10052018 - Fresh Woes for APC

Nigeria’s 

excess oil 

revenue rises 

to N22.4bn 

daily 

9 

States, local 

govts' health 

workers to 

join strike 

9 

SUMMONS: Senate declares 

IGP persona non grata 8 

EKITI: APC delegates kick against 

Option A4 in rescheduled poll 36 

VOL. 26: NO. 63546 THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 

Fresh woes for APC 

•Ex-PDP members (nPDP) write Buhari, issue 7-day ultimatum to address issues 

•Allege ‘political pogrom’ against members; Saraki, Dogara, Goje, others involved 

STATED CONTRIBUTIONS 

•Top leaders of PDP, including ex-VP, 5 sitting Govs, 3 exgovs 

moved to APC 

•Movement of former new PDP block to APC contributed 

immensely to the victory of the APC 

•Votes scored by APC in states where leaders of new PDP 

block held sway made the difference 

Don't go 

to farms, 

militia 

warns 

Taraba 6 

communities 

Why we 

expanded 

Lagos- 

Ibadan 

Expressway 

—Lai 10 

Mohammed 

IPOB 

decries 

killings, 

cowardice 

by political 

class 

15 

** ** 

STATED GRIEVANCES 

• Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari, has never 

publicly acknowledged our efforts 

• Members facing persecution, harassment, 

intimidation 

•Inadequate reflection of policy contributions by 

members 

EL-ZAKZAKY'S FOLLOWERS TAKE PROTEST TO TINUBU 

Cross section of members of Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) protest at the house of 

National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in Ikoyi, Lagos, yesterday, 

over the detention of their leader, El-Zakzaky. Photo: Bunmi Azeez. 

COLUMNISTS OCHEREOME 32 GAMBO DORI 17 ADAMU 17 

AMAECHI 40 

AWARD FOR WIKE 

From left: President, 

International Sports Press 

Association-Africa (AIPS)- 

Africa, Mr Mitchell Obi; 

Rivers State Governor, 

Nyesom Ezenwo Wike and 

AIPS’ President, Mr Gianni 

Merlo, when the 

International Sporting 

Press honoured Wike with 

the “Power of Sports“ 

award in Brussels, Belgium, 

yesterday. 

SEE STORY ON PAGE 12 

By Emmanuel 

Aziken, Political 

Editor and Omeiza 

Ajayi 

ABUJA — The All 

Progressives 

Congress, APC 

was yesterday, headed 

towards another major 

crisis as one of its legacy 

groups, new Peoples 

Democratic Party, nPDP, 

issued a seven-day 

ultimatum to President 

Muhammadu Buhari to 

address grievances of 

marginalization and 

persecution of its 

members. 

The ultimatum was 

conveyed in a letter to the 

President, channelled 

through National 

Continues on Page 5 

Naira 41 

depreciates 

to $361.14 in 

I&E Window 

Mr & Mrs

2 — VANGUARD, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018

VANGUARD, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 — 3


Vanguard, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018—5 

POCKET CARTOON 

RESCUE—A corps member being taken away on stretcher by her 

colleagues after she collapsed during a parade to mark the closing ceremony 

of orientation course for the 2018 Batch A’ Stream 1, corps members at the 

NYSC Orientation Camp in Mangu, Plateau State, yesterday. Photo: NAN. 

Fresh troubles for APC 

Continues from page 1 

Chairman of the APC, 

Chief John Odigie- 

Oyegun by a delegation 

of the nPDP led by Alhaji 

Kawu Baraje, chairman 

of the defunct nPDP. The 

letter was signed by 

Baraje as chairman, and 

Prince Olagunsoye 

Oyinlola as Secretary. 

In demanding for a 

meeting with the 

President ahead of the 

national convention of 

the party, the nPDP bloc 

expressed dismay that 

despite significant 

contributions they made, 

they have been sidelined 

by the government. Even 

worse, they fumed that 

positions they got in the 

National Assembly have 

led to persecutions and 

witch-hunt against them. 

Meanwhile, the 

Presidency rebuffed 

enquiries on the 

development yesterday 

as it directed enquiries 

to the party. 

National Publicity 

Secretary of the party, 

Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi 

said he was out of the 

office when the 

delegation came and so 

did not have a narrative 

of the discussion with 

the National Chairman. 

“All I have seen is what 

is there on social media,” 

he told Vanguard 

yesterday. 

The nPDP statement, 

Vanguard gathered last 

night, was articulated 

with the acquiescence of 

major players in the bloc, 

including Senate 

President, Dr. Bukola 

Saraki, Speaker Yakubu 

Dogara and other major 

players in the bloc who 

crossed over from the 

nPDP to the APC in 2014. 

Conspicuously left out 

was Minister of 

Transportation, Rotimi 

Amaechi, who only got to 

know of the development 

through aides contacted 

by Vanguard yesterday. 

An Amaechi associate 

was, however, dismissive 

of the threat from the 

minister’s former 

colleagues. 

Other major players in 

the nPDP who were 

alleged to have given 

vent to the letter were 

Senators Rabiu 

Kwankwaso, Danjuma 

Goje, Magnus Abe, 

Aliyu Wamakko, 

Governor Aminu 

Tambuwal among others. 

It will be recalled that 

other major political 

blocs that converged to 

form the APC were the 

Action Congress of 

Nigeria, ACN, Congress 

for Progressives Change, 

CPC and the All Nigeria 

Peoples Party, ANPP. 

The other blocs were 

however dismissive of 

the threat with a member 

of the National Working 

Committee, NWC of the 

defunct Action Congress 

of Nigeria, ACN, 

describing the nPDP 

threat as unserious and 

ineffectual. 

“They are not serious. 

Is Amaechi not in the 

executive, is Bukola 

Saraki not Senate 

President? Is Dogara not 

the Speaker? So, what do 

they mean?,” a source in 

the former ACN said. 

Senior officials of the 

CPC were not 

forthcoming on the 

issues yesterday. The 

last spokesman of the 

party, Engr. Rotimi 

Fashakin did not 

respond to a text 

message sent to him and 

did not respond to calls. 

nPDP seeking 

better deal 

Vanguard, however, 

gathered that the 

demand was coming in 

order for the bloc to 

explore the prospects of 

a better deal within the 

APC , failing which they 

might explore other 

options available to 

them. One of the options 

for the members is to 

return to the PDP with 

the possibility of 

changing the name of 

the party or to remain 

within the APC and fight 

themselves to relevance. 

In the letter to the 

National Chairman by 

Baraje and Oyinlola, the 

nPDP said: “We the 

members of the APC, 

who moved over from the 

PDP to form the APC 

before the 2015 general 

election in Nigeria are 

desirous 

of 

strengthening our party 

especially now that new 

party congresses have 

commenced, and the 

convention and another 

round of general 

elections are imminent. 

Obviously, this cannot 

be achieved without 

addressing fundamental 

issues which we wish to 

raise in this letter. 

“We, therefore, wish, 

with due respect, to restate 

our expectation 

then and now that the 

APC we all laboured to 

build would be one 

united, inclusive, 

cohesive and 

progressive party devoid 

of divisions, factions, 

cleavages and 

tendencies. We 

envisioned a political 

party promoting equal 

rights for all Nigerians 

and ensuring rapid and 

even development across 

the country. Of course, 

there is no gainsaying 

the fact that the lofty 

ideals enumerated above 

cannot be attained 

without ensuring justice 

for party faithful and 

citizens. 

“Kindly indulge us to 

offer a brief reminder of 

the history of events that 

led to the victory of the 

APC in the 2015 general 

election and the 

presidential election in 

particular. It is an 

undeniable historical 

fact that the movement of 

the former new PDP block 

to form the APC 

contributed immensely to 

the victory of the APC in 

the elections. The former 

new PDP included five 

sitting Governors of 

Sokoto, Kano, Kwara, 

Adamawa and Rivers 

States and former 

governors of Kebbi, 

Gombe, Osun, former 

Vice President of 

Nigeria, former acting 

National Chairman of 

PDP, sitting Speaker of 

the House of 

Representatives, many 

serving members of the 

National Assembly and 

many renowned 

politicians and PDP 

elders. It was a 

watershed moment in 

Continues on Page 41 

On challenges of getting PVCs (3) 

By Bose Adelaja, Ebun 

Sessou & Frederick Okopie 

As a matter of 

urgency, the 

avoidable and needless 

challenges in the 

process of collecting 

PVCs is worrisome and 

could be frustrating. So 

many Nigerians have 

lost interest in the 

electoral process of this 

country due to corrupt 

activities associated with 

it, particularly in the 

past. 

Mr. Usman Oloyede 

Activist 

We have been there 

several times and 

were told to keep 

coming. I have relocated 

to another place and it is 

the same old story. I 

guess the Federal 

Government is not 

commited to its words. 

Mrs. Funmilayo 

Osinowo, Retiree 

It is a good exercise 

but some politicians 

have hijacked it to suit 

their political ambition. 

In most cases, people 

queue for hours without 

result. The stress 

associated with PVCs is 

too much and the 

government should 

come to our aid. 

Mr. Ila Jimoh 

Tanker driver 

The challenges are 

numerous. As we 

speak, I have not 

collected mine. I do not 

know how all eligible 

people in Nigeria would 

be able to get their PVCs 

before the election. 

Independent National 

Electoral Commission, 

INEC should address 

some of the challenges. 

I am sure these 

challenges are not 

peculiar to a certain area 

in the country. 

Mrs. Oyin Onime, Selfemployed 

Some people have not 

been able to collect their 

PVCs because of many 

challenges. The onus is on 

INEC to live up to its 

duties. At present, we 

should not be talking 

about all these challenges. 

It is not out of place to 

encounter challenges in 

logistics, what is important 

is having the Willpower to 

address those issues. 

Mr. Oladipupo Awojobi, 

Journalist 

INEC is even 

becoming more 

unorganised in 

discharging its 

responsibilities. Despite 

that, those who even 

want to collect the PVCs 

are being frustrated. 

Each time they get to the 

centre for collection, 

they are given so many 

excuses. Most times they 

tell people that their 

PVCs have been 

transferred elsewhere. 

Mr. Wahab Ogunji 

Property consultant

6—VANGUARD, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 

:Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867058, 08035483885 

Otaru of 

Auchi orders 

destruction 

of idol 

worshipping 

locations 

By Simon 

Ebegbulem 

BENIN 

CITY— 

FOLLOWING the 

alleged practice of idol 

worshipping by some 

Muslim faithful in the 

predominantly Muslim 

community of Auchi 

Kingdom in Edo State, the 

Otaru of Auchi, His Royal 

Highness, Alhaji Aliru 

Momoh, the Ikelebe III, has 

ordered the destruction of 

idol worshipping locations in 

the kingdom. 

The cleansing, as ordered 

by the palace, is being 

executed by a team of 

Muslim youths throughout 

the 25 villages. They are 

mandated to destroy and set 

ablaze such locations 

adjudged to be idol 

worshipping locations. 

Also, the jihad team, made 

up of Islamic mallams, has 

been further instructed to 

invite their colleagues who 

organise women muslim 

groups called “NASFAT” to 

discourage the women from 

going outside Auchi 

kingdom in search of 

remedies, asserting that such 

attitude portrayed them as 

non-believers in the Muslim 

faith. 

The Otaru pronounced the 

decision at the Otaru-in- 

Council meeting, which 

held weekend at his palace. 

The Dan’iya of Auchi and 

a cultural journalist,Prince 

Usman Abudah, who 

confirmed cleansing of the 

kingdom of idol 

worshippers, admonished 

the executors of the jihad to 

ensure they differentiate 

between heritage sites and 

idol locations so as not to 

cause a mix-up. 

He explained that a 

"heritage site is a historical 

location linked to the 

traditional divination of the 

kingdom where imperative 

activities are enhanced 

during the installation of a 

new traditional ruler. Such 

activities date back to the 

Auchi traditional institution 

ever since it got defined from 

the Edion period to the 

present Ikelebe Ruling 

Dynasty. 

¨What the palace is trying 

to do is to urge our people to 

practice their faith with 

sincerity and believe that 

whatever problem you have, 

you find solution in Allah and 

not pretending to be a 

Muslim and also involve in 

unholy practices, which is 

against the laws of Islam. 

"Such attitudes are dirty 

and they are part of the 

problems we are having, 

when it comes to human 

trafficking." 

Militia warns Taraba communities against 

going to farm 

By John Mkom 

JALINGO — ARMED militia 

have warned Taraba State 

communities not to waste their 

time going to farm as they were 

going to come after them. 

This was revealed by President 

General of Tiv Cultural and 

Social Association, TCSA, Taraba 

State, Chief Goodman 

Dahida,who said most 

communities around Gbundu, 

Ayu-Guraku, Ananum and 

Shaakaa villages in Donga were 

completely deserted following 

attacks by armed militia. 

He called on Army operatives 

of Operation Ayem Akpatuma 

currently ongoing in the state not 

to take the threats lightly. 

This came as Police Command 

in the state, yesterday, confirmed 

the death of nine persons in early 

morning attacks on Tutuwa 

community in Ussa Local 

Government Area of Taraba State. 

Meanwhile, five people were 

reportedly killed in 

Mbayevikyaior and Atsaha 

villages, a border community 

between Donga and Takum Local 

Government areas of the state. 

According to Dahida, “the 

armed militia told Tersoo John 

and Tyokula Iorwa in Dogon 

Gawa and Mbayevikyaior 

respectively when they met them 

on their farms in Takum LGA not 

to waste their time farming as 

they were going to come after 

their communities and several 

others in Donga and Takum LGA 

after moving their cows off the 

areas." 

When contacted, Police Public 

Relations Officer, ASP. David 

Missal said the command was 

yet to receive official complaint 

from the said communities over 

threats of attacks. 

Police confirm 9 

killed in fresh 

Taraba attack. 

The Police Public Relations 

Officer in the state, ASP David 

Misal, yesterday, told newsmen 

that a yet-to-be identified armed 

militia must have carried out the 

deadly attack on Tutuwa 

community. 

Misal said Alhaji Aliyu Tafida, 

Deputy Commissioner of Police 

of the command, and heads of 

other security agencies in the 

state had already moved in to 

assess the situation. 

Chairman of Ussa local 

government council, Mr 

Rimansikwe Karma, while also 

confirming the attack to 

newsmen, added that three 

people were injured. 

Karma said the attackers 

rounded up the village at about 

5 a.m. and launched the attack 

when members of the community 

were going for early morning 

prayers. 

“Every Wednesday morning, 

the community conducts midweek 

service and most of them 

were on their way, when the 

armed militia attacked them. 

“Nine persons were killed and 

•Police confirm 9 killed in fresh attack 

•Another 5 bodies recovered in 2 communities 

three others sustained life 

threatening injuries and are 

currently receiving treatment at 

Takum General Hospital. 

“The unfortunate thing is that 

the attackers left before the arrival 

of security personnel,” he said. 

5 dead bodies 

recovered 

Meanwhile, residents of 

Mbayevikyaior and Atsaha 

villages in Chanchanji ward, a 

border community between 

Donga and Takum local 

government areas of the state 

said they have recovered five 

dead bodies allegedly killed 

by armed militia. 

A resident of Mbayevikyaior, 

who participated in the burial 

of the victims on Tuesday, 

toldVanguard that many of the 

bodies had already 

decomposed at the time of the 

recovery, days after the people 

were declared missing. 

“The armed militia, who 

guarded the herdsmen that 

passed through our village, 

were seen with sophisticated 

weapons and killed most of the 

victims on their farms in the 

hinterlands. 

“They destroyed our farms and 

burned down few houses, warning 

our people not to waste their time 

farming as they were going to 

come back to attack our 

communities. 

“They are currently staying with 

thousands of cows along the river 

Donga and most of our people 

living close to the river have since 

fled for fear of further attacks after 

the killing of five persons on their 

farms,” he said. 

CHEERS SALUTE: A cross section of National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, 

members performing the "Three Happy Cheers Salute" during the closing 

ceremony of the NYSC 2018 Batch A Orientation Programme at the NYSC 

Permanent Orientation Camp in Nonwa/Gbam, Tai Local Government Area of 

Rivers State, yesterday. Photo: Nwankpa Chijioke. 

2 killed in renewed leadership tussle 

in Delta community 

By Perez Brisibe 

UGHELLI—TWO persons 

have been reportedly killed 

in Owevwen community, 

Ughelli North Local Government 

Area of Delta State in what locals 

attributed to a renewed 

leadership tussle rocking the 

community. 

Those killed are Moses Idudje 

and Prince Vote Ariakpore, who 

is said to be a younger brother 

to the traditional head of the 

community. 

Though the Delta State Police 

Public Relations Officer, DSP 

Andrew Aniamaka, could not 

confirm the incident when 

contacted, a police source at the 

Ughelli ‘B’ Police Division 

confirmed the incident. 

The source said: “The matter 

was reported at the station today 

(Wednesday) and we have since 

begun investigation into the 

incident. 

"I can assure you that the 

police would leave no stone 

unturned in ensuring that we get 

to the root of this matter and 

bringing the culprits to book.” 

Giving details of the 

incident, a member of the 

Owevwen community 

executive disclosed that the 

victims had embarked on an 

errand to another community 

to give an unspecified sum of 

money to a lawyer and were 

on their way back when they 

were ambushed. 

The community executive, 

who spoke on condition of 

anonymity, said: “Following 

the alarm raised by Vote’s 

wife, a search party made up of 

youths from the community 

combed the surrounding bushes 

only to discover their remains and 

the motorcycle they used for the 

trip by a pond in the bush. 

“At the scene where their bodies 

were discovered, we also found 

empty bullet shells used in 

shooting them. 

“For some time now, there has 

been a leadership tussle in the 

community with Vote threatened 

to be killed at one of the meetings 

he attended with the President 

General of the community.” 

Court remands lawyer who mu 

By Onozure Dania 

LAGOS—Attempt by the 

female lawyer, Mrs. Udeme 

Odibi, 48, who was accused of 

stabbing her husband to death 

to stop the burial of her 

deceased husband slated for 

today failed. 

The defendant made the 

request before the Yaba 

Magistrate's Court through her 

lawyer, Mr.Oluseye Bamijoko, 

on the ground that the result of 

the autopsy carried out on the 

deceased was not made available 

to them. 

Her lawyer also argued that the 

result of the psychiatric evaluation 

carried out on Mrs. Odibi was not 

made available to the defence. 

Chief Magistrate Kikelomo Ayeye 

ordered that the defendant be 

remanded in Kirikiri Maximum 

prison and directed the Comptroller 

of Prisons to allow her access to 

doctor and defence counsel in 

private. 

A request was earlier made for her


:Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews 

11 feared dead in lkot Offiong/ 

Oku-Iboku inter communal clash 

By Emma Una 

CALABAR— TWO days of 

fierce inter communal clash 

between the Ikot Offiong people 

of Odukpani Local Government 

Area of Cross River State and their 

Itu neighbours in Akwa Ibom 

State has reportedly left about 11 

people, mainly women and 

children, dead. 

The perennial clashes between 

the two communities, which 

reoccurred on Sunday, went on till 

Monday night, leaving many 

houses and other property 

destroyed with over 2,000 people 

left homeless. 

A resident of the area, Bassey 

Okokon, told Vanguard that the 

skirmishes between the two 

communities started Sunday 

morning when the Oku-Iboku 

people launched an attack on Ikot 

Offiong community while they were 

in church, giving room for the high 

number of casualties. 

He said: “We were in the church 

and all of a sudden we heard 

gunshots and people started 

running for safety and many of 

them were caught by bullets and 

others were butchered with 

machetes.” 

He said the attack went on till late 

in the night and the following day 

with no help as there is no police 

station or security agency in the 

area. 

He said: “The Itu people attacked 

our community located in the 

western flank of Cross River 

waterway that serves as boundary 

between our two communities and 

there is no police presence in the 

area, which is the reason many 

people were killed.” 

Chief Stephen Nya, Clan 

Head of Ikot Offiong, said the 

Oku-Iboku people launch 

frequent attacks on his people 

because of their intention to take 

the forest reserves in the area, 

which has oil deposits and that 

the Ikot Offiong people should 

pay royalty to them for fishing 

in the Cross River. 

"They attacked us three weeks 

ago and we repelled them and 

now they have decided to 

launch attack while we were in 

church and have killed our 

women and children en 

mmase,” Chief Nya stated 

Ms Irene Ugbo, Cross River 

Police Command spokesman, 

said anti-riot policemen have 

been sent to the area and 

hostilities have ceased. 

Rainstorm kills 2, destroys homes, 

schools in Nasarawa 

By Femi Bolaji 

LAFIA —A massive rainstorm 

that swept through some 

communities in Nasarawa State 

has reportedly left two persons 

dead and destroyed property 

worth millions of naira. 

The storm, which lasted more 

than an hour in the early hours 

of Tuesday, killed the two people 

in Doma Local Government Area 

of the state. 

Some residents of Doma, who 

spoke to newsmen, said they 

have never experienced such in 

the history of the area. 

A resident of Doma, Rabiu 

Omaku, disclosed that Doma 

North Secondary School was 

totally destroyed and parts of 

Taal Modern Primary School 

Doma were affected. 

He said an MTN mast fell on 

a house and killed one woman 

in Lower Benue area of Doma, 

while one other man died in 

Dutun Alarama area. 

He said many electricity poles, 

shops and houses were affected 

by the rainstorm, including 

Forward Operation Base (FOB) 

of the newly established 

Military Barracks in Doma. 

Another respondent, Zainan 

Ibrahim, told newsmen that his 

house was destroyed and his 

household is currently stranded 

without shelter. 

rdered husband in Kirikiri Prison 

to be remanded in Ikoyi prison but 

that order could not be made 

because there were no female 

facilities in Ikoyi prison. 

She also rejected the request to 

stop the planned burial of the 

deceased today, saying that will be 

a rude interruption to the right of 

the dead. 

Magistrate Ayeye said if 

necessary, the body can still be 

exhumed for further investigation. 

The defence is further insisting on 

independent autopsy and 

psychiatric evaluation of the suspect. 

One of the houses destroyed. 

All efforts by newsmen to Management Agency 

contact the Executive Secretary NASEMA, Allu Maga, on the 

of Nasarawa State Emergency fate of the affected persons 

proved abortive. 

The counsel informed the court that 

the suspect has been diagnosed with 

thyroid disease necessitating the 

urgent need to see a doctor. 

A Chief Superintendent of Police, 

CSP, Effiong Asuquo, Officer in 

charge of Legal Department of the 

State Criminal Investigation and 

Intelligence Department Panti, 

SCIID, urged the court to remand the 

defendant in prison for the next 30 

days. 

He said the case file had been 

duplicated and sent to the State 

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) 

to obtain legal advice. 

He said we have an application 

for remand, brought pursuant to 

section 264 of the Administration 

of Criminal Justice Law 2015. 

The remand request reads: “The 

Court is informed that there is 

probable cause to order the 

remand of Udeme Otike Odibi of 

Diamond Estate, Sangotedo, 

Lekki Lagos, in prison custody: 

who is reasonable to have 

committed the offence of murder 

having on May 3, 2018, at 

Diamond Estate, Sangotedo, 

Lekki Lagos, killed her husband, 

one Otike Odibi." 

Throw back Thursday 

... with Emma'nKen (08163121378) 

Go and discharge heavy duty

8—Vanguard, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 


How Senate was invaded 

by thugs—Sergeant-atarms, 

Police 

•Senator Ndume fingered, as Police allege 

internal conspiracy 

By Levinus 

Nwabughiogu 

A BUJA—SERGEANT- 

AT-ARMS to the 

National Assembly, 

Brighton Danwalex, 

yesterday, accused Senator 

Ali Ndume representing 

Borno South in the Senate 

of being a co-conspirator in 

the recent invasion of the 

Senate that led to the 

snatching of the mace by 

thugs at the National 

Assembly. 

This came as the police 

alleged a high level 

conspiracy between the 

thugs and some senators to 

steal the deal. 

Testifying before a joint 

Ad-hoc Committee of the 

Senate and the House of 

Representatives 

investigating the matter, 

Danwalex said that Ndume 

prevented the security 

operatives from moving the 

mace to safety. 

He said: “One of the 

Sergeant-at-Arms assigned 

to protect the mace in 

Chamber wrote this in his 

statement during our 

investigation that he gave 

signal for his second who 

was standing closed to 

mace to remove and take it 

inside but Ndume said they 

should not touch it. 

“Security men are even 

having challenges with 

some legislators because 

they don’t want to follow 

checks. Some will come 

with five vehicles and ask 

the security to allow them 

to pass." 

Also testifying, the 

Divisional Police Officer in 

the National Assembly, 

Sulu-Gambari Abdul 

alleged internal conspiracy 

in the mace theft from the 

chambers by thugs on April 

18, 2018. 

Sulu-Gambari 

said: 

“What happened at the 

National Assembly was an 

act of internal conspiracy 

among some security 

agencies and some of the 

lawmakers. 

“There should be a 

synergy between security 

agencies and the 

lawmakers but in this case 

the attack came from the 

roof as the senators are not 

helping security matters. 

“On April 16, there was 

an earlier hint that a group 

planned to invade the 

National Assembly and 

disrupt activities, which 

called for a build-up of 

security with two units of 

mobile police mobilized to 

the complex. 

“However on April 18, 

between 10 and 11am, my 

attention was drawn to a 

group protesting at the 

gate, while I moved to 

address the group I was 

informed that some people 

were running away with 

the mace. 

“I signalled all the entry 

points that nobody should 

drive in or out but three men 

approached me identifying 

themselves as security 

operatives and requested to 

be allowed to go. 

“The stain of blood on 

their clothes made me 

become suspicious and I 

ordered they be arrested. 

In all, six people were 

arrested same day and 

handed over to the force 

headquarters alongside 

charms recovered from 

them. 

“In addition an unmarked 

Prado jeep and a Toyota 

Hilux were impounded 

and they are with the 

police. 

“It was later that I 

observed that the protest 

was a diversionary to move 

me out as the protesters 

were same group with 

those that attacked,” Abdul 

said. 

Monetary allocations: RMAFC 

ammendment bill passes second 

reading in Senate 

By Henry Umoru 

ABUJA—A bill for an 

Act to amend the 

Revenue Mobilization, 

Allocation and Fiscal 

Commission Act, RMAFC, 

Chapter R7, Laws of the 

Federation of Nigeria, 2004 

to empower the 

Commission to disburse the 

revenue accrued in the 

Federation Account to the 

three tiers of Government 

in the source currency 

component (dollar and 

naira) of the Federation 

Account, yesterday scaled 

the second reading. 

The enactment of the 

amendment Bill will also 

empower the federating 

units to open and maintain 

Domiciliary Accounts with 

the CBN into which their 

share of dollar revenue 

accrued in the Federation 

Account is to be paid into. 

In his lead debate, 

sponsor of the bill, Senator 

Francis Alimikhena (APC, 

Edo North) said that the 

amendment had become 

imperative because when 

the tiers of government 

have settlements to meet in 

foreign currency, they 

simply do so with corporate 

entities and apply to the 

CBN to transfer from their 

domiciliary accounts to the 

foreign beneficiaries, 

adding that necessary 

controls will be put in place 

to ensure the system was 

not abused. 

INAUGURATION: From left—Hon. Gyan Istifanus Dung, member; Hon. Musa Sarki Adar , Cochairman; 

Sen. Gbenga Ashafa, Chairman; Sen. Barnabas A. Gemade, member; and Hon. 

Shehu Aliyu Musa, member, at the inauguration of the National Assembly Conference Committee 

on the National Transport Commission Bill, in Abuja, yesterday. 

Senate declares IGP persona non grata 

•As IGP shuns Senate 3rd time 

•Senate to write embassies, INTERPOL, others 

...says Idris, enemy of democracy, not fit to hold any position 

•PDP blasts IGP, berates Buhari for failing to act 


& Dirisu Yakubu 

ABUJA—FOR 

his 

refusal to appear 

before the Senate at 

plenary yesterday, the third 

time in two weeks, to speak 

on the spate of killings 

across the country and the 

inhuman treatment meted 

on Senator Dino Melaye ( 

APC, Kogi West), the 

Senate, yesterday passed a 

vote of no confidence in the 

Inspector- General of Police, 

Mr Ibrahim Idris, saying 

he was not fit to hold any 

office, both home and 

abroad. 

According to the Senate, 

his persistent refusal to 

appear before the 

lawmakers at plenary 

having been invited several 

time, was a great danger to 

the nation’s democracy. 

This was disclosed by 

Senate President Bukola 

Saraki at the end of a closed 

door session that started 

12.25p.m., and ended 

1.15p.m., to brainstorm on 

the next line of action 

following the action of the 

Police boss. 

At the closed door session, 

the Senate resolved to 

declare the Police boss 

persona -non grata by 

writing the international 

community, embassies, 

Nigeria's international 

partners and the Interpol 

that he was not fit for his 

present position. 

Separately, the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, has 

chided the IGP for 

shunning the invitation by 

the Senate over rising cases 

of insecurity in the country. 

The party described Idris’ 

conduct as shameful and 

disrespectful, noting that 

the hallowed chamber 

deserves the respect of all 

Nigerians regardless of 

their class and status. 

In a statement, yesterday, 

its National Publicity 

Secretary, Kola 

Ologbondiyan, said it was 

unfortunate that the police 

boss’ behaviour has not 

been reprimanded by 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari. 

The party said, “It is 

instructive to state that 

never in our democratic 

history as a people and a 

nation, has a service chief 

or an Inspector General of 

Police treated the National 

Assembly with as much 

dishonour and disdain like 

the current IGP.” 

Saraki after the closed 

door session, said, 

“Colleagues, the Senate in 

a closed session deliberated 

on the non-appearance of 

the IGP to the Senate in 

plenary after several 

invitations. The Senate 

noted that this amounted to 

a great disrespect to the 

institution and constituted 

authority. The Senate also 

notes that his earlier refusal 

to appear before its 

investigative committee was 

overruled by a court of 

competent jurisdiction just 

in April of this year. 

“The Senate therefore, 

views his persistent refusal 

as a great danger to our 

democracy. 

“Therefore, the Senate 

resolved to declare the IGP 

as an enemy of our 

democracy and not fit to 

hold any public office 

within and outside Nigeria. 

The leadership of the 

Senate is also mandated to 

look into the matter for 

further necessary action.” 

Senators prior to the 

closed door session, had 

condemned in very strong 

terms, the blatant refusal of 

See EDITORIAL, 

Page 18 

the IGP to honour the 

invitation of the Senate, as 

they all described it as 

danger for the nation’s 

democracy. 

It dies when people abuse 

governmental powers and 

all that we have seen today 

with the conduct of the 

Chief Law Officer of the 

Federation is nothing but 

an abuse of power.” 

Also contributing, deputy 

Senate Minority leader, 

Emmanuel Bwacha (PDP, 

Taraba South), described 

the action of Idris as very 

sad for Nigeria. His words: 

“This is quite a sad moment 

for Nigeria, not for the 

parliament, but for our 

democracy. 

“It is sad, it is inexcusable, 

unacceptable and 

condemnable and it calls for 

immediate action. This 

Senate needs to take very 

serious action on the way 

forward. We cannot stand 

this embarrassment any 

longer. I will suggest we 

have a closed session. I'm 

moving to have a closed 

session or executive 

session to take very serious 

consideration on this matter 

because this is a national 

disgrace.” 

CSOs say Buhari’s anti-corruption fight failing 

By Omeiza Ajayi 

LAGOS—A coalition of 

civil society 

organisations yesterday 

expressed concern on the 

state of the polity as it 

lamented what it described 

as the progressive decrease 

in the capacity of the 

Muhammadu Buhari 

administration to fight 

corruption. 

The coalition groups led 

by the Civil Society 

Advocacy and Legislative 

Centre, CISLAC at a press 

conference in Abuja 

yesterday particularly 

expressed concern on the 

stalemate in the fight 

against corruption noting 

the abandonment of high 

profile corruption cases 

associated with officials of 

the Federal Government. 

The groups also 

expressed concern at the 

Senator Enyinnaya 

Abaribe (PDP, Abia South) 

in his contribution, said that 

with the action of the IGP, 

democracy is dying in bits. 

Abaribe said, “Democracy 

dies and it dies in two ways. 

It either dies abruptly or in 

bits and what is happening 

today in Nigeria is that 

democracy is dying in bits. 

continued violation of the 

provisions of the Federal 

Government procurement 

laws with the failure of the 

Muhammadu Buhari 

administration to 

inaugurate the National 

Procurement Council as 

required by law. 

The executive director of 

CISLAC, Mallam Auwal 

Rafsanjani and Chairman, 

Partners for Electoral 

Reform, PER, who 

addressed the press on 

behalf of the 18 groups that 

included Partners for 

Electoral Reform, Say No 

Campaign, State of the 

Union, SOTU, among 

others, noted stalemate in 

the prosecution of some 

high profile corruption 

cases. 

He said: “We are worried 

over the administration’s 

continued unwillingness to 

exert appropriate sanction 

against high profile erring 

officials amongst others 

which include: 

“Salient but illegitimate 

re-engagement of the 

former Chairman of the 

Presidential Pension 

Reform Task Team, 

Abdulrasheed Maina, who 

was disengaged from 

service by the previous 

administration over N2.7b 

Pension Fraud; 

“Babachir Lawal, former 

SGF attributed to the 

diversion and 

mismanagement of about 

N12 billion North East 

humanitarian intervention 

fund; 

“The controversial effort 

by Amb. Babagana 

Kingibe-led Presidential 

Review Panel to siphon $44 

million Intervention Fund 

belonging to the National 

Intelligence Agency, NIA.

VANGUARD, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018—9 

:Vanguard 

News 

Strike: States, local govt health 

workers to join 

By Sola 

Ogundipe, 

Chioma Obinna, 

Egufe Yafugborhi 

& Luminous 

Jannamike 

NIGERIANS seeking 

medical treatment in 

any of the federal, state and 

local government-owned 

hospitals may go elsewhere 

as the Joint Health Sector 

Union, JOHESU, 

yesterday, directed its 

members in the states and 

local government areas to 

join the ongoing health 

workers strike by midnight 

(Wednesday). 

Meanwhile, Joint Health 

Sector Unions/Assembly of 

Healthcare Professional 

Associations (JOHESU/ 

AHPA) and pharmacists 

under the aegis of 

Pharmaceutical Society of 

Nigeria, PSN, Lagos State 

branch, have stressed the 

urgent need to mobilise 

health professionals in the 

private sector to join the 

strike. 

Also, the management of 

the University of Port 

Harcourt Teaching 

Hospital, UPTH, Rivers 

State, has commenced 

recruitment of casual staff 

to fill the gap while the 

health workers remain on 

strike. 

States, local govt 

health workers to 

join 

JOHESU National 

Chairman, Biobelemoye 

Josiah, who announced the 

decision to extend the 

industrial action to states 

and local government areas 

while briefing newsmen in 

Abuja, blamed the 

government for not 

showing any seriousness to 

meet the demands of the 

union for adjustment of the 

CONHESS salary 

structure, which affects over 

95 percent of the health 

workforce nationwide. 

His words: “The 

government has not shown 

any seriousness to meet our 

demands and the existence 

of fifth columnists in and 

out of government who are 

bent on escalating and 

prolonging the strike for 

their selfish interest of 

privatisation of government 

hospitals, and buy these 

government legacies for 

themselves has not helped 

out. 

“Since the government 

has not shown enough 

commitment to toe the path 

of honour and meet our 

demands, especially, the 

core demand for the 

upward adjustment of 

CONHESS salary 

structure as agreed in the 

Memorandum of Terms of 

Settlement signed on 

September 30, 2017 with 

JOHESU, we are left with 

no other option than to 

direct states and local 

government areas to join 

the strike action nationwide 

from midnight of May 9, 

2018.” 

.Private health 

workers to join, 

says Lagos PSN 

In a seperate statement, 

Chairman PSN Lagos State 

branch, Mr Bola Adeniran, 

said JOHESU/AHPA may 

be compelled to encourage 

private health workers to 

consider staging symbolic 

shut down of their private 

facilities on selected days in 

strategic cities if after two 

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

•Private health workers too 

•UPTH engages Red Cross, adhoc staff 

weeks the on-going strike 

remained unresolved. 

Adeniran said: “At the root 

of these avoidable strikes is 

the desire for benefit 

packages and privileges for 

all concerned. These 

clamours from all sides of 

the divide appear to have 

been grossly mismanaged 

by government at all levels 

over the years.” 

UPTH engages 

Red Cross, adhoc 

staff 

At the UPTH, the 

management has 

commenced recruitment of 

ad-hoc staff to ease the 

impact of the strike on 

patients. 

Chief Medical Director of 

UPTH, Prof. Henry 

Ugbomah, explained that the 

engagement of ad-hoc staff 

became imperative to ease 

impact of the strike on 

patients as critical units 

hitherto shut down due to the 

strike were now opened for 

service delivery. 

He said: “After careful 

periodic review of our 

activities, management 

resolved to expand the scope 

of service delivery by 

engaging personnel from the 

Red Cross and ad-hoc staff, 

while some critical units 

closed following the strike 

are now opened for service.” 

MEETING: From left, Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; 

Minister for Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe; Minister for Trade and 

Investments, Dr. Okechukwu Elenama; Minister for Budget and 

Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, and Vice President Yemi 

Osinbajo during the meeting of the Economic Recovery and Growth 

Plan Steering Committee at State House, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: 

Abayomi Adeshida. 

Fake statements ascribed to Buhari 

flood social media —Presidency 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

A BUJA—THE 

Presidency, 

yesterday, lamented that 

mischievous persons have 

now devised means of 

ascribing fake statements to 


Buhari. 

Consequently, the 

Presidency has alerted the 

public that the new 

dimension in the alleged 

orchestrated plot was to 

diminish the stature of 

President Buhari before 

millions of Nigerians, who 

it said love and adore their 

President. 

According to a statement 

by Special Adviser to the 

President on Media and 

Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, 

those behind the 

development started with 

what was described as a 

pernicious twisting and 

misinterpretation of the 

words of the President by 

mischievous elements. 

Adesina said: “An 

example is a fictive portion 

of the February 2015 

lecture by the then 

candidate Buhari at 

Chatham House, London. 

This is what is circulating 

now on social media: 

“What is the difference 

between me and those who 

elected us to represent 

them, absolutely nothing. 

Why should Nigerian 

President not fly with other 

Nigerian public? Why do I 

need to embark on a 

foreign trip as a President 

with a huge crowd with 

public funds? 

“Why do I need to go for 

a medical trip abroad if we 

cannot make our hospital 

(sic) functional? Why do we 

need to send our children 

to school abroad if we 

cannot developed (sic) our 

university (sic) to compete 

with the foreign ones?’ 

