16052020 - Boko Haram -provided recruits sex slaves not wives money as promised

2 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2020 

N4.3b in Ondo secret account: Lawmakers 

in showdown with govt for spending money 

without appropriation *State PDP invites EFCC to wade in 

Dayo Johnson, 

Akure 

LAWMAKERS in Ondo 

state are poised for a 

showdown with the state government 

for expending the 

N4.3b starched in a secret account 

for over ten years ago 

without recourse to them. 

The Rotimi Akeredolu administration 

was said to have 

discovered the starched money 

in 2018 and expended it 

without appropriation by the 

Assembly. 

Finance Commissioner 

Wale Akinterinwa claimed 

he facilitated the recovery of 

the money kept in a secret 

account more than ten years 

ago and pledged to provide 

the necessary documents as 

requested by the House 

Also, the opposition Peoples 

Democratic Party in the 

state has invited the Economic 

and Financial Crimes 

Commission to investigate 

the matter. 

Its Director of Media and 

Publicity, Zadok Akintoye 

said at 15 percent interest 

what would have accrued for 

ten years is N10.7b. 

Meanwhile, the lawmakers 

are also asking questions 

on what the state government 

did with the interest that 

accrued to the money lodged 

in a bank. 

New twist in evacuation of Nigerians 

from Canada 

By Lawani Mikairu 

A 

new development 

has just emerged that 

the delay in the evacuation 

of Nigerians stranded in 

Canada is as a result of the 

personal interest of Canada 

High Commission official 

in Nigeria. 

A confirmed report alleged 

that the Canada 

High Commission is responsible 

for the delay of 

the evacuation of Nigerians 

from that country by 

deferring Air Peace flight 

right and positioning Ethiopia 

Airlines to operate the 

airlift at a higher fare. 

Recall that the Federal 

Government last week designated 

the Nigerian carrier, 

Air Peace to conduct 

evacuation flight to bring 

Nigerians who are stranded 

in Canada with the 

flight plan to airlift passengers 

from Toronto and Cagliari 

back to the country. 

But informed source from 

the Ministry of Foreign 

Affairs disclosed that the “ 

Canada High Commission 

opened talks with Ethiopia 

Airlines, which has been 

airlifting Canadian citizens 

from different parts of Africa 

to Canada to deny a 

Nigerian carrier the opportunity 

to airlift its own citizens”. 

“ However, the Federal 

Government through the 

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama (R), receives the British High 

Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, in his office in Abuja yesterday. 

country”. 

“ The directive from the 


asked the would-be 

passengers to pay for 

Flight ET3900 from Lagos 

to Addis-Ababa that would 

depart from Lagos by 1:00 

pm Nigerian time on May 

18, 2020”. 

“The directive asked the 

passengers to use the 

booking code: ”LOSYYZ”, 

valid only for May 15, 

2020,” the document further 

revealed. 

The delay in allowing 

Air Peace, an indigenous 

airline to conduct the evacuation 

flight has upset officials 

in the Ministry of 

Foreign Affairs and other 

Nigerians who have been 

monitoring the proceedings 

since last week. 

Some of the Nigerians 

who have booked and paid 

Air Peace for the flight 

were already complaining 

about the insistence of the 


to choose a foreign 

airline when a Nigerian 

carrier can carry out the 

evacuation exercise successfully, 

as it had done in 

the past. 

Shocked at the decision 

of Canada High Commission, 

an official of the Nigerian 

carrier said that Air 

Peace has successfully 

flown to 40 countries, including 

Canada, the United 

States, the United 

Ministry of Aviation and 

Foreign Affairs has waded 

into the matter, insisting 

that the Nigerian carrier 

has to operate the flight in 

tandem with its new position 

that all evacuation 

flights must be conducted 

by Nigerian carriers” , the 

source said. 

A document sourced 

from the Canada High 

Commission directed that 

“ passengers should pay 

$2, 500 to Ethiopian Airlines; 

while Air Peace 

charged $1, 134 and 319 

passengers have paid to 

the Nigerian airline, 

which has concluded 

plans to operate full flight 

to the North American 

Kingdom, noting that it 

was the airline that evacuated 

Israeli citizens from 

Nigeria late March. 

“We have done many international 

flights, including 

landing in Canada. We 

have made 19 flights to the 

United States of America 

since 2014. We have flown 

to Tel-Aviv several times and 

in March we evacuated over 

200 Israelis from Nigeria 

back during this COVID-19 

lockdown. We have scheduled 

flight operations to 

United Arab Emirates. We 

have also flown to UK, Ireland, 

China, Turkey, Germany, 

Iceland, Switzerland 

and other countries. 

Minister directs aviation agencies to relocate 

headquarters to Abuja within 45 days 

By Lawani Mikairu 

THE Minister of Avia 

tion, Hadi Sirika has 

directed all Aviation agencies 

and parastatals to 

relocate their corporate 

headquarters to the Federal 

Capital Territory, Abuja 

within the next fortyfive 

(45) days . 

This is an attempt to enforce 

the 2012 Presidential 

directive that then ordered 

all government agencies to 

move their headquarters to 

Abuja . 

With this directive, the 

Nigerian Civil Aviation 

A statement by the spokesperson 

of the Assembly, Hon 

Gbenga Omole vowed that 

they “ will do everything 

within its constitutional power 

to unravel the circumstances 

surrounding the 

stashing of a sum of 4.3 billion 

naira in a secret account 

in a third generation bank 

Further revelations concerning 

the fund came to the 

fore at plenary when the 

Chairman House Committee 

on Public Accounts, Honourable 

Edamisan Ademola 

reeled out the list of banks 

which at various times benefitted 

from the alleged secret 

transactions. 

Edamisan challenged the 

competence of the Accountant 

General for failing to produce 

necessary documents 

bearing the transactions and 

the accrued interest to date. 

He said that “if the statements 

of financial transactions 

in the listed banks were 

not supplied as requested, 

the House would be forced 

to take necessary steps as 

entrenched in the Constitution. 

Omole said “ among other 

details, the House sought to 

know the source of the fund, 

the date the money was 

lodged into the alleged secret 

account, the person who 

authorised the lodging and 

the accrued interest to date. 

Authority, NCAA, Federal 

Airports Authority of Nigeria 

, FAAN, Nigerian Airspace 

Management Agency, 

NAMA, Accident Investigation 

Bureau ,AIB, 

Nigerian Meteorological 

Agency, NiMET, are expected 

to relocate within 

the given time frame. 

In a letter dated 4th 

May 2020 from the Ministry 

FMA/PMD/7061/T/4 

signed on behalf of the 

Minister of Aviation by the 

Director, Human Resource 

Management , Muhammad 

Shehu, the Minister 

said that the movement is 

now imperative because 

“Ize-Iyamu is foundation member 

of APC” — Edo party chieftains 

LEADERS of the All Progressives Congress across 

the three senatorial districts of Edo State have dismissed 

claims that Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu is a ‘threemonth-old’ 

member of the party. 

The letter, signed by Honourable Stanley Odidi, Former 

Chairman Etsako East Local Government Council Edo 

North, Honourable Sam Oboh Former Chairman Esan 

North East Local Government Council Edo Central, and 

Honourable Etinosa Ogbeiwi, Former Member of Edo 

Assembly Edo South, highlighted the foundational role 

of Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu in the merger that led to the 

formation of the APC in 2013 and his contribution to the 

expansion of the party in the South-South, including Edo 

State. 

The letter read: “Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the personality 

who is the primary target of the said letter of lies, is 

not as falsely claimed by the faceless authors of the letter, 

a 3-month-old member of our great party, the APC.” 

“On the contrary, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, more than 

being part and parcel of our great party from the very 

beginning, was in the inner circle of the great personalities 

instrumental in the formation of the party. He played 

vital roles, travelling far and wide in the mission to facilitate 

the amicable coming together of the three defunct 

parties that merged to form the APC in 2013.” 

“Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s undisputed role in the formation 

of the APC is shown by the sensitive positions he 

held in the APC during and after its formation. He was 

the Vice National Chairman of the ACN, South-South; 

Member of the National Caucus; a Frontline Member of 

the Mergers Committee, and the Deputy Chairman of 

the Constitution Drafting Committee that midwifed the 

APC. Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu has also served in government, 

bringing the same zeal and resourcefulness 

which he is popularly known for. As Chief of Staff and 

later Secretary to the Government of Edo State, Pastor 

Osagie Ize-Iyamu served with honour and without blemish, 

facts well-known to the faceless authors of the letter 

of lies.” 

According to the Edo APC leaders, the departure of 

Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu from the APC came with consequences 

given his political strength and viable structure 

across the 18 LGAs of the state, a factor that they 

said helped him to inspire the greatest political victory 

ever witnessed in the history of the state when in 2012, 

as Director-General of Adams Oshiomhole’s campaign, 

all LGAs in the state were won to give Oshiomhole sweeping 

victory for another term in office. 

COVID-19: Edo govt tests 820 

persons, tracing 715 contacts 

A 

S part of improved measures to contain the coronavi 

rus (COVID-19) pandemic in Edo State, the government 

has revved up the screening and testing of residents 

across the state’s 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs), testing 

over 820 persons in the state. 

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Patrick Okundia, who 

disclosed this to journalists in Benin City, reassured 

that the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration 

remains resolute and committed to containing 

the spread of the virus and protecting Edo people. 

Okundia said the ongoing massive screening and 

testing was a strategy adopted by the state government 

to get a clearer picture of the spread of the 

virus in order to enhance efforts at fighting the 

deadly disease. 

According to him, “Edo has so far recorded 92 

confirmed cases, 34 discharges, five deaths, 780 

suspected cases, while the state is currently contact 

tracing over 715 persons who have had various 

degrees of contacts with confirmed cases”. 

The commissioner warned residents against “submission 

of wrong information, including names, addresses 

and phone contacts during the ongoing 

screening and testing exercise” adding that “eight 

cases are yet to be located due to wrong address 

and phone number.” 

of the current global economic 

situation and reducing 

cost of governance 

The letter titled: Relocation 

of Aviation Agencies 

to Abuja read: I am directed 

to remind you of a Presidential 

directive issued 

in 2012 requesting all 

the agencies under the 

Ministry of Aviation to relocate 

their corporate 

headquarters to the Federal 

Capital Territory ( 

Abuja ) for efficient and 

effective coordination 

and enhanced service 

delivery and note that 

eight (8) years after the 

directive, the agencies 

are yet to comply”. 

“Accordingly, considering 

the current situation 

and the economic impact 

worldwide as well as the 

need to reduce the cost of 

governance and manage 

scarce resources in a sustainable 

way, it has become 

imperative and further 

to the honorable 

Minister’s directive 

(Copy attached) to request 

that you facilitate and complete 

the relocation of your 

corporate headquarters 

within the next forty five 

(45) days in line with this 

earlier directive”, the directive 

added..

REVEALED: 'Boko Haram provided recruits sex 

slaves, not wives and money as promised' 

* Terrorists dump 72 family members to escape air and land bombardments 

*61 eliminated in 5 days. 

By Kingsley Omonobi, 

Abuja. 

Jaiz Foundation led by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Abdullahi Shuaib (left) 

presents food items to the office of the Hon Minister of FCT, received by the 

Minister of State for FCT, Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu (left) in Abuja recently. 

FOLLOWING the inten 

sive air and land bombardments 

targeted at Boko 

Haram and ISWAP terrorists 

hideouts and enclaves in 

the North East and Lake 

Chad, frightened Boko 

Haram terrorists have 

dumped 72 members of their 

families made up of women 

and children at Ngala 

town, near Sambisa in Borno 

state. 

Some of the ones who surrendered 

were to reveal the 

deceit they faced after being 

induced with women and 

money when they were being 

recruited. 

Intelligence available to 

the Military High Command 

noted that owning 

to the ongoing artillery 

launches by land forces and 

Airforce bombings, the terrorists 

are scared stiff of not 

only losing their lives, but 

also those of their family 

members hence the dumping 

of the 72 women and 

children by nightfall. 

This is just as another 

batch of 11 Boko Haram 

terrorists and ISWAP members 

also surrendered voluntarily 

to troops in Adamawa 

state. 

Coordinator, Defence Media 

Operations, Major General 

John Enenche who confirmed 

this while giving an 

update of military operations 

in the country, however 

warned citizens in the country 

especially those in the 

North East not to allow themselves 

to be deceived and 

be recruited to join the Boko 

Haram sect. 

‘Some of the terrorists who 

have surrendered said they 

were induced with promises 

of new wives and money. 

But when they joined, there 

were no wives and even 

money was not forthcoming. 

Rather there were female 

BHT members who provided 

sex services and could not 

be married. 

Enenche disclosed that in 

the last one week, more than 

60 terrorists have been 

killed while several gun 

trucks AK 47 rifles, GPMGs 

and other weaponry, ammunition 

have been impounded. 

He said, ‘On 11 May 2020, 

eleven ISWAP fighters surrendered 

to troops of Operation 

Lafiya Dole in Adamawa 

State. The repentant insurgents 

are being profiled 

for further action. 

“ This number of surrendered 

BHT/ISWAP fighters 

is an indication of the heat of 

our operational activities on 

the terrorists due to the renewed 

impetus in the theatre 

to end the criminality. 

‘There are indications that 

more terrorists are willing to 

surrender. One of such 

moves, was the dropping off 

of 72 family members of 

BHTs/ISWAP at the entrance 

of Ngala town in Ngala Local 

Government Area of 

Borno State on 10 May 2020 

about 8.30pm, comprising 33 

women and 39 children. All 

of them are in custody of 

troops for further action. 

Disclosing that the De-radicalization, 

Rehabilitation 

and Reintegration programme 

for ex-fighters under 

Operation Safe Corridor 

has recorded tremendous 

success, Gen Enenche said, 

“So far, 280 clients (repentant 

terrorists) have successfully 

undergone the programme 

and reintegrated 

into the society, 25 of this 

number were repatriated to 

Niger Republic. 

‘Presently, 603 clients are 

due to pass out in June 2020. 

Other fighters are hereby encouraged 

to come out of the 

bush/hideouts to surrender. 

‘The military High Command 

is using this medium 

to request parents, traditional 

rulers, community, opinion 

and religious leaders to 

urge their wards and children 

not to succumb to inducements 

by the BHT/ 

ISWAP for recruitment into 

their fold because the temporarily 

surviving terrorists 

are now in dire need of fighters. 

Continuing he said, 

‘Meanwhile, on 9 May 2020 

troops of Operation Lafiya 

Dole at Uvaha High Ground 

Area in Limankara, Gwoza 

Local Government Area of 

Borno State neutralized three 

suicide bombers attempting 

to infiltrate the defence location. 

‘Similarity, troops of 144 

Battalion, 82 Division task 

Force Battalion, 26 Task 

Force Brigade and 271 Task 

Force Tank Battalion neutralized 

18 Boko Haram Terrorists 

within the past one week. 

‘These operations took 

place at Gamboru Ngala, 

Firgi Mubi – Kamale Road 

in Michika Local Government 

Area of Adamawa State 

as well as Ngoshe near the 

Nigeria – Cameroon border. 

A total of 72 persons were 

also rescued from the Boko 

Haram Terrorists. 

“Also, on 9 May 2020, 

troops of 121 Task Force Battalion, 

at Pulka – Ngurosoye, 

near Bama town repelled 

BHT ambush and killed 20 

terrorists, while on escort 

duty. Equally, on 13 May 

2020, Operation Lafiya Dole 

troops killed 9 BHTs in an 

ambush at Mainok – Jakana 

axis in Kaga Local Government 

Area of Borno 

Care for aged, vulnerable persons 

worry bishop 

By Chidi Nkwopara, 

OWERRI 

THE growing govern 

ment insensitivity towards 

the aged and vulnerable 

persons in Nigeria, is 

giving sleepless nights to the 

Anglican Bishop of Okigwe 

South Diocese, Rt. Rev. David 

Onuoha. 

The Bishop’s concern was 

made public in a message 

delivered on his behalf by 

Rev. Canon Alex Egbulefu, 

during the commissioning 

and handover of a furnished 

one-bedroom bungalow to a 

septuagenarian widow, Madam 

Christiana Keke, Ibi 

Abueke, Ihitte Uboma local 

council area of Imo State. 

“It is sad to note that Nigeria’s 

aged and vulnerable 

persons are treated with disdain. 

It is also sad that there 

is nothing on ground to show 

that our governments have 

plans to take proper care of 

the aged and vulnerable persons 

in this country”, Bishop 

Onuoha lamented. 

While saying that the way 

government treats the nation’s 

aged and vulnerable 

persons is a sad commentary 

on Nigeria’s history, the cleric 

also opined that “the situation 

is even worse when some 

of these old people have no 

children to cater for them”. 

Continuing, Bishop Onuoha 

commended Chief Ikechukwu 

Enwerem, for “not 

only coming to the aid of the 

widow, especially now that 

Covid-19 pandemic is ravaging 

everywhere, but also floating 

the community feeding 

project, as part of his ongoing 

relief packages for the less 

privileged. 

Narrating her plight to Vanguard, 

Madam Keke recalled 

how she managed her 

dilapidated thatched mud hut 

for over 13 years, before succour 

came her way. 

Her words: “It has been 

tough and rough since I lost 

my husband several years 

ago, but I kept struggling to 

bring up my three children, 

a boy and two girls.” 

According to the widow, 

she returned to square one 

when she mysteriously lost 

her son, soon after laying the 

foundation for their new 

house. 

“With his death, I was back 

to square one and everything 

fell apart. I remained in my 

thatched mud house, which 

had almost fallen apart, for 

over 13 years”, the woman 

narrated in tears. 

On how she met her benefactor, 

Chief Ikechukwu Enwerem, 

the woman recalled 

that she was in her hut about 

a month ago, when a group 

of men visited her. 

Continuing, Keke said: “After 

seeing what I called my 

house, one of them, quickly 

moved me out of the place, 

brought in workers the next 

day, destroyed the hut and 

started this new one (pointing 

at the new one).” 

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2020 — 3 

Again, cult rivalry claims one 

in Port Harcourt 

By Egufe Yafugborhi, Port Harcourt 

POLICE have confirmed the murder of a man, Leo 

Henry in suspected gangs rivalry over which sect extorts 

levies from street traders in Diobu, Port Harcourt City 

Local Government Area, Rivers state. 

Diobu had been under Rivers State Government’s Covid-19 

lockdown and markets closed before Governor Nyesom 

Wike ordered recent lockdown of entire Port Harcourt 

metropolis, but clandestine streets markets continue to thrive 

in the area with the Iceland and Deygbam cults staging 

frequent deadly clashes over which gang collects traders’ 

levies. 

Police Public Relations Officer, Rivers Command, Nnamdi 

Omoni, confirmed the latest killing Friday as men of 

Nkpolu Divisional Police Office evacuated corpse of the 

victim from a spot at Chigbu Street, Mile 3 Diobu, where 

suspected fellow gang member dumped him after being 

shot dead. 

Leo, alleged member of the Icelanders said to hail from 

Umuahia, Abia state was shot at Bishop Okoye Street where 

he was engaged in his gangs’ extortion on street traders. 

An eye witness narrated that, “He was about to assist a 

Police Officer to lift some goods he bought at Bishop Okoye 

Street when he was shot dead. 

“His fellow cult member came afterwards to wheel his 

dead body on a barrow to a popular place he was always 

seen having good times at Chigbu Stree, Mile 3 Diobu 

from where Police came to evacuate him. The incident also 

resulted in vandalism on in the area by angry Leo’s gang 

members” 

Recent supremacy clashes between Deygbam and Iceland 

mainly over collection of street markets levies have 

claimed Chisco Uzuoma, Hitler, both Icelanders and the 

duo of Saidi Wasiu and latest victim, Leo Henry, said to 

belong to Deygbam 

Insider connection: SARS 

arrests three staff, two 

others for robbery 

By Evelyn Usman 

IT was the end of the road for three members of staff of 

Ndu Best Investment Company Limited, in Alaba , 

along the Mile-Two/ Badagry expressway as they were 

arrested among five suspected members of a robbery gang 

.The gang members were alleged to have been breaking 

into the company’s warehouse at Agric area, where they 

carted away electrical appliances and cables worth several 

million of naira. This act as gathered , had been 

ongoing, for over five years, until Monday, when a member 

of the gang, Joseph Udeh, 29, was arrested by operatives 

of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS of the 

Lagos State Police Command. 

The suspect and his fleeing partner, had as usual looted 

some lightening arresters and copper wires from the 

warehouse. The items were being conveyed in a vehicle 

to the receiver, when luck ran against them. 

By the way, a lightening arrester is a device used on 

electric power or telecommunication systems to protect 

the insulation and conductors of the system from the damaging 

effects of lightening. 

Surprisingly during interrogation Udeh, mentioned 

22-year -old Henry Jude, who was discovered to be the 

private guard at the company’s warehouse, as his 

partner. 

Consequently, Jude was arrested and revealed also, 

that he was not alone. He mentioned two other staff: Francis 

Ebogu, 26 and ThankGod Ibemere as accomplices. 

One other trader on Lagos Island, Chika Opara, was 

also mentioned as the receiver of the stolen goods since 

four years. 

COVID-19: Delta discharges 

index case, two others as fruitseller 

tests positive 

By Festus Ahon, ASABA 

D 

ELTA State Covid-19 index case and two others, were 

Thursday evening, discharged after testing negative 

twice to the dreaded virus. 

The index case and the two others were treated at the 

State Teaching Hospital, DELSUTH, Isolation and Treatment 

centre, Oghara, Ethiope West Local Government Area 

of the State. 

Chief Medical Director of the Teaching Hospital, Dr. Onome 

Ogueh who confirmed the discharged cases in a statement, 

thanked the DELSUTH COVID-19 response team 

for their commitment in the treatment and care of the patients 

in spite of the inherent dangers. 

According to the statement issued by the Public Relations 

Officer of the Hospital, Mr. Emmanuel Iteme on Friday, 

Ogueh made the disclosure while addressing the State 

COVID-19 Case Management Team led by Dr. Ann Ojimba 

and the State NCDC representative, Dr. Otoh Daniel 

who were at the Teaching Hospital on a working visit. 

Meanwhile, a 29 year old lady, yesterday tested positive 

for the dreaded coronavirus pandemic in Agbor, Ika South 

Local Government Area, Delta State. 

The State Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles 

Aniagwu confirmed the new case in his verified whatsapp 

page.


Specialist Hospital: Judicial 

Inquiry indicts Oshiomhole’s 

administration for breach of 

procurement law 

THE Judicial Com 

mission of Inquiry 

into the construction of 

the Edo Specialist Hospital 

and supply of 

equipment for the hospital 

has indicted the administration 

of the 

former Governor of Edo 

State, Comrade Adams 

Oshiomhole for breach of 

the state’s Public Procurement 

Law. 

Chairman of the Commission, 

Justice James 

Oyomire (rtd), who presented 

the commission’s 

findings to Governor Godwin 

Obaseki, at Government 

House, in Benin 

City, on Thursday, said 

the award of the contract 

for the construction of the 

hospital was fraught with 

breaches of the state’s 

procurement laws. 

He said the procurement 

law clearly states 

that any contractor working 

on a government 

project should not receive 

more than 25 percent upfront 

payment upon contract 

award, which Oshiomhole’s 

administration 

contravened. 

Justice Oyomire said 

“the immediate past administration 

paid 75 percent 

of the contract sum 

upfront for the project to 

Vamed Engineering.” 

He said part of the commission’s 

8-point recommendation 

includes that 

the Ministry of Justice 

should institute civil and 

criminal actions against 

those found culpable in 

the breach of the law. 

The recommendations, 

according to him, also 

include the strengthening 

of the state’s public 

procurement agency and 

ensuring strict adherence 

to the provision of the 

agency’s law on award of 

contract. 

Governor Obaseki, 

while receiving the report, 

assured that anyone 

found culpable, no matter 

how highly-placed, 

will be called to account 

for their action. 

According to him, “We 

have been putting the 

right measures in place 

and if there are resources 

of government that need 

to be returned back, we 

will not hesitate to ask for 

them. 

“Since I came into office, 

you cannot find this type 

of breach you have mentioned. 

If people have to 

face prosecution, whether 

civil or criminal, they will 

Okorocha’s free education was a 

sham—IMSU Visitation Panel 

By Nneoma Ahukanna 

The visitation panel of 

Imo state university 

said yesterday that the 

free education programme 

ran by the 

Okorocha administration 

was a genuine scheme, 

saying that it was 

designed to deceive Imo 

people. The panel 

regretted that it ended a 

colossal downgrading of 

tertiary education in the 

state. 

The panel wondered 

what else to call the free 

education if not ‘419’ when 

have to be prosecuted. 

When you are given a 

public trust, so much is expected 

from you and there 

is a responsibility to maintain 

that public trust. We 

want to build institutions 

and not individuals because 

individuals will 

come and go, but institutions 

will remain.” 

Noting that the past 

eight weeks have been 

very revealing with the 

outbreak of the coronavirus, 

he said it has given 

him the opportunity to 

have a first-hand encounter 

and knowledge of the 

state’s healthcare sector. 

“The people who have the 

opportunity of rebuilding 

the system took further 

steps in destroying the 

already weakened system. 

We shall seat down 

and thoroughly review 

this report,” he added. 

the government never paid 

the counterpart school fees 

it promised but instead 

deceived an unsuspecting 

public into believing that it 

was fulfilling its own part 

of the bargain. 

The Chairman of the 

panel , Prof. Chinedu 

Nebo , former Vice 

Chancellor of University of 

Nigeria,Enugu Campus, 

who made these 

revelations yesterday 

while submitting the 

panel’s report to governor 

Hope Uzodinma, also 

submitted that it was 

inconceivable that 

quality tertiary education 

could be received free. 

The panel pointed out 

that the free education 

programme run by former 

administration was a 

sham that watered down 

the quality of education 

because the best brains in 

the profession were not 

attracted. 

The panel noted that 

accreditation was denied 

many faculties in the 

Institution like Medicine 

and surgery for many 

years, pointing out that of 

all the abandoned 

projects littering the 

institution , the mother of 

them all was the Medical 

school 

They recommended 

that for IMSU to produce 

graduates that are 

nationally relevant and 

globally competitive it 

must adopt the 

entrepreneurial model of 

education., among other 

things 

.The panel also 

suggested 

a 

reintroduction of tuition 

fees which they pegged 

at N90,000 as against 

N75,00O paid in federal 

tertiary institutions.

EFCC hands over er Diezani’s for 

orfeit 

eited 

ed 

property ty to LASG for Isolation Centre 


THE Economic and Fi 

nancial Crimes Commission, 

EFCC, yesterday, 

handed over a property forfeited 

by former Minister of 

Petroleum Resources, Diezani 

Allison-Madueke, to 

the Lagos State government 

for use as an isolation centre 

for COVID-19 patients. 

The property comprising 

six flats of three bedrooms 

and a boys’ quarter was forfeited 

by the former minister, 

following an order of a 

Federal High Court, Lagos 

in 2017. 

Speaking during the handover 

ceremony, the Lagos 

Zonal Head of the EFCC, 

Mohammed Rabo stated 

that the gesture was part of 

the Commission’s social responsibility 

efforts towards 

the fight against the spread 

of Corona virus. 

He said,”In addition to our 

mandate to fight economic 

and financial crimes, the 

Commission is committed 

and ready to render essential 

services that may be required 

of it in the fight 

against covid-19. Therefore, 

Lagos State should not hesitate 

to call on the Commission 

any time the need for 

such essential service arises”. 

In his remarks, the state 

governor, Babajide Sanwo- 

Olu, thanked the Commission 

for the gesture, noting 

that it was a welcome collaboration 

between the Federal 

and Lagos State Government. 

While assuring the Commission 

that the property 

would be put to good use, 

the governor, appreciated 

the EFCC for paying attention 

to the efforts of the state 

government at containing 

COVID 19, adding that 

“part of the challenges we 

have been facing is getting 

isolation centres for COV- 

ID-19 patients. We will go 

round the facility to see what 

we can do to improve on it.” 

Building collapse threat: Enugu devt 

agency seals The Lord’s Chosen worship centre 

*Gov. Ugwuanyi delivers COVID-19 palliatives 

to journalists 

TO forestall likely casu 

alty from the imminent 

collapse of the headquarters 

of The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic 

Revival Movement in 

Enugu, which structures built 

on waterway have been ravaged 

by flood, the Enugu 

Capital Territory Development 

Authority (ECTDA) has 

sealed the church premises. 

Speaking on the development, 

the Executive Chairman 

of ECTDA, Dr. Josef 

Umunnakwe Onoh, explained 

that the decision to 

seal the church was to save 

lives and property, avert recurrence 

of building collapse 

in the state and ensure that 

appropriate measures are taken 

immediately to remedy the 

dangerous situation in the 

church. 

Dr. Onoh therefore disclosed 

that his agency has directed 

Dele Momodu has earned his numerous 

stripes, says Tinubu 

A property, (six flats of three bedrooms and a boys’ quarter) forfeited by former Minister 

of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke, to the government was handed 

over to Lagos State government for use as an isolation centre for COVID-19 patients by 

EFCC yesterday. 

NATIONAL Leader of 

the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, Asiwaju 

Bola Tinubu has congratulated 

Bashorun Dele Momodu, 

ace journalist and prolific 

writer on his 60th birthday 

today. In his congratulatory 

message, Tinubu said 

Dele Momodu has earned 

his innumerable stripes. 

According to Tinubu, “Momodu 

has done remarkably 

well for the journalism profession 

and for his country. 

He fought relentlessly for the 

entrenchment of democracy 

in Nigeria and for the promotion 

of good governance 

and social justice. While traversing 

the media landscape 

and forging what was to become 

an exciting and illustrious 

career, culminating in 

the founding of the Ovation 

Media Group, Momodu 

was also actively involved in 

pro-democracy activities. 

“For that, he was forced on 

exile by the late Abacha military 

junta, like yours sincerely, 

during which time both of 

us, along with some other 

progressives, continued the 

struggle for the revalidation 

of the annulled June 12 election. 

“Momodu is not only a 

pro-democracy activist but 

also a political actor and indeed 

at one time a presidential 

candidate. Also remarkable 

is his regular, incisive 

and helpful interventions in 

social and governance issues. 

I salute his courage, 

tenacity, resilience, sagacity 

and commitment to worthy 

causes and loyalty to friendship. 

“On this milestone age, I 

join the family, friends and 

associates of our highly-admired 

Bob Dee in wishing 

him a most fulfilling birthday 

even at this moment that demands 

of all of us preventive 

and physical distancing 

measures in the wake of the 

ravaging coronavirus pandemic. 

May God Almighty grant 

Momodu many more years, 

robust health and strength to 

continue to advance the 

cause of journalism, democracy 

and good governance 

as he has been doing over 

the years”. 

the leadership of the church 

to immediately liaise with the 

state chapter of the Nigerian 

Society of Engineers (NSE) 

to reassess the level of damage 

done by the flood and recommend 

appropriate engineering 

measures to be applied 

to fortify the church for 

public safety and reclaim the 

wrecked structures in the 

church’s premises. 

This came as the administration 

of Governor Ifeanyi 

Ugwuanyi will today distribute 

palliatives to all journalists 

operating in Enugu State, 

to cushion the effect of the 

Coronavirus Disease (COV- 

ID-19) lockdown on them. 

In a statement by the State 

Commissioner for Information, 

Nnanyelugo Chidi 

Aroh, the event will take place 

at 12 noon at the Nigerian 

Union of Journalists (NUJ) 

Press Centre, Independence 

Layout, Enugu. “All journalists 

are hereby invited”, Aroh 

said. 

On the sealing of the 

church, there has been a public 

outcry, especially from residents 

living at the bank of 

Ekulu River, G.R.A, adjacent 

to The Lord’s Chosen 

Church, over the imminent 

danger posed by the worship 

centre, which was built on the 

waterway, on their property. 

The ECTDA had served 

“Stop-work” and “Remove” 

notices on the ongoing construction 

work at the premises 

of the church, which were ignored 

completely until the 

recent havoc that wrecked the 

foundation of the church 

building to the point of imminent 

collapse. Only recently, 

a three-storey building under 

construction at Ezeluike 

Street, Olympic Layout, off 

One Day, Agbani Road, 

Awkunanaw, Enugu South 

Local Government Area of 

Enugu State, which was 

marked “Stop-work” by ECT- 

DA collapsed after the contractor 

neglected government’s 

order and continued 

work on the property. 

Reacting, the ECTDA Executive 

Chairman, announced 

that “a technical 

team from ECTDA and the 

Nigerian Society of Engineers, 

Enugu State branch, 

will commence immediate 

evaluation of the structural integrity 

and stability of all 

buildings within the State 

Capital Territory”. 

He expressed concern over 

the spate of construction 

works on the waterway and 

without building approvals 

and their imminent dangers 

and appealed to residents to 

always adhere strictly to rules 

and regulations guiding 

structural development in the 

state, in order to save lives and 

avert damage to property. 

SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 16, 2020 — 5 

Shall we compare APC with 

PDP? 

By Lami Ladan 

A 

very interesting news item in the past 

week was the brickbat between the All 

Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples 

Democratic Party (PDP) concerning how Nigeria 

fared under the administrations of the two political 

parties. 

Perhaps it would be an interesting academic 

research work to have analytics comparing the 

first five years of PDP’s Obasanjo-Atiku and APC’s 

Buhari-Osinbajo administrations. Well, one fact 

that is clear to all Nigerians is that in the case of 

the former, the presidency was defined by the 

names of the two personalities at the helm of 

affairs. In the later, the presidency has been by 

proxy as neither Buhari nor Osinbajo has ever 

been the main driver behind the wheels of state. 

It’s unfathomable to have all these achievements 

as reeled out by the APC publication in a national 

newspaper, yet, the poverty rate in the country is 

alarming and has never been this high. One can 

only conclude that their so-called achievements 

are mere dreams based on our reality today. 

The Obasanjo-Atiku led administration laid the 

basic foundation and put in place policies that 

would drive and sustain socio-economic 

development of the country. 

Before the return to democracy, Nigeria had 

become what the international community would 

call pariah nation, no thanks to the coup and 

counter coups of which, General Buhari himself 

was guilty of. 

With the election of Obasanjo-Atiku in 1999, the 

two leaders embarked on redesigning, retooling 

of our governance that had hitherto been 

basterdized. 

The administration swiftly took measures that 

helped in laying the foundation for the debt-relief 

from the BN Paribas. The establishment of the 

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission 

(EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and 

other related offenses Commission (ICPC) are 

notable among many others. 

The EFCC, no doubt helped in cleansing Nigeria’s 

image and restoring confidence to the foreign 

investment drive. Economically, Nigeria became 

a force to reckon with in the League of Nations 

with a GDP of 6 - 6.5 percentage growth. 

Need we remind the APC of what the exchange 

rate was before their “super exciting policies” 

brought the Naira to its knees? Or, perhaps, the 

prices of commodities before their arrival on the 

scene. 

During the Obasanjo years, there was conscious 

and pragmatic effort to reduce bureaucratic red 

tapes hindering the smooth running of the dayto-day 

affairs of the nation. We know what it is like 

today to want to do business in Nigeria. 

Conversely, in the Buhari years, the more they 

say they are addressing it, the worse it gets. 

In a nation that the leadership touts its 

achievements to high heavens, and, yet, her 

citizens wallow in abject poverty and made them 

turn at the same leadership they voted for with 

dirty insults, certainly should have made one’s 

head spin to a tail end. 

The Obasanjo-Atiku administration had an 

economic agenda code named National Economic 

Empowerment Development Strategy, NEEDS at 

the national level and State Economic 

Employment Development Strategy, SEEDS at the 

states’ level. What economic development 

blueprint does the APC- led administration have 

to show? None. 

The Due Process office was established by the 

Obasanjo led administration. The APC would wish 

it was never established because of you know what 

I know. 

The foundation for a thriving socioeconomic 

development was properly laid that no matter the 

shenanigans of the APC-led regime, they’ll survive. 

One notable achievement of the APC regime that 

is evident is their expertise in destroying 

everything that benefits the poor-multiple 

taxation and the high rate; international passport 

rate tripled; high cost of living and transportation 

but above all, the dangerous level of insecurity 

and destruction of the fragile unity between the 

Northern and Southern geo-political divide. 

Hunger, extreme poverty, insecurity, nauseating 

propaganda, poor performance in health, 

education, socio-cultural infrastructural decay 

are the gigantic hallmarks of this APC regime 

manned by incurable and deceitful bunch of 

egocentric marauders. 

Ask the APC about the refineries they promised 

Nigerians; they would reply: “Dangote Refinery” 

is near completion, the fertiliser company they’re 

touting and bragging about, it turned out it is the 

Dangote fertiliser plant. 

*Ladan sent this piece from Kaduna.


How Kyaris’ death changed 

permutations in Edo State 

By Emmanuel Aziken 

A 

month after the death 

of Mallam Abba Kyari, 

the peace pact that he 

weaved between warring 

political actors in Edo State 

even while carrying the 

novel coronavirus in his 

body has died a natural 

death. 

Central to the agreement 

between Comrade Adams 

Oshiomhole and Governor 

Godwin Obaseki was that 

Obaseki be allowed a second 

term, while the attacks and 

other provocations against 

Oshiomhole were to cease. 

Part of the agreement 

according to highly 

confidential sources was 

that Oshiomhole should 

reinstate some of those who 

were suspended including 

the deputy National 

Chairman, Senator Lawali 

Shuaibu, and the National 

Vice-Chairman, Northwest, 

Inuwa Abdulkadir. 

Oshiomhole had 

practically done all that was 

expected of him. The only 

omission was the position of 

Deputy National Chairman, 

South which allegedly upon 

the influence of the Asiwaju 

Bola Tinubu tendency was 

left in the hands of Senator 

Abiola Ajimobi. 

Sources said that it was felt 

that ceding the position to 

Ekiti State as demanded by 

the anti-Tinubu forces 

would have been inimical 

for the increasingly piercing 

2023 project of the former 

Lagos State governor. 

Obaseki who is believed to 

have been an arrowhead in 

the campaign to remove 

Oshiomhole also ceased 

from his efforts to 

undermine the national 

chairman following the 

agreement. 

However, a month after 

the death of Kyari, who was 

believed to be the pillar 

behind Obaseki, the peace 

pact has died with the 

former chief of staff. 

It was reflective of that that 

the Oshiomhole camp 

commenced its rehearsal of 

its internal primary 

elections to determine who 

to pick for the internal APC 

primary to confront 

Obaseki. 

In a sharp response, the 

Obaseki camp on Thursday 

brought out its joker with 

the report on the judicial 

inquiry into the Specialist 

Hospital, Benin which 

indicted the Oshiomhole 

administration. 

Sources told Saturday 

Vanguard that the death of 

Kyari immediately signaled 

a change of tune in Edo State 

as Kyari had been seen as 

Obaseki’s main backer. 

“All those things he was 

doing could not have been 

possible without Kyari,” 

one source said noting that 

the two may have crossed 

paths in the Lagos business 

district where they both 

practiced at about the same 

time in the early 2000s. 

“You can see that it was 

Chaotic traffic at Toyota bus stop stretching to Ilasa/Sadiku bus 

stop and beyond along Oshodi-Mile 2 expressway being experienced 

on a daily basis by motorists and commutters since the 

lockdown eased. Photo Lamidi Bamidele 

about the time that Kyari 

died that the video of 

Oshiomhole in the gym 

exercising came out. What 

that message signaled was 

that Oshiomhole was ready 

for the battle and that 

Obaseki should dare him,” 

an informed source privy to 

developments told 

Saturday Vanguard. 

Obaseki is not expected to 

get the kind of leverage he 

got from Kyari from the 

new chief of staff, Prof. 

Ibrahim Gambari who is 

neither a politician nor a 

financial expert like Kyari. 

Obaseki’s fate has also not 

been helped by the death of 

two of his strong allies, Alhaji 

Usman Shagadi who was a 

pillar behind him in Edo 

North and Francis Osazuwa, 

a local political backer of the 

governor in Benin. Both 

men died this week. 

Determined to get the 

better of Obaseki, the 

Oshiomhole camp Saturday 

Vanguard gathered, has 

been strategizing on coming 

up with a consensus on 

whom all Obaseki’s enemies 

would pull resources 

together to fight the 

governor. 

Among the contenders in 

the Oshiomhole Camp are 

Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, 

Chris Ogiemwonyi, Dr. Pius 

Odubu, Major-General 

Charles Aihavbare among 

others. 

Sources close to the camp 

told Saturday Vanguard 

that Ize-Iyamu who 

ironically just joined the 

party a few months ago 

seems to be getting the edge 

over the other contenders 

but that the issue had yet to 

be resolved. 

“Ize-Iyamu has an 

established structure 

across the state that can 

match the governor and 

that is one factor that is 

putting him ahead.” 

Another source privy to 

the developments 

disclosed that the 

consensus aspirant is not 

expected to emerge until 

about two weeks. 

The source said that Ize- 

Iyamu is expected to use the 

two weeks to lobby the 

fellow aspirants and 

assuage their ego given that 

he is a recent joiner to the 

party. 

Meanwhile, the 

determination of the 

internal APC opposition 

arising from Kyari’s death it 

was gathered, may have 

forced the governor’s 

release of the report on the 

Specialist Hospital, Benin in 

which Oshiomhole’s 

government was indicted 

for paying 75% of the 

contract sum as 

mobilisaiton against extant 

provisions. 

The report is seen as a 

major albatross for the 

former governor arising 

from serial incisive 

interventions on the issue 

by the former People’s 

Democratic Party, PDP 

leadership of Chief Dan 

Orbih. 

Chief Orbih had regularly 

flayed the construction as a 

cesspool of corruption 

alleging that what President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

commissioned in 

November 2016 was an 

empty shell! 

While the majority of the 

governors had in the past 

backed Obaseki in the duel 

against Oshiomhole, the 

increasing strength of 

Tinubu in the party some 

say may neutralize some of 

that support. 

The PDP was meanwhile, 

laughing off the crisis in the 

APC at the weekend. 

A very prominent 

chieftain of the party while 

noting the crisis in the APC 

said that it was divine 

retribution for the party 

that has ruled the state for 

nearly 12 years. 

“You can see that all 

attempts by the Dangotes, 

the royal fathers, the Kyaris 

and all to settle Obaseki and 

Oshiomhole have not 

worked. 

“What God is saying that 

this is the time for the PDP 

and I can assure you 

nothing will settle them as 

God has made them fight for 

correct government to 

come.” 

The high party chieftain 

who had in the past 

projected the prospect of 

the PDP welcoming Obaseki 

to the party in the event he 

is muscled out of the APC 

was noncommittal on the 

issue yesterday when the 

issue was broached 

signaling that that bridge 

had been crossed. 

The situation in the APC 

was reflective of the crisis in 

the PDP 12 years ago 

between Chief Tony Anenih 

and Senator Oserheinmen 

Osunbor that paved way for 

the accord between the late 

Anenih and Oshiomhole 

that allegedly helped the 

ouster of Osunbor from 

power in November 2008. 

Army General forfeits N426.7m to FG 

By Soni Daniel, Abuja 

ANigerian Army General 

has forfeited a princely 

sum of N426.7million to the 

Federal Government on the 

orders of a Federal judge, 

sitting in Lagos. 

John Onimisi Ozigi, a retired 

Brig-General had been 

standing trial for alleged graft 

in the hands of the Economic 

and Financial Crimes 

Commission, EFCC, which 

claimed before the Federal 

High Court presided over by 

Justice Muslim Hassan, that 

the cash was from the 

proceeds of crime and should 

be seized from him. 

Based on EFCC’s prayers, 

the court had earlier placed 

an interim forfeiture order on 

the cash and asked EFCC to 

issue public notice to 

whoever claims ownership of 

the cash to come forward 

with justifiable reasons why 

the money should not revert 

to the federal government 

Kwara blames rise in COVID-19 

cases on influx of travellers from 

Lagos, North West 

By Demola Akinyemi 

KWARA state government has attributed the increase 

in COVID-19 cases in the state to the influx of people 

from Lagos and North Western states to Ilorin, the state 

capital despite the ban on interstate travels. 

The state governor , AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said 

this while speaking with newsmen during an inspection 

visit to the Sobi Specialist Hospital’s Isolation Centre in 

Ilorin. 

The governor was at the centre to monitor health 

personnel’s compliance with safety protocols. 

He disclosed that 11 of the index cases at the isolation 

centre are travellers from Lagos and northwest states 

who were intercepted by security operatives deployed to 

enforce the ban on inter - state travels. 

“Its disturbing that our new index cases were imported, 

they were people from Lagos and north western states 

who came here at all cost despite the ban on inter state 

travels and we are not happy with that” he said. 

He expressed delight that community transmission of 

COVID-19 has not set in Kwara. 

He said the government would continue to mount 

surveillance to prevent travellers from other states from 

gaining entrance into the state. 

The governor who commended the security agencies 

for rising to the occasion urged them to do more in order 

to stop the spread of the disease in the state. 

8 African countries to attend 

swimming competition to 

honour Aisha Buhari 

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Abuja 

No fewer than eight African countries will be coming to 

Nigeria to honor the First Lady, Dr. Aisha Muhammadu 

Buhari at the International Swimming Championship & Awards 

later this year. 

The swimming championship being organized by the Women 

Championship & Awards International, is put in place in 

recognition of the achievement of the First Lady in championing 

the course of vulnerable women in the country. 

Already, the group has commended Dr. Aisha Buhari on her 

various support programmes and initiatives for less-privileged 

women, and her special attention to the plight of the citizens 

during this global COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Country Director, Women Affairs of the organisation, 

Dr. Hajara Salim, who spoke to journalists alongside some 

members of the executive in Abuja, showered encomium on 

the First Lady for the various items and equipment donated 

and distributed to states across the country to ease the challenge 

faced by most vulnerable women in local communities. 

She said that the donations made through Dr. Hajo Sani, 

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Women Affairs and 

Administration, Office of the First Lady, were commendable. 

She further said that the palliative and economic support 

project was aimed at women development and empowerment 

across the country. 

Covid-19: Ambrose Alli varsity 

boosts govt’s response with 

5,000 reusable face-masks 

The Management of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), 

Ekpoma, has donated 5000 reusable and washable 

facemasks to the Edo State Government, as a contribution to 

the state’s campaign against the spread of coronavirus (COVID- 

19) pandemic. 

Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Ignatius Onimawo, 

who was represented by the Director, Center for 

Entrepreneurial/Career Studies, AAU, Ekpoma, Engr. Prof. 

Osadolor Odia, presented the materials to the Head of Service, 

Anthony Okungbowa Esq. at Government House, Benin City, 

on Friday. 

Prof. Onimawo said the materials were donated in support of 

the state government’s effort to rid the state of COVID-19, 

noting that the facemasks are convenient to use. 

According to him, “The facemasks were produced at 

Ambrose Alli University by the Center for Entrepreneurial 

Studies. We have changed the image of the school in the last few 

years and it now ranks highly among its peers in Nigeria.” 

and joined two companiescompany, 

Diamond Head 

Ventures and Dev. Company 

Ltd-as co-defendants. 

The Commission, in an 

affidavit deposed to by one of 

its operatives, Clever 

Ibrahim, stated that the first 

respondent, Ozigi, was an 

officer of the Nigerian Army, 

while the second 

respondent, Diamond Head 

Venture, was a business 

name owned and 

incorporated by him in a bid 

to use same and commit the 

crime and asked the court to 

permanently seize the cash to 

the government of Nigeria. 

The Commission, in the 

application, also stated that 

the first respondent was a 

salary earner and a public 

officer with an estimated 

monthly salary of about 

N750,000 and could not 

have ordinarily raised such 

amount of money in one fell 

swoop.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2020—7 

Communal clashes, 

herdsmen attacks claim 

80 lives in four months 

By Peter Duru, Makurdi 

There is utter outrage and tension in 

Benue state at the moment over the spate 

of communal crisis and herdsmen 

attacks in parts of the state in the last few weeks 

amid the scourge of the novel Coronavirus 

pandemic that has precipitated a sharp 

downturn in the economic fortunes of the 

ordinary man. 

Sadly those on the frontline of these 

heartrending attacks and communal crisis are 

the very poor who are obviously the hardest hit 

by the economic crisis and in dire need of 

palliatives. 

It is therefore a huge surprise to note a few 

who have been awakened to the nauseating 

reality that instead of forming a formidable 

force against external aggressors like armed 

herdsmen, Benue youths are taking up arms 

against each other to the utter chagrin of all 

those who courageously put their lives on the 

line to save the state from what many describe 

as the orgy of well oiled fighting machine of 

armed herdsmen who from the 2018 New 

Year’s Day massacre in Logo and Guma Local 

Government Areas, LGAs, have till date 

continued to push for dominance on the Benue 

valley. 

These odious conflicts in the state are 

patently being fueled by the quest to grab land, 

which is at the centre of it all, either for the 

purpose of farming by the local farmers or for 

grazing by armed herders. 

It has obviously left in its wake sad tales of 

massive destruction of property, displacement 

of thousands and the heinous killing of over 

80 persons since the beginning of the year. 

It all started early January when a suspected 

armed gang from Ngbo, Ohaukwu Local 

Government Area of Ebonyi state allegedly 

waylaid and killed six locals in Agila, Ado LGA 

of the state in the age long bloody dispute over 

land. 

That was closely followed in February by 

the invasion of Lumbur council ward of Ukum 

LGA by armed herdsmen who sacked the the 

entire area though unconfirmed report 

indicated that six persons were killed in that 

incident. 

Similarly, in early March, Waya community, 

Jato Aka in Kwande LGA also came under 

heavy attack by French speaking armed 

herdsmen, according to accounts of survivors, 

nine lives were lost in the incident, while 

hundreds of houses were also razed by the 

invaders. 

Mbanyiar community was also not spared, 

this time the armed herders took their 

malignity to another level by chasing away 

the inhabitants of the community and raping 

the wife and two in-laws of the community’s 

paramount ruler. 

Agatu also had its fair share of the conflicts 

in March when five persons were found 

beheaded in a raging Aila and Egba 

communal dispute over the ownership of a fish 

pond in the community. 

The ugly incident was followed by the 

invasion of Chongu, Tse Ayer and Tyohembe, 

three communities in Guma LGA by armed 

herdsmen which claimed the lives of about 10 

mourners. 

Div-Nzaav community, Turan Kwande LGA 

also came under attack by suspected armed 

herders who abducted a nursing mother and 

her baby after gunning down one and injuring 

scores. Early April the lifeless body of a young 

man was found in Tyo Mu a community in the 

outskirts of Makurdi town where the indigenes/ 

settlers dispute has raged unending. 

Mba-akencha, Mbaapen Taraku in Gwer 

LGA also boiled in April over ownership of 

land and disagreements between sister 

communities which left three dead and several 

property razed. 

Shortly after, Ologba community in Agatu 

was again visited by armed herders who 

waylaid and slaughtered two young men on 

motorbike. While another was equally killed 

in Tse Igba Mbabai Guma LGA by same 

herdsmen. 

The attacks moved to Mbawa and Tse Idye 

communities also in Guma LGA where Titus 

Nyita and Tsukwa Amine were gunned down, 

scores injured while husbands watched armed 

herders rape their wives. 

Two persons were also reportedly killed 

while scores sustained injuries and many 

displaced in a bizarre communal conflict 

between two sister communities of Mbaivur 

and Mbasombo in Ayati Ikpayongo, Gwer 

Local Government Area, LGA. 

The month of May has so far recorded a 

number of herders attacks also. Three persons 

were killed in the clash between neighbouring 

Odejo and Ikobi communities in Agatu and 

Apa Local Government Areas, LGAs. 

An octogenarian, Elder Atser Anbya was 

killed and his wife left to battle for her life 

when Div-Nzaav, Turan, Kwande LGA were 

attacked by the marauders who also besieged 

Ologba-Gishu community, near Oweto in 

Agatu LGA and Tse Tarkende, Mbadwem in 

Guma LGA. 

Why things cannot continue the way they are 

with our youths — Armstrong 

•Says COVID-19 is a blessing in disguise 

Armstrong Akintunde is a budding 

politician, an entrepreneur and real 

estate developer. He is currently the 

Executive Director, Special Projects, Suru 

Group Limited. He also doubles as the 

Managing Director and Chief Executive 

Officer of Aerofield Homes Limited. In this 

interview, he spoke on the ravaging COVID- 

19 epidemic and the roles he believes the youth 

should play to bring the society back to 

normalcy. Excerpts: 

By Henry Ojelu 

From your assessment, would you say there 

has been any improvement in the battle 

against COVID-19 in Nigeria? 

Definitely yes. The battle against Coronavirus 

is being fought from all fronts and thank God, 

the people are getting more informed and 

knowing more and more about the disease. 

The government, starting from the Federal 

Government to State and Local Government 

has collectively risen to the occasion. What I 

can only observe is that equipment for testing 

people to ascertain their status are still short in 

supply which makes it a little difficult to know 

the actual number of people that have 

contracted the virus. I want to believe that 

there are many carriers of the virus out there 

who are not aware they are harbouring it. 

In the same vein too, there are some people 

who are still ignorant of the disease and believe 

it is just another way of ripping the government 

off. This will pose a lot of challenges to the 

government, the health workers, the 

community and the nation as a whole because 

people are skeptical about submitting 

themselves for test for fear of being stigmatised. 

But, in all, I can still say we are not doing badly 

especially in Ogun State with its proximity to 

Lagos State which is one of the epicenters of 

the outbreak. 

As a young vibrant and budding 

democrat, what roles do you see the 

youths playing in combating the 

outbreak of the pandemic COVID-19? 

First of all, let me say that we are all in a very 

critical phase of life in the global sense of it. 

This is a disease that cuts across all races, 

cultures, ages, religions, class, gender just 

mention it. We are all exposed to a pandemic 

that had, since its outbreak, defied any known 

solution. But be that as it may, God created 

man and gave him the power to control his 

environment. That to me shows that as a 

people, we can collectively fight against any 

enemy seen or unseen if we are all sincere and 

resolve to achieve our collective goals. 

When you say the roles youths should be 

playing in combating Coronavirus, I was 

tempted to ask myself; “What has the 

government been doing to empower the 

youth?” That is the salient question. It might 

sound a bit radical but that is the reality. You 

see, as it has been said repeatedly in many 

fora, this pandemic has exposed our ineptitude 

- our ignorance, greed, unpreparedness, lack 

of any meaningful ideology, large scale 

corruption, insincerity and I can go on and on. 

Yes, the youths should rise up and do something 

to save the community, the nation and the world 

at large but at what expense? 

To me this COVID-19 episode is a blessing in 

disguise. It has taught us a bitter lesson. It will 

open our eyes to quite a lot of things and would 

make us stand and demand our fundamental 

rights. It will awaken and re-awaken the sense 

of responsibility in every sector of our daily 

and national life and make us prepare better 

for any future occurrence. Right now, the youth 

being the engine room of a 

nation’s development should 

be at the forefront of the 

advocacy of enlightening 

and educating the people. 

They should channel their 

time, energy and initiatives 

towards getting the best out 

of this predicament and 

contribute their quota in the 

fight against the dreaded 

disease. But this also comes 

at a price; the youth should 

be empowered in every 

sense so that they 

have that sense of 

responsibility and 

belonging within 

the society. 

As an indigene 

of Ogun state, 

how would you 

have assess the 

response of 

Governor Dapo 

A b i o d u n 

especially in 

terms of 

•Akintunde 

In the same vein five persons were reportedly 

killed in three separate attacks on Imande 

village, Saghev-Ukusu and Gbaange-Tongov 

communities of Gwer West LGA and Yelwata 

community in Guma LGA which also left scores 

injured. 

The killing spree by armed herdsmen in 

Benue continued few days ago when two 

persons including a woman were killed in a 

bloody attack on Agasha community in Guma 

LGA, and another two at Tomatar Iwendyer in 

Logo LGA on same day. 

The recent crisis that led to the burning down 

of several houses in Mbagwaza and Tsambe 

communities in Ushongo and Vandeikya 

LGAs respectively and displacement of 

thousands of persons is also yet to die down. 

There is no gainsaying that the crisis in the 

state among others were a bit of a mix grill of 

herders and communal crisis, howbeit 

majority of Benue stakeholders and indeed the 

state government have become so incensed by 

the frequency, level of killings and destruction 

of property in the state. 

Speaking on the development, Coordinator 

of the Benue Diaspora Renaissance Initiative, 

BDRI, Mr. Josiah Tor who fought back tears as 

he spoke said “it is disheartening that all the 

gains this government has recorded in its 

forthright stance against the killings of our 

people and sacking of our communities by 

armed herders are being undermined by some 

myopic few who are instigating crisis amongst 

our own people. 

“I am pained because I am privy to the kind 

of persecution Governor Samuel Ortom went 

through battling the herdsmen crisis even to 

the point of endangering his life for our people. 

So is this the best way to pay him back by 

fighting amongst ourselves over farmland?. 

“Sometimes I think there could be a fifth 

columnist behind the entire crisis. They could 

be out to disunite us and create an opening for 

those out to takeover Benue land to do so with 

ease. It’s a puzzle I’m also looking at,” he 

added. 

Governor Ortom on his part acknowledged 

that the state was going through very difficult 

times. “It is a trying time for the entire people 

of Benue state. 

“We are faced with the challenge of intercommunal 

clashes all over the place because 

the rainy season is gradually setting in and 

preparation for the farming season has started, 

so it’s quite disheartening. 

“And then, the external aggression coming 

from the armed herdsmen has not stopped. 

They have adopted guerrilla warfare tactics. 

They come without cattle, kill, burn down 

houses and withdraw. After that they move to 

the next village to do the same thing.” 

The Governor who observed that the crisis 

had become a source of pain and shame to all 

discerning minds in the state recently ordered 

the suspension of the District Head of Shough, 

Chief Peter Kyugun, his counterpart from 

Mbasombo, Chief Angegh Kuhe, all of Gwer 

LGA and the Kindred Head of Utange in 

Ushongo LGA, Chief Dominic Iorver, from 

office and directed a probe of their level of 

involvements in the crisis in their domain, 

warning that he would not hesitate to wield 

the big stick in order to restore sanity in the 

entire state. 

alleviating the challenges faced by the people 

during this lockdown period? 

We are in an abnormal period where things 

were not going as they ought to. Everybody 

and every facet of life are affected by the 

pandemic and government as an institution is 

hard hit and governance itself is not spared. 

The irony of the whole scenario is that the 

bulk of the fallout is on the masses. Right 

now, it is as if all aspects of governance 

are at standstill. Everything has been 

stalemated and all focus has been shifted 

on combating the virus and making the 

people safe. The Ogun State Government 

is trying its best in setting up isolation 

centres and getting on top of the situation 

by mobilising medical personnel and also 

engaging the security agencies to enforce 

laws guiding the spread of the disease. I 

also give kudos to them for alleviating 

the challenges in the provision of 

palliatives and other essentials. Again, 

credit must be given to the sensitisation 

activities of the government in the media 

and other information dissemination 

channels. We must not also forget the 

prompt action taken on fumigating 

public places all over the State which 

has greatly put the spread of the 

disease at bay. 

One thing we must also commend 

Governor Dapo Abiodun for is the 

relaxation of the lockdown to ease 

the effect on the masses. Although 

this comes with the risk of possible 

exposure of the people the more to 

the disease but since the government 

cannot afford to lock down an 

economy which is being sustained by 

small scale businesses, it is only wise 

that he gave the order and provided 

windows when people can briefly go 

out and take care of their needs before 

returning to their various bases.

8—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2020 

When she didn’t come 

back from school 

•A special report on Leah Sharibu’s 17th birthday 

Sourced by Sam Eyoboka 

ON February 19, 2018, Leah 

Sharibu did not return from 

school. 

815 days later, she is turning 17 years 

old in captivity for refusing to renounce 

her Christian Faith. The world’s youngest 

prisoner of conscience was abducted by 

Islamist terrorists at age 14 from 

Government Girls Science and Technical 

College, (GGSTC) in Dapchi, Yobe State 

in North East Nigeria. 

During the global COVID-19 pandemic 

shutdown, schools in America have 

transitioned to online classes and all the 

students from my household in 

Washington are back here except one. She 

didn’t return home with her colleagues, 

recalled activist Emmanuel Ogebe. 

Continuing, Ogebe said about five years 

ago, she and 10 Chibok schoolgirls arrived 

in my home to go to high school in 

America. “Salome” was a convert to 

Christianity, risking death for apostasy. 

“Because she didn’t “belong” to their 

clique, Salome ended up making 

American friends and assimilated faster 

while the Chibok girls kept to themselves 

at the school they attended. She was bright 

and a year later, she, one Chibok girl and 

a murdered pastor’s daughter who came 

later from Nigeria were the only three out 

of the 12 girls we had now sponsored who 

passed college admission 

exams. 

“Accordingly in early 

2016, we sent the three high 

achieving students to 

university ahead of 

schedule. Shortly after, in 

May 2016, the Nigerian 

Embassy lured two out of the 

four Chibok girls who had 

been Salome’s classmates 

away from their high school 

and the home of the 

American pastor they lived 

with,” Ogebe continued his 

narration. 

The two other Chibok 

girls who refused 

enticement by the Nigerian 

Embassy, graduated with 

their high school diplomas 

in June 2017 (magna cum 

laude) and proceeded to 

various universities. 

But Salome’s two Chibok 

classmates taken by the 

Nigerian Embassy were 

enrolled in adult education 

classes while one of them converted to 

Islam in Bronx, New York and renamed 

herself “Fati” after millions of dollars 

were blown on them. 

Salome’s classmates now with the 

Nigerian Embassy are still trying to pass 

the GED (high school equivalency exam) 

after dropping in and out of school in the 

last four years. 

“Salome learnt to drive and work to put 

herself through school. Her former 

Chibok classmate refused to work, saying 

why will she when she is on monthly salary 

from Nigeria? The irony is the girls who 

are serially failing for years continue to 

be funded from Nigeria but the first girl 

who completed her degree and is now 

doing her post graduate degree is not 

being supported from Nigeria and has to 

take a loan. Our value system rewards 

failure and punishes success,” Ogebe 

stated. 

“When she heard the embassy’s lies that 

she was my “relative” whom I had brought 

to the US, Salome said, ‘how I wish I 

belonged to a great family like yours!’ 

The two other 

Chibok girls who 

refused enticement 

by the Nigerian 

Embassy, graduated 

with their high 

school diplomas in 

June 2017 (magna 

cum laude) and 

proceeded to 

various universities 

“The greatest irony of this story is that 

not only are we not related, our tribes are 

mortal enemies. Her Fulani tribe are 

herdsmen who have brutally killed 

thousands of my people. In 2018, they 

wiped out an entire family of my relatives 

— a father, mother, four and six year old 

boy and girl. https://youtu.be/ 

5jhumdzaK3c Last year, they abducted 

my relative’s wife for ransom. 

“Yet we lived and ate together in the US. 

Sometimes I would post about the 

atrocities of her Fulani tribesmen and only 

her muted response reminded me that she 

was one. She herself noted how vindictive 

they could be as exemplified by the 

threatening phone call she got for 

becoming an “infidel”. 

“She told me, ‘Uncle, I have achieved so 

much in five years I couldn’t have achieved 

if I was still in Nigeria.’ He has made all 

things beautiful in His time! 

“When I attended Salome’s graduation 

this year, I learnt that her professor gave 

them a statistics assignment. After 

working on it, she wrote back to the 

professor that questions 14-30 were all 

wrong and needed to be corrected. The 

professor confirmed it and apologized to 

the class that questions 14-30 were indeed 

flawed. 

“At her graduation reception, I told how 

when she and the Chibok girls first took 

the university admission exam, she came 

second after one one of them. I told her I 

didn’t believe it because I 

knew she was very smart. 

The next time she took the 

exam she aced it. I asked 

what happened previously 

and she said she didn’t 

want to pass the first 

time,” Ogebe said. 

So why didn’t Salome 

come back home during 

the COVID-19 lockdown 

like others? 

Her American 

boyfriend proposed 

marriage to her. Although 

the wedding ceremony 

was set for later, due to the 

pandemic, it was 

postponed and a court 

wedding was done this 

month instead. She has 

started her new life, new 

family and her new home 

in America. This is a good 

way not to come home. 

“I thank those who in 

one way or another helped 

her get this far. We couldn’t have scripted 

a better ending but the Author of Life did! 

“A key reason I will no longer bring 

victims to the US is the ease with which 

they are corrupted. Evidence uncovered 

in my WSJ defamation lawsuit show that 

some of the Chibok girls were bribed with 

just iPads to betray me,” he stated. 

God, however, blessed Salome beyond 

mere Ipad. The stone the builders rejected 

has indeed become the head cornerstone. 

It’s outcomes like this that make the last 

five hectic years worth all the trouble we 

went through. A wedding was never part 

of my 2020 forecast but it is certainly a 

positive thing in a negative year. 

“It is also a tribute to my dear wife. A 

more gracious, humble, gentle, kind, 

godly, loving and altogether lovely soul I 

haven’t seen. In 20 years, her home has 

birthed 20 souls. Only two from her womb 

and only one an in law. 

“Everyone else was not her duty or 

obligation. Yet she obliged. Like Ruth she 

made my people her people, my country’s 

problems her problem and my God her 

•Leah 

Sharibu 

God. We call her blessed this Mother’s Day 

week. 

“God blessed us with a miracle 

scholarship for my own son’s university. 

We didn’t have millions of dollars to bribe 

our way into prestigious schools as the rich 

and famous do here. 

Here’s what we did. We took poor 

students from dire, desperate and deadly 

situations in Africa and put them in great 

schools in America. “Despite opposition 

and sabotage, we put them in colleges 

where we had to pay higher fees than usual 

because they were international students. 

We made all those sacrifices of hosting, 

funding, mentoring etc when it was never 

part of our job description or our wedding 

vows or life goal. 

“It was God we “bribed.” He who gives 

to the poor, lends to the Lord. Our 

investment in others’ lives for God paid 

off and God came through for our son. 

“My champion, companion, co-victim 

and compadre in the process for the girls 

and for my son never anticipated 20 years 

ago that she would go through all these, 

these past five years - taking care and 

responsibility for other people’s children 

not at your convenience but at your 

inconvenience. Unappreciated. Despised. 

“She turned our home into a success 

incubator not just for our kids but others 

of God’s children. Their graduations are 

the glory manifestations of these past 

years of laboring and mothering in love. 

The three girls who we sent to college in 

January 2016, three years later, have 

earned bachelors degrees and one an 

associate degree,” Ogebe surmarised. 

Important lessons for Nigeria 

1.Developing human capital is not just 

about money but mentoring. The 

schoolgirls with Nigeria’s wealth were 

outperformed and outclassed by the girls 

without wealth but with loving support 

2.In five years, from the Chibok girls and 

other victims we produced - two high 

school diplomas, one Bachelor of Science, 

one Bachelor of Arts, two associate 

degrees in science plus a Masters in 

science (in view). In that period, Boko 

Haram produced from the Chibok girls 

and others in captivity at least six known 

babies including those of Amina Ali and 

Maryam Ali (escaped and freed Chibok 

girls) 

3.While Salome was free to choose her 

faith, education and her life partner, Boko 

Haram has forced religion, noneducation 

and marriage on Leah, Alice 

Ngaddah, Grace Taku and others. 

4.The exploitation of almajiri children 

for underage voting and their recent 

repatriation and dumping like garbage by 

northern political elite is a travesty, an 

atrocity and condemnable. It is tragic that 

the vision and investment of ex-president 

Goodluck Jonathan of millions for their 

education and upliftment have been 

frittered away. 

5.We cannot build a nation when chronic 

failures are rewarded and super achievers 

are punished as in the case of the first victim 

of terror among the girls who graduated and 

is now doing her masters on loans while 

underachievers are on full scholarship. 

6.The above illustrates how vision and 

education are a value adding proposition 

and our rulers need to do far more to 

cultivate Nigeria’s untapped human 

resource. 

7.In conclusion, it is fascinating that 

today Leah Sharibu’s birthday (May 14) 

is also the date when Zee Umar’s Father 

was killed and she herself injured by Boko 

Haram. Terror can be turned to triumph. 

It is time for the Nigerian government to 

bring back Leah Sharibu, Alice Ngaddah, 

Grace Taku, Lilian Daniel Gyang and the 

Chibok girls abducted for years now.


Fears of Boko 

Haram attacks, 

spread in 

COVID-19 cases 

soar in South 

… As army of unemployed youths 

move down south 

•Security agencies fail to implement 

Buhari’s ban on non essential inter stat 

ate 

travels 

• Day Senate raised alarm over breaches 

Disappointment and anger 

were palpable in the Senate 

on Tuesday when the upper 

legislative chamber debated 

the motion on “The Need to 

Enforce Presidential Order Banning 

Interstate Travels”. 

Mover of the motion, former Deputy 

President of the Senate, Senator Ike 

Ekweremadu, said, the Senate was: 

“Alarmed at the spike in the number of 

COVID-19 cases in the country, which 

currently stands at 4,641 cases and 150 

deaths. 

”Also alarmed that confirmed daily 

cases of COVID-19 by the Nigeria Centre 

for Disease Control, NCDC is now in 

hundreds. 

” Aware that the President, in his 

wisdom and relying on advisories by 

relevant authorities and powers conferred 

on him by Section 3 of the Quarantine Act, 

CAP Q2 Laws of the Federation 2004 

issued the Proclamation Order on the 

General Management of COVID- 

19 banning non-essential inter-state 

passenger travels until further notice in 

order to contain the deadly novel 

Coronavirus. 

”Also aware of the presidential order 

declaring dusk to dawn curfew all over 

the country. 

”Seriously worried by the numerous 

reports and trending videos on the flagrant 

breach of the curfew and interstate travel. 

“Aware that the Presidential Task Force 

on COVID-19 has raised alarm over what 

it described as ‘Increased level of interstate 

movement, worsened by the dubious 

concealment of people in food-carrying 

vehicles’. 

”Further aware that the Nigeria 

Governors’ Forum has equally raised 

serious concerns over the way Nigerians 

crisscross the country in their numbers 

despite the subsisting order to the contrary. 

”Conscious of the very grave 

implications of the brazen breach of the 

presidential order restricting interstate 

movements. 

”Equally conscious of the fact that the 

nation’s security agencies, particularly the 

police, have the responsibility to enforce 

law and order, including the presidential 

ban on interstate movement. 

”And very worried about reports of 

alleged complicity in the said 

breaches by those who are 

supposed to enforce 

compliance with the 

directives of the President and 

Commander-in-Chief of the 

Armed Forces”. 

Consequent upon this, the 

Senate unanimously 

condemned “in strongest 

terms the barefaced breach 

of the presidential order on 

interstate movements” and 

enjoined Nigerians to 

“strictly comply with these 

orders for their own safety 

and to quicken the nation’s 

victory over the COVID-19 

pandemic” 

The upper legislative 

chamber further resolved to: 

“Direct the Inspector- 

General of Police, 

Commandant-General of the 

Nigeria Security and Civil 

Defence Corps (NSCDC) and 

heads of all security agencies 

charged with enforcing the 

ban on interstate travel to 

investigate the alleged 

complicity of their officers in 

the breach of the curfew and ban nonessential 

interstate travels and bring to 

book anyone found wanting; and 

“Direct the Inspector-General of Police 

and the Commandant-General of the 

Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps 

to fully enforce presidential orders on 

curfew and ban on non-essential interstate 

travel as well as ensure that their various 

commands cooperate with respective 

State authorities in enforcing the 

presidential orders and other protocols 

aimed at rolling back the COVID-19 

pandemic”. 

Indeed, when President Muhammadu 

Buhari decided to relax the total lockdown 

in parts of the country, namely Abuja the 

Federal Capital Territory, Lagos State, 

and Ogun State, during his last national 

broadcast on the 

COVID-19 pandemic, he 

was not under any 

illusion that all was well 

with the country. Not 

when the cases of COVID- 

19 were on the upward 

trajectory. He only bowed 

to economic realities and 

the growing restiveness 

among the ordinary 

Further aware that 

the Nigeria 

Governors’ Forum 

has equally raised 

serious concerns 

over the way 

Nigerians crisscross 

the country in their 

numbers despite the 

subsisting order to 

the contrary 

Nigerians, who depend 

on daily income for 

survival in the absence of 

a meaning social welfare 

or palliatives to keep 

them indoors. He 

confessed that the over 

one month lockdown 

had come at a “very 

heavy economic cost”. 

Fully aware that the 

worst was yet to come, 

President Buhari applied 

caution by ordering 

nationwide dusk-todawn 

curfew and ban on 

non-essential passenger 

travels on the premise 

that cessation of 

movement, physical 

distancing measures as well as prohibition 

of mass gatherings remained the most 

efficient and effective way of reducing the 

transmission of the virus. In so doing, he 

must have trusted that the retinue of 

security men on the Joint Security Services 

would help to religiously enforce his 

orders. 

Unfortunately, as news reports and 

trending videos show, the security 

agencies, the security agents are clearly 

the nation’s weakest links in the war 

against COVID-19 as the presidential 

orders are enforced in breach, reducing 

the security posts to super markets and 

the interstate boundaries a porous payas-you 

go centres. 

On Wednesday, the Oyo State 

Commissioner for Information, Culture 

and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatunbosun, 

announced the interception of 70 

travellers from different parts of the North 

towards the Takie area of Ogbomosho. 

”Among them are Northerners from 

Katsina State. Others are from Kano, 

Kaduna and Zamfara states. About 50 of 

them said they were heading to Ibadan 

while the other 20 persons said they were 

heading to Lagos State”, Olutunbosun 

said. 

On the same day, Vehicle Inspection 

Officers (VIO) at Igbara Oke, 

headquarters of Ifedore LGA of Ondo 

State, intercepted 23 youths from the 

North. On interrogation, the youths, who 

said they were heading to Akure, however 

said they had no particular destination in 

the Ondo State capital. The Special 

Adviser to Governor Akeredolu on 

Transport, Tobi Ogunleye, ordered them 

back to where they were coming from. 

In one of such many instances as it 

affects Lagos State, a truckload of people 

from Zamfara and Kano State, the 

epicenter of Coronavirus in the north, was 

intercepted at Ojodu-Berger. 

Only last Saturday, the police in Kwara 

State said they intercepted of a 

“consignment” of 200 

purported Almajiri children about to be 

off-loaded in the State. Kwara Police 

spokesman, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, said the 

driver claimed that “they were coming 

from Funtua in Katsina State, despite the 

inter-state travel ban”. 

The story is the same from the South 

East to the South South, where there are 

scary influxes of people in truckloads. This 

is so worrisome that some of the governors 

are joining in the enforcement of interstate 

boundary lockdown. A whooping 150 

Continues on page 10


Admission of 

Yoruba nation into 

UNPO can lead to 

self-governance 

— Prof. Banji Akintoye 

•Says failure of Northern leadership 

responsible for influx of Almajiri 

By Dapo Akinrefon 

PROFESSOR 

Banji 

Akintoye, academic, historian, writer 

and Second Republic Senator, is the 

leader of the Yoruba World 

Congress, YWC. 

In this interview, he 

expressed worry over the 

influx of northern youths 

into the south, saying it is 

a failure of the northern 

leadership. Excerpts: 

With the outbreak of the 

coronavirus, how do you 

see the influx of Almajiri 

into Southern Nigeria? 

The northern governors 

seem to have woken up 

from the Almajiri problem 

created by the northern 

culture. 

Now, they are forcing the 

Almajiri to go back to their 

places of origin but many 

of them don’t want to be 

taken back. So, many are 

finding their way 

southwards. 

It is a very terrible 

situation because these are 

not just ordinary times. 

Coronavirus is out there 

and in the north is massive, so most of 

those who are fleeing do not want to be 

taken back to their places of origin, they 

choose to roam wherever they want and 

most of those coming southwards are 

infected with the coronavirus. We do not 

know how many of them are infected with 

coronavirus but we know that some of 

them are. 

So, they are bringing for us in the south 

a very complex problem because already, 

we, the southwest, are the gateway to 

Now, they are 

forcing the Almajiri to 

go back to their 

places of origin but 

many of them don’t 

want to be taken 

back. So, many are 

finding their way 

southwards 

Nigeria. Almost all of the contacts with 

the outside world come through Lagos. We 

are only lucky that we have governors, 

who are rising up to the task of tackling 

the coronavirus especially the governor 

of Lagos State. 

So now, to bring the infection 

from the north to the southwest, 

is to rate a totally unacceptable 

situation. We, Yoruba, cannot 

accept those people. In addition 

to what we already have; they 

cannot bring their own 

coronavirus to the south. We 

cannot accept that. This is not 

politics, this is a matter of life 

and death and the northerners 

should begin to recognize that 

and tell their people not to flee 

to south-west because we will 

not accept them in the 

southwest. There’s a ban on 

interstate travels that must be 

respected. 

I want to congratulate our 

governors for turning them 

back. All I will ask them to do 

is to strengthen the border 

patrol and send every one of 

them back to where they are 

coming from. 

What do you think is 

responsible for this? 

The plot to take over the south has been 

in existence since 2014 and it has sought 

assistance from the northern officials in 

the Nigerian federal government. 

You will see it in what they call the 

herdsmen. The herdsmen are not looking 

for lands for planting and grazing land. 

They are people who have been 

indoctrinated to go to the Middle Belt and 

the south to take territory for Fulani and 

they don’t hide it. 

We know that all these things are been 

said and the cattle rearers are not coming 

•Akintoye 

alone, they are accompanied by well 

trained military personnel, armed with 

sophisticated weapons. 

That agenda is there and it is continuing, 

it is part of the coronavirus. They are still 

coming to kill farmers, rape women and 

destroy farms; that is why we, in the 

southwest, put together the idea of 

Amotekun but it is quite difficult for the 

operation to take off. Although some 

governors are ready, they are now 

beginning to look for ways to commence 

the operation despite the coronavirus. 

The United Nations recently adopted 

the Yoruba nation into 

the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples 

Organization, UNPO, what informed 

this? 

The admission into UNPO put in the 

hands of the Yoruba nation is an 

instrument that we can use powerfully to 

mould whatever we want to do, we can 

use it to establish ourselves under reliance 

of self-governance in Nigeria, our 

independence and autonomy sovereign 

country 

It depends on us what we want to use it 

for and the Yoruba people are taking a 

serious look at that now. 

A large majority of Yoruba will rather 

now have a separate independent 

sovereign country and it is going to be 

done in a way to show that the Yoruba are 

civilized people and not just 

troublemakers and create a situation in 

which people will be killed and so on forth. 

We don’t want to do that, we want to leave 

hostility behind, we want to leave friendly 

neighbours behind, how to achieve that is 

now the work of statesmanship. 

Do you think all Yoruba are on the 

same boat with you on this? 

That is not possible; there is no nation 

in the world that its people will be on the 

same page on a particular issue. There 

are always individuals with a difference 

in their understanding. Some would want 

to use that opportunity to make money. 

But I believe that majority of the Yoruba 

do want it. 

Fears of Boko Haram attacks, spread in COVID-19 cases soar in South 

Continues from page 9 

passengers were intercepted on a single 

day on the Enugu-Benue and Enugu-Kogi 

borders on one of such drives during the 

monitoring and enforcement drive by 

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. 

In a state broadcast on Wednesday, a 

palpably angry Ugwuanyi lamented that 

all the 11 COIVD-19 cases recorded by 

Enugu were persons, who entered the state 

illegally from other parts of the country, 

despite the state’s shutdown of its 

boundaries since March. The first two, 

who have been treated and discharged, 

travelled from the United Kingdom and 

Dubai. The rest cases were from Kano, 

Plateau, and Bauchi. The last case from 

Kano returned to her Enugu residence on 

4 th May. Put another way, Enugu would 

still have been COVID-19 free if the 

federal and state’s directives on border 

shutdown were enforced. 

Men of the Traffic and Indiscipline 

Management Agency of Abia State 

(TIMAAS) have equally announced the 

apprehension of 40 youths from the North 

at the Umudike Junction of Aba Road, 

Umuahia concealed in a Dangote truck. 

The question on the lips of many then is: 

is it for truckloads of young, unemployed 

and possibly unemployable army of youth 

to travel from one far end of the country 

to another without detection despite the 

presence of all manner of checkpoints on 

our highways, ranging from Police to 

Army, Air Force, NSCDC, Customs, 

National Law Drug Law Enforcement 

Agency (NDLEA), Federal Road Safety 

Commission (FRSC), etc.? This is why all 

fingers point in the direction of the security 

agencies. 

Besides redistributing the virus and 

making it almost impossible for the 

nation to win the war against the 

pandemic, there are also fears that Boko 

Haram terrorists, bandits, and might be 

exploiting this laxity and perceived 

corruption to establish deadly cells in the 

southern parts of the country. 

Already, conspiracy theories are flying 

around on these influxes, thus bringing to 

the fore, once more, the flaws in 

concentrating the headship of virtually all 

security and paramilitary agencies in the 

hands of one region in a multiethnic and 

multi-religious society. 

In the face of the breaches, Nigerians 

agree with the Senate, Senator Ahmed 

Lawan, who concluded the Senate debate 

stressing: ”There is need for proper 

enforcement of the restrictions on 

interstate travels. Apparently, there is so 

much breach and interference. We need 

to seat up because this is a very serious 

challenge to our country. it is very 

important we do this because this is for 

ourselves and for our family members”. 

But will the falcon hear the falconer? 

Will the security agencies turn a new leaf 

and also bring to book their erring officers 

as directed by the Senate? Will the citizens 

ever see the need to obey the presidential 

orders on COVID-19? Whereas only time 

would tell, one thing is certain: given the 

devastation visited on nations with advanced 

economy and healthcare system like Germany, 

USA, Italy, UK, etc., COVID-19 is one pandemic 

Nigeria with a comatose economy and a 

broken health system can only toy with at its 

collective peril.

NORTHERNERS, FOREIGNERS’ INCURSION INTO S’SOUTH: 

Leaders, 

stakeholders 

ask S’South 

govs to stop 

invasion 

•Our govs must act quickly –Kokori, Archbishop Adeleye, Wills, Morris, Eyengho, 

•They’re Boko Haram in disguise, not Almajiri – Agitators, activists 

•No evidence they’re terr 

erroris 

orists, they deserve fair treatment - Ambakederimo, Ariyo, Ikimi, Ibor 

By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, 

South-South, Sam Oyadongha, Jimitota 

Onoyume, Festus Ahon, Gabriel 

Enogholase,Ike Uchechukwu, Chioma 

Onuegbu, Emem Idio, Chancel Sunday and 

Francis Efe 

THERE is red alert in the six states of 

the South-South over the day-to-day 

incursion in the past few weeks, 

especially under the cover of the night, by 

thousands of northern youth and foreigners, 

with the leaders, stakeholders, agitators and 

human rights activists, who expressed worry, 

weekend, calling on Governors of the oil 

and gas-rich region to rise up to the occasion 

by halting the intrusion and fast-tracking 

formation of security outfits in all the states 

to help prevent crime. 

However, some citizens think the influx is 

mere movement of almajiris from the north, 

probably seeking better fortune in the area, 

saying there was no cause for alarm. 

Others countered, arguing that with the 

recent threat of Boko Haram to overrun the 

South-South and South East regions, the 

coordinated movement was a 

choreographed agenda to catch the people 

off guard. 

Kokori blast govs 

Elder statesman and former Secretary- 

General of NUPENG, Chief Frank Kokori, 

who spoke to Saturday Vanguard, among 

others, on the recent development, 

smoldered, as he blamed the governors of 

the South-South for not doing enough to 

secure their territories. 

He hollered: “Nigeria is a federation and 

the South -South governors are not doing 

what they are supposed to do. They boasted 

that they are going to organize themselves 

just like the South West and come up with 

their own security apparatus like Amotekun. 

But up till this moment, they have done 

nothing. They should be ashamed of 

themselves.” 

“We have to hold the government 

responsible for their actions. I am not happy 

that the Fulani herdsmen are driving our 

people out of their homes and killing and 

kidnapping them and the government is just 

sitting down looking at them and doing 

nothing. The whole South-South states, 

especially the Delta State Government, 

should be chagrined. 

”The coming of Almajiris is now a new 

development. They are beggars and this is 

why people are criticizing their leaders in 

the North. If you give birth to a child, it is 

expected that you take care of the child. But 

the Almajiris case is not like that,” Kokori 

said. 

Another fear is that many of the people 

invading these areas are not Almajiris. They 

are able bodied men, beating the ban on 

interstate travel, moving down south. There 

are security implications. 

Archbishop Adeleye spits fire 

Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province 

of Niger Delta of the Anglican Communion, 

Calabar, Most Reverend Tunde Adeleye, told 

Saturday Vanguard: “The story of Nigeria 

is becoming extremely sad and unfortunate. 

It is a tragedy and it is most unfortunate 

that these people can even move in their 

numbers like this, especially during 

this lock-down.” 

“A few years ago, this was how they were 

bringing in guns, later on, it turned to 

kidnapping, abductions and killings. Some 

are said to be from Niger and so on, no one 

is saying what they are looking for, but as 

for me, they have a plan, because they cannot 

be moving about without a plan. 

“And a lot of questions come to mind; is it 

the accomplishment of Islamization 

agenda, is it meant to completely take over 

the economy of the people and diffuse the 

peace and tranquility that is so much in the 

South-East and South -South and many of 

these people are religious bigots, who we 

know their intentions could be religious, 

political and even more, including causing 

social tension and pressure so a lot of things 

come to mind. 

”Like I said before, it was guns, later it 

metamorphosed into 

killings, maiming, 

kidnapping and 

herdsmen attack on 

villages and community, 

now they are coming in 

droves, but it is obvious 

that there is a plan and 

there is an intention. I do 

not know who to blame, 

but some of them have 

been turned back and it 

shows that government is 

not serious. 

“South -South governors 

must come together to 

create a security 

apparatus to combat 

these attackers not when 

it is has become too 

difficult to control or 

organize,” Adeleye said. 

A l m a j i r i s ‘ r e 

smokescreen to distract 

N’Delta - 21 st Century 

Youth 

A Niger-Delta group, 21st 

Century Youths of Niger 

Delta and Agitators with 

Conscience, which 

distanced itself from 

those describing the 

incursion as mere repositioning 

by 

mendicants, stated: “We 

are aware of coordinated plans by terrorist 

organizations to flood the Niger Delta and 

the southern part of the country with trained 

terrorists using the almajiris as a decoy to 

hoodwink our people.” 

Leader of the group, self-styled “General” 

Izon Ibe, in an electronic response to 

Saturday Vanguard inquiry, said: “We call 

Southern, Niger Delta governors and 

leaders to live up to their oaths of office to 

protect their people and territory from this 

pestilence that is walking by daylight. 

No solution in Abuja 

Others countered, 

arguing that with the 

recent threat of Boko 

Haram to overrun the 

South-South and 

South East regions, 

the coordinated 

movement was a 

choreographed 

agenda to catch the 

people off guard 

“We urge all governors of the Niger Delta 

and Southern Nigeria to rise up and lead, 

this is no time for political correctness by 

our leaders and not saying the truth in the 

face of threatening and imminent danger. 

Going to Abuja to look for solution to this 

danger will be of no effect taking into 

cognizance the sustained and coordinated 

murder of the people of southern Kaduna 

and the Middle Belt for years by this same 

terrorists without any check by the 

government. 

“We also use this medium to sound a warning 

to ethnic chauvinists that the Niger Delta 

and it’s people have been magnanimous 

enough in sharing its wealth with the 

nation, which the leaders steal instead of 

using it to better their people, we, the Niger 

Delta people would not bear the brunt of the 

thievery, wantonness and perfidy. 

Boko Haram, killer-herdsmen, not 

almajiris penetrating S’South- IPDI 

An Ijaw activist group, Ijaw 

Peoples Development 

Initiative, IPDI, responding 

to the supposed incursion, 

asserted: “The movement of 

terrorists, herders and 

alleged almajiris to the 

South-South, South-East 

and other southern states 

has security implications. 

Nothing will be wrong if 

these people were traders or 

business people. The youths 

moving to the South are 

Boko Harams, Covid-19- 

infected youths and killerherders 

imported to 

commence attack and infect 

South-South and other 

southern states and not 

almajiris.” 

National president of the 

group, Austin Ozobo, in a 

statement, said: “It is sad 

that some conspiracy is 

helping Boko Haram to find 

their ways to South- South 

states despite lock-down of 

boundaries. The police in the 

various routes from the 

north to the south should be 

investigated, those found 

culpable arrested and 

prosecuted for violation of 

the presidential lock-down 

order.” 

What S-South govs should know 

“It is my advice to South-South governors 

and leaders to come up with a strong 

regional security network that will displace 

killer herders and the current Boko Haram 

threats with immediate effect. 

“His Excellency, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, 

who is the Chairman of South- South 

Governors Forum should stop playing 

politics with the lives of the people of the 

South- South states. 

“We do not know what he is waiting to 

constitute the South-South security network. 

There is no time to waste, more people will 


be killed and communities will be invaded 

if the needful is not done. 

“He should understand the implication of 

his attitude towards security issues in the 

region. He has disappointed the people with 

the long delay in takeoff since the last time 

the issues of security for the region was 

discussed. 

Let’s not thrust incorrect indicators- 

Ambakederimo, Ariyo, Ikimi, Ibor 

Nevertheless, Convener, South- South 

Reawakening Group, SSRG, Joe 

Ambakederimo, differed, saying: “I do not 

think the movement of northern youth down 

south is deliberate or it is specifically 

designed by any one person or group. We 

have seen this pattern of movement down 

south and back up north during 

the planting and harvesting season, 

including festive periods as well.” 

“Because people hide in trucks conveying 

food items should not be enough for us to 

raise unnecessary alarm. If it is not for the 

Covid-19 pandemic, would these youths be 

conveyed in this manner, they hide 

because they know they will be arrested 

when caught, so to evade the arrest, they 

need to hide in trucks. 

“When they came down south before Covid- 

19, do they hide? The answer is no. What the 

governors should do is to send them back 

for now pending the total closure of the 

pandemic. There should be no sentiment 

and there should be strict adherence to the 

guidelines as put out by NCDC,” he stated. 

Lawyer and human rights activist, Chief 

Robinson Ariyo, who agreed with him, said: 

“These people are migrating to the south 

from the north because they are trying to 

explore where they can get better economic 

conditions.” 

“Nigeria is a country and by the provision 

of the Constitution you have every right to 

live wherever you like and to own property 

in any place in Nigeria. And nobody can 

compulsorily acquire your property except 

in accordance with the provision of the law,” 

Ariyo said. 

In seeking solution to the migration 

problem, Ariyo appealed for caution so that 

the wrong signal is not sent, adding that 

“state governments must come together, 

work with the Federal Government to ensure 

that problems from one state do not transfer 

to another state.” 

No substance in guerilla claim 

Executive Director, Centre for the Vulnerable 

and Underprivileged, CENTREP, 

Oghenejabor Ikimi, also thinks some 

persons were over-dramatizing the affair. 

“My reaction to the allegation of movement 

of suspected terrorists from the north to the 

south-south and other southern states under 

the guise of almajiris, while Covid-19 lockdown 

is on to my mind is a mere allegation. 

The mere fact that these persons are 

tagged suspected terrorists imply that 

there is no concrete proof whatsoever that 

they are indeed terrorists in the first place.” 

“However, whether or not there is truth in 

the above theory, I wish to recommend that 

the task of policing our various communities 

in the South-South or other geo political 

regions in Nigeria should not be entirely 

left with the Nigerian Police, as they have 

failed woefully. To my mind every Nigerian 

should police the community where he or 

she is resident. A community could be a 

street, road, crescent, close or quarter an 

individual is resident. 

“A regional outfit like Amotekun in the 

South West is good, but in the South –South, 

I recommend neighborhood watch. We, in 

the South South region, do not have the 

same language, history and ancestry like 

what obtains in the South West region, hence 

my above recommendation. 

“In a well-organized neighborhood watch 

outfit, everybody resident in a given 

community is a policeman/woman as the 

case maybe. In other words the duty of 

policing a given community is that of all 

residents. Any new face in a given 

community is easily identified or spotted, 

and any individual or group of person 

perambulating in such a community are 

easily identified and reported to relevant 

authorities. Suspicious objects or bags 

abandoned within a given community are 

easily nipped and same reported to the 

authorities. 

“Having said that, technologies such as 

drones, CCtv cameras can be acquired by 

private individuals, communities, 

companies and state governments to 

complement the efforts of neighborhood 

watch outfits in every community. I rest my 

case,” asserted. 

Almajiris‘re human beings, deserve fair 

treatment 

Chairperson, Child Protection Network, 

Cross River, James Ibor Esq., said: “They 

are just children and nobody has cared to 

know the people behind this evil act of 

bringing them down to the south or moving 

them in droves from state to states. NAPTIP 

and Police are supposed to investigate this, 

they are supposed to be involved and get to 

the root of this ugly development. 

“These kids are mostly underage and the 

way they are being transported is very 

dehumanizing ,we need to start hearing 

about arrests and violation of their rights 

instead of that , what we hear about is their 

Continues on page 12


Leaders, stakeholders ask 

S’South govs to stop invasion 

Continues from page 11 

interception, nobody has been arrested for 

the movement of these children, they need 

protection. 

“It is sad that the Nigerian state has failed, 

it is very sad that the Nigerian government 

has failed to give them protection, is 

unfortunate because the almajiris are also 

human beings, the treatment they are 

getting is reprehensible,” Ibor lamented. 

“States are refusing to take responsibility 

and refusing to compel parents to take 

responsibility for the protection of these 

children, it’s not just a Niger Delta problem 

but a national one. 

Edo, others should direct security agents 

to tighten borders – Edigin 

From Edo state, human rights activist, 

Leftist Edigin, told one of our reporters: 

“The movement of some youths from the 

northern part of the country into the Niger 

Delta region and indeed the entire South 

is indeed alarming and worrisome 

because citizens were not expected to 

cross inter states borders as a result of the 

lock down by the Federal and state 

governments.” 

“The various security agencies are not 

responding adequately to the directives 

of the governments on this issue, so they 

are to be blamed for their influx into the 

south. If the security agents were doing 

their work, they will not be able to 

smuggle themselves as they are now 

doing. 

How Bayelsa trapped some intruders 

Bayelsa is lucky to have two motorable 

entry and exit points at the Adagbabiri 

boundary with Patani in Delta and the 

Igbogene flank with Mbiama in Rivers 

making it easy to monitor the movement 

of vehicles coming to the state. 

The state government task force on 

Covid-19, state vigilante and security 

operatives have intercepted and turned back 

no fewer than three buses conveying 

suspected Almajiris to the state while 

enforcing the “no entry” directive of the 

state government at the boundary posts. 

Though some of the passengers claimed 

they were on their way to the state on 

commercial fishing expedition, others 

claimed to be on the way to Port- Harcourt, 

Rivers State en route Bayelsa waters. 

In just one week alone, the Bayelsa state 

government and security operatives have 

intercepted and sent back no fewer 

than three buses conveying Quranic 

education pupils, also known as almajiri at 

the state entry point into Yenagoa, the 

Bayelsa state capital. 

“Confirming the development the 

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of 

Information and Orientation, Yenagoa, 

and member of the State Covid-19 Task 

force, stated that in quick response, the 

security operatives stationed at the entry 

point ordered the almajiri children be 

taken back in the same buses conveying 

them in line with the “No Entry” directive 

of the government at the border. 

According to the state government official, 

while some of the almajiris claimed they 

were on their way to the state on commercial 

fishing expedition, others claimed to be on 

their way to Port Harcourt, Rivers State enroute 

Bayelsa waters. 

In the same vein, chairman, Bayelsa State 

Vigilante, Doubiye Alagba, who also 

intercepted and immediately ordered back 

a 14- sitter bus fully loaded with almajiri 

from Zamfara state, said: ”We are very 

much on ground at all the entering points 

of the city as directed by our governor, His 

Excellency, Senator Douye Diri, to make 

sure that the no entry lock down order is 

enforced. 

N’Delta govs sleeping on duty- Wills 

But Barrister Iniuro Wills, a vocal Ijaw 

leader and two time commissioner for 

Information and Environment in his native 

Bayelsa state, who is the President, Ijaw 

Professionals Association (Homeland 

Chapter), heaped the blame of the new 

wave of migration on the region on the door 

steps of the governors and the elected 

representatives of the people. 

His words, “The Niger Delta people should 

hold their governors responsible for any 

consequences of this glaring danger. Niger 

Delta governors need to stop sleeping on 

duty, as is always the case with the region’s 

political representatives.” 

“On the part of the Federal Government, it 

needs to know that if it does not arrest this 

reckless and massive internal incursion, 

particularly as it also breaches the 

President’s ban on interstate travel in his 

bid to stem the spread of Covid-19, it could 

trigger constitutional and geopolitical 

tensions of historic note”. 

Why ‘re our leaders foot-dragging? 

Morris, environmentalist asks 

Also renowned environmentalist activist, 

Comrade Alagoa Morris expressed 

concern over current scenario where 

civilians of extraction are descending on 

the South -South from the North when they 

are not uniformed personnel or any 

government officials at such 

a time when there is corona 

virus pandemic related lock 

down. 

He said: ”It would have still 

been a concern even when we 

are not experiencing such 

pandemic; because of 

security reasons. Before this 

corona virus interrupted 

ongoing activities and plans 

globally; the issue of threat 

posed by some bandits, 

kidnappers and terrorists 

resulted in the clamor for 

regional security outfits. 

“The West acted promptly by 

coming up with the 

establishment of operation 

Amotekun. That was good; 

as the North already has their 

related security outfit. The 

East and South- South were 

being urged by some 

concerned citizens of the 

zones, including myself; to 

make haste and establish 

same for our zones. This, I 

supported, because I felt 

such outfits which would be 

creation of law, would play 

complementary roles to the 

military, police, DSS and 

other security agencies since these agencies 

seem to be overwhelmed by the security 

challenges Nigerians are contending with. 

It’s security threat – Ijaw women leader 

President General Ijaw Women Connect 

IWC-Worldwide, Comrade. (Mrs) 

Rosemary John-Oduone, asserted: “The 

influx of persons suspected to be almajiris 

from the northern region of the country into 

the Niger Delta and South East is a wellorchestrated 

action. For me, this 

development calls for concern as those 

being transported into the Niger Delta and 

South East do not seem to me like the 

conventional almajiris, but herders, 

because most of the people caught in the 

trailers coming into the Niger Delta and 

South Eastern states are not children, but 

adults. Full grown men, so it calls for 

worries.” 

“I think, there is more to it than meets the 

eyes, because it has become a trend if you 

take a careful look at it. This is an invasion 

of territories and our people from the Niger 

Delta and South East must be at alert. I see 

a capturing of territories ongoing. 

In Delta, we turn back 5 truckloads of 

northerners daily- Commissioner Onogba 

The number of northerners trying to sneak 

through the border town of Ologbo, the 

entry point between Edo and Delta along 

the Warri - Benin carriageway is not 

declining despite the huge presence of 

security team and task force drafted to the 

point against unauthorized vehicles 

entering the state in restriction of inter-state 

movement ordered by President 

Muhammadu Buhari to stem spread of 

COVID-19 around the country. 

On Monday, Delta State Commissioner of 

Environment, Mr Chris Onogba and an 

aide to Delta state Governor Sen Ifeanyi 

Okowa on Security, Ezekiel Daniel, led a 

team of security men to uncover 13 people 

from Kaduna, who had hidden between 

sacks of maize and they were immediately 

turned back. 

“Every day, we turn back four to five trucks 

heading from the North to Niger Delta 

towns, it’s either Warri Sapele, or Ughelli 

or even Agbarho or any of the towns,” 

Onogba said. 

“Sometimes, I wonder why the sudden crave 

from these northerners to head south from 

Kaduna, Yobe, Kano and 

even Nasarawa, we see 

them daily, some hide 

between foodstuffs while 

some are filled with just 

people giving stories, no 

genuine excuse to come 

to this direction,” the 

commissioner said. 

Dr Vincent Ekariko, a 

States are refusing 

to take 

responsibility and 

refusing to compel 

parents to take 

responsibility for 

the protection of 

these children, it’s 

not just a Niger 

Delta problem but a 

national one 

community leader, 

stated: “I have no doubt 

that there is a plan on 

their sudden 

immigration to the 

south, I learnt that the 

number of persons that 

storm this state from the 

northern part of the 

country is huge, this 

development is 

worrisome and the 

government must put an 

end to it. 

Convene security 

summit- Amechi, 

Itsekiri forerunner 

In Delta state, Itsekiri 

forerunner, Mr Amechi 

Ogbitse Ogbonna, said: 

“The issue of Boko 

Haram attacking states in South-South - 

they do not have that combative culture 

to attack any of the militant states in the 

South-South. For me, we need a security 

summit with a delegation of five from each 

of the ethnic tribes, we must engage Seriki 

of the Hausa.” 

“So many alamajris in Delta state, we are 

not safe, mostly in our rural areas, a task 

force must be put in place made of members 

various interest groups to verify the areas 

they are occupying and to ascertain who 

are their leaders. There should be 

enforcement of the ban on tricycle and 

motorcycle movements in some places, 

including illegal motor parks across the 

states of the South- South,” he said. 

How our govs should handle threat – 

Eyengho 

Filmmaker and public commentator, Alex 

Eyengho, told Saturday Vanguard: “This 

is quite troubling and seem to me an 

existential challenge and indeed threat to 

life. That this is happening during the 

COVID-19 pandemic lock down 

nationwide and when there is supposedly 

no inters-state travels except those on 

essential duties, makes it more worrisome 

and scary. Yes, as Nigerians and under the 

laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 

Nigerians are free to settle down in any 

part of the country of their choice, but 

certainly not when they pose a security 

threat.” 

“I urge Governors from the South-South 

region and other southern states to rise 

up to the occasion and protect the lives 

and property of their citizens and other 

law- abiding Nigerians living within their 

states and region. 

There’re invisible hands behind the 

movement – Mulade 

National coordinator, Centre for Peace 

and Environmental Justice, CEPEJ, 

Comrade Sheriff Mulade, said: “It is 

worrisome, in spite of the lock down, this 

influx of Fulanis into Niger Delta cannot 

be contained by security agents. The 

question is what is behind this influx at this 

critical time? 

“Some lonely voices have been raising this 

insecurity situation for some time before 

now. The South-South governors must be 

more proactive to curtail the perceived 

insecurity on board. The efforts of federal 

and state governments are not enough; they 

should be more proactive. 

Don’t accommodate almajiris for now – 

Alawowei, CHURAC 

President, Centre for Human Rights and 

Anti- Corruption Crusade, CHURAC, 

Cleric Alaowei, 

Said: “The influx of the almajiri children 

daily coming to the southern part of the 

country from the northern part though is a 

constitutional requirement, but their 

coming poses a big threat to lives and 

property in the South -East and South- 

South regions where a larger contingent of 

these almajiris do come on a daily basis. 

State of things in A’Ibom 

The situation in Akwa Ibom is that since 

the inter-state lockdown, two trailers 

conveying suspected terrorists from the 

northern part of the country had been 

intercepted in the state. 

The state governor, Udom Emmanuel, last 

weekend intimated the people how 13 

occupants o who joined a trailer conveying 

goats and cows into Eket local government 

area were intercepted and sent out of the 

state. 

Just on Wednesday, another trailer was 

intercepted with 32 persons in Obot Akara 

local government area through Abia state. 

Activists bemoan N’Delta govs’ alleged 

clumsiness 

Human rights activists in Akwa Ibom state 

expressed disappointment over the inability 

of the governors of the Niger Delta region 

to take proactive step to tackle the invasion 

of the region by persons suspected to be 

terrorists. 

Reacting to the recent transportation of 

persons in trailers to the states of the region 

in spite of the lockdown, Uyo human rights 

lawyer, Mr. Clifford Thomas, wondered why 

it appears that only Governor Nyesom Wike 

of Rivers State was raising alarm over such 

suspicious development. 

Thomas, who is also the Executive 

Director, Foundation for Civil Education, 

Human Rights and Development 

Advancement (FoCEHRaDA) alleged that 

the incidents in Delta state and some other 

southern states indicate that the invaders 

are trained and armed civilians, who 

usually come disguised as cobblers and 

hawkers. 

“What they are doing in places like southern 

Kaduna is probably what they are planning 

to do here. Those men are not almajiris, 

they are sponsored and trained militia men. 

I see their movement as invasion of southern 

Nigeria. Already they have infiltrated the 

bush in South West states. 

“Unfortunately, it is only governor Wike that 

sets agenda and follows it, others do not 

want to offend the Federal government. The 

governors should use their security votes to 

mobilize the people against the invaders,” 

he added. 

The offensive in C’River 

In Cross-River state, the state government 

intercepted and ordered back to destination 

hundreds of almajiris trying to sneak into 

the state in about three batches in one week, 

mostly at night. Last time was May 10 at 

Gakem border in Bekwarra local 

government area, the boundary between the 

state and Benue. 

Saturday Vanguard gathered that the 

first batch was in five trucks of different 

cement companies and other logistics 

company, while the second and third 

were in trailers and with over 200 persons, 

mostly children and few adults without 

luggage, all intercepted by a joint task 

force of COVID-19 and ordered back to 

where they were coming from. 

Nobody, however, monitors if they returned 

to their states of origin or detoured into 

another South-South state.


Influx of suspected insurgents, Almajiris 

disturbing —YCE, Afenifere, Agbekoya, OPC 

•States should emulate Kano’s 

Kanduje – Southwest PDP 

By Dayo Johnson, Dapo Akinrefon, Ola 

Ajayi, Rotimi Ojomyela, Shina Abubakar 

& James Ogunnaike 

The influx of northerners into the South 

West zone of the country has elicited 

angry reactions from various Yoruba 

groups and leaders including the Yoruba 

Council of Elders, YCE; the socio-political 

organization, Afenifere; the Oodua People’s 

Congress, OPC and some leaders. They 

maintain that Nigerians have the 

constitutional right to move around in any 

part of the country but where such people 

army of miscreants, suspected terrorists, 

criminal herders and bandits then it gives 

cause for concern. Again, this happening 

mostly after the ban on interstate travels 

following COVID-19 pandemic should be 

rejected totally, they argue. 

It’s becoming increasingly 

disturbing—YCE 

Reacting, the Yoruba Council of Elders, 

YCE, said it is becoming increasingly 

disturbing. 

Secretary-General of the group, Dr. Kunle 

Olajide, said: “We completely reject it. We 

call on governors in the South West to put 

heads together and put machinery in motion 

to ensure that the Western Nigeria Security 

Network begins operations immediately. 

“We gathered from a reliable source that 

it is not only Almajirai that come in droves, 

also the adults in their large number have 

trooped in. There’s Presidential order 

banning inter-state travels. They are flouting 

it. 

Also speaking, the Yoruba Revolutionary 

Group (Agbekoya) said: “We are very much 

Sadism is about the only word fit 

to describe the wanton 

destruction, by unknown 

vandals, of a government facility meant 

for the benefit of the majority of the 

people. For the avoidance of doubt, the 

English dictionary describes sadism as 

“a morbid form of enjoyment achieved 

by acting cruelly to another or others”. 

For those who plotted; and for those 

who executed the wicked and evil plot 

of vandalizing the Otamiri water 

scheme that was supplying potable 

water to residents of Owerri, the Imo 

state capital, they are nothing but sadists 

who, acting like the Frankesteen 

monster, elected to destroy that which 

they could not create. By inflicting pain 

on others in an inexcusable transfer of 

aggression, the perpetrators of that 

heinous crime have murdered sleep. 

For 16 long years, the Otamiri water 

scheme was in coma. Government after 

government could not rehabilitate it to 

ease the water problems of the state capital. 

Indeed one of the administrators had 

mulled the idea of converting it to a fish 

pond for the pleasure of Her Excellency. 

That was until Senator Hope Uzodinma 

emerged as the governor of Imo State. 

Known for his people oriented 

programmes encapsulated in his 3R of 

recovery, reconstruction and 

rehabilitation, Uzodinma ordered the 

immediate turnaround of the water 

scheme. It was an holistic exercise that 

gulped millions of naira. Just when the 

people thought that the dry pipes had 

become a piece of decoration in their 

homes, water started gushing out from 

them. And the modern day miracle 

occurred within the first 100 days in 

office of the governor. And the people 

rejoiced. 

Unfortunately some renegades, who 

swore that they would not live to see 

Uzodinma perform as governor, set upon 

the rehabilitated facility in the dead of 

the night. By morning, they had wasted 

all those parts and materials which cost 

the government millions of naira to 

procure. Within hours of their satanic 

destruction, thousands of residents of 

Owerri were left desolate. They went 

back to Egypt, seeking drinking water 

•Aare 

Gani Adams 

aware how they are trooping into our zone. 

We are already proposing something to the 

government. If the governors don’t take any 

step, we will go ahead to protect our region. 

“But one of the challenges we have is the 

issue of funds. We are facing serious 

financial difficulties. Once that is taken care 

of by our governors, there is nobody we 

cannot face.” 

Hold northern elites responsible— 

Afenifere 

On its part, Afenifere’s National Publicity 

Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin said: 

“Voices from the South over the years have 

spoken against the Almajiri social 

demography which northern politicians 

have used to hijack power and harvest 

money from the federal purse. It is wicked 

of northern elites to start exporting them to 

the South now that it is the only Coronavirus 

that is derivable from them and oil money 

is drying up.” 

We’ll resist attempts to invade 

S’West – OPC 

Similarly, the OPC vowed to protect the 

Southwest region against any possible 

invasion. 

Speaking on behalf of the Aare Gani 

Adams, the OPC coordinator in Osun State, 

Mr. Deji Aladesawe said: “We are happy that 

Governors of the region are being proactive 

on several issues relating to the interest of 

the region and we will always support such 

initiative since the mandate of the group is 

to protest the interest of the race and its 

territory.” 

Send them to farms — Okurounmu 

Former Secretary of Afenifere, Senator 

Femi Okurounmu said: “There are two 

dimensions to the problems of Almajiris, in 

the north and their influx into the South, 

First of all, the Almajiris have always been 

an instrument of operations of the northern 

elites. This has always been deliberate in 

the north, right from pre-independence. 

.”To curb the ugly trend, what I think that 

can easily be done is that, there are laws 

against wandering, and free grazing, they 

can easily invoke those laws, I think these 

laws can be invoked against loitering, street 

begging, wandering. They should just polish 

such laws. Those who break the laws can be 

sent to communal labour. The government 

can set up agricultural farms to farm, to 

clear land, plant crops, and harvest crops. 

This way, they earn something. This is a very 

Vandalization of Owerri Water 

Scheme: Sadism, sabotage at play 

By Sam Ikechukwu 

from privately dug boreholes and 

elsewhere. What shocked and outraged 

sane people the most was that the 

vandals didn’t give a thought to the 

suffering masses who were the main 

beneficiaries of Uzodinma’s action. In 

their blinded hatred towards the 

governor, they ended up hurting 

themselves. 

It was only natural for 

people to be enraged. From 

Imo Elders Council to 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo and from 

Students 

Union 

Governments to Market 

women, condemnations 

have trailed the action of the 

misguided vandals. 

Expectedly also, the police 

have been charged to fish 

out the perpetrators of the 

dastardly act for them to 

have a date with the law. 

The reason is that if per 

chance, they are not 

brought to book 

immediately, it will 

embolden them the more to 

strike again. 

A human rights activist 

and known critic of 

governments, Chief Bob 

Njemanze wants 

government to immediately 

set up the process to 

apprehend the criminals. He lamented 

that those who carried out the evil act 

were unmindful of the consequences. 

“We have certain people from Owerri 

zone who have sworn that nothing good 

can come out from Hope Uzodinma. We 

should check them”, he counseled. 

Another prominent son of Owerri who 

is a member of Imo State Elders Forum, 

Prince Lemmy Akakem pointed 

accusing fingers to those who earlier 

swore that they will make Imo state 

ungovernable for Uzodinma as the 

master-minds of the act, and urged them 

to have a rethink. According to him, 

“What I want our 

people to understand 

is that the Otamiri 

water scheme is not 

By inflicting pain on 

others in an 

inexcusable 

transfer of 

aggression, the 

perpetrators of that 

heinous crime have 

murdered sleep 

for Governor 

Uzodinma but for Imo 

people. It didn’t make 

sense that some 

hoodlums went to 

vandalize it knowing 

that our people will be 

the real victims”. 

However, a former 

Commissioner for 

Agriculture in the 

State, Chief Uche 

Nwaugo described 

the vandalization of 

the water scheme as 

an act of political 

banditry and 

indiscipline which 

ought to be checked 

immediately. He 

regretted that a water 

scheme that was 

rehabilitated after 16 

years of lying fallow could be destroyed 

in a matter of hours, saying that the law 

should be allowed to take its course. 

His submission struck the right chord 

with elder statesmen Chief 

Onyemauche Igbokwe and Chief Green 

Iheka who want the Police 

useful step. Clear them from the streets and 

make them productive at the farm.” 

Other states should emulate Kano’s 

Kanduje —S’West PDP 

When contacted, the Zonal Publicity 

Secretary of PDP, Ayo Fadaka said: “The 

Almajiri issue continues to remain a 

challenge to the North which for curious 

reasons sustained it for so long. 

“When President Jonathan moved to abort 

the system, he received little or no support 

to the Almajiri school system. It was the first 

casualty of the APC governments in the 

Northern States. However, it seems there is 

a new reawakening triggered by Kano’s Gov 

Ganduje who thinks that summary 

expulsion of non-native Almajiris is the way 

to go, this is erroneous. 

“This is unacceptable, the Almajiris 

remain the burden of the North and it must 

be prepared to shoulder it. 

“The North failed to educate its people on 

the need for responsible parenthood; it is 

not out of place to see a 32year old who has 

already fathered dozens of children he won’t 

care for. 

“Therefore the Southern States must be 

prepared to expel all the Almajiris and even 

miscreants who constitute a challenge to our 

security back to their States of origin. If 

Kano could do it to its kith and kin, then we 

too should brace up to do it. 

“The security of the South matters so much 

and addressing issues of future challenges 

now is a task that must be accomplished.” 

They’re disasters in the making— 

Ayenakin 

A legal practitioner, Mr. Banjo Ayenakin 

said: “When people are migrating from one 

region to the other with no clear-cut plans 

in minds; with no homes in view; it is 

apparent that they will constitute an 

enormous nuisance to the host environment. 

These are people who have no economic, 

social, or political advantage to the host 

community. They are disasters in the 

making. 

“The influx must be a security concern to 

the South. It is not a mere influx or 

happenstance as some opined. It may be a 

calculated or orchestrated device to cause 

serious upheaval in the South. 

“Without sounding like an alarmist; these 

bandits will be ready tools in the hand of 

Fulanis who are residents in the South and 

who are having crises with farmers. They 

may easily be engaged to fight the host 

communities.” 

Commissioner in Imo State, Isaac 

Akinmoyede to investigate the 

vandalization with a view to 

apprehending and arraigning the 

culprits in court. Iheka, a security expert, 

said it was necessary to punish the 

saboteurs to serve as a deterrent to 

would-be criminals who might want to 

follow in their footsteps. “This 

wickedness must be addressed by the 

Police without further delay”, he said. 

Even as the Police investigation is 

being awaited, some students have 

vowed to wade into the matter, 

threatening to unleash equal mayhem 

on those who ordered the destruction of 

the water scheme. According to Kelechi 

Nwankwo, a student activist, students are 

being mobilized to help in the investigation 

of what he termed “the sabotage of our 

common patrimony by enemies of progress 

masquerading as political charlatans”. He 

also announced that a task force made up 

of students is being set up to man and secure 

all public facilities in the state. 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Imo State chapter 

agreed with the students that the 

vandalization of the Otamiri water scheme 

was executed by enemies of the state. In a 

statement signed by the President, Dr. Ezechi 

Chukwu, the apex Igbo Socio-cultural 

group expressed outrage that somebody could 

even think of destroying a facility that was 

serving the entire people irrespective of their 

ethnic, religious or political affiliation. “We 

are bewildered on the news of the 

vandalization of this landmark project 

which Governor Hope Uzondinma 

resuscitated after one and half decades of 

inability of previous administrations to 

provide safe public water supplying to 

Owerri residents. This is the handiwork 

of miniature enemies of Imo State”, 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo submitted. 

While both the police and the government 

are doing the needful in unraveling who 

did what, the deprived residents are on 

their kneels appealing to the governor not 

to allow them return to the days of dried 

taps. According to one of them, Mrs. Ngozi 

Njoku, “tell our governor to do all within 

his powers to help us drink water again. 

As for those who vandalized the facility, 

they will never be free from the judgment of 

God”.


WIKE: Untold 

stories of hotel 

demolition 

•Task Force asked for bribe; attack on member turns fatal 

•Wike ruined my hard earned investment, displaced 60 

breadwinners -Prodest hotel owner 

•Governor commits demolition sites to public use 

•Criminal claims against Osaroejiji self indictment on Wike, PDP 

•Court battle imminent 

By Egufe Yafugborhi 

Amidst attendant outpouring of 

anger, politicization of argument, 

legal confrontations and claims 

by anonymous interested parties, 

the talking point that has most stirred 

emotions over the demolitions of Prodest 

Home and Etemeteh Hotel, both hospitality 

outfits in Eleme Local Government Area, 

Rivers state, has been the harsh toll the ugly 

saga is taking on key actors. 

When it started, the balance of public 

sympathy was tilted to the owners of the 

hotels and their employees whose 

livelihoods have been compromised. 

Others felt for Princewill Osaroejiji for being 

declared wanted with a N5 Million bounty 

for his arrest, aside losing his status as 

Eleme LGA Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 

Youth Leader for leading alleged violence 

against the Rivers State Covid-19 Task 

Force in defense of Prodest Home, Alode, 

one of the demolished hotels. 

However, the Rivers State Government, 

on Wednesday, disclosed fatal tone to the 

crisis when the Commissioner for 

Information and Communications, 

Paulinus Nsirim, announced that a member 

of the state task force (identity withheld) 

had died Tuesday from injuries 

sustained during alleged 

Osaroejiji’s led attack on the 

Taskforce members at Prodest. 

Nsirim said Wednesday, 

“These two hotels not only 

flouted the Executive Order 6, 

the Hotel Manager of Prodest 

invited wanted PDP Eleme 

Youth Leader, Princewill 

Osaroejiji, who came with 

thugs to unleash mayhem on 

Task Force operatives on 

ground to close down the 

facility. 

“As we speak, one of the Task 

Force operatives lost his life 

last night. Governor Wike 

and Rivers Security Council 

took the decision to demolish 

the hotels in the interest of 

Rivers state and her 

people. Days before that 

demolition, everyone was 

aware the State Government 

sensitized the people on 

consequence of flouting 

Executive Order 6. 

“Having demolished that 

hotel, Governor Wike has approved that a 

primary school be constructed at that 

location to serve Rivers people. The two 

hotels are being committed to public use. 

This is what a responsive government will 

do.” 

Conflicting impact assessment 

It is never in dispute that owners of both 

•Osaroejiji, wanted 

Eleme PDP Youth Leader 

hotels have lost quite a fortune and key 

source of income, based on manifest level 

of destruction. However, measuring 

associated losses have also come with high 

emotions that provoked 

some conflicting impact 

assessment. 

Gogorobari Needam, 

owner of Prodest Home had 

said, “We have more than 60 

staff there. The state 

government should be 

happy I took up some 

responsibilities from them 

The manager 

was negligent, 

believing the 

youth leader was 

above the law. He 

cannot claim the 

task force met a 

closed hotel 

in gainfully engaging these 

persons. That investment 

was taking care of my 

family and relatives and 

others around me. 

“There was no fair 

hearing. I did not violate any 

order. The government was 

supposed to do some 

investigations, which is the 

primary thing. If they found 

me wanting on the 

lockdown, other procedures 

should have been applied, 

not demolishing a structure 

like that. 

“I don’t stay in Port 

Harcourt. I live in Lagos 

and we are talking about 

investments in Rivers day and night. I pulled 

resources together, invested in my place to 

take some persons off the streets. And what 

the State Government could do was to 

demolish that investment without proper 

investigation.” 

However, Ezo Karasia, a resident in the 

neighborhood who claimed to have close 

relationship with the hotel said, “Over 15 

•Gogorabi, 

owns 

demolished 

Prodest Home 

people were working here from the data I 

gathered. Imagine where 15 people are 

working and 13 are being sent home. 

“Imagine the adverse effect of that on their 

livelihood. Imagine the trauma, what they 

must be passing through now. Everybody is 

angry here in Alode. Even in Wuhan (China) 

where the virus originated, I don’t think 

anybody suffered demolition of property.” 

Karasia made his claim on number 

workers affected by the Prodest demolition 

in presence of Edwin Onubare who had 

affirmed that, “Gogorobari Needam is my 

younger brother. He is based in Lagos and 

I am the one who is always here. Those who 

came to demolish took the manager along.” 

Fate of arrested Prodest Home manager 

Meanwhile, wife of Dr. Bariledum Azoroh, 

the arrested Prodest Home manager, is said 

to be helpless, nursing a newborn baby. Dae 

Deegbara, sociopolitical commentator and 

professed friend to Prodest owner said, 

“Azoroh’s condition and whereabouts are 

unknown, leaving his wife with no source 

to take care of herself and his new born 

baby. 

In what appears to be internal Eleme LGA 

party and youth leadership crisis, it 

shouldn’t have ordinarily rubbed an 

innocent business owner and the manager 

into this sad situation. Dr Azoroh, an orphan 

from Zaakpon, khana LGA of the state has 

been manager of Prodest Hotel for more 

than five years , since the facility was built 

by a friend of his. 

“Because unemployment is respecter of 

no one, with just N35,000 monthly salary, 

Dr Azoroh, determined not to let his 

background keep him aground, persevered 

and worked as the hotel manager till having 

bagged PhD in finance management. 

•Wike 

“For a young man under 30 with a PhD, 

the hotel work was his only source that saw 

him through school, gave him livelihood 

and opportunity to fend for family. Not only 

him, I am told his cousin who came visiting 

was also arrested in the process.” 

Deegbara added, “Quite unfortunate, the 

hotel owner, an enterprising young Ogoni 

man has become the first coronavirus 

casualty, the sacrificial lamb in the fight 

against #COVID19 in the state. This is sad, 

very sad. 

“I know how he (owner) toiled through a 

lot before putting up that facility. Now 

without recouping his investment, he has 

lost all. I wonder what he could be going 

through now. Only God will console him.” 

However, a company executive resident 

in Alode and familiar with the business 

climate at Prodest Home, said, “The hotel 

owner may have been innocent, but his 

Manager’s vexed indulgence with the PDP 

youth leader is what backfired and cost the 

owner dearly. 

“The manager was negligent, believing 

the youth leader was above the law. He 

cannot claim the task force met a closed 

hotel. If they had close the business and dealt 

wit whatever consequence when the 

Taskforce came in, the repercussion may 

have been less. He mobilised in Osaroejiji 

who complicated his employer’s pains” 

Parties claims 

Both parties, Prodest Home, speaking 

through supervising Edwin Onubari, elder 

brother to the owner and Rivers 

Government, have been in agreement that 

Osaroejiji was alerted and rushed into the 

scene when the State Covid-19 Task Force 

visited the hotel 9 May. Onubari also 

confirmed that Osaroejiji did show up and 

commotion ensued, claiming it however 

happened outside the hotel. 

Onubari said, “I asked, what brought you 

people here when we are not operating? I 

said this place has been locked down since 

Tuesday 5 May after we heard the 

announcement from the Governor and 

Eleme LG Chairman. They demanded 

guests manifest. I tendered it and we were 

arguing it. 

“They said we backdated some contents 

on the manifest, I said no. They asked for 

owner of a car parked in, I said mine. They 

now said since we have not been operating, 

we should find them N100,000 and begin 

to operate. We declined, stressing that we 

don’t want to disobey the Governor and the 

Council Chairman. 

Continues on pg 15


How Governor Abdulrazaq tackles 

Covid-19 and makes residents smile 

By Demola Akinyemi 

Since the battle against the spread 

of Covid-19 virus started in March, 

in Kwara state, Governor 

AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has not left any 

stone unturned in his efforts to stop the 

spread of the disease in the state of harmony. 

Similarly, the real governance in the state 

has not stopped as the government 

continued in the provision of social 

amenities for the residents to make life more 

comfortable for them. 

Kwara State Commissioner for Works, 

Engineer Suleiman Iliasu, said during the 

Covid-19 pandemic session that while the 

residents were experiencing lockdown, the 

government completed rehabilitations of 

not less than thirty road projects in the state 

capital alone. 

Among them were rehabilitation of Tanke 

round about to UNILORIN main gate, 

rehabilitation of Saadu Alanamu, Pakata 

and Isale Oja road as well as rehabilitation 

of Tipper garage to Judges Quarters (New 

GRA) and repair of Taiwo road. 

Others were Taiwo -Unity road, repair of 

Ita Adu junction to Jagun junction road, and 

the repair of Jagun junction road to Sobi 

specialist hospital among others . 

In the same vein, the staff in the ministry 

of water resources have continued to ensure 

constant provision of water to various homes 

while the government has ordered the 

drilling of motorised bore holes to residents 

in Baruten part of Kwara north that had not 

enjoyed serious water supply from past 

administrations over the years. 

Commissioner for Water Resources Hajia 

Continues from pg 14 

“I don’t know who alerted the Alode Youth 

President. He came and called the Task 

Force outside. We have no idea what 

transpired between both parties after they 

left the hotel premises. What resulted from 

that their argument is what you see here, 

the ruins after the destruction of the hotel. 

“Some persons were on the road. After 

the face off with the Youth President 

outside, some policemen came, arrested 

the people outside and claimed they were 

our workers, but they were not our 

workers. There was no guest when Task 

Force came.” 

Speaking from his hospital bed, Friday 

Osaro Oloka, from the Taskforce said, 

“When we got to Prodest Motel, a party 

was ongoing. We approached the hotel 

manager who sought permission to call 

his proprietor. 

“The manager called, but it was the PDP 

Youth Leader who came with some boys. 

He asked why we came to the hotel where 

he lodged. We told him we didn’t know he 

was lodged there. Despite that he and his 

boys beat us till 8pm. 

Another Task Force member, Samuel 

Ndu said, “The Manager asked us to wait. 

Thereafter, several persons came with the 

PDP Youth Leader who beat us. We got 

Information that the hotel has been 

operating despite the order to close hotels. 

Appollos Orr, narrated, “We were 

observing the guests manifest when we 

started hearing shouts from 

outside. Thereafter, we saw 

Princewill Osaroejiji and his 

thugs who beat and injured us”. 

Dr Emmanuel Ejembi of Famo 

Clinic said that the Task Force 

members were brought in with 

severe injuries and that they said 

it was a case of assault, adding 

that they complained from 

fracture on right knee to pains 

on their neck and stomach. 

Chairman of Eleme LGA, 

Philip Okwaraji acknowledged 

that the Task-force members 

were beaten up at the Prodest 

Motel by the PDP Youth Leader, 

affirming that the State 

Government issued the Executive 

Order on 4th May and Eleme LG 

issued notices to all hotels May 

5 and anyone who flouts 

Executive Orders knows there 

would be consequences. 

Questions over fleeing PDP Youth 

Leader’s past 

Since being declared wanted, there has 

been profound reluctance among residents 

in Alode, Eleme at large, to speak openly 

on questions of alleged history of violence 

hovering over the PDP Youth Leader. A few 

anonymous sources have however flown 

various claims on the wanted suspect. 

Fatimah Arinola Lawal said during a recent 

visit to the area that Governor AbdulRazaq 

directed the drilling and completion of at 

least 14 motorised boreholes in 

various parts of Baruten local 

government area of the state to 

further ease water scarcity in the area 

stressing that the motorised 

boreholes were being located at 

Gure, Kosubosu, Geasoro, Okuta, 

Taberu, Ngurume, Ilesha Baruba, 

Shiya, and Boriya. 

She said the boreholes would 

complement the existing water 

works the administration has put in 

place. 

Hajia Arinola said the government 

would also complete the 

rehabilitation of the Yashikira water 

works by May 29, noting that the 

administration has so far fixed five 

major water works across the state 

including Asa Dam (Central); Patigi 

(North); Gwanara (North); Lafiagi 

(North); and Igbaja (South) among 

several others. 

Meanwhile, in the battle against 

the spread of Covid-19 in the state, the 

governor announced the donation of his 10 

months salary from May 29 when he was 

sworn in as governor as he encouraged other 

stakeholders to support the government in 

the task as government alone cannot do it. 

The Governor also commended Minister 

of Information and Culture, Alh Lai 

Mohammed and Minister of state for 

Transport, Senator Gbemisola Saraki who 

are members of the Federal Executive 

Council (FEC) from the state, for donating 

WIKE: Untold stories of hotel demolition 

•Team members of Rivers State COVID-19 Task Force at Famo Clinic, Eleme 

following alleged attacks which resulted in demolition of Prodest Home 

One of such anonymous accounts by a 

source claiming to be a “Strong Eleme 

APC member” and afraid to name self for 

fear of attacks claimed, “that some people 

behind this problem were cause of the crisis 

in Alode in 2017/2018 that 

led to over 10 deaths 

including that of Late Isaac 

Obe (Former Eleme Youth 

President and APC Zonal 

youth leader) as well as his 

sister, Barrister Mary Obe 

“We thank God for this 

intervention through Rivers 

So, anybody 

arguing that 

the Executive 

Orders are 

unconstitutional 

should know 

his options 

State as nobody dared touch 

them in Eleme. Any doubt 

as to any issue raised here, 

please check with security 

agencies in Eleme who they 

are and what they stand for. 

Dismissing this 

unconfirmed allegations, 

equally anonymous 

Convener, Alode 

Community Development 

Movement, said Osaroejiji’s 

purported link to murder 

and gunrunning has since 

been dismissed and his 

name cleared based an Inspector General 

of Police’s investigation following a 

petition filed by the Youth Leader. 

This source said, “The main grievance 

of the said anonymous, unrepentant APC 

informant who claims to come from 

Eleme, against Osaroejiji, is that 

Osaroejiji defected with all supporters and 

youths from the APC to the PDP against 

half of their monthly salaries to the national 

efforts to fight the virus. 

Palliatives were distributed to the 

vulnerable in the state with 

the help of the resident 

NGOs in the state which 

supported the Covid-19 

Palliatives were 

distributed to the 

vulnerable in the state 

with the help of the 

resident NGOs in the 

state which supported 

the Covid-19 Technical 

Committee under the 

chairmanship of the 

deputy governor, Mr 

Kayode Alabi 

Technical Committee 

under the chairmanship of 

the deputy governor, Mr 

Kayode Alabi. 

During the lockdown, the 

government also 

dispensed N100m as noninterest 

loan to 20,000 

transporters and artisans 

across the state under the 

Kwara State Social 

Investment Programme — 

which components 

include conditional cash 

transfer for the aged (Owo 

Arugbo), market moni for 

petty traders, and K-power 

which targets the youths 

and unskilled segments of 

the society. 

The governor had also completed 670 bed 

spaces in strategic parts of the state for the 

treatments of Covid-19 patients in the state. 

The governor in his twitter handle said, 

“no nation is sufficiently prepared for this 

pandemic but we all have to do what we can 

to fight it while we continue to improve on 

what we have everyday. This is exactly what 

we are doing in Kwara. We have successfully 

converted our hajj camp into a 600-bed 

isolation centre. That is apart from the 10- 

bed ultra modern, fully-equipped Intensive 

the plea and advice of APC party leaders 

in Alode Ward 2 and Eleme LGA in 

general. 

“It is indisputable that when Osaroejiji 

was in APC, PDP never won any election 

in Ward 2, Alode, contrary to the present 

state where PDP clinched victory in that 

Ward in the 2019 elections because of his 

influence and overwhelming support and 

acceptance from Alode Youths as their 

president. 

“The problem of Osaroejiji with the the 

Rivers State Task Force on Covid-19 

deployed to Eleme LGA, was his resistance 

to the Task Force members’ demand for 

100,000.00 bribe from Prodest Hotel 

Manager. Rivers Task Force on Covid-19 

for Eleme LGA were made up of Eleme 

indigenes known to Princewill Osaroejiji.” 

PDP’s self indictment 

Among the refrains in Governor Wike’s 

anger and disappointment in Osaroejiji 

over the hotels saga has been the 

Governor’s affirmation that he (Osaroejiji) 

before May 12 expulsion from the People’s 

Democratic (PDP) was Eleme Youth 

Leader through his face off with the State 

Task Force. 

Wike stressed, “It’s even embarrassing 

to me, that a PDP Youth Leader in that 

LGA was responsible for this, to say 

nobody can direct him on what to do, but 

he has powers, right to maim others, 

shoot. This person was inaugurated two 

days ago as PDP Youth Leader. Look at the 

mayhem he caused. If tomorrow those 

attacked die, would you say I am a 

*Gov 

AbdulRahman 

AbdulRazaq 

Care Unit of the Kwara State Infectious 

Disease Centre (IDC) that our 

administration had recently built to manage 

patients in advanced stage of COVID-19. 

There is another 60-bed extension of our 

isolation centre at the Sobi Specialist 

Hospital, Alagbado, Ilorin. We have also 

started the erection of such facility in Offa 

local government.” 

In order to control the spread of Covid-19 

across the nooks and crannies of the state 

the governor had also directed the 193 wards 

across the sixteen local governments in the 

state to form their own committees to deepen 

enlightenment on the COVID-19 pandemic 

and own the campaign against community 

transmission of the virus. The health workers 

on duty during this Covid-19 period were 

also given special salary package for the 

special assignment. 

responsible Governor? 

He alleged, “I didn’t even understand 

that this boy had been declared wanted, 

three years ago, unknown to me. His leg 

was amputated three years ago. And he’s 

a youth leader in my party. Assuming it 

was another party, people would have 

shouted it’s because it was not their party.” 

Accusing Wike and the PDP of self 

indicting on the fate of Osaroejiji, 

Dumnamene Fyneface, rights advocate, 

wondered, “How can a purported 

notorious character declared wanted for 

the past three years emerge PDP Youth 

Leader and was accepted and sworn in by 

leaders of the party? 

“How a man allegedly involved in so 

many criminal activities was adopted by 

party leaders, including his LG Chairman 

who is a lawyer? It speaks to self 

indictment on part of the PDP and the State 

Government elected under the party” 

The only workable 

resolution 

As the debate rages on this hotels saga, 

informed opinions have remained divided, 

from legal arguments to CSOs appraisals 

and other concerned stakeholders, 

including the crossfire between two 

Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), Femi 

Falana and former Nigeria Bar 

Association President, OCJ Okocha. 

Falana, terming Governor Wike’s 

action, “Colossal embarrassment to the 

NBA”, said, “There is no provision for even 

the President to take the Law into his 

hands and then begin to mete out 

punishments to citizens without recourse 

to the constitution. We hope the Governor 

will be properly advised to reverse his 

decisions, publicly apologise and restore 

properties of those that have been 

destroyed.” 

OCJ Okocha, affirming that Wike was 

in order, countered that, “Rivers 

Government passed a law recently and we 

also have the Federal Act, Quarantine Act 

and many other such regulations at 

dealing with safety and security and then 

health and well being of the people” 

“So, anybody arguing that the Executive 

Orders are unconstitutional should know 

his options. He should seek legal advice 

and if necessary go and challenge those 

orders in a court of law, duly constituted” 

With stakeholders also still divided on 

the moral justification for the demolition 

of hotels and the actions of other key 

actors, the court remains the surest route 

for mutual resolve of this crisis. The hotel 

owners and concerned persons are said to 

be weighting the litigation option, even 

as the state government has committed the 

demolition sites to public use.


HAFIZ INUWA, , DELTA A POLICE BOSS BLOWS WS HOT: 

Some monarchs 

collect money, 

give Fulani 

herdsmen to 

build camps 

•Wonders why people don’t scrutinize 

such dangerous affairs 

•What we saw when police raked forest 

between Ibusa-Okpanam ‘re startling 

By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South- 

South, Festus Ahon and Sunday Chancel 

COMMISSIONER of Police, 

Delta State, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, 

did not plan to detonate a 

bombshell, but facing Saturday 

Vanguard on the hot seat, last 

Friday, he did when he disclosed that some 

royal fathers in the state were accumulating 

money from Fulani herdsmen and giving them 

sanctuaries to build camps. 

In a no-holds-barred interview with this 

paper, the state police boss expressed disbelief 

that Deltans would rarher prefer to keep mute 

than interrogate the land deals, which from 

present-day happenings have put some 

communities at the mercy of rampaging 

Fulani herdsmen. 

His words: “One of the traditional rulers at 

one time was so perplexed and ran to his 

counterpart with regard to the way and 

manner he was giving Fulanis sanctuaries 

with reckless abandon. Are they giving the land 

for free? We are aware they are collecting 

money from these Fulani herdsmen and 

people are not looking at all these things.” 

Maintaining social distancing and 

compliantly wearing face masks, Saturday 

Vanguard’s three-man crew met Inuwa, 

incidentally a Mass Communication 

graduate, more than ready for the interview, 

especially with the manner he took the bullets 

(questions) fired at him. The state Police Public 

Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP 

Onome Onovwakpoyeya, who 

sat quiet at a distance was the 

only other officer in the expansive 

office, as we drilled her boss. 

We started - Suspected 

herdsmen have been on 

rampage in Delta, especially in 

Ibusa, Issele-Azagba, 

Okpanam, Azagba-Ogwashi- fail 

Uku and before now in Uwheru 

Kingdom. We want to know 

when as a Commissioner of that 

Police, you will be able to stop 

hostage taking and kidnapping 

in Delta state? 

the 

Inuwa responded: “First of all, 

I want to tell you that as Police, 

it is our constitutional 

responsibility to protect lives and 

property. Crime and criminality 

thrive everywhere. What I am 

trying to say is that there is no 

society all over the world that is 

isolated from crime one hundred percent. 

However, our ability to bring criminality to 

tolerable level is what makes us as a security 

force.” 

”So, people should stop seeing or looking 

for government to provide absolute security 

for them. If all the security agencies would 

come together they cannot give a hundred 

percent security without the tacit cooperation 

of members of the public, absolute security is 

impossible. 

”Members of the public must know that 

they too have civic responsibilities to 

themselves, to their communities, to the state 

and the nation at large. Unfortunately, this is 

absent in our people generally and I’m not 

particular about any state or sector. 

What people 

to 

understand is 

the 

criminals know 

law 

enforcement 

officers, but we 

do not know 

them 

”The answer is yes, we have been making 

series of arrests and recoveries. We have 

arrested some kidnappers at Oghara, who are 

Fulani and we handed them to the 

Commissioner of Police, Kogi state. We also 

arrested some of them somewhere close to 

Edo state and handed over to Commissioner 

of Police, Edo state, who also handed them 

over to Commissioner of Police, Kogi state. 

We are trying to see if we can recover their 

arms based on the information we get. 

Poser 

“What people fail to understand is that the 

criminals know the law enforcement officers, 

but we do not know them. The people within 

those communities know the criminals. Let 

me be blunt, there are insider-connivers. There 

are locals that are conniving with these 

criminals. Tell me, I ask you, what role are the 

communities playing in giving us such 

information or exposing these people? When 

we get one of these criminals, definitely we 

will get the rest! 

‘When you talk about Issele-Azagba, I 

realized that things were happening there and 

what we needed to do was try to make it a 

little bit independent place that will have its 

own police. I dispatched three police teams 

and made them permanent there. I even gave 

them a brand new patrol pick-up van for the 

security of the place. 

Fulani herdsmen ‘ve infiltrated vigilante 

in Delta North 

”Are the vigilante groups I am 

supposed to work with helping 

matters? The answer is no! What 

about the communities? No! In 

fact, I want to use this opportunity 

to commend the Chairman of 

Aniocha North local government 

area for providing a place for my 

men to stay in Issele-Azagba. Let 

me be blunt to tell you that as we 

are serious in this issue, there are 

some persons sabotaging our 

efforts. The question is, who are 

the people giving the Fulani 

herdsmen sanctuaries to establish 

camps? People have to look at all 

these. 

”Recently, we did what we call 

“Operation Flush out 

Kidnappers” from Ibusa down to 

Okpanam. We were amazed at 

what we saw in all these bushes 

around and behind the Asaba 

Airport. One of the traditional rulers at one 

time was so perplexed and ran to his 

counterpart with regard to the way and 

manner he is giving Fulanis sanctuaries with 

reckless abandon. Are they giving the land for 

free? We are aware they are collecting money 

from these Fulani herdsmen and people are 

not looking at all these things. 

”Well, even if you are born and brought up 

in Delta as a Fulani man and you are doing 

your business, yes, it is your country and you 

can move around. But, if there are bad eggs 

amongst you, will you pretend to tell me that 

you do not know them? If you know them and 

you did not inform us, you are also a criminal 

because you are aiding and abating. 

”The police in the state are doing a lot. The 

only help we need from the communities is 

information on the way and manner crime 

and criminality are thriving in the 

communities. One thing I want people to 

understand is that crime knows no tribe, 

religion and borders. 

”The way people, who are criminallyminded 

are partnering with some of these socalled 

suspected herdsmen in the state is 

alarming. The vigilante groups of Delta North 

need surgical operation in the sense that they 

have been infiltrated by criminals. 

On whether policemen in Delta state were 

adequately armed with sophisticated weapons 

to tackle criminals, as information at our 

disposal suggests that policemen run away 

from armed herdsmen on grounds that they 

do not have superior weapons to tackle 

criminals? 

Herdsmen collude with locals 

He was direct: “Yes, we need more men, 

especially from the rank of inspector and rank 

and file because they are what we refer to as 

the foot soldiers; they aid us in tackling crime 

and criminality. On the other hand, if our 

policemen are running away from Fulani 

herdsmen, how come they get killed, maimed 

and what have you? Were they running away 

when they were killed? Were they running away 

when they sustained life-threatening injuries? 

No! We use to have encounters. These so-called 

Fulani herdsmen are conniving with locals to 

perpetrate crime.” 

The police divisions are the heartbeat of 

police operations in the state. Most DPOs do 

not have imprests to run their police stations. 

They do not have money to buy fuel to run 

police vans, repair vans, etc., how can they 

operate in such condition? Saturday Vanguard 

probed further 

DPOs get funds monthly from IGP to run 

police stations 

Inuwa retorted: “Well, they should make use 

of what comes to them directly from the 

Inspector General of Police. The IGP in his 

own wisdom sends money directly to DPOs 

on monthly basis. In fact, as Commissioner of 

Police I do not even know what goes to them. 

I only see it on paper, but how much I do not 

know. They have no reason whatever to revert 

to Commissioner of Police. 

Delta govt cares for all security agencies 

Regarding support from the state 

government, he asserted, “The governor is 

trying his best. He is doing his best to make 

sure that not only the police force, but all other 

security agencies in the state are supported 

and carried along. As a demonstration of that, 

not quite long, he rolled out over 30 vehicles 

to all the security agencies, including the 

military and the DSS. He demonstrated how 

proactive he is and his government in the 

lockdown of the state in making sure COVID- 

19 is adequately managed.” 

Delta vigilante best in the country despite 

challenges 

What is the synergy between the police in 

the state, vigilante groups and other 

stakeholders in terms of policing the state? 

The Commissioner said: ”As far as other 

stakeholders are concerned, I do not know, 

but I want to state that irrespective of the 

problems we are having with vigilante groups, 

I am telling you there is no geographical zone 

I have not served in this country and I have 

never come across a wonderful vigilante 

group that works harmoniously with the 

police than the Delta State Vigilante group.” 

According to him: “We are aspiring to get 

the best set of vigilante and that is why there 

is need for the traditional rulers, stakeholders 

and local government chairmen, who are 

part of the stakeholders to put eyes on these 

vigilante. I am telling you that the vigilante 

groups are assisting the police in the state. 

”As far as we are concerned, apart from 

other formerly established security agencies, 

the next best you can hear from us shall be 

the vigilante groups in the state. As a 

testimony to that, I have already started 

moving to Area Commands, meeting with 

stakeholders sensitizing them that these 

people need assistance. Is it in terms of 

providing them with uniforms, boots, 

batteries, torchlights and what have you? 

Most of them are married and they need 

support. It will not be out of place if they are 

recognized and given allowances at the end 

of the month. 

I never told Ughelli DPO not to accept 

exhumed corpses of villagers killed by 

herdsmen 

Why did you ask the Ughelli Division ‘A’ 

DPO not to accept the exhumed corpse of the 

Uwheru farmers when they were brought to 

the police station?Commissioner Inuwa, 

who never wanted to be boxed to a corner 

throughout the interview replied: “How 

sure are you that was my directive? Telling 

person to find out where those corpses were 

exhumed is different from not accepting 

them, you understand! It is our duty to 

know the circumstances that led to their 

deaths. You cannot bring anything for me 

to accept.” 

”Our people lack patience. You come to 

the police with a beautiful case, we investigate 

it, confirm it, take it to court, but you do not 

have the patience to pursue it in court,” he 

added, shedding light on one of the biggest 

difficulties of the police in crime protection. 

What have the police done with the 

herdsmen arrested during in the Uwheru 

attack? He quickly retorted: “There is 

nobody arrested that is spared; we have 

charged them to court.” 

He reechoed again: “Our people lack 

patience. You come to the police with a 

beautiful case, we investigate it, confirm it, 

take it to court but you do not have the patience 

to pursue it in court.” 

Imam, who threatened police arrested, 

convicted 

So, what is the update in the case involving 

the Ekakpamre Imam that incited his 

followers against the police? He snapped: 

“When that incident happened I really felt bad 

because I was away in Abuja on official duty. 

However, I called the DPO and gave him the 

directive that he must arrest the Imam. But, he 

gave me the reasons for not arresting him at 

that scene.” 

”I gave same instruction to the Area 

Commander that on no account should the 

man escape justice because if my command 

will arrest pastors and prosecute them, why 

will he not be given same treatment? This is 

because justice is one. This Imam was arrested 

last week Saturday or Friday and we 

prosecuted him on Monday. As I speak with 

you, he is an ex-convict because he was 

convicted,” he said. 

We questioned Commissioner Inuwa 

further - Burutu Area Command has 22 police 

officers with three rifles and one pistol. Mr 

Commissioner, how do you expect these 

policemen to police over 74 communities? He 

simply answered:”You see, we make use of 

what we have to provide service.” 

Inuwa’s challenge 

We were made to understand that part of 

plans to protect Fulani herdsmen, Northerners 

are being brought in to head police divisions 

in Delta state. How true is this, sir? He was 

obviously waiting for it and replied: “I 

challenge anybody, please, out of 53 police 

divisions, how many northerners are 

heading divisions? Posting and transfers of 

officers are management decisions at the 

Force Headquarters in which they do not 

need to consult me and nobody can question 

the authority of the Inspector General of 

Police on how to run his administration,” 

The encounter, Inuwa’s first time on the 

hot seat with a national newspaper ended 

on spectacular note. “There is a very sad 

discovery we made at Abor Police Division, 

which is that the division raided in 2018 by 

suspected militants/pirates, who took away 

five AK 47 rifles and some rifles belonging 

to a vigilante group, has no firearms to 

operate until now, are you aware of this 

situation? Saturday Vanguard fired 

Question Delta Compol couldn’t answer 

Inuwa, who apparently never expected 

such a closely-guarded secret to be to the 

knowledge of journalists, rejoined: “I am 

not, as far as I am concerned. I am not 

aware, I am yet to be briefed on this.” 

It was the only question he could not 

answer in the 30-minute encounter. In all, it 

was a far engaging interview than we 

thought. We look forward to another frank 

encounter with the blunt Commissioner.

C 

M 

Y 

K 

The earth is breathing; literally. 

It is aeriated and suffused with 

life nurturing oxygen. Air is 

now cleaner, fresher and crisper 

almost everywhere. Many areas of 

Europe and Asia which had been 

covered in smug have been 

reportedly cleared. It is estimated 

that between 25-30% of air pollution 

in the world has been cleaned off in 

just four months. Nobody thought it 

could happen. The ozone layer now 

has a long-hoped for respite. 

Nobody thought it could happen. 

Not after years of fruitless jaw-jawing 

on the need to reduce carbon 

emission. The giant machines which 

the industrialised nations could not 

afford to shut down for a minute have 

been shut down now for nearly half a 

year. 

The skies are eerily quiet. The big 

metal birds with their booming, 

noisy ways have departed the skies. 

Nobody thought it could happen. 

Birds, real birds, are soaring and 

dancing in the skies again, wondering 

what has happened but enjoying their 

freedom nonetheless. The oceans are 

strangely still. Gone are the constant 

ripples and waves of ships, boats and 

yachts. The sea monsters are leaving 

the deep and coming nearer the 

surface for air. The fishes, big and 

small, are leaping to the air in 

wonderment and joy. Amphibians, 

especially the daring ones, are 

venturing far into land. They are 

enjoying the tranquillity of the 

beaches they thought had gone 

forever. Many cities are witnessing 

the invasion of animals which are 

probably wondering where humans 

have gone. A social media joke said 

human beings have found 

themselves locked in while animals 

have been let loose. But really, most 

of it was originally their space. Even 

plants, if they had a voice, must be 

rejoicing at the type of environment 

that is currently evolving. Plants are 

designed to filter air and restore 

equilibrium to nature. But they have 

been overwhelmed. They have, like 

animals, been decimated by excess 

heat, excess cold and excess carbon 

Not all of creation is unhappy 

with COVID- 19 

monoxide. This is down to the excesses 

and irresponsibility of Man. Humans 

have short changed other stakeholders 

in this joint holding 

called Mother Earth. 

The biblical account 

of creation states that 

God created the sea 

and its inhabitants. He 

created the sky and its 

inhabitants. He created 

land and its 

inhabitants. God 

paused at every stage 

of creation and 

‘thought it was good’. 

In other words, all of 

creation was meant to 

exist together. When 

He asked man to 

subdue the earth, He 

probably was looking 

for a leader, not a 

disrupter who 

eventually became a 

destroyer. Earth as 

designed, would 

replenish itself. The 

resources of nature as 

designed would feed 

every plant, animal and man. The 

population of the earth as designed 

would balance out in births and deaths. 

But Man found ways to tamper with the 

grand design of nature and balance. 

Man found a way to live longer thereby 

offsetting the delicate balance of birth 

and death. Greater population meant 

greater need for space. As if it was not 

enough, man started hoarding. Man 

started taking more than he needed – 

in space, food and resources. The 

jungle if you notice, 

doesn’t hoard. Done 

with subduing plants 

and animals, Man 

started subduing 

himself. Caucasian on 

The giant 

machines which 

the industrialised 

nations could not 

afford to shut 

down for a minute 

have been shut 

down now for 

nearly half a year 

SATURDAY Vanguard, , MAY 16, 2020—17 

Asian. Both 

Caucasian and Asian 

on Black. This 

subjugation, this fight 

for supremacy, has 

left mankind 

fractured. The 

harmony that God 

created; that God 

thought was good, 

has been severely 

disrupted. To make 

matters worse, Man – 

or a section of man – 

sees himself as the 

owner of the 

universe, to do with 

as he wills. 

All of this might 

sound like a 

conspiracy theory but if there is a living 

God, and my faith says there is, then it 

is not likely that He would be very 

happy with the world as it currently 

exists. And if the Creator wanted a 

redress, He would probably start with 

our unbridled population growth 

which has made mankind take more 

than its fair share of nature’s resources. If 

He wanted to teach a lesson or two on 

equality, He would probably send a 

decease that would not discriminate 

between black and white; pauper and 

prince. If He wanted to improve the eco 

system, He would shut down all the big 

factories and the agents of pollution that 

we thought were indispensable. If He 

wanted to speak to our greedy nature, He 

would separate us from our possessions 

and show we need only a tiny fraction of 

what we have to survive. If He wanted to 

show how poorly we have treated animals 

and plants - our co-inhabitants, He would 

cage us the way we have caged animals, 

often separating them from their families 

and natural habitat. If He wanted to teach 

us humility, He would afflict mankind with 

a plague that would confound nations big 

and small; a scourge that would knock the 

heads of scientists from all over together. 

It is possible that when the solution to 

COVID 19 is found, it could be so simple 

that we would wonder how we allowed it 

to kill so many people and affect our lives 

so fundamentally. But that would be at His 

time; when we would have learnt a lesson 

or two. After all, most of these animal to 

man viruses are caused by our proximity 

to animals. Proximity caused by us 

through space encroachment and funny 

culinary preferences. A ‘social distancing’ 

from animals of all forms especially bats 

which are the largest incubators of viruses 

would do us good. An understanding that 

we are a mere part of and not the 

controller of the world would do us good. 

In the meantime, we have on the positive 

side, seen how people have reached out 

to help the poor in their midst. How 

people have given resources, buildings 

and money to save lives. The Catholic 

Church for example has just offered over 

400 hospitals nationally as isolation 

centres for COVID 19. Speaking of the bible, 

we have also seen how some people have 

placed the curse of Gehazi (2nd Kings 5) 

on themselves and their families by 

enriching themselves from materials and 

money meant either for the poor or for 

isolation centres. If you cannot 

contribute, don’t take. Unless you want 

the wrath of God- and the plague of COVID 

19 on your family. 

It is an irony that while many 

Nigerians are lamenting over 

the effects of the COVID-19 

pandemic, that the same situation 

may turn out to be the biggest break 

for President Muhammadu Buhari in 

erecting a veritable legacy! 

What a twist of fate! 

Indeed, the unfolding COVID-19 

pandemic could turn out to be the 

defining circumstance that may garb 

Buhari with alluring garlands as he 

runs towards the end of his second 

term. 

If Buhari sees and seizes the big 

moment, it will not only put him on 

the right side of history, but it would 

also rub off positively for the good of 

the country. 

When nations are distressed and 

morale goes down, as Nigeria is now 

facing, it becomes an opportunity for 

leaders, even failed leaders to shine 

themselves. Only thoroughly 

incompetent leaders miss such 

opportunities. 

The United States was in such a 

situation until President Franklin 

Roosevelt appeared in 1933 in the 

midst of the Great Depression. 

Remarkably, it has now been said that 

it was in that period that the United 

States produced its greatest 

proportion of millionaires. 

Those who were already 

millionaires like Ambassador Joe 

Kennedy expanded to the extent of 

envisioning the political scheme for 

his sons to emerge president of the 

country! 

So, with Nigeria being brought to 

its knees by the global pandemic 

which is not Buhari’s making in any 

way at all, it, however, provides him 

the opportunity to shine. But only if 

he will seize the opportunity. 

Some commentators and informed 

sources say that he may have started 

on a good note with the appointment 

Buhari Big Moment Has Come 

of Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari as 

Chief of Staff. 

That is despite the noxious whiff 

about his alleged sectionalism and 

vindictiveness as alleged by some. 

Hence the appointment is especially 

seen as positive and if not, then for 

Buhari’s legacy. 

Gambari was obviously 

the president’s personal 

pick as he was not handed 

over to him by any of the 

contending interest groups 

within his inner circle. 

Given his outstanding 

reputation in the 

international community, 

Gambari is in a good 

position to polish Buhari’s 

image among critical 

western powers. Recall that 

less than a year ago, the 

United States stamped a 

visa ban on four governors 

belonging to his party and 

two of his ministers. 

With Gambari, Buhari 

could after 2023 even end 

up like Presidents Goodluck Jonathan 

and Olusegun Obasanjo conducting 

shuttle diplomacy around the world. 

One Peoples Democratic Party, PDP 

critic, however, put a pessimistic note 

to that prospect as he said that Gambari 

would help to pull the wool over the 

eyes of Western countries and make 

them close eyes to the perceived ‘evils’ 

of the administration. 

Another good move by the Buhari 

administration arising from the COVID- 

19 pandemic is the 

decision of the 

administration to 

implement the report 

of the Steve 

O r o n s a n y e 

Committee on the 

With Gambari, 

Buhari could after 

2023 even end up 

like Presidents 

Goodluck Jonathan 

and Olusegun 

O b a s a n j o 

conducting shuttle 

diplomacy around 

the world 

Reform 

of 

Government 

Agencies. The report 

had been submitted 

to the Goodluck 

J o n a t h a n 

administration. 

The committee’s 

outstanding 

recommendation on 

the streamlining of 

government agencies 

and departments had 

been much canvassed 

by advocates for the streamlining of 

government and its resources. 

However, after five years in power 

with Buhari doing the opposite in 

several cases, entrusting him with the 

implementation of the report does not 

spur enthusiasm. 

Among the major failures of the Buhari 

government in tackling big government 

is the notorious fact that he formed the 

largest Federal Executive Council, FEC in 

the history of the country with 44 

ministers! 

That is despite the constitutional 

requirement for a minimum of 36 

ministers. 

However, the COVID-19 pandemic 

presents an opportunity for the president 

to push for a constitutional amendment 

that would delete the stipulation for each 

state to produce a minister. 

The pandemic also provides the 

president the opportunity to yank down 

the argument of aides who had held him 

back from selling the majority of planes in 

the Presidential Air Fleet, PAF as he 

promised during his 2015 campaigns. 

Why keep a private airline for a few 

persons when the nation does not have a 

thriving public-owned airline? 

Another opportunity offered by the 

pandemic is the full-scale restructuring of 

the oil sector. With an estimated 10,000 

man workforce and almost zero refining 

capacity, this is an opportunity to take the 

big decisions on the Nigerian National 

Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. 

Even more, the period also offers the 

president who is also the minister of 

petroleum to make the big statement on 

subsidies and effect it. After all, it was 

Buhari who during the 2015 campaigns 

expressed serious doubt on the existence 

of subsidy in petrol prices. 

The global pandemic indeed presents 

Buhari with an opportunity to take the 

strong decisions that will put his name on 

the positive side of history. 

Remarkably, he has a technocrat cum 

academic who is not tied to the apron 

strings of political interests to enable him 

to act in that direction. 

That is if Buhari summons the courage 

to act!


Oluwole was the street in Lagos where 

you could forge anything document. 

Birth certificates, vehicle paper, 

marriage certificates , degree certificates. 

Once you had a likeness of the original they 

reproduced it. It was also there that those 

who could forge signatures within minutes 

lived. Once a driver took his boss’ cheque 

leaf there, all they needed was a specimen of 

his signature and a few minutes. The police 

knew. The embassies knew. The public knew. 

Oluwole became the name for forgery. And 

Oluwole streets sprouted in many towns. In 

Onitsha, Old market road became Oluwole 

Street. 

And decent people patronised Oluwole, 

albeit from afar. Once in a while a tax 

clearance certificate is needed to sort out a 

nuisance and a gentleman closes his eyes and 

hands someone two thousand naira. A 

moment or a day later , a document is put 

in the file for him and the box is ticked. A 

man goes to stand as surety for the bail of his 

friend. There is an uncomfortable condition 

attached. A clerk tells him he could meet it if 

he pays a fee. He scratches his head and pays. 

He is saved the trouble of a cumbersome 

process somewhere else. A document bearing 

his name appears from somewhere, and is 

authenticated by the clerk. He is told not to 

worry, the file will be thrown away later. 

The entire clearing and forwarding 

business in Nigeria is governed by the 

Oluwole philosophy. 

Many of our footballers bloomed a little 

late. And European clubs placed premium 

on youth. So our footballers found a way 

around that predicament by having many 

ages. An age for football. An age for for school. 

And perhaps another age for their umunna, 

kinsmen. 

So a man could have three sworn 

declarations of age for different purposes. 

I heard one of them, many years ago, say 

that forgery was not involved. I listened to 

him keenly. He meant they didn’t involve 

Oluwole. All the declarations were sourced 

from government offices. They simply lied 

about their age, paid someone at a court 

registry , and walked away with a sworn 

declaration of age. Did he take the oath? Not 

exactly. Nigerians are superstitious, they 

would avoid oaths if they can. But that’s not 

to say they cant lie through it. They do that 

everyday in court. And plead the blood of 

Jesus subsequently or give alms to a beggar 

The Oluwole Epidemic: Fak 

ake 

documents, Counter 

erfeits, eits, Ever 

erywhere! 

in atonement. It’s just that people procure 

sworn affidavits everyday while sleeping 

in their bedrooms. 

So that footballer was right. Perhaps 

there are many kinds of Oluwoles. 

That day he had argued that changing 

ones age to meet Oyibo 

demands abroad wasn’t 

evil. He said evil Oluwole 

was forging of degree 

certificates, illegal 

manufacture of drugs, 

counterfeiting of alcoholic 

beverages, and such like. 

Many years ago a certain 

barracks in Lagos was the 

Oluwole headquarters for 

counterfeiting beers, 

bleach, non alcoholic wines, 

drivers licenses etc. In 

recent years that facility 

has been cleaned up. But 

Oluwole activity has 

mushroomed and spread 

into many neighborhoods. 

Somewhere in Lagos 

someone is bottling a 

French wine in his 

backyard. And another is 

running an illegal Lever 

Brothers annex. 

Recently The NYSC has 

been in the thick of Oluwole 

‘things’. Social media has been inundated 

with the story of a certain Deputy 

Governor whom it would appear has two 

NYSC exemption certificates. The man 

The entire 

clearing and 

forwarding 

business in 

Nigeria is 

governed by 

the Oluwole 

philosophy 

could be innocent but the taciturnity of 

the NYSC has not helped him. 

When this deputy was running for 

senate in February 2019, he submitted 

an exemption certificate issued in 1998, 

signed by Brigadier Dule, the NYSC DG in 

1998. When the same 

man ran for Deputy 

Governor in November 

2019, he used another 

exemption certificate. 

The new certificate 

was apparently issued 

in 2019 yet signed by 

Brigadier Dule who 

retired from the Army 

ages ago. The two 

exemption certificates 

issued 21 years apart, 

bear slightly different 

names yet they have 

same reference 

number. Ordinarily 

the NYSC can clear the 

air in minutes. But the 

NYSC which was 

established to reform 

the youths and 

inculcate in them 

national values would 

neither quickly explain 

the confusion nor 

disown forged 

documents expeditiously, if there are any, 

in the interest of the integrity of its 

certificates. 

It took the NYSC many months to say 

anything during the Adeosun saga. 

There is this other Oluwole, or cousin of 

Oluwole, that is threatening the future of the 

country. Teachers in secondary schools now 

arrange with WAEC and turn their centers 

into Oluwole stadiums during school 

certificate exams. Before now, that academic 

brothel business was associated with special 

centers. Today big schools around the country 

have imbibed the Oluwole philosophy to 

enhance their positions on the school 

certificate exams league tables. Decent schools, 

otherwise decent teachers turning decent 

students into academic ashewos just to claim 

bragging rights and put themselves in a 

position to add one extra million naira to the 

school fees paid by incoming students. 

The other day we heard about a Senator 

who smuggled himself into a secondary school 

exams hall, in school uniform, to write school 

certificate exams. Seated beside him in the 

hall was his ECOMOG, his mercenary. The 

police got a tip off and went for him , he bolted. 

He didn’t return for the rest of the exams he 

registered for . But when the exams body 

released its results the senator scored good 

grades in all the subjects he registered for. 

Till today the police haven’t explained the 

miracle that happened in Osun. 

Nothing aids the Oluwole epidemic more 

than the failure of institutions to find moral 

outrage when their certificates are forged. 

The NYSC sees a story about its certificates. 

Two certificates with different names but 

same Reference number released 21 years 

apart. Yet the NYSC keeps mum. What is 

destroyed when an institution keeps mum in 

the face of such a discrepancy is public 

confidence in the institution. When a 

certificate scandal breaks, the implicated 

ought to rise quickly and clear the air. It 

shouldn’t wait for a court pronouncement 

before it tells the truth. It shouldn’t wait for 

an investigation. It should find odd things 

sufficiently odd to respond promptly. 

But in 2020, we have to be better. 

Institutions must have digital record keeping 

systems that allow instant verification. Brand 

protections and copyrights laws enforcement 

have to be speedy and vigorous. The integrity 

of our examinations can be enhanced if papers 

are computer based and CCTV monitors are 

used in exam halls. But above anything else 

we must inculcate the right values in our 

youths. 

Why Nigeria's recovery may be slow, long 

By Sola Ogundipe, Health Editor 

Nigeria and the world at large is facing 

new realities. COVID-19 has forced 

us as individuals and countries to 

make difficult choices to protect ourselves 

and our loved ones. The Federal 

Government has banned interstate travel for 

individuals or companies who are not 

providing essential services. Since the first 

case of COVID-19 was confirmed in 

February, the number of confirmed cases in 

Nigeria has grown exponentially in less than 

3months. 

There are reported cases of COVID-19 

across all the states in Nigeria apart from 

Cross Rivers and Kogi State at present. The 

virus does not spread on its own, if people 

keep moving around, the virus will keep 

moving with them. Therefore, interstate 

travel has been restricted to limit the 

spread of COVID-19, unless the travel is 

for essential services such as medical 

personnel or the transportation of 

agricultural products. 

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, 

NCDC and Ministry of Health have 

continued to emphasise the need for 

individuals to take responsibility in 

restricting the spread of COVID-19 

because of government cannot do it alone. 

The repeated emphasis on taking 

responsibility has become even more 

glaring as there is clear evidence of 

community transmission across many of 

the states in Nigeria with confirmed cases 

of coronavirus, especially Lagos, Kano and 

the FCT where confirmed cases account 

for about two-thirds of all reported cases. 

The active case finding in communities 

within these states has further shown that 

the continued movement of people and 

non- adherence to the public health 

measures have accelerated the spread 

of the virus. 

The restriction on interstate travel has 

been in conjunction with the easing of the 

lockdown, and so far, adherence to the 

directives has been poor. This is an issue 

that is continually being been raised by 

the Presidential Task Force on COVID- 

19. 

The Federal Ministry of Health has asked 

Nigerians to continue practicing the 

preventive public health measures 

advised, such as physical distancing, 

frequent hand washing, wearing of masks 

as well as restricting interstate travel as 

mandated by the government. The sooner we 

can halt this disease in its tracks, the better so 

that we can progress to the stage of rebuilding 

the economy post-COVID-19. 

Otherwise, Nigeria runs the risk of becoming 

overburdened by the disease with a slow and 

very long recovery. Ultimately, the wellbeing 

and economic performance of the country 

are dependent on the health and wellbeing of 

the population. 

By restricting interstate travel, opportunities 

for the virus to spread will be limited within 

states and communities, where contact 

tracing and active case finding will seek out 

possible cases of COVID-19. It will also 

enable the government to channel resources 

towards states responding to a high number 

of confirmed cases, so that they are able to 

test, track and trace cases of COVID-19 and 

so limit the spread to other states. 

In addition to the health and economic 

considerations of limiting the spread of the 

virus, there is an important need to prevent 

the health system in the country from 

becoming even more overwhelmed. High 

burden states like Lagos are already facing 

the challenge of meeting the growing 

demand for hospital beds as the number of 

confirmed cases in the state continues to rise. 

Evidence from Europe, North America, and 

Asia has shown that the mortality rates were 

highest in the over-65 and other vulnerable 

groups such as people with underlying 

medical conditions. The easing of the 

lockdown will put this group at increased risk. 

Therefore, the restriction on interstate travel, 

especially where there is high ongoing 

community transmission is aimed at 

protecting this vulnerable group. Healthcare 

systems outside of the urban areas are very 

limited, so if COVID-19 takes hold in rural 

areas, this could potentially lead to 

widespread deaths due to the limited health 

care infrastructure. 

We must, therefore, do the best we can to 

isolate and protect the high-risk groups, 

especially those over the age of 65, keeping 

them physically apart from populations that 

are most likely to spread the virus, as 

different parts of the economy are gradually 

re-opened. These groups, considered 

vulnerable are not strangers, but people 

within our communities and close circles that 

is,. family, friends, or colleagues. The 

government cannot do this alone, Nigerians 

must take responsibility and protect 

themselves and their loved ones.

My book, Life Lessons From 

Mudipapa, was unveiled a year 

ago. To commemorate the first 

anniversary, I serve you this excerpt: 

Every year, Mudipapa’s company sent staff 

to their parent company in Switzerland for 

training. He had attended a few of such 

trainings and always used them as 

opportunities to have holiday sessions with 

EseOghene (his wife). Once he even went 

with the whole family. On this particular 

trip in 2002, Eseoghene had just had Omo, 

so she could not accompany him. The 

training went very well. During the training, 

he became friendly with a beautiful, roundfaced 

colleague from their South African 

operations. She was a divorced mother of two, 

but still well-shaped, except for her big bum 

which was slightly disproportionate to the 

rest of her body. On the last day before 

returning to Nigeria, she invited him to get 

into town with her to try some delicious local 

cuisines at a restaurant she had visited 

during her previous trip. 

Everything looked straightforward 

enough. Mudipapa was to meet her at Room 

503 on the fifth floor by 7:30pm. When 

Mudipapa got there, she was still in her 

bathrobe. He excused himself to come back 

by 8pm to enable her dress up. He hoped their 

8pm reservation at the restaurant would not 

be cancelled. He was by the door on his way 

out when Chantelle called him back. He 

turned and that was all he could remember. 

When he regained his bearing, he was 

lying beside Chantelle, exhausted. “That was 

not bad,” she said in her deep South African 

accent. Mudipapa was quiet. “Mudiaga, any 

problem,” Chantelle asked, concerned. “I 

have never done this before,” he confessed. 

“Done what? Had sex?” Chantelle asked 

confused. “No, cheated on my wife,” 

Mudipapa clarified. “You can’t be serious,” 

Chantelle managed to say, as she laughed 

aloud uncontrollably. “Sex means nothing 

to you guys from Nigeria. In South Africa, 

Nigerians sleep around like dogs; they are 

fun loving people and take very good care of 

the women...” 

Mudipapa rose to look for his clothes that 

were scattered all over the room. As he was 

dressing up, Chantelle got up from the bed 

and held him. When Mudipapa beheld 

Chantelle’s body for the second time, he lost 

it again and tumbled into bed with her. Both 

of them slept off exhausted thereafter. 

These are interesting times indeed. 

Nigeria will never be the same after this 

uncanny virus called corona which 

came like a thief in the night and continues to 

steal more lives everyday. We are learning 

and the phrases keep pouring in. Social 

distancing is getting more popular than 

COVID-19, for once, all faces look like Lagbaja 

the Afro pop musician. 

Who would have believed that Lagos will 

not host mega parties. Our churches are shut 

temporarily as well as the mosques and there 

has been no religious riot. Schools are on forced 

holidays. Flights are not just cancelled, the 

sky is now a broad highway with no jets. 

Europe stands still and cannot shake hands 

with America. No one wants to visit China 

and Africa remains in the dark about what 

tomorrow holds. 

I have taken a look at Nigeria and it does 

appear things will get better if the country 

itself observed social distancing. We have been 

talking of restructuring for donkey years. 

Politicians and power brokers use that word 

to their advantage. There have been 

conferences and meetings. There was even a 

Civil War and some of us sang songs with the 

Ghanaian resort of Aburi. 

COVID-19 could eventually be a messenger. 

It takes political wisdom to understand the 

message. Lagos is the soul of Nigeria. Abuja is 

the head, Port Harcourt the heart. These 

major towns were sedated by the Federal and 

state governments, that helped to stem the 

advance of the corona virus. It also reduced 

the number of deaths through motor accident, 

which to me is our own ‘natural disaster’. 

Now if people distanced themselves from 

one another and it calmed down the country 

for at least a month and states interdicted 

commerce among themselves, there is 

something to learn therefrom. We did not 

hear a hell of noise from those who are fighting 

selfish political wars which of course has 

become the tragedy of the Fourth Republic. 

Nigerians should be thinking ahead. 

Colonialism was meant to benefit British 

imperialists. By this I do not mean all the 

men and women of Great Britain. There were 

and there are still wonderful people, from 

England to Scotland, from Wales to Northern 

Ireland. The good Mary Slessor did still lives 

with us. Father Dennis Slattery would have 

loved to be buried in Nigeria. He said to my 

hearing in 1989. 

Some of those who came down to Nigeria 

Mudipapa’s moment of 

indiscretion 

Mudipapa woke up after midnight, 

hurriedly dressed up and stole out of the 

room. 

Back in his room, the deeply religious 

Mudipapa could not sleep. “How could I 

have allowed Chantelle to enchant me,” 

he said to himself. Then it hit him: he 

had just had unprotected sex with a 

woman he was not familiar with her HIV 

status! What if she was HIV positive? He 

briefly dismissed the thought when he 

remembered Chantelle’s fresh and 

flawless skin. Then he remembered that 

some HIV positive people looked perfectly 

normal, even better looking than noncarriers. 

“What if I get home and 

EseOghene wants us to make love? We 

have been off love making for months 

now because of Omo’s difficult 

pregnancy.” 

He would find a way to dodge sex with 

EseOghene until he had done an HIV test. 

He quickly put on his lap top to cross 

check. His heart sank when he found out 

that a person could have HIV for months 

before it is detected by tests. His mind 

was in turmoil. It was now 3am. His 

flight was 9:45am. He decided to pack 

his luggage. He could always sleep 

during the flight, he reasoned. 

Done with packing, sleep would still 

not come. He recalled the events of the 

previous night. He had let down his 

guards; that was why 19 years of 

absolute marital fidelity came crashing 

down. From the beginning, Mudipapa 

knew marital fidelity and infidelity were 

choices and he had decided to be faithful. 

But he was acutely aware of the 

Nigeria also needs social 

distancing 

were mean fellows who sowed seeds of 

discord that have not left us and will not 

depart from us if we do not change our 

ways. From the much I have read about 

Frederick Dealtry Lugard of Abinger, he 

does not deserve honour. Vernon Lewis 

Harcourt, after whom Port Harcourt 

was renamed should be put in the eternal 

Hall of Infamy. 

Kenneth Cochrane, the 

man who was so 

unpopular in my own 

parh of the country 

because of the Aba 

Women’s riot, 1929 was 

from a family that 

attracted ridicule from 

even Englishmen and 

Scots. With the Native 

Courts in the Southern 

Provinces, some of the 

District Commissioners 

tormented the people and 

turned native laws and 

custom upside down. 

In the North, they were 

not any better. Lugard 

slaughtered Kings and 

subjects like English fowl 

during yuletide. Empires 

crumbled as maxim guns 

destroyed civilizations. 

That blood letting has not 

left what they coupled together as 

Nigeria on January 1, 1914. 

The colonial slave drivers left in 1960 

but slavery has not left Nigeria. There 

are masters in the United Kingdom who 

weakness of men. As a rule, he never 

stayed alone with another woman in a 

room if there was privacy. Ignoring that 

rule was what led him to end up in bed 

with Chantelle. But Mudipapa was a 

very frank man. He admitted to himself, 

even if grudgingly, that sex with 

Chantelle was mind 

blowing. The only times 

he enjoyed this kind of sex 

with EseOghene was in 

the first 10 years of their 

marriage. Sex with 

EseOghene was still okay, 

but now routine and no 

longer earth shaking. 

They needed to re-jig their 

sex life, especially now 

that Omo was out of the 

way. 

Telling EseOghene 

about the incident was 

out of the way. She would 

definitely forgive him; she 

loved him that much, but 

it would put a knife on 

some of the cords that held 

them together, the most 

important being trust. 

She would be devastated, 

she would feel betrayed. 

“Do unfaithful husbands 

ever admit their infidelity 

to their wives,” Mudipapa 

wondered. Then he remembered his 

promiscuous university school mate, 

Joshua. Before God “arrested” him, he 

often said that, ‘If your girlfriend catches 

you with another woman, even in bed, 

use middlemen in Nigeria and continue 

to control this country. Slavery therefore 

was only abolished on paper in the 19th 

century. 

One good thing about COVID-19 is 

that everyone is fighting for dear life. 

There are no super powers and there is 

no power of veto. It has brought all of us 

down. This is the 

time for Nigeria to 

think straight and 

make a bold move 

that will avert 

looming disaster. 

We could divide 

Nigeria peacefully 

No one wants 

to visit China 

and Africa 

remains in the 

dark about 

what 

tomorrow 

holds 


into six republics. 

We do not have to 

wait until this 

situation gets out of 

control. The Soviets 

did that and today 

there are many 

republics out of the 

old USSR. We all 

know the story of 

Yugoslavia. I do not 

want to think along 

that line since there 

is a way out. Even 

the British who 

enslaved Nigeria 

have taken care of 

their problems. 

Scotland will leave the United 

Kingdom someday, it is a matter of time. 

Wales can play as a nation at the FIFA 

World Cup and come back as Great 

deny, deny and deny.’ That ashawo ‘bastard,’ 

thank God, he has repented and given his life to 

Christ,” Mudipapa sighed. For the first time since 

he stole into his room, he laughed. Just then his 

intercom rang. “Don’t tell me you want to leave 

without telling me goodbye, softy.” It was 

Chantelle on the line with her unmistakable 

South African accent. “Don’t worry, I won’t invite 

you to my room again; I will meet you at the 

reception,” Chantelle said, laughing at the other 

end. 

“Witch” was all Mudipapa could mutter after 

dropping the handset. Just then, he checked his 

watch and realised it was almost 5am. His eyes 

were heavy and his head was pounding too. He 

decided to check his blood pressure. Systolic was 

165, while diastolic was 102. That was high! He 

decided to take his BP drugs. 

Chantelle gave him a peck on the cheek with a 

mischievous wink at the reception, shoved her 

complimentary card into his hand and told him 

to get in touch when he got back to Nigeria. 

Wincing, Mudipapa again said “witch… who will 

contact you” from underneath his breath. As 

soon as he got into the cab, he tore the 

complimentary card. He did 

not trust himself to refrain 

from contacting her. “This 

woman is hot; I want no more 

temptations,” he murmured. 

The only times he 

enjoyed this kind of 

sex with 

EseOghene was in 

the first 10 years of 

their marriage. Sex 

with EseOghene 

was still okay, but 

now routine and no 

longer earth 

shaking 

“Excusez-moi, monsieur 

(excