Edo executes 57.82 km road networks in 11 months 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin 

Edo State government 

said it has so far constructed 

and rehabilitated 

a total of 

57.892 Kilometres of inter 

and intracity roads across 

the state in the last eleven 

months. 

Osahon Amiolemen, the 

state commissioner for Infrastructure 

made the disclosure 

during the presentation 

of the activities and achievements 

of his ministry to the 

State House of Assembly. 

Amiolemen, who said 

the roads spread across the 

three senatorial districts of 

the state , noted that they 

range from single to dual 

carriage lanes. 

He said the roads which 

connects communities, 

towns and villages were 

geared towards boosting the 

socio-economic activities of 

the communities. 

He also added that about 

255.623 Kilometres of roads 

were ongoing and at various 

stages of completion while 

67 roads have been designed 

and awaiting procurement 

to ensure that the agricultural 

sector is developed to 

the extent that investors will 

have value for their money. 

The Federal Government’s 

agricultural programme 

is yielding results and the 

country is exporting a number 

of agricultural products,” 

he said. 

The Minister assured 

the state government of 

his desire to help woo investors 

into the state, hoping 

that with the peaceful 

atmosphere prevailing in 

the state, investors will 

seize the opportunity to 

invest in various areas of 

the economy. 

processes. 

The commissioner however, 

attributed paucity of 

funds as a major constraint 

hindering the performance 

of the ministry in road construction. 

“We still have constrained 

in financing indebtedness. 

We have submitted 

some certificates. Some have 

been treated and some have 

not been paid. We are indebted 

in that way. Looking 

at the number of roads we 

are supposed to do with 

the budgetary provisions 

in 2017.

30 BD SUNDAY 



‘Dead assets’ in housing 

deficit environment 

The deficit in the 

Nigerian housing 

market has become 

a sing song which 

not many people are 

ready to listen to. But it amounts 

to double jeopardy for an environment 

where this deficit 

exists to also have many of its 

assets described as ‘dead’. 

Housing deficit has remained 

an intractable problem in Nigeria 

which the country suffers 

and will continue to suffer from 

in many years to come. It is a 

major housing problem in the 

country but the ‘dead assets’ 

are another level of problem 

often muted and it borders on 

the value of the few residential 

houses in the country estimated 

at only 13 million units. 

Analysts estimate that over 

90 percent of Nigeria’s total 

housing stock, which are largely 

self-built, are ‘dead assets’, meaning 

that they are not in any 

formal mortgage and therefore, 

equity cannot be built on them 

nor can they be used as collateral 

for bank loan. This is quite 

unhealthy in a country where 

housing is deficient relative to 

the huge demand. 

The housing sector in the 

country remains largely underdeveloped 

because government 

has failed to come up 

with the needed policy to grow 

the mortgage system which, 

in other economies, even in 

emerging economies like ours, 

drives housing development and 

homeownership. 

As a country of almost 180 

million people, homeownership 

is said to be a little above 10 percent 

as against 92 in Singapore, 

while the housing demandsupply 

gap is well over 17 million 

units, with Lagos, the country’s 

commercial nerve centre, accounting 

for about three million 

of the deficit. 

There is no functional mortgage 

system and experts explain 

that the reason for the slow 

growth of the system is because 

of its relative newness such that 

many people don’t even understand 

why they should save 

their money in mortgage banks. 

“Of the over 10 million housing 

units in Nigeria,10 percent of 

which is self-built, only about 5 

percent is in formal mortgage”, 

says Ajila Dare, a mortgage originator 

and adviser, adding, this 

means that, effectively, about 95 

percent of home equity/savings 

in residential developments are 

‘dead assets’. 

It is estimated that mortgage 

finance requirement for the 

country is over N50 trillion. 

Many residential developments 

were built or bought without 

recourse to mortgage due to the 

many constraints that have to be 

overcome in securing the facility 

from mortgage institutions. 

These constraints are regulatory, 

financial and operational. 

Land ownership and management 

is always encumbered 

by administrative difficulties, 

especially with the issuance of 

Governor’s Consent. Apart from 

poor land registry practices, 

compensation for land is based 

on ‘fair compensation’ which is 

in turn based on diverse interpretations. 

An overarching legal and 

regulatory framework for the 

housing industry is absent while 

limited access to long term funding; 

lengthy, rigid and ineffective 

foreclosure procedures; nonvibrancy 

of primary mortgage 

banks and low level of participation 

in the National Housing 

Fund (NHF) are some of the financial 

constraints buyers have 

to contend with. 

Talking Mortgage 

with 

CHUKA UROKO 

(08037156969, chukuroko@yahoo.com) 

Operational costs, manifest 

in high cost of housing developments 

such as building materials, 

land acquisition and transaction 

costs and reliance on expensive 

and conventional construction 

procedures coupled with inefficient 

land management and 

urban planning system also 

contribute to operational cost. 

Low level of infrastructure 

provision for housing units 

developed, skills shortage and 

insufficient capacity building 

are also part of the operational 

costs are issues that need to be 

addressed. 

Arguably, a major reason 

for the low mortgage facility 

for residential developments 

is mortgage operators’ demand 

for equity contribution as prerequisite 

for loan. But industry 

operators say such contribution 

is necessary for a number of 

reasons including the need to 

protect depositors’ money; need 

to hedge against default; lack of 

sound data-base on Nigerians 

among others. 

Equity contribution is as fundamental 

to mortgage lending as 

it is to regular flow of income and 

according to operators, banks 

usually demand this from loan 

seekers because there are institutional 

and regulatory developments 

that are still lacking in the 

industry. 

“We don’t have a sound database 

of Nigerians; the National 

ID Card is still struggling and 

foreclosure laws are still not 

strong”, says Toyin Banjo, a mortgage 

expert, arguing that if the 

banks had all the above issues 

resolved, they would give people 

mortgage based on their credit 

rating. 

According to him, as financial 

intermediators, it is the responsibility 

of mortgage banks to protect 

depositor’s money and for 

them to protect those deposits, 

they have to ask for something 

that would act as a back-up to 

the money they give out to borrowers. 

Property 

Logic 

With Akhigbe Dominic 

The Business of Real Estate 

has now taken center 

stage in every nook and 

cranny of our society 

discuss and undoubtedly so. This 

has to be, as Real Estate is done 

on a fixed factor called land while 

the demand for Real estate derivatives 

by man remains infinitely 

elastic. 

This week, am featuring my 

good friend, a maverick clergy 

The infinite value of Real Estate investment from the view of a respected gentleman 

who; out of love for his teaming 

congregation in particular and 

Nigerians in general resolved to 

share his experience with the 

awesome inherent returns in 

real estate. 

Paul Adefarasin on the Value 

of Real Estate Investment 

“One of the best places to buy 

land in the whole world, in fact 

the best place to buy land in the 

whole world, in terms of value is 

right here in Lagos Nigeria. The 

most expensive land in the world 

is right here in Ikoyi and Banana 

Island... 

That’s not conjecture, that’s 

fact, economic fact. Lagos is growing 

by 6000 people daily, that 

is nearly 2 million people every 

year. It means Land is becoming 

scarce, that is, if you buy land 

today, tomorrow your land will 

be worth very much money. 

You may not be able to afford 

Banana Island or Ikoyi right now, 

but please go and buy land somewhere 

quickly because God transfers 

wealth by giving you land. 

After a period of time after 

you’ve bought the land, He increases 

the value of the land, 

because you being on that land 

adds value to it, as a result, more 

people want to come. 

Anytime there is a major 

wealth transfer in the Bible, He 

gives the people He’s transferring 

wealth to, land. You have nothing 

in terrestrial terms unless you 

have land. 

My father bought land for 

something like £2000, nearly 50 

years ago on Victoria Island. It 

was Federal Government or Lagos 

State government allocation on 

Akin Adesola. 

From the revenue he generated 

from building the house for 

free, because G-Cappa built it for 

him for free and collected the 

rent for 5-10 years and that was 

the payment for the house. That 

house or the two houses he built 

there paid my education and my 

brother’s education in the finest 

schools in the world… 

After it paid for my education 

and generated revenue, my family 

decided they were going to 

liquidate the property and they 

liquidated it and the value that 

came to me in my equity was phenomenal, 

from £2000, 50 years 

ago. It provided for me nearly the 

value of a million dollars. 

You don’t know what land you 

buy today for peanuts that will 

be millions tomorrow for your 

children to inherit. 

With the city that is exploding 

so massively as far as population 

is concerned, today we are buying 

land and there is hardly any 

land to buy. 

Tomorrow we’ll be buying 

floors like they do in New York. 

What land costs today, floors 

will cost tomorrow and there 

will be 100 floors, 50 floors, and 

20 floors and if you own the land 

underneath those floors, you 

are multiplying wealth for your 

children. 

They will be kissing your 

photograph whilst you’ve been in 

the grave for 5 generations saying: 

“Oh we bless God for great, great, 

great, great grandpa” while your 

bones are rotten in Ikoyi cemetery 

and your spirit is dancing 

on streets of Gold… 

When you get land, it means 

God is securing your future, 

because real estate doesn’t just 

secure today, it secures tomorrow. 

My father bought land for 

nothing and it was not of much 

value then, but 50years later it’s 

worth billions. What you buy 

for millions today will be worth 

billions half a century from now, 

may be even less with the kind 

of population explosion that we 

have. Victoria Island: nobody 

wanted to buy land there, it 

was marsh, re-claimed land, but 

50years later that property with 

buildings on it is worth a billion. 

We bought for N25 million, 

10 years ago; House On the Rock 

bought just under 10 acres of 

property on the Lekki Peninsula 

for our worship site... today, 

without the brick and mortar on 

it, that land by the valuers is valued 

at N3 billion. In other words, 

we’ve created an asset base with 

10 years differential of N3 billion 

with just N25 million. When you 

put the building on it and is finished 

and furnished, they told me 

the value will be at least 10 billion 

naira today. What about 50 years 

from now? 

… Go and buy land and go and 

buy it quickly because without 

Land you are not really a power 

base.” 

As we say in the respected 

legal profession; a word is enough 

for the wise!


BD SUNDAY 

31 


Spiritonomics 

Death is living 

Debo Atiba 

www.spiritonomics.org 

There are some words 

that take away all the joy 

from a man’s heart when 

they hear it. One of such 

is the word “DEATH”. It connotes 

lifelessness, helplessness, hopelessness, 

forlornness. It brings sorrow 

and it takes beauty out of life. 

How many people will agree 

with me that death actually is 

the beauty of life? A life without 

death is a life not worth living. It 

is a life that is sour, tasteless and 

bitter. Such a life is valueless, drab 

and uninteresting. The design of 

God for us is to find life in death. 

We may never enjoy the beauty 

that the Word of God has for us 

except we die. 

“Unless a grain of wheat falls 

into the earth and dies, it remains 

just a single grain; but if it dies, it 

bears much fruit (John 12:24)”, our 

fruitfulness in any area of our lives 

is a function of death to unfruitful- 

ness. At every point in time in our 

lives for us to move from one stage 

to another stage it requires some 

form of death. Poverty has to die 

to attain prosperity; illiteracy has 

to die to attain literacy. Sickness 

has to die for health to surface. To 

function in faith, fear has to die. In 

order to live life to the full, there 

has to be several deaths in different 

aspects of our lives, which we 

may not be conscious of when 

they are taking place. 

Our perception in life truly 

determines our outcome in life. 

If death is perceived wrongly, we 

would get wrong results which 

would end up in death the way we 

all know it. Our definition of death 

must be redefined in the light of 

the finished work of Jesus on the 

cross of Calvary. 

When we walk in this light 

that “Death is Living”, then we 

stop being afraid and it no longer 

has any clutch over us. The fear 

of it loses its grip on us. The only 

known enemies that have held 

us in bondage all through our 

lives is Death and Fear. This duo 

has so much grip on mankind 

that it prevents from accessing 

the beauty of life in death. Inside 

each word spoken by God, lies life 

and the benefits of life. It takes 

the discerning and the spiritually 

intelligent to come to term with 

this truth. Jesus Christ said “the 

word that I speak unto you are 

Spirit and life’’ (Jn.6:63). However, 

the fear of death prevents us from 

harnessing the truth in the spoken 

WORD. 

If you are not ready to lay your 

life down in death you can never 

succeed in business as designed 

by God. Every patriarch that ever 

did exploits and was celebrated 

was a person that was familiar 

with the beauty of life in death. 

In order for the seed promised 

to Abraham by God to come 

into existence, he celebrated and 

relished death( … he considered 

his own body not being dead, 

neither the deadness of Sarah’s 

womb, against hope he believed 

in hope- in death he believed in 

life and fully persuaded that life 

could come out of death….) 

Same for his son Isaac, who was 

ready to die believing God’s words 

that his seeds would multiply in 

famine. And because of this belief 

system brought about by the spoken 

WORD of God, he recorded 

unprecedented result in business 

that stupefied the entire country 

at his time. All of this is as a function 

of readiness to die for what 

God said. Planting in famine was 

like a suicide mission, while others 

were fleeing. 

If you are not ready to lay your 

life down to take God at His word 

by dying to your senses, you can 

never work in divine health. It 

is only when the WORD of God 

has become your life and you are 

ready to die for the truth in the 

word of God that says “…by His 

stripes you were healed”, that is 

when you are truly beginning 

to live. 

You must take your stand on 

the WORD even with disease 

and sickness ravaging your body, 

and symptoms screaming loudly 

in your ear that you are going to 

die. You’ve got to be ready to die 

before you can LIVE under such 

a circumstance. It is only people 

that are dead that can truly live 

because they have lost their fear 

of death and have lost their fear of 

fear itself.(Hebrew 2:14-15). 

There was neither help nor 

hope for Shadrach, Meshach, 

Abednego and Daniel. The only 

option they had was death and 

they went for it and they lived. 

Many times in our lives and businesses 

we would be confronted 

with situations that look like 

death and circumstances of destruction. 

However, it is our interpretation 

of the circumstance and 

understanding of the beauty of 

life in death that makes for living. 

We know for sure it may look like 

death but resident inside that situation 

is life, and life in abundance. 

If death was not present Jesus 

would not have spoken about the 

LIFE He brought (Jn. 10:10). 

If you are not dead you cannot 

live when the economy is crashing, 

the pillars that are supposed 

to hold the world together seem 

to be collapsing and fear seems 

to be the order of the day. You 

cannot claim to be living when 

the fear of death has paralyzed 

you. Life is not worth living under 

such a condition because, you are 

already dead, and it’s just that you 

do not know. I believe recognizing 

the beauty that is in death as expatiated 

and appropriating it makes 

for true living. Not embracing this 

truth and living in fear has killed 

you already. 

Every truth written in the 

word of God remains on the pages 

of the Bible alone and are ineffective, 

until we are ready to die 

(to dare to believe them and act 

on them even when the circumstances 

are contrary) otherwise 

we may never birth the life that 

they possess. Beloved, scriptures 

says “oh death where is your 

sting… (1 Cor. 15:55)” As you stare 

death in the face whether in your 

business or career (through sack 

letter), remember resident in that 

situation is life that Jesus brought. 

Remain Blessed 

Stanbic IBTC Bank appoints Essien to its Board of Directors 

Dangote, Ovia, Ezeh, others for IoD Fellows’ Award 

Stanbic IBTC Bank, a member 

of Stanbic IBTC Holdings 

PLC, has announced 

the appointment of Mrs. 

Miannaya Aja Essien, a Senior 

Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), to its 

Board of Directors as an Independent 

Non-Executive Director. 

Her appointment took effect 

from Wednesday, September 27, 

2017 following the receipt of all 

required regulatory approvals. 

Essien, a Fellow of the Chartered 

Institute of Arbitrators as 

well as a Notary Public, is the 

Managing Partner and cofounder 

of Principles Law Partnership, 

a firm of legal practitioners, 

arbitrators and notaries public 

with offices in Port Harcourt 

and Lagos. 

Her appointment, according 

to the Chief Executive Stanbic 

IBTC Bank, Demola Sogunle, is 

expected to strengthen the board 

as the institution implements its 

growth strategy, while reiterating 

Stanbic IBTC’s commitment 

to continually entrenching the 

highest standards of good corporate 

governance practices and 

to ensure that the interests of all 

its stakeholders are well served. 

“We are honoured to have 

Essien join the board of Stanbic 

IBTC Bank. Her wealth of 

knowledge and experience in 

business and commercial law 

and the protection of shareholders’ 

rights will provide unique 

insights in our deliberations and 

add impetus to our strategic focus 

on building a great institution 

Miannaya Aja Essien 

that everyone will be proud of,” 

Demola stated. 

An alumnus of the Universities 

of Nigeria, Nsukka and Lagos, 

Essien obtained her LLB (Hons) 

and LLM, respectively in 1984 

and 1991. She was called to the 

Nigerian Bar in August 1985. As 

counsel, the Learned Senior Advocate 

leads complex corporate 

and commercial dispute resolution 

matters in Nigeria and internationally 

across the oil and gas, 

banking and insurance sectors. 

She also acts as sole arbitrator, 

panel member or as chairman of 

various arbitral panels. 

Stanbic IBTC Bank is a member 

of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, 

a full service financial services 

group with a clear focus on three 

main business pillars - Corporate 

and Investment Banking, Personal 

and Business Banking and 

Wealth Management. Stanbic 

IBTC belongs to the Standard 

Bank Group, the largest African 

financial institution by assets. It 

is rooted in Africa with strategic 

representation in 20 countries 

on the African continent. Standard 

Bank is focused on building 

first-class, on-the-ground 

financial services institutions in 

chosen countries in Africa; and 

connecting selected emerging 

markets to Africa by applying 

sector expertise, particularly in 

natural resources, power and 

infrastructure 

Seyi John Salau 

The President of the 

Dangote Group, Aliko 

Dangote; Chairman, Zenith 

Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, 

Chairman, John Holt, Christopher 

Ezeh top the list of 41 eminent 

professionals and business 

leaders to be conferred with 

Fellowship Awards at the 2017 

Fellows’ investiture of the Institute 

of Directors (IoD) Nigeria on 

Thursday 26 October, in Lagos. 

Dele Alimi, director general/ 

CEO of the Institute, in a statement 

said the Fellowship Award 

is for members with a minimum 

of 10 years directorship experience 

in reputable organisations 

and have distinguished themselves 

over the years, both in the 

activities of the institute and the 

country at large. 

