27022020 - Insurgency: Depressed soldier shoots 7, kills self

OLU FASAN 

31 

President Buhari 

should leave the 

economy to his vice 

president, in a de 

facto primeministerial 

capacity, 

and focus on 

restructuring 

Nigeria 

BAYELSA: 

No force on earth can reverse 

our verdict — S-COURT 

GDP growth rate still largely low– MAN 

10 

12 

VOL. 27: NO. 64015 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 

Insurgency: Depressed 

soldier shoots 7, kills self 

•4 dead, three others critically injured 

•We’re investigating circumstances that led to incident – Army 

•Says 5 soldiers were shot, with 2 deaths 

•ISWAP attacks Chibok village, abducts head of civilian JTF, others 

•Buhari asks military to deal mercilessly with ISWAP, terrorists 

•Tension in Benue as herdsmen take over communities in 4 LGAs — P41 

PROTEST AGAINST INSECURITY... 

ASH WEDNESDAY —Cathedral Administrator, Our Lady Queen 

of Nigeria (OLQON) Pro-Cathedral Church, Rev Fr John Jimoh 

(R) applying ash on Catholic faithful during the Ash Wednesday 

Mass to mark the beginning of Lent at OLQON Parish Garki in 

Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN. 

AMAECHI 

17 

Catholic faithful during a prayer procession against insecurity 

and other problems facing the country in Enugu, yesterday. 

Photo: NAN. 

Council of 

Ulama rejects 

Ganduje's 

ban on street 

begging 

No subsidy 

from FG 

since 

privatisation 

13 

—DISCOs 10 

5 

Edo 2020: 

Security 

agencies 

express 

concern 

over 

spate of 

violence 

12 

Catholic 

Bishops 

decry FG’s 

failure to 

deal with 

9 

terrorists 

Mr & Mrs 

C 

M 

Y 

K

2 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020—3

4— Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews 

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SERVICE COMMISSION —Members of the 

National Assembly Service Commission during their swearing-in at the State 

House, Abuja, yesterday. State House photo. 



Omonobi, Ndahi 

Marama & David 

Odama 

ABUJA — 

Soldiers at the 

Nigerian Army 

Brigade, Malam Fatori, 

Borno State, currently 

fighting the Boko Haram 

insurgency were thrown 

into mourning, yesterday, 

as a depressed soldier, 

who allegedly got 

information that someone 

was sleeping with his 

wife, turned his gun at 

seven of his colleagues 

and later shot himself. 

Four of those shot, 

including the corporal 

have been reported dead, 

while the rest are in 

critical condition. 

The sad development 

happened as suspected 

members of the Islamic 

State of West Africa 

Province, ISWAP, 

abducted Mohammed 

Abba, head of the Civilian 

Joint Task Force, JTF, in 

Bambula community in 

Chibok Local Council of 

Borno State. 

It was learnt that the 

insurgents attacked the 

community around 4a.m. 

Yesterday, when most of 

the residents were still 

asleep. 

This is even as 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari yesterday charged 

the military to re-examine 

strategies to defeat the 

ISWAP terrorists in the 

North-East because their 

presence in the West 

African Sahel region 

poses great danger not 

only to Nigeria but also 

the entire region. 

Meanwhile, to tackle 

kidnapping and banditry, 

the Nasarawa State 

House of Assembly has 

passed a law to ensure 

judicial protection for 

witnesses. 

How soldier 

shot self, 

colleagues 

Narrating how the 

soldier shot seven of his 

colleagues and himself, a 

source said: “I couldn’t 

help but voice this out. At 

about 0600hrs this 

morning (yesterday) at 

118/119 BN MALAM 

FATORI,BORNO STATE, 

a Corporal fired seven 

soldiers and fired himself. 

“Two have been 

reported dead, while the 

rest are in critical 

condition. The soldier has 

been going through 

depression as a result of 

family issues; information 

got to him that someone 

has been sleeping with 

his wife while he is on 

operation. 

“Soldiers in this 

particular location spend 

almost one year before 

being given pass to visit 

their families. How do 

you leave a soldier in the 

war front for 9-12 months 

without him seeing his 

family? 

“Some soldiers’ children 

don’t even know their 

fathers. Many homes 

have been shattered, 

broken. Even with the 

directive from the Theatre 

Command that soldiers 

should be allowed to go 

on pass every three 

months, the Battalion 

Commander has refused 

to comply with such 

directives. The camp now 

is in great commotion. 

When will soldiers’ lives 

and welfare of families be 

valued?” 

Army confirms 

incident 

Confirming the incident 

last night, Acting Director 

of Army Public Relations, 

Col. Sagir Musa, said the 

Corporal serving in 

Operation Lafiya Dole, 

Army Super Camp 15, 

located at Malam Fatori, 

killed himself, two others 

and injured three in the 

process. 

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 — 5 

POCKET CARTOON 

He said: “Two of his 

colleagues were also 

injured during the 

incident and are currently 

in stable condition in our 

hospital in Maiduguri. 

“Efforts are ongoing to 

contact the families of our 

gallant colleagues who 

paid the supreme price in 

the line of duty. May their 

gentle souls rest in peace. 

“Meanwhile, 

investigation into the case 

has since been instituted 

to determine the 

circumstances that led to 

the unfortunate incident.” 

Sources attributed the 

action of the Corporal to 

either depression or poor 

visibility, as the terrain 

where the incident 

occurred was poor in the 

early hours of the day. 

ISWAP attacks 

Chibok village, 

abducts head of 

civilian JTF, 

others 

The source said that 

Mohammed Abba, head 

of the civilian JTF in 

Bambula community in 

Chibok had been the 

insurgents’ target since 

he refused to get 

compromised. 

The head of the civilian 

JTF was abducted 

alongside many others 

who are yet to be 

identified. 

The civilian JTF is a 

vigilante group created to 

assist the military fight 

insurgency in the North- 

East. 

“The sporadic gunshots 

woke us, and everybody 

started running to safety. 

The insurgents came in 

through Ajigum Talala, a 

part of the forest where 

ISWAP has a strong unit. 

“They headed straight 

to Abba and took him. 

They have been warning 

him before but Abba 

refused to cooperate with 

them. They abducted 

many others who couldn’t 

run. They also burnt down 

some properties including 

a vehicle belonging to the 

community head,” said a 

resident who managed to 

escape the attack. 

The attack came a week 

after the insurgents 

attacked Korongilum in 

Chibok, setting many 

houses on fire. 

Be mercilesss 

against ISWAP, 

Buhari charges 

Consequently, 

yesterday, President 

Buhari charged the 

Continues on Page 41 

By Bose Adelaja, 

Olayinka Latona 

& Rose Chukwu 

On plans to establish agency for repentant Boko Haram terrorists (3) 

We can’t imagine 

the level of 

brainwashing they must 

have been subjected to. 

Also, we need to put 

ourselves in their shoes 

and feel the conflicts 

they must have passed 

through before finally 

deciding to stay off 

terrorism. This is a good 

move by the Senate to 

ensure they are properly 

rehabilitated. 

- B a b a t u n d e 

Olamilekan 

Corps Member 

In order of priorities, 

this should not be a 

necessity for now. 

Repentant Boko 

Haram members 

should be kept under 

thorough surveillance. 

The focus should be on 

curtailing and 

stopping these 

terrorist attacks and 

not paying all 

attention on repentant 

Boko Haram members. 

-Babalola Eleazer 

Linguist 

Of all issues affecting 

Nigerians, it’s total 

misplacement of priority! 

We have more than 

enough agencies, and 

adding this won’t do us 

good and this might 

promote insurgency in 

other parts of the country. 

If this is allowed, in no 

distant time, agency to 

cater for South-South 

repentant militants will be 

pushed forward. All this 

will increase our recurrent 

expenditure. 

-Oyedokun Ibukun 

Public Analyst 

In my own opinion, I 

think it is not a 

wise idea. I mean, is 

there such a word as 

‘repentant’ for these 

people? 

I sincerely doubt it. 

For me, it’s ‘once a 

criminal, always a 

criminal.’ I am not 

comfortable with the 

bill. It should be 

discarded. The focus 

should be about stopping 

them from further attacks 

-Adora Blessing 

Mediprenuer 

Why establish a 

rehabilitation 

agency when we have an 

Anti-Terrorism Dept? It’s 

better to fund the dept. than 

create an agency for BH 

which will later be used to 

embezzle government funds, 

If the agency is created, 

after defeating BH, what 

happens to it? We need to 

think and do the right 

thing. Just like FSARS, the 

agency will not have an 

agenda or purpose again 

then the citizens will be 

affected. 

-Samuel Gbadegesin 

Fashionpreneur 

The plan the Senate 

to establish a rehabilitation 

agency for repentant 

Boko Haram is 

a national and security 

risk to the country. The 

question I ask is; where 

is the fund for rehabilitation 

and who is going 

to head the agency? I 

believe this is a wrong 

move by the Senate. In 

a country where there is 

a lot of unemployment 

and insecurity. 

-Ifeanyi Okolie 

Activist

6 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 

Woman dies in 

sex romp with 

police lover 

By Rotimi 

Ojomoyela 

ADO-EKITI— A yet to be 

identified young woman, 

who was described as a lover to 

a serving policeman in Ado- 

Ekiti, was reported to have died 

during a sex romp with the 

police officer 

Vanguard gathered that the 

unidentified policeman had 

travelled from Lagos to Ado to 

visit the deceased, who allegedly 

passed on before daybreak. 

Sources told Vanguard that the 

sad incident occurred at Atayese 

Street, Bawa Estate, Ado Ekiti 

where the deceased was said to 

be residing. 

At press time, no one could 

ascertain the cause of her death 

but the police team from Oke- 

Ila division has evacuated her 

remains while the suspect has 

been arrested for interrogation. 

Contacted, Ekiti State Police 

Public Relations Officer, Sunday 

Abutu, confirmed that the case 

had been reported but the 

division in charge has not 

properly briefed him. 

Boundary 

dispute: One 

killed during 

Delta 

community 

cultural festival 

By Ochuko 

Akuopha 

O BIARUKU—THE 

boundary dispute between 

Umusume and Obinomna in 

Ukwuani Local Government 

Area, Delta State, degenerated, 

Tuesday, following the reported 

killing of one person at the annual 

Ikenga cultural festival. 

It was learned that the 

deceased, who was attacked in a 

violent clash between youths of 

the feuding communities at about 

6 pm on Tuesday, died while 

receiving treatment at an 

undisclosed hospital. 

The development generated 

tension at Obiaruku, 

headquarters of the local 

government area and Obinomna, 

yesterday, as youths of the 

communities were spoiling for 

war. 

According to a dependable 

source, “in the last three years or 

more, there has been an 

unresolved boundary dispute 

over unclearly defined and 

demarcated boundaries between 

Umusume quarter of Obiaruku 

and Obinomna quarter of 

Umukwata. 

The tension between the two 

quarters always assumes a 

disturbing dimension whenever 

Obinomna people want to 

celebrate their annual cultural 

festival, known as Ikenge 

festival. 

According to the 

source,“Yesterday (Tuesday) 

being the eve of the grand finale 

of the festival, the two quarters 

clashed against each other 

because, in the course of the 

celebration, it was alleged that 

Obinomba youths marched into 

Umusume quarters, in 

Obiaruku." 

Police bust baby factory, recover 24 

babies in P-Harcourt 

•It isn’t a baby factory, but registered 

orphanage— Suspect 

NABBED: A cross section of young girls and children rescued from a baby factory in Port Harcourt by the 

Police in Rivers State. Photo. Nwankpa Chijioke, 

By Davies 

Iheamnachor 

PORT HARCOURT— The 

Rivers State Police Command 

has busted a baby factory in Port 

Harcourt, recovering 24 babies 

and four pregnant teenagers. 

But the owner of the home has 

denied the allegation that they 

were running a baby factory. 

The babies recovered by 

operatives of the command were 

between the ages of one and two 

years. 

Addressing pressmen while 

BRIEFING: Customs Area Controller, Oyo/Osun Command, Mrs Hellen Ngozi, 

showing the 2,770 bags of smuggled rice and 880 pieces of used tyres to the 

media at the quarterly press briefing held at Customs Headquarters Agodi, Ibadan, 

yesterday. Photo: Dare Fasube 

Court remands Indian, others for allegedly forging 

SON receipts 

By Innocent Anaba 

A 

Federal High Court in Lagos, 

yesterday, ordered the 

remand of an Indian and two 

others for allegedly forging 

Standards Organisation of 

Nigeria, SON, receipts. 

Chucks Okeke, Omkar Shinde, 

Shittu Adedeji and a company, 

Everchem Paints Nigeria Limited, 

were arraigned before Justice 

Saliu Saidu on a three-count 

charge of forgery. 

Senior State Counsel, 

Olofindare Adeleke, alleged that 

Okeke and Shinde, an Indian, 

and Everchem Paints, forged 15 

SON receipts on February 12, 

2020, at Close 6, House 4, Satellite 

Town, Lagos, and at 110/114 

Oshodi Apapa Expressway, Isolo, 

Lagos. 

He said the defendants 

committed the alleged offence 

“with intent to use the false 

documents as genuine.” 

The prosecution said it was with 

the “intention of causing the 

forged documents to be believed 

to have been issued by SON and 

use same as genuine.” 

SON said Adedeji, on February 

12, 2020, at 2, Morebise Egan, 

Igando, “did present false 

documents to SON officials, 

which you knew or have reason 

to know same to be false with 

intent to use the false documents 

as genuine.” 

The alleged offence is contrary 

to Section 465 and punishable 

under sections 467 and 516 of the 

Criminal Code Act CAP C38 Laws 

of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. 

The defendants pleaded not 

guilty. 

Defence counsel, E. Pobeni, for 

the first defendant, Tiwalade 

Aderoju, for the second and fourth 

defendants and I. Ituma, for the 

third defendant, told the court that 

they filed bail applications on their 

clients’ behalf. 

The judge ordered that the 

defendants be remanded at the 

Ikoyi Correctional Services. 

parading the suspects in Port 

Harcourt, yesterday, the 

Commissioner of Police, 

Mustapha Dandaura, noted that 

the syndicate was uncovered on 

Tuesday around 3.30 pm 

following an operation of Eagle 

Crack Unit of the Police in the 

state. 

Dandaura, who was 

represented by the command’s 

spokesman, Nnandi Omoni, said 

the babies were currently receiving 

medical attention at the Police clinic, 

adding that investigations had 

commenced to identify other 

suspects at large. 

He said: “Today, I am glad to 

inform you that operatives of the 

Eagle Crack in a covert operation, 

yesterday, at about 1530hrs, busted 

a child trafficking syndicate at Woji 

in Port Harcourt, where 24 babies 

between the ages of one and two 

years and four pregnant teenagers 

were recovered. 

“The babies and pregnant 

teenagers, who are frail and 

malnourished, are currently 

receiving medical attention at the 

police clinic, while investigation is 

still on to make more recoveries and 

bring the masterminds to justice. 

He, however, called on residents 

of the state whose babies were 

missing to avail themselves at the 

state Police Headquarters to identify 

and take home their babies. 

It isn’t a baby factory 

Meanwhile, the owner of the 

home has denied the claim by the 

police that the home was a baby 

factory, noting that the orphanage 

and transition home was registered 

as a Non-Governmental 

Organisation in 2018. 

The lawyer of the home, Eunice 

Uchendu, said: “Yesterday, the E- 

Crack team came to Tenter Life 

Foundation Initiative and arrested 

the owner and other persons on 

wrong information that it was a 

baby factory, which is not true. 

“It is an orphanage. She (owner) 

works in collaboration with the 

Rivers State Ministry of Social 

Welfare. The ministry also gave her 

grant to run a similar thing at Ogoni 

area. This body was registered in 

June 2018.”

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 —7 

Teenager nabbed for allegedly stabbing 

boyfriend to death over N3,000 

By James 

Ogunnaike 

OPERATIVES of the Ogun 

State Command of the Nigeria 

Police have arrested an 18-year-old 

girl, Idowu Abosede, for allegedly 

stabbing her boyfriend, Aliyu 

Ibrahim, to death. 

According to a statement by the 

command spokesperson, DSP 

Abimbola Oyeyemi, the suspect was 

arrested following a distress call from 

Seriki Hausa in Sagamu. 

Oyeyemi said: “The suspect and 

her deceased boyfriend were 

arguing over N3,000 as a result of 

which they were dragging a knife 

with each other and eventually the 

girl used the knife to stab the 

boyfriend on his chest, which 

resulted to his death. 

“On receiving the distress call, the 

DPO Sagamu, SP Okiki Agunbiade, 

detailed his detectives to the scene 

where the suspected teenager was 

apprehended. 

“The bloodstained knife, which 

she used to stab the 

deceased, was also 

recovered. 

“On interrogation, 

the suspect claimed 

that she came to pass 

the night with the 

deceased and when 

she was about going 

in the morning, she 

took N3,000 from the 

deceased but he was 

not ready to give her 

the N3,000 and that 

was what led to the 

argument between 

them. 

“She further stated 

that it was the 

deceased who brought 

out the knife and while 

dragging it with him, 

the knife stabbed him 

on his chest.” 

Oyeyemi said the 

corpse of the deceased 

had been released to 

his relation on their 

The suspect. 

demand for burial according to Islamic rites. 

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP 

Kenneth Ebrimson, has ordered the immediate 

transfer of the suspect to the homicide section of 

the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence 

Department for further investigation and 

prosecution. 

100 level CRUTECH student drown during 

matric party in Calabar 

By Ike Uchechukwu 

CALABAR—A 100 level 

undergraduate, Barnabas Otu, 

of the Department of Urban and 

Regional Planning, Cross River 

University of Technology, 

CRUTECH, reportedly drowned in 

a swimming pool during a 

matriculation party in Calabar. 

The tragic incident, Vanguard 

gathered, occurred at a popular 

resort (names withheld) along Akai 

Efa Road in Calabar Municipal LGA 

of Cross River State. 

The victim, who was in the 

company of his friends, colleagues 

and well-wishers, went to the resort 

to celebrate their matriculation into 

the university when the tragic 

incident occurred while they were 

The late Barnabas Otu. 

swimming in the pool. 

A source, who pleaded 

anonymity, told Vanguard that the 

family of the deceased wanted to 

take the body to his home town in 

Ugep, Yakurr LGA for burial, 

yesterday, but were restrained from 

doing so by the police. 

The source said: “Perhaps the 

police or relevant security agencies 

are investigating circumstances 

surrounding the boy’s death, but 

his body has been deposited at the 

morgue at General Hospital 

Calabar. 

Contacted, yesterday, the 

institution’s Public Relations Officer, 

Mr Onen Onen, who confirmed 

the death of the student, said he 

did not have details of the incident 

as he was not in town when it 

occurred. 

“The information is true, but I 

don’t have details now because I 

travelled to the Okuku Campus for 

their Matriculation,” he said. 

I use my Sienna bus for One chance operation , says 

father of 4 

By Esther 

Onyegbula 

A 

50-year old leader of a one 

chance robbery gang, 

Matthew Tokeme, who is 

currently being investigated by 

the Lagos State Police 

Command has revealed that he 

started operating a one chance 

syndicate two weeks ago. 

According to the father of 

four, who uses his Sienna bus 

with number plate APP488FH 

for public transportation, “I live 

in 2, Olawoye Street, at Sango. 

My friend bought the Sienna 

bus for me to use for 

transportation but I started 

using it for one chance.” 

"We are three that usually go 

for operations. We ply Abule 

Egba-Ifako Ijaye route 

between five and six in the 

morning when workers and 

traders are going to their 

places of work. 

"For instance, when a 

passenger going to Victoria 

Island board our vehicle, if we 

get to a particular location we 

will stop and disposses the 

victims of their valuables. 

“We don’t use guns, if the 

victims are very stubborn we 

threaten them till they part 

with their phones and 

laptops. We carry only one 

passenger at a time while my 

gang members sit like 

passengers. 

"I haven’t made much from 

the operations. When we went 

for the first operation it was 

successful and then we went 

for another. 

The second operation I got 

a laptop and a phone. We 

didn’t collect money from 

anyone because she was 

having just N700. 

I sold the phone N5,000 

while the laptop was sold 

N20,000. 

Confirming the arrest, 

Lagos State police command’s 

spokesperson, DSP Bala 

Elkana, said: “The suspect, 

Matthew Tokeme, was 

arrested after the police 

received information from 

members of the public that 

some armed robbers were 

sighted along Agidingbi road 

The suspect. 

operating in a Toyota Sienna 

bus attacking and robbing 

unsuspecting victims of their 

valuables. 

“Sequel to the receipt of the 

information, operatives from 

Rapid Response Squad swung 

into action, the vehicle was 

intercepted and the suspect 

arrested. Investigation is 

ongoing to apprehend other 

gang members at large.” 

... with Emma'nKen (08163121378) 

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Regular customer 

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STATE OF THE NATION 

Handling Boko Haram with 

kids glove'll break Nigeria 

up, MASSOB warns 

EDUCATION SUMMIT: From left; Prof. Glory Ajayi, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos; 

Prof. Cecilia Igwilo of the University of Lagos; Sir Ifeanyi Atueyi, Vice President, Nigeria Academy of 

Pharmacy; Dr. Lolu Ojo, Chairman, Education Summit Committee of the Academy; Dr. Oluyemisi 

Bamiro, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, Olabisi Onabanjo University; and Prof. Moses Akanmu, Dean, 

Faculty of Pharmacy, Obafemi Awolowo University, at the formal inauguration of the organizing 

committee for the forthcoming Education Summit of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy, held in Lagos. 

Bauchi govt, vigilante bust bandits’ hideout, 

hand over recovered ammunition to police 

By Charly Agwam 

B AUCHI—BAUCHI 

State government 

and the state’s vigilante 

committee have handed 

over to the Police a cache 

of live ammunition 

recovered during a raid 

on bandits’ hideout in 

Bauchi forests. 

During the handover of 

the ammunition to the 

police at Government 

House in Bauchi 

yesterday, Governor Bala 

Mohammed assured that 

there would be no hiding 

place for criminals in the 

state, adding that his 

administration would 

ensure full synergy with 

Plateau: Traditional institution has role 

to play in ending farmer/herder’s 

conflict 

By Therese 

Nanlong 

JOS—TO stem the tide 

of recurring violent 

conflicts in communities in 

Plateau State, the 

traditional institution has 

asked to be given free hand 

to effectively perform its 

duties in their domain. 

This is because 

traditional and community 

leaders are believed to 

know people’s residences 

in their domains and could 

synergise with relevant 

security agencies to weed 

out bad eggs among the 

people. 

A Fulani community 

leader, Ardo Wada Waziri, 

stated this yesterday in Jos 

while speaking on ways to 

consolidate the 

mechanisms for sustainable 

cooperation and 

transformation of the 

farmer/herder’s conflicts in 

the state. 

He lamented that 

criminality has crept into 

the situation and called for 

urgent steps to arrest and 

punish criminals 

pretending to be either 

herders or farmers. 

security agencies to 

make Bauchi safe and 

secure. 

Bala, who said the 

discovery and recovery 

of fire arms were made 

possible by a vigilante 

group, led by renowned 

hunters and fighters of 

armed robbers and 

kidnappers, Alhaji Ali 

Kwara, disclosed that 

Burra forest was used as 

hideout by the bandits 

before they were 

displaced. 

“There are some 

informants within and 

outside the towns of Bauchi 

and environs that are 

helping us to do this, and 

this is also a collaboration 

Waziri said: “Traditional 

rulers are not given free 

hand to perform their 

duties effectively, they 

know who is who in the 

community, synergy is 

needed for security issues 

to be solved. 

“Kidnapping and other 

crimes have become 

problems, information 

sharing among 

communities is needed for 

intelligence gathering, we 

all need to continue to 

promote peace in our 

communities.” 

In his remarks, President 

of Irigwe Development 

Association, Chinge Dodo, 

whose tribe has suffered 

much due to violent 

conflicts, noted that issues 

of Internally Displaced 

Persons, IDPs, should not 

be swept under the carpet 

but properly addressed 

since justice was part of 

peace process. 

He said: “We are 

concerned about issues of 

resettlement of IDPs 

because it is as if the 

Irigwes have been 

forgotten. 

‘’There are kidnappings 

in Bassa, ransoms are 

being paid, ambushes are 

among Bauchi State 

government, Ali Kawra, the 

police and other security 

agencies so that we will be 

able to have some concrete 

engagement to identify all 

these bandits, armed 

robbers that have migrated 

from Zamfara and other 

places looking for safe 

haven in our forests. 

“We know there are some 

at Yankari forests, we know 

there are some in Lame/ 

Burra forest, we know there 

are some, even along Dass 

road. Because of the 

intelligence we are getting 

from SSS and other security 

agencies, they should 

know that they have no 

place to stay in Bauchi State. 

ongoing but we need to 

improve on interpersonal 

relationship and share 

intelligence. 

“We need not discard 

rumours but look into them 

because rumours in the 

past have turned out to be 

true. As a people, we will 

continue to work to have 

peace.” 

However, Emma Ado 

from Operation Safe Haven 

keeping the peace in the 

state, urged the people to 

eschew violence and 

embrace peace. 

“If anyone wants peace in 

Plateau, it is the security, 

right now. I’m mourning 

the death of my men who 

were killed at Exland, 

Barkin Ladi without any 

provocation,’’ he said. 

Earlier, the Director- 

General of Plateau Peace 

Building Agency, PPBA, 

Joseph Lengmang, stated 

that the project was 

executed in conjunction 

with the community, 

adding that the idea was to 

foster 

mutual 

understanding and 

cooperation among 

communities so that issues 

of farmers/herders’ conflicts 

could be solved. 

''We will now surrender 

these arms and 

ammunition received from 

Ali Kwara to the Nigeria 

police to take custody of 

and also ask the Nigerian 

military to put their 

members in Ali Kwara’s 

team. ‘’We are ready to 

support them with 

whatever token of support, 

in terms of mobility and 

logistics, so they can keep 

Bauchi State safe and 

secured,” the governor said. 

Confirming the incident, 

the renowned hunter, Alhaji 

Ali Kwara, said the guns 

were recovered from 

bandits hiding in Burra 

forest, following a tip-off. 

“These guns that you are 

seeing today (yesterday) 

are from some bandits we’ve 

been trailing for long. They 

are involved in kidnapping 

in this area, and they also 

operate around Taraba, 

Benue and Plateau states. 

‘’One of them used to 

come from Zamfara State. 

He was brought to me 

voluntarily by his father, 

having noticed that I and 

my team have swung into 

action that has affected 

some of his colleagues. 

‘’When he came 

forward, he informed me 

that there are strangers 

who have smuggled arms 

into Bauchi, and that he 

took part in hiding the 

guns ‘underground.’ 

“He took us to Lame/Burra 

forest where we recovered 

these guns. The boy is in 

my custody. I don’t allow 

him to go out because 

people who know him 

might lynch him. 43 guns, 

1,117 live ammunition and 

30 cartridges were 

recovered in the operation,” 

he noted. 

Receiving the 

ammunition, the 


Bauchi Command, Philip 

Maku, said the police 

will investigate the 

alleged hideouts of the 

bandits and carry out 

necessary measures to keep 

the state safe. 

By Vincent Ujumadu 

A WKA—THE 

Movement for the 

Actualization of the 

Sovereign State of Biafra, 

MASSOB, has warned that 

any attempt by the federal 

government to treat 

members of Boko Haram 

with the kids glove might 

lead to the eventual break 

up of Nigeria. 

MASSOB leader, Mr. 

Uchenna Madu, who 

reacted to alleged move by 

the Senate to introduce a bill 

for the establishment of a 

national agency for 

repentant Boko Haram 

terrorists, said it was 

another grand plot to 

transfer more Boko Haramtrained 

terrorists to the 

southern part of Nigeria. 

According to him, the 

main target of the Boko 

Haram operation is Biafra 

land, describing it as the 

present administration’s 

jihad agenda against non 

Muslims in Nigeria. 

Madu added that the so 

called repentant Boko 

Haram was a ploy to siphon 

the treasury of Nigeria, 

Delta monarch, activist 

proffer ranching as solution 

to herdsmen attacks 

By Perez Brisibe 

U Ovie GHELLI—THE 

of Oghara 

kingdom in Ethiope West 

local government area of 

Delta State, HRM Noble 

Eshimitan, Orefe III, has 

proffered ranching as the 

only solution to the menace 

of herdsmen attacks in 

parts of the country, 

particularly in Delta State. 

The monarch in a 

statement yesterday, 

described cattle rearing as 

a private business which 

should be operated like 

every other business in the 

country, without such 

business owners infringing 

on the rights and resources 

of other individuals. 

The monarch’s advice 

came as a Niger Delta 

environmentalist and 

activist, Sherriff Mulade, 

also advocated the setting 

up of a special security 

outfit in the state to monitor 

and supervise the activities 

of herdsmen. 

He said: “Herdsmen 

business is more or less a 

business owned by private 

individuals and should be 

run like every other 

business without infringing 

on the rights and resources 

of other persons. 

“In many developed and 

civilized communities, 

herdsmen do their business 

without hurting or 

infringing on the rights of 

their fellow citizens, to the 

point that grazing is carried 

out in a protected manner 

without destruction of 

people’s resources or 

constituting nuisance in 

communities or cities. 

“This is why ranching is 

warning that because of the 

development, MASSOB 

would support every move 

aimed at causing discord 

and enmity among ethnic 

nationalities in Nigeria . 

He said: “Every agenda 

of the federal government 

to treat Boko Haram 

members and the criminal 

bandits operating in core 

northern states as beloved 

children of Arewa will 

eventually lead to total 

break-up of Nigeria, which 

MASSOB is clamouring for 

in the past twenty years. 

“As the Presidency is 

always jittery and 

uncomfortable with the 

issue of Biafra of Eastern 

region and revival of the 

self determination 

consciousness of the people 

of Middle Belt, their 

dilemma will never stop 

hunting them. 

“President Mohammed 

Buhari’s partial treatment of 

his kinsmen and members 

of his religious faith against 

other citizens of Nigeria 

has vindicated MASSOB in 

our self-determination 

struggle for Biafra 

actualisation.” 

the common means of 

providing meat to people 

in developing and civilized 

communities. 

‘’Cost of ranching is 

appropriately and 

equitably priced into the 

cost of providing meat to 

people. In some countries, 

ranching may be 

subsidized like some other 

farmers’ efforts in crops or 

produce if need be to 

encourage more efforts in 

that regards. 

“Every farmer’s effort is 

important and no farmer 

should conduct his or her 

business to the detriment of 

the other. Nigeria should 

not remain in dark age. 

‘’We should move with 

civilization and apply our 

resources to provide 

improved systems of 

production either in 

agriculture and animal 

husbandry 

or 

manufacturing.” 

On his part, Mulade 

said: “The state 

government should beef 

up security in the state, 

especially in attack-prone 

areas like Isoko, Urhobo, 

Ndokwa, Ughelli and 

Patani, which herdsmen 

easily access. 

‘’The state House of 

Assembly should set-up 

inter-council herdsmen 

policing group to check 

their activities and the Delta 

State House of Assembly 

should enact a law to 

monitor the operations and 

activities of herdsmen. 

“The state government 

should set up a special 

security outfit to monitor 

and supervise the activities 

of suspected herdsmen in 

the state.''

President Muhammadu Buhari. 

HEALTH TIPS 

By Sola Ogundipe 

STATE OF THE NATION 

Catholic Bishops decry FG’s failure 

to deal with terrorists 

•Say they are killing ordinary Nigerians 

By Ikechukwu Odu 

N Catholic 

SUKKA—THE 

Bishops 

Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, 

yesterday, bemoaned the nonchallant 

disposition of President 

Muhammadu Buhari to arrest 

and prosecute terrorists killing 

Christians and ordinary 

Nigerians. 

The bishops said the boldness 

of the terrorists, who make public 

shows of their crimes, mostly 

against Christians on social 

media was condemnable and 

demanded that the President 

prosecute the culprits to serve as 

deterrent to others. 

While giving the message 

signed by the President of CBCN, 

Archbishop Augustine Obiora 

Akabueze, and the Secretary, 

Calistus Omeogo, during the 

Ash Wednesday holy mass at the 

St. Theresa’s Cathedral, Nsukka, 

the Bishop of Nsukka Catholic 

Diocese, Most Rev. Prof. Godfrey 

Igwuebuike Onah, said the 

inability of the President to bring 

the terrorists to justice raised 

questions about his willingness 

to safeguard lives and property of 

Blood sugar 

WHETHER you have 

diabetes, you measure 

your blood sugar levels daily 

or just concerned about 

maintaining healthy blood 

sugar levels, it is very 

important to be aware of 

foods that can increase your 

blood sugar. 

Beware of artificial 

sweeteners added to diet 

drinks, tea, and coffee. They 

could lead to increased blood 

sugar levels and glucose 

intolerance. This could 

potentially lead to an 

increased risk of Type 2 

diabetes. 

Moderation is key, avoid 

all soft drinks for healthier 

beverages. 

Although foods that are 

high in fat do not directly 

raise blood sugar levels, they 

can contribute to insulin 

ordinary Nigerians. 

The bishop said many 

communities were constantly 

threatened, harrassed and even 

sacked by herdsmen as they seek 

to take over more territories to 

graze their cattles forcibly. 

The bishop, while reacting to 

the message signed by CBCN 

charged all arms of the 

governments to take issue of 

security seriously, adding that 

there would be no development 

in the atmosphere of chaos and 

lawlessness. 

The cleric said the President 

should as a matter of urgency, 

put a stop to the unprecedented 

wave of violence and brutality 

aimed particularly at Christians. 

He added that the activities of 

the insurgents have sown 

dangerous seeds of hatred 

among different segements of 

Nigerian society. 

The bishop said: “As a mark of 

mourning for our brothers and 

sisters who are victims of the 

violence against Christians, we 

are all dressed in black and offer 

our prayers and penance for their 

repose.” 

While speaking on the 

resistance. This is because 

they take longer to digest, 

which can affect the timing 

of blood sugar spikes. 

Refined starches including 

white bread, white pasta, 

white rice and anything 

made with white flour, act a 

lot like sugar once your body 

starts to digest them. 

Therefore, just like sugar, 

refined starches can interfere 

with glucose control and 

should be avoided by those 

with diabetes. 

Whole grains are a much 

better alternative because 

they are richer in fibre and 

generally cause a slower and 

steadier rise in blood sugar. 

If you are suffering from 

Type 2 diabetes, remove 

white rice from your diet. 

White rice contains little fibre, 

as compared with brown 

rice. Fibre can help your 

blood sugar levels stable. 

significance of Ash Wednesday, 

he said: “Today, (yesterday), we 

shall be marked with ashes and 

the sign of the cross. That is the 

beauty of our faith and the 

paradox of our life. The ashes will 

remind us of our sinfulness and 

brokenness, while the cross will 

remind us of the triumph that 

Christ has brought over our sins 

and weaknesses.” 

He explained that the ash 

which was got from Palm Sunday 

would be administered on the 

faces of the faithful to 

demonstrate that they have 

M AIDUGURI— 

FORMER Boko 

Haram members and their 

wives who recently 

surrendered to troops in Niger 

Republic arrived Maiduguri, 

the Borno State capital, 

yesterday. 

The former terrorists arrived 

at Maiduguri airport in a 

military aircraft in the 

company of soldiers, led by 

Major General Bamidele 

Shafa, who is the coordinator 

of the Federal Government 

Safe Corridor programme. 

Shafa, who noted that the 

ex-Boko haram members laid 

down arms and surrendered 

to the Nigerien government 

who contacted the federal 

government to take them home, 

said: “We have just delivered 25 

persons, comprising men, women, 

and children.’’ 

“So we have brought them 

home safely and handed them to 

Borno State government for 

onward rehabilitation as part of 

the Operation Safe Corridor deradicalization 

programme. 

“We are using this opportunity 

to encourage those that are still 

in the bush to come out because 

the president of the Federal 

Republic has given them an open 

arm to drop their weapons and 

embrace peace.” 

Borno State Commissioner of 

Women Affairs, who received 

returnees, said the state 

government “will provide them 

with psychosocial support, feed 

Archbishop Augustine Akabueze. 


betrayed the Christ whom they 

praised and sang Hossana for on 

the Palm Sunday. 

He added that the Ash has 

brought the Christians face-toface 

with their sins before Christ. 

The bishop also said that the 

Ash is a reminder, not only to the 

Federal Government that it has 

failed to secure lives and property 

in Nigeria, but also to Christians 

who he said have also failed to be 

the light of the world and bring 

virtuous lifestyles to the society. 

He also explained that from the 

ashes which the faithful would 

return to upon death, they would 

rise to the glory of Christ. 

“Just as God raised Christ from 

the dead, so shall all those united 

with Christ be raised on the last 

day,'' the cleric said. 

Repentant Boko Haram 

members arrive Maiduguri 

from Niger Republic 

them, clothe them, and give some 

form of education and skills 

acquisition.” 

She said a centre had been 

equipped by Borno State 

governor, Babagana Zulum, with 

skills acquisition tools that 

will enable them to gain skills 

“before they are reunited 

with their families.” 

Actions to address 

insecurity in North West 

inadequate — French envoy 

•Stakeholders mull strategies to 

end rural violence in North West 

•Suggests sub-regional approach 

By Soni Daniel 

ABUJA—THE Head of 

Cooperation, Embassy of 

France in Nigeria, Mr. Ellien 

Helios, said yesterday that efforts 

to find sustainable solutions to the 

spate of insecurity in Nigeria, 

particularly in the North West, was 

inadequate, tasking all concerned 

authorities and stakeholders to 

step up actions to effectively define 

and tackle the menace . 

This came as stakeholders 

warned that insecurity might 

escalate to other regions in Nigeria 

and that the country was at risk 

of underdevelopment, food 

shortage, among others, if not 

addressed. 

Helios, who represented the 

Ambassador of France in Nigeria, 

Mr. Jerome Pasquier, made the call 

at a workshop on “Addressing 

Rural Insecurity and Violence in 

North-western Nigeria,” 

convened by Pastoral Reserve 

(PARE) in collaboration with 

Search for Common Ground 

(SFCG), Nextier SPD and the 

French Embassy in Abuja. 

He said the workshop 

presented a unique opportunity 

for stakeholders to develop a 

better understanding of the issues 

and strategise appropriate 

response. 

The envoy said: “There are 

many factors affecting the 

northwest region for years now, 

there are also many actors, but I 

don’t think there is enough being 

done by the actors to have a better 

understanding of the situation 

and try to find some appropriate 

solutions to the insecurity and 

the subsequent sufferings. 

“We have a unique opportunity 

to work and listen to people that 

are gathering the best expertise 

on these issues, so let’s seize this 

opportunity as a starting point to 

get humble, but also develop a 

better understanding of the 

issues, strategise response, 

develop a coordinative approach 

and increase action.” 

Speaking, the Senior Research 

and Policy Lead, Nextier SPD, Dr. 

Ndubuisi Nwokolo, pointed out 

that the insecurity bedevilling the 

north should not be seen as a 

northern problem only, warning 

that the entire nation could bear 

the consequences of collective 

negligence. 

Nwokolo warned that the entire 

country was at risk of food 

shortage due to the unresolved 

insurgency in the north and 

advised that dialogue and a 

regional approach was needed to 

permanently address the problem. 

“A very critical thing that we 

should all know first is that 

Zamfara and the north-western 

states are our food basket, if we 

don’t sort them out, Nigeria will 

face a food security problem. 

He said: ‘’What is happening 

now is that youths are running 

away from communities where 

their skills are needed in 

agriculture, but we find them now 

as ‘Okada riders’ in the cities or 

unemployed because they cannot 

stay in their communities. 

“Why do you think some states 

are banning ‘Okada’ and 

tricycles? So, we need to sort these 

things out, it is better we sit as a 

people and talk about how to solve 

this pockets of conflict, else we 

cannot get out of it. 

‘’If we sort out the northeast 

and we don’t sort out the 

northwest, it will move diagonal 

to that place, so as we are handling 

the northeast, we should be 

talking about the northwest.” 

In the same vein, the Country 

Director SFCG, Mr. Sher Nawaz, 

stressed that what was important 

is to look at the crisis at a regional, 

geographic level and develop a 

regional approach rather than 

focusing on a singular state. 

Meanwhile, the Commissioner, 

Security and Home Affairs in 

Zamfara State, Mr. Mohammed 

Dauran, while giving a brief on 

the experience of the state 

government in addressing rural 

violence and insecurity since 

2011, regretted that banditry 

activities has led to daily loss of 

lives, destruction of properties and 

food insecurity. 

Cultists kill Policeman, injure one in Ikorodu 

By Bose Adelaja 

IKORODU—A 

Police 

Sergeant with Sagamu Road 

Division, Ikorodu, Lagos, Saheed 

Osiefa, has been shot dead, while 

his neighbor is currently 

hospitalised, following gunshots 

received from a group of cultists. 

The incident, which threw 

residents into palpable fear, was 

said to have occurred behind 

Benson bus-stop at about 3pm 

on Tuesday. 

The Sergeant met his 

untimely death after responding 

to a distress call by his neighbour, 

unknown to them that they will 

end up being attacked by the 

cultists. 

Vanguard gathered that the 

neighbour, a businessman, gave 

out a commercial motorcycle on 

hire purchase to a rider, thinking 

that this will yield good profit at 

the end of the day, unknown to 

him that the rider was a cultist. 

He was said to have defaulted 

for two weeks and after several 

warnings, the neighbour sought 

advice from the Sergeant and was 

asked to be on the lookout for 

him. 


motorcycle rider was sighted 

around Benson bus-stop using 

the motorcycle for commercial 

purposes. 

This was said to have infuriated 

the businessman who tried to 

seize the motorcycle but the rider 

struggled with him and this 

almost resulted in a scuffle. 

Immediately, the businessman 

was said to have alerted the police 

sergeant who was rounding off 

the day’s shift at that time and 

was in the station to submit his 

tools. 

Vanguard gathered that he 

requested that the matter be 

officially handled by reporting it 

at the station but due to 

persistent calls from the 

neighbour, he was said to have 

headed for Benson bus-stop 

where the rider had mobilized 

his group members to free him 

and the motorcycle. 

On arrival, the Sergeant 

and his friend reportedly 

combed everywhere in search 

of the suspects, all to no avail 

but on their way to the 

station, they ran into the 

cultists and before they knew 

what was happening, one of 

them, known as Adamu, fired 

some shots at the police 

sergeant and his friend. 


policeman died on the spot, while 

his neighbour sustained 

gunshot wound and is currently 

hospitalised. 

Findings by Vanguard 

revealed that Adamu’s mother 

resides at First gate inwards 

Odogunyan, while Adamu is in 

charge of park activities in the 

area. 

He was said to be one of the 

suspects paraded by Ogun State 

Police Command in 2019 but was 

discharged based on his 

connection with some political big 

wigs in the South-west states.


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•VISIT: From left — Obehi Ojeoga, Corporate Communications and CSR Manager, Oando Plc; Mr 

Eze Anaba, Editor, Vanguard Newspaper; Alero Balogun,Head, Corporate Communications Oando 

Plc; Udochukwu Okoronkwo, Corporate Communications Oando Plc and Mr. Adekunle Adekoya,Deputy 

Editor ,Vanguard Newspaper, during a courtesy visit by Oando Plc Corporate Communication's team 

to Vanguard Head Office, Apapa, Lagos yesterday. Photo: Akeem Salau 

Over 30,000 Nigerian women trafficked to 

African countries as sex slaves — Reps 

*Put NIS, NAPTIP, others on alert 

By Levinus 

Nwabughiogu 

ABUJA —THE House 

of Representatives 

yesterday decried the increasing 

number of Nigerian 

women trafficked to 

neighbouring African 

countries as sex slaves, putting 

the figure at 30,000. 

Besides the number in 

Africa, the House said several 

others were scattered 

around the world in the 

unholy act. 

To this end, the House 

urged personnel of the Nigerian 

Immigration Service, 

NIS at the ports and borders 

of Nigeria to permit 

officials of National Agency 

for the Prohibition of 

Trafficking in Persons, NAP- 

TIP, to operate, spot, identify 

and prevent the illicit 

emigration of potential victims 

to foreign lands. 

The resolution was sequel 

to a motion moved by 

Rimamnde Shawulu 

Kwewum from Adamawa 

State (PDP) and seven others 

at yesterday’s plenary. 

