10022018 - 2019 : How we'll stop Buhari - Opposition parties

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2—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018 — 3

4— VANGUARD, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10 , 2018
We will contest Yusuf’s reinstatement in court —HMCAN
By Sola Ogundipe &
Chioma Obinna
THE Health &
Managed Care
Association of Nigeria,
HMCAN, has threatened to
challenge the reinstatement
of Professor Usman Yusuf as
the Executive Director of the
National Health Insurance
Scheme, NHIS.
Chairman of the
Association that is the
umbrella body for Health
Maintenance Organisations,
HMOs, in Nigeria, Dr.
Tunde Ladele, disclosed this
yesterday during a press
briefing, saying Yusuf’s
appointment caused
distortions in the operations
of the Agency.
Ladele recalled that
HMCAN had earlier gone
to court to challenge
distortions and irregularities
in its operations with the
NHIS following
appointment of the Executive
Secretary, among other
issues.
“We will contest the recall
in court. There is a case
already on. The reason we
went to court was the
distortion of the process and
then the libelous statements
and the manner of
appointment.
According to Ladele:
“News of the lifting of the
suspension of Dr. Usman
Yusuf as the Executive
Secretary of the National
Health Insurance Scheme
reached the Association by
way of the social media and
print and electronic news
organisations on Tuesday 6th
February, 2018.
“Yusuf was suspended in
July 2017 by the Minister of
Health, Professor Isaac
Adewole for three months to
allow for an administrative,
investigative committee to
look into the various
allegations, including those
of monumental fraud, gross
abuse of office and nepotism
inimical to the NHIS.
Subsequently, the Minister of
Health extended the
suspension of the Executive
Secretary indefinitely.”
Further, he said: “It was
reported that the Ministerial
committee set up by the
Minister of Health had found
that the sum of N919 million
had been dubiously given to
consultants for staff training
and recommended that the
Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC,
probe the Agency for
diversion of funds and
contravention of the
Procurement Act.
“HMCAN notes the
assurances of government
that investigations of
allegations are ongoing.
Whilst noting the gravity of
the allegations, HMCAN is
mindful of the dictum that an
accused person is innocent
till proven guilty by a court of
competent jurisdiction.
“We advise that in the spirit
of transparency,
accountability and the stance
of government on anticorruption,
the report and
investigation should not be
swept under the carpet. Doing
this will erode public
confidence and cast doubt on
the sincerity of government.
According to Ladele: “In the
last year during his tenure,
there have been disruptions
and nothing has been done
in terms of adding more lives
to the Scheme, however, since
he was suspended, we have
gradually normalised
activities.
“In his absence the providers
have been taken care of and
everything had been going
seamlessly.
“We believe in the Nigerian
project and we on our part will
continue to invest our best
efforts in ensuring the
highest quality of care at the
most equitable cost for
millions of our enrollees
nationwide. Ultimately this
is the mandate of our
members and indeed of the
NHIS.”
HCPAN, NMA react
In his own reaction, the
Deputy National President
of the Healthcare Providers
Association of Nigeria,
HCPAN, Dr. Adeyeye
Arigbabuwo, was none
committal.
“Our position is that
Nigeria is dynamic. And
Nigeria is a controversial
country. So controversy
continues until we get to our
destination.”
Asked if the reinstatement
was healthy for the nation’s
health sector he said: “I
would not say yes or no but
what I want to let you know
is that as I am talking to
you now, I am not sure of
my health, and you are not
sure of your health. Only
God is sure of our health.
So it is difficult for me to
judge anybody.”
President of the Nigeria
Medical Association,
Professor Mike Ogirima on
his own part said it was
essential to have a
functional and mandatory
health insurance system.
“We are professionals and
all we are after is a
mandatory National Health
Insurance Scheme, that
can give us Universal
Health Coverage. “ We
don’t care whoever is there,
as long as we can get these
two things so that Nigerians
can enjoy the benefit of the
Scheme. “We need a
mandatory NHIS not this
one that is voluntary that is
causing controversial.”
AXA Mansard
Promotes
Valentine with
Show of Love
A
XA Mansard – a
member of the AXA
Group, the global leader in
insurance and asset management,
is set to put a
smile on the faces of couples
this Valentine’s Day by introducing
its #ShootYourShot
Valentine campaign on its
various social media platforms.
The social media
campaign is designed to connect
with social media users
by encouraging them to
boldly explore their creative
side in a show of love.
From February 8 to February
12, 2018, social media
users can participate in the
campaign by simply posting
a one-minute video of themselves
‘shooting their shot’
(a trend on social media
which means making a romantic
move towards a loved
one) in creative and interesting
ways on various social
media platforms including
Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

Ozubulu killings: Tension in court as witness
narrates how he was invited to take part in
the attack
By Vincent Ujumadu
and Chima Nwaiwu
THERE was tension at
the Nnewi High Court
premises yesterday during
the arraignment of four suspects
over the shooting at St
Philips Catholic Church,
Ozubulu in which 13 persons
lost their lives on August
6, 2017, with a star witness,
Mr. Chukwujekwu
Eze narrating how one of the
suspects invited him to participate
in the attack against
Chief Aloysius Ikegwuonu,
popularly called Bishop over
alleged unpaid debt.
The suspects— Great
Chinedu Akpunonu, 44;
Vincent Ike, 57; Chukwudi
Ugwu, 30, and Onyebuchi
Mbanefo, 46— were arraigned
on a 24-count
charge in Suit No: HN/36C/
2017 bordering on conspiracy
and murder. Others allegedly
involved in the
shooting were still at large.
The court premises was
filled to capacity and Saturday
Vanguard discovered
that most of the people who
came to witness the court proceedings
were Ozubulu indigenes
based in South Africa.
There was near commotion
as security operatives tried to
stop people from taking photographs
of the suspects after
the court session.
Apparently due to the tension
in court, the presiding
judge, Justice F.I. Aniukwu
ordered that nobody should
be allowed to stand in and
outside the court from the
next adjourned date, while
nobody should be allowed to
enter the court with a telephone.
Eze, the second witness,
who hailed from Ugbawka in
Enugu State, told the court
that he lived in South Africa
for 11 years before he was deported,
adding that he had
remained unemployed since
his deportation.
Led in evidence by the
prosecution counsel, Mr. Jay
Jay Ezeuko, SAN, Eze said:
“There is a boy named Okpanda
who told me that they
were going to the Bishop’s
place at Ozubulu to execute
a job. I asked him the nature
of the job and he told me that
they were going because
Bishop was owing some people
some money in South Africa.
He said they wanted to
go and destroy everything in
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo flanked by the Chairman, Presidential
Investigative Panel to Review Compliance of the Armed Forces with Human
Rights Obligations and rules of engagement, Hon. Justice Biobele Georgewile
and the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonishakin (r) while other
committee members, Maj. Gen. Pat Akem (l) and Mr. Wale Fapounda joined
after the submission of the final reports of the panel at a brief ceremony at
the State House, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida
Bishop’s house and shoot at
every living thing.
“I asked him who was
sponsoring the job and he
told me it was Obrocho.
When I mentioned it to Okpanda,
he said he would assist
me if I would agree to
follow in the hit job at Bishop’s
place. I told him I would
not be involved because I
won’t want to shed any blood.
“Okpanda invited me so he
could explain the whole
thing to me and when I went
the following day, he told me
it was only if I took part in
the job that he would help
me to go back to South Africa.
It was in Okpanda’s place
that I met Dobby (Onyemaechi
Mbanefo), the 4th accused
and two of them tried
to convince me to join in the
job. I refused to join.
“After the shooting in the
church, I saw Okpanda
again and he told me that
they had done the job and
when I asked if he could
help me since they had
made the money, he told
me he couldn’t help me
since I refused to join in the
job.
“I then told him I was
going to approach Bishop
since I didn’t have any other
person to help me. He
told me not to go to Bishop
because the Bishop would
arrest me.
“I later decided to approach
Bishop because of
the level of massacre in the
church in which the Bishop’s
father was among those
killed.”
Dickson backs calls for establishment
of state police
By Samuel Oyadongha,
Yenagoa
BAYELSA State Gover
nor, Hon Seriake
Dickson, has backed the decision
of the Federal Government
to establish state
police in Nigeria.
Dickson said that the prevailing
security situation
and the need for an effective
response to the current
crime challenges have made
it mandatory for the establishment
of state police in
the society.
The governor’s comments
follow the declaration by the
Vice President, Prof. Yemi
Osinbajo, that it had become
difficult for the Federal Government
to provide security
for the country from Abuja
in view of the fact that Nigeria
had failed to meet the
United Nation’s requirement
of a policeman to 400
people.
According to him, removing
the police from the exclusive
list and putting its
operations under a more effective
arrangement at the
level of the state would put
a stop to the widespread killings
and crimes in the country.
Dickson in a statement
explained that state police
would be effective as the personnel
would be drawn from
the various states and would
easily access valuable information
required to track
crime and criminals.
The governor added that
the current federally controlled
police had become
overstretched due to wide
ratio of the police to the rapid
increase in population.
He said, “It has become
very clear that the decision
of the Federal Government
to establish state police
should be supported. I am
of the view that the decision
can only tame the growing
scourge of crime and criminality
in our communities.
“The advantages of having
the police at the state
level are many. These people
will come from the state
and I am of the view that
their capacity to access the
requisite intelligence to fight
crime will be stronger.
“So the time to establish
state police, as recommended
in the report of the 2014
Constitutional Conference
and the recent report of the
All Progressives Congress,
is now.”
SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018 — 5
Saudi Arabia executes another
Nigerian for drug trafficking
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
APPARENTLY taking advantage of the delay by Nige
ria to intervene in the alleged drug deals undertaken
by Nigerians in the country, Saudi Arabia has executed
another Nigerian for drug-related offences.
Impeccable sources confirmed to Saturday Vanguard that
the suspect, whose name was given as Adam Idris Abubakar,
was killed by the authorities on Tuesday, bringing the number
of Nigerian drug detainees so far executed in the last
four months to four.
Two of the suspects were killed last November.
A source close to the suspects told Saturday Vanguard
that the Nigerian Embassy in Riyadh had been informed of
the latest execution and that the embassy was embarrassed
by the action of the Middle-East country, having begun
discussions with them to spare the lives of the suspects.
The killing of Abubakar has reduced the number of Nigerian
drug suspects to 13 out of the 15, who are being detained
in Madinah Prison in Saudi Arabia.
Last year, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama,
gave the assurance that the Nigerian Government
had begun discussions with the foreign country to save the
lives of the embattled Nigerians. Last week, Onyeama said,
“We have made very strong intercessions with the government
of those countries to review the cases and of course,
not to execute those prisoners. But there is a limit, these are
sovereign countries and they have processes and laws.
Buhari approves retirement of Justice
Ademola, dismissal of Tokode
P
RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday
approved the compulsory retirement of Justice
Adeniyi Ademola, and the dismissal of Justice O.O Tokode.
Ademola was of the Abuja Division of the Federal High
Court, while Tokode was of Benin Division of the same
court.
This was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by
the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and
Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu.
Shehu said that the president’s approval followed
recommendations from the National Judicial Council
(NJC).
“The disciplinary actions on the two Justices are in
pursuance of Section 292 (1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“Justice O. O. Tokode is also to refund all salaries and
allowances earned illegally from Dec. 2, 2015 when he
was sworn-in as a Judge of the Federal High Court to
date,” Shehu said.
National carrier will be realised
within first term of this
administration — Sirika
By Lawani Mikairu
MINISTER of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika,
has said the federal government will establish the
national carrier before the expiration of this tenure of President
Muhammadu Buhari’s government. Sirika disclosed
this while addressing aviation reporters at the Muritala Muhammed
Airport, Lagos. According to the minister, the business
outline will be ready in a couple of months. He said :“ I
think in the next couple of months, by March we should be
able to have our outline business base for this transaction. I
will say that we are very close to having the national carrier
established. Certainly it would be within the first term of this
administration”.
On the pensioners of Nigeria Airways, Sirika appealed to
the ex-workers to exercise patience as the federal government
has made provision for their payment. He said :“We’ve
dealt with the issue of pensioners. The money is being provided
by government, the Ministry of Finance is handling it
and the National Assembly is also playing its roles”.
Court issues bench warrant against
Innoson motors boss
By Abdulwahab Abdulah
AN Ikeja High Court yesterday issued a bench warrant
against the Chairman of Innoson Motors Nigeria Limited,
Innocent Chukwuma. In a ruling by Justice Mojisola
Dada, the court ordered that Chukwuma be produced in
court at the next adjournment for probable arraignment over
alleged forgery. The decision of the court was due to his
failure to appear before the court again for arraignment over
the criminal matter lodged against him by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission.
Giving the order, Justice Dada held that, “a bench warrant
is hereby served on Innocent Chukwuma, he will remain in
custody till the next adjourned date. The case is adjourned
till March 14 for possible arraignment”.
Earlier during proceedings a mild drama ensued in the
courtroom with Justice Dada threatening to charge Prof. J. N
Mbadugha, the defence counsel for Innoson and Innoson
Motors Ltd for contempt of court.

6 — SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
My life in danger —Kassim Afegbua
•Says he can’t be cowed by threats, intimidation, harassment and
psychological torturing
•Speaks on his interrogation, thanks Babangida for standing by him
By Emmanuel Aziken,
Political Editor and Henry
Umoru
PRINCE
Kassim
Afegbua, the
spokesman to General
Ibrahim Babangida has
raised the alarm over
threats to his life following
his role in the release
of a statement by Babangida
advising President
Muhammadu Buhari
not to seek re-election
in 2019.
In a statement made
available to Vanguard at
the weekend, Afegbua
alleged that he had been
inundated with mysterious
threatening phone
calls from unknown quarters
following his interrogation
by the police and
the Department of State
Services, DSS.
While praising General
Babangida and his
family for the support he
received from them in the
course of his ordeal, he
also thanked his lawyer,
Dr. Kayode Ajulo and several
other lawyers who he
said have repeatedly expressed
support to him
since he released the
statement from Babangida
last Sunday. He said:
“In the last six days, I
have gone through traumatic
experience when I
was declared wanted by
the Nigeria Police. By the
strength of that unprofessional
declaration, I was
treated like a common
criminal and fugitive until
I showed up at the Police
Headquarters Abuja
to physically present myself.
After what the Police
termed a no case issue,
they were apologetic and
I took my leave. In the
evening of that day,
Wednesday 7th February,
2018 I got a phone call
inviting me to the Headquarters
of the Directorate
of State Security
(DSS).
“I honoured the invitation
on Thursday and
spent 7 hours waiting for
attention. I left the office
at 6.50pm when it became
clear nobody was
ready to tell me what the
invitation was meant for.
I was informed to report
back on Friday 9th February,
2018 at 11am. On
arrival on Friday, having
spent 2 hours, I was attended
to by the Director
of Operations and two
others who interrogated
me on the said statement
I issued. My interrogation
was recorded electronically
and was made
to write a statement affirming
the issued statement,
having collected
all my personal details;
house address, account
number, international
passport number and other
information.
“I find this whole episode
quite nauseating
and utterly condemnable.
By Onozure Dania
JUSTICE Adedayo
Akintoye of a Lagos
High Court sitting at Igbosere
yesterday dismissed
the no case submission
made by a Senior
Advocate of Nigeria
(SAN), Rickey Tarfa over
alleged gratification.
Justice Akintoye held
that the prosecution - Economic
and Financial
Crimes Commission
(EFCC) - had established
essential elements of the
offences it filed against
Tarfa.
She held that the justice
of the case thus required
that the court
should demand some explanation
from the defendant
in respect of the
charge.
The judge then ordered
Tarfa to enter his defence
on the next adjourned
date, fixed for March 13,
2018.
I cannot rationalise why
just a statement would
amount to subjecting me
to rigorous interrogation
especially when there
was no complainant. The
action of the Nigeria Police
coupled with that of
the State Security Service
is at best that of a meddlesome
interloper and
sheer bullying, leaving
serious developmental
issues to chasing shadows
with a view to intimidate,
harass and embarrass
me.
“Let me state at this
point that my life is in
danger as we speak. I
have been receiving series
of unknown phone
calls from people threatening
me and my family.
But I am resolute in the
true spirit of a free born,
that threats, intimidation,
harassment and psychological
torturing has never
and will not stop me
from exercising my right
of free speech as enshrined
in the constitution
of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria; as well
as carrying out my professional
responsibility. I
will not submit to intimidation,
harassment and
threats. Certainly not. I
have just a life to live and
no one under God will
live for ever.
“Let me use this opportunity
to thank my principal,
General Ibrahim
Babangida, GCFR and
members of his family
who were constantly in
touch with me to share in
my tribulations. General
Ibrahim Babangida’s
words of encouragement
and assurances further
bolstered my resolve to
soldier on. I am eternally
grateful to Nigerians especially
the Media for
their solidarity, support
and espirit de corps.
Words are not enough to
convey my deep and profound
gratitude. My
thanks also go to my very
adorable and supportive
wife who stood by me
throughout the whole
process without betraying
any sentiments. And
to members of my larger
Afegbua family, my reliable
friends, associates
and compatriots, I record
my thanks and appreciation
in million ways.
“And to my very dependable
and reliable
lawyer, Dr. Kayode Ajulo
and other lawyers who
offered their voices to
prosecute this case, I am
eternally grateful. To take
a Kayode Ajulo out on a
stressful five days legal
engagement without collecting
a dime, is to me,
the height of humanity. I
am not only touched but
humbled by this show of
support and uncommon
generousity. And my
good friend, Emmanuel
Ajibulu, such an efficient,
and proactive media networker,
I cannot thank
you enough.
Governor Yahya Belo of Kogi State (l) and the Senate Leader, Senator
Ahmed Lawal exchanging pleasantries after the jum'at prayers at the State
House, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida
Alleged gratification: Court dismisses
Rickey Tarfa’s no case submission
Justice Akintoye also
dismissed a claim filed by
the senior lawyer asking
for N520 million from the
anti- graft agency as damages
for alleged malicious
prosecution.
The judge described it
as unmeritorious.
EFCC had on March
10, 2016, arraigned Tarfa,
on a 27-counts charge
which was subsequently
amended to 26 counts.
He was accused of alleged
wilful obstruction
of authorised EFCC officials,
refusal to declare
assets and giving false
information to a public
officer, by lying about his
age.
The commission also
alleged, among others,
that the SAN, offered
N5.3million gratification
to Justice Nganjiwa in
order to compromise the
judge. Tarfa however
pleaded not guilty to the
charge.
At the last adjourned
date on January 17, Tarfa,
through his counsel,
Abiodun Owonikoko,
SAN, made a no-case
submission urging the
court to dismiss the
charge because it was
malicious.
He prayed the court to
make an example of the
anti-graft agency and
“slam the hammer” on it
with a N500millon damages
award.
“The specific ingredients
were not proven. It
is not as if the prosecution
did not make an attempt,
but that the attempt
was so woeful,”
Owonikoko submitted.
But EFCC counsel Mr
Rotimi Oyedepo objected
to Tarfa’s no-case submission,
“because it amounts
to contesting the obvious.”
According to Oyedepo,
Tarfa misconstrued the
no-case submission.
Fix refineries to end fuel crisis
or resign, Arewa youths tell
NNPC GMD, Maikanti
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
Piqued by the lingering fuel crisis in the country
since the beginning of the year, Northern youths
yesterday, asked the Group Managing Director of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Baru Maikanti,
to take concrete steps to end the current fuel
scarcity in the country or step aside. The youths under
the aegis of Arewa Youths Assembly, said it was a
shame for Nigerians to continue to suffer in unending
fuel queues after the NNPC GMD had boasted to
the world that there was no fuel scarcity and that it
had enough stock in its depots to meet public demand.
In a statement jointly signed by the Speaker of the
AYA, Mohammed Salihu and the Clerk, Desmond
Minakaro, the youths also chided President Muhammadu
Buhari, who is the substantive Petroleum minister,
for still appearing confused about what to do to
find a lasting solution to the perennial fuel crisis in
Nigeria almost three years after taking over power.
The youths noted, “It is time for the President to act
fast. The continuous hardship occasioned by inadequate
fuel supply must stop before Nigerians lose
confidence it has on the government.
Don’t sell National theatre,
Reps caution FG
*As ministry proposes N2.6bn 2018 budget
By Emman Ovuakporie
THE Members of the House of Representatives
Committee on Tourism and Culture yesterday
cautioned the Federal Government not to sell the National
theatre situated in Iganmu, Lagos state.
The chairman of the House committee on Culture
and Tourism, Hon Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama made
this known during an interactive session between his
committee and the Minister of Information and Culture,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed at the National Assembly
complex Abuja. The Edo lawmaker insisted that
the position was in the best interest of Nigerians and
promised to wade into the crises between the Artistic
Director of the monument and his personnel should
the minister fail to resolve it.
Kidnappers abduct five Igbo
traders in Calabar
By Ike Uchechukwu, Calabar
NO fewer than five Igbo businessmen have been
abducted by hoodlums within three weeks in
Calabar metropolis in Cross River causing fear among
the Igbo community in the state.
Saturday Vanguard investigations revealed that
while one Ifeanyi and Lazarus, spare parts dealers,
were kidnapped two weeks ago, an electrical parts’
dealer and contractor popularly known as ‘But Why’
was whisked away on Monday.
The victims were said to have been kidnapped at
their shops at Victor-Akan Street off Bedwell all in
Calabar South. A family source told Saturday Vanguard
that they have regained their freedom after
paying ransom of about 20 million naira.
However, the latest kidnapping of one popular Japanese
spare parts dealer, Mr Paulinus Obi, popularly
known as Matata, and Emmanuel Ozokwu a contractor
have sent shivers down the spine of Igbo Community
in Calabar. Obi was kidnapped on Wednesday at
Bedwell Street, while Ozokwu was whisked away on
Thursday at Target Street all in Calabar South.
Tinubu’s C’ttee: Time is
against us —Senate leader
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
LEADER of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has said
that the appointment of the national leader of
the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu by President Muhammadu Buhari to reconcile
the aggrieved members of the party was long overdue.
Senator Lawan, APC, Yobe, said that there was
no time to waste in carrying out the assignment because
elections were fast approaching.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the
Friday juma’at service at the State House Mosque,
Abuja, he told Asiwaju Tinubu to kick start the process
of reconciliation of aggrieved members immediately.
Speaking on the Tinubu reconciliation committee,
he said, “that committee should have been constituted
long time ago because APC is plagued by some
internal issues and I believe that these are issues that
are surmountable. The Tinubu committee will definitely
add value into reconciling the warring sides so
to speak. Time is against us, we have to really kick
start this process of reconciliation immediately and I
believe that as a family we should be able to come out
very much much united than we were before”.

Only looters not happy with Buhari, Gov Bello
replies Catholic Bishops
•Says NASS alteration of election time table'll weed out bad lawmakers
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
GOVERNOR Yahaya
Bello of Kogi State
has told the Catholic Bishops
that it was only those
that looted the nation’s
treasury and those that carried
the country’s money
with Jet to South Africa that
were angry with the administration
of President
Muhammadu Buhari.
The governor also said
that some religious leaders
were angry because avenues
to loot money and
take to the churches and
Mosques had been
blocked by the Buhari’s
government.
The Kogi State governor
also told State House correspondents
in an interview
after the Juma’at service
at the State House
mosque, Presidential Villa
Abuja, that the recent alteration
of election time table
by the two chambers of
the National Assembly,
will help to determine the
popularity of the lawmakers.
He contended that some
of the lawmakers at the
National Assembly rode on
the back of the popularity
of President Buhari to win
election in 2015, adding
that the adjustment of the
time table will help to weed
out the “bad” members
among them.
He also said that he be-
VANGUARD, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2018 — 7
Ugwuanyi transformed Enugu with IGR, says Finance Minister
THE Minister of
Finance, Mrs. Kemi
Adeosun has expressed
delight at the impressive
pace of development in
Enugu State, attributing the
stride to the focused
leadership of Gov.
Ifeanyichukwu Ugwuanyi
and his prudent
management of the state’s
resources to address the
basic needs of the people.
Mrs. Adeosun, who
described Gov. Ugwuanyi as
a “brave” leader, noted that
the governor has done very
well in growing the state’s
Internally Generated
Revenue (IGR)
“transparently” and has also
ensured that the revenues
collected are utilized for the
development of the state.
The finance minister spoke
at the launch of the Voluntary
Assets and Income
Declaration Scheme
(VAIDS) in Enugu, which
offer taxpayers an
opportunity, within a short
time, to regularize their tax
status relating to previous tax
periods.
She emphasized the need
for the development of taxes
that will assist states and the
country to achieve their
potentials and vision for the
people, stressing that “with
regular taxes, we will avoid
the pain that the recent
collapse in oil prices and the
consequent recession
inflicted on Nigerians”.
Mrs. Adeosun also
lieved in the ability of the
national leader of the All
Progressives Congress,
APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
to reconcile all aggrieved
party members
based on the new assignment
given to him by the
President.
On Tinubu’s committee,
he said: “Of course, Whatever
Mr. President believes
in, his judgement and his
wisdom I believe in him.
And I believe in his ability
to bring all party members
together.”
Commenting on the rearrangement
of the election
time table, Bello said, “I so
much appreciate this. I
think if you observe critically
what happened in
the last election where Mr.
President was elected
along with other members
of National Assembly.
“Then, we called it Buhari
Tsunami, where the
good, the bad and the ugly
were all put together and
elected. It is either going
to be in their interest that
the Buhari Tsunami will
return them or everybody
will be on his or her own.
“Let Buhari return and
let Nigerians select the
good ones out of the bad
ones to return to the National
Assembly. Which
ever order it comes in this
upcoming general elections,
I can assure you that
Mr. President will win
commended Gov. Ugwuanyi
for the massive road projects
in the state, especially his
administration’s intervention
on federal roads such as the
9th Mile-Ngwo-Miliken
Hill-New Market road,
adding that “Enugu State is
one of the states where a lot
is going on.”
The minister disclosed that
the Federal Government has
recognized that
infrastructure is the key to job
creation, growth and wealth,
stressing that “payment of
taxes is a fundamental
requirement for our growth
story.”
She said: “We have already
released N1.2 trillion in
capital so far for the 2017
budget, which commenced
in June and most of this was
applied to roads, bridges,
rails, power, our airports and
other key infrastructural
projects.”
In his address, Gov.
Ugwuanyi while
appreciating the Minister
for her resourcefulness,
dynamism and commitment,
which he said saw to the
establishment of the scheme,
disclosed that his
administration, despite
daunting economic
constraints, has through
prudent management and
application of its meager
resources, made substantial
progress in actualizing its set
objectives for the benefit of
the people.
The governor stated that
landslide and the good
ones will return to the National
Assembly.”
When asked whether the
lawmakers will be the losers
of the proposed table
time, he said that the unpopular
ones among them
will be the ultimate losers.
He also said, “They have
the choice to make and
they have made their
choice that the goodwill of
Mr. President should not
rob on the bad ones. Surely,
the good ones on their
the government while
creating job opportunities for
the people through agriculture,
entrepreneurship
and investments, has also
actively increased the tempo
of infrastructural develop-
own account will return to
the National Assembly at
the appropriate time.”
Commenting also on the
submissions of the Catholic
Bishops under the umbrella
of Catholic Bishops
Conference of Nigeria,
CBCN, in the meeting
with the President on
Thursday where the Bishops
told the President that
Nigerians were angry as a
result of alleged bad governance
and imbalance in
the system, the governor
ment especially in the rural
areas; built capacity and
remained regular in the
payment of civil servants’
salaries and pensions.
Also speaking, the
Herdsmen killings: APC flays Wike’s
N200m relief to Benue victims
By Egufe Yafugborhi
ALL Progressives Congress
(APC) has faulted
Governor Nyesom Wike
on his administration’s compassionate
donation of
said it was those who had
looted the country’s funds
that were angry because
sources of their free money
had been blocked by the
government.
He said:“Yes. I followed it
(the Bishops meting) keenly
and one of the key statements
there was that Nigerians
are angry. Yes, it is
very true that Nigerians are
angry but the question is
who are this category of Nigerians
who are angry?
Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State (left) with the National Vice Chairman
(South East) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Emma Eneukwu during
the funeral ceremony of the latter’s mother-in-law, late Deaconess Dorothy Ahanonu
at Achi, Oji River Local Government Area of the state, yesterday.
Executive Secretary of Joint
Tax Board, Sir Oseni Elamah,
who applauded the Finance
Minister for initiating the
scheme, also commended
Gov. Ugwuanyi for his giant
strides in Enugu State.
N200Million to victims displaced
by herdsmen menace
in Benue State, describing
the action as a show of
“primitive hypocrisy”
Rivers APC in a statement
by its Publicity Secretary,
Chris Finebone, noted that
Wike has not shown as
much compassion to bereaved
families of several
persons killed and as many
persons displaced by similar
criminal killings and violence
in Rivers state.
“River APC is shocked
that whereas victims of killings
and criminality in various
parts of Rivers State are
licking their wounds and
wondering where help will
come their way, Wike has
gone to donate N200 million
of Rivers money to victims
of killings in Benue
State.
“Lofty as the gesture
seems, however, what the
governor has only succeeded
in doing is a classical and
wanton display of primitive
hypocrisy of the worst
type,” the party stated.
The party recalled that,
“Beyond the highly politicised,
self-serving and halfhearted
visits to Omoku recently,
Governor Wike has
ignored killings in various
parts of Rivers, especially in
the local government area
of his PDP national chairman
– Andoni.
“The governor has neither
mentioned nor visited
Ajakajak and other Andoni
villages where several persons
have been gruesomely
killed up till January,
2017. Why has he not visited
victims of killings in Rivers
and donate to their welfare,
but chose to travel to
distant Benue to display
crass duplicity? APC demands
an answer from
Wike.
“Quite disappointing is
the fact that some prominent
Rivers indigenes (some of
whose people are being
killed here in the state)
joined the governor to Benue
and even prayed at the
graveside of victims while
their own people are being
killed without any intervention
by Wike”
Three killed in fresh attacks on Benue communities
THREE persons were
feared killed in a late
night attack on Benue communities
Thursday, according
to the residents.
According to an online
publication, the Premium
Times, the victims were
ambushed by assailants
who hit villages around
Anyiin, a major town in
Logo Local Government
Area that serves as a base
for police special forces and
has one of the biggest IDP
camps.
Premium Times broke the
news of the attacks on
Thursday night, citing residents’
accounts that five
persons were in critical condition
from gunshot
wounds.
According to the report,
the victims were all rescued
and taken to NKST Hospital
in Anyiin by police special
forces. But two of the
five victims died overnight.
The first victim who died
was identified as 40-yearold
Orduuga Kumaga. Another
victim was identified
as Mnenge Orson, aged
30.
The attacks claimed a
third victim whom residents
identified as a man of
Hausa ethnic group. He
was riding on a motorcycle
from his village in Akwana
to Anyiin when he was
killed.
He was reportedly on the
bike with a Tiv man, who
was also critically wounded
by gunshots and was receiving
treatments at the
hospital in Anyiin.
A female victim, Kanan
Munduga, 18, has been
transferred to Benue State
University Teaching Hospital,
Makurdi.
Kavera Alfred, a medical
personnel at NKST Hospital,
said Ms. Munduga was
transferred because she had
lost too much blood than
they could handle at his
hospital.
The doctor said he was
attending to two more victims,
Abraham Terer, 23, and
Ambua Shimer, a 40-yearold
woman.
The doctor said the victim’s
medical bills had been
covered by Terkura Suswam,
a politician and founder of
Ashi Polytechnic.
“He also helped to facilitate
the transfer of Ms. Munduga
to the Teaching Hospital
in Makurdi,” he said.
The doctor said the two
remaining victims at his
hospital had been stabilised
and should be able
to recover there if their
treatment go on as hoped.

8 — VANGUARD, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10 , 2018
Alleged N400m fraud: S-Court declines
to quash charges against Metuh
•Says he has case to answer
By Ikechukwu
Nnochiri
THIS is not the best
of times for the
bed-ridden former
National Publicity
Secretary of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP,
Chief Olisa Metuh, as
the Supreme Court,
yesterday held that he
has a criminal case to
answer.
The apex court, in a
unanimous judgement
by a five-man panel of
Justices, said there was
merit in the seven-count
charge the Economic
and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC,
preferred against Metuh
and his firm Destra
Investment Limited.
EFCC alleged that
Metuh had before the
2015 Presidential
election, received
N400million from the
Office of the National
Security Adviser, ONSA,
without executing any
contract.
The agency alleged
that the fund was
electronically wired from
an account that ONSA
operated with the
Central Bank of Nigeria,
CBN, to Metuh, via
account no. 0040437573,
which his firm operated
with Diamond Bank Plc.
It told the court that
the fund which was
released to Metuh and
his firm by detained
former NSA, Col. Sambo
Dasuki, retd, was part
of about $2.1billion
earmarked for the
purchase of arms to fight
insurgency in the North
East.
Besides, the
prosecution which has
already closed its case
after it called eight
witnesses that testfied
before the court, also
alleged that Metuh was
involved in an illicit
transaction that involved
the exchange of
$2million.
However, Metuh who
has also opened his
defence to the charge,
was last Monday,
brought before the Abuja
Division of the Federal
High Court in an
ambulance.
The embattled ex-PDP
spokesman was wheeled
into the courtroom in a
stretcher by a team of
medical experts from the
National Hospital,
Abuja, even as his
lawyers persuaded trial
Justice Okon Abang to
suspend further hearing
on his case, till March
14.
Metuh’s bid to finally
stop his trial failed
yesterday, as the
Supreme Court dashed
his hopes, saying he
should continue his
defence before the lower
court.
The apex court panel
unanimously affirmed
the May 25, 2016,
judgment of the Court of
Appeal in Abuja, which
earlier held that Metuh
had a case to answer.
The appellate court
had dismissed appeals
Metuh and his firm
lodged before it for
being incompetent, even
as it upheld the March
9, 2016 ruling of Justice
Abang that dismissed a
‘no-case-submission’
that was made by the
THE Department of
Biological Sciences,
College of Basic and
Applied Sciences (CBAS) of
the Mountain Top
University will hold ‘A 3-day
Proposal and Grant Writing
Workshop’ from Tuesday,
April 17 to Thursday,April
19, 2018.
The objective of the threeday
workshop is primarily
‘To Impart Knowledge of
Proposal writing skills in
young academics that are
seeking grants for research
projects.
It is also to give the wouldbe
participants the
opportunity to have a oneon-one
interaction with
academic scholars that have
secured research grants.
defendants who insisted
that EFCC failed to
establish a prima-facie
case to warrant their
prosecution.
Meantime, the
Supreme Court panel,
held that the appellate
court acted rightly when
it dismissed Metuh’s
appeal on the ground
that he failed to comply
with basic constitutional
requirement.
It concurred with the
lower court that Metuh
and his company failed
to obtain leave as
required by the
Constitution when filing
an appeal against an
interlocutory decision,
on the grounds of mixed
law and facts, before the
notice of appeal was
filed
Mountain Top Varsity holds
workshop for grant seekers
According to a statement
signed by the chairman of
Local Organising
Committee, LOC and Head
of Department, Biological
Sciences, Dr. Adesina
Adeiga, the three-day
workshop will hold at the
College of Basic and
Applied Sciences (CBAS)
Big Lecture Hall of
Mountain Top University
(MTU) KM 12, Lagos
Ibadan, Expressway, Ogun
State. Dr. Adeiga added
that the programme will
attract a registration fee of
N35,000.
Prof. Elijah Ayolabi, a
Professor of Geophysics and
Vice-Chancellor, Mountain
Top University is the Chief
Host.
We need good hands to develop
Nigeria’s power sector
—Lagos Perm. Sec
By Ediri Ejoh &
Oluchukwu Nkenta
THE Lagos State
Permanent Secretary of
Education, Adebunmi
Adekanye, has reiterated the
need for competent hands to
develop the country’s power
sector. This came as the
management of Ikeja Electric
called for more sensitization
of the risks and hazards in
the electricity sector so as to
guide consumers to embrace
tenets of safety.
Adekanye made this
known during the official
unveiling of Power Play, an
Interactive Board Game
developed by Ikeja Electric
(IE) to promote safety in
power sector at Stadium
Junior Grammar School,
Ifako Ijaye, in Lagos.
The Permanent Secretary,
lauded the management of
IE for its creativity in
developing the game for the
youth to imbibe safety
culture, adding that it would
encourage youths to pick
more interest in the power
sector.
Adekanye, who was
represented by the Director,
Administration and Human
Resources, Ministry of
Education, Mrs. Folashade
Ladejo, noted that the game
would prepare the youth
against the hazard in the
sector and how to be saved
from the problem associated
with electricity.
Also speaking, the
Director-General, Lagos
Safety Commission, Mr.
Hakeem Dickson, said the
game would impact safety
culture on the minds of
youth.