“Fortunately, the 

Chatham House lecture of 

2015 is in the public 

domain. The full text was 

published by many 

Nigerian newspapers and 

is still available in their 

libraries and various 

websites. The concoction by 

haters and agents of 

disunity is not part of the text 

of the lecture at all. 

“The morbid minds that 

created the falsehood 

simply want to de-market 

and demean the President, 

having seen that defeating 

him in a free and fair 

electoral contest is a tall 

order. Therefore, they desire 

to instigate the electorate 

against him by creating 

statements that never 

existed, and attributing such 

to him. 

“Decent Nigerians are 

urged to be wary of the fare 

they consume hook, line and 

sinker, particularly on social 

media. President Buhari is 

actuated by nothing else 

than love for motherland. He 

is poised to build a country 

which all Nigerians can 

proudly call their own. 

Noxious minds can still have 

a change of heart.” 

Senate moves to screen, 

approve CBN board 


A BUJA—SENATE 

President, Dr Bukola 

Saraki, yesterday 

promised that the Senate 

will soon commence the 

screening and subsequent 

approval of board 

members of Central Bank 

of Nigeria, CBN. 

Responding to request by 

Senator Shehu Sani (APC, 

Kaduna Central), that the 

Senate should partially lift 

a Senate ban on 

consideration of executive 

appointments, especially 

that of the CBN in the 

overall interest of the 

country and the economy, 

Saraki said, “We have 

taken note of your 

comments, we will look 

into it.” 

Earlier, Senator Sani who 

came under Order 43 of the 

Senate Standing Order, 

2015 as Amended said 

partial lifting was necessary 

to confirm the appointment 

of members of CBN 

because of the economy. 



Buhari had in April 2017 

requested the confirmation 

of the appointment of fine 

non-executive Directors of 

the Board of CBN. 

The Senate, however, 

declined to confirm the 

appointment due to a 

unanimous decision the 

lawmakers took in 2016. 

Nigeria’s excess oil revenue 

rises to N22.4bn daily as 

price hits $77bn per barrel 

By Udeme 

Akpan 

NIGERIA’S excess oil 

revenue has risen to 

N22.4 billion daily as a 

result of the sudden leap 

in the price of crude from 

$67 to $77 per barrel in the 

international market. 

The rise in oil price was 

partly attributed to 

President Donald Trump’s 

decision to re-impose 

economic sanctions on Iran 

and the continued output 

cut by members of the 

Organisation of Petroleum 

Exporting Countries, 

OPEC. 

Consequently, current oil 

market situation is 

expected to impact 

positively on the nation’s 

2018 budget. 

The nation’s N8.612 

trillion 2018 budget, which 

the National Assembly had 

promised to pass next week 

was benchmarked on $45 

per barrel of oil and the 

production of 2.3 million 

barrels per day. 

But the rise in oil price 

showed an excess of $32 

per barrel against the $45 

per barrel budget 

benchmark price, 

indicating an excess daily 

revenue of $73.6 million or 

N22.4 billion at the official 

exchange rate of N305 per 

dollar. 

A survey of various oil 

markets around the world 

by Vanguard yesterday, 

showed that the price of 

some light crudes, 

including Nigeria’s Bonny 

Light was in excess of $77 

per barrel. 

NNPC, currently most 

transparent company in 

Nigeria — Baru 

By Michael 

Eboh 

A BUJA—THE 

Nigerian National 

Petroleum Corporation, 

NNPC, yesterday, 

disclosed that currently, it 

was the most transparent 

organisation in the 

country. 

Speaking at the 

stakeholders’ workshop on 

validation by Nigeria 

Extractive Industries 

Transparency Initiative, 

NEITI, Group Managing 

Director of NNPC, Mr. 

Maikanti Baru, stated that 

efforts were currently on to 

disabuse the mindset of 

Nigerians that wrong 

things are happening in 

the corporation. 

Baru, who was 

represented by Group 

General Manager, Crude 

Oil Marketing Division of 

the NNPC, Mr. Mele Kyari, 

explained that things had 

taken a turn for the better 

in the corporation, 

especially in the last two 

years. 

He said: “We have never 

had it this good in the 

country since the last two 

years, in terms of 

transparency of our 

transactions, validation of 

our activities; the 

unfettered, unobstructed 

participation of the 

secretary to the 

government, who has 

never asked us to do 

anything different. 

“Today, we need to get 

people out of the mindset 

that something wrong is 

happening in the NNPC. 

Nothing wrong is 

happening. We have 

passed that stage. We are 

now probably one of the 

most transparent 

companies in this country."

10 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 

Why we expanded 

Lagos-Ibadan expressway 

—Lai Mohammed 

L AGOS—MINISTER 

of Information and 

Culture, Alhaji Lai 

Mohammed, continued the 

inspection of Federal 

Government’s 

infrastructural projects 

across the country,with a 

visit to the Lagos-Ibadan 

expressway, yesterday. 

The Minister, who kickstarted 

the tour on Tuesday 

with a visit to the Lagos- 

Ibadan standard gauge rail 

line, inspected the two 

sections of the expressway: 

from Lagos to Shagamu 

Interchange and Shagamu 

Interchange to Ibadan. 

While briefing the 

Minister and his team, 

Project Engineer of the 

Reynolds Construction 

Company (RCC) and 

contractor handling the 

Shagamu-Ibadan axis, Mr. 

Noar Narkisis, disclosed 

that work had reached 58.27 

percent completion on the 

axis. 

He explained that the 

RCC was currently working 

to expand and reinforce the 

road, in addition to building 

concrete drainages and 

repairing failed bridges.” 

Narkisis, who stated that 

the RCC was also doing 

maintenance of the existing 

carriageway to ensure a free 

flow of traffic, assured that, 

the company would 

complete the asphalt-laying 

phase of the entire 84- 

kilometer sector before the 

...Says UNWTO/CAF meeting'll 

boost Nigeria’s tourism industry 

By Jimoh Babatunde 

L AGOS—MINISTER 

of Information and 

Culture, Alhaji Lai 

Mohammed, has reiterated 

that the UNWTO/ 

CAF meeting to be hosted 

by the country would put 

the nation’s tourism 

industry on the world map. 

Speaking in Lagos with 

Travel journalists in 

continuation of his 

consultation with 

stakeholders, ahead of the 

meeting billed for next 

month, Lai Mohammed, 

described the meeting 

themed: ‘’Tourism 

Statistics: A catalyst for 

development,’’ as apt, 

saying ‘’it will give us the 

opportunity of 

strengthening our tourism 

data gathering and 

analysis, which is an area 

in which we have been 

relatively weak.’’ 

Noting that the country 

can not host the meeting 

without the involvement of 

journalists, who described 

as “Nigeria’s foremost 

brand ambassadors, 

whose writings go far 

beyond the shores of the 

country and influence 

the opinions of foreign 

tourists. With that tag (of 

brand ambassadors), a 

lot of responsibility is 


end of the year, disclosing 

that 4,000 jobs had been 

created as a result of the 

highway construction on 

Section II alone. 

At the Shagamu 

Interchange, the Division 

Manager of Julius Berger 

and contractor handling 

Section One from Lagos to 

the Shagamu Interchange, 

Mr. Wolfgang Losesser, 

said 17 kilometres of the 3- 

lane, 43-kilometre road had 

been completed. 

“From Shagamu driving 

toward here, the first 17 

kilometres on the Lagos 

bound side has already 

been completed. Then you 

realize that it has gone back 

to the old two lanes. Here 

we are just doing some 

palliative work because the 

rainy season is coming and 

we are working on the 

drainage,” he said. 

In his remarks, Lai 

Mohammed explained that 

the recent extension of the 

scope of work was in 

anticipation of the huge 

traffic coming out of Lagos 

to the Shagamu 

interchange. 

“Some 70 percent of the 

traffic coming to Lagos is 

from the Lagos-Shagamu 

Exchange, which explains 

why the Lagos-Shagamu 

comprises three lanes on 

each side while the 

Shagamu-Ibadan 

comprises two lanes on 

each side,” he said. 

placed on you.’’ 

He added that 51 African 

countries that are members 

of the UNWTO 

participating, as well as 

representatives of the UN 

agency and other 

international organizations, 

experts and stakeholders 

from the public and private 

sector are billed to attend. 

“The meeting will 

provide a good 

opportunity for Nigeria 

to showcase itself to the 

world, especially in the 

area of its culture and 

tourism,'' he said. 

Experts challenge media 

practitioners on fake news 

By Providence 

Emmanuel 

LAGOS—EXPERTS in 

public relations, 

academics and the media 

have challenged media 

practitioners on the 

implication of fake news 

coming from those they 

described as privileged 

charlatans operating in the 

space. 

The experts, among who 

are: former Rivers State 

Commissioner for 

Information and 

Communication, Dr Austin 

Tam-George; Editor of 

POLICE SCREENING: Candidates to undergo 

psychiatric, drug tests 

Matriculation 

By Evelyn Usman 

L 

A G O S — 

SHORTLISTED 

candidates in the on-going 

screening into the Nigeria 

Police Force,NPF will 

have to undergo 

psychiatric test to ascertain 

their mental state, with a 

view to avoiding 

indiscriminate shootings 

and unwarranted 

discharges of bullets that 

may snuff life out of 

Nigerians. 

Also, candidates with 

any trace of drugs intake 

will be denied admission 

into the Force. 

This was disclosed 

yesterday, by the Deputy 

Inspector-General of Police 

in-charge of Training, 

Emmanuel Inyang, while 

monitoring the screening 

exercise at the Police 

college, Ikeja. 

The first phase of the 

exercise which entails 

document screening, 

according to Inyang, would 

last one week. Within this 

period, he said candidates’ 

certificates would be 

screened to ensure they 

have five credits, including 

in English language and 

Mathematics. Candidates, 

he said, must also meet the 

mandated height of 

1.67metres for men and 

1.65 metres for women and 

must not be deformed, 

neither should they have 

“K-legs , flat feet, Queen’s 

eyes or scattered 

dentition.” 

He said candidates who 

passed this stage would 

proceed to the next phase 

of screening. In the second 

lap, he said: “Candidates 

will write exams that will 

be conducted by the Joint 

Admission and 

INSPECTION: Project Manager, Reynolds Construction Company Ltd, 

Mr Naor Narkisis explaining the scope of work on the Section II of the 

Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to the Minister of Information and Culture, 

Alhaji Lai Mohammed during the inspection of the project by the Minister 

and a media team along the Expressway yesterday. 

Be determined to succeed, Babalakin 

charges UNILAG graduates 

By Dayo Adesulu & 

Oghenefego 

Obaebor 

L AGOS—PRO- 

CHANCELLOR 

and Chairman Governing 

Council, University of 

Lagos, UNILAG, Dr. Wale 

Babalakin has charged 

graduating students of the 

institution to be determined 

to succeed in life, advising 

them not to be intimidated 

Africa Check, Mr. David 

Ajikobi; President of the 

Guild of Corporate Online 

Publishers, Mr. Dotun 

Oladipo, with the Publisher 

of Business Day 

newspaper, Mr. Frank 

Aigbogun as the moderator, 

spoke at a discussion panel 

at the 2018 edition of the 

Annual Gold Medal 

Lecture of the Public 

Relations Consultants 

Association of Nigeria, 

PRCAN, with the theme: 

“ Communicating 

effectively in the era of Fake 

News, Alternative Facts 

and Post-Truth,” in Lagos. 

by any odd they might 

encounter while climbing 

the ladder of success. 

He gave the admonition 

at the first day of the 49th 

convocation ceremony of 

University of Lagos, held for 

the 2016/2017 session, 

yesterday. 

Reminding the graduates 

that life was never a bed of 

roses, Babalakin urged 

them not to be deterred by 

the usual distraction of life, 

but should remain focused. 

On his part, the Vice- 

Chancellor, Professor 

Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, 

who described his 

administration as “A New 

Dawn of Consolidation, 

Redirection, and 

Rededication” , promised to 

build on the solid foundation 

laid by his predecessors, to 

ensure a perfect finish of 

every ongoing project, so 

that the university would 

maximize the gains of 

continuity. 

He said: “This institution 

will definitely witness a new 

direction driven by passion 

for excellence. It will grow 

from glory to glory” 

He also reiterated his 

commitment to reposition 

research and scholarship as 

part of his administration’s 

agenda, resolving also, to 

keep developing the 

institution’s students by 

honing their skills through 

entrepreneurship training 

that would be introduced 

into the curriculum. 

Board, 

JAMB. They will get their 

results same day. 

Thereafter, successful 

candidates will be 

subjected to further medical 

checks. 

“We are employing three 

different sets of medical 

practitioners : the general 

medical practitioner, who 

will examine the physical 

aspect involving X-trays, to 

ensure they are sound and 

fit for the job. We will take 

the binocular vision, colour 

vision and general 

pathology of the eye. 

“We are also going to 

consult psychiatrists who 

will carry out mental 

evaluation on candidates ,to 

check traces of mental 

instability. Candidates will 

also undergo drugs 

screening. If one is on drugs 

,definitely it will show. This 

is because we don’t want 

to experience unwarranted 

killings of Nigerians. 

“In addition, we are going 

to get personality checks to 

make sure no armed 

robber is admitted into the 

Police Force and to ensure 

we get the best 6000 

candidates, out of the 

133,000 that were 

shortlisted for screening. 

Training of the best 

candidates will commence 

on June 8,2018,” he said. 

Commandant of the 

College, Commissioner of 

Police, CP Akinpelu 

Gbemisola, said that the 

college would not 

compromise the laid down 

standard as directed by the 

Inspector-General of Police, 

Ibrahim Idris, adding that 

she had also warned 

policemen involved in the 

screening exercise not to 

allow themselves to be used 

against actualising the 

anticipated outcome. 

CP Gbemisola disclosed 

that some candidates were 

disqualified for not meeting 

up with the criteria of 

enlistment into the Force. 

Ebola: FG orders surveillance 

at all entry points 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

A 

B U J A — 

FOLLOWING 

the report of recent outbreak 

of Ebola in Democratic 

Republic of Congo, DRC, the 

Federal Executive Council, 

FEC, yesterday, directed the 

Federal Ministry of Health 

to step up surveillance at all 

entry points in the country, 

to prevent Ebola virus being 

brought into the country. 

The FEC which was 

presided over by Vice 

President Yemi Osinbajo at 

the Council Chamber, also 

directed a full scale 

investigation to ascertain the 

allegation of payment of 

tuition fees per unit course 

at the nation’s federal 

universities, in order to put 

a stop to it. 

This came as FEC 

approved the sum of N1.365, 

364, 458.75 billion for the 

procurement of new 

equipment for control towers 

in six airports in the country. 

Briefing State House 

correspondents after the 

meeting, the Minister of 

Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole 

said FEC, ordered that steps 

should be taken to ensure 

that the dreaded Ebola 

outbreak in Democratic 

Republic of Congo should 

not be allowed to come to 

Nigeria. 

According to him: “Of 

great concern to FEC is the 

outbreak of Ebola in DR 

Congo. As you might be 

aware, over the last one 

month, DRC recorded 19 

suspected cases of Viral 

Hemorrhagic Fever and 

lost 16 of the cases."

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 — 11 


BOOKPRESENTATION: From left: Dr Saka Balogun, chief launcher; Alhaji Oladiti Oladapo, 

Chairman of the occasion; Prof. CBN Ogbogbo; Prof Bolanle Awe, book presenter; Mr Gbenga 

Adefaye, GM/Editor in Chief, Vanguard Newspapers and Prof. K L Ayorinde, Vice Chancellor 

Kola Daisi University during the presentation of a book, History for Senior Secondary Schools, 

written by Rasheed Olaniyi at Kola Daisi University, Ibadan yesterday. Photos by DARE FASUBE. 

OYO APC CONGRESS: Shittu’s faction 

plans to burn secretariat — AJIMOBI 

•I won’t be involved in such hooliganism — SHITTU 

From left; Mr A. S. Aborisade; Barrister Ogbogbo Olisamekelim; Dr. 

Animashaun Bashir and Prof. F O Bamiro during the presentation. 

34 YEARS AFTER: Historians 

count Nigeria’s losses without 

History curriculum 

By Ola Ajayi 

By Ola Ajayi so-called Unity Forum I B A D A N — 

electronic mail, stated that 

PROMINENT 

I political 

BADAN—THE 

the group had fine tuned adjudged the congress to historians have said the 

plans to scuttle Saturday’s be free and fair. An appeal cancellation of History 

rivalry local government election committee has been put in from the curriculum of 

between Governor Abiola and party congresses. place and I will only advise secondary schools across 

Ajimobi of Oyo State and The state government those aggrieved with the the country by the Federal 

the Minister of spoke through the outcome of the congress to Government in the last 34 

Communication, Mr Executive Assistant, explore the opportunity. years, has done 

Adebayo Shittu depeened, Political to the Governor, Dr. Count me out of such unimaginable damage to 

yesterday, as the state Morounkola Thomas. hooliganism — Shittu the country. 

government said it had Thomas fingered some But in a swift reaction, Though, they 

uncovered an alleged plot members of the House of Communication Minister, commended the 

by a faction in the All Representatives, a minister, Mr. Adebayo Shittu denied government for retracing its 

Progressives Congress, as well as former and the allegation saying that steps by reintroducing the 

APC, APC Unity Forum to serving political office he, as a civil person would subject, the historians 

set ablaze the state holders as those behind the not be involved in such believed that if the 

secretariat of the party. plot. 

hooliganism. 

government had left the 

The government, in an Ajimobi dares Shittu, in a telephone subject in the curriculum, 

interview, said the idea by it could have prevented 

the government was to restiveness like the Boko 

Madam Olatunji 

prevent delegates from Haram insurgency and 

attending the Saturday’s herdsmen attacks. 

for burial 

congress slated for the party Speaking at a book launch 

A 

secretariat. 

that held at the Kola Daisi 

community 

The Minister said: “That University, Ibadan, in Oyo 

leader in Elekuro, 

plan cannot work as I will State, Dr Rasheed Olaniyi, 

be there for the congress who authored the book 

because I am going to entitled: ‘History for Senior 

succeed Ajimobi as the Secondary Schools’, said: 

governor of the state. “We have lost so much in 

“I have no money to the past 34 years when the 

sponsor violence. I am not Federal Government 

a criminal, I am civil. This cancelled History from the 

cheap blackmail will not secondary school 

stop me from succeeding curriculum. Perhaps, if the 

Ajimobi as the Oyo State subject had not been 

governor. The governor cancelled, people like 

is scared of me Ibrahim Shekau, the leader 

succeeding him because of Boko Haram, could have 

he is going to jail if I should studied History and he 

become the governor.” may not have taken up 

Ibadan, Oyo State, Madam 

Mary Amudat Kikelomo 

Olatunji, (New Ore-Ofero 

Raji) is dead, aged 90. 

According to a release 

signed by her son-in-law, 

Mr Tunde Aremu, her 

remains will be interred at 

her residence in Ibadan on 

May 18, 2018 after a funeral 

and thanksgiving service at 

the Methodist Church 

Wesley Cathedral, Elekuro, 

Ibadan. 

She is survived by Mrs 

Bisi Adeyemo, Mr Femi 

Olatunji, Mr Taiwo Olatunji, 

Mrs Idowu Aborisade, Mrs 

Funke Aremu, Mrs 

Omowumi Fijabi, Mrs Nike 

Oyedeji, as well as 

numerous grandchildren 

and great grandchildren. 

Late Madam Olatunji. 

opponents 

The state government 

said: “Oyo State is peaceful 

and will remain peaceful 

with the support of every 

law-abiding citizen. The 

governor has been a peaceloving 

leader and chief 

promoter of peace in the last 

seven years of his 

administration. 

“He will, therefore, not 

fold his arms and allow any 

group or individual, 

irrespective of status, to take 

the state back to the dark 

era of political brigandage 

and violence. 

“The protesting members 

of the House of 

Representatives and their 

leaders are all beneficiaries 

of Governor Ajimobi’s 

generosity and should be 

grateful to him, instead of 

biting the fingers that fed 

them. 

“We are aware that they 

are looking for relevance 

and the only way they can 

get this is by linking 

Governor Ajimobi to the 

imaginary threat to their 

lives and well-being. 

Would anyone planning to 

injure you inform you 

before the act? They should 

have come up with a more 

believable tale. 

“These are the governor’s 

political sons and I don’t 

know what will profit a 

father to kill his own son. 

“The ward congresses 

have come and gone. The 

congress committee and the 

arms and started this 

unnecessary destruction of 

lives and property. 

Also, the General 

Manager/Editor-in-Chief, 

Vanguard Newspaper, Mr. 

Gbenga Adefaye 

underscored the 

importance of History in 

national development. 

Adefaye harps on history 

Mr Adefaye, who was a 

co-launcher at the event 

said: “It is instructive that 

almost after 30 decades of 

taking History out of the 

curriculum of Nigeria, it has 

been restored. The powersthat-be 

that took History 

out of the curriculum also 

took out Religious Studies; 

they also took out Physical 

Education.” 

This, he said, led to the 

retrenchment of teachers in 

the second republic 

stressing that, “Now, I tend 

to wonder, if we don’t teach 

History, how do we know 

our past? How do we plan 

for the future? If we don’t 

teach religious studies how 

do we check immorality? 

But right now, I’m happy 

that common sense has 

returned. We have now 

realized we have to teach 

History. We now know, we 

have to teach religious 

studies in order to teach 

morality in our secondary 

schools.” 

On the lackadaisical 

attitude of children to 

reading, he said: “They are 

either texting or wasting 

their time on the internet. 

The country will be the loser 

on the long run. So, as 

parents, we owe it as our 

duties to put libraries in our 

homes and buy books for 

our children and 

encourage them to read 

these books. Through this 

medium we improve the 

educational capabilities of 

our children.” 

We neglect our history 

— Ogbogbo 

Before unveiling the 

book, the Head of 

Department of History, 

University of Ibadan, 

Professor Ndubuisi 

Ogbogbo expressed 

dissatisfaction at the way 

the government trivialized 

the History subject. 

Ogbogbo said: “In this 

country, we tend to neglect 

our history. Elsewhere like 

in Japan, as an author, you 

can write any textbook you 

like but you can’t write 

about their history because 

it goes through a lot of 

processes and then 

government will have to 

approve it." 

Also in attendance were 

the first Professor of History, 

Mrs Bolanle Awe; former 

Secretary to the Oyo State 

Government, Dr Saka 

Balogun; Prof. Adigun 

Agbaje, former Deputy 

Vice Chancellor, 

University of Ibadan and 

Prof K.L Ayorinde. 

TAX DEFAULT: Why we unsealed OAU — OSUN GOVT 

By Gbenga 

Olarinoye 

OSOGBO —THE 

Osun State 

government, yesterday, 

explained the reason the 

Obafemi Awolowo 

University, OAU, Ile-Ife 

was unsealed barely one 

week after it was sealed by 

the government for nonremittance 

of taxes. 

Addressing newsmen in 

Osogbo, the Special 

Adviser on Tax and 

Revenue Matters, Mr 

Olugbenga Akano stated 

that the university was 

unsealed following the 

intervention of eminent 

Nigerians, including Mr 

Femi Falana, SAN. 

Though full activities 

have since returned to the 

university, controversy, 

however, appears to still be 

trailing the actual amount 

owed by the Institution. 

While the management of 

the Institution is claiming 

that its outstanding tax 

liability for 2015 and 2016 

is N384 million, the state 

government disagreed 

with the figure stating that 

the tax remittance owed by 

OAU for 2015 to 2016 audit 

stands at N1.8 billion 

Akano said the claim by 

the authority of OAU as 

their tax liability for 2015 

and 2016 was misleading 

adding “the N287million 

is the outstanding 

balance in respect of the 

year 2006-2014 audit as 

at the time when the 

representatives from the 

office of the Accountant 

General of the Federation 

came into the matter.” 

He said: “The figure of 

N384m, as being claimed 

by the authority of OAU as 

their outstanding tax 

liability for 2015 and 2016, 

is misleading. 

"As at 4th May, 2018.the 

amount of N287,815, 

947.07 has been their 

outstanding in respect of 

2006 to2014 contrary to 

OAU rejoinder of 

N384,000,000.00. 

“The sum of N1.8bn 

claimed by the Osun State 

government is a 

painstaking audit of the 

books supplied by the 

institution themselves to 

our crack team of auditors."



International sports journalists 

honour Wike with Power of 

Sports award 

THE International 

Sporting Press 

yesterday in Brussels, 

Belgium, honoured 

Rivers State governor, 

Mr. Nyesom Wike, with 

the Power of Sports award. 

He was nominated by 

the International Sports 

Press Association-Africa, 

AIPS, Africa. 

Witnessed by sports 

personalities and 

journalists from across the 

globe, the award was for 

Wike's remarkable fidelity 

in raising the bar of sports 

matters and using sports 

as a catalyst for 

development. 

The event took place at 

Le Plaza, Brussels and 

was performed by the 

President, AIPS, Mr 

Gianni Merlo and 

President, AIPS Africa, 

Mr Mitchell Obi. Sports 

journalists from 108 

countries witnessed the 

event. 

Presenting the award to 

the Rivers State governor, 

President, AIPS Africa, 

Mitchell Obi, said 

Governor Wike was being 

recognised for the use of 

sports as a tool to 

effectively engage the 

youth population in the 

continent. 

He urged Wike to 

sustain his commitment to 

sports development as 

more youths would be 

empowered in the state. 

In his acceptance 

speech, Wike dedicated 

the award to God, his 

immediate family and the 

people of Rivers State 

who supported his efforts 

at creating a new Rivers 

State. 

Governor Wike noted 

that the award by the 

International Sporting 

Press would spur him into 

greater commitment to 

the service of Rivers State 

and humanity. 

Also yesterday, 

Governor Wike presented 

a lecture titled: Peace and 

Progress through Sports in 

the Niger Delta Region of 

Nigeria, wherein he 

canvassed that sport had 

functions beyond its 

simplest form as a game 

to encompass a cost 

effective means for 

addressing a broad range 

of socio-economic 

challenges that impact on 

peace and human 

progress. 

He said: “Arguably, 

there is no social activity 

that can match the role 

sport plays in breaking 

down barriers, bringing 

people together across 

nations, promoting 

understanding, positively 

engaging the energy of 

youths and in mobilizing 

support for social causes.“ 

He said that States 

in the Niger Delta region 

recognize the special 

power of sports for 

promoting peace and 

development in the 

region. 

The governor noted 

that in addition to sports 

policies, Niger Delta 

States all have ministries 

or departments 

exclusively responsible 

for sports development. 

PANDEF EXCO'S VISIT TO PROF CHARLES DOKUBO, SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE 

PRESIDENT ON NIGER DELTA AFFAIRS IN ABUJA, YESTERDAY 

VISIT: From left: Chief Francis Doukpola, Deputy National Chairman; Prof Charles Dokubo, Special 

Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and coordinator Presidential Amnesty programme, 

and Air Comdre Idongesit Nkanga (retd), National Chairman, PANDEF, during a visit by PANDEF 

Exco, to the Special Adviser in Abuja. 

From left: Hon. Vivian Ere, Prof Charles Dokubo, and Mrs Neka Amde 

(SAN). 

Prof. Charles Dokubo (leff), Air Comdre Idongesit Nkanga, retd, (right) 

and Hon Kem Robinson. 

The exco in a group photograph. See story on page 13. 

W a r d 

congress: 

APC NWC 

s a c k s 

Dododo, 

appoints 

Chindah 

By Festus Ahon 

A SABA—INDI- 

C A T I O N S 

emerged yesterday that 

chairman of Ward and 

Local Government 

Congress of All 

Progressives Congress, 

APC, Alhaji Sani Dododo, 

might have been sacked 

by the National Working 

Committee, NWC, of the 

party over alleged violation 

of guidelines for the 

congress. 

A dependable source told 

Vanguard that Alhaji Sani 

Dododo was axed for 

failing to act according to 

the stipulated party 

guidelines thereby 

compromising the entire 

process. 

The source, who pleaded 

anonymity, claimed Alhaji 

Dododo had been replaced 

with Mr Emmanuel 

Chindah, “who is now 

charged with the conduct 

of the Local Government 

Congress billed for 

Saturday, with the other 

committee members.” 

It should be recalled that 

Alhaji Dododo, in company 

of Delta State Chairman of 

the party, Prophet Jones 

Erue, had on Monday 

announced the results of 

the 270 wards of the 25 local 

government areas of the 

state at the party’s state 

secretariat in Asaba without 

other five members 

including the Secretary.



Dokubo warns N-Delta leaders against selfish 

interests 

SPECIAL Adviser to 

the President on 

Niger Delta Affairs, 

SAPND, and Coordinator 

of the Presidential Amnesty 

Programme, Professor 

Charles Dokubo, has 

urged leaders and elders of 

the Niger Delta not to 

pursue individual interests, 

but offer advice and 

guidance to benefit the 

people of the region. 

A statement by Murphy 

BRIEFING: From left: Dr. Mordi Onoye, Commissioner for Health; Mr. Patrick Ukah, 

Commissioner for Information and Mr. Chika Ossai, Commissioner for Lands and Surveys, Delta 

State, during a ministeral press briefing in Asaba. Photo: Nath Onojake. 

Obaseki reinstates Onojie of Uromi, Aidonojie 

By Simon Ebegbulem 

BENIN—EDO State 

Government 

yesterday reinstated the 

Onojie of Uromi, His Royal 

Highness Anselm 

Aidenojie, who was 

deposed by the 

administration of Governor 

Adams Oshiomhole. 

It will be recalled that the 

royal father was deposed 

after altercation with one 

Mrs Betty Okoebor and 

allegedly travelled abroad 

without the permission of 

the government. 

A letter by the then 

Secretary to the State 

Government, Prof Julius 

Ihonvbere, dated October 

26, 2016, titled “Suspension 

from Office as Traditional 

Ruler”, stated: “I write to 

convey to you, the decision 

of Edo State Executive 

Council at its meeting on 

October 26, 2016, deposing 

you as the Onojie of Uromi. 

The removal from office was 

based on, among other 

reasons: 

“Your unprovoked attack, 

inflicting grievous bodily 

harm on one Mrs Betty 

Okoebor on September 28, 

2016 in public glare to the 

embarrassment of those 

present and causing 

disgrace to your otherwise 

esteemed office; 

“Your refusal, even after 

Ganagana, Special 

Assistant (Media) to 

SAPND, said Dokubo who 

spoke yesterday, noted that 

issues of the Niger Delta 

were being addressed, 

describing the amnesty 

programme as work in 

progress, saying it was time 

for Niger Deltans to put 

things in order and do the 

needful. 

According to him: “We 

have questioned authority, 

we have questioned 

two weeks, to respond to a 

query issued by the 

appropriate authority 

within the stipulated 72 

hours demonstrating total 

disregard and disrespect for 

constituted authority; and 

“Travelling outside the 

country without 

appropriate permission in 

further demonstration of 

your disregard for extant 

regulations and laws. 

“In the circumstances, the 

State Executive Council has 

arrived at a conclusion that 

these and other acts of 

misconduct of Your Royal 

Highness, the Onojie of 

Uromi, are not only 

distasteful but also 

unbecoming of a traditional 

governance; and now, we 

also have the time to set our 

house in order; to do the 

things that we are 

supposed to do. I believe 

that with the powerful 

organization that has come 

to my office and the 

guidance you are going to 

give me; guidance that will 

only benefit our Niger 

Delta people, guidance that 

is not supposed to benefit 

individuals, but our people, 

I believe we shall be on 

course.” 

ruler of your status. 

“Based on the above and 

convinced that your 

Highness has denied 

yourself of the opportunity 

of entering a plea against 

the charges against you that 

were duly conveyed in 

writing to you, and 

therefore, in exercise of the 

powers conferred on the 

State Executive Council by 

virtue of Section 28(1) of 

Traditional Rulers and 

Chiefs Law (1979) and all 

other Laws enabling it in 

that behalf, has approved 

your suspension from office 

as the Onojie of Uromi with 

immediate effect for a 

period of seven (7) days, 

that is, from the 26th of 

He spoke in Abuja when 

members of the national 

executive committee of the 

Pan Niger Delta Forum, 

PANDEF, paid him a 

courtesy visit in his office. 

E x p r e s s i n g 

determination to chart a 

new direction for the 

amnesty programme, 

Dokubo harped on the 

need for qualitative training 

that would give jobs to 

beneficiaries, declaring that 

this was the panacea to 

sustainable peace in the 

Niger Delta. 

October 2016 to the 1st of 

November, 2016." 

However, the Onojie had 

since apologized to Mrs 

Okoebor. Vanguard 

gathered that traditional 

rulers in the state, including 

the revered Oba of Benin, 

Oba Ewuare II, had 

intervened in the matter to 

reinstate the Enojie. It was 

gathered the immediate 

past governor of the state, 

Mr. Oshiomhole had also 

appealed to Governor 

Obaseki to forgive the 

Royal father. 

The state Executive 

Council, at a meeting 

presided over by Governor 

Obaseki yesterday, granted 

pardon to the royal father. 

$490.3bn withdrawal: APC chieftain 

accuses NASS of chasing shadows 

By Harris-Okon 

Emmanuel 

UYO—A 

chieftain 

of All Progressives 

Congress, APC, in Akwa 

Ibom State, Mr. Edet 

Ikotidem, has said the 

National Assembly is 

chasing shadows by 

planning to impeach 


Buhari over $490.3bilion 

withdrawal. 

He said: “I don’t know 

what they mean by 

impeachable offence, 

because even when you 

look at the Finance and 

Management Act, there is 

a situation when the 

President can incur 

expenditure and thereafter 

present it for rectification by 

the National Assembly. We 

are talking about national 

security. No matter what 

you say, people are being 

killed and we are crying 

that he is not doing 

anything. The President in 

his letter to the National 

Assembly said it is an 

emergency situation; he 

has done what is expected 

of him. What the National 

Assembly should be 

concerned with is what the 

money was used for. 

“We must all agree that, 

there is need for Mr. 

President to take steps to 

address the security 

situation of the country and 

that is what he did. There 

is nothing impeachable 

there because he has 

eventually gone to the 

National Assembly saying 

this is what I did in this 

circumstance." 

Benin Industrial Park: Edo govt 

meets host communities 

AS more investors 

indicate interest 

in the Benin Industrial 

Park project, Edo State 

Government has 

initiated a parley with 

stakeholders in the 

communities hosting 

the project, to remove 

any community-related 

encumbrances and set 

the stage for a hitchfree 

development of the 

park. 

Secretary to the Edo 

State Government, 

SSG, Osarodion Ogie, 

said the state 

government will today 

meet traditional rulers, 

elders and youths of 

communities hosting 

the industrial park at a 

town hall meeting. 

“The Town Hall 

Meeting will discuss 

Itsekiri, Ijaw communities 

urged to collect PVCs 

By Jimitota 

Onoyume 

W 

A R R I — 

ITSEKIRI 

and Ijaw communities in 

Delta State have been 

advised to collect their 

Permanent Voters 

Cards, PVCs, ahead of 

next year’s general 

elections. 

Deputy Coordinator, 

Warri South West 

Political Alliance, Mr. 

Newman Ekpo, made 

the appeal when the 

group embarked on 

sensitization exercise 

round the communities. 

At Madangho, 

Oporoza communities 

in Warri South-West 

Delta APC chieftain hails 

peaceful ward congress in Isoko 

A 

chieftain of All 

Progressives 

Congress APC in Delta 

State, Mr. Benjamin 

Okiemute, has 

commended the 

leaders and members 

of the party in Isoko for 

the peaceful and 

successful ward 

congress in Isokoland. 

In a statement 

yesterday, the former 

member of Delta State 

House of Assembly, 

who represented Isoko 

South Constituency 2, 

also congratulated all 

APC ward chairmen 

and executives in Isoko 

local government 

areas. 

He said “The APC 

ward congress was 

peaceful and successful 

in both Isoko South and 

Isoko North Local 

Government Areas. I 

the Environmental and 

social impact assessment 

exercise and Resettlement 

Action Plan with respect to 

the Benin Industrial Park 

project,” Ogie said. 

He explained that the 

“meeting will hold at the 

palace of the Enogie of 

Oghobaghase Dukedom 

in Obaretin Community, 

on Benin-Sapele Road.” 

Ogie said the chairman 

of Ikpoba Okha Local 

Government Area, the 

Enogie of Oghobaghase 

Dukedom, Edionwere, 

elders, members of 

Agbomoba, Ekosa and 

Iyanomo communities are 

to attend the meeting and 

urged other interested 

parties to attend and 

participate as relevant 

information will be shared 

at the meeting venue. 

Local Government Area, 

the group harped on the 

importance of the PVC to 

voters, noting that it would 

enable them to enforce their 

rights to elect those to 

govern them. 

Coordinator of the group, 

Mr Solomon Eyione and 

the Secretary, Mr Meshack 

Bebenimibo, also appealed 

to residents in the 

communities to protect their 

voter cards, adding that 

those yet to register should 

ensure they do so. 

“Your voter card is your 

power to choose your 

leader. Without the PVC 

you cannot vote. Let us all 

be part of choosing our 

leaders in elections “, they 

pleaded. 

commend party faithful for 

their active participation 

and being peaceful at the 

congress.” 

The former lawmaker 

urged APC faithful and 

supporters in Isoko to 

remain peaceful, law 

abiding and charged the 

newly elected ward 

executives to be steadfast, 

diligent and committed to 

the growth and 

development of the party 

ahead of the 2019 general 

elections. 

“I am grateful to APC 

leaders and members over 

the outcome of the ward 

congress. It clearly shows 

that the party has 

repositioned itself to take 

over power in 2019. 

Moreover, the people of 

Isoko are really preparing 

for the forthcoming 

general elections”.



5 tax amendment bills, 2 executive 

orders coming — OSINBAJO 

By Emma Ujah, 

Abuja Bureau Chief 

A BUJA—THE 

F e d e r a l 

Government will soon 

come up with five tax 

amendment bills and two 

executive orders in a move 

aimed at simplifying tax 

payment process and 

reducing tax burdens on 

Small and Micro 

Enterprises, SMEs. 

Vice President Yemi 

Osinbajo disclosed this, in 

Abuja, yesterday, at the 

opening of the 2018 

Annual Conference of the 

Chartered Institute of 

Taxation of Nigeria, CITN. 

According to him, “We 

are ready to restore the 

social contract between the 

government and the 

citizens. 

“We are also aware that 

our tax systems require 

review to make it easier for 

citizens to fulfil their own 

end of the social contract. 

That is why in February 

2016, Federal Executive 

Council, FEC adopted the 

National Tax Policy and the 

establishment of an 

Implementation Committee 

of the policy with the 

mandate of reviewing 

obsolete and ambiguous 

provisions in our tax laws, 

the simplification of the tax 

payment process and 

reduction of the tax burden 

on SMEs. 