According to him, the event 

will feature Chidi Izuwah, acting 

director-general, Infrastructure 

Concession Regulatory Commission 

(ICRC) as the Guest Speaker, 

on the topic ‘Infrastructure Development 

as a Means to National 

Growth’. 

Speaking further on the investiture, 

Alimi said a major 

highlight at the event is the conferment 

of Distinguished Fellow 

Award on some past Presidents 

of the Institute, Eniola Fadayomi, 

chairman, Africa Prudential Registrars 

and Samuel Yemi Akeju, 

CEO, De LaRue Systems Centre, 

Dangote 

Godwin Emefiele, Governor, 

Central Bank of Nigeria and 

Justin Emmanuel, Chairman, 

Thorbourn Investment Ltd. 

The DG/CEO added that the 

aim of the Awards is to raise 

awareness on the significant 

role and contribution of business 

leaders, public office holders and 

corporate entities in bringing 

about economic prosperity to 

the society. 

Among those to be upgraded 

as fellows of the institute are Ifie 

Sekibo, MD/CEO, Heritage Bank, 

Oyetunji Oyebanji, Chairman, 

Mobil Oil Nigeria, Bello Mahmud, 

Registrar General, Corporate Affairs 

Commission, Umaru Ibrahim, 

MD/CEO, Nigeria Deposit 

Insurance Corporation (NDIC), 

Olusegun Omosehin, MD/CEO, 

Mutual Benefit Assurance Plc; 

and Ambrose Feese, Director, 

First Bank Nigeria among others.

32 BD SUNDAY 



Food & 

Beverages 

With 

Ayo Oyoze Baje 

Ideas 

Nwaodu Lawrence 

Chukwuemeka 

IDEAS Exchange 

Consulting, Lagos. 

email - nwaodu. 

lawrence@hotmail.co.uk 

Cell: 07066375847. 

Redistribution’s Violent 

History:World War II 

devastated the economic 

infrastructures of Germany 

and Japan. It flattened their 

factories, reduced their rail yards 

to rubble, and eviscerated their 

harbors. But in the decades that 

followed, something puzzling happened: 

the economies of Germany 

and Japan grew faster than those 

of the United States, the United 

Kingdom, and France. Why did 

the vanquished outperform the 

victorious? 

In his 1982 book, The Rise and 

decline of Nations, the economist 

Mancur Olson answered that question 

by arguing that rather than 

handicapping the economies of the 

Axis powers, catastrophic defeat 

World Food Day and the Dangote initiative 

The choice of the theme 

for the World Food 

Day, 2017 which was 

celebrated on October 

16: ‘Change the future 

of migration. Invest in food security 

and rural development’ could 

not have been better. Globally, 

the world is in a constant flux. 

According to a statement from 

the United Nations Organisation 

(UNO), more people have been 

forced to flee their homes now 

than at any time since the Second 

World War. This is due to 

increased wave of conflicts and 

political instability. Responsible 

for this, in specific terms are factors 

such as hunger, poverty and 

an increase in extreme weather 

events linked to climate change. 

For us in Nigeria, the theme 

is a wakeup call to governments, 

politicians, the private sector and 

NGOs to rise up and stem the tide 

of migration. As at 2016, the number 

of people in the North-East axis 

displaced by Boko Haram since 

2010 had rocketed to more than 2.1 

million, affecting 300,000 households. 

This is according to the 

International Organization for Migration 

(IOM). The Geneva-based 

inter-governmental organisation 

revised its previous estimate of 

1.3 million a year before and attributed 

the surge in displaced 

populations to intensified attacks 

by the Boko Haram insurgents. 

Comparatively, about 40percent 

more people have been displaced 

throughout Borno State 

(1.4 million) than the number of 

migrants that reached Europe 

by boat back in 2015 (1 million). 

“Across the region, the war against 

Boko Haram has forced more 

people from their homes – 2.6 

million – than there are Syrians 

in Turkey, the country that hosts 

more refugees than any other”. Of 

the world’s 17 million displaced Africans, 

93.7percent remain inside 

the continent, and just 3.3percent 

have reached Europe, according to 

UN data supplied privately to the 

Guardian. 

There is little doubt that the 

current large movements of people 

are presenting complex challenges. 

This calls for global action. “Many 

migrants arrive in developing 

countries, creating tensions where 

resources are already scarce, but 

the majority, about 763 million, 

move within their own countries 

rather than abroad”. 

These challenges have led to 

an upshot in food crisis that the 

UN warns might see hundreds of 

thousands die from famine in the 

next few years. So, what should we 

What kills inequality – Part 1 

actually benefited them, by opening 

up space for competition and innovation. 

In both Germany and Japan, 

he observed, the war destroyed 

special-interest groups, including 

economic cartels, labor unions, and 

professional associations. Gone were 

Germany’s partisan unions and 

Japan’s family-controlled conglomerates; 

the U.S. Teamsters, the United 

Kingdom’s Society of Engineers, 

and France’s Federation of Building 

Industries all survived. 

A generation after the war, only 

a quarter of West Germany’s professional 

associations dated back to 

the prewar era, whereas a full half 

of the United Kingdom’s did. Olson’s 

findings had a disturbing implication: 

in politically stable countries, 

narrow coalitions of business lobbies 

hold back economic growth 

through self-serving policies, and 

only a major military defeat or a 

grisly revolution can overcome the 

resulting inefficiencies. 

Back when Olson was writing, 

few economists cared about 

economic inequality in advanced 

countries; unemployment and 

sluggish investment were the problems 

of the day. To the extent that 

experts did focus on inequality 

within countries, they did so with 

respect to the late industrialisers, 

where migration from poor villages 

to richer cities was accentuating 

income disparities. Even there, 

however, inequality was considered 

a temporary side effect of 

development; the economist Simon 

Kuznets argued that it dissipated 

with modernisation. 

Had Olson considered inequality, 

he might have noticed that 

World War II had two other curious 

economic consequences. First, the 

devastation reduced inequality— 

not just in the defeated countries 

but also in the victorious countries, 

and even in neutral ones. Second, 

these reductions proved temporary. 

Around the 1970s, developed 

economies started becoming less 

and less equal, defying Kuznets’ 

celebrated hypothesis. 

Such puzzles lie at the heart of 

The Great Leveler, an impressive 

new book by the historian Walter 

Scheidel. Scheidel proposes that 

ever since foraging gave way to 

agriculture, high and rising inequality 

has been the norm in politically 

stable and economically functional 

countries. And the only thing that 

has reduced it, he argues, has been 

some sort of violent shock—a major 

conflict such as World War II 

or else a revolution, state collapse, 

or a pandemic. After each such 

shock, he writes, “the gap between 

the haves and the have-nots had 

shrunk, sometimes dramatically.” 

Alas, the effect was invariably short 

lived, and the restoration of stability 

initiated a new period of rising 

inequality. 

Today, the risk of violent shocks 

has fallen considerably. Nuclear 

deterrence has made great-power 

be doing to salvage an already bad 

situation that has food insecurity 

staring millions of Nigeria on the 

face? 

Experts advise that since threequarters 

of the extreme poor 

people base their livelihoods on 

agriculture or other rural activities 

favourable conditions that allow 

should be provided .This concerns 

especially the youth, for them to 

stay at home when they feel it is 

safe to do so. This is a crucial component 

of any sustainable plan to 

tackle the migration challenge. 

It is in this wise that one applauds 

the recent move by Aliko 

Dangote, Africa’s richest man, to 

establish rice farms and engage 

the youths in agriculture. The company 

is currently preparing to hit 

the market with one million metric 

tons of Dangote rice in 2018. The 

Dangote Youth Rice Farm project, 

mainly an out-grower scheme for 

youths only, was flagged off at the 

Lower Niger River Basin Authority, 

Kampe, Ejiba in Yagba West Local 

Government Area of the state 

where youths have embarked on 

rice cultivation over 100 hectares 

of land. 

The rice farm project, which 

was preceded by a special training 

for the youth farmers on the dynamics 

of rice farming, will see the 

youths cultivating the rice paddy 

on 100 hectares of land, which 

will then be bought over by the 

company for processing. Under the 

scheme, the Dangote Rice Company 

provides the seedling, anti-pestchemicals, 

and fertilizers while the 

Basin Authority provides the land 

for the young farmers. 

We need more of such initiatives 

in other sub sectors of the 

economy. Rural development has 

the capacity to address factors 

that compel young people to move 

by creating business opportunities 

and jobs for them. They may 

not only be crop-based (such as 

small dairy or poultry production, 

food processing or horticulture 

enterprises). These can also lead 

to increased food security, more 

resilient livelihoods and better 

access to social protection. Others 

include reduced conflict over 

natural resources and solutions to 

environmental degradation as well 

as climate change. 

Besides, the Nigerian government 

can benefit from the FAO as 

it is working with governments, 

UN agencies, the private sector, 

civil society and local communities, 

to generate evidence on 

migration patterns. It is building 

countries’ capacities to drastically 

reduce migration through rural 

development policies. Such moves 

would explore the developmental 

potential of migration, especially 

in terms of food security and 

poverty reduction. There should 

be transparency in the conduct of 

funds made available to them. All 

these would add to the progress in 

achieving the Sustainable Development 

Goals. 

For Nigeria, if the restructuring 

clamour comes into being, states 

could be allowed to control their 

resources and could be asked to 

pay a certain percentage of between 

25 to 30 percent of their revenue 

as tax to the centre. Also, laws 

should be enacted and enforced to 

give the needed autonomy to the 

local government administration. 

war unthinkable, the decline of 

communism has rendered wealthleveling 

revolutions unlikely, powerful 

government institutions have 

staved off the risk of state collapse 

in the developed world, and modern 

medicine has kept pandemics 

at bay. However welcome such 

changes may be, Scheidel says, they 

cast “serious doubt on the feasibility 

of future leveling.” Indeed, he expects 

economic inequality to keep 

rising for the foreseeable future. 

The Great Leveler should set off 

loud alarm bells. Scheidel is right to 

call on the world’s elites to find ways 

to equalize opportunities, and to do 

so before driverless cars, automated 

stores, and other technological 

advances complicate the task. A 

humanoid robot works side by side 

with employees in the assembly 

line at a factory in Kazo, north of 

Tokyo, Japan. The bloody history 

he recounts suggests that reducing 

inequality will be difficult, even in 

the best of circumstances. But he 

also exaggerates his case; there are 

reasons to believe that societies 

can reform without an instigating 

catastrophe. 

The march of inequality 

Jumping across civilisations 

and eras, The Great Leveler finds 

example after example of periods 

of rising inequality punctuated by 

cataclysmic events that suddenly 

flattened distributions of income 

and wealth. The range of evidence 

is breathtaking. Scheidel tracks the 

It would bring governance closer 

to the people. 

With that in place, povertyalleviation 

programmes would 

impact more positively on the 

Human Development Index (HDI) 

of the people at the grassroots. For 

instance, fanciful sounding initiatives 

such as DFRRI, the Family 

Support Programme (FSP) during 

the military era and others such as 

NAPEP, the Youth Empowerment 

Scheme (YES), the Rural Infrastructural 

Development Scheme (RIDS) 

and NEEDS under our democratic 

dispensation all failed. But why? 

They collapsed because they were 

far removed from the intended 

beneficiaries. And some were 

used as mere conduit pipe for selfenrichment. 

Another means of alleviating 

poverty is for the richest Nigerians 

to borrow a fresh leaf from 

the laudable Giving Pledge initiative 

of 38 American billionaires. 

Inspired by Warren Buffet, back 

in August 2010 they decided, on 

their volition to channel at least 50 

percent of their enormous wealth 

to charitable causes in less developed 

countries. Our billionaire, 

prosperity-preaching pastors and 

prophets should also join the fray. 

Above all, our political helmsmen 

should realise that true leadership 

entails finding solutions 

to existing problems, against all 

odds; not giving flimsy excuses for 

successive failures of programmes 

and policies. The time to act is now! 

Baje is Nigerian first Food 

Technologist in the media 

distribution of wealth between 

6000 BC and 4000 BC through indications 

of physical well-being, such 

as skeletal height and the incidence 

of dental lesions; signs of conspicuous 

consumption, such as lavish 

burials; and evidence of entrenched 

hierarchies, such as temples. 

He estimates inequality in the 

Roman Empire by looking at the 

assets of top officials and influential 

families, as reported in censuses. He 

measures Ottoman inequality by 

turning to records of estate settlements 

and official expropriations. 

For premodern China, fluctuations 

over time in the number of tomb 

epitaphs, which only the rich could 

afford, serve as a proxy for the 

shifting concentration of wealth. 

Specialists in particular eras and 

regions will undoubtedly quibble 

with some of Scheidel’s assumptions, 

inferences, and computations. 

But no reasonable reader will fail 

to be convinced that inequality 

has waxed and waned across time 

and space. 

Scheidel also seeks to explain 

what causes inequality. Thomas 

Piketty, in his best-selling Capital 

in the Twenty-first Century; answered 

the question by arguing 

that the rate of return on investment 

generally exceeds the rate of 

economic growth, causing people 

with capital to get even wealthier 

than everyone else. Scheidel accepts 

this mechanism but adds 

others.


BD SUNDAY 

33 

BrandsOnSunday 

SPOTLIGHTING BRAND VALUE 

Nigeria’s pay Tv market inspiring as 

Kwese enters with promises 

… Operators introduce more innovations to delight consumers 

Stories by Daniel Obi 

Undeterred of 

dominant 

players in the 

Nigeria’s pay 

TV market, 

Kwese TV, which is being 

driven by Econet Media, 

a subsidiary company of 

the globally networked 

Econet Group founded by 

Executive Chairman, Strive 

Masiyiwa of Zimbabwe, has 

entered Nigerian market. 

Created for Sub-Saharan 

African audiences, 

Kwese TV is coming with 

the niche in entertainment 

and sports. The launch of 

Kwesé TV brings the very 

best in premium entertainment, 

international and 

African series and movies, 

award-winning children’s 

entertainment channels, 

up to-the-minute news and 

a diverse mix of exclusive 

channels for the entire family 

to enjoy. 

Aware of the competitive 

Nigerian pay TV 

market, the owners of the 

TV said “We are excited to 

launch our dynamic content 

business in Nigeria, 

a market that we know is 

hungry for a compelling alternative 

pay TV network. 

“At Kwesé we pride ourselves 

in having selected a 

strong general entertainment 

and sports programming 

line-up which we 

believe will be well received 

by viewers of all 

ages – kids, young adults, 

men and women, alike,” said 

Elizabeth Amkpa, General 

Manager Kwesé TV Nigeria. 

“Our business is premised 

on the concept of TV 

anywhere .This means we 

have made our premium 

content easily accessible 

across a number of platforms 

namely linear TV, 

mobile and digital platforms, 

providing unlimited viewing 

options for our subscribers.” 

“With Kwesé, content is 

not only accessible through 

our multi-platform service, 

but also through a revolutionary 

payment model. We 

have pioneered ‘pay-as-youwatch’ 

subscription packages 

for premium programming 

which enables consumers 

to purchase three 

and seven days subscriptions 

at N990 and N1,850 

respectively, as well as a 30 

day subscription option for 

only N6,275,” added Amkpa. 

Subscribing to Kwesé 

TV is as simple as visiting 

a Kwesé branded store and 

purchasing a satellite dish 

and decoder combo for 

N10,960 inclusive of installation. 

What’s more, your 

first month’s (30 day) subscription 

to Kwesé TV’s full 

entertainment and sports 

bouquet is free! After expiration 

of this free 30 day 

pass, Kwesé audiences can 

continue to enjoy exceptional 

quality programming 

at an affordable price of just 

N6,275 per 30 day pass. 

The full Kwesé TV bouquet 

offers over 65 channels 

of pure entertainment with 

well-known international 

channels such as CNN International, 

DreamWorks, 

DTX, ESPN, VICELAND, 

Diddy’s REVOLT TV and 

home-grown channels such 

as Channels TV, TVC News 

and NTA. 

Kwesé also prides itself 

in being the exclusive 

broadcast partner of the National 

Basketball Association 

(NBA) in sub-Saharan 

Africa. Sport lovers can 

look forward to live action, 

weekly previews and highlights 

from the NBA, international 

boxing (including 

exclusive coverage of all 

Anthony Joshua fights), 

IAAF World Championships 

and the National Football 

League among other 

sports, on Kwesé Sports 1, 

Kwesé Sports 2 and Kwesé 

Seamfix unveils Bioregistra solution for data management 

Seamfix, Nigeria’s 

foremost provider of 

identity management 

solutions, has unveiled 

BioRegistra, an innovative 

data capture and data management 

platform. 

BioRegistra is a state of 

the art platform developed 

for individuals, corporates 

and government, among 

others to assist them capture 

data, store the data, and have 

access to the data at any time 

as they may desire. 

The platform allows a 

fully automated process that 

guarantees seamless execution 

of all KYC business processes, 

thus enabling faster 

customer on-boarding and 

increasing customer satisfaction. 

Speaking during the 

launch, Chimezie Emewulu, 

Managing Director of Seamfix 

said BioRegistra was conceptualized 

to deal with the 

challenge of managing data. 

According to him “Our 

major challenge in Nigeria 

is gathering needed data for 

accurate needs and assessment. 

With BioRegistra, this 

challenge is history. The platform 

can be used to capture 

all forms of data – animate or 

inanimate”. 

Emewulu stated that Bio- 

Registra comes with several 

benefits which enhance operational 

excellence. “Bio- 

Registra offers several benefits 

to the user. It prevents 

fraudulent data capture. The 

Intelligent quarantine engine 

is designed to detect fraudulent 

and fictitious records 

L-R: Charles Onyeze, agency dept., Knight Frank; Barrister Emeka Nnubia; Abby Osoba, Agile Adviser; Chibuzor 

Onwurah, executive director; Chimezie Emewulu, managing director; both from Seamfix Nigeria Limited; Mr. 

Erhabor Ehondor, partner, Knight Frank; Olamide Ajah, head, Service Delivery, Seamfix; and Mike Ogbolu, 

managing director, Mobile Financial Services at Interswitch at the launch of BioRegistra by Seamfix Nigeria 

Limited, on Tuesday, October 17, 2017 at Four Point by Sheraton, Oniru, Lagos State. 

