23052018 - PRESIDENTIAL WAR: Buhari to Obasanjo: After $16bn, where's power?

Political party 

finance and 

godfatherism 

40 

SENATE INVASION: 

Ndume denies 

aiding hoodlums to 

steal mace; as 

Omo-Agege refuses 

to answer 

questions 

9 

Catholics protest, task 

Buhari on security, as 2 

slain priests, 17 others 

are buried in Benue 

•Osinbajo, Amaechi weep 

42 

VOL. 26: NO. 63555 WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 

PRESIDENTIAL WAR: 

Buhari to Obasanjo: After 

$16bn, where's power? 

•Buhari's comments based on ignorance — OBASANJO 

Metuh was 

asked to 

sit but he 

decided to 

fall 9 

– Justice Abang 

Biafra Day 

celebration 

turns bloody 

as security 

agents kill 5, 

arrest 600 16 

BIM members 

Framework for 

$2.5bn China 

currency 

swap coming 

next week 

—CBN, retains 

19 

MPR at 14% 

Zamfara 

commissioner’s 

wife, 3 

children, 3 

relatives 

kidnapped 

7 

COLUMNISTS DEAR BUNMI 27 

CATHOLICS PROTEST 

Catholic faithful during a peaceful prayer procession, yesterday, in Abuja, to protest the killing of Catholic 

Priests and other Christians in Benue State. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida. MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 14. Story 

on Page 42 

PRINCEWILL 

17 OHUABUNWA 30 FASAN 30 

UNION BANK 

Chief Executive 

Officer, Union Bank, 

Emeka Emuwa (4th 

right) and Executives 

of the bank at the 

official launch of 

Union Bank’s Robotic 

Process Automation 

(RPA) initiative in 

Lagos recently, making 

Union Bank the first in 

the banking industry to 

introduce the 

technology. 

SEE 

INSIDE 

By Emmanuel 

Aziken, Abdulah 

AbdulWahab, 

Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru, Daud 

Olatunji, 

MonsurOlowoopejo 

& Elizabeth Uwandu 

A BUJA—President 

Muhammadu 

Buhari, yesterday, made a 

direct rebuttal of Chief 

Olusegun Obasanjo’s 

summation of his 

administration as a disaster 

as he lampooned the 

former president of 

harvesting nothing out of 

the $16 billion allegedly 

expended on the power 

Continues on Page 5 

Naira appreciates 

to 

N361.41/$ 

in I&E 

window 41 

Mr & Mrs

2—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 — 3

4—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018—5 

POCKET CARTOON 

perception about the late 

dictator because, during his 

military regime, a lot of 

roads and medical facilities 

were revamped. 

He described the current 

period in the nation’s 

history as terrible as he 

canvassed the need to 

revamp the country 

altogether, recalling how he 

was ruthless as a military 

head of state, arresting and 

throwing people into 

prison, a punishment he 

said was also meted out to 

him. 

$15bn on power 

without electricity 

BENUE KILLINGS—The crowd, yesterday, during the funeral service and 

burial of two Catholic priests and others killed by suspected herdsmen. MORE 

PHOTOS ON PAGE 14. 



Continues from Page 1 

sector. 

Meanwhile, former 

President Olusegun 

Obasanjo, in his reaction, 

said the action of 

President Buhari was 

based on ignorance, 

adding that Buhari was 

relying on the 

unsubstantiated 

allegations against him by 

the then leadership of the 

House of Representatives 

over the project. 

Buhari in a lengthy selftestimonial 

accused all 

three presidents of the 

Fourth Republic before him 

of wasting the years of 

plenty as he affirmed that 

no leader since Gen. Sani 

Abacha paid attention to the 

country’s infrastructure 

needs. 

The President spoke 

when he received leaders 

of the Buhari Support 

Organisation, BSO, the 

base of his political support 

before his emergence as a 

presidential candidate in 

2014. 

His assertions 

nonetheless, Obasanjo 

kept the charge for probity 

in leadership yesterday at 

the convocation lecture of 

Lagos State University, Ojo, 

Lagos, where he charged 

that the world would leave 

Nigeria behind if it 

continued with indolence 

in leadership and 

followership. 

The BSO delegation was 

led to the Presidential Villa 

by the Comptroller of 

Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, 

retd, who had served as 

Buhari’s chief of staff prior 

to his inauguration as 

president. 

Affirming that there was 

nothing to show for the 

proceeds from oil revenue 

between 1999 and 2014 

when, according to him, oil 

prices soared to about $135, 

he said he had restrained 

himself and his aides 

several times in the past 

from responding to various 

accusations of nonperformance 

and 

clannishness levelled 

against him by Obasanjo. 

According to the 

President, the debt incurred 

from the $16 billion spent 

by Obasanjo on power 

without any output is now 

being paid by his 

administration. 

Buhari added that in 

Nigeria’s history, his 

government had made the 

highest capital allocations 

in the 2017 and 2018 

budgets. 

Buhari, however, had 

good words about former 

Head of State, late Gen. 

Abacha, saying he agreed 

to work with him 

irrespective of people’s 

President Buhari urged 

Nigerians to remain 

vigilant and ensure that 

only “people of conscience 

are in-charge of 

governance at all levels”, as 

the nation prepares for 

general elections in 2019. 

He said: “You know the 

rail was killed and one of 

the former heads of state 

between that time was 

bragging that he spent 

more than $15 billion, not 

naira, on power. Where is 

the power? 

“Where is the power? And 

now, we have to pay the 

debt. This year and last 

year’s budgets that I took 

to the National Assembly 

were the highest in capital 

projects - more than N1.3 

trillion. 

“Let anybody come and 

confront me publicly in the 

National Assembly. What 

have they been doing? 

Some of them have been 

there for 10 years. What 

have they been doing? So, 

this country, luckily for me, 

I said it about eight years 

ago that we have no other 

country than Nigeria. 

“This is a terrible time, 

and the people are saying 

what are we doing? Why 

can’t you lock them up? 

And again, I went on by 

telling them what I said 

when I was in uniform, 

younger and rather 

ruthless. I got from the 

president downward; I 

locked them up in Kirikiri. 

I said ‘you’re guilty except 

you prove yourselves 

innocent. 

“I, myself, was locked up, 

and those who 

misappropriated public 

funds were given back 

what they have taken away. 

Who did anything about it? 

Then I decided to come 

and put on agbada. I tried 

one, two, three, four times. 

God agreed. And the third 

time I came and met a 

statesman outside the 

Supreme Court." 

Noting how his lawyer 

after the 2003 election, 

Chief Mike Ahamba, who 

he described as a Roman 

Catholic and Igbo man, 

tried to prove that he was 

rigged out in that election, 

he said his submission was 

thrown out despite the 

evidence adduced. 

“So, why this question of 

religion and ethnicity and 

so on? People are 

worshipping the dollars, 

the Sterlings not to even 

talk of the Naira. 

‘Between 1999-2014, 

Nigeria was producing 2.1 

million barrels of crude oil 

per day at an average cost 

(price) of 100 USD per 

barrel and it went up to 143 

USD. 

“When we came it 

collapsed to 37 – 38 USD 

and later was oscillating 

between 40 and 50 USD. 

“I went to the CBN 

Governor, with my cap in 

my hand, and asked if we 

had savings. He told me we 

had only debts, no savings. 

Some of the roads were not 

repaired since the 

Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) 

days. 

“I don’t care the opinion 

you have about Abacha but 

I agreed to work with him, 

and we constructed roads 

from Abuja to Port Harcourt, 

Benin to Onitsha and so on. 

We also touched education 

and health institutions.” 

Mismanagement of 

the economy 

On the mismanagement 

of the economy by previous 

administrations, President 

Buhari noted that the 

perpetrators lacked 

imagination and plans for 

the development of the 

nation. 

“Sometimes, I wonder 

about those who can afford 

to send their children 

abroad for studies and yet 

continue to sabotage the 

economy, I wonder what 

Continues on Page 41 

By Bose Adelaja & Ebun 

Sessou 

What should FG do about killing of Nigerians in South Africa (3) 

Iam not sure it is within the 

power of citizens to tell the 

Federal Governent what to 

do on matters of international 

diplomacy. It was in the event 

of such that diplomatic 

portfolios were created and 

designated to different 

individuals who were tested 

for the different positions. 

Hence, if they are unable to 

perform, the interpretation of 

the word failure should be 

read to them. They, the 

diplomats, stand a better 

chance to inform the 

government because they 

are the eyes of the 

government. 

Mr. Odimegwu Onwumere, 

Consultant 

Only sanction on 

South Africa's 

business interests in 

Nigeria is capable of 

getting the South 

African government to 

take action. This is the 

time for Nigerian 

government to act no 

matter 

the 

circumstances. South 

African government 

should know that we are 

partners in progress. 

M r s . O g b e d e 

Oluwatosin Selfemployed 

Do we have a proper 

database for 

Nigerians in the diaspora? 

I feel the government 

needs to document its 

citizens all over the world. 

About South Africa, the 

government needs to 

ensure the safety of its 

citizens in that country. 

Why are Nigerians the 

targets all the time? What 

makes I feel the 

individuals also have to 

ensure they don’t open 

themselves to danger. 

Mr. Akinlolu Akinpelu 

Public Relations Expert 

Nigeria should send 

delegates to South 

Africa to know what the 

problem is and let the 

delegates resolve it once 

and for all. Also our 

Ambassador to South 

Africa has a role to play 

in the matter because the 

rate of killing is alarming 

and should be tackled 

seriously. 

Mr. Wahab Ogunji 

Businessman 

One would expect 

the government to 

improve or totally 

revitalise every sector 

of the Nigerian 

economy so those in 

diaspora can return to 

Nigeria. It is the 

government's basic 

responsibility to its 

citizens. 

Mr. Stanley 

Godspower Student 

I 

believe Nigerians 

who are being killed in 

South Africa go there 

with no tangible reason 

. Most countries now see 

Nigeria as the most 

corrupt of all African 

countries. The 

government should 

make sure anyone going 

to South Africa is well 

screened. 

MissHakeemat 

Ogunfuyi, Student

6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 

Church, 

community 

on collision 

course over 

‘pollution’ 

By Dapo Akinrefon 

RESIDENTS of Shoba 

community of Abule 

Ado in Amuwo Odofin 

Local Government Area, 

Lagos, have decried the 

activities of a pentecostal 

church, Power of the Holy 

Ghost Evangelical 

Ministry, A.K.A. Tuesday 

Tuesday Church. 

During a protest in the 

community, they accused 

the church of regular 

procession in the area and 

that the church also used 

Police to harass members of 

the community, noting that 

the activities of the church 

had become a threat to the 

peace. 

Efforts, however, to get 

the reaction of the church, 

proved abortive as it denied 

Vanguard access into the 

church premises to see the 

Pastor. 

Addressing newsmen, 

Vice Chairman of Shoba 

Landlord Association, Mr. 

Femi Ekundayo, said: 

“Apart from the rancorous 

and violent processions 

every week with total 

blockade of the roads 

leading to our community, 

they broke into people’s 

shops and properties at 

night and desecrate same 

in the name of purification 

with thick smelling and 

hazardous substances.” 

Ekundayo, who read a 

statement signed by the 

Baale of Ado Shoba, Chief 

Rasheed Jimoh and Aare 

Onakakanfo, Dr. Gani 

Adams, alleged that “their 

activities at nights are most 

unbearable as they noisily 

pollute the environment 

from evening till the early 

hours of the day.” 

INDOMIE CHILDREN: From left—Chief 

Operating Officer, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Girish Sharma; wife 

of the Lagos State Governor, Bolanle Ambode; Group Public 

Relations and Events Manager, Tope Ashiwaju; Head of 

Marketing, Manpreet Singh, both of Dufil Prima, and 

Coordinator, Indomie Fan Club, Faith Joshua, with Indomie 

Fan Club members at the 2018 Indomie Children's Day 

celebration in Lagos. PHOTO: Akeem Salau. 

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

She was a flirt, says spare parts 

dealer who killed wife in Oshodi 

•Parents warned her to leave him, she kept hoping he’ll change—Brother 

By Esther Onyegbula 

LAGOS—A vehicle parts 

dealer, Tochukwu Chukwu, 

at the popular Ladipo Spare Parts 

Market in Lagos, has said he 

stabbed his wife, Joy, to death 

because she was a flirt. 

Vanguard gathered that the 

suspect was apprehended by 

vigilant residents, while 

attempting to dispose her corpse 

which he put inside a bucket, at 

night. 

It was also gathered that when 

the suspect, Tochukwu, was 

caught he gave the impression 

that he was taking his dead 

wife’s remains to the mortuary, 

but the neighbours became 

suspicious when the four people 

who accompanied him ran away 

on sighting the Police. 

A source said when the Police 

took the corpse to the mortuary 

for postmortem examination, it 

was discovered that the victim 

was stabbed in the back with a 

knife. 

“Based on the new discovery, 

the Police invited Tochukwu for 

further questioning,” the source 

added. 

The source also said Police 

operatives led by the Divisional 

Police Officer for Akinpelu, 

Oshodi, CSP Jimoh Aliu, went 

back to the crime scene where 

they discovered the murder 

weapon and secured it for further 

forensic analysis. 

Suspect’s account 

According to Tochukwu, “my 

wife was a flirt. There was a time 

I travelled to Enugu State; when 

I called my wife, she didn’t pick. 

Later a man picked her call and 

threatened me. The man that 

picked my call told me never to 

call her again.” 

One of the wife’s relatives, who 

does not want his name in print, 

said: “It is just unfortunate that 

Joy died this way. Her parents 

had told her to quit the marriage, 

because her life was obviously in 

danger. But she stayed, thinking 

he would change his suspicious 

nature. 

“Now see where it has landed 

her. Before this incident, he told 

his wife that he was travelling, 

but he didn’t. Unknown to Joy, 

he had his plans. He 

has never caught 

her with any 

man.” 

Mr. & Mrs Chukwu 

Neighbour 

A neighbour, Maris Uke, said: 

“Mr. Tochukwu has been living 

with his wife here for a while. 

He is very suspicious of his wife’s 

activities. 

“Actually, we don’t know what 

happened that night, but they 

were always having domestic 

issues. It was in the course of 

By Dayo Johnson 

AKURE—A 

Chief 

Magistrate’s Court sitting in 

Ondo town, Ondo State, has 

ordered that five persons be 

remanded in prison custody for 

allegedly gang-rapping, 

torturing and videotaping two 

under-aged girls. 

The five accused persons, 

Bode Akinsiku, Femi Olabanji, 

Abiodun Ayodele, Wahab 

Fadairo and Adebayo 

Adedayo, were arraigned on a 

six-count charge of conspiracy, 

rape, defamation of character, 

torture and videotaping, 

among others. 

According to the prosecutor, 

Inspector Bernard Olagbayi, 

the offences are contrary to 

Sections 516, 351, 360, 367, 359 

and 375 of the Criminal Code 

Cap 37 Vol. 1 Laws of Ondo 

State of Nigeria, 2006. 

Inspector Olagbayi said the 

five accused persons were 

alleged to have tortured and 

unlawfully had carnal 

knowledge of the two teenage 

their issue that he 

killed her. 

“He was 

caught 

i n 

the 

middle of the night while 

attempting to dispose her 

remains, which he hid in a 

bucket. 

“He tried to hide her 

remains in the large container 

by lifting it on his head in a 

bid to protect it from public 

glare. But unfortunately for 

him he ran out of luck and was 

girls and recorded the 

processes before posting it 

on their Facebook page and 

other social media for the 

purpose of exposing them to 

hatred. 

The accused persons were 

alleged to have forcefully 

compelled the two girls to 

strip naked, describing the 

action as inhuman and 

against the order of nature. 

The five accused, however, 

pleaded not guilty to the 

offences. 

The prosecutor told the 

court of his intention to 

prosecute the matter by 

inviting four witnesses, 

caught.” 

Police 

Confirming the 

i n c i d e n t , 

spokesperson of 

Lagos State Police 

Command, SP Chike 

Oti, said the 

suspect 

is in 

custody and that investigation is 

still ongoing. 

He added: “From preliminary 

investigation, it appears like a 

case of domestic violence. 

“The Police have visited the 

crime scene and recovered the 

murder weapon (knife). They 

secured it carefully for further 

forensic analysis.” 

5 remanded in prison custody for rape, 

torture, videotaping teenage girls 

including the victims. 

He urged the court to grant 

him short adjournment, so that 

he will be able to arrange all 

his witnesses. 

Counsel to the five accused 

persons, Adesanmi Olarewaju, 

O. A. Akinbinu and A. J. 

Akindele, urged the court to 

grant the accused bail on 

liberal terms, promising that 

the accused will not jump bail. 

After listening to applications 

from both parties, Chief 

Magistrate B. F. Ajibade, denied 

the bail applications made by all 

the counsel and ordered that the 

accused persons be remanded in 

prison till June 21. 

Customs impounds E-Money’s 10 luxur 

By Godfrey Bivbere 

THE Federal Operations 

Unit, FOU, Zone A, 

Nigeria Customs Service, has 

impounded 10 luxury 

vehicles belonging to E- 

Money, a popular music 

promoter, over underpayment 

of duty on the vehicles. 

The vehicles, said to have been 

cleared by officers and men of 

Apapa Customs Command, were 

intercepted by officials of FOU, 

following a tip-off about the value 

of duty paid on them. 

A source at FOU confirmed the 

seizure to Vanguard, explaining


:Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews 

Sales rep caught raping 9-yr-old girl in bathroom 

By Esther Onyegbula 

POLICEMEN attached to the 

Family Support Unit, FSU, 

Ketu Division, Lagos State Police 

Command, are currently 

investigating a sales 

representative, John Okon, for 

allegedly raping a nine-year-old 

girl at Jimoh Balogun Street in the 

area. 

By Emma Nnadozie, 

Crime Editor 

GUNMEN, in the early hours 

yesterday, abducted the wife, 

three children and three relatives, 

of Zamfara State Commissioner for 

Youths, Sports and Skills 

Acquisition, Alhaji Abdullahi 

Bore, at Gurbin Bore village, 

Zurmi Local Government Area, at 

1:30a.m. 

The commissioner, who 

confirmed the attack to newsmen 

in Gusau, said: “They have not 

yet demanded for any ransom 

y vehicles over N6m import duty 

that E-Money himself had visited 

the Unit to try and take back 

custody of the vehicles, but that 

FOU leadership had insisted on 

complete payment of duty before 

the vehicles can be released to 

him. 


popular promoter paid over N6 

It was learned that the victim’s 

parents and the owner of the shop 

where the suspect works, live in 

the same compound. Okon, as 

gathered, has been raping the 

victim for the past two months. 

However, trouble started when a 

co-tenant, who wanted to use the 

convenience, caught the two of 

them in the act inside the bathroom 

and raised the alarm. Immediately 

million duty and the vehicles 

released to him. 

This was confirmed by the 

Customs Area Controller, CAC, 

Garba Mohammed, who said: “We 

have released the vehicles to him. 

He came and paid over N6 million. 

I think about N6.7 million or 

thereabouts.” 

the tenant alerted the victim’s 

parents, Okon absconded. 

The case was reported at Ketu 

Divisional Police Station, while 

the victim was taken to the 

hospital where it was confirmed 

that she had been defiled. 

The Divisional Police Officer, 

Nnamdi Ohaekelem, led some 

officers to fish out the suspect 

from his hiding at Ikosi in Ketu. 

Zamfara commissioner’s wife, 3 

children, 3 relatives kidnapped 

By Samuel Oyadongha 

YENAGOA—THREE persons 

were feared dead yesterday, at 

Amassoma in Southern Ijaw Local 

Government Area of Bayelsa State, 

following a clash between security 

operatives and protesting 

community women and youths 

over the continued closure of the 

state-owned Niger Delta 

University, NDU. 

The clash, which reportedly 

started in the early hours of the 

day at the university’s gate, was 

said to have left five others 

seriously injured. 

The situation in the community, 

according to sources, became 

tense as sporadic gunshots and 

fired teargas canisters triggered 

panic among residents, forcing 

many to stay indoors. 

Trouble 

Trouble started in the early hours 

of the day when a detachment of 

security operatives forcefully 

opened the gate of the institution 

for staff to access their offices 

without clearance from the angry 

indigenes. 

It was gathered that the 

university’s gate was sealed up 

by aggrieved community women, 

from us. In fact, we have not 

discussed anything with them. But 

we have reported the matter to 

security agencies.” 

The state’s Commissioner of 

Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, has 

assured that the abductors will 

soon be fished out, noting that 

internal mechanisms have been put 

in place to rescue them. 

Ebrimson told Vanguard on 

phone that the incident happened 

in a border village between Niger 

and Kastina states and that all the 

Police formations are on ground to 

track the abductors. 

whose names were removed from 

NDU’s payroll after they were 

indicted by the ongoing public 

sector reforms being carried out by 

the state government. 

The women, who insisted that 

government must rescind its 

decision, were said to have hired 

the services of a welder to 

permanently seal the university’s 

gate. 

As a way of resolving the weeklong 

impasse, government raised 

a team of negotiators last Friday led 

by the Chief of Staff, Talford 

Ongolo, and the Commissioner for 

Education to meet with the 

protesters and the host community. 

It was learned that part of the 

resolutions reached was that the 

university should review the fate 

of the sacked workers and that they 

suspend the protest to allow 

academic activities resume. 

Clash 

However, the indigenes 

reportedly rejected the resolution, 

insisting that their delegation to the 

meeting should hear directly from 

Governor Seriake Dickson, who 

was absent from the state. 

The protesting community 

women and youths became angry 

yesterday morning on discovering 

His words: “We are combing 

all the nooks and crannies for 

the bandits with a crack rescue 

team of policemen. We have 

fought these marauding 

bandits to a standstill and they 

now changed tactics and style. 

“What they have done is to 

engage in high-profile 

kidnapping. We have put all the 

internal mechanism in place 

and I assure you that very soon, 

we will definitely round them 

up and rescue the victims. I 

assure you that we are on top 

of the situation.” 

3 killed as Bayelsa community 

clash with Police over varsity closure 

•Opposition mobilised hoodlums—Bayelsa Govt 

that the school’s gate was 

forcefully opened and 

surrounded by armed security 

operatives, a development that 

prompted them to regroup in 

their numbers and marched 

towards the gate to confront the 

security operatives. 

An eyewitness said: “The 

security agencies started 

shooting teargas canisters and 

live bullets at the protesters. 

Many were injured and about 

three persons were hit and 

feared dead. They were 

immediately rushed to the 

hospital.” 

One of the shot victims, it was 

gathered, was rushed to the 

Niger Delta University 

Teaching Hospital at Okolobiri. 

According to a staff of the 

university, who pleaded 

anonymity, Armoured 

Personnel Carriers were later 

brought in to reinforce security 

in the community. 

The Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, 

Worldwide, led by Eric Omare, 

has condemned the killings and 

called for restraint. 

They were hoodlums 

—Bayelsa govt 

In its reaction, the Bayelsa 

State Government 

condemned the violence and 

attack during the 

confrontation between Police 

and those it referred to as 

hoodlums. 

In a statement yesterday, 

Special Adviser to the Governor 

on Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis 

Soriwei, blamed opposition 

political leaders for the 

mobilisation of the “hoodlums.” 

... with Emma'nKen (08163121378) 

Untransmissioned degrees 

It's a scarecrow; no, Phyno 

It's in Owerri; no, P-Harcourt 

Bovi! It's just 30 billion kilometres away

8—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 

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

We found $20,000, N5m inside Range Rover 

at Dasuki’s home, DSS tells court 

A 

B 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

U J A — 

DEPARTMENT of 

State Service, DSS, yesterday, 

narrated before the Federal 

High Court in Abuja, how it 

recovered $20,000 and N5 

million the former National 

Security Adviser, NSA, Col. 

Sambo Dasuki (retd), hid 

inside a Range Rover packed 

inside his Abuja residence. 

The agency also told the 

court that its operatives 

recovered from the parked 

vehicle with Abuja 

registration No, RBC-517- 

JN, one Macro Uzi gun with 

serial No- 60244 and one 

magazine with 16 rounds of 

live 9MM ammunition. 

A member of the DSS team 

that raided the home of the 

former NSA on July 16, 2015, 

Mr. William Obiora, testified 

before the court as the first 

prosecution witness, PW-1. 

The PW-1, who wore mask 

and testified behind a screen, 

told the court that aside 11 

exotic cars, arms and 

ammunition his team 

recovered during the search 

operation, $40,000 was found 

inside a safe in Dasuki’s 

bedroom. 

He told the court that 

whereas the recovered funds 

were taken to the Central 

Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for 

safe-keeping, the cars were 

taken to the DSS 

headquarters in Abuja where 

they are currently parked. 

The witness said his team 

were initially prevented by 

armed soldiers from entering 

Dasuki’s home. 

He said: “We commenced 

the operation in July 16, 2015. 

We arrived the defendant’s 

residence around 4:30pm or 

thereabout. 

“We met armed soldiers at 

his residence, who did not 

give us access to the 

compound or to the owner of 

the house. Our effort to 

convince them with our duly 

signed search warrant did not 

yield any result. 

“This effort was on, up 

till1:30 am of July 17 when a 

military bus came and the 

soldiers entered the vehicle 

and left. 

“It was after the operation 

that these items were 

recorded. The defendant was 

with us while the search 

operation was going on. We 

firstly presented ourselves to 

him to be searched. The 

essence was to avoid being 

accused of bringing in 

incriminating items into his 

residence. The defendant 

corporated with us.” 

Among 30 exbihits on the 

list of recovered items the 

witness presented before the 

court included 36 rounds of 

live 9mm ammunition, three 

booklets of firearm license, a 

compact disc containing 

video of Boko Haram 

members slaughtering 

people, 8GB flash drive, 

three Barclay’s Bank drafts 

on investment credited to one 

A. I. Dasuki and three 

unmarked CDs. 

The witness, who was led 

in evidence by the 

prosecuting counsel, Mr. 

Okpeseyi Oladipupo, SAN, 

told the court that all the 

recovered items were 

endorsed behind the search 

warrant. 

He said the ex-NSA, one 

Bello Fadile, who was in his 

house when the operation 

was carried out, and the DSS 

team leader, signed and 

counter-signed on the back 

of the warrant. 

Meanwhile, trial Justice 

Ahmed Mohammed 

adjourned the case till June 

25 to enable Dasuki’s lawyer, 

Mr. J. B. Daudu, SAN, to 

cross-examine the witness. 

AGM: From left: Mr Gbenga Oyebode, Non Executive Director; Mr. 

Mauricio Alarcon, Managing Director; Mr David Ifezulike, Chairman, Board 

of Directors, and Mr. Bode Ayeku, Company Secretary, all of Nestle Nigeria 

Plc,during the 49th Annual General Meeting of the company, in Lagos. Photo: 

Akeem Salau. 

Corruption affects 6bn people 

worldwide — Transparency Int'l 

•Urges countries to stop comparing failures 

By Omeiza Ajayi 

ABUJA— Transparency 

International, TI, has 

decried the growing wave of 

grand corruption worldwide, 

lamenting that no fewer than 

six billion people were now 

affected by the menace. 

Transparency 

International’s chair, Delia 

Matilde Ferreira Rubio, 

disclosed this, yesterday, in 

Abuja while delivering a 

keynote address at the 

opening of an international 

experience-sharing 

workshop on best practices to 

address emerging issues 

organised by Civil Society 

Legislative Advocacy Centre, 

CISLAC. 

She said: “Our last 

Corruption Perception Index, 

CPI, states that 69 per cent of 

the 180 countries we have 

surveyed are under 50 in our 

scale. 

"Our scale reads from 100, 

very transparent countries, 

how public sector is perceived 

in those countries, and zero, 

highly corrupt-perceived 

public sector. 69 percent of 

those countries are under 50. 

"That means that more than 

six billion people live in 

context of highly corrupt 

government and highly 

corrupt private sector. They 

are exposed to corruption 

everyday because corruption 

has to do with everyday lives 

of citizens. 

"That is what is at stake here. 

They are facing corruption 

when they go to ask for a 

place in schools or when they 

go to the hospitals. They are 

also the victims of corruption 

in cases of grand corruption. 

“In many countries, 

corruption has been 

normalized as the ordinary 

way of doing business and 

misbehaving. We have to 

fight that. We cannot accept 

that it is the normal way of 

doing business from the petty 

corruption to grand 

corruption. We have to stop 

discretionary powers. 

We must stop 

comparing corrupt 

administrations 

“Corruption can happen in 

any country. It has nothing 

to do with our countries being 

in the south or being 

developing countries or being 

poor. The difference between 

countries in our CPI has to 

do with the reaction. 

‘’The reaction against 

corruption, not only from the 

institutions saddled with 

fighting corruption but the 

reaction of society. Can you 

imagine in a country, the Vice 

Prime Minister had to resign 

because she used the credit 

card of the ministry to buy 

chocolate, Toblerone. 

‘’It was known as the 

‘Toblerone scandal.’ She went 

out of the office, stopped to 

fuel and then used the official 

card to pay for fuel and a 

Toblerone. The following 

morning, she went to the 

office and wanted to pay back 

for the Toblerone. That was 

eight in the morning. By 

midday, she had her 

dismissal letter duly signed. 

"It took her more than 15 

years to come back to politics 

because it is unacceptable to 

use the official credit card for 

private expenses, a 

Toblerone. Can you imagine 

this in my country or here?" 

Executive Director of 

CISLAC, Auwal Ibrahim 

Musa, urged the National 

Assembly “to also make their 

budget open to the public and 

as well comply with the laws 

passed by the institution such 

as Freedom of Information 

Act 2011, Public Procurement 

Act 2007, etc." 

Saraki vs IGP: Buhari, Senate delegation 

meet behind closed doors 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

A BUJA—PRESIDENT 

Muhammadu Buhari, 

yesterday, met behind closed 

doors with the committee set 

up by the Senate to interface 

with him over alleged attempt 

by the police to implicate the 

Senate President, Bukola 

Saraki, in a criminal case. 

The Senate President had 

recently raised the alarm that 

the Inspector General of 

Police, IGP, Ibrahim Idris, 

was planning to implicate 

him in a cult case in Kwara 

State. 

The IGP, Ibrahim Idris, was 

Sanusi laments govt’s 

spending of N1.4trn on 

fuel subsidy 

THE Emir of Kano and 

former governor of the 

Central Bank of Nigeria, 

CBN, Muhammadu 

Sanusi II, has called on the 

Federal Government to 

prioritise its expenditure, 

wondering what the N1.4 

trillion currently spent on 

fuel subsidy could have 

brought the country in 

terms of infrastructure. 

Speaking on Power 

Lunch, a CNBC 

programme, yesterday, 

Sanusi said the Federal 

Government needed to 

prioritise its expenditure to 

be industrialised. 

Sanusi said that by simply 

improving the allocation 

efficiency, the government 

could make greater impact. 

He said: “I have looked 

at some of the deliberate 

policy decisions that have 

been taken, such as the 

continuation of the fuel 

subsidy, we are spending 

a trillion naira to 1.4 trillion 

naira on petroleum 

subsidies. 

"Imagine what we could 

do with that. How many 

refineries will be built? How 

many power plants you 

could build? How much 

you could fix on your 

transmission. 

“So we need to decide for 

ourselves and understand 

that every dollar we spend, 

we have made a choice. 

We need to decide what is 

our priority and by this we 

can free up resources from 

some of these areas and put 

them into these areas.” 

While speaking on how 

to increase revenues, he 

said countries that had the 

highest ratio of revenue to 

GDP were those that 

seemed to be faring very 

well on the transparency 

international corruption 

perception index. 

Consequently, he said 

Africa needed to focus on 

improving transparency 

and public financial 

management, adding that 

collaboration between the 

government and private 

sectors would help drive 

industralisation in the 

country. 

APC nat'l chair: Oshiomhole 

meets Saraki, APC Senate 

Caucus 

By Henry Umoru 

A BUJA—Former 

governor of Edo 

Governor, Mr Adams 

Oshiomhole, yesterday, 

met with the Senate 

President, Dr Bukola 

Saraki, and caucus of the 

party to intimate them of 

his intention to contest for 

the position of national 

chairman. 

Addressing the APC 

senators in the upper 

chamber yesterday, at the 

National Assembly 

complex, Abuja, 

Oshiomhole, who 

admitted that organs of the 

ruling party had not been 

functioning as expected, 

however, promised to 

said to have ordered for the 

transfer of some of the 

suspected criminals from 

Kwara State to police 

headquarters, Abuja, which 

Saraki feared was aimed at 

implicating him, considering 

the running battle between 

the Senate and the police 

boss. 

Though the Senate had 

during plenary presided over 

by the Deputy Senate 

President, Ike Ekweremadu, 

nominated Saraki to lead the 

delegation, he was absent at 

the meeting. 

But the Senate Leader, 

Ahmad Lawan, who led the 

change the trend if 

elected as the next 

national chairman. 

He added that the party 

must assure Nigerians 

that it had the capacity to 

deliver on its promised 

change. 

Oshiomhole, who was 

in company of the Senior 

Special Assistant on 


Matters (Senate) to the 

President, Senator Ita 

Enang, former President 

of the Nigeria Labour 

Congress, NLC, 

Comrade AbdulWaheed 

Omar, Senator Domingo 

Obende, Patrick 

Obahiagbon, among 

others, promised that he 

would make APC a true 

progressive party if 

elected into office. 

committee to State House, 

discussed the matter with the 

President, among other 

issues relating to the frosty 

relationship between the 

legislature and the executive. 

Speaking to State House 

correspondents after the 

meeting, Lawan confirmed 

that Saraki’s issue was, 

indeed, part of the discussion 

but declined to elaborate on 

it. 

However, a member of the 

committee, Senator Abdulahi 

Adamu, who spoke to a 

television station in Hausa, 

said it was the Saraki versus 

the Inspector General of Police 

issue that they discussed with 

the President.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018—9 

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

My govt won’t tolerate mediocrity 

under any guise —Buhari 

•Says he grew foreign reserves from $29.6bn to $47.5bn 

•As Awosika identifies gaps in productivity sector 

A BUJA—PRESIDENT 

Muhammadu Buhari, 

yesterday, warned that his 

administration would not 

tolerate mediocrity from any 

public or private citizen but 

promised to go out of his way 

to reward excellence. 

The President, who gave the 

warning at the 17th National 

Productivity Order of Merit, 

NPOM, Awards at Nigerian 

Air Force Conference Centre, 

Abuja, presented awards to 

the Head of Civil Service of 

the Federation, Mrs. Winifred 

Oyo-Ita, and other 

distinguished Nigerians 

drawn from the corporate and 

public sectors. 

In his address, President 

Buhari frowned on the 

menace of corruption which, 

according to him, has 

affected the economic wellbeing 

of the country and 

warned that his government 

would not compromise on 

policies that would ultimately 

help to sustain the productive 

capacity of the country. 

He grew foreign 

reserves from 

$29.6bn to $47.5bn 

He used the occasion to reel 

out some of his achievements 

in office in the last three 

years, saying under a 

recessed economy, he built 

Nigeria’s foreign reserves 

from about $29.6 billion in 

2015 to $47.5 billion as at 

May 18, 2018. 

According to the President, 

Gross Domestic Product, GDP, 

in Nigeria stood at 1.95 per 

cent at the end of the first 

quarter of 2018, a feat his 

predecessors could hardly 

boast of, even while the 

economy was buoyant with 

huge capital inflow from oil 

resources. 

He noted that with the 

Treasury Single Account, 

TSA, policy, there had been 

greater accountability in his 

government, stressing that 

the policy has saved the 

country N200 billion. 

Speaking on the theme, 

“Productivity for Economic 

Recovery and Sustainable 

Growth” Buhari said no 

nation could attain prosperity 

without vibrant and 

productive citizens. 

Awosika identifies 

gaps in productivity 

sector 

In her presentation, a 

foremost industrialist and 

banker, Ibukun Awosika, 

identified gaps in Nigeria’s 

bilateral policies, which she 

said was militating against its 

growth. 

She said more often than 

not, Nigeria signs bilateral 

deals with foreign 

multinational firms but feign 

ignorance of the need to 

leverage on such deals to 

provide jobs for its teaming 

population. 

Awosika also noted that the 

nation’s leadership ought to 

devise means of harnessing 

potentials in the youth 

population, adding that ideas 

that boost productivity should 

be made to trickle down from 

the central government to the 

federating states. 

Minister of Labour and 

Employment, Senator Chris 

Ngige, however, took a swipe 

at the the opposition. 

Apparently referring to ex- 

President Olusegun 

Obasanjo, Ngige said the 

ruling All Progressives 

Congress, APC, government 

would never be perturbed by 

letters of criticism coming 

from the former President. 

In his remarks, Director- 

General of National 

Productivity Centre, Dr. 

Kashim Amor, said the 

process of selecting the 

awardees was a rigorous one, 

adding that the award should 

spur the awardees to a 

greater height in the service 

of their fatherland. 

VISIT: From left, Mr Adekunle Adekoya, Deputy Editor, Vanguard 

Newspapers; Mr Bala Yesufu, Director, Corporate and Government Affairs, 

West Africa, Cadbury Nigera Plc; Mr Eze Anaba, Editor, Vanguard 

Newspapers; Mr Frederick Mordi, Corporate Communications Manager, 

Cadbury Nigeria Plc, and Mr Onochie Anibeze, Editor, Saturday Vanguard 

Newspaper, during a visit of Cadbury Corporate Affairs Director to Vanguard 

newspapers head office in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele. 

Senate invasion: Ndume denies aiding 

hoodlums to steal Mace 

•As Omo-Agege refuses to answer questions 

ABUJA— Senator Ali 

Ndume has denied 

having a hand in last month’s 

invasion of the Senate by 

hoodlums, which led to 

stealing of the mace by some 

thugs. 

Ndume was alleged to 

have directed a sergeant-atarms 

on duty on the day of 

the invasion not to touch the 

mace, thereby allowing the 

thugs have easy access to it. 

Speaking before the 


committee investigating the 

incident, the lawmaker 

denied giving such directive. 

This is even as Senator 

Ovie Omo-Agege refused to 

answer questions from 

members of the committee, 

citing the case he filed 

against the Senate on the 

issue. 

But Ndume had earlier 

craved the indulgence of the 

committee to allow his 

appearance hold behind 

closed-door. 

Consequently, journalists 

were excused from the 

gathering but called in again 

after about 10 minutes, with 

a view to having his 

statement on record. 

Chairman of the 

committee, Ibn Na’Allah, 

who set the tone for the 

hearing, said: “We had a 

statement from the deputy 

mace bearer wherein he 

alluded allegedly that he 

made an attempt on April 18 

inside the chamber of the 

Senate to take into safety the 

mace of the Senate when he 

saw confusion going on and 

you advised him to leave it. 

Is that correct?“ he asked. 

Ndume denied, saying he 

was surprised that such 

allegation was raised against 

him. 

He said: “I didn’t know in 

my whole years in this 

National Assembly that we 

are that exposed. For some 

people to just come in and 

take the mace and run away. 