“It is pleasing to note that 

the committee has prepared 

five Amendment Bills and 

two Executive Orders all 

of which will soon be 

presented to the FEC for 

approval. 

“When citizens pay tax, 

they will take more than a 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

ABUJA—THE Federal 

Government 

yesterday explained that 

…Explains why Nigerians must pay tax 

BREAKFAST SESSION: From left; EY Lead Analyst, Global Banking & 

Capital Markets, Mr. Karl Meekings; Group Managing Director, FBN 

Holdings Plc, Mr. Urum Eke; EY Nigeria Country Leader, Mr. Henry Egbiki 

and Managing Director, FCMB, Mr. Adam Nuru at EY Global Banking 

Outlook Launch Breakfast session at EKO Hotels in Lagos. 

passive interest in how their 

government is run and 

insist on seeing that the 

revenue is account for. But 

over the years, our nation 

has relied more and more 

on oil revenue than 

taxation. 

“That period also 

coincided with the military 

rule which took away from 

the people, the choice of 

their leaders. There was a 

decline in the willingness 

to pay tax and with it a 

decline in accountability. 

“For too long, Nigeria 

had carried on as an oil-rich 

country where less of the 

citizens pay whatever tax 

they liked because they felt 

it is no big deal. In 

exchange, people in 

government feel they can 

do whatever they liked 

with public resources. 

“This arrangement has 

fuelled massive corruption 

and inefficiencies that have 

come to be associated with 

public revenue 

management. 

''The point here is this, 

the taxpayer is less 

tolerant of corruption 

than a citizen who does 

not pay tax because most 

of what the government 

spends is from oil and 

the taxes of a few. 

“Often many people see 

government money as 

money belonging to no 

one. Sometimes you see 

people even openly 

supporting persons of 

their ethnic groups or 

same faith who steals 

government funds 

whereas they will not 

tolerate the same person 

it steals from their town 

union funds or any society 

to which they belong. 

“The simple reason is that 

they are active contributors 

to whatever society they 

belong and they will not 

tolerate anyone stealing 

their money.'' 

Why Nigeria entered into agric deal with US — FG 

Dogara seeks improved 

welfare for EFCC staff 

ABUJA—SPEAKER of 

the House of 

Representatives, Yakubu 

Dogara, has called for 

improved welfare for 

officers and men of the 

Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, 

EFCC, in order to insulate 

them from temptation. 

The Speaker said this 

when he visited the EFCC 

new office complex in 

Abuja, yesterday. 

He said though the new 

office complex was befitting 

and expressive of the 

dedication of the 

government to fight 

corruption, it could only be 

possible to get optimal 

results when the men and 

the recent agriculture 

agreement entered into 

between Nigeria and 

United States was as a 

result of the complaint by 

the US government over 

women who do the work for 

the agency are provided 

with the conducive working 

environment. 

Dogara, who described 

the new office building as 

excellent, said: “You must 

ensure that the salary 

they take home matches 

this infrastructure they 

will be occupying as 

offices and we want to 

ensure they are 

insulated from 

temptation because when 

you deal with economic 

crimes that are in billions, 

temptation is always there 

to cut corners, especially if 

you do not have anything 

to fall back on when you 

leave office.” 

the trade barriers against 

that country’s products 

coming into the Nigerian 

market. 


penultimate week, 

President Muhammad 

Buhari and the US 

President, Donald Trump at 

a meeting at the instance of 

the latter at the White 

House, Washington DC 

entered into agriculture 

agreement where American 

farmers will come to invest 

in Nigeria. 

President Buhari had 

enthused that, “Nigeria’s 

trade volume with the 

United States stood at $6.07 

billion, according to 2016 

statistics and comprised 

$4.176 billion worth of 

Nigerian exports to the U.S. 

and $1.894 billion US 

exports to Nigeria. We 

urged greater effort to 

increase these figures 

substantially.” 

Also speaking when he 

hosted President Buhari, 

Trump said Nigeria has 

trade barriers in place 

against the US and that both 

countries were working on 

ripping down those trade 

barriers. 

But fielding questions 

from State House 

correspondents at the 

end of the weekly Federal 

Executive Council, FEC, 

meeting presided over by 

the Vice President, Yemi 

Osinbajo, at the Council 

Chamber, Presidential 

Villa, Abuja, yesterday, 

the Minister of Foreign 

Affairs, Geoffrey 

Onyeama, explained that 

the US had complained 

about the trade barriers 

against its agricultural 

products entering the 

Nigerian market despite the 

support Nigeria was 

receiving in the fight 

against insecurity and the 

likes. 

Onyeama poured 

encomium on President 

Buhari, who he described 

as one of the strongest 

brands the country has, 

adding that the 

president focused 

mainly on Nigeria’s 

interest during the visit. 

FG to investigate non-trial 

of 27 Nigerians in Tanzania 

prisons 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

ABUJA—THE Federal 

Government 

yesterday said despite the 

fact that it does not have 

prisoners swap treaty with 

Federal Republic of 

Tanzania, it will investigate 

the cases of 27 Nigerians 

languishing in Tanzania 

prisons without trial. 

The Senior Special 

Assistant to the President 

on Foreign Affairs and 

Diaspora, Mrs Abike 

Dabiri-Erewa, stated this in 

Abuja, when she had 

audience with former 

Chairman of the Law 

Society Charity 

Organisation, Nigel 

Doddy, who brought the 

cases of 27 Nigerians in 

Tanzania prisons without 

trial to the notice of the 

government. 

Doddy, a citizen of the 

United Kingdom, said he 

ran into the cases while on 

a humanitarian work to 

Tanzanian prisons. 

Noting that he was not 

saying Nigeria should 

interfere in the judicial 

process of Tanzania, he 

however, urged the 

government to step in and 

ensure that the Nigerians 

get justice. 

According to him, “I am 

here to follow up on some 

reports I gathered in 

Tanzania two years ago, 

concerning Nigerians 

being detained without 

trial. I was able to identify 

27 Nigerians who were 

detained at the time without 

trial. 

“Importantly, at least four 

of them remain detained 

today. The problem is 

detention without trial. I’m 

not concerned about 

whether they are guilty or 

innocent, what I am 

concerned about is that they 

should be taken to courts 

for trial. 

“The delays provide 

opportunities for evidences 

to get lost or stolen.” 

Responding, Mrs Dabiri- 

Erewa, thanked the rights 

activist for his concern for 

the 27 Nigerians in 

Tanzania prisons. 

She said: “We will look 

into the matters and 

ensure that justice is 

done quickly.” 

2019: PDP may consider Atiku 

By Dirisu Yakubu 

ABUJA—AHEAD of 

the 2019 general 

election, the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, has 

made up its mind to field a 

presidential candidate that 

is acceptable to the North 

and South of the country. 

This according to a highly 

placed party source is likely 

to work in favour of former 

Vice President, Alhaji Atiku 

Abubakar who has since 

indicated interest to run for 

the highest elective office in 

the land in the 2019 

elections on the platform of 

the PDP. 

In a chat with Vanguard, 

yesterday, the source who 

pleaded anonymity said 

the party was aware of the 

difficulty inherent in 

ousting a ruling party, 

adding that as a result, only 

the best and most 

acceptable candidate 

would be good enough. 

“If you take a look at all 

the aspirants today, there is 

no doubt that they are all 

eminently qualified to rule 

this country. But the party 

is aware that it is coming 

into this contest as an 

underdog and as such, 

must avoid every seen and 

unforeseen pitfall. 

“The Nigeria of today is 

different from what we had 

a few years ago. People 

want jobs and if these 

aspirants talk job creation 

today, the people will most 

likely listen to Atiku the 

more because he has done 

quite a lot in this regard 

(job creation),” he said. 

SEC Nigeria hands over 

AMERC mantle to Kenya CMA 

By Favour 

Nnabugwu 

SECURITIES and 

E x c h a n g e 

Commission, SEC, Nigeria 

has handed over the 

leadership of Africa and 

Middle East Regional 

Committee, AMERC, to 

Capital Markets Authority, 

CMA of Kenya. 

Outgoing Vice Chairman 

of AMERC, Nezha Hayat 

handed over of the 

Committee’s leadership 

from SEC Nigeria to Paul 

Muthaura of CMA in 

Kenya yesterday, at the 

ongoing IOSCO 

conference in Budapest, 

Hungary listed the 

approval of Arabic as an 

additional official language 

of IOSCO is one of the 

achievements of the 

Committee under the 

leadership of SEC Nigeria. 

She commended 

AMERC under the 

leadership of SEC Nigeria 

for ensuring that member 

countries, markets, 

investors and indeed the 

intermediaries benefit from 

the numerous policies of 

IOSCO. 

According to her “I will 

like to take time to show our 

appreciation to SEC 

Nigeria, which had 

anchored the ship for over 

a decade and it has been 

quite a smooth sail.''


2,000 apply for police job in Abia 

By Anayo Okoli 

U MUAHIA—ABOUT 

2000 applicants from 

Abia State applied to join 

the Nigeria Police Force in 

the on-going recruitment of 

police constables. 

The 2000 applicants were 

drawn from the 17 local 


state. 

The applicants have been 

undergoing various 

rigorous screening 

exercises ranging from 

certificate to physical with 

a view to short listing those 

to be recruited. 

Abia State Commissioner 

Firm donates classrooms, 

library to Enugu community 

By Dennis Agbo 

E NUGU—ORBA 

community in Udenu 

local government area of 

Enugu state has been 

rewarded by the Nigeria 

Breweries Plc with a 

donation of six classroom 

blocks with a library. 

The company while 

donating the education 

facility to Community 

School Secondary, Orba, 

said it strives to champion 

causes that add value to the 

society because of its belief 

that businesses should not 

operate in a vacuum, but 

rather be an integral part 

of the community. 

Managing Director/CEO 

of NB plc, Mr. Jodi Borrut 

Bel said that the company 

believes that education is 

the greatest legacy to be 

given to any child and 

remains very paramount to 

existence and sustainable 

development. 

Represented by the Zonal 

Business Manager, Mr. 

Anselm Alokha, the NB 


for Police, Mr. Anthony 

Ogbizi who confirmed the 

number of applicants said 

the exercise was smooth 

and peaceful and assured 

that the best candidates 

would be selected. 

Meanwhile, the Police 

Commissioner has 

commended Abia people 

for cooperating with his 

men in the fight against 

crimes in the state by 

providing them with useful 

information. 

He said the police were 

poised to reduce crime to 

the barest minimum in the 

state. 

boss noted that educators 

were becoming 

increasingly aware of the 

interaction between 

physical spaces and 

learning environment, 

hence the modern facilities 

which he said improve not 

only the school’s physical 

environment but also its 

learning culture. 

He disclosed that the 

facility was one of the Felix 

Ohiwerei Education Trust 

Fund, ETF, established in 

1994 to take an active role 

in the funding of 

education, research 

facilities and encourage 

academic excellence in 

Nigeria. 

The Orba community, in 

joy, declared Nigeria 

Breweries PLC as the most 

socially responsible 

company in Nigeria, and 

said it was convinced that 

the Social Enterprise and 

Report Award, SERA, given 

to NB Plc as the most 

corporate social responsible 

company in Nigeria was in 

order. 

The traditional ruler’s 

council of Orba community 

said that through NBL’s 

corporate social initiative, it 

had joined hands in 

creating a veritable avenue 

whereby their children 

would be well educated to 

make a living, create 

wealth, enjoy life and 

renew their vigor for socioeconomic 

survival as future 

leaders. 

IPOB decries killings, cowardice by 

political class ...urges all ethnic groups to join Biafra 

By Chimaobi 

Nwaiwu 

THE Indigenous People 

of Biafra, IPOB, has 

expressed shock and 

bitterness over incessant 

killings in Nigeria, 

particularly, the 58 people 

in Kaduna State, and what 

it called “continued 

cowardice exhibited by the 

political class in Nigeria in 

the face of the unrelenting 

onslaught against the 

people. 

IPOB in a statement by its 

Media and Publicity 

Secretary, Comrade Emma 

Powerful, accused the All 


APC, led government of 


Buhari, of “continually 

allowing his tribesmen use 

of sustained killing and 

maiming to frighten and 

cow Northern minorities 

and Christians all over 

Nigeria to accept ongoing 

bloodbath in parts of 

Southern Kaduna and 

Middle Belt as a norm, just 

as it is using what amounts 

to state terrorism to subdue 

every dissenting voice in 

the land” 

IPOB statement read: 

“The leadership and entire 

members of IPOB, is 

horrified at the recent 

killing of over 46 innocent 

citizens in Kaduna State 

and the seeming silence of 

the majority over atrocities 

committed by a minority, 

and the disgraceful 

cowardice exhibited by the 

political class across every 

divide in Nigeria” 

“It’s appalling that the 

present APC Government 

led by President 

Muhammadu Buhari has 

continued to allow his 

tribesmen, the Fulani’s, to 

use sustained killings and 

maiming to frighten and 

cow Northern minorities 

and Christians all over 

Nigeria into accepting the 

ongoing bloodbath in parts 

of Southern Kaduna and 

parts of Middle Belt as a 

May 30 sit-at-home 

norm. 

“The level of cowardice 

exhibited by the political 

class across every divide in 

Nigeria in the face of this 

unrelenting onslaught is so 

disgraceful that there are 

no words to describe it. 

What this Buhari regime 

has succeeded in doing is 

using what amounts to state 

terrorism to subdue every 

dissenting voice in the land. 

“People are detained at 

the whim of any high 

ranking person in Aso 

Rock with access to an 

Army or Police commander. 

It does not matter if the 

alleged crime can be 

substantiated or not, but as 

long as there are many 

loyalist judges to rubber 

stamp illegal detentions, 

then nobody can stop 

them... 

IPOB alleged that 

“Judges and Magistrates 

in Nigeria have been 

turned to prosecutors, 

persecutors and 

executioners at the service 

of the state. They are 

mandated to jail, detain 

and deny bail to any 

perceived enemy of the 

present APC regime even 

when it means going 

against the Constitution of 

Nigeria... 

“Under the prevailing 

arrangement many more 

people will die needlessly, 

as Nigeria heads full speed 

towards Somalia as 

predicted by our leader 

many years ago. The 

affected communities in the 

Middle Belt and other 

herdsmen-besieged 

entities in the South are 

therefore, called upon to 

join our 30th of May 2018 

Sit-at-home to demonstrate 

their willingness to rid their 

land of these intruder 

killers. 

“It’s an opportunity to 

draw the attention of the 

international community to 

their plight and only with 

the concerted attention of 

the civilized world will 

these marauding Fulani 

terrorists be contained and 

defeated.’’ 

AGM: From left: Oluwole Ajimisinmi, Company Secretary; Segun Oloketuyi, MD/CEO; Tina 

Vukor-Quarshie, Non-Executive Director; and Abubakar Lawal, Non-Executive Director, all of 

Wema Bank Plc, at the bank's 2017 Annual General Meeting, in Lagos, yesterday. 

Obasanjo, Obiano, Soludo, 45 others to receive 

Red Cross awards in Anambra 

By Vincent 

Ujumadu 

A WKA—FORMER 

President Olusegun 

Obasanjo, Anambra State 

governor, Chief Willie 

Obiano and former 

Governor of the Central 

Bank of Nigeria, Professor 

Chukwuma Soludo are 

among 48 persons to be 

honoured by the Nigerian 

Red Cross Society in 

Anambra State, on 

Saturday, for their 

contributions to the 

development of the society. 

Others listed for the 

award include the Minister 

of Labour and Productivity, 

Senator Chris Ngige, Vice 

Chancellor of Nnamdi 

Azikiwe University, 

Professor Joseph Ahaneku, 

his counterpart at 

Chukwuemeka 

Odumegwu Ojukwu 

University, Professor Greg 

Nwakoby, Obi of Onitsha, 

Nnaemeka Achebe, Igwe 

Orizu of Nnewi, Senator 

Andy Uba, Chief Pete 

Edochie, as well as some 

presidents general of town 

unions. 

Addressing reporters 

yesterday as part of 

activities to mark this year’s 

World Red Cross Day, the 

Anambra State Chairman 

of the Nigerian Red Cross, 

Justice Paul Obidigwe said 

the awardees should be 

appreciated for contributing 

immensely towards the 

building of a healthy 

society. 

Speaking specifically of 

the former president, 

Obidigwe said Obasanjo 

would be made the Grand 

Commander of Humanity, 

adding that he had not 

been identified as one of 

those who hid the nation’s 

wealth in foreign lands. 

He promised that the Red 

Cross would continue to 

assist the vulnerable, less 

privileged, accident/ 

disaster victims and the 

motherless babies, even as 

he complained that paucity 

of funds was a major 

drawback in the activities of 

the organisation. 

Pupils protest building of markets near their 

school in Onitsha 

By Vincent 

Ujumadu 

A WKA—HUNDREDS 

of pupils of Beth-Roots 

Model Schools, Victory 

Estate, Onitsha, a private 

institution, yesterday, took 

to the streets to protest the 

building of a multi –million 

naira market and a 

shopping mall near their 

school, arguing that 

converting the residential 

and educational area into 

a commercial centre would 

endanger their lives. 

Their action elicited 

sympathy from residents of 

the estate, who informed 

Vanguard that there was no 

provision for the building 

of markets in the area in the 

original plan of the estate 

located at the 3-3 area of 

Onitsha. 

Carrying placards which 

read, “ Respect our right to 

education, “Our future is 

worth more than money, “I 

love school, please keep 

me safe, and “Live and Let 

live”, the pupils called on 

Governor Willie Obiano to 

intervene in the matter by 

prevailing on those behind 

the approval and 

construction of the market, 

to demolish them in the 

interest of the pupils.


Law and politics of impeachment (1) 

MERICA’S Andrew Johnson, 

Afrom Tennessee, never 

attended school all his life. His future 

wife, Eliza McCardle was said to 

have taught him to read and to write 

at the age of 17. And in fact all he 

had managed to achieve before 

joining politics, was to become a 

‘tailor’. But after joining politics 

Johnson would be elected to 

represent his State of Tennessee in 

both the House of Representatives 

and the Senate; and he would also 

be Tennessee’s Governor thereafter, 

before becoming Vice President to 

the soon-to-be-assassinated 

President Abraham Lincoln in 1805, 

and thus becoming the 17th 

President of the United States 

thereafter. 

And Johnson was a practically 

strong President too. A Democrat, he 

courageously fought what he 

believed was a deeply partisan, 

dictatorship-bound Republican 

Congress of his time that was bent 

on usurping the powers of the 

President. And it was a messy fight 

too, defined largely by two opposing 

and deeply entrenched positions on 

how to deal with a post Civil War 

‘South’ on the issues of 

reconstruction, reintegration and 

especially ‘black citizenship’. Radical 

Republicans wanted leaders of the 

Southern confederates, who they 

tagged ‘traitors’, to be severely 

punished, but Johnson was obsessed 

with the task of Reconstruction and 

More on restructuring 

READERS might recall that five weeks 

ago I visited the nagging issue of 

restructuring and tried to explain it with the 

parable of the elephant and a group of blind 

men. The blind men who stumbled on the 

elephant touched it individually from different 

angles and defined if as they felt it. Obviously 

they were all wrong, until one clear-eyed man 

came by the way to give them the complete 

picture. The issue of restructuring has been 

having this kind of treatment for many years in 

this country. It has been inchoate submissions 

all around making it difficult to collectively 

arrive at sensible solution. Yet the issue has 

refused to go away. 

Last week, there were reverberations of it in 

Lagos at the venue of the Abraham Adesanya 

memorial lecture. Prominent proponents of 

restructuring, former Secretary-General of the 

Commonwealth, Emeka Anyaoku and Prof. Seth 

Akintoye were at their eloquent best appealing 

to our lawmakers to heed the call for restructuring 

as a best avenue for the realisation of the 

Nigerian dream. Also in the same week a group 

of Southern and Middle-Belt leaders led by 

Edwin Clark met the Senate President to canvass 

for a revisit to the devolution of power to prevent 

further drift into ethnic crisis. 

During the week, I also received a paper 

prepared by Ibrahim Ida, an elder statesman. 

He prepared the paper at the instance of the 

Northern Elders and Stakeholders Assembly, 

NESA. Ibrahim Ida had served the Katsina 

Central constituency as Senator from 2007. Ida, 

a well-rounded public officer had a brilliant 

career as a banker and thereafter came into the 

Federal Civil Service as Permanent Secretary. 

He served in key ministries, retired as Permanent 

Secretary Ministry of Defence and threw his hat 

into politics. He participated as a member in 

the 2014 National Conference. 

Ibrahim Ida’s paper starts with tracing the 

background to the agitation for restructuring 

going back to the early 1950s. He gave a general 

definition of the term pointing out that what 

stands out about the debate is the lack of 

consensus on what even the term actually means 

and entails. He then gave us his observations 

on the attitudes, stands and opinions of different 

groups particularly of northerners that he had 

Reconciliation –projects which his 

Republican late Principal, Lincoln 

had favoured. 

A nasty period of executive ‘vetoes’ 

and congressional ‘overrides’ of 

vetoes would ensue, with the 

Congress arm twisting the President 

to enact the ‘Army Appropriations 

Act’ (which was a congressional 

attempt to usurp ‘command of the 

Army’ from the President), and the 

‘Tenure of Office Act’ of 1867 -which 

arrogated to the Senate the power to 

approve any removal by the 

President, of Federal officers and 

cabinet members. These, in addition 

to the Congress duplicating the 

President’s Reconstruction Program 

with the ‘Reconstruction Act’ of 1867 

reversing most of his key 

achievements, convinced the 

President he was dealing with a 

power-hungry parliament he needed 

to take the gloves off, for. He would 

soon defy the ‘Tenure of Office Act’ 

by firing his now parliament-loyal 

Secretary of War, Stanton, a statutory 

breach which would set off a string 

of executive-legislature feud leading 

to the very first impeachment 

proceedings in United States history 

involving a President. In the United 

States, judges and some categories 

of public officials are subjects also 

to the vagaries of impeachment 

provisions in the Constitution. 

The Senate prepared 11 articles of 

impeachment against President 

Andrew Johnson, 10 of which were 

made a close study. He ends the paper with 

specific recommendations. The paper is a 

formidable 4600 words and I can only share 

with my readers today two aspects; Ibrahim Ida’s 

thinking on what formats restructuring would 

take as well as his recommendations to the 

committee. For the uninitiated, his paper could 

even be the ABCD – Z of restructuring. Please 

read on: 

Any contemplation of restructuring Nigeria 

will have to take one or a combination of the 

following formats: 

Political Restructuring: a review of the 

structure and architecture of the federating 

It is a myth to talk of true 

federalism. It is a thought for a 

utopia, because types of 

federal systems differ in 

texture and complexity 

units, including the creation of more states 

and the decision whether or not local 

governments should constitute a part of the 

federation units. Decision might also be 

taken on the establishment of State Police 

and the removal of control of land resources 

from the government to individuals by the 

repeal of the Land Use Act. 

Devolution of Power: Review of the second 

schedule of the constitution to transfer some 

functions from the exclusive to the concurrent 

lists so as to reduce the over concentration of 

power at the centre and to make the lower 

tiers of government more functional. A 

review of revenue allocation formula will 

be necessary to allow more financial flex to 

the lower tiers to enable them meet the 

demands of the additional functions to be 

devolved. 

Resource Control/Fiscal Federalism: 

Review of the provision that vests the 

ownership and control of all mineral 

resources on the Federal Government. This 

should allow some leverage to states and 

local governments to keep revenues associated 

with the exploitation of such resources and only 

pay taxes to the Federal Government. 

on violation of the ‘Tenure of Office 

Act’ and the ‘Army Appropriations 

Act’ (which had respectively 

attempted to usurp his power of 

control over the bureaucracy and the 

Army.) The 11th accused him of 

“attempting to undermine 

Congress”. But there was also a 12th 

charge accusing Johnson of 

involvement in the assassination of 

his late Principal, Lincoln, which was 

said to have been dropped from the 

charge list at the last minute. It was 

By the way, what 

should constitute 

impeachable 

offences? Should 

impeachment be 

based on ‘politics’ or 

should it be based on 

‘law’? 

thought to have betrayed too much 

animus by Congress against the 

President. Nor was dropping that 

charge sufficient to erase the widely 

held view that the Senate that tried 

Johnson was dominated by Radical 

Republicans filled with vengeance 

against ‘treacherous’ Southern 

confederate politicians; and the 

allegation too that impeaching 

Johnson was more a partisan quest 

for extra-legislative powers to 

achieve that other motive, than it was 

an altruistic attempt to defend the 

Constitution. 

Suffice it to say that although the 

impeachment was carried through, 

Johnson narrowly survived the 

conviction vote and could not 

therefore be removed from office. 

Interestingly though, seven 

moderate Republicans had voted in 

his favour, not because they did not 

believe, like their fellow ‘Radical 

Republicans’ did, that the President 

had violated the law, but because 

they believed, conscientiously, his 

actions were ‘the result of a struggle 

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 —17 

17 

to preserve the powers of the 

presidency in the face of attacks by a 

determined congress’. Many 

legislators in fact said they “feared 

the removal of a President (who had 

done nothing extraordinarily 

grievous) would permanently 

damage the Presidency and weaken 

the traditional separation of powers' 

doctrine. And so, Johnson’s case, even 

as it was America’s baptism of fire, it 

was also the earliest case to reveal 

the character of ‘impeachment’ as 

inextricably a ‘political’ and ‘legal’ 

issue. 

An American statesman, 

Alexander Hamilton, as far back as 

1788 had warned of the “danger that 

the decision (to impeach) will be 

regulated more by the comparative 

strength of parties, than by the real 

demonstration of innocence (or 

guilt)”. Andrew Johnson’s case alone 

did not exemplify this prediction. 

Over a century later, Richard Nixon’s 

Watergate impeachment scandal in 

1974 and Bill Clinton’s Monicagate 

in 1999, (respectively the 37th and 

42nd presidents of the United States), 

were to be no less telling of 

Hamilton’s prognosis. 

Of the 3 articles of impeachment 

prepared against Nixon, the charges 

of ‘obstruction of justice’ and ‘abuse 

of power’ (in a manner that violated 

the constitutional rights of citizens) 

were key. And whereas Nixon had to 

preemptively resign to avoid 

impeachment, 42 years later, (in 

1999) Democratic President Bill 

Clinton, ironically, would survive 

impeachment proceedings even 

though in addition to the charges of 

‘lying under oath (perjury)’, 

‘concealing a sexual relationship 

with a White House intern’ and 

‘witness tempering’, Clinton, like 

Nixon, was also accused of 

‘obstruction of justice’ and ‘abuse of 

power’. 

Said Robert Dallek: “The 

impeachment proceedings against 

Clinton were highly politicised, with 

almost all Democrats supporting the 

T r u e 

Federalism: A 

review to allow 

the lower tiers of 

government to 

handle functions 

that relate directly 

to the people with 

the higher tier 

confining itself to 

such bigger 

functions of defence and foreign relations. 

I believe that restructuring the country in 

one form or the other is not undesirable and 

that is why I make bold to proffer the following 

suggestions to the committee: 

True Federalism: It is a myth to talk of true 

federalism. It is a thought for a utopia, because 

types of federal systems differ in texture and 

complexity from one country to the other 

depending on the circumstances under which 

the federal system was introduced. For this 

reason, the committee is advised to ignore 

any call for anything in the garb of true 

federalism. Perhaps what could be 

negotiated could be devolution of power 

which could bring about an equitable and 

constitutional distribution of functions 

between the federation units with consequent 

effect on the allocation of revenue from 

federation account. 

Form and Structure of Government: 

maintain the Presidential System albeit with 

some modifications, for example review the 

structure of government at the centre to cut 

the cost of governance. Also maintain the 

current structure of the federation whereby 

states and local governments constitute the 

federating units. Indeed the existence of local 

governments, as integral part of the federal 

structure and as autonomous entities should 

be clearly provided for in the constitution. 

Devolution of Power: The concentration of 

responsibilities on the federal government can 

be curtailed by divesting some matters to states 

and local governments such as involvement in 

post-primary education, primary health care, 

agriculture and the control of water resources. 

Local governments: It will not be justifiable 

to delist local governments from the First 

Schedule of the Constitution. They should be 

incorporated as the 3rd tier of government and 

should be given financial autonomy. 

President and almost all 

Republicans opposing him”. The 

former had argued that “lying about 

sex” was a private matter “and not 

an abuse of governmental authority” 

and the latter had insisted that 

Clinton “violated the law” and by 

“misleading the American public, he 

had undermined the integrity of his 

office”. But just like Andrew Johnson, 

to survive, secured the renegade 

votes of 7 Radical Republicans who 

believed their actions rose above 

‘strict law’ and ‘partisan politics’, 

Clinton too secured 5 conscientious 

Republican votes from members 

who said although they deplored his 

actions, yet they believed that the 

charges against him “did not rise to 

the standard of ‘high crimes and 

misdemeanors’”. 

Now herein lies the heart of the 

impeachment debate. Why should a 

President be elected into office by 

‘many people’ but be removed from 

it by a ‘few’? Why must not the next 

election, be allowed to determine 

what the people want, who elected 

the President into office in the first 

place? So that by their votes, they 

may willfully decide, to withdraw or 

to reconfirm their trust in him. And 

if a ‘few’ must be allowed to remove 

a President from office, what should 

be the raison d’etre for doing so? Is it 

to punish or to reprimand 

presidential ‘inaction’? Or is it to 

reproach or to remedy presidential 

‘action’? By the way, what should 

constitute impeachable offences? 

Should impeachment be based on 

‘politics’ or should it be based on 

‘law’? Should it be based on offence 

of a political nature or should it be 

based on breach of a written law? 

Should it be predicated on a ‘legal 

wrong’ (malum prohibita) or should 

it be premised on a ‘moral 

misconduct’ (malum in se)? Or by 

the way, should impeachment be 

conducted against ‘crime’ or against 

‘maladministration’? All 

maladministration, or just ‘some’? 

To be concluded 

Revenue Allocation: It is suggested that 

concomitant with the devolution of power 

should be a review of the revenue sharing 

formula, to give states and local governments 

proportionate share of the federation account 

so as to enable them discharge additional 

responsibilities. 

Resource Control: The power to control 

mineral resources should continue to be 

vested on the federation of Nigeria and the 

provision of the extant constitution 

regarding the share of the federal revenue 

to be given on derivation should be amended 

to read: ‘not more than 13%’, instead of the 

current ‘not less than 13%’. 

Land Reform: The Land Use Act should 

remain part of the constitution, but should 

be reviewed as the situation demand. 

Security Architecture – State Police: The 

Federal Police should remain as the only 

police sanctioned in the constitution. Certain 

limited powers should however be given to 

State Governors as the Chief Security Officers 

in their States to be able to deploy the police 

with in their states in times of emergencies. 

Also a community policing system could be 

introduced albeit with sufficient constitutional 

guarantees and safeguards. 

Quota System and Federal Character: The 

prevailing quota system and the constitutional 

provision on federal character should be 

maintained and even extended to provide for 

equitable distribution of national 

infrastructure and other economic 

opportunities. 

·Creation of New/Additional States: I do 

not object to equal number of states between 

the south and the north but this should follow 

the provision of section 8 and 9 of the 1999 

constitution (as amended). 

Senator Ibrahim M. Ida, CON. 

(Danmajen Katsina) 

C 

M 

YK


NIGERIA is languishing at the 

bottom of best practices in most areas 

of human endeavours. These are 

grave indications that this country is 

being poorly run, and this has 

nothing to do with particular political 

parties or regimes. This country is 

sitting precariously on wrong 

foundations and truly needs 

restructuring and redirection. 

The ongoing spat between the 

Nigeria Police and the Senator 

representing Kogi West Senatorial 

District at the National Assembly, Dino 

Melaye, is a show of shame and an 

insult to our 19-year-old renascent 

democracy. The way the Nigeria 

Police has handled itself is a vivid 

justification of its 2016 rating as “the 

worst” police force in the world by 

the World Internal Security and Police 

Index International, WISPI. 

The laying of siege to the Senator’s 

Abuja residence; the manner of 

arrest, escape from detention and re- 

The Police, Melaye show of shame 

arrest of hoodlums alleged to be 

armed by Senator Melaye; the untidy 

removal and reinstatement of the 

Kogi State Police Commissioner, Ali 

Janga; the dehumanisation and 

oppressive handling of the senator in 

court and hospitals and the refusal of 

IGP Idris to personally answer the 

various Senate summonses, have not 

projected the Police and the nation in 

positive light. 

The senator is equally to blame for 

his unwholesome role in the saga. 

Instead of submitting himself to the 

law when invited in connection with 

allegations of gun-running and 

arming of bandits, he played hide and 

seek with the Police and enacted 

elaborate dramas to titillate his 

followers in the social media. 

All these diversionary dramatics 

cleverly concealed the core of the 

matter: the two-track political 

differences between Melaye and the 

Presidency whom he is vocally critical 

of, and the local political turf war in 

Kogi between him and Governor 

Yahaya Bello. The Police and Senator 

Melaye are seen as the pawns in the 

proxy war between the Senate and the 

Presidency, which had been at 

daggers-drawn since the All 

Progressives Congress, APC, came 

to power in 2015. The feud 

heightened when the National 

Assembly altered the order of the 

2019 elections prepared by the 

Independent National Electoral 

Commission, INEC, which displeased 

the Presidency. 

We are relieved that President 

Muhammadu Buhari and the 

leadership of the National Assembly 

at last saw fit to meet and iron out 

their differences over the 2018 budget 

for easy passage. They should use the 

method to mend fences and stop the 

needless proxy wars. 

We want to see IGP Idris appear in 

person to answer the Senate’s 

summonses. We also want the 

Legislative and Executive branches to 

amicably agree on the order of the 

2019 elections or refer the matter to 

the Judiciary for resolution. We also 

want Senator Melaye to answer to the 

charges preferred against him 

without further drama. 

Enough of the circus shows. 

By Bernard Okri 

ON January 8, 2018, Vanguard 

published a story titled, “Fuel 

Scarcity: Nigerians commend Osinbajo for 

selfless leadership”. It was one of many 

headlines that commended the number two 

citizen of Nigeria for his service to the people 

as a politician. 

Osinbajo is a man who has a track record 

for his dedication, perseverance, courage and 

for achieving excellence in his work as a public 

servant, in the church as a pastor or at home as 

a husband and father. He is a man who knows 

how to find a balance despite the 

responsibilities on his shoulders. 

Not many believe that you can succeed as a 

pastor and public servant at the same time, 

but Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo is 

re-defining the thought of many Nigerians. 

Despite his busy schedule as Vice President, 

he has never forsaken the gathering of the 

brethren even while helping to attract 

successes to efforts by the government of 

President Muhammadu Buhari to re-invent 

Nigeria on many fronts. 

In addition to assisting in putting the national 

economy on track for fast recovery as head of 

the Economic Team, Osinbajo has won the 

heart of the Nigerian youths for the 

government through a well-designed Social 

Intervention Programme, SIP, comprising the 

N-Power, GEEP Market Moni, Home Grown 

School Feeding initiative and the Conditional 

Cash Transfer for the unemployed in the 

country. He has been the bridge through which 

the South-South zone of the federation reconnected 

with the Buhari government, a 

development, which assisted in mitigating 

tension in the zone. 

The latest exploits by the Vice President in 

bringing the good agenda of the Buhari 

government to fulfillment came through his 

unrelenting efforts to expose corruption 

perpetrated under the past government of 

OPINION 

The Osinbajo example: Bridging the gap as a pastor and politician 

former President Goodluck Jonathan. 

Osinbajo has been doing that because the war 

against corruption is one of the major planks 

of the policy thrust by the present government 

to re-invent Nigeria. 

His background as an established Pastor in 

the Redeemed Christians Church of God, 

RCCG, offers an insight on why he seems to be 

neck-deep in the task by the Cabinet to fight 

corruption. As a pastor, he is ordained to stay 

off any acts of corruption, set examples on how 

not to be corrupt, speak against corruption and 

its incubus as well as expose corruption even 

when in an embryonic stage. Vice President 

Osinbajo, when honking on acts of corruption, 

dwells on facts and figures available to the 

Vice President Osinbajo, 

when honking on acts of 

corruption, dwells on facts 

and figures available to the 

Cabinet 

Cabinet. He is committed to assisting Nigeria 

stave off the possible return of the menace with 

every successive government. For effectively 

bridging the role of a pastor and a politician, 

Osinbajo deserves applause. 

A week ago, the Vice President stepped on 

toes when he featured in the latest episode of 

the The Platform, organised by the Covenant 

Christian Centre in Lagos, alleging that three 

persons stole $3 billion (N1 trillion) in the 

Jonathan administration. 

Not too long ago, he had alleged that the 

Jonathan administration shared the sum of 

N150 billion just two weeks to the 2015 

elections, whereas, the same government spent 

just a paltry N14 billion on agriculture in 2014; 

N15 billion on transportation and only N153 

billion on infrastructure in three years. 

Osinbajo, perhaps, has more privileged 

information on monumental kind of mindless 

corruption which the Jonathan government 

allowed in its six years tenure. 

Although Nigerians are aware that the 

government ran by Jonathan knew nothing 

about frugality and parsimony on financial 

matters, with evidence of alleged infamies 

against his government on corruption still in 

the public domain, Jonathan, who had before 

now remained taciturn and reclusive, 

swallowing all guilt about his failure, is now 

finding the courage to make feeble kicks. 

Last week, Jonathan, likely prodded by 

jobless aides who still leech on him, resolved 

to take his brittle grievance to the RCCG 

Shepard, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, 

asking him to call the Vice President to order 

for “lying” against him. Incredible! The 

question is: will Jonathan, whose government 

still has questions to answer on financial 

matters ever accuse anyone of lying against 

him? 

From observation, Jonathan who had long 

owned up to some grave mistakes while his 

regime lasted, would never have dreamt of 

approaching Pastor Adeboye to call the Vice 

President to order for telling the truth against 

him. The truth is; Jonathan’s former Social 

Media aide, Reno Omokri, prodded his latest 

move to approach the RCCG for succour. The 

tweets by Omokri on the issue are enough 

evidence to show that he, indeed, prodded the 

reaction by Jonathan. 

Before now, Reno Omokri has been crying 

more than the bereaved since Jonathan 

conceded victory to President Buhari in the 

2015 Presidential election. Reno Omokri since 

then has never seen anything good in the 

succeeding administration of President 

Buhari. He had whipped sentiments sufficient 

to rebrand and remold Jonathan out of power 

and had consistently failed. Remo Omokri acts 

as if a grand plan was afoot for Jonathan to 

return to power in 2019. 