Free Sports which was first 

introduced to Nigerian audiences 

in earlier this year. 

Kwesé Free Sports is Africa’s 

largest and first Pan-African 

free-to-air TV channel 

available in 25 countries 

providing premium sporting 

content to sports fans 

for free. 

The brand owners said 

the channel holds exclusive 

free-to-air rights to the 2018 

FIFA World Cup Russia and 

the Premier League. 

Recently, Telecom Satellite 

Tv, TStv which is ready 

for official launch on November 

1, announced its 

entry into the Nigeria’s pay 

TV market with promises to 

also offer Nigerians pay- asyou- 

go service. 

The entry of more Pay 

TV is creating innovations 

in the pay TV industry by 

operators to attract audience. 

There has been introduction 

of more bouquet, 

adjusting of monthly 

charging fees and sharing of 

premium channels contents 

with less charged bouquets. 

The consumers who have 

been clamouring for pay as 

you go service are anxiously 

waiting for the commencement 

of broadcast by the 

latest operators. 

However, what would 

differentiate the channels in 

the long run is quality content, 

according to analysts. 

and prevent them from being 

processed. In terms of 

security, the captured data 

is hosted on a world class, 

secure, reliable and trusted 

cloud service so you have no 

reason to worry about information 

safety”, he explained. 

The platform also provides 

data validation and alltime 

accessibility from any 

part of the world. He further 

called on government and 

companies to start making 

data-driven decisions for 

improved efficiency. 

“We want government 

and companies to start making 

data-driven decisions and 

this cannot happen if data is 

still locked in files and paper 

archives. Traditionally in 

Nigeria, we fill paper-based 

forms in loads of situations 

when we are applying for 

different things from our 

letter of identification at the 

local government areas to 

affidavits at courts to even 

marriage registry. 

Nigerian Breweries 

enhances businesses 

through Goldberg’s 

initiative 

Nigerian Breweries 

Plc has enhanced 

businesses with 

grants in Osun 

and Ekiti States through 

Goldberg’s Isedowo empowerment 

initiative, which 

will also be extended to 

other Southwest states. 

Beneficiaries of Isedowo, 

according to a statement 

have affirmed that 

the scheme has indeed 

provided them huge relief 

from financial challenges 

hitherto faced in expanding 

their businesses. 

So far, 32 artisans and 

small scale business operators 

have been supported 

with N300,000 each by 

Isedowo in Osun and Ekiti 

States, while the project continues 

in other Southwest 

States. In all, Goldberg will 

support 100 entrepreneurs 

through Isedowo across the 

Yoruba speaking states, the 

statement said. 

Ojo Adeosun, a fashion 

designer who was delighted 

after receiving the 

grant, said the N300,000 

was a huge relieve from 

financial challenges as it 

helped him in purchasing 

a new sewing machine 

he had always required 

to expand his business. 

He disclosed that he also 

started selling fabrics and 

now has three apprentices 

working with him. 

Kayode Tope Ogunro, 

a photo/videographer, disclosed 

that he had almost 

concluded arrangement 

to buy a camera and video 

lights from a friend in Lagos 

and intended to open a 

studio with the grant from 

Isedowo. He said he would 

also employ an assistant to 

further expand his business. 

Ogunro advised other 

entrepreneurs to come up 

with good business ideas 

with positive impacts on 

the society. 

Ayodele Adebalogun, an 

aluminium fabricator, said 

Isedowo provided a relief 

from the daunting struggle 

to raise capital. He disclosed 

that he participated in the 

scheme with his wife, who 

is a caterer, but the judges 

did not deem her proposal 

fit enough for selection. He 

added that after buying a 

new cutting machine for 

his work, he supported his 

wife’s business with parts 

of the grant. 

“My old cutting machine 

was faulty and Isedowo was 

there for me when l needed 

assistance to replace it.

C002D5556 

34 BD SUNDAY 


Arts 

‘Art X Lagos 2017 will deepen Nigeria’s 

connection to the contemporary art’ 

Riding on the success and world class execution of the maiden edition of ART X Lagos; the biggest art expo in Nigeria, Tokini Peterside, founder of the art fair, speaks to Obinna 

Emelike on impacts of the fair on the Nigerian and African art sector, innovations/expectations for the 2017 edition and efforts at ensuring world class execution this year. 

Why the project? 

There are phenomenally 

talented people 

in this country, across 

the various segment 

of the culture sector; music, art, film, 

fashion, among others, there are so 

many young Nigerians who are aspiring 

to express their creativity. And so, 

we created Art X Lagos to support the 

visual art sector, to make it clear that 

visual art is an important component 

of the creative industry. 

The main aim is that we wanted to 

magnify and multiply the patronage of 

artists across Nigeria and Africa and to 

inspire the next generation of artists. 

We want Art X Lagos to be a platform 

that will shine its spotlight on the industry 

that shines its spotlight on the various 

players in the industry: the artists, 

the galleries and also encourages local 

collectors of art and local art institutions 

to support the arts. 

Do you think last year’s Art X Lagos 

lived up to expectations? 

We are excited that we were able 

to bring about 5,000 people to our 

maiden edition last year. These were 

mix of people from schools, universities, 

researchers, writers, collectors, and 

corporates circles. 

It was great for us to see an environment 

in which it was not just the 

art collectors, though collectors were 

there because without them the work 

will not sell. 

There was also a very rich audience 

of people who came to be educated and 

got the experience. 

What are the innovations and expectations 

this year? 

This year, we are back with the art 

fair. This year, we have 14 galleries 

showcasing the works of artists from 15 

countries across the world and over 60 

artists participating. We are excited to 

have a broader diversity of artists and 

galleries. Last year we had them from 

Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Mali. 

This year we have in addition to those 

four countries, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, 

Senegal and the UK. So, we have expanded 

the diversity and the countries. 

We are also excited about the diversity 

in our currated programmes; we have a 

series of curated projects through which we 

intended to give our audience a much more 

enriching perspective this year. 

Starting with Ben Enwonwu who many 

people do not know, was born exactly 

100 years ago. This is his 100th birthday. 

Currently in a UK museum, there has just 

been a massive conference on the work of 

Ben Enwonwu as a pioneer modern artist 

from Africa. This year, we are excited that 

we will have opportunity to celebrate Ben 

Enwonwu given that this is his landmark 

anniversary because Access Bank; our gold 

sponsor, is allowing us to be the platform 

that will show for the first time ever to the 

Nigerian public seven sculptures he made 

in 1960. He made them in the UK for the 

Daily Mirror Newspaper, but they were 

eventually lost along the way for years. 

They resurfaced at auction and Access 

Bank bought them about four-five years 

ago. Since then, they have been at Access 

Bank head office and are incredible and 

Tokini Peterside 

phenomenal. These works have not been 

seen by the public, so for the first time, the 

public will see them at Art X Lagos. We 

will get many young people who are not 

familiar with the works of Ben Enwonwu 

(even though they should be) to experience 

some of the finest works of art created by 

Nigerian masters decades ago. 

Another area where we are also excited 

is Festac 77. As we know Festac was held 

40 years ago. We will be having a panel 

discussion that will look into the significance 

of Festac, the legacy, why nothing in 

that magnitude has happened since then, 

among others. We have Chimurenga, a 

pan African platform coming to discus 

and make a presentation. They have been 

researching on Festac for several years and 

will be publishing a large book on Festac 

this year. They will be coming to spark up 

the conversation on what is happening in 

the art sector in Nigeria and Africa and 

how to reignite that momentum that was 

experience in 1977 across Africa. 

As well, it is 20 years since Fela Anikulapo 

Kuti passed on. So, we are working 

with Lemi Ghariokwu in a special exhibitions 

showing the album covers he did for 

Fela and many of his untitled works that 

have not been seen. 

In addition to that, and to also continue 

to inspire the audience, we have a number 

of talk sessions this year. Peju Alatishe will 

be speaking alongside a Senegalese curator, 

and a Nigerian performing artiste among 

others will be featuring in the sessions to 

discus contemporary issues. 

Njideka Akunyili will be speaking at 

the fair as well. She is not up to 35, but has 

garnered some of the biggest awards and 

recognitions in the global art sector. Last 

year, she sold her work for $100,000 and 

this year, she sold for $3 million. Last year, 

she was named by Financial Times as one of 

their Women of the Year. Last two weeks, 

she was awarded the MacArthur Grant 

worth over $600,000 to further pursue 

her dream. She is a very inspiring woman 

and we want to open up her experience to 

a very vast audience who can listen to her 

when she comes. 

We also want to encourage young artists 

and talents, especially those who may 

not be invited by galleries for shows like 

Olatunde Alara a young 25 years old artist 

who has recently been awarded the Art X 

Absolut Commission. Absolut Vodka does 

a lot of big things with artists around the 

world and they told us that they wanted 

to consider a number of young artists to 

speak on social issues that concern them. 

About four of them put in proposals and at 

the end Alara’s proposal sailed through for 

the fact that the discussion is a taboo in the 

Nigerian and West African society. So, we 

awarded him the commission, so he will 

be producing a big installation at the fair. 

It is exciting for us to give our platform 

to young artists. For young artists who 

are younger than him, we have the ‘ART 

X Prize sponsored by Access Bank for the 

most promising young artist each year. We 

have narrowed down to the top eight semi 

finalists, the votes are coming in from social 

media and our judges will choose the top 4, 

while the winner will be announced on the 

closing day of the fair. 

We have our art and music shows because 

we recognize that there are a lot of 

similarities between art and music in terms 

of creative process and thinking. We invite 

a small number of young musicians to come 

and create a live project while working with 

our live artists. Absolut is also sponsoring 

this as well. 

How has sponsorship been so far for 

the fair? 

We have many fantastic sponsors this 

year. Last year, we had four sponsors. This 

year, we have 10 sponsors .They include; 

Access Bank (Gold Sponsor); Absolut (Silver 

Sponsor); Stanbic IBTC Pensions, Seven Up 

and Anap Jets (Bronze Sponsors); Chapel 

Hill Denham, Lufthansa, Metro Capital, 

Leadway Assurance (Sponsors), Ford Foundation 

and other valued partners. 

The Ford Foundation is coming onboard 

this year to work with us on bringing what 

we called the diversity programmes in Art 

X Lagos. We are inviting university professors 

from Nsukka, Zaria, Port Harcourt to 

come, experience and get in-tune with findings 

they will take back to their students. 

We are also working with Ford Foundation 

to bring students to the fair. The Ford 

Foundation will be sponsoring the talks by 

Peju Alatise as well. Lufthansa, the German 

airline is supporting us with tickets because 

we have a number of speakers. We are 

grateful with the growing sponsors. It was 

a bit of challenge last year because we have 

not proven ourselves then. Last year when 

we sought for funding, some corporates 

said they are waiting to see what we are 

going to do and how to come in. So, the aim 

is each year we grow, chose themes and 

subject matters that will resonate with the 

broad audience, we want many people to 

come to Art X Lagos to experience the best 

art of our generation. We look forward to 

the democratization of art and we want 

many people to experience it. 

What is the theme of this year’s edition? 

We have a theme for the curator projects 

and the talks. But they are connected 

to the various anniversaries that I mentioned. 

It is also connected to materiality; 

another curator project you will see at the 

fair. It either the artists speak about day to 

day matters or using day to day materials 

to tell the stories. It is not an easy theme to 

describe. We look at the artists we wanted 

to work with and the connecting trend. 

What informs your choice of artists 

that participate in the fair? 

The truth is that there will always be 

skeptics in everything you do. The truth 

is that we approached people who have 

open mindset to work with us. We are not 

able to work with everyone, so we invited 

certain artists to work with us. Majority of 

the artists we invited accepted to come, we 

did not encounter any artist who turned us 

down. Those who we approached and could 

not make noted that they were not going to 

be in the country during the fair. 

We are very fortunate with the support 

so far from our artists. But also many 

forward thinking artists recognize that that 

Art X Lagos is a catalyst for the industry 

and they are proud of what we are doing. 

If there is any complain that should be that 

the platform is not big enough to take all of 

them at once. 

Is art more appreciated now in Nigeria? 

Nigerian art is appreciating in value as 

much as African art at large. The appreciation 

of art by Nigerians is also growing. 

Nigerians love creativity, so visual is 

now presented to them in a way they 

can access it, it is becoming a lifestyle and 

enjoyable now. Art exhibitions are happening 

more often now than before and 

the intrigue is that many young people are 

attending these exhibitions and not being 

afraid they will not be able to buy works as 

was the case before now. 

The art houses are now introducing 

affordable art auctions. There many collections 

of young people collaborating 

in exhibitions now than before. As well 

corporate appreciation is growing. Many 

corporates are building their art collections, 

supporting arts through CSR works, Access 

Bank is a big one, they are supporting us in a 

big way, Leadway Assurance, also have art 

collection they are working on, but there is 

still a lot of room to grow.

C002D5556 

34 BD SUNDAY 


Arts 

‘Art X Lagos 2017 will deepen Nigeria’s 

connection to the contemporary art’ 

Riding on the success and world class execution of the maiden edition of ART X Lagos; the biggest art expo in Nigeria, Tokini Peterside, founder of the art fair, speaks to Obinna 

Emelike on impacts of the fair on the Nigerian and African art sector, innovations/expectations for the 2017 edition and efforts at ensuring world class execution this year. 

Why the project? 

There are phenomenally 

talented people 

in this country, across 

the various segment 

of the culture sector; music, art, film, 

fashion, among others, there are so 

many young Nigerians who are aspiring 

to express their creativity. And so, 

we created Art X Lagos to support the 

visual art sector, to make it clear that 

visual art is an important component 

of the creative industry. 

The main aim is that we wanted to 

magnify and multiply the patronage of 

artists across Nigeria and Africa and to 

inspire the next generation of artists. 

We want Art X Lagos to be a platform 

that will shine its spotlight on the industry 

that shines its spotlight on the various 

players in the industry: the artists, 

the galleries and also encourages local 

collectors of art and local art institutions 

to support the arts. 

Do you think last year’s Art X Lagos 

lived up to expectations? 

We are excited that we were able 

to bring about 5,000 people to our 

maiden edition last year. These were 

mix of people from schools, universities, 

researchers, writers, collectors, and 

corporates circles. 

It was great for us to see an environment 

in which it was not just the 

art collectors, though collectors were 

there because without them the work 

will not sell. 

There was also a very rich audience 

of people who came to be educated and 

got the experience. 

What are the innovations and expectations 

this year? 

This year, we are back with the art 

fair. This year, we have 14 galleries 

showcasing the works of artists from 15 

countries across the world and over 60 

artists participating. We are excited to 

have a broader diversity of artists and 

galleries. Last year we had them from 

Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Mali. 

This year we have in addition to those 

four countries, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, 

Senegal and the UK. So, we have expanded 

the diversity and the countries. 

We are also excited about the diversity 

in our currated programmes; we have a 

series of curated projects through which we 

intended to give our audience a much more 

enriching perspective this year. 

Starting with Ben Enwonwu who many 

people do not know, was born exactly 

100 years ago. This is his 100th birthday. 

Currently in a UK museum, there has just 

been a massive conference on the work of 

Ben Enwonwu as a pioneer modern artist 

from Africa. This year, we are excited that 

we will have opportunity to celebrate Ben 

Enwonwu given that this is his landmark 

anniversary because Access Bank; our gold 

sponsor, is allowing us to be the platform 

that will show for the first time ever to the 

Nigerian public seven sculptures he made 

in 1960. He made them in the UK for the 

Daily Mirror Newspaper, but they were 

eventually lost along the way for years. 

They resurfaced at auction and Access 

Bank bought them about four-five years 

ago. Since then, they have been at Access 

Bank head office and are incredible and 

Tokini Peterside 

phenomenal. These works have not been 

seen by the public, so for the first time, the 

public will see them at Art X Lagos. We 

will get many young people who are not 

familiar with the works of Ben Enwonwu 

(even though they should be) to experience 

some of the finest works of art created by 

Nigerian masters decades ago. 

Another area where we are also excited 

is Festac 77. As we know Festac was held 

40 years ago. We will be having a panel 

discussion that will look into the significance 

of Festac, the legacy, why nothing in 

that magnitude has happened since then, 

among others. We have Chimurenga, a 

pan African platform coming to discus 

and make a presentation. They have been 

researching on Festac for several years and 

will be publishing a large book on Festac 

this year. They will be coming to spark up 

the conversation on what is happening in 

the art sector in Nigeria and Africa and 

how to reignite that momentum that was 

experience in 1977 across Africa. 

As well, it is 20 years since Fela Anikulapo 

Kuti passed on. So, we are working 

with Lemi Ghariokwu in a special exhibitions 

showing the album covers he did for 

Fela and many of his untitled works that 

have not been seen. 

In addition to that, and to also continue 

to inspire the audience, we have a number 

of talk sessions this year. Peju Alatishe will 

be speaking alongside a Senegalese curator, 

and a Nigerian performing artiste among 

others will be featuring in the sessions to 

discus contemporary issues. 

Njideka Akunyili will be speaking at 

the fair as well. She is not up to 35, but has 

garnered some of the biggest awards and 

recognitions in the global art sector. Last 

year, she sold her work for $100,000 and 

this year, she sold for $3 million. Last year, 

she was named by Financial Times as one of 

their Women of the Year. Last two weeks, 

she was awarded the MacArthur Grant 

worth over $600,000 to further pursue 

her dream. She is a very inspiring woman 

and we want to open up her experience to 

a very vast audience who can listen to her 

when she comes. 

We also want to encourage young artists 

and talents, especially those who may 

not be invited by galleries for shows like 

Olatunde Alara a young 25 years old artist 

who has recently been awarded the Art X 

Absolut Commission. Absolut Vodka does 

a lot of big things with artists around the 

world and they told us that they wanted 

to consider a number of young artists to 

speak on social issues that concern them. 

About four of them put in proposals and at 

the end Alara’s proposal sailed through for 

the fact that the discussion is a taboo in the 

Nigerian and West African society. So, we 

awarded him the commission, so he will 

be producing a big installation at the fair. 

It is exciting for us to give our platform 

to young artists. For young artists who 

are younger than him, we have the ‘ART 

X Prize sponsored by Access Bank for the 

most promising young artist each year. We 

have narrowed down to the top eight semi 

finalists, the votes are coming in from social 

media and our judges will choose the top 4, 

while the winner will be announced on the 

closing day of the fair. 

