14082019 - TARABA POLICE KILLINGS LATEST:‘Army Captain had 191 phone chats with wanted kidnapper’

epositioning
legal education
for national
development
40
Why we stopped
forex for food
imports
— BUHARI 8
BEFORE HIS
ARREST: Why
Nigeria’s due
for revolution
— SOWORE 42
Malpractices in
meteorology, maritime
sector undermining
economy, security
—NASRDA
Securities dealers blame market downturn on panic sales
SEE
INSIDE
19
VOL. 26: NO. 63874 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
TARABA POLICE KILLINGS LATEST:
‘Army Captain had 191 phone
chats with wanted kidnapper’
•Arms dealer sings: I sold 6 AK-47 to Wadume @ N800,000 each
•Policeman accused of giving Army false report arrested
•Rifles of slain policemen are with soldiers — Villager
Varsities,
others make
N3.39 bn on
post-UTME
tests,
screenings 9
India's
Shi’ites to
foot El- 9
Zakzaky’s
medical bill
Obaseki’s my
brother, rift
created by
people for
selfish 12
interest
—OSHIOMHOLE
Embrace
RUGA, PDP
BoT chairman
tells
16
Nigerians
COLUMNISTS
DEAR BUNMI
INDIAN MEDICS RECEIVE EL-ZAKZAKY
IMN leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky being wheeled out of the airport on arrival in India,
accompanied by Indian medics.
30 ROTIMI FASAN
VERVE CARD GOES GLOBAL
From left, Mr. Mitchell
Elegbe, Founder/GMD,
Interswitch Group, Joseph
Hurley, Snr. Vice President,
Discover Financial Services,
Francis Gbenga Shobo, Deputy
Managing Director, First
Bank, Olubusola Osilaja,
Divisional head, eBusiness,
Access Bank, and Martins
Izuogbe, Divisional Head,
Operations, Fidelity Bank, at
the Verve Global Card Launch
in New York, on Monday.
31
SEE
INSIDE
STORY
ON PAGE
5
We’re
happy to
celebrate
Sallah at
home for
first time
in 5 yrs,
says
Shehu of
Bama
Mr & Mrs
41

2 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 3

4 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019

vanguardnews
@vanguardnews
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 5
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President Muhammadu Buhari, flanked from left by Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Atiku
Bagudu of Kebbi, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina, Deputy Senate President, Ovie
Omo-Agege; Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo as the President
received APC Governors on Sallah homage in Daura, Katsina State, yesterday. STATE HOUSE PHOTO.
‘Army Captain had 191 phone chats
with wanted kidnapper'
By Emma Nnadozie,
Crime Editor, Evelyn
Usman & Ifeanyi
Okolie
A BUJA—THE
Nigerian Army
Captain who allegedly
ordered soldiers on
security check-point
along the Ibi-Jalingo
Expressway in Taraba
State, to attack and kill
police operatives
attached to the Inspector
General of Police Special
Intelligence Response
Team, IRT, has been
identified as Tijani
Balarabe.
Vanguard gathered,
yesterday, that police
investigation carried out
so far has revealed that
telephone conversations
between the kidnap
kingpin, Wadume and
Captain Balarabe, were
about 191 within the
space of one month
between July 9, 2019
and August 6, 2019. The
source explained that
the police authorities
believed that the army
captain might have been
providing cover for the
kidnapper, who is said
to have received
hundreds of millions as
ransom from his victims.
Vanguard gathered
that Army Captain
Balarabe, who is
currently undergoing
interrogation at the
Defence Headquarters
Abuja, was arrested
alongside five other
Army personnel, who
were alleged to have
taken part in the horrific
killing of the three
policemen and their two
civilian agents in an
operation to arrest a
notorious kidnapper,
Alhaji Hamisu Balla,
alias Wudume, in Ibi
area of Taraba State.
Vanguard learned
yesterday that the
arrested solders
confessed that they
received orders to attack
the policemen from the
captain, whom they said
informed them that
Wadume had been
kidnapped and was
being transported in a
silver-coloured Toyota
Hiace Bus.
A source at the Defence
Headquarters, Abuja,
told Vanguard that the
soldiers claimed that
they acted squarely on
the orders of the captain,
being their superior
officer, but Police sources
at Force Headquarters
Abuja, disclosed that the
police authorities have
established strong links
between the army
captain and the
notorious kidnapper,
alleging that the army
captain was on the
kidnapper’s payroll.
The source added
further that its
investigations have also
revealed that the army
captain, who was not
present in Ibi Town at
the time the IRT
operatives arrested
Wadume, might have
ordered his men to attack
and kill the IRT
operatives as well as
rescue his friend, the
kidnapper.
Petition against
Wadume
received
Meanwhile, Vanguard
also gathered, yesterday,
that the IRT’s manhunt
to arrest and bring down
Wadume’s kidnapping
empire began in March
2019, when it received a
petition from one Sheriff
Umar of Kirikinua South
Local Government Area
of Kaduna State.
It was gathered further
that the petitioner
reported that his cousin,
Usman Mayo was
kidnapped on the 15th of
February, 2019 at Takum
Local Government Area
of Taraba State and his
kidnapper demanded
the sum of N200 million
Continues on Page 41
Killing of policemen by soldiers (3)
By Bose Adelaja, Olayinka Latona,
Chiamaka Uba
The killing of
three policemen
in active service is
disheartening. It
was stated that there
was sufficient proof
that they were police
personnel on
legitimate duty.The
soldiers just don’t
have regard for
anyone, and they are
always ready to
attack. I hope justice
will be served.
-Zainab Akanni
Mediaprenuer
I
think there is
m o r e
to what we are
hearing from the
two security
agencies. I wonder
why the soldiers
shot at the
policemen and
where is Alhaji
Hamisu Bala
Wadume? Also, I
believe Nigerians
would appreciate a
true and definite
statement from the
Nigerian Army.
-Gbadegesin Samuel
Blogger/Analyst
It is disheartening
that, in the wake of
national insecurity, the
forces responsible for
protecting lives and
property are
exchanging bullets. I
implore the FG to be
more alert and
investigate this issue
because the
occurrence can birth
rebellion between the
police and army. This
is the time for
Nigerians to be more
prayerful.
-Seyi Ajamu
Photojournalist
I
f the story is true, the
policemen that turned
out to be the victims are
to blame because they
should have obeyed and
stopped at the check
points and identified
themselves.
The Army would have
done better than
opening fire.
Proper investigations
should be done jointly
by the Nigerian Armed
Forces to help salvage
the situation.
-Kingsley Ifeanyi Okoli
Student
The killing of three
policemen by
soldiers seems to be a
big sabotage judging
from various reports.
There was no basis for
the soldiers to have
killed the policemen
who arrested a kidnap
suspect, allowing him to
escape. The truth is that
they were there to
rescue the kidnapper
and they should be seen
as accomplices to the
crime.
-Oluwatosin Popoola
Presenter
Nigeria is a country
where security
uniforms are many
without respect. The
military should be
probed for leaving their
primary responsibility to
go after the policemen
who were performing
their legitimate duties.
Honestly, I’m pissed off
by this lackadaisical
attitude. I believe the
blood of the innocent
policemen would cry for
vengeance.
-Mrs Justinah Maha-
Trader

6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
Police nab
robbery
suspects,
recover stolen
vehicles in Imo
•Suspect
escaped
with car
while
pretending
to test it
By Chidi Nkwopara
OWERRI—IMO State
Police Command has,
in its renewed onslaught
against criminals, arrested
robbery suspects and
recovered stolen vehicles.
The state command's
Police Public Relations
Officer, Mr. Orlando
Ikeokwu, disclosed this
yesterday, in a press
statement, made available to
Vanguard in Owerri.
Giving details of the
Command’s success story,
Ikeokwu said: “On August
12, upon credible
intelligence, operatives of
the Special Anti-Robbery
Squad, SARS, swooped on
a criminal hideout around
Nekede and arrested four
suspects.”
He gave the names of the
suspects as Michael
Anyanwu, 35, of Obinze,
Owerri West Local
Government Area; Uche
Obi, 38, of Army Barracks,
Obinze; Chikezie Ejiaku,
42, of Oforola and Ifeanyi
Ejiaku, of Avu Junction,
Owerri West Local
Government Area of the
state.
Recovered vehicles
The recovered vehicles,
according to Ikeokwu,
include ash-coloured
LEXUS 300 jeep, number
plates EKY 444 CF and a
dark grey LEXUS 300 jeep,
number plates EKY 894 CC.
Ikeokwu recalled that “on
June 28, at Mbonu Ojike,
one Amarachi Osualla, put
up her vehicle for sale and
one of the suspects, on the
pretence of buying the car,
demanded to test the car
after bargaining and then
zoomed off with the car to
unknown destination.
“The Command has since
been on the lookout for the
suspect, as well as the said
car, before their arrest.”
Continuing, Mr. Ikeokwu
said that “the suspects have
confessed to the crime and
other incidents, and efforts
are on to recover other
stolen vehicles, while
investigation continues.”
vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews
Met Police probes Khafi for appearing
on BBNaija ‘without permission’
THE Metropolitan Police
has said it is investigating
a Big Brother Nigeria,
BBNaija, housemate, Khafi
Kareem, for appearing on the
reality show without
permission.
The 29-year-old police officer
is said to be on unpaid leave
from the Lambert Station, where
she has been working since
2015 as a PC.
In a statement issued
yesterday, the Met said Khafi’s
request to take part in the
reality show had been
declined and that the
Directorate of Professional
Standards, DPS, in London
FOUR soldiers have been
killed in Borno State by
Boko Haram terrorists.
The insurgents descended on
the Nigerian Army 5 Brigade in
Gubio at about 6p.m. on
Saturday, as the country
prepared for the Eid al-Kabir
festivities.
would investigate the
situation.
The Met
statement read: “A
PC attached to the
Met transformation
c o m m a n d
r e q u e s t e d
permission to
take part in a
reality
entertainment
show in
Nigeria.
Permission
Khafi
was not given.
“The Met Police is aware
that the officer has since
appeared on the show
without authority. The
Directorate of
Professional Standards
has been informed and
would be carrying
out an
investigation
into the
circumstances.
“The Met
does not
support
the
officer’s appearance nor does
she represent Met while
appearing on the show.”
The Sun UK had reported
that Khafi might lose her job
for having sex on the show,
which is aired live.
Khafi had told BBNaija she
joined the police after her
friend was murdered in 2007,
adding that she was on Met’s
female genital mutilation
team.
In a statement released on
Monday, her team had
threatened to sue The Sun UK
for publishing an article that
is “damaging to the image
and livelihood” of Khafi.
Boko Haram kills 4 soldiers in Borno, sacks Army base
By Alemma Aliu
BENIN CITY—SOME shop
owners attempted suicide,
while others slumped when a
Monday night inferno razed over
90 shops at the biggest spare parts
market in Edo State, located in
Uwelu, Egor Local Government
Area.
The fire was said to have
destroyed goods worth millions
of naira, as some of the affected
traders were said to have just
replenished their shops with
goods.
Mostly affected were the
Mercedes Benz, Mazda, Ford
and Toyota parts section of the
market.
Some of the traders were said
to have collapsed when they
visited the scene, as one of them
was said to have almost ran into
the raging fire, but was held.
The fire was said to have started
at about 11:45p.m. on Monday,
and lasted till 4a.m. yesterday,
before the combined efforts of fire
service men from the University
of Benin and the Nigerian Army
could put it off.
One of the victims, Daniel
Okungbowa, told journalists that
he lost about N4 million worth of
goods to the fire, saying “I deal
in all types of fuel and oil pumps.
I am still confused on what steps
to take next.”
Another victim, Festus
Oseruoname, wondered how the
fire spread rapidly when there
was no power supply to the
market.
Oseruoname said: “We are yet
to ascertain what actually
The soldiers tried to defend
their fort, suffering personnel
and equipment losses in the
process, as the terrorists stole
four gun trucks, one mortar gun
and one artillery gun during the
attack.
A tank that was stolen was later
recovered in the nearby bush.
The assault forced military
commanders to relocate troops
and the 5 Brigade from Gubio,
about 100 kilometres from
Maiduguri, to Damasak, where
the military operates a larger
camp.
“Therefore, we now have no
troops in Gubio, Magumeri and
Shop owners attempt suicide, as fire
razes Edo biggest spare parts market
happened that led to the fire. We
could not remove anything from
our shops.
“Many youths that just got
freedom (trainees) from their
masters and opened their shops,
are yet to repay the loans they
took from various banks. They are
victims of this fire.”
We're appealing to
victims—Dealers’ leader
Chairman of Spare parts
Dealers Association, Mr. Ibie
Augustine, said the fire incident
had compounded the low
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Kareto,” a senior military source
said.
The military chief expressed
fears that the entire stretch
between Maiduguri to
Damasak, spanning over 160
kilometres, is now without
military presence and may be
vulnerable to attacks.
Charred remains of the spare parts market.
patronage they are currently was the line where my shop is
witnessing due to bad roads that located that was on fire.
lead to the market.
“I called the Edo Fire Service
Augustine, who said the four but they did not come. The
security guards hired by the entire market would have been
traders were being questioned by razed if not for firemen from
the Police, received an anonymous UNIBEN and the Nigerian
call that the market was on fire Army.
and when he called the security “For now, we do not suspect
personnel on ground, he was told any foul play, but we have held
somebody burning something in meeting to appease those
a nearby street led to the inferno. affected and stop any suicide
His words: “When the security attempt. We beg the state
man told me that somebody was government to rebuild the
burning something, I told him to market, because we are using
check properly and he told me it loan from micro-finance banks.”

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019—7
Abia commissioner loses wife,
2 children in auto crash
Acommissioner in the Abia
State Oil Producing Areas
Development Commission,
ASOPADEC, Adiele Ekeke, has
lost his wife and two children in
an auto accident.
According to a post by
journalist, Chris Nwandu, the
accident occurred on Sunday,
August 11, on Enugu-Okigwe
Expressroad. Ekeke’s wife and
three children were on their way
to Port Harcourt.
By Monsuru
Olowoopejo
THREE persons were,
yesterday, confirmed dead
and two others missing, when two
passenger boats had a head-on
collision along the Irewe creek,
Ojo Local Government Area,
Lagos State.
It was gathered that the
accident occurred at about
6:10p.m., when both passenger
boats were returning from where
they had gone to pick funseekers
that had visited some of the resorts
in the riverine communities.
Lagos State Waterways
Authority, LASWA, and Lagos
State Emergency Management
Agency, LASEMA, and other
agencies were still searching for
the missing passengers at press
time.
Confirming the accident,
General Manager, LASWA,
Oluwadamilola Emmanuel,
informed that 13 passengers were
rescued from the mishap.
Emmanuel said: “There were 10
passengers in a boat coming from
Ojo Jetty and eight passengers
in another coming from the Irewe
community, when the incident
occurred.
“Eighteen passengers in total
were involved in the accident with
13 rescued during the operation.
But we recorded three fatalities
and two passengers, including an
adult and a child are still
missing.”
He assured that search and
rescue operation would be
intensified by relevant state
He added that doctors were
battling to save one of the
children, who survived the
accident.
He said: “It’s too hard to believe,
but it did happen. We’re on our
way to Ohanku to bury my two
children, my only son and first
daughter. Their mother is still in
mortuary.”
A statement by Governor
Okezie Ikpeazu’s Chief Press
Secretary, Onyebuchi
agencies and the local
community, who were the first to
respond.
According to him, preliminary
investigations by LASWA and
LASEMA revealed that the
incident was caused by reckless
driving and over-speeding on the
Ememanka, said the government
was shocked to hear the news.
It said: “Governor Okezie
Ikpeazu is shocked at the death
of Adiele Ekeke’s wife and
children. He is saddened by this
tragedy, and prays God to console
Ekeke and grant him the fortitude
to bear the loss.
“The governor also prays that
God intervenes and save the
surviving child, who is in
intensive care.”
3 die, 13 rescued, 2 missing in Lagos boat mishap
By Bashir Bello
KATSINA—GUNMEN have
attacked Ruma community in
Batsari Local Government Area of
Katsina State, kidnapped a 13-
years-old boy, Uzairu Basiru; 12
women, killed one person, with
five others sustaining injuries.
This is just as President
Muhammadu Buhari is billed to
visit the camp of internallydisplaced
persons, IDPs, today,
in Batsari.
Community sources identified
the deceased as Nasiru Ojo,
saying the gunmen stormed the
area at 10:30p.m. on Monday
night, shooting sporadically.
The five persons injured were
identified as Abu Karfe, Amadu
part of boat captains, as one of
them was not in his right of way.
He added that “further
investigations would be
thoroughly carried out by the
authority and those found
wanting will be sanctioned
accordingly.”
Police nab SUV driver for tricyclist’s
death in fight over right of way
By Esther Onyegbula
LAGOS—OPERATIVES of
Lagos State Police Command
have arrested 39-year-old
Christian Innocent, who
reportedly killed a tricyclist,
Aniete Bassay, after a verbal
confrontation over the right of way.
This came as Innocent revealed
that he hit the victim with a wheel
spanner, during the incident that
took place Sunday night.
According to Innocent, “on
August 11, while driving along
Akerele Street, Surulere by
Falolu, I had a misunderstanding
with a Keke Napep driver
(tricyclist) over the right of way.
“It was in the heat of the
argument, which later
degenerated into a physical fight
that I went inside my vehicle, took
a wheel spanner and hit the
tricycle rider twice on the head.
“He also hit me. Immediately I
hit him I drove off to my
destination. I did not know what
happened thereafter until the
Police came to my place to arrest
me.”
It was learned that after the
Gunmen kill one, kidnap 13 in Katsina
Hasan, Ali Dan Asibi, Shamsu
Ya’u and Abu Danjari.
They were said to be receiving
treatment in an undisclosed
hospital.
Residents, reacting to the
freedom with which the gunmen
operated, expressed their
displeasure with soldiers who
troop into the area asking for help.
Neither Katsina State Police
Command nor the Army were yet
to make any official statement on
the incident.
Contacted, Police Public
Relations Officer, ASP Anas
Abdullahi, said he would get back
to Vanguard after confirming from
the DPO and Commissioner of
Police, which he had not done at
press time.
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Innocent
suspect fled the scene,
sympathisers and other tricyclists
rushed Bassay, who sustained a
head injury to Randle Hospital
Surulere, where he died
immediately.
Confirming the incident,
spokesman of Lagos State Police
Command, Bala Elkana, said on
August 11, at about 9:30p.m.,
Surulere Police Station received
a distress call from Randle
Hospital that Aniete Bassay, a
tricycle operator, who was brought
to the hospital with a broken
head, in the pool of his own
blood, died on arrival.
“Information gathered by
homicide detectives revealed that
Bassay and Innocent had a
misunderstanding on a major
road along Surulere, and during
the scuffle Innocent, who was
driving a Jeep brought a wheel
spanner from his car and hit the
deceased person twice on the
head.
“Innocent confessed to have
engaged the deceased person in
a fight over the right of way; that
there was vulgar abuses between
him and the Keke rider as they
both accused each other of rough
driving. Suspect will be charged
to court.”
... with Emma'nKen (08163121378)
Ewo! Haram! Alu! Awa! Soldier
flogging a maquerade? Our ancestor?
100k!
This must
be a girl
from one
state in
the South-
East
Since our controller, herdsman, no gree
go school, we must get this degree

8—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
FUN-SEEKERS: Kalangu drummers entertaining fun-seekers who gathered for a picnic
as part of relaxation to enjoy the Sallah holidays at Millennium Park, Abuja, yesterday.
Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.
Why we stopped forex for food import
•Promises to monitor performance of ministers
— Buhari •Says he’ll use his second tenure to fight for the poor
By Johnbosco
Agbakwuru
ABUJA —PRESIDENT
Muhammadu Buhari
has said the directive to the
Central Bank of Nigeria,
CBN, to stop providing
foreign exchange for food
importation was to improve
agricultural production and
attain full food security.
The president also said he
would use his second term
in office to improve the lives
of Nigerians by paying close
attention to the poor and
those on the lower rung of
the society.
Malam Garba Shehu, the
president’s spokesman in a
statement, said Buhari stated
this when he hosted All
Progressives Congress,
APC, governors to Eid-el-
Kabir lunch at his country
home in Daura, Katsina
State, yesterday.
According to the president,
the foreign reserve will be
used strictly for
diversification of the
economy and not for
encouraging more
dependence on foreign food.
“Don’t give a cent to
anybody to import food into
the country,” he said.
The president noted that
some states such as Kebbi,
Ogun, Lagos, Jigawa,
Ebonyi and Kano had taken
advantage of the Federal
Government’s policy on
agriculture with huge
returns in rice farming.
Urging more states to plug
into the ongoing revolution
to feed the nation, Buhari
said: “We have achieved
food security, and for
physical security, we are not
doing badly.”
The President said he was
particularly delighted that
young Nigerians, including
graduates, had started
exploring agric business and
entrepreneurship, with
many posting testimonies of
good returns on their
investments.
To monitor
performance of
ministers
He said the incoming
ministers would be guided
to meet the targets of the
APC-led government for the
people.
President Buhari added
that regular monitoring of
their performances and
scaling up of targets would
be done by the Office of the
Secretary to the Government
of the Federation.
Buhari gave the assurance
of attending the Presidential
Policy Retreat organised for
the ministers by Office of the
Secretary to the Federal
Government.
He insisted on compliance
with laid down targets on
key sectors of the economy
that would directly impact on
the livelihood of Nigerians.
Challenges faced by states
enormous—Govs' forum
In his remarks, the
Chairman of the Nigerian
Governors’ Forum, Gov.
Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, said
the president’s sense of
justice and fairness had been
inspiring to governors.
He said the challenges
faced by states “were
enormous,” but noted that
governors had remained
undaunted, assuring the
president of strong support
and “the very best effort” to
overcome the obstacles.
Chairman of the
Progressive Governors
Forum, Gov. Atiku Bagudu
of Kebbi, appreciated the
President for the unique
leadership style of
maintaining a healthy
relationship with governors
on individual and collective
basis.
I’ll use second
tenure to fight for
the poor—Buhari
Meanwhile, President
Buhari, yesterday, in Daura,
said he would use his
second term in office to
improve the lives of
Nigerians by paying close
attention to the poor and
those on the lower rung of
the society.
Buhari, who stated this
while addressing leaders of
various communities from
five local government areas
of Daura Emirate, who paid
him a visit as part of Eid El-
Kabir celebration, said he was
convinced that majority of
Nigerians understood who
he was and his mission, on
account of which they
returned him for a second
term in office with larger
margin of votes than 2015.
He said: “You know how
much I laboured to get here.
I ran three times in the past.
The fourth time, God used
technology to do it for me.
The fifth time I ran (February
23, 2019), I went to all the
states of the federation. The
turnout of people was
overwhelming.
“Truly, the people know
and understand my mission.
This is what the votes
showed. The administration
will dwell on our campaign
issues: security, economy
and corruption. We will fight
for the poor.”
The president in a
statement by the Senior
Special Assistant to the
President on Media and
Publicity, Mallam Garba
Shehu, emphasized the
important place of agriculture
under his administration,
promising to appoint a
minister who was
knowledgeable and know
how to promote interest and
investment in the sector.
“I will appoint a minister
who knows agriculture and
its role in providing jobs and
growing our economy. You
have seen how we broke the
fertiliser jinx in the country.
We will do more to better the
lots of our farmers.
Agriculture is our strength,’’
he said.
President Buhari
expressed happiness with
the changing attitude of
young people to agriculture,
with many earning
respectable incomes.
He urged those without
regular income to return to
the farm.
In his remarks, Yusuf Bello
Mai’Aduwa, one of the
leaders of the delegation,
thanked Nigerians for
giving the president a
second mandate to lead the
country for another four
years, stressing that he
would not let the country
down.
In her remarks, Hajiya
Talatu Nasir, a Permanent
Secretary with the Ministry
of Information, said
President Buhari’s
government had
empowered many women,
with many already owning
businesses such as poultry
and livestock farms.
The Daura community
offered special prayers for
the President, urging him to
pursue the vision for a better
Nigeria with the fear of God,
courage to stand by the truth
always, and mindful of the
needs of the poor and underprivileged.
Olubiyo condemns scam in electricity
meter distribution
PRESIDENT
of
Nigerian Consumer
Protection Network, Kunle
Olubiyo, has condemned
the scam regularly
complained about by
consumers in the
distribution of prepaid
electricity meters.
Olubiyo, who canvassed
a situation where the
customer was only allowed
to foot bills that were
contractually justifiable, told
presenters of Public
Conscience On Radio that
the situation replicated the
scam that characterised
procurement of equipment
in the process of the power
privatisation process.
He said some of the
14-day ultimatum: FG
succumbs to NASU,
SSANU demands
•It’s difficult to trust govt, says Labour
By Johnbosco
Agbakwuru
ABUJA—THERE are
indications that the
Federal Government may
have agreed to implement the
demands of the non-teaching
staff unions of universities,
following the 14-day
ultimatum to shut down the
ivory towers.
The Joint Action
Committee, JAC, comprising
the Non Academic Staff
Union of Universities and
Educational institutions,
NASU, and the Senior Staff
Association of Nigerian
Universities, SSANU had
issued a 14-day ultimatum to
the Federal Government last
week to either address their
grievances or they will embark
on indefinite strike.
The ultimatum was
supposed to expire on August
19
Ȧmong the contentious
areas were the Earned
Allowances, which the
unions claimed they were
shortchanged in the sharing
formula.
They also claimed that of
the N23 billion released to the
four unions in the university,
the Academic Staff Union of
Universities, ASUU,
allegedly took 80 percent of
the money, leaving only 20
percent for the three unions.
They also lamented the
inability of the government to
obey court judgment,
especially that of the
Industrial Court in 2016 that
directed government to
reinstate sacked workers of
staff schools which had not
been complied with and the
re-negotiation of the 2009
agreement.
In what may be described
as a proactive
measure,Permanent
Secretary Secretary, Ministry
of Education, Mr. Sonny
Ochono, last week
summoned the leaders of the
two unions, under the
transformers procured
actually started going up in
flames without evidence of
an overload.
The syndicated radio and
online programme, which
is aired on selected radio
stations across Nigeria, is
aimed at amplifying
corruption reporters and
supported by the
MacArthur Foundation.
Olubiyo, who was a guest
on the programme,
advised the power
distribution agencies to stay
true to their contractual
obligations to the consumer
in the provision of prepaid
meters.
Many callers on the
umbrella of JAC at the ministry’s
headquarters, Abuja,
to discuss the problems in a
bid to find a lasting solution.
Vanguard reliably gathered
that the the permanent
secretary and directors in the
ministry promised to
implement the three
contentious issues.
It’s difficult to trust
govt, says Labour
In an interview with
Vanguard, Chairman of JAC
and President of SSANU,
Comrade Samson Ugwoke,
said the government had
promised to address the
issues by reversing the status
quo in the sharing of the
Earned Allowances, bring
back the sacked workers of the
University Staff Schools who
were still alive and also begin
renegotiation of the 2009
agreement with the unions.
But a member of the JAC
and General Secretary of
NASU, Comrade Peters
Adeyemi, said that despite the
decisions reached at the
meeting, it was difficult to trust
government on agreements.
However, JAC chairman,
Ugwoke, said: “We had a
meeting convened by the
Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Education, over
our 14-day ultimatum for
government to implement all
our demands, else by August
19, we will proceed on one
week warning strike.
“In response to that, they
invited us to a meeting
yesterday at the Minister’s
Conference Room, Ministry
of Education. NASU and
SSANU were well
represented, the exco of JAC
was there and we had a
discussion with them.
‘’The Permanent Secretary
tried to give us the update on
three major items, vis-a-vis
the Earned Allowances, the
University Staff Schools
matter and the renegotiation."
programme complained
about prepaid meters they
paid for but had yet to
receive them.
Lead presenter of Public
Conscience On Radio,
Okhiria Agbonsuremi,
frowned on a situation
where consumers would
power their boreholes
without proper vending of
the electricity being
consumed.
He advised consumers
not to engage in or allow
any act of corruption in their
quest for prepaid meters.
Public Conscience On
Radio is currently running
a series beaming
searchlights on corruption
in the activities of DISCOs
in the electricity distribution
system in Nigeria.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 9
Nobody can undermine
Nigeria’s territorial
integrity, says Air chief
MTF MASTERCLASS: From left, Christian Epps, Hollywood-based lighting designer;
Caroline Oghuma, Executive Head, Corporate Affairs, MultiChoice Nigeria, and Femi
Odugbemi, Academy Director, MultiChoice Talent Factory, West Africa, during the MTF
Masterclass Series on Cinematography, at SuperSport Studios, Ilupeju, Lagos, yesterday.
Indian Shi’a group to foot El-Zakzaky’s
medical bill
By Luminous
Jannamike
ABUJA —AN Indianbased
Muslim group,
Anjuman e-Haideri, has
said it will bear all medical
costs incurred by the leader
of the proscribed Islamic
Movement in Nigeria, IMN,
Sheikh Ibraheem El-
Zakzaky and his wife,
Zeenat.
El-Zakzaky and his wife
were, on Monday, flown out
to India where they are
expected to undergo
treatment for multiple health
conditions.
They were received by
medical doctors and
wheeled into Medanta
Hospital, New Delhi, upon
arrival yesterday morning.
However, Anjuman e-
Haideri Islamic group, in a
letter signed by the General
Secretary, Mr. Bahadur
Naqvi, and addressed to the
Managing Director and
Chief Surgeon of Medanta
Hospital, Dr. Naresh Trehan,
offered to foot all the medical
costs incurred by El-
Zakzakys in India.
A copy of the letter, dated
August 12, 2019, read:
“Maulana Ibrahim Al-
Zakzaky, who is a prominent
Shi’a Muslim leader having
a large following worldwide,
will be treated in your
hospital.
“The Executive Committee
of Anjuman e-Haideri, Jor
Bagh, New Delhi, by the
direction of our Chief Patron,
Maulana Kalbe Jawad
HEALTH TIPS
By Sola Ogundipe
Maintaining good
eyesight
Don't take your eyes for
granted. Good eye health
starts with the food on your
plate. A well-balanced diet
helps your eyesight.
Quit smoking because it
makes you more likely to get
cataracts, damage to your
optic nerve, and many other
medical problems.
Wear sunglasses to protect
your eyes from the sun's
ultraviolet rays. Choose a
pair that blocks 99 -100
percent of the rays.
Wraparound lenses help
protect your eyes from the
side. Polarized lenses
reduce glare while you
drive.
If you wear contact lenses
some offer UV protection. It's
still a good idea to wear
sunglasses for an extra
layer. If you use hazardous
or airborne materials on the
job or at home, wear safety
glasses or protective
goggles.
Staring at a computer or
phone screen for too long
can cause eyestrain, blurry
vision, trouble focusing at a
distance, dry eyes,
headaches, neck back, and
shoulder pain.
To protect your eyes.Make
sure your glasses or contacts
prescription is up to date
and good for looking at a
computer screen.
Move the screen so your
eyes are level with the top
of the monitor. That lets you
look slightly down at the
screen. Try to avoid glare
from windows and lights.
Use an anti-glare screen if
needed.
Choose a comfortable,
supportive chair. Position it
so that your feet are flat on
the floor.
If your eyes are dry, blink
more.
Rest your eyes every 20
minutes. Look 20 feet away
for 20 seconds. Get up at
least every 2 hours and take
a 15-minute break.
Naqvi, has decided
unanimously to bear all the
medical costs incurred in
India for his treatment.
Kindly consider our request,
do the needful and oblige.”
El-Zakzaky, 66, suffers
from Ischaemic heart
disease, chronic
hypertension, right eye
severe visual impairment
with progressive open
glaucoma, mental toxicity,
lead poisoning, among other
illnesses.
El-Zakzaky and his wife,
as well as some members of
his family, flew out of the
Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport,
Monday night, aboard
Emirates flight to India for
treatment, following the
ruling of Kaduna State High
Court, which ordered that
they be allowed to travel.
Kaduna State government
had put some very stringent
conditions El-Zakzaky and
his wife must meet before they
could travel.
It was, however, learnt that
the intervention of the
Presidency put paid to the
conditions, which paved the
way for the trip on Monday.
They were also
accompanied by some
officials of Kaduna State
government, operatives of
the Department of State
Service, DSS, and personnel
of some other security
agencies.
Varsities, others to rake in
N3.39bn on post-UTME
tests, screenings
By Adesina
Wahab
U Polytechnics NIVERSITIES,
and
Colleges of Education in
the country are set to make
about N3.4 billion as
revenues from the conduct
of post-UTME tests and
screenings of applicants,
according to statistics
obtained from the results of
the 2019 Unified Tertiary
Matriculation Examination
conducted by the Joint
Admissions and
Matriculation Board,
JAMB.
With the cost of post-
UTME tests and
screenings pegged at
N2,000 by the Federal
Government, the revenues
are from admission seekers
whose scores are within the
range of those to be called
for such tests and
screenings.
The Registrar of JAMB,
Prof. Isaq Oloyede, while
announcing the release of
the results of the 2019
UTME, gave a breakdown
of scores recorded by
candidates.
According to him, a total
of 427, 242 candidates
scored 200 marks and
above.
With post-UTME tests
and screenings pegged at
N2,000 per candidate, that
amounts to N854,484,000
income to universities that
are expected to call
applicants who scored 200
marks and above in the
UTME for tests and
screenings.
Polytechnics are to rake
in N1,712,404,000 from
856,202 candidates who
scored between 160 and
199 marks and are to sit for
their tests and screenings.
For Colleges of
Education, 410,844
candidates who scored
between 140 and 159
marks are expected to sit
for tests and screenings that
would provide a revenue
of N821,688,000 for the
colleges.
Over 1.7 million
candidates sat for the
examination and 99,463
scored below 140 marks.
Also, 34,120 results were
withheld, while 15,145
results were still being
probed when the results
were announced by the
JAMB boss.
THE Chief of Air Staff,
Air Marshall Sadique
Abubakar, has said
nobody can undermine
the territorial integrity of
Nigeria.
He also said there was
need for Nigerians to join
the efforts of the military
and other security
agencies to restore
security in the country.
Abubakar made the
comments while
celebrating the Eid El-
Kabir with officers,
airmen, and women of
the Air Task Force
Command in Yola, the
Adamawa State capital.
He insisted that despite
the recent attacks in parts
of the county, substantial
progress had been
achieved in the fight
against insurgency and
banditry.
The military, according
to him, will continue to
work round the clock until
the people of Nigeria and
their property were
secured.
He also called on the
troops fighting Boko
Haram insurgency in the
North-East and others
deployed elsewhere to
remain focused on their
task of securing the
country.
"Let me use this medium
to commend the
contributions you all have
made towards this fight.
Please, don’t be distracted
by what you see on social
media. Concentrate on the
operation and ensure that
the country is secured
from terrorists, bandits,
kidnappers and other
criminals,’’ the Air chief
told the officers and
airmen.
The event was organised
for personnel deployed in
the Task Force Command
involved in the fight
against insurgency, as
well as to interact with
and encourage the troops.
Abubakar was received
on his arrival in Yola by
the Commander of Air
Services Group, Air
Commodore Mohammed
Yusuf, and other senior
officers.
But he welcomed
Adamawa State Governor,
Umaru Fintiri, who
attended the event as the
special guest
In his address, the
governor applauded the
Nigerian Air Force and
other security agencies for
the good job they were
doing for the country.
Earlier in his welcome
address, Air Commodore
Yusuf, gave assurance
that the NAF base in Yola
would continue in its role
in the fight against
insurgency.
APC govs pay Sallah
homage to Buhari in
Daura
By Bashir Bello
K ATSINA—
President
Muhammadu Buhari
and governors of the
ruling All Progressives
Congress, APC,
yesterday, met behind
closed door in the
president’s country
home at Daura, Katsina
State.
Issues discussed at the
meeting, which lasted for
hours, were not
disclosed to newsmen
but it was learned that
the governors came to
Daura to pay the
president Sallah
homage.
They prayed for his
good health and many
more years of active
service to the nation.
Buhari in his response,
expressed gratitude to
the governors for the
Sallah homage.
Governor Aminu
Masari of Katsina State
had earlier received the
governors who arrived
the Umaru Musa
Yar’Adua International
Airport in batches before
they proceeded to Daura
to meet with the
president.
Present at the meeting
were governors of
Katsina State, Aminu
Masari, Nasir el-Rufai
(Kaduna), Abubakar
Bagudu (Kebbi),
Mohammed Badaru
(Jigawa) Babajide
Sanwo-olu (Lagos),
Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti)
and Godwin Obaseki
(Edo).
The meeting was also
attended by Secretary to
the Government of the
Federation, SGF, Mr.
Boss Mustapha;
Director-General,
Progressive Governors
Forum, Salihu Lukman,
and Deputy Senate
President, Ovie Omo-
Agege, among others.