Relying on the statistics 

by NAPTIP, Kwewum, who 

noted that the number was 

alarming, said: 

“The House notes that at 

present, there are several 

tens of thousands of Nigerian 

women who have been 

turned into sex slaves 

around the world. Reports 

in the media show that Nigerian 

women and even 

underage girls, have been 

turned into sex slaves in 

European and several Middle 

East countries: 

“The House is concerned 

that even neighbouring 

West African states which 

depend on Nigeria for their 

well being and security, 

have become notorious in 

maltreating Nigerian women, 

keeping them as sex 

slaves and providing safe 

haven for perpetrators of 

human trafficking; 

“We are aware that the 

National Agency for the Prohibition 

of Trafficking in Persons, 

NAPTIP, has conducted 

several investigations 

DISCOs: No subsidy from FG since 

privatisation 

and discovered that between 

20,000 and 30,000 

Nigerian girls are sex 

slaves, with 50 additional 

girls being added to the list 

every day. 

“Because of increased efforts 

of security agencies, 

traffickers no longer accompany 

their victims to Mali 

but now “waybill” the girls 

through Cotonou. Many 

of the victims were deceived 

by friends and relatives 

to leave Nigeria for 

greener pastures (mostly 

domestic work, hair dressing 

or sales) in Malaysia 

only to discover later that 

they are being used for sex 

trade. 

“Nigerian girls are trafficked 

mainly to the mining 

areas in the South and 

Central part of Mali, but a 

substantial number are trafficked 

to rebel held areas 

in the North of Mali, where 

they stand the risk of being 

radicalized; 

“Some of the victims were 

taken away from Nigeria, 

some in school uniforms 

and are being treated like 

slaves and less than second 

class citizens by Malians 

and their law enforcement 

agencies collect taxes from 

the Nigerian women on a 

weekly basis and force 

them to use condoms; 

“Nigerian women are 

forced by their ‘Madams’ to 

sleep with numerous men, 

without using any protection, 

hence the high incidence 

of sexually transmitted 

diseases and other ailments. 

“The border point between 

Nigeria and Benin 

Republic at Seme-Krake is 

notoriously porous and in 

spite of numerous reports 

and pictures of notorious 

trafficking sent to Nigerian 

security agencies at the border, 

no action has been taken 

to curb the practice. 

“The Nigerian Ambassador 

to Burkina Faso, Ramatu 

Ahmed, alerted that no 

fewer than 10,000 Nigerian 

women, mainly underaged 

girls, are forced into 

prostitution in Ouagadougou 

and other mining 

camps across West Africa.” 

ABUJA — Electricity 

Distribution Companies, 

DISCOs, yesterday, 

declared that they have not 

received any subsidy from 

the Federal Government 

since the power sector was 

privatised in November 

2013. 

The 11 Distribution Companies, 

operating under 

the aegis of Association Nigerian 

Electricity Distributors, 

ANED, insisted 

through a statement by its 

Executive Director, Research 

and Advocacy, Mr. 

Sunday Oduntan, that 

none of the companies ever 

received subsidy from the 

government. 

Apparently reacting to 

the remarks credited to the 

Minister of Power, Mr. 

Saleh Mamman, that the 

Federal Government would 

not continue to subsidise 

the power sector, ANED 

said government only 

made payments to generating 

and gas supply companies. 

Oduntan said: 

“Last week, via various 

news media, we were, once 

again, presented with another 

situation in which our 

electricity distribution, DIS- 

COs, sub-sector was put up 

for public vilification and 

denouncement on information 

that is, largely, not re- 

*Say N1.7trn subsidy for generating, gas companies 

flective of the reality or complexity 

of the Nigerian have been attributed to the 

ments or comments that 

Electricity Supply Industry, Minister of Power via various 

national newspapers 

NESI, value chain. 

“The statements or comments 

behind this recent “That is what we are say- 

on February 20th, 2020. 

media exercise were attributed 

to Mr. Saleh Mam- 

continue to subsidise being. 

Government cannot 

man, the Minister of Power, 

speaking to journalists is that they collect 3,000 

cause what they are doing 

after the Federal Executive megawatts and pay for only 

Council, FEC, meeting. 1,000 megawatts. That is 15 

“As the face of the NESI percent of what they are collecting. 

So, government is 

market, responsible for direct 

interface with the public 

and collecting of all monment. 

To date, the DISCOs 

the one completing the payies 

due to the different players 

in the sector, we readily sidy from the federal gov- 

have not received any sub- 

acknowledge both the inefficiencies 

that our sub-secernment. 

References to the 

N1.7 trillion in subsidies 

tor continues to experience 

paid by the government 

and the pervasive dissatisfaction 

of our customers 

are associated with payments 

that have been made 

to the generating and gas 

with same. 

supply companies, under 

"We will continue to strive 

the Payment Assurance 

to do better. However, it is 

Guarantees, PAG, initiative 

also important that our customers, 

specifically, and ty Market Stabilization 

and the Nigerian Electrici- 

Nigerian citizens, in general, 

be accurately and well “PAG is, principally, a re- 

Fund, NEMSF. 

informed as to the challenges, 

facts and constraints of tory and policy intervensult 

of government regula- 

the NESI value chain, as tionist initiatives that have 

necessary for us to, collectively, 

devise strategies and the NESI value chain to 

resulted in the inability of 

solution that will get us to recover the cost of doing 

the envisioned improved business based, primarily, 

supply of, and service delivery 

of electricity. reflective – an unmet criti- 

on tariffs that are non-cost 

“The following information 

is provided for clarifivatisation 

of the electricity 

cal commitment of the prication 

of some of the state- 

distribution companies." 

GDP growth rate still largely 

below desirable — MAN 

Coronavirus, Lassa Fever: Reps 

want equipment procurement 

powers for Health Ministry 

By Levinus 

Nwabughiogu 

ABUJA — THE House 

of Representatives 

has asked for the restoration 

of equipment procurement 

powers to the Ministry of 

Health to pro-actively tackle 

the menace of Lassa fever 

and coronavirus. 

The House stated that 

the inability of the ministry 

to procure equipment, protective 

personnel gadgets 

and other laboratory and 

logistical equipment/services, 

reagents and drugs was 

seriously hampering the 

efforts of the Federal Government 

to fight and contain 

the coronavirus and 

Lassa fever epidemics. 

Motion to this effect was 

co-moved by Shehu Balarabe 

Kakale, Tanko Sonunu 

LAGOS — THE President, 

Manufacturers 

Association of Nigeria, 

MAN, Mansur Ahmed, 

has said that the 2019 quarter 

four, Q4 GDP though 

positive, was still largely 

below desirable for the nation’s 

economy. 

Ahmed said in a statement 

yesterday in Lagos, 

said the real GDP growth 

rate was impressive, in view 

of the fact that the 4th quarter 

record represented the 

highest quarterly growth 

performance since the 

2016. 

“But it is still largely below 

the desirable because 

the 2.55 per cent growth is 

still below the population 

growth rate of 2.6 percent. 

“The full year figure of the 

real GDP of 2.27 per cent 

in 2019 when compared 

with the 1.91 per cent of 

2018 reveals a promising 

but cautious improvement 

of economic performance. 

“This is encouraging, especially 

because it obviously 

surpassed the 2.1 per 

cent projections of the IMF 

apparently due to the usual 

heavy seasonal activities 

transaction,” he said. 

He, however, expressed 

doubt about its sustainability 

in the coming quarters 

due to unfriendly operating 

environment. 

“This doubt will be overcome 

if government ensures 

that its Ease of Doing Business 

reforms reduce the cost 

of doing business. 

“This will result in a real 

GDP growth that may again 

surpass the 2.0 per cent projection 

for 2020,” he said. 

Ahmed further said that 

development showed that 

the sector was still struggling 

on the 0.14 per cent 

growth of the manufacturing 

sector in Q4 of 2019. 

“This is not too good for 

an economy that will soon 

be exposed to the vagaries 

of the Africa Continental 

Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, 

that will commence in July 

2020. It also re-emphasised 

the need for government to 

continue to address the perennial 

issues hindering 

performance of real sector to 

guarantee improved performance 

and sustained 

growth,” he said. 

and Babatunde Adejare at 

plenary yesterday. 

Moving the motion, 

Kakale noted that the federal 

government has proactively 

provided or released 

huge sums of money 

amounting to about 

N386m for the effort. 

He, however, expressed 

concern that basic protective 

equipment as face 

masks, thermal scanners 

and gloves were rapidly 

depletingand going out of 

stock in the ministry. 

He said: “The House is 

also concerned that all procurement 

issues of one 

mandated ministry are going 

to another ministry, in 

this case, Agriculture, 

which means outright violation 

of the Procurement 

Act, and therefore illegal." 

Dangote Cement proposes 

N16 dividend to shareholders 

FOLLOWING its im 

proved performance, 

the board of directors of 

Dangote Cement Plc has 

proposed a final dividend 

of N16 per share subject to 

ratification by the shareholders 

at the coming Annual 

General Meeting 

(AGM). 

According to the full year 

report released on the floor 

of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, 

Dangote Cement 

Plant, Mtwara, Tanzania, 

recorded an increase of 94 

percent increase in volume 

within the review period. 

Dangote Cement Plant, 

Pout, Senegal put up a remarkable 

performance with 

sales up more than 100 

percent of rated capacity. 

Speaking on the result, 

Group Chief Executive Officer, 

Dangote Cement, Joe 

Makoju, said: “Dangote 

Cement maintained strong 

financial performance despite 

a low growth environment, 

pricing pressure and 

increasing competition in 

key markets. The Nigerian 

operations maintained 

volume and revenue performance 

in a challenging 

environment. Export sales 

were affected by the border 

closure in the second half 

of 2019. Looking ahead, I 

expect an increase in volumes 

in 2020 as we commence 

clinker exports via 

shipping from Nigeria. 

Pan-Africa volumes were 

slightly up notably supported 

by Tanzania and Senegal. 

I am glad to report that 

Tanzania contributed positively 

at EBITDA level. In 

2020, I believe Dangote 

Cement will see an increase 

in profitability in Pan-Africa 

driven by higher volumes 

and further efficiency 

improvements.


:Vanguard 

News 

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

RECONSTRUCTION—Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun (operating the tractor), with 

Commissioner for Works, Engineer Ade Akinsanya (on the governor's left), during the flag-off and 

turning of sod of Ijebu-Ode/Epe road reconstruction, yesterday. 

UCH medical consultants down tools over 

mandatory PhD certificate 

By Ola Ajayi 

I BADAN—MEDICAL 

consultants in the 

University College 

Hospital, Ibadan, 

yesterday, embarked on an 

indefinite strike to protest 

a circular which prescribed 

acquisition of PhD for 

clinical lecturers in 

Nigerian universities. 

The consultants, under 

the auspices of Medical 

and Dental Consultants’ 

Association of Nigeria, said 

the mandatory PhD was not 

in tandem with what 

operates in the developed 

world. 

The circular which was 

dated December 24, 2019, 

addressed to vicechancellors 

of all Nigeria 

universities and the 

registrar of National 

Postgraduate Medical 

College of Nigeria, showed 

that PhD programmes shall 

be introduced in the clinical 

sciences in the university 

system. 

Led by their Chairman, 

Dr. Dare Olulana, the 

medical experts, said 

having tried other options 

which yielded no fruitful 

results, they had to down 

tools. 

Olulana said: “It is 

ancient logic that efficiency 

is compromised whenever 

the cart is placed before the 

horse. This is what the 

obnoxious NUC circular on 

PhD for clinical lecturers in 

Nigeria universities that 

were released represents. 

“This justifiably provoked 

sufficient upset for us to call 

an emergency meeting of 

our association in Abuja on 

January 4. MDCAN met 

again two weeks later in 

Port Harcourt and following 

extensive deliberations, a 

21-day ultimatum was 

issued to NUC to withdraw 

the circular but sadly, our 

demand was ignored. 

“Consequently, we are 

left with no further choice 

than to withdraw our 

services from the 

universities with 

immediate effect. We 

resolve to comply with the 

directive of our national 

body to embark on 

indefinite withdrawal of our 

services from the College 

of Medicine, UI.” 

S-West pushes for establishment of Devt 

Commission ...as bill passes second reading at Reps 

By Levinus 

Nwabughiogu 

ABUJA—A bill for the 

establishment of South 

West Development 

Commission, SWDC, 

yesterday, passed for 

second reading at the 

House of Representatives. 

By this passage, the next 

stage for the bill is a public 

hearing. 

The bill, titled: “A Bill for 

An Act to Establish the 

South West Development 

Commission Bill 2020 and 

Other Related Matters (HB 

597),” is sponsored by Mr. 

Femi Fakeye from Osun 

State. 

The Bill, co-sponsored by 

Nkiru Onyejiocha and 79 

others, is essential to tackle 

ecological problems and 

other related environmental 

and developmental 

challenges in the region. 

Fakaye, who led the 

debate, yesterday, at the 

plenary, said the bill has 33 

sections. 

Defending the bill, 

Fakaye recalled the 

creation of regional 

governments at Nigeria’s 

independence, noting that 

the South West at the 

moment needed to revive 

its infrastructures. 

He said: “The country has 

evolved into a political 

structure that consists of 36 

states and one Federal 

Capital Territory, all 

constitutionally 

I B A D A N — 

GOVERNOR Seyi 

Makinde of Oyo State, 

yesterday, disclosed that his 

administration has been 

following the laudable 

steps already taken by the 

Independent Corrupt 

Practices and other Related 

Offences Commission, 

ICPC, in deepening the 

anti-corruption war, 

especially, the setting up of 

the Anti-Corruption 

Monitoring Units, ACTUs, 

summarized into 6 

geopolitical zones. Even as 

Nigeria remains a united 

political entity, it is a country 

with a plethora of 

socioeconomic challenges 

that have turned out to be 

more damning and 

daunting, six decades after 

independence. 

“For one, Nigeria’s multiethnic 

population has 

ballooned to an estimated 

200 million, but so have the 

country’s socio-economic 

challenges multiplied, 

manifesting unsavory, 

unintended consequences, 

all of which are equalopportunity 

retardants in 

our post-military 

democracy.” 

He also noted the 

growing population of the 

zone, saying it needed 

some special budgetary 

allocations. 

We're deepening anti-graft war in Oyo —Makinde 

By Adeola Badru and the inclusive 

budgeting process. 

The governor, who was 

represented by the 

Secretary to the State 

Government, SSG, Mrs. 

Olubanwo Adeosun, made 

the disclosure, at the 

commissioning of the 

commission’s state office 

complex, along Old Airport 

Road, Samonda, Ibadan. 

Makinde said: “As you 

must have been aware, the 

fight against corruption is 

one that is taken seriously 

by the current 

administration in Oyo 

State. 

“That was why I 

specifically told members of 

the 9th Oyo State Assembly 

at a dinner preceding their 

inauguration that one of 

the first bills I would send 

to them was the Oyo State 

Anti-corruption bill. 

“As a state government, 

we are following the 

laudable steps already 

taken by the ICPC in 

deepening the anticorruption 

war, especially, 

the setting up of the Anti- 

Abiodun flags off reconstruction 

of Ijebu-Ode/Epe road 

By James 

Ogunnaike 

A BEOKUTA— 

GOVERNOR Dapo 

Abiodun of Ogun State, 

yesterday, flagged off the 

reconstruction of Ijebu 

Ode-Epe road, reiterating 

the commitment of his 

administration to provide 

infrastructure in all border 

communities in the State. 

Abiodun said provisions 

of necessary infrastructure 

in border communities 

would bring relief and 

succour to the people living 

in those areas and 

engender socio-economic 

development of the people 

and the State. 

He recalled that on 

assumption of office in May 

2019, one of his promises 

was to provide adequate 

infrastructure in all parts of 

the State. 

He said: “It is very painful 

that our people at these 

border communities see 

people on the other sides 

of the border enjoying the 

same dividends of 

democracy that had 

seemed elusive to them. 

“Indeed, in the course of 

the campaign, I made a 

specific promise that our 

administration would 

rehabilitate and reconstruct 

the Ogun State segment of 

Ijebu Ode – Epe Road to 

By Dirisu Yakubu 

ABUJA—TWO factions 

of the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, in 

Ogun State, yesterday, 

reconciled and pledged to 

forge a common front in the 

interest of the party. 

The two factions, led by 

Senator Buruji Kashamu 

and Mr. Ladi Adebutu 

buried the hatchet at the 

party’s national secretariat, 

Abuja at a press conference 

attended by members of the 

party’s National Working 

Committee, NWC, 

including the national 

chairman, Prince Uche 

Secondus. 

Corruption Monitoring Units, 

ACTUs, and the inclusive 

budgeting process. 

“That is why we are not 

mincing words on this issue and 

that is the reason I have offered 

to wave my own immunity if there 

is any reason to call me to 

question.” 

In their separate remarks, the 

Chairman, Senate Committee 

on Anti-corruption and Financial 

Crimes, Senator Suleiman Kwari, 

and the Chairman, House 

Committee on Anti-corruption, 

Mr. Sheu Garba, maintained that 

Nigerians must consider the fight 

against corruption as a personal 

cause. 

bring relief and succour to 

our people and engender 

socio-economic 

development of our state. 

“ I am delighted that 

today’s event is yet another 

instance of promises made 

and promises kept. As a 

Government that places a 

premium on character and 

integrity, we will continue 

to keep all our promises”. 

While directing that the 

construction company 

should ensure that 50 

percent of the workforce is 

sourced from the 

community, the governor 

reiterated his 

administration readiness to 

reduce challenges being 

faced by the residents of the 

border areas of the state. 

He said: “Today’s event 

of the turn of the Ijebu-Ode- 

Mojoda-Epe 14km Road is, 

therefore, a symbolic 

testimony of our 

Administration’s 

commitment towards 

creating an enduring 

economy of our dear State 

and ensuring the well 

being and welfare of all the 

people of Ogun State. 

"The governor also 

promised to sustain the 

Public-Private-Partnership, 

PPP, Agenda “and a robust 

approach to good 

governance that is allinclusive 

and participatory.” 

Ogun PDP’s factions mend fences 

Narrating how the feud 

affected the fortunes of the 

party in the past, Mr. 

Adebutu expressed joy that 

issues of conflicts have now 

been laid to rest. 

He said: “The chapter of 

the party in Ogun State had 

been embroiled in conflicts 

for 12 years. So, a chapter 

that had 100 per cent of all 

the elective positions in the 

state has now moved to a 

party that only has one out 

of the 40 elective positions. 

“In these 12 years, we 

have had two parallel 

executives in the state that 

have not always worked 

together. This cumulated in 

a situation where in the last 

election when the party 

produced me as the 

candidate of the party, the 

other faction had another 

candidate. At the end of the 

day, unfortunately, we lost 

the election woefully.” 

Addressing the NWC, 

Adebutu said: “It is my 

pleasure by the grace of 

God to now present to you 

the state working 

committee of the other 

faction. Our own faction has 

been at peace and we have been 

recognized by the national 

working committee of the party. 

And to the glory of God today, I 

am happy to present to you the 

Secretary of the Ogun faction of 

the PDP, Mr. Semiu Sodipo."


:Vanguard News 

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

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri, Dirisu 

Yakubu 

ABUJA—THE Supreme 

Court, yesterday, declined 

to reverse its judgment 

that sacked David 

Lyon and Degi-Eremieoyo 

as governor and deputygovernor 

elect of Bayelsa 

State. 

The apex court, in a unanimous 

decision by a sevenman 

panel of Justices 

headed by Justice Sylvester 

Ngwuta, dismissed the 

two different applications 

that sought to set-aside the 

judgment it delivered 

against Lyon and his deputy 

on February 13. 

Meanwhile, the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, 

lauded the apex 

court for upholding the 

election of Senator Duoye 

Diri as governor of Bayelsa 

State. 

In the lead decision by 

Justice Amina Augie, the 

apex court, described the 

fresh applications that were 

filed by Lyon, his deputy 

and the All Progressive 

Congress, APC, as "highly 

vexatious, frivolous and 

gross abuse of the judicial 

process." 

She held that the applications 

were aimed at "desecrating 

the sanctity of the 

court," stressing that it was 

an invitation for the Supreme 

Court to sit on appeal 

over its final judgment. 

Justice Augie said, "It is 

clear that the two applications 

lack merit and constituted 

an abuse of court process." 

She said there was no 

doubt that the applications 

were aimed to review a final 

judgment of the apex 

court, in violation of Order 

8 Rule 2 of the Supreme 

Court Act. 

Why S-Court refused to reverse its 

judgment in Bayelsa 

• Awards N60m cost against Lyon, Degi-Eremieoyo, APC, lawyers 

• Bayelsa: PDP commends S/Court, insists on IMO 

• S’Court averted a catastrophe in Bayelsa — Dickson 

Justice Augie stressed 

that the use of the mandatory 

word "Shall" in the said 

Order 8, was an indication 

that such application for 

review of final judgment of 

the court was bound to fail. 

"The court is not authorised 

and lacks the jurisdiction 

to review its judgment," 

she held, adding that the 

applicants failed to either 

show that there was any 

clerical error, accidental slip 

or commission, or that any 

aspect of the judgment 

needed to be varied. 

She said the sole aim of 

the applicants was to setaside 

"operative and substantive 

parts of the judgment," 

despite the provision 

of section 235 of the 1999 

constitution, as amended, 

that gave the Supreme 

Court the final say in every 

appeal. 

"Once this court has finally 

determined an issue, it 

is functus-officio. It is final 

forever, only legislation can 

alter it. It is final for all ages. 

No force on earth can get 

this court to shift its position 

on Bayelsa matter," she 

held. 

She said even if the apex 

court was minded to review 

its judgment, there was no 

guarantee that the PDP and 

its candidates would not 

also file their own application 

for a review. 

"There must be an end to 

litigation to ensure certainty 

in the law. There must 

be finality to decision of the 

court." 

Justice Augie held that if 

the applications were not 

dismissed, "every disaffected 

litigant will bring appeals 

ad-infinitum. This 

must not be allowed." 

She expressed disappointed 

that counsel to the 

applicants, being senior 

members of the legal profession, 

encouraged their 

clients to desecrate the 

sanctity of the apex court. 

Consequently, Justice 

Augue awarded a cost of 

N10million each against 

Lyon, Degi-Eremieoyo and 

APC, to be paid in favour 

of Governor Diri, his deputy, 

Lawrence Ewhruojakpo 

and the PDP. 

She ordered that the cost 

should be personally paid 

by lawyers to all the applicants. 

PDP commends S/Court, 

insists on Imo 

Meanwhile, the PDP, yesterday, 

lauded the apex 

court for upholding the 

election of Diri as governor 

of Bayelsa State, as it accused 

the APC, of mounting 

pressure on the apex 

court "to restrain itself from 

reversing the judgment on 

the Imo State governorship 

election despite obvious 

mistakes in that judgment, 

which is now threatening 

the stability of our nation." 

PDP spokesman, Kola 

Ologbondiyan in a statement, 

said "The party, 

which hailed Wednesday‘s 

(yesterday) verdict of the 

Supreme Court on Bayelsa, 

however, noted that the 

elements and grounds for 

the demands by the PDP 

and majority of Nigerians 

for the reversal of Imo 

State governorship election 

judgment are completely 

different from 

Edo 2020: Security agencies express concern 

over spate of violence 

By Ozioruva Aliu 

BENIN CITY — IN 

what looked like a case 

of abandonment, security 

agencies after a log silence 

yesterday, expressed concern 

over the security situation 

in Edo State, saying 

what started like political 

differences has degenerated 

to disruption of meetings 

and shockingly to the 

use of explosives on private 

residences and urged politicians 

to play by the rule 

of the game as the world 

watches the tate governorship 

election. 

The security agencies 

made up of the police, Department 

of State Services, 

DSS, Nigerian Security 

and Civil Defence Corps, 

NSCDC, other sister security 

agencies and para-military 

groups stated this at a 

stakeholders meeting 

which also had politicians 

in attendance. 

They expressed concern 

that the level of violence 

was capable of scaring 

away investors wishing to 

come to the state and that 

international organisations 

such as the African Union, 

European Union, the United 

States, Britain and others 

who are preparing to 

come and monitor the election 

were becoming apprehensive 

on the development 

in the state. 

Declaring the stakeholders 

meeting open, state 


Lawal Jimeta flanked by 

heads of security agenciees, 

including the Zonal 

Director of the DSS, advised 

politician to solve political 

problems politically 

so that the security agencies 

could invest their resources 

on security challenges 

facing the state. 

He said, "A tumultuous 

situation will scare away 

development. We are concerned 

about certain developments 

that happened in 

the state. These include but 

not limited to thuggery, lawlessness 

and the recent development 

involving the 

use of explosives. 

"The use of explosives is 

definitely a worrisome development 

not only in Edo 

State but all over the country. 

So, it is our responsibility 

as security operatives to 

ensure that these ugly situations 

are not repeated. 

We can only do so by meeting 

with the stakeholders, 

so that you can talk to 

your supporters that violence 

does not bring any 

development and does 

not guarantee political success. 

Violence can only 

bring destruction and 

hardship to the people. 

We want to say categorically 

that peace and security 

of this state will remain 

professionally in our 

hands. We will ensure 

that anybody that breaks 

the law is brought to 

book," he said. 

He said on their part , 

they would ensure that 

they are truthful and professional 

in whatever they 

do to ensure that there is 

peace and security in Edo 

State. 

"We therefore, warn mischief 

and troublemakers to 

leave Edo state or to live 

peacefully in the state.” 

On his part, the DSS 

Chief, Mohammed Wariri, 

said "From intelligence 

point of view, the indicators 

in the state are very 

frightening. As the CP 

said, it started like a child 

play with disruption of 

meetings and developed 

into mega disruptions and 

unfortunately, physical 

attacks on peoples’ residences 

with arms and 

IEDs. 

"But worse still, we have 

intelligence of mobilisations 

from even neighbouring 

states of Kogi, 

Bayelsa, Delta of individuals 

who can come and 

cause mayhem within the 

state. We have information 

which is in the public domain, 

Edo is the next in 

line in the series of election 

in the country. The 

entire world is watching. 

Edo is on the watch of the 

international community 

already, the EU, the AU, 

the Americans, the British 

are all coming around expressing 

their fears. Even 

foreign investors and local 

investors are expressing 

these fears.‘‘ 

those of Bayelsa. 

"The PDP’s demand on 

Imo is not in any way in 

contestation of the authority 

and finality of the Supreme 

Court but a patriotic 

effort to assist the Supreme 

Court affirm its infallibility 

by correcting the 

inherent mistakes in the 

judgment which came as 

a result of misleading presentation 

to it by the APC. 

"It is therefore, instructive 

to note that the various 

election matters before 

the Supreme Court 

were brought on clearly 

distinctive grounds and 

each should be treated on 

its merit before the law. 

"The only reason APC 

was pushing for a review 

of the Supreme Court’s 

valid and flawless judgment 

on the Bayelsa and 

Zamfara governorship 

elections was to cause 

confusion and blackmail 

the Supreme Court from 

treating the Imo case on 

merit. 

"Our grounds for the reversal 

of Imo judgment 

are unambiguously constitutional 

and completely 

distinct from APC’s attempt 

to blackmail the 

Supreme Court with their 

demands on the Bayelsa 

and Zamfara states governorship 

election. 

"We therefore, urged the 

Supreme Court not to succumb 

to the threats and 

blackmail by APC to push 

it to restrain itself from 

looking at the merit of the 

Imo case, correcting the 

mistakes and reversing 

the flawed judgment." 

S’ Court averted a 

catastrophe in Bayelsa 

Also, immediate past 

governor of Bayelsa, Mr 

Seriake Dickson has said 

that the historical verdict 

of the nation‘s apex court 

on the Bayelsa governorship 

dispute only averted 

a catastrophe that was 

waiting to erupt in the 

state. 

VERDICT: 

Governor of Bayesla 

State, Senator 

Duoye Diri addressing 

pressmen shortly 

after the Supreme 

Court judgment in 

Abuja. Photo: Gbemiga 

Olamikan 

In a statement by his 

media aide, Mr Fidelis 

Soriwei, Dickson said, 

“Today (yesterday), I 

want to give God all the 

glory who has vindicated 

me, the loyal leaders 

of the party, the dignity 

and integrity of the electorate 

of Bayelsa because 

the Supreme Court has 

averted a major catastrophe, 

a disaster that was 

waiting to happen. 

“We also want to thank 


which despite the direct 

and indirect harassments, 

intimidations and 

propaganda, for upholding 

and defending the 

constitution and the 

rights of the oppressed 

people of our nation. 

“I commend the judiciary 

again, particularly, 

their Lordships, My 

Lord, the Chief Justice of 

the Federation and all 

my Lords, the Justices of 

the Supreme Court for 

standing by our nation‘s 

democracy. All the cry for 

a review was an attempt 

to compromise, intimidate 

and destroy the judiciary 

of our country.” 

Court only affirmed 

God's judgment 

Meanwhile, Governor 

Diri, yesterday, said Supreme 

Court ruling was 

only affirmation of God's 

judgement, which paved 

the way for him to emerge 

victorious. 

A statement by his acting 

Chief Press Secretary, 

Mr Daniel Alabrah, the 

governor said, "Once 

again, I describe myself 

as a miracle governor. So 

the Supreme Court just 

affirmed the judgment of 

the Almighty God, who 

made it possible for me to 

become the governor of 

Bayelsa State. 

"For me, there is no victor 

no vanquished as the 

victory is for all Bayelsans. 

It is not a winner takes all. 

"My message is that of 

reconciliation as I will run 

an all-inclusive government. 

Let everyone that is 

aggrieved sheathe their 

swords. Let us think about 

Bayelsa first and ourselves 

last. By this judgement, 

it is clear the final 

hurdle has been cleared."


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

PRESS CONFAB: From left—Tokunbo Habeeb, Lagos State Coordinator, Raw Materials Research and 

Development Council; Ahmed Mansur, President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN; 

Oranu Chris Chidume, Chairman, Corporate Affairs and Strategy Planning Committee, MAN, and 

Ambrose Oruche, Ag. DG, during the Press conference for the 2020 Nigeria Manufacturing and 

Equipment Expo, in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Akeem Salau. 

Council of Ulama rejects Ganduje's ban 

on street begging 

By Abdulmumin 

Murtala 

K ANO—KANO 

Council of Ulama 

has rejected Governor 

Abdullahi Ganduje's ban on 

street begging by Almajiris 

across the state, saying it is 

not feasible. 

Briefing newsmen, 

yesterday, in Kano, 

Chairman of the Council 

Sheikh Ibrahim Khaleel 

said, “To us at the Council 

of Ulama, the government 

cannot do it and is not 

serious about it. They are 

just doing it to appease 

their masters abroad, or get 

their money or some kind 

of noise making. Or they 

might have been accused 

of something from 

somewhere for which they 

simply organised a 

ceremony and that is all. 

That is our opinion. The 

government is not serious 

and cannot do it because 

it has not taken the right 

steps to it. 

“The right steps to follow 

in banning street begging 

include firstly, the Quranic 

clerics involved have to be 

identified. Because there 

are street beggars who are 

Quranic students, there are 

beggars who are sent by 

their parents from the rural 

areas to come and be 

begging in the urban areas, 

there is also begging 

engaged in by some 

physically challenged 

individuals. All these forms 

of street beggars need to be 

identified and each one be 

addressed accordingly. But 

they have not done that. 

“So, for the ban to work 

there has to be a 

cooperation between the 

government and the 

Quranic clerics. You have 

to sit with them and 

understand why they 

engage in begging, get 

some statistics, know the 

total number of those 

engaging in street begging 

among them. If you identify 

all these, it is then that you 

will come to know exactly 

beggars that are not 

Almajiris Quranic students. 

More so, you cannot stop 

By Demola 

Akinyemi 

ILORIN—THE crisis 

rocking the ruling All 

Progressives Congress, 

APC, in Kwara State has 

taken a dangerous 

dimension as the state 

chairman of the party, 

Bashir Bolarinwa and other 

members of the state 

working committee have 

been attacked by 

suspected thugs at Shao 

town in Moro local 

government area of the 

state. 

Vanguard gathered they 

were attacked on Tuesday. 

The state chairman and 

other members of the 

executives with other party 

faithful who were on 

“Thank you” visit to the 

area were attacked by the 

hoodlums who had laid 

ambush for them. 

Governor Abdulrahman 

Abdulrazaq in a reaction to 

the development through 

his Chief press secretary, 

Rafiu Ajakaye, condemned 

the attack and urged the 

police to fish out the 

attackers. 

Vanguard gathered that 

the party chieftains had to 

abandon the bus 

conveying them and ran 

into the bush to escape 

being attacked as all the 

begging in the state 

without joining hands with 

the neighbouring states.. 

“If you recall there was 

the case of a man who just 

sent three of his children to 

the city to be begging for 

sustenance because he 

wanted to place his new 

wife in the room they were 

occupying. You can see that 

these kids are not 

necessarily Almajiris or 

Quranic pupils. Therefore 

you need statistics of the 

real situation, know the 

total number of the Quranic 

teachers, the total number 

of the Quranic schools and 

their pupils, know exactly 

who the real Almajiris are 

first. You will then know 

their needs understand 

their problems and then 

proffer the right solutions. 

You can decide to cater for 

them or send them back to 

their homes. But you have 

not conducted all these.” 

Kwara APC chairman, others attacked by thugs 

window screens of the 

vehicle were badly 

damaged. 

Confirming the 

development, the state vice 

chairman of the party, 

Sunday Oyebiyi, who was 

among the victims 

described the attack as 

unfortunate, saying it 

could lead to disintegration 

of the party in the state. 

Speaking at a briefing in 

Ilorin, Timothy said the 

attack was least expected 

Polio: Dangote, Bill Gates give 

Kano Public Health Care 

system pass mark 

Nasarawa Assembly goes 

tough on contractors 

By David Odama 

L 

A F I A — 

NASARAWA State House 

of Assembly, yesterday 

warned contractors 

handling the construction 

and renovation of primary 

school projects in the state 

against substandard work. 

Chairman, House 

Committee on Education, 

Science and Technology, 

Daniel Oga Ogazi, gave 

the warning when he led 

other members of the 

committee on an 

assessment visit to ongoing 

construction and 

renovation of primary 

schools in Nasarawa South 

El-Rufai takes soft stand on Durbar Hotel 

By Ibrahim 

Hassan 

KADUNA—AS the 

controversy 

surrounding the moribund 

Durbar Hotel Kaduna 

rages on, a Kaduna High 

Court yesterday ,was 

told that Governor Nasiru 

Ahmed el-Rufai and other 

government agencies had 

complied with the court 

order asking the governor 

and his agents to keep 

off erom the Hotel, owned 

by the family of late Head 

of State, General Sani 

Abacha. 

It will be recalled that the 

hotel was demolished 

recently on the orders of the 

state government. 

The court had earlier 

saying: ”Police permit was 

sought and got for the 

planned tour of the 16 local 

government areas of the 

state, even though some 

members of the party loyal 

to the governor stood 

against it.” 

Oyebiyi, who is also zonal 

chairman, (Kwara North) of 

the party said that 

“members of the party are 

eagerly waiting for 

outcome of intervention 

being done by elders of the 

party into the crisis. 

•Parties seeks out-of-court settlement 

adjourned to February 26 

for the report on 

compliance with its order 

by governor el-Rufai and 

government officials. 

At the resumed hearing, 

counsel to the 

management of the hotel, 

Mr. Reuben Atabor, 

informed the court that, “We 

had a meeting in the office 

of the Attorney General of 

the State, AGS, yesterday 

(Tuesday). We have started 

talking in amicable way. 

Two, your Lordship, the 

court order has been 

complied with. No more 

presence of government 

officials and its agencies on 

the property. We wish to 

request for another date to 

By Abdulmumin 

Murtala 

KANO—BOTH Aliko 

Dangote and Bill 

Gates have given a pass 

mark to the Public Health 

Care, PHC system of Kano 

state as well as the 

successes achieved by the 

state in the fight against 

polio through routine 

immunization. 

Dangote made the 

remark during the 2019 

End of Year Health System 

Strengthening Program 

Review Meeting, held via 

Skype, at Government 

House, Kano, Tuesday 

night. 

He said: “Kano has made 

a lot of deliberate efforts to 

ensure community 

engagement gains from 

Polio, Routine 

Immunization are 

maintained, as we transit to 

integrated Public Health 

Centre service delivery 

across the whole state; It is 

therefore good to hear 

bring back progress report 

of settlement to the court”. 

Counsel to the State 

government, Mr. Sanusi 

Usman, who is the Director 

of Litigation in the State 

ministry of Justice, 

confirmed the information 

by Mr. Atabo, saying, “I 

agreed with the position of 

Mr. Atabo”. 

Consequently, the 

presiding Judge, Justice 

Hannatu Balogun, fixed 

April 7, to hear progress 

report of settlement by the 

parties involved. 

The court had fixed 

February 11 to receive 

report whether or not 

Kaduna State governor, 

Nasir El-rufai and other 

community linkage 

strengthening being 

highlighted as area to 

prioritize during the last 

PHC summit”. 

“On the financing and 

financial management, it is 

good that the state has 

sustained its record of 

timely retirement of funds 

in the health system, 

strengthening program but 

would like to encourage the 

team to review the current 

approach to monitor timely 

implementation of work 

plan and utilisation of 

programme funds for 

impact. 

“I will not relent but 

continue to talk about 

program data. I therefore, 

will like to encourage Kano 

to develop and implement 

data quality improvement 

plan at all health facilities 

that connect to LGA, Zone, 

and State mentoring plans; 

and also be sure that the 

plans don’t only address 

capacity gaps, but also work 

to improve behaviours 

around data inflation” 

Senatorial district under 

SUBEB office. 

Oga Ogazi, who 

represents Kokona East 

constituency said that the 

committee would not leave 

any stone unturned to 

ensure that contractors 

execute projects according 

to specifications, noting 

that a situation where 

a contractor used dead 

stones in construction of a 

S c h o o l 

project, while contractors 

would not carry out renovation 

work but just paint school 

structure, is not acceptable. 

“We are here on an on the spot 

assessment of the new 

construction and renovation of 

classrooms across the state 

awarded by the SUBEB office." 

agents of the State 

government had complied 

with court order, restraining 

them from demolishing 

and taking over the Durbar 

hotel. 

Usman had told the 

court that the State 

government had handed 

off the disputed hotel soon 

after the demolition, and as 

such no government agent 

could be seen at the site. 

He however, said those 

found on the property were, 

“Scavengers who are there 

to see what they can get 

from the property. 

“The presence of large 

number of scavengers 

attracted security agencies 

who went there to keep 

peace.”


:Vanguard :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 

CONFERENCE: From left—Dr Saheed Timeyin, Department of Foreign Languages, Lagos 

State University, ACP Adebowale Oni; Representative of Commissioner of Police, Abuja, 

Mr. Kamil Kemanci, President, Ufuk Dialogue Foundation, Engr. Sulaiman Abu-Naola; 

Chief Imam of Lagos, Prof Olalekan Amidu Sani, Vice Chancellor Fountain University; Dr 

Folashade Toyin Kehinde; Bishop Steven Ogedengbe and others, during the 5th International 

Conference on Love and Tolerance organise by Ufuk Dialogue Foundation in Abuja. 

Court restrains FG from deducting 

Rivers funds on Mbede, Akiri oil wells 

A 

BUJA—A Federal 

High Court sitting in 

Abuja, has restrained the 

Federal Government and 

her agencies from deducting 

funds meant for Rivers 

State in respect of the Mbede 

and Akiri oil wells. 

Trial judge, Justice Tawo 

Tawo yesterday, made the 

order, while ruling in the 

suit the Attorney General 

of Rivers State against the 

Attorney General of the 

Federation, the Attorney 

General of Imo State, Accountant 

General of the 

Federation ,Revenue Mobilisation, 

Allocation and 

Fiscal Commission and the 

Minister of Finance . 

The Attorney General of 

Rivers State moved the 

Originating Summons : 

“Pursuant to order 3 Rule 

6, 7, and 9 of the Federal 

High (Civil Procedures) 

Rules 2019 Section 7 of the 

National Boundary Commission 

(Establishment) 

Act Section 162 of the constitution 

of the Federal Republic 

of Nigeria 1999 (as 

amended) and the inherent 

jurisdiction of the Federal 

High Court as preserved 

by Section 6 (6) of 

the 1999 Constitution.” 

The immediate past Imo 

State governor, Emeka Ihedioha 

had written to the 

President demanding revenue 

from the Federal Account 

in respect of the Mbede 

and Akiri oil wells. The 

Rivers State Government 

went to court over the matter. 

The court declared that 

Rivers State Government 

was entitled to continue to 

receive and retain revenue 

from the Federation Account 

and other accounts 

maintained for the purpose 

in respect of revenue derived 

from oil wells within 

the territory of Rivers State 

based on the 13percent 

By Innocent 

Anaba 

A leading BUJA—SEVEN 

civil society 

organisations in the country 

have petitioned the National 

Human Rights Commission, 

NHRC, over the 

three anti-media, anti free 

speech bills before the National 

Assembly, arguing 

that the bills seek to curtail 

constitutionally guaranteed 

rights of Nigerians. 

They are urging NHRC 

to issue an advisory to the 

executive and legislature 

on the inconsistencies of 

such legislations with constitutionally 

guaranteed 

human rights and international 

human rights norms 

to which Nigeria is a state 

party. 

The groups, Amnesty International, 

Nigeria; Centre 

for Information Technology 

and Development; Girl 

Child Africa; Enough is 

Enough; Say No Campaign 

Nigeria; Spaces for 

Change; and Yiaga Africa 

in the petition, said “ As a 

group, we are concerned 

with these deliberate attempts 

by the state to close 

the democratic space and 

prevent every person from 

exercising their constitu- 

derivation formula currently 

applied by the 4th defendant. 

The court further declared 

that the Rivers State Government 

(plaintiff on record) 

was entitled to receive and 

retain revenue from the Federal 

Account as provided for 

under the 1999 Constitution 

(as amended) in respect of 

revenue drive from the oil 

wells generally referred to 

as Akiri and Mbede oil 

wells located within the Rivers 

State territory. 

Justice Tawo held that the 

President and the Government 

of Nigeria, represented 

by the 1st defendant on 

record, were not entitled to 

give directives to the 4th 

defendant with regard to 

distribution of public revenue 

from the distributiable 

pool account, including the 

Federal Account and that 

they are not entitled to interfere 

in any manner 

whatsoever with the distribution 

of public revenue 

from the distributable pool 

account, including the Federation 

Account. 

The Court held that the 

Government of Imo State 

(represented by the 2nd 

Defendant) is not entitled 

to alter or cause to be altered 

, to deny or cause to 

be denied, whether 

through the instrumentality 

of the President of the 

Federal Republic of Nigeria 

or the Government of the 

Federal Rebulic of Nigeria 

(represented by the 1st Defendant) 

or any manner 

howsoever the revenue due 

to the Rivers State Government 

in accordance with the 

principle and formula for 

distributing public revenue 

for the time being 

under the Constitution of 

the Federal Republic of 

Nigeria. 

CSOs petition NHRC over 3 anti-media, antifree 

speech bills at NASS 

tionally guaranteed rights. 

In addition to these bills, 

NGOs have come under 

serious attacks by the government 

for providing 

oversight on public governance 

and defending citizens’ 

rights. 

“We are of the firm view 

that the Protection from Internet 

Falsehood and Manipulation 

Bill (‘Social 

Media Bill’) is not reasonably 

justifiable in a democratic 

society, even though 

the government’s purpose 

may be legitimate and substantial, 

that purpose cannot 

be pursued by means 

that broadly stifle fundamental 

personal liberties. 

“We strongly believe that 

the Bill contravenes extant 

constitutional provisions 

that guarantee right to freedom 

of expression. Restrictions 

that undermine the 

ability to receive and exchange 

information undermine 

the fundamental human 

rights provided in the 

1999 Constitution (as 

amended) and International 

treaties that Nigeria has 

agreed to be bound by. 

“Similarly, the Civil Society 

Regulatory Commission 

Bill (‘NGO Bill’) is inconsistent 

with the 1999 Constitution 

of (as amended) 

and other national laws. 

The Bill falls significantly 

short of international human 

rights norms governing 

the rights to freedom of 

association and peaceful 

assembly, as provided in, 

Section 40 of the Constitution 

of Nigeria 1999 (as 

amended), Articles 21 and 

22 of the International Covenant 

on Civil and Political 

Rights, ICCPR, and Articles 

10 and 11 of the African 

Charter on Human and 

Peoples’ Rights to which 

Nigeria is a state party. 