“For me to prevent 

somebody or to advise 

somebody not to do his job 

is just totally out of place 

because I don’t have the 

authority to do that. I did not 

do that, I cannot do that and 

I’m not supposed to do that. 

Omo-Agege refuses 

to answer questions 

In his presentation before 

the committee chaired by 

Deputy Majority Leader of 

the Senate, Senator Bala Ibn 

Na’Allah (APC Kebbi South), 

Senator Omo-Agege said: 

“Ordinarily, I would have 

loved to seize this 

opportunity to respond to the 

allegations you have raised. 

“As a senator, who is 

consistent to standing orders, 

I’m here to inform you that I 

have gone to court, the 

parties of the respondents to 

the suit that I have 

commenced at the Federal 

High Court are here 

enumerated: 

“The Senate of the Federal 

Republic of Nigeria, the 

President of the Senate, Sen. 

Bala Na’Allah, and all the 

members of the committee, 

the Clerk of the National 

Assembly, the Attorney 

General of the Federation, 

the Inspector General of 

Police and the State Security 

Service. 

“This action commenced 

on May 21 and I have with 

me proof of service to 

indicate that all the parties 

have all been served.” 

Metuh was asked to sit 

but he decided to fall 

— Justice Abang 

ABUJA—A judge of the 

Federal High Court, 

Abuja, Justice Okon 

Abang, said, yesterday, that 

former spokesman of 

Peoples Democratic Party, 

PDP, Olisa Metuh, fell in 

court on his own. 

Metuh was said to have 

collapsed in the court on 

Monday while he was 

making his way to the dock. 

The incident made the 

presiding judge to rise 

briefly while Metuh 

received medical attention. 

However, at the 

continued trial, yesterday, 

Abang said Metuh, who 

was absent in court, fell “on 

his own” after refusing to 

obey the court’s directive 

that he should sit down. 

Tochukwu Onwugbufor, a 

defence lawyer, had urged 

the court to adjourn the 

matter due to Metuh’s 

absence. 

He said it was the court’s 

doctor that recommended 

that Metuh be taken to the 

hospital on Monday. 

But the judge 

immediately said he never 

directed any doctor to see 

Metuh after he fell. 

The judge said: “The 

court did not direct the 

doctor to attend to the 

defendant. I would not 

know the person that 

directed the doctor to see 

the defendant when I rose 

briefly upon hearing that 

the defendant fell down on 

his own. 

“The court directed him 

to sit down where he was 

but he decided to fall down 

on his own.’ 

Sylvanus Tahir, the 

prosecuting counsel, asked 

the judge to proceed with 

the case, despite Metuh’s 

absence. 

Meanwhile, Emeka 

Etiaba, counsel to Metuh, 

also returned to the court 

after requesting to 

withdraw from the case. 

The judge had refused his 

request on the ground that 

it would delay the trial. 

Metuh is standing trial for 

alleged money laundering. 

He was accused of illegally 

receiving N400 million 

from the office of Sambo 

Dasuki, former national 

security adviser. 

WARD, LG CONGRESSES: 

Dogara, 9 others sue APC 

nat'l leadership 

By Suzan Edeh 

B AUCHI—SPEAKER 

House 

of 

Representatives, Yakubu 

Dogara, and nine other 

stalwarts of All Progressives 

Congress, APC, in Bauchi 

State have sued the national 

chairman of the party, Chief 

John Odigie-Oyegun, 

before a Federal High Court 

in Abuja over the conduct of 

ward and local government 

congresses of the party in the 

state. 

The defendants in the suit 

are APC National Chairman, 

Odigie-Oyegun; National 

Secretary, Mallam Mai 

Bunu; state chairman of the 

party, Dr. Tony Macfoy, and 

Mr. Sam Para. 

The plaintiffs are the 

Speaker, Dogara; Senator 

Sulaiman Nazif, Senator Isa 

Hammah Misau, Senator 

Muhammad Muhammad, 

Ibrahim Yakubu Lame, 

Ibrahim Zailan, Ambassador 

Yusuf Tuggar, Captain 

Mohammed Bala Jibrin, 

Aminu Tukur and Maryam 

Garba Bagel. 

Some of APC stakeholders, 

including Mr Ibrahim 

Zailani , Captain 

Muhammad Bala JIbrin and 

Alhaji Muhammad Aminu 

Tukur, who disclosed this 

while interacting with 

reporters, yesterday, in 

Bauchi, claimed that the 

conduct of the congresses 

breached the party’s 

constitution and congress 

guidelines, alleging that the 

results of the ward and local 

government congresses in 

the state were manipulated. 

They said they went to 

court because the purported 

APC ward and local 

government congresses 

conducted in the state on 

May 5 and 12, 2018, were 

marred by widespread 

irregularities from the initial 

preparations to the conduct 

of the congresses, thereby 

disenfranchising many 

aspirants and members of the 

party from participation. 

They futher alleged that 

the ward congress was the 

foundation upon which the 

conduct of local and state 

congresses were predicated, 

which turned out to be a total 

fiasco. 

The aggrieved APC 

stakeholders said they went 

to court to nullify the elections 

after efforts to follow all party 

machinery to get justice 

failed, noting that democracy 

and the rule of law were for 

the well-being of the 

people. 

Counsel to the aggrieved 

APC stalwarts, Mr Isa 

Mohammed, said: “My 

clients were denied the 

opportunity to participate in 

the congresses because the 

forms were released to them 

on the day of the election, 

contrary to the guidelines of 

the ward congresses that give 

24 hours for interested 

persons to fill the form and 

return it."



Nigeria’s salvation in journalists’ 

hands—Archbishop Atilade 

By Agbonkhese Oboh 

LAGOS—THE South- 

West Chairman of 

Christian Association of 

Nigeria, CAN, Archbishop 

Magnus Atilade, has 

placed the salvation of the 

country in the hands of 

journalists, noting that 

only a conscious attempt 

to reveal the truth and 

support the work of goodminded 

Nigerians can 

salvage the country. 

Archbishop Atilade, who 

spoke at a briefing in 

Lagos to announce the 

Great Coalition to Save 

Nigeria, said a peopleoriented 

press will curb 

corruption, nepotism and 

religious fanatism as “the 

salvation of this country is 

in the hands of 

journalists.” 

The cleric, who is also 

President of Way to 

Happiness Foundation 

International, Nigeria, and 

Christian Welfare 

Initiative, CWI, the 

coalition’s host, added: 

“Enough of fasting and 

prayers. God said the 

solutions to our problems 

are in our hands. 

“God has revealed a path 

out of self-destruction: 

Muslims, Christians, 

atheist, across tribes, age, 

economic status and 

political affiliations—as 

long as you have a good 

heart—must come 

together and form a 

coalition to save and 

redeem Nigeria.” 

Gowon, Ambode, others for Diya's 

70th birthday thanksgiving 

TWO former heads of 

state, General Yakubu 

Gowon (retd) and Chief 

Ernest Sonekan, Governor 

Akinwumi Abode of Lagos 

State and his Ogun State 

counterpart, Senator 

Ibikunle Amosun, are 

among eminent Nigerians 

expected to grace retired 

Gen Oladipo Diya's 70th 

birthday thanksgiving 

service at United African 

Methodist Church 

Cathedral, Yaba, Lagos, 

this Sunday. 

Also expected at the 

event are Lady Maiden 

Alex-Ibru, Publisher of 

The Guardian 

Newspapers; Mr. Sam 

Amuka, Publisher of 

Vanguard Newspapers; 

Asiwaju of Remo Land 

and the Executive 

Chairman, Coleman 

Wires and Cables 

Industry, Chief Solomon 

Onafowokan; industrial 

icon, the Sobaloju of Lagos, 

Chief Kessington 

Adebutu, and a seasoned 

industrialist, and All 

Progressives Congress, 

APC, chieftain, Senator 

Anthony Adefuye. 

Others include Senator 

Ayodeji Otegbola, 

Asiwaju of Aworiland; 

former Minister of Education, 

Senator Iyabo Anisulowo; 

former President, 

Lagos Chamber of 

Commerce and Industry, 

Dr. Nike Akande; former 

District Governor 404B-2, 

Lions International, Dr. 

Christiene Olufunke 

Adebajo, and business 

tycoon, Olori-Moji Abass. 

ONDO APC CONGRESS: From left— Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State; member, 

Senator Clever Ikisikpoand, and Chairman, Mr. Matthew Omegara, both of All Progressives Congress, 

APC, State Congress Committee, during Ondo State APC congress, yesterday. 

‘Leaders, youths should emulate Jakande, 

Solanke, Lucas’ 

By Charles Kumolu 

L AGOS—NIGERIA’s 

leaders and youths 

have been urged to emulate 

the former governor of 

Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef 

Jakande, Chief Olusola 

Solanke and Professor 

Adetukunbo Lucas. 

The statesmen were also 

described as a source of 

inspiration for having the 

vision and courage to do 

what is right in their 

respective fields of 

endeavour. 

This was the consensus, 

yesterday, in Lagos at the 

formal presentation of a 

book, “Hallmarks of Labour 

Volume 9.” 

Roll call 

Those at the event were 

Governor Akinwumi 

Ambode of Lagos State, 

represented by Dr. Akintola 

Benson-Oke; former 

governor of Ogun State, 

Chief Segun Osoba; former 

Lagos State governor, 

Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu 

(retd); former Nigeria’s 

Permanent Representative 

to the United Kingdom, Dr. 

Christoper Kolade; 

Professor Itse Sagay; Chief 

Philip Asiodu; former 

Nigeria’s Permanent 

Representative to the 

United Nations, Professor 

Agbola Gambari; author of 

the book, Patricia Otuedon- 

Arawore; Professor 

Folashade Ogunsola, who 

reviewed the book, and Mr. 

Ede Dafinone, among 

others. 

Speaking, Ambode said: 

“The people we are 

celebrating here today 

used their natural talents to 

distinguish themselves. 

“From their resume, we 

have seen that they 

distinguished themselves 

in their respective fields. 

Alhaji Jakande, Chief 

Solanke and Professor 

Lucas have rich resumes 

that speak of greatness.’’ 

In his remarks, Kolade, 

who was the chairman of 

the forum, said: “They are 

examples to Nigerians, 

By AbdulSalam 

Muhammad 

KANO—THE Economic 

and Financial Crimes 

Commission, EFCC, 

yesterday, quizzed former 

governor of Kano State, 

Ibrahim Shekarau, over 

alleged money laundering. 

The former Education 

Minister was at anti-graft 

agency's zonal office 

alongside former Minister 

for Foreign Affairs, 

Ambassador Aminu Wali, 

for 

their 

alleged involvement in the 

sharing of N950 million 

meant for 2015 elections 

campaign. 

Shekarau, who arrived 

the EFCC's office at 

3.15p.m., was received by 

hundreds of supporters 

especially the younger 

generation, because they 

were exemplary in public 

service.” 

While reviewing the 

book, Ogunsola 

commended Jakende, 

Solanke and Lucas, noting 

that their lives should be 

seen as a challenge for 

Nigerians to be selfless. 

chanting anti-Buhari 

slogan. 

He was later released at 

about 4.20p.m. on selfrecognition 

and billed to 

appear before the Federal 

High Court, Kano, 

tomorrow. 

Shekarau had denied 

receiving any money from 

PDP campaign 

organisation when he was 

invited by EFCC in May 

2016 on the same matter. 

Speaking with reporters 

at the EFCC office, counsel 

to Shekarau, Abdul Fagge, 

said EFCC was charging 

the former minister for 

money laundering. 

I’m innocent—Shekarau 

Meanwhile, Shekarau 

has insisted the allegation 

against him lacks clear 

Also speaking, Otuedon- 

Arawore said: “Hallmarks 

of Labour Volume 9 is 

dedicated to the greatest 

and finest human beings in 

the world. 

“I thank God for the great 

privilege of knowing and 

working with him for 

almost two decades. He is 

Professor Umaru Shehu.” 

EFCC quizzes Shekarau over money laundering 

By Sam Eyoboka 

THE Nigerian Christian 

Elders Forum, NCEF, 

has tabled seven-point 

demands before the British 

Government for the 

peaceful resolution of the 

sectarian crisis threatening 

the stability of Nigeria. 

During a visit to the 

British High Commission 

in Abuja as part of its efforts 

to provide solution to the 

crisis in Nigeria, the 

Christian Elders accused 

the British Government of 

skewing leadership 

advantage to the Islamists 

of northern Nigeria, 

particularly the Fulani 

Muslims. 

The NCEF said it wanted 

to place on record that it was 

the responsibility of 

Nigerian Christians to 

resist Islamists’ attempt to 

replace secularity with 

Sharia in the country and 

transmute Nigeria into an 

Islamic Sultanate. 

In a statement signed by 

the NCEF chairman, Elder 

Solomon Asemota SAN, 

the elders enjoined the 

British Government to 

evidence. 

A statement by his 

spokesperson, Sule Yau, 

noted that all issues 

around the N25 million 

allegedly collected for 

2015 campaigns was 

unfounded. 


statement, “since 2016, 

when the issue of election 

fund came up, Shekarau 

was invited by EFCC to 

explain the amount given 

to him along with other 

stakeholders of the party 

in Kano to prosecute the 

election, but he denied 

ever receiving such 

amount and challenged 

EFCC to produce any one 

who has given him the 

money or any evidence to 

prove that he actually 

collected the money.” 

Islamisation: Christian elders seek British 

intervention 

understand the issues 

unfolding in the country 

and assist in the 

establishment of “Nigeria 

where, in the words of our 

Independence National 

Anthem, ’Though tribes 

and tongues may differ, in 

brotherhood we stand.’ 

Other demands include: 

“Urgently, a Truth, Peace 

and Reconciliation 

Commission should be set 

up as the basis for 

confession, forgiveness, 

healing and reconciliation 

in the country, and 

restructuring of the 

country.”



CELEBRATION: From left—Curator, National Museum, Ibadan, Dr. Amos 

Olorunnipa; representative of Oyo State Governor's Wife, Mrs Bolanle Alli; 

Adimula of Ifewara, Oba Dr. Adeniyi Owolola; Chairman of the occasion, Dr. 

Olusegun Opadeji; Dr. Rasheed Olaniyi; and General Manager/ Editor-in-Chief, 

Vanguard Newspaper, Mr Gbenga Adefaye, cutting the cake to mark the 

International Museum Day held at the National Museum of Unity, Ibadan. Photos 

by Dare Fasube. 

Return Nigeria to regionalism, Alaafin, 

Aare Adams, others tell FG 

...advocate restructuring, implementation of 2014 Confab report 

By Dapo 

Akinrefon 

IBADAN—THE Alaafin 

of Oyo, Oba Lamidi 

Adeyemi III; Aare 

Onakakafo of Yoruba Land, 

Gani Adams; retired 

Archbishop of the 

Methodist Church, Ayo 

Ladigbolu and a retired 

Assistant Inspector- 

General of Police, Mr. Tunji 

Alapini among others, 

yesterday, urged the 


return Nigeria to the 

regional system of 

government being 

operated in the country 

before the military coup 

d’état of 1966 before it 

would be too late. 

According to them, the 

current structure is a 

marriage of inconvenience 

which would continue to 

breed disunity, starvation, 

under-development, and 

insecurity. 

They said this at a 

conference on Food 

Security in Yoruba Land, 

tagged: ‘Protecting Yoruba 

Land’, organized by a Pan- 

Yoruba Socio-cultural 

Group, Yoruba KO’YA 

Movement at Atiba Hall, 

Oyo-Alaafin, Oyo State. 

Implement 2014 

confab report 

—Alaafin 

The Alaafin of Oyo called 

on 

President 

Muhammadu Buhari to 

consider implementing the 

resolutions of the 2014 

national conference, saying 

most of the country’s 

problems had been 

addressed by the 

resolutions of the 

conference. 

Oba Adeyemi said: 

“Before the military coup of 

1966, spearheaded mainly 

by the northerners, what 

we had was a regional 

system of government 

where every region 

controlled their resources, 

but after they took over, they 

moved everything away 

from the regions to the 

centre, rendering the 

regions powerless. 

“They first created 12 

states, later 19, later 21, 

later 30, later 36, and ever 

since, they did not allow 

civilians to create any 

state. The Lancaster, 

London resolutions of 1959 

constitutional government 

that gave us regionalism is 

the way out; the current 

quasi-federal system of 

government would 

continue to promote 

hunger, ethnic 

intimidation, religious 

intolerance, infrastructure 

decadence. I demand a 

return to where we were 

before 1966. 

“When we were under 

regionalism, Yoruba was 

exporting cotton, calabash, 

textile raw materials, yam, 

plantain, cocoa, we were 

number one in education, 

we were the first to have a 

dual carriage road in 

Nigeria in 1959. 

The Oyo monarch, who 

spoke in Yoruba, urged the 


implement the 

recommendations of the 

2014 National Conference. 

He said: “We all met in 

2014 political reform 

conference; we discussed 

the problems confronting 

Nigeria and far-reaching 

resolutions were reached, 

but everything has been 

swept under the carpet 

without any justifications. I 

want them to revisit 

everything. 

Yoruba should wake 

from their slumber 

—Gani Adams 

On his part, Gani Adams, 

who was represented by 

Mr. Yinka Ogundimu said 

Yoruba people should wake 

up from slumber, stressing 

that herdsmen were 

intimidating “our farmers 

and tormenting our people 

on their lands because they 

feed us.” 

Reeling out statistics, 

Adams said: “Today, 

N8billion is being taken 

from the economy of the 

South West to the North 

every day through 

agriculture alone. 

“We should work hard to 

secure our region, but I 

want to call on our people 

to go back to farm. Let’s 

feed ourselves. We are 

ready to work with Yoruba 

KO’YA Movement to 

salvage Yoruba land." 

Ondo deputy speaker impeached 

By Dayo Johnson 

A KURE—MEMBERS 

of the Ondo State 

House of Assembly, 

yesterday, impeached the 

deputy speaker, Mr. Iroju 

Ogundeji for allegedly 

working at variance with 

the Speaker. 

The motion for 

Ogundeji’s impeachment 

was moved by Mr. Fatai 

Olotu from Akoko 

Northeast constituency and 

supported by Mr. Malachi 

Coker Adeniyi Emmanuel 

of Ilaje constituency (II). 

He was immediately 

replaced with Hon Bimbo 

Fajolu of Ile-Oluji/Oke- 

Igbo constituency and has 

been sworn-in. 

The sack of Ogundeji was 

a sequel to the power play 

between him and the 

speaker Bamidele 

Oloyelogun. 

Vanguard learned that 

the lawmakers, in an 

impeachment notice, 

signed by 18 out of the 26 

members accused Iroju of 

working at variance with 

the Speaker. 

While moving the motion 

for Iroju’s sack, Olotu said: 

“Such a frosty relationship 

between the office of the 

Speaker and his Deputy is 

not in the interest of 

members. The office of the 

Speaker is an exalted one 

that must be respected.” 

Corroborating Olotu’s 

position, Mr. Olajide 

Sunday, who seconded the 

motion for impeachment, 

maintained that the 18 

lawmakers who signed the 

impeachment notice were 

From left—Dr. Olajumoke Ajibola; Chief Yemi Soladoye; and representative of 

the Acting Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments 

at the event. 

convinced that working at 

cross purposes by the 

Speaker and the Deputy 

would not bring the desired 

democratic dividends to 

the people. 

Following the 

secondment of the motion, 

the Speaker called for a 

voice vote and members 

were unanimous in their 

call for the impeachment of 

Iroju. 

Thereafter, Mr. 

Abimbola Fajolu was 

nominated as Deputy 

Speaker by Mr. Isreal 

Olajide and seconded by a 

former speaker Jumoke 

Akindele. 

The sacked deputy 

speaker, who was present 

at the plenary, later walked 

out of the Chambers and 

declined comment. 

I was sacked for refusing to 

implicate Jonathan, Saraki, 

Ekweremadu, others—Uwajeh 

•Why Uwajeh was fired—AGF 

By Soni Daniel, 

Northern Region 

Editor & Omeiza 

Ajayi 

A BUJA—SACKED 

Special Investigator to 

the Special Presidential 

Investigation Panel on 

Recovery of Public Property, 

Evang. Victor Uwajeh, has 

accused President 

Muhammadu Buhari’s 

administration of bias in its 

anti-corruption crusade. 

Uwajeh claimed he was 

sacked less than two 

months after his 

appointment because the 

administration had a 

mindset about who should 

be prosecuted at all costs. 

In a statement issued 

yesterday in Abuja, 

Uwajeh said he was 

specifically detailed to trace 

the assets of the wife of 

former President Goodluck 

Jonathan, Patience, Senate 

President, Bukola Saraki, 

his deputy, Ike 

Ekweremadu, former Vice 

President, Atiku Abubakar, 

and many others. 

The statement read: “It 

was the procedure of the 

panel to courier documents 

to me from Nigeria for 

dispatch to various 

agencies in the United 

Kingdom and worldwide. 

Soon after I realised that 

the panel had a mindset 

towards certain individuals 

and groups by the 

documents it sent to me. 

“Documents sent to me 

from Abuja to dispatch to 

the Serious Fraud Office 

and Home Office, 

Metropolitan Police, FBI 

and EUROPOL had the 

names of the following 

senators: Senate President, 

Abubakar Bukola Saraki, 

Deputy Senate President, 

Ike Ekweremadu, Sen. 

Albert Bassey Akpan and 

Sen. Stella Adaeze Oduah. 

“I was also given a list 

which includes former Vice 

President, Atiku Abubakar, 

Femi Fani- Kayode, Sen. 

James Manager, Governor 

Nyesom Wike, Senator 

Jonah Jang, and Patience 

Jonathan, among others. 

Meanwhile, Minister of 

Justice and Attorney 

General of the Federation, 

Abubakar Malami, 

yesterday, chided Uwajeh, 

for claiming that the federal 

government relieved him of 

his job because he refused 

to take on highly placed 

government ‘opponents’. 

Malami said: “In the first 

place, the federal 

government of Nigeria did 

not even need the services 

of the suspect since we 

have a lot of institutions and 

personnel who can 

effectively handle such an 

assignment. 

“Uwajeh suppressed the 

fact that he was a suspect 

standing trial apparently to 

impress the panel to 

engage him. This was 

unfortunate. 

“But if Uwajeh wants to 

impress the world with the 

story he is now bearing, the 

fundamental question he 

should answer is whether 

indeed, he was being 

prosecuted by the office of 

the AGF for fraud, 

impersonation and forgery 

long before now. 

“We cannot use a suspect 

of fraud to do investigation 

of those who have been 

accused of fraudulent 

activities. It would be wrong 

and unreasonable to do so. 

“The investigator should 

also tell the world if he did 

at any time disclose to 

anyone on the panel before 

and after his engagement 

about the pendency of his 

forgery and fraud case in 

court."


Congress: Group vows to resist 

attempts to hijack Delta APC 

By Festus Ahon & 

Ochuko Akuopha 

A SABA—CON- 

VOCATION of 

Delta State APC Support 

Groups, CDASG, 

yesterday, vowed to resist 

alleged attempts by some 

individuals to hijack the 

structure of All 


APC, in the state, 

declaring its support for 

the outcome of Monday’s 

congress that produced 

We're injecting state civil service 

with fresh blood —Obaseki 

By Simon Ebegbulem 

B 

E N I N — 

GOVERNOR 

Godwin Obaseki of Edo 

State has said the state 

government was set to 

strengthen the civil service 

with the injection of new 

blood and more technical 

manpower through the 

ongoing recruitment 

exercise in the service. 

Obaseki disclosed this 

when he received the 2017 

Annual Report from the 

Chairman, Edo State Civil 


Chief Cyril Ogodo as 

Chairman of the party in 

the state. 

It also urged the 

National Working 

Committee of the party to 

“disregard whatever lists 

of purported outcome of 

Delta Wards, LGAs and 

state congresses 

emanating from the 

quarters of those who are 

hell-bent on acquiring 

the APC structure so they 

could sell it to Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP.” 

Service Commission, Princess 

Ekiuwa Inneh, at Government 

House in Benin 

City. 

Noting that the state 

government will continue 

to prioritise recruitment of 

skilled hands to beef up the 

capacity of the civil service 

to respond to the demands 

of a fast-changing world, he 

commended the 

commission for aligning 

with the focus, in its latest 

advertisement to fill 

vacancies in the service. 

3rd Anniversary: Security my greatest 

achievement —Wike 

By Egufe Yafugborhi 

PORT 

HAR- 

C O U R T — 

FOLLOWING his 

numerous completed and 

ongoing infrastructural 

projects across Rivers State, 

Governor Nyesom Wike, 

yesterday, said restoration 

of peace was his most 

outstanding achievement 

so far as he marks three 

years in office. 

Wike, during a media 

chat in Port Harcourt, also 

cited security as the most 

demanding challenge his 

administration has had to 

contend with so far in the 

last three years. 

He said: “My greatest 

achievement is in the area 

of security. No society can 

be crime-free, but you and 

I know that things are not 

what they used to be. So, 

my greatest achievement is 

in the area of security. And 

when you ask what is my 

toughest challenge, 

security has also been the 

toughest. 

“Security is still my 

toughest challenge because 

you cannot be a governor 

and be happy that people 

are dying. Forget 

infrastructure. If people are 

not there, what are you 

creating infrastructure for? 

Infrastructures are meant 

for human enjoyment, so it 

is my responsibility to make 

sure lives and property are 

protected.” 

Threat to my life real 

On alleged threats to his 

life by federal forces, the 

governor said: “Threats to 

my life are real. People say 

how do you know and my 

response is, how I know is 

not the issue. The issue is 

whether it is true, and they 

always come out to be true. 

“When they wanted to go 

to my house to search, we 

knew that a search warrant 

was already being 

prepared. We went to court 

and we won. The court said 

you cannot search the 

home of a serving 

governor. I can’t just wake 

up and say my life is under 

threat. 

“Senate President, 

Bukola Saraki, raised a 

similar alarm recently and 

all these are happening 

because some individuals 

want everybody to share 

same view on the nation’s 

democracy and national 

development. The minute 

you express a contrary view, 

you are labeled as enemy.” 

No amnesty programme, no peace in Niger 

Delta —Ex-agitators 

A 

group of exagitators 

drawn 

from states in the South- 

South geopolitical zone, 

yesterday, warned 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari’s political 

appointees and other top 

government officials to 

desist from making 

p r o v o c a t i v e 

pronouncements that could 

truncate the prevailing 

fragile peace in the restive 

Niger Delta. 

This followed a statement 

credited to Special Adviser 

on Niger Delta Affairs to the 

Minister on Niger Delta 

Affairs, Mr. Charles 

Achodo, to the effect that 

the Presidential Amnesty 

Programme was 

unsustainable. 

The group urged 

Minister of State for 

Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, 

to call his aide to order. 

In a statement, yesterday 

in Abuja after an 

emergency meeting under 

the aegis of Niger Delta 

Progressive Front, NDPF, 

the group described 

Achodo’s remarks as 

vexatious, provocative, 

irrational and capable of 

heating up the relative 

stable environment in the 

Niger Delta. 

HALLMARKS OF LABOUR BOOK PRESENTATION FEATURING ALHAJI LATEEF 

JAKANDE, CHIEF FOLAKE AND PROF. LUCAS, IN LAGOS PHOTOS BY AKEEM SALAU 

From left: Dr. Akintola Benson Oke, Commissioner, Lagos State Ministry 

of Establishment,Training and Pensions, representing Governor Akinwumi 

Ambode; Mrs. Patricia Otuedon-Arawore, author of the book; Dr Christopher 

Kolade, Chairman; Chief Folake Solanke, (SAN); Prof Adetokunbo Oluwole 

Lucas and Alhaji Lateef Jakande, former governor of Lagos State, at the 

Hallmarks of Labour formal presentation of book featuring: Alh Jakande; 

Chief Folake and Prof Lucas, held at the Nigerian Institute of International 

Affairs, Lagos, yesterday. Photos: Akeem Salau. 

From left: Prof Akin Mabogunje; Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, former governor 

of Delta State and Mr Oyinlomo Danmole 

From left: Alhaja Sinatu Ojikutu, fomer Deputy 

Governor of Lagos State; Mrs Nike Akande, former 

President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and 

Industry and Chief Phillip Asiodu. 

From left: Amb. Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu; 

Erelu Abiola Dosunmu and Mrs Serah Sosan, 

former Deputy Governor of Lagos State. 

From left: Aremo Olusegun Osoba, former 

governor of Ogun State; Prof Njidda Gadzama and 

Chief Francesca Emmanuel.



Why I threatened to quit PANDEF, by Ikponmwen 

By Simon Ebegbulem 

BENIN—EDO State 

Chairman of Pan 

Niger Delta Forum, 

PANDEF, Brig-Gen. 

Idada Ikponmwen (retd), 

yesterday, explained 

why he threatened to 

quit PANDEF last year, 

saying it was as a result 

of what he described as 

the “Annoying and 

unacceptable” posture of 

Col. Paul Ogbebor (retd) 

Gelegele Seaport: Ijaw gives Edo 21-day 

ultimatum to execute demands 

By Emma Amaize 

WARRI—IJAWS of 

Edo State 

Emancipation Movement, 

IESEM, yesterday, gave 

Edo State Government a 

21-day ultimatum to 

implement six peace 

conditions on the Gelegele 

(Gelegele-Gbene) Seaport 

project or both the 

government and its 

Chinese partners, China 

Habour Engineering 

Company, CHEC, will be 

treated as raiders of 

Ijawland. 

The group, in a statement 

by its coordinator and 

spokesman, Joel 

Keniwenimowei and David 

Ebipamojo, warned that 

“Failure to do so (meet the 

conditions), we, the owners 

of the land shall have no 

option than to treat the 

presence of Edo State 

Government and its 

Chinese Partners, China 


Company, CHEC, as 

enemy invaders in our 

land. 

“Edo State Government 

should provide a letter of 

intent with regard to 

Gelegele-Gbene Seaport 

project; produce and make 

available, 

an 

Environmental Impact 

in the affairs of the 

forum in the state and 

not because of the leader 

of the forum, Chief 

Edwin Clark. 

Ikponmwen, who 

vowed to pursue the 

objectives of PANDEF 

which, according to him, 

will not only bring 

development and unity 

to the people of the 

Niger Delta but Edo 

State in particular, said 

Assessment, EIA, report if 

any to the Agadagba of 

Olodiama Kingdom and 

the Gelegele community. 

“Produce and make 

available 

the 

Memorandum of 

Understanding, MoU, 

entered into by the 

government of Edo State 

and CHEC to the Olodiama 

Kingdom, otherwise the 

composition and 

recommendation work of 

the Gelegele (Gelegele- 

Gbene) Seaport Committee 

will not be recognised by 

us. 

“Accord the Gelegele 

community and Olodiama 

Kingdom, all the rights, 

Crude oil spillage wreaks havoc in Delta 

communities 

By Onozure Dania 

A 

devastating oil 

spillage has 

occurred on the 24 inches 

Trans Ramos crude oil 

pipeline owned by Shell 

Petroleum Development 

Company, SPDC, affecting 

over 50 communities under 

Odimodi Federated 

Communities in Burutu 

Local Government Area of 

Delta State. 

Following distress calls, 

the member representing 

Burutu federal constituency 

that Chief Clark had led 

the forum with all 

honesty 

and 

doggedness since its 

inception. 

Speaking to Vanguard 

in an interview, 

Ikponmwen said: 

“Sometime last year, I 

made a comment about 

PANDEF where I angrily 

said that some persons 

were not comfortable 

with me and I even 

privileges, benefits and 

royalties accruable from the 

project operations as 

owners of the land; and the 

Edo State Government 

should immediately shelve 

their plan to change the 

name of Gelegele Seaport 

to Benin River Seaport. 

“This plan is borne out of 

evil and we shall resist it 

with our God- given rights 

and by all means necessary. 

Gelegele is in Olodiama 

Kingdom (Ijawland); the 

naming of the port should 

reflect land ownership and 

recognise the rights of the 

indigenous communities. 

The public should take note 

that Governor Godwin 

threatened to quit the 

forum. But I want to 

explain that I was 

reacting to the 

provocative and 

unacceptable conduct of 

somebody who was 

arrogating to himself the 

leadership of Edo State 

PANDEF at a time when 

the structure was still 

being worked out by the 

Central Working 

Committee." 

VISIT: Immediate past governor of Edo State and aspirant for the National Chairmanship of the 

APC, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole (2nd left), Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki (2nd right) and other 

members of the APC Caucus of the Senate, during Oshiomhole's visit to the Senate, yesterday. 

in the House of 

Representatives, Julius 

Pondi, the member 

representing Burutu 1 

Constituency in Delta State 

House of Assembly, Daniel 

Yingi and the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, 

Chairman, Delta South 

senatorial district, Prince 

Emman Amgbaduba, 

among others, visited the 

community for an on the 

spot assessment of the 

situation. 

Pondi and Yingi who 

sympathised with the 

Obaseki of Edo State will 

be held responsible in this 

matter if there is any 

breakdown of law and 

order.” 

IESEM told the governor: 

“His Excellency, your secret 

visits and those of China 


Company officials to 

Gelegele community on 

May 5 and 19, respectively 

without a courtesy call on 

the Pere (king) in council, 

Pere Godwin Ogunoyibo, 

the Agadagba of Olodiama 

Kingdom is a sacrilege 

against the revered Ijaw 

traditional institution and a 

demonstration of raw power 

that tramples on the rights 

of the indigenous people 

and communities." 

communities affected by the 

spillage, expressed 

concern that Shell had not 

shown any commitment to 

the plight of the people 

since the spillage occurred. 

They said though Shell 

had put measures in place 

to contain the spread and 

to recover crude oil from the 

damaged pipeline, the 

spillage had polluted the 

entire area, destroying 

aquatic life which has 

made fishing which is the 

major occupation of the 

people impossible. 

FG owes us N140bn on road 

projects —A-Ibom govt 

By Harris-Okon 

Emmanuel 

UYO—AKWA Ibom 


has insisted that the 

Federal Government owes 

the state N140 billion, which 

it expended on the 

construction and 

rehabilitation of federal 

roads in the state in the last 

three years. 

It lamented that the 

continued delay by the 


refund the money was 

hampering the execution of 

more road projects in the 

state. 

State Commissioner for 

Works, Mr. Ephraim 

Inyang-Eyen, added that 

Governor Udom 

E m m a n u e l ’ s 

administration was 

currently handling 44 major 

road projects across the 

state despite the huge 

amount owed by the 

Federal Government, 

2019: Urhobo nation urged to 

support Okowa’s 2nd term bid 

By Festus Ahon 

A SABA—SPEAKER 

of Delta State House 

of Assembly, Chief Sheriff 

Oborevwori, has charged 

the Urhobo nation to 

support the second term 

aspiration of Governor 

Ifeanyi Okowa. 

Speaking when leaders of 

Urhobo Progress Union, 

UPU, paid him a courtesy 

visit in his Osubi country 

home, Oborevwori said 

Governor Okowa meant 

well for the state, adding 

that the governor was 

developing all parts of the 

state. 

Urging the Urhobo to 

support Delta North 

senatorial district to 

explaining that the non-refund 

of the money had 

slowed down the pace of 

work and number of roads 

that would have been done 

across the state. 

He said: “The 

achievements recorded by 

the administration in roads 

infrastructure and other key 

areas is due to Governor 

Emmanuel’s transparency 

and prudent management 

of the lean resources 

accruing to the state. 

“We are currently 

constructing 44 roads in 

Akwa Ibom. If the Federal 

Government had refunded 

even a kobo to us, we would 

have done 80. The Federal 

Government is owing us in 

the region of N140billion. 

And from genuine 

approvals and verified 

positions, they came to the 

conclusion that in the first 

tranche, they will give us 

N70 billion as the first 

payment." 

complete its eight years 

term in the person of 

Okowa, he said: “We the 

Urhobo need to be united 

in our support for Okowa’s 

second term bid.” 

While thanking the UPU 

leadership for the visit, he 

appealed to the youths to 

remain peaceful and law 

abiding. 

Speaking earlier, 

President-General of UPU, 

Olorogun Moses Taiga 

commended the Speaker 

for the empowerment of his 

constituents. 

Taiga who spoke through 

his Secretary, Mr Ese Gam, 

said “The UPU started even 

before we were born. We are 

prepared to carry on with 

the UPU flag.” 

2019: Ex-militant leader assures 

Buhari of N’Delta votes 

A BUJA—EX- 

MILITANT leader, 

‘General’ Emma Sinaman, 

yesterday, said he has 

plans to ensure that 


Buhari gets massive votes 

in 2019 from the Niger 

Delta region because of 

what he was doing in the 

region. 

Sinaman said: “As the 

2019 presidential election 

draws closer and with a lot 

of politicking going on, I 

want to assure President 

Buhari that he should not 

be troubled because his 

achievements are visible in 

the country, particularly in 

the Niger Delta region. 

“I shall lead other exmilitants 

under my 

leadership in the onerous 

task I have assigned to 

myself without fear of 

intimidation from any 

person or group. 

“Our people are very 

happy with the historic 

take-off of the long-awaited 

Maritime University. We are 

living witnesses of reforms 

in the amnesty programme 

and appointment of 

Professor Charles Dokubo 

as Special Adviser to the 

President on Niger Delta/ 

Coordinator of the 

Presidential Amnesty 

Programme.” 

The ex-militant leader, 

however, appealed to the 

President to complete the 

East-West Road for his 

name to be written in gold.

14—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 

CATHOLICS PROTEST KILLINGS IN BENUE, OTHER STATES 

Members of Catholic Church, yesterday protested nationwide 

against killings in Benue State and other parts of the country. 

ABEOKUTA: Photo: Wunmi Akinola 

IBADAN. Photo: DARE FASUBE. 

BENIN City, Edo State: Photo: Barnabas 

Uzosike. 

PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS. Photo: Nwankpa Chijioke. 

LAGOS. Photo: Kehinde Shonola. 

KADUNA. Photo: Olu Ajayi. 

At NSUKKA LG headquarters, Enugu State. 

ABUJA: Photo: Abayomi Adeshida 

DELTA STATE: Photo: Nath Onojake.



I can’t go back to APGA—Okorocha 

•As court adjourns case on Imo congress till June 22 

•It’s shame Okorocha can’t fix roads in Ideato—Ihedioha 

By Chidi 

Nkwopara & 

Chinonso Alozie 

O 

W E R R I — 

EMBATTLED 

Governor of Imo State, 

Rochas Okorocha, 

yesterday, dispelled 

speculations and rumours 

making the rounds that he 

was planning to rejoin the 

All Progressive Grand 

Alliance, APGA, as he said 

he would never go back to 

the party. 

Okorocha spoke in a 

release signed by his Chief 

Press Secretary, Mr. Sam 

Onwuemeodo and made 

available to newsmen in 

Owerri. The governor 

boasted that when he left 

APGA, he had moved to 

APC with the major 

stakeholders of APGA. 