10 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
WORKSHOP: Bashorun Askia Ogieh, MD/CEO, Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC (5th left); Mr. Eze
Anaba, Editor, Vanguard Newspaper & Special Guest; Mr. Adekunle Adekoya, Deputy Editor, Vanguard and Guest Lecturer; Mrs. Jire Kola-
Kuforiji, GM, AIT Lagos (6th right); Mr. Fred Udueme, MD/CEO, Zeemef Nig Ltd (left); Hon. John Obukohwo, Executive Director Finance,
DESOPADEC (5th right); Hon. Daniel Mayuku, EDP, Project DESOPADEC (4th right); Mr Lucky Agediga, ED, P.R.S (3rd left); Mr. John
Iwarue, ED, Special Projects, DAAR Communications (3rd right); Mr. Dave Baro-Thomas, ED, Project Development (2nd right); Mr. Dr.
Austin Nweze, Pan Atlantic University (right) and Barr. Leonard Anoka, ED, Social Service, DESOPADEC, during the three-day workshop for
the Press and Public Relations Department of DESOPADEC at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.
APAPA GRIDLOCK: Task team, stakeholders
parley to sustain new traffic order
By Olasunkanmi
Akoni
L Presidential AGOS—THE
Task
Team on the restoration of
law and order in Apapa,
the Lagos State and local
governments, residents
and stakeholders,
yesterday, agreed to
sustain and improve on
the current traffic order in
the axis to enhance
seamless vehicular and
human movement.
This came even as
Apapa residents raised
concern over the level of
indiscipline among truck
drivers, vandalisation of
public properties by
miscreants, the influx of
commercial motorcycles,
popularly called Okada,
tricycles, return of men of
the Nigeria Customs
Service on roads,
inefficiency on the part of
policemen from state’s
command, among others.
This was the outcome of
a stakeholders’ meeting
convened by the Task
Team to proffer better
ways of sustaining the
successes achieved in
Apapa and its environs.
The stakeholders’
meeting, held at Marine
Road, Apapa, had in
attendance Vice-Chairman
of the Presidential Task
Team, Kayode Opeifa;
representative of the Lagos
State Government, a
member representing
Apapa Constituency 1,
Lagos State House of
Assembly, Mojisola
Meranda, a member
representing Apapa
Federal House of
Representatives, Mufutau
Egberongbe; Chairman
Apapa Local Government
Area, Adele Elijah.
Others are Commander,
Enforcement, Presidential
Task Team, Commissioner
of Police, Hakeem
Odumosu; Lagos Sector
Commander of the Federal
Road Safety Commission,
FRSC, Hyginus Omeje;
representative of Lagos
State Traffic Management
Authority, LASTMA,
Chairman Apapa
Government Resident
Association, Gen. Ayo
Shola-Vaughan, (retd),
among others.
In his address, Opeifa,
who presided over the
meeting, said the meeting
became necessary to
OPC's championing cultural rebirth, spiritual
liberation — AARE ADAMS
By Gabriel Olawale
LAGOS—THE Aare
Onakakanfo of
Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams,
yesterday, commended
members of Oodua People’s
Congress, OPC, for their
various roles and efforts in the
struggle to liberate the Yoruba
race from bondage.
Speaking at the 2019 edition
of Ifa Festival in Lagos, Aare
Adams noted that the OPC
has done well by being a
torchbearer for other groups
in Yoruba land.
He said: “We have
contributed to the peace and
security in Yoruba land, by
promoting collaborations
among groups and traditional
institutions. As the Aare
Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, I
can say it anywhere in the
world that OPC has done
wonders within the years,
becoming the most popular
organization in Nigeria, and
providing a big platform for
cultural rebirth and spiritual
liberation.
“We have also gone a bit
ahead of others as a great
movement. God has helped
our organization that is why I
say it regularly that OPC is
spiritual. We can weather the
storm when the struggle to
liberate Yoruba race became
tough because God has
always been our strength."
“We were able to win the
battle because of our faith
and belief in the struggle.
I want to tell you today that
one of the things that
helped us during those
trying times was because of
our beliefs in spiritual
consultations.”
He said they consulted
physically, spiritually and built
a strong force within the
Yoruba nation.
He said: “Today, the story of
OPC as a special organisation
could best be told because we
are alive and we are moving
on. 25 years in the struggle is
no joke, many thanks to the
almighty God for saving our
lives and giving us the grace
to be where we are today.
“And happily, we are on
course, we are not going to
relent because the future we
look forward to is here. Our
future as a group lies in what
we do today, depending
largely on how we can
transform our society and
make life better for the people.”
sustain and improve on
the current traffic order in
the axis.
He said: “It will ensure
that only trucks having a
genuine business
transaction within the
ports are allowed into
Apapa from the Lilypond
terminal and other
terminals.
“This is majorly aimed
at decongesting the roads
and bridge leading into
the ports environment as
a medium-term measure
pending the completion
of the ongoing
rehabilitation of the rail
system believed to be the
lasting solution to the
Apapa gridlock and its
consequential economic
losses.”
Opeifa also said that
“Our mandate is to ensure
law and order is restored
in Apapa and create an
efficient traffic
management system that
allows free movement of
people, fuel and cargo.”
Besides, he said: “You
cannot prevent trucks
from entering Apapa.
Shutting them off means
loss of revenue for
Nigeria as proceeds from
ports is the third largest
income source for the
country, but we have a
task to manage the
situation in such a way
that we do not block the
residents from exiting
and accessing their
homes.”
Also speaking,
Meranda disclosed that
plans are underway by
the Lagos State
government to introduce
the Bus Rapid Transit
(BRT) to Apapa through
the Eric Moore corridor in
Surulere.
“The state government
has proposed two routes
for BRT. The first route is
from Alakija to Liverpool.
The second route is from
Eric Moore to Wharf
Road,” Meranda said.
In his address,
Egberongbe said the team
is bedevilled with logistic
challenges, saying proper
funding will enable them
to deliver excellent results.
Omeje, in his speech,
said his men have been
fully mobilized to further
ensure seamless traffic
and sanity in the area.
Chairman of AGRA,
Shola-Vaughan, noted that
the meeting was convened
to enable residents to
review the performance of
the task team as regard
sanitation of Apapa.
Igbokwe,
Akande,
others make
Sanwo-Olu’s
final list
By Olasunkanmi
Akoni
L AGOS—GOVERNOR
Babajide Sanwo-Olu of
Lagos State, yesterday,
transmitted the final list of
his cabinet nominees to the
State House of Assembly.
This came four weeks after
the Governor sent a 25 man
list in the first batch to the
lawmakers for screening.
13 Commissioner and
Special Adviser-nominees
made the second list,
making it 38 in total.
A statement by the Deputy
Chief Press Secretary to the
Governor, Mr. Gboyega
Akosile, confirmed the
second list had names of
accomplished politicians
and technocrats who
“understand the current
needs of Lagos” and the
development agenda of the
Governor.
He said the selection
process was rigorous
because of the need to
constitute the best team that
would serve Lagos.
The list includes Joe
Igbokwe, Oladele Ajayi,
Oluwatoyin Fayinka, Mrs.
Yetunde Arobieke,
Olarenwaju Sanusi, Bonu
Solomon Saanu, ARC.
Kabiru Ahmed, Mrs. Lola
Akande, Prince Anofiu
Elegushi, Mrs. Solape
Hammond, Morufu
Akinderu Fatai, Mrs.
Shulamite Olufunke
Adebolu and Tokunbo
Wahab.
2019 Ojude Oba Festival:
Biology teacher, Poly student,
8 others win Glo tricycles
IJEBU-ODE—IT was a
mixture of jubilation and
deep gratitude, yesterday,
as 10 customers of the
telecoms network,
Globacom, emerged
winners of 10 tricycles,
popularly called keke
Marwa, in a raffle drawn
during the grand finale of
this year’s Ojude Oba
festival held in Ijebu Ode.
Globacom is the major
sponsor of the annual
festival.
The 10 lucky winners
were picked at the draw
conducted by the Alaafin of
Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi
at the end of the colourful
and lively age-grade
(Regberegbe) and Balogun
competitions,
complemented with a
parade by masquerades
and gun salutes.
The winners, who took
away the three-wheeled
vehicles include: Isaac
Olawale, Johnson
Olakitan, Michael Adeniyi,
Henry Olayemi, Julius
Agofure and Daniel
Adebambo. Others were
Kazeem Mustapha, Shola
COMMISSIONER/SAs:
Gbilesanmi , Monsurat
Sebiotimo, and Asiwaju
Adebowale.
Speaking to journalists
after they collected the
keys, the winners
expressed joy and
excitement, some of them
jumping, dancing and
reeling out their plans for
the vehicle they won from
Globacom.
28-year Daniel
Adebambo of Crown
Polytechnic, Ekiti State,
who didn’t know how to
ride the tricycle said: “I
never expected I would
win. I thank God for this
empowerment. I can’t ride
the tricycle, but I am going
to put it into business to
support my finances at
school.”
While Sebiotimo, a petty
trader, said she purchased
a device worth N5,000 and
recharge card worth
N50,000 from Glo to win,
Olawale said he simply
bought a phone for N3200
and recharge cards worth
N1,800 from Gloworld, the
network’s sales and service
outlet in Ijebu Ode.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 11
:Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
SALAH VISIT—From left: Fromer House of Representatives Leader, Mulikat Akande Adeola;
Oyo State Governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, and Special Adviser to the Governor on Politics and
Strategy, Babatunde Oduyoye, during the governor's Salah visit to Ogbomoso town.
STATE OF THE NATION: Convene SNC
now, Afe Babalola tells Buhari
By Gabriel Ewepu
A luminary BUJA—LEGAL
and Elder
statesman, Chief Afe
Babalola, SAN, yesterday,
called on President
Muhammadu Buhari to
convene a Sovereign
National Conference, SNC,
as a panacea to the
myriads of problems
threatening the unity of the
country.
Babalola made the call
while speaking on
NewsNight programme on
Channels Television on
Monday night.
He said the conference
and change of the
constitution would be the
way out of the precarious
situation Nigeria and
Nigerians found
themselves.
He said the present
situation needs urgent
attention to address it by
bringing together wellmeaning
Nigerians to talk
and
proffer
recommendations that
would solve the problems.
His words: “We had
tranquility and growing
economy. People were
saying that it will be
difficult to catch up with the
Western Region, with the
rate of development.
Unfortunately, the army
took over.
“We now have what we
call the federal constitution,
which is a lie. A lie in the
•Says anarchy looming
sense that the preamble
says 'the constitution given
to the people by the people',
but that is not correct. It was
made by the army and they
centralized everything.
“Unless we go back to
something similar to 1960-
65 modifications, we will
never get there again. I
believe we need it urgently.
What I want is a Sovereign
National Conference. In
other words, the decisions
there will not be available
for amendment by any
legislature or anybody.
“The legislature and
presidency can, together,
convene the National
Sovereign Conference. It is
Awujale warns against politicisation of
his successor
By Daud Olatunji
A BEOKUTA—THE
Awujale and
Paramount ruler of
Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru
Adetona, yesterday,
advised kingmakers and
other stakeholders to
choose the right
candidate to succeed him.
The monarch said this
during the 2019 Ojude-
Oba Festival, held at Oba
Sikiru Adetona pavilion
simple; it can be done.
What is the purpose of
lawmakers? To make laws,
and they can make the law
to convene a National
Sovereign Conference. So
simple. And the President,
who believes in developing
a nation out of nations, will
readily agree.
“Those who are
benefiting from the mess
we have now are those we
have asked to make the law.
We have come to the same
decision and that is: 'Are we
likely to have a legislature
that will move for a
Sovereign National
Conference? Are we likely?'
The answer is no. But for
in Ijebu-Ode.
Oba Adetona, who
emerged the Awujale 59
years ago, said: “When I
eventually go, please, go
for a capable successor.
Reject any candidate that
will put Ijebuland into
retrogression.
“Do not politicise the
process of selecting my
successor. Do not go for
people that will draw
Ijebu backwards.
“If the next ruling house
does not present a viable
the pressure that is going
on now, they should. That
is why I am happy about
the pressure from the East,
West, and Middle Belt and
everywhere, as well from
the youth.
“The youth must not keep
quiet because the future is
theirs. I am over 90 years
and what else do I want?
For them, they have to fight
for themselves.
"We should not wait until
we have situations as we
have in Sudan, where a 23-
year-old girl led the
revolution. When people
are hungry, they become
angry, and when people
become angry, they become
violent."
candidate, please, reject
him, and go for a ruling
house with a capable
candidate.
“Do not go for
moneybags that would
destroy the achievements
Ijebuland has recorded so
far.
“Call on God for
direction when picking
my successor. Ask God to
guide you.
“My prayer is that
Ijebuland will continue to
grow from strength to
strength.”
2020: It’s Ondo South's turn to produce gov, group tells PDP
•God told me to recontest—Jegede
By Dayo Johnson
AKURE—A pressure
group within the
Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, Equity For All
Movement, EFAM,
yesterday, warned that
dire consequences awaited
the PDP if it does not
consider the South
senatorial district for the
governorship ticket of the
party.
This came as the 2016
governorship candidate of
the PDP, Mr. Eyitayo
Jegede, SAN, signified his
intention to contest the seat
again in the 2020 election.
The pressure group, in
a statement by its
Coordinator, Comrade
Omotuyole Edamisan
Agbede, said: “The
governorship ambition of
Jegede was an insensitive
one, even as it ensure the
governorship ticket of the
PDP for the 2020 election
was given to someone
capable from the south.
“While we do not have
anything against Eyitayo
Jegede (SAN) as a person,
we consider his aspiration
for the governorship of the
state as an insensitive one
that can cost our party it’s
much-awaited march to
Government House,
Alagbaka, Akure.
“We all know that
Olusegun Mimiko, from
central Ondo, spent eight
years as governor. The only
reason Jegede failed was
that he imposed another
person from central on us.
It then means that if we
allow Jegede to run as our
governorship candidate in
2020, the South will be left
in the coolers for another
eight years, because he,
Jegede, will intend to
spend two terms.
However, while
addressing PDP leaders
and stakeholders in Akure,
Jegede said he had
commenced consultations
HOSTEL ROBBERY: UI mgt
imposes partial curfew
By Ola Ajayi
I FOLLOWING
B A D A N —
rampant attacks on
students’ halls in the
University of Ibadan by
suspected robbers, the
management of the
institution has imposed a
partial curfew on the
campus, as part of efforts to
check the incidents.
The partial curfew, which
takes effect from today, is
between 12midnight and 5
am.
The Abdusalami
Abubakar Hall within the
institution was attacked by
a seven-man gang on
Sunday, which left two
students injured.
This decision was said to
have been taken at a
meeting of the University
Security Committee, which
reviewed the current
security situation on the
university.
A statement by the Vice-
Chancellor, Professor Idowu
Olayinka, stated that all
students and members of
staff must have a means of
identification when accosted
by security operatives.
According to the vicechancellor,
all-male visitors
to the three female hostels -
Awolowo, Queen Idia and
We'll fix Lagos/Ibadan rail
corridor problem soon — CCECC
By Joseph Erunke
A contractor BUJA—THE
handling
the 156-kilometre standard
gauge rail-line from Lagos
to Ibadan, China Civil
Engineering &
Construction Company,
CCECC, yesterday,
assured communities
living along the rail
corridor that the company
would address all issues
they have raised
concerning their welfare
and primary infrastructure
before the completion and
handing over of the project
to the Federal
Government.
The company, in a
statement by its media
adviser, Dr. Eshemokha
Maho, in Abuja, noted that
the clarification became
necessary, following recent
agitation by some
communities along the rail
corridor over an overhead
bridge and a flooded link
road.
with party leaders across
the 18 local government
areas of the state.
He said: “I see myself as
somebody ready to serve.
“I contested the last
gubernatorial election and we
all knew the result. The
following day we went to
church to thank God for how
far He had helped us. Now,
I consulted God Almighty
again. I asked if I should go
forward on this project, and
He answered me that I
should go ahead."
Elizabeth halls - are to be
received outside the halls,
while female guests will be
screened.
Olayinka said: “A major
decision of the committee is
to enforce a partial curfew
from midnight till 5 am as
from today (August 14). All
students and members of
staff should be able to
produce a means of
identification if and when
accosted by security staff.
This partial restriction of
movement will be in place
until further notice.
“Kindly ensure strict
compliance, please, as part
of efforts of ensuring the
safety of all members of the
community. Given the
recent security situation on
the campus, male visitors
are henceforth prohibited
from entering the abovelisted
female halls of
residence.
"The residents of the
aforementioned halls can
only receive their male
visitors outside the hall.
Female visitors should be
screened at the porters’
lodge. Moreover, all-male
visitors are expected to
leave the precincts of the
female halls by 8:30pm.
Anyone found loitering
will be regarded as a
suspect.”
The statement cited two
communities, Laderin and
Alagada, which recently
went on protests to
complain about the state of
infrastructure in their areas.
While Laderin is asking
CCECC to construct an
overhead bridge across the
rail line to connect villages
in the area to the main road,
those in Alagada are
pleading with the
construction giant to see to
the reconstruction of the link
road in the community,
which has been rendered
impassable as a result of
flooding. Both communities
are in the Ogun axis of the
Lagos-Ibadan rail line.
The company's
spokesman added: “We are
working based on designs
given to us by the
contracting authority. As
you know we cannot go
outside the design without
appropriate approvals. It
would be going outside the
scope of the project and we
could be sanctioned.
“However, we have long
taken note of the concern
of the community and have
taken it into consideration
and are working with
relevant government
officials to ensure that the
issues raised by the
communities are
appropriately channeled
and addressed.”
On the link road, which
the Lasada community also
complained about, the
spokesperson said: “Yes, it
is true that we promised to
fix the road and if you go
there now, work is in
progress, and it would be
delivered soon. I can
assure you that the road
would be better than it was
before."

12—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
Obaseki is my brother, rift created by
people for selfish interest—Oshiomhole
•Obaseki was not in my palace — Otaru of Auchi
By Gabriel
Enogholase &
Alemma Aliu
BENIN
CITY—
NATIONAL Chairman
of All Progressives
Congress, APC, Mr Adams
Oshiomhole, has said the
alleged rift between himself
and his successor, Governor
Godwin Obaseki, was a
creation of people with
personal interest, describing
Obaseki as his brother.
Oshiomhole stated this,
Monday night, while
receiving Governor Obaseki,
who led members of his
cabinet to celebrate the Eidel-Kabir
festival with his
former boss, at his Iyamuh
residence in Estako West
Local Government
Government Area of the
state.
Speaking to journalists after
a closed door meeting, which
lasted for about an hour,
Oshiomhole said the
meeting was not unusual as
he was in constant touch with
Obaseki.
He said: “From time to
time, we have always been
meeting. It is not an unusual
visit, the meeting afforded
me the opportunity to meet
with my brother and with
people I have worked with.”
Oshiomhole added that it
was unfortunate that the
media liked creating factions
for their own gain.
Obaseki also noted that the
visit to his predecessor was
not unusual, saying that he
decided to celebrate the
Sallah with his former boss.
He said the visit was to
celebrate Edo leaders just as
the former APC national
chairman, Chief John
Oyegun, was celebrated by
the state earlier in the day.
“There is nothing unusual
about this meeting, it is
Sallah and we have just
finished celebrating with the
former APC national
chairman, Chief Oyegun, in
Benin City, and we decided
to come here to celebrate
Sallah with my predecessor,”
the governor said.
Obaseki was not in
my palace
— Otaru of Auchi
Meanwhile, the Otaru of
Auchi, Alhaji Aliru Momoh
Ikelebe III, has denied
reports in the media that
Obaseki visited him as part
of the celebration of the Ediel-Kabir,
saying he only had
dinner with Oshiomhole
though Vanguard gathered
that the Otaru had invited the
two of them.
The Daudu of Auchi
Kingdom, Alhaji Usamn
Abuda, said Obaseki was not
at the palace on Monday as
was “generously reported in
the print media yesterday.”
He said: “The Otaru said
he did not see Obaseki. His
Royal Highness Ikelebe III
throughout Monday, did not
see Governor Obaseki in
S-South forum backs Timi Frank’s
call for apology to Jonathan
•Challenges NLC, Bakare, Sanusi, other SNG leaders
By Omeiza Ajayi
A BUJA—YOUNG
professionals, under the
aegis of South-South
Emerging Leaders’ Forum,
SELF, have commended
activist-politician and former
Deputy National Publicity
Secretary of the ruling All
Progressives Congress APC,
Mr Timi Frank, for calling on
erstwhile opposition leaders
and members of the civil
society who sabotaged the
administration of former
President Goodluck Jonathan
to apologise to the former
leader.
SELF also berated Nigeria
Labour Congress, NLC, for
“mischievously allowing the
union to be used against the
former president,”
wondering why the union
had suddenly become docile
against
the
“maladministration of the
APC,” which has brought
more hardship on its
members.
The forum said the call by
Frank was a patriotic one,
adding that for posterity sake,
the likes of former CBN
governor and now Emir of
Kano, Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi, Pastor Tunde Bakare
and many others, who
participated in the Save
Nigeria Group, SNG, ought
to openly toe the path of
honour now and speak out
person or a message from
him as being claimed in the
against the evils befalling
Nigeria.
He called on Nigerians,
especially those who worked
against the re-election of ex-
President Jonathan to
apologise.
Addressing newsmen in
Abuja, yesterday, Chairman
of the forum, Dr. Preye Ebi,
wondered why all the strong
voices that rose against the
administration of Jonathan
suddenly lost their voices
even in the face of “more
hardship, killings, insecurity,
poverty, unemployment, lack
of rule of law and all kinds of
backwardness in the
country.”
The group called out
Bakare, “who turned his
auditorium to political
gathering to criticise
Jonathan’s administration to
compare and contrast
whether Nigeria is now better
under his friend (Bubari) or
publicly tender an apology to
redeem his image.”
SELF also challenged Emir
Sanusi for what it described
as unsubstantiated allegation
that a certain huge amount
of money got missing under
Jonathan, saying:“The effort
was to sabotage Jonathan’s
administration.”
On insecurity, SELF said:
“As it is today, Nigerian roads
are not safe, kidnapping has
become the order of the day.
Government at all levels now
have to negotiate with bandits
media. I can recall that
Oshiomhole visited Otaru in
the evening for a luncheon
party which lasted into the
late hours of the day."
PARTNERSHIP: From left,Executive Director, Zenith Bank Plc,
Mr. Dennis Olisa; Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State and
Group Managing Director/Chief Executive, Zenith Bank Plc, Mr.
Ebenezer Onyeagwu, during the bank’s visit to the governor to
further infrastructural development partnership with the state
government.
to have peace.
“Most of the false
allegations against
Jonathan’s government were
fabricated to deliberately grab
power, which indirectly led to
loss of confidence in the
Nigerian economy by the
international community.
Today, those who
undermined and weakened
the country’s economy are
now in power but lack the
technical know-how to fix it."
Leboku 2019: We're taking the
festival to int’l cultural market
place —Ayade
By Ike
Uchechukwu
CALABAR— Governor
Ben Ayade of Cross
River State has promised to
take the 2019 Leboku cultural
festival to the international
cultural market place.
The governor made the
promise while briefing the
media at the Pre-2019
Leboku international cultural
festival scheduled for August
24
Ȧyade, who was
represented at the pre-event
ceremony by Deputy Director,
Ministry of Culture and
Tourism, Mr. Ekpeyong Ojoi,
said the event was going to
wax big and stronger to
attract more tourists to the
state.
Bayelsa guber: PDP chairman's
alleged endorsement of
Dickson’s candidate sparks row
By Emem Idio
Ygovernorship ENAGOA—SOME
aspirants
on the platform of Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, in
Bayelsa State, have
expressed anger over the
purported decision by the
state party chairman, Mr
Cleopas Moses, to openly
endorse the candidate
preferred by the state
governor, Mr Seriake
Dickson.
The aggrieved
governorship aspirants
claimed that the state party
chairman, in a speech he
allegedly delivered at a
meeting with the state party
executives, the newly elected
local government chairmen
and the state governor, had
said his vote and that of the
elected chairmen were for
any candidate endorsed by
the state governor.
While some of the
governorship aspirants
claimed that though the party
At the palace of the
monarch of the Yakurr
people, HRM Obol Ofem
Eteng, Ayade stated that, the
desire of the state was to make
the event bigger and
stronger, hence they decided
to partner the 12 autonomous
communities that made up
Yakurr in the last 14 years.
chairman had the right to
support any aspirant of his
choice, he, however, should
not be seen openly endorsing
a particular aspirant within
the party ahead of the
primaries.
A group within the state
PDP, known as Integrity
Group, and led by Mr Tony
Ile, alleged that intelligence
report through a recorded
tape received by concerned
party members showed that
state party chairman in a
speech endorsed the
governor’s choice of aspirant
instead of being neutral in a
primary election where the
candidate is yet to emerge
Ile said: “This is against the
rules of the party where a state
chairman is expected to be
neutral and not to have been
seen to take side with a
particular aspirant as against
the over 20 of them that have
purchased the PDP
gubernatorial forms of the
party."
Herdsmen attack: A-bom CAN
lauds Emmanuel over probe
By Chioma
Onuegbu
UYO —CHRISTIAN
Association of Nigeria,
CAN, Akwa Ibom State
chapter has commended
Governor Udom Emmanuel
for directing security agencies
in the state to investigate
the herdsmen attack in the
state that led to the death of
a man, while others were injured
and fish out the perpetrators.
State Chairman of CAN,
Rev Ndueso Ekwere, who
spoke to newsmen yesterday,
in Uyo expressed concern
that the attack in Mkpat
Enin Local Government
Area of the state might signal
impending “holocaust”
by the violent Fulani herdsmen,
if adequate and
proactive security measures
were not put in place to check
their activities.
Ekwere, however, sympathised
with the bereaved
family and victims of the attack
and reaffirmed the position
of CAN that Akwa
Ibom State will not support
the RUGA settlement programme
of the Federal Government
in whatever form or
name it may be reintroduced
in the country.
He also opposed the recent
call to re-introduce the Water
Resources Bill, noting
that the bill amounts to "robbing
Peter to pay Paul."
His words,:“CAN in Akwa
Ibom State, and indeed the
whole Akwa Ibom Christian
community condemn the recent
invasion of a community
in Mkpat Enin council by
herdsmen.
“And we implore the residents
to cooperate with the
security agencies, to track
these agents of destruction
for prosecution. We also urge
the National Assembly
members to be guided by
God’s wisdom in passing
any bill brought before them.
“The insecurity in the
coastal communities of this
state is becoming alarming,
therefore, we call on governments
at all level, and the
security agencies operating
in the state to adopt proactive
measures to check the incessant
killings and robbery attacks
by pirates on the residents."

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 13
:Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
WRITERS AWARDS—From Left: Prof. Blessing Lawal of Global Socio Economic and Financial Evolution
Network; Dr. Ebhoria Charles and Modest Diko, Team Lead, Nigerian Writers Awards, during the the
Awards ceremony, held in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: KEHINDE SHONOLA
Politicians behind bandits’ activities
in Nigeria —Tsav
BENUE—A FORMER
COMMISSIONER of
Police in Lagos State, Alhaji
Abubakar Tsav, has
accused politicians of
being responsible for
activities of bandits
terrorising the country.
Tsav said, yesterday, in
Makurdi that banditry and
most insecurities occurring
in the country were created
by politicians.
He said most politicians
knew exactly who the
bandits were and why they
were carrying out such
activities, saying “Banditry
and insecurity are created
by politicians and the
politicians know who the
bandits are. They know
why these people are doing
this. I want to appeal to our
political class to have a
change of heart and
cooperate with security
agencies to reduce
criminality in the land. If
the police are courageous
enough to search houses
and monitor activities of
politicians, you will see
what they will recover from
them.”
He said increased level of
corruption and porous
borders had also
contributed in the ongoing
security challenge as most
arms were smuggled into
the country through the
borders.
Tsav advised the Federal
Government to embark on
massive employment of
security personnel as this
would mop up most of the
unemployed youths from
the streets and reduce
criminality in the country.
According to him,
security agencies,
especially the police,
lacked manpower to handle
the incessant security
breaches in the country as
most of the ones in the
service were currently
attached to politicians.
“In the police service, for
instance, we have few
policemen and most of them
are attached to politicians.
In fact, the government
should reduce salary of the
legislature to fund the new
RUGA best option to settle
nomads permanently —Bagudu
B IRNIN-KEBBI—
GOVERNOR Atiku
Bagudu of Kebbi State, has
said the RUGA settlement
programme remains the
best option for settling
nomads in a permanent
abode and enhance
livestock production in the
country.
Bagudu made the
statement yesterday while
conducting journalists
round some Fulani
settlements in Jega Local
Government Area.
According to him:
‘’RUGA is just a Rural
Grazing Area. It has been
conceived long time ago to
bring into one place
nomads and their animals
for permanent settlement
with all the necessary
provision of pasture and
grazing to improve animal
husbandry. It still remains
the best option for settling
nomads in a permanent
abode and enhance
livestock production in the
country.”
He gave an assurance
that his administration
would continue to provide
basic amenities to all Fulani
settlements in the state.
‘’The amenities will
include water, schools and
health facilities in
furtherance of our effort to
meeting the objectives of
the RUGA Programme, ‘’
Bagudu said.
Buhari, APC govs meet behind
closed doors in Daura
By Bashir Bello
K A PRESIDENT
T S I N A —
Muhammadu Buhari and
Governors of the ruling
party, All Progressive
Congress, APC, yesterday
met behind closed doors in
the President’s country
home, Daura, Katsina
State.
Matters or issues
discussed at the close door
meeting which lasted for
hours were not disclosed
to newsmen.
The governor urged the
journalists to intensify
public enlightenment on
the idea of the RUGA
programme.
Some of the settlements
visited were Runtu Birni
Malam and Ingarje
Jandutsi in Jega Local
Government.
Others were Kirya and
Banbala in Suru Local
Government Area.
A cross section of
Fulani leaders,
expressed appreciation
to the governor for his
fraternal visit and urged
the state government to
rehabilitate water
facilities in
settlements.
their
intake. It is dangerous to
attach a police officer to stay
with a politician for more
than two years because the
moment they stay long with
them they become very
loyal to them instead of the
Nigeria police force,” he
added.
Earlier before the meeting
went into a close door
session, the Governors
paid Sallah homage to the
President.
They prayed for his good
health and many more
years of active service to the
nation.
President Muhammadu
Buhari in his response
expressed gratitude to the
Governors for the Sallah
homage.
Meanwhile, Governor
Aminu Bello Masari of
Katsina State, earlier
received the governors
who arrived the Umaru
Musa Yar’Adua
International Airport in
batches before proceeding
to Daura to meet with the
President and later
returned to the airport
where they departed to
their various destinations.
Present at the meeting
include Governors of
Katsina, Aminu Bello
Masari, Nasir el-Rufai
(Kaduna), Abubakar Atiku
Bagudu (Kebbi),
Mohammed Badaru
(Jigawa) Babajide
Sanwoolu (Lagos), Kayode
Fayemi (Ekiti) and
Godwin Obaseki (Edo).
Others spotted were
Secretary to the
Government of the
Federation, Mr. Boss
Mustapha, Director-
General, Progressive
Governors Forum, Salihu
Lukman and Deputy
Senate President, Ovie
Omo-Agege,
others.
among
NGO supports 200 orphans, 20
schools with education grants
*Targets 100 more orphans
By Boluwaji
Obahopo
LOKOJA—NO fewer
than 200 orphans are
enjoying educational
sponsorship from Corps
D’Progressive, a Non
Governmental
Organization, NGO, in
Kogi State
Similarly, the group has
supported about 10 schools
in the state with over 100
persons mentored in
different academic fields.
At a briefing yesterday, in
Lokoja on the sideline of its
20 year anniversary,
President of the
organization, Bashir
Salawudeen, said within
the next 12 months,
additional 100 orphans and
20 schools across the state
would be included in the
schemes.
He said, “From 1999 to
date, Corps De
Progressive has organized
DPR seals 5 filling stations in
Makurdi for dispensing
adulterated products
By Peter Duru
M AKURDI—THE
Department of
Petroleum Resources, DPR,
has sealed-off five filling
stations in Makurdi, the
Benue State capital, for
alleged sharp practices.
In a supervisory
operation led by the acting
Operations Controller,
Makurdi Field Office, Mrs.
Vivian Akpaagher, some of
the affected stations were
either caught underdispensing
or selling
adulterated petroleum
products to unsuspecting
motorists and consumers.
According to her, “the
supervision was one of the
core responsibilities of DPR
to ensure proper regulation
and to also check sharp
practices in the sale of
petroleum products to the
public.
“It was also to ascertain
environmental safety and to
ensure that those who
violate the rules would
have punitive measures
meted to them to serve as
deterrent so that filling
stations owners do not
deliberately violet the rules
and regulations guiding
their businesses.
“So far out of the 12
stations visited five were
sealed-off for sharp
practices and they will
remain shut until the
necessary stipulated fines
are paid into government
coffers,” she added.
Among the stations
visited were, MRS, EDS,
El-Numed, Prime Power
filling stations all along
Naka Road.
Topleaders Magazine Awards
holds in Ghana August 31
HE ANNUAL Nigerian
T o p l e a d e r s
International Magazine
Awards and Conference
holds in Accra, Ghana, on
August 31.
According to the Director
of Communication,
Toplead Media
Communications
Company, publishers of the
quarterly West African
celebrity magazine, Mrs.
Mercy O. Ajayi, said the
occasion will also mark the
14th Year Anniversary of the
publication, dedicated to
promote and unveil
eminent achievers in
Nigeria and abroad.
According to the director,
among the prominent
awardees are former
Nigerian Transportation
minister, Rotimi Amaechi;
Hadiza Bala-Usman MD/
CEO, Nigerian Ports
Authority; Barrister Taiwo
secondary school quiz
competition, inter school
debate, guidance and
counseling talks, campaign
against examination
malpractices, advocacy on
the dangers of drugs abuse.
We have created a new
generation of young
professionals with critical
skill set and values to
transform our communities,
state and country.
“This group has inspired
over 100 people to seek and
attain post secondary
education and they have
added to the pool of human
resources available. We have
supported 10 schools in
Kogi state through the
provision of instructional
materials.
“A few years back, we
launched a programme to
adopt orphans. The
programmes have seen us
support over 200 orphans in
the last five years at various
stages of their education."
Afolabi, Vice Chairman
Sifax Group Ltd.; Otunba
Sunbomi Balogun,
Chairman, FCMB; Dr D.
K. Olukoya, MFM General
Overseer, while some of the
special guest of honour are
President Nana Akufo-
Addo of Ghana, Nigerian
High Commissioner to
Ghana Amb. Micheal
Abikoye, H.R.H Alhaji
Shaban Audu Nizazo III,
Etsu of Kwali; FCT, Abuja
Engr. Musa B. Bott, and
Apostle Dr. Anthony
Ikalama.
Other awardees,
according to Mrs. Ajayi,
are Chief Isaac Jolapamo,
Chairman Morlap Group
Limited; Customs
Comptroller General, Col.
Hammed Ali (retd), Senator
Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah, Dr
Dakuku Peterside,
NIMASA DG; Mr. Fidet
Ikhiria, NRC MD/CEO.