Residents protest hike in toll on Lekki-Epe
expressway
By Monsuru
Olowoopejo
FOLLOWING increase
in toll paid by
motorists along Lekki-Epe
Expressway, residents of Eti-
Osa Local Government,
yesterday, stormed the road,
protesting the increase
describing it as anti-masses
policy.
The protest came barely
nine days after Lekki
Concession Company,
LCC, increased the toll,
apparently to offset the
earlier debt incurred on the
project by the government
after the project was bought
back from the lenders five
years ago.
The protesters, under the
aegis of Anti-Lekki Tolling
Movement, ALTM, argued
that the tolls within the axis
should be removed or be
made toll-free for every
motorist.
They stressed that since
the road was constructed
with tax payers’ money, toll
should not be collected from
the residents to rehabilitate
Lekki-Epe expressway
adding that it is the
responsibility of the
government to cater for the
welfare of the residents.
Saturday Vanguard
gathered that few minutes
after the protest
commenced, hoodlums
stormed the scene with
guns and machetes,
attacking the protesters and
demanded that the protest
should be discontinued
immediately.
The hoodlums also
attacked the newsmen at the
scene, preventing them
from capturing the drama
that ensued between both
parties.
Normalcy however
returned when Policemen
deployed to the scene
intervened and arrested no
fewer than five of the
hoodlums.
A member of the group,
Adeboye Adebare, insisted
that the government must
meet their demands adding
that “the government has
not reviewed the minimum
wage and has not reduced
taxes collected from the
residents.”
In an interview with
Saturday Vanguard during
the protest, the convener of
the protest, Dotun Hassan,
demanded that a full audited
report on what had been
generated from the tolls
since the facilities were
erected be made public.
“LCC should not be
collecting toll nor engage in
any increment at the toll-gate
because the fund is our
money. The governor who
cancelled the toll plaza at
Chevron should not hesitate
to immediately remove the
facility or reverse to the old
fee.”
Hassan also explained
that hoodlums attacked his
members with guns and
machetes, to truncate the
protest.
“It is barbaric in this era
because this is a
government that had given
the residents opportunity to
engage with the
government. We do not
know the sponsors of these
hoodlums but this was one
of the strategies used to
scuttle the protest embarked
upon few years ago. We will
remain resolute.
“We have demanded that
all the arrested hoodlums
must be prosecuted because
they attacked us including
journalists, with guns and
machete. We believe that this
will serve as deterrent to
others,” he added.
Why Nigeria is partnering Vatican to
end poverty — Minister of Science
By Chinonso Alozie,
Owerri
MINISTER
of
Science and
Technology, Dr
Ogbonnaya Onu, said
yesterday, that President
Muhammadu Buhari’s
government has
concluded arrangement
to partner with Vatican
to end poverty in the
country through Science
and Technology.
Onu spoke to
newsmen while on
facility tour of the
Assumpta Science
Center, in Ofekata,
Orodo in Mbaitoli Local
Government Area of Imo
state.
He also said that the
Assumpta Science
Center, would serve the
African continent.
“This is Assumpta
Science Center, it is an
opportunity for our
young people to
embrace technology.
The federal government
entered into partnership
with the Vatican. This
will serve all African
children, from all African
countries. We discovered
that the difference
between a developing
and developed country is
the level of Science and
Technology they have
gone through.
“We think, if we can get
young Africans to study
Science and Technology,
it will help to develop
Africa. It will help in
creating jobs, creating
wealth, fighting poverty
and fighting illiteracy.
“ P r e s i d e n t
Muhammadu Buhari,
inherited this project and
as Minister of Science
and Technology, I
insisted it must be
completed. I have been
assured it will be
commissioned soon.
“We intend to do this in
other regions of the
country, this will be the
first one for the Southeast,
in Imo state.
“The contractor has
assured me just like you
are seeing the Chemistry
laboratory, that in the next
few days everything will
be ready. We want the
very best, this must be
compared with the best in
the world, so that people
can come from Europe to
Ambode presents staff of office to
traditional rulers
By Olasunkanmi
Akoni
G OVERNOR
Akinwunmi
Ambode of Lagos State
has presented staff of
office and instrument of
appointment to newly
appointed traditional
rulers while also
elevating a Baale (a local
chief) to the Obaship
status.
The newly installed Oba
are: His Royal Majesty,
Oba Basiru Sotonwa as the
Sekumade of Ipakodo,
Ikorodu West Local
Council Development
Area of the state and His
Royal Majesty, Oba
Muritalab Aremu Ogun-
Oloko, Adeori–Okin1, the
Olu of Iwaya, Yaba Local
Government Area.
Since the inception of
Governor Ambode-led
administration, a total of
21 Obas and 128 Baales
and Chiefs were
installed, while 12 Obas
were reclassified across
the state.
Presenting the staff of
office and instrument of
appointments to the
Obas, Ambode charged
them and other
traditional rulers in the
state to maintain peace
and order in their
domains.
Ambode, who was
represented at the
ceremony by the
Commissioner for Local
Government and
Community Affairs,
Muslim Folami, at
Ipakodo community,
implored the youths and
residents to guide
jealously all
infrastructure provided
by the state government
for the betterment of their
community and desist
from cultism and all
forms of hooliganism.
The governor
expressed determination
of his administration not
rest on its oars in
bringing infrastructural
development nearer to
the communities, saying
that the present
administration was
committed to running an
inclusive government by
using the communities as
springboard for social
and economic
development.
study here. We want to
expose our children to
the best possible learning
environment and we want
to produce first grade
engineers.”
According to the
Chairman Project
Monitoring Committee,
of the Assumpta Science
Center, Mr. Marcel
Uzoegbu, “it was aimed
at bringing the
development of Science
and Technology to our
door steps.
SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018 — 9
2019: Civil Society engages govt
agencies on service delivery
By Omeiza Ajayi
AHEAD of the 2019 general elections, the League of
Civil Societies, a coalition of over 200 Civil Society
Organisations CSOs has said it will continue to engage
various government agencies with a view to tracking their
performances.
At a one-day engagement with some federal agencies
in Abuja, President of the coalition, Adefila Kamal, said:
“Using the words of the President that change begins
with us, we brought all the agencies here to strategically
engage them so that we may know exactly what they
have for the populace and see how we can tap into their
programmes and actions. There are agencies we also
think should make necessary adjustments even as they
implement government policies and we will be facing
them with it head on."
He said Nigerians would want to know to what extent
government programmes have been implemented by its
agencies, as the country approaches the 2019 general
elections.
Community Media group gets excos,
laud Ambode, Bamigbetan
THE Association of Practitioners of Community
Media in Nigeria (APCOM) has praised the
Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and his
Commissioner for Information Honourable Kehinde
Bamgbetan for giving community media a voice in
the state.
Speaking during a press conference and Media
Launch of the association, which took place in Lagos,
the Publisher of Ilupeju Today, Dayo Akintobi who is
the chairman of APCOM said many of the practitioners
have benefited from the Lagos State Community Media
Forum created by the then Special Adviser to Governor
Ambode on Communities and Communications
Honourable Bamgbetan and this has practically led
to the formation of APCOM.
Akintobi said the official registration of the association
by the Corporate Affairs Commission CAC, under the
Allied Matters Act, 1990 of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria took place on December 14, 2017.

10—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, , 2018
2019:
How we
will stop
•Buhari
Buhari, APC
—Opposition parties
•Vow to repeat 2015 scenario
•Buy into Third Force
•It’s a rescue mission —CNM
•APC responds gamely
•Obasanjo
•Agbakoba
By Clifford Ndujihe,
Deputy Political Editor,
Additional reports from Henry Umoru
and Dirisu Yakubu
WORRIED by what they
described as the total failure
of the All Progressives
Congress, APC-led Federal
Government to offer good
governance, a host of opposition political
parties have declared their readiness to stop
APC and President Muhammadu Buhari at
the 2019 elections.
To realise the objective, some of them have
started moves to consummate what they
describe as ‘’ a rainbow coalition’’ that will
field or back a joint candidate against the APC
in 2019.
Already, the Dr Olisa Agbakoba-led Nigeria
Intervention Movement, NIM, is working
towards giving the electorate ‘’a credible
alternative’’ or ‘’Third Force’’ to the APC and
main opposition Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, at the polls.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s
recent open letter to President Buhari asking
him not to re-contest on account of poor
performance and subsequent formation of the
Coalition for Nigeria Movement, CNM, to
drive the process of retrieving power from
Buhari, has added impetus to the aspiration
of the opposition parties.
Last week, 22 political parties on the plank
of Committee of Concerned Political Parties,
CCPP, constituted six committees to hammer
out action plans for the 2019 general election.
Interim Chairman of CCPP, Dr Onwubuya
Breakforth, who is also the national chairman
of Freedom and Justice Party, FJP, told
newsmen in Abuja that the group was
concerned about boiling national issues,
including killings by herdsmen and
restructuring.
The sub-committees are on restructuring
Nigeria and inter-governmental affairs,
national security and integration, planning
and finance, contact and mobilisation, and
research and documentation.
Said Breakforth: “The CCPP also resolved
to jointly discuss and proffer solutions to key
national issues threatening the peace and unity
of our dear country. It was further resolved
that various options open to the
group in relation to the 2019
general elections would be
explored in the best interest of the
country.”
He listed some of the parties in
the CCPP as Freedom and Justice
Party, FJP; Sustainable National
Party, SNP;, New Nigeria Peoples
Party, NNPP; Social Democratic
Party, SDP; Allied Congress Party
of Nigeria, ACPN; Unity Party of
Nigeria, UPN; Grassroots
Development Party of Nigeria,
GDPN; and National People’s
Congress, NPC.
Some of the parties were peeved
by the recent comment of
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of
Kaduna State that there is no
alternative to President Buhari in
2019 and vowed to repeat the 2015
scenario in which an opposition
The CCPP
also resolved
to jointly
discuss and
proffer
solutions to
key national
issues
threatening
the peace
and unity of
our dear
country.
party beat an
incumbent
party. Will
t h e y
succeed?
•Atiku
P a s t
alliances
Nigeria’s political history is replete with
failed alliances and mergers. In the First
Republic, the United Progressive Grand
Alliance, UPGA, consisting mainly of the
National Council for Nigerian Citizens,
NCNC, and the Action Group, AG could not
stop the Northern People’s Congress,
NPC, because UPGA leaders could
not sink their ambitions and
differences.
In the Second Republic, the
Nigerian People’s Party, NPP, Unity
Party of Nigeria, UPN, People’s
Redemption Party, PRP, and the Great
Nigerian People’s Party, GNPP, formed
the People’s Progressive Alliance,
PPA, which also failed to click against
the National Party of Nigeria, NPN.
In 1999, the Alliance for
Democracy, AD, which had swept the
South-West in earlier polls aligned
with All Peoples Party, APP that
dominated elections in the North
with the intention of beating PDP at
the presidential polls. It gave the PDP
a good fight but failed to win the
election.
In 2007, about 15 parties came
together and formed the Action
•Lamido
Congress, AC, but the party made little or no
impact in the presidential election.
A move by the Action Congress of Nigeria,
ACN and Congress for Progressive Change,
CPC, to join forces in the 2011 polls did not
yield dividends.
However, alliances bore fruits at the 2015
general polls. The then ruling PDP was given
a good fight and beaten in the presidential
poll after leaders of the APC did their
homework. Before the presidential victory, the
first time an incumbent party was losing
election in Nigeria, leaders of the APC, an
amalgam of four opposition parties – Action
Congress of Nigeria, ACN; All Nigerian
Peoples Party, ANPP; CPC; and a faction of
the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA,
said they joined forces to rescue Nigeria from
the deadly grip of the PDP.
It’s a rescue
mission —CNM
Like leaders of the APC said in 2015,
members of the Obasanjo-propelled CNM
and the opposition parties said they want
to rescue Nigeria from President Buhari.
Continues on pg 11

2019: How we will stop
Buhari, APC—Opposition parties
Continues from pg 10
Speaking at the launch of CNM, last
week, Duke, said he is part of the move
because ‘’Nigeria is in dire straits and
Nigerians need to come together and chart
the way forward for the country. Nigeria is not
going to get better except we come together to
change the narrative and the situation. We
know that, as a nation, we can do better than
we currently do. So let us focus on the issues
and how to adequately address them to
improve our collective lot.”
Asked the driving force behind the Third
Force, Chief Akin Osuntokun, a renowned
journalist, former managing director of the
News Agency of Nigeria, NAN and Political
Adviser to former President Obasanjo, said it
is the quest to give Nigerians hope following
the failure of the APC government and lack of
readiness on the part of the PDP to fill the
vacuum.
He said: ‘’The APC is almost like a choice
between the devil and the deep blue sea. That
is why a third party is so much compelling
and appealing. There has to be a third party
today to give the people something to hope
for...
‘’The Third Force will include aggrieved and
alienated members of the APC and PDP. It is a
very exciting prospect and will catch on given
the mood of Nigerians. Even in terms of raw
political calculations, stakeholders and
gladiators with grassroots support and
machinery will see a bright prospect in the
third party.’’
According to him, the Third Force will fly
because there are many aggrieved people in
APC that are not ready to go to the PDP and so
also people in PDP that will never go to the
APC.
Indeed, some leaders of the APC and PDP
were at the launch of the CNM, last week.
Prominent APC chieftains at the event were
Buba Galadima, a member of the party’s
Board of Trustees, BoT; and former Governor
Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the incumbent
chairman of the Nigeria Identity
Management Commission, among others.
From the PDP were former National
Chairman, Col. Ahmadu Ali, retd, former
Governor Donald Duke, and another former
presidential aspirant on the platform of the
party, Dr. Abduljelil Tafawa Balewa, among
others.
Another four
years
of Buhari will
mark the
end of Nigeria
– Okorie
National Chairman of
the United Progressive
Party, UPP, Chief Chekwas
Okorie, in a chat with
Saturday Vanguard, said
his party is in support of
any move that will save the
country from the bad
governance of President
Buhari even though the
UPP has zoned its
presidential ticket to the
South-East geo-political
zone.
He said: ‘’At the nonelective
national
convention of UPP held at
Awka, Anambra State on
June 29, 2017, the
Convention ratified the
zoning of the party’s
presidential slot for the
2019 election to the South-
East geopolitical zone. The
ratification by the highest
organ of the party remains
sacrosanct. It will take a
duly convened National
Convention to set it aside
or modify it. The position
is that a presidential
candidate from the South-
Between
when he
made that
comment and
now Nigeria
has produced
more capable
hands who
can rule the
country better
than Buhari.
‘’The APC
government
has failed
Nigeria
East geopolitical zone shall fly the UPP
Presidential flag in 2019.
‘’However, the party is very receptive of the
much desired Third Force. UPP is consulting
widely on this initiative and is willing to
anchor it preferably in coalition with
political parties of like minds especially
with regard to the high points of our party
manifesto registered with INEC viz; self
determination of Nigeria’s ethnic
nationalities, restructuring, devolution of
power, referendum, state police and
community policing, etc.
‘’Governor El Rufai is entitled to his
opinion. Maybe the All Progressives
Congress is stuck with President Buhari
without any alternative option as a
presidential candidate for the 2019
presidential election. My opinion is that
President Buhari’s Administration is a
disaster. Another four-year tenure for
President Buhari will be Nigeria’s nunc
dimitis.’’
Why CNM’ll work with
opposition against APC
With barely a year to the 2019 general
elections, the Coalition for Nigeria
Movement (CNM) recently formed in
Abuja as a response to a call for a “Third
force” by former President, Olusegun
Obasanjo, will work with the opposition
against the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC), Vanguard has gathered.
According to findings, the coalition is
not likely to morph into a political party
this year, considering the closeness to the
elections but is primed to work with other
political groups to vote out the APC.
Although, not a political party, the
movement has wasted no time in pushing
for a change in the leadership of the country,
following legion of expression of
disappointment recently in the leadership
of the country by eminent citizens including
Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida.
Convener of CNM and a former
governor of Osun State had at the launch
of the movement a couple of weeks ago,
spoken of the need to kick start the process
when he said, “ With the aims and objectives
of the coalition, it is mandatory for us to hit
the ground running. Time is
not on our side and if we are
going to effect the aims of the
coalition, then we must run
fast.”
There are claims in some
quarters that the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) may
turn out the biggest
beneficiary of the imminent
alliance provided internal
democracy plays out in the
selection of its Presidential
flag bearer. Already, some of
the big shots behind the
formation of the coalition
are reaching out to the
opposition in a bid to come
up with a popular
Presidential candidate that
would be acceptable to
Nigerians across the North
and South of the divide.
Former Lagos State PDP
governorship candidate in
the 2015 general elections,
Jimi Agbaje, in an exclusive
chat with Vanguard on
Thursday said the party is
open to any idea that would
help produce a President
capable of changing the
fortunes of the Nigerian State
for good.
According to him, “The
PDP will certainly welcome
the arrangement whereby
the CNM and indeed all who
believe there is a need for a
change of the present
administration, team up
•Tanko
•Dankwambo
with the main opposition party, in electing
a President that can better address the
fundamental challenges our country is
saddled with today,” stressing that “The best
chance to achieve this is in a two-way contest
rather than in a multitude of smaller
parties.”
Like Agbaje, Tunde Adeniran said there
is a chance the coalition may join forces
with the opposition to defeat the ruling
party. While denying knowledge of the
ideological stand of CNM, Professor
Adeniran insists nothing should be ruled
out as the 2019 elections draw closer.
“I do not have sufficient knowledge of
the philosophy and agenda of the CNM to
make any categorical statement on what it
would do. There is however the likelihood
of its collaborating with other political
groupings to defeat the APC in the
forthcoming elections,” he stated.
A highly placed source who spoke to
Vanguard on condition of anonymity said
the coalition could strike a deal with the
PDP provided it produces a Presidential
candidate acceptable to Nigerians and one
capable of making in-roads in the north
which is seen as the support base of
President Buhari.
According to him, the candidacy of Sule
Lamido or Ibrahim Dankwambo would
appeal to Obasanjo who is yet to change
his mind on Atiku Abubakar, the country’s
former Vice President who rejoined the PDP
about two months ago. “Baba (Obasanjo)
SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, , 2018—11
is very much in touch with Lamido and to
an extent, the Gombe State governor.
Should any of these two get the PDP’s nod
to square up against the APC, there is a
chance the coalition will work with this
arrangement,” he said.
While insisting the group is a pro-Nigeria
platform, our source said the inability of
the ruling party to unite the diverse ethnic
nationalities that make up Nigeria,
informed the decision of “These patriotic
citizens” to square up for a rescue mission.
His words, “The biggest index of APC
performance so far is the unity of the country
that is being threatened by spates of violent
skirmishes here and there. The least one
expects from a government is
demonstration of will to avert these crises
but this has not been the case. This is the
reason these like-minds chose to rise up to
save the nation from a bleak future,” he
added.
Although Donald Duke, former Cross
River State recently indicated interest in
running for the Presidency of the country,
stressing the importance of projecting
“People with the technical know-how to
take the country to the Promised Land,”
he is likely to shelve his ambition for now,
and work in the overall interest of the
coalition.
In order to realise its goal of a new
government in place, CNM is working
behind the scene, enjoining eligible voters
on the imperative of getting their
Permanent Voter’s card (PVC) ahead of
the polls. This is in addition to political
education members of the coalition have
been charged to dish out to Nigerians to
whom they may come in contact.
Buhari unfit to rule Nigeria
– UPN, Green Party, NCP
Also, the Green Party of Nigeria, GPN and
Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, disagreed with
Governor el-Rufai that there is no
alternative to President Buhari in 2019
because judging with his performance the
president has shown that he is unfit to rule
the country.
UPN National Chairman, Professor
Bankole Okuwa, said there are many
alternatives to President Buhari. He said
the president has failed to lead Nigeria well
since 2015 and therefore does not deserve
to be re-elected.
‘’Apart from poor performance, Buhari has
not been in good health. He was a military
man and has been unable to cope with the
values of democracy. He promised to fight
economic corruption, publish the amount
of money recovered, and those who made
plea bargain, etc. He has not been able to
keep the promise and now corruption is
killing Nigeria,’’ he said.
Speaking in like manner, National
Chairman of GPN, Dr Sam Eke said: ‘’El-
Rufai’s comment is unfortunate and
contradictory because in 2007 he said
Buhari was not fit to rule Nigeria. Between
when he made that comment and now
Nigeria has produced more capable hands
who can rule the country better than Buhari.
‘’The APC government has failed Nigeria.
The basic condition for re-election is
performance, not propaganda. Through
their bad governance, nepotism, and
skewed appointments and policies Nigeria
is now more divided than ever and the
country is sitting on a keg of gunpowder.
Buhari and APC will be dealt with at the
polls because Nigerians are prepared to
exercise their rights through one-man, onevote.’’
Going forward, he said GPN will join
forces with parties that share its ideology
to rescue Nigeria from the APC. There are
moves for all to join forces against APC.
That is how we will do it.
Also, National Chairman of the National
Conscience Party, NCP, Dr Yinusa Tanko,
said his party is in support of the Third Force
and was part of those who created the CNM.
He disagreed with el-Rufai on President
Buhari continuing in 2019 because ‘’you
cannot say there is no alternative to Buhari
when we have millions among 180 million
Nigerians who can hold the position more
positively and vigorously.’’
In readiness for the 2019 elections, he said
the NCP has been holding state congresses
since the beginning of last year.
Be architects of your
future, PNI urges youths
Looking at the state of the nation, a sociopolitical
advocacy group, Path-finders
Nigeria Initiative, PNI, urged Nigerians,
Continues from pg 12

12—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, , 2018
2019: How we will stop
Buhari, APC—Opposition parties
Continues from pg 11
especially youths to become the architects
of their future by showing more interests in
the country’s political development and
participate actively in the political
leadership selection process.
In a statement by its Executive Director,
Chief SBN Nwokolo, after a meeting to
review recent developments in the polity,
the group noted that “sitting on the fence
when things are going wrong in the nation
amounts to a tacit endorsement of bad
leadership and continuous rape and
underdevelopment of the nation.’’
Nwokolo said: “Nigeria belongs to all her
citizens. The right of citizens to participate
in the governance process or selection of
those that should genuinely represent their
interests in leadership positions in a
democratic government at all levels is
guaranteed by the constitution. Standing
aloof or grumbling in one’s private space o
on the social media about the ills of
successive governments without taking any
legitimate and realistic steps at reordering
the patterns of events that are contrary to
the will of the people makes one complicit
in the continuing failure of leadership in
our land.
‘’It is imperative to note that your singular
vote can make a difference in the choice of
who represents you as a councillor, local
government chairman, at the House of
Assembly, National Assembly, governor or
at the highest level, the presidency. But
without a valid voter’s card, automatically
you make yourself irrelevant in performing
this very important constitutionally given
right.”
The PNI, whose objective is advocacy for
transparent, purposeful leadership, ethical
reorientation, peace and uplifting of
humanity, therefore, called on all Nigerians
of voting age, who had not yet registered as
voters to take “the important step of making
themselves eligible for voting in the coming
elections by taking advantage of the
ongoing Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, voters registration
exercise, as our vote is not only our power
but our life.’’
APC responds gamely
However, leaders of the
APC are insisting that
President Buhari
remains the best choice
to take Nigeria out of the
woods and ensure sociopolitical
stability.
In the last couple of
weeks, the leaders have
embarked on strategic
measures to address the
fears and concerns of
Nigeria.
One of them is
embracing restructuring.
The party raised a
committee headed by
Malam el-Rufai, which
after touring the six geopolitical
zones and
getting memoranda from
diverse groups
recommended
restructuring of the
country, resource control,
devolution of power and
state police among
others.
Many groups including
the Southern and
Middle-Belt leaders
forum, had repeatedly
called for the
restructuring of Nigeria
and made it a condition
for holding the 2019
election.
On Thursday in Abuja,
Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo, who
You can see
that everything
is falling apart
showing that
the centre
cannot hold.
And when the
centre cannot
hold, it is to
your tent oh
Israel. So
definitely, this is
an opportunity
for PDP to
show that it has
really
recovered
•Duke
represented President Buhari at a Security
Summit organised by the Senate, expressed
support for state and community policing to
fight the scourge of insecurity ravaging many
parts of the country.
In response to various calls to assuage
aggrieved members of the party said to have
been sidelined by the presidency after helping
the APC to power, President Buhari, early in
the week named Senator Bola Ahmed
Tinubu the leader of fresh reconciliatory
moves in the party.
Asiwaju Tinubu is one those said to have
been sidelined in the scheme of things in the
party. One of the sore points was the handling
of the Ondo State governorship election, in
which he publicly chided the APC leadership
for not following due process in the
primaries.
In a statement by the Senior Special
Assistant to the President on Media and
Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, President
Buhari gave Tinubu’s terms of reference to
include: leading consultative and
reconciliatory moves aimed at rebuilding
confidence in the party, resolving existing
disputes among party men and women as
well as between party
leadership and political
office holders in some states.
APC jittery, wants to
hoodwink Nigerians with
restructuring – ECA
Looking the moves, the
Eastern Consultative
Assembly, ECA, picked holes
in the report of the APC
committee backing
restructuring of the country,
and el-Rufai’s comments
that President Buhari would
implement restructuring if
re-elected.
In a statement by its Deputy
Leader, Mrs. Maria Okwor
and Secretary, Evang. Elliot
Ugochukwu-Uko, the ECA
said: the ‘’APC report on
restructuring is a red herring,
a smoke screen and an
ungodly deception designed
solely to buy time, to deceive
and to mislead the masses of
the country into voting in,
this tasteless, ruthless and
unworthy cabal into the
office for a second term.
‘’The deliberate effort to
pretend that they are willing
to restructure, designed only
for the elections a year away
is from the pit of hell. The
designers of this evil strategy
know that they have no
intention to yield to the
sensible clamour to
•Okorie
restructure Nigeria. They know, they made
four attempts to grab power for only one
purpose: to impose their agenda on 180
million Nigerians. That agenda is dutiful
being driven by their militia wing: the Fulani
herdsmen. That agenda is also glaring
enough for the blind to see the nauseating
nepotism in the lopsided appointments that
has divided the country.
‘’Turning around to attempt to appeal to
the sensibilities of Nigerians who yearn for
a genuine restructuring of the polity by
pretending they now believe in the same
restructuring they claim not to understand
what it means, is a clear sign that this ruthless
cabal that has destroyed Nigeria in three
years, has probably become jittery, after
realizing that Nigerians have rejected them.
They, therefore, foolishly hope to deceive
Nigerians, by pretending they have become
born again apostles of restructuring. A ploy
they used successfully just before the last
elections...’
‘’Whereas, returning Nigerian to true fiscal
federalism, regional autonomy and
resource control, consensually affirmed
through a referendum and a new
constitution, remains the only way to salvage
Nigeria, infantile ploys by vicious elements
to continue to hold us all hostage through
guile, albeit, making public a deceptive
report on restructuring, which they have no
intention whatsoever to implement, just so
they could fool the people yet again shows
how desperate the oppressive cabal
destroying Nigeria today, has suddenly
become.’’
How PDP will stop APC
– Bwacha, Ohuabunwa
SENATE Deputy Minority Leader, Senator
Emmanuel Bwacha, PDP, Taraba South, and
the Chairman, Senate Committee on
Primary HealthCare and Communicable
Diseases, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, PDP,
Abia North, in separate chats outlined how
the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP intends
to stop the ruling All Progressives Congress,
APC at the 2019 polls. They also poohpoohed
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna
State over his comments that there was no
alternative to President Buhari in 2019.
Senator Emmanuel Bwacha said: “Our
plans for 2019 appear to be already in the
public domain. Nigerian citizens and
Nigerian voters are planning for us because
of the general disenchantment, the fear that
has gripped everyone across the political
landscape, fear of insecurity that our
property, our lives are no longer secure.
“This alone is enough to change the
government. As a party, we are not unaware
of where and where to improve in our
shortcomings, so we are already doing that
and we have gone far. We are also engaging
critical players to ensure that we work out a
synergy to improve on areas we have been
seen to have been lacking before.
Essentially, these are the things we are
looking up to in the next general election.”
On whether PDP will join a coalition or
go into an alliance to stop APC, he said:
“Because of the threat caused by the PDP in
the emerging order in the country, naturally
you should expect the party in government
to begin to throw spanners into our works.
We are aware of this, we are working round
the clock, we have been able to reach out to
them. There are members of PDP who
offered themselves to be used. We believe
they have seen the light. Like any other party,
you should expect that.
“Of course, this is party politics. Where
we see any group that has substance,
that has weight, that has the
capacity, we will engage such
a group because the purpose
is one – to have a change
of government that will
put smiles on the faces
of Nigerians. We will
ensure that we do this
within the shortest
possible time. So, if
we have any
coalition or group
that we share the
same opinion, areas
of disagreements
can be corrected and
amended and
subsumed into our
political party.
We are not unaware of
areas where we need to
improve. This is exactly
where we are working on and
we are trusting God that we will
get there. Winning election often
times will depend on strategy, what are
those strategies, strategy of carrying
everybody along including the coalitions.”
On El- Rufai’s comment that there is no
alternative to Buhari in 2019, Bwacha said:
“That is his personal decision. Left for him
he wouldn’t mind continuing to be in power
for 60 years. It is not a big deal. In fact, he
could just take over from Buhari. Those are
the illusions that he has been. But I think he
needs to come to terms with the reality on
the ground. He needs to appreciate and
understand the temper and tempo of the
moment, the proclivity of the time
otherwise, he will be flooded, he will be
carried away by the flood that is coming
over Nigeria.”
PDP has rediscovered
itself – Ohuabaunwa
On his part, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa
said: “PDP has rediscovered itself. From
the way we handled our convention, which
was peaceful, transparent shows that we
have rediscovered ourselves and prepared
to make amends where necessary. One of
these is to open our doors to every person to
come.
“Secondly, we have decided as a party to
ensure no more imposition of candidates,
every person must emerge through the
grassroots system. And for anybody to
deceive himself, to say that there is no
alternative to APC come 2019 is a clear lie.
How can he say no alternative? On what
basis? You must base it with facts and what
the people want to see is a better life,
improvement in life.
“You can see that everything is falling
apart showing that the centre cannot hold.
And when the centre cannot hold, it is to
your tent oh Israel. So definitely, this is an
opportunity for PDP to show that it has
really recovered, I believe that Nigerians
are really prepared to give PDP one more
chance to see what they will do. But the
good thing is that people are calling PDP,
PDP is a party, 75 percent of former people
who were in PDP are those who are now in
APC.
“What it means is that those who are
causing the problem in PDP actually moved
to APC, so now PDP will put its house in
order and give Nigeria a better life.
“We don’t believe in coalition, it is not in
our constitution. We are law-abiding
citizens. PDP is a law-abiding party. We
believe in the constitution, the constitution
is the grund norm, you can’t bring what is
not in the constitution, there is nothing like
coalition in the country. But constitution
recognises INEC, recognises political
parties as a means of seeking election.
Change of power through coalition is more
like civil society or labour union language,
maybe military, I don’t know. It is not
democratic, it could be autocratic.”

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018—13
Disquieting time for
Amnesty Coordinator
as ex-militants
demand his sack
•Brigadier
General
Paul Boroh
(retd.)
•Ex-agitat
ator
ors s allege powerful northerner
therners‘ve
hijacked Amnesty Programme
•Those calling for Boroh’s oh’s sack‘re funded by y angry
politicians- Egbesu Fighter
ers, Red Scorpion Warrior
arriors
By Emma Amaize,
Regional Editor, South-South
BEFORE now, the Coordinator of the
Presidential Amnesty Programme,
PAP, Brigadier General Paul Boroh
(retd.) had managed to navigate the affairs
of the amnesty programme in spite of the
hurly-burly from some ex-agitators, but
lately, the reverberations from the creeks
against his leadership have become more
alarming.
Saturday Vanguard learned that Boroh,
who is also the Special Adviser to the
President on Niger Delta has more than any
other time since his appointment, in the last
few days, reached out to some Niger Delta
leaders and youth leaders in the region to
calm the raging storm, but the boys seemed
adamant, accusing him of mortgaging their
future.
Siege to East-West
Road
On Wednesday,
protesting youths
demanding his removal
provisionally grounded
vehicular movement and
commercial activities at
Opokuma Junction axis
of East –West Road and
Igbogene gateway, in
Yenagoa Local
Government Area of
Bayelsa State, alleging
hijack of the amnesty
programme by
northerners, lack of
consultation,
nonperformance and
diversion of funds meant
for the implementation of
the programme by
officials.
While scores of youths
gathered at the Igbogene
gateway to Yenagoa, the
state capital, seeking
Boroh’s sack, hundreds of
others who belonged to
the first, second and third
phases of amnesty
beneficiaries, under the
aegis of Niger Deltans for
Accountability and Good
Governance, converged
on the Opokuma
Junction of the East -West
Road, calling for the
Her Excellency,
Dame Edith
Okowa who has
made it her lifelong
mission to
lend a helping
hand to the poor
and needy. It is a
conscious effort
to preach the
gospel in words
and deeds. It is
not enough to
hear the word
but to be doers
of the word
removal of the amnesty boss.
Armed with placards, some of which read:
“Buhari sack Boroh now,” “Boroh must go,”
“EFCC submit your report on Boroh,” the
protesters called on President Muhammadu
Buhari to consider the fact that as 80 per
cent of the amnesty beneficiaries and
kinsmen of the amnesty boss, “We have
reviewed his performance and found out
that he is a failure and his non-performance
is encouraging renewed hostilities and
militancy. Some leaders of the protesting
groups, including Mr Samuel Sogulu,
“Commander” Rawlings Ezetu,
“Commander” Ebilo of Third Phase and
Opukeme Orubo, insisted that the amnesty
programme under the administration of
Boroh had become an avenue for political
aides and staff of the amnesty office to
amass wealth at the expense of the peace in
the region.
PANDEF to meet FG
The Pan Niger Delta
Forum, PANDEF, led by
elder statesman and former
Federal Commissioner for
Information, Chief Edwin
Clark, had also raised a
special committee to confer
with the Federal
Government on issues
pertaining to the programme
and its continuation.
PANDEF committee is cochaired
by two former
governors, Air Commodore
Idongesit Nkanga (retd.) of
Akwa Ibom state and Prof
Oserheimen Osunbor of Edo
state.
Protesters hired by
politicians – Akpobubakaye
Head of the Presidential
Amnesty Programme, PAP,
Niger-Delta Office, Kaiama,
Bayelsa , Engr. Jude
Akpobubakaye, who spoke
to Saturday Vanguard on
phone, said those protesting
against the Amnesty
Coordinator were paid by
politicians eyeing the office.
Akpobubakaye, who stated
that he was a product of the
Amnesty Programme,
disclosed that when the
Amnesty Office got
intelligence information
about the planned
protests, the
Coordinator set up
a peace team
headed by a
respected Niger
Delta leader, Elder
T. K Ogoriba, to
mediate, but the
boys said they had
collected money
and would , therefore, not back down.
According to him, “First, I can tell you
that the PAP under Boroh has opened a 24-
hour call centre manned by a very senior
officer and whenever complaints and
observations come, the issues are taken
directly to the respective departments. It was
after this that the Niger Delta office, which
I am the head, was opened.”
“We are on ground, we are all part of the
struggle, and my numbers are known to the
ex-agitators, the PAP delegation led by
Ogoriba, which I was part of, went round
before the current protests started. We first
went to Bayelsa state, Ughelli, Warri and
other areas and we met with them. We also
met with the leadership of the Ijaw Youth
Council, western zone.
“Even the leaders of the Bayelsa protest
in Bayelsa state, we met them, we told them
to put their grievances in writing and should
not carry out any protests because we would
take their grievances to the boss, Boroh, and
surely their complaints will be addressed.
But they told us categorically that they
would not stop the planned protests for the
reason that they had been paid by some
politician to carry out the protests.
Ughelli, Warri refused to join protest
“At Ughelli, the boys were even more
angry that those in Bayelsa, but after they
listened to us, it seemed they saw the reason
not to sabotage the programme. We went
to Warri, and met with various groups and
communities on the need to maintain the
peace.
“We assured them we were going to take
their observations to Boroh and Monday,
we went to Abuja. On Tuesday, we were
meeting with Boroh to brief him on our
assignment when the boys commenced
protest in Bayelsa state, you can imagine,
but the boys in Ughelli and Warri declined
to join the protest,” he said.
Amnesty programme not hijacked by
northerners – Kiyaramo
Liaison Officer, PAP, Niger Delta, Mr.
Piriye Kiyaramo, who corroborated his
assertion, stated: “It is not true that the
Amnesty programme has been hijacked, let
those alleging that it has been hijacked
prove their claim. I can tell you that no
northerner has been appointed as head of
PAP, it is headed by a Niger Deltan from
Bayelsa.”
He, however, noted: “The office of the PAP
Coordinator is a sensitive office, which
many politicians are eyeing because they
think it is what they can use in an election
time to sway things to their favour. There
are consultants and civil servants in the
place and if among the civil servants, there
are some northerners, I do not see anything
wrong with that.”
Boroh not a puppet
His words: “The truth, however, is that
Boroh is not a stooge of any northerner or
any other person for that matter. Are you
telling me that because President
Muhammadu Buhari appointed somebody
a Minister in his cabinet, then, that person
is his stooge? I am the liaison officer for
Niger Delta, I am on ground, I have gone
round the nine states of the region and met
with the leading ex-agitators, they know me,
I have told them, if you have complaints,
put them in writing, document them, it will
be filed and followed up, not carrying
placards and staging protests along the East
–West Road.
“We have told them to go beyond this
mentality, which is why there is Niger Delta
office at Kaima. There is a 24-hour call
service in the Amnesty Office even if they
want to call Abuja at any time, but this idea
of letting some politicians to influence them
will not help anybody. I hope you know who
Elder Ogoriba is in the Niger Delta
struggle, the Amnesty Office foresaw what
is playing out and he and others were
brought on board to explain the true
situation of things to the boys. They did this,
we were all part of it, yet, they went ahead
to protest because they have been paid. It is
wrong, that is what we are saying,” he said.
Kiyaramo said some of the ex-agitators
want immediate benefits and gratifications,
but pointed out that under the present
programme, it was difficult for Boroh to
give anybody gratification or the kind of
benefit they were expecting from him,
otherwise, he would be in trouble.
He said: “However, I am not surprised
that they are behaving like this because we
are approaching an election year and
politicians want to use them to achieve their
desired objectives, but I can tell you that
the Amnesty programme under Boroh is
focused.”
Northerners purportedly hijack amnesty
program
The call for his removal has, however, split
the ex-agitators with a group describing
those opposed to him as “enemies of the
region.” Leaders of Amnesty Phase II, Lord
Agbuke and Lucky Otete, in a statement,
claimed that under Brig Gen Boroh, some
powerful northern politicians have hijacked
the Amnesty Office, shortchanging Niger
Delta beneficiaries of the programme at
training institutions, while Boroh took
directives from them.
“What we are seeing in the Presidential
Amnesty Program under the watch of Brig
Gen Paul Boroh is something we do not
understand, specifically in the Educational
department .It is sad to mention that Paul
Continues on pg 14

