09102019 - 2020: Buhari presents N10.33trn job creation budget to NASS

40 

Poverty and 

the Nigerian 

attitude to 

giving (2) 

FG plans new measures to boost 

revenue from mining — Minister 

IOCs sold divested oil assets 

to incompetent operators — NNPC 

How Nigeria can benefit, be competitive — Ecobank CEO 

FG defends VAT increase, says it’ll help struggling states 

37 

WADUME: Panel 

recommends disciplinary 

actions against Army 

Capt, 4 others 8 

Boko Haram crisis 

8 

returning to pre-2015 

levels with new strategy 

— REPORT 

9 

VOL. 26: NO. 63914 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 

2020: Buhari presents N10.33trn 

job creation budget to NASS 

•MDAs to appear for 2020 budget defence in October – Lawan, Senate President 

•Reps commence debate today; •APC, CUPP divided over budget prospects 

STORY 

ON PAGE 

5 

•PDP tasks NASS on 2020 Budget; challenges Buhari to make Presidency allocation public 

Police 

have bad 

image, IGP 

admits 34 

Why CCB 

Declaration 

— GROUP 

Stop paying 

salary to 

workers not 

9 

should charge 

Diri for violating 

Assets 

on IPPIS 

— BUHARI 

Mr & Mrs 

13 

COLUMNISTS 

DEAR BUNMI 

FASAN 

30 31 

SEE 

INSIDE

2 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 — 3


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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 — 5 

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*President Mohammadu Buhari presenting the 2020 Budget of N10.33 trillion at the National 

Assembly in Abuja yesterday. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan. 

2020: Buhari presents N10.33trn 

job creation budget to NASS 

By Henry Umoru, 

Levinus 

Nwabughiogu, 

Joseph Erunke, 

Omeiza Ajayi, 

Dirisu Yakubu & 

Tordue Salem 

ABUJA-WORKS and 

Housing Ministry got 

the lion’s share of President 

Muhammadu Buhari’s 

proposed N10.33 trillion 

2020 ‘’budget of Sustaining 

Growth and job creation.” 

Sectors heavily favoured 

in the budget presented to 

the joint session of the National 

Assembly include 

Power, N127 billion; Transportation, 

N123 billion; 

Universal Basic Education 

Commission, UBEC, N112 

billion; Defence, N100 billion; 

and zonal intervention 

projects, N100 billion 

The 2020 Budget is N1.4 

trillion higher than the N8.9 

trillion budget of 2019. 

President Buhari said the 

2020 Budget had been designed 

to be a budget of 

fiscal consolidation, to 

strengthen macroeconomic 

environment; invest in critical 

infrastructure, human 

capital development and 

enable institutions, especially 

in key job creating 

sectors. 

According to him, it is also 

aimed at incentivising private 

sector investment essential 

to complement the government’s 

development 

plans, policies and programmes; 

and enhance social 

investment programmes 

to further deepen 

their impact on marginalised 

and most vulnerable 

Nigerians. 

President Buhari said the 

expenditure estimate would 

include statutory transfers of 

N556.7 billion; non-debt 

recurrent expenditure of 

N4.88 trillion; and N2.14 

trillion of capital expenditure 

(excluding the capital 

component of statutory 

transfers). 

He said debt servicing was 

estimated at N2.45 trillion, 

while provision for Sinking 

Fund to retire maturing 

bonds issued to local contractors 

is N296 billion. 

President Buhari put estimated 

2020 Federal Government 

revenue at N8.155 

trillion, made up of oil revenue 

N2.64 trillion; non-oil 

tax revenues, N1.81 trillion; 

and other revenues N3.7 trillion. 

He said this was seven 

percent higher than the 

2019 comparative estimate 

of N7.594 trillion, inclusive 

of government-owned enterprises. 

The President, who noted 

that investing in critical infrastructure 

was a key component 

of fiscal strategy under 

the 2020 Budget Proposals, 

said that an aggregate 

sum of N2.46 trillion (inclusive 

of N318.06 billion in 

statutory transfers) had been 

proposed for capital 

projects in 2020. 

He said: “Although the 

2020 capital budget is 

N721.33 billion (or 23 percent) 

lower than the 2019 

budget provision of N3.18 

trillion, it is still higher than 

the actual and projected 

capital expenditure outturns 

for both the 2018 and 

2019 fiscal years, respectively. 

‘’However, at 24 percent of 

aggregate projected expenditure, 

the 2020 provision 

falls significantly short of 

the 30 percent target in the 

Economic Recovery and 

Growth Plan, ERGP, 2017- 

2020.” 

The President noted that 

Budget deficit was projected 

to be N2.18 trillion in 

2020, and that this would 

include draw-downs on 

project-tied loans and related 

capital expenditure. 

He stressed that this represents 

1.52 percent of estimated 

GDP, well below the 

3 percent threshold set by 

the Fiscal Responsibility Act 

of 2007, and in line with the 

ERGP target of 1.96 percent. 

According to him, the deficit 

will be financed by new 

foreign and domestic borrowings, 

privatization proceeds, 

signature bonuses 

and draw-downs on loans 

secured for specific development 

projects. 

President Buhari, who told 

the lawmakers that Nigeria 

was committed to meeting 

its debt service obligations, 

said further: “Accordingly, 

we provided the sum of 

N2.45 trillion for debt service. 

Of this amount, 71 percent 

is to service domestic 

debt which accounts for 

about 68 percent of the total 

debt. The sum of N296 

billion is provided for the 

Sinking Fund to retire maturing 

bonds issued to local 

contractors.” 

President Buhari disclosed 

that there was a draft 

Finance Bill that proposes 

an increase of the VAT rate 

from 5% to 7.5%, just as he 

said that the 2020 Appropriation 

Bill was based on this 

new VAT rate, adding that 

the additional revenues 

would be used to fund 

health, education and infrastructure 

programmes. 

He said that against the 

backdrop that states and local 

governments were allocated 

85% of all VAT revenues, 

greater quality and efficiency 

was expected from 

them in their spending. 

“The VAT Act already exempts 

pharmaceuticals, educational 

items, and basic 

commodities, which exemptions 

we are expanding under 

the Finance Bill, 2019. 

‘’Specifically, Section 46 

of the Finance Bill, 2019 ex- 

Continues on Page 41 

NEW MINIMUM WAGE: Threat by FG to downsize (3) 

By Abosade Adelaja & Olayinka Latona 

The threat by the FG 

should not create 

unnecessary panic 

knowing full well that it 

has no other means of 

implementing the new 

minimum wage than 

retrenching some of its 

workers. 

This is done in other 

countries of the world 

most especially in the 

private sector; we 

shouldn’t expect 

anything less from the 

government. 

-Omopariola 

Eromidayo 

Graduate 

Many of these 

workers are family 

men and rely on their 

income for survival while 

few of them are bachelors 

striving to put body and 

soul together. I want to 

remind us that Nigeria is 

not getting any better as 

rape, kidnapping, killings, 

rumours of war and 

insecurity persist. 

If these people are sacked 

before minimum wage can 

be implemented, what will 

be their hope of survival 

and what will they resort 

to? 

-Ohagba Sandra 

Student 

Sincerely speaking, 

Nigeria is heading 

towards serious 

revolution. Imagine what 

National Assembly 

m e m b e r s , 

ministers, governors 

and the rest, take home 

every month. 

Just to pay N30,000 not 

$30,000, they are talking 

about sack. It’s totally an 

autocratic system. How 

many countries in the 

world do such? I don’t 

even want to talk about 

it. I am so vexed. 

-Aniakor Chineye 

Student 

The 

Federal 

Government’s 

resolution to retrench 

workers in order to 

implement the new 

minimum wage is 

uncalled for. There’s 

high level of 

unemployment already. 

Only a few can boast of 

their jobs, majority of 

employees are 

underemployed. The FG 

should look inward on 

what to do to implement 

the new minimum wage. 

-Adeloye Oluwaseun 

Emmanuel 

Teacher 

I 

’m not aware of such a 

threat, it’s a media 

stuff. For clarity sake, FG 

has commenced the 

implementation of the 

minimum wage for 

officers on grade 1-7 

since two months ago. 

The problem now is for 

officers on grade level 7 

and above, of which govt 

is talking about 

consequential 

adjustments. That’s is 

the issue at stake, and 

the Labour has given 

October 16, deadline for 

the implementation or to 

embark on indefinite 

strike. 

-Logo Nike 

Student 

It’s totally unacceptable and 

very ridiculous for the FG 

to sack workers before 

implementing the 

minimum wage. It's sadistic 

trying to throw more people 

into the already saturated job 

market which can lead to 

more insecurity. What is the 

worth of N30,000 today in 

Nigeria? It’s valueless 

especially in a country where 

education is not free and 

family planning has failed 

woefully. They should rather 

find ways to engage 

qualified youths roaming 

the streets aimlessly without 

any future. 

-Muda Dayo Ogunsola 

Businesswoman

6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 

33-yr-old 

man rapes 

7-yr-old girl 

in Ogun 

By James Ogunnaike 

ABEOKUTA—MEN of the 

Ogun State Police 

Command have arrested a 33- 

year-old man, Olabowale 

Samuel, for raping a sevenyear-old 

girl (name withheld). 

The suspect, according to the 

image-maker of the command, 

ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, was 

arrested last week Friday 

following a report by the father 

of the victim, who complained 

at Sagamu Police Station. 

He said: “When he came 

back from work in the evening 

of that day, he discovered that 

the pant of the victim was 

stained with blood. 

“On enquiry, the victim 

informed him that it was the 

suspect who lives in the next 

building that lured her into his 

room and sexually abused her. 

“The victim, whose mother 

has separated from the father, 

was left in the care of a 

neighbour in the house who 

did not know the time when 

the suspect lured her to his 

house.” 

Oyeyemi added that the 

suspect confessed to 

committing the crime. 

EFCC arrests 

5 students, 

12 others over 

internet fraud 

THE Economic and 

Financial Crimes 

Commission, EFCC, Ibadan 

zonal office, on Monday, 

October 7, 2019, arrested 17 

suspected internet fraudsters 

among whom were five, who 

claimed to be students of the 

Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti. 

The suspects were arrested 

in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State 

capital, following meticulous 

consideration of intelligence 

reports detailing their alleged 

involvement in internet fraud 

and other related offences. 

Before the arrest, operatives 

of the commission in the zone 

had conducted preliminary 

investigations to ascertain the 

merits of the allegations against 

them. 

After establishing substantive 

facts, the EFCC sprang into 

action and effected the arrest 

on Monday. 

While five of the suspects 

claimed to be students of the 

Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, 

others said they were into 

various vocations. 

Some items used in 

perpetrating the crime were 

recovered from them and 

registered as exhibits to be 

tendered in court. 

The suspects will be charged 

to court as soon as 

investigations are concluded. 

Kano Court remands lecturer in 

prison over sexual harassment 

AChief Magistrate’s Court 

sitting in Kano, yesterday, 

ordered the remand of a 36-yearold 

lecturer, Ali Shehu, in prison 

custody for breach of trust and 

sexually harassing his female 

student. 

The accused, a lecturer of Kano 

State School of Technology, is 

facing trial on a two-count charge 

By Kingsley Omonobi 

& Egufe Yafugborhi 

POLICE operatives are 

reportedly on the trail of 

gunmen dressed in military 

camouflage that abducted nine 

people, including a 12-year-old 

boy, in a remote village of Pegi in 

Kuje, Abuja Monday night. 

Commissioner of Police, FCT, 

CP Bala Ciroma, who is 

personally coordinating the 

manhunt for the abductors and 

the kidnapped persons, disclosed, 

yesterday, that the Police were in 

the bush trailing the kidnappers. 

Also yesterday, the Rivers State 

Police Command said they were 

yet to establish the whereabouts 

of the two police sergeants and 

boat riders abducted in the waters 

of Andoni Local Government 

Area of the state. 

Speaking on the manhunt for 

the gunmen dressed in military 

camouflage, CP Bala Ciroma 

said: “As I am talking to you, we 

are inside the bush moving on. 

There is no motorable road. Even 

motorcycle cannot pass through 

but we are weathering it in 

difficult conditions, to let these 

criminals know that the Police will 

come after them wherever they 

are hiding. 

A victim of the abduction told 

newsmen that the kidnappers 

numbering about 20 waylaid their 

vehicle as it was entering Pegi 

community, a resettlement area in 

Kuje Area Council of the Federal 

Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, at 

about 8p.m. 

He said the gunmen, who were 

dressed in military camouflage, 

shot at two vehicles, including a 

NISSAN Frontier and Toyota 

Solara deflated the tyres and 

crippled the vehicles before taking 

the occupants into the bush. 

of breach of official trust and 

attempt to commit an offence, 

contrary to Sections 95 and 98 of 

the Penal Code. 

Chief Magistrate Muhammad 

Idris ordered the remand of the 

accused person and adjourned 

the matter until October 15. 

Earlier, the prosecutor, ASP 

Badamasi Gawuna, had told the 

BUDGET WATCH:Cross-section of 

lawmakers at the presentation of 2020 budget of 

N10.33 trillion by President Muhammadu Buhari 

at the National Assembly, Abuja, yesterday. 

PHOTOS: Gbemiga Olamikan. 

Unconfirmed reports said the 

kidnappers are demanding the 

sum of N10 million ransom from 

a relative of the victims. 

Pegi is said to be a remote 

village of the FCT through which 

bordering communities in 

Nasarawa and Kogi states can be 

reached. 

Speaking on the abducted 

police sergeants and the boat 

riders in Rivers, yesterday, the 

Spokesman for Rivers state Police 

Command, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, 

court that the accused committed 

the offence on Auguct 19, in Kano. 

He said this followed a sting 

operation conducted by the Kano 

State Public Complaints and Anticorruption 

Commission. 

Gawuna said on the same date 

at about 11 a.m, the accused who 

happens to be a lecturer of School 

of Technology Kano, took one of 

confirmed that they were yet to 

establish the whereabouts of the 

victims. 

Vanguard gathered that the 

abducted persons were returning 

to Port Harcourt at dawn 

yesterday when the pirates 

captured them. 

PPRO Omoni said: “It is a 

worrisome development, but 

manhunt has already 

commenced against the 

criminals. I can assure the public 

that the victims will be released 

his female students (name 

withheld) to Ummi Plaza in Kano, 

to help him in marking the final 

semester exams. 

“In the process, the accused 

admitted to touching the said 

victim’s private parts,” the 

prosecutor said. 

The accused pleaded guilty to 

the charge. 

Gunmen kidnap 9 in Abuja, as Police launch manhunt 

By Evelyn Usman 

Acommunal clash broke out 

yesterday in Ajah area of 

Lagos, leaving several persons 

injured. Unsuspecting 

commuters and motorists, who ran 

into some of the armed youths, 

had their valuables dispossessed 

off them. 


fight was between some locals 

from Ipara Mayegun and Ajiran 

communities. The exact cause of 

yesterday’s fight could not be 

ascertained. But it was gathered 

that there had been a lingering 

war between both communities. 

Pandemonium according to an 

eye witness, broke out yesterday, 

when armed youths from Ipara 

Mayegun end were marching to 

Ajiran end to attack them. 

In the process, they were said 

to have attacked anyone on sight. 

A victim, Macdalyne Chiba, 

said: “I was on my way to work 

when some hoodlums attacked 

those of us that were at the busstop. 

We concluded they were 

robbers because they forcefully 

collected people’s cash and 

phones. 

“Whoever resisted was stabbed. 

Several persons were injured. I 

sustained an injury while 

unhurt in no time.” 

A community source had 

narrated that “two police officers 

and a boat driver have been 

kidnapped on Andoni River this 

(Tuesday) morning. 

“The boat filled with passengers 

was heading towards Port 

Harcourt when the pirates 

ambushed them, forcing other 

passengers out before taking 

away two police officers on-board 

and the boat driver to an 

unknown destination.” 

Communal clash leaves scores injured in Lagos 

By Onozure Dania 

LAGOS—A 

34-year-old 

contribution coordinator, 

Happy Ademosun, who allegedly 

swindled 17 traders of N1.6 

million under false pretences, was 

yesterday arraigned before a 

Lagos Magistrate’s Court, sitting 

at Igbosere. 

Ademosun, whose residential 

address was not stated, is facing 

a 32-count charge bordering on 

fraud and stealing. 

The prosecutor, Sergeant 

Rosemary Ehimegbe, told the 

court that the defendant 

committed the alleged offences 

between May 5 and August 30, 

at 7, Balogun Street, Gbara Lekki 

in Eti-Osa area of Lagos. 

She said that the defendant 

fraudulently obtained a total sum 

of N1.6 million from 17 traders 

involved in monthly contribution 

exercise. 

“The defendant posed as the 

monthly contribution coordinator 

running.” 

Vanguard reliably gathered that 

the armed youths stormed a 

secondary school in the area, 

looking for students from Ajiran, 

to attack. But the swift arrival of a 

team of policemen from Ilasan 

division prevented them from 

carrying out their threat. 

Four persons according to 

Police sources were arrested while 

the leader of the warring youths 

was said to be on the run. 

As at 6p.m., normalcy had 

returned to the communities while 

policemen were on both foot and 

vehicular patrol, intending to 

prevent a reprisal attack. 

Woman docked for swindling 17 traders of N1.6m 

and swindled 17 traders of the 

money they contributed. 

“Among the traders who were 

swindled included, Eva Peters, 

Gift Njoku, Lilian Uba, Queen 

Bernard and Treasure Eluke,” 

Ehimegbe said. 

According to her, the offences 

committed are punishable under 

Sections 287 and 314 of the 

Criminal Law of Lagos State, 

2015. 

The defendant pleaded not 

guilty to all the charges.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019—7 

Flood wreaks havoc on Edo, 

Ekiti, Osun, Ondo communities 

By Dayo Johnson, 

Rotimi Ojomoyela, 

Akpokona Omafuaire, 

Alemma Aliu & Shina 

Abubakar 

A DO-EKITI—SEVERAL 

hours of rain-induced flood, 

yesterday, kept many residents of 

Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and Edo states 

indoors, with a final year student 

of Adekunle Ajasin University, 

Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, 

reportedly swept away. 

Three other students were 

rescued, just as business activities 

were brought to an abrupt halt in 

the reported states. 

The late undergraduate, Doyin 

Boluwade, a student of Religious 

Studies Department, was 

reportedly swept away by a 

torrential rainfall Monday 

evening in the university town. 

Divers employed to fish out the 

remains of Doyin Boluwade were 

still at it at press time, yesterday. 


deceased was trying to escape 

from the flood that entered her 

residence when she was swept 

away at about 6:30p.m. on 

Monday. 

Reports had it that the 

deceased, a native of Ekiti State, 

lived close to a canal at Ibaka 

quarters. 

The landlord, Elemukona 

Ademola, who narrowly escaped 

from being swept away, said he 

had to climb a cocoa tree to avoid 

the flood. 

Eyewitnesses said the 

landlords in the area had tried 

effortlessly to control the erosion 

from the canal until the flood 

became uncontrollable, Monday. 

Spokesperson of the institution, 

Victor Akinpelumi, confirmed the 

incident and said the 

management staff of the 

university had visited the 

residence to assess the incident. 

Reports had it that the parents 

of the deceased had arrived in the 

community after the news got to 

them. 

Police image-maker in the state, 

Femi Joseph, confirmed the 

incident noting that the three 

students that were rescued have 

been taken to the university health 

centre for medical treatment. 

Meanwhile, the monarch of the 

town, the Alale of Akungba, Oba 

Sunday Adeyeye Ojimo, and the 

Seriki Muslimi of Akungbaland, 

Chief Seriki Awesu, have called 

on NEMA and Ondo 

government to come to the aid of 

the victims whose property were 

destroyed by the flood. 

Ekiti 

In Ekiti, the torrential rains, 

which began at about 6p.m. late 

on Monday, continued 

ceaselessly for the greater part of 

yesterday. 

In the process, several areas of 

the city became flooded such that 

hundreds of commuters and 

residents were stranded. 

The state secretariat in the 

•...as Ondo landlord climbed cocoa 

tree to escape flood 

capital, along with other 

government offices witnessed low 

turnout of workers, as many could 

either not get to their places in 

record time, or had to return 

home when flooding took over 

virtually every road. 

Most hit was the notorious 

Ureje area of the capital, asthe 

bridge had collapsed last week. 

Others areas include Ajilosun 

area, along Ado-Akure Highway, 

Flood by Adolor Junction, Benin City, Edo State, yesterday. 

Onala, Ayewa, Ilupeju, all in Ado 

Ekiti, Ikere Ekiti, headquarters of 

Ikere LG and the federal highway, 

along Aramoko Ekiti, 

headquarters of Ekiti West Local 

Government Area, among several 

others. 

Many parents were seen at the 

bank of the flooded Ureje Bridge, 

lamenting the whereabouts of 

their children and other loved 

ones. 

Human ferries; 

schools shut 

Some street urchins, commonly 

referred to as Area Boys, took 

advantage of the development to 

make brisk businesses by ferrying 

stranded pedestrians across 

flooded areas for a fee. 

Similarly, in Osogbo, Osun 

State, a torrential rainfall 

yesterday morning destroyed 

goods worth millions of naira, as 

traders at Alekuwodo market 

lament over their loss. 

The rain also disrupted business 

activities in the state capital as 

some parents did not allow their 

children to go to school because 

of the resulting flood. 

The flood overflow the boundary 

of Opoopo Stream at Rasco area 

at Oke-Fia in the state capital and 

flooded into the Akindeko 

Market at Alekuwodo area. 

Traders affected at the 

Alekuwodo Market disclosed that 

the waters suddenly flooded the 

market and nothing could be 

salvaged. 

Other areas affected by the early 

morning flood include Awosuru, 

Ayekale, Biket and Lamenco in 

the state capital. 

A trader affected by the flood, 

who identified herself as Mrs 

Anilola, said: “The last time we 

witnessed such incident was 

seven years ago, after which the 

market was renovated and the 

stream’s bank built up.” 

Benin City 

Also, some parts of Benin City, 

the Edo State capital, was equally 

flooded yesterday as a result of 

early morning rain, the second in 

three weeks. 

Some streets off Sapele Road, 

Adolor Junction by Ugbowo- 

Lagos Road, Dumex also along 

Sapele Road, JB Estate area 

along Boundary Road and some 

parts of Evbuotubu and Agboma 

off Ekenwan Road, were affected. 

A resident in Agboma, Elder 

Sunday Idehen, yesterday 

appealed to the state government 

to link his area identified as Efosa 

Street and Agboma to the 

ongoing construction work in 

Ekenwan Road to evacuate 

rainwater from their area, as he 

lamented that their houses were 

sinking. 

It is believed that the desilting 

of the drainage ought to have 

been done before the rains, as 

some of the sand evacuated are 

being washed back into the 

drains. 

Also, the flood brought huge 

sand to the highway at the Benin- 

Sapele Road by-pass forcing 

motorists to divert routes. 

However, the state government 

has commenced the distribution 

of relief materials to flood victims 

in five local government areas 

across the state, inluding 

Igueben, Egor, Oredo, Ovia 

South-West, Ikpoba-Okha and 

Uhunmwonde. 

Agbodobiri ravaged 

Meanwhile, Agbodobiri 

community in Burutu Local 

Government Area of Delta State, 

ravaged by flood with over 100 

stranded families, have cried out 

for help. 

Tamaratare Igwe, community 

youth leader, lamented that 

Agbodobiri, headquarters of 

Ugbolubiri Kingdom, has been 

neglected by the state and local 

government for many years. 

He added that the community, 

being an oil-impacted one, 

deserves government attention. 

... with Emma'nKen (08163121378) 

And you can still sleep? 

You've not been hurt 

This writer deserves the 

Federal GOVERNMENT of 

Nigeria's full scholarship 

The 

girls are 

angry. 

Let's 

leave 

them 

alone


VISIT: Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Mr. Tunde Fowler (left) with 

Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu (right), at Nigeria Police Headquarters, in 

Abuja, yesterday 

Taraba killing: Panel recommends disciplinary 

actions against Army Capt, four others 

•Says Capt ordered troops to open fire on bus 

conveying IRT operatives 

By Kingsley 

Omonobi & 

Joseph Erunke 

ABUJA— THE panel of 

inquiry set up by Chief 

of Defence Staff, General 

Abayomi Olonisakin, on the 

directive of President 

Muhammadu Buhari to 

investigate the killing of 

three police operatives in the 

Inspector General of Police 

Intelligence Response 

Team, IRT, by soldiers in 

Taraba State, which 

culminated in the release of 

kidnap kingpin, Hamisu 

Wadume, 

has 

recommended disciplinary 

action against Captain Tijani 

Balarabe and four others. 

It said the army captain 

ordered the shooting of the 

white Hummer bus 

conveying the three 

policemen and the kidnap 

kingpin, Alhaji Hamisu 

Wadume, from Ibbi to the 

state capital, Jalingo. 

The panel also said there 

was need for the said Army 

captain, some soldiers of 93 

Battalion, Divisional Crime 

Officer of Wukari Police 

Station and some policemen 

to be further investigated 

over alleged complicity in the 

unfortunate incident. 

These were contained in a 

statement issued yesterday 

by Defence Headquarters, 

entitled ‘’Report of Board of 

Inquiry to investigate the 

circumstances surrounding 

the killing of three Nigeria 

Police personnel and two 

civilians by troops of 

Nigerian Army in Taraba 

State," by Acting Director, 

Defence Information, Col 

Onyema Nwachukwu, 

The statement read: “After 

a thorough and painstaking 

investigation into the 

incident, the BOI submitted 

its report to the convening 

authority, observing that 

there were infractions and 

poor communication 

between personnel of the 

NPF and troops of the NA. 

“It was also observed that 

there was non-adherence to 

the Standard Operating 

Procedure by both parties 

involved in the incident. It 

further made some 

recommendations to the NA 

and NPF to forestall future 

recurrence and bring anyone 

culpable to book in 

accordance with extant laws. 

“The BOI also 

recommended that the NA 

and NPF should further 

investigate Captain Tijani 

Balarabe, Sergeant Ibrahim 

Mohammed, Corporal 

Bartholomew Obanye, 

DCO, Ibi Police Division, 

Assistant Superintendent of 

Police, Aondoona Iorbee, 

and Inspector Aliyu Dadje 

for complacency and 

necessary disciplinary 

measures. 

“It was also recommended 

that further investigation be 

conducted on Hamisu Bala 

for gunrunning and possibly 

kidnapping, in order to 

prosecute the suspect. 

“Additionally, the BOI 

recommended that the 

services and other security 

agencies establish an Interagency 

Liaison Desk to 

include senior officers for 

timely resolution of future 

misdemeanour. 

“The Defence 

Headquarters once again 

assures the public that the 

Armed Forces of Nigeria and 

other security agencies are 

working in synergy to tackle 

contemporary security 

challenges bedeviling the 

nation.” 

Army to begin Operations Python 

Dance, Crocodile Smile, others Nov 1 

By Kingsley 

Omonobi & Joseph 

Erunke 

ABUJA—THE Nigerian 

Army said, yesterday, it 

would begin Operations 

Python Dance and Crocodile 

Smile in the southern region 

and Ayem Akpatuma in 

North Central parts of the 

country, with effect from 

November 1. 

It said during the period, 

its ongoing Operation 

Positive Identification in the 

North-East geo-political 

zone would be extended to 

the affected areas. 

The Army said at a briefing 

by Chief of Army Staff, Lt. 

General Tukur Buratai, in 

Abuja that the operations, 

which would be carried out 

concurrently across the 

targeted areas, were to stem 

the rising security threats in 

the zones. 

He said the operations 

were also meant to retrain its 

personnel as well as provide 

some essential services to 

residents of the areas 

affected. 

Buratai, who was 

represented by the Chief of 

Training and Operations, 

Major Enebong Udoh, 

particularly explained that 

the conduct of series of 

military exercises within 

respective geo-political 

zones were aimed at 

checkmating the activities of 

criminals and bandits. 

He said: “The exercises to 

be conducted are Ayem 

Akpatuma II in the North 

Central and parts of North 

Western states of Benue, 

Nasarawa, Kogi, Taraba, 

Kaduna and Niger in 1 and 

3 Divisions as well as in 

Headquarters Command 

Army Records, Guards 

Brigade and 707 Special 

Forces Brigade Area of 

Responsibilities. 

“Exercise Egwu Eke IV 

will be carried out in the 

South Eastern part of 

Nigeria, comprising Abia, 

Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu 

and lmo states in 82 Division 

areas of responsibility. 

“Exercise Crocodile Smile 

IV will be held across some 

states in the South-South 

and part of South Western 

including Akwa Ibom, 

Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, 

Edo, Lagos, Ogun and 

Rivers State in 2, 6, 81 and 

82 Divisions’ Areas of 

Responsibility. 

“These exercises, which 

include Exercise Crocodile 

Smile IV, Exercise Egwu Eke 

IV and Exercise Ayem 

Akpatuma II, are to be 

conducted concurrently in 

the South South and South 

West, South East as well as 

North Central zones 

respectively from November 

1 to December 23, 2019. 

“This has become 

necessary owing to the 

myriad of emergent threats 

that are burgeoning in the 

aforementioned zones. 

“As part of its constitutional 

roles, the Nigerian Army, 

acting in aid of civil authority, 

is poised to combating these 

threats. 

“Essentially, these 

exercises will be conducted 

to consolidate on the gains 

of Exercises Ayem 

Akpatuma,Egwu Eke II and 

Crocodile Smile II that were 

conducted last year at this 

same period. 

“In addition to Exercises 

Ayem Akpatuma ll, Egwu 

Eke IV and Crocodile Smile 

lV, Operation Positive 

Identification which is 

ongoing in the North East 

theatre of operation will be 

extended to cover the entire 

nation.” 

Boko Haram crisis returning to 

pre-2015 levels with new 

strategy —Report 

A 

REPORT by SB 

Morgen has said the 

Boko Haram crisis in the 

country was worsening and 

returning to pre-2015 levels 

when the insurgents held 

territories in the North-East. 

The insurgency was at its 

peak in 2014 with the 

capture of a strip of territories 

and the harvest of mass 

casualties in the region. 

About 21 local government 

areas out of 27 in Borno state 

were under the occupation 

of the insurgents in 2014. 

SB Morgen, a geopolitical 

intelligence platform, said in 

the report that the insurgents 

were retaking territories and 

deploying new tactics in 

governing the largely 

ungoverned spaces in the 

North-East, despite claims by 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari and Chief of Army 

Staff, Lt. General Tukur 

Buratai, that Boko Haram 

had been technically 

defeated. 

It said the insurgents, 

ISWAP faction of Boko 

Haram, have reduced 

attacks on civilian population 

in an attempt to win support 

and recruits, but have 

ratcheted up the same on the 

security forces. 

The report said current 

civilian casualties seemed to 

come from attacks by the 

Shekau faction of Boko 

Haram, which is still active 

in southern Borno. 

It said: “A member of the 

House of Representatives 

from Borno State claims that 

Boko Haram controls as 

many as eight local 

government areas in the 

state. 

“While this is probably an 

exaggeration, there have 

been reports by 

humanitarian organisations 

and residents, of Boko 

Haram moving 

unchallenged in the rural 

areas and setting up 

checkpoints. 

‘’This is evident in recent 

attacks on two local 

government headquarters 

where the terrorists 

ransacked shops and 

torched government 

buildings. 

“In addition, the gradual 

regaining of territory by the 

terrorists punctures the claim 

by the Nigerian government 

that Boko Haram has been 

‘technically defeated’ based 

on territorial gains and 

losses. 

‘’The Lake Chad region 

may gradually be moving 

from a contested and 

stateless territory to one that 

is firmly Boko Haram- 

ISWAP controlled territory, a 

scenario which will end up 

taking us back to pre-2015 

conflict levels as the Nigerian 

state will have no choice but 

to flood the region with 

troops to take back the 

territory." 

$2.1bn arms deal: Court 

slates Dec 11 to resume 

Dasuki, others' trial 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

ABUJA—A High Court 

of the Federal Capital 

Territory sitting at Maitama, 

yesterday, fixed December 

11 to resume the trial of 

detained former National 

Security Adviser, NSA, Col. 

Sambo Dasuki (retd), who is 

facing two separate criminal 

charges the Economic and 

Financial Crimes 

Commission, EFCC, 

preferred against him. 

Dasuki, who has been in 

detention since 2015, is 

answering to a 22-count 

charge involving his alleged 

complicity in the illegal 

diversion of N19.4 billion and 

another 32-count charge 

bordering on alleged 

diversion of N32 billion from 

an account the Office of the 

NSA, operated with the 

Central Bank of Nigeria, 

CBN. 

EFCC had maintained that 

the alleged stolen funds were 

part of about $2.1billion that 

was meant for the purchase 

of arms to combat terrorism in 

the North-East. 

Others that were equally 

charged before the court over 

the alleged fraud were former 

General Manager, Nigerian 

National Petroleum 

Corporation Aminu Baba- 

Kusa, former governor of 

Sokoto State, Attahiru 

Bafarawa, his son, Sagir, 

Director of Finance and 

Administration in the Office of 

the NSA, Shuaibu Salisu, and 

the former Minister of State 

for Finance, Bashir Yuguda. 

Two firms – Acacia Holdings 

Limited and Reliance Referral 

Hospital Limited – were also 

charged as defendants in the 

matter. 

However, before hearing 

could commence on the case, 

EFCC, amended the charge 

and delisted the ex-NNPC 

Director, Salisu, as a 

defendant in the trial. 

Meanwhile, the ex-NSA 

who is equally facing another 

money laundering charge 

before the Federal High Court 

in Abuja, had since refused to 

personally appear in court, 

saying he would only do so 

when he is released from 

detention. 

At the resumed proceeding, 

yesterday, EFCC’s lawyer, 

Mr. Oluwaleke Atolagbe, 

drew attention of the court to 

Dasuki’s absence. 

EFCC told the court that the 

matter could not proceed in 

the absence of the 2nd 

defendant, even though its 

witnesses were present. 

Atologbe, therefore, sought 

for time to file further and better 

affidavit, as well as reply on 

points of law, in response to 

averments in Dasuki’s 

counter-affidavit to the motion.


PLEASANTRIES: The Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District in the National 

Assembly, Dino Melaye (2nd left) exchanging pleasantries with President Muhammadu 

Buhari (right) after the Budget 2020 presentation at the National Assembly, Abuja, yesterday. 

FG defends VAT increase, says it’ll 

help struggling states 

•States to collect 85% of amount collected 

By Michael 

Eboh 

THE 

Federal 

Government, yesterday, 

defended its decision to 

increase Value Added Tax, 

VAT, rate to 7.5 per cent from 

five per cent, stating that the 

review should have been 

done nine years ago. 

Addressing newsmen after 

the conclusion of the 25th 

Nigerian Economic Summit 

in Abuja, Director-General of 

the Budget Office, Mr. Ben 

Akabueze, disclosed that 

prior to 2010, the plan was 

HEALTH TIPS 

By Sola Ogundipe 

Coping with mental illness 

Living with a mental illness 

is not easy. It’s a consistent 

problem without a clear 

solution. While treatments 

like medication and 

psychotherapy are helpful, 

sometimes people 

experiencing mental health 

conditions need to do more 

day-in and day-out to feel 

good or even just okay. 

Finding the right coping 

mechanism takes time and 

patience, but it can 

enormously impact how you 

feel. It begins with radical 

acceptance - completely and 

totally accepting something 

from the depths of your soul, 

with your heart and your 

mind. 

Accept yourself. Accept 

your condition. Then take the 

necessary steps to take care 

of yourself. 

Breathing is the best way 

to calm anxiety really is to 

breathe deeply. 

Opposite-to-emotion 

thinking is how it sounds: You 

to effect an increase in VAT 

rate and a reduction in 

Personal Income Tax, noting 

that personal income tax was 

increased by the 

government in office at that 

time, while it failed to effect 

an increase in VAT. 

He maintained that 

Nigeria’s VAT rate was one 

of the lowest in the world, 

and noted that the poor would 

not be affected by the 

increase, as most of them 

normally have minimal 

engagements with goods, 

services and platforms where 

VAT is charged. 

act in the opposite way your 

emotions tell you to act. When 

you feel anxious, combat that 

with something calming like 

meditation. 

Mental reframing involves 

taking an emotion or stressor 

and thinking of it in a different 

way. 

If you’re feeling anxious, 

let yourself be anxious for a 

couple of minutes—then 

meditate. 

If you’re feeling angry, let 

yourself be angry—then 

listen to some calming music. 

Be in touch with your 

emotions. Accept that you are 

feeling a certain way, let 

yourself feel that way and 

then take action to diminish 

unhealthy feelings. 

You can’t control that you 

have mental illness, but you 

can control how you respond 

to your symptoms. It takes 

strength and persistence to 

recover from mental 

illness—to keep fighting 

symptoms in the hopes of 

feeling better. 

He further explained that 

the Federal Government 

had expanded the VAT 

exemption list and was 

ensuring that only 

businesses with turnover of 

N25 million and above are 

charged VAT, thereby 

exempting majority of the 

micro and small businesses. 

Akabueze also declared 

that the planned increase 

would not be favourable to 

the Federal Government but 

to the states, as the VAT Act 

mandates that 85 per cent of 

VAT collected be disbursed 

to sub-national 

governments which, 

according to him, are 

currently struggling. 

He said: “The issue of 

increasing the VAT rate is a 

matter that has been long 

settled, about the necessity 

to increase it and about the 

necessity to improve on 

taxation and to do so through 

consumption. About nine 

years ago, that was 

supposed to happen. 

"There were two things 

that were supposed to 

happen simultaneously — 

an increase in the VAT rate 

from five to 10 per cent and 

reduction in personal 

income tax. One happened, 

while the person who was 

supposed to make the other 

I've cold because I’m working 

very hard, says Buhari 

P RESIDENT 

Muhammadu Buhari 

said, yesterday, he had flu 

because he worked very 

hard to meet the deadline 

of the National Assembly in 

submission of the 2020 

Budget. 

Buhari, who stated this 

while presenting the 

budget to a joint session of 

the National Assembly, 

asked the lawmakers and 

other dignitaries present in 

one happen chickened out. 

“We now face down the 

road, taking into account the 

prevailing circumstances, 

the increase has not gone as 

far as 10 per cent. 