14 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
CHIEF JOHN ODIGIE-OYEGUN @ 80
Special thanksgiving service to mark 80th birthday of former National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC),
Chief John Odigie-Oyegun held at Saint Paul Catholic Church, Benin City on Monday. PHOTOS: BARNABAS UZOSIKE.
The celebrant, Chief John Odigie Oyegun (right) with his family.
From right; Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and his wife; Most
Rev. Augustine Akubeze; Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and his wife and
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State.
Former governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion
(left) and Chief Gabriel Igbinedion.
Chief Oyegun (left) welcoming Governor Obaseki.
From left; Chief Parry B.O Osayande, (retd. DIG);
PDP National Chairman, PDP, Chief Uche Secondus
and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.
From left; Deputy Governor of Edo State, Mr. Philip Shaibu; Governor of Ondo State, Mr Oluwarotimi
Akeredolu (SAN); Edo State First Lady, Betsy Obaseki and Governor Godwin Obaseki.
From left Prof. and Mrs. Emovon and HRH (Prof.) Greg Akenzua.
Officiating Ministers.
Benin High Chiefs; From left; Chief Parry B.O Osayande; Chief Dr.
D.U Edebiri and Chief Oliya.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019—15
IGP Adamu
lauded on
campaign
against
cultism
DEVT BANK LECTURE: From left—Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mahamood Isa-Dutse; Africa Union
High Representative for the Peace Fund and former President and Chairman of the Board, African Development Bank, Mr.
Donald Kaberuka; Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Tony Okpanachi; Chairman, Jaiz Bank, Umaru Mutallab, and Chairman,
Board of Directors, Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN, Dr. Shehu Yahaya, at the DBN lecture series on Surviving to Thriving:
MSMEs as the Key to Unlocking Inclusive Growth in Africa, in Abuja. PHOTO: Gbemiga Olamikan.
President of Igbo extraction 'll solve
Nigeria's problems—Methodist Prelate
By Peter Okutu
ABAKALIKI—THE Prelate of
Methodist Church Nigeria,
His Eminence, Dr. Samuel
Chukwuemeka Kanu Uche,
yesterday, stressed that what
Nigeria needs to solve her
numerous socio-political and
economic challenges was an Igbo
President in 2023.
Speaking at a briefing in
Abakaliki as part of activities to
mark his two-day working visit to
the Church in the state, the Prelate
who is the first Igbo Prelate of
By Chimaobi Nwaiwu
N NEWI—PRESIDING
Bishop, Newday College
of Bishops, Worldwide, Rt. Rev.
Innocent Ochei, has advised
President Muhammadu Buhari
to desist from acting as the
Minister of Petroleum and
President at the same time.
Bishop Ochei also asked
President Buhari to act like a true
leader who is in charge by
allocating the offices to the
minister-designates without
further delay, as Nigerians have
had enough of his delay in
appointing ministers.
He said that “dropping the
Petroleum Minister position
attached to his office has become
very imperative as it sends a
very wrong signal that no
Nigerian except him is capable
of handling the position, just as
it makes mockery of his position
as the President and
Commander in Chief of the
Armed Forces of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.”
Speaking during the
consecration of Bishop Jude
Obadile Ifechukwu at Rock of
God Healing Ministry, Bishop
Ochei said there was no need for
delay in appointing ministers
months after the President was
Methodist Church, Nigeria,
since 1842, added that the Igbo
man being a team player and an
investor by nature, would be able
to lead the nation to greater
heights against all odds.
According to him, power shift
to the South-East was most
appropriate to create a balance in
the political arena and good
governance of the nation.
He said: “No country develops
above her level of education. We
want to impact lives and
empowerment of members of the
Church to enable them to start
declared winner of the election.
His words: “I have seen some
presidents who released the list
of their cabinet members within
two weeks after taking over.
Unfortunately, what you and I see
in Nigeria is totally a different
thing all together.
“President Buhari’s delay in
appointing his kitchen cabinet
was not a good omen and he
By Anayo Okoli
ENUGU—ONE person was
reported to have been killed
while seven others sustained
injuries last week, following a
renewed chieftaincy tussle in
Ajim autonomous community,
Ndeaboh, Aninri Local
Government Area of Enugu State.
Some of the injured are said to
be receiving treatment in a
hospital in Awgu.
Vanguard learned that Ajim
community has been embroiled
in a tussle over who becomes the
monarch of the community.
The first attempt made some
time ago to elect the traditional
ruler ended in a stalemate,
thereby heightening the tension
businesses.
“The igbo man is a team player.
I believe in one Nigeria where
there is justice, fairness and
equity. But in 2023, an Igbo
should be considered. Let them
try an Igbo man in Nigeria in
2023 and see the difference. Igbo
invest everywhere. Igbo man is
like a clean water.
“They have cerebral intellect. I
am for all the parties but Igbo
should be of good behaviour and
support one another.
“Some security officers have
failed us, so defend yourselves.
must desist from acting as the
Minister of Petroleum and
President of Nigeria at the same
time. It is mockery and belittling
of his office as the President and
Commander in Chief of the
Armed Forces of Federal
Republic of Nigeria.”
He also frowned at a situation
where some Nigerian priests
make mockery of themselves
over illicit affairs with ladies,
saying “the cases of alleged
One killed, many injured in Enugu community
chieftaincy dispute
between the two interest groups.
The contest was said to be
between two influential citizens
of the community, Cyprian
Ikpenwa, a lawyer, and Chief
Tobias Achi.
But for reason yet to be
ascertained, fresh tension was
said to have enveloped the
community last week when
armed thugs said to be supporters
of one the contestants, unleashed
attack on some people believed
to be in the opposing camp in the
Igweship tussle, leading to the
death of one Friday Eze,
popularly called Afunwa Elota
Nna.
The midnight attack also left
seven people with serious
injuries.
A report from the community
claimed that the attackers
Don’t be offensive but be
defensive. The constitution was
by a military junta and not
designed to maginalise Ndigbo.
There are violations of the
constitution. NASS should
produce the people’s constitution.
“We want peace and freedom.
Nobody should see Nigeria as his
father’s property. Nobody should
be marginalised because of tribe,
ethnicity and religion. There is an
element of marginalisation
against Igbo. If we want to
enthrone justice and fairness,
power should shift to South-East.”
You can't be President, Petroleum Minister at same
time, Bishop tells Buhari
sexual harassment and rape,
levelled against priest or pastors
of churches are becoming
embarrassing to the church of
God.
“Many pastors have been
accused of one sexual
harassment issue or the other,
some may be the truth while
some are lies. But whether true
or false, men of God must
refrain from sexually harassing
and raping members.”
invaded the homes of their
enemies at about 12a.m.
A survivor of the attack, Mr.
Chukwu Oshi, said he escaped
through the back door of his
house, claiming that they
attacked his 13-year-old son,
Paul Oshi, a JSS 1 student, now
hospitalised.
According to him, “it was
around 12a.m. I was jolted from
sleep by sounds of gunshots at
a neigbour’s home. I opened
my backyard door and sneaked
out to take cover because they
were pointing torchlight in the
direction of my compound.
“So when they came, they did
not see me but they inflicted
machete cuts on my child, Paul.”
Enugu State Police Command
confirmed the incident but could
not say if anybody died.
By Emma Nnadozie
PRESIDENT and Chief
Executive Officer of
Matchmakers Consult, owners
of Nigeria Pitch Awards, Shina
Philips, has applauded the
efforts of the Inspector-
General of Police, Adamu
Mohammed, over Police
campaign against cultism,
stating that it is in line with the
principle of community
policing.
Speaking during a courtesy
visit to the National
Coordinator, Police Campaign
Against Cultism and Other
Vices, POCACOV, SP Ebere
Amarizu, in Enugu ahead of
the forth-coming flag off of the
campaign by the Police boss,
Peters noted that “it will boost
the safety and security of our
communities and it is in line
with the standard of
international best practices
given that it is very proactive
in nature.
“I am here to formally
register the partnership of
Matchmakers Consult and to
commend the IGP on this
laudable initiative. We will
continue to support this
laudable project as one of the
partners of POCACOV.
“I call on Nigerians,
government agencies,
corporate organisations as well
as other relevant stakeholders
to join hands in this
nationwide campaign against
cultism and other vices by
throwing their support behind
the Police to take this message
to the grassroots.”
Responding, Amaraizu
thanked him and the
Matchmakers Consult for their
support of POCACOV and
agreed further to partner to
ensure that the awareness gets
to all the nooks and crannies
of the country.
Amaraizu maintained that
the IG, Mohammed, has
structured the programme in
such manner that it will cut
across all the stakeholders and
that it is community-driven
with various tactics and
strategies as contained in the
IGP’s work plan, which will be
used to commence its
deployments in the 30 states
of the federation, including the
Federal Capital Territory,
Abuja.
He said: “We shall
commence immediate
deployment of this allimportant
campaign after its
national flag off by the
Inspector General of Police on
August 29 in Enugu.
“Preparations are on and the
Nigeria Policing Programme,
NPP, on this flag off and
campaign is with the Force.”

16—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
BRIEFING: From
left—Prof. Martin Ike-
Muonso, Africa
Regional Co-ordinator,
Baywood Foundation,
Emperor Baywood Ibe,
Founder Baywood
Foundation, and Mr
Gbenga Adebija,
Director General,
Nigerian-German
Chamber of Commerce,
during the briefing by
Baywood Foundation
and African Union, on
Community Project, in
Lagos, yesterday. Photo:
Kehinde Gbadamosi.
Embrace RUGA, PDP BoT chairman, tells
Nigerians
A BUJA—THE
chairman, Board of
Trustees, BOT, of the
Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, Walid Jibrin,
has urged Nigerians to
embrace
the
establishment of Rural
Grazing Areas, RUGA,
programme of the
Federal Government.
Jibrin told journalists at
his Nasarawa country
home in Nasarawa State
yesterday that the
proposed settlement
policy for herdsmen
would promote peace and
security in the country.
He also explained that
the programme would
boost food security and
improve the health and
standard of living in rural
communities.
Jibrin, who is also the
Sarkin (leader) of Fulani
in Nasarawa State,
commended the federal
government for
introducing the RUGA
programme in the
country, considering its
importance.
“I am not in APC, I am
a PDP chieftain. But
when we talk of
development and
security, we should leave
anything about politics,
religion and tribe.
“Whoever is ruling in
Nigeria, if he brings any
programme that will do
away with insecurity,
killings and take care of
the welfare of the people,
I will go by that. My
politics is not do-or-die and
I play politics without
bitterness.
“That is why we, Fulani,
commend the Federal
Government for
introducing the RUGA
project in the country.
“I and our tribe (Fulani)
had embraced the
programme. RUGA project
includes the provision of
hospitals, schools, water
TIFPI tasks NASS on further
amendment to Electoral Act
By Emmanuel
Elebeke
ABUJA—AS Nigerians
prepare for future
elections, a Civil Society
supply and electricity,
among other facilities, which
will have direct bearing on
the lives of the herders.
“Apart from that, it will also
tackle incessant farmers/
herdsmen conflicts as well as
boost food security in the
country,” he said.
Calling on Igbo and
Yoruba ethnic groups to
embrace the programme in
the interest of national
development, the PDP BOT
chairman said: “About 12
states in the North have
already embraced it and
have started the project,
including Nasarawa State.
“So, I am calling on
southerners, the Igbos, the
for more credible and improved
electoral process in
the country.
TIFPI said the call on the
ninth National Assembly to
strongly consider a further
amendment of our electoral
Act and other laws relating
to elections was part of its
democratic commitment and
contribution to
strengthening our
institutions, pursuant to the
urgent need to unbundling
the Independence National
Electoral Commission INEC
Clasical Showcase unveils higher institution
music competition Season 2
By Nkiruka
Nnorom
L AGOS—FOLLOWING
the success of the maiden
edition of its Campus
Classicals in 2016, Classical
Showcase Ltd has announced
the commencement of Campus
Classicals Season 2
across Nigeria's higher institutions.
Campus Classicals is aimed
at exposing music students
and talents within Nigeria’s
higher institutions to practical
classical music and other
genres of music beyond their
immediate learning environment
and also avails them the
opportunity to interface with
Organization, The
Integrity Friends for Truth
and Peace Initiative, TIFPI
has called on Ninth
Assembly to commence
further amendment of
Electoral Act, Broadcast
Code and other sections
of the constitution that
require urgent attention
their counterparts from other
institutions by bringing participating
schools/students to
national and international
limelight.
A maximum of 30 schools
will be participating this year
where three zonal finals from
South-east, South-west and
Abuja will be produced, while
the grand finale will hold in
Lagos in November 2019.
Speaking at the unveiling
of Campus Classicals Season
2 in Lagos, Mr. Sylvester
Obriko, Managing Director,
Classical Showcase, said
Campus Classicals is Nigeria’s
first of its kind of higher
institution musical competi-
tion that hinges on classical
music, yet making room for
other genres of music to further
challenge school authorities
and music/performing arts
departments to enhance the
academic development of their
students through intensive music
training and competition.
Also, speaking, Professor
Anthony Mereni, a Professor of
Musicology and one of the consultants
for Campus Classicals,
said “Campus Classicals Season
2 will have a bigger impact
on the campus communities
even beyond the Season 1,
a competition that showed the
enormous musical talents
groomed by erudite music tutors
in the eight schools that
participated in season 1”.
Yorubas, among others, to
embrace it, even though the
project is not compulsory.
“The project will keep
the herdsmen one, safe
and will improve on their
welfare as some states in
the South East have already
promised to donate land for
the project.’’
He called on all
herdsmen and other
Nigerians to shun armed
robbery, kidnapping and
other negative tendencies
in the interest of peace and
development.
Jibrin also urged
Nigerians to live
peacefully, irrespective of
ethnic, religious and
political affiliations, for
development of the nation.
as we prepare for future
elections.
TIFPI is an INEC
Accredited Election
Observer organization
involved in development
and institutional growth as
well as transparency in
governance in promotion of
citizens rights.
During the 2019 general
election in Nigeria, TIFPI
deployed about 750
Observers in 29 states of
the federation. The
organization also had
during the 2019 elections
proposed a 30 year jail term
for electoral violence
perpetrators to serve as a
deterrent, as well as
strengthen the enforcement
mechanisms of our extant
laws against electoral
crimes including vote
buying and inducement.
In a statement signed by the
Executive Director, TIFPI,
Livingstone Wechie on Tuesday
and made available to Vanguard,
the TIFPI said the proposed
Electoral Act amendment must
be quickly amended to include
that as a mandatory condition, if
an election official or INEC staff
resigns or leaves office such official
cannot join a political party or run
for an election except ten years
ahead of such resignation or until
after ten years of his or her
resignation or sack in keeping
with Sections 306-307 of the 1999
Constitution of Nigeria.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 17
•Cattle rearers in Niger State
RAGE OVER RUGA:
Why Niger plans
N13bn upgrade of
50-yr grazing reserves
By Wole Mosadomi, Minna
THE planned introduction
of Rural Grazing Area,
RUGA, Settlements in the 36
states of the Federation by the
Federal Government was
suspended following the heated
controversy it generated and its
rejection in many quarters.
At the root of the strident
opposition to the Ruga project
is the suspicion and fear arising
from the perceived ulterior
motive behind the introduction.
But unknown to most
Nigerians, Niger State had 50
years ago established a grazing
reserve to create a conducive
environment for Fulani
herdsmen to rear their cows.
Vanguard gathered that the
idea of keeping the Fulani
herders in a settlement was to
allow them pursue their
business without stress and to
ensure that their animals do not
wander across the country,
leading to clashes between the
herders and farmers.
The idea obviously achieved
its purpose because, while fatal
clashes were recorded between
farmers and Fulani herders in
parts of the country without such
settlements, Niger State had
remained relatively free of such
clashes.
Indeed, when the President
Muhammadu Buhari
administration recently
announced the planned
introduction of the
controversial Ruga settlement
project across the country, the
Niger State Government had
not only jumped at it, but started
modifying the existing one in
the state to suit modern day
operation.
Already, a total of 44,000
hectares of land has been set
aside for 23 grazing reserves in
the state. Of this, 14,000
hectares is in Iri village in Rijau
Local Government and another
30,000 hectares located in
Kampani Bobi area in Mariga
Local Government Area of the
Out of the 23
grazing reserves
across the country,
only two were
gazetted, the
administration is
ready to
accommodate
genuine cattle
breeders
State.
The State governor, Alhaji
Abubakar Sani Bello, has even
gone a step further to improve
on what he met on ground as a
game reserve. His frequent
meetings with the Central Bank
of Nigeria, CBN, has opened a
gateway of collaboration
between the State and the apex
•Niger State governor, Abubakar Sani Bello...inspecting the grazing reserves
bank to take the grazing
reserve to the next level.
Though there is no official
statement on what exactly the
apex bank would do in form of
assistance to the state to
improve on the settlement
areas, there is, however, bright
future for the elevation of the
project to the highest level by
the partnering parties and
others.
Apart from the Fulani
herdsmen and probably the
farmers which most Nigerians
are familiar with due to their
frequent clashes over land,
there is another body called the
National Sheep and Goat
Development which the state
government has brought on
board the grazing reserve
project. The intention is to make
their work more comfortable
and forestall future clashes
between them, the Fulani
herdsmen and the farmers.
National Sheep and
Goat Development
Governor Bello said that out
of the 23 grazing reserves
across the country, only two
were gazetted, adding that his
administration was ready to
accommodate genuine cattle
breeders to operate in the state.
In an interview, the state
coordinator of the body,
Hussaini Abdulkhadir Yero,
explained that the body is a
licensed organisation and
working in conjunction with the
Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
He said Niger State remains
one of the first states to put a
structure on ground as it has
acquired land in some local
government areas for goat and
sheep
rearing
scheme. However, the steps
taken by the state government
on the “Ruga” project have not
gone without a protest, as a nongovernmental
organisation,
NGO, has already raised an
alarm over a recent
development with respect to
land.
Director of the NGO called
Schools for Africa Working for
Peaceful Co-existence Between
the Fulani Herdsmen and Their
Host Communities, Reverend
Phyllis Sortor, told the State
Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani
Bello, during a courtesy visit
recently, that a greater part of
the grazing reserve has been
encroached on by farmers. She
said this might negate the idea
of establishing the grazing land
and subsequently lead to
avoidable clashes between the
two contending bodies-the
Fulani herdsmen and the
farmers.
She said up to 90 per cent of
the 30,350 hectares of the
grazing reserve has been
encroached on and that this has
subsequently forced the
herdsmen to move over 1,000
cows out of the area to the
Eastern parts of the country. She
promised the state government
of providing teachers, medical
interventions, promote
household training and support
teams at the reserve only if
government could expedite
action for the reactivation of the
grazing reserves.
Members of the community
where the grazing reserves are
located see it as a welcome
development in their area as it
offers them an opportunity
which could be utilised to boost
their personal economy in
particular and that of the
communities in general. The
new secretary to the state
government, Alhaji Ahmed
Matane, while recently
answering questions from
journalists on the grazing land,
said the state government will
look into the
encroachment issue by
farmers and settle the
matter amicably.
The state government,
he said, has developed
a 10-year development
plan for the 30,000
hectares of grazing
land in Oroh near
Kampani Bobi in
Mariga Local
Government Area of the
State.
The immediate past
commissioner of
agriculture and natural
resources, Alhaji
Haruna Nuhu Dukku
and his livestock and
f i s h e r i e s
counterpart, Alhaji
Zakari Bawa Balance,
told journalists recently
that work on the grazing
reserve would commence soon,
adding that the Federal
Government has approved the
project and that other
partners have also shown
interest in the project.
Meat packaging
centre
It is planned that the grazing
reserve will have abattoir and
meat packaging centre, yoghurt
making factory and other other
agro-allied industries. It will
also have other infrastructures
like pasture, electricity, water,
schools, r oads, hospitals, earth
dams and other facilities.
Work has already commenced
on the access roads, veterinary
clinic and police post, just as
work on boreholes around the
existing communities within the
reserved areas are nearing
completion.
The commissioners who
jointly addressed journalists on
the development said
government was aware of the
deep encroachment by some
farmers on the reserved area
and therefore advised them to
keep off in order to avoid
clashes between them and the
herdsmen since the area is
exclusively reserved for the
herdsmen.
The project is expected to gulp
N13 billion. According to the
state government, it was
designed 50 years ago by the
Federal Government and
officially handed over to the
Niger State government in the
year 2006.

18 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
FURTHER indicators that the 2019
general elections were considerably far
behind the standards set in 2015 have
emerged with the release of the report
of the Nigerian Civil Society Situation
Room. It revealed that 626 Nigerians
lost their lives in election-related violence
between the beginning of the campaigns
in October 2018 and the end of
the supplementary elections in March
2019.
Compared to the 2015 figure of 106
deaths, it means that the death toll in
2019 increased six-fold. That is
scandalous. Instead of getting better at
managing the complexities of
transitional elections, we are getting
worse.
A breakdown of the figures, according
to geopolitical zones, shows that
the North West and North-East commanded
the vast majority of the casualties
with 172 and 146, respectively. The
South-South where armed uniformed
626 election death toll unacceptable
men and political thugs were seen on
live television shooting in many parts
of Rivers State recorded 120 deaths,
while the rest had: North Central, 111;
South West, 63 and South East, 14 casualties.
It was also reported that Benue,
Borno, Kaduna, Rivers and Zamfara
had the highest number of fatalities.
The case of Rivers State was not too
surprising because some political
leaders of the state had openly beaten
war drums during the campaigns.
Also, President Muhammadu Buhari
had, after a security meeting on February
18, 2019, told Nigerians he had
given the Army and security agencies
orders to be ruthless with “ballot box
snatchers” and election disruptors.
This was remarkably different from
the tone set by former President
Goodluck Jonathan before the 2015
election, admonishing his supporters
not to “rig” for him as his ambition was
not worth the blood of any Nigerian.
Thus, the 2015 general elections which
had been predicted by some powerful
foreign countries as likely to lead to
the breakup of Nigeria, turned out to
be the most peaceful in Nigeria’s history
after the June 12, 1993 elections.
Compare our fatality records with
those of India which also held general
elections this year. We had 84 million
voters and recorded 626 death, but
India had 830 million voters and recorded
less than 400 fatalities.
We wonder why President Buhari has
not made good his threat to query the
Independent National Electoral Commission,
INEC, over the seriouslyflawed
process. We need to know what
led to this unacceptably high number
of deaths with a view to correcting observed
flaws. Those responsible for the
deaths of innocent political participants
should be made to face the wrath of
the law. Otherwise, the trend will only
worsen in future elections.
Nigerians have the right to choose
their leaders in an atmosphere devoid
of danger to their lives and property.
It is the duty of government, the INEC
and security agencies to provide this
conducive atmosphere.
Mr President, we must wake up
By Sunny Ikhioya
ONLY a focused, truly changeconscious,
healthy, detribalised and
religiously unbiased leader can effect the
necessary changes that our country
require. That is why this piece is directed
to Mr President.
As it is today, instead of building for the
future, we are here killing the future. What
kind of country will the generations yet
unborn inherit when our first 11 are migrating
to other lands?
The situation in Nigeria is so ironical;
so much resources on ground and nothing
to show for it. Even in the area of human
capital, we are making so much
contributions into developing other
countries, while we are found wanting at
home. It is time for us to wake up.
A nation that cannot feed itself can never
be independent. What will it take for us to
get our agriculture back on track? In the
sixties and seventies, every child was
taught to understand that 70 percent of
our population were involved in agriculture.
How many per cent do we have today?
Is it that the leadership of today has
forgotten this reality? And if the situation
has changed, what is responsible? Is this
so difficult to analyse?
Do we need foreigners to do it for us? In
the name of promoting agriculture, so
much fraud is being perpetrated on a daily
basis and the big players are taking
advantage of it and smiling to the bank,
whereas there is nothing to show for it.
What is it about agriculture apart from
the seedlings, implements and management?
What implements are needed for
agriculture to be sustained in Nigeria?
It does not require rocket science; this
country is mature enough for mechanised
agriculture to be introduced all round. We
can produce the machines locally here in
Lagos, Benin, Aba and Nnewi; our manufacturers
and craftsmen need to be challenged.
In the manufacturing of machines, it is
not compulsory that we get all the parts
produced in one place. What is done - even
in China - is to import other complex parts
from abroad and do the coupling at home.
That is why companies assembling
machines in Nigeria should be
encouraged. Gradually the parts will be
manufactured here by our local fabricators;
all that is required is just the zeal
and determination.
There is no agricultural equipment,
including small sized tractors, that cannot
be manufactured in Nigeria if the locals
are encouraged and given the opportunity
to produce the parts. That should
be our focus. The money being disbursed
as intervention fund for agriculture is huge
and under normal circumstances, should
make the desired impact.
Instead of getting the fund siphoned into
other flimsy projects our agricultural
technology should be developed to produce
agric implements; and in the event our
agric output will soar. Agric officers
should be assigned to projects with targets
attached as conditions for the retention
of the job.
Our civil servants in the ministries are
not productively engaged; they only push
files around. Majority of them should be
engaged in the fields, supervising and
ensuring that government projects are
done to specifications.
It is the right time for us to sit up; the
leadership is beginning to take things for
granted and giving excuses for clear failures.
Whereas the solutions are in our
hands, there is no clear policy direction;
and where they exist, poor implementation
is witnessed. Why can't every ministry
work with a clear-cut vision or goal? For
OPINION
example, what is the role of the Ministry
for Science and Technology? In which areas
is it helping to build the economy of
this country?
In China, the people practice reverse
technology; that is, breaking down the
imported machines into small
components or units of completely
knocked down, and then reassemble them,
one after the other, to finished products.
They are encouraged to try, whether they
succeed or not. Here in Nigeria, we
condemn our own Aba-made. When we
condemn our locally produced items, what
encouragement are we giving to our local
manufacturers? The disappointing aspect
of it all is that our government do not set
When we condemn our
locally produced items,
what encouragement are
we giving to our local
manufacturers?
the example for patronage of locally
made products; instead, they opt for the
foreign or imported goods, and yet expect
the citizenry to do otherwise; that is not
possible. We must begin now to understand
that if we cannot fix our power situation,
there is no way we can be manufacturers
of finished products.
It is the first challenge that we must
tackle. Some of us are talking about nuclear
and space technology; when we cannot
produce electricity in the country, that
is a very tall dream indeed.
The technology of power has become so
advanced and developed such that
advanced nations have taken it for
granted.
We have sunlight, water, wind, thermal,
Send Opinions & Letters to:
opinions1234@yahoo.com
gas and more; we are churning out graduates
in different fields of engineering on a
daily basis; why can't we put them to work?
Will the needs of a few people benefitting
from the present arrangement be allowed
to supersede the needs of the majority? It
is a question for those in authority to
answer.
We must wake up now. Almost all the
reports from world bodies like the UN,
the World Bank and even Amnesty International,
have poor ratings of Nigeria in
their global indexes.
Their individual verdicts give Nigeria
the unenviable records of the world largest
concentration of poor people, worst in
open defecation, poor in human rights,
poor in democratic practices, high in insurgency,
terrorism and kidnapping; high
in religious crises and many more.
The country needs unity at this point in
order to thrive; we have focused too much
on ethnic and religious differences. The
secularity of this nation must be respected
and safeguarded; representatives of the
people, that is people in government, must
respect the sanctity of that provision of
our Constitution. This country is an agglomeration
of so many ethnic nations;
any attempt to impose one over others will
only bring about negative consequences.
Let our leadership wake up and do the
right thing. Our inability to fight and subdue
terrorists is the result of biases being
exhibited by people entrusted with that
responsibility. It is time for all to wake up,
because if the foundation is not properly
grounded it will not stand the test of time.
We must institute democratic practices
at all levels - free and fair elections. People
must be allowed to express their will and
preferences without any coercion or
threats. All must unite towards a common
goal. It is our choice to make, whether to
come out of the doldrums or remain down.
•Ikhioya, www.southsouthecho.com
Twitter; @SunnyIkhioya

Securities dealers blame market
downturn on panic selling
By Peter Egwuatu
The Association of Securities
Dealing Houses of Nigeria
(ASHON) has attributed the
downward trend in the stock
market in recent times to panic
sale of shares.
Besides, ASHON has reopened
the call on investors to
take advantage of sound
professional advice from their
stockbrokers before taking
investment decision.
Reacting to the on-going
bearish trend in the market in
recent times, ASHON’s
Chairman , Chief Patrick
Ezeagu, said : “Many investors
adopt herd instinct whereby
they sell off just because others
are selling.”
Ezeagu noted that two
investors may not necessarily
have the same motive for sale
or buy order, saying this is
where the need for professional
investment advice from
stockbrokers become
compelling.
He stated that a trend
analysis of corporate earnings
in recent times indicate that
many companies across sectors
have posted higher earnings
with good returns but this has
not significantly reflected in the
movement of their share prices.
Ezeagu explained that there
was nothing unusual about this
as the market generally reflects
the trend in the economy;
hence, investors buy into the
future of these companies on the
expectation of higher
shareholder value.
“Those who are selling off
their shares right now are
speculators and not real
investors. Every stock market
needs speculators for liquidity
but they can change investment
decision in one second. Our
Stock market is forward looking.
“Investors need not be
CURRENCY BUYING SELLING
US DOLLAR
POUNDS
EURO
FRANC
YEN
CFA
WAUA
RENMINBI
RIYAL
SDR
DANISH
RAND
$93.90 -3.40
2,199.00 4.00
$11.57 -0.29
$58.65 0.12
$54.72 0.22
305.9 306.4 306.9
369.0072 369.6103 370.2135
342.5774 342.1374 343.6973
314.2916 314.8053 315.319
2.8902 2.8949 2.8997
0.5028 0.5128 0.5228
420.2479 420.9348 421.6217
43.3314 43.4027 43.4739
81.5472 81.6805 81.8138
420.949 421.637 422.3251
45.8896 45.9646 46.0396
20.141 20.174 20.2069
CBN Exchange rate as at 12/08/2019
nervous. They should consult
professional stockbrokers for
sound investment decision.
There is no basis for panic sale
of shares. Many companies have
announced strong financial
performance with prospects of
increased future earnings. Why
should a shareholder of such a
company embark on panic sale
of shares?
“Globally, stock market
gauges the mood of the
economy like a barometer. Our
market is not a local one.
Foreign investors have
significant stakes because their
analysis has always convinced
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 19
them that our market has
potential for strong Return on
Investment (ROI). At the
moment, core investors are
awaiting a couple of things,
including announcement of
ministers of the Federal
Republic and the Economic
Team to show the clear direction
of the government.’’
From left: Iyke Owoh, Engineering Lead, MKOBO, Habeeb Adeokun, Managing Director,
MKOBO and David Arogundade, Product Manager, MKOBO at the launch of the MKOBO
Microfinance Bank’s FestiveSave Solution in Lagos recently.
Beware of NNPC’s advice, petroleum economist
warns FG
By Michael Eboh
THE immediate past president
of Nigerian Association for
Energy Economics, NAEE,
Professor Wumi Iledare, has
cautioned the Presidency against
allowing the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation,
NNPC, play an advisory
role to the government on
oil and gas matters.
In an interview with
Vanguard in Abuja,
Iledare reminded the
government that the
NNPC Act did not make
the corporation a
substitute for the Ministry
of Petroleum Resources,
stating that the NNPC
playing an advisory role
to the Presidency over
the years, had not helped
the government or the
country.
Iledare is currently
Professor of the Ghana
National Petroleum
Corporation’s Chair of
Petroleum Economics at
Institute of Oil and Gas
Studies, IOGS, in Ghana
University of Cape Coast.
He was also former
President of the
International Association
for Energy Economics,
IAEE.
He noted that the NNPC has
a significant role to play in the
growth and development of the
Nigeria’s petroleum industry
and the country in general,
noting however, advising the
government was not one of such
roles.
He said, “NNPC still has a big
role to play, but the emphasis
must not be the agency role of
advising the government on oil
and gas industry. It has not
helped the government or the
country, instead it is a divide and
rule tactics that must be avoided
by the government. NNPC Act
does not make the corporation a
substitute for the Ministry of
Petroleum.”
Iledare, who was commenting
on the state of the Nigerian
petroleum industry, also
bemoaned the current lull in the
industry, warning that the
misfortune of the industry might
spell doom for Nigeria’s unity.
“The collapse of the oil and gas
industry in Nigeria worries me
more lately because of the
Venezuela experience and
because we are heterogeneous,
such experience in Nigeria may
lead us to the path of Yugoslavia’’.
IoD seeks increased engagement on public policy
By Babajide Komolafe
THE Institute of Directors have
called for increased
engagement between the private
sector and public sector to
strengthen policy formulation and
implementation in the country.
President of the Institute, Chief
Chris Okunowo made this call in
his acceptance speech at his
investiture as the 16th President
and Chairman of Governing
Council of the institute held in
Lagos. Noting that that policy
formulation and implementation
has been consigned to government
and its agencies, Okunowo said
the IoD during his tenor will pay
a lot of attention to actively
engaging with the government on
issues of public policy formulation
and implementation.
He said: “There are divergence
of views and opinion between
government and nongovernmental
organizations on
policy decisions and implementation,
especially concerning the
process of making and
implementing such programmes
and activities.
“We have noticed that in Nigeria,
the process of policy formulation and
implementation has essentially
consigned to the government and
its agencies, whereas in principle,
professional organisations such as
the IoD Nigeria as well as
representatives of the private sector
and the civil society groups should
MKOBO MfB
unveils digital
product to drive
savings for
festive period
MKOBO Microfinance Bank
has introduced a new
digital savings solution that
allows customers to save
specifically for festive periods.
The solution, called FestiveSave
also allows customers earn up to
10 percent bonus on their
savings. Users will cash out both
principal and the bonus as lump
sum at maturity.
At the moment FestiveSave
allows users to save for top four
of Nigeria’s biggest festivals
including Christmas, Eid Kabir,
Easter and Eid Fitr. Each of these
festivals comes as a package for
which users can subscribe to.
Speaking at the launch of the
product in Lagos, Chief
Executive Officer of MKOBO
Microfinance Bank, Habeeb
Adeokun said: “We came up with
FestiveSave because we realized
how festive periods have become
integral parts of our lives, but can
sometimes be an expensive and
stressful time if we are
unprepared.
“While they may seem far off,
planning and saving as early as
possible can take the pressure off
your wallet in the months to come.
It’s often a good idea to set up a
savings account specifically for
the festive season with an
automatic payment into it every
payday to help you save, and
that’s where FestiveSave comes
handy.”
He added: “With FestiveSave
you won’t have to borrow money,
you’ll come home relaxed, not
restless with money worries when
the festive season comes.”
All the four packages allow
users to determine a regular
savings amount, start date and
how often to save with
withdrawal usually set between
4 to 2 weeks before the festive day.
An important feature of
FestiveSave is it’s security
features. It is built with bankgrade
security at its core. Its
payment processor is PCI-DSS
compliant for the security of
user’s payment information.
New users can start saving by
creating an account with
FestiveSave and setting up a user
profile. They can then select
preferred FestiveSave plan and
decide how much they want to
save and how often. Currently,
only the monthly option is
available with more options to be
added soon. To facilitate recurring
savings into the account, users
would have to link their ATM/
Debit card to their accounts. They
can then watch their money grow
monthly and withdraw their
funds a few days before the
festive celebration.
play major roles. Today, there is a
missing link between the
government and business as well
as the public in respect of policy
formulation and implementation.
“Therefore, the IoD, during my
tenure, will work to strengthen
public sector/private sector policy
interactions in the broader national
interest. If this is achieved, it will
reduce the tendency of policy
imposition from the top, thereby
creating an enabling environment
where policymaking and
implementation will be participatory
with the involvement of all
stakeholders: the civil society
groups, professional bodies,
organized private sector, and the
public.’’

20 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 21

22 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
We are building a standard growing out of
Nigeria for Africa —TruCSR boss
IN this interview,
Chief Responsibility
Officer of TruContact
CSR Nigeria, Ken Egbas
spoke on how the
Social Enterprise Report
and Awards (SERAS)
project, has shaped and
improved the acceptance
of Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) and
Sustainability as part of
the business policy of
organisations in Nigeria.
Excerpt.
What are the highlights
of your thirteen
years of promoting
CSR and sustainability
in Nigeria?
Thirteen years of
pushing the SERAS
have been if you ask me
one of the most daunting
challenges I have ever
faced as human being, as
a leader and entrepreneur.
First and foremost, a lot
of people whose opinions
we sampled on Sustainability
and CSR in
2006 told us these things
could only work in Europe
and America, but
not in Africa, especially
in Nigeria, that we
are not yet there where
you can bring conversation
around CSR and
Sustainability.
Being a consulting firm
that we are one of the
things we have also done
is look straight into the
future, because the thing
about being a consultancy
is being able to look
out for what might shape
the conversations in the
future.
What might determine
the value of the prospects
of brands and products
differentiation in the market
and those movements
that will hamper or possibly
help to elevate certain
organizations and
brand over others. So we
saw CSR as one of them.
We also knew we were
going into an era were
governance, and how
organizations behave,
people’s perception of
brands and products,
not just because of colours
and flashy names,
but more out of the character
that they see about
these organizations.
So we knew very well
from that period which
was in 2005 and perhaps
to the end that CSR and
Sustainability are not
something that is just
going to be an addendum,
but something that
has come to stay.
Shortly after we had
the struggle trying to get
brands in Nigeria and
Africa to understand that
this is a key part of future
engagement we had
challenges when the financial
system in the US
had issues and it spiralled
to all sectors of the
world.
So those who used to
have the argument that
Nigeria and Africa are
isolated from the global
reality began to see a shift
and understand that this
is real. I think that is one
of the things that helped
to drive the project this
far.
When you drive
something this new there
is a challenge of getting
organizations to accept it.
Let’s use Nigeria as a
case study, when we began
the SERAS in 2006
only two organizations
had CSR or sustainability
policies, and most of
these organizations are
multinationals with their
headquarters in Europe,
even when you come to
the Nigerian operations
of those organizations
you notice that they just
have a policy document,
no plan to even implement
them.
Over the last twelve
years we can hardly see
any of the big players today
registered on the Nigerian
Stock Exchange
(NSE) or operating in key
sectors of the economy
who are not talking about
CSR and Sustainability,
who are not looking at
very interesting and innovative
ways to drive
conversation and engagement
with their
stakeholders.
So even though it has
been a very difficult journey
for us, it represents
a level of progress. You
get to SERAs now even
before the call for entry all
the big organizations,
Non Governmental Organisations
(NGOs) are
calling to find out when
is the next SERAs, when
are the processes starting,
even though it’s been difficult
we have made a lot
of progress.
The biggest progress for
us was in 2016 when we
began to get calls from
other parts of Africa, from
South Africa community,
the Ghanaian business
community, the Kenyan
business community, everybody
wanting to participate
because they
have seen that in the continent
of Africa this is the
most organized or perhaps
the only platform
that has that level of
depth in recognizing the
works and the impact and
investments of organizations
in CSR and sustainability.
So for us even if
it’s been a difficult journey,
lonely road to travel,
very difficult getting
funding for it, funding in
the sense that organizations
see it as something
they should be part of
without necessarily making
financial commitments,
you can understand
why because it’s
*Ken Egbas
not flashy.
CSR and Sustainability
is technical. It is not like
you are bringing people
from Brazil to dance on
the stage and people will
throw money around that,
selling it to them as something
that will help their
business, their differentiation,
their profitability
and help their positioning
in the market not just in
local market, but in the
global market space, it’s
not been easy but we are
getting there.
Would you say the
objective of setting up
the platform has been
achieved?
Yes definitely, the purpose
of setting up the
SERAs has been
We were set up
to get organizations
to understand
that they
are not just businesses
anymore,
but that the
people they deal
with, the society,
the community
looks at them not
like inanimate
object
achieved to an extent,
because the achievement is
supposed not to be measured
in one sweep, it
should be a continuum.
What we want to achieve
when we set up the SERA
was first and foremost we
wanted to create a platform
that enables organizations
to prepare for the future. We
wanted to set up a platform
that enables them prepare
for that future, to see the inherent
need to prepare for
the internal workings of the
dynamics and understanding
of what their businesses
were about, the impact
they make on the society,
the negativity that are derivable
from their being in
the society, and how to mitigate
the gains of some of
those negativity on the environment,
on people, social
institutions and all of that.
We were set up to get organizations
to be able to
align with the best global
standards on responsible
behaviour applicable to any
other part of the developed
world.
And we were set up to get
organizations to understand
that they are not just businesses
anymore, but that the
people they deal with, the
society, the community
looks at them not like inanimate
object, as people used
to see companies those
days, people see brands
and organizations these
days as human beings, they
expect them to have certain
characters, attributes that
are human in nature, how
they feel about them, how
they think about them, what
they do for them.
The transaction between
a brand, the customer and
the stakeholder is seen from
the angle of give me a product,
take my money. People
are now very interested in
what you stand for.
If there is no water in their
environment, the consumers
know you have enough
resources to carry this
project, they know you are
profitable enough to build
a sky scrapper made of diamond.
OAAN, RISAA seek partnership
for conducive business
environment
THE Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria,
OAAN, alongside the Rivers State Signage and Advertisement
Agency, RISAA, are working towards a partnership
aimed at promoting conducive business environment
for members.
At a meeting held in Lagos which had the Managing
Director of River State Advertising and Signage Agency
(RISAA), Chief Tony Okeah and some senior management
staff of the agency, the OAAN President, Emmanuel Ajufo
appealed to the RISAA leadership to address ome of the
issues affecting members in the state.
Some of the issues mentioned include billing for vacant
billboards, and allowing companies that are not registered
either with APCON nor OAAN to practice.
In responding, the MD of RISAA promised to consider
the issues and further solicited the cooperation of the executive
council of OAAN, particularly in the area of payment
of outstanding permit fees.
Okeah also made the promise that the agency would
cooperate with the members of OAAN.
The RISAA boss equally assured the OAAN leaders that
the ongoing enforcement exercise in the state was to rid it
of illegal and unkempt structures.
Okeah asked members to contact the agency for reconciliation
of their bills and promised to review such as far as
possible.
While the meeting lasted, it was agreed that the OAAN
Membership Forms should be made available at RISAA’s
office to encourage willing and qualified companies in the
state to regularise their practice by joining the association.
Berger Paints unveils new
Colour World in Ikoyi
BERGER Paints Nigeria Plc, manufacturers of paints
and allied coatings has opened a new Colour World
outlet in Ikoyi, Lagos as part of its commitment to meet the
growing demand by consumers for its paint products.
Speaking at the opening ceremony,
Managing Director,
Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, Arjan Sircar, said the store
will be a destination of choice for homes and organisations
located within the Ikoyi/Victoria Island axis, desirous
of giving their exterior and interior buildings aesthetic
look. He added that the company remains dedicated
to serving its customers better with different quality paint
products.
He said: “We are excited to open this new colour world
outlet in Ikoyi. This helps to showcase our capacity to provide
wide range of products in a way that represents how
we are transforming the paint industry and how we can
satisfy the desire of our customers. This Outlet offers a
variety of colours that meet customers specification coupled
with a state-of-the-art tinting technology that offers
one stop-shop for their painting needs.”
Sircar disclosed that the centre has unlimited paint offerings
which are meant to serve 5 business segments that
include Decorative/Architectural finishes, Industrial coatings,
Marine & Protection coatings, Automotive/Vehicle
refinishes, Wood Finishing and Preservers.
Also speaking, Chairman of Berger Paints Nigeria Plc,
Mr. Abi Ayida expressed delight at the opening of the outlet
noting that it is a significant milestone achievement for
the company considering the level of commitment and effort
channeled to make it come into reality.
Hero Lager kicks off ‘Echefula’
campaign
HERO lager, a beer brand from the stable of Interna
tional Breweries Plc, a part of the AB InBev family,
has kicked off a campaign tagged ‘Echefula’-”Never Forget
Your Identity” in Igbo dialect.
The campaign seeks to connect the brand at an even
deeper level with the people that have welcomed and accepted
it as part of their culture while also reminding
consumers to take pride in their heritage, identity, as well
as celebrate their culture and embrace their traditions.
Commenting on the initiative, Marketing Director, International
Breweries, Tolu Adedeji said: “This campaign
will explore the uniqueness and beauty of diverse ethnic
groups in Nigeria, while encouraging Hero loyalists to be
proud about their heritage, way of life, beliefs and tradition.
“This campaign was initiated out of a strong desire
to underline our identity as a people and to reawaken the
spirit of who we are, our values, our history, the great exploits
of our generation past and more importantly as a
call to action to Never Forget our identity as HEROes
irrespective of wherever in the world we may be.”
“Culture is one of the main pillars of development and
sustenance of communities and no society can progress in
its absence. It is regarded as the identity where common
values, attitudes, preferences, knowledge are attributed to
the behavior of a people. Identity expressed through culture
is a necessity for all human development. It creates
the fundamental building blocks in our personality and in
the ties that link us to communities and nations.”