14—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
The problem with Boroh
– Kingsley Muturu, ex-militant leader
Emma Amaize and
Chancel Sunday Bomadi
C
HAIRMAN,
Phase 2 Ex-
Agitators, Delta State, Mr.
Kingsley Muturu, said the
present rumbling in the Presidential
Amnesty Programme, PAP, was largely
because the Chairman, PAP, and
Special Adviser to the President on
Niger Delta, Brig Gen Paul Boroh
(retd.), had failed to bring about a
forum for him and ex-militant leaders
to thrash out troubling issues.
Muturu in an interview with
Saturday Vanguard, however, said that
those calling for his sack do not have
the interest of the programme at heart.
According to him, the immediate cause
of the current hoopla was the
infiltration of the
programme by strangers
and apparent refusal of the
Amnesty Office to address
the anomaly.
“We, ex-militants have
been in the programme
before
Boroh’s
appointment, and to be
sincere, we, ex-militant
leaders, have a lot of issues
to share with him regarding
the running of the
programme. But,
unfortunately he had never
created the forum to enable
us meet with him unlike his
predecessors, who actually
did.
“Those calling for Boroh’s
removal in the Facebook
and other social media
platforms do not have the
interest of beneficiaries of
the programme at heart. I
believe such groups of
people are not even part of
the programme and they
are doing so with personal
There is
indeed need
for the
federal
government
to find out if
the
programme
is running
accordingly
to avoid
backlash
interests. I advise them to desist from
it,” he said.
Unwholesome developments in the
programme
The peace ambassador said: “A lot of
unwholesome things are going on in
the running of the programme. For
example, trainees from my group were
sent back home from their training
ground without concrete reasons given
by the contractor, who also refused to
explain what really happened. They
were trained for just one month at the
Agricultural College, Iguoriakhi, Edo
state, and were asked by the contractor,
Hon Austin Ehi, to go back home
without any explanation.”
“When the boys called him on phone
to know the position of things, he
answered them by saying
that they should do
whatever they could,
suggesting that their
training process has been
thwarted.
“That is where the
problem lies. Personally, I
have made frantic efforts by
informing the Amnesty
Office over this and other
issues, but there had never
been any headway.
Imagine that there are also
other vexing issues to
discuss with the office, but
Boroh seemed not
disposed to it,” he asserted.
Strangers invade
Presidential Amnesty
Programme
The ex-militant leader
asserted: “We have been
seeing strange faces
among beneficiaries in the
schools and training
centres under the
programme. Go to Novena
University, Felix Ibru
•Kingsley Muturu
University, Benson Idahosa University
and you see non-Niger Deltans as
beneficiaries of the programme. I
tasked Boroh to take these complaints
very seriously as there seems to be
high profile corruption in the
education and training department in
the office. I also believe that politicians
are dictating for Boroh on what and
what to do without considering the
interests of Niger Deltans,” he said.
According to him, “We, ex-militant
leaders discovered that Boroh is being
controlled by those who projected him
into the office, and that is why he is
apparently dancing to their tune rather
than heed the complaints and
anomalies arising in the running of the
programme.”
“We, therefore, call on such
politicians to leave the programme
alone, as we have seen that they are
managing the programme themselves.
We are vehemently against their
activities,” he added.
Muturu stated: “We have seen that
it is Boroh’s inaction and reluctance
that led to the infiltration of strange
faces into the programme as
beneficiaries in the schools and
training centres. This is indeed
baffling, as even our boys call us on
daily basis to inform us of these
strangers under the programme.”
“We are also not pleased with his new
introduction of aptitude tests on
students as recently conducted in Port-
Harcourt, River State, which was alien
to beneficiaries since inception of the
programme.
“We, ex-militant leaders, hereby
charge him to take charge of the
programme or we may read his
inaction on crucial issues as
incapability to handle the programme.
He has already lost touch with leaders
of various groups, whereby information
sharing between the office and leaders
had also been lost,” the ex-militant
leader asserted.
Recommendation
Asked to advice the Special Adviser
on how best to handle the imbroglio,
he said: “I advise Boroh to take the
issues raised in the education and
training of beneficiaries very seriously.
He should look into the department
handling beneficiaries’ training and
education and take the necessary
action to avoid failure of the
programme.”
“I also call on President Buhari to
look into the programme to appraise
its wellness. There is indeed need for
the federal government to find out if
the programme is running accordingly
to avoid backlash.”
The peace ambassador commended
President Muhammadu Buhari for his
commitment to the success of the
amnesty programme, saying: “Yes, I
believe he is committed because the
President pledged to implement the
good aspects of the amnesty
programme in his inaugural speech.
Education and training as well as
engagement of beneficiaries are good
aspects of the programme, I think
Buhari will not deviate from this
commitment.”
Disquieting time for Amnesty Coordinator as ex-militants demand his sack
Continues on pg 13
Boroh, the Special Adviser to the President
on Niger Delta was recommended to
President Muhamadu Buhari by some
politicians. These northern politicians have
hijacked the office of the chairman. Paul
Boroh is just a ceremonial head. He only
endorses memos while they take decisions.
“It might interest the general public to
know that the Educational department is
influenced by those persons in such a manner
that the original beneficiaries from the
region, who submitted arms and were
captured and received monthly stipends, are
being short-changed with Hausa/Fulani
names as benefactors during training
institutions of the program.
“People, who ordinarily cannot afford to
see the walls of the university have been
short changed by some unknown persons
from the northern and eastern parts of the
country, perhaps sold our chances to those
persons we cannot tell. We have made series
of applications, which have been sent to the
office for approval for our boys to go to
school, yet to no avail.
“But when you make a visit to schools like
Novena University, Igbinedion University,
Benson Idahosa University and the likes, you
will see strange faces and names as Niger
Delta beneficiaries of the Amnesty
programme, who are not members of the
program that were captured by the former
administration,” they alleged.
Warning
Their words: “We have evidence to back
our allegation. We are calling on Niger Delta
leaders, who are in the APC administration
to prevail on the Special Adviser to Mr.
President to take a visit to the educational
departments mentioned and correct the
injustices in the department for proper and
effective administration because if no proper
scrutiny is made to correct the anomalies in
the amnesty programme, our boys will be
permanently shortchanged forever without
justice.”
They warned: “If justice is not done, our
boys who have been short changed may have
problem with us, the leaders, for not
protecting them in the amnesty programme,
so we call on President Buhari and Paul
Boroh to look into the matter. We are also
calling on the security agencies to
investigate that department because there
is a serious fraud there.”
“Boroh does not understand how they are
running that office, we will let him know
how things are done .We, the leaders and the
boys understand what is going on, he does
not consult us before doing things, especially
in the area of training. He should always
consult the leaders before any directive is
taken to avoid similar errors in the future,”
the militant leaders cautioned.
Discontented, fraudulent politicians after
Boroh – Opukeme, Freeman
But the leaders of Niger Delta Supreme
Egbesu Freedom Fighters and Niger Delta
Red Scorpion Warriors, “General” Obus
Opukeme and “General” Odudu Freeman,
said those calling for Boroh’s sack were
sponsored by disgruntled politicians to
derail the programme.
They urged the nonexistent groups and
compromised youths “to retrace their steps
or be prepared to face the wrath of militants
as their identities are known to us.”
Throwing their weight behind Boroh for
his “transparent leadership and
repositioning the Amnesty Programme”, the
two groups said: “General Paul Boroh has
made tireless efforts to the sustained peace
process that the country is currently enjoying
in the region, hence should be appreciated
by all genuine stakeholders from the
region.”
They added: “General Boroh had steadily
used his good office to engage various
genuine agitating militant
groups, traditional rulers and
well-meaning stakeholders in
the region to foster peace,
stability, progress and attract
development under the
President Muhammadu
Buhari- led APC government
than the previous miserable
PDP government.”
“General Paul Boroh had
risked his life to visit the entire
length and breadth of the creek
of the Niger Delta to calm
frayed nerves in the wake of the
destruction of oil pipelines and
oil facilities in 2016. He
brought several empowerment
programmes through the
Amnesty Programme by
engaging various militant
groups in agriculture while
transparency and
accountability has been his
watch word, which can be
attested to by the regular
payment of monthly stipends
to ex-agitators and militants
undergoing training,” the
People, who
ordinarily
cannot afford
to see the
walls of the
university
have been
short changed
by some
unknown
persons from
the northern
and eastern
parts of the
country
groups asserted.
According to them, “General Boroh also
contributed immensely to the ceasefire
agreement in 2016 that led to increase in
the crude oil production to 2.2million
barrels, which contributed to the nation’s
economic recovery.”
Further describing those calling for his
sack as “evil and desperate people, who have
lost touch with the reality on ground,” they
urged President Buhari to ignore calls for
the removal of Boroh, saying,
“the calls are coming from
corrupt personalities desperate
and bent on sponsoring
nonexistent militant groups to
forge baseless stories.”
Appeal to Finance minister
on release of stipends
“We use this opportunity to
urge the Minister of Finance,
Kemi Adeosun , not to delay the
release of funds for the payment
of monthly stipends to ex
militants in order to sustain the
existing peace in the creeks of
Niger Delta.
“And if the federal government
and the security agencies refuse
to call this evil plotters and
disgruntled elements
sponsoring various groups that
are calling for the removal of
Paul Boroh to order, then, we
will be left with no option than
to declare another war in the
creek of Niger Delta and
whatever shall be the outcome,
we should not be held
responsible,” they warned.

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018—15
APC NWC in fury over
Tinubu’s appointment
He is our best man for the job – presidency source
BY OMEIZA AJAYI
President Muhammadu
Buhari’s appointment
of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
to lead the reconciliation
process in the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC)
has jolted some leaders of the
party who have commenced a
quiet move to cage the former
Lagos State governor.
When the National Working
Committee, NWC met last
Wednesday, a day after
Tinubu’s troubleshooting role
was made, members were said
to have mandated the national
chairman, Chief John Odigie-
Oyegun to meet with the
president to clarify the issues
about Tinubu’s appointment.
Despite the public adulation
by some of the national
officers, Saturday Vanguard
learnt that the NWC members
were shocked by Tinubu’s
choice as a peace envoy. They
were also displeased with the
president’s lack of consultation
on the issue.
The party executives
particularly fumed that the
appointment disregarded what they
claimed as Tinubu’s contribution to
some of the major crises in the party.
They particularly cited the crisis that
led to the trial of the President of the
Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki on
multiple issues and the crises in the
Kogi and Ondo State chapters of the
party.
The national chairman, Chief
Odigie-Oyegun who had a very public
falling out with Tinubu in September
2016 was in the Presidential Villa on
Thursday.
Saturday Vanguard
could not confirm if
Odigie-Oyegun, a
Roman Catholic who
was present when
President Buhari
received the delegation
of Catholic bishops that
Thursday had the
opportunity of a oneon-one
with the
president on the issue.
The opposition of the
NWC members
nonetheless, some of
Tinubu’s associates on
their part have not been
particularly excited by
the new role the
president has given to
the famed political
navigator.
As at press time
Tinubu who marshaled
the political alliance
that transformed
Buhari from a threetime
election loser to a
success story was yet to
get into the job, a
•Tinubu
source said. It was learnt that he had
not been fully briefed on his job
specification.
His associates were particularly
concerned that the president may be
taking advantage of Tinubu having
not brought him into the inner circle
of his administration after his
inauguration in 2015.
“Asiwaju is the soul of the party even
though those in power may not want
to agree with it because he helped to
forge the kind of alliance that helped
to bring down a ruling party and after
that, they left him.
“For me what they did
was that after helping the
party they have come back
to him when the party is
almost having a heart
attack for him to help
revive it, let’s see how it
can be done,” a Lagos
based associate of the
political leader disclosed.
The NWC’s discomfiture
with Tinubu’s
appointment nonetheless,
the presidency is
apparently not likely to be
moved, a senior
presidency official
disclosed.
Citing the confidence
President Buhari has in
Tinubu to patch up the
cracks in the party, the
source was quick to
dismiss the seeming
opposition of the NWC as
he told Saturday
Vanguard that the
president had greater
confidence in Tinubu over
•Oyegun
the Odigie-Oyegun led executive.
The presidency official said that
Tinubu’s first job could be mediating
in the brewing face-off between the
legislative and executive branches of
government over the amendment of
the Electoral Act that has led to the
reversal of the schedule of elections.
A very bitter party official speaking
on the condition of anonymity at the
national secretariat said on Thursday:
“How can the president appoint
Tinubu to head a reconciliation
committee when he (Tinubu) played a
central role in some of the topical
crises like the National Assembly crisis
and the crises in the Kogi and Ondo
state chapters of the party?”
“I understand the need for the
president to bring Tinubu closer
because of his desire to seek reelection
in 2019 and off course get
South West votes, but there are better
strategic ways of doing things. The
president’s decision is ill-thought,
meddlesome, and vexatious and
portrays the party leadership in bad
light.
If indeed the president is genuinely
interested in true reconciliation among
the party ranks, he should urgently
address the lopsided and hijacked
reward system; the Senate President’s
obviously political-motivated trial and
the funding challenges the party
faces,” the NWC source disclosed.
He added: “While we back the
president for a second term, the
president should not take our
endorsement for granted. Truth be said,
the president nonchalance and
aloofness on party matters has been
another reason for the crisis among the
party ranks and the general
weakening of the party.”
The relationship between Tinubu
and Chief Odigie-Oyegun got to a
low in September 2016 when Tinubu’s
Media Office issued a statement
denouncing the role of the national
chairman in the conduct of the party’s
governorship primaries in Ondo
State.
In blasting Odigie-Oyegun who he
backed for the office of national
chairman against the aspiration of
Chief Tom Ikimi in 2014, Tinubu said:
“The party was supposed to buttress
APC members elected to government
at all levels. Because of Oyegun’s
conduct of our affairs, the party is
rapidly becoming an albatross to
those it was meant to help.”
“On the chopping block, lies the
future of the political party in which
the majority of voters had placed their
confidence. To rescue the party,
Oyegun must go. He has shown that
he and democratic, fair play cannot
exist in the same party at the same
time. If Tinubu is to choose between
John Oyegun and progress toward a
better Nigeria, the choice has already
been made,” the statement
concluded.
Odigie-Oyegun swiftly responded
two weeks later when he debunked
the insinuations by Tinubu that his
actions in the Ondo State primary
were influenced by money as he
affirmed that nobody has the kind of
money to buy his conscience.
“This reckless and baseless
corruption allegation levelled against
me is unfortunate and an insult to my
person and my hard-earned
reputation which I have strongly
maintained. Nobody has the kind of
money that can buy my conscience or
make me do injury to an innocent
man. In all the primaries conducted
under my watch as National
Chairman, I have tried to ensure a
free, fair, transparent and credible
process,” Odigie-Oyegun had
deposed.
Meanwhile, ahead of the planned
APC National Convention, a proposal
for an extension of the tenure of the
APC elected executives will be tabled
before the planned National Caucus
and National Executive Committee
(NEC) meetings, it has been learnt.
The tenure of the current party
executives at all levels ends in June
2018.
Although details of the proposal
were still sketchy at press time, the
plan which reportedly has the support
of the president it is learnt will be
tabled and sponsored by the Party’s
state governors. There are
suggestions that an interim executive
could be put in place to conduct the
party’s primaries, but backers of the
extension fear it will be counterproductive,
chaotic and hijacked.
The Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) had scheduled
elections for February 2019. INEC
in its recently announced time- table
for the general elections also fixed the
conduct of party primaries for August
18, 2018, to October 7, 2018.
If the party’s executive positions are
reconstituted in June 2018, then only
about five months will be available for
the Party to organize congresses
nationwide and the National
Convention to choose state and
national candidates including the
Presidential Candidate as well as
design strategy, manifesto and other
programs for the general elections. In
addition, there will be Primaries to
pick Candidates for Ekiti and Osun
States governorship candidates and
also campaign for the elections.

16—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
President Buhari appoints Chief Bola Tinubu to
lead APC strategy committee: Nigerians react
•Oluwatosin Ige
By Juliet Ebirim and
Adetutu Adesoji
Bola Tinubu should decline
the offer - Oluwatosin
Blessing Ige, Legal
Practitioner
I feel Tinubu as an elder
statesman should decline
from doing this for Buhari
again. The success of Buhari
during the last presidential
election was achieved with
the help of Tinubu. At some
point during this
administration, Tinubu
voiced out that he is not being
carried along and now Buhari
wants to use him to secure
second term again. I'm sure
Tinubu is in a better position
to know who is best for
Nigeria just as he always
does in Lagos. He should not
take this up, but act in the best
•Ikenna Asomba
interest of Nigerians.
Tinubu would be
abandoned again -Ikenna
Asomba, Journalist/ Public
Affairs Analyst
I feel President
Muhammadu Buhari has not
treated Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
with utmost respect since
2015. Tinubu had over the last
three years been sidelined
from the inner workings of the
APC at the national level, a
party whose birth he helped
nurture. No thanks to
President Buhari and the socalled
cabals. So, if because
the 2019 election is
forthcoming, President
Buhari approaches Tinubu to
mediate all warring factions in
the APC, good for him. It's his
personal decision to accept
the offer or not. What I know
is that Tinubu would be
abandoned again and again.“
This could be a game
changer for the president -
Joseph Akagu, Writer
It's politically brilliant since
Tinubu commands an
overwhelming loyalty both in
the party and in the
southwest. Nigerian politics is
a politics of personalities and
power resides with these few
and not the people. So it
could be a game changer.
The president is envisaging
a defeat hence the move -
Wisdom Ilesanmi, Oil
Consultant
Going by the characteristics
of this government and its
leadership, the president has
lost popularity among the
westerners. Literally
speaking, it is not errorneous
to say that the emergence of
the president at Aso Rock is
highly orchestrated by his win
in the Western states. In light
of this truth, he is envisaging
a defeat as the APC party is
•Okewusi Tola
•Joseph
•Awopetu
Juwon
becoming more factional.
More importantly, a disunited
western APC in specifics will
spell doom for the president's
second term ambition. The
choice of Bola Tinubu is
therefore imperative in the
unity of the party going by his
antecedents as one of the
pioneers and founders of the
party. However, what is covert
to the president is the fact that
in the 2019 presidential
election, the citizenry are
more prone to vote individuals
not the party.
Buhari wants to use and
•Wisdom
dump Tinubu again -
Okewusi Olutola, Artisan
There is nothing to unify
about APC. The party is in
disarray and besides Buhari
only wants to cajole Tinubu to
use and dump him once
more. I don't think Tinubu will
fall for the tricks this time.
There is nothing for APC in
2019 and we might just find
ourselves between the devil
and the deep blue sea,
because PDP is not an
alternative. The country is
technically in trouble.
Tinubu is the perfect option
to re-unite the party, but ... -
Awopetu Juwon, Water
Consultant
It is obviously a smart and
strategic move, Buhari knows
well that Tinubu handed him
the southwest region votes in
the last presidential election.
Knowing the influence of
Tinubu in the party Buhari
needs him to push for more
support. Technically, Tinubu
is the perfect option to reunite
the party. Northern region
alone cannot hand Buhari
victory. He probably needs
more to regain Tinubu’s trust
knowing that he (Tinubu) is
unhappy with the way he has
been treated since Buhari
assumed office.
Ambode and Participatory Governance
By Dr. Abdul Hakeem AbdulLateef, Lagos
democracy- as espoused by Governor complex. But democracy as we know it today,
Commissioner of Home Affairs
Ambode- should be? For experiences in took form after the German Revolution, when
our part of the World and even in advanced the Weimar Constitution promulgated at
“There is no way anyone can manage a
countries-recent and ancient- here and in the end of First World War in 1919, put
megacity State such as Lagos, unless
many other climes, had and continue to a minimum voting age at 20 and
you have this atmosphere of peace and
conveyunpalatable contrary impressions. subsequent reformations brought the
harmony. A State as vast as Lagos, with
President Abraham Lincoln in his age further down to 18. Could we
multiplicity of needs and complex interests
Gettysburg Secondary Speech of 1893, then assume that Democracy ideally
of her huge and diverse population, requires
during the American Civil War, was merely means “the right of adults to vote
much more than the gifts of intelligence
echoing what John Wycliffe, a 14thcentury without the restriction of race, class,
and competence; it requires more than hard
English theologian and philosopher, wrote education level and social position?”
work, diligence and dedication, it requires
in his notation on a Bible 500 years before NO!
special spiritual touching by God. I have
the Lincoln Address that “A Government of In fact, this widely-held assumption
always loved to touch lives; to me it is a
the people, by the people for the people, and practice of democracy as just a
spiritual thing and a devotion; the more I
shall not perish from the Earth.”
matter of electioneering had been the
do this, the more I receive assurance and
Lincoln’s predecessor by many years, John reason for many unwanted
inspiration from the Lord God, that if I
Adams, First Vice President and Second consequences associated with
continue to touch humanity, He would
President, in 1864, portrayed a rather it.
providea bigger space for me to advance
melancholic picture of democracy when he To reiterate, apart from
humanity on a bigger scale. Here I am
said, “Democracy never lasts long; it soon periodic election and voting,
doing it with Governance, with you, for you,
wastes, exhausts and murders itself.”These other features of ideal •Gov Ambode
for me, for our dear Lagos”-
two American Presidents were expressing democracy include
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.
views of democracy from two independent judiciary, rule of
This quote from His Excellency,
contrasting perspectives: Lincoln law, unfettered exercise of
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode,to
described what democracy, ideally, fundamental rights (freedom of association,
spiritual leaders at the Inter-Faith
should look like, while John speech, access to basic amenities,etc.),
Parley in the State House, on
Adams’ submission stemmed from adequate and proper representation, majority
Tuesday, December 12, 2017, shows
experienced and recorded rule and minority right, multi-party system
that Democracy, ideally
consequences of how democracy and free Press.Yet, in developing democracies,
practised,could indeed be an
was actually being implemented. and even in most of the advanced ones,
instrument for adequately meeting
A direct people-participation in achieving the ideal seems elusive, but not
the needs of the people, stem strife,
governance or participatory because the solutions for the attainment of
promote peace and prosperity,
governance, is not a recent concept. higher form of democracy has not been
address corruption, banish
It can even be traced to ancient identified.
ignorance, increase literacy and
Athenian Greek when all adult Participatory Governance is a method where
generally advance human worth and
male citizens actively participated all channels of influence are explored,
bring much happiness to a vast
in parliamentary proceedings. strengthened and engaged in a political
number of citizens. Or is this not how
This model was not practicable as process to achieve accelerated solutions to
societies became bigger and more meet citizens’ needs and aspirations. It is a Continues on page 36
means where all citizens, affected by issues,
are engaged, involved and benefit
from the outcomes of collective
efforts and jointly-arrived
solutions.
Participatory Governance,as
simple as the phrase is and
as noble and natural as the
concept is, must have
proven effectiveness and
profitability. Only very few
politicians would be brave
enough to adopt it
though, let alone,
championing same the
way His Excellency,
Governor Akinwunmi
Ambode is currently
operating. The practice
can be very laborious,
physically demanding
and mentally tasking. It
requires that you give
primacy to, and pursue
pro-poor policies; it requires correct
attitude of humility, transparency and
accountability; it is a process of constant
consultations and engagement of people
affected by issues throughout the lives of
the programmes designed as solution(s) to
address the issues. It requires that you carry
out (along with the people involved),
analytical research and assessment of needs
and problems, design appropriate
programmes (solutions), form network of
suitable technical partners and allies who
will enrich the values of the process and

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018—17
CORRUPTION WAR:
Is Buhari giving with
one hand and taking
with the other?
BY SONNY DANIEL
It was during the Russian
revolutionary that , Alexander
Herzen, who wrote in the year
of the failed revolutions in Europe
that ‘the men who proclaimed the
Republic became the assassins of
freedom’. Herzen’s argument
centred principally on the fact that
beneath the pomp and pageantry of
doing away with the feudal systems
in Europe, those who led the drive
to effect a change in the political
system, actively succeeded in
securing freedom for their own
circle of friends and not the workers.
The author then submitted that in a
sense the architects of the republic
had in a way broken the chain of
slavery but left the prison walls
standing, making them assassins of
freedom.
Arguments can rightly be made for
and against President Muhammadu
Buhari’s acclaimed war against
corruption in Nigeria. All along and
with his avowed declaration to
combat graft to a standstill when he
assumed the presidency of Nigeria
in 2015, it was all to his credit that
Buhari adopted the fight as one of
his three cardinal programmes. The
tripartite programme on the retired
General’s agenda was centred on
boosting security, economy and
eliminating corruption before it kills
Nigeria. Almost three years into his
administration Buhari has received
accolades for his determined efforts
to contain raging insurgency in the
Northeast and get the economy back
on tract. On the fight against Boko
Haram, he has triumphed
to reasonable extent and
deserves applause for his
administration’s deft
moves that took Nigeria
away from recession late
last year, posting positive
indices in all facets of
economic performance, as
released by the National
Bureau of Statistics.
But Buhari has also
become his own albatross
by either deliberately or
unwittingly playing down
the gains hitherto
recorded by his
government in the
onslaught against graft.
All along the opposition
party, the Peoples
Democratic Party, has
been raising alarm that
the fight against corruption was
one-sided as no member of the
ruling party has been
reprimanded for graft. They have
been shouting to the roof top
that their members were simply
targeted by the Buhari
administration for alleged graft
while his party officials are being
protected over worse crimes.
Once it took the president a long
time to accept and do away with
the former Secretary to the
Government of the Federation,
Babachir Lawal for alleged
corruption, the PDP had
enough grounds to
slam
the
administration for
condoning graft and
protecting its inner
caucus members.
Buhari even
cleared Babachir
initially.
But whatever defence Buhari or any
member of his cabinet might have
used to deflect hot punches aimed
at it by the opposition has since
fizzled like a pack of cards with last
Monday’s inexplicable and offensive
recall of the suspended Director
General of the National Health
Insurance Scheme, Professor
Usman Yusuf, a kinsman of Buhari.
The recall of the man, who was
accused and still being investigated
by the EFCC for alleged corrupt
practices is what many Nigerians
cannot comprehend. His recall by
the President through his Chief of
Staff, Abba Kyari, is an act that will
certainly hurt the retired General
and his government for a
long time and dent all that
he stands for as an
incorruptible man. And the
mud thrown at Buhari and
his government is likely
going to endure for a long
time just like the furore
generated by the action.
It would have been okay for
Buhari to recall his kinsmen
back to work if he had not
been castigated by the
National Assembly for
alleged fraud running into
millions of Naira. It would
have also been normal for
the President to reinstate his
brother from the same
Katsina if he had not been
indicted by a government
panel raised by the Minister
of Health, Prof Isaac
Adewole, a man appointed by the
president himself to head the
ministry because of his integrity and
outstanding work in the area of
medicine.
His recall appears to have abruptly
terminated the probe of Mr. Yusuf by
both the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission and the
Independent Corrupt Practices
Commission over the alleged
laundering of N919 million and the
award of contracts far above
approved threshold, something that
the president is supposed to have
enthusiastically supported in order
to be seen to be fighting graft in the
land.
A national daily, apparently miffed
by Buhari’s action, ran riot in its
editorial on Thursday, February 8,
2018. The paper queried Buhari’s socalled
anti-corruption war with the
recall of Yusuf and wondered if the
president still believed the war was
alive.
Outspoken lawyer, Mike
Ozokhome, also carpeted Buhari for
reinstating Yusuf, alleging that the
war against corruption was selective.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
SAN, said, “This is one more
exemplification of the truism that this
government fights corruption within
the government with sweet –
smelling Sasarobia perfume while it
fights corruption against opponents
and critics of government with a
powerful insecticide.
“That is why they will order the
arrest of Kasim Afegbua for merely
issuing a release advising the
President not to seek re-election.
“That is why a whole minister will
suspend a person after a panel of
enquiry has found the person
culpable and the President will
reinstate that person.
“It shows again and again the issue
of corruption being fought is a ruse
to hoodwink the unwary and ignorant
members of the society. No
corruption is being fought at all.”
From all indications, the EFCC is
being tamed on its constitutional
powers to investigate and prosecute
a suspect of financial and economic
crimes against Nigeria by the
Presidency and the reckless display
of power of ‘proximity to the
presidency’ is likely going to whittle
the onslaught against graft in the
months and years ahead because
other suspects would readily cite the
meddlesomeness of Buhari into the
whole affair as an odious precedent
that will certainly hunt and hurt the
polity for generations.
Despite a face-saving declaration
that the reinstatement of Yusuf by the
president does not stop the EFCC
from continuing with the
investigation and possible
prosecution of the suspect, it is clear
to all men of good conscience that
the anti-graft agency does not
have the clout to go against
the direction of
Presidential actions.
This is more so at
a time when the
Presidency has
defied the
Senate to
•President Buhari
stand by
Ibrahim
Magu, the
m a n
rejected
by the Senate twice but kept in
office by the sheer grace and
benevolence of the President.
It is hoping against hope to believe
the EFCC when it declared on
Wednesday thus, “Look, that letter
by the CoS to the President
reinstating Yusuf to his post does not
in any way stop us from digging into
what the ES did with the huge
amount of money taken away from
the scheme.” An official of the EFCC
said this as public criticism
heightened over the questionable
recall of Prof Yusuf.
“Let it also be noted that the
President, who is against any form
of corruption by any of his officials,
has not asked us to stop the
investigation of the alleged fraud in
the NHIS.
“We are continuing our probe of
the man’s expenditure at the NHIS
and it does not mean that we
arrested and detained him as being
speculated.
“The truth of the matter is that the
reinstatement of the man does not
prevent the EFCC from probing him
and finding out whether the sum of
N919 million was laundered by him
or any official of the NHIS under his
watch,” the official explained.
It is tempting to assume that
Buhari might have acted in bad faith,
thereby adding to the accusation of
clannishness heaped on him by
former President Obasanjo but it is
plausible that the President might
not have known the full weight of his
action.
C
M
Y
K

18—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
SIMON EBEGBULEM,
BENIN CITY
It was a joyous event last Sunday at
the Benin Central Hospital, when
one of the Libyan returnees, 24 yearold
Augustina Omorodion was delivered
of a baby girl few hours after she alongside
others arrived Edo state from Port
Harcourt. It was the first baby delivered
by one of the pregnant ladies who were
evacuated from Libya. Relatives and
women organizations stormed the
hospital when they heard the news. The
good news was timely particularly when
the returnees were mourning the death of
six of their colleagues who were said to
have been burnt to death in an accident
which occurred along the Ore-Lagos road
last week. Apart from those who died,
seven were said to be receiving treatment
in a hospital in Ogun state. The returnees
were said to be on their way to Lagos to
solicit both spiritual and financial
assistance from Prophet T B Joshua who
had been assisting returnees who came to
see him.
Augustina had every reason to give
thanks to God for seeing her through what
she regarded as hell in Libya. It was an
experience she would not wish for her
enemies.
Narrating her experience to Saturday
Vanguard, she said, “I had to drop out of
school because I had no money to further
my education and we could hardly feed. I
also learnt catering but there was no
money to start the business. I therefore
had to travel due to my family
background. It was one of my friends in
school who assisted me to travel. When I
travelled I did not know I was pregnant. I
passed through the Sahara desert when I
left and that was another hell. There was
no water and the sun was very hot. I felt I
was dying but death did not come. My
plan was to stay in Libya and work for
few months to enable me make enough
money with which to cross over to Europe.
While in Libya, the Libyan police came to
arrest me. We were in the house when they
came at midnight, shouting that we should
open our gate. Our people refused to open
the gate but they started shooting and
forced the gate open. We all came out
running to nowhere, but they arrested all
of us and took us to their own prison. In
Libya, different sets of people have their
own prison. Libya is an evil place. In
prison, they were giving us little
macaroni and they would even put
drug in our food or water and after
eating the food we would start feeling
very weak and drowsy. And I was
pregnant but I had no
choice but to
persevere. They would
shout at us, beat us
and do all sorts of
harsh things to us.
When she was asked
who impregnated her
and when it happened,
Augustina said, “I got
pregnant here in
Nigeria before I
travelled but I did not
know. My boyfriend
got me pregnant, my
family knows him and
he knew I am back but
I am surprised he has
not come to see me. I
want to go home and
continue my work. I
want government to
assist me with money
so I can open a store,
that is my appeal now.
That will help me take
care of this child that
God has given me. I
had the baby in a hard
way so I will want her
to live a good life”.
Explaining how she
started having the
feelings that the baby
was coming, she stated
that, “it was when we
The first lady who
disclosed that she
was elated with
the news of the
delivery said
that the life of
every indigene
of the state was
of utmost
importance to
the government
and as such,
would be
jealously
protected
by the state
I prayed for death,
it didn’t come
—Pregnant Libyan returnee
•Why I named my child Miracle
arrived Benin from Port Harcourt that
I started feeling it. And I thank God it
did not happen in the plane from
Libya, it would have been difficult.
When it was disturbing
me they rushed me to
the hospital. And that
was why I gave my child
the name Miracle
because she is a miracle
child.. I named her
Miracle because it was
God who helped me, I
would not have been
able to have her with
what I passed through at
the age of 24. A lot of
people died in my
presence and being a
pregnant woman with no
care from anywhere, I
would have died but God
saved me and that is why
I am alive today. I will
never go to Libya again
in my life. People should
not bother to think about
it because it is not a
place to go. I thank God
I am alive and my baby
is alive”.
Among the dignitaries
who visited the baby and
mother at the hospital
was the first lady of Edo
state, Mrs Betsy
Obaseki. The first lady
danced joyously with
other women at the
hospital and showered
the baby with gift items worth
thousands of naira, reiterating the
resolve of the state government to
support the rehabilitation and
resettlement of indigenes of the state
who returned from Libya. The first lady
who disclosed that she was elated with
the news of the delivery said that the
life of every indigene of the state was
of utmost importance to the
government and as such, would be
jealously protected by the state.
Speaking at the hospital, Mrs
Obaseki pointed out that “It is an
exciting moment for us all and we are
here to rejoice with the mother who
just told me she was in prison for two
months with her pregnancy before
being brought back home to Nigeria
last week. We thank God that she was
brought home just few days before the
baby arrived, it would have been a
terrible experience if she had the baby
in prisons. We also thank our
government for being an instrument
to deliver and bless these people. I
want to also commend the wonderful
job the Task Force is doing as regards
the returnees”.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the
state task force on Anti Human
Trafficking and Illegal Migration, Prof
Yinka Omoregbe, who was with the
first lady described the birth of the
baby as a “Prophetic Sign.” She said,
“we have been taking good care of
those of them that are pregnant. We
ensure that they are brought to the
hospital where all attention is paid to
The first Lady of Edo, Mrs Betsy
Obaseki, carrying the baby delivered
by a Libya returnee,
Augustina Omorodion, at the
Central Hospital, Benin, while the
Chairperson of the State task
force on anti-human trafficking,
Prof Yinka Omoregbe looks on.
them to ensure safe delivery. We are
very much happy to have our first baby
and we think it is a very beautiful
prophetic sign. It is also good that she
is healthy. They are returnees, so we
have the same plan for them and their
babies as we have for others. We thank
the first lady for showing love and concern
for these people and I believe this will
help boost their morale and give them
a sense of belonging in their own land”.
Also speaking on the issue, the Special
Adviser to the governor on Anti Human
Trafficking and Illegal Migration,
Comrade Solomon Okoduwa, said the
care being given by the state
government to the returnees will
encourage others to come back and settle
in their fatherland. He said: “It is a thing
of joy for all the families, for those who
will be coming home out of frustration.
Now they are coming home with joy
knowing that government will take
care of them. Being a returnee is no
longer a stigma in Edo state. We were
happy she had the baby in a very safe
environment. She was among the
three pregnant women that we rushed
to hospital, she has gone through a lot in
that hospital. We still have others who we
are expecting will give birth soon. Most
of them who came were pregnant and
were due for delivery by the time they
arrived. The Edo state government will
give them the medical attention they
require and enlist them for the
programmes we have for children and
mothers”.
C
M
YK