“Section 4 of the Independent 

National Commission 

for the Prohibition of Hate 

Speeches Bill (‘Hate 

Speech Bill’) also prohibits 

abusive, threatening and 

insulting behavior, which is 

open to very wide interpretation. 

The nebulous and 

vague nature of its provisions 

and unfettered discretion 

afforded government 

agencies pose significant 

danger to the constitutionally 

guaranteed freedom 

of expression (Section 

39 of the Constitution of 

Nigeria), and the rule of 

law in general. These provisions 

would pose a threat 

to critical opinion, satire, 

public dialogue, and political 

commentary. 

Reps probe banks over alleged 

illegal, excess charges 

By Levinus 

Nwabughiogu 

ABUJA—HOUSE of 

Representatives yesterday 

resolved to investigate 

some commercial 

banks over alleged illegal 

and excess charges on public 

and private accounts. 

The House said the act 

amounted to outright stealing 

of customers' money, 

fearing that it may have 

been a victim. 

The resolution came on 

the heels of a motion under 

matters of urgent public 

importance moved by 

Yususf Adamu Gagdi 

(Plateau, APC). 

Moving the motion, Gag- 

By Peter Duru 

M AKURDI—THE 

Middle Belt 

Movement for Justice and 

Peace, MBMJP, yesterday 

appealed to President Muhammadu 

Buhari to include 

Benue State in his 

recently approved National 

Humanitarian Coordination 

Committee, HCC. 

The MBMJP said it was 

important to have Benue 

just like Borno, Adamawa 

and Yobe states in the committee 

given the over 

500,000 Internally Displaced 

Persons, IDPs, currently 

taking refuge in 

makeshift camps across the 

state following the armed 

herdsmen invasion of parts 

of the state that claimed 

thousands of lives. 

Convener of MBMJP, Joe 

Bukka who made the appeal 

yesterday in Makurdi 

commended President Buhari 

for coming up with the 

committee noting that it 

would add impetus to addressing 

the humanitarian 

di said the experiences of 

individuals, public institutions 

and corporate customers 

of banks had been 

mixed feelings as excess 

and illegal debits on accounts 

held by customers in 

the name of bank charges 

had been very disturbing. 

He noted that various 

charges ranging from Automated 

Teller Machine, 

ATM, charges, account 

maintenance fee card 

maintenance charges SMS 

notification charges, token 

maintenance fees to stamp 

duty fees amongst others 

ha been sources of worry to 

customers across the country. 

National Humanitarian 

Coordination Committee: Middle 

Belt group makes case for 

Benue 

By Francis Efe 

WARRI—THE Man 

aging Director of 

the National Inland Waterways 

Authority, Dr. 

George Moghalu, said 

tha unlicenced boat drivers 

will not be allowed to 

operate any boat or vessel 

in the country. 

Moghalu spoke in Warri, 

Delta State when he 

Commissioned a slipway 

project at the NIWA Warri 

Area office. 

He said the decision 

was necessary to protect 

lives and property of Nigerians, 

stressing that 

most boat accidents hap- 

crisis in parts of the country. 

According to Bukka, 

“what the President has 

done is novel and it should 

be commended by all. It 

will add impetus to the 

country’s quest to tackle the 

humanitarian crisis we 

have in the North East, 

West and the North Central 

particularly Benue 

State. 

“We know that Benue is 

the epicenter of herdsmen 

killing in the country with 

closed to 2,000 persons 

killed in the last two years, 

over 500,000 displaced 

from their ancestral homes 

and forced to live in makeshift 

camps. That is the 

more reason why we want 

to appeal to President Muhammadu 

Buhari to include 

Benue in the committee 

given the humanitarian 

situation in the state and 

the fact that just like Borno, 

Adamawa and Yobe, the 

humanitarian crisis in Benue 

state is quite alarming.” 

NIWA A bans unlicenced boat 

drivers from operating in 

Nigeria 

…Commissions slipway in Warri 

pen because some boat 

drivers were not licensed 

to drive. 

He also said that NIWA 

is also banning night 

traveling in the Waterways 

since most accident 

recorded so far also occured 

at night. 

On the issue of shallow 

waterways in the country, 

NIWA boss assured that 

the agency was on top of 

the matter as they are 

planning to procure more 

dredgers to dredge the 

more than ten thousand 

kilometers of water channels 

in the country.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020—15 

Immunity for Senate President, Speakers'll 

amount to political, administrative 

absurdity — Ohanaeze 

By Peter Okutu 

ABAKALIKI —THE 

apex Igbo sociocultural 

organisation, 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, 

yesterday, described the 

move by the House of 

Representatives to ensure 

immunity for the Senate 

President, Speaker of the 

House of Representatives 

and Speakers of 36 houses 

of Assembly as an action 

that will amount to political 

and adminiatrative 

absurdity. 

In a statement by the 

group’s National Publicity 

Secretary, Prince Uche 

Achi-Okpaga, Ohanaeze 

Ndigbo added: “In the first 

place, the concept of 

immunity is likened to the 

excellency status of the 

British crown. In the eye of 

the law, the Queen of 

England does no wrong. 

She is the symbol of British 

Authority. 

“Flowing from the above, 

it is apt to say that the 

symbol of authority in the 

federation is the chief 

executive which is the 

President. 

“The legislature is meant 

to make laws for the 

smooth operation of the 

government and to check 

the excesses of the 

executive. 

“To arrogate the immunity 

clause to the legislative 

heads at the federal and 

state levels is to water down 

the concept. 

“It is worrisome and 

opprobrious that the 

legislature could conceive 

such idea because while 

the legislature performs 

oversight functions over the 

executive, the executive 

does not enjoy such 

constitutional rights over 

the legislature. 

“Simply put, such idea 

will amount to political and 

administrative absurdity.” 

COMMISSIONING: From left,Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Debo Ogundoyin; Senator 

Kola Balogun; Chairman, Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator 

Suleiman Abdulgwari; representative of Oyo State Governor and Secretary to the State Government, 

Mrs. Olubamiwo Adeosun, and Chairman, Independent Corruption Practices and others Related 

Offences Commission, ICPC, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye, during the commissioning of ICPC Oyo State 

Office complex, in Ibadan. 

Insecurity: Mbaka absolves Buhari of blame 

By Dennis Agbo 

ENUGU— 

FIERY 

Catholic priest and the 

Spiritual Director of the 

Adoration Ministry, 

Enugu, AMEN, Rev. Fr. 

Ejike Mbaka, has absolved 


Buhari of being completely 

responsible for the 

worsened insecurity in 

Nigeria. 

According to Mbaka, 

Nigeria’s problems, 

including insecurity had 

deteriorated earlier before 

Buhari assumed 

leadership of the country, 

adding that those who plot 

to destabilise Nigeria will 

receive the worst hit. 

Mbaka made the 

statements in Enugu 

during his homily to 

celebrate the Ash 

Wednesday, marking the 

beginning of lent. 

In his ‘state of the nation’ 

message, Mbaka berated 

those he said were cajoling 

the Buhari administration 

for the harrowing 

experience Nigerians are 

currently passing through, 

without going back to 

history. 

He insisted that the 

current political, economic 

and insecurity problems did 

not start with Buhari’s 

administration, and 

lambasted what he 

described as wasteful 16 

years administration of the 

People’s Democratic Party, 

PDP. 

He maintained that the 

PDP contributed 

immensely to Nigeria’s 

present adversities. 

Mbaka said: “When I was 

shouting it so many years 

ago, that with the style of 

governance in the country, 

time shall come when 

people will be running 

helter skelter, now it is 

Uzodinma signs Imo Revenue Administration 

Law 2020 

GOVERNOR Hope 

Uzodinma, yesterday, 

assented to the amendment 

to Imo State Revenue 

Administration Law 2020 as 

part of efforts to boost the 

economy of the state. 

He said the law will assist 

in improving the revenue 

base of the state by closing 

revenue leakages 

occasioned by the 

engagement of multiple 

consultants who rip-off the 

state. 

Expressing his views on 

the operational status of the 

law before the amendment, 

Uzodimma noted: “Before 

now, the law provides for 

consultants that collect 10 

per cent of the total revenue, 

10 per cent goes to the 

Board of Internal Revenue 

happening, churches 

protesting everywhere. 

“Everything Buhari, 

everything Buhari. Our 

problem is immemorial. I 

am not trying to exonerate 

him totally but it’s unfair not 

to go back to the history of 

how our past leaders were 

only concentrating on 

looting our funds, thereby 

leaving us in this mess. 

"If we have had a type of 

Buhari before, our problems 

wouldn’t have reached this 

(BIR), 20 per cent to 

ENTRACO and 10 per cent 

to OCDA. 

"At the end of the month, 

50 per cent of the IGR is 

gone, leaving the state with 

only 50 per cent of the 

internally generated 

revenue collected.” 

This, he said, is in 

violation of the provisions of 

the 1999 constitution as 

amended. 

The governor said the 

amendment he assented to, 

empowers the Board of 

Internal Revenue to spend 

five per cent of the Internally 

Generated Revenue, IGR, 

for the payment of salaries 

of their workers and other 

personnel services. This 

expenditure, the governor 

said, will be subjected to 

appropriation by the State 

House of Assembly. 

climax. Look at the efforts 

he is making in the 

transport sector; road 

constructions, which is 

unprecedented in the 

history of this nation. 

“In area of economy, there 

is agricultural revolution 

going on, N-power 

programme to our youths, 

scarcity of fuel is now a 

thing of the past, all to 

ameliorate our suffering." 

Uzodimma explained 

that, with the amendment, 

the state now stands to 

gain more as 95 per cent 

of the total IGR will go 

directly to the state coffers 

as against the 50% which 

was the old order. 

Also speaking, the 

Speaker, Imo State House 

of Assembly, Chiji Collins, 

said the law before its 

amendment, which is 

similar to Lagos State 

Revenue Law, had not 

benefitted the state in terms 

of its operation. He 

expressed dismay that half 

of what is generated as IGR 

goes to consultants at the 

detriment of the state. 

The amendment, the 

Speaker said, will reduce 

the volume of money that the 

state loses through 

consultancy. 

2nd Niger Bridge: Construction 

work forces 4,200 homes 

into darkness in Anambra 

By Prince Okafor 

FOLLOWING 

the 

construction of the 2nd 

Niger Bridge, activities of 

Julius Berger Plc, along Atani 

road, in Anambra State, have 

affected the underground 

cable powering Enugu 

Electricity Distribution Plc, 

EEDC’s Iyiowa 11KV feeder, 

thereby forcing over 4,200 

households into darkness. 

This development has 

subjected businesses, 

according to residents of 

Iyiowa and Odekpe areas of 

Anambra State, into untold 

hardship in the past 18 days. 

It was gathered that the 

incident occurred on 

February 7, 2020, and since 

then, the Iyiowa 11KV feeder 

has been out of supply due 

to the underground cables 

punctured in many sections 

by the heavy equipment 

belonging to Julius Berger. 

While briefing newsmen 

onthe development, Head of 

Communications, EEDC, 

Mr. Emeka Ezeh,yesterday, 

said: “The construction 

company embarked on 

excavation of the cable 

corridor without notifying 

EEDC to assist by granting 

outage or possibly deploying 

its cable locator equipment, 

to properly identify the 

location of the cable. 

“Usually, before such a 

project is embarked on, the 

contractor is expected to 

engage EEDC to ensure 

safety precautionary 

measures are in place and 

to also provide technical 

assistance by assigning its 

staff familiar with the 

network, to ensure proper 

management of the electrical 

asset during excavation. 

“This negligent by Julius 

Berger resulted to damaged 

and punctured EEDC cables 

by their heavy equipment. 

We have had other incidents 

in the recent past where their 

team or sub-contractors 

worked in areas within our 

cable corridor at the location 

without recourse to our 

organization, and also 

damaged our cables and 

assets. 

“We, therefore, use this 

medium to appeal for the 

understanding of our 

esteemed customers affected 

by this situation, while we 

continue to follow up with 

Julius Berger for a lasting 

solution to this issue.” 

It was also gathered that 

EEDC has officially written 

to the Management of 

Julius Berger PLC on this 

development, through its 

Commercial Manager, 

Bridge Head Yard, Ogbaru, 

but still awaiting their 

response. 

Radiotherapy: Imo doctors disagree 

with Reps c'ttee on health 

By Chinonso 

Alozie 

O WERRI—SOME 

doctors in Imo 

State, yesterday, faulted 

the chairman, House of 

Representatives 

Committee on Health, 

Paschal Obi's claim that 

in the whole of South 

East, South South and 

other regions, there is no 

functional radiotherapy 

facility. 

According to them, 

there is a functional 

radiotherapy machine 

for the treatment of 

cancer patients in the 

South East. 

According to one of 

them, Dr Austin 

Agbahiwe, an 

administrator of Imo 

International Health 

System and operators of 

Ikeduru General 

Hospital and Cancer 

Health Hospital, “You 

can see we are into first 

class medical practice. 

Our niche area is cancer 

treatment, management 

and handling it. 

“I think the lawmaker 

is not aware of the 

existence 

of 


and treatment in 

Ikeduru. I think he ought 

to have known that. He 

was the principal 

secretary to Governor 

Rochas Okorocha when 

the memorandum of 

understanding was 

signed. 

“We came in from the 

United States of America, 

with our equipment and 

started work. He knows 

that there is high 

demand, a supplydemand 

gap in terms of 

radiotherapy treatment 

for cancer patients. And 

also, there is dearth of it 

in Nigeria more or less. 

“Some of the health 

services we render 

include the orthopedic 

clinic. We have the 

cancer unit here with the 

licensed machine to 

operate on the patients 

at different stages of the 

cancer. 

“The message is that 

we have a functional 


and we run full courses 

for the treatment of any 

type of cancer here in 

Ikeduru and we are the 

only one for the 

treatment of cancer in 

the whole of South East 

and South South. 

“And for the cancer, we 

also offer treatment on 

detoxification and 

rejuvenation, radiation 

therapy, chemotherapy, 

surgery and palliative 

care. The radiation 

therapy equipment is 

powered by solar and 

wind power and will be 

available for 24/7/365 

days of the year.”

16—Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 

WORKSHOP: From 

left— Product Manager, 

Canva (Australia), 

Robyn King; SIP Fellow 

and Founder/CEO, 

RenewDrive Solutions, 

Babajide Oluwase; 

Head, Strategic Brand 

Management, Union 

Bank, Ngozi Akinyele 

and Manager, 

Programmes, LEAP 

Africa, Olusegun Alimi 

at LEAP Africa's 2020 

Social Innovators 

Programme Workshop 

in partnership with 

Union Bank in Lagos. 

Tension in Edo community over alleged 

installation of monarch 

By Ozioruva Aliu 

BENIN CITY—THERE 

is tension in Okpella 

community in Etsako East 

Local Government Area of 

Edo State over the 

purported installation of 

Mr Mika Sado as the new 

Okuokpellagbe of Okpella 

almost one year after the 

demise of Alhaji Yesufu 

Dirisu. 

Addressing a press 

conference at the residence 

of Chief Acheku Ogene 

who is the most senior chief 

of Oteku kindred which had 

elders, women, young 

people including all the 

village heads of Iddo- 

Okpella community, Jibril 

said there are pending legal 

issues that needed to be 

sorted out before a new king 

would be installed in the 

community and that by the 

action of Sado, he has 

disqualified himself from 

being a contender in the 

vacant stool having gone 

against laid down rules and 

procedures. 

He said: “The entire village of 

Iddo seize this opportunity to 

state unequivocally that the 

aforementioned installation was 

bogus, unrepresentative and 

downright illegal. 

“For the benefit of those who 

may not know, there are two 

primary issues both pending 

court’s determination to be 

sorted out before the choice of 

successor to the kingship of 

Okpella. First, it is yet to be 

agreed which of the two 

communities of Iddo and 

Ukhomunyio is to be granted 

the right to provide the next 

successor. Second, it remains 

BredHub seeks introduction of artificial 

intelligence skill in school curriculum 

By Gabriel Olawale 

LAGOS—BLISS Team 

Educational Services, 

BredHub has called on 

federal government to 

introduce artificial intelligence 

skill in school curriculum as 

part of measure towards 

preparing this generation for 

the future. 

Speaking ahead of Train- 

The-Trainer program slated for 

13th - 18th of March in Lagos, 

General Manager, Bliss 

Team Educational Services, 

Christian Chime said that 

government need to 

champion initiative that 

introduce children and youths 

to the world of innovation 

unsettled which of the two varied 

traditional institutions is rightly 

vested with the responsibility of 

constituting kingmakers” 

He said actions taken outside 

these legal issues cannot stand 

and seen as “taunting the 

peaceful co-existence of our 

community to which we expect 

that government take immediate 

stand against these criminal 

elements for rousing tensions.” 

As at the time of this report, 

Sado’s line is switched off and he 

is yet to respond to a text message 

sent to him. 

Food, other commodities' shortage hit Edo IDP camp 

BENIN 

CITY— 

SHORTAGE of food 

and other essential 

commodities have hit the 

Internally Displaced 

Persons, IDP, camp in 

Ohogua, Ovia North East 

Local Government Area 

which is housing about 

4,000 inmates mostly 

people displaced by Boko 

Haram and other displaced 

persons. 

Coordinator of the Centre, 

International Christian 

Centre for Missions, 

ICCM, Pastor Folorunsho 

Solomon stated this when 

he received the Presiding 

Bishop of Jesus Breeds 

Ministries Worldwide, 

Bishop Omoruyi 

Okundaye who visited the 

internally displaced 

persons to mark his 80th 

birthday. 

Folorunsho disclosed that every 

morning and evening they have 

been praying that God should 

send people that would bring food 

for them and appealed to other 

individuals, corporate 

organisations, government and 

others to come to their aid. 

He said: "we thank you for 

coming today. We have been 

praying day and night for God to 

send people that will bring food 

for us. Sir, the situation you met 

on ground is very critical. They 

have not eating meat for a long 

time. That is why when they saw 

the cow and food stuffs, the 

children were singing and 

dancing. They were saying 'rice 

and stew,' they wanted to fly. 

"When you walk in, we know 

that God sent you to answer our 

prayers. We thank you and we are 

very grateful. Despite your busy 

through the teaching of Robotics, 

Artificial Intelligence, Coding and 

Science, Technology, Engineering and 

Mathematics (STEM) education. 

Chime hinted that, in the 

nearest future, the world is 

expecting the AI/Robotics to be a 

way of life and will play great roles 

in human existence on earth. 

“Whoever leads in artificial 

intelligence in 2030 will rule the 

world until 2100. 

“We want this skill to be part of 

school curriculum, we want every 

student to be able to build and 

program robotic. Irrespective of 

what a child want to become, he 

or she need to understand how to 

use technology because it is 

taking over every industry, it make 

process faster in whatever industry 

schedule you count it worthy to 

see us. Is a great sacrifice you 

have made. Sir, we want you to 

also be their voice outside this 

place. Please be their voice in 

every circle," he appealed. 

EIGS old 

students meet 

Saturday 

THE annual national 

general meeting of 

Esie/Iludun Grammar 

School Old Students 

Association comes up on 

Saturday, February 29, 

2020. 

According to Dr Amos 

Biala, the meeting will 

take place at Treden 

Hotels, Tanke Road, 

Ilorin, Kwara State. The 

time is 10am. 

they are going to find themselves. 

“BredHub in partnership 

with UBTECH is organizing an 

interactive Artificial Intelligence 

and Robotics training for 

teachers and educators so that 

they can educate their 

students." 

BredHub Coordinator, 

Chimezie Ikeme said that 

Artificial Intelligence/Robotics 

has come to stay and it will soon 

disrupt the work space because 

the evolutionary trend is 

ongoing, “let me tell you, in the 

next five to ten years the work 

space will be different and some 

business will naturally go into 

extinction." 

On his part, Ekundaye said he 

felt his birth day celebration would 

not be complete without 

identifying and celebrating with 

the IDP victims. 

Passage 

HE death has occured 

Tof Princess Martha 

Arinade Odubekun, mother 

of a former frontline 

newscaster with the 

Nigerian Television 

Authority, NTA, Funmi 

Odubekun. She was 90 

years old. 

A funeral service and 

Requiem Mass will be held 

in her honour at the Most 

Pure Heart of Mary Catholic 

Church, Esure in Ijebu 

Esure, Ogun State on 

Friday, February 28, at 11am 

to be followed immediately 

by interment. 

Reception holds at Bisi 

Rodipe Hall, GRA, off 

Igbepo Road, Ijebu Ode on 

the same day. She is survi 

ved by four children, Tosin, 

Funmilayo, Francis and 

Tokunbo Odubekun 

among other relations. 

Late Princess Martha 

Odubekun. 

Dangote Cement's export 

affected by border closure 

DANGOTE cement said on Wednesday its export 

volumes in 2019 had been affected by border 

closure in its home country of Nigeria, which is trying 

to combat smuggling. 

Nigeria closed its land border in August to curb 

smuggling of rice and arms, which it says threatens 

efforts to boost local production and security and to 

generate state revenues through import duties, the 

customs service has said. 

Moody's cuts 2020 global auto sales 

outlook on coronavirus hit 

CREDIT ratings agency Moody’s Investor 

Service on Wednesday cut its 2020 outlook for 

global auto sales, with China taking the biggest hit as 

the coronavirus outbreak worsens. 

The agency said here it expects global auto sales to 

fall 2.5 percent in 2020, more than its previous 

estimate of about 0.9 percent drop. 

Moody’s retained a “negative” outlook on the sector 

and said it expects global sales to rebound only 

modestly in 2021 with growth of 1.5 percent. 

The agency now expects auto sales in China, the 

world’s largest market, to fall 2.9 percent in 2020 from 

previous estimates of 1 percent growth. 

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers 

(CAAM) on Wednesday warned it expects significant 

declines in China’s automotive production and sales 

levels in February due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

European shares tumble to fourmonth 

low as virus risks grow 

EUROPEAN shares fell to a near four-month low 

on Wednesday, as the fast-spreading coronavirus 

deepened fears about its impact on global growth with 

marquee companies sounding the alarm on earnings. 

The main European equity benchmark STOXX 600 tumbled 

2.6 percent, marking its first five-day losing streak 

since July. 

Travel stocks, financial services, chemical and technology 

stocks were among the worst hit, falling between 3 percent 

and 4 percent. 

The losses followed a grim session for Asia and Wall 

Street overnight after U.S. health officials warned Americans 

should prepare for possible community spread of the 

virus that has now hit Spain and dozens of countries from 

South Korea to Italy. 

The STOXX 600 is trading 9.4 percent below the record 

highs hit just last week, while the past four trading sessions 

has wiped out about $3 trillion in value of world 

Banks struggle to shift 

•1.8bn of Iliad loans 

BANKS are struggling to shift €1.8bn of loans for 

French telecom and fibre network operator group 

Iliad, banking sources said. 

The loans were launched to back founder and majority 

shareholder Xavier Niel’s share buyback, in which he 

increased his stake in the company to just over 72%. 

The loans are being raised at a holding company level, 

so as not to affect leverage at Iliad’s operating company, 

where leverage is at around 2.0 times, the sources said. 

BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Natixis and Societe 

Generale are leading the corporate leveraged financing, 

which should have closed for syndication around two 

weeks ago, sources said. 

“The financing is trundling along slowly in the 

background like a slow train to nowhere. It will get there 

in the end,” a senior banker said. 

South Africa: Economic growth 

revised downward to 0.9% 

SOUTH Africa's economy is expected to grow 

by 0.9% in 2020, National Treasury said on 

Wednesday. 

This is a downward revision from the 1.7% 

projection made in the February 2019 budget. 

In its budget review just over a year ago, Treasury 

had projected real economic growth of 1.5% in 2019 

and 1.7% in 2020. 

"We now expect real growth of only 0.3 per cent in 

2019 and 0.9 per cent in 2020. In 2019, consolidated 

government spending reached a historic high of 36% 

of GDP [Gross Domestic Product]," said Treasury in 

the current budget review. 

Some strories from Reuters

Bayelsa, APC and the limits 

of mendacity 

LET me state from the outset that I am not 

a member of any political party. I used to 

have sympathy for the All Progressives Grand 

Alliance, APGA, until its leaders destroyed it 

for whatever reason prior to the 2019 elections. 

I spoke out against the injustice of the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, particularly under the 

dictatorship of President Olusegun Obasanjo, 

who, though democratically elected, wanted 

to transmute into a maximum ruler and life 

president. In the 2015 elections, I rooted for 

Muhammadu Buhari not only because of the 

lack-lustre leadership of President Goodluck 

Jonathan but also because the PDP had become 

arrogant, dictatorial and complacent. 

In spite of my preference for Buhari, I wasn’t 

a fan of the All Progressives Congress, APC, 

the vehicle in which he was chauffeured to 

power. And my reason for not being beholden 

to the party even then was simple: I could hardly 

stand its hypocrisy. 

But I must confess that even in my wildest 

imagination, I could never have believed that 

the party will travel this far on the concourse of 

mendacity, particularly since Adams 

Oshiomhole, former governor of Edo State, 

became its national chairman. The ruling party 

has become the standard bearer in 

charlatanism and it is horrifying. When it was 

first mooted that the APC may approach the 

Supreme Court to review its judgement which 

sacked its governorship candidate in Bayelsa 

State, David Lyon, and his Deputy, 

Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, I doubted the 

possibility. Here was a political party whose 

leaders should apologise to the good people of 

Bayelsa State and cover their faces in shame 

for trying to legitimise fraud. 

There was no doubt that the then Deputy 

Governor-elect of Bayelsa, Degi-Eremienyo, 

who sadly is a senator of the Federal Republic, 

even as I write, has questions to answer. Born 

on January 1, 1960, as Degi Biobaragha, he 

became known as Adegi Biobakumo in 1984. 

By 1990, he mutated to Degi Biobarakuma, 

and 12 years later, in 2002, he took up another 

identity as Degi Biobarakuma Wangagha. 

These different names were unashamedly and 

brazenly reflected in 

the different 

certificates - primary 

school leaving 

certificate, General 

Certificate of 

Education, GCE, first 

degree, NYSC 

discharge certificate 

and Master’s degree 

certificate - 

On what 

basis did the 

APC seek a 

reversal of 

the 

judgement? 

submitted to INEC. 

But the Supreme Court said all the certificates 

were products of forgery, which violated 

Section 182 of the Constitution and, therefore, 

having established a case of forgery and 

perjury, ruled that his presence on the ticket 

was a toxic infection on the validity of the APC 

ticket. Simply put, his inclusion vitiated the 

ticket. My quarrel with that judgement was 

that the Supreme Court did not go the whole 

hog to commit Degi-Eremienyo to jail for the 

incontrovertible crimes of forgery and perjury 

in order to deter others from treading that route. 

Gradually, certificate forgery by the Nigerian 

political elite is becoming a pandemic and 

annulling the fraudulent mandate without 

committing the cheat to jail as it is done 

elsewhere, though a clear rebuke against 

political recklessness and rascality, is a slap 

on the wrist. 

I also took umbrage here last week at the 

shenanigans of Oshiomhole when I wrote that: 

“It is nauseating, to say the least, watching 

Oshiomhole rather than bowing his head in 

shame, double down on his infantile theatrics 

by dancing naked in the political arena.” But 

it was because the Supreme Court didn’t 

complete the job that Oshiomhole had the guts 

to pontificate that the verdict “lacks the fruits 

of justice” and that “where justice and 

the party looked the 

other way when Degi-Eremienyo was being 

railroaded into government house, the APC 

wouldn’t have had the temerity to go back to 

the apex court to seek a review of the 

judgement. In any other country that is not as 

integrity deficient as ours, the leadership of 

the APC would have immediately distanced 

itself from the man who brought so much 

shame on the party. 

What is even more surprising is that two of 

Nigeria’s finest senior lawyers, revered Afe 

Babalola and Wole Olanipekun, both Senior 

Advocates of Nigeria, SAN, represented the 

sacked Degi-Eremienyo and APC in such a 

ridiculous legal pursuit. I am not a lawyer, 

but did Degi-Eremienyo convince Babalola 

that he did not get justice? In which case he 

must have presented him the genuine 

certificates. 

Or am I simply being naïve asking 

questions that are never raised between a 

lawyer and his client? So, on what basis did 

the APC seek a reversal of the judgement? Or 

could it be as some people have insinuated 

that the APC deliberately went to court 

knowing that their request will be thrown out 

ignominiously but with the sole purpose of 

preempting the learned justices of the 

Supreme Court on the Imo governorship 

verdict which is also before them for a review? 

Gross abuse of the 

judicial process 

democracy thrive on 

the altar of 

technicalities, it 

constitutes danger to 

our democracy.” 

Had Degi-Eremienyo 

been committed to jail 

for the crimes he 

committed and all 

those who aided and 

abetted the commission 

of the crime, including 

Oshiomhole, who as the 

national chairman of 

Knowing how mischievous and 

disingenuous Nigerian politicians are, that 

may not be far from the truth. Already, there 

is celebration in certain quarters that with 

the pronouncement of Justice Amina Augie 

who read the judgement on Wednesday, the 

Emeka Ihedioha application against the 

Supreme Court elected governor of Imo State, 

Hope Uzodinma, will suffer the same fate. 

The apex court, in a unanimous decision by a 

seven-man panel headed by Justice Sylvester 

Ngwuta, dismissed the two different 

applications that sought to set aside the 

judgement it delivered against David Lyon 

and his deputy on February 13. 

In the lead verdict that was delivered by 

Justice Augie, the court described the fresh 

applications that were filed by Lyon and his 

deputy as well as by the APC, as “highly 

vexatious, frivolous and gross abuse of the 

judicial process”. Justice Augie, who said the 

application lacked merit, contended that the 

decisions of the Supreme Court are final for 

all ages and no court on earth can review 

them."There must be an end to litigation; even 

if we review this judgement, every disaffected 

litigant will bring similar applications and 

the finality of Supreme Court judgements will 

be lost.” But the Justice also said something 

important and very instructive, which is, the 

applicants failed to point out errors in the 

judgement they were seeking to reverse. 

Awarding, justifiably, a N60 million cost 

against Lyon, Degi-Eremieoyo and APC to be 

paid in favour of Governor Douye Diri; his 

Deputy, Lawrence Ewhruojakpo; and the PDP; 

the Supreme Court, which frowned that the 

applications were aimed at “desecrating the 

sanctity of the court”, ordered that the cost 

should be paid by respective counsel to the 

applicants for bringing such frivolous 

applications on behalf of their clients. 

That is instructive. I wonder why Babalola 

would allow his name to be dragged into the 

APC mess. For those dancing that it is also all 

over in Imo State, we will wait to see what 

happens on March 2. But they fail to 

acknowledge that unlike the Bayelsa ruling, 

there are a thousand and one errors in the 

Imo verdict, which the Supreme Court 

Justices are already mindful of. Besides, it 

also bears restating that Ihedioha is not being 

accused of forgery and perjury. Instead, it is 

those awarded victory on the altar of 

fabrication and deceit that should be wary. 


FOR THE RECORD 

Letter to young Nigerians: Facing the 

new decade (2) 

The first part of this convocation lecture 

presented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo 

was published in Vanguard, yesterday 

By PROF YEMI OSINBAJO 

MANY times they do not have access to 

cutting-edge innovations and 

inventions in farm inputs and farming 

techniques. Those who can add value to the 

farmers’ harvest become wealthier than the 

farmer. So the growers of the raw materials 

are the weakest in the value chain and the 

poorest. 

For example, the man who makes 

chocolates from cocoa is bound to be richer 

than the cocoa farmer. He has added value to 

the raw cocoa by processing and designing 

and packing the chocolates in appealing 

wrappers. By adding value, he will create more 

jobs and more wealth. So, while we will always 

need the traditional professionals, doctors, 

lawyers, accountants and bankers, those 

adding value to their services will make more 

money than they can. So those developing 

Artificial Intelligence for giving legal advice 

or medical diagnoses, or accounting or 

banking will be more successful than the 

professionals themselves. 

So, the future of banking and financial 

services doesn’t belong to banks or bankers as 

we know them today, it may well belong to the 

FinTechs and other technology-enabled 

solutions. For example, today we have KiaKia, 

which uses Artificial Intelligence and 

algorithms, to process loan requests in 

minutes and grant credit without the hassles 

of regular banks. Besides, there is Kuda Bank, 

for example, a bank without a single physical 

branch with all its features built into a mobile 

application. There is also Eyowo, another 

example of a payment services company 

which is designed for identifying, enumerating 

and paying to and collecting repayments from 

2.2 million TraderMoni and MarketMoni 

beneficiaries. 

They have revolutionised financial inclusion, 

making and receiving payments from the farthest 

parts of Nigeria. There is also another 

company called 

Paystack, whose 

founders are just 

over (the age of) 

30. They have 

developed 

applications 

that make it 

easier to make 

payments across 

the world. There 

is also 

InvestBamboo, 

for example, 

which was 

The future of 

banking and 

financial services 

doesn’t belong to 

banks or bankers as 

we know them 

today, it may well 

belong to the 

FinTechs and other 

technologyenabled 

solutions 

started by two 

26-year-olds, and offers new ways for you to 

save money and invest in stocks, all from a 

single application. 

Others have developed technologies that 

make it possible for you to invest in a farm 

without ever seeing the farm. Two Nigerian 

companies again, ThriveAgric and 

Farmcrowdy, set up by young Nigerians under 

the age of 35, are great examples of the service 

providers that help small-scale farmers scaleup 

and access valuable training; and all of 

these done through crowdfunding. 

In the world of medicine and healthcare, 

there is LifeBank, owned by a young Nigerian 

lady. This is a health tech startup, which also 

uses drone technology to facilitate blood 

delivery to various health centres. We could 

highlight another called 54 gene, a firm that 

is harnessing genomic data from African DNA 

to revolutionise the drug industry, and change 

the future of medicine. Even in the usually 

conservative legal profession, which I am the 

chairman, entrepreneurs are disrupting old 

trends. There is a digital legal research 

company called Law Pavilion, the company’s 

digital tools help lawyers to do legal research 

quickly and efficiently and even answer legal 

questions. Judges and lawyers subscribe to it 

and the usage is a very lucrative value 

addition to legal practice. Yet the founder and 

CEO of the company is not even a lawyer. 

So today there are opportunities for 

entrepreneurs to build their businesses around 

•Vice President Yemi Osinbajo 

traditional professions without being professionals 

themselves. The most widely read 

online publications are neither owned nor run 

by trained journalists. Some of us are familiar 

with the news aggregation platform called 

Nairaland which was started by two Obafemi 

Awolowo University students while still in 

school. Today it is one of the most successful 

online platforms we have. Even many of the 

most successful online advertising or PR companies 

have no formal training in these disciplines, 

most are self-thought. My nephew, who 

is a lawyer, is establishing an organic farm 

and poultry after taking lessons online. His 

only knowledge is derived from taking a few 

classes from somebody in Kano State offering 

online training for people interested in 

poultry farming. 

But let me direct your minds to the new areas 

for job opportunities being created today. Data 

Science is one big area. Currently, we leave 

vast amounts of personal data online and in 

the near future, companies will need data 

scientists to go through it all and generate 

answers to business questions and make 

recommendations based on their findings. 

Many businesses already spend time and 

money going through people’s data so that 

they can sell their products. This is a new area 

of opportunities for jobs. 

A big area today is Content Production - 3D/ 

2D animation, Virtual Effects and Special 

Effects, as well as Augmented Reality and 

Virtual Reality. The use of animation in 

education, entertainment and media is 

growing in leaps and bounds. Those who can 

create content with animation are being and 

will be much sought after in the years to come. 

Recent 

survey 

According to a recent survey by the US Bureau 

of Labour Statistics, multimedia artists and 

animators are among the highest-paid within 

the US workforce. This has translated to more 

jobs for animators in emerging economies such 

as India, Vietnam and now Nigeria. The 

average pay of a 3D animator in Nigeria who 

has just started out after learning his trade 

could be in the region of N300,000 - N500,000 

monthly. In our training of N-Power 

beneficiaries, we set aside a fair amount of 

money to train animators. We have carried 

out two sets of training; one in the North and 

one in the South of Nigeria. In total, we have 

trained over 25,000 young men and women 

in animation. 

Also, remember that content is becoming 

more in demand with the streaming wars that 

have engulfed Netflix, Apple, Disney Plus, 

HBO and only recently, Airtel, the 

telecommunications provider, launched its 

own streaming service in Nigeria. 

Then we have the whole range of 

Cybersecurity, another big area of opportunity. 

Today, there are new opportunities for 

cybersecurity specialists. How is that? With 

each technological advance comes the implied 

addition of more security risks just to store 

and keep the information secure. Therefore, 

cybersecurity will continue to be a growing 

sector. In this sense, each country will have its 

own specific regulations just as we have and 

many other international regulations, which 

will ensure that professionals with an advanced 

technological background capable of 

nullifying new threats posed to both 

technology and people, will be in demand all 

the time. 

Continues online 

C 

M 

Y 

K


NIGERIANS have received with 

mixed reactions the Bill which seeks 

to rehabilitate “repentant” fighters of 

Islamist terrorist groups such as Boko 

Haram, Islamic State in West Africa 

Province, ISWAP, and others 

currently waging insurgency wars 

against the country. 

The Bill entitled: “National Agency 

for the Education, Rehabilitation and 

De-radicalisation of Repentant 

Insurgents in Nigeria” is being 

sponsored by former Governor of 

Yobe State, Senator Ibrahim Geidam 

(Yobe East Senatorial District). It 

passed the first reading on Thursday, 

February 20, 2020 at the Senate. 

While the Christian Association of 

Nigeria, CAN, and the Chibok 

Community, among others, 

condemned it, the Nigerian Supreme 

Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, 

welcomed it. 

This Bill is obviously a copycat 

attempt to secure for the insurgents, 

their sponsors and supporters the 

Suspend the Boko Haram rehab Bill 

same soft landing that the late 

President Umar Yar’Adua offered 

former militants in August 2009, 

which led to the cessation of hostilities 

in the oil-rich Niger Delta. The 

Federal Government also packaged 

a rehabilitation programme which has 

helped the repentant militants to 

become useful and peaceful members 

of society. 

Many Nigerians question this 

package for terrorists who are 

ideological sworn enemies of the 

system and the Constitution that bind 

us together as people of a diverse 

political entity; criminals who for 11 

years have slaughtered thousands of 

innocent Nigerians, displacing over 

2.5 million people in the process. 

How do our fighting troops feel 

when they see those who killed their 

friends and comrades suddenly 

become the darlings of the ruling 

establishment and being pampered 

with special care which the lawabiding 

members of society are 

denied? 

How do we even determine that 

someone who surrendered in battle 

has “repented”? Shakespeare says in 

Macbeth: “There is no art to find the 

mind’s construction on the face”. 

Have the Nigerian Army and 

politicians pushing for this 

preposterous soft landing for 

“repented” insurgents discovered this 

art? 

The fear among well-meaning 

Nigerians is that granting the 

terrorists this package at this time 

when the insurgencies and 

criminalities are gathering more 

steam is a sign of weakness and 

surrender by the Nigerian state to the 

perceived superior firepower of the 

enemies. It is a cowering gesture. 

What stops these terrorists from 

surrendering, receiving this undue 

pampering only to re-launch their 

campaign of tears, sorrow and blood? 

Are we not merely recycling these 

terrorists, thus ensuring that the war 

will never end? 

We believe it is too early and foolish 

to offer the terrorists an olive branch 

they have not asked for or deserve. 

It is only when they are defeated that 

we can offer some amnesty and rehab 

to those who deserve it. Those who 

must pay for their evils against the 

nation must be made to pay. 

The Bill must be stepped down. 

More Marlians than Nigerians 

By CALEB ADEBAYO 

TOWARDS the end of 2019, a new 

movement began to emerge in 

Nigeria, primarily among the young 

adults. This movement was 

characterised by a ruthless disregard for 

authority, morals or acceptable 

behaviour and a keen inclination 

towards taking of drugs, advanced fee 

fraud, societal disobedience and 

uncouth language. 

They called themselves “Marlians”, 

apparently in support of the popular 

musician, Naira Marley, who had 

gained remarkable fame during the year. 

In no time, the Marlian movement had 

gained ground, with students of all 

levels and other young people 

identifying themselves as Marlians who 

had “No Mannaz”. 

The musician’s songs could also be 

heard playing everywhere on the streets 

and his disciples grew at a rapid rate, 

giving him a cult-like following from 

millions of Nigerians. In fact, he has 

been attributed as the president of the 

Marlian movement. It is also during this 

period that Nigeria marked 10 years of 

bloody attacks by Boko Haram, with over 

37, 500 people killed since 2011. It also 

marked five years since the Chibok girls 

kidnap by the group which has at least 

100 of these girls still in captivity. 

Things continued to escalate in the 

North-East, until July last year when 

Boko Haram unleashed terror in 

Nganzai and killed at least 65 people, 

with about 10 people hospitalised. 

Various other Boko Haram attacks 

continued throughout the year, and in 

December they returned to a town near 

Chibok to both kill and abduct. 

In October, we had the Onitsha market 

fire from the explosion of an oil tanker. 

The fire which started about two hours 

after the oil tanker spill raged for hours 

and killed five persons, including a 

mother and her baby and destroyed 

billions of naira worth of properties due 

to the ineffectiveness of the fire service 

in the State. 

A few months before, we had the 

unlawful arrest and detention of 

Omoyele Sowore for alleged treason. In 

November of the same year, we had the 

Social Media Bill, seeking essentially 

to unnecessarily regulate social media 

free speech. In December, we lost 

Moradeun Balogun because of the 

incompetence of the healthcare system. 

We had various cases of police brutality 

and so many ills that rocked the country. 

Towards the end of the year, Fisayo 

Soyombo, a journalist went undercover 

to Nigeria police stations and prisons to 

reveal the endemic corruption that went 

on there as well as in our courts. 

Sadly, this did not trend. Very little 

youths engaged this as with the other 

incidents I have mentioned. For most 

who engaged, it was for the slightest 

while, and it was in a bid to jump on a 

moving train merely to enjoy the wind. 

Might I also mention the exodus of 

Nigerians to Canada and other countries 

in search of green pastures? 

There is no doubt that there is 

widespread apathy for the country, 

especially among youths. The average 

Nigerian does not care about the 

OPINION 

government or what it does. They do 

not believe in the sincerity of elections, 

the independence of the judiciary or the 

workability of any Nigerian systems. 

To the average Nigerian, law 

enforcement is a rabid dog whose leash 

can be held by anyone as long as the 

money is right. Education leaves much 

to be desired, healthcare is non-existent, 

and the young Nigerian merely wants a 

way out - a quick means of making 

money and enjoying his/her life. 

The rise of ‘yahoo yahoo’ and other 

fraudulent practices is on the rise; more 

young people are resorting to drugs and 

The Marlian movement has 

further encouraged people to be 

school dropouts, to explore illicit 

sex and drugs, to engage in crime 

and get-rich-quick schemes and 

to disregard law enforcement 

crime and many more are being used as 

political thugs. There is hardly any 

compassion for the country or willpower 

to fight for whatever remains of it. 

Instead, a selfish desire to live free and 

disregard any existing norms is what 

fuels the youth. Reality TV shows 

provide some respite from the problemriddled 

life the country creates; so we 

have millions of youth poring over these 

shows and disregarding the sad 

occurrences of the Nigerian state, 

because the occurrences have become 

almost normal. 

It is heartbreaking, however, because, 

how can we lead as young people when 

we do not even know the problems that 

beset us and how to fix them; how can 

Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

we hold the reins of the country when 

we do not care about her? 

I was speaking to a group of students 

at a university event last week and after 

their wonderful presentations, I 

lamented at how many of them will leave 

the room forgetting the grand ideas they 

proposed, because Nigeria will hit them, 

and when made to choose between being 

a Nigerian - and fighting for these ideas, 

propagating solutions on their social 

media - and being a Marlian, they will 

choose the Marlian way because it is 

just easier, more fun, more in vogue and 

they figure that perhaps Nigeria is not 

worth that much trouble. 

Today, moral decadence is very 

prevalent in Nigeria, and with it, the 

numbers of solution-thinking, changemaking 

individuals are dropping. With 

the already crippled education system 

we have, the Marlian movement has 

further encouraged people to be school 

dropouts, to explore illicit sex and drugs, 

to engage in crime and get-rich-quick 

schemes and to disregard law 

enforcement. 

This is what our children are growing 

up into and this is why our youth cannot 

challenge the status quo. 