"The Economic Recovery 

and Growth Plan, ERGP, 

stated very clearly that the 

VAT rate would be raised. At 

7.5 per cent, Nigeria’s VAT 

is still one of the lowest. 

“Another important thing to 

note is VAT is a consumption 

tax. The truth is the 

generality of the poor and 

vulnerable Nigerians that 

people have been shouting 

about that the increase would 

impact adversely, really have 

very minimal engagement 

with VAT. Because they 

hardly consume the things 

or engage with the platforms 

where VAT is chargeable. 

“In proposing the increase, 

two things had happened, 

the proposal includes an 

expansion of the exemption 

list. The VAT Act has an 

Exemption list, the one that 

exempts certain basic 

commodities, food, medicine 

and education, but we have 

expanded that even to cover 

as much as possible, the 

things that the poor 

consumes. 

“The other thing that has 

changed, the existing VAT 

Act has no threshold for 

applicability, which means 

technically speaking, even 

the woman on the roadside 

is supposed to charge VAT." 

the lower legislative 

chamber to “pardon” him 

because his voice was 

unclear. 

“As you can hear, I have 

cold as a result of working 

very hard to meet your 

deadline,” he said jokingly. 

In his remarks, Femi 

Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the 

House of Representatives, 

sympathised with the 

president over his cold. 

Stop paying salary to 

workers not on IPPIS 

—Buhari 

ABUJA—ANY Federal 

Government worker not 

captured on the Integrated 

Payroll and Personnel 

Information System, IPPIS, 

by October 31 would not be 

paid his monthly salary. 


Buhari disclosed this during 

the presentation of the 2020 

budget proposal to the joint 

session of the National 

Assembly in Abuja, 

yesterday. 

He said this was one of the 

Federal Government’s 

efforts at managing 

personnel costs in line with 

its fight against corruption. 

According to him, all 

agencies of government 

must obtain permission and 

follow due process as they 

embark on any recruitment 

exercise. 

He said: “We shall sustain 

our efforts in managing 

personnel costs. 

Accordingly, I have directed 

the stoppage of the salary of 

any Federal Government 

staff that is not captured on 

the Integrated Payroll and 

Personnel Information 

System, IPPIS, platform by 

the end of October 2019. 

“All agencies must obtain 

the necessary approvals 

before embarking on any 

fresh recruitment and any 

contraventions of these 

directives shall attract severe 

sanctions.” 

The president said total 

overhead cost for the year 

2020 stood at over N400 

billion, with additional 

provisions for the newly 

created ministries. 

He added: “Overhead 

costs are projected at N426.6 

billion in 2020. Additional 

provisions were made only 

for the newly created 

ministries. 

“I am confident that the 

benefits of these new 

ministries as it relates to 

efficient and effective service 

delivery to our citizens 

significantly outweigh their 

budgeted costs. 

“That said, the respective 

Heads of Ministries 

Departments and Agencies, 

MDAs, must ensure strict 

adherence to government 

regulations regarding 

expenditure control 

measures. 

“The proliferation of Zonal, 

State and Liaison Offices by 

Federal Ministries, 


‘MDAs’, with attendant 

avoidable increase in public 

expenditure, will no longer 

be tolerated.” 

Buhari said the 2020 

budget tagged; “Budget of 

Sustainable Growth and Job 

Creation,” had a proposed 

non-debt recurrent 

expenditure of N3.6 trillion, 

covering personnel and 

pension costs. 

“The non-debt recurrent 

expenditure includes N3.6 

trillion for personnel and 

pension costs, an increase of 

N620.28 billion over 2019. 

“This increase reflects the 

new minimum wage as well 

as our proposals to improve 

remuneration and welfare of 

our Police and Armed 

Forces." 

Catholic Bishops, priests 

condemn Jukun-Tiv crises, 

suggest ways to end bloodletting 

J OS—CATHOLIC 

Bishops and priests of 

Abuja and Jos Ecclesiastical 

provinces have condemned 

the Jukun-Tiv crises that have 

claimed many lives. 

The clerics in a 

communiqué after a meeting 

at Centre for Dialogue, 

Reconciliation and Peace, 

DREP, Jos, yesterday, 

suggested ways to end the 

bloodletting. 

The meeting, which was 

chaired by Most Archbishop 

Ignatius Kaigama, Apostolic 

Administrator of Jos, and 

Coadjutor Archbishop of 

Abuja, said that nobody was 

spared in the unfortunate 

situation. 

The communique said: 

“We condemn the use of 

arms by our Christians and 

any other persons against 

one another. 

“We equally condemn 

those who commit atrocities 

on account of tribal 

differences or in the name of 

the struggle for economic or 

political control. 

“We bemoan the 

deplorable situation and the 

frustration our people have 

been reduced to in the face 

of these crises. 

“The inter-ethnic clashes 

in our region have indeed 

erupted and affected Idoma, 

Tiv, Igala, Ogoja, Hiking, 

Kuteb, Also, Eggon, Agatu, 

Agila and Ngbo in Ebony 

State.” 

The body called on the 

church as well as 

government to employ 

services of historians, 

anthropologists, security 

agents, boundary 

demarcation experts, 

constitutional experts and 

neutral international bodies 

(ECOWAS, AU, UN) to 

resolve the claims and 

counter claims. 

They also called on 

dioceses with the 

ecclesiastical jurisdictions to 

create avenues where issues 

of insecurity and the dangers 

of crises would be discussed 

to sensitise the people. 

According to them, 

traditional rulers should rise 

beyond their desire for peace 

but also work for peace. 

News Agency of Nigeria 

(NAN) reports that seven 

other Catholic Bishops were 

in attendance.

10 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 

Why Press Freedom‘ll aid 

Nigeria’s devt— Adegboruwa 


LAGOS— A human 

rights activist, Mr. 

Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, 

SAN, yesterday, said that 

press freedom is highly 

desirable for Nigeria to 

achieve the desired 

growth. 

Also, the Lagos State 

Attorney-General and 

Commissioner for Justice, 

Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, 

SAN, assured of 

government’s resolve to 

ensure that press freedom 

thrives. 

Adegboruwa disclosed 

this while delivering a 

paper at the 2019 annual 

lecture of the National 

Association of Judicial 

Correspondents, NAJUC, 

in Lagos. 

In his speech, he noted 

that the concept of press 

freedom is well entrenched 

in the laws of Nigeria while 

the Nigerian Constitution, 

apart from imposing a duty 

on the media to hold 

government accountable to 

the people, has also made 

provision for the freedom 

and right of the press to 

carry out the onerous task 

in aid of nation building. 

The SAN noted that the 

press occupies a pivotal role 

in every society, as it 

represents the conscience 

and values of a people and 

more importantly, it is a 

veritable link of information 

exchange between the 

people and their 

government. 

He said: “It is pertinent 

to note that the issue of 

press freedom in Nigeria is 

of great importance, as one 

would observe from Section 

39 of the Constitution that 

it falls within the realm of 

fundamental rights codified 

in Chapter IV of the 

Constitution. The import of 

this, is that press freedom 

is an inalienable right 

which no government can 

derogate from or deny her 

citizens. 

“The advent of the new 

social media has aided 

Nigerians like all other 

citizens of the world, in 

giving full expression to the 

constitutionally guaranteed 

right to freedom of 

expression and right to hold 

and disseminate opinion on 

any matter. 

“The advent of twitter, 

facebook, instagram and 

others in that category has 

empowered Nigerians 

especially young people to 

either expose various forms 

of malfeasance prevalent in 

society or to mobilize for 

causes which they believe 

can better their lives. 

“It is conceded that there 

are the challenges of fake 

news, hate speeches, 

defamation and other vices 

associated with the use of 

social media. However, is 

that enough justification to 

further regulate the already 

regulated use of the social 

media through the 

enactment of regulations, 

which sometimes violate 

constitutional provisions?" 

RUGIPO CRISIS: ASUP 

chairman, scribe dismissed 

•Action laughable —Union 

By Dayo Johnson 

AKURE—THE crisis in 

the Ondo State owned 

Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, 

Owo, RUGIPO, deepened, 

yesterday, as the 

management of the 

institution dismissed the 

Chairman and secretary of 

the Academic Staff Union of 

Polytechnics, ASUP, Messrs 

Oluwadare Ijawoye and 

Ade Arikawe, for alleged 

gross misconduct. 

The leadership of the 

union had accused 

principal officers and 

chairman of the Governing 

Council, Mr. Banji Alabi of 

corruption and called for his 

sack. 

Ijawole equally raised 

alarm that the institution 

was on the verge of collapse 

due to the leadership style 

of Alabi. 

However, the 

management, in a circular, 

announced the sack of the 

two union leaders and the 

suspension of the union 

activities in the institution. 

When contacted, Ijawole 

described the action as 

laughable. 

He, however, said that he 

was yet to be communicated 

by the management. 

The union leader 

promised to react as soon 

as he is communicated 

officially. 

Meanwhile, the 

Governing Council of the 

institution has reappointed 

the former rector of the 

institution Dr. Gani 

Ogundahunsi and other 

principal officers 

including Mr. Atiku Sule 

(Registrar) and Mrs. F R. 

Aladeniyi (Librarian). 

This was contained in a 

statement by the chairman 

of the governing council, 

Banji Alabi 

Alabi said: “The issue of 

appointing principal 

officers for the 

institution contributes to 

the recent attacks and 

blackmailing against his 

personality and the 

governing council from 

some quarters, hence the 

need for the development. 

“The past few days have 

been quite challenging for 

us as a Management 

having to deal with the 

campaign of calumny 

sponsored by some 

elements on campus, who 

are hell bent on been a cog 

in the wheel of progress. 

“One of the reasons for 

the sponsored campaign of 

calumny and attack on us, 

apart from the issues of 

corruption fighting back is 

the politics of appointing 

the substantive Principal 

officers of the Polytechnic 

which some special interest 

group believe should be 

their prerogative and not 

that of the Governing 

Council as provided by 

law.” 

ALLEGED MONEY LAUNDERING: EFCC 

re-arraigns Atiku’s son-in-law 

By Innocent Anaba 

LAGOS—THE son-inlaw 

to former Vice 

President and presidential 

candidate of Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, in 

the 2019 general election, 

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, 

Abdullahi Babalele, was, 

yesterday, re-arraigned 

before a Federal High 

Court sitting in Lagos, on 

two counts charge of money 

laundering. 

He was re-arraigned 

before 

Justice 

Chukwujekwu Aneke by 

the Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, 

EFCC. 

Babalele’s rearraignment 

followed the 

reassignment of the case to 

Justice Aneke. 

He was formerly 

arraigned before Justice 

Nicholas Oweibo on August 

14, during the court’s 

annual vacation. 

Also arraigned during the 

court’s long vacation is 

Atiku’s lawyer, Uyiekpen 

Giwa-Osagie, a partner in 

the law of Africa Law 

Practice. 

Uyiekpen was arraigned 

alongside his younger 

brother, Erhunse, on two 

counts charges bordering 

on laundering of $2 million. 

At the resumed hearing 

of the charge against 

Atiku’s son-in-law, 

Babalele, EFCC prosecutor, 

Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, told 

the court that his agency has 

a two-count charge against 

the defendant. 

He noted the court that 

though the plea of the 

defendant had been taken 

when he was first 

arraigned before Justice 

Oweibo, during the court’s 

long vacation, the law is 

when the case file is 

reassigned to another 

judge, the plea of such 

defendant must be 

retaking. 

Babalele’s counsel, Chief 

Mike Ozekhome, SAN, 

argued that since the plea 

of his client had earlier be 

taken, the court should 

discountenance 

prosecution’s plea and hear 

his client’s pending 

application for bail 

variation. 

However, Justice Aneke, 

acceded to prosecutor’s 

request and ordered that 

the defendant plea be 

taking. 

After taking the 

defendant’s plea, his 

counsel, Ozekhome, SAN, 

moved his application for 

bail variation. 

He argued that granting 

the application will enable 

his client travel abroad for 

medical treatment of a life 

threatened sickness. 

Ozekhome also told the 

court that all the attached 

documents points to great 

danger if the defendants 

did not go for medical, 

adding that his client’s case 

is ‘life threatened’ and 

same is contained in many 

diagnosis done by his 

client. 

Upon listening to the 

parties’ arguments, Justice 

Aneke, adjourned the 

matter till October 11, for 

ruling on the application. 

Meanwhile, further 

hearing of the money 

laundering charges against 

Atiku’s lawyer, Uyiekpen 

Giwa-Osagie and the 

brother to the lawyer, 

Erhunse Giwa-Osagie, has 

been adjourned till October 

15. 

3m pharmaceutical centres in Nigeria 

unregistered —PSN 

By Ola Ajayi 

IBADAN— A former 

National President of 

Pharmaceutical Society of 

Nigeria, PSN, Mr. Olumide 

Akintayo, yesterday, 

disclosed that no fewer than 

three million unregistered 

pharmaceutical centres are 

spread across the country. 

He said the proliferation 

of the pharmaceutical 

centres was as a result of 

weak regulations by 

relevant stakeholders. 

He said this in an 

opening ceremony of the 

2019 pharmacy week of the 

PSN, in Oyo State, entitled: 

Pharmacy Practice Beyond 

2029: The Reality of 

Digitalisation , held at the 

Nest Spa Suite, Agodi GRA, 

Ibadan. 

Akintayo said: “Pharmacy 

is a highly regulated 

profession. Unfortunately 

for us in Nigeria, poor 

regulatory controls have led 

to a situation whereby we 

contend with over three 

million unregistered 

pharmaceutical premises in 

the 36 states of the 

federation and Abuja. 

“Fundamentally, all we 

are saying simply is that 

you can’t run away from 

digitalisation. It has become 

a world of technology. 

Nigeria is a global village. 

So, we cannot run away 

from events from global 

environment. But the note 

of caution here is that you 

need to develop a solid 

regulatory framework in the 

implementation plan for 

internet pharmacy, a chain 

pharmacy project and all of 

that, or anything connected 

with that. 

“We have laws that will 

still make it possible for us 

to crack down on physical 

structures that are 

unregistered. But how are 

we going to deal in terms 

of sanctions and all of that 

with internet pharmacy? 

How are we going to 

SECURITY 

CONFAB—Lagos 

State Governor, 

Mr. Babajide 

Sanwo-Olu, with 

the Inspector 

General of 

Police, Mr. 

Mohammed 

Adamu, during 

the Governor’s 

meeting with the 

police boss on 

the security 

situation in 

Lagos, at the 

F o r c e 

Headquarters, 

A b u j a , 

yesterday. 

handle internet pharmacy 

because the operators will 

be completely faceless? 

There will be nobody to hold 

responsible.” 

In his own comments, 

Governor Seyi Makinde of 

Oyo State, represented by 

Commissioner for Health, 

Dr. Bashir Bello, said: “I 

make bold to affirm that 

within the tenure of this 

administration, health has 

been identified as a cardinal 

area of utmost importance 

in human development in 

the state. 

FIRS donates troop carriers to police 

ABUJA—THE Federal 

Inland Revenue 

Service, FIRS, has donated 

two Tata 1618c Troop Carrier 

trucks to the Nigeria Police 

Force, NPF, as part of efforts 

to deepen the partnership 

between the two 

organisations. Each truck 

has the capacity to 

accommodate 63 police 

officers. 

Chairman, FIRS, Mr. 

Tunde Fowler, said the 

police have been an 

important partner in 

revenue collection in the 

country. “When you are 

talking about tax, you talk 

about the law and, of course, 

you talk about the police. 

The police have been 

partners to the FIRS for 

revenue, and everybody is 

quite aware that revenue is 

a major topic that we need 

to grow for Nigeria. 

“We collect revenue for 

the three tiers of 

government — the federal, 

state and local 

governments — and the 

way we see it, without 

adequate security, there can 

be no business. 

"Without adequate 

security there can be no tax 

revenue, hence we see 

ourselves as partners and, 

at the same time, we are 

also aware that as we 

support each other, this 

country will be better. “We 

believe basically that any 

one who joins the military 

or the paramilitary or 

people who put their lives 

at risk for the rest of us, 

should be admired and 

supported,” Fowler said. 

The Inspector-General of 

Police, Mr. Mohammed 

Adamu, while receiving 

the trucks, described FIRS’ 

gesture as the first of its 

kind, since he assumed 

office as the police boss.


:Vanguard 

News 

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

ECOBANK CUSTOMER WEEK: From left—Representative of Baale of Ajah, Chief Babatunde Ashafa; 

Head, Client Experience, Commercial Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Temitope Wilcox; His Royal 

Majesty, Oba Hafeez Olakunle Badru, Elejigbo of Lamgbasa; Head, Branch Network, Ecobank 

Nigeria, Titi Olarinde; Chairman, Eti-Osa Indigenous Forum, Alhaji Abideen Lawal, and Regional 

Head, Lagos Island, Ecobank Nigeria, O’tega Odjegba, at the flag-off of Ecobank’s Customer 

Service Week, at Ado-Badore branch, Ajah, Lagos, Monday. 

We’ll reject Fayemi’s proposal on Minimum Wage 

Labour Congress, NLC, 

if… —Ekiti Labour 

and Public Service Joint 

By Rotimi 

Ojomoyela 

A DO-EKITI— 

LABOUR leaders in 

Ekiti State, yesterday, 

threatened to reject 

Governor Kayode Fayemi’s 

plan to implement the 

N30,000 minimum wage 

for workers if it contravened 

the template set by the 

national leadership of the 

labour unions. 

The labour leaders, who 

expressed appreciation to 

the Governor for deeming 

it fit to implement the 

proposal, however, frowned 

at the unilateral decision 

taken on the matter, saying 

that labour could have 

been carried along as 

earlier agreed on 

September 30 at a meeting 

with the Head of Service, 

Mr. Ayodeji Ajayi. 

They insisted that 

whatever Fayemi will 

implement must comply 

with the National template 

increment of 66.6 per cent 

for Grade Levels 01-06, 29 

per cent for GL 07-14 and 

24 percent for 15-17. 

Fayemi had last Friday 

pronounced the readiness 

of his administration to 

effect the new minimum 

wage commencing from 

October during the 2019 

edition of the Teachers’ Day 

Celebration. 

The labour position was 

contained in a statement 

jointly signed by the 

secretaries of Trade Union 

Congress, TUC, Nigeria 

IHUNBO CUSTOMS KILLING: Ogun 

govt to prosecute perpetrators 

*As NCS absolves self from killing 

By James 

Ogunnaike 

A GOVERNOR BEOKUTA— 

Dapo 

Abiodun of Ogun State, 

yesterday, vowed to 

investigate the 

circumstances of the death 

of three students allegedly 

killed by the vehicle of the 

Nigeria Customs Service, 

NCS. 

The governor, in a 

statement by his Chief 

Press Secretary, Kunle 

Somorin, warned security 

men, chasing suspected 

smugglers or hoodlums to 

be wary of the rights of 

citizens in all 

circumstances. 

The students had just 

closed from school, when 

they were reportedly hit by 

a vehicle being driven by 

an official of NCS, who 

were in hot chase of 

suspected smugglers. 

While the three students 

were reportedly killed, 

other students and market 

women were also said to 

have sustained varying 

degrees of injuries, as the 

Customs officials chased 

suspected smugglers. 

The statement reads: “We 

respect the sanctity of 

human lives in Ogun State 

and government exists to 

provide security and 

welfare for the people. No 

matter the circumstances, 

we found this 

condemnable. We would 

not fold our arms and watch 

our future leaders killed in 

that manner.” 

The statement added that 

the governor was shocked 

at the sad news of the death 

of the three students of 

Ojumo Community High 

School, Ihunbo in Ipokia 

Local Government Area of 

the State,. 

The Governor said it was 

reprehensible that young 

children with promising 

futures could be killed in 

such a manner. 

He, however, advised 

security personnel, 

especially NCS officials, to 

apply moderate 

engagements with 

suspected smugglers or 

hoodlums along the border 

towns to avoid such loss of 

lives and property in the 

future. 

NCS absolves self 

from killing 

Meanwhile, the Area 1 

State Command of the NCS 

said the Ihunbo incident 

was caused by an accident 

and not a case of stray 

bullets or pursue as 

insinuated in some 

quarters 

The Command, however, 

denied that only one 

person died in the said 

accident 

In a statement by the 

Public Relations Officer of 

Nigeria Customs Area 1, 

Abdullahi Maiwada, he 

said: “At about 1330 Officers 

of Nigeria Customs Service 

Ogun Command on 

routine patrol arrested a 

vehicle (Mercedes Benz 

ML) suspected to have 

been smuggled into 

Nigeria. 

Monarch, ANJET task govts to 

focus on tourism 

By Jimoh 

Babatunde 

LAGOS—THE Olota of 

Otta, Ogun State, Oba 

Adeyemi Obalanlege and 

the Association of Nigerian 

Journalists and Writers of 

Tourism, AJET, yesterday, 

tasked government at all 

levels in the country to focus 

more on tourism to achieve 

accelerated development of 

the country as the oil wealth 

is fast dwindling. 

The call was made by 

tourism stakeholders, at a 

seminar themed: Tourism 

and Jobs: Better future for 

all, organised by ANJET. 

In his remarks, Oba 

Obalanlege urged the 

government and Nigerians 

to explore tourism potential 

for job creation. 

Obalanlege said: “With 

the huge tourism potentials 

we are blessed with in the 

country, we should not be 

complaining about lack of 

jobs, individuals must be 

Negotiating Council, 

Messrs Mohammed 

Bashman, Akinyemi Taiwo 

and Gbenga Olowoyo 

respectively. 

The statement reads: “In 

line with the national 

directive of the leadership 

of the organised labour, 

anything short of the above 

percentage, the organised 

labour won’t do anything 

contrary to the Wednesday, 

October 16, 2019 set for the 

national strike in Nigeria 

over the insincerity of 

government to pay the new 

minimum wage to workers 

on GL 01-17. 

“The organised labour is 

constrained to refer to a 

meeting of September 30 at 

the office of the Head of 

Service, the resolution then 

was that the state 

government must ensure 

due process with the setting 

up of negotiating team and 

in fulfillment of 

outstanding salaries and 

other emoluments before 

commencing N30, 000 

minimum wage, although, 

the pronouncement made 

creative and tap into these 

tourism potentials. 

“Nigerians need not look 

up to the government for 

job creation, the 

government is only meant 

to create an enabling 

environment for businesses 

to thrive. 

“The second tallest story 

building in Nigeria is in Otta, it 

should be better developed to 

attract international tourists; a lot 

more monumental buildings 

across communities can also be 

converted to tourist sites.” 

Earlier, Managing Director, 

Sabre Network, West Africa, Dr. 

Gbenga Olowo, urged the 

government to take the tourism 

industry seriously by earmarking 

sufficient budgetary allocation for 

the sector. 

Olowo, who was represented 

by Deputy Zonal Director, 

Western Zone, Sabre Travel 

Network, Mr. Mayowa Badewa, 

said that the tourism industry 

must be prioritised as huge 

employment opportunities could 

be derived from the sector. 

“We are known to be the 

Women must lead fight against 

drug abuse —Mrs. Osinbajo 

By Shina 

Abubakar 

OSOGBO—WIFE of 

the Vice President, 

Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo, 

yesterday, charged women 

in the country to champion 

the fight against drug 

abuse among the youths. 

She said the 

consequences of the 

menace affect women first 

as mothers, hence, the 

need to teleguide their 

children to shun the vices 

and focus their energy on 

building a virile nation. 

Delivering a keynote 

address at the second 

Osun 

Women 

Development Association, 

OSUNWA, National 

on October 5 had Contravened 

this resolution.” 

The labour leaders also 

expressed hope that 

Governor Fayemi will 

defray the N57 billion 

being outstanding workers’ 

salaries, allowances and 

pension before clocking 

one year in office on October 

16. 

“The liquidation of these 

outstanding payments are 

sacrosanct. They include 

three months payment to 

public servants, September 

2017 and May 2018 

deductions, six months 

arrears of salaries to local 

government workers, 

financial backing for 2015, 

2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 

workers’ promotions and 

leave bonuses for 2016, 

2017, 2018 and 2019 to civil 

servants. 

Women’s Conference with 

the theme: Woman: 

Pioneer of Change for 

Inclusive Participation in 

Development, in Osogbo, 

Mrs. Osinbajo said the 

development of women is 

essential to the national 

development. 

She said: “Women must 

take the lead in the war 

against drug abuse among 

the children, the 

consequences hurt 

mothers more than the 

nation, we must strive to 

tackle the menace 

headlong. 

“We must realise that a 

nation cannot develop if 

women are not adequately 

taken care of, however, we 

must also strive to develop 

ourselves and prepare 

ourselves for the challenges 

waiting ahead. 

“It is time for women to 

acquire knowledge that 

can move us to the next 

level, we should be bosses 

in our own right, and all 

that is important is to 

acquire the right 

knowledge. 

“I am sure all of you here 

have a lot of potentials, all 

that is needed is exposing 

the talents to become a 

source of revenue 

generation. Those ideas in 

your minds can become a 

reality if you believe and 

avoid negative energy 

around you.” 

The Chairperson of 

OSUNWA and wife of the 

state Governor, Kafayat 

Oyetola, said the 

association is aimed at 

strengthening unity of the 

people and foster regional 

developmental agenda to 

benefit the masses.


BRIEFING: From left, Antonio Socorro, Ground Operations Director; Tariye Orianzi, Country 

Manager; Jens Bjarnason, CEO/President; Eloisa Gomes, Sales Director; Raul Andrande, Vice President, 

Sales and Marketing; Chloe Grant, Marketing Director, West and Central Africa, all of Cabo Verde 

Airlines, during a media briefing on the commencement of the airline's operations from Lagos, yesterday. 

Photo: Lamidi Bamidele 

Emmanuel presents N598bn budget 

to A-Ibom Assembly 

By Chioma 

Onuegbu 

UYO —GOVERNOR 

Udom Emmanuel of 

Akwa Ibom State has 

proposed a total budget 

estimate of N597.8 billion for 

the 2020 fiscal year to the state 

House of Assembly. 

This is made up of 

N111.225 billion for 

Recurrent Expenditure, 

N369.642 billion for Capital 

Expenditure and N116.933 

billion as Consolidated 

Revenue Fund charges. 

The total projected 

recurrent revenue for 2020 

budget is estimated at 

N381.556 billion as against 

the approved provision of 

N374.758 billion in 2019. 

Presenting the budget to 

the state House of Assembly, 

yesterday, Emmanuel said 

the 2020 budget christened, 

“Budget of Industrialisation 

for Poverty Alleviation Phase 

II,’ was designed as a key 

milestone in actualising his 

administration’s completion 

agenda. 

He said: “Mr. Speaker 

and members, considering 

the fact that my completion 

agenda is predicated 

primarily on the rapid 

industrialisation of this state, 

we have christened the 2020 

budget “The budget of 

Industrialisation for Poverty 

Alleviation Phase II. 

“It was so named because 

the state has started 

witnessing major 

breakthroughs in 

industrialisation through 

construction and 

commissioning of some 

industries that are currently 

in full operations or ongoing. 

“The 2020 budget aims to 

support areas that will 

deliver inclusive growth and 

massive employment 

opportunities such as the 

construction of the Ibom 

Deep Seaport, completion of 

Airport project, purchase of 

more airplanes and 

competition of the 21-storey 

intelligent building among 

others. 

“The 2020 budget is 

predicated on the eight point 

agenda that forms the policy 

thrust of my completion 

agenda of industrialisation, 

aviation development, 

security, infrastructure, small 

and medium scale 

enterprises, human capacity 

development, agriculture, 

and rural and riverine area 

development.” 

Emmanuel expressed the 

belief that the full 


provisions of the budget will 

ensure for the state a society 

that is self-reliant and less 

dependent on statutory 

allocation from the centre. 

World Teachers Day: 

Okowa rewards 12 

teachers with cash, cars 

AS the world celebrated 

the World Teachers’ Day, 

12 teachers in Delta State 

have received cars and cash 

rewards for outstanding 

performance in their duties. 

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa 

announced the rewards at a 

dinner and awards night 

organised by Ministry of 

Basic and Secondary 

Education in conjunction 

with Nigeria Union of 

Teachers, NUT, for teachers 

in the state, in Asaba. 

Recipients of the awards 

were principals, head 

teachers and classroom 

teachers at primary and 

secondary school levels, who 

emerged from a selection 

process. 

Okowa said: “I want to 

congratulate the awardees 

and to let them know that the 

reward of teachers is not only 

in heaven. This type of 

recognition will touch the 

hearts of our teachers and 

make them work harder in the 

development of our children. 

“The teachers, just like 

parents, play an important role 

in the development and 

upbringing of the child. We 

need to continue to give care 

to our children and guide 

them aright because it is at this 

foundational level that we can 

mould their character. 

“We need to get the moral 

development of the children 

aright at this level, so that it 

will be well with our nation.” 

he said. 

The governor urged the 

awardees to redouble their 

commitment to the upbringing 

of the pupils, reminding them 

that “teaching is a passion that 

genuinely flows from the 

heart.” 

He commended the state 

Ministry of Basic and 

Secondary Education for 

organising the event and 

NUT for its tremendous 

support and partnership in 

improving the education sector 

in the state. 

Earlier, Mr Patrick Ukah, 

Commissioner for Basic and 

Secondary Education, said the 

awardees were selected from 

a process that involved over 

49,000 teachers and students 

in 470 public secondary 

schools and 1,126 primary 

schools in the state. 

He congratulated the 

awardees, noting that the 

assessment was done and 

vetted by a team of academics 

drawn from various tertiary 

institutions in the country. 

The awardees are 

Asanuvwe Elizabeth, Owumi 

Onome, Omotie Phoebe (Best 

Primary School Teachers); 

Oyemike Andrew, Ogwara 

Gabriel, Esiedafe Doris (Best 

Head Teachers); Imarah 

Georgina, Eseimokumoh 

Charles, Ikeh Bridget ( Best 

Secondary School Teacher), 

and Ominiabohs Adeline, 

Adiri Jonathan and Okolafor 

Fidelis (Best Principals). 

Buy your uniforms from 

C-River garment factory, 

CBN gov tells army, others 

THE Central Bank of 

Nigeria, CBN, 

Governor, Mr Godwin 

Emefiele, has called on the 

Nigerian Armed Forces and 

paramilitary organisations 

to patronise the Cross River 

State garment factory for 

their uniforms. 

Emefiele, who made the 

call during a recent visit to 

the factory, praised 

Governor Ben Ayade for 

creating employment for the 

teeming youths in the state 

through the garment factory. 

The CBN governor said 

there was no justifiable 

reason for the Nigerian 

Armed Forces and 

paramilitary organisations 

in the country to continue 

to import uniforms. 

His words: “I must say that 

with what I have seen today, 

I’m very impressed 

beginning from the garment 

factory that has over 1000 

Prof Emmanuel Edozien 

passes on at 82 

THE Royal Edozien family 

of Asaba, Delta State has 

announced the death of one 

of their illustrious sons and 

a great Nigerian, Professor 

Emmanuel Edozien, the 

Ojiba of Asaba, at the age of 

82 

Ėdozien died on October 

5, 2019, in Lagos, after a brief 

illness, according to the 

family 

The erudite economist of 

international repute served 

as the Chief Economic 

Adviser to the Second 

Republic government of 

President Shehu Shagari 

from 1979 to 1983. 

Born on November 15, 

1937, in Enugu, he attended 

Christ the King College 

Onitsha where he excelled 

with Grade 1 in the Oxford 

and Cambridge Certificate in 

1957. He proceeded to Kings 

College, Lagos for his A- 

level programme in 1958. 

He attended the University 

College Ibadan, graduating 

in Economics in 1962 and 

bagged a Masters (MA) 

state of the art machines. I’m 

impressed, very impressed 

with this garment factory. 

This is the kind of 

leadership that states need 

to get them economically 

viable and create jobs for 

their people. 

“At the garment factory, we 

saw young men and women 

who should otherwise be 

roaming the streets 

gainfully employed. Over a 

1,000 of them. By October 

25, we will be meeting with 

all the service chiefs, head 

of Civil Defence and NYSC 

to sign an agreement. 

“Rather than import their 

uniforms from other 

countries, we will appeal to 

them that they must come 

and order their garment from 

Cross River garment factory. 

That is the only way we can 

create jobs in this country. 

In summary, I am 

impressed, very delighted.” 

Abiodun, Ooni of Ife to 

commission first palace, museum 

in Ode-Remo community 

GOVERNOR 

Dapo 

Abiodun of Ogun State 

and the Ooni of Ife, Oba 

Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, 

will commission historical 

sites, including a palace, 

museum and amusement at 

Ode-Remo community in 

Ogun State, tomorrow. 

The Ode-Remo 

community has been in 

existence for over eight 

centuries without a palace for 

all 20 past kings that had 

reigned. 

However, the current 

traditional ruler, Oba 

Adetunji Osho, the Alaye of 

Ode –Remo, has decided to 

work towards breaking the 

age-long tradition. 

He is doing that with the 

help of Aare Adetola 

Emmanuel King, the GMD 

of Adron Group. The 

community will also see the 

commissioning of the first 

museum in Remo land and 

an amusement park. 

Speaking at a press parley 

in Ode-Remo, Oba Osho 

expressed happiness that 

with the commissioning, 

history is being made during 

his reign. 

Degree in Economics from 

the University of Michigan, 

USA in 1964 and a Ph.D in 

Economics from the same 

University in 1966, 

He began his working 

career at the University of 

Ibadan as Lecturer 11 in 

1967 and rose through the 

ranks to the position of 

Professor of Development 

and International Economics 

in 1978 

He is survived by wife, 

Betty, and five children, 10 

grandchildren and siblings, 

including the Asagba of 

Asaba, His Royal Highness, 

Obi (Pofessor) Joseph 

Edozien, his elder brother.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 — 13 

PRESENTATION: From Left—Femi Osobajo, Senior Marketing Manager, Bet9ja; Wangi Mba-Nzoukwu, 

Channel Director, Africa Magic; John Ugbe, Chief Executive officer, MultiChoice Nigeria, presenting 

the SUV keys to Mercy Eke, winner of BBNaija Season 4, and Barrister Donatus Okeke, Managing 

Director, Innoson Motors, during the presentation ceremony, held at the Big Brother House Arena in 

Ilupeju, Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: Kehinde Gbadamosi 

Jigawa dirtiest state in North-West 

amongst states in the 

—Minister country.” 

By Aliyu 

Dangida 

D Minister UTSE—THE 

of Water 

Resources, Sulaiman 

Adamu, has described 

Jigawa State as the 

dirtiest state in the 

North-West region of the 

country. 

This came as Governor 

Muhammad Badaru of 

the state said the 

executive would sent a 

bill to the state assembly 

to ban open defecation 

across the state. 

Adamu who spoke 

yesterday during a 

working visit to 

Governor Muhammad 

Badaru in Dutse, said in 

spite of the state’s feat in 

the provision of adequate 

drinking water to the 

populace, yet the state 

was the least in hygiene 

and sanitation 

compliance. 

The Minister told the 

governor that, “even 

though I come from 

Jigawa, charity, they say 

begins at home. So, we 

have to tell ourselves the 

truth that we have not 

done well in terms of 

sanitation and hygiene 

which is why we are the 

worst in the entire northwest 

region and lowest 

Mr. Adamu said 

although Jigawa 

recorded 86.6 percent in 

provision of clean water 

across the state, it 

however needed to 

buckle up against poor 

attitude on hygiene 

across the state. 

He also stated that “it 

is on record that the 

state has made 

remarkable step in 

addressing the menace 

of open defecation by 

achieving 18.2% Open 

Minister orders entrepreneurial 

training for corps members 

By Emmanuel 

Elebeke 

WORRIED—by the 

recent spate of 

rejection of Corps members 

by agencies and parastatals 

of government, the 

Minister 

of 

Communications, Dr. Isa 

Ibrahim Pantami, has 

directed all parastatals and 

agencies under his purview 

to accept and train all Corps 

members posted to them 

on enterpreneurhip. 

The minister said the 

directive became necessary 

in view of the negative and 

resultant impact such 

rejection would have on the 

of the need to support 

Governor Nasiru el-Rufa’i’ 

s effort at strengthening 

the public service. 

According to the 

chairman, the action of the 

local government’s 

authority was also aimed at 

enhancing the capacity of 

the workers in the council 

to render efficient and 

quality service for the 

overall development of the 

state. 

“I must confess that I was 

encouraged and motivated 

by the bold step taken by 

el-Rufa’i to fulfil the promise 

made to workers in the 

state, which is for the benefit 

and development of 

Defecation Free (ODF) in 

4 local government areas 

out of the 27 LGAs 

putting the state in 

second best from Cross 

Rivers State.” 

Responding, governor 

Badaru disputed the 

statistics of the minister, 

insisting that the state 

had surpassed what the 

minister had presented. 

Governor Badaru, 

however, assured that 

action would be taken to 

improve on hygiene and 

sanitation, noting that he 

would hold the 

Corps members and 

society. 

He said the ministry is 

worried at the development 

and expect agencies under 

his watch to comply with the 

provisions of the law 

regarding the NYSC 

scheme. 

According to him, 


Buhari, is particularly 

mindful of the fact that the 

future of our great country 

depends on the youths and 

therefore, they must be 

equipped for the critical role 

that lies ahead. 

To this end, he said the 

Communications ministry 

had initiated a policy to 

Kaduna LG begins payment of N30,000 

minimum wage 

A Chairman BUJA—THE 

of Ikara 


Kaduna State, Mr Ibrahim 

Sadiq, has said his council 

has effectively begun the 

payment of N30,000 

minimum wage to its 

workers from October 4. 

Sadiq announced this in 

a statement signed by his 

Special Adviser on Media, 

Mr Abdulmajid Hussain in 

Abuja yesterday. 

The statement quoted the 

chairman as saying that the 

local government’s 

decision was as a result 

common man in the state,“ 

Sadiq said. 

The chairman assured the 

people of the local 

government that 

principles of equity, justice 

and transparency would be 

the watch words of his 

administration. 

He also implored the 

workers to reciprocate the 

gesture by demonstrating 

high level of commitment, 

steadfastness, and 

persistence in the discharge 

of their duties. 

Sadiq further promised to 

improve the general 

welfare of the entire 

workers of the council. 

commissioner and the 

entire staff of the 

ministry for water 

resources accountable for 

any further lapses. 