How Zedvance provides loans to non-salary earners
By Juliet Umeh
As a way of deepening the
digital drive, consumer
finance firm, Zedvance, says it
has launched a dedicated
mobile lending app tagged
MoneyPal.
Chief Operating Officer,
Zedvance Limited, Mr. Jerry
Osagie said, “Our investment in
digitalizing our business has
allowed us to anticipate and
meet our customer needs in
increasingly efficient ways. This
has also allowed us to disburse
loans to customers round-theclock
in a few minutes, ensuring
that we are always there for our
customers.”
The recently launched channel
is part of Zedvance’s
#Madeforyou campaign
designed to emphasise the
company’s readiness to cater to
customers’ instant loan needs.
According to Osagie, “With the
MoneyPal app, subscribers can
request for Zedvance Nano
loans -typically low-ticket loans
which are payable within a short
time; or salary-based loans of up
to N5million and at tenures of
up to 24months at amazing
interest rates.”
Vanguard, Wednesday, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 23
Zedvance said it has
traditionally provided loans to
only salary earners in the public
and private sectors since 2015 it
started operations. With the
launch of the MoneyPal app
however, the company will now
be able to cater to the lending
needs of non-salary earners as
it seeks to deepen its financial
inclusion strategy across the
country.
Osagie said the company’s aim
is to be a true partner for
success, enhancing the lifestyle
of every Nigerian by providing
access to credit through different
offline and online channels,
hence the launch of the
#MadeForYou Campaign. The
app is available on Google Play
Store for Android devices and
will soon be launched on the
Apple Store for iOS users.
By Juliet Umeh
The increasing influence of
social media has made
cyberspace home for many
youths. Interestingly, for economic,
social, political and administrative
reasons, almost everybody is on the
cyberspace too, embarking on one
form of digital activity or the other.
Today, people conveniently use
digital means to transact
businesses, access funds and many
more. This development creates
room for more openness,
interconnectivity, access and
information sharing.
However, the implications are that
as a digital person, one’s identity is
reduced to digits and it’s available
to everyone to see. Meanwhile,
anybody that has access to those
digits can pretend to be the owner.
This is what experts described as
identity theft. It leads to threat to
people’s safety, privacy, among
others.
That is why everybody must be
aware of his data, how to manage
and protect it. Data awareness is also
the new way and best means of
fighting cyber crime, according to
many cybersecurity experts.
Digital safety
However, cybersecurity experts have
advised that as much as people strive
to explore all the digital means, they
need to be very mindful of what they
present while on the internet to
avoid being victims of fraudsters.
One of such experts is Mr. Wariowei
Shiverly , a National Informational
Technology Development Agency,
NITDA, top shot.
Shiverly represented NITDA at the
recently held Nigerian Internet
Governance Forum, NIGF, in Lagos.
He said: “As the saying goes,
whatever you present on the internet
never comes down. The picture you
portray of yourself will remain there
even though you wiped the means
by which you made that upload.
“What we can do as individuals is
to be mindful of what we present
online. Don’t expose all that you
have about yourself, because the
pieces of information you upload
here and there, when they are
aggregated, it can be used to identify
you, that’s what is called personally
identifiable data.
“It can be found by aggregating all
that you may have uploaded
separately.”
He also warned that data
controllers should always be held
to account on how they use people’s
data.
Shively said, “We must have at one
point or the other received
unsolicited SMSs, some addressed
to us directly, maybe from your
information gotten from other
sources.
"For instance, I am here and I have
given my data to the bank for the
BVN procedure and then if I can
have any proof that my data has
been misused in that respect, it is
my duty to raise issues about that
data misuse.”
CYBERSECURITY:
Data awareness, best form
of combating cyber crime
Privacy regulations
However, all hope is not lost when
one’s data is misused. According to
Shively, people can approach the
law to seek redress and punish
offenders. He said there’s Nigerian
data protection regulation which
protects an individual’s data and
pronounces some degree of
punishments to whoever that
misuses it.
He said: “For instance, these days
we are constantly confronted with
the issue of cybercrimes where
someone steals your identity does
something that is illegal in a given
country, when that happens, there
are rules and regulations; laws that
are put in place to bring to justice
whoever that does that.
“We have one of those laws in this
country-the cyber crimes prohibition
act of 2015, that is a regulation
signed by the President.
People who are found to be guilty of
violating the laws of that regulation
would face various punishments also
spelt out in the law.
“Now, for us to effectively get the
benefits of data protection
regulation, it is we who suffer a data
If you Google,
you will be
amazed at the
information you
find about
yourself that you
never knew
when you
pushed them out
breach that should raise issues about
the data controller.
“That regulation has various
components that address personally
identifiable data, that your personal
identifiable data should not be used
by the data custodians. That is,
whoever you give your data to, your
consent should be sought before that
data is used.
“If consent is not sought and data is
used you have the right to use
contents of the regulation and press
charges against the data controller.
“For us to achieve that there’s
compliance mechanism under the
data protection regulation that
various institutions can register with
NITDA to pursue that the aspect of
it. When you have such problem, you
should contact the certified bodies
to help you seek redress .
Another data expert, Mrs.
Olatokunbon Oyeleye, added that
the best way to fight cyber crimes, is
for people to be aware of what data
is.
For her, people-centred data
protection can only be effective when
people are aware of the roles they
have to play.
She is worried that a lot of people
put out information carelessly
online, and click on popping up
options without reading or knowing
what they are all about.
She advised: “We need to be
mindful of what we say yes to.
If you Google, you will be amazed
at the information you find about
yourself that you never knew when
you pushed them out
Legal aspect
Barrister Emmanuel Edet, who
represented the Ministry of Justice
at the event, said the legal aspect is
that the constitution guarantees
people’s privacy in Nigeria.
He said: “One of the things the
constitution does is make sure that
you are entitled to privacy of
communication but it goes beyond
the privacy of communication.
“It’s important that your data
should be protected by service
providers to ensure that your identity
is not misused, to protect you from
illegal transaction and to actually
ensure that you give consent to
whoever wants to use your data for
any purpose.
C
M
Y
K

24— Vanguard, Wednesday, AUGUST 14, 2019
By Prince Osuagwu,
Hi-Tech Editor
Device maker, Huawei, at its
Developer Conference
recently, in China,
introduced a new microkernelbased,
distributed operating system.
HarmonyOS.
The new OS is designed to deliver
a cohesive and intelligent user
experience across all devices and
scenarios.
Introducing the new OS, Huawei’s
CEO Consumer Business Group,
Richard Yu, said: “We’re entering a
day and age where people expect a
holistic intelligent experience
across all devices and scenarios. To
support this, we felt it was important
to have an operating system with
improved cross-platform
capabilities. We needed an OS that
supports all scenarios, that can be
used across a broad range of devices
and platforms, and that can meet
consumer demand for low latency
and strong security. These were our
goals with HarmonyOS.
“HarmonyOS is completely
different from Android and iOS. It
is a microkernel-based, distributed
OS that delivers a smooth
experience across all scenarios. It
has trustworthy and secure
architecture, and it supports
seamless collaboration across
devices. You can develop your apps
once, and flexibly deploy them
across a range of different devices,”
he added.
Yu added that traditionally, new
operating systems are released
alongside new types of devices and
as early as 10 years ago, Huawei
envisioned a future where
intelligence would seamlessly
integrate with all aspects of people’s
lives, and began exploring how it
might deliver an experience that
would transcend the boundaries of
physical space and span different
hardware and platforms.
He averred that HarmonyOS is that
experience, being a lightweight,
compact operating system with
powerful functionality.
The OS will first be used for smart
devices like smart watches, smart
By Juliet Umeh
Small and Medium Scale
Enterprises, SMEs, have
been charged to leverage
technological innovations to
attract maximum publicity to
their business.
This is part of the efforts to
surmount some of their
challenges in doing business in
Nigeria.
This call was made at
Silverbird Small Business
Events Circuit, SBEC, when
Silverbird Group and
BusinessDay Newspaper came
together to subsidise publicity
for SMEs in Lagos State recently.
The meeting was also an
offshoot from a partnership
between Silverbird Groups,
Business Day, and Media-Tech
Company, Eventstracer, with a
theme, “Interact, Sell More.”
In his address, publisher,
BusinessDay Newspaper, Mr.
Frank Aigbogun said, the SMEs
require new approach to their
businesses to survive in the kind
of difficult environment they
face in Nigeria before breaking
even.
He said: “At a time when
HarmonyOS: Looking at new Operating
System that'll power Huawei's next
level smartphones
The HarmonyOs launch in China
screens, in-vehicle systems, and
smart speakers. Through this
implementation Huawei aims to
establish an integrated and shared
ecosystem across devices, create a
secure and reliable runtime
environment, and deliver a holistic
intelligent experience across every
interaction with every device.
Technical features
Being an all-scenario and
intelligent experience, the new OS
was designed to set a high bar for
technology is reducing time,
space, and creating a seamless
market in size, it is important for
SMEs to understand how they
can collaborate, and take
advantage of it. But, most
importantly, to come into
modern and latest innovations
that can help them to thrive.
“I have absolutely no doubt,
that with the very strong support
of the Silverbird group, given
the large network they have, this
initiative would go very far.
“This event may at this initial
stage start a little bit slow, but
given the number of SMEs in
Nigeria, and how very quickly
they are adapting, I have no
doubt that this is indeed
something that will grow into a
massive development and
achievement.”
Speaking on the essence of the
circuit and its structures, the
Lead Adviser, Silverbird SBEC,
Mr. Dike Demeri, said the three
partners involved have come to
realise that there is a gap
between access to funding and
its availability for SMEs.
He said: “There is now a
conscious focus to fund SMEs in
Nigeria, and by estimate, we
connectivity. It has four distinct
technical features to deliver on its
promise to consumers.
Seamless
It is touted to be the first-ever device
OS with distributed architecture,
delivering a seamless experience
across devices. By adopting
distributed architecture and
distributed virtual bus technology,
HarmonyOS offers a shared
communications platform,
distributed data management,
have over, one trillion naira in
funding made available for
SMEs, but there is a gap
between the SME’s and access
to those money.
“How then can it be trapped?
It has to do with a lot of things.
You can’t run a business
successfully if you want to fly
alone. You must involve other
key players in other related
fields. There is a need for
awareness for any business to
distributed task scheduling, and
virtual peripherals. With
HarmonyOS, app developers won’t
have to deal with the underlying
technology for distributed apps,
allowing them to focus on their own
individual service logic.
Smooth
HarmonyOS will address
underperformance challenges with
a deterministic latency engine and
high-performance Inter Process
Communication (IPC). This feature
SMEs:Leveraging latest innovations, best
strategy for survival, says media Expert
grow,” Demeri said.
Speaking on the contributions
of Silverbird to the circuit, the
Vice President, Silverbird
Groups, Mr. Guy Murray-Bruce
said, the circuit was aimed at
the, “sustainable development
of businesses in Nigeria.
Silverbird entertainment is
leveraging its radio; Rhythm
FM, television, and galleria to
host the series of Small Business
Events Circuit.”
L-R, GM, Eventstracer, Mr. Maxwell Nzekwe; Director Eventstracer,
Adewunmui Obakoya; Publisher, BusinessDay Mr. Frank Aigbogun;
Group VP, Sliver Group, Mr. Guy Murray-Bruce and Chinke IK, On-air
personality, Rhythm FM, at the launch of Small Business Event Circuits in
Lagos recently.
sets task execution priorities and
time limits for scheduling in
advance. Resources will gravitate
toward tasks with higher priorities,
reducing the response latency of
apps by 25.7%. The microkernel can
make IPC performance up to five
times more efficient than existing
systems.
Secure
As a Microkernel architecture that
reshapes security and
trustworthiness from the ground up,
HarmonyOS enhances security and
low latency. This microkernel was
designed to simplify kernel
functions, implement as many
system services as possible in user
mode outside the kernel, and add
mutual security protection. The
microkernel itself provides only the
most basic services like thread
scheduling and IPC.
Unified Multi-device
This feature allows apps to be
developed once and deployed
across multiple devices. Powered by
a multi-device IDE, multi-language
unified compilation, and a
distributed architecture kit,
HarmonyOS can automatically
adapt to different screen layout
controls and interactions, and
support both drag-and-drop control
and preview-oriented visual
programming. This allows
developers to more efficiently build
apps that run on multiple devices.
With a multi-device IDE,
developers can code their apps once
and deploy them across multiple
devices, creating a tightly
integrated ecosystem across all user
devices.
Huawei has also announced that
HarmonyOS 1.0 will be first
adopted in its smart screen
products, which are due to launch
later this year. Over the next three
years, HarmonyOS will be
optimized and gradually adopted
across a broader range of smart
devices, including wearables,
HUAWEI Vision, and head units for
cars.

By Prince Osuagwu
Smartphone manufacturer,
Samsung has unveiled the
Galaxy Note10, a new line of
premium smartphones that
combines elegant design with
powerful performance and
productivity tools to help users do
more of what they love.
According to Samsung, the
Galaxy Note10 was inspired by a
generation that flows seamlessly
between work and life. Also, it gives
users the freedom to work the way
they want and showcase their
creative spirit, all on-the-go.
Managing Director, Samsung
Electronics West Africa, Mr. David
Suh said: “From the very beginning,
the Galaxy Note has stood for the
best-of-the-best technologies and
features. The Galaxy Note10 reimagines
this promise for the
modern Note fan who uses their
smartphone to take their productivity
and creativity to the next-level, and
who effortlessly flows between ideas
and endeavours at a moment’s
notice.
“Every element of Galaxy Note10
was designed to help users achieve
more. Whether they’re finishing a
big project for work, capturing and
editing a video, or playing their
favourite mobile game, the Galaxy
Note10 will help them do it faster
and better.”
According to Suh “Galaxy Note
users appreciate the power of
sophisticated design, not just the
look and feel of their device, but for
the experience it offers. Every
element of the Galaxy Note10 is
crafted to be sleek, slim and
distraction-free, so users can devote
their full attention to the ideas,
projects, and content that matters
most”.
The device also spots new features,
L-R: Managing Director, Samsung Electronics West Africa,
David Suh; Brand Ambassador, Bankole Wellington (Banky
W); and Head, IT& Mobile, Adetunji Taiwo at the launch
of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 in Lagos recently
New Samsung Galaxy
Note10 comes with
enhanced capabilities
which Samsung says make it unique.
Part of the features includes:
Two Sizes: For the first time, the
Galaxy Note comes in two sizes, so
consumers can find the Note that’s
best for them. The Galaxy Note10
opens up the Note to users who want
the power of the S Pen and ultimate
productivity in a compact form factor,
By Juliet Umeh
P
h o n e
Manufacturer, Tecno
has called on device
makers to help
impact the lives of
Nigerians.
The company said
that Original
Equipment
Manufacrurers,
OEMs should not just
be
about
manufacturing
devices but making a
positive difference in
the lives of the
average Nigerian.
It made this call
when the Nigerians
packing a 6.3-inch Cinematic
Infinity Display into the most
compact Note yet. The Galaxy
Note10+ features the biggest Note
display ever with a 6.8-inch
Cinematic Infinity Display on a
device that’s still easy to hold and
easy to use.
Samsung said Note10’s display is
who won trip to Egypt with football
legend, Victor Ikpeba returned to
Nigeria.
The winners which include: Bada
Monsuru Abolore, Boluwaji
Olukayode, Olaitan Ahmed Bola,
and Otenaike Adedotun Andrew,
prided Tecno as the brand that never
relents on its mission to providing
technologically advanced devices
that meet the needs of its teeming
customers, while also creating
unforgettable experiences for its
loyal fans.
According to Tecno, the winners
witnessed the finals of the AFCON
football match and enjoyed all the
action, suspense and overall drama
of the competition.
The company said: “They had the
rare privilege of experiencing the
world.”
The new devices enable: Effortless
Shots. The combination of a 13MP
Main Camera, 8MP Super-Wide-
Angle Camera and the 2MP depth
camera in the AI Triple Camera,
assist the user in capturing
magnificent landscapes and
beautiful portraits effortlessly. The
AI Super Wide-Angle Camera can
even expand the view to 120, to
capture more.
Great Visual Impact
The 6.35-inch Halo FullView
display provides all two phones with
a screen-to-body ratio of 89% for
great visual impact with super
narrow bezels on all sides. Despite
the size and broad view, the 19.3:9
aspect ratio and the specifically
Vanguard, Wednesday, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 25
its best yet. From its
physical construction to its
underlying technology, the
display is designed to
immerse users in their
favourite TV, movies and
games.
Edge-to-edge Design:
The Galaxy Note10’s edgeto-edge
Cinematic Infinity
Display is nearly bezelless,
while the in-display
cut out for the front camera
is small and centred for a
balanced design.
Samsung’s most
immersive display creates
a seamless experience
between thought and
action, viewing and
creating.
Display: The Galaxy
Note10 features the
dynamic AMOLED
display.
With
HDR10+certification and
dynamic tone mapping,
photos and videos are
brighter than previous
Note devices, and feature
a stunning, wide colour
range.
According to Samsung,
the Galaxy Note10
features new technologies,
enhanced capabilities and
powerful integrations all in
service of giving users the
freedom to work in the way
that makes them the most
productive.
Also, with the Galaxy
Note10, content creators
and everyday users alike
can use state-of-the-art
tools to capture stunning
video and photos, allowing
their channels, stories and
posts to stand out and
make an impact.
sights, sounds and major tourist
attractions of the ancient historical
city of Cairo in Egypt.
“Some of the places they visited
include the ancient Pyramids of
Giza. Famous the world over, the
Pyramids of Giza are the last
surviving among the Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World and
are among the world’s greatest
tourist attractions. They are reputed
to have taken decades to build.
“At the museum, they learnt how
to make paper the ancient Egyptian
way, using papyrus. The travellers
also got to discover and enjoy the
aroma of the various ‘secret’
essential oils used in making
popular international designer
perfumes and colognes. It was a trip
they will never forget.”
The winners extolled Tecno and
designed gesture controls provides
effortless one-hand control.
Strong battery power
Powering the devices is a large,
5,000 mAh battery which keeps the
Y Series going for a longer time;
more than enough for all the
photography, video and gaming
adventures. The intelligent powersaving
technologies extend battery
life to make battery worries a thing
of the past.
Smooth Selfie The vivo Y17 spots
a 20MP FrontCamera to capture
delicate facial details for clearer
results. With AI Face Beauty to
automatically enhance your facial
features, you can easily capture the
perfect selfie for social media feed.
NTITA to reward
excellence in
Nigeria’s ICT
industry
By Cynthia Alo
Nigeria Telecom & Information Technology
Awards, NTITA, is set to honour
individuals and corporate organisations, who
have distinguished themselves in the last one
year. The industry event, which is being
organised by Instinct Wave in partnership
with the Association of Telecommunications
Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, is scheduled
to hold in Lagos on in September at the at
the Oriental Hotel, Lekki.
According to the organisers, 2019 NTITA
would reward and recognise not only the
products and diverse innovations that keep
the ICT & Telecom sector thriving, but also
the companies and people who make the
industry great. The awards, are open to all
players and stakeholders in the ICT
ecosystem.
Speaking on the event, Instinct Wave CEO,
Mr. Akin Naphtal, said the awards has grown
over the years, in participation and prestige;
setting the highest industry standard for
honouring organisations and individuals in
the Telecom & ICT sector within Nigeria and
beyond. He added that the awards have
become the benchmark for outstanding
performances in the industry and a symbol
of excellence that marks leadership, quality
and innovation.
“We are proud to have promoted success
stories, technology advancement and
disruption in one of the most dynamic
business sectors in Nigeria in the last three
years,” he said.
“This year we have provided another platform
to recognise government institutions that
have embraced digitisation and created
disruptive technologies for effective service
delivery in the Public sector. Fintech players,
Smart City innovation and disruptive
technologies cutting across every business
sector will also be recognised. And most
importantly, the selection process will be
more rigorous and competitive,” he added.
Speaking on the strategic partnership,
President of ATCON, Mr. OlusolaTeniola
said, “this event will strengthen the
symbiotic relationship between the mobile
industry and the wider ICT ecosystem.”
Tecno tasks device manufacturers on impacting Nigerians
•The winners in one of the
tourist sites in Egypt
Youths, major target in new Vivo Y series
By Prince Osuagwu
Smart phone maker, Vivo, says it
deliberately targets youths in
the new Y series smartphones,
having seen that smartphones with
a blend of intuitive features and
powerful immersive experiences
make fashion statements for the
Nigerian youths
The device maker which
introduced the series into the
Nigerian market recently, says the
smartphones give users a first-class
experience of professional grade
photography, right in their palms.
Inspired and powered by Youth,
vivo Y Series feature is a
combination of AI Triple Camera’s
professional camera with the
flagship-standard visual impact of
the Halo FullView display. The
devices under the Y series launched
into the Nigerian market is the vivo
Y15 and Y17 as they both share the
feature of a huge and powerful long
lasting 5,000-mAh battery.
Country Manager vivo Nigeria,
Felix Lu said, “The Y Series is made
for the youth and we are bringing
our latest photography innovations
to many more young consumers
through two stylish smartphones –
the Y15 and Y17, both under the Y
Series family,”
He explained that “with ‘Powered
by Youth’ as our guiding light, the Y
Series is a clear example of our
commitment to bringing advanced
and premium features to our
energetic and dynamic consumers
from all walks of life around the
joined in calling other OEMs to
emulate such gestures.
Recently, the brand held its yearly
TECNO Spark 3 Light Up Your
Dream Project that empowers young
dreamers with N1 million each to
start and grow their businesses while
creating employment for dozens of
other young people.
It also held the yearly TECNO
Children’s Day Initiative that is a way
to give scholarships to Nigerian
children from disadvantaged
families,.
With the gesture, Tecno said it has
proven not just to be about
manufacturing devices but also
about making a difference in the lives
of the average Nigerian.
•Vivo Y17

26 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
L-R: ACG Zonal
Coordinator
Nigeria Customs
Zone A, Lagos,
Mrs. Kaycee
Ekekezie;
Director General,
National Agency
for Food and
D r u g
Administration
and Control,
NAFDAC, Prof.
Mojisola Adeyeye
and Chief
Operation
Officer, Shippers
Council, Mrs.
Patience Owan at
the inter-Agency
collaboration
m e e t i n g
organised by
NAFDAC in
Lagos recently.
Primary healthcare crucial to
Universal Health Coverage — CHAN
By Juliet Umeh
THE Christian Health
Association of
Nigeria, CHAN,
umbrella body for fraithbased
health facilities also
known as Mission
Institutions, MIs, has
identified negligence of
Primary Healthcare, as the
bane of Universal Health
Coverage, UHC, in the
country.
According to CHAN, the
UHC - a situation where all
Nigerians will be able to
receive a full spectrum of
essential quality health
services without suffering
financial hardship, is still
a mirage in the country.
The body argued that for
the government to achieve
UHC, it must factor-in MIs
in the nation’s health
policies because it
contributes 40 percent of
healthcare delivery.
It also wants the
government to obey the
Alma Ata Declaration
agreement signed in 2001
and commit more funds to
the health sector.
Speaking at the 2019
National Advocacy
Committee, NAC, and
State Advocacy Committee,
SAC, of CHAN, in Abuja,
recently, the Second Vice-
President of CHAN, Dr
Zipporah Kpamor, said that
if CHAN is supported, that
Nigeria will go a long way
in achieving UHC and
therefore, charged their
members to rekindle the
love for primary health care
work because that's the only
way to achieve UHC.
On how CHAN can help
achieve UHC, she said,
"Already, we have primary
health care institutions in
hard to reach places,
ensuring that those health
care facilities are functional
will contribute to the 10, 000
functional PHCS at ward
level which is the
government initiative.
"Also, CHAN has
training institutions for
health workers, so training
the right cadre of staff and
giving them the skills that
they require to go back and
provide skilled health
services at the community
level is another way.
In the same vein,
Director of the Advocacy
and Communications in
CHAN, Mr. Onomoase
Omorebokhae, said,
CHAN is a veritable
vehicle to achieve UHC
because they already have
a very strong working
structure of PHC.
He noted that without
factoring in an
organization like CHAN,
federal government may
not succeed in achieving
UHC. According to him,
four out of every 10
Nigerians access health
services from MI's facilities.
Omorebokhae said:"So
after the government,
CHAN is the next. There
are researches supporting
that CHAN is rendering 40
percent of services in the
country and our strong
point is PHC structure.
"We reach the unreached.
We go to people in the
rural, hard to reach, and
mountainous areas. Our
services are for 24 hours
and seven days in a week,
our doctors, nurses and
staffs don't go on strike
because they are working
with the mindset of serving
humanity.
"We are not competing
with government but
complementary. We have
about 400 registered
members across the
country, and over 450
health dispensaries and
conduct outreaches.
Omorebokhae, wants
CHAN factored into
government programming,
noting that in the health
budget, a percentage
should be put aside for
By Chioma Obinna
LAGOS State Governor,
Babajide Sanwo-Olu,
flagged off a month-long
free health mission for over
21,000 Lagosians with
children as prime target.
The State Government in
collaboration with
BOSKOH Lagos
Healthcare Mission
International (HMI),
flagged the medical
intervention programme
aimed at combating organ
impairment and lifethreatening
ailments in
children.
The exercise began with
a six-day free health
screening from August 5,
2019, in seven Primary
Health Centres, PHCs,
across the state including
Badagry, Akerele,
Surulere, Ikotun,
IgaIduganran, Epe,
Onigbongo, and Ita- Elewa
PHCs. At the flag off, the
Governor, represented by
the Deputy Governor, Dr.
Obafemi Hamzat, said the
programme tagged
“Healthy Bee Project” was
Mission Hospitals and
workers.
Earlier in his address,
President of CHAN, Rtd.
Colonel Andrew Imogu,
said CHAN is fully back
with more visibility.
Imogu, a Consultant
Surgeon, who took over
leadership recently, said his
tenure will achieve selfsustainability,
transparency,
accountability, and
innovation.
purposely designed to keep
children fit for their study
and activities that would
make them attain their
potential.
Sanwo-Olu said the
programme is a component
of his development agenda
to reposition healthcare and
give disadvantaged
children access to quality
medical care.
He encouraged parents to
utilise the opportunity to
take their children for
screening and treatment for
medical conditions that can
limit their mental and
physical development.
“If children lack access to
good health facilities and
quality medical attention,
they might lose their ability
and functionality. We want
to help them fight ailments
that can put them at a
disadvantage. This is the
reason the programme is
essential to make sure our
children live a good and
fulfilling life.”
On his part, the
Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Information &
By Gabriel Olawale
NEW HIV Vaccine
and Microbicides
Advocacy Society,
NHVMAS, has urged the
Federal government to
embrace a policy change
on adolescents’ age of
access to Sexual
Reproductive Health, SRH
and HIV services to 14
years.
The Society who made
the call during a media
roundtable on ‘adolescents’
sexual reproductive health
and age of consent said
policy change would
ensure that the age of
maturity at 18 years will not
constitute a barrier in
accessing services.
Speaking through the
Programme Manager of
AVAC Project, David Ita
appealed to the federal
and state government to
facilitate Preexposure
prophylaxis, PrEP, access to
adolescent and young
people who at the risk of
HIV infections.
“PrEP should be part of
a combination prevention
package embedded in
SRH services for young
LASG conducts free health mission for
21,000 children
NHVMAS seeks policy change
on SRH
Rotary Club donates 2,500
pints of blood
By Etop Ekanem
AS part of its
humanitarian gesture,
the Rotary International,
District 9110, comprising of
Strategy, Mr Fola Adeyemi
described it as a promise
kept.
The Wife of the Governor
Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu,
noted: “As a mother and
medical doctor, I
understand the momentous
mileage we stand to gain
from this strategic
intervention championed
by the State Government in
partnership with BOSKOH
Lagos Healthcare Mission
International, and I must
say I fully align myself with
this all-important medical
mission.”
Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Health, Mrs.
Titilayo Goncalves said the
programme signalled the
implementation phase of
Sanwo-Olu’s healthcare
initiative, and seeks to
increase access to quality
health care service in line
with the State’s Universal
Health Coverage drive.
Executive Director of the
NGO, Mrs. Nike Osai, said
the medical intervention
was an investment the State
would not regret.
people.
“Discrimination and
stigmatization of persons
due to their HIV status, age
range or sexual orientation
by healthcare providers
should be stopped while
adolescent health tolls for
providers and schools be
updated to include PrEP.
Corroborating his view,
Coordinator for Civil
Society for HIV & AIDs in
Nigeria, Aladeyelu
Adebayo admonished
government to legalize
abortion for special cases
such as rape survival,
“adolescent and young
person’s should be able to
access SHR service to
reduce the high rate of
unintended pregnancy and
abortion complication.
“Government should
create pathway for
adolescents and young
people to access post
abortion services to reduce
the mortality and morbidity
of adolescents’ girls and
young women attributed to
complications from unsafe
abortions. Promote
adolescents’ youth friendly
services at least one in each
of the Local government.
Lagos and Ogun States in
conjunction with Indian
community in Lagos have
partnered theLagos State
government on voluntary
blood donation.
This is in conformity with
the World Health
Organisation, WHO,
directive that at least one
per cent of the population
of every country would
always need blood, hence
the necessity for voluntary
and regular blood donors.
The event, which took
place at Palmgrove, Lagos,
recently, Assistant
Governor, Rotary
International, District 9110,
who doubled as the
Chairman, District Blood
Donation, a member of
Rotary Club of Lagos
Palmgrove Estate, Ramesh
Biswal, said need made
the Club to pledge to get
about 2,500 pints of blood
for the year.
According to Consultant,
Hematologist, Acting
Executive Secretary, Lagos
State Blood Transfusion
Service, Dr. Bodunrin
Osikomaiya, ”More than
90 per cent of blood being
donated in Lagos now is by
husband donors or relative
of patients’ donors, which
of course is in sharp
contrast to voluntary and
constant donors regarded to
be the safest.
She frowned at the
existing system of husbands
or relatives donating blood,
which she said was
tantamount to coercion.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, August, 14, 2019—27
Verification: Lamentation as Airways
Pensioners no sleep at center
By Victor Ahiuma-Young & Monsuru
Olowoopejo
vicahiyoung@yahoo.com
Stoppage of pension for political office holders: Why
we're excited with court's rulling---Pensioners
•Demand refund of monies already collected
RECENTLY, the Court of
Appeal in Abuja described
as morally wrong the payment
of severance allowances to
elected or appointed public
office holders.
The court, through its threeman
panel led by Justice
Abubakar Yahaya, made the
declaration in a unanimous
judgment.
Justice Emmanuel Agim,
who read the lead judgment
of the court, said among others,
that such payment “cannot
be justified in the context
of our present social realities.
The political appointees and
elected public office holders
who do not work as long and
as hard as career civil servants
quickly get paid huge severance
allowances upon leaving
office, in addition to the huge
wealth they acquired while
holding such offices and without
having been subjected to
any contributory pension
schemes.
“It is not morally right to pay
an elected public officer or
political appointee pension
and gratuity or severance allowance
for holding such an
office for three to eight years
•L- R :Mrs. Rachael Osa Obi, Head, Customer Relationship Management Trustfund Pensions Limited;
Mr Andrew Onyilokwu, Executive Director, Finance and Benefits Administration Trustfund
Pensions Limited; Mrs Cecilia Mofunanya, a retiree from Federal of Health; Mr. Tonie Nwume,
Managing Director/CEO Access Pension Fund Custodian Limited during the 2019 Pre-Retirement
and Retiree Forum organised by Trustfund Pensions Limited in Abuja recently.
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
THE Federal Parastatals and
Private Sector Pensioners
Association of Nigeria,
FEPPPAN, have commended
President Muhammedu Buhari,
for nominating Senator Chris
Ngige and Sharon Ikeazu, to be
ministers in his second term administration.
FEPPPAN also said that it is
the sole prerogative of the President
to assign the nominees to
any ministry he wishes, insisting
that those kicking against Ngige
returning to the Ministry of Labour
and Employment where he
served as a minister in the first
tenure of the administration are
doing so on personal interest.
President-General of
FEPPPAN, Chief Temple Ubani,
in a statement in Abuja,
said:”Nomination of Senator
Chris Ngige and Sharon Ikeazu
the former Executive Secretary
of Pension Transitional Arrangement
Directorate, PTAD, is a
good step in the right direction,
and we thank President
Muhammadu Buhari for his wisdom
in nominating them. Senaas
the case may be. It cannot
be justified in the context of
our present social realities; it
amounts to gross social injustice.”
It will be recalled that the
Return Ngige to Labour Ministry, Pensioners beg
Buhari
…Want PTAD to conduct screening exercise during dry season
SOME pensioners undergo
ing verification in Bauchi
have urged the Pension Transitional
Arrangement Directorate,
PTAD, to be scheduling
verification exercises during
dry season.
The pensioners who were
from Gombe and Bauchi states
made the call while speaking
at the Bauchi verification centre.
They lamented that conducting
the exercise during rainy
season had been creating a lot
of difficulties in terms of logistics
and other problems.
One of them, Mr Zall Zaifan,
said pensioners had to travel
to other states that were made
venues of the exercise, faced
challenges during rainy season.
He said: “Sometimes, rain
begins to fall on the day we are
to travel and since most of us
travel by commercial vehicles,
we face logistic challenges.
Mostly affected are those coming
from places very far from
the venue of the exercise.”
Also speaking, another pensioner,
Mr Zahas Kelake, said
the rainy period was not very
conducive for such exercise,
saying “Our credentials are at
the risk of being destroyed because
the weather is wet. At our
age, we struggle to protect our
documents; we are exposed to
cold and wet environment; conducting
the exercise during
dry season will be helpful to
us.”
Another pensioner, Mr Mila
Bangu, said that although
PTAD provided shades and
sitting facilities, such shades
could not accommodate all the
retirees at the venue.
“Very worrisome is that
retirees are exposed to possible
ailment due to the rainfall
and its associated cold
condition,” he said.
Responding, when contacted,
Mr Kabiru Yususf,
leader of PTAD team in
Bauchi center, said the
weather condition should not
be a challenge because the
directorate provided large
canopies and sitting facilities
tor Chris Ngige in particular, I
have observed that nobody has
faulted his reappointment in
spite of some reports in the
media saying that people are
wailing about where he should
be assigned to and where he
should not.
“The good thing is that President
Buhari, in his good plan
to better the lives of Nigerians
knows who will serve well and
deliver on their mandate. I
think he considered Ngige capable
to deliver, and it will not
be out of point to say that
Ngige was a perfect match for
the politics and intrigues in the
labour world. And he performed
excellently even
though some may have contrary
opinion.
“For those that are saying he
should not be assigned back
to labour and employment ministry,
it is a case of different
folks and different strokes.
Such statements are personal
opinion which everyone is entitled
to. In the first place there
are some people who were
saying that Mr President
should not in the first place
reappoint somebody like Senator
Chris Ngige as a member of
his cabinet. But that is simply
someone trying to tell the president
to serve personal interest.
“I think that people sometimes
forget that there would always
be clash of interest in human
affairs. Not for personal interest,
I doubt if anybody can specifically
point out where Ngige
went against Nigerian workers,
because I am aware that he assiduously
worked for the success
of new minimum wage. But
thank God Mr President is not
a tool anybody can control as
wish.
“Anybody who has bordered to
observe the body movement of
Mr President particularly concerning
this appointments, will
know that he knows those he
wants. No wonder he said he
was not going to appoint strangers.
So it is his prerogative to
appoint those he feels have
done well in their first appointment.
“The appointment of former
PTAD Executive Secretary, who
performed so well especially on
the area of pensioners welfare,
and reappointment of Ngige
shows that the president knows
Court of Appeal delivered
the landmark judgment
while ruling on an appeal
filed by the Governor of Kogi
State and three others.
After taking critically examining
the judgment, pensioners
in the country expressed
excitement over the
judgment.
Speaking through their umbrella
body, the Nigeria Union
of Pensioners, NUP, they
described as “laudable” the
judgment which outlawed
payment of pension, gratuity
and severance allowance to
political office holders.
NUP through Mr Bunmi
Ogunkolade, Head, Information
Unit, called for a refund
of all monies already collected.
According to him, “The
practice of paying such monies
to them is not sustainable
and should not be allowed.
The NUP is very happy with
the judgment outlawing it.
NUP wants those concerned
to ensure that all monies previously
collected by these
politicians be refunded to government’s
coffers.”
He contended that it was
not morally right to pay an
elected public officer or political
appointee pension, gratuity
or severance allowance for
holding such an office for
three to eight years, saying
“To even conceive such payment
amounts to gross social
injustice. For the present administration
to be seen as being
serious about fighting corruption,
it must begin the
process of recouping payments
already effected.”
for the exercise.
“Knowing that it is a rainy
period, PTAD made adequate
arrangements for the retirees;
the weather conditions
should not be a challenge,”
he said.
what he is doing and is keeping
tab with what is happening
and on those who are performing
to his expectations. I want
to say that one of the major
achievements of Senator Chris
Ngige was the eventual
regrouping of NUP for efficiency.
He made it clear that
efficiency and care for pensioners
was the reason behind the
regrouping and it took him almost
four years to do it according
to the rule of law. Many of
us didn’t even know that he
was a pensioner himself. So as
a pensioner, he saw that it was
needful to regroup pensioners
according to necessary groups
for a better administration and
care-giving of pensioners’ welfare
on a direct note.
“So NUP regrouping is one
big achievement that will ultimately
sanitize the pension sector.
You know, there was that era
of fraud in pension funds. And
for the period he was there in
operation with other agencies,
that was not the case. So I want
to use this opportunity to congratulate
the president that since
he took over the mantel of
power, pensioners have had it
so good.

