27102018 - How Okorocha, Amosun lost Buhari’s support

2 —SATURDAY Vanguard,OCTOBER 27, , 2018

SATURDAY Vanguard,OCTOBER 27, 2018 — 3

4 —SATURDAY Vanguard,OCTOBER 27, , 2018

SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018 — 5
Ohanaeze, Afenifere reply Fashola on 2023
Presidency
•Ezeife, Ozekhome, others blast Fashola
•It’s an eye opener to Ndigbo in APC - Umahi
•Igbo Must vote overwhelmingly for Buhari in 2019 to get 2023 ticket — Ngige
•ACF Sec hints at Northern participation in 2023
By Emmanuel Aziken,
Dayo Johnson, Anayo
Okoli, Levinus
Nwabughiogu, Dirisu
Yakubu, Peter Okutu,
Dennis Agbo, Yinka
Ajayi, Omeiza Ajayi
OHANAEZE Ndigbo
and Afenifere, the
apex socio cultural bodies
of the Igbo and the Yoruba
were yesterday united in
chiding politicians from
their ethnic zones advocating
a second term for President
Muhammadu Buhari
as the fastest route for
the presidency to come to
their zones. The two
groups in separate assertions
said that they were
more preoccupied with the
restructuring of the country
than the allotment of
the presidential office.
The two socio-cultural
groups spoke in response
to Thursday’s call by Mr.
Babatunde Fashola, minister
of works, power and
housing to the Yoruba to
vote Buhari for a second
term. He had said at a town
hall meeting organized by
the Federal Ministry of
Information and Culture
that voting for Buhari
would amount to the presidency
returning to the
Southwest in 2023.
His call came against
the campaign by many
Southeast supporters of
the president that a second
term for Buhari was the
surest and quickest route
for the Igbo to become
president in 2023.
Amidst the rivalry by the
Southwest and Southeast
for 2023, the secretary
general of the Arewa Consultative
Forum, Mr. Anthony
Z. Sanni yesterday
also gave a warning to the
two zones that the North
may not be ruled out of
2023. In a coded warning
to the two zones, Sanni affirmed
that 70 out of the
76 candidates for the 2019
presidential election were
southerners! Meanwhile,
the 2015 presidential candidate
of the National
Conscience Party, NCP, Mr.
Martin Onovo alerted that
Fashola’s call could be his
way of positioning himself
for the 2023 contest.
While some Igbo leaders
have said that their support
for Buhari’s second
term was to ensure a payback
from him for an Igbo
person to become president
in 2023, they have,
however, put aside the
prospects of APC national
leader, Asiwaju Bola
Ahmed Tinubu who publicly
withdrew himself
from the 2019 contest only
because of Buhari’s interest.
The minister of labour,
productivity and employment,
Senator Chris Ngige
who is one of the Igbo leaders
canvassing a second
The Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration of UNN, Prof. Charles Igwe (middle);
with the chairman of Nkwerre na Isu Welfare Union, Nsukka branch, Dr. Michael
Ukonu (3rd left); former chairman of the union, Prof. Innocent Uzodinma Nwadike
(2nd left); lecturer in the General Studies Unit of the institution, Dr. Dike Nwadike
(2nd right); and other stakeholders of the union, and UNN staff shortly after the
courtesy visit at the VC’s office, UNN.
term for Buhari reiterated
his stance last night, but
with the provisio that Igbo
must vote overwhelmingly
for Buhari in 2019 to be
able to negotiate well for
the 2023 presidential ticket
Ḃesides Afenifere, Ohanaeze
Ndigbo and the
ACF, leading political figures
from across the country
weighed into the debate
roused by Fashola
yesterday.
The Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP on its part said
that Fashola’s assertion
should be a revelation of
what he described as the
deceit of the All Progressives
Congress, APC on the
issue.
Among those who spoke
were former Governor
Chukwuemeka Ezeife of
Anambra State, former
Governor Sullivan Chime
of Enugu State, Chief
Chekwas Okorie, chairman
of the United Peoples
Party, UPP, leading lawyer,
Chief Mike Ozekhome,
SAN, among others.
Buhari’s Southwest,
Southeast advocates on
fool’s errand
Responding to the debate
yesterday, Afenifere speaking
through its spokesman,
Mr. Yinka Odumakin
said: “Both the Buhari
advocates in southeast
and southwest are not in
tune with the mood of both
zones. The mood of both
zones is not Nigerian presidency
in 2023, but restructuring
in 2019. If we
restructure the country in
2019 and everybody have
the autonomy to run their
lives as they want within
corporate Nigeria, both
zones may even say that
they don’t want the presidency
in 2023.
“In the First Republic,
Ahmadu Bello refused to
be prime minister of Nigeria;
he sent his lieutenant
to be the prime minister of
Nigeria while he stayed
back as premier of Northern
Nigeria. So, both
Fashola and Ngige and the
rest of them saying that Buhari
is the fastest route to
2023 are not in sync with
the mood of their zones.
The mood of their zones is
that the fastest route to recovery
for Nigeria and for
every section of Nigeria is
to restructure Nigeria in
2019.
“It is a mere diversion
that resonates with nobody.
The Yoruba had the
presidency for eight years,
did it make any difference?
The South-South
had it for six years. What
did it do for them? The
North that has had it more
than any other region what
has it done for the ordinary
Northerner?”
Ohanaeze More Focused
on Restructuring
than on who becomes
president or vice-president
Speaking in the same
vein, Ohanaeze Ndigbo
speaking through its National
Publicity Secretary,
Prince Uche Achi-Okpaga,
stressed that the disposition
of Ohanaeze was not
in favour of who becomes
the president, his vice and
other political positions
but on the restructuring of
the country.
The statement read in
part: “On the contradicting
pronouncements of the
present Government and
other consequential revelations,
promising the
South East and the South
West of the 2023 presidency,
permit me to encapsulate
that to truth, the
present government is to
build on sand.
“For the umpteenth time,
the disposition of Ohanaeze
is not in favour of
who becomes the president,
his vice and other political
positions. The stand
of Ohanaeze is hell bent on
restructuring. Without restructuring
the much an
Igbo president or vice
could do is to enrich few
privileged individuals.
“Even if he desires he
would not have the leverage,
opportunity or manifest
impetus to impact on
the generality of the people.
“The way in which the
constitution is designed is
not favourable to the less
privileged regions. The
only soothing balm, as it
stands now, is restructuring
the political system.
“In a country running a
federal system of government
and yet the respective
states cannot legislate on
virtually everything is unacceptable.
This is because
even in the concurrent list
the Federal policy preponderates
over those of the
States, while the residual
list is virtually empty and
insignificant.”
ACF Not Interested, but
throws mines ahead
Secretary General of the
Arewa Consultative Forum,
ACF, Elder Anthony
Sani has said the northern
socio-cultural group would
not dabble into the issue of
power shift in 2023, saying
it was for the political parties
to decide.
Speaking with Saturday
Vanguard in his personal
capacity on the matter,
Sani said
“The answer to that question
is not within the purview
of ACF. It is matter for
political parties.”
He, however, made a revelation
which could justify
the outflow of Northern
presidential candidates in
2023 against the assumption
by the South that it
would be the turn of either
of the three regions at that
time.
He said: “Take for example,
of the about 76 presidential
candidates, about
70 are from the South.”
PDP is vindicated -
Ologbondinyan
National Publicity Secretary
of the PDP, Kola
Ologbondiyan said Fashola’s
statement has vindicated
the party that neither
Buhari nor the APC is
serious about Igbo quest
for Presidency.
He said: “When we said
they were not serious
about supporting the
South-East for the Presidency,
we were called all
sorts of names. Our brothers
and sisters in the South
East zone, with this charge
by Fashola now know they
will be supporting a wrong
cause if they throw their
weight behind President
Muhammadu Buhari in
2019. They should not allow
themselves to be used
and dumped because the
ruling party has no agenda
or plan for them. The
earlier they realized this,
the better.”
National Vice Chairman
of the PDP, South
East, Deacon Austin Umahi
on his part said Fashola’s
statement was an eye
opener for the Igbo people
in the APC.
“That’s an eye opener to
our so called brothers and
sisters who are in the
failed APC for their selfish
interests and leaking
pockets.
“Rebranded and repositioned
PDP does not only
have Nigeria’s collective
interest but South East in
particular. I am convinced
that as a party built
on fairness and equity,
South East surely stands a
better chance to take her
equity share in Nigeria’s
project come 2023, God
willing.”
Power Is Not Served
ala carte - Ngige
Responding to the Fashola
claim last night, Senator
Ngige said that much
emphasis would be placed
on the number of votes
garnered for Buhari by the
people of Southeast for
them to be accorded the
presidential slot in 2023.
He advised Ndigbo to
massively vote for Buhari,
saying that while it was
morally right to give the
people an opportunity, political
power is however
not given for the asking of
it.
“Power is not served alla
carte. You must go for it.
It’s not given.
“If the Igbo of Nigeria
stay in their cocoon in the
South East and not join in
working for the winning
party i.e the APC, the party
could try to choose its
Presidential candidate
from anywhere in the
South where the 2019
votes shows as its stronghold
irrespective of the fact
that morally the Igbo will
rightfully say it’s their turn
in 2023.
Wake Up Call
The Director General of
Voice of Nigeria, Mr. Osita
Okechukwu one of the
early champions of a second
term for Buhari as the
surest route to the emergence
of an Igbo person as
Nigeria’s president saw
Fashola’s call as a wake up
call to the Igbo.
He said:
“Babatunde Fashola’s
statement is a Wake Up to
Ndigbo to vote for President
Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari is the only Northerner
whose exit in 2023 is
certain. Every other Northerner
presidential can only
pledge or promise four
years.
“Fashola’s call for South
West to vote for Buhari is
not out of place, for politics
is local. The truism is
that Fashola has sounded
a Wake-Up-Call for Ndigbo
to vote for Buhari if we
are interested in the president
of Nigeria of Igbo extraction
come 2023.
“Ndigbo have three advantages
to clinch the
2023 presidency - equity,
natural justice, and good
conscience.
“The zoning convention
favours Ndigbo for our two
brothers in the southern
belt - South West and South
South had benefited for
eight and six years respectively.”
Chime wants Igbo Ministers
To also market Buhari
Immidate past Governor
of Enugu state, Mr. Sullivan
Chime now a chieftain
of the APC also faulted
Fashola for supposedly
promoting tribal politics.
“It’s sad and unfortunate
that our people are promoting
tribal politics. If
Fashola is telling the Yoruba
people what President
Buhari has done for them,
what we should do is that
the ministers from this
area should as well come
and tell our people what
Buhari has done for us.
Maybe we are in the dark,
maybe he has been doing
things. So they need to
come and give us reasons
we should vote in Buhari.
“Fashola has his own
constituency and I don’t
see anything wrong with it.
He is a Yoruba man and
he spoke to Yoruba people,
I also expect the Igbo ministers
to also come and
speak with Ndigbo. Personally
I have my own reasons,
more than a million
reasons I should vote for
him and not PDP. What is
on board now is 2019.
“It’s not time to consider
who will be there in 2023.
In any case, if we are thinking
about going to Abuja
in 2023 we should first and
foremost do the one thing
we are sure about, support
this man. We will know that
the position will be vacant
in 2023, that is the surest
way we can know how we
will go in 2023.
Ezeife, Ozekhome
chide Fashola
Third Republic governor
of Anambra State, Chief
Chukwuemeka Ezeife on
his part bemoaned Fashola’s
comment, noting that
the minister would have
been correct if the rotation
Continues on page 8

6 — SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
2019: PDP challenges Buhari over fresh
certificate saga
•Urges him to direct the military to release his certificate to INEC
By Drisu Yakubu
THE
Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP,
has challenged President
Muhammadu Buhari to
show proof of his integrity by
presenting his academic
credentials, “if he has any,”
to the Independent National
Electoral Commission,
INEC, and put to an end the
controversy trailing his
school certificate.
The party also tasked the
Commander-in-Chief to fulfil
his obligation like other
Presidential candidates,
instead of bugging the
commission with affidavits.
The PDP in a statement
issued by its spokesman,
Kola Ologbondiyan
yesterday said while its
Presidential candidate, Atiku
Abubakar, has submitted his
educational and other
relevant documents to INEC,
President Buhari is rather
seeking ways to short-circuit
the system, instead of
complying with set rules.
The statement read: “A
situation where President
Buhari has been dodging
the certificate issue raises
huge questions of integrity,
which demands that he
makes available his
credentials, or apologize to
Nigerians, if he has none,
so that the nation can move
ahead.
“President Buhari knows
by now that Nigerians are
no longer interested in his
claims in an affidavit
wherein he stated, ‘I am the
above-named person and
the deponent of this affidavit
herein. All my academic
qualification documents as
filled in my Presidential
form, APC/001/2015 are
currently with the Secretary
of the Military Board as of
the time of this affidavit.’
“PDP maintains that
integrity strictly demands
that President Buhari,
particularly as the
commander-in-chief, writes
to the military authorities
directing them to forward his
claimed credentials to
INEC, as requisite evidence
of compliance with a key
requirement for election into
the Office of the President,
under section 131 (d) of the
1999 Constitution (as
amended).
“That President Buhari
and the previous INEC
succeeded in circumventing
the law in 2015 does not
make such acceptable in our
current electoral process.
“President Buhari and the
All Progressives Congress,
APC, must realize that even
their followers, that were
beguiled in 2015, are
currently not prepared to
accept ‘NEPA bill’ as WAEC
certificate in the 2019
elections.
“This is particularly as the
certificate scandal
contributes to the erosion of
Mr. President’s rectitude to
check the humongous
corruption, ineptitude and
recklessness among his
Kidnappers kill Kaduna traditional
ruler, el Rufai reimposes curfew
•Fish out killers, Makarfi charges govt
By Ben Agande,
Kaduna.
TENSION reigned in
Kaduna again after
kidnappers Thursday killed
a prominent Traditional ruler
in Kaduna state, the Agwom
Adara, Maiwada Raphael
Galadima, after allegedly
collecting ransom for his
release.
This was less than 24 hours
after the Kaduna state
government reviewed 24-
hour curfew imposed on
some areas in the state. The
government has again
reimposed a 24 -hour curfew
in some towns and villages
in the state.
Also, a statement by
Samuel Aruwan,
spokesman to the state
governor, said the move
became necessary
following the killing of the
traditional ruler of Adara by
his kidnappers.
The traditional ruler, the
paramount Chief of the
Adara people in Kajuru
Local Government Area of
Kaduna state, was
abducted last Friday with his
wife while his security
guards and driver were
killed by his abductors.
The wife was released
last Sunday and was taken
to the hospital.
Meanwhile, former
governor of the state, Senator
Ahmed Makarfi charged the
state government to fish out
officials which has brought
the nation to its knees under
his administration.”
The party added that the
President’s “failure to tidy up
such grey areas also
contributes to his inability to
cultivate and earn the
and bring to book, killers of
the traditional ruler of Adàra
in the state.
In a condolence message
personally signed by the
former governor, he warned
that the series of events in
recent times pose a serious
threat to the country’s
nascent democracy.
‘It is unfortunate that while
efforts to return the state to
normalcy following the
violence that occurred at
Kasuwan
Magani, Kajuru Local
Government Area last
Thursday ,which spilled
over to Kaduna
metropolis on Sunday
,are on,we woke up
early this morning to
hear that the paramount
traditional ruler of
Adara Chiefdom, Dr.
Maiwada Galadima was
killed and the body
deposited around
Kateri, along Abuja-
Kaduna Highway after
his abductors had
collected a ransom from
the community.
“The action by the
criminals is despicable
and should be
condemned by all
peace-loving people of
Kaduna State and
Nigerians in general.
All hands must be on
deck to ensure that our
nascent democracy is
not derailed in the
productive followership of
the youth and the respect of
the international community,
resulting in retardation in
national productivity and
dearth of international
development partnership in
the last three and half years.”
Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige(r) briefing State
House Correspondents on the Minimum Wage and other Labour related issues
at the State House, Abuja yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.
country through
emerging scenario of
conflicts and violence.
An official of the Adara
Development
Association(ADA) who
confirmed the incident
yesterday said the leader
was killed after his
abductors collected
ransom. His corpse has
been deposited at the St.
Gerald Hospital in
Kaduna.
It will be recalled that
the paramount ruler was
abducted on his way to
his palace in Kachia, a
day after rioters killed
many people in Kasuwan
Magani.
His convoy was
intercepted by the bandits
who killed his police
orderly and four other
palace guards before he
and the wife were taken
into the bush.
Repeated telephone
calls to the police
spokesman for
confirmation went
unanswered.
Less than 24 hours after
the Kaduna state
government reviewed
24- hour curfew imposed
on some areas in the
state, the government has
again, reimposed a 24-
hours curfew in some
towns and villages in the
state.
FG, govs to meet Monday
over N30,000 minimum
wage —Ngige
•No going back on ‘No work no pay’ policy
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Abuja
MINISTER of Labour and Employment,
Senator Chris Ngige, yesterday said the Economic
Management Team (EMT) and governors will meet on
Monday to address the N30,000 minimum wage proposal
by the organised labour.
The Federal Government has also said that there was no
going back in the :‘No work, no pay’ policy, adding that the
policy has been in existence since the administration of former
President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The organised labour has threatened to embark on strike
on November 6, 2018, over minimum wage and other
issues, accusing government of playing games with workers.
Speaking to State House correspondents after meeting
behind closed doors with President Buhari at the Presidential
Villa, Abuja; Senator Ngige said there was no decision yet
taken by the government on the proposed N30, 000 minimum
wage.
According to him, “I have come here to consult with the
Vice President and Mr President. On Monday ,the economic
team will meet and the governors are supposed to come so
that the Federal Government will brief them on what is on the
ground and we will see what they will be able to put to us,
because the government side is still three tiers, the federal,
states and the local governments. The Federal Government
is the leader.
“So, we are inviting them to come so that we will listen to
them again, tell them what we are doing and what we intend
to do, because they even have members on that committee.
“So, on Monday, we will have a very useful discussion
before the tripartite committee will come and submit its report.”
Mixed reactions greet
NASS list in Ogun
...Tejuoso, Adesegun dropped as Amosun,
Osoba’s son, others make INEC list
By Daud Olatunji,Abeokuta
MIXED reactions have greeted the provisional
list of the National Assembly candidates for
Ogun State released on Thursday by the
Independent National Electoral Commission ahead
of 2019 elections.
The Provisional list released by INEC,obtained
by Saturday Vanguard had on the senatorial list
the outgoing Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle
Amosun, who got the ticket for the Ogun Central
seat, thus displacing the incumbent, Dr Lanre
Tejuoso, who had expressed his intention to go for
a second term.
In the other two senatorial seats in Ogun East
and Ogun West, the names of Amosun’s friend,
Senator Lekan Mustapha and Amosun’s Chief -
of-Staff,Chief Tolu Odebiyi, were on the list
respectively.
Saturday Vanguard also gathered that for Ogun
West senatorial, the incumbent Gbolahan Dada,
willingly opted not to seek a re-election.
In Ogun East senatorial district, the former deputy
governor, Prince Segun Adesegun, who was
equally in the race, said he wrote a petition to
Appeal Committee of the party, based on his claim
that there was no election in the senatorial district,
but Senator Lekan Mustapha’s name came out on
INEC list
Reacting to the list, the state chairman of the
party, Chief Derin Adebiyi, said he was happy
with the names of the candidates on the Senatorial
list, but, kicked against the list of candidates for
the House of Representatives, alleging that “four
of our candidates’ names were substituted.”
He said, “There was no primary in the senatorial
district, and I had written a petition to the Appeal
Committee of the party and nothing came out, only
for me to discover another name on INEC list. I
have decided to let go and move on.”
However, when contacted, Mustapha rued this
claim, saying that he would not respond to such
“unfounded allegation,” unless he knew from whom
it was coming from.
He said it was not true that there was no election,
because according to him, two television stations
beamed the legislative primary live.
He said, “ I don’t want to react to such unfounded
allegation. If I know from whom it is coming from,
I might know the appropriate reaction. Perhaps the
allegation is coming from one of the losers.

Why our youths are daring
deserts, Mediterranean — Buhari
•Appeals to America, Europe to help over Lake Chad
By Johnbosco
Agbakwuru
P
r e s i d e n t
Muhammadu
Buhari has said that the
greatest investment
Europe and America can
make in Africa now is
helping the continent
accomplish inter-basin
water transfer to recharge
the Lake Chad.
The President stated this
on Friday when he hosted
Chairman of the African
Union Commission, Mr
Moussa Faki Mahamat at
the Presidential Villa,
Abuja.
He noted that the Lake
Chad, which provided a
means of livelihood to
several millions of people
in four countries – Chad,
Cameroon, Niger and
Nigeria –has now been
reduced to ten per cent of
its originate size, due to the
impact of climate change.
He said, “People who
depended on the Lake for
fishing, farming, animal
husbandry, and many
others, have been thrown
into dire straits. That is one
of the reasons youths now
dare the Sahara Desert
and the Mediterranean
Sea, to seek greener
pastures in Europe. But
helping to recharge Lake
Chad will help a great deal
in curbing irregular
migration.”
While noting that the
size of Nigeria and
resources available places
a lot of responsibilities on
her shoulders, President
Buhari pledged that the
country would continue to
fulfill its obligations to the
African Union.
According to him, “At all
international fora, we
emphasize the matter of
Lake Chad. We also talk
about the influx of small
arms from the Sahel, which
worsens the security
situation between herders
and stagnant farmers. We
will keep the issues on the
front burners.”
Mahamat lauded
President Buhari, saying
his leadership was good for
Nigeria, for AU, and for
Africa in general.
He added that the next
AU Summit would look into
the reform of the AU
Commission, positioning
the AU and Africa in the
world, Single Air Transport
Market, the Africa
Continental Free Trade
Area, and other issues.
He further submitted that
Nigeria has played major
roles towards peace in
countries like Guinea
Bissau, Togo, Liberia, Mali,
Sierra Leone, and many
others.
He said, “Nigeria is the
We will resist plot by herdsmen groups to
orchestrate leadership change in Benue — BYF
By Peter Duru, Makurdi
AN umbrella body of
Benue youths, the
Benue Youths Forum, BYF,
has raised the alarm over
alleged plot by herdsmen
groups to orchestrate
leadership change in the
state vowing to resist any plot
to foist such leadership on
the people of the state.
The BYF noted that the
sequence of threats by
different herdsmen groups
to move against the
present administration in
the state in the coming
2019 election was a clear
indication that the groups
had sinister motives which
would be equally matched
by youths of Benue
Addressing the media
yesterday in Makurdi, the
BYF President, Comrade
Terrence Kuanum
observed that “within a
spate of one week, two
different herdsmen groups
have threatened to
interfere with the 2019
electoral process in Benue
State and force leadership
change.
“The first group to issue
such a threat was APC
Fulani Nationwide which
came out on October 14,
2018 to endorse one of the
candidates in the coming
governorship election in
Benue state.
“Just last weekend,
another group named
Fulani Nationality
Movement, FUNAM,
under the leadership of
Alhaji Salisu Ahmadu,
vowed to remove Governor
Samuel Ortom no matter
what it would take.
“Considering the violent
antecedents of the said
groups, anyone who takes
their threats for granted
does so at their own risk.
It is on that premise that
we have elected to make
this statement in
unambiguous terms
regarding our stand in the
face of the imminent threat
to democracy in Benue
State.
“We want to emphasize
that we are aware of all the
plans of the herder groups
against our people,
particularly the agenda to
drive Benue people away
from their land and occupy
it. We are therefore not
surprised at the latest
statements from the same
groups in the build up to
the 2019 general election.
“Their target is simple;
remove Governor Ortom,
engine of Africa politically,
economically, and in the
area of peace and security.
Without her, Agenda 2063
cannot be accomplished.
We depend on the elder to
reach our destination in
good shape. Nigeria is
worthy of being followed.
President Muhammadu Buhari welcoming the Advisor of the Chairperson of
the African Union Commission on Peace, Security and Governance, Ambassador
Hadiza Mustapha while the Chaiirperson of the African Union Commission,
Mr. Moussa Faki (r) looked on with other Commissioners during
an audience with the President at the State House, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi
Adeshida 26/10/2018
repeal the Open Grazing
Prohibition and Ranches
Establishment Law and
allow herdsmen with their
cattle unhindered access
to the vegetation in the
Benue valley.”
Kuanum went on, “We
suspect that the herder
groups do not only have
plans to mobilize against
Governor Ortom during
next year’s election as their
only option, they may
have several other hidden
unconventional options.
SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018 — 7
Activities in oil & gas sector
have improved
tremendously— Kachikwu
•As Ekere, NCDMB canvass for more foreign investment
By Ishola Balogun
THE Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe
Kachikwu has said the activities of President
Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in the oil and
gas sector of the economy have improved tremendously,
adding that the reforms in the sector had created more
space and potentials for foreign investors in the industry.
Also, the Chief Executive Officer, Homeland Integrated
Offshore Services Limited, an indigenous oil and gas
company, Dr. Louis Ekere; and the Executive Secretary,
Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board,
Mr. Simbi Wabote, called for increased foreign direct
investment in Nigeria.
The trio, in their respective contributions at the Nigerian
Oil and Gas Core Strategic Investors’ meeting, which held
in the United States on Wednesday, said more FDIs would
complement the efforts of the current administration in
the different sectors of the economy.
On his part, Ekere said no country or developing
economy could grow sustainably and provide employment
without the inflow of foreign direct investments.
He implored foreign businessmen and financial
institutions to come and invest in Nigeria, in spite of pockets
of challenges in the country. He assured investors that
their investment would be safe and that Nigeria offers
numerous benefits to potential investors.
He said more than previous governments, the current
administration was instituting a “hospitable regulatory
framework” for foreign direct investment by relaxing rules
regarding market entry and foreign ownership. He added
that government was improving the standards of treatment
accorded foreign firms and improving the functioning of
markets.
S-East, S-South monarchs to
partner on national security
By Josephine Agbonkhese
THE South-South and South-East Chapters of
the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria,
NCTRN, have promised to work together as “dependable
allies” to restore peace and security to the country.
This was the outcome of a three-hour deliberation on
national peace and security convened in Abuja by HRH
Appolus Chu, Egbere-Emere of Okori-Eleme Community
in Rivers State.
“Any moment from now, there would be a larger meeting
of traditional rulers from the South-South and South East
to deliberate more on the need for Nigerians, irrespective
of their tribes, to see one another as one,” said the Chairman,
NCTRN, South-East Chapter, Eze Eberechi Dick.
“In the past, we seemed to be weak but today, we have
revived ourselves. Already, we have consulted the people
that matter from the South-South and South-East, “ he
added. Reiterating that networking among traditional
leaders was paramount to the existence of peace and
harmony in any nation, HRH Chu, said: “Crimes are daily
committed in communities which are being headed by
traditional rulers. For things to not get out of control, we as
traditional rulers can police the things going on in our
communities, and then handle them quickly before they
degenerate.”
SODOMY IN ONDO: I sleep with boys because
I don’t have girlfriend —Sales Boy
By Dayo Johnson Akure
A20-year-old Salesboy,
Ebuka Okafor
yesterday confessed to a
bewildered crowd in
Akure, the Ondo state
capital that he engaged in
sodomising young boys
because he had no
girlfriend.
His victims are aged
between 12 and 13 years
and they were enticed with
snacks and sachet water.
Saturday Vanguard was
informed that the suspect
who was nabbed by the
operatives of the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defense
Corps, (NSCDC) has no
fewer than six “lovers” in
the popular Oshodi market
in Akure metropolis.
He reportedly uses his
master’s liquor shop inside
the market as the
“slaughter slab” of his
victims whenever his
master was out.
Officials of the security
agency said that the
suspect usually enticed the
small boys with the snacks
worth N100 after which he
would sexually abuse
them.
It was learnt that his
victims would thereafter
bring their other friends to
the suspect for same
treatment after bribing them
with N200.
The bubble however burst
after a new recruit turned
down the suspects sexual
advances on entering the
shop after collecting the
bait ( the snacks).
He reportedly escaped
narrowly and reported to
his parents his horrified
experience in the hands of
the suspect and they
thereafter reported to the
state chapter of the NSCDC
following which the
suspect was nabbed.
His victims said they
were afraid of what would
be the reaction of their
parents hence they kept the
matter to themselves.
They also said that the
suspect warned them not to
inform anybody of what
they were doing together
otherwise they would die.
Speaking with newsmen,
the suspect confessed that
he started sleeping with
the boys in the market in
August this year.
Okafor who said he took
to sodomy because he had
no girlfriend regretted his
action..
“I have been sleeping
with them since August
and whenever I have
intercourse with them I
always giving them N200
each. But I only slept with
them three times.

8—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
New Electoral Act: INEC rules out e-Voting
in 2019, says time too short
•79 parties to field presidential candidates in 2019
•1,803 vie for Senate, 4548 for Reps seats
•We didn’t receive APC list for Zamfara, says INEC
By Omeiza Ajayi
NO fewer than 79
political parties will be
fielding candidates in the
2019 general elections,
Saturday Vanguard has
learned.
This was as the
Independent National
Electoral Commission INEC,
ruled out the possibility of
implementing all the
provisions of the amended
Electoral Act, if given
Presidential assent,
particularly as they relate to
electronic voting.
“We have gone really far
with this. If tomorrow the bill
is assented to, there are
provisions that we can
immediately implement but
there are provisions that we
cannot implement simply
because of time. For instance,
full blown electronic voting.
It is impossible within the
time-frame available which is
112 days.
“We have been working
closely with the National
Assembly and many of the
new provisions passed in the
bill were actually based on our
recommendations. We
prepared ourselves in such a
way that in case some of the
provisions become law, we
would have no difficulty in
implementing them,” said
INEC Chairman, Prof.
Mahmood Yakubu.
He said only 79 out of the
89 political parties
participating in the elections
had presidential candidates.
Nigeria currently has 91
registered political parties.
Prof. Yakubu who
announced this while giving
an update on the nationwide
ongoing publication of details
of candidates for the next
general elections, noted that
while 1,803 candidates would
vie for the 109 seats in the
Senate, 4, 548 would be vying
for the 360 House of
Representatives seats.
According to him, the
commission would between
6th and 12th November,
publish the National Register
of Voters nationwide to allow
Nigerians file claims and
objections in line with Section
20 of the Electoral Act as
amended.
We didn’t receive APC list
for Zamfara, says INEC
Meanwhile, INEC has
disclosed that it did not
receive any list of candidates
from the ruling All
Progressives Congress, APC,
for Zamfara state.
The Commission had
earlier barred the ruling party
from fielding candidates for
elections in the state, having
run foul of the guidelines for
the conduct of political party
primaries.
He said although the
matter had become a subject
of three lawsuits, the
commission would await the
outcome of the judgements
before taking any further
From left:Bishop Austine Okah, Rev Chris Okotie, Bishop Emma Udah and Bishop D.
Davies during a solidarity visit by a group of bishops to Rev Okotie, Presidential Candidate
of the FRESH Democratic Party, FRESH in Lagos recently.
decision on the matter.
“INEC did not receive any
submission of candidates of
APC from Zamfara state.
Beyond that, I won’t say more
because the matter is in court.
Once a matter is in court, by
our culture, you do not
comment on it. There are
three cases on the matter. So,
we will wait for the court to
determine,” he explained.
On the disqualification of
APC from fielding candidates
in Rivers state, INEC
Chairman said the
commission was waiting for
details of the apex court ruling
before determining its next
line of action.
He said further: “I wish to
provide further clarification on
the ongoing publication of the
personal particulars of
candidates. Each candidate
nominated by a political party
is required to provide details
of his/her personal particulars
by personally completing the
form CF001 and to swear an
affidavit at the Federal High
Court, a High Court of a State
or the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT). Within seven
(7) days from the close of
submission of these
documents, the Commission
is required to publish the form
in the constituencies that
candidates seek to represent
as required by Section 31(3)
of the Electoral Act 2010 (as
amended). This will give the
general public the
opportunity to view the
affidavit of personal
particulars of those who aspire
to represent them. Any
person with reasonable
ground to believe that any
information on form CF001
submitted by a candidate
contains incorrect or false
claims is at liberty to file an
action against such candidate
at the Federal High Court or
the High Court of a State or
the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT). While the current
exercise is limited to
candidates for presidential
and National Assembly
elections, the personal
particulars of those contesting
in Governorship and State
Assembly elections will be
similarly published on
November 9,2018, one week
after the close of submission
of nominations by political
parties.
“I wish to appeal to the
general public to seize this
opportunity to view the
personal details of the
candidates that seek to
represent them. The forms,
as completed on oath by
the candidates and
submitted to the
Commission by their
political parties, are
photocopied and pasted in
our State and Local
Government offices
nationwide. This is an
opportunity for citizens to
ascertain the personal
details of the candidates to
enable them take informed
decisions on election day
or even initiate legal action
against candidates who
they believe have made
false claims on their forms.
Publication of the National
Register of Voters
“Still as part of the
ongoing preparations for
the 2019 general elections,
I wish to announce in
advance that the register of
voters for each polling unit
will be displayed at the
polling units nationwide for
one week from November
6 to12, 2018, for claims and
objections by citizens in
accordance with the
provision of Section 20 of
the Electoral Act 2010 (as
amended).
“Although the
Commission has dutifully
cleaned up the register
using the Automatic
Fingerprint Identification
System (AFIS); it is the
right of citizens under the
law to examine the register
and exercise their civic duty
by drawing the attention of
the Commission to the
prevalence of any ineligible
persons so that together we
can further clean it up. For
emphasis, eligibility to
register and vote in Nigeria
is open only to citizens
who have attained the
mandatory age of eighteen
(18) years and resident in
the places they registered.
Such citizens must also not
register more than once.
The Commission will also
appreciate the assistance of
citizens in identifying deceased
persons on the register so that
such names can be nulled from
our record. It is also an
opportunity to correct
misspellings of personal details
such as names, age and gender.
“I wish to once again place on
record that the voter register is
robust. It is also the largest data
base of citizens in Nigeria
containing names, photographs
and biometric details. It is a
national asset that should be
protected and perfected.
Ownership of the register by
citizens and their involvement
in cleaning it up is crucial to our
electoral process. I urge citizens
to help the Commission during
the display. Full details of the
procedure for collecting citizens'
observations will be released
shortly.
New Bye-elections
“Recently, the Commission
received declaration of vacancies
that require us to conduct byeelections.
Following the election
of two serving members of the
House of Representatives as
Senators in bye-elections
conducted on 11 August 2018,
the Honourable Speaker has
declared consequential
vacancies in the Toro Federal
Constituency in Bauchi State
and the Kankia/Kusada/Ingawa
Federal Constituency in Katsina
State. Similarly, the Cross River
State House of Assembly has
declared vacancy in Ikom II State
Constituency following the
death of the member
representing the Constituency.
Consequently, the Commission
will conduct bye-elections in the
three (3) constituencies. We have
directed our Resident Electoral
Commissioners in Bauchi,
Katsina and Cross River States
to convene stakeholders
meetings immediately and
prepare for the bye-elections
latest by Saturday 17th
November 2018. Detailed
timetable and schedule of
activities for the bye-elections will
be released on Tuesday next
week.
“The Commission wishes to
reassure Nigerians that
preparations for the 2019
General Elections are
proceeding in earnest and
Ohanaeze, Afenifere reply
Fashola on 2023 Presidency
Continued from page 5
of the presidency were between the Fulani and the Yoruba.
“Fashola is my friend, he is working for Buhari. But I
think he is senior enough to be one of those who regret the
myopia of Yoruba and Igbo which has brought Nigeria
down to what we are seeing now and for him to start this
battle again I think some people have to call him to order.
On the insinuation that the All Progressives Congress, APC,
had penciled down the South East to produce President after
President Buhari’s second tenure in respect to the spirit of
rotational Presidency, he said, “If the rotation is between
Fulani and Yoruba, then he is right but that is not the rotation
Ȯn his part, human rights activist and constitutional
lawyer, Barrister Mike Ozekhome chided the former Lagos
state governor, saying he lacks the capacity to speak for the
South West. “Fashola cannot speak for the Yoruba race where
you have Afenifere. The Igbo people are in the true spirit of
equity, egalitarianism and good conscience entitled, to the
next Presidency of Nigeria,” he said.
Yoruba Youth Council Chide Fashola: Our Agenda is
Restructuring, not presidency
The Yoruba Youth Council, YYC has upbraided Fashola
over his assertion as they charged him to justify the call for
another term for Buhari against his performance in office
just as the group said it was more concerned with restructuring
than the feeble advantages of having another Yoruba
president.
The group in a statement signed by its National President,
Eric Oluwole Teniola in Akure, said “President Buhari
had no solution to any of the problems confronting
Nigeria as a nation.
“We observe with consternation that Mr. Fashola, who is
a beneficiary of the social economic crisis which the ruling
elite has plunged the Nigerian youths could start serving
as an adviser at this critical period if our nation’s existence.
“Yoruba youths also remember with consternation, the
statements credited to Mr. Fashola that Nigeria’s power
problems could be fixed in six months; three years of his
reign as the minister in charge of power has not solved our
perennial power problems.
“We want him and his likes who are feeding Nigerians
with propaganda from the seat if power to know that the
youths have learnt from history and will strive hard not to
repeat the mistakes of the past in our resolve to revamp the
economy of Nigeria.
UPP has zoned 2023 presidential ticket to Southeast –
Chekwas Okorie
Chairman of the UPP, Chief Chekwas Okorie on his part
said yesterday:
“For us in UPP, we are not presenting a presidential candidate
this time for good reasons and so for 2023, we have
already sounded a notice that we are going to present a
south-east presidential candidate.
“So nobody crowns you a president, not even Buhari has
the power to crown anybody president. The most important
thing is that your people must be prepared to work for
it and lobby other parts of the country because no section
has succeeded in making a president. Buhari tried it three
times with mainly support from his side but he couldn’t
make it until his support base expanded.
“So, the Igbo are desirous of the president. We have good
reasons to ask other parts of the country to concede to us
but it is not something you do based on sentiment or expect
them to give it to you out of their own milk of human
kindness. You must play the right politics to get it.”
Chairman of the South East Caucus of Inter Party Advisory
Council, IPAC, Prince Emeka Okafor on his part dismissed
Fashola’s position on 2023 saying it was a persona
view of the minister even as he urged other geopolitical
zones not to see Ndigbo as stupid and toothless bulldogs.
He accused Fashola of being selfish which he said is one
of the major problems of the political class in the country.
“They should not think that the Igbo are stupid; that
Igbo don’t have teeth to bite. If they think like that they are
wrong. They should not push Igbo to the wall”, Okafor
cautioned.
Fashola is positioning himself ahead of 2023 – Onovo
NCP Presidential Candidate
In his reaction, the former presidential candidate of Nigeria
Conscience Party, NCP Martin Onovo described
Fashola’s assertion as capable of undermining power sharing
agreements across the country even as he inferred that
the minister may be positioning himself as a possible candidate
in the 2023 election.
“It is unjust to exclude any part of Nigeria from power. If
he knows what he is doing he should apologise. A large
number of reasonable Nigerians understand that such statement
is basically unreasonable. I suspect he is positioning
himself ahead of 2023 because as a minister, he is an agent
of the president. So for him to make such statement suggests
that there is an ulterior motive as he may have information
we do not have as a serving minister. In other words, Fashola
is playing a game of political exclusion. It is not about
region, the entire nation including the Northern Elders Forum
are united against Buhari.”
according to the detailed
timetable and schedule of
activities released by the
Commission. It is exactly 112
days to the elections. We shall
continue to faithfully and
consistently implement the
timetable and all activities”, he
added.

SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018 — 9

10—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
We are seeing
beyond others
— Udom Emmanuel
•I am not playing politics
with development
By Emmanuel Aziken,
Political Editor
He was approaching the zenith in
his professional career when
the bug for public service
caught him. Those in the know say it was
not an easy decision. It took blackmails,
solicitations and all manner of appeals
from the then governor of his state,
Godswill Akpabio for Mr. Udom
Emmanuel to leave his safe position as
executive director at Zenith Bank in
2013 to go home to enter the public
service in his native Akwa Ibom State.
Five years on, and with significant
transitions, body movements and the
political reconfiguration of the state,
Mr. Emmanuel is now the lead in a quiet
revolution going on in the state.
Given the fanfare that went with the
relative performance of his predecessor,
the quietness that has gone with the even
more significant impacts of the
Emmanuel administration in the state
was an issue when the governor sat down
with a group of newsmen after a tour of
some parts of the state last weekend.
“Excellence does not happen by accident
or mistake, you must deliberately have a
strategy to achieve it,” Mr. Emmanuel
said.
That deliberate strategy, he said,
underscored the great feat the state has
achieved in many sectors including sports,
education and in the attraction of Foreign
Direct Investments.
“In three years, we have won the FA cup
two times. This is something we have
never won since independence, but as a
state, within my three years in power, we
have won it two times.”
So, what was the deliberate strategy
adopted to achieve the excellence in
sports?
“This is the only state in the country that
runs youths sports festival every year,
where we are discovering
talents.”
Besides the sporting festivals,
one of the measures taken by
the Emmanuel administration
to harness talents is the
construction of sporting
facilities in some selected
public spaces, notably public
schools.
“Add five more years; you will
see what we will produce for
Nigeria. What is the
population of Jamaica?
Jamaica is half the population
of Akwa Ibom State. Look at
how many gold medals they
won at the Olympics. Nigeria
went to the Olympics two years
ago and we managed only a
bronze by the football team.
Somebody somewhere,
somehow, one day, must rise to
the point of greatness. We must
live what we preach.”
While the state is presently
reaping national
laurels in sports with
its FA Cup feats, that
success has yet to
reverberate
internationally unlike in education where
the state is now winning laurels abroad.
Two students from one of the government
owned secondary schools took third
position in the Stockholm Junior Water
Prize Competition in Sweden last
September. The success came after the
students took first position in the national
competition in Abuja.
How was that achieved, the governor
was asked?
“Biblically, they say what you sow, is
what you reap. We started firstly by
reviewing the quality of teachers we put
in schools. We also have what we call
education monitors.
“We equip them with resources and they
go round to check. We operate free and
compulsory education at the basic level.
“Even as a governor, when I go on
community visits, I enter
the classrooms, I observe
what has been taught
that was written on the
board and we come back
to do a review.”
However, by far the
more memorable
achievement in
changing the narrative
of the state as a civil
servant state.
The state has now
become the most
attractive point for
Excellence
does not
happen by
accident or
mistake, you
must
deliberately
have a strategy
to achieve it
Foreign Direct
Investments, FDIs given
the spate of
industrializations going
on in the state.
The goal is to establish
factories in as many
local government areas
of the state as possible
towards enhancing
employment and the
enterprise capacity of its
people.
The government’s channel for this is
AKEES, the Akwa Ibom Employment and
Enterprise Scheme.
Among the products rolled out under the
scheme are pencils, crayons, toothpicks,
fibre doors, plastic products, and hydro
form blocks which could be used to build
a house without the use of cement.
Whereas the government has attracted
many factories and projects, the coconut
factory is, however, an exception which
the government is facilitating on its own.
Speaking on the potentials of the
coconut factory, he said:
“With the coconut refinery, we want to
make a statement. If tomorrow, the state
government says ‘look we do not have a
hand in this thing again,’ we will sell that
investment at a profit.”
Easily recoiling into his days as a
banker, he puts forward the sensitivity
analysis of the coconut refinery that he
said could realize a profit of $220 million
a year.
“When I am talking about numbers, I
am talking with all the sensitivity analysis
you have ever been taught on earth. Tell
me how many governments in Africa that
can boast of that kind of profit not to talk
of jobs that would be created because as
of today, we have employed 1,200 on the
various processes involved.
“We are not doing typical white elephant
projects, we are doing projects that by
tomorrow, even if we want to privatise ,
their Initial public offering (IPO) will
realise initial investment and even give
us room for expansion. Today, virgin
coconut oil in the international market is
$6 per litre . “If you remember your
mathematics very well, 221 litres make
one barrel.”
Asked on what kind of support he is
drawing from the Niger Delta
Development Commission, he said:
“I am one of those who believe that
anyone who holds an executive position
in any development oriented agency, not
only the NDDC, shouldn’t seek for
political appointment.
“It is extremely contradictory; it is only
in Nigeria that you will find such a thing.
Secondly, I am not talking propaganda;
we are the largest contributor to the NDDC
fund. NDDC runs projects in nine states
and all International Oil Companies
(IOCs) contribute two per cent of their
budget to the commission, but drive
round Akwa Ibom State and show me one
road that is up to 2 kilometres that was
built by the NDDC.”
“You’ve seen the roads we are doing,
which are of high quality. But most of these
federal agencies will go and put bitumen
on top of clay or top soil. As they are
leaving, those things are gone.”
“The essence of NDDC and Federal
Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA)
was to bridge this gap, but how come that
has not been so even with all the money
they have collected? These are question
people should answer because if we speak,
some will say that we are playing politics.
I am not playing politics with
development. I am talking about things
you can see. We are talking about capacity
here; you cannot give what you do not
have.”
The governor was challenged on his
readiness for the forthcoming
elections given the
determination of the
opposition.
He said:
“Those calling for
war; it is either they
have wars in
their homes or
w i t h i n
themselves. But
we that have
peace, we
preach it. I just
want Nigerians
to ask those
preaching war
where their
children are.
W h o s e
children do
they want to
engage in the
war, when
they have
hidden their
children
somewhere?
“I normally
ask people
that if the
intention is to serve, why do you have to
kill the people you want to serve? We all
campaign, present our manifesto and call
for votes so that we can serve our people,
but if you sincerely want to serve your
people, why do you have to kill them? This
means that they have other motives in
which serving is not included.”
One topical issue by the time was the
matter of unpaid gratuities to retired civil
servants. The governor was asked how he
had dealt with the issue.
“Immediately we came into office, our
government paid 10 years gratuity
arrears. After that, there were many issues
on pensions.”
“What I had expected was that a sinking
fund should have been set up for those
who were due for pension and gratuity
within that period rather than returning
that money back to the government, still
leaving some unpaid. That also created a
huge gap, but I was able to bridge that
gap. As of today, I do not owe even one
hour pension for state government
workers as I have paid pension up to
September this year.”
The interview did not end without a
reference to the first civilian governor of
the state at the advent of the Fourth
Republic, Obong Victor Attah who is 80
this year. The question came against the
background of the acrimony between
Attah and his successor, Akpabio.
Responding, Governor Emmanuel said:
“Obong Attah is the leader of the largest
ethnic group in the state – the Ibibio. Also
being an elder statesman, everybody here
accords him that respect. He is somebody
I respect a lot. In terms of age, I don’t
even measure.
“So, I give him hundred per cent honour
that is due to him not just because he is a
former governor, but even his age alone
will attract that. He loves the state and
every policy he made while in office shows
love for the state.”

SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018—11
2019: Why
Kwankwaso
is angry
...PDP worried about his silence
Weeks after the emergence of
former Vice President, Atiku
Abubakar as Presidential
candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, in the 2019 general
election; uneasy calm has descended
the camp of the flag bearer over the
seemingly aloofness of the lawmaker
representing Kano Central Senatorial
District, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
Kwankwaso, a former governor of
Kano state garnered a total of 158
votes to finish fourth on the log behind
Senate President, Bukola Saraki,
Sokoto state governor, Aminu
Tambuwal and Atiku respectively at the
PDP Presidential primaries which held
in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state
capital earlier in the month.
Although, the founder of the
Kwankwasiyya political movement
pledged to abide by the outcome of
the exercise while soliciting the
support of party delegates hours
before balloting, not much has been
heard of him in the weeks after the
convention; a development that is
becoming worrisome to the camp of the
erstwhile Vice President.
Unlike Ahmed Makarfi, Tambuwal
and other party bigwigs who vied for
the sole ticket with Atiku,
Kwankwaso is yet to pledge his
readiness to work for the
success of the party and its
Presidential candidate with
barely three months to the
general elections.
A highly placed source and
loyalist of Atiku who declined
to be named because he was
not authorised to speak on the
matter, said Kwankwaso ought
to be rooting for the party
following the successful
conduct of the primaries,
adding that his silence is what
is driving fears in the mind of
his supporters that he could
work against the PDP “when
the chips are down.”
According to him, there was
a verbal agreement prior to the
convention that the
Kwankwasiyya movement, a
group whose membership cut
across many states of the
federation, would be deployed
to mobilise support for whoever
clinches the PDP ticket,
stressing that more than two
weeks after the primaries, “not
•Kwakwanso
much has been heard in this regard.”
He said, “It is not that His
Excellency, Engineer Kwankwaso is
supporting another candidate but we
are worried he is not talking about the
Waziri Adamawa, who is the choice of
our party. For instance, Saraki even
before he was named the Director
General of the Campaign
Organization demonstrated his
willingness and readiness to work for
the victory of our party and I think,
we can say the same of Tambuwal,
Makarfi and others. To win this
election, all hands must be on deck,
except we want to remain in the
opposition.
“I am aware that all the then
aspirants promised to collapse their
political structures to drive support for
the party especially its Presidential
candidate after the
convention. Have you heard
the Kwankwasiyya group
saying anything about the
PDP candidate? Has
Kwankwaso himself said
anything that gives the
slightest indication that he is
behind the party in 2019?”
He counselled that Kano,
arguably the home to the
largest number of registered
voters in Nigeria must not be
allowed to go the way of the
ruling party, adding that the
crisis now rocking the All
Progressives Congress,
APC, in the state would
provide an electoral mileage
for the PDP if it succeeds in
putting its house in order.
“The allegation of bribe
taking as shown in a trending
video is enough to sway votes
against the APC in Kano. In
terms of performance,
President Muhammadu
Buhari and Governor
Abdullahi Ganduje have
both failed to justify the
mandate freely given to them
by the people. So, what we need to do
is to get the cooperation of our teeming
supporters and leaders to reach out to
the people and solicit for their
support,” he noted. But what actually
is responsible for Kwankwaso’s
apparent indifference in matters
concerning the electoral fortune of the
PDP these days?
Yusuf/Takai Connection
Findings by Saturday Vanguard
reveal that Kwankwaso’s decision to
recoil into his shell as it were, may
not be unconnected with the outcome
of the PDP governorship primaries in
Kano which held recently. The party
which became polarised in the days
leading to the congresses produced
two factional candidates, Alhaji Abba
Kabir Yusuf, a son in-law to the former
governor and Mallam Salihu Sagir
Takai, who is believed to be enjoying
the support of the state chairman of
the party, Senator Mas’ud Doguwa.
Kwankwaso, it was gathered is not
particularly happy that despite the
calibre of politicians who defected
alongside with him from the APC, the
leadership of the PDP failed to secure
the loyalty of its state chapter for him.
And even though, the party submitted
the name of his son in-law to the
Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, ahead of the
elections; there are fears Takai’s group
may work against Kwankwaso’s
interest, unless a kind of deal,
acceptable to both parties, is brokered.
An associate of the former Kano state
governor who lives in Abuja had this
to say of the situation on Thursday:
“His Excellency is a force to be
reckoned with not only in Kano but
also throughout the nation. But the
manner of conduct of the congresses
left much to be desired. It is not about
name submission but the failure or
inability of the Kano chapter of the
PDP to speak with one voice,” he said.
Asked if his principal actually
mooted the idea of dumping the PDP
as was widely reported in some media
outlets recently; the lanky fellow said
he would not respond to issues on the
basis of speculations.
“I don’t trade in the rumour market
and I don’t know what you mean by
his planned defection. All I can say is
that when he made up his mind to
leave the ruling party for a return to
the PDP, it was widely celebrated. As
a leader, he demonstrated how
influential he was by coming to the
party with very powerful political
players. His endorsement of Engineer
Yusuf is because he knows the
potentials of the man and what his
governorship would mean to the good
people of Kano.
“Those who think otherwise are free
to do so for this is the beauty of
democracy. However, it will be
appropriate for the PDP family in Kano
to look at the bigger picture and do
the right thing in the interest of the
party in 2019,” he added.
He however became evasive when
pressed to clarify what constituted the
“right thing,” insisting that
Kwankwaso believes in the PDP as the
only party capable of restoring the
nation’s lost glory “if given the
opportunity to serve once again.”
As it were, Kwankwaso has become
the latest victim of the rebellion by an
“errant” political godson, who having
tasted the delicacies of the plum office
of governor, now wants to be left alone
as his own man. Loyalty, especially in
the political sphere has an expiration
date and it appears the man now
calling the shots in the ancient city
would hold sway until the next
election determines otherwise.
As for the PDP, a party that now takes
pride in its “rebranded platform”, fair
play has taken the place of
godfatherism; a development that may
count against the lawmaker, who in
any case, has limited options should
he elect to dump the PDP once again
ahead of the polls.

12—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
President Buhari with Kwara APC Gubernatorial Candidate Mr Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq
as he receives in audience APC Aspirants from Kwara State in State House
President Buhari joined by APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomole
and SGF Boss Mustapha in a group photo
We’ll transform Kwara
– Abdulrazaq
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
As preparations for the
2019 general elections
continue to gather
momentum, political alliances,
intrigues and marching orders
have continued to
dominate the political
space. Though the
tension and
controversy generated
by the party primaries
are yet to die down,
political actors are
still perfecting plans
on how to come out
from the forthcoming
political battle
successful.
While the contest in
some states may not
attract much attention,
some other states like
Kwara have been
declared as battlefield
By Dapo Akinrefon
Mr. Emmanuel Umohinyang,
a legal practitioner, social
commentator and political
analyst is the Convener of Re–elect
Buhari Movement, RBM.
In this interview, he speaks on the
controversy surrounding Executive
Order 6 and other burning national
issues. Excerpts:
FORMER President Obasanjo
recently said that Nigeria’s next
President must have a good
knowledge of economics. Is this
not an indictment of President
Buhari’s economic policies?
It is a very bad thing if we try to
arrogate to ourselves the position
of a student and teacher. Obasanjo
has no moral capacity to advise the
country, because he once had the
opportunity to rule the country for
eight years. Having said that, I am
not aware Obasanjo has any record
of performance in the area of
following the caliber of the
political actors and the recent
realignment that saw the
President of the Senate, Dr.
Bukola Saraki defecting from
the ruling All Progressives
Congress, APC, to the Peoples
Democratic Party,
PDP.
The Saraki family
has been dominating
the political
landscape of Kwara
State for many
decades. Before now
it appeared that no
force could dislodge
the Saraki dynasty.
However, many
Kwara indigenes
have seen in Alhaji
Abdulrahman
Abdulrazaq a
political force
capable of changing
the equation in
No where on earth does
govt create job, Buhari’s
man, Umohinyang, argues
•Defends Executive order 6,
says it will combat corruption
economy for him to advise the
country that whoever must head us
must be superlative in economy.
We have a President who has the
best of economic experts around
him, and so far so good, he has been
able to stabilize the economy, so
people should not sit in the comfort
of their room in Ota and begin to
tell a country of about 200 million
Nigerians how to rule their country.
Don’t you think the former
President’s position is informed by
current statistics about poverty and
unemployment rate?
Job creation is not always the job
of government. No where on earth
that government creates jobs. No
government can claim to have
created jobs. What government does
is creation of an enabling
environment for Jobs to be created
mostly by the private sector. I do not
think the Federal government and
even the states have the capacity to
employ unemployed youths. When
Kwara. Abdulrahman is from the
famous Abdulrazaq family. The
father was a first republic
minister. He is the APC flag
bearer in the state.
The candidature of Alhaji
Abdulrazaq, is a business mogul
and philanthropist, has also
received the blessings of
President Muhammadu Buhari,
the Presidential candidate of the
APC in the forthcoming election.
The President at a closed door
meeting on Monday at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja with
leaders and stakeholders of the
APC, commended all the
governorship aspirants in the
last party primaries who he said
decided to embrace peace and
lend their support to Alhaji
Abdulrazaq so as to liberate the
state from the grip of the
Saraki’s.
With the quality of the APC
governorship candidate and the
•Emmanuel
Umohinyang
you also look at government policy
on creation of Jobs, it has been
tailored towards the ‘you win
programme of the last
administration. Also, look at the
social intervention programme of
this administration- N-Power. What
government does is to create the
enabling environment for investors
to come in. In most cases, when the
environment is conducive, the
artisans will do better in their
businesses and by so doing expand
their businesses. It is when business
grows that you will talk about
employment. Remember, we still
have a crisis with the labour over
the issue of minimum wage.
It is part of the issues we are dealing
political gladiators behind him
and the party in the election,
President Buhari expressed
confidence that his party will
take over the mantle of
leadership in Kwara State, come
2019.
The President who received
APC members from the three
senatorial zones of Kwara State
thanked the stakeholders for the
position they have taken to
continue to support the party
regardless of the outcome of the
primaries and assured them
that, with the unity displayed so
far, APC will form the
government in Kwara State after
the 2019 elections.
He also enjoined Nigerians to
remain faithful and loyal to the
country in all their dealings,
saying, “You don’t have to be in
uniform to be loyal. What I said
long ago in 1984 is still valid
today. We have no other country
but Nigeria. Others who feel
they have another country may
choose to go. We will stay here
and salvage it together.”
On his part, the governorship
standard bearer told the State
House correspondents that with
the caliber of members of the
party, the dominance of the
Senate President in the Kwara
politics was over.
with. In an environment where the
economy runs itself, you don’t need
to engage people on job creation,
jobs will be created by the private
sector. Government cannot put
everybody into the civil service. It is
not possible. It’s not done anywhere.
If you go to other parts of the World,
jobs are already waiting for you
before you leave the university. I saw
it in Holland. Government’s job is
to create an enabling environment,
so it is not about this government.
Unemployment has been one of the
issues our country has been facing
since 1999.
Why have government policies on
this issue not worked?
They have not worked because
there is no sincerity of purpose, and
I’m happy this President has come
to change the narrative. It is under
the Buhari Administration that we
have seen that agriculture is
thriving. There is a massive boom
in that sector. That is why Brazil is
bringing 1.1 billion dollars into the
agricultural sector. The Ambassador
said they are also setting up a tractor
Assembly plant in Bauchi State. This
is a part of the gains been recorded
by this administration.
The APC National Leader, Bola
Tinubu, has admitted that
President Buhari and APC have
lost some goodwill, is this not a
minus ahead of 2019?
Asiwaju Tinubu may be right in
his assessment being national
leader of the APC and he has been
an influential leader in the country.
Having said that, I have always said
those who will determine the fate of
the current President are the
Nigerian electorate, not the elite. I
can assure you that most of the elite
may not even find their PVCs. They
Abdulrazaq said that the
President has given them a
marching order to ensure that
APC wins the 2019 governorship
election.
According to him, “Kwara has
become a battle ground and as
you can see, we have come here
to see Mr. President having gone
through a hectic process of
primaries. We went through
direct primaries in which
about a hundred thousand
party faithful voted.
“We had our difficulties but
we have come to see the
President to tell him that all
is well and we are in unison
and he has given us matching
orders to go and take Kwara.
Abdulrazaq added
yesterday that “we’ll
transform Kwara and make
the place different.”
There is no doubt that Alhaji
Abdulrazaq has the
competence, ability and political
sagacity to put smiles on the faces
of Kwara people if eventually he
emerges victorious in the 2019
governorship election, but some
political observers think that he
has a herculean task before him
to confront and dislodge Bukola
Saraki.
think they are still in the era where
elitist advice would tinker the way
the people will vote. The people have
become wiser, and in 2019,
Nigerians will determine their next
President, not any other person.
What is your take on the
controversy surroundings
Executive order 6?
There has been a lot of talk about
the Presidential Executive Order 6
now known as EO6. That was not
the first Executive order signed into
law by the President. If you look at
the Nigerian democracy, it is
patterned along the American
democracy. One thing I have
discovered that whenever the
government takes steps to deal with
the menace of corruption, you
always have those who have
something to hide raising their
voices to high heavens, but I want to
assure those without skeletons in
their cupboard that the government
will not do anything outside the law.
The judgment given by Justice
Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High
Court, Abuja has made it very easy
for every Nigerian to go about their
normal business. No provision of
order 6 will be brought to bear
without the court. These are just
administrative policies of
government to strengthen the anti –
corruption drive, so those who are
talking about the violation of section
43 of the constitution have nothing
to fear if you have nothing to hide,
and I think we should commend this
administration, because every
President since 1999 has always
whittled down the anti–corruption
war anytime election approached,
but here is a President who says he
will continue to push against
corruption even until the last day of
the ballot

Abba Moro going for
David Mark’s shoes
By Peter Duru, Makurdi
Comrade Abba Moro was a former Minister of Interior,
former Chairman of Council and Pro-chancellor of two
Federal Universities, at several times. He was chairman
of Okpokwu Local Government area of Benue state and close
associate of former Senate President, David Mark. He recently
won the Benue South senatorial ticket of the Peoples Democratic
Party. In this interview he spoke about his aspiration to succeed
Senator Mark in the senate and his chances.
What informed your decision to
run for the senate?
My decision to run was informed
by the utmost desire of the people of
my senatorial district to have me
represent them in the senate of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria. I
consulted widely with the
people of the district to
inform them of my
intention to run for the seat.
I felt the pulse of our
people, to ask them if I could
be supported to run for the
seat. As a democrat I felt it
was the right thing to do.
I went round the nine
local government areas of
the district, after which I
became convinced that I
had the support of the
majority of the people of the
district to run for the senate
of the district.
What are your chances
considering that we have other
heavy weights who are also
interested in the seat?
I have no doubt that my chances
are very bright. I have followed
the politics of the district,
otherwise known as ‘Zone C’
assiduously. Over the years I
have been the messenger of the
message of our leader, the
Senator representing the Benue
south district, Distinguished
Senator David Mark, the
immediate past president of the
senate of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria.
Watching him and delivering
these messages, I know the
dreams of our people, I know
their great expectations, I know
•Abba
Moro
their aspirations. I have shared in the
vision of the distinguished senator of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I
have tried to help in the execution of
his mandate for the people.
I know what projects he has
initiated and what projects he has
executed. I know his projects that are
ongoing and those that have been
completed.
I know as of fact that the Loko-
Oweto bridge and its roads are
nearing completion. I know as of fact
that the integrated Otobi Multi
Purpose Dam is ongoing and nearing
completion. I know among other
things that he had facilitated the
establishment of the Youths Skills
Acquisition Centres across the length
and breath of the Benue South zone.
As a matter of fact, as the
messenger, I have also assisted to
SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018—13
Federal University of Agriculture in
Abia State and the Federal University
of Agriculture in Makurdi.
I have also been a Minister of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
specifically, the Minister of Interior.
All these years, I have been the
Director General or Coordinator of
the PDP campaign in Benue state.
All these years I have been the
Director General of the David Mark
campaign organization.
In all of these assignments I served
diligently and I achieved tangible
results that have impacted positively
on the lives of our people. So going
forward I know I possess the right
qualities and requisite experience to
deliver tangible democratic
dividends to the people of my
senatorial district.
It is therefore my intention to bring
this wealth of experience that I have
garnered all these years, to bear in
the politics of the Benue south
senatorial district.
It is my intention, that haven learnt
the ropes, haven known what our
people desire, it is my intention to
become the voice of our people in
the up coming dispensation. It is my
desire that I would be able to lend
my strength and my wealth of
experience to the execution of the
dreams, the expectations and the
aspirations of our people.
facilitate the initiation, the
implementation and execution of
these projects. It is my hope that as
the messenger of that message that I
stand a very good chance of executing
ongoing projects . I believe that I
would be able to initiate other
projects that are dear to our people.
Today I have come, the messenger
is also delivering the message of
himself. All these years I have been a
teacher at the Benue State
Polytechnic Ugbokolo for over a
decade. All these years I have been
the chairman of my local
government, Okpokwu local
government for more than six years
either as a caretaker chairman or as
an elected chairman.
All these years I have been the
chairman of the board of the council
and Pro-Chancellor of two Federal
Universities, Michael Opara
Do you think what you have
itemized are good enough to earn
you the position?
In the present circumstances, in
this trying moment, in this
competitive moment, I believe that
nobody stands a better chance of
doing what we should do for our
people, to situate them in the national
politics of Nigeria, than me, because
I have known it.
I am so politically exposed that I
know that people who are coming
from other geopolitical zones or
senatorial zones in Nigeria will not
be strangers to me because I know
them in the course of my political
journeys and they know me.
Therefore, haven heard the views
of my people, haven known what they
stand for, I certainly know that the
people will stand by me because I
possess the qualities and most of all
the wealth of experience to deliver
the goods.
Jigawa 2019: Incumbency not a threat to
my governorship ambition —Bashir Jumbo
•My antecedents, integrity will speak for me
By Aliyu Dangida
on. Bashir Adamu, popularly
Hknown as Jumbo in Jigawa
political circle is a household name in
the state. Though he was a member of
parliament under the auspices of the
PDP for more than ten years, he is now
one of the founding fathers and
financiers of Social Democratic Party
(SDP) in Jigawa state, where he is also
the party’s governorship
candidate.With the lingering crisis in
the APC in the state, he is seen as one of
the major contenders to take over from
the incumbent governor, Badaru in
2019. This is against the background
of rumour that the SDP and PDP are
currently having series of meetings on
possible alliance. Between 1999
and 2015, Hon. Jumbo represented
Kazaure/Roni/Gwiwa/Yankwashi
federal constituency in the House of
Representatives where he headed
various committees, including
National Population, Army, Defence,
and Intergovernmental Affairs
among others.
In this interview with
Saturday Vanguard in Dutse,
Jumbo, who is one of the
longest serving federal law
makers bares his mind on
various issues, including his
role in convincing over 370,000
PDP supporters to decamp to
APC in the state shortly after
President Buhari was elected.
He also explained why he
dumped the APC and picked
SDP governorship ticket.
Excerpts:
Why did you quit PDP for
APC shortly after the 2015
elections?
We joined APC on December
20 2015 primarily to continue
to serve our state and also to
reunite with our family, friends
and political associates. I
stayed in APC for two and half years
before moving out. But what shocked
me was that after joining APC, I was
not even privileged to own a
membership card. When we joined
the party, we thought we were joining
a family, friends and political
associates but as time went on, we were
told that we were PDP guys. There was
never any occasion that anybody
referred to me as APC member and
even during meetings they said ‘these
PDP people should not be
accommodated’. I even told the
leaders in that party that all I wanted
was to be carried along in major
decision making. After staying there
for two and half years I understood
that I was not wanted We contributed
towards the development of the state
but no matter how much you love a
thing and how much you want to be
part of it, you can only identify with
such if you are wanted. If you are not
wanted and you are pushed aside,
there is nothing you can do than to
make decision for yourself. And one
of the major or difficult decisions we
had to make was either to return
to PDP or remain in the APC. No
matter what we tried to do, we
were seen as PDP members and
that made us very sad and so
frustrated in the whole affairs.
What we could do in the
circumstance was to move out
and we decided to take a
neutral path where everybody
will be on the same level, as equal
partners.
You led 370,000 of your
supporters from PDP to APC
in December, what is therefore
their fate now?
When we asked people to
follow us to APC, we made a
promise that we would not be
part of any design to shortchange
anybody and on that basis a lot
of people followed us to APC. But
Gov. Badaru Abubakar
now, we don’t expect everyone to follow
us to the new party. Some of them
who felt they couldn‘t do without the
government are still with the
government while those who felt they
could withstand those issues that are
raised before are still there. It is not
about the people that we took but
about the people we are receiving daily
into SDP from both PDP and APC.
There were even existing APC
members that we met there who have
now left the party to come and join us
because they now identify us with the
kind of concern we have enumerated
earlier. So, it was not everybody that
we took into APC that left with us. My
disposition had nothing to do with any
personal hatred, the governor still has
my respect as a friend, as a younger
brother and as a leader
You have been part of successive
governments in Jigawa state since
the return to democratic rule in 1999.
You offered advice and made
contributions in building the state.
What new thing do you have to offer
that you did not offer successive
governments?
I have two things going for me; my
antecedents and my integrity. This
world is not all about material things
but what you are able to do when you
are in a certain position. And to me I
have served my people in Kazaure
emirate comprising four local
governments in the national assembly
for 16 years. There are some people,
even if you go to their father‘s house
and build something, they will still say
you have not done anything. I have
tried as much as possible to be a leader
and to do what is required of
leadership. Leadership is all about
patience and resilience. And I tell
anybody who wishes to join SDP to go
and check my antecedent. They
should judge me from that point of
view. After 2015, I had no intention of
contesting any election even for free.
But I am a human being, I have to
protect my integrity, I have to protect
the integrity of my people and I need a
platform to do that. Whatever God has
destined for you, you cannot ran away
from it. I am even more afraid of
winning the election than losing it
because if I win the election, I know
the kind of burden I would be
carrying.
Some people have argued that your
purported entry to the APC was just for
a show up and that was why you did
not even have a membership card.
I did not join APC for fun because
even when the people in government
were begging us to come to APC, I
told them to give me some time to
consult widely. That was why when we
left PDP, we created history by
assembling about twelve serving
governors, ministers, secretary to the
government of the federation, national
working committee members of the
party, the Vice President was
represented and the speaker of the
House of Representatives was here. I
have won elections five times out of
the six times that I contested, so if I am
playing to the gallery what do I want
to gain from it. I challenge anybody
who claim to have done any favour
for me personally since I entered that
party to date to come out and say so.
At the appropriate time, I will show
recordings of meetings where people
were offering all sorts of things and I
told them, no we were not coming for
any favors or privilege but to help in
developing and building a Jigawa
state of our dream. I have made my
name, contested election and I knew I
was not coming to APC to contest for
any election or ask for any position. I
won’t be a commissioner in Jigawa
state neither will I be secretary to the
government, so they don’t have any
position to give me.
What are your plans and
programmes?
We have a comprehensive plan
which I will not like to divulge now
but I told you the primary areas which
I want to look at in Jigawa state are
four. The first is education. It is one
thing to build structures but it is
another thing to a good outpost here
for education to now flourish. So, one
of my key areas is education. Secondly
you cannot have any community of
people flourishing without a proper
health care. There were times
pregnant women would be turned
back from the hospitals because they
couldn’t afford it and go back home
and engage local birth attendants
thereby endangering the lives of the
child and the mother. So, health care
is also another sector. The third one is
agriculture and of course you know
80 to 90 percent of our people are
agrarian and my approach will not
be the conventional type that
somebody would sit down in his office
and formulate a policy without
actually making so much research on
it and without consulting the people
who are engaged in farming. You need
the farmers to know their challenges.
We have a comprehensive study of
Jigawa state, its geology and
topography. And we know where
each local government has a
comparative advantage. Thirdly, in
terms of human capital you can see
very well that the difference even in
politics between Kano and Jigawa
state is that of empowerment, the
average Kano man goes to either
Sabon gari, Kurmi, Kwari and there
are so many market people engaged
in trades and commerce.

14—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
Visually handicapped lecturer
becomes professor in Kano
•Laments persons with disability not treated as normal
•Says they suffer physical, emotional abuse and neglect
By Abdulmumin Murtala, Kano
The population of persons with
disability in Nigeria is
approximately 25 million with
most of them living in the northern parts
of Nigeria where they mostly end up
on the streets begging for alms for
sustenance. Very few initiatives have
been put in place by both the
government and the various
stakeholders to address this problem.
Nigeria is a signatory to the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disability (UNCRPD)
but yet there is no legal policy to
involve them in the Development
Agenda.
His rise to the pinnacle of his career
therefore was not a mean
achievement particularly in a society
that discriminates against persons
with disability. The story of Professor
Jibrin Isah Iso was that of an
uncommon determination to succeed
and raw courage that challenged his
challenges. He would have none of
the cultural beliefs prevalent in his
region that consign handicapped
persons to the streets to beg for alms.
He was ready to prove that a big
ability is embedded in every disability. He
therefore refused to be intimidated, he
fought against stigmatization and today
he stands tall in the academic community
of Bayero University Kano.
In this interview with Saturday
Vanguard, Professor Iso lamented
the fate of persons with disability in
a society like Nigeria that treats
them with scorn.
Excerpts:
Challenges
“Many people in the society have
completely stigmatized persons with
disability such that when they emerge
in a family they are sent to the streets
to beg. Stigmatization is a big
challenge especially as persons with
disability are not treated as normal
persons. They will say because you
are blind they will not employ you
and will not socialize with you not
to even talk of giving you the
opportunity to marry. You are treated
as a liability when you are
handicapped
“Persons with disabilities in
Nigeria therefore face countless
discriminations daily on account of
their disabilities, particularly
challenges in mobility, access to
healthcare and education, physical and
emotional abuse and neglect.
“I also faced challenges while growing
up and one challenge that I would always
remember was my inability to get the brail
machine to use at that time because I was
not rich enough to own one as it costs over
a quarter of a million naira to buy one
then.
“But now, things have changed as the
blind persons can now use computers to
read. I will however want the young blind
persons to be encouraged to go to school
and be provided with necessary equipment
instead of roaming the streets begging”.
Appeal to govt
He wants the government to sign into
law the Act prohibiting discrimination
against persons with disability as this will
help a lot in eliminating stigmatization
against them. He explained that the
Nigeria Disability Bill has not seen the
light of the day from the 5th to the 6th to
the 7th and now the 8th Assembly, as the
President has refused to give his assent
each time it was presented to him.
“What remains of this law is just the
executive signature and so far presidents
have come and gone without appending
their signature to it. We are in dire need of
a law with an appropriate institutional
framework to protect us” he said.
Professor Iso is also advocating the
establishment of a commission for the
persons with disability in which 60% of
those to work in the commission must be
persons with disability. He argued that
lack of will on the part of the government
has been encouraging street begging and
other nuisance attributed to persons with
disability as this could easily be tackled
by simply taking the right steps.
Early Life
Prof Isah Iso was born blind at Iso
Quarters in the city of Kano in 1960, where
with enthusiasm to learn and live like other
normal kids, he started his educational
career in the primary school facing all the
accompanying challenges head on.
He distinguished himself and was even
doing better than many of the other pupils
in the school who were not handicapped
and this encouraged him to go further
with his studies. He was then taken to the
School for the Blind at Gindiri in Plateau
state where he learnt how to use the brail
and how to type as well.
Having equipped himself and was
convinced he could face the challenges of
seeking knowledge, he went to Wudil
Teachers College where he emerged with
the Grade Two Teachers Certificate with
which he secured admission into the
Bayero University Kano.
He had his first degree in Sociology, and
his Masters and Phd in Special Education.
Professor Jibrin Isah who has been lecturing
in Bayero University Kano since 1994 has
now been confirmed as the first visually
handicapped person to become a professor
in the same field from Kano state.
Prof Isah Iso came to limelight in Kano
when he served as the Special Adviser on
Persons with disability to former Kano state
governor Rabiu Kwankwaso.
He seized the opportunity of his position
to support and assist a lot of disabled persons
to get employed or educated and to quit
roaming the streets begging.
He is married to two wives and has eight
children.
Stakeholders brainstorm on lasting peace in Taraba
By Femi Bolaji, Jalingo
Taraba state in recent time has been
in the eyes of the storm with
persistent sacking of villages and
destruction of lives and property in some
parts of the state by unknown gunmen and
communal clashes.
This has resulted to the displacement of
residents currently taking refuge in
various Internally Displaced Persons, IDP
camps in Jalingo the state capital and
environs.
In light of this, critical stakeholders
drawn from the academia, traditional
institution, religious and the political class
converged at the Federal University,
Wukari last Wednesday to assess the
situation and to profer lasting peace.
The one day summit with the theme
‘Peace Building and Social Cohesion’ was
aimed at tackling security challenges
facing the state and the country.
Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof.
Abubakar Kundiri, in his address said,
“communities all over the world look up to
universities to generate new ideas and
knowledge towards development, and we are
committed to this fact. This security conference
is one of such new ideas aimed at ensuring a
harmonious community where peace and
development shall thrive.
“We have assembled like minds from across
the country to see how we can build peace and
social cohesion and the inputs here will go a
380,511 patients benefit from medical outreach in Kebbi -Commissioner
Birnin Kebbi, No fewer than 380,511
patients benefitted from four free
medical outreach in the 21 local
government areas of Kebbi.
The state Commissioner for Health,
Alhaji Usman Kambaza, made this known
when he briefed newsmen in Birnin Kebbi
on Thursday. Kambaza said that of the
patients examined, 2,890 had surgery
problems.
He said the surgeries ranged from
general surgery to obstetrics, gynecology,
ophthalmology, orthopedics, pediatrics,
maxofacial, ufology and dental surgeries.
A camp for Internally Displaced Persons
long way in addressing some of our security
challenges.”
He noted that Federal University Wukari
believed in promoting a cohesive environment
as a basis for development.
He further explained that the University was
not only focused on developing quality
academic programmes, but also dedicated to
The commissioner said that no fewer
than 100 specialised doctors from Nigeria
and abroad, 200 nurses and 1,224 staff
participated in the medical outreach.
He explained that the significance of the
outreach was to bring specialised services
closer to the people through the state
government’s equity and accessible health
services for all.
The health outreach, he added, will
provide an avenue for the medical
professionals to work and acquire new
skills by sharing experiences with their
colleagues from different countries.
enhancing social cohesion, reducing poverty
and addressing challenges of ethno- religious
issues.
The Chairman, Taraba State Council of
Chiefs, Aku Uka of Wukari, Dr. Shekarau
Angyu in a key note address said peace was
paramount for the development of the society.
He expressed the readiness of the traditional
institution in the state to work for the peace
and development of the state and the country
at large.
He charged Universities in the country to do
more research and engage critical stakeholders
in providing solutions to the numerous
challenges facing the country.
On his part, Most Rev Dr Charles
Hammawa, the Catholic Bishop of Jalingo
Diocese, called for a paradigm shift in people’s
approach to issues of religion and ethnicity.
He said “no religion has set out a programme
of disorder or bloodshed as tenets of its faith.
“This is why we are calling on Nigerians to
work and live in peace with people of other
faith for the development of the country.”
He further explained that politics, religion
and cultural differences should not divide the
country, rather they should be used as
instruments of social cohesion.
Earlier, Dr Anthony Bature, a catholic priest
34,000 petty traders in
Gombe to benefit from
FG’s ‘Trader Moni’ loan
Gombe, No fewer than
34,000 petty traders are to
benefit from Federal
Government’s ‘Trader Moni
Enterprises and Empowerment’
programme in Gombe.
Malam Ishaya Usman, supervisor
of the programme in the state, told
newsmen on Thursday in Gombe
that each of the traders would be
given N10,000 interest-free loan to
boost his or her business.
He said the loan, which did not
require any collateral as a
condition, is expected to be repaid
within six months.
According to him, beneficiaries
did not have to pay any amount
apart from the administrative
charges of N250, through some
designated banks.
Usman said those who were able
to successfully repay the loan
would qualify for another loan of
between N15,000 and N50,000
subsequently.
He therefore called on those
benefiting to utilize the money for
the purpose it was meant.
and Chairman of the Local Organizing
Committee, said peace was the collective
responsibility of all.
According to him, “sober reflection on the
state of insecurity in the Nigeria is necessary
for all inhabitants of the country.”
Bature also noted that more of such summit
would be put in place to ensure that people of
Taraba state and the nation live in peace with
one another for speedy development and to
avert further bloodshed.

KADUNA:
After the
killings
By Ben Agande,
Kaduna
he Kaduna state government declared a
T24 hour curfew to stem the tide of violence
that engulfed the city on Sunday last week.
The violence in the city centre which,
according to the state governor, Nasir El
Rufai, claimed about 22 lives, and led to the
destruction of several properties was a direct
consequence of the violence in Kasawun
Magani, a small settlement on the outskirts
of Kaduna metropolis that is gradually
gaining notoriety as the flashpoint town in
the state.
Though residents of the city are not strangers
to violence and the curfews that follow in its
aftermath, each violence comes with it’s unique
challenge that requires different way of
responding to it.
In this report, some residents of the city
explain what they went through while the
curfew lasted.
Abdullahi Sanusi, Okada Rider.
For Abdullahi, the four day period that the
curfew lasted were his worst since he came to
Kaduna to eke a living as a commercial
motorcyclist in Kaduna from Kebbi state.
According to him, coming from a relatively
peaceful state like Kebbi, nothing prepared
him for the challenge of the rioting in Kaduna
that fateful Sunday.
Speaking in Hausa, Abdullahi said he
escaped death by the whiskers from the hands
of the hoodlums that suddenly took over the
streets of Narayi and Barnawa where he had
been operating. He managed to escape to
Kawo where he had been sleeping in a mosque
for more than two years.
But that was the beginning of his problem.
Since he depends on food vendors for his
feeding, the twenty four hour curfew meant
that the otherwise ubiquitous food vendors
who cater for the needs of people like him
were no where to be found. He said on Tuesday
, the third day of the curfew, he had to go without
food as the bread that he had been feeding on
was exhausted. He said if the curfew had not
been lifted the day it was, he would have gone
back to Kebbi where he said may not have the
opportunities available in Kaduna but there
is peace of mind there.
Enenche Adakole, Banker.
Enenche Adakole was transferred to Kaduna
from Abuja last year by his employer, a first
generation bank. Since his wife works in Abuja,
he left the family behind and goes to Abuja
every Friday and returns to Kaduna on
Sundays.
He explains: On this fateful Sunday, I was
on my way back after bidding my family good
KANU: Nothing has
changed
•Don’t play politics with our
name, family tells Ikpeazu
•Whereabouts of mother,
father still unknown
BY ANAYO OKOLI
UMUAHIA—THE whereabouts of Mazi
Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous
People of Biafra, IPOB, are still shrouded in
controversy as it is not certain that he was
actually in Israel last week. Israel has said he
was not in their country.
When his picture trended last week in the
social media that he was in Israel, there was
jubilation among members of IPOB who
geared up to commence once again their
agitation for their own country. But the
jubilation was short lived when Israeli
Government said that they could not confirm
that Kanu was in their country and suggested
that the trending picture was an old one.
Kanu himself later made a statement
through Biafra Radio and boasted that he
would return to Nigeria in no long time and
that he would bring with him hell for Nigerian
Government. In the statement, Kanu was
quoted as saying “I owe my survival to the
State of Israel”.
As the controversy over his whereabouts
lingers, nothing has changed in his country
home in Afara Ukwu. The father’s palace
which was attacked on September 14, 2017
by security operatives who were hunting for
Kanu is still desolate, abandoned and no
activities are going on in the once boisterous
palace.
The petty businesses that boomed around
house and along the street leading to his house
have all disappeared. The community has
remained quiet since then compared to the
high wire activities, including daily visits by
various groups, almost on daily basis when
Kanu was around.
Since then no traces of Kanu and those of
his father, the monarch of the community, Eze
Israel Kanu and his wife Sally are known.
Worried by the situation, some members of
the community recently went on a visit to
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to solicit his
assistance to locate the whereabouts of the
monarch. In his response, Ikpeazu promised
to liaise with other Governors in the zone to
ensure that the monarch returned to his home
before January 2019.
Incidentally, the visit has pitched the
delegation and Governor Ikpeazu on one side
and with the family of the IPOB leader on the
other. The family swiftly disowned the people
SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018—15
with no money, no gas to cook and no where
to go to. I had to depend on my neighbours for
the four days that the curfew lasted. Its one
experience that I will never forget in my life.
Umaru Jonathan, father
Umaru has lived in Kaduna for a while so
he not a stranger to its many troubles. He
explained: “When the government declared
twenty four hour curfew that Sunday, I took it
in my stride, believing that after a few days,
things will normalise. We had fairly good
stock of food stuff to last a few days and since
I live in the so called volatile area of the state,
I felt it was just one forced holiday that we will
all enjoy as a family. I did not factor in my
daughter’s reaction into the scheme of things.
My five year old daughter, Vanessa is in love
with going to school. So on that fateful
Monday, she woke up very early, I told her
that she was not going to school because the
government had decided that all students
should rest. Grudgingly, she agreed and went
about playing. On the second day, she woke
up early again and I explained to her that the
holiday was still subsisting. On the third day,
Vanessa could no longer have any of my
explanations. If government declared holiday,
why didn’t her auntie (teacher) tell them so? If
the holiday was for pupils, why is daddy
staying at home too? She became very
hysterical and I had to explain to her that there
was trouble in town so government has
decided that everybody stays at hone so that
police will deal with the situation. It was the
best I could do in the circumstance. I know
that she will grow up with this particular
incidence ingrained in her mind for ever.
For Adama Joshua, the four days curfew
will not be remembered so much for the
hardship it brought on the people but for the
loss of his younger brother, who was killed by
hoodlums as he tried to save members of his
church.
In a Facebook post that has gone viral,
bye. Half way into the journey, I got Adama narrated how his brother met his
information that there was riot is some parts untimely death on the first day of the curfew.
of Kaduna but since where I live was not “This dude, Adama Charis Samuel, he is
affected, I felt that there was no cause for alarm my immediate younger brother.
since I had no intention of going out that “Yesterday, he was in church with a group of
evening.
youths when the crisis broke out in Kaduna
But as we inched closer to the city, calls metropolis. He led the youths to a close by
from my colleagues who knew that I was on barracks and was at the entrance to the
my way into Kaduna became more frequent barracks when I called him at about 6pm. He
as they tried to warnExcellence does not expressed his dissatisfaction with why it
happen by accident or mistake, you must always has to be like this in Kaduna.
deliberately have a strategy to achieve it “Later that evening, I was informed that Sam
me to stay safe, as according to them, the was stabbed in the head and at the back. He
tension was mounting in the city. Then I read had apparently gone back to church to lock
on social media that a twenty four hours the place when he was attacked. He managed
curfew had been imposed in Kaduna himself for over 2km to the closest hospital.
metropolis.
Unfortunately for him no doctor was on
The first sign of trouble was when we ground to assist. The nurses did all they could
alighted from the Vehicle in Kaduna. I noticed but he had lost so much blood.
that the vehicles that were moving then (it was “Sam struggled to stay alive, but God needed
just few minutes into the curfew) were him more than we do. We lost him.
unusually fast and non was willing to stop to “Sam, was, is and will continue to be my
pick passengers. Rather than stay in one place BEST FRIEND.
to wait for a vehicle or even okada, I decided “I BLESS THE NAME OF THE LORD,
to be moving while hoping that along the way, HAVING COGNIZANCE THAT SAM, is not
I would be able to get a vehicle to my place of lost. He is a worshipper and a God Chaser. I
aboard. That was how I ended up trekking the have not stop hearing Sam and the 24 Elders
about ten kilometers to my house.
+ that cloud of witness making worship to
As if the elements were conspiring against Elohim.
me, when I made to prepare breakfast, I “I will surely miss him.
noticed that my gas had finish. Here I was
and accused Governor Ikpeazu of playing
politics with the family.
The family, through the younger brother of
the IPOB leader, Emmanuel, had alleged that
the people who made the visit did so for
pecuniary reasons and warned them to steer
clear from the family. They accused the
governor of trying to woo the aggrieved
members of the community ahead of 2019
elections.
Nnamdi Kanu himself had also, in the
statement he made through Radio Biafra,
accused Ikpeazu of directing “the assault on
my father who is a monarch”.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Prince
Emmanuel had admonished Governor
Okezie Ikpeazu and cautioned him not to play
politics with the whereabouts of the monarch
and his wife, Lolo Sally and urged him “to
look for better ways of entertaining his guests
and not to use Kanu’s family as a campaign
slogan for his re-election bid”.
He questioned the logic behind the Governor
promising to collaborate with his South East
counterparts to help locate the missing
monarch only now that elections are around
the corner.
Also, the Traditional Prime Minister of the
community, Chief Odoemelam
Chimechefulam, has dissociated himself from
the visit by some members of the community
to Governor Ikpeazu.
“When I heard some people were mobilising
to visit the Governor I said I won’t be part of it.
Why will I go to wine and dine with him when
I have not seen my traditional ruler more than
one year the community
was invaded by the Army. Our community
is within the Government House but the
Governor has never visited us over our woes.
“We have been in pains since the military
invaded us last year.
All the houses near Eze Kanu’s palace now
have leaky roofs because of army bullets that
rained on them like water.
“Since then, neither the Governor nor the
Federal Government has visited us to know
how we are faring. We are victims of the
military raid.
“So, what is the essence of the visit? Those
who went to see him went there on their own.
Don’t forget that this is a political season and
individuals have the right to express
themselves”, Chimechefulam said.
But the two autonomous communities that
make up Afaraukwu Kingdom, Okwulaga
Autonomous Community and Enyiukwu
Autonomous community and their traditional
rulers have also distanced themselves from
the visit and urged the South East governors
to prevail on the Federal Government to
produce the paramount ruler.
Former governor of Abia State, Orji
Uzor Kalu once said that the IPOB
leader was in the United Kingdom. IPOB
attacked him for saying so and
challenged him to prove his claim.