This came as a Federal 

High Court sitting in 

Owerri, adjourned till June 

22, 2018 , a case 

challenging the outcome of 

the state congress of the Imo 

State All Progressives 

Congress, APC. 

According to the release, 

”Governor Okorocha is one 

of the principal founders of 

APC and when he took the 

mainstream of APGA to join 

the merger that gave birth 

to APC, he was not under 

any pressure to do so. He 

even took that action at the 

risk of his second tenure. 

”He became the propeller 

of APC in Imo and the 

whole of South East, 

mobilising people for the 

party in Imo, Ebonyi, Abia, 

Enugu and Anambra 

States. He was the rallying 

point and he did that in 

the overall interest of the 

South-East and indeed, 

APC.” 

Court adjourns Imo 

APC congress case 

till June 22 

The trial Judge, Justice 

Lewis Alagwa, also granted 

a motion exparte before the 

court by counsel to the 

plaintiffs, Chigozie Aladun, 

requesting that the 

respondents should be 

served through substituted 

means, one which is the 

APC state chairman Mr. 

Hilary Eke. 

According to Aladun, “It 

is just that some people 

have not been served and 

our interest is that 

everybody must be heard. 

Let us hear everybody. 

“We filed a motion experte 

to serve them which the 

court graciously granted. 

We will serve them and 

then on June 22, when the 

matter is coming up, they 

will say their own and we 

say our own, then the rule 

of law will be enhanced.” 

On why the plaintiffs 

went to court, Aladun said: 

“It is very simple; their 

position is that the congress 

was inconclusive and then 

the most appropriate thing 

to do is for the party to 

effectively consider their 

complaints and the court 

will give its ruling one way 

or the other. 

“Some of the officers of the 

party have not been served. 

The chairman of the party 

in Imo State has not been 

served. The court granted 

leave to serve him by 

substituted means. We will 

do that and all of us will be 

ready for June 22nd.” 

Speaking also, Soronadi 

Njoku, counsel to the 

National Organising 

Secretary of APC, Osita 

Izunaso, said a preliminary 

objection had been filed 

challenging the jurisdiction 

of the court to hear the 

matter. 

Njoku said: “It was awash 

in the social media through 

out the weekend starting 

from Friday, that this court 

made an order restraining 

the APC from holding or 

organizing the state 

congress in Imo state. 

“It was everywhere that 

the court has made an order 

restraining the APC from 

carrying out the state 

congress pursuant to an 

order filed by the 

plaintiffs". 

It’s shame Okorocha 

can’t fix roads in 

Ideato—Ihedioha 

Meantime, the former 

Deputy Speaker, House of 

Representatives, Chief 

Emeka Ihedioha, said it 

was a shame that Governor 

Rochas Okorocha could not 

fix the bad road network in 

his Ideato country home, 

since 2011. 

Chief Ihedioha, who was 

reacting to the lamentations 

of Ideato people, during 

his consultation visit to 

Ndiejezie and 

Arondizuogu, wondered 

what Okorocha plans to 

post as his testimonial at the 

end of his tenure. 

“Those who have not 

visited Ndiejezie 

Arondizuogu may not fully 

appreciate what you people 

pass through on a daily 

basis. The road network in 

Ideato is not only a bad 

testimonial for your son 

(Okorocha), but also a clear 

proof that you have been 

abandoned for a long time”, 

Ihedioha said. 

According to the former 

lawmaker, “the situation of 

roads in Ideato is a replica 

of the economic life of the 

state.”, stressing that 

“propaganda, cosmetic 

smiles, falsehood, 

intimidation and the 

prevailing grab-grab 

mentality, will not extricate 

the state and citizens from 

the economic mess we 

have found ourselves.” 

SUMMIT: From left—Minister of State, Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, 

Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, National President, Institute for Tourism 

Professionals, and others, signing visitors register at Federal Airports 

Authority of Nigeria Exhibition Stand at the National Tourism Transport 

Summit and Expo in Abuja, yesterday. 

N2.4bn suit against Innoson: Court 

awaits Supreme Court’s decision 

AFederal High Court in 

Lagos, yesterday, 

adjourned until June 27 for 

the Supreme Court’s 

decision in the trial of 

Innosson Nigeria Ltd for a 

N2.4 billion suit over 

alleged falsification of 

shipping documents. 

The Federal Government 

had through the office of the 

Attorney-General of the 

Federation, AGF, filed a 

four-count charge 

bordering on forgery 

against Innosson and four 

others before Justice 

Ayokunle Faji. 

Listed as accused are: 

Innosson Nig. Ltd, Innocent 

Chukwuma, Charles 

Chukwu, Maximian 

Chukwura, Mitsui Osk 

Lines ‘C’ and Anajekwu 

Sunny. 

The accused were alleged 

to have conspired to 

commit the offences on 

October 10, 2013 at Apapa 

Wharf, Lagos. 

When the case was called 

on Tuesday, only one of the 

accused, Maximum 

Chukwura, was present in 

court. 

J. I. Ajakaiye announced 

appearance for the 

prosecution, George 

Uwechue (SAN) for the 

first and second accused, J. 

N. Mbadugha, appeared 

for the third and sixth 

accused, while Olusola 

Abimloye is for the fourth 

and fifth accused. 

Addressing the court, Mr 

Mbadugha informed 

Justice Faji that the 

position at the Supreme 

Court remained the same 

as the pending appeal had 

not been heard. 

He said he had also 

applied that the case 

should be given 

accelerated hearing. 

In his reaction, Justice 

Faji asked if the prosecution 

as well as other defence 

counsel had been served 

with the application and Mr 

Mbadugha replied in the 

negative. 

The court then held that 

it was wrong for defence 

counsel not to have served 

other parties with his 

application, adding that 

counsel cannot address the 

court “ex parte” (without 

notice to other parties). 

On his part, the 

prosecutor, Mr Ajakaiye, 

informed the court that the 

facts of the case were not 

as stated by defence 

counsel. 


prosecutor, the appeal was 

entered at the Supreme 

Court on February 28 and 

by the court’s rules, the 

appellant ought to have 

filed his written brief within 

10 weeks. 

FG to pay N133m compensation 

to 5 communities in Abia 

By Anayo Okoli 

U MUAHIA—POWER, 

Works and Housing 

Minister, Mr. Babatunde 

Fashola, has approved the 

payment of about N133 

million compensation to 

five Abia communities 

whose lands were acquired 

for the construction of trailer 

parks at Lokpanta Cattle 

market, on the Enugu-Port 

Harcourt Expressway, 

Umunneochi council area 

of Abia State. 

This was disclosed by the 

Federal Controller, Federal 

Ministry of Works, Mr. 

Chukwudike Nwankwo, 

who said the ministry 

would commence the 

disbursement of the fund to 

the five involved 

communities in 

Umunneochi Local 

Government Area. 

“The minister has given 

approval for the payment of 

compensation of about 

N133 million. It is a very 

large parcel of land, 

involving about five 

communities. 

“We will commence the 

disbursement soon and 

once we are through, the 

construction of the park will 

start”, Nwankwo 

explained. 

Nwankwo explained that 

the minister had also 

directed the immediate 

evacuation of the trailers 

out of the two lanes of the 

dual carriage way in order 

to allow for free-flow of 

traffic. 

He said that the ministry 

would also erect a block wall 

to fence off the cattle market 

from the expressway. 

Meanwhile, the Minister 

has disclosed that the 

Federal Government would 

apply for another 

intervention from SUKUK 

so that more money would 

be made available to the 

contractors to ensure the 

completion of the project 

before the next rainy 

season. 

Fashola expressed 

delight that the 

intervention from SUKUK 

had brought tremendous 

progress on the road 

project. 

He said that more than 

40 per cent of the job had 

been done by SETRACO 

and hoped that one side of 

the dual carriageway would 

be completed and opened 

for traffic before December. 

Tinubu supports Ugwuanyi’s 

re-election bid 

…inaugurates FG project in Enugu 

CHAIRMAN, Senate 

Committee on 

Environment, Senator 

Oluremi Tinubu has 

extolled the leadership 

virtues of Governor Ifeanyi 

Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, 

describing him as “a very 

good and humble man” 

who she would wish to see 

return to office in 2019. 

Senator Tinubu, who is a 

former first lady of Lagos 

State and wife of national 

leader of the All 


APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed 

Tinubu, spoke in Enugu, 

when she represented 


Buhari to inaugurate the 

gully erosion control and 

road improvement works 

executed by the federal 

government at Awlaw, Orji 

River Local Government 

Area. 

She expressed delight at 

the peaceful atmosphere in 

the state and the warm 

hospitality accorded 

members of the committee 

by Gov. Ugwuanyi, saying: 

“The people of Enugu State 

are very lucky to have you 

as their governor”. 

The senator, who told 

Gov. Ugwuanyi that God 

has already ordained his reelection, 

added: “I wish to 

see you back on the seat in 

2019”. 

Senator Tinubu while 

inaugurating the project 

disclosed that it was “one 

of the 18 ecological 

intervention projects 

approved by Mr. President 

for the first quarter of 2017”, 

stressing that the 

intervention has brought a 

huge relief to the sufferings 

of the people of the 

community. 

While appreciating the 

federal government for the 

project, Senator Tinubu also 

commended the Secretary 

to the Government of the 

Federation (SGF), Mr. 

Boss Mustapha; Gov. 

Ugwuanyi; the Ecological 

Fund Office; the Project 

Contractor and Consultant 

as well as the Traditional 

Ruler of Awlaw community, 

Igwe Samuel Uka and his 

people for the “timely and 

speedy completion of the 

project”. 

In his address, Gov. 

Ugwuanyi expressed 

gratitude to President 

Buhari “for approving this 

very important project”, 

which he said “has not only 

brought succour to our 

people but will significantly 

reduce the threat posed by 

gully erosion and other 

ecological issues in this 

area”. 

The governor also 

thanked Senator Tinubu 

and other members of her 

committee, who contributed 

to the success of the project.



Biafra Day celebration turns 

bloody as JTF cracks 

down on BIM members 

•Five Pro-Brafra agitators allegedly killed, four injured in Anambra 

•Police arrest over 600 BIM members 

•Biafra govt already in place—BIM 

By Peter Okutu, 

Davies 

Iheamnachor, 

Emma Una, 

Nwabueze 

Okonkwo, Eric 

Ugbor, 

Ugochukwu 

Alaribe & Cynthia 

Alo 

A BAKALIKI— 

ACTIVITIES 

marking the 18th 

anniversary celebration of 

new Biafra, yesterday 

turned bloody in Onitsha, 

Anambra State, as 

members of the Biafra 

Independence Movement, 

BIM, accused the joint 

military task force operating 

in the state of killing five of 

their members. 

BIM also accused the 

military task force of 

breaking the skulls of four 

of its members and 

arresting over 600 members 

across the country in what 

they termed a most 

gruesome manner. 

Alleging the killings, 

injuries and arrests to 

newsmen shortly after the 

encounter, BIM’s Director 

of Information, Mazi Chris 

Mocha stated that while 

their members gathered at 

Obosi By-Pass along the 

Onitsha/Owerri road, near 

Onitsha, the joint military 

task force including the 

Army, Navy, Police, Civil 

Defence, Department of 

State Services, DSS and 

others swooped on them 

with over 45 Hilux vehicles 

and opened fire, killing five 

of their members instantly. 

According to Mocha, the 

JTF also used machetes to 

cut some parts of the bodies 

of four of their members, 

including their skulls, 

adding that the four victims 

of the machete cuts 

included Chief Vincent 

Iloh, Ebuka Emmanuel, 

Innocent Okolie and Mrs 

Virginia Ubaezuonu in 

the desperate attempt of the 

JTF to disperse the crowd. 

He said the JTF arrested 

206 members in Anambra. 

However, as at the time 

of filing this report 

yesterday, the state Police 

Public Relations Officer, 

PPRO, Haruna 

Mohammed (SP) told 

newsmen on phone that he 

was not yet aware of such 

an incident, adding that he 

is only the spokesman of 

the police and not of the JTF. 

Security cracks 

down on BIM in 

Ebonyi, Abia, Rivers 

Officers and men of 

Ebonyi, Abia and Rivers 

State Police Commands in 

collaboration with other 

sister agencies, also 

arrested members of BIM, 

that converged at popular 

places in the states to 

celebrate Biafra Day. 

In Ebonyi, the Police 

arrested BIM members 

who converged at the 

popular Dr. Akanu Ibiam 

flyover and others who 

came from different 

senatorial zones for the 

celebration by the group in 

Abakaliki. 

They had proposed 

marching through major 

streets of Abakaliki before 

they were intercepted, 

made to lie down on the 

ground before they were 

eventually moved to the 

State Police Headquarters 

in Abakaliki for 

interrogation 

Vanguard gathered that 

security agencies in the 

state also accosted them 

along Nkaliki road in 

Abakaliki Local 

Government area of the 

state. As they began their 

peaceful march in their 

colourful uniforms, security 

personnel sprayed teargas 

on them and arrested some 

of them. 

The Army, Department of 

State Services, DSS and the 

Police carried out the joint 

operation. 

Speaking with Vanguard 

on phone, the commander 

of Nigerian Military 

Cantonment in Nkwegu, 

Col S. O. Sadiq confirmed 

the participation of the army 

in the incident and 

subsequent arrest of BIM 

members, noting that all 

the arrested persons were 

handed over to the Police 

as no member of the group 

was taken to the barracks 

for any form of interrogation 

or detention. 

According to him, 

MASSOB did not notify 

security agencies in the 

state of the event in writing 

which necessitated the 

action that stopped them 

from embarking on such 

exercise that might lead to 

break down of law and 

order in the state. 

The group had earlier 

announced the event 

through the media and 

social media channels in 

the country. According to 

them, the event was meant 

to commemorate the 

declaration of New Biafra 

by its leader, Dr. Ralph 

Uwazuruike. 

Reacting to the 

development, a 

representative of BIM in 

charge of Ebonyi Central 

Zone of the state, Gideon 

Iloke accused the Nigerian 

government of 

masterminding their arrest 

and constant intimidation at 

all times. 

“Today, we are 

celebrating our first year of 

Biafra independence. We 

are happy that the world 

authorities have recognised 

Biafra as an independent 

state and that is why 

throughout the federation, 

south-south and south-east 

are celebrating Biafra 

independence. 

“As we are celebrating 

and jubilating, the law 

enforcement agencies 

under the government of 

Nigeria did not allow us to 

enjoy our independence. 

They used their 

ammunition and tear-gas to 

disperse our members. 

About four hundred of them 

have been arrested by the 

police in Abakaliki alone. 

Some of our members who 

are on their way from 

Afikpo South were 

arrested. They were made 

to lie down on the road. 

They also threatened our 

lives." 

In their separate 

opinions, a member of the 

council of elders of Ebonyi 

South Zone, Mr. Sunday 

Ezaka and the zonal leader 

of Ebonyi North, Mr. 

Nwamini Vincent 

wondered why the 

government was always 

after them instead of putting 

their resources towards 

curbing the menace of Boko 

Haram and armed 

herdsmen which had led to 

loss of innocent lives, 

including destruction of 

valuable properties across 

the country. 

They said: “We are not 

happy the way Nigerian 

soldiers are maltreating us. 

We are celebrating the first 

independence of Biafra, the 

first of its kind. Before the 

event, we informed the 

whole world, Nigeria 

inclusive that we are 

celebrating our first 

independence but to my 

greatest surprise, 

particularly in south-south 

and south-east, soldiers 

were mobilised to come 

and maltreat us. They 

regarded us as slaves and 

that is why we say we are 

not happy to stay in 

Nigeria. 

“We are calling on the 

world powers that gave us 

the mandate to do this 

today to come and get us 

out of this country. We are 

ANNIVERSARY: Members of MASSOB and Biafra Independence 

Movement, BIM who took to the streets in Port Harcourt to mark their 

18th year anniversary, yesterday. Photo. Nwankpa Chijioke 

appealing to the 

international community 

and Donald Trump to come 

to our aid. They should 

intervene because we are 

tired of being Nigerians. We 

can die for our freedom 

instead of living as a 

slaves." 

Police Spokesman in 

Ebonyi state, Loveth Odah 

confirmed the incident but 

could not give the actual 

figure of persons arrested. 

“I don’t have the details 

of the actual number of 

persons arrested right now. 

When I get the details, I 

will let you know” she said. 

Police arrest 10 in P- 

Harcourt 

In Port Harcourt, security 

operatives arrested 10 

members of BIM. 

The 10 were among the 

hundreds of supporters of 

pro-Biafran agitators who 

had stormed Port Harcourt 

to mark the 18 years of the 

existence of MASSOB and 

BIM. 

The pro-Biafra agitators 

had commenced the 

procession at Mile 2 Market 

in Port Harcourt and were 

heading towards Eleme 

Junction before they were 

intercepted around 

Garrison Junction. 

The security men that 

shot teargas to disperse the 

members also arrested ten 

of the protesters, especially 

those on military and Civil 

Defense camouflage. 

Speaking, Solomon 

Chukwu, BIM's leader in 

the state said: “I am not 

happy about the 

development. I met the 

security people and told 

them what we are doing, 

that we are not violent, but 

they asked us to close and 

go. They did not give us 

chance to go. 

"They arrested our people 

on uniform. We didn't take 

them unaware by coming 

out. They are aware. I am 

calling on the FG that BIM 

is non-violent and we are a 

registered organisation. We 

are shocked that they 

decided to treat us like this." 

Also, Engr. Anthony 

Azukem, a.k.a Tonene said 

the essence of the rally was 

to re-awaken the call for the 

creation of the Biafran 

State. 

He said: “ The rally is to 

mark our 18 years of 

existence after it was 

formed in year 2000 by 

Chief Ralph Uwazuruike. 

The call for the 

reawakening of the 

creation of Biafra State is 

part of the reason for this 

rally.” 

Meanwhile, at press time, 

the Public Relations Officer 

of Rivera State, Nnamdi 

Omoni, a Deputy 

Superintendent of Police, 

said he is not aware of the 

development.. 

50 BIM members 

arrested in Aba 

Over 50 members of BIM 

were allegedly arrested by 

the Police in Aba, Abia State. 

It was gathered that the 

BIM members were 

arrested at Osisioma Ngwa 

junction along the Enugu 

-Port Harcourt expressway 

when the Police patrol team 

numbering over 15 shot 

tear gas at them. 

BIM leader for Abia 

South zone,Fred 

Onyenaucheya, who 

condemned the arrest of the 

Biafra activists, insisted that 

BIM will not be cowed by 

the clampdown on its 

members. 

He said,” BIM is a non 

violent organization.We are 

shocked that Police could 

tear gas and arrest our 

members who were only 

celebrating the 

rededication of the new 

Biafra.As at now ,over 20 

of our members are 

receiving medical attention 

for injuries they sustained 

during the Police attack. 

Even our female members 

were not spared.We have 

about 50 BIM members 

arrested by the Police.This 

is a grave infringement on 

our right to freedom of 

movement.But we assure 

the Nigerian government 

that no arrest,detention or 

any other form of 

intimidation will stop us 

from actualizing an 

independent state of 

Biafra.” 

He called on the Police to 

immediately release and 

apologize to the detained 

BIM members as they did 

not commit any crime. 

Efforts to get the reaction 

of the Abia State 

Commissioner of 

Police,Mr.Anthony Ogbizi, 

was unsuccessful as at the 

time of filing this report. 

Biafra govt 

already in place 

—BIM leader 

In a related 

development, Samuel 

Okah, zonal leader of BIM 

in Cross River State has 

said there is already a Biafra 

government in place in the 

South-South and South- 

East and there is nothing 

anyone can do to stop it. 

Okah spoke yesterday in 

Ikom during a parade 

round major streets of the 

townby hundreds of 

members of the movement 

to mark the 18th 

anniversary of the 

declaration of Biafra 

without violence by Chief 

Ralph Uwazurike. 

“There is widespread 

consciousness of the 

existence of Biafra and no 

matter how much they try 

to intimate us by killing, 

arresting and imprisoning 

us, we know there is a 

Biafra consciousness in 

everyone in the regions of 

the South- South and South 

East and no government 

can be stronger than such”. 

He said Great Britain 

willingly gave Nigeria 

independence when the 

people agitated for it and 

did not resort to the use of 

violence and intimidation 

and Nigeria should learn 

from that example and 

allow Biafra nation be. 

Our struggle for self 

governance can’t be 

deterred —Lagos BIM 

Also yesterday, BIM said 

that the struggle for self 

governance is still on and 

it will continue to reinstate 

this in the mind of the Igbo 

and the world at large. 

Speaking at its second 

anniversary since the 

adoption of ‘New Biafra’ in 

Lagos, the western 

representative of the group, 

Mr. Benjamin Onuegbu, 

said: “May 22nd is the 

official take off in history for 

a proper and undeniable 

beginning of the New- 

Biafra before the 

international community 

when Chief Ralph 

Uwazuruike, BIM leader, 

reinstituted the Biafra flag 

at Aba in 1999."

LIKE most of the planet, I 

spent Saturday morning 

watching the royal wedding. I’d 

like us to view the occasion 

through the lens of the Nigerian 

lived experience and to compare 

or contrast two very different 

lifestyles or world views. 

Nigeria abounds in celebrity 

weddings where our multi-faceted 

elite congregate. 

But notice how little noise the 

political class in the United 

Kingdom made about this wedding. 

It was also primarily 

about the couple. No party 

chieftains or parliamentarians, 

no ministers, no “stalwarts” or 

“bigwigs” used this wedding to 

assert their wealth or power, nor 

did anyone count on their presence 

to make any sort of statement. 

This wedding was stately but 

not overtly ostentatious: the 

bride’s dress, jewellery, hair 

and make-up pale in comparison 

to what a state governor’s 

daughter might have worn in 

Nigeria. Meghan Markle was 

exquisite, simple and elegant, 

two words we in Nigeria mostly 

refuse. 

You might say if a girl wants 

to be dripping in diamonds on 

her wedding day, it’s her choice, 

and it certainly is, but interestingly, 

we never stop to consider 

that many of those who make 

their money through legitimate 

means are less flashy, more conservative, 

and less willing to 

spend large sums simply to 

show-off. 

Oppressive 

displays of wealth 

Who are Bill Gates children? 

Are they famous on social media? 

Do they dress to oppress 

or simply live their lives honestly 

or as best they can? Yet in 

Nigeria almost every single 

politician’s son or daughter is 

a celebrity. Young people whose 

income (many have no real 

jobs) cannot explain or justify 

their spending keep posting 

their cars, luxury goods etc. on 

social media for the world to 

see. 

Anyone who asks a question 

is termed “jealous” by an army 

of sycophants who don’t realise 

the money meant to transform 

their communities is in the 

hands of these clay gods. 

The British do pomp and pageantry 

better than anyone on 

earth but the royal family is 

much too elegant, much too 

“classy” for the crass, oppressive 

displays of wealth we value 

in Nigeria. No make-up art- 

Political parties 

What the royal wedding can teach 

us about class differences in Nigeria 

•Harry and Meghan 

ist or bridesmaid created a behind 

the scenes social media 

post-gushing over how much 

money was spent or how rich 

Harry and 

Meghan’s 

union didn’t 

offend the average 

British 

person’s sensibilities; 

in fact, it 

was a moment 

of national 

pride 

the couple is. Elite Nigerian 

weddings are a sort of carnival, 

both online and offline where 

all that matters is how much one 

victions for corruption, based 

perhaps on the fear-mongering 

some members of the cabal 

caused to be broadcast and 

the public gullibly swallowed, 

which is that the heavens will 

fall if some people in this society 

are investigated or 

charged. 

The leaders don’t want 

change; the led are too compromised 

in their thinking to 

demand it. It’s an all-round 

tragedy. 

EVEN after a senator ad 

mitted, on camera, to rigging 

elections, we all moved 

on (can you imagine a former 

parliamentarian in the UK admitting 

to rigging elections 

without any swift action?) 

Yet, many of his alleged “coriggers” 

and associates are the 

same individuals crossing 

from PDP to SDP, rebranding, 

etc. to “dislodge” the APC. 

The greatest tragedy of President 

Buhari’s first term is the 

EFCC’s inability to secure concan 

show. If no one is envious 

of you, you haven’t made it in 

Nigeria, or so we believe. Especially 

if the source of our 

money is less than legal, then 

we truly go out of our way to 

oppress onlookers with lavish 

displays of ill-acquired wealth. 

None of that for the new Duke 

and Duchess of Sussex! Their 

love is quite simply contagious. 

Many couples in Nigeria 

seem bored on their wedding 

days. I’m yet to see a groom in 

Nigeria look at his bride the 

way Harry looked at Meghan. 

And why should they, many 

unions are based entirely on 

circumstance and calculation: 

in the Western world money is 

freedom, it gives people the 

power and the liberty to make 

their own way, to make lifestyle 

choices which go with the times. 

In Nigeria, money is a prison 

IGP 

ASHORT clip 

of the Inspector 

General of 

Police has been 

making the rounds 

on social media. 

The video features 

the IGP mispronouncing 

or struggling 

to read 

“transmission” 

thirteen times in 

less than two minutes. 

A number of 

people noticed his lips don’t 

match the audio (obvious signs 

of a doctored video). 

Some are asking why the IGP 

is suddenly being portrayed as 

“speech deficient”, right after 

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 —17 

because in many cases it has no 

solid basis in reality, it is “easy 

come, easy go”, based on cheating 

the public, on oppressing 

those who can’t defend themselves. 

So, very few people can 

afford to marry for love, one has 

to marry for gain, for benefit, to 

exploit certain scenarios and 

connections. 

Money in our clime is a slow 

acting poison which robs us all 

of our humanity. Many of us 

would do anything for money. 

Success is conditional, it is 

based on access and matrimony 

is the ultimate all access 

pass, if of course one marries 

into certain families. 

There are no Cinderella stories 

in Nigeria. No fairy tales, 

no years of hard work which 

end with a reward. Fraud is the 

magic we prefer. We don’t nurture 

the dreams of our young 

people. 

For those of you who watched 

the royal wedding, do you remember 

the 19- year-old royal 

wedding Cellist, Sheku Kanneh-Mason 

who performed? 

Ask yourself how many of your 

“idols” in Nigeria have shared 

their platform with anyone 

meaningful that they didn’t sim- 

•Police IG, Ibrahim Idris 

alleging some powerful people 

in the National Assembly are 

linked to hired killers. There are 

no shortage of conspiracy theories 

because nobody seems to 

pay for crimes committed. 

ply employ to sing their praises. 

This is why, fundamentally, 

the Royal Family is not met with 

scorn during its public appearances. 

Politicians in Nigeria always 

wonder why they are insulted, 

or occasionally stoned by 

angry, frustrated youth, who 

couldn’t make in a lifetime what 

a legislator makes in a month. 

Harry and Meghan’s union 

didn’t offend the average British 

person’s sensibilities; in 

fact, it was a moment of national 

pride, despite, ironically, the 

fact that the monarchy partly 

lives off of British taxpayers’ 

money. The Queen’s private 

investments provide a large 

part of her income but about £48 

million pounds a year comes 

from the British government, 

according to the BBC; imagine 

that, they even tell their people 

how much they earn or have 

access to!Imagine that! 

Meritocratic 

principles 

Meanwhile, here in Nigeria, 

the real income of many of our 

representatives remains a mystery. 

This is why the British 

public can stand the Royal family. 

Its existence doesn’t kill meritocracy. 

The average Joe can 

still get a job, send his kids to 

school, live a decent life whether 

the Queen lives lavishly or 

not. 

The Queen doesn’t affect meritocracy. 

In fact, her charities 

and her symbolic action support 

meritocratic principles and democracy, 

despite the fact that 

she herself is the beneficiary of 

family wealth, prestige and heritage. 

Do you see the difference? 

Our political class is constantly 

astounded to find the average 

Nigerian doesn’t wish the 

political elite well. Why would 

they, knowing they cannot access 

the basic comforts of modernity 

precisely because of the 

selfishness and greed of said 

class? Yet, 66 million Britons 

voluntarily support the lifestyle 

and income of less than a few 

thousand people, the royal family. 

What does that tell you? Class 

differences in themselves aren’t 

the poison (you’ll remember the 

African saying “all fingers of 

the hand are not equal”). The 

poison, the tragedy, in Africa, 

is the conscious decision, by a 

few, to hoard opportunities and 

progress. 

For this reason, despite their 

wealth, despite their privilege, 

the royal family can symbolise 

Britishness, or the average person 

can accept to be represented 

by them, despite the huge 

divide, in a way few members 

of Nigeria’s business or political 

elite can claim to be loved 

or accepted by Nigerians. 

Show VAIDS (Voluntary Asset 

Income Declaration Scheme) 

your tax clearance, and we’ll let 

you know if you are worthy of 

accolades! 

Tabia Princewill is a 

strategic communications 

consultant and public policy 

analyst. She is also the co-host 

and executive producer of a 

talk show, WALK THE TALK 

which airs on Channels TV. 

C 

M 

Y 

K

18 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 

VICE-President Yemi Osinbajo, 

on behalf of President 

Muhammadu Buhari, toured 

Internally-Displaced Persons, IDP, 

camps in Benue last week and 

announced the approval of N10 

billion for the reconstruction of 

communities ravaged by armed 

herdsmen who have staged over 50 

recorded attacks this year in Benue 

State alone, killing over 1,000 

people. 

According to him, a study set up by the 

President showed that the restoration of 

security, rebuilding of the communities 

and the return of displaced persons to 

their hometowns were the most pressing 

needs requiring urgent attention. 

Critics have accused the Federal 

Government of attempting to “throw 

money” at the herdsmen crisis. Some 

have even accused it of taking these 

measures as a political gambit now that 

Rehabilitating herdsmen-ravaged states 

the political processes towards the 2019 

general elections are gathering steam. 

We caution, however, that no one 

should politicise the tragedy wrought by 

the armed herdsmen attacks on innocent 

citizens. It is true that the Federal 

Government sat on its palms for long 

while these herdsmen attacked and set 

fire to communities, destroyed farms 

and food barns, killed hundreds of 

people without mercy and sent 

thousands from their homes into refugee 

camps. 

It was a major failure of governance. 

The herdsmen crisis, which has touched 

virtually every state in the Middle Belt 

and Southern parts of the country, has 

severely threatened the unity of this 

country. 

But we are delighted that the Federal 

Government is taking commendable 

steps to address this issue, no matter how 

belatedly. In the past few weeks, 

especially since President Buhari 

returned from his US tour, the military 

activities in the Middle Belt, Operation 

Cat Race, Ayem Akpatuma, appear to be 

making some impact. Some of the 

bandits are being apprehended and 

their arms seized. The attacks appear to 

be de-escalating, though much remains 

to be done. 

We encourage government to continue 

in these efforts until all bandits, be they 

armed herdsmen, cattle rustlers or 

ethnic militias, are stamped out. Law and 

order must be restored permanently. 

There is no way of achieving these noble 

objectives without spending money – lots 

of it. No other time is more auspicious 

than now, the onset of the farming 

season. 

We are convinced that the N10 billion 

might be a mere drop in the basin in 

tackling this problem which affects no 

fewer than 26 states throughout the 

country. The FG must avoid a cosmetic 

approach to this problem. It must 

mobilise the backing of the states and 

local governments, donor supporters 

and the citizenry to achieve its threepronged 

objectives. 

Unless we halt the killings, rehabilitate 

the communities and restore the 

refugees to their homes, we may be 

faced with serious food scarcity. Besides, 

the impending elections might also be 

jeopardised. 

Let the rehab effort start. 

By Roland Amaize 

THIS is the third time, in less than two 

weeks, I’m writing on this issue, although 

on each of the other two occasions, reference 

to distinguished Senator Urhoghide was made 

only peripherally; quite unlike this in which 

I’m making direct reference to him. For the 

avoidance of doubt and as a reminder to all, 

on the first of the two previous occasions, I 

wrote on the disaster which inevitably awaits 

any nation whose leaders are given to the 

unacceptable acts of undermining its laws, 

especially the constitution. On the second, I 

had analysed the divergent arguments 

advanced by Professor Itse Sagay and Chief 

Dan Iwuayanwu on the $US496 million for 

Tucano fighter jets and its constitutional 

implications and at the end of my analysis, 

it was thumbs up for the Chief but thumbs 

down for the Professor of Law. In each of 

those my two previous write-ups, therefore, 

my conclusion was and remains clear that 

given the action of President Buhari on the 

issue and against the backdrop of the 

relevant constitutional provisions on the 

matter, particularly but not limited to 

Sections 80 and 143, the President’s action 

is clearly impeachable. There is no running 

away from such obvious constitutional 

reality. 

Today, while not wanting to join what I’ll 

best refer to as the motley assembly whose 

members, at best, had chosen to stand the 

law on its head and make it a sacrificial 

lamb at the altar of political expediency, even 

as some had spoken from both sides of their 

mouths, I’ve come out in total, clear and 

absolute defense of the motion moved by 

distinguished Senator Urhoghide. Whether the 

motion was an invitation to the Senate to 

commence investigation on the matter under 

Section 143 or it was for it to commence 

impeachment exercise under the same Section, 

it matters not to my position on the issue. 

OPINION 

Still on the $496m saga 

Let me state very clearly at this juncture that 

I’m not oblivious of the deluge or spate of 

criticisms against the motion. I’m not also 

unaware that for the reason of the motion, he 

was ambushed and molested at the Benin 

Airport by hired and conscripted thugs 

masquerading as party supporters. I’m no less 

aware that even criticisms against him on the 

issue also came from the highest executive 

and legislative angles of the state. One thing is 

very clear and certain; it is that once a matter 

touches the issue of law as distinct from politics, 

I’m never known to quibble and otherwise run 

from the ‘battle front’ as a way of shying away 

from the issue at stake. Law and NOT politics 

is my chosen field. So while I owe a duty of 

Applying a subjective rather 

than an objective test, an 

unconstitutional act of a 

President becomes a gross 

misconduct because, in its 

opinion, NASS says it is so 

care to myself in avoiding making unnecessary 

foray into political arena, else I slip, not for 

one moment will I hesitate in jumping into 

any discourse that is legally rooted as in this 

case. Clearly, politics is for me an unfamiliar 

terrain while law being unarguably my 

profession, is quite a familiar terrain for me. 

This, I state with consummate modesty. 

Now, the issue at stake here is one which is 

rooted in the nation’s constitution. We must 

not also lose sight of the fact that the President, 

upon his inauguration, had sworn to uphold 

and abide by its provisions with the obvious 

implications of being called to order, as 

appropriate, in the event of any act of infraction 

by him. The germane question is this: by taking 

money from the nation’s confers, whether huge 

or small, to execute a project, never mind its 

nature or kind, without prior approval of the 

NASS by way of appropriation under Section 

80 and/or any other relevant section of the 

constitution for that matter, did the President 

commit an act of gross misconduct upon which 

he stands to be proceeded against under S.143 

of the Constitution? 

I’ll defer my answer to this all-important 

question until after I’ve examined some of the 

reasons advanced by those who thought and 

perhaps still think that Senator Urhoghide had 

by his motion committed a sacrilege for which 

he stands, in their opinion, to be crucified. 

Amongst such reasons and from diverse 

quarters are, that: 

a. the President acted under what they had 

labelled as “emergency situation” such that 

there was no time to go before NASS prior to 

making the payment, 

b. oh, we needed to acquire those jets because 

of the state of insecurity in the country, 

c. oh, other Presidents had taken money from 

the nation’s coffers in the past without prior 

appropriation without they being impeached 

(a clear political motive), 

d.the President’s action is not 

unconstitutional and 

e. this is perhaps the most ridiculous 

politically ridden and ladened reason - that 

moving of a motion for impeachment of the 

President was not why the Senator was sent to 

Abuja, that is NASS. 

I’ll briefly address those largely contrived 

reasons seriatim as follows: 

a. This issue started about August 2017 and 

payment in question was made about four 

months ago. In all of these, there was ample 

opportunity and time to have sought and 

received NASS’s nod as necessary and 

desirable in accordance with constitutional 

requirements. Consequently, failure to seek 

and receive prior legislative intervention 

clearly lays somewhere else and not want of 

time to do so. Acting under a so-called 

emergency situation which is at best selfinduced, 

is one which does not fly and 

accordingly, it is totally unacceptable. 

b. The second reason is no less unimpressive. 

Agreeably, we all need peaceful and well 

secured atmosphere to operate as a nation; 

there is no argument about that. However, we 

are told that those jets will not be delivered 

until 2020. That, without more, makes 

complete nonsense of the contention as to 

emergency situation to justify the President 

deliberately committing an infraction of our 

Constitution. The inevitable conclusion 

therefore is that this reason, like the one before 

it, is most unsatisfactory and it does not also 

fly. 

c. It may well be that some past Presidents in 

their times committed similar constitutional 

infractions. It may also well be that no one 

raised any eyebrow to such sad state of affair. 

But who is to be blamed for those alleged 

previous breaches? The present NASS? I think 

not. How do those other breaches now excuse 

the one in question? In any event, the fact that 

an illegal act was committed by Mr. A and for 

whatever reason, he was not proceeded against 

is not in law a justifiable ground, without more, 

to excuse Mr. B who subsequently commits 

similar infraction. That may appeal to and 

catch the attention and support of moral rules 

but not law. It certainly will not lie in the mouth 

of Mr. B nor should he be heard to seek and 

take umbrage, as a precedence, on previous 

similar act of Mr. A for which the latter was 

not punished. There is no legal premise for 

any such contention. To that extent, therefore, 

this reason, like the two before it, is nothing 

but a hoax. 

Continues tomorrow 

* Justice Amaize rtd, wrote from Benin 

City, Edo State.

Framework for $2.5bn China currency swap 

coming next week — CBN 

*Retains MPR at 14% 

By Emma Ujah & Babajide 

Komolafe 

Governor, Central Bank of 

Nigeria (CBN), Mr. 

Godwin Emefiele yesterday 

said that the framework for the 

$2.5 billion currency swap 

agreement with the Peoples 

Bank of China (PBoC) will be 

released next week, stressing 

that the deal will ease pressure 

in the foreign exchange market. 

Meanwhile, the CBN yesterday 

retained the Monetary 

Policy Rate (MPR) at 14 per 

cent, along with all other policy 

parameters. It therefore left 

Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 

22.5 per cent; Liquidity Ratio at 

30 per cent and asymmetric corridor 

at +200/-500 basis points 

around the PMR. 

Addressing the press at the 

end of the Monetary Policy 

Committee (MPC) meeting in 

Abuja, said that the decision to 

hold the rate was to allow the 

monetary authorities see how 

the implementation of the 2018 

budget and other policy measures 

would impact the 

economy in the second quarter. 

On the currency swap deal 

with China, Emefiele said, 

“Currency swap between the 

Central Bank of Nigeria and 

the People’s Bank of China will 

ease pressure in the foreign 

exchange market by the reduction 

in reliance in a third currency 

for trade settlement between 

Nigeria and China.” 

He added the framework for 

the deal, which would be released 

next week, would be the 

basis for an expanded economic 

relationship between Nigeria 

and China. 