28 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
VOL. 2 NO. 54 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
By Chinonso Alozie,
Owerri
Umunnawuike community
in Atta Ancient Kingdom,
Ikeduru Local Government
Area of Imo State, has
introduced a fine of N10,000 for
anybody caught practising
female genital mutilation (girl
child circumcision) in the
community.
Southeast Voice was at a
recently held advocacy
dialogue with traditional rulers,
organised by Imo State office of
the National Orientation
Agency, NOA, with the support
from United Nations Children
Fund, UNICEF, Enugu Field
Office at Ikeduru Local
Government Area of the state,
where the Umunnawuike
traditional ruler, Eze Joe
Imo community where indigenes
are fined N10,000 for practising
Female Genital Mutilation
Anika, revealed this.
Anika said the reason of the
N10,000 fine in his community
was to discourage his people
from engaging in such an act,
adding that after the payment
of the fine, the one who
committed the offence would
be taken to the government to
face the law.
Also speaking to Southeast
Voice, the traditional ruler of
Ugiri-Ike Autonomous
community, Emmanuel
Nwigwe, described FGM as
one of the traditional practices
that is not only harmful but must
be stopped due to what he said
were the “evil effects.”
Nwigwe advised that there is
need for the enforcement of the
extant laws prohibiting the
practice of FGM in the various
communities.
He was hopeful that with the
continued sensitization on the
negative impact of the
practice,the villagers would
begin to see the need to end
it.
At the event, the Southeast
Voice got the remarks made by
the Imo State Director of
National Orientation Agency,
NOA, Vitus Ekeocha where
he disclosed that five states
have come tops in the survey
conducted on the practise of
female genital mutilation.
Some of the states mentioned
are Ebonyi, Osun, Ekiti, Oyo,
and Imo States, adding that it
was for this reason that
A cross section of Royal fathers at the advocacy dialogue against the practice of FGM, held in Ikeduru LGA. Photos by
Chinonso Alozie
Herdsmen: Why we filed suit in International
Court — World Igbo Assembly President
By Vincent Ujumadu
DR.
Nwachukwu
Anakwenze, a renowned
American –trained physician, is
the President of World Igbo
Assembly, an umbrella body
coordinating Igbo activities in
the Diaspora. Before assuming
the position, Anakwenze headed
the Anambra State Associations
in the United States of America,
ASA-USA, during which, for
decades, he led health
professionals from all states in
the USA on annual medical
mission to various communities
in Anambra State. Although he
has lived in the USA for about
three decades, he has always
kept in touch with the home
front, which was why his
community, Abagana in Njikoka
local government area crowned
him as the traditional prime
minister of the town, a position
that places him next to the
traditional ruler of Abagana. In
this interview, Anakwenze spoke
on the position of the Igbo in
Diaspora on burning national
issues.
The Igbo in Diaspora must be
conversant with what is
happening in Nigeria,
particularly the killings and
Dr. Nwachukwu
Anakwnze, President,
World Iigbo Assembly
unstable economy. How
worried are they?
In the past, we had peace
and tranquility in Nigeria, but
things have changed with
stories of herdsmen invading
our villages, killing people,
destroying crops and raping
our women, something we
cannot tolerate. We are very
concerned about that because
the well- being of our people is
involved. We will no longer
accept this condition
and we are going to
talk to our people on
what to do.
Everybody needs to
prepare to defend
himself and his family
against the menacing
herdsmen because we
are not prepared to
cede an inch of any
Igbo land to anybody.
Our people must
protect their crops
always. If any animal
comes to eat the crops,
it means hunger will be
in the land because
that is what the people
use after harvesting
and sales to train their
children. These
animals must be killed
if they invade the
farms and destroy the crops. If
the cows come and eat our food,
we will eat the cows. If the
herders kill our people and
destroy our things, we have the
right to reciprocate. We want
peace for us and for everybody,
but if somebody comes to fight
us on our land, we will fight
back.
Are you satisfied with the
way the governors in the South
East are approaching this issue
of herdsmen?
So far the governors have said
they won’t give out our land and
we are satisfied with that. We
don’t have any land in the first
place. Our states have the
smallest land mass in Nigeria
and therefore, we don’t have
any to give. What should be
done is to have ranches in the
South and RUGA in the North
and then we will be happy to sell
the food the cows need to them.
They have a lot of land in the
North and they don’t need it in
the South.
Have the Igbo in Diaspora
articulated any plan on how to
handle this delicate matter?
We are already in court in the
USA to fight for our human
rights. Some have even gone to
the international Court at the
Hague. This is human rights
abuse because we are not
killing anybody. We cannot just
watch and allow our women
and children to be raped. We are
suing against genocide
because that is what it is.
Who are the defendants in
the suit?
All the parties involved are
the defendants, including the
Continues on page 29
UNICEF focused more on the
aforementioned states.
Ekeocha also said that
during the time they engaged
some women without their male
folks, they were able to extract
from them, exactly how bad
they feel about the FGM
practice. It was discovered that
many of the women are
currently wallowing in pains.
According to Eze Anika of
Umunnawuike ll of Atta
Ancient Kingdom,”I am so
happy that Imo State used to be
rated high in the practice of
Female Genital Mutilation,
FGM, but it is now reducing as
people are getting aware
especially in my community.
We have already made a
declaration that we don’t want
it anymore.
“We have set up some
committees to monitor some
maternity homes, hospitals and
we have also advised heads of
institutions to monitor
whenever a child comes back
from ante-natal if such a thing
has been done.
“Our own is ten thousand
naira and you will pay before
we take you to the government.
In my place, we don’t have this
traditional birth attendants
anymore because they are the
number one people that
engage in these practice. We
know that some people could
hide and engage in this
practice. That is why we set up
this committee.”
Also, the traditional ruler of
Ugiri-Ike Autonomous
community, Nwigwe was of the
view that “We are working in
the right direction because the
evil effects are well known and
if we stop it, we will benefit from
it. This is one of those
traditional practices that must
be stopped.
“Our responsibility as
traditional rulers is to
discourage such a thing to an
extent that you can also
legislate to an extent that it is
no longer part of the tradition.
If we agree as a group to stop it,
what we need to do is to enforce
it and it will be the end to that
practice.”
On some of the reasons for
which they embarked on the
campaign against FGM,
Ekeocha, Director of the Imo
State office of the National
Orientation Agency, NOA, said:
“Ebonyi, Osun, Ekiti, Oyo and
Imo are the local communities
the UNICEF is working on and
the prevalent rate of FGM in
these five states is higher than
any other state in the
federation.
“From all information
gathered and from all that the
women confessed, there is
need to abandon this FGM
practice. It was when were
doing community dialogue that
we started hearing the practical
experiences.
“You know in those days,
because of our culture and
tradition, women were not
speaking out no matter how
painful it might have been. You
couldn’t say no to your husband
and even your fellow women
will come and ask you if you
are a woman. But things are
different now as a woman can
tell her husband no, you can’t
touch me.
For instance, when a woman
gives birth through caesarean
section, there is a way other
women will be looking at her.
“Because of this cultural
stigmatization, everybody
decided to keep quiet but when
you engage them one after the
other, especially when they are
not with their male folks, you
will hear alot and you know that
they have really suffered. So,
there is need to abandon this
practice.”

By Chidi Nkwopara
The incidents of damaged
pipes at several points in
Owerri municipality have
scuttled the state
government’s efforts to
restore public water supply
in the capital city and its
adjoining communities.
The Commissioner for
Public Utilities, Chief Chuma
Nnaji, made government’s
position known weekend,
when he inspected some of
the damaged points in
Owerri.
“The spirited efforts of the
present administration to
restore public water supply
in Owerri municipality and
the adjoining communities,
have continued to suffer
serious setback, following the
damages done to the
pipelines, during the urban
renewal policy of the last
government”, the
Commissioner said.
Chief Nnaji, who inspected
the burst water pipes along
Wethral Road, Owerri, was
accompanied by the Acting
Permanent Secretary of the
Ministry, Mrs. Nnenna
Nwaugo, and the General
THE TEAM
SUPERVISING EDITOR:
Chioma Gabriel, Lagos
(08052201257)
EDITOR
Anayo Okoli, Enugu
08034046839
Vincent Ujumadu, Awka
Chidi Nkwopara, Owerri
Peter Okutu, Abakaliki
Chimaobi Nwaiwu, Nnewi
Nwabueze Okonkwo,
Onitsha
Ugochukwu Alaribe, Aba
Denis Agbo, Enugu
Chinoso Alozie, Owerri
Chinenye Ozor, Nsukka
Eric Ugbor, Aba
Ikechukwu Odu: Nsukka
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 29
Herdsmen: Why we filed suit in International Court — World Igbo
Assembly President
Continues on from Page 28
herdsmen and those
sponsoring them. What we are
doing has nothing to do with
what IPOB is doing. In fact,
there are many law suits on this
matter in America and in
Europe.
How do you see the activities
of IPOB?
IPOB is fighting for freedom
from a different way. We are
supporting what Ohanaeze
Ndigbo is doing. We are using
diplomacy to solve the problem.
We are happy the way
Ohanaeze, the Afenifere,
PANDEF, Middle Belt group,
the South-South are speaking
out about what is happening in
Nigeria. All we want is for
Nigeria to be restructured so
that every part of the country
can develop at its own pace. We
are not looking for the breakup
Manager of Imo State Water
Corporation, Engr. Emeka
Ugoanyanwu.
The Commissioner
lamented over what he
of Nigeria. If Nigerians can
live together, that will be better.
But if it can’t work, we cannot
sacrifice ourselves for the sake
of Nigeria. If Nigeria can work
and everybody benefits from it,
I am for that. If it wouldn’t work,
there is nothing with that either.
So our approach is diplomacy;
talking to other people to try to
solve the problem peacefully.
Supposing the herdsmen
eventually leave with their
cows, do we have alternative?
We hear some state governors
are planning to invest in cattle
rearing but do you think it will
work?
We had cattle ranches during
Michael
Okpara
administration in the 60s and
they worked. We only need to
revive it. We used to have
Obudu Cattle ranch in Cross
River and in some parts of the
present Imo State and they
served the purpose for which
they were meant. Northerners
can do their ranching in the
north and when it is time for
sale, they can bring them to the
South by rail transport to make
their money.
Would you say the Nigerian
government has handled
security issues well?
Government has handled
security issue poorly. Things
are worse in the country now
than in the past. Take the
situation in Benue State for
example, hundreds of people
had been killed and their land
forcefully taken and
government has not done
anything to solve the problem.
The worrisome aspect of the
whole things is that we have
everything but we can’t
manage what we have. Japan
Damaged pipes scuttle water flow in
Owerri
Chief Chuma Nnaji (4th from left), inspecting the damaged pipe in Owerri.
called “the huge destruction
of the major water pipes
occasioned by construction
mistakes of the past
administration”.
does not have the kind of
natural resources we have, but
look at where they are. Saudi
Arabia imports water and they
don’t lack water in that country.
Here we have water
everywhere, but we can’t
harness it. God has done for us
what has not been done for
many countries. Our people
are intelligent and if we give
our young people the
opportunity they need, they
can rule the world and make
our country one of the best in
the next ten years. Here, our
leadership stinks and it is all
corruption from head to toe. The
security system is corrupt and
these are the reasons our youths
don’t have hope. The rest of the
world is moving forward while
we are retrogressing. Here we
are striving to eat once or two
times a day. Our leadership is a
disgrace and it is because of it
that our youths don’t have a
future. Our people can match
Chinese and Americans in
intelligence but they have to be
given the opportunity. All that
our leaders do is steal our
common wealth. Even
electricity is worse under this
administration than in any
previous government. I don’t
see any progress under this
government. When I was
young, Nigerian degrees were
accepted as equal to America
degrees. Today, our degrees are
not acceptable there. Before we
used to command a lot of
respect, but they have run this
country down and it is a
disgrace.
But there is this allegation
that our Diaspora people are
not doing enough to support
the Nigerian government. How
do you react to that?
That is not true. For instance,
“What we have seen here
(Wetheral Road) today, is a
pointer that roads have not
only been built on the major
water pipe lines, but may
I dedicate all my life to the
service of my country since I
qualified as a medical doctor
in USA. I was attending Igbo
meetings regularly in all parts
of the world. Government is not
sponsoring these meetings and
it should be realized that the
Diaspora people you are
talking about do not have
money. Most of them are
teachers and office workers and
would have preferred to return
home if things are good. They
are not Innoson or Ekene
Dilichukwu or Dangote. But
they send up to $25 billion
home which is more than what
Nigerian government declares
as sales from crude oil.
The annual medical mission
by Igbo in Diaspora was
regular when you were
president of ASA-USA, but it
has died down. What went
wrong?
Since I left ASA-USA, there
had been in-fighting among
themselves and they are in
court. But I am head of
Anambra State Association
Worldwide and we are still
doing medical mission every
year. We are very active and we
will be here in December this
year. Whenever there is
election, we are always
involved and that is why we
have good leaders in Anambra.
We have made sure that people
of doubtful character do not
come near Government House
again. Peter Obi was
exceptional and Obiano is
doing better than most
governors in Nigeria. There is
no crime here again as people
can walk about any hour even at
night. That is what we expect.
We are happy the new governor
of Imo State is cleaning up the
mess in that state.
have also been damaged at
several points”, Nnaji
said.
Continuing, the
Commissioner lamented
that “the huge destruction
of major water pipes was
occassioned by the
construction mistakes and
outright negligence of
public utility components,
in the urban renewal
programme of the past
administration”.
He hinted that provision
of dependable water
supply to Imolites
remains a key area of focus,
for Governor Emeka
Ihedioha and the Rebuild
Imo administration. Nnaji
pleaded for patience and
cooperation on the part of
Imolites and assured that
water will be distributed
round Owerri metropolis
and environs in the next
few weeks.
“The damage done to Imo
State and its citizens is
huge, but the current
administration is
determined to right the
wrongs. We urge our people
to be patient, cooperative
and understanding, because
this government is fully
determined to restore public
water supply to Owerri and
its environs, in the next few
weeks”, Nnaji said.
You are one of those that
pioneered the establishment
of Igbo village in Virginia,
USA. What is it all about?
I am the chairman of Board of
Governors and President of the
Igbo Village and Museum. The
museum is owned by the State
of Virginia and they appointed
me chairman of the board to
represent all the black people
in the world in the museum. I
have been the chairman for 12
years. The important thing to
note is that four major groups
founded America. They are the
English, the Irish, the German
and the Igbo. Half of African-
Americans are Igbo people who
were those kidnapped and
taken into slavery. If they do
DNA test, it will show they are
Igbo. Every year, we do our Igbo
festival during which we do
DNA which shows that most of
them are Igbo. We are not just
talking; we have scientific proof
of what we are saying. Many
Igbo traditional rulers and
leaders of Ohanaeze attend the
festival every year. It is on the
back of Igbo people that
America was built. It is the
people that were taken from
here that did the cutting work,
farming the Tobacco. Our
people worked for 250 years
without pay. That America is a
super power is because of our
people. Igbo are not foreigners
in America; we built America.
It’s our fathers that built
America. That is why the
American government picked
me to represent the black race
at the museum. It was in
Virginia that the slaves landed
first and it was from there they
distributed them to other parts
of America. So we have two
countries-Nigeria and
America.

30—VANGU
ANGUARD, ARD, WEDNESDAY, , AUGUST 14, 2019
He wants to take intimate pictures
Dear Bunmi,
I’m in my early 30s and have
been with my boyfriend for
about a year. He’s a lovely
guy and although we haven’t
talked about our future, I
know he’s the one for me.
Recently, he asked if I’d let
him take intimate
photographs of me. He
promised that they’re for his
eyes only, but I worry what
might happen to them if we
split up. I love him and I want
to do this for him, I’m just not
sure it’s a wise idea.
Labake, by e-mail.
Dear Labake,
Don’t be ridiculous! These
days with the Internet and
social media, you’re asking
for trouble. Once those
photographs have been taken,
you have no control over
where they end up.
Even if you trust him, you
can’t be sure someone else
won’t see the pictures and
spread them around. Don’t
consider it. Let him know
you’ll always be there for him
to look at in flesh and blood,
not in pictures!
Could too much booze ruin a relationship
Dear Bunmi,
I’VE been with my
boyfriend for close to two
years and we’re very much in
love. My former boyfriend was
nice but very possessive and
we never did anything
together.
My current boyfriend is such
a contrast but I’m concerned
about his drinking. I told him
he had to cut down on it and
he agreed but a few days later,
he was back at his favourite
beer parlour.
My father was an alcoholic
and he used to beat my
mother. My boyfriend is
different from him, but my
experience of drink has shown
me how bad the result can be.
The fact that we disagree on
this issue puts a strain on our
relationship.
Apart from this, we’re very
much in love. He accepts he
has to limit his drinking and
he’s made progress. But I feel
bad if he starts drinking to
excess.
Boyede, by e-mail.
Dear Boyede,
Ii's obvious you have a
lingering fear of men and not
just of those who drink. After
all, your dad, the man whose
love you most needed, handed
you fear instead. He abused
drink and the mother you
loved and worshipped. The
disenchantment has left a
cruel mark. As an adult, you
resist the intimacy that you
think of as being possessive.
Your boyfriend’s eagerness
for life must have thrilled you
initially. Now, his relaxed
behaviour seems too scary to
you.
Well, no man is perfect.
You’ve advised your boyfriend
to be wary of abusing alcohol.
Good for you. Instead of
repeatedly condemning his
drinking, understand and
respect his zest for living.
You have much you could
learn from him, be there to
pick him up. Many men learn
how to handle alcohol only
from their own early mistakes.
Either love your man and
accept his fallible nature or
walk away.
These keys could be for his secret flat
Dear Bunmi,
My husband and I are in our
late 50s and have been
married for 20 years. It’s the
second marriage for both of
us. He goes out most nights
to have a drink with his
friends.
We’ve always had a trusting
relationship but months ago,
he came home late and a
bunch of keys fell out of his
pocket.
A few days later, the same
thing happened with the same
bunch of keys. When I asked
him about it, he said someone
left it in his car and didn’t
know who. Do you think he’s
having an affair?
Nkiru, by e-mail.
Dear Nkiru,
There’s no doubt that he’s
lying to you. If you’ve always
had an open and trusting
Either your sister is in a
horribly restrictive (and
potentially abusive)
relationship or she’s using
her husband as an excuse not
to see you. The safest thing to
assume, however, is that your
sister is isolated and needs
more love in her life or less
relationship, why would he lie
to you, unless it involves
another woman?
There is no upper limit on
men having affairs. If he goes
out a lot on his own, he’ll
have had plenty of
opportunity to meet someone.
A car is not that big you’d
be unable to track down who
could own a bunch of keys left
in it. There wouldn’t be any
harm in offering to help find
the owner of the keys.
He’s trying to take over my
life
Dear Bunmi,
After over six months with
my boyfriend, I don’t know if
I love him as much as when
we started going out.
He doesn’t like my friends
and he doesn’t like me going
out on my own. I know he will
be devastated if I finish with
him; and his family, who loves
me to bits, will feel
disappointed.
He is really serious about
the relationship and talks all
the time about when we get
married. Should I get out
before it’s too late?
Tobi,by e-mail.
Dear Tobi,
Certainly! Once you have
He prevents my sister from seeing her family
Dear Bunmi,
A few years ago, my
younger sister got married
and I was pleased for her.
Unfortunately, we drifted
apart after she got married
and this is no thanks to her
husband. He is jealous and
paranoid.
I’ve tried to arrange seeing
her on her own, but she says
he doesn’t like her doing that.
Do I just need to give up
having her in my life? Her
husband is so distant and
hostile that talking to him is
almost impossible.
Susanne, by e-mail.
Dear Susanne,
Either your sister is in a
horribly restrictive (and
potentially abusive)
relationship or she’s using
her husband as an excuse not
to see you. The safest thing
to assume, however, is that
your sister is isolated and
needs more love in her life or
less.
Sadly, it looks as if you’re
going to have to spend more
time with her husband in
order to see her. I’m not
saying that would be fun, but
gaining his trust may be the
only way to stay in contact
with your sister.
doubts about a relationship,
marriage should be the
furthest thing on your mind.
Don’t forget you’ve only been
seeing each other for six
months, and after this
relatively small amount of
time, you’re already having
serious doubts.
What you have to do now is
listen to those doubts and act
on them. If he’s making these
demands on you when you’re
not sure of him, what will he
decide he doesn’t like next
when you’re eventually
married?
As for his family, there is
absolutely nothing stopping
you from keeping in touch
with them if you really want
to. After all, it’s not them
you’re dumping, it’s him!
She wanted love-making with
me, not marriage
Dear Bunmi,
I lost my wife a few years
ago in an unfortunate motor
accident and had made up my
mind to remarry. We were
married for over 20 years and
she was a good mother to our
three boys. Late last year, I
was introduced to a divorced
lady at a close friend’s
birthday party and we hit
things off right away. The
love-making was good and I
was already toying with the
idea of proposing marriage.
Then, all of a sudden, her
attitude changed. Thinking
she wanted a re-assurance, I
had a talk with her that she
had my undivided love and I
would do anything to make
her happy.
These days
with the
Internet and
social media,
you’re asking
for trouble.
Once those
photographs
have been
taken, you have
no control over
where they end
up
You can then imagine how
shocked I was when she said
all she wanted was the
physical side of the
relationship. That she had no
wish to re-marry and that I
had better start shopping for
a wife-material.
What type of a woman
behaves like this? It would
have been understandable if
she were a frivolous teenager,
but she’s close to 40. What are
our women turning into?
Alaba,
by e-mail.
Dear Alaba,
Women often feel that they
are the only ones that are
used and dumped by men, but
your experience shows that
some women can be ruthless
in the pursuit of what they
want.
What to you was a big
romance was obviously a
casual fling to this woman.
Now she’s telling you to get
a life! Lasting relationships
are built on friendship and
shared ideas and dreams, not
just love making.
Without these feelings, you
soon realise you’re saddled
with someone you don’t
really know after the lovemaking
cools.
Keep your dignity, try to
wash this woman off your life
and look for another woman
out there eager to make a
commitment.
And once you have that
time, you’ll be able to help her
see there are alternatives and
that you’re willing to help her
explore them. But if she really
wants to be left alone, I advise
you give her time to get over
her fear.
Share your problems and release your
burden. Write now to Dear Bunmi,
Vanguard Newspapers, P.M.B 1007,
Apapa, Lagos, or bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

Nigeria’s plunge into anarchy
IT has been 20 years since
Nigeria returned to civilian as
opposed to democratic
governance. In the last two
decades of our peculiar
“democracy”, four Nigerians have
served as president. Two of these,
Olusegun Obasanjo and
Muhammadu Buhari, are former
Generals of the Nigerian Army and
heads of the Nigerian state.
The other two Nigerians to have
served as president were more or
less the handpicked favourites of
one of the two former Generals.
Which is to say that ours is a polity
yet to shake off 35 years of its
hangover under military rule.
We are gradually sliding back
under the command structure of a
military regime. Muhammadu
Buhari is doing all he can to make
sure this is the case. While sitting
back in semi-retirement in Aso
Villa, he watches as the country
melts down into disorder and the
crass disregard of the rule of law.
Certainly, he is a past master of
disorder with the random and
shameless manner he cherry-picks
which of our court orders to obey
while wasting no time to go after
those who are not in the good
books of his government. In all of
this, Buhari and his handlers want
us all to believe that it is corrupt
Nigerians that are opposed to him.
Each time they are criticised they
respond by saying corruption is
fighting back.
Corruption may well be fighting
back indeed, but attributing every
criticism to corruption fighting
back is such a very simplistic and
unthinking response that no longer
washes in the face of Buhari’s
many failures. While my
perception of corruption under the
Buhari administration does not yet
come close to what I believe went
on under the Goodluck Jonathan
administration, it is in my view
undeniable that Buhari is himself
surrounded by corruption. Many
around him are as corrupt as those
he likes to call corrupt and he is
doing nothing about it.
This is not the issue though: as
long as those he is going after are
found to be guilty of corruption
Buhari is welcome to hound them
to hell under the rule of law. Others
being presently shielded by power
could await their time under
another Pharaoh that would not
know Joseph.
After all, some of today’s corrupt
men and women never showed on
the corruption radar of past
administrations. No, everyone
would sooner or later have their
time in the temple of justice.
But while one could overlook
Buhari’s selective sense of justice,
what no Nigerian should ignore is
his attempt to push us all to the
brink of anarchy by his refusal to
rise to the responsibilities of
governance.
It is rather ironic that his famed
body language that many dreaded,
because of his time as a military
head of state, is what they now read
as they go about their criminally
murderous activities. Nigerians,
especially those with dubious
intentions, know Muhammadu
Buhari now lives on past glory and
his body language no longer
sparks fire.
His reputation as a no-nonsense
man of integrity has been sullied
by his many acts of despicable
nepotism, ethnic and religious
bias.
He has not stopped at that,
however, as he is determined to
worsen his many shortcomings
with the one act that Nigerians
would not condone: executive
It is rather ironic that
his famed body
language that many
dreaded, because of his
time as a military head
of state, is what they
now read as they go
about their criminally
murderous activities
incapacitation. In spite of his ill
health, Nigerians did not accept it
for Umar Yar’Adua. Buhari wants
to remain as president while
offering words and false claims of
achievements in place of action.
His refusal to be president is the
reason why criminals of all shades
and makes are on the loose. From
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019—31
terror herders to bandits, armed
robbers, kidnappers and Boko
Haram and ISWAP insurgents,
opportunistic criminals are on the
increase precisely because the
criminals know Nigeria is under
the rulership of a man either too
weak or incompetent to execute the
demands of his office and so
depends on surrogates who govern
in his name.
We are saddled with a president
who criminalises intentions and is
mortally afraid of words like
“revolution” that have but just one
meaning in the severely limited
vocabulary of his administration.
It was Abuja’s fear of “revolution”
that prompted its panicked arrest
of Omoyele Sowore.
It is that same fear that is forcing
the Buhari government down the
ignoble path of Decree 2 by which
opponents of the military were
detained indefinitely under
military rule.
Or how else should Nigerians
interpret the plan to keep Sowore
in detention for 45 renewable days
in order to gather intelligence for
the “revolution” he was not
allowed to execute?
Aware that the Buhari-led All
Progressives Congress Party’s
claim to governance is a mere
bluster, even the military and other
security forces, long suspected of
involvement in crime, are no
longer hiding their hands in the
rising wave of criminalities and
insecurity around the country.
A couple of weeks ago, soldiers
of the Nigerian Army at a
checkpoint in Ondo State took
turns raping an undergraduate of
the Adekunle Ajasin University in
Akungba Akoko.
Even after reports were lodged
and the criminals in uniform had
been positively identified (not a
case of unknown soldiers this time,
mind you) the Army would not
Send Opinions & Letters to:
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release the culprits for prosecution.
Not even the intervention of the
wife of the Ondo State governor
would move them.
This happened after another set
of five soldiers had stolen more
than half a billion naira, precisely
N600 million, so-called
operational funds meant for the
Army’s activities (other reports had
it that the stolen fund was loot
belonging to top brass of the
military), including, of course, the
fight against insurgency, one
would imagine.
When Nigerians and other
observers say the reason the fight
against Boko Haram and ISWAP
is not showing any signs of ending
soon is because the prosecutors of
the war, namely elements in the
military and their civilian cohort,
have allegedly been profiting from
it, it all looks improbable. With all
these revelations about stolen
funds and secret cemeteries,
Nigerians are confirming their
worst fears and suspicions.
And if anyone still doubts that the
country is on the verge of
governmental meltdown, a state of
brutish existence, they only need
to follow the latest report of the
killing of four police officers by
soldiers of the 93 Battalion of the
Nigerian Army in Takum.
The police officers, all members
of the Intelligence Response Team
of the Police Headquarters in
Abuja, were on a special mission
to arrest an alleged kidnapper,
Hamisu Wadume, when they were
ambushed and shot dead by the
soldiers.
As usual the Army would not
release its men for prosecution and
all Buhari could do is to order a
so-called Joint Investigative Panel
to look into the matter. What else
could a president in retirement do?
Of government’s gaffes, failures, and misdeeds
By Chiedu Uche Okoye
AGAINST the background of Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan’s lacklustre
political leadership, the APC
electioneering mantra of change found
resonance among millions of
Nigerians in the run-up to the 2015
presidential election.
Then, millions of dispossessed,
angry and hungry Nigerians were
utterly disenchanted with Jonathan’s
leadership. During that period, they
desperately wanted the status quo ante
in the country to change.
So, when Muhammadu Buhari, an
abstemious Muslim teetotaler,
defeated Dr. Jonathan in the 2015
presidential slugfest, we expected that
he would clean the augean stable,
enthrone egalitarianism in the country,
and offer us qualitative and purposeful
political leadership which would set
Nigeria on the path of greatness.
But he dithered in forming his
executive cabinet. His tardiness in
forming his executive cabinet offered
us a glimpse into how he would lead
Nigeria. And, when he cobbled his
cabinet, it was not an assemblage of
our best political leaders.
Some of the people he gave
ministerial posts in 2015 could be
likened to square pegs in round holes.
The immediate past minister of sports,
for example, was stumbling in his
speeches and committing
unpardonable gaffes while doing his
job.
President Buhari’s actions during his
first term in office proved to us that he
has not weaned himself off ethnic
jingoism and religious bigotry. Our top
security architecture was mostly
occupied by Northern Muslims.
Their occupation of those top posts
does not reflect the federal character
principle, which is practised in
Nigeria. This has, more than anything
else, highlighted the president’s
disdain and insensitivity to Nigeria’s
heterogeneity and religious and ethnic
diversities.
Based on his dispositions to religious
bigotry and ethnic chauvinism, and
intermittent absence from the country
on the grounds of ill-health, not many
people were surprised at his abysmal
performance in his first term in office.
His hospitalisation in a London
hospital in the early part of his first
term in office raised questions and
elicited comments about his suitability
for the presidential job and capability
to pilot the affairs of the country.
The stark and indisputable fact is that
the president didn’t live up to our
billings and expectations in his first
term in office.
So far, Nigeria, as a country, has
fared badly in diverse areas under the
present political leadership. This has
led many to aver that the current
political administration may turn out
to become the worst in the Fourth
Republic.
The misdeeds of the APC-led Federal
Government have continued to erode
people’s trust and confidence in the
government.
This government has divided
Nigeria along ethnic and religious
lines with its actions. For example, the
IPOB group was proscribed and some
of its members killed and physicallymanhandled
for agitating for selfdetermination.
It is within their right to fight for the
actualisation of the sovereign state of
Biafra in the same way as the Scots
and Catalans are doing in Great
Britain and Spain, respectively.
Proscribing IPOB, whose guiding
ideology is non-violence, is akin to
muzzling the voice of dissenters in a
Some of the people
the President gave
ministerial posts in
2015 could be likened
to square pegs in
round holes
country with iron-fist.
While President Buhari’s approach
to the IPOB matter is very heavyhanded,
he is cuddling the marauding
murderous cattle herders. The cattle
herders lead their heads of cattle
across large expanse of land in the
South, destroying farmlands and
killing members of their host
communities.
Today, their stock-in-trade is lying in
ambush in the thick forests of the
South-West of Nigeria waiting for rich
people to kidnap for ransom.
It should be noted that the security
problems besetting Nigeria, ranging
from the banditry in the North West, to
the Boko Haram insurgency in the
North East, and to the blood-letting
campaign of the cattle herders in
Nigeria as a whole, can throw our
country into anarchy.
It is time the government tackled
holistically and decisively these
security challenges to prevent Nigeria
from dismembering.
It was this sad situation that Omoyele
Sowore was planning to draw attention
to with his #revolution now# when the
Department of State Security, DSS,
arrested him. He’s charged with
treasonable felony for planning a
protest rally.
The APC-led government’s
intolerance of activities of opposition
groups and its use of iron-fist to crush
dissenting voices are indications that
the government is tending towards
totalitarianism.
President Buhari, who organised and
participated in rallies and protests,
which aided his ascent to the pinnacle
of political power in Nigeria, should
ask the DSS to drop the treasonous
offence charge leveled against Sowore
and free him unconditionally.
This APC-led government should
speedily fix our problems of
infrastructural rot and deficit, diversify
our economy to create job opportunities
for unemployed people in Nigeria, and
urgently find solutions to Nigeria’s
crippling security problems.
•Okoye, a public affairs analyst, wrote
from Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State
C
M
Y
K

32 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
YOUR LUCK TODAY
By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139
LEO: Pressure that came your way suddenly will give
way unexpectedly, today, to the betterment of your
course. The more financially ambitious you are today,
the better for you. Be steadfast.
VIRGO: You sincerely believe in intelligent argument
or discussion. And if you allow your ability to be diplomatic
come to play today, you’ll be better for it. Enjoy
your love life.
LIBRA: You’ll tend to become both creative and persuasive
to the administration of others. Then those
who’ve been resisting secret love may slip suddenly and
become excited.
SCORPIO: Even if opposition persists, supports you
are getting from the influential people will be enough
to see you through. Yet, the more cooperative you are
the better.
SAGITTARIUS: Your creativity quotient within your
working arena will today be enhanced. You’ll be blamed
if you keep official issues secrets from your challenges at
work.
L E I S U R E
TAKE HEART — ELLA RANDLE
“Pay attention to your gut feelings. Sometimes
we know what we need to do, but we ignore it.”
-Take Heart Quotes-
A person’s presence is often like an emotional charge
in the atmosphere surrounding us like a rain cloud or
a ray of sunshine. As you become aware of people
and their motives. Pay attention to your intuitions. Do
people have a friendly presence that attracts you? Or
you feel uncomfortable making you back off? -Ella
Randle -
TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye”
SAYINGS OF
OUR PEOPLE
Money is
sharper
than the
sword. –
Ashanti
By Kola Fayemi
CAPRICORN: After a few tension soaked days, you’ll
have the needed opportunity to look through windows
of the world and have your way as well. Magnetic and/
or magic days is predicted for lovers today.
AQUARIUS: Even if you continue to work under pressure
via increased workload, you will have good results
to show for your efforts today. Be steadfast.
PISCES: Better than yesterday. And the more co-operative
you are today the better for you. Those of you
travelling for love are in for an exciting day.
ARIES: Those of you willing to let go hard feelings at
work are for a progressive day to the betterment of your
finances. Let go yesterday, move ahead.
TAURUS: Once again, you’ll have the needed opportunity
to assert yourself to the administration of others.
Both love and financial success can be yours with efforts.
Reason with your tried and trusted friends.
GEMINI: You can make it a successful day with positive
approach on your part. You will be in a better position
to defuse tension within your working arena. Try to
be more ambitious.
DUDU in “ROLLING HOT” By A.O. OLAIDE
CANCER Yes! You’re not scared a bit even, when
opposition and/or competition come your way but, if you
give in to diplomatic approach, you’ll fare better today.
ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING
ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING
Send your date and place of birth to the Astr
trological
Counselling, P.M.B 100
007, Apapa, Lagos
About day I was born?
Dear Joshua,
Kindly tell me how the planets lined up when I was born
and the day of the week I was born but dont publish my date
of birth.
Ibraheem, Ughelli.
Dear Ibraheem,
With the Moon in Libra when you were born influence of
Libra be pronounced in your characteristics build up but,
you are mainly a Scorpio born person
YOUR HOROSCOPE DATA
Day of Birth = Sunday
Sun Sign = Scorpio. Sun in Zero Degree of Scorpio
Moon Sign = Libra: Moon in 5th Degree of Libra
Mercury in 12th Degree of Scorpio
Venus in Zero Degree of Sagittarius
Mars in 1st Degree of Aquarius
Jupiter in 29th Degree of Cancer
Saturn in 10th Degree of Scorpio
Uranus in 27th Degree of Cancer
Neptune in 25th Degree of Libra
Pluto in 26th Degree of Leo
North Node in 8th Degree of Capricorn
South Node in 8th Degree of Cancer
No planet in earth spar sign, one in available, two in fire,
three in air, four in cardinal, fixed and water star signs hosted
five planets each.
PHYSICAL INFLUENCE = 50%
NON-PHYSICAL INFLUENCE =50%
PLANET AT HOME = NONE
ANALYSIS OF THE HOROSCOPE DATA
You are both an intelligent and emotional person. And as
there was planet at home when you were born, too many
ideas will always struggle for prominent place in your mind,
thus decision making is difficult but most times, your intelligence
comes to the rescue.
Certainly, you appear to other as a gentle person who can be
mistaken for soft fellow but your inner-self is the personality
with a steel like will power.
You are the consistent type who may find it difficult to
change once you have made up your mind as indicated by
distribution of the planets as written out in paragraph two
of this exercise.
One major challenge you have been battling for a very long
time is constant worries, some times, necessarily and the
other time, uncalled for, as indicated by conjunction Mercury
and Saturn formed when you were born.
VIRGINIA
HOME & ABROAD
dadadekola@yahoo.com
By Lawrence Akapa