It is alarming how a country with so 

many brilliant, talented and skilled 

people will continually be led by the 

worst coterie. This will never change as 

long as we choose to be Marlians rather 

than Nigerians-patriotic, angry 

Nigerians. I do not make a case for the 

Nigerian government or its agencies – 

not in the least- I make a case for 

Nigeria. 

•Caleb, a lawyer and commentator on 

development issues, wrote from Lagos

PoS transactions fall by 16% 

•Experts disagree on prospects 

By Elizabeth Adegbesan 

Financial sector experts are di 

vided over the 16 percent 

month-on-month, MoM, decline 

in the value of Point-of-Sale, PoS, 

transactions in January 2020. 

Vanguard analysis of the latest 

data from the Nigerian Interbank 

Settlement System, NIBSS, 

electronic payment channel 

shows that the value fell to 

N313.43 billion in January 2020 

from N372.7 billion in December 

2018, while the volume transactions 

fell by 10 percent MoM 

to 41.3 million during the same 

period. 

The NIBSS data also shows 

that the value of mobile inter-scheme 

transactions (though 

licensed mobile payment operators) 

dropped by 11 percent, 

MoM, to N133.22 

billion in January from N148.97 

billion in December 2019 while 

the volume also dropped by 11 

percent, MoM to 8.24 million in 

January from 7.4 million in December 

2019. 

Financial sector experts were, 

however, divided over the factors 

responsible for the above development 

as well as the future direction. 

While the President, Bank Customer 

Association of Nigeria 

(BCAN), Dr. Uju Ogubunka 

blamed the decline on unemployment 

and high bank charges, 

projecting that the trend will persist, 

the President, Association 

of Mobile Money and Bank 

Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), 

Victor Olojo, attributed the declines 

to the usual post yuletide 

lull in economic activities, 

projecting that the trend will 

be reversed in the coming 

months. 

Ogubunka said: “People make 

transfers and or withdrawals 

based on available balances/businesses. 

Peoples’ financial capacity 

has declined. Besides, there 

are little or no businesses to deal 

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING 

US DOLLAR 

POUNDS 

EURO 

FRANC 

YEN 

CFA 

WAUA 

RENMINBI 

RIYAL 

SDR 

DANISH 

RAND 

$ 105.35 1.75 

$2,888.00 0.00 

$14.78 0.37 

$54.07 -0.88 

$49.39 -0.51 

305.95 306.45 306.95 

396.5724 397.2205 397.8686 

331.5886 332.1305 332.6724 

312.7364 313.2475 313.7586 

2.7675 2.772 2.7766 

0.4854 0.4954 0.5054 

416.4038 417.0843 417.7648 

43.5966 43.6683 43.74 

81.5388 81.6721 81.8053 

418.9912 419.6761 420.3609 

44.6687 44.7417 44.8147 

20.1045 20.1373 20.1720 

CBN Exchange rate as at 26/02/2020 

with. Most of what goes on right 

now is meeting basic needs. Nigerians 

are impoverished and 

need to be revived in order for an 

upward trend in mobile transfer 

and PoS transactions to occur. 

“I foresee further decline especially, 

if the unemployment rate 

remains high and businesses relieve 

more employees from their 

jobs. Only recently, Central Bank 

of Nigeria (CBN) directed banks 

not to sack up to five employees 

at a time without its approval. If 

banks comply, what about other 

employers outside CBN’s jurisdiction? 

What if banks sack 

only four, do they need approval? 

“Besides the foregoing, the 

issue of charges might have 

also played a part in the decline. 

Most people want to 

avoid cost as much as possible. 

“The solutions are in the 

economy growing so that 

people can have growth also 

in their account balances and 

Vanguard,THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 — 19 

moderating the charges for such 

transactions.” 

On his part, Olojo sees an uptick 

in the volume and value of mobile 

transfers and PoS transactions despite 

the decline in January which 

he ascribed to sluggish business activities 

and government policies. 

He said: “I think this is something 

I can refer to as a normal trend. 

Usually in December we have so 

much high volumes of economic 

activities. It is actually expected for 

us to see a peak in December and a 

decline in January. 

From left, Representative, National Lottery’ Regulatory Commission, Ini Ibok; Mother of 

Chigozie Nwankwo, N1 million winner, Augustina Nwankwo; winner of N2 million, Salisu 

Mohammed; Divisional Head, Retail Banking, Fidelity Bank Plc, Richard Madiebo; Winner of 

N2 million, Adepeju Esther Adepoju; Head, Lagos Office, Federal Competition and Consumer 

Protection Commission (FCCPC), Suzie Onwuka; Head, Savings Group, Fidelity Bank 

Plc, Ukpai Ibe; Branch Leader, Ikota SBU, Fidelity Bank Plc, Ngozi Okonkwo; at the 2nd bimonthly/ 

4th monthly prize presentation of Fidelity Get Alert In Millions Promo Season 4 

(GAIM season 4) in Oshodi, Lagos 

Population advantage: Old Mutual, Devpt Bank 

executives advise on investments 

By Peter Egwuatu 

At the backdrop of seeming 

unrealised potentials of 

Nigeria’s market size 

Managing Director, Old 

Mutual Life Assurance, 

Mr. Olusegun 

Omosehin, and the 

Chief Economist, Development 

Bank of Nigeria, 

Prof Joseph Nnanna, 

have advocated focus on 

real sector, social and 

physical infrastructure 

investments. 

Speaking to Vanguard 

on the sideline of the 

BusinessDay 2020 Nigeria 

Economic Outlook 

Conference held in 

Lagos, Omosehin said: 

“Nigeria should not lose 

the sight of the huge potentials 

inherent in the 

human capital due to the 

large population of its 

people. There should be 

more investments in real 

sector to leverage population 

growth for economic 

development. 

“Nigeria’s huge population 

of about 200 million 

people is rather a 

blessing. We have an active 

population that is attractive to 

investors. People between the 

ages of 15-64 years make up 

50 per cent of our population.” 

As an intervention, 

Omosehin explained that the 

insurance sector has great 

potentials of enhancing a viable 

environment for engagement 

for the businesses by 

undertaking capital investments, 

while also implementing 

medium and long term 

insurance policies, which could 

support the SMEs.” 

When asked his view on the impact 

of growing population, the 

Chief Economist, Development 

Bank of Nigeria, Prof Joseph 

Nnanna, said: “The government 

should focus on investing in quality 

education, infrastructure, SMEs 

and girl child empowerment to 

enhance development and propel 

Nigeria for a double-digit growth. 

The rapid population growth in 

Nigeria might be a blessing in 

driving economic growth only if the 

potentials are harnessed.” 

NPA’s retirees to petition presidency over BoI building 

By Godwin Oritse 

THE Nigerian Ports Author 

ity Pensioners Welfare Association, 

NPAPWA, has threatened 

to petition the presidency 

if urgent steps were not taken 

to revert the Bank of Industry, 

BoI, Building located on Marina 

Street in Lagos, to the Superannuation 

or Legacy Fund 

of the NPA. 

Speaking to Vanguard, 

General Secretary, NPAPWA, 

Ambrose Duru, said that the 

group has written to the Minister 

of Transportation on the matter 

but added that they were yet to 

have response as at the time of filling 

this report. 

He explained that money from the 

superannuation fund was used to 

build the Ship House in Abuja 

which was taken over by the Ministry 

of Defence in exchange for the 

BoI Building in Lagos. 

He added that the pensioners are 

currently dying without enjoying the 

benefits of their investment. 

He stated: “We are not quarrelling 

with anybody, what we are doing is 

to demand for our right. This Fund is 

from the NPA pensioners’ Superannuation 

Fund/ Legacy Fund and this 

Lafarge 

Africa 

rewards 

customers 

Lafarge Africa Plc has 

rewarded its customers 

during its Customer Award 

event held in Lagos. 

The event was an opportunity 

for the company to reward its 

high performing customers in 

2019 while also 

commemorating its 60th 

Anniversary celebration. 

The company’s customers 

across Nigeria who attended 

the event were rewarded based 

on their volumes contribution 

to the business. 

The star price for the National 

Highest Volume Contributor 

was a 2020 limited edition 

Toyota Prado jeep. 

Speaking at the event, the 

Country Chief Executive 

Officer, Mr.Khaled El Dokani, 

said the Company has recorded 

significant achievements 

because of the outstanding 

partnership it shares with its 

esteemed customers. 

He stated: “Lafarge Africa has 

been able to maintain its vision, 

which is to be the most trusted 

and preferred partner for endusers 

including construction 

professionals and 

homebuilders. We are 

committed to delivering 

cement, concrete and other 

building solutions that ensure 

our customers get the highest 

quality. 

“Today, we also celebrate 60 

years of wonderful 

determination and dedication 

to best practices. It is an 

accomplishment worth 

celebrating. I am very excited 

and proud to mention that over 

the years, Lafarge Africa has 

remained committed to being 

the most trusted and preferred 

partner in the cement industry. 

We are deeply committed to 

delivering our high-quality 

products of cement, concrete 

and other building solutions 

including mortar to you our 

customers.” 

Referring to the Company’s 

commitments and the need for 

an enduring partnership, the 

Commercial Director, Gbenga 

Onimowo, stated that the 

Company and its stakeholders, 

particularly its customers must 

constantly maintain a positive 

outlook in order to progress 

and succeed together. 

In his reaction, Prince Sunny 

Nwodo, the national and 

regional (East) volume winner 

thanked Lafarge Africa for its 

commitment to quality and the 

great recognition given to its 

customers. 

money invested in the ship house 

was part of the fund and the reason 

for the investment is not being realized. 

“The reason for investing in 

that Ship House was for a purpose 

but the purpose is not being realized 

and pensioners are dying 

“So it is up to us to ask the minister 

to take up this matter and how 

they can compensate us by giving 

us back the War College property 

which is currently occupied by BoI 

and renamed BoI Building and then 

pay us accrued arrears of rents collected 

on the property so that the 

Superannuation Fund can be 

boosted.”


From Left-Right: Engr. Yusuf Usman, Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power, NNPC, Engr. Bank Anthony 

Okoroafor, Chairman, Petroleum Technology Assopciation of Nigeria(PETAN) and Engr. Simbi 

Wabote, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board at the 4th Sub- 

Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC) in Lagos. 

DISCOs put tariff shortfall, liability 

at N1.728trn, N81bn 

•Govt agencies owe N100bn 

By Chris Ochayi 

THE Electricity Distribu 

tion Companies, 

DisCos, has put the tariff 

shortfall, occasioned by the 

Nigerian Electricity Regulatory 

Commission, NERC, 

Minor Review Order at 

N1.728 trillion. It also puts 

liability to Nigerian Electricity 

Supply Industry, NESI, 

at N81 billion. 

In a statement issued in 

Abuja, yesterday, executive 

director, Research and Advocacy, 

Association of Nigerian 

Electricity Distributors, 

ANED, Mr. Sunday 

Oduntan, said: “NERC’s 

December 2019 Minor Review 

Order specifies federal 

government debt to the 

DisCos (correspondingly, 

the rest of the NESI value 

chain), due to tariff shortfalls, 

of N1.728 trillion. 

DISCOs liability to NESI, 

due to market shortfalls, is 

N81 billion.” 

Oduntan, who also attributed 

the poor financial 

situation of the DISCOs to 

huge indebtedness of consumers, 

stated: “Significantly, 

government Ministries, 

Departments and 

Agencies (MDA) owe the 

DisCos in excess of N100 

billion, for energy consumed 

but not paid for – a 

federal government commitment, 

yet again, unmet 

under the privatisation 

agreement and MYTO- 

2015. 

“Under the Nigerian Electricity 

Market Stabilization 

Fund (NEMSF) N210 billion 

initiative, of the N189.1 

billion that has been disbursed, 

the DisCos have 

only received N49.89 billion 

or 26.3 per cent. Impor- 

GDP: Manufacturers doubt sustained 

growth •Harps tech application for increased output 

By Yinka Kolawole & 

Naomi Uzor 

Against the backdrop of 

the 2.7 percent Gross 

Domestic Product (GDP) 

growth reported for 2019 by 

the National Bureau of Statistics 

(NBS), the Manufacturers 

Association of Nigeria 

(MAN) has cast doubts 

on the sustainability of the 

growth due to prevailing 

adverse operating environment. 

The Association is also calling 

on industry operators to 

leverage technology to ramp 

up output and help GDP 

growth. 

President, MAN, Engr. 

Mansur Ahmed, who stated 

these yesterday in the 

Association’s preliminary 

position on the current GDP 

report, said that the real 

GDP of 2.27 percent in 2019 

compared with 1.91% of 

2018 undoubtedly revealed 

a promising but cautious trajectory 

of improving economic 

performance. 

He stated: “This is encouraging, 

especially because it 

obviously surpassed the 

2.1% projections of IMF 

apparently due to the usual 

heavy transactional seasonality 

activities. It is however 

doubtful that this would be 

sustained in the coming 

quarters because of the prevailing 

unfriendly operating 

environment. 

“This doubt would be 

overcome if government 

ensures that its Ease of Doing 

Business reforms translates 

to reduction in the cost 

of doing business thereby 

resulting in a real GDP 

growth that may again surpass 

the 2.0% projection for 

2020.” 

Leveraging tech 

Meanwhile, the MAN 

President has called on Nigerians 

to start using technology 

to produce own 

food, products and other 

indigenous innovations. 

He said this has become 

imperative so the country 

will not be perpetually dependent 

on developed 

countries. 

Ahmed made the call in a 

media parley on the forthcoming 

5th Edition of the 

Nigeria Manufacturing and 

Equipment Expo (NME) 

and 6th Edition of the Nigerian 

Raw Materials Expo 

(NIRAM) of the Raw Materials 

Research and Development 

Council (RMRDC) 

with the theme, “The Fourth 

Industrial Revolution and 

the Nigerian Manufacturing 

sector”. 

tantly, this is money owed 

to the DisCos by the consumers, 

due to the non-cost 

reflective tariff of MYTO 2.0 

and the government’s failure 

to inject the associated 

N100 billion in subsidies, a 

commitment under the 

privatisation agreements.” 

He added: “The rest of the 

NEMSF disbursement of 

N139.21 or 73.7 per cent is 

comprised of the Power 

Holding Company of Nigeria 

(PHCN)’s legacy gas 

and energy supply liabilities 

that should have resided 

with the Nigerian 

Electricity Liability Management 

Company 

(NELMCO). 

“Unfortunately, these liabilities 

now constitute an 

encumbrance on the 

DisCos’ financial books, limiting 

or precluding their ability 

to access the financing that 

is critical for capital investment 

and injection of efficiency 

in the distribution of 

electricity - another violation 

of a privatisation commitment 

which required that the 

DisCos have debt-free financial 

books that would enable 

them access debt funding for 

their operations.” 

Apparently reacting to comments 

credited to the Minister 

of Power, Engr. Saleh 

Mamman, that the Federal 

Government would not continue 

to subsidise the power 

sector, Oduntan, added: 

“While we note that there has 

since been a retraction by the 

Ministry of Power, it is regrettable 

that the stated proposal 

further promotes a perception 

that the Nigerian government 

does not respect sanctity 

of contract, a requirement 

for any investment in the 

country – particularly, for the 

cheap foreign capital that is 

required for the massive capital 

expenditure needs of 

NESI. 

Stakeholders react as 

NERC caps estimated bills 

By Udeme Akpan, 

Sebastine Obasi & Chris 

Ochayi 

At the backdrop of 

the positive public 

response to the restrictions 

on estimated billing 

in the nation’s electricity 

services, stakeholders 

have cast doubts over the 

implementation of the 

new policy. 

The Nigerian Electricity 

Regulatory Commission, 

NERC, this week, 

capped the estimated 

bills that distribution 

companies, DISCOs can 

charge unmetered consumers, 

while ordering 

them to provide meters 

to all on or before April 

30, 2020. 

In a telephone interview 

with Vanguard, 

the National Secretary, 

Nigeria Electricity Consumers 

Advocacy Network, 

NECAN, Uket 

Obonga, said: “NERC 

has the power to rollout 

out orders. As shown in 

the past, it lacks the capacity 

to enforce compliance. 

With a workforce of 

about 200 personnel and 

lack of offices outside 

Abuja, it has been impossible 

for NERC to enforce 

many of its orders.” 

Similarly, Executive 

Director, Spaces for 

Change, Victoria Ibezim- 

Ohaeri, said: “I am opposed 

to the planned increase 

in electricity tariff 

because it would impact 

very negatively on many 

people, especially poor 

Nigerians. 

“Instead of increasing 

the electricity tariff, it 

would make sense for the 

government to shift from 

subsidising fuel, which 

the Petroleum Products 

Pricing and Regulatory 

Commission, PPPRA, 

said would cost N750 billion 

in 2020 to subsidise 

electricity. This is important 

as power concerns 

all persons, including 

poor rural dwellers.” 

Directive 

However, in its directive, 

NERC stated: 

“DISCOs are required to 

meter customers in accordance 

with requisite 

standards of performance. 

The legacy situation 

at acquisition of 

mandatory stake in the 

distribution of assets 

from government was 

that the majority of customers 

were unmetered 

and there has been little 

change in the situation as 

the deployment of meters 

by DISCOs has been outpaced 

by the growth in 

customer numbers in the 

Nigerian Electricity Supply 

Industry, NESI.” 

POWER: We need complete 

privatization not reversal 

— Agusto 

•Oil not drying up for Nigeria – Etiebet 

By Ediri Ejoh & Sharon 

Obiakor 

Contrary to plans by 

the government to revoke 

the licences of the 

privatized power sector 

former Director General, 

Budget Office of the Federation, 

Mr. Olabode 

Agusto, has said there 

was need for a complete 

privatization instead of reversal. 

This came as he called 

for more investment in infrastructure 

to include 

electricity, railway and 

road to grow the 

country’s economy. 

Agusto, who is the Director, 

Agusto & Co. Ltd, 

made this call at the 17th 

Annual Aret Adams Memorial 

Lecture held in 

Lagos. 

According to him, “The 

federal government 

should not reverse the 

privatization going on in 

the power sector. They 

should not reverse it no 

matter how tempted they 

are. 

“I strongly believe that 

the government should go 

ahead and complete the 

privatization scheme because 

that’s where the 

problem is. Also, they 

should focus on three key 

areas to include gas, tariff 

and the national grid. 

“With respect to that, the 

federal government 

should stop regulating the 

price of gas. You should understand 

the sole aim is for 

people to access electricity. 

“However, certain gas 

prices are not on economic 

levels, the owners of the 

gas are not fully in gas infrastructure 

and the gas 

fire plants that we have 

were built as far back as 

when I was a director of 

budget. 

“The government should 

work with the industry operators 

to look at the tariff 

and they have two principal 

objectives in mind, in 

setting the tariff. Objective 

one is that an efficient 

player in the industry must 

be able to cover its cost of 

capital and you must subsidize 

poor households.” 

Also speaking, Former 

minister of Petroleum, Mineral 

resources, Chief Don 

Etiebet, argued that Nigeria 

was yet to discover its 

full oil potential as oil 

would not go out anytime 

soon.


AMOTEKUN: Regional security outfits 

not the answer — Abakederemo 

*Way forward is restructuring the Police 

MR Joseph Abakederemo, convener 

South-South Reawakening Group, a socio 

political and Think Tank for the Niger- 

Delta region, in this interview, 

speaks on agitation for regional security 

arrangements by several groups and 

persons across the country, saying it is 

not the way forward. He blames the 

myriad of problems plaguing the nation 

on corruption. 

By Jimitota Onoyume, 

Assistant News Editor 

WHAT is your posi 

tion on regional security 

being canvassed in 

several quarters? 

It is not healthy, people 

have been speaking, it has 

generated a lot of controversy. 

It is something we 

have to avoid. I don’t want 

to be a proponent of regional 

security outfit. Even 

the ones governors are creating 

have not been helpful. 

For me corruption is at 

the root of all this. The Nigerian 

Police are short 

staffed. We still rely on the 

conventional way of fighting 

crime. Training for 

manpower is weak. The 

Police don’t want to think 

outside the box. Modern 

day technology to track 

crime are lacking in the 

Police and other security 

agencies 

We begin with the Nigeria 

Police on internal security 

and at some point the 

President can bring in the 

army. I ask this question, 

when has the Nigerian Police 

become a revenue generating 

agency? We don’t 

know the Police, the army 

as revenue generating 

agencies. 

Today, besides providing 

security for politically exposed 

persons and their 

families there are crop of 

wealthy Nigerians , not 

even wealthy, any Nigerian 

that stumble on money 

somewhere will go and get 

the Police to provide security 

for them and their families 

and this the Police 

does not do for free. The 

same with soldiers. You 

find two, three hilux trucks 

loaded with soldiers escorting 

one person. The escorts 

are not for free, they 

are paid for. I know situations 

where the beneficiaries 

pay as much as one 

million naira a month to 

the ogas in the office. Not 

to talk of the oil companies 

down South-South 

enjoying this too. You cannot 

find this in any other 

country except in Nigeria. 

I have travelled to many 

cities, I have not seen soldiers, 

and Police providing 

security this way for private 

individuals. 

So I come back to the 

question, who gives account 

for this money the 

Army and Police get for 

providing security for individuals? 

Do they pay the 

money to the federation 

account because they are 

institutions funded with tax 

payers money. The answer 

is no, it goes into private 

pockets and the money is 

shared. This money runs 

into billions of naira every 

year. 

You see security men 

lobbying to be posted to the 

houses of individuals. 

They say they get free food, 

get some allowances from 

the ogas they protect; and 

have time to relax. At times 

you hear them say” that 

man I worked with takes 

care of somebody well, this 

other guy is not good”. So 

where will you find commitment 

for the job? 

I know a contractor in 

Port Harcourt, he goes 

about with two hilux trucks 

of soldiers and he refers to 

the soldiers as “my dogs.” 

What do you expect to happen 

in this scenario? 

Corruption is at the root 

of all. You hear a Divisional 

Police Officer, DPO 

when he leaves office, he 

says he has built shopping 

mall everywhere. It is also 

here you hear a police 

Commissioner retiring 

from office saying he has 

housing estates scattered 

everywhere. Where do they 

make the money from? Are 

you telling me, a Police 

man in County, New York , 

Huston or Florida, a Sheriff 

in a County which is 

about the rank of a DPO 

will leave office and begin 

to flaunt properties he ac- 

•Abakeredemo 

quired in office. How will 

he explain it? It is only in 

Nigeria you see Police Sergeants, 

Army Corporal acquire 

properties while in 

office, nobody ask questions. 

So where do we draw 

the line? They have abandoned 

the functions of 

their job to pursue private 

wealth. 

Regional security is not 

the option 

When the Amotekun 

thing came out, the former 

governor of Bayelsa State, 

Chief Seriake Dickson 

said he supported it. He too 

had created five security 

outfits in Bayelsa. Have 

they solved any crime in 

Bayelsa? You see how cultists 

operate everywhere, the 

sea piracy is high, pipelines 

are still being vandalized, 

people are killed 

everywhere, you see corpses 

on the roads in Bayelsa. 

So this security arrangement 

is not a solution. This 

was how they shouted in 

support of Civil Defence 

Corps, what has happened? 

The way forward is 

to restructure the Nigerian 

Police force. If the Police 

is structured we won’t 

need the army on our roads 

who are also collecting 

money. 

•Read more on 

www.vanguardngr.com


AMOTEKUN: Regional security outfits 

not the answer — Abakederemo 

*Way forward is restructuring the Police 

MR Joseph Abakederemo, convener 

South-South Reawakening Group, a socio 

political and Think Tank for the Niger- 

Delta region, in this interview, 

speaks on agitation for regional security 

arrangements by several groups and 

persons across the country, saying it is 

not the way forward. He blames the 

myriad of problems plaguing the nation 

on corruption. 

By Jimitota Onoyume, 

Assistant News Editor 

WHAT is your posi 

tion on regional security 

being canvassed in 

several quarters? 

It is not healthy, people 

have been speaking, it has 

generated a lot of controversy. 

It is something we 

have to avoid. I don’t want 

to be a proponent of regional 

security outfit. Even 

the ones governors are creating 

have not been helpful. 

For me corruption is at 

the root of all this. The Nigerian 

Police are short 

staffed. We still rely on the 

conventional way of fighting 

crime. Training for 

manpower is weak. The 

Police don’t want to think 

outside the box. Modern 

day technology to track 

crime are lacking in the 

Police and other security 

agencies 

We begin with the Nigeria 

Police on internal security 

and at some point the 

President can bring in the 

army. I ask this question, 

when has the Nigerian Police 

become a revenue generating 

agency? We don’t 

know the Police, the army 

as revenue generating 

agencies. 

Today, besides providing 

security for politically exposed 

persons and their 

families there are crop of 

wealthy Nigerians , not 

even wealthy, any Nigerian 

that stumble on money 

somewhere will go and get 

the Police to provide security 

for them and their families 

and this the Police 

does not do for free. The 

same with soldiers. You 

find two, three hilux trucks 

loaded with soldiers escorting 

one person. The escorts 

are not for free, they 

are paid for. I know situations 

where the beneficiaries 

pay as much as one 

million naira a month to 

the ogas in the office. Not 

to talk of the oil companies 

down South-South 

enjoying this too. You cannot 

find this in any other 

country except in Nigeria. 

I have travelled to many 

cities, I have not seen soldiers, 

and Police providing 

security this way for private 

individuals. 

So I come back to the 

question, who gives account 

for this money the 

Army and Police get for 

providing security for individuals? 

Do they pay the 

money to the federation 

account because they are 

institutions funded with tax 

payers money. The answer 

is no, it goes into private 

pockets and the money is 

shared. This money runs 

into billions of naira every 

year. 

You see security men 

lobbying to be posted to the 

houses of individuals. 

They say they get free food, 

get some allowances from 

the ogas they protect; and 

have time to relax. At times 

you hear them say” that 

man I worked with takes 

care of somebody well, this 

other guy is not good”. So 

where will you find commitment 

for the job? 

I know a contractor in 

Port Harcourt, he goes 

about with two hilux trucks 

of soldiers and he refers to 

the soldiers as “my dogs.” 

What do you expect to happen 

in this scenario? 

Corruption is at the root 

of all. You hear a Divisional 

Police Officer, DPO 

when he leaves office, he 

says he has built shopping 

mall everywhere. It is also 

here you hear a police 

Commissioner retiring 

from office saying he has 

housing estates scattered 

everywhere. Where do they 

make the money from? Are 

you telling me, a Police 

man in County, New York , 

Huston or Florida, a Sheriff 

in a County which is 

about the rank of a DPO 

will leave office and begin 

to flaunt properties he ac- 

•Abakeredemo 

quired in office. How will 

he explain it? It is only in 

Nigeria you see Police Sergeants, 

Army Corporal acquire 

properties while in 

office, nobody ask questions. 

So where do we draw 

the line? They have abandoned 

the functions of 

their job to pursue private 

wealth. 

Regional security is not 

the option 

When the Amotekun 

thing came out, the former 

governor of Bayelsa State, 

Chief Seriake Dickson 

said he supported it. He too 

had created five security 

outfits in Bayelsa. Have 

they solved any crime in 

Bayelsa? You see how cultists 

operate everywhere, the 

sea piracy is high, pipelines 

are still being vandalized, 

people are killed 

everywhere, you see corpses 

on the roads in Bayelsa. 

So this security arrangement 

is not a solution. This 

was how they shouted in 

support of Civil Defence 

Corps, what has happened? 

The way forward is 

to restructure the Nigerian 

Police force. If the Police 

is structured we won’t 

need the army on our roads 

who are also collecting 

money. 

•Read more on 

www.vanguardngr.com



Lebanon is latest 

destination for 

traffickers — NAPTIP 

With human trafficking becoming a global menace, threatening 

the fiber of our humanity, it has become imperative for authorities 

to devise new methods to tackle human trafficking. In this 

interview with the Lagos Zonal Commander, National Agency for 

the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, Daniel 

Atokolo; he talks about issues militating against the war on 

human trafficking, why Lebanon has suddenly become the latest 

destination of traffickers from Nigeria, how reluctant mothers’ 

fuel baby sales; what the agency is doing to sensitize young people 

on the evil behind human trafficking and how they could be lured 

and their organs harvested in the Middle East and Asian 

countries. Excerpts. 

By Esther Onyegbula 

WHAT are the issues 

militating against war on 

human trafficking in Nigeria? 

There are so many issues militating 

against the war on human 

trafficking. One of such issues is a 

victim refusing to come to court to 

testify against the trafficker. 

It is a major issue. But we have 

devised another method of winning 

the war. We allow victims to speak 

on camera. In fact, we got a 

conviction that way. Another factor 

is hostile witness. Once in a while, 

we come across hostile witnesses, but 

there are ways we try to circumvent 

it. Another challenge is cultural 

pattern. Some cultures still believe 

that the girl-child should be used to 

feed the family. A man is 50 years 

old and has a child who is 18, and he 

chooses that girl to go overseas to 

work, send money and buy jeep for 

him and build house for him. 

Some people, states and cultures 

don’t believe in what NAPTIP is 

fighting for and until most of them 

begin to buy in, we may still have a 

problem. We have had instances 

where a victim tells you that whatever 

she does, in a situation like that there 

is little or nothing you can do more 

especially when she is not underage. 

We are seeing more cases of 

victims trafficked for servitude, 

does this mean trafficking for sexual 

exploitation has reduced? 

Sexual exploitation comes with its 

own stigma. Nigerian girls who were 

recently deported from Libya, all 

denied being trafficked. They don’t 

want NAPTIP to pursue their cases. 

Some claimed that those that 

trafficked them were in Italy or other 

countries. They preferred to say they 

were trafficked into servitude than 

to confess that they were abused or 

raped. There is sexual deceit and it is 

because of our society, which likes 

stigmatising people. 

What is the agency doing to 

address these issues? 

In NAPTIP, we believe that a victim 

is entitled to a second chance at life. 

This is why we take them to rehab, 

counsel and rehabilitate them. We 

have also discovered that some 

Sexual 

exploitation comes 

with its own stigma; 

Nigerian girls who 

were recently deported 

from Libya, all denied 

being trafficked 

victims, after going through rehab 

and everything, would rather die, 

than return to their homes because 

of some problems they left behind. 

Sometimes our agents trace and 

locate their homes; their parents 

would say they don’t want to set eyes 

on them because they stole their 

money or sold family land to 

facilitate their journey out of Nigeria. 

NAPTIP has to do a lot of work in 

order to make peace and reconcile 

THE International Federa 

tion of Women Lawyers 

(FIDA) Nigeria is alarmed at 

the total politicisation of most 

issues going on in the country, 

particularly legal cases that 

have been referred to the courts 

for adjudication. 

We refer to the recent incident 

where the Hon Justice Mary 

Odili, JSC is a victim of abuse, 

attacks on her person and 

character, not to mention an 

invasion of her privacy because 

of a judgment delivered by a 

panel she headed in the normal 

course of her work. 

Hon Justice Odili, JSC as a 

human being, Nigerian and especially 

as a Justice of The Supreme 

Court of Nigeria, the 

highest court of Record in the 

country deserves respect and 

protection. The attacks on her 

character and premises are certainly 

not the way to go because 

of a perceived ‘unfavourable’ 

judgment. FIDA NIGERIA sees 

this as violence against a reputable 

woman carrying out her 

lawful duty. 

Whilst members of the public 

are entitled to express their 

opinions freely, it must, 

however, be done lawfully without 

infringing the rights of 

another. Consequently, we condemn 

these attacks and the invasion 

of her personal space. 

The Judiciary as the third arm 

•Daniel 

Atokolo 

the victims and their families. If you 

go to these victims to come as 

witnesses in court, they tell you not 

to remind them of their past. If not 

for such victims, prosecution would 

have been one of the greatest tools to 

control human trafficking. 

Lebanon has suddenly become 

the latest destination of traffickers 

from Nigeria, why? 

There are many Lebanese in 

Nigeria, especially Kano State. 

Some have been in Nigeria since 

1914. There are six and seven 

generations of Lebanese in Nigeria. 

They are traders. Nigerians can get 

visa on arrival at Beirut. 

Taking a housemaid from Nigeria 

to Beirut is like taking a girl from 

Lagos to Abuja. Labour is cheaper 

here than there. It is because of cheap 

labour in Nigeria that Lebanese, who 

are in Nigeria, are outsourcing. They 

take a girl from Nigeria to Lebanon. 

Also, people now see Lebanon as a 

trending destination, and so they 

follow others to Lebanon. 

There’s nothing really happening 

in Lebanon. I can’t think of any 

industry there. Let’s also not forget 

that some of these foreigners don’t 

like blacks. They treat Nigerians as 

slaves. One of the victims NAPTIP 

rescued from Lebanon told us that 

immediately she got there, her ordeal 

started. 

We heard that Lebanon has 

mostly menial jobs? 

Yes, menial jobs! Nothing is 

happening there. That is also why 

Continues on page 25 

FIDA Nigeria’s position on attack on Hon Justice Mary Odili, JSC 

Hon Justice Mary Odili 

of government must be treated 

as such, and accorded the full 

status and respect it deserves; 

Every woman should 

acquire a skill - WAPA 

By Bose Adelaja 

FOR a woman to be 

distinguished among her 

peers, she should endeavour 

to acquire a skill in addition 

to her regular source of 

income. 

Lagos State Commissioner 

for Women Affairs and Poverty 

Alleviation (WAPA) Mrs 

Cecilia Bolaji-Dada, said this, 

Wednesday, in her Alausa 

office in Lagos, during a 

courtesy visit by Nigerian 

Association of Women 

Journalists (NAWOJ), Lagos 

State Chapter . 

The Commissioner urged all 

women in the state to 

participate in the regular four 

weeks skill acquisition 

training organised by her 

ministry promising that she 

will leave no stone unturned 

to collaborate with Lagos 

women journalists in trainings 

and retrainings of her 

members. 

Skill acquisition 

training 

Bolaji-Dada said 

participants of the four 

weeks acquisition 

training will be entitled 

to a start - up capital 

assuring that the 

women 

journalists 

will be 

considered 

f o r 

subsequent 

slots. 

H e 

urged 

Lagos 

women to 

be their 

brother’s 

keeper by 

dwelling 

in unity. 

•Mrs Cecilia 

Bolaji-Dada 

blackmail and 

threats to an Honourable 

Justice are 

of grave concern 

and certainly does 

not guarantee the 

independence of 

the judiciary. 

We call for quick 

action to stop this 

negative trend and 

to stop the inciting 

statements that heat 

the polity. There are 

proper and well laid 

out legal protocols 

and processes to be 

followed when you are 

dissatisfied with the outcome of 

the judgement. FIDA Nigeria 

She said, “every woman 

should acquire and this is what 

I advocate wherever I go. 

NAWOJ is a major women 

group and any government 

that wants to succeed should 

collaborate with her. I 

encourage women to 

participate in our four weeks 

skill acquisition training,” 

Earlier, Lagos NAWOJ 

Chairperson Comrade Adeola 

Ekine sought the collaboration 

of the ministry in developing 

her members. 

Ekine who seized the 

occasion to decorate the 

Commissioner as the Matron 

of 

the 

association, appreciated 

WAPA for being a backbone in 

the past. 

In her vote of thanks, Vera 

Chukwumerije of Federal 

Information appreciated the 

Commissioner for impacting 

Lagos women. 

Present at the occasion were 

WAPA Permanent Secretary 

Mrs Yewande Oluyemi 

Kalesanwo, other officials of 

the ministry and Lagos 

NAWOJ officers. 

encourages the use of these 

processes rather than the tarnishing 

of the good reputation 

of a great woman who has diligently 

and passionately served 

her country and reached the 

pinnacle of her profession. 

FIDA Nigeria condemns the 

aforementioned and calls on the 

Federal Government and 

indeed all relevant security 

agencies in the country to be 

more proactive and vigilant in 

their duties; they must protect 

the judiciary and keep them 

independent without any 

undue interference. 

Lady Justice is blind and 

impartial; let us work to keep 

her as such.


Leah Sharibu: 

Security expert 

laments FG’s 

failure to secure 

release 2 years after 

By Ebunoluwa Sessou 

PRESIDENT, Association of 

Industrial Security and Safety 

Operators of Nigeria, Dr. Ona 

Ekhomu has lamented failure on the 

part of the Federal Government to 

secure the release of Boko Haram 

captive, Leah Sharibu after two years 

of abduction. 

Ekhomu in a phone interview 

with WO said it is worrisome that 

government has not been able to 

define and understand the cause of 

incessant insecurity in the country. 

“The fact that the young girl is still 

in the captivity of Boko Haram 

against her wish tells us that this 

insurgency has not gone away. In 

fact, I am concerned that it is getting 

a new life of its own. 

“At this time, we don’t know the 

state of her health and her mind. 

There is also rumour that she is a 

mother now. So, she has been 

brutally raped and we are so helpless 

in ensuring her rescue”, he lamented. 

He said there is need to renew 

efforts towards securing the release 

of the girl out of captivity. “Luckily, 

this girl is in the captivity of ISWAP, 

which is not as bad as Shekau. So, I 

think it is still possible to have a 

negotiated reason for her even if we 

cannot release her by force of arms”, 

he explained. 

According to him, “The problem 

is conceptualization. The way the 

problem is defined is wrong. We have 

to understand what the problem is. 

Because you have to understand that 

Chapter B2 of the Constitution of the 

Federal Republic of Nigeria says 

that the security and welfare of all 

Nigerians should be the 

responsibility of the government. 

“No Nigerian should be subjected 

to killings, torture or any insecurity 

of all sorts. Government should be 

responsible in the area of security. 

Borno state is the largest city in 

Nigeria but it is wrong to feel that 

•Leah Sharibu 

Not for Sale: Nigeria’s answer to girl trafficking? 

OPINION 

Ondo female politician laments exclusion in 20 years of democracy 

Dayo Johnson Akure 

FEMALE politicians 

in Ondo State have 

lamented the exclusion of 

women in democratic 

positions in the state in the 

last 20 years. 

Chairman of the state 

Universal Basic Education 

Board, Princess Oladunni 

Odu said this in Akure at 

a summit organised by 

female politicians in the 

state. 

Odu, a former 

commissioner in the state 

said: ”ln the last 20 years 

of our uninterrupted 

democracy, the female 

folks in Ondo State have 

only tasted the position of 

Speaker of the House of 

Assembly never a 

governor, deputy 

governor, chief of staff or 

secretary to the state 

government. 

people in other parts of the state 

should be subjected to torture and 

untold sorrow. 

“We have to look at different areas 

of the state and know the kind of 

security to provide. We should be 

mindful of the architecture of security 

to be provided as well as the 

effectiveness of the architecture. 

There is too much insecurity on the 

land and there are so many success 

attacks that might have been 

preventable. 

“There are things the government 

will have to do right. For instance, 

when the government took on the 

fight for the first two month of 

assumption of office in 2015, there 

was spate in attacks but once the 

government got its rhythm right and 

started getting new equipments and 

the new leadership of the military 

was able to encourage the soldiers 

and inspire them, you could see the 

changes in the tide of battle. 

Tempo of 

insurgence 

“In 2016, government dismantled 

Boko Haram’s den in Sambisa forest 

and took over the areas, those were 

the golden days. Things were fine 

then. 15months later, there was 

resurgence in violence and until now. 

The tempo of insurgence has been 

increased. 

“The tide of battle has shifted 

again; we have daily murderous 

attacks to overrun Damaturu, 

Maiduguri among others. The 

government has done well and they 

are expected to do more. Most of the 

people are doing guerilla tactics now 

to strike but they are not holding 

down the government the way they 

used to do before. 

“There are killings at will and there 

are no good killings at all. I will not 

tolerate killing of any kind. 

Whatever lapses exploited should be 

sealed. 

According to 

her: “Lagos 

State is in the 

frontline of 

bringing 

women into 

active politics. lt 

has successfully 

brought into 

limelight Mrs 

Kofoworola 

Bucknor 

Akerele, Dr. 

(Mrs) Ojikutu 

ldiat Adebule, 

Mrs Sarah 

•Princess Oladunni Odu 

Sosan and Mrs 

Adejoke 

Afefulire Orelope.” 

“Osun State has also 

“Ekiti State, a state 

written its name by 

younger than our state, has 

bringing to limelight 

produced three female 

Otunba Grace Titilayo 

deputy governors, Mrs 

Laoye Tomori and Erelu 

Abiodun Olujimi, Prof 

Olusola Obada while 

Aduke Adelabu who 

Ogun State has not been 

replaced Mrs Funmilayo 

left out with Mrs Yetunde 

Olayinka. 

Bosede Onanuga. 

By Ahmed Balarabe 

HUMAN 

trafficking 

involving Nigerian girls that 

are taken out of the country with 

promises of lucrative jobs that turn 

out to be sex slavery or forced labour 

in West African and European 

countries is a problem that still exists. 

Media reports suggest that rather 

than abating, the problem seems to 

be assuming new dimensions every 

day. Just recently, Mrs. Abike Dabiri- 

Erewa, chairman and chief executive 

officer of the Nigerian Diaspora 

Commission, was on Channels 

Television to talk about a group of 

Nigerian girls that were stranded in 

Lebanon and had to take refuge at 

the Nigerian Embassy in Beirut. 

What appeared to be good news 

about the girls was that at the time 

of the report, the embassy was 

making plans to repatriate them 

back home. There was no indication 

about whether the girls left Nigeria 

on their own volition in search of the 

She said there are many 

advantages of women 

being involved in these key 

positions at this time. We 

need governance that will 

put in place, policies that 

will uphold the family and 

sustain the society. 

“lt is women that 

understand certain policies 

that affect the lives of 

women, men and 

children.” 

Odu said inclusion of 

women in democratic 

positions is essential in 

building and sustaining a 

strong and vibrant 

democracy. 

She, however, stressed 

the need for women to come 

together, irrespective of 

their political leaning and 

strategise on how they can 

lend their voice to the 

struggle of women in 

politics. 

“I think the government is doing 

its best based on its capability. 

The insecurity on the land is porous 

especially in the North East. 

So many women have been kidnapped 

in the bush. 

“Are we really ready to accept 

the fact that there is need for 

prompt security mechanism? In 

Nigeria, travellers are not secured. 

proverbial green pastures or were 

taken out of the country with 

promises of jobs only to find 

themselves in situations that made 

their return home a compelling 

necessity – a choice between life and 

death. It is safe to say that there are 

thousands of Nigerian girls abroad 

in similar situations who do not have 

the opportunity to return to their 

country. Stories like the one under 

reference and numerous others that 

don’t find their way into the media 

have encouraged the National 

Agency for the Prohibition of 

Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to 

think outside the box in coming up 

with a campaign tagged Not for Sale. 

The campaign focuses on inspiring 

and empowering young women in 

Edo and Delta states, the two states 

with the highest number of girls 

trafficked into sex and domestic 

slavery. The girls are forced to 

achieve success on their own terms 

without having to pay the price some 

of their compatriots pay trying to 

look for success outside the country. 

The campaign 

involves highlighting 

and promoting 

opportunities within 

the country that could 

be positively leveraged 

for success by these 

young girls. The 

campaign particularly 

emphasisesthat young 

girls can find success in 

their country and 

therefore do not need 

to embark on the highrisk 

journey of going 

abroad in search of 

that success. As an 

initiative, ‘Not for 

Sale’is perhaps the 

most innovative 

programme to be embarked 

upon by any 

government agency, 

whether at the federal 

or state levels, to 

address the hydraheaded 

monster of 

human trafficking. Its 

uniqueness lies in the 

fact that it does not only 

seek to discourage girls 

from embarking on the 

often-fruitless journey 

in search of success 

They cannot be assured of good security 

on the road. It is a total failure. 

“No Nigerian should be subjected 

to killings, torture or any insecurity 

of all sorts. Government should be 

responsible in the area of security. 

Borno state is the largest city in 

Nigeria but it is wrong to feel that 

people in other parts of the state 

should be subjected to torture and 

untold sorrow. We have to look at 

different areas of the state and know 

the kind of security to provide. “We 

should be mindful of the architecture 

of security to be provided as well as 

the effectiveness of the architecture. 

There are so many successful attacks 

that might have been preventable. 

“Clearly the girl child is at a 

disadvantage when it comes to 

insecurity in Nigeria. Many of them 

are vulnerable because of the 

poverty in the land and the fact that 

their parents are at a disadvantage 

to provide security for them. 