Retention of MPR 

Justifying the decision to hold 

the rate further, he said, “Raising 

interest rate would depress 

consumption and increase the 

cost of borrowing. Such policy 

would make Deposit Money 

banks to re-price their assets. 

“Loosening, committee felt, 

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING 

US DOLLAR 

POUNDS 

EURO 

FRANC 

YEN 

CFA 

WAUA 

RENMINBI 

RIYAL 

SDR 

DANISH 

RAND 

$118.15 0.25 

$2,677.00 1.00 

$11.94 0.28 

$78.51 0.00 

$71.55 0.27 

304.85 305.35 305.85 

411.3036 411.9782 412.6528 

359.1743 359.7634 360.3525 

305.033 305.5333 306.0336 

2.7471 2.7516 2.7562 

0.5295 0.5395 0.5495 

432.8276 433.5375 434.2474 

47.7752 47.8541 47.9329 

81.2868 81.4202 81.5535 

433.1614 433.8718 434.5823 

48.2213 48.3004 48.3794 

24.0272 24.0666 24.106 

CBN Exchange rate as at 21/05/2018 

would stimulate aggregate demand 

through lower cost of 

credit, nevertheless, it felt it 

would exacerbate inflationary 

pressures , cost higher pressure 

on the exchange rate; as demand 

for forex increases it can 

return real rate into negative 

territory; nominal interest rate 

could be less than inflation. 

“Reduction in the MPR may 

not necessarily transmit towards 

market lending rate on account 

of high cost of doing business. 

Loosening could worsen the 

“These would impact aggregate 

demand and put pressure 

on domestic prices in the remaining 

months of 2018 and 

may dampen the gains already 

made by the bank in stabilizing 

prices,” he said 

Consequently, he advocated 

an orderly injection of the anticipated 

liquidity by the fiscal 

authorities to prevent the negative 

shock to prices that would 

derail the positive fragile recovery 

so far achieved. 

Risks of outflows 

Current Account Balance and 

could even increase Non-Performing 

Loans of banks.” 

Reserves hits $47.79 b 

The CBN boss said that the 

nation’s foreign reserves hit 

$47. 79 billion as at May 18, 

2018. He described it as a 

positive development, which 

made the country more comfortable 

to do business with other 

countries of the world. 

Inflation risks 

He noted the downsides of 

the outlook included the late 

approval and the implementation 

of the 2018 budget , farmers/herdsmen 

crises, weak demand 

associated with salary 

arrears, contractors unsettled 

debts and the growing level 

of the sovereign debt. 

He added that the that the 

injection of the huge 9.12 trillion 

budget , expenditure towards 

2019 elections, monthly 

FAAC injections approval and 

implementation of the new national 

minimum wage and the 

possibility of a supplementary 

budget to finance it could have 

a negative effect on the inflation. 

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 — 19 

On risks of capital outflows, 

Mr. Emefiele said, “Given the 

CBN interventions, the current 

level of oil prices and developments 

in the global economy, we 

expect rate to remain stable in 

the foreign exchange market in 

the near term. However, the 

bearish signs in the capital market 

associated with profit taken 

calls for a calibration of policies 

to moderate the tempo of capital 

outflows in an era of capital 

normalisation in the Unites 

States. There are already indications 

of severe attacks on 

the foreign exchange markets 

Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) MD/CE,Umaru Ibrahim (1st right) presents NDIC 

researched publications and branded souvenirs to representative of British High Commissioner, Ms. 

Natasha Anjekwu during formal presentation of three International Standards Organisation (ISO) 

Certifications to the Corporation by the British Standards Institution (BSI) while NDIC ED (Corporate 

Services), Hon. Mrs.Omolola AbiolaEdewor (2nd left) and CBN Director Financial System 

Strategy (FSS 2020), Mr. Mohammed D. Suleyman (1st left) applaud. 

Nigeria (CBN), Assets Management 

Company of Nigeria 

(AMCON) and the Federal 

High Courts over the decade. 

Giving judgment in the case 

filed by Valueline Securities and 

Investments Ltd as Claimant 

against Securities and Exchange 

Commission [SEC], 

Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] 

and First City Monument Bank 

Plc as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Defendants, 

the Tribunal found 

FCMB liable to pay the Claimant 

an outstanding debt of 

N988,533,205.86 plus further 

accrued interest calculated at 

18% in the manner earlier directed 

by SEC. 

The FCMB Plc is also to pay 

a penalty of N500, 000.00 to the 

Claimant as cost of the legal 

action and a further 10% interest 

on the judgment debt from 

the date of the judgment until 

final defrayment. 

The Chairman of the Tribunal, 

in others emerging economies.” 

Fiscal buffer and decreased 

oil export to China 

The CBN boss also urged the 

federal government to take advantage 

of the current high oil 

prices to build a fiscal buffer, 

especially as the future of oil 

revenue remained uncertain. 

He warned that oil export to 

China could fall in view of the 

on-going negotiations between 

the US and China, especially 

as the US has included energy 

imports as part of the deal with 

China. 

Investment and Securities Tribunal rules against FCMB in N2.5bn debt 

By Emma Ujah, 

Abuja Bureau Chief 

THE Investments 

and Securities 

Tribunal (IST) sitting 

in Abuja has resolved 

a decade-long dispute 

between a stock broking 

firm, Valueline 

Securities and Investments 

Ltd and First 

City Monument Bank 

Plc (FCMB) over repayment 

of N2.5 billion 

shares purchase 

fund misappropriated 

in 2008 by the defunct 

FinBank Plc with 

which FCMB consummated 

a merger. 

The matter had been 

handled by the Securities 

and Exchange 

Commission (SEC), 

the Central bank of 

Skye Bank offers 

customers a lifestyle 

of luxury 

with Select 

Account 

SKYE Bank customers have 

expressed delight at being 

beneficiaries of the bank’s priority 

account named the Skye 

Select Account. 

A statement from the bank 

quoted one Mr. Sylvester 

Nwanyawu, an Aba-based industrialist 

who operates a Skye 

Select account, as expressing 

his appreciation to the bank, 

said, “I was travelling with some 

of my business associates without 

knowing that being a holder 

of the Skye Bank’s priority 

pass card would give us a privileged 

advantage.” 

According to him, “Imagine 

just hanging out at the general 

waiting area around the airport 

gate for eight hours with thousands 

of other travellers. The 

wait would have made our stop 

at Amsterdam uninteresting 

and tiring.” 

Another Skye Select Account 

holder had this to say: “As a frequent 

flyer,” Mrs. Rashidat Makanjuola, 

principal partner, 

‘Events by Roshie,’ recounted 

her experience with Skye Select, 

“I feel pretty excited about 

the perks my Skye Bank priority 

pass affords me, especially in 

creating for me a good experience 

each time I travel out of 

the country.” 

In related development, the 

Group Head, Product and Innovation 

Group, Mr. Ndubisi 

Osakwe, while describing the 

features and benefits of the 

product, disclosed that; “with a 

minimum opening and operating 

balance of N200,000 you 

are entitled to a free priority 

pass card, with free annual 

membership that also includes 

two (2) free airport lounge usage 

each year, Zero monthly 

account maintenance fees, a 

MasterCard Platinum Debit 

card which offers luxurious discounts 

and privileges as well as 

cross border spending, you also 

get a higher spend limit with 

your card across various electronic 

channels and enjoy preferential 

access at all Skye bank 

branches nationwide.” 

Skye Select is an account for 

the discerning priority client 

who requires fast, efficient, convenient 

and value-added services. 

Hon. Siaka Isaiah Idoko-Akoh, 

who delivered the judgment 

explained that the Claimant’s 

case was that in 2008, it applied 

for and deposited N2.5 Billion 

to buy shares in the FINBANK 

Public Offer but at the end was 

neither allotted the shares nor 

was his money returned to him 

as required by capital market 

regulations. The Claimant petitioned 

the SEC after failing to 

get its refund. The SEC in line 

with its regulatory functions investigated 

the complaint, found 

FINBANK culpable and ordered 

it to pay back the N2.5 

Billion with 18% interest per 

annum from September 23, 

2008 until full liquidation. 

However, when the Bank 

failed to pay, the SEC sought 

the intervention of the CBN; 

coincidentally, at the time when 

the FCMB and FINBANK were 

planning a merger. An All Parties 

Meeting [APM] was convened 

where the FCMB undertook 

to repay the indebtedness 

of FINBank and for its account 

with the CBN to be debited at 

source by CBN provided the 

merger of the two banks was 

approved by SEC to succeed. 

FCMB Plc in its defence said 

it paid back the sum of N4.6 

Billion made up of the principal 

N2.5Billion and N2.1Billion 

accrued interest and believed it 

had liquidated the debt. 

The Claimant however disputed 

the claim that FCMB fully 

repaid the debt especially as, 

according to its pleadings, the 

CBN and SEC had set up another 

joint investigative team 

that met and changed the original 

SEC computation formula 

for the repayment following a 

petition by FCMB Plc and without 

informing or involving the 

Claimant.


New technology, design, power efficiency drive Home 

theatre market 

Stories by Princewill 

Ekwujuru 

THE intense competition 

for market 

share in the Home 

theatre segment of the 

home appliances sector of 

the electronics market, 

has triggered introduction 

of technological enhancements, 

design, and power 

efficiency features 

aimed at improving consumer 

experience. 

These enhancements 

include the ability of the 

products to play music, 

watch films or other recorded 

items via Bluetooth, 

USB cable, while 

the products are also embedded 

with sensor. 

Other enhancements 

include floor standing 

soundbar speakers, surround 

sound format, bluray 

and low power consumption 

and different 

product colours. 

To maintain market 

share, the top contenders 

have developed and introduced 

power efficient 

Home theatres that can be 

operated under power 

fluctuation below 220 

volts. 

Meanwhile, major competitors 

for market share 

in the segment are Life’s 

Good, LG, Samsung, 

Sony, D Jack, Hisense, 

Panasonic, Whirlpool, 

Haier Thermocool, Beko 

and others. However, the 

top contenders are LG, 

Samsung, Sony, Whirpool 

and Panasonic. 

Findings by Vanguard 

Companies and Markets, 

C&M revealed a growing 

demand for Home theatre 

driven by consumers' increasing 

desire to have a 

befitting sound system 

with quality sound output 

for relaxation. 

The need to satisfy the 

growing demand informed 

manufacturers’ 

production of various 

types, sizes and sound 

capacity, each designed 

to suit customers’ specific 

listening needs. 

To satisfy consumer's 

need, the manufacturers 

have also produced stylishly 

designed and 

pocket-friendly Home 

theatres for customers 

obsessed with second 

hand products. 

The sound capacities of 

the products range from 

200 watts to 5,000 watts 

depending on 

consumer’s need. 

Other innovations include 

remote control features 

including recording 

of music and films on 

flash drive via the audio 

key button, coaxial and 

repeat, set up, sound 

effect, sleep mode buttons 

and others. 

C&M discovered that 

competition in the market 

is further heightened by 

the increasing volume of 

imported second-hand 

Home theatre products. 

C&M findings also 

showed that the manufacturers 

have deployed 

various marketing tools to 

battle second-hand Home 

theatre brands in the 

market. 

They have also employed 

360 marketing 

degree tools such as advertising, 

Public Relations, 

promotions, inshop 

display and experiential 

marketing to enable 

consumers feel the 

workings of the sound 

systems, not forgetting 

the direct delivery concept 

to wholesalers for 

sale to retailers. 

Findings by 

C&M revealed that 

consumer patronage is 

influenced by brand 

names, durability, design 

as well as referral from 

other consumers. 

Challenges 

However, Home theatres 

like other home appliances 

have their peculiar 

challenges in spite of 

the technological advancements. 

The challenges are 

compounded by lack or 

scarcity of original parts, 

and sometimes consumers 

have to wait for 

months to repair or replace 

any damaged 

part(s). 

Major challenges are 

the lenses, which are 

sometimes difficult to replace 

when it gets bad, 

and when replaced, do 

not last long like the 

factory fitted ones. 

Consumers' 

Responses 

C&M discovered that 

some consumers 

patronise second-hand 

products for economic 

reasons, which they 

claimed are more durable 

than new products, citing 

relatively high price 

of new Home theatres. 

For example, a brand 

new LG full high definition, 

HD AUD 756W-LHD 

sells for N142, 000, while 

second-hand 

version sells for half the 

price. 

Likewise, other brands 

in good working condition 

sell below their half 

price, without guarantee, 

while new products have 

at least a year guarantee. 

Speaking to C&M, 

consumers were divergent 

in their preference 

for the different brands. 

While majority indicated 

preference for LG, Samsung 

and Panasonic, noting 

LG Home theatre is 

common in every Nigerian 

homes. 

A consumer, Jeremiah 

Amolegbe, said: “I prefer 

LG because of its affordability 

despite that electronics 

are costly today, 

but it is better than others 

in the same category.” 

On his part, Chukwudire 

Chukwubioku, a consumer, 

said: “I prefer 

Samsung, even though it 

is costly, its high quality 

and designs, sound quality, 

just everything about 

their products” 

On the other hand, a 

distributor at Alaba International 

market, Ojo 

LGA, who pleaded anonymity, 

said: “Most of the 

Home theatre brands are 

Guinness Nigeria 

Plc says it aims to 

educate five million 

youths by 2012 through 

its underage drinking 

campaign, as it takes 

campaign to educational 

institutions. The campaign 

is targeted at 

persons aged 13 to 17. 

Managing Director of 

the company, Peter 

Ndegwa, at the unveiling 

of Smashed, a live 

performance drama in 

Lagos, said it aims to 

reduce the incidences of 

underage drinking and 

incidences of alcohol related 

harm(s) among 

young persons, by 

teaching them about the 

consequences of underage 

drinking and binge 

drinking. He said: “We 

are committed to Nigeria 

and to the development 

of our youth population 

and we will continue 

to do our best to 

ensure that the young 

people of our country not 

only reach their full 

potential but also lead 

rich meaningful lives.” 

He stated further 

that young people are 

most vulnerable to different 

societal burdens 

good, and this has to do 

with preference. 

According to records, I 

sell LG, Samsung, 

Panasonic more; I guess 

it’s because of their affinity 

with consumers.” 

Experts speak 

Speaking on technological 

advancements, an 

expert in Home theatre 

management, Bonnyface 

Ekulu of Trendtech Nigeria, 

located along Lagos- 

Badagry Expressway, 

said: “What is a technology 

market without a little 

competition? Dolby 

more or less dominated 

the surround-sound landscape 

for years. Then, in 

1993, Digital Theatre 

Systems, DTS, came providing 

its own digital surround 

sound mixing 

services. DTS utilises a 

higher bit rate and, therefore, 

delivers more audio 

sound. 

“Surround sound has 

since become a standard 

inclusion in Home theatres, 

but it remains a confusing 

technology for 

many. Though most understand 

the concept of using 

multiple speakers for theatre-like 

sound, many do not 

understand the difference 

between all the formats.” 

A Sound Engineer with 

Atlas Technologies, Philip 

Aromire, spoke on Floorstanding 

soundbar speakers. 

He said there has 

been a strong move 

*Regional General Manager, East, Obinna Nweje; Human Resources Executive 

MTN Nigeria, Esther Akinnukawe; Chief Operating Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. 

Muhammad Zia Siddiqui; Customer Service Executive, MTN Nigeria, Ugonwa 

Nwoye and General Manager, Customer Experience, MTN Nigeria, Kolawole 

Oyeyemi in Enugu State. 

Guinness underage drinking campaign 

targets 5m youths 

such as peer pressure 

and the need to fit in, 

this sometimes causes 

them to make uninformed 

decisions. 

“Schools are an important 

setting for interventions 

aimed at shaping 

behaviour among adolescents 

because no other 

community institution 

has as much continuous 

and intensive contact 

with young people. And 

this is why Guinness 

Nigeria decided to implement 

the Smashed 

programme in 28 government 

and private 

schools across Lagos 

State.” 

Nigerian Breweries, 

NB Plc beer 

brand, Goldgerg’s talent 

hunt show has produced 

three winners at the 

grand finale of the ‘Ariya 

Repete Talent Hunt’ 

2018 in the Fuji, Juju 

and Drumming categories. 

Speaking, Franco 

Maggi Maria, Marketing 

Director, Nigerian 

Breweries Plc said: “As 

Nigeria’s first indigenous 

brewery, our pro- 

Nigerian orientation is 

evident in our various 

towards soundbars. “People 

may think that soundbars 

are more about looks 

than sound. Entry-level 

and mid-range Home 

theatre-in-a-box systems 

are giving way to soundbar/subwoofer 

systems because 

they offer an easy 

way to fill a room with audio. 

Built-in audio processing, 

Bluetooth, wireless subwoofers 

and one-remote 

operation are making those 

systems attractive options 

for people looking to 

upgrade from poor-sounding 

TV speakers.” 

“33” Export 

connects with 

consumers at 

Friendship 

party 

NIGERIAN Breweries, 

NB Plc beer 

brand, “33” Export treated 

its consumers in Lagos, Uyo 

and Enugu cities to another 

edition of its Export 

Friendship Party. 

Speaking at the ‘Friendship 

Experience Parties’ 

in Lagos, Portfolio Manager, 

Mainstream Lager and 

Stout Brands, NB Plc, Emmanuel 

Agu, said that because 

“33” Export lager 

beer recognises the importance 

of friendships in the 

lives of consumers, hence 

the ‘Friendship Experience 

Parties.’ "This is used to reaffirm 

our brand’s commitment 

to providing excellent 

and memorable 

experience that allows 

friends and communities 

from all over the country to 

connect, build stronger 

bonds and share 

memorable moments. The 

beer “33” Export Lager 

Beer is a beer which prides 

itself in celebrating real 

friendship with the yearly 

celebration which takes 

place in different cities 

across Nigeria,” he stated. 

The friendship party which 

saw different engaging 

games like Jenga and 

Connect Four, left consumers 

in amazement as consumers 

who participated 

won amazing gifts for 

themselves during the 

party. 

Lucozade sets aside N200m for airtime promo 

Suntory Beverage 

and Food Nigeria 

Limited, SBFN, makers of 

Lucozade, have set aside 

N200 million for the third 

edition of the instant airtime 

of its Lucozade 

Under-the-Cap Airtime 

National promotion. 

Speaking at the commencement 

of the promotion 

in Lagos, Managing 

Director, SBFN, Mr. 

Chinedum Okereke, 

said: “We are proud to 

announce the return of 

the successful Lucozade 

Airtime Promotion for the 

third time since its launch 

in 2016. The promotion is 

an avenue for us to attain 

nationwide reach as 

far as rewarding our consumers 

is concerned, 

and the modality of the 

promotion gives us a 

great opportunity to target 

millions of 

consumers.” 

NB Goldberg’s talent hunt show winners emerge 

initiatives. 

"The Ariya Repete 

roundtable and talent 

hunt is a reflection of our 

commitment to promoting 

the Nigerian brand 

and more specifically, 

Yoruba culture especially 

through music.”

Vanguard,WEDNESDAY,MAY 23, 2018—21 

Be Careful: No matter how you slice it, kitchen 

still remains a dangerous place 

Kitchen slip 

and fall 

THERE is no argument in 

the saying that life may be 

created in the bedroom, but it is 

certainly lived in the kitchen. 

The kitchen is the heart of the 

home. No life can be lived well 

without a kitchen. It is a 

wondrous place full of delicious 

possibilities. 

It is where the meals that fuel 

the bodies, minds and souls of 

friends and families all over the 

world are created. It is also the 

most dangerous zone in the 

home. Kitchen is where you see 

hot surfaces and sharp objects 

all around, and things can get 

ugly if one is not careful. 

One of the most dangerous 

accidents in the kitchen is slip 

or trip. It does not matter 

whether your kitchen is large or 

small, when it comes to kitchen 

accidents, especially slip, 

everyone has a part to play to 

stop it. 

When trips, slips and falls 

happen, they are often attributed 

to carelessness or clumsiness, 

the good news is that most 

accidents are preventable. It 

depends on how proactive you 

are towards ensuring safety in 

your homes. Both slips and trips 

result from some kind of 

unintended or unexpected 

change in the contact between 

the feet and the ground or 

walking surface. 

Causes of slips 

Slips happen where there is 

too little friction or traction 

between the footwear and the 

walking surface. Common 

causes are: 

•Wet or oily surfaces 

•Spills 

•Loose, unanchored rugs or 

mats 

Causes of trips 

It does not matter 

whether your 

kitchen is large or 

small, when it 

comes to kitchen 

accident 

especially slip, 

everyone has a 

part to play in 

stopping it 

Trips happen when your foot 

collides (strikes, hits) an object 

causing you to lose balance and, 

eventually fall. Common causes 

of trips are: 

•Obstructed view 

•Poor lighting 

•Clutter in your way 

•Wrinkled carpeting 

•Uncovered cables 

•Bottom drawers not being 

closed 

•Uneven (steps, thresholds) 

walking surfaces 

Prevention 

Good housekeeping is the first 

and the most important 

(fundamental) level of 

preventing falls due to slips and 

trips. Without good 

housekeeping practices, any 

other preventive measure 

mentioned below will never be 

fully effective. A clean and dry, 

smooth floor is rarely slippery. 

•Clean all spills immediately 

•Mop or sweep debris from 

floors. 

•Prevent people from walking 

on wet smooth floors until they 

are totally dry. 

•Remove obstacles from 

walkways and always keep them 

free of clutter. 

•Secure (tacking, taping, etc.) 

mats, rugs and carpets that do not 

lay flat 

•Always close storage drawers 

•Cover cables that cross 

walkways 

•Keep working areas and 

walkways well lit 

•Replace used light bulbs and 

faulty switches 

•Cover with rug the sink and 

cooker area. 

CONSUMER WATCH A place that makes you plan ahead 

Items Prices Items 

Prices 

Items Prices 

Basket of Tomatoes N15,500 - N25,000 

A bag of Ijebu Gari 

N6000-N7000 Tomato paste(small) 

N150-N350 

A bag of Pepper (Rodo) N 10,000 - N18,000 

A paint bucket 

N500 

Tomato sachet (a roll) N250 –N300 

A bag of Long pepper N6, 500 – N7000 

25 litres of Vegetable Oil N13, 500 

Pack of toilet roll (48pieces) N1800-N2,300 

A bag of Onions (white) N25, 000 – N35, 000 

10Litres N6, 500-N 7000 A Satchet of milk 

N30-N50 

A bag of Onions (Red) N20, 000- N26, 000 

25 Litres of Palm Oil N15,000 

A Sachet of beverage 

N45-N50 

50kg of long grain Rice N15,000 

5Litres of Palm Oil N2,200 

Toothpaste 

N270-N300 

A derica of long grain Rice N250 

Salt 

N80-N150 5 Litres of Kerosene N1,200 

50kg of short grain Rice. N15,000 - N15,500 

Noodles- 70g 

N1500- N1800 12.5kg. Cooking gas N4, 500 

A derica of short grain Rice N260 

Spaghetti (1packet) 

N190-N200 Yam (1 tuber). 

N400- N800 

A crate of eggs N1,100 - 1,200 

Macaroni(1packet) 

N120 

Ugu Leaf (a bundle) N3, 500 – N4, 000 

A bag of Olotu beans N60,000 

Semovita (10kg) N2,800- N2,900 A dozen of tied Ugu Leaf N1,800, 

A bag of Oloyin beans N70,000 

Pampers (cartons of 8) N3, 400 

Moin-Moin Leaf (a dozen) N800, 1 pack- N100 

A bag of Yam Flour (Elubo) N45, 000- N65,000 

Seasonings 

N110 – N500 One Carton of Titus ice fish N19,000 

A bag of Gari (Yellow) N8,000 

Tomato paste (2,200g) 

N1200-N1500 1 Carton of Kote ice fish N16,200 

A paint bucket N700 

Tomato paste (Medium) N550-N700 1 Carton of Sawa iced fish N10, 000, 1Kg-N600

22 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 

AGRIC TRANSFORMATION: Innovative 

technologies need to reach African farmers 

… AfDB approves US$100 million for fer 

ertiliser production 

in Nigeria 

We‘re not folding our arms 

over non-remittance of pension 

funds, says PenCom 

FOR Africa to witness 

true agricultural 

transformation, 

technologies need to 

reach farmers to enhance 

productivity. This was part 

of the outcomes of the 

Leadership4Agriculture 

Forum at the ongoing 

53rd Annual Meetings of 

the African Development 

Bank taking place in 

Busan, Korea. 

Participants included 

ministers and key 

partners involved in the 

development of 

a g r i c u l t u r e 

industrialisation 

infrastructure for the 

continent. 

Speaking at the session, 

the President of the 

African Development 

Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, 

said the transformation of 

the agriculture sector into 

a US $1-trillion sector 

remains a key priority of 

the bank. 

“The leadership of 

agriculture is crucial. We 

cannot say we have 

leadership when we still 

have 65 per cent of the 

land in Africa 

uncultivated. We must 

develop solutions to 

agriculture and ensure 

that the sector can grow,” 

he said. 

T h e 

Leadership4Agriculture 

Forum emphasized the 

need to enhance the 

competitiveness of 

Africa’s agriculture sector 

and to develop industrial 

chains required to power 

the growth of the sector to 

a world-class industry. 

Mima Nedelcovych, 

President and Chief 

Executive, Initiative for 

Global Development, said 

the African agriculture 

sector required efforts to 

improve 

its 

competitiveness and 

called for reforms to 

ensure low interest rate 

lending in the agriculture 

sector. 

The right agriculture 

sector policies, he said, 

would impact on the 

processing of raw 

materials from the 

agriculture sector. 

We also need to ensure 

that agricultural 

extension services are 

linked to researchers to 

increase productivity, 

Nedelcovych said. 

The Bank’s Vice- 

THE Gombe State 

Government said on 

Sunday that its fertiliser 

blending plant would 

begin operation before 

the end of the year. 

The Commissioner for 

Agriculture, Abba Buba- 

Biri, who confirmed this 

in Gombe, said: “We have 

already signed an 

agreement with blenders 

to use our blending plant 

to blend NPK fertiliser for 

us and they have made 

remarkable progress in 

the process.” 

He added: “We 

currently have about 

5,000 tons of NPK 

President for Agriculture, 

Human and Social 

Development, Jennifer 

Blanke, and the Africa 

Director of the Rockefeller 

Foundation, Mamadou 

Biteye, announced the 

signing of an agreement 

to establish a permanent 

secretariat to coordinate 

groups, organisations 

and government agencies 

involved in improving 

agriculture in Africa. 

“We have to take action 

as well as talk. Talk is 

important, but we also 

want to take people to 

task,” Blanke said. 

Meanwhile, the African 

Development Bank has 

approved US$100 million 

Senior loan to Nigerian 

firm, Indorama Eleme 

Fertiliser & Chemicals 

Limited, to support the 

company’s plans to 

double its fertiliser 

production from 1.4 

million tons of urea to 2.8 

million tons per annum. 

The bank’s intervention 

follows a previous loan 

extended to Indorama 

Fertiliser in 2013 for the 

commissioning of another 

urea fertiliser plant with 

a production capacity of 

1.4 million tons per 

annum. 

The completion and 

exploitation of that plant 

in 2016 helped turn 

Nigeria from a net 

fertiliser importer to a selfsufficient 

producer, and 

now a net exporter of 

fertiliser. 

In 2017, 700, 000 tons of 

urea were exported to 

West Africa and North and 

South American markets. 

Production from the new 

plant will predominantly 

target export markets. 

The project will also 

address the problem of 

inadequate fertiliser 

utilisation, which is 

considered one of the 

principal constraints to 

agricultural growth and 

development in Nigeria, 

and the entire African 

continent. 

“This project will build 

upon the success of Train- 

I in increasing the 

domestic supply of urea 

fertiliser in Nigeria, 

making it easily available 

and leading to cheaper 

prices for the Nigerian 

farmer,” said Abdu 

Mukhtar, Director for 

Industrial and Trade 

Development at the 

African Development 

Bank. 

“It will also help further 

address labour issues in 

a local region wrecked by 

poverty, inequality and 

political tension by 

creating high paying 

technical jobs and will 

count towards climate 

change abatement by 

reducing amounts of 

flared gas.” 

Gombe fertiliser blending 

plant to begin operation soon 

— Commissioner 

fertiliser 20-10-10 on 

ground and we have 

made order for provision 

of additional quantity 

depending on the 

demand and we have 

already started selling it 

in all our stores in the 11 

LGAs. 

“So we have fertiliser on 

ground and we are also 

to start blending in our 

fertiliser blending plant in 

Gombe to make it 

available to our farmers 

and the region.” 

He further said that the 

government had made 

available tractors for 

hiring at subsidised rate 

for land preparation. 

A cross section Nasarawa State Pensioners protesting unpaid benefits 

By Victor Ahiuma-Young 

ONE of the major 

challenges 

threatening the 

Contributory Pension 

Scheme, CPS, 

introduced in 2005 

following the Pension 

Reforms, PRA, 2004, is 

non-remittance of 

deducted contributions 

by employers. 

Speaking to Pension 

and You, Secretary/Legal 

Adviser, National 

Pension Commission, 

PenCom, Mr 

Muhammed Sani 

Muhammed, gave 

insight into how the 

commission is addressing 

the issue. 

"This goes to the heart 

of actually what we do at 

PenCom. Pension 

contribution is supposed 

to be remitted to the 

retirement savings 

account of the employees 

at least seven days after 

payment of salary. There 

are situations where you 

have employers that 

don’t do that, but the law 

says if any employer does 

not do that, such an 

employer is liable to pay 

the un-remitted 

deduction as well as pay 

some interests on it. What 

we have done in 

PenCom is that we have 

engaged recovery agents 

and accountants, they 

know how to compute, 

and they go and 

investigate. They 

examine the payroll of 

the employers then 

determine what has been 

remitted and what has 

not and what is 

outstanding. The 

recovery agents will make 

demands; we will push it 

through the official 

authority of the 

commission to ensure that 

it is done. We have 

several administrative 

procedures in ensuring 

that employers remit. 

Now if they are unable to 

do that, then we graduate 

that effort to the legal 

process where we file 

legal action in the 

National Industrial Court 

that has exclusive 

jurisdiction to deal with 

pension issues. 

So that is what we have 

been doing. Indeed, we 

have been making a lot 

of recoveries. 

What we do is to 

request employees to 

inform us on the 

situation. Sometimes, 

some of these things 

don’t get to us early 

enough but if people can 

blow the whistle and tell 

us exactly the situation 

with them regarding the 

performance of their 

employers in terms of 

contributions' remittance 

then we will be able to 

take it up from there. We 

have a framework for 

whistle- blowing in the 

pension industry, which 

is on our website. 

But in a nutshell, a 

person does not even 

need to write his or her 

name. When we get the 

information, we will 

investigate, we will send 

our examiners, we will 

determine what is 

outstanding and we will 

take it up from there. 

Remittances in 

Media 

You see, as a 

commission, the 

approach we have taken 

in terms of enforcement 

of this remittance is one 

that ensures that the 

employer continues to 

exist. In ensuring 

compliance with the 

Pension Reforms Act, we 

do not seek to close up 

businesses. We want to 

assist, and give business 

owners advice on how 

best for them to comply 

with their obligations. 

What we do is, when 

we get our information 

on non-compliance, we 

send our examiners, we 

administratively engage 

each employer to 

negotiate. Because if you 

look at it, it is very hard 

to deny, maybe if there is 

anything to deny, it is just 

about plus or minus. 

But if you are 

remitting your 

deductions, you just 

give us evidence of 

your remittances and if 

you are not, definitely 

your evidence will not 

be there. What we will 

agree with you, we will 

come up with an 

arrangement, a 

payment schedule on 

what will be easy and 

how best you will be 

able to pay. 

We will encourage 

employers to clear the 

principal so that 

interest will not 

continue to grow. Then, 

we will also spread the 

payment in such a way 

that the business 

continues to exist, and 

the employee on whose 

behalf we are acting will 

also continue to be in 

employment, receiving 

salary and also getting 

his pension as at when 

due. This constructive 

engagement is what we 

do and I assure you that 

the media also is 

subject to that. In view 

of the fact that there is 

this feeling, we will step 

up our approach in that 

area."

‘Why Technology may soon take over legal profession’ 

By Juliet Ebirim 

Indigenous software powerhouse, System Specs, 

has warned that the legal profession is on the 

cusp of a transformation, in which artificialintelligence 

platforms will dramatically affect how 

legal works get done. 

Speaking at a panel discussion on “Technology 

and Innovation” during the Nigerian Bar 

Association (NBA), Lagos Branch annual law week, 

the founder and Chief Executive Officer of System 

Specs, John Obaro, said legal services are 

increasingly being automated which will lead to a 

decline in the services provided by lawyers. 

He said: “Increasing automation of the legal 

industry promises to increase efficiency and save 

clients money, but could also cut jobs in the sector 

as technology becomes responsible for tasks currently 

performed by humans. These are actually tasks, which 

at the moment, are largely the responsibility of fleshand-blood 

lawyers”. 

He added that technology is gaining traction in 

the legal sector, just like Financial Technology 

(FinTech) has assumed a life of its own in the banking 

sector making financial transactions easy. “Before 

now it was practically impossible for bank account 

owners to check their balances without first going 

into a physical banking hall and joining the queue. 

Today, things have changed as people carry out 

transactions on the go via their mobile phones.” 

In the last decade, SystemSpecs has become a 

leader in the Nigerian e-Payment space with its 


Remita 

solution, 

w h i c h 

enables efficient 

and easy payments 

and collections of funds for 

individuals and corporate organisations 

(both public and private) on a single inter-bank 

platform. 

By Prince Osuagwu 

The new world order where 

technology drives 

development is 

challenging economies to 

innovation and new thinking. 

However, the high risks 

associated with emerging 

technologies and the 

devastating distortion they are 

capable of bringing to world 

peace is beginning to raise 

serious concerns, particularly 

among the emerging 

economies where the impacts 

are predicted to be felt the 

more. 

Just recently, the internet is 

experiencing a deafening buzz 

over a viral video considered to 

be a simulated version of a 

speech delivered by Nigeria’s 

Inspector General, IG, of Police, 

Ibrahim Idris, at an event in 

Kano State. 

DOCTORED VIDEO 

The suspected doctored video 

portrays the IGP as incapable of 

reading a prepared speech as he 

struggles with every line, 

pronouncing each word twice. 

Although this has been 

dismissed as fake by the 

hierarchy of the police and other 

government officials, it however 

remains a wonder how the 

people who allegedly simulated 

the video were able to quickly do 

that, hit the internet and attracted 

an outrageous number of 

viewership within a few hours. 

While it may portray the 

country as having very strong 

generation of video editing 

techies, observers are saying that 

the outcome of their job does not 

benefit the country in any way. 

Again, the growth of social media 

platforms like Facebook, 

Whatsapp, Netflix, Twitter and 

skype among others, otherwise 

known as Over the top service 

providers, OTTs, have been 

hailed as giving Nigeria a strong 

footing in the global technology 

map. 

DIVIDED OPINIONS 

However, their activities have 

also generated a heated 

argument which has divided 

opinions between the country’s 

telecom regulator, the Nigerian 

Communications Commission, 

NCC and telecom companies 

operating in the country. 

The regulator does not appear 

to agree with the argument of 

the operators which is coming 

from their umbrella body, the 

Association of Licensed Telecom 

Operators in Nigeria, ALTON, 

that the best way to protect them 

and their investments in the 

country would be to regulate the 

New trends, high risks 

How new technologies support 

growth, threaten stability of 

emerging economies 

OTTs so that every telecom 

service provider must play on a 

level field. 

The regulator seems to favour 

the argument that regulating 

OTTs would unnecessarily 

reduce the freedom of users to 

access some free services from 

These 

technologies have 

above average 

benefits but there 

is also no doubt 

that their 

negative impacts 

will be dramatic 

those who wish to deliver them 

at such arrangements. The 

commission is more convinced 

by this stand, considering that 

activities of OTTs, somehow, 

generate revenue for the licensed 

operators, since the data needed 

to access such services are 

purchased from the operators, 

directly. 

As much as these arguments 

appear not to have generated bad 

blood capable of impacting the 

sector negatively, it has, however, 

exposed the troubles associated 

with new technologies. 

GLOBAL RISK REPORT 

A recent Global Risks Report 

by the World Economic Forum 

highlights 12 key areas of 

innovation and their inherent 

risks and benefits. Among the 

emerging technologies the report 

highlighted to have most negative 

consequences are artificial 

intelligence and robotics. 

Meanwhile, these are two 

technologies that are making 

their ways, heavily, into the 

economies of many nations, 

including the emerging ones 

like Nigeria. 

Artificial Intelligence 

technology is the development 

of computer systems that are 

able to perform tasks which 

normally require human 

intelligence, such as visual 

perception, speech recognition, 

decision-making, and translation 

between languages. 

Artificial intelligence 

Robotics 

Robotics 

also has 

similar 

direction 

since it 

involves 

programmable 

machines or 

robots which 

are usually 

able to carry 

out a series of 

actions 

autonomously, 

or semiautonomously, 

through 

sensors and actuators. 

These technologies have above 

average benefits but there is also 

no doubt that their negative 

impacts will be dramatic. 

Artificial intelligence would usher 

innovations like self driving car 

technology which has been 

tipped as capable of eliminating 

about 90 percent of the 

approximately 1.3 million road 

fatalities each year in the world. 

Self driving cars also can 

reduce congestions, pollution 

and make the cities cleaner and 

safer. However, the report raised 

a lot of questions about how 

nations could cope with their 

devastating negative sides. 

Among key concerns is the 

question of whether this 

technology will deprive millions 

of their jobs. For example, if this 

robot chef becomes a common 

sight in cafes and restaurants 

all around the world, will 

millions of people currently 

working in the hospitality 

industry lose their jobs? Or in a 

world where machines are 

powered by artificial 

intelligence, how can humans 

be sure that the decisions they 

make are ethical? If a selfdriving 

car has the choice to 

either crash into a person 

crossing the street, or crash into 

a wall injuring, or possibly 

killing, its passengers, how can 

it make that split-second 

decision; one that even humans 

struggle with? 

TECH AND INNOVATION 

In a similar vein, founder and 

Chief Executive Officer of System 

Specs, John Obaro, discussing 

“Technology and Innovation” at 

the Nigerian Bar Association 

(NBA), Lagos Branch annual 

law week, recently, expressed 

fear that the way legal services 

are increasingly being 

automated, will lead to a decline 

in the services provided by 

lawyers. 

He said: “Increasing 

automation of 

the legal 

industry 

promises to 

increase 

efficiency 

and save 

clients 

money, but 

could also 

cut jobs in 

the sector 

as the 

technology 

becomes 

responsible 

for tasks currently 

performed by humans. These 

are actually tasks, which at the 

moment, are largely the 

responsibility of flesh-and-blood 

lawyers”. 

But the report by the World 

Economic Forum advised 

countries to ensure that new 

technologies are developed 

alongside a system of good 

governance. 