16—SATURDAY Vanguard,OCTOBER 27, , 2018
Industrial intervention:FG
raises hopes in key sectors
•Osinbajo
At the meeting of the Nigeria Industrial
Policy and Competitiveness Advisory
Council, held recently in the conference
room of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, hopes
were again raised on key sectors of the economy.
There was hope of increased broadband
penetration, increased power supply through
the use of unutilized power, as well as skills
development and employment in the sugar
industry.
That was in furtherance of the main purpose
of the Council, which Dr. Okechukwu
Enelamah, Vice Chairman of the Council
says is to deal with critical intervention at
the highest level. He is also the Minister of
Industry, Trade and Investment.
He explained that “The council is to assist
the government in formulating policies and
strategies that will enhance the performance
of the industrial sector in furtherance of the
country’s industrialisation programmes
through a platform for partnering with the
private sector and other interests to work
together.”
Membership of this public-private sector
partnership include: VP Yemi Osinbajo
(Chairman);Dr. Enelamah (Vice-Chairman,
Public Sector)
•Dangote
Minister of State, Industry, Trade and
Investment, Mrs. Aisha Abubakar (Alternate
Vice-Chairman, Public Sector);Alhaji Aliko
Dangote (Vice-Chairman, Private Sector); and
Atedo Peterside (Alternate Vice-Chairman,
Private Sector).
There are 15 other members from the public
sector and 22 members from the private sector.
Some of the members are on the technical
committee.
At the inauguration of the Council last
year, Vice President Osinbajo said the
council’s duty was not just patriotic but
also one to enable Nigerians to create
livelihoods for themselves.
“It is not just a patriotic duty but I believe
that it is what will rescue and save our
country and give our country a real chance
to be competitive in global business and
commerce.
“And to give our people a fair chance of
being able to create livelihood for
themselves, jobs and all of those things
that will make for a nation of people who
are happy and satisfied.”
According to him, if the council did not
get it right then it was unlikely that the
country can never get it right.”
Among the high-level intervention projects
•Enelamah
of the Council discussed at the last meeting
were:
National Broadband
Penetration
Current broadband penetration in Nigeria is
22 percent as compared to 4% in 2012. To
further improve broadband penetration, the
Nigerian Communications Commission
(NCC) developed a Licensing Framework and
instituted a subsidy scheme to enable
Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) to roll
out fibre in all the zones of the country.
Specifically, the project, one of the key highlevel
interventions of the Nigeria Industrial
Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council,
is to increase broadband penetration across
all geopolitical zones of the country, such that
at the end of the four-year intervention, all the
774 LGAs will be provided with fibre
connectivity.
That implies the deployment of at least one
fibre Point of Access (PoA), with the capacity of
10 Gbps, in each LGA across the country.
According to the Executive Secretary of the
Council, Edirin Akemu, the inability of using
a single Infraco to achieve the desired
broadband penetration because of the sheer
size of the country, topographic challenges and
socio-economic factors necessitated the use of
the more companies.
“To address the above difficulty and fast track
broadband penetration, the National
Communications Commission, which is
executing the project has developed a structure
to licence 6 InfraCos for the geopolitical zones
and an additional one for Lagos because of its
peculiarities,” she explained.
In the presentation of the NCC at the last
Council meeting, it has engaged the National
Economic Council and the Nigerian
Governors Forum on
its broadband initiatives and has also reviewed
the submission of the six licensed InfraCos
relating to the Capital cost (Capex) for the
project over four years, subsidy requirement,
and network design.
Following the review they were requested to
submit revised financials, network design and
rollout plan based on, one PoA per LGA only
for subsequent review.
At the end of the exercise, negotiation of
percentage subsidy is to be considered for the
respective zones. According to Dr. Enelamah,
“Based on the speed of re-submission received
from the respective InfraCos and the
conclusion of the subsidy agreement, it is
expected that the project will kick-off before
the end of 2018.
Deployment of
underutilized power
assets
In a move to ensure optimal use of resources,
the Federal Government has commenced
moves to deploy underutilized power assets to
deliver incremental power to industrial centres
and needy communities in the country.
Through the coordination of the Nigeria
Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory
Council, the government seeks to generate
additional 4.2 Gigawatts of power to the
national grid in the next 12-18 months.
Towards this end, a total of 8 power projects
have been selected for the critical intervention.
They are the Aba Integrated Power Project;
Kainji rehabilitation and expansion; power
transmission; captive power projects for
industry; Afam IV rehabilitation; Afam V
rehabilitation; a Seplat gas facility; and Alaoji
power plant.
Dr. Enelamah said work is ongoing on the
Alaoji power plant to supply about 360MW of
unutilized power to industrial centres and
people in the South-East Axis of Onitsha, Aba,
Nnewi and Ihiala.
He explained that only 120MW out of the
480MW of power generated by the plant is
regularly utilized, so 360MW of power is
available for centres willing and ready.
“The beauty of this project, which is a pilot, is
the optimization of resources and also that the
learning from it is intended to be used to unlock
up to 2GW from underutilised NDPHC power
plants, Dr. Enelamah said.”
The partners executing the project are the
Federal Government (through The
Transmission Company of Nigeria, Niger
Delta Power Holding Company), GE Power,
and Enugu Disco.
How many Nigerians are still stranded in Libya?
By Victoria Ojeme
The National Emergency
Management Agency
(NEMA) announced
recently that altogether 10,000
Nigerians had been repatriated
from Libya so far since April 2017
under the EU-IOM joint
Initiative on Migrant Protection
and Reintegration,
NEMA made the disclosure on
12th October this year while
receiving the latest batch of
Nigerian deportees from the
North African country who
arrived Lagos, without giving
any information about the likely
number of our nationals still
stranded in Libya.
Last October, in the aftermath
of the CNN footage showing sub-
Saharan migrants being
auctioned as slaves in Libya, the
International Organisation for
Migration (IOM) revealed that
hundreds of thousands of
migrants were stranded in Libya,
a major transit country for
migrants seeking to cross the
Mediterranean sea to Europe.
And most analysts believed a
sizeable percentage of these
irregular migrants, who were
unable to continue their journey
to Europe due to tough measures
adopted by many European
countries were Nigerians.
So, the 10,000 figure of
Nigerians who have been
successfully brought back home
could amount to only a fraction
of our nationals still left in Libya,
where they were said to live in
appalling conditions and
exposed to severe human rights
abuses.
Libya’s Foreign Minister
Mohamed al-Taher Siala in an
interview reported widely in
international news agencies last
week admitted that Libya's
detention facilities still held
many sub-Saharan migrants and
the government didn't know what
to do with them.
Siala estimated that about
30,000 illegal migrants were
currently being held in detention
centres in Libya "and around
750,000 outside". He explained
that Libya was working with the
EU to send the migrants to their
home countries, “but
unfortunately, some of these
countries – many West African
countries – refuse to take them
back."
However, there was a video that
was widely circulated on social
media in July, where a group of
Nigerian migrants cried out from
captivity in a detention centre in
Zawiya, near Tripoli. They had
smuggled out the video, taken on
their phones and dated July 7,
2018, where they called on the
federal government and notable
Nigerians to intervene on their
behalf to free them from the
Libyan detention centre where
they said they had been held for
more than five months. In
response to the video, the IOM
intervened, and aided their
release and have since returned
home.
A Germany-based NGO,
Migration Enlightenment
Project Nigeria (MEPN), also
recently called on the federal
government to demand that the
Libyan government free all
Nigerian nationals still being
held in camps and facilities it
controls.
The MEPN, which is currently
carrying out a campaign to
promote a greater awareness of
the risks and dangers of irregular
migration in Nigeria, said
thousands of young women and
men were still being held in Libya
not only in official detention
centres but also in camps run by
smuggling gangs and militias.
Is it not time therefore for the
Nigerian government, working
with her Libyan counterpart, to
carry out an audit of Nigerians
stranded in the North African
country to enable us know how
many are left so that they could
design a repatriation plan with a
timeline? It’s a duty the
government owes its stranded
citizens who were said to be
exposed to dangers daily in the
country.
Thousands of Nigerians are
believed to have lost their lives
in the past five years in the
process of irregular migration.
This should serve as a lesson to
those planning to leave the
country. Migrating is not a crime
but it should be done legally.

SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018—17
By BENJAMIN NJOKU
Wizkid born Ayodeji Ibrahim Balo
gun is indeed an enigma. When he
began his music career in 2010, with
the release of his début album ‘Superstar’,
which featured hit songs like ‘Holla at your
Boy’, “Love My Baby”, “Pakurumo” and
“Oluwa Lo Ni”, little did he know that he was
definitely on a journey to redefine the contemporary
African music.
And today, Wizkid has not only influenced
the world with his kind of music, but also, he
has set a new record for himself as a leading
Afro pop star. He’s one of the most talented
and sought-after artistes ever to come out of
Africa. With age and time on his side, it can
only be said that the superstar is yet to give
his best, which he agreed when he said at the
2016 HEADIES awards, that ‘the world is yet
to see the best of me.’ The superstar is not
relenting on this promise, as even his latest
offerings have a lot to say about his ambition.
Like Davido, who is close rival, Wizkid since
debuting with ‘Superstar’, followed by his
second studio album, “Ayo” released in 2014,
and was preceded by six singles: “Jaiye Jaiye”
“On Top Your Matter”, “One Question”,
“Joy”, “Bombay”, “Show You the Money”,
has maintained an enviable position and influence
in the world music scene. His featuring
on Canadian rapper, Drake’s ‘One Dance’
that earned him a spot in the Guinness Book
of World Records marked a turning point in
his career. It opened the door for his success
outside the shores Africa and made him a Sony
Records priority. But many argued that the
‘Ojuelegba’ crooner would have still hit the
international scene even without the patronage
of Drake.
At the time, he left Banky W’s EME, to float
his own label Starboy Entertainment, Wizkid
undoubtedly set his mind on conquering the
world with his music. And when the opportunity
presented itself, he didn’t disappoint. He
has remained consistent as one of the most
viable and utility music stars in Africa that are
steadily expanding their frontiers into the
European and American music scenes. Apart
from collaborating with Drake, Wizkid also
has collaborated with other international stars
such as Ty$, Wale, Chris Brown, and Akon. He
is towing the path of successful hip-hop acts
around the globe.
His performing and dancing alongside the
American RnB singer when the latter came
•Continues on page 18

18—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
•Continues from page 17
to Lagos for a show was all he
needed to break into the international
music scene. And reports
said, a few months after their
chance meeting, the duo were
spotting hanging out in Los Angeles.
This was before he released
‘Ojuelegba.’ He didn’t let that
chance meeting end at a few
words, a handshake and a selfie.
It went beyond that and today,
Wizkid can tell better.
Wizkid’s creativity is inimitable.
His originality and message have
continued to endear him to many
fans across the globe. The singer’s
smash hit ‘ ‘Ojuelegba’ off his second
album, ‘Ayo’, remains evergreen.
The song, a mid tempo ode
to the Lagos slum where the singer
grew up was listed in Rolling
Stone’s 15 great albums you didn’t
hear in 2014. While not as anthemic
as some of his previous records
, ‘Ójuelegba’ enjoyed global appeal,
as many hold the opinion that
the song was one of Wizkid’s greatest
ever. But his latest single, “Fever”,
featuring Tiwa Savage as a
video vixen is proving them
wrong. The video, which was released
to rave reviews, during the
week set social media agog, as it
generated well over 70,000 views
in less than four hours of its release.
The video sees a shirtless
Wizkid in bed singing as a scantily
dressed Tiwa Savage romances
him and they strike the poses
of two lovers. This has since
sparked a lot of debate online as
to whether the two are actually in
a romantic relationship, or not,
which is not the focus of this piece.
But beyond this, Wizkid has remained
outstanding in his career
though pundits tend to make comparisons
to fellow hit-maker, Davido
who’s also a success in his own
rights. But most times, he gets the
upper hand because of the accolades
he has enjoyed on the international
scene. From the time he
released his debut album, ‘Superstar’,
which was three years after
he secured his first record deal,
Wizkid was not thinking of slowing
down the tempo. In fact, he has
continued in that speed, overtaking
other superstars who have
been there before him. Mention
The euphoria of last Sunday
night, at the New Afrikan
Shrine, Ikeja, Lagos,
changed the face of music festivals
in Nigeria. The event, the
grand finale of the yearly Felabration
was a gathering of both
budding and A-list entertainers
in the country who thronged the
Shrine to be part of the yearly
celebration of the life and times
of the Afro-beat legend. Fela
Anikulapo Kuti.
The week-long event, which
kicked off on October 16, climaxed
on the 21st of October
with a series of activities that
would remain evergreen in the
minds of those graced the event.
The night witnessed a large
turnout of fans, entertainers,
tourists and dignitaries with
pop star, Davido closing the
show. Davido dished out several
songs from his musical
works, leaving the crowd high
on a full dose of his Afro pop
music. Joined by his DMW music
crew, Mayorkun, Yonda, Perruzzi
and Dremo, he got the
crowd screaming and yarning
for more of his stunning stage
craft. He dazzled with so much
energy, throwing the crowd into
a musical reminiscence as he
sang some of his old hit songs
after which he concluded with
his latest songs as the entire hall
quaked with shouts of satisfaction.
At the end of his performance
he threw shoes and shirt into the
crowd.
Femi Kuti, alongside his son,
also thrilled the audience. Femi
first hit the stage, and later, his
son joined him, playing saxophone
with him. But the highpoint
of the night was the mild
drama that ensued between
Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo
Night of music, dance at Felabration 2018
and his host, Femi Kuti.
Femi, while on stage with the
Vice President who was the special
guest at the event told the
crowd all that transpired between
him and the Vice President.
Speaking in Pidgin English, the
his name on the international
scene, and you’re sure to get thrilling
comments on the wit and talent
of the Starboy. But whatever
you think of Wizkid, he’s still one
of the biggest stars to come out of
Africa.
The singer holds the record of
being the first African singer to
headline a sold-out show in London.
The show, which was broadcast
live on Wizkid’s Facebook
page featured British act Yxng
Bane, Wande Coal among others.
It’s success still resonates in the
UK music scene.
Wizkid ranks among the ten richest
musicians in Nigeria. In 2018,
his fortune is estimated at $14 million.
In addition to earnings due
to his main activity, Wizkid also
has the income from advertising
contracts. Unknown to many that
the Starboy, as he’s fondly called
by his fans did not only storm the
international scene as an entertainer
from Nigeria but also, one
with interests in the entire package,
including merchandising,
modelling and endorsements.
American sportswear company,
Nike reportedly entered a five year
deal with the Nigerian Football
Federation to the tune of $3.75 million
(N743 million) to kit the country’s
football teams. The singer
also contacted for the Dolce & Gabbana
Summer 2019 Fashion show
in Milan. He joined Boris Becker’s
son, Elias Becker, Nash Grier
and Cameron Dallas for the exotic
fashion show. Spotting an ostentatious
clothing and a mask,
Wizkid ended the men’s category
walking down the runway
in company of globally-acclaimed
model,
Naomi Campbell spotting
a pin-striped suit
and fedora.
Wizkid’s participation
at the show in
Milan saw D&G
coughing out at
least $20,000
f o r
the Starboy.
Meanwhile, despite these landmark
achievements, Wizkid is a
symbol for gossips and rumours on
social media even more often than
other celebrities in the country.
The singer gets into a mess, once
in a while, and most times, it has
to do with the women around him.
As the father of three lovely boys
from three different mothers, and
a big celebrity for that matter, one
can’t expect loose talks and attention
seeking among the many
women around him. But in spite
of this, Wizkid is about the finest
and one of Africa’s greatest exports
in pop music in recent times. His
rivalry with Davido, is believed
has brought the best out of the
nation’s music scene, causing
great hits and great performances
to happen in the African music
scene.
Afrobeat singer said: “Vice President
Osinbajo came to my
house for support, na him dey
stand for my front now o. I tell
am say I no fit support (Buhari)
because of my papa. He said he
understands and he respects my
view. But he’s my friend.” In addition,
he said: “He (Osinbajo)
said he wanted to come to
the Shrine to see what everybody
is saying about the
Shrine and I am happy that he
came and saw that we are not
crazy here. He said he didn’t
know this place was this big.”

Edited by Ayo Onikoyi
08052201215
SATURDAY Vanguard,OCTOBER 27, , 2018—19
Interesting
world of
•Didi
Ekanem
bum bum
•Anita
Joseph
girls of
Nollywood
•Evia
Simon
•Daniella
Okeke
BY EKAETTE BASSEY
There are nature’s gifts that cannot
be kept quiet because they
are so loud and too
glaring for anyone to miss. Such is
the case of women blessed with
extraordinary backside. For most
women, it is as good a blessing as
it could be a burden. For those in
Nollywood, who are constantly
glamourising our screens,
keeping what God has given them
from public glare is as easy as
running a camel through the eye of
a needle.
In Nollywood, there are many
women blessed with curvaceous,
shapely and big butts, but here are
some who have at one time or another
expressed something interesting about
their gift of nature.
Some men
masturbate
watching my bum
—Anita Joseph
A Joseph,
nita
clearly isn’t a
woman who
believes
w o m e n
should be
seen and not
heard. This
opinionated
actress and
singer is ever
ready to air her
opinion on any
issue regardless
of how sensitive
the issue is.
Recently, Anita took a
swipe at people who criticised her for
posting raunchy, sexy pictures on the
social media, saying the only person who
has a right over her is the man who pays
her bill.
“Some Nigerians are hypocrites and
pretenders. A lot of them used my pictures
to masturbate and feel good, yet condemn it.
The last time I checked, my boobs and bum are
still strong and beautiful.”
I have a mean ass —Daniella Okeke
t is impossible to ignore this Lagos Cougar
I actress. Even she had boasted on Instagram
that “ I have a mean ass”. Nobody prompted her, it
was something that must have been playing on
her mind and she posted it on her Instagram page.
Is it just possible to ignore this piece of art crafted
by God? She’s 10 out of 10 as far as girls with
most curvacious and tantalising bums in
Nollywood
People embarrass me a lot because of my big
ass —Evia Simon
via Simon is sexy and beautiful but if you
Emiss anything about the up and coming
star, her massive buttocks is sure never to be missed. Even Evia herself says her ‘bum’
has caused her embarrassments too often than she cares to remember, not only from
men but also from women.
“Yeah, it’s true. My ass gives me undue attention and even to me, it can be so
embarrassing sometimes. At times I don’t just feel happy about it. Of course, there are
other girls who are shapely, sexy, and beautiful, but you know, this is me and they are
them. I don’t know what they are passing through, but I know that I’m passing through
hell daily. Even girls get funny about it sometimes.”
I’ve had many harassments on the streets. People embarrass me a lot because of my
big ass.”
My bum is all natural, no implants
— Princess Chidinma
One fan has warned this up and coming Nollywood bundle of sex appeal to stop
•Tracy
Obonna
seducing people with her sexy bum or
else. If you know Princess Jolie on any
of the social media, the first thing you
will notice is her sexy butt and she stops
at nothing in flaunting them.There is
even a rumor that she had a butt
enhancement job on her butt
but the actress vehemently
denied it. “People can talk
shit, hip enhancement?
Did they do it for me? My
bum is all natural, no
implants” she queried
I’m very active in bed
with my bum
— Didi Ekanem
oogle this girl’s
Gname and see if
you have not bitten more
than you can chew. All
that will come greeting
you is bum, bum and
bum in different
shades of
lusciousness.
She is a native
of Akwa Ibom
and a graduate of
Linguistics and
•Angel
Christopher
Communications. When Potpourri
once asked her if it is true that girls with
big bums are lazy in bed, hear her
answer: “I will speak for myself,
because I feel girls with big bums are
usually very lazy in bed, but for me I’m very
active, so I will just speak for myself. I’m very flexible with my bum.
“You are very flexible with your bum?”, we asked again and she replied,
“Of course, I use it very well.”
•Princess
Chidinma
Of all my assets, my butt is my favorite
— Tracy Obonna
igerian-born, US-based actress and model,Tracy
NObonna is known as the ‘African Bombshell’, not for
any other reason but for her shapely, curvy hips and bum.
The actress once said she works so hard to maintain her
shape.
“I love my body and I work out three times a week to
keep it this way, so why not show it off now that I’m fresh and
young. I love my assets, both bum and boobs, that’s why, don’t get me wrong,
I will wear a low cut top and show off the girls(boobs) sometimes, but my butt is my favorite.
I am just crazy about them,” she told Potpourri in an interview.
Guys stop whatever they are doing to stare when I walk by — Angel Christopher
ngel Christopher is not exactly your shy type. Many times, the actress has had to
Abattle and survive controversies to stay on course of her career. She is a talented actress
but beside the talent, there is her backside that cannot be kept quiet. Angel knows she’s got
the goods and she spares no one the delights her nice, curvy butt brings.
“I have got a wonderful hips and boobs,” she once told Potpourri. “Whenever I walk along
the streets, guys stop whatever they are doing just to stare at me. Both the young and the old
are captivated by my curvy body. An old woman saw me some days ago and said “my
daughter you are really beautiful, hope you thank your God everyday for making you this
special.” And I smiled and said “yes ma.” So, this is what I see every day,” she said.

20—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 6, 2018—19
Edited By AYO ONIKOYI 08052201215
onikoyi68@gmail.com
I’m still learning to
be a celebrity
— Anto, Ex BBNaija Housemate
Born Antonette Munirat Lecky, former Big Brother Naija, Double
Wahala housemate popularly known as Anto has been having it
good ever since she was thrusted into spotlight by the widely
acclaimed reality show. Steadily climbing the social ladder while
learning to manage her new status, the sports enthusiast who
took part in the third season of the show in search of a life
changing platform, is our Star Tracker as she shares her passions,
projects and life after Big Brother. Excerpts...
By Adetutu Adesoji
Do you have fond
memories of the Big
Brother house?
Actually I don’t. I’ve put
the House behind me. I
used it for a platform and
have gotten what I needed
from it. What sticks out the
most to me was my return
after my eviction. But to sit
down and recount things
that happened in the house
... I usually don’t remember
unless someone brings it
up.
Do you have any regrets
participating in the show?
No regrets at all. I went
on the show for a platform
that would change my life
positively and it has.
You acted in a stage play,
‘Official Couple’, what was
the experience like?
The experience was
amazing. It was my first
professional acting role, so I
was pretty nervous. But I
appreciate Chuks D
General for believing in me.
We had a great director who
coached me and a hilarious
supporting cast of other
comedians that made the
role “easier” than expected.
Everyone keeps saying I
shocked them the most,
because they didn’t expect
me to perform so well.
Will you consider acting
fully?
I am actually in two
movies that will be released
early next year, I believe.
Acting has been amazing so
far, and I hope for more
roles that will force me to
break out of my usual self.
But I also don’t want to
“steal” roles from natural
born thespians.
What are your passions?
Eating and sleeping. But
honestly, I do love
traveling, exploring new
cultures especially through
food. I’m a lover of sports. I
am a proponent for
education, especially of the
girl-child and healthcare
(access to it and
understanding of issues we
believe don’t “affect” us like
mental health)
What projects are you
working on?
I recently launched a
luxury hair care line
alongside Taries Hair
Builder. All of my life
people have told
me they liked
my hair, and
I like my
hair too. So
I want
people to
start their
journey of
embracing
their hair
and liking it
too. I’m very
excited about the
project. I have a few
other tricks up my
sleeve, but you have
to wait and see.
How will you
describe life after Big
Brother?
CRAZY! When at the
airport, I try to be low-key
but people still come up to
me saying “You can’t hide.”
I’m still learning to be a
“celebrity”, whatever that
People
really spent
and are still
spending
millions of
Naira on
their
favorite
housemates
means. But the ride has
been fun, despite some
bumps. The love and
support has been
empowering and the hate
and criticism has been
motivational, honestly.
Everyone keeps me going; I
want to make my
supporters proud and prove
the naysayers wrong.
What has changed about
you now that you are
•Antonette
famous?
I am now a public figure,
people know who I am. I’m
a little more cautious about
things I say and do, but I
haven’t changed much. I
think that’s why the people
who love me still do. I’m
still the same ol’ G. I do
realize that people see me
as a role model, so I take
that into consideration. I
also preach being yourself -
your real self is what will
make people love and
support you.
What was the most
shocking thing you
discovered on getting out
of the house?
People really spent and
are still spending millions
of Naira on their favorite
housemates.
What are the lessons you
took away from the show?
You can become friends
with people of different
ages, backgrounds,
genders, religions, if
you give them a
chance. But most
importantly, every
move is a
business move,
whether you
realize it or not.
Things will always
haunt you,
personally and
professionally, so
just be steadfast
in whatever you
are doing, and be
ready for the ride.
How will you
describe the
aftermath of the
BBN Show,
considering the
drama
surrounding
some of the
former
housemates?
The drama
surrounding
housemates is
driven by fans. I
don’t think we’ve
seen or heard any
housemate say
anything negative
about another
housemate since
being out of the
house. It’s all social
media frenzy. Social
media is keeping the
BBN Show live 24/7,
just that instead of
being on television,
it’s now on
Instagram. In due
time I hope people will
realize housemates are
trying to live their best
lives and make the most
out of this opportunity.
Were you in a
relationship before Big
Brother?
No, I was single before
the show.
What is your relationship
with Lolu like?
Lolu is one of my closest
friends. We talk about
everything, personal and
professional.
How would you describe
your personality?
In the words of Cardi B,
I’m just a regular ‘degular'
girl. I am pretty laid back.
I’m reserved most times,
but can be very outgoing
when I need to be.

Prof. Yemi Osinbajo
Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and
Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi
Ambode are two of the prominent
Nigerians lined-up to be honored at
the Africa Human Resources Excellence
Awards and Conference slated for 9th
November 2018 at the Lagos Sheraton Hotels.
The epoch-making event which is poised to
attract over 500 Human Resource
professionals both within and outside the
country, is put together by the management
Aisha Akinpelumi’s
unprecedented exploits
Unknown to many people, there
is an emerging luxury fashion
brand in the Nigerian fashion
capital, Lagos, whose designs are
making impact far beyond the centre
of excellence. Since its 2016 official
launch, Royal Rack Fashion located
in the heart of Lagos, in the Ikeja
axis has become the beloved of
fashion savvy women and
fashionistas. The exciting fashion
brand founded by adorable Aisha
Olayinka Akinpelumi, an alumni of
Obafemi Awolowo University who’s
flaunting an enviable degree in
Management and Accounting has
scored many firsts in the fashion
industry. The gifted Olayinka
started right from the bottom
Governor Akinwunmi
Ambode
Accolades for Osinbajo, Ambode
Olubukola
Babajide
of Delta Business School led by Barr. Christian
Akpotohwo.
The maiden edition, according to the organisers
is structured to be a benchmark within the
human capital development industry in Africa,
as well as raise the output to what is obtainable
worldwide.
The Excellence award apart from recognizing
Prof Osinbajo and Governor Ambode will also
honor former Minister of Education, Oby
Ezekwesili and Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege among
others.
making sketch styles for her tailors
and friends. Her foray into the
fashion industry was inspired by
moral support from her friends
and families who
encouraged her to
pursue her passion.
The brand which
boasts of of a wide
network of top
clients,intends
to
go
international soon.
Aisha Olayinka
Akinpelumi, the
Creative Director of the
leading fashion brand is
happily married to one of
Nigeria’s prides, Captain Taiwo
Akinpelumi. And they are blessed
with adorable kids
Employers already identified
inadequately skilled
workforce as a major constraint to
their businesses, thus hiring the
right fit with a platform to up-skill
and re-skill is the only way to
match the demand.. Against this
backdrop, Olubukola Babajide an
IT consultant of over fifteen years,
through her platform – Business
and Career Network, brought together
a team of professionals for
a workshop on project management
and interpersonal skills. The
career and employability workshop
held recently in Ikeja.
Speaking about the event, Bukky
said “The Business and Career
Network platform serves those in
business and in career. It aims to
Juliet Ebirim
08137897935
juliet.ebirim@gmail.com
Olayinka
Akinpelumi
Olubukola Babajide on a mission
bridge the gap in people’s employability
skills and provides
employers with candidates that
are suitably prepared and aligned
to their recruitment needs”
Facilitators at the event include
Amaka Amalu, a trained Human
Resources personnel with experience
in Strategy, Human Capital
Management and Administration;
Olukayode Fabunmi – cofounder
of the Academy and the
founding Country Chair of International
Project Association
(Nigeria Branch); Femi George
– Entrepreneur and Investment
Manager, Sadiq Abu – COO of
Absa Bank Africa Nigeria and
Mr. Solanke Adegboyega of
Skye Bank Plc.
SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018—21
Mo Abudu, Meghan Markle,
Anthony Joshua make UK
100 Black Powerlist
Mo Abudu, chairman and
CEO Of EbonyLife Media,
has been named on The Powerlist
2018, an annual list of the UK’s
top 100 most influential people
of African and Caribbean
heritage alongside Meghan
Markle, Anthony Joshua, John
Boyega, Idris Elba, Thandie
Newton, Naomie Harris and
more.
The Powerlist was revealed at
a gala dinner in the City of
London on Tuesday 23rd
October, held to celebrate
the honorees and raise
funds for related charities.
The 12-year-old Powerlist
is chosen from a list of
nominees by a
distinguished panel,
chaired by a former high
court judge, that includes a
Queen’s Counsel and leading
professionals in business and
the arts. Each year, the panel is
reminded that ‘influence’ of the
nominees is defined as “the
ability to positively alter
events and change lives
as over a protracted
period of time”.
Reacting to the news,
Mo said: “The Powerlist
is the most authoritative
Runw
unway y Dubai retur
eturns
ns
with Abaya a Lagos
os
The city of Dubai is about
to open its doors to
fashion buyers, influencers,
designers, retailers and the
media as its highly
anticipated fashion show,
recognition of Black influence in
the UK, therefore I am honoured
and humbled to be included. It’s
nice to know that those of us who
return home to make our
contribution is not being
overlooked. This publication is
sent to schools and universities
all over the UK, so
I hope that my
story can
influence
e v e n
o n e
child to
follow
their
dreams.”
Owerri stands still, as
City Villa berths
Preparation has reached its peak for the grand opening of
the much-anticipated event centre - City Villa. The multipurpose
event centre by all standards has become the newest
entrant to the Owerri entertainment industry. Business mogul
and Chairman/CEO, City Global Hotels Limited Group and his
associates, High Chief Tony Obiajunwa Njoku are leaving no
stone unturned in their bid to up the ante, as far as the
hospitality business is concerned in the south-eastern part of
the country.
Speaking about the new venture, the Director, City Global
Limited, owners of City Villa, Mr. Chidiebere Obianjunwa
popularly known as Bisinga said, “ I have travelled far and
wide within and outside the shores of this great country and I
make bold to say that what you travel out to look for is right
here with us. We are basically in this line of business to add
value to the night life in Owerri. City Villa will naturally
increase the socio-economic activities of Imo State.”
It was, however, gathered that the proper unveiling of the multimillion
naira edifice would take place in November with
celebrities in attendance. Other directors in the company
include Sunny Obianjunwa and Ikenna Obiajunwa.
Abaya Lagos
Mo Abudu
Runway Dubai kicks off with
another edition from 8th -
10th November at the
luxurious Marriott Al Jaddaf.
The annual fashion event
created in 2013 as an
initiative to enhance the
fashion industry in the
Middle East has quickly
developed into the leading
international fashion show
platform in the region. It has
also continued to earn
international recognition
following the inclusion of
diversity and social
awareness campaigns over
the years. Marking its 6th
season, Runway Dubai 2018
will feature the ‘Autism Wins
Campaign with Natalie
Oden’. The model with
autism whose story has
inspired many will be
opening the show this year.
Established designers across
the globe will showcase
various collections on the
runway including creative
director of Abaya Lagos,
Salihat Rahaman. Abaya
Lagos will be unveiling its
SEPIA GLAM collection for
the first time in the Middle
East at the upcoming event
on 9th November 2018.

22—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
By Adetutu Adesoji
08157255559 (sms only)
adetutu.adesoji@gmail.com
Is there more to Wizkid
and Tiwa Savage’s
relationship?
The true status of the relationship between
music stars, Wizkid and Tiwa Savage remains
an unending topic of discussion. Although
the two singers refer to each other as best friends,
many have questioned their ‘friendliness’.
From private trips together, to Tiwa’s appearance
as Wizkid’s love interest in the most talked about
‘Fever’ visual, their seeming erotic performance in
the video according to critics suggest that the pair
may be more than just friends.
Meanwhile, fans are impatiently waiting for
Teebillz’s reaction to the video that has stirred up
controversy since its release on Wednesday.
Recall that Teebillz had said that Tiwa would
never be sexually involved with the Starboy out
of respect for their son, Jamil while he also
called Wizkid his little brother.
Wizkid’s ex, Tania
set t to wed
•Tania
Popular socialite ,Tania
Omotayo, Wizkid’s ex
lover, has taken a first
step in the preparation
of getting married as
she celebrated an
official introduction
ceremony with Lagos
big boy and co owner
of popular lounge and
restaurant, Buzzbar,
Sumbo. Meanwhile,
the entrepreneur who
before now dated
Starboy on and off for
many years has yet to
announce a wedding date.
Act
ctor
or, , IK
Ogbonna’s
marriage in
trouble?
•Ogbonna and wife
•Juliet
•Wizkid and
Tiwa Savage
Days ago, Colombian model and wife of
Nollywood actor IK Ogbonna, Sonia
Morales set tongues wagging about
suspected crisis in her marriage. The mother
of one had posted a picture of herself without
her wedding band after yanking off the actor’s
last name from all her social media pages,
insinuating that her union with IK may be in
troubled waters.
Days after, IK also dropped hint that all may
not be well in his home. “All relationships go
through hell, real relationships go through it,”
he wrote on Instagram.
Tont
onto o Dike
Ghanian actress, Juliet Ibrahim
has finally confirmed that her
celebrated relationship with rapper,
Iceberg Slim is over. The beautiful
actress confirmed this at an event
in Ghana where she revealed that
she is single.
When asked whether a cheating
finds love again
Controversial actress, Tonto Dike
may have found a ‘real man’ after
her marriage to Olakunle
Churchill, who she accused of
domestic violence, went down south
many months ago.
The mother of one has hinted
on finding love again with
an Instagram post that has
stirred up conversations
among her fans on whether
the philanthropist has
given love another chance.
She posted a picture with
the caption, “I promise you
sis, it’s a whole different
feeling when you fuck with
a real man,” and captioned
it with a cupid emoji.
Juliet Ibrahim confirms
breakup with Iceberg Slim
Comedian and former Big Brother
Naija contestant, Dee One
and fellow housemate,
Ifuennada are not on good terms
as the duo have trolled each
other on Instragram over a ‘joke’
from the latter.
Ifuennada made jest of a video
posted by Dee One and according
to her, it was a harmless joke.
However, the ‘Deeone Evicted’
convener did not take Ifu’s
supposed joke lightly and calls
her a ‘small girl big God’, a
term used to describe ladies
who sleep with men for
money. He further
questioned her source of
income, he wrote, “which
freaking business you
dey do wey nobody
know, abegi.”
Also in the black book
of Dee One is the CEO
of Payporte, the official
sponsor of the reality show
that shot the comedian to stardom.
He again took to his Instagram page
to call out the boss of the online store
for owing him money and refusing to
pay up. He also threatened to drag
Payporte in the mud if they don’t
do the needful.
•Dee One
situation informed their breakup,
she replied, “I don’t know because
they say and I hear all sorts of
things but people close to me know
what happened. I wouldn’t say
because no matter what, I respect
the people that I have been with.
We broke up on a mutual term.”
Ex BBNaija housemate, Deeone
slams Ifuennada, Paypor
yporte

SATURDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 27, 2018—23
By Fred Iwenjora
Rt. Hon. Princess Chinwe
Claire Nwaebili studied
Accounting at the Delta state
University Abraka and became a
member of Association of National
Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN).
While pursuing her academic
career, she had also pursued her
political advocacy as well as her
catering business interests with so
much vigor.
People who knew her in those years
still call her Mama Put because
of her successful catering business
which started in small scale and
became a huge concern. The
business is still involved in huge
outside events catering in south
eastern and Delta states of Nigeria.
In this chat, the former Speaker
of Anambra state House of
Assembly and a current student of
law who has her eyes on the House
of Reps seat for APGA tells her
interesting story of rising from
obscurity to prominence in a so
called man’s world where women
battle to get a chance to excel.
She also reveals how she had
worked as the Personal Assistant to
House of Assembly Speaker only to
become Speaker not too long after.
What inspired you to seek
positions of leadership?
I think leadership has always
been a calling for me. My parents
were civil servants. But I know I have
always had the interest of the welfare
of the people at heart from my
childhood days. I have always felt
that I could defend and advocate
for others.
So my first port was being
appointed Supervisory councilor of
my Local council. I later served as
House of Assembly member and as
Speaker of the House. I have also
served as Commissioner for
Environment and later for
Transportation.
When did this calling manifest?
It was during my teenage years
that I realized the suffering of
grassroots people. At that time, we
lived around the Odo Rubber area
of Iyiowa Odekpe, Ogbaru LGA.
Flooding then was a regular issue
and affected drainage systems. The
decay of infrastructure stared me in
the face. I felt the pain of people first
hand as they lost farm proceeds due
to lack of good roads to evacuate
them to markets. It was difficult to
get to Onitsha in those days and I
started wishing I could speak for my
people to improve their lives.
Did you ever have to learn the
ropes before this venture into
politics?
My political interests started while
I was at the Delta state University
Abraka where I studied accounting.
I became organizing secretary of
the Students Union Government of
the school. While as a student, I
became PA to Rt Hon. Olisa
Imegwu. He later became Speaker
of Delta state House of Assembly. It
was while working for Hon Imegwu
that I learnt the ropes about how to
speak for a people and all it takes to
be a good representative of the
people. I also learnt of the huge
responsibility the representative
carries with him or her.
What were your first major tasks
as a politician?
When it struck me that I was
working for a Delta man in Delta
state. I asked why I should not go to
my home state of Anambra state to
put all I have learnt into practice.
On my return I joined PDP and was
later inducted as a supervisory
Councilor for Ogbaru LGA by the
government of Chinweoke
Mbadiniju. I was assigned to the
social welfare and health portfolio.
This position brought me close to
far flung and remote islands and
camps within the LGA. It made me
see grassroots women and how they
coped with life. Most rejected
vaccination until I preached well to
them. My close relationship with
these women created for me a
formidable women group.
It was after that, that I took a shot
at the Anambra state House of
Assembly to represent Ogbaru
CHINWE NWAEBILI
thrills on how
women can lead
men successfully
From Mama Put to SA to Speaker; then to
Speaker; The metamorphosis of RT. HON.
CHINWE NWAEBILI, former Speaker
Anambra state House of Assembly
Constituency 11. It was during my
second tenure that I was elected
Speaker of the House by the special
grace of God.
I later served as Commissioner for
Environment and later that of
Transport. Now I wish to be at the
Federal House of Representatives
to represent my people who have
had no federal voice over the years.
I have seen my people without a
federal voice for a long time. I want
to redress these wrongs. Anytime I
want to retrace my successes and
challenges in politics, I immediately
begin to pay tribute to my late
Husband Late Chief Azubuike
Nwaebili who gave me total support
and encouragement to go on in the
first place.
Could you recall your first times
in the House?
It was in 2007 that I won election
into the Anambra state House of
Assembly. I became Chairman
House committee on election
matters. I was also Deputy chairman
to other committees while a
member in over nine committees. It
is still on record that I was the first
to move a motion in our 2007
House of Assembly. I was just a
fresher who worried about the huge
mountain of refuse as you enter
Ogbaru. I had vowed that if I ever
won election into the House, it
would be my first motion and I
turned out to be the first person to
move a motion in that House.
Governor Peter Obi at that time took
the mission seriously as I had argued
that a huge refuse mountain as a
welcome into Anambra is
indefensible. Governor Peter Obi
acted fast on it and that was the
beginning of a smooth ride in the
House. I was encouraged by that
and went to work to influence
government on need to rehabilitate
failing infrastructure like roads both
across Anambra and especially in
my constituency. Roads were
rehabilitated; schools renovations
went on even in far remote camps
and Islands. I also proposed for the
posting of health personnel and
teachers with special salary
packages to encourage them in the
hinter land.
How easy was it to make a
motion when you had not done any
of those things before then?
I knew it was going to be a
learning process so immediately
attached myself to veterans in the
House especially Hon Ozo
Ughamadu who I am indebted to.
He was oldest person in that House
and was highly respected for his
experience. It was from him that I
learnt comportment and carriage
and how to present and argue for
motions that impact on the people.
Speaker of Anambra state House
of Assembly…did you ever imagine
that you could attain such height?
I never ever imagined that it could
happen in my life. I only wanted to
be a member of the House and
contribute my own quota to uplift
my constituency. But God decreed
otherwise that I may be the one
leading men. It was when I was reelected
for a second term that my
fellow House members
overwhelmingly voted me Speaker
and I was dumbfounded and I
remain grateful for their
cooperation towards the success of
our objectives.
Did leading men in a male
dominated environment ever
present challenges?
My parents had us two women
and five men so I grew up with men
so did not feel otherwise when I got
to the house dominated by men. I
was already born into a male
dominated world. We were only 6
women in the House of Assembly
while 24 were men. I was lucky that
I already understood how to live and
work amongst men. I learnt that men
are handled with ease and with
much care. A man does not need an
iron hand to handle. He is already
an iron. Only respect and honor to
men could help a woman go places
in leadership. This understanding
has helped me and continues to help
A man does
not need an
iron hand to
handle; He
is already an
iron
me both in life and at work. You
would believe me that men reduce
their rascality before women. I
doubt that fighting in the House or
carrying away of the mace will be
possible if a woman was in-charge.
Very few men will be comfortable
with a woman begging them to stop
fighting. So they will try to minimize
such troubles that will bring down
their ego. I respected all my
colleagues and they reciprocated
and supported me wholesomely.
However, if there were problems, it
was from my fellow women in the
House.(hahahahaha)
What do you consider your
greatest achievements as
Speaker?
People have always cited the
synergy between the executive and
the legislator as one of my greatest.
I feel that way too. I recall that
•Rt. Hon.
Princess Chinwe
Claire Nwaebili
before we came on board, the
relationship was very frosty and
antagonistic. The Anambra state
House was seating in hide outs in
Enugu and Asaba and other places.
But becoming Speaker stopped all
that. My colleagues said they saw
me as a bridge, an insulator and
work flowed better. This peace
created a good working
environment for the government to
make progress. If there was smooth
relationship between the two arms,
progress is engendered. And I must
say we made progress. And the
synergy is still being cited I have not
stopped thanking God for the
opportunity to serve Governors Peter
Obi and Chief Willie Obiano and
my colleagues during my tenure as
speaker. It was their cooperation
that saw us through. It is only a good
relationship between the Legislature
and executive that true dividends of
democracy come.
Another area in which I scored
some achievement is in the area of
roads, bore holes and electricity and
indeed other infrastructure in my
Ogbaru area. I made sure that
government policies across the state
for the people did not elude my
people who are my first principal
constituency. I projected that
Ogbaru people had no roads to
evacuate the farm produce they were
forced to harvest early due to
perennial flooding. The road from
Uga junction to Ossomala was
marked out and started as
government priority. Later the road
to Ogwu aniocha and Ogwu Ikpele
were started. I expect the member
representing the area at the House
at this time to continue to push for
it. I am no longer a member of the
House or Speaker and government
is a continuum.
Are there things you wished to
accomplish that you did not?
Thanks so much for asking me this
because there are many of such plans
that did not see the light of the day.
If there is a project I miss during my
tenure it is the Second Niger Bridge
which was projected to start after
the President had done the ground
breaking ceremonies. I looked
forward to that project because of
the positive impact I envisaged
upon Ogbaru people. I really wished
that project came during my time
because there would have been other
ancillary ideas to tie around it to
benefit my people both young and
old. It is the biggest thing that I
wished happened in my time. That
second Niger bridge landed and
passed through Ogbaru LGA and
would have sparked off big time
social benefits.
Another project which I believed
would do Ogbaru people so much
good is the Onitsha Wharf of River
port. It would have improved the
place of Onitsha as a hub of business
in West Africa. It would have opened
water transportation and opened up
Ogbaru for a big maritime business.
If I find myself at the House of Reps,
I will push for some of those things
to get approval. As Commissioner
for Transport in Anambra state, I
organized a public hearing on the
Onitsha River Port. I am passionate
about the project because I believe
it would have opened up plenty of
benefits for the people.
Do you believe in women
Liberation? Do you see yourself as
a liberated woman?
Yes I believe in women liberation
and I consider myself a liberated
woman in the sense of being
educated and acquiring skills of
survival because the world of today
requires women who know what’s
going on. Liberated woman can
assist the man. My own idea of being
liberated is not to be disrespectful
and antagonizing to the man or be
in competition with him but to be
equipped to assist and complement
him. In my case I started a small
catering business even before my full
time participation in politics. Some
of my friends laughed at me and
called it mama put but it has really
grown into a full scale catering
organization now. You see a lot of
women sit at home and gossip with
no understanding that they should
tap from the numerous benefits for
skill acquisition. The era of leaving
the home entirely for the man alone
to carry is gone. Again some women
have leadership potentials but
because they misunderstand what
liberation means and do not get the
encouragement of the man, they
bungle the opportunities. I think
that for any woman to succeed in
leadership position in Nigeria as in
Africa, she must respect the men.
Liberation is seen by many
women as women taking over from
the man..do you think same?
I do not think so. Many people
have misunderstood the concept of
women liberation. Some men also
have the fear of being dominated by
the woman. I believe that we all
were created for different purposes.
A woman can never play the
biological role of the man and vice
versa. God has made it so.

24—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
How Operation Python
Dance shattered
peace programme
IPOB, Arewa Youths, OPC, Niger Delta militants disappointed
• Allen Onyema also opens up on ownership of Peace Airline
• I have never met Patience Jonathan
• Women are my best friends, they run Air Peace
• I’m Nigeria’s greatest unsung hero
By Onochie Anibeze and Charles Kumolu
Two weeks ago, we published the first part of this long interview with Allen Onyema, the
Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace Airline whose peace-building roles in Nigeria appear
legendary and should earn him greater fame than the airline business considering the
importance of peace to our survival as a nation.
He spoke on how he set up peace initiatives in the 36 states of the federation and set up
a programme meant to transform Niger Delta militants, training them at home and
abroad in such a way that security reports informed President Yar’Adua to scout for
him and engage him. He did through Timi Alaibe and the Presidential Amnesty
Programme was born. Allen Onyema appears a silent worker. When Arewa Youths
issued Igbos living in the northern parts of Nigeria quit notice this man of peace
moved again to reconcile them. He caused Arewa Youth leader to meet with
Nnamdi Kanu. A programme with a potential to create a seeming lasting peace
was on when the military launched Operation Python Dance in the Southeast.
The exercise scuttled Onyema’s bold moves. For his peace initiatives, he says
‘I’m Nigeria’s greatest unsung here.’ He concludes that aspect of the story and
begins the story of Air Peace, the new airline he says has not only come to stay
but also make a tremendous mark in the industry. But who truly owns the
airline? Patience Jonathan as rumoured in many places? Excerpts:
DOUSING OF TENSION CREATED BY
IPOB AND AREWA YOUTHS - THEIR
TRAINING IN LAGOS AND IN THE US :
IPOB, AREWA, OPC
UNITE FOR PEACE
My plan was to bring the Quit Notice
authors, Kanu’s IPOB, Arewa youths, OPC and
all other ethnic organizations together for the
good of the country. I planned to train all
of them at my expense and I did. I have
travelled that road before. Remember that I
did same in the Niger Delta with my own funds
ever before the oil companies, especially Shell
Petroleum Company, discovered me and my
organization, FEHN and started bankrolling
our programs.
It is my belief that unless, we as Nigerians,
begin to fight for each other instead of fighting
against each other as it is now, nationhood
will definitely elude this country!
It was the burning desire to achieve peace
in my nation that propelled me to, not only
seek the approval of the presidency to allow
me engage Nnamdi Kanu and the Arewa
Youths, but also to singlehandedly sponsor the
Nonviolence training and transformation of
these IPOB, Arewa youths, South West youths,
some leadership of the Herdsmen’s Miyetti
Allah and others selected from every region of
this country to the Nonviolence leadership and
transformation program which took place
here in Lagos and at the Emory University in
Atlanta US! We trained about seventy five
people.
I brought down the Americans to Nigeria
to undertake the Level One of the program
here. It was a one week program while the
US leg of the program took two weeks!
The Americans were led by Dr. Bernard
Lafayette Jr. who was one of the top aides of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil
rights movement in the US. Remember, he
was the one that I brought in, together with
his University of Rhode Island Centre for
Nonviolence and Peace Studies, Kingston,
Rhode Island, USA to train and transform the
To my greatest
surprise, the
Arewa youths and
the others
gathered around
the younger Kanu
in a rare show of
solidarity, concern
and oneness
militants of the Niger Delta even
years before Amnesty was proclaimed for the
militants. He is widely regarded as the living
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
HOW OPERATION
PYTHON DANCE
SHATTERED PEACE
PROGRAMME
On the first day of the seven day program at
the LimeRidge Hotel, Lekki, Lagos, the
atmosphere in the hall was so tensed. The IPOB
Youths were seated on one side of the hall while
the Arewa youths on another. Kanu’s younger
brother, Prince, led the IPOB troupe. On that
opening day of the program, there were no
eye contacts between IPOB and Arewa youths,
no talking to each other, angry faces every
where while the Yorubas and other tribes sat
in the middle separating these Arewa and
IPOB folks! I was not bothered. I had
travelled this road before. The American
Consulate attended the program to see for
themselves.
I gave my opening speech which laid the
foundation for what was expected from each
and every one of them. Within one hour into
this program, Nigeria became one nation, one
destiny! Within three days, they had started
doing things for each other. We started seeing
the emergence of a new Nigeria. The
Americans were all excited with what was
unfolding. One of the IPOB men had a birthday
and it was celebrated for him by the Arewa
men!
We were in this program when the operation
Python dance broke out in the Southeast.
I was woken up by Mohammed
Danjuma’s call after midnight that something
was happening in the East. We feared for the
gains already made by the program. Would
there be an uprising from the IPOB boys
against the rest of the trainees? A lot raced
through my mind in seconds. We heard that
Kanu’s premises had been surrounded by
soldiers. To my greatest surprise, the Arewa
youths and the others gathered around the
younger Kanu in a rare show of solidarity,
concern and oneness! The training had
started working. Prince started calling home,
telling their members not to ever engage the
military or retaliate in any manner but to
remain calm.
The leadership of Miyetti Allah as
represented by their secretary, Saleh Kuba,
was there too. They all agreed that the
program must go on. Nigeria became one.
They were there for each other. I am extremely
proud of these crop of Nigerians.
My sponsorship of them to both the local
program and the one in the US was total.
From return tickets for local flights to Lagos
and back to their cities on two occasions, hotel
accommodation in both Lagos and in the US
for all, tuition fees for all the levels of the
program to return tickets for all to the US
program! No amount of money spent to bring
peace is too much.
Did the Arewa Youths Condemn that

•Allen Onyema
invasion?
I have told you that all of them were there
consoling the younger Kanu and his group.
They were all clogging around him in his
room. I was touched by them all. They all
promised never to be distracted. This was why
the program continued to the last day.
On the passing out ceremony, the Miyetti
Allah’s Saleh Kuba, decorated the younger
Kanu in a Fulani Herdsmen’s hat while the
other Arewa boys presented him full northern
attire. The IPOB group presented the Arewa
youths with South East attire too. The Yorubas
shared theirs too. I was moved by the show of
love going on. I realized the potentials we
could unleash unto the world if only we live in
peace and harmony.
The US Consulate was there to witness the
ceremonies too.
A month later, I deepened their
transformation by taking them all to the
United States.
I must commend the efforts of Mohammed
Danjuma in assembling most of the trainees
from the North and beyond. In him, I have
found a genuine Nigerian who is always after
what he could do for the wellbeing of the
country. I must commend Obinna Nwoke who
pulled all the strings that brought the IPOB
troupe to the table. It was he who got Kanu
for me and Mohammed in the first place.
Just as Mohammed, Obinna was tireless!
A lot has been said about the herdsmen
and their organization, Miyetti Allah. When
you meet their Secretary General, Saleh
Kuba, you will begin to wonder about the
veracity of all you have heard. I still see in
Saleh a genuine Nigerian searching and
probing for a rancour free relationship
between the herdsmen and their host
communities. A very intelligent and eloquent
young man very eager to find genuine
solutions to the problems. I thank God
Almighty for bringing these Nigerians to me.
I must also thank Jonathan Lokpobiri of Ijaw
Youth Council, Ebi Prenanagha and Rex
Anughoro. These three, having been trained
by me up to the US, have been working with
me since 2008 in these transformation
programs. In the Arewa Youths, IPOB youths,
OPC youths, Niger Delta youths and all that
were part and parcel of the training, I have
found a new family.
From peace making ventures to airline
business. What inspired you into setting up
airline business?
I went into aviation because I was told by
a friend that one commercial jet could create
about a thousand job opportunities.
Over the years, I have always
been involved in massive
philanthropy.
However, I
discovered that it
was being
abused. People
would come to
me with all
manner of
stories just
to exploit
m y
kindness.
I was
giving
and giving but the same people kept coming
and coming!
I therefore started thinking of a way out of
this. I started looking for massive job creating
businesses I could undertake that could create
jobs for the teeming mass of unemployed
people in my country. That was when I was
asked to think of airline business. This was in
2007. I shared the information with my wife
who was scared about the success of such a
venture. I was actually told that it was a risky
business, very capital intensive, highly
regulated but with the smallest of returns ever
known in business!
Did you have any experience in airline
business before you started?
I had no prior experience, not at all. The
first time I came close to having anything to
do with aviation was in 1998 when some
people approached me with a proposal for us
to jointly buy one cargo plane. I was told how
profitable cargo operations could be. I sold
some of my estate on the Island then for this
purpose, brought my money to the table but
they never brought theirs. It took me nine
months before I got my money back. I then
swore never again to be involved in anything
partnership in Nigeria. That was my closest
with aviation beforeAir Peace.
In 2007, after agreeing with my wife to do
this for the people, I started educating myself
about the business. I learnt on the job. I became
passionate and there was no going back for
me. I studied the failure of most of the failed
I didn't go into
aviation for
personal
enrichment but to
use it to serve God
Almighty through
touching lives of
people who
hitherto had no
one to do for them
airlines in Nigeria. I did my homework. I
developed a business plan that took care of
the issues, as I understood them then, that
could lead to failure. Anything positive you
see happening in Air Peace today was
ordained by God Almighty from the
beginning.
I didn’t go into aviation for personal
enrichment but to use it to serve God Almighty
through touching lives of people who hitherto
had no one to do for them. To date, we have
employed over 3000 people! Majority of our
employees are from very indigent families.
We have indirectly created several thousands
of other job opportunities as a result of our
operations. We have energized the Nigerian
economy since coming on stream.
I took on Engineer Gbolahan Abatan, the
owner of Air First, an aviation consultancy
company, as my consultant. I learnt a lot
from Gbolahan. He was introduced to me
by Mrs. Evelyn Tanko of the NCAA. I learnt
so much from him. Even though we fell
out at a time, I will never fail to
acknowledge his contributions to what
I know today and what Air Peace is
today. I engaged him to help me get
the Air Transport License(ATL).
Along the line, Gbolahan brought
in Engr. Yakubu Dhazia to help us
with the process of obtaining the
ATL.
. What were the initial
challenges And how did you
surmount them?
The initial challenge
was getting the ATL but
Mrs. Evelyn Tanko, Engr.
Yakubu Dhazia and
Gbolahan helped me.
When I received the ATL,
I thought that was all I
needed to start an
airline! Could you see
my naivety? When
Gbolahan told me
about the Air
Operators Certificate
(AOC), we had already
acquired about five
aircraft! I was angry to
learn that my ATL was not
all. I laugh when I look back at
the beginning of Air Peace. Some
stupid things happened. I never
knew about AOC, I thought it was
the same thing as ATL!
Another challenge was in the type of
aircraft to be used. I once flew in a chattered
Dornier 328 jet and I liked the way the pilot
was maneuvering a seemingly bad weather
with it. I fell in love with the aircraft and I told
myself I would buy it. When I recruited
Gbolahan, we started with Dornier 328 jet.
After that, we went to the D328 factory in
Munich, Germany, bought the second one,
travelled to America and bought the third
Dornier 328. We now came back to London
very happy that we had succeeded. Then
Gbolahan innocently shook hands with me
and exclaimed, “Chief, you see, these three
Jets would make a lot of money for you within
a year while servicing your loans from Fidelity
Bank effectively too.” I smiled and said, “so
these three jets will now create 1000 jobs
each?”
To my surprise, Gbolahan shouted NO!
He said, “Chief, all you need would be
about three smart girls that would be
marketing the charters and about two sets of
pilots or less for each aircraft! He was in the
charter business and he was sure of what he
was saying.
Are you saying that these planes cannot
create 3000 jobs?, I asked again. His emphatic
answer got me angry and disappointed. I was
unhappy. I quarreled with Gbolahan but it
wasn’t his fault. I was down and my head on
my palms.
He was bewildered at my reaction. He
now told me that the only one that could create
such jobs would be the bigger Boeing or Air
Bus jets and that would mean running a full
SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018—25
blown scheduled commercial airline. He
agreed that that would be creating massive
jobs but very unprofitable and risky. I told him
that that was what I wanted, job creation as
long as I didn’t lose my money. I was just plain
naive and stupid at my thinking that a 32
seater Dornier jet would create a thousand
jobs.
In less than a year into our operations, we
sold two of the Dornier Jets to a British airline’s
subsidiary in Europe.
SO WHAT THEN
HAPPENED?
The following morning, instead of going
back to Nigeria, we flew back to the US in
search of Boeing 737 jets to acquire. The
search took us to Texas where we met Douglas
Jaffe, the owner of Jetran International LLC,
a billionaire, who acquires planes in hundreds.
We told him why we came. He wanted to know
why I wanted to go into such a business? I told
him I just wanted to create jobs in my country.
Is that all, he asked. I said yes. He said, “you
know what? I believe you. Before you got here,
I had searched you out. Your country must be
proud of you for what you did in the Niger
Delta. I could see that you have been honoured
in America. The Mayor of Tuskegee honoured
you in 2008 with the City’s Badge in
recognition of your contributions to the peace
in the Niger Delta. I am highly honoured to
host such a worthy person.” He said this to
me. Gbolahan was my witness. This
happened. He now said that he would help
me
İ told him I wanted 737-800. He asked
me, where do you intend to fly to? Where is
your base? Name all your routes. I did. He fed
the routes into his computer and screamed.
He said, “you do not need 737-800 for 40 -
50minutes journeys! The farthest distance in
your country is about 1hr40mins(Lagos-
Maiduguri). Please don’t go there (referring
to my intention to use 737-800). That aircraft
should be for, at least, 4-5hours flight. You
would be putting a lot of cycles on the engines
for nothing, he continued.
I didn’t know what cycles meant then! I
wanted the 737-800 because one big airline
in Nigeria then was using them and Nigerians
had been told that any aircraft without the
winglet(that is, the tip of the wing pointing
skywards) was not only an old plane but a
very unsafe one! Majority of Nigerians,
including me, erroneously believed this
baseless deceit. Little did I know that a brand
new 777 manufactured this morning comes
with a flat wing and not the winglet. So Mr.
Jaffe laughed and laughed at my reasons for
wanting a 737-800.
He said, “ you don’t need this aircraft. You
will be going to the engine shop more
frequently. You are supposed to do one
cycle(meaning one landing) in four or five
hours of flying but because of the short
distances in your country, you would be doing
four or five cycles(that is, landings) in four
hours! Your maintenance cost would be huge.
He went on, “You are one Nigerian who is
talking about his people and their welfare
rather than looking for ways of laundering
funds. I will help you. I am going to get some
737-500s out of United Airlines for you. They
are coming with winglets!”.
My excitement could touch the roof. That
was why my first four B737-500 came with
winglets. They are called the Special
Performance variants.
The third challenge was the AOC. While
other airlines with only two aircraft got their
AOCs within 6-9months, it took Air Peace
almost 2years to be given AOC, yet we had
already acquired 7 aircraft! We showed
strength from day one. We even signed
maintenance contract with a British firm- BCT
for the day to day maintenance of our fleet.
We had already signed a five year Aircraft
Spare parts deal with one of the world’s
greatest PBH vendors, AJ Walter Aviation
Company of United Kingdom. We had
employed over 250 numbers of staff, yet
commencement of operations was no where
in sight.
I felt frustrated. A lot of stories were making
the rounds as reasons behind our not being
given AOC. Prominent among the reasons
being adduced by watchers of events was the
fact of my ethnicity and region. I was told
that my being Igbo from the South East was
the problem. The first person that told me
this was disappointed with my reaction. I hate
ethnic talks. I never believed and I never
wanted to believe. However, when we started
seeing actions which could be termed
deliberate, one started wondering if the
carriers of the rumors of ethnicity were not
right after all.
It got to a point that myself and my wife
decided to shut down Air Peace even before
we started. I couldn’t understand the intrigues
playing out. All I was hearing by very
concerned people, even non Igbos was, Allen,
you are an Igbo man, you will never be given
the needed licence to operate your airline.
Some people suggested that I put a
SouthWesterner or a Northerner forward as
the chairman so as to be able to get the Air
Operators Certificate(AOC). These
suggestions infuriated me the more. I never
believed in the ethnic talks. I am the founder
and chairman of The Foundation for Ethnic
Harmony in Nigeria (FEHN), an
organization that worked against the ills of
ethnicity and sectionalism.
When Discovery Airways owned by a
Continues on page 26

26—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
Continues on page 25
SouthWesterner and Azman owned by a Northerner got their
AOCs, the ethnic talk heightened. They told me that I could
see that those with two and three aircraft respectively had
been given the permit while Air Peace with 7 aircraft,
with an expensively outsourced maintenance regime
had not been considered at all. I became confused
when it started dawning on me really that there were
people that, for reasons best known them, would
do everything within their capacity to stop us.
We decided to shut down. All this happened
during the regime of President Jonathan. One
night, I couldn’t take it any longer. We decided
to shut down. That night, I called our Human
Resources Manager, Mrs. Bunmi Akano,
to invite all staff to the office in the morning.
I told her that we were shutting down, that
we were not wanted. I shed tears. I felt
bad that a country I had selflessly served,
almost sacrificing my life and the
comfort of my young immediate
family could so treat me. When I
decided to change the situation in the
Niger Delta on my own, just for the
love of one’s nation, I almost didn’t
see my young family for a year. The
passion for peace took over me to the detriment
of my immediate family.
I thought of my Nigeria Forever Project
which I took to the 36 states in 2004 solely
sponsored by myself. A program meant to
promote unity amongst Nigeria’s diverse
people. I thought of how the military failed in
the Niger Delta where violent militancy held
sway and how I single-handedly sponsored
the Nonviolence training programs that later
got the attention of the world to an emerging
new Niger Delta where peace would reign was
possible. I thought of my days in that region
taking these youths, training and transforming
them both at home and abroad for my dear
country while using them to bring out others
which led to the peace we are all enjoying
today. Before the oil companies, especially
Shell, started bankrolling me at their
discovery of the potency of my programs
against violent restiveness, I had done a lot
solely funded by myself for the love of my
nation. All these made me to cry. My wife, told
me that night that this country did not deserve
me
Ṁy family sat up all night sleepless. Some
staff who got wind of this wept. I informed
another friend that night about what to expect
the following morning. It was that person that
alerted the then Acting DG of the Nigerian
Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Engr. Ben
Adeyileka. Before I got to my headquarters
that morning, Engr. Adeyileka was there
waiting with several high ranking officials
from NCAA. He felt bad at my complaints.
He was visibly worried. He cursed anyone who
would stand in the way of Air Peace getting its
AOC. He was not aware of all the intrigues
that were playing out against us. He pleaded
with me to rescind my intended action. I backed
down. We completed our demonstration
flights doing over 50 hours of proven flights.
We got our AOC within the next two weeks!
Without God using Ben Adeyileka, we may
not have been operating today.
AIR PEACE IS AN AIRLINE RUN BY
WOMEN; THEY ARE MY BEST FRIENDS
WHAT ARE YOU DOING DIFFERENTLY
Air Peace is the airline run by
Women! In Air Peace, we do not
discriminate against anyone.
Your ethnicity, religion, region,
gender, age, race or creed does
not matter to us. We believe in
humanity. People are appointed
to positions of authority based on
merit.
Over 80% of my management
are women! They are young,
intelligent and vibrant. Over 90%
of the entire Air Peace workforce
are women, young and vibrant.
Recently, you saw rolling out an
all female crew flight round the
country.
We do not discriminate. My
wife is the Vice Chairman.
The Chief Operating Officer
(COO), Mrs Toyin Olajide, who,
as the COO, runs the airline
became the head few weeks before
we got our AOC at a young age.
She is Yoruba.
She is followed by the Chief of
Finance and Administration
(CFA), Mrs. Ejiro Eghagha, who
is equally young. She is Urhobo.
The Human Resources
Manager, Mrs. Bunmi Akano.
She is Yoruba. The Assistant HR
Manager is Margaret Adeshina-
Osa
Joy Imeli is the Head,
Monitoring and Compliance.
She is Idoma from Benue State.
Mrs. Obiageri Akano is the
Head, General Procurement. She
Women are my best
friends, they run Air Peace
is Ibo. Her deputy, Motunrayo Boladale Mrs,
is from Kabba in Kogi State.
Mrs. Eira Gafaar is our Training Coodinator.
I don’t even know where Eira comes from but
she is not Ibo. Mrs. Tina Ukonze is our
Manager, Cargo Operations. She is also the
Stations Coordinator. She is Ibo. Our Cabin
Services Manager is Florence Opia. She is
from Delta
Tracy Osakwe is our Business Development
Manager.
Melodie Zotachi is the Head, Engineering
Planning. Our Technical Library is headed by
a woman too. The AGM Accounts is Juliet
Ezedimbu Mrs. The Accounts Reconciliation
Manager is Ihuoma Ukairo. The Head of
Legal is Paulynne Ikem. Her deputy is
Bazuaye Mrs. The Acting IT Manager is
Chidimma Anumaka. The Acting Customer
Services Manager is Patricia Ebila Mrs.
Catering Services is headed by Mrs Gina
Adegoke while Mrs Peggy Ejiogu heads
Revenue Integrity.
Most stations are headed by
women
Mrs. Kachollom Nyam-Zang is the Station
Manager, Abuja. She is from Plateau State.
Port Harcourt Station Manager is Chiaka
Nwosu-Njoku.
Enugu station is headed by Amara Nwogbo.
Kaduna Station is headed by Mrs Fatima
Ndayako
Even at the international
stations, women are
heading them. Freetown is
headed by Chika Nwajiaku
and Love Adoba. Banjul is
headed by Mrs. Anu
Oluwapo while Accra is
headed by Mrs. Shola
Ogunniyi. Our UAE
operations shall be headed
While other
airlines with
only two
aircraft got
their AOCs
within 6-
9months, it
took Air Peace
almost 2years
to be given
AOC, yet we
had already
acquired 7
aircraft!
by Mrs. Reham Mustafa.
The list is endless. We have
several female pilots and
female aircraft engineers.
We have several female
flight dispatchers, duty
managers
and
Supervisors.
Women are running the
show in Air Peace. You could
see why we are succeeding.
They are very good and
dedicated. I hope our Air
Peace men are not angry o!
They are awesome too.
HOW DO YOU
COPE
WORKING
WITH MOSTLY
WOMEN?
They are the best.
Beginning with my wife, I
love them all. They are very
interesting to work with. We
didn’t set out to have an
almost all women
management or workforce.
•Allen Onyema
It just happened.
The COO, Toyin, was employed as a Safety
Manager. That made her a member of
management. We noticed during meetings
that she had a lot to offer than being just a
safety manager. My wife advised that we
should appoint her the Managing Director
hence the title Chief Operating Officer. She
was very young at that time and is still
young.
When our Finance department lacked
leadership, after the exit of the pioneer head
of the department, my wife suggested we
poach Ejiro from the bank. So we brought
another very young lady in Ejiro, to take
over as Director, Finance. She was later
promoted to occupy the enviable position
of Chief of Administration and Finance
being second only to the COO. A lot of them
were so appointed. They have all proved
more than worthy of their positions.
Their commitment and dedication to
their duties are unrivaled. Toyin and Ejiro
work very late because of the nature of our
operations. I still call them up in their
homes at odd hours. I doubt if they have
ever gone to bed before 2.00am just like
me. These ladies are awesome.
However, it is not all rosy every time.
Women are a different breed. Sometimes,
they would do something wrong and, in
order to get you to overlook it for them,
they would roll down their tears! It is called
tear factor.
Do you call this subtle blackmail? I used
to be moved by their tears but not any more.
I have a way of stopping them in their tracks.
It is either I shout and walk away or I call you
on the phone or intercom, do all the shout and
bang my phone. If you give them any chance
to roll the tears for you, nothing will ever be
achieved.
Women are also very competitive. They
want to be the best and better than the other.
You must manage their competitiveness for
the progress of the company.
When they do something that upsets the
system or me, they run to my wife for
protection. She is always settling issues. Very
interesting, women? Very interesting.
The Air Peace women are exceptional
beings. Their quality is unrivaled.
AS A MAN, HAVE YOU
EVER BEEN TEMPTED
BY THEM?
I have a workforce of almost 2000 women!
How many will you be attracted to? Women
are my best friends. I am used to hanging
around women just as you move about with
men. I have married women whose husbands
would settle issues for us! I don’t see women
as sex objects as some men would. That is the
difference. I respect them. They tell me and
my wife anything.
Sometimes, men tell me they envy me
because of my beautiful cabin crew girls. They
felt that they must be at my beck and call any
time of the day. To me, such talks are bizarre.
I sacked a staff for trying to behave
inappropriately in my presence. Yes, I did.
Because I am young and perceived to be rich,
a lot of people believe that the girls will be
rolling all over me and I all over them. To me
such talks are very disrespectful of women.
Women deserve to be better treated and
respected.
Again, you don’t rule out gossip when
you have women all over the place. They
gossiped that one Tina Ukunze was going out
with me. Once you are seen two, three times
with anyone, you must be going out with the
person! Tina used to hug me whenever I visited
the airport. They never knew then she was my
immediate younger sister, same mother same
father! If you ever have a female in your
traveling party both within and outside the
country, oh you must be dating each other!
These are the downsides of working with
women. They are always on the lookout for
who this chairman is actually liking. This is
expected. At first, I used to be very angry but
not any more. Working with them, you must
draw a line between you and them or else, you
get ruined. Now they know you are not
interested and keep their distance.
The problem I have are with new female
employees that don’t know anything about
you. They try to behave inappropriately before
you, even during interviews! I have
embarrassed a lot of them. If I notice that
your target of coming to Air Peace for
employment is to get me, you will never get
the job. I have done this several times.
In all, I am blessed to be working with
women!
. There are rumours in some quarters that
Patience Jonathan, the former First Lady owns
the airline and that you are just a proxy. How
true is this?
I have never met President Jonathan or
the wife, Mrs Patience Jonathan in my life! If
they or any other person in government owned
the airline, why did it take Air Peace almost
two years to get Airline Operating
Certificate?
How could you be a proxy to someone you
never met, not even for a second? I have been
involved in peace building all my life hence
the word, ‘PEACE’ in most of my companies.
It’s because I named the airline, Air Peace,
one of my rivals, in order to discredit us, started
spreading this message, in a deliberate
falsehood, that Patience Jonathan, who was
going by the alias, ‘Mama Peace’ was the
owner because of the name ‘Peace’ in Air
Peace. People immediately bought this story.
It was very annoying.
When I was spending huge sums in 2004
running around the 36 states engendering
peace in my country, no one enquired where I
got the money from. When in 2005, on my
own, I decided to seek ways of bringing down
militancy, recruiting Nonviolence training
experts the world over to assist me in helping
my country achieve peace in the Niger delta,
no one said a thing. Now, in line with my
continuous interest in the wellbeing of
humanity, especially in my country, I floated
an airline that has created thousands of jobs
for the teeming mass of unemployed people
in my country within a short time all I get in
return are extremely unkind and wicked words
and actions!
I feel extremely sad. I am Nigeria’s greatest
living Unsung Hero! Name anyone, other than
the founding fathers of this nation who has
done exactly what I have done over time
and still doing.
God is in my life and I feel it. Anybody
trying to take away the honour and glory
meant for God and bestow it on mere
mortals as they insinuate in the ownership
of Air Peace, will surely incur God’s wrath.
The pull him down syndrome is fast
becoming the biggest industry in Nigeria.
Nigerians are becoming very wicked. I
have seen passengers getting to the
airport during the peak times of the day,
seeing many hundreds of passengers at
my check-in area and, instantly, become
very envious! You would see some
counting the passengers. The next thing
you would hear is, “this guy is making
money, I have counted over a thousand
people here o, he would say. He would
multiply the number by the going fare,
arrive at a figure, then multiply it by the
number of stations the airline operates
into. They would arrive at an amount that
suited them. They would become angry
instantly. They would wait for the slightest
opportunity to start shouting obscenities
at my staff, calling us unprintable names.
Some would descend on your computers
to get them destroyed.
There are also people who are not
flying Air Peace today because they
thought the airline belonged to Patience
Jonathan! What a country! Every
successful person is now a thief!
Entrepreneurial sagacity and intelligent
business planning are no longer reasons
for success. It must have been through
stealing and corruption.
It is sheer wickedness! You may commit
some sins but never toy with any glory
and honour that belong to God Almighty.
It is the worst thing one could do to
oneself!
Many airline businesses have crashed
in Nigeria. What do you think affected
them and how will Air Peace be different
It is true that many airlines have
ceased to exist in Nigeria. But why have
they all failed? The owners of these
airlines had all succeeded in other
businesses before investing in airline
business. Why did they succeed in those
other businesses but failed in aviation?
There are fundamental factors
responsible for this situation.
To be Continued next week

SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018—27
08116759759
Woman with 'world's smallest
waist' flaunts eye-popping
figure in sultry selfie
Awoman with the “word’s tiniest
waist” dared to bare all in her latest
Instagram post. The reality TV star
regularly flaunts her jaw-dropping figure on
social media.
In one of her latest snaps, the 31-year-old
struck a pose in her underwear. Fans gushed
over her hourglass frame, which she has
managed to maintain despite being five
months pregnant.
In a post that was shared with her 191,000
Instagram followers, Sophia stripped off in
her bathroom. Wearing nothing but a black
bra and pink knickers, she showed off her
hourglass figure. The blonde bombshell’s
long locks ran over her body and gold jewellery
lined her arms. A touch of red lipstick
and fluttery eyelashes completed the seductive
look.
In a matter of days, the snap has racked
up more than 6,400 likes. Many also took
time to leave a comment, with one fan writing:
“You have perfect curves”.
Another said: “How is your figure this
good when you are pregnant.” A third added:
“You are the most beautiful woman in the
world.”
Rumours suggest that the 30-year-old has
had four ribs surgically removed to create
the extreme look. In a procedure deemed
too dangerous for German doctors, she reportedly
travelled abroad to get the work
done. Sophia now enjoys showing off her
figure in a series of raunchy outfits. Corsets
and bodycon dresses allow her to accentu-
ate her curvaceous frame.
While Sophia’s quirky look has
contributed to her fame, the social
media star is also known for
other reasons. She is the ex-wife
of Bert Wollersheim, who is a kingpin
of Dusseldorf’s red light district.
The tiny-waisted influencer has also
dabbled in TV and music. She came
second in Germany’s version of I’m a
Celeb last year, as well as releasing a
single with Snoop Dogg.
'Killer' walks into police station with
severed head of man he 'murdered
for making pass at his mum'
Ayoung boy in Pakistan suf
fers from a rare disease,
which has caused his
stomach to grow to the size of a
beach ball, and it hasn’t stopped
growing.
9-year-old Shah Gul Mazar
from a small town in Pakistan suffers
from Hirschsprung’s disease,
which has caused his stomach to
swell at an abnormal rate.
Hirschsprung’s disease is caused
by a birth defect and affects the
large intestine (colon) of young
children. This disease obstructs
the stool from passing through the
intestines because of a missing
nerve cell in the lower part of the
intestine.
His parents said that everything
was normal when Shah was born
but things changed when he was
one-year-old, the Daily Mail reported.
His stomach became
bloated and he cried continually.
He also couldn’t drink milk properly.
“We took him to local doctors
who diagnosed him with some
disease and operated on him to
remove a part of his colon. But
after few weeks of the surgery, my
son started feeling the pain again
and within few months, his belly
9-year-old boy with ‘beach-ball’ sized
stomac
omach awaits aits life-saving surger
gery
again started swelling,” said his
father, Niaz Mazari.
“We had taken him to a government
hospital where medicines for
his treatment were given for free.
But there was no improvement in
his condition and with every passing
day the size of his abdomen
was only increasing,” he said.
The parents do not send him to
school fearing that he might be
bullied. As a father of five and a
daily wager who earns less than
£3 (approx. US$3.80) a day, he
could not afford to get medical
treatment for Shah, who is his
third child.
News of Shah’s condition soon
spread around and a police officer
in Karachi contacted the family,
offering to pay for his medical
costs.
“I feel very bad about the kid. I
spoke to his parents and told them
to bring the child to Karachi so
that I can take him to Jinnah Hospital.
I will bear all his expenses
here in Karachi,” said Fida
Hussain Mastoi, the good samaritan.
With help extended to the family,
the parents are hopeful about
the future. “We are hopeful that
our son can have a good future if
he gets treated for his condition
at a big hospital. We hope god listen
to our prayers soon,” they said.
An his mum.
alleged killer walked into a police station with the severed
head of a man he is accused of murdering for making a pass at
Two men, known only as Giresh and Pashupati, began fighting at a
festival in India while working together before the brawl turned into a
gruesome nightmare.
The pair had reportedly been involved in a three-year-long feud which
ended with Pashupati, 24, allegedly chopping
off 36-year-old Giresh's head. Locals
said the horrific incident, which occurred
in an "isolated spot" in Mandya
city, India, was linked to Giresh's romantic
feelings towards the younger man's
mother.
Onlookers claim he drove 20km on his
bike to Mandya city carrying it by the
hair - and walked into a police station.
A shocking video shows him walking
through the streets with the bloody head.
Pashupati has been arrested on suspicion
of murder.
Superintendent of Police Shivaprakash
Devaraj, said: "We are investigating the
incident, but the accused and the victim
were good friends.
"It appears that the victim died in the
morning, just before his head was brought
to the station.
"Pashupathi informed the police officials
that Girish spoke ill of his mother,
which triggered a fight between the two."
The incident happened on September
30. Police said it was the third beheading
incident in the state in a week, and officers
fear the publicity they generated could
be inspiring copycat crimes.

28—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
Oba of Benin 2nd anniversary and book launch
Saturday, the 20th of October, 2018, the Oba Ewuare ll foundation in collaboration with the Benin
Traditional Council played host to eminent Nigerians, captains of industries, foremost traditional
rulers,diplomats and dignitaries across the globe to witness the unveiling and the launch of the book
“The Benin Monarchy, An Anthology of Benin History”. The event, which doubled as the second
anniversary of the Oba of Benin,Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolorkpolor, Oba Ewuare ll N’Ogidigan,
Oba of Benin Kingdom took place at the palace.
Omwon Ogho, Okpia Oba, Hosa Okunbo popularly known as Captain Hosa who is the Executive
Producer of the book extolled the sterling qualities of the rich Benin Kingdom and how he came
about the idea and inspiration that gave birth to the book.
There were goodwill messages from; the Chairman of the occasion, former military Head of States
Gen. Yakubu Gowon GCFR; the Edo State governor Mr. Godwin Obaseki; former President Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan GCFR; and the immediate past Governor of Edo State and the present National Chairman
of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole among others.
The event later shifted to Ugoneki where the Benin monarch performed the ground breaking of a
satellite town to build low cost housing estate with modern facilities like golf course, a school,
church and mosque, an hospital, a mini Stadium for sporting activities, restaurants and an Event Centre.
Story and pictures by ADENIYI IFETAYO and LOVELY IYAMU.
L-R:Mr Osahon Okunbo, Mr Rhodes, former President
Goodluck Jonathan, Captain Hosa Okunbo
and Mrs Adesuwa Rhodes.
Iyase of Benin Kingdom, Chief Sam Igbe.
Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar 111 and Omo N'Oba N'Edo Uku akpolorkpolor,
Oba Ewuare ll N'Ogidigan, Oba of Benin Kingdom., with palace guards.
Halima Buhari Sheriff with her husband, Alhaji
Babagana Sheriff.
L-R:Gen Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), Gov Godwin
Obaseki of Edo State with his wife, Besty Obaseki.
L-R:Hon Ogbeide Iyama, Chief Oseni Elamah,
Captain Hosa Okunbo, Sen. Mathew Urhoghide
and Hon E.J Agbonayinma.
Wak
ake Keep for Late Holy Mother Josephine Ayodeji Nuga
The Christian Wake Keep for Holy Mother Josephine Ayodeji Nuga , Primate and Founder of Oke
Igbala-Ayo Spiritual Church of Christ (C&S) OIASCC took place in Isolo, Lagos, recently.
L-R: Evang O.O Nuga, Apst Siyi Nuga, Pst .M.T.
Adesanya and Apostle F.I. Nuga.
L-R: Mrs Shola Oniyide, Mrs Kemi Oluwasanya,
Mrs Seyi Animashaun, Mrs Folake Nuga and Mrs
Yinka Nuga.
L-R: Pastor Segun Olugbile, Rev. Apos Modupe
Ogunjobi, Snr. Pst.(Arc) Femi Akinnubi, Bishop
Prophet Oluwademilade Akpata and Rev.( Dr.)
Gbenga Olusoga.

SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018 —29
By Ebun Sessou
Gospel songstress Lara
George among others
has been billed to
headline the 2018 Just
Worship organised by the
Shepherdhill Baptist
Church.
Other artistes include
Gloreyan Buraimoh, Gloria
Noren Rev. Bukki Oyewale,
Evangelist Dupe Olulana,
Pastor Phil and Lola Adika,
(Praise and Joy), Omotola
Sax, Funmi Sax, Bro
Michael Fashina
(ERUJEJE), Steve
Crown, Sammie
Okposo, Olumide
Sobowale,, Frank
Edward, Nathaniel
Bassey, Wale
Ayeni,, Samdeejay,
Oluwabunmi
Akinola, The
Levites, Faith
Halliday, The Indian
C h r i s t i a n
Congregation, Pastor
Gbenga Akande, among
others would take
participants through the all
session of worship.
Speaking on the
forthcoming programme,
themed, “Just Worship
2018”, JW7, billed for
November Friday 23, the
Lead Worshiper, Rev
Kristilere said it is a
gathering of true worshipers
all over the world who come
together and praise God.
Kristilere who expressed
hope of a new dawn for
Nigeria said, he sees a new
country full of righteousness
and fruitfulness. I see
Nigerians becoming all that
God destined them to be. I
see corruption becoming
history and bloodletting
confined to the dustbins of
history. I see godly leaders
full of integrity and goodwill
at all levels in the country. I
see the problems of today
becoming the testimonies of
tomorrow in Nigeria. I see
God taking His place across
the nation. I see God taken
over our election next year.
“I see hope. I see
development. I see poverty
giving way to prosperity. I
see greatness
a n d
fruitfulness. I
see a Nigeria
of our dream
emerging. I see
us activating
the hands of
God in this
nation. I see a
nation that will
become the
envy of the
international
community.
How can we get
there? Through
pure worship.
Let’s us all
come together
to birth a new
Nigeria”, he
urged.
His words: “As Nigerians,
we know our country is going
through hard times. We have
cried. We have criticised. We
have postulated and
•Lara
George
Lara George, Glowreeyan
Braimah, others to headline
Just Worship —-Krisitilere
...urges women not to panic
pontificated. We have
blamed everybody possible
for being the problems with
Nigeria. We have fasted and
prayed. We have held
convocations to plead with
God to transform our country
full of potentials and
resources.
“There comes a time in a
person or nation’s life when
everything seems to be at a
standstill. A time when the
whole world seems arrayed
against one. A time when
nothing else works. The
Israelites found themselves
I see a Nigeria of
our dream
emerging. I see us
activating the
hands of God in
this nation. I see a
nation that will
become the envy of
the international
community
in such
situations at
different
t i m e s .
G o d ’ s
antidote
was always
something
strange and
seemingly
senseless.
“Faced
with the
fortified
walls of
Jericho,
God told
His people
to dance
and sing
around the
city. It was
the craziest thing to do at
that time.
While calling on Nigerians
to see the programme as a
time to seek God’s face
through worship, he said,
although, there is pain on the
land, yet this is the time to
change gear. Someone says
In 2001 when a group of
individuals co-founded the
Women in Management,
Business and Public Service,
WIMBIZ, a nonprofit
organisation with focus on
women’s protection and
development in public and
corporate entities through
regular training and
networking, many certainly
presumed it would be just
another jamboree platform for
cheap talk and no visible
results.
But 17 years down the line,
WIMBIZ has proven itself to
be an entity that is not only
purpose-driven but resultoriented.
Thanks to its
founders: Yewande
Zaccheaus, Morin Desalu,
Omobola Johnson, the former
minister of communication and
a male, Chidi Okonjo, who
conceptualized it. Including
founding members like Ibukun
Awosika, Adeola Azeez,
Funmi Roberts, Faith
Matthews, Mairo Bashir, Toyin
•Gloreyan Buraimoh
it is pure insanity to
continue doing the
same thing and
expect different
results. “Since
everything else seems
not to be working, it is
time to give worship a
try. We surely need a new
attitude to attain our very
much desired new
altitude.
It’s time to forget about
our national woes, personal
challenges and collective
drawbacks to worship God.
It’s time to stop nagging and
start worshiping. It’s time
for spiritual soaking through
Just Worship. It’s time
for pure soaking in the
Holy Spirit through
pure worship.
“It’s time to stop
whining and start
Winning through
pure worship. It’s
time to step aside and
invoke God to take
His place. It’s time to
get lost in God’s
presence to be
rescued. It’s time to
enter His presence
with praises and thanks and
experience the victory.
He further said, that no
fewer than 10,000
worshipers including women
from different churches and
organisations will converge
in the forthcoming
programme.
“I must state that this is not
a concert or musical show. It
is not a prayer assembly or
religious convocation. It is a
serious spiritual exercise. We
shall invade the Heavens
with worship. We shall rend
the Heavens with praises.
We shall invoke God through
worship. We shall activate
His presence through pure
worship”, he said.
WIMBIZ: A precursor to
public service for women
By Josephine Agbonkhese
Olawoye, Ifeyinwa Ighodalo and
Ifeoma Idigbe.
With a vision to be the catalyst
that elevates the status and
influence of women and their
contribution to nation building,
and a mission to inspire and
empower women to attain
leadership positions in business,
management and public service,
WIMBIZ has, in no small
measure, lived up to its mandate.
In the last 17 years, it has
implemented programs such as
its Annual Conference, Annual
Lecture, Big Sister Program,
Graduate Internship Program,
WIMBIZ Capital, WIMBOARD,
Winning Without Compromise,
WIMPOL, Roundtable Lunches,
and CEO/Policy Maker
Interactive Series that doggedly
inspire, empower and advocate
for greater representation of
women in leadership positions
in the public and private sector.
Result-oriented programmes
Attracting over 1,000 women
from diverse areas of the
corporate, business and public
sectors, this event has earned its
place in the hearts of leading
women in business and careers
who are seeking opportunities
for personal and professional
growth. Themed ‘Unstoppable
You! Reinvent and Reinvigorate’,
its 2018 edition is billed to hold
in Lagos from 1st-2nd of
November.
Its Annual Lecture designed to
discuss topical issues that affect
women, their role in nation
building and their personal,
business or organizational
development, attracts over 700
women every year. Introduced
in 2016, its Big Sister Program
(BSP) also, is designed to
provide, equip and empower
young girls in public secondary
schools with life skills. As at
2016, about 3,000 girls across
three states of the federation;
Lagos, Niger and Rivers states,
had benefitted from the program.
WIMBoard (Nigerian Women
on Board) which was launched
in 2012, on its part, works to
increase the representation of
women on boards by promoting
Continues on page 30

30—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
How unhealthy narratives
hurt the Nigerian girl child
October 11- the world came
together yet again to draw
attention to the plight of the
girl child once again, and all over
the world. While women are
shattering glass ceilings everywhere
and others are exercising their
freedoms of choice, they are not
representing the majority of girls
across the world who will never have
such opportunities in their lifetimes.
The reasons are far fetched and
rarely zero on to our hypocrisy and
our lack of will to change the status
quo. When global conversations are
started about the plight of the girl
child in Nigeria, it is the Leah
Shuaibus- the famous ones- that get
all the attention.
An unimaginable number of
millions of dollars have been spent
of workshops deliberating on the
fate of the girl child. While the
deliberators sip coffee in the air
conditioned seminar rooms,
another 12 year old is given away in
marriage with no one to fight for
her.
She is being spoken of because she
fits into a certain narrative- of the
Northern Moslem child of illiterate
parents who has not, in her entire
life, seen no woman who is not
To make matters
worse, advanced
states such as
Lagos which
provide the most
opportunities also
have the highest
numbers of female
street traders and
sexually molested
girls in the
country.
covered up and silent; subservient
and submissive.
She knows no other way to be: no
one has told her. No one has shown
her. She is groomed, from the day
she is born, for the propagation of
the species for the advancement of
male agendas. She exists for no other
function than to procreate and give
pleasure while getting none herself.
This narrative is too narrow, too
WIMBIZ: A precursor to
public service for women
Continues from page 29
boardroom diversity. WIMBoard
trains, mentors, operates a
database of women who are
interested, competent and
qualified to serve on boards of
corporate bodies, and also
engages in advocacy.
WIMPOL (Women in Politics)
meanwhile, was introduced at
the 2014 Annual Conference to
address the low representation
of women in politics. According
to data from the organization, in
collaboration with credible
domestic and international
global organizations, it has
delivered programs which have
influenced over 93,825 women
in Nigeria since inception.
From WIMBIZ to public
service
Most remarkable about
WIMBIZ is that it heavily
underscores the place of training
and preparation for placement
and efficiency in key offices in
both private and public service.
The array of its stanch members
who now hold key public offices
attest to this.
Current Deputy Governor
(Economic Policy), Central Bank
of Nigeria, CBN, Aishah
Ahmad, for example, as at 2016,
was the Head, Consumer
Banking Division at Diamond
Bank while also serving as
Chairman, Executive Council,
WIMBIZ, having been a longserving
member of the
organization. By October 2017,
she had been appointment
Deputy Governor at the CBN
“The founding trustees at
WIMBIZ have been a positive
influence in their many
accomplishments across private
and public sector. At every turn,
they have distinguished
themselves as women of repute
and deep impact including
founding WIMBIZ as their
contribution to advancing the
cause of women everywhere,”
Ahmad once said in an interview
while reeling out personalities
who had influenced her life and
growth.
Hadiza Bala Usman,
Managing Director, Nigerian
Ports Authority, also a longserving
and top member of
WIMBIZ, is another.
Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Industry, Trade and
Investment, Jumoke Oduwole,
is yet another. Formerly a
lecturer at the Faculty of Law in
the University of Lagos where
she also doubled as a member
of the senate committee and as
a researcher, her curriculum vitae
indicates that Oduwole
participated regularly in the
organisation’s conferences and
lectures.
Kemi Ogunyemi, current
Commissioner, Lagos State
Health Service Commission, is
another beneficiary of its
strategic grooming. Ogunyemi
had joined the organisation
shortly after relocating to Nigeria
from the United Kingdom where
she last served as a lead nurse
clinician/lead chemotherapy
nurse, Hematology/Oncology
Outpatients Department at the
Royal Free Hospital, London.
shallow and therefore part of the
problem. In a twist of irony, it is so
exclusive, it fails to include the army
of hurting and needy girls across the
country in various strata of society
and various circumstances.
Three weeks ago, CNN once more
outraged the world by exposing a
trafficking route around The Bois
de Vincennes, a sprawling park on
the outskirts of eastern Paris. As
expected, Nigerian women
constituted a healthy part of the
commercial sex work community
there, trafficked as girls at a time
when they ought to have been
getting an education and acquiring
lifelong skills.
Back home, they are labeled
“greedy” and “stupid” as it was
revealed they had paid hundreds of
thousands- sometimes up to a
million naira to their traffickers,
whom we prefer to regard more as
businessmen than as the villains
that they are.
Since the early to late 90s,
trafficking of young women, mostly
from the Nigerian state of Edo had
turned from an occurrence to a
phenomenon, ultimately
culminating in the mass exodus of
illegal Nigerian migrants from
north Africa and the Middle East in
the last two years, many of them girls
whose lives had been terminated by
sex slavery.
They return not to a warm or
welcoming embrace of their
compatriots, but to the cold, stony
stares of judgement. A few have
‘made good’, building houses with
hard money, while others have
‘diversified’ into real business. The
majority return to the same
hopelessness from which they had
fled.
In 2016, 17 year old Aisha
Chuwas, previously known as Ese
Oruru finally found her voice in
defense of herself and her lover, an
18 year old called Yunusa who had
been accused of abducting her and
forcing her into sexual slavery.
The nation had been outraged at
the news of the abduction,
particularly against the background
of the Chibok girls saga, which had
at the time remained a mystery. The
narrative had then been of a jihadist,
extreme Moslem North trying to
force a Christian girl into Islam. The
reality is far more bizzare.
In a report published by Africa
Health, Human and Social
Development Information Service
(Afri-Dev. Info), in partnership with
African Coalition on Maternal
Newborn and Child Health; and
Pan African Campaign Against
Forced Marriage of Under Age
Children, Bayelsa state came 13th
for number of adolescent girls in
marriage, scoring worse than
Adamawa, Benue, Taraba and
Nasarawa states. Also, in the
indicator of females aged 20 to 24
years who gave birth before age of
18 years, Bayelsa again placed 13th.
In that category, Adamawa, Taraba,
and Niger states scored better than
Delta, Rivers, and, Anambra states,
the report shows.
The scorecards underline the links
between poor educational
attainment for girls, forced
marriage of underage children, and
under age child bearing. In this
regard, many Nigerian states have
done well. States such as Lagos and
Oyo have consistently provided
more than enough opportunities for
girls to remain in school long after
adolescence. Other states have tried
by paying for their students to write
WAEC, UME and other landmark
exams to ensure they at least have
one qualification with which to be
armed through life.
Unfortunately, even in states such
as Lagos, divides are sharp between
the rich and the poor are sharp. A
recent survey finds that in
neighbourhoods such as Ijora, the
average twenty year old has already
started engaging in childbirth.
Lagos has no known post secondary
scholarship scheme, definitely none
specifically for girls. The state’s
skills acquisition scheme is more
noise than substance.
To make matters worse, advanced
states such as Lagos which provide
the most opportunities also have the
highest numbers of female street
traders and sexually molested girls
in the country. While Lagos state
boasts on its official website of being
the State with the highest number
of public schools, students and
teachers with the highest number of
candidates for public examinations
in Nigeria since 1967, independent
studies suggest cultural issues ensure
many stay out of school for
domestic reasons. UNICEF says
60% are girls.
Perhaps the most insidious
violation against the girl child in
Nigeria is our reluctance to address
the age of marriage as well as the
age of paid labour. A majority of
middle to high income families
across the country engage underage
girls in domestic labour as ‘house
helps’. Many of these girls are never
paid directly and suffer various forms
of humiliation and abuse.
If you are taking part in the
conversations around the plight of
the girl child, do not look to the 12
year old bride in Zamfara or the
teenager from Edo pushed by
circumstances to sell her body in
Europe. Look, rather, at the young
house-help in your own backyard.
FIIRO, JAF urge women entrepreneurs
to be proactive in business start-ups
...says Nigeria ‘ll be out of recession with involvement
of women entrepreneurs
By Ebun Sessou
Director General, Federal Institute of Industrial
Research Oshodi, FIIRO, Prof. Gloria Elemo has urged
women entrepreneurs to be proactive in business start
ups saying that if women are involved directly in
business, the country will be out of recession
completely and unemployment will be eradicated.
Elemo said this recently during the 6th Annual
Lecture for Women Entreprenuers, organised by the
Joan Agha Foundation, said, women need to be
empowered and informed to know where information
and whenever they are embarking on business.
Elemo who said FIIRO is a federal establishment
organised as research institutes capable of enriching
entreprenuer’s technicality and potentials noted the
organization enhances women all the required skills
and capacity to set up their businesses.
Speaking on the financial challenges women face
when trying to establish business, she said, there are
series of programmes of government that can give
quick access to funds including bank of industry,
agriculture, special programme with CBN, microfinance
houses among others. Noting that the
organisation links women to the finance institutions
to be able to get loans, grants to start business.
According to her, “Our success is that you are able
to establish your business. It is not just on paper, we
do recommendations and we ensure that what you
are doing is sustainable. We wouldn’t want the money
to be wasted. We also stand as surety to ensure that
you get the funds.
Meanwhile, the founder of Joan Agha Foundation,
JAF, Mrs. Joan Agha, said, there are lots of
opportunities women would derive if they are well
connected.
Speaking on the annual lecture, she said, it is a
key developmental programme set to transform the
lives of aspiring and existing women entrepreneur
by equipping them with powerful information and
skills to succeed in their business.
Her words: “According to the National Bureau of
Statistics, Nigerian women constitute 70 percent of
the informal economy and one third of Nigeria’s
formal small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs
are owned by women.
“Studies also show that despite the influx of women
entrepreneur, not much growth of these businesses
have been recorded due to limited access to finance,
markets and entrepreneurial skills.
“This is to further create a platform and unique
opportunity for women entrepreneurs to ensure that
they are well equipped to conceptualise, initiate and
operate successful entreprises which will develop
into future big businesses.
“The focus is to rejuvenate the energy, power and
intelligence of women entrepreneurs to contribute
to the next stage of business evolution.
With the theme, “Women Entrepreneurs: Catalyst
for Women Development”, Agha implored women
to be sincere to themselves so that they can be like
any other developed nations.
On the foundation, she said, the issue of funding
has been difficult.
“We also grant scholarships to brilliant indigent
students. And 39 students have benefited from
primary to tertiary institutions. We give grants to
youths and lots of youths have benefited.
“We have everything in Nigeria and so it is our
responsibility to become a producing country. Even
if it is our own food.
“We monitor all the people that are given grants
to ensure that their lives are better. There is no
country that can survive without producing
something and that is why I am interested in
entrepreneurship especially in women. The road
to survival for the nation is in production

SATURD
TURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018—31
bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk
Your ex could come in
handy when you’re
in-between lovers!
IT was a chin-wagging session with us
‘girls’ a few weeks back in Layo’s small
bungalow. A very successful jeweller, she
travels far and wide to source for the
products she sells and charges hard
currency for most of the items. She was rich
to say the least. A mother of three children,
all from different fathers, she’d all along
said she never wanted to get married—not
because no one asked her to, but because
of her impatience with most of the men she
knew and their antics. She was not
prepared to sacrifice her business and
success for any male insecurity. We all have
a bit of respect for her clout— she seems to
have men hanging around her all the
time—even her exes.
“I discovered, a long time ago, that my
lack of a permanent man in the house
shouldn’t stop me from having a nookie
anytime I fancy one,” she’d once bragged.
She was very open about her impressive
collection of sex toys purchased all over the
world. But she said sadly that, though these
gadgets were god-send, they’d never
compare with a man in flesh and blood that
cuddles up to you in the night and whispers
sweet nothings in your ears after a
passionate love session. When I snorted she
needed to show me a number of men who
did that, she smiled coyly.
On this particular girls’ night, Layo
purred like a contented cat. Without our
prompting, she told us that Dolapo spent
the whole weekend with her! We were all
wide-eyed with envy. Dolapo and Layo
have this love-hate relationship where they
couldn’t live together—nor keep their
hands off each other. They exude raw sex.
For the couple of years they lived together,
raw passion crackled between them. Once
we were at a birthday bash in their flat
when Layo disappeared, purportedly to get
a few bottles of wine. Dolapo, who’d been
leering at her all evening, skulked away
in her direction. “I bet he’s after her for a
quickie,” one of us cackled. We told her
not to be silly, but all eyes were on the pair,
just in case. Dolapo emerged first, looking
triumphant and Lola had the grace to look
bashful when the girl who first made the
observation hooted she knew a freshly laid
chic when she saw one! Sadly, the affair
fizzled after she had Dolapo’s child. Layo
moved to her own house shortly after the
break-up.
“He came to see me on Friday night with
a huge wrap of Ojojo (wateryam balls) and
piping hot suya. He knew they were my
favourite finger foods,” continues Layo.
“Anyway, I let him in, opened a bottle of
wine. One thing led to the other and he
spent the night. His wife thought he was
at an all-night party and they’d both
agreed a long time ago that he shouldn’t
leave any party in the middle of the night
to rush home in case armed robbers were
on ‘duty.’ Besides, he is the father of my
only son and could come and go as he
pleases. As irresponsible as he is, with child
maintenance, he is a stud and I’m not
ashamed to claim my entitlement when it’s
on offer. After all, I met him first and would
have married him if I had wanted to. But
keeping him for sex is a good decision for
me.”
As the evening wore on, a few girls,
emboldened by booze, agreed that it is better
at times to stick with the devil you know,
“Ex-boyfriends could be handy when you’re
in-between boyfriends or husbands!” One of
them observed. “As long as you’re still on
speaking terms, there’s no reason why you
shouldn’t have him for action-replays from
time to time. There are no getting-to-knowyou
periods to endure and after the odd meal
and drink, you can get straight down to
business without even leaving your living
room (or his!), if necessary. “In the absence
of a spur-of-the-moment venue, then the
ideal venue could be a posh hotel. If he
wants you badly enough, he should find the
cash for it. You get a giant bed, fluffy hotel
towels, a minibar and 24-hour room service.
Better still, you could have pity on him and
smuggle in some well-chilled drinks and hot
snacks. As soon as the door clicks behind
you, there will be no need to actually leave
the room, and nothing else to do but have
sex. That way, you cut off being dragged to
restaurants or nite-clubs when the end-result
might still be sex. The beauty of the hotel
room option is that you don’t have to wear
anything fancy—just your birthday suit
through the period you’re locked in!”
Wow! Wouldn’t it be boring to be at it all
day—and probably the next—I asked her?
“You amaze me at times.”Another friend
answered disdainfully.”It’s not as if you’d
start tearing your clothes off as soon as you’re
alone. You’ve got to test the effectiveness of
the skills that have worked for you in the
past. Take this politician I met on one of my
trips to London. When we finally found time
to be alone, he came to the guest-house he
lodged me in, expecting to spend a few hours
and dart off. I’d checked in wearing a very
sexy boubou—but with nothing else. As soon
as he came in, I let the wide neck of the
boubou slant to the left, revealing the top of
one of my boobs. I could see how
nervous he was as he fiddled with
the wine. When he brought me a
glass, my right leg was draped over
the arm of the settee. As he talked,
he was gibbering until he could no
longer help himself. He charged at
me like a man possessed....” Back to
an ex,what if you couldn’t lay
your hands on one you
would really want to have a
relationship with? With
exes, there are usually some
bitter experiences on both
sides. “Not with all of them,”
snapped Layo. “I have three
men who I’ve had children
with; surely no bitterness
could override our children’s
welfare? And if, somewhere
along the line, you could get
a bit of fun off him, why not?
And, in the absence of an ex,
a good male friend comes in
handy. He can provide an
excellent alternative. He is
available and all you have to do is
seduce him by flirting with him and
throwing a few hints. I’d even
treated one to a soft porn video in
the past and that gave him the
message.”
It’s certainly a brave new world
for girls out there! In the past, a girl
was encouraged to marry a good
professional—like a doctor—a
lawyer or-an accountant. These
days, girls are all these things and
more-so, why not be the aggressor
when it comes to sex? What’s more,
constant sex could be what the
doctor orders! According to a recent
medical report: “Regular sex
releases hormones that actually
keep couples close. And if you don’t
have a steady partner, safe sex with
a trusted partner helps your body
As the evening
wore on, a few
girls,
emboldened by
booze, agreed
that it is better
at times to stick
with the devil
you know, “Exboyfriends
could be handy
when you’re inbetween
boyfriends or
husbands!
remember how to respond. Or
if you’re menopausal—and not
sexually active or taking
estrogen—it keeps the blood
flowing through those vessels.
You’ve got to prevent your
vagina from shrinking and
getting dry—an ex’s amorous
advances are fantastic for that!”
A note of warning though:
Not all exes will fall into your
scheming traps. After you’ve
tanked him up with a lot of
booze and hinted there are
areas of your relationship that
need exploring further, you
look out for his response. If he’s
more than eager to help, go for
it! If, however, he feels
awkward, simply pass things
off as a drunken mistake and
look for your next victim!
Truth about your love life:
Certain truism’ about relationships are still kicking around years
later. But what’s actually true and what has since been
disapproved as rubbish?
Myth: You should forgive and forget.
Reality: By all means forgive but just not straight away! Research
shows if you forgive too quickly, your partner has no motivation
to stop doing whatever it was they did.
Myth: Arguing is bad for your relationship.
Reality: Not arguing can be worse if one of you is keeping quiet
about things, simply to keep the peace. What’s more important
than the frequency of arguing is how quickly you make up. The
quicker you recover from conflict, the happier you’ll be.
Myth: Settling down makes you fat.
Reality: True! The average person piles on over half a stone in
the first year of a new relationship. And, couples are likely to
gain one stone and four pounds each after 10 years together. But
only some of it is because we let ourselves go. The rest is because
couple’s activities tend to focus more around food than singles.

32—Vanguard, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2018
Yetunde Arebi
Twitter: @yetundearebi
yetty5050@yahoo.co.uk
08054700825
Hi!
An integral part of the African family
setting is the extended family practice.
Hardly will you find a Nigerian home
without an extended family member
resident as some point. Many have
them living with them permanently.
These people are either from the wife's
side of the family or the husband's.
Each side, usually comes with a sense
of entitlement and justification for their
presence in the home. While it is not
clear which of the sides take more
advantage of the blood ties to claim
right of access to the home, the cultural
and traditional privileges accorded to
men by society often earns the
husband's family more justification and
claim to the house. The argument is
that the man is the spiritual and
physical head of the family and he
(sometimes alone) finances the smooth
running of the house. The house is
therefore his and his family must be
given the due recognition and respect.
The traditional role and place of the
wife is evidently emphasised here and
she is expected to kowtow if she wants
to enjoy her marriage and relationship
with her in-laws.
However, those who pooh pooh this
stand believes that though the wife is
the second-in-command, she is firmly
in charge of the running of the house
and whatever she wants goes. You will
only be able to stay and in fact, enjoy
your stay if she wants you to. The fact
that she has her husband's ears and
balls also means that she can
manipulate things to her favour if she
does not like you or want you around.
It is based on this premise that the
writer of the contribution I will be
sharing with you today wrote. She
wrote in response to an article titled
same as above, which featured the
experiences of a young lady living
with her brother-in-law (older sister's
husband). Simply called Sister G
because of the nature of the sensitive
information contained in the article,
she narrated how her rich brother-inlaw
treats her and the rest of her family
with disdain, shows great disrespect
to their mother and never offers them
a helping hand even though they are
aware he can afford it.
Buttressing her position with various
harrowing events in her sister's home
and how the guy often verbally abuses
their family, she expressed dismay at
how their loving mother ignores him
and takes everything in her stride,
insisting that they must endure the
hardship in order to safeguard their
sister's marriage. The first to break off
from what she described as a slave
camp, Sister G was able to complete
her university education, left home for
the Youth Service and never returned
to her sister's home. She said she had
to share her story to prove to all that
there is no permanent condition in life
and that people must show kindness
at all times. Reacting to Sister G's
article, Becky, directs her focus on
wives and their reluctance to accept
their husband's relatives as theirs. She
cites to different but similar examples
with the wives of her brothers. Enjoy
reading:
Dear Yetunde,
I READ your article about living with
relatives and the associated problems.
l want to say here that, much as the
in-laws (husband's family)have their
faults, the greater faults are that of the
wives. After my school certificate
exams, I went to stay with my brother
and his wife. When I was going, my
Re: Life in family
slave camps
However, those who
pooh pooh this stand
believes that though
the wife is the secondin-command,
she is
firmly in charge of the
running of the house
and whatever she
wants goes
mother gave me some foodstuffs for
them, which I delivered. My brother
was then working in an oil company
at a distant city and he was always a
week on duty and a week off duty.
While he’s away, my brother’s wife will
pack all the foodstuffs in the house to
her room. Every morning, she would
call my cousins or I to prepare pap and
take it without anything. She will
either buy Akara (bean balls) or
Moimmoin (bean cake) to go with her
own. On coming home in the
afternoon, she may buy pounded yam
or make Amala for lunch, while asking
us to soak Garri and drink. Her excuse
was always that we would eat good food
in the evening. And what is the good
food? Eba maybe, or Beans.
She sleeps while we
sweep the whole house,
wash her son’s clothes and
fetch water because they
had no well or tap water in
the house then. My cousin
even washes her clothes. I
couldn’t swallow my pride
to do that anyway. Despite
all that we did in the house,
she would never permit my
cousin to touch her things.
She even went to the extent
of calling my cousin
abusive names because
after washing her clothes
and that of the kid, she (my
cousin) used the
remaining soap to wash
her own clothes. One day,
I couldn’t stand the insults
any longer. So I had to
defend my cousin, more so
that my cousin is older
than me. But for the grace
of God, I could have
beaten her up as my
brother was not around.
Then one day, my brother
heard all the atrocities
she’d been committing. As
usual, she brought out a
tuber of yam that we
should cook and pound
which we did. After wards,
she dished out our portions
as if we were both six or
seven year old kids. I was
20 at the time while my
cousin was 21. She made
her regular statement “If
it’s not enough for you,
make eba and eat”. I
refused to eat anything
and when my brother
asked me why, I told him
that the portion given to us was not
enough for me not to talk of the two of
us. He said “but you cooked it, you
should have known that it would not
be enough, or what were you thinking?
That day, I told him everything. He
tried to settle it but the wife had done
too many things for me to make friends
with her. More so that she did not
change. Tell me, if you were the
mother-in-law and your son’s wife
behaves that way to your daughter, will
you be happy?
The mistake most wives make is
seeing the husband’s family as a
threat, instead of accepting each
person as they are with love. His sister
as her sister, his mother as her own
mother and so on.
My immediate elder brother’s wife
is another character. Though in her
own case, she can greet from now till
tomorrow, but even if you are spending
a day, she might just come and say “
sister I cooked beans but I know you
don’t eat it” or sister, there is yam, but
nothing to eat it with”. The day I really
got her idea was when I slept in the
house. The next day she said, "sister
will-you take pap?” I said it’s alright,
only for her to call a pap hawker and
asked me to come and buy it with my
money. I told her I thought she had
prepared it that she shouldn’t worry
as I will go and eat in the Campus.
(They lived close to my University so I
was always going there for short stay
over)
On another occasion, there was no
water on the Campus, so I went to a
friend’s house to get some water and
stayed over for some time to play with
her child (my niece). Only for my
brother’s wife to come and meet me
there just as we were about going out.
She said, “sister, we have yam (she
brought the half tuber out) but there is
nothing to eat it with”. I told her not
to worry. When she left, my friend
asked me if her mother and two of her
younger ones staying with us would
not eat that morning. If they will, with
what would they eat their own yam? I
had no answer but I only told her I
wasn’t surprised.
This particular brother is my half
brother and his own mother is dead. If
she were to be alive, I believe that my
brother’s wife will behave to her in the
same manner she has been doing to
us. It is not as if I don’t have sistersin-law
that are good. My eldest
brother’s wife treats all of us as if we
are her own blood relations. Even when
my brother is hard-up financially, she
will prepare food and we will all share
it like that. That was my explanation
to my other brother that I had a faceoff
with. It is not as if I don’t
understand there are hard times, but I
don’t understand where one person
eats while others starve. Or one arm
of the family eats and enjoy their stay
while the others and treated shabbily
and forced to leave in anger.
Where I come from, my mother used
to buy the same things for her children
and her house helps. So, even if my
brothers’ wives take us as house helps,
I do not expect such maltreatment
especially when they will not do the
same thing to members of their own
families.
You can imagine that some girls pray
not to have mothers-in-law or marry
the first born son of a family, while
forgetting that if they have brothers,
the fiancé's too may be saying the same
prayers.
Becky by email
Do have a wonderful weekend!!

SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018—33
Prostate cancer is the most
common cancer in men and
the second most
common tumor diagnosed
worldwide. The prostate is a walnut
sized gland that is part of the male
reproductive system. It is located
beneath the urinary bladder and in
front of the rectum. The prostate
makes some of the fluid that
nourishes and protects sperm cells
in the semen. Just behind the
prostate are the seminal vesicles,
which make most of the fluid for the
semen.
Prostate cancer is to men what
breast cancer or cervical cancer is
to women. It has the potential to
grow and spread quickly, but for
most men, it is a relatively slow
growing disease.
About 20,000 men die of prostate
cancer every year in Nigeria. One
new case occurs every 3.3 minutes
and a man dies from prostate cancer
every 20 minutes.
On daily basis, at least 14 men die
in the country and 1 in 5 men will
be diagnosed with prostate cancer
in their lifetime.
A black man is 70 percent more
likely to develop prostate cancer
than a Caucasian man, and is
nearly 2.3 times more likely to die
from the disease.
Even if you don’t smoke you are
more likely to develop
prostate cancer than to
develop colon, bladder,
melanoma, lymphoma and
kidney cancers combined.
As men increase in age, the
risk of developing prostate
cancer increases
exponentially. About 6 in
10 cases are found in men
over the age of 65.
if you have relatives—
father, brother, son—with a
history of prostate cancer,
then you are twice as likely
to develop the disease.
Men with prostate cancer
do not always experience
symptoms, however, if the
cancer is caught at its earliest
stages, most men will not
experience any symptoms.
Prostate cancer is 100 percent
treatable if detected early.
Most of the time, men
don’t have symptoms. Some
men, however, do experience
changes in urinary or sexual
function, including frequent
nighttime urination, painful
or burning urination,
difficulty getting or maintain
an erection or a dull pain in
the lower pelvic area.
Men of average risk are
often advised to consider
screening earlier at age 40
to establish a baseline. Every
man needs to learn what
makes the most sense for
their personal health risks
and lifestyle.
Screening is to detect
prostate cancer at its earliest
stages, before any symptoms
have developed. That’s
when the cancer can be
treated most effectively.
Screening may include a
PROSTATE CANCER:
What every man should know
Prostate-Specific Antigen,
PSA, blood test, with or
without a Digital Rectal
Examination, DRE.
Elevated PSA levels do
not always mean cancer.
Only about 30 percent of
the time does an elevated
PSA indicate cancer.
Other conditions that can
raise PSA include an
enlarged prostate due to
benign prostatic
hyperplasia (which can
affect ability to pass
urine), prostatitis (an
infection or inflammation
of the prostate gland), or
even injury or recent
ejaculation (which can
raise PSA)
If caught early, prostate
cancer has 95 percent
survival rate. Purpose of
screening is to detect
prostate cancer at its
earliest stages, before any
symptoms have
developed.
Old age particularly 65
and over is the main risk
factor for prostate cancer.
The older a man gets, the
more likely he will
develop prostate cancer.
The disease is rare in men
under 45 years of age.
Diagnosis of prostate
cancer should be part of a
routine annual
examination by a primary
care doctor. The prostate
cancer tests for early
detection and screening
are the Digital Rectal
Exam, DRE, combined
with a blood test to
measure the Prostate
Specific Antigen, PSA level, in the
bloodstream. Abnormal DRE,
elevated PSA or confirmation of
more advanced Prostate Cancer
will require additional testing.
This is an enzyme found in the
blood produced exclusively by
prostate cells. Normal levels of
PSA in the blood are small amounts
between 0-2.5 ng/ml. Higher than
normal levels, greater than 2.5 ng/
ml, can be caused by cancer or
benign, non-cancerous conditions
such as enlarged prostate, prostate
inflammation, infection, or trauma.
All elevated readings of PSA
should be checked.
The older a
man gets,
the more
likely he will
develop
prostate
cancer
Occasionally, a Digital
Rectal Exam, DRE, does
not reveal any
abnormalities, but the PSA
is elevated. Sometimes the
opposite is true, and PSA is
normal, but the DRE is
abnormal. For this reason,
the Prostate Specific
Antigen PSA blood test
together with the DRE is
best for early detection.
Normal prostate cells and
prostate cancer cells make
PSA even if they are outside
the prostate. That is why
PSA monitoring after
treatment is so important.
Returning prostate cancer
cells, confined to the
prostate or that have spread
to the bone or lymph nodes,
will cause the PSA to rise.
PSA is important for
diagnosis, treatment and
follow-up as well as useful
for comparing treatment
results.
Research has investigated
what PSA levels within age
ranges should raise concern
about the likelihood of
significant prostate cancer.
PSA is measured by a
simple blood test. The
typical test for diagnosis
and risk group
determination is the “total
PSA” which is simply a
measure of all the PSA.
Since the amount of PSA in
the blood is very low,
detection of it requires a
very sensitive technology
(monoclonal antibody
technique).
Diagnosis is confirmed
with a biopsy. The biopsy
can give important
indications as to how
extensive the cancer is
within the prostate by the
number of cores that are
positive for cancer. The
pathologist will also look
for perineural invasion,
(cancer invading small
nerves within the prostate),
which can be an indication
of how likely the cancer is
to spread outside of the
gland. Prostate Cancer
Gleason Score is set by
inspection of prostate
cancer cells how quickly it
grows and how likely it is
to spread outside of the
gland.
The Prostate Cancer
Gleason Score ranges from
2 to 10. To determine the
Gleason score, the
pathologist Elizabeth uses a
microscope to look at the
patterns of cells in the
prostate tissue.
A high Gleason score
(such as 10) means a highgrade
prostate tumour.
High-grade tumours are
more likely than low-grade
tumours to grow quickly
and spread.
When facing a diagnosis,
there are a lot of things for
you to consider. Is prostate
cancer or a benign
condition? How bad is this
prostate cancer ? Which
treatment is right for you ?
What are the side-effects of
treatment? How long is the
recovery time and which
doctor is best ?
The good news is that the
probability of survival for
most prostate cancer
patients is very good.
However, you need to
complete treatment. Some
treatments increase the
likelihood that your
prostate cancer will not
return.
It is extremely unusual
that there is any need for
you to rush to a decision.
Most cancers have been
quietly sitting in the
prostate, slowly growing for
10-15 years. You haven’t
just gotten cancer, you have
just been diagnosed with
cancer that you have been
living with for a long time.
No need to become an
instant expert. Take your
time, become informed.
Learn about available
treatment options. Select
several specialists who can
describe the different
treatments. Arrange
consultations and discuss
the options.