“Government needs to intensify 

efforts on massive awareness, 

creating information, security 

education and vulnerable locations 

should be identified and people 

should be briefed on how to 

strengthen their security so that girlchildren 

are not abducted and 

manipulated”, he said. 

outside the shores of the country, but 

also enlightening them to seeing the 

much-needed alternatives available 

to succeed at home. The attempt to 

discourage these young women from 

travelling abroad to look for means 

of survival often fails to yield results 

due to lack of satisfactory answers 

to the question about alternatives at 

home. The justification for the near 

exodus of the country’s youth to 

foreign countries has often been that 

they would see no need to embark 

on such trips if there were better 

means of survival in the country. Now, 

‘Not for Sale’is providing answers 

to these questions. The success stories 

of four young women in various fields 

from Edo and Delta states, named, 

Gift, Gladys, Blessing and Latifah, 

should serve as positive inspiration 

for girls in those two states to believe 

that opportunities for success abound 

at home. 

The story of Gift, who could not 

make it beyond Libya where she was 

a victim of sexual abuse and torture 

before being brought back home, 

should make plain the fact that there 

is no place like home. The common 

message the four young women in 

Not for Sale convey is simply that if 

they could succeed in their respective 

states, so can others. NAPTIP’s 

initiative cannot succeed in 

addressing the problem of human 

trafficking if it begins and ends with 

girls alone. What the agency is doing 

in Edo and Delta states, can 

effectively touch the lives of all the 

young girls in those two states in need 

of assistance. 

The success of the campaign lies 

in its replication in all states, 

regardless of whether or not there 

are stories of trafficking. Girls all 

over of the country face the same 

situations that drive some into the 

search for success abroad. Governments 

at state and local levels should 

adopt the initiative by implementing 

programmes that target training and 

empowerment of young women, to 

enable them achieve the success that 

others put their lives on the line 

travelling abroad to seek. That is the 

only way the Not for Sale campaign 

can achieve the objectives for which 

it was introduced. 

•Balarabe, a public affairs 

commentator, wrote from Abuja


Lebanon is latest destination for 

traffickers — NAPTIP 

Continued from page 23 

sexual exploitation is very high over 

there. This is the same situation in 

Saudi Arabia and Oman. There is 

no general template for human 

trafficking. If you follow the story of 

slave trade, you will discover that 

raping was one of the avenues of 

subjugating people. Back then, men 

and women were raped. 

Does NAPTIP have an idea the 

number of Nigerian girls in 

Lebanon? 

No one can give empirical figure 

on that. Nobody has gone to take a 

census. All of a sudden, we are 

hearing outcry about our girls being 

trafficked to Lebanon. It’s too early 

to start putting a figure on Nigerians 

stuck there. When our Director- 

General, Dame Julie Okah- 

Donli talked about Mali, she said 

that there were about 20,000 

Nigerian girls stuck in Mali. When 

she went with some Nigerian 

officials to Mali to rescue the girls, 

men in Mali came to resist the girls’ 

leaving. Like I mentioned before at 

a television programme, there are 

some of our girls who were trafficked 

in their uniforms, young girls. They 

were returning from school and 

someone pushed them into a vehicle. 

Is that not abduction? 

Yes, it is! Some people are here, 

posting pictures of missing children 

on the net, not knowing they had 

been abducted and trafficked out of 

the country. 

What about the ladies trafficked 

to Libya? 

There are several Nigerians in 

some prisons in war-torn countries 

and nobody can reach them. 

Different warlords are in charge of 

different enclaves. Trafficked victims, 

who are lucky to buy their freedom, 

come out alive. 

Dangerous 

terrains 

The Nigeria Ministry of Foreign 

Affairs is trying, but one must go to 

Libya and work with the government 

of Libya in order to rescue these 

victims. We can’t say we are NAPTIP 

or Nigerian government official and 

we cross into dangerous terrains. 

We have a case of a girl that was 

trafficked to such war-torn countries. 

She was trapped in one of their 

prisons for six months before she 

came out. It was actually a guy that 

assisted her to get out. She started 

living with the guy. One thing led to 

another and she got pregnant. She 

had a baby boy; the guy promised to 

marry her. But most of these guys in 

those countries are criminals. The 

guy was killed in a shootout. She was 

eventually deported. She returned 

with the baby. 

What eventually happened to her 

and the baby? 

When we asked her, who and how 

she was trafficked to Libya, she 

refused to say. She insisted that 

nobody trafficked her. We allowed 

her to leave, but I gave her a phone 

number in case she changed her 

mind and wanted to talk. She called 

me often because she needed help. I 

used to assist her with money from 

my pocket because I knew the baby 

needed help. She belongs to the 

categories of girls I term ‘reluctant 

mothers.’ She called one day to say 

that she was about to get married. 

She said that the guy asked her to 

discard her SIM card; he didn’t want 

anything or anyone that would 

remind them of her past life. She had 

already told him about her past. 

Since then, we’ve not heard from her. 

What do you mean by ‘Reluctant 

Mothers’? 

They are mothers who don’t and 

didn’t want their children. Most of 

them are involved in sales of their 

babies. It is because they didn’t want 

those children that they end up selling 

them. They don’t need a lot of 

inducement before accepting to sell 

their babies. 

Baby sales are so rampant these 

days that traffickers sell and buy at 

ridiculous prices 

Yes, babies are now being sold for 

as low as N150, 000 and N200,000. 

These reluctant mothers see their 

babies as an embarrassment. Some 

of them feel the child came to disrupt 

their lives. For every market to 

thrive; there must be a willing buyer 

and seller. If you don’t want your 

baby and you sell it, it becomes an 

offence. 

Is it that some buyers do not know 

that buying babies is a criminal 

offence? 

They know! There’s nobody in 

Nigeria, even in the whole world who 

does not know that buying of a 

human being is a criminal offence. 

Human beings cannot be bought 

and sold. The baby trafficking 

syndicate is all about taking 

advantage of the vulnerable and 

those who don’t know what they are 

doing. How can you sell a human 

being? NAPTIP works with ministries 

of Women Affairs in Nigeria, there 

are departments in those ministries 

that are in charge of adoption 

processes. These are the legal and 

genuine institutions to deal with. If 

you want to adopt a child, you go to 

the institutions and apply. It’s a 

specialist field. When you get there, 

they’ll profile you. The profiling is to 

know what your temperaments are 

like. They want to know the child 

you’re interested in and if you can 

bond with the child. The ministry will 

give you a time of bonding, allow 

you to be coming to see the children; 

it’s a period of bonding. The officials 

will start vetting you, checking your 

background. Then there are legal 

documents involved. If you come 

from another country to adopt a 

•Daniel 

Atokolo 

as an agency 

doesn’t get involved in adoption 

process. When we rescue victims, our 

first assignment is to stabilise them. 

This usually takes a lot of time, 

especially with the degree of trauma. 

Some of these victims come into our 

shelter totally angry with the system. 

They are angry and aggressive, 

depending on the degree or how they 

were trafficked and dehumanised. 

We work on them and eventually they 

become stabilised and then they tell 

their stories. 

What about stigma that comes 

with child adoption in Nigeria? 

We can’t run away from the issue 

of stigma in Nigeria. Most couples 

do not want people to know that they 

adopted the child. As legal as 

adoption is, some people don’t want 

to be identified with it because of ego. 

Some move to another clime for a 

while, take a stimulant, which makes 

their stomach to start growing and 

claim they’re pregnant. They know 

they’re not pregnant, but they’ll go 

on social media, flaunt their bumps 

and do all manner of things in 

preparation to the buying of a baby. 

It’s a set within a subset. There’s 

something they want to do. Some of 

them will say they want twins. I 

remembered when we arrested a 

woman going to Ghana with twins. 

She was arrested and the twins taken 

for DNA. Do you know that the 

children were not twins? They were 

not even born on the same day and 

are not from the same parents. The 

children were born four days apart. 

But she passed them off as twins. She 

wanted twins, it is a legitimate desire, 

but she decided to make it happen. 

There was no genetic connection 

between her and the children and 

none also between the two babies. 

The case is in court. 

What is NAPTIP doing to check 

our girls being trafficked to the 

Middle East? 

The most important is 

sensitisation, which is what we have 

been doing and what I’m doing right 

now. We are also seriously into 

advocacy. As we speak now, states' 

anti-human trafficking taskforce are 

working. We have also established 

anti-human trafficking at Agege. We 

are also heading to Alimosho Local 

Government, from there to 

Boundary, Ajegunle and then to 

Badagry. Members of the antihuman 

trafficking taskforce include 

NAPTIP’s zonal heads, states’ 

commissioners for justice and 

attorneys-general. Other members 

are Nigerian Immigration Service, 

Nigeria Security and Civil Defence 

Corps, Department of State Service, 

Nongovernmental Organisations, 

Nigerian Prisons, Media, school 

Breast Cancer: Man fondling wife’s breast, good for intimacy, 

provides stimulation—Mbanugo 

By Elizabeth Uwandu 

ACCORDING to studies, 

female breast cancer is 

recognised as one of the major 

contributors to high mortality 

rate. Worried by this 

development, the founder of 

Run for a Cure Africa, RFCA, 

Dr. (Mrs) Ebele Mbanugo 

stated that the country needed 

at least 150 radiotherapy 

machines in order to make 

headway in the fight against 

breast cancer. 

Mbanugo also urged men to 

join in the fight against breast 

cancer, saying that a man 

fondling with his wife’s breasts 

is not only good for intimacy but 

it also provides stimulation in 

that area. Moreso, the man 

being familiar with his wife’s 

breasts can help to easily detect 

when an abnormality presents 

child, you 

n e e d 

endorsement 

from a 

judge. It is 

because of 

t h e 

cumbersome 

nature of 

adoption, 

that some 

people are 

beginning 

to exploit the 

gap. 

Let’s talk 

about the 

c h i l d 

adoption 

process in 

Nigeria 

NAPTIP 

itself. 

Speaking at a free breast 

cancer screening organised by 

her NGO, in partnership with 

Shoprite, in commemoration of 

the 2020 World Cancer Day that 

saw over 400 women screened 

in Lagos, Mbanugo explained 

that it was alarming that 

Nigeria still grappled with 

providing cancer treatment for 

the average woman. 

According to her: “For us to 

be able to fight cancer in this 

country, we will need at least 

150 radiotherapy machines, as 

functional radiotherapy 

machines in this country are 

three to seven on the average. 

My mother had breast cancer, 

and the hospital abroad where 

she was given treatment has 

eight machines. It is alarming 

that Nigeria with her huge 

population doesn’t have what 

that one hospital has. And the 

average Nigerian woman does 

not easily access the available 

machines.” 

Mbanugo at the event 

tagged: The Big Pink Fight, had 

in states including Anambra, 

Abuja and Lagos respectively 

explained that early detection 

remained key to curbing the 

surge of breast cancer in 

Nigeria. “The value of early 

detection is immeasurable 

especially in a resource 

constraint country like Nigeria. 

We do not have access to all the 

top of the line drugs and 

machinery used in treating 

advanced breast cancer. 

“The only way to fight breast 

cancer in this country is through 

early detection. Routine and 

annual screening is very 

important but a lot of women 

wait until they feel something 

teachers, school counsellors, the 

Nigeria Police and artisans. We also 

tell Nigerians to shine their eyes in 

order to avoid being trafficked. They 

need to look beyond the adverts 

traffickers display and the fantastic 

salaries. Again, if you see such 

adverts and you’re interested in such 

a job and you have doubts, please 

talk to NAPTIP. We’ll check for you. 

There’s no law in Nigeria, which 

forbids a full grown Nigerian, who 

has the requisite skills and certificate 

from working overseas. All NAPTIP 

wants to do is to ensure that the 

person has taken the necessary 

caveats. But we have a way of 

checking these employment 

agencies; do they have the necessary 

certifications to employ? Who are 

their contacts over there? What 

safeguards are in place for a job 

seeker? What are the safeguards to 

bring him back? These are the things 

that NAPTIP wants to be sure of. We 

don’t want our people to go over there 

and run into trouble. 

Organ harvesting is becoming an 

issue… 

In Nigeria, everyone is looking for 

ways to better their lives. They believe 

they would get what they are looking 

for when they get overseas. If you 

want to leave Nigeria to go overseas 

to play football, you have to do 

medical tests. Nigerians willingly 

submit themselves to all sorts of 

medical tests. The truth, however, is 

that among those that came 

shopping for footballers in Africa or 

Nigeria is a man, who is linked to a 

sick person overseas. It’s a mafia. The 

sick person might need a liver 

transplant. If it is kidney, good luck 

to you; the person might take one 

and leave the other. But if a very rich 

man is looking for a liver transplant, 

are you not a dead man walking? 

They check you medically to see if 

you’re compatible. The man that 

thinks he’s going overseas to play 

football, is not really going there for 

football. His liver or kidney is what 

is at stake. If you don’t know the 

network of organ harvesting and 

human trafficking, you’ll miss the 

point. Human trafficking is a crime 

that is fuelled with heavy dose of 

deceits. Along the line, they collect 

your passport and travelling 

document and then tell you that they 

want to carry out another medical 

test on you. 

•Mrs Ebele Mbanugo 

before they come to see the 

doctor. Most likely, at that point, 

the cancer has gone to its 

advanced stage,” she said.


A detainee has right to bail (2) 

By Justice Usman 

Bwala 

SEE also El-Alim 

Mirghani vs Sudan 

Gov’t 1960 S.L.J.R 68. 

Where excessive bail 

conditions are granted it 

can be reviewed by 

courts SS 334, 125 CPC 

and CPA respectively, 

Mathias Onuigbo vs 

C.O.P supra. 

There are two types of 

bail Mathias Onuigbo vs 

C.O.P supra as follows: 

“Bail is mainly of two 

types: (1) Self 

recognisance by which 

the accused person is 

merely asked to enter 

Justice Bwala 

into bond of certain sum 

of money which may be 

estregated in full in case 

he fails to turn up on a 

given date; (1) Bond 

with surety or sureties 

by which he is asked to 

enter a bond of a fixed 

sum of money and the 

surety the same bond by 

which they bind 

themselves to forfeit a 

fixed sum of money in 

case of default of 

appearance by the 

accused person.” 

Failure to fulfil bail 

bond terms can lead to 

forfeiting the bond, 

cancellation of the bail 

and re-arrested of the 

accused person Ss. 348 

and 121 CPC and CPA 

respectively. A court 

can order deposition of 

money in a court as a 

fulfillment of bail terms 

Mathias Onuagbo vs 

C.O.P supra. 

There are procedures 

for forfeiting bail bond 

and the procedures 

must be meticulously 

followed Aiyegoboyin 

vs A.G. Oyo 1982 1 NCR 

295. The conditions are 

a court must be satisfied 

bond was been forfeited, 

grounds for the 

forfeiture of the bond 

and it is discretionary 

of a court to order 

forfeiture S. 354 CPC, R 

vs Southampton 

Justices 1975 2 All 

E.L.R. 1075, El Alim vs 

Sudan Gov’t 1960 

S.L.J.R.68. A bail bond 

must be in writing COP 

vs John 1981 1 NCR 139; 

R vs Mc Gary 1945 30 Cr. 

Ap. R 187. 

Bail before trial is 

sometimes referred to 

pre-trial bail and a 

person who has not 

been tried and 

convicted by a court is 

prima facie entitled to 

be granted bail unless 

there are mitigating 

circumstances Ani vs 

The State 2002 1 NWLR 

(Pt 747) 217. Courts 

have inherent power to 

grant bail to a person 

before his committal for 

trial continues unless it 

is expressly taken away 

R vs Augustino 1950 

WWR 1075. Bail will be 

refused an applicant 

when prosecution 

witnesses are afraid to 

testify in the case 

Bamaiyi vs The State 

2001 2 NWLR (Pt 698) 

435. An applicant 

awaiting trial who is 

refused bail pending 

trial should be brought 

to court within a two 

months period 

stipulated in S. 35(4) 

constitution Bamaiyi vs 

The State supra. There 

are many factors 


08152060944 

S’Court: SANs back Reps' call for more justices 

•Agbakoba, SAN 

By Innocent 

Anaba, Henry 

Ojelu & Onozure 

Dania 

IN apparent response 

to Vanguard Law and 

Human Rights 

publication on retiring 

justices of the Supreme 

Court, the House of 

Representatives last 

week called on President 

Muhammadu Buhari to 

appoint eight more 

justices to bring the 

number of justices to 21 

as allowed by the 

constitution. Many 

senior lawyers have since 

backed the call by the 

House, insisting that 

appointment of more 

justices to the apex court 

would help reduce the 

workload of jurists and 

ensure efficient 

management and 

disposition of cases. 

Here are the views 

expressed by the senior 

lawyers. 

Dr Olisa Agbakoba, 

SAN 

This is very important 

as the workload of the 

Supreme Court is very 

heavy. 

Prof Ernest Ojukwu, 

SAN 

The call for the 

appointment of 

additional justices to 

make up the 

constitutionally provided 

number of 21 justices is 

•Ojukwu, SAN 

an additional impetus to 

solving the problems of 

snail speed justice and 

access at the Supreme 

Court. The truth is that 

our Supreme Court 

Justices are overworked 

but the ultimate solution 

to the problem cannot 

come just by the 


additional justices. The 

United States Supreme 

Court is made up of only 

nine justices and cases 

there do not take 

decades to end. There 

are two pronged 

solutions that will solve 

the problem of 

congestion, snail-speed 

justice and the ultimate 

overburden on the 

justices of the Supreme 

Court. 

One is self-solution. As 

far as I am concerned the 

complaint of overwork 

by the Justices is also 

self-imposed. They 

should stop shedding 

crocodile tears and do 

the needful to solve their 

problems. The Supreme 

Court is the final court. 

Whatever they say 

becomes law. It is left to 

them to interpret the 

Constitutional provisions 

in a way that divests 

them of the burden of 

taking up all manner of 

cases in the guise of 

appeal. There is a 

provision for leave to 

appeal in many aspects 

of their jurisdiction. Why 

have they not imposed 

restrictive interpretation 

•Akuma, SAN 

on this provision and 

why are they not 

rejecting many more 

cases than they have 

done so far? This is the 

weapon used by the 

Supreme Court of the 

US. 

They decide which 

case merits hearing and 

which does not. Our 

Justices of the Supreme 

Court can do better than 

they have done with 

their powers of 

interpretation. It does 

not matter that it is not 

what they are used to. 

The times have changed. 

They should change with 

the times too. In addition 

to their self-imposed 

The truth is 

that our 

Supreme Court 

Justices are 

overworked but 

the ultimate 

solution to the 

problem cannot 

come just by 

the 


additional 

justices 

•Babatunde, SAN 

burden, it is the same 

Supreme Court that 

lobbied for additional 

jurisdiction some years 

back when they sought 

and obtained 

constitutional 

amendments to have the 

jurisdiction to hear 

appeals from the 

Governorship election 

petitions. That 

jurisdiction foisted on 

itself by itself is the 

greatest challenge to 

justice delivery in the 

country today. 

The Supreme Court 

virtually spends more 

than one year hearing 

appeals from 

Governorship elections 

over and above other 

important disputes 

including human rights, 

and commercial 

disagreements. The 

second way out is to go 

all out for a constitutional 

amendment that will 

terminate over 75% of 

the current cases that go 

to the Supreme Court at 

the Court of Appeal. In 

addition I think we 

should restrict the 

present Court of Appeal 

to appeals on Federal 

matters and give them 

powers to determine 

when to take 

interlocutory appeals, 

while at the same time 

creating State Appeal 

Courts where most state 

matters should end other 

than cases where 

sentences of death has 

been imposed. 

•Hon, SAN 

Chief Solo Akuma, 

SAN 

I would support the 

appointment of 8 Justices 

of the Supreme Court 

without delay in order to 

have full complement of 

the Justices of that court. 

However the said 

appointment will not 

solve the problems of too 

many Appeals to be 

handled by the court. 

The best way to solve the 

problem of having so 

many cases at the 

Supreme Court is to 

reduce the subject matter 

of cases that terminate at 

the Supreme Court or in 

the alternative create 

Zonal Supreme Court. 

Layi Babatunde, SAN 

Filling the existing 

vacancies in our apex 

court with the right 

caliber of justices , will 

no doubt obviate the 

avoidable burden being 

piled on overworked 

justices of that unrivaled 

court . Not doing so over 

the years is beginning to 

look like a punitive 

measure, which should 

not be. The additional 

appointments are long 

overdue & there can be 

no better time than now 

when more justices are 

on their way out .It’s a 

good thing to do and 

Nigeria should not 

always be short of good 

things. 

Sebastine Hon, SAN 

•Pedro, SAN 

It is a very welcome 

development. Section 

230(2) of the 1999 

Constitution as amended 

stipulates that maximum 

of 21 Justices be 

appointed for the 

Supreme Court. 

Presently, we have just 

about 13 of them. If we 

juxtapose this with the 

thousands of cases on 


docket, we would realise 

that the learned Justices 

of the apex Court are 

overburdened, to say the 

very least. Not only that, 

looking at the retirement 

age of justices of that 

court, we must further 

accept that we have an 

ageing Judex. The Chief 

Justice of Nigeria, I.T. 

Tanko, is 66 plus, having 

been born in December, 

1953. Then, both 

Rhodes-Vivour, JSC and 

Ngwuta, JSC are 69, to 

retire next year. 

“Justice Paul Galinje 

will retire this April, 

while both Justices Mary 

Peter-Odili and Ejembi 

Eko will retire in 2022, 

to be followed by Justices 

I.T. Muhammad (CJN), 

M.D. Muhammad and 

Amina Augie, who will 

both retire in 2023. 

You can, therefore, see 

that right between April, 

2020 and 2023, eight 

Justices of the summit 

Court will exit that 

Court. The earlier fresh 

hands are injected into 


C 

M 

Y 

K

Eulogies for Bulkachuwa, PCA on retirement 

IT was eulogies for outgoing 

President of the Court of 

Appeal, Justice Zainab 

Bulkachuwa last last week 

Wednesday valedictory court 

session held in her honour at 

the Court of Appeal, Lagos 

Division. 

Bulkachuwa, retiring on her 

attainment of the mandatory 

age of 70 said in her remarks 

that she would 

“I will still be with my sisters 

and brothers in the Supreme 

Court, Court of Appeal and 

high courts. I have mentored 

so many young judicial 

officers and upcoming lawyers 

to carry on the legacies. I will 

still be part of the judicial 

system despite my 

retirement,” she said. 

Speaking behalf of the Body 

of Senior Advocates, Chief 

Wole Olanipekun SAN, said 

Bulkachuwa deserves all the 

accolade being showered on 

her, having discharged her 

duties as President of the 

Court of Appeal. 

He noted that it was the 

judiciary that is gradually 

losing its dignity and respect, 

as unsavoury and 

uncomplimentary remarks 

about judicial officers are seen 

on the social media on a daily 

basis. Former Lagos State 

Attorney-General, Adiniji 

Kazeem, SAN, who spoke on 

behalf of the President of the 

Nigerian Bar Association, 

Continued from page 26 

the system, the better. This 

will make our outgoing 

Justices blend better with their 

incoming colleagues, for better 

justice administration. 

Clearly, therefore, the 

advantages of appointing 

more Justices far outweigh the 

reverse of it. 

Lawal Pedro, SAN 

Appointment of more justices 

to have the full complement of 

21 justices for the Supreme 

Court is a constitutional 

requirement. Therefore there 

should be no debate about 

this. I also do not see any 

reason for propping or 

pleading with the appropriate 

authorities to exercise their 

power under the constitution 

for the benefit of the county as 

a whole and litigants having 

appeals in the court in 

particular. I however have my 

doubts if having full 

complement of justices of the 

Supreme Court will solves the 

challenges facing the court 

and litigants having cases in 

EDITORIAL 

Innocent Anaba 

( Editor) 

Ikechukwu Nnochiri 

Henry Ojelu 

Onozure Dania 

Jane Ochewendoo 

NBA, on the occasion, said 

“My Lord’s looks and 

appearance actually belie My 

Lord’s age of almost70. It 

surely must be the Grace of 

God, above all, that keeps My 

Lord, the PCA, looking so 

ageless and young. 

A detainee has right to bail (2) 


considered before a court 

grants bail pending trial 

Shafiu vs The State 2002 4 

NWLR (Pt 757) 265. 

When a suspect will not 

appear in court to face trial, 

commit other crimes or has 

record of previous 

convictions bail will be 

denied Girdhar vs R 1960 E.A. 

320. When a suspect interfere 

with investigation bail will be 

denied James Danbaba vs The 

State 2000 14 NWLR (Pt 687) 

396. The fact that a suspect 

has grievous charges against 

him is not a ground to refuse 

him bail James Danbaba vs 

The State supra. 

A suspect who has not been 

tried and convicted by court 

should be granted bail as a 

matter of course Emeka Ani 

vs The State 2001 FWLR (Pt 

81) 1715. Bail will be refused 

to an applicant who admitted 

committing a crime or 

investigation of his case was 

still going on Suleman Adamu 

the court. As there are many 

appeals of 10years old and 

above yet to be determined 

not due to the fault of the 

justices but the existing 

structure and system. We 

therefore need to start 

thinking of restructuring the 

judicial system in the country 

by which each State will have 

its Supreme Court and not all 

natures or manners of cases 

will come to the Supreme 

Court for determination. 

Quakers Norrison, SAN 

vs C.O.P 2006 All FWLR (Pt 

298) 1348. Prisoners charged 

with high offences will not be 

granted bail Re Nottingham 

Corporation 1897 2 Q.B. 502. 

Capital offences are not 

bailable unless there are 

compelling and constraining 

circumstances COP vs Dr 

Iruoma 1977 1MSLR 80. 

Inordinate delay in 

prosecuting a case is a ground 

to grant bail pending trial COP 

vs Dr Iruoma supra. An 

applicant who has history of 

past convictions and 

committing other offences 

while on bail will have his bail 

revoked H.M. Postmaster vs 

Whitehouse 1951 35 Cr. A.P.R 

8 

Ẇhen a prosecutor asks for 

adjournment on the ground 

that the facts are insufficient 

to proceed against an accused 

person means there is no case 

against a suspect he is entitled 

to bail COP vs Dr Iruoma 

supra. When an applicant for 

bail pending hearing 

Quite frankly the 

appointment of additional 

justices for the apex court is 

long overdue. The current 

CJN recently stated that the 

court is inundated with 

appeals. I believe the full 

complement of 21 justices as 

prescribed by the Constitution 

will ease the apex court of the 

current burden. I commend 

the President, who has also 

expressed his desire for the 


S’Court: : SANs back Reps' call for more justices 

•Norrison, SAN 

“The life of Bulkachuwa, 

PCA, reminds us all what the 

Nigerian girl-child and indeed 

woman can achieve with her 

God-given intellect and 

talents if given the chance and 

opportunity. We more often 

than not scoff at the idea that 

•Odubela, SAN 

•Adegboruwa, SAN 

women are naturally gifted in 

multi-tasking but before us 

today is one illustrative 

example of extremely 

successful multi-tasking 

woman who has graciously 

and with great dexterity and 

enormous success combined 

her role as wife, mother, 

grandmother, aunt and highachieving 

career and 

professional women. 

“My Lord Bulkachuwa 

arrived the Court of Appeal 

Bench from a sustained and 

illustrious judicial career that 

interferes with the course of 

justice bail will be denied A. 

G. vs Duffy 1942 I.R. 529. It is 

the duty of the prosecution 

who opposed bail to provide 

prima facie evidence that the 

case against an accused 

person will succeed The State 

vs Lambert Onwu 1978 

IMSLR 154. 

Whatever stage application 

for bail is made the health of 

an applicant is a weighty 

matter to be considered Chief 

Olabode vs FRN 2010 5 NWLR 

(Pt 1187) 254. 

Bail will not be granted to an 

applicant who has other cases 

pending against him Michael 

Patrick Philips 1948 32 Cr 

APR 47. Bail must not be 

refused for personal 

vendetta, capricious reasons 

or to force an accused person 

to plead guilty Ugwumba 

Elisha vs C.O.P 1974 4 E.C. 

S.L.R 362. Difficulties 

encountered by an applicant 

is not a ground for granting 

bail but is a ground to adopt 

liberal approach Raghbir 

need to appoint more 

justices for the 

Supreme Court. 

However, Section 153 

of the Constitution 

which established 

the National Judicial 

Council, CJN, is 

vested with the 

power to recommend 

suitably qualified 

persons to the 

President for 

appointment as 

judicial officers, who 

in turn is 

constitutionally 

required to forward 

such names to the 

Senate for 

confirmation. The intervention 

by the House of 

Representatives by asking the 

President to appoint new 

justices is not within the 

purview of the President’s 

powers as donated by the 

Constitution but the NJC, 

being the body empowered 

constitutionally under Section 

21 of the third schedule to 

make recommendations to the 

President for appointment of 

judicial officers save this 

power is 

exercised 

t h e 

President 

cannot. 

John 

Odubela, 

SAN 

I think 

this is 

very key, 

necessary 

a n d 

urgent for 

t h e 

administration 

of justice 

in Nigeria 

particularly 

started with her appointment 

as a Magistrate with the 

Kaduna State Judiciary in 

1980. 

“My Lords, to raise an issue 

that is of great concern to 

lawyers generally and in 

particular, lawyers and 

litigants in the Lagos Division 

of this court i.e. the need for 

appointment of more Justices 

of the Courts of Appeal. The 

Justices of this Division in 

particular have been greatly 

overworked not just because 

of the litigious nature of 

Nigerians generally." 

Lambon vs R 1933 E.A. 337. 

Sections 27 and 332 of the 

Nigeria Police Act allows 

police officers to release on 

bail those arrested for minor 

offences. Under S. 332 (vii) of 

the Police Act the second in 

command in a police station 

can release on bail a suspect 

arrested without warrant. 

Why it is the second in 

command who grants a bail in 

a police station and not the 

head or any other person is 

not clear. When police officer 

releases on bail a suspect on 

conditions and the suspect 

fails to satisfy those 

conditions the suspect is no 

longer illegally detained Eda 

vs COP 1980 1 NCR 14. 

Political motivation is not a 

ground to warrant an 

applicant get bail Aiyegboyin 

vs A.G. 1982 1 NCR 295. 

There is nothing in Nigerian 

law known as “holding 

charge” a major reason for 

keeping suspects in custody 

pending being charged to 

court Chief Pat Ewere vs COP 

1993 6 NWLR (Pt 299) 333. 

at the apex court. Recent 

events and occurrences have 

shown that our apex court is 

over burdened with cases 

particularly pre and post 

election matters. The court is 

over burdened with the level 

of so many appeals which are 

pending. I believe if we have 

the full compliments of the 

court it will help in getting 

more panels that will dispose 

some of these pending 

appeals. It’s therefore 

important that the necessary 

arms of government and 

bodies should take appropriate 

steps towards ensuring that 

we have full compliments of 

the court. 

Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, 

SAN 

I urge the President to 

urgent act upon the 

recommendations of the 

National Judicial Council by 

confirming the names of 

Justices recommended for 

elevation to the Supreme 

Court. The delay is affecting 

the performances of the apex 

court. “There is no reason 

why, after so many months 

upon the recommendation of 

the NJC that the President has 

not taken steps to act upon it, 

by acting on it. I have noticed 

that this attitude of the 

Presidency is peculiar to the 

judiciary as in other cases, 

appointments are done with 

alacrity. Beyond these 

appointments however, is the 

need to streamline the 

workload of the Supreme 

Court, to filter out some 

causes, as the Supreme Court 

should not be burdened with 

some local issues that should 

ordinarily end in the Court of 

Appeal, especially criminal 

matters and interlocutory 

appeals.”


Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 — 29


NIGERIA has had two types 

of leader. One is the 

accidental type; the other the 

intentional. The accidental 

leaders never sought to be 

president, but had it thrust on them. 

But the intentional leaders 

desperately wanted the office, 

pursued it tenaciously, and finally 

secured it. President Muhammadu 

Buhari is the onlyone among 

Nigeria’scivilian leaderswho 

doggedly sought the office of 

president; others were accidental 

leaders who attained the highest 

office serendipitously. 

Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first 

Prime Minister, secured the 

position at the behest of his leader, 

Ahmadu Bello, the power behind 

the throne. Shehu Shagari’s 

highest ambition, by his own 

admission, was to be a senator 

before he was drafted to run for 

president. Olusegun Obasanjo was 

in jail from June 1995 until 

General Abdulsalami Abubakar 

released him in June 1998. He 

never dreamt of becoming 

president. But, as General Ishaya 

Bamaiyi, the then chief of army 

staff, wrote in his book, Vindication 

of a General, the military 

establishment decided to make 

Obasanjo president in 1999. And 

what about Presidents Umaru 

Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck 

Jonathan? Well,everyone knows 

they were handpicked by 

Obasanjo. They never, in their 

wildest dreams, sought to be 

president! 

But not Buhari. He ran for 

president three times before 

eventually winning on the fourth. 

From 2003 when he first vied for 

the presidency to 2015 when he 

Buhari wanted power so badly, yet 

has done so little with it 

finally won, Buhari had actively 

sought the office for 12 years. Each 

time he lost, he went all the way to 

the Supreme Court to try and 

overturn the result. So determined 

was he to become president that, 

in 2015, he opportunistically 

formed an alliance with the 

politicians that, as a military 

dictator, he would have sent to jail 

for corruption! 

Now, I have a theory. If someone 

has been trying actively for 12 

years to govern his country, it must 

be that he has clear ideas what he 

would do to move the country 

forward, if elected. A dogged 

seeker of the office of president 

should be more prepared than an 

accidental occupier of the office. 

Take Chief Obafemi Awolowo. 

He was also tenacious in seeking 

to be president, although he only 

ran twice – in 1979 and 1983. But 

those who knew Awolowo would 

confirm that he spent night and 

day planning to the minutest detail 

what he would do if elected. Of 

course, Awolowo never became 

president; so we will never know 

what kind of president he would 

have turned out to be. But judging 

by his superlative performance as 

Premier of Western Nigeria, we 

could say that, as a visionary and 

competent leader of monumental 

proportions, he would have 

assembled the best brains from 

across Nigeria, and provided 

outstanding leadership, to 

transform this country. 

ButBuhari is not Awolowo. For a 

start, Awolowo was an intellectual 

giant–a voracious reader and 

prolific writer. His intellectual 

contributions to the development 

of Nigeria, captured in several 

outstanding books, are 

unparalleled. His book, Path to 

Nigerian Freedom, was almost as 

seminal in shaping the debate 

about Nigeria’s federalism as 


Alexander Hamilton and James 

Madison’s The Federalist Papers 

were in influencing the American 

Constitution. 

The English philosopher Francis 

Bacon famously said: “Reading 

maketh a full man; conference a 

ready man; and writing an exact 

man”.Leaders are indeed readers. 

But as Junaid Mohammed, a 

former federal legislator, said in 

an interview: “Buhari doesn’t 

read.” So, then, it’s not surprising 

that, despite seeking power for 12 

years, Buhari committed no 

serious intellectual effort to putting 

together a coherent vision and a 

credible programme of actions for 

transforming this country.Yet, 

Nigeria is too complex to be run 

by intellectual vacuity. No one 

should seek to lead this country, 

let alone pursue that ambition 

doggedly, without knowing what 

he would do with the power. 

Buhari, apparently, didn’t! 

I mean, President Buhari is now 

five years in power, and has only 

three more before leaving office in 

2023. So, what has he achieved to 

date? Recently, there were calls for 

his resignation due to his utter 

inability to tackle the debilitating 

insecurity in the country. His 

government is completely 

dysfunctional: the cabals are 

fighting each other openly, and the 

service chiefs,despite their 

ineptitude, are too powerful to be 

sacked, even though their tenures 

have expired. Notwithstanding the 

recent miniscule GDP growth, the 

economy remains moribund and 

poverty is deepening. Even 

corruption, despite the anti-graft 

hype, has not gone away, what with 

the questionable handling of the 

Abacha loot! 

Lassa fever and other plagues: When we eat our way to death 

By KAYODE OJEWALE 

OF serious health concern lately has been 

the ravaging scourge and spread of 

Lassa fever in Nigeria. Lassa fever has been a 

major health challenge in West Africa and its 

spread has created panic even as concerned 

private and public health institutions battle 

hard to curtail it every year when it raises its 

ugly head. 

As at first week in February 2020, the death 

toll from Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria had 

risen to 47 as disclosed by Nigeria Centre for 

Disease Control in its weekly situation update 

for week five (January 27 to February 2). The 

spread of this killer-disease may not be easily 

curbed since there is no known vaccine for the 

prevention of the disease for now. However, it 

could be curtailed and managed when 

informed decisions are taken by every citizen. 

What makes Lassa fever challenging and a 

bit difficult to diagnose and treat is the fact 

that it initially assumes and mimics the 

symptoms of malaria. This in turn leads to 

delays in treatment because only few 

laboratories in Nigeria can diagnose Lassa 

fever virus. Lack of treatment commencement 

worsens the condition of an infected person as 

early diagnosis and treatment of the disease 

are key to any survival chance. 

It is also important to bring to the attention 

of Nigerians that we should be wary of smoked 

meat slices (Suya), bean cake (popularly called 

‘akara’ in local parlance), roasted corn and 

other food items or snacks that are usually 

sold by wrapping them in old newspapers or 

other paper materials where rodents might 

have excreted on them. That paper-wrapped 

food item may not be washed or rinsed before 

consuming so it becomes unhealthy to eat. It 

is, therefore, not hygienic to keep food items in 

used papers. These papers may not, by mere 

visual inspection, reveal rodents’ urine or 

excreta, so difficulty may arise in discerning 

which ones are contaminated or not. One never 

can tell if these papers have come in contact 

with excreta from rats. When an individual then 

consumes food items wrapped in these 

contaminated papers, such a one may be at 

high risk of contracting Lassa fever. It is, 

therefore, advisable to play safe by taking your 

container to receive the food items at the point 

of sales or requesting them to be sold in a safe 

and healthy wrapper. 

Not too long ago, a Director of Public Health, 

Enugu State, Dr. Boniface Okolo, warned 

Nigerians against the consumption of cassava 

flakes (garri) to avoid contacting Lassa fever. 

Dr. Boniface said the rats that caused the 

disease were mostly in contact with the most 

popular Nigerian staple food, garri. When 

garri is soaked in ordinary water and 

consumed, one is exposed to the risk of 

contracting Lassa fever. But if the water is boiled 

to make ‘eba’, it could go a long way to kill the 

bacteria caused by pest or rodents in garri. 

Last month, Nigerians woke to receive a 

shocking alert issued by the National Agency 

for Food and Drug Administration and 

Control, NAFDAC, on the use of paracetamol 

as tenderizers to cook meat by some 

unscrupulous food vendors. Paracetamol is 

added to soften the meat thereby saving cost of 

cooking for a longer time. Some households 

and restaurants have adopted this fast but 

deadly means of cooking meats meant for 

consumption. No wonder some meats are so 

soft and tender that they can be split into halves 

with ordinary plastic spoons or bare hands. It 

is not to say that there are no other healthy and 

legitimate ways of tenderising meats but there 

are other harmful, illegal and unhealthy ways 

of boiling meats as revealed in a recent 

warning issued by NAFDAC. 

The public alert from NAFDAC reads: “The 

members of the public, especially restaurant 

operators are cautioned to desist from the 

dangerous and unapproved use of 

paracetamol tablets to soften meat used in food 

preparation, as such illegal practice makes 

food to become toxic, unwholesome and unfit 

for human consumption.” The statement 

further explains the effects and health 

implications of consuming paracetamoltreated 

meats. The statement adds: “When used 

to cook, paracetamol is broken down (or 

President Buhari 

should leave the 

economy to his vice 

president, in a de facto 

prime-ministerial 

capacity, and focus on 

restructuring Nigeria 

hydrolyzed) into a toxic substance. This 

substance untimely damages the liver and 

some other organs in the body. Thus, the 

consumption of toxic and unwholesome food 

illegally prepared using paracetamol tablets 

may result in serious health consequences, 

including liver damage, kidney failure and 

untimely death”. 

As alternatives to paracetamol tablets, 

NAFDAC suggested other established and safe 

methods of tenderising meat. They include the 

following: Cooking with a pressure cooker; 

marinating (soaking) with vinegar, citrus juices 

or wine before cooking; marinating with 

enzymes (pineapple, pawpaw, kiwi, ginger and 

To nip the spread of Lassa fever 

and other plagues in the bud, 

there should be continuous 

sensitisation of the general public 

on various personal preventive 

measures 

Asian pear contain enzymes which can soften 

the meat); slow-cooking the meat or using 

commercial meat tenderisers in moderation 

which are sold in powder or liquid form. 

A UK-based healthcare professional and 

medical doctor, Seyi Olanipekun, is of the 

opinion that quantity has to be taken into 

account before paracetamol, PCM, can 

become toxic to the body. He condemned the 

strange use of PCM in cooking as a discovery 

or research trend in a wrong direction by 

whoever did. In his words: “Consuming meat 

that was cooked with a lot of PCM can cause 

its overdose. PCM is metabolised by the liver, 

and hence it gets hit and this can result in liver 

failure.” In order to corroborate his point on 

the damaging effects of large doses of PCM 

on the body, Dr. Olanipekun revealed that, 

people now commit suicide by ingesting large 

quantities of PCM. According to the UK-based 

medical expert, an individual who takes a large 

overdose of PCM may die within a short period 

if not treated. 

It becomes scary and worrisome to know 

Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

So, back to the question: Why did 

Buhari doggedly chase the 

presidencyfor 12 years? I have 

another theory. Remember Buhari 

was overthrown by his military 

colleagues in 1985. Well, he did not 

forget or forgive the “betrayal” 

and saw becoming president as a 

sweet revenge, the only way to 

redeem his honour and continue 

what he saw as his unfinished 

business. Indeed, in 2016, Buhari 

gloated about his victory. “I can 

claim superior knowledge over the 

opposition because, in the end, I 

have succeeded”. But where 

exactly is the “superior 

knowledge”? Well, it’s in the fact 

that he “succeeded”in becoming 

president, a vindication, as he saw 

it, of his “achievements” as a 

military head of state. 

Truth is, Buhari came to power 

in 2015, after 12 years of 

relentlessly trying to be president, 

with no fresh ideas. As a result, he 

has been running Nigeria almost 

exactly as he ran it from 1983 to 

1985. His economic dirigisme, 

antipathy to political reforms and 

passé approaches to tackling 

corruption and insecurity have left 

Nigeria adrift and chaotic. 

A word of advice. President 

Buhari should leave the economy 

to his vice president, in a de facto 

prime-ministerial capacity, and 

focus on restructuring Nigeria. 

Time is short. Helping Nigeria to 

create an enduring political and 

constitutional settlement is a 

legacy Buhari must seek to leave 

behind; otherwise, he would be 

remembered as someone who 

wanted power so badly but did 

nothing with it. A bad legacy 

indeed! 

that some food vendors deliberately indulge 

in toxic processing practices. It was recently 

revealed by some government officials in Osun 

State that some food vendors in the state use 

bleach to process cassava used for garri. This 

practice is not only unhealthy it is heartless 

and barbaric too. It, therefore, becomes 

imperative for NAFDAC, the food safety agency 

in the country, to arrest, prosecute and make 

public culprits who put consumers in harm’s 

way through such deadly practice. 

Another plague, coronavirus, has claimed 

more lives than SARS did in 2002/2003 

worldwide. Although there is no reported case 

of coronavirus yet in Nigeria, Nigerians must, 

in order to protect their health and prevent this 

disease outbreak, begin to practise protective 

measures against the deadly coronavirus 

presently tearing China apart. One of such 

measures is washing of hands with soap and 

water frequently. Also avoid touching your 

mouth, nose or eyes with unclean hands. Some 

health experts have also warned against 

consumption of raw or undercooked animal 

products. 

We should deploy the best practice of food 

storage to prevent contracting and spreading 

of diseases that could be avoided by simple 

hygiene practice at home. Air-tight containers 

must be used to store food items, especially 

grains/cereals and powdery food items. Fruits 

and raw vegetables should be thoroughly and 

properly washed before consuming. 

Above all, diseases of any kind can be reduced 

if not kept at bay if we adopt regular 

handwashing practice to prevent easy spread 

of diseases. Our preparedness for and response 

to disease outbreaks, especially Lassa fever 

which ravages Africa’s most populous country 

yearly, would go a long way in reducing deaths 

that may arise from the spread of the disease. 

Furthermore, to nip the spread of Lassa fever 

and other plagues in the bud, there should be 

public awareness and continuous sensitisation 

of the general public on various personal 

preventive measures to curtail diseases indoors 

or outdoors. 

* Ojewale, a commentator on national issues, 

wrote from Idimu, Lagos via 

kayodeojewale@gmail.com.