It however noticed a dilemma 

in the complexity of governance 

where too much regulation 

could stifle the very innovation 

and benefit technology is trying 

to create, but inadequate 

regulation may also never give 

people enough trust to use new 

technologies. 

C 

M 

YK


The modern taxi 

driver must be 

tech compliant 

—O’Yoma, Uber GLH manager 


T 

echnology is changing 

every business including 

that of transportation and 

ride hailing app and Technology 

Company, Uber, has proven that 

when it berthed in the country 

three years ago. 

Today, the company is 

investing more to make its driver 

partners more technology savvy. 

That has manifested in the 

establishment of GreenLight 

Hub, GLH, which is 

transforming the way drivers 

apply technology in plying their 

trade. 

Hi-Tech, caught up with the 

Operations Manager of the 

centres, O’Ýoma Ukueku who 

told us that Uber is investing 

ahead of time because in future 

there will be no place for any 

driver without 

technology 

knowledge 

Excerpts: 

Uber launched in 

Nigeria 3 years 

ago; let's share 

milestones? 

We’ve applied the 

philosophy of ridesharing 

in cities 

across the world, 

providing an 

integrated transport 

solution. We have 

experienced the 

benefits that 

technology can bring 

to public transport. 

With GPS systems 

and constant 

communication, 

technology can 

make it safer for both the driver 

and the passenger. In 2016, 

Abuja became the 400th city in 

Uber’s growing global network 

allowing Abuja to join the list of 

smart transportation hubs in 

Africa. Since coming to Nigeria, 

there have been many 

developments which we are 

proud of. Firstly, we have 

facilitated over one million trips 

and partnered with over 7000 

driver-partners. 

We’ve also put in place a few 

partnerships which illustrates 

our commitment to driverpartners. 

We’ve partnered with 

companies like First Bank, and 

Germaine Autos - to ease the 

barriers of car ownership for 

driver-partners, and provide 

valuable car maintenance and 

servicing plans, to ensure that 

our driver-partners receive 

additional value. Another 

notable partnership is with AXA 

Mansard Insurance, a leading 

non-bank financial services 

institution in Nigeria. They 

provide driver-partners 

insurance cover against death, 

permanent, total or partial 

disabilities, medical and funeral 

expenses to riders during any 

trip with Uber in Nigeria. It also 

covers driver-partners and 

riders against damage to third 

party property that may occur 

while they carry out their Uber 

Uber is a 

technologically 

driven 

company, so 

technology 

is of course, 

at the heart 

of daily 

operations at 

the 

Greenlight 

Hubs 

App initiated activities. 

Support for driverpartners 

and riders has 

also been a priority for us 

and although there have 

been 

many 

developments, the most 

notable to mention and 

one we are particularly 

proud of is the launch 

of our Greenlight Hubs 

(GLH). This is a support 

centre for potential and 

existing driver-partners 

because in future, there 

is no place for any 

driver without 

technology knowledge. 

Greenlight Hub? 

Yes. The GLH is a support 

centre that provides driverpartners 

with established 

channels of communication to ask 

questions about the 

app, receive initial 

training and quality 

service retraining, 

activate their 

vehicles, do 

background checks 

and have focus 

group meetings 

relating to the Uber 

App. 

We want drivepartners 

to have the 

best customer 

experience 

enhanced by solid 

processes, welltrained 

experts and 

cutting-edge 

technology. Potential 

driver-partners are 

also assisted here 

through the vetting 

and on-boarding 

process. 

In Nigeria, we’ve opened two 

centres based in Abuja - 

Maitama and Lagos – 

Maryland. Areas which are both 

centrally located making it 

accessible to our driver-partners. 

What technologies 

are found at the 

Greenlight Hub? 

Uber is a 

technologically 

driven company, so 

technology is of 

course, at the heart 

of daily operations at 

the Greenlight Hubs. 

From start to finish - 

as the driverpartners 

arrive at the 

Concierge desk and 

receive tickets, 

when they access the 

iPads for document 

uploads or self-help 

inquiries, 

technology ensures 

that the whole 

process is automated 

and more efficient. 

The large LED 

screens at the 

Greenlight Hub 

show which driverpartner 

is next in line 

to be attended to by 

the Greenlight 

Experts, and so 

•Uber’s OÝoma 

quickens the process and 

eliminates a large amount of 

human and manual errors. 

For a market like ours where 

such support is not the norm 

especially for driver-partners, 

we are thrilled to be leading the 

call. 

So what difference does the 

technology make at these hubs? 

Unequivocally, technology has 

greatly improved overall 

customer experience and has 

helped to ensure that the entire 

process - sign up, onboarding 

and support - from start to finish 

- is faster, more efficient. 

However, we are never satisfied 

to just remain as we are. We are 

constantly auditing and 

upgrading our internal processes 

to ensure that we continue to 

deliver cutting-edge, innovative, 

customer experience to driverpartners. 

Let’s focus on some of the 

analytics: what is the number of 

monthly interactions and stats 

on issues resolution? 

We look at driver-partners who 

come to the Greenlight Hubs 

based on whether they are new 

or existing drivers and assist 

accordingly. On an average 

month, we have about 7000 feet 

through the door, and of this 

number 60% are first-time walkins, 

that is in Lagos alone. In 

Abuja, there is on average 2000 

UK-based Metropolitan Networks 

to develop specific tech solutions 

for Nigeria 


Managing Director of a 

United Kingdom-based 

information technology 

system integrator, 

Metropolitan Networks, 

Ashok Thomas, has 

described Nigeria as the 

biggest economy in Africa 

which even has the potential 

to grow significantly if 

properly positioned. 

He said his company having 

realised this, is planning to 

extend its footprint to Nigeria, 

by offering advanced IT 

security services, managed 

services, hosting, 

infrastructure, and server 

connections for businesses in 

Nigeria. 

During a visit to Nigeria, 

Thomas said Metropolitan 

Networks will be bringing to 

the country its vast experience 

in the IT Industry that will help 

improve the connectivity, 

efficiency and security of 

businesses. 

He said: “Nigeria is the 

biggest economy in Africa 

and has the potential to grow 

significantly, what she needs 

is to harness its human 

capital potential to grow. 

Metropolitan wants to help 

and grow with Nigeria and 

that is our reason for coming 

to the country. 

“We hope to develop a 

company that will grow and 

employ local people. One of 

the things we will do 

differently is to develop 

specific solutions that will 

address organizations’ 

concerns. There are things 

that are unique to Nigeria and 

Africa we will be working to 

build solutions that will 

address them,” he said 

adding “Traditionally, we 

offer solutions in the 

enterprise space especially in 

educational sector. We have 

seen the need for people to 

use technology differently to 

achieve efficiency. Our focus 

is on organizations that are 

security conscious which will 

help people protect their 

resources". 

Metropolitan Networks was 

established in 2003 with the 

aim to deliver essential IT 

services in an ethical manner 

– by meeting needs rather 

than simply offering services. 

Thomas noted that his 

company is dedicated to 

providing the best possible IT 

support and managed 

services to its clients in 

London and around the 

world, with certified in-house 

engineers and own secure, 

UK-based data centre. 

(L-r) Managing Director, Metropolitan Networks, United 

Kingdom; Ashok Thomas, General Manager, Metropolitan 

Networks, Nigeria, Cecelia Asianah, and Managing Director, 

Metropolitan Networks, Nigeria, Robert Okonyia, at a media 

chat in Lagos recently. 

interactions, 58% of that number 

being first-time walk ins. 

Interactions for potential driverpartners 

are those who come in 

to find out about signing up, 

finding out requirements to 

become an Uber Driver-Partner, 

uploading documents and, 

performing the Uber Information 

(onboarding) sessions if they 

pass all the requirements.

MOBILE MARKET 

High end devices with price cuts 

across Nigerian mobile shops 

Galaxy S9 is a 

high end 

smartphone 

released by No 1 

mobile phone 

maker, Samsung in 

February 2018, 

although it became 

available in the 

market in March. 

The smartphone 

is such a delight to 

behold because of 

its unique features 

– 8.5 mm body 

dimension, front and back 

Gorilla glass 5 with 

aluminium frame. The phone 

also supports Single Nano 

SIM or Hybrid dual SIM in 

Lenovo Yoga tab 3 is the 

ultimate video tablet. The 

dazzling display is great for 

watching your favorite shows 

anywhere, from the office to the 

kitchen. Its powerful speakers 

deliver truly immersive audio. 

And best of all, you can project 

cinema-like video onto any 

surface. It has 8MP 180 degrees 

rotating camera, 8,400mAh 

battery which lasts for at least 18 

hours Work time. The device 

boasts of 2GB RAM + 16GB 

ROM and is 128GB expandable 

with microSD Card. It is 4G-LTE 

enabled. 

The Ignis Gas 

Cooker appears 

very friendly to every 

woman desirous of 

accessing the husband’s 

heart through the 

stomach. With its features 

it seems also affordable. 

The kitchen equipment 

has four gas burner, two 

electric plates, electric 

ignition / stainless steel 

hobb, gas oven, gas grill 

and internal light 

It also spots dish 

warmer compartment, 

double glass safety oven 

door, glass lid and turn 

spit features. The gas 

cooker used to cost N450, 

000 but can now be 

acquired with N430, 000. 

HP Omen 15 is a 

gaming laptop. 

Touchscreen, 15.6 inch, full 

HD IPS display 8GB RAM 

1TB hard drive and 

graphics windows 10. 

Used to cost N385, 000 at 

Jumia but can now be 

acquired with N375. 

addition to being compliant 

to payment platforms like 

V i s a , 

Mastercard 

among others. 

It is dust t and 

Water proof up 

to1.5m for 30 

minutes. 

Galaxy S9 

supports 

GSM, CDMA, 

HSPA, EVDO 

and LTE 

technology 

systems. 

It used to 

cost up to 

N320, 000 but Vanguard 

Mobile Market can 

authoritatively tell you that 

you can acquire it now with 

as low as N298, 000 in Slot 

stores. 

Fortunately 

enough for smart device 

lovers, the tablet that used to cost 

N125, 000 at Konga, is now 

N117, 500 at the same stores 

across the country. 

By Emmanuel Elebeke 

The issue of poor quality 

service, use of multiple 

phones and porting from one 

network to another may soon be 

history in Nigeria’s technology 

space, if the Super Sim Card 

Innovation to be introduced by 

a team of researchers from 

University of Technology, 

Minna, becomes a reality. 

The research work which 

started three years ago was 

commissioned and sponsored 

by the NCC to pave way for 

indigenous and novel 

technologies that could disrupt 

the existing technologies and 

also address problems in the 

industry. 

The Vice 

Chancellor 

of Federal 

University 

o f 

Technology, 

FUT 

Minna, 

P r o f . 

Abdullahi 

Bala on 

Monday led 

a team of researchers 

comprising students and 

scientists from the university to 

present two technology 

innovation projects funded by 

the Nigerian Communications 

Commission, NCC. 

The NCC coughed out about 

N4.7 million for the two 

projects, Seamless Multiple 

Operator enabled SIM cards 

and mobile communication 

enabled walking stick. 

They are designed to address 

the issue of subscribers using 

multiple phones and SIM cards 

due to poor quality of service. 

The project is particularly in 

keeping with the consideration 

for national roaming that is 

being promoted by the 

commission. 

Presenting the novel devices, 

the Lead Researcher and 

Head, Department of 

Mechatronics Engineering , 

FUT Minna, Prof. Abiodun 

Aibinu explained that the first 

project, the Seamless Data and 

Voice Connection Over 

Multiple Operator enabled 


•SIM card 

National Roaming: 

NCC puts N4.7m behind 

Super SIM card innovation, 

digital walking stick 

SIM Card allows a subscriber 

the opportunity of having one 

SIM card for all networks or one 

mobile phone with one SIM 

card for all networks. 

Aibinu said that the 

innovation is a major disruption 

in the status quo ante of the 

Nigerian telecom landscape 

because the device with the 

SIM gets the signal of all 

available networks in a 

particular location. 

He said: “We are talking 

about disrupting the ecosystem 

in the telecommunication 

industry in the sense that with 

just one SIM card, you can 

access the available networks 

without porting or buying 

multiple SIMS. 

“People carry a lot of phones 

or SIMs these days as a result 

of poor quality service and the 

uncertainty of network strength 

of an area; so using basic 

engineering and the 

technology behind Mobile 

phone, we applied Artificial 

Intelligence, AI system to 

enable the device take 

•Digital 

walking stick 

intelligent decision on 

behalf of the user in 

switching from the 

network with poor 

quality service to 

another with better 

quality service. 

“What this means is 

that immediately the 

product hits the market, 

subscribers would truly 

become kings as they can 

enjoy quality service 

even without having 

more than one phone.” 

On the second 

innovation, 

development of 

M o b i l e 

Communication 

enabled 

walking stick, 

he also 

explained that 

the innovation 

is a mobile 

p h o n e 

embedded 

walking stick 

designed to aid the user, 

especially the aged and the 

blind navigate through 

dangerous spots, and at the 

same time make calls when 

necessary. 

Explaining why NCC threw 

money at the innovations, 

Executive Vice Chairman of the 

NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta said 

it was in keeping with the 

consideration for National 

Roaming Plan that the 

commission felt it would be 

worthy to give such innovations 

a trialDanabba, who was 

represented by one of the 

commission’s Executive 

Commissioners, Engr. Ubale 

Maska, commended the 

team for living up to its tasks 

of utilizing the N4.7million 

grant to innovate a disruptive 

technology that could enhance 

the existing quality of service 

in the country. 

He contended that since the 

innovation is looking into the 

future it would be of immense 

benefit to the telecom industry 

because the industry is very 

dynamic. 

Balance ICT infrastructure investments with skills, 

knowledge, DBI boss tells ICT decision makers 

By Blessing Okoroafor 

The Administrator of Digital Bridge 

Institute (DBI),Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, has 

challenged respective Information and 

Communications Technology, ICT, policy makers 

and major decision makers in respective private 

and public ICT establishments in the country, 

to think more of improving knowledge and skills 

in the sector. 

He said, the only way the country will 

maximize its investments in ICT infrastructure 

is by matching it with investments in 

knowledge and skills. 

In a brief chat with journalists in Abuja, 

recently, Adinde argued that without adequate 

investment in skills and training, the country 

may not partake in the benefits of infrastructure 

deployment across the country. 

He said the country has emphasized much 

on funding ICT hardware procurement and 

should now consolidate on that investment with 

commensurate investment in hardware, software 

and ICT skills acquisition among others. 

He said: “There are two ways to funding ICT: 

Investment in ICT infrastructure and investment 

in skills and knowledge. Most often 

government dwells on the investment that can 

easily be seen like buying computers, 

equipment, installing gadgets, among others, 

but neglecting the important part, which is the 

skills and the knowledge aspect. At least, no 

matter the investment in physical infrastructure, 

you still need people to harness the potential 

of those hardware investments. 

“We made a case sometime in 2016 at the 

capacity building symposium organised by the 

International Telecommunications Union (ITU) 

that the investments in universal service 

provision fund, USPF across Africa, should be 

dedicated to ICT skills development, instead of 

being channeled wholly and exclusively to ICT 

infrastructure. The reason we made the case 

was because the modern way of developing with 

technology is where about $10million is invested 

in ICT infrastructure, 10 per cent of the money 

should go for ICT skills. That 10 percent would 

be targeted at the youths now commonly called 

the millennials. 

“They are the ones who will use the 

infrastructure to innovate, create and develop 

the things that will make the future happen, 

but as long as we don’t make that investment, 

we will only be putting pieces of ICT equipment 

in offices without people with skills to use them 

appropriately” he added. 

C 

M 

YK


REC warns against vote buying as TuFace is unveiled as Campaign Ambassador 

By Rotimi Ojomoyela 

THE Ekiti State Resident 

Electoral Commissioner 

(REC), Prof. Abdul Ganiyu 

Raji, has warned youths in 

the state against violence 

and vote buying during the 

forthcoming election. 

Raji spoke on Tuesday at a 

Voter Education Retreat 

where music superstar, 

Innocent Idibia, a.k.a. 2Face 

was commissioned as 

Campaign Peace 

Ambassador. 

The event was organised 

by Youngstars Development 

Initiative, 2Baba Foundation 

and New Generation for 

Girls and Women 

Development (NIGAWD) in 

Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. 

The parley tagged “Vote 

Not Fight: Election No Be 

War” was also supported by 

the United States Agency for 

International Development 

(USAID), the United 

Kingdom for International 

Development (UKAID) and 

the National Democratic 

Institute (NDI). 

The youth who were drawn 

from all the 16 local 

government areas promised 

•Tu-face 

to take the campaign to their 

localities to ensure a peaceful 

poll. 

Raji disclosed that between 

60 and 70 percent of those 

involved in violence during 

elections are youths whom 

he said are induced with 

money by desperate 

politicians in a bid to win at 

all cost. He said, “Ekiti is a 

volatile state, the news being 

heard outside is that you 

cannot enter Ekiti. But the 

perception must change. 

“It has moved from rigging 

or snatching of electoral 

materials to vote buying and 

vote selling. Before, when an 

election is disrupted, it will 

be cancelled but that no 

longer obtains. 

NIGAWD Executive 

Director, Abimbola 

Aladejare, disclosed that the 

Vote Not Fight campaign will 

take the message of peace to 

political actors, media 

organizations, transport 

workers, traditional rulers, 

religious leaders and other 

By Rotimi Ojomoyela 

APC candidate, Dr. 

Kayode Fayemi, has 

suspended all campaign 

activities for one week in 

honour of one of the party’s 

governorship aspirants, Mr. 

Kole Ajayi, who died last 

Friday. 

Ajayi, a former National 

President of the Ekiti State 

University (EKSU) Alumni 

Association, died on his way to 

Lagos for a function of the 

Union. 

The remains of the lawyerturned-politician 

who died at 

the age of 51 will be buried on 

May 31 in Ado-Ekiti. 

Fayemi in a statement on 

stakeholders. 

Country Director of NDI, 

Aubrey Cutcheon, urged the 

youths to show readiness to 

take leadership roles and not 

allow themselves to be used 

as thugs. Others who 

addressed the youths at the 

forum included the state 

Commissioner of Police, 

Bello Ahmed represented by 

Deputy Commissioner of 

Police, Ede Ayuba; the State 

Director of the National 

Orientation Agency (NOA), 

Dayo Famosaya; Nigeria 

Union Journalists (NUJ) 

Chairman, Rotimi 

Ojomoyela. 

Fayemi suspends campaign in honour of dead 

APC aspirant, Ajayi 

Tuesday by his Special 

Adviser (Media), Mr. 

Olayinka Oyebode, directed 

that all activities by his 

campaign be put on hold this 

week. These include all 

planned electioneering visits 

to some communities and the 

planned reception in honour 

of Fayemi with new dates for 

rescheduled activities to be 

announced later. 

The statement said that 

Fayemi who is outside the 

country on official assignment 

has since got in touch with the 

family of the deceased. 

Fayemi, who described 

Ajayi’s death as “saddening 

and devastating,” said the late 

politician deserved every 

honour the campaign 

organization, and indeed all 

his supporters could accord 

him in view of his 

demonstrated commitment of 

the candidate at the just 

concluded primary. 

The APC flagbearer said the 

late Ajayi brought colour and 

panache to the Kayode 

Fayemi governorship 

campaign within the short 

period he worked with the 

team and exhibited so much 

commitment to the 

advancement of the 

campaign. “Kole Ajayi was a 

thoroughbred professional, 

highly resourceful politician 

and advocate of good 

governance. He was a man 

you can trust to discharge an 

assignment effectively once 

he is convinced it would lead 

to the general good.

Hubby left for a richer older woman 

Dear Bunmi, 

MY husband was the love of 

my life and I thought we 

would grow old together. I did 

everything for him for the 12 

years of our marriage and 

made our marriage as 

comfortable and as happy as 

I possibly could. Then I 

started hearing tales of him 

being around an older woman 

who ran a chain of 

restaurants. When I 

confronted him, he denied 

everything, saying his family 

was more important to him. 

Then without warning, he 

simply moved in with this 

woman. He had lost his job 

and that was his way of rising 

above the economic 

depression he was in. He had 

the nerve to tell me we would 

both benefit from his decision 

as our two kids would want 

for nothing. If this woman had 

been a young gold-digger, 

maybe I would have coped. 

But I felt so used and 

humiliated he’d chosen 

money over his family. This 

happened over a year ago but 

I’m still hurting. 

Orode, 

by e-mail. 

Dear Orode, 

You need the support of 

family and friends through a 

betrayal like this to remind 

you that even when you’re in 

the depths of despair, you 

have a lot of things to be 

grateful for. The classic song, 

which is more or less the 

anthem of the heartbroken, I 

Will Survive, is so appropriate 

for women like you and will 

give you strength and hope 

that it’s never too late to 

In love with my lover’s half 

brother 

Dear Bunmi, 

WHEN I met my current 

boyfriend, he never 

mentioned anything about 

having a half-brother. We’d 

been together for about a year 

when he introduced him to 

me at a social gathering. It 

was a bit of a shock and even 

more shocking was the 

immediate attraction between 

us. It was obvious he felt it too, 

because as soon as we were 

alone, he gave me his phone 

number. He called me the 

next day and we agreed to 

meet up. When we did, he 

took me to his place and 

we’ve since started an affair. 

I knew it was wrong, I just felt 

powerless to stop it. I’ve 

fallen for him, but I also have 

embrace life and start again. 

Force yourself to look 

forward. Take positive action, 

start something different and 

make it your life from now on. 

The kids need you more now 

they have the attention of just 

one parent. Don’t turn them 

against their dad but don’t 

leave room for him to get 

under your skin ever again. 

strong feelings for my 

boyfriend. What do I do to 

make the right choice? 

Angela, 

by e-mail. 

Dear Angela, 

I don’t know what right 

choice you want to make when 

you seem to be enjoying the 

best of two worlds. Be rest 

assured, however, that if your 

real boyfriend finds out, he 

will cut off all ties with both 

of you and you’ll bitterly 

regret what you’re now doing. 

It would be best for everyone 

if you ended both 

relationships and walked 

away from the family you 

could end up destroying. If 

you come between two 

brothers, shame on you. 

How do I cope with my nasty son-in-law? 

VANGU 

ANGUARD,WEDNESD 

ARD,WEDNESDAY, , MAY 23, 2018—27 

Are artificial sweeteners harmful? 

Dear Bunmi, 

I’VE used artificial 

sweeteners for years. Over the 

years, I’ve heard of all sorts 

of diseases sweeteners can 

promote. There has been a 

belief it could even cause 

cancer. Is there any truth in 

this? I really wouldn’t want to 

put my health at risk. 

Tito, 

by e-mail. 

Dear Tito, 

There doesn’t seem to be any 

truth in such claims. All 

My ex needs to be taught a lesson 

Dear Bunmi, 

My husband and I have 

been divorced for four years. 

We split up before and got 

back together. 

But since the divorce, he’s 

been using me for sex, even 

when he’s been in other 

relationships. He’s been 

seeing a woman for two years 

and they’re now engaged. 

But despite the fact that I’ve 

told her about his affair with 

me and stopped him having 

access to our children, she’s 

still with him. 

She thinks I’m lying and my 

ex believes that because I’m 

living with a man, I won’t 

make too much trouble. 

Although I don’t love my ex, 

I want to punish him for using 

me. Should I prove to his 

fiancee that I’m not lying? I 

know this may cost me my 

boyfriend but I don’t care 

about him anyway. 

Busi, 

by e-mail. 

Dear Busi, 

You need to accept that your 

relationship with your ex is 

sweeteners are extensively 

tested before they become 

available, and nothing that is 

known to be carcinogenic is 

permitted on the market. 

According to Dr. John Fry, an 

expert on sweeteners, 

rumours arose several years 

ago when some tests 

suggested that saccharin 

might cause bladder cancer 

in rats, but it has since been 

proved that the cancer found 

in the rats wasn’t caused by 

saccharin at all. 

finally over. This time, despite 

the fact that you’ve consented 

to sex with him, he’s 

definitely not coming back to 

you. Because you feel 

disappointed and vulnerable, 

you’re foaming with anger. 

You believe that by puffing 

yourself up and acting in 

ways that are unpleasant and 

scary, you’ll intimidate others 

and change their behaviour. 

Instead, by attempting to 

undermine your ex’s 

relationship with his fiancee 

and his children, you’re 

earning everyone’s contempt, 

not least of all your own. 

You need to stop this temper 

tantrums. By behaving in 

ways that allow you to 

preserve your integrity, you’ll 

heal your wounds and protect 

your pride. Forget about your 

ex, and, as your wounds heal, 

renew his relationship with 

his children, they’re the 

innocent ones here. In the 

meantime, if you don’t care 

for your current boyfriend, 

then let him go so he can 

move on with his life, and 

you with yours. 

Dear Bunmi, 

MY son-in-law seems to 

despise my family and I don’t 

know what to do. He thinks 

we’ve brought our children up 

badly and says that we’re 

common. My late husband 

used to tolerate him for the 

sake of our grandchildren but 

now that I’m on my own, my 

son-in-law ignores me when 

I visit and never thanks me for 

any birthday presents that I 

buy him. 

My daughter still expects 

me to visit even though it’s a 

long journey and I have to stay 

overnight. I’m getting tired of 

all the hassle. What do you 

think I should do? 

Chineze, 

by e-mail. 

Dear Chineze, 

It may be small comfort to 

you but it’s obvious that your 

son-in-law is the one with the 

problem and until he learns to 

treat you with respect, I see 

no reason why you should put 

up with his appalling 

behaviour a minute longer. 

You need to sit down with both 

your daughter and son-in-law 

and tell them exactly how you 

feel. 

Then demand an 

explanation as to why he 

insists on treating you this 

way, even though there’s no 

excuse for him not thanking 

you for your presents. 

If you feel you can’t do this 

face-to-face, then send your 

daughter a letter like this one 

you’ve written here. You’re 

entitled to be treated 

courteously by your son-inlaw, 

and until he learns to change 

his ways, I suggest you tell 

your daughter that from now 

on, she’ll have to bring the 

children to your house. At least 

that way, you won’t be on edge 

waiting for the next nasty quip 

and your grandchildren will 

get to see a happier, more 

relaxed grandma. 

Demand an explanation as to 

why he insists on treating you 

this way, even though there’s 

no excuse for him not 

thanking you for your 

presents; if you feel you can’t 

do this face-to-face, then 

send your daughter a letter 

like this one you’ve written 

here; you’re entitled to be 

treated courteously by your 

son-in-law, and until he 

learns to change his ways, I 

suggest you tell your 

daughter that from now on, 

she’ll have to bring the 

children to your house 

You need to stop this 

temper tantrums; by 

behaving in ways that 

allow you to preserve 

your integrity, you’ll 

heal your wounds and 

protect your pride. 

Forget about your ex, 

and as your wounds 

heal, renew his 

relationship with his 

children, they’re the 

innocent ones here. 

Share your problems and release your 

burden. Write now to Dear Bunmi, 

Vanguard Newspapers, P.M.B 1007, 

Apapa, Lagos, or bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk


VOL. 2 NO. 24 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 

FG showcases roads, power, 

housing projects in S-East 

*Fashola with TCN officials inspecting New-Haven 

sub-station at Enugu. 

C 

M 

Y 

K 

By Dennis Agbo 

ENUGU- THE 

Minister for Works, 

Power and Housing, 

Mr. Babatunde Fashola, last 

weekend inspected Federal 

Government’s on-going 

projects in the South-East 

geopolitical zone, starting 

from Abia, Imo, Enugu, 

Ebonyi to Anambra states. 

Arriving the Enugu border 

with Abia State, after his 

departure from Imo State, the 

Minister rode through one 

flank of the Enugu-Port 

Harcourt Expressway, 

stopping at the CGC asphalt 

plant located at Awgu. 

On arrival in Enugu State, 

Fashola expressed 

disappointment on the 

garbage he saw along the 

way at Okigwe (Imo State) and 

Lokpanta (Abia State) points. 

He immediately called on the 

affected state governments to 

clear the markets, refuse and 

so much rubbish that have 

taken over the spots. 

It was at Awgu that the 

Minister plied the ongoing 

road construction up to 

Enugu-Port Harcourt road 

after the contractor said he 

hopes to achieve 15 per cent 

completion by December, 

whereas 23km asphalting has 

been done. Both the Minister 

and the Federal Controller of 

Works in Enugu State, Engr. 

Femi Oyekanmi expressed 

reservations 

and 

disappointment on the part 

of the contractor for slow 

pace of work. 

From there, the team passed 

through Nenwe-Oduma- 

Uburu, Ebonyi State road 

construction where work has 

gone on to very commendable 

extent. After a courtesy call on 

Governor Dave Umahi, the 

minister inspected the 

Ezzamgbo Federal Housing 

project, where he made 

remarks against state 

governments embarking on 

constructions of federal 

highways without permission 

from Abuja. 

Fashola emphatically told 

state governors that the 

Federal Government will not 

pay for any work they execute 

on federal roads if 

permissions were not properly 

obtained before the execution. 

He emphatically said that 

state governments should stop 

further execution of such 

projects until the Federal 

Government clears 

outstanding debts to states on 

such jobs. 

He also inspected the 

Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, 

where he noted that the very 

dilapidated 15 kilometers 

Abakpa junction-9th Mile 

*Parts of the almost completed Ugwogo Housing units 

section will be re-awarded 

since the former contractor 

absconded from the job. He 

however, commended the 

contractor working from 9th 

Mile to Ezeagu section of the 

road. 

POWER 

Unknown to electricity 

consumers in Enugu State 

and environs, the New Haven 

transmission sub-station has 

been upgraded to 

accommodate additional 70 

megawatts to boost power 

supply from the sub-station. 

After inspecting the 

installations, Fashola said: 

“It’s a transmission substation 

taking power from 

the grid at 132 KV, that’s a 

lot of voltage, stepping it 

down to 33 from where they 

now provide service to the 

Discos. TCN, the owner of 

this substation, is the 

transporter of power, 

wheeling it from where it is 

generated to a Disco such as 

the Enugu Disco that serves 

the Eastern part of Nigeria, 

essentially. 

“So Enugu DISCO takes the 

Uneasy calm pervades 

Nsukka Catholic 

Diocese in Nsukka Local 

Government Area of Enugu 

State as Echera community 

dragged the Catholic Bishop, 

Rt. Rev. Prof. Godfrey 

Igwebuike Onah and St. 

Joseph Catholic Church, Agu 

Echera Nsukka to court over 

trespass, claiming N2 million 

as general damages on the 

community land in dispute. 

In suit No N/113/2017, the 

plaintiffs, Chief John 

Alumona, Barr. Julius Ozioko 

and Barr. Ejimofor Onah, 

suing for themselves and on 

behalf of the people of Echera, 

power at 33 and takes it down 

to 11and finally to 415 volts 

where it comes to your home, 

that’s when the power is safe. 

The New Haven 

transmission 

sub-station has 

been upgraded 

to accommodate 

additional 70 

megawatts to 

boost power 

supply from the 

sub-station 

Now, what they do is that they 

use feeders to send the power 

to different parts of their 

distribution franchise, to 

different communities, towns 

and locations. 

“Now apart from adding 

*The minister on inspection at Ugwogo Housing units 

more power, about 70 

megawatts, if you know that 

one megawatt can power 

roughly 200 homes, if you 

multiply 200 by 70, you will 

see the number of people that 

will be served here when the 

additional 70 megawatts is 

switched on in a few weeks. 

What is being awaited is the 

fire protection system in the 

transformers. 

“What we have done here is 

that we have two new 

transformers of 60 MVA each; 

that means an additional 120 

MVA to the existing 60 MVA, 

that is 180 MVA and it 

increases the total power 

intake addition by 70 

megawatts which makes it 

over 190 megawatts for this 

Disco. What that means is that 

those industrial complexes 

can now be fed through a new 

feeder instead of clustering 

the old feeder. So there are 

four new feeders dedicated by 

the DISCO, because they are 

the ones that know their 

customers, so they are the 

ones to decide who will 

receive it but we know they 

have nominated two people, 

one is the industrial cluster 

and the other one is for 

Ugwogo and another one for 

Independence Layout.” 

HOUSING 

At the Ugwogo-Nike site of 

the ongoing 2016 National 

Housing programme, Fashola 

expressed disappointment 

with both the contractors and 

supervisors for the poor 

quality jobs on the estate that 

includes 1, 2 and 3-bedroom 

bungalows that cumulatively 

amount to 23 unit blocks, 

most nearing completion. 

The minister at the end of 

the inspection noted that the 

Federal Government will not 

accept poor quality jobs. “If 

we pay you money, mix the 

cement properly, that is the 

ethical side of construction. 

You don’t know who will live 

there, it maybe you, it maybe 

your relation and we want to 

build houses that are safe for 

people to live in. So don’t 

cheat on the cement because 

we have paid you for it,” said 

Fashola. 

He later moved on to 

Anambra State where he 

further inspected the 

remaining portion of Enugu- 

Onitsha road under 

reconstruction, among other 

federal projects sited in the 

state. 

Community sues Catholic Bishop, Parish for 

N2m over trespass 

Nsukka seeks an order of the 

court directing, compelling 

the defendant to remove the 

foundation and block work it 

is constructing on parts of 

Echera land in dispute and 

restore the land to its state 

prior to the defendant 

digging and erecting 

structures on the land in 

dispute. 

The plaintiffs are also 

seeking declaration of the 

court that apart from the land, 

the subject matter of survey 

plan No TLS/EN/L400/94 

dated 26/02/1994, the 

defendant does not own any 

piece of land on the northern 

boundary of St. Joseph 

Church, Agu Echera formerly 

Army Barracks, Nsukka 

including the land in dispute. 

In a writ of surmmons 

through the plaintiffs' counsel, 

O. J Uchenna (Esq), equally 

seek an order of perpetual 

injunction restraining the 

defendant or successors in 

office claiming or acting in the 

name or on behalf of the 

defendant, from entering the 

land in dispute, altering the 

nature, character and user of 

the land in dispute and in any 

way interfering with the 

interest of the plaintiffs. 


defendant has never 

appeared in court in regards 

to the matter since December 

22, 2017 when the writ of 

surmmons was served the 

registered trustees of the 

Catholic Diocese of Nsukka. 

It could be recalled that the 

matter started in 2007 under 

Bishop emeritus of the 

diocese, Rt. Rev. Dr. Francis 

Okobo who partly showed 

interest on malicious damages 

before his retirement.


Battle against human trafficking, 

prostitution abroad goes to schools 

By Vincent Ujumadu 

AWKA- A NIGERIAN, 

Mr. Eddy Duru, who 

is a German 

parliamentarian, has 

mounted vigorous school to 

school campaign across 

Nigeria against illegal 

travelling and prostitution 

abroad, which had led to 

death of many Nigerians in 

the desert and in the sea. 

Through his organisation, 

‘Re-educating Africans on 

the Risks and Dangers of 

Unplanned Journey Abroad,’ 

RARDUJA, an NGO, which 

is collaborating with the 

National Agency for the 

Prohibition of Trafficking in 

Persons, NAPTIP, Duru and 

his team had already visited 

many secondary schools 

across the country during 

which students were 

educated on the dangers of 

embarking on unplanned 

journey in the name of 

searching for greener 

pastures abroad. 

Last week, the team was at 

the famous St John of God 

Secondary School, Awka, a 

girls’ secondary school with 

very large population and at 

Comprehensive Secondary 

School, Nawfia in Njikoka 

Local Government Area of 

Anambra State and for 

hours, held the students and 

their teachers spellbound with 

revelations on the tortuous 

journey thousands of 

Nigerian youths had 

embarked upon, which 

resulted into agony for them 

and their families. 

Duru explained that he 

decided to carry the battle to 

secondary schools because 

the message would sink 

properly at their present 

ages, coupled with the fact 

that with clubs to be formed 

by the various schools, the 

information would spread to 

a large number of youths in 

the country. 

Using graphic illustrations, 

the Imo State-born Duru, who 

has lived in Germany for 22 

years, said that in 2016 alone, 

62,002 Nigerians migrated to 

Europe through the deserts, 

out of which 27,000 died on 

their way. 

According to him, over 

16,000 of those who lost their 

THE TEAM 

SUPERVISING EDITOR: 

Chioma Gabriel, Lagos 

(08052201257) 

EDITOR: 

Emeka Mamah, Enugu 

email: 

emekemamah@yahoo.com 

Anayo Okoli, Umuahia 

Vincent Ujumadu, Awka 

Chidi Nkwopara, Owerri 

Peter Okutu, Abakaliki 

Chimaobi Nwaiwu, 

Nnewi 

Nwabueze Okonkwo, 

Onitsha 

Ugochukwu Alaribe, Aba 

Enyim Enyim, Onitsha 

*Resource persons during the 

visit to St. John of God 

Secondary School, Awka 

lives during the journey were 

graduates of tertiary 

institutions, who could have 

found something useful to do 

in their country and advised 

the students not to allow 

themselves to be lured into 

embarking on such journeys 

by friends of aunties. 

Duru said: “Many of our 

sisters go abroad without 

knowing their destinations 

and only expect that men 

should come and carry them 

once they arrive in the 

country. Most often, it was not 

what the youths were told 

before they left the country, 

that they meet abroad. 

“Some of the parents even 

sell their property to send 

their children to Europe 

without adequate 

preparation, not realising that 

by their action, they were 

jeopardizing the lives of their 

children in those countries. 

“I want to warn our people, 

By Peter Okutu 

A BAKALIKI-EBONYI 


through the Nigeria Erosion 

and Watershed Management 

Project, NEWMAP, of the 


weekend, began the payment 

of N211, 486, 220 million as 

compensation to 347 rural 

farmers, property owners 

among others, who will be 

affected as a result of the 

intervention project geared 

towards tackling the menace 

of erosion occasioned by 

flooding in the state. 

In Ebonyi, the Agency is 

executing four projects at Iyi- 

Okwu/International Market 

flood site, Iyi-Udele flood site, 

Odunukwe-Nkaliki-Hatchery 

road flood site and Ebia River, 

Egu-Ugwu Agbaja flood site 

at the tune of N13.76 billion 

to pave way for the 

channelisation of flood and 

allow for the economic 

prosperity of the citizens and 

the state at large. 

The project further seeks to 

enhance 

erosion 

management and gully 

rehabilitation, increase 

incomes for rural households 

through improved 

agricultural and forest 

practices, agro-forestry, 

natural regeneration and 

gain efficiency in public 

administration and public 

spending through improved 

knowledge-based, analytical 

tools, multi-sectoral 

coordination and stakeholder 

dialogue. 

*Cross section of the students 

being addressed by Hon. Eddy 

Duru 

especially the youths that 

Libya is not an ideal route to 

Europe; Libya is only a slave 

route and many Nigerians 

have ended up there in 

torture camps. 