34—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
Shehu Sani, the social crusader, ate
his cake on the floor of the Senate. But
he wanted to have it at the APC
primaries. Others defected after
burning their bridges. But he stayed.
Shehu Sani had quietly waited in the
shadows of righteousness for a ticket
without contesting in the primaries. He
didn’t mind that the ticket belonged
to another Sani. Shehu Sani who hates
cabals and jackals and hyenas, prayed
fervently that a new friendly jackal
could make the kill for him.
But Shehu Sani wasn’t the real
travesty. Oshiomhole grew up fighting
for the oppressed. But anyone who
watched the recently concluded APC
primaries and the arbitrariness and
skulduggery that defined them would
worry for the party leadership and its
reputation. The party collected money,
huge sums from some aspirants,
disqualified them overnight, so that
certain other aspirants can be given
automatic tickets.
The Oshiomhole of the labour union
days would have acted differently. He
would have told those he planned to
exclude not to buy forms. That was
when he feared no one and never
wanted to be seen as slippery. He
would have welcomed accusations of
being a tyrant if that meant he would
not be accused of deception. In some
states, Oshiomhole’s national working
committee was truly brazen. They
didn’t disqualify aspirants. They
allowed them to contest and win. Then
they simply erased their names and
filled in the names of their anointed
candidates. Oshiomhole followed no
ground rules. His firmness and
perhaps good intentions now seem
swallowed by pervasive arbitrariness.
Rascality has seized Buhari’s party.
In Rivers state, Senator Abe does as
he pleases. In Zamfara, the governor
threatened to butcher party officials
from Abuja if they dared come into his
state to repeat the cancelled primaries.
In Ogun, the governor wanted to be
treated like a Jagaban. He got a kick
in the groin. APC stalwarts now go
on television to stab the party, gleefully.
Buhari and Osinbajo, watch and say
nothing.
But what will you say of Obasanjo.
When I was a child I used to think our
leaders were all serious men. In
September, Obasanjo said Atiku was
too corrupt to lead. In October, he said
Atiku was an economist, a master job
creator, the redeemer of a doomed
country. If Obasanjo still had a little
of his candor of the 70s he would have
Former President Richard Nixon in
an address to the nation about
national energy policy on November
25, 1973 was for steps America must
take to solve what had almost become
intractable problem. It was about the
sudden cutoff of oil from the Middle
East that had turned the serious
energy shortages of that winter into a
major energy crisis. It was an oil
embargo. In that address, Nixon was
clear that as far as energy was
concerned, American will hold their
fate and their future in their hands
alone. Subsequent administrations
have had an abiding faith in that
address that sounded prophetic. The
Democrats and Republicans that have
alternated power have a bipartisan
approach regarding energy by
investing billions of dollars in research
as a development imperative. From
either side of the political spectrum the
goal is to break the OPEC
manipulative tendencies in global
crude oil supply as well as find
alternatives to fossil fuels.
Successive administrations have
deployed whatever was available in
their arsenals of research strategies to
destroy the incentives to cartelise
crude oil exports. The Donald Trump
White house is continuing in his
America First Energy Policy. Could one
be tempted to believe that America is
winning the war if not the battle
through the shale revolution? Many
may pick holes in the method adopted
by the United States to reestablish
itself as an energy superpower having
lost it when its oil peaked in the early
1970s that made it possible for the
OPEC and its de facto leader Saudi
Arabia to slam embargo in crude oil
supplies. But the strategy is what oil
Nigeria : A true Nollywood country
simply put his hands up and told the
nation that he couldn’t form the
coalition of rescuers that he had
promised in January. That would have
been honorable. It was painful
watching Obasanjo, at his age, go
through twists and turns that will test
young contortionist all because he
wanted to endorse Atiku and teach
Buhari a lesson.
Let’s leave Obasanjo and receive
Atiku. Atiku has proven an instant
miracle worker. Hate speech has
reduced. Before he came many had
sworn in churches that the nation was
doomed with any old president. They
said the old was inevitably sickly.
Father Mbaka said that a sickly
president would make the economy
sick. Many went to mountains to wail,
not about their miseries, but about
It’s perhaps just a little
disheartening that Osinbajo, a
professor of evidence law, sits by
Buhari and savours this comedy
without bothering about the
moral confusion it leaves on an
impressionable public
medical tourism. Some pastors said
that the problem of the nation would
end when a Fulani stopped being
president. Many bitter and bigoted
political loudspeakers have suddenly
dropped the word Fulani from their
vocabulary.
Since Atiku arrived many things
have changed. Age is perhaps back
to being a mere number. Certificates
are no longer centre stage. Atiku,
despite his acclaimed intellectual
capacity possesses only a diploma
in law. The sin of medical tourism
is no longer a cardinal sin. Atiku
went to rest in Dubai.
Peter Obi pontificates at every
opportunity. Only a chameleon can
make the adjustments he has to
make now without bleeding. Let’s
leave Peter Obi because he is a
good man. He is now the running
mate to a 72-year-old presidential
candidate who is perhaps a
medical tourist. Let us be graceful.
When we discover little lies he has
told about how many houses he
owns we must also understand that
he is human. But it is hoped that
he studies his new boss carefully.
So that he doesn’t come out
someday ringing a bell and
preaching the sinfulness of
polygamy or of engaging in private
businesses while drawing salaries
from public service.
At the NHIS, it’s been another
spectacle of comedic proportion. A
reformer is being pursued by those
he had assembled for reformation.
They are intent on reforming him
first. The Executive Secretary of the
National Health Insurance Scheme
(NHIS) has been reformative. He
never ceases to tell of how he has
gone after blood suckers in the
insurance scheme. But he wouldn’t
tell us if he actually inflated
contracts as claimed by the board
of the NHIS. Again, Buhari who
launched a war against indiscipline
in his youth watches in old age as
his appointees fight dirty and
confuse a beleaguered public.
Well, President Buhari is never
in a hurry. He was ensconced in
Asokoro while the DSS fought the
EFCC for a whole day on the streets
of Maitama like rival thugs in
Mushin. It’s perhaps just a little
disheartening that Osinbajo, a
professor of evidence law, sits by
Buhari and savours this comedy
Leadership and knock-on effect ect of US shale
dependent nations must study and
copy the determination inherent in the
American Dream for energy selfsufficiency.
Some market analysts
called the shale revolution a Ponzi
scheme; the unconventional
horizontal Fracking of shale from
rocks. That America is becoming a
price giver means there is a lot to
learn from it.
Since 2011, the world has watched
the United States emerge from the
financial crisis occasioned by the
2002-2007 real estate securitization
bubble to what is now the petroleum
revolution. With petroleum prices at
US$100+ per barrel from 2011 to 2014,
it was a nexus of technology deployed
to see off many oil producing
countries in the production share
challenge. Some watchers believe that
OPEC blinked when in November
2016 it invited the 12 non-OPEC
countries led by Russia for a
production freeze, but it indeed,
resulted in a twofold increment to
reestablish OPEC as a major global
player in crude exports. It was the
case of living to fight another day. It
was about market share in the dingdonger.
President Barack Obama’s
administration and the Energy
Department formed the Advisory
Commission on shale gas to
examine the environmental
hazards from shale gas after the BP
Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico
oil spill.
It was viewed in quarters as a
coordinated attempt to hide
unpleasant facts because the
commission was headed by former
CIA director John M. Deutch who
sits on the board of the LNG gas
company Cheniere Energy’s
Sabine Pass project, one of the two
US projects to create an LNG
terminal to export US shale gas to
foreign markets. Deutch was also
on the board of Citigroup, one of
the world’s most active energy
industry banks, a board member of
Schlumberger, which along with
Halliburton, is one of the leading
companies doing hydraulic
fracking. Deutch panel member
and shale fracking booster, Daniel
Yergin, himself was a member of
the National Petroleum Council.
The Deutch report on shale gas was
that it has the potential to displace
liquid fuels in the United States.
The smart move may have paved
the way for the December 2015, US
Again, Buhari who launched a war
against indiscipline in his youth
watches in old age as his
appointees fight dirty and confuse
a beleaguered public
without bothering about the moral
confusion it leaves on an impressionable
public. No one is actually surprised that
this Executive Secretary who is a
professor cannot resign even out of anger.
An appointee who feels the president
hasn’t lent him and his crusade vocal
public support in the face of intimidation
ought to resign in protest. What makes the
NHIS matter more ridiculous is that our
erudite health minister had once
suspended the executive secretary. The
executive secretary took his time,dressed
down the minister, shredded the
suspension order and returned to his
office.
But wait for it. The supreme leader of
Biafra is back. He had been gone for a
little too long. While he was in a hole, he
allowed some decent men tell lies about
his death in the hands of the army. His re
emergence at the wailing wall in
Jerusalem was aired on facebook live. But
Israel has dismissed that broadcast as
another deceptive scheme. Israel says the
supreme leader hasn’t been in Israel
recently.
Chukwuabiama!
Well, persistent mendacity could be a
strategy in the struggle for freedom. While
he was gone the election season came.
And many of those that once carried his
bags and kissed his feet in Umuahia and
on social media have defected to Atiku.
That was obviously not negotiated. So
when he came out he had to begin by
reciting the old song—‘No referendum,
no election.’ But they had gone too far to
hear the former falconer. They simply
declared him a meddlesome interloper
who had come to finagle crumbs from the
season. And one of his former aides found
the the temerity to announce that he had
been deposed. That made me realize why
he clutches ever so tightly the ‘supreme’
in his favourite title. Being supreme puts
himself beyond the reach of these lousy
attempts to scrutinize, condemn and
perhaps depose him. May God grant him
the fortitude to bear the painful loss of Jack,
a supreme dog.
Since 2011, the world has watched the
United States emerge from the
financial crisis occasioned by the
2002-2007 real estate securitization
bubble to what is now the petroleum
revolution
Congress votes that lifted the 40-year long
standing export ban of its crude. The
legislation opened up US grades including
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Bakken,
Eagle Ford, Mars, and Thunder Horse to
the global market.
The United States is indeed, striving to
become the world largest oil producing
nation. The production growth rate has
averaged about 7 percent growth rate
between 2009 and 2017. The S&P Global
Platts Analytics predicts that the US crude
oil exports will nearly average 4 million
barrels per day in 2020 rising from 1.1
million barrels per day in 2017 to 2.2
million barrels per day average in 2018. It
also predicted a production rise to 12.3
million barrels per day from a nadir of 3.8
million barrels in 2008. Ten years ago
Nigeria sold well over 1 million barrels
per day of crude to the United States.
Nigeria’s light sweet crude has now been
displaced by the American domestic
production that has compelled it to look
for new markets in Asia sometimes at
discounted rates because America is also
competing in the same market. Many
Asian refiners whose tenders were
supplied by Nigeria are taking advantage
of the American WTI. As the Nigerian
presidential election temperature rises we
may need to have discussions on the
Nigerian crude and its future in the global
arena.

C
M
Y
K
There is this story told by Kirk
Douglas about his son Michael.
For the sake of the younger generation
which might not have heard of him,
Kirk Douglas was an icon among the
thespians of his generation. His son
Michael took after him as children
sometimes do especially when they
admire their parents and have creative
genes embedded in them. One
afternoon, in the winter of his acting
career and the spring of his son’s, he
was standing outside a supermarket
when two lovely ladies spotted him and
giggled. He knew the signs having
experienced them many times in the
past. His chest swelled up with pride
at the expected adulation. He squared
his shoulders and pasted his most
alluring actor’s smile on his face as the
ladies neared. ‘You are Michael’s
father,’ they gushed excitedly. They
didn’t notice that the balloon in the
swollen chest had been deflated and
the alluring smile had become wane
as they talked excitedly about his son’s
latest film and how masterful he was
in the romantic scenes. Like the way
of all mortals, Kirk’s prowess and fame
were decreasing while his son’s
prowess and fame were on the
ascendancy. Kirk, the once famous dad,
had become the father of his now
famous son. As John the Baptist said
of Jesus, ‘He must increase and I must
decrease.’ It is also the way of life.
Parents should decrease while children
increase.
On Sunday, I was invited to the
premiere of a film titled: ‘King of Boys.’
Although I was an avid cinema goer
in my younger days, I haven’t been to
the cinemas much in recent times and
have attended even less of premieres.
I found the premiere an interesting
experience. My initial belief that most
Nigerian films lacked content and
depth was pleasantly altered. ‘King of
Boys’ is rich in content and depth with
about three different narratives
intricately woven together. It is also as
contemporary as they come. And with
elections coming in a few months’ time,
it speaks to our current political
situation. This film is about greed,
slush funds, betrayals, controlled
he sight of dozens of policemen
Tescorting the executive secretary
of the National Health Insurance
Scheme, NHIS, Prof. Usman Yusuf
across protesting workers of the
agency, into his office last Monday,
may become a defining point for the
Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Indeed, if critics need any visual
portrayal of a contradiction in the
administration’s anti-corruption
nuances it certainly may not find a
better clip.
Yusuf has already etched a record in
the administration’s checkered
chronicle of fighting graft. Just after
President Buhari travelled on medical
vacation last year, Yusuf was
suspended by the Minister of Health,
Prof. Isaac Adewole following a report
submitted to him by an investigative
panel that indicted him of corruption,
nepotism among other charges.
The man was, however, returned to
office in February, 2018 by President
Buhari. In returning him to office, the
president asked him to learn to work
with the minister. Perhaps the message
that was conveyed to the president for
the suspension of Yusuf was that he
wasn’t working well with his minister.
Eight months after he was returned
by presidential fiat, Prof. Yusuf was
last week suspended from office, yet
again over allegations of corruption.
The minister of health who had now
learnt to work well with Yusuf was
understandably not involved in the
later suspension.
This time, the suspension was
handed down by the governing council
of the NHIS which acted upon
petitions that alleged high-level
corruption in Yusuf’s management of
the agency. He was suspended by the
board following two days of meeting.
King of Boys’ shows how
our system is compromised
by various ‘orders from
above’; how top law
enforcement officers are
compensated for simply
looking the other way
SATURDAY
Changing of guard
terrorism, corruption, manipulation of
security by politicians and the
connection between politics and
shadowy gangsters. It reminded one
of the Offa incident where the
political thugs of a prominent
politician raided a bank killing many
innocent souls in the process. Just
like the Offa incident where political
thugs became robbers much to the
discomfort and chagrin of their
handlers, some of these thugs cannot
always be put on a leash. They get
impatient; they get hungry; they get
greedy. And when they do, they
commit crimes that can embarrass
their paymasters. That was the
development that led to the downfall
of the ‘King’ in the film.
It is not often that the head of a
‘Mob’ or ‘Mafia’ is a woman. But in
this film, the king is indeed, a female
who got to the top position by a
The stigma at the NHIS
Again, Yusuf refused to heed the
board and on Monday forced himself
over protesting staff of the agency
who mounted a siege against his
sustenance in office.
Prof. Yusuf’s has repeatedly
claimed that his critics are being used
as instruments of the corruption
lobby that is against his reforms at
the NHIS.
It is the same excuse that the Senior
Special Assistant to the President on
prosecution, Mr. Okoi Okono-Obla
has given to demands on him to come
clean on whether or not he forged his
secondary school certificate!
One of the reforms Yusuf introduced
in the NHIS is the ballooning of the
departments of the agency. A check
on the website would reveal that the
NHIS has 23 general managers
reporting to the executive secretary!
Pray which organization would allow
itself to be so loaded with top heavy
officials as the NHIS has turned into?
It is so ridiculous that you have four
general managers doing the work
that ordinarily should be part of the
brief of one General Manager. In this
case, there is GM, Finance and
Admin, there is a GM, Human
Resource and Admin, there is also a
combination of feminine wiles,
ruthlessness and betrayal. The movie
shows how her early life experience
conditioned her for a life of
ruthlessness. But she also had streaks
of empathy and kindness for the
down trodden. Like most ‘Mafia
bosses,’ she became very rich by
collecting a sizeable toll from all
crimes committed in her domain. She
used the money to buy political
patronage. In exchange for protection
from prosecution, she offered
physical protection to top politicians
and ensured that her favourite
candidates won at the polls. She
became so influential that Governors
and Senators attended her parties.
She was given slots for top political
positions. But she wanted more. The
film shows what she wanted and what
made her political benefactors to draw
the line. In doing that, a battle line
was drawn. About this time, one of
her ‘boys’ became greedy and also
wanted more. He went outside his
boundary and committed crimes that
got his boss, the ‘King’ under
scrutiny. From then on, things got
nasty but racy. Heads began to roll
literally and figuratively.
‘King of Boys’ shows how our
system is compromised by various
‘orders from above’; how top law
enforcement officers are compensated
for simply looking the other way. How
a judge gives a wrong judgement to
save his family. It also shows how one
detective defies all odds in search of
truth and justice. There are the
human aspects as well. For example,
the ‘King’s’ only biological child lives
GM, Finance and Account
Department and yet another GM,
Human Resource and Administration
Department!
These are parts of the reforms that
Yusuf introduced that have
apparently gotten him enamoured
with the Presidential Villa that he has
become untouchable despite
indictments by the president’s
appointees; notably, the minister and
lately the governing council.
Why Prof. Yusuf and the NHIS are
at the centre of what should ordinarily
be an embarrassing circus is not
surprising. Health insurance is a multi
billion naira business. Given the
observations of the minister and the
governing board, Prof Yusuf may also
be wanting in the management of the
funds; and that is besides the
allegations of nepotism and
maladministration.
Yusuf must be a special man in
Buhari’s court of integrity! His staff
are up against him because of
corruption. The governing board has
found him wanting and even the
minister had indicted him; yet the
presidency can mobilise 50 policemen
who ordinarily should be keeping us
safe to protect him in office!
Vanguard, , OCTOBER 27, 2018—35
a life of delinquency which is eventually
exploited by her adversaries. Not
surprisingly, he is also almost always on
drugs. This goes to show that even the
rich and powerful also cry. Then there is
the straight cop’s turbulent family life as
he watches his wife die slowly, unable to
afford the foreign treatment that will save
her. It is a film that will make you laugh
in parts, cry in parts and hold your breath
in parts.
At the end of the thrilling experience,
the director of the film walked to the stage
with her actors and crew to take a bow.
She is also the writer of the script. She is
Kemi Adetiba, my niece in whom I am
well pleased—to answer those who
wonder about the similarity in the
surname. Her last major outing as director
was ‘Wedding Party’ which broke the box
office. She will be hoping that this one
will too. All indications point to a
successful outing for ‘King of Boys.’ As
she acknowledged the presence of her
parents during her emotional speech, I
couldn’t help thinking of the Kirk Douglas
story. Kemi was not born when her father,
Dele Adetiba was one of the stars of the
tube in the late sixties and early seventies
as a newscaster on Nigeria’s only TV
network alongside Mike Enahoro, Julie
Coker, Joe Ebuwa, Ikenna Ndaguba and
Kere Ahmed. And as a sports commentator
on radio alongside the incomparable
Ishola Folorunso, Ernest Okonkwo and
Yinka Craig. But she must have heard
stories. And as she cut her teeth on radio
and in the communications industry, she
must have met people who would have
asked her what her relationship with Dele
Adetiba was. She would have basked in
the name recognition and adulation. She
has however, increased over the years
while her father, now a retired
communicator who rose to become the MD
of the biggest advertising agency in his
time, has decreased. He would probably
now be the one to be asked about Kemi. I
am sure he would not mind allowing her
to enjoy the deserved limelight. After all,
it is every father’s wish that his child rises
higher than him. Kemi, I am proud of you,
as we all are.
The film has been planned to hit the
screens nationwide on the 26 th
(yesterday).
...if critics need any visual portrayal of
a contradiction in the administration’s
anti-corruption nuances it certainly
may not find a better clip
But why do Nigerian political office
holders allow themselves to suffer these
indignities?
Thirty three years ago, Prof. Adewole
was the national president of the National
Association of Resident Doctors, NARD,
and led a nationwide strike against the
foibles of the General Muhammadu
Buhari regime at that time.
Now more than three decades after, and
with Adewole working for Buhari, the
paradox could not be further
demonstrated.
When the president overruled him in
February to foist Yusuf on him without as
much as telling him before hand,
Adewole missed an opportunity to make
a statement. In many other climes that
action would have caused a national
outrage, but here, it was a storm in a tea
cup!
governing council which issued the
later suspension order could well have
also made a bold statement. Imagine if
either Adewole or the members of the
board staged a collective protest by
resigning from the board and abandoning
the NHIS for Yusuf and Buhari.
But for whatever reason, they would not
and hence they keep Nigeria chained to
the demons that have stifled our national
development!

36—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
In August last year, we read about
the collapse of the marriage
between the Oni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye
Ogunwusi and Olori Wuraola Zaynab.
Then last week we read about the
marriage of the Oni to his new Olori,
Naomi Oluwaseyi. Some people
wondered why a prophetess will marry
the Oni and perform “fetish” traditional
rites. Some commentators even mistook
the red substance she stepped on as
blood. The Yorubas in our midst have
since identified it as camwood.
In these days of social media, people
are quick to drop comments and pass
judgment. In the process, they ignore
the substance and go after shadows.
The substance is that the Oni is
remarried to a 25-year-old consenting
adult. Marriage is a personal matter
and she has made her choice. She will
savour the glamour of the royal
marriage, even as she bears the grind
that is the lot of every marriage. The
rest of us have two options: wish them
well or leave them alone. That is just
by the way.
When I was writing about the failed
marriage of the Oni last year, I used
raw eggs as an imagery to depict the
sensitive nature of marriage. I said,
“Couples and intending couples need
to treat marriage like a raw egg. Like
a raw egg, marriage—every
marriage—is fragile. If you do not
handle it with care, it will breakup.” I
hope the Oni and his new Olori will
see marriage this way and accord it
the tenderness it deserves so that his
marriage will endure this time around.
Incidentally, the Oni’s marriage to
his new Olori took place a week after
the world celebrated the World’s Egg
Day on October 12. As I was reading
the stories and adverts on the benefits
of eating eggs, my mind went back to
the early 70s when my playmate got
the beating of his life. He stole his
mother’s money to buy ikoho r’iyawo
(guinea fowl eggs). The beating was
very severe for a child of his age. I
cannot recall what angered his mother
more: the theft or eating ikoho r’iyawo.
Guinea fowl eggs are very tasty and it
By Babatunde Raji Fashola
We must first commend the Hon.
Minister of Information and Culture
for inaugurating this series of town
hall meetings that have been held across
Nigeria over the past 3 years.
This in itself is something that has changed
in how the FGN communicates with citizens
and is quite different from the previous
attempts that were targeted to react to crisis
or to catch votes at the 11th hour.
I will start my presentation by giving you
an overview of what the government of
Nigeria is getting done through my ministry
(Power, Works and Housing) across the
country and then I will come to the specifics
as it affects the South West zone.
Of course, I cannot pretend that politics is
not in the air, and that elections are a few weeks
away. This means that all Nigerians including
those of us in the Southwest have to make a
choice about who to choose and which party
to vote for.
I am mindful of the fact that this is the first
time where we have had two major parties
manage our affairs.
One for 16 years and another for 3 and a
half years thus far.
I am aware that we still want more service
from Government, and therefore decisionmaking
will require deep reflection.
Do we go back to those who have served
you for 16 years since 1999; or do we move
forward with this government that has had
only three years and five months to serve us?
So the next election might well be a choice
between going back and moving forward.
Let me start by saying that my ministry is
responsible for delivering some of Nigeria’s
critical infrastructure for transport, electricity
and housing.
In 2015 when you elected this government,
the budget for these three ministries, left
behind by the previous government, was N19
billion for works, N5 Billion for power, and
N1.2 Billion for housing making a total
ofN25.2 Billion.
In the year 2017, the budget for works was
N394 Billion; Power was N69.96 Billion and
Housing was N64.9 Billion (Total N529
Billion).
In a country where the population is
growing faster than the infrastructure, the
difference between these budgets must tell
you that this government is more serious about
The many faces of egg
was like a taboo for children to eat
them when we were growing up.
Parents feared that children who had
appetite for guinea fowl eggs would
grow up to be thieves. I guess the fear
was that eating guinea fowl eggs
would become an addiction and the
children would have to steal to satisfy
their addiction.
In old African societies, domestic
hens, guinea fowl and quails were the
main sources of egg supply. And the
eggs, like the head of fish and head
of animals, especially bush meat, were
reserved for the men, the head of the
For now, researchers are
firm and uniform on one
thing: eggs are good for
you
families. The wives, especially the
amebo (favourite wife), ate from it too,
but not the children. Ignorance is a
tragedy. Unknown to our forebears,
children need to start taking eggs via
their mothers while they are still
foetuses. Consumption of eggs by
pregnant women has multiple
benefits. Eggs are a good source of
iron and an essential mineral for
production of blood cells.
Consumption of eggs prevents
pregnant mothers from being
anaemic. At least a pregnant woman
needs to be healthy to enhance her
chances of giving birth to healthy
children.
In addition, eggs are also good
sources of calcium. The foetus needs
calcium for development of bones
and tooth buds. Finally, eggs are also
a source of protein which enhances
the growth of the foetus. After
children are born, they still need all
these nutrients from eggs for physical
and mental development. So by
denying children consumption of
eggs, our forebears were actually
messing around with the balance
development of their offspring. But
thank God there are other sources of
calcium, protein, iron and good
cholesterol, so our forebears and
some of us who grew in
environments where children were
forbidden from eating eggs had even
development.
Eggs are good for everyone and
serve different purposes depending
on your age. For older people, eggs
reduce risk of heart disease and
attacks, they help to improve our
eyesight and lower the risk of eye
diseases. They also help to slow
down muscular degeneration as
people grow older. Of course, eggs
contain all the essential vitamins,
apart from being a good source of the
very important Omega-3. We can go
Between going forward and moving back
Fashola
providing infrastructure to support you.
So, if you need more roads, more bridges,
more power, more housing and the Job
opportunities and prosperity that their delivery
will bring, your choice in the next election
should be easier.
Don’t go back to a budget of N25.2 Billion
for Infrastructure , move forward with a budget
for Infrastructure which has grown to N543
Billion in 2018.
Another feature of the difference between
these two budget sizes is that the last
government was spending less on
infrastructure for almost one decade when oil
prices stayed at $100 per barrel during that
decade.
This government is spending more on
infrastructure when oil prices largely hovered
between $40-$60.
So, in making your choice, please consider
who is the better manager. The one who did
less with more or the one who did more with
less.
Again I urge you to reflect. Do you want to
go back to doing less with more, or move
forward with doing more with less.
And before I leave this point, let me just
inform you that over the last 10 years, from
the proceeds of oil, Saudi Arabia spent $420
billion on infrastructure.
But it is not about spending money alone,
it is about what we did with it; and what was
left behind for us.
What was left behind were massive debts
owed to contractors who had not been paid
for 3 to 5 years and who had laid off thousands
of workers and shut down equipment and
plants. That was one of the reasons why the
economy first went into recession, and, I
suspect, one of the reasons they quickly
conceded defeat.
They also left behind debts owed to state
governments who were forced to intervene on
federal infrastructure especially roads and
bridges. That figure stands at aboutN450
Billion. What we spent the money on, was to
pay contractors and today I can tell you that
there is no state in Nigeria where we are not
building at least one Federal Road.
We are constructing houses in 34 states in
a pilot scheme to determine affordability and
acceptability; and we have 90 transmission
projects aimed at improving connectivity
between the GenCos and the DisCos who
serve you.
Those 90 projects are largely resuscitated
because this government has recovered 690
containers of power equipment out of over 800
containers left at the Port for almost a decade
because they did not pay contractors, who then
could not pay the shippers and warehouse
companies.
The Buhari government has paid, the
projects are making progress. (Adamawa)
(Odogunyan) (Ejigbo) (Apo) (Damaturu) are
some of those completed Transmission Substations.
Those of you from Ondo and environs will
agree that although the work is not finished,
your travel time on the Benin-Ore-Sagamu
road has reduced.
Our contractor is on site and has to work
while you use the road. The same is true of
the Lagos-Ibadan expressway that connects 3
states of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo; and links to
Ondo and beyond. Those of you who use the
road will acknowledge that you no longer have
to spend the night on the road.
You can go to Ibadan from Lagos and be
sure that you can return on the same day. Yet
we have not finished. Please as you prepare
to choose next year, remember those long
hours on Benin-Ore, Lagos-Ibadan that
sometimes stretched into the Night. Do you
want to go back ?
Ask yourself if progress on these roads in 3
years is better than what you have seen over
on and on talking about the benefits
of eating eggs.
But egg also has a divisive side. For
instance, how many eggs should you
consume a day. Some sources say two,
others say three. At a time I heard four
eggs a week. But the Australian Food
Federation recommends that people
should eat six eggs a week, while the
Irish are for an egg a day. We may
never get a uniform answer because
sizes of eggs differ, just as the sizes
and ages of the people who consume
them and their state of health. Here,
your doctor/dietician and your body
will be your best guide.
Again, what is the best way to take
an egg? The answers are legion. I was
very skinny in my teen years. To add
some flesh, I was told to mix raw egg
with milk and drink. It was a very
agonizing experience. The mixture
looked slimy and unappealing and the
taste was unpalatable, but I was
condemned to taking it. Now, they say
eggs contain some bacteria which
might infect us if taken raw or
undercooked. I do not know if anybody
still takes eggs raw. Eggs can be
boiled, baked, fried, scrambled,
microwaved or poached. There are
thousands of other ways eggs can be
prepared or used. You just need to step
out of your environment to discover
new ways eggs are used as delicacies.
Beyond the ignorance of our
forebears, eggs have continued to be
misunderstood over time. There was a
time when people took the egg white
and threw away the yolk. The yolk was
demonized. But research findings
have since found out that yolk of eggs
is in fact, very good for the body
because it contains a rich array of
minerals and vitamins and we have
little or nothing to worry about the
cholesterol in the yolk.
For now, researchers are firm and
uniform on one thing: eggs are good
for you; yes, you. Let the researchers
continue to worry about the best way
and appropriate quantity of eggs to
eat. For the rest of us, egg is good; let
us continue to enjoy it.
16 years.
It will help you decide who to choose to
ensure that the road is finished, and you can
move forward. Also remember those who
presided over the cuts in the budget of these
roads in the 2017 budget.
As they plan to frustrate and slow down the
Buhari government, the president innovates
and finds solutions.
There is now a Presidential Infrastructure
Development Fund to ensure that the Second
Niger bridge, the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road,
Lagos-Ibadan expressway and some other
projects are not deprived of funding again.
Major roads in the Southwest like the Lagos-
Otta-Abeokuta Road, the Ikorodu-Sagamu
road, which had been deserted and left to
decay, now have contractors at work. Do you
want to go back to that ?
The Apapa- TinCan - Mile 2 -Oshodi-
Oworonshoki road has been awarded and
work should start sometime in November this
year as the construction equipment are being
readied. This will give a final solution for the
gridlock that was inherited from the last
government.
These are some of the examples of what has
changed and is changing for the better. Those
who ran it aground for 16 years now say we
are not quick enough.
The question you right thinking and wellmeaning
citizens should ask is which Nation
has been rebuilt in 4 years?
It is going to take more than one election
cycle to consolidate on the progress I have
shared with you; and if you do not choose
wisely you can reverse it.
A choice to go back is a choice to reverse
this progress and a choice to move forward is
a sensible choice to consolidate and progress.
Those same people who caused the problem
cannot now be trusted to fix it. You will hear
from them that the country has problems as
they try to weaponise our challenges to deceive
Nigerians.
The infrastructure decayed under their
watch; insurgency and bombings started
under their watch; the grand corruption under
their watch makes it impossible to identify one
item of critical infrastructure that Nigeria can
point to in a decade during which oil price
averaged over $100 per barrel. (1976; 1980s)
On the housing side, as I said we are in every
state including all the states of the South West
except Lagos. Each site employs not less than
1,000 people made up of builders, artisans,
fabricators, and vendors and we plan to do
much more.
Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Honourable Minister of Power, Works and
Housing, at Ibadan Town Hall meeting.
C
M
Y
K

Change is in the air, this Peter Obi
formula expertly adopted by Abubakar
Atiku calls for a national emergency.
Aso Villa should not just dismiss it as
another propaganda applied by the
opposition.
President Muhammadu Buhari must
wake up to reality if he does not want
to become Nigeria’s shortest serving
civilian leader. And the only person that
can paint a true picture of what is
cooking, is Mrs Aisha Buhari.
The best way to abort the Atiku/Obi
dream is to drink from this fountain of
statesmanship which I am about to
unlock. I am doing it for free and if this
strategy turns out as the game changer,
the Presidency should expect my fees.
The most important step by the
president is to begin immediately to
shop for 50 trillion naira to cushion the
effects of the Civil War on parts of the
former Eastern region and the Anioma
area of today’s South-South geo
political zone.
The Federal Government has to get
money even if it means borrowing from
international financial institutions. This
will lead to the industrialization of our
nation.
The next move will be the creation of
Ministry of South-East/ Anioma Affairs.
Without taking anything away from my
South-South people, this will be the
equivalent of the Ministry of Niger
Delta Affairs.
Following this will be the South–East/
Anioma Development Commission
[SEADC], with headquarters in Owerri
where the search for oil began during
the Colonial years. That explains the
Shell Camp you have in the Imo State
capital.
Six new industries should sprout in
the five South East States and Asaba
the Delta State capital. These areas are
pathetically neglected by the Federal
Government and now that we have,
possibly, the last Civil War officer to rule
the country, this is time for the real
change we need.
The number of South-East ministers
in the Buhari regime should be
How Buhari ‘ll silence Peter Obi
increased from five to seven. This is to
make up for the short fall in the number
of states in the zone. No other geo
political zone is made up of five states.
To create balance, one of the South–
East ministers should head the Federal
Capital Territory. Abuja may not be a
state but half bread is better than none.
The FCT minister flows like a quasi
governor.
There will continue to be ill feelings
until the President does the needful by
picking an Igbo as Service Chief. I am
not just talking about Balance of Power,
it could also serve as Balance of Terror.
Why all this, critics may wonder. Let
me start with the 50 trillion naira plan,
something akin to the Marshal Plan
that the United States used to support
Germany after the Second World War.
The South-East and Anioma that bore
the brunt of the Civil War have not
recovered. General Yakubu Gowon
made promises on paper but those
promises were never pursued and
should be fulfilled.
Nigeria must set the South-East and
Anioma free. Of the 774 Local
Government Areas in the country, the
South-East is way out of reckoning, with
43. And that means, in the House of
Representatives, these 43 voices are
almost voiceless.
The North–West, with seven states
boasts of 92 Honourable members. The
other zones are duly represented:
South-West-71 members, South-South-
55, North-Central 49, North-East-42
and FCT 2 members.
Ekweremadu’s
PDP options
By Emmanuel Aziken,
Political Editor
treatment he received from the PDP chairman,
T
Prince Uche Secondus and the presidential
he assurance from Senator candidate.
Ike Ekweremadu that he is At issue was the way the vice-presidential
not leaving the Peoples Democratic candidate of the party emerged and was
Party, PDP over the snub on him and Southeast presented to the public.
leaders by the party’s presidential candidate Saturday Vanguard gathered that about one
Atiku Abubakar and the national chairman, hour after Obi was named as the presidential
Prince Uche Secondus is reassuring for the candidate of the party on October 12 that
party.
Ekweremadu had instructed that a
Ekweremadu, who at press time, was congratulatory message be sent out by his
reported to be abroad had last Wednesday media spokesman. Ekweremadu’s
posted on his Facebook page, a statement promptness to congratulate Obi was despite
affirming his continued membership of the the fact that the position had been dangled to
PDP.
him by Atiku more than a year ago. But
The message came in the wake of Ekweremadu was said not to have committed
mutterings by his associates over the way the himself to it, preferring to at that time project
Southeast, and, in particular, himself had been the best interest of the party and that discussion
treated by the PDP and the party’s presidential on a possible running mate should wait until
candidate following the party’s National after the convention.
Convention where Atiku emerged as the However, he was immediately forced to ask
candidate.
his media aides to stop the congratulatory
“In the past 24 hours, I have been inundated message that Friday when several Igbo leaders
with calls from friends and political associates including a frontline governor expressed who
seeking clarification on the rumours of my also caused a statement issued by his
departure from the Peoples Democratic Party spokesman to be retracted.
(PDP), which has dominated the media. The grouse of the Igbo leaders was over the
“Let it be known that my path in politics is way the geopolitical zone was treated by Atiku
in the hands of the Almighty God, who has and the PDP leadership in consideration of
indeed been very faithful and gracious to me. the ticket.
I’m very grateful to God for this.
Central to the angst of the Igbo leaders was
“My vision in politics is a system that works the claim that they were excluded from the
for everybody, a social and political decision room where their potential new
environment where everybody, every section, political leader was chosen.
and every tribe not only counts but is also Present in Atiku’s Asokoro’s residence that
seen to count. As leaders, we must be mindful day were the candidate, Prince Uche
of this, for any system built on anything less Secondus, Senate President Bukola Saraki,
will not endure.”
Speaker Yakubu Dogara, and Governor
Ekweremadu’s assertion of fidelity to the Nyesom Wike. Ekweremadu as the second
PDP should ordinarily have been taken for highest political office holder in the party was
granted given the extent to which he had not consulted. Or was it because Ekweremadu
soldiered on despite what his associates was himself under consideration for the
describe as the persecutions he took from the position? Saturday Vanguard gathered that
All Progressives Congress, APC led of the about seven persons considered the
administration because of his apparent choice eventually narrowed down to Obi and
refusal to defect to the ruling party.
Ekweremadu.
It was later to emerge that Ekweremadu In the end, Atiku was urged by those present
may have been overwhelmed by the at the meeting to choose Obi when quality of
This imbalance affects revenue to the
marginalized parts of the country. We
should look at the injustice in giving little
to people who lost everything during the
war that ended almost half century ago.
The South-East/ Anioma ministry, is
another way of getting votes. And I want
to make it easy for President Buhari. The
minister should be a member of the ruling
APC.
I recommend Prof. Anwuka, the
minister of State, Education. Another
APC man from Imo, Jude Ejiogu, should
take Anwuka’s place at the Ministry of
Education. This is a tactical way of
bringing peace to the APC in that State.
Sullivan Chime should be appointed
FCT minister while his kinsman, Geoffrey
Onyeama, continues to serve as Foreign
Affairs minister. Ogbonnaya Onu, Chris
Ngige and Okechukwu Enelamah retain
their ministerial jobs. This gives the
South–East a sense of belonging with
seven ministers.
The position of Managing Director,
South-East/ Anioma Development
Commission[SEADC] should go to
Anioma. And Pat Utomi could do the job
having failed to pick the APC
governorship ticket in Delta State.
Industrialisation comes next. A refinery
in Ohambele, Abia State, a modern
International Airport in Enugu, not the
Uli-Uga type called Akanu Ibiam Airport,
and an Auto manufacturing company in
Awka will go a long way.
It is also time to dredge the Oguta Lake,
to accommodate ocean going vessels.
Abakaliki rice, if given a boost will drive
•Ekweremadu
business acumen was brought in. However, the
events of the previous week when the Southeast
leaders had a rough outing with Wike at the
PDP convention in Port-Harcourt surfaced to
plant foreboding doubts on the Southeast
leaders.
Before the Port-Harcourt convention, the
Southeast leaders including governors,
senators, and NEC members had met in
Ekweremadu’s hotel suite where all the
variables as they pertained to the Southeast
were taken into consideration, and it was
decided to support Atiku. Among the notable
factors were the issues of restructuring and the
one-term pledge by the former vice-president.
Even more, entreaties from Wike who was
selling Governor Aminu Tambuwal for a
meeting with the Southeast did not materialise.
Wike, it was gathered, had sought an alliance
between the South-South and the Southeast,
but Ekweremadu had said that that alliance
could only be reached at a meeting of the
leaders. However, as the convention
approached and with Wike believing that he
had already struck the deals needed to sell his
candidate, he did not think the meeting with
Southeast leaders was necessary.
So, when the Southeast leaders did not see
Wike, and they took the decision to back Atiku,
the outcome of the poll on Sunday, October 7
became distressing for Wike.
The stares from the governor were said to
have been unfriendly towards the Southeast
delegation.
SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018—37
The most important step by the president
is to begin immediately to shop for 50
trillion naira to cushion the effects of the
Civil War on parts of the former Eastern
region and the Anioma area of today’s
South-South geo political zone
rice from the Far East out of the market.
Then Asaba gets the Sidney Asiodu
Sports University of Nigeria[SASUN].
Asiodu was killed during the Asaba
Massacre with thousands of Anioma men
and boys. A student of Zoology at the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he won
100 and 200m gold at the First West
African Universities Games, Lagos ’66.
Asiodu was part of the country’s
4x100m relay quartet at the Tokyo’64
Olympic Games. His team mates were :
Abdul Karim Amu, Folu Erinle and
Jimmy Omagbemi.
He was shot while his elder brother,
Philip Chikwuedo Asiodu, served as
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of
Industries in the Gowon government.
Buhari cannot leave the Igbo out of
any security arrangement. The first
Nigeria Army officer, was Victor Laud
Ugboma, 1948. The first Nigerian naval
officer, Onuora Zonyeunor Chiazor,
1957.First Air Force officer, Theophilus
Enwezor Nzegwu, 1959 and the first
Police officer, J. Tarsus Ogbolu. All of
them were Igbo.
Nigeria’s first graduate army officer,
was Emeka Ojukwu. First Artillery
officer, [Sandhurst], Alex Madiebo. First
Signals officer, Tony Eze. First
Commnder, Army Engineers, Mike
Okwechime. First Intelligence officer,
Chukwuma Nzeogwu. First
Commander, Supply and Transport,
Sylvanus Nwajei. They were Igbo.
To cap it all, set IPOB free. What is
good for Adamu is good for Adindu.
Atiku and Obi will not complain. They
may even hail Baba.
So even when Ekweremadu was not
consulted on the choice of the vice-presidential
candidate, the decision to also snub him when
the membership of the Presidential Campaign
Council was rolled out was said to have
infuriated his associates. As the highest
political office holder from the region and
until two months ago, the highest PDP political
office holder, the Deputy Senate President was
said to have felt slighted.
The action against Ekweremadu, one of his
associates said, was a reminder of some past
actions taken by some of the party leadership
against him.
Ekweremadu led the committee that was
constituted to reform the party after the 2015
defeat. The committee proposed some farreaching
reforms which were seen as threats
to the interest of some stakeholders, notably a
few governors in the party.
Principally, the Ekweremadu led committee
had recommended the use of biometrics in
compiling the party register and also the use
of direct primaries in the conduct of internal
party elections.
Those recommendations, according to some
sources, were not welcomed by some of the
vocal governors who saw it as an attempt by
Ekweremadu to overreach himself and to cut
down on the influence of the governors.
One party member told Saturday Vanguard
that Ekweremadu’s work in the reform
committee was part of the reason Wike and
former Governor Ayodele Fayose helped to
bring Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the new
national chairman of the party in 2016.
Ekweremadu was said to have opposed the
emergence of Sheriff, but the vocal governors
had their way. Meanwhile, Sheriff knowing
that Ekweremadu opposed his emergence as
national chairman also sought to cut down
Ekweremadu.
It appeared at that time that some of the
governors would not let up on Ekweremadu.
When he launched his book in April 2016, a
meeting of the governors was fixed for the
same day giving the governors a reason to
stay away. A situation that saw to it that only
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi attended the
book launch.
Though these issues appeared to have been
swept away with time, the developments after
the October 6-7 presidential primaries seemed
to have brought them back to the fore.
It is a matter of irony as Ekweremadu is
believed to have stoutly resisted pressures and
enticements from the APC leadership to cross
over to the party. Many of his associates and
fellow party men had caved in among whom
were Senators Godswill Akpabio, Iyiola
Omisore, Teslim Folarin, Musiliu Obanikoro,
but he held on.
So it was a matter of irony that after having
done all, that it was suggested that he was
about caving in. His words of assurance that
he was going nowhere must have been assuring
to his followers.