We have our art and music shows because 

we recognize that there are a lot of 

similarities between art and music in terms 

of creative process and thinking. We invite 

a small number of young musicians to come 

and create a live project while working with 

our live artists. Absolut is also sponsoring 

this as well. 

How has sponsorship been so far for 

the fair? 

We have many fantastic sponsors this 

year. Last year, we had four sponsors. This 

year, we have 10 sponsors .They include; 

Access Bank (Gold Sponsor); Absolut (Silver 

Sponsor); Stanbic IBTC Pensions, Seven Up 

and Anap Jets (Bronze Sponsors); Chapel 

Hill Denham, Lufthansa, Metro Capital, 

Leadway Assurance (Sponsors), Ford Foundation 

and other valued partners. 

The Ford Foundation is coming onboard 

this year to work with us on bringing what 

we called the diversity programmes in Art 

X Lagos. We are inviting university professors 

from Nsukka, Zaria, Port Harcourt to 

come, experience and get in-tune with findings 

they will take back to their students. 

We are also working with Ford Foundation 

to bring students to the fair. The Ford 

Foundation will be sponsoring the talks by 

Peju Alatise as well. Lufthansa, the German 

airline is supporting us with tickets because 

we have a number of speakers. We are 

grateful with the growing sponsors. It was 

a bit of challenge last year because we have 

not proven ourselves then. Last year when 

we sought for funding, some corporates 

said they are waiting to see what we are 

going to do and how to come in. So, the aim 

is each year we grow, chose themes and 

subject matters that will resonate with the 

broad audience, we want many people to 

come to Art X Lagos to experience the best 

art of our generation. We look forward to 

the democratization of art and we want 

many people to experience it. 

What is the theme of this year’s edition? 

We have a theme for the curator projects 

and the talks. But they are connected 

to the various anniversaries that I mentioned. 

It is also connected to materiality; 

another curator project you will see at the 

fair. It either the artists speak about day to 

day matters or using day to day materials 

to tell the stories. It is not an easy theme to 

describe. We look at the artists we wanted 

to work with and the connecting trend. 

What informs your choice of artists 

that participate in the fair? 

The truth is that there will always be 

skeptics in everything you do. The truth 

is that we approached people who have 

open mindset to work with us. We are not 

able to work with everyone, so we invited 

certain artists to work with us. Majority of 

the artists we invited accepted to come, we 

did not encounter any artist who turned us 

down. Those who we approached and could 

not make noted that they were not going to 

be in the country during the fair. 

We are very fortunate with the support 

so far from our artists. But also many 

forward thinking artists recognize that that 

Art X Lagos is a catalyst for the industry 

and they are proud of what we are doing. 

If there is any complain that should be that 

the platform is not big enough to take all of 

them at once. 

Is art more appreciated now in Nigeria? 

Nigerian art is appreciating in value as 

much as African art at large. The appreciation 

of art by Nigerians is also growing. 

Nigerians love creativity, so visual is 

now presented to them in a way they 

can access it, it is becoming a lifestyle and 

enjoyable now. Art exhibitions are happening 

more often now than before and 

the intrigue is that many young people are 

attending these exhibitions and not being 

afraid they will not be able to buy works as 

was the case before now. 

The art houses are now introducing 

affordable art auctions. There many collections 

of young people collaborating 

in exhibitions now than before. As well 

corporate appreciation is growing. Many 

corporates are building their art collections, 

supporting arts through CSR works, Access 

Bank is a big one, they are supporting us in a 

big way, Leadway Assurance, also have art 

collection they are working on, but there is 

still a lot of room to grow.


QMA debuts Moremi 

the Musical 

C002D5556 

BD SUNDAY 35 

Arts 

As the grand finale of 

Queen Moremi Ajasoro 

(QMA) 2017 gathers momentum, 

the organisers 

of the yearly cultural 

beauty pageant have announced the 

debut of Moremi The Musical, as part 

of events to make the grand presentation 

a colourful and entertaining one. 

Billed for December 3, 2017 at the 

Oriental Hotel, Lagos, a statement released 

by the Ambassador of Moremi 

Legacy, Princess Ronke Ademiluiyi, 

revealed that the musical show with be 

headlined by tested names as Gbenga 

Yusuf, the director of the debutant 

show. 

Yusuf is notable for producing 

Flower The Musical and the dance 

director of Wakaa and Saro the musicals. 

Also featuring as choreographer 

is Victor Phullu as the dance instructor. 

Phullu has successfully managed 

eight seasons of Maltina Dance Hall 

competition. 

The musical feature will tell in 

a moving manner the story of the 

legendary Queen Moremi, a Princess 

from Offa who was married to Oranmiyan, 

the ruler of Ile Ife. Through an 

act of bravery, selflessness and love 

for her people, Moremi dared death to 

save her people. 

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Eni- 

Heineken unveils Jidenna as host of Heineken’s 

Live Your Music parties in Abuja, Lagos 

International premium beer 

brand, Heineken has unveiled 

Nigerian-American artiste, 

Jidenna as host of the 2017 Live 

Your Music parties set to hold in 

Abuja and Lagos on October 27 

and 28, 2017 respectively. 

This was announced by Franco 

Maria Maggi, the Marketing 

Director, Nigerian Breweries 

Plc, at a press cocktail event for 

the Heineken Lagos Fashion and 

Design Week (HLFDW) recently. 

Heineken Live Your Music, 

a global Heineken music 

platform built on the collective 

passion of consumers for experiencing 

music was a memorable 

experience last year, then hosted 

by T-Pain and top Nigerian Hypeman 

Do2dtun. This year promises 

to be even more exciting. 

Speaking during the announcement, 

Franco Maggi 

said, “We are excited to 

have Jidenna host the ultimate 

music experience - Heineken 

Live your Music this year. It’s 

a global platform that puts the 

spotlight on music fans as they 

share their experiences with 

others” 

The Heineken Live Your 

Music is scheduled to hold in 

Abuja on October 27, 2017 at 

the Transcorp Hilton Hotel and 

tan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, who is the brain 

behind the project stated that, “Moremi 

Ajasoro exhibited an unrivaled heroism 

in fighting for liberty and dedicated 

her life to the liberation of mankind 

by sacrificing her only child to free the 

people of Oodua land from the invasion 

of some faceless terrorists thousands of 

years ago”. 

He emphasised the reason for the 

project, which is to preserve and promote 

the legacies of the late queen. “Moremi 

remains an indelible new dawn of 

great awakening for the development of 

the Yoruba culture. This mission is very 

close to my heart and touches my global 

re-enactment of the Yorùbá culture.” 

QMA beauty pageant, which is in 

its second year, is on its final lap with 

auditioning set to hold this month. It 

showcases intelligent, culturally aware, 

strong and beautiful young ladies that 

exemplify the heroic attributes of 

Queen Moremi. 

The initiative also uses beauty to 

promote business ideas for economic 

growth and youth development among 

young ladies. Winner of this year’s 

edition will receive a cash prize of N5 

million to set up her own business; a 

brand new car; a wardrobe of designers’ 

outfits from leading fashion brands. She 

will also become a cultural ambassador 

to the Ooni of Ife. 

in Lagos on October 28, 2017 at 

the Eko Atlantic, Victoria Island. 

The Lagos party will also serve 

as the official afterparty of the 

Lagos Fashion and design week 

also sponsored by Heineken. 

With a roll call of top Nige- 

rian artistes and DJs, lights and 

special effects as well as the interactive 

music takeover sessions 

where attendees get to choose the 

music that plays, the Heineken 

Live Your Music party is surely 

going to be one not to miss. 

ROBAZ Entertainment will 

nurture talents-Asiotu 

Dubai based business 

mogul-cum-label 

owner, Phillip Robor 

Asiotu, has revealed 

that one of the main 

reasons that spurred him to float 

a record label was his drive to 

give talented up-and-coming 

artistes in the industry the opportunity 

to be heard, as well 

as help them fulfill their dreams 

in life. 

Asiotu further hinted that 

the new venture is not here to 

compete with anyone, but an accomplishment 

of his dream and 

love for music and entertainment 

in general. His decision to 

create this platform, in other to 

motivate the youths in the country 

to hone their skills, could be 

described as one of the reasons 

behind the new initiative. 

“The high rate of unemployment 

is quite alarming and unbearable, 

and I discovered that a 

lot of youths are jobless but with 

diverse talents, in music, acting, 

and other areas of entertainment. 

So I believe that if these 

youths are well nurtured they 

can make something meaningful 

out of their lives through 

music and other area of entertainment. 

This was why I came 

up with this platform, ROBAZ 

Entertainment, an entertainment 

outfit set to produce the 

best of talents and position them 

for the industry. The name of 

the label was coined out of my 

name Roberts,” he added. 

The Delta State-born businessman 

also highlighted that 

aside his wealth of experience 

in promoting talents, a wellstructured 

management and 

outfit has been put in place to 

make the initiative a force to be 

reckoned with. 

Asiotu, who believes in the 

prospect of the music and entertainment 

industry at large, 

suggested that stakeholders can 

improve right promotions, as 

well as charged agencies saddled 

with the responsibility of providing 

enabling environment 

for artistes to allow them reap 

from the fruits of their labours.

C002D5556 

36 BD SUNDAY 


Arts 

Shaydee set to release video of 

his new single Make Sense 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

Shadrach Adeboye Folarin 

popularly known as 

Shaydee is set to release 

the much anticipated video 

to his new hit single “Make 

Sense”, on October 23, 2017. 

His distinctly fine-tuned 

vocals and his innate ability 

to hit hard and tender notes 

seamlessly, has set him apart 

from his contemporaries and 

endeared him to fans with his 

well-received classic releases 

such as “Pon de Floor”, “Smile” 

and “High”. 

Shaydee who has collaborated 

with top acts in the 

Nigerian music industry such 

as; Seyi Shay and DJ Spinall, 

to name a few, recently joined 

the newly formed 506 Music 

record label. 506 Music 

brings with them a wealth 

of experience with top level 

signings including Somi Jones, 

a world class sound engineer 

and producer, who also has a 

publishing deal with highly 

acclaimed Sony. 

506 Music aims to build 

a global network of media 

creatives who are united 

with the singular goal of 

producing distinctive art 

forms that will go beyond 

and above the music industry 

standard and echo 

greatness that will be impossible 

to overlook. 

Shaydee continues to 

showcase his talent through 

his recently dropped new 

singles; “Koyewon”, “Hold 

me Tight” and “Make Sense” 

ft Wizkid, which have proved 

to be strong releases currently 

buzzing the airways on radio 

and parties across the country. 

With this new label, 

Shaydee comes back reborn, 

his new images show a total 

revamp; spotting an edgier 

more urban look after undergoing 

a complete rebrand, 

which makes him more trendy 

and fashionable. 

His new song “Make Sense”, 

which features Starboy, Wizkid 

shows that Shaydee intends 

ending the year 2017 

with a bang and has a lot of 

hits lined up and is for sure 

looking to start 2018 on a high. 

Shaydee under 506 Music 

is certainly going to make big 

waves in the not too distant 

future. Fans of Shaydee and 

lovers of good music in general 

should watch out and stay 

tuned to what the vocalist will 

be dropping soon as he paints 

colorful expressions with his 

melodious tunes. 

Guinness Nigeria Plc 

re-introduces ‘GN Party Serve’ 

Guinness Nigeria Plc reintroduces 

Nigeria’s pioneer 

drinks catering service, 

Party Serve. ‘GN Party Serve’ 

is Guinness Nigeria’s drinks catering 

service, designed to serve 

all events requiring drinks and 

drinks services, regardless of 

event scale or size. 

With Party Serve, the customer 

is welcome to a wide array of complimentary 

goods and services, 

including drinks, cooling services, 

a customized bar, and a team of experienced 

mixologists and hostesses. 

With Guinness Nigeria being 

the only truly total beverage 

company in Nigeria, working 

with Party Serve means that you 

have a one-stop access to the widest 

variety of beers, non-alcoholic 

beverages and premium spirits 

available anywhere – all from one 

house of true quality. 

Brands in Guinness Nigeria 

stables include Guinness Foreign 

Extra Stout, Malta Guinness, 

Orijin, Ciroc, Baileys, Johnnie 

Walker just to name a few. 

Upon contracting Party Serve, 

you are automatically inducted 

into the Guinness Nigeria loyalty 

scheme, with points earned 

that can win you an all-expense 

paid trip to international events 

management trainings. 

Speaking at the launch of 

Party Serve, Adenike Adebola, 

marketing and innovation director 

(Guinness & Spirits), remarked 

“We are very excited 

about Party Serve as it gives 

us additional opportunity to 

service our consumers directly. 

From party planning to execution, 

Party Serve will assure 

that the critical drinks service 

is professional, seamless and 

cost effective. We welcome everyone 

planning a party to take 

advantage of our special offers 

and unbeatable prices.” 

Party Serve is available to 

service social engagements, seminars, 

luncheons and other events 

immediately. 

L-R: Adenike Adebola, marketing and innovation director, Guinness Nigeria PLC; Christine 

Ogbeh, MD/CEO, Quorum West Africa, Viola Graham-Douglas, corporate relations director, 

Guinness Nigeria PLC, ; and Nnamdi Nnake, New Channel Development Manager, Guinness 

Nigeria PLC, during the Relaunch of GN Party Serve in Lagos. 

Nike Majekodunmi; CEO, Nuts Abouts Cakes; Lola Masha; Country Manager, OLX and Bolanle Austeen-Peters; Founder and Managing 

Director at Terra Kulture during OLX 5th Anniversary event at Terra Kulture. 

OLX celebrates five amazing years in Nigeria 

Leading Online Classifieds 

site OLX.com.ng recently 

clocked 5 years in an intimate 

gathering of different 

stakeholders including loyal 

OLX users and media partners 

at an exclusive event held at 

Terra Kulture Arena in Victoria 

Island. 

The celebration was held to 

appreciate all loyal OLX users, 

partners and staff who shared 

their OLX winning stories 

during the celebration. 

Speaking at the press event, 

Lola Masha, country manager, 

OLX, expressed her delight, at 

the achievements and milestones 

OLX has made in the 

last five years. “This would not 

have been possible without 

the support and trust of all our 

users, Government agencies, 

media and corporate partners”. 

Masha also added that, “A 

key part of our growth won’t 

have been possible without 

the commitment and passion 

of every single OLX team 

member” 

She further stated that, “As 

with every business, even 

though we have had our own 

fair share of challenges, we 

keep going strong and remain 

committed to helping Nigerians 

make win-win exchanges. 

We work hard everyday to 

consistently deliver our brand 

essence - ‘Everybody Wins’”. 

Also speaking at the event, 

Fifemayo Aiyesimoju, marketing 

manager, OLX, also said 

that “in commemoration of our 

5th Anniversary, OLX is giving 

away a quarter of a million 

naira throughout the month of 

October to reward our loyal users 

and fans. Users are implored 

to follow all our social media 

handles on www.facebook. 

com/OLXNigeria/, Twitter @ 

OLX_Nigeria and Instagram @ 

olxnigeria to stand a chance of 

winning”. 

The OLX Group operates 

a network of online trading 

platforms in over 40 countries. 

It builds market leading 

classifieds marketplaces that 

empower millions of people to 

buy, sell and create prosperity 

in local communities. 

With over 300 million 

monthly users worldwide, 

OLX Group makes it fast and 

easy to buy and sell almost anything 

online, such as household 

goods, phones, cars and houses.


BookReview 

BD SUNDAY 37 

Book Title: The Insider’s Guide to University Success 

Author: Kehinde Odeniyi 

Imprint: Lagos, Gihon Spring Associates, 2016 

Pagination: 160 

Reviewer: CHUKS OLUIGBO 

The road to academic success in 

tertiary institutions could be 

a tortuous one. It is a journey 

often saddled with numerous 

challenges and distractions. 

As such, any student who is not properly 

guided may, like someone in a blind alley, 

wander into avoidable and regrettable 

pitfalls. 

What Kehinde Odeniyi has done with 

‘The Insider’s Guide to University Success’ 

is that he has provided some sort 

of a roadmap, that direly-needed guide, 

through the tortuous journey to academic 

success. With this book, the author is 

literarily holding every student and prospective 

student by the hand and leading 

them, one step at a time, through the 

several rungs in the ladder of academic 

excellence. Any student who follows this 

lead will certainly never lose their way. 

In today’s world filled with all manner 

of noisy distractions that have been found 

to negatively affect students’ concentration 

and, by extension, academic performance, 

Odeniyi’s book is an invaluable 

asset that every student or prospective 

student who desires academic excellence 

must possess. 

It is not for nothing that the book is 

subtitled ‘How to Achieve Superior Performance 

in Tertiary Institutions’. As the 

author specifically states in his ‘Introduction 

to the First Edition’, the book “is about 

academic mentorship, guidance, advice 

and encouragement”. 

In line with this objective, the book 

adopts a graphic approach, showing 

rather than telling. In other words, it presents 

a practical, step-by-step approach to 

academic success in higher education. 

Presented in 23 chapters and in 160 

pages, the book, like a patient guide, takes 

the reader through the various critical 

stages in the journey to academic success. 

Some of the chapters include “Do What 

You Love”, “What Do You Want?”, “Networks 

Please”, “True Life Success Stories”, 

“Classroom Presence”, “Lecturer-Student 

Relationship”, “Apply Trained Effort”, “You 

Can Pass Any Examination”, “If You Fail”, 

“Start Something in School”, “Classmates, 

Course-mates and Grace Mates”, “The 

God-factor”, “The International Student”, 

and much more. 

Each of these 23 chapters reads like 

a personal letter to the reader, with the 

author at the beginning addressing the 

reader in very endearing terms, “Dear 

Success”, and ending every chapter in the 

same endearing, caring tone, “Yours Candidly, 

Uncle K.”, “Yours Truly, Uncle K.”, 

“Committed to you, Uncle K.”, and so on. 

One magical effect of this approach is that 

it makes the reader feel loved and cared 

for. The second is that being already ad- 

dressed as “Success” produces a positive, 

can-do mindset in the reader, who is then 

inspired and motivated to pick up the 

gauntlet of hard work, persistence and 

perspicacity and march on, undaunted, 

towards the abode of success. 