If you want to 

travel abroad, 

finish your 

education first, you 

can then plan your 

journey by going to 

the Nigerian 

Immigration 

Service and obtain 

your passport 

“Nobody says you should 

not travel to Europe. The issue 

is how you want to travel to 

Europe because many of our 

Handing over cheques to 

the beneficiaries, Governor 

David Umahi of Ebonyi State 

represented by the 

Commissioner for 

Environment, Chief Donatus 

Njoku called on them to 

effectively use the funds 

given to them to find an 

alternative to their farmland 

or buildings so that the 

project would be successfully 

executed for the betterment 

of their communities. 

In a chat with South-East 

Voice, the Project Coordinator, 

Dr. Philip Echiegu stated that 

the affected persons were 

being paid compensation so 

that they will not suffer any form 

of loss following the execution 

of the project as 347 of them 

would benefit from the N211, 

486, 220 million released for the 

exercise. 

brothers are languishing in 

jail in Europe. This is because 

they travelled without proper 

planning. There must be a 

reason for you to travel. The 

truth is that anyone who tells 

you that it is all enjoyment over 

there is deceiving you. 

“If you must travel, you must 

plan for it properly. We don’t 

want to see our people crying 

as a result of their ugly 

experiences in Libya. 

“Anybody that tells you that 

you can travel abroad 

without international passport 

is a trafficker. Anybody who 

tells you that you can travel 

to Europe through the desert 

is a trafficker and he is only 

deceiving you. 

“If you want to travel 

abroad, finish your education 

first. You can then plan your 

journey by going to the 

Nigerian Immigration 

Service and obtaining your 

passport and going to the 

embassy of the country of 

your choice to obtain your 

visa. It is unplanned journey 

that encourages human 

trafficking, prostitution and 

modern slavery.” 

Officials of the Nigeria 

Immigration Service, 

National Orientation Agency, 

NOA, and NAPTIP, who also 

addressed the students, 

narrated ugly experiences 

which many Nigerians had 

had to face for attempting to 

*Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State represented 

by his Commissioner for Environment, Chief Donatus 

Njoku handing over cheques to project affected 

persons in Ebonyi State 

“Altogether, we have four 

projects; those four projects are 

divided into two lots; 


road site and Iyi-Okwu/ 

International market flood site 

are in one lot whereas, Iyi-Udele 

flood site and Ebia River, Egu- 

Ugwu Agbaja flood site are in 

lot 2. 

“The contract has been 

awarded for the two lots in the 

amount of N13.76 billion 

altogether; what we are trying 

to do here today is to pay 

compensation to the project 

affected persons because it is 

anticipated that the project will 

affect and involuntarily displace 

some persons; some are farmers 

while some have buildings along 

the corridors of our 

interventions. 

“So in order to make sure that 

they don’t suffer loss as a result 

run away from their country. 

During the interaction with 

students in Anambra State, 

some of the students were 

selected as Ambassadors of 

RARDUJA and their mandate 

was to be educating other 

students on the dangers of 

unplanned travels and 

making illegal journey 

through the desert and the 

Mediterranean Sea. 

As Duru explained, so far, 

the NGO is carrying out the 

nationwide campaign 

without Nigerian 

Government's support in 

terms of funding. However, he 

explained that the German 

Government had agreed to 

support the NGO, although 

the support was yet to come. 

He was, however, grateful to 

government for providing 

security for the group during 

its campaign from one state to 

the other and allowing 

officials of NAPTIP, 

Immigration and NOA to form 

part of the resource persons 

in every state visited. 

Some of the students who 

spoke to Vanguard described 

the visit to their schools as an 

eye opener and hoped that 

government would do 

everything humanly possible 

to discourage Nigerian 

youths from embarking on 

what they called ‘the journey 

of death.’ 

FLOODING: Ebonyi begins payment of N200m compensation 

to 347 farmers, property owners, others 

of the project, we are paying 

them compensation; altogether 

we have 347 persons that will be 

affected at one of the sites, 


road flood site but the total 

amount earmarked for this 

compensation for that section is 

N211, 486, 220. 

“Since Monday, we have been 

doing due diligence to make 

sure that we do all the needful in 

terms of verification and 

authentication of the 

compensation of the project 

affected persons to go and stand 

at their site so that they will be 

documented and we go back to 

the office, fill some forms, do 

other verifications, bring their 

ID cards; bring land papers for 

authentication; for those who 

don’t have are expected to bring 

their ID from their traditional 

rulers or from the site committee 

for that site. 

“We are doing everything 

possible not to get involved in 

some property that will jack up 

the compensation amount; 

there are some farms we are 

trying to see; the intervention 

involves channelisation; you 

know as the river is moving, 

it is creating some course; as 

the river is moving it 

introduces some loops and 

reduces the velocity. We are 

doing everything possible to 

avoid some choice property so 

that the compensation will 

even go down.” 

The beneficiaries who were 

mostly farmers thanked the 

initiators of the kind gesture 

and promised to utilise the 

funds accordingly.

C 

M 

Y 

K 

30—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 30 — 31 

Turning the Senate into a 

toothless bull-dog 

SINCE the proclamation of the 

8th Assembly, I have noticed a 

consistent effort to emasculate the 

National Assembly, particularly the 

Senate. First effort, was the 

challenge to the power of the Senate 

to confirm certain executive 

appointments. Both the Constitution 

and other extant laws gave powers 

to the Senate to approve, confirm or 

ratify certain appointments by the 

President. But we have seen some 

efforts to deny this power of the 

Senate. The classical and subsisting 

case is the refusal of President 

Muhammadu Buhari to replace 

Ibrahim Magu as the Chairman of 

EFCC after the Senate rejected his 

nomination twice due to adverse 

reports from a sister security agency- 

DSS. Three years down the line, the 

President has ignored the Senate and 

has kept Magu on the job, effectively 

rendering the Senate irrelevant and 

impotent. 

Second, there has been an effort to 

deny the National Assembly the 

power to appropriate. The Executive 

along with its cronies like Prof Itse 

Sagay has insisted that the National 

Assembly’s power is only limited to 

rubber stamping the budget 

submitted to it by the Executive. It 

cannot add or remove. That 

argument almost stopped the 

signing of the 2017 Budget as the 

Executive stubbornly stuck to its gun. 

Infact, perhaps encouraged by this 

erroneous view, President Buhari 

paid $496 million to the United 

States of America for the purchase 

of Tucano aircraft without the 

approval of the National Assembly. 

This decidedly unconstitutional 

action was carried out brazenly. 

Nigerians were alarmed. The 

National Assembly was 

scandalised. 

Some senators stated that the 

President should be called to order 

for this breach. There were 

suggestions on the need to proceed 

on impeachment notice to the 

President. The Executive felt incensed 

and took very unusual steps to 

humiliate the Senate and the 

senators who raised the issue of the 

constitutional infringement. 

Senator Mathew Urhoghide was 

attacked by sponsored thugs at Benin 

Airport for daring to ask that the 

constitutional provisions for 

spending the nation’s money 

without legislative approval 

be invoked. While individual 

senators were being targeted for 

punishment, a decision was taken to 

completely humiliate the Senate. A 

team of thugs was commissioned to 

spit on the faces of all the senators. 

They walked majestically into the 

chambers, took the mace, walked 

out from the chambers and drove 

away through the Aso Rock Villa 

gate of the National Assembly into 

safety. And that ended all the story 

about constitutional infringement 

or impeachment. Emasculation and 

humiliation in double dose! 

Third, the power of the Senate to 

summon public officers to the 

Senate has been variously 

challenged and it looks like the 

Executive has succeeded in 

removing that power completely. 

Customs Comptroller General, CG, 

Hameed Ali was summoned 

severally, he refused to come, but 

In whose interest is 

this deliberate effort to 

make the Nigerian 

Senate and by 

extension, the 


impotent? 

showed up once or so; and when he 

was requested to come dressed in his 

official uniform, he flatly refused to 

return to the Senate. As we write, 

more than a year after, the guy 

continues to run the Customs, 

completely ignoring the Senate and 

nothing has happened to him and 

nothing may ever happen to him, 

given the apparent impotence of the 

Senate. The Senate invited Prof. Itse 

Sagay and this law professor said he 

would not honour the invitation and 

he did not and nothing has happened 

as this Senate has become 

completely powerless. 

It is, therefore, not such a great 

surprise that they have invited IGP 

Ibrahim Idris to the Senate three 

times to come and discuss the rapidly 

deteriorating security situation in 

Nigeria. Three times, Idris ignored 

the Senate, sending a deputy instead. 

I was really miffed by his third 

refusal, because two days before this, 

the leaders of the National Assembly 

had met with the President during 

which they complained about Idris’s 

intransigence. Thinking that it was 

a fence-mending meeting where the 

President appealed to them to get the 

2018 passage passed, I had hoped 

that he would reciprocate by 

ordering Idris to honour the 

invitation. As it turned out, the 

President may never have talked to 

Idris or Idris may have ignored the 

President’s directive as he was wont 

to doing. For me, this was the height 

of humiliation for the Senate. What 

did the Senate do in response? Issue 

a lame statement saying Idris was 

an enemy of democracy and was not 

fit to hold public office in Nigeria. 

What does that come to? Idris is 

holding a critical public office right 

now as IGP. What would have 

happened to these apparently 

subdued senators if they had 

mustered the courage to ask the 

President to remove Idris as IGP as 

a minimum. By this lame 

lamentation, it is clear that this 

Senate is completely emasculated 

and has become a lame duck. 

The lameness of this Senate got 

me almost shedding tears last week, 

when I saw the Senate president 

sitting on the Senate floor, yielding 

the chair to his deputy as his 

complaint about a plot by the Police 

to link him and the Kwara State 

governor to some incident of murder 

in Kwara State was being discussed. 

I felt sorry for him, the number three 

citizen of the country lamenting like 

a powerless baby. But tears actually 

rolled into my eyes, when one senator 

who was contributing to the debate 

on Saraki’s complaint, described 

how his police escort team was 

unceremoniously withdrawn in the 

middle of the night in Jos, as a 

reprisal for his criticising IGP Idris 

for his repeated refusal to honour the 

Senate’s invitation. I cried, not for 

the senator, nor for the Senate 

president. I cried for Nigeria. 

The question must then be asked, 

in whose interest is this deliberate 

effort to make the Nigerian Senate 

and by extension, the 

National Assembly impotent? For 

me, it is certainly not in the interest 

of democracy. The National 

Assembly is the essential governance 

institution that differentiates civilian 

democracy from military rule. It is 

set up to check executive recklessness 

and prevent the country from 

becoming a dictatorship. In Nigeria’s 

long history of military rule, it was 

always the independent legislature 

that was missing as both the executive 

and judiciary remained in operation, 

even if in some distorted forms. Yes, 

some Nigerians do have issues with 

the legislature- high pay, low 

productivity, etc., or with specific 

legislators for poor representation 

and sundry misdeamenours but it 

must be said that the National 

Assembly is such a critical 

democratic institution that any 

attempt to erode its power and 

influence is an attempt to diminish 

democracy and promote autocracy 

or dictatorship. When an executive 

wants to begin to spend money 

without seeking legislative 

appropriation or appoint people to 

offices without any Senate clearance 

or borrow money externally without 

any legislative endorsement, then we 

are on the road to impunity and 

dictatorship. I do not see how this 

can be in the interest of the ordinary 

Nigerian. Because if it were, 

Nigerians would not have given 

their 

EFCC’s new corporate headquarters: 

A monument to corruption 

IT looks well appointed - huge, sprawl 

ing and as elaborate as any edifice that is 

meant to play a huge role in any human endeavour, 

be it business, politics or security. I’m 

talking here of the new corporate headquarters 

of the Economic and Financial Crimes 

Commission, EFCC, in Abuja. It was opened 

to much pomp and circumstance by no less a 

personality than the President himself, Muhammadu 

Buhari. And if nothing else, the opening 

of the EFCC’s office gave the president 

another opportunity to tout his anti-corruption 

credentials before Nigerians. Our nation’s 

anti-corruption czar-in-chief did not waste 

time to tell the world that he is a driven fighter 

in the heavy weight category of the anti-corruption 

sport. He was by his own account nevertheless 

given a bloody nose by his opponents 

who knocked him off the prize fighter circuit 

for three good years. For Buhari, the three years 

he spent in the outer wilderness of Nigerian 

politics, all thanks to Ibrahim Babangida, was 

a clear evidence of corruption fighting back. 

It would not matter to Buhari that his anticorruption 

war is increasingly now a matter of 

rhetoric, especially now the country approaches 

the next elections, than a full bodied takedown 

of the corruption stalwarts. The president 

still likes to talk about how well his administration 

is committed to fighting corruption 

no matter how effete that fight has of late 

turned, with many cases of corruption that 

stinks to the very heavens calling for his direct 

attention right under his nose. Typical of our 

power of recall, we don’t seem to be talking 

much these days of Ibrahim Maina. Mainagate 

is history. His version of our country’s 

seasonal movie of corruption has since been 

superseded by many others that have equally 

been consigned into a part of our memory we 

rarely visit. 

So the presidential chest-thumping continues 

apace with the increase in the country’s 

corruption GDP. That the country continues to 

plunge in the corruption perception index 

worldwide is not of any moment with our befuddled 

leaders. All that counts is the parroting 

of empty rhetoric and self-righteous platitudes 

about making our society corruptionfree. 

But something that sounded like a challenge, 

a questioning of the president’s holierthan-thou 

stance, was thrown at him by an 

increasingly disaffected member of his party, 

the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 

Yakubu Dogara. He responded to Buhari’s 

claim of being a prized fighter of corruption 

with his biblical reference to a boastful prophet 

of the Old Testament whose roof-top proclamation 

of being the only true worshipper of 

That edifice, although 

constructed to fight crime, is 

like a visual image of the 

humungous nature of crime 

and corruption in our land 

God was firmly rebuked with evidence of hundreds 

of other committed worshippers of God. 

As the newspapers put it, ‘You are not the only 

corruption-free Nigerian.’ Or in the more peculiar 

grammar of the ranking law-maker, 

Buhari is not the only ‘corrupt-free’ Nigerian. 

Beyond the attention-seeking chest-thumping 

and vacuous anti-corruption preachment, 

the new corporate office of the EFCC is nothing 

but a monument to our corruption-filled 

rather than ‘corrupt-free’ life. That at a time 

we should be engaged in a frenzied drive to 

improve on our deplorable record of human 

capital development and the refurbishment of 

our decayed infrastructure - that we should be 

constructing and commissioning huge edifices 

to house a special category of law-enforcers 

dedicated to the 

fight against 

crime, tells me we 

are a long way 

from starting the 

journey to economic 

prosperity. 

That edifice, although 

constructed 

to fight crime, 

is like a visual image of the humungous nature 

of crime and corruption in our land. The 

EFCC’s hierarchy surely meant well by opening 

its doors wide, and inviting visitors to have 

a view of their splendid-looking home. But one 

wonders what there is to celebrate about that 

edifice. Given how far we have fallen, given 

our state of near hopelessness, we should be 

mourning and shedding tears of sorrow that 

we, as the South African singer, Lucky Dube, 

puts it, ‘don’t’ build schools any more’ and all 

we build is ‘prison, prison.’ 

True, the EFFC plays a huge role in today’s 

Nigeria and we are all privy to the fact that 

part of its major challenge is infrastructural, 

with run down offices that lack basic amenities 

like air conditioning, decent furniture and 

even office or detention spaces (and this is hoping 

the new headquarters won’t be turned into 

another Ita Oko, our own Guantanamo Bay, 

ala the defunct Nigerian Security Organisation 

under Muhammadu Rafindadi) to say 

nothing of qualified personnel. It just does not 

seem to add up that at a time we should be 

focusing on improving the quality of our human 

capital, we are expending huge amount 

of money on the construction of structures that 

speak to the animal in us. That being said, 

there can’t be any running away from ourselves 

by denying the actuality of corruption in our 

vein as a nation. Crime of different shades and 

ingenuity are overtaking the country and where 

our political leadership should be leading the 

way in the change that could help transform 

the country for the better, they take the lead 

pushing us further into the morass of criminality 

even while proclaiming a change that 

somehow leaves everything the same- changeless 

or worse. The EFCC does have a role to 

play in combating crime but not as an outfit 

for the prosecution of personal vendetta. Yes, 

nobody found guilty of crime, financial or otherwise, 

should be let off. And in spite of all the 

noises about selective prosecution, anyone and 

everyone found to have run foul of the law 

should be made accountable. The same should 

happen to associates of the president as are 

other members of the executive. A situation 

where the EFCC is suddenly transformed into 

a clay-footed contraption or act arm-strung, 

in the face of criminal malfeasance by members 

of the executive or associates of a president, 

should not be acceptable. 

In a word then, the EFCC should be truly 

independent of the executive in the manner the 

Robert Mueller investigation has been free of 

the direct manipulation of Donald Trump’s 

White House. Equally important is the need to 

separate the activities of the EFCC such that 

the job of investigation is not conflated with 

that of prosecution nor prosecution conflated 

with recovery or disposal of assets and proceeds 

of crime. This would make for a more 

effective and transparent management of the 

work of financial crime which has become a 

huge monster that has hobbled Nigeria’s developmental 

effort. For as long as the country 

continues to be susceptible to the depredation 

of financial crimes that are undetected or ignored, 

for that long should we not expect to 

inject probity into governance and the overall 

management of our society. Crime, especially 

those of financial provenance, will fall when 

there is evidence of sanction. 

C 

M 

Y 

K

32— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 

YOUR LUCK TODAY 

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 

TAURUS: You’ll tend to become both creative and persuasive 

to the administration of others. Then those who’ve 

been resisting secret love may slip suddenly and become 

excited. 

GEMINI: Even if opposition persists, supports you are 

getting from the influential people will be enough to see 

you through. Yet, the more cooperative you are the better. 

CANCER: Your creativity quotient within your working 

arena will today be enhanced. You’ll be blamed if you 

keep official issues secrets from your challenges at work. 

LEO: After a few tension soaked days, you’ll have the 

needed opportunity to look through windows of the world 

and have your way as well. Magnetic and/or magic days 

is predicted for lovers today. 

VIRGO: Even if you continue to work under pressure 

via increased workload, you will have good results to 

show for your efforts today. Be steadfast. 

L E I S U R E 

TAKE HEART — ELLA RANDLE 

“You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot 

by force.” -Publilius Syrus- 

In these words of the philosopher Emmanuel Sweden, 

may you find some comfort to go about your 

daily activities. “Kindness is an inner desire that 

makes us want to do good things even if we do not 

get anything in return. It is the joy of our life to do 

them. When we do good things from this inner desire, 

there is kindness in everything we think, 

say,want and do.” -Ella Randle 

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” 

SAYINGS OF 

OUR PEOPLE 

You learn how 

to cut down 

trees by cutting 

them 

down. 

~ Bateke 

proverb 

By Kola Fayemi 

LIBRA: Promise made to genuine personalities should 

be kept if not because of today but for better tomorrow. 

Be reasonable and clean. 

SCORPIO: Those of you willing to let go hard feelings 

at work are for a progressive day to the betterment of 

your finances. Let go yesterday, move ahead. 

SAGITTARIUS: Once again, you’ll have the needed 

opportunity to assert yourself to the administration of 

others. Both love and financial success can be yours with 

efforts. Reason with your tried and trusted friends. 

CAPRICORN: You can make it a successful day with 

positive approach on your part. You will be in a better 

position to defuse tension within your working arena. Try 

to be more ambitious. 

AQUARIUS Yes! You’re not scared a bit even, when opposition 

and/or competition come your way but, if you 

give in to diplomatic approach, you’ll fare better today. 

PISCES: Pressure that came your way suddenly will 

give way unexpectedly, today, to the betterment of your 

course. The more financially ambitious you are today, 

the better for you. Be steadfast. 

DUDU in “ROLLING HOT” By A.O. OLAIDE 

ARIES: You sincerely believe in intelligent argument or 

discussion. And if you allow your ability to be diplomatic 

come to play today, you’ll be better for it. Enjoy your love 

life. 

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING 

Send your date and place of birth to the Astr 

trological 

Counselling, P.M.B 100 

007, Apapa, Lagos 

What’s my horoscope? 

Dear Joshua, 

Kindly tell me how the planets lined up when I was born and 

the day of the week I was born but don’t publish my date of 

birth.. Please tell me my full horoscope. 

Anonymous, Nigeria. 

Dear Anonymous, 

You were born on a Sunday. 

YOUR HOROSCOPE DATA 

Day of Birth = Sunday 

Sun Sign = Scorpio. Sun in Zero Degree of Scorpio 

Moon Sign = Libra: Moon in 5th Degree of Libra 

Mercury in 12th Degree of Scorpio 

Venus in Zero Degree of Sagittarius 

Mars in 1st Degree of Aquarius 

Jupiter in 29th Degree of Cancer 

Saturn in 10th Degree of Scorpio 

Uranus in 27th Degree of Cancer 

Neptune in 25th Degree of Libra 

Pluto in 26th Degree of Leo 

North Node in 8th Degree of Capricorn 

South Node in 8th Degree of Cancer 

No planet in earth spar sign, one in available, two in fire, 

three in air, four in cardinal, fixed and water star signs hosted 

five planets each. 

PHYSICAL INFLUENCE = 50% 

NON-PHYSICAL INFLUENCE =50% 

PLANET AT HOME = NONE 

ANALYSIS OF THE HOROSCOPE DATA 

You are both an intelligent and emotional person. And as 

there was planet at home when you were born, too many ideas 

will always struggle for prominent place in your mind, thus 

decision making is difficult but most times, your intelligence 

comes to the rescue. 

Certainly, you appear to other as a gentle person who can be 

mistaken for soft fellow but your inner-self is the personality 

with a steel like will power. 

You are the consistent type who may find it difficult to change 

once you have made up your mind as indicated by distribution 

of the planets as written out in paragraph two of this exercise. 

One major challenge you have been battling for a very long 

time is constant worries, some times, necessarily and the other 

time, uncalled for, as indicated by conjunction Mercury and 

Saturn formed when you were born. 

Placement of your natal Sun (basic self head) and Moon 

(your sub-conscious self) in Scorpio and Libra respectively are 

indications of your being mainly Scorpio born person and 

partly in Libran. And that is to say basic characteristics of both 

Scorpio and Libra are highly pronounced in you. 

Then, you are spiritually gifted; if you don’t develop it is 

another thing. 

VIRGINIA 

HOME & ABROAD 

dadadekola@yahoo.com 

By Lawrence Akapa



13% derivation: Stop payment to states 

without commission, FG urged 

By Jimitota Onoyume 

W ARRI—HOST 

Communities of 

Nigeria Producing Oil and 

Gas, HOSTCOM, has 

called on the Federal 

Government to stop further 

payment of 13 percent 

derivation to states that are 

yet to constitute a special 

intervention commission for 

host communities, 

appealing also that state 

governments that refuse to 

Shell arrests judgment in N122bn debt suit 

By Innocent Anaba 

SHELL 

Petroleum 

Development 

Company, SPDC, has 

arrested the judgment in 

the suit by Ejama 

community, an Ogoni 

community in Rivers State, 

against it (SPDC) and First 

Bank Limited before a 

Federal High Court sitting 

in Lagos over their alleged 

failure to pay N122 billion 

judgment debt to the 

community as ordered by 

a Federal High Court. 

Trial judge, Justice 

Ibrahim Buba, was to have, 

yesterday, delivered 

judgment in the contempt 

proceeding initiated 

against First Bank over its 

alleged refusal to honour 

the bank guarantee it 

provided on behalf of Shell 

and the garnishee order 

nisi made by an Owerri 

division of the Federal High 

Court in respect of the bank 

guarantee. 

But, Mr Chucks 

Igbenedion, one of Ejama 

community's counsel, drew 

the attention of the court to 

the matter and Justice Buba 

noted that he had 

communicated to counsel 

that Shell had filed a fresh 

motion, which effectively 

arrested the judgment, but 

promised that same would 

be heard on Friday and 

judgment delivered. 

fund existing commissions 

in their areas should also 

not enjoy the fund. 

National Chairman of 

HOSTCOM, Chief 

Benjamin Style, in his 

acceptance speech after his 

election, also called on the 


release gas flaring 

penalties to host 

communities, adding that 

the government should 

ensure effective 

implementation of its new 

In the substantive suit, 10 

indigenes of Ejama 

community in Ogoniland, 

Rivers State, had sued 

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, 

Netherlands, Royal Dutch 

Shell Plc, United Kingdom 

and SPDC, over oil spills 

that occurred when Shell 

operated in the community 

at the Port Harcourt 

Division of the court. 

Justice Buba, then of the 

Port Harcourt Division of the 

court, had in his judgment 

in 2010, awarded N17 

billion to the 

representatives of the 

Ogoni people. 

The court equally granted 

the Ogoni chiefs 25 per cent 

interest charge on the 

principal sum of about N17 

policy on pipeline 

surveillance, protection 

and other policies to 

strengthen community 

involvement in oil and gas 

activities in their areas. 

Chief Style assured that 

his executive will work with 

the Federal Government 

and other stakeholders to 

guarantee peace in oil 

bearing communities. 

“The Federal 

Government has deemed 

it fit to consider host 

billion. 

SPDC then appealed the 

judgment and applied for 

a stay of execution of the 

judgment pending the 

appeal. 

As a condition for 

granting the stay of 

execution, the court 

required Shell’s bankers, 

First Bank to provide a 

guarantee of the judgment 

sum. 

The community 

meanwhile, stated that by 

its calculation and 

computation of 25 per cent 

interest charge on the 

principal sum of about N17 

billion, carried out by a 

chartered accountant, what 

was due to them is N122 

billion. 

communities for pipeline 

surveillance and 

protection, conceding of 10 

per cent equity 

participation, gas flare 

royalty payment to host 

communities .It is hoped 

that proper implementation 

of above government 

policies will go a long way 

in re-addressing the 

challenges of pipeline 

security in the region," he 

said. 

LAUNCH: From left: Ime Archibong, VP Partnerships, Facebook; Bosun Tijani, CEO CcHub; Ebele 

Okobi, Head, Public Policy Africa, Facebook and Emeka Afigbo, Head of Developer Programmes, at 

the launch of the NG-Hub in Lagos, yesterday. 

This figure was however, 

disputed by First Bank and 

Shell. 

Last week, Ogoni’s 

lawyer, Mr Lucius Nwosu, 

SAN, counsel to First Bank, 

Chief Wole Olanipekun, 

SAN, counsel to Shell all 

argued their respective 

applications, with the 

Ejama community urging 

the court to send the Bank 

and its Chairman to prison 

for contempt and uphold 

the garnishee order nisi, 

while the Bank, prayed the 

court to dismiss the 

contempt proceeding and 

also vacate the garnishee 

order nisi, arguing that the 

court had no jurisdiction to 

make same. 

Use your numerical advantage to re-elect 

Okowa, Ijaw women urged 

By Onozure Dania 

CONVENER of Ijaw 

Women Support 

Group for Okowa, IWSGO 

and Executive Assistant to 

Delta State Governor on 

Political Matters, Mr 

Arede Edeinmene, has 

urged women from the 

ijaw speaking local 

government areas of the 

state to use their 

numerical advantage to 

re-elect Governor Ifeanyi 

Okowa in 2019. 

Edeinmene, speaking 

at an IWSGO meeting in 

Warri, Delta State, 

advised the women not to 

toy with their votes as their 

block vote matters a lot for 

the re-election of Okowa, 

to enable him complete 

his developmental strides 

in Ijawland. 

He enjoined the women 

to be emissaries of 

Okowa’s message by 

continuously seeking 

support and encourage 

other women who show 

political apathy to be 

actively involved during 

elections to select their 

leaders. 

Mrs Ebikefe Bello, 

Secretary, IWSGO, at the 

meeting, said that the 

group would leave no 

stone unturned in 

ensuring that women of 

Ijaw nation in Delta give 

95 percent of their vote to 

Okowa and all Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP 

candidates. 

‘JOHESU members not involved 

in auto crash' 

JOINT 

Health 

Sector Union, 

JOHESU, has said that 

none of its members was 

involved in the reported 

auto crash in Benin City, 

Edo State. 

No fewer than 19 

persons reported to be 

members of the union 

were said to have 

sustained injuries in a 

road accident on 

Saturday. 

About 40 of the health 

workers were said to be 

on their way to a function 

in Auchi, Edo State when 

the accident occurred. 

Florence Ekpebor, 

JOHESU National 

Secretary, said in a 

statement that the victims 

of the accident are 

“outsourced staff working 

as cleaners” in University 

INDI alleges moves by Amnesty Office 

to shortchange Itsekiri ex-agitators 

By Gab Ejuwa 

R EPRESENTATIVES 

and leaders of 

Itsekiri ex-agitators 

under the aegis of 

Itsekiri National 

Development Initiative, 

INDI, have alleged 

moves by the 

Presidential Amnesty 

Office to deny over 300 

Itsekiri ex-agitators the 

benefit of being trained 

and fully integrated. 

A statement by the 

Director of Contacts 

and Mobilisation, Mr 

Henry Omajugho and 

Secretary, Esimaje 

Okotie, on behalf of the 

ex-agitators’ leaders, 

said that there may be 

no further deployment 

of ex-agitators of 

Itsekiri ethnic 

extraction with the way 

Othihiwa declares for House of 

Reps seat 

By Ochuko 

Akuopha 

O LEH—FIN- 

ANCIAL expert 

and chieftain of Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, in 

Delta State, Mr Ayodele 

Othihiwa, has declared 

his intention to run for the 


seat for Isoko federal 

constituency in the 2019 

general election. 

Making the declaration 

at the PDP secretariat in 

Oleh and Otor-Igho 

community, Isoko South 

and North Local 

Government Areas of the 

state, Othihiwa said his 

decision to vie for the 

position stemmed from 

his desire to support the 

of Benin Teaching Hospital, 

UBTH. 

Ekpebor said most of the 

victims were from companies 

belonging to the Chief 

Medical Director of UBTH 

and Managing Directors of 

Federal Government-owned 

hospitals. 

She described the rumour 

that its members were 

involved as a “cheap 

blackmail by medical doctors 

for cheap publicity and 

propaganda. 

“We want to draw the 

attention of our members 

across the country that no 

JOHESU member was 

involved in the road traffic 

accident that occurred in 

Benin City, Edo State. 

“However, our hearts go to 

the victims of the road crash 

as we join in wishing them a 

quick recovery," she said. 

the matter was being 

handled. 

They explained that 

Professor Charles Dokubo 

was appointed with the 

mandate to concentrate 

mainly on reintegration of 

already trained delegates 

and that the office had put 

machinery in motion for 

that purpose at the 

detriment of ex-agitators 

not yet trained. 

The ex-agitators warned 

that they would resist any 

attempt to abandon and 

neglect those yet to be 

deployed, because they 

believe that the Itsekiri 

ethnic nationality is the 

second largest producer of 

oil and gas next to the Ijaw 

and were dully captured in 

the programme as 

proclaimed by late 

President Umaru 

Yar'Adua. 

transformation and contribute 

to the development of lsoko 

nation. 

Reiterating his 

determination to work 

towards the eradication of 

poverty from lsokoland, he 

assured that he would strive 

to ensure sustainable 

empowerment “By creating 

an environment that allows 

the people to continuously 

generate a source of income. 

“Legislators are called to 

understand the needs of the 

people across all sections of 

the society and these needs 

are translated into laws that 

are made in the House, laws 

that will support the creation 

of an environment for anyone 

to practice his trade 

successfully.” 

C 

M 

Y 

K



Shagari, 4 others remanded in Police 

custody over 2015 election fund 

By Soni Daniel 

S OKOTO—JUSTICE 

Idrissa Kolo of the 

Federal High Court, 

Sokoto, has remanded a 

former Minister of Water 

Resources, Mukhtar 

Shagari, and four others, in 

Police custody, following 

their arraignment by the 

Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, 

EFCC, on a five-count 

charge of conspiracy and 

money laundering to the 

tune of N500 million. 

The four others are 

Senator Abdullahi Wali, 

Ibrahim Gidado, Nasiru 

Bafarawa and Ibrahim 

Milgoma. 

Trouble started for the 

defendants after EFCC got 

information that the 

accused person received 

various sums from the $115 

million allegedly disbursed 

by a former Minister of 

Petroleum Resources, 

Diezani Allison-Madueke, 

to some members of 

Peoples Democratic Party, 

PDP, and officials of 

Independent National 

Electoral Commission, 

INEC, to influence the 

outcome of the 2015 

presidential election. 

According to the antigraft 

agency, the 

defendants allegedly 

benefited from the slush 

cash, which was not 

distributed through any 

financial institution, in 

violation of provisions of the 

Money Laundering 

Prohibition Act, to which all 

the defendants, however, 

pleaded not guilty. 

Counsel clash 

Prosecution counsel, 

Johnson Ojogbane, 

requested a date for trial in 

view of the defendants' plea 

and also asked that 

defendants be remanded in 

prison custody. 

Counsel representing the 

first, third and fourth 

defendants, Ibrahim 

Abdulaziz, as well as 

counsel for the second and 

fifth defendants, Ibrahim 

Idris, and L. A. Abdulkadir, 

respectively, applied for bail 

of their clients pending the 

determination of the case. 

Ojogbane confirmed that 

he was served with the 

various bail applications by 

the applicants, but also 

reminded the court that he 

was only served Monday 

and, therefore, needed 

time to respond. 

Justice Idrissa, after 

listening to the arguments, 

remanded the defendants 

in Police custody till 

tomorrow for the hearing 

and determination of bail. 

AVIATION: From left— Acting Director General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, Engr 

Chidi Izuwah; Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of 

Transportation, Alhaji Sabiu Zakari, during the presentation of Business Case Compliance Certificates for the 

Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Facility and the Aviation Leasing Company, ALC, as part of the aviation roadmap, 

by ICRC to the minister in Abuja, yesterday. 

Dapchi girls return to school despite Boko Haram warning 

SOME of the girls 

abducted by Boko 

Haram in a school in 

Dapchi three months ago 

have returned to school 

despite warning by the 

terrorists never to return to 

western education. 

When the terrorists raided 

Government Girls Science 

and Technical College on 

February 19, 111 students, 

alongside two other nonstudents, 

were abducted. A 

month later, 105 of them, 

alongside the two others, 

were released by their 

captors, while five were 

reported dead and one, 

Leah Sharibu, is still in 

captivity. 

One of the girls, 

Maryam, told Voice of 

America, VOA, that the 

terrorists photographed 

their faces and warned 

them against returning to 

school, but that she is 

dismissing their threats 

because she wants to learn. 

Despite some of the 

girls' return, the school is 

still witnessing low 

turnout as only 220 

students have resumed at 

press time. 

Akande expresses concern 

over APC's parallel congresses 

By Demola 

Akinyemi 

I LORIN—FORMER 

Interim National 

Chairman of All 


APC, Chief Bisi Akande, 

yesterday, expressed 

concern that the conduct of 

parallel congresses could 

affect the party’s fortunes in 

2019 general elections. 

Akande, a former 

governor of Osun State, 

spoke in Ilorin, Kwara 

State, after the launch of a 

640-page autobiography of 

a former leader of the Kwara 

State House of Assembly, 

Chief Wole Oke, entitled 

“Omopeninun: The Myth, 

The Reality.” 

When asked for his 

thought on the 

fractionalisation of the 

party arising from the 

congresses, Akande said: 

“I think the National 

Executive Committee of 

the party is going to sort 

it out depending on the 

circumstances of each 

state. 

“It ought not to have 

happened. Now that it has 

happened, it is the duty of 

the national executive 

council to look at it and say 

this one is genuine or the 

other one is causing 

parallel congress.” 

And when prodded on 

the possible effects of the 

development on the 

fortunes of APC at the 

2019 polls, he said: “The 

crisis will definitely affect 

the fortune of any party. 

But it is the duty of the 

party that it controls it.” 


school’s principal, Adama 

Abdulkarim, the low 

turnout could be a 

manifestation of the fears 

of the students or the 

parents of the lingering 

threats from Boko Haram. 

Last week, she urged 

parents to send their 

children to school without 

fear of past events. 

She said: “The 

government has already 

tried; the school has 

opened. I am calling on 

the parents not to be 

discouraged by anything 

that has happened. 

Let them bring their 

children; this education is 

very important to the 

children. They are the 

leaders of tomorrow and 

we cannot have leaders 

that are not educated.” 

VOA reported that 

parents in Dapchi have 

been meeting to discuss 

security in the town and 

resolved to send their 

daughters to school in 

defiance of Boko Haram’s 

threats. 

Prudential Zenith begins 

Bancassurance sales 

IN line with the 

Bancassurance 

partnership between 

Prudential Zenith Life 

Insurance and Zenith 

Bank Plc, the company 

commenced sales in 

additional 50 branches 

from Monday, May 21. 

This builds on the 

initial launch, which had 

enabled customers of 

Zenith Bank to purchase 

life insurance products in 

eight pilot branches over 

the past few months. 

Prudential Plc, one of 

the oldest and most 

capitalised life insurance 

companies in the world, 

acquired a majority stake 

in Zenith Life of Nigeria 

in July 2017 and formed 

an exclusive 

Bancassurance 

partnership with Zenith 

Bank in Nigeria and 

Ghana. 

A statement by the 

company said its entry 

into Nigeria, Africa’s 

By Marie- 

Therese Nanlong 

J OS—GOVERNOR 

Simon Lalong of 

Plateau State has urged 

people in position of 

authority not to misuse 

opportunities given to 

them to assist the lessprivileged. 

Governor Lalong also 

tasked citizens of the 

state to emulate the good 

works done by those who 

contribute their quota in 

adding value to 

humanity, because 

assisting one another in 

capacity building would 

complement 

government’s efforts in 

human capital 

development. 

Lalong, who was 

represented by his 

Commissioner for 

Information and 

Communication, Yakubu 

Dati, made the appeal in 

Jos at the 60th birthday 

and launch of a book on 

Dr. Patrick Dakum, an 

Assistant Professor in 

Department of 

AS part of its 60th 

anniversary 

celebration, Binatone 

International is offering 

its customers worldwide 

a special 10 percent 

discount on all its 

products. 

Managing Director of 

Global Appliances 

(Nigeria) Ltd, the sole 

distributor of Binatone in 

largest economy, with a 

population of over 180 

million, demonstrates its 

commitment to Africa 

following the launch of 

businesses in Ghana and 

Kenya in 2014, Uganda in 

2015 and Zambia in 2016. 


statement, Prudential 

Zenith Life Insurance has 

placed highly-trained 

insurance sales executives 

in selected Zenith Bank 

branches across Lagos to 

advise customers on their 

life insurance needs, while 

customers will be able to 

buy life insurance products 

at even more branches 

throughout Lagos State 

and Abuja later in the year. 

The firm is set to redefine 

the Nigerian insurance 

sector by providing a 

range of affordable life 

insurance products that are 

designed to meet the 

protection and savings 

needs of consumers, it 

added. 

Lalong advocates philanthropy 

Epidemiology and 

Preventive Medicine, 

University of Maryland 

School of Medicine, 

Baltimore, USA, whom he 

described as an invaluable 

asset and a rare gem in 

health sector. 