According to him, he 

would hold bi-weekly 

meetings with officials of 

the ministry as part of 

efforts to reverse the 

trend. 

The governor declared 

that the state will 

forward a bill to the state 

assembly to legislate on 

the total ban on open 

defecation across the 

state. 

ensure corps members 

were equipped with 

adequate entrepreneurial 

skills at the end of their 

service year to properly 

empower and position 

them as entrepreneurs 

instead of job seekers. 

He directed that with 

immediate effect, all 

Agencies and Parastatals 

under the supervision of his 

Ministry must: Provide 

opportunities for an 

appreciable number of 

Youth Corps members within 

their capacities in their regional 

and Head offices annually, 

with adequate arrangements for 

their renumeration; Give special 

Departments and Agencies under 

his purview must comply with the 

provisions of the law regarding the 

NYSC scheme. 

“The National Youth Service 

Corps, NYSC, scheme was 

established by the Federal 

Government of Nigeria with the 

objective of inculcating the spirit 

of selfless service to the 

community, encourage and 

develop ties among youths and 

to emphasise the spirit of oneness 

and brotherhood in all Nigerians 

irrespective of cultural or social 

background. 

“It is in pursuant of this 

objective that the Federal 

Government mandated all 

Ministries, Departments and 

Agencies, MDAs, to make 

adequate provision for Youth 

Corps Members to carry out their 

m a n d a t o r y 

national assignment." 

Why CCB should charge Diri 

for violation of Assets 

Declaration Lawarraigned. 

Y B ENAGOA— 

A Y E L S A 

Coalition for Good 

Governance and 

Accountability has tasked 

the Code of Conduct 

Bureau to quiz Senator 

Douye Diri over his 

failure to show evidence 

of his declaration of 

assets on his assumption 

as chief of staff and 

principal secretary to the 

state governor in 2012. 

The group, which filed 

a petition to the bureau, 

also accused the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP 

governorship candidate 

of evading the summons 

from the bureau. 

Affirming that its 

decision was in line with 

its responsibility of good 

governance and 

accountability, the group 

in a statement, said it 

was aghast at the 

thought of someone who 

could not action was 

devoid of partisanship. 

The group, which said 

its action was inspired by 

constitutional provisions, 

said: “It has been 

established and 

available records show 

that no declaration was 

made by Senator Douye 

Diri when he was 

appointed as Chief of 

Staff to the Executive 

Governor, of Bayelsa 

State between 2012 and 

2013. 

“During that period, he 

failed, refused or/and 

neglected to comply with 

the law obliging him to 

declare his assets to the 

Code of Conduct Bureau 

as a public officer. 

“Now one of the 

implications for noncompliance 

with the 

code, among others, is 

disqualification from 

holding of any public 

office for a period not 

exceeding ten years. And 

this is what we are 

asking the tribunal to do 

when he is eventually 

“Therefore, it is our 

wish and urgently too, 

that the Bureau, being 

an anti-corruption 

agency of the 

government, it is 

imperative to bring 

reckless public officer to 

justice. The Bureau 

should without delay do 

the needful by 

arraigning the subject 

before the Code of 

Conduct Tribunal. 

“This is not politics, 

this is not partisanship, 

this is about patriotism. 

This is about Bayelsa 

people and Nigeria. The 

office of governor is a 

high office and a serious 

business for which any 

discovered impropriety 

should be fully 

addressed. 

“I and my people do not 

want to benefit from a corrupt 

system. I don’t want to look 

the other way while such a 

man who neglected a simple 

task as chief of staff comes to 

the high office of governor 

and does worse as governor. 

“l have the opportunity to 

speak out, l will speak out and 

lam speaking out. What we 

expect from anyone who 

intends to become governor 

of Bayelsa State is to respect 

transparency, probity and 

accountability and must be 

seen to be above board and 

abide by the rule of law at all 

times. Leadership must be 

held accountable. No one is 

above the law. 

“Senator Douye Diri’s 

conduct is a violation of the 

law. Our goal is to pursue and 

ensure that good governance 

is entrenched in Bayelsa 

State. 

“We want the Code of 

Conduct Bureau and 

eventually the Code of 

Conduct Tribunal to 

interrogate the 

appropriateness of Senator 

Diri for the high office of 

governor in the light of this 

revelation. 

“We urge the relevant 

agencies of government, the 

courts and the media not to 

politicize this matter.” 

BENUE GUBER: Jime rejects 

tribunal judgement, heads for 

Appeal Court 

By Peter Duru 

M AKURDI—THE 

Benue State All 

Progressives Congress, 

APC, governorship 

candidate in the last 

general elections, Mr. 

Emmanuel Jime, has 

vowed to approach the 

Court of Appeal to upturn 

the judgment of the 

Benue 

State 

Governorship Election 

Petition Tribunal which 

Monday affirmed the 

victory of Governor 

Samuel Ortom at the 

poll. 

The Justice Adebola 

Olusiyi led tribunal had 

Monday upheld the 

election of Governor 

Ortom and dismissed the 

petition filed by the APC 

candidate for lacking in 

merit. 

Reacting to the 

judgment, Mr. Jime 

through his runningmate 

Mr. Sam Ode said 

“we will test the validity 

of the decision at the 

appellate court. We 

implore our supporters 

to remain calm, steadfast 

and resolute. Thank God 

the Chairman of the 

Tribunal said there are 

other available layers for 

us to explore.” 

Meanwhile Governor 

Samuel Ortom in his 

reaction to the judgment 

said it was victory for the 

people of the state who 

elected him for a second 

term. 

The Governor in a 

statement by his Chief 

Press Secretary, CPS, 

Terver Akase said “the 

verdict of the tribunal 

has confirmed the 

unanimous decision of 

Benue voters and has 

also proven that my reelection 

was credible."


By Adesina 

Wahab, Elizabeth 

Uwandu & Esther 

Oyeniyi 

LAGOS—- 

THE 

embattled lecturer in the 

Department of European 

Languages, University of 

Lagos, UNILAG, Dr 

Boniface Igbeneghu, who 

was caught on camera 

soliciting sex from an 

“admission seeker,” has 

been alleged to have tried 

committing suicide. 

This is as Vanguard 

gathered that Igbeneghu, 

who had since been 

suspended by UNILAG 

authorities and also by 

Foursquare Gospel Church, 

where he is a pastor, may 

have his full conferment of 

professorship slated before 

the end of the year being 

denied, following his 

alleged involvement in the 

sex-for-grades saga. 

I won't be coerced 

to speak 

— Igbeneghu 

Meanwhile, the embattled 

lecturer , when contacted to 

comment on the issue. stated 

that he would not be coerced 

to speak. 

His word: “I work for the 

University of Lagos; if you 

want any reaction, talk to the 

university. 

“Contact the information 

unit and they will tell you the 

correct position. If I talk, I will 

be running foul of the 

varsity’s law. Don’t put 

unnecessary pressure on me 

to say beyond what I have 

said.” 

I’ve received threats 

over investigation 

—BBC journalist 

However, the undercover 

journalist with the BBC 

Africa Eye, Kiki Mordi, 

yesterday, disclosed that she 

received threats after 

completing an investigation 

that exposed sexual 

harassment in some West 

African universities. 

Mordi, an undercover 

reporter, posing as a 17- 

year- old admission seeker, 

in a 13-minute video, had 

exposed Igbeneghu trying 

to have carnal knowledge of 

her. 

In an interview with 

Sahara Reporters, Mordi 

said since the investigation 

was completed, she had 

been receiving subtle threats. 

She said: “I have received 

subtle threats since this work 

was completed but I am not 

bothered because the BBC 

takes the security of 

employees seriously. 

“Before embarking on this 

project, the team prayed a lot 

and also sang because it 

helped to calm the nerves. 

But I had to go through the 

training I received over and 

over again because I wanted 

to get it right. 

“The bulk of the rituals I 

performed are reading, 

research and preparation. 

The biggest goal of this work 

was to be louder than the 

aggressor because sexual 

harassment is very loud. I 

wanted it to be silenced.” 

SEXUAL HARASSMENT: Embattled UNILAG 

lecturer contemplates suicide 

•I’ve received threats over investigation —BBC journalist 

•No evidence against our lecturers, says Ghana varsity 

•Sexual abuse victims speak out 

Dr Boniface Igbeneghu 

UNILAG gate 

Mordi expressed gladness 

that things have been 

changing since the 

documentary was released, 

adding that more needed to 

be done to halt sexual 

harassment in African 

universities. 

She said: “I am happy that 

a lot is changing already 

since the documentary was 

released and I can confirm 

to you that one of the 

lecturers at the University of 

Lagos caught sexually 

harassing a prospective 

student has been dismissed 

by the institution. 

“I believe it doesn’t stop 

there until there is a 

conviction. We have to break 

that culture of impunity.” 

No evidence of sex-forgrades 

against our 

lecturers—Ghana varsity 

In a related development, 

the Chairperson of Antisexual 

Harassment 

Committee of the University 

of Ghana, UG, Margaret 

Amoakohene, said there is 

no evidence that two of its 

lecturers seen in the sex-forgrades 

video documentary 

slept with their alleged 

victims. 

Yaw Gyampo, a Professor 

of Political Science, and Paul 

Butakor, a lecturer at the 

College of Education, were 

seen soliciting sex from 

students in a 13-minute video 

documentary released by the 

BBC Africa Eye on Monday. 

Amoakohene was quoted 

as saying though she 

agreed that the lecturers’ 

behaviour was unacceptable 

and should be investigated, 

there was no evidence that 

they slept with any student. 

According to Citi News, 

she said the allegations could 

only be justified in a case 

where the lecturers were 

caught having illicit affairs 

with their students and 

awarding them marks that 

they did not deserve or 

marking them down 

because they refused their 

advances. 

He said: “If you look at the 

transcript that they added, 

there is no evidence of sex 

for a grade. I agree that the 

lecturers misbehaved and so 

you will discuss these as 

unacceptable behaviours 

that should be investigated 

but there was no indication 

of sex for grades,” 

Kiki Mordi 

Amoakohene was quoted to 

have said. 

“In one case, it was about 

the national service 

placement. Who needs 

grades at national service? 

She completed and she was 

looking for placement. 

“In the other case according 

to the transcript, the lady 

approached him and said 

she wanted him to be a 

mentor. She confirmed she 

wasn’t his student but asked 

that he mentors her. So 

where is the grade involved 

in this? 

“You can discuss grades 

and sex when you find a 

lecturer who is dating his 

students, and either 

unnecessarily giving them 

grades that they don’t 

deserve or marking them 

down because they have 

refused your advances. But 

in the two cases that are 

cited, I don’t see sex for 

grades.” 

Cooperate with 

ongoing 

investigations,UG 

President tells 

students 

Also, President of UG 

Student Representative 

Council, SRC, Isaac 

Agyemang, was said to have 

advised students who are 

victims of sexual harassment 

to cooperate with ongoing 

investigations. 

“As it stands now, these are 

allegations that have come 

up. Until they are proven 

guilty, our remarks will be 

speculative,” Agyemang 

was quoted to have said. 

“But all these people 

captured in the video will 

duly be investigated within 

the remits of the University 

of Ghana. Our fingers are 

crossed as an SRC, so any 

student who has been a 

victim shouldn’t shy away 

from the SRC.” 

Sexual abuse 

victims speak 

out 

Following the investigation 

by BBC Africa Eye that 

exposedIgbeneghu, sexual 

abuse victims have continued 

to share their experience. 

I was victim of 

sexual harassment 

—Gov Fayemi's wife 

One of such is the wife of 

the Governor of Ekiti State, 

Bisi Fayemi, who revealed 

that she was a victim of 

sexual harassment during 

her university days in 

Nigeria. 

Mrs. Fayemi made her 

revelation during the 

screening of the 

documentary in Lagos, 

which has Mrs. Aisha 

Buhari and Fayemi’s wife, 

among others in attendant. 

Mrs. Fayemi, however, 

said she was lucky it did not 

go far “but it was extremely 

unpleasant.” She urged 

women to speak out, saying 

the culture of silence “has 

endured for too long.” 

Mrs. Fayemi, who is the 

Chairperson of Nigerian 

Governors’ Wives Forum, 

said the forum would push 

for a political action in the 36 

states to end the scourge. 

She said what was missing 

has been the political will to 

end the menace, stressing 

that the problem affects 

everyone. 

Mrs. Fayemi did not 

mention her university but 

research shows that she 

received her bachelor’s and 

master’s degrees in history 

from University of Ife, now 

the Obafemi Awolowo 

University, Nigeria. 

...Ibim Semenitari, 

too 

Also, a former acting 

Managing Director of Niger 

Delta Development 

Commission, NDDC, Ibim 

Semenitari, has said she was 

sexually harassed by a male 

lecturer while she was doing 

her undergraduate 

programme in a Nigerian 

university. 

Mrs. Semenitari, while 

weighing in on the 

#SexForGrades 

conversation, said on 

Facebook, yesterday, that she 

was just 15 years old when 

her lecturer at the University 

of Benin sexually harassed 

her. 

“I was 15 when I got into 

university at first trial. I 

studied hard. I was a staunch 

member of the Christian 

Union. I didn’t go to the 

lecturers’ offices. I was from 

a home where I was well 

provided for and well-loved 

by my family so I didn’t have 

any problem but I was 

harassed and it cost me two 

years of my university 

education and a change of 

faculty,” she said on the social 

media site. 

Semenitari studied English 

Language and Literature 

from 1982 to 1989 in the 

university, according to her 

profile on LinkedIn. 

She said: “The matter of 

sexual harassment in 

Nigeria is worsened by the 

fact that society doesn’t 

understand the matter of 

power relations and always 

manages to find an excuse 

always for the violators. 

“Children are regularly 

abused by trusted family 

members, child domestics 

are routinely violated by 

bosses without a care in the 

world, children who get into 

school are harassed, 

assaulted and if they do not 

give in might lose the 

opportunity of graduating as 

at when due or graduating 

at all. And no, you do not 

have to go to a lecturer’s 

office to be harassed. 

“When I read comments 

that suggest that only weak 

students are harassed or only 

those who cannot pass their 

exams, it is like a knife 

piercing through my heart, 

and it just takes me over 30 

years back. 

“Why must we always find 

a reason to blame the victim 

as if the pain and humiliation 

are not enough?”


I feel fufilled, says veteran journalist, Emeka Mamah 

Mr. Emeka Mamah(3rd left), family and friends in church during the thanksgiving. 

By Ikechukwu Odu 

NSUKKA— THE former 

South-East Regional Editor 

of Vanguard Newspaper, Emeka 

Mamah, Sunday, thanked God 

for a successful career in 

journalism. 

Mamah, who went for a 

thanksgiving Mass at St. 

Joseph’s Catholic Church, Imufu, 

By Peter Okutu, 

Chinenye Ozor & 

Ikechukwu Odu 

N SUKKA—GOVERNOR 

David Umahi of Ebonyi 

State, yesterday, expressed 

optimism that with proper 

investment in both physical and 

human development, Nigeria’s 

economy can survive without 

relying on oil. 

The governor who was a 

guest lecturer at the 59th 

Founders’ Day Lecture of the 

University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 

UNN, posited three vital things 

Nigeria needs to pursue a zero 

oil economy. 

Umahi, who said none of the 

20 most prosperous nations on 

earth are heavily reliant on oil 

exports, named the vital steps to 

include insulating the economy 

from the risk of being vulnerable 

to a single commodity, creation of 

jobs that can raise the living 

standard of an average Nigerian 

Igbo-Eze North Local 

Government Area of Enugu State, 

also said he was celebrating the 

peace in his marriage/family as 

well as his daughter’s graduation 

from the university. 

He said: “I retired from 

Vanguard Newspaper on June 2, 

after several years of being in the 

field. I worked in several 

newspapers such as ThisDay, 

and preparing for life beyond the 

oil revenue. 

In his lecture entitled 

Preparing Ebonyi State for Zero 

Oil Economy, Umahi said 

Ebonyi has started laying the 

foundations for sustained 

economic growth and prosperity 

beyond the era of oil. 

His words: “Nigeria’s 

economy potentially lies 

beyond oil. In 1960, Nigeria had 

a leading position across several 

of its export crops, especially 

groundnut, cocoa, cotton and 

palm oil. At that time, its share 

of the world agriculture exports 

was in excess of one percent. 

“By the mid 1980s however, 

agriculture exports collapsed as 

the country shifted towards 

petroleum exploration and by 

the 1990’s, Nigeria’s share in 

world export of agriculture had 

declined to less than 0.1%.” 

Stressing the need for 

diversification, Umahi noted 

that the “USA is the world 

Punch, Daily Star, Satellite 

among others. 

“When you have passion for a 

job, you won’t even know the way 

you feel. But I feel fulfilled. I did 

so many things and I know that 

as a journalist, you make enemies 

and friends. 

“I made more friends and also 

some enemies not because I 

willingly had to do that, but my 

largest economy by nominal 

GDP with a diversified economy 

operating in a free market. 

“Her biggest industries are 

tourism, international trade, 

agriculture and aerospace with 

the major income to the 

government as income tax and 

payroll taxes from private 

individuals. She has a GDP of 

$21.2 trillion, hence an advanced 

country. 

“China is the second largest 

economy by nominal GDP. The 

success in the economic growth 

of this country is attributed to 

mixed economy that is 

incorporated with limited 

capitalism. Japan is also the world 

biggest creditor with the leading 

public debt ratio. She has the 

nominal GDP of $1,266.1 billion 

and GDP per capita of $49,500, 

with annual growth rate of 1.7%. 

“This over-concentration on a 

single commodity creates deep 

fault lines within the economy, as 

global oil price crashes travel 

job caused the strain in such 

relationship between some 

people and I, especially those in 

positions of authority. There are 

so many incidents I can 

remember that nearly cost me my 

dear life. 

“During the military regime, I 

stepped on so many toes. I 

remember that during the 

period, Emeka Omeruah was 

queried because of a story I 

wrote about his government’s 

decision to print his portrait in 

the United Kingdom, against 

Buhari’s government’s policy as 

Military Head of State and it 

nearly cost me my life. 

“Omeruah’s government 

accused late Pius Onuh of 

allegedly leaking the report to 

me. But that was not true. 

“ I spent seven years in 

Kaduna where I met good 

administrators like Mohammed 

Makarfi, his successor, 

Mohammed Sambo, who later 

became the Vice President, 

before I was sent to Lagos on 

promotion as the Deputy News 

Editor. 

“Makarfi is broad-minded and 

would have made a good 

President. Both Makarfi and 

Sambo are loyal to their friends.” 

Nigeria must shift from oil economy— Umahi 

Nwoye sets up Foundation to fight unemployment, poverty 

By Vincent Ujumadu 

A WKA—MEMBER, 

House 

of 

Representatives and 

governorship candidate of 

All Progressives Congress, 

APC, in the 2017 election 

in Anambra State, Dr. Tony 

Nwoye, has set up a 

foundation to assist youths, 

women and the aged. 

Addressing youths from 

all the 326 political wards 

in the 21 local government 

areas of Anambra State at 

his Nsugbe, Anambra East 

Local Government Area 

country home, Nwoye said 

he decided to place 

emphasis on youth 

empowerment because 

they (youths) have been 

assisting him immensely in 

his political career. 

According to him, the 

Foundation would 

primarily focus on 

employment for the youths 

from all parts of the state, 

assist people in meeting 

their health care needs, 

offer scholarship to youths 

and children of youths, as 

well as embark on annual 

empowerment, including 

giving cash and equipment 

to enable the lessprivileged 

people to fend 

for themselves. 

He said it was 

unfortunate that youths 

were remembered only 

during elections, after 

which they were usually 

forgotten, regretting that 

not up to five percent of the 

youths were gainfully 

employed, “yet they say 

youths are future leaders.” 

He observed that 

President Buhari, 

Olusegun Obasanjo and 

others led Nigeria when 

they were youths, asking 

“when will today’s youths 

take charge? Is it under 

this situation that our 

youths can build houses, 

buy cars and start raising 

families?” 

Nwoye said although 

the foundation was mainly 

to assist people, it would 

have political undertone 

since, according to him, 

he would still contest 

election in future. 

through all facets of the Nigerian 

economy. 

“Nigeria’s oil resources should 

be used as a down payment to 

build a robust diversified export 

basket of other products —to 

create jobs, earn foreign 

exchange and attract 

investments.” 

Umahi, who noted that the oil 

economy breeds low standard of 

living and widens the gap 

between the poor and rich; 

economic imbalance as well as 

encourages unemployment, said 

that Nigeria must “use oil to 

move beyond oil; our large 

population of 180 million people 

means we do not have enough 

oil to meet the needs of all our 

citizens. 

“A lower nation with a lower 

population than Nigeria has oil 

reserves of 9,900 barrels per 

person (for each citizen); Saudi 

Arabia has 9,241 barrels per 

person; while Nigeria has only 

214 barrels per person.” 

SMILE rewards 

customers 

with news 

devices 

THE 4G LTE pioneer 

service provider in West 

Africa, Smile Nigeria, has 

launched a campaign 

designed to give brand new 

SMIFI and router devices to 

its loyal customers, who have 

spent a minimum of 12 

months on the Smile 

network. 

A statement by Smile 

Nigeria’s Head of Brands 

and Communication, 

Lotanna Anajemba, 

explained that to be 

qualified, customers who 

have spent the required 

minimum duration of 12 

months must have good data 

usage history and they must 

bring their old SMiFi or 

router device in exchange for 

the new device. 

Anajemba further 

explained that eligible 

customers can only benefit 

from this offer once a year 

and would have to update 

their Know Your Customer, 

KYC, record with SMILE to 

enable them get notification 

for the offer. 

The lucky customers, 

Anajemba added, will be 

contacted via SMS and e- 

mail and requested to visit 

their nearest SMILE shop or 

kiosk nationwide to claim 

their new device. 

According to Anajemba, “a 

vital aspect of this loyalty 

programme is that it offers 

the customer a router or 

SMiFi device at no extra cost. 

“However, customers will 

have to trade in their old 

device for the new one. The 

campaign primarily rewards 

unflinching loyalty. The offer 

is available in all the major 

Nigerian cities in which 

SMILE operates. 

“We recognise that the 

internet is becoming more 

and more important for 

nearly everybody in their 

everyday lives, and as such 

it is our goal to enable as 

many people as possible to 

enjoy the best customer 

experience on the SMILE 

network.”


LAUNCHING: From 

left— Mr Ugochukwu Obi- 

Chukwu, Chief 

Commercial Officer, 

Olanrewaju Yusuf, 

Business Manager, 

Shomolu Business Unit, 

Sunday Oyewole, Chief 

Technical Coordinator, 

Mrs. Folake Soetan, Chief 

Operating Officer, all of 

Ikeja Electric, Mr. Ladi 

Bello, Ikeja Electric 

Franchise Connect Centre 

Vendor , Olowora and 

Chief Albert Bankole, 

Baale of Isheri, during the 

official launch of Ikeja 

Electric Franchise Connect 

Centre at Olowora, Berger, 

Lagos. Photo Akeem 

Salau. 

Why Nigeria may remain poor, by Utomi 

By Gabriel Olawale 

L AGOS—NIGERIA’S 

Professor of Political 

Economy and 

management expert, Pat 

Utomi has warned that the 

country will continue to 

wallow in poverty, 

insecurity and massive 

unemployment unless the 

government was serious 

about divesting itself from 

a consuming nation to a 

productive one. 

Utomi who was a guest 

speaker at the Podium, a 

socio-political platform for 

We're working with credible OEMs to launch 

Made -in-Nigeria vehicles —NADDC boss 

By Emmanuel 

Elebeke 

D UBAI—WORLD 

renowned genuis and 

Director General of 

Nigerian Automotive 

Design and Development 

Council, NADDC,Mr. 

Jenalis Aliyu says his 

agency is working with 

credible Original 

Equipment and 

Manufacturers, OEMs in 

the country to launch 

affordable and durable 

made-in-Nigeria vehicles 

soon. 

Aliyu disclosed this in a 

chat with Vanguard at the 

ongoing Gulf International 

Technology Exhibition, 

GITEX 2019 holding in 

Dubai, UAE. 

He said the idea behind 

the proposed made-in- 

Nigerian vehicles is to offer 

average Nigerians the rare 

opportunity to drive brand 

discourse on national 

issues of importance 

organised by the Akwa 

Ibom Christian Assembly 

(ACA) and the Spiritual 

Fathers of Faith Forum in 

Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, said 

that any nation that doesn’t 

produce wealth but share 

wealth cannot progress. 

The Podium is a rallying 

point for pastors and church 

leaders for participation in 

the political process and 

advocacy for good 

governance and the 

institution of righteous and 

transparent governance. 

new cars at a cost effective 

price instead of being forced 

to buy used vehicles with 

little or no pleasure. 

He explained that the 

agency since the 


National Automotive 

Investment Plan, NAIP, 

FCMB celebrates customers, assures on 

excellent service delivery 

By Nkiru Nnorom 

LAGOS—FIRST City 

Monument Bank, 

FCMB, has restated its 

commitment to attain the 

highest level of customer 

advocacy by leveraging on 

its solid business models, 

bespoke solutions, excellent 

service delivery, highly 

professional staff and 

technology to turn the 

aspirations of its customers 

to opportunities. 

Areas of the state as part of 

activities to mark Osanebi's 

birthday anniversary. 

Speaking during the ceremony, 

the National President of the 

group, Comrade Benjamin 

Onwubolu, expressed 

satisfaction with the large turn 

out of youths who graced the 

occasion, describing Osanebi as 

the symbol of hope for the 

Ndokwa youths. 

He called on leaders of Ndokwa 

nation to stop fanning the embers 

of disunity, adding that Ndokwa 

youths are one united family 

under his leadership. He 

disclosed that the group had set 

Speaking on the theme:, 

‘When Silence is Not 

Golden’, the former 

presidential candidate 

lamented that Nigeria 

remained poor despite her 

huge natural resources 

because the political class 

had showed excessive 

commitment to the sharing 

of the nation’s revenue than 

in production of wealth. 

“The point of focus in our 

nation should be production 

and not revenue sharing. 

Unfortunately in Nigeria 

because of the oil our 

political class has this mind 

some of the popular OEMs 

companies have come back 

to Nigeria like Peugeot and 

Volkswagen which he said 

had also signed an MOU 

to come back. 

‘‘Instead of being forced 

to buy used vehicles, in 

Investment Promotion, we 

The bank gave the assurance 

in a statement to celebrate this 

year’s international Customer 

Service Week, holding from 

October 7 to 11, 2019. 

The theme of the celebration 

is, ‘’The Magic of Service’’. The 

theme recognizes that good 

service is magical, which can turn 

an unhappy customer into a 

satisfied long-term customer. It 

can also turn an occasional 

customer into a repeat customer 

as well as the biggest fan and 

Ndokwa youths laud Osanebi on continuous 

support 

A SHAKA—NDOKWA 

youths, on the aegis of 

Ndokwa National Youth 

Movement, NNYM, have lauded 

the former Deputy Speaker of the 

Delta State House of Assembly, 

Rt. Hon Friday Osanebi for his 

continuous support for youths of 

the Ndokwa ethnic nationality. 

The youths who gathered to 

celebrate what they tagged the 

Ndokwa Youths Day on 

Wednesday, held solidarity march 

at Obiaruku, Kwale and Ashaka, 

Ukwuani, Ndokwa West and 

Ndokwa East Local Government 

aside October 7th as Ndokwa 

Youth Day, to celebrate Osanebi. 

He announced that Osanebi 

had in the spirit of celebration, 

promised to empower 1500 youths 

in different batches with various 

skills to help them become self 

sufficient. 

On his part, the national 

secretary, Comrade Idi Presley 

tasked the youths to remain 

steadfast and resolute in their 

support for Osanebi, "as he 

remains the only leader with the 

interest of the youths at heart. It 

takes a man with a pure heart 

devoid of sentiments to do all he 

does. 

of sharing; what is our share 

of the fat account on oil 

earning? But revenue 

doesn’t create wealth in a 

sustainable way.” 

Earlier, the chairman of the 

forum, Prelate Emeritus, Dr. 

Sunday Mbang, enjoined the 

pastors to lead a lifestyle that 

reflect the gospel, while the 

president of Akwa Ibom Christian 

Assembly, Archbishop Cletus 

Bassey charged pastors not to sit 

any longer on the fence, but get 

involved in the political process 

and movement for good and 

accountable governance. 

are working with relevant 

and very credible OEMs to 

encourage and support 

them to come into Nigeria. 

Recall that in 70s and 80s 

Nigeria was producing 

140,000 vehicles per year 

but the economy went 

down because price of 

crude oil crashed in 1986, 

which affected the industry." 

advocate of an organisation, the 

bank said in the statement. 

The Customer Service Week, 

which started 35 years ago, is a 

unique period when service 

organisations and global agencies 

extol the patronage and loyalty 

of their esteemed customers by 

introducing several unique and 

special activities to appreciate 

them. 

According to FCMB, the 

celebration of this year’s 

Customer Service Week promises 

to be exciting and memorable 

across it's 206 branches 

nationwide as it offers another 

opportunity to further connect, 

engage and appreciate customers 

for their unbridled loyalty and 

patronage in the last 37 years that 

they has been in operation. 

The highlight of the week-long 

activities lined-up include a 

‘’Special Thank You’’ message to 

customers nationwide and a plan 

by the Managing Director, Mr. 

Adam Nuru, to directly speak to 

as many FCMB customers as 

possible. 

In addition, the Executive 

Management of FCMB will visit 

children across all regions who 

have kiddies account with the 

bank whose birthdays fall during 

the customer service week, to 

celebrate with them and present 

them gifts. 

London forex trader sues Citigroup 

over 'malicious' forex prosecution 

ALondon-based former Citigroup (C.N) trader is 

suing the U.S. bank for more than $112 million, 

alleging it made materially false and malicious statements 

to U.S. prosecutors that led to his trial in New 

York on foreign exchange-rigging charges. 

Rohan Ramchandani, the former European head of 

Citigroup's forex spot market trading desk, alleges in a 

lawsuit filed on Wednesday that Citigroup made false 

and "gravely derogatory" assertions against him to government 

investigators and the media after firing him in 

2014 without cause. 

"Ultimately, Citi quite literally fabricated an antitrust 

case for the United States Department of Justice against 

Ramchandani based upon knowingly false allegations 

that he engaged in market 'manipulation' and 'collusion'," 

read the complaint filed in the federal court in Manhattan. 

A spokeswoman for Citigroup in London said the bank 

rejected the allegations and would fight the case. 

Qatar invites big oil to bid for LNG 

expansion projects 

QATAR has invited international oil and gas 

majors-including ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, 

Shell, and Total-to file bids for the expansion of the 

Qatari part of the world's largest gas field and the 

country's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, 

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy 

Affairs, told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. 

Qatar has announced plans to increase its LNG production 

capacity by 43 percent-from 77 million tons 

annually now to 110 million tons a year in five years' 

time. The new export capacity includes expansion 

projects set to be completed in 2024. Qatar will be 

competing with Australia and the United States over 

the next few years for the world's top LNG exporter 

title. 

Qatar aims to award by the end of this year the contracts 

for work on the North Field, which Qatar shares 

with Iran and which Iran calls South Pars, said Al- 

Kaabi, who is also the president and chief executive 

at state-held Qatar Petroleum. 

"In the first quarter, we would have secured all the 

contracts for construction to start production in 2024," 

Al-Kaabi told Bloomberg. 

Qatar has selected a few "big players" which it has 

invited to submit bids, he said. 

Sudan has received half of $3bln aid 

promised by Saudi and UAE 

SUDAN has received half of $3 billion in aid prom 

ised by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates 

in April and expects the remainder to be paid by 

the end of next year, Sudan's finance minister said 

late on Monday. 

The Gulf countries agreed the aid package soon after 

former president Omar al-Bashir was ousted, throwing 

a lifeline to Sudan's new military leaders at the 

time. 

Finance Minister Ibrahim Elbadawi said Saudi Arabia 

and th e UAE had deposited $500 million in the 

Sudanese central bank, while $1 billion worth of petroleum 

products, wheat and agricultural production 

inputs had been received. 

Long lines for bread and fuel are a recurring feature 

of Sudan's economic crisis. 

"I met with the ambassadors of the kingdom and of 

the UAE, and we agreed on a programmed schedule 

that will God willing take us to the end of 2020, to 

finish off the rest of the grant," Elbadawi said. 

He was speaking on the sidelines of an event in 

Abu Dhabi, where Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is 

visiting after traveling to Riyadh earlier in the week. 

Netflix signs deal with Mediaset to 

co-finance Italian films 

NETFLIX Corporation has struck a deal with 

Italy's top commercial broadcaster Mediaset corporation 

to produce films in the country, the two companies 

said on Tuesday, as they step up efforts to boost 

viewers amid tough competition. 

The U.S. streaming service and Mediaset, which is 

controlled by the family of former Italian Prime Minister 

Silvio Berlusconi, will co-finance movies shot in Italy 

by independent local film-makers. The movies will 

be available worldwide on Netflix from next year. Mediaset 

will broadcast the Netflix-branded movies on its 

free-to-air television channels in Italy twelve months 

later. 

Presenting the accord in Rome, Netflix and Mediaset 

unveiled the first five films they will co-produce, 

including 'The Divine Ponytail', a biopic on Italian soccer 

legend Roberto Baggio, 'Caught by a wave', a teenage 

romance set in Sicily and 'The last paradise', the 

real story of a 1950s farmer caught between social reform 

ideals and his love for a landowner's daughter. 

Some stories credited to Reuters


18 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 

Nigeria and climate change 

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari 

on September 24, 2019 in New York 

during the 74th Session of the United 

Nations General Assembly, announced 

plans by his administration 

to “reverse the negative effects of climate 

change in Nigeria”. 

Indeed, Nigeria has long been 

known to be vulnerable to climate 

change and its adverse effects, especially 

on the health and livelihoods 

of Nigerians. For instance, desertification 

which is rapidly advancing 

southward and the possible submergence 

of the coastline along the 

Atlantic Ocean remain a disturbing 

threat. 

But there is a lot more to the problems 

associated with climate change 

and global warming. Before the summit 

began, millions of people, in what 

was described as the biggest climate 

protest ever, took to the streets in 

about 185 countries to demand urgent 

actions to cut emissions and stabilise 

the climate. 

Carbon emissions mounted to a 

record high last year, prompting 

warnings from the UN-backed Intergovernmental 

Panel on Climate 

Change that the world has only about 

a decade left to act to cut emissions. 

For long, climate researchers have 

agreed that humanity could barely 

cope with a temperature increase of 

two degrees Celsius. 

Nigeria, which accounted for 36 per 

cent of gas flaring worldwide, had 

committed to completely eliminate 

flaring at oil wells by the end of 2008. 

But as at 2009, the country’s petroleum 

industry was still burning 24 

billion cubic meters of natural gas 

annually, equal to a third of the annual 

gas consumption of the European 

Union. 

This translated to emission of 400 

million tons of carbon dioxide into 

the atmosphere, a figure which 

equalled the entire emission reduction 

programme submitted under the 

Kyoto Protocol. 

In 2016, Nigeria signed the Paris 

Accord and ratified same a year later 

in order to cut carbon emissions by 

reducing dependence on fossil fuels 

and increasing renewable energy 

adoption. 

Among other points, President Buhari 

had said in New York, that “…Nigeria 

is presently diversifying its energy 

sources from dependence on 

gas-powered system to hydro, solar, 

wind, biomass and nuclear 

sources…Nigeria is progressively 

working to realise 30 per cent energy 

efficiency and renewable energy mix 

by 2030...”. 

Although there is no concrete evidence 

on ground to show that such a 

renewable energy revolution is taking 

place in Nigeria, recently the 

Nigeria Customs Service arbitrarily 

imposed a 5% duty and 5% VAT on 

solar panels coming into Nigeria. Already, 

batteries, needed for storage of 

solar energy, are suffering a 20% duty. 

Yet, solar panels are supposed to be 

exempted from duties according to Nigeria’s 

Harmonised Systems, HS, 

Codes classification. These duties have 

hiked the cost of solar equipment, resulting 

in closure of many solar firms. 

Agreed, Nigeria made some significant 

progress, reducing flaring by 18 

percent since 2013 to less than 8 billion 

cubic meters in 2015, her gas flaring 

profile still makes her a significant 

contributor to global warming. 

As Professor Charles Soludo said in 

a speech on October 1: “The world is 

not waiting for Nigeria. While electric 

cars are fast replacing petrol cars, 

many of our people are still building 

petrol stations.” 

Nigeria must sincerely join the rest 

of the world in the quest for clean energy. 

We must look beyond the present 

to a future without fossil fuel. 

• 

OPINION 

Nigeria’s increasing population and child malnutrition 

By Carl Umegboro 

AFRICA is the second most populous 

continent with over one billion people 

in the world. Sadly, the greatest number of 

births in the continent takes place in Nigeria. 

In fact, a forecast at a point did 

project that by 2015, one fifth of the continent’s 

entire births would take place in 

Nigeria alone, accounting for five percent 

of all global births which was relatively a 

reality. Presently, Nigeria’s population is 

over 180 million. 

Most critical is the United Nations statistics 

which reports that 48 percent of Nigeria’s 

population is under the age of 15 - 

comparatively a country of the young. And 

notwithstanding the fact that the population 

of children under the age of five years 

currently stands at nearly 31 million, no 

less than seven million new-born babies 

are added yearly without considering the 

implications. Meanwhile, over two-thirds 

of the population lives below poverty line. 

The human body essentially requires 

seven major types of nutrients: carbohydrates, 

fats, fiber, minerals, protein, 

vitamins, and water. Unfortunately, 

numerous families rarely have good square 

meals. On the other hand, a high fraction 

suffers malnutrition due to ignorance of 

dietary. 

For instance, there are whole lots of natural, 

affordable foods and edibles that can 

boost nutrition but either unknown or ignored. 

Archetypes are grasshoppers 

which, according to research have 20 grams 

of protein and just 6g of fat per 100g, while 

crickets are good sources of iron, zinc and 

calcium. Amazingly, grasshoppers contain 

more protein than beef with a whopping 

72 percent protein content, including all 

essential amino acids, and without saturated 

fat or cholesterol. 