The chapter on “True Life Success Stories” 

(Chapter 5) shares real-life success 

stories of real people, “students...selected 

based on their outstanding academic 

success”, as the author puts it. “They were 

just like you; same age range, similar 

backgrounds and pursuing the same 

degrees as you,” he tells the reader. “After 

these stories, I want you to become more 

resolute and very determined to succeed.” 

While acknowledging the role God 

plays in the success story of any individual 

in Chapter 22 (“The God-factor”), 

the author, however, makes it abundantly 

clear that the God-factor “does not aid laziness” 

and it “does not overrule diligence”. 

It boils down to the old saying: heaven 

helps those who help themselves. 

And with the troubled socio-political 

systems plaguing many developing countries, 

including Nigeria, which necessitate 

overseas study – or better still, make it 

almost imperative – the 23rd and last 

chapter (“The International Student”) is 

indeed a timely intervention as it outlines 

most of the necessary information 

that a student aspiring to overseas study 

would need. 

As Prof B. B. Adeleke, former vicechancellor 

of Ladoke Akintola University 

of Technology, Ogbomoso, rightly 

says in his foreword to the first edition 

of the book, the author provides “somewhat 

a cross between a textbook, reference 

book, guidebook, a manual and 

an inspirational book to sensitise and 

guide students on how to achieve academic 

excellence at the undergraduate 

level”. In the current 10th anniversary 

edition, however, the author has gone 

beyond this point to completely revise 

and update the book with three additional 

chapters, making it relevant for 

post-graduate students as well. 

I daresay this is not one of those books 

written out of the blues, by people who 

know nothing about the topic they are 

discussing, like a carpenter trying to prescribe 

drugs for a sick patient. No. ‘The 

Insider’s Guide to University Success’ is 

written out of experience, from an expert, 

insider perspective, by someone who 

has seen it all – or most of it. Odeniyi, a 

university lecturer and personal development 

coach who has been an outstanding 

student in his entire academic journey, is 

perhaps one of the best qualified to write 

a book of this nature. And he is still succeeding. 

What he shares in this book are 

his secrets to that outstanding success. 

And there’s been a deluge of testimonies, 

from those who have read the first 

edition of the book released in 2006, necessitating 

that five pages of the current 

edition are dedicated to these “praises for 

the first edition”. For instance, there is 

Kemi Deji-Bolarin of Travelport, London, 

who suggests that the book “should be 

taught as a level 1 course in every higher 

institution” as such “will create the solid 

foundation required to achieve success in 

every aspect of life”. Perhaps most importantly, 

however, is the testimony of Sikiru 

Akeem Babatunde, a first class graduate 

of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, 

Ogbomoso, who says about the book, 

“I read it and applied all the lessons I learnt 

in the book and just like magic I made 5.0 

out of 5.0 GPA for that session.” 

One beautiful thing about this well-researched, 

creative, insightful, informative 

and highly resourceful book is that it is 

quite straight-forward, devoid of needless 

ambiguities. The diction is very accessible, 

the approach conversational, making it 

possible for the conscious reader to feel 

the invisible hand of the author guiding 

him/her along the way. 

Another beautiful thing is that there 

is a motivational quote opening each 

chapter. These nuggets go a long way in 

instilling and sustaining positive attitudes 

in the willing student. But not only students 

and prospective students, but even 

teachers, guidance counsellors, parents, 

and members of the general public who 

sincerely seek knowledge, will find this 

book relevant. 

There is no better to conclude this 

review than to quote Prof O. J. Alamu, 

former vice-chancellor of Osun State University, 

Osogbo, who says in the foreword 

to the 10th anniversary edition of the 

book, “The Insider’s Guide to University 

Success deserves the widest publicity and 

it should be compulsory reading for everyone 

contemplating higher education. 

Parents should get their children a copy. 

Students keen to succeed should have 

personal copies and everyone who reads 

this masterpiece should be kind enough 

to pass it on.” I cannot but agree. 

Older generations of Nigerian students 

may have missed out on this book – perhaps 

some of them would have done better 

had this book been available to them. 

The current generation has Odeniyi to 

thank for this timely intervention. 

Editor’s note: We welcome intelligent review of Nigerian/ international authors by interested writers. send your reviews to bdsundayletter@businessdayonline.com


C002D5556 

SUNDAY 

BD 

39 

Women’sWorld 

It’s time to make streets safer for women 

MABEL DIMMA 

How do you feel as 

a female, when a 

male walks up to 

you in the dark of 

the night requesting 

to talk to you against your 

will, and follows you as you 

briskly walk to shake him off? 

Most times, such actions throws 

the victim into a state of panic 

and fear; not knowing what the 

man may do next. Sometimes, 

the scenario is different, but 

the feeling of intimidation is 

the same. 

While shopping in major 

markets in the different cities 

in Nigeria, like Balogun Market 

in Lagos Island; ladies are often 

jeered at, insulted, catcalled or 

pulled against their will, and 

manhandled, in the name of 

seeking patronage by the male 

traders and all the ladies usually 

do is to hurry away. Any retort 

she makes to her harasser is 

met with strings of insults and 

abuse. She has no choice than to 

fight off the unwarranted attack 

and go home, because of course, 

in Nigeria, to be touched, held, 

fondled or catcalled by a male 

stranger is not an offence. 

So, it is not surprising that Lagos 

is in the news again and this 

10 fitness facts you need to know 

CHINWE OBINWANNE 

The decision to live a 

healthy and fit lifestyle 

is one that is put to the 

test every single day. To win, 

you have to keep remembering 

why you are doing 

it. Whether or not you’ve 

decided to make fitness a lifestyle, 

here are some facts that 

can give you greater insight 

into fitness. 

Walking is great for your 

heart: Your heart is not only 

meant for love, it is meant to 

keep you alive. As little as the 

heart is, an unexpected attack 

on it can mean the collapse of 

the entire body, so caring for 

your heart keeps you in great 

health. One way to do that 

is by brisk walking; studies 

have suggested that walking 

at a brisk pace for three 

or more hours a week can 

reduce your risk of coronary 

heart disease by 65percent. 

Now isn’t that a reason to 

start walking? 

Don’t be sedentary: About 

25percent of women are 

sedentary- a major cause of 

obesity. After age 44, about 

30percent of women are sedentary, 

and by age 65, the proportion 

increases to almost 

35percent. By the time they 

reach age 75, about 50percent 

of all women are sedentary. 

Regular exercise: Did you 

time as the 8th Most 

Dangerous Megacity 

for Women in a report, 

which has Thompson 

Reuters Foundation as 

its source. 

The manner of harassment 

and intimidation 

of girls and women 

is not peculiar to Nigeria, 

but while Nigeria 

is docile about protecting 

its citizens, other 

countries are working 

to ensure through legislation 

that their streets become safer 

for their citizens. 

For instance, in just the last 

decade, several cities and countries, 

including Belgium and 

know that only about 25percent 

of Nigerian adults engage 

in regular, sustained 

physical activity for at least 

30 minutes five times a week? 

Even more, only about 15percent 

exercise both regularly 

and vigorously. Where do 

you fall in? Don’t forget that 

small time spent exercising 

is better than no time spent 

exercising. 

Age and fitness: No matter 

your age and fitness level, as 

long as your doctor has certified 

you fit, you can begin 

an exercise routine. Even a 

90-year-old woman can start 

exercising because exercise 

benefits all regardless of age 

or gender. 

Daily exercise: Simply adding 

movement into your daily 

routine can increase your 

level of fitness. For example, 

if you park in the last row 

of the parking lot and walk 

briskly five minutes each 

way to your destination and 

back to your car, walk up and 

down the stairs at your office 

during your 10-minute lunch 

or coffee break. 

Also do a 10-minute workout 

session when you get 

home, you’ve gotten an accumulated 

30 minutes of exercise 

for that day. This means 

that you really don’t have to 

sweat it out for a straight 30 

minutes to one hour to really 

Peru, passed laws to criminalize 

street harassment because, according 

to reports, international 

groups like Hollaback! And UN 

Women have raised awareness 

of its prevalence and harms. 

The matter of women harassment 

in public places has once 

again surfaced and this time in 

France, with Marlene Schiappa, 

France’s secretary for gender 

equality under President Emmanuel 

Macron, championing 

the cause. She has a novel idea: 

Public spaces should be safer 

for women and girls and so, a 

legislation that would criminalize 

sexual harassment in 

the streets. 

Schiappa, who wants to 

tackle these sexiest male attitudes 

in public spaces headlong, 

says the streets of Paris 

can be intimidating, threatening, 

and dangerous for women, 

who deal with unwanted comments 

and obscene gestures, 

as well as, being followed and 

sometimes even groped. Harassers, 

she argues, should be 

fined the French equivalent of 

US$1,000 on the spot. 

According to her, it is completely 

necessary because at 

the moment street harassment 

is not defined in the law and 

that the law is due to be voted 

on next year. 

About the difficulty of 

drawing a line between harassment 

and flirtation, Schiappa 

says, “We know very 

well at what point we start 

ponents: your body’s ability 

to use oxygen as a source of 

energy, which translates into 

cardiovascular fitness; muscular 

strength and endurance; 

flexibility; and body 

composition. 

Balanced exercise program: 

To deal with all the 

components of fitness, an 

exercise program needs to 

include aerobic exercise, 

which is a continuous repetitive 

movement of large 

muscle groups that raises 

feeling intimidated, unsafe or 

harassed in the street.” 

She cited examples such as 

when a man invades a woman’s 

personal space – “by talking 

to you 10, 20 centimetres 

from your face” – or follows 

a woman for several blocks, 

or “asks for your number 17 

times”. 

A cross-party taskforce 

composed of five MPs have 

been asked to work with police 

and magistrates to come up 

with a definition of harassment 

that can be enforced by 

officers in the street. 

Responding to the proposed 

ban on social media, some respondents 

said, “French policemen 

are the worst harassers, 

who think they could possibly 

enforce that?” Again, that is 

the sad story of many of their 

Nigerian counterparts. 

Meanwhile, reports have it 

that the escalating scandal over 

Hollywood producer Harvey 

Weinstein’s alleged sexual assaults 

on a string of actresses 

has rekindled debate on sexual 

harassment in France. Now that 

France has brought this topic 

back up, there is hope that other 

countries in the world will be 

equally outraged enough to do 

the needful. 

get your workout in. 

Arthritis and movement: 

Research shows that women 

with heart disease or arthritis 

actually experience 

improved daily function 

from involvement in various 

modes of physical activity. 

If you’ve been diagnosed 

with arthritis, you need to 

get moving. Staying active 

will help ward off pain and 

stiffness. 

Fitness components: Fitness 

consists of four comyour 

heart rate; weight lifting 

or strength training; 

and flexibility exercises or 

stretching. 

Walking vs jogging: 

Walking at a brisk pace (a 

15-minute mile or 4 mph) 

burns almost as many calories 

as jogging for the same 

distance. The benefit of jogging 

is that it takes less time 

to cover the same distance 

and it benefits the bones; 

however, it may be too strenuous 

for some. 

A brisk walk outdoors 

or on a treadmill can burn 

the same calories as jogging. 

So don’t feel so guilty next 

time you go for a road walk 

with friends and they keep 

jogging while you follow up 

with a brisk walk. 

Workout results: While 

most of us expect miracles after 

a few days of exercising, 

it takes about 12 weeks after 

starting an exercise program 

to see measurable changes in 

your body. However, before 

12 weeks, you will notice an 

increase in your strength and 

endurance. 

Obinwanne is the CEO of 

NAIJAFITMOMS, an online 

fitness and healthy outfit, 

which specialises on encouraging 

mothers to lead a 

healthy eating lifestyle.

C002D5556 

40 BD SUNDAY 

Travel 


‘We do not take the Nigerian market for granted’ 

With three hotels, the Oak Plaza Hotel Group is pushing the frontiers of indigenous hospitality brand in Ghana. The group is also extending 

its campaign across the West African region and beyond to woo tourists and businesses from the region to experience its exciting 

offerings, and spend money within the region. In one of such strategic marketing campaigns at the Akwaaba African Travel Market, which 

held in Lagos last September, Semira Anku, sales & marketing manager, Oak Plaza Hotel-East Airport, Accra, speaks to Obinna Emelike 

on the hotel group’s innovations, new developments, exciting product/facility offering, clientele among other issues. Excerpts 

How focused 

are you on 

building an 

indigenous 

brand with 

Oak Plaza Hotel? 

We are excited with the 

success of Oak Plaza Hotel. 

So far, it has been tremendous. 

Visitors and Ghanaians 

all know the Oak 

Plaza Hotel brand. A few 

years ago, we resolved to 

build an indigenous brand 

rather than relying on a 

franchise brand because 

our management believes 

that as Africans, we can do 

it. We are looking forward 

to people buying the Oak 

Plaza Hotel brand even in 

Nigeria, Benin Republic and 

all other places we hope to 

expand to. So far, the efforts 

at doing our own thing have 

been fruitful. Currently, we 

won Best Three-Star Hotel 

award continuously for two 

years in Accra. This year, 

we are yet to see who will 

win it, it has been very good, 

and the feedback is good. 

But there are more rooms 

for improvement because if 

you are fighting with a giant 

then you have to be ready. 

But we believe that as part 

of our mission, we want to 

expand in Africa and then 

gradually we can go into the 

international market as well. 

Does your sustained marketing 

campaign in Nigeria 

suggest how big the clientele 

from the country is? 

The Nigerian market is 

very important to our hotel 

business because we get a 

lot of business from Nigeria. 

We do not take the Nigerian 

market for granted because 

we get about 47 percent of 

our clients from Nigeria. The 

figure is quite high. This is 

made possible with the help 

of everybody. We have good 

working relationship with 

Nigerians and the media 

has been very helpful. But 

I think everybody has been 

highly supportive. We have 

corporate clients and those 

who do business with us as 

well from Ghana. Obviously, 

the high patronage and repeat 

visits by our Nigerian 

clients are because we take 

very good care of them. For 

instance, after the Akwaaba 

Semia Anku, marketing and sales manager, Oak Plaza Hotel Accra 2 

fair in Lagos, I am going for 

sales scores. I do not just 

come for the fairs and leave; 

I am going to be visiting a 

lot of companies before going 

back to Ghana. It is part 

of the efforts from us at the 

sales department to build the 

market. 

What category of guests 

are your Nigerian clients? 

We get both business and 

leisure guests from Nigeria. 

However, we get more of the 

business because we get a lot 

of corporate clients who do 

business with us. I was just 

looking at a list of Nigerians 

that come to us and I see a lot 

of companies. We do a lot of 

business and we do leisure 

as well. But it also depends 

on the season. For instance, 

Christmas is coming and 

obviously Oak Plaza has a 

special rate for families who 

want to come and do Christmas. 

So, you will see a lot of 

families coming in during 

this time and even during 

Easter period. 

For guests who desire to 

know, what is the rating of 

Oak Plaza Hotel? 

Oak Plaza Hotel is a threestar 

hotel, but we pride ourselves 

in giving four and 

five-star services. When you 

go online you can review us 

on TripAdvisor and others 

platforms. On these platforms, 

you will read things 

like very clean rooms, and 

friendly staff. When you 

come to Oak Plaza you will 

feel that touch of personalized 

offering and that is 

what keeps us going because 

everybody now claims to be 

nice. 

As well, this personal 

touch is what you do not 

get in the bigger brands. 

They are big, they do not do 

personalised service, but we 

have people who even wake 

up in the morning as early 

as 6am just to speak to our 

clients to ask them, are you 

okay?, did you sleep well?, 

do you need anything or do 

you have anything I need 

to do for you?, and all that. 

So, that personal life style 

we give in our hotel, which 

other brands do not have, is 

the reason why we get a lot 

of clients. 

How big is the Oak Plaza 

brand in Ghana? 

We are big and growing 

even bigger. At present, we 

have three properties in 

Ghana. But very soon, the 

hotel is likely moving into 

building more apartments, 

and that is why we have the 

first apartment, which is the 

Oak Plaza Suites; which is 

more of the luxurious apartments. 

So that is the focus 

now. We are going to help 

improve the current hotel 

and gradually expand into 

building of apartments. 

We opened East Legon in 

2003 and we opened East 

Airport in 2009. For the Oak 

Plaza Suite, we are officially 

going to do the soft opening 

soon. Oak Plaza Suite should 

be available for everybody 

from the end of September 

upwards. 

We have 82 rooms in our 

East Airport hotel, 12 rooms 

in our East Legon hotel and 

20 rooms in Oak Plaza Suite, 

which is the luxurious apartment 

though some of them 

are one-bedroom suites, and 

two-bedroom suites. 

Is Nigeria the niche market 

you are trying to capture 

now? 

Yes, off course. We have 

some clients who come on a 

very long stay. But we provide 

everything that adds to 

the experience of our long 

staying guests because if 

you are in the hotel and you 

cannot have a kitchenette 

where you can cook, boil 

or do little little things for 

yourself, it will be boring. 

So if you have a client 

staying for a long time, you 

rather suggest they go into 

apartments or residences. 

But that does not mean we 

focus our attention on our 

long staying guests, we have 

guest who stay with us for 

three months, four months, 

because we have that homely 

feel. 

Of course, our staff relate 

with you in a very homely 

way. As a result of that, 

some guests are happy to 

stay with us for a long time. 

We even have clients staying 

with us for six months, 

eight months and all that, 

but they are happy.


BD SUNDAY 41 

Allure of the 

blue lake 

Travel 

OBINNA EMELIKE 

Wh e n 

Chukwudifu 

Akune 

Oputa 

(late retired justice of the 

Supreme Court) was once 

asked why he chose to relocate 

to the village after 

being exposed to sophisticated 

cities, he replied 

rhetorically: “Do you call 

this a village?’’ “I don’t think 

so. Life is most serene and 

peaceful here”. 

Then, the people around 

him laughed over it, yet a 

visit to Oguta, the hometown 

of the late chairman of 

the famous Human Rights 

Abuse Investigation Panel 

(Oputa Panel), is worth the 

time and stress. 

About 45 minutes drive 

from Owerri, the Imo State 

capital, and 27 kilometers 

on the ever-busy Owerri- 

Onitsha Expressway from 

Mgbidi junction, takes one 

far into the heart of Oguta. 

The town is full of history, 

prominence and nature. 

The first impression that 

strikes first-time visitors 

is the sprawling mansions 

along the major roads that 

speak volume of the wealth 

in the land. 