Professor Dakas Dakas, 

who reviewed the book, 

“The Ripple Effect, Dr. 

Patrick Dakum (A 

Testimonial)” written by his 

wife, Sarah Dakum, 

explained that the 

celebrant has been a 

blessing not only to 

Plateau State and 

Nigeria, but the world as 

he has assisted in 

providing HIV 

counselling and testing 

to people, providing 

anti-retroviral 

prophylaxis for pregnant 

women and treated 

thousands of multi-drug 

resistant patients.” 

The celebrant, Dr. 

Dakum, assured that he 

was motivated by the 

testimonies about him 

and would continue to do 

more to impact positively 

on humanity. 

Binatone offers 

customers 10% discount 

Nigeria, Mr. Prasun 

Banerjee, who made the 

disclosure in a statement, 

explained that the special 

promotion is meant to say 

“thank you” to its 

customers. 

According to him, “the 

promotion will run 

throughout May, ensuring 

that everyone has a 

chance to participate.”

C 

M 

Y 

K 

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 — 35


WITH CHARLES KUMOLU 

midweekpersonality@gmail.com 

Upbringing: 

My upbringing was great. I 

had very disciplined hard working 

parents. But I think people 

place much emphasis on their 

upbringing. When one becomes 

an adult the person should be 

able to make his decisions. 

Many people who are from a 

very poor background become 

more successful than those from 

a rich background. That is the 

product of independence. I tend 

to think more about what one 

makes out of herself. I focus on 

the future and I don't dwell on 

things that happened in the past. 

I find myself mostly living in the 

future by getting excited about 

what can be built from what is 

happening. 

My early mentorships 

I have a very different definition 

of mentorship. To me, it 

means 99 percent of giving to a 

person. Obviously, I was not born 

in the kind of home where I had 

access to people I would like to 

mentor me. I have a picture of 

Dangote on my wall for the past 

15 years but I have still not had 

the privilege to physically have 

him mentor me. But he has also 

mentored me through some decisions 

I have seen him take, 

through some of the things I 

have heard him say on the television, 

through some of the 

things I have read about him and 

through some of the things those 

I know that know him said he 

did. Most of my early 

mentorships actually came 

through some of the books I 

have read because I didn't have 

access to meet those mentors. I 

got my early mentorship from 

reading published works, listening 

to people on radio, and 

podcast. I think that gave me a 

lot of information that I used in 

making my own business decisions. 

I find my relationship with 

a few people that I have to call 

my mentors more about giving 

than taking. It is a lot more about 

trying to understand what they 

need, what they want, what matters 

to them and trying my best 

in whatever capacity to give even 

if it will cost me money. 

Problem with rich people 

But the problem with rich people 

is that they can't really appreciate 

things that much. What 

do you give to a person that has 

everything? But it is a contentious 

investment of time, energy 

and money. One is expected to 

keep trying to see that the 

mentorship relationship lasts. 

Mentorship to me is to continuously 

figure out how I can add 

value to the lives of my mentors 

so that those relationships will 

remain sustainable. 

OLA BROWN: Even 

without privileges, I've 

successful story to tell 

You can't have an insight into her story and don't find it irresistible. Consider 

these: Dr. Ola Brown established the first air ambulance service in West Africa, 

Flying Doctors Nigeria Limited. She was inspired to start the company after her 

younger sister died while traveling in Nigeria. At 21, she qualified as a medical 

doctor from the University of York, UK. Her company which has more than 20 

aircraft has airlifted around 500 patients, using a fleet of planes and helicopters. 

With a presence in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, she employs many people in 

different capacities. This inspirational Nigerian, who was born in the UK was 

recognised by the World Economic Forum as one of the prestigious Young Leaders. 

With these achievements of global repute, it could be assumed that a very 

privileged background made her success story possible. However, anyone with 

such assumption would be proven wrong after reading this interview which was 

conducted at the Headquarters of Flying Doctors in Lagos. 

Flying in the air 

I don't have a typical day. But 

many people think I spend all 

my day flying in the air. But there 

are very many aspects of running 

a business. They include leadership, 

coaching, human development, 

financial management. 

These are the main things any 

business person does. Sometimes 

people get carried away by the 

technical aspects of what they do 

and neglect other areas that can 

be impactful. 

Most memorable experience 

The most interesting moment in 

recent memory was when we 

were able to make a real difference 

in somebody's story. It was 

when we had to evacuate a young 

man who was diagnosed with 

sickle cell and he had a broken 

leg. We had to evacuate him from 

Sokoto free because he could not 

afford the bill. We were able to 

evacuate him within an hour and 

it was a journey that would have 

taken him 18 hours by road. Because 

of that, he had his surgery 

and was able to start walking 

again. That is probably one of the 

memorable experiences because 

it showed that a simple act of 

charity we did, made a real difference 

in someone's life. I am 

really proud of what the people I 

am privileged to work with have 

been able to achieve. It inspires 

me every day to do more. 

Things I would have done differently 

When I first started my business, 

I saw myself more as the 

boss. I have grown and I have 

learned more about leadership. 

Being a leader is more about 

serving one's team members by 

making sure that they work in 

the best environment. It also involves 

trying to align the vision 

of the company with their vision. 

I am now a servant leader, not 

an 'Oga'. I wish that evolution 

happened earlier. 

At the top of my game 

Our business (Flying Doctors) 

is a business of saving lives because 

many people die not necessarily 

because the help they 

need is not available anywhere, 

but because they were at the 

wrong place at the wrong time. 

PERSONALITY ETHICS 

*I don't dwell in the 

past 

*Being a leader is more 

about serving one's team 

members 

*I've a business today 

because I learned to 

save 

And this happens not only in 

Nigeria but the whole of Africa. 

People don't have the right kind 

of medical specialist that they 

need to see in a given time 

frame. That is why we offer the 

right kind of efficient medical 

transport for patients. What has 

kept me going is the impact that 

we have able to make and the 

mission to ensure that people 

don't die because they are in the 

wrong place at the wrong time. 

Advantages and privileges 

Sometimes I read stories about 

entrepreneurship that are told by 

people in Nigeria, who grew up 

with a lot of advantages and privileges. 

It is a good thing if someone 

who grew up in certain circumstances 

decides to give back 

to the society. It is not a bad thing 

at all. But the rest of us who 

didn't have those privileges, also 

have good stories that are important 

to tell. I wrote a blog post 

called 'How to start a business if 

your father is not Femi Otedola'. 

It talked about resilience and 

perseverance. 

Help people become successful 

Access to information and access 

to a network can help people 

become successful. But I believe 

a great deal of the information 

that excluded people from 

entrepreneurship before no 

longer exists. Information is now 

available for people to train themselves 

so that they will succeed 

in life. Information is easier to 

come about than it was 30 years 

ago. It is also a lot easier to network 

now as a result of the social 

media which is the most powerful 

tool available now. It created 

a more level playing field for rich 

kids and poor kids. There are a 

number of entrepreneurs from 

various backgrounds building 

their careers/networks on 

facebook, twitter, youtube, and 

Instagram. 

I have a collection of youtube 

videos on my twitter feed called 

'Your youtube MBA'. I curated all 

the educational youtube videos 

that I have watched. They have 

been recommended over the past 

few years. With a cheap 

smartphone and night data, people 

can learn things and have 

access to information. Information 

is power. 

To do more with less 

Without any doubt one of the 

most influential factors affecting 

healthcare delivery in Nigeria 

and across Africa is funding. 

Read full interview on 

www.vanguardngr.com 

C 

M 

Y 

K

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 ---37 

By Emmanuel Aziken, 

Political Editor 

WHEN yesterday President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

raised the question as to the 

availability of power in the 

country after huge resources 

were spent on the sector, it 

inevitably brought to fore, the 

face-off between him and his 

one-time supporter and patron, 

Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo. 

The setting for Buhari’s verbal 

assault was understandably 

political. The forum was a 

reception for members of the 

Buhari Support Organisation, 

BSO led by Col. Hammed Ali 

(rtd.) who had served as 

Buhari’s chief of staff before the 

president’s inauguration in 

May 2019. 

Though President Buhari did 

not mention Obasanjo by name, 

the innuendo was evident as 

he asked: “where was the 

power after a former president 

claimed to have spent $16 

billion on the project?” 

“You know the rail was killed 

and one of the former heads of 

state was bragging that he 

spent more than 15 billion 

American dollars on power. 

Where is the power? Where is 

the power?” the president 

asked. 

President Obasanjo had 

drawn the first blood when he 

earlier this year launched a 

broadside at the president over 

perceptions of clannishness, 

incompetence among other 

failures in the management of 

the country. 

In a January 23 special press 

statement, President Obasanjo 

while summarising the failures 

of the present administration 

had called for a third force 

outside of the ruling All 

Progressives Congress, APC 

and the opposition Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP to 

salvage the country. 

He particularly appealed to 

the youths of the country. He 

had said: 

“Last time, we asked, prayed 

and worked for change and 

God granted our request. This 

time, we must ask, pray and 

work for change with unity, 

security, and progress,” 

Obasanjo said in that 

statement. 

Obasanjo had followed suit 

with several engagements 

aimed at mobilising his 

Coalition for Nigeria 

Movement, CNM into force, 

sometimes openly provoking 

the thought of the populace on 

the failures of the incumbent 

president. 

Besides launching the CNM, 

Obasanjo has also travelled far 

and wide within the country 

reportedly mobilising support 

for the movement against the 

return to power of the 

incumbent president. 

The initial response from 

Buhari was a communiqué 

from the minister of information 

and culture, Alhaji Lai 

Mohammed in which the 

administration articulated its 

achievements in office. That 

response was civil and 

•Obasanjo and Buhari when the going was good 

Has Obasanjo met his match in Buhari? 

FOR the first time since Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo launched his movement to stop a second term 

for President Muhammadu Buhari, he got a public response from his one time political ally 

yesterday. 

OBASANJO AND BUHARI IN 2018 

Jan 20 

JAN 23 

JAN 2 

FEB 1 

MAR 23 

APRIL 28 

MAY 2 

May 11 

May 21 

May 23 

engaging. 

That was not enough to 

dissuade the former president 

who apparently may have 

reached the reached the point 

of no return in his quest to 

address the crisis in the 

country. 

It is a sort of irony for 

President Obasanjo who about 

this time in the last election 

cycle took an equally 

controversial role in mobilising 

support against the aspiration 

of President Goodluck 

Receiving his PhD in Abuja from National Open University, 

Obasanjo says Buhari must step on toes of friends and relations 

to achieve change agenda 

Obasanjo in a statement says Buhari has failed and should 

honourably not seek a second term, projects Collation for Nigeria 

Movement, CNM 

Lai Mohammed replies, articulates Buhari’s achievements 

Obasanjo registers for CNM in Abeokuta 

Obasanjo in Kigali, Rwanda, says the failure of Buhari and other 

African leaders to sign the Africa Free Trade Agreement is 

criminal 

Receiving some youth groups in Abeokuta, Obasanjo says 

Buhari has not done enough to salvage the country 

Inaugurating the Oyo State branch of CNM, Obasanjo says 

everybody must join the project to rescue Nigeria 

Obasanjo says Buhari’s visit to the United States was a missed 

opportunity 

Obasanjo’s CNM adopts African Democratic Congress, ADC as 

its political platform 

Obasanjo gets Afenifere backing against Buhari 

Buhari replies says Obasanjo wasted $16 billion on power 

Jonathan for a second term. 

This is indeed not the first 

time that the two men have 

engaged themselves in 

opposite sides in an electoral 

contest since the advent of the 

Fourth Republic. 

Buhari who has contested in 

all but one of the presidential 

elections of the Fourth Republic 

(1999) directly challenged 

Obasanjo’s bid for a second 

term in 2003 and was defeated 

in that election. Subsequently, 

Buhari was defeated in 2007 

when he stood against 

Obasanjo’s chosen successor, 

Umaru Musa Yar‘adua. 

Obasanjo had almost come 

out of his attacks on his 

successors almost coming out 

at all times almost unscathed. 

When he fell out with President 

Goodluck Jonathan, the former 

president did not directly attack 

his former benefactor’s 

personal integrity as Buhari has 

now done. 

Yesterday, a close associate of 

Dr. Obasanjo was confident 

that Obasanjo was capable of 

defending his personal 

integrity. 

Mr. Akin Osuntokun who 

served as Obasanjo’s media 

aide told Vanguard yesterday: 

“I don’t want to know whether 

to call it deliberate lying or 

ignorance. These are issues 

that can easily be verified. The 

first time the issue came up it 

was during Yaràdua era, and 

it was also in the National 

Assembly. “First, Obasanjo 

never claimed to have spent 

$16 billion on power; it was 

those who wanted to demonise 

him that claimed it. 

“What I know for a fact was 

that when this $16 billion was 

being bandied about, 

Obasanjo’s senior special 

assistant on power, Summonu 

wrote a memo to the late 

President Yaràdua that all that 

was spent on power was 

roughly about $6.4 billion, that 

the figure that they were 

bandying about was 

outrageous. Yaràdua then sent 

the memo to one of his top 

advisers and the guy then 

calculated the salaries, 

recurrent expenditure, 

overhead expenditures and all 

that was spent in the Ministry 

of Power from 1999 to 2007, 

bundled it with the $6.4 billion 

and came up with this 

outreagous sum. 

“This was what Yaràdua was 

talking about. Any 

conscientious president would 

have availed himself of the 

facts, 

“But I am sure Obasanjo is 

capable of accounting for 

himself and I am sure he will 

do so robustly.”


By Chioma Obinna 

LAGOS—AS 

the 

indefinite strike called 

by members of Joint Health 

Sector Union, JOHESU, 

enters its fifth week, the 

aggrieved workers have 

urged Nigerians to hold the 


particularly, the Minister of 

Health, Prof Isaac Adewole 

responsible for deaths 

recorded during the period 

of the strike even as they 

vowed not to return to work 

until their demands are 

met. 

The workers, who spoke 

during a consultative 

meeting/rally in Lagos, also 

regretted whatever pains 

patients were passing 

through due to failure of 


Strike: Hold FG, Health Minister responsible for death 

of patients—JOHESU •Says strike continues 

the government to do the 

needful with regard to 

implementing the adjusted 

Consolidated Health 

Salary Structure, 

CONHESS. 

Addressing journalists in 

Lagos, the National 

Chairman of National 

Association of Nigeria 

Nurses and Midwives, 

(federal health institutions 

sector), Wale Olatunde 

insisted that the union had 

interest of Nigerians at 

heart but declared that the 

caregiver also needed care. 

“Nobody is happy 

abandoning our patients. 

The essence of our training 

is to care for our patients but 

we also require care. 

“These issues we are 

talking about started in 

2009. We had an 

agreement with the Federal 

Government in 2014, it was 

jettisoned. We went on a 

10-day strike in September 

last year where we signed 

another agreement with 

the Federal Government. 

“But the Minister of 

Health, Professor Isaac 

Adewole came out to say 

there was no agreement 

between JOHESU and the 

government until we 

brought out papers signed 

by the parties involved. 

That goes to show the 

insincerity on the part of 

government. 

Stating that the drivers of 

the health sector were 

insensitive to health 

workers’ years of neglect, 

he said: “This country is 

boiling. The health industry 

is comatose and in disarray. 

The minister has the 

effrontery to arrange a 

jamboree of 40 people to go 

and spend 350 million naira 

in Geneva, Switzerland. 

Does that look reasonable 

or does he look like 

somebody that has the 

interest of the people at 

heart.? 

“The Minister of Health 

does not go to the public 

hospital for treatment. They 

should be sympathetic with 

the common man on the 

street; that is exactly what 

we are clamouring for. 

“We are telling 

government to give us what 

rightly belong to us and we 

will resume work the next 

two hours. 

Okowa's aide empowers Delta 

community 

By Elizabeth 

Uwandu 

O Executive LOMU—THE 

Assistant 

to the Delta State Governor, 

Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa on 

Beautification, Olorogun 

Grace Aghoghovbia, 

weekend, said reason for 

empowering her people 

was borne out of the desire 

to give back to society from 

what God has given to her. 

She stated this during an 

empowerment programme 

organised to marked her 

61st birthday where she 

donated various items to 

empower the people of 

Oviri Olomu community in 

Ughelli South Local 

Government Area of the 

State. 

Olorogun Aghoghovbia 

had earlier thanked God at 

St. Anthony's Cathedral, 

Warri, and went to Oviri- 

Olomu community where 

she was received with 

funfair by members of the 

community. 

She commended 

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for 

appointing her as aide so 

that she can serve the 

people, urging the people 

of Olomu Ward II to support 

the second term bid of the 

governor. 

Beneficiaries who were 

more than 50 went home 

with sewing machines, 

wheelbarrows, bags of rice, cartons 

of noodles, electricity generating 

sets, among others 

While addressing the 

beneficiaries, she disclosed that 

she had facilitated the Urhobo 

Progress Union London 

scholarship for some children in 

the community and urged 

anyone who received a form from 

her to fill and return to her. 

Earlier, Governor Okowa, 

represented by the state 

Commissioner for Youth 

Development, Mr Karo Ilolo 

commended her for blessing the 

community people and pledged 

the state government's 

commitment towards empowering 

people at the grassroots. 

The governor urged other 

government appointees to 

emulate Grace Aghoghovbia 

towards achieving the "prosperity 

for all Deltans" slogan of Okowa 

administration. 

Show more 

dedication to 

duty, NBTI 

boss charges 

staff 

By Emmanuel 

Elebeke 

ABUJA—THE National 

Board for Technology 

Incubation, NBTI, has 

called on its staff to be more 

dedicated in the line of 

their duty. 

The Acting Director 

General of the Board, Mr. 

Akinwumi Somefun made 

the call while declaring 

open a two day in house 

sensitization workshop held at 

the headquarters of the board in 

Abuja. 

Mr Somefun reiterated the 

need for teamwork among staff 

of the board to enable the 

organisation move forward and 

realise its mandate. 

He urged the staff to work 

together and use the knowledge 

gathered from sensitization 

training to enhance their 

performance. 

The training which was for the 

staff in the administrative, 

accounting, audit, procurement 

and store departments was 

carried out by experienced 

experts from respective fields of 

endeavour. 

According to Somefun, the 

training which attracted staff of 

the board nationwide was part of 

the efforts of the management to 

build the capacity of staff to ensure 

better productivity by the staff 

and in turn impact on Technology 

entrepreneurs being incubated 

at the Technology Incubation 

Centres, TICs.


VISIT: From left, Mr. Victor Obazee; Dr. Genevieve Mordi, SSA International 

Relations to Delta State Governor; Nduka Nwanwenne, Zonal Commandant, National 

Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, Edo-Delta Zonal 

Command; Festus Ovie-Agas, SSG Delta State; Ndudi Osekunih; Vic Oburo and 

Ese Aganbi, during a courtesy visit to SSG,Delta State by officers of NAPTIP Edo- 

Delta Zonal Command. 

THANKSGIVING: From left, Former Executive of Wesley Cathedral 

Olowogbowo, Lagos, Methodist Church Nigeria Properties Communities, Adeoye 

Thomas Exchanging; church's Presbyter, Very Revd John Olanrewaju Solubi (right); 

Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev Luke Olukayode Onubanjo (2nd right), and others 

during the 2018 annual Diocese of Lagos, Methodist Church Nigeria comfirmation 

thanksgiving service, at Wesley Cathedral, Olowogbowo, Lagos. 

THANKSGIVING: Executive Assistant to Gov Okowa of Delta State, 

Olorogun Grace Aghoghovbia (2nd right); flanked by her husband, Olorogun 

Humphrey Aghoghovbia (right); Taleb Tebite, former member, Delta State 

House of Assembly (left) and Mrs Roseline Tito Kedo, at the 61st birthday 

Thanksgiving Service of Olorogun Grace Aghoghovbia at St. Anthony's 

Catholic Church, Airport Road, Warri, Delta State. 

PROMOTION: Deputy Controller of Customs Anyanwu B. C. being 

decorated with his new rank by Customs Comptroller-General,Col. Hameed 

Ibrahim Ali (retd) (left) Mrs Chioma Uche-Anyanwu.


ONE of the problems 

militating against true 

development by the political 

parties in Nigeria is the absence 

of internal democracy 

often symbolized by what has 

come to be known as the 

godfather factor or 

godfatherism. I do not intend 

to attempt an academic 

exposition of the phenomenon 

known as godfatherism in 

Nigerian politics. 

I therefore will not tread the 

path of academics who are 

often more concerned with 

arriving at the definition of the 

term whilst at the same time 

failing to grasp or address its 

effects on Nigerian politics. A 

godfather in the Nigerian 

context is one who by virtue 

of either immense wealth or 

political goodwill is able to 

determine not only the 

persons that are nominated by 

their parties to contest election 

but who in most cases are able 

to guarantee the victory of 

such candidates. The said 

guarantee may come in the 

form of purchase of votes or 

outright intimidation of voters 

and hardly by legitimate 

means. A political godfather in 

the Nigerian context may even 

be able to form and finance a 

political party. Therefore, most 

politicians will do anything to 

gain the favour of political 

godfathers. 

History of 

Godfatherism in 

Nigeria 

Political party finance and 

godfatherism 

Interestingly, what is 

referred to as godfatherism 

may not in reality be new to 

Nigerian politics. Several 

writers have traced the origin 

of godfathers to the First 

Republic when the trio of Dr. 

Nnamdi Azikwe, Chief 

Obafemi Awolowo and Alhaji 

Tafawa Balewa wielded 

enormous influence across 

Nigeria. Through their 

political parties, they were able 

to influence the political 

careers and fortunes of many 

politicians of the period. It may 

even be said that their 

influence persists till the 

present day as can be seen 

particularly in the case of 

Chief Obafemi Awolowo, by 

the competition amongst some 

political groups in the South- 

West for recognition as being 

the most faithful to his 

ideologies. The point must 

however be made that there 

are great differences between 

the concept and effects of 

godfatherism as existed in the 

First Republic and what 

obtains in Nigeria of today. 

The politicians of old were 

mostly interested in bringing 

about true development and 

the dividends of democracy to 

the populace. They were also 

motivated by the need to leave 

a lasting legacy to serve as 

inspiration to generations of 

Nigerians. In choosing or 

selecting protégés whose 

careers they influenced, they 

were not motivated by the 

parochial interest which 

underlines the actions of most 

politicians in Nigeria of today. 

The returns 

which these 

n o b l e 

politicians of 

old expected 

of their 

political 

godsons was 

not bags full of 

foreign or 

l o c a l 

currencies or 

award of 

contract to 

them or their 

cronies. On 

the contrary, 

they expected 

to receive 

news of the 

sterling 

performances 

of those whom 

they helped to 

attain political 

office and 

authority. 

Political 

benefactors 

or mentors 

With the 

above in mind, 

the forefathers 

of Nigerian 

politics could 

be better 

described as 

political 

benefactors or 

mentors and 

cannot be 

classified as 

godfathers 

Times have 

i n d e e d 

changed in 

Nigeria. From 

the return to 

civil rule in 

1999, the 

Nigerian 

political landscape has, more 

than ever before, become 

plagued by the overbearing 

presence and influence of political 

godfathers. Most politicians 

see political godfathers 

as the most convenient means 

of winning elections. However, 

experience has shown 

that the patronage of political 

godfathers carries with it grave 

consequences, not only for the 

politician, but also for the public 

and the political stability of 

the country itself. 

A few years back, it took the 

judicial intervention of the 

Supreme Court to restore the 

mandate of a Governor in the 

South West who was 

impeached by some members 

of the State House of 

Assembly, allegedly on the 

instructions of the godfather 

who had facilitated the 

election of the governor in 

question. In the South-East, 

another governor was alleged 

to have signed documents 

indicating that he would serve 

a single term only if supported 

by a prominent politician in 

the state. Numerous other 

examples abound of politicians 

who have essentially handedover 

the functions of their 

offices to their political 

benefactors with the effect that 

most political office holders are 

hamstringed in the 

performance of their duties. 

They must defer to their 

political godfathers for matters 

The politicians 

of old were 

mostly interested 

in bringing 

about true development 

and the 

dividends of democracy 

to the 

populace 

such as appointment of commissioners, 

appointment into 

the board of statutory corporations, 

etc. 

Effects 

The stranglehold of 

godfathers in Nigerian politics 

continues to affect the 

aspiration of the country to 

attainment of the best 

democratic policies in many 

ways. Firstly, it accounts for 

the corruption and violence 

which have characterized 

many elections in Nigeria.On 

the day of the election, the 

politician who owes his candidacy 

to such a godfather can 

count on his ability to deploy 

enormous wealth in a bid to 

corrupt electoral officials and 

the electorates and where 

these fail, violence will be deployed 

to bring about the desired 

result.Secondly, this invariably 

leads to loss by the 

electorates in the electoral 

process. Many voters before 

the recent efforts of the Independent 

National Electoral 

Commission (INEC) to bring 

about true reform in the electoral 

process,had developed 

strong apathy towards the system. 

Most voters will therefore 

leave their homes only with 

the intention of collecting 

whatever largesse was available 

at the polling booths and 

with absolutely no interest in 

the capacity or ability of whoever 

is declared the winner of 

the election.Thirdly, the politician 

who eventually wins the 

election based only upon the 

backing of his political godfather 

will feel no obligation to 

the electorate who in any event 

might have been disenfranchised 

in the whole scheme of 

events. He will therefore devote 

the entirety of his tenure 

of office to the promotion and 

satisfaction of himself, his cronies 

and his godfather. 

Holistic appraisal of 

our political system 

Fourthly, the citizenry will 

end up being impoverished 

due to the fact that a leadership 

that is totally disconnected 

from the aspirations of 

the people has been produced 

by a flawed system.In addition 

to the above, society suffers in 

several other ways from the 

concept of godfatherism in the 

form of increased crime rate 

and a general lack of 

disrespect for the due process 

of law. 

In the light of the above, the 

question has always been 

posed as to why Nigeria 

continues to be affected by the 

concept of godfatherism. What 

is it in our constitutional, 

sociological, economical and 

perhaps psychological 

makeup that permits the 

seeming institutionalisation in 

Nigeria of a practice or 

concept which is otherwise 

frowned upon, not only in better 

politically developed countries, 

but also in some with 

whom Nigeria can still be said 

to share a common history and 

circumstances of development? 

The answer in my estimation 

is not to be found in 

the stars. The way out of this 

quagmire lies in a holistic appraisal 

of our political system. 

Specifically, one way in which 

we may address the problem 

is to look at how parties in 

Nigeria are formed, structured 

and most importantly, financed. 

A situation in which 

the financial fortunes of a political 

party lies with a single 

individual or members of a 

select few is bound, not only 

to bring about, but also to 

further accentuate the ills 

associated with godfatherism. 

To be continued.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 —41 

ON BIAFRA—Members of MASSOB and Biafra Independence Movement, 

BIM, who took to the streets in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to mark their 

18th Year Anniversary. Photo. Nwankpa Chijioke. 



Continues from Page 5 

kind of Nigeria they want 

their children to return to 

and work. There is a lot of 

lack of imagination. 

“If you are working for the 

country, then you shouldn’t 

be misappropriating and 

misapplying public funds 

the way people did,” he 

said. 

The President noted that 

under his watch, the 2016 

and 2017 budgets recorded 

the highest appropriation 

and releases in capital 

projects, with over N2.8 

trillion disbursements in 

two years. 

The President urged 

Nigerians to reject those 

bent on dividing the 

country along religious and 

ethnic lines, warning that 

they do not mean well for 

the country. 

“I have said severally 

that we do not have any 

other country than Nigeria 

and we will remain here 

and salvage it together. 

“We have nothing to 

regret. Absolutely nothing. 

God has given Nigeria 

everything. We are rich in 

human and material 

resources. Let us keep on 

praying to God to put 

NAIRAWATCH 

people of conscience incharge 

at all levels,” he 

said. 

On the activities of the 

support group, President 

Buhari apologised for not 

rallying them before 

announcing his intention to 

seek re-election in 2019 

during a meeting of the 

National Executive 

Committee of the All 

Progressives Congress on 

April 9, 2018. 

He thanked members of 

the group for their resolute 

support for him as a 

Presidential candidate in 

2015 and all through his 

term in office, adding that 

their voluntary sacrifices 

were indicative of their trust 

and belief in the great future 

of the country. 

He said: “Nobody is 

paying you for what you 

have been doing. It is 

because from the bottom of 

your hearts; you exposed 

yourselves by identifying 

with me through 

opposition to success and 

after the success, I don’t 

know how many of you 

people will say what the 

hell you got out of it." 

In his remarks, Ali said 

the group and majority of 

Nigerians are passionate 

Naira appreciates to 

N361.41/$ in I&E window 

By Babajide Komolafe 

THE Naira, yesterday, appreciated slightly to 

N361.41 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 dropped to N361.41 per dollar, 

yesterday, from N361.47 per dollar on Monday, 

translating to six kobo appreciation of the naira 

against the dollar. 

The appreciation was in spite 3.6 percent decline 

in the volume of dollars (turnover) traded in the 

window. The window yesterday recorded a turnover 

of $249.76 million, down from $259.05 million 

recorded on Monday. 

According to naijabdcs.com, the live exchange rate 

platform of the Association of Bureaux De Change 

Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the parallel market 

exchange rate remained stable at N364 per dollar 

yesterday. 

about a second-term for 

President Buhari because 

of his integrity, honesty, 

love, and patriotism, even 

as he regretted that Buhari 

at 75 was being forced out 

of retirement for what he 

claimed as the common 

good. 

$16b Power 

Project: You are 

ignorant,Obasanjo 

replies Buhari 

Reacting to President 

Buhari's comment on the 

$16 billion power project 

allegedly wasted during 

his tenure, Obasanjo, who 

said the action of President 

Buhari was based on 

ignorance. He said Buhari 

was relying on the 

unsubstantiated 

allegations against him by 

the then leadership of 


over the project. 

The former President, 

who said this through his 

media aide, Kehinde 

Akinyemi, submitted that 

lack of proper 

understanding prompted 

the President to make such 

a comment. 

He said: “It has come to 

the attention of Chief 

Olusegun Obasanjo that a 

statement credited to 


Buhari, apparently without 

correct information and 

based on ignorance, 

suggested that $16 billion 

was wasted on power 

projects by “a former 

President”. We believe 

that the President was reechoing 

the 

unsubstantiated allegation 

against Chief Obasanjo by 

his own predecessor but 

one. 

“While it is doubtful that 

a President with proper 

understanding of the issue 

would utter such, it should 

be pointed out that records 

from the National Assembly 

had exculpated President 

Obasanjo of any wrongdoing 

concerning the 

power sector and has 

proved the allegations as 

false. 

“For the records, Chief 

Obasanjo has addressed 

the issues of the power 

sector and the allegations 

against him on many 

occasions and platforms, 

including in his widely 

publicised book, ‘My 

Watch', in which he 

exhaustively stated the 

facts and reproduced 

various reports by both the 

Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission 

(EFCC), which conducted 

a clinical investigation into 

the allegations against 

Chief Obasanjo, and the 

Ad-Hoc Committee on the 

Review of the 

Recommendations in the 

Report of the Committee on 

Power on the Investigation 

into how the Huge Sums 

Of Money was Spent on 

Power Generation, 

Transmission And 

Distribution between June 

1999 and May 2007 

without Commensurate 

Result. 

“We recommend that the 

President and his cotravellers 

should read 

Chapters 41, 42, 43 and 47 

of My Watch for Chief 

Obasanjo’s insights and 

perspectives on the power 

sector and indeed what 

transpired when the 

allegation of $16 billion 

on power projects was 

previously made. If he 

cannot read the threevolume 

book, he should 

detail his aides to do so and 

summarise the chapters in 

a language that he will 

easily understand. 

“In the same statement 

credited to the President, it 

was alleged that there was 

some bragging by Chief 

Obasanjo over $16 billion 

spent on power. To inform 

the uninformed, the socalled 

$16 billion power 

expenditure was an 

allegation against Chief 

Obasanjo’s administration 

and not his claim. The 

President also queried 

where the power generated 

is. The answer is simple: 

The power is in the seven 

National Integrated Power 

Projects and 18 gas turbines 

that Chief Obasanjo’s 

successor who originally 

made the allegation of 

$16 billion did not clear 

from the ports for over a year 

and the civil works done on 

the sites. 

“Chief Obasanjo 

challenges, and in fact 

encourages, anybody to set 

up another enquiry if in 

doubt and unsatisfied with 

the EFCC report and that 

of the Hon. Aminu 

Tambuwal-led ad-hoc 

committee”, he said. 

Deliberate lying or 

ignorance? 

Responding to the 

assertion 

of 

mismanagement of funds 

in the execution of the 

power projects, Mr. Akin 

Oshuntokun, who served 

as a presidential aide 

during the Obasanjo 

presidency said: “I don’t 

want to know whether to 

call it deliberate lying or 

ignorance. These are 

issues that can easily be 

verified. The first time the 

issue came up, it was 

during Yar‘adua era, and 

it was also in the National 

Assembly. 

“First, Obasanjo never 

claimed to have spent $16 

billion on power; it was 

those who wanted to 

demonise him that 

requested it. 

“What I know for a fact 

was that when this $16 

billion was being bandied 

about, Obasanjo’s senior 

special assistant on 

power, Summonu, wrote a 

memo to the late 

President Yar‘adua that all 

that was spent on power 

was roughly about $6.4 

billion, that the figure that 

they were bandying about 

was outrageous. Yar‘adua 

then sent the memo to one 

of his top advisers, and 

the guy then calculated 

the salaries, recurrent 

expenditure, overhead 

expenditures and all that 

was spent in the Ministry 

of Power from 1999 to 

2007, bundled it with the 

$6.4 billion and came up 

with this outrageous sum. 

“This was what 

Yar‘adua was talking 

about. Any conscientious 

president would have 

availed himself of the 

facts, but it is consistent 

with his character to 

demonise people with 

distortions, lies and so 

forth. 

“But I am sure Obasanjo 

is capable of accounting 

for himself, and I am sure 

he will do so robustly.” 

Meanwhile, Obasanjo, 

yesterday, charged that 

any leader who fails to 

provide basic needs for 

his people should quit for 

good as he affirmed that 

the world could leave 

Nigeria behind if she 

refuses to reform. 

He spoke as the 

chairman of the 22nd 

Lagos State University, 

LASU convocation lecture 

held in Ojo campus of the 

university, with the 

theme: “Role of Tertiary 

Education in Promoting 

Social Cohesion and 

Peace: Opportunities and 

Challenges for Nigeria.” 

The lecture was 

attended by the State 

Governor, Akinwunmi 

Ambode, who was 

represented by his special 

adviser on education; the 

Nigerian High 

Commissioner to the 

United Kingdom, UK, 

Justice George 

Oguntade, who also 

doubles as the Chancellor 

of the institution, 

In his remarks, 

Obasanjo said: “We need 

these four things. If for 

any reason, you as a 

leader in any walk of life, 

you cannot give 

leadership, maintain 

good governance, you 

cannot understand what 

development is and 

maintain and cherish 

values within our 

cultures; you must ship 

out no matter any level of 

leadership you are. 

“If we continue with 

business as usual, our 

chances of development 

within the comity of 

nations will be very slim. 

We have to do things 

differently in Nigeria for 

us to get things right. If 

we do this, we will be 

reckoned with globally. 

But if we fail, the world 

will leave us behind,” he 

added. 

State of power 

By Udeme Akpan 

DESPITE the huge financial commitment over the 

years, power supply remains a big challenge in 

Nigeria. 

A report from the Office of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi 

Osinbajo, obtained by Vanguard stated that: "On May 

20, 2018, average power sent out was 4,189MWh/hour 

(up by 157.93MWh/h from the previous day). 2,142MW 

was not generated due to unavailability of gas. 

"82.9MW was not generated due to unavailability of 

transmission infrastructure, while 802MW was not 

generated due to high frequency resulting from 

unavailability of distribution infrastructure. 95MW was 

recorded as losses due to water management. The power 

sector lost an estimated N1, 499,000,000 (One Billion Four 

Hundred and Ninety Nine Million Naira) on May 20, 

2018 due to insufficient gas supply, distribution 

infrastructure and transmission infrastructure. 

"The dominant constraint on May 20, 2018 remained 

unavailability of gas - constraining a total of 2,142MW 

from being available on the grid. Peak Generation for 

May 20, 2018 - 4,883MW. Peak Generation to date - 

5,222MW (18 December 2017). Estimated Amount Lost 

to Insufficient Gas Supply, Distribution, Transmission & 

Water Reserves to date in 2018 - N178,300,000,000 (One 

Hundred and Seventy Eight Billion Three Hundred 

Million Naira only).” 

34 illegal firms 

Thirty four of the companies that won various contracts 

during the period were not registered with the Corporate 

Affairs Commission, CAC. 

The Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Adaguusu 

Moses Terllumun, could not be reached for comments 

yesterday as his telephone line was switched off. 

But on March 17, 2008, the Commission had testified 

before the House of Representative Committee on Power 

and Steel which probed the matter that 34 of the companies 

that handled contracts in the power sector between 1999 

and 2007 were illegal.



Catholic faithful protest nationwide as slain priests, 17 

parishioners are interred 

By OUR REPORTERS 

MAKURDI—As the 

Catholic Church 

yesterday buried the 

two priests and 17 parishioners 

killed by herdsmen at St. Ignatius 

Quasi Parish at Mbalom, Benue 

State, Catholic faithful stormed the 

streets nationwide to protest their 

killing. 

This is as the Vice President, 

Professor Yemi Osinbajo, said at the 

burial ceremony yesterday that the 

Federal Government is saddened 

and outraged by the spate of killings 

going on in the country, saying 

everything is being done to put an 

end to it. 

From Lagos to Abuja and other 

cities across the country, Catholic 

faithful challenged the Federal 

Government to do everything 

possible to bring the killers to book. 

But speaking at the Se Sugh U 

Maria Pilgrimage Centre, Ayati 

Ikpayongo, Gwer East Local 

Government area of Benue State, 

Osinbajo in an oration at the burial, 

said: “It was early in the morning of 

April the 21st that Rev. Fr. Joseph Gor 

and Rev. Fr. Felix Tyolaha were in 

the very safest place, the early 

morning mass at St. Ignatius Quasi 

Parish at Mbalom which was 

violated by those who never feared 

God or man. Within minutes of 

gunshots, 19 men and women lay 

dead in the premises of the house of 

God. They killed the flesh but they 

could not touch the spirit, that 

belongs to God. 

“Yes, they caused grief to the family, 

friends and the entire country but 

what treasure is there or what good 

is there in causing pain or anguish? 

What manner of man is he that wakes 

up in the morning determined to kill 

innocent men and women? Surely 

such a one has lost his peace. He is 

to be condemned and cursed but 

perhaps, deserved our pity even more. 

“But what do we owe the dead 

today? What do we owe these 19 who 

died in Benue and very many others 

who have been killed here? We 

cannot bring them back but we can 

provide succour and comfort for 

those they left behind. 