COURTESY VISIT: From left — CRP. Centre for Change, Mr. Gbenga Ganzallo; Gen. Sec. Centre for 

Change, Comrade Isioma Olasunkanmi; Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 2, AIG 

Ahmed Illiyasu; President, Centre for Change, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin; Zonal Police PRO, DSP. Hauwa 

Idris-Adamu, during the Courtesy Visit by Assistant Inspector General of Police to Centre for Change, 

Tuesday. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi. 

Oil companies’ MoUs with host communities 

oppressive, says A'Ibom govt 

By Harris Emanuel 

UYO—OIL rich Akwa 

Ibom State has taken 

the International Oil Companies 

and other oil and 

gas players in the state to 

the cleaners over what it 

described as their oppressive 

Memoranda of Understanding, 

MoU, with their 

host communities. 

State Commissioner for 

Environment and Petroleum 

Resources, Ekong 

Sampson, who stated this, 

observed that the lopsided 

agreements have always 

been the sources of restiveness, 

tension and suspicion 

among the people of the 

host communities. 

To this end, he said the 

state government had taken 

proactive measures to 

ensure the standardization 

of agreements between the 

oil firms and host communities, 

so as to engender 

peace, security and Development. 

He added that the state 

government had directed 

the oil companies and allied 

companies operating 

in the state to open functional 

offices in the state to 

bring their services closer 

to the areas of their operations, 

as according to him, 

the state government was 

deprived of substantial financial 

benefits from these 

companies. 

He said, “We at the ministry 

level are making efforts 

to standardize the 

MoU which the IOCs and 

other oil and gas companies 

with the host communities. 

We believe that this 

measure would engender 

peace. So, the state government 

is committed to getting 

the IOCs to work with 

standardise MoUs. We are 

trying to standardise. 

“We believe that when we 

standardise the MoUs, restiveness, 

tension, distrust 

would be reduced to the 

barest minimum because 

some of the MoUs are 

clearly oppressive and substantially 

deprive the host 

communities and indeed 

the state government of 

their rights. We are working 

hard to standardize the 

MoU. 

“The host communities’ 

play into the hands of the 

IOCs and that is the truth. 

So, what the IOCs simply 

do is to exploit the disunity 

among the host communities. 

So, we as a state government 

, we have directed 

that IOCs and other oil 

and gas companies and 

their service companies 

must have functional offices 

in Akwa Ibom State 

because when they have 

operate functional offices 

in the state, it is easier 

for the state and the 

host communities to work 

with them. It also will 

help them to stabilise 

their operations. 

‘’When the IOCs and 

other players become distant, 

they create rooms 

for tension and misunderstanding 

and of 

course the host communities 

and the state are 

deprived of revenue. The 

state government is deprived 

of revenue because 

some of the IOCs, 

the big players are distant. 

You know the economic 

contribution of 

Akwa Ibom State to the 

country. So, the state 

government has directed 

that the IOCs and other 

big players must have 

functional offices in the 

state.” 

Pipeline Surveillance: I0,000 N’Delta youths plan protest 

over alleged neglect 

By Festus Ahon Edo 1,000. 

A SABA—ABOUT 

10,000 youths reportedly 

trained by the Host 

Oil Communities of Nigeria, 

HOSCON, are planning 

a mass protest in the 

Niger Delta region 

against alleged neglect by 

the Federal Government 

after undergoing intensive 

practical training on 

oil pipeline surveillance, 

it was learnt, yesterday. 

It was gathered that the 

Federal Government 

through the Ministry of 

Niger Delta, Ministry of 

Petroleum and the Office 

of the Presidential Amnesty 

Programme, PAP, 

had given the go-ahead 

to HOSCON, led by 

Chief Mike Emuh, to organise 

the training for the 

youths as a form of community 

policing to guide 

the pipelines. 

The states which were 

supposed to benefit from 

the project were Akwa 

Ibom which had 1,000 

trainees, Delta 2,000 and 

Rivers 1000, Bayelsa 700, 

Coronavirus outbreak delaying reconstruction of 

Ibom Science park — A'Ibom govt 

By Chioma Onuegbu 

UYO—AKWA IBOM 

State Government 

has said that actual commencement 

of reconstruction 

work on Ibom Blue 

Sea Science and Technology 

Park project had been 

delayed following the outbreak 

of the Coronavirus 

disease. 

The state Commissioner 

for Science and Technology, 

in charge of supervising 

the project, Dr Iniobong 

Essien made the disclosure 

in a statement, yesterday in 

Uyo. 

Essien said government 

was committed to the 

Others include; Ondo 

500, Imo 500, Abia 500, 

Cross River 900, Anambra 

400 and Lagos 700 

while the non-oil producing 

but impacted 

states include; Enugu 

400, Osun 300. Oyo, 

Ogun, Kogi, Kwara, Bauchi, 

Plateau, Kaduna, 

Benue, Gombe and 

Borno were yet to undergo 

training before the 

program me was reportedly 

stopped. 

It was further learnt 

that all issues relating to 

the engagement of the 

youth of all the oil producing 

states before now 

were discussed with the 

former Minister of Niger 

Delta Affairs, Usani Usani, 

former Minister of 

State for Petroleum Resources, 

Dr Ibe Kachikwu 

and former Special 

Adviser to the President 

on Amnesty Programme, 

General Paul Boro 

(retd), in 2017, 2018 and 

2019 before the end of 

their terms. 

project, adding that it was 

only logical to put the 

project on hold while waiting 

a medical breakthrough 

that would ameliorate the 

present spread of the diseases. 

He said, "It will be recalled 

that on December 19, 

2019, Governor Udom Emmanuel 

at a grand ceremony 

flagged off the reconstruction 

of Ibom Science 

Park, renamed lbom 

Bluesea science and Technology 

Park. 

"The lbom Blue sea Science 

and Technology Park 

is designed to be a scientific 

and technological incubation 

hub in the state, the 

nation and beyond and will 

offer meaningful engagements 

and employment to 

our teeming youths who 

desire a veritable platform 

to exhibit their creativity. 

"However, on behalf of 

the state government , I 

hereby bring to the attention 

of the good people of 

Akwa Ibom State and the 

general public that the actual 

commencement of 

work on the project has 

been delayed following the 

recent outbreak of a global 

epidemic known as Coronavirus 

disease (COVID- 

19) in Wuhan, Hubei province 

of China late last year.‘‘ 

Devt projects: IRDC, others 

urged to halt bid opening move 

By Jimitota 

Onoyume 

WARRI—ALL parties 

in a move to open a 

proposed bid for building 

project in Itsekiri oil and 

gas producing impacted 

communities under the 

Global Memorandum of 

Understanding, GMoU, 

between Chevron Nigeria 

Limited, Itsekiri Oil and 

Gas Producing/Impacted 

communities and the Delta 

State government have 

been urged to put the matter 

on hold. 

Five members of the Itsekiri 

oil and gas producing/impacted 

communities, 

in a statement yesterday in 

Warri said, opening a bid 

based on a needs assessment 

conducted since 2006 

would amount to waste as 

the needs of the communities 

had since gone beyond 

the issues captured in 

the 2006 assessment. 

The statement by 

Kennedy Ebigbeyi, Apoh 

Rivers Taskforce denies killing 

bureau de change operator 

By Egufe Yafugborhi 

PORT HARCOURT — 

THE Rivers State Taskforce 

against Illegal Street 

Trading/Illegal Motor 

Parks/Illegal Mechanics 

has denied killing a bureau 

de change agent during its 

Tuesday's alleged raid on 

GRA Junction/Rumuola 

axis of Port Harcourt. 

The victim was confirmed 

dead following alleged harassment 

and beating by 

men of the taskforce, who 

had raided the GRA Junction 

and Hotel Presidential 

neighborhood of Port Harcourt, 

a beehive of teeming 

black market operators of 

currency exchange. 

Bright Amaehwule, 

Chairman of the taskforce, 

Toristeju, Okotie Otomewo, 

Ebiekutan Jemine 

and Kennedy Obaghore 

stressed that the 2006 

needs assessment no 

longer reflected contemporary 

plights in the affected 

communities, 

adding that the available 

fund should be 

properly channeled to 

productive developmental 

projects that would 

help create wealth and 

jobs for the people and 

communities under the 

Itsekiri Regional Development 

Council, IRDC. 

“Much as building 

projects may be laudable, 

it may amount to 

waste of efforts and 

funds if you build houses 

and there are no commensurate 

economic activities 

that would give 

the people means of livelihood 

and ensure they 

stay in those houses in 

the communities," the 

statement said. 

in a statement, yesterday, 

said, "Rivers State Government 

did not initiate the 

taskforce to kill any of her 

citizens, rather it is aimed 

at restoring sanity and 

standard way of living 

among its citizens. 

"Therefore, the taskforce 

dissociates itself from information 

being peddled by 

those who seek to defame 

the Rivers State Government 

in such negative 

manner. 

"The state government 

has already swung into action 

to actually know the 

cause of his death. We urge 

all to be law abiding citizens 

to continue with their 

normal activities, as everything 

is under control." 

CRUTECH admits 5,822, warns 

against cultism, exam malpractice 

By Emma Una 

C ALABAR—PROFES 

SOR David Ogar, the 

Vice Chancellor of the 

Cross River University of 

Technology has said that 

the school would not hesitate 

to invoke its extant laws 

against any student who 

indulges in cultism and examination 

malpractice. 

Ogar, yesterday, at the 

18th Matriculation ceremony 

of the school to mark the 

formal admission process of 

new admitting new students 

into the school, said 

"My dear matriculating students, 

you are about to take 

a crucial and life -defining 

step, therefore, you must 

remain focused, disciplined, 

committed, studious 

and not allow any form of 

distraction to truncate your 

academic target because we 

have zero tolerance for cultism 

and examination malpractice." 

He warned that certificates 

would only be awarded 

to those who demonstrate 

exemplary character 

and academic excellence at 

the end of their programme 

and called on the new intake 

to accord maximum 

respect to constituted authority 

by adhering to the 

rules, tenets and traditions 

of the institution. 

The Vice Chancellor implored 

the matriculating 

students to take advantage 

of the serene environment 

and develop their potentials 

and mould their reputation 

as leaders of tomorrow.

34—Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 

TRAINING: From left, Rector/Chief Executive, Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, 

NCAT, Capt. Abdulsalami Mohammed; Head, Aviation Management School, NCAT, Dr. 

Kareem Bakare; General Manager, Kaduna Regional Manager, Nigeria Civil Aviation 

Authority, NCAA, and Chairman, League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents, LAAC, 

Mr. Segun Koiki, at the LAAC 2020 training at NCAT, Zaria opening ceremony. 

Some Nigerians using Ebonyi identity for 

recruitment into army— Ebonyi dep gov 

By Peter Okutu 

A BAKALIKI—EBONYI 

State Deputy Governor, 

Dr. Kelechi Igwe, yesterday 

alleged that some Nigerians 

usually take up the identity 

of Ebonyi people and take 

all the state’s quota in any 

army recruitment exercise. 

Representing Governor 

David Umahi of Ebonyi State 

while receiving Brig. Gen. 

Henry Akpan, Director in 

charge of Army Recruitment, 

Resettlement and Reserve, 

Ministry of Defence, at Exco 

Chambers of the 

Government House, 

Abakaliki, the deputy 

governor decried alleged 

shortchanging of the people 

of the state in the recruitment 

of the Nigerian Army. 

He said: “Before our 

ascension into office, what 

had obtained in the South- 

East, particularly in Ebonyi 

State, is that our people have 

been shortchanged in the 

army. They will pull out 

enmasse for recruitment and 

they would return home 

jubilating that they are going 

to be recruited into the army, 

that the report on them is 

favourable for their 

engagement in the military. 

"At the end, the story will be 

that only two or three of them 

are engaged and when you 

go to look at the list, you will 

discover that men from other 

regions will answer Ebonyi 

State name, take up the 

identity of our people and 

take the quota that is meant 

and reserved for Ebonyi 

State. 

“We are not happy with 

such unpleasant situations 

and I believe that our 

governor has complained 

severally about it. We think 

that having men like you and 

the Chief of Army Staff will 

resolve such intractable 

problem that we have been 

having in Ebonyi State.” 

Earlier, Brig.-Gen. Henry 

Akpan, Director in charge of 

Army Recruitment, 

Resettlement and Reserve, 

Ministry of Defence, Abuja 

said the Chief of Army Staff 

had strategised on how to 

tackle the problems facing 

the army in the conventional 

warfare by ensuring that 

anyone recruited into the 

system from now onwards 

would undergo special and 

tough training after 

undergoing the normal 

recruitment training. 

“The normal army that was 

trained to engage 

particularly in conventional 

warfare are having a lot of 

problems as you can see in 

the North Eastern region. 

So, recently, the Chief of 

Army instituted Special 

Forces concept, a special 

skill that you can use to fight 

war. 

“This special training will 

now be integrated in every 

Group donates $1.2m medical 

equipment to Imo govt 

By Chidi 

Nkwopara 

O WERRI—Governor 

Hope Uzodimma of Imo 

State has reiterated the 

resolve of his administration 

to chart a fresh and achievable 

roadmap for the development 

of the healthcare sector in the 

state. 

Uzodinma spoke in Owerri, 

when he received in 

audience, the Chief Medical 

Officer, CMO, of American 

International Health 

Incorporated, Prof. Uche 

Nwaneri, after taking delivery 

of medical equipment worth 

$1.2 million, and a 

documentary, “Strategic Plan 

to Revitalise the Imo State 

Healthcare sector.” 

The governor said: “One of 

the strongest challenges we 

saw when we came in as a 

government, is the absence of 

an organised medical system 

for our people. Speaking with 

Prof. Nwaneri a few days ago, 

I reiterated that and also laid 

emphasis on how best we can 

encourage this noble idea to 

materialise.” 

While stressing the 

readiness of his 

administration to partner with 

the team to ensure that Imo 

healthcare system gets off the 

ground, Uzodinna, however, 

reasoned that it will help the 

government check avoidable 

recurring deaths, occasioned 

by carelessness of the medical 

system or the absence of 

sound medicare. 

Apparently satisfied with 

the presentation, Uzodimma 

said: “This is good enough 

and sufficient to be adopted 

as our medical programme 

for the state as a government, 

because it has taken care of 

the rural, the middle income 

and urban areas." 

Making special reference 

to Imo State University 

Teaching Hospital, IMSUTH, 

Orlu, Uzodinma pledged to 

make sure that whatever was 

necessary would be done for 

its proper accreditation to 

training in the Nigerian 

army. So, this means that 

anybody that is recruited in 

the Nigerian Army with 

effect from now, will have to 

go through that process. 

"It is a tough training, it 

requires a lot of physical and 

mental fitness. So, we need 

young men and women who 

are physically fit”, he said. 

allow Imo sons and 

daughters, who have 

stagnated for the past 10 to 

12 years, to graduate without 

further stress. 

Speaking earlier, Professor 

Nwaneri appreciated 

Uzodimma for the 

opportunity given them to 

contribute to the health needs 

of Imo people, while also 

making a convincing 

presentation for the state to 

buy into. 

Nwaneri also announced a 

donation of medical 

equipment worth $1.2 m to 

IMSUTH, Orlu. 

Rape: WACOL seeks 

disciplinary measure against 

indicted police officers 

By Dennis Agbo 

WOMEN 

Aids 

Collective, WACOL, 

has requested that the Police 

should immedately 

commence disciplinary 

measures against indicted 

police officers who invaded 

WACOL office in Enugu and 

butalised its staff over a 

reported rape incident. 

Four police officers were 

alleged to have invaded 

WACOL office in Enugu and 

brutalised a lawyer with 

WACOL earlier this year, in 

a bid to compel the women 

rights group to withdraw a 

petition it made to the police 

against a suspected rapist. 

Briefing newsmen on the 

development, yesterday, 

Founding Director of 

WACOL, Prof Joy Ezeilo, said 

her organisation appreciated 

the effort of police in setting 

up a panel of investigation 

on the police brutality but 

wants the police to go further 

and discipline the indicted 

officers with either suspension 

or immediate prosecution. 

Ezeilo also threw up the 

issue of alleged corruption 

and inducement by the 

suspected rapist which it said 

made the police officers 

commit the acts of 

intimidation and brutality 

against her officers. 

She said: “We have no 

problem with the police 

authority because we always 

work with police, but all we 

want is to end police brutality 

to humanity." 

Nsukka youths honour Peace 

Mass MD, unveils mascot of 

him 

By Chinenyeh 

Ozor 

YOUTHS of Nsukka 

cultural affinity have 

unveiled the mascot of Chief 

Samuel Onyishi, Managing 

Director of Peace Mass 

Transit, in honour and 

appreciation of his 

philanthropic gesture in 

community development in 

Nsukka Local Government 

Area of Enugu State. 

The mascot positioned in 

front of Nsukka town hall, 

which he single-handedly 

built 12 years ago, would 

remain as a symbol to 

generations yet unborn of the 

magnanimity of Onyishi on 

economic development, 

education, entrepreneurship 

and human capital 

development of his kinsmen 

in Nsukka and it’s environs. 

FG tasked on grassroots 

education for innovation, 

economic devt 

NIGERIA 

cannot 

achieve sustainable 

economic development if it 

continues to pay lip service 

to grassroots education of 

pupils in rural communities. 

Founder, Eziokwu 

Ebubechuwku Foundation, 

EEF, Mr. Ezeukoh 

Ebubechukwu, said this 

while calling on the Federal 

Government to intensify 

efforts to revamp and educate 

rural communities by setting 

qualitative measures to 

improve the academic and 

learnability standards of the 

rural pupils. 

Speaking during the 

foundation’s second Rural 

Outreach at St. Aloysius' 

Catholic Primary School, Iloti 

Itamapako, Ogun State, 

Ebubechukwu, who 

expressed concern over the 

increasing population of outof-school 

children in the 

country, also urged the 

Federal Government to give 

The youths through its 

chairman, Chief Chidokwe 

Attama, said unveiling the 

mascot was to appreciate the 

humanitarian gesture of 

Chief Onyishi to various 

communities of Nkpunano, 

Nru, Nguru, Ihe/Owerre in 

the local government area. 

Attama said Onyishi singlehandedly 

built Nsukka town 

hall (aka Obu Nsukka) for the 

community as an everlasting 

legacy for his people, having 

earlier built other 

developmental projects and 

hospital for the community, 

empowered over 500 

undergraduates of the 

community with cash, floated 

Samuel Maduka Onyishi 

Education Foundation, 

SAMOEF, at the Institute of 

African Studies, University of 

Nigeria, Nsukka where over 

5,000 students benefit 

annually. 

Court quashes N22m suit 

against Premier Breweries, 

Arthur Eze 

By Nwabueze 

Okonkwo 

ONITSHA— 

An 

Anambra State High 

Court sitting at Ogidi, Idemili 

North Local Government 

Area, presided over by 

Justice Irene Ndigwe has 

dismissed a N22 million suit 

filed by Al-Kama Commodity 

Exchange (Nig) Plc against 

Premier Breweries Nigeria 

Plc, its owner, Prince Arthur 

Eze and five commercial 

banks. 

Delivering a judgment 

yesterday, Justice Ndigwe 

noted that after evaluation of 

the arguments canvassed by 

both parties, the court has to 

uphold the submissions of Dr. 

Anthony Orunkoya, counsel 

to Premier Breweries Plc, the 

defendant/judgment debtor. 

The trial judge ruled that it 

was only when proper 

parties are before the court 

that the court would assume 

jurisdiction to competently 

adjudicate on a matter as was 

held in the case of Okonta v 

Philips (2011) All FWLR (pt 

568) 977 SC at 980 – 981, 

adding that if the enabling 

law provides name for a 

juristice or legal personality, 

a party must sue or be sued 

in that name. 

Ndigwe further held that 

the court was under a duty to 

determine whether the relief 

sought in a garnishee 

proceeding is the same with 

the award contained in the 

judgment sought to be 

enforced and where there is 

variance with award of the 

judgment sought to be 

enforced with the reliefs in the 

garnishee, most particularly 

the amount, the court is 

under a duty to refuse the 

application. 

priority to the education 

welfare of pupils in public 

schools. 

He said: “The impact of 

education in any economy 

cannot be overemphasised. 

An educated farmer would 

have more contribution and 

more innovative ideas to 

national growth than one 

who’s not educated. 

“Federal Government 

should make efforts to 

revamp the academics of the 

rural dwellers and also make 

school fun for rural kids. 

“Government should put in 

qualitative measures to 

improve the academics and 

learnability of these rural 

children, because educating 

the rural kids would help to 

create an enabling 

environment where the 

concept of economic 

development would matter to 

them and will make them 

think for generations to come, 

rather than their immediate 

needs.”

Vanguard, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 — 35 


NBC PROMO: From 

left — Commercial 

Manager, Nigerian 

Bottling Company 

(NBC), Yetunde 

Kolade; one of the 

beneficiaries of the 

'Gbe Bottle e' N100,000 

give away, Margaret 

Olorunfunmi 

Sowemimo and Regional 

Trade Marketing 

Coordinator, 

NBC, Wale Faluyi at 

the second phase of 

the NBC's Retailers 

Reward Program in 

Ibadan, Oyo State. 

Teach your children good morals, 

Okowa tells parents, guardians 

...as Delta holds time out with role model 

By Festus Ahon 

A 

S A B A — 

GOVERNOR 

Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, 

yesterday, told parents, guardians 

and teachers not to relent in 

teaching children moral values 

and principles that would help 

NLC to African countries: Create enabling 

environment to attract investments 

By Victor Young 

NIGERIA Labour Congress, 

NLC, has called on African 

governments to build and expand 

infrastructure, create the 

enabling environment to attract 

‘responsible’ investors while also 

investing in education, 

healthcare to enhance citizens’ 

development. 

NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, 

made the call in Lagos, while 

speaking at the 6th Africa Social 

Partners Summit, hosted by 

Nigeria Employers’ Consultative 

Association, NECA. 

Wabba contended that “all over 

the world we need jobs. In Africa, 

Land dispute: Stop harassing 

yourselves with police, court 

warns parties 

By Onozure Dania 

LAGOS—AN Igbosere 

Magistrates’ Court has 

warned parties in a land dispute 

to stop using the police against 

each other. 

Magistrate Linda Balogun 

ordered the parties to maintain 

status quo, pending the 

determination of an alleged case 

of malicious damage, forcible entry 

to land and threat to life. 

She made the order following 

the testimony of a prosecution 

witness, Mr Owodunmi Okupe. 

Okupe alleged that his son was 

arrested by the police on the 

court’s premises immediately after 

the last hearing of the matter, and 

were taken to Zone 2 

headquarters. 

He claimed that the defendant 

in the case was behind his ordeal. 

The witness also tendered a 

survey plan document before the 

court, but the court observed that 

it was different from that of the 

defendant. 

Mrs Balogun said: “I hereby 

order that all parties before this 

shape their future for a better 

society. 

Okowa who spoke in Asaba at 

the maiden edition of an event, 

entitled ‘Time Out With Role 

Model,’ organised by the state 

Orientation Bureau, for young 

people, focusing on public and 

private school children, urged 

we need plenty new jobs. Yet, jobs 

will not happen by happenstance. 

Job generation is a reward for 

economic growth. The economy 

can only grow with increase in 

purchasing power. The wages of 

workers underline the purchasing 

power in any clime. It is a major 

driver for productivity and growth. 

''Wages in Africa are the poorest 

around the world. For a continent 

that is endowed with enormous 

mineral and human resource, this 

is totally unacceptable. It is sad 

that while other regions have 

deservedly elevated the wage 

discourse to decent and living 

wages, many African 

governments and employers still 

court should restrain, from using 

any police or agent to arrest or 

harass each other”. 

The magistrate directed parties 

to maintain the status quo and 

adjourned till March 23, for 

continuation of hearing. 

The Police had arraigned 

Matthew Balogun, 63, on 

September 26, 2019, on a fourcount 

charge of conspiracy, 

malicious damage, forcible 

entertain, threat to life, and breach 

children to emulate people with 

responsible behavioural attitude 

as mentors for a purposeful life. 

Okowa, represented by the 

Commissioner for Youth, Mr 

Ifeanyi Egwuyanga, insisted that 

as future leaders, the youths 

needed to be taught good morals. 

In his keynote address, the 

Commissioner for Information, 

Mr. Charles Aniagwu, charged 

the participants to make a 

genuine difference in life, 

through their behavioural 

pattern in core moral values by 

shunning vices that could make 

them wayward in life. 

Earlier, the organiser and 

Director General of the State 

Orientation Bureau, Mr Eugene 

Uzum, said, “In line with 

Governor Okowa’s ‘Stronger 

Delta Agenda,’ we have under 

studied the attitudinal 

complexities and the mindset of 

our youths, hence we deem it 

necessary to create this platform 

to properly guide the younger 

generation in the area of mental 

infrastructure, mindset and value 

orientation, role modeling and 

value appreciation in the 

actualization and sustenance of 

the stronger Delta dream and self 

emancipation. 

“We believe with the rise in 

moral decadence, societal vices 

and loss of core values to trends, 

especially in an era when 

disorientation of young people 

has led to increasing menace of 

internet fraud, ritual killings, 

illegal migration and human 

trafficking among others, the 

need for role modelling cannot 

be over emphasized. 

“Time Out With Role Model’, 

is a platform where societal role 

models are invited to interact with 

young persons, heart to heart to 

exchange values and reveal life 

principles that will help shape 

their mentality, vision, belief 

system and creating the needed 

mental structure for sustainable 

development”. 

Uzum thanked Governor 

Ifeanyi Okowa for “accepting to 

be our principal role model, and 

the Managing Director of Conoil 

Producing Limited, Mr Michael 

Madoghwe for appearing as a role 

model for this maiden edition.” 

IRDC Bid Opening: Planned projects'll address 

communities' demands — ODELI 

By Jeremiah 

Urowayino 

SECRETARY of Tisun Community 

Management 

Council in Warri North Local Government 

Area, Prince David Odeli, 

has commended the executive 

of Itsekiri Regional Development 

Committtee, IRDC, for the success 

of the 2019/2020 Projects’ 

Circle bid opening ceremony, saying 

the roads, jetties and housing 

projects to be awarded reflect 

needs assessment of indigenes of 

see minimum wage as some sort 

of lottery for workers. Workers all 

over Africa demand for wage 

justice.” 

According to him, “While we 

support government initiatives 

on the ease of doing business, 

we must build the infrastructure 

for the future we desire. If we 

reduce the high incidence of 

official corruption, there will be 

enough funds to fund economic 

growth and bring about shared 

prosperity. 

''Whatever we do, we must 

ensure that the quantum leap in 

human population in Africa must 

not lag behind proactive visioning 

and action by government. We 

must plan and act like tomorrow 

is already here because Africa’s 

tomorrow is already at the door 

heavily pregnant. 

In today’s globalised world, 

economic growth does not 

happen in isolation. The 

deliberate undermining of a 

region through unfair trade 

practices, restrictions, debt 

blackmail and imposition of 

‘impossible’ trade conditions does 

not only hurt the target 

economies but also the predatory 

states. The current gale of forced 

migration warns all of us that crisis 

anywhere could mean chaos 

everywhere. A word suffices.'' 

the 23 IRDC communities. 

Odeli, who brushed aside statement 

credited to some non-IRDC 

Council members, that the 

projects did not reflect, “contemporary 

plights in the affected communities”, 

asserted that construction 

of more houses, jetties and 

roads, would create the right atmosphere 

for more people as well 

as investors to live and do business 

in the Itsekiri coastal oil and 

gas producing communities. 

The Warri North Community 

scribe argued that lack of internal 

roads, insufficient housing and 

limited access to the communties, 

through jetties are counter-productive 

to wealth creation, job opportunities 

and other forms of economic 

activities. 

He described the bid opening as 

transparent and urged the IRDC 

executive not to be distracted by 

the comments of people, “who are 

not representatives of any of the 

23 IRDC communities, state and 

local governments, Chevron Nigeria 

Limited and the non-governmental 

organizations, midwifing 

the GMoU Governace Model.” 

CLO alleges hijack of job vacancies 

by INEC officials in Bayelsa 

...we’re not aware of any hijack —INEC 

By Samuel 

Oyadongha & Emem 

Idio 

Y ENAGOA—CIVIL 

Liberties Organisation, 

CLO, in Bayelsa State has 

accused senior staff of the 

authorities of the Independent 

National Electoral Commission, 

INEC, of alleged sales and 

diversion of job vacancies meant 

for indigenes of the state, 

threatening legal means to 

ensure such jobs are made 

available to indigenes of the 

state. 

Meanwhile, the commission in 

the state has denied knowledge 

of such diversion of employment 

opportunities by any of its officials 

in the state. 

According to CLO, preliminary 

investigation into the claim of 

alleged sales, sharing and 

diversion of jobs meant for 

Bayelsa indigenes showed that 

the vacant positions of between 

Grade levels 01-07 at the 

Late Iyalode Tinubu's estate: 

Absence of the Justices stalls 

hearing 

By Innocent Anaba 

LAGOS—HEARING in the 

appeal by Trustees of the 

Estate of late Madam Iyalode 

Tinubu at the Court of Appeal 

sitting in Lagos, challenging the 

decision of Justice Wasiu 

Animahaun of a Lagos High 

Court, on a disputed Ijora land 

was, yesterday, stalled due to the 

absence of the Justices of the 

appellate court. 

The hearing could not go on 

because the judges were absent, 

as they went for the valedictory 

session organised in honour of the 

retiring Court of Appeal President, 

Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa 

Justice Animahaun had, in his 

ruling delivered on January 23, 

2019, dismissed the appellant’s 

counterclaim filed on June 8, 

2017, in suit N0, M/5/2009 on the 

ground that it was an abuse of 

court process. 

Dissatisfied with the lower 

court’s ruling, the Trustees had 

through their lawyer, Ayoyinka 

Roberts, appealed, urging the 

appellate court to set aside the 

ruling of the lower court. 

Group trains 8000 youths on 

agribusiness in two years in Kwara 

By Demola Akinyemi 

ILORIN—A group of 

young agribusiness 

experts in Kwara State has 

trained over 8000 

unemployed youths making 

them to be gainfully employed 

across the state in the last 

two years. 

The Ilorin-based 

organisation, under the aegis 

of Heart and Capital Limited, 

which said the initiative was 

continuous, noted that the 

training was aimed at creating 

wealth for the young 

generation in Agriculture, a 

profession that has a secured 

future among others. 

The President and cofounder 

of the organization, 

Abdulquawiy Olododo, spoke 

at a briefing while unveiling 

a new product of the 

company, “The Eterno 

commission office in Yenagoa, 

were being handed to cronies and 

families from outside the state. 

Speaking with newsmen 

yesterday in Yenagoa, state 

Chairman of CLO, Chief Nengi 

James-Eriworio, he said: “We 

have it on good authority that 

some vacancies within the state 

INEC are being diverted and 

handed to non-indigenes. We are 

calling on the Resident Electoral 

Commissioner and the national 

chairman of INEC to investigate 

and ensure compliance on 

making available the job spaces 

for Bayelsa indigenes.” 

Reacting, Head of Voters’ 

Education and Publicity, INEC 

Bayelsa State, Mr Wilfred Ifogah, 

said:” The leader of CLO in 

Bayelsa had earlier inquired and 

I did inform that in as much as I 

know, there was approval for 

vacant junior staff recruitment. 

But I am not aware of any hijack. 

“However, I know the 

commission is recruiting senior 

staff and it’s coordinated from our 

national headquarters.” 

In the appeal through their 

attorney, Adamakin Investment 

and Work Limited, the Trustees 

are also praying the court for an 

order reinstating to the cause list 

of the lower court, the counterclaim 

in the same suit dismissed 

by the lower court. 

They are praying the court for 

an order for the trial of their 

counterclaim before another court 

within the same jurisdiction as 

constituted before the lower court. 

In a 12-paragraph affidavit in 

support of the appeal and deposed 

to by one Ayoyinka Roberts, a 

legal practitioner, the Trustees 

also prayed the appellate court to 

stay further proceeding in the 

matter pending the determination 

of the appeal, stressing that taking 

further proceeding in the matter 

will foist a situation of helplessness 

on the court of appeal and render 

the appeal nugatory. 

According to the appellant, the 

lower court erred in law when it 

decided that their counter-claim 

was an abuse of court process 

despite acknowledging that the 

counter-claim in the suit before 

him was the earlier in time. 

Project” where an investor 

would own a Cashew tree 

with 10,000 and earn up to 

1000% return on the 

investment in 20 years. 

He said “We partner with 

several tertiary institutions 

among which is Kwara State 

University, KWASU, which is 

our first partner. We get to 

train about 4,000 youth, 

young farmers every year on 

opportunities in agribusiness. 

We have trained over 8000 of 

youths in Agribusiness in the 

last two years. We are young 

and we can understand 

language comprehensible to 

young adults. Agriculture had 

gone beyond hoes and 

cutlasses, farming and waiting 

for harvest. A whole value 

chain exists from planting to 

processing, marketing and 

others that our youth should 

be part of.”

36— Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 

Defeating Boko Haram in five easy steps 

By OLA BALOGUN 

CAN we rely on the Nigerian Armed 

Forces as presently constituted? 

There is nothing new under the sun! From 

time immemorial, the challenge of confronting 

and defeating non-state military forces that 

engage in guerilla warfare has been met 

successfully time and time again. Thus, there 

is virtually no need to innovate when it comes 

to solving this problem. The strategies and 

tactics for defeating guerilla forces have been 

abundantly written about and commented on, 

both in history books available to the general 

public and in specialised textbooks produced 

for use in military academies. 

Examples of successful anti-guerilla 

campaigns range from Alexander’s 

campaigns in India to the methods applied by 

Julius Caeser against indigenous tribes in 

present day France and Germany, as well as to 

the ferocious scorched earth tactics employed 

by the famous Mongolian Emperor Genghis 

Khan, whose military genius has long been 

widely acknowledged. African and African 

diaspora Generals like Toussaint L’Ouverture 

in Haiti and the great Shaka Zulu (Ushaka) in 

southern Africa are also known to have evolved 

and applied superb tactics for checkmating 

and defeating 

guerrilla 

forces in 

varied combat 

theatres. 

Closer to us in 

time, it was not 

only because 

the British 

imperial 

military forces 

that invaded 

the African 

continent had 

OLA BALOGUN 

vastly superior weapons that they easily 

defeated several indigenous fighting units in 

Nigeria. The British were almost always 

victorious because they systematically applied 

appropriate strategies and tactics directed at 

crushing indigenous forms of warfare, 

including guerilla attacks. 

Closer to us in 

time, the efficient 

and ruthless 

manner in which 

the British army 

comprehenively 

d e f e a t e d 

determined and 

well-equipped 

guerilla forces in 

Malaysia during 

the era of the socalled 

Malaya 

emergency 

following the 

When it comes 

to fighting 

against Boko 

Haram, the 

Nigerian 

Armed Forces 

are clearly not 

doing as much 

as they are 

capable of 

Second World War 

continues to be studied in military academies 

all over the world. Why then have these timetested 

strategies and tactics not been utilized 

by the present-day Nigerian army to defeat 

the Boko Haram insurgents? The fundamental 

reasons for this strange omission are as follows: 

•Lack of adequate political leadership at 

the Federal Government level. Military 

forces generally cannot function efficiently 

unless they are under the supervision of wise 

and patriotic civilian leaders. The well-known 

dictum that warfare is too serious a matter to 

be entrusted to military personnel alone has 

been illustrated time and time again in the 

Nigerian setting, both during the Nigeria- 

Biafra civil war and in the context of the fight 

(or lack of fight!) against Boko Haram. 

For instance, former President Goodluck 

Ebelechukwu Jonathan and his entourage 

were firmly convinced that Boko Haram was 

some kind of hoax, so they never really 

mobilised the Nigerian army against the 

insurgency until the dying days of the Jonathan 

administration. Closer to us in time, the Buhari 

administration has turned out to be a weak 

and disorganised substitute for government in 

which no one is really in charge. How can a 

non-existent government be expected to pursue 

warfare efficiently? An even more glaring 

impediment to the meaningful deployment of 

the Nigerian Armed Forces against Boko 

Haram is to be found in the fact that several 

highly placed individuals and groups in the 

Federal Government and in the Nigerian 

Army itself have converted the alleged “fight 

against Boko Haram” into a gigantic multibillion 

dollar ‘chop-chop’ industry... 

The officially documented stories revealed 

by the EFCC in judicial filings about how 

shocking amounts of money running into 

billions of dollars were allegedly diverted into 

private pockets by Sambo Dasuki and a variety 

of accomplices under the guise of funding 

weapons purchases for the fight against Boko 

Haram merely represent the tip of the iceberg: 

There is much worse going on at this very 

moment! With so many vested interests at the 

top levels of the Federal Government and the 

Nigerian Armed forces benefitting from the 

existence of Boko Haram, why would there be 

any serious effort on their part to end the 

emergency? The contrary is obviously the case! 

It is a well-known fact that there are many 

highly placed military and civilian officials in 

Nigeria who are working very hard to ensure 

the continued existence of Boko Haram. As a 

result, when it comes to fighting against Boko 

Haram, the Nigerian Armed Forces are clearly 

not doing as much as they are capable of. 

•Institutional weaknesses in the Nigerian 

Armed Forces. The Nigerian Army and 

Nigeria’s paramilitary forces as a whole 

cannot be said to consist in bulk of highly 

patriotic individuals motivated by burning 

love for our nation who are willing to gladly 

sacrifice their lives in the service of the nation. 

The Vietnamese soldiers who confronted and 

overcame the best soldiers that France could 

muster during the legendary battle of Dien 

Bien Phi are famed for marching forward to 

attack day after day, night after night, vying 

for the honour and glory of giving up their 

lives in the service of a collective national 

interest, just as the French soldiers themselves 

had done in defence of their own fatherland 

during the terrible wars that were waged in 

the wake of the French Revolution at the end 

of the 18th century. 

Uneducated 

mercenary fighters 

There are definitely large numbers of highly 

motivated Nigerian patriots who would gladly 

give up their lives to defend the lives of their 

parents, children and near relatives as well as 

for the future glory of our nation, but it is 

obvious that there are no adequate 

mechanisms in place for motivating and 

enrolling this cadre of men and women into 

the Nigerian Armed Forces which remain 

essentially an outgrowth of the largely 

uneducated mercenary fighters recruited from 

among remote tribes to serve as adjuncts to 

the British imperial officer corps who 

murdered and raped tens of thousands of 

defenceless individuals in the course of the 

relentless military campaigns that were waged 

against our people by the British imperialists 

under the guise of “pacifying” Nigeria during 

the era of colonial conquest of our land. 

Thus, though the White British officers have 

long since been replaced by an indigenous 

Nigerian officer corps, the basic orientation 

remains the same. The present-day Nigerian 

Armed Forces (both officers and men!) mostly 

consist of individuals who have enrolled in the 

army to earn a salary and pursue a career. As a 

result, the current Nigerian Army is neither 

particularly well led nor deeply motivated by 

patriotic zeal. 

In fact, the finest example of courageous and 

skilful military leadership in Nigeria was 

provided by the officers of the 3 Commando 

Division under the command of Benjamin 

Adekunle during the Nigerian civil war, when 

the Brigade Commanders were seen to lead 

their men into battle from in front in Israeli 

army fashion, hence the high rate of casualties 

among Adekunle’s officer corps, leading to 

the deaths of brave officers like Lt. Col. Shande, 

Major Hamman and Lt. Col. Isaac Adaka 

Boro. The late General Maxwell Khobe (who 

led the Nigerian army contingent during the 

ECOMOG operations in Sierra Leone and 

Liberia for a while) and the late Lt. Col. Gideon 

Orkar (who perished needlessly in an anti- 

Babangida coup attemp) are also prime 

examples of the kind of highly motivated and 

courageous senior officers that are rarely to 

be found in the present-day Nigerian Armed 

Forces. 

To be concluded 

*Dr. Balogun is a film maker, author and 

musician who currently lives in Lagos 

Okowa's efforts at transforming 

education in Delta 

THROUGH 

steadfastness 

and a multi-dimensional approach,, 

Senator Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State is running 

with a vision of creating a globally competitive 

model learning centres in the state. 

He has so far given education a new momentum 

that has moved the state ahead from 

the deteriorating standard of education in 

the country. 

Nigeria's educational sector has waited for 

decades for a major government intervention 

needed to rebuild the capacity for high 

quality education in the country. In the absence 

of the needed intervention, educational 

standard has deteriorated from primary 

to tertiary levels of learning. Nigeria lacks 

the basic requirements for building an excellent 

academic community. Funding constitutes 

a serious challenge to educational 

development in the country and this has been 

the case even in the peak of crude oil 

earnings. 

The poor and deteriorating quality of education 

in Nigeria was clearly unacceptable 

to Governor Okowa who, at the inception of 

his administration, took it upon himself to 

set an example for the nation, a model of 

government intervention in the educational 

sector. This he did by convoking an 

Educational Summit in the state where all 

stakeholders were brought together to discuss 

on the challenges facing Education in the 

state. 

The Okowa-led Delta State government 

defined a vision of making the state a model 

learning centre in the country and has since 

then run with a new zeal unmatched anywhere 

else in the country to make it happen. 

The task was identified and a clear goal was 

set which is to place education at a level that 

is competitive worldwide. An effective strategy 

for solution normally requires a clear 

understanding of the roots of a problem. Like 

a master craftsman, Okowa ensured a proper 

diagnosis of the problem of deteriorating 

standard of education in Nigeria and found 

that inadequate funding and lack of essential 

facilities are the significant variables. 

He then gave the two critical areas the kind 

of attention never seen any time in recent 

memory and hardly matched anywhere else 

in the country. 

A reinforcement of the educational foundation, 

he discovered, needs to be done at 

the primary school level and that became a 

key element of the new engagement. Okowa 

insists on the need to lay a proper educational 

foundation for pupils at that level. This 

adult learners who had earlier in life missed 

the opportunity of getting such education 

while they were children. 

"We understand that a quality education 

system will undoubtedly foster the socioeconomic 

development of the state and by 

extension the harmony, respect, discipline 

and productiveness needed for a cohesive 

society and a prosperous economy. As such 

we are sparing no resource and effort in providing 

the necessary inputs and processes 

inextricably linked to the making of a quality 

education system such as qualified teachers, 

IT-driven teaching, learning and administrative 

platforms, new and improved school 

infrastructure, relevant curriculum, appropriate 

legislation and an enabling teaching 

and learning environment. For us nothing 

but the very best is good enough and that is 

what you get in every public and recognised 

private school in Delta State." 

Delta State government, under Okowa has 

taken major steps to give primary schools 

development the priority accorded it under 

the millennium goals. World Bank's grants 

are available for the development of primary 

schools but most states are not keen about it 

because they are not willing or are unable to 

provide the counterpart fund. The 

government of Delta State ensured that the 

problem of funding did not hinder the attainment 

of the desired educational quality 

standard. The government sourced its 

counterpart fund for the UBEC grants for 

primary school funding through a term loan 

facility. With counterpart funding, the state's 

Universal Basic Education Board gained access 

to the Universal Basic Education 

Commission fund. 

This has enabled the state to overcome the 

usual problem of lack of funds for primary 

schools development. The state government 

has therefore been able to sustain effort in 

constructing new classroom blocks, reno- 

vating dilapidated 

Okowa has so structures, recruit- 

informed his 

administration's 

drive to 

reposition 

primary school 

education for 

enhanced performance. 

This 

is a message for 

the nation that 

for any measure 

aimed at 

addressing the 

problem of declining 

standard 

of 

*Okowa 

education to succeed, it has to necessarily 

begin at the primary school level. According 

to Chief Patrick Ukah, the Commissioner, 

Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education 

in Delta: "The ministry is charged with the 

onerous responsibility of formulating, implementing 

and regulating educational policies 

and programmes for the State, including 

overseeing the general administration 

of the Basic and Secondary school system in 

accordance with the goals and needs of the 

State and in consonance with the National 

Policy on Education and other relevant policies/programmes 

such as the Education For 

All, EFA, Sustainable Development Goals, 

SDGs and vision 20:20 goals as well as the 

SMART Agenda of the Okowa’s Administration. 

"In a nutshell, it is the responsibility of the 

Ministry to provide Early Childhood, 

Primary and Secondary/Technical Education 

for the young ones as well as provide 

basic literacy and life skill education for 

far sustained the 

drive to reposition 

primary 

schools in the 

state with a 

view to meeting 

current reality 

demands 

ing new primary 

school teachers 

and providing essential 

instructional 

resources, thus 

creating an effective 

learning system. 

It is the desire 

of the Okowa-led 

administration to 

raise the capacity 

for quality education 

at all levels within the state. Okowa 

has so far sustained the drive to reposition 

primary schools in the state with a view to 

meeting current reality demands. With improved 

funding, his government has attained 

great landmarks in renovating primary and 

secondary schools in the state and in procuring 

essential educational facilities, including 

computer facilities and electric 

power generators for public secondary 

schools. 

Education is an essential tool for touching 

lives and recreating destinies of people 

and societies. This is precisely what 

Governor Okowa has done with it so far in 

Delta State. It is one step forward by the 

government that has registered grassroots 

impacts in Delta State. A number of schools 

in dilapidated conditions have received 

facelifts across the state despite the revenue 

crisis that has hit government finances generally 

in recent years. Government's master 

plan for the development of education revolves 

around the provision of enabling 

learning environment to enhance teaching 

and learning at all categories of schools in 

the state. It is an integrated approach to lay 

a solid foundation at primary school level 

and ensure high quality rollout of graduates 

at tertiary levels of education. 

Teachers' Professional Development 

Centre: In line with the broad strategy, the 

state's government has embarked on the 

construction of Teachers' Professional Development 

Centre at Owa-Oyibu in Ika 

North East Local Government Area of the 

State. The Centre when completed will 

ensure proffiency in teaching as it will afford 

the state government the opportunity to 

train and retrain teachers. 

To be concluded

The coffin of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is carried during his funeral, yesterday. REUTERS/ 

Amr Abdallah Dalsh 

Modi calls for calm as 20 killed in 

Delhi riots 

INDIAN Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi called for 

calm yesterday after Delhi’s worst 

sectarian violence in decades left 

at least 20 people dead and calls 

for a military curfew. 

This week’s battles between 

Hindus and Muslims have seen 

mobs armed with swords, guns 

and acid raze a northeastern 

district of the Indian capital. 

The clashes, which also left 

almost 200 injured, were triggered 

by protests against a citizenship 

law seen by many critics 

as anti-Muslim and part of 

Modi’s Hindu nationalist 

agenda. 

They exploded into brutal violence 

on Monday and Tuesday, 

with residents forced to flee their 

homes after seeing their homes 

destroyed and a mosque attacked. 

“I appeal to my sisters and 

brothers of Delhi to maintain 

peace and brotherhood at all 

times. It is important… calm and 

normalcy is restored at the earliest,” 

Modi tweeted on Wednesday. 

Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind 

Kejriwal, a political opponent, 

called for the army to be deployed 

and for a curfew to be 

imposed over the flashpoint areas. 

“Police, despite all its efforts, 

(are) unable to control situation 

and instil confidence,” Kejriwal 

tweeted. 

Sunil Kumar, the director of 

the hospital where many of the 

wounded were taken, told AFP 

on Wednesday that almost 60 

had gunshot injuries. 

On Wednesday morning 

residents cleaned out the blackened 

interior of a trashed 

mosque, including a charred 

Koran, burned out during the 

violence in the Ashok Nagar 

area. 

A video circulated on social 

media and verified by AFP 

showed men ripping off the 

muezzin’s loudspeaker on top 

of the mosque’s minaret and installing 

a Hindu religious flag. 

Locals accused the police of 

doing nothing to help — or 

worse. 

“We tried to make many calls 

to the police… that people are 

entering our neighbourhoods 

chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’,” said 

Naeem Malik, referring to a 

popular Hindu chant. 

“But police did not help us at 


all. We tried to save the women 

at the protest site but instead 

policemen started beating us 

up,” Malik said, showing 

wounds on his leg and hands. 

Elsewhere a fire engine tried 

to put out blazes from the previous 

night, the air thick with 

smoke from still-smouldering 

cars, motorbikes, shops and 

homes. 

“They say we are not Indians 

but we are Indians by blood,” 

Farhat, 22, a student in Islamic 

studies, said in her father’s shop 

as police looked on. 

Court scraps ban on professional 

assisted suicide 

GERMANY’s highest 

court yesterday ruled 

that a 2015 law banning professional 

assisted suicide was 

unconstitutional, saying in a 

landmark decision that 

people have “the right to a 

self-determined death”. 

The ruling is a major victory 

for the terminally ill patients, 

doctors and assisted 

suicide organisations who 

brought the case, complaining 

that the existing law went 

too far. 

Judge Andreas Vosskuhle 

at the Federal Constitutional 

Court in Karlsruhe said the 

right to a self-determined 

death included “the freedom 

to take one’s life and seek 

help doing so”. 

The court also surprised 

observers by explicitly stating 

that the right to assisted 

suicide services should not 

be limited to the seriously or 

incurably ill. 

The freedom to choose 

one’s death “is guaranteed 

in all stages of a person’s 

existence”, the verdict read. 

Passed by lawmakers in 

2015, the existing law, known 

as Paragraph 217, was 

mainly aimed at barring associations 

dedicated to helping 

patients wanting to die. 

It also meant medical personnel 

faced prosecution for 

prescribing life-terminating 

drugs. The legal uncertainty 

worsened when a lower court 

ruled in 2017 that officials 

could not refuse lethal medication 

in extreme cases, creating 

confusion among doctors. 

Wednesday’s verdict was 

closely watched in a fast-ageing 

country where Catholic 

and Protestant Churches still 

exert strong influence, but 

polls show growing public 

support for physician-assisted 

suicide. 

Zimbabwe plans subsidized shops for security forces 

ZIMBABWE plans to set 

up shops within camps 

and barracks to sell subsidized 

goods like maize meal and 

cooking oil to members of the 

security forces, cabinet ministers 

said on Wednesday, as the government 

seeks to tame anger 

over economic hardship. 

Economists estimate that yearon-year 

inflation reached 525% 

in December as the southern 

African nation struggles with its 

worst economic crisis in a decade, 

marked by shortages of 

food, foreign exchange, fuel and 

power. 

To help ease conditions for the 

security forces, the government 

would establish “garrison” 

shops to enable service personnel 

to buy cheaper goods, Information 

Minister Monica 

Mutsvangwa and Finance 

Minister Mthuli Ncube said. 

With monthly salaries as low 

as $140, political analysts say 

the lower ranks of the security 

forces, from the army to the police, 

have not been spared the 

effects of the crisis. 

Mutsvangwa said all government 

workers would from next 

month start contributing 2.5% 

of their monthly salaries to a state 

savings fund. Security force 

members who make the contributions 

would be able to buy 

goods cheaply from the new 

shops. 

The minister said consultations 

were still being held with 

the public service commission, 

which employs all government 

workers. 

“Garrison shops in terms of 

physical structures already exist 

in the cantonment areas but 

there is no subsidy that is what 

we want to try to cure with this 

proposal,” Ncube told reporters 

in Harare. 

Ncube did not say how much 

would be spent on the subsidies. 

Mutsvangwa earlier said 

the government had increased 

the maize producer price fivefold 

to $389 a tonne in a bid to 

encourage farmers to deliver the 

crop to state grain silos, which 

have been severely depleted after 

a drought last year. 

Farmers, who are expected 

to start harvesting this year’s 

crop at the end of next month, 

would receive 6,958 Zimbabwe 

dollars (US$389) a tonne, compared 

with 1,400 Zimbabwe 

dollars set last June. 

The agriculture minister said 

last month the southern African 

nation only had 100,000 tonnes 

of grain in its strategic reserves, 

enough to last just over a month, 

forcing the government to ramp 

up imports of maize. 

Kenya university’s rape memo 

sparks anger 

ATOP Kenyan university has apologised after 

blaming “reckless” female students for becoming 

victims of rape. 

The security memo, which was sent to all students 

on Tuesday, was “insensitive”, the University of 

Nairobi’s vice-chancellor admitted. 

A petition started in response to the memo questioned 

how women could be blamed for their own rape. 

Popular media personality, Adelle Onyango, posted 

on Instagram: “This is what victim shaming looks like.” 

The 31-year-old, who is a rape survivor, told her 

374,000 followers that she was outraged that the university 

had had no condemnation for the rapists. 

“This is what normalisation of rape looks like. And 

we will not stand for it.” 

The memo, signed by the head of security, said the 

rising number of cases of robbery and rape of university 

students in the capital, Nairobi, occurred at certain 

spots close to campuses. 

“In all the three rape incidences reported last year, a 

clear case of recklessness on the part of our female 

students can be drawn,” it said. 

It gave an example of a drunk student who was gangraped 

on her way back in the early hours of the morning. 

Court sides with Trump in 

‘sanctuary cities’ grant fight 

THE Trump administration can withhold millions 

o 

f 

dollars in law enforcement grants to force states to 

cooperate with US immigration enforcement, a federal 

appeals court in New York ruled Wednesday in a 

decision that conflicted with three other federal appeals 

courts. 

The decision by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals 

in Manhattan overturned a lower court’s decision ordering 

the administration to release funding to New 

York City and seven states - New York, Connecticut, 

New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts, Virginia and 

Rhode Island. 

The states and city sued the United States government 

after the Justice Department announced in 2017 

that it would withhold grant money from cities and states 

until they gave federal immigration authorities access 

to jails and provide advance notice when an undocumented 

individual was about to be released. 

Before the change, cities and states seeking grant 

money were required only to show they were not preventing 

local law enforcement.

38 — VANGUARD, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 

japhdave@yahoo.com 

08066625505 

Osaro, Agbezin rekindle friendship with Treads of 

Infinity at Alexis 

‘Mandela, My Life: The Official exhibition’ opens in South Africa 

By Japhet Davidson, with 

agency report 

DURING Nelson Mandela’s 

post-presidential years, he 

spent part of his life establishing 

institutions and organisations 

that would help in the fight 

against poverty, against injustice 

and help secure a more just and 

equitable society. The other 

parts were spent pulling the ears 

of world leaders, celebrated personalities, 

and leaders of business 

to support the work of transformation 

and nation-building. 

Recently, the Nelson Mandela 

Foundation hosted the official 

South African launch of 

‘MANDELA, My Life: The Official 

Exhibition’ in Nelson 

Mandela Square, Sandton City, 

in partnership with Richmark 

Holdings and TEG Live. 

MANDELA, My Life: The Official 

Exhibition, is a world class 

exhibition on Nelson Mandela’s 

extraordinary life, in collaboration 

with The Nelson Mandela 

Foundation and Richmark 

Holdings. A century on from his 

birth, this exhibition poetically 

and emotively explores the personal 

and public life of one of 

the most influential men in modern 

history. 

A rich selection of rare personal 

artefacts, film footage and 

*Standing out by Agbezin George 

By Japhet Davidson 

AFTER the successful host 

ing of its first exhibition 

of the year tagged Residency 

Fate VI, Simply Naija that featured 

the works of the 4th edition 

of artists in residency, 

Alexis galleries, one of the 

leading galleries in Nigeria is 

set for another exhibition titled, 

Treads of Infinity, an exhibition 

of paintings and 

sculptures by two contemporary 

artists, Luke Osaro and 

Agbezin Bamidele George. 

The joint exhibition which 

promises to be great judging 

by the calibre of works and 

pedigree of the exhibiting artists 

is scheduled to open on 

14th March 2020, at Alexis 

Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos 

and run till 21st March 2020. 

Speaking at the briefing, 

Bimpe Owoyemi. a co curator 

with Patty Chidiac, the curator 

who stated that the artists 

will be exhibiting their new 

styles in the exhibition, said 

“the exhibition is just a combination 

of two different ideas 

that speaks about human expressions 

which is in line with 

the theme of the exhibition. It 

will feature a total of 33 works 

of paintings and sculptures, 

16 works of paintings by 

George and 17 sculptural 

works by Osaro”. 

Continuing, she pointed 

out that “Agbezin’s works addresses 

the everyday activities, 

they are resolutely stylized, 

maintaining a curios 

balance between the gestural 

energies. With his latest study 

of the quilt art, he now manipulates 

relationship between 

colours, pattern, design 

and forms on rigorously 

textured canvases. Meanwhile, 

Luke Osaro loves to 

share his experience of human 

activities in bronze cast, 

bonded stone and glass 

fiber. As they live out friendship, 

love, dreams and hope, 

Treads of Infinity, no doubt 

is the combination of two different 

ideas aiming at a sole 

purpose of depicting or reincarnating 

the divine attributes 

of human, with different 

medium of art”. 

Speaking about the theme, 

George who works on canvass 

on acrylic stated that he 

documents, combined with 

newly created audio-visual 

pieces form the heart of the exhibition 

and offer an insight 

into the world that shaped 

Mandela’s life and journey. 

The launch was attended by 

members of the Mandela family, 

Ndileka Mandela and 

Makaziwe Mandela-Amuah, 

Struggle Stalwarts such as 

Trevor Manuel, trustees of the 

Nelson Mandela Foundation, 

media veterans Dan Moyane 

and Derek Watts, celebrated 

personalities such as John 

Smit, Letshego Zulu and Thebe 

Ikalafeng, as well as captains 

of industry. The evening was 

serenaded by Zolani Mahola 

and the internationally acclaimed 

Soweto Gospel Choir 

singing ‘Asimbonanga’, originally 

composed by Johnny 

Clegg. 

Although the night was attended 

by high profile and influential 

members of society, it 

was no reason to avoid heated 

and uncomfortable political 

discussion. 

The official exhibition, in 

Sandton City until July, begins 

with a series of large paintings 

by John Meyer, one of hills, 

presumably in the Eastern 

Cape, where three young boys 

are seen running through rays 

has been painting in a special 

way, but after his sojourn in 

Togo, he fell in love with words 

and opposite and ever since he 

has been working more on other 

dimensions. On the theme, he 

said that they have been 

friends for a long time after they 

met at Artzero programme put 

together by Authur Arinze and 

since then they bonded , looking 

for how to do something 

together and Alexis galleries 

afforded them the opportunity. 

Treads of infinity depicts to him 

is something that is trending, 

continuous friendship that will 

not end like that. 

Some of his works include 

Ladies in different mode, 

standing out, The Reign, Yeye 

Oge 111 and others. 

While, Osaro who confessed 

that he paints and sculpts, but 

after an encounter with 

Artzero, Arinze encouraged 

him to concentrate on sculpturing 

and he keyed in to that 

and ever since it has been a 

success story. “The theme to 

him is a reflection of of our 

long time friendship”. 

He said that he prefers 

bonded stones for his works 

as it is good for outdoor and 

indoor. Some of his works include 

Hibernation, Adenike, 

*Late Nelson Mandela with kids during his life time 

of sunshine and blades of tall 

grass. The entrance engulfs the 

viewer, enabling them to fully immerse 

themselves in what is about 

to be an excellently curated narrative 

of Nelson Mandela. The 

first gallery invites viewers to feel 

the power and emotion of one of 

the most dramatic and significant 

moments of Mandela’s life - the 

moment he puts Apartheid on 

trial, supported by the original recording 

of Nelson Mandela’s 

Rivonia Trial speech in 1964 and 

illustrative depictions of the 

courtroom as Mandela deliver 

his speech. 

*Adenike, by Luke Osaro 

The second gallery explores 

Mandela’s family life and narrates 

his journey from childhood 

to elder through a spectacular 

seven-metre-long scenic projection 

wall of animations and 

landscapes. Elements of 

Mandela’s childhood are 

brought to life in an audio-visual 

piece that uses Mandela’s own 

words and images of his childhood 

homes in the Transkei. 

The third gallery explores the 

influences that shaped 

Mandela’s theory of mind, presented 

through original artefacts, 

documents and film extracts 

that allow visitors to delve 

Lifted and others. Speaking 

about the works, he said that 

Hibernation, cut across many 

areas, it can depict some reflecting, 

meditating or tired. 

So it creates in our imagination 

a two sided figure. While 

“Adenike, a bronze work that 

depicts the head of a woman 

with a special hairstyle is an 

image of a woman I normally 

see with a particular hairstyle 

at all times which is something 

unique about her and I 

decided to do that”. 

Patty 

Chidiac- 

Mastrogiannis, founder and 

director of Alexis galleries is 

passionate about the arts that 

she dedicates her gallery and 

studio space to the development 

of growing artists, sponsoring 

and promoting artists 

in showcasing their works. 

She also donate part of her 

proceed from her exhibitions 

to charity. This exhibition is 

partnering with WARIF, 

Women At Risk International 

Foundation, a non profit organisation 

formed in response 

to the high incidence of 

sexual violence, rape and 

human trafficking among 

young girls and women across 

Nigeria 

As usual some art loving organisations 

like Pepsi, Tiger, 

Indomie, Mikano, Wazobia 

FM, Cool World, Cobranet, 

Delta Airlines and a host of 

others are always there to 

lend their support to the exhibition. 

Art lovers, promoters, collectors 

etc are enjoined to come 

and explore the artists time 

and creativity within the period. 

into the early life of Mandela as 

he established himself in Johannesburg. 

Personal items include 

photographs of Mandela with 

his first wife, Evelyn, and their 

children as well as his second 

wife, Winnie. This gallery also 

examines the means and methods 

by which Mandela navigated 

Apartheid and explores 

how this experience motivated 

his early political activism. 

The ten galleries in total, 

whose journey lasts one-and-ahalf 

to two hours, are concluded 

by a painting by John Meyer 

depicting Mandela the elder, 

walking back through the same 

rays of light and blades of tall 

grass with a cane. As visitors exit 

the experience, they are welcome 

to support the work of the Nelson 

Mandela Foundation by 

purchasing official merchandise, 

including the exhibition 

catalogue, memoirs, garments 

and home accessories. By purchasing 

this merchandise you 

are allowing the Nelson 

Mandela Foundation to continue 

doing the unfinished work 

of Nelson Mandela. 

‘MANDELA, My Life: The Official 

Exhibition’ will be on show 

to the public at Nelson Mandela 

Square, Sandton City, until the 

20th of July after which it will 

move to Cape Town.


08052202308 (sms only) 

Review of Labour laws, our concerns ---Labour, 

NECA 

Stories by Victor 

Young 

THOUGH there is consensus 

among stakeholders and 

other keen watchers of the Labour 

sector that most of the nation’s 

Labour laws are obsolete 

and need a total review to meet 

the exigencies of the time, 

organized labour and Nigeria 

Employers’ Consultative Association, 

NECA, have expressed 

concern over steps being taking 

ahead of the planned 

review. 

Speaking to Vanguard, President 

of Nigeria Labour Congress, 

NLC, Ayuba Wabba, informed 

that “the processes of 

reviewing our Labour laws 

have been on for a long time. 

We have some drafts in place 

and some of them went to the 

National Assembly. But they 

were not signed into law, 

consequently, they were 

brought back. It is usually a 

process that is well spelt out. 

The process of reviewing the 

Labour laws is through tripartite. 

That means the social partners 

have to review it. This has 

been the practice all through 

the years. 

“Importantly, also is that in 

reviewing the Labour laws, you 

do not just review them in a 

vacuum. Every year there is a 

report of the committee of 

experts of the International 

Labour Organisation, ILO, 

every year you attend ILO, 

there is a report of the committee 

of experts to review laws 

that you have domesticated, 

their application both in practice 

and in law. If you look at 

the report as it affects Nigeria, 

there are lots of areas we need 

to strengthen. Like the issue of 

child Labour, issue of unionisation 

among several issues 

that have been raised which in 

the review , we must consider 

and put them side by side with 

the report of the committee of 

experts. The review cannot be 

from the blues. 

"It has to be through a process 

and the only process that 

is known by law is tripartite 

where the social partners will 

participate in a process of social 

dialogue. They will looki at 

what have done in the past 

because it was also with the 

support of ILO. I recall that 

five laws were reviewed but we 

were not fortunate because they 

were not passed into law and 

most of them have also been 

overtaken by events because of 

the annual report of the committee 

of the experts of ILO. So, 

clearly, we look forward to the 

period and also the process 

which is well a defined process 

in law and in practice. 

NECA' stance 

Similarly, Director General of 

NECA, Dr Timothy Olawale, 

said “Most of the laws where 

reviewed in 2005 or thereabout 

and sent to the national assembly. 

Events have overtaken 

* Nigerian workers protesting against unfair government policy . 

some of them; there are developments 

either by judicial pronouncements 

to update or upgrade 

what they have done before, 

but fundamentally due 

diligence is not done by the 

FG begs electricity workers for 2 months to address 

grievances 

NIGERIANS can now 

heave a sigh of relief as 

workers in the nation’s Power 

Sector, under the aegis of National 

Union of Electricity Employees, 

NUEE, have put on 

hold threat to resume their suspended 

strike after the Federal 

Government pleaded for two 

months to address their grievances. 

This was the outcome of a 

conciliatory meeting called by 

the Minister of Labour and 

employment, Dr Chris Ngige, 

with leaders of NUEE, following 

the 14-day strike notice by 

the union on January 29, where 

NUEE threatened to resume its 

suspended strike, over nonimplementation 

of the agreement 

reached with the government 

on December 11, 2019, 

among others. 

After a closed-door meeting 

which lasted about five hours, 

the Ngige said “We have reviewed 

the agreement reached 

in December 2019. We have 

given ourselves a terminal date 

of 60 days within which to 

process the remaining persons 

that have not gotten their severance 

pay. The number is not 

as what NUEE is saying but at 

the same time, we expect that 

payment should be effected 

latest at the end of 60 days. 

“We are going to reach out to 

power generating companies 

and power distribution companies 

so that the issue of 

casualisation should not be 

happening again. We will also 

deal with the issue of non-remittance 

of check-off dues and 

non-unionisation in some 

executives to work with the legislature 

to pass them. Haven 

said that labour laws are 

unique, unlike other laws that 

are open to the entire public. 

Labour law is premised on 

places. We are going to handle 

it as a ministry and deal 

with it before the end of the 

first quarter of the year.” 

On his part, NUEE’s General 

Secretary, Joe Ajaero, said 

“We are not satisfied with the 

result of the meeting because 

it is coming rather too late. 

Privatisation issue took place 

seven years ago and most of 

the people involved have died 

and we are still talking of their 

entitlements and 

underpayment. We are now 

looking at another 60 days to 

address the issue. Do you need 

Intra-union crisis hits Asuri as branches 

petition EFCC 

By Gabriel Olawale 

THE Academic Staff Union of 

Federal Institute of Industrial 

Research, ASURI, has been engulfed 

by the intra-union crisis as 

some branches of the union have 

petitioned the Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, 

EFCC, accusing the union’s national 

leadership of misappropriation 

of funds 

At a congress in Lagos attended 

by no fewer than 30 representatives 

from different branches, National 

Administrative Secretary of 

ASURI, Mohammad- Monzoor 

Akinwale, claimed the misappropriation 

had led to illegal and 

fraudulent withholding of monthly 

check-off dues of some ASURI 

branches by the national leadership. 

Akinwale informed that checkoff 

dues were automatically withdrawn 

from members’ salary out 

of which 40 per cent was expected 

to be remitted to the state 

tripartism, it is tripartite that 

work on the laws, agree on it, 

own it, and send it to the National 

Assembly. So, that is why 

some of us felt it was needless 

to tell the general public to 

ultimatum before people will 

remit pension deduction or for 

people who short-paid you for 

16 months to remit the 

amount? You don’t need it. 

Unlike other agreements 

where we tell our people that 

we have achieved something, 

in this case, we have not 

achieved anything. We are still 

prolonging the evil days. This 

ministry had intervened before 

and gave directives to the 

companies on some of the 

agreement on the issue of 

unionisation, noncasualisation, 

remittance of 

branches, but alleged that the national 

body had refused to do so. 

According to him, “We want the 

EFCC to investigate misappropriation 

of public funds within the 

confine of ASURI national body. 

This misappropriation has led to 

illegal and fraudulent withholding 

of monthly check-up dues of 

many ASURI branches across the 

country. ASURI national body 

deducts check-up dues directly 

through the Integrated Payroll 

and Personnel Information, 

IPPIS, arrangement but failed to 

remit 40 per cent to state branches 

of ASURI which is against the 

constitution. This refusal has denied 

branches the ability to carry 

out their activities.” 

Akinwale alleged that remittance 

failure had become the 

norms of the national secretariat 

of ASURI, lamenting that Dr 

Theophilus Ndubuaku had been 

the Secretary-General of ASURI 

since the early 1990s and refused 

to leave. 

He said “we have also petition 

send memorandum to the ministry 

for the review of the law 

because eventually when the 

cheeps are down, it is government 

as represented by ministry 

of Labour employers as represented 

by NECA, and the labour 

movement that will sit 

down and agree on this particular 

issues that we are talking 

about. 

"Secondly, when you are 

working on labour laws, you 

must also know that you are 

building on what has been done 

before. You are not starting 

from the scratch. As a matter of 

fact, in 2019, extensive work 

was done by the tripartite to 

review the labour law. Are we 

saying that the information and 

collation that were done for 

several weeks in 2019 are no 

longer relevant? NECA was 

involved, the NLC was 

involved, the TUC was involved, 

the Ministry of Labour 

was involved and the ILO was 

also there as technical partners. 

So, we are not starting from the 

scratch. We should build on that 

and just dot the I’s and cross 

the t’s, that’s what needs to be 

done so that we fast-tracked 

and pass it to the national assembly 

for necessary action." 

check-off dues in 2016 but the 

organizations ignored it. 

“I am not happy because we 

have about two weeks to deal 

with the companies but the 

ministry is intervening that we 

should wait. We don’t 

understand what is happening. 

How will I as a permanent 

secretary or minister give 

directives and they will not be 

respected? That was why when 

we met the Speaker of the 

House of Representatives, I 

told the house to give the 

labour ministry more powers. 

When a directive is flaunted, 

there should be a sanction." 

ministry of labour complaining 

about what happened at the national 

level, we want them to be 

aware of constitution infraction 

carried out by the national body 

of ASURI. The constitution insists 

that for every year there must be 

not less than four national executive 

council meeting but between 

2014 and 2018 there was no single 

executive meeting despite all 

the agitation across the country 

until late 2019 and when that happened 

it was not properly constituted.” 

Reacting, Former President of 

ASURI, Dr Adebayo Ajala, said all 

the allegations against the 

ASURI national leadership were 

false, saying “we have told them 

to come up with concrete evidence 

to show that the leadership has 

violated the constitution. The socalled 

ASURI Reformed Group 

has refused to come up with writer 

complaints so that we have a document 

we can work on. It is not possible 

for the EXCO to look into a 

verbal allegation made at a press 

conference.


NIGERIA: A peep into Buhari’s 

distinctive legacies —Nwabueze 

•Osoba, Anyaoku, Okowa, Okogie, Clark 

to launch books 

By Clifford 

Ndujihe 

LAGOS—LEGAL Icon, 

Professor Ben 

Nwabueze, SAN, has 

examined five years of 


Buhari’s administration 

declaring that he has left 

distinctive legacies to 

Nigeria. 

The legacies have credit 

and deficient sides but the 

positive achievements have 

been overshadowed by the 

deficient side of the balance 

sheet, Nwabueze said 

In a 345-page, three-part, 

and 14-chapter book, which 

will be launched today, at 

the National Institute of 

International Affairs, NIIA, 

in Lagos, Professor 

Nwabueze viewed the 

“distinctive legacies” 

through the prism of 

GOtv Steps-Up offer to end in 3 days 

L AGOS—GOtv 

customers can still 

enjoy the “Step Up” offer 

to higher packages until 29 

February, when the 

campaign ends. 

The Step Up offers 

commenced on 15 January 

and affords all active and 

disconnected GOtv 

customers, especially those 

on GOtv Jolli, Jinja, Plus, 

Value and Lite packages, 

the chance to watch varied 

programming available 

across higher packages at 

the price of a lower package 

at the start of 2020. 

The offer ensures all 

GOtv customers on the 

Jolli, Jinja, Plus, Value and 

Lite packages who pay for 

One feared dead as students clash 

in Ibadan 

By Ola Ajayi 

I B A D A N — 

STUDENTS of 

IMG and Oke Bola 

Comprehensive High 

School, yesterday, 

engaged in a bloody 

clash which left many of 

them injured. 

Vanguard gathered that 

dangerous weapons like 

cutlasses, knives, axes were 

freely used while the fracas 

lasted. 

An unconfirmed report 

had it that one of the 

students was killed. 

Also several cars parked 

by the roadside were 

damaged by the 

rampaging students. 

The Oyo State Police 

Public Relations Officer, 

SP Gbenga Fadeyi, 

while confirming the 

incident said: “The clash 

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

Assault on the Judiciary; 

Nigeria tottering on the 

brink; and the 2019 general 

elections. 

Titled: “President 

Buhari’s Distinctive 

Legacies to Nigeria,” the 

book will be presented 

alongside another 

book: Further Thoughts on 

the Nigerian Constitution 

and Polity, by a team of 

eminent Nigerians 

including former Governor 

of Ogun State, Chief 

Olusegun Osoba; former 

Commonwealth Secretary- 

General, Chief Emeka 

Anyaoku; Governor Ifeanyi 

Okowa (Delta) and Aminu 

Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto); 

Cardinal Anthony Okogie, 

Cardinal John Onaiyekan, 

Chief EK Clark, Alhaji 

Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Peter 

Obi; Alhaji Buba Galadima, 

Chiefs Solomon Asemota, 

Mike Ozekhome, and Nnia 

Nwodo among others. 

their current packages are 

upgraded to the next higher 

package to get access to the 

best of sports, latest news, 

local movies, series, reality 

shows and general 

entertainment content for 30 

days. 

In a statement by Chief 

Customer Officer, 

MultiChoice Nigeria, 

Martin Mabutho, the 

company said the offer 

demonstrates the 

company’s dedication to 

reward and provide more 

value to its customers. 

Mabutho said: “Our 

customers deserve only the 

best and we decided to 

provide them with more 

value with this special offer." 

was between two schools in 

Oke Ado and the police swift 

response led to the arrest of 

10 students.” 

He also added that the 

Commissioner of Police, Mr. 

Shina Olukolu, had ordered 

that the Area Commander in 

Iyaganku should ensure that 

the matter did not escalate. 

LAGOS—LAGOS State 

government, yesterday, 

disclosed that plans are 

underway to finding a 

permanent solution to truck 

accidents in the state. 

In a statement by the 

Commissioner for 

Information and Strategy, 

Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, the 

state government 

expressed worry over the 

rate of trailers/tankers 

involved in major accidents 

on the expressways and 

major arteries. 

Omotoso, however, 

promised to engage the 

SEMINAR: From left—Kenneth Adejumoh, Corporate Communications Manager, Nosak Group; 

Samuel Osahon, Shipping Manager, Nosak Group; Arizona Obasi, Team Lead, Export & Agriculture 

Division, Fidelity Bank; Adeyinka Olowonyo, Head, Commercial, Nosak Group, and Obih Odimegwu, 

Business Development Manager, Cobalt International Service, during the Central Bank of Nigeria, 

CBN's Sensitization Seminar for Exporters, Regulators and Stakeholders in the export business 

value chain, in Lagos. 

Airlines’ll no longer divert flights to 

other countries, NAMA tells Reps 

By Tordue Salem 

A BUJA—MANAGING 

Director of the Nigerian 

Airspace Management 

Agency, NAMA, Captain 

Fola Akinkuotu, yesterday, 

assured the House 

Committee on Aviation 

chaired by Rep. Nnolim 

Nnaji that Nigerian 

passengers, will no longer 

experience flight diversions 

to other countries. 

He said with the 

calibration of the category 

3 Instrument Landing 

System, ILS, installed at 

the Lagos airport, diversions 

will no longer recur. 

Captain Akinkotu gave 

the assurance when he and 

the Acting Director-General 

of the Nigerian Civil 

Aviation Authority, NCAA, 

Captain Abdulahi Sidi met 

with the members of the 


Committee on Aviation 

investigating the 

circumstances that led to 

several diversions of Lagosbound 

international flights 

to neighbouring West 

African countries. 


had on Tuesday, February 

18, 2020, after adopting a 

motion on the “Urgent need 

to complete the installation 

and upgrade of landing 

equipment at the nation’s 

airports to enhance safety 

in our airspace”, directed 

the committee to investigate 

and ensure that all the 

acquired landing 

equipment, (category 3 ILS 

and other Supportive 

equipment) were installed 

at the designated airports 

without further delay to 

forestall further incidents of 

flight diversions in the 

nation’s airspace. 

The committee chairman, 

Nnaji had at the beginning 

of the meeting, expressed 

the concerns of the 

parliament over the 

Reconciliation C'ttee: Ondo APC 

leaders pass vote of confidence on 

Akande 

By Dayo Johnson 

A 

K U R E — 

CONCERNED 

leaders of the All 

Progressives Congress 

Forum in Ondo State, 

yesterday, dissociated 

Lagos warns truck drivers against recklessness 

Ogun State Government 

and the Federal 

Government agencies to 

identify the cause of the 

recurring Lagos-Ibadan 

Expressway accidents and 

fashion out solutions. 

The statement reads: “Over the 

last three months, Lagos State 

has experienced an upsurge in 

the number of trailers/tankers 

involved in major accidents on the 

Expressways and major arteries. 

We will continue to encourage 

people to do business in Lagos, 

but we will not allow the lives of 

Lagosians and visitors to be put 

at risk. 

“Lagos State will not tolerate 

the recklessness of truck drivers 

when transporting goods on our 

roads. 

The Vehicle Inspection 

Services, VIS, is to step up its 

activities in the government’s bid 

to stop such accidents involving 

trucks and others. 

“The government is also 

curious about the persistence 

tanker accidents at the Berger 

end of the Lagos-Ibadan 

Expressway and the resultant 

gridlock that trails the incidents, 

spiraling through the entire Ikeja 

axis of the State and traumatising 

motorists and commuters." 

diversions 

He said: “We are 

concerned because, for our 

failure to do what we ought 

to do, we are indirectly 

promoting other countries 

to the detriments of 

Nigeria. Whether we 

believe it or not there is a 

silent trade war going on 

between Nigeria and other 

countries so situations like 

these can easily be 

exploited to the 

disadvantage of our 

country.” 

The NAMA boss, who 

stated that the Ministry and 

its agencies were working 

hard to sustain the over six 

years of accident-free 

period achieved by the 

themselves from the vote of 

no confidence passed on 

the Chairman of the party 

National Reconciliation 

Committee, Chief Bisi 

Akande, by members of the 

Unity Forum within the 

party. 

The leaders include Chief 

Erastus Akeju and Bode 

Sunmonu from the North, 

Pa Olufemi Ojo and Chief 

Dapo Ajayi from the central 

and Sir E. A Akintade and 

Mrs. Yejide Ogundipe from 

the southern districts of the 

state. 

A communiqué issued 

after a meeting, the leaders 

said: “Members expressed 

their dismay about the fake 

communiqué issued by a 

unity forum supposedly led 

by Alhaji Ali Olanusi and 

unanimously dissociate 

ourselves from the 

castigation of our respected 

elder and leader Chief Bisi 

Akande. 

sector through the provision 

and installation of modern 

aids, regretted that the 

diversions occurred 

explaining that it was 

largely due to inclement 

weather. 

He, however, pointed out 

that if the category 3 ILS 

installed at the Lagos 

Airport way back in 

November 2019 had been 

calibrated on schedule the 

diversions would not have 

occurred despite the bad 

weather. 

He attributed the delay to 

the interferences that were 

observed from some of the 

erected communication 

masts around the airport during 

the initially scheduled calibration 

exercise. 

“We, hereby, express our 

unflinching confidence in 

the leadership of Chief Bisi 

Akande and the National 

Reconciliation Committee 

jointly set up by the 

Presidency and our 

National Party leadership. 

“We have resolved to 

support all efforts by our 

National Leaders to unite 

the party and in this regard, 

will work for the 

accomplishment of the 

objectives of APC Advisory 

council which we believe 

will further strengthen our 

party in Ondo State. 

“Members reviewed the 

present political situation 

in the State and lamented 

that the continued division 

in the party is fueled by the 

way and manner Governor 

Akeredolu has excluded 

large sections of the party 

both in government and the 

party.”

Continues from Page 5 

Naira appreciates to 

N365.52/$ in I&E window 

By Elizabeth Adegbesan 

THE Naira yesterday depreciated to N365.33 per 

dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) 

window in spite of a 343 per cent increase in the volume 

of dollars traded. 

Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative 

exchange rate for the window rose to N365.52 per 

dollar yesterday from N365.36 per dollar on Tuesday, 

translating to 19 kobo depreciation of the Naira. 

The volume of dollars (turnover) traded in the 

window yesterday rose by 343 percent to $1,376.14 

million from $310.84 million on Tuesday. However, 

the Naira, appreciated by 20 kobo yesterday in the 

parallel market. 

According to naijabdcs.com, the live exchange rate 

platform of the Association of Bureaux De Change 

Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the parallel market 

exchange rate dropped to N358.3 per dollar from 

N358.5 per dollar on Tuesday, indicating 20 kobo 

appreciation of the Naira. 

vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews 



Nigerian military to be 

merciless against ISWAP 

at the opening of the 10th 

National Security 

Seminar organized by the 

Alumni Association of the 

National Defence 

College, AANDEC, in 

Abuja. 

The seminar with the 

theme: “Combating 

Insecurity in Nigeria” was 

organized in collaboration 

with the Office of the 

National Security Adviser, 

ONSA, and NDC. 

President Buhari, 


Minister of Defence, 

Bashir Magashi, said new 

threats in the areas of 

insurgency and terrorism 

had emerged due mainly 

to the defeat of ISIS. 

He stated that the 

security agencies had 

been given renewed 

mandate to deal 

mercilessly with all forms 

of criminality such as 

terrorism, banditry and 

kidnapping. 

“This is a major concern 

and threat to us, as their 

presence in the West 

African Sahel region 

poses great danger not 

only to Nigeria but the 

entire region. Thus, we 

are exploring higher 

levels of collaboration 

among all nations and 

international 

organizations to 

effectively curtail the 

spread of terrorism and 

defeat insurgency and 

terrorism. 

“No doubt, our forces 

have over the years 

worked hard to defeat 

Boko Haram and they will 

as well re-examine their 

strategies to deal with 

ISWAP that has invaded 

parts of the country. 

“The criminal elements 

using kidnapping and 

other criminal activities as 

a way to get rich quick 

should either stop such 

acts forthwith or face the 

full weight of the law as 

security agencies have a 

renewed mandate to deal 

with such acts of 

criminality,” he said. 

The President said the 

government would 

continue to prioritize 

security, adding that the 

seminar was necessary, 

especially at a time when 

the government was 

making efforts to ensure 

attainment of sustainable 

peace in the country. 

He said that 

AANDEC’s close 

collaboration with ONSA, 

NDC and other security 

agencies presented the 

type of desired 

collaborative efforts 

towards addressing major 

security issues and 

challenges facing the 

country. 

He said it is therefore 

expected that at the end 

of the seminar, we will 

have some implementable 

recommendations that 

can move the nation 

forward. 

“As we all know, security 

should be the concern of 

everyone, hence we must 

all co-operate and work 

collaboratively to address 

security issues from all 

perspectives, be it 

physical or human. 

“The nexus between 

physical and human 

security makes it 

necessary for all 

Ministries, Departments 

and Agencies (MDAs) to 

be highly productive. 

“States and Local 

Governments should also 

view workers’ welfare 

with utmost priority while 

all security agencies in 

particular must deal 

appropriately with 

extremist tendencies that 

are capable of affecting 

peace and development 

of the nation, according to 

the law. 

“The National Security 

Strategy 2019 is very clear 

on these and we shall 

implement every aspect 

of it.” 

Why border 

closure was 

necessary, by 

Buhari 

On border closure, Mr 

Buhari said government 

had to consider temporary 

closure of land borders 

with a view to taking a 

closer look at how to 

address the challenges of 

smuggling and illegal 

movement of weapons. 

He added that the 

border issue would be 

properly examined, in 

collaboration with 

neighbours, to put in 

place acceptable 

measures to prevent 

illegal economic activities 

and other related crimes. 

On his part, the 

Minister of Defence, 


Permanent Secretary, 

Nuratu Batagarawa, 

acknowledged the efforts 

of President Buhari in 

creating an enabling 

environment to resolve 

the prevailing security 

challenges. 

Mr Magashi said it was 

imperative to forge a 

common front against the 

security challenges 

towards finding 

permanent solutions to 

the security challenges, 

adding that the seminar 

was apt. 

He said the ministry 

would put in measures to 

implement the 

recommendations from 

the communique at the 

end of the seminar. 

Earlier, the president of 

AANDEC, Garba Audu, a 

retired major general, 

disclosed that the seminar 

was organized with a view 

to proffering solutions to 

national security 

challenges. 

Audu said that the 

seminar would focus on 

some key security 

challenges bedeviling the 

country such as 

negotiations with bandits 

in some parts of the 

country. 

He said solution to 

national security 

challenges go beyond 

military intervention, 

adding that economic 

solutions were also 

required. 

Nasarawa 

Assembly 

passes Witness 

Law 

Meanwhile, Nasarawa 

State House of Assembly 

has passed into law “A bill 

for a Law to provide for 

Witness Protection Law 

and other Matters 

Connected Therewith.” 

The bill, sponsored by 

Barrister Mohammed 

Alkali (APC Lafia North), 

was to give witness of any 

criminality boldness, 

confidence and protection 

to testify in court. 

Speaker of the House, 

Ibrahim Balarabe 

Abdullahi, announced 

passage of the bill into 

law in Lafia, following a 

motion by the House 

Majority Leader, Alhaji 

Tanko Tunga (APC, Awe 

North). 

Balarabe Abdullahi said 

the bill, if assented to by 

the governor, would go a 

long way in curtailing the 

rate of crime in the state 

and the country at large. 

According to him, it will 

also give witnesses the 

opportunity to present 

evidence, expose and 

report to the police and 

other security agencies 

without fear of 

molestation. 

Balarabe Abdullahi 

emphasized the benefit of 

the bill to the 

enhancement of criminal 

justice in the state and by 


extension the country at 

large. 

The speaker, therefore, 

directed the clerk of the 

House to produce a clean 

copy of the bill for 

Governor Sule’s assent. 

Earlier, Tunga, while 

moving the motion for the 

passage of the bill into 

law, urged his colleagues 

to support the bill to allow 

it scale third reading. 

Danladi Jatau (PDP- 

Kokona West), the 

Minority Leader of the 

House seconded the 

Majority Leader’s motion 

NEWS HOTLINES 

018773962, 

08052867058 

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SERVICE COMMISSION —President of the 

Senate, Ahmad Lawan (2nd L) and Speaker of House of Representatives, 

Femi Gbajabiamila ( 3rd L), in a group photograph with members of the 

National Assembly Service Commission, during the inauguration of the 

National Assembly Service Commission by President Muhammadu Buhari 

at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday. 

for the bill to pass third 

reading. 

The House unanimously 

passed the bill into law. 

Speaking with 

newsmen, the sponsor of 

the bill, Mohammed 

Alkali (APC, Lafia North) 

expressed joy, saying “I 

am happy that the bill saw 

the light of the day. 

‘’I want to urge the 

Ministry of Justice to 

create awareness to the 

public on the importance 

of the bill so that nobody 

will be afraid while 

testifying in court.” 

Tension in Benue as herdsmen 

take over communities in 4 LGAs 

By Peter Duru 

MAKURDI — 

There is 

mounting anxiety in 

Benue State as 

suspected herdsmen 

have reportedly flooded 

the state with cattle and 

occupied communities in 

four local government 

areas of state. 

The affected local 

government areas 

include Guma, Kwande, 

Agatu and Logo. 

Confirming the 

development, Caretaker 

Chairman of Ado LGA, 

Mr. James Oche, said 

the herdsmen had taken 

over the border 

community between Ado 

and Okpokwu LGAs 

from where they 

engaged in kidnappings 

in Igumale, the local 

g o v e r n m e n t 

headquaters. 

He said: "They are 

currently camped in the 

border community 

between Ado and 

Okpokwu LGA with 

sophisticated weapons. 

"From there, they carry 

out 

periodic 

kidnappings of 

individuals for ransom 

and a recent victim was 

a retired DSS senior 

officer who after his 

release, confirmed that 

he was abducted by 

herdsmen. 

"As we speak, a 

personnel of Benue State 

Livestock Guards was 

also kidnapped by the 

armed herdsmen and he 

is yet to regain his 

freedom a month after. 

"We are all living in 

fear, people hardly go to 

the farms again and if 

you must, it has to be in 

groups. Also, there is no 

night life in Ado again. 

"They usually besiege 

people and open fire on 

them. The state 

government is doing 

much to clear them from 

our area but we need 

more security personnel 

in Ado at the moment," 

Oche added. 

On his part, Agatu LG 

Caretaker Chairman, 

Mr. Usman Suleiman, 

who confirmed that there 

was heightened tension 

in Agatu, said all the 

communities bordering 

neighbouring Nasarawa 

State were currently 

being occupied by 

herdsmen. 

Also speaking, a chief 

in Logo LGA, Joseph 

Anawa, said herdsmen 

had taken over Ayilamo 

community and all the 

villages bordering 

Nasarawa State from 

where they marched into 

the state with cattle in 

their thousands. 

Commenting on the 

development, Chief 

Press Secretary to 

Governor Samuel Ortom, 

Mr. Terver Akase, said: 

"The development is 

politically motivated by 

enemies of the peace of 

Benue. 

“We may not be 

accusing a particular 

person but for political 

reasons, some persons 

have given open 

invitation to herdsmen to 

come to Benue and it is 

rather unfortunate. 

"But herdsmen 

themselves should 

remember that there is a 

law in Benue State which 

prohibits open grazing 

of livestock and any of 

them who violates the 

law, irrespective of his 

tribe, would be 

sanctioned according to 

the law. 

"So, whoever is 

responsible for the influx 

of herdsmen is clearly 

not for the people of 

Benue State because for 

the past one year, the 

government and people 

of Benue State have put 

heads together, with 

support of security 

agents, to ensure there 

is peace in all parts of the 

state and people are 

enjoying the peace. 

"Even those who are in 

the camps, a lot of them 

have gone home and 

then suddenly, someone 

made a public statement, 

inviting herdsmen, 

telling them that Benue 

is a free land for them to 

do open grazing. 

"It’s quite unfortunate, 

but we wish to inform 

those people that they 

would face sanctions if 

they violate the law of 

the land." 

When contacted, the 

Police Public Relations 

Officer, Deputy 

Superintendent, DSP, 

Catherine Anene, said 

she was yet to get report 

of the development from 

the Divisional Police 

Officers in charge of the 

LGAs affected.


•Students of the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, protesting their exclusion from Law School and the NYSC Scheme. 

Law School: NOUN law graduates 

in endless struggle 

By Adesina Wahab 

& Shina Abubakar 

PEOPLE go to school to train 

to become professionals in 

different fields, and some 

professions require extra training 

and even qualifying examinations 

(after university education) to be 

recognised and accepted as a 

professional in such fields. One of 

the professions is law. Attending a 

university to obtain a degree in 

law does not suffice for one to be 

able to work as a lawyer in 

Nigeria. One must attend the 

Nigerian Law School to be called 

to the Bar and be recognised as a 

lawyer in the country. 

However, those who read law at 

the National Open University of 

Nigeria, NOUN, are in a dilemma 

over what will eventually become 

of their certificates after spending 

five years to study law in that 

institution. 

Current situation of NOUN law 

graduates 

As at now, law graduates from 

NOUN are not being mobilised 

for the mandatory one-year 

National Youth Service Corps 

Scheme, NYSC, and are also not 

allowed to go the Nigerian Law 

School to be able to be licensed 

as lawyers. This is despite the 

signing into law in 2018 by 

President Muhammadu Buhari of 

the NOUN Act that allows them 

to observe the NYSC scheme and 

go to the Law School. 

While some graduates of the 

school opined that not being 

allowed to participate in the 

NYSC is not a problem for them 

since they have their own 

businesses, they expressed 

concerns about young adults that 

now see NOUN as their only 

option having spent years at home 

without being offered admission 

by the Joint Admissions and 

Matriculation Board, JAMB. 

Abubakar Abdullatib Danharee 

and Olawoyin Olumide are some 

of the NOUN graduates who feel 

for the young ones to whom 

NOUN has become the only 

option to obtain university 

education. 

Position of NOUN law 

graduates 

Few days ago, NOUN students 

at the Osogbo Study Centre held 

a protest during which they called 

on the Federal Government and 

other appropriate authorities to 

mobilise them for the NYSC and 

also admit their law graduates to 

the Nigerian Law School. 

Addressing journalists after the 

protest, the President of the 

Students Union, Basiru Omotayo, 

asked the Federal Ministry of 

Education and the National 

Universities Commission, NUC, 

to direct the managements of the 

NYSC and the Nigerian Law 

School to comply with the NOUN 

Act. 

Act of 

injustice 

He said the Act allows graduates 

of the distance learning centre to 

participate in the NYSC scheme 

and also gain admission into the 

Law School. The students 

threatened that they would 

embark on mass protest across 

the country should their demands 

be ignored. Omotayo said it was 

an act of injustice that graduates 

of NOUN could not have the same 

rights, benefits and privileges like 

their mates in conventional 

universities. 

According to him, “Statistically, 

we (NOUN students) are the ones 

paying the highest amount of 

money as a federal university 

compared to other federal 

universities in the country; 

anything about National Open 

University is always delayed 

unlike our mates in other 

universities. It is no more news 

that the bill that allows National 

Open University graduates to 

participate in NYSC Scheme/Law 

School has been signed by 

President Muhammadu Buhari 

since December 4, 2018 but 

nothing has been done so far to 

implement it. 

“The National Open University 

of Nigeria is a Federal Open and 

Distance Learning institution 

accredited by the NUC; the first 

of its kind in the West African subregion. 

It is Nigeria’s largest 

tertiary institution in terms of 

student population. We pay 

heavily to afford National Open 

University terms and conditions 

as directed by NUC but we are 

denied certain things enjoyed by 

graduates of other tertiary 

institutions. I have seen a 

Nigerian graduate from National 

Open University from Republic of 

Benin serving in Nigeria, even 

with international treatment. I 

have also seen a graduate of 

NOUN that was denied 

employment due to lack of NYSC 

discharge certificate; it is not fair 

at all. This must stop. How can 

we spend heavily to get our 

degrees and companies within the 

same country would not recognise 

our certificates? 

“We plead with the Federal 

Government to meet our demands 

in order to prevent spontaneous 

agitations across the country. 

NOUN has about 515,000 

students and this country will not 

find it funny should we storm the 

streets in protest. We want NOUN 

2020 graduates to be mobilised 

together with the 2020 Batch A. 

We have made efforts to meet with 

NOUN Vice-Chancellor, Prof. 

Abdalla Adamu but he has not 

been giving us audience. The VC 

recently replied to a mail we sent 

him and told us to approach some 

quarters and make our grievances 

known.” 

Also, a graduate of law from 

Enugu Study Centre, John 

Ikechukwu, said it was 

unfortunate that despite promises 

from the vice-chancellor of the 

university, students have not been 

able to attend law school. 

Why the current deadlock 

A lawyer, Mr Tolu Ayodele, told 

Vanguard that the current 

deadlock could be attributed to a 

number of factors and issues. He 

listed the factors to include 

administrative and legal ones. 

“The Nigerian Legal Education 

Council wants law graduates from 

NOUN to come to the Nigerian 

Law School and start from Bar 

Part One, instead of the Bar Part 

Two that graduates of 

conventional universities do start 

from. The Bar Part One is usually 

for law graduates from outside the 

country, that is those who 

graduated from foreign 

universities. With that, they will 

spend one more year in the Law 

School. 

“Also, the National Universities 

Commission wants them to spend 

seven years for their law 

programme because it is treated 

as a part-time programme. Like 

the first issue, the students are 

opposed to that too. They argue 

that they attend lectures almost on 

a daily basis. Recall that the NUC 

in 2013, cancelled all part-time 

law programmes run by 

universities in the country. 

Moreover, the issues of being 

mobilised for the NYSC, being 

admitted to the Law School and 

whether or not to extend the tenure 

of training to seven years are 

already in court. The matter is 

before the Supreme Court now and 

until it is finally decided, nothing 

may be done.” 

With the situation now, a 

graduate of law from NOUN 

cannot metamorphose into a full 

blown lawyer. 

Employable skills: How to bridge disconnect between 

industries, varsities —Kathy Daniels 


ASSOCIATE Pro-Vice-Chancellor International, 

Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 

Kathy Daniels, has said the only way to bridge the 

disconnect between industries and universities regarding 

the employable skills required by industries from 

university graduates is to work closely with the industries 

and know what they want. She noted that after knowing 

what the industries want, they should be able to influence 

the universities to teach their students such skills that 

would make them employable by the industries. 

Daniels stated this in Lagos during an interactive 

session with journalists. She explained that Aston 

University had imbibed that culture and was able to 

produce graduates that are meeting the aspirations and 

expectations of industries across the globe. While 

commending the British Government for the proposed 

two-year work permit for foreigners who graduate from 

British universities, Daniels noted that it would further 

boost the Aston Global Advantage Programme of her 

university. 

She said: “Through our Aston Global Advantage 

Programme, we place our students on internship with 

businesses to develop necessary skills. We pioneered the 

placement plan where our students go on attachment in 

industries. They can also go and study abroad because 

we have strong ties with universities in the United States, 

Germany, South Africa among others. 

“We also help our students to set up their own 

businesses. They engage in business simulations and 

are guided by our team of experts. Our students have 

work opportunities because we prepare them for that, 

to be entrepreneurs and to also have the required skills 

to fit into today’s global market.” 

Daniels added that Aston University was already 

discussing with some Nigerian universities to 

collaborate and engage in student exchange. “This is 

necessary in today’s world. It is going to bring a lot of 

benefits to Nigerians. Understanding just one country 

is not enough. If you study here, you are only exposed to 

things here, but if you go on exchange to another 

country, you will find something new to learn,” she 

explained. 

Listing some of the advantages of studying in Aston 

University, Daniels said the fees were competitive and 

the cost of living generally in Birmingham was lower 

than London and some other towns. “We also give 

generous discount for outstanding students. For 

instance, the fee for our postgraduate programmes is 

about £18,000 but a discount of about £4,000 could be 

given an outstanding student. 0ur undergraduate 

programme fee is about £16,000 and discount is also 

available for deserving students,” she added.


•From left: Dean of the Schol of Communication, Lagos State University, LASU, Professor Rotimi Olatunji, 

his wife, Modupe; Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbogun, and former 

Dean, Prof. Idowu Sobowale, at Prof. Olatunji's 60th birthday anniversary at LASU, Friday. 

NGO to recruit 400 fellows as basic school 

teachers 


A NON-Governmental 

Organisation, the Teach For 

Nigeria, TFN, is set to recruit 400 

fellows that will serve as basic school 

teachers in continuation of its efforts 

to provide solid foundation for 

Nigerian youths at the basic 

education level. The teachers are to 

be deployed in understaffed schools 

mostly located in rural areas. 

According to the Chief Executive 

Officer, CEO of TFN, Mrs. Folawe 

Omikunle: “At Teach For Nigeria, 

we believe that there is no single 

solution to a problem as complex 

and systemic as educational 

inequity. Addressing it requires 

many solutions, from many 

directions. While we cannot singlehandedly 

solve these problems, we 

believe that we can act as a catalyst 

to build a formidable network of 

determined leaders who understand 

the root causes of inequity and are 

committed to challenging it. 

“The TFN Fellowship programme 

is a two-year full-time paid 

commitment that is designed to build 

a movement of leaders who will work 

towards eliminating educational 

inequity by teaching in under-served 

schools in low-income communities 

across Nigeria.” 

It, therefore, came as a surprised 

recently in Ogun State at the 

announcement of the opening for the 


BABCOCK University, the 

Isaac Delano Foundation 

and the Pan-African University 

Press have instituted the Isaac 

Oluwole Book Prize for Yoruba 

Studies to recognise outstanding 

works and fiction that continue to 

uphold and represent the legacy of 

Yoruba icons like Isaac Delano. 

A statement by the organizers, 

said: “It is a dream of theirs , like 

Delano, to promote and revive the 

socio-cultural, political and 

religious significance of Yoruba, 

and by so doing contribute to the 

stream of revivalist efforts geared 

towards the resuscitation of the 

African spirit, for it is in the 

language, culture and worldview 

that the spirit flourishes.” 

The Delano Prize for Yoruba 

Studies, according to the 

organisers, not only encourages 

and welcomes diverse submissions 

application of 2020 fellowship 

programme, when the Head of 

Recruitment, Matriculation & 

Selection, TFN, Bokula Kolajo said 

that the NGO was set to enrol 400 

fellows, the largest cohort, since 

inception, to join the programme to 

reach more under-resourced schools 

and provide children with quality 

education for better life outcomes. 

According to Kolajo: “Teach For 

Nigeria understands the challenges 

and issues facing the education sector 

in Nigeria and is fighting to resolve 

this by bridging the nation’s 

educational inequity gap. " 

Don warns against indiscriminate 

consumption of mushrooms 


A 

PROFESSOR of Food 

Microbiology and 

Mycology has warned members of 

the public to desist from eating 

mushrooms indiscriminately 

especially when in doubt about its 

true identity, saying such act could 

lead to death or serious injury. 

Prof. Bamidele Akinyele gave the 

warning while delivering the 119th 

Inaugural lecture of the Federal 

University of Technology, Akure, 

FUTA titled: Fungi and Fungal 

Products: Integral Part of 

Industrialization in a Developing 

Economy. 

Picking mushrooms from the 

wild for food and medicinal value 

is an age long practice in Africa. 

She, however, pointed out that the 

major problem arising from eating 

mushrooms was the inability or 

Babcock University, others institute 

Prize for Yoruba Studies 

that can (uniquely) contribute to 

the sustenance of the totality of the 

Yoruba people, but also, is 

especially aimed at scholars and 

young creatives whose endeavors 

contribute to the understanding 

and enhancement of (the) Yoruba. 

“At the moment, the Delano Prize 

for Yoruba Studies is worth $1,000, 

which will make it one of the most 

robust prizes for Yoruba Studies 

and the most prestigious 

recognition in the world for Yoruba 

scholarship,” the statement stated. 

It further said that submissions 

will not only open to Yoruba people 

located in Africa, but also everyone 

with a shared Yoruba ancestry, as 

well as scholars of Yoruba Studies, 

whilst key selection criteria include 

originality, creativity and 

innovativeness, contribution to 

Yoruba or Yoruba Studies and or 

potential to continue to conduct 

groundbreaking research on the 

Yoruba. 

difficulty of mushroom gatherers 

to identify the poisonous 

mushrooms which contain toxins 

and this could be very detrimental 

to human health. 

Akinleye disclosed that the 

symptoms of mushroom poisoning 

could vary from slight gastrointestinal 

discomfort, vomiting 

and in acute cases, death. 

She added that it could also vary 

from gastric upset to life-threating 

organ failure resulting in fatality. 

Differentiating between 

poisonous and edible mushrooms, 

the lecturer said poisonous 

mushrooms turn green or purple, 

have a burning or stinging taste, 

bad odour, bitter taste, have no 

presence of worms and have scales 

on the cap. 

On the other hand, edible 

mushrooms do not stain, do not 

turn green or purple, have a sweet 

taste, does not sting the tongue, 

have presence of worms and do not 

have scales on the cap. 

Akinyele said that presently, 

most of the fungi that could not be 

properly and adequately identified 

in Nigeria were being sent to the 

UK or USA and therefore 

proposed the establishment of 

mycological culture collection 

centers in tertiary institutions for 

proper and adequate 

documentation of various fungi in 

Nigeria. 

Highlighting the importance of 

fungi in economic development, 

the don said fungi play significant 

roles in the health sector and 

industries where different fungi are 

being used in the production of 

various metabolites and enzymes 

of industrial importance. 

The lecturer also stated that 

fungi have been identified to be 

effective and ecofriendly in the 

bioremediation of crude oil 

polluted soil particularly in the 

Niger-Delta area of Nigeria. 

UNESCO sets up Bioethics office at 

Babcock 

By Glory Ojojo 

AUNIT of the International 

Network of UNESCO 

Chair in Bioethics (Haifa) has 

been established at Babcock 

University, BU. The approval was 

contained in a letter addressed to 

the Deputy Vice- Chancellor, 

Academics, Prof. Iheanyichukwu 

Okoro. 

BU is one of the four such units 

in Nigeria and the first and only 

private university till date. The 

international body was 

established in 2001 and was 

authorised to coordinate and 

stimulate an international 

Network of Institutes for Medical 

THE Governing Council of 

the College of Education, 

Ikere-Ekiti has approved the 

appointment of Dr. Ibitola 

Makinde as the deputy provost 

of the College. A statement 

signed by the College Registrar 

and Secretary to the Governing 

Council, Mr. Gbenga Ojo, said the 

appointment of Makinde was 

approved by the Governing 

Council following her election by 

the Academic Board in line with 

extant regulations of the College. 

Dr. Makinde obtained her 

Nigeria Certificate in Education, 

NCE, from the College in 1989 

before proceeding to the 

University of Nigeria Nsukka 

Ethics Training and to develop an 

up-to-date syllabus for medical 

ethics education which will satisfy 

the requirements of medical 

schools throughout the world. 

Among its functions, the 

unit will engage in are the 

advancement of bioethics 

lectures, courses and seminars, 

holding lectures and courses for 

the public at large, and holding 

local national and international 

conferences. When fully on 

ground and with requisite 

capacity, the unit will be 

generating funds for the 

university. The Chair of the 

Steering Committee is Prof. 

Stephen Fapohunda. 

Council approves Makinde's 

appointment as deputy provost 

InterswitchSPAK opens science 

competition portal 

INTERSWITCH has announced 

the commencement of another 

edition of its National Science 

competition, InterswitchSPAK 3.0 in 

Nigeria. Students from senior 

secondary schools are now free to 

register for the competition on the 

InterswitchSPAK portal. 

InterswitchSPAK is an annual pan- 

African competition aimed at reigniting 

STEM (Science, 

Technology, Engineering, and 

Mathematics) subjects among 

secondary school students. 

For the registration, each school is 

required to present its best six science 

students in SSS2. However, for 

mixed schools, at least two female 

students must be among the best six. 

Every registered student will 

participate in the qualifying 

examination at any of the centres 

where she bagged a Bachelor’s 

degree in Guidance and 

Counselling. She holds Master’s 

and Doctorate degrees in 

Guidance and Counselling from 

the University of Ado-Ekiti now 

Ekiti State University. 

She joined the services of the 

College as graduate assistant in 

1998 and rose through the ranks 

to the position of chief 

lecturer. She was until her 

appointment, the Dean, School of 

Education and Chairman, 

Committee of Deans. Dr. 

Makinde made history as the first 

female deputy provost of the 

college and the first alumnus to 

occupy the highly exalted office. 

LOGISS: Taking secondary education 

to higher grounds 

LOGOS 

International 

Secondary School, LOGISS, 

Awomama in Oru East Local 

Government Area of Imo State is a 

unique mission school established in 

1994 in obedience to a divine 

mandate to reverse the negative 

trends in academics and morals that 

are prevalent in Nigeria’s 

educational system. Located at 

Kilometre 24, Owerri-Onitsha 

expressway, Awomama, the school 

offers solitary, serene and conducive 

learning environment both inside 

and outside the classroom. 

LOGISS prides itself as one of the 

best high schools in sub-Saharan 

Africa and has produced students 

who have excelled in many leading 

positions in government, 

across Nigeria. The top 81 students 

will proceed to the final to battle for 

the crown of Nigeria’s Best Science 

Student. 

Cherry Eromosele, Chief 

Marketing and Communication 

Officer, Interswitch, expressed her 

excitement about the last edition. She 

also encouraged more girls to 

participate in the on-going 

registration, stressing: “We at 

Interswitch are committed to 

inculcating knowledge, coupled with 

improving the standard of education 

in Nigeria. We are very passionate 

about encouraging more girls to take 

up STEM subjects. The good thing 

is, there has been an increase in the 

number of girls participating in the 

competition. We commend the 

relentless effort of the entire team that 

ensured the previous edition was 

successful." 

multinational organisations and 

higher education all over the world. 

“Bringing your children to 

LOGISS, will take tons of tension 

off you. Your peace of mind (and 

theirs) is therefore guaranteed,” the 

school said, adding that it 

accommodates students from all the 

states of Nigeria and other countries 

of the world such as Cameroun, 

Angola, Benin, South Africa, USA, 

Germany, Italy, U.K, China and 

India.Every year, over 400 -500 

students from these countries and 

beyond are enrolled in JSS1, JSS2 

and SS1. At LOGISS, we combine 

academic excellence with godliness 

to produce youths of exceptional 

qualities that have and will set the 

trends in all facets of life.”

44 — VANGUARD, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 

YOUR LUCK TODAY 

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 

AQUARIUS: Many members of your opposite sex will go out 

of their ways to attract your romantic interest. This is the wrong 

time to engage on unnecessary argument. Been your lucky day 

you are expected to take good advantage today. 

PISCES: If you priority is love, much of it would come your way 

as desired. But here is a better day for more ambitious in the 

business world. Don’t allow anybody to deceive you over money. 

ARIES: Those of you with secret admirers within your working 

area will have the needed opportunities to make the needed moves. 

Resist the temptation to deceive others. 

TAURUS: Although matters-of-the-heart may give you cause 

to smile broadly, if care is not taken, you would cause friction that 

can’t help you r case at work. This is the wrong time for unnecessary 

scheming within your working arena. 

GEMINI: Those of your who are red-blooded for romance may 

have an exciting and satisfying day. Happenings within your social 

circles must be taken more seriously. 

CANCER: Confrontation may come your way in the circle but 

the heavens are working favourably for you. Some doses of romance 

is not too much for you on a day like this. 

L E I S U R E 

TAKE HEART — ELLA RANDLE 

“When you focus on being a blessing. God makes 

sure that you are always blessed in abundance.” 

—Joel Osteen- 

Observe the beauty in your moments and the gentle 

enlightenment that comes with it. The beauty are the 

blessings all around you. 

Sometimes, it’s right in front of us to see beyond the 

everyday matters to the abundance of blessings in our 

lives. 

— Ella Randle 

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” 

SAYINGS OF 

OUR PEOPLE 

There is always 

a winner 

even in 

a monkey’s 

beauty contest. 

~African 

Proverb 

By Kola Fayemi 

LEO: Provided you don’t allow your innate ability to be as diplomatic 

as necessary desert you, things work favourably for you to 

the betterment of your finances. 

VIRGO: Many of you will be in sentimental mood and exhibit 

strong romantic desire openly. But then, if care is not taken, you 

may be carried away to the detriment of your finances. Serious 

minded lovers are in for happy day. 

LIBRA: Whatever anybody says or does, you will have both your 

say and way. Venus and Jupiter may tempt some of you to embrace 

illicit (or secret) romance within your base of operation. 

SCORPIO: Venus and Jupiter at positive angles may tempt you 

to join some of your friends who are already onboard of merry 

making train. Watch your health. 

SAGITTARIUS: Minor financial success you record today can 

lead to something bigger and good in the near future; as good 

luck will smile at many and induce love of luxury, merry, making 

and romantic association. Genuine lovers will need to be on 

guard against deceit from new admirers. 

DUDU in “ROLLING HOT” “HOT” By A.O.OLAIDE 

CAPRICORN: Both financial success and emotional satisfaction 

are closed to you than before. Those of you travelling because 

of maters-of-the-heart are in for an exciting romantic day Those 

ambitious career-wise will succeed after few struggles. 

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING 

ASTROLOGICAL our date and place of COUNSELLING 

birth to the Astr 

tr 

Send your dat 

trological 

Counselling, P.M.B 100 

007, Apapa, Lagos 

WHAT’S MY HOROSCOPE? 

Dear Joshua, 

I want you to give me my comprehensive horoscope, especially 

what my special gift is. Which day of the week was I 

born? Where were my natal planets and their meanings? Who 

am I? 

Babatunde, Abuja 

Dear Babatunde, 

There is no space for comprehensive horoscope but what you’ll 

have here -under is answer to your questions/ You were born on a 

Thursday and your special gift is LEADERSHIP quality. 

YOUR HOROSCOPE DATA 

Day Of Birth: Thursday 

Sun Sign: Virgo: Sun in 20th Degree of Virgo 

Moon Sign: PISCES: Moon on 10th Degree of Pisces 

Mercury in 16th Degree of Libra 

Venues in 5th Degree of Scorpio 

Mars in 13th Degree of Cancer 

Jupiter in 6th Degree of Pisces 

Saturn in 5th Degree of Aquarius 

Uranus in 2nd Degree of Virgo 

Neptune in 11th Degree of Scorpio 

Pluto in 10th Degree of Virgo 

North Node in 6th Degree of Leo 

South Node in 6th Degree of Aquarius 

Quality and Element 

Cardinal and air star signs hosted two planets each fixed and 

earth three each, no planet in fire while mutable and water star 

signs hosted five planets each. 

Push-full influence = 20% 

Non- push-full element = 80% 

Final dispositor = Lucky Jupiter 

General Analysis 

Just 20 per cent of push-full influence in your chart can deceptively 

present you to others as a soft (or even timid) person but 

practical Virgo that hosted nothing less than three heavenly bodies 

when you were born and Astrological aspects between Mercury 

(mental focus) and aggressive Mars in you r chart are pointers to the 

contrary. Yes! You are highly intelligent and your mind works the 

same way detective’s minds do. It is true, there are little contradictions 

between your inner self and your emotional being as indicated 

quality, water element and Virgo characteristics. One moment, 

you can be very emotional, exhibiting temper with stinging 

tongue but a few hour later you are amiable, easy going, friendly 

and compassionate. You are the adaptable type who will see 

changes as sources of good opportunities. LEADERSHIP quality is 

one of your greatest gifts from God. placement of your natal sun 

(basic-selfhood) and moon (your emotional being) in Virgo and 

Pisces respectively mean that characteristics of both Virgo and 

Pisces are highly pronounced in your inner-self. 

VIRGINIA dadadekola@yahoo.com 

HOME & ABROAD 

By Lawrence Akapa


•RENDEAVOUR CHIEFS: Oba Kamorudeen Animashaun, the Oloja 

of Epe Kingdom (middle) with newly-installed chiefs — Stephen Jennings, 

Founder and CEO of Rendeavour (right) and Frank Mosier, Chairman of 

Rendeavour (left) during their inauguration as chiefs in Epe, Lagos. 

•PRESENTATION: From left — Senior Brand Manager, Home and 

Hygiene, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Princess Nnaji; Managing Director, Wembay 

Bakery and winner of Sunlight/WIMBIZ N1m ‘Empower a Woman’ Grant, 

Tosin Bamiro; Corporate Communications Manager, Unilever Nigeria Plc, 

Godfrey Adejumoh; Programme Officer, WIMBIZ, Sylvia Omenukwa and 

Brand Manager, Sunlight, Bilqees Odewale at the cheque presentation in 

Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi 

•DINNER: From left — Mrs Chioma Igwe, Brand Manager, Three 

Crowns; Mr and Mrs Sheriff Farumi, winners of the Three Crowns "How We 

Met" Valentine's campaign, during a banquet dinner at Radisson Blu Hotel, 

Ikeja, courtesy of Three Crowns Milk. 

•BIRTHDAY: From left — Mr Taiwo Ogunmilade; Mrs Funmi Jeje-Emeka; 

Pastor Olanrewaju Akanle, Pastor in Charge, RCCG Ancient of Days Area 

and celebrant; Mrs Bola Ogungbaigbe-Ekundayo and Mrs Bukky Sijuwade- 

Omololu, all alumni of Moremi High school, OAU, Ile-Ife, 81/86 set during 

the 50th birthday celebration of Pastor Olanrewaju Akanle and launch of 

Album titled: 'Glorify Him', held at RCCG Covenant Chapel Zonal Headquarters, 

Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos. 

Babayaro 

slams Yobo’s 

appointment as 

Eagles assistant 

coach 

Former Chelsea 

defender 

Celestine Babayaro 

has said that while he 

welcomes ex-players 

being involved in 

Nigeria coaching setup 

he questions 

Joseph Yobo’s 

credentials. 

His comments come 

after his former 

international teammate 

and ex-Everton 

star Yobo was 

appointed as assistant 

coach of the Super 

Eagles two weeks 

ago. Babayaro, who 

won an Olympic gold 

medal with Nigeria at 

•Sharap 

Saka is EPL best 

young player, 

says Lacazette 

Arsenal striker 

Alexandre Lacazette 

has claimed that 

Gunners’ wideman 

Bukayo Saka is ‘the best 

young player in the 

league.’ 

Saka has mainly had to 

play in an unnatural leftback 

position for the 

majority of the campaign 

as he deputises for the 

injured Kieran Tierney 

and Sead Kolasinac. 

Despite being in an 

unusual position the 18- 

year-old has impressed, 

scoring three goals and 

providing nine assists in 

26 first-team appearances 

for Arsenal so far this 

season. 

the 1996 

Olympics in 

Atlanta, said 

any such 

appointment 

must be 

backed 

by 

requisite 

qualifications. 

•Yobo 

The duo were in the 

Nigeria squad at both 

the 2002 World Cup and 

two years later at the 

Africa Cup of Nations 

in Tunisia 

“From my point of 

view as an ex player I 

think he is a good 

appointment probably 

done in a wrong way,” 

the 41-year-old, who is 

SHARAP-OVER: 

Maria 

retires! 

Maria Sharapova 

has given up the 

uneven struggle against 

injury and announced 

she has finished with 

tennis at the age of 32 

in an emotional open 

letter in Vanity Fair. 

After a career that 

yielded five Grand Slam 

titles, hundreds of 

millions of earnings and 

a reputation that 

became severely 

tarnished, she revealed 

her retirement through 

the pages of the 

magazine. 

She will be 

remembered for her 

major wins, her 

relentless baseline 

hitting delivered with a 

piercing shriek and 

failing a drugs test at 

the 2016 Australian 

Open. 

The 32-year-old 

Russian said: ‘How do 

you leave behind the 

only life you’ve ever 

known? 

Wilder should be grateful to Breland 

for throwing in towel — Ref 

•I was to stop the fight 

Referee Kenny 

Bayless says he 

was close to stopping 

Deontay Wilder’s fight 

against Tyson Fury 

due to the battering 

the American was 

receiving. 

Wilder was knocked 

down in the third and 

fifth rounds and was 

being dominated by 

his British opponent 

on Saturday night. 

The towel was 

thrown in from 

Wilder’s corner to 

concede the fight in 

the seventh round and 

Bayless has now 

revealed he was close to 

stopping it himself 

before it reached that 

point. 

‘It was a good 

stoppage in my opinion 

because in the minute’s 

rest between rounds 

before the stoppage I 

went over to Deontay,’ 

Bayless told SiriusXM 

Fight Nation. 

‘I looked him in the 

face and I gave him the 

line that us referees 

give the fighters to let 

them know, ‘Hey, 

you’ve gotta show me 

something.’’ 

•Babayaro 

now an 

agent, told 

BBC 

Sport. 

“I’m 

not sure 

if he’s 

got his badges but if 

you are trying to 

appoint someone you 

make sure they’ve got 

the right credentials 

before you appoint 

them. 

“I don’t care if it’s an 

ex (player) or whoever, 

make sure you appoint 

the right person that 

knows the job. 

Okowa 

appoints 

Ambakederemo 

new SA 

The Governor of 

Delta State, 

Senator Ifeanyi Okowa 

has announced the 


Ogheneochuko 

Neville 

Ambakederemo as his 

Senior Special 

Assistant (Sports 

Development). The 

appointment took 

effect from February 

21, 2020. 

The appointment was 

conveyed in a memo 

signed by the 

Secretary to the State 

Government, Mr 

Chiedu Ebie. 

Until his latest 

appointment, 

Ambakederemo was a 

member of the Delta 

State Sports 

Commission. He was 

there for 4 years. 

Reacting to the 

development, the new 

SA(Sports 

Development) said, “I 

see this appointment 

as an upliftment as I 

will be liaising 

between the Governor 

and the Delta State 

Sports Commission. I 

think it will bring 

about a better 

understanding 

between the DSC and 

the state government 

as that will be my 

preoccupation.” 

•Neville


•Amaju Pinnick(3rd right) condoles mother of late Tiamiyu Kazeem 

Pinnick pays condolence visit 

to parents of slain footballer 

By John Egbokhan 

With the dust yet to settle 

over the wrongful killing 

of a former Remo Stars 

vice-captain, Tiamiyu Kazeeem 

allegedly by operatives of the 

Special Anti-Robbery Squad in 

Sagamu on February 22, the 

President of the Nigeria Football 

Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick 

has paid a condolence visit to the 

parents of the deceased footballer. 

Coming a day after Governor of 

Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun 

visited the same residence to 

commiserate with the grieving 

parents of the player, the NFF 

President Pinnick was yesterday 

at the late Kazeem’s parents 

residence, where he reiterated the 

need for the perpetrators of the 

heinous crime to be brought to face 

the full wrath of the law. 

Accompanied by the Chairman 

of the Ogun State Football 

MASVI Invitationnal Cycling race: 

Association and Executive board 

member of the NFF, Ganiyu 

Majekodunmi and President of 

Remo Stars Sports Club, Hon. 

Kunle Soname, Pinnick said 

Kazeem’s death was unfortunate 

and and painful experience which 

must not be allowed to go without 

consequences for those 

responsible for such a dastardly 

and reprehensible act. 

Condoling the grieving parents, 

Pinnick prayed for the remorse of 

the deceased soul, noting that 

justice would be done to bring 

those responsible to book. 

‘’We are here to offer our deepest 

sympathies because this is not the 

way one of our promising 

footballers should pass on. Please, 

please, take heart in order to give 

strength to your other children and 

relatives and the entire football 

community, who have been 

adversely affected by Kazeem’s 

death’’,, added Pinnick. 

Oyo targets male trophy 

Oyo state coach, Joy Omeboh 

is targeting the male trophy 

in the MASVI invitational Cycling 

race billed to hold in Owan West 

Local Government area on 

Saturday. 

While affirming that Oyo has 

quality cyclists to win the male 

trophy in Sobe on Saturday, Coach 

Omeboh said, “Ajibade Quadri 

won the male race in Ilorin last 

December. He is one of the best in 

the road race in the country”. 

The Delta-born coach gave the 

names of Oyo riders for the race as 

Ajibade Qadiri, Azeez Abass, 

Johnson Timileyin, and Michael 

Segun for the male race while the 

female riders are Durogbade 

Adejoke, and Yekeen Tawakalt. 

Their coaches are Olalere Alao 

and Joy Omeboh. 

Meanwhile, the chairman of 

Owan West Local Government 

Area Frank Ilaboya has assured of 

a hitch-free race, adding that 

“everything needed to make the 

race an eventful one has been put 

in place’”. 

The former Edo State Football 

Association Chairman said the 

state’s Deputy Governor, Comrade 

Philip Shaibu is expected to flag 

off the race by 8am on Saturday. 

Football lovers are gearing up 

for another action-packed encounter 

of live sporting action of 

the Europa League games as Manchester 

United host Club Brugge 

at Old Trafford while Arsenal take 

on Olympiacos at Emirate Stadium 

in the return legs of the Europa 

League second leg encounter. 

Both matches will be played tomorrow 

and StarTimes Nigeria has 

assured subscribers of live exclusive 

broadcast of the Europa League 

matches and other thrilling sporting 

actions on its ST World Football 

Channels 244 and 254 and ST 

Sport Premium channel 246. 

Manchester United have kept 

Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Delta, Rivers, 

Cross River and Edo states are 

expected to participate in the race 

that will see the male cyclists ride 

100 kilometres and the female 

ride 80 kilometres. 

Serial women’s defending 

champion, Ogechi Anisionwu of 

NNPC is in the running again for the 

ladies singles title as she has qualified to 

face strong contender, Chizoba Onuoha 

of Shell in the final billed for tomorrow 

at the centre court of Ikoyi Club 1938. 

Anisinowu has been champion for 

more than four editions of the games, a 

development she claimed was becoming 

uninteresting to her. 

“I am tired of winning this title,” she 

quipped, adding jovially, “maybe I will 

be playing the men.” 

Despite that, she said she won’t let go 

until she finds a good player who can 

dethrone her. “I will hang on there until 

a younger player who can beat me comes 

up. For as long as I continue to win, I 

will continue to be champion.” 

Her opponent in tomorrow’s final 

Arsenal, Man Utd in Europa action on 

StarTimes 

Ndidi won’t be rushed back into action 

—Leicester boss 

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has 

revealed the club are being extra 

cautious over rushing back Super Eagles 

midfielder Wilfred Ndidi again. 

The midfielder staged an astonishing recovery from 

surgery in January, 

returning to action just 12 days after a piece of floating 

bone was removed from a meniscus. 

But after playing for almost an hour in a 4-1 win at 

home to West Ham after coming on as substitute on 

January 22, and then the full 90 minutes of Leicester’s 

Carabao Cup semi-final second leg defeat at Aston Villa 

six days later, Ndidi suffered a reaction and has again 

been sidelined. 

Rodgers has confirmed the 23-year-old 

defensive midfielder is back in training, and 

may yet be available for Friday’s Premier 

League clash at Norwich. 

But asked whether the club were now being 

extra cautious over a return, Rodgers replied: 

“Yeah, we have to be because we don’t want to 

lose him. 

Dessers gets Nigerian 

passport 

Heracles Almelo 

goal poacher 

Cyriel Dessers could 

become cap-tied to 

three-time African 

champions Nigeria next 

month. 

According to Het 

Belang van Limburg, 

nothing stands in the way 

of Dessers playing for the 

West African giants after 

securing a Nigerian 

passport on Tuesday. 

Born in Tongeren to a 

Belgian father and 

Nigerian mother twenty-five years ago, the 

striker qualifies to represent Nigeria if the 

granny rule is invoked by the Nigeria Football 

Federation. 

He was an unused substitute when Belgium 

beat Moldova 2-1 in a European U21 

Championship qualifier back in March 2015, 

a game that would have seen him become 

provisionally cap-tied to his country of birth if 

he had featured. 

If Dessers earns a call-up to the Super Eagles 

for their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations double 

header against Sierra Leone and plays in any 

of the games even for one second, he would no 

longer be able to represent Belgium 

internationally. 

NOGIG 2020 Tennis: 

Anisionwu, Onuoha to clash for gold in ladies finals 

•As Iloeje, Bariena square up for men’s title 

three successive clean sheets in the 

Premier League and the encounter 

on Thursday would guarantee their 

place in the Europa League round 

of 16 encounter. 

Anthony Martial’s away goal 

leaves Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team 

in the driving seat going into the 

return leg but Brugge caused the 

Red Devils enough problems in Belgium 

last week to suggest they can 

defy the odds at Old Trafford 

Club Brugge Coach Philippe 

Clement wants to make Man Utd 

sweat in their own stadium. The 

Belgian side are still missing Krépin 

Diatta while Éder Balanta is suspended, 

but on the plus side Percy 

Tau has shown he can be effective 

as a No10. 

Onuoha is not giving up before the battle 

begins. “I will give it my best shot and all 

I can wish is let the better player win the 

title.” 

To get to the final, Ogechi defeated 

Khadijat Jekhere of NCDMB in straight 

sets. Onuoha on the other hand dismissed 

Ejehiwase Effiong of TOTAL in straight 

sets. 

In the men’s singles final, Obinna Iloeje 

of NNPC will face Bere Bariena of 

Chevron for the gold medal. The final 

also comes up tomorrow. 

In Table Tennis, NCDMB defeated 

Chevron 3-0 to qualify for the final of the 

men’s double event. 

Speaking after their victory, Joseph 

Adebayo(Big Joe) of Team NCDMB 

described the Chevron Team as “an 

improved side that will go places, in the 

near future.” 

Yobo vows to prove 

critics wrong 

Former Super Eagles defender, Joseph Yobo 

has vowed to prove the critics of his appointment 

wrong as the national team assistant 

coach 

Yobo who is poised to join the team ahead of 

the Africa Cup of Nations tie against Sierra Leone 

next month did not receive applause from the 

fans when he was announced as replacement to 

Imama Amapakabo. Even team coach Gernot 

Rohr stated that he was not consulted before 

Yobo’s was made his assistant. 

“I know people have been talking. But it is the 

time for me to do the needful and let my work do 

the talking. 

“Do you know what it means to be the captain 

of the Super Eagles, and to fill in the role for so 

long?, he asked." 

Ndidi 

Abia Warriors bag N5m fine 

for violence in Abia derby 

By John Egbokhan 

The League Management Company (LMC) has fined 

Abia Warriors the sum of N5m for the match violence 

that disrupted the Nigeria Professional Football League 

match-day 20 fixture against Enyimba in Umuahia. 

Fans of Abia Warriors had reportedly gone irate during 

the course of the match after fans of Enyimba celebrated 

wildly following a missed penalty by an Abia Warriors 

player. The home fans reportedly vented their spleen on 

the Enyimba players and chairman, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, 

who sustained serious head injuries. 

After conducting a thorough investigation into the 

fracas, the LMC yesterday released a statement , in which 

it found Abia Warriors guilty of the charges and ordered 

them to play their three consecutive home matches behind 

closed doors. 

According to the statement of LMC, ‘’Abia Warriors 

have been fined N5,000,000 to be paid within 10 working 

days in a Summary Jurisdiction exercised by the LMC 

on the disruption of the Matchday 20 fixture in Umuahia 

against Enyimba International 

‘’Abia Warriors are also to play a minimum of their 

next 3 consecutive home matches behind closed doors 

with no fans before a possible review which can only be 

carried out if the LMC is satisfied that conditions which 

led to the disruption has been completely eliminated 

‘’Out of the N5m fine, Enyimba International FC will 

receive N2.5m as compensation for injuries and damages 

to property. Abia Warriors have 48 hours to accept in 

writing, this decision or seek to appear before a panel’’. 

3,000 athletes for Police Games 

A 

record number of 3,000 Police men and women 

would take part in the 12th edition of the Nigerian 

Police Games slated to take place in Awka, 

Anambra State from 29th February to March 7th. 

12 zones will be competing in the 10 day events like 

track and field,football,Squash,Table 

tennis,boxing,wrestling,shooting ,lawn tennis, basketball 

among others. 

Speaking while on a visit to the Minister of Youth 

and Sports Development Mr Sunday Dare, AIG Alkali 

Mohammed who doubles as Chairman of the 

Police Games Planning Committee and Force Secretary 

said everything is set for a hitch free competition. 

“We are here to assure the Honourable Minister that 

everything is set for the Nigerian Police Games in 

Anambra State.We have enjoyed the tremendous support 

of the Anambra State Governor Chief Willy 

Obiano. All is set for a great event” 

Eto arrives Nigeria for Trophy 5-A-Side 

Football fans in Nigeria are in for a big thrill as 

Samuel Eto’o Fils, one of Africa’s greatest football 

legends, has arrived in Lagos for the launch of the 2020 

edition of Castle Africa 5s, the continental leg of the 

Trophy 5-A-Side developmental football tournament. 

Eto arrived in Lagos yesterday and was received by the 

Trophy Lager team in company of International Breweries 

management and members of the sports media. 

Castle Africa 5s is the continent’s biggest amateur 5- 

A-side football competition involving grassroot teams 

from several African countries in which the world’s 

largest brewer, ABInBev operates. The competition, 

which started in 2016 in South Africa with only 6 

countries has grown bigger in scope.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020—47

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 

TODAY’S CROSSWORD 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

THURSDAY’S SOLUTION 

TODAY’S PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

FRIDAY’S ANSWER 

ACROSS 

1 Tardy (4) 

3 Undying (8) 

9 Ungraciously curt (7) 

10 Cold (5) 

11 Conour (5) 

12 Kidnap (6) 

14 Waylay (6) 

16 Spanish rice dish (6) 

19 Bird with a long curved bill (6) 

21 Light weight (5) 

24 Path of a planet (5) 

25 Cradle song (7) 

26 Shunters (anag.) (8) 

27 Capri, for example (4) 

DOWN 

1 Unauthorised passenger (8) 

2 Tender (5) 

4 Noon (6) 

5 Possessed (5) 

6 Characteristic (7) 

7 Short narrative poems (4) 

8 Strata (6) 

13 Bronte heroine (4,4) 

15 American whisky (7) 

17 Handsome Greek god (6) 

18 Resides (6) 

20 By and by (5) 

22 Approaches (5) 

23 The two of them (4) 

How to Play Sudoku 

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

of the same number). 

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

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

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

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

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

multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination. 

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

08027767834; 01-4544821. Abuja office: 7, Dambata Close, Area 7, Garki, 09-2921024. Ikeja office: 73, Awolowo Way. V.I. Office: Murplus Plaza, 27, Sanusi Fafunwa Street. Asaba: 21, Anwai 

Road. Benin City: 4E, Arusa Street. Port Harcourt: 50, Ikwerre Road; Warri: 102, Efurun-Sapele Road. Advert: advertproduction@yahoo.com; E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, 

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

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