But beyond the beautiful 

mansions, ‘Oguide’, the 

Oguta Wonder Lake is a 

reason to visit. 

Spanning over 18 kilometres 

of shoreline, the lake 

is the second largest fresh 

water lake in the country 

after Lake Chad. 

Void of brine, smarting 

in the eyes and harmful 

creatures, the lake caresses 

visitors’ eyes with its 

pleasing view, while the 

evergreen environs ooze 

out fresh breeze that continuously 

purify the atmosphere 

within. There is a 

Lokoja of sort to explore at 

the lake. A boat cruise to the 

natural confluence of Oguta 

Lake and Urashi River, offer 

a mini River Niger and 

River Benue experience 

at the lake. The locals and 

commercial boat services 

are always on hand to offer 

you a ride to the confluence 

point. But when you get to 

the link point, the lake still 

maintains its distinct nature 

and colouration. 

No doubt, the huge size, 

distinct nature, the serenity 

of the environment and 

the tropics within stands 

the lake out as the premiere 

tourist attraction in Imo 

State. 

However, the lake is more 

alive with visitors during 

weekends when a whole lot 

of people from Owerri and 

Onitsha come around for 

outing. From swimming, 

cruise boat ride, fishing to 

many other water sport activities, 

visitors always find 

fun to indulge and enjoy. 

Sadly the 3-star Oguta 

Oguta Lake main 

while doubting the sincerity 

of the present administration 

at delivering on the 

Film Village and hospitality 

facilities it promised the 

town. 

Lake Motel established in 

1977 by the Imo State government 

and the 18-golf 

holes that would have long 

explored the tourism potential 

of the town are still not 

working. The worse is that 

past governors of the state 

have all paid lip service 

to the resuscitation of the 

lake complex that would 

have been yielding enormous 

revenue from tourists, 

especially now that the 

monthly Federal Allocation 

is dwindling due to fall is oil 

price, the mainstay of the 

Nigerian economy. 

“It has been promises 

without action”, Okemiri 

Ugboma, an indigene says 

Beside the lake itself, history 

left relics that visitors 

also throng to behold. 

In the 1900s, the town 

was a commercial centre 

and home to the Royal Niger 

Company, G.B. Ollivant, 

SCOA Group, John Holt and 

the Miller Brothers, among 

others. Then the lake was 

a port for the evacuation of 

palm products. 

Though the commercial 

success now belongs to history, 

the relics of the jetties 

used by some of the colonial 

companies still exist today. 

But one part of history 

that is alive at the lake is a 

bunker with a tunnel that 

runs under the lake connecting 

both banks of the 

lake that was built during 

the Nigeria-Biafra civil war 

of 1967-1970 by Biafran 

Navy who used the lake as 

a marine base. 

Despite dividing the 

town into two along the 

natural boundary of the water, 

the lake actually defines 

the essence of the people as 

many pay respect to it. It is 

quite peculiar in nature. It 

is still the source of livelihood, 

transportation and 

fun for many residents of 

the town. 

But before you leave Oguta, 

there is still one breathtaking 

sight to see. It is the 

very imposing iconic mansion 

or rather empire of Arthur 

Nzeribe, located atop 

of a hilly landscape and far 

away from the preening 

eyes in the layout. 

It reminds one of the 

heydays of the maverick 

politicians, who seems to be 

unheard of these days. 

Why not keep a date with 

the town and its attractions. 

You will definitely see Oguta 

from a bird’s eye view.

42 BD SUNDAY 


Travel 

How customs rip-off auto 

importers, travellers 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

Despite the seeming efforts 

to sanitise the activities 

of Customs, auto 

dealers and travellers in 

the country complain 

that many Customs officials have 

continued with the illicit activities 

of extortion and seizure of their 

vehicles, forcing many of them to 

close their businesses, BD Sunday 

findings show. 

Alleged extortion, forced seizure 

of vehicles on the highways on illicit 

grounds and harassment of motorists 

by officials of Nigeria Customs 

and Excise have exacerbated in the 

last two years, contrary to expectations. 

It is believed that the new management 

in Customs would rein the 

excesses of the organisation known 

over the years, but some of the officials 

have allegedly adopted a nefarious 

means of making money by 

using arbitrary criteria to seize vehicles 

imported by auto dealers and 

also stopping motorists who drive 

new vehicles on the highway and 

forcing them to part with money or 

seizing their vehicles. 

Travellers are the ones who are 

suffering the high handedness of 

Customs officials on the highways. 

Some of the motorists who spoke 

to BDSunday said to confirm the 

authenticity of their documents 

they took them to Customs office 

after they purchased their vehicles 

and the officials confirmed that the 

documents were okay, “but when 

you are travelling they will stop you 

on the way and tell you that your 

papers are not right. 

“They will give you a bill there 

and then. Of course, the bill will not 

be anything less than N3 million. 

Then they can ask you to settle 

when you plead and plead with 

them. My customer had parted with 

N500, 000. He was going to Ibadan 

from Lagos when they stopped him. 

He didn’t have money. It was his 

wife who does electronic banking 

that used her phone to transfer that 

money to the account given to them 

by the Customs people,” a car dealer 

narrated to BDSunday. 

The source said the most notorious 

areas are Benin, Ijebuode, Ibadan 

and Lokoja in addition to many other 

places in the southern part of the 

country. 

“If you don’t part with money 

they will seize your car and it will 

take about a month before you will 

get it back. Any relatively new car 

from 2010 is not safe from them. 

Between Benin and Ijebuode there 

are about 10 Customs check points 

answering different names, as coming 

from different commands. They 

collect minimum of N500, 000. Most 

Hammed Ibrahim Ali, (retd), the Comptroller General of Nigerian Customs. 

often they demand millions. Most 

people who own new cars don’t put 

them on the highway any more. 

Those who are not flying travel with 

commercial vehicles because of the 

menace of Customs officials on the 

roads,” the source said. 

However, BDSunday learnt that 

this reprehensible activities are 

giving Hammed Ibrahim Ali, (retd), 

the Comptroller General of Nigerian 

Customs, sleepless nights and he had 

sent the word round that anyone 

who is able to bring evidence of the 

actions of these Customs officials 

would be doing the organisation 

a favour, as those involved in the 

extortion would not only be sacked 

but they would also be prosecuted. 

Automotive Policy 

In accordance to new regulations, 

importation of a new vehicle 

attracts 35 per cent duties and 35 

per cent levy. This was to encourage 

local manufacture of vehicles 

against importation. But car dealers 

said that besides Innoson, there is 

no other company that is doing any 

kind of vehicle manufacturing in 

Nigeria now. 

The 35 percent for duties and 

35 percent for levy means that if 

you buy a vehicle for $100, 000 you 

pay $70,000 for clearing it. After 

the dealer has paid this amount of 

money, calculated on the cost of the 

vehicle, a dealer is free to take his vehicle 

to his shop and sell. But despite 

the fact that there is evidence of the 

cost of every vehicle brand on the Internet, 

Customs officials are alleged 

to have their own vehicle prices 

which are computer generated and 

which they call benchmark. 

Unfortunately for vehicle dealers 

and those who buy new cars, there 

is no defined criteria that guides 

Customs benchmark; it is computer 

generated at whim and despite the 

fact that you can verify how much 

a car is bought from the suppliers 

and manufacturers on website, 

Customs still stick to their computer 

generated prices, which are usually 

far higher than the actual prices the 

vehicles were purchased. 

This means that even if you buy 

a vehicle for $100, 000 and calculated 

your 35 per cent duty and 35 

per cent levy on that cost, which is 

$70,000, some Customs officials will 

stop you on the way and tell you that 

the car you bought for $100, 000 is 

$170,000, according to computer 

generated prices, so the duty and 

levy you have paid are below what 

you ought to pay. This payments run 

into millions of Naira. 

Exploitation 

Checks by BDSunday show that 

these Customs officials will force 

you to negotiate and if you fail to 

pay the amount they asked you to 

pay, they will seize the vehicle and it 

would take you at least three weeks 

to get it back. This would also cost 

you about N4 million, which would 

include the extra money you ought 

to pay on their arbitrarily generated 

vehicle price and the cost of 

visiting relevant Customs offices 

and personnel that would give you 

approval to take back your vehicle 

after the new payment. 

Indifference 

As revenue generating agency, 

which is aggressively striving to 

meet target set for it by government, 

there is strong suspicion that 

Customs management is indifferent 

to the arbitrary price benchmark, 

which its officials generate as cost of 

vehicles, but some of these officials 

are using it to make huge monies for 

themselves. 

A car dealer who spoke to 

BDSunday said that some of the Customs 

officials would stop vehicles 

on the highway and extort huge 

monies from their owners; they 

would raid car shops and using their 

own computer generated prices as 

benchmark, charge the car dealer 

extra millions of naira as official 

cost of duty and levy or “the dealer 

will settle the people and this will 

cost less and they will boldly give 

you account number. Our enquiries 

reveal that almost all they account 

numbers they give are accounts of 

Bureau de Change,” a car dealer told 

BDSunday. 

Customs Management 

But a Customs official who 

craved anonymity confirmed the 

obnoxious activities of some of the 

Customs officials, but said the management 

of Customs is desperately 

looking for them and anyone that is 

caught would not only be expelled 

but would also be persecuted. 

“Customs management is aware 

of all these but they are waiting for 

the person they will catch. If those 

who pay the money to these officials 

can get the teller of the payment 

to the authority, it will be instant 

dismissal for those involved and possible 

persecution. The Comptroller 

General is a no-nonsense man. They 

are doing this with impunity. 

Regular requirements 

“All over the world there are regular 

requirements needed for you 

to clear a vehicle and these include 

the chassis or vehicle identification 

number, but in Nigeria Customs 

will give you computer generated 

papers, which is called Customs C 

number. If you dare lose this paper 

it will be assumed that you did not 

pay anything to them. They do not 

have the data system where the 

payment is reflected; they do not 

have your payment number, which 

they can use to recall your payment. 

But other agencies have evidence of 

such payment beyond the issuance 

of a document,” a car dealer told 

BDSunday. 

He said that this explains why 

there are not too many cars on the 

Nigerian highways. According to 

him, many Nigerians who would 

otherwise travel with their cars 

now prefer to travel by air, charter 

vehicles or use commercial buses. 

“This has affected us so much. 

You can go and check this out yourself. 

Many well-known car dealers 

who you know in the past, most 

of them have closed shops. Also, 

many of those artisans who work 

for us, from electricians, mechanics, 

painters, panel bitters and even 

shops that we patronise for spares, 

many are now out of business. In 

fact, over 15,000 people have lost 

their jobs because many car shops 

nationwide have closed their businesses 

and this will increase crime 

in the society because many of them 

are youths who do not have jobs 

now,” the source said. 

Executive Order 

Recently as part of the ease of 

doing business policy, the federal 

government ordered Customs to 

leave the highways but sooner was 

the directive given than the number 

of Customs officials multiplied on 

the highways, thus repudiating the 

directive. This, many say, is a direct 

affront to the federal government 

that issued that directive. 

Car dealers who spoke to BDSubday 

expressed shock in the way the 

Customs officials who literally raid 

the dealers’ shops and the highways 

defied the rules, as if “they know 

that no authority can do anything 

to them.” 

“The impunity is too much,” the 

car dealer quipped. 

The Customs official who spoke 

to BDSunday also lamented about 

this defiance, which “makes some of 

us feel that they are above the law, 

but I know and I am convinced that 

anyone caught by the Comptroller 

General will pay dearly for it.” 

The car dealers are of the view 

that many more of their members 

would close shop and thousands of 

people who are engaged in one way 

or another in the auto industry will 

also lose their jobs, “and you can 

agree with me that this won’t be 

good for this country now.” 

The car dealers have urged the 

federal government to ensure that 

Customs officials are removed from 

the highways. They urged also that 

government should remove the 35 

percent levy charged on imported 

new vehicles, saying that people 

should be guided properly because 

“this policy has given Customs officials 

an opportunity for extortion. 

Government needs to look at this 

in order to stem the thousands of 

people who are losing their jobs on 

daily basis, especially as Nigeria is 

not yet ripe to manufacture vehicles 

in such commercial quantity to meet 

local demand.”


BD SUNDAY 43 

Hang Out With BDSUNDAY 

We spent our profits to buy diesel, 

says Chukwuma, Lekki bar owner 

PAUL CHUKWUMA is the Managing Director of Trentinos Restaurant and Bar Limited, located at No 45B, Adebayo Doherty Road, 

lekki phase 1. He shares his thoughts on bar and restaurant business in Lagos with NATHANIEL AKHIGBE. 

What can 

you tell us 

about the 

potential 

of Nigeria’s 

night life and its challenges? 

The night life in Nigeria 

has tripped when compared 

to what it was in the past 

years. I think largely because 

of the hustle around in the 

country now. So everyone 

take to night out. And what 

you should know now is that 

most business transactions 

nowadays are all negotiated at 

night and closed in the office. 

So, if you are a contractor and 

you do not hang out at night 

then you may not know how 

deals that you submitted quotations 

are being closed. This 

is the major reason you see 

people going into our kind of 

business now. 

However, there are some 

challenges to night life which 

is also common to our everyday 

life. You may hear cases 

where people are been followed 

to their homes which 

sometimes resulted to loss 

of some valuables to armed 

men. There are cases of people 

sleeping on the wheel and so 

on. But this have not affected 

night life, rather it brought 

about hanging out around 

your domain. 

What are the challenges 

confronting you in this business 

and what do you think 

can be done by whom it may 

concern to alleviate it? 

We face a major challenge 

here like any other business 

will. Most challenges confronting 

the hospitality industry 

in Nigeria is basically 

the high cost of operations. 

Another important issue in 

this business is power supply. 

So, to set up this kind of business 

you must think of 50 to 

100kva generator and diesel. 

And because of the present 

situation in the power sector, 

we almost spend all our profit 

in buying diesel. Another 

important challenge is the 

government policies. You hear 

consumption tax, VAT and all 

of that without government 

support to the industry in 

terms providing basic amenities 

such as: water, electricity 

and good road. They do not 

even allow the business to 

Paul Chukwuma 

commence properly before 

asking for tax. Government 

should help the industry by 

resolving these issues. 

In your experience in the 

bar sector, how would you 

describe the drinking level 

of Nigerians? 

Taking about the level of alcohol 

consumption in Nigeria 

at this time is vital; because I 

had thought that due to the so 

called hardship witnessed by 

Restaurant and Bar Limited 

several Nigerians following 

economic recession under the 

present administration the 

level of alcohol intake will 

drop. But it is surprising to 

me that both Nigeria Breweries 

PLC and Guinness Nigeria 

PLC recorded a very high sales 

turnover. This shows that 

people in this part of the world 

takes to alcohol consumption 

in all situations. Whether it is 

bad or good boys must drink. 

That is the situation now in 

the Nigeria. 

Despite Nigeria’s huge alcohol 

market, big brands like 

Hennessey, Jack Daniels don’t 

have production plants in Nigeria, 

what are the economic 

implications of this scenario 

to Nigeria? 

What you are asking is 

suppose to happen by default. 

I think the only thing that 

is depriving us is power because 

when you are opening 

a business, you are looking at 

the market, you are looking 

at the raw materials, and you 

are looking at closeness to the 

market. Nigeria is a very huge 

market for big products like 

Hennessy, Jack Daniels and 

others, but you find out that 

the owners do not have their 

production plants here. What 

I mentioned earlier is also 

part of the problem. The cost 

of production is very high. So 

the owners of these products 

rather set up their plants in 

countries around Nigeria 

where all these amenities are 

in place. The economic impact 

is obvious; taxes that should 

have been realised from these 

plants and even from their 

marketing offices are lost to 

other countries like Ghana. 

Our government should wake 

up. In the same vein, jobs that 

could have been for Nigerians 

if these companies have plants 

here are taken elsewhere. It is 

a huge loss to Nigeria. Nobody 

will tell me that Moet do not 

want to have a plant in Nigeria. 

All the accepted drinks in 

Nigeria like Moet, Hennessey, 

Jack Daniels, Black Label, and 

the likes are suppose to be producing 

here, but when they 

look at the power thing, it is 

discouraging. We cannot run 

away from power. I expect 

this government to focus on 

two things: power and road; 

apart from the anti corruption 

crusade. If we have power, we 

can turn Nigeria to China. If 

we have power, the money I 

used in buying diesel can be 

shared between me, workers 

and government. 

Tell us about your own bar, 

how are you different from 

others in Lekki? 

Trentinos Restaurant and 

Bar is a place to be in Lekki 

phase 1. Not only being located 

in a very decent area 

of lekki phase 1, but because 

of its unique and cordial environment. 

The bush bar, the 

restaurant and the Lounge are 

carefully furnished for you to 

feel comfort. Our delicacies 

like Isiewu, Nkwobi, Chicken 

Nkwobi, Ugba and Okporoko, 

Catfish Ukodo, the Grill Fish, 

Fisherman Okro Soup, Native 

Soup, Vegetable Soup 

and several others, are being 

handled by highly trained 

Chefs. If you visit us you will 

be glad you did. For working 

couples who are too busy we 

are alternative. We cook and 

deliver whatever quality and 

quantity of food to homes. 

Just place the order and we 

will be right there to meet 

your stomach needs. 

We also have our weekly 

activities, live band every Friday, 

Jazz/karaoke night every 

Wednesday, happy hour from 

6 to 7pm every day. We are 

open to business 24/7. Our 

services are like making love 

to gorilla as the gorilla never 

tired until you are satisfied. 

Try us today and experience 

our service.


BD SUNDAY 43 

Hang Out With BDSUNDAY 

We spent our profits to buy diesel, 

says Chukwuma, Lekki bar owner 

PAUL CHUKWUMA is the Managing Director of Trentinos Restaurant and Bar Limited, located at No 45B, Adebayo Doherty Road, 

lekki phase 1. He shares his thoughts on bar and restaurant business in Lagos with NATHANIEL AKHIGBE. 

What can 

you tell us 

about the 

potential 

of Nigeria’s 

night life and its challenges? 

The night life in Nigeria 

has tripped when compared 

to what it was in the past 

years. I think largely because 

of the hustle around in the 

country now. So everyone 

take to night out. And what 

you should know now is that 

most business transactions 

nowadays are all negotiated at 

night and closed in the office. 