Jonathan and members of that 

administration are lucky that they are 

Nigerians. In other climes, Presidents and 

Prime Ministers who merely accepted bribes 

and kickbacks are either in the dock today or 

behind bars. 

This year alone, the world has witnessed how 

Presidents and Prime Ministers of different 

countries were arraigned in court on allegation 

of corruption; not borderring on looting the 

Nigerian style, but on account of carelessness 

in handling bribery cases. 

Former South-African President, Jacob 

Zuma and Mauritius President, Ameenah 

Gurib-Fakim, are classic examples of how 

matured democracies abhor corruption. 

South-Africa and Mauritius never allowed the 

leaders breathing spaces until they eased them 

out of power, parading them in courts, all the 

same. 

The same scenario is playing out in Brazil 

where two successive leaders, Dilma Rousseff 

and her predecessor, Luiz Lula da Silva are 

currently in court answering charges on 

corruption over alleged 400 million euro bribe. 

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin 

Netanyahu is facing charges filed against him 

by the Police, which recommended his 

prosecution on two count charges of corruption 

and breach of trust. 

Nigeria too can fall in line with countries 

that present great abhorrence for corruption, 

showing sincerity of purpose and the willpower 

to just fight the menace at all levels. 

Mr. Okri, a public affairs analyst, wrote 

from Asaba, Delta State.

Foreign investment in FG’s debt instruments hit $16bn –IMF 

•As Moody’s sees brightening outlook for Nigerian banks 

By Babajide Komolafe 

NIGERIA’s return to 

positive economic growth and 

stable exchange rate has triggered 

increased investors’ confidence in 

the nation’s economy prompting 

foreign investment in federal 

government debt instruments to rise 

by 300 percent to $16 billion as at 

March this year. 

The IMF Mission Chief to 

Nigeria, Mr. Amine Mati, disclosed 

this yesterday in Lagos at the 

Moody’s Investors Service 4th 

Annual West Africa Summit tagged: 

“Nigeria’s Recovery: Slow and 

Sturdy”. 

He said: “Last year, foreign 

holdings of local debt was about $4 

billion, as of the end of March, 

foreign holdings of local debt was 

$16 billion, a lot of interest. Some 

in the equities market, there was 

increase in the equities market in 

the first nine months of 2017.” 

Attributing the sharp increase to 

soaring investors’ confidence in 

Nigeria, Mati said: “The good news 

is that Nigeria is coming out of the 

recession. In 2016, there was a 

recession which protracted. Another 

good news is the stability in the 

exchange rate. February 2017 was 

the peak when we had the exchange 

rate at N520 to a dollar, the official 

rate at N305 to a dollar and we had 

different windows. We have seen 

some convergence, driven by 

policies and the I & E window has 

provided some confidence. 

“That was in April and we also 

have the oil price up. But the good 

news is that we need a stable 

exchange rate. There is returning 

investor confidence in the country. 

“Last year the country raised $4.8 

billion including the Diaspora Bond 

and the Eurobond issuance. This 

year, the country has raised $2.5 

billion from the Eurobond market. 

The number of investors that keep 

coming to my office keeps rising.” 

Meanwhile, Moody’s yesterday 

said that Nigerian banks now face 

lower foreign exchange risks and improved 

operating conditions buoyed 

by economic recovery and a more 

liberal foreign exchange policy. 

The company stated this while 

affirming a stable outlook for the 

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING 

US DOLLAR 

POUNDS 

EURO 

FRANC 

YEN 

CFA 

WAUA 

RENMINBI 

RIYAL 

SDR 

DANISH 

RAND 

$116.55 0.00 

$2,766.00 -28.00 

$11.27 -0.29 

$76.93 2.08 

$71.22 2.16 

304.75 305.25 305.75 

414.1857 414.8653 415.5448 

362.1954 362.7896 363.3839 

304.3239 304.8232 305.3225 

2.7778 2.7823 2.7869 

0.5324 0.5424 0.5524 

434.1944 4349068 435.6192 

47.8218 47.9007 47.9796 

81.2602 81.3935 81.5268 

434.8783 435.5918 436.3053 

48.6145 48.6943 48.7741 

24.1948 24.327 24.2742 

CBN Exchange rate as at 9/05/2018 

nation’s banks in a report titled: 

“Banking System Outlook - Nigeria; 

Liquidity Risks have Eased but 

Earnings Pressure and Loan Quality 

Risks Remain”. 

Among other things, Moody’s 

also projected that the ongoing 

economic recovery will lead to 10 

percent increase in banks’ lending 

to the economy, stressing that nonperforming 

loans will however rise 

marginally. 

It stated: “The outlook for the 

Nigerian banking system remains 

stable as banks’ foreign currency 

liquidity risks moderate due to rising 

oil prices and a more liberal foreign 

exchange policy. 

“Despite the stabilisation in banks’ 

foreign currency funding and 

liquidity profiles, Moody’s expects 

bank earnings to come under 

pressure. Capital metrics will also 

decline marginally over the 12 to 18 

month outlook period. Additionally, 

asset quality will remain weak, but 

a further deterioration in loan 

performance will be marginal as 

operating conditions slowly 

improve.” 

Quoting its Vice President and 

Senior Credit Officer, Akin 


Majekodunmi, the report added: 

“Operating conditions for the 

Nigeria’s banks will continue to 

gradually improve over the next 12 

to 18 months, but remain 

challenging. 

“Nigeria’s growth prospects 

remain vulnerable to global oil 

prices, as crude oil will remain the 

nation’s largest export commodity 

and its main generator of foreign 

currency for the foreseeable future. 

“Moody’s forecasts a recovery in 

real GDP growth over the next two 

years, up from 0.8 percent last year, 

helping lending growth rise to 

around 10 percent after a 15.4 

percent contraction in 2017.’’ 

MEDIA PARLEY: From Left: Chief Operating Officer, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Girish Sharma; 

Marketing Manager, Kimberly Clark, Oluwakemi Saliu; Senior legal Counsel, Kimberly Clark, 

Tayo Fagbamigbe; Chief Executive Officer/Executive Secretary, American Business Council, 

Margaret Olele; HR Manager, Kimberly Clark West, East & Central Africa, Okusanya Adebisi; 

during the media parley in L agos. 

Credit to private sector falls by N140bn in 

Q1’18 -NBS 

By Elizabeth Adegbesan 

BANK’s credit to the private 

sector fell quarter-on-quarter (q/ 

q) by N140 billion to N15.6 trillion in 

the first quarter of 2018 (Q1’18). 

Nigeria Bureau of Statistics 

(NBS) disclosed 

this in its latest banking 

sector report titled: “Sectorial 

Breakdown of 

Credit, e-payment 

Channels, and Staff 

Strength Q1’18 Report”. 

According to the report, 

banks lent N15.6 

trillion to the private sector 

in Q1’18, down from 

N15.74 trillion in the 

fourth quarter of 2017 

(Q4’17). 

The report showed that 

the oil & gas and 

manufacturing sectors 

received the highest 

credit during the quarter. 

While the oil & gas 

industry got N3.42 

trillion, the 

manufacturing sector 

received N2.07 trillion. 

Vanguard analysis 

showed that the mining 

& quarrying sector, 

power & energy sector and transportation 

& storage sector suffered the 

highest decline in credit in Q1’18 

compared to Q4’17. 

Further analysis indicated that the 

information & communication sector, 

general sector, and ‘other’ sectors 

enjoyed the highest increase in credit 

allocation in Q1’18. 

The mining & quarry sector 

suffered the highest decline as credit 

to the sector fell by 58 percent to N10.5 

billion in Q1’18 from N25.2 billion in 

Q4’17. 

This was followed by credit to 

power & energy sector, which fell by 

28 percent to N426.5 billion in Q1’18 

from N453.9 billion in Q4’17. 

Credit to the transportation and 

storage sector (services) also fell by 

12.2 percent to N291.7 billion in 

Q1’18 from N332.09 billion in Q4’17. 

On the other hand, credit to the 

information sector rose by 11.7 percent 

to N865.3 billion in Q1’18 from 

N774.4 billion in Q4’17. 

Credit to the general sector also 

increased by 10.6 percent to N1.15 

trillion from N1.04 trillion in Q4’17. 

Similarly, credit to ‘other’ sectors 

rose by 8.5 percent to N384.9 billion 

in Q1’18 from N354.8 billion in Q4’17. 

DUFIL consolidates market position with acquisition of 

May&Baker Noodles 

THE Nigerian food busi 

ness sector has continued to witness 

intense consolidation from 

major players in order to broaden 

their market share and improve profitability. 

This tide in mergers, and 

acquisitions continues to ebb and 

flow within the fast moving consumer 

goods (FMCG) sector with 

the latest acquisition by Dufil Prima 

Foods topping the list of the latest 

deals in the noodles sector. Industry 

observers believe the recent acquisition 

of three noodles production 

lines of May&Baker Nigeria Plc by 

Dufil Prima Foods Plc will consolidate 

and strengthen Indomie’s position 

as a market leader in the Instant 

Noodles segment and ratify its 

position as the number one noodles 

brand in Nigeria. 

According to the Financial Adviser/ 

Solicitor of Dufil Prima Foods, 

Nnenna Ejekam, the deal comes after 

the Acquisition was completed 

following receipt of approvals from 

the respective Boards of Directors and 

shareholders of Dufil Prima Foods 

Plc and M&B, and the Securities and 

Exchange Commission (SEC). She 

revealed that the deal is worth 

N775Million and automatically gives 

Dufil the ownership of M&B’s 

Julius Berger 

CEO predicts 

positive outlook 

for construction 

sector 

By Jimoh Babatunde 

THE Managing Director of 

Julius Berger Plc, Wolfgang 

Goetsch, said with the national Economic 

Recovery and Growth Plan, 

EGRP, the construction sector is expected 

to enjoy a sustainable growth 

and tangible positive outcomes this 

year. 

He, however, said that the sector 

still faces substantial challenges. 

He stated: “GDP is on the rise, inflation 

is lower, the price per barrel 

of crude oil is above the 45 dollar 

budgetary benchmark and the Central 

Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s external 

reserves are recovering. 

“These factors amongst others 

have led the International Monetary 

Fund, IMF, to elevate its 2018 Nigeria 

growth forecast to 2.1 percent 

in line with the World Bank’s projection 

of 2.5 percent.” 

Speaking during the company’s 

Investor Relations forum in Lagos 

earlier this week, Goetsch said although 

the currency market, which 

was the primary driver of volatility 

in the recent past, has stabilized, “a 

desire by clients to more intently shift 

risk has led to more time-intense and 

intricate contract negotiations requiring 

more rigorous evaluation. 

“As the Economic Recovery and 

Growth Plan has now been in place, 

we continue to eagerly anticipate 

sustainable growth, and we look forward 

to the tangible positive outcomes 

for the construction industry, 

and therefore for our company.” 

The MD stated that Julius Berger 

had introduced a proactive Change 

Agenda, which result has been a 

progressive transformation of the 

company into a leaner, more flexible, 

more competitive and profitable 

corporation. 

According to Goetsch, as was the 

strategic intent, Julius Berger remains 

the leading brand in engineering 

construction in Nigeria, a 

pioneer of innovative construction 

technologies, distinguished as a provider 

of integrated, innovative and 

holistic solutions, at an unmatched 

high-level quality to clients. He said 

the company was able to complete 

most its projects on schedule during 

the year, listing some of them to 

include the rehabilitation of the runway 

and main taxiways at the 

Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport 

which was accomplished 

against all odds in only six weeks 

among others. 

Noodles Factory in Ota, along with 

the equipment; and the trademark 

of Mimee Instant Noodles. 

The Chief Operating Officer of Dufil 

Prima Foods, Mr. Girish Sharma, 

confirmed the deal and described the 

acquisition of Mimee Noodles as 

strategic as they continue to seek 

moredominance of the noodles market. 

“We are pleased to announce this 

transaction, which delivers immediate 

value to our current shareholders 

and reflects the successful alignment, 

partnership, and commitment 

of our board, employees and suppliers,” 

Girish said.

20 — VANGUARD, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 

Beneficiaries of the 

Lagos State 

Employment Trust Fund 

(LSETF), who are more 

than 8,000, have created 

11,268 new jobs since 

inception of the scheme, 

according to data made 

available by the Fund. 

Recall that the Fund was 

established by the Lagos 

State government in 2016, 

by investing N25 billion 

over four years, to provide 

financial support to 

residents of the State 

LSETF beneficiaries create 11,268 new jobs 

engaged in micro, small 

and medium enterprises 

(MSMEs) for job, wealth 

creation and to tackle 

unemployment with a loan 

of up to N5 million at 5 

percent interest. 

Available report as at end 

of April, 2018, shows that 

a total sum of N5.97 billion 

has been approved to 

8,091 beneficiaries, while 

loans totaling N5.09 billion 

have been disbursed to 

6,172 beneficiaries as at 

February 2018. 

Executive Secretary, 

LSETF, Akintunde 

Oyebode, at the 2018 

Social Media Week in 

Lagos, stated: "By the end 

of March this year, the 

number of businesses that 

have accessed loans would 

have been raised to 8,000. 

This number will have hit 

15,000 by the end of the 

year. "We even expect an 

improvement in the later 

years if businesses key into 

our innovation-driven 

enterprise framework, the 

Lagos Innovate, a set of 

programmes designed to 

support innovationdriven 

start-ups in the 

state." 

Under the Lagos 

Innovates programme, 

LSETF said 23 beneficiaries 

have been awarded 

workspace vouchers to 

enable them work freely at 

tech-hubs with access to 

internet connection and 

power supply, while one 

hub loan has been 

approved. 

"Our goal is to make Lagos 

the destination for 

innovation and technology 

in Africa. Already, we have 

raised $1million from the 

United Nations 

Development Programme 

(UNDP) to drive this," 

Oyebode said. 

Also under its 

Employability 

programme, 1018 trainees 

have been certified; 150 

trainees have been 

through employment 

placement processes; 90 

have been employed while 

32 have pending 

employment offers. 

Getting business 

loans from banks 

Skye Bank (3) 

UBA, , MasterCard unveil payment 

solution for MSMEs 

Stories by Yinka 

Kolawole 

United Bank for Africa 

(UBA), in partnership 

with MasterCard 

International, has rolled a 

payment solution which 

enables micro, small and 

medium enterprises 

(MSMEs) in Nigeria and 

across Africa to receive 

digital payments from 

their customers through 

scanning, using their 

Facebook account. 

A statement by the bank's 

E x t e r n a l 

Communications Unit 

said the MasterPass Quick 

Response (MasterPass 

QR), developed by 

MasterCard International 

in partnership with 

Facebook, allows 

payment collection by 

SMEs through Facebook 

Messenger and delivers 

unified and instant selfservice 

across a range of 

interconnected payment 

solutions. 

According to the bank, 

the new App is a chat Bot, 

currently available on 

Facebook Messenger as 

MasterPass QR for 

merchants, much like the 

chart banking personality, 

LEO, the artificial 

intelligence payment 

solution recently 

introduced. 

Speaking on the 

development, Group 

Executive, Digital & 

Consumer Banking, Anant 

Rao, said: "Our customers 

are at the heart of our 

business, that's why we 

keep going the extra mile 

to satisfy them. As we very 

well know MSMEs 

contribute significantly to 

the economy but remain 

heavily dependent on cash 

to run their business; 

however, consumers are 

demanding safer and 

more convenient ways to 

pay. The innovative new 

platform enables MSMEs 

in Nigeria receive digital 

payments from millions of 

customers by simply 

scanning. 

"Banking is going 

conversational and UBA 

in partnership with 

Facebook is at the 

forefront of driving this 

innovation globally. "It is 

100 per cent self-service 

and generation of the QR 

is immediate. Acceptance 

of payments can begin 

immediately the QR is 

generated, it is making 

banking simple." 

Rao noted that access to 

mobile technology 

presents an opportunity 

to meet this demand, and 

the new UBA MasterPass 

QR Merchant App is set to 

change the payment 

landscape to the benefit of 

micro merchants across 

the country. 

"With this development, 

The innovative 

new platform 

enables 

MSMEs in 

Nigeria receive 

digital 

payments from 

millions of 

customers by 

simply 

scanning 

customers are given the 

freedom to shop across 

devices and channels. 

With MasterPass QR, small 

and informal micro 

merchants, large 

corporates and 

governments now have 

access to fast, simple and 

secure digital payments 

options, a global digital 

system that allows people 

pay for services using 

mobile phones. 

"In addition, individuals 

can now make purchases 

via merchant apps, instore 

or online by simply 

clicking the MasterPass 

button and authenticating 

to complete a transaction. 

All a user simply needs to 

do is Scan the QR Code 

generated by the 

merchants to pay; making 

transactions for both the 

merchant and customer 

fast and seamless. It is 100 

per cent self-service and 

generation of the QR is 

immediate. Acceptance of 

payments can begin 

immediately the QR is 

generated, it is making 

banking simple," he 

added. 

Last month we discussed two shortterm 

loan offers available at Skye 

Bank. We had also discussed the bank's 

SME Asset Finance facility which has 

relatively longer tenor with wider variety 

of usages. 

We shall begin to round up discussions 

on Skye Bank's SME loans with these other 

offers, namely; The Auto loan for business 

owners, short term working capital facility 

and LPO Financing Facility. 

The Auto loan is for business vehicles 

and the m aximum loan amount is N10 

million. 

The tenor is relatively long at maximum 

of 36 months during which the vehicle 

would have been fully depreciated and the 

loan repaid, all things being equal. 

The bank requires that the loan 

beneficiary contribute 30% of the value 

of the vehicle to the deal. Repayments are 

on equal and consecutive monthly 

instalments, and the business account of 

the borrower company must be domiciled 

with the Bank. 

Shorter tenor 

Skye Bank also offers Short Term 

Working Capital loan. The loan is for a 

maximum of N15 million with a relatively 

shorter tenor of six months. In addition 

to the interest rate the bank charges a 

management fee for this loan at 1% flat and 

another 1% as commitment fee. 

Another aspect of Skye Bank loan to 

small businesses is in its LPO Financing 

Facility. The loan amount is maximum of 

N20 million with maximum 180 days 

tenor. 

It is for businesses involved in executing 

supply contracts as well as provision of 

services especially to premium 

organizations.


FG tackles MSMEs challenges with four critical 

reforms 

By Prince Okafor 

The Federal Government 

said it has identified four 

key reform areas needed to 

tackle challenges of Micro 

Small and Medium 

Enterprises (MSMEs) in the 

country. 

Minister of State for 

Industry, Trade and 

Investment, Hajiya Aisha 

Abubakar, made this known 

during the official 

inauguration of the National 

Power Programme for MSMEs 

and formal unveiling of Tellco 

Europe Nigeria Ltd, in Lagos. 

She stated: "The areas 

includes improve regulatory 

environment, ease access to 

finance, enable business 

support services and 

improve access to market for 

MSMEs. The MSMEs clinic 

nationwide was introduced 

by the government to 

improve the ease of doing 

business by bridging the 

information gap and 

encourage them to be more 

efficient and capable of 

competitiveness. 

"The clinic brings together all 

the relevant Ministries 

Department and Agencies 

(MDAs) to take enquiries and 

solve real time challenges 

facing MSMEs operators. It 

raises awareness and 

promotion for goods and 

services produced by MSMEs 

operating in Nigeria." 

The minister who was 

represented by Dr. Francis 

Alaneme from the ministry 

said that government believed 

that supporting small 

businesses by promoting 

green MSMEs was essential for 

increasing productivity and 

boosting economy 

development. 

"This is why government is 

working with stakeholders 

across all sectors to ensure that 

MSMEs have the support they 

need to grow now and in future. 

This can be witnessed in the 

milestone being achieved by 

the Presidential Council on the 

Ease of Doing Business," she 

Entrepreneurs s charged on culture of effectiv 

ective 

management 

By Princewill Ekwujuru 

China 

Europe 

International Business 

School (CEIBS) has charged 

entrepreneurs to imbibe the 

culture of effective business 

management and quality 

leadership role to ensure 

growth and optimum 

productivity within an 

organisation. 

The charge was given at a 

breakfast session with the 

theme, "Entrepreneurship 

and Stable Leadership: 

Building the Next Generation 

of Leadership," held for 

alumni of the Nigerian 

Chapter of CEIBS, in Lagos. 

Speaking at the event, Mr. 

Sunday Agboola, President of 

CEIBS Nigeria Chapter, said 

the session was aimed at 

enhancing the knowledge 

attained by the alumni of the 

school on how entrepreneurs 

can take advantage of 

innovative business trends 

and how to demonstrate 

leadership qualities that 

could lead to growth and 

business expansion. 

He said quality leadership is 

very essential for the 

development of any business 

or organisation because it is 

all about influencing people, 

Cross-section of participants during the launching of the Ondo MSME Clinic by 

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at Akure 

making equitable decision, 

and the direction which the 

workforce should follow in 

order to achieve desired 

results. 

In his remark, Mr. Kelechi 

Nwosu, Executive Vice 

President, Hartford Allied 

Projects, an alumnus of 

CEIBS, said the school helps 

to build business and 

managerial skills in members 

which are essential for the 

advancement of any 

organisation, whether small, 

medium or large scale 

By Destiny Eseaga 

Mobile phone company, Infinix 

Mobile, recently organized a 

photography masterclass for bloggers and 

budding entrepreneurs in Lagos, on how to 

use its latest smartphone device, Infinix Hot 

S3, to generate photo-stories and get paid. 

Addressing participants at the masterclass 

with the theme, "How A Selfie Focused 

Phone Can Help Lifestyle blogging", an 

entrepreneur and blogger, Deola Adebiyi, 

explained how to take quality selfies by 

finding light, using grid lines and editing. 

She noted that Infinix has only gone on to 

re-echo the multiple possibilities that can 

be attained using its device in finding 

expression for business and style in a photocentric 

society. 

enterprises. 

He affirmed that the country 

is endowed with mineral 

resources and the challenge it 

has, is that of poor leadership 

and lack of managerial skills, 

areas where CEIBS can make 

constructive impact. 

Nwosu asserted that the 

combination of Chinese and 

European style of education 

would be advantageous to the 

country and the African 

continent, since China is one 

of the largest economies in the 

world. 

said. 

Abubakar commended 

Tellco Europe and SolarLed 

Solutions for the efforts they 

had made in trying to provide 

clean energy for MSMEs in the 

country. 

She said: "This is in tandem 

with Sustainable Development 

Goals (SDGs) and considered as 

a pathway towards sustainable 

economic growth. By this, 

there will be massive job 

creation, competitiveness, 

wealth creation, foreign 

exchange generation and 

improvement in the standard 

of living of the populace." 

On his part, Chief Executive 

Officer, Tellco Europe, Mr. 

Rudoff Fiedler, said that over 

600 million people live 

without electricity in Sub- 

Sahara African. 

In his remark, Chairman of 

Tellco Europe, Prof. Wale 

Omole, former Vice- 

Chancellor of Obafemi 

Awolowo University (OAU), 

said it was a pity that the 

country had more sunlight but 

still in darkness. He however 

added that light has come to 

Nigeria through Tellco. 

Infinix empowers bloggers, budding entrepreneurs 

Also speaking, Infinix Hot S3 Product 

Manager, Andy Wang, said: "The Infinix Hot 

S3 provides seamless multitasking with its 

huge 3GB RAM and can store a lot of data 

such as songs, HD movies, images with its 

32GB ROM which is expandable up to 

128GB. On the camera department, we have 

set this device up to compete with the best 

with the 20MP+13MP with bright flash 

which is at par with a professional camera. 

So, users have nothing to worry about." 

The newly launched infinix Hot S3 

understands the importance of photostories 

and how to help users express 

million of words in single clicks of their 

camera button by releasing a 20MP Low 

Light selfie camera that captures pictures 

as perfectly as it would in broad daylight. 

NGO plans 

leadership 

series for 

entrepreneurs 

Influence to Inspire 

L e a d e r s h i p 

Empowerment Initiative, a 

non-governmental 

organisation, said it has 

concluded arrangement to 

host leadership series for 

captains of industries and 

other entrepreneurs with a 

view to helping them cultivate 

the qualities required to run a 

successful enterprise. 

The event scheduled, to 

hold in Lagos from 19th - 20th 

July, 2018, will have John C 

Maxwell as the guest speaker. 

He is expected to speak on 

"Sustainable Leadership and 

Growth for a Thriving 

Economy". 

Addressing a press 

conference ahead of the event 

in Lagos, Ms Jane Ivhurie, 

Principal Host/Founder, 

Inspire to Influence Initiative, 

said the conference is an 

annual event targeted at 

leaders and decision makers 

within and outside Nigeria. 

She explained that the 

conference is in two phases, 

the first phase being the 

Leadership Conference, while 

the second phase is focused on 

skill acquisition and 

monetisation for unemployed 

people in the rural areas. 

She said: "We expect to host 

over two thousand corporate 

attendees from all over the 

country, including CEOs, 

leaders and individuals from 

all spheres of industry and 

inspire them to reach their 

highest leadership potential to 

adopt the influence-based 

leadership lifestyle for 

professional growth." 

She assured that with the 

over two thousand attendees 

from corporate and public 

sector expected from Africa, 

the conference is the place to 

raise brand's profile, increase 

awareness, meet the right 

audience of customers, 

partners and decision makers 

with purchasing power. 

Ivhurie said that attendees 

would among other things gain 

insight to improved client 

relationship, team building 

and growth for corporates as 

well as premium networking. 

She explained that the 

second phase, the Community 

Engagement Programme, 

would bring together various 

individuals with diverse skill 

sets, guide and train them on 

basic skill acquisitions, 

provide them funding and 

sponsorship to help develop 

selected products and 

business ideas. "We would also 

provide mentorship and 

follow up plans with selected 

individuals to ensure 

successful business growth."


Balancing lawyers' duties, roles to clients in 

justice administration — Quakers, SAN 

By Norrison Quakers 

ADMITTEDLY, lawyers as 

operators of the administration 

of justice system owe 

a duty to the society at large 

to ensure that they conduct 

their activities in a manner that 

edifies and brings honour, respect 

and belief to the judicial 

system. However, overtime, in 

the discharge of the duties of 

a legal practitioner, a notable 

conflicting interest arising is 

striking a balance between the 

interest of the client who virtually 

pays the legal practitioner’s 

bills and the legal practitioner’s 

special duties being 

a Minister in the temple of justice. 

The special role of legal 

practitioners is recognised by 

Section 349(1) of Administration 

of Criminal Justice Act, 

2015 which provides that 

‘Where a defendant charged 

before the court is not represented 

by a legal practitioner, 

the court shall: (a) inform him 

of his rights to a legal practitioner 

of his choice; and 

(b) enquire from him, whether 

he wishes to engage his 

own legal practitioner, or a legal 

practitioner engaged for 

him by way of legal aid.’ 

Duties and 

responsibilities 

•Norrison Quakers, SAN 

The duty of 

counsel to his 

client in a civil 

case or in 

defending an 

accused person 

is to make 

every honest 

endeavour to 

succeed 

ted of an advocate to urge what 

has only the semblance of it.” 

Remarkably, in prosecuting 

the anti-corruption agenda of 

the Buhari led-administration, 

a cause for concern in recent 

times is the manner in which 

persecution is gradually being 

clothed with legal cloak. Regrettably, 

the hallowed constitutional 

presumption of innocence 

is being flouted with 

cat-walking impudence by law 

Of note, the duties and responsibilities 

of a lawyer to his 

client, was aptly captured by 

the iconoclast-Lord Denning 

(Master of the Rolls), C. A. 

England 195 viz: 

“The duty of counsel to his 

client in a civil case or in defending 

an accused person is 

to make every honest endeavour 

to succeed. He must not 

knowingly mislead the court 

either on the facts or on the 

law, but short of that, he may 

put such matters in evidence 

or omit such others as in his 

discretion he thinks will be 

most to the advantage of his 

client. 

So also, when it comes to his 

speech, he must put every fair 

argument which appears to 

him to help his client towards 

winning his case. The reason 

is because he is not the judge 

of credibility of witnesses or of 

validity of arguments. He is 

only the advocate employed by 

the client to speak for him and 

present his case, and he must 

do it to the best of his ability, 

without making himself the 

judge of its honesty. Cicero 

makes the distinction that it is 

the duty of the judge to pursue 

the truth, but it is permitenforcement 

agencies. Succinctly, 

an upright legal practitioner 

confronted by a client 

who is a victim of such constitutional 

infractions will naturally 

have difficulty in being 

dispassionate. This is where 

caution must be exercised by 

such legal practitioner since 

the machinery of the law is the 

only legally acceptable means 

of combating injustice. 

Although there are equally 

despicable instances of lawyers 

going overboard in a desperate 

move to remove the 

blindfold of the revered Lady 

Justice, an allegorical personification 

of the moral force in 

judicial systems, at all cost by 

subverting the course of justice! 

This clearly is in contravention 

of RULES 30 & 34 of the 

RULES OF PROFESSIONAL 

CONDUCT FOR LEGAL 

PRACTITIONERS 2007. 

In balancing the aforesaid 

conflicting interests, legal 

practitioners in the discharge 

of their responsibilities also 

have to consider the Cab Bank 

Rule. In addition, there is 

amongst others a ‘duty of con- 

fidentiality’ as contained 

in RULES 

OF PROFESSION- 

AL CONDUCT 

FOR LEGAL PRAC- 

TITIONERS 2007, 

with Rule 19(3) outlining 

limited instances, 

legal practitioners 

can deviate 

from its obligatory 

observance, viz- 

“a lawyer may reveal- 

(a) confidences 

or secrets with 

the consent of the 

client or clients affected, 

but only after 

a full disclosure 

to them. (b) confidences 

or secrets 

when permitted under 

these rules or required 

law or a 

Court order; (c) the 

intention of his client 

to commit a 

crime and the information 

necessary to 

prevent the crime; 

(d) confidences or 

secrets necessary to 

establish or collect 

his fee or to defend 

himself or his employees 

or associates 

against an accusation 

of wrongful 

conduct.” 

Energy and 

expertise 

Succinctly, though lawyers 

are duty bound to devote their 

attention, energy and expertise 

to the service of their client 

and, to act in a manner 

consistent with the best interest 

of the client (see Rule 16 

RULES OF PROFESSIONAL 

CONDUCT FOR LEGAL 

PRACTITIONERS 2007), nevertheless, 

this must be done 

within the bounds of the law 

as Rule 15(2) RULES OF PRO- 

FESSIONAL CONDUCT FOR 

LEGAL PRACTITIONERS 

2007 provides- 

“In his representation of his 

client, a lawyer shall- (a) keep 

strictly within the law notwithstanding 

any contrary instruction 

by his client, and if the 

client insists on a breach of the 

law, the lawyer shall withdraw 

his service; (b) use his best endeavours 

to restrain and prevent 

his client from committing 

misconduct or breach of the 

law with particular reference 

to judicial officers, witnesses 

and litigants and if the client 

persists in his action or conduct, 

the lawyer shall terminate 

their relations.” 

In the words of NGWUTA, 

J.S.C. in DARIYE v. FRN 

(2015) LPELR-24398(SC) (P. 

37, paras. B-D). “Lawyers are 

engaged to espouse the case 

of their clients. It is a monopoly 

and they should bear in 

mind that like all monopolies, 

their conducts are subject to 

strict rules of accountability for 

adherence to set ethical standards. 

They can fight the cause 

of their clients but as lawyers, 

they must act within the rules 

regarding ethical conduct. 

They owe a duty to their client 

but they owe a higher duty to 

a higher cause-the cause of 

justice.” 

In a similar vein, Wesley Mc 

Williams writing in an American 

Bar Association Journal in 

January 1955 (41 ABA 18) 

wrote in an article he titled: 

The Law as a Dynamic Profession 

thus: “We belong to an ancient, 

to a great, to an honored 

profession. The practice of Law 

is a worthy calling. It has rewarded 

us with financial success 

and with prestige and 

leadership in our communities. 

It has given us much happiness 

and the good life. From it 

we have received the gratitude 

and respect of our friends and 

neighbours whom we have 

served.” 

Gratitude 

and respect 

Hence, lawyers must be conscientious 

in the performance 

of their duties. Depending on 

the facts and circumstances of 

each case, a lawyer may be liable 

to punishment as provided 

under Rule 55(1) and (2) of 

the Rules of Professional Conduct 

for Legal Practitioners 

Rules, 2007. The provisions 

are couched as follows: 

“55 (1) lf a lawyer acts in contravention 

of any of the rules 

in these Rules or fails to perform 

any of the duties imposed 

by the Rules, he shall be guilty 

of a professional misconduct 

and liable to punishment as 

provided in Legal Practitioners 

Act, 1975. (2) It is the duty of 

every lawyer to report any 

breach of any of these rules that 

comes to his knowledge to the 

appropriate authorities for necessary 

disciplinary action.” 

The germane question that 

arises is- ‘whether in the discharge 

of a legal practitioner’s 

duties, any client is deserving 

of any conduct involving subversion 

of justice that can lead 

to a legal practitioner’s loss of 

dignity or in a worst case scenario, 

being derobed?’

VANGUARD, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 — 23 

How Prof Ajomo made my job easy as former AGF 

—Justice Bola Ajibola 

By Onozure Dania 

IT was a day of honour 

for the former 

Dean of the Faculty of 

Law, University of Lagos, 

UNILAG, and ex- 

Director, Nigerian Institute 

of Advanced Legal 

Studies, NIALS, the late 

Professor Michael Ajomo, 

when former Judge 

of International Court of 

Justice, ICJ, Prince Bola 

Ajibola narrated how his 

job as the Attorney- General 

of the Federation 

and Minister of Justice, 

was made easy by the exdirector 

of NIALS. 

Prince Ajibola, who 

gave resounding tributes 

in honour of Prof. 

Ajomo during a special 

session organised by 

NIALS in conjunction 

with the Faculty of Law, 

UNILAG, said the late 

Ajomo “was a quintessential 

legal juggernaut, 

from whose legal knowledge 

many benefited in 

his life time.” 

Professor Michael Ayodele 

Ajomo who was a 

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, 

held sway as the director 

of the Nigerian Institute 

of Advanced Legal 

Studies (1988-1995) 

and Head of the Department 

of Jurisprudence 

and International Law, 

UNILAG. 

Other dignitaries who 

spoke glowingly on the 

person of the late Professor 

Ajomo were the immediate 

past D-G of NI- 

ALS, Prof. Epiphany 

Azinge, SAN; Dean, 

Faculty 

of 

Law, UNILAG, Prof. Ayo 

Atsenuwa; NIALS director-general, 

Prof. Adedeji 

Adekunle, SAN; 

former Deputy Governor 

of Delta State, Prof. 

Amos Utuama, SAN; 

Professor of International 

Law, Akin Oyebade 

and a host of others. 

Going through the brilliant 

outing of the late 

Ajomo, Chief Ajibola 

said that Professor Ajomo 

singled out himself, 

by usually and constantly 

proffering professional 

answers to him, for 

the success of the office 

*Late Prof. Ajomo 

of the AGF. 

“This outstanding 

quality distinguished 

him from many in my 

observation of his personality. 

The mutual relationship 

between Professor 

Ajomo and I blossomed 

throughout my 

six years, three months, 

six weeks, three days 

and one and half hours, 

as Minister of Justice. 

“He was a pillar of support 

to me as he was also 

instrumental to my elevation 

to the International 

Court of Justice, ICJ, 

as a judge. Professor 

Ajomo was widely exposed, 

he avoided materialism 

and largely 

embraced intellectualism. 

He was a good time 

manager who abundantly 

invested his time in 

productive thinking on 

account of my close relationship 

with him. He 

was pedestal on hard 

work, honesty, dedication 

and resilience. Every 

moment spent with 

Professor Ajomo was a 

worthy achievement; 

Ajomo avoided corruption 

as he detested covetousness. 

“I personally benefited 

a lot from his leadership 

guide and wealth of experience 

in this legal 

profession of ours. He 

was a senior colleague 

for whom I had much 

respect; without an iota 

of doubt, he was a moving 

encyclopedia of law 

who contributed his 

knowledge and expertise 

to the development 

of our country. My acquaintance 

with the late 

Ajomo dates back to my 

days as Attorney-General 

and Minister of Justice 

in Nigeria. As a matter 

of fact, I consulted 

with him on my taking 

the offer and assumption 

of office, as the chief legal 

officer of our dear 

country, Nigeria. 

“His professional advice 

paid off from time to 

time. At a point when I 

needed a special assistant 

to support and work 

closely with me in the 

Ministry of Justice, he 

was instrumental in the 

appointment of the two 

gentlemen, namely: the 

current Vice-President, 

Yemi Osinbajo, SAN and 

Awa Kalu, SAN, both of 

whom served diligently 

and meritoriously under 

me. As we can see today, 

both gentlemen have attained 

the pinnacle of 

the law profession and 

career,” Prince Ajibola 

said. 

These were corroborated 

by two vice-chancellors. 

The Vice-Chancellor, 

University of Lagos, 

Professor Oluwatoyin 

Ogundipe and that of 

Lagos State University, 

LASU, Prof. Olanrewaju 

Fagbohun. 

On Ajomo, Ogundipe 

said: “Professor Ajomo 

served the university 

with distinction. Without 

a doubt, he was one of 

Nigeria’s foremost scholars 

of International law; 

he did not only serve as 

the first President of Nigeria 

society of International 

Law, he provided 

much support to the Nigerian 

Government as 

he participated in various 

fora and authored 

many international 

works.” 

In his tribute, the 

Vice-Chancellor of 

LASU, Prof. Olanrewaju 

Fagbohun, also a lawyer, 

described Professor 

Ajomo as a man with 

humanist values, adding 

that he is being celebrated 

because he was a 

man who represented 

all. 

He said that his 

achievements were worthy 

of emulation, as he 

was a scholar of repute. 

“We are celebrating him 

and that brings me to the 

question: We are singing 

the song of Papa Ajomo, 

tomorrow what will 

be your own song? I 

congratulate the family 

of Papa Ajomo. Papa has 

left a legacy that will allow 

you to walk tall anywhere 

in the world,” 

Fagbohun said. 

The VC further implored 

the students and 

the institution to continue 

to push the frontiers 

of excellence and preserve 

the legacy that 

Ajomo left behind. 

SERAP challenges Fashola to give account on spending in power sector 

By Abdulwahab Abdulah 

S ocio-Economic 

Rights and Accountability 

Project, 

SERAP, has urged the 

Minister of Power, Works 

and Housing, Mr Babatunde 

Fashola, SAN, to 

disclose the spending on 

the privatisation of the 

electricity sector and the 

exact amount of post-privatisation 

spendings to 

date. 

In a Freedom of Information 

request sent to the 

minister, SERAP, was asking 

him to also explain if 

such spendings came 

from budgetary allocations 

or other sources. 