In the most pathetic class are the large 

but poor families who due to ignorance 

have more children than necessary. Indisputably, 

unplanned pregnancies and births 

have continued to result to large families, 

regrettably without commensurate 

livelihoods, thereby often settling for 

whatever is available for survival, with or 

without nutritional contents. 

Instructively, nutrition is the supply of 

food materials required by organisms and 

cells to stay alive. Nutrition also focuses 

on how diseases can be prevented or 

reduced with a healthy diet and how 

certain diseases may be caused by dietary 

factors, such as poor diet, food allergy and 

intolerances. 

Remarkably, the use of the ‘Ready-to- 

Use-Therapeutic-Food’, RUTF, an initiative 

of UNICEF, has turned out to be a 

fêted relief as evidently shown in 

checkmating child malnutrition, albeit 

costly. This was evidenced by the health 

conditions of children who were hitherto 

malnourished but administered accordingly 

in the critical areas of Adamawa, Borno 

and Yobe states of the North-East. 

Nonetheless, the crux of the matter is 

that despite these interventions from 

UNICEF with support from the Department 

for International Development, DFID, 

in providing succours to the critical areas, 

about 258,950 children, boys and girls may 

still suffer Severe-Acute-Malnutrition, 

SAM, in the three states in 2020, according 

to Nutrition Sector annual projections. 

Reportedly, a budget of N5billion is needed 

for the procurement of 258,950 cartons for 

the number. 

According to UNICEF-Nigeria, funding 

has been secured for merely 29,314 cartons 

of RUTF with a funding gap of N4.4 

billion for these unfortunate victims. Sadly, 

nutrition experts avowed that children 

suffering from SAM are four to eleven 

times more likely to die compared to their 

healthy counterparts. Altogether, an 

estimated 2.5 million boys and girls under 

the age of five suffer from severe acute 

malnutrition yearly in Nigeria. 

Promoting family planning 

is a desideratum in 

addressing population 

upsurge; similarly, 

sensitisations on diet and 

having small families to 

cater for will reduce child 

malnutrition 

Statistically, the Nutrition Survey reported 

that the prevalence of Global-Acute- 

Malnutrition, GAM, in children below five 

years is 11% in Borno, 13% in Yobe and 6% 

Adamawa, which indicates very high levels 

of malnutrition in Nigeria, according to 

WHO (World Health Organisation) classification. 

UNICEF, on the other hand, affirmed 

that one in every two child deaths under 

the age of five is attributed to malnutrition. 

And if not timely identified and 

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treated, malnutrition has serious and 

permanent consequences in the growth 

and development of children. Above all, it 

causes irreversible brain damage and 

compromised intellectual capacity in 

adulthood leading to reduced productivity 

which accounts for estimated 16% loss in 

the Growth Domestic Product, GDP. 

According to the 2019 World Population 

Review, WPR, Nigeria’s population will 

hit 206 million by 2020, and 264 million by 

2030 – crossing the 300 million threshold 

around 2036. In absolute terms, Nigeria is 

projected to add from 2031 to 2050 an 

additional 224 million babies (21 percent 

of the births in Africa and eight percent of 

all births in the world). Thus, Nigeria alone 

will possibly account for almost one tenth 

of all births in the world if not checked. 

Understanding this demographic transition 

and conscientiously putting in place 

realistic interventionist policies will be 

helpful in securing a robust, thriving nation 

of our dreams. For instance, research 

had shown that in 16 African countries, 

including Nigeria, less than 20 percent of 

women of reproductive age are acquainted 

with contraceptive methods, hence producing 

babies without restraints. 

In the event, an indisputable practicable 

panacea is family planning. By its 

awareness, more women will practically 

have access to modern contraceptives, 

thereby reducing numbers of unintended 

pregnancy to the minimum. In other words, 

promoting family planning is a desideratum 

in addressing population upsurge. 

Similarly, sensitizations on diets and having 

small families to cater for will reduce 

child malnutrition. 

*Umegboro, a public affairs analyst, 

wrote from Abuja

Why disbursement of N5bn mining fund was 

stalled — Minister 

By Gabriel Ewepu 

THE Minister of Mines and 

Steel Development, 

Architect Olamilekan Adegbite, 

has indicated that lack of suitable 

model may have hindered the 

disbursement of Nigeria’s N5 

billion mining fund, three years 

after it was put in place. 

Adegbite had explained to 

newsmen yesterday, ahead of 

the 4th Annual Nigeria Mining 

Week, that the Solid Mineral 

Development Fund, SMDF, 

seed fund was targeted at 

helping miners to develop their 

business, especially the artisanal 

and small scale miners. 

He stated: “I must admit that 

three years after, the money has 

not been disbursed, but the good 

thing is that it is intact. There is 

only one disbursement from that 

money. I think a quarry in Oyo 

State was able to access that 

fund, which was N95 million. 

“We have the problem in 

designing a model that would 

work. There is this tendency that 

government money is part of the 

national cake. So, we are careful 

not to throw the money away.” 

He also said the money is with 

the Bank of Industry, and the 

Bank of Industry is supposed to 

match that fund with another 

N2.5 billion to bring up the total 

disbursable money to N5 billion. 

However, he stated: “We are 

designing some programmes to 

accelerate the disbursement of 

this money now. We are 

encouraging the miners to go 

into cooperatives because this 

supposed to be accessed easily 

at low interest rates.” 

“Also we are thinking of 

equipment leasing so that some 

of this money can be acquired 

equipment and some of this 

equipment will be placed 

strategically all over the country 

so that people operating in 

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING 

US DOLLAR 

POUNDS 

EURO 

FRANC 

YEN 

CFA 

WAUA 

RENMINBI 

RIYAL 

SDR 

DANISH 

RAND 

$ 95.55 -1.45 

$2,451.00 29.00 

$12.46 - 0.06 

$58.07 -0.28 

$52.40 - 0.35 

306 306.5 307 

377.298 377.9145 378.531 

336.3858 336.9355 337.4851 

307.8781 308.3811 308.8842 

2.8641 2.8688 2.8735 

0.4917 0.5017 0.5117 

417.2145 417.8962 418.5779 

42.8023 42.8727 42.9431 

81.5804 81.7137 81.847 

418.5162 419.2001 419.8839 

45.0391 45.1127 45.1863 

20.2206 20.2536 20.2867 

CBN Exchange rate as at 08/10/2019 

Electricity: TCN approves 1,000mw 

underground supply to Eko Atlantic City 

By Prince Okafor 

THE Transmission Compa 

ny of Nigeria, TCN, has 

said it will supply Eko Atlantic 

City in Victoria Island, Lagos, 

about 1,000Megawatts, 

MW, of electricity from the grid 

under its Eligible Customers 

arrangement. 

The Managing Director 

of TCN, Dr Usman 

Mahammed, who 

disclosed this to newsmen 

during a tour at 

the territory, said that 

the connection will be 

an underground arrangement 

from Alagbon 

Transmission station 

at Ikoyi to the City. 

He said: “We have 

conducted a study under 

which we want to 

supply Eko Atlantic 

City directly from the 

grid. The study conducted 

shown that 

gradually the energy 

required by the city 

will be closed to 

1,000mw. 

“TCN will build a 

330kva double circuit 

line from Lekki to the 

city, but we are going 

to step down and supply 

them at this time at 

132 so that when the 

need for 330 comes up 

in future we don’t need to 

build a new line. 

“We will only add the transformers, 

meaning that we will 

just build a substation at 

330kva. TCN had placed an 

advert for the pre-qualification 

of contractors for both lines and 

the substation. 

“We have already advertised 

for the pre-qualification of contractors 

for both lines and substation. 

We are working closely 

with Lagos State Government 

and they have given us 

all the support we need and 

the ‘Right of Way’ has been 

established and we are working 

to ensure that we realize 

it. 

“At present we will connect 

them to about 30mw, which 

will later increase to 1,000MW. 

All arrangements that will 

make it reach 1,000mw is what 

we are putting in place. 

“Under the Eligible Customer 

arrangement, Eko Atlantic 

City is going to be connected 

directly to the grid. So, there 

is no Distribution Companies 

(DISCOs) requirement. 

“At present we have about 

eight companies under eligible 

customers’ arrangement 

and what we signed for them 

is closed to 200mw. But they 

are not taking up to 200mw 

because some of them being 


L-R: General Manager, Business and Government Relations of Shell Nigeria, Bashir Bello; 

Group Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kolo Kyari; Managing 

Director, Shell Nigeria Gas, Ed Ubong; and Shell Nigeria’s Commercial Integration Manager, 

Taaj Shobayo, at the Rethinking the Future of Extractives session of the Nigeria Economic Summit 

in Abuja yesterday. 

those areas can access the 

equipment. We will partner with 

manufacturers of the 

equipment.” 

“We want to put life into 

Nigeria Mining Week. We want 

to attract people, right names to 

be at the Mining Week. It may 

be a bit late this year, like I said 

the planning for the next 

Mining Week will start 

immediately after this one.” 

steel companies are not operating 

at their optimum.” 

The Utility Manager, South 

Energy, for Eko Atlantic City, 

Mr. Khaled Based, said the 

company was committed to 

providing all the infrastructural 

facilities including supply 

to their partners in the city. 

“With TCN, we will be able 

to realize this under the Eligible 

Customers arrangement. 

All facilities related to power 

distribution within the city is 

almost ready to receive power 

for phase one and two. 

Some palm oil producers and 

dealers have decried the unrestricted 

importation of foreign 

palm oil into the Nigerian market, 

saying it would cause further 

harm to the economy. 

They lamented the fall in the 

price of the commodity in separate 

interviews with the News 

Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos 

that Malaysian oil had taken 

over the market. 

Katrine Ukaegbu, an Imo 

State-based palm producer, 

speaking via telephone said this 

season was when they made good 

sales from the product but with 

the influx of the foreign oil the 

price had crashed. “A twenty-five 

litres of oil which used to sell for 

NNPC to 

partner 

AFREXIMBANK 

on refineries 

rehabilitation 

THE Nigerian National 

Petroleum Corporation 

(NNPC) has expressed readiness 

to collaborate with the 

African Export and Import 

Bank (AFREXIMBANK) or 

any financial institution willing 

to finance its critical 

projects, especially refineries 

rehabilitation, downstream infrastructure, 

including pipelines. 

The Group Managing Director 

of the Corporation, Mallam 

Melle Kyari, stated this when 

he played host to the Executive 

Vice President of AFREX- 

IMBANK, Mr. Amr Kamel, 

and other top officials of the 

bank who paid him a business 

visit at the NNPC Towers, a 

release by NNPC Acting 

Group General Manager, 

Group Public Affairs Division, 

Mr. Samson Makoji, stated 

today in Abuja. 

Speaking in response to the 

AFREXIMBANK boss’ desire 

to participate in the Nigerian 

Oil and Gas Industry, Mallam 

Kyari said the corporation was 

open to financial and technical 

partnership with reputable 

financial institutions like the 

AFRIXIMBANK to develop 

the Industry. 

“We have a number of financing 

needs; it depends on how 

much you are bringing to the 

table. We need support particularly 

in refineries rehabilitation, 

depot optimization and 

pipelines financing”, the 

GMD stated. He assured the 

team of his readiness to work 

with the bank, adding: “We 

will provide you with basic information. 

We are ready to talk 

to you”. 

Speaking earlier, Amr Kamel 

said he was in NNPC to congratulate 

the GMD and his 

management team on behalf of 

the board and management of 

the bank. He said the bank’s 

management team thought it 

imperative to interact with 

NNPC, being a key player in 

one of the most viable sectors 

of the Nigerian economy 

which is the largest in Africa, 

with a view to seeking collaboration 

on ways to further grow 

the oil and gas sector. 

Apart from financing of refineries 

rehabilitation and other 

downstream projects, the 

AFREXIMBANK boss expressed 

interest in participating 

in some other projects such 

as the Ajaokuta-Kaduna- Kano 

(AKK) pipeline system. 

Palm oil dealers lament over 

imported products 

N19,000 and upward during offseasons 

that starts from June to 

December, now sells for N14,000 

and downward. The import of this 

is that the attraction to the farmers, 

producers and local dealers 

is being eroded by much cheaper 

readily available foreign 

brands,” she said. 

According to her, the government 

should halt the importation 

in order to retain the job of millions 

of Nigerians that make a 

living from the produce. 

Caleb Uzondu, a dealer, who 

trades on the produce from the 

eastern part to Lagos, said that 

the trend, if allowed to continue, 

would spell doom for the 

economy.







26 — Vanguard, Wednesday, OCTOBER 9, 2019 

AcadaFest: Tecno raises N10m education fund for 20 university students 

By Juliet Umeh 

Smartphone brand, Tecno, 

has shown that its 

services is beyond providing 

smart phones by sponsoring 

20 deserving students through 

university as part of its 

commitment to the 

development of Nigerian. 

The brand revealed this at the 

Acadafest, a concert put 

together by ScholarX and 

iManage, organizations and 

celebrities in Lagos recently. 

Tecno PR and Strategic 

Partnership Manager, Jesse 

Oguntimehin, said Tecno is 

sponsoring three of the 20 

students for the duration of 

their university education 

to the tune of N400, 000 

each. 

Oguntimehin said, “At 

Tecno, we have carried out 

various social activities such 

as our “Give the Nigerian 

Child a Future” initiative, 

where we visited selected 

schools around the country to 

empower bright students, 

awarding them scholarships 

for their academic excellence. 

We also provided pupils 

within these schools 

educational materials to ease 

their learning journey. There 

was also the annual “Light up 

Your Dream” competition 

where we rewarded two 

young 

Nigerian 

Entrepreneurs with N1M 

each to grow their 

businesses.” 

Aside from the fund raising, 

attendees were thrilled to the 

charming voices of top 

Nigerian musical artistes such 

as Waje, The Cavemen, 

Johnny Drille, Bez and Show 

Dem Camp who all 

performed to the 

entertainment of the crowd. 

Guests at the event also had 

the opportunity to experience 

the recently released Camon 

12 Series at the Tecno 

experience centre set up at 

the venue. There were also 

giveaways held with seven 

lucky guests winning Tecno 

gifts and smartphones. 

By Prince Osuagwu 

If the statistics of General System 

for Mobile communications 

Association, GSMA is anything 

to rely on, African countries stand a 

chance to rake in a cumulative 0.7 per 

cent of GDP growth in 2034, which 

may approximately amount to $5.2bn. 

This economic expansion will be as 

a result of Innovative services that will 

be spurred by the latest generational 

technology. 

However, GSMA says that this huge 

opportunity for Africa’s digital 

economy depends on the availability 

of necessary radio frequencies, 

including those known as ‘millimetre 

wave’ frequencies that will deliver 

ultra-high capacity and ultra-highspeed 

services. 

GSMA added that Africa’s digital 

future depends on identification of 5G 

spectrum at the international treaty 

conference called the World Radio 

communication Conference 

2019,WRC-19, which will take place 

in Egypt from 28 October to 22 

November 2019 

Head of Sub-Saharan Africa, GSMA, 

Akinwale Goodluck, said: “5G will be 

an evolutionary step with a 

revolutionary impact, having a deeper 

effect on our lives than any previous 

mobile generation. As mobile operators 

continue to expand 4G connections 

across the region, now is the time for 

African governments to lay the 

foundation for their 5G future by 

identifying the needed spectrum at 

WRC-19.” 

The 5G opportunity for Sub- 

Saharan Africa 

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the roll-out 

of mobile networks and services has 

allowed communities to leapfrog 

wired infrastructure and embrace the 

Information age much quicker and 

more cost effectively than in many 

developed countries. 5G is expected 

to building on earlier generations, to 

bring new capabilities and mobile 

innovations that will enable economic 

growth. Coupled with mmWave 

spectrum, 5G is expected to open up 

the potential for low-latency; dataintensive 

applications that are 

expected to transform a wide variety 

of industries and use cases. These will 

benefit new applications, helping the 

region’s transport logistics 

infrastructure, in-land transport hubs 

and seaports and extractive industries 

such as mining and hydrocarbon 

production, among others. 

Enabling improvements to vital 

How African GDP may 

gain $5.2b with 5G 

implementation in 2034 

•Technical hitches may delay implementation 

•GSMA writes African govts to secure digital future 

transport links in the economy, such 

as port logistics infrastructure, 5G will 

drive growth in the trade industry. 5G 

In Sub-Saharan Africa, 

the roll-out of mobile 

networks and services 

has allowed 

communities to leapfrog 

wired infrastructure and 

embrace the 

Information age much 

quicker and more cost 

effectively than in many 

developed countries 

mmWave applications is said to have 

the capability to coordinate movement 

of goods and remote control of 

essential machinery, leading to more 

efficient port operations and lower 

costs, allowing for increased trade. 

This is because 5G mmWave 

applications make extraction activities 

in mining and manufacturing more 

cost-effective and safer by leveraging 

high speed connectivity and remote 

object manipulation. 

5G mmWave spectrum will be 

identified at the WRC-19 international 

treaty conference. 3000 delegates from 

over 190 nations will meet to agree on 

how spectrum may be used. European 

countries are determined to limit the 

use of this spectrum due to unfounded 

claims of potential interference with 

space services. Independent technical 

studies, supported by African countries 

and their allies in the Americas and 

the Middle East, have demonstrated 

that 5G can co-exist safely and 

efficiently alongside weather-sensing 

services, commercial satellite services 

and others. 

Countries like Nigeria have 

indicated readiness to deploy 5G, at 

least from 2020. Nigeria has gone 

ahead to earmark three spectrum 

bands 26 GHz, 38GHz and 42GHz 

bands for trial in Lagos and other parts 

of the country. 

Speaking at a collaborative meeting 

between NCC and GSMA in Abuja, 

to facilitate 5G policy and spectrum, 

the Executive Vice Chairman of the 

NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta, said 

although the NCC was not ready at 

the moment, in terms of policy and 

regulations, it has however kick 

started processes and reserved three 

frequency bands to facilitate 5G roll 

out. 

Battle for mmWave spectrum 

Meanwhile, a GSMA report has 

raised serious concerns that, without 

adequate support at WRC-19, the 

deployment of these 5G services may 

be delayed for up to a decade. It is a 

technical claim that is also capable of 

delaying economic growth and 

innovation but GSMA urged Africa to 

stand strong and protect its interests 

and secure its digital future. 

Goodluck said: “WRC-19 is the only 

opportunity for years to come for 

countries across Africa to secure 

mmWave spectrum for future use, 

enabling the delivery of 5G services 

over the next decade. Africa 

understands the need to strike the 

right balance between different users 

of spectrum. That is why African 

governments have actively supported 

technical studies that demonstrate 

how 5G can operate in these 

frequencies without causing harm to 

other existing spectrum services, 

including weather-sensing services, in 

neighbouring spectrum bands,” he 

added 

Open letter to ministers and heads 

of regulation 

The GSMA said on behalf of the 

global mobile industry, it has written 

open letter to ministers and heads of 

regulatory authorities in 170 countries 

globally, including Sub-Saharan Africa 

calling on their governments to 

support the identification of spectrum 

for mobile at WRC-19 in an open letter 

sent to ministers 

C 

M 

Y 

K

Vanguard, Wednesday, OCTOBER 9, 2019 — 27 

2019 Power Nigeria: 

How digitalisation of energy 

sector can boost economy 

L-R: Deep Karani, Exhibition Director, Power Nigeria; Gareth Rapley, 

Group Exhibition Director, Informa Markets; Engr. Adeoye Fadeyibi, 

Managing Director, Eko Electricity Distribution Company and Mr. Jitenda 

Sachdeva, Group President, SkipperSeil at the ribbon cutting of the 

2019 Power Nigeria Exhibition & Conference held at Landmark Centre, 

Lagos. 


Key industry experts in the 

energy sector have called 

for digitalisation of 

Nigeria’s energy sector, saying it 

would further boost the economy. 

They held that technology plays 

a significant role in increasing the 

access to clean and sustainable 

energy resources thereby 

building Nigerian economy. 

Among the stakeholders who 

made this summation were 

leaders from the Eko Electricity 

Distribution Company, EKEDC, 

Cummins, PowerPro, Green 

Power Utility, Kartel Energy. 

Speaking at the 2019 Power 

Nigeria Exhibition and 

Conference, in Lagos, they all 

agreed that technology is 

revolutionisiing the energy 

sector. 

Power Nigeria is the largest 

energy event in West Africa. It is 

an annual hub for suppliers to 

meet buyers, driving both the 

West African and Nigerian 

energy markets. 

Some of the experts who spoke 

to Hi-Tech after a panel session at 

the event, said it was time to 

E 


lectronics manufacture, LG, 

is bringing voice 

recognition to customers via its 

ThinQ mobile app. The app which 

LG describes as the first mobile 

application for smart home 

appliance management, gives 

users convenience to connect to 

their appliances from anywhere. 

It leverages the Google 

Assistant’s voice recognition 

technology to manage all Wi-Fi 

enabled appliances including 

washing machines, dryers, 

refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers, 

vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, 

air purifiers among others. 

According to LG, users will 

enjoy the incredible ease of 

controlling and monitoring their 

appliances via conversational 

voice commands as the app 

provides real-time status updates 

for all connected LG devices with 

just one command. 

It explain that users can 

verbally ask the ThinQ app to 

check the time remaining on the 

washing machine cycle from the 

office or adjust the temperature of 

the air conditioner while driving 

harness the power of technology 

to drive the energy sector, even 

as they charged government to 

ensure deployment of digitized 

infrastructure by entrenching use 

of data management to solve 

problems of energy consumption, 

transforming existing grid to 

smart grid and building a robust 

and resilient grid . 

For instance, MD EKEDC, Engr. 

Adeoye Fadeyibi, said: “With the 

current consumption of energy 

in Nigeria, I believe that it is time 

for energy systems to be designed 

in such a way that optimisation is 

guaranteed as well as 

digitalisation of the grid.” 

He however admitted that the 

government has recognised the 

need for a smart and flexible 

energy system, as it puts plans in 

motion to transform the way 

energy, particularly electricity, is 

produced, consumed and stored 

in the country. 

Also speaking on the panel 

session, Country Director, Kartel 

Energy, Ola Ogunsemowo, said 

Nigeria could be about the only 

country in the world spending close 

to $14 billion on generators. He 

described the situation as a reflection 

of an inefficient energy system. 

Ogunsemowo said: “The sun is 

shining on Nigeria’s renewable 

energy and as part of our strategy; 

we understand that technology 

plays a key role in accelerating 

access to clean and renewable 

energy in Nigeria.” 

LG’s new ThinQ app helps users manage home appliances 

home without having to stop what 

they’re doing to look at their 

phones. 

Head of LG Home Appliance & 

Air Solution, Alice Ryu, said: “The 

ThinQ app provides helpful 

information on product features 

and functions and alerts the user 

on suggestions for maintenance 

and troubleshooting problems. 

With the app, users can receive 

prompt response on questions like 

“What does the yellow light on the 

refrigerator mean?” 

The ThinQ app is said 

to not only offer 

answers for most of the 

common questions 

related to product 

usage, but can also 

generate a summary of 

recent usage activity 

and deliver useful home 

living tips. 

Ryu added that 

“creating a smart home 

experience that actually 

makes our customers’ 

lives measurably more 

convenient is what 

drives us daily. With the 

voice-capable mobile 

app, we have created the ultimate 

smart home ecosystem that puts 

convenience first,”. 

She also revealed that the 

enhanced ThinQ app will be 

available in Korea this month 

followed by North America in the 

fourth quarter and key markets of 

Europe next year. 

The product headlined new 

devices at the recently concluded 

2019 IFA Expo in Berlin, Germany 

Gearing up for Dale Carnegie WorkPlace Conference: From left: 

Onayimi Aiwerioghene, Head, Enterprise Management Group, 

Coronation Merchant Bank; Rita Brodie-Mends, Clients Engagement 

Manager, Dale Carnegie Nigeria; Patrick E. Nwakogo, Country Director/ 

CEO, Dale Carnegie Nigeria; Oluseyi Tolu-Boluwatise, Divisional Head 

Corporate Services, Credit Direct Limited; Blessing Bello, Technical 

Assistant to CEO, Dale Carnegie Nigeria; and, Amaka Amalu, 

Conference Cordinator. 

Dale Carnegie’s conference to 

transform Nigerian workplaces 


Training organisation, Dale 

Carnegie Training,last 

week, held a conference targeted 

at Nigerian chief executive officers, 

CEOs, human resource 

managers, HRMs, and decision 

makers to enable them build an 

ideal workplace. 

The conference which held at 

Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, 

Lagos had the theme, “Building 

the Workplace of Our Dreams.” 

It was co-sponsored by Coronation 

Merchant Bank, Credit Direct 

Limited and Tolaram Group. 

Country Director of Dale Carnegie 

Training Nigeria, Mr. Patrick 

Nwakogo, said his organisation 

eGovernment Confab to address low revenue generation 


Technology company, DigiServe Network 

Services Limited is organising a one-day 

conference to discuss how technology adoption in 

government can boost government IGR, enhance 

Government service delivery and reduce unemployment 

in the country. 

The conference is in partnership with Federal Ministry 

of Communication Technology, Federal Inland Revenue 

Service, FIRS; Nigeria Communication Commission, 

NCC; National Information Technology Development 

Agency, NITDA; Association of Telecoms companies of 

Nigeria, ATCON, and Nigeria Internet Registration 

Association, NIRA. 

With the theme: “eGovernment: Powering Governance 

with ICT”, the conference which holds towards the end 

of October in Lagos, will provide opportunity for 

stakeholders to discuss the recently approved National 

eGovernment plan and parley on how to remove the 

barriers militating against the growth of the Nigerian 

telecoms and ICT sector. 

Organisers of the event said it couldn’t have come at a 

better time, considering low internally generated 

LG ThinQ app 

revenue, IGR, huge ICT infrastructure deficiency and 

massive youth unemployment rate in Nigeria today. 

Executive Chairman of DigiServe Network Mr. Lanre 

Ajayi, said: “Nigeria is said to be the poverty capital of 

the world, having the highest number of people living 

below the poverty line. The combined IGR for all the 

states in Nigeria in the year 2018 is said to be a mere 

N1.6 trillion, which is just about the revenue of just one 

Telecoms Company operating in Nigeria. One of the 

ways of reversing this gloomy picture is to mainstream 

technology in governance.” 

Ajayi further explained that the Nigeria eGovernment 

Conference would provide a platform where 

government officials and experts in various 

specializations in ICT can interact, share perspective 

and develop roadmap to mainstreaming ICT in various 

departments of government. 

He said: “We are assembling top notch experts and 

world-class ICT service providers to share expertise on 

how to deepen ICT in governance. The resolutions at 

the conference will be printed in book format and 

delivered to relevant government agencies and other 

stakeholders, with a view to ensuring implementation 

of the resolutions” Ajayi said. 

iheld the conference as part of 

corporate social responsibility, 

CSR, while celebrating its six 

years in Nigeria. 

Nwakogo said: “Research 

shows that only about 20 

percent of employees are 

unleashing their full potentials 

due to lack of engagement on 

the job, amplified by negative 

work cultures.” He added that 

his organisation is committed to 

the transformation of the 

Nigeria workplace. 

CEOs and industry professionals, 

who led deliberations 

at the event included the HR 

directors from some of Nigeria’s 

leading companies like 

MTN Nigeria, Dangote Group, 

Sahara Group, Tolaram Group, 

Stanbic IBTC Bank, AB-InBev, 

among others. 

Divisional Head of Corporate 

Services at Credit Direct 

Limited, Oluseyi Boluwatise, 

said: “We are solidly supporting 

this vision because the concept 

of the ideal workplace 

resonates with our 

organizational value, as we are 

constantly seeking to provide a 

conducive, enabling and 

inclusive workplace for 

everyone, especially the 

younger generation.” 

Head of Enterprise 

Management Group at 

Coronation Merchant Bank, 

Onayimi Aiwerioghene, said 

the bank was supporting the 

conference because they 

believe in the vision Dale 

Carnegie is aiming to achieve 

with the conference. 

Big Dutchman, AFOS foundation 

to boost food production 


Agri-Tech Company, Big Dutchman, recently started a training 

partnership with a German NGO, AFOS Foundation to improve 

efficiency in agriculture production in Nigeria. 

Big Dutchman, a subsidiary of Big Dutchman International said the 

partnership will focus on a dual vocational training for livestock 

technicians. The programme, Technical Vocational Education Training, 

TVET, is aimed to improve the efficiency of local agricultural value chains 

and create a skilled workforce within the Nigerian agricultural industry. 

It said the training will be carried out in close co-operation with 

companies in the field of livestock and crop business within Lagos and 

Ibadan Nigeria. 

According to the company, the training will consist of 11 classroom 

modules. These modules will cover the entire value chain of poultry 

production, as well as, further instructions in economics, record keeping 

and people business. After one week class room training, the trainees 

will go back to their work place and will be exposed to other fields 

within their companies. 

Managing Director of the company, Thomas Ogundiran, said the 

partnership will create future pacesetting technicians within the 

industry. 

He said, “The Nigerian agriculture industry currently has a shortage 

of skilled technicians. For us to truly leverage the financial and 

technological interventions that are expected to guide Nigeria towards 

agricultural self-sufficiency, we need innovative technicians who are 

pace setters in the agricultural industry.” 

Also the company’s Human Resource Manager, Ms. Linda Itabor, 

encouraged other stakeholders to place priority on youth empowerment 

in Nigeria.

28 — Vanguard, Wednesday,OCTOBER 9, 2019 

Camon 12: AI camera, Bokeh effect 

may outperform traditional camera 


Smartphone maker, 

Tecno, recently released 

one of its trends 

setting devices, the Camon 

12 into the Nigerian 

mobile market. The device, 

which is the sixth 

generation of the brand’s 

camera-centric series, 

comes with a long list of 

added values, updates 

and features to add colour 

to the bourgeoning 

smartphone market. 

The Camon 12 series 

comes in three size and 

colour variants, including 

the Camon 12, Camon 12 

Pro and Camon 12 Air. 

Apparently, in respect 

of the fashion consciousness 

of Nigerian users, 

Tecno specially added 

unique ingredients in the 

colour variants of the devices 

which will give 

fashion aficionados the 

courage to clutch any of 

them. 

The devices come in 

aqua blue, boudreaux red 

and midnight black colour 

variants. To add more 

attraction, all variants of 

the device come in a nebula 

gradient inspired 

look, patterned after the 

starlight that reflects 

beautifully in light conditions. 

Tecno responded to the 

current yearnings for devices 

to come light and 

portable by designing 

Camon 12 in 6.52 High 

Definition, HD, 

AMOLED dot notch display 

and 7.88 thickness. 

The device also comes 

with a 16 megapixel, MP 

front Camera flanked by 

a pair of dual flashlights 

to enable users take crystal 

clear selfies under lowlight 

situations. 

Also, the Triple AI max 

camera of 16+8+2 megapixel 

allows users to 

achieve up to 120° super 

wide-angle shots, thereby 

capturing images in 

landscape, cityscapes 

and indoor architecture 

stress-free manner. 

The device also spots a 

2cm macro photography 

feature, to take close-up 

shots without losing the 

smallest details on the 

object. The smartphone 

gives serious competition 

to traditional cameras 

like the SLR brands with 

its Bokeh effect that helps 

Chinese brand, Vivo 

mobile, may be setting 

up metrics by manufacturing 

its own5G in Nigeria 

before the end of the year. 

According to the company, 

the achievement will 

give the brand great chance 

of enjoying the first 5G in 

Nigeria. Vivo said: “With a 

download speeds up to 

2.55Gbps using the sub- 

6GHz standard and a combined 

4G and 5G downlinks 

users can enjoy up to 

3.55Gbps send time. This 

users tackle background 

issues by placing a clearer 

focus to the object. 

Camon 12 packs an irremovable 

4000mAh battery 

with super-fast 

charge, and can stay on 

standby for 24 hours after 

a single charge. 

The device is powered 

by MediaTek’s Helio 

P22 chipset that gives 

smart AI imaging, AI 

Camera, reliable connectivity 

and power efficiency. 

The device hardly gets 

hot while functioning because 

of the new premium 

chipset. 

Some other features the 

device spots are the rearmounted 

fingerprint 

scanner, Face ID unlock, 

Pin and Pattern which 

help users maximize privacy 

on their smartphone. 

Vivo to debut 5G device 

By Chiamaka Okpoko 

simply means you can now 

send and receive large files 

without fears. Also, movie 

videos and music streaming 

will be seamless. 

“Interestingly, the Exynos 

980 is the first mid-range 

chipset with an integrated 

5G modem – which means 

that the device would not 

come to you at a bankbreaking 

cost. Also, the 

chipset is power efficient, 

which clearly shows that the 

brand has put the Nigerian 

power situation into focus 

when making a 5G choice 

for Nigerians.



My best friend’s fiance 

cheated with me! 

Dear Bunmi, 

My best friend, J, is gettmg 

married very soon, but I’m 

hiding a guilty secret from 

her. A few weeks ago, I was 

at a party, had a few too many 

drinks, and her fiance made 

a play for me. I know I 

shouldn’t have done 

anything, but we ended up 

getting pretty steamy 

together. 

He said if I didn’t tell my 

friend, then we could enjoy 

more romps together when 

he’s married. 

The love-making was good 

and I was tempted to agree 

with him, but I refused. I 

couldn’t do that to my friend. 

I have felt really guilty since, 

but I really don’t know 

whether I should alert my 

friend on the type of 

philanderer she would be 

marrying. 

Diana, by e-mail 

The love-making was good 

and I was tempted to agree 

with him, but I refused. I 

couldn’t do that to my friend. 

I have felt really guilty since. 

Is he falling out of love with me? 

Dear Bunmi, 

I’ve been with my boyfriend 

for three years and I’d like to 

believe that I treat him as well 

as I possibly can, because he’s 

my world. I met him when I 

was 17 and right away I knew 

he was the one. We had an 

incredible relationship for a 

long time, but, recently, 

things have started to go 

down hill. 

We have the type of 

relationship where we’re sure 

Dear Bun mi, 

My dad left the family 

three years ago, and my 

parents are now divorced. 

For those three years, my 

mum steered clear of 

relationships but, recently, 

she’s linked up with some 

of her friends and has 

suddenly started enjoying 

going to parties and 

outings with men. To 

date, I’ve counted five 

different men in the last 

eight months and none of 

them lasted more than a 

few weeks. 

I’m really worried about 

her and would want her to 

slow down. 

Julie, by e-mail. 

Dear Julie, 

Dear Diana, 

Getting it together with your 

friend’s finance was not a 

good idea, as you’ve found 

out. You should be feeling 

guilty because, as a friend, 

she should have been able to 

trust you. Even having had a 

few drinks, you should have 

known enough not to get 

involved. I wonder whether 

you were driven partly by 

jealousy over your best 

friend’s wedding. If you’re 

close, then you may secretly 

feel abandoned by her getting 

hooked. All friendships have 

to adapt to changes in life, 

but, if the bonds are strong, 

to let each other know how we 

feel, whether it be spilling out 

our hearts with ‘love yous’ or 

talking about what we don’t 

like about each other. 

Recently, he has been acting 

strangely and our phone 

conversations are stilted 

because it feels like there is 

nothing to talk about, which 

is weird, because we used to 

talk at least four or five hours 

every night. I want to make 

things work between us 

Mum needs to stop 

making a fool of herself 

If your dad had left two 

months ago, I’d be 

worried too — your mum 

would be having sex just 

to ease the pain of him 

leaving and, in the end, 

would probably feel bad 

about herself and even 

more upset. 

But she’s taking time to 

recover from her 

heartache, and now she’s 

finding out what she does 

and doesn’t want. Let her 

realise that you’re there if 

she needs to talk, but 

don’t interfere in her new 

love life. 

Gently get the message 

across to her that the 

highest rate in sexually 

transmitted diseases is 

among over-forties, who 

think they’re not at risk. 

You need to tactfully check 

she’s using condoms. 

then a good friendship can 

last a lifetime. 

You need to do what’s best 

for your friend, having made 

this mistake. She’s about to 

get married to a man, who is 

obviously intending to cheat 

on her. If not with you, it 

would be with other women. 

Talking to your friend isn’t 

going to be easy and don’t 

expect her to be happy. 

She’s invested a lot of hopes 

in this relationship and she's 

not likely to believe you. 

You’ve made an awful mistake 

and you should learn to live 

with it, instead of dragging 

two people and an impending 

marriage down with you. 

because we have made so 

many plans together and I’m 

so in love with him. 

But we have reached the 

point where I don’t think he 

cares about our relationship 

anymore. Most conversations 

are dull and end with a simple 

‘goodnight’. It's killing me 

that he refuses to say that he 

loves me anymore, even 

though I know he does. I think 

he’s bored with the 

relationship, and, maybe I 

should let him go. 

Tiwa, by e-mail. 

Dear Tiwa, 

It’s quite common to go 

through phases like this in a 

relationship, but it’s not 

necessarily a sign that it is 

terminal. If you both love each 

other, then it’s worth fighting 

for. First of all, try to put less 

emphasis on phone calls and 

more on face-to-face contact. 

Talk about how you feel but 

make sure that’s not all you 

do. 

Go out, have fun and, 

sometimes, have a break from 

the talking and try laughing 

or cuddling - anything to take 

you out of yourselves and 

remind you what you saw in 

each other, in the first place. 

Having said that, remember 

that sometimes love dies, 

especially amongst young 

people who’ll have 

opportunities to meet more 

partners before they finally 

settle down. 

My weight is making me push 

hubby away 

Dear Bunmi, 

Since having my son last 

year, I’ve piled on the pounds 

and it’s really affected my selfconfidence. 

It has reached a 

point where I feel too 

disgusting to get undressed 

in front of my husband, which 

has resulted in slowing down 

our sex life. 

He has always told me I’m 

beautiful and he finds me 

attractive, regardless of my 

weight, but I don’t believe 

him. 1 can see he’s getting 

frustrated by it all and we’ve 

been arguing more. I need 

help before it ruins our 

marriage! 

Imabong, by e-mail 

Dear Imabong, 

You’re being too hard on 

yourself and your husband! 

He has made it clear that he 

loves you and thinks you’re 

beautiful. If you keep 

accusing him of lying to you, 

it really is going to start 

affecting your marriage. 