So, if you are a contractor and 

you do not hang out at night 

then you may not know how 

deals that you submitted quotations 

are being closed. This 

is the major reason you see 

people going into our kind of 

business now. 

However, there are some 

challenges to night life which 

is also common to our everyday 

life. You may hear cases 

where people are been followed 

to their homes which 

sometimes resulted to loss 

of some valuables to armed 

men. There are cases of people 

sleeping on the wheel and so 

on. But this have not affected 

night life, rather it brought 

about hanging out around 

your domain. 

What are the challenges 

confronting you in this business 

and what do you think 

can be done by whom it may 

concern to alleviate it? 

We face a major challenge 

here like any other business 

will. Most challenges confronting 

the hospitality industry 

in Nigeria is basically 

the high cost of operations. 

Another important issue in 

this business is power supply. 

So, to set up this kind of business 

you must think of 50 to 

100kva generator and diesel. 

And because of the present 

situation in the power sector, 

we almost spend all our profit 

in buying diesel. Another 

important challenge is the 

government policies. You hear 

consumption tax, VAT and all 

of that without government 

support to the industry in 

terms providing basic amenities 

such as: water, electricity 

and good road. They do not 

even allow the business to 

Paul Chukwuma 

commence properly before 

asking for tax. Government 

should help the industry by 

resolving these issues. 

In your experience in the 

bar sector, how would you 

describe the drinking level 

of Nigerians? 

Taking about the level of alcohol 

consumption in Nigeria 

at this time is vital; because I 

had thought that due to the so 

called hardship witnessed by 

Restaurant and Bar Limited 

several Nigerians following 

economic recession under the 

present administration the 

level of alcohol intake will 

drop. But it is surprising to 

me that both Nigeria Breweries 

PLC and Guinness Nigeria 

PLC recorded a very high sales 

turnover. This shows that 

people in this part of the world 

takes to alcohol consumption 

in all situations. Whether it is 

bad or good boys must drink. 

That is the situation now in 

the Nigeria. 

Despite Nigeria’s huge alcohol 

market, big brands like 

Hennessey, Jack Daniels don’t 

have production plants in Nigeria, 

what are the economic 

implications of this scenario 

to Nigeria? 

What you are asking is 

suppose to happen by default. 

I think the only thing that 

is depriving us is power because 

when you are opening 

a business, you are looking at 

the market, you are looking 

at the raw materials, and you 

are looking at closeness to the 

market. Nigeria is a very huge 

market for big products like 

Hennessy, Jack Daniels and 

others, but you find out that 

the owners do not have their 

production plants here. What 

I mentioned earlier is also 

part of the problem. The cost 

of production is very high. So 

the owners of these products 

rather set up their plants in 

countries around Nigeria 

where all these amenities are 

in place. The economic impact 

is obvious; taxes that should 

have been realised from these 

plants and even from their 

marketing offices are lost to 

other countries like Ghana. 

Our government should wake 

up. In the same vein, jobs that 

could have been for Nigerians 

if these companies have plants 

here are taken elsewhere. It is 

a huge loss to Nigeria. Nobody 

will tell me that Moet do not 

want to have a plant in Nigeria. 

All the accepted drinks in 

Nigeria like Moet, Hennessey, 

Jack Daniels, Black Label, and 

the likes are suppose to be producing 

here, but when they 

look at the power thing, it is 

discouraging. We cannot run 

away from power. I expect 

this government to focus on 

two things: power and road; 

apart from the anti corruption 

crusade. If we have power, we 

can turn Nigeria to China. If 

we have power, the money I 

used in buying diesel can be 

shared between me, workers 

and government. 

Tell us about your own bar, 

how are you different from 

others in Lekki? 

Trentinos Restaurant and 

Bar is a place to be in Lekki 

phase 1. Not only being located 

in a very decent area 

of lekki phase 1, but because 

of its unique and cordial environment. 

The bush bar, the 

restaurant and the Lounge are 

carefully furnished for you to 

feel comfort. Our delicacies 

like Isiewu, Nkwobi, Chicken 

Nkwobi, Ugba and Okporoko, 

Catfish Ukodo, the Grill Fish, 

Fisherman Okro Soup, Native 

Soup, Vegetable Soup 

and several others, are being 

handled by highly trained 

Chefs. If you visit us you will 

be glad you did. For working 

couples who are too busy we 

are alternative. We cook and 

deliver whatever quality and 

quantity of food to homes. 

Just place the order and we 

will be right there to meet 

your stomach needs. 

We also have our weekly 

activities, live band every Friday, 

Jazz/karaoke night every 

Wednesday, happy hour from 

6 to 7pm every day. We are 

open to business 24/7. Our 

services are like making love 

to gorilla as the gorilla never 

tired until you are satisfied. 

Try us today and experience 

our service.

C002D5556 

44 BD SUNDAY 


Health&Science 

Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital will 

stop medical tourism – Osinbajo 

RAPHAEL ADEYANJU, Ado Ekiti 

The Vice President Yemi 

Osinbajo, has stated that the 

newly commissioned 400- 

bed Afe Babalola University 

Teaching Hospital(ABUTH), 

Ado Ekiti, will help in stopping Nigerians 

from seeking medical treatments abroad. 

Osinbajo, who was represented by 

the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, 

made this statement recently, during 

the commissioning of the teaching 

hospital. The Vice President revealed 

that Nigerians spend billions of naira on 

overseas medical trips annually. 

He asserted that the hospital will 

enhance healthcare delivery system in 

the country. 

Speaking at the occasion, Ekiti State 

governor Ayodele Fayose and former 

Executive Secretary of the National 

Universities Commission (NUC), Peter 

Okebukola, solicited special funding 

from the federal government to drive 

private universities in the country for 

better efficiency. 

The former UNC scribe, in a lecture 

entitled: ‘The Place and Continued Relevance 

of Private Universities Globally’, 

stated that there was need for private 

universities to be given grant-in-aid 

and have unfettered access to Tertiary 

Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) . 

Osinbajo while performing the 

commissioning praised the founder, 

Afe Babalola for his vision and love for 

humanity, saying the step taken was a 

watershed in the history of the nation. 

“This hospital will go a long way in 

conserving funds being spent by Nigerians 

on medical trips abroad. With this, 

Nigerians can now be treated by Nigerians. 

It takes a man with vision and large 

heart for his nation and people to do this. 

It will help in addressing the poor heath 

indicators in our system”, the VP said 

.Fayose, who said ABUAD remained 

the second largest employer of labour 

in Ekiti State, said the hospital can’t 

be compared with any in Nigeria and 

African continent. 

“It could have been disastrous to Ekiti 

if this university is built elsewhere. 

The facilities in this university and the 

new hospital have no rival. Those medical 

treatments you go to London, South 

Africa and America to do can now be 

done here in Ekiti”. 

Okebukola, in his lecture said out of 

the 23,000 universities that exist globally, 

private universities represented 

less than 25 percent, adding that “they 

are doing excellently well in human 

security by way of complementing the 

public universities for human capital 

development”. 

He added further: “68 per cent of 

Nestle drives nutritious campaign, healthy living for children 

...holds cookery workshop for 100 Ogun pupils 

RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta 

As part of effort to deepen its 

core value that centres on 

healthy living, good food 

and good life, Nestle Nigeria PLC has 

organised a cookery workshop for 

100 pupils drawn from five primary 

schools across Ogun state. 

The cookery workshop was part 

of idea and plan devised by Nestle 

Nigeria PLC to celebrate 2017 International 

Chefs Day on Friday in 

Abeokuta where pupils and teachers 

were assembled on Friday in 

Abeokuta to receive information 

as regards food good, sound eating 

habits and healthy life. 

Speaking at the cookery workshop, 

Mauricio Alarcon, Managing 

Director of Nestle Nigeria PLC, declared 

that pupils and teachers were 

selected as the main participants 

since they play significant roles in 

information dissemination to the 

people, adding that the innovative 

move was part of Nestle’s commitment 

to help 50 million children 

lead healthier lives by 2030. 

The Managing Director, represented 

by Victoria Uwadoka, 

Manager, Corporate Communications 

and Public Affairs, said, “The 

programme goes in line with our 

principle of having people live a 

good quality life, it is part of creating 

scholars that had won Nobel laurels in 

Physics, Sciences and Medicine were 

trained in private universities. 

“Apart from this, many of the world 

icons, I mean presidents and Prime Ministers 

of great nations were trained in 

private universities, so they are making 

good contributions to nation building 

and their effects can’t be underestimated”, 

he said. 

Okebukola said it was wrong for 

the federal government to restrict the 

TETFUND solely to public schools since 

the two were working for the same purposes 

of producing human resources to 

drive the country’s economy. 

“Many captains of industries and 

workers in the multinational organisations 

were trained by private universities. 

If you look at their contributions, 

they pay taxes and since they do this, 

they should be given grant-in-aid and 

access to other sources of funding. 

“They are good competitors for 

private universities. They fostered discipline 

and maintain standards through 

stable academic calendars. Giving them 

financial support will help in reducing 

their tuition fees which were adjudged 

too high now. 

“The FG can give them those financial 

support with conditions that there 

will be staff retention, stable academic 

calendar, sustained performances and 

reduction in tuition fees and all these 

will help in shaping our education 

sector”. 

Okebukola predicted that the future 

of private universities is bright in Nigeria 

and that no effort should be spared 

in helping them to rise to stardom to 

boost the country’s ranking globally. 

shared value, it is an effort to bring 

nutritious food to our communities. 

We believe that what you eat is who 

you are, who you are eventually 

comes from what you put inside 

you. 

“Nestle as an organisation, we 

work with individuals and families 

to make right food choices not only 

by producing the right food, but by 

providing the right information that 

they (people) need to help them take 

right decisions that help the people 

to eat right.” 

Omotunde Egunjobi, Director 

of Social Mobilisation, Ogun State 

Basic Education Board, commended 

Nestle Nigeria PLC for training pupils 

and teachers on good nutrients 

needed by human beings to fight 

various diseases and ensure sound 

hygiene and healthy living among 

pupils, explaining that the cookery 

workshop would surely shape people’s 

reasoning towards eating right. 

Egunjobi said that the cookery 

workshop organised by Nestle 

Nigeria PLC has part of Ogun state 

government’s initiations putting in 

place to feed pupils and teach them 

on what it takes eat healthy food, 

adding that a large number of pupils 

in both primary and secondary 

schools in the state are being taught 

basic needs and hygiene which are 

major routes to healthy living.


C002D5556 

SUNDAY 

BD 

45 

Health&Science 

Five million children have vision 

impairment in Nigeria - Optometrist 

RAPHAEL ADEYANJU, Ado Ekiti 

The Ekiti State Chapter of 

the Nigerian Optometry Association 

(NOA), has raised 

an alarm that at least five 

million Nigerian children 

suffering from vision impairment. 

The Ekiti State Chairman of the 

association, Ayo Osundare made this 

disclosure during an advocacy visit 

to the State Ministry of Information, 

Youths and Sports Development 

in Ado-Ekiti, the State Capital on 

Thursday. 

Osadare stated that recent statistics 

released by the World Health 

Organisation(WHO) indicated that 19 

million children are suffering from vision 

impairment globally, emphasizing 

that one out of every four children 

has undetected vision problem that 

may impede their learning abilities. 

He lamented that 80 percent of 

cases of blindness in Nigeria were 

avoidable; describing the result of a 

recent survey which revealed that 

about 90 percent of school age children 

in Nigeria had never undergone any 

form of eye examination as worrisome. 

According to Osadare, 12 million 

out of the 19 million estimated cases of 

visual impairment among children were 

as a result of refractive errors which 

could be corrected if detected early. 

Osadare said NOA would hold free 

vision screening for children in selected 

school nationwide in commemoration 

of the 2017 World Sight Day as part of 

We have over 102,000 cases of breast cancer in Nigeria - FG 

YOMI AYELESO, Akure 

The Federal Government has declared 

a state of emergency on deadly 

disease -breast cancer, which 

records 102,000 cases and 72,000 deaths 

in Nigeria and to give respite to victims 

while receiving treatment. 

The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac 

Adewole, revealed this at the opening 

ceremony of the 20th Breast Cancer Association 

of Nigeria (BRECAN) anniversary 

and 3rd International Breast Cancer Symposium 

in Akure, the Ondo State capital. 

Adewole, who was represented by the 

Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Obafemi 

Awolowo University Teaching Hospital 

(OAUTH), Victor Adetiloye, lamented 

that breast and cervical cancers are responsible 

for over 50 per cent of deaths 

in the nation. 

He said the existing National Cancer 

Control Plan in the country had expired 

but there is a new one for five years span 

and seven special focus on prevention, 

treatment, hospice, palliative care, data 

management among others. 

He disclosed further that the mortality 

ratio in the country was the highest when 

compared to other countries, leading to 

efforts at reducing the prevalence of vision 

impairment in the country. 

The NOA boss who spoke on integration 

of eye health into the school 

curriculum and the primary healthcare 

delivery system across the country, explained 

that his association was already 

making arrangements to train teachers 

from different schools to enable them 

identify suspected cases of visual impairment 

among their pupils, so that the 

effected pupil could undergo proper test 

and commence treatment if necessary. 

He also stressed the importance of 

undergoing annual comprehensive eye 

the declaration of state of emergency and 

roadmap for cancer control. 

According to him, Federal Government 

has begun a process of establishing 

dedicated cancer chemotherapy wards 

in nine Federal Tertiary Health institutions 

with necessary equipment across 

the country. 

“We have developed a new National 

Cancer Control Plan 2018 to 2022. This 

National Cancer Control Plan is the product 

of extensive inter-sectoral collaboration 

involving government, academia, 

bilateral and multilateral organization 

and civil society. 

“This National Cancer Control Plan 

provides a clear roadmap as to how the 

ministry envisions cancer controls efforts 

for the country to be within the 

next five years and beyond. Beyond the 

cancer patients and their families, this 

plan will serve as launch pad to reduce 

the incidence and prevalence of cancer 

in Nigeria.” 

Adewole noted that the Federal Government 

has been an avant-garde in the 

battle against all kinds of cancer in the 

nation, building stronger collaboration 

with other organizations. 

Similarly, the state governor, Oluwarotimi 

Akeredolu reiterated the plan of 

checkups to reduce avoidable vision loss. 

The Commissioner for Information, 

Youths and Sports Development, Lanre 

Ogunsuyi who responded through the 

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, 

Kola Ajumobi noted that the programme 

of NOA was in tandem with the Health 

programme of the Ayodele Fayoseled 

administration and “Oju Ayo Free 

Care” in particular. 

Ogunsuyi expressed the readiness 

of the State Government to partner 

with the association in enlightening the 

public on issues relating to avoidable 

blindness and visual impairment. 

the state government to establish Cancer 

Centre in the state in order to provide essential 

services that border on prevention 

and treatment. 

Akeredolu said the government would 

partner with BRECAN, Civil Society Organizations 

(CSOs) and health facilities 

in the state to reduce the scourge of the 

virulent disease. 

BRECAN founder and wife of Ondo 

governor, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, 

stated that the symposium would create 

platform for interaction, advocacy and 

policy making. 

Anyanwu-Akeredolu, who is also 

a survivor of the ailment, emphasized 

that breast cancer should not be a death 

sentence among women. She said this 

berthed the foundation of BRECAN 20 

years ago. 

She decried the superstitious beliefs 

of people attributing breast cancer to 

witches and spiritual attacks, seeking 

cures in spiritual homes and herbalists 

instead of visiting hospital for treatment. 

The governor’s wife implored government 

at all levels to design and implement 

appropriate policy to tackle cancer in the 

country with special emphasis on National 

Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) 

coverage. 

Mental health patients 

can be productive within 

the workplace –expert 

ANTHONIA OBOKOH 

This year World Mental Health 

was themed ‘Mental Health 

at the Work Place’. Highlighting 

the need to raise awareness 

about mental health issues around 

the world and mobilising efforts in 

support of mental health, Olufemi 

Oluwatayo, CEO, Retreat and a general 

Psychiatrist, mental health is 

vital. In his words, “Mental health 

patients can be productive within 

the workplace and by raising this 

awareness; we can help reduce the 

stigma by bringing out to the public 

that there are professionals who are 

ready and available to help those in 

need” he said and added that the 

free treatment and the health awareness 

was meant to draw attention to 

mental health and to raise mental 

awareness in the workplace. 

“It is always challenging within 

the society to discuss health issues 

with the stigma attached to mental 

issues. 

“Some employers do not see mental 

issues at the workplace as a priority 

hence many employees may 

be suffering in silence that is why 

this year’s theme is very suitable. 

The mental health awareness is The 

Retreat contribution to a national 

discourse on mental health issues in 

Nigeria”, Oluwatayo said. 

According to Olufemi, the World 

Mental Health Day creates an ample 

opportunity to take mental health 

issues to the public; it is always a 

good day to draw attention to the 

prevailing conditions of mental 

health treatment. 

“We feel it is an avenue to raise 

awareness on mental health issues 

in the society, in Nigeria and look at 

mental health issue in the workplace 

especially with this year’s team of 

Mental Health at the Work Place”. 

“The exercise involved screenings, 

blood pressure test, mental health 

assessment surrounding anxiety, 

depression, alcoholism and a mental 

health talk. The event was attended 

by a throng of residents mostly from 

Ikorodu and its environs base of the 

Retreat” he added. 

The Retreat Healthcare is a world 

class in-patient and out-patient facility 

that provides dignified care for 

mentally disordered people in Nigeria 

through therapeutic recovery 

treatments. It is the first purpose 

built privately owned mental health 

facility in Nigeria, built solely to 

cater for the therapeutic treatment 

and recovery of patients.

C002D5556 

46 BD SUNDAY 

Sports 


UCL: Leicester more earners than Real Madrid 

Stories by ANTHONY NLEBEM 

Former English Premier 

League Champions 

Leicester 

City earned more 

money for reaching 

the Uefa Champions League 

quarter-finals last season 

than Real Madrid did for winning 

the competition. 

The Foxes, who were 

knocked out by Atletico Madrid, 

received 81.7m euros 

(£73.2m) in their debut season 

in the competition. 

Champions League winners 

Real Madrid were paid 

81m euros (£72.6m). 

Runners-up Juventus were 

the only club to earn more 

with 110.4m euros (£98.6m). 

In total clubs taking part in 

the Champions League shared 

1.396bn euros (£1.25bn) in 

payments from Uefa. 