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 33
:Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
Okowa’ll bring life to rural
dwellers — OKORO
By Festus Ahon
AAdviser SABA—SPECIAL
to Delta
State Governor on Rural
and Community
Development, Mr
Emmanuel Okoro has
restated the resolve of the
state government to bring
life to rural community
dwellers by providing them
with basic social amenities.
Briefing newsmen on his
plan of action in his office
in Asaba, Okoro said
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is
out to bring life to the
lifeless in Delta State,
adding that the governor
was committed to the well
being of all Deltans.
According to him,
Governor Okowa in his first
term did well in the area of
education, especially in
technical and vocation,
adding that youths of the
Takeme's election thrills lawmaker
By Onozure Dania
LEADER of Burutu
Council Legislative
Arm, Delta State, Mr.
Joseph Alubeze, has
described the soaring
political profile of Chief
Julius Takeme as divine
saying his emergence as
Chairman, Delta South
Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, was another call for
service.
Alubeze, who
addressed PDP
supporters at Burutu,
headquarter of the Burutu
Local Government Area of
the state, commended
Takeme for his new
assignment to pilot the
affairs of the PDP in Delta
South senatorial district.
Pa Ovili for burial
August, 16
PA Jessa Ovili, a
retired staff of the
Delta State Hospital
Management Board, is
dead, aged 83.
He will be buried on
Friday, August 16, 2019 at
his compound, No. 1,
Ogbe-Eze qtrs,
Adonishaka, Ebedei,
Ukwuani LGA of Delta
State, after a funeral
service at the same venue.
Thanksgiving service
will hold on Sunday,
August 18, 2019 at
Redeemed Christian
Church of God, RCCG,
Ebenezer Area
Headquarters, 28
Ajugbana Drive, by St.
Brigids Grammar School,
Office Road, Asaba.
Late Pa Ovili.
state now have access to
vocational studies and skill
acquisition trainings.
Maintaining that Okowa
performed exceedingly
well in health, sports,
agriculture and all other
sectors, he said the Stephen
Keshi stadium has hosted
several local and
international sports
tournaments and remains
one of the best in the
country.
Okoro said the Asaba
International Airport is
functioning well, receiving
both local and international
flights and has boosted the
socio-economic lives of
Deltans.
“The governor has built
roads in all parts of the state
including riverine
communities, he is
delivering democratic
dividends to the doorstep
of every Deltan,'' he said.
He assured that,
Takeme having served as
council chairman and
commissioner in the state,
he is well endowed with
experience to manage the
affairs of the party.
Alubeze also thanked
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa
of Delta State, Mr
Kingsley Esiso, PDP Delta
State Chairman and
political leaders from
Burutu council for their
collective decisions on the
choice of Takeme to
function in that capacity.
He enjoined the new
PDP Delta South
senatorial district boss to
prove himself worthy of
the position and serve the
party with humility and
sagacity.
Obsequies for
Salami
THE Fidau prayers
and final burial
ceremony for late Alhaji
Wahab Salami will hold
at Osun State NYSC
Permanent Orientation
Camp, Ede on Friday,
August 16. Aged 86, late
Salami died on July 8 and
has since been buried in
accordance with Islamic
rites.
He is survived by many
children
and
grandchildren, including
Mr Tunji Salami, Chief
Executive of Dignity Hotels
Ltd and Alhaja Bimpe
Abass, businesswoman and
wife of Mr Wale Abass, a
Deputy Commissioner of
Police in Ogun State
Command.
Late Alhaji Salami.
BAYELSA PDP PRIMARIES: Dickson warns
there will be no room for
against brigandage brigandage and
By Samuel
Oyadongha
Y BAYELSA
ENAGOA—
State
governor, Mr Seriake
Dickson has warned
aspirants jostling for the
flag of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, to
shun brigandage and
hooliganism in the
forthcoming primaries of
the party.
He handed down the
warning while addressing
an expanded PDP
stakeholders’ meeting
comprising elders, state
caucus members and all
aspirants on the platform of
the party in the state.
Dickson in a statement by
his Special Adviser on
Media Relations, Fidelis
Soriwei, stressed the need
for all the aspirants to
pursue their political
ambitions within the ambit
of the law and rules of the
game.
Commending the
aspirants for the sense of
maturity and brotherliness
they have exhibited so far,
the governor urged them to
sustain the warm
relationship for the greater
good of the party and state
in general.
He also called on them to
cooperate with security
agencies and statutory
organs of the PDP to enable
the party to replicate the
success it achieved in the
last presidential primaries
that held in Port Harcourt,
Rivers State.
Dickson who assured the
aspirants of a level playing
ground, suggested that all
delegates for the
September 3, primaries
should be accommodated
according to their
respective councils in the
hotels in Yenagoa few days
to the convention.
The governor added that
all the aspirants should
have easy access to the
delegates at all time.
According to him, such
arrangement would not
only make it easy for the
aspirants to get access to
the delegates but it will also
enhance security of the
entire process.
He said: “Even with all
that is going on, our state
is still safe, secure and
stable. And I know that all
of you mean well for our
state. We need to keep it so
and even think of how to
improve on it.
“So we will continue to
work with the security
agencies to ensure that the
primaries and related
events will be safe and that
hooliganism.
“No aspirant or delegate
will terrorise or harass any
of our people. We will not
tolerate that. Unknown to
you, I have already given
instructions to security
agencies to be at alert, to
monitor your activities and
to be available to give you
people security support,
which they told me they
have been doing.
“You should all direct
your energies to more
positive areas and not to be
thinking of importing
hooligans. Even though I
have interest like you do
...As APC chief says: Our people are
ready to vote out PDP
By Emem Idio
Y chieftain ENAGOA—A
of the All
Progressives Congress,
APC, and candidate for
Bayelsa Central senatorial
district in the 2019 general
election, Mr Festus
Daumiebi, has said he
believes that the people of
Bayelsa were ready to vote
out the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, led
state government on
November 16 on account of
what he described as
“monumental failure of the
acclaimed restoration
government.”
Daumiebi, in a chat with
newsmen in Yenagoa
yesterday, described the
unveiling of a new Yenagoa
City at the closing days of
the current administration as
a deceit, noting that the
current administration had
neglected the development
of the state by failing to
provide the basic social
infrastructure in the state
capital in the past seven
years.
The APC chieftain, who
said he was joining other
party stalwarts to call on
former governor and
minister- designate, Chief
Timpre Sylva to pick the
party nomination form,
noted that as a peoples’
party, they will impress on
Sylva to contest the
governorship of Bayelsa
State because according to
him, Bayelsa needs him
more at this time than the
President needs him in
Abuja as minister.
He said, “As a result of the
monumental failure of the
restoration government,
Bayelsans are now looking
up to the APC to come and
save them from the present
maladministration. The
resolve of the people in
voting out the PDP is
reflected in the results of the
2019 general election,
By Emma Amaize
K Democratic OKO—SOCIAL
Party,
SDP, chieftain and House
of Assembly candidate for
Warri North Constituency,
Delta State, in the last
general election, Mr.
Kessington Amiwero, has
moved to the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, with
thousands of his
supporters, alluding to the
performance and
d e v e l o p m e n t
inventiveness of Governor,
Ifeanyi Okowa.
Speaking at the carnivallike
ceremony, Amiwero
said: “We joined politics to
AWARD: From left;
Olufisayo Duduyemi,
Strategy and
Planning Manager
and Timothy
Ononiwu, Chief
Financial Officer,
both of Axxela
Limited, receiving the
Midstream Company
of the Year’ award on
behalf of Axxela from
Frank Aigbogun,
Publisher/CEO,
BusinessDay Media
at the Nigerian
Business Leadership
Awards 2019 in
Lagos.
which is legitimate, I will
distance myself as much as
possible from the process.
“But you know, it is my
responsibility and duty as
your governor to secure
lives and property
including ( in this occasion)
the venue, all our guests,
party leaders, all of you
aspirants and delegates.
And I will not joke with
that.”
Speaking on the outcome
of the meeting, the state
PDP Chairman, Mr Moses
Cleopas explained that it
was convened to foster
greater unity and fairness
among all stakeholders
particularly the aspirants.
where we won several
senatorial, House of
Representatives and House
of Assembly seats.
“I called on all Bayelsans
to pray to God, never to
allow the affliction of misrule
occasioned by accidental
leaders arise a second time,
and that is why I join
thousands of Bayelsans to
call on former governor and
minister-designate, Sylva to
come and wipe the tears off
Bayelsans without further
delay, by accepting the
clarion call to purchase the
governorship form under
the banner of APC.''
Delta SDP chieftain joins PDP,
citing Okowa’s devt stride
make a difference but the
man on the stage is already
fulfilling our aspirations for
the state. It is only natural
to encourage him to do
better by joining hands to
fast track his development
plans for all of us.
“He has already exceeded
the expectations of Deltans
and there is urgent need to
support and encourage a
working and performing
administration for the
overall development of the
state. Dr. Okowa came up
with SMART agenda and
he has kept faith with his
vow to the people of the
state in building a
stronger Delta State.''

34—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
Ebonyi plans mass
immunisation to tackle
yellow fever outbreak
By Peter Okutu
A BAKALIKI—
EBONYI State
government, yesterday,
said it was planning mass
immunisation campaign
across local governments
as a way of tackling the
outbreak of yellow fever in
the state.
It further announced
that it would organise the
campaign with all United
Nations agencies and
other partners against the
virus.
The mass immunisation
is for residents aged
between nine months and
44 years.
He added that those
above the ages would get
immunisation booster.
Briefing newsmen in
Abakaliki, the
Commissioner for Health,
Dr. Daniel Umezurike,
explained that
International
FUTO’s alumni gets new exco
E NUGU—FEDERAL
University of
Technology, Owerri,
Alumni Association,
FUTOAA, has elected
national officers to run its
affairs for the next three
years.
The new officers were
elected in Enugu at its
2019 National Elective
Convention, where a
comprehensive review of
the association’s activities
was done with a view to
adding more value to its
impact on FUTO.
Welcoming the delegates
was Enugu State
Chairman of the
association, Engr. Anayo
Onwukwe, who doubled
Credit rating system
launches in Nigerian
A
firm, CRC Credit
Bureau, in
partnership with Fair Isaac
Corporation, FICO, an
America company, has
developed a unique credit
rating system, the Score,
for Nigerian market that
helps lenders make quick
and informed credit
decisions and for
individuals’ knowledge of
what their credit status is.
Speaking at the launch
of the product in Lagos,
Managing Director and
Chief Executive Officer of
CRC Credit Bureau, Mr.
Tunde Popoola, said Score
is a three-digit number
ranging from 300-850 that
summarises history of
borrowing and paying
back loans or post-paid
services by allocating a
Coordinating Group,
ICG, has been contacted
for the mass
immunisation
campaign.
“Nigerian Centre for
Disease Control,
NCDC, declared there
is an outbreak of yellow
fever and reactivated
the national rapid
response team,
comprising NCDC,
NAPHCDA and WHO
on August 1 to support
our state.
“Ebonyi has recorded
nine positive cases,
with two deaths. We still
have six patients on
admission: three in
Ndingele, one in Iboko
General Hospital and
two in Alex Ekwueme
Federal Teaching
Hospital Abakaliki.
“The index case has
been successfully managed
and discharged from
MDG Ndingele.”
as the convention’s local
organising chairman.
Engr. Ndubisi
Chijioke, who was reelected
National
President for another
three years, thanked the
members on behalf of
the newly-elected
executive, for entrusting
the affairs of the
association in their
hands.
In her remarks, Lady
Nkiru Ajoku, who was
elected Chairperson of
the Association’s Board
of Trustees, expressed
their willingness to
make personal sacrifices
for the progress of the
association.
three-digit number that
represents how risky it is
to do business with
someone.
According to him, “it is
also a credit grading
system, with 300 being
the lowest grade, like an
‘F’ in a report card, and
850 being the highest,
which would be an ‘A’ or
distinction in your report
card. It is also used,
among other criteria, to
determine the interest
rate you will be charged
if a lender decides to
approve the credit line or
loan”
He added that the
Score is easily accessible
to everyone and can be
bought via the CRC
Credit Bureau website
for just N400.
Ohanaeze tackles Shehu Sani on 2023 presidency
SPOKESMAN
of
Ohanaeze Ndigbo,
Chuks Ibegbu, has
lambasted Senator Shehu
Sani for calling on All
Progressives Congress,
APC, to zone the 2023
presidency to the South-
West, saying South-East is
yet to produce a President.
Ibegbu noted that this
By Chimaobi
Nwaiwu
N
N E W I —
INDIGENOUS
People of Biafra, IPOB,
yesterday, alleged that Igbo
governors have secretly
donated lands in their
respective states for
RUGA, saying that IPOB
will never allow that.
The group also alleged
that all the antagonistic
activities of Governor Dave
Umahi of Ebonyi State are
aimed at his ambition of
becoming Vice President of
Nigeria in 2023.
IPOB also alleged that
Umahi is a mole in Peoples
Imo govt to begin road repairs, decries damages to
water pipes as disaster
By Chidi Nkwopara
& Chinonso Alozie
OWERRI—IMO State
Government has said
it is poised to immediately
commence remedial
repairs on some of the
roads in the state.
The Commissioner for
Works, Engr. Benjamin
Ekwueme, made
government’s position
known yesterday, after
inspecting some of the
roads in the state.
Also, the state
government, yesterday,
said the cost of repairing
damaged water pipes in
type of thinking is
responsible for the current
state of the nation, insisting
that after the North, it’s the
turn of the South-East to
produce the next President.
Ibegbu also accused the
Nigeria Army, the Police
and other security agents
of impunity and bestiality,
which led to the Taraba
Democratic Party, PDP,
working for All
Progressives Congress,
APC, and urged him to be
bold enough now that his
unwarranted attacks
against IPOB is clear and
his second term seat
secured, to declare for APC.
IPOB, in a statement by
its Media and Publicity
Secretary, Emma Powerful,
said: "We are in the know
that Igbo governors have
secretly donated lands in
their respective states for
RUGA, which IPOB will
never allow regardless of
how many of us die in the
process of defending our
land.
the state are running into
millions of naira, linking it
to what it called
“uncoordinated” road
construction in the past
eight years of Rochas
Okorocha’s administration.
Commissioner for Public
Utilities, Chuma Nnaji, told
Vanguard in Owerri that
potable water supply by the
current government was
halted due to the burst
pipes, and that efforts are
on to correct the situation
to avoid spilling of water in
the streets of Owerri.
Nnaji said: “We spent five
hours at Otammiri, trying
to look at that infrastructure
shooting, the killing of more
than 400 Shi’ite members
in Zaria, the killing of more
than 200 pro-Biafra activists
and killing of hundreds of
innocent Nigerian citizens
across the country.
“Unfortunately,” he said,
“our so-called politicians
care less over these killings
and are only interested in
“Governor Umahi’s
purported ban of IPOB
activities in Ebonyi State is
an exercise in futility, as it
became dead on arrival
following IPOB’s strong
base in the state.
“Governor Umahi’s
purported ban of IPOB
activities in Ebonyi State
was not the first time he
made pronouncements that
were not obeyed by
Ebonyians, as he has in the
past issued a Fatwa against
our leader, Mazi Nnamdi
Kanu and boasted that
IPOB rally would never
hold in Ebonyi State but it
held.
“Umahi boasted to his
and I discovered that what
is left there are dead
remnants of what late Sam
Mbakwe did, Achike
Udenwa and Ikedi
Ohakim. Nothing about
Okorocha. He tried only to
kill the place.
“The good thing now is
that as Emeka Ihedioha
promised, we are looking
at the side of development
partners. We are bringing
in World Bank and USAID
towards reviving the water
project in Imo State.”
On road repairs, apart
from the Owerri municipal
roads, Ekwueme also
inspected the entire stretch
of Naze-Nekede-Ihiagwa-
Obinze Road, which leads
their pockets and
positions.”
He warned of the
consequences of impunity
and called on the judiciary
to discharge their duty “by
sending killers to jail,”
noting, “many hoodlums
and killers were recruited
into our security forces and
we are paying for it now.”
HONOUR: From left—Group CEO, X3M Ideas, Steve Babaeko; COO, 7even Interactive Ltd., Taiwo Agboola;
HR Director, X3M Ideas, Olasunkanmi Atolagbe, and Finance Director, X3M Ideas, Folahan Salam, at the cocktail
reception in honour of Babaeko on his selection as one of Adweek's Global Creative 100, in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Igbo governors ’ve secretly
donated land for RUGA—IPOB
fellow IPOB antagonists
that our leader will be shot
at sight if he dares enter
Ebonyi State. But Kanu
entered the state and
Umahi and his cotravellers
went into
hiding because of the
mammoth crowd that
followed him on the
streets of Abakaliki.
“Since the successful
outcome of our peaceful
protest and rally in
Abakiliki against RUGA
settlement in Ebonyi State,
Governor Umahi and his
government have become
paranoid, no doubt acting
on the instruction of his
northern handlers."
to the Federal Polytechnic,
Nekede, and the Federal
University of Technology,
Owerri, FUTO.
He said: “Government is
truly worried about the
gross dilapidation of Imo
roads, occasioned by an
equally gross neglect by the
immediate past
administration.
Government is poised to
give urgent and remedial
attention to the roads.”
He branded the roads as
“a huge disaster,” stressing
that the present
administration is not only
disturbed about the
situation, but is determined
to stop the people’s
suffering on the roads.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019—35
INSPECTION: Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, MD/CEO, Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA,
(2nd right); Mr. Ibrahim Odumboni, Executive Director (right); Mr. Kemi Sulaimon, Coordinator,
LAWMA Central District Operations (2nd left), and Mrs. Folashade Kadiri, Assistant Director,
Public Affairs, during the inspection of LAWMA operations at Marine Beach/Apapa bridge, Ijora,
Lagos.
National unity: Northern coalition
accuses Tinubu of double standards
By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA— COALITION
of Northern Groups,
CNG, has accused National
Leader of All Progressives
Congress, APC, Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu, of political
double-speak regarding the
unity of the country, saying
his actions betray his
utterances.
CNG in a statement by its
spokesman, Abdulazeez
Suleiman, said it read news
reports on Monday, August
11, 2019 with the caption
“Let’s work for growth, not
separation” attributed to
Tinubu and was compelled
to make a reaction because
of alleged inaccuracies it
conveyed.
The statement read in
part: “The comments by
Tinubu only succeeded in
further exposing his
hypocrisy and obsession with
double standards with
regard to his role in causing
the present high political
polarisation in Nigeria and
the deterioration of trust in
the current administration.
"While we do not envy the
Asiwaju, his privilege to
believe he can push his
ambition for the presidency
at all cost, we nevertheless
find it ridiculous that he still
thinks he can get away with
this latest rap on national
growth after having stood
against it for quite long.
"As we join the general
uproar and condemnation
that trailed the statement by
Tinubu, we wish to ask him
to sincerely answer the
following simple questions:
“Tinubu should explain
the absence of his sense of
cohesion when, in 2015, the
Oba of Lagos, whose affinity
to Tinubu is no secret,
ordered that all Igbo must
vote Tinubu’s APC or leave
the state.
"Tinubu’s concern for
national growth was certainly
missing at the inception of
this administration when he
vehemently stood against
the formation of an inclusive
government against the
advice of the leadership of
the Northern Elders Forum
for Buhari to appoint an Igbo
as Secretary to the Federal
Government.
‘’We are aware that Tinubu
solely misled President
Muhammadu Buhari
against that patriotic advice
by insisting that the Igbo did
not vote for him and that it
was not safe for another Igbo
to succeed the office, which
was immediately vacated by
a kinsman.
"He made the president
appoint his stooge, Babachir
Lawal, who turned out to be
a national disgrace. This
much was confirmed by
Lawal himself when he said
he owed his appointment to
Tinubu and to some extent,
Bisi Akande. And after the
scandalous fall of Lawal,
Tinubu again prevailed
against an Igbo successor
and imposed another stooge,
Boss Mustapha.
“Tinubu should explain
where his conscience for
nationhood was during the
February 2019 elections
when after disenfranchising
the Igbo community in Lagos,
militant OPC youth backed
by leaders of the South-West
violently attacked Igbo
communities and their
businesses.
“He should explain his
democratic claims and desire
for growth in relation to his
unilateral insistence on
denying a sitting governor,
Akinwunmi Ambode, of
Lagos State the right to seek
re-election in 2019.
‘’This he did, despite
personal efforts by President
Buhari to show him that
Ambode was a performing,
hardworking governor. The
president even sent a
committee of seven
governors picked across
states to persuade Tinubu but
he stood his ground merely
for his personal interest.
“Tinubu’s sense of
nationalism also came to
question with his silence at
the time his people in the
South-West deployed every
unconventional means to
fight the presidency, the
entire Fulani and the larger
north over the RUGA
initiative of the Federal
Government.
‘’His concern for national
integration must have gone
to sleep when the Afenifere,
an organisation he
nourishes, ordered the
Fulani out of the South-West,
and when Gani Adams
threatened to mobilise two
million Yoruba warriors
against the Fulani in the
South-West."
FG’ll devote resources to states
ravaged by insecurity —Gbaja
By Udo Ibuot
SPEAKER of the House
of Representatives, Femi
Gbajabiamila, has assured
that resources will be devoted
towards securing peace in
Zamfara State and other parts
of the country ravaged by
insecurity.
Gbajabiamila who made the
pledge in Gusau when he led
the presiding officers of the
House of Representatives to
the state, said: “All over the
years that many of us have
been in the House of
Representatives, we have
been bringing up issues
concerning security and
insecurity in Nigeria and other
parts of Nigeria, Zamfara
inclusive.
“We argued, debated these
issues, and came up with
resolutions that we felt might
help in resolving the issues.
But alas, over the years, all
these frantic efforts ended on
the rinky-dink. Our
arguments, our debates were
based on what we read on
newspaper reports, what we
saw on television and what we
heard. They were not based
on actual assessment on the
ground.
“Since seeing is believing,
we decided for the first time
in the history of this nation that
the House of Representatives
would be here with the
presiding officers to get the real
facts based on ground
assessment, not on hearsay,
not on newspapers report, not
on TV reports, but from
interaction, interfacing with
stakeholders and having a
proper assessment of what is
happening in Zamfara State.”
The speaker who noted that
without security forces the
government would not
achieve much, added that
security forces will be deployed
to cater to the needs of citizens
of the state.
Speaking on the security
challenges facing the nation,
the speaker, who claimed to
be speaking for the president,
said: “As a National Assembly
and as a government, it is
important that we deal with
that situation. That’s why we
are here to make sure that all
is well. All can never be well if
anybody is living in a camp;
to make sure that as best as
possible, government plays its
role in making sure the
welfare of those who are in
camps is taken care of.
Afrikanwatch Editor hails
Adefuye @ 75
E DITOR-IN-CHIEF,
Afrikanwatch Media,
Mark Orgu, has
congratulated the Olugbon
of Lagos and a
philanthropist, Senator
Anthony Adefuye, who
turns 75 today.
Orgu, in his
congratulatory message,
described Adefuye as a
man, who has created a
niche and indelible mark on
the sands of time, and who
has also remained
committed to nation
building and development.
He said: “There is no
better way to describe
Security operatives arrest
Ayade's ex-aide
By Uche Ike
CALABAR —
GOVERNOR Ben
Ayade of Cross River State,
may have discreetly clamped
down on critics of his
administration as his former
aides and critic, Prince
Ekanem Ekpo, has been
arrested by security agents in
Calabar.
Ekpo, who is the Project
Coordinator of National Anti
Corruption Crusaders, was
arrested last week, and is being
detained by the Antikidnapping
and Cultism
Squad of the state Police
Command.
He is being charged with
unlawful Assembly and
disruption of public peace.
In the statement on July 25,
2019, and captioned
“Invitation to attend our world
press conference/One-
Million-Man March Against
an Inept Government in Cross
River,” Ekpo, who is the
immediate Director-General of
Cross River Safety
Commission, had among
others accused Ayade of
promoting white elephant
projects he also claimed were
Senator Adefuye than to say,
that he is a man of courage
and good fortune, and
whose life antecedents are
characterised by faith and
trust in God. You have
remained an elder
statesman with a strong
conviction that Nigeria
would soon overcome her
current travail.
“As you celebrate your
birthday, it is our prayer that
God will continue to use you
as an instrument to build
human relations and
transformation across
Nigeria, and create more
opportunities for young
Nigerians, who see you as
role model and father."
not achievable in the nearest
future.
He accused Ayade of
spending billions of naira on
gigantic projects such as
Spaghetti Flyover,
Superhighway and Bakassi
Deep Seaport without due
processes as well as
misapplying state’s resources.
Sources close to his family
said the security operatives
had been on his trail since he
issued a statement criticising
Ayade’s style of leadership.
According to the source,
who pleaded anonymity,
Ekpo was finally picked up at
Akai Efa axis in Calabar
Municipality by Anti
Kidnapping and Cultism
Squad, where he went to buy
drug and since then he has
been in their custody.
Vanguard gathered that
efforts to secure his release by
his family failed as the police
authorities said they were still
investigating the matter.
Contacted, Police Public
Relations Officer, Irene Ugbo
said Ekanem had earlier made
his intentions known that he
would carry out an unlawful
protest.
Benue govt to begin
disconnection of illegal
water supplies
BENUE
State
government, yesterday,
said it would start the
disconnection of illegal
water supply channels in
the state.
Acting General Manager,
Benue Water Board, Mr
Gideon Shenge, who
disclosed this in Makurdi,
said the board was now
supplying 28,000 cubic
metres of water to Makurdi
residents daily.
According to him, the
board would commence
disconnection of all illegal
water supply channels in
Makurdi from September
and appealed to all
customers to show water
bills and receipts of payment
during the exercise.
He said the exercise was
aimed at increasing the
revenue generation drive of
the state by collecting all
unpaid revenues due to the
board.
Shenge said the board
had taken steps to ensure
strict supervision of all water
works in the state.
‘’The board has completed
the repair of four water filters
at the Greater Makurdi
Water Works and
commenced six-hour daily
water supply of 28,000 cubic
metres,” he said.
150 Delta
youths to get
free training
on vocational
skills
By Jimitota
Onoyume
WARRI—NO fewer than
150 youths from Delta
State are to be trained in
various skill acquisition
programmes by United
Nations in collaboration with
philanthropists of Asaba
origin.
Dr Amos Obi, a
representative of the United
Nations and member of the
Global Innovators for
Sustainable Development
Goals, SDG 4, who spoke at
the unveiling of the
programme said the trainees
to be drawn from Asaba
would be trained in various
programmes, ranging from
revolutionised digital
transformative education, film
production/acting to
computer appreciation/
engineering, adding that
that the programme would
take place at Asaba
Vocational Centre.

36 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
WITH HENRY OJELU
midweekpersonality@gmail.com
08111813061 (sms only)
31-year-old Oluwatobi:
From Mercedes-
Benz internship to
Forbes list
31-year-old Oluwatobi Ajayi is the CEO of Nord Automobile,
a fast growing Nigerian automobile assembly company. He
started his career at Mercedes-Benz Nigeria where he became the
Head of division (Commercial vans) at 24. Last year, he was listed
by Forbes as one of the most outstanding young entrepreneurs in
Africa. In this interview, he shares how the game of Monopoly,
the military schools he attended and the experience he acquired
during his National Youth Service Corp, NYSC, service year were
instrumental to his success.
Background
I am the first child in my
family. I had to grow up
quickly to be the man of the
house and support my mum
because my Dad was not
always around. I attended
Nigeria Navy Primary
School, Mobil Road; Nigeria
Navy Secondary School,
Abeokuta and Olabisi
Onabanjo University. I will
be through with my MBA at
the Lagos Business School in
about two months. My
military school upbringing in
my formative years is largely
responsible for alot of who I
am today.
Memorable childhood
experience
One of my memorable
childhood experiences was
in my final year in the
secondary school. After I
finished WAEC exams and
was waiting for NECO, I had
free time, so my friends and I
decided to play Monopoly. I
played the game practically
every day and it changed my
perception of life. I realized
then, that just saving money
cannot provide financial
freedom and comfort. The
game taught me that money
is a very important
instrument but is useless if
not invested. I learnt that
money should be invested to
earn more money because if
you just save, those that
invest will return to take all
the money you have been
saving, and you will continue
to live for the next game
round, which is like the next
pay day in real life. Playing
Monopoly at that age made
me know the difference
between barely surviving
and existing versus thriving
in business and life by
investing strategically and
smartly. Because of that
experience, immediately I
got into the University, I
started investing in virtually
everything. I invested in
relationships, my
appearance, books and self
education. My friend Ajise
Samuel and I even invested
in a local restaurant in our
final year.
Challenges growing up
As the first child, I didn’t
have someone in my age
group to look up to. I had to
do a lot of experimentations.
I made many mistakes. I had
no one to persuade my
parents to provide me with
some of the basic things that
would have made life easier
for me even when they could
afford it. For instance, my
parents would give me two
pairs of socks for half-term in
secondary school when the
average most students had,
was about four or five pairs.
Some of my classmates had
more than ten pairs of socks
for half-term. They wanted
the best for me and my
siblings so they believed that
the best way to ensure that
was to deprive us of those
things that would make us
look like ‘children of the rich’.
Their intention was good but
in reality, it only made me an
easy target for some of my
school mates who poke fun at
me. Looking back now, I am
happy I was strong enough at
that young age to bid my time
and wait to do things the right
way when the time was right.
Biggest Life lessons
Life has thought me that a
good name is more
important that silver or gold.
We are the architect of our
future and perspective of life.
Regardless of what happens
to you, you can control what
it means and what you do
with it. I have also learnt that
we are responsible for our
statements, actions and
reactions. I engage in positive
interactions, encourage
people and be with people
who encourage me. I have
also learnt to use negative
feedback as propellers to fire
me to greatness and not
excuses to give-up or act
badly.
Success factors
What has been largely
responsible for my success is
education. By education, I
don’t necessarily mean
schooling but how I have
been able to self-educate
myself, get knowledge and
the ability to apply the
acquired knowledge
efficiently. Another factor
that has contributed to my
success is the trust that my
former bosses had in me to
saddle me with
responsibility which made
me grow quickly in business
and build my reputation. I
think being a reliable person
is key. They noticed that I
am reliable and can deliver
on set goals. This made them
trust me with key
responsibilities and in return
made me an astute business
man.
Playing Monopoly
at that age made me
know the difference
between barely
surviving and
existing versus
thriving in business
and life by
investing
strategically and
smartly
Career
I started at Mercedes-Benz
Nigeria in 2012 where I did
my National Youth Service
Corp. After service, I was
retained, promoted and
given the responsibility to
control the Mercedes-Benz
van division in Nigeria.
Within two years, I was able
to take the market share of
Mercedes-Benz vans from
less than 1% to 7%. We won
the Mercedes-Benz Best
Sales Performance for Africa
Oluwatobi
for 2013.
In 2015, together with
some investors, I started
Jetvan Automobiles Limited
to take the Mercedes-Benz
vans sales and after-sales to
the next level. I was at Jetvan
as CEO until April 2018 when
I resigned my position to
enable me focus on building
the Nord brand and company
structure. After me trip to
Mercedes-Benz factories in
Europe and Asia, I realized
that with hard work and
focus, we can build our own
Nigerian global and reliable
auto brand.
I resigned from the
Mercedes-Benz family to
start a new Nigerian auto
brand because I want the
world to know that Africans
can do things efficiently and
at world class level too. We
now assemble our own
elegant, reliable, durable,
and cost efficient vehicles
that are as good as any
vehicle in the world. It’s a
dream that is now a reality
and I am happy for that.
According to the last
valuation, we are
approximately worth a little
over N4.2 billion. We are
presently planning to
champion the use of electric
vehicles in Nigeria with the
building of our own
designated charging
structure with a wide
network nationwide.
Business challenge
The major one is finance. I
am not talking about the
availability of finance but the
cost of it. Our business
model is very interesting
and some banks are
currently working with us.
They have
been very
supportive
but the cost of
finance is high.
This has
limited the
rate at which
we can grow
slightly. We
are currently
working with
other entities
to find
solutions to
that and I am
sure our cost
of capital will
b
e
significantly
reduced soon.
Another
challenge is
the source of
auto parts.
When we
started, we
wanted our
vehicles to
have at least
50 per cent
local Nigerian
components.
That has been
a bit difficult
because the
Nigerian
market cannot
provide most
of the vehicle components at
competitive quality and
price. We currently source
less than five per cent of our
parts from the Nigerian
market. The major
components come from
OEMs in Asia and Europe.
Advice for youths
Don’t lose hope. Do not
give your birth-right to other
people. Look around you, the
Indians, Chinese, Lebanese,
Americans and Europeans
are coming into the country
to set up businesses
especially in the SME and
tech spaces. Nigeria with all
its challenges still provides
businesses with one of the
highest gross and net profit
margin anywhere in the
world. We can also generate
volume because of our
population. Nigeria will be
great soon and it will happen
by our actions. Build yourself
intellectually and improve
your network.
Mentors
I have mentors who have
provided justification to
some of my principles in life
and how I run my business.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote has
shown me that you can start
a new Nigerian brand and
become a global player and
winner with hard work,
integrity. Mr. Tony Elumelu
also inspires me. I actually
believe we think in the same
way, because I realized I can
do most of the things he does
and in the manner he does
them. He is strategic and
invests his time and
resources in networking and
being impactful to the
society. These are some of the
things I also do.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 37
2019 OJUDE OBA FESTIVAL
The 2019 Ojude Oba Festival in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State held yesterday. PHOTOS: AKEEM SALAU
From left: First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs Bamidele Abiodun; Governor Dapo
Abiodun of Ogun State and the Awujale of Ijebuland, HRH Oba Sikiru Adetona.
From left: Former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel;
Olori Abimbola Balogun; Otunba Michael Olasubomi-Balogun, founder,
FCMB and HRH Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the Alaafin of Oyo.
Olori Kemi Adetona (left) and former Governor of
Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba.
Hon Femi Ilori-Oduntan (left) and Hon Nike Osoba.
Mr Segun Onasanya, MD, Airtel Nigeria (left)
and Olatokunbo Talabi, SSG, Ogun State.
From left: Mrs Toun Okulaja, Mrs Sola Odulaja and Prof Bukky Bilesanmi,
Rector Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, Ijebu Igbo.
From left: HRH Dr Olusegun Aderemi JP, Atayero of Aramoko Ekiti Kingdom;
HRM Adewale Abdul, Orugbo-Iddo Kingdom and Olori Fehintola Abdul.
Chief Veronica Banjo, Iyamokun of Ijebu (left) and Chief Bisi Osibogun.
Cross section of the crowd.