There is a short video of a white
m o t h e r
who is exasperated with her
children’s phones and social media
activities that has been trending on
social media: “I hereby denounce the
effects social media have on my
children…” Ordinarily, parenting is a
long, winding road on a hilltop, no
dulling. Social media just complicated
parenting by adding storm and wetness
to the long winding road.
In those days, parents locked their
children indoors and in the process shut
out external contact and influence. I
remember my mother’s specific
instructions: do not go to anybody’s
house without my saying so and do not
accept food from anybody, and if you do,
you must bring it home. The instructions
were cast in stone and those who
disobeyed paid dearly for their
disobedience. But they did help because
they reduced external influences. And
parents could mold their children the
way they wanted to a large extent.
These days; if you like, put your children
in the cave or underground. As long as
they have phones, they can even “date”
and get engaged to somebody they have
never met physically in another
continent. Before the advent of mobile
phones, parents were complaining about
the invasion of foreign cultures via
television and the negative influence on
their children. But parents still had some
control: they could use parental guide
to determine the TV programmes that
were available, they could control when
their children watched television and
they could decide not to acquire
decoders which gave access to many
television channels.
But with a smart phone or android, the
world is a real global village. Now our
children can travel round the world via
phones and have access to virtually every
site they want to. Handsets have also
become addictions. Family bonds are
being broken; children are becoming
more individualistic; they can be holed
up in their rooms all day without a dull
moment. You hear them screaming,
laughing and giggling and they are all
Parenting and social media
alone. Hitherto, only insane people
did that. Parents call from morning
till night and all they hear is
“mummy, I am coming;” they never
come. Some children are neck deep
in the world of pornography. Even
adults cannot handle pornographic
addiction, so children stand no
chance. There is cultism and devil
worship online; we also have cyber
bullying and teenagers have been
forced to commit suicide over cyber
bullying. Teenage lovers have also
been lured online into committing
There is cultism and devil worship
online; we also have cyber bullying and
teenagers have been forced to commit
suicide over cyber bullying. Teenage
lovers have also been lured online into
committing suicide for “love
suicide for “love.” It is a very
complicated situation and many
parents the world over have simply
lost grip of their children.
So you can understand the frustration
of the mother in the video. Many
parents today feel the same way as
this mother. The only difference is
that we might not use/have guns to
shoot our children’s phones and use
an axe to smash whatever the gun
missed, as this mother did. But we
all need to take action. I have always
SATURD
TURDAY Vanguard,
FEBRUARY 10, 2018—19
know the value of the phones your
children are carrying. Do you not think
you are inadvertently making your
children targets of attack or kidnap?
I worry about phones even for adults.
Many women’s lives now revolve round
their phones. Addiction to phones has
replaced addiction to soap operas. They
are permanently on their phones; no
time for their husbands and children.
Many men with free time have also
taken refuge in phones. The only people
who can spend so much time on the
phone are retirees and old people, not
working class people with a trailer-load
of bills to pay. Also, people who earn
their living from the social media can
spend a chunk of their time on the
phone. In addition, people who add
value to their lives with the mountain
of information on social media can also
spend reasonable time there, but they
must balance knowledge acquisition
with taking action on the knowledge
acquired. Beyond that anybody
spending all day online for
entertainment purpose or running away
from his problems via heavy usage of
social media is no different from people
taking refuge in alcohol or drugs. They
are all addicts. The challenge now is how
can parents who need help themselves
guide their children on proper phone
usage?
Do not get me wrong, the advent of
mobile phones is a huge blessing to
Nigeria. Mobile phones are good, you
can run your business from anywhere
in the world, get all the information you
need at the tap of the button and it is
just getting better with more
applications being added.
But mobile phones are double-edged
swords; for all the good that come with
them, there is a dark side: They are
dream stealers, dream killers and very
addictive (these days, some people
cannot have any meaningful meeting
unless phones are kept away). There are
also health issues due to radiation.
Unfortunately, it is not just our children
who need help, we the parents also do.
Let us apply restraint before we all tip
over the cliff.
believed there is a time for
everything. This is very
important in parenting. We
must know when our children
are mature enough to handle
certain gadgets, information or
situations. Bring it on too early
and you can upset the critical
balance in a child’s
development.
Specifically, on phones, I do not
believe children should own
personal phones until they are
out of secondary school. Now
some parents argue that they
buy phones for their children in
secondary school to enable
them reach them when they are
not at home. Great, but if you
have good rapport with your
children’s teachers, you can
reach them via the teachers’
phones. Also, many of these
children go with school buses
and you can also reach them via
the drivers while in transit. At
other times, have a floating
phone in the house, which can
be given to any of your young
children on outing to enable
you keep in touch. That way,
you can monitor what they did
with the phone while away
when they get back. Some
parents buy phones as
expensive as N150,000 (or
higher for the Apple iphones)
for their children! Meanwhile,
their drivers, who take the
children to school, earn
N50,000 per month and they
(Text Only)
Walk out for the busy person
Triangle (1)
Press-Up
Breathing
Triangle (1)
Technique:
Assume a wide
stance and turning the
trunk to the left, turn
the right foot to right
and the left foot at 90
degrees. Place the
palms together and
bend the left leg to
waist level.
Breathing normally,
retain the posture for
some 10 seconds and
repeat on the other side.
Benefits:
This pose helps in
strengthening the
quadriceps and the
inner thighs. It also
helps to maintain a
youthful posture.
Press-Up
Technique:
Lie on your tummy
with the legs extended
fully. Now place both
hands next to the shoulders
and with the toes
on the ground.Breath in
deeply and raise the
entire body off the
ground. Head, buttocks
and heels must be at the
same level. Retain the
breath with the raised
trunk for a slow count to
five. Lower the body as
you exhale. Inhaling
and retaining the breath
again raise the body up
for another count. Lower
the body down again
and rest with your head
on your folded arms.
Benefits:
The Press-Up With
Breath aerates the
lungs and strengthens
the entire body.
Triangle (2)
Technique:
Standing with feet
wide apart, turns
to the left as you
bend the left
knee. Keep the
right knee
locked with the
whole leg in a
diagonal position
to the trunk.
Keep the hands
over head with
the palms
together. The
neck and head
must be straight.
Maintain the
posture for some
10 to 15 seconds.
Repeat on the
other side.
Benefits:
The posture
tones up the leg
m u s c l e s
shedding excess
fat there. This
exercise also
helps you hold
the body in a
straighter
posture.
Triangle (2)
C
M
Y
K

20—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
lisa Metuh is, ordinarily, a man
Oof swagger. May affliction not
befall us. He came into the court a few
days ago strapped to stretcher, draped
in hospital white. And tongues started
wagging. I wish him a speedy recovery.
Some tongues threw curses into the air
for anyone who would compel such a
sick man to come to court in an
ambulance. Others read it differently.
They saw deception and mischief. And
they took to laceration and ridicule.
They told of remarkable acting ability
and a potential Oscar award. The
pictures, from every angle,were
sensational, scandalous. The
multiplicity of what they evoked
revealed a society riven by ethnic,
religious and partisan allegiances and
stuck in pervasive corruption and
emotionality.
I have surveyed a diversity of
reactions. A friend, a senior lawyer,
perhaps possessed by ethnic fervour,
threw a sentimental poser at me. He
wanted to know if the sick man were
an Ibrahim Mohammed if he would
have been so badly dehumanized? I
reminded him that Justice Abang is a
meticulous judge. He is not a
descendant of Othman Danfodio.
Fulani herdsmen didn’t hound the sick
man to court. He threw his chin up in
derision. He seemed fed up with what
he considered as my insufferable
naivety. He said Metuh was treated like
a second class citizen.
A former classmate, a gynecologist,
wondered why Justice Abang rejected
a valid medical report and ordered
Metuh to be brought to court. He was
insistent Abang should have deferred
to Metuh’s doctors in matters of a
patient’s fitness to attend court. He said
the judge could have set up a medical
panel to ascertain Metuh’s true health
status if the medical report lacked
reliability. I understood his reasons and
his professional sentiments. But he
didn’t channel his anger properly.
Nigerian doctors sell medical reports.
Nigerian politicians feign illnesses to
fool judges and avoid trials. Medical
panels are costly and cumbersome.
Judges can’t therefore be blamed for
being vigilant. They can’t curb
corruption if they remained aloof to
these contexts realities.
Judges usually defer to the medical
opinions of medical doctors. But
medical reports are by law not
sacrosanct. Every big man charged with
offenses bordering on corruption takes
The 48th annual World Economic
Forum, WEF in Davos-Klosters, the
mountainous Alpine resort of
Graubünden Canton, eastern
Switzerland took place from January 23
to 26,2018. Leaders from all walks of
life come together at the beginning of
the year to rededicate themselves to
improving the state of the world. This
year’s programme was on “Creating a
Shared Future in a Fractured World.”
Many of the participants identified the
fractures and were concerned about
making the difference.
One wondered whether it was
possible to have a shared future in a
growing world of inequality with the
global wealth concentrated in the hands
of less than one percent elite of the
over 7 billion world population. And
typical in mortal combat, it may not
matter too many of the world most
powerful, the extravagant and almost
tasteless display of wealth as witnessed
in the recent WEF. The richest in glitzy,
glamorous and status symbols shows,
were airlifted in over one thousand
private jets causing heavy traffic in the
Swiss skies in the week-long meeting.
There are now genuine fears that the
global commons who cannot protect
itself would become intolerant and
cause global instability. The social
contract between states and their
citizens continues to erode with
perceptions of leaders’ inaction. Forum
organisers believe participation by
world leaders epitomizes the collegial
Spirit of Davos to change the
geostrategic narratives on multiple
fronts. Out of the 14 system initiatives,
shaping the future of energy and the
future of environment and natural
resource security dominated discourses
this year.
The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra
Modi’s speech, which apparently
Olisa Metuh and the predicament
of the crayf
yfish
ill. They all take ill, and routinely seek
leave of court for medical treatment
abroad. Once that leave is granted,
the big man who is already on bail,
elopes. I have sympathy for Olisa
Metuh, because he appears to be
truly very ill. It doesn’t matter that
some have said that they saw him
everywhere during Ekwueme’s
funeral a few days ago, looking
legitimately, hale and hearty. People
can fall ill even after marathon
partying.
But who can then blame the judge?
The bad eggs in medical practice can
truncate nearly all corruption
prosecutions by issuing dodgy
reports. These medical reports and
death certificates are sold for small
fees. The problem is that the court’s
insistence to see Metuh perhaps
didn’t ultimately yield anything. Any
politician who cannot play a little
Nollywood role before a judge to stall
his corruption trial is not from
Nigeria. But I believe Metuh is ill.
Every big man charged with
offenses bordering on
corruption takes ill. They all
take ill, and routinely seek
leave of court for medical
treatment abroad. Once that
leave is granted, the big
man who is already on bail,
elopes
A man exasperated with the anticorruption
agenda of this
government asked a good question.
He wanted to know why Metuh
was even being prosecuted. Metuh
was given money to run some
errands by his boss. His boss has
not lodged any complaints with the
police. His boss is alive, well,
ubiquitous and noisy. The money
given poor Olisa Metuh by his boss
was the sort of money his boss was
expected to own. Yes, in Nigeria.
That boss got many billions during
his presidential campaigns’
fundraiser. The EFCC, however,
insists that the money given Metuh
was stolen from the public purse.
But it couldn’t conceivably have
been in Metuh’s contemplation
that the boss stole from the public
to fund his elections. Poor Metuh
was not expected to have asked
his boss about the source of the
money before running the errand.
It was suggested that if Metuh
had returned the money he would
have received instant salvation. But
how could Metuh have returned
money that had been spent. And
why can’t EFCC bring in his boss
to explain why he gave an innocent
poor Metuh stolen money. Metuh
had once looked up to the hills and
cried to the judge to invite his boss.
So that his boss could come and
tell the court the whole truth. The
court listened and summoned his
boss. His boss avoided court
summons. Poor Metuh has been
left to grapple with and languish
in the long arms of the law. His boss
has remained an exuberant hero.
And Metuh has been left crumpled
like crayfish.
Metuh has never been a coward.
But circumstances can force a man
to eat written statements and adopt
timidity. Metuh was a mere
Davos forum 2018 and fossil fuels
opened the summit, identified
climate change as the number one
threat to civilisation and called for
more wealth transfers from rich
countries in order to help poorer
nations adopt appropriate
technologies for reducing climate
emissions. Many knew the angle
Modi was coming from. His
submission was a precursor to
intellectual debates on global
warming and climate change.
Some experts were able to canvass
but not able to foist the widely held
view that burning fossil fuels (coal,
oil and gas) makes the earth a hotter
place. Selling the apparent threat of
climate change became half the
battle as it coincided with the period
when many United States cities
experienced gelid weather of
extreme cold temperatures in
minuses that never occurred since
1884. According to Weather.com,
Flint, in Michigan, set its all-time
record-low temperature for
December of 18, degrees below zero.
Davos also had extreme cold. But an
Australian science writer Joanne
Nova, in a counter, submitted that
extreme cold is just weather but all
heat waves are climate change and
human attribution.
Whether a battle of wits, there
styled was discordant synchrony in
the fossil fuel campaign among
political leaders especially between
America and members of the
Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development,
OECD led by France. Trump was
not under anybody’s thumb, but
some experts believed his slight
comment in Davos was a
retroflection on his America First
mantra to: “America First does not
mean America alone.” But he was
clear that the United States lifted
self-imposed restrictions on energy
production to provide affordable
power to America and to promote
energy security for American allies
globally. Trump had imposed a fouryear
tariff on imported solar cells and
modules.
Trump was clear that America’s
foes Russia should not hold others
hostage as an assumed single
provider of energy. Energy Secretary
Rick Perry earlier said that the
United States shale production will
not be a spoiler of global oil and
natural gas prices in 2018 and was
hopeful that unconventional
production is sustainable in the
long-term. The belief as portrayed
was that America was freeing up
their allies around the world with
energy choices, and letting them
know that there were no strings
attached in buying American gas. It
The bad eggs in medical practice
can truncate nearly all corruption
prosecutions by issuing dodgy
reports. These medical reports
and death certificates are sold
for small fees. The problem is
that the court’s insistence to see
Metuh perhaps didn’t ultimately
yield anything
messenger. But Metuh has been called
names and labeled a traitor because he
wanted his boss to come to court and tell
the truth. They said he had joined
opponents to rubbish his boss and expose
him to ridicule. So what options are left
for Metuh but to fold up and bear the
heat alone.
Nigerians say circumstances must
explain the bent posture of crayfish.
Metuh has stooped to overcome. He is
no coward. Some have insinuated that
Metuh was taking cowardly refuge in
Nollywood and exploiting hospital
games. May God have mercy on
Thomases. May we not have bosses who
have big hats and small balls.
The gynecologist had warned that if
the refusal of the court to recognize the
authority of medical reports gained
currency it could jeopardize the health
of sick accused persons. I understood his
point. Everyone is innocent until found
guilty. But there is a bigger picture. All
should be equal before the law. But we
tend remember the rule of law only when
the offender is rich and powerful.
Politicians will steal big. And will
readily meet any bail conditions. The
poor petty thief steals small and remains
powerless. He never meets his bail
conditions. He is remanded in prison
custody. The prison doctor comes to work
when he likes. The poor inmate on
remand for theft takes ill and cannot
get a referral. Prison doctors sell referrals.
The price of a referral in Kirikiri prison ,
in 2013, was 250,000 naira after
exhaustive haggling. So the poor suspect
stays locked in, sick to his bones. No one
would remember him and his
fundamental human rights. No one
would talk about rule of law.
Perhaps we should learn to bother
more about the poor than the rich. The
rich do not need our cries. They can
always fend for themselves.
Out of the 14 system initiatives,
shaping the future of energy and
the future of environment and
natural resource security
dominated discourses this year
was obvious Trump did not lose focus on
his America First Energy Plan on fossil
fuels that drilling benefits outweigh
environmental worries.
President Emmanuel Macron on the
other hand was more concerned about the
consequences of fossil fuels and believed
the world was losing the battle on climate
change targeted by the Paris agreement.
He promised that France will shut down
all coal-fired power stations by 2021.
President Macron called on the EU to
create a floor price for CO2 in its first
carbon trading market to discourage its
use in 619 coal-powered plants in Europe.
France and India have courted
themselves in the International Solar
Alliance, ISA, and a techno-political
romance to facilitate large-scale
deployment of solar energy in 121
countries in the tropics by aggregating
the demand for funding, technology and
innovation. Developed countries
commitment was to contribute US$100
billion annually from 2020 to mitigate
climate change impacts in developing
countries.
The deliberations were adjudged by
organisers as unmatched, being a global
policy initiative to engage leaders in
peer-to-peer working sessions. The
Forum acts as a catalyst for major bridgebuilding
efforts to further global peace
and reconciliation as well as create
awareness in latest economic and sociopolitical
trends.
C
M
Y
K

Imagine you were in your 30s, had
doctorate degrees in a couple of
disciplines which gave you a
prestigious and comfortable lifestyle in
an American University. You were
single and therefore devoid of
distractions in an environment that
would allow you to fulfil your academic
and social potentials. More
significantly, you were a black person
from Africa where diseases ravaged,
poverty ravaged, crime ravaged,
corruption ravaged and had been
lucky to escape all these into a
different clime where freedom and
opportunities beckoned.
Would the images of Africa, the
documentaries on Africa that the media
constantly aired give you a sense of
relief that you had escaped the throes
of war, insecurity and hunger which
the continent increasingly represented
or would they haunt and make you
question the meaning of your life?
Would you deem it wise to give up the
shoes many covet and go back to the
very place thousand were dying to
escape from?
This however, is not a hypothetical
story. It is the story of Rev. Fr. Godfrey
Nzamujo, a Dominican priest. By 1983
while still in his 30s, he had obtained
doctorate degrees in Electronics,
Microbiology and Developmental
Science and was ensconced in the
comfort and security of university life
as a professor. But it was at a time
famine was raging in Ethiopia and the
pictures of children with sunken eyes
and bloated stomachs filled the
international media. The pictures
haunted Fr. Nzamujo and eventually
challenged him. He was quoted as
saying ‘The stories coming out of Africa
challenged my values as a Priest, an
Academic and as a Developmental
Scientist. I knew Africa to be rich with
vast resources everywhere. The fact
that Africa had become so poor that it
needed aid to survive upset me and I
felt I needed to show the world a
different Africa.’
His vision was to kick poverty out of
Africa with dignity through industry.
In choosing the name Songhai to drive
his vision, he chose to remember the
history of the West African region as a
powerful and economically stable
zone. He also noted the core values
It is now understandable why some
senior officials of the Muhammadu
Buhari administration were agitated
when they got news of plans by the
Benue State government to give the
73 victims of the herdsmen attack a
televised mass burial.
Hours before the mass funeral of the
victims on January 11, very high-level
officials in the Presidential Villa Abuja
through telephone calls tried to
persuade Governor Samuel Ortom to
call off the mass burial, but their efforts
were stoutly rebuffed. The only
concession was to cancel the
nationwide live television coverage of
the burial.
What the presidency officials feared
most now seems to be materialising
with the venue of the mass burial in
Makurdi turning into a damaging
political testimonial against the All
Progressives Congress, APC federal
administration given the increasing
pilgrimage to the site by political
fortune hunters.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers
State who just months ago was in feisty
combat with Governor Ortom visited
the burial site last Wednesday and
dropped N200 million for the care of
the refugees from the herdsmen
attacks.
He was followed on Thursday, by
Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State
who also visited the burial site and left
his donation of N10 million.
Remarkably, President Buhari was also
on Tuesday in the neighbouring state,
Nasarawa where he went to
commission among other signature
projects, a secondary school built by
the state administration.
A man dares to change the stor
ory y of Africa
that had contributed to the emergence
of the civilisation of West Africa; namely
vision, courage, creativity, discipline
and a sense of community. This was in
the days of the Songhai Empire. This
history of West Africa which dated over
a thousand years, had been broken but
he felt it could be fixed again through
integrated and sustainable agriculture.
He also felt the land which had been
abused and damaged through
indiscriminate use of chemicals could be
rejuvenated again. His ultimate goal
was a holistic integration of bio-energy,
aqua-culture and crop production to
develop human, technical,
environmental and financial resources
throughout Africa. He also wanted to
develop people who would have the
vision, motivation and capabilities to
actualise this goal for Africa.
It was a tall order. One that met with
resistance everywhere even within his
family members and country. The
biblical saying of ‘A prophet is not
without honour save in his own country’
which Fr. Godfrey must know very well
as a priest, became more than true in
his case. After being turned down by
Nigeria, he went to Benin, a tiny
neighbourhood country which started
him off with a mere hectare of land. That
hectare yielded bountiful fruits literally
and figuratively. Songhai soon became
a pride to Benin, a pride to West Africa
and a pride to Africa. One hectare
yielded 22 hectares in Porto Novo and
became a mother farm birthing 150 and
300 hectares in other parts of Benin
Republic. It also now has franchises in
15 African countries with Nigeria
leading the pack. The rejected stone
had become the corner stone of Africa’s
agricultural developments.
I had heard of Songhai before and
Buhari’s Benue blues
While the death of a single person is
something that is extremely saddening,
emerging truth is that the spate of
recent killings by herdsmen may not
have been wholly restricted to Benue.
Similar killings and sometimes even
more monstrous killings are alleged to
have also taken place in Taraba,
Zamfara, Adamawa and to a lesser
extent on the Plateau.
But how Nigeria turned into a killing
field in an administration headed by a
general with a famed reputation for law
and order is a saddening commentary
on the failed expectation of many
Nigerians from the Buhari
No one has won the
presidential election in
Nigeria since Shehu Shagari
without winning Benue
State
SATURDAY Vanguard, , FEBRUARY 10, 2018—21
longed to visit. What I discovered
when I found myself as part of a tour
group jointly organised by Hadur and
Glaf —the former is a tourist agency
while the latter is a farm—fascinated
and impressed me. To start with, it is
difficult not only to keep a dream alive
but also to make it grow year in year
out. It takes grit, determination and
grace. According to our guide, the
Songhai experiment is an experiment
in determination, organisation and
discipline. These are some of the
qualities needed in order for Africa to
stand up and be counted. Songhai
encourages people to develop
themselves using the resources
available to them. But as I toured the
different areas of Songhai in search
of knowledge I could not help but
observe workers working at their own
pace. Some were leisurely while some
really applied themselves. It made me
think of the attitude of African workers
to work. It also made me think of the
challenges of a motivated workforce.
I thought of the vastness of the farm
and what it would require in terms of
security to prevent pilferage. This
inevitably made me think of the
periods of frustration and the number
of times Fr. Godfrey would have felt
like packing it all in. I thought of the
inevitable sacrifice that gave birth to
this oasis in the African desert; this
spot of light in the African darkness
and I am glad he didn’t give up
because of the hope it has given to
many. Many have tried to replicate the
Songhai experiment and have failed
even with the help of Songhai
personnel because it takes more than
money and lip service. It takes
passion, discipline, motivation and a
burning desire to offer this kind of
administration.
With the Tuesday visit of the
president to neighbouring Nasarawa
State and the irritating comments by
some of the administration’s senior
officials, notably, the Inspector
General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and
defence minister, Brig. Gen. Mansur
Ali (rtd.), it is not surprising that
many in Benue are expressing a
feeling of abandonment.
Even though Wike, Fayose and
recent PDP visitors to the APC
controlled Benue may have dressed
up their visits as essentially
humanitarian, there is no doubt that
the visitors were also not unmindful
of making political capital from the
foibles of the APC leadership in
Abuja.
How the rage plays out in the
political arena is one thing that those
monitoring events from the
Presidential Villa and the stream of
PDP visitors are hoping to swing to
their benefit.
The pilgrimages to Benue underline
the key position of the state in
national politics. No one has ever won
The stories coming out of
Africa challenged my values as
a Priest, an Academic and as a
Developmental Scientist. I
knew Africa to be rich with vast
resources everywhere. The
fact that Africa had become so
poor that it needed aid to
survive upset me and I felt I
needed to show the world a
different Africa
service to mankind.
Songhai has become a Mecca of sorts
to people. Some visit as a place of
spiritual retreat, some, a place to
honeymoon; and judging from the
number of expatriates I saw milling
around, a tourist attraction. But
actually, Songhai is a school—
principally of agriculture, but also of
life. Over 300 students within the ages
of 18 to 35 graduate every year after
spending 15 months learning the
theoretical, practical and business
sides of farming. The idea is to plant
good seeds into these youths in the
hope that some of the seeds will fall
on fertile minds and germinate. This
is in addition to those who do
sandwich courses.
To me however, Songhai is first of all
about nature—the relationship
between air, water and plants. It is
about using research and technology
to maximise your resources—almost
everything used at the centre is made
within it with water being filtered and
recycled through hyacinth, a plant we
have not been able to find a worthy
use for in Nigeria. Songhai is about a
man who re-examined his values and
was determined to grow beyond his
personal needs. A man who found a
purpose for his life and defined
success his own way. Finally, Songhai
is about what is possible in Africa.
An apt summary of the Songhai story
is: “Head, Heart and Hands.” On
second thoughts, start with “Mind.”
the presidential election in Nigeria
since Shehu Shagari without winning
Benue State.
The killings and the belated Federal
Government response have also
reopened the bitterness among some
of the Tiv population whose vote
helped to swing the state for the APC
in 2015. They now recollect that after
their massive vote for the APC, that
the key appointments from Abuja
including the ministerial slot went to
the Idoma who ironically voted for the
PDP.
Nonetheless, for the first time in a
long while, the suspicions that cloud
political permutations of the Tiv and
the Idoma are being put aside as the
two dominant ethnic groups join hands
together in collective mourning.
The political fallouts will be
consequential if a formidable
opposition to the APC materialises
ahead of 2019.
Ortom did the near impossible in
December 2014, when he won the APC
governorship ticket within two weeks
of his defection from the PDP. In his
first two years in office, his failure to
clear the arrears of salaries owed civil
servants almost destroyed his political
sagacity. It was thus not surprising that
almost a year ago, he endorsed Buhari
for a second term, maybe believing that
he would ride on the president’s
coattails to his own second term.
Now with the president’s political
capital greatly diminished in the state,
the governor has been quick to move
with the sentiments of his people. He
has even regained his political
balance. What it means for Buhari is
another thing!
C
M
Y
K

22—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
Murtat
ata, a, Maimalari and myster
ery y of 13
Young Murtala Mohammed was
barely 13 when Cadet officer,
Zakari Maimalari, became part
of Intake 10 of the Royal Military
Academy, Sandhurst, England in September,
1951. The former was at the
famous Barewa College before joining
the Army. The latter would later toe the
same part.
Maimalari belonged to Burma
Company and was commissioned
Second Lieutenant on Febrauary 16,
1953 alongside compatriot, Lawan
Umar, Prince Hassan, who later
became King Hassan of Morocco and
Charles Buah, from the Gold
Coast[Ghana].
Murtala moved to Sandhurst in
September 1959, as part of Intake 27.
Some of his mates included Tim
Onwuatuegwu, Mohammed Shuwa,
Iliya Bisalla, Chris Anuforo and
Ibrahim Haruna. They were
commissioned in 1961.
Thirteen years after Maimalari was
commissioned, he was assassinated
in Nigeria’s first military coup. The
January 15, 1966 coup was led by the
duo of Majors Emma Ifeajuna and
Chukwuma Nzeogwu. Ifeajuna was
Nigeria’s first Commonwealth gold
medalist and loved so much by
Maimalari, his Brigade commander.
On January 22, 1966, Murtala and
wife Ajoke, were blessed with a baby
boy. He was named Zakari, after the
late Brigadier Maimalari. A Week
earlier, the one–star general had
finished celebrating his new wife
before he was gunned down. Haruna
drove Lt.Col Abogo Largema to Ikoyi
Hotel not knowing that Ifeajuna and
Anuforo had perfected plans to strike.
On February 13,1976, Murtala was
murdered by troops led by Lt. Col
Bukar Dimka of the Army Physical
Training Corps. Dimka was part of
the July 29, 1966 counter coup, led
by Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed. The
first military Head of State, Maj.
Gen. Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi was
killed in that second coup.
Dimka had something to do with
13. He was commissioned on
December 13, 1963 in down under
Australia. One of his course mates at
the Army Cadet School, Portsea was
Boniface Ikejiofor. Due to limited
space at Sandhurst and Dehra Dun,
alternative institutions became
necessary to train a new crop of
officers.
Cadets like William Walbe, Isah
Bukar, Ganiyu Adeleke, T.I.
The Murtala Mohammed
family is still in tears
because nobody has
been held responsible for
a young man who went
out with a friend in good
health and came back
lifeless
Atumaka, Yemi Alabi and Nuhu
Nathan found themselves at Fort
Dix, New Jersey and Fort Knox,
Kentucky both in the United States
where they spent at least two years
before they got their commission.
Lambert Ihenacho spent almost three
years[July 21, 1962-October 1965] at the
Haile Sellasie Military Academy, Harar,
Ethiopia. It took him a longer time to
become Second Lieutenant unlike such
cadets as Chris Ugokwe, Juventus
Ojukwu and Muhammadu Buhari who
joned the Army in April 1962 and by
January 26, 1963 passed out of Mons,
Aldershot as subalterns.
While Maj. Don Okafor missed
Maimalari who escaped from the back
and was running towards Obalende
before Ifeajuna killed him in 1966,
Murtala was shot at Obalende by Lt.
William Seri after Captain Malachy
Parvwang missed him. So both men died
around Obalende, in 1966 and 1976
respectively.
Murtala died on Febraury 13. His Aide
de Camp, Lt. Akintunde Akinsehinwa
died with him, on February 13. Col.
Ibrahim Taiwo, who fought under
Murtala during the civil war was also
killed on February 13. We all remember
that Maimalari was commissioned in
February.
When Murtala, an Old Boy of Barewa
College, Zaria, toppled General Yakubu
Gowon, who like Maimalari also
attended Barewa College, Gowon’s ADC
was Walbe. The America trained officer
was born on July 13, 1943.
One of those executed following
Murtala’s assassination was Joseph
Gomwalk, a zoologist turned police
officer who also schooled in Zaria, at the
College of Arts, Science , Arts and
Technology. Gomwalk was born on April,
13, 1935.
Murtala made John Yisa Doko, Chief
of Air Staff after sacking Brigadier
Emmanuel Ikwue. Doko was one of the
first set of Nigerian Air Force pilots.
His course mates included Salaudeen
Latinwo, Austine Okpe, Usman Jibrin
and Canice Umenwaliri. The air chief
was born on February 13, 1942.
The import is that the day Murtala
died, Doko was getting set to cut his
34 th birthday cake. That also was the
birthday of one young cadet at the
Nigeria Defence Academy, Azubuike
Ihejirika who turned 20. Ihejirika would
later become an Army GOC, like
Murtala.
Murtala’s first son, Zakari, was born
in January[22]. Maimalari was also
born in January[17 , 1930.] On August
13, 1993, Zakari was shot dead in yet
to be unraveled circumstances. His
friend and driver were alleged to be
with him when he was killed.
On October 13, 1993, Zakari’s friend
and driver were charged to court for
culpable homicide. The Murtala
Mohammed family is still in tears
because nobody has been held
responsible for a young man who went
out with a friend in good health and
came back lifeless.
It therefore sounds uncanny that
Maimalari died 13 years after he was
commissioned as an Army officer.
Murtala named his son Zakari, after
Maimalari. Zakari was born in January
1966, Maimalari died in January 1966,
his month of birth.
The man who succeeded Murtala,
Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, so did on
February 13, 1976. When Obasanjo quit
office in 1979 ending the Murtala/
Obasanjo era, the officer who
commanded the parade was Col
Abdusalam Abubakar. His birthday is
June 13.
Abdusalam later met Obasanjo again
at the parade ground. In 1979, it was
Lagos. Venue changed to Abuja in
1999. The military governor of Jigawa
the day power changed hand from
Abdusalam to Obasanjo was Lt.Col.
Abubakar Maimalari, son of Brigadier
Zakari Maimalari.
Maiamalari’s son was a governor.
Murtala’s second son, Risqa, tried to
be governor of Kano State, he was not
lucky. Maimalari’s son, Abubakar, was
retired from the Army by Obasanjo,
who succeeded Murtala. Murtala’s
son, Risqa, was made Presidential aide
by the same Obasanjo.
Maiamalari was shot, Murtala was
murdered. Murtala’s first son was
murdered, Maiamalari’s first wife was
shot in a hunting expedition that
turned sour before he married another
wife. It was the party that he threw for
the new wife that made it easy for the
January 1966 coup plotters to get some
of their target.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
The term, ‘Police is your friend,’
must have been aimed at
dispelling the fears and ‘false
impressions’ the general public had
about the police force in the past. That
may have been so in the past and still
so in the present because the force is
easily the first place one runs to in
time of emergency and danger. But all
that depends on individual
experiences.
The police, especially in any
democratic society, have the
fundamental responsibility to maintain
law and order, ensure internal security
of the nation through the prevention
and detection of crime and protection
of lives and properties.
By virtue of the central role the police
is supposed to play in law
enforcement system, their task
obviously demands not just
tremendous patriotism, but also
dedication to duty and due diligence.
It is only natural that a body
entrusted with the responsibility of
protecting lives and properties, ought
to carry out its duties with sincerity of
purpose, integrity and concentration
on global best practices, among others.
But have the Nigeria police lived up
to these expectations? Well, almost
every adult Nigerian sure has one
story, good or bad, to tell about the
Nigeria Police.
Unfortunately, one of such
experiences by a very respectable
citizen recently is not cheery.
A widow of almost 70 years old was
traveling from Abuja to Anambra state
for the burial of former Vice President
Alex Ekwueme, penultimate week,
with some of her personal staff. In the
Wonder
onderful! Police now asking for number plate receipts
car were also items and stuff they
would need for the period of time they
would be in the Southeast, even after
the burial.
But somewhere in Kogi state, about
five kilometres from Lokoja to
Ajaokuta, they ran into a police
checkpoint and were made to stop.
The driver of the car was asked to
park well, which he did and the usual
questions ensued. He was asked for
the particulars of the car and after
going through them, he was also
asked for the driver’s licence, which
he also provided. And then the
content of their bags to which they
explained.
Though everything was in order,
the officers were not satisfied with the
situation, and so went on to ask for
the receipt of the number plate of the
car.
Really? That was quite surprising
but with some men of the Nigeria
Police Force, you never can tell. And
The police high commander
must therefore do something
about this fraudulent act and
many others that tell
negatively on the image of the
institution
that was where their problem started.
Not even the widow or the driver had
ever heard of this. And they expressed
so to the mean-looking policemen, who
were still holding on to the vehicle
particulars, insisting they must provide
the receipt or be detained there for as
long as it takes.
The widow even pleaded that rather
than detain them at that dangerous spot
with all the problems of Fulani herdsmen
around the area, they should be taken
to the station where she could make
further inquiry from their (police)boss on
what was being demanded of them.
That instead angered the policemen
the more, who then completely ignore
the travelers. And the widow just couldn’t
see why she should reward such act of
impunity and corruption with her hard
earned money, since that was actually
what the whole drama was all about. As
a result, they spent almost the next hour
at the spot talking to ‘the deaf,’ so to
speak.
Ordinarily, a number plate of a car
should be proof/receipt on itself. Mere
running of a check on the number plate
should provide any well equipped police
officer with the necessary information
about the car and its ownership. That of
course, as if that is their responsibility
and if, indeed, it’s what they were truly
in search of, and in an environment
where things work.
It is possible that while the policemen
concentrated their attention on a clean
traveler that had no need for them, some
criminals may have had easy passage
on the same route the policemen
stationed themselves as toll collectors.
It is also possible that many cases of
innocent victims of violent crime on the
same highways may not have received
prompt, adequate help as their attackers
or whatever else may have befallen them
would go unchallenged while the
policemen responsible for ensuring safety
on the road shamelessly busied themselves
in extortion.
As I couldn’t figure how a number plate
receipt in this instance could be the business
of the policemen, I recalled a directive by
the police high command that any
policeman checking vehicle particulars on
the highway is on illegal duty.
Like those before him, the Inspector-
General of Police (IGP) on assumption of
duty, had directed officers and men of the
force to desist from subjecting road users
to unnecessary nightmare, intimidation
and extortion under the guise of checking
of vehicle particulars, instead of taking
measures to ensure safety on the highway.
The IGP had made it clear that violation
of this directive would be met with
adequate sanctions.
From all indications, this directive,
which is actually a sing song of every IGP
you may have heard of, is not adhered to
because checking of vehicle particulars
has remained a regular feature on every
Nigerian road.
The police high commander must
therefore do something about this
fraudulent act and many others that tell
negatively on the image of the institution,
such that when ordinary folks come across
the term: ‘Police is your friend,’ they could
read it without the risk of biting their
tongues.

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018 — 23
By AYO ONIKOYI 08052201215
onikoyi68@gmail.com
•Pastor E.A.
Adeboye
Stories by Rotimi Agbana
Pastor Adeboye to mark 76th
birthday with ‘76 hours
marathon praise’ music show
In its usual fashion, the Redeemed Christian
Church of God has announced another
edition of ‘76 Hours Marathon Messiah’s
Praise’ to celebrate the 76th birthday of the
General Overseer, Pastor E.A. Adeboye.
According to Pastor Kunle Ajayi,
the Theme of ‘76 Hours
Marathon Messiah’s Praise’ is
“The Great Redeemer” and it
is scheduled to hold between
11am on Monday, 26th
February and 3pm Thursday,
March 1, 2018, at the Youth
Centre, Redemption Camp,
Lagos-Ibadan Express Way.
He said “We are
dedicating the 76 hours of
this year to praising our
Great Redeemer, our
Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ who gave
Himself to redeem
us from sin.
Countries that will
be participating
this year include
Nigeria, United
States of America,
Canada, England, Australia, Spain,
Scotland, United Arab Emirates,
Cameroon, Kenya, Netherlands,
Sweden, Malaysia, South Africa, and
Ireland. This is a giant step in our quest
to bring Marathon Messiah’s Praise to
the doorstep of every living being on
the planet.”
To ensure a hitch-free programme,
over 4,000 people have registered to
volunteer in various departments
including Music, Sanitation, Welfare,
Medical and in other various key
sections of the programme across the
participating countries. Over 100,000
live participants are expected to be in
attendance with over 10 Million
viewers expected to watch the event on
TV and social media channels.
Pastor Kunle Ajayi added, “This year’s
Marathon Messiah’s Praise will be the
greatest in its series and we are
confident that as we praise the Great
Redeemer, there will be a harvest of
souls, miracles, signs and wonders,
restoration, peace, progress and
divine intervention across the
globe.”
Iyanya
Entrepreneurship
festival hits Lagos
Come February 17, Stakkers Fest, an iconic
gathering of global entrepreneurs from
around the world on the continent of Africa for
the sole purpose of networking, inspiring and
educating budding entrepreneurs in African
states through the stories and lessons of men and
women who rose from struggles of passion for
socioeconomic relevance to becoming
phenomenal entrepreneurship giants;
contributing landmark values to the growth and
development of African economy and societies
at large will hit the city of Lagos for a fun time
experience.
At a media briefing recently held in Lagos, Mr
Adewale Hassan, President/Founder, Stakkers
Fest, said the event will see to the convention of
CEOs from different industries such as Sports,
Entertainment, Fashion, Media, Manufacturing
and much more, to tell their stories, share the
pains of their beginings and provide insights that
perhaps will lessen the error margin and
strengthen the weak ends of budding
entrepreneurs whose future rise and success
form part of the key objective of the event.
Amongst others, envisioned as an annual
rendezvous, the event will celebrate African true
business heroes and address obvious
developmental and growth challenges
confronting rising entrepreneurs, with a target
of empowering at least 10 budding
entrepreneurs for a quantum leap in their
industries this maiden edition.
Iyanya, Jeff, Niniola, others
to headline ‘Live
& Wavy’ concert
After recording a massive success with the debut
edition of ‘Live & Wavy’ concert in 2017, 10stringz Production
in collaboration with Media Panache Nigeria and Temple
Management brings the second edition of the concert which
has been scheduled for March 9, 2018, with MTN Project
Fame winner, Jeff Akoh, as major headliner along with several
other big shots.
Tagged ‘Live & Wavy with Jeff Akoh & Friends’, the concert
will feature live performances from Jeff, Iyanya, Niniola, 9ice,
Terry Apala, Johnny Drille, Isaac Geralds, Dotman, Bisola
Aiyeola and a host of others.
The concert’s organizers have also promised that there would
be segments of the show; specially put together for their
amusement – an effort to make the concert a more memorable
affair and an improvement over the previous edition.
Burna Boy
Burna Boy tops billboard
reggae album chart with
‘Outside’
Burna Boy’s ‘Outside’ album has debuted on
Billboard’s Reggae Albums Chart at the
Number 3 spot.
The 13-track album was released via Atlantic
Records and Bad Habit on January 26, 2018, after
his singles including ‘Sekkle Down’ ft. J Hus,
‘Koni Baje’ and ‘Heaven’s Gate’ ft. Lily Allen had
enjoyed massive radio airplay.
It is an outstanding accomplishment for Burna Boy
as this is his second album to feature on
Billboard’s Reggae Albums Chart. His debut
album L.I.F.E peaked at number 7 on August 31,
2013.
Niniola
Big Brother Naija week one:
no evictions but ‘Strike One’
for #KSquared
Seven days into Big Brother 3, the housemates got their first taste of
reckoning at the first live show. Hosted by Ebuka Obi-Uchendu,
Sunday’s show brought with it the usual blend of intrigue, suspense and
entertainment, as Kcee, the Limpopo crooner, entertained studio guests
and viewers at home.
Soothed by the absence of evictions for this week, the housemates got to
share their experiences thus far in the house. After last week’s pairings,
the housemates were once again tasked with competing to become the
next Head of House. Bam Bam, Cee C, Tobi and Teddy A came out
victorious, meaning that teams Cebi and Bamteddy will have to battle for
the HOH crown. Another pair caught in the spotlight albeit for the wrong
reasons was the dynamic quo of Khloe and K Brule, otherwise known as
K-Square, who were handed their first strike by Big Brother following
their unruly behavior. Khloe was able to single handedly tie herself to
every controversy in the Big Brother house with her confrontational
approach, but it was K Brule who escalated the duo’s troubles by jumping
off a balcony, an action that triggered an emotional response from fellow
housemate Bitto. Biggie handed K-Square a strike which ultimately is a
step closer for them to get booted out of the Big Brother house; they were
also disqualified from the HOH contest that took place shortly after.
Viewers were thrilled by Kcee, who performed his hit singles ‘Pull Over’,
‘Limpopo’ and more. After sharing his usual dose of wise words with the
housemates, Ebuka let the
viewers in on a twist: there will
be fake nominations on
Monday night, and no evictions
next week Sunday. The
housemates are however
oblivious of the development
and this guarantees even more Kloe and Kbrule
excitement for the viewers.
C
M
YK

24—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
•Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
opens can of
worms on Michael
Jackson, the
Beatles, Donald
Trump and more
On Michael Jackson
You worked with Michael
Jackson more than anyone
he wasn’t related to. What’s
something people don’t
understand about him?
I hate to get into this publicly,
but Michael stole a lot of stuff.
He stole a lot of songs. [Donna
Summer’s] “State of
IndependenceOriginally
written by Vangelis and
longtime Yes front man Jon
Anderson, “State of
Independence” was recorded
by Donna Summer in 1982.
Jones produced Summer’s
version, Michael Jackson
helped out on backing vocals,
and the song’s central riff
does sound awfully similar
(albeit faster) to the iconic bass
riff on Jackson’s hit single
“Billie Jean.” It should also be
noted that, last year, Jones
won a lawsuit over a royalties
dispute against Jackson’s
estate. “ and “Billie Jean.” The
notes don’t lie, man. He was
as Machiavellian as they
come.
How so?
Greedy, man. Greedy.
“Don’t Stop ’Til You Get
Enough” — Greg
Phillinganes wrote the c
sectionPhillinganes, an indemand
studio keyboardist,
played on a handful of
Jackson-Jones collaborations,
including the 1979 album Off
the Wall, from which “Don’t
Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”
comes. . Michael should’ve
given him 10 percent of the
song. Wouldn’t do it.
What about outside of
music?
What’s
misunderstood about
Michael?
I used to kill him about the
plastic surgery, man. He’d
always justify it and say it was
because of some disease he
had. Bullshit.
How much were his
problems wrapped up with
fame?
•Donald Trump
and wife
Yes, but at the
end Michael’s
problem was
PropofolIn 2009,
not long after
Jackson’s death,
the Los Angeles
County coroner
announced that
the singer’s
death was
caused by
“acute propofol
intoxication
•Kennedy
This is part of the famous interview renowned legendary
music maker, Quincy Jones had with David Marchese that
has got the world talking. According to the interviewer,
Marchese, the 84-year-old music-industry macher is far spikier
and more complicated. “All I’ve ever done is tell the truth,”
says Jones, seated on a couch in his palatial Bel Air home, and
about to dish some outrageous gossip. “I’ve got nothing to be
scared of, man. The experiences I’ve had!” he says, shaking
his head in wonder. “You almost can’t believe it.”
( HERE ARE SOME OF THE CONVERATIONS CULLED FROM
THE VULTURE)
You mean with the way he
looked? He had a problem
with his looks because his
father told him he was ugly
and abused himJackson
described being abused by his
father Joe in a 1993 interview
with Oprah, as well as in a
2003 interview with Martin
Bashir. “It was really bad,” he
recalled during the latter. .
What do you expect?
It’s such a strange
juxtaposition — how
Michael’s music was so
joyous, but his life just seems
sadder and
more odd
as time
goes by.
Yes, but at the end Michael’s
problem was PropofolIn 2009,
not long after Jackson’s death,
the Los Angeles County
coroner announced that the
singer’s death was caused by
“acute propofol intoxication.”
Jackson’s doctor, Conrad
Murray, had been prescribing
the powerful sedative, which
Jackson called his “milk,” to
help with the singer’s
insomnia. In 2011, Murray
was found guilty of
involuntary manslaughter in
Jackson’s death. , and that
problem affects everyone —
doesn’t matter if you’re
famous. Big Pharma making
OxyContin and all that shit is
a serious thing. I was around
the White House for eight
years with the Clintons, and
I’d learn about how much
influence Big Pharma has. It’s
no joke. What’s your sign,
man?
About the Kennedys and
who killed Kennedy
What’s something you wish
you didn’t know?
Who killed Kennedy.
Who did it?
[Chicago mobster Sam]
GiancanaChicago gangster
Sam Giancana is a well-known
name among Kennedy
conspiracists, both for his
alleged help in delivering
Illinois votes for Kennedy in
the 1960 presidential election
and the 1963 assassination of
the president. The latter theory
largely stems from Giancana’s
murder in 1975, not long

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018—25
before he was supposed to
testify before a Senate
committee investigating
collusion between the mob
and the CIA. . The connection
was there between Sinatra and
the Mafia and Kennedy. Joe
Kennedy — he was a bad man
— he came to Frank to have
him talk to Giancana about
getting votes.
I’ve heard this theory
before, that the mob helped
win Illinois for Kennedy in
1960.
We shouldn’t talk about this
publicly. Where you from?
Toronto.
I was at the Massey Hall
showIn May 1953, jazz
geniuses Charlie Parker, Bud
Powell, Charles Mingus, Max
Roach, and Dizzy Gillespie
were recorded — for the first
and last time — together in
concert at Toronto’s Massey
Hall. The resulting live album,
Jazz at Massey Hall, is rightly
considered a classic.
About rock music and the
Beatles
What’d you think when you
first heard rock music?
Rock ain’t nothing but a
white version of rhythm and
blues, motherfucker. You know,
I met Paul McCartney when
he was 21.
What were your first
impressions of the Beatles?
That they were the worst
musicians in the world. They
were
no-playing
motherfuckers. Paul was the
worst bass player I ever heard.
And Ringo? Don’t even talk
about it. I remember once we
were in the studio with George
Martin, and RingoJones
arranged a version of “Love Is
a Many-Splendored Thing”
for Starr’s 1970 solo debut
album Sentimental Journey,
which was produced by the
Beatles’ frequent collaborator
George Martin. The song, and
album, are more than a bit
gloopy. had taken three hours
for a four-bar thing he was
trying to fix on a song. He
couldn’t get it. We said,
“Mate, why don’t you get
some lager and lime, some
shepherd’s pie, and take an
hour-and-a-half and relax a
little bit.” So he did, and we
called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz
drummer. Ronnie came in for
15 minutes and tore it up.
Ringo comes back and says,
“George, can you play it back
for me one more time?” So
George did, and Ringo says,
“That didn’t sound so bad.”
And I said, “Yeah,
motherfucker because it ain’t
you.” Great guy, though.
Were there any rock
musicians you thought were
•Michael
Jackson
Quincy Jones
opens can of
worms on
Michael
Jackson, the
Beatles,
Donald Trump
and more
good?
I used to like Clapton’s
band. What were they called?
Cream.
Yeah, they could play. But
you know who sings and plays
just like Hendrix?
Who?
Paul AllenThe Microsoft cofounder
and multibillionaire
has a collection of yachts and
guitars to rival the world’s
finest, both of which he
apparently makes good use of.
.
Stop it. The Microsoft guy?
Yeah, man. I went on a trip
on his yacht, and he had
David Crosby, Joe Walsh, Sean
Lennon — all those crazy
motherfuckers. Then on the
The song, and
album, are
more than a bit
gloopy. had
taken three
hours for a
four-bar thing
he was trying
to fix on a song
last two days, Stevie Wonder
came on with his band and
made Paul come up and play
with him — he’s good, man.
On Racism and Donald
Trump
If you could snap your
fingers and fix one
problem in the country,
what would it be?
Racism. I’ve been
watching it a long time
— the ’30s to now. We’ve
come a long way but
we’ve got a long way to
go. The South has
always been fucked up,
but you know where you
stand. The racism in the
North is disguised. You
never know where you
stand. That’s why what’s
happening now is good,
•Oprah Winfrey
because
people are saying
they are racists who didn’t
used to say it. Now we know.
What’s stirred everything
up? Is it all about Trumpism?
It’s Trump and uneducated
rednecks. Trump is just telling
them what they want to hear.
I used to hang out with him.
He’s a crazy motherfucker.
Limited mentally — a
megalomaniac, narcissistic. I
can’t stand him. I used to date
Ivanka, you know.
Wait, really?
Yes, sir. Twelve years ago.
Tommy Hilfiger, who was
working with my daughter
KidadaA former model and
current designer, Kidada is
the daughter of Jones and his
ex-wife Peggy Lipton. Jones’s
other daughter with Lipton is
the actress Rashida Jones.
Jones has five other children,
with four other women. , said,
“Ivanka wants to have dinner
with you.” I said, “No
problem. She’s a fine
motherfucker.” She had the
most beautiful legs I ever saw
in my life. Wrong father,
though.
On leadership and Oprah
Winfrey
Would your friend Oprah
be a good president?
I don’t think she should run.
She doesn’t have the chops for
it. If you haven’t been governor
of a state or the CEO of a
company or a military general,
you don’t know how to lead
people.
She is the CEO of a
company.
A symphony
conductor knows
more about how to
lead than most
businesspeople
— more than
Trump does.
He doesn’t
know shit.
Someone
w h o
knows
about
r e a l
leadership
wouldn’t
have as
m a n y
people
against
him as he
does. He’s
a fucking
idiot.
I s
Hollywood as
bad with race as
the rest of the
country? I know that
when you started
scoring films, you’d hear
producers say things like they
didn’t want a “bluesy” score,
which was clearly codespeak.
Are you still
encountering that kind of
racism?
It’s still fucked up. 1964,
when I was in Vegas, there
were places I wasn’t supposed
to go because I was black, but
Frank [Sinatra] fixed that for
me. It takes individual efforts
like that to change things. It
takes white people to say to
other white people, “Do you
really want to live as a racist?
Is that really what you
believe?” But every place is
different. When I go to Dublin,
Bono makes me stay at his
castle because Ireland is so
racist. Bono’s my brother,
man. He named his son after
me.

26—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
Juliet Ebirim
08137897935
juliet.ebirim@gmail.com
Fatima Dangote
The forthcoming union of
the daughter of Africa’s
richest billionaire, Aliko
Dangote and the pilot son of
former Inspector General (IG)
of Police, MD Abubakar, promises
to be the mother of all
weddings.The high profile
wedding ceremony between
Fatima Dangote and Jamil
Abubakar is reportedly scheduled
to hold in March 2018..
Switch Nightlife, Prince Bunmi Omisore for ‘The Rebirth’
Popular Abuja Club, ‘Switch
Nightlife’ has announced
date for its reopening (The Rebirth)
and the unveiling ceremony
of its new partner. The
club which is currently situated
in the heart of Abuja, has been
test-running since October 2017.
Announcing the upcoming
event of its ‘Rebirth’ and unveiling
ceremony, the club chairman,
and showbiz impresario,
Kehinde Adegbite, popularly
known as Mallam Yankee said
the re-opening (The Rebirth)
will hold on February 9th and
10th, 2018 and will have many
entertainers in attendance.
Mallam Yankee further dis-
Business Tycoon, Yomi
Bello eyes political seat
By Oba Michael Soyebo
Kogi State is perhaps one of the states
in Nigeria which is regarded as a
troubled state. It is a place where political
heavyweights trade their peoples welfare
on the altar of political ego and superiority.
However, there seems to be a glimmer
of hope on the horizon especially for the
people of Kogi West senatorial district.
Abayomi Bello, the ebullient Sologic group
CEO, is ready to rescue his people from the
jaws of poverty and underdevelopment.
Abayomi Bello is a very successful businessman
of international repute who has nurtured
his Sologic group business from the scratch
to one of the most sought-after companies in
Nigeria today. To his credit, Sologic group under
his leadership has grown from the days of
humble beginnings and currently flaunts investments
in Lagos, Abuja and other parts of
the country. However, Abayomi’s love for his
people won’t allow him stay in his comfort
zone. For him, home is where the heart is. And
his first port of call is his constituency, Kogi
West Senatorial district.
The promising political juggernaut who
recently opened a classy lounge as Bella
Dangote’s
daughter
to o marry
Ex-Police
IG’s son
As the wedding bells ring for
the couple, their families are
planning to spare no expense
in giving them the treat of a
grand wedding celebration. According
to the friends of the
groom, about five presidents in
the world and all the past presidents
of Nigeria are billed to
attend the wedding. Likewise,
world’s renowned billionaire
philanthropist and Microsoft
•Prince Bunmi
closed that ‘Switch Nightlife’ had
been test-running all along and it
was now time for serious business,
as it makes to take a big step into
setting an unbeatable standard for
•Abayomi Bello
boss, Bill Gate, has confirmed
his intent to attend the wedding
in March at the prestigious Eko
Hotels and Suites, Lagos.
Unlike the wedding of
Dangote’s first daughter,
Halima to Bello in Kano few
years ago, Halima’s
forthcoming wedding
promises to be starstudded.
Vue in Wuse 2, in the FCT, Abuja in his
bid to create more employment opportunities
for the youths is leaving no stone
unturned to make his political aspirations
a reality in 2019. His entrant into
politics at this time when there is a clamour
paradigm shift in the political
leadership is a cheering news to his
Kogi West constituents. And taking into
considerations his achievements in his
private business, then, there’s a lot of optimism
about his candidacy.
Jamil Abubakar
Nigerian clubs. He said
the new partner to be unveiled
in order to raise the
bar of the club is Prince
Bunmi Omisore.
According to Mallam
Yankee, ‘With Prince
Bunmi, we will take nightlife
to a different level in the
country. Switch Nightlife
has come to set a standard
and I’m sorry if competitors
are unable to meet up with
our pace. Our standard is
global,” he said. Top Nigerian
artistes including Kiss
Daniel and Falz the Bad
Guy will be gracing the
event.
•Segun
Codedruns: New trend for escorts
and their patrons revealed
That nobody talks about it,
does not mean it is not in existence.
There are professional escort
services all over Nigeria. ‘People
and Places’ took a sneak peek
into one of these agencies simply
known as ‘Codedruns’ a top
online escort directory. The
agency specializes in providing
companionship for men, and
sometimes women who are willing
and able to afford quality time
with members of the opposite sex.
The management revealed that
the site receives 1.9 million visitors
from Nigeria monthly. By far
the biggest escort directory in the
country, the ease of ordering an
escort is just like Taxify and Uber
complete with a review system.
An escort who spoke on condition
of anonymity revealed that
the agency is god-sent as they do
Escorts
By Oba Michael Soyebo
The ebullient man of hon
our, Segun Showunmi popularly
known as Sagua had reasons
to celebrate few days back. The
former acting spokesperson of Ogun
PDP who gave the ruling APC
plenty of sleepless nights via his intelligent
analysis of political events
in Ogun state turned a year older.
Segun Showunmi’s friends in their
wisdom organised a surprise birthday
Pinkberry births in Nigeria
Pinkberry is finally hitting Lagos in
partnership with Eat N’GO Limited.
Originated in Los Angeles, Califonia, the
newest Pinkberry locations at Admiralty
Way, Lekki Phase 1 and Ikeja, Lagos which
opened on Thursday 8th, February, 2018
and Friday, 9th February, 2018 respectively
marks the arrival of the famous frozen yogurt
brand in Nigeria.
In a statement, Aaron Serruya, President
and CEO of Pinkberry International said “We
are happy to serve and become a local
favorite of the sophisticated community in
Lagos in partnership with Eat N’GO Limited,
who share our values and commitment
on exceeding customer expectations day in
and day out”.
“The addition of
Pinkberry will introduce
Nigeria to
the fresh flavors
like no other, outstanding
service
and sophisticated
style for which the
brand is known,”
said Charbel
A n t o u n ,
Photo: By Akeem Salau
not have to stand by the road side,
under harsh weather conditions
to ply their trade, as they now run
their business online. “A client will
send a message to know if we are
available and negotiate the cost.
We prefer hotels or residential
homes in choice parts of town. We
also offer in-call as well - whereby
customers can visit and engage
us in our houses.”
Most of the escorts said they
make an average of one hundred
and fifty thousand naira and two
hundred and fifty thousand naira
weekly. The later when they (escorts)
subscribe for premium and
appear on the front page. However,
they revealed that some clients
can be naughty and want to
cut on the agreed price, but that
majority are nice gentlemen. The
website also has a blacklist,
which warns escorts
of reported
dangerous or
‘osho free’ client,
as well as blacklisted
escorts to
warn clients of
fraudulent escorts.
Queen, an escort
registered on
Codedruns, revealed
that she
used to be a
banker but resigned.
Segun Showunmi
celebrates in style
dinner in his honour. His high-brow Hilltop
residence was practically shut down
as family, friends and political associates
turned up in style to honour a man described
by many as a jolly good fellow. The
classy but modest birthday dinner had in
attendance high flying guests who came
from all walks of life. As expected, there
were more than enough to munch and
exotic wines flowed like water.
Segun Showunmi has built a strong
brand for himself as one of the finest
image makers in Ogun state who is
blessed with the oratory skills and he
is highly rated as a walking encyclopedia
of Ogun political history and terrain.
He has scored many first in his political
adventures and narrowly missed
out on PDP’s National Publicity Secretary
position due to zoning. Segun
Showunmi rolled in rich circles and he
is a close ally of some of Nigeria’s men
of power. In spite of his modest achievements,
he remains humble.
Chairman,Eat N’GO Limited
With a passion to help people discover new
ways to enjoy yogurt in their daily routines,
Pinkberry assists every customer in pairing
yogurt with the perfect toppings. It delivers
distinctive taste served with gratitude in an
inspiring store design to create a one-of-akind
experience that delight on every visit.
The Lagos locations will be serving
Pinkberry’s six distinctive flavors. Customers
can personalize every yogurt experience
with any combination of delicious toppings.
Each topping is selected with the highest
quality standards, - fresh fruit hand-cut daily
in-store, wholesome granola, gourmet
baked goods and cookies, toasted nuts,
creamy caramel,
or rich, premium
milk
chocolate crunch
imported from
Italy to name a
few.

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018—27
Garlands as
Omotola
celebrates40
40
•Her memorable moments in
photos, movies and lifestyle
Nollywood actress,
Omotola Jalade-
Ekeinde, turned 40 on
Wednesday and it has
been a celebration
galore, as the actress kicked
off her birthday events the
same day with a party for
widows and orphans in Lagos.
The party was the first event
to kick start her five-day
birthday celebration tagged
#Omotola4point0.
Speaking at the event,
Omotola said “I have always
had a soft spot for widows and
orphans for many years now
because I can relate to their
plight. My mum was a widow
for 10 years before she passed
on about 16 years ago. I am
also an orphan, so I’d know
what it feels like to be an
orphan.”
“My team have always
showed love and encouraged
widows who have strived to
keep the home front in order
despite the demise of their
spouses.”
The party was followed by
Couples Retreat themed
“Reciprocate, Respect, Mental
Annjay rewards fans with JAMB forms
Annjay rewards fans with JAMB forms
As her way of helping fans
to fulfill their dreams of
getting quality education,
singer, model and
entrepreneur, John Angela
Chioma, better known as
Annjay, has donated a number
of JAMB forms to them.
According to the singer, the
move is aimed at not just
starting the year on a bright
note but also, to put a smile on
the faces of her fans while
giving them a ray of hope, no
matter how small.
“Few 2018/2019 Jamb forms
up for grab from me....Send
your details to my Dm. My
team will contact you if you are
among the lucky people. Start
now as entries closes by 6pm
Health
A n d
Avoiding
Slavery In
Marriage”which
held on
Thursday.
T h e
celebration
continues
today with
the actress
embarking
on a
“Renaissance Trip To
Trace The Beginning Of
Slavery.”It will be
followed by a Symposium
on “Mental Slavery And
The Emancipation Of
The Black Race” on
•Omotola
Saturday. The
celebration will climax on
February 11 with a ball,
themed “The Omosexy Ball.
From all indications,
Omotola deserves to be
celebrated, having paid her
dues as an actress. Since
today. For student in Lagos
only please. All the best,” the
singer announced on her
Instagram and Facebook
pages.
Speaking further on the
gesture, the singer stated that
she will be giving out a number
of forms only to the applicants
who would complete the
registration by themselves.
I don’t want to disclose the
number of forms because the
aim is not to brag about it.
However, I and my team are
comfortable knowing that we
have set the process in motion
for some people. That is the
reason we are not taking
photographs with them.
Education is a very important
making her debut in the
critically acclaimed film,
“Mortal Inheritance” in 1995,
Omosexy as she fondly called
by her fans has remained on
part of human existence
and we would like to be a
part of someone’s
process,” she added. Last
year, the singer released
a couple of singles
including the track, ‘Man
No Be God’. She also took
her entrepreneurial drive
a notch higher when she
launched her Annjay Hair,
a product which she says
caters for all females,
irrespective of class. Annjay
said that she has expanded her
operations to Port Harcourt and
Abuja in addition to having
sales outlets in several other
cities.
According to her, this has
become necessary due to the
top of her game. In the movie
that brought her to the
limelight, Omotola played
a sickle-cell patient
who fights for her life
despite the odds of
survival. The film is
regarded as one of
Nigeria’s best movies
ever made. Since then,
she has starred in several
blockbuster movies,
including Games Women
Play, Blood Sisters, All
My Life, Last Wedding,
My Story, The Woman in
Me and a host of others.
After
shooting
roughly
3 0 0
straight to
v i d e o
movies,
Omotola
received her
f i r s t
cinematic
movie role in
the 2010 film,
Ije. The film,
shot on
locations in
Jos, California
and Los
Angeles was
the highest
grossing
Nollywood film
at the time. It
was also the movie that
did not only reunite her with
her Genevieve Nnaji, but also,
•Annay
demand she has been
receiving. “We recently
launched our operations in
Lagos and we were
overwhelmed by the demand.
To meet up, we decided it was
best to open up shop in areas
where the demand is highest,”
she said.
it put to rest the supremacy
war between the heavyweight
actresses. However, besides,
receiving numerous highprofile
awards, launching a
music career, and amassing an
enviable fan base, Omotola
holds the record of being the
first African celebrity to receive
over 1 million likes on her
Facebook page. She currently
has a total of 3 million
followers on Facebook. It’s no
surprise to see her fans across
the globe flooding her social
media space with birthday
messages and banquet of
flowers in appreciation of her
creative ingenuity. Some of the
messages are memorable as
they are timeless.
One of the birthday
messages by Mmercyiaspire
read, “A wonderful 40th
birthday to my own very dear
friend , sister, confidant,
supporter , third eye, , teacher
, inspiration @realomosexy .
It’s been a journey of almost
20 years but it keeps getting
better and stronger like fine
wine.Thanks for being a great
support system.”
“Thanks for always having
my back, thanks for all the
counsel..You will celebrate
another 2 Scores and more.
Your latter years will be
greater than the former ! We
know you are great but I know
God has only just begun with
you.”
“Your greatest achievements
are on the way. This is only
the beginning. Keep soaring
Sis.”
Muvalsglam also wrote,
“Sometimes beauty is
embedded in your daily
routine until it becomes an
habit and is evident. Happy
birthday to the beautiful
Omotola Jalade Ekeinde.”
For Hop_d_aureate, “You
have a shiny head to sweet
little toes. You are really a
wonderful mother, wife, role
model full of positivity and
energy. Back in the days when
I had time for Nollywood
movies, I would always look
out for the ones you had a role
in. That’s how long my love
for you begun. @realomosexy
‘I wish you million and million
of smiles and continuous
laughter.”

28—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
By BENJAMIN NJOKU
08111813022
My father’s lifestyle affected my
childhood —Felix Libarty’s Liberty’s daughter
•Delves into music to reclaim his lost glory
Old school singer, Felix
Liberty, who ruled the
Nigerian music scene in
the mid-80s with his hit song,
“Ifeoma” is not yet done with
music. He disappeared into thin
air when the ovation was loudest,
but the good news is that the selfstyled
Lover Boy is coming back
to reckoning. And this time, he’s
resurfacing in his daughter, Ivie
who has stepped into his shoes
to reclaim the lost glory of her
father.
Ivie, a London-based Nigerian
fashion designer, is not new to
music. She released her first solo
album titled: 'Nigerian Girl‘ in
1996, when she was 11 years. But
following her dad’s advice, Ivie
had to dump music to concentrate
on her studies. Now, 22 years after
she obeyed the voice of her father,
the beautiful mother of four is back
to continue from where she
stopped in music.
She was in Nigeria during the
week, where she was recording
her new album with her father.
The five track album titled, ‘Zonist’
is billed to drop as soon as
possible. The beautiful fashion
designer-turned singer was
overjoyed, returning to her first
love-music after many years of
hiatus.
She told Sidebeat, in a chat that
she’s back to continue from where
she stopped, saying she has
achieved everything she wanted
to achieve in life. “I got married,
had my kids and graduated as a
fashion designer and had my
master degree in Fashion Designing,
Marketing and Production.
This is the right time for me to do
music because I have achieved
Father
& daughter
everything I wanted to achieve. The
next thing for me to do is to concentrate
on my music,” Ivie said.
As the first child of Felix Liberty, Ivie
said, she developed the passion for
music as early as 7 years. Then, her
dad used to invite her whenever he
had visitors to entertain them. But
when she was 11 years, her dad encouraged
her to release her first solo
album which unfortunately did not
break into the Lagos market.
“The song made waves in some cities
including Aba, Benin and Onitsha.
But it didn’t break into the Lagos
market. Then, my new found love in
music was seriously affecting my
studies and my dad advised me to
slow down a bit. That was how I
dumped music in order to concentrate
on my studies. And,
when I completed my
secondary education,
I travelled to the United
Kingdom to further
my eduction,” she
narrated.
Ivie described her
kind of music as a
blend of RnB, reggae,
hip hop and Afro pop,
adding that her
upcoming album is
inspired by the
different experiences
she had at different
stages of her life.
Speaking further,
the rising singer, who
revealed that her
siblings are also into
music, said “My music
is one that embraces
life, talks about the goodness
of God in your life as a Christian.
It’s a music you can dance in the
club, church and social functions.
It’s like
spreading the
gospel in a
musical form.”
On what it
takes to be Felix
Liberty’s
daughter, Ivie
said it takes
simplicity and
obedience to
be his daughter.
Describing
her dad as a
legend, a role
model and a
teacher, the
beautiful singer
said she’s
blessed to be
associated with
the acclaimed
lover boy of old.
Being the first
daughter of
Felix Libarty
“I’m so
blessed to even
be related to Felix
Libarty because
he’s a legend.
There are
musicians and
there are true
musicians. My
The song made
waves in some
cities including
Aba, Benin and
Onitsha. But it
didn’t break into the
Lagos market .Then
my new found love
in music was seriously
affecting my
studies and my dad
advised me to slow
down a bit
father is
one of
them, not
because
he’s my father,
but
because
it’s indisputable.
He is so passionate about
everything he does, if he’s not
passionate about it, he doesn’t get
himself in that thing. As his
daughter, I have been blessed to
emulate him. He’s a teacher and
indeed, a friend. He’s a father that
sees the best in you and encourages
you to develop it. I’m so
blessed to have him as a father.
My dad is my true role model.”
When asked what she hates
about her dad’s past, Ivie said it’s
the fact that he had too many
women around him, which
ultimately affected her upbringing
in a way. But as far as she's
concerned, her dad didn’t know
what he was doing then because
he acted according to the flesh.
“If you are in God so many
temptations and attractions would
come to you from different ways.
Now that I am a Christian, I can
understand that his actions then
were according to the flesh. Although,
it affected me in a way,
because sometimes I’d need to
have that fatherly conservation with
him,but he wouldn’t be there. That
affected me a bit but with time, I
began to understand that he was
acting according to flesh.”
Continuing, she added: “Even
though he was involved with
different women, he never
neglected his duties to us as his
children. He was always there for
me, making sure that I was okay,
physically and mentally. It affected
•Ivie
me, but when I grew up and got
married, I could understand that
he wasn’t married to those women
and he knew better. And, when he
became born again, that lifestyle
just left naturally and he returned
to my mum who was the first
woman in his life.” While many
believed that Felix Libarty
disappeared from the scene
because he had nothing to offer
again, Ivie who launched the
eponymous label called, Ivie Liberty
in 201, in London, frowned at
this notion, saying “My dad didn’t
disappear from the scene, rather it
was a period of soul searching for
him. It was a point in his life that
he had to search for who he is in
Christ. That moment he wanted a
spiritual rebirth.”
According to her, music runs in
the blood of their
family.Interestingly, her three
siblings are also into music.
“My immediate younger sister
is into music production,my
brother who’s my father’s first son
is also into music production and
media. Our last born who’s
studying Acting at the Republic of
Ireland is a celebrated entertainer,
dancer and an actor. He has won
several laurels in this regard. It’s
very natural and my dad never
interfered with our choice of
careers. We are living up to his
expectations,” she enthused.
On appraising the country's
music scene, Ivie said the industry
has opened the eyes of the world
to Nigeria. She regretted that
when she started playing music,
it wasn’t as flourishing as what it’s
today. ‘It was one of the things that
really affected me. The
entertainment scene in Nigeria is
phenomenal and I’m grateful that
I am at a place and time where
Nigerian music is appreciated
across the globe,” she said.
Aside music, Ivie is a notable
fashion designer in the UK.
Growing up, she naturally
appreciated arts and the creatives
more than her peers. Although,
slightly unusual, and at a really
young age, she discovered herself,
interests and talent and started to
explore it - she would
painstakingly illustrate her
favourite Disney cartoon characters
on plain canvas and then sell them
to friends and family. Her only
tools- a pencil and some colouring
pens, Ivie demonstrated very mild
creativity, which needed to be
nurtured to maturity.
Meanwhile, Felix Libarty said it
gives joy to see his children taking
after him in music. According to
him, “ It’s so beautiful and it’s like
you are seeing your tomorrow.
Music has been given to my
children by Almighty God
spiritually and I’m just blessed to
be part of it. For your children taking
after you, you go with that grace
and support them. The music that
God has given to me, he wants to
sustain through my children.
That’s why my children are interested
in music.”
Recall that Felix Liberty, while
he was the man of the moment, in
the mid-80s, was a ladies' man. He
ruled the airwaves in 1989 with this
single, “Ifeoma”, a song he’s
known for in decades. After the
1992 release of his album 419,
which didn’t do well in the market,
he ended his music career, and
travelled abroad. He returned to
Nigeria after five years of sojourning
in the United States, and gave
his life to Christ.