Manchester United were 

paid 44.5m euros (£40m) for 

winning the Europa League - 

more than double any other 

club in last season’s tournament. 

Arsenal, who fell to a 10-2 

NFF budgets N6.4billion for 2018 activities 

Following the General Assembly 

of the Nigeria Football 

Federation held in Jos 

on Thursday, the NFF has announced 

that it plans to spend 

N6.4 billion for 2018. 

“The General Assembly approved 

the NFF Financial Statement 

for the year 2016 and the 

2018 Budget as proposed. 

“The Federation’s total budget 

for year 2018 activities is the sum 

of N6,382,500,310.00. The guaranteed 

revenues from sponsors 

and government subvention is 

the sum of N3,062,500,310.00, 

leaving a shortfall of the sum of 

N3,320,000,000.00, which the 

Federation has to work to aug- 

aggregate defeat to Bayern 

Munich in the last 16, were 

paid 64.6m euros (£58m). 

Manchester City, who 

came through the play-offs 

and lost to Monaco in the 

last 16, earned 50.2m euros 

(£45m), while Tottenham, 

ment through sponsorships and 

special interventions,” the communique 

from the meeting stated. 

The NFF will be getting at least 

$12 million from FIFA as participation 

fee for the Russia 2018 World 

Cup. 

NFSC chairman calls for Grade A friendlies for Super Eagles 

need to do more because the qualification 

has created the platform 

for the team to intensity their 

preparation. 

“High profile Grade A friendly 

games should be given priority in 

the calendar for its build-up for the 

World Cup because the players 

need to be technically sound. 

Samuel Ikpea, National Chairman, 

Nigeria Football Sup- 

crew must have taken cognisance 

“I am sure that the coaching 

porters Club (NFSC), has urged of the players as individuals as well 

the country’s football authorities to as a team, which friendly matches 

strengthen the Super Eagles World will help to appraise again,’’ he said. 

Cup preparations with Grade A He advised that team spirit must 

friendly matches. 

be developed, while such must be 

The Super Eagles of Nigeria have brought to play so that every opportunity 

would be significantly converted 

qualified for the Russia 2018 World 

in June ahead of their other Group to goals for victory to be attained. 

B teams of the Africa qualification. The chairman said that the supporters 

club would endeavor to live 

Ikpea noted that such matches 

would go a long way to make the up to its responsibility of drumming 

team’s technical crew to regularly support in their preparation, adding: 

“We always have been there 

identify the players’ lapses. 

“This is the time that the coaches for them.’’ 

who failed to get out of the 

group stages, received 43.2m 

euros (£39m). 

Celtic, who also failed to 

progress from their group, 

were paid 31.7m euros 

(£28m). 

Breakdown of payment 

Ordega joins Atlectico Madrid Women 

Super Falcons player, 

Francisca Ordega, 

has joined Atletico 

Madrid Women 

on loan from the Washington 

Spirit. 

This was posted on the 

Club’s website: www. 

atleticodemadrid.com 

and twitter account @ 

AtletiFemenino. 

The Washington Spirit 

is an American professional 

soccer club based 

in Germantown, Maryland 

that participated in 

the National Women’s 

Soccer League. 

The movement of the 

Nigerian forward from 

the Washington Spirit is 

to strengthen the Spanish 

team’s offensive line. 

“The 24-year-old Nigerian 

footballer is on 

the front line and will 

wear our jersey until 

next March when she 

will start a new edition 

of the American competition. 

bonuses 

Teams Participation Performance 

Market pool 

Round/16 Q-finals S-final 

Final 

Leicester 12.7m 

7.4m 49.1m 6m 6.5m 

“After successfully 

completing the relevant 

medical examination, 

Francisca Ordega signed 

the contract that binds 

her to our club and was 

happy to wear rojiblanco,” 

the website stated. 

Ordega, who turned 

24 on Thursday, said, 

“For me it’s an honour 

and I’m very happy to be 

Real Madrid 12.7m 

6.7m 26.1m 6m 

6.5m 7.5m 15.5m 

Juventus 12.7m 7.9m 

58.8m 6m 6.5m 7.5m 11m 

Each club was guaranteed 

a minimum payment of 12.7m 

euros for participating in the 

group stage, while additional 

performance bonuses of 1.5m 

euros per win and 500,000 

euros per draw. 

The 500,000 euros surplus 

for each drawn match was 

pooled and redistributed to 

all clubs taking part in the 

group stage in accordance 

with the number of wins 

they achieved. 

Further bonuses were 

paid for each knockout round 

reached: 6m euros for the 

round of 16, 6.5m euros for the 

quarter-finals, 7.5m euros for 

the semi-finals, 11m euros for 

the runners-up in the final and 

15.5m euros for the winners. 

Monies from the market 

pool were divided according 

to the value of the TV deal in 

each country, among other 

factors. 

here. Atletico Madrid is 

a great club, internationally 

recognized, and I 

really want to start. 

“I am a strong player 

and very fast” and although 

she recognized 

that she would to adapt 

to the new environment, 

she concludes: “I 

will make the fans feel 

proud of me.”


C002D5556 

BD SUNDAY 47 

Sports 

Bolt: I still have passion to play football 

Stories By ANTHONY NLEBEM 

Usain Bolt, the best 

sprinter of all 

time; with two 

gold medals in 100 

metres and 200 

metres at the 2008 Olympic 

Games in Beijing, followed 

by a hat-trick of golds at each 

of London 2012 and Rio 2016 

(adding the 4 x 100 metres relay 

sprint gold at both events) 

the Jamaican had unprecedented 

success in his discipline 

for around a decade. 

The athletics legend made a 

slightly left-field promise during 

his track and field career: 

that he would take up football 

after hanging up his sprinting 

cleats. Having recently retired 

from the sport which he 

conquered, FIFA.com caught 

up with Bolt in an exclusive 

interview to discuss his love 

of football, his picks for this 

year’s The Best FIFA Football 

Awards, and what it takes to 

be the best. 

You were 11 years old when 

Jamaica played at their only 

FIFA World Cup; does anything 

notable stand out from 

that tournament? 

I can never forget when we 

qualified for the World Cup as 

our Prime Minster declared a 

national holiday. I remember 

our first goal at the World Cup 

too, Robbie Earle with that 

header against Croatia. Then 

in the final game Theodore 

Whitmore scored twice in the 

win against Japan. 

Now you’ve retired from 

sprinting, will you look to get 

involved in football at some 

level? 

Yes, I would love to play 

football now I’ve retired from 

track and field. I’ve been talking 

about it in interviews and 

a lot of clubs have reached 

out. Unfortunately, I got a bad 

hamstring injury in August 

and haven’t been able to do any 

training since then. Hopefully I 

will be able to play some games 

in 2018. 

Did you ever play football 

with other athletes when training 

or in camp? 

I play a lot in Jamaica over 

the winter. It wasn’t something 

that my coach liked but fortunately 

I didn’t get any injuries 

playing football that interrupted 

my athletics training. 

Footballers around the globe 

have to vote for a World11 

from the past season (2016/17). 

What would be your World11 

for 2016/17, and why? 

There are so many great 

players; it’s not an easy team to 

pick! Obviously I’d have Cristiano 

Ronaldo, Lionel Messi 

and Neymar leading the attack. 

I’ll put Gigi Buffon in goal. 

In defence I’ll go for Sergio 

Ramos and Leonardo Bonucci 

in the middle with Marcelo 

and Dani Alves as full backs. 

In midfield: Paul Pogba, Ngolo 

Kante and Philippe Coutinho. 

The top three for The Best 

FIFA Men’s Player award are 

Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi 

and Neymar – who’s your 

pick for number one and why? 

I would go for Cristiano 

Ronaldo. All three are amazing 

players but in the last year, 

Cristiano won La Liga, the Uefa 

Champions League again and 

finished top scorer for the fifth 

season. His ability to stay at 

the top year after year is very 

impressive. 

The three candidates for the 

Mens’ Coach award are Massimiliano 

Allegri, Antonio Conte 

and Zinedine Zidane. Which of 

the three would you pick? 

I would love to play for Zidane. 

I really admired him as 

a player and he has made the 

transition to coach very well. 

He’s won five major trophies 

in five tournaments. 

Who is your best keeper in 

the world at the moment and 

why? 

Gianluigi Buffon. He’s almost 

40 years old, but very 

difficult to score against. Good 

goalkeepers give the players in 

front of them confidence and 

nobody would have a problem 

playing in front of Buffon. I met 

him recently at an event and he 

sent me a nice message when I 

retired. 

The FIFA Puskás Award rewards 

the best goal of 2016/17. 

Which of the finalists would 

get your vote and why? 

I’d vote for Oscarine Masuluke. 

For a goalkeeper to score 

an overhead kick in stoppage 

time like that is impressive. 

Who would you choose for 

the Women’s Player award 

and why? 

My vote would go to Lieke 

Martens. She led Holland to 

that European Championship 

win and was Player of the 

Tournament. 

What makes London such 

a special city, and what does 

it mean to you? 

I’ve been coming to London 

every year for the past 

15 years. It’s become like my 

second home as I normally 

base myself in the city during 

the track and field season. 

There are a lot of Jamaicans 

living in London and I always 

get great support when I race 

there. 

Can you give some insight 

into what it takes to be the 

best, and the sacrifices it 

takes to get there? 

It takes talent, discipline, 

dedication and hard work. I 

believe that everyone who 

is considered one of the best 

has worked extremely hard 

to get there. To be successful 

at the highest level there are 

sacrifices you have to make 

in terms of parties, friends and 

getting rest. 

What is your advice to 

young athletes? 

Choose the right people to 

have around you and advise 

you, be determined, work hard, 

believe in yourself, success 

doesn’t always come overnight 

so be consistent and the results 

will come. I have a motto: ‘Anything 

is possible’. 

Barcelona players’ salaries on ‘red alert’ 

… record budget of €897m of which €588m for salaries of players 

The Barcelona Members 

Assembly will 

have to approve the 

club budget for the current 

season and it’s not a minor 

issue as president, Josep 

Maria Bartomeu, will present 

a record budget of 897 

million euros of which 588m 

represents the salaries of the 

players. 

Although Neymar has 

left the club; but the salary 

portion of the budget has 

reached 84%, well over the 

recommended ceiling of 

70%. 

The club can’t handle this 

rate of spending and so it’s 

expected that Bartomeu will 

look to market the training 

shirt, streamline revenues 

from Nike’s management 

and get the best allocation 

of television rights. 

The exit of players such 

as Arda Turan and Thomas 

Vermaelen will also lighten 

the burden.At the moment 

however, nobody knows 

with certainty that such 

sales will materialise. Don’t 

forget too that in the coming 

weeks Gerard Pique will 

renew his contract followed 

by Sergi Roberto.

SUNDAY 

BD 

RAJ PERSAUD & 

PETER BRUGGEN 

Persaud and Bruggen are psychiatrists based in 

London. Both are co-authors of the forthcoming 

book The Streetwise Person’s Guide to Mental 

Health Care. 

The Harvey Weinstein sexual 

assault scandal shows no sign 

of winding down. Just the 

opposite: police in the United 

Kingdom are now investigating 

several allegations involving the Oscarwinning 

film producer. While Weinstein 

has “unequivocally denied” allegations of 

non-consensual sex, and no arrests have 

been made, more than two dozen women 

– including the actors Angelina Jolie, 

Gwyneth Paltrow, and Rose McGowan – 

have publicly accused him of harassment. 

The allegations stretch over nearly three 

decades. 

Hollywood is struggling to explain how 

one of its most visible figures could have 

gotten away with such behavior for so 

long. Woody Allen offered an important 

clue. Despite working with Weinstein on 

several films, he claims that no one ever 

brought allegations of abuse to his attention. 

“And they wouldn’t, because you are not 

interested in it,” Allen told the BBC. “You are 

interested in making your movie.” Others 

who worked with Weinstein over the years 

have made similar statements. 

Is this the Hollywood equivalent of a 

police officer’s “blue wall of silence,” or is 

there something more clinical at work? 

One possible answer may be found in 

the results of recent psychological research. 

According to scientists in the United States 

and Israel, there are certain personality 

traits – the “dark triad” of narcissism, 

psychopathy, and Machiavellianism – 

that are more commonly associated with 

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I SUNDAY 20 OCTOBER 2017 

The psychology of superstar sex predators 

sexually abusive behavior. 

One intriguing finding from this 

research, published in 2016 in the journal 

Personality and Individual Differences, 

is that personality traits associated with 

a proclivity for harassment may be 

“specialized psychological adaptations” 

that allow individuals to exploit “niches” 

in society. In other words, some sexual 

predators may seek careers in particular 

industries that allow them to exploit others. 

The researchers also found that the 

disposition that makes someone successful 

may also comprise the personality traits 

that explain their tendency to exploit. The 

traits needed to win Academy Awards, for 

example, may be similar to the traits of an 

individual who pursues a large number of 

sexual partners and relationships requiring 

little commitment. 

Taken a step further, the research 

suggests that we should not be surprised 

to find a similar parallel in many others 

corners of society. It is not just in Hollywood 

where the traits that make someone a star 

could make the same person an abuser. 

The “dark triad” study was published long 

before the allegations against Weinstein 

came to light, but it remains the most 

comprehensive investigation into the 

personalities of sexual harassers. The 

researchers – based at Oakland University 

and the University of Georgia in the US, 

and Sapir Academic College in Israel – 

surveyed more than 2,500 Israeli men and 

women. Subjects prone to exploiting others 

demonstrated a number of characteristics, 

including callousness, disagreeableness, 

deceitfulness, egocentrism, lack of honesty 

or humility, and an excessive interest in 

one’s personal talents and goals. 

This last trait – also known as narcissism 

– is a key component of the dark triad. 

Narcissists tend to be convinced of their 

own magnificence, and believe that other 

people should be flattered to be in their 

company – even if that involves unwanted 

sexual advances. 

Machiavellians, meanwhile, believe 

that the best way to interact with others 

is to tell them what they want to hear. 

Their manipulative default can lead to a 

pattern of continually deceiving colleagues 

and friends, which may explain why a 

Machiavellian personality would engage 

in sexual harassment or pursue short-term 

sexual encounters. They simply believe 

they are too cunning to get caught. 

When abusers are unmasked, they 

often seek to deflect blame. Claiming 

to be suffering from a disorder such as 

“sexual addiction,” or checking into a 

rehabilitation clinic for “treatment,” as 

Weinstein has reportedly done, fits with a 

classic Machiavellian response. 

If the allegations pan out, Weinstein 

would be an extreme example of a “dark 

triad” abuser. But this combination of 

character traits is not all that rare. In fact, 

powerful predators might be lurking 

around the nearest water cooler right 

now. According to a 1994 survey of federal 

employees in the US, cited in the “dark triad” 

study, 44 percent of female workers, and 

19 percent of male workers, reported being 

sexually harassed on the job within the two 

previous years. 

And, as the authors of the 2016 

study remind us, sexual harassment is 

not always about trying to secure sex. 

Rather, psychological drives – including 

the need to boost one’s sense of self-esteem, 

attractiveness, or masculinity – may be 

driving predators’ abuse of power in 

dominating or degrading others. 

What may be particularly relevant 

to the Weinstein case, whatever the 

outcome, is that Hollywood is itself a 

bubble of narcissistic power. Psychologists 

could argue that this feature explains the 

blindness some have demonstrated toward 

the alleged depraved behavior of one of 

their colleagues. 

Sexual harassment is the immediate 

focus of the Weinstein case, as it should 

be, given the severity of the alleged crimes 

and the distress caused to the victims. But 

for psychologists seeking to understand 

the apparent nexus of success and abuse, 

Weinstein’s apparent downfall is just the 

tip of an analytic iceberg. 

(c): Project Syndicate 

C002D5556 

Week 

Quotes of the 

“A litre of petrol is now N145. Electricity 

supply has not improved; let us select good 

materials for our elections. We did well 

and we would continue to defend what we 

did. The APC leaders who were throwing 

tantrums at my administration on policies 

concerning petroleum could not fare better 

two years after they took over from him. 

Goodluck Jonathan, ex-president of Nigeria. 

“My administration has pledged N10 million 

as grant for any film shot in the state. We 

have a policy to open up our market to genuine 

investors, private and public agencies 

amongst others through promoting `Make in 

Abia` instead of Made in Abia, proliferating 

more industries in the state. Okezie Ikpeazu, 

Abia State Governor. 

“We have taken steps to improve the 

process of the smart card readers and we 

will continue to do so. We will also use 

improved smart card readers in Anambra 

election. We will deploy specific machine 

to the specific community and we will also 

provide additional machines and speak to 

the community leaders. We will treat all 

states equally. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman 

of Independent National Electoral Commission 

(INEC). 

Numbers 

$5.5bn 

The Federal Government has said its external 

borrowing plan, for which it is seeking the approval 

of the National Assembly, will take Nigeria 

between five years and 30 years to repay. 

N1.16tn 

Nigeria’s budget will rise by N1.16tn in 2018, 

according to projections contained in the 2018- 

2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework 

and Fiscal Strategy submitted to the National 

Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari. 

Blogs 

From the 

Security Awareness Slogans, Mottos, 

Tag lines, Catch Phrases, Maxims... 

• Control + Alt + Delete 

• When You Leave Your Seat 

• Be aware... Connect with care. 

• Before leaving the scene, clear your desk and your 

screen. 

• If something sounds too good to be true… there’s 

probably a scammer behind it. 

• Leave a clear desk while you’re away 

and at the end of each day. 

• Give your computer a rest when you’re not at your 

desk. 

• Don’t get hooked by phishers. 

• Phishing: If you suspect deceit, hit delete! 

• There’s no excuse for computer misuse. 

• Prepare for Disaster: Recover Faster. 

• SEC_RITY is not complete without U! 

• Sec-UR-rity - You are at the center. 

• Amateurs hack systems, professionals hack people. — 

Bruce Schneier 

• Think before you click. 

• See something wrong? Do something right. 

Care to be aware! 

Protect personal information. The identity saved 

could be your own. 

Don’t let your trash become someone else’s treasure. 

Feed your shredder often. 

Passwords: Longer is Stronger. 

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Ghana Office: Zion House, Shiashie, OIC-Galaxy Road, East Legon, Accra. 

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Editor: Zebulon Agomuo, All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.

BusinessDay 22 Oct 2017

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