You are a busy mum who’s 

still adjusting to a new life 

with probably very little time 

for yourself. The more you're 

obsessed about the weight, the 

more of an issue it will 

become. I think you need to 

start being your own friend. 

Congratulate yourself on 

having snared a great 

husband and producing a 

beautiful baby boy. Put some 

time aside to look after 

yourself by exercising and 

having the occasional stat at 

the beauty parlour. Focus on 

building self-esteem and 

seeing yourself as a whole 

person, not just a number on 

the scales! 

He’s an adulterer, he disgusts me 

Dear Bunmi, 

I’m 46 and a divorced 

mother of two teenage 

children. Three years ago, I 

met this man at a wedding 

and he told me straightaway 

he was a married man. 

Despite this we carried on 

seeing each other, as I felt safe 

with him knowing the 

relationship wouldn’t go 

anywhere. He confided in me 

about his problems at home, 

saying the spark had gone out 

of his marriage and that he 

and his wife only had sex 

once in a blue moon. Later, 

however, I discovered that 

they’ve had another baby. 

We still carried on seeing 

each other because the sex 

was great. He then started 

going out with another single 

mother, and that was when I 

put a stop to his fleet-footing. 

But he won’t leave me alone. 

He phones me all the time 

and tells me if he were to leave 

his wife for anyone, I would 

be the one. Quite frankly, he’s 

getting on my nerves. What 

should I do? 

Jumai, by e-mail 

Dear Jumai, 

Your ex-lover was looking for 

a bit of fun initially and was 

unprepared for the fact that 

he’d ended up having real 

feelings for you. But that 

doesn’t alter the fact that he 

is a liar and a cheat. And 

while he may have two lovers 

on the go, there’s only one 

person who really matters to 

him - himself and his big ego. 

Well done for having the 

courage to end the 

relationship and for not 

crumbling under pressure. If 

you’re to have any hope on 

future happiness with a new 

partner, you must continue to 

be strong. You deserve better 

than to be strung along by a 

man who is nothing but an 

adventurer. Tell him you have 

no feelings for him anymore 

and, if possible, invent a new 

lover! 

Could it be fun with mv first love? 

Dear Bunmi, 

I was in love with a man all 

through my teens and 20s. We 

never had sex, but a deep 

commitment towards each 

other. 

In the end, I got married to 

someone else and we lost 

touch. I ran into him recently 

at a friend’s office, only to 

discover my feelings for him 

haven’t changed. He’s asked 

me to get in touch by giving 

me his mobile number. 

Should I? Just to find out how 

it could have been with him? 

Mary, by e-mail 

Dear Mary, 

It’s been said that never 

quite getting together with 

someone you’re in love with 

is a bit like a half-finished 

story. Now you want to see 

more of this man in order to 

finish the story. 

But be warned. If you find 

out love is impossible, you 

may gain inner peace, and be 

also able to live your future 

life happily. 

But if you discover this man 

still wants you too, the 

chances are high you will end 

up risking your marriage and 

your happiness. 

Is it worth it? I don’t think 

so, but it is you who will have 

to make the decision. 

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


Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

Was Abdulrasheed Maina a 

fugitive? 

IN July 2015, Abdulrasheed 

Maina who was last week 

arrested by operatives of the 

Department of State Services, 

reportedly escaped from the 

country to Dubai in the United 

Arab Emirate. He was the 

Director of Human Resources in 

the Ministry of Interior. But it 

was in his capacity as Chair of 

the Pension Reform Task Team, 

now defunct, that Maina had a 

run-in with the law. Or so it was 

reported. Maina alongside 

Steve Oronsaye, former Head 

of the Civil Service of the 

Federation, OsarenkhoeAfe 

and Fredrick Hamilton, among 

others, were charged before a 

Federal High Court in Abuja on 

24 counts bordering on fraud 

and obtaining by false pretences 

(is that a euphemism for 

419?) to the tune of N2.1 billion 

in their management of the 

pension funds. Generally, the 

Nigerian Civil Service is a 

cesspool of fraud but perhaps 

this should not be surprising 

considering that heads of the 

Civil Service somehow manage 

to get entangled in issues of 

fraud and corrupt practices. It 

was only weeks ago that Winifred 

Oyo-Ita was sent on terminal 

administrative leave following 

corruption charges. As was 

the case with Oronsaye and the 

pension funds, Oyo-Ita was 

forced to forfeit properties and 

funds worth billions of naira. 

While others involved in the 

pension fund swindle were 

hauled before the law and have 

been having their time in court, 

AbdulrasheedMaina was the 

special one, the sacred cow that 

could not be made accountable. 

Rather than face the law, this 

former director, a relatively junior 

officer considering the 

amount of funds he was put in 

charge of, decided to go on vacation 

to Dubai. Yes, he went on 

holiday even though the authorities 

wanted us all to believe 

that Maina was on the run from 

the law; in other words, a fugitive. 

But the reason Maina 

could not be properly described 

as a fugitive is that he regularly 

came into the country, more or 

less dividing his time between 

Dubai and Nigeria. Not only 

did Maina do this in plain sight 

of security agencies and their 

agents, he was in fact accorded 

full protection by the agencies. 

He went around heavily guarded 

and surrounded by state security 

agents. On one near-fatal 

occasion, Maina’s security 

details had a face-off with 

agents of the Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission. 

Against the advice of (who 

else?) Oyo-Ita (her words) after 

she took over as Head of the 

Civil Service of the Federation, 

Maina was not only recalled 

from his Dubai base (assuming 

he stayed there for any long 

period), he was also asked to 

return to duty at a higher position. 

In plain 

language,Mainawas promoted. 

Was this as reward for his crime 

against the people of this country? 

Only Abba Kyari, President 

Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of 

Staff and AbubakarMalami, 

have the explanation to that. 

For, as Oyo-Ita told Nigerians, 

the decision to recall Maina was 

Maina has a lot to 

account for and it is 

what he has to say 

and give back by 

way of restitution 

that should interest 

us all 

hatched between AbubakarMalami, 

the Attorney General of the 

Federation and Minister of Justice 

and Abba Kyari. It was the 

reason for that infamous spat 

between Kyari and Oyo-Ita during 

a Federal Executive 

Council, FEC, meeting 

presided over by Yemi Osinbajo, 

the Vice President, on one of 

those occasions President 

Buhari was on medical vacation 

in the United Kingdom. Then 

Oyo-Ita had alleged in a memo, 

that not only Abba Kyari and 

Malami but also President 

Buhari knew of the 

reinstatement of Maina against 

her informed advice. 

Apparently, Kyari did not like 

the president being outed in that 

manner. 

The quarrel between Kyari 

and Ita played out before members 

of the FEC and in living 

colours on the screen to the rest 

of Nigerians, on the occasion of 

the swearing in of Boss Mustapha 

as Secretary of the Government 

of the Federation. This 

was in November 2017, two 

years ago. All of this happened 

then only because Maina’s cover 

as a so-called fugitive was 

blown off and the attempt to 

sneak him back into the Civil 

Service was exposed. To date, 

many Nigerians believe the 

sacking of Oyo-Ita and the rumoured 

ongoing travail of 

Osinbajo had something to do 

with this episode, among a few 

others. The simple moral here 

is that Maina is just a face for 

more powerful elements in the 

corridors of power. Which is one 

reason many Nigerians found 

it difficult to accept the anti-corruption 

posture of the Buhari 

government and have questioned 

Abuja’s commitment to 

ridding the country of corruption. 

Not only is Maina connected 

to powerful forces, he is both 

conscious and full of that awareness. 

Which was why he went 

about openly with full security 

details, hiding right under the 

nose of those who pretended to 

be looking for him. Those who 

blew off his cover were not unaware 

of Maina’s connections. 

They probably wanted to call attention 

to it by their action. 

Awareness of Maina’s privileged 

standing could also not 

have been lost on those with 

whom he was charged for fraud. 

It must have been a reason for 

their silence when they were 

being prosecuted and Maina 

was nowhere to be found. They 

knew or were assured by Maina 

or others better placed that 

the charges were headed for nowhere. 

They knew that at the 

very least Maina, if not they 

who had to COOPERATE with 

him in his schemes, was a mere 

messenger of the Ogas-at-thetop 

and there was no way a messenger 

could be held to account 

in plain sight of his sponsors. 

Otherwise, could any Nigerian 

have pulled the kind of stunt 

Maina’s 20-year-old son pulled 

on the DSS operatives who went 

to arrest his father on Monday 

last week and still have lived to 

tell the story? Like Omoyele 

Sowore, convener of the 

#Revolution Now campaign, 

Maina and his son were in a 

hotel (obviously known to the 

security agents). But unlike Sowore 

who had only ventilated 

with words about overthrowing 

a government and had not resisted 

arrest, Maina’s son pulled a 

gun on the security agents. Elsewhere, 

he would have been shot 

dead. Had Sowore pulled a gun 

on the DSS operatives that went 

to effect his arrest, would that not 

have been taken as proof of his 

readiness for a bloody revolution? 

How many Nigerians had the 

luxury of even explaining themselves 

when accosted by Nigerian 

security agents before they 

were shot dead by the likes of the 

same security elements on whom 

Maina’s son had pulled a pistol 

and nothing happened to say 

nothing of the heavens falling? 

Power pass power, abi? 

Over and above his arrest, Maina 

has a lot to account for and it 

is what he has to say and give 

back by way of restitution that 

should interest us all. Let his trial 

begin and let him pay fully. 

Of moles and blackmailers in DESOPADEC 

By Prince Akpo Abugo 

THOSE fortunate to work with Gover 

nor Ifeanyi Okowa must understand 

his vision, mission and personality in order 

to fit perfectly into his goals for a better Delta 

State. This is because the Governor is leader 

for all, apart from the fact that he is incorruptible, 

morally upright, accommodating, 

honest, detribalised and carries all 

sections of the state along. And by so doing, 

Okowa personifies stability which has resulted 

in a stronger Delta. Any political 

appointee must be thankful that out of 

millions of Deltans they are chosen. Which 

is why we must not be involved in anything 

that will become a clog in the wheel of 

progress in the state. 

The Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development 

Commission, DESOPADEC, was 

established to address age-long neglect, 

underdevelopment and ecological problems 

of oil producing communities who, 

despite their oil deposits, lack basic amenities 

and are ravaged by environmental 

pollution. The continuing damage to the 

ecosystem and the attendant health and 

economic challenges as a result of gas flare 

confront them daily. DESOPADEC derives 

its funds from 13% derivation for oil 

producing states. Note that 50% of this goes 

to DESOPADEC and the other half to the 

state government. 

Note also that it was Okowa who restored 

the independence of DESOPADEC, ensuring 

that there was no meddling in its operations. 

In the event, the hope of oil producing 

communities was activated, especially 

following the completion of abandoned 

projects and undertaking new ones. 

Prior to the emergence of Okowa, DESO- 

PADEC was a mere cash cow, a milking 

ground saturated with diverse interests and 

bitter politics of greed enmeshed in corrupt 

practices; it never implemented budgets as 

fraudulent cartels employed, without due 

process, employees with forged certificates 

At a time the Okowa 

administration is building a 

stronger Delta State, insatiable 

political bats are 

thinking of personal gains 

rather than what to offer to 

strengthen the state; shame 

on them because no 

blackmail can rock a solid 

foundation 

with ghost workforce dominating the pay 

rolls. It was a den of corruption. Those who 

were lucky to be appointed there saw it as 

an opportunity to marry many wives, acquire 

a harem of concubines and mistresses as 

well as display extravagant lifestyle. 

DESOPADEC stank to high heavens on 

account of the greedy hyenas and vultures 

who fed on the common wealth of oil 

producing communities. All that ended 

when Okowa emerged on the scene. 

The Okowa administration decapitated 

corruption, the ghost workforce and unqualified 

personnel with forged certificates. Particularly 

affected were the godfathers who 

delighted in illicit sharing of money on nonexistent 

projects, apart from placing their 

wives, concubines, girlfriends and non-indigenes 

on salaries at the commission. Indeed, 

this corrupt clique was running a parallel 

government from the commission. 

The good news is that a progressive wind 

of change has been blowing since they were 

flushed out. This explains why there is now 

prudent management of funds and goals are 

being actualised under Okowa’s DESOPA- 

DEC. However, corruption is fighting back; 

same retrogressive forces are not happy; they 

want the former rot to continue for selfish 

reasons. These greedy moles and vultures 

have resorted to blackmailing Okowa and 

the Managing Director of DESOPADEC. 

The leading mole wants his hired colony 

of jesters to subdue board members through 

blackmail and intimidation so that the 

transparency Okowa has entrenched is compromised. 

This is the reason for the recent 

verbal diarrhea against the state 

government. 

They want to sponsor protests, raise agitations, 

employ blackmail and character assassination 

as tools for achieving their inordinate 

desires. This onslaught must be resisted 

by the DESOPADEC Board headed by 

Bashorun Askia Ogie. The recent online publication 

by hatchet reporters to blackmail 

Governor Okowa and the Board is fraudulent. 

Their recent online publication entitled: 

“Has Governor Okowa Made Any Successful 

Person in Government?” smacks of 

blackmail. Its motive cannot be far from 

stomach politics. 

Unfortunately, many cannot see who is 

behind the mask or the fictitious identity 

paraded by the hack writer. Boasting of 

partnership with EFCC, these questionable 

characters have been around government 

circles long enough to extract information 

for blackmail, even as they play the sycophants, 

pretending to support the government 

on one hand and resorting to blackmail 

if their demands are not met. 

No society survives the kind of criminality 

these social miscreants impose on us. 

Same characters frown at some appointments 

in the board, hiding behind social 

media to invent imaginary allegations of 

extortion and blackmail against the board. 

They blame Okowa for every imaginary illusion 

to get attention; they create ethnic 

divisions to cause friction and blame that 

on the failure of governance. They are agents 

of a mole in DESOPADEC; a political appointee 

must understand that service is not 

for personal profit or mischief. Those who 

earn a living by causing misfortune for pecuniary 

gains will similarly receive same 

measure. 

At a time the Okowa administration is 

building a stronger Delta State, insatiable 

political bats are thinking of personal gains 

rather than what to offer to strengthen the 

state. Equally sad is the use of the name of 

the revered Chief Edwin Clark for political 

mischief. Also unfortunate is the mischievous 

use of the names of Okowa and Ibori; 

we must accord them their political space, 

respect, dignity no matter the travails or 

temptations. The Edwin Clark University is 

a product of sweat. Pa Clark personally sold 

his properties to establish that university. 

Delta has three private universities which 

Gov. Okowa is doing his best to encourage, 

knowing their contributions to development, 

employment generation and knowledge 

transfer. They must not be sacrificed by merchants 

of greed. Shame on them because no 

blackmail can rock a solid foundation 

Okowa has laid in sustaining brotherhood 

above division. 

Those blackmailing DESOPADEC to get 

money for peace to reign must understand 

nobody holds monopoly of violence; we must 

cherish the greater good of society. Rumour 

peddlers should stop using Clark’s name in 

their blackmail. Chief Clark, as a father, 

bears no grudge; he supports Gov. Okowa 

for his accomplishments as Okowa holds 

him in highest esteem. Okowa is responsive 

to the yearnings and aspirations of Deltans; 

that’s why he created a synergy that allows 

foes, friends and political opponents find a 

point of understanding in the state. 

Askia Ogie is doing well in taking development 

to the people through community 

development initiatives, where consultation, 

choice and execution of projects reside with 

the people. The detractors should direct their 

energy to supporting Okowa for the benefit 

of the state. We must entrench equity, fairness 

and respect elders because leadership is 

sacrifice. We must not encourage stomach 

politics that only end up destroying our values 

and identity. 

*Prince Abugo, a concerned 

Deltan,wrote from Uzere, Delta State 

C 

M 

Y 

K


YOUR LUCK TODAY 

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 22) Although late afternoon period 

will ease off tension to the betterment of your cause, it is important 

you do not take breakable promises given you by 

friends too seriously. Those of you in the cloud nine of the land 

of romantic escapade will have conditional fun. That is to say 

it is important you wake up and live up to expectation at the 

other end. 

SCORPIO (Oct 23 – Nov 21)Even if many are complaining 

about disappointment from others, with methodical approach 

on your part, you will be at advantage position. Be very moderate. 

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec21)Your luck will continue to 

shine, even under pressure. However it is important you do 

not promise more than you can deliver. Think about of your 

finances. 

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)Even if you will say no to 

good advice given to you by your tried and trusted friends, you 

will need to be very moderate in all your financial transactions. 

L E I S U R E 

TAKE HEART — ELLA RANDLE 

“A proud man is always looking down on 

things and people; and, of course, as long as 

you are looking down, you cannot see something 

that is above you” — C.S. Lewis- 

Self improvement is about making a conscious 

deliberate effort to know what you want to 

change, understanding your strength and weakness 

and how to improve on them for a much 

happier fullfilling life. — Ella Randle 

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” 

SAYINGS OF 

OUR PEOPLE 

There is 

no beauty 

but the 

beauty of 

action. 

~Moroccan 

Proverb 

By Kola Fayemi 

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)With practical approach on 

your part, you will not run into avoidable trouble. Do away 

with unnecessary aggressive actions when with friends. 

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 19)The two fishes of your Zodiac 

Sign are swimming at opposite rows to the detriment of your 

mood early in the day. But late afternoon will boost your 

confidence. 

ARIES ( Mar 21 – Apr 19)Prepare to be the needed peace 

maker when friends engaged in heated argument unnecessarily 

.Your being moderate and methodical will earn you 

good results. 

TAURUS ( Apr 20 – May 20)Even if there are not too good 

signals in the business world, you will not have cause to worry, 

provided you do not participate in what looks like gambling. 

Be loving. 

GEMINI (May 21 – June 20)Tomorrow will provide more 

conducive atmosphere to attain your desired results. It is important 

you stay away from trouble today. Protect your image. 

CANCER (June 21 – July 22) As the Moon is approaching it 

fullness cycle, your confidence will continue to grow. But you 

will need to be careful so that you will not jeopardize others 

LEO (Jul23 – Aug 22)Fluctuation of the Moon that started 

since yesterday’s evening continues and making others not as 

reliable as necessary. To be practical is to avoid trouble. Be 

loving. 

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)The much needed cooperation 

from people that matter will come your way tomorrow, thus, 

if you can tarry do so. Don’t give inn to negative thinking 

today. Be loving. 

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING 

Send your date and place of birth to the Astrological 

Counselling, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos 

DUDU in “ROLLING HOT” 

“HOT” 

By A.O.OLAIDE 

Dear Joshua, 

WHAT IS MY FUTURE? 

VIRGINIA 

dadadekola@yahoo.com 

I have been following your column for a very long time. Am 

more concern about my future generally. I will be very happy if 

you can analyse my horoscope and tell me what I should expect 

both in my immediate and far future. 

Brother Silas, Benin, 

Dear Brother, 

Happy birthday to you in advance. Luckily for you your 49th 

year is meant to enhance your prospects. As fortunate as this 

sound you will need to watch out for few challenges during the 

year you will start on your coming birthday. Your 49th year (2019/ 

20) mainly highlights HARVEST,REWARD, MONEY and DI- 

VINE ASSISTANCE. Yes! You have started an endless cycle of 

remarkable SUCCESS around your 42nd year on earth, this 

cycle of SUCCESS became more noticeable when you were 46 

year old. And the endless cycle is meant to be on the increase in 

terms of many achievements as your age advances. There are 

indications that many of your past dreams will come to fruition 

this year in form of HARVEST. And your past labour will be 

REWARDED. This will happen, and many people will congratulate 

you this year. Maybe this is what your horoscope is referring 

to as DIVINE ASSISTANCE. Yes, you are not a stranger to 

MONEY, SUCCESS, and healthy (physical) competitions .However, 

SPIRITUAL DIMENSION may creep into the business competition 

this time around. Thus it is important you don’t take 

things for granted. And you will need to be careful with partnership 

business, if it must be done at all, it must be at the right time. 

Yet, if partnership is unavoidable, be sure that your interests are 

well protected (if you cannot be the controller of such business 

finance). Be warned. Again a particular partnership (LOVE ?) 

affair which has been on challenging (or difficult ) level is meant 

to bring more worries to you than satisfaction this year ; if this 

person ( a lady ) in question is a member of law enforcement 

agents and/or paramilitary profession , you will need to be more 

careful and exhibit maturity while handling the whole thing The 

more Spiritual you are this year, the better for you. Before many 

people will start to say it to you, I want to be the first to say dear 

brother congratulations!!! 

HOME & ABROAD 

By Lawrence Akapa


JANDOR: from left—Oba of Shasha Kingdom, Oba Babatunde Ogunronmbi; Founder, Jandor 

Foundation, Mr. Abdul-Azeez Adediran; Special Guest of Honour/wife of the former governor of Lagos 

State, Mrs Abimbola Fashola, and Osolu of Irewe Kingdom, Oba Abideen Agunbioyinbo, during the 

opening of Jandor office complex in Lagos. 

Host communities petition Buhari, 

request NNPC takeover of OML 11 

By Davies 

Iheamnachor 

PORT HARCOURT— 

COMMUNITIES of 

the Oil Mining Lease, 

OML, 11 in Rivers State 

have petitioned President 

Muhammadu Buhari, 

requesting the Nigerian 

National Petroleum 

Corporation, NNPC, to take 

over the oil field. 

Also, National Coordinator 

of Conscience of Ogoni 

People, COOP, Chief Gani 

Topba, noted that the call 

was for the people to have 

a fair share of their wealth 

to better their lives. 

The OML11 covers 

By Samuel 

Oyadongha 

& Emem Idio 

YENAGOA—A Federal 

High Court sitting in 

Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, 

yesterday, granted some of 

the prayers sought by 

Senator Heineken 

Lokpobiri against All 


APC; its flag bearer, Chief 

David Lyon, and the 

Independent National 

Electoral Commission, 

BENIN 

Electricity 

Distribution Company, 

BEDC Plc, has earmarked 

a total of 200,200 metres 

to be rolled out to 

customers in Delta State 

in the next two years with 

a monthly cumulative 

average of 10,000 units 

under the Metre Asset 

Provider, MAP, scheme. 

BEDC’s Executive 

Director, Commercial, Mr. 

Abu Ejoor, disclosed this 

communities in Bonny, 

Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro, 

Etche, Omuma, Eleme, 

Gokana, Khana, and Tai 

Local Government areas of 

Rivers State and Ukwa- 

East and Ukwa-West 

councils of Abia State. 

The hosts also enjoined 

Buhari not to renew the 

operatorship of Shell 

Petroleum Development 

Company, SPDC, on the 

field. 

The Chairman of OML 

11 Traditional Rulers 

Council, Eze Obioma 

Nworgu, who announced 

this yesterday, while 

speaking at a meeting of 

representatives of the host 

INEC, over disputed 

outcome of the September 

4 governorship primaries 

in the state. 

Trial judge, Justice Jane 

Inyang, at the resumed 

hearing in the suit by 

immediate past Minister of 

State for Agriculture and 

Rural Development, 

Senator Lokpobiri, granted 

the prayer for substituted 

service, among others. 

The court, however, 

declined the prayer for an 

abridgement of time, which 

at the media launch of 

MAP in Asaba for Delta 

State customers, saying 

the scheme was taking off 

in Asaba and will 

eventually move to all 

local government areas in 

the state. 

According to him, some 

of the locations flagged 

for take-off of MAP within 

Asaba Township include 

NTA Road, behind NTA, 

behind Government 

communities at Owaza in 

Ukwa-West Local 

Government Area of Abia 

State, called on President 

Buhari to order for robust 

negotiation with the host 

communities. 

Nworgu, the traditional 

ruler of Etiti-Oha Owaza 

community, said: “We, the 

OML 11 host communities, 

urge President 

Muhammadu Buhari to 

direct NNPC to take over 

the facility to allow for a 

robust engagement with 

the host communities. 

“That is the mandate of 

the people because the 

President, who loves his 

people by his own good 

required the defence to 

enter appearance, file and 

serve their respective 

defence, to seven days due 

to the plaintiff’s prayer that 

it was a pre-election matter 

that needed accelerated 

hearing. 

According to the court, the 

plaintiff cannot unilaterally 

abridge the time for 

response of the defense 

counsel. 

The judge, while noting 

that the argument by 

plaintiff’s counsel, 

BEDC earmarks 200,200 metres for Delta 

House, Amaechi Iyio Way, 

Anwai Road, Infant Jesus 

axis, Borrow Pit 

community and Ibuzo 

town road. 

Ejoor opined that the 

MAP scheme will assist in 

reducing customers’ 

complaints on metering, 

wrong and estimated 

billings, which he hinted 

account for over 60 

percent of complaints 

from customers. 

administration, has vowed 

to carry people along. 

“We are saying this 

because of the good works 

of President Buhari, 

looking at Ogoni cleanup. 

And the Vice President 

visited Abia State and 

promised that Federal 

Government will clean up 

Asa. 

“We are calling on the 

Federal Government to call 

on NNPC to take over the 

facilities, so that the host 

communities can 

renegotiate. 

“No good road in the oilbearing 

communities. No 

electricity in Owaza and 

Asa since 1958.” 

Court grants 4 of Lokpobiri’s prayers 

against Bayelsa APC, gov candidate, others 

Fitzgerald Olorogun, that 

the respondents have been 

running away from being 

served, granted that APC 

should be served by 

pasting of the processes at 

the party secretariat or 

service of same on the 

Legal Officer or any other 

senior official of the party. 

She ordered that the flag 

bearer of the party, Chief 

Lyon, be served by pasting 

the processes on the 

campaign secretariat on 

Isaac Boro Expressway 

and serve INEC by 

pasting the court papers 

on the state secretariat of 

the commission on Swali 

Road. 

Speaking at the end of 

proceedings, the plaintiff’s 

counsel, Fitzgerald 

Olorogun, described the 

decisions of the court as a 

positive development, 

saying “it would have been 

difficult to serve these 

people with the court 

papers. With the court 

order, it will no longer be 

difficult.” 

Urhobo urge Buhari to ignore 

protest against Okumagba 


W ARRI—THE 

Urhobo of Warri in 

Warri South Local 

Government Area, Delta 

State have urged 


Buhari to ignore protest 

over the appointment of 

Olorogun Bernard 

Okumagba, Managing 

Director-designate of 

Niger Delta Development 

Commission, NDDC, by a 

group—APC Common 

Cause of Concerned Ijaw, 

Isoko and Itsekiri— 

published in a national 

daily. 

The Urhobo of Warri, in 

a statement by Professor 

Ekporode Ukuvwede, Dr. 

Lawrence Ukuvwede and 

Chief Akhali Adaighofua 

in Warri, described the 

claims canvassed in the 

said publication as 

baseless, unfounded and 

that its authors are faceless. 

They said Okumagba 

hails from Urhobo area of 

Warri South and that Warri 

Urhobo area comprises 

Agbarha Kingdom, Warri 

and Okere Urhobo, noting 

that the two Urhobo 

kingdoms put together are 

more in population and 

size in Warri South council 

with seven out of the 12 

By Chioma Obinna 

& Olaide Jejelola 

P RESIDENT 

Muhammadu 

Buhari has been urged to 

urgently intervene in the 

battle for supremacy 

between the Association of 

Medical Laboratory 

Scientists of Nigeria, 

AMLSN, and 

management of University 

Teaching Hospital, 

Calabar, Cross River State. 

National Publicity 

Secretary of AMLSN, Dr. 

Casmir Ifeanyichukwu, 

who made the call in a chat 

with Vanguard, also 

appealed to the Minister 

of Health, Dr. Osagie 

Ehanire, to call to order the 

Chief Medical Director, 

UCTH, Calabar, and to 

evolve processes that will 

end the continuous 

victimisation of their 

members serving in all 

federal and state tertiary 

hospitals in the country. 

He said: “We are 

concerned about the grave 

consequences of this 

untoward situations on our 

health sector because at the 

receiving end are the 

patients.” 

He alleged that in a bid 

to frustrate the medical 

federal wards in the 

council. 

They also noted that 

Warri Urhobo riverine 

communities of Oteghele 

and Ukpokiti are oil rich 

with OMLs 108 and 30 

oil-delivering lines. 

They also pointed out 

that SPDC, NPDC/ 

Heritage Petroleum and 

some oil companies have 

their operational offices 

in Warri South council till 

date. 

The statement further 

cited the landmark 

Supreme Court 

judgement in suit Nos. 

W/48/68/SC/309 to 

disproved the Itsekiri 

ownership claim over 

Warri South council. 

On loyalty to All 


APC, they claimed that 

the Urhobo of Warri 

voted more for APC 

than the itsekiri in the 

last general election 

due to the influence of 

Chief Okumagba, just 

as the statement 

accused the Itsekiri of 

betraying their son, 

former Governor 

Emmanuel Uduaghan, 

APC senatorial candidate 

in the last general 

election in Delta South 

senatorial district. 

Crisis at UCTH: Lab Scientists 

send SOS to Buhari 

laboratory science 

profession, the 

management of UCTH 

had entrenched chaos, 

quackery, disruptions of 

quality medical 

laboratory services in the 

teaching hospital, hence 

putting the lives of 

healthcare seeking 

members of the public in 

jeopardy. 

He also alleged that 

medical laboratory 

students are persecuted, 

while their members are 

being terrorised and 

detained at UCTH. 

He said the 

management of UCTH 

was not only victimising 


scientists at UCTH, but 

has now resorted to 

molesting them as well. 

His words: “Since 

September 1, medical 

laboratory scientists (staff 

and interns) in UCTH, as 

well as medical 

laboratory science 

students of University of 

Calabar, who are on 


training at UCTH have 

not had peace from the 

reign of terror that is 

being unleashed on them 

by the management of 

UCTH, Calabar.”


Enugu butchers resolve 

3-year-rift, hold election 

By Dennis Agbo 

E NUGU—ENUGU 

Urban Butchers 

Association, Ogbete Main 

Market Branch, has 

overcome three years 

imbroglio that paralysed 

the group and yesterday, 

conducted election for its 

executive members. 

Crisis had hit the union, 

following the expiration of 

tenure of its former 

executive members. This 

had stopped it from 

electing a new set of 

leaders. 

However, an Enugu 

magistrate court, presided 

over by F. U. Eze, on 

August 19, ordered 

conduct of an election, 

using a previous electoral 

committee headed by Mr. 

Chigbo Nnamani. 

After the conduct of the 

election in Enugu 

yesterday, Mr. Elijah Ede 

emerged chairman of the 

association, while Mr. 

Osita Ike became 

Secretary. 

Ede pledged to reunite 

the group, noting that his 

election was a clarion call 

to serve the association. 

By Nwafor Sunday 

& Prince Okafor 

COALITION of South- 

East Youth Leaders 

has called on the Federal 

Government to make 

vehicles and cars 

manufactured by Innoson 

Vehicle Manufacturing, 

IVM, the official brand that 

will be used by all 

government offices, 

agencies, corporate 

bodies, industries and 

parastatals in the country. 

The group, in a 

statement, said: “Having 

succeeded in 

manufacturing various 

cars that can compete 

favourably at the 

international market, we 

believe it is time to support 

and encourage our own 

made in Nigeria cars to 

reduce excessive 

importation of cars and 

vehicles from other 

countries that has caused 

the country unfavourable 

balance of payment.” 

The statement signed by 

Chief Goodluck Egwu 

Ibem, the President- 

General, the group opined 

that excessive importation 

of goods and services into 

the country destroys the 

economy, as local firms will 

be out of business and the 

resultant effect will be 

unemployment of 

Nigerian citizens and 

He said it was because 

his members saw the 

potential in him that 

made them elect him to 

reunite the association in 

truth and in faithfulness. 

He gave appreciation 

to the judiciary, which 

resolved the litigation 

that lasted for three 

years, saying justice 

prevailed at last. 

His words: “I will 

rebuild that wall that 

was broken for three 

years and restore the 

glory with which the 

people knew the Ogbete 

Butchers Association. 

“I believe that this 

election will reunite all 

the butchers in Ogbete 

Market, because when 

the righteous is on the 

throne, people will 

rejoice. This is the word 

of God and in everything 

I will do, I will consult 

God first.” 

Chairman of the 

electoral committee, Mr. 

Chigbo Nnamani, said 

the election was a job 

well done and a 

welcome development 

given the years of 

litigation over the matter. 

FG urged to make Innoson 

vehicles official brand 

economic depression. 

It stated: “But when we 

encourage local 

manufacturers and 

entrepreneurs, we have 

a robust economy that 

will create more 

employment opportunities 

for Nigerian 

citizens. 

“Chairman/CEO of 

IVM, Chief Innocent 

Chukwuma, has 

provided employment 

for our teeming youths, 

women, men and has 

enhanced Nigeria’s 

earnings through his 

establishment.” 

Eze Ndigbo 

loses wife 

CHIEF Elizabeth 

Ohazulike, wife of Eze 

Ndigbo, Lagos State, 

Eze Nwabueze 

Ohazulike, is dead. Her 

Christian wake will hold 

Saturday next week, at 

their residence on Igwe 

Ohazulike Road, off 

Fagba Bus Stop, New 

Oko-Oba, Lagos, by 12 

noon. Other rites are in 

January 6 and 7, 2020 

at Umuosobe, Ihiala, 

Anambra State. 

FOURSQUARE LECTURE: From left— Chairman, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, Rev 

Tunde Lemo; Chief Executive Officer, Coscharis Limited, Dr. Cosmos Maduka; Moderator, Mrs Bunmi 

Oke; Chief Executive Officer, Systemspecs Limited, Deacon John Obaro; General Overseer, Foursquare 

Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev Felix Meduoye, and Keynote Speaker, Dr. Abiodun Adedipe, during the 

church’s 6th public lecture Eradicating Poverty in Nigeria: The Role of the Church, Entrepreneur and 

Government, in Lagos, yesterday. 

Owerri withdraws citizenship 

of Nwosu, Okorocha's in-law 

By Chidi Nkwopara 

O 

W E R R I — 

UMUOYIMA 

village in Owerri 

municipality yesterday, 

withdrew the citizenship it 

bestowed on Chief Rochas 

Okorocha’s in-law, Uche 

Nwosu, ahead of the 

general elections. 

Explaining their stand in 

a four-page address they 

read when they played host 

to the Secretary to Imo State 

Government, Chief Uche 

Onyeagucha, they 

lamented that they saw their 

village as “a political 

orphan.” 

AWKA—THE Inspector 

General of Police, 

Mohammed Adamu, 

admitted yesterday that the 

Nigeria Police Force has a 

bad image in the eyes of 

most people, urging the 

Police image makers to do 

everything humanly 

possible to correct the 

situation. 

Speaking during the 

opening ceremony of the 

Police Public Relations 

Officers’ Conference at 

Agulu, Anambra State, the 

Police boss, represented by 

an Assistant-Inspector 

General of Police, Baba 

Tijjani, said it was in 

realisation of the bad image 

of the organisation that 

informed the decision of his 

administration to embark 

on image laundering 

activities. 

Adamu said: 

“Unarguably, certain 

indiscretions and 

perceived inactions by 

some personnel of the 

Force, as well as the 

Their words: “The 

frustrating situation was 

responsible for the 

occurrence of one of the 

most controversial events in 

the annals of the history of 

Umuoyima. 

“In our quest for survival, 

and relevance, we adopted 

an official of the immediate 

past administration as a 

son.” 

The people described it as 

“unbelievable but a 

verifiable fact” that no 

indigene of Umuoyima has 

ever occupied any political 

position accruing to Owerri 

Municipal Council, 

whether elective or 

security challenges in some 

parts of the country, impact 

negatively on the image of 

the Force. 

“This reality, 

coupled with the dynamic 

nature of crime, rapidly 

advancing information 

and communication 

technology, and the 

By Ugochukwu 

Alaribe 

U MUAHIA—ABIA 

State governor, Dr. 

Okezie Ikpeazu, has given 

ultimatum to contractors 

handling projects in the 

state to complete them or 

face sanctions. 

Ikpeazu, who declared 

operation zero pothole on 

roads in the state, also 

pledged to lead a 

monitoring team to ensure 

that the contractors comply 

with the directives to realise 

the deadline. 

In a statement by the 

Commissioner for 

Information, Chief John 

Kalu, the governor gave a 

appointive. 

“Since the creation of 

Owerri Municipal Council 

23 years ago, no son or 

daughter of Umuoyima has 

ever represented it in the 

State House of Assembly; 

none has occupied the 

position of chairman, vice 

chairman or even 

secretary,” the people said. 

They recalled that the 

other four communities in 

Owerri Municipality took 

turns in occupying positions 

as they come up, without 

recourse to Umuoyima. 

They said: “Our calls for 

dialogue to cure this 

mischief fell on deaf ears, 

changing policing 

environment, have 

combined to redefine both 

the concept of policing and 

the perception of the Police 

by the citizens. 

“There is an intertwining 

relationship between 

public perception and the 

effectiveness of the Police to 

deadline of November 14 

for the contractor to 

complete the Osisioma 

Junction to MCC Junction 

on Aba-Owerri Road and 

open it to traffic. 

Other roads include the 

Obikabia-Umuene 

Road, with a deadline of 

October 30; Abiriba- 

Nkporo Road, November 

30; and Aba Road, in 

Umuahia slated to be 

completed before the 

second week of November. 

The contractor handling 

the Osusu Road in Aba also 

got a deadline of October, 

30 to complete the project 

with cement pavement 

technology, while the Afo 

Ibeji Umuahia Road 

as there seemed to be a 

grand design to ensure 

that this abominable status 

quo is maintained and a 

firm conspiracy of silence 

over same by the 

beneficiaries.” 

Responding, Chief 

Onyeagucha said 

Governor Emeka 

Ihedioha's administration 

was out to rebuild the state, 

and not on a vendetta 

mission. 

He added: “There is so 

much work to do in the state 

and we appeal to everybody 

to be part of the rebuilding 

crusade. We call for 

patience and trust.” 

Police have bad image, IGP admits 

By Vincent 

Ujumadu 

attain its internal security 

mandate. 

“The import is that our 

ability to win over public 

trust and confidence as 

a pathway to crime 

management is predicated 

on your capacity to rebrand 

the Police and project it 

positively to the citizens.” 

Ikpeazu gives ultimatum to contractors 

palliative project is also 

slated for completion this 

month. 