By IYABO AINA
08184172548
aina.iyabo@yahoo.com
SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018—29
Tonto Dikeh’s
desire for a
baby girl
Controversial
Nollywood
actress,
Tonto Dikeh, has
revealed that she
desires a baby girl.
The single mother of
King Andre disclosed
her desires for a baby
girl on social media.
With this revelation
Tonto who was
formerly married to
Oladunni Churchill
has sparked off
suspicions that she is
in a secret relationship
or has reconciled with
her divorced hubby.
•Tonto Dikeh
Man orders for Mercy
Johnson-like sex doll
During the week, Nigerian twitter user, Lex_e a.k.a @eliasifeanyi set the
social media on fire when he tweeted that he had acquired a sex doll that
shares striking resemblance with Nollywood diva, Mercy Johnson.
“I just bought a sex doll that looks like Mercy Johnson, I can’t wait to show
her to you guys, I don’t care if she is married.”
The fan who has been described as crazy said he ordered for a sex doll that
looks like Mercy Johnson because he sees it as an opportunity to idolize his
favorite celebrity in his bedroom
•Mercy
Johnson
•2face, Annie and Akume
Between Annie Idibia and a lady
claiming she slept with 2face
The last is yet to be heard of the melodrama that ensued between
a lady and 2face’s wife, Annie Idibia, on social media on Monday
after a lady accused 2face Idibia of being a serial philanderer.
The drama ensued on Instagram after Annie Idibia, replied a fan
who accused her husband of cheating.
The lady in question simply identified as Akume advised Annie to
stop defending her husband.
In the process of exchanging comments, she revealed that she had
sex with 2face sometime in 2014 while in Detroit,
United States
She wrote: “He cheats all the time, I mean I
fucked him sometime in Detroit back in 2014, so
see what you want me to say.”
Iyanya confirms exit
from Mavin Records
It is no longer news that in 2016, Iyanya
signed a record deal with Mavin
Records after he parted ways with Made
Men Music Group which he co-owned
with Ubi Franklin, leading fans to
anticipate a wave of new music.
But what seems to be news is that one
year after he joined Mavin records label,
the relationship has been cut-off as the
Kukere singer, after months of denial
announced his departure from Mavin
Records in an interview with BEAT FM.
‘I’m a Mavin for life but I’m now signed
to Temple Music,’ he said.
Recall that since he joined Mavin
Records, Iyanya has successfully
released the Signature EP; an eighttrack
EP which made very little impact
and he has also embarked on a
European tour that ended in October.
•Iyanya
•Omawunmi
BBNaija: Vandora reveals how her
ex-boyfriend repeatedly raped her
Big Brother Naija housemate, Vandora has revealed that her exboyfriend
always raped her.
She disclosed this while talking about rape, sexual assault and
consent to Dee One, KBrule, Bam Bam, and Teddy A.
According to her, her ex-boyfriend always raped her when she
was asleep. She said she didn’t know it was rape because they
were dating.
Vandora said, “Whenever I was asleep, I just wake up with some
of my clothes missing.”
“Then I discovered he had already “raped” me. “I didn’t see it as
anything since we were both dating”.
Omawumi in
love with
‘bend down
select’
Seasoned songstress, Omawumi
Megbele, has reacted to reports
insinuating that she still buys fairly used
clothes, popularly known as ‘Okrika’
or
In her reaction to the question by a
fan on social media which reads: ‘Have
you ever bought Okrika before? The
mother of two answered “I still dey buy,
it is called vintage”.
In reaction to her response, the singer
was commended by fans for being
realistic and not pretending to be
superior.
•Vandora

30 — SATURD
TURDAY Vanguard,
FEBRUARY 10, 2018
St. Gregory’s College 90th
dinner and gala
Victoria Ogungbe laid
to rest amid pomp
St. Gregory’s
College Old Boys
came out in their
full glory to mark 90 th
anniversary of their
Alma Mater recently.
The dinner and gala to
commemorate the 90 th
anniversary and
Crossover celebrations
held at the Harbour
Point, Victoria Island,
Lagos on January 28,
2018.
It was a spectacle of
style, panache and
glamour as the Old Boys
turned on their charm
to make the night one
to cherish.
Dignitaries cutting the Crossover cake from 90 yrs to 136yrs. L-R: Mr
Oluyomi McGregor, Sir Omojafor, Chief Bode Emmanuel, Oba M. Oyekan,
John Abebe, Pa Okufi, Pa Ediale, Igwe Nwokedi, Augusta Chibututu, while
Lola Alakija compered the event.
The funeral Service for Late Mrs. Victoria
Fadebo Ogungbe JP. “nee Ogunkoya”,
popularly known as ‘Mama Yard’ held at
Methodist Cathedral Church Imere, Ago Iwoye on
January 27, 2018. Photos by WUNMI AKINOLA
Sir Olugbemi Ogungbe and his wife, Professor
Mrs. Moji Ogungbe.
Sitting L-R Tunde Adelaja, Chief Jibowu Owoade,
Chief Gilbert Grant, Mrs Kathleen Grant, Dr Tony
Marinho, Mrs Marinho, Mrs Hammond and Sir
Steve Omojafor. Standing L-R Dr John Abebe,
Dillis Nwokedi, Bernie Grant and Justice Bode
Rhodes-Viviour.
The Chairman of the occasion, Chief Bode
Emmanuel about to cut cut the ribbon to unveil
the commemorative plaque, being supported by
L-R : Igwe Alex Nwokedi, Lola Alakija holding
mic, John Abebe, President of St Gregory’s OBA,
Monsignor Edmund Akpala, Sir Omojafor and
Bernie Grant
R-L: Commissioner for Lands in Ogun State,
Otunba Adedoyin Ogungbe, former Deputy
Governor, Alhaja Salimot Badru and Ambassador
Folake Marcus Bello.
L-R Oba Mobadele Oyekan, Onilado of Ilado,
Lagos, his Olori, Erelu Abiola Dosunmu and
Bernie Grant.
L-R: Mrs Marinho, Sir Steve Omojafor, Chairman
of the Organising Committee and Dr Charles
Hammond.
R-L: Otunba Alex Onabanjo, Otunba Gbenga
Daniel, Otunba Adedoyin Ogungbe and others .
Cross-section of Old Boys amongst who were
Chief Supo Shonibare 1st left and Chief Ziggy
Azike 4th from left.
L-R: Alimi Abdul-Razaq, Oba Mobadele Oyekan
and Jimi Agbaje, all Old Boys of St. Gregory’s
College
L-R: Arobake Dolapo Ogungbe and Mrs. Joke
Ogungbe.
C
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SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018—31
08116759759
Actress blackmailed with topless
photograph bravely hits back
The worlds tallest man and
shortest woman have met
in Egypt for an incredible
photoshoot.
And the difference between
them is just astonishing as in one
photo Amge looks to be the same
size as Kosen's foot.
According to the Guinness
World Records, Sultan Kosen,
35, from Turkey is the tallest man
on the planet measuring a
massive 8ft 1in.
And Jyoti Amge, 24, from
India, has been named the
The idea of private and
intimate photos being
shared online is
something that makes people
feel sick to their stomachs.
The photos are usually made
for one set of eyes only, and
they can ruin lives if they are
shared or leaked.
Most people would do pretty
much anything to stop them
getting out. But when actress
and singer Ninel Conde found
herself it that position, she
wasn’t having any of it.
Ninel, who stars in soap
operas in Mexico, was
contacted by an anonymous
blackmailer who asked for
money in exchange for not
sharing the photo online.
He send the photo and a
message which said: "Hey,
Ninel, how much for not
'World's smallest woman' meets
'world's tallest man' for incredible
photoshoot in Egypt
shortest woman at just over 2ft
tall. They both won their records
in 2011.
The pair posed for
photographs in front of the
Pyramids after being invited by the
Egyptian Tourism Promotion
Board.
And they can be seen putting their
differences aside as they pose side
by side with big smiles on their faces.
Kosen, 35, was the first person to
be measured by the record
organisation in over 20 years - and
only 10 people in history have ever
uploading your
picture?"
But she decided to
take a stand. Instead
of meeting their demands, the
47-year-old, who has also
appeared in the Mexican
version of Celebrity Big
Brother , star decided to do
something very brave. She
decided to share the
photograph herself before he
got the chance.
Alongside the picture she
wrote a message to her 1.67
million followers. She said:
"Say NO to blackmail.
"Here I post this before those
who want to keep on earning
money with the pic of a public
person.
"There is nothing bad in the
picture, done as a reference for
my nutritionist. "Here I post
it first!"
reached 8ft or more, Guinness
World Records says.
He also holds the record for the
biggest hands.
Speaking at the time his entry was
announced he said: "I never
imagined I would be in the book, I
dreamed about it, but it was still a
huge surprise."
His towering height is caused by
a condition called pituitary
gigantism - a result of an overproduction
of growth hormone.
Weight off
her stomach
A
WOMAN who had a giant
tumour weighing more than
five stone removed from her ovaries
in a life-saving operation has said
she feels “born again.”
Costa Rican Sonia Lopez, 57,
spoke of her joy at being rid of the
enormous growth - likened to the
weight a woman would carry if she
were pregnant with 11 children.
Five surgeons removed the 5.35
stone tumour, which had a
circumference of nearly five-and-ahalf
feet, in a two-and-a-half hour
op at Hospital Mexico near the
Costa Rican capital San Jose.
Surgeon Pablo Sibaja said: “We
see three or four giant tumours
every year but never something this
big. “This is the largest we know
about in Mesoamerica.
“In the Guinness Book of Records
the heaviest on record is 30kg (4.72
stone) and this one was 34kg (5.35
stone).”
Sonia was warned she should
have the tumour removed when it
was a lot smaller, but put the op off
for eight years for “personal
reasons”.
By the time she went into the
operating theatre on Monday the
tumour took up 80 per cent of her
abdomen and according to Mr
Sibaja, was putting organs
including her intestines, liver and
diaphragm at risk and causing her
breathing problems.
Mrs Lopez, who lives in the town
of Tibas, north of the capital, was
also warned she could suffer a heart
attack at any time because of the
extra pressure it was putting on the
organ.
She is understood to have sought
medical attention last week after
suffering breathing difficulties -
prompting medics to advise an
immediate op when they
discovered the tumour had
grown out of control.
Mr Sibaja told a press
conference: “This tumour grew
in such a disordered and rapid
fashion in such a short space of
time that we had to act quickly.
Mrs Lopez, who weighed
nearly 20 stone before surgery
and is now down to 14 stone,
added: “I was very tired and felt
very ill beforehand.
“From how I felt before to the
way I feel now, it’s like a journey
from the sun to the Earth. I feel
like I’ve been born again.”
The tumour was so large
experts were not able to take a
CAT scan or clearly-defined X-
rays when the patient was
admitted to hospital last
Thursday.
They asked for blood donors
over the weekend to have stocks
on hand before the operation on
Monday. Tests will now take
place on the tumour to confirm
it is not malignant.

C
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32—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018

Flush out criminals in your fold or...,
Govt orders “Okada” union leaders
..Impounds 176 “Okada”, to arraign 72 riders for traffic offenses
Stories by Olasunkanmi Akoni
Operatives of the Lagos State
Task Force in collaboration
with officials of the Lagos
State Environmental Sanitation Corps,
LAGESC, have impounded 196
motorcycles, while 72 arrested riders
are set to face prosecution at Lagos
Mobile Court, Oshodi, Lagos.
Chairman of the Lagos State Task
Force, Superintendent of Police, SP,
Olayinka Egbeyemi, while parading
the suspects yesterday, at the agency’s
headquarters in Oshodi, said they
were arrested for violating the Lagos
State 2012 Road Traffic Law.
According to Egbeyemi, the
enforcement operations was jointly
carried out following series of
complaints from innocent members of
the public over criminal activities
perpetuated by motorcycle riders
around second Rainbow, Festac and
Mile 2 areas.
He explained: “Investigation
conducted, revealed that activities of
the operators were on the increase as
they terrorize innocent members of the
public both day and night by
dispossessing them of their valuables.
“Investigation further revealed that
these motorcycle riders were
responsible for series of attack on
vehicle owners/drivers in traffic at
night around Mile 2 bridge towards
Festac.”
Egbeyemi then urged union leaders
and operators of “okada” to properly
screen out criminals among their
members who rob and perpetrate
criminal acts; adding that they should
stop plying any of the restricted 475
routes which include highways and
bridges across the state.
He also urged operators of private
power bike (200cc above) particularly
corporate bodies to warn their dispatch
By Olasunkanmi Akoni
Chairman, Butchers Association,
Ikorodu, Alhaji Talatu Lawal
has vowed to clampdown on
unregistered butchers who engage in
unwholesome practices in the business.
Lawal added that the union has set up
a special team in collaboration with the
state’s taskforce to go after operators of
illegal abattoir and slaughter slabs with
a view to arresting and prosecuting them
riders to stop engaging in illegal
commercial activities as anyone caught
violating any sections of the Lagos
State Road Traffic Laws of 2012 would
be prosecuted.
Egbeyemi said, following directive
of the state’s Commissioner of Police,
CP, Edgal Imohmi, all the suspects
arrested during the operations would
be charged to court.
Meanwhile, a resident, simply
to serve as deterrent to others.
He said the move became necessary
following discovery of illegal activities by
unscrupulous people in the industry.
Commenting on the alleged poor condition
of abattoirs in the state, Lawal attributed
the trend to the handiwork of saboteurs,
who were prevented from processing
diseased and substandard animals for
slaughtering.
According to him, “If there is any
unwholesome processing of meat in the
identified as Engr. Damilola
Okanlawon said majority of these
motorcycle riders plying restricted
routes “could hardly speak nor
understand simple English.”
According to Okanlawon, “Many of
them came from neighboring
countries, who migrated to Lagos
without any legitimate means of
livelihood other than using
motorcycle to commit crime.”
SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018—33
Butchers move
against illegal
operators of abattoirs
state, those unregistered butchers who
engage in illegal operation of abattoirs are
behind it. Because we refused to allow them
to operate here (government approved
abattoir), they decided to go to
unauthorized places to carry out their
nefarious activities.
“Here in Ikorodu, the abattoir, as you can
see for yourself is hygienic and we adhere
to the relevant laws governing meat
slaughtering in the state. We are ready to
go after saboteurs any moment from now.”
Also, Alhaji Suleiman, a stakeholder in
the meat industry commended the state
government’s all inclusive style of
governance in its developmental projects
going on in the state. He further assured
the government that his people are in full
support of the development in the state.
When Saturday Vanguard visited Ikorodu
Abattoir, Dr. (Mrs) Kofoworola Olorintan,
Senior Veterinarian of the abattoir, said due
process and global standard were being
followed in the meat processing, adding
that, “at least two veterinarians are
Trouble
brews at Alaba
Int’l market over
alleged
imposition of
leader
The popular Alaba
International market,
Lagos is yet engulfed in
another crisis. Members of the Lagos
Road Transport Employers
Association of Nigeria, RETEAN, of
the market are at loggerheads
following the deposition of its
chairman, Akindele Omole, alias,
“Dododanwa” recently.
A faction of the union led by the
deposed Chairman, Omole stormed
the Alausa government house, Ikeja,
a few days ago urging Governor
Akinwunmi Ambode to intervene in
the crisis.
“Dododanwa” who led over 300
members during the protest, accused
the national President, Musa
Esiawele of unilaterally imposing
Mohammed on the union after he
was deposed.
The development he said did not
augur well with members who have
been spoiling for a show down if the
injustice was not addressed as soon
as possible.
“We are making this appeal before
the governor and relevant authorities
to intervene because we are law
abiding citizens and we want to avoid
possible blood-letting in the state,”
he said.
A petition forwarded to the
Governor, read in parts: “This to bring
to the notice of your Honorable office
the nefarious activities of one Alhaji
Musa Mohammed who was
imposed on the Lagos State branch
of Road Transport Employers
Association of Nigeria. These
activities range from the following:
High handedness, intimidation, and
using some officers of OPMESA to
harass members at will.
Dododanwa continued, “We
therefore, call on His Excellency,
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to
use his good office to save us and
to avoid possible mayhem in Lagos
State as a result of the injustices
going on in the union. A stitch in
time saves more than nine. We are
law abiding citizens and residents
of the state”.
stationed at each designated government
abattoir across the state to ensure standard
operation and wholesome meat processing
for the public.”
Ogunbanwo Olatunbosun, Director
Public Affairs in the ministry, reiterated
that the present Government had
embarked on massive rehabilitation and
transformation reform in the red meat
value –chain. He said, “The report in
some media recently on unhygienic state
of abattoirs in the state is not the true
reflection of situation in the state.
Highlighting measures put in place to
ensure that only wholesome meat and
meat products are consumed in the state,
he said the state government embarked
on upgrading of existing slaughter
slabs across the state to semi
mechanized abattoirs, such as: Ikorodu,
Matori, Ilaje and Ejigbo, while the Oko
Oba Abattoir and Lairage Complex,
Agege have been rehabilitated to
ensure that operations at the complex
meet international standard.

34—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
Lifestyle
CONDOMS:
The real val
message ?
...The goal is to promote condom
use during Val day.
Do you have a condom? No I don’t. Ah! please,
I don’t want to have sex if you’re not
protected. It does not matter. Yes,it does, you never
know what could happen.” A couple of teenagers
were overheard having this conversation. They
were aged roughly 16-18 years and obviously
sexually active.
In recent years Sexually Transmitted Infections
(STIs) as well as unwanted and unplanned
pregnancies have been topical in Nigeria. The
issue of HIV/AIDS is in a class of its own.
Nigeria has the second HIV prevalence in Africa
after South Africa. Recent surveys highlighted that
attitudes towards condom use is helping the spread
STIs and research suggests that nearly a quarter
of Nigerian sex workers have HIV.
Though HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Nigeria is
on the decline, youths and young adults in Nigeria
are particularly vulnerable with the young women
at higher risk than young men.
While HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Nigeria
generally continues to decline, the same cannot
be said for young people, the 15-19 age bracket
prevalence rate is yet to reverse. It is here that the
role of condom use among youths as a preventive
method is significant.
What do you know or do not know about
condoms? Why is it necessary to teach safe sex
through condom use? Why is it necessary to teach
safe sex through condom use? The answer is
because condoms are an essential and serious part
of sexual health and safe sex.
Condomology, or the study of
condoms, is necessary in order to
ensure that people have factbased
information that is clear
and understandable. Condoms
are a fashion and are always in
style, but they’re prone to failure,
breaking, and misuse. Most
people know how to put them on
and use them correctly, but if they
don’t, trouble can follow.
Condoms do break as often as
incorrectly used.
However, talk and use of
condom is often taboo because of
cultural barriers. For instance,
women often cannot negotiate sex
because they have no control over
making their sex partners wear
condoms. Women are not even
expected to carry condoms and
cannot even suggest its use to
their sex partners.
On Friday, 13th February, 2018,
about 300,000 condoms will be
freely distributed while at least 43,
000 people will be screened for
HIV in commemoration of this
year’s International Condom Day
(ICD) themed: “Always in
Fashion!”
Recent surveys
highlighted that
attitudes towards
condom use is
helping the
spread STIs and
r e s e a r c h
suggests that
nearly a quarter of
Nigerian sex
workers have HIV.
Though HIV/AIDS
prevalence rate in
Nigeria is on the
decline
International Condom Day seeks to promote
the use of condoms as a means of preventing
unwanted pregnancies and sexually
transmitted infections (STIs. Condoms are
used during sexual intercourse as a
contraceptive or as protection against STIs.
In Abuja, Anambra, Benue, Cross River,
Kogi and Nasarawa States, AIDS Healthcare
Foundation (AHF), Nigeria, shall conduct
both static and mobile HIV testing as well as
hold public ceremonies to provide condom
education while free HIV brands of condoms
shall be distributed to encourage safer sexual
practices.
Generally, HIV/STI prevention, safer sex
and condom usage will be the focus in the
six Nigerian states and in over 50 “Always in
Fashion” events that will be held in 39
countries around the world.
The ICD is aimed at highlighting the
importance of condom use in conjunction with
Valentine’s Day —by promoting prevention
of STDs, including HIV and unwanted
pregnancies through free condom
distribution, safer sex awareness events and
HIV Testing Services (HTS).
The big push actually began through the
initial HIV/AIDS scare of the 1980s.
Condoms date back as far as the 15th
Century but with the AIDS epidemic came
the need to really reinforce just how important
condom use was.
Among activities for the day
are static and mobile HIV
testing and public ceremonies
to provide condom education
while free condoms are
distributed to encourage safer
sexual practices.
The trend of early sexual
debut in Nigeria, according
to UNICEF data, begins at
less than 15 years for 15
percent of Nigeria’s youth.
This, coupled with the
practice of having multiple
sexual partners increases HIV
vulnerability among the youth
population alongside the very
low HIV testing rates— only
17 percent of young people
know their HIV status
(UNAIDS 2017 Data Book).
Whereas Nigeria accounts for
almost half of all new HIV
infections in sub-Saharan
Africa every year according to
UNAIDS.
In the view of AHF Acting
Country Programme
Manager, Mr. Greg
Abiaziem, it is important to
reduce the trend of new HIV
infection in Nigerian youth
through preaching abstinence,
and for those who cannot
abstain to use condom, which
prevents STIs including HIV
and unwanted pregnancies.
“It has become important to
ensure condom option is made
available as a preventive
measure to youths who can’t
abstain from sex, with new
HIV infections highest among
young people aged 15-24 years
and with the national data
suggesting that about 4.2
percent of young people (ages
15-24) are living with HIV,”
Abiaziem noted.
“Condoms are under attack in
the realm of global public
health with governments and
international agencies slashing
funds,” said AHF chief of
Global Policy, Advocacy &
Marketing Terri Ford. “This
will most likely lead to more
infections worldwide—but
thankfully, International
Condom Day is a way to
reinvigorate the message that
condoms are a fun and
fashionable way to protect
oneself and one’s partner
while reinforcing the tenet that
condoms should be available
for free to anyone who needs
them.”
The 2018 ICD presents
another opportunity to reach
Nigerians with vital HIV
services while empowering
individuals to safeguard their
health.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
(AHF), the largest global AIDS
organization, currently
provides medical care and/or
services to over 855,000 clients
in 39 countries worldwide in
the US, Africa, Latin America/
Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific
Region and Eastern Europe.
The goal is to promote
condom use and educate
people about the importance of
practising safe sex. It is linked
to Valentine’s Day because
studies show that during this
period, condom sales are very
high compared to the other
days of the year. The ICD is a
timely reminder for people to
always practice safe sex by
using a condom during
sexual activity not just to
protect themselves but their
partners as well.
Apart from abstinence, use
of latex and polyurethane
condoms are the only
available method to prevent
transmission of STIs and
HIV. Of all the birth control
methods available, condom
is the most frequently used
method because it is
convenient and has a high
contraceptive rate with 98
percent effectiveness rate for
male condoms and 95
percent for female condoms,
but only when used correctly
and consistently.
Studies indicate that
students who are sexually
active often use the condom
as their form of
contraception. About two out
of three students believe
that condom is the most
effective contraceptive
method that also protects
against STIs. The problem is
that condoms are not always
available and majority of
students are embarrassed
about buying them.
It is fact that people are
more likely to use condoms
if they are available during
sexual encounters. Thus, it
is also important to become
more comfortable with
purchasing and carrying
condoms aside from using
them.
The primary purpose is to
promote the use of condoms
and educate people in
regards to the need for
practising safe sex at all
times. The aim is to get more
people comfortable with
purchasing, carrying,
talking about and using
condoms during sexual
activity.
It is also for promoting
healthy and safe
relationships and reminding
people about the risks of
sexually transmitted
infections and unplanned
pregnancies as well. The
day is a reminder to always
practice safe sex.

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018—35
Rich,Poor
Valentine
By Josephine
Agbonkhese
& Naomi Tenebe
Valentine’s Day is a
week away! If you’ve
been searching for easy
ways to make it fun for yourself and your loved one, look no
further because whether you’re operating on a low or high
budget, below are ideas to earn you your most memorable
Valentine’s Day ever.
Rich
Boat cruise
Valentine’s Day is best celebrated with
a romantic getaway- and what’s more
romantic than a cruise? Maybe a
romantic lunch or dinner cruise. Just
imagine the two of you on the cold
open sea with the sun warming you.
There are dozens of boats that will
be embarking on a cruise on Valentine’s Day. Just endeavour to book early to
avoid disappointment.
Average Price: N500,000
Spa
A romantic spa get-away is also a perfect way to
pamper each other and enjoy some relaxing and
quality time alone. Simply spare some hours to
treat yourself and your loved one to a day of blissful
relaxation in one of the choicest spas in town.
Some have even got special couple’s package.
Imagine a complete body massage, facials, and a
wide range of exotic treatments that would
rejuvenate your body and mind.
Average Price: 25,000- 50,000
Champagne
If you don’t really want to do much but watch TV, doing so at
home seems not refined enough. Go for a cinema night. You
can watch a movie in a luxurious hotel drinking champagne
or a romantic cocktail. Classy and relaxed –it’s a win-win!
Average Price: N120,000
Poor
Picnic
Whether it’s sandwiches and soft drinks or
wine and snacks, a beach picnic is a terrific
romantic idea for Valentine’s Day. Spread a
blanket out and wine and dine with each
other like it’s going out in style. Take a
romantic beach stroll or wade in the water. This is an inexpensive yet
supremely romantic way to spend your Valentine’s Day.
Average Price: N10,000
Nightclub
Perfect for the couple who likes a bit of a party, a
low budget but extremely fun way to celebrate
Valentine’s Day is a trip to a night club. There you
enjoy unlimited access to a night of good music
and dancing. A few bottles of drinks and barbeques
can add a little more fun. A lot of clubs will be
having special events on that day, anyway. So, you’re sure of viewing live,
electrifying performances.
Average Price: N5,000
Slideshow
Create smiles and memories of you and your lover
with a short romantic video, adding some lovely
texts. Thanks to technology, all you need is a
smartphone with the right application and a few
megabytes to share your created video with your
loved one.
Average Price: N100
Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode displaying a
placard “Say No To Female Genital Mutilation”, to mark the International
Day of zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), on Tuesday,
6th February, 2018.
2030: Ambode’s wife tasks
parents, stakeholders on
female genital mutilation
eradication
By Olasunkanmi Akoni
Wife of the Lagos State
Governor, Mrs. Bolanle
Ambode has urged
mothers, fathers and Non
Governmental Organisations.
NGOs, to continue to speak out
against the practice of female
mutilation while governments at all
levels put in place the right statutes
for total eradication of the trend in
Nigeria and in Africa by 2030.
Mrs. Ambode spoke to newsmen,
Tuesday, in Alausa, Ikeja in an
event to commemorate this year’s
International Day of Zero Tolerance
for Female Genital Mutilation.
February 6 every year, is set aside
by the United Nations, as the
International Day of Zero Tolerance
for Female Genital Mutilation
across the world.
She expressed optimism that
Female Genital Mutilation could be
stamped out of Africa by 2030, if all
individuals and institutions and
stakeholders work together towards
achieving that purpose.
Ambode said that although the
practice was well entrenched in the
continent, with some countries
recording up to 90 per cent
prevalence among girls and
women, the situation was not
hopeless if the current advocacy was
sustained or increased.
According to her, “The pace of
penetration of awareness seems slow
because the practice is an ancient
one, deeply rooted in our various
cultures but that does not make our
efforts fruitless. Though progress may
be slow, we are going somewhere as
rural women, mothers and young
girls, are becoming aware of the
severe health implications of the
barbaric practice.
“Few years ago, many women,
even some educated ones, saw it as
a normal and socially acceptable
practice but the story is fast
changing, as awareness is getting
mileage and rural women are now
campaigning against it.”
The Governor’s wife therefore
implored governments at all levels to
fight the practice with direct
legislations, in the manner they are
doing with some wicked anti-female
practices.
She stressed that FGM constituted
an extreme form of discrimination
against women and girls, directly
violating their rights to health,
security and physical integrity,
wondering why women should be
subjected to such life-threatening
dehumanization.

36—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
Presidential Executive
Order: Nigerian content
is good if…
Before her party got voted out of
power via the most sophisticated
polls we have ever had, erstwhile
Petroleum Minister Diezani Allison
Madueke actually did some good. She was
an active champion of the Nigerian
Content Act, which stipulates that every
company executing a project in a
community must establish a project office
in that community with an attendant
retention of created Nigerian Content
value in Nigeria; which in turn is expected
to stimulate the growth of the local
communities including associated
derivatives from Oil and Gas production.
The Act, signed into law in 2010, also
stipulates that every multinational oil
company operating in Nigeria must
domicile 10% of its annual profit in
Nigerian banks.
In addition to this, the Act provides for
all aspects of insurance in the oil and gas
industry to be handled by Nigerian
insurance companies unless where in the
opinion of the Nigerian Insurance
Commission, the capacity of the Nigerian
company has been exhausted.
It provides that the award of contracts
shall not be solely based on the principle
of the lowest bidder where a Nigerian
indigenous company has the capability
to execute such a job. Nigerian
Indigenous companies with bidded costs
not exceeding 10% markup of the lowest
bidder shall be awarded the contract.
Operators and project promoters shall
consider Nigerian content when
evaluating any bid where the bids are
within 1% of each other at commercial
stage and the bid containing the highest
level of Nigerian content shall be selected
provided the Nigerian content in the
selected bid is at least 5% higher than its
closest competitor.
Allison-Madueke, in promoting
Nigerian Content whose overriding
principle was to grow indigenous
capacity in an aggressive manner, has
been placed on the path of irreversible
progress with increased indigenous
investment in critical infrastructure.
In a 2014 Media parley, she reported
that the country has seen robust
indigenous investment in Marine vessels
of various categories, while wholly owned
Nigerian vessels have increased
astronomically through the years.
According to her, investment in the
sector has created over 40, 000
jobs across the hydrocarbon value
chain while we have witnessed
increased local investments in
asset, in land, swamp and offshore
rigs which are vital performance
indicators in business growth in
Nigerian service companies with
Nigerian companies forging
partnerships for deep water rig
ownership and evolving strategies
that will increase rig ownership
among local players.
There have been many a slip
between lip and cup, where the Oil
industry Nigerian Content Act is
concerned, and while we still
struggle to close the gap between
the theory and the practice,
President Muhammadu Buhari
Monday in Abuja signed an
Executive Order to enhance local
content in public procurement.
The order which consists of
science, engineering and
technology components, is
expected to promote the application of
science, technology and innovation
towards achieving the nation’s
development goals across all sectors of
the economy.
Pursuant to the authority vested in him
by the Constitution, Mr President ordered
that all “procuring authorities shall give
preference to Nigerian companies and
firms in the award of contracts, in line
with the Public Procurement Act 2007”.
The “Presidential Executive Order Five
for Planning and Execution of Projects,
Promotion of Nigerian Content in
Contracts and Science, Engineering and
Technology” also directs that ministries,
departments and agencies (MDAs)
engage indigenous professionals in the
planning, design and execution of
national security projects; saying
“Consideration shall only be given to a
foreign professional, where it is certified
by the appropriate authority that such
expertise is not available in Nigeria.”
Not only is this Executive Order
consistent with the Buhari
administration’s ease-of-doingbusiness
policy, it also enjoys the
good fortune of the opportunity to
learn from the modest gains and
not-so-modest challenges
following the Nigerian Content
law of the Oil and Gas industry,
which by the way is guided by a
governing agency. It also enjoys
timeliness and favourable context,
if we all agree that what we require
is a quantum leap in order to be at
par with advancements made by
our peers in other parts of the
world.
In a post that has been widely
circulated digitally, former
presidential aspirant Professor Pat
Utomi hit the nail on the head,
raising questions on the readiness
of Nigeria to produce the jobs of
the future, which will be
technology based. Reasoning
futuristically, he called urgent
attention to our neglect of our
educational sector, and its ability
to train young people the
technological skills without which life in
an few decades’ time will be impossible.
In as much as it focuses on innovation
and technology, the president’s latest
Executive Order has the potential to
create the impetus for this quantum leap.
Minor inconsistencies in policy exist, as
expected, even within this administration.
The ease –of-doing-business visa to
foreign businessmen policy is somewhat
at variance with the President’s in this
executive order, but nothing that cannot
be ironed out. Potential red flags are the
same red flags plaguing enforcement of
Nigerian Content provisions in the Oil and
Gas industry- High Corruption helped
along by watery regulation.
For this impetus to be created and gains
sustained in the Oil and Gas variant, new,
non-governmental, non-profit
independent regulatory bodies must be
constituted to check and balance
adherence and ‘punish’ or deter noncompliance.
This is where extreme
attention to detail must come in if that
Executive Order is not to deteriorate into
an Executive Joke.
Ambode and Participatory Governance
Continues from page 16
outcomes, monitor each step in the
implementation process, review, correct or
reinforce measures, disseminate efforts
(especially in mass and social media) and
document best practices, so that legacies
achieved will be enduringand sustainable.
All these best practices are features that are
inclusive in governance - they are essential
parts of Ambodeism. The concept of
participatory governance permeates all
developmental thrusts of Ambode’s
Administration: health, security, roads and
transportation, energy and power, education,
housing, infrastructure, agriculture,
employment generation, etc. Let’s take
education for instance, you cannot run
an all-inclusive government if the
majority of your population is unlettered
and ignorant on important issues. To
prepare our future leaders for quality and
universal participation in politics, he has
achieved dramatic improvement in the
education sector by employing no fewer
than 1,300 qualified teachers for the
Primary schools and by spending over
N1billion to renovate and upgrade
infrastructure in secondary schools. Asa
listening Governor, in order to address
the protracted problem of Lagos State
University (LASU), the Governor came
up with an Executive bill which gave 5-
year single tenure to the Vice Chancellor,
increased the retiring age of professors
to 70 and made the University a
residential one.Now there is peace in
LASU and the institution is gradually
reclaiming its lost glory.
To further strengthen the communication
gap between His Administration and the
people, improve the understanding of problems
behind issues, explain challenges and solutions
and rally the required support around his policies,
programmes and activities for highly rewarding
outcomes, Ambode has evolved a strategy of
constant consultations and engagements of people
in different fora of specific and general nature. It
is a highly demanding venture, but a worthwhile
one nonetheless, bringing immense benefits to
the State. To proliferate gains of programmes and
projects, Ambode continuously carries out
massive awareness promotion of beneficial
information and messages, especially on health
and socio-economic services. Ambode’s
Administration has developed a cogent
partnership with the media. Here again,
the prominence of government policies
is unrivalled. The Governor is the
most trusted,the most famous and
the most liked by the press and the
public among all governors in
Nigeria. This is evident in the
responses and feedback process
from such platforms as Inter-Faith
parley and Town hall meetings,
among others, held periodically with the
people.
Much in tune with the people yearning
for more roads and other public
conveniences,Ambode is gradually
addressing these needs including
general infrastructural growth and
renewal. The Governor deservedly
continues to receive accolades. He has
constructed many new roads and flyovers,
including those in Ipaja, Mosan-
Okunola, Oshodi-Isolo, Ikotun-Ejigbo
and Somolu and directed that 2 new
roads be built in each of the 20 Local
Government areas and 37 Local Council
Development Authorities.
H e undertook massive rehabilitation,
modernization and expansion of
Federal roads and more than
500 roads have been
rehabilitated,while about 190
have been earmarked for the
next phase. To meet the
modernization quest of
Lagosians, His
Excellency is
implementing ambitious
and game-changing
projects at strategic
locations, across the
State; at Oshodi, Yaba
and Surulere axis,
Badagry-Seme
corridor, Epe-Lekki-
Ikoyi axis etc;
i n t e g r a t e d
infrastructural
amenities, such as
multi-lane express
ways, state-of the art
fly-overs and bridges,
railway, hotels, recreational centres and parks,
stadium and ICT centres are converged in each of
these single locations. Definitely a bright and beautiful
future awaits Lagosians as they prepare to inherit their
new and Greater Lagos.
Changes are occurring at a rapid and unprecedented rate,
because the people have bought into Governor Ambode’s
vision and have consequentially become part of the driving
force. They are ready to make the necessary sacrifices
and hopeful that greater destiny awaits Lagos State.
Ambode is aligning democracy with Abraham Lincoln’s
definition of its ideal form: “government of the people, by
the people and for the people,” and Lagos shall not
diminish but will continue to grow in peace, progress and
prosperity.
•GOV AMBODE