The organisation is also 

seeking “information on 

the status of implementation 

of the 25-year national 

energy development 

plan, and whether the 

Code of Ethics of the privatisation 

process which 

bars staff of the Bureau of 

Public Enterprises, BPE 

and members of the National 

Council on Privatisation, 

NCP from buying 

shares in companies being 

privatised, were deliberately 

flouted.” 

In a letter signed by its 

Executive Director, 

Adetokunbo Mumuni, it 

stated that since the privatisation 

of the Power 

sector, the government 

has continued to use public 

resources to subsidise 

the private entities. 

“The Goodluck Jonathan 

Government reportedly 

spent over N400 billion 

on the Power sector 

while the present government 

spent over N500 billion 

on the sector despite 

privatisation. 

It is unclear if this 

spending is drawn from 

budgetary allocations and 

if these are loans to generation 

companies, GEN- 

COS, Distribution companies, 

DISCOS, and 

Transmission Company 

of Nigeria.” 

The organisation said, 

“Assuming the funds are 

given as loans, SERAP 

would like to know whether 

appropriate guarantees 

have been provided 

to secure such loans, and 

whether such loans provide 

value for money for 

Nigerian tax-payers. Publishing 

details of spending 

on privatisation of the 

power sector and postprivatisation 

spending on 

GENCOS and DISCOS 

would serve the public 

interest and provide insights 

relevant to the public 

debate on combating 

corruption in the Power 

sector as well as help to 

improve citizens’ access 

to regular and uninterrupted 

electricity supply.” 

However, SERAP 

threatened that if the minister 

fails to produce the 

information within 14 

days, it would not hesitate 

to take appropriate 

legal actions under the 

Freedom of Information 

Act to compel his compliance. 

EDITORIAL 

Innocent Anaba 

( Head) 

Wahab Abdulah, 

Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri


Labour no longer at ease with employment crisis, 

says NLC *Reports el-Rufai to ILO 

Stories by Victor 

Ahiuma- Young 

THE employment crisis in 

Nigeria is a serious 

concerns to all well meaning 

Nigerians. This probably 

explains why the Kaduna State 

Government led by 

Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has 

entered the bad books of 

Organised Labour in Nigeria as 

the only employer, whether 

public or private, that has 

sacked the highest number of 

workers in one swoop without 

caring about the social impacts 

and dislocations on workers and 

the lager society. 

It was, therefore, no surprise 

that the plight of these workers 

and others in the state was one 

of the major issues raised in the 

May Day speech by the 

President of Nigeria Labour 

Congress, NLC, Comrade 

Ayuba Wabba. 

Under the sub-heading, 

Attack on Workers and Trade 

Union Rights by Kaduna State 

Government, Comrade Wabba 

informed that Congress has 

already reported the governor 

to the International Labour 

Organisation, ILO, for 

appropriate action among 

others. 

He said: “We condemn in 

strong terms, the recent 

violation of workers' and trade 

union rights by the Kaduna 

State Government where over 

40,000 workers from various 

ministries, departments and 

agencies, tertiary institutions 

and the local government were 

issued sack letters without 

respect of labour laws and court 

pronouncements. This is with 

the intention of avoiding the 

payment of the terminal benefits 

of these workers. This is an act 

of cruelty and inhumanity to 

fellow humans and citizens. 

“Also condemnable is the 

desperate attempt by the 

Kaduna State Government to 

deny the sacked workers and 

the trade unions their 

fundamental right to protest. 

The right of citizens to peaceful 

protest is a universal 

constitutional right that cannot 

be denied or wished away. The 

only requirement, according to 

our legal jurisprudence, is to 

inform the police for coverage. 

No permission is required nor 

prior approval from the security 

services. The deployment of 

over 8,000 security agents to 

stop workers from protesting 

their illegal sack in Kaduna is 

an aberration and undemocratic 

especially in a situation where 

pro-government-sponsored 

protests in Kaduna are held 

regularly. 

“Workers could recall that in 

2012 when el-Rufai felt 

threatened by the policies of the 

then government, he wore NLC 

*Leaders of National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUT- 

GTWN, leading members of the union in a march past on May Day. 

T-shirt and joined organised 

labour to protest from Berger 

Junction in Abuja. We wish to 

remind Governor el-Rufai that 

no condition is permanent. A 

day would come when he would 

once again need to gate-crash 

as a participant in workers’ 

protest. The Kaduna State 

Government has also refused to 

comply with Section 16A of the 

Trade Union Act. “ 

While noting that “as 

required by international 

conventions, a formal complaint 

has been filed at the ILO against 

the Kaduna State Government”, 

he called “on the governor to 

tread the path of honour and 

respect the rights of citizens.” 

Challenge of Unemployment 

On the ravaging employment 

crisis in the country, the NLC 

President said: “The 

unemployment rate in Nigeria 

increased to 18.80 per cent in 

the third quarter of 2017 from 

16.20 per cent in the second 

quarter of 2017. Unemployment 

has remained high with an 

alarming proportion of our 

youths jobless. The few that have 

a semblance of employment 

operate under very precarious 

conditions denoted by job 

insecurity, poor work conditions 

and gender discrimination. 

The trend of factory closures has 

continued to spiral out of control 

turning our once lively centres 

of economic productivity into 

worship and entertainment 

centres. 

The crisis of widening 

unemployment in Nigeria has 

been exacerbated by 

indiscriminate sack and 

retrenchment of workers by some 

public and private employers. 

Unfortunately, the different 

levels of government that should 

be more concerned about 

protecting our people are the 

ones leading the campaign to 

push more Nigerians into the 

unemployment market.” 

How we can overcome increasing onslaught 

on Labour movement — ULC 

INCREASINGLY, Labour 

movement in Nigeria has 

been under attacks from every 

angle especially from both 

government and private sector 

employers, doing everything 

possible either through 

legislation or brutal force to 

undermine and emasculate the 

movement. 

At last Workers’ Day 

celebration, one of the features 

of the May Day address by 

President of United Labour 

Congress of Nigeria, ULC, 

Comrade Joe Ajaero, was the 

state of Labour movement. 

According to him: 

“Governments at all levels are 

showing increasing intolerance 

to the basic practice of 

democracy as espoused by the 

traditions and ethos of our 

movement. There is a strong 

desire amongst those in 

government to scuttle the 

growth of the trade union 

movement and this has become 

the philosophy behind the drive 

for drastically reducing the 

participation of the movement 

in the affairs of the nation’s 

governance processes. 

“Recently, we have had to 

caution the Governor of Kaduna 

State to refrain from abusing 

Nigerian workers and the trade 

union movement. 

"They see us as divided but we 

want to tell them that we are not 

divided and can come together 

to defend ourselves if push 

comes to shove. This is therefore 

the time for us as a movement to 

come together, join our hands 

across the different divides, 

pulling down all the walls that 

have kept us apart in order to 

create a movement that is capable 

of not only protecting itself and 

enduring into the future but that 

must remain relevant to Nigerian 

workers and people, delivering 

better welfare and benefits to 

them in the process; a platform 

better positioned to keep the 

rudders of this nation on an even 

keel while interrogating its 

various actors and their motives. 

“The larger society expects us 

to be at the frontlines of the 

struggle to emancipate the nation 

at all times. We must sharpen our 

strategies ensuring that our 

individual pursuits are subsumed 

within the general purposes of 

the movement so that we can 

better serve the masses that have 

reposed so much trust and 

confidence in us. 

"Sticking to the preachment of 

our traditions and guiding 

philosophy as the working 

people, the trade union 

movement must dig deep into 

itself and bring out that light that 

has been buried out of the pit of 

darkness that presently 

overwhelms it. We remain one 

people with one ideology. Our 

destinies are tied together and 

any leader of our movement that 

lacks this understanding is not 

worthy of our proud traditions" 

He ended by declaring that: 

“We must remind ourselves this 

day that when good men join 

hands together in a common 

cause, great changes become the 

logical outcome. It is therefore 

important that every labour 

leader at every level should 

remain conscious of our common 

cause; our common interests and 

our common destiny so that we 

would forever be united towards 

generating the critical mass 

needed for constantly renewing 

our nation." 

May Day words 

on placards 

Compiled by Precious 

Nichola 

B ESIDESspeeches,workersalsoused 

placards to express their 

grievances during the May Day 

celebrations at the National 

Stadium, Surulere, Lagos by 

United Labour Congress of 

Nigeria, ULC. Below are some 

of the inscriptions on placards 

displayed by workers. 

Reverse privatisation policy 

government. Outsourcing must 

wear human face. Privatisation 

of electricity failed. Killings of 

innocent Nigerians must stop. 

Stop slavery at work place, union 

rights is workers’ right. No to 

slavery, stop hiding under 

outsourcing and sub-contracting 

to enslave workers. Stop 

dumping street vendors in prison; 

we are only trying to survive. 

Ambode, stop destroying our 

homes, markets and the schools 

for children, Stop killing us! 

Make Lagos work for all, not 

developers alone. Stop 

destroying mechanic villages, 

invest in modern work clusters. 

Lagos State Government; stop 

destroying our markets! Ambode 

no jobs, no electricity to work, no 

social security, and you destroy 

our homes and little trades. Stop 

killings us! 

Arise o compatriots! Vindicate the 

weak, do justice to the afflicted 

and destitute, Rescue the weak 

and the needy. Stop expatriate 

quota trafficking, Employ 

Nigerians now! 70% Chinese, 

30% Nigerians, unacceptable! No 

to non-standard work! Yes to the 

union now. On minimum wage 

of N96, 000 we stand. Warning 

strikes to all banks. Allow 

unionism at work place. Banking 

is not slavery. Stop dehumanising 

workers. Minimum wage is a right 

and not a privilege. Action time 

is now. Ministry of Labour, leave 

NUBIFIE alone, NUBIFIE can 

handle its internal affairs. 

Ministry of Labour, Reverse your 

circular to the management on 

stoppage of check off Due, Undue 

interference in NUBIFIE 

Administration. 

ILO to launch 

WESO 2018 

THE International Labour 

Organisation, ILO, is to launch 

its flagship report, World 

Employment and Social Outlook 

(WESO): Greening with Jobs, on 

Monday, 14 May at 20:00 GMT. 

It estimates how many jobs will be 

created globally, regionally and by 

sector, if sustainable policies are 

adopted. The report also covers job 

losses and includes policy 

recommendations aimed at further 

boosting job creation.


By Olasunkanmi Akoni and Monsuru Olowoopejo 

LAGOS State Government has disclosed that at least 2,131 pregnant 

women have tested positive to Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV, 

while 3,876 children were placed under anti-retroviral therapy within 

the last one year. 

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who gave the statistics while 

briefing newsmen on activities of the ministry, at Ikeja, explained that the 

$9.6 million grant from donor agencies further assisted in conduct of AIDS 

indicator survey, implement and provide technical support in Epe, Ikorodu 

and Oshodi-Isolo councils. 

Idris explained that the number was discovered after 

conducting tests on the pregnant women during their 

visit to state-owned medical facilities. 

According to him: “At least, 38,791 pregnant women 

know their HIV status out of which about 2,131 (HIV 

positive pregnant women) were enrolled for the 

Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission program. 

“By the end of 2017, the support provided 

through Global Fund was able to avail a 

minimum of 226,768 persons, who were 15- 

years and above, with free testing.” 

The commissioner said that 10,623 

persons were discovered to be living with 

HIV and placed on treatments in the three 

councils. 

He, however, stated that plans had been 

concluded to establish a Bio-containment 

and Bio-Safety Laboratory, BSL, in Lagos 

State, saying: “This will aid accurate and 

prompt diagnosis of highly pathogenic 

infectious diseases and incidents of 

environmental toxicity in the state.” 

Idris explained that the Bio-containment 

and Bio-Safety Laboratory 

would be sited within the 

premises of the Lagos Mainland 

Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, with the 

task to prevent Ebola and other 

dreaded diseases. 

The facility which was being 

funded with support from the 

Global Partnership Programme, 

GPP, Canada, was a fall-out of 

the successful containment of 

Ebola outbreak in 2004. 

According to Idris, biosamples 

would be stored in the 

bio-bank of the laboratory for 

medical research and 

international collaboration on 

research and discovery. 

He said already, the ministry 

is partnering with the Global 

Emerging Diseases Treatment 

Consortium to train identified 

officers in the State Civil Service 

on Biosafety, Bio-banking, 

Biosecurity 

and 

Biocontainment, while the 

design and construction of the 

laboratory has been completed 

and would be installed before 

the end of June this year for 

possible take off in July. 

Amnesty Programme: 18-year-old Jones - Wonni 

emerges best graduating student in American University 

...as Howard University grants her admission to study Medicine 

•Jones-Wonni 

BY GABRIEL EWEPU 

ABUJA- THE Presidential Amnesty 

Programme, PAP, has produced an 18-yearold 

Boubini Jones-Wonni, as best graduating 

student from Miles College, Metropolitan 

Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America, USA. 

Jones-Wonni who was declared by the university 

authority as best graduating student on May 5, 2018, 

got her admission in 2014 after making the best result 

in the Senior Secondary School Certificate 

Examination, SSCE, at the Word of Faith Group of 

Schools in Abuja and was also the best student at age 

of 14. 

She hails from Arogbo in Ondo State and was one of 

the children from the Niger-Delta states that sat for a 

special exam conducted by KAPLAN in Lagos to select 

the best to study in the university under the PAP, by a 

former Coordinator and Adviser on the PAP to former 

President Goodluck Jonathan, Hon. Kingsley Kuku. 

She was initially granted admission by the University 

of Alabama, Birmingham, USA, at age 15 to study 

Medicine, but could not make it to the school due to 

late resumption. She therefore settled for Miles College 

in Alabama to pursue her first degree in Biology. 

Born on October 23, 1999, she started her 

education at Banky’s Private School in Abuja, where 

because of her intelligence, she was asked to enroll 

for the common entrance at primary three. She made 

the best result and was admitted into Word of Faith 

Group of Schools in Abuja, where she sat for the 

2013/2014 SSCE and had an outstanding result with 

‘As’ and ‘Bs’ in all her subjects, and was made 

valedictorian of the year. 

She said: “I want to express my gratitude to God 

and then to the Federal Government through the 

Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, to avail me 

of this opportunity to gain admission into Miles 

College in Alabama to pursue my first degree in 

Biology. 

“Today, I have successfully completed the 

programme, I thank God for being with me 

throughout the programme, and He crowned my 

effort. I was not expecting this but I thank God.” 

Meanwhile, Howard University, Washington D.C, 

USA, at the weekend granted her admission to study 

medicine, where she will become a trained 

neurologist and surgeon soon.


Until my appointment, PMB did 

not know my state of origin 

— Ajayi, Lagos Trade fair boss 

… says Apapa/Mile 2 gridlock is a major challenge to progress 

The Lagos International Trade Fair was concessionaired for nine years before it was 

reclaimed by the Federal Government in 2017. 

Against this background, former LG chairman, Lucy Ajayi who was appointed the 

Executive Director, Lagos International Trade Fair Complex Management Board took 

over as the new manager in 2017. In this interview, she reveals how she joined the PMB 

Presidential train at the CPC merger committee level to negotiate with other parties and 

for the APC to emerge. She spoke on women and how they can reclaim their rightful 

position in politics. 

BY EBUN SESSOU 

Can you give an overview 

of the present 

operational system in the 

Lagos Trade Fair Complex? 

For the fact that the 

concession process is still on, 

the operations are still skeletal. 

The concessionaire has 

charged the Federal 

Government to court on who 

takes possession of the trade 

fair and until it is determined 

in court, operations in the 

trade fair will be limited. I am 

taking my time to ensure that 

things are done properly. 

The case is a good case for the 

Federal Government. He is 

claiming that he is still in 

charge (the concessionaire) 

and that I brought people to 

tamper with his property; that 

I am not obeying the NPC 

decision of 2013 and that I 

took him to EFCC. 

I do not know any investor 

who would invest in a property 

under litigation. In all, I have 

been given a mandate to 

revamp the Lagos trade fair 

complex and give it a global 

outlook to compete with others 

all over the world. 

How do you hope to 

achieve this? 

We are trying to give it a new 

look. People are expected to 

come from different countries. 

We have to provide good 

roads, raise the aesthetic value 

of the place and gradually we 

will do so but we will not hurt 

those who are already there 

because they should not be 

punished for sins they did not 

commit. 

The concessionaire has 

turned the trade fair to a 

market place for selling 

peppers and tomatoes. We will 

ensure we put a human face to 

the whole process of 

revamping the trade fair so as 

not to hurt people. We want 

investors and private 

individuals to come and build 

structures that would be 

approved by us. Most of 

the structures on 

ground were not 

approved. 

What are the 

challenges? 

We are 

working on 

zero budget. 

And we are 

trying to 

w o o 

investors, 

private 

individuals 

too in 

order to 

revamp the 

s y s t e m . 

A n o t h e r 

challenge is the issue of traffic 

gridlock along the Mile 2/ 

Badagry Expressway. Traffic 

poses a challenge to the trade 

fair but I think the Federal 

Ministry of Works and Lagos 

State Government should help 

in this direction. 

As an Executive Director, I 

only have the mandate to 

•Lucy Ajayi 

propose plans to move the 

trade fair forward and for the 

approval to be given. 

There are insinuations 

that women are intolerant 

especially when they 

occupy to positions? 

It is a misconception. The 

truth is that women are 

principled. Women are gogetters 

and we cannot be 

distracted. Women are loving and 

considerate people. Most women 

do not blow their trumpet; they 

rather allow others do that for 

them. Women know when to play 

and when to be serious. 

The trade fair is a businessoriented 

organisation and it 

Make maternity leave 6 months —NLC 

By Michael Eboh & 

Tochukwu Maxwell 

ABUJA-THE Nigerian 

Labour Congress, NLC, 

has called on the federal and 

state governments to increase 

maternity leave for nursing 

mothers from three months to 

six months. 

In an interview with 

Vanguard in Abuja, Head of the 

Women and Youth Department 

of the NLC, Comrade Rita 

Goyit, stated that increasing the 

duration of the maternity leave 

would enable nursing mothers 

to breastfeed their newborn 

babies exclusively for six 

months. 

Prior to the extension, Goyit 

said efforts should be made to 

create baby-friendly 

environments through the 

provision of crèches and 

childcare facilities at work places 

to enable mothers effectively 

care for the children. 

She said: “We have a policy 

of six months breastfeeding in 

Nigeria, but maternity leave is 

three months. After three 

months, the women resume 

work. What of the other three 

months that she has to feed 

her child? Every organisation 

where there are women should 

provide crèches for them. 

“Exclusive breastfeeding is 

very important to the child. The 

child that is well breastfed would 

be healthy. The child will have 

high Intelligence Quotient, IQ; 

the child will be very intelligent. 

When you breastfeed 

babies for six months, 

they will grow up very 

healthy and a healthy 

child makes a healthy 

nation. 

“It is very important to 

breastfeed babies 

exclusively. They don’t 

get sick easily. If a child 

is not properly breastfed, 

the child would be prone 

to illnesses.” 

Goyit also called on the 

federal and state 

governments to provide 

the necessary tools to 

help boost women’s 

productivity in the 

workplace. 

She said: “The main 

goal of our campaign at 

this period is to help 

improve the productivity 

of the working women. When 

women start working, they 

spend all their productive life 

in their workplace. It is when 

they retire that they stop giving 

birth; when they are working, 

they are giving birth. To get the 

best out of them, you need to 

provide baby-friendly 

environment, crèches and 

•Comrade Rita Goyit 

childcare facilities. 

In addition, Alive & Thrive, a 

Non-Governmental 

Organisation, in a report 

presented in Abuja, disclosed 

that Nigeria is home to seven 

per cent of all sub-optimally 

breastfed children in the world, 

noting that only 17 per cent of 

children under six months of 

age in Nigeria are 

exclusively breastfed. 

The NGO further 

argued that given the 

fact that nearly half of 

all women in Nigeria 

are part of the labour 

force, improving 

maternity protections 

in Nigeria like 

extending paid 

maternity leave and 

workplace support for 

breastfeeding, would 

help boost the low rates 

of exclusive 

breastfeeding. 

“Comprehensive 

maternity protections 

will help Nigerian 

mothers provide their 

infants with the very 

best start to life— 

leading to improved health, 

social and economic outcomes 

for Nigeria. 

It is important to note that the 

Nigeria Labour Congress has a 

gender policy which clearly 

promotes the establishment of 

lactation rooms, crèches and 

other baby-friendly initiatives 

that support exclusive 

breastfeeding and the ability of 

women workers to continue to 

breastfeed their babies, 

ensuring the right nutrition for 

their babies even when the 

mothers return to work,” it said. 

The NGO explained that 

maternity leave entitlements 

vary across the public and 

private sectors in Nigeria, 

adding that the Federal 

Ministry of Health, Alive 

&Thrive and UNICEF are 

undertaking a nationwide 

survey on maternity benefits in 

the public, private and informal 

sectors. 

It said the outcomes of the 

survey will provide an evidence 

base to guide policy decisions 

and implementation on 

maternity benefits in Nigeria.


should be taken as such. 

You are overseeing 36 states of 

the federation? 

It is a revenue-generating 

agency for the government. I am 

only a collector. What people do 

not know is that we do not 

organise the trade fair, we just 

present a venue. The chambers 

of commerce for each of the states 

handle trade fairs. We only give 

the atmosphere and the venue 

for business owners. It is a 

monumental ornament. It is not 

supposed to be 

commercialised. We want 

people all over the world to 

see the trade fairs as 

tourist centres. 

You were 

appointed by 

President 

Buhari. 

What is the 

level of 

y o u r 

relationship 

with him 

that would 

h a v e 

earned 

you such a 

position? 

I was once and still 

his foot soldier. I was a 

politician before I became an 

appointee and I have worked 

with him in CPC from inception 

in 2009 to the election of 2011. 

Of course, he won. He has never 

lost any election. 

The peak of my political 

involvement was when he 

appointed me to be a member of 

the CPC merger committee to 

negotiate with other parties and 

for the merger to hold as APC. 

I was the only female in a 

delegation of 18 members. 

There was no money 

attached but I was happy 

to have joined that 

delegation. Before, I was 

a party Local 

Government chairman in 

Kosofe. I’d never held any 

political appointment 

until now but he saw me 

while I was discharging my 

duties as a member of CPC 

and it will only take a PMB to 

do that. He believes in merit. 

For three months, there were 

petitions about my appointment 

but he stood his ground. Until my 

appointment, PMB did not know 

my state of origin. I got a South- 

South slot for my appointment 

in the South-West. He is the only 

one who can bring people to do 

the needful and the rightful. 

Some others would say people 

should go and queue. He believes 

in credibility and merit. I was just 

a lone voice in Kosofe but I 

admired PMB and I decided to 

champion a campaign for him in 

2009 and he noticed that lone 

voice. 

But, it seems Nigerians do 

not believe in him 

anymore? 

Let us take an empirical 

analysis of what has happened in 

PDP’s 16-year reign. 

A bag of beans is now 

N54,000... 

Did it just happen yesterday? 

The national population census 

has said the population of 

Nigeria is 195million. What was 

the population of Nigeria, how much 

infrastructure was put in place? The 

same structure that 40 million 

Nigerians were managing is still what 

we are managing at 195million and 

you want the infrastructure to work. 

Go and check some developed or 

even developing countries. I was in 

South Africa for some years. I got 

there when the population was 40 

million and left when it was 46 million 

and the government of South Africa is 

still building affordable houses for the 

people. 

They started with the TSA but it was 

not implemented and nobody asked 

why. Is it easy for me now to collect 

money from the TSA? President 

Buhari is not ready to accept excuses 

but there is no money in the system. 

Buhari will not have money in 

Nigeria’s treasury and allow Nigerians 

to suffer. I hope the civil servants will 

be bold enough to tell Nigerians the 

truth. 

I was under the tutelage of President 

Buhari and I have worked with him 

closely. He taught me to see Nigeria 

in another perspective and not to give 

up. He taught me that the challenges 

are just distractions. I am passing the 

message to my board members. 

Another problem is that the budget 

has not been passed and people are 

not condemning it. The budget was 

ready as far back as December 2017 

so that it will be implemented in 

January 2018 but nothing has 

happened. Is that President Buhari’s 

problem? I do not have to see him until 

I am able to produce good results. 

Are you supporting his bid for 

2nd term... 

Who do you think can be pushed 

forward? 

Until, 

•Lucy Omosefe Ajayi 

we have a better person, then I will 

leave Buhari. People are saying he is 

weak but I do not know if you need 

energy and strength to run 

governance. 

And the economy of the 

country? 

You need wisdom. He has worked 

all round and I know he has what it 

takes. It is the implementation that 

matters. 

PDP had laudable policies but they 

did not implement or finish one 

policy. Buhari came and implemented 

the TSA, they said, it is a PDP agenda. 

What happened to the BVN? People 

are angry but I tell you it is the same 

people that do not wish good for this 

country. The level of corruption in this 

country is bad to the extent that if we 

can get it right in two terms, it is by 

God’s grace. The damage PDP has 

done to this country is unquantifiable. 

Buhari can imprison anybody because 

his hands are clean. 

Most members of the so-called 

corrupt party have moved to your 

party? 

Buhari is a candidate and not a party. 

That they are coming to the party does 

not mean that they will not be dealt with. 

Is Buhari a military dictator to imprison 

the looters? 

Winning elections is a game of numbers. 

You do not need to drive people away in 

politics. You can only fault him if he is not 

doing it right. He has named the looters; 

nobody is doing anything about it. There 

are cases in court, what are the judges 

doing? People are saying he has not 

prosecuted, yet he is not a prosecutor. If 

it were a military regime, he would have 

imprisoned some of the culprits. 

What would be your reaction on 

the role of women in politics? 

Women are majority in politics but 

most of them want what they would get 

now. Most women in politics cherish rice, 

maggi and others. The man will bring 

money to buy vote. How many women 

would want to vote for their conscience? 

It is annoying that most women prefer to 

support the men instead of their fellow 

women. If all the women would vote for 

fellow women, there will be a woman 

president in Nigeria. They are the ones 

campaigning from house to house. In 

Nigeria, you capture women with money 

in politics. 

How would you advise women in 

politics? 

They should stop collecting Naira and 

Kobo. They should sponsor a person. They 

should bring out their money and support 

a woman and take their place in politics. 

It is the women that are involved in 

rigging and snatching ballot boxes. It is 

the women that are carrying gun. I am a 

grassroots politician at both local and 

national levels. I have a structure and 

I know what is going on in politics. 

Women have limited themselves to 

collecting envelopes at party 

meetings. They do not upgrade 

themselves to become an 

entity in politics. It is also bad 

that they do not sponsor their 

children’s education. And the 

technocrats who have the 

money would tell you that 

politics is a dirty game. 

The issue of “money 

bags” in politics... 

It is an epidemic. When 

Buhari came in 2011, he did not 

know that the “money bag” is a 

reality in politics. Building up to 

2011, we told him, “Sir, we cannot 

continue selling your goodwill, we 

need money.” We told him we would 

lose without money. He refused. When 

the merger plan came, he told Tinubu off 

and refused the money, which was why 

he could not win in 2011. 

He then realised that there is money 

politics in Nigeria but he vowed not to 

soil his hands. Even with the merger, we 

had to beg him again to negotiate. So, we 

sacrificed all because we wanted him to 

get the candidacy of APC as President. 

We did not get anything from the 

merger. People were brought to compete 

with him because of money but it was in 

the agenda of God that he was going to 

win the primaries. 

But, he promised that by the time he 

finishes his four years, there would not be 

money politics in Nigeria and we are 

getting to that level. The anger we are 

feeling today is the reality of what was on 

ground which PDP tried to cover up for 

16 years. But, he insisted that it should be 

uncovered so that things can take their 

natural cause. They were borrowing to 

pay salaries but Buhari has paid all the 

salaries. 

Steps to a 

PERFECT 

PEDICURE 

Be your own nail expert 

with these top tips 

1 

. Buff feet when dry, not wet. To 

really shift dead skin, use a 

sturdy foot file and focus on the heels, 

balls of feet and edges of toes. 

2 

. Fill a bowl with warm water and 

add a reviving foot soak which 

helps strengthen and whiten nails. 

Soak feet for 10 minutes. If you can 

lay your hands on some marbles, pop 

them in the bowl and roll your feet 

back and forth over them for a blissful 

DIY massage! 

3 

. Massage feet briskly with a foot 

scrub to get rid of the last dregs 

of dead skin, then rinse. 

4 

. Dry your feet and gently ease 

back your cuticles with a cuticle 

stick. 

5 

. Cut your nails straight across 

with nail clippers. Make lots of 

little snips, rather than all at once, or 

you might break your nail. 

6 

. Use a nail file to gently round 

the edges of your toenails so they 

don’t snag your tights. 

7 

. Massage your feet with a rich 

foot cream 

8 

. For the ultimate treat, apply foot 

lotion before bedtime, wrap 

them in cling film, then add some 

socks and hop into bed. Wake up to 

dreamy-soft soles! 

9 

. If you want to add some colour, 

wipe off the foot lotion from your 

nails using a damp cotton wool pad. 

Then add a base coat, two layers of 

polish and a high-shine topcoat. 

For a low-maintenance finish 

10 add a coat of stain corrector 

which instantly brightens your nail 

tip and makes the nail bed pinker and 

prettier

28 —VANGUARD, THURSDAY MAY 10, 2018 

japhdave@yahoo.com 

08066625505 

Fanigbe breaks culture of silence 

in Abduction Chronicles 

Stories by Japhet Alakam 

Abduction or kidnapping is 

one of the vices that has 

changed the story of many 

individuals and families as 

most of them do not live to tell 

the stories, while many who 

survive do it at the a great cost. 

But, one unfortunate thing 

about it is that many of them 

do not tell the stories and that 

was why the main hall of the 

Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island 

was filled to the brim as top 

government officials, friends, 

colleagues and family 

members converged for the 

public presentation of a new 

book, Abduction Chronicles, 

written by Folarin Banigbe and 

the launch of the Abduction 

Chronicles platform in Lagos. 

Abduction Chronicles is a 

gripping account of Folarin’s 

many close shaves with death, 

with striking details of his 

journey to and from the abyss. 

It was an event that was 

filled with emotions as most of 

the speakers recounted how 

they or their loved ones had 

been abducted at one time or 

the other and the pains and 

trauma associated with it. But, 

majority of them also blamed 

the government for creating the 

environment that made the 

kidnappers see it as veritable 

business. 

In his remarks, Mr Babasola 

Feibo who commended the 

author for breaking the culture 

of silence that has contributed 

to the menace of abduction said 

the journey started two years 

ago. He described the book as 

a story of hope and obedience, 

pointing out that most people 

who go through it do not say 

anything but that Fanigbe has 

decided to break the jinx with 

the publication of the book. 

According to him, “it is 

about the experiences and role 

of God in his survival, change 

of perspective and the need to 

help us reconsider the whole 

issue and thereby reconcile the 

whole issue.” 

On his part, the father of the 

author, Oba Banigbe who 

confessed that he was happy 

to be part of the occasion 

stated, “if he was not found, 

there would not have been any 

need to be here.” About the 

book, he said the book taught 

us so many things about how 

to comport oneself, live and rise 

to occasion. 

In his contribution, the 

keynote speaker, Yinka 

Ogunnubi who traced the 

origin of kidnapping to the 

15th Century era of slavery 

and how it has transformed to 

become a lucrative business 

said, “the essence of the 

gathering was to drop ideas in 

your mind to see how we can 

find solution to human race.” 

•Oba Fanigbe and his Olori (2nd/3rd right) Mr Toyin Ayinde(m) Mr Folarin Fanigbe, author 

(1st left) and others during the unveiling of ‘Abduction Chronicles’ and the launch of the Abduction 

Chronicles Platform in Lagos 

He pointed out that business 

of kidnapping is carried out in 

chains and that they are normal 

people who go out like any 

other person, go to churches, 

write WAEC etc. 

According to him, there are 

economical and political 

dimensions to it and that is what 

makes it look like a normal 

thing to them. But the ugly 

thing is the trauma the victims 

were forced to go through, 

hence the need to support them 

to recover and at the same 

time, look at the issue 

holistically so as to create a 

favourable environment that 

will make the kidnappers not 

to see it as a means of survival. 

Also speaking, Dr John 

Dara, a Presidential Aspirant of 

the Social Democratic Party, 

SDP, called on Nigerians to 

Brymo thrills fans as Café One berths in Lekki 

As you enter the Lennox 

mall, one will be 

greeted with sounds of 

music blaring from big 

loudspeakers and 

musicians made up of 

youths showcasing the 

latest dance style. The event 

was the launch of Café One, 

Nigeria’s first digital and 

lifestyle experience centre 

but it turned out to be 

another music extravaganza 

as award- winning soul 

singer, Olawale Ashimi 

better known as Brymo and 

others entertained the 

guests as Cafe One opened 

its doors to the public at an 

all-day open-house event 

themed: 5 Minutes of 

Madness at the ultramodern 

work and leisure 

space located at Lennox 

mall, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. 

Brymo thrilled the crowd 

to hits from his various 

So we need to help 

the nation 

rediscover itself; the 

society has lost 

humanity, we don’t 

regard human lives 

anymore 

build a humane society to 

achieve the desired sociopolitical 

change in the country. 

According to him, morality 

and humanity in nationbuilding 

has always been a 

challenge in Nigeria and 

called for holistic and 

systematic approach toward 

creating a secure society. 

“If you want to deal with 

security, you must understand 

the cause of insecurity. You must 

understand why people 

rationalise crime,” he said. 

Dara said the solution was to 

have continuous law review and 

legislation that would impact on 

security system, effective social 

mobilisation for citizens’ 

participation, solidarity and 

vigilance. Unveiling the book, 

Mr Toyin Ayinde, former Lagos 

State Commissioner for Urban 

and Regional Planning 

described kidnappers as people 

pursuing their good intentions 

in a wrong way. He charged 

Nigerians to have value for 

human beings in order to rebuild 

the nation. 

The author, Folarin Fanigbe 

who thanked the audience for 

honouring him, recounted how 

•Olawale Ashimi, a.k.a Brymo thrilling his fans 

albums including Olanrewaju, 

Oso, Alajo Somolu as well as 

the globally acclaimed Ara 

which had guests cheering to 

the electrifying performance. 

At the turn of each hour 

starting from noon, there were 

riveting dance performances 

and drum battle sessions for 

five minutes in line with the 

theme: 5 minutes of 

madness. Guests were also 

allowed to record their 

moments of madness and 

share on social media for a 

chance to win N100, 000 cash 

reward from Café One. 

Speaking at the launch, 

social media and TV 

personality, Koye’K10’ 

the incident happened two years 

ago and why he decided to write 

the book after initial refusal. He 

stated that after the incident, he 

learnt a lot of lessons which 

needed to be shared. “I learnt 

that there is need to help 

ourselves and that is why I 

introduced the Abduction 

Platform to help the victims. I also 

discovered that the criminals 

have their own valid reasons for 

doing so and that most of them 

are victims of the society. So there 

is need to have a discourse on 

what will make a normal being 

decide to pick his fellow being 

for money. 

“We need to help the nation 

rediscover itself. The society has 

lost humanity, we don’t regard 

human lives anymore. From my 

experience, I later found out that 

most of the people in crime are 

victims of the environment that 

brought them out. We have to 

start the discussion to a point 

where we will have value for 

human life. 

“The book contains graphic 

details of my experience, it also 

contains my perspective and 

what I found out. When you 

read the book, you will 

understand why the story has to 

be told, it’s not about the money 

lost, but the pains and trauma. 

It is aimed at finding lasting 

solutions to abduction and other 

crimes committed by Nigerians 

against Nigerians. 

Continuing, Fanigbe said: 

“The Abduction Chronicles 

platform is created to help 

abductees tell their stories; find 

a supportive community; find 

closures and the psychological 

help needed to deal with the 

trauma. 

“This platform will foster a 

community that has the 

responsibility of care for victims 

of kidnapping and other forms 

of abductions and instances 

where people are forced to act 

against their will,” he added. 

Kekere-Ekun, said Café One 

mirrors the current 

millennial trends and 

lifestyle demands of city 

dwellers as this is the future 

of work and play. 

Commenting on Café One, 

renowned Nigerian celebrity 

chef, Fregz, said: “the Café 

One experience displays 

excellence from its 

conception to delivery. With 

free internet connection, an 

array of online services 

available on pre-equipped 

digital devices and perfectly 

blended coffee to boot, one 

couldn’t ask for a better 

combination.” 

Café One was designed 

for comfort and equipped 

with modern work devices 

such as smart phones, 

laptops, tablets and free 

internet connection with 

coffee and canapés provided 

by gourmet shop, My Coffee 

Lagos.

VANGUARD, THURSDAY, May 10, 2018 — 29


VANGUARD, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 — 31

32—Vanguard, 

THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 

A look at INEC’s Kano childvoter 

probe 

THE result eventually came 

out but how many concerned 

Nigerians paid attention? One 

would have thought that people 

would eagerly wait to receive the 

outcome of the INEC probe of the 

massive involvement of child 

voters in the 10th February 2018 

Kano State Local Government 

Election. As usual, our collective 

attention had moved on to other 

things. This is why governments 

and officials get away with blue 

murder. Mistakes are repeated 

over and over and Nigeria never 

moves forward. 

On Friday, 4th May 2018, the 

Chairman of the Independent 

National Electoral Commission, 

INEC, Professor Mahmood 

Yakubu, addressed a press 

conference presenting the report of 

this probe panel headed by an 

INEC National Commissioner, 

Engineer Abubakar Nahuce. This 

eight-member committee was 

empanelled on 16th February 

2018 in response to the uproar 

following the hordes of child 

voters who participated in the 

Kano Local Government polls 

swept by the ruling All 

Progressives Congress, APC. 

With the 2019 general elections 

only one year away, Nigerians 

were bothered that the Kano 

election was “a test-run” of what 

was ahead which would obviously 

favour the ruling party. While 

submitting the report on 24th 

March 2018, Nahuce assured that 

his committee consulted closely 

with critical stakeholders such as 

civil society groups, political 

parties, the print, electronic and 

social media as well as security 

organisations. 

Anxiety, however, set in after more 

than a month and nothing was 

heard of the matter from electoral 

umpire. That press briefing last 

week Friday provided a breather 

as it gave the people the 

opportunity to hear what the INEC 

had found out. 

In a nutshell, Prof. Yakubu 

disclosed that the only role that the 

INEC played in the Kano local 

council election (as in all polls 

organised by the state electoral 

commissions, SIEC’s) was making 

available the National Register of 

Voters, NRV, to the Kano State 

Independent Electoral 

Commission, KANSIEC, headed 

by Prof. Garba Sheka. The law 

Deeper Life deepening Christianity 

SOME caveat is necessary here. This is 

not an advertorial for the Deeper Life 

Bible Church. Rather, it is more in keeping 

with the tradition of seeing something and 

saying something. That is what Nigeria 

desperately needs today to pull her out of 

the doldrums in which she finds herself. 

The penultimate weekend, my WhatsApp 

and Facebook platforms were inundated 

from every direction with the news of 

unveiling of the biggest and best-equipped 

Hospital ever built in Africa. This Hospital 

is owned by the Deeper Life Bible Church. 

Located in the Gbagada area of Lagos, 

Nigeria; the Hospital has many interesting 

features. It is a 10,000-bed mega facility 

intended to cater for the health needs of well 

over 35,000 indigent people annually. 

It has Pediatrics, Psychiatry, General Out 

Patient, Burns, Oncology and 15 other major 

Departments, all stocked with the latest 

equipment necessary for such a world class 

facility. 

The Surgery Department has state-of-theart 

equipment and easily rivals John 

Hopkins Hospital or any of the best healthcare 

facilities anywhere in the world. The 

facility will be thrown open to all, 

irrespective of their financial or social 

standing. 

In the estimation of the General Overseer 

of the Church, Pastor William Folorunso 

Kumuyi, the Hospital will employ 

thousands of Doctors, Nurses, other 

paramedics as well as other sundry 

administrative staff. This provides a ray of 

hope for our teaming youth population who 

are pouring out of our health institutions 

annually. It will also provide a speed-brake 

to the issue of brain-drain of our people who 

rush abroad in search of greener pastures. 

Most importantly, it will drastically reduce 

the billions of Naira in medical tourism that 

the Nigerian elite squander abroad. With 

just a fraction of what they were spending 

abroad, the Nigerian elite can now get in 

Nigeria, what they used to go abroad for; 

plus the fact that they can now save 

themselves from the vagaries of the harsh 

European and American weathers. 

Pastor Kumuyi emphasises the fact that 

services at the Hospital will be rendered to 

indigent members of society, free of charge, 

while the rich will be required to pay, thus 

lending credence to the time-tested Socialist 

manifesto, “From each according to his 

ability, to each according to his needs”. 

While declaring the Hospital open, the 

obviously elated Vice President of Nigeria, 

Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, went down memory 

We can say bravo to 

Pastor Kumuyi and his 

followers. They have 

demonstrated that 

Nigeria is still possible; 

and that the good life is 

still here 

lane and quoted copiously from several 

verses of the Bible showing how Jesus Christ 

healed the sick, fed the poor and generally 

looked after the welfare of thousands of poor 

people around him. 

Vice President Osinbajo commended the 

church and the people who provided the 

facility and summed up his impression this 

way: “At least, some people are thinking in 

the right direction and emulating their 

Master, the Messiah, instead of 

accumulating wealth that cannot travel with 

them to the great beyond”. 

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. 

Akimummi Ambode, who was visibly 

excited, was full of praises for the church 

and those who provided the magnificent 

does not allow the national 

electoral umpire to do anything 

beyond that. Yakubu also 

confirmed that KANSIEC did not 

substantially use the INEC voter 

register in the conduct of the local 

government election. In fact, 

KANSIEC did not even bother to 

The questions 

remain: why did 

KANSIEC not use 

the INEC register 

as mandated by 

law? Who will bring 

KANSIEC and the 

sponsors of the 

child voters to 

account? 

accredit voters from the register. 

People (perhaps, including the 

children) just queued up and were 

allowed to vote. 

The INEC Chairman reminded 

the public that the probe was 

undertaken because the child 

voters were linked by critics to the 

National Register of Voters 

compiled by the Commission. 

Having established that no such 

linkage took place, INEC declared 

itself and the National Register of 

Voters exonerated from any such 

electoral malfeasance in the Kano 

LG poll. The Commission also 

stressed that throughout its probe 

and up till the moment of the press 

briefing, no individual or 

organisation came forward with 

any evidence or complaint of 

INEC complicity or the use of the 

NRV in conducting a flawed local 

government election in Kano 

State. It added that some of the 

images and videos of child voters 

which led to the uproar had been 

available in the public space even 

before the Kano LG poll. 

Professor Yakubu, however, 

called on members of the public, 

political parties and all 

stakeholders in our elections to 

partner with the INEC in the 

continuous effort to clean up the 

electoral register, especially when 

it is displayed for claims and 

objections. 

In my view, INEC has done a 

great job in showing that it is not 

involved in any real or alleged 

involvement of child voters in the 

Kano LG poll. It also successfully 

exonerated the National Register 

of Voters. But the job is only halfway 

done. This probe was unable to 

confirm or deny the involvement 

of child voters in the Kano State 

LG poll. The law does not even 

allow it to go into such things as 

INEC has no power to inquire into 

the activities of the supposedly 

“Independent” State Electoral 

Commissions. So, INEC can plead 

a legal lacuna in not being able to 

establish the truism or falsity of the 

Kano State child voter issue as the 

election was conducted by a SIEC. 

But if child voters participate in 

any election conducted by the 

INEC, the Commission will not be 

able to exonerate its staff. 

The questions remain: why did 

KANSIEC not use the INEC 

register as mandated by law? Who 

and wellequipped 

Hospital. Hear 

him, “I hope 

others would 

emulate them 

rather than 

giving their 

money to jetacquiring 

Pastors who litter 

the landscape and build mega businesses 

for themselves and their families to enjoy, 

yet they teach their followers to pray to God 

to solve their financial needs….” 

The Deeper Life initiative provides a new 

challenge to other churches. The general 

practice hitherto has been for the church 

leaders to involve all their members at the 

stage of providing the facilities only to cut 

them off after completion. The members 

would put everything they have and 

sometimes even borrow to support the 

university or hospital building. They would 

go and carry blocks, iron rods, wood, water 

and supply everything from morning till 

night, sometimes without food – only for the 

facilities to become the property of the 

General Overseer and his family. At that 

point, the poor members no longer see the 

brake-light of the institutions and their 

owners. 

At the tax front, these owners boldly display 

the names of the churches and engage tax 

authorities in their out-dated argument that 

churches should not pay tax. Modern tax 

authorities have maintained that churches 

per-se should be exempted from taxation; 

but if a church engages in a business venture, 

it is duty-bound to pay tax on the profit from 

such business. 

It is the dawn of a new era. As we enter 

into this glorious era, we must begin to 

constructively engage some of the Churches 

that the world is dynamic and all well 

meaning people must approach it in its 

dynamic form. 

In the light of the current dynamism, there 

Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

will bring KANSIEC and the 

sponsors of the child voters to 

account? Who can stop the repeat 

of this rape of our democracy in 

future elections? What are the 

Police and security agencies doing 

about this? 

There is absolutely no doubt in 

my mind that children massively 

participate in voting, even in 

INEC-conducted elections, in the 

North. In 2007, I covered the 

presidential election in Katsina 

State, the home state of the two 

main presidential hopefuls, Umar 

Yar’Adua of the People’s 

Democratic Party, PDP, and 

Muhammadu Buhari of the All 

Nigerian People’s Congress, ANPP. 

I visited their respected 

hometowns – Katsina and Daura – 

to monitor the election. We, the 

reporters and electoral observers, 

were shocked to see these children 

come in their numbers to line up, 

get accredited and to vote! Nobody 

– electoral officials, political party 

agents, political contestants and 

security agents – raised an eyebrow. 

An attempt by some of us to call 

attention to this anomaly was 

hushed down as if we were putting 

our safety on the line. 

The INEC electoral register 

(NRV) must be thoroughly cleaned 

up, and the INEC should not be 

left alone to do the job. The INEC 

is only (supposedly) an umpire. 

The political parties and the 

citizenry have a greater stake in 

ensuring we have a clean electoral 

register and to insist on keeping 

out ineligible voters such as 

children. The security agencies are 

paid to enforce the law. We must 

all play our parts to get the 

democracy that will produce 

credible leaders. 

It is OUR job. 

are churches that should begin to revisit the 

issue of blood. Anaemia has assumed a new 

dimension as a major killer disease in 

today’s world. The upsurge in cases of 

anaemia may not be unconnected with 

changes in our food and our eating habits, 

as distinct from the biblical times when the 

food was more organic. Yet, in Nigeria today, 

some church-owned hospitals abhor blood 

transfusion. Their patients die daily like 

poisoned rats. 

This writer once worked as a contractor 

to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, 

UBTH, where I renovated some of the 

Wards, including the Consultant Out-Patient 

Department, COPD. Almost on a daily basis, 

patients were Brought-In-Dead, BID, from 

a nearby church-owned hospital where 

blood transfusion was forbidden! 

In Nigeria, government is still at war with 

itself. When are we going to stop 

equivocating and start showing that no 

Government official should be flown abroad 

for the treatment of any ailment, including 

the executive ones? When are we going to 

start believing that no Nigerian should die 

for want of superior treatment here? 

At least, we can say bravo to Pastor 

Kumuyi and his followers. They have 

demonstrated that Nigeria is still possible; 

and that the good life is still here. We search 

no further. 

But in all this, how much assurance do we 

have on maintenance culture, the lack of 

which has been our albatross? Here is a 

major challenge to Deeper Life and the rest 

of us! 

C 

M 

Y 

K



APC convention: Oshiomhole declares 

chairmanship ambition today 

By Simon Ebegbulem 

B ENIN—THE 

immediate past 

governor of Edo State, Mr. 

Adams Oshiomhole, will 

today declare his ambition 

to run for the national 

chairmanship of All 


APC. 

The former governor is 

favoured to replace the 

outgoing National 

Chairman of the party, 

Chief John Odigie- 

Oyegun, after he received 

CEIBS BREAKFAST SESSION: From left: Agboola Sunday, President, China Europe 

International Business School, CEIBS, Nigeria Chapter; Dr. Temi Abimbola, Lead Advisor to the Senior 

Vice President of African Development Bank and Bamidele Obende of CEIBS, during a breakfast 

session held at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. 

Rivers govt to APC: Prove your popularity, 

contest LG polls 

By Davies 

Iheamnachor 

PORT 

HAR- 

COURT— RIVERS 

State Government has 

challenged All 


APC, to contest the local 

government elections 

scheduled for June 16, 

across the state to prove its 

popularity. 

It should be recalled that 

APC in the state, had said 

it would not participate in 

the elections, claiming that 

Rivers State Independent 

Electoral Commission, 

RSIEC, has no legal right 

to conduct the polls when 

matters bordering on the 

constitution of the body are 

still pending in court. 

But Commissioner for 

Information and 

Communications, 

Emmanuel Okah, speaking 

at Iguruta community in 

Ikwerre Local Government 

Area of the state during the 

inauguration of the 

campaign team of Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, in 

the council for the LG polls, 

the endorsement of 


Buhari. 

Some of the dignitaries 

expected at the event 

scheduled to hold in Abuja 

include the Chairman of the 

Progressive Governors 

Forum, Governor Rochas 

Okorocha of Imo State, 

President of the Senate, 

Bukola Saraki, Speaker of 

the House of 

Representatives, Yakubu 

Dogara, APC governors 

and National Assembly 

members. 

called on APC to reconsider 

its stance on the election. 

Okah argued that the call 

was necessary for the APC 

to prove that it was on 

ground to win elections in 

the state, noting that the 

PDP was over 95 percent in 

control of the state, saying: 

“We do not want APC to opt 

out of the election because 

we do not want them to feel 

defeated even before defeat. 

Oshiomhole who spoke 

to Vanguard, said he was 

joining the chairmanship 

race with a view to 

contributing his quota to 

the growth of the APC. 

According to him: ¨It is 

true that I intend to make 

my ambition known to our 

party members and 

Nigerians. I strongly 

believe that with the 

experience I have 

gathered in my public life, 

having served as President 

of the Nigeria Labour 

Congress, NLC and 

governor of Edo State, I 

They should come and 

prove their popularity. Let 

them come and contest the 

election, the doors are open 

as a level playing field will 

be provided. The governor 

has assured that RSIEC 

will conduct a free and fair 

election.” 


chairmanship candidate of 

the PDP in Ikwerre LGA for 

the polls, Mr. Samuel 

have what it takes to take 

our dear party, the ruling 

party to the next level.¨ 

The party commenced its 

ward congresses last 

Saturday, while the Local 

Government Congresses is 

scheduled for this Saturday, 

12 May 2018. The state 

congresses will hold on 

Saturday 19 May, 2018 

while the National 

Convention is scheduled for 

June 2018. 

The event is scheduled to 

hold at Lagos/Osun Room, 

TRANSCORP Hilton 

Abuja. 

Nwanosike, promised to 

provide employment to 

youths of the council 

through agriculture and 

education. 

Nwanosike said: “For the 

very first time we are going 

to have a bureau of 

employment. It will go 

round the world to get job 

opportunities and expose 

them to our people, 

prepare them to be able to 

stand their interviewers.” 

Oboro calls for implementation of FUPRE Act 

M 

E M B E R 

representing 

Okpe, Sapele and Uvwie 

federal constituency in the 

House of Representatives, 

Mrs Evelyn Oboro, has 

called for adequate 

budgetary provision for the 

Federal University of 

Petroleum Resources, 

Effurun, FUPRE, in the 

2018 appropriation bill in 

compliance with the 

FUPRE Act and resolution 

of the House for smooth 

take off of the institution. 

Oboro, who made the call 

during plenary recently 

under matters of personal 

explanation, said the 

House had on December 

20, 2017 promised for 

adequate budgetary 

provision in the 2018 

appropriation bill for the 

smooth takeoff of FUPRE, 

Delta State. 

She warned that failure 

by the Federal Government 

and National Assembly to 

implement the provisions of 

the FUPRE Act would 

amount to a breach of the 

law. 

The lawmaker said the 

need to raise the matter 

became necessary because 

of an online publication 

credited to a group of 

militants under the aegis of 

Urhobo Liberation Force, 

which threatened to 

unleash mayhem on oil 

and gas facilities to ensure 

that they return the country 

to zero level in oil and gas 

production if the FUPRE 

Act was not honoured in the 

2018 budget. 

According to her, “There 

had also been tension and 

protest by members of staff 

and students of the 

university and if the matter 

is not positively treated, it 

may lead to breakdown of 

law and order.” 

Delta land ministry to generate 

N4bn this year 

By Festus Ahon 

A SABA—DELTA 

S t a t e 

Commissioner for Lands 

and Survey, Mr Chika 

Ossai, yesterday said his 

ministry would generate 

N4 billion this year, as 

against over N3 billion 

generated by the ministry 

between May 2015 and 

2017. 

Ossai who spoke when 

he took his turn at the 

ongoing ministerial press 

briefing to present the 

activities and 

achievements of his 

ministry, said there had 

been steady increase in 

the revenue generation of 

the ministry. 

He said: “N294.2 million 

was generated in 2015 and 

there was a significant 

increase in 2016 when the 

sum of N1, 058. 9 billion was 

realized,” saying that “the 

performance was improved 

upon in 2017 with the sum of 

N1, 773. 1 billion generated.” 

Saying that some 

innovations had been 

introduced to facilitate the 

work of the ministry, Ossai 

added: “The innovations 

include establishment of an 

ICT centre, migration of all 

existing applications (C of O) 

to a new electronic platform, 

digitization of existing C of 

O and introduction of 

electronic consent letter with 

security features.” 

....As LG boss inaugurates 

herdsmen/ farmers c'ttee 

CHAIRMAN 

of 

Warri South Local 

Government Area 

Council, Delta State, Mr. 

Michael Tidi, has 

inaugurated a 14-member 

committee to address the 

menace of herdsmen/ 

farmers clashes before it 

gets to the area. 

Inaugurating the 

committee, Tidi said the 

council decided to adopt 

a proactive measure to 

stem the ugly trend 

instead of taking 

reactionary action, 

saying “that would be 

medicine after death.” 

The council boss who 

decried the increasing 

incidence of drug abuse 

and its effects on youths 

also frowned at the 

preponderance of fake 

drugs and adulterated 

liquor in the Nigerian 

market, noting that to 

protect the youths who 

are the leaders of 

tomorrow, there is the need 

to put measures in place to 

check the use of drugs and 

consumption of illicit liquor. 

Tidi, who is the Chairman 

of the Herdsmen/Farmers 

committee, tasked members 

of both committees on the 

need to meet regularly to 

address issues relating to and 

arising from herdsmen and 

farmers in the council area 

and make recommendations 

to the state government. 

He charged the Fake 

Drugs and Adulterated 

Liquor Committee, headed 

by Deacon Shola Mese, to 

tackle the menace caused by 

drug abuse in conjunction 

with the relevant security 

agencies and that they must 

discharge their responsibility 

within the confines of the law, 

even as he admonished them 

to always work with the 

lawyer, Chief Robison Ariyo, 

in the committee so as not to 

run foul of the law. 

ERA/FoN warns against 

grabbing of community lands 

By Gabriel 

Enogholase 

B ENIN—EXE- 

CUTIVE Director 

of Environmental Rights 

Action/Friends of the 

Earth, ERA/FoN, Dr Uyi 

Ojo, has warned that 

grabbing of community 

lands by multi-national 

corporations for oil palm 

plantations may lead to 

the creation of another set 

of internally displaced 

persons in some states of 

the federation. 

He also accused 

government officials and 

some traditional rulers of 

colluding with multinational 

corporations to 

grab communal lands to 

undervalue and 

exchange below 

prevailing market prices. 

Dr Ojo, who spoke 

yesterday in Benin in an 

address, titled “Our 

Environment is Not For 

Sale”, during the training of 

rural participants from Ovia 

South-West and Ovia North- 

East Local Government Areas 

of Edo State, said land 

grabbing has serious 

consequences for the rural 

communities, local farmers 

and their livelihoods. 

He said, “While large 

scale oil palm plantations are 

growing, it is leading to a 

global phenomenon called 

land grabbing and 

dispossession because such 

land was neither 

appropriated by collusion by 

government officials and 

some traditional rulers nor 

undervalued and exchanged 

below prevailing market 

price."



Ohanaeze holds Igbo summit May 21 in Awka 

•Inaugurates youth, women wings 

•To honour Nwachukwu, first Eastern region chief whip 

By Clifford 

Ndujihe 

TO get Ndigbo to dissect 

the state of the nation 

and create out a common 

stand, the apex Igbo sociocultural 

organisation, 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo will host 

the Igbo summit, in Awka, 

the Anambra State Capital 

on May 21. 

This was one of the 

decisions taken at the Ime- 

Obi (inner caucus) of 

Ohanaeze on Tuesday, in 

Enugu, sources at the 

meeting told Vanguard, 

yesterday. 

Rising from the meeting, 

the National Executive 

Committee, NEC of the 

group, apart from passing 

a vote of confidence in its 

President-General, Chief 

John Nnia Nwodo and 

condemning the recent 

bomb attack at his Ukehe, 

Enugu country home, also 

considered the need for 

Ndigbo to be part of the 

efforts to get Nigeria 

restructured. 

According to the source, 

after the Awka summit, 

there will be a similar 

gathering in Makurdi, the 

Benue State Capital, and a 

mega rally in Lagos. 

Confirming the Igbo 

summit, Chief Emeka 

Attamah, the Special 

Adviser, Media and 

Publicity to Nwodo, in a 

statement said ‘’the 

highlight of the Imeobi 

meeting was the 

unanimous adoption of the 

Professor Soludo-led 

Committee’s template on 

restructuring which it 

would present to an Igbo 

Summit that would be held 

on the 21st of May, 2018.’’ 

F 

O 

R M E R 

Governorship 

candidate of Peoples 

Redemption Party PRP, in 

the November 18 2017 

Anambra State 

governorship election, Dr 

Stephen Mba, yesterday, 

warned that money politics 

might ruin the 2019 general 

elections and therefore 

called for enlightenment of 

the electorate to refrain from 

selling their votes. 

Dr Mba also said that even 

though President 

Muhammadu Buhari and 

former Vice President 

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar have 

rights to contest for the 

presidency in Nigeria they 

are not the best candidates. 

According to him, the PRP, 

stands a better chance to 

produce the best 

presidential candidate 

because “the PRP has 

remained the most sincere 


Ohanaeze, yesterday, 

inaugurated its youth and 

women wings in Enugu. 

Speaking at the 

ceremony, Chief Nwodo, 

who went into memory lane 

to trace the dialetics of 

Nidgbo in the past and 

present, advised the youths 

and women to be true 

ambassadors of Ndigbo at 

all times. He warned 

against any act capable of 

tarnishing Igbo image and 

noted that Ndigbo had 

sacrificed a lot for Nigeria 

and will continue to fight 

for a just, fair and equitable 

Nigeria.. 

The new President of the 

Women wing and the 

Deputy National Youth 

leader, Mrs Nne Nwafor 

and Dr Kingsley Chiedozie 

spoke on behalf of the 

newly elected women and 

youths and promised to lift 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo up at all 

time. 

Ohanaeze Secretary, Mr. 

Chukwudi Ibegbu, in a 

staement said that the 

newly elected President of 

the youth wing, Mr Author 

Obiorah, will to be sworn 

in after some technical 

issues are effected. 

Ohanaeze fetes 

Nwachukwu, first 

Eastern Region chief 

whip @95 

Also, Ohanaeze has 

unfolded a programme to 

honour the first Chief Whip 

of the old Eastern Region, 

Pa Onyensoh 

Nwachukwu, who will 

clock 95 years on May 26. 

Pa Onyensoh who hails 

from Ngor Okpala in Imo 

Money politics may ruin 2019 polls—Mba 

By Chimaobi 

Nwaiwu 

political party that means 

well for our country, only 

that the party has not been 

given the opportunity to 

show itself.’’ 

He continued: ‘’Before the 

2019 general election, 

there is need for intensive 

voter education. The INEC 

and NGOs have not done 

well in educating the 

electorate. It is against the 

soul and spirit of democracy 

to rig elections through the 

system and idea of sharing 

money during elections. It 

is undemocratic and has to 

stop otherwise upcoming 

2019 will experience 

monumental rigging. 

state was one time chairman 

of the defunct National 

Party of Nigeria, NPN in 

old Imo state, secretary 

general of Ohanaeze, and 

a leader of Okpara Brigade, 

a youth political pressure 

group that featured 

prominently during the 

First Republic. 

To celebrate Pa 

Onyensoh, there will be a 

birthday lecture in Enugu 

on May 24 with the theme: 

‘’Ndigbo Yesterday, today 

and tommorow,’’ and 

presenetation of a book with 

the title: ‘’Pa Onyensoh 

Nwachukwu; The Odyssey 

of a Patriot and Statesman.’’ 

Organised by the World 

Igbo Leadership, 

Education and Cultural 

Council, WILECC, in 

conjunction with the Igbo 

Historical Research 

Foundation, IHIREF, the 

Birthday proper will hold 

at Aba Sports Club, Aba in 

Abia state on May 26. 

UNVEILING: From Left:Dr Adebimpe Adebiyi,Director Family Health, 

Federal Ministry of Health; Dr.Ifeanyi Okoye, MD/CEO, Juhel Nigeria 

Limited; and Dr Frank Jacob, President, Manufacturers Association of 

Nigeria, MAN, at a press conference to unveil Oxytocin and Magnesium 

Sulphate injections, in Lagos. PHOTO: AKEEM SALAU 

‘’The Nigerian electorate 

need more education and 

enlightenment before they 

go to polls so that they do 

not compromise and sell 

their votes because selling 

your votes means selling 

your right and giving the 

mandate to the wrong 

person.’’ 

POWA harps on women empowerment 

By Vincent 

Ujumadu 

AWKA—WIFE of the 

Inspector General of 

Police, IGP, and President 

of Police Officers Wives 

Association, POWA, 

Princess Asmau Ndayako 

Idris, said yesterday in 

Awka that the association’s 

main programme in 2018 is 

empowerment of the less 

privileged in the society. 

Mrs. Idris, who spoke 

during the empowerment 

of 37 women, including 

widows, at the police 

headquarters in Awka, said 

her association had started 

with women and would 

extend it to the youths, 

explaining that the idea 

was to enable the 

beneficiaries provide for 

their families. 

She also preached peace 

among the wives of police 

officers, especially in the 

barracks, noting that since 

their husbands were 

always on duty outside the 

barracks, it was the 

responsibility of their wives 

to keep the families intact 

and maintain peace in their 

places of residence. 

“We are mothers and 

since we are always in the 

barracks, we should live 

like a family,” Mrs. Idris 

said. 

In her address, the wife 

of Anambra State 

Commissioner of Police 

and chairperson of POWA 

in the state, Hajiya Khadija 

Umar said the Anambra 

State chapter of POWA had 

carried out several 

empowerment progammes 

for women in different skills 

and explained that most of 

them received startup 

materials for their 

businesses. 

ASUP cries out, says govt 

killing education 

By Chinonso 

Alozie 

THE Academic Staff 

Union of Polytechnics, 

ASUP, yesterday, said 

governments at all levels 

had neglected the 

guidelines to improve 

standard of education in the 

country. 

National President of 

ASUP, Mr. Usman Yusuf 

Dutse, who spoke at the 6th 

capacity building workshop 

which took place at the 

Federal Polytechnic 

Nekede, Owerri, Imo State, 

lamenented that the 

governments have been in 

the habit of reneging in 

whatever agreement the 

union entered with them 

that would have raised the 

standard in the education 

sector. 

Dutse said: “The 

commitment and orderly 

By Dennis Agbo 

ENUGU—AHEAD of 

the 2019 general 

elections, Professors from 

Udi and Ezeagu local 

government areas of 

Enugu State have 

unanimously endorsed 

Governor Ifeanyi 

Ugwuanyi for a second 

term in office. 

The university dons 

described Ugwuanyi’s 

second term as the only 

way to sustain the 

‘amazing tempo of 

development and good 

governance’ that the 

Governor had established 

in the state. 

The professors who are 

operating under the 

auspices of Udi Professors 


made their position 

known when they paid a 

solidarity visit to the 

Governor at the 

Government House, 

Enugu. 

Speaking of behalf of the 

group, Professor Ike 

Oluka, the Chairman of 

the Association, said they 

were impressed with the 

performance of the 

governor especially with 

regards to providing 

security, and prompt and 

regular payment of 

workers’ salaries, which 

have brought stability in 

the education sector, such 

that no staff or student 

industrial unrest has been 

recorded since he 

assumed office.. 

He thanked the Governor 

for utilizing the bailout 

funds to support stateowned 

tertiary 

institutions, especially the 

participation of our officials 

in this workshop will assist 

them to improve on their 

ability to conduct the affairs 

of their respective chapters. 

As it stands today, our 

sector and indeed 

education at all levels in 

Nigeria is facing great 

challenges which threaten 

the smooth running of our 

institutions. 

“Governments at all levels 

have continued to pay lip 

service to restoring the lost 

glory of Nigeria in 

education. Standards are 

obsolete, regulation and 

supervision are poor and 

working conditions across 

campuses continue to 

deteriorate. It is the belief 

of our union that with the 

appropriate priorities in 

place, these issues can be 

addressed to the benefit of 

the country.” 

Varsity dons endorse 

Ugwuanyi for 2nd term 

Enugu State University of 

Science and Technology, 

ESUT, the Institute of 

Management and 

Technology, IMT, and 

others. 

The professors however 

urged Governor 

Ugwuanyi to pay serious 

attention in his second 

term, to the creation of 

industrial parks in the 

state, as a way of creating 

employment for the state’s 

teeming population. 

In his response, Governor 

Ugwuanyi thanked the 

professors for their 

support 

and 

endorsement, saying he 

was encouraged by their 

courage and candour. 

The Governor eulogized 

Nigerian professors and 

used the opportunity to 

challenge them to use 

their research experience 

to attract grants to 

complement the 

development efforts of the 

state government. He 

remarked that special 

centres, such as malaria 

control, kidney, heart 

among others, could be 

attracted to the state 

through research grants. 

The Governor pledged to 

bring some of the 

academics and 

technocrats into his 

administration to enhance 

the actualization of 

government’s vision for 

the state. 

Among the members 

present were former 

ESUT Vice Chancellor, 

Prof. Ikechukwu 

Chidobem, Professors 

O.C. Iloeje, F. C. Eze, Agu 

Gab Agu, Chike Anibeze 

and Osmond Ene.


:Vanguard 

News 

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

MEETING: From left, Head, Commercial Section of Pakistani High Commission in Nigeria, 

Tahir Abbas; President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, Babatune Ruwase; 

Members of Pakistani delegation, Mohammed Mubashir; Tahir Anjum, and Sardar Rahim, 

during a B2B meeting with members of LCCI, in Lagos. 

Individuals can invest in power generation, 

sell same without licence —Fashola 

By Aliyu 

Dangida 

DUTSE — MINISTER 

of Power, Works and 

Housing, Mr Babatunde 

Fashola, has reiterated the 

commitment of Federal 

Government to encourage 

private power developers to 

invest in generation and 

distribution of power to the 

public. 

The minister who spoke 

while answering questions 

from newsmen during his 

two-day working visit to 

Jigawa State said: “Any 

interested individual or 

company can set up power 

generation from 2MWt 

downwards and sell same 

to the public without 

requesting for any licence. 

"We are encouraging 

people to set up small 

power generation plant 

and sell according to their 

capacity, and not 

necessarily going for a big 

project that require huge 

amount of money and 

expertise.” 

Explaining the delay in 

the take off of private solar 

power generation projects, 

particularly those who want 

to invest in Jigawa State, 

the minister informed that 

the investors insisted on 

selling the power to 

government but the 

guidelines and the cost they 

proposed were not 

attainable. 

He said: “But we are still 

negotiating with them and 

as soon as we reach a level 

ground, the investors will 

commence work at their 

proposed site.” 

The minister also 

commended Jigawa State 

for allocating 2,000 hectares 

of land for the establishment 

of Federal Government 

solar power project. 

...16 Kebbi LGs get regular power supply 

By Kabir 

DanKatsina 

BIRNIN KEBBI—— 

KEBBI State 

government has connected 

16 of the 21 local 


state with constant power 

supply. 

A statement by Abubakar 

Dakingari, Chief Press 

By Demola 

Akinyemi 

ILORIN— Governor 

Abdulfatah Ahmed of 

Kwara State, yesterday, said 

the ruling party in the state, 

All Progressives Congress, 

APC, remained the party of 

hope for sustainable growth 

and development of 

Nigeria. 

Governor Ahmed who 

spoke when members of the 

Kwara APC Ward and local 

government congresses 

appeal committee paid him 

a courtesy visit in his office, 

noted that the state 

Secretary to Governor 

Abubakar Bagudu, said the 

governor made this known 

when he received the 

Managing Director and 

Chief Executive Officer of 

Niger Delta Power 

Holding Company, Mr. 

Chiedie Ugbo, at 

Government House in 

Birnin Kebbi. 

He noted that provision 

of regular power supply 

remained top priority of his 

administration. 

The statement also quoted 

Governor Bagudu as 

commending the power 

company’s commitment to 

helping government 

achieve its objectives by 

distributing over 20,000 

solar power units to towns 

and villages. 

APC remains party of hope—Gov Ahmed 

remained committed to the 

party and would work hard 

to ensure its victory in 2019 

general elections. 

Ahmed also said the 

peaceful conduct of the 

ward congresses in the 

state was a clear 

demonstration of loyalty 

and commitment of APC 

leadership in the state to 

the ideals of the party and 

reflection of inclusive 

leadership style in the state. 

According to him, “our 

party remains the only 

hope for sustainable growth 

in the country. So, we are 

Herdsmen attacks: Muslim community, CAN youths 

commend Ortom 

By Peter Duru 

M AKURDI— 

M U S L I M 

community in Benue State 

have endorsed Governor 

Samuel Ortom for reelection 

in 2019 even as the Youths 

Wing of Christian 


YUWICAN, also pledged to 

stand with the governor in 

his quest to find lasting 

solutions to the unending 

herdsmen crisis in the state. 

Speaking separately when 

the two groups visited 

Governor Ortom, in 

Makurdi, Benue State 

Chairman of YUWICAN, 

Mr. Daniel Paverga Dam, 

who decried the spate of 

killings in the state by 

suspected herdsmen, 

blamed the Federal 

Government for not doing 

enough to stem the tide. 

Dam said: “The recent 

killing of two Catholic priests 

and parishioners at Mbalon, 

Gwer East Local 

Government Area by 

suspected herdsmen was a 

declaration of war on Benue 

State by people who enjoy 

the support of the Federal 

Government. 

"Despite several threats 

and intimidation, Governor 

Samuel has stood firm in 

defence of the people of 

Benue State. He has 

proven to us that he is 

indeed the hope of the 

people and we owe him a 

duty to stand with and 

support him.” 

Also speaking, the leader 

of the Muslim community 

in the state, Alhaji Ahmed 

Baba, who condemned the 

committed to the APC. We 

believe in the vision and 

mission of the party. We 

remain a strong member of 

this party.” 

Earlier, Chairman, APC 

Appeal Committee for the 

state, Alhaji Mohammed 

Diggol, commended the 

APC-led government in the 

state for its giant strides in 

ensuring that the party 

remained strong in the state. 

“We also hail your 

administration for the 

various constructions going 

on in the state despite your 

meagre resources," he said. 

killings in the state by 

herdsmen commended the 

governor for exhibiting 

uncommon courage in the 

face of adversity. 

Baba said: “You are a 

warrior who has not 

disappointed or failed the 

people of the state despite 

the daunting challenges 

posed by the herdsmen 

crisis. 

Responding separately to 

the two groups, Governor 

Ortom promised to continue 

to exhibit his exemplary 

leadership style in his service 

to the people of the state. 

Bauchi SUBEB debunks 

reports on closure of 

Tsangaya/Almajiri schools 

By Suzan Edeh 

B 

A U C H I — 

CHAIRMAN of 

Bauchi State Universal 

Basic Education Board, 

SUBEB, Professor Yahaya 

Yero, yesterday, described 

as untrue reports that 

Tsangaya/ Almajiri schools 

in the state had been 

closed indefinitely, saying 

it was a calculated attempt 

to tarnish the image of the 

board. 

Yero, who was 

represented by the board's 

permanent member one, 

Baba Hamza, said: “It 

became imperative for the 

board officials to go round 

the schools to ascertain on 

NSITF makes case for 

workplace safety 

By Prince 

Okafor 

THE Nigeria Social 

Insurance Trust Fund, 

NSITF, has called on 

employers in Nigeria to 

improve on safety 

awareness in their work 

places to avoid 

unnecessary industrial 

accidents. 

General Manager, 

NSITF, Lagos Regional 

Office, Mrs. Olufunke 

Aleshinloye, who gave this 

advice, disclosed plans to 

get 90 per cent of workers 

in the country to key into 

this scheme. 

Speaking during a road 

show to mark this year’s 

World Day for safety and 

health at work in Lagos 

with theme, “Improving 

Safety and Health of 

Workers” Aleshinloye, 

said: “The NSITF was 

established by decree No 

73 of 1993 with the 

fundamental mandate of 

implementing the 

E m p l o y e e ’ s 

Compensation Act, 2010. 

“The NSITF was 

established vide Decree 

No. 73 of 1993 to succeed 

which authority the schools 

were closed. 

"Schools are now in the 

fourth week after 

resumption from the last 

holidays, so the schools are 

now in full session. We were 

adequately informed 

during the visit that all 

pupils were reporting to 

schools and having their 

normal lessons as usual.” 

He called on parents to 

always check any 

information regarding their 

children from relevant 

authorities and refrain from 

relying on rumourmongers 

and appealed to 

them to “ensure that their 

children always attend 

school.” 

Girl child enrolment on the 

increase, impressive in 

Katsina — UNICEF 

By Bashir Bello 

KATSINA—Chief of 

Education, United 

Nations Children’s Fund, 

UNICEF, Nigeria, Terry 

Durnnian, has expressed 

satisfaction with the 

increasing number of girlchild 

enrollment in schools 

across Katsina State. 

Durnnian, who was on a 

three-day working visit to 

the state, said the number 

of girl-child enrollment 

was greatly increasing. 

He lauded the role 

played by the relevant 

stakeholders who 

mobilised and went out to 

talk to parents in the areas 

to enroll their girl-child in 

schools. 

According to him, “I am 

on a three-day visit to the 

state on UNICEF works in 

partnership with the 

Ministry of Education on 

chances of improving 

enrollment, retention and 

quality of education." 

the defunct National 

Provident Fund, NPF, 

which had been in 

operation since 1961 to 

make provisions for 

compensation in the case of 

death, injury, diseases or 

disability in the office place. 

“In order to fulfil the 

mandate of the ECA, 2010, 

a social insurance scheme 

known as Employee’s 

Compensation Scheme 

was designed for serving 

employees to ensure that 

they are adequately 

protected with regards to 

compensation whenever 

they suffer injuries from 

workplace accidents; any 

injury in the course of work 

outside the workplace or 

disease emanating from 

working conditions.” 

On non-compliance, 

Aleshinloye noted that 

there was sanction for 

defaulters who failed to pay 

as at when due. 

She said: “Defaulters will 

get imprisoned for a term 

not exceeding one year or 

fine of not less than 

N100,000 or both 

imprisonment and fine for 

an individual."


APC PRIMARY: Delegates kick against 

option A4 in rescheduled poll 

By Dayo Johnson 

SOME concerned 

delegates and leaders of 

the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, have kicked 

against the use of direct 

primaries method otherwise 

called Option A4 in the 

rescheduled governorship 

election tomorrow. 

A letter forwarded to the 

chairman of the electoral 

committee, Governor Tanko Al- 

Makura, made available to 

newsmen in Akure, expressed 

serious objection to the use of 

the method. The signatories to 

the letter include S. A 

Abejide, Comrade Ade Ajayi 

and Chief (Mrs) Moji Fafure 

for Ekiti Concerned Delegates 

and Leaders. 

Copies of the letter were 

forwarded to National 

Chairman, APC and the 

National Working Committee, 

APC. The statement reads: “We 

the undersigned on behalf of 

the concerned delegates and 

leaders in Ekiti State APC write 

to seriously object to the 

suggestion by some aspirants 

to use direct primaries method 

otherwise called Option A4 in 

the rescheduled Ekiti All 

Progressives Congress 

gubernatorial primaries slated 

for Friday, May 11, 2018. 

I’m prepared for 

governance 

challenge —Olusola 

By Dirisu Yakubu 

THE Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, governorship 

candidate in Ekiti State, 

Professor Kolapo Olusola has 

expressed his readiness to 

tackle the challenges of 

governance if elected in the July 

14 governorship election. 