38 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
Britons stockpiling goods amid no-deal
Brexit fears
THE British people
on Monday hoarded
goods worth 4 billion
pounds (or about 4.8 billion
dollars) amid fears
of a no-Brexit deal.
A financial services
provider, Premium
Credit, said almost one
in five respondents to a
survey of 1,052 people
have begun to increase
their stockpiles of food,
drinks as well as medicines.
According to the survey,
74 per cent of respondents
said they
stockpiled food, 50 per
cent said they stored
pharmaceutical products,
while 46 per cent
said they stockpiled
drinks.
However, many experts
had already predicted
that a British EU
exit without a comprehensive
deal could result
in temporary supply
bottlenecks, mainly
caused by long waiting
times for trucks at customs
controls.
Meanwhile, the Prime
Minister, Boris
Johnson, said he wanted
to lead Britain out of
the EU on Oct. 31, with
or without a deal.
Johnson demanded
that Brussels abandon
elements of the existing
withdrawal deal agreed
by his predecessor,
Theresa May, but the EU
had since rejected it.
Many companies also
fear supply bottlenecks.
British pizza chain Dom-
Danish PM apologises for historical abuse in
children’s homes
DANISH Prime Min
ister Mette Frederiksen
has officially said
sorry to hundreds of victims
of historical abuse in
state-run homes.
From 1945 to 1976 children
were sexually abused,
beaten and drugged at the
homes, an official inquiry
found. The abuse took
place across Denmark and
campaigners have for
years appealed to the state
to accept it was at fault.
“The apology means everything.
All we wanted
was peace of mind,” said
one of the victims, Arne
Roel Jorgensen. The sixtyeight-year-old
told the
BBC how the lives of many
of the children had been
ruined by the abuse. Alcohol,
drugs, multiple jobs
and failed marriages had
all taken their toll.
The Social Democrat
prime minister met dozens
of victims of the scandal
at her official residence at
Marienborg on Tuesday.
“I would like to look every
one of you in the eyes
and say sorry,” she told
them. “I can’t take the
blame but I can shoulder
the responsibility.”
Many were in tears as
she said that children had
been taken from their parents
and instead of getting
support and warmth, they
received humiliation and
abuse.
“The authorities did
nothing. As a society, we
cannot and must not close
our eyes,” she had said
earlier.
Details about the homes
first hit the headlines in
2005, when a Danish TV
documentary featured
shocking allegations of
abuse and mistreatment
from victims of the staterun
Godhavn Boys’ Home,
*UK PM Boris Johnson
in north-eastern Denmark.
The documentary also
uncovered evidence that a
psychiatrist had tested
drugs on some of the children.
Bjorn Elmquist, then
an MP who had already
been working on the abuse
cases, said the drug LSD
had been used to counter
bed-wetting, leading to
many of the children later
becoming drug addicts.
Soon after the programme,
the National Association
of the Godhavn’s
Boys was formed and an independent
inquiry was
conducted in 2010.
The report, published in
2011, investigated allegations
of abuse and neglect at
19 homes for both boys and
girls, interviewing children,
staff and state inspectors.
Despite its limited scope, it
documented “alarming physical,
sexual and psychological
abuse” and researchers
found blood traces on a
gymnastic horse, indicating
children had been beaten on
it.
Mr Elmquist, now a lawyer,
said many of the victims
felt great shame over what
had happened: “Some of
them contacted me and
begged me not to have their
names mentioned publicly.”
He spoke of boys working
in fields who were punished
by adults using metal tools
and of the overweight master
at Godhavn having his
own special form of punishment.
“He pushed them
with his big stomach and
they fell down the staircase.
He put them on a sofa and
sat on top of them and
jumped on them,” he told
the BBC.
Arne Roel Jorgensen
found out three years ago
that he was suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder
because of what had
happened to him many
years ago.
“Many of us have had
failed marriages and we
didn’t learn how to act in
society because nobody told
us. I’m 68 now and definitely
still living with the effects.”
Russia evacuates village as rocket blast
sparks radiation fears
RUSSIAN authorities
have advised residents
of a village to leave while
clear-up work is being carried
out nearby following a
mysterious rocket engine accident
last week that caused
a temporary spike in radiation,
according to a report.
Russia’s Rosatom nuclear
agency said five of its staff
were killed in the August 8
blast at a naval facility that
tests ballistic missiles used
by nuclear submarines. At
least three people were injured.
The workers were providing
support for the “isotope
power source” of a missile
and were thrown into the
water from the testing platform
in the White Sea by the
force of the explosion.
On Tuesday, Interfax news
agency cited local officials
as saying they had received
a notification about clearup
work being carried out
by military authorities.
“In this regard, residents
of Nyonoksa were asked to
leave the territory of the village
from August 14.”
Rosgidromet, the weather
monitoring service, said on
Tuesday its sensors in Severodvinsk
- located about 30km
from the test site - registered
radiation exceeding background
levels by “four to 16
times” on the day of the blast.
The service said the levels
were higher at six out of eight
of its stations in Severodvinsk
and returned to normal after
2.5 hours. One of the sensors
registered a level of 1.78 microsieverts
per hour, well
above the local average but
far below dangerous levels.
The blast caused panic,
with residents rushing to buy
iodide, which can help limit
the damage from exposure to
radiation. Following the explosion,
Russian authorities
also closed part of Dvina Bay
on the White Sea to shipping
for a month, in what could be
an attempt to prevent outsiders
from seeing an operation
ino’s announced that it
would increase its inventories,
adding that
about a third of its ingredients
were sourced
from abroad, including
tomato sauce and toppings
like pineapple.
to recover the missile debris.
Rosatom’s mention of a
“nuclear isotope power
source” led some Russian
media to conclude it was the
Burevestnik (Petrel), a nuclear-powered
cruise missile
first revealed by Russian
President Vladimir Putin
in March 2018 during his
state of the nation address
along with other doomsday
weapons.
Some experts have also
linked the blast to the
9M730 Burevestnik nuclear-powered
cruise missile,
known by NATO as SSC-X-
9 Skyfall. Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday
did not confirm that the
accident was linked to the
Burevestnik project.
Peskov added, however,
that Russian research and
development in the sphere
of nuclear-powered missiles
“significantly surpass
the level reached by other
countries and are rather
Clashes erupt at Hong Kong
airport as crisis deepens
POLICE have clashed with pro-democracy protest
ers at Hong Kong’s international airport after
flights were disrupted for a second day running amid
a deepening political crisis in the financial hub.
A mostly peaceful sit-in on Tuesday that saw thousands
of black-clad protesters jamming the main terminal -
some chanting, singing and waving banners - erupted
into violence in the evening, with riot police firing pepper
spray and using batons after demonstrators seized a
man they claimed was an undercover mainland Chinese
agent.
The scuffles broke out after police appeared at the
departures entrance in an apparent attempt to help paramedics
reach the man, who was injured. Several police
vehicles were blocked by protesters and riot police moved
in, pushing some protesters back and using pepper
spray. At one point, a police officer pulled out a gun.
Protesters also barricaded some passageways in the
airport with luggage trolleys, metal barriers and other
objects. At least two protesters were taken away by police.
Separately, a reporter for the Global Times newspaper,
a Communist Party mouthpiece, was also held by
protesters. Footage showed the reporter’s hands being
tied to a luggage car.
The protest on Tuesday prompted the cancellation of
hundreds of flights for a second consecutive day, with
Hong Kong’s Airport Authority said operations at the
airport had been “seriously disrupted” and that departing
passengers had been unable to reach immigration
counters.
Israeli billionaire to be tried
over ‘Guinea bribes’
ISRAELI billionaire Beny Steinmetz and two associ
ates are to stand trial for allegedly bribing Guinean
officials to win mining licences, Swiss prosecutors say.
The trio allegedly paid $10m (£8.2m) to one of the wives
of former Guinean President Lansana Conte.
Mr Steinmetz and his mining company Beny Steinmetz
Group Resources (BSGR) have previously denied any
wrongdoing.
The prosecution is seeking prison terms of two to 10
years.
The prosecutors, who opened an investigation into the
alleged bribery six years ago, allege that Mr Steinmetz
obtained the mining rights in the Simandou region of
south-eastern Guinea just before Conte died in 2008.
They charge that the money was paid to a wife of the
country’s former president partially through Swiss bank
accounts. In February this year, Guinean authorities
dropped corruption charges against Mr Steinmetz and
BSGR in exchange for relinquishing rights to the Simandou
mine.
The Guinean government has said it was not involved
in the Swiss investigation and will not seek any “hostile
action” against BSGR.
In 2016 Mr Steinmetz was detained and questioned by
the Israeli police over the mining deals. He denied any
wrongdoing.
Simandou is one of the world’s biggest iron deposits,
containing billions of tonnes of high-grade ore.
Guinea’s mineral wealth makes it potentially one of
Africa’s richest countries, however, most of its citizens
live on less than $1 (£0.80) a day.
Brazillian women protest
against Bolsonaro policies
HUNDREDS of indigenous women occupied a build
ing of Brazil’s health ministry in the capital,
Brasília, on Monday to protest against the policies of
far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
The group of some 300 protesters demanded better
healthcare for indigenous people, especially women, and
condemned proposed changes to how these services are
delivered.
The Bolsonaro government wants to make towns and
cities responsible for providing medical services to indigenous
people, and community leaders fear local authorities
lack the infrastructure and specialised units required.
The federal government is currently in charge of healthcare,
and indigenous communities are visited by specially
trained professionals.
The protesters, who are in the city for the first March of
Indigenous Women, sang and danced inside and outside
the building of the Special Secretariat of Indigenous
Health, known as Sesai.
“We’ve been left abandoned. They treat indigenous people
like animals,” 43-year-old Teresa Cristina Kezonazokere
told Correio Braziliense newspaper (in Portuguese).
The demonstration ended almost 10 hours later, when
Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said he would
talk to some of their leaders. There were no reports of
violence.
Organisers say the event in Brasília aims to highlight
the role of women in indigenous communities. On Wednesday,
some 1,500 indigenous women from 110 ethnic
groups are expected to join a protest to defend rights they
say are under threat under Mr Bolsonaro.
“We don’t have to accept the destruction of our rights,”
said indigenous leader Sônia Guajajara
The president has promised to integrate indigenous
people into the rest of the population and repeatedly questioned
the existence of their protected reserves, which are
rights guaranteed in the country’s constitution.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 39
Mass shootings: The most American
way to kill and die
By David Love
THIS year the Unit
ed States has repeatedly
made international
headlines with a
series of mass shootings.
According to the Gun
Violence Archive, as of
August 6, the US has experienced
253 such incidents
since the beginning
of the year - an
average of more than
one shooting a day.
In the most recent
armed massacres which
took place over one
bloody week, three white
gunmen used militarygrade
weapons to kill a
total of at least 34 people,
mostly people of colour.
On July 28, Santino
William Legan, 19,
opened fire on a festival
in Gilroy, California
and killed three, in an
act federal authorities
are investigating as domestic
terrorism. He is
said to have white supremacist
views and
posted on social media
about 1890 extremist
book, Might Is Right.
On August 3, white supremacist
Patrick Crusius,
21, killed 22 people
and wounded dozens
more at a Walmart in
El Paso, Texas - the country’s
worst massacre of
Latinx people.
In his anti-immigrant
and racist manifesto
posted online, he decried
the “Hispanic invasion
of Texas” and praised
the architect of the New
Zealand mosque massacre.
On social media,
Crusius favoured the
pro-Trump hashtag
#BuildTheWall and posted
a photo in which he
used his guns to spell
“Trump”.
Later the same day,
Connor Betts, 24, used
an assault rifle capable
of holding 100 rounds of
ammunition to kill
nine people - six of them
black - in Dayton, Ohio.
According to the FBI, he
was exploring “violent
ideologies” before the
shooting.
Advocates of inaction
on gun control offered
yet again empty
“thoughts and prayers”,
and insisted that America’s
gun problem is the
result of untreated mental
illness or video
games. However, research
shows that only
three percent of violent
crimes are committed
by people with mental
illness, who are actually
far more likely to become
victims of crime
than perpetrators.
Meanwhile, Japan
leads the world in video
game revenue, yet it has
only a few gun deaths
each year, as opposed to
nearly 40,000 in the
US.
The US stands alone
among the nations of the
world as a global leader
and outlier in civilian
gun proliferation and
mass shootings. While
America should not and
must not continue down
this unsustainable path
towards self-annihilation,
it is necessary to understand
how the “land
of the free” became the
most armed nation on
Earth in the first place.
The madness of American
gun violence thrives
on a lethal combination
of three ingredients: The
first is nearly limitless
access to guns, which is
unparalleled in the
world. The second is corruption
on the part of
elected officials who receive
financial contributions
from the arms lobby
to enact irresponsibly
lax gun legislation. The
third factor is the unwillingness
of American society
to address racism,
and the refusal of its
leadership to confront
the role of white supremacist
domestic terrorism
as the ultimate threat to
the nation and a growing
global concern.
London-based human
rights organisation Amnesty
International issued
a travel warning
for the US, advising that
the government is unwilling
to protect people
from gun violence, and
that, “People in the United
States cannot reasonably
expect to be free
from harm - a guarantee
of not being shot is impossible.”
According to the
Brookings Institution,
“Gun violence in America
has become a national
security emergency,”
with the number of American
lives lost to guns
over the past two decades
rivalling the number of
US military deaths since
World War I.
There are more guns
than people in the US, a
country accounting for
five percent of the global
population yet 45 percent
of the world’s privately
owned firearms. Firearms
are the secondleading
cause of death
for children and teens
in the US, and the leading
cause for black
youth, while nearly one
million women have
been shot by an intimate
partner.
The 10 US states with
the highest gun homicide
rates have some of
the weakest gun regulations
in the nation.
Gun restrictions and
federal government research
on firearm violence
as a public health
issue have been thwarted
due to the corruption
of the US political system,
and the power of the
gun lobby which pays
politicians to do its bidding.
Its current internal turmoil
and alleged Russian
ties notwithstanding, the
National Rifle Association
(NRA) continues to
spend millions of dollars
to promote its interests.
In 2016 it gave $30m
to help elect Donald
Trump; in the months before
the most recent mass
shootings, the NRA
spent $1.6m lobbying
the US Congress against
laws requiring stricter
background checks for gun
owners.
Bipartisan universal
background check legislation
that passed the
House is stalled in the US
Senate, whose majority
leader, Senator Mitch Mc-
Connell has received
$1.26m in NRA donations.
The NRA has supported
“stand your ground” deadly
force laws that encourage
racial violence, and
opposed all gun restrictions;
it has pushed for a
reinterpretation of the
Second Amendment to the
US Constitution to provide
for a nearly unlimited
individual right to
bear arms.
This, in a nation where
white men have lived and
died by the gun. The gun
facilitated the genocide of
the Native people and the
enslavement of African
people, and allowed white
people to steal land and
seize control. Take away
the gun, and society begins
to chip away at the
myth of white supremacy.
Americans struggle to
come to terms with its original
sin of racism at a time
of weaponised white supremacy,
when domestic
terrorism with a white
male face poses the greatest
threat to their lives.
Homegrown white nationalists
account for most of
the terrorist violence and
most of the 850 domestic
terror cases federal authorities
are investigating.
Right-wing extremists
are infiltrating law enforcement
and the military
and obtaining paramilitary
training. However,
in a racist, Islamophobic
society in which white
men dominate federal investigations
and media
coverage, terrorism is rendered
a colour-coded endeavour
which only darker
people, Muslims and
foreigners get involved
in.
To top it all off, we now
have a white nationalist
president who incites racial
violence against Latinx
immigrants, Muslims,
Jews, black people and
others. Trump - who has
eliminated funding to
counter white supremacist
violence and enacted policies
to capitalise on white
fear of replacement by
people of colour - inspires
his followers to commit
acts of violence and mass
murder against said
groups in the streets.
As we reflect on the hundredth
anniversary of the
Red Summer of 1919 -
when white mobs hunted
and lynched hundreds of
black people across America
and burned down
black communities - it is
clear that the US has failed
to address its lethal mixture
of racism, corruption
and arms proliferation,
and as a result has reaped
the whirlwind.
David A Love is a Philadelphia-based
freelance
journalist and commentator

40—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
Repositioning legal education
for national development
THE legal profession in
Nigeria derives its origin from
the English legal system and legal
profession. It dates back only to the
latter half of the 19th century. This
is as a result of our historical links
with Great Britain. In 1861, Lagos
became a British colony and came
under
British
administration. Eventually, the rest
of what is now Nigeria also came
under British rule and became
known as the Protectorates of
Southern and Northern Nigeria.
In the year 1914, these two
protectorates were amalgamated
and together with the colony of Lagos
became the Colony and Protectorate
of Nigeria. With the establishment
of the British Administration in
Lagos, it began to introduce some
systems of law and legal institutions.
In 1862, a Police Court was set up in
Lagos to deal with cases which had
arisen as a result of the growing
commercial transactions in the
colony.
In 1863, the Supreme Court
Ordinance of 1863 was
promulgated. It constituted of the
Supreme Court of Her Majesty’s
Settlement of Lagos with effect from
April 9, 1863. Nine other courts were
constituted Between 1863 and 1874,
including:
•The Petty Debt Court,
•The Court of Civil and Criminal
Justice and •The Court of Request.
There was, however, a shortage of
suitable personnel to run the courts
and to perform the duties of
advocates and solicitors. This is clear
because there were seven men to
serve as Chief Magistrates in Lagos
between 1861 and 1905, only three
were qualified barristers.
Of the remaining four: • two were
writing clerks, •one was a merchant
and •the other, a Commander of
West Indian Garrison at Lagos.
And of the 14 who served as Police
Magistrates, •four were merchants,
•six were military officers and •one
a Deputy Collector of Customs.
Until August 1880 when
Christopher Alexander Sapara
Williams first appeared at the
Supreme Court, there was no
qualified practising lawyer in
Lagos. To solve this problem,
provisions were made in the
Supreme Court Ordinance of 1876
for the admission of persons to
practise as legal practitioners in
Nigeria.
The period between 1876 and
1914: During this period, the
Supreme Court Ordinance of 1876
earlier mentioned provided for three
classes of persons to practice law in
Nigeria, namely:
a) Professionally Qualified Legal
Practitioners. Section 71 of the
Supreme Court Ordinance
empowered the Chief Justice to
approve, admit and enrol to practise
as barristers and solicitors, persons
who have been called to the bar or
admitted as solicitors in England,
Scotland and Ireland.
b) Those who had served articles,
that is, those who had worked in the
chambers under lawyer’s
supervision. Section 73 of the
Supreme Court Ordinance
empowered the Chief Justice to
admit as a solicitor of the Supreme
Court any person: • who had served
five years continuously in the Office
of practising barrister or solicitor
residing within jurisdiction of the
court and; • who had passed such
examinations of the Principles and
Practice of Law before such persons
as the Chief Justice, CJ, may from
time to time appoint. This provision
was intended to create the first
opportunity for legal training for the
legal profession. However, there is
no record that advantage was ever
taken of it.
The local attorneys: Section 74
of the Supreme Court Ordinance
empowered the Chief Justice to
admit temporarily, as was necessary,
other fit and proper persons to act as
barristers, solicitors and proctors.
(Proctors are actually attorneys in
spiritual courts) subject to conditions
and regulations as may be
prescribed by rules of court. Order 8,
Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Civil
Procedure Rules made under the
Supreme Court Ordinance, 1876
provided that their admission shall
be by licence and shall entitle a
person to enrol them for six
months.
The licence was renewable before
or on the expiration of six months.
By virtue of this provision, a few not
professionally qualified were
admitted to practice and were called
“local attorneys”. The Chief Justice
could require appointees to sit for
an examination to test their general
education and knowledge as well as
principles and practice of law. They
were to be of good character attested
by a judge or two district
commissioners. The last of these
local attorneys was enrolled in
1908.
Period between 1914 to 1960: In
1914, the Supreme Court Ordinance
1914 repealed the Supreme Court
To qualify as a
Solicitor, a person
was required to be
articled to a firm of
Solicitors in
England for at least
four years
Ordinance of 1876. This marked the
second phase of legal training in
Nigeria. During the second phase,
the professionally qualified lawyers
monopolised legal practice in
Nigeria. This was so because
enrolment was restricted to qualified
lawyers only.
During this period, legal practice
was restricted to formally trained
lawyers. However, there were no
institutions in Nigeria to train
aspirants to the Bar and, therefore,
persons desirous of becoming
lawyers travelled to England for
formal training.
Barristers: In England, aspirants
to the Bar were required to join one
of the four Inns of the Court, namely:
•Inner Temple. •Middle Temple.
•Grays Inn and •Lincolns Inn. The
educational qualification was West
African School Certificate,
WASC. The four Inns constituted the
English Council of Legal
Education.
They arranged lectures for students
on the subjects constituting the Bar
Examination, that is, Bar Part 1 and
the Bar Final. The lectures were,
however, not compulsory and many
students did not attend them opting
instead for private tuition or the
correspondence course. The
prescribed dining terms were
compulsory and the candidates had
to mandatorily keep 12 dining terms
of which there were four in one year.
A student who passed the
examinations and kept the dining
terms was entitled to be called to the
Bar by the Benchers of his
Inn. Thereafter, he is formally
enrolled at the Supreme Court in
England. A three-month post-call
practical course and one year
pupilage in a Law Chamber was also
required for a Barrister who intended
to practice in England. Previously,
he paid a fee of 100 Guineas to the
head of the Chamber but this is no
longer the case. He, however,
cannot earn any fee during the first
six months of his pupilage.
Graduate barristers: Although a
law degree was not required to be a
Barrister, most English aspirants had
a university law degree. A law degree
with second-class honours exempted
a student from Bar Part 1
examination. Also graduate
Barristers in the Nigerian Civil
Service had an advantage over nongraduate
ones because they earned
higher salaries.
Solicitors: To qualify as a Solicitor,
a person was required to be articled
to a firm of Solicitors in England for
at least four years. The educational
qualification was WASC. The Law
Society which is the Governing Body
for Solicitors organised Solicitors’
Part 1 and Final Examinations which
a candidate must pass. A law degree
was not required.
Establishment of Nigerian Law
School: In 1922, a school was
established to organise a course for
Solicitors and attendance was
mandatory. In Nigeria, however, the
Legal profession is fused and
aspirants to the Bar are trained as
Barristers and Solicitors.
The Unsworth Committee: Some
deficiencies became apparent due to
some differences existing between
the practice in England and the
practice in Nigeria. Therefore, in
order to correct the anomalies, the
government appointed the Unsworth
Committee in April 1959: To
consider and make
recommendations for the future of
Legal Education and admission to
practise, the right of audience before
a Court and the making of reciprocal
arrangement in this connection with
other countries.
Recommendations of the
committee: The Committee
published its report in October 1959
with the following
recommendations:
•Nigeria should establish its own
system of Legal Education.
•A Faculty of Law should be
established first at the University
College, Ibadan and subsequently at
any other university to be established
in the future.
•A Law School to be known as
“The Nigerian Law School” should
be established in Lagos to provide
vocational course.
•Qualification for admission for
Legal practice in Nigeria should be:
a.A law degree of a university
whose course for the degree is
organised or prescribed by the
Council of Legal Education.
b. The vocational course
prescribed by the Council at the Law
School established by it.
•Any person graduating in Law
from a university which has not
accepted the syllabus recommended
by the Council should be required to
take further take its examination as
the Council may prescribe.
•The Council of Legal Education
should be established.
To be continued
EBOLA RESURGENCE: NCAA
directs airlines to be vigilant
By Lawani Mikairu
LAGOS—THE
Nigeria
Civil Aviation Authority,
NCAA, yesterday, directed all
airlines operating international
flights into the country to be
vigilant and exercise caution
while profiling passengers that
will board their flights into
Nigeria.
This directive became
necessary following the
resurgence of the dreaded
Ebola virus in the Democratic
Republic of Congo and public
alert by the World Health
Organization, WHO.
Confirming the directive, the
General Manager, Public Affairs
of NCAA, Mr. Dam Adurogboye
said: “With the resurgence of
the Ebola Virus Disease in the
Democratic Republic of Congo,
the World Health Organisation
has declared the outbreak a
Public Health Emergency of
International Concern, PHEIC,
in line with International Health
Regulations, IHR.
“Consequently, the Nigerian
Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA,
has directed all operators,
especially airlines operating
regional and international flights
into the country, to exercise a
high level of vigilance.”
The directive was contained in
a letter signed by the NCAA
Director General and has since
been sent to all airline operators.
The statement reads: “In the
letter, NCAA has directed that
airlines’ Pilots in Command
(PIC) of aircraft are to report to
Air Traffic Control (ATC) any
suspected case of communicable
disease onboard their flight in
line with Nig.CARs 18.8.22.4.
“In case of a suspected case of
communicable disease onboard
an aircraft, aircrew are required
to fill the General Declaration
(Gen Dec) and Public Health
Passenger Locator forms in line
with Nig.CARs 18.8.17.4 and
18.8.22.5 respectively.”
“Thereafter, completed forms
are to be submitted to the Port
Health Services (PHS) of the
destination aerodrome. Also,
airlines are to ensure they have
an onboard valid and an
appropriate number of First Aid
kits, Universal Precaution Kits
(UPKs) and Emergency Medical
kits in line with Nig.CARS
7.9.1.11 and 7.9.1.12."
States, LGs, communities, not
HOSTCOM, should administer gas
flare penalty money — EFEKODHA
By Jeremiah Urowayino
APeoples Democratic Par
ty, PDP, chieftain and member
of Delta State Rural Development
Board, Prince Larry Efekodha
has faulted Host Communities
of Nigeria Producing Oil
and Gas, HOSTCOM, in its position
that gas flare money should
not be routed through the federation
account to the state governments.
Addressing newsmen in Oleh,
Efekodha, who is also the founder
and National President of the
Oxygen Movement for Okowa
and Otuaro, posited that in the
light of true federalism, the state
government is the only federating
unit that deals directly
with the grassroot people and
communities, noting that it
has a directorate of local government
and chieftaincy affairs,
as well as a legitimate
legislature voted in by people
of the various communities.
He said: ‘’The state government
stands in a better position
to administer the allocation of
flare money to oil host communities
via the local government
structure and gazetted communities.
‘’HOSCOM is a pressure
group among others, vested with
the task of agitating for what belongs
to oil producing states and
also to recommend people -oriented
projects and programmes
that will impact the lives of affected
communities. HOSCOM
does not enjoy the mandate of
the electorates on issues of budget
and appropriation of public
funds neither is it capable of oversight
functions.
‘’Today, oil producing states are
blessed with prudent governors
who the people have voted in
through the ballot to legitimately
govern them and execute people-oriented
programmes.
‘’A good example is Governor
Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta Stater,
who have shown beyond reasonable
doubt that he means well.
He is prudent and sincere in administering
public funds and enjoys
the followership of community
leadership across the state.
The same goes for other governors
from the region who have
been doing a nice job.
‘’The state government should
set up a gas flare-impacted communities
development committee,
agency or board comprising
of royal athers, community President
generals, local government
chairmen and competent technocrats,
as well as HOSCOM
and other responsible associations
as members. All projects
and programmes should go
through legislative appropriation.’’
Efekodha also faulted the claim
that 13percent should not be paid
to oil producing states, stressing:
‘’In fact, this is the time for all
communities, pressure groups
and local councils to support the
state government to agitate for
an instrument in derivation from
13 percent to 50 percent in other
to cater for developmental
projects as 13 percent is grossly
inadequate.’’

vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019—41
NEWS HOTLINES
018773962,
08052867058
EID-EL-KABIR GIFT —Gov. Emeka Ihedioha of Imo State (L) presents Eid-el-Kabir gift to Lamido
of Adamawa, Alhaji Muhammadu Barkindo, shortly after the Eid el-Kabir Durbar at Lamido's palace in
Yola on Tuesday. Photo: NAN.
‘Army Captain had 191 phone chats with
wanted kidnapper'
Continues from Page 5
as ransom for his release.
The source explained
that the family of the
kidnapped victim
negotiated and paid the
sum of N85 million first,
on March 11, 2019, but
the abductee was not
released. He said they
paid an additional N15
million, on March 16,
2019, making a total sum
paid to the kidnappers
N100 million and the
kidnappers refused to
release their victim
insisting that that the
family must pay the
N200million they
demanded.
The source explained
that the family reported to
the police and the IRT
was drafted to investigate
and track down the
suspects behind the
kidnapping and rescue
the victim. It was learned
that while investigations
into the matter
commenced, members of
the kidnapped victim’s
family paid an additional
N20m to the kidnappers
and the victim was
released, but the police
discovered during
investigations that
Wadume had strong links
to the kidnappers, who
got N120 million as
ransom from their victim.
I sold 6 AK-47
rifles to Wadume
— Ajomo
The police source,
further disclosed that it
investigations also
revealed that Wadume,
had bought several AK-
47 rifles from a
notorious trans-border
arms dealer, Ojomo
Adebowale Gbenga,
who was arrested in
May 2019, by
operatives of the IRT for
supplying heavy arms
and ammunition to
kidnappers and armed
robbers.
45-year-old Ojomo,
said to be a major arms
dealer in the South-
Western part of the
country, made startling
revelations about the
fleeing Wadume during
an interview.
Ojomo, who was
earlier in the year
paraded by police
authorities over his
criminal activities and
later detained in Lagos,
told Vanguard that he
met Alhaji Wadume four
years ago in Benue
State and had been
selling arms to him
under the guise of using
them to fight terrorist
Fulanis.
Speaking with
Vanguard, Ojomo said
that he got to know
Wadume through his
business partner,
Moses in Benue State,
and he told him that he
needed rifles to fight
herdsmen who were
killing farmers in his
community. The gun
runner explained that
he got all the rifles,
which he sold to
Wadume and his
friends from Burkina
Faso, Mali and Libya
and he said he sold the
arms to them because
they told him that they
were having community
clashes.
He further disclosed: “I
started selling fire arms
since 1993 after my
secondary school. I
worked with a company
that deals on licensed
arms in 1993 and I left in
1996 and went to school
but, I linked up with arms
dealers in Ibadan, which
is the headquarters of
arms dealing in the south
western part of the
country. I started selling
automatic firearms which
is prohibited, then one of
my friends who is now
late, Moses led me to the
north. He took me to
Benue State and I sold
arms to several people,
including Alhaji Hamisu
(Wadume). He came to
me through Moses’
contacts and they
identified him as a
don. You know arms
dealing is a cartel
business. I knew very
little about him and I sold
eight rifles to him in 2015
and in January 2019, he
called again and told me
that he needed 10 rifles,
but I had only six and
because he was in hurry,
I sold them to him at
N800,000 each, and the
bullets for N350,000 per
can. But after my arrest
I gave information about
him to the police. It was
while in detention I heard
he has been arrested.
Police inspector
arrested, recants
Also, a Police Inspector
who was accused of
informing the Army that
operatives of the
Inspector-General of
Police Intelligence
Response Team that
visited Ibi community in
Taraba state, last week to
effect the arrest of the
suspected kidnap
kingpin did not report to
Police authorities, has
been arrested.
Preliminary
investigation, as reliably
gathered, revealed that
the policeman was
cajoled to say so in order
to cement evidences by
troops of the 93 Battalion
that the operatives were
not only kidnappers but
were there on an illegal
duty.
It was also learned that
one of the villagers who
allegedly collected the
firearms from the dead
policemen revealed
during interrogation that
the weapons belonging
to the slain police
officers were collected
from him by some
soldiers.
Vanguard learned that
the Police inspector
attached to Ibi Police
Station confirmed that
the operatives visited the
station to inform the
senior officer there that
they had concluded their
operations and were
leaving with the arrested
suspect.
Unconfirmed reports
said the policeman was
given an undisclosed
amount of money to
maintain his stand that
he told the troops that
the policemen did not
report at the station.
However, sources said
the Inspector denied
during interrogation at
Force Headquarters,
Abuja, that he did not
collect any money from
the Army.
It was further learned
that about three villagers
collected the firearms
that were flung in
different places into the
bush after the police
team was shot, when
their vehicle
somersaulted. One of
them was said to have
taken the arms to his
home from where it was
collected by the soldiers.
A villager who spoke on
the condition of
anonymity, revealed that
the suspected kidnap
kingpin who is still on
the run, is a popular
person in Ibi community.
He was said to have
contested for the House
of Assembly, Ibi
constituency in the last
election, under the
Young Democratic Party,
but lost.
The 35-year-old man,
said to be a petty trader,
was revered in the
community, due to his
philanthropic nature.
He was said to have
bought motorcycles for
some youths, some of
who thronged the scene
where the operatives
were killed, jubilating
that their benefactor’s
enemies had been
overpowered.
At the moment,
villagers in Ibi
community are said to be
keeping sealed lips on
what transpired during
the arrest of the
suspected kidnapper,
last week, for fear of
being attacked by
loyalists to the suspect.
Some of those close to
the kidnap suspects have
taken to their heels,
apparently to avoid
being arrested over his
whereabouts.
Widow to
address press
today
Meanwhile, widow of
the slain Inspector Mark
Ediale, who is yet to
come to terms with the
rude shock of her
husband’s demise, has
left Lagos for the Force
headquarters, Abuja,
where she was received
by senior police officers
who condoled her and
other widows over the
tragic incident.
But her late husband’s
family, it was reliably
gathered, will be
briefing journalists in
Abuja today, where some
salient questions would
be posed to killers of
their son.
The family, Vanguard
learned, is requesting an
explanation on how
Inspector Ediale died,
when he was seen alive
in a video clip that went
viral.
We’re happy to celebrate Sallah at home for
first time in 5 years, says Shehu of Bama
B ORNO—THE
Shehu of Bama,
Kyari Ibn El-Kanemi,
has said residents of
Bama community in
Borno State celebrated
Sallah for the first time
at home in five years as
a result of the defeat of
Boko Haram insurgents
in the area.
He expressed joy after
his people marked this
year’s Eid-el-Kabir
celebration in his
domain, on Monday.
He said: “Today we
are celebrating Sallah in
Bama which we were not
privileged to celebrate
for the past five years.
“Indeed, we have to be
grateful to Allah SWT for
sparing our lives. We are
happy to live up to this
moment to grace this
Sallah celebration in
Bama.”
In 2014, Boko Haram
insurgents overran the
town, forcing natives
and other inhabitants to
flee their homes.
El-Kanemi was among
the victims, as his wife
and daughter were
abducted in 2014 and
released two years after.
The town was later
captured by the military.
The monarch,
alongside
his
counterpart from Dikwa,
Masa II Ibn Umar El
Kanemi, fled their
communities to reside in
Maiduguri.
He returned in July in
company of local
government staff and
primary school teachers
and troops of Operation
Lafiya Dole who
regained the town from
Boko Haram insurgents.
There was also a mass
prayer on Sunday for the
first time in a long while,
led by the monarch
himself.
The United Nations
had revealed that Boko
Haram insurgents have
killed over 27,000
civilians since 2009
when the sect launched
a campaign of violence.