38—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
Even in death,
Ochanya must
•Late
Ochanya
have justice,
Benue women cry
Bizarre story of 13-yr-old girl
whose guardian and his son
took turns to rape until she died
By Peter Duru, Markurdi
Just 13, an expected journey to life turned
one for death.
Ochanya Ogbuja was only five when
her mother passed on. She was given out to
her mother’s sister to avail her the much
needed love and upbringing. That was a
world too far for her.
Three years after landing at the Ogbujas,
Ochanya was allegedly turned into a sex slave
by the head of the family, 51 year old Andrew
Ogbuja, a lecturer in the Department of
Catering and Hotel Management at the
Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo. His son,
Victor, also joined him in abusing the little
girl. And so, at eight, Ochanya’s journey to
death began.
The story of Ochanya has generated outrage
within and outside Benue state and the
demand for Justice has been the sing song on
the lips of everyone that heard of the
predicament of the innocent girl.
Ochanya’s horrifying story was made public
when early in the year she took ill and after
several medical observations she was
diagnosed of Vesicovaginal fistula, VVF, and
other related diseases.
Worried by her condition, family members
made further inquiries and she confessed to
the fact that she had been a sex slave in the
home of Ogbujas.
According to the elder brother of the
deceased, John Ameh, “we took her for
treatment when we noticed that she was
passing urine and stool uncontrollably.
“It was when our family carried out an
investigation into her condition that she
confessed that Mr. Ogbuja had over the years
been abusing her through the vagina and
anus and most times they drugged her before
doing it to her since she was eight years.
“According to her, the son, Victor started it
and when he was caught and reported to his
father, he scolded him but later joined the son
in doing the same thing to my sister.”
“It was while we were battling with her
condition that Evangelist Enuwa Soo
stepped in and took her into orphanage
home from where she took her for
medical attention in hospitals
including the Benue State Univerdity
Teaching Hospital, BSUTH, and the Jos
University Teaching Hospital, JUTH
with the assistance of the Wife of the
Benue state Governor, Dr. Eunice
Ortom.
“While this was going on the matter
was also reported to the police who filed
charges against Mr. Ogbuja in August
and later released in mysterious
circumstances by the court.”
Meanwhile, while the health
condition of Ochanya deteriorated
much later in the month, she was again
rushed to Ultimate Care Hospital
Otukpo, where she was admitted and
later died on October 17, 2018.
Speaking on the health condition of
Ochanya before her death, the Chief
Medical Director, CMD, of Benue State
University Teaching Hospital, BSUTH,
where the deceased was initially
treated, Prof. Terlumu Sende said upon
investigation and diagnosis, it was
discovered that the girl repeatedly suffered
penetration in her anus and vagina.
In her reaction, the Convener of the Benue
Women Forum, BWF, and former federal
lawmaker, Mrs. Rebecca Apedzan decried the
fate that befell the young girl after efforts to
save her life failed.
Mrs. Apedzan lamented that the alleged
culprits in the heinous crime should be
brought to justice and should not be
allowed to walk the streets free.
“Honestly, we are not happy
with the manner the matter
is being handled presently,
we are demanding proper
prosecution of the father
and son fingered in the
serial rape of the little girl
before her eventual
death.
“Already, we are in
touch with the
Federation of
International Women
Lawyers, FIDA, and both
local and international
NGOs to ensure that the
little girl gets Justice even
in death.
“We learnt powerful forces
are plotting to frustrate the
case which is already in court
but I can assure you that Benue
women will come out in their
numbers to attend all the hearings in the
matter and we may also even embark on
street protest to demand Justice for the
deceased.” She stated.
Also speaking, Evangelist Enuwa Soo, the
Good Samaritan and owner
of Restorer of Paths, Care Foundation who
took up the care for the deceased, though short
of words, lamented that the little girl died in
her hands at the hospital where she was also
on admission.
“She died in my hands in the
hospital, it is rather unfortunate that
she died after all we did to save her.”
Evangelist Soo said as she sobbed.
Meanwhile, the Academic Staff
Union of Polytechnics, ASUP,
Ugbokolo branch where the accused
is a lecturer, in a statement by its
Chairman and Secretary, Ochogwu
John and Emma Adah respectively
also insisted that the law be allowed
to take its full course in the matter.
Her former School, Federal
Government Girls College, FGGC,
Gboko where she was a JSS 1 student
before her demise also added their
voice to the call for Justice for the
innocent soul.
A statement by the authorities of the
institution said, “this is an outrage to
FGGC Gboko, all female children, all
women, Benue state, Nigeria and
indeed the world.
“As a body, we demand that the
perpetrators, indeed murderers be
called to Justice and severely
punished.”
In a statement on the matter, the
Mr. Ogbuja
Acting Governor of
Benue State, Engineer Benson
Abounu also urged the police and judiciary
to ensure that justice was done over the death
of Ochanya Ogbaje. .
Engineer Abounu who described the act as
inhuman, shameful and deserving of nothing
less than appropriate punishment for the
perpetrators said “the State Government will
give the police necessary support towards the
prosecution of the case to its conclusion, to
serve as deterrent to others with similar evil
tendencies.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Ogbuja was Thursday rearraigned
before a Makurdi Chief
Magistrate Court for Criminal Conspiracy and
Culpable Homicide.
The offence is punishable under sections
97 and 222 of the penal code laws of Benue
State 2004.
At the hearing of the case, the First
Information Report, FIR, filed by the Police
indicated that on October 22, 2018, the matter
was reported by one Evangelist Enuwa Soo,
through a petition to the Benue State Police
Commissioner.
Part of the FIR read, “On June 23, 2018 the
family of 13 year old Miss Ochanya Ogbanje
of Agene Amen, Okpokwu local government
area, noticed that Andrew Ogbuja, a lecturer
with Benue State Polytechnic Ugbokolo and
his son one Victor Ogbuja had been criminally
having unlawful canal knowledge of her
minor since she was living with them in their
house which resulted in her being diagnosed
of Vesicovaginal fistula, VVF, and other
related diseases.
“Ochanya was severally admitted in
hospital for treatment but she later died on
October 17, 2018 at the Ultimate Care
Victor Ogbuja
Hospital Otukpo”
The court further heard that, during police
investigation Andrew Ogbuja was arrested
for the offence while his son who was a coaccused
fled and was still at large.
In his submission, the Defence Counsel
Anthony Onoja appealed to the court to protect
his client from media trial, stressing that the
media had been awash with reports of his
client where judgement had already been
passed on the accused before trial.
In his ruling, the presiding Chief
Magistrate, Isaac Ajim took no plea for lack
of jurisdiction to entertain the matter. He
ordered that the accused be remanded at the
Makurdi Medium Prison and adjourned the
matter to November 29.
Meanwhile, the accused narrowly escaped
mob action by angry women as he walked
out of the court room but for the quick
intervention of security personnel who
smuggled him into a waiting police van and
whisked him away.
Women carried placards some of which
read, “Ogbuja must die by hanging”, “we
demand Justice in this matter.” They gathered
from parts of the state under the auspices of
the National Council of Women Societies,
NCWS, as early as 7am to witness the day’s
proceedings
They however went frenzy when they
sighted the accused making his way out of
the court for a waiting Police van when they
surged forward to grab the accused but the
quick intervention of the Police checked them.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the
Court sitting, State President of the NCWS,
Chief Mrs. Grace Okochi said Benue women
were pained by what happened to the late
Ochanya and for what other women in the
country were going through.

My 20-days experience
in Badagry Prison – Victim
•Traumatized inmates develop mental problem
•Inmates forced to plea-bargain
•Cup of garri served without sugar, water for lunch
By Emma Nnadozie,
Crime Editor
Lagos, reputed to be a city of
excellence has gradually turned into
a nightmare to many, especially
youths. When they are not being harassed
and intimidated by stern- looking but
disguised security personnel, they are
hounded and harangued into submission,
on very flimsy excuses, by one task force or
the other, and even the Oodua People’s
congress, OPC. Such was the case of
Anthony Okoh, a 21-year-old Civil
Engineer with a Chinese company, CHCI
Construction Company, at Lekki.
Penultimate Friday, he was in his oneroom
apartment near his place of work at
Lekki sleeping when fierce –looking but
armed uniformed men who claimed to be
members of Lagos State Task Force on
Environment broke into his room and
bundled him to their coffin-like Black
Maria. Before he knew what was
happening, he found himself inside their
cell at Oshodi where he, alongside fifty other
young men, three ladies, two underaged
boys and a sick elderly man were confined
till the next Monday when they were
arraigned without charges and later taken
to Badagry Prison where they spent 20 days
in confinement. They were later released
on the orders of Lagos state Director of
Public Prosecution, DPP. His story is a study
in denial, reckless infringement of human
rights and social degradation.
Excerpts:
The day of
arrest
“On the 10th of August, 2018, after the
night duty, I went home in the morning and
slept off. Later when I woke up and was
speaking with my friend on phone, I heard
noise outside and saw people running but I
didn’t really know what was happening.
The next thing I saw was a police officer
wearing a task force vest who broke into
my room and arrested me. Immediately I
tried to identify myself as a site engineer
and supervisor at CHCI, the police officer
slapped me and I kept quiet. The policemen
then took me and bundled me into a waiting
Black Maria. That was how I found myself
in the Task Force office at Oshodi. When I
was there, I called my brother but they
stopped him from coming to see me. That
was how I was detained there till Monday
morning with three ladies, two underaged
boys, a sick elderly man and others
numbering about 53. We spent three days
in the task force office. A statement was
taken from me on Saturday. The head of
the task force actually came on Sunday. I
then identified myself to him explaining that
I was innocent but he told us not to worry
that it would be sorted out by Monday.
Based on his assurance, I was relaxed.
Appearance in court
“On Monday morning, as early as 6am,
they brought us all out straight to the
court.
That was when it dawned on me that it
was a serious matter. That was how we
were arraigned in court on Monday
morning and remanded at Badagry
prison for 20 days. We were 53 altogether.
I was just confused, I didn’t know what
was happening. They accused us of breach
of peace and that we destroyed
government machinery when nobody
destroyed anything. I didn’t even see any
machinery on the I was arrested.
Arrival at
Badagry
prison
“On arrival at Badagry prison, they
checked us in and actually took us to a
cell called Angola which was known as
the worst cell in the whole prison. We were
up to 20 locked up in the cell which was
very small. There was no toilet facility so
we were allowed to go outside to ease
ourselves. However, there was a small
lavatory which we used at night and there
was no light inside the cell. In the
morning, they took our data, including
our finger prints before allocating us to
different cells. The first cell I stayed was
‘I ward’ and we were about 48 inmates
there. Two small sized beds were allocated
to 10 of us and we were practically lying
on top of one another. A Hausa man I
•Anthony Okoh, (inset, Badagry Prison)
met there narrated to me how he was
arrested with 150 of his kinsmen and
brought to the prison.
He said they were arrested around 5am
while they were sleeping inside a
compound belonging to one Alhaji who
provided the place for them to sleep and
go out in the morning to do their various
businesses before coming back to sleep
at night. He said when the task force men
came that early morning, they tried to
break the gate but they couldn’t. They
then jumped the fence into the compound,
opened the gate from inside, moved their
Black Maria inside the compound and
bundled all of them into the vehicle for
onward trip to Badagry prison. That was
SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018—39
the first ugly story I heard from the man I
met at the prison.
First outing
“Nobody ever asked us if we were guilty or
not, nobody cared to even know what
happened, we were just remanded in prison.
The judge who presided over the court the first
day we appeared in court actually said the
governor was interested in the case. I was
asking mysel; is this a punishment or what
and how long will I remain here? I was
thinking every day and night. When I woke up
from sleep and saw those big gates, I would
ask myself, am I still here? I cried a few times
at night and the Lord gave me strength. I read
my bible and said my prayers.
Parley with under
aged detainees
“One of the boys I met there was 17 years
old while the other was 16. They told me they
were arrested in front of their house; that the
task force men came to raid their house and
picked them up. One of them narrated his story
in tears saying he was picked up in front of his
house and when he tried to call his mother, the
task force men did not allow him. He said
when they got to their office, they asked him
of his age and when he told them he was 17,
they said it was a lie and hit him on the head
while the lady who was taking down his
statement wrote 18 for him. And that was how
he ended up at Badagry prison where he spent
a month and two weeks.”
“ I was wondering how someone would be
arrested on the road, you don’t know why you
were arrested, you did nothing wrong and you
just went to jail to become an ex-convict. They
then sent some papers to us in jail about plea
bargain to admit that we were guilty and they
would reduce our jail sentence. I think many
of our youths did that in order to be free because
if you are on awaiting trial, the court may not
sit and the next adjournment will be for three
months. In order not to continue to languish
in prison, the youths would just admit to pleabargain
and will be given one or two months
sentence which he would serve and thereafter
come out.
Feeding pattern
We ate sour beans in the morning by 8am.
They served us a milk cup of garri without
water or sugar in the afternoon while in the
evening we ate eba with tiny meat popularly
called ‘Shapa’. They also served us small fresh
fish with rice. They served us rice on Monday,
Wednesday and Saturday. The only dish that
made us happy was the rice which they served
in the afternoon. On Sundays, we would go to
church. That was the only way of going out
while on Saturdays, we were allowed to come
out and take a walk round the prison. There
was a football field and film house provided
by the IBTC bank for the inmates.
Attitude of
wardens
“The warders
assigned to guard us
were very diligent with
their duties. They were
not harsh and they
always counselled us.
The only problem was
the issue of some
inmates who developed
mental problem in the
prison. The prison was
free from vices such as
hard drugs and the
environment was very
neat. Pastors from
different churches
came to preach to us. I
noticed that 85% of the
inmates in Badagry
prison were brought by
the task force. I don’t
think real convicts were
up to 20%. I will
commend the warders,
they really tried, and
they encouraged us.
They also did their best
to make us feel
comfortable but one cannot feel comfortable
in prison when you don’t even know your
offence.
Day of
freedom
“The day news came to us from warders
to come and receive bail paper, we didn’t
believe it. They gave us reminder on the
22nd that they were releasing us two
weeks before that day and we felt relaxed.
I didn’t actually take it for real. I later
learnt from my sister who was in court on
the day we were released that the judge
who heard my case set everybody free
because the DPP’s advice declared that
we were all innocent. “

40—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
Editors Brain Storm in Asaba
By Julius Oweh
Amass communication scholar at
the Ghana Institute of
Journalism, Accra, suffocating
with intellectual arrogance and what
could be described as after whiskey
talk said that journalists are the casual
workers of the intellectuals. This stripe
of thought process could be a product
of the notions that journalists are mere
reporters of the views of the people in
society without talking about their own
views. However, the advent of opinion
writers, columnists and editorial
writers prove the lie that is the
assertion of the said scholar. Today,
journalists are well educated even to
the PhD level and most of them on
retirement go to the universities to
pass their experiences to the younger
ones. Such people by
any stretch of
imagination cannot be
casual workers of the
intellectuals. Journalists
are not only
professionals but wellhoned
intellectuals in
their own right.
Recently, the crème de
le crème of the pen
profession gathered in
the historic town of
Asaba to proffer the way
forward not only for their
profession but also the
political run of the
nation. I am talking of
the Nigeria Guild of
Editors conference that
held from 10th of
October to 14th. It was a
gathering of who is who
in the media industry as
about four hundred
editors converged in
Asaba. The Event Centre
along Okpanam Road,
Asaba was a beehive of
activities. The most
instructive day of that
conference in my own
estimation was the
business session held on
Friday. As one of the
participants said, it was
a case of journalists
President, Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), Funke Egbemode (left); Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and
Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, arriving for the opening ceremony of the 14th All Nigeria Guild of
Editors Conference (ANEC) in Asaba recently
talking to journalists and more of soul
searching and introspection. They
talked about the problems facing the
profession- lack of fund for the media,
the purchase of equipment, training
and retraining of journalists. A lady
from Radio Nigeria struck a chord with
me when she said that the threat of
the social media should not be
exaggerated. While tasking the
traditional media of the radio,
television and newspaper to key into
the social media by having a welldeveloped
social media platform, she
maintained that in the history of mass
media and journalism, no new media
is capable of replacing the existing
ones and that would be the fate of the
social media.
Ray Ekpu, a veteran journalist of
many years standing,
tasked editors to
thread a careful line
about ownership
structure and the
reportage of news. He
argued that as for
‘The
Nigerian
media has
stayed on the
side of the
people and
must be
commended
for its heroic
role in
standing
against what
is wrong
newspapers and
magazines, what the
owner can control is
the editorial and that
as for news and
features, journalists
were free to run
stories even against
the interest of their
owners and that what
should be done is
proper balancing of
the stories.
Thursday which was
the opening session
saw the host
governor, Dr Ifeanyi
Okowa delivering his
speech and tasking
the media on
objective reportage as
2019 elections draw
nearer. He also called
on the Independent
Electoral Commission
to be truly
independent and
conduct election that
is free and fair.
Okowa stated: ‘One of
the biggest steps towards sustaining
democracy in Nigeria was when in
2015 the PDP conducted an election,
lost and handed over to the opposition.
This was a scenario previously thought
impossible, but when that happened
to the chagrin of critics and naysayers,
a solid foundation was laid for
sustainable democracy in Nigeria. For
democracy to flourish, the opposition
must be allowed to exist and play their
role without hindrance. The current
APC-led federal government should
build on this foundation and resist the
temptation to oppress the opposition.
The abiding principle of a democratic
government is majority rule where
power is held by the people under a
free and fair electoral system‘.
The governor also had words for the
Nigerian media though lauding some
of their efforts. Okowa observed the
role of the media: ‘The Nigerian media
has stayed on the side of the people
and must be commended for its heroic
role in standing against what is
wrong. But there are three key issues
the media must urgently address. The
first is that media practitioners who are
known to be engaged as consultants
to politicians and political office
holders. That ought not to be because
it compromises the editorial
independence and objectivity of the
press. Finally the issue of staff welfare,
a situation where a reporter is unsure
of his next paycheck does not augur
well for the journalism profession for
it exposes him to undue influences
from politicians and political office
holders. Survival is a basic instinct of
man and the person whose survival is
threatened can care less about
integrity and fairness. We need our
journalists to report the truth but they
cannot do that with boldness, if they
are not paid, the reward of labour‘.
The Vice President of the country,
Prof Yemi Osinbajo who was present
at the opening day of the conference
lamented the impact of social media,
saying that many people now rely on
the social media and wondered aloud
if the end of traditional newspapers,
radio and television was at hand. He
shared his sentiments: ‘There are
people who are now called online and
social media personalities. They
usually have no training in journalism
or its ethics. And some have even
found more readership than
newspapers and more viewership than
television. Though newspapers now
have online version, what it means is
that they have been dragged into the
competition by the digital media. The
journalism profession is at risk more
than any other profession ‘.
Speaking on the sidelines, Mr.
Patrick Ukah, the Delta State
Commissioner of Information declared
that the imperative of the government
hosting the editors‘ conference was
rooted in the firm belief that the
Nigerian media was critical in the
advancement of democracy in the
country. He said that the state
governor was very much at home with
the theme of the conference: Credible
Elections, Sustainable Democracy and
the Nigerian Media. His words :‘The
governor of Delta State, Dr Ifeanyi
Okowa , being an apostle of credible
election as an enabler for sustainable
democracy was particularly excited
about the theme because it reflected
vividly his firm belief that the
sustainability of any democracy is
dependent on the credibility of the
electoral process. Recalled that
between last December and now,
Okowa has chaired two national
conventions of the PDP, the first being
the convention which produced Prince
Uche Secondus, the current chairman
of the party and the recent convention
which produced former Vice
President Atiku Abubakar as the
presidential candidate of the party.
Both processes were largely
acknowledged as free, fair and
credible. ‘
At the end of the brain storming
sessions by the editors, a communiqué
was issued. In the communiqué, the
editors condemned vote buying and
election fraud. In a 11 point
communiqué they observed with deep
indignation that elections in the
country were not based on truth and
called on the electoral umpire, INEC to
remain truly independent in practice.
The communiqué which was jointly
signed by NGE's President, Funke
Egbemode and the Secretary General,
Victoria Ibanga called on politicians,
political parties and the security
agencies not to intimidate voters during
election, stressing that the cardinal
principle of democracy is rooted in free
choice. The editors noted that it was
high time politicians imbibed the
culture of sportsmanship in election
and shunned the vice of winning at
all cost.
The editors also appreciated the Vice
President for his presence and the Delta
state governor for the successful hosting
of the conference. The editors also
called on journalists at all levels to be
more involved in investigative reportage
spiced with balanced and analytical
reportage as these were the ingredients
that will not only deepen democracy but
also earn the members of the Fourth
Estate of Realm respect of the public. The
editors at the end of the conference
pledged to defend the truth and uphold
the ethical standards as regards the
coverage and reportage of news. The fiveday
event by the editors demonstrated
beyond doubt that in deed and in truth
our journalists are professionals who can
also hold their own in the best Ivory Tower
in any part of the globe.

Okowa jeers at APC
•Good riddance to bad rubbish – Erue dubs defectors
By Emma Amaize,
Regional Editor
FROM his mien, it
seemed Delta State
Governor, Senator Ifeanyi
Okowa, had been looking for
a suitable opportunity to scoff
at the All Progressives
Congress, APC, in the state
since the rival party, early this
month, nominated
successive governorship
contender, Chief Great
Ogboru, as its gubernatorial
standard bearer for the 2019
general elections.
The much-sought occasion
came for the governor, who is
his party’s candidate,
Tuesday, when the PDP in
Delta North senatorial
district held what it called a
mega rally at Kwale, Ndokwa
West local government area.
At the rally, APC chieftains,
led by Chief V O T Abanum,
running mate to the party’s
2015 governorship
candidate, former member,
House of Representatives,
Hon Mercy Almona-Isei,
factional leader of APC in
Delta North, Hon Henry
Onianwa, Chief Gabriel
Mordi and Chief Emma
Ogude allegedly led
thousands of supporters to
defect to PDP.
Who do you want to
deceive?
Apparently poking fun at
the APC gubernatorial
candidate whose name he
did not mention, Okowa
Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa (middle); Delta State PDP
Chairman, Barr. Kingsley Esiso (right) and one of the decampees from APC
to PDP, Hon. Mercy Amonah Isei, during PDP Delta North Mega Rally/
Reception of Decampees, at Kwale, Delta State. Pix: JIBUNOR SAMUEL.
said: “We are praying for
debate, they will have nothing
to talk about, I am in Delta
State, I only left when I went
to Ibadan to study Medicine,
my opponents will have
nothing to say, so they will run
away from debate.”
“We cannot deceive
ourselves, when you contest
election today and after three
years and half, a month to
election, you are back to Delta
State to ask for votes, who do
you want to deceive? He said.
Political homily
Not done, he switched over
to the national congress of
APC, which the Coalition of
former APC Presidential
Aspirants was challenging,
saying: “Even their
congresses, they are
deceiving themselves, the
PDP had a free and fair
primary elections.”
He sermonized, “In Port
Harcourt, 12 persons
contested in the presidential
primary election, one person
emerged and no one left after
the primaries because, we live
in love and we believe in God;
when you have God, you are
not afraid, we are on a solid
rock but, those who could not
conduct elections are on
sinking sand; no matter what
they do, we are not afraid.”
Mockery
Boasting of PDP’s strength
and the disunity rocking APC,
which has splintered the party
in the state, he asserted:
“We will win in all the places,
even when they conduct the
elections severally, we will
win, they are in disarray,
campaign is yet to commence
and they have several cases
in different courts, that is not
how an organized political
party should be.”
He told the decampees:
“I must thank all of you for
coming to this rally; I must
thank all our brothers and
sisters who are returning to
our party, you are welcome
back home.”
Mordi tears APC
membership card
His deputy, Barr Kingsley
Otuaro, chairman of the PDP
in the state, Barr Kingsley
Esiso, former Minister of
Information, Prof. Sam
Refuse: Ambode backtracks, engages 400
PSPs operators in new deal
Stories by
Olasunkanmi Akoni
LAGOS State Governor,
Akinwumi Ambode has
commenced talks with over
400 PSP operators to work out
modalities for waste
collection and disposal in a
new deal aimed at restoring
healthy environment as well
as eliminate possible health
hazards in the state.
Recall that Ambode had
earlier appointed the former
General Manager, Lagos
State Waste Management
Authority, LAWMA, Dr. Ola
Oresanya, as consultant to
handle the new deal.
The move by the governor,
followed earlier directive by
the State House of Assembly
for Private Sector Partnership,
PSP, to resume collection and
disposal of waste.
The Assembly had last
Thursday, ordered the 20 Local
Governments and 37 Local
Council Development Areas,
LCDAs, in the state to recall
the PSP operators in their
areas to go back to refuse
collection with immediate
effect.
Ambode had appointed
Visionscape Sanitations
Solution, a company
contracted to manage waste
in the state with billions of
naira already invested in the
creation, before the initiative
was thwarted by the
lawmakers who denied any
knowledge of the company’s
existence in the state, let alone
operation.
Ambode-led government
therefore came under massive
attacks and criticisms over the
ineffective operations of
Visionscape, in the face of
growing refuse across the
state.
This followed an Urgent
Matter of Public Importance
raised by Gbolahan Yishawu
(Eti-Osa Constituency 1l on
heaps of refuse scattered all
over the state.
According to Speaker of the
House, Mudashiru Obasa,
Lagos State Government does
not know about Visionscape.
In his reaction then, the
Chief Executive Officer, CEO,
Visionscape, John Irvine, in a
statement said: “We would
like to believe that there is
some misinterpretation of the
statements being circulated,
despite our continued efforts
in meeting the performance
matrices of our valid and
subsisting contract.
“We will nonetheless
continue to fulfill the terms of
our service contract in the face
of a sustained negative
sponsored media campaign,
as well as persistent and
systematic sabotage of our
efforts and our assets.
“We remain open to
dialogue, levelling the
competitive playing field and
participating in a more
inclusive process with all
stakeholders in the
environment.”
Sequel to this, Ambode had
to seek Oresanya’s expertise,
who left a very big mark that
no one has been able to fill, as
consultant to rescue residents
from possible health risks.
Therefore, Ambode set up a
joint Committee, headed by
the Secretary to the State
Government, Mr. Tunji Bello.
Bello, by the powers vested
on him, ordered the operators
to return to status quo by
embarking on “door-todoor”
evacuation of waste
across the state with
immediate effect.
Residents
hail move
Mr. Joshua Amos, a resident
in Ikeja, described the
measure as “a welcome
development”, saying, “with
the PSP returning in Lagos, the
ineffective waste management
will no doubt be resolved.This
is a big relief to us, the residents,
as filth have taken over the
state. We commend this
courageous move by
Governor Ambode.”
Also speaking, Mrs Abiola
Ogunnaike, a business
woman living in Lagos Island,
commended the authorities
for saving residents over rising
refuse in the state.
She stated: “We have almost
given up on any possible
solution soon, we thought
Governor Ambode had
abandoned governance in
Lagos after losing a second
term bid ticket. Though, it was
a mistake in the first instance
to have sacked PSP operators
for Visionscape. My kudos to
members of the State House
of Assembly and Governor
Ambode for this bold step.The
sad issue of heaps of refuse has
finally come to an end in
Lagos.”
SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018 —41
Oyovbaire, Hon. Solomon
Funkekeme and other PDP
leaders in their separate
goodwill message stated that
the PDP would get 100 per
cent votes in the state.
Speaking on their defection
to PDP, Hon. Gabriel Mordi,
who publicly tore his APC
membership card, said the
achievements of Governor
Okowa were what attracted
members of the opposition
political parties to the PDP.
Coordinator of Atikulated
Agenda 2019, Chief Greg
Onah and PDP chieftain, Dr.
Tabs Ogaranya-Tabowe
described the success of the
rally as good signal that
Governor Okowa had
endeared himself to Deltans
through his people-oriented
projects.
APC sinking
ship
Publicity secretary of PDP
in the state, Dr. Ifeanyi
Osuoza, in a statement,
commending the people of
Anioma for the “massively
successive mega rally” in
Kwale, said: “The Delta PDP
also heartily welcomes into
our family, the avalanche of
defectors, who crossed over
from other political platforms
into the warm and comforting
embrace of the PDP, having
realized that there is no hope
or redemption in the sinking
ship of APC in particular,
which is gradually tearing
itself to fragments not just in
Delta State but all over the
country, just like the clueless
and inept administration of
its leadership at the Federal
and all other levels.”
The party expressed
gratitude to Senator Patrick
Osakwe, Chief Godswill
Obielum, Admiral Mike
Onah, Omordi George
Ugbomah, Hon Mercy
Almona-Isei and other
leaders in Ndokwa axis for
their unshakable support for
Okowa.
APC reacts, says
Onianwa,
co-travelers
inconsequential
But, APC in Delta led by
Prophet Jones Erue, some
hours after the rally,
discredited reports that its
members defected to the
ruling party.
Publicity secretary, Barr
Ogheneluemu Imonina, in a
statement, said: “Today,
being the 23rd of October,
2018, an infinitesimal group
of people, led by one Mr.
Henry Onianwa, a Delta
North chairman of
Mainstream Delta APC
(MDA), a proscribed pressure
group in APC Delta State,
formed by Chief Otega
Emerhor, an expelled
member of the party, defected
to PDP at Kwale.”
2019 public debate:
Onuesoke backs
Okowa
PEOPLE’s Democratic
Party, PDP chieftain,
Chief Sunny Onuesoke
has thrown his weight
behind recent call by Delta
State Governor, Dr
Ifeanyi Okowa
challenging his opponents
in 2019 Delta State
governorship election
to public debate.
Okowa gave the
challenge at a mega rally
organised, to receive
decampees from other
political parties at the
Kwale Township Stadium,
Kwale, Ndokwa West local
government area of Delta
State.
Onuesoke affirmed that
he was in full support
of Okowa, noting that
such debate would give
the governor the
opportunity to showcase
achievements in
infrstraucture, human
development, education,
security and health among
others.
Encroachment: Lagos community
threatens to demolish structures
on public land
IRATE members of a community in Agbado Oke Odo
Local Council Development Area, LCDA, Lagos State,
under the aegis of “Concerned Residents’ have staged a
protest over alleged encroachment of land allocated for
public utility located within a public school in the area.
The placards carrying protesters, comprising of elders
and youths, stormed the site at Oke-Odo Senior and Junior
Secondary School during the week and called for
immediate intervention of the state governor to reclaim
the land or the people will resist further development on
the site.
The land, about four acres, was allegedly encroached
upon about few months ago before resumption of the
current academic session.
Some of the inscriptions on the placard read: “Leave
Oke-Odo High School land alone”; “Governor Ambode,
call your officials to order now”; “Ambode, give us
recreational centre, vocational centre, do not sell our
schools’ land”; “Oke Odo High School is not for Sale”,
among others.
It was gathered that the land has a master plan for the
development of community recreational and vocational
centres before the sudden acquisition for residential estate
by faceless individuals or group.
The protesters stormed the school premises and pasted
some messages on the wall erected around the encroached
land, warning the developers to steer clear or be forced out
of the site.
However, effort to speak with any of the Principals of the
schools over the development was not granted as our
correspondent was directed to the state Ministry of
Education for any official comment.
Revival
CHRIST Apostolic Church, POWEC District
Headquarters, No 55 Memudu Street, Orile-
Iganmu will have its annual 60-day revival
programme from November 1 – December 30, 2018.
Theme: “Power To Go Far”, time 6:000-8:30 pm.

42 — SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
Missing General: Army discovers shallow
grave at Dura
*Community exhumes, relocate General’s body to unknown place
*As District Head hands self over to Police
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State (left) with the Emir of Kano, His
Royal Majesty, Muhammadu Sanusi II, when the governor played host to the Royal
Father at the Government House, Enugu, yesterday.
By Kingsley Omonobi
& Marie-Therese
Nanlong
THE 3rd Armoured Di
vision, Nigerian Army
has finally confirmed that
missing Major General Idris
Alkali, the former Chief
of Administration at Army
headquarters, was killed in
the Dura-Du community in
Jos by an irate mob made
up of youths and other persons
who are well known.
According to the Army,
the youths were protesting
against the killing of 11
members of the community
who were attacked by unknown
gun men at a shopping
complex located at
Lafande village of Dura-Du
in Jos South area on September
2, 2018.
Late Major General Alkali
had unfortunately ran into
the protesting irate youths,
identified himself, since he
was driving himself and
told them he was on his way
to Bauchi, that he had nothing
to do with the situation
of the earlier attack by unknown
gunmen.
His explanation fell on
deaf ears and the youths assaulted
and killed the senior
officer. Thereafter, his belongings
such as clothings,
cash, phones and laptop
were shared by those who
killed him.
After killing him, the
youths drove his Toyota Corolla
car into the Dura-Du
pit, dumped it there while
another set of youths took
his body to a shallow grave
and buried it inside.
Giving a gory account of
the killing of the late senior
officer in an update of investigations,
General Officer
Commanding, 3 division
on the Nigerian Army, Major
General Benson Akinroluyo
said, “In line with the
Division’s drive of keeping
the public informed
through the media about
the cordon and search operation
being conducted for
the missing senior officer,
Major General Idris Alkali,
this is the latest development
based on available
verifiable facts.
“Recall that on September
2, 2018, at about
8:00pm, unknown gunmen
attacked a shopping complex
located at Lafande
Community on the outskirts
of Jos metropolis in
Dura-Du District of Jos
South Local Government
Area of Plateau State.
“As a result of the attack,
11 people were killed while
others sustained various
degrees of injuries. The attack
triggered protest by the
people of the area on the
morning of September 3,
2018.
“Irate youths in their hundreds
trooped out, blocked
the Eastern Bypass with
stones and other dangerous
objects.
“The immediate past
Chief of Administration
(Army), Major General Idris
Alkali who recently disengaged
from the Nigerian
Army after 35 years
meritorious service to the
Nigerian Army and the
country was travelling from
Abuja to Bauchi via Jos
same day.
“The senior officer was
travelling alone in his
black Toyota Corolla car
with registration number,
Kwara MUN 670 AA.
“Credible intelligence revealed
that his car was
stopped and he introduced
himself as a general to the
hoodlums who had barricaded
the road that he was
just passing through to Bauchi.
“The senior officer was
assaulted and killed. Thereafter,
his belongings such as
clothings, cash, phones and
laptop were shared by those
who killed him.
“His body was dragged,
before being moved somewhere
else and his car was
driven and pushed into the
abandoned mining pit filled
with water.
“The irate youths who followed
his car to the abandoned
mining pit filled with
water on many tri-cycles
popularly known as “Keke
NAPEP” jubilated for reason
best known to them or
for mission accomplished.
“He was later buried in a
shallow grave in an area
popularly known as, “No
man’s land” within the community.
“Headquarters 3 Division
was tasked to conduct a
search and rescue operation
for the missing senior officer
by the Army Headquarters.
“The search and rescue
operation is headed by the
Commander 3 Division
Garrison, Brigadier General
Umar Muhammed.
“During the search and
rescue operation at the
Dura-Du District, soldiers
deployed were warned not to
eat and drink anything from
the community for fear of
being poisoned.
“Hence, soldiers were fed
from the barracks throughout
the duration of the operation.
“At the onset of task,
on September 20, 2018,
rented protesters made up of
women from Lafande community
and beyond were mobilized
in their hundreds to
protest against the evacuation
of water in the abandoned
mining pit.
“The women claimed that
the evacuation of water in
the abandoned mining pit
would spiritually affect their
children by making them to
fall sick and their husbands
would die.
“The protest by the women
was therefore seen as an
attempt to prevent us from
showing the whole world the
heinous crimes the community
had committed over the
years which were still ongoing
before now.
“After the cordon and
search operation, some people
were apprehended.
Those who were apprehended
were those who witnessed
or heard about the incident
but failed to report to the
nearest security agency.
“Also apprehended were
those who were at the scene
of the incident as at the time
the senior officer was killed.
Continuing the GOC said,
“Please be informed that
some were released and others
paraded and handed
over to the Nigerian Police
for further investigation.
“Having pumped the water
from the abandoned
mining pit for 2 weeks or
thereabout despite protests
by women attributing all
kinds of mythical affliction
that would befall their husbands
and children, the following
were recovered:
“On September 21,2018,
recovery of a door of a white
bus; On September 29, 2018,
a black Toyota Corolla car
with registration number
Kwara MUN 670 AA, a customized
T-Shirt with Nigerian
Army Logo and the
General’s name inscribed on
it, as well as a pair of canvass
shoe belonging to the
deceased senior officer.
“On October 2, 2018, a
white Toyota LiteAce bus
with registration number
Plateau Rym 307 XA, which
was reported missing with
the driver on June 24, 2018
and a red Rover car with registration
number Bauchi
AG 645 TRR which was allegedly
reported to have
been buried along with the
occupants on January 31,
2013.
“On September 29,2018,
when the general’s black
Toyota Corolla car was recovered
from the abandoned
mining pit, those involved
and those not involved
in the killing of the
senior officer held a meeting
to relocate his corpse
away from the community.
“This is because of the inherent
danger it would attract
to the community.
“Consequently, a 10-man
team was constituted to relocate
his corpse earlier buried
in a shallow grave within
the community to elsewhere.
“A specialist in preservation
of corpse who was contracted
assisted in exhuming
his corpse from the shallow
grave to elsewhere. Only few
trusted members of the community
knew where his
corpse was relocated to.
“The specialist is currently
in our custody. Again, this
is an attempt to cover up the
heinous crime committed by
the community.
“There exist other evidence
and indicators that
pointed to the fact that those
who were involved in the killing
of the senior officer are
being supported and backed
by community leaders within
the Dura-Du District.
“In recent times, they have
been staging press conferences
and writing petitions
in order to smear the image
of the Division in particular
and the Nigerian Army in
general.
“This Division will not
yield to the antics or blackmail
by those who have
committed this dastardly
crime.
On the shallow grave, the
GOC said, “Please note that
four different sources not
known to each other at various
times took us to the
2019: Danger lies ahead
of APC — Gov Amosun
GOVERNOR Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun state has
warned of danger which APC faces in the hands of
the party’s national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole
and few members of the National Working
Committee(NWC), following their arbitrariness in the way
they handled crises that attended the primaries of the party.
Governor Amosun, in a statement signed by his Senior Special
Assistant (Media), Mr Opeyemi Soyombo said the imbroglio
over the primaries of Ogun State had brought to the
fore the danger APC faces in the hands of Comrade Adams
Oshiomhole and few members of the NWC like Issa Onilu
who are in cahoots with him.
The statement added that members of APC in Ogun State
have therefore called on the leaders of the party to call Comrade
Oshiomhole to order before he crashes the chances of
the party in the 2019 elections in jeopardy.
According to the statement, “for the avoidance of doubt,
we state for the umpteenth time that there were no gubernatorial
primaries in Ogun State other than the one held on
October 2, that produced Hon. Adekunle Akinlade as governorship
candidate. The attempt by Mr Onilu to confuse
the issues is therefore belittling of someone holding a position
of publicity secretary of a reputable political party.
His attack on eminent members of the party as governors
raises concerns about his agenda in the APC, if not that of a
fifth columnist for the PDP under which he tried unsuccessfully
to become a minister in the last years of President Goodluck
Jonathan.
“The guidelines of the APC are clear on the roles of the
state party executive and the NWC on the conduct of primaries.
The claim by Mr Onilu of a phoney court injunction
restraining Ogun State Executive committee from participating
in the conduct of the primaries is a fabrication to
defraud the people of Ogun State. Which court gave the
injunction and when? Who are the parties in the case? If at
all there is, did the national secretariat bring it to the attention
of the state executive committee of the party? Was the
injunction given at a weekend or on the public holiday of
October 1, because the national secretariat engaged the state
executive of the party on the primaries all through the weekend
leading to the October 2, primaries.
“Besides, where did the primaries that produced Dapo
Abiodun hold? The primaries was to hold on October 1. The
NWC panel and all aspirants agreed at a stakeholders'
meeting on October 1, to hold the primaries on October 2,
the state government extended the school holiday of October
1, by one day so that school premises that were the
designated venues for the primaries, accepted by all aspirants,
would be available. The venues were used for the
primaries on October 2, and the schools resumed on October
3. So, where did the Dapo Abiodun primaries hold?
opened shallow grave
where the senior officer was
earlier buried before he was
subsequently removed.
“Furthermore, sniffer
dogs that have been cultured
with the personal effects
of the senior officer led
us to the same opened shallow
grave.
“That was the only grave
we were led to by different
people and sniffer dogs. We
did not go to any other
grave as the operation was
carried out based on credible
intelligence.
“Like I always say, the
cordon and search operation
is intelligence driven
and that is why the operation
has been conducted in
line with international best
practices and respect for
human rights.
“This further explains why
the Division did not clamp
down on the entire community.
Only the perpetrators
are being targeted.
“At this point, let me reiterate
that all the actors involved
in this dastardly act
who are still at large are
known to us.
“All efforts are being
made to get them arrested
and be brought to justice as
their photographs and personal
details are with the
relevant security agencies.
“The cordon and search
operation conducted by
own troops has really exposed
the heinous crimes
being committed by the few
but fully supported and
concealed by the entire
community.
“I want to commend
members of the public for
their cooperation, and still
solicit for anyone with credible
information on where
the senior officer was reburied.
“It is the civic responsibility
of the Dura-Du community
to produce the corpse
of the deceased senior officer
and those who were involved
in the killing of the
senior officer.
“This Headquarters can
be reached on GSM number,
09074028881 as sources
of information would be
protected and treated as
confidential.
“Our operations will continue
until the corpse of the
deceased senior officer is
recovered and the perpetrators
of this heinous crime
are arrested.”
Meanwhile, the State Police
Command in a statement
by its Public Relations
Officer, PPRO, DSP Mathias
Tyopev said one of the
eight suspects declared
missing in connection with
the missing General has
turned himself in.
Tyopev said, “The Plateau
State Police Command’s
decision to declare some
people wanted in respect of
the case of the mysterious
disappearance of Major
General IM Alkali (rtd) has
started yielding results. One
of the persons declared
wanted, Da Yakubu Rap, the
District Head reported to
the Plateau State Police
Command headquarters
Jos, this morning and he is
undergoing interrogation.”

SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018 — 43
By Juliet Ebirim & Adetutu Adesoji
Nigerians react: Nnamdi Kanu’s call for Igbos to boycott 2019 polls
Igbos need to start asking
themselves questions -
Ejike Kanife, Writer/
Businessman
Atiku would lose a lot of
the already miserly
South East votes, giving
Buhari an advantage. And
Ndigbo will remain in Nigeria
under a president who hasn’t
hidden his disdain for them.
At a point, Igbo people have
to start asking if Nnamdi Kanu
is really with them or against
them. Some of the most
important questions my fellow
Igbo people ought to be
asking themselves now is : As
a political force, is Nnamdi
Kanu presently unifying Igbo
people or reigning confusion
in them? Do we need to unite
and stand a chance of
becoming something more
than a political laughing stock
or do we need to remain
divided and as always be
overlooked in the grand
scheme of things?
Ndigbo cannot afford to
boycott the polls - Ikenna
Asomba, Journalist/Social
Commentator.
The forthcoming 2019
Presidential Election, is a
Quasi Referendum for Ndigbo.
Since 1983, after Chief Alex
Ekwueme, then Vice President was
sacked alongside his boss, Shehu
Shagari through a coup. No Igbo
man has risen to that spot again.
So, if there’s a chance that an Igbo
man, Peter Obi will rise to that spot
if the opposition party (PDP) wins, it
behoves on Ndigbo to fully support
this Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi
joint ticket. As regards Nnamdi
Kanu’s call on members of the
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB),
to boycott next year’s poll, I say NO.
The bigger picture for me is
restructuring the centrifugal
Nigerian State, and thus returning
to the path of True Fiscal Federalism
as practiced in the First Republic
(1960-1966). At this auspicious
moment, Ndigbo must realise that
Democracy is not a spectator sport.
It would amount to Igbos
losing on all sides -
Olutayo Irantiola, PR
Consultant
Every Igbo man has a right
to vote and be voted for.
However, it should be noted that
they can all decide to support and
vote for their candidates of
choice at all levels of
governance. Taking to Kanu’s
advice will not stop the election
from taking place and it won’t stop
elected officers from being sworn in.
As such, it would amount to losing
out on all sides, because they can
decide to support a candidate of
choice and massively vote for the
person regardless of the
political party that houses the
candidate. There is need to
massively educate his
(Kanu’s) followers, so that
they will not be a threat to
national peace and tranquility
before, during and after the
elections. We all have roles to
play in making the nation better.
How Okorocha, Amosun lost Buhari’s support
*El rufai, Bello, reject being co-opted into anti-Oshiomhole camp
*Okorocha schedules another meeting for Tuesday
*Sen Uzodinma APC candidate in Imo
By Charles Kumolu,
Deputy Features Editor
PRESIDENT Muhammadu
Buhari was infuriated by
the refusal of Imo State governor,
Chief Rochas Okorocha;
Ogun State governor, Sen
Ibikunle Amosun; and Zamfara
State governor, Alhaji Abudulaziz
Yari to accept his solution
to the crises over their choice of
governorship candidates in their
respective states, Saturday Vanguard
learned.
The trio, who had visited the
President in Abuja to seek his
support in their quest to oust the
National Chairman of All Progressives
Congress, APC, Comrade
Adams Oshiomhole, were
asked to sacrifice some of their
ambitions in the interest of
peace.
Incensed by their insistence on
having their way despite his intervention,
the President, who did
not buy into the anti-Oshiomhole
plot referred them to the
latter on the grounds that he
runs the affairs of APC.
A source privy to the outcome
of the meeting told Saturday
Vanguard that Buhari had told
Okorocha to forgo his senatorial
ambition and produce the
governorship standard-bearer.
Amosun, the source, said was
also given options that could
have ensured a win-win situation.
It was this failure to get the
President’s endorsement that informed
the failed attempt to
mobilise APC governors in Abuja,
with the sole aim of moving
against Oshiomhole.
Govs Bello, Nasir Elrufai
The plot, our source said, was
for Rochas to have used his influence
as the Chairman of Progressive
Governors Forum,
while the capacity of Yari as the
Chairman of Nigeria Governors
Forum, NGF, would have been
deployed to have other governors
agree to the plan.
However, most of the governors
did not turn up for the meeting
earlier this week, a situation
Vanguard gathered was deliberate.
In fact, an insider revealed that
attempts at convincing Kogi
State governor, Alhaji Yahaya
Bello and Kaduna State governor,
Nasir Elrufai in a telephone
conversation failed.
Bello was gathered to have told
Okorocha that he had absolute
loyalty for the President and
would not pitch his tent against
Oshiomhole, who is on the same
page with Buhari on the matter.
On his part, Elrufai was said
to have told them not to speak to
him again about the issue, saying
he would not want to be used
for settling personal scores.
He was said to have added that
they should settle any differences
they may be having with Oshiomhole,
without co-opting other
governors in the plot against
the national chairman.
Saturday Vanguard was told
that only four governors attended
the failed meeting in Abuja.
Faced with the failure to mobilise
overwhelming support
among the governors, the Okorocha
group scheduled another
anti-Oshiomhole meeting for
next week Tuesday.
Signatures of the 21-member
NWC
Also, the aggrieved governors,
it was learned, have commenced
collecting the names of the 21-
member APC National Working
Committee, NWC, in their quest
to unseat Oshiomhole, who they
considered a stumbling block to
their ambitions.
However, this move was said
to have met a brick wall, as
Vanguard gathered that they
were relying on the Deputy National
Chairman, North of the
APC, Sen Lawali Shuabi, who
was described as a mole in the
party.
According to one of the
sources:”Rochas and his
group of aggrieved governors
met the President, thinking
that he would support their
moves against our National
Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
“The President as a peacemaker,
who means well, sent
them back to Oshiomhole. He
told them that Oshiomhole is
in charge of the party. Buhari
even told Rochas to drop his
senatorial ambition and allow
Hope Uzodinma to go to the
Senate.
“But Rochas disagreed. Amosun
was also given an option
that could resolve the crises,
but he refused like his co-traveler,
Rochas. Their actions got
the President infuriated. They
had thought that Buhari
would support an illegality.
They became frustrated, especially
when their fellow governors
told said they were not
interested in the anti-Oshiomhole
meeting. Governor Elrufai
told them not to call him
He just wants to cause a
political uproar -
Abayomi Adebayo,
Entrepreneur
Nigerians have nothing to
fear about Nnamdi
Kanu’s call to boycott 2019
elections, since we would be
working with a few countries
to safeguard our territory.
Israel has debunked the news
about him being in their
country anyway, but the
Minister of Information already
said he is a mere distraction
from the forthcoming elections.
All Kanu is after is to cause an
uproar in the political system
and also create awareness for
Biafra.
on phone again for such, stating
that it was wrong to use
other people in settling personal
scores.
Even Governor Bello said he
would not join them on the
grounds that he stands with the
President on any issue. Okorocha
came to Abuja three days
before the failed meeting in his
attempt to mobilise support.
A vote of confidence
“They are now moblising
NWC members. They have
started collecting their names
but it is dead on arrival because
they only have one person,
who they think is loyal to
them. They are collecting the
names of those they think are
against Comrade. Our party’s
Deputy National Chairman,
North, Sen Lawali Shuaibu is
with them. He is a mole in our
party. We have long discovered
that he has sympathy for Saraki.
We will defeat them. They
even want to use the state
chairmen but unknown to
them, the state chairmen are
loyal to Oshiomhole. All the
state chairmen in the South-
South have passed a vote of
confidence in him. That puts
him in a better position. The
Minister of Transport, Rotimi
Amaechi even held a meeting
yesterday (Thursday) where he
cautioned party chieftains
against moving Oshiomhole.
He will play a fast one on
Igbos - Eseri Obatarhe,
Fashion manager
Nnamdi Kanu will play a
fast one on Igbos. He will
form a political party at the very
last minute, claiming that it is the
only way to actualize Biafra and
get voted into the National
Assembly alongside other
Nigerian politicians. He has this
all planned out and we would
be foolish not to see where all
this is going. We shouldn’t also
forget that if Gowon had adhered
to Aburi accord, Ojukwu
wouldn’t have declared Biafra.
Now the shout for restructuring
is loudest more than ever before.
If Nnamdi Kanu is smart, he
should change his narrative to
Aburi Accord (True fiscal
federalism). Kanu should key
into restructuring.
Okorocha, Amosun, Yari,
and Akeredolu
“Rochas has budgeted so
much for this project. That is
why he is leading the offensive.
Another meeting has even been
scheduled for Tuesday. The
agenda is their intention to remove
Oshiomhole for refusing
the subversion of popular wishes
in their respective states.
Okorocha, Amosun, Yari and
even Akeredolu are just being
motivated by selfish interest.
Okorocha is hell-bent on installing
his son-in-law, Uche
Nwosu, while a man, who is
engaged to his daughter, would
become Nwosu’s running
mate.
“He would also be in the Senate
at the same time. That is
not acceptable to Mr. President
and our party chairman.
Okorocha is exhibiting the
height of greed because he had
come several times to seek
Oshiomhole’s support. The
position of Oshiomhole is that
the matter belongs to the people
of the state. Oshiomhole
has no grouse against Okorocha,
who he returned the party
structure to after being humiliated
by the John Oyegun-led
defunct national leadership.
“At a meeting that was held
for the aggrieved people in
Imo, Oshiomhole asked Okorocha
to take 55 percent of the
positions, while Sen Hope
Uzodima and Sen Uwajumogu
group takes 45 percent, but
Rochas refused, saying that
Uzodinma and his group are
not members of the party.
Rochas wants to take Uzodinma’s
seat in the Senate, while
he has got someone to replace
Uwajumogu in his senatorial
district. These senators are the
people fight for President Buhari
in the Southeast and Rochas
wants to displace them.
“There is a security report
that APC would lose Imo State
if the ticket is given to Okorocha’s
son-in-law. Even the
Catholic Church which is an
influential platform in the
state has vowed not to vote for
his candidate. The church was
instrumental to the electoral
defeat suffered by former governor
Ikedi Ohakim. And we
are talking of Okorocha, who
had offended the church. The
party expected them to take the
opportunity offered by the Osunbor
Electoral Panel Committee
but Okorocha, Yari, Amosun,
and Akeredolu failed to do so.”

44—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
LITF 2018: 8: Japan seeks more
opportunities to invest est in Nigeria
•Ready to showcase 30 brands at Fair
Stories by Moses Nosike
Counting on the dividends of
previous participation in Lagos
International Trade Fair, Japan
through its external trade
organisation, JETRO in Nigeria,
seeks mammoth opportunities to
invest in Nigeria, considering the
country as the biggest market in
Africa, even as its 30 brands line up
for exhibition at the forthcoming the
Lagos Trade Fair starting on
November 2 to 11, 2018.
Speaking at the press briefing in
Lagos, Trade Commissioner/
Managing Director, JETRO, Lagos,
Shigeyo Nishizawa said that JETRO
activities started in Nigeria in 1955
and recently they are focusing on
promoting investment and
facilitating trade from Japan to
Nigeria.
According to him, JETRO is
organising the Japan Pavilion at the
Lagos International Trade Fair 2018
in collaboration with Embassy of
Japan which will be one of the
biggest at the Fair. “Japanese
companies, as well as agents and
their local distributors with more
than 30 Japanese brands will be
showcasing their products and
technologies to Nigerian business
officials and citizens representing
the quality and reliability of Japan
for the 10 days event.
Continuing, Nishizawa said,
“Exhibitors during the trade fair
include, Panasonic, Koncept
Autocentre (partner of Isuzu
Motors), Canon Central, and North
Africa, R.T. Briscoe Nigeria,
Massilia Motor, Kaneka
Corporation, Denka, Brother
International, HONDA, CFAO
Yamaha Motor Nigeria”, etc.
Nishizawa said that JETRO
promises all encompassing
moments during the Trade Fair
which will draw the attention of
beautiful women, “Made in Japan,
Made for Women” zone, which will
introduce Japanese products and
services helping to enrich women’s
lives with more fashionable and
convenient items. “Such products
like cosmetics, hair wigs, shampoo,
sewing machines, headphones, nail
paint, processed foods, seasonings,
etc. will be exhibited”.
“This can help to boister trend and
particularly effective platform for
introducing new product choices to
the region. It offers incredible
insights and a glimpse into the future
of the beauty and wellness industry
across the region and beyond”.
“Nigerian import from Japan in
2017 slightly decreased by 1.6% to
USD 320.8 million from 2016 while
export to Japan decreased by 7.5%
to USD 783.1 million. Trade
declined between both countries
from 2015 to 2017 due to decreased
natural gas import, slim harvest of
sesame seeds in Nigeria and weak
demand for some goods. However,
despite the economic recession and
the slowing down of the trade,
numbers of Japanese companies in
Nigeria have strong interests in
Nigerian market. In fact, the
number of the Japanese affiliated
companies in Nigeria has increased
by four in 2016 and by one in 2017”.
Nishizawa further said that the
activities of Japanese companies in
Nigeria are contributing to
Nigeria’s economic development
and growth. “They create jobs,
educate staff, transfer technology
and share values of Japanese
craftmanship, which is the key
agenda of the Federal Government
and its Economic Recovery and
Growth Plan (ERGP).
CGS, partner
tners seek to increase N3b wor
orth Nigerian beauty sector
CEO, Compass Global Service,
Mrs. Tokunbo Chiedu,
Considering the economic value
of beauty industry to a growing
economy like Nigeria with huge
employment opportunities, a
Nigerian based consultancy,
Compass Global Service has joined
forces with Dubai/UK based
international exhibition organisers,
B to B Events to organise a three
day annual beauty West African
exhibition and conference next
month in Lagos from November 21
-23, 2018. Part of that conference
and exhibition is to reposition the
beauty industry in Nigeria for global
competitiveness.
Compass Global Service, as an
international platform for business
to business engagements, export
L-R: Deputy Trade Commissioner, Japan External Trade Organisation
(JETRO), Chiharu Yamamura; Trade Commissioner/Managing Director,
Shigeyo Nishizawa and the General Manager, Michael Anusa, during
JETRO press conference on the forthcoming trade fair in Lagos, held at
JETRO Office, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Wednesday.
Funke Osae-Brown, The Luxury
reporter Magazine
promotion, is ready to host over 100
companies from across the world,
including Nigerian local brands to
showcase during the exhibition.
According to the CEO, Compass
Global Service, Mrs. Tokunbo
Chiedu, the firm also engages in
business development, new market
entry, international trade/
partnership, and this it has doing
for over 10 years connecting
Nigerian and international
businesses to new opportunities and
global trade ties, providing access
to training and creating initiatives,
including business support/
solutions.
Counting on her experience in the
industry, she said that the beauty
Tara Fela-Durotoye, House of Tara
industry in Nigeria needs a review
especially on the aspect of training
of beauty personnel/professionals in
the country. “This is necessary
because of the seemingly lack of
skilled manpower in the sector”.
Chiedu said further that there is
need to invest more into the
education sector via technical
colleges, government approved
beauty institutes, introduction of
bursaries for those interested in a
career path in the beauty sector.
“Lack of adequate investment into
research and development to
support the manufacturing of
beauty products and value addition
to natural ingredients has been
Glitz, glamour at grand finale of
Glo Mega show
The grand finale of the Glo Mega Show, Accra, Ghana editions was last
weekend filled with glitz and glamour as thousands of fun lovers
converged at the Fantasy Dome, Trade Fair Centre, to savour the superlative
concert.
The show witnessed an array of gifted artistes who, in terms of the
popularity and rich pedigree in their chosen careers complemented the
equally outstanding gathering of other stars who performed as guests at
the event.
Prospective music stars also had their day in the sun as they enjoyed the
privilege of sharing the limelight with established music icons including
Patapaa, Yemi Alade, Flavour, Stonebwoy, Sarkodie, Davido and Wizkid
who treated the audience lyrical vibes. Gordons and Foster Romanus, both
stand-up comedians were also on hand to serenade the audience with
funny and stress bursting jokes and hilarious anectodes.
The combo event was in conclusion of the 5 high octane mega shows
from Glo Mobile, which gave the city of Accra ecstatic moments over the
last three months.
Highpoints of the indelible show were the performances of Supa, popularly
known as Ghana 2Pac who joined Sarkodie on stage thereby eliciting loud
ululation and cheers from the excited as well as Wizkid who was also
joined on stage by the CCTV crooner, King Promise.
Delectable DJ Cuppy was the delight of the night as she churned out beats
from her unique turntable. Nollywood legend, Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD)
was the star feature of the night just as the duo of music super diva, Omawumi
Megbele and Ghanaian celebrity, Juliet Ibrahim, co-hosted the event with
comedian Gordons.
Head of Glo Mobile Business, Ghana, Mr. Uche Ojo, while welcoming
guests explained that the five events were packaged to appreciate the
company’s loyal subscribers and also to welcome prospective customers
to the network adding that the company was geared towards ensuring that
subscribers keep enjoying memorable experiences on the network.
Subscribers at the show confirmed that the night was unforgettable with
the various artistes who performed at the instance of Globacom. One of
them, Yaw Bernard who was happy to have watched all the five Glo mega
shows since August 12, the said the grand finale was the biggest of the lot.
Microsoft 4Afrika deepening data, AI
capabilities in Africa
Digital transformation is reimagining
industries around the
world. Technology is no longer a
nice-to-have, but a necessity for
staying in business. Research shows
that modern technologies like AI
will contribute up to $15.7 trillion
to the global economy by 2030,
making it the biggest commercial
opportunity in today’s fastchanging
economy (PwC). AI is
also expected to create 2.3 million
jobs by 2020 (Gartner).
Chief Technology Officer,
Microsoft 4Afrika, Ryno
Rijinsburger, said that the appetite
for these technologies exists in
Africa as more companies –
including local partners working
with us are beginning to experiment
with it and enacting their strategies
towards this.
Rijinsburger said that as AI opens
new business and employment
opportunities, now is the right time
flagged up, including issues around
compliance with global standards.
In addition, it is said that Bank of
Industry Nigeria has taken the lead
in providing financial support
towards the organization of the
conference; whilst the Nigerian
Export Promotion Council are
providing technical support and
training around accessing the
exports market. Lagos State
Government will be represented by
Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye-
Honourable Commissioner for
Commerce, Industry and
Cooperatives who will deliver a
Keynote address on “Lagos, Africa’s
Beauty Business Hub”. The
President of the Nigerian British
Chamber of Commerce; Mr. Akin
Olawore is expected to give the
welcome remarks at the Beauty
West Africa Conference to recognize
the strategic partnership between
Nigerian Consultancy, Compass
Global Business Services and BtoB
Events UK Ltd., organizers of
Beauty West Africa Exhibition.
Euromonitor has revealed that the
Nigerian beauty sector is worth
N3b, confirming the viability of
Nigeria’s Beauty sector. A skilled
and knowledgeable manpower base
is the foundation to a thriving beauty
sector”.
Inûuential beauty industry leaders
from within Nigeria and other West
Africa that have put their weight
behind the conference as Speakers
at the 2018 Beauty West Africa
to equip Africa’s young people with
the skills that would enable access
to higher paying jobs in faster
growing fields.
“Microsoft, through its 4Afrika
initiative, is throwing its global
weight behind developing data and
AI capabilities in Africa, through
deep and prolonged investment into
skills which targets youths via
internships, training, events,
challenges, and strategic
partnering.
“With the pace of change driven
by AI, there is an increasing need
for life-long learning, on-the-job
training, apprenticeships and other
programmes that deliver training
in a more nimble manner”.
Earlier in the month, Microsoft
participated in Data Science
Nigeria’s Artificial Intelligence (AI)
bootcamp, to build the capacity of
local developers in using AI to drive
financial inclusion. This week, the
tech giant also provided sponsorship
and mentorship at the International
Python Conference (PyCon), which
took place on October 25 and 26 in
Kenya and Botswana Innovation
Hub (BIH) Innovation Day held on
October 24 and 25.
In partnership with the Botswana
Innovation Hub, Microsoft 4Afrika
launched its 17th AppFactory
(Apprenticeship Factory) in Africa.
Three of these AppFactories are
currently running in Nigeria and
Ghana, in collaboration with local
partners Mobile Web Ghana, Lotus
Beta Analytics and Sidmach
Technologies, which recently
graduated its first set of apprentices.
At these factories, young ICT
graduates are developing skills in
secure coding, machine learning,
bot framework and data analytics –
empowering them to innovate in the
fields of healthcare, finance,
education, transportation and more.
Conference and Exhibition include
Tara Fela-Durotoye–House of Tara
CEO, Pamela Olatunji – Medical
Aesthetician/ Founder of Spectrum
Beauty Institute, Dr. Vivian Oputa –
Founder Derma Care/ Brand
Trainer Biologique Recherché
They will be speaking on topics as
diverse as”Building Strategic
Partnerships to fast track your
Beauty Business,Manufacturing
101 – Looking at Standards, The
future of the Beauty Sector in
Nigeria and West Africa,The Beauty
Services Sector, Focusing on
Education: Skills/Knowledge
Transfer, and Capacity Building ,
Introduction to Export, Setting Up
A Successful Distribution & Retail
Business.”

AFCON Qualifier
Eagles
will miss
Ndidi
—Rohr
Ahead of Nigeria’s Africa
Cup of Nations qualifier
against South Africa, Gernot
Rohr has admitted that the
team will miss Leicester City
midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi.
Ndidi will not be invited for
the crucial game after picking
up up a second yellow card in
the 3-2 win against Libya 11
days ago.
On the back of three consecutive
wins, the Super Eagles
sit at the summit of their Africa
Cup of Nations qualifying
group E table and even a
point from their last two
games will see them qualify
for next year’s tournament in
Cameroon.
‘’Unfortunately we will miss
Wilfred Ndidi, who is one of
our strongest players. ‘He is
a very important player for us,
but we will try to make the
strongest selection, which is
always based on the form of
our players’’.
Ndidi
Rantie against echiejile
El Clásico
debut
possible for
Vinicius
Vinicius can be selected
by Julen Lopetegui for El
Clásico against Barcelona
after all. This change comes
following the Appeals Committee’s
decision to overturn
one of the yellow cards that
led to the young Brazilian
being sent off in the game for
Castilla against Celta B.
The Brazilian saw his first
card in the 67th minute for
facing up to an opponent,
and then the second just
three minutes from time for
throwing himself to the
Brighton & Hove boss
Chris Hughton has said
that Leon Balogun is pushing
for a starting spot in the
team and has highlighted
that the central defender is
a Nigeria international.
Since joining from Mainz as
a free agent in the summer
Ozil: I laugh at my critics
Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil has
said he laughs off criticism
of his style of play.
Ozil produced a man-of-thematch
performance on Monday
as Arsenal beat Leicester
3-1 to record their 10th
win in a row in all competitions.
Sky Sports pundit Graeme
Souness said afterwards that
Ozil “polarises opinion”, and
in the past he has been criticised
for his languid approach,
which has seen him
brandished as lazy and lacking
fight.
However, ahead of
Ozil
We will clip Eagles’ wings
—Bafana Bafana coach
Bafana Bafana coach,
Stuart Baxter has
backed his troops to
ground in the area.
The Competition Committee
of the Spanish Football
Federation sanctioned him
with a one match ban, meaning
he was out of the reckoning
for Sunday’s huge
clash. Madrid’s speedy response
was an appeal on the
SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018 — 45
defeat Nigeria in next month’s
AFCON Group E qualification
match, which will guarantee
the rainbow nation a ticket t
to play in Cameroon 2019.
Following a goalless draw
away to Seychelles, South Africa’s
chances qualifying for
Africa’s flagship tournament
hangs by the thread but
speaking in an interview with
Kickoff magazine, Baxter said
Bafana Bafana still have their
destiny firmly in their hands.
Baxter said it is not all doom
and gloom as he quickly pointed
out that even a victory in
Victoria would still have required
his side to get points
off either Nigeria or Libya.
second card that has now
been accepted.
If Lopetegui decides not to
pick the 18-year old
forward for his Clásico debut,
Vinicius could play with
Castilla against Fuenlabrada
on Saturday evening.
Vinicius
Balogun pushes to face Wolves
Arsenal’s Super
Sunday clash with Crystal
Palace, Ozil told Sky Sports:
“I just laugh.
“I am not the youngest anymore
but I started playing
professionally at the age of
16 or 17 and it’s always been
up and down with me - people
either like me or they
don’t.
“I don’t listen to these people
- I just listen to my coach
and my people who say
things straight to my face. So
of course, if I play bad, I
know that just as I know
when I play well’’
transfer window, the 30-
year-old has made only two
appearances from a possible
ten in all competitions, starting
against Liverpool and
coming off the bench against
Manchester United.
Balogun is behind Shane
Duffy and Lewis Dunk in the
pecking order of central defenders
and has been an unused
substitute in the last six
Premier League matches.
There will be more competition
for a first team spot in
the next two months as centerback
Dan Burn will join
from Wigan Athletic.
Speaking to reporters yesterday,
Hughton stated :
‘’Dan Burn will join in January
too - we have two centre
halves playing well and Leon
Balogun pushing them all the
way and playing for his country.
That’s always been the
plan with Dan’’.
The Seagulls, who face
Wolves today, are currently
12th in the table after recording
two straight wins against
West Ham and Newcastle
United.
El Clásico: Modric’s final act for Ballon d’Or crown
Modric
Real Madrid’s Luka Modric will
play his sixteenth Clásico
against Barcelona on Sunday. However
important the rest have been,
this one will have a special significance
with the added incentive that
it could prove decisive in him being
awarded the 2018 Ballon d’Or
award.
The Croatian won this year’s FIFA
‘The Best’ award and is
certainly one of the favourites to
break the decade-long dominance
of Lionel Messi and Cristiano
Ronaldo for the Ballon d’Or. The
voting for the individual prize
awarded by France Football is already
open and will end on November
9th after which the counting
begins. Despite a disappointing
league campaign for
Madrid, Modric collected a third
consecutive Champions League title
in May before leading his nation
to the World Cup final in
Russia (where he was
deemed Player of the Tournament).
“The situation is not really
changed. If we had defeated
Seychelles, we would still have
to do the same things, we still
have to knock Nigeria over, if
we can, and if we don’t then
we’ve got to get something in
Libya,” he added.
“And that would have been
the same even if we got a couple
more points [against Seychelles],
but it would have
been very good for the confidence..
‘’But as things stand now, our
surest route to the tournament
in Cameroon is to get maximum
points in our home
match’, which I am confident
we can achieve’’,, added Baxter.
Akinwande’s
cousin defrauds
ex-boxing
champ of N58m
By Onozure Dania
A
40 year-old man, Keazor John,
who allegedly defrauded a
former Nigerian World boxing
champion, Henry Akinwande of
the sum of N58 million was yesterday
arraigned before an Igbosere
Chief Magistrate’s Court, Lagos.
The defendant is facing a two
count charge bordering on convertion
of proceeds to personal
use and stealing, preferred
against him. John who is a distance
cousin to the former boxing
champion, was said to have committed
the offence at Animashaun
area of Alakuko, in Lagos, in 2014.
The prosecutor, Morufu Animashaun,
from the Force Criminal
Intelligence and Investigation
Department (FCIID), Alagbon-
Ikoyi, told the court that the defendant
converted the sum of N48
million, being proceeds from the
sale of a building belonging to the
boxer, to his personal use. He also
alleged that the defendant converted
the sum of N10 million,
being the proceeds from the sale
of fittings and fixtures from Akinwande’s
property to his personal
use. Animashaun, told the court
that Akinwande who is a former
European, Commonwealth and
W.BO. boxing champion, reported
the case of fraudulent conversion
of funds against the defendant
with General Investigation Section
of the FCIID. The defendant
however pleaded not guilty to the
two counts charge, when it was
read to him. In view of his not
guilty plea, Animashaun, asked
the court for a trial date, and urged
the court to remand the defendant
in prison custody pending the
conclusion of the matter.
Guardiola:
EPL title is
five-horse race
Pep Guardiola believes
there is a five-horse race
for the Premier League title
this season.
Manchester City, who face
Tottenham on Monday
Night Football, are currently
top of the table on goal
difference ahead of Liverpool.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs
sit two points further back
and Guardiola says each of
those teams are viable contenders
to win the league.
When asked if the title is a
five-horse race, Guardiola
replied: “I don’t have a
doubt about that. There is
just two points difference in
four, five, six teams so it
means they are also
strong.”

46 — SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
Nigeria steps up preparations
for Wheelchair Tennis
Nigerian players stepped up
preparations for the upcoming
Puma Engineer ITF Wheelchair
Tennis Futures in Abuja
with about a dozen players featuring
in Wednesday’s training
in Lagos.
the midweek session, which
was presided by Nigeria’s head
coach, Frank Tarmena, had the
players work extensively on
their movement after returning
of serves. They also focused on
having spins on their serves to
make them gain more advantage
against their opponents should
Moses
Eagles will carry
on without
Moses —Rohr
Super Eagles manager
Gernot Rohr has admitted
that he was surprised
that Chelsea winger Victor
Moses decided to quit the
national team less than two
months after he represented
the country at the 2018 World
Cup.
One of the reasons why the
Blues number 15 decided to
quit the Super Eagles was to
concentrate on his career
with the Premier League
side, however, he has found
playing opportunities hard to
come by this season.
‘’I have to admit that it did
come as a surprise, but we
had to accept it. He wanted
to focus more on his family
and club,’’ Rohr told Kick Off
Magazine.
‘’Unfortunately he is not
playing regularly at Chelsea.
He is only 27 and it really
was a bit surprising, but we
have to live with it.’We tried
to find a replacement for him
and found Kalu from Bordeaux,
who has done well so
far.’’, added the former
Burkina Faso coach.
they opponents
make a slow return.
Leading the
players training
was the
d u o
of London 2012
Paralympi- a n s
Alex Ade- w a l e
and Wasiu Yusuf.
I d o w u Ajani,
Kazeem Akanbi
and Mo- hamm
e d Audu,
all of whom
are due for action in
Abuja were among
those that also turned up
while top-ranked female
player, Kafayat Omisore
and her closest rival Chituru
Nwazuzu also took
part in the four-hour twosession
exercise.
Adewale, a former Africa’s
number five ranked
player and Nigeria’s best
player, said the players are
eager to take full advantage
of Nigeria’s hosting of the
tournament with creditable
performance.
Ibrahimovic
hugs Mourinho
Mourinho: No
Man Utd return
for Ibrahimovic
Jose Mourinho has ruled
out a January move for
Zlatan Ibrahimovic despite
revealing his concerns over
Romelu Lukakuand Alexis
Sanchez. The Manchester
United manager had considered
a return for Ibrahimovic,
who has been in outstanding
form to LA Galaxy in
MLS.
But he confirmed yesterday
that the Swede had now been
discounted as a short-term
loan option.
Mourinho’s decision comes
despite admitting both
Lukaku and Sanchez are struggling
this season.
And asked if Ibrahimovic was
a potential solution, he simply
replied, “No.”
President Peace Cup: Katsina,
Kwara battle for title
By Clara Nnaoma
Host state, Katsina and Kwara State
will slug it out for the title in the final
of the on- going 2nd edition of Youth
Sports Federation of Nigeria/ Katsina
State Government sponsored President
Mohammadu Buhari,peace Unity Cup
for U-18 boys.
The final which will be decided today at
the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium in Kastina
is expected to attract a lot of personalities,
including the Governor of
Katsina State, Rt Hon. Aminu Bello
Masari who will declare the competition
closed.
Also expected to grace the grand finale
are the Minister of Youth and Sports, Barrister
Solomon Dalung, the Chief host
and Katsina state Commissioner for
Sports and Social Development,
Alhaji Habu Dankum among other
top government officials.
To get to the final, Katsina state
defeated Kebbi State 2-0 in the
first semi- final match while
Kwara defeated Kaduna on penalties
(6-5)after their game ended
2-2 at regulation time in the
second semi- final clash.
Meanwhile YSFON President
Alhaji Yusuf Gawuna ,who also
doubles as the Deputy Governor
of Kano State, has commended
the Katsina State government
for bankrolling the tournament
even as he expressed satisfaction
with the standard of play.
Lookman
Rohr renews
interest in
Lookman
Nigeria manager Gernot
Rohr is still keen on per
suading Everton’s
Ademola Lookman to play
for the Super Eagles.
The 21-year-old helped
England win the 2017 Under-20
World Cup, but
can switch allegiances as
he is yet to play for the
senior side.
He was born in England
but qualifies for Nigeria
through his parents, has
been a target for them for
two years.
“He plays for the youth now
Cameroon to play Brazil
African champions Cameroon
are set to play five-time World
Cup winners Brazil in a friendly
on 20 November in London.
The fixture was confirmed on the
Brazil Football Association’s twitter
page.
Cameroon are preparing to host the
2019 Africa Cup of Nations and the
Brazil game comes just four days after
they play Morocco in a qualifier.
Aguero
Kane
La Liga’s hopes of holding a game in
the United States look less likely af
ter the Fifa Council said it was opposed
to the idea.
The Spanish top flight wants Girona’s
home game against Barcelona to be held
in Miami on 26 January.
But the move can not go ahead without
the approval of the Spanish FA, which has
consistently objected to the proposal, Fifa
and two other bodies.
One of the men behind the plan said earlier
this month it may not happen.
After the Fifa Council met in Rwanda to
discuss an array of subjects, Fifa president
Gianni Infantino said: “Following a request
of guidance from the Spanish FA, US Soc-
but we hope he can change
his mind and play for us,”
Rohr told BBC Sport.
“He’s a player we know can
add something to the team.
“Getting a player to change
his national choice is not
easy, quick and the process
is never so straightforward.
“First we must be sure he
wants to come. And hope to
get it cleared by Fifa.
“Then the most important
part is that he brings something
new, different and better
than we have.
“Every coach wants options,
we’ve been lucky to get some
players and if we get him,
Lookman will give us more
options,” Rohr explained.
“But we have to be careful
about how we go about this
because Nigeria have some
good players at home and
playing outside.”
It will be the sixth meeting between
Cameroon and Brazil, who have won
four and lost one of the previous encounters.
The Indomitable Lions only win was
a 1-0 victory at the 2003 Confederations
Cup in France.
The most recent meeting between
the two was at the 2014 World Cup
as hosts Brazil win 4-1 in a group
match.
Tottenham, City gear up
for EPL battle
The crunch match between Tottenham Hotspur and
Manchester City is the star match of round 10 in
the 2018/19 Premier League, which also features
Manchester United looking to fan the embers of resurgence
when they face Everton, and Arsenal aiming
to take down London rivals Crystal Palace.
The meeting of Spurs and City at Wembley Stadium on
Monday 29 October can be viewed as a genuine clash of
title contenders. Pep Guardiola’s side are the favourites
to defend their crown and have thus far enjoyed
a superb campaign in England’s top flight, taking
home 23 points from a possible 27.
The epic encounters will be on DSTV and GOTv as
the cable network enjoys the exclusive broadcast
rights for the EPL in sub-Sahara Africa.
On the subject of the Reds and the Blues, they could
both leapfrog City at the top of the log as they are in
action earlier in the round: Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are
at home to Cardiff City on Saturday, while Maurizio Sarri’s
Chelsea are away to Burnley on Sunday.
Fifa Council against La Liga game in Miami
cer and Concacaf, the Fifa council discussed
this matter - the proposal to
host an official game of La Liga outside
of Spain, Miami in particular.
La Liga

SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018 —47
Nationals Sports Festival:
Coaches blast sports
ministry over reduced
entries
By Ben Efe
Track and field coaches
have picked holes in the
decision by the National
Sports Festival’s organizing
committee to limit the number
of athletes that could be
entered for each event by
participating States to just one.
Unlike previous games
where a maximum of three
entries are allowed, Delta and
River States for instance, will
be allowed to present only one
athlete each for the men and
women 100m respectively.
The same goes for all over
events for the festival billed
for December 6-16 in Abuja.
“This is not done anywhere
in the world. And against the
background that the Sports
Festival is our mini Olympics,
it just negates what sports
competition is all about,” said
a coach, who pleaded for
anonymity.
“We have the All Africa
Games next year and it is from
the sports festival that we
should be showcasing all our
athletes, but that will not be
danyella172003@yahoo.com
08029005850
It’s not the best of times for Nigerian
Athletics! One of the country’s most
talented athletes and No.1 in the
women’s 400m Hurdles for the past
two years, Glory Nathaniel,was a
few weeks ago, provisionally
suspended by the Athletics Integrity
Unit(AIU) due to the presence of a
prohibited substance, Stanozolol, in
her system.
A Provisional Suspension is when
an athlete is suspended temporarily
from participating in any
competition or activity in Athletics
prior to a final decision at a hearing
conducted under the International
Association of Athletics Federations
(IAAF) Anti-Doping Rules or the
Integrity Code of Conduct.The AIU
was founded by the IAAF last year to
combat doping in the sport,and the
unit functions fully independently
from the IAAF.
Nathaniel won Gold for Nigeria
at the 2018 African Championships
in Asaba, finishing ahead of
Morocco’s Lamiae Lhabze and
defending champion, South Africa’s
Wenda Nel. The details surrounding
her positive test are not yet clear, as
the date of control was not revealed
by the AIU. However, if it happened
before or during the African
Championships, there is a huge
possibility of being stripped of the
Gold medal.
What makes this development
heartbreaking is the fact that
Nathaniel’s talent is not in doubt.
She’s been consistent in the last three
years and had been positioned as
the case now.'', he added.
Speaking on the
development, Athletics
Federation of Nigeria
technical director, Sunday
Adeleye said that it was not
only track and field that has
been affected, adding that it
was the resolution of the
planning committee to reduce
the number of entries for all
the sports.
“There is nothing the
federation can do in this
matter. It affects all the over
37 sports. The argument is
that there isn't enough
accommodation space for the
athletes and officials hence
the decision to reduce the
numbers and we have to
comply for now ,” said
Adeleye.
Lagos State last hosted the
sports festival in 2012 and
Cross River was meant to host
in 2014, but due to
unwillingness on the part of
the Cross River government
and political consideration on
the part of the sports ministry,
the festival failed to see the
light of the day.
the one to break Ajoke Odumosu’s
National Record of 54.40secs set at
the London 2012 Olympics.
Nathaniel represented Nigeria
at the World Championships in
London last year where she made
her debut at the championships with
her brother Samson, becoming the
second set of siblings after Osmond
and Davidson Ezinwa, to represent
Nigeria at the IAAF World
Championships. She got to the
semis in the 400m Hurdles, and was
part of the women’s 4x400m relay
team that finished 5th in the final.
At the 2018 Commonwealth
Games in Gold Coast, Nathaniel set
a new Personal Best of 55.01secs in
the semis and finished 6th in the
final. She went on to win a Silver
medal in the 4x400m.It is therefore
sad that such a promising athlete
would have to spend some time away
from the track due to a doping
infringement.
The last time Nigeria was hit
with a doping scandal at this level
was in 2016 when another talented
female quartermiler, Tosin Adeoloye
was banned for eight years in 2016
after a failed drugs test. She had
previously tested positive to an
anabolic steroid at the 2012
National Sports Festival in Lagos,
and was subsequently banned for
two years. She returned to the sport
in 2015 only to fail another test in
2016.
The pair of Samson Idiata and
Chinazom Amadi who won Gold in
the men and women’s Long Jump
•Ogho-Oghene Egwero, Seye Ogunlewe, Emmanuel Arowolo and Divine Oduduru during
Asaba 2018 African Championships.
AWCON: Nigeria, Ghana,
Cameroon are top teams --Basigi
•Dennerby opens up on Falcons' chances
Defending
champions,
Super Falcons,
Indomitable Lionesses and
Black Queens have been
Developing zero tolerance for
doping in Nigerian Athletics
events respectively at the 2015
African Games in Congo
Brazzaville, were stripped of their
medals after being banned for four
years each for failing dope tests in
Brazzaville. Sprinter Deborah
Odeyemi suffered the same fate as
well at the Games. The bans ended
the careers of all four athletes.
Unlike in the past where an
athlete was solely held responsible
for failed dope tests, the IAAF is now
coming up with new anti-doping
measures that would hold National
Federations more accountable for
their athletes. This became
necessary following the widespread
doping scandal that enmeshed
Russia’s Athletics, which led to the
European nation being banned
from the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Part of the measures being put
in place will see the AIU Board
categorizing member federations
into one of three groups based on
their level of success and the
perceived risk that the federation
poses to the sport from possible
doping.In descending order, the
categories will be A, B and C.
Category A will be the smallest
category including the previous
“watch list” Federations. It would
comprise of members most at risk
of doping.Athletes from these
countries will have to undergo at
least three out-of-competition
doping tests in the 10 months prior
to a World Championships or
Olympics.Four member
federations: Kenya, Ethiopia,
Belarus and Ukraine, currently fall
within that group.
Category B will be the
Federations who have
tipped as the teams to beat at
the Africa Women Cup of
Nations beginning November
17 in Accra and Cape Coast in
Ghana.
V e t e r a n
Ghanaian coach
Yusif Basigi said
that the three
countries barring
any upset look
good to clinch the
three spots to
represent Africa in
the FIFA Women's
World Cup in
France next year.
“This time
around there are
no minnows in
football so I expect
international-level success in
Athletics, and Category C will be the
largest group containing smaller
federations with limited
international success in Athletics.The
rules are to come into effect in 2019.
AIU chairman, David Howman,
said: “For too long the strict
requirements of the anti-doping
rules have fallen largely onto athletes.
The IAAF Council should be
congratulated for adopting
innovative new rules that also make
all of its member federations
accountable on anti-doping matters.
This will help ensure lasting and
meaningful change in Athletics.”
Going forward, the Athletics
Federation of Nigeria (AFN) must
a wonderful tournament in
Ghana next month. Now you
can see every country play
well,” Basigi told Happy FM.
“But I think Ghana, Nigeria
and Cameroon will be the three
countries to represent Africa at
the World Cup which will be
hosted in France next year.
“South Africa could also pull
a surprise but I feel the three
teams I have mentioned earlier
will make it to the World Cup
after the Africa Women Cup of
Nations. I expect these
countries to win medals,” he
added.
The Super Falcons will start
their campaign against Bayana
Bayana on November 18 in
Cape Coast and according to
coach Thomas Dennerby, the
team is looking forward to
defending their title. The
Super Falcons defeated
Cameroon 1-0 in a hard fought
final in Yaounde, Cameroon in
2016.
demonstrate that they have zero
tolerance for doping, and take
proactive steps in ensuring that our
athletes compete fairly at all times.
They must also do more in terms of
sensitizing the athletes about the
threat doping poses to their careers.
If the new rules being proposed are
anything to go by, it means that the
action of an individual can pose a
great risk to the nation as a whole,
and that is why the AFN must be up
and doing.
And to the athletes, I would reecho
the AIU’s warning: “As an
athlete you are solely responsible for
whatever is in your body at all
times.Our advice is simple:IF IN
DOUBT, DON'T TAKE IT.”

C
M
Y
K
SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 27, 2018
ACROSS
1)England Metropolitan Borough (8)
5)Anambra State Capital (4)
7)Insect (3)
8)Traditional Ruler of Nupe (4)
9)Container (4)
10)Ebonyi State Governor, Dave – (5)
12)Edo State Publicity Secretary, Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Chris – (9)
16)Former Senegal “Terenga Lions” Striker,
El-Hadji – (5)
18)Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority
(NPA), Mrs. Hadiza Bala – (5)
19)Italian City (5)
21)Public Eatery (9)
24)Former Nigerian President, Rtd. Major-
General Yakubu – (5)
27)Chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal,
Barrister Danladi – (4)
28)L.G.A in Jigawa State (4)
29)Number (3)
30)MD/CEO, Zinox Technologies Limited, Mr.
Leo Stan – (4)
31)Yobe State Capital (8)
DOWN
1)Former Super Eagles Skipper, Nwankwo – (4)
2)Chairman, Senate Committee on Sports, Senator
Joseph Obinna – (4)
3)German District (9)
4)L.G.A in Kebbi State (5)
5)Former Akwa-Ibom State Governor, Mr. Victor – (5)
6)Chairperson, Ikorodu West Local Council
Development Area in Lagos State, Mrs. Ganiyat – (8)
11)Former Kenyan President, Mr. Arap – (3)
13)Ethnic Group in Ethiopia (5)
14)L.G.A in Niger State (9)
15)Hungarian President, Janos – (4)
16)France “Les Bleus” Midfielder, Abdoulaye – (8)
17)French Word for “Egg”? (4)
20)State in Nigeria known as “The Eastern
Heartland”? (3)
22)Our Planet (5)
23)African Antelope (5)
25)Former Minister of Labour & Productivity, Mr.
Chukwuemeka – (4)
26)Former Niger State Deputy Governor, Mr. Zagbayi
– (4)
CROSS WORD PUZZLE
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE ON PAGE 47
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