The governorship candidate 

stated this, yesterday, at the 

PDP national secretariat while 

receiving his Certificate of 

Return from the party’s 

National Organizing Secretary, 

Colonel Austin Akobundu 

(retd). While lauding the 

national leadership of the party 

for the orderly conduct of the 

primary election, Olusola who 

doubles as the Ekiti State 

deputy governor, said no 

amount of money influence or 

violence would make Ekiti 

people dump the PDP for 

another political party. 

He said: “I am ready and 

prepared to take up this 

challenge as the incoming 

governor of Ekiti State on the 

platform of the PDP. 

“I want to assure our national 

leaders that Ekiti is for PDP. All 

the other parties are just 

shouting. Let them bring 

money, let them bring violence, 

Ekiti people will resist them". 

•Al-Makura 

“We also want you, the 

National Chairman and the 

National Working Committee of 

the APC, to take cognisance of 

the notorious fact that the flag 

off of the registration of new 

members was done in Ekiti not 

quite two months ago, 

therefore, the National 

Secretariat of the party cannot 

ascertain the actual number of 

By Rotimi Ojomoyela 

Agovernorship aspirant on 

the platform of 

Independent Democrats (ID) 

Mr. Tosin Ajibare has 

promised to rescue Ekiti from 

its present economic 

challenges if elected. 

The governorship hopeful 

gave the assurance after 

picking his Governorship 

Nomination Form ahead of 

the party primaries slated for 

Saturday. He urged Ekiti 

people, particularly youths to 

members in Ekiti State since 

the registers are yet to be 

submitted, verified and 

authenticated as official 

document of APC bearing 

members’ names in Ekiti State. 

“As at today, the state 

secretariat cannot give facts 

and figures on the numbers of 

APC registered members. 

“Option A4 will be another 

danger for the party because the 

same aspirants whose agents 

disrupted the May 5 primaries 

will again mobilize thugs to the 

177 wards in the state and this 

will be difficult for the security 

agents to curtail. 

“Recall that security agents 

could not stop sponsored 

thugs of some aspirants from 

smashing ballot boxes in the full 

glare of TV live coverage and 

despite the presence of 

detachment of fully armed 

security personnel in just one 

location. So how will security 

agencies stop thugs in 177 

wards containing about 131 

towns? 

“The logistics required for the 

use of Option A4 in 177 wards 

in terms of men and materials 

are enormous and cumbersome 

and it will not be possible to 

mobilise these resources within 

the limited time available for the 

conduct of the primary. 

Aspirant promises to rescue Ekiti from poverty 


Dr. Kayode Fayemi has 

denied media reports that he 

stormed out of a meeting 

called by Southwest leaders of 

the party in Abuja last 

Tuesday. 

The Minister said in a 

statement in Abuja on 

Wednesday that contrary to 

misleading media reports and 

social media posts purporting 

that he walked out of the 

meeting, he only left the 

venue, like other attendees, at 

the end of the meeting. 

The Minister in the 

statement signed by his 

Special Adviser on Media, 

Mr. Yinka Oyebode, said there 

was no basis for him to storm 

out of the meeting which was 

called by the leaders to proffer 

way forward for the party, in 

the face of the rescheduled 

Ekiti governorship primary. 

The minister, however, said 

he could not make the second 

part of the meeting when it 

reconvened later in the 

evening, having earlier taken 

permission from the leaders to 

attend another meeting. 

key into the agenda with a 

promise to tackle youth 

unemployment through 

massive investment in 

agriculture. 

Ajibare disclosed that until 

youths take the driver’s seat 

in governance, their present 

situation might not improve. 

At 36, Ajibare Tosin from 

Ikere Ekiti in Ekiti South 

Senatorial District is the 

youngest known aspirant in 

the race. 

He said: “I am determined 

to lead Ekiti youths in this 

struggle to take back 

governance. 

The previous government 

did not factor in any youths 

friendly policy. And it is high 

time we took the Bull by the 

horn by braving the odds. It is 

not going to be an easy task, 

but we shall be victorious. 

“We are walking the talk in 

Ekiti and youths will take over 

the government of Ekiti and 

bring about a paradigm shift 

in the leadership of Nigeria, 

starting from Ekiti.” 

Fayemi denies walking out on South West Leaders’ meeting 

“It is thus worrisome and 

highly embarrassing reading 

reports of purported ‘walk 

out’ on our leaders when 

nothing like that actually 

took place. 

“We implore well-meaning 

members of the society and 

members of our great party to 

disregard the misleading 

reports.” the statement added. 

Ekweremadu congratulates PDP, urges 

APC, others to emulate peaceful PDP 

By Henry Umoru PDP example to avoid 

THE Deputy President of the overheating the political 

Senate, Senator Ike temperature of the State. 

Ekweremadu, has He said: “I congratulate the 

congratulated the Ekiti State PDP, Ekiti State, on this 

chapter of the Peoples transparent, peaceful, free, and 

Democratic Party, PDP, for the fair outing. It is has showcased, 

peaceful conduct of the once again, the growing 

primary election that produced internal democracy in our party. 

the Deputy Governor of the “I commend Governor 

State, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, as Ayodele Fayose, the Returning 

the governorship candidate of Officer, Governor Ifeanyi 

the party in the July 2018 Okowa, and our party leaders 

gubernatorial election. for showing leadership when it 

Ekweremadu emphasised mattered the most. 

that more important than the “I commend the aspirants for 

result was the process, noting their exemplary sportsmanship. 

that the PDP had, once more, I enjoin Prof. Olusola to 

showcased the growing continue to work closely with 

internal democracy in the every party faithful, especially 

party. 

the former aspirants, to ensure 

He advised other political a massive victory for the PDP in 

parties to emulate the Ekiti the governorship poll”. 

I will not 

defect to SDP 

even if — Oni 

By Alex Folorunso 

ENGR. Segun Oni has 

dismissed claims that he would 

defect to the Social Democratic 

Party, SDP if he loses out in the 

forthcoming party primary. 

In an interview with 

Vanguard, Oni the 

penultimate governor of the 

state said:“That is not true. 

That is the story they have 

been carrying about. You 

should expect rumours and 

political propaganda at a time 

when the primary election is 

fast approaching. There are 

some people who have plans 

A, B, C and D if things don’t 

favour them. “As far as I am 

concerned, my name is 

Engineer Olusegun Adebayo 

Oni and my Plan A is APC. 

Plan B is APC. Plan C is APC 

and up to Z. My plan is APC. 

Why should I exercise fears 

when I know that by the grace 

of God, I will win at the 

primary election? 

“I strongly believe that APC 

will take over governance in 

Ekiti State in a matter of time. 

I want to appeal to our 

delegates to shun money bags 

and they should never be 

deceived with financial 

inducement during the 

primaries. They should vote 

based on their conscience and 

on performance index.” 

EKITI 2018: 

AD elects 

governorship 

Candidate 


AHEAD of the July 14 

governorship election in Ekiti 

State, Mr. Agboola Ben has 

emerged the candidate of the 

Alliance for Democracy (AD) 

for the election. 

He emerged after three other 

aspirants, Osekita Victor, 

Fasogba Ayo Peters and Pastor 

Omotosho Babatunde stepped 

down for him during a peaceful 

primary election supervised by 

the party’s national officials 

and officials of the Independent 

National Electoral Commission 

(INEC). 

Agboola, shortly after his 

emergence promised to 

diversify the state’s economy 

through integrated agriculture. 

He described AD as the most 

consistent party since the 

nation’s return to democratic 

rule in 1999. His words, “This 

is the party of leaders in Yoruba 

land. What is today known as 

Egbe Afenifere. When you look 

at the history of political parties 

in Nigeria since 1999, you will 

discover that AD stands out. 

Disclosing his plans, he 

added that the health care 

sector would be revitalized to 

meet the current challenges in 

the state. On security, Agboola 

explained that his government 

would introduce Community 

Policing as against State 

Policing.


38— VANGUARD, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 

Europeans work to save Iran deal, business 

D I S M A Y E D 

European allies 

sought to salvage the 

international nuclear pact 

and preserve their business 

with Iran on 

Wednesday after President 

Donald Trump pulled the 

United States out of the 

landmark accord and 

ordered sanctions 

reimposed on Tehran. 

“The deal is not dead. 

There’s an American 

withdrawal from the deal 

but the deal is still there,” 

French Foreign Minister 

Jean-Yves Le Drian said. 

But Iranian President 

Hassan Rouhani, a 

pragmatist who helped 

engineered the 2015 deal 

to ease Iran’s 

economically crippling 

isolation, told French 

counterpart Emmanuel 

Macron in a phone call 

that Europe had only a 

“limited opportunity” to 

preserve the pact, the 

Iranian Students’ News 

Agency reported. 

“(Europe)...must, as 

quickly as possible, clarify 

its position and specify and 

announce its intentions 

with regard to its 

obligations,” ISNA quoted 

Rouhani as saying to 

Macron. 

Macron, who like other 

European leaders had 

lobbied Trump to keep the 

agreement signed before 

he took office, urged 

Rouhani to keep 

respecting the deal and 

consider broader 

negotiations. 

Trump said on Tuesday 

he would revive U.S. 

economic sanctions, which 

would penalise foreign 

firms doing business with 

Tehran, to undermine 

what he called “a horrible, 

one-sided deal that should 

have never, ever been 

made”. 

On Wednesday, he said 

Iran would now either 

negotiate or “something 

will happen.” It was not 

immediately clear what 

actions he was 

suggesting would take 

place. 

Iran has drafted a 

“proportional” plan to 

cope with the U.S. move, 

the official news agency 

IRNA quoted government 

spokesman Mohammad 

Baqer Nobakht as saying. 

He said budgets had been 

drawn up to deal with 

various scenarios, though 

did not elaborate. 

The fruit of more than a 

decade of diplomacy, the 

nuclear agreement was 

clinched in July 2015 by 

the United States, France, 

Britain, Germany, Russia, 

China and Iran. 

Trump rules out DMZ as location for North 

Korea summit 

•Americans freed by North Korea 

•China, Japan, S/Korea support denuclearisation 

PRESIDENT Donald 

Trump ruled out the 

Korean Demilitarized Zone 

as the site of his upcoming 

talks with North Korean 

leader Kim Jong Un, 

despite previously 

suggesting it would provide 

a fitting backdrop. 

“It will not be” at the DMZ, 

•President Trump 

Trump said in response to 

a question from reporters at 

the end of a meeting with 

his Cabinet on Wednesday. 

Trump said he will 

announce the location of the 

summit “within three 

days.” With the DMZ out 

of the running, Singapore 

appears the most likely 

place for the historic 

meetings to convene as US 

officials had previously said 

the meeting would likely 

take place at either the DMZ 

or in Singapore. Officials 

had preferred the Southeast 

Asian city state for its 

neutrality and relative 

proximity to North Korea. 

This came as North Korea 

released three American 

prisoners and handed them 

over to U.S. Secretary of 

State Mike Pompeo on 

Wednesday, clearing a 

major obstacle to an 

unprecedented summit 

between President Donald 

Trump and North Korean 

leader Kim Jong Un. 

Trump said the three men, 

who were freed after 

Pompeo met Kim, were on 

the way home from Pyongyang 

on the chief U.S. 

diplomat’s plane. The 

president planned to greet 

them when they land at 

Andrews Air Force Base 

outside Washington at 

around 2 a.m. EDT (0600 

GMT) Thursday morning. 

The release, which was 

praised by the White House 

as a “gesture of goodwill,” 

appeared to signal an effort 

by Kim to set a more 

favourable tone for the 

planned summit and 

followed his recent pledge 

to suspend missile tests and 

shut Pyongyang’s nuclear 

bomb test site. 

Meanwhile, China, 

Japan and South Korea 

agreed on Wednesday to 

cooperate in seeking the 

denuclearisation of the 

Korean peninsula, with 

Japanese Prime Minister 

Shinzo Abe saying recent 

positive momentum must 

be matched by “concrete 

action” by North Korea. 

Spain moves to block Catalan 

ex-leader forming govt 

SPAIN acted on Wednesday to block proindependence 

politicians in Catalonia from 

voting in ex-leader Carles Puigdemont, now in 

Germany, as their regional head with a deadline 

looming to form a government and avoid fresh 

elections. 

Madrid said it had appealed a new Catalan law 

that would have allowed Puigdemont to be elected 

at a distance while he waits in Berlin for German 

courts to rule on a Spanish request to extradite him. 

“We are appealing (before the Constitutional 

Court)... against a law that aims to swear in someone 

who has fled from justice and is living abroad,” 

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told reporters at the 

lower house of parliament in Madrid. 

The Constitutional Court later accepted the appeal, 

meaning the law will be blocked until the court 

makes a final decision, which could take months. 

Catalan lawmakers must pick a leader to form a 

government by May 22 to avert more elections and 

plot a path out of a seven-month standoff which has 

given Spain, the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy, 

its worst dose of instability in decades. 

A spokesman for Puigdemont’s party in the Madrid 

parliament played down the chances of fresh 

elections, saying the two main secessionist parties 

would agree on an alternative candidate. 

“If (Puigdemont’s candidacy) is blocked, I am sure 

Together for Catalonia and Republican Left of 

Catalonia will choose a candidate,” Carles 

Campuzano said. 

TURKEY: Social media says 

enough to Erdogan 

A 

campaign calling for the Turkish President 

Recep Tayyip Erdogan to step down has flooded 

social media. 

The campaign comes after Mr Erdogan, who has 

ruled Turkey for 15 years, said in a speech to Parliament 

on Tuesday that “if one day our nation says 

‘enough’, then we will step aside”. 

Seizing up on this statement, many Turks have 

taken to the hashtag #TAMAM, which translates as 

‘enough’, to say they have indeed had enough. 

The hashtag has been used almost two million 

times since Tuesday evening, with many social media 

users strongly criticising the president and the ruling 

AK Party. As the trend gathered momentum, progovernment 

accounts mobilised to launch a counter 

hashtag, #DEVAM - which translates as “carry on”. 

The showdown between the rival campaigns has 

been called “one of the largest political hashtag wars 

in internet history” by Professor Akin Unver, who is 

a Fellow of Cyber Research Program at the Centre 

for Economic and Foreign Policy Research. 

One Instagram user depicted the battle between 

#TAMAM and #DEVAM as a fight between 

superheroes. Mr Erdogan’s comments come amid 

heightened political tensions after the president 

called a snap election to be held on 24 June. 

Muharrem Ince, who is the presidential candidate 

of the opposition Republican Peoples’ Party used the 

phrase to suggest “time’s up” for Mr Erdogan. 

Syrian cartoonist Iad Wawil used the hashtag to 

share an illustration suggesting Mr Erdogan may 

be haunted by his “TAMAM” comments. 

Somali woman ‘with 11 husbands’ 

stoned to death by al-Shabab 

Awoman has been stoned to death in Somalia 

after a court run by al-Shabab convicted her of 

having several husbands, the militant group says. 

Shukri Abdullahi Warsame was accused of 

marrying 11 times, without divorcing her previous 

husbands. She was buried neck-deep and pelted to 

death with stones by al-Shabab fighters, say 

residents of the southern Sablale town. Al-Shabab 

practises a strict interpretation of Sharia law. 

The militant group controls large swathes of 

Somalia and often conducts raids and attacks in its 

attempt to overthrow the central government based 

in the capital, Mogadishu. 

Mohamed Abu Usama, al-Shabab’s governor for 

the Lower Shabelle region, told Reuters: “Shukri 

Abdullahi and nine husbands, including her legal 

husband, were brought at the court, each saying 

she was his wife.” 

According to Islamic law, polyandry - a woman 

having more than one husband - is illegal but men 

are allowed to marry up to four wives. 

Divorce is allowed for both partners but while men 

can separate from their wives, the woman has to 

seek the husbands’s consent. If denied, she can go 

to religious court to get the approval.

YOUR LUCK TODAY 

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 

LIBRA; This is not the right time to rely on promises 

made by others. Continue to take matters-of-the-heart 

seriously. Reason with your reliable associates. 

SCORPIO; Tension within the domestic scene will start 

to ease off. Yet you will need to watch what you do within 

your base till after 10.15pm tonight. 

SAGITTARIUS; Both yourself and other important personalities 

to you are beginning to see things from same 

point of view making it easy for you to eliminate unnecessary 

rift. 

CAPRICORN; Venus moves into a positive angle to your 

Star and encourages peaceful settlement. Exhibition of 

maturity on your part will favour you better. 

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” 


L E I S U R E 

TAKE HEART —ELLA RANDLE 

“The day you stop to worry will be the first day of 

your new life; anxiety takes you in circles, trust 

in yourself and become free” -Les Brown- 

Worry is generally a useless emotion if you are trying 

to manifest your desires. Worry creates more 

worry and it pushes away the things you want. If 

you can’t think about a subject without worrying 

about it, then its best to just stop thinking about it. 

-Ella Randle- 

SAYINGS OF 

OUR PEOPLE 

If you want to 

go quickly, go 

alone. If you 

want to go far, 

go together. 

~ African 

proverb 

By Kola Fayemi 

AQUARIUS; Gradually you are dropping aggressive 

approach you have adopted in the last few days to the 

betterment of your cause. Remain practical till after 

10.15pm. 

PISCES; Better than yesterday; however that is not to 

say you should throw caution to the wind. Improvement 

on your love life indicated. Try to comport yourself. 

ARIES; After a few days of fun you may need to settle 

down to serious business. Those of you working till very 

late evening will need to be more careful till after 10.15pm. 

Reason with your tried and trusted old hands(friends). 

TAURUS; Venus moves into a positive angle and boost 

your sparkling personality to the betterment of your cause. 

Could be a nice day for the-young-at-heart. 

DUDU in “ROLLING HOT” By A.O. OLAIDE 

GEMINI; It is important you don’t allow your mind to 

wander unnecessarily so that minor but costly mistakes 

would be averted. Avoid late evening confusion. 

CANCER; Recent tension generated by controversy over 

money will start to ease off. Be more vigilant if you are 

working late in the evening. 

LEO;. Other people will continue to have their says and 

if you try to indoctrinate them tensed atmosphere will be 

aggravated. Be patient. 

VIRGO; Entrance of romantic Venus into your Star Sign 

will enhance your prospects. Both financial and love related 

success are possible. 

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING 

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

trological 

Counselling, P.M.B 100 

007, 7, Apapa, Lagos 

What’s my financial standing? 

VIRGINIA 

dadadekola@yahoo.com 

Dear Joshua, 

I want to know about my future, especially what I should 

expect from my love life both in the immediate and far 

future. However that is not to say I am not interested in 

good financial standing. 

Julius, Jos. 

Dear Julius, 

The challenge here is inability to hold on to your gains 

(profits) partially, by the contact made between your natal 

Saturn and Venus as stated under your career and 

some other times by your love of easy life. Although the 

Saturn influence can be mitigated as I said under your 

career, the love of luxury comes from your stallion Taurus 

which must not be totally discouraged but should not be 

allowed to go beyond your control. Yes envy and jealousy 

can creep in as indicated by the oppositions between your 

natal Venus/Saturn in Taurus and Jupiter in Scorpio, but 

that is not enough excuse for either failure or manipulation 

of occult powers against you. Whatever anybody says 

and/or does GREAT FINANCIAL SUCCESS is your portion. 

The most influential planet during your birth hour is 

Venus-the planet of MONEY and LOVE. You are the romantic 

type whose magnetic personality and open handedness 

are sources of big trap to his members of opposite 

sex. As handsome as you are you truly crave stability in 

your love life/home. The happiness you desired will be 

yours. 

HOME & ABROAD 

By Lawrence Akapa


:Vanguard 

As Imo APC chieftains defang Okorocha•• 

By Ikechukwu 

Amaechi 

IMO State Governor, 

Owelle Rochas 

Okorocha, who prides 

himself as a political colossus 

was taught “Politics 

101” last Saturday. 

It didn’t come as a surprise, 

though. To any 

discerning political observer, 

it was only a matter 

of time. While he was 

clowning and punching 

way above his political 

weight, his opponents 

were waiting for the auspicious 

time. 

And when that time 

came, the man who 

claims to have conquered 

Imo State and dominated 

its hapless people 

himself was left high and 

dry. Sublime political 

intrigue at its best. 

The Saturday, May 5, 

2018 ward congress of 

the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, in Imo 

presented Okorocha’s 

formidable political adversaries 

within his own 

party the opportunity to 

teach him the political 

lesson of his life. 

Okorocha, convinced 

that the APC leadership 

in Imo will not support 

his political shenanigans 

in 2019 threw his weight 

behind President 

Muhammadu Buhari’s 

last minute decision to 

push the Chief John 

Odigie-Oyegun-led 

National Working Committee, 

NWC, under the 

bus by jettisoning the already 

agreed tenure extension. 

Inordinate ambition 

Okorocha’s support for 

the conduct of fresh 

congresses was informed 

solely by his inordinate 

ambition to install 

cronies that will deliver 

the APC governorship 

ticket to his son-in-law, 

Uche Nwosu. 

But blinded by ambition 

and hubris, he didn’t 

reckon with the 

determination of the 

opposition within the 

party to scuttle his plan. 

So, while the congress 

was underway in other 

states, the sensitive 

materials to be used in Imo 

disappeared. 

The party’s national 

organising secretary, 

Chief Osita Izunaso, an 

Imo indigene, a former 

senator and one of the 

political gladiators, 

claimed he handed the 

materials to Chief Ini 

Okorie, who was sent from 

the party headquarters to 

superintend the congress, 

a claim which Okorie 

repudiated. 

When the police took him 

to Izunaso’s Owerri home 

in a bid to resolve the 

riddle, Okorie, just like the 

sensitive materials, also 

disappeared. 

Okorocha was 

flummoxed, watching as 

it were, his well-hatched 

•Okorocha 

plans go up in flames. 

Not even a visit to 

Izunaso with the Imo 

State Police Commissioner, 

Chris Ezike, 

could lift the lid off the 

grand conspiracy. It was 

political sleight of the 

hand at its best. 

Realising that he had 

been beaten to his own 

game and knowing that 

the Oyegun-led NWC 

will not have any 

sympathy, Okorocha 

turned to Buhari, 

making an emergency 

visit to the President’s 

country home in Daura, 

Katsina State, just a day 

after the congress. 

I doubt if he slept that 

Saturday night, haunted, 

no doubt, by the spectre 

of electoral malfeasance 

he had helped to create 

and perpetuate. 

Describing what 

happened in Imo as 

funny politics, 

Okorocha, who had 

unilaterally shared 

positions in the party for 

the 2019 elections, said: 

“We expect internal 

What happened 

to 

Okorocha last 

Saturday is 

the beginning 

of his political 

demystification 

democracy and internal 

democracy is the way to 

go. This kind of funny 

politics that we are playing 

must stop … we do not 

want people to carry ballot 

boxes and steal results. 

This looks so primitive. I 

intimated Mr. President 

and we will make sure that 

such things must stop.” 

Asked what the President’s 

response was, 

Okorocha stuttered. 

“I intimated Mr. 

President and we will 

make sure that such things 

must stop. He spoke like 

the President and he will 

take the necessary steps to 

correct this in our party, 

APC, not just in Imo State 

but across the whole 

nation, and to also make 

sure that there is respect 

for internal democracy in 

Imo State.” 

Expectedly, Buhari did 

not speak. But the party 

apparatchik did. And 

their verdict was that the 

congresses were a huge 

success and whoever felt 

aggrieved should seek 

redress through the 

appropriate channel(s). 

Case closed! 

It is almost impossible 

for any well-meaning 

Imolite not to gloat over 

Okorocha’s humiliation. 

A conquered fiefdom 

As governor, Okorocha 

has carried on as an 

emperor, impervious to 

advice. He has ruled the 

state as a conquered 

fiefdom and treated the 

otherwise proud people 

as serfs. 

The man boasts to 

whoever cares to listen 

that he will never make 

the mistake his 

predecessors, Achike 

Udenwa and Ikedi 

Ohakim, made. 

And what was this 

grievous mistake? They 

allowed the electoral will of 

the people to prevail. To 

Okorocha, it does not 

matter that he was the 

primary beneficiary of the 

triumph of the will of the 

people when the Imo 

electorate in 2011 turned 

their back, for whatever 

reason, on an incumbent 

with huge war chest. 

And in unilaterally 

deciding his successor, 

Okorocha was 

condescending and 

insulting. 

Of course, in his hubris, 

he overreached himself 

and like the Nwa Nza bird 

in Igbo folklore that 

overfed and challenged its 

Chi (personal god) to a 

duel, Okorocha was bound 

to come to grief sooner than 

later because just like Chief 

M. A. Nanga, in Chinua 

Achebe’s 1966 epic political 

satire, A Man of the People, 

the governor has brazenly 

“taken away enough for 

the owner to notice.” 

And Imolites have 

noticed. His choice of Uche 

Nwosu, his son-in-law 

and chief of staff, as 

successor and 

determination to ride 

roughshod against any 

opposition just added 

insult to the many injuries 

– political, social and 

economic – inflicted on the 

people, whose only crime 

was that they elected him 

governor seven years ago. 

Let’s be clear, as a 

Nigerian, Okorocha has 

the right to support 

Nwosu’s political 

aspiration just as Nwosu’s 

fundamental right to vote 

or be voted for cannot be 

sacrificed on the altar of 

his filial relationships. 

All that was required 

was due process and if at 

the end of the day, Imo 

APC delegates, decide he 

is their choice, so be it. In 

fact, if, having emerged 

as the APC candidate, 

Imo electorate agree next 

year during the general 

elections that in the 

young man, Uche 

Nwosu, they had found 

a transformational leader 

in whom they are wellpleased, 

all fine and 

good. 

But Okorocha has no 

right deploying the 

people’s patrimony in 

promoting his son-inlaw’s 

aspiration to the 

utter exclusion of every 

other Imolite, believing, 

to use a local lingo, that 

it is just a matter of cash. 

When and how did 

Okorocha become the 

god of Imo politics? Such 

delusion explains a 

fundamental flaw in our 

democracy which seeks 

to deify leadership by 

making small gods of 

elected public officials. 

But the end result of 

such illusion is always 

predictable. Where are 

the 1999 – 2017 set of 

governors? Who hears 

about them again? 

Political 

demystification 

What happened to 

Okorocha last Saturday 

is the beginning of his 

political demystification. 

As the Igbo say, if a man 

cooks for the public they 

will consume the meal 

but he will be hard put if 

the reverse is the case. 

For almost eight years, 

Okorocha has taken the 

people for granted, 

serving them duplicitous 

meals. Now, the people 

have decided to cook for 

him. 

If he does not retrace 

his steps, he will come to 

political grief and there 

is nothing a President 

Buhari can do to save 

him from the wrath of a 

people he has humiliated 

for too long. 

What happened last 

Saturday is only a tip of 

the iceberg. If Governor 

Okorocha does not repent 

of his political sins 

and ask for forgiveness, 

his humiliation in the 

2019 general elections 

will be total. 

Ikechukwu Amaechi is 

the MD/Editor-in-Chief, 

TheNiche on Sunday 

newspaper, Ikeja, Lagos. 

Help end the killings, Saraki 

charges Northern leaders 


ABUJA—WORRIED by 

the wanton killings and 

destruction of properties in 

some parts of the country, 

Senate President, Dr. 

Bukola Saraki yesterday, 

told elders, leaders, 

stakeholders and elder 

statesmen from the North 

that it had become imperative 

for them to join hands 

with the Federal and state 

governments to stop the 

killings in the land. 

According to the Senate 

President, peace and unity 

were very essential if Nigeria 

as a country must 

achieve overall development 

and growth, hence 

the killings must stop in all 

its ramifications. 

Meanwhile, in another 

development, the people of 

Kaduna Central and indeed 

the whole of Kaduna State 

have thanked the United 

Nations, UN for adding its 

strong voice to condemn the 

mass killings in Birnin 

Gwari Local Government 

Area of Kaduna. 

Saraki who spoke yesterday 

in Abuja when a delegation 

of the Northern 

Leaders and Stakeholders 

Assembly, NLSA, led by its 

Chairman, Alhaji Tanko 

Yakasai visited him in his 

office, also hailed the group 

for rising up to contribute 

to realising a peaceful and 

prosperous country. 

Saraki who expressed 

worry over the state of affairs 

In the country, said: 

“By this time, as elders, you 

ought to be resting, but the 

patriotism in you brought 

you out. You said you are 

NCC in new deal with ACCA 

on financial mgt 

By Emmanuel 

Elebeke 

A BUJA—THE 

Association of Chartered 

Certified Accountants 

(ACCA) Wednesday sealed 

a strategic partnership 

agreement with the Nigerian 

Communications Commission, 

NCC on robust 

effective financial management 

system. 

The association also presented 

awards of exemplary 

leadership to the Executive 

Vice Chairman of 

the Commission, Professor 

Umar Danbatta and to the 

NCC for exemplary organization 

in improving 

employees’ skills on financial 

management. 

The ACCA is the largest 

and fastest-growing international 

accountancy body 

with over 300,000 students 

and members in 160 countries, 

reputed for inspiring 

its members for robust and 

global best practices in financial 

management. 

Speaking at the event, the 

NCC EVC said the strategic 

partnership between 

ACCA and NCC was con- 

political but non-partisan, 

we are all political and we 

need to get Nigeria in the 

right direction. 

“Being leaders, this is the 

time to find lasting solutions. 

This is not the time 

for blame. This is the time 

for us to bring peace and 

regional dialogue. No society 

worth its salt will keep 

quiet in the face of these 

killings. 

“Something, somewhere 

is wrong. We need to meet 

to bring about peaceful coexistence 

and unity in this 

country. Part of the solution 

is to know that something 

is wrong. 

“I am happy that you are 

here and we will speak the 

truth about the problems 

and to conduct ourselves on 

how to encourage dialogue 

and ensure that the right 

thing is done,” he said. 

Earlier in his remarks, 

chairman of the group and 

leader of the delegation, 

Yakasai, said that the purpose of 

the visit was to brief the President 

of the Senate on the formation 

of the organisation, including 

its aims and objectives, adding 

that the group was not out to 

get a consensus presidential candidate 

for the North as being rumoured 

in some quarters, but to 

cooperate with Nigerians who 

share in its vision and mission. 

Yakasai who noted that the 

group will look at the problems of 

armed robbery, kidnapping and 

herdsmen/farmers clashes and to 

find a way to resolve them, said 

that the group will soon organise 

a Northern political summit 

to address the identified problems 

while seeking the support of the 

National Assembly in hosting the 

event. 

sistent with the 8-Point 

Agenda of the Commission 

with a view to adding value 

to the Commission’s financial 

services, improving the 

quality of service and professionally 

enhancing the 

knowledge of staff of the 

NCC, particularly staff of 

the department of financial 

services. 

‘‘In our 8-point agenda, 

we have strategic collaboration 

and partnership. 

ACCA today came to offer 

partnership consistent with 

that item on our agenda, 

with a view to adding value 

to our financial services, 

improving the quality of 

services, professionally enhancing 

the knowledge of 

staff of the Nigerian Communications 

Commission, 

NCC, particularly staff of 

the department of financial 

services,’’ he added. 

Earlier, the Head of ACCA in 

Nigeria, Thomas Isibor said the 

association considered NCC as 

an iconic Nigerian organization 

that requires partnership with 

ACCA to boost the capacity of its 

staff and as well enhance its financial 

management process.

Vanguard, THURSDAY MAY 10, 2018—41 

PROTEST OVER KILLINGS—Nasarawa State chapter of CAN on a 

protest rally in Lafia, yesterday, over the killings in some parts of the country. 

Fresh troubles for APC 

Continues from page 5 

Nigeria’s political 

History. 

“Most of these leaders 

not only delivered their 

states to the APC at the 

elections, some of the 

governors were also 

assigned specific 

responsibilities to ensure 

that other states were 

also delivered to the 

APC in the 2015 

elections. Then Governor 

of Sokoto took charge of 

Kebbi, and then 

governor of Kano State 

took responsibility for 

Kano, Kaduna and 

Jigawa States, just to 

mention a few examples. 

There were also 

unprecedented efforts by 

many stakeholders such 

as Senator Bukola 

Saraki, in concert with 

NAIRA WATCH 

others, to deliver the 

entire North-Central to 

the APC. 

“These efforts, 

contributions, and 

sacrifices were made in 

spite of the fact that the 

presidential ticket was 

taken by the erstwhile 

Congress for Progressive 

Change, CPC and the 

ACN blocks of the party. 

It is a matter for grave 

concern that His 

Excellency, Mr. 

President, Muhammadu 

Buhari, has never 

publicly acknowledged 

our efforts in the face of 

clear evidence that the 

total number of votes 

scored by the APC in 

states where leaders and 

members of the then new 

PDP block held sway 

made the difference. 

“The stubborn facts are 

as follows: In Kano 

Naira depreciates to 

$361.14 in I&E Window 

By Adaeze Okechukwu 

THE Naira, yesterday, depreciated by 50 kobo 

to N361.14 per dollar, in the Investors’ and 

Exporters’ (I&E) window of the foreign exchange 

market. 

Data from the Financial Market Dealers Quote 

(FMDQ) showed that the indicative exchange rate 

for the I&E window rose to N361.14 per dollar, 

yesterday, from N360.64 per dollar on Tuesday, 

translating to a 50 kobo loss in naira against the 

dollar. 

This depreciation was in spite of the 38 per cent 

increase in the volume of dollars traded in the I&E 

window. The window yesterday recorded turnover 

of $500.37 from $362.52 million on Tuesday. 

Vanguard investigation revealed that naira, 

yesterday, depreciated by 50 kobo. According to 

naijabdcs.com, the exchange rate platform of the 

Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of 

Nigeria (ABCON), the parallel market exchange 

rate rose to N362.5 per dollar yesterday from N362 

per dollar on Tuesday. 

State, APC scored 

1,903,999 in 2015, and in 

Kwara 302,146. In 

Sokoto State, it scored 

671,926, and 374,701 in 

Adamawa. In Kebbi 

State, APC had 567,883 

votes and 885,988 in 

Jigawa. It was the same 

story in Gombe 

(459,898), Kogi 

(264,851), and Benue 

(373,961) votes. These 

represented significant 

additions to the APC 

victory column. Indeed, 

the influence, activities, 

momentum and ripple 

effects generated by the 

former newPDP block 

was significant in the 

victory of APC in the 

entire elections in the 

whole country. 

nPDP lists 

grievances 

“At this stage, we would 

chronicle a few 

grievances which, if 

addressed, will lead to a 

harmonious APC where 

justice, equity, fairness, 

and peace will reign and 

enable APC avoid 

rancour, reinvigorate the 

pace of national 

development and face 

the 2019 general election 

as one united party. 

“Our grievances 

include: 

A. In the constitution 

of the Federal Executive 

Council, FEC, the New 

PDP block was generally 

sidelined as virtually no 

position was conceded to 

it. The only member of 

FEC that belonged to 

former New PDP block 

comes from a state that 

contributed virtually no 

vote to the APC in the 

2015 presidential 

election. 

“B. There has been no 

significant patronage 

and appointments to 

executive positions in 

various government 

agencies such as chief 

executives and executive 

directors of government 

agencies and parastatals 

as members of our block 

of the party continue to 

helplessly watch as these 

positions are shared by 

the erstwhile CPC, ACN, 

ANPP and even APGA 

blocks of the party and 

those who have no party 

at all. 

“C. In appointments 

into boards of various 

government agencies, 

very few former New PDP 

members were 

patronised. These are 

however 

not 

commensurate with our 

contributions to the 

growth and victory of the 

party. 

“D. When members of 

the former new PDP block 

showed interest in 

running for the offices of 

President of the Senate 

and Speaker of the House 

of Representatives, they 

were subjected to a 

vicious and relentless 

political opposition as if 

they were not legitimate 

members of the APC 

family. 

“E.During the party 

primaries preparatory to 

the 2015 general election, 

most of the promises 

made to sitting members 

of the National Assembly, 

who belonged to the 

former new PDP in terms 

of a level playing field 

were reneged upon or 

observed more in breach. 

“F.There has been 

general lack of 

consultation, nonrecognition 

and even 

persecution of former 

new PDP members and 

leaders by the party and 

government. For 

example, some of our 

leaders are denied the 

security cover necessary 

to visit their 

constituencies even 

though they are elected 

representatives of the 

people in a government 

they sacrificed so much 

for. 

“G.Harassment, 

intimidation, and 

persecution of former 

New PDP leaders by the 

government, is still an 

ongoing affair. We do not 

want to overstate the 

obvious by cataloguing 

names of former new PDP 

stalwarts that are targets 

of this political pogrom. 

“H.There is inadequate 

reflection of programme 

and policy contributions 

of members of the former 

new PDP block in the 

running of the 

government. 

“Our belief is that it 

does not augur well for 

our party if a section of 

it feels that it is being 

treated as outcasts and 

meddlesome interlopers 

in the party they rightly 

belong with the 

legitimate expectation 

to be treated with justice 

both in the running of 

the party and the 

government. 

“Arising from the 

issues outlined above, 

among others, we 

request for an urgent 

meeting with the Leader 

of the party, and the 

Party Executive 

leadership to find 

lasting solutions to the 

issues raised so as to 

prepare the party as a 

fighting force to deliver 

more pungently on its 

manifesto and face the 

2019 general election 

with even greater 

commitment. The 

meeting will also enable 

us to work out 

modalities to ensure a 

level playing field for all 

in the congresses and 

convention of the APC. 

WARRI: AHEAD of 

passage of the 

Petroleum Industry Bill, 

PIB, Senate Joint 

Committee on oil and 

gas, yesterday, visited 

three communities in 

Warri South West Local 

Government Area in 

Delta State, promising 

to hold a meeting with 

stakeholders of oil 

communities today in 

Asaba, capital of the 

state. 

The communities are 

Diebiri-Batan, Ugborodo 

and Oporoza. 

Chairman of the 

Senate Joint Committee, 

Senator Omotayo 

Alasadura, said the visit 

was part of move by the 

committee to thoroughly 

acquaint itself with 

realities in the region, 

adding that it would 

help the committee on its 

discussion of the 

c o m m u n i t y 

compensation Act of the 

PIB. 

He said the visit 

would enhance debate 

on the PIB before its 

passage into law, 

adding that the meeting 

of the Senate committee 

with communities and 

“ Given the 

constraining factor of 

available time and in the 

interest of our great 

Party, it is strongly 

advised that the said 

urgent meeting be held 

not later than seven days 

from the date of the 

receipt of this letter. 

“ In conclusion, we the 

members of the former 

New PDP block of the 

APC wish to reiterate that 

this letter is written 

patriotically with the best 

of intentions and the 

good of our party, the 

APC, and is issued to 

alert the leadership of 

the APC and in 

particular, the leader of 

our party, President 

Buhari, who only 

recently indicated his 

intention to seek a 

second term as 

President, of grievances 

that exist within the 

party with a view to 

ensuring justice for all 

members of the APC 

family regardless of the 

blocks they came from 

prior to the formation of 

the APC,” the statement 

added. 

PIB: Senate c'ttee tours 

oil communities in Delta, 

to meet stakeholders 

By Jimitota 

Onoyume 

other stakeholders in 

Asaba today, will deepen 

understanding of 

challenges and related 

issues in oil bearing 

areas of the region. 

Pere of Gbaramatu 

Kingdom, His Royal 

Majesty, Oboro Gbaraun 

Aketekpe, who spoke 

when the senators 

visited his area, 

appealed for speedy 

passage of the bill, 

saying it will speed up 

development in the 

region. 

“This is what we’ve 

been expecting from our 

governors, president, 

ministers and all. This is 

Niger Delta and this is 

the wealth of this country. 

People should come and 

see for themselves. 

That’s what we’ve 

emphasized on. 

“When it was the 

Maritime University, 

some people said there 

was no structure on 

ground. Some said there 

was no land for the 

school to be established. 

The President, ministers 

came to see things for 

themselves. You’ve seen 

for yourself how the 

people are suffering,” 

the monarch said.


•From left: UNILAG Registrar, (Mrs) Taiwo Folasade Ipaye, Lagos State Governor, Mr. 

Akinwunmi Ambode, Pro-Chancellor, Dr. Wale Babalakin, Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin 

Ogundipe and his wife, Oluwaseun during the UNILAG 2017 Convocation Lecture and Investiture 

of the 12th Vice Chancellor at J.F Ade Ajayi Auditorium, Akoka, Lagos. 

Nigeria lacks 1.2m teachers 

in varsities — Babalakin 

Stories by Dayo Adesulu 

IT has been disclosed that 

the 162 universities in 

Nigeria need 1.2 million 

teachers to teach the various 

accredited courses in the 

universities. According to the 

National Universities 

Commission, NUC, the 

country presently has 41 

federal universities, 47 state 

universities and 74 private 

universities. 

Speaking at the investiture 

of the University of Lagos, 

UNILAG's 12th Vice- 

Chancellor, the Pro- 

Chancellor and Chairman, 

Governing Council, UNILAG, 

Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN) said: 

"According to NUC, Nigerian 

universities require 1.2 

million graduates to teach 

accredited courses in the 

universities." 

Adequate 

funding 

While stressing the need for 

adequate funding of 

education, he disclosed that 

most states cannot adequately 

fund their universities. 

Babalakin posited that state 

universities would be the best 

institutions if properly funded. 

He, however, noted that 

among the state governments, 

only the Lagos State has 

conveniently funded its 

university. 

Explaining how difficult it is 

for the Federal Government to 

fund the 41 federal 

universities, he said that with 

a population of about 40,000 

students, UNILAG receives 

between N10 billion and N11 

billion from the Federal 

Nigerian 

universities 

require 1.2 

million 

graduates to 

teach 

accredited 

courses in 

the 

universities 

Government annually. "With 

a population of over 40,000 

students, it will require N48 

billion annually to effectively 

reposition its academic 

activities," he said. 

The pro-chancellor 

maintained that for academic 

activities to thrive, more 

investments 

and 

commitments from key 

stakeholders must be in 

place. He urged the Lagos 

State governor to assist 

UNILAG in the various 

projects before the institution 

which happens to be his alma 

mater. 

Babalakin, who lamented 

the decadence in the sector, 

noted that there are no 

Nigerian universities ranked 

among 800 institutions in the 

world. Recalling with 

nostalgia the global 

competitiveness of Nigerian 

FOUNDER of Rose of 

Sharon Foundation, Dr. 

(Mrs.) Folorunsho Alakija has 

declared that the 70-year-old 

institution, Yaba College of 

Technology, Yabatech, ought 

to have become a university 

by now. 

Speaking during a courtesy 

visit by the Yabatech 

management to Alakija in her 

Rose of Sharon Towers, 

Victoria Island, she noted that 

Yabatech is the premier tertiary 

institution in Nigeria which 

has been in existence for a 

long time, adding: "the college 

is ripe to become a university." 

Alakija encouraged the 

management to surmount 

whatever challenges before 

the college and put more effort 

universities in the 60s, 

Babalakin pointed out that 

University College Hospital, 

UCH, Ibadan was the pride 

of Commonwealth countries. 

According to him, among 

the Commonwealth nations, 

UCH was ranked top, adding 

that all hands should be on 

deck to bring back the past 

glory. 

Meanwhile, the UNILAG 

12th Vice-Chancellor, 

Professor Oluwatoyin 

Ogundipe, in his investiture 

speech said that his vision 

was to build a UNILAG that 

is first among equals, 

producing graduates that are 

locally relevant, globally 

competitive and are able to 

advance their visibility as a 

research and innovationdriven 

institution. 

Infrastructural 

development 

He added that his mission 

was to build the spirit of 

collectivism and value reorientation 

in advancing total 

human capital and in 

infrastructural development 

befitting a 21st Century 

globally competitive 

university. 

He said: "I am determined 

to rebrand the university and 

ensure that it becomes a hub 

for research by the end of my 

tenure in 2022. I am glad that 

our management team as 

well as members of staff are 

already keying into the 

vision, this is evident in the 

growing desire by our faculty 

to carry out research. 

"I have also considered it 

extremely necessary to visit 

our major stakeholders, to 

emphasise the importance we 

attach to our relationship 

Yabatech should be upgraded to 

university —Alakija 

into ensuring that the status 

of the institution changes as 

soon as possible. 

Rector of Yabatech, Engr. 

Obafemi Omokungbe, in his 

opening speech explained 

that the courtesy visit was to 

appreciate Mrs. Alakija for her 

kind gestures towards the 

college; and to familiarise 

themselves with the college’s 

illustrious fellow and intimate 

her with their plans. 

Illustrious 

fellow 

He said: “We are planning 

to inaugurate a Board of 

Fellows made up of 

distinguished Nigerians who 

with them and intimate them 

of our plans to open new 

frontiers through 

collaboration. We reckon that 

our friends and alumni must 

join us in building a 

university that we shall all be 

proud of. 

"We are ready to deploy our 

human and physical 

resources to assist. We are 

ready to undertake cuttingedge 

research to address 

urgent national issues. I have 

personally challenged our 

staff and students to make 

good use of their ingenuity 

and resourcefulness. This is 

exemplified by a group that 

was recently commissioned to 

develop zero-emission cars 

that can be used on our 

campus and by farmers to 

transport their farm produce 

to the market. 

"Prominent among my goals 

is setting up a modular 

refinery as well as obtaining a 

mining licence for the 

university. When in place, the 

refinery and mining sites will 

serve as laboratories for our 

students in the faculties of 

Engineering, Science and 

other related faculties. 

"This model is already in use 

at UNILAG Television and 

UNILAG Radio, where our 

Mass Communication 

students are trained to be top 

class journalists. We are 

committed to enriching the 

experiences of our students by 

providing the conducive 

atmosphere for them to excel. 

We are also aware of the 

students’ ingenuity, thus, the 

Entrepreneurship and Skills 

Development Centre is being 

reinvigorated to sharpen their 

business skills and promote 

their innovative ideas." 

are recipients of the College 

Fellowship award that will be 

partners in progress. We will 

tell them our needs and the 

areas that they can be of help 

to us individually and 

collectively." 

An Endowment Fund will be 

launched to take active part for 

development projects 

especially Epe Campus which 

is begging for infrastructural 

development. 

"Alakija is an illustrious 

Fellow of Yabatech, she is one 

of the biggest individual 

donor to the College; her latest 

gesture was the donation of a 

Skills Acquisition Centre 

which she promised to equip 

with necessary facilities."

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*From left: Mr. Festus Tettey, Commercial Director, Promasidor Nigeria Limited; Master Ayodele 

Akinkuowo, 2015 Cowbellpedia Champion and beneficiary of the scholarship; and Mr. Anders 

Einarsson, Managing Director, Promasidor Nigeria Limited during the hosting/cheque 

presentation in Lagos before he (Akinkuowo) departed for Russia 

Cowbellpedia winner gets foreign scholarship 

By Oghenefego Obaebor 

AYODELE Akinkuowo, the 

2015 Senior category 

winner of the Cowbellpedia 

Secondary Schools Mathematics 

TV Quiz Show, has secured a 

scholarship to study Aeronautic 

Engineering at the University of 

Moscow, Russia. Promasidor 

Nigeria Limited, the makers of 

Cowbell Milk brand and 

sponsors of the Quiz Show also 

donated $2,500 in appreciation of 

the feat by a ‘Cowbellpedia 

Ambassador.’ 

Akinkuowo was a student of 

Adeyemi College of Education 

Demonstration Secondary School, 

Ondo, Ondo State when he won 

the Cowbellpedia Mathematics 

competition in November 2015. 

While hosting him in Lagos, Mr. 

Anders Einarsson, Managing 

Director of Promasidor Nigeria 

Limited, noted that the company 

remains proud of the 

achievement of the young man 

who has hoisted the 

Cowbellpedia flag higher by his 

brilliant outing. He added that the 

money was a token of support for 

his trip and assured that 

Promasidor would continue to 

support the academic 

development of Nigerian 

PLASU gets 6,000 books to boost teaching, 

learning 

By Marie-Therese Nanlong 

JOS - A private company, 

Brooks Consolidated 

Investment Limited, BCIL, has 

donated assorted books worth 

N2.5 million to Plateau State 

University, PLASU, Bokkos to 

boost learning and teaching in 

the institution. 

Managing Director of the 

Company, Sunday Jesmiel, who 

presented the books to PLASU 

Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Yohanna 

Izam, said the gesture was part 

of the company’s corporate 

social responsibility aimed at 

uplifting the standard of 

education in the country. 

According to him, “Today’s 

children. 

In his remarks, Akinkuowo 

expressed deep gratitude for the 

gesture and promised not to 

diminish the Cowbellpedia spirit 

in all his future endeavours. He 

disclosed that the competition has 

not only emboldened him to face 

the challenges of life, but it has 

also taught him a big lesson in 

faith and hope. 

“The day I won the competition 

three years ago, my mother wept. 

When the then Governor 

Olusegun Mimiko invited me and 

my parents to the Government 

House in Akure for doing the state 

proud, I wept especially after the 

governor shook my hand. I can 

never forget such moments. God 

and Promasidor have been kind 

to me. I will never forget,” he said. 

The Cowbellpedia ex-champion 

said that the process to winning 

the scholarship to Russia was 

rigorous, but he was glad to beat 

the thousands of applicants who 

went through the various stages 

of test, examination and 

elimination. “Actually, I got the 

information from a friend and I 

collected the form. The process 

was tough, but I just had this 

confidence that I can fly. I told my 

friends that after Cowbellpedia, 

donation of 100 different titles is 

my company’s token 

contribution to the advancement 

of knowledge. It is also for the 

development of our next 

generation who deserve nothing 

less than excellent instructions 

and inspiration through books.” 

He commended the VC’s 

determination to promote the 

ideals of the university and 

called on well meaning 

Nigerians to support institutions 

of learning as government alone 

cannot do it. Responding, 

Professor Izam who received the 

books in company of some 

management staff of the 

university, thanked the company 

nothing can scare me again, 

especially the fact that we were 

the first set on the TV Quiz Show,” 

Akinkuowo said. 

He described the scholarship as 

a dream come true since Aero or 

Space engineering has been his 

childhood dream. “The civil 

engineering I was studying at the 

University of Ibadan was actually 

my second choice. So, when this 

came, it was indeed, a dream 

come true,” the young lad said 

with a broad smile. 

The Cowbellpedia initiative has 

produced champions and heroes 

in the last two decades. Last 

November, Munachi Ernest-Eze, 

a student of Loyola Jesuit 

College, set a new record by 

winning both the Junior and 

Senior categories of the 

Cowbellpedia Secondary Schools 

Mathematics Television Quiz 

Show within a period of two years. 

Emmanuel Mebude, a student 

of Ogunlade Memorial 

Secondary School, Surulere, 

Lagos, also set a new competition 

record in speed and accuracy. He 

answered 17 questions in the 

“Cowbellpedia 60 Seconds of 

Fame” segment in the 

preliminary rounds of the Senior 

category. 

for its positive contribution to the 

development of the institution. 

The VC described the gesture 

as timely as the university 

awaits the arrival of accreditation 

team from the National 

Universities Commission and 

acquiring required books was a 

necessary condition for the 

accreditation of courses in the 

university. 

He said, “We are in the 

process of acquiring 10,000 

books and 6,000 of them have 

arrived already. We appreciate 

your company for the donation 

and pledge to sustain 

meaningful interaction with 

your company.” 

NTIC scholarship promotes 

literacy in Nigeria 

WHEN the Nigerian Tulip 

International Colleges, 

NTIC, was founded in 1999 with 

a class of 13 pupil in a rented 

apartment in Wuse II, Abuja, it 

was not clear to anyone the 

mission and vision of the 

organisation. Perhaps, what was 

certain was the fact that private 

schools are registered to make 

profit apart from promoting the 

standard of education and 

learning. 

On the contrary, NTIC had a 

consistent growth and 

expansion through the years 

with primary and secondary 

schools situated in about nine 

states across the country, to 

develop capacity in science, 

Mathematics and technical 

education. 

What became unique about its 

objectives is the consistent 

support to underprivileged 

Nigerians through the award of 

scholarships to deserving pupils 

and students who have excelled 

in science and mathematics, and 

the institution's collaboration 

with state and federal 

governments to promote literacy 

level in the society. 

It is very clear right now that 

at 20, the NTIC mission and 

vision is clearly defined as over 

25 per cent of its pupils and 

students are enjoying various 

degrees of scholarships based 

on competence and 

performance, a programme that 

is continuous with regular 

review to accommodate more 

underprivileged families to 

secure good education for their 

children in Nigeria. 

However, the 2018 and 15th 

edition of the awards held 

recently across the states of 

Nigeria which saw the 

emergence of about 100 per 

cent scholarship to 48 

exceptional pupils to cover their 

entire secondary school 

education, a demonstration by 

NTIC to support and encourage 

excellence. 

The zonal and regional awards 

which took place in four zones 

(Abuja, Kaduna, Kano and 

Ogun) on Saturday, April 7, 2018 

witnessed the emergence of 48 

exceptional students who were 

awarded 100 per cent full tuition 

that covered their entire 

secondary school plus cash 

prizes. 

The top three positions were 

awarded full tuition plus cash 

prizes that ranged from 

N100,000 - N300,000. Their 

math teachers were not left out 

as they too received cash prizes 

of up to N200,000. Their schools 

received gifts that ranged from 

giant size photocopiers to 

desktop computers, printers and 

smart phones. 

Again, since the inception of 

the competition in 2003, 260,200 

pupils have participated in the 

competition across Nigeria and 

NTIC has offered 100 per cent 

scholarship that covers tuition 

plus hostel fee for six years 

(throughout secondary school) 

to many outstanding students 

who have participated in the 

competition.” 

Sources close to NTIC 

disclosed that some of the 

students that came into NTIC 

through ANMC have been 

harnessed and are doing 

remarkably well in their 

endeavours. Notable among 

them are Henry Aniobi, a 2007 

winner. Henry is a three-time 

Pan-African Mathematical 

Olympiad winner with two Gold 

and one Silver (Côte d’Ivoire, 

Tunisia, Nigeria). He is also a 

four-time International 

Mathematics Olympiad Bronze 

Medallist (Holland, Argentina, 

Columbia, S. Africa). 

First Surat Group, the parent 

organisation of NTIC has set up 

the Nile University of Nigeria 

located in Abuja to further 

strengthen its resolve to advance 

science and mathematics 

education in Nigeria with the 

aim of developing and building 

technical competence for 

What became 

unique about its 

objectives is the 

consistent support 

to underprivileged 

Nigerians through 

the award of 

scholarship to 

deserving pupils 

and students 

manufacturing and 

industrialisation to increase 

production for local and 

international markets. 

Technical competence will 

indeed enhance economic 

activities through 

manufacturing, given the state 

of Nigeria’s quest and urgent 

need to increase and improve 

the productive sector towards 

balancing trade within the 

country and our partners 

offshore. 

Major government partner 

to NTIC, the National 

Mathematical Centre had at all 

intervals encouraged the 

promotion and learning of 

Mathematics and science 

education to bridge the gap in 

students inability to compete with 

their counterparts outside 

Nigeria, considering low 

number of students participation 

and registration at national and 

international examinations. 

Accordingly, the NMC has 

demonstrated the Federal 

Government’s commitment and 

preparedness to continue to 

partner with the First Surat 

Group to support its Education 

Scholarship Award Department 

to promote learning and science 

education in Nigeria.


App Development: 

Nigeria Team NEON wins world category 

AFOLABI Williams, 

t e a m 

leader, Olubusiyi 

Famobiwo, Menashi Mordi 

and Osagumwenro Naaman 

Ugbo, members of Team 

Neon from Whitesands 

School, Lagos, have 

emerged as the 2018 Power 

Pitch Winner of the Smoke- 

Free World category of the 

Conrad Foundation Spirit of 

Innovation challenge summit 

held at the Kennedy Space 

Centre, Visitor Complex, 

Florida, USA. 

The four junior school 

students made it to the fourth 

round and final stage of the 

competition, the only 

representatives from Nigeria 

and Africa that participated in 

the finals. They pitched their 

idea on a Virtual Farm 

project, which falls under the 

category for Smoke-Free 

World. The Conrad 

Challenge is an international 

and multi-phase innovation 

competition focusing on five 

areas: Aerospace Aviation, 

Cyber Technology and 

Security, Energy and 

Environment, Health and 

Nutrition, and recently, 

Smoke-Free World. 

The Conrad Foundation’s 

Spirit of Innovation 

Challenge, SOIC, presents 

high school students with a 

very broad challenge: create 

an innovative product that 

provides solution to a realworld 

problem such that 

someone can pay for it, by 

applying principles in 

science, technology, 

US Consul-General praises Nigerian youth for 

setting up Know your rights app 

By Elizabeth Uwandu 

THE United States of 

America, US Consul- 

General, John Bray, has 

praised a young Nigerian, 

Mr. Adeola Austin 

Oyinlade, for launching an 

application, Know your 

rights which simplifies the 

human rights law and 

gives users access to over 

50 human rights lawyers 

who provide advice free of 

charge. 

According to Mr Bray, 

the app which can be 

accessed in Nigerian major 

languages have attracted 

over 50,000 users. His 

words: “I want to 

acknowledge Mr. Adeoloa 

Austin Oyinlade and the 

work he has done to 

strengthen respect and 

support for the protection 

of human rights in Nigeria 

that simplified the human 

rights law and gave users 

access to over 50 human 

rights lawyers who 

•Members of Team Neon from Whitesands School, 

Lagos that emerged 2018 Power Pitch Winner of the 

Smoke-Free World category of the Conrad 

Foundation Spirit of Innovation challenge summit held 

at the Kennedy Space Centre, Visitor Complex, 

Florida, USA. 

engineering and 

mathematics (STEM). 

Students were not just asked 

to complete a science project: 

they were required to 

conduct a research to 

determine their creation’s 

potential market impact and 

develop a full business plan. 

This annual competition 

challenges teams to use 

science, technology, 

engineering and math 

innovation, as well as 

entrepreneurship, to create 

a more sustainable world for 

today and the future 

generations. 

The global decline of 

smoking have many 

positive health impacts, but 

also brought negative 

economic consequences to 

tobacco farmers, many of 

whom are in developing 

nations. Students were 

invited to design 21st 

provided advice free of 

charge. 

“Over the years, we have 

turned to Mr. Oyinlade for 

his insights on the status of 

human rights in Nigeria 

when he spoke in 2012 at 

our election night event. In 

2016, he launched his first 

Know your rights app. The 

app was accessible in 

English and Pidgin on 

android phones. In 

addition, it will now have 

people being able to access 

it in Nigerian major local 

languages; Hausa, Igbo 

and Yoruba. 

“As in the past, the 

purpose of the app is to 

simplify and raise 

awareness among all 

Nigerians of their human 

rights. I particularly 

appreciate that not only are 

people educated about their 

rights but they have access 

to free legal advice as well,” 

he added. 

Emphasising on more 

Century solutions to 

farmlands currently used for 

tobacco production, 

especially in African 

countries. 

Established in 2008, the 

Conrad Foundation 

honours the legacy of Apollo 

12 astronaut, Charles “Pete” 

Conrad, and his four 

decade passion for 

innovation and 

entrepreneurship. The 

students received the Good 

Citizen Award in the same 

summit and were 

accompanied to the summit 

by their coach, Matthew 

Omotoso, the junior school 

ICT teacher at Whitesands. 

Inspired by the team’s 

outstanding young talents 

and driven by its passion for 

innovation, leading African 

bank, Guaranty Trust Bank 

Plc, sponsored the young 

innovators to the finals of 

the Conrad Challenge. 

collaborations between his 

country and Nigeria, the 

US consul-general said: 

“Recently, Acting Assistant 

Secretary of State for 

African Affairs, Ambassador 

Donald Yamamoto 

explained that the United 

States has an ongoing 

commitment to Africa. As 

one of the most important 

countries on the continent 

given its large population, 

thriving commercial 

enterprises and strategic 

geopolitical location, 

Nigeria is critical to Africa’s 

prosperity and stability. 

“Furthering our strong 

bilateral relationship with 

Nigeria and building on 

Nigeria’s historic, peaceful 

transfer of power, we 

continue to press for 

progress to strengthen 

Nigeria’s democratic 

institutions. “We seek to 

advance these goals by 

developing relationships 

with the government, faith 

communities and civil 

society organisations,” 

*Rev (Sir) Jonathan Nicol (right), President, Shippers Association, Lagos 

State, receiving the Pan-African Distinguished Achievers Award, PADAA from 

Mr. Adamu Baba, African Deputy Coordinator, Africa Independent Journalists 

& Broadcasters held in Accra, Ghana. 

NICOL confers with PADAA 2018 in Ghana 

M ANAGING 

Director, Harlem 

international limited. 

Rev. (Sir) Jonathan Nicol 

who also doubles as the 

President, Shippers 

Association, Lagos State, 

has been conferred with 

the prestigious Pan- 

African Distinguished 

Achievers Award, PADAA 

2018 organised by 

African Independent 

Journalists and 

Broadcasters held in 

Accra, Ghana. 

In his keynote address, 

the African Deputy Coordinator, 

Mr Adamu 

Baba, said the award was 

conferred on notable 

Africans from different 

walks of life who have 

contributed immensely to 

the development of their 

country and Africa in 

general, leaders with 

proven integrity and 

Nicol has distinguished 

himself as an amiable 

leader and African icon 

based on his contribution 

to socio-economic 

development and 

humanitarian service. 

The recipient, a human 

capital development 

expert, has contributed 

towards the development 

of his country, Nigeria 

and Africa in general, in 

the Maritime sector. 

Personalities present at 

the 2018 maiden edition 

included Nigeria's Chief 

of Army Staff, Lt.- 

General Tukur Yusuf 

Buratai, MD, Unity Bank 

of Nigeria, Mrs. 

Oluwatomi Somefun who 

were also honoured.

VANGUARD,THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 — 45 

VISIT: From left; Managing Director, Canon CCNA, Roman Troedthandl; 

#MyNaija winner, Mohini Ufeli; Canon Brand Influencer, TY Bello; 

#MyNaija winner, Deji Oyebamiji; and Head of Emerging Markets, 

Business Unit, Canon, Stefano Zenti; at the Canon Showroom in Lagos. 

VISIT: From left; Chief Operating Officer, Halogen School of Security 

Management & Technology, Dr. Adebowale Adeagbo; Special Adviser on Security 

and Intelligence to the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Adekunle Ajanaku and 

MD, Halogen Security Company Limited, Mr. Wale Olaoye, during the Special 

Adviser's visit to Halogen School of Security Management & Technology’s ultra 

modern premises in Lagos. 

AWARD: From left, Officer in charge of Operations, Adewole Moses; Managing 

Editor, Business Update Online, Mr. Silas Onuoha; Customs Area Controller, 

Christopher Odibu; Deputy Controller, Enforcement, DC Bayero; Staff Officer, 

Bagare Ahmed and Public Relations Officer, all of Ogun Customs Command, 

during the presentation of Award of Excellent Performance to the CAC by the 

Managing Editor of 'Business Update Online, in Ibadan. 

ARIYA REPETE: From left; Regional Business manager, Lagos North Dafe 

Opkaleke; Zonal Business Manager, West, Tope Oluwalusi, Bonsue Fuji 

Maestro, Adewale Ayuba, Sales Director, Uche Onigwe, Marketing 

Director NB Plc. Franco Maria Maggi, And Corporate Affairs Adviser NB 

Plc., Kufre Ekanem, at the Goldberg Ariya Repete semi finals in Lagos. Photo: 

Akeem Salau. 

Atletico Madrid “fed up” with Barca’s 

pursuit of Griezmann 

ATLETICO Madrid 

say they are “fed 

up with Barcelona’s 

attitude” as the Catalan 

giants continue to 

openly court Antoine 

Griezmann. 

Having identified the 

France international 

striker as a top target, 

those at Camp Nou have 

set about trying to put a 

big-money deal in place. 

Atletico’s patience has 

now been pushed past 

breaking point, with 

CEO Miguel Angel Gil 

Martin releasing a 

statement on the club’s 

official website which 

read: “We’re fed up with 

Barcelona’s attitude. 

“That a president, 

player and a board 

member speak the way 

they’ve done about the 

•Toure battling with Matic 

THE 

President- 

General, Nigeria 

Football Supporters Club, Dr 

Rafiu Ladipo, has described 

High Chief Felix Anirah, as 

a great man, who gives 

everything to make people 

around him happy. 

Dr. Ladipo who was 

represented by the National 

Chairman of (NFSC) Rev 

Samuel Ikpea, stated this 

during the investiture of 

Chief Anirah as the National 

Patron of the supporters 

Club, at the Sapele Athletics 

Club in Sapele, Delta State. 

He noted further that 

despite Anirah’s standing in 

the society, he is a man who 

freely relates with all classes 

of people irrespective of 

status or religious 

inclination. 

“If any man deserves to be 

called a great man, then 

Anirah is one. He is one man 

who has given so much joy 

to people around him and 

his contribution to humanity 

is unprecedented. 

“He is one man who does 

not have pride in his 

dictionary that is why he 

goes all out to do all he can 

to help the downtrodden 

and those who need help” 

future of a player with an 

existing contract and 

just a few days before 

disputing a European 

final, is an absolute lack 

of respect towards 

Atlético Madrid and its 

fans. 

“Atlético de Madrid’s 

stance is very clear and 

has been made public on 

numerous occasions. 

Not once have we 

negotiated for 

Griezmann nor do we 

have any intention to do 

so. “A few months ago, I 

personally expressed to 

Barcelona’s president 

that our player isn’t for 

sale nor are we going to 

sell him.” 

Matic’s my toughest 

opponent, Toure reveals 

O UTGOING 

Manchester City 

veteran, Yaya Toure 

jokingly said he hates 

Nemanja Matic after he 

described the 

Manchester United 

midfielder as his 

toughest opponent. 

Toure will depart 

Premier League 

Ladipo eulogies Anirah as he 

becomes Supporters’ Club patron 

he said. 

In his response, Chief 

Anirah, who Is the chairman 

of the Felix Anirah 

Foundation, an obviously 

elated man, thanked the 

Nigeria Football Supporters 

Club for finding him worthy 

of the honour out of over 180 

million Nigerians. 

Speaking on his upcoming 

sponsored Football 

tournament in June, Anirah 

said “the first prize is N2m, 

while the second and third 

prize is N1m and N750, 000, 

with lots of other gifts items.” 

champions City at the 

end of the season, which 

leaves the 34-year-old 

midfielder with only two 

more matches before his 

farewell. 

Toure, who plans to 

stay in the Premier 

League next season, 

said: “I hate him, this 

bastard! 

“He’s such a difficult 

player to play against. 

Tall and strong as well. 

It’s been fun to play 

against him, even 

though it’s difficult. 

He’s powerful, he’s tall. 

“To be able to find an 

opponent to play against 

me and stop me... 

there’s few of them, but 

Matic was one of the 

close ones who was able 

to give me problems. He 

can run. He can fall 

back. He can track. He 

can fight. He’s a good, 

good player.” 

Toure also identified 

record-breaking forward 

Sergio Aguero as his 

favourite City teammate. 

“Everybody knows I 

have a feeling for 

Aguero. I love Aguero. 

This guy is such a good 

striker. He’s complete,” 

he said. “I love David 

Silva and [captain] 

Vincent Kompany as 

well.” 

Toure added: “I’m 

going to miss my teammates, 

I’m going to miss 

my little [Raheem] 

Sterling, my little 

[Leroy] Sane. They look 

like my babies.” 

Barca’s Roberto gets four games ban 

B ARCELONA 

defender Sergi 

Roberto will miss the rest of 

the Liga season and the first 

match of the next campaign 

after being given a fourgame 

ban for striking Real 

Madrid’s Marcelo in last 

Sunday’s tension-filled 2-2 

draw at the Nou Camp. 

The Spanish Football 

Federation (RFEF) 

announced the ban for 

“assaulting another player” 

in its weekly disciplinary 

statement on its official 

website. http://www.rfef.es. 

Roberto was given a 

straight red card in firsthalf 

injury time for the 

incident with the Brazilian 

during an off-the-ball 

tussle on the edge of 

Barca’s area. 

Referee Alejandro 

Hernandez Hernandez 

wrote in his report on the 

game that the player had 

been sent off for “striking 

an opponent with his arm 

with excessive force while 

the ball was not near 

enough to be in dispute”.

46— Vanguard, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 

Countdown (35) 2018 FIFA WC: 

Eagles not yet there, says Iwobi 

AS the build up to the 

2018 FIFA World 

Cup continues, striker 

Alex Iwobi has revealed 

how coach Gernot Rohr 

has remained the players 

not be carried away by 

their qualification, but 

rather remain focus on 

preparations. 

The Super Eagles will 

open their world cup 

account against Croatia on 

June 16 in the group D 

Etebo urges Eagles to 

take friendlies seriously 

SUPER 

Eagles’ 

midfielder, 

Oghenekharo Etebo said it 

was important that the 

national team, takes it pre- 

World Cup friendlies 

seriously so as to put the team 

in a competitive mood at the 

FIFA World Cup tournament 

starting next month in Russia. 

The Eagles have a series 

of friendly lined after the 

games against Argentina, 

Poland and Serbia. Later this 

month the team will face 

Congo DR in Port Harcourt 

•Etebo 

before playing England June 

2 in Wembley Stadium 

London, also they will face 

Czech Republic on June 6 in 

Austria before jetting to 

Russia to play their first game 

against Croatia on June 16. 

“The match against DR 

Congo will be a very tough 

one but it’s also very 

important we win to boost our 

morale. We need to take all 

games and training sessions 

seriously from now on. 

“All the players know how 

important it is for us to 

succeed at the World Cup 

and I am 100% sure we won’t 

disappoint our fans,” Etebo 

said. 

He added that the players 

are mindful of staying fit for 

World Cup tournament. 

“Injury is one thing you 

cannot take away from the 

game but I am doing 

everything to stay injury-free 

and every other player is 

doing same. Apart from the 

World Cup, it’s important one 

stays out of injury,” Etebo 

concluded. 

Neuer can’t play in German 

Cup final — Bayern coach 

BAYERN 

Munich’s 

Manuel Neuer will 

not play in the German Cup 

final, coach Jupp Heynckes 

said yesterday as the 

Germany goalkeeper races 

to recover from a long-term 

foot injury for next month’s 

World Cup in Russia. 

Neuer, a World Cup 

winner in 2014, broke a bone 

in his foot back in 

September and has not 

played since, putting his 

fitness for the tournament in 

doubt. Neuer will be 

missing when champions 

Bayern take on VfB Stuttgart 

in the Bundesliga finale on 

Saturday and also against 

Eintracht Frankfurt in the 

German Cup final later this 

month. 

Neuer, who has been 

replaced in the Bayern team 

by reserve keeper Sven 

Ulreich, only recently 

returned to training but had 

to take another break for a 

few days. 

“Manuel will neither play 

against (VfB) Stuttgart nor 

in the Cup final,” Heynckes 

told sports magazine Kicker. 

If picked for the 

preliminary Germany 

squad on May 15, Neuer 

will only have two friendly 

internationals against 

Austria and Saudi Arabia to 

prepare for the finals 

starting on June 14. 

pairings also featuring 

Iceland and Argentina. 

According to Iwobi, the 

team players are relaxed 

and not under pressure, 

however, they have 

ambitions to do well. 

“Of course, we’ve 

mentioned it and talked 

about it so many times in 

training, on the coach, in 

the hotel room,” says Iwobi 

during a CNN interview. 

“But we will take it step 

by step. Our coach always 

reminds us that we’re not 

there yet. We need to 

prepare right. We’ve done 

well to get this far, so just 

be relaxed, be cool and 

wait for when the times 

comes. 

“It’s always been a 

dream to play in the 

biggest competition and 

there’s no bigger 

competition than the World 

Cup to me.” 

Russia 2018 will be 

Iwobi’s first world cup 

experience in his young 

career. He said he is 

impressed with the 

performance of the Eagles 

so far. 

“The way we qualified in 

the group made us very 

confident. 

“We’ve played against 

some big teams, some big 

countries, so we are very 

confident that we can go 

far.” 

Eagles will not watch 2014 Croatia v 

Cameroon video— Rohr 

SUPER Eagles coach, 

Gernot Rohr said 

he will not bother to watch 

Croatia’s 4-0 win over 

Cameroon in a group match 

at the 2014 World Cup. 

Top players like Mario 

Mandzukic, Ivan Periši 

Dejan Lovren (Liverpool), 

Luka Modri (Real Madrid), 

Ivan Rakiti (Barcelona), 

Vedran orluka (Lokomotiv) 

were in that team and they 

are most likely to make the 

23-man squad for the 

tournament in Russia. 

‘’Hardly, it changed a lot 

in four years. We will 

certainly not prepare for 

Croatia by watching this 

Swansea’s relegation blamed on Mourinho 

JOHN Toshack has 

b l a m e d 

Manchester United 

manager Jose Mourinho 

for a slump in form that has 

taken Swansea to the brink 

of relegation. 

After Manchester United 

defeated the Swans in 

March, Mourinho 

declared that Carlos 

Carvalhal’s side would 

stay up and that his 

compatriot would be the 

manager of the season, 

with the Swans then 

outside the drop-zone. 

But they have remained 

winless since and 

Carvalhal’s future as boss 

is uncertain, with owner 

Jason Levien and Steve 

Neuer 

Kaplan to decide whether 

to take up his option of a 

further year once the club’s 

fate is sealed either way. 

Toshack told Sky Sports 

News: “The last seven or 

eight games since 

Mourinho made Carlos 

Carvalhal the manager of 

the season they’ve gone 

eight games without a win. 

Odion Ighalo... tangle with Serbia keeper during a friendly 

“You know they say it’s 

not the punches on the jaw 

that soften up the 

champion, it’s the pats on 

the back. 

“I think after a little bit of 

a revival, they received a 

few pats on the back and 

they’ve gone backwards in 

an alarming manner 

really.” 

match in 2014 and 

comparing something,’’ 

Rohr told Sportske Novosti. 

‘’After all, just look at how 

much Nigeria has changed 

in that period, we can not 

compare it with our 2014 

team, let alone Cameroon.’’ 

ARGENTINA will 

play Haiti in a 

World Cup warm-up 

match on May 29 at Boca 

Juniors’ ground, the 

Argentine Football 

Association has said. 

The game will be their 

last in Argentina before 

heading across the 

Atlantic, where they face 

Israel in a friendly on 

June 9 before beginning 

their World Cup 

campaign in Russia on 

On his favourites for the 

World Cup, the ex-Bayern 

Munich defender said : 

‘’Germany, Spain, Brazil, 

Argentina and France. 

Those five are the main 

favorites. They have a lot of 

big players with a lot of 

winning mentality.’’ 

Argentina to play Haiti May 29 

U-20 AFCON 

Qualifier: Eneji 

tips Flying 

Eagles to pip 

Guinea Bissau 

AS the Flying Eagles 

jet out today for 

Guinea Bissau for the 

first leg of the 2019 U20 

AFCON qualifier on 

Saturday, Plateau 

United striker, Peter 

Eneji has assured that 

the team will not 

disappoint. 

The Flying Eagles 

missed the last edition 

hosted and won by 

Zambia. Nigeria has 

won seven titles and 

according to Eneji who 

played in the 2018 

CHAN in Morocco, the 

Flying Eagles will make 

a bright start. 

“I am convinced we 

will win in Guinea 

Bissau,” the Plateau 

United winger declared. 

“We are going to play 

for our country in that 

clash away from home 

and as a team we know 

June 16. 

Argentina have been 

drawn in Group D with 

Iceland, Croatia and 

Nigeria. 

Haiti are ranked 108th 

in the world, 103 places 

behind the twice World 

Cup winners. 

The former Argentina 

goalkeeper has stated 

that he thinks Franco 

ARMANI should start for 

at the World Cup 

against Iceland. 

•Eneji 

what is at stake we have 

prepared well, we have 

been in camp for a while 

now, we are going there 

with a mentality to beat 

them at home. 

“There is no small 

team in football any 

longer, but preparations 

and quality will separate 

the two sides.”


Vanguard, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 

TODAY’S PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER 

TODAY’S CROSSWORD 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

YESTERDAY’SOLUTION 

How to Play Sudoku 

ACROSS 

1 Conflict (6) 

4 Appalled (6) 

8 Fossil resin used for 

jewellery (5) 

9 Clinging part of a plant 

(7) 

10 South American country 

(7) 

11 Frogs’ eggs (5) 

12 Indigestion (9) 

17 Tree related to the 

birch (5) 

19 Couplet (anag) (7) 

21 Taken away (7) 

22 Regretting (5) 

23 Expensive (6) 

24 Influenced (6) 

DOWN 

1 Card suit (6) 

2 Bounce back (7) 

3 Sacked (5) 

5 Origin (7) 

6 Major blood vessel (5) 

7 Sharp hooked claws (6) 

9 Triple (9) 

13 Become shrunken and 

wrinkled (7) 

14 Make louder (7) 

15 Material (6) 

16 Amalgamated (6) 

18 The Three Musketeers 

author (5) 

20 Cast, shed (5) 

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the 

same number). 

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from 

top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) 

contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can 

appear twice in any block, column or row. 

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, 

just plain logic and your imagination. 

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Dept Hotline: 

01-4544821. Abuja Advert Hotline: 09-2921024. E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Advert:advertproduction@yahoo.com 

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

10052018 - Fresh Woes for APC

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