“We can ensure justice for them by 

apprehending and punishing the 

assailants. We must rebuild the many 

places that have been damaged and 

heal the wounds that have been 

caused. We must rebuild and revamp 

our security system of law 

enforcement to ensure that all that 

live and work in this land are safe, 

most importantly; we must and will 

stop these senseless killings. 

Sometimes evil seems to be winning 

but as night follows day, this evil will 

be defeated and good will triumph.” 

Arrest Miyeti Allah leaders — 

Ortom 

Earlier, Governor Samuel Ortom 

of the state, reiterated his call for the 

arrest of the leadership of Miyetti 

Allah Kautal Hore for allegedly 

masterminding the attacks that had 

claimed 492 lives since the 

beginning of the year. 

Governor Ortom said, “We 

remember not only one moment of 

tragedy, we are burying 19 lives of 

great purpose and promise. This is 

the third mass burial we have the 

misfortune to organize in the last five 

months. On January 11, 2018, we 

had a mass funeral and burial of 73 

of our patriots who were slaughtered 

in 2018 new year attack by armed 

herdsmen in Guma and Logo local 

government areas of Benue State. 

“We never expected another of 

such thing but we were wrong. On 

March 15, 2018 we held another 

mass burial for 26 victims of 

herdsmen attack at Omusu in 

Okpokwu local government area of 

our state. From January 1 till date, 

Benue State is being attacked by 

herdsmen nearly every day, not only 

in Guma and Logo and also in 

Ukum, Agatu, Okpokwu, Kwande, 

Gwer West, Gwer East, even Makurdi 

local government areas. At least, 18 

of our 23 local government areas 

have been under attack and siege. 

“The arrest and prosecution of 

Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore and 

Miyetti Allah Cattle Herders 

Association will be the beginning of 

elementary practice of justice for the 

492 people who so far have been 

killed in Benue State by these 

herdsmen since the beginning of this 

year.” 

In his homily, John Cardinal 

Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja 

Archdiocese, rebuked the Federal 

Government for not doing enough 

to protect the lives and properties of 

Nigerians. 

He said: “To keep us safe is the 

primary responsibility of 

government. There can be no excuse 

for failure to perform in this regard. 

If the present state of affairs is the 

best that this government can give 

us, it should be clear that the best is 

not good enough. We need the 

radical change for the better. It is 

imperative. ” 

On his part, the President of 

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of 

Nigeria, Most Rev. Augustine Obiora 

Akubeze said, “The Federal 

Government must stop the killings 

of our children and women. We are 

all tearful because these killings 

have continued. We are sad and our 

hearts are filled with sadness. These 

killings calls for deep reflection.” 

Similarly, Bishop of Makurdi 

Catholic Diocese, Most Revd. 

Wilfred Anagbe accused the Federal 

Government of shielding the 

perpetrators of killings in the state, 

saying “All we demand is that those 

vomiting the crime should be 

arrested and brought to justice while 

those behind it should also be 

prosecuted. It all seems the federal 

government is protecting them.” 

The burial was attended by over 

200,000 Catholics and Christian 

faithful including Ministers, 

Senators and House of 

Representatives members. 

•FG saddened, outraged by killings across the country – VP 

•Govt is protecting Benue killers — Bishop of Makurdi 

Relatives cry as they mourn during a funeral service for 17 worshippers and two priests, 

who were allegedly killed by Fulani herdsmen, at Ayati-Ikpayongo in Gwer East District of 

Benue State, North-Central Nigeria, yesterday. AFP PHOTO/EMMY IBU. 

Bauchi 

In Bauchi State, Catholic faithful 

described the killing as evil as they 

joined others across the country to 

protested by going round the Bauchi 

Catholic Cathedral and prayed for 

the repose of the souls of the deceased. 

Vicar-General Pastoral, Rev. Fr. 

Bitrus Lange, said the prayers offered 

and the protest was in solidarity with 

the Makurdi Diocese which was 

burying their two priests and 17 

worshipers. 

Plateau 

In Jos, the Christian Association 

of Nigeria, CAN, Jos North Chapter, 

held a solidarity prayer session to 

mourn the deceased. 

CAN members who dressed in 

black, gathered at the Rwang Pam 

Township Stadium, prayed not only 

for peace in the land but the release 

of Leah Sharibu still in captivity. 

Speaking, North CAN Chairman, 

Rev. Canon Nenman Gowon called 

on “Christians wherever they are to 

continue to offer words of prayer as 

God still answers prayers.” 

Kaduna State 

In Kaduna State, faithful took to 

the streets of kaduna in a peaceful 

procession which began at St. 

Augustine’s Catholic Church, 

Mahuta, Kaduna. Protestants and 

Muslims also joined in solidarity. 

Speaking shortly after the rally, 

Vicar-General, Administration, 

Kaduna Archdiocese, Reverend 

Father Bulus Karis Lukas lamented 

that in the society, human life is under 

direct attack from abortion to 

herdsmen's gruesome murder of 

innocent people. 

Edo State 

In Benin City, Catholic faithful in 

the Archdiocese of Benin defied the 

early morning rain to gather in their 

thousands as early as 8:am at the St. 

Paul's Catholic Church along Airport 

Road, Benin before marching 

through other major streets in the 

state capital. 

They displayed placards with 

various inscriptions that read, “Stop 

rendering people homeless, cattle 

grazing is private business", 

"Catholic Church in Nigeria rejects 

Federal Government of Nigeria’s 

poor handling of security in the 

country," "Please, do not turn Nigeria 

into an animal kingdom”. 

Delta State 

In Asaba, Delta State, Catholic 

clergy and laity of Issele-Uku Diocese 

led by the Bishop, Most Rev. (Dr.) 

Michael Odogwu Elue had a rosary 

procession around the St. Paul's 

Cathedral, Issele-Uku where a holy 

mass was held in memory of the slain 

persons. 

A message signed by the Director 

of Communications in the Diocese, 

Rev. Fr. Charles Uganwa and read 

by the Chancellor, Rev. Fr. John 

Aduba, expressed anger at the 

incessant killings of Nigerians by 

herdsmen. 

Akwa Ibom State 

In Akwa Ibom State, Catholic 

faithful of the Uyo Diocese, marched 

from the Pastoral Centre along Brook 

Street to Government House, where 

they presented their complaints to 

Governor Udom Emmanuel. 

Some of them displayed placards 

with various inscriptions such as: “No 

to religious terrorism”; “Live and let 

live”; “No weapon fashioned against 

Christians shall prosper”; “Say no 

to terrorism in places of worship”, 

Christian lives matter”; “No to 

ethnic cleansing”; “Human life is 

sacred”. 

Rivers State 

In Rivers State, Most Rev Dr. 

Camilus Archibong Etukudoh, 

Bishop of Port Harcourt Diocese, 

who led the protest, said: “We are 

doing this in solidarity with 

Christians who are killed daily by 

these terrorists. We condemn the 

unwarranted killings and 

destruction of property by these 

terrorists. The security apparatus in 

the country as it is said is not effective. 

Government is meant to protect lives 

and property because we are armless 

and defenceless.” 

Bayelsa State 

In Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, 

Catholic faithful led by the Catholic 

Bishop of Bomadi, Most Reverend 

Hyacinth Egbebo, marched through 

the busy Melford Okilo Road before 

stopping over at Government House 

Gate, where they handed over their 

protest letter to state government 

officials led by the Secretary to the 

State Government, SSG, Mr Kemela 

Okara. Some of the inscriptions on 

the placards read: “Stop killing of 

Christians,” Christians are not cow,” 

“Federal Government must act on 

the killings now,” “Christians have 

the right to life,” “What happened to 

the freedom of worship”? 

Solidarity mass, procession in 

Enugu, Nsukka, Aba, Umuahia 

Catholic faithful across the South- 

East, also took to the streets in 

protest. 

Despite a heavy downpour 

yesterday in Nsukka, in Enugu 

State, over 10,000 Catholic faithful 

of Nsukka Diocese marched round 

the town. 

The protesters sang heartrending 

songs and displayed placards 

which read: Life is sacred; Our 

Leaders Save Us; Christians Lives 

Matter; Enough is Enough; Leaders 

Sit-up or Resign among others. 

Solidarity mass in Enugu 

A special Solidarity Mass and 

peaceful solemn procession were 

held at the Holy Ghost Catholic 

Cathedral, Ogui Enugu with 

thousands of Catholic faithful and 

clergy for over an hour. There was 

also a solemn procession within the 

vast Holy Ghost Catholic Cathedral 

compound for about two hours. 

Speaking at the end of the 

procession, Bishop Callistus Onaga, 

said the mass and solemn procession 

was in solidarity with Christians that 

had died due to activities of militia 

groups in the country. 

Umuahia joins protest against 

killer herdsmen 

In Umuahia, Abia State, Catholic 

faithful held a solemn and peaceful 

procession to protest the killings. Led 

by Bishop Lucius Ogorji, the 

protesters after a prayer session at 

the Mater Dei Cathedral, Umuahia, 

moved from Azikiwe Road through 

Aba Road down and ended at St. 

Finbarr’s Church Parish on Bende 

Road, where speeches and 

benediction were held. 

They displayed placards with 

inscriptions such as “enough is 

enough, stop this senseless killings, 

God is a giver of life, Government 

should rise to its primary 

responsibility of protecting lives and 

property”, among others. 

Protests in Aba 

Similar protest was also held in 

Aba, the economic nerve centre of 

the state, where protesters 

denounced the killings and implored 

the government to arrest the 

situation. 

Oyo State 

In Ibadan, Oyo State, the Catholic 

Archdiocese of Ibadan appealed to 

the Federal Government to live up 

to its primary responsibility of 

providing security and safety for 

every Nigerian. 

The protesters started from SS 

Peter & Paul Major Seminary, Bodija, 

Ibadan, and proceeded to the Oyo 

State Governor’s Office, Agodi, 

Ibadan. 

The protesters, who marched with 

songs and prayers, came with 

placards bearing inscriptions 

including “All Nigerian Should be 

Safe in their country” “Catholic say 

Enough of Innocent Killing and 

“Nigeria Arise for Justice.” 

Ogun State 

Catholic faithful in Ogun State 

staged a peaceful protest along the 

major streets in Abeokuta. 

Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of 

Abeokuta, Olukayode Odetoyinbo 

led the protest after a mass which 

ended around 11: 30am. 

The peaceful walk started from the 

premises of the church, and moved 

from there to Ibara Roundabout 

afterwhich they returned to the 

church premises.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 — 43 

Trump says summit with North-Korea’s 

Kim may be delayed 

US 

President 

Donald Trump has 

said there is a “very substantial 

chance” a historic 

summit with North Korea’s 

Kim Jong-un next 

month may not happen. 

He said the North 

must meet conditions for 

the summit to go ahead 

though if it did not, it 

might happen “later”. 

He was speaking as he 

received South Korea’s 

President Moon Jae-in at 

the White House. 

The North has said it 

may cancel the summit if 

the US insists on it giving 

up nuclear weapons 

unilaterally. 

Mr Trump did not say 

what conditions the US 

had set for the summit 

but, asked by a reporter 

about the North’s arsenal, 

he said “denuclearisation 

must take place”. 

The 12 June summit is 

due to take place in Singapore. 

It follows a summit 

between the two Ko- 

Harry, Meghan attend first royal 

event since wedding 

The Duke and Duch 

ess of Sussex have 

attended a Buckingham 

Palace garden party for 

their first royal engagement 

as a married couple. 

The duchess wore a dress 

by Goat and a hat by Irish 

milliner Philip Treacy to 

the party, which was part 

of the Prince of Wales’ 70th 

birthday celebrations. 

She and the Duchess of 

Cornwall started laughing 

when Prince Harry’s 

speech was interrupted by 

a bee. Prince Harry, 33, 

and Meghan, 36, were 

married at Windsor Castle 

on Saturday. 

The garden party, which 

is being held six months 

ahead of Prince Charles’ 

actual 70th birthday in 

November, celebrated the 

future king’s charity work, 

patronages and military 

affiliations. 

Prince Charles and the 

Duchess of Cornwall were 

joined by more than 6,000 

people from charities he 

supports. And to mark the 

one year anniversary of 

the Manchester Arena 

bombing,emergency service 

workers who were on 

the scene on the night of 

the attack also attended. 

In his speech, Prince 

Harry opened with a moment 

of remembrance for 

the Manchester attack victims 

before fondly paying 

tribute to his father’s “infectious” 

energy and enthusiasm 

for his charity 

work. 

“It has certainly inspired 

William and I to get involved 

in issues we care 

passionately about and to 

do whatever we can to 

make a difference,” he 

said. 

He added: “Pa, while I 

know that you’ve asked 

rean leaders in April. 

North Korea is expected 

to dismantle a nuclear 

test site this week as a 

good will gesture but the 

demolition may be delayed 

by bad weather. 

“We’ll see what happens,” 

he told reporters. 

“There are certain conditions 

that we want and 

I think we’ll get those 

Zuckerberg apologises 

to Europe for ‘harm’ 

Facebook founder 

Mark Zuckerberg 

has apologised to European 

Parliament lawmakers 

for its role in the Cambridge 

Analytica scandal 

and for allowing fake 

news to proliferate on its 

platform. 

Mr Zuckerberg apologised 

for Facebook’s tools 

being used “for harm”. 

But his testimony did 

not please all MEPs at the 

meeting, some of whom 

felt he had dodged their 

that today not be about 

you, you must forgive me 

if I don’t listen to you - 

much like when I was 

younger - and instead, I 

ask everyone here to say 

a huge thank you to you, 

for your incredible work 

over nearly 50 years.” 

conditions and if we 

don’t we don’t have the 

meeting.” 

The property tycoonturned-politician 

added: 

“You never know about 

deals. You go into deals 

that are 100% certain - it 

doesn’t happen. You go 

into deals that have no 

chance and it happens 

and, sometimes, happens 

easily.” 

questions. One leading 

UK politician later said the 

session had been a 

“missed opportunity”. 

“Unfortunately the format 

of questioning allowed 

Mr Zuckerberg to 

cherry-pick his responses 

and not respond to each 

individual point,” said 

Damian Collins, chair of 

the UK Parliament’s Digital 

Culture Media and 

Sport Committee. 

The format was very different 

from that of Mr 

Zuckerberg’s testimony to 

US lawmakers in April. 

While the US politicians 

took turns to cross-examine 

the Facebook chief in 

a series of back-and-forth 

exchanges, the leaders of 

the European Parliament’s 

various political 

groups each asked several 

questions apiece. The 

tech chief had to wait until 

they were all delivered 

before responding. 

Two new Ebola deaths recorded 

in Congo 

Two new deaths from 

Ebola and seven 

new confirmed cases 

have been recorded in 

Democratic Republic of 

Congo, the health ministry 

said on Tuesday. 

One of the deaths occurred 

in the provincial 

capital of Mbandaka, according 

to a daily bulletin. 

A nurse also died in 

the village of Bikoro, 

where the outbreak was 

first detected, ministry 

spokeswoman Jessica Ilunga 

told Reuters. 

The seven new confirmed 

cases were registered 

in Bikoro, the ministry 

said. The outbreak 

is believed to have killed 

at least 27 people so far. 

Congo has faced nine 

outbreaks of the hemmorhagic 

fever since it 

was discovered along the 

country’s Ebola river in 

1976. The government 

and international partners 

have deployed significant 

resources to the 

northwestern Equateur 

province in a bid to 

quickly contain its 

spread. 

Health officials administered 

an experimental 

vaccine on Monday to 33 

medical workers and 

Mbandaka residents, 

World Health Organization 

(WHO) spokesman 

Tarik Jasarevic told reporters 

in Geneva. 

The WHO said vaccine 

manufacturer Merck has 

provided it with 8,640 

doses of the vaccine and 

an additional 8,000 doses 

are expected to be 

available in the coming 

days. But despite the relative 

familiarity of Congolese 

with the disease, 

health officials face resistance 

to some of their 

public messaging. 

At the central market in 

Mbandaka, where vendors 

in colourful fabrics 

hawk smoked monkeys, 

some residents said they 

were unmoved by warnings 

not to consume bush 

meat. “Despite your Ebola 

stories, we buy and eat 

monkey meat,” said one 

woman named Carine, a 

mother of eight children. 

“We have eaten that since 

forever. That is not going 

to change today. Ebola, 

that’s in Bikoro.” 

Officials, however, are 

particularly concerned 

by the disease’s presence 

in Mbandaka, a 

crowded trading hub on 

the Congo River with 

road, water and air links 

to Congo’s capital, Kinshasa. 

Four cases have been 

confirmed in the city’s 

Wanganta neighbourhood 

and two more cases 

are suspected.


WARRI SUMMIT: 

When Wafarians 

unite against ethnic 

sentiments for 

common good 

By Jimitota Onoyume 

THE first Warri Economic 

Summit with the theme: 

Warri Rising, ended on a 

promising note with various 

speakers urging ethnic groups 

in Warri to bury their sentiments 

for the common good of the oilrich 

city. 

One of the speakers, Ngozi 

Mogbolu, captured the situation 

of the oil city appropriately when 

she said it was one of the entry 

points of colonial civilisation and 

a linguistic melting port in the 

country. Urging Wafarians as 

residents choose to call 

themselves, to change the ugly 

narratives on the oil-rich city to 

something positive by shunning 

crime and related acts, Mogbolu 

further described Warri as the 

economic heartbeat of the state. 

She stressed that the city shares 

similar status with Lagos, Port 

Harcourt and other notable 

commercial nerve centres in the 

country. 

Commercial 

nerve centre 

“The big take home from this 

summit is that we should 

manage information on Warri. Let 

us point at the positive side of 

Warri; there are so many good 

things about Warri. We should 

take opportunity of this summit 

to grow Warri again,” 

she pleaded. 

Francis Daniel Okumagba and 

Professor Tosan Harriman, who 

also spoke, harped on unity 

among the three ethnic groups 

in the oil-rich city, saying the 

groups should come together to 

move the city forward. Professor 

Harriman said the people 

should stop seeing other tribes 

as impeding development of the 

city. While urging the youths to 

shun brigandage, Harriman 

said: “If we all develop a 

community sense of 

engagement, we will redress so 

many challenges in the area. We 

can't see Ijaw, Itsekiri, Urhobo as 

our problem, our problem is 

endemic.” 

On his part, Chief 

Okumagba urged the Chairman 

of Warri South Local Government 

Area, Mr. Michael Tidi and 

residents of Warri to set up Warri 

Club anywhere they found 

themselves, stressing that it 

would promote the desired unity 

among the people to advance the 

*From right: Governor Okowa; Ogiame Ikenwoli, the Olu of Warri 

and Papa Ayo Oritsejafor, at the Economic summit 

Insecurity is an 

issue in Warri, 

youths in Warri 

must help resolve 

the problem; 

vessel owners 

say pirates are 

attacking vessels 

brand. Let us have Warri Clubs 

everywhere. Let us deemphasize 

tribal sentiments for 

the growth and development of 

Warri,” he said. 

Former Director-General, 

Nigeria 

Maritime 

Administration and Safety 

Agency, NIMASA, Mr. Temi 

Omatseye, who spoke 

extensively on opportunities in 

the maritime sector for 

development of the oil-rich city, 

said that Warri should collaborate 

with other areas to fully tap the 

benefit in the sector. 

He said: “I am very passionate 

about the maritime sector. I go 

on speed boats round Nigerian 

good of the area. Okumagba also 

unveiled several business 

opportunities to the gathering. 

“Money flows in the streets of 

Warri; we are not picking it. You 

don’t need money to start a 

business but the will and 

determination. Some of our 

youths need a change of 

mindset. Let us all grow Warri 

before we look at where we are 

from. In Warri, we need to recreeks 

to speak on shipping. 

Nigeria has a very long coastline 

of about 853 kilometres. We are 

facing a major challenge in 

Nigeria as a country with about 

1.3 million tonnes of petroleum 

products sitting offshore 

Lagos. How do we clear issues 

relating to Apapa Ports? Dangote 

says he loses so much on a 

monthly basis because of the 

situation. Are we ready to receive 

the volume of products in Warri? 

Warri can't do it alone, we must 

overcome ethnicity. Warri does 

not have the landed space for it 

alone. Warri must collaborate 

with other areas around." 

Omatseye also spoke of the 

urgent need to effectively utilise 

the opportunities offered by the 

rail sector in the state, particularly 

Agbor end to further develop the 

economy of the state. ”Nobody 

has progressed when you put 

ethnicity first. I will work with 

anybody that will make my state 

better, “ he added. 

While lamenting the security 

challenge in the state, Omatseye 

also called for more seafarers to 

be trained to fill up the gap 

needed in the maritime sector. 

On security in the state, he said 

efforts should be made to redress 

the problem, noting that it was 

affecting movement of vessels to 

the Warri waterways. According 

to him, most vessel owners 

would hardly allow their vessels 

on the waterways because of the 

security challenge. 

“Insecurity is an issue in Warri. 

Youths in Warri must help resolve 

the problem. Vessel owners say 

pirates are attacking vessels. They 

collect 'War Risk' charge from 

vessels on Warri water. But we are 

not at war in Warri. We must 

collaborate to end this," he 

pleaded. 

*From left: Governor Okowa; Chairman, Warri South Local Government 

Area, Michael Tidi, and immediate past Governor, Dr. 

Emmanuel Uduaghan during the first Warri Economic Summit. 

Photos: Bripin Enarusai and Jibunor Samuel. 

Executive Director, Business 

Development, NEXIM Bank, 

Stella Osadjere, unfolded several 

opportunities for business 

operators in her area. Another 

speaker, Mr. Alex Eyengho 

spoke on opportunities in the 

movie industry for youths in the 

oil-rich city. Former governor, 

Emmanuel Uduaghan, said 

litigations were part of challenges 

his government faced while 

developing the state, noting that 

when his government initiated 

projects, sometimes there were 

too many litigations around them 

that hampered completion of 

some. 

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa while 

declaring open the summit 

assured that his government 

would continue to take steps to 

promote development of the 

state, stressing that his 

government would not play 

politics with development of the 

state. 

Dredging of the 

Escravos map 

He further appealed for 

p a r t n e r s h i p 

between government and the 

private sector, adding that his 

government would support 

dredging of the Escravos map 

recently approved by the Federal 

Government. 

He enjoined youths and other 

stakeholders in Warri to work for 

growth and development of the 

state. “The youths, leaders all 

must partner for Warri to rise. 

Thank God for the announcement 

by the Federal Government to 

dredge the Excravos map, we will 

give all our support for the 

project. 

"Warri no doubt is the economic 

nerve centre of the state. It began 

trading with Europe hundreds of 

years ago. This summit is 

important. The opportunities that 

made Warri economic nerve 

centre, are still there. The youths 

can't be left out of the drive to 

develop the area. They must 

continue to promote peace at all 

times," he said. 

The governor also said his 

administration had acquired 50 

hectares of land for a tanker park, 

saying this would remove 

nuisance created by reckless 

parking of tankers along the road 

in the state. 

“We don’t play politics with 

development as a government. 

There has to be partnership for 

Warri to rise again," he 

said. While lauding the 

Chairman of Warri South Local 

Government Area, Mr Michael 

Tidi, for organising the first Warri 

Economic Summit, the governor 

enjoined Shell to return to the oilrich 

city of Warri. He said: “I 

appeal to Shell to return the full 

components of its operation to 

Warri. My administration is 

committed to ensure that private 

enterprises flourish." 

Mr Tidi, who was chairman of 

the two-day summit, said its 

essence derives from how Warri 

could rebound economically. 

Negative 

connotations 

“This two-day star-studded 

event is not a talkshop. Yes, we 

need to have a conversation 

about business conditions in Warri 

and we need to re-brand Warri 

away from the negative 

connotations of the last decade or 

two, but that is not the singular 

purpose of this event. 

"We want to achieve two major 

outcomes: Firstly, we want to 

identify a few key sectors where 

Warri can be number one or 

number two in business within the 

next three years. Secondly, we 

want to identify what can be done 

to revive maritime trade in Warri 

within the next six to 12 months. 

If we can define a road map to 

achieve these goals at the end of 

the two-day summit, we would 

have done very well," he said. 

Some attendees who spoke to 

the Vanguard lauded Tidi for the 

economic summit, saying it was 

timely and opened their eyes to 

several opportunities in the oilrich 

city. “We are happy with the 

summit. We want 

more development and capacitybuilding 

programmes in Warri to 

re-brand our people. I thank the 

Chairman of the Council, Mr. 

Michael Tidi, for the programme. 

It was rewarding," Tobore 

Majemiter said.

Countdown (22) FIFA WC: 

Eagles will not share money in Russia, 

says NFF boss 

BY TONY UBANI 

NIGERIA Football 

Federation 

president, Amaju Melvin 

Pinnick has ruled out any 

form of money distractions 

for the Super Eagles at the 

Russia 2018 World Cup 

tournament. 

Speaking at the SUN 

Newspaper organized 

seminar titled ‘’That the 

Super Eagles may excel in 

Russia 2018 and beyond”, 

the NFF President said he 

was confident that the Super 

Eagles will do well because 

there would be no 

distractions when the 

tournament begins. 

According to Pinnick, the 

NFF has done its home 

work with the players and 

agreed on all they stand to 

benefit from FIFA largesse 

of FIFA’s $8m. ‘’The players 

will get $2.9m and we’ll go 

ahead to share 50-50 the 

other proceed depending 

on how far they go”. 

The football supremo 

caused an uproar in the 

parked Presidential Hotel 

Hall when he recounted 

how the Super Eagles in 

Brazil stayed awake to 

share money because of 

lack of trust. And they lost 

the match to France. 

‘’This ugly situation 

will not re-occur in Brazil 

because we have settled 

everything concerning 

money with the players. 

There is nothing we hide 

from them concerning 

entitlements due to them. 

They owe us to do well. 

Frankly, I believe that they’ll 

be focused and determined 

to go all the way to win the 

World Cup”, Amaju said. 

The NFF boss also said 

that the football house has 

worked assiduously to 

ensure that Nigeria would 

no longer become the 

object of laughter in the 

World where many believe 

that money would tear 

them apart before a major 

outing. 

Pinnick hails Moses, advises him to focus 

on World Cup 

NIGERIA 

Football 

Federation 

president, Amaju Melvin 

Pinnick has congratulated 

Super Eagles’ ace Victor 

Moses for winning the 

English FA Cup with Chelsea 

FC at the weekend. He urged 

the multi talented player to 

build on that and help the 

Super Eagles at the World 

Cup. 

Moses joined the list of 

Nigerian players that have 

won the FA Cup. They include 

John Fashanu, Daniel 

Amokachi, Nwankwo Kanu, 

John Utaka and Mikel John 

Obi. Obi, who is captain 

Moses and others at the FIFA 

World Cup, won also with 

Chelsea. 

“I am happy for Victor 

Moses because this triumph 

sets him in a great mood and 

gives immense confidence for 

the FIFA World Cup in Russia. 

We have a number of friendly 

matches before the FIFA World 

Cup but the big focus is on 

the finals starting next month. 

“Victory in the FA Cup is 

good for Moses as he will 

come into camp buoyed in 

spirit, and that good feeling is 

bound to infect and affect the 

other players positively,” 

Pinnick said. 

Wike promises Eagles surprise 

package 

BY TONY UBANI 

RIVERS 

State 

Governor, 

Barrister Nyesom Wike has 

assured that he would 

surprise the Super Eagles 

with mouth-watering gifts 

before they leave for the 

World Cup in Russia. 

While declaring the Sun 

Newspapers seminar open 

in Port Harcourt yesterday, 

Governor Wike said that they 

would shower the Eagles 

with gifts before they fly out 

to Russia. 

‘’WE’ve been good hosts 

to the Super Eagles. We’ve 

shown our love and support 

to the team and they made 

Port Harcourt a home in most 

of their matches. We’ll also 

shower them with love and 

surprise packages before 

they leave. They’ll be 

playing their last game 

against Congo DR here in 

Port Harcourt. We’re waiting 

to wish them well and send 

them forth with all the good 

luck they need in Russia”, 

the Governor said as they 

hall hailed him ‘’Power of 

Sports”. 


Aruna Quadri, others aim for ranking points 

at Hong Kong Open 

NIGERIA’s Aruna 

Quadri will join 

some of the best table tennis 

players in the world aiming 

for honours and ranking 

points at the ITTF World 

Tour tagged Hong Kong 

Open Queen Elizabeth 

Stadium in Hong Kong. 

Already, the Nigerian has 

been listed among the 16- 

man seeding list for the 

$145,000 prize money 

championship as most of the 

players are targeting 

ranking points in the Asia 

city. 

Quadri who recently 

claimed the Portuguese 

league with Sporting is 

seeded 13th while Egypt’s 

Omar Assar has been 

seeded sixth while home 

boy – Ting Chun Wong is 

the number one seed. 

Quadri and other 15 

seeded players will start 

their campaign from the 

Champions League: Ronaldo 

prefers Real Madrid v Man 

United final 

CRISTIANO Ronaldo is preparing to lead Real 

Madrid in a Champions League final clash with 

Liverpool but would have preferred to be facing Manchester 

United. The Portuguese superstar has helped to fire the 

Blancos near a third successive European crown, with 

Zinedine Zidane’s side having dominated continental 

competition in recent years. 

Ronaldo has remained a talismanic presence throughout 

a period of unprecedented success in the modern era, with 

the 33-year-old once again leading the scoring charts this 

term with 15 efforts. Finals are always special occasions: I 

would have preferred it to be Manchester United. 

“But Liverpool deserve respect. We’re not going to have it 

easy. They deserve to be in the final. 

“They remind me of Madrid three or four years ago. Their 

three front players, they’re very quick… they are powerful 

in attack and I respect them. But Madrid are better. We have 

to play to our level, but we also have to respect the opposition.” 

BHA sign up Leon Balogun 

BRIGHTON have completed the signing of Super 

Eagles defender, Leon Balogun on a free transfer. 

The 29-year-old left Bundesliga side Mainz at the end of 

the season and has signed a two-deal with the Seagulls. 

Balogun missed the 2014 World Cup through injury but 

has been named in Nigeria’s preliminary 30-man squad 

for this year’s tournament in Russia. 

“Leon will add more depth to our defensive options,” 

said Brighton manager Chris Hughton. 

“I am pleased to get our first piece of business done so 

early in the summer. He is in the peak years of his career 

and I am sure he will integrate well into the squad. 

“He also has valuable experience, having played in the 

Bundesliga, the Europa League and at international level.” 

Atletico Madrid beat Eagles 

team B 

ATLETICO Madrid yesterday beat Nigeria’s 

Super Eagles B team 3-2 in a thrilling match at the 

Goodswill Akpabio International Stadium Uyo, Akwa Ibom 

State. The Eagles opened the game with the determination 

to impress the home crowd and coach Gernot Rohr who was 

watching. And they gave the Europa League champions a 

run for their money. But quality was always going to count 

for the La Liga giants. 

The Eagles asked the Spaniards questions, and in the 30 th 

minute Kelechi Nwakali drew the first blood, and Atletico’s 

response was immediate as Correa drew level. 

Fernendo Torres headed home for Atletico’s second goal, 

while Usman Mohammed scored the equalizer after turning 

the Atletico defense upside down. However, Borja won it for 

Atletico in the 85 th minutes as his screamer from outside the 

box caught Femi Thomas napping. 

main draw on Thursday 

May 24 while the qualifiers 

began on Tuesday May 22. 

A confident Quadri said 

he is hoping to finish 

among the best in the event. 

“I will try my best to do well 

and I hope my best will see 

me through because this is 

the assembly of crème-dela-crème 

in world table 

tennis,” he said. 

Collins calls for calm as athletes rage 

over postponed AFN golden league 

BY BEN EFE 

ATHLETICS Federation of Nigeria board 

member, Rosa Collins has called on home-based 

Nigerian athletes to remain calm as the Federation decide on 

a new date for the Golden League, which has been put off 

indefinitely. 

Some of the athletes who have been training in anticipation of 

making good performances as they get ready for the African 

Championships in Asaba, Delta in August, revealed their 

frustrations about the seeming discordant tones coming from the 

AFN. 

“What kind of federation are they running? If the president, 

Ibrahim Gusau is incapable of running the federation as he 

promised he would, he should resign instead of frustrating our 

efforts,” said one of the athletes. 

Speaking on the development former African triple jump 

champion, Rosa Collins noted that it was time all athletics 

stakeholders put their differences aside and begin to build the


Kane: We can win World Cup 

Messi joins 

Argentina’s 

training camp 

Lionel Messi has linked up with 

Argentina at a pre-World Cup 

training camp in Buenos Aires. 

Messi fired Barcelona to a domestic 

double in the 2017-18 season, his 34 

LaLiga goals earning him a record fifth 

European Golden Shoe. 

The Argentina captain has now 

joined his international teammates 

as Jorge Sampaoli’s 

men build towards the 

World Cup in Russia. 

Messi’s side face 

Iceland, Croatia and 

Nigeria in Group D, 

hoping to go one step 

further than their 

loss to Germany 

in the 2014 final. 

The World 

C u p 

starts June 14, 

and although it 

is a team 

game, it’s the 

individuals who 

will make their marks in 

Russia. 

Here is a list of the top 10 

players for this year’s World 

Cup, factoring in impact, form 

and potential for success. 

10. Antoine Griezmann, 

France 

Fast and fun and a deadly 

finisher, he was the top 

scorer at Euro 2016. 

9. N’Golo Kante, 

France 

The best defensive 

midfielder in the world and 

crucial to France’s hopes of 

contending for the title. 

8. Paulo Dybala, Argentina 

Coming off a pair of big 

breakout seasons, he is 

Argentina’s great hope for the 

future. 

Harry Kane believes 

England can win 

the World Cup in 

Russia this summer and says their 

youth and inexperience should be 

no excuse for coming up short. 

He said: ‘I think we can win it. 

We’re not going to be favourites to 

win it. 

‘We know we’re not favourites to 

win it but you look at this season 

for example, nobody would have 

thought Liverpool would have got 

to the Champions League final and 

they did. 

‘You look at Man United, in the 

(Sir Alex) Ferguson days, when 

they had a young team and 

dominated the Premier League for 

years to come. 

‘It’s not really an excuse that 

we’re young, it could be a good 

thing. I believe we can win it and 

that’s what we’re trying to do. 

Anything else is not good enough, 

really. 

‘We haven’t won a major 

tournament for the last 50 years 

Ronaldo tops list of top10 

players to look out for 

7. Toni Kroos, 

Germany 

8. The heartbeat 

of the team for the defending 

champion and at 28, 

continues to get even 

sharper. 

6. Luka Modric, Croatia 

Recently hinted he’d like to 

end his career in MLS. If he 

came now, he’d be the league’s 

best player ever. 

5. Neymar, Brazil 

Plays with joy and craft, but 

is recovering from a foot injury 

that has kept him sidelined 

since February. 

4. Kevin De Bruyne, 

Belgium 

A master organizer and 

creator, there may be no smarter 

player on the planet. 

World Cup Facts 

1 The World Cup in 2018 will mark the first 

time Russia has ever hosted this event. 

2 The 2018 World Cup will be Russia’s 11th 

World Cup appearance. Their highest ever 

finish was 4th place in 1966. 

3 The World Cup has been played 20 times, 

Brazil holds the most titles with five. Italy and 

3. Mohamed 

Salah, Egypt 

Coming off a sensational 

season for Liverpool, and full of 

so no matter how good our teams 

have been, we haven’t been good 

enough. 

Rohr banks on 

Moses for 

Eagles success 

Super Eagles coach, Gernot 

Rohr is banking Victor Moses 

to spearhead Nigeria’s charge for 

success at the Russia World Cup, 

starting next month. 

“He is a world-class player and you 

can rely on him any time and any 

moment he is playing. He is the most 

impressive player in my team,” said 

Rohr. 

Moses has overcome childhood 

trauma to forge a career that has seen 

him play at the highest levels of the 

game and return in glory to the 

country he once fled. 

Moses was only 11 when his 

missionary parents were killed in 

religious rioting in Kaduna, in 

north-west Nigeria, leaving him 

orphaned and allowed into Britain 

as a refugee, where he lived with a 

foster family. 

His footballing ability offered him 

the opportunity to go to public 

school on a scholarship organised by 

Crystal Palace, where manager Neil 

Warnock gave him a league debut at 

the age of 16. 

Neymar 

undergoes fitness 

test for World Cup 

razil superstar Neymar 

Bhas been undertaking 

medical tests this week, in hope of 

proving his return to fitness ahead 

of the upcoming World Cup. 

The forward missed the second 

part of the season after breaking a 

bone in his foot while playing his 

club football with Paris Saint 

Germain. 

The 26-year-old was a doubt to 

make the showpiece tournament, 

but looks to have returned in time 

to lead his nation on the biggest 

stage of all 

This week Neymar offered the 

most positive signs to date that he 

will make the World Cup, with 

latest snaps showing him jumping 

from either foot during the medical, 

while proving his general fitness 

on the treadmill. 

Neymar has been keeping fans 

constantly up to date with his 

recovery work via social media, 

with several videos of him back 

kicking the ball around recently 

surfacing. 

Brazil face upcoming 

preparation friendlies with 

Croatia and Austria, before 

kicking off their World Cup 

campaign against Switzerland 

on June 17. 

energy and enterprise. A joy to 

watch. 

2. Lionel Messi, Argentina 

Unstoppable for most 

opponents, but still 

waiting for an elusive 

major trophy with 

Argentina. 

1. Cristiano 

Ronaldo, Portugal 

Still superb at 33 and hungry 

for a World Cup title to add to 

Portugal’s Euro 2016 success. 

Germany are close behind with four each. 

4 The oldest goal scorer in the World Cup 

was Roger Milla, who was 42 in 1994 when he 

scored a goal for Cameroon against Russia. 

5 The most goals ever scored by one player 

in a World Cup match is an impressive five, by 

Oleg Salenko of Russia.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 — 47

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018 

TODAY’S PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER 

TODAY’S CROSSWORD 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

YESTERDAY’SOLUTION 

ACROSS 

1 Mythical winged horse (7) 

5 Manufacturer (5) 

8 Card game (5) 

9 Young hare (7) 

10 Confection made with 

crushed nuts (7) 

11 Lure (5) 

12 Easily offended (6) 

14 Third sign of the zodiac (6) 

18 Impertinence (5) 

20 Relevant (7) 

22 Tied up (7) 

23 Brownish-grey colour (5) 

24 Take it easy (5) 

25 Ordained (7) 

DOWN 

1 Low wall (7) 

2 Letter after beta (5) 

3 Fashionable (7) 

4 Precious metal (6) 

5 Shifted (5) 

6 Pakistan’s largest city (7) 

7 Irritable (5) 

13 Out of the ordinary (7) 

15 Capricious (7) 

16 Stained (anag) (7) 

17 Frank (6) 

18 Indian stringed instrument (5) 

19 English county (5) 

21 Stop temporarily (5) 

How to Play Sudoku 

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

of the same number). 

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

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

blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no 

number can appear twice in any block, column or row. 

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

multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination. 

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: 

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

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