42 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY AUGUST 14, 2019
BEFORE HIS ARREST
Why Nigeria is due for
revolution — SOWORE
Mr Omoyele Sowore, 48, is a human rights activist, publisher of Sahara
Reporters, and 2019 presidential candidate of the African Action
Congress, AAC. Dissatisfied with the state of affairs in the country, he
rallied youths and supporters for the #RevolutionNow protests that were
staged in some parts of the country on August 5. Two days to the protests
on August 3, he was arrested by operatives of the Department for State
Services, DSS, in Lagos and later taken to Abuja where he has been detained
since then. A few days before his arrest, Sowore, in an interview in
his Ikeja, Lagos office, spoke to Vanguard on the state of the nation, insecurity,
how he was rigged out of the election and the way forward for the
country among others.
By Morenike Taire & Ebele
Orakpo
YOU are one of the newer candidates
in the last presidential election that
made an impact by winning your ward.
What did you do differently?
I
came with a message. I ticked every
box in the political sphere regarding
how many places to go to, people to go
to, the kind of messages and ideas that
could make a difference. The result
allocated to me as the outcome of my
efforts is unacceptable. I met people in
places as far as Kano who said to me:
‘We campaigned for you and people
voted for you but when it got to the
collation centre, we didn’t see your
result.’ I have met so many of such
people and that’s the reason I know
the election was not credible and was
neither free nor fair. Even in my village,
they sent soldiers and they shot at the
drone I was using to monitor the
elections four times.
•Sowore
•Nigeria at war, has disintegrated
•There’s one last hope for Nigeria
•Why we are losing war against insecurity
•Why make your best councillors, senators and your worst president?
•How I was rigged out in 2019 presidential poll
•Soldiers shot drone I used to monitor polls
•Buhari now in control of NASS, can get anything done
•We need a brand new country
I describe Nigeria
as a mortar and
pestle where the
minds of people are
pounded constantly.
When one leader is
tired, he brings
another leader to
continue. Our
minds have become
so messed up that
we are starting to
internalise
oppression
democracy era, especially in the 90s,
brought all kinds of characters to the
game and there was not enough vetting
to ensure that everyone that was
shouting democracy was actually
interested in democracy. Some people
were doing it to increase their visibility
and some to build their CV. There was
a lot of opportunism during that period;
now people are showing their true
colours. I also think there is a lot of
pressure - economic, social and physical
strains; not many people can stand in
the same position for 30 years. They
have to choose between disappearing
from the surface of the earth or
compromise. A lot of them chose to
compromise but the question is; are they
better for it? In my view, No! I have zero
respect for people who have crossed to
the other side. Regardless of what they
have to show for it materially, it’s a loss
HIGHLIGHTS
So what do we need to do to hold
credible elections?
A number of things! First is
determination by the people who are
voting. People know how to vote and
stand by their votes but in a situation
where elections have been so
bastardised that people get bribed to
vote and ensure their votes don’t count,
it will require some other interventions
and one of them is digital electronic
voting in which people can vote without
leaving their houses or they can go to a
polling unit to vote and ensure their
votes are counted as they are leaving
the place.
India has way more voters than we
have yet, their elections don’t last more
than 24 hours before you know the
results. They deploy electronic voting
and all kinds of digital and technological
interventions that make votes count and
people are also determined to ensure
that when they vote, their votes count.
We need to expand the voting
population by ensuring people in
Diaspora can vote. We have at the
minimum, about 10million very
educated voters, who can’t easily be
bought; your N500 or N5,000 cannot
sway them. If we can have that
population added to our voter
population, they will challenge the
complacency and corruption at home.
The moment their vote is transparently
shown to the world, it will help to
educate people at home that these
people outside expect the same thing
from us, but again, you can’t have
everything you want without having
credible people managing the process.
Without a transparent process that can
be monitored technologically, we will
be back here in the next four years
saying the same thing.
As a human rights activist who
fought alongside others for this
democratic process, some of the
people you fought alongside with have
crossed to the other side, what is your
position on that?
I have no control over where people
cross to. What I know is that the proin
my view, to them that they engaged
in such disgraceful crossover.
Do you regret having got involved
given that the whole community has
acquired a negative reputation based
on some people’s actions?
No, I have no regrets because the
reason I got involved was not to impress
anybody. Some people got involved to
impress others or make others
understand that they are also powerful
or to increase their level of attractiveness
so it becomes cosmetic activism, but
when you peel through the surface, you
find out that so many of them are not
better than the people we were fighting.
This is a society of contradictions but
I have no regrets because if there is
anything I wanted to prove, I wanted
to get over this whole question of ‘why
don’t you get in there and make a
difference, show how things can be
done differently.’ I did it differently, I
campaigned the way nobody had ever
campaigned, with a lot of energy,
stamina, ideas and still this is how it
ended. It is now clear to a lot of people;
they now understand why we say we
will not be able to get to the Promised
Land without a fight.
As a member of the opposition now,
what is the state of the opposition?
I don’t belong to conventional
opposition. With due respect, I see a
lot of people who are opposed to
government but they have different
reasons for being opposed to
government. A lot of people are
opposed to the government because
they are not at this time, part of the
‘eating crew,’ as we say. They have
been denied access to the national cake
so you have this ephemeral opposition
to bad governance but the moment they
are invited or they get something, they
quickly forget about being in the
opposition. So those kind of artificial
opposition figures are not attractive to
me. Whatever is going to oppose a
system must have an ideological
ground. The opposition must be driven
by not just personality but by ideas. So
we keep building social movements as
opposed to the job of opposing the
status quo. This is a little different and
deeper, it can be an alternative.
More people killed in the North
Conventional opposition can actually
encourage superficiality in governance.
Issues that are being discussed now are
so superficial. We are discussing
insecurity and some people superficially
reduced it to Fulani herdsmen; it’s just
a generic name or metaphor for
insecurity; it’s not insecurity. There was
a time the Niger-Delta militants went
to Kaduna and abducted the Secretary
to the State Government, SSG, took him
to Warri or somewhere. Imagine the
Fulani herdsmen going to Delta,
abducting the SSG and taking him to
Kaduna! What do you think would be
the discussion? “Ah, they are here to
take over our land.” But at the bottom
of it is that crime is raging because
government has not been able to solve
the problem. In fact, the proportion of
people being killed or maimed or
destroyed by insecurity is proportionally
higher in terms of casualty in the
northern part than in the south. We are
lucky in the south that we have outlets
and decibel of noise from the south is
higher but more people are getting
killed in Zamfara unofficially than
anywhere else; add that to Borno,
Adamawa, Benue, Katsina, southern
Kaduna, even Abuja, more people are
getting killed there.
Critics of the Young Turks in the last
presidential election of which you were
a part, have asked why start from the
presidential level and not from the
beginning?
The answer is simple. There is a
general agreement that those of us who
are young and entered the race at the
last elections, were intellectually more
sound than the older generation
leaders; that we were more agile.
Around the world, they are using the
younger generation leaders to take care
of their problems. My question is; why
send your best to be councillors and
senators while you send your worst to
be president? Nobody has been able to
answer that. Who would you rather
choose to be president today between
myself, a Kingsley Moghalu, Oby
Ezekwesili (who can connect with your
Continues from pg 43

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY AUGUST 14, 2019—43
Why Nigeria is due for revolution —SOWORE
Continues from pg 42
issues and be responsive) and
a Buhari?
If your excuse is that we
don’t have experience, my
question is; are you looking for
experienced thieves?
Experienced herdsmen?
People who are experienced at
being divisive? Experienced
extremists? I can mention all of
them who are experienced in
different areas of negativity but
you can’t accuse me of not
having experience in
marshalling my views; you
can’t accuse me of not having
experience of 30 years as a
student activist who had been
part of every struggle that
brought about the stability of
our democracy today.
Even if you were looking for
entrepreneurs, I can count
myself as one. I ran a media
company for 12 years. A media
company that is competing
globally is not exactly a thing
that an inexperienced person
can create and sustain. I am
speaking for myself but tell me
the experience of the old
guards. I obtained my master’s
from one of the best universities
in the world so shouldn’t that
count?
Mortar and pestle
I understand where all this is
coming from. I describe
Nigeria as a mortar and pestle
where the minds of people are
pounded constantly. When one
leader is tired, he brings
another leader to continue.
Our minds have become so
messed up that we are starting
to internalise oppression;
people are starting to get used
to describing themselves the
way their oppressors describe
them. They tell you ‘you are not
good, you don’t have
experience, you are lazy and
that’s why you are unemployed
and unemployable.’ So people
keep on destroying you and
you start accepting it. When you
are oppressed for too long, you
can have a syndrome known as
the Stockholm syndrome which
means you fall in love with
your oppressor because you
have never known anything
else but oppression. So
anything the person does that
is a little kind to you, you see it
as an act of benevolence for
which you should be thankful
even though it's your
entitlement. That is where
some of those fears come from,
otherwise, I can tell you
categorically that if I had won
the last election, by now, we will
not be having this interview,
you will probably be writing
about all these new guys that
are turning things around.
My ideas brazenly stolen
Guess what? So many of the
ideas I propounded during the
campaigns were stolen
brazenly. A governor went to
Malaysia to learn how to
process cannabis but when I
said it, they were shouting, ‘oh
how can you mention
cannabis?’
I propounded the idea that
June 12 should be public
holiday, they gathered Abiola’s
family and took them to Abuja,
gave the man a posthumous
award and declared June 12
Democracy Day. Was Buhari
•Omoyele Sowore: Boko Haram used to be an insurrection, but it has mutated and become a business.
not around when Abacha was
holding onto Abiola? What did
he do? He accepted the best
job in Abacha’s regime as
chairman of Petroleum Trust
Fund. He didn’t ask for Abiola,
he didn’t ask to visit Abiola in
prison. So why are people
pretending that suddenly, he
loves Abiola?
Even on the issue of
minimum wage, we
propounded it; we said we
would pay better minimum
wage and made it an election
issue. Now they say they will
pay N30,000 which they have
not even started paying.
It seems the war against
insecurity is far from being
won, where do we go from
here?
Everything that counts for the
disintegration of a country are
all present today. I went to
Lagos Island recently and I
saw something in one
particular neighbourhood;
something that happens only
in Afghanistan, Syria and
Yemen.
Police and Area Boys were
operating side by side, next to
the Transport union thugs and
then there was a local vigilante
group, different checkpoints
but only the police had an
official uniform and guns. I
even saw some guys carrying
double-barrel pump action
guns right there in front of the
police. The moment you have
all that mix in one pot, the
country is finished in terms of
security. I said during the
election that if I become
president, I would fire all the
army generals. Any general
that has ever been part of the
war against Boko Haram is
going. You shouldn’t be called
a general if you cannot win a
war especially if it is against a
rag-tag militant group.
Every internal insurrection
like Boko Haram has a 10-year
gestation period. It shouldn’t
last more than 10 years, it
mutates after 10 years and it
will take another 30 years to
finish them. The reason it
mutated is this: It used to be
an insurrection, but it has
mutated and became a
business. I watched an
interview on Channels Tv and
the guy was describing how
the Nigerian Army in Baga had
a boundary between them and
Boko Haram, they don’t touch
each other, they have
territories. He said several of
his family members are in Boko
Haram and he talks with them
on phone; they are still in Boko
Haram. They go and come back
to Maiduguri and they are
respected; so it’s not as if Boko
Haram is not known, they have
become officially known. Not
only do we officially know
them, we send money to them
now and then in the name of
paying ransom. $5 million was
paid to release the few Chibok
school girls they released,
about $6 million was paid to
them for the Dapchi girls and
they brought the girls back in
broad daylight; they even did
a rally in Dapchi and then left.
A serious government that has
equipment would have tracked
them to where they came from
and use that as an opportunity
to finish them off.
Most of our aerial vehicles
don’t have the ability to carry
equipment to bomb Boko
Haram because some generals
are making billions. Did you not
read of an Army general
walking around with N400m
and the soldiers accompanying
him took the money? Who do
you think the money is meant
for? If it is official money, why
should it be in the hand of one
general? So all these criminal
organisations have taken over
territories.
There’s one
last hope, if
Nigerians are
wise enough,
we all come
together and
do a
revolution.
That is our
last hope
I have covered Boko Haram
insurgency since it started
when they killed their leader,
Yusuf. So I know the story and
I know the Nigerian
Government is lying when it
said it’s in control or that they
have defeated Boko Haram.
Boko Haram controls more
territories now than it did under
Jonathan’s regime but they
won’t tell us the truth because
they have ceded territory to
them.
I was told (but I can’t verify
this) that during the civil war,
no single colonel was killed but
Boko Haram is downing senior
officers like chickens. There is
also some dimensions to it; who
are they sending to the war
front? How are you sure that
when you hear a colonel is
killed, it’s not that he was set
up to be killed? A popular
soldier was killed in the fight
against Boko Haram and there
was a lot of noise about his
death because of the way he
died. He was one of their best.
They said the night before he
was killed, they tried to transfer
him and he refused, then they
withdrew some people around
him, and shortly after, he was
killed. They said this guy was
the best. In fact, he led the
troops to retrieve a territory
from Boko Haram. He was a
tank expert; if he was in the
tank, they wouldn’t have been
able to kill him. They said he
even thought it was a friendly
fire so it took them a while to
respond and before they could
get their guns, Boko Haram
had overwhelmed them.
Interestingly, he was the only
one killed in that operation.
Look at the Shi’ite protest
recently where a senior police
officer was killed. It was one of
the police officers that shot him.
He was shot from the back. It’s
possible that they have some
issues among themselves.
Nigeria is more divided now
than ever before, is there
hope?
There’s one last hope, if
Nigerians are wise enough, we
all come together and do a
revolution. That is our last
hope. It will bring about a new
order in which everybody has
a voice and they can make
demands of what they expect
and what they want. The
number of casualty of violence
on a daily basis in Nigeria as
of today is higher than that of
Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria
combined. And it’s getting
worse. Those are countries that
are officially at war. We are not
supposed to be at war but we
are losing people; we are not
adding those we are losing to
poverty, bad hospitals, bad
roads, people are dying of
depression.
More people committing
suicide now
For the first time in the history
of this nation, more people are
committing suicide than ever
before. People used to joke that
Nigerians can never commit
suicide. You see people with
nice vehicles ask their drivers
to stop on the Third Mainland
Bridge and jump into the
lagoon, students slashing
themselves, people drinking
sniper, etc. The media do not
have enough hands to cover all
these. We have reached a point
that can be regarded as a war
time situation.
Do you think we need
another sovereign national
conference, SNC?
No! We are due for a
revolution and I am serious.
Another SNC would be
controlled by government.
They would select, appoint or
even elect people that would
take part. They go to Abuja, get
paid, they bring their
recommendation and they put
it on the shelf.
When ex-President Jonathan
did it the last time, it was an
old people’s home. By the time
they finished, about four
people had died.
So the only conference that
can work is one conference after
a revolution that is organised
by the people and in those
circumstances, we will have a
deterrence not to mess up.
Any conference that will
require a rubber stamp
National Assembly to approve
is not going to work. We need
a complete overhaul of the
country, overhaul of our
constitution, we need a brand
new country. It is time for us to
shed our old skin because it is
making us look ugly; it is
making it impossible for us to
make progress.
What do you think about the
Ruga issue being pursued by
the Federal Government?
President Buhari is totally in
control of the Senate and the
House of Representatives now
and I don’t imagine there will
be any opposition to any law
he wants to implement whether
it meets the expected standard
or not.
The media has a
responsibility in all these.
When I was a student, there
was this organic relationship
with the Press. When we write
that we want to do a mass
action, it will be the headline
the following day. “Mass Action
Looms in Nigeria.” But today,
students cannot fight for
anything. They have been
silenced.
When students demonstrated
against poor infrastructure in
the University of Lagos, some
were rusticated and nothing
happened. They have not been
recalled. I even took
extraordinary action to go to
their convocation to protest.

44 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
The many unspoken strides of
Prof Charles Dokubo
By Onuabuachi Martin
I
have delayed this piece for over 5
months since after the commemoration
of Prof. Charles Dokubo's one year
in office as the Special Adviser to President
Muhammadu Buhari on Niger
Delta Amnesty. This I have done in order
to further gauge the level of consistency
in his initiatives since it’s a wellknown
fact that newly appointed CEOs
and Chairmen in our climes run out of
steam immediately after the celebration
of either 100 days or one year in office.
Hence this piece comes off as an indepth
critique of his efforts, challenges
and achievements in the last one year.
Let us by no measure talk about the
rot in the Presidential amnesty programme
before now. I’ll save you the
dilemma and go straight to the present.
In 2018 March, we were greeted with
news of a new dawn at the helm of affairs
in the Presidential Amnesty Programme
against the backdrop of rumours
of its possible scrap by President
Buhari owing to the rot allegedly noticed
in the immediate last leadership.
This news was immediately greeted
with Prof. Dokubo's call for a critical
stakeholder meeting involving the warring
factions of ex-agitators, elders of
the Niger Delta, interest groups with
varying degrees of leadership tussle to
grapple with and other notable Niger
Delta sons in Lagos. The Lagos meeting
was followed up closely by two phases
of peace driven meetings in Abuja
where robust discussions on the implementation
of the programme were held.
That meeting saw the birth of a committee
headed by Prof. Ayibaemi Spiff to
review the modus operandi of the Amnesty
Programme.
The committee found out that the
Amnesty office had undertaken the construction
of five Vocational Training/Reintegration
Centres across states in the
Niger Delta but was yet to be equipped
for the training of persons under the
programme. 11,297 persons were yet to
be placed under vocational training neither
were they deployed for formal education.
To curb this menace and put a reduction
cap on these overwhelming numbers,
Prof. Dokubo completed, equipped
and activated the oil and gas vocational
training centre in Agadagba-Obon,
Ondo state while the Basic skills vocational
training centre at Boro Town,
Bayelsa State was also commissioned.
Over 357 jobs have
been secured cutting
across civil service, oil
servicing firms, aviation
crop spray, hospitality
management and
underwater welding
Within 300 days in office, an implementation
of the Agricultural vocational
training centre in Gelegele, Edo State
was kick-started with a foundation laying
ceremony in February 15. On the
350th count of his number of days in
office, we saw the deliberate attempt to
complete the power and energy vocational
training centre and the Maritime
Vocational Training centre in Bomadi,
Delta state and Oboama, Rivers state
respectively.
Invariably, on our last count, 1,401
persons have been enrolled as trainees
in various key skill sets in the last one
year in office while 1,165 persons have
received entrepreneurial start-up packs
after being severally trained.
On our fact finding visit on the various
activities of the programme under
Prof. Dokubo especially amidst several
*Charles Dokubo
allegations of misappropriation, we
were shocked to notice that 1,230 beneficiaries
of the programme have been
offered fully funded scholarship and
enrolled in 11 partnering institutions of
higher learning in the country while 207
students have been spread to over 60
institutions in more than 18 countries
in January 2019 alone.
Counting down, in May this year, we
found out that over 357 jobs have been
secured cutting across civil service, oil
servicing firms, aviation crop spray,
hospitality management and underwater
welding.
Asides the creation of the Job Placement
and International Development
Partners Engagement Unit saddled with
the strategic responsibility of catering
for the local and international job needs
of persons registered under the amnesty
programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo
has also secured NAFDAC’S approval
to use 23 technology incubation centres
for cluster manufacturing by Agro
Trained beneficiaries of the programme
with a Train The Trainers sustainability
initiative. As part of his re-insertion
plans, Prof Dokubo is finalising plans
to certify Agric-based trainees and beneficiaries
of the scheme as Amnesty Programme
Training consultants for Agric
based contracts and future Agric based
training programmes.
These efforts in our opinion has set
the ground running for a successful
scaling of the programme with a view
to putting an end to the scourge of
ghost trainees. We can however confirm
that the payment of monthly stipends
to ex agitators has not been
stopped as rumoured neither has the
in-training allowance of students been
scrapped. On the several allegations
levelled against him, we however found
out that the looting and vandalization
of Kaiama Vocational Training Centre
which was billed to be commissioned
same month was done to ridicule his
efforts and frustrate him. We however
have it on good authority that replacements
are ongoing at the moment.
Also to curb the menace of contract
scams, Prof Dokubo has invoked an
implementation of the Bureau of Public
Procurement Act which deters and
metes out penalties for contractors who
sublet contracts of the Amnesty office
to third parties. On hearing the varying
degrees of allegations levelled
against Prof Dokubo, this independent
fact check was constituted to either validate
the accusations as factual or to put
to rest the accusations as baseless. Either
way, this exercise was done painstakingly
in the last one year to reveal
the truth on the activities of Prof Charles
Dokubo.
Finally, this fact finding will go on and
more publications will be made in the
nearest future on the activities of Prof
Charles Dokubo.
*Mr. Onuabuachi Prince Martin, Cofounder
Governance Fact Check writes
from Abuja.
Onyekuru must prove
himself – Yobo
igeria and Everton
Nlegend Joseph Yobo
claims Henry Onyekuru
must prove his quality at new
club Monaco.
The 22-year-old’s inability
to secure a work permit in
England cut his dream to
play for the Toffees, having
joined the Merseysiders in
2017.
Before teaming up with the
Monegasques on a five-year
deal, Onyekuru was sent on
loan to Anderlecht, and then
Galatasaray, where he
helped the Lions win a
domestic double last season.
Although Yobo feels
disappointed about the
young striker’s inability to
represent the Goodison Park
side owing to work permit
issues, he believes
Onyekuru’s move to
Monaco is a new chapter for
him – and must justify his
worth to show what the
Premier League is missing.
“He is a fantastic talent
and I would have loved to
see his deal with Everton go
Premier League side
Watford have confirmed
that Nigerian midfielder
Jayden Bennetts has
committed his future to the
club by penning a new deal.
The highly-rated teenager
has signed his first
professional contract with
the club.
Though the length of
contract signed by Bennetts
has not been disclosed,
through but work permit
restricted him from playing
in the Premier League,”
Yobo told Goal.
“But he has shown what
he’s got at Galatasaray, very
exciting to watch and he can
score goals as well. I was
happy seeing him play for
Nigeria national team but
he didn’t get that chance to
play for Everton because he
didn’t play more
international games to give
him the right.
“For me as an Evertonian,
I feel he is a good prospect
and would have been a great
talent for Everton. He did
very well at Galatasaray and
was one of the fans’
favourites and if he had his
By John Egbokhan
efending champions,
DD'Tigress yesterday sent
Flying Eagles invitee, Bennetts
commits future to Watford
13-man cycling delegation
A left Abuja yesterday to
attend the World Junior
Cycling Track Championship
in Frankfurt, Germany which
runs from today to August 18,
2019, the technical director of
the Cycling Federation of
Nigeria, CFN, Bashir
Mohammed has disclosed.
The delegation led by the
CFN president, Chief
Giandomenico Massari is
made up of eight cyclists, four
male and female each as well
as two coaches, Emmanuel
Onasanya and Joy Omevoh.
The four male cyclists are
Temple Okeyah and Vitalis,
both of who won medals at the
recently held African Cup
Track Cycling held at the
Moshood Abiola National
Stadium velodrome in Abuja
as well as Shedrack Igubor and
Timileyin Johnson.
Leading the female riders
are two gold medalists at the
African Track Championship,
Mary Samuel and Tawakalt
Yekeem who are joined by
Grace Ayuba and Happiness
way, he would have stayed
to continue his progress but
then, the club wanted to do
a different business which
was against his wish.”
After changing their
managers thrice last season,
Monaco were eliminated
from the Champions
League, the French Cup, and
narrowly escaped relegation
from Ligue 1.
D'Tigress demolish Cameroon
106-39, qualify for q-finals
allnigeriasoccer.com
understands that the
contract will be for an initial
period of one year and the
Vicarage Stadium outfit
have retained the option to
extend the agreement by an
additional twelve months.
Jayden Bennetts is highly
regarded at Watford and
trained with their first team
before the start of the new
season.
8 junior cyclists off to Germany
for world championship
igeria’s first batch of
Ncontingent to the 12th
African Games holding in
Rabat, Morocco have
arrived in the North African
country for the Games, the
News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) reports.
Dr Simon Ebhojiaye, Team
Nigeria’s Deputy Chief De
Mission II, made the
disclosure to NAN shortly on
arrival at Casablanca,
Morocco.
He said the first batch of
contingent arrived in
Ernest. The team are
expected back in the country
on August 19.
he head coach of Nigeria’s
Tsenior men’s volleyball
team, Japheth Nuhu has said
his boys’ want to rewrite
history at the 2019 All Africa
Games in Rabat, Morocco.
Nigeria won gold medal at
the 2003 Games held in Abuja,
Nigeria.
The former Niger Brass
coach said the men’s team is
not pushover adding that the
country is set for the final of
the volleyball event.
He said, “There is no coach
that will handle a team
without having the dream of
winning a medal, we are
putting all our efforts to see
this team rewrites history by
repeating what was done
during 2003 COJA games.
“The last time Nigeria won
the medal in the indoor
volleyball was won in during
Casablanca Tuesday
morning en route Rabat for
the Games.
“The team just arrived
safely in Casablanca and on
its way to Rabat for the
Games, ” he said.
Ebhojiaye said the team of
eight Judo athletes and
officials arrived for the
Games, while other batches
were being expected from
Wednesday.
NAN reports that 462
athletes and officials will be
representing Nigeria at the
a strong statement of intent to
win the ongoing FIBA
Women's AfroBasket 2019 ,
with a devastating demolition
of Cameroon 106-39 and
qualify for the first knockout
stage of the competition
holding in Senegal.
In yesterday's one-sided
match, the Nigerian side
showed why they are the team
to beat by whipping a
supposedly strong Cameroon
side, a follow-up to their
opening 75-26 win over
Tunisia.
Nigeria won all four quarters
of the match, the first 12-7, the
second 28-16, the third 23-10
and the last with a high score
of 34-6, sending out a strong
warning to other teams in the
tournament that it would take
more than a strong
performance to stop them from
a back-to-back Afrobasket title
in Dakar.
As things stand in the group,
D'Tigress have maximum four
points from two games played,
followed by the Cameroonians
in sedond position, with
Tunisia lagging behind in third
spot.
Japheth Nuhu: We want to rewrite
history in Morocco
COJA games and we have
struggled to pass through the
group stages ever since. I know
by the grace of God, things will
be different because we are not
pushovers.
He further said, “The team
is focused to mount the
podium at the end of the
games, the boys are equally
prepared for their opponents”
The former Kano Super Star
player said the ministry as well
as the Nigeria Volleyball
Federation has made every
basic requirement available for
the team.
The Ex international said,
“So far so good, our
preparation has been good.
The players are responding to
training, the ministry and the
Nigeria Volleyball Federation
have made available basic
requirement for our
development and we have no
African Games: First batch of Team Nigeria’s contingent arrives Morocco
Games scheduled to begin
Aug. 19 to Aug. 31.
Some events like football
will, however, start before the
opening ceremony, so
athletes involved will have
to be on ground before then.
The Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Youth and Sports
Development, Olusade
Adesola, had earlier said
that everything had been put
in place by the Federal
Government to ensure a
good outing for the country.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 45
PSquare’s Okoye ‘unbox’ 2019/20 LaLiga
season ball
Singer/Song writer Peter
Okoye of the PSquare
fame and Celebrity OAP, VJ
Adams have unboxed the
new LaLiga ball to signify
the kick-off of the 2019/
2020 LaLiga season. The
duo were selected as part of
a global campaign that
heralds the start of the new
LaLiga season.
Mr P who was also selected
alongside a few other
celebrities to watch games
of the opening LaLiga
weekend will be at the
Estadio de la Ceramica
where Villarreal will host
Granada CF, an experience
he is looking forward to,
especially with the prospect
of meeting Super Eagles
new sensation, Samuel
Chukwueze who plays for
the Yellow Submarines.
‘I’m looking forward to
meeting him for the first time
and also getting to see a
LaLiga game live’. Peter said.
Mr P who played football
when he was younger and
believed he could have
played professional if he
wasn’t a musician promised
to show Samuel Chukwueze
a few tricks when they meet
this weekend in Villarreal.
Villarreal will be counting
on the vociferous support of
their fans to hit new heights
this season. Interestingly,
with the population of the
town put at 51,000
inhabitants, half the town
can fit into the 25,000
capacity Estadio de la
Ceramica.
CAF Champions League:
Pillars will crumble in Kumasi,
says Kototo legend
F
ormer Asante Kotoko
player Malik Jabir said
Kano Pillars will not
withstand the pressure of
holding on to their first leg
CAF Champions League
preliminary tie advantage
when they take the
Ghanaian giants in Kumasi
on August 25.
Pillars beat the Porcupines
3-2 in the first leg at the
Sanni Abacha Stadium and
they must avoid a defeat or
secure a score draw to move
to the next round, to face
either Hafia FC of Guinea
or Tunisian club Etoile du
Sahel in the second round of
qualifying.
“Kotoko brought in so
many players and changed
their coach as well and that
made me a bit scared before
they left for Kano for first
leg,” Jabir, a former player
and coach of Kotoko told Y
FM-Kumasi.
“But now, this a very good
result for Kotoko, they have
done well and they have only
one chance. If they win by
one goal to nil in Kumasi
here, they will go through,”
said Jabir who was also a
technical director of Pillars,
“They have to know how
my former club Kano Pillars
play by now. They have to
know everything about them
because if you want to win a
fight, you must know
everything about your
opponent.”
Brazil 2019:
Eaglets start
camping in Abuja
GOtv Boxing NextGen5:
Forms out for young boxers
Registration forms for
GOtv Boxing NextGen
5, a talent hunt programme,
scheduled to hold on August
29-30 in Ilorin, Kwara
State, are now available at
designated centres.
This was disclosed in a
statement issued by Flykite
Promotions, organisers of
the event, on Tuesday.
According to the statement,
the form’s are available to
boxers aged between 18 and
25 at seven centres. The
centres are Kwara State
Boxing Association office
and Referees and Judges
Association office, both at
the Kwara State Stadium
Complex, Ilorin; Akure
Stadium Complex, Akure;
Alake Sports Centre,
Abeokuta; Oyo State Boxing
Association Office at the
Lekan Salami Stadium,
Ibadan; Lagos Boxing Hall
of Fame Gym, Surulere,
Lagos; and Nigerian Boxing
Board of Control (NBB of C)
Secretariat, National
Stadium, Lagos.
GOtv Boxing NextGen
debuted in 2015 as an
programme aimed at
discovering and developing
young Nigerian boxers.
The young boxers will
engage in sparring sessions
conducted by renowned
boxing coaches and at the
Kwara Stadium Complex,
Ilorin.
Boxers selected as the best
among the lot will have
their professional licences
and pre-licensing medical
examinations paid for pay
television service provider,
GOtv, sponsor of the
programme, in addition to
being in line to fight at
coming editions of GOtv
Boxing Night.
GOtv Boxing NextGen
Search has propelled several
boxers into the limelight,
including reigning West
African Boxing Union
(WABU) welterweight
champion, Rilwan “Baby
Face” Babatunde; Ridwan
“Scorpion” Oyekola; Prince
“Lion”
Nwoye,
Chukwuebuka “Wize King”
Ezewudo, Osamudiamen
“Chiso” Goodluck and
current national super
featherweight champion;
Opeyemi “Sense” Adeyemi.
Five –time champions
Nigeria have kick-started
their camping programme
for the FIFA U17 World Cup
finals taking place in Brazil
26 th October – 17 th
November 2019.
The Golden Eaglets picked
a ticket to the championship
after finishing among the
top four teams at the Africa
U17 Cup of Nations held in
Tanzania in April this year.
Head Coach Manu Garba
has called up 52 players who
have been instructed to
arrive at the Serob Legacy
Hotel, Abuja on Tuesday,
13 th August 2019.
Manu Garba was head
coach of the squad that won
Nigeria’s fourth title in the
United Arab Emirates in
2013. The Golden Eaglets
also triumphed at the 1985,
1993, 2007 and 2015
championships in China,
Japan, Korea Republic and
Chile respectively.

46 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
•Ronaldo
•Coutinho
Bayern Munich are interested in
signing Philippe Coutinho on
loan, should he not be involved in a
potential swap deal with Paris Saint-
Germain which would involve
Neymar returning to Barcelona,
according to Sky in Germany.
The Bundesliga club are closely
monitoring the negotiations over
Neymar between Barcelona and PSG
- and if Coutinho is not included in
the deal - they will prepare a bid for
the former Liverpool midfielder.
Barcelona have previously placed
an £80m price tag on the Brazilian and
City avoid
transfer ban,
Fifa fines
club £314,
650
Manchester City have avoided
the threat of a Fifa transfer
ban for breaching rules regarding the
transfer of minors, with world football’s
governing body instead imposing a
fine of over £314,000 on the club.
City have been fined 370,000 Swiss
francs (£314,650) for breaches relating
to the international transfer and
registration of players under the age
of 18.
Fifa’s decision comes as a huge
boost to City, who will now be able to
plan ahead in the transfer market
without the prospect of a potential ban
on signing players.
A Fifa statement read: “The Fifa
Disciplinary Committee has
sanctioned English club Manchester
City FC for breaches relating to the
international transfer and registration
of players under the age of 18.
“Manchester City FC was found to
have breached, amongst others, article
19 of the Fifa Regulations on the Status
and Transfer of Players.
Ronaldo: Why I’m
better than Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo says Lionel Messi will go down in history
for the consistency of his performances, but the Portuguese
also feels that lifting the Champions League with more
than one club sets him apart from the Barcelona star.
“Messi’s a top player who will be remembered not only for all
his Ballons d’Or, but also for always being up there, year after year,
like me. The difference between us is that I’ve played for different
clubs and also won the Champions League with different clubs,”
the Juventus striker told DAZN.
“There aren’t many players with five Champions League titles,
which is why I feel like I have a special bond with the competition,”
said the 34-year-old, who was part of the Manchester United side
that claimed Europe’s elite club trophy in 2008, before adding
four more winners’ medals at Real Madrid in 2014, 2016, 2017 and
2018.
Asked how he remains in such good physical shape at his age,
Cristiano said: “It’s hard to stay at the same level and keep yourself
at the top. This svelte, athletic body didn’t happen just like that.
I’m not being entirely serious when I say that... but it’s true that
behind all the trophies there’s a lot of hard work.
Coutinho in
Bayern link
would prefer to see Coutinho leave
the Nou Camp on a permanent
transfer before the window shuts
for European clubs on September
2.
Sky Sports News
understands Bayern Munich would be
looking to agree a two-year loan
arrangement with Barcelona, similar
to the deal they secured for Real Madrid
midfielder James Rodriguez in 2017.
Bayern have already brought in
Inter Milan midfielder Ivan Perisic on
a season-long loan, as well as French
full-back duo Lucas Hernandez and
Benjamin Pavard as well as Marco
Friedl and Jann-Feite Arp.
Coutinho has four years remaining
on his current deal at Barcelona, and
has scored 21 goals over the course of
two seasons, helping the Spanish
giants to consecutive La Liga title since
his arrival in Catalonia.
helsea manager Frank Lampard has
Csaid there was no individual that
could replace winger Eden Hazard, urging
the club to move on from the loss of one of
their greatest players.
PSG raise
Neymar’s
asking price
to 250
million euros
Despite being open to his sale,
Paris Saint-Germain are
holding out for a 250 million euro fee
for Neymar.
Both Barcelona and Real Madrid
are keen on the Brazilian’s signing,
though Neymar is believed to
prefer a return to Catalonia.
One of the challenges for
Barcelona is that PSG would
prefer to sell to any club other than
the Blaugrana with past incidents,
such as the manner in which the
Catalans pursued Marco Verratti
in 2017, rupturing relations between
the two entities.
Ramos ready for
Madrid’s La Liga
opener
UEFA Super Cup: Liverpool,
Chelsea tango in Istanbul
The 2019 UEFA Super Cup pits
UEFA Champions League
winners Liverpool against UEFA
Europa League champions Chelsea, in
an all-English clash coming up today.
Liverpool and Chelsea will come into
the game off the back of their opening
2019/20 Premier League encounters,
with Liverpool at home to Norwich City
and Chelsea away to Manchester
United on the weekend prior. DStv
subscribers can watch the match live
on SuperSport channels.
This will be Liverpool’s sixth
appearance in the Super Cup and a
first since 2005. They are three-time
Yet, given the difficulty of finding
another buyer for the wantaway star,
PSG have agreed to speak with
Barcelona, though the Ligue 1
champions are now demanding a
quarter of a billion euros.
After spending 120 million euros on
Antoine Griezmann earlier this
summer, which required a loan to fund
the move, such a fee for Neymar
would prove implausible.
Real Madrid will be able to call
upon club captain Sergio
Ramos for their La Liga’s opener
against Celta Vigo on Saturday.
The defender trained with the rest
of his teammates on Tuesday at
Valdebebas, while Rodrygo worked
in the gym.
Marco Asensio, Ferland Mendy
and Brahim Diaz continued their
respective recovery regimes.
Mendy trained with the ball at his
feet both on the field and inside the
training ground facilities, while
Brahim completed part of the
workout with the group.
Castilla players Diego Altube
and Takefusa Kubo also joined the
session.
Lampard wants Chelsea to forget Hazard
•Abraham
‘Arsenal undersold
Iwobi by £11.3m’
London-based investment company Carteret Analytics has
A disclosed that Super Eagles star Alex Iwobi who completed
a move to Everton on deadline day, signing a five-year deal until
the summer of 2024 was undersold by £11.3m, according to The
Sun.
The transfer fee paid for the signature of the winger has not
Hazard moved to Real Madrid in June
with the Spanish club reported to have paid
around 100 million euros ($111.86 million)
for the Belgium international.
Chelsea lost their opening Premier
League game with Lampard in charge 4-0
to Manchester United on Sunday and face
Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup today.
The former England international says the
team can collectively thrive despite losing
Hazard, just as they did after the departure
•Neymar
of other club favourites.
“I was a huge fan of Eden Hazard, as a
Chelsea fan. I played with him. For me,
clearly (he’s) one of the best in world football,
over his time at Chelsea one of the most
productive in the team generally and a
leader,” Lampard told a news conference.”
Lampard said he would continue to play
the club’s young players despite criticism
from former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho
on Sunday.
been disclosed by Everton and Arsenal, though 35 million pounds is
the most recurrent fee being bandied about by the media.
The worth of Iwobi was calculated based on his intrinsic value,
which is a fee based on performances for the selling club and the
expected impact for the buying club.
Prior to his move to Everton, the Hale End Academy product was
valued at 25 million euros by the experts at transfermarkt, while
CIES Football Observatory had advised clubs to splash €63.7 million
to sign him as at March 2019
Nigeria’s most valuable player could make his competitive debut
for Everton when they face Watford on Saturday.
winners of the trophy (1977, 2001, 2005)
and looking to join Spanish giants Real
Madrid on a tally of four Super Cup
titles.
The Reds have remained essentially
unchanged from the team which won
the Champions League final against
Tottenham Hotspur back in June, with
manager Jurgen Klopp insisting that
they have the strength in depth to
compete at the top level again – though
there will be concern about long-term
fatigue for their first-choice front three
of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino
and Sadio Mane, all of whom played
at international tournaments through
the off season.
Chelsea will be making their fourth
appearance in the Super Cup. The
London side won the competition on
debut in 1998 but lost in back-to-back
showings in 2012 and 2013.
The Blues have had an offseason of
great upheaval, with manager
Maurizio Sarri departing to Juventus
and star player Eden Hazard sold to
Real Madrid. With a transfer ban in
place, new boss and club legend Frank
Lampard will be forced to place more
faith in the club’s youth system than
would usually be the case, but
fortunately Chelsea have some of the
best up-and-coming talent in England,
exemplified by Callum Hudson-Odoi.
IBF belt on
the line in
Joshua, Ruiz
rematch
Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz
Jr expect to contest the IBF
championship despite the prospect
of it being stripped before their
rematch, according to promoter Eddie
Hearn.
Ruiz Jr won the IBF, WBA and WBO
heavyweight titles in a major shock
against Joshua in June, and their
second fight will have the same gold
at stake on December 7 in Saudi
Arabia live on Sky Sports Box Office.
“When we announced this fight, we
along with Ruiz Jr’s promoters wrote
to the governing bodies to tell them
that the fight is happening,” Hearn
told Sky Sports.
“We expect the IBF, WBA and WBO
belts to be on the line.
“There are mandatories due but, in
our opinion, Ruiz Jr is within his
rights to have a voluntary defence.
That defence is against Anthony
Joshua.”
The IBF, earlier this month, stripped
their middleweight championship
from Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez due to his
failure to agree a fight against the
mandatory challenger Sergiy
Derevyanchenko.
Derevyanchenko is now expected
to contest the vacant belt with next
highest ranked contender, Gennady
Golovkin.
•Joshua and Ruiz

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 — 47

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
TODAY’S PUZZLE
Sudoku
FRIDAY’S ANSWER
TODAY’S CROSSWORD
QUICK CROSSWORD
THURSDAY’S SOLUTION
ACROSS
1 Nearly (6)
4 Tenet (6
8 Travel by car (5)
9 One who shoes horses (7)
10 Provider of
refreshments (7)
11 Express in speech (5)
12 Remiss (9)
17 Steed (5)
19 Throw away (7)
21 Advantageous
purchase (7)
22 Gangway (5)
23 Concurred (6)
24 Recluse (6)
DOWN
1 Junkie (6)
2 Make damp (7)
3 Take an oath (5)
5 On the way (2,5)
6 Imbecile (5)
7 Uproar (6)
9 Proscribed (9)
13 Hand-thrown shell (7)
14 Horizontal beam (7)
15 Morbid fear (6)
16 Period before
Christmas (6)
18 Less common (5)
20 Shiver (5)
How to Play Sudoku
Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two
of the same number).
Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines
from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine
blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no
number can appear twice in any block, column or row.
No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or
multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.
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