The statement disclosed 

that the state Ministry of 

Works has been directed to 

execute extensive 

maintenance work on 

Ururuka Road within 10 

days, while the contractor 

handling Okpu-Umuobo- 

Mgboko Road is to ensure 

completion before the end 

of first quarter of 2020. 

It further directed the 

contractor handling 

Osisioma Flyover project 

to commence bailing out 

water from the road 

median to prepare the site 

for the final phase of work 

on the floyover.


Federal roads: FG actually incapacitated, 

can’t repay states —Okowa 

•Says he has no power to anoint his successor in 2023 

By Emma 

Amaize, Festus 

Ahon, Perez 

Brisibe & Ochuko 

Akuopha 

A SABA—GOVERNOR 

Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta 

State has said the economy 

of the Federal Government 

is not in the financial position 

to make refunds to states that 

embarked on the 

rehabilitation of failed 

federal roads in their 

domains. 

Why flood cuts 

off NDDC road 

project in Delta 

community 

—Contractor 

By Chancel 

Sunday 

BOMADI—Sequel to 

Vanguard’s report on 

flood ravaging a portion of 

the ongoing Bomadi- 

Gbaregolor-Esanma- 

Akugbene coastal road 

project in Delta State, where 

it also overran Esanma 

community in Bomadi 

council area, the company 

handling the project, Setraco 

Nigeria Limited, has 

explained reasons behind the 

failed portion of the road. 

The construction company, 

yesterday, disclosed that work 

was halted on the Esanma 

portion of the road, where a 

mini bridge also crossed a 

canal due to hostility by the 

community. 

Public Relations Officer of 

Setraco, Mr Robert Afuruku, 

in a response to Vanguard’s 

investigation, said: “Setraco 

was working on the road at 

the said bridge location on 

June 8, 2019, when Esanma 

community elders, youths 

and women led by the 

community chairman, Mr 

Theophilus Omoro, violently 

stopped the company from 

working. 

“They seized our vehicle 

keys, bruised workers who 

were also hospitalised. At this 

point, the company had no 

choice than to inform the 

military Joint Task Force, JTF, 

at the Bomadi Division who 

came to rescue our workers 

and equipment." 

“Mr Presley Yinkore, the 

PRO in charge of the affected 

project location and who is a 

son of Esanma community, 

was also beaten up and 

detained in an obnoxious 

closet meant for offenders in 

the community. 

However, when contacted, 

Esanma community 

chairman, Omoro, said: “I’m 

going to react to all they are 

talking about. Let me see with 

my executive and I will 

respond to their claim on the 

issue on ground.” 

The governor, yesterday, 

during a quarterly media 

interaction with journalists in 

the state, also disclosed that 

he would have preferred that 

the states make repairs on 

such roads in their domains 

with the Federal 

Government making 

refunds, but the Federal 

Government had told the 

governors that they could 

not receive such refunds 

now. 

He said: “I do not think the 

Federal Government is in a 

financial position to take on 

all the roads. We cannot shy 

away from the fact that the 

economy of this country is not 

where it ought to be and, 

therefore, we are facing 

challenges. 

“Personally, I do not think 

there is any contradiction as 

the Federal Government has 

said it will not be making 

refunds. 

“Actually, why we sought 

for clearance from the Federal 

Government before 

embarking on the road 

intervention is not because 

we were soliciting for 

refunds, but because when 

we tried same in 2017, we 

had issues with the Federal 

Government. 

“Hence this time, we 

needed to get clearance and 

we did not intervene 

because we had money but 

because the roads became a 

huge challenge for us 

Deltans and road users from 

other states coming into 

Delta.” 

On his position ahead of 

his successor come 2023, the 

governor said: “I can have 

my personal view but I 

cannot enforce anyone as 

governor as it’s only God that 

knows who will become 

governor. 

ANNIVERSARY: From left, Principal, Grace High School, Dr 

Stella Olagunju; Executive Director, Grace Schools, Mrs Tokunbo 

Edun, and Headboy, Grace High School, Ifeoluwa Ale, at the 25th 

anniversary of the school, in Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor. 

Nted urges FG to make sea ports 

more user-friendly 

By Onozure 

Diana 

CHAIRMAN 

of 

Maritime Workers 

Union of Nigeria, MWUN, 

Advisory Council, Anthony 

Nted, has pleaded with the 

Federal Government to 

make the nation’s sea ports 

more user- friendly, to return 

the nation ports to importers’ 

preference and halt 

associated jobs losses among 

others. 

Nted, a former Vice 

President of Nigeria Labour 

Congress, NLC, and 

immediate past President- 

General of MWUN, 

implored the government to 

fix all the access roads to the 

nation’s ports to ease 

transportation for humans, 

goods and services to and 

from the ports. 

He said: "Because of the 

deplorable access road, 

many vessels are being 

diverted to neighbouring 

countries. It did not start 

today; it has been in a bad 

state for a very long time. 

Importers and other 

businesses are relocation 

and scaling down their 

operations to minimise loss. 

“As a result, many vessels 

are being diverted to 

Cotonou, Togo and other 

friendlier neighbouring 

countries and Nigeria is 

losing heavily. The roads 

need to be fixed quickly so 

that we can reduce the loss 

to the barest minimum. 

"When I was the President– 

General of MWUN, we 

raised this issue of the failed 

access roads to the ports. We 

had so many meetings with 

the Ministers of Labour, 

Transports and Works, and 

nothing came out of those 

meetings until that 

administration was over. But 

Gov Bello sends list of 17 

commissioner nominees to 

state Assembly 

M 

I 

N N A — 

GOVERNOR 

Abubakar Bello of Niger 

State has sent a list of 17 

commissioner nominees to 

the state House of Assembly 

for consideration and 

approval. 

In a letter by the governor 

to the House, yesterday, the 

Speaker, Mr Abdullahi 

Wuse, said the submission of 

the list was in line with 

Section 192 subsection 1 of 

the 1999 Constitution (as 

amended). 

The submission of the list 

came four months after the 

governor was sworn in for a 

second term. 

Eight out of the 17 

nominees had served as 

commissioners in the first 

tenure of the current 

administration. 

The nominees include 

Nasara Dan Mallam, Zakari 

Abubakar, Haliru Jikantoro, 

Abdul Malik Sarkin Daci, 

Mukhtar Nasaleh, Ramatu 

Yardua, Ibrahim Panti, 

Hannatu Saleh. 

Others are Mustapha 

Jibrin, Yusuf Suleiman, 

Emmanuel Umar, 

Mohammed Idris, Tanko 

Zakari, Sunday Kolo, 

Haruna Dukku, Mamman 

Musa and Maku Sidi. 

Oil subsidy: Bayelsa accuses FG of illegally deducting 

N450bn in 13 yrs 

By Samuel 

Oyadongha 

Y ENAGOA—BAYELSA 

State government, 

yesterday, accused the 

Federal Government of 

illegally deducting four per 

cent as fuel subsidy from its 

monthly allocation. 

This, according to the state 

government, amounted to 

over N450 billion in the last 

13 years. 

now thank God, they have 

started something, and we 

hope it is not going to be an 

abandoned project." 

"The impact of the failed 

road on workers, businesses 

and residents of Apapa 

cannot be quantified in 

monetary terms. 

“Many people are being 

killed by hoodlums and autoaccidents 

on the road, man 

hours and productivity are 

lost as people can’t get to 

their places of work or 

business on time. When they 

close, some practically sleep 

on the road, while others 

sleep at work places. Many 

workers are being punished 

because of the bad road." 

The state Commissioner for 

Finance, Mr. Maxwell Ebibai 

stated this in Yenagoa during 

the monthly transparency 

briefing for the month of 

August. 

Ebibai said: “We noticed 

that there was a bit of 

improvement with the 

derivation figure for August 

compared to July. It is 

important that we highlight 

that for a long time, under the 

pretext that we are saving for 

the rainy day, the Federal 

By Wole 

Mosadome 

Killing of A-Ibom farmers: 

Group threatens eviction of 

herdsmen from N-Delta 

By Egufe 

Yafugborhi 

PORT HARCOURT— 

THE Patriotic Concerned 

Forum of Niger Delta, 

PCFND, has warned 

herdsmen to stop further 

killing of farmers or they 

would be kicked out of the 

region. 

PCFND issued the threat, 

yesterday, in a communique 

in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, 

its operational headquarters, 

following killing, last Friday, 

of yet other farmer by 

suspected herdsmen in Akwa 

Ibom State. 

Police Public Relations 

Officer, Akwa Ibom 

Government used monies in 

the Excess Crude Account for 

activities such as petroleum 

subsidy, arms purchase and 

others. 

“Some states are 

contributing unfairly to those 

activities where we use that 

money for things such as 

petroleum subsidy and other 

so-called critical government 

expenses that do not relate 

to the states. 

“So that battle has been on. 

We have managed to reach 

some consensus as regards 

that. But if we want to save 

Command, Odiko MacDon, 

had confirmed the death of 

one Christopher Uduakpan 

from machete injuries 

inflicted on him by suspected 

herdsmen who insisted on 

having their herds feast on 

his farm in Nkek community, 

Ukanafam Local Government 

Area of the state. 

In the communique by its 

National Chairman, Owo 

Udoh and National Secretary, 

Daniel Wilson, PCFND said: 

“Further killings by 

herdsmen will leave youths 

in the region with no option 

than to ask herdsmen to leave 

Akwa Ibom and entire Niger 

Delta.” 

DeoGratias poly set for 

academic activities 

D EOGRATIAS 

Polytechnic in Agbor, 

headquarters of Ika South 


Delta State, will commence 

academic activities at the 

middle of this month, the 

founder of the institution, 

Professor George Odabi, has 

said. 

Odabi, who disclosed this 

in Agbor, explained that the 

institution, which is bringing 

different style to polytechnic 

education in Nigeria, would 

be a world-class institution for 

academic excellence geared 

towards meeting societal 

needs. 

This, according to him, 

would be achieved by 

expanding the frontiers of 

knowledge through the 

provision of excellent learning 

environment in the institution 

to produce graduates 

that would contribute meaningfully 

to the transformation 

of the society through enterprising 

and innovative creativity. 

He said: “To the glory of 

God, we are commencing 

academic programmes in 

DeoGratias Polytechnic by 

middle of this month with 

three departments which are 

Computer Science in the 

School of Applied Sciences, 

Department of Paralegal 

Studies in the School of 

General Studies and Law, and 

Department of Office 

Technology and 

Management in the School 

of Business Studies." 

money in the excess crude 

account, let the 13 per cent 

due to the states be given to 

them. So we know we are 

contributing at par with our 

colleagues based on what is 

received. 

“By recent calculations, 

from the 13 per cent 

derivation money that has 

passed through the excess 

crude account, the people of 

Bayelsa have not enjoyed the 

benefits of about N450 billion. 

That is what in the name of 

one nation we are subsiding."


WITH HENRY OJELU 

midweekpersonality@gmail.com 

08111813061 (sms only) 

SYLVESTER CHUDE: 

From whiz kid to 

wealth creator 

If you describe him as a restless person, he would 

be quick to tell you that his restlessness is for 

the right reasons. This energeticness saw him 

carving a niche for himself as a child inventor and 

innovator. The same creativity led him into 

pioneering the first radio station in a northern 

university, Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, 

even when he was not an engineering student. 

Long before many online stores sprang up, he had 

pioneered one, ShopNigeria in the e-commerce 

business. He spends every moment working on 

new models or pondering the next thing to work 

on. Sylvester Chude, Managing Director, Cotrack 

Technologies, a security tracking firm, tells the 

story of his talents, models and how his firm is 

creating jobs with its latest innovation, Envio cab 

in the transport sector. The taxi model which was 

a success in Abuja aims at taking many 

unemployed youths out of the streets of Lagos. 

Background 

I am the first son of five 

children of Prof and Mrs 

Chude. I am a graduate of 

Economics from Ahmadu Bello 

University Zaria. I 

pioneered the first student 

campus radio station ‘ABU 

FM’. After graduation, I went 

ahead to work for a security 

tracking company, called 

CoTECH, as a Youth corper in 

Abuja 2005. From there, I 

drove the market to Lagos 

and became the operations 

manager in 2009. I got married 

and relocated to Abuja and 

started family life. A year later, 

I left CoTech to start something 

else in e-commerce. I was one 

of those first entrants in the e- 

commerce business in Nigeria 

and my brand name was 

ShopNigeria. 

Concept 

My concept then was how to 

sell all that is being displayed 

on a website by creating 

convenience for people who 

don't know where to shop. We 

were trying to create what 

Alibaba did in China by 

creating visibility for local 

people. We started it but 

couldn’t continue after one 

year because of financial 

restraint. At that time, I was 

called back to CoTech in 2010 

following some restructuring 

in the company. We did alarm 

security before we decided to 

go into full scale security. We 

later changed the name from 

CoTech and re-registered it as 

Cotrack. I co-founded Cotrack 

as a pioneer Managing 

Director. 

Focus 

Our main goal at Cotrack was 

to retrieve stolen cars in 

PERSONALITY ETHICS: 

* I utitlise human power 

to create wealth 

* Money is not wealth 

* The greatest asset is 

manpower 

Nigeria and we were able to 

achieved that to a large 

extent. I am glad that the 

company has grown to 

prove that we can use 

technologies to bring 

working solutions in Nigeria. 

Envio Innovation 

Envio is my new 

innovation. Safe 

transport is the major 

challenge we are trying 

to solve in this country. 

With my background 

and experience in 

sitelite tracking, we were 

able to solve the 

concerns of public 

transport in Nigeria. We 

created what is novel in 

Nigeria, the first of its 

kind, and that is to use 

satellite technology 

with artificial 

intelligence to create a 

fleet management 

software that can detect 

mechanical or technical 

threat to a vehicle that 

could reduce the 

warranty of the vehicle. 

That same technology can 

tell us when a driver is over 

speeding, when the engine 

is stressed, when the driver 

has departed, and most 

importantly, it handles the 

challenge of billing. The 

people who have vehicles 

used for public transport have 

two basic challenges; one is 

maintenance, the other is 

billing. When vehicle owners 

Sylvester Chude 

give out their vehicles for 

commercial purposes, 

getting their money is usually 

difficult. I know of a driver 

who always claim his mother 

has died whenever its time to 

pay money. In fact, his 

mother has died four times. 

They come up with all sorts 

of reasons to justify why they 

As an economist, 

resource for me is 

not money. 

Resource is human 

power. It is about 

utilizing human 

power to generate 

wealth. 

can’t make payments. So, 

with the app we have made, 

that kind of lie cannot persist. 

We made it in a way that, 

when a driver fails to make 

payment on an agreed day, if 

he wakes up the next day, that 

car won't start. For the car 

to start, he is expected to 

follow the process of using his 

ATM card, log in to our 

website with his user name 

and password, the amount he 

owes will pop out, then he will 

pay. He will be told payment 

successful, then his car will 

come up. If he doesnt do this, 

the car will not start. With 

this, we have solved the 

greatest pain of every vehicle 

owner with technology. 

The second phase is that, the 

vehicle will have a web page 

where you can see the 

state of the vehicle, and, 

where and when the 

vehicle was serviced 

last, and also the engine 

performance analysis. 

By doing this, you are 

putting a check in the 

life of the driver and the 

vehicle. We want to 

encourage private 

sector investors to 

invest in this, because 

that sector is deficient. 

Challenges 

One of the greatest 

challenges I had in the 

first three months we 

came to Lagos, was how 

to survive in Lagos 

because of the big 

market. When we did the 

piloting in Abuja, it was 

highly successful. But Lagos 

is a place where somebody 

spends many hours on the 

road and productive work 

time is lost in traffic. By the 

time people get to work, they 

are already exhausted and 

yet still have official work to 

do. So, I asked myself, how 

do I manage this kind of 

people? In our office, we 

created pictures of different 

challenges we want to solve 

in Nigeria. One says; 'there is 

love in sharing'. The truth is, 

if that man doesn’t give his 

car, a driver will not get 

a job, and the car owner 

will not make extra 

income. Even users 

will have problem of 

moving about. So, 

we decided to 

create a customer 

s u p p o r t 

programme, 

designed to 

reward the 

people who 

recognize what 

we are doing as 

a value, and are 

willing to 

support it to 

solve the 

problem of 

p u b l i c 

transport by 

introducing 

people to it 

and making it 

known. We 

paid them 10 

per cent as 

royalty, 

because they are also solving 

a problem. This is about us 

solving our own problems 

ourselves, and earning from 

it. If we can all work with this 

mentality, then Nigeria will 

grow. 

Another challenge right 

now is getting partnership 

with state governments. 

Most state governments are 

looking for internally 

generated revenue and don’t 

have the funds to invest into 

the transport system. This is 

a means where they could get 

income steadily through tax. 

Our taxi model is designed 

for the grassroots so we are 

open to partnership. 

We also need investors. We 

are now open to the public. 

In fact, our philosophy for 

Envio is; business for the 

people, by the people and of 

the people. This is because, 

in as much as we make 10 per 

cent of payment from the 

owners, we share that 

payment with everybody, 

including the driver and the 

government through tax. 

Conviction 

As an economist, resource 

for me is not money. 

Resource is human power. It 

is about utilizing human 

power to generate wealth. It 

is however unfortunate that 

in Nigeria, the most potent 

resource which is the 

'human', is not being 

properly utilized. This is 

what we are tapping to solve 

our economic problems in 

Nigeria.

NESG REPORTS 

Vanguard WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 — 37 

*President Muhammadu Buhari 

25th Nigerian Economic Summit: FG plans new measures to boost 

revenue from mining 

Stories by Michael Eboh 

The Federal Government is 

making arrangement to plug 

revenue leakages in the nation’s 

mining sector. 

It also plans new measures to sure 

up revenue from the oil assets in the 

Joint Venture, JV partnership and 

completion of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna- 

Kano, AKK, gas pipeline. 

Speaking in Abuja, at a roundtable 

session of the 25th Nigerian Economic 

Summit, NES, Minister for Mines and 

Steel Development, Architect 

Olamilekan Adegbite, disclosed that 

the Government was considering 

engaging young graduates, training 

them and assigning them to the field 

to help in monitoring volume of 

minerals evacuated at different mining 

sites and the amount of revenue due 

to the government. 

He noted that federal mining officers 

in some states of the federation only 

have a few staff and they are expected 

to monitor mining activities across the 

whole state. 

He stated: “For instance, in Ogun 

State, which is the quarry capital of 

the country, people are there engaging 

in quarrying, breaking stones and all 

that. The government is supposed to 

receive royalty from this. It is 

supposed to monitor the volume going 

*Kyari *Adegbite *Akinwuntan 

out. The minerals are loaded in 30- 

tonne trucks. For every truck that goes 

out, government is supposed to 

receive certain amount of royalties. 

But then there are discrepancy in how 

much that was received and what went 

out. 

“We also realised that the rules are 

in place, what is required is 

monitoring and enforcement. We are 

now proposing something, which we 

could get young graduates, send them 

to get certain experience, we pay them 

The Nigerian National Petroleum 

Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, 

disclosed that buyers of the divested 

assets of its Joint Venture, JV 

partners have all failed to make 

meaningful impacts and contributions 

to the development of the assets, 

almost ten years after their sale. 

Speaking in Abuja, at a round-table 

on “Rethinking the future of the 

Extractive Industry,” at the 25th 

Nigerian Economic Summit, NES, 

Group Managing Director of the 

NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, 

expressed disappointment over the 

minimum wage and we assign like 

about 20 to every mine officer and they 

can monitor, thereby generating more 

revenue for the government. That is 

what we are thinking, it is not 

crystallised yet.” 

He further stated that the Federal 

Government was working on 

harmonising and creating a linkage 

among the three critical agencies in 

the Nigerian mining industry, the 

Mining Cadastre Office, the Nigerian 

Geological Survey Agency, NGSA, 

and the Mining Inspectorate. 

He said the Federal Government 

IOCs sold divested oil assets to incompetent 

operators --NNPC 

AfCFTA: How Nigeria can benefit, be competitive 

— Ecobank CEO 

Chief Executive Officer of 

Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Patrick 

Akinwuntan, yesterday, warned that 

Nigeria would not enjoy the benefits 

of the African Continental Free Trade 

Area, AfCFTA, unless it addresses the 

issue of poor electricity supply, low 

skilled manpower and challenges to 

the ease of doing business in the 

country 

Speaking at a roundtable session, 

tagged, AfCFTA: ‘Capitalizing on 

Opportunities ‘ at the 25th Nigerian 

Economic Summit in Abuja, 

Akinwuntan disclosed that when the 

agreement fully comes into effect, the 

size of the Nigerian economy 

compared to its peers in the African 

continent would not matter and would 

not be a determining factor in 

attracting investments and 

dominating in trade. 

According to him, what would matter 

would be the competitiveness of the 

country and businesses operating in 

the country, while he noted that all 

sale of the JV assets to the new 

partners, noting that if the NNPC had 

a foreknowledge of the incompetence 

of the buyers, it would not have 

consented to the sale of the assets. 

Going forward, he said the NNPC 

had rolled out stringent conditions for 

the divestment of assets by its JV 

partners, while he cautioned its 

partners against proposing the 

divestment of their stakes to firms who 

are not capable of improving the 

fortunes of the assets. 

The NNPC chief executive noted that 

henceforth, firms who are seeking to 

efforts should be geared towards 

making the country commercially 

competitive. 

He emphasised the need for the 

country to pursue human capacity 

development, as with the AfCFTA, 

education would not matter much, but 

a major issue, according to him, would 

be the skills and capacity of the 

country’s manpower to help it compete 

effectively across the continent and 

across the globe. 

Akinwuntan further stated that 

Nigeria’s epileptic power supply 

situation would be an impediment to 

our competitiveness, as countries that 

have the capacity in electricity 

generation and distribution would 

export electricity to Nigeria. 

He said: “All ports in Nigeria, 

seaports, railway, airports and others, 

must be favourable for people to move 

their goods and services. It is about 

attracting other parts of Africa to do 

business with us. Today, it is faster to 

ship goods from Europe to Apapa than 

to move goods from Apapa to Ikeja. 

“Nigeria is bordered by Frenchspeaking 

countries and most of us do 

not know how to speak French, 

whereas majority of the educated 

people in these French-speaking 

countries can speak English. If we 

want to compete under the AfCFTA, 

we must be bi-lingual, we must at 

least, learn to speak French.” 

The Ecobank chief executive added 

that Nigeria must see the entire Africa 

as a market, and focus on changing 

the cost and ease of exporting goods 

and services from what it is currently. 

Also speaking, Chief Executive 

Officer of Flour Mills of Nigeria 

Limited, Mr. Paul Gbededo, disclosed 

that Nigeria cannot export goods and 

services if our products are not able 

to compete globally price-wise. 

He argued that the AfCFTA was an 

opportunity for Nigeria to up its game, 

as well as ensure that it is competitive 

in pricing and quality. 

He said, “Manufacturing firms 

should be able to improve on their 

capacity and effectiveness. Nigeria 

should look beyond its borders and 

utilise more of its capacity.” 

was digitalising all its operations in 

the Cadastre Office and the NGSA to 

allow real-time monitoring from 

anywhere in the world, of licence 

holders, activities of each miner across 

the country. 

“Just from your computer, you can 

see the operations of the Mining 

Cadastre Office, MCO, you can see 

what areas are free if you want to 

invest and what areas are already 

taken by licences. By the time we 

conclude all these, all our operations 

would be opened and everyone can 

see them anywhere in the world,” he 

explained. 

acquire the assets of its JV partners 

must be able to manage the assets, 

attract financing and must be able to 

operate the assets. 

He said, “In the last ten years, many 

of our partners have divested assets 

from the joint venture; some of the 

Production Sharing Contracts, PSC, 

have looked for other PSC contractors 

to join the business. 

“For the JVs and without exceptions, 

all the divestment from our partners 

to all the companies we are now 

working with, did not deliver the value 

that we expected. Many of the assets 

went down; most of them could not add 

any production to the baseline. That 

is the reality that we have on ground 

now. 

“If we can roll back time and go back 

to 2010 up till 2012, NNPC would not 

grant those consents, if we had known 

this, because what the consent you are 

granting means is that they are 

bringing in a partner who would help 

you work the assets. If we know today 

that this cannot happen, we would not 

have consented to it. At that time, we 

did not have a choice, but today, we 

are in the best position to say no when 

we want to; we have a government 

that would tolerate us, support us and 

had insisted that we must do things 

correctly. 

“Today, if you bring a partner who is 

on paper, an upstream operator, after 

the divestment is set, we will say no 

to it. That is the reality. It would also 

apply to our partners. This is a clear 

message to our partner, do not propose 

sale to people who cannot manage 

these assets, who cannot find 

financing and who cannot operate 

these assets. 

“Indeed, the NNPC has the option 

of either pre-empting the transaction 

or to decline the consent If we are not 

convinced, especially if you are not 

able to give us the partner that would 

be able to do business as we expect.”

38 —Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 

Oral care/Oral hygiene: 4 leading 

brands lock horns with differentiation 

Stories by Princewill 

Ekwujuru 

Nigerian subsidiaries 

of the global Oral 

care/Oral Hygiene market 

leaders are up in contest for 

increased share of the local 

market with the global 

market expected to hit 

$53.3billion by 2025 from 

$44.5billion in 2019 according 

to 

Markets&Markets, a United 

Kingdom (UK) based 

Research Company. 

Based on product, the 

Oral care/Oral hygiene 

market is categorized into 

toothpastes, toothbrushes & 

accessories, mouthwashes/ 

rinses, denture products, 

dental accessories/ancillaries, 

and dental prosthesis 

cleaning solutions. 

Vanguard Companies and 

Market (C&M) findings reveal 

that this year, the toothpastes 

segment is expected 

to account for the largest 

share of the oral care/oral 

hygiene market. 

The large share of this 

segment can primarily be 

attributed to the huge adoption 

of toothpastes for maintaining 

oral hygiene, the 

treatment of dental cares, 

and its use in post-surgical 

procedures. 

Nigerian subsidiaries of 

Procter and Gamble (P&G), 

manufacturers of Oral-B 

brand of toothpaste, Unilever 

Nigeria Plc, producers 

of Pepsodent toothpaste, 

Colgate Palmolive, makers 

of Colgate toothpaste 

and Glaxosmithkline Nigeria 

Plc, manufacturers of 

Sensodyne toothpaste, are 

throwing up many strategies 

in the market place, 

especially product differentiation 

and institutional 

brand associations. 

Each of these brands 

boasts of strong operating 

brand assets (strong corporate 

identity, good products, 

strong distribution network 

and heavy advertising and 

marketing support). 

The multinationals are 

also considering Nigeria as 

one of their key markets in 

Africa primarily due to the 

market size of about 

200million consumers, 

which they see as attractive 

and readymade market for 

their Oral/hygiene care 

products, especially toothpaste. 

With over 32 toothpaste 

brands jostling for market 

space nationwide, four, 

Oral-B, Pepsodent, Colgate 

and Sensodyne, have 

emerged top of the mind 

brand with national spread. 

However, distributors and 

retailers say these four 

brands are competing 

fiercely to control the market 

with the deployment of 

huge marketing activities 

supported by their huge financial 

muscles and strong 

corporate brand equity. 

Other factors such as the 

rising oral hygiene awareness, 

growing incidence of 

dental diseases, and technological 

advancements in 

oral care products, drive 

growth of the oral care/oral 

hygiene market for market 

shares. 

Increasing online purchase 

of oral care products 

has created new growth opportunities 

for players operating 

in this market. 

All the leading brand 

manufacturers are prominently 

displaying their logos 

and names on the packaging 

to boost brand 

awareness and sales. 

They are identifying specific 

qualities that clients 

are looking for in toothpaste, 

such as the ability to 

whiten or strengthen teeth 

and protect against tooth 

decay. For example, Oral- 

B offers healthier, stronger 

and whiter tooth and protection 

from tooth holes as 

its selling points. 

Pepsodent’s strength lies 

in its endorsed by the Federation 

Dentaire Internationale, 

FDI. It also includes 

fighting germs to 

protect teeth against cavities, 

gives strong teeth, fresh 

breath and healthy gums 

and offers solution to bleeding 

gums and sensitive 

teeth. 

Colgate says it provides 

protection against cavity, 

whitens and strengthens 

teeth and removes stain. 

Sensodyne says its product 

provides sensitivity relief 

caused by cold, hot, 

sweet food and drinks, removes 

stain for a whiter 

smile and protection to reduce 

sensitivity pain with 

twice daily brushing and 

protects against cavities. 

C&M also discovered 

that despite the number of 

toothpaste brands in the 

market to the extent of 

seeming saturation, they 

are retailer’s cash cow, with 

brands are collaborating 

with dental specialists, institutes, 

using celebrities to 

endorse their brands. They 

also seek dentist who appears 

in cable or TV broadcast 

ad recommending their 

brands. 

“They print attractive posters 

and fliers and leave them 

in dental clinics or offices. 

They participate in community 

health promotion activities 

that raise awareness on 

proper dental care, and this 

becomes an opportunity to 

market their products. 

“They are also leveraging 

several print and electronic 

media channels to market 

their products. Their ads 

highlight the top features of 

their toothpaste to attract 

maximum attention. 

“The local daily or national 

newspapers and health 

magazines also offer good 

opportunities to advertise 

their products. “They are 

also deploying product websites 

that is modern and easily 

navigable with links to 

social media is helping to 

explain the products to readers, 

creating positive brand 

impressions.” 

Another Marketing expert, 

Robert Jameson of Leverage 

Media said: “Retail outlets 

are also providing advertising 

opportunities for their 

brands by allocating display 

space for the products 

and posters so shoppers 

readily see them. 

They are selling their products 

to retailers at discount- 

From Left: Branch Manager, Panaserv Nigeria Limited, 

Dinesh Bhambhani; Senior Executive/Technical Engineer, 

Panasonic Middle East, PremSankar Vijayan; a 

participant, Olalekan Olanrewaju and Senior Executive/ 

Technical Engineer, Panasonic, Appliances & Air 

conditioning Malaysia, Mohd Fadhi Bin Aziz during the 

Panasonic Aircon Technical Seminar held in Lagos. 

something for every shopper. 

Stores see it as a steady 

traffic generator. 

Experts speak 

A dentist, who works in a 

military Hospital in Yaba, 

Lagos who pleaded anonymity 

said: “I think differences 

between brands 

aren’t very meaningful. 

Just make sure it has fluoride 

and has the FDI World 

Dental Federation seal. 

ÿþ”The brand itself 

doesn’t really matter. Just 

choose a product that you 

like, which means you’re 

going to use it more regularly. 

“Fluoride is what 

helps prevent cavities. If 

you don’t use toothpaste 

with fluoride I am willing 

to bet you that within six 

months to a year, you will 

get decay in your mouth.” 

Marcelous Agwu, a marketing 

expert with Road-to- 

Market, an experiential 

marketing communication 

agency, analysing the marketing 

strategies of the leading 

brands, said, “The 

ed prices and leave the marketing 

work to them. 

According to Constance 

Igbonekwu of Orlick Communications, 

Anambra 

State, “What resonate with 

consumers are toothpastes 

that have attained a serious 

market presence, and that is 

why you see them all over 

the media trying to attract 

consumers to their brand.” 

Manufacturer speaks 

The Managing Director of 

Procter & Gamble (P&G) 

Nigeria, Adil Farhat, said 

in a chat: “One thing in the 

Nigeria market is the need 

to invest enough with programs 

like Oral-B Doctors 

on Wheel. We make sure the 

category goes as deep as 

possible in terms of usage so 

that more people get access 

to better paste. “At P&G, it is 

our purpose to touch and 

improve our customers lives 

with our brands. We are dedicated 

to improving the oral 

health of all Nigerians 

through our Mobile Dental 

Clinic programme.” 

•A cross section of Pensioners protesting unpaid benefits 

Disengaged Kwara hotel staff, Harmony 

Holdings bicker over unpaid benefits 

FOLLOWING the ad 

vent of a new government 

in Kwara State 

headed by Governor 

Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, 

89 former staff of Kwara hotels 

viciously disengaged 

by the management of the 

hotel through anti-riot mobile 

policemen on May 

26,2017, without benefit are 

back in the trenches for 

their unpaid their entitlements. 

Recall that they were 

forcefully sacked without 

warning or termination 

letters, till today. 

Recently the aggrieved 

formers workers protested 

on the streets of Ilorin to 

draw the attention of the 

public and stakeholders 

including the new administration 

to their plight. 

Sequel to the protest, 

the state House of Assembly 

invited the ex-workers 

to a meeting with the 

management of Kwara 

Hotels towards finding a 

lasting solution to the 

problem. 

No fewer than 20 of the 

aggrieved former staff 

were in attendance to give 

support to their leaders 

who came to represent 

them at the meeting. 

To say the least, the disengaged 

staff present, 

looked pathetic and frustrated 

as a result of suffering 

and untold hardship 

they have passed 

through for over two years 

that they were violently 

thrown into the Labour 

market without a penny. 

Though there is disagreement 

between the aggrieved 

ex-staff and Harmony 

holdings over the 

actual unpaid benefits, the 

fact remains that Kwara 

Hotels owes the disengaged 

staff unpaid entitlements. 

While the disengaged 

staff according to their 

spokesman, Mohammed 

Ochennika, is insisting 

the management owes 

them N100 million, the 

management says it owes 

them only N56million. 

Ochennike, also informed 

lamented that to 

keep body and soul going, 

about 20% of them had resorted 

to menial jobs 

while many of them had 

been sent out o f their 

houses and their children 

out of school because of inability 

to pay their rents 

and school fees among 

other basic necessities. 

He said, “Its only those 

who could afford transport 

fares that came with us 

several others have returned 

to their towns and 

villages and many have 

lost their loved ones to this 

struggle. We have lost our 

parenthood because our 

children have been sent 

out of school and even to 

feed has been difficult” 

He said that effort by 

the state lawmakers had 

not yielded any positive 

result, as no concrete 

agreement was reached in 

the meeting facilitated by 

the state house of assembly 

According to him, 

“Agreement has not been 

reached, we only presented 

our grievances to 

the committee of the 

House of Assembly. The 

management still has over 

N100million to pay us but 

they are saying it is just 

about N50million.” 

Giving a breakdown of 

the debt profile and payments 

Ochennika said,” 

Out of the total 

N301million , the first 

payment was N89million, 

then N53million and after 

that, N9million. We also 

have a cooperative outstanding 

of N8.2million 

and another N1.3million 

making N9.5million for 

which we protested not lon 

ago. The management 

paid N300,000 out of the 

cooperative debt in August. 

We are waiting for 

the committee to call us 

again and we are appealing 

that they expedite action 

on our matter because 

people are suffering. 

“Out of 89 staff, 20% are 

managing with menial jobs 

others are not working. The 

new government should reinstate 

us and reduce unemployment 

in the state .We 

are ready to go back and we 

want the state government 

to consider us because we 

were not disengaged. It is 

two years four months now 

that we were chased out of 

duty posts with armed policemen.” 

Management speaks 

Speaking, spokesman for 

Harmony holdings, Mr 

Alada Hussein, Head of 

Special Project and Associated 

Companies, disputed 

the balance and the initial 

total amount even as he 

pleaded with the disengaged 

staff to be patience 

assuring that the figures 

would be reconciled and 

they would be paid. 

He said “on the cooperative 

money they are claiming 

I don’t understand 

what they are talking about 

because we have nothing to 

do with the operation of 

their accounts. I am 

wondering why the emphasis 

is on harmony and not 

their primary place of engagement 

which is Kwara 

hotels. 

“The issues of tax, cooperative 

and so on are internal 

issues within the organisation. 

When your employer 

pays you it remits all the 

taxes and various deductions 

to appropriate quarters. 

That was what happened 

there, like it happens 

elsewhere. So I don’t know 

where harmony collected 

their cooperative money because 

we don’t run their accounts.” 

On whether Harmony 

took over both the assets and 

liabilities, when it took over 

the hotels, he said “a lot of 

things were outstanding 

when we took over the place 

and part of it was the issue 

of their outstanding salaries, 

their gratuities, leave allowances, 

unremitted cooperative 

deductions, pensions 

and a lot of out-standings 

were left unresolved by their 

previous employer. 

“So when we took over the 

place, our promise to them 

was to join them in ensuring 

that their employer fulfills 

all the outstanding obligations. 

But when the payment 

was not forthcoming they 

started protesting and there 

was a tripartite agreement 

among the workers, state 

government and harmony 

holdings. 

“About N223 million was 

calculated which included 

their gratuity, outstanding 

salaries, leave allowances, 

cooperative deductions, 

their 10% annual increment, 

and some other entitlements. 

So, government 

took steps to pay the money 

in phases. As we speak today 

over 70% of that 

amount has been paid, 

about N167 million, leaving 

a balance of N56 million. 

As far as we are concerned 

that is what is outstanding 

now. Any other figure outside 

this they need to substantiate 

it and we will look 

at it.” 

On how soon will the balance 

paid he said, “Since it 

involves government you 

can’t bring a particular time 

frame on when exactly the 

money would be paid.But 

we will do everything possible 

in conjunction with the 

state assembly to ensure that 

their money is paid as soon 

as possible.”

Italy shrinks parliament to save cost 

ITALY’s parliament has 

voted to cut the number 

of representatives in both 

houses by more than a third. 

The lower house approved 

a law to reduce the 

number of MPs from 630 to 

400 and senators from 315 

to 200. 

The reform was a manifesto 

promise of the populist 

Five Star Movement, the 

main party in Italy’s governing 

coalition. 

They say it will streamline 

parliament and save hundreds 

of millions of euros in 

salaries and expenses. 

However, critics say the 

move will weaken democracy 

and increase the influence 

of lobbyists. The new 

law is potentially subject to 

a confirmatory referendum 

as it makes changes to the 

Italian constitution. 

“It’s done! Promise kept” 

a blog post from Five Star 

said after the vote in the lower 

house on Tuesday. 

In a post on Twitter, Five 

Star said the bill - which was 

supported by almost all 

parties - would save the 

country €1bn (£897m) over 

10 years. 

“It’s the day we’ve been 

awaiting forever,” Cabinet 

Secretary Riccardo Fraccaro 

said, according to Ansa. 

“After almost 30 years of 

broken promises, the cut in 

MPs and senators is a reality. 

A new political season 

is starting, now the citizens 

are at the centre.” 

The news agency AGI (in 

Italian) calculated that as 

an MP costs €230,000 per 

year and a senator 

€249,600, the cuts in the 

lower house would save 

€52.9m annually and those 

in the senate €28.7m. 

The new law should come 

into effect after the next elections 

which are due in 2023. 

A governing coalition between 

Five Star and the farright 

League party broke 

down in August. Last month 

Five Star entered into a new 

coalition with the centreleft 

PD and made the new 

law a condition of its alliance. 

The government’s other 

main objective is to pass a 

budget to block a rise in 

VAT (sales tax), which is set 

to kick in on 1 January if 

the government fails to 

reach its debt-reduction target. 


Turkey Deploys Troops To Syria Border After Operation Threat 

TURKEY on Tuesday sent 

more armoured vehicles 

to the border with Syria, an AFP 

correspondent said, after the defence 

ministry said Ankara was 

ready for a cross-border offensive. 

Dozens of vehicles made up 

a large convoy seen by the correspondent 

in the town of Akcakale 

in Sanliurfa province. 

Different types of construction 

equipment were also part of the 

convoy which had been sent to 

reinforce the military units on 

FBI confirms ‘most prolific’ 

US serial killer 

A police vehicle burns during a protest against Ecuador’s President Lenin 

Moreno’s austerity measures in Quito, Ecuador. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins 

the border, state news agency 

Anadolu reported. 

The Turkish defence ministry 

earlier said preparations 

for a military operation in 

northern Syria against a Kurdish 

militia viewed by Ankara 

as terrorists were “completed”. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan 

has repeatedly threatened 

to launch an offensive 

against the US-backed People’s 

Protection Units (YPG) 

militia and said Monday that 

Uighur rights: US blacklists 

Hikvision, China security 

bureaus 

THE FBI has confirmed 

an imprisoned murderer 

who confessed to 93 murders 

over four decades is the most 

prolific serial killer in US history. 

Police have matched Samuel 

Little, 79, to 50 cases from 1970 to 

2005 thus far. 

He has been serving life in prison 

since 2012 for the murders of 

three women. 

Little targeted vulnerable individuals, 

mostly black women, 

many of whom were sex workers 

or drug users, officials say. 

A former competitive boxer, Little 

would knock his victims out 

with punches before strangling 

them - meaning that there were 

not always “obvious signs” that 

the person had been brutally 

murdered. 

Some of these deaths were never 

investigated by the FBI as a 

result, and many deaths were incorrectly 

determined to be overdoses 

or accidental. Some bodies 

have never been found, the agency 

said. 

In a statement on Monday, the 

FBI said its analysts believe “all of 

his confessions are credible”. 

“For many years, Samuel Little 

believed he would not be caught 

because he thought no one was 

accounting for his victims,” FBI 

crime analyst Christie Palazzolo said 

in the statement. 

“Even though he is already in 

prison, the FBI believes it is important 

to seek justice for each victim - 

to close every case possible.” 

Officials have now released additional 

information about five cases 

in Kentucky, Florida, Louisiana, 

Nevada and Arkansas to the public 

in hopes of identifying the unconfirmed 

victims. 

The agency had previously 

shared Little’s coloured portraits of 

his victims, which he drew in prison, 

in an effort to identify more victims. 

THE United States government 

has expanded its 

trade blacklist to include 

some of China’s top artificial 

intelligence startups, punishing 

Beijing for its treatment 

of Uighur Muslims 

and other predominantly 

Muslim ethnic minorities and 

ratcheting up tensions ahead 

of high-level trade talks in 

Washington this week. 

The move by the US Commerce 

Department targets 20 

Chinese public security bureaus 

and eight companies, 

including video surveillance 

firm Hikvision, as well as 

leaders in facial recognition 

technology SenseTime 

Group Ltd and Megvii Technology 

Ltd. 

Also added to the so-called 

“Entity List” are the Xinjiang 

Uighur Autonomous Region 

People’s Government Public 

Security Bureau, 19 subordinate 

government agencies 

and eight commercial firms, 

according to a Commerce 

Department filing. 

The department filing said 

the “entities have been implicated 

in human rights violations 

and abuses in the implementation 

of China’s 

campaign of repression, 

mass arbitrary detention, and 

high-technology surveillance 

against Uighu\rs, Kazakhs, 

and other members of Muslim 

minority groups”. 

The list includes municipal 

and county public security bureaus 

and the Xinjiang Police 

College. 

US officials said the announcement 

was not at all 

tied to this week’s resumption 

of trade talks with China. 

In response to the decision, 

China’s foreign ministry said 

on Tuesday that China would 

continue to take firm and resolute 

measures to protect its 

sovereign security. 

Turkey could start the operation 

“without warning”. 

The YPG spearheaded the 

fight against the Islamic State 

extremist group under the Syrian 

Democratic Forces banner 

with the support of the USled 

international coalition. 

Although US President 

Brexit deal impossible 

after Johnson-Merkel call 

A 

NO 10 source has said a Brexit deal is “essentially im 

possible” after a call between the PM and Angela Merkel. 

Boris Johnson and the German chancellor spoke earlier about 

the proposals he put forward to the EU - but the source said she 

made clear a deal based on them was “overwhelmingly unlikely”. 

Mrs Merkel’s office said it would not comment on “private” 

conversations. 

But the BBC’s Adam Fleming said there was “scepticism” 

within the EU that Mrs Merkel would have used such language. 

And the EU’s top official warned the UK against a “stupid 

blame game”. 

President of the European Council Donald Tusk sent a public 

tweet to Mr Johnson, telling him “the future of Europe and the 

UK” was at stake. 

With efforts to get a deal by the end of the month on an apparent 

knife edge, Boris Johnson and his Irish counterpart Leo 

Varadkar have said they hope to meet later in the week. 

But following talks in Downing Street, the president of the 

European Parliament said there had been “no progress” and 

MEPs would not agree to a compromise deal “at any price”. 

David Sassoli said the UK’s new proposed customs arrangements 

for Northern Ireland were a “long way from something 

to which the Parliament could agree”. 

Amid frantic diplomatic manoeuvring in European capitals, 

details of a call earlier on Tuesday between the UK and German 

leaders have reignited tensions across the continent. 

The No 10 source suggested Mrs Merkel told her counterpart 

the only way to break the deadlock was for Northern Ireland to 

stay in the customs union and for it to permanently accept EU 

single market rules on trade in goods. 

This, the source said, marked a shift in Germany’s approach 

and made a negotiated deal “essentially impossible”. 

Donald Trump appeared to 

give a green light to the Turkish 

invasion on Sunday, he later 

threatened to “obliterate” 

Turkey’s economy if it went too 

far 

Ṫhe Turkish parliament on 

Tuesday evening approved a 

one-year extension of a mandate 

to use troops abroad in 

Syria and Iraq. 

It had been due to run out 

on October 30. 

The mandate, first approved 

by parliament in October 

2014, has been renewed 

every year since then.


Poverty and the Nigerian 

attitude to giving (2) 

THIS week, in continuation of my 

discussion of the issue of poverty 

in the country, I will highlight how philanthropy 

can aid development. 

Philanthropy as a Tool for 

Development in Nigeria 

Nigeria is at the moment faced with 

several problems ranging from dilapidating 

infrastructure in every facet of 

public life, poor or inadequate medical 

facilities, ill-equipped educational institutions 

etc. 

As stated earlier, no single government 

can be expected to provide a solution 

to these problems and more. Regrettably, 

most of the problems of the 

country have been blamed on its 

leadership, and perhaps this is understandably 

so given its huge human and 

natural resources. However I am of the 

view that when the story of the current 

challenges of Nigeria come to be told 

decades down the road, both the government 

and governed will take the 

blame in not too dissimilar measures. 

For one, certain qualities and concepts 

such as service and philanthropy, the 

hallmarks of many great countries are 

terms with which many Nigerians are 

not familiar. Majority of Nigerians do 

not believe in rendering any form of 

service without taking something in return”. 

For many the idea of selfless service 

is anathema. 

For example, no aspect of our national 

life is more problematic and deserving 

of urgent attention than Nigeria’s 

educational sector. Our universities are 

obviously ill-equipped. No Nigerian 

university is ranked among the top 1000 

universities in the world. Most of the 

first generation universities in Nigeria 

still utilize structures built several decades 

ago at the height of the oil boom 

in Nigeria. Most of our public 

universities are universities only in 

name. The challenge of poor funding is 

indeed a formidable one as no tertiary 

educational institution can provide 

quality and functional education 

without adequate funding. Funding is 

at the heart of any serious academic enterprise 

and even when government is 

not able to fully 

support tertiary 

institutions, some 

institutions, especially 

the private 

types have found 

alternative means 

of sourcing funds, 

particularly 

Mankind 

stands to 

benefit in 

the longrun 

from 

acts of 

philanthropy 

tractors. The immediate 

effect which this had on the 

community was a decrease 

in crime rate. Persons who 

out of idleness would have 

strayed into crime found 

themselves gainfully employed. 

The university today is in 

its ninth year of existence 

and by the special grace of 

God Almighty has been positioned 

to fulfil the dreams 

behind its coming into existence. 

through donations, 

endowments, 

and gifting. 

Universities have 

always utilized 

funding to pioneer 

research in existing 

and novel areas of academic enterprise. 

Additionally, some Nigerians and 

corporate entities have by their initiatives 

demonstrated that they can, without 

necessarily waiting for 

governmental intervention, contribute 

their quota towards educational development. 

Some of these initiatives have 

been in the form of scholarships and endowment 

to outright donation of infrastructure 

to assist universities. During 

my tenure as Pro-Chancellor of the University 

of Lagos several well-meaning 

Nigerians made immense contribution 

to the endowment of the university. This 

endowment today continues to provide 

funding for students who but for the existence 

of the endowment would have 

had their educational aspirations truncated. 

On my part, I founded the Afe Babalola 

University, Ado-Ekiti with a vision to 

lead education reform by example. My 

major motivation was a desire to ensure 

qualitative educational opportunity 

to the present generation. 

During construction, over 5000 workers 

were employed by the various con- 

Who Can Be A Philanthropist? 

Let me say straightaway that philanthropy 

is not restricted to a particular 

set of people nor a particular clime. 

Everyone who has something worthy 

of sharing is a potential philanthropist. 

What this simply translates into 

is that one does not need to be a millionaire 

or a billionaire before he becomes 

a philanthropist. The most important 

requirement or element is the 

possession of spirit of giving – willingness 

and readiness to help others in 

need, especially the poor and the less 

privileged. 

Most, if not all persons pray for 

favour. What most do not, however, realise 

is that they can themselves give uncommon 

favour to their fellow men. 

There was the case of two men standing 

side by side in a church; one was praying 

for the success of his multi-million 

dollar contract bid with a multinational 

oil company, whilst the other was asking 

God for a miracle in the form of his 

supper that evening. Without a doubt, 

the former is very well placed to provide 

the uncommon favour or miracle 

which the latter seeks. As funny as it 

sounds, this to my mind is a scenario 

that plays out often not only in our places 

of worship but also virtually in every 

minute of our daily existence. It is therefore 

imperative that everyone identifies 

areas where he or she can contribute 

meaningfully to the lives of others. In 

so doing perhaps we might just be performing 

a miracle. 

Philanthropy is rooted in love and 

compassion. It is of immense benefit not 

only to the person who practices it but 

also to the beneficiary and the society 

at large. Mankind stands to benefit in 

the long-run from acts of philanthropy. 

It is said that no man is to himself an 

island. We are all part of a larger picture. 

Love is our eternal duty. It is the 

creed by which we are expected to live 

our lives and in so doing contribute our 

quota to humanity. Andrew Carnegie, 

at one time the richest man alive, in the 

last years of his life gave away about 

$350 million (conservatively estimated 

at $65 billion in today’s money). In an 

article titled: “The Gospel of Wealth” 

he advocated the responsibility of philanthropy 

by the new upper class of selfmade 

rich. Carnegie proposed that the 

best way of dealing with the new phenomenon 

of wealth inequality was for 

the wealthy to utilize their surplus 

means in a responsible and thoughtful 

manner. This approach was contrasted 

with traditional bequest (patrimony), 

where the rich hand down their wealth 

to their heirs alone, and other forms of 

bequest e.g. where wealth is willed to 

the state for public purposes. He argued 

that surplus wealth is put to best use (i.e. 

produces the greatest net benefit to society) 

when it is administered carefully 

by the wealthy. He also argued against 

wasteful use of capital in the form of 

extravagance, irresponsible spending, 

or self-indulgence, instead promoting 

the administration of said capital over 

the course of one’s lifetime toward the 

cause of reducing the divide between the 

rich and poor. He also famously 

declared that the man who dies rich dies 

disgraced. 

The rich in our society should imbibe 

the culture of giving as it appears that 

the present crop of rich men in our society 

are rather interested in watching 

their financial portfolio grow and nothing 

else matters to them. N1billion kept 

in a bank vault will remain N1billion. 

However, if money is giving to others, it 

increases the velocity of money and 

stimulates economic growth. The more 

the money is allowed to go round, the 

more opportunities will be created for 

creation of businesses and jobs for the 

populace. 

BBNajia: I felt very 

bad when Tacha was 

disqualified — Mercy 

...as she gets N30m cheque, N25m SUV 

Stories by Benjamin Njoku 

THE Big Brother Naija “Pepper Dem” reali 

ty TV show, Mercy Eke, has expressed how 

she felt when Tacha was disqualified from the 

show. 

Mercy, who is widely referred to as Lamborghini 

Mercy in the house and Tacha had a brawl, which 

apparently led to the disqualification of the latter. 

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, in Lagos, 

the 26-year-old reality TV star, said she felt very 

bad when Tacha was disqualified from the show. 

“Tacha is someone I admire and I’m definitely going 

to settle with her as regards whatever had happened 

between us.” I felt bad when she was disqualified 

from the show,” Mercy said while answering 

questions from journalists at the event. 

The Managing Director of Multichoice Nigeria, Mr 

John Ogbe, however, has said that the organizers 

would issue an official statement in respect of the 

disqualification/ their future relationship with Tacha. 

Mercy became the first female contestant 

to win the BBNaija reality TV 

show, beating fellow housemates , including 

Mike, Frodd, Omashola and 

Seyi to coast home to victory. 

The curvy video vixen polled over 41.77 

per cent of a total of 250 million votes 

cast by viewers to beat fellow housemate, 

Mike Edwards, who got about 19.94 per 

cent of the votes. 

At the event, which had other housemates 

including , first runner up, Mike, 

Seyi, Frodd and Omashola in attendance, 

Mercy was presented with a 

cheque of N30 million and keys to her 

brand new Sport Utility Vehicle from 

Innoson Motors among other gifts. The 

car gift is worth N25 million. 

AFROBEAT sensation and 

winner of BET 2019 Best International 

Act, Damini Ebunoluwa 

Ogulu, popularly called Burna Boy 

will be headlining this year’s Felabration 

2019. 

This was announced on social media 

by the organizers of 2019 Felabration, 

an annual festival of music 

and arts, celebrating the life, 

times and legacy of the 

icon Fela Anikulapo 

Kuti. 

According to the 

organizers, the 

concert which is *Burna 

expected to kick boy 

off from October 14 

through 20, will 

feature more than 

400 Nigerian and 

foreign artistes who 

have indicated their in- 

Mercy receiving her cheque and 

SUV 

Burnaboy to headline Felabration 2019 

•Cossy 

*Mercy 

terests to perform at the New Afrika 

Shrine and other venues in Ikeja, 

Lagos. The theme for this year’s Felabration 

is ‘From Lagos with Love.’ 

The festival usually features a symposium, 

concerts, a dance competition, 

debates among selected secondary 

schools in Lagos and other 

activities. 

African Giant’s singer who is currently 

on Europe tour was 

among three music stars, 

that topped the list of 

nominees for the 2019 

Headies’ Award. He 

dropped visual for “Another 

Story”, a track off 

his African Giant album, 

to reckon with the 

legacy of British colonial 

rule over Nigeria — 

and marks the country’s 

independence day. 

Six years after, Cossy 

plans to drop new single 

CONTROVERSIAL Nollywood actress, 

Cossy Orjiakor who came into the limelight 

after featuring in a music video by Obesere 

has revealed plans to drop a new single. 

Cossy released her debut album ‘Nutty 

Queen’ in 2013, which she admitted conveyed 

important lessons for the masses. 

In an Instagram post yesterday, the busty actress 

said she would be releasing a new single 

soon. 

“Just a few know that I’m a good rapper. Oh 

Baby You too Talk’ to be released soon,” she 

wrote. Cossy had featured in musical videos, 

starred in films and had an album to her credit, 

before she went underground.

vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews 

Buhari presents N10.33trn job creation 

budget 

Continues from Page 5 

pands the exempt items to 

include the following: 

Brown and white bread; cereals, 

including maize, rice, 

wheat, millet, barley and 

sorghum; fish of all kinds; 

flour and starch meals; 

fruits, nuts, pulses and vegetables 

of various kinds; 

Roots such as yam, cocoyam, 

sweet and Irish potatoes; 

Meat and poultry 

products including eggs; 

Milk; Salt and herbs of various 

kinds; and Natural water 

and table water. 

“Additionally, our proposals 

also raise the threshold 

for VAT registration to N25 

million in turnover per annum, 

such that the revenue 

authorities can focus their 

compliance efforts on larger 

businesses, thereby 

bringing relief for our Micro, 

Small and Mediumsized 

businesses,’’ the President 

said. 

Sectoral allocations 

In the area of sectoral allocation 

in the 2020 Budget, 

Works and Housing got 

N262 billion; Power was 

allocated N127 billion; 

Transportation got N123 

billion; Universal Basic 

Education Commission 

was allocated N112 billion 

while Defence got 

N100 billion as against 

N435.62 billion in 2019. 

According to the breakdown, 

Zonal Intervention 

Projects was allocated 

N100 billion; Agriculture 

and Rural Development 

got N83 billion; Water Resources, 

N82 billion; Niger 

Delta Development Commission 

got N81 billion. 

Education was allocated 

N48 billion as against the 

N462.24 billion that was 

allocated to it in 2019. 

Health was allocated N46 

billion as against the 

N315.62 billion it got in 

2019 Budget; Industry, 

Trade and Investment got 

N40 billion; North East 

Development Commission, 

N38 billion; Interior, N35 

billion as against the 

N569.07 in 2019; Social 

Investment Programmes, 

N30 billion; Federal Capital 

Territory, N28 billion; 

and Niger Delta Affairs 

Ministry, N24 billion. 

In the budget, the sum of 

N556.7 billion has been 

provided for Statutory 

Transfers and these include: 

N125 billion for the 

National Assembly; N110 

billion for the Judiciary; 

N37.83 billion for the 

North East Development 

Commission (NEDC); 

N44.5 billion for the Basic 

Health Care Provision 

Fund (BHCPF); N111.79 

billion for the Universal 

Basic Education Commission 

(UBEC); and N80.88 

billion for the Niger Delta 

Development Commission 

(NDDC), which is now supervised 

by the Ministry of 

Niger Delta Affairs. 

The President has equally 

disclosed that the government 

has increased the 

budgetary allocation to 

the National Human 

Rights Commission from 

N1.5 billion to N2.5 billion, 

explaining that the 67 

percent increase is to enable 

the Commission perform 

its functions more effectively. 

Review of economy in 

2019 

Giving an over view of 

the economy in 2019, President 

Buhari said: “The 

economic environment remains 

very challenging, 

globally. The International 

Monetary Fund expects 

global economic recovery 

to slow down from 3.6 percent 

in 2018 to 3.5 percent 

in 2020. This reflects uncertainties 

arising from security 

and trade tensions 

with attendant implications 

on commodity price 

volatility. 

“Nearer to home, however, 

Sub-Saharan Africa is 

projected to continue to 

grow from 3.1 percent in 

2018 to 3.6 percent in 2020. 

This is driven by investor 

confidence, oil production 

recovery in key exporting 

countries, sustained strong 

agricultural production as 

well as public investment 

in non-dependent economies. 

“The Nigerian economy 

thus far has recorded nine 

consecutive quarters of 

GDP growth. Annual 

growth increased from 

0.82 percent in 2017 to 

1.93 percent in 2018, and 

2.02 percent in the first half 

of 2019. The continuous recovery 

reflects our economy’s 

resilience and gives 

credence to the effectiveness 

of our economic policies 

thus far. 

“We also succeeded in 

significantly reducing inflation 

from a peak of 18.72 

percent in January 2017, to 

11.02 percent by August 

2019. This was achieved 

through effective fiscal and 

monetary policy coordination, 

exchange rate stability 

and sensible management 

of our foreign exchange. 

“We have sustained accretion 

to our external reserves, 

which have risen 

from US$23 billion in October 

2016 to about 

US$42.5 billion by August 

2019. The increase is 

largely due to favourable 

prices of crude oil in the international 

market, minimal 

disruption of crude oil 

production given the stable 

security situation in the 

Niger Delta region and our 

import substitution drive, 

especially in key commodities. 

“The foreign exchange 

market has also remained 

stable due to the effective 


Central Bank’s interventions 

to restore liquidity, 

improve access and discourage 

currency speculation. 

Special windows were 

created that enabled small 

businesses, investors and 

importers in priority economic 

sectors to have timely 

access to foreign exchange. 

“Furthermore, as a sign 

of increased investor confidence 

in our economy, 

there were remarkable inflows 

of foreign capital in 

the second quarter of 2019. 

The total value of capital 

imported into Nigeria increased 

from US$12 billion 

in the first half year of 

2018 to US$14 billion for 

the same period in 2019” 

On the performance of 

2019 Budget, the President 

said, “you will recall that 

the 2019 ‘Budget of Continuity’ 

was based on a 

benchmark oil price of 

US$60 per barrel, oil production 

of 2.3 mbpd, and 

an exchange rate of N305 

to the United States Dollar. 

Based on these parameters, 

we projected a deficit of 

N1.918 trillion or 1.37 percent 

of Gross Domestic 

Product. 

“ As at June 2019, Federal 

Government’s actual aggregate 

revenue (excluding 

Government-Owned Enterprises) 

was N2.04 trillion. 

This revenue performance 

is only 58 percent of the 

2019 Budget’s target due to 

the under-performance of 

both oil and non-oil revenue 

sources. Specifically, 

oil revenues were below 

target by 49 percent as at 

June 2019. This reflects the 

lower-than-projected oil 

production, deductions for 

cost under-recovery on supply 

of premium motor spirit 

(PMS), as well as higher 

expenditures on pipeline 

security/maintenance and 

Frontier exploration. 

“Daily oil production averaged 

1.86 mbpd as at 

June 2019, as against the 

estimated 2.3 mbpd that 

was assumed. This shortfall 

was partly offset as the 

market price of Bonny 

Light crude oil averaged 

US$67.20 per barrel which 

was higher than the benchmark 

price of US$60. 

“Additionally, revenue 

projections from restructuring 

of Joint Venture Oil 

and Gas assets and enactment 

of new fiscal terms for 

Production Sharing Contracts 

did not materialize, 

as the enabling legislation 

for these reforms is yet to 

be passed into law. 

“The performance of 

non-oil taxes and independent 

revenues such as internally 

generated revenues 

were N614.57 billion and 

N217.84 billion, respectively. 

“Receipts from Value 

Added Tax were below expectations 

due to lower levels 

of activities in certain 

economic sectors, in the aftermath 

of national elections. 

Corporate taxes were 

affected by the seasonality 

of collections, which tend 

to peak in the second half 

of the calendar year. 

“On the expenditure side, 

2019 Budget implementation 

was also hindered by 

the combination of delay in 

its approval and the underperformance 

of revenue 

collections. As such, only 

recurrent expenditure 

items have been implemented 

substantially. Of 

the prorated expenditure of 

N4.46 trillion budgeted, 

N3.39 trillion had been 

spent by June 30, 2019. 

“In compliance with the 

provisions of the 2018 Appropriation 

Act, we implemented 

the 2018 capital 

budget till June 2019. Capital 

releases under the 2019 

Budget commenced in the 

third quarter. As at 30th 

September 2019, a total of 

about N294.63 billion had 

been released for capital 

projects. I have directed 

the Ministry of Finance, 

Budget and National Planning 

to release an additional 

N600 billion of the 2019 

capital budget by the end 

of the year. 

“Despite the delay in capital 

releases, a deficit of 

N1.35 trillion was recorded 

at end of June 2019. 

This represents 70 percent 

of the budgeted deficit for 

the full year. 

“Despite these anomalies, 

I am happy to report 

that we met our debt service 

obligations, we are 

current on staff salaries 

and overhead costs have 

also been largely covered.” 

MDAs to appear for 2020 

budget defence in October 

– Lawan 

Meanwhile, Ministries, 


MDAs, are to appear 

before Committees of the 

Senate in October to defend 

their 2020 budget, 

President of the Senate, 

Ahmad Lawan, has said. 

Lawan spoke yesterday as 

the House of Representatives 

said debate on the 

2020 Appropriations Bill 

would commence today. 

Lawan, who stated this at 

the presentation of the 

budget by President Buhari, 

said for timely passage 

of the budget, all 

MDAs were expected to 

appear before the committees 

for the defence within 

the month of October. 

He said the National Assembly 

committees were 

ready to receive ministers 

and other heads of agencies 

for the budget defence 

of various MDAs within the 

month. 

“We have earmarked the 

month of October to be the 

sole window for all budget 

defence activities in this 

year by all MDAs. Our 

committees will be expected 

to conclude their work 

on budget defence within 

October 2019. 

“The subsequent necessary 

legislative work will 

be carried out in November 

and December leading 

to eventual passage before 

December 31,” he said. 

Lawan said the presentation 

of the budget marked 

another day of exercising 

the constitutional obligations 

and mandates by 

both the Legislature and the 

Executive as provided for 


NEWS HOTLINES 

018773962, 

08052867058 

Osun State Governor, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola; welcoming wife of the Vice President, 

Mrs Dolapo Osibajo to the Government House. With them is wife of the Governor, 

Mrs Kafayat. Behind them is former House of Representative member, Alhaja Ayo 

Omidiran; wife of Ekiti State Governor, Mrs Bisi Fayemi; and Mrs Ibijoke Sanwoolu 

of Lagos State, during a National Women's Conference with theme: Women-Pioneer 

of Change for Inclusive Participation Development, at Aurora Event Centre, Osogbo 

yesterday. 

in Section 81 of the 1999 

Constitution. 

He said: “This function, 

being the first in the 9th the 

National Assembly, makes 

it even more significant as 

both the Legislature and the 

Executive have demonstrated 

readiness and commitment 

to work together 

in order to pass the 2020 

budget in a good and desirable 

time. 

“Clearly, this effort is to 

enable the federal government 

provide those laudable 

objectives of physical 

infrastructure and socioeconomic 

services to our 

citizens.’’ 

He said further that the 

public and private sectors 

needed a reliable budget 

cycle that was predictable 

and reliable for planning 

and execution of fiscal and 

financial policies and programmes. 

“It is, therefore, necessary 

that the present cycle 

is changed to January-December. 

In this regard, the 

National Assembly and the 

executive must work together 

to ensure the realisation 

of the important objective,” 

he said. 

Lawan said the National 

Assembly, after the receipt 

of the budget, would swing 

into action to start work 

immediately. 

“Both chambers of the 

National Assembly have 

constituted their committees, 

we are, therefore, 

ready to start processing the 

budget,” he said. 

The president of senate 

said the 9th National Assembly 

had shown capacity, 

commitment and willingness 

to treat legislative matters 

that would impact on 

the lives of citizens with dispatch 

and every sense of urgency. 

He said this was clearly 

demonstrated last week, 

when the National Assembly 

received, processed and 

passed the request of the 

president on the 2020-2022 

Medium Term Expenditure 

Framework and Fiscal 

Strategy Paper (MTEF/ 

FSP). 

“The National Assembly 

will treat the 2020 budget 

with the same commitment 

or even more. 

“In our effort to pass the 

budget, we will also be guided 

by the legislative requirement 

of a thorough scrutiny,” 

Mr Lawan said. 

Reps commence debate 

on 2020 budget today 

On its part, the House of 

Representatives said debate 

on the 2020 Appropriations 

Bill would commence today. 

Spokesman of the House, 

Benjamin Kalu (APC-Abia), 

said the general principles 

of the 2020 Appropriations 

Bill would commence today, 

after the second reading of 

the bill. 

Benjamin Kalu, who disclosed 

this at a briefing in 

Abuja yesterday, said the 

aim of the House was to 

conclude work on the 2020 

budget on November 28. 

He said: “We are suspending 

plenary to enable us go 

into our various committees 

to interact with MDAs. To 

achieve that, we have set up 

a road map which goes as 

follows : Today (yesterday) 

October 8, the presentation 

of the draft budget was done 

by the President. 

‘’On Wednesday 9 to October 

10, we will have debate 

on the general principles of 

the Appropriations Bill, as 

well as the second reading 

and referral. 

“This is to show you how 

committed the House of 

Representatives is in achieving 

this change in our budget 

calendar. On Thursday, 

October 10, we are going to 

meet with the chairmen of 

all the committees to guide 

them on what is expected as 

regards the 2020 budget. 

“From same Thursday, 

October 10 to 29 , we will 

have budget hearing and 

engagements with MDAs 

by the Appropriations sub 

committees. 

“From Monday, October 

21 to Tuesday, October 22, 

we will have public hearing 

on the 2020 Appropriations 

Bill . 

‘’From Wednesday, October 

30 to Tuesday, November 

5, we are going to have 

submission and defence of 

budget reports to the Appropriations 

Committees. 

After November 5, we will 

not accept any defence 

from any MDA. 

“This is our expectation. 

Continues on Page 43


VOL. 2 NO. 55 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 

Titled Chiefs of Oraeri at the ceremony 

Anambra community 

abolishes 500-year old 

Osu caste system 


AFTER over 500 years of 

practicing the Osu 

caste system, the ancient 

kingdom of Oraeri in Aguata 

local government area of 

Anambra State, has offiicially 

abolished it. Those who were 

hitherto refereed to as Osu in the 

community have been bestowed 

with all rights and privileges 

enjoyed by the free born in the 

area. At an impressive ceremony, 

which coincided with the 8th 

Month festival presided over by 

the traditional ruler of the 

community, His Royal Highness, 

Eze Emmanuel Ezenriagu, Eze 

Nri 21st of Oraeri, the joy of 

those that were liberated knew 

no bounds as they exchanged 

pleasantries with their former 

masters. 

The ceremony, which took place 

at the Eke Forest where the 

original Osu people ran into for 

protection during the era of slave 

trade, attracted who –is-who in 

the in the area and from 

neighbouring communities. It 

was gathered that the dedication 

of human beings into the Osu 

caste system began during the 

reign of Okpara Eze 5th during 

which the affected people were 

regarded as untouchables and 

banned from mixing freely with 

other people. 

At the head of the abolition 

process was Okpara Eri X111th, 

Anthony Nwafor Okafor, a 

Pharmacist, who also holds the 

title of Eze Adama of Igbo land. 

Though he operates a private 

pharmacy shop in Enugu, Okafor 

had, in the past few years, been 

campaigning for the total 

abolition of Osu system in Igbo 

land, 

He said: “About 500 years ago, 

Oraeri people acquired some 

captives during inter tribal wars. 

At that time, some people in 

Oraeri wanted those captives to 

be killed, but the then Eze 

refused. When the pressure from 

his subjects became too much, he 

took those people to the Eke 

Shrine on the outskirts of the 

community, thereby dedicating 

them to that shrine. With that 

action, nobody could touch them 

any longer, otherwise the person 

could incur the wrath of the gods 

which had assumed the bona 

fide owners of those people. 

“During the era of slave trade, 

they ran into the inner side of 

the shrine for protection and to 

avoid being sold to slave traders. 

That was how they escaped 

being sold into slavery. To 

identify the Osu, their ears were 

slashed so that anybody who saw 

them would know immediately 

that they were untouchables from 

Eke Shrine.” 

Okafor said that over the years, 

their population grew and the 

Osus remained special specie, 

adding that if anyone disturbed 

Ezeoba Ramas Asuzu 

ceremony 

them, they were permitted to 

report to the Eze Eri who would 

punish such a person 

adequately. According to him, 

there were however dos and 

don’ts for the Osu people. For 

instance, he added, the free born 

were barred from having sexual 

relationship with the Osu and 

nobody should even have a 

handshake with them. 

He said further: “ But with 

modernity, such discrimination 

began to whittle down, leaving 

only two areas which were that 

they must never take traditional 

titles and should not get married 

to a free born. However, as 

Traditional ruler of Oraeri, Eze 

Emmanuel Ezenriagu during the 

people became more 

enlightened, we decided to 

abolish Osu Caste system 

completely. And with the 

ceremony we performed today, 

everybody in Oraeri can 

intermarry and it has become an 

offense to brand anybody an 

Osu.” According to him, the 

entire community agreed in 

unison for this abolition. 

How the abolition process 

began 

In the words of Okafor, “When 

I took the title of Okpara in 1990, 

I took it upon myself that Osu 

Caste system must be abolished 

in our community. It was not easy 

at the beginning. In the past four 

years, I chose to be sampling 

people’s opinion on the matter 

and it was during that period that 

I found out that many people in 

our community also wanted the 

system abolished, but did not 

know how to go about it. About 

three months ago, we renewed 

the campaign and happy 

enough, the leadership of Oraeri 

Development Union and our 

traditional ruler were in 

support.” 

He said that with Osu 

abolished in the place where it 

began, the expectation was that 

all the communities in Igbo land 

where it still exists, should take 

a cue from Oraeri and abolish it 

without further delay. 

The traditional ruler of Oraeri, 

Eze Nriagu said with the 

abolition, anybody who 

discriminates against them 

would henceforth be sanctioned. 

“With the ceremony we have 

performed, they will start taking 

traditional titles and everybody 

will be intermarrying. They are 

good people and many of them 

are intelligent and beautiful and 

everybody stands to gain by the 

ceremony we have performed,” 

the Monarch said. 

President General of Oraeri 

Development Union, Mr. Okey 

Atueyi said the community had 

taken a bold decision and 

commended everybody in the 

area for their support in putting 

the discriminatory system into the 

past. “You can see how happy the 

people are. This ceremony has 

made this year’s New Yam 

festival special and it was 

therefore not surprising that our 

people returned in large 

numbers from all over the world 

to witness the historic event,” he 

said. 

The councilor representing 

Oraeri Ward in Aguata Council 

Area, Hon Briggs Ikpegbu 

commended the people of Oraeri 

for their unity and taking a 

collective decision on the issue. 

He was optimistic that with the 

abolition, more progress would 

be recorded in the area of 

community development. 

There was indeed joy and 

happiness after the 

pronouncement of the abolition 

by the Eze as the titled men and 

women, as well as the freed 

persons, danced to the beating 

of the drums together, which was 

something that was unheard of 

in the past. 

Kingship crisis brews in Nri, the 

acclaimed cradle of Igbo civilisation 

*As the oldest aborigine insists on producing the next 

monarch 


FOLLOWING the vacuum 

created in Nri Monarchy as 

a result of the demise of its 

traditional ruler, Eze Obidiegwu 

Onyesoh two years ago, the 

Uruofolo village, which claims to 

be the oldest aborigine in the 

ancient town, is insisting on 

producing the next traditional 

ruler for the area. The founder of 

the Universal Worship Center in 

Nri and a very knowledgeable 

person in Igbo tradition, 

Ezeoba Ramas Asuzu, who has 

been at the forefront in the 

agitation, said with the vacuum, 

time had come for the right thing 

to be done. 

Asuzu said Nri kingdom had 

actually been in crisis since the 

death of Eze Nrijiofor Tabansi 

over 30 years ago. According to 

him, Nri kingdom is divided into 

two, Agukwu-Nri and Ikenga( 

Ifite) Nri. Going down memory 

lane, Asuzu said Ikenga Nri was 

already producing kings before 

the migration of Agukwu-Nri to 

the area. 

He said: “There was a problem 

in 1115 AD when Nri Namoko, 

who was the king from Diodo 

village in Akamkpisi quarters, 

was not taken good care of. He 

was sick and his nephew, 

Nribuife came to look after him. 

He bestowed ‘Ofo na Alo’- the 

symbols of royal authority- on 

Nribuife and ordered him not to 

go back to where he came from, 

but to take over the throne of 

kingship of the entire Nri. 

“Nribuife accepted and agreed 

never to depart from Akamkpisi 

and Diodo where the original 

throne of Nri Namoko domiciled. 

He was crowned the king at a 

place called ‘Eke Agu’, but after 

about ten years, the Agukwu 

people conspired and told Eze 

Nribuife to leave the Eke Agu 

palace for them. 

“Then they took an oath that the 

kingship should only rotate 

among their lineage made up of 

three villages of Uruoji, 

Agbadani and Obeagu. As far as 

I am concerned, that was a taboo. 

That was where the problem of 

Nri started and since then, Nri 

kingship struggle had persisted. 

“But we are saying that enough 

is enough. Nobody is a slave in 

Nri Kingdom and no village is 

excluded from producing a king; 

so, it could come from 

Umuochogu in Obeagu village 

or from Akamkpisi quarters. 

“For record purposes, Uruofolo 

is the oldest aborigine in Nri 

kingdom and they are the 

rightful owners of the town. 

Therefore, the next king will 

automatically come from Uruofolo 

village. The village has the 

Continues on Page 43


vanguardnews 

@vanguardnews 

Chief Emeka Anyoku (3rd left);Governor Emeka Ihedioha of Imo State 

(middle), with some Igbo leaders at Emeka Anyaoku 9th Annual Lecture Series, 

in Owerri, Imo State capital. 

When Imo rolled out the 

red carpet for Anyaoku 

By Chidi Nkwopara, 

Owerri 

LET us begin this narrative by 

mentioning a few truisms here. 

It is not very clear why the 

management chose Imo State, to 

host the 9th Chief Emeka Anyaoku 

Lecture Series. 

What can be said from the 

mountain tops and with finality is 

that Governor Emeka Ihedioha 

never lobbied for the hosting of this 

year’s lecture. 

The planning continued and 

Thursday, October 3, 2019, Imo 

State government rolled out the 

red carpet for the former Secretary 

General of the Commonwealth 

Nations, and a respected Igbo 

son, Chief Emeka Anyaoku! 

Since the conclusion of the 

event, some sworn critics of the 

Ihedioha administration have not 

ceased to query, as usual, the 

implications, benefits and possible 

implications of hosting the 2019 

Lecture Series with the theme: 

“Youth And Challenges Of Nation 

Development.” 

First to give an insight into the 

implications of hosting a renowned 

international personality in Imo 

State, is Ihedioha’s aide, Mazi 

Ogubundu Nwadike. 

His words: “A Google of the 9th 

Emeka Anyaoku Lecture Series 

reveals so much background 

information about the roles of the 

Lecture Series to the wider society. 

And quite importantly, it reveals 

the colossal personality and dignity 

of the great Nigerian,, Chief 

Emeka Anyaoku. 

“It then dawns on you why any 

society chosen to host any 

particular edition of the Emeka 

Anyaoku Lecture Series is 

regarded as an honoured and 

blessed society. To that extent, Imo 

State was penciled down among 

honoured and blessed societies, 

and if you like, among the comity 

of States in Nigeria. 

“The coming on Thursday, 

October 3, 2019, to Imo State of a 

global, international personality 

and dignitary of the status of the 

octogenarian, Chief Emeka 

Anyaoku, was like the State 

climbing an iroko tree. It was like 

showing the world the friend of the 

State. It was like the visit of the 

Angels to Abraham, which led to 

the birth of Isaac, Jacob/Israel down 

to Jesus Christ the Saviour of the 

world. 

“There’s no gainsaying that the 

singular privilege of hosting the 

event in Imo State and the 

distinguished globally acclaimed 

administrator, Chief Emeka 

Anyaoku, attending in person was 

a positive historical plus for Imo 

State. The significances, the 

implications and the benefits are 

monumental both for yesterday, 

today and tomorrow. 

“Considering the theme of the 

9th Emeka Anyaoku Lecture 

Series, which was: “Youth And 

Challenges Of Nation 

Development”, youths in Imo 

State will be the best for it if they 

take time to review the take homes 

from the two lectures delivered by 

two eminent and prominent 

Nigerians, Distinguished Senator 

Shehu Sani and Dr. Reuben 

Abati.” 

Another truism is that the two 

lecturers, who were chosen to 

tackle this year’s assignment, are 

not by any means, cheap. 

Whichever way anybody may look 

at the duo, they are definitely 

erudite, patriotic and respected 

Nigerian citizens and they did a 

good job of the task. 

Kingship crisis brews in Nri, 

the acclaimed cradle of Igbo 

civilisation 

Continues from page 

42 

authority and power in 

Nri kingdom and it was 

Uruofolo that gave Uruoji 

village where it settled 

within Nise community 

after they fought Nise over 

land. It was also Uruofolo 

that gave Agbadani village 

and Diodo lands they are 

occupying to date. So, 

nobody can argue against 

it and it is therefore their 

turn to produce the next 

king. 

“It amounts to absolute 

marginalization when 

Uruoji, Agbadani, Obeagu 

and Diodo have produced 

kings and now that it is 

supposed to be shifted to 

Uruofolo by right, some 

people have started 

Setting the ball rolling, Senator 

Sani, after taking a hard look at 

the sagging fortunes of Nigerian 

youths, advised that government 

must see the need to put in place 

policies that will drive youth 

empowerment and development. 

For him, Nigerian youths must 

learn to eschew the spirit of getrich-quick 

and imbibe hardwork, 

which propelled the Chief 

Anyaoku to excel in his youthful 

days. 

Obviously expanding the 

sound thoughts of Senator Sani, 

Dr. Abati said: “It’s regrettable that 

65% of over 80 million youth 

population in the country is 

unemployed, while 25% of the 

youth population is 

underemployed. This poses serious 

danger, which is capable of 

generating tension and crisis in the 

country.” 

A simple Arithmetic of Abati’s 

postulation gave a staggering 

result and South East Voice heard 

when some members of the 

audience described the figure as 

“a huge time bomb waiting to 

explode”. 

When Governor Ihedioha 

mounted the rostrum, the 

narratives changed. He simply told 

his administration’s story. 

playing pranks. I wish to 

see any person that can 

swear over this matter the 

way I have sworn.” 

Are you, in essence, 

advocating for the rotation 

of the kingship in Nri? 

Yes, that is what I am 

saying and that is what it 

is supposed to be. No 

matter the tricks they will 

adopt or conspiracy 

between the moneybags 

and the Anambra State 

government, it will never 

work this time. What 

everyone needs and 

expects in the entire 

community is the rotational 

kingship. No village or 

villages should take the 

kingship as exclusive 

preserve of their 

generations and 

generations unborn. 

Buhari presents N10.33trn job creation 

budget 

Continues from Page 41 

With this road map we have 

set, we will have presentation 

of the report of the Appropriations 

Committee on 

November 28. Our expectation 

is that we want to be 

done with this exercise on 

November 28, 2019. Our 

idea is that from the beginning 

of December 2019, the 

budget is ready. “ 

APC confident of early 

passage of budget 

Meanwhile, the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, 

has hailed President Buhari 

for efforts to return Nigeria 

to the January-December 

budget cycle, noting that the 

National Assembly had 

nearly three months to consider 

and pass the budget. 

It said following the presentation 

of the 2020 Appropriation 

Bill to a joint 

session of the National Assembly 

yesterday by the 

President, the party welcomed 

the commitment of 

both the executive and legislative 

arms to ensure budget 

passage was returned 

to January-December cycle. 

“To put this into effect, 

our party notes the early 

presentation by the President, 

leaving the lawmakers 

near three months to 

consider and pass the budget,” 

APC said in the statement 

issued by its National 

Publicity Secretary, Mallam 

Lanre Issa-Onilu. 

The party “congratulated 

the President and all APC 

members on the early presentation 

of the proposed 

2020 Budget of a record 

N10.33 trillion which surpasses 

the N8.916 trillion 

budgeted for 2019.” 

According to the APC, 

“the proposed 2020 budget 

is targeted at consolidating 

on the gains the current 

administration has made in 

revamping our power, rail 

and road infrastructure; diversification 

and retooling 

the economy; social intervention 

programmes targeted 

at the poor; fight 

against emerging crimes, 

insurgency and rehabilitation, 

rebuilding of the 

North East, particularly 

through the newly-established 

North East Development 

Commission, 

among other critical interventions. 

“According to the President 

in his budget speech, 

tagged ‘Budget of sustaining 

growth and job creation’, 

there is a renewed 

government’s commitment 

to plugging revenue leakage 

with the continued 

strict implementation of the 

Treasury Single Account, 

TSA. 

“We congratulate the 

leaders of the two chambers 

of the 9th National Assembly, 

Senate President, 

Ahmad Lawan, and speaker 

of the House of Representatives, 

Femi Gbajabiamila, 

for creating a convivial 

environment for the 

budget presentation exercise, 

a welcomed departure 

from the usual tensed 

and adversarial atmosphere 

of the previous four 

years. 

“The party is confident 

that the patriotic disposition 

of the leaders and 

members of the 9th National 

Assembly would 

ensure a cordial relationship 

with the executive 

arm, which would surely 

translate to good governance 

and proper implementation 

of the administration’s 

Next Level plans 

for Nigerians.’’ 

2020 budget heavy travel 

bag but empty in substance 

– CUPP 

However, the Coalition 

of United Political Parties, 

CUPP, described the 2020 

Budget as lacking substance 

and vowed to challenge 

the planned increment 

in the Value Added 

Tax,VAT,by the Federal 

Government in court. 

CUPP particularly said 

the budget was similar to 

a heavy travelling bag 

that has no substance in 

it 

İn a statement issued by 

its Spokesman, Ikenga 

Ugochinye, yesterday, the 

CUPP said: “The Coalition 

of United Political Parties, 

CUPP, having listened 

critically to President 

Buhari’s 2020 Appropriation 

Bill as presented 

to the joint session of the 

National Assembly on 

Tuesday, regrets to inform 

Nigerians that the days of 

the nation’s suffering are 

not any way close to an 

end. 

‘’The President has by 

today’s budget presentation 

shown that he has no 

formula to save the nation’s 

economy from the 

impending final ruins that 

his mismanagement has 

caused. 

“Opposition parties see 

this fiscal document as 

empty document that is 

not worth the paper on 

which it was written. It is 

full of rhetoric; Buhari’s 

appropriation bill can best 

be described as a heavy 

travel bag that is empty in 

substance or value. 

“The CUPP notes that 

this document is a final 

weapon to consolidate 

Buhari’s next level of economic 

ruins, poverty, looting 

and visionlessness. It 

is a come and chop document 

meant to further impoverish 

many and prosper 

the privileged few. 

“The Opposition rejects 

the inclusion of the illegal 

proposed increment in 

VAT as part of the 2020 

budget expected source of 

funding. This has shown 

that the budget is built in 

the sky with no serious 

source of funding except 

taxing the people to 

death. 

“The opposition coalition 

has therefore resolved 

to head to court this week 

to stop the planned insensitive 

move to tax the suffering 

citizens of Nigeria 

to death with the proposed 

increment in VAT 

from 5% to over 7%. The 

president should not force 

the suffering citizens to 

bear the consequences of 

his leadership failures.” 

Reacting to the budget 

presentation, Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, 

said the N10.7 trillion 2020 

budget presented by President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

to the National Assembly 

would further impoverish 

Nigerians and 

mortgage the future of the 

nation and its citizens. 

The party also urged the 

legislature to redirect the 

fiscal proposal to serve the 

interest of the vast majority 

of Nigerians. 

A statement issued by 

the party’s spokesman, 

Kola Ologbondiyan, described 

the Appropriation 

Bill as hazy, showing 

streaks of padding, fraudulent 

duplication, replete 

with false performance 

indices, deceptive projections 

and inexplicable expenditure 

assertions. 

It read: “The PDP insists 

that it is inexcusable that 

despite the huge natural 

resources at President 

Buhari’s reach, he articulated 

a N10.7 trillion budget 

that is completely lacking 

in concrete wealth creation 

strategy but relies on 

further squeezing of Nigerians 

through excruciating 

taxes, levies and agonizing 

tolls. 

“The party described as 

unacceptable that the 

budget is skewed to serve 

the interest of the opulent, 

as projects that have direct 

bearing on the well 

being of the masses were 

not substantially accommodated 

in the overall 

expenditure profile. 

The party also criticized 

the Buhari-led administration 

for “not being 

transparent in the mammoth 

allocations for alleged 

vague projects, particularly 

the Ministries of 

Works and Housing as 

well as transportation, 

where allegations of diversion 

of public funds 

were endemic in the last 

budget. 

“Standing with millions 

of Nigerian youths and 

women, our party rejects 

the paltry budgets of N48 

billion for Education and 

N46 billion for Health and 

urges the National Assembly 

to review the allocations 

in the interest of 

Nigerians. 

“Furthermore, the PDP 

notes, as unacceptable 

that President Buhari, in 

his budget speech, could 

not give account of his 

handling of the 2019 budget 

and had to resort to 

lame excuses and unsupported 

figures, particularly 

on the various unimplemented 

subheads in 

critical sectors of the economy. 

“Moreover, Mr. President 

failed to explain why 

his administration has remained 

hugely corrupt 

and how his Presidency 

depleted our foreign reserves 

to an all time low 

of $41,852 billion accumulated 

huge foreign and 

domestic debts and kept 

the naira at its knees at 

about N360 to $1USD under 

his watch.” 

The party also challenged 

the Presidency to 

make public the details of 

the Presidency allocation 

for Nigerians.


INSECURITY: It's time tomake 

our politics part 

time – Adebutu 

•Explains how he will unite Yoruba monarchs 

After being announced as the Odole of Oodua, a special office that works closely 

with the Ooni to rally descendants of Oduduwa all over the world, Chief 

Kessington Adebutu, a gaming magnate, in an interview with journalists spoke 

on variety of issues including his business, family life, and venturing into culture 

and politics. 

The Odole of Oodua, which was once occupied by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo 

and Chief G.O.K Ajayi, is a highly revered chieftaincy title in Yoruba land 

pioneered by the great Oranmiyan while he was a Prince of Ife. Oranmiyan 

served as a rallying and stabilizing force among the powerful empires within the 

expansive Oduduwa territory before becoming the Ooni in Ife. 

By Shina Abubakar 

On his background and 

upbringing 

I 

was born at Iperu-Remo, 

Ikenne Local Government, 

Ogun State in 1935. By the grace 

of God, I will be 84 years old on 

October 16. 

I began my primary education 

at Wesley School at Iperu in 1942. 

In 1948, I came to Lagos to 

continue my education at Ijero 

Baptist School, Apapa road, 

Ebute-Metta. It was there that I 

had my primary 5 and 6. I later 

attended Baptist Academy in 

Lagos for my secondary school 

education in 1950. After a while 

my parents took me to Remo 

Secondary School in Sagamu, 

where I finished my secondary 

school education in 1955. 

Immediately I finished my 

secondary school education in 

1955, I started working in a 

company called Cable and 

Wireless at Marina, which was 

later known as NITEL. 

I was the Secretary of Telephone 

for Overseas services. With my 

position, I was privileged to meet 

great people. Then, if you want to 

communicate with people in 

other countries you have to do it 

through Cable and Wireless. 

Then, people that 

communicated with other people 

in overseas were very influential. 

They were majorly white men and 

big companies. So, I was 

privileged to meet prominent 

people. 

After a while, I left Cable and 

Wireless to work at Clafen 

chemical Limited as a salesman. 

The company produced Andrews 

liver salt, Philips, Milk of 

Magnesia, and Cafenol. Because 

then, Phensic was the reigning 

pain killer when Cafenol was 

produced, it was not long that it 

became a household name. It was 

for that reason I was promoted 

from salesman to sales manager 

of Lagos and the whole of Midwestern 

states. 

Later, I left to establish my own 

business. I thank God for the 

privileged given to me to own my 

business right from Face-to-Face 

and so on and so forth. 

How did you start your pools 

business? 

When I left my former job, I had 

no money to set up my business. I 

had not made up my mind to own 

one until I read a book. From that 

book I learned that any work one 

does whether he/she likes it or not, 

one will have to leave it one day. 

It maybe as a result of old age or 

the company will ask one to leave. 

The author further explained that 

when you establish your own, even 

when you are too old and can't be 

in charge, the business will still be 

in operation with the support of 

your children. 

Like I said, there was no business 

solely owned by individuals then. 

I thought of the work that I could 

do that would require little or no 

cost and it came to my mind to be 

a pools agent. And in the 1960s, 

all you need as a pool agent was a 

table and pen. So, I started as a 

pool agent. With my little 

education I was taking stock of 

my earnings, the amount I made 

from winnings I saw it as a 

lucrative job. That was what made 

me and my friend, late Chief 

Solomon Adebayo Ayoku to 

establish Face to Face million 

dollar pool. 

What do you think is 

responsible for many companies 

going out of business today? 

Many business owners today 

employ their children, give them 

house, car and even place them 

on salary. In my case, I didn't do 

that. What I did was to call my 

children; I told them I have a good 

job but please don't come and 

work for me, you can partner with 

me. My children working with me 

were not placed on salary, they all 

have their percentage. With the 

way they took the job, I was forced 

to stay back to allow them control 

things. They sometimes would 

sleep on the chair in the office. This 

happened because they were not 

working for me but they are 

shareholders. That has been the 

secret of the success of my 

business. 

What is your message to the 

youth with the get rich syndrome? 

I have on several occasions said 

it that the youth of this age are 

impatient. I work very hard to get 

to where I am today. I traveled the 

whole country to site my business 

there. Today I had branches in 26 

states of the federation. There 

were times I was an itinerant. At 

one of my travels I could recall 

how I lived on water. 

There was a day I was at Uromi. 

After I was served a meal tears 

dropped from my eyes because the 

food I was served, I was not used 

to it. I thank God for my life 

because there were some who 

were more hardworking than me 

but were not as blessed as I am. 

But sincerely speaking I worked 

very hard. Youths of nowadays are 

lazy. I have had cause to close 

some of my branches because 

some youths I employed siphoned 

my money. It was one of the major 

reasons I asked my children to 

partner with me and we were able 

to operate in the areas we could 

manage. Thank God today we are 

back and we have our branches 

running effectively; thanks to 

technology. Youths of this day don't 

want to crawl before they walk. 

We can only appeal to God to help 

change them. Just as the elders 

have said: To fight poverty, one 

must be very hardworking. 

In a polygamous home, it is 

very difficult to bring the children 

together. How were you able to 

achieve this to the extent that 

they are instrumental to the 

growth of your business? 

I want to thank God for this, it 

hasn't been by my making. The 

first thing a man must do in a 

polygamous home is to fulfill his 

obligations. You also don't place 

your wives and children above 

another. Though there is nothing 

that you do that there won't be 

complaints but using myself as an 

example, I have a grown-up child 

who is over 50 years old and I also 

have a child who is six years old. 

If I give the older one one naira, I 

will also give the same amount to 

the latter. Though they have 

severally complained about this 

but I usually hold meetings with 

them where I make them to 

understand my reasons. If you do 

that and you do not hold meetings 

with them their would be envy 

among them. The most important 

thing is to perform your duties as 

a polygamist to your wives and 

children and put them in their 

deserved place then you won't 

have problem. It is not that I have 

a 100 percent perfect home but 

thanks to God I have a happy 

family. 

You also manage well with 

friends 

It is not that easy. There is 

always sacrifice when running a 

business with friends, there will be 

interference but you must be wise. 

Even before I 

was given a 

chieftaincy title, I 

have been taking 

steps in my 

capacity to see that 

there is unity 

among Yoruba 

Kings 

You must ignore many things and 

if you don't and act on everything 

you hear that friendship will never 

last. 

As the Odole ile Oodua what 

steps will you take to end the rifts 

among traditional rulers in 

Yoruba land? 

I don't want to sound boisterous, 

but many of the traditional rulers 

in Yoruba land are my friends. If 

you observed very well, at every of 

my functions many of the 

traditional rulers are always in 

attendance. Even before I was 

given a chieftaincy title, I have 

been taking steps in my capacity 

to see that there is unity among 

Yoruba Kings. 

For example, recently, when the 

issue relating to our son, Vice 

President Yemi Osinbajo 

happened, I reached out to his 

imperial majesty, the Ooni of Ife, 

Alake, Akarigbo and so many 

others. And various steps were 

taken about the issue. 

Also, if you observed, in Lagos, I 

am the Asoju Oba of Lagos (King's 

representative). I am not an 

indigene of Lagos State. If there 

wasn't a good rapport between 

Oba Akinolu and I, he would not 

have chosen me as the Asoju Oba 

of Lagos. 

All these are pointers to the fact 

that I have good relationship with 

our traditional rulers. 

Though you have several titles, 

how prepared are you to cope 

with the challenges that come 

with your new title? 

Without mincing words, I know 

the worth of this title and for your 

information, many kings have the 

belief that after my coronation I 

may not consider taking other 

titles because of how big the Odole 

Oodua title is. 

What informed your 

philanthropic nature? 

I was not born with a silver 

spoon. It is true I worked but there 

were people that did more than 

me and do not have my kind of 

affluence. As a person, I believe 

the only way I can express 

gratitude to God for the blessings 

He has given me is to help the 

downtrodden and yearly I spend 

millions on this. I built a 

rehabilitation centre at the UCH 

because I see that most aged 

people are left uncared for. Also 

we have built many schools, 

hospitals and worship centres. All 

is to appreciate God. It is my wish 

that I will continue to help the 

poor even after I am no more. The 

Kessington Adebukunola Adebutu 

Foundation (KAAF) will still be 

there. Presently, we are building 

•Adebutu 

an auditorium at the University 

College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo 

State. 

How are easy was it to get to 

the peak of your career and 

maintain the status? 

Becoming successful is not 

difficult but sustaining the success 

s the most difficult. If you take a 

deep look at it you will see that we 

have had many successful persons 

in the past and today they have 

nothing. At age 84, I am still where 

I am today because I do everything 

in moderation. Some people like 

to over do things to the extent that 

some over eat and drink to stupor. 

These will come back to hurt us. 

Many still have negative views 

about lottery, pools and the likes, 

what is your take on this? 

I will continue to say that pool, 

cassino, lottery among others is 

gaming. This is the stock 

exchange of an ordinary man and 

many people are benefiting from 

it on a daily basis. If it were to be 

something negative the 

government will not be issuing 

license to operators, not to talk of 

having a commission for it. 

What challenges have sports 

betting posed to your lottery 

business? 

Sports betting and lottery are not 

the same at all and it has no effect 

on our business. For your 

information, we also have sports 

betting. 

As a god-father to many 

politicians across political 

divides, what do you think is the 

solution to Nigeria's political 

under-development? 

Until politics is made part-time 

business, I don't see how we can 

have peace in Nigeria. When I say 

part time business, I mean a 

situation where politicians will 

only be paid on sitting basis in 

form of sitting allowance. 

When politicians earn just their 

sitting allowance there will be no 

presence of do-or-die politics in 

Nigeria. Presently, politics in 

Nigeria is too expensive. 

I'm speaking from experience 

and what I can see. The best thing 

for Nigeria is to adopt part-time 

politics and pay politicians 

allowance for sitting. With the 

present system, the drain on our 

purse is too much. I read in the 

newspaper that a Governor 

sacked 250 advisers. If a governor 

had that much, how many 

advisers do we have for the whole 

country? How can a governor 

have 250 advisers? So, you can see 

the present system is too 

expensive.


EXHIBITION—President Muhammadu Buhari (in white) at the Ecobank stand, during 

the 25th Nigerian Economic Summit, where the bank showcased some of its cutting 

edge financial products that includes its ubiquitous payment solution, the EcobankPAy, 

the Ecobank Omni, the Rapid Transfer, and several other financial products. 

WINNER: From left—CEO, OVH Energy, Mr. Huub Stokman; Deputy Director of 

National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mrs. Priscilla Onuzulu; Winner of Oleum 

Awoof Promo (tricycle), Mr. Onibudo Oladipupo; Head Consumer Protection Council, 

Lagos, Mrs. Suzie Onwuka, and Ag. Chief Marketing Officer, OVH Energy, Mrs. 

Lilian Ikokwu, at the Grand Finale of the promo, in Lagos. PHOTO: Akeem Salau 

CONFERENCE: From left—Deise Smith, Co-founder & Creative Director, Gemona 

West Interiors; Jennifer Chukwujekwe, Founder, Jenniez School of African Interior 

Design, and Naomi Smith, Co-founder & Commercial Director, Gemona West 

Interiors, during the Blueprint Conference 2019, held at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria 

Island, Lagos. 

OFFICE OPENING—Mr. Samuel Faithful, CEO (Right); Mr. Kelechi Ohams, 

Director (2nd Right); Mr. Felix Adolphus, Port Harcourt Leader (left), all of 

Resolution Technology Ltd., and Pastor Ethelbert Obi, officating minister (2nd 

Left), during the official opening of company's office in Port Harcourt, 

weekend. PHOTO: Nwankpa Chijioke 

Brazilian star warns Brazil against 

Nigeria, Senegal 

Paris Saint-Germain’s 

Brazil international 

defender Marquinhos 

has pointed out the 

importance of beating 

Senegal and Nigeria in 

their friendlies. 

He said he was 

impressed with the quality 

of the Super Eagles and 

Teranga Lions and 

highlighted that the West 

African teams have players 

in the ranks with physical 

attributes. 

Senegal and Nigeria 

finished in the top three 

positions at the 2019 Africa 

Cup of Nations and are 

ranked 20th and 34th 

respectively in the latest 

FIFA ranking. 

When asked to comment 

on the Nigeria and 

Senegal teams, 

Marquinhos told 

By John EGBOKHAN 

orrential rain yesterday 

Twashed off matches of 

the Lagos Open Tennis 

Futures 4 holding at the 

Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, 

Onikan. 

On a rainy day in the 

commercial nerve centre of 

Lagos, all attempts to have 

full flow of Tennis action 

were put on hold as the sky 

reporters:’’I know a lot and 

know their qualities. 

Senegal is runner-up of 

the Africa Cup, a very 

intense, difficult team. 

‘’We have to make a big 

game, impose our rhythm. 

They are very intense 

opponents, aggressive, 

with physical imposition 

uper Eagles will on 

SSunday trade tackles 

with the Samba Boys of 

Brazil, a game Samuel 

Chukwueze is looking 

forward to with the sole 

intention of showing what 

the team is ‘made of ’. 

The Villarreal forward 

has revealed that the 

Super Eagles will not treat 

Rain washes off Lagos Open 

Tennis Futures 

By Jacob Ajom 

reparations for the 2019 

PGovernment College 

Ughelli Relays are in top 

gear as organisers have 

fixed November 16 as date 

for the meet which is 

expected to attract 

participation from about 30 

secondary schools from 

across the country. 

Addressing the sporting 

media in Lagos yesterday, 

President of the 

Government College 

Ughelli Old Boys 

Association Worldwide, 

Charles Majoroh said from 

the initial number of 18 

schools that attended the 

event in the maiden 

edition last year, no fewer 

than 30 schools were 

expected to participate in 

this year’s event. 

and technical game too. 

‘’We see great players 

playing in the major 

European Leagues, many 

of them in France’’. 

The Brazil national team 

held their first training 

session in Singapore 

yesterday ahead of the two 

friendlies against Senegal 

(Oct 10) and Nigeria (Oct 

13). 

We’ll make Nigeria proud, says 

Chukwueze 

lost its sunshine, with dark 

heavy clouds that 

unleashed fury, with 

showers that made 

players, officials and ball 

boys scamper for cover. 

While more than 17 

matches were scheduled 

to hold yesterday, the 

downpour made nonsense 

of this as the tournament 

referee had to cancel the 

games, which are now 

expected to hold today, rain 

permitting. 

the match lightly when 

Gernot Rohr’s men face the 

Selecao on October 13 at 

the Singapore National 

Stadium. 

Brazil have called up 

their biggest stars 

including PSG’s Neymar 

and are set to meet Nigeria 

three days after slugging it 

out with the Teranga Lions 

of Senegal in the same 

stadium. 

Chukwueze expects a 

difficult game against the 

five-time world 

champions. 

“That’s a big game 

(between Nigeria and 

Brazil) to look forward to 

in Singapore and I think 

it’s going to be a tough 

match,” Chukwueze said. 

“I don’t know how it’s 

going to be but I’m 

confident we are going to 

make our country proud 

because everybody is 

going to look up to this 

game. 

GCU Relays 2019 ‘ll be bigger, better —Majoroh 

By Blessed EVANS 

Beach soccer fans can start 

getting ready for three 

days of intense and exciting 

games as 

Copa Lagos kicks off 

November 1- 3 at the Eko 

Atlantic, Victoria 

Island, Lagos. 

Defending World 

Champions Brazil will be 

making their second 

appearance at the 

competition 

with 5-time African 

champions Senegal, 2-time 

African champions, 

Nigeria’s Super Sand 

Eagles and England 

completing the foursome. 

There will also be a Club 

Challenge between three 

Nigerian Clubs, Pepsi 

Football Academy, Kebbi 

Beach Soccer Club, Gidi 

Sharks of Lagos and invited 

Ghanaian Club, Sunset 

Sports Keta. 

In addition to the 

tournament, this year’s 

edition will feature a kids’ 

“Last year we recorded 

an encouraging number of 

schools including some of 

the iconic colleges like 

Igbobi College, St 

Finbarr’s College, Akoka, 

Igbobi College all from 

Lagos, Government 

College Afikpo among 

others attended the meet 

which was a huge success. 

This year we expect at 

least 30 schools to take part 

in the event.” 

Majoroh explained that 

the meet will feature 100 m 

and 200 m races, 4x100m 

and 4x400m relays. He 

explained the motivation 

behind the GCU Relays 

which is organised by the 

Old Boys Association and 

supported by Shell, 

NNPC, NNDC and Pillar 

Oil. 

“There could not have 

arena, fan zone for 

football lovers, a food court 

with amazing vendors, VIP 

lounge, after parties and 

traditional Celebrity 

matches. 

Speaking at the press 

conference, Kinetic Sports 

acting CEO, Mr. Sola 

Aiyepeku said, 

“Kinetic Sports’ vision 

was clear from inception to 

create a unique multifaceted 

product that 

delivers a fusion of sports 

with entertainment with 

been a better time than 

now when we are still hurt 

by the dismal outing of 

Team Nigeria to World 

Athletics Championships 

in Doha, where our team 

returned with only one 

bronze medal,” Majoroh 

said, believing that “in the 

next four to five years, 

products from this 

programme will represent 

and win medals for 

Nigeria in international 

meets.” 

A three-year scholarship 

award awaits the best 

overall athlete in both male 

and female categories. “We 

want to motivate the 

athletes with a N150,000 

scholarship spread over 

three years(N50,000 each 

year) for the male and 

female all round best 

athletes,” the GCU Old 

Boys President said. 

Brazil, England, Senegal ready for Copa 

Lagos 

COPA LAGOS(L-R) Moses Praize, Kunle Ogidi, Head 

Marketing BetKing, Sola Aiyepeku, Acting CEO Kinetic 

Sports, Diran Onifade, Director Corporate 

Communications FCMB, Seyi Akinwunmi, NFF 1 st VP. 

fans in mind. They have 

successfully and 

consistently done that 

over the years. 

This year, we have taken 

further steps to broaden the 

Copa Lagos experience for 

everyone who attends by 

enhancing fan engagement 

as a further contribution to 

promoting a beach culture 

and multi-dimensional 

lifestyle as well as give 

football-playing fans and 

Lagosians a taste of playing 

in Copa Lagos.


Man Utd to sack 

Solskjaer if he 

loses at Norwich, 

Liverpool 

MANCHESTER UNITED are set 

to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer if 

he loses to Norwich at the end of the 

month. 

The under-fire Red Devils boss has 

been given a stay of execution during 

the international break. 

But his fate will be decided once 12thplaced 

United have played Liverpool, 

Partizan Belgrade (in the Europa 

League) and the Canaries. 

The club’s hierarchy understands the 

need for Solskjaer to be given time and 

to stick to their “plan”. 

Defeat by Liverpool on October 20, 

although not ideal, is widely expected, 

and will not be the one that finishes 

Solskjaer off — as long as it’s not a 

complete capitulation. 

United are instead looking at the trip 

to Carrow Road on Sunday October 

27 as the acid test. 

That result looks set to decide if they 

want to persist with the club legend, 

who was only appointed full-time boss 

in March, or start the search for their 

fifth mamager in six years. 

United have already lost this season 

to West Ham, Crystal Palace and the 

struggling Newcastle. 

Defeat against a newly-promoted 

side might make supporters and the 

board believe that United are 

genuinely in a relegation fight, when 

they were tipped to be battling for a 

top-four place. 

After a disappointing end to last 

season, pre-season actually went well, 

the players worked hard and Solskjaer 

developed a particular style. 

I fought against closure of Chelsea 

Academy – Emenalo 

Former Chelsea technical director Michael 

Emenalo has revealed that one of the 

club’s ex-managers urged Roman 

Abramovich to scrap the club’s academy. 

Emenalo, who spent a decade in various 

roles at Stamford Bridge before leaving in 

2017, took responsibility for developing 

the club’s young players under bosses 

including Jose Mourinho, Andre Villas- 

Boas and Antonio Conte. 

The manager in question claimed that 

Chelsea’s academy was too expensive to 

run and that it should only be used to 

‘make some money here and there’. 

However, with the help of Abramovich, 

who has always wanted the club to 

produce its own first-team players, the ex- 

Nigeria international ensured that the 

manager’s plans were ignored. 

Speaking to The Telegraph, Emenalo, 

who also worked at the club during the 

reigns of Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di 

Matteo, said: ‘I defended the academy when 

there was pressure and doubt and pessimism. 

‘There was a time when there was a clamour 

to do more and a manager came in to make a 

presentation to say the academy was not 

Allegri is best possible man to rebuild United — Fergie 

ormer Juventus manager 

FMassimiliano Allegri would be 

the perfect coach for the Premier 

League. 

The Italian, who was recently in 

England to watch Tottenham’s 7-2 

humbling by Bayern Munich, is the 

most in-demand manager for 

leading Premier League clubs. 

Manchester United have always 

been the one that most fascinated 

Allegri, who stepped down as 

Juventus boss in the summer after 

cementing their reputation as one of 

the most dominant domestic forces 

in Europe. 

And he seems to have huge 

admirers himself at Old Trafford 

with legendary manager Sir Alex 

Ferguson suggesting Allegri is the 

best possible man to rebuild United 

following the underwhelming spells 

of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and 

necessary. The argument was it takes too 

long, we don’t have time, we should use it to 

make some money here and there, and that 

the owner should stop pumping money into 

it because it seemed like a waste. 

‘But that wasn’t my idea and I had to fight 

against it. This is where I am very, very proud 

of the owner Roman Abramovich because of 

the trust he had in me and the willingness to 

listen to me and give the academy time. He 

would not abandon it. He believed in it and 

in me, and I can’t thank him enough for that.’ 

Brazil/Nigeria friendly 

may not hold 

The anticipated match between Brazil and 

Nigeria slated for Sunday may not hold. 

Reports have it that the match may be 

cancelled as the Nigerian delegation had not 

been given entry visas to attend the match 

which is part of the widely acclaimed “Brazil 

Global Tour”. 

The two other teams, Brazil and Senegal 

are already in Singapore. The Brazilian 

delegations arrived in two batches on 

Monday and Tuesday while the 23-man 

delegation of Senegal arrived on Tuesday. 

Spokesman for the Nigeria Football 

Federation, NFF, Ademola Olajire confirmed 

the development. 

City consider 

Mbappe swoop 

Manchester City have resolved to launch 

an approach for Paris Saint-Germain 

forward Kylian Mbappe ahead of next summer. 

The Frenchman, who has 62 goals in 92 games 

for the Ligue 1 champions, is reportedly open to 

the possibility of leaving the Parc des Princes if 

PSG once again fail to succeed in the Champions 

League this term. 

City, on the other hand, need to consider 

securing replacements for David Silva, who is 

guaranteed to leave next summer, along with 

strike duo Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus, with 

both tipped to find new clubs following the 2019- 

20 campaign. 

According to a report from Spain, the Premier 

League champions are keen to 

fill this potential void with 

Mbappe, who is valued at 

around £268m by PSG. 

City’s hierarchy are 

said to believe that 

Mbappe is a 

player whose 

talent Pep 

Guardiola can 

build a new 

t e a m 

around. 

R e a l 

Madrid 

have been 

credited with an interest in Mbappe, but recent 

reports suggest that their focus has shifted to 

Mohamed Salah. 

Jose Mourinho. 

Ferguson is an admirer of Ole 

Gunnar Solskjaer but is also a fan 

of the work done by Allegri, who 

won five Serie A titles in a row with 

Italian giants Juve. 

With United in 12th place in the 

Premier League - two points above 

the relegation zone - after just two 

wins in eight games, Solskjaer fears 

that a heavy defeat in his next game 

at home to fierce rivals Liverpool 

could put his job in jeopardy. 

The Norwegian is secondfavourite, 

behind Everton’s Marco 

Silva, to be the next top-flight 

manager out of a job. 

Allegri - a pragmatic coach - 

would help shape United in the 

same mould as Ferguson did after 

acquiring a great defence that 

helped them become England’s 

biggest powerhouse. 

Schweinsteiger 

retires 

Bastian Schweinsteiger has 

announced his retirement 

from professional football. 

The German midfielder, who 

represented Bayern Munich, 

Manchester United and 

Chicago Fire in the MLS, broke 

the news on social media on 

Tuesday afternoon. 

Schweinsteiger’s decision 

brings to a close his richly 

successful 17-year career 

which saw him win eight 

Bundesliga titles, the FA Cup 

while at United and the World 

Cup in 2014 as Germany 

captain. 

Time to Bale out! 

Gareth Bale wants to quit Real 

Madrid after being upset by 

Champions League snub. 

Spanish newspaper AS claims 

that the 30-year-old winger has 

had enough and wants to leave in 

the summer. 

Bale was upset at being excluded 

from the squad in the Champions 

League draw against Club Brugge 

last week. 

Bale had not been named in 

Madrid’s squad for the fixture but 

the Wales international was still 

required to be at the game. 

And Spanish TV show Deportes 

Cuatro filmed Bale arriving at the 

Bernabeu at 5.59pm, four minutes 

after the match had kicked off in 

Madrid. 

Bale, who has endured a 

fractious relationship with 

Zinedine Zidane during his time 

at the Bernabeu, was left out of 

the matchday squad despite being 

fit. 

Madrid hand 

Benzema new 

£190k-a-week 

contract 

Real Madrid have looked to 

reward star striker Karim 

Benzema with a new contract 

until 2022 worth £190,000 a 

week, according to reports in 

Spain. 

The 31-year-old looked set to 

take a peripheral role following 

the £62million arrival of Luka 

Jovic in the summer transfer 

window. 

But Jovic has yet to find the net 

for the club and Benzema’s sixgoal 

haul has helped send 

Zinedine Zidane’s side to the top 

of La Liga.


Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 

TODAY’S PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

FRIDAY’S ANSWER 

TODAY’S CROSSWORD 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

THURSDAY’S SOLUTION 

How to Play Sudoku 

ACROSS 

1 Science of plant life (6) 

4 Opening ploy in chess (6) 

8 Interior (5) 

9 Reddish-purple (7) 

10 Pudding or sweet 

course (7) 

11 Fundamental (5) 

12 Attacker (9) 

17 Make merry (5) 

19 Ungraciously curt (7) 

21 Despotism (7) 

22 Tropical fruit (5) 

23 Scandinavian country (6) 

24 Commands (6) 

DOWN 

1 Constructs (6) 

2 North African country (7) 

3 Boldness (5) 

5 Branch of mathematics (7) 

6 Proclamation of intended 

marriage (5) 

7 Roofing material (6) 

9 Wedlock (9) 

13 Absence of sound (7) 

14 Learner (7) 

15 Without payment (6) 

16 Repulsive (6) 

18 Brink (5) 

20 Thigh bone (5) 

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

of the same number). 

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

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

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

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

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

multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination. 

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09102019 - 2020: Buhari presents N10.33trn job creation budget to NASS

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