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, , 2018—37
bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk
Your partner’s affair needs
not endanger your
marriage!
he went to the bathroom, I
accessed his messages. I
couldn’t believe my eyes
when I read a couple of
J
messages from Ropo with one
UST at what stage do you start getting cynical about love? ending with love you’, see
A few weeks ago, Jade, an old friend became irritated you soon! When I confronted
because her daughter’s boyfriend of 18 months didn’t want to Greg, he said what they had
face the reality of the death of the romance. “He keeps on was platonic friendship, that
hanging around the house like a love-sick puppy,” she he didn’t always tell me when
complained. “I’ve asked my daughter how she feels about him they met in case I got the
and she assured me she was
wrong idea. That all Ropo was
no longer interested in the
relationship. As a matter of fact,
she’d moved on to greener
pasture. But would he listen?
He said he’s in love. In love
my foot! He’s just miffed
because he’s the one who was
dumped!” A couple of our
friends present were a bit
irritated by her outburst.
I scolded her not to be that
dismissive of relationships. We
might be less starry eyed about
love, but we owed it to to
younger ones to make them
realise love could conquer all
in the end. Her eyes
narrowed: “It hasn’t
conquered much for you over
the years, has it?” she asked
nastily. Ouch! She then went
off on one of her lecturing jag:
“Have you taken notice of
how much sleeping around
goes on these days?” she
asked. “lt’s even more rampant
amongst married couples—all
pretending to be family
friends! As a result, when your
husband has an affair with
someone close, you don’t even
have to agonise over what the
other woman looks like
because you already know.
The betrayal is a double bow—
two of the people you are
closest to going behind your
back and shattering your life.”
“Charlotte, who was really just
an acquittance, hadn’t said
much, but she was suddenly
interested in what Jade had to
say. “My husband’s mistress
used to be a member of a close
group we belonged to at our
social club,”she said sadly. We
promptly perked up our ears.
“Greg, my husband, and Akin,
the other woman’s husband,
were teaching each other how
to play golf when Ropo, Akin’s
wife, said she too was
interested. There were some
second-hand golf clubs
advertised for sale on the
club’s notice board and she
promptly bought a set. That
was how the four of us often
met at the club, becoming such
good friends that we saw each
other most weekends.
“Ropo was bubbly and
flirtatious. She and Greg often
exchanged banters with each
other, but I didn’t think much
of it. Early this year,Greg told
me he’d bumped into Kopo at
the club without her husband
and I instantly had this gut
feeling that something wasn’t
right. So, I watched Greg’s
mobile like a hawk and when
All you want to
do now is start
repairing your
marriage. This
might be
learning new
ways to relate
to each other
or putting
intensity back
into your love
life
interested in was perfecting
her golf moves. He obviously
thought I was an idiot with
a child’s imagination.
Months later, I sort of
suspected Akin too guessed
what was going on—he just
chose to turn a blind eye,
hoping it would blow over.
It’s amazing what some
spineless men would
condone in the name of
peace. The final straw was
when a female member of the
club told me she knew where
their love nest was.
Apparently, Ropo is a sort of
barracuda, who had snapped
up a few gullible husbands
and my informant’s husband
was one of them. I staked out
the place for days until I saw
Greg’s car in the park. I
stormed into the bungalow in
spite of the night guard’s
protest, knowing both of them
would be there. I found her
cowering in the toilet with
Greg begging that we
needed to talk. I simply
walked out of their illicit nest.
“The saddest bit is that I
don’t trust Greg anymore,”
“He certainly hasn’t given
you enough reason to trust
him, has he?” I asked her.
“And the affair has nothing to
do with you but if your
marriage is to survive, you
both need to look at your role
within the problems you now
have.
“He has assumed full
responsibility for the affair but
you need to stop seeing
yourself as the victim and
move past the hurt. If a
partner cheats, the woman’s
instinct is to wonder what she
did wrong—was she too fat,
too thin, not smart enough?
In some ways, what you’re
mourning is the relationship
you once had, and having
difficulty coming to terms
with the fact that it may never
be the same again.”
“I can’t stop going to the
club because of her,” fumed
Charlotte, “in spite of the fact
that Greg assured me it is all
over, he can’t really stop
talking to Akin and Ropo.
You said a woman has to come
to terms with her husband’s
infidelity, But, what about
Akin? He too is a victim and
a lot of members laugh
behind his back for getting
stuck with a nympho. Why
hasn’t he given her the
heave-ho, after all these
years of humiliation? The
other day, the same female
member who hinted us of the
affair, pointed to Ropo’s last
child and asked me to look
closely at him, then look at
the current chairman. The
resemblance was startling.
Yet, the Mugu of a husband
still fetches and cares for her.
Why? “Well never know,” I
soothed. “All you want to do
now is start repairing your
marriage. This might be
learning new ways to relate
to each other or putting
intensity back into your love
life. Learn to talk more rather
than look for external
solutions.” “And that would
be it?” Charotte sneered.
“Not really. Some couples
find an affair turns out to be
a sort of blessings—they
come out of it with a closer,
stronger marriage than they
imagined. For them, the
affair is a wake-up call and
a chance to begin a new and
better relationship. But, if
your spouse is a philanderer,
there’s not much you can
do—even if you talk till
kingdom come. There’ll
always be that last fling he
must have before he gives
up!”
Good stress is short-term, mild, stimulating...
Experts are claiming that stress can be good
for you. Research has apparently found that
nerve-racking situations such as making a
speech or dashing to the airport, will help you
stay healthy and live longer. Stress, blamed
for everything from depression to cancer is the
biggest cause of long-term sickness, prompting
warnings that it has become the ‘new back
pain’ for office truants.
But researchers say mild-to-moderate stress
increases the production of proteins that help
repair body cells, including those in the brain,
and enables them to work at peak capacity.
Exercising this self repair mechanism can
therefore help people look and feel younger.
They say the right kind of stress can even
boost our natural defences to illness such as
heart disease, Alzheimer’s and arthritis. Dr.
Marios Myriazis, medical director of British
Longetivity Society, said that when we are
exposed to mild stress, the cells start to break
down and so a repair mechanism kicks off. This
strengthens the cells and removes harmful
chemicals but as it is more than is needed to
repair damage, it leaves the cells stronger than
they were before.
“The best way to keep the process working
efficiently is to ‘exercise’ it in the same way
you would exercise muscles to keep them
strong,” he said. “This means you have to seek
out stress in order for the body to keep
responding to it. He told the second Anti-Aging
Conference in London recently that he
prescribes mild doses for frantic activity to
patients such as redecorating the front room in
a weekend or packing in a hurry to reach the
airport in time. He also suggests people shop
for a dinner party in their lunch hour and learn
to set the video using the manual. He even
recommends periods of food or sleep
deprivation.
Good stress is short-term, mild, stimulating
and gives a sense of achievement once it is over.
He warned, however, that prolonged exposure
to stress, such as long-term care for a sick
relative, is unhealthy. Being stuck in a traffic
jam is also bad as the person is powerless to
change the situation. The conference also heard
from a Danish researcher who found that
subjecting skin cells to mild stress can beat the
signs of aging.
Professor Suresh Rattan, of Aarhus University,
discovered that when skin cells in a test tube
were exposed to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, the
temperature reached during a fever—they kept
their shape better and were less affected by
ultraviolet light.
C
M
Y
K

38—Vanguard, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
Yetunde Arebi
Twitter: @yetundearebi
yetty5050@yahoo.co.uk
08054700825
Hi,
Icouldn’t resist this article when I saw
it in my box last week. Nearly all
families have a similar experience to
share. We all love them too, stories of
people rising above their circumstances
to achieve success. Typical grass to grace
stories that will make even an atheist
recognise that there must be a force
directing the fortunes of man from
somewhere. The story you are about to read
was sent in by Kingsley Alumona from
Ibadan. I was moved to tears just trying to
capture what he and his young sister must
have suffered in the hands of their uncle
and his family as a result of the loss of
their parents. Today, though in a position
to take his revenge out on his uncle, he
has opted to show him love instead. Surely,
if the Lord has already granted you victory
over your enemy, then it is not too much if
you are magnanimous towards them. I
hope you find it interesting as well as
educative. Do have a wonderful weekend!!
“Growing up, my village was one of
the villages in Umunchi in Isiala Mbano
of Imo State that still worshiped
Amadioha, the god of thunder. My uncle,
the older and only sibling of my father,
Mazi Nwaigwe, and his wife had a shrine
for it. My parents had warned me and my
younger sister and only sibling, not to go
close to my uncle’s shrine, not to mention
eating anything from them. My father, a
secondary school principal had said that
my uncle and his wife were not God’s
people and that their god was evil.
I was 12 years old at the time and my
sister was 10. I did not understand what
my parents were saying because my uncle
was nice to me. But not long after, when
my father died and my mother was
accused of killing him, I began to
understand.
My father had woken up about one week
before his sudden death with a swollen
stomach. The doctors said there was
nothing they could do for him, and he died
three days later. My uncle and his wife
accused my mother of killing my father
and demanded, according to tradition,
that she swore by the alusi, their god,
and drink the water used to bathe his
corpse to prove her innocence.
They accused my mother of killing my
father because she was an osu, an outcast.
My father was a diala, a true born, and
was not supposed to marry my mother. So,
my father’s family had always hated her.
My uncle’s wife hated her the most. She
always said the shrine or the marketplace
was where my mother rightly belonged.
So, at my father’s funeral, they handed
a cup of the corpse water to my mother.
Much as my sister and I cried and pleaded
with her not to drink the water, she recoiled
from us.
“Arinze nwam nwoke, ima nghota,” my
mother said in Igbo. “Arinze my son, you
won’t understand.”
“Agam egosi n’aka m di ocha,” she said.
“I have to prove my innocence.”
“Egbughim di m. Agam anuriri mmiri
a. Esogbula onwe gi, Agaghim anwu,” she
said. “I didn’t kill my husband. I must
drink this water. Don’t worry, I won’t die.”
She drank the water and died two days
later. The villagers said my mother was
the witch that killed my father, and that
she was lucky Amadioha dignified her
with a peaceful death, instead of striking
her with thunder.
It took just two weeks after my parents’
death for me to begin to understand what
had befallen my family. I began to doubt
the fact that it was Amadioha that
killed them since they did not die by
thunder. I was already in secondary school
so I could understand what was going on.
They told us it was the custom and
tradition of the land, so, my uncle and his
wife inherited everything my parents
owned, the house, the car, the businesses,
everything except his position as school
principal. He demolished his thatched
house and moved into my father’s threebedroom
flat. His wife took over my
mother’s beverage business but within six
months, squandered everything. Shortly
after, my uncle sold the car because he
The gods
are broken
little things
They accused
my mother of
killing my
father because
she was an
osu, an
outcast
could not maintain it. What broke my
heart was not that my uncle and his wife
colonised my parents’ property which
rightly belonged to us, but that they
relegated us to one of the rooms in the
two-room boys’ quarter. The other room
was allocated to Amadioha. Alusi
became our next-door neighbour. My
uncle had wanted to build a shrine at the
rear of the compound, but his wife
disapproved. When it came to making
decisions, he was the figurehead while his
wife was the real head. Their three children
who were all older than us attended public
schools before the takeover but were
enrolled in private schools and we were
taken to public schools. Though, my uncle
had wanted us to remain in our private
schools, his wife objected to it, saying there
was no money to enrol osuchildren in
private schools.
My sister could not endure the hardship,
especially the fact that she lived next door
to Amadioha and would always dream
that it was about to attack her.
So, I convinced them to send
her to our maternal aunt in
Owerri while I remained
without knowing why.
What I went through
growing up is better
imagined than experienced.
I had to push wheelbarrow in
the market to pay for my
WAEC examinations. During
vacations, I learnt how to
repair cars and generators. In
all of these, I noticed that my
uncle was always proud of
me, no matter what, even
though I resented him
deeply. A few weeks after
my exams, I told them I was
leaving for Aba to eke out a
living with one of my class
mates and his uncle. My aunt
was against it but my uncle
hugged and prayed for me,
insisting I must keep in
touch. He probably did not
know I was leaving so I would
have nothing to do with them
again.
I did not return until
almost 12 years after when I
received a call from my uncle
that his wife had died. She
had died with her stomach
swollen, just the way my
father died. But hers was
strange and sudden and she
looked as black as char in
death. It was very obvious
that my uncle was very happy
to see me when I finally
arrived the village,
commenting on how big and
robust I had become. All I
could see was all the pain and
hardship I had suffered living
with him and his wife. As we
chatted, it was obvious that
he did not remember if I
were osu or a diala.
He was still living in my
father’s house. My uncle
informed me that the house
had been listed for demolition by the
government, along with some houses in
the village, because it was built in an area
earmarked for electricity projects. The
time given to my uncle to evacuate had
elapsed, and soon the bulldozers would
arrive. I wished I had not come.
My uncle had no place to live. The only
land he had was close to the cemetery,
where his wife, due to the mysterious
nature of her death, would be buried. I
remembered that many years ago, the
cemetery was where the evil forest was.
My uncle’s land, on which his demolished
thatch house used to be, had been sold by
his last son who ran away with the money
to South Africa. His first son was in prison
for drug and arms dealing and his only
daughter had had a fierce quarrel with
him over a man and had eloped with him.
I was not sure if they had heard about their
mother’s death as they were all absent.
My uncle had briefed me on the phone
last week that I was all he had as family
now. And though I wanted to laugh, to tell
him how much I despised him, but I
couldn’t. He had also called my sister but
she had abused him and hung the phone
on him.
My odyssey was a long one and it rolled
out in front of me in a flash beginning
with how I arrived Aba with the family of
my classmate. How I got a job as a
mechanic and with the help of a man who
claimed he knew my father and but for
him, he could not have passed his WAEC.
He helped me through my education at
the National Open University. He got me
a job as a manager at Innoson Motors but
today, I commute between Nigeria and
Japan importing cars for my boss and
electronics for myself.
God has been kind to me. I had no choice
but to forgive my uncle and take him back
home with me. As I watched him evacuate
the property in the house, majority of
which belonged to my father, tears
cascaded from my eyes. The house
would soon be demolished, but the
nostalgic memories it created stuck like
glue. Suddenly, the question popped
from my mouth.
“Mazi Nwaigwe, do you think it was
my mother that killed my father?” My
uncle stopped and looked at the sky,
then at the ofo, sacred staff, in his
calloused hand. From the way he was
now holding the ofo, you could tell
he was tired of it and of life.
“Nne na nna gi bu ezigbo mmadu.
Odi ka ya buru na fa k’adi ndu,” My
uncle moaned. “Your father and mother
were good people. I wish they were
still alive.” At that moment, I knew I
was right about my uncle all along.
He is a good man, but he was tied to
his late wife’s apron string. “Mazi
Nwaigwe, you’re a good man, but you
allowed bad things happen around
you.” My uncle halted at the door of
the shrine and looked at me. He
nodded his head, moaned and entered
the shrine with his back.
He came out, carrying his god in a
red-and-white box. I asked “Mazi
Nwaigwe, if people had told you that
your children would desert you, that
your wife would die in a mysterious
way and that you would be homeless
today, would you have believed
them?”
My uncle mumbled something in
dismay. He was old and frustrated. He
looked at me, then at the box in his
quavering hands. He took two feeble
steps and the box, with his god in it,
dropped and shattered on the ground.
I was not sure if it was intentional or
an accident, but he looked at me and
smiled. When Amadioha shattered,
I had thought it would unleash
lightning and thunder, but nothing
happened. I suspect he had also
expected something too and had been
disappointed. He fell to his knees and
cried. “Arinze, naani gi ka m nwere
,” he looked at me and said. “Arinze,
you’re the only one I have.” I nodded and
gathered him on his feet and told him I
would take him home with me.

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018—39
Day NLNG boss
cried, resigned
over Abiola
election story
•Eresia-Eke speaks on Dele Giwa, Tunji Dare, Ely
Obasi, Jacob Akinyemi Johnson, Jones Usen, Prof
Ake etc
•Says Bonny will turn to mini Dubai
BY FRED IWENJORA
Dr Kudo Eresia-Eke, General Manager External Relations at Nigeria LNG
has been described in many ways by different people.
While some see him as a teacher, many see him as a poet and writer just
as others see him as a journalist. However, he is no doubt a first class communicator
with vast interest in social development issues. He served as Commissioner for
information of Rivers state while serving at the same time as State Director NOA.
(He earned from one source though)
Kudo remains one of the few editors in Nigeria who resigned his appointment for
issues bordering on ethics and principles.
In the wake of the recent event of the very famous NLNG literary Prize seen as
Africa’s biggest Prize, Kudo speaks on his intimate secrets.
NLNG literary prize just held……could you
make an assessment of the prize?
We have been very proud of Nigerian talents
in the area of writing. The NLNG Award has
certainly been like sunshine for writers both
within and outside of Nigeria who are
Nigerians. It has provided hope and something
to strive for. It has provided a sense of
recognition and acknowledgment of the
repertoire of the pool of talents that we have
in the area of artistic and creative writing.
And the result shows that the impact has been
ubiquitous. For instance, we feel the impact
in the area of quality publishing, in the plethora
of writing, in the sophistication of editing,
quality of literary judgment. We have also seen
the impact in the wide spread interest in the
prize from across the country. We have seen
the impact clearly as a target which some
writers strive to aim for.
Again, we have seen the
impact of the prize in the
harvest of new books in our
shelves and libraries. We have
seen the impact in the manner
in which Nigeria is envied by
all of Africa and beyond for
hosting Africa’s biggest prize
. The impact it has made is
unquantifiable.
Now kindly tell me; is this
prize of 100,000USD for real?
It’s whooping that some
people doubt if you ever give
it all….
Of course it is for real.
Anytime we announce the
prize, it means we are sure
the winner would receive the
money. There are two levels; we
announce and later crown the
winner who receives the
symbolic cheque. Everything is
for real.
Now we are not in Bonny
where you are based; Could
you take the reader on a mind tour of what
you do at Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas
Company NLNG?
Very simple…we buy gas from those who
prospect and produce gas, transport it through
our pipelines into mighty refrigerators called
plants in Bonny. The gas is cleaned up and
processed and cooled down to -600degrees.
This processing is called liquefaction - that is
turning the gas into liquid - reduces the size of
gas which is loaded into mammoth ships
about the size of four football fields to those
who paid for them abroad. While abroad, the
liquid is returned to gas for whatever use it
wants to be made mostly for utilities. In a
nutshell what we do is source gas, process it
and package it and then sell to those who need
it. In so doing we make money for Nigeria
and the company. As you may have known
Nigeria LNG is owned by
Nigeria represented by the
NNPC as highest
shareholder and oil giants like
Shell, Eni(Agip), Total . We
have paid taxes, remitted
dividends worth billions and
excelled in Corporate Social
Responsibility. You must have
heard about the Bonny Bodo
road and bridge project. You
also must have heard how our
mopping up of gas has reduced
gas flaring in Niger Delta from
70% to 20%. We in the Niger
Delta area are denied nights
due to gas flaring. Nights are
just like days. People are next
door neighbours to furnaces.
Thanks to NLNG which
collects all these gas so it does
not flare.
You talk about the new
Bonny Bodo road project as
biggest CSR so far, how do
you mean?
I mean that this road project
is the biggest CSR from a
•MKO Abiola
•Dele Giwa
•Dr Kudo
Eresia-Eke
single company. 60bn USD devoted to one
single project is unprecedented and I am
particularly happy to be associated with it.
You recall that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
came to Bonny to flag the road project off
underscoring the huge importance of the
project to Nigeria. It is the climax of our CSR
efforts. There have been attempts to do this all
important bridge by successive governments
but it has never materialized due to various
reasons until now that the NLNG has waded
in. There is no doubt that the people are happy
about this. It is going to be the first time that a
road link will connect the island and the
mainland and it would change lives. Bonny is
beloved by the people but the big hazard has
always been the turbulent sea in which many
have perished. The NLNG plan to turn Bonny
into African mini Dubai in the next 25 years is
still on going.
Bonny must be lucky to be showered with
all these…..
If you say so. It is a primary habitat where
we have our base and offices. You could
imagine what this bridge and entire vision for
Bonny will turn out to be in the next 25 years.
Hmmmm. Non could tell the extent to which
life would change in Bonny with the road
coming. The contractors say between four to
five years, the road would be completed
considering the difficult terrain. History will
be made with this and generations of Bonny
people and indeed many Nigerians who have
cause to travel to Bonny will not go through
the hardships like their fathers
Your job takes you around as one who
resumes in one city and closes in another;
how do you coordinate your department with
offices scattered across Nigeria?
You see, I love my job which keeps me on my
toes. I work in between Bonny, Port Harcourt,
Lagos and Abuja. It is difficult to be in many
places at the same time. But you never run
from the challenge of duty. More so, when I
am passionate about my country and believe
in Nigeria. I love to communicate. I love to
teach. I love to write. My job revolves around
these passions of mine. It has been so exciting
employing these passions of mine to teach, to
write to communicate to the world that
Nigeria LNG is number one company in the
world that Nigeria could be as good as any
other company in the world. The job also helps
me to make indelible impact and imprint on
the nation. It gives me opportunity to work
with a little bit of wisdom to ensure there is an
oasis of peace in the midst of militancy, It is
indeed challenging.
Kudo teaches, writes, sings, speaks, acts,
dances etc…how do you describe yourself?
I think I am just a renaissance man, a man
to whom there is no demarcation in
professions who is ready to use any vehicles
provided for him to actualize goals. One who
is not quarantined to the arts or sciences or to
management. This is how knowledge bearers,
the classical philosophers of old like Socrates,
Aristotle, Plato and a host of others lived. I see
myself as a humble man who is out to help the
next person.
You sang before, will you sing again?
I have no choice but to continue to write
poetry and more poetry because it is my life. If
these poetry come out in songs that producers
help to put out that is it. The whole idea is that
wisdom should no longer be hidden inside
books. We should try to return wisdom to the
market place where it used to be, so when we
share folk tales under the moonlight or share
everyday stories amongst ourselves we are
spreading it. We share poetry which helps us
hand over from one generation to the other. I
believe we should take our poetry from the
rooftops where it is hung and bring it down to
where the people’s hand can reach.
Did your parents have a hand in your early
all out pursuit for academic excellence?
My parents did not influence my seeking
academic excellence. My father even
believed that people with doctorate degrees
usually ended up wacko and behaved like
mental cases. He was reluctant to see me move
higher since he believed that my Bs.c was
good enough. I was about to clock 30 when I
got my doctoral degree in 1989. I had a
collision with my father over my choice of
course at the very beginning. I had been
successful at my prelim to study chemical
engineering but I stumbled upon arts and mass
communications. If I were in heaven doing
mathematics I was in a bigger heaven in the
arts. I took my result to the Professor of
Chemical Engineering, Prof Ogunye who was
happy that I was successful. All my tales of
wishing to change course did not yield any
fruits as he insisted I started before any change
was possible. He advised that I do a first year
to prove myself and I did but he also screamed
that with such a result, no one would let me
go. Professor Ogunye went on sabbatical leave
a few months after and his successor Professor
Susu heard my tale and let me go. For my
parents they had reasoned that a degree in
Continues on pg 40
C
M
Y
K

40—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
Day KUDO ERESIA-EKE cried,
resigned over Abiola election story
Continues from pg 39
Chemical engineering would provide for me
in the oil industry. However, I got the support
of Professor Olatunji Dare who had told me
of his coming into mass communication from
a science related background. He was an
excellent teacher of mass communication. I
did not have the good fortune of him lecturing
me but I was happy to note that . His
reassurances gave me much hope that I was
not really doing something really mad the way
they made me feel. Then we had Professor
Alfred Opubor, prof Nwuneli, Prof Ugboaja. I
did not want to do a master in mass
communications because I felt that I had done
almost all there was to do. I was contributing
to Dele Giwa’s Page 7 in Daily Times and also
did a stint with Radio Nigeria 2 with Jacob
Akinyemi Johnson, Jones Usen and a host of
the other guys. Dele Giwa made me realize
that you could write in an artistic way, I won’t
forget one of our great minds Ely Obasi who
is no longer with us. I chose Political science
for a master’s degree, I felt I needed to
sophisticate communication for social change.
I needed to understand how society works. It
was after my master’s programme that Late
Prof Claude Ake came on the scene. It was
under his wings that I did political theory
which was very rare for several political
science students. Ake was my supervisor.
While running the doctoral programmes at
Uniport where Prof Ake was my supervisor, I
was close to Rivers Television.
What do you recall of your days at the
Guardian?
When I graduated from Unilag, I was posted
to Enugu to serve in the Customs service
during my NYSC. Guardian was being
packaged and I do not know who gave them
my contacts. I guess it must have been one of
my professors at Unilag. I was redeployed and
whisked out of Enugu to work at the Guardian
as one of its founding staff. I was given a small
room in Somolu to live. It was at the Guardian
that I met the stars of Nigerian journalism;
Chinweizu, Stanley Macebuh, Yemi
Ogunbiyi, Eddie Iroh with whom I worked
directly. They had read me a few weeks and
realized that I was an unusual writer and sent
me to Eddie Iroh who was heading a pool of
elite crew including Ndayo Uko, Ely Obasi,
Taiwo Obe, Afolabi Adesanya and a host of
others. Readers would study the Guardian
supplements for weeks. Those years were
great.
You once resigned your appointment as
editor of a Nigerian newspaper for reasons
some people will not see; what spurred you
to resign from Sunray newspapers
It was while waiting for my doctoral
convocation that I joined Sunray to edit Point
Newsmagazine, from the Sunray stable. You
must have heard how I resigned the job. It
was during that Abiola election period of 1992.
I had researched with my colleagues, Late
Darlington Eziukwu and others and predicted
with data from across Nigeria that Abiola of
the SDP would win that election. Rivers state
was under NRC and the government had
tremendous influence over Sunray. They
learnt that The Point Newsmagazine was
about to publish that SDP would win the
election. We had finished
production and I left
about midnight for the
printers to complete
printing. When I arrived
early on that day to
supervise circulation, I
found out that the entire
warehouse was littered
with shredded pieces of
paper. Someone told me
that the pieces of paper I
was seeing were my
newsmagazine shredded
in pieces. I was
transfixed. All the labour?
All the work? All the
creativity? All the risk we
took. Tears rolled down
my cheeks as I stood
there motionless. I knew
it was truth destroyed. I
walked straight to my
office and wrote my
resignation letter. I could
not be part of any
destruction of truth. I took
While contemplating
on which to choose,
a mystery letter from
my secretary at
Sunray got to me. I
had been appointed
Rivers state Director
of National
Orientation Agency,
Rivers state. Up till
today, I still do not
know how that job
came, who gave my
name or anything
•Dr Kudo Eresia-Eke
my letter to Mr. Bobo Brown, Editor in Chief
of Sunray. He advised me not to resign but I
had had enough. I had driven to work with
the 504 official car but I had to drop the keys
and sent a message to my wife to come along
with our old Passat car which could not start
when I was ready to go except after it was
pushed by some of my colleagues. I knew I
had no money to fend for my two months old
family but it did not matter. It was a matter of
principle. I am still very glad I resigned and
gave it up. I went back to the University and
got a job to teach political science at Uniport.
I also got another to teach mass
communications at Rivers state University of
Technology. While contemplating on which to
choose, a mystery letter from my secretary at
Sunray got to me. I had been appointed Rivers
state Director of National Orientation Agency,
Rivers state. Up till today, I still do not know
how that job came, who gave my name or
anything. In the course of doing that work,
then Rivers state Military Governor Col.
Dauda Komo appointed me Commissioner for
Information. But my boss Prof Elochukwu
Amaucheazi didn’t feel I should leave the
NOA considering all he thought I had done
so we negotiated a way out which saw me
doing the two jobs but earning only from the
source. The two jobs enabled me to be sincere,
to dare and also encourage young ones. It was
that period that generated ideas for my book;
How to make it.
How did the NLNG job come to you and
what did you do differently to contain youth
restiveness in your area of operation?
It was as I was preparing to leave the job as
Commissioner that the opportunity to be
Community Relations Manager at Nigeria
LNG emerged. I wrote the community
relations philosophy which was a complete
departure from the regular way. Being a
grassroots person who loves people, I couldn’t
copy and paste what was handed down to me.
People were completely disconnected from the
community relation plans because they were
regarded as objects. The community was a
nuisance and not a neighbor. Communities
were regarded as impostor while we came to
meet them. If anyone was disturbing the
environment then it must be us. Before now
big men in the communities were awarded
contracts to protect these infrastructure. Most
of these contractors did not even know the
communities well so the companies were
alienated from the
communities. What we did
differently was visit the over
100 communities first hand,
break kola with them and we
were explaining to them who
we were and what we were
bringing to the table. In doing
this, we found out the real land
lords and from there got to the
focal points of who became a
contractor which was made
rotational. In this way the
people started protecting their
own thing. This brought about
peace. It’s as simple as that. It
is like showing respect and
giving what is due to Caesar to
him. The land does not belong
to us but to them. It is when
there is peace that you could
then develop human capacity
programmes for the children.
That is what NLNG did
differently. It was originally
challenging because there was
no manual to refer to.

PAL Pensions reinfor
orces
strategy in pension benefits
In line with its resolve to
inspire confidence and
promote a financially
secured future among Nigerians,
and also to leverage on its 11 years
of experience on managing and
administering retirement pension,
PAL Pensions has unveiled a new
campaign tagged, ‘Retire with a
Smile’ to encourage more
individuals to save towards
retirement.
The campaign launched in Lagos
had its campaign in TV
Commercial in three major
languages in Nigeria and pidgin
English and was warmly accepted
as it sparked up positive
conversations among media
correspondents on the giant stride
embarked on by PAL Pensions. The
campaign is also expected to run
on major TV stations and
digital platforms across
the country.
Speaking at the
unveiling of the
campaign, Managing
Director, Pal Pensions,
Morohunke Bammeke,
said that the mission of the
organization is to secure
and deliver retirement
benefits with ease. “Our
vision is to be the leading
pension
fund
administrator in Nigeria
creating values. At Pal
Pensions, we are
constantly focused on
creating value and
delivering superior
customer service to our
clients. We are driven by
passion to be the leader in
Making money y via snail farming
Looking at the situation of the country since
the crash of oil price at the international
market, followed by recession that hit the
economy, many Nigerians had lost their jobs.
Presently the economy is on a process of
recovery which would take some time. So, the
hope for job creation is slim as the few ones
can’t serve everybody job seeker especially the
youths.
However, economic experts, agriculturalists
are advising nations to embark on agriculture
for self-employment and also solve the
challenges of unemployment ravaging nations
especially developing counties of Africa.
However, snail farming is one area that offers
self-employment and financial income.
Animal Farm Consultant/Managing
Director, Jovana Farms, Prince Arinze
Onebunna said that snail meat is white meat
with a difference. “It is similar in taste and
texture to that of seafood; but unlike seafood, it
is characteristically organic. Snail is preferably
table meat from the health point of view and is
increasingly recommended by nutritionists,
especially for the elderly and people living with
chronic diseases that require modified diets.
Lately, with greater consumer awareness of
the implications of high cholesterol levels in
the blood and the possible association with
increased incidence of heart attacks,
cardiovascular and other chronic diseases, the
demand for snail meat in the local and
international market is rapidly increasing.
Commercial snail farming is becoming an
alternative for livestock farmers as it offers
them new business opportunities. Snail farming
is thriving at the moment in Nigeria unlike the
past it was neglected”.
According to Onebunna, “snail breeding can
yield quick money if the farmer understands
the nitty-gritty of the modern techniques and
type of species that are in high demand in
Nigeria, Europe, USA and other developed
attracting new clients and
retaining old ones. For us,
it is crucial that every time
our clients interact with
us, they can be assured of
highest quality service
delivery. The Pal Pensions
brand exudes empathy,
warmth, partnership and
integrity.
In addition, the Head,
Brand Management &
C o r p o r a t e
Communications, PAL
Pensions, Mrs. Sunmisola
Mark-Okoma stated that
the core of this campaign
is the need to encourage
youths to secure their
future by adopting a
retirement savings plan,
even as we also emphasize
on the importance of the
Contributory Pensions
Scheme. “According to a
2017 report by the
National Bureau of
Statistics, only 10.93
percent of Nigeria’s total
working population have
retirement savings
accounts! “This implies
that more than 89 percent
of Nigeria’s workforce do
not have retirement
savings accounts. With the
campaign launch, we want
to underscore the need to
choose a credible,
customer-focused
Pensions Fund
Administrator, that would
countries.
In terms of cost and time, snail
farming is a low risk business and
profitable unlike many other
livestock businesses, its farming
requires very little start up and
operating costs. Someone can
start with N100, 000 or N150, 000
depending on the size of your
farm.
Snails are a huge part of the diet
in many parts of Africa and
around the world, although they
are not always affordable and
available all year round.
Fifty thousand (50,000) snails
sold at the of N200 each after two
years (highly reduced price) will
give you about N10 million. Most
of the snails supplied to the
Nigerian market are picked from
forests during the rainy season,
which is between April and
September. One reason why
potential investors or farmers
should consider snail business is
that during the dry season, snail
becomes increasingly scarce and
the market is starved of constant
supply until the next wet season.
This makes the supply of snails
very seasonal in many parts of the
world where they serve as food.
As a result, snails can fetch
much higher prices during the dry
season, which is December to
March when supply does not keep
up with demand. This is why you
need to cultivate snail at your
backyard or compound for profit
making.
As Nigeria explores possible
L-R Director,
Pal Pensions,
Fola Laoye;
MD/CEO, Pal
Pensions,
Morohunke
Bammeke and
Director, Pal
Pensions,
Funmi Omo
during the Pal
Pensions media
campaign
tagged Retire
With a Smile in
Lagos
ensure the security and
growth of their retirement
savings. Our desire is to
assure Nigerians that PAL
Pensions delivers pensions
services and retirement
benefits with a smile.”
Head, ICT, Oladimeji
Kazeem stated that “We
are aware that in this
digital age, everyone
wants to get a product/
service on-the-go, thus the
PAL Pensions app provides
you with all the necessary
information needed at
your convenience
wherever you are”.
Customers can easily
access their retirement
savings account and
obtain updates on
happenings in the Pensions
Industry by downloading
the app from the Google
PlayStore.
areas of diversifying its economy to rake
in more foreign exchange, the country
should take a closer look at snail farming.
The demand for snails in the local and
international market is very
encouraging”.
However, he said that presently,
Archachatina marginata snail specie is
highly sought-after both local and
international markets. This giant snail
breed is the most desirable for farmers
because it grows so big to become the
biggest snail species in the world.
Choose also the nearest seminar venue
from the advert box in this page or from
our website.
SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018—41
Experts call for urgent
diversification of Nigerian
economy
Experts in the economic sector have suggested that it is
imperative to diversify the Nigerian economy. The
suggestion was made at a seminar entitled, ‘From Bust to
Boom: Fiscal, Financial and Infrastructure Options’, held at
the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy.
The seminar which was chaired by Emeritus Professor
Ademola Oyejide while Prof. Akin Mabogunje was Chief host,
drew examples from Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, United
Kingdom, and China among others. The seminar in a
communique resolved that, “Unlocking revenues from nonfinancial
assets of Government, building foreign reserves
through massive privatization, deepening the financial system,
land reform as an imperative to making it possible for the
majority of Nigerians, especially farmers to have titles to their
land.
Executive vice chairman, ISGPP, Dr. Tunji Olaopa in his
remarks said that the ISGPP think tank is worried that the
little measure of success recorded since the exit from economic
recession may be traded for cheap political points by the
political class. He said that he believes that now is the best
time for economic experts and other stakeholders in the
business of governance to begin a level of conversation that
will deliver an alternative sustainable and inclusive model of
development for Nigeria.
Lead presenter and a member of the Board of Economists,
Dr Ayo Teriba, said that for Nigeria to transit from bust to
boom, Nigeria can open up to foreign investor to finance
private sector. “The private sector doesn’t have enough finance
and Nigeria doesn’t have infrastructure so transiting from
bust to boom means the Nigeria has resources they can raise
liquidity from to finance government. Nigerian can open up
to foreign investor to finance private sector. Nigeria does not
have to be doing nothing in the face of the bust. There are
things Nigeria can do to unleash government revenue, unleash
private finance and unlock infrastructure,” he said.
20 years of Cowbell brand and
education development in
Nigeria
Twenty years ago, Cowbell from the stable of Promasidor
realised the importance of quality education to nation
building and economic development, hence it introduced
Cowbellpedia Secondary School Mathematics Television
Quiz Show to help prepare Nigerian students for global
competitiveness.
However, this empowerment programme has enriched many
families since its inception, as the competition has gulped
millions of Naira from the purse of management of
Promasidor.
Presently, a lot of schools are hurrying to register their
candidates for the 2018 qualifying examination as February
11 will be deadline for registration is fast approaching.
According to Marketing Manager, Promasidor Nigeria
Limited, Abiodun Ayodeji, “Our Milk and sponsors of the
competition, registration for this year’s Cowbellpedia
competition is strictly online via the website and it is absolutely
free.
“Each participating school, is entitled to put forward five
candidates who must be between 10 and 18 years old for each
of the junior and senior categories. To encourage Girl Child
Education, Mixed Schools are expected to nominate a
minimum of two (2) girls for each category to represent such
school.
BUSINESS GUIDE

42—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
BY JULIUS OWEH
Since the days of late Maryam
Babangida and her epochal pet
project of ‘better life for rural
women‘, a First Lady at the national
or state level has taken upon herself
to float one pet programme or the other
for the advancement of humanity.
This is perhaps in line with the
biblical injunction that the spouse
should be the help mate of the
husband. In other words, instead of
idling away, most first ladies engage
themselves to uplift the living
standard of the people and put smiles
on the less privileged members of the
society. Here in Delta state, the wife
of the state governor, Mrs Edith
Okowa, about two years ago floated
the 05 Initiative as a way of reaching
to the orphans, those in prison and
some medically challenged persons.
Mrs Okowa explains the vision and
mission of the 05 Initiative: ‘ So my
project, 05 Initiative, is neither a
political concept nor a subtle social
strategy to “belong“. It is not a veiled
attempt to impress anyone, it is rather
a divine mandate that is rooted in the
scriptures and epitomizes godly love
and care. In driving this vision,
transparency and accountability are
imperatives. Hence we had to set up
a Board of Trustees to superintend the
operations of the non-governmental
organization. Again we have been
careful not to neglect or negate any
aspect of the five fold mandate. In
other words, we have been guided
and will continue to ensure that all
our activities are geared towards either
feeding or quenching the thirst of the
hungry, ministering to the sick,
accommodating the homeless, visiting
the prisoner or clothing the naked.
This vision came with a corresponding
passion to drive it. Though current
economic indices make every form
of charity and philanthropy
challenging, yet passion and
compassion for the less privileged kept
tugging at my consciousness and
compelling me to do something to
cushion the pains of this class of
people‘.
Thus the focus of the programme
is to extend hand of fellowship to
those in prison by giving them drugs,
providing borehole for them and
constant visits and spreading the
gospel to the inmates and the need to
be of good behaviour. In the area of
health care, the pet project saw to the
equipping of sickle clinics at the
hospitals in Agbor, Sapele and
Ughelli. There is also the visit to
orphanage homes across the state and
providing them with food, clothes and
medicine.
Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, the
primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican
Communion) lauds the programme
describing it as practical evangelism.
Listen to him: ‘If you have tasted of
the goodness of the Lord,
there is need to reach out to
the less privileged. You can
be the angel that will bring
succour to the needy. I thank
God for the wife of the Delta
State Governor and Founder
of the 05 Initiative. Her
Excellency, Dame Edith
Okowa who has made it her
life-long mission to lend a
helping hand to the poor and
needy. It is a conscious effort
to preach the gospel in words
and deeds. It is not enough
to hear the word but to be
doers of the word. Now is the
time to ``walk the talk``. I
am amazed at the number of
projects the 05 Initiative has
carried out in just one year
of existence. These projects
in different parts of the state
have brought joy to the lives of many`.
The sentiments of the man of God
found practical ventilation in many
parts of the state with prisoners
enjoying the borehole and medicine
provided by the spouse of the
governor, many orphans
being told that they are not
neglected by the society and
the sick especially those
challenged with sickle cell
anaemia that there is hope to
live as somebody is around to
remove tears from their faces.
Mrs Okowa revealed her
passion for visiting the
prisons: ‘ As a matter of
philosophy I have chosen to
always celebrate with the less
privileged, those at the lowest
rung of the ladder of life and
society. That was how I ended
up celebrating the 2015
edition of my birthday, which
coincided with my first day in
office as First Lady of Delta
state in the company of the
inmates of the Ogwashi-Uku
•Dame Edith Okowa
Edith Okowa
explains the
05 Initiative
prisons.... Lest I forget 05 Initiative
had also secured the release of some
inmates at both Ogwashi-Uku and
Sapele prisons by paying option of
fine for them, equipping and
supplying drugs to their clinics. God
willing, we shall certainly do more‘.
The director-general of the 05
Initiative is Mrs Oghenekwve Agas,
the wife of the secretary to the state
government, Honourable Ovie Agas.
She is in fact the engine room of the
programme and the administrative
hub. In one of the programmes
outreach, Mrs Agas said that the
project was desirous of sustaining its
sensitization and advocacy
programme on sickle cell to help in
enlightening the people especially the
carriers. She further revealed that
the scheme was established to
ensure that the survival rate of people
with sickle cell disorder was higher,
adding that the essence of the
equipment in the clinics at Sapele,
Agbor and Ughelli was to eradicate
encumbrances faced by ‘Survival and
Success‘ clients in accessing health
facilities.
Ogochuckwu Okonta Nwachukwu, a
sickle cell patient and a beneficiary of
05 Initiative‘s intervention shares his
experience: ‘Since my parents died,
life, understandably became tough for
my siblings and I – we are five and I
am the eldest. All we had to fall back
on was the garri business my mum left
behind. Because the business was a
low scale one, the proceeds could
hardly feed us, let alone paying rent
and school fees. That was how I
dropped out of school to face the
business so I could feed my younger
ones. The hand-to-mouth existence
continued until someone introduced
us to 05 Initiative. Gladly our situation
has improved tremendously. Feeding
is no longer a challenge for us; my
siblings and I are back to school, we
now have a roof over our heads and
so much more, all courtesy of the 05
Initiative. On behalf of my siblings, I
wish to express our gratitude to the
Founder of 05 Initiative and her team
for allowing God to use them to help
us.‘
Her Excellency,
Dame Edith
Okowa who has
made it her lifelong
mission to
lend a helping
hand to the poor
and needy. It is a
conscious effort
to preach the
gospel in words
and deeds. It is
not enough to
hear the word
but to be doers
of the word
Another beneficiary, Mrs Hephzibah
Oluwadare was full of gratitude to the
spouse of the Delta State Governor.
She poured out her heart of gratitude:
‘In the last 11 years, I have been
confined to a wheel chair because my
hip bones were affected. Worse still,
I had to drop out of school. But the
good news is that my life has made
tremendous progress since last year
when I was introduced to 05 Initiative.
All my hospital bills, including my
ante and neo-natal treatments had
been defrayed by the NGO. What is
more, all my baby‘s things were
provided by the NGO upon delivery‘.
Throughout the length and breadth
of the state, hope has been planted in
the lives of hopeless people, food
given to the hungry, medicine to the
sick and home for the homeless. The
echoes of Dame Edith Okowa message
continue to vibrate: ‘If God has blessed
you in anyway. Be a blessing to others.
It is by the grace of God that we are
living. Think of how to help others and
if you do not have the means, show
love, it will go a long way‘. Nothing
could be more apt than that.
C
M
Y
K

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018 — 43

44 — SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
Nigeria’s
Oduduru is on a
‘Divine’ mission
N
igerian
sprinter
Divine
Oduduru has been in
the global news of
recent, and for the right
reasons too! The Delta
State athlete has been
making waves in the
NCAA circuit since the
beginning of the year
and exactly a week ago,
while competing for his
school at the Texas Tech
Open meet, Oduduru
stormed to a Personal
Best (PB) of 20.18s in
only his second 200m
race at an indoor meet!
Not only is his time
the fastest over the
distance in the world
this year, it is also a
Nigerian Indoor Record
as he eclipsed Francis
Obikwelu’s former
record of 20.46s set in
1999. That time propels
Oduduru to 4th position
on the all-time global
rankings! Only
Namibia’s Frankie
Fredericks (19.92s,
1996) and USA’s duo of
Wallace Spearmon
(20.10s, 2005) and
Christian Coleman
(20.11s, 2017) have run
faster.
A day before his
impressive feat,
Oduduru had clocked a
PB of 6.58s in the 60m,
setting a School Record
in the process. As it
stands, the Nigerian
who is only a freshman
at Texas Tech, currently
holds three School
Records: the men’s 60m
and 200m indoor
records, as well as the
men’s 100m record. He
is ranked 2nd in the
200m (outdoor), and
going by his imperious
form, it is only a matter
of time before Andrew
Hudson’s record of
20.43s succumbs to the
superior speed of the
Nigerian.
A week before his
amazing feat, Oduduru
set a then PB of 20.49s
in his first ever 200m
indoor race to win the
Texas Tech Track and
Field Red Raider
Invitational, smashing
his school’s 20-year old
record in the process.
Going by how well he is
running at the moment,
one can’t help but feel
that Oduduru has a lot
more to unleash.
Divine Oduduru has
definitely come a long
way since 2013 when he
first came into national
and continental
reckoning at the African
Youth Athletics
Championships hosted
by Nigeria in Warri,
storming to Gold
medals in the 100m and
200m. Later that year,
he went on to win the
200m at the African
Junior Championships
in Mauritius.
At the 2014 IAAF
World Junior
Championships in
Oregon, he raced to a
wind-assisted time of
20.25s in the 200m to
win a Silver medal – the
fastest time by a
Nigerian in about a
decade. 2014 was also
a defining moment in
Oduduru’s career as he
showed that he had
come of age by
upstaging his more
experienced rivals to
win the National title in
the 200m.
In 2015, he was the
standout athlete at the
African U-20
Championships in
Ethiopia where he
grabbed three Gold
medals in the 100m,
200m and 4x100m
respectively. In that
same year. Oduduru
won his first continental
medal as a senior
athlete, picking the
Silver medal in the
200m at the All-African
Games in Brazzaville.
He stood a good chance
of doing same at the
2016 African Senior
Championships in
Durban but had to pull
out of the event after
suffering an injury in
the heats.
That notwithstanding,
2016 turned out to be
the highlight of
Oduduru’s career as he
reclaimed his national
title and qualified for
the Olympic Games in
Rio. At the Games,
Oduduru was drawn in
the same heat as his
mentor and Jamaican
legend Usain Bolt.
Despite his seeming
inexperience,
considering that he was
competing at the
Olympics for the first
time, Oduduru made the
most of running against
Bolt by setting a PB of
20.34s. So impressed
was the multiple World
Record holder that he
gave the Nigerian a hug
after the race, tipping
him for greater
successes no doubt.
This is what he had to
say about racing in the
same heat as the legend:
“Getting to the Olympics
remains one of my most
amazing experiences.
Me running with Usain
Bolt wanted to get me
scared so I was like ‘I am
not scared; I’m just
going there to do what I
know how to do best.
This is the moment I
have been waiting for.’
I’ve been looking up to
him. Whenever I want to
run when I go for
competitions, I watch his
videos and interviews
just to keep myself
motivated.”
Oduduru relocated to
the US after the
Olympics, having
secured a track
scholarship. However,
due to a nagging injury,
we did not see much of
him in 2017 as he needed
some time to recuperate
and adjust to his new
environment. But who
would have imagined
that he would bounce
back with such
dominance and
vehemence?
Now that he has begun
to manifest this level of
greatness, there have
been differing opinions as
to the factors responsible
for his stellar
performance in recent
times. Some are of the
opinion that his
relocation to the US
where he now has access
to great coaches and
facilities, not forgetting
good nutrition, are
responsible for his
brilliant form. However,
others believe that his
talent is only coming to
bear now.
Roman philosopher
Seneca once said: “Luck
is what happens when
preparation meets
opportunity". I believe
this best captures Divine
Oduduru’s current
reality. If he remains
injury-free and is able to
extend this performance
to the outdoors, we may
just be looking at
Nigeria’s second ever
sub-20s runner, behind
Francis Obikwelu who
clocked the National
Record of 19.84s at the
1999 World
Championships in
Spain. Oduduru has
already broken
Obikwelu’s 19-year old
indoor record; who says
he can’t replicate same
outdoors?
C
M
Y
K

SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018 — 45
Access Bank Lagos City Marathon:
Lagos hosts
ts
biggest t marathon
athon
race ace in Africa
More than 120,000 runners
are taking to Lagos
streets early this morning
for the 2018 Access Bank Lagos
City Marathon. As you read this
winners would have emerged and
cuddling their prizes, while the fun
seekers are probably still cooling
off their heels after the race over a
42km course.
The Access Bank Lagos
Marathon started in 2016. After a
jerky start, organisers have,
however, made a good impression.
Lagos State governor,
Akinwummi Ambode and title
sponsor Access Bank didn’t have
to do too much of a thinking to set
the ball rolling for the 2017
2018 W/Cup:
Integral to host
hospitality sales
in Nigeria
By Iyabo Aina
MATCH hospitality has
appointed leading
sports events and hospitality
company, Integral, as the
exclusive sales agent in
Nigeria for the sale of
the official
hospitality
programme
o f
the
2018 FIFA
World Cup.
FIFA Hospitality
Programme is set to offer
clients guaranteed match
tickets bundled together
with a wide range of services
such as facilities at the
stadiums including private
suites, lounges and marquee
tents, gourmet catering,
preferential parking,
entertainment and gifts.
Speaking at the unveiling,
Pascal Portes, Chief Operating
Officer of MATCH
Hospitality, said: “We feel a
tremendous sense of pride in
the product range offered by
MATCH Hospitality as FIFA’s
official hospitality rights
holder for the 2018 FIFA World
Cup Russia”.
He added that “Nigeria is an
established and very
passionate market, and we
are extremely optimistic
about the sales
potential for
our hospitality
programme in
2018.
edition.
In 2018 the race gained more
currency, receiving
acknowledgement from the world
athletics ruling body the IAAF. It
was awarded a bronze label and
now Lagos State sports officials
are pushing for the event to get a
gold label status and thus begin to
attract world top ten runners.
“New York marathon started
with only 17 people and we started
with 50, 000. Within the first two
years we achieved IAAF bronze
label status and our aim is to get
into the gold label so that we can
attract more elite runners,” said
general manager of the event
Yusuf Alli said.
“We have more incentives for the
local runners more than any other
marathon in the world. It is only in
Nigeria we have to pay the local
runners. In other countries it is just
one prize more.”
The 2018 edition of the Access
Bank Lagos City Marathon
witnessed several
innovations, one of
which was the
upgrade of prize
monies from
N1m to N3m,
•CHAN Eagles
for the top Nigerian finishers
(Male and Female) in the 42km
race. Winners of the Wheelchair
race will cart home N1million
each (Male and female).
There is also a 10km nonprofessional
Family Race put in
place to encourage Nigerian
participants to run for fun and
healthy living, with winners in this
category going home with brand
new cars.
Speaking on the development
and potentials of the race former
Athletics Federation of Nigeria
President, Solomon Ogba said.
“Lagos has all the ingredients to
host a world-class marathon. As
President of AFN, I approached
many officials of the Lagos State
Government, but they didn’t
welcome the idea. A few weeks
after Ambode was sworn-in, I was
still the head of AFN then, Nilayo
Sports Management Limited sold
the idea to him and he bought into
it immediately.
“The IAAF and AIMS have a
special interest in the Access Bank
Lagos City Marathon. Lagos is
one of the few marathons in the
world that got an IAAF Label after
just two editions. This is a rare
feat. The event had over 50,000
By Jacob Ajom
Even to the biggest
optimists, Nigeria was
not given any chance of lifting
the African Nations
Championship in Morocco.
With a side that barely picked
a silver in the regional WAFU
Cup of Nations some months
back, the Super Eagles were
grouped alongside Libya,
Rwanda and Equatorial
Guinea. Coach Salisu
Yusuf’s team opened their
campaign in Morocco
with a colourless
goaless draw
against Rwanda,
came from
behind to
beat
Equatorial
Guinea
3 - 1
and
churned
out a
hard-earned 1- 0
victory over hard-fighting Libya in
the last group match to top the
group on 7 points.
runners at the first edition and
over 73,000 in the second, this is
something you rarely find in any
part of the world” Ogba who is
now the president of the historymaking
Bobsled & Skeleton
Federation of Nigeria urged other
Governors and corporate bodies
to emulate Gov. Ambode and
Access Bank.
. . .Top 20 Nigerians
to get Lumos solar
power systems
The local athletes
participating in the 2018
Access Bank Lagos City Marathon
have been rewarded with Solar
Power Systems for competing in
the pulsating 42km race.
Lumos Nigeria, the leading
solar-powered Mobile Electricity
Service provider announced its
donation of 20 units of Lumos
Solar Power systems, comprising
of an indoor unit, a solar panel
and 2 DC bulbs, valued close to
N300,000 to the first 10 Nigerian
men and women winners each, of
It was at this stage that some
Nigerians began investing any
hope in the team. After
overcoming Angola and Sudan in
the knockout stages, the Super
Eagles were squared up against
hosts, Morocco in the final of a
tournament they had never got
anything better than a bronze
medal jn the past. Indeed, the
bronze was won under the regime
of late Stephen Keshi in 2014 in
Cape Town, South Africa. In this
year’s final, the Super Eagles
received a beating as Morocco
ran away with an emphatic 4-0
win . It could have been worse.
The manner of the defeat to the
hosts in the final sparked off a lot
of criticisms and coach Salisu
Yusuf was the butt of all the
attacks. Yet Salisu had his
sympathizers.
“Returning with a silver was not
bad. I will rate their performance
above average,” said sports
journalist Emma Jemegha. “It is
not every time that a team can win
competitions, Given the
circumstances the boys found
themselves in the final — the red
card and injuries to numerous key
players — I believe, it could have
been different”.
Jemegha’s sentiments were shared
by Port Harcourt-based journalist,
Gbenga James who said the
the marathon.
The Solar Power System can
power the basic items such as
three electric bulbs, rechargeable
fans, 21 inch to 32 inch LED
television sets, laptop computers,
phone chargers and other small
home appliances.
“We are very pleased to be
associated with the 2018 Access
Bank Lagos City Marathon,
undoubtedly one of the leading
Marathon events in Africa.
“For us at Lumos Nigeria, our
involvement aims to inspire and
support the runners while
empowering people through
mobile electricity at work and at
play; we are passionate about
lighting up Nigeria one family,
one small business and one
community at a time, as such, the
marathon connects with one of
our core values, passion for
excellence, hence we have decided
to reward the top 10 indigenous
male and female winners at the
event.” said the Vice President
Marketing Lumos Nigeria,
Olufemi Ashipa
Lumos Nigeria offers safe,
reliable, affordable electricity
through its Lumos Yéllo box Solar
Power System.
CHAN Eagles: Heroes or villains?
Super Eagles deserve praise for
the outing in Morocco. “Finishing
second in a 16-team competition
can never be termed a poor
performance at all, We may not
like the final but the players put in
their best and could not have gone
beyond their abilities to give you a
result better than what they
achieved in Morocco.”
Some people have questioned the
quality of players Salisu took to
CHAN, saying, “Nigeria was not
necessarily represented by her best
players in Morocco.
“That would be unfair on coach
Salisu to say he did not take
Nigeria’s best to Morocco,”
Jemegha said, angrily. “If you
remember very well, no fewer than
four members of the team that
went to WAFU were missing in
that team that played CHAN.
Nigeria is a country where, after a
competition, any player that
attracts the attention of an agent is
taken out of the country
immediately. Nigerian coaches
don’t have that luxury of having
their best players at home and the
Moroccans don’t move like our
players do here. Out of
desperation, Nigerian players go
to wherever they can earn more
than they are getting back home.
Because of that, the Nigerian team
to CHAN was depleted.”

46 — SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
Tottenham confront Arsenal
in London derby
Action returns to the Premier
League this weekend, with
many marquee football games on
show from today through
Monday. The north London derby
between Tottenham and Arsenal
stands out as the clear highlight
of the upcoming Premier League
weekend. All the matches will be
live in HD on Supersport,
exclusive to DStv.
Speaking on the Premier
League fixtures and the North
London Derby, Mr. Martin
Mabutho, General Manager,
Marketing and Sales for
MultiChoice Nigeria, said:
“Millions of people around the
world will tune in to watch the
Premier League and its showpiece
games including the North
London Derby between
Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal,
a game that has always
showcased some of the best
footballers in the world.
MultiChoice is thrilled to bring
all of the excitement of the clash
live and in HD to our viewers
across Nigeria and we ask our
viewers to tune in to find out who
wins this time.”
Also today, Manchester United
will be guests of Newcastle United
on Saturday, while Southampton
host Liverpool on Sunday.
Manchester City will look to
maintain their lead when they host
Leicester City, while Chelsea will
be hoping to recover from the
horror of their last two Premier
League fixtures when they face
West Bromwich Albion on
Monday.
“We remain committed to
providing the best sporting content
to our customers. Football fans in
Nigeria can look forward to
mouthwatering football fixtures
including the La Liga, the FA Cup
and the Champions League
knockout round,”
Mabutho enthused.
Joshua ready for Parker
Anthony Joshua appears to
have sent the strong
message that he is fit and ready
to step back inside the boxing
ring after showing off an
incredibly cut physique in his
latest Instagram post.
The world heavyweight
champion shared a photo of
himself lifting a medicine ball
in his latest training regime
and looked fitter than ever as
he displayed a torso that any
champion bodybuilder would
be proud of.
But the 2012 Olympic goldmedallist
will
find a much
more
functional
use for
those
muscles
than mere
display on
March 31,
•Asensio
when he defends his IBF,
IBO and WBA belts against
Joseph Parker at the
Principality Stadium.
It will be Joshua’s 21st
professional bout and the
sixth defence of his IBF
heavyweight title. He will
also have the chance to win
another belt with Parker the
current holder of the WBO
heavyweight title.
Both go into the bout
unbeaten with Parker
boasting 24 wins and 18
knockouts compared to
Joshua’s 20 wins and 20
knockouts. The New
Zealander’s last fight came
against Hughie Fury last
September, which he won
by a controversial split
decision after 12 gruelling
rounds.
•Joshua
ASENSIO
WANT
ANTS OUT
The Spain international has been linked with a move away
from the Bernabeu in recent months.
Asensio, 22, is desperate to get more game time at Real
under Zinedine Zidane.
The attacker has started just nine La Liga games this time out,
netting four goals and chipping in with four assists.
And according to Spanish news outlet Diario Gol, Asensio
will leave Real this summer.
They claim the winger already contacted Liverpool and
Chelsea over a possible transfer.
Diario Gol say Liverpool want Asensio as a replacement for
Philippe Coutinho, while Chelsea are in for the forward with
Eden Hazard’s Stamford Bridge future up in the air.
•Kane
•Team Nigeria
•Aubameyang
Conte’s position at
Chelsea uncertain
Chelsea boss Antonio
Conte appeared less than
happy as he left the club’s
Cobham training base on
Thursday, with his future at
Stamford Bridge remaining
shrouded in uncertainty.
Sportsmail revealed there
is major dressing-room
unrest at Chelsea but the
Italian has insisted he would
not be forced out of his job.
Conte has privately
acknowledged he will not be
Chelsea manager next
season but he is refusing to
walk away, preferring for
owner Roman Abramovich to
Winter Olympics will have the
greatest African
representation ever. But it’s the
Nigerian women who will
compete in the bobsleigh and
skeleton event who are among the
most remarkable.
The 2018 Winter Olympics
began in Pyeongchang, South
Korea on Friday and while South
Africa has sent a lone competitor –
alpine skier Connor Wilson – the
Games will have a broad African
representation.
decide his fate.
Some players,
however, find
Conte’s training
regime repetitive
and monotonous.
Similarly, some
have blamed the
tension at the
club’s Cobham HQ on Conte’s
‘bad moods’.
Conte, who earns £9millionper-year,
left the complex driving
his £15,000 Nissan Juke.
‘This is my wife’s desire to have
a small car because a small car
is easier to drive and then
especially if you are starting to
In fact, the Games will feature
the most African countries at a
Winter Olympics.
Eight countries from the
continent – Kenya, Morocco,
Ghana, Madagascar, South
Africa, Togo, Eritrea, and Nigeria
– will compete at this year’s event
with 13 athletes (a record since
1994) all vying to become the first
African to win a medal.
It is a monumental effort
considering the challenges the
athletes face to compete.
•Antonio
Conte
drive on the right,’ he has said of
the car choice.
‘This car is enough for my
daughter, for my wife because
my wife uses the car to bring
my daughter to school and if we
want to have a dinner around
Cobham we can go.
PyeongChang 2018: Team Nigeria in search of gold
Beyond the usual –
maladministration, lack of
funding and you know, the
weather – there’s the added
complexity that in many countries,
the federations that govern winter
sports simply do not exist.
When Senegal’s Lamine Guèye
became the first black African
athlete to compete in the games
back in 1984, he had to ask for the
help from the International Ski
Federation to set up the sport’s
federation.

I was better in
football than in
athletics — Urhobo
•How they chased us out of our
father's church
Toni Urhobo is a name that needs very little introduction
to followers of athletics in the country. He was an athlete
of repute who was to become a coach, a period he
produced some of the best athletes Nigeria has ever known
in track and field. He also became the Chairman of Athletics
Association as it was known then. He spoke with Jacob Ajom
on his early days as a school boy all-round sports star.
Excerpts.
How did you start your sporting
career?
I come from a home of a father
who was an evangelist and at the
same time he was sports loving. He
loved sports. My father was one of
the earliest Pentecostal founders in
Warri, that was in the 30s. He founded
a Christian church called GKS,
God's Kingdom Society, in Warri
with branches all over Lagos, Benin,
Port Harcourt. I was the 5th son of
my father. He was also into
education. He used to be a
headmaster. When God called him,
he resigned from teaching and
formed the church. He had a big
battle with his family because they
thought he was crazy; how could he
leave government job for preaching
the Gospel. It was a very serious
battle with his family, which they
regretted at a latter date. When I
confronted my uncle upon the death
of my father, several years after, he
told me they never knew that the
church thing was a lucrative business
and so they didn't support him
because how could he have resigned
from government work and started
carrying microphones and
loudspeakers and saying I want to
preach the word of God. But my dad
was very popular.
He was first a Roman Catholic,
very knowledgeable in the Bible, then
later in Jehovah Witness. When he
got the vision, when the Holy Spirit
spoke to him to go out and preach
the Gospel, he had serious battle with
his former Jehovah Witness
members. Although I was a kid then
in Port Harcourt, I wouldn't know
much, some members of the Jehovah
Witness came and fought him
seriously, that he was preaching
against their doctrine. He was
almost killed in Port Harcourt. And
so he faced a lot of trials and
tribulations. Even the Catholic
Church community saw him as a
child of the devil, that he was being
used to attack the church. He was a
very brave man.
How did this influence your
sports background?
At that time,he built the church in
such a way that he introduced sports
into the church. I remember, there
used to be a football competition
among the various branches of the
church. It was a fanfare, a week-long
event called 'the Feast of Tabernacle.'
Delegates from Lagos would come
with their football team, the ones
from from Port Harcourt would
come up with their own football
team. It was like a gala. He loved
sports and participated in it. He sent
his children to school. My elder
brothers, two of them attended
Government College Ugheli and I,
too, attended Government College
Ugheli. It was one of the best schools
in those early days. My father died, I
would say mysteriously, abruptly.
Because he was sick for just about
three days. I was just seven when my
father passed on at the age of 49. I
really missed him because after his
death, everything fell apart in my
family.
We, our father's children suffered
a lot of persecution from the man
who took over the church. The man
who took over the church married
my mother and started maltreating
us. He stopped us from going to
school. He stopped my elder brother
from going to school. I was in class
2 in the secondary school in 1961.
Our step father, had a problem with
my elder brother. The year my father
died was the year my elder brother
was going to the UK to study. That
was in 1952. He was on his way out.
He had already moved to Lagos to
take his flight to the UK when my
father passed on. He had to postpone
his flight, he returned to Warri for
the burial.
While abroad, they stopped
sending his school fees and asked
him to stop schooling and return to
Nigeria. But he refused to come
back. As we were growing up, we
were made to understand that they
saw him as a threat; that as the eldest
son of my father, he would one day
want to take over his father's church
and so they made things difficult for
him. He also went and married a
white woman, that was the woman
who helped him throughout his stay
there. By the time he came back, they
summoned him to a meeting and
asked why he refused to return when
they asked him to do so. They broke
out with him, and he left them. The
executive of the church sat and
suspended him,and told the whole
church that nobody should have
anything to do with him. They went
FG treats sports people with disdain, Semitoje cries out
Former Super Eagles
defender, Isaac Semitoje has
accused the Federal
Government of treating sports
men and women who brought
honour to the country with
disdain, adding that he will never
advise his friend, son or relation
to play for Nigeria because the
country was not worth dying for.
Semitoje who played for the
Super Eagles as a player of then
Iwuanyanwu Nationale Football
Club of Owerri in the 1990s, said
in a chat with newsmen that
football in particular will never
get it right because politicians
have taken over and advised that
and dislodged the tires of the car that
they bought for him. He was
excommunicated from the church.
Few months after that they stopped
us from going to school. For one and
a half years I was virtually at home,
with the explanation then that
education was not good for children;
just like what Boko Haram stands
for; that western education makes
children to go away from God. The
man who took over the church was
doing all that because his own
children had not grown up to school
age yet. But when his children became
of school age, they sat again and
changed the rule to favour those ones
to now go to school. It caused a lot of
problems in the church. Eventually, I
left the church, my sister left and
everybody in my family left the
church our father started. In the
process, two of my brothers died
mysteriously.
When I was home, after they asked
me to stop schooling, my Games
Master -- because I was an
outstanding sportsman – made way
for me. As a matter of fact, I was
admitted into Warri Township
School, Primary 5. I was in a private
school and for one to get your First
School Leaving Certificate one had
to go to a government school so I
decided to go to Township school
Warri. I was to go into primary six
but they said there was no space so I
had to repeat primary 5. I passed to
primary 6 the next year and sat and
passed my standard 6 exam. There
was something significant about my
admission into that school because
they said there was no space. The
Headmaster asked me, who was then
an uncle of mine but I didn't know.
He asked me if I had any talent
because the class was full. "Can you
run?" he asked. I asked him to bring
his best runners in the school so I
could compete with them. He went
and brought them. They timed us,
and I beat all their best sprinters.
Then he asked if I could play football.
During the break we played and I
was an instant hit. I was offered
admission immediately. And I
became popular in the school
because I was outstanding in sports.
I was not among the best
academically, but I was the only one
offered admission into Government
College. They were other brilliant
boys all over the place. But I believe
it was God, because two of my
brothers had already attended Govt.
College Ugheli. When I went in for
the interview, the Principal, a white
the country must return to the
basics if it must grow.
“I cannot advise any of my
friend, son or relation to play for
Nigeria because they are not
worth dying for. Can you believe
that the Nigerian government is
still indebted to us? Just look at
how ex- Internationals in the
country are being treated. If some
of us had not travelled out of
Nigeria to work out something
for ourselves, only God knows
what would have happened to us.
Football in Nigeria has been
taken over by politicians, we can
never get it right until the right
thing is done.”
•Toni Urhobo
SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018 — 47
man, only asked me, David, how is
your brother Edmund? And what
about Victor, and I said both were
fine. I was given an automatic
admission based on what my
brothers did there while they were in
school. But before then, they took us
out for sports. During the interview
they tried you in all sports - athletics,
football and all. I scored very high
marks that after the interview, it was
the Principal that went to drop me.
As things turned out, I learnt some
of the sports through my elder
brothers. Each time they were home
on holiday, I saw how they played
and I observed with keen interest. I
was the best poll vaulter in all the
schools in the mid west then. When I
got into Government College, from
my class 2, I started breaking all
records. I had that natural talent as
all I needed from you was for you to
demonstrate what you wanted me to
do and that was it.
Our school had HSC and it was
almost impossible for junior students
to break into the school's senior team.
I was one of the few who broke into
the school team from my class three
or four. I played alongside HSC
students and they used to call me one
name: Odeshu. When you are so
good, they call you son of the devil.
Like Messi is sometimes addressed
“It is very disgusting and
surprising that after serving this
country with the whole of your
heart as an ex- International
player, you get nothing in return.
I’m not too happy with the way
the government of this country
do treat us. I thank God that
some of us struggled to find our
way out of the shores of this
country may be we won’t have
been able to survive it,” he
lamented.
Speaking about the Super
Eagles World Cup campaign,
Semitoje said, “I’m not against
the national team, I want them
to do very well at the World Cup
as an alien. I was so fast, so athletic
and they never got me. I was never
injured. My talent was so special that
after my class five, my brother who
was paying my fees said he did not
have money to pay for my Higher
School education. I said okay. I
returned to Warri.
One of the best schools then was
Hussy College owned by two private
individuals O. N. Rewane, the elder
brother to the popular Alfred Rewane
who was a lawyer. His children were
my friends and when they came to
our house they said to me, Toni, we
want you to come to our school. I
told them I had no money for further
studies. They assured me not to worry,
they would talk to their father. The
next day they came to our house they
informed me that their father
wanted to see me. When I met their
father, he told me if I wanted to come
to his school, he would offer me
scholarship. I just kept quiet because
I never believed it could happen. But
when I summoned courage to speak,
I told him that if he wanted me to go
to his school I would go on one
condition: and that was if my friend
would also be offered admission and
a scholarship. I told him I could not
leave Government College and leave
him(my friend) behind. He asked me,
is he also a sportsman? I said yes,
because he threw javelin and also
played football. Rewane then said he
would give him a scholarship as well.
This my friend was Temi Ejoor, who
later became the Military
Administrator of Enugu and Abia
States.
That was how I ended up at Hussy
College. After that I was invited to
the Midwest Academicals. When we
were preparing for the National
Sports Festival, they now removed
me from the football camp to
athletics. The argument was that
football has just one medal and there
were always substitutes, while
athletics had multiple medals. I was
an all rounder in the sprints, long
jump, high jump, pole vault etc. So
they removed me from football and
it pained me because I was better in
football than in athletics. I was a top
striker, I wore No 9. As they removed
me, that marked the end to my
secondary school football career.
When we were through with that,
we went to All Nigeria Secondary
Schools competition. I set a national
record in Long Jump and eventually
I became the number one athlete in
the whole country. I set numerous
records.
To be continued
but our players must bear in
mind that to play at the World
Cup, you must
h a v e
something to
offer. We must
go back to the
basics if we
want our
football to
grow.”
•Semitoje
C
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SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 10, 2018
ACROSS
1)Rank in the Navy (9)
5)L.G.A in Ekiti State (3)
7)Germany & Liverpool Defensive
Midfielder, Emre – (3)
8)Scotland Capital City (9)
10)Super Eagles Striker, Brown – (5)
11)Vitamin Source (9)
15)Morocco “Atlas Lions” Full-Back,
Abdelali – (5)
16)Italian Prime Minister, Mr. Matteo –
(5)
17)Hierarchies (5)
18)Belgium “Red Devils” Midfielder,
Youri – (9)
22)President, Consumer Awareness
Organisation, Dr. Felicia – (5)
23)Manchester City Coach, Pep – (9)
25)L.G.A in Lagos State (3)
26)Japanese Currency (3)
27)Former Burundi’s President, Mr.
Domitien – (9)
CROSS WORD PUZZLE
DOWN
1)President, International Association of Athletics
Federations (IAAF), Lord Sebastian – (3)
2)Ethnic Group in Sierra-Leone (5)
3)Director-General, department of State Security
Service (DSS), Mr. Lawal Musa – (5)
4)Super Eagles Left-Back, Elderson – (9)
5)Former President, Nigerian Women’s Football
League (NWFL), Mrs. Dilichukwu – (9)
6)Planet Saturn’s Satellite? (9)
9)Female Rabbit (3)
11)The First ever President of the European
Council, Herman – (3, 6)
12)Netherlands “Eredivise” Club (9)
13)Germany & Barcelona Goalkeeper, Marc-
Andre – (3, 6)
14)State in Nigeria (5)
19)Togo “Sparrow Hawks” Coach, Claude – (5)
20)German “Bundesliga” Club (5)
21)Nothing (3)
24)Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Shinzo – (3)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE ON PAGE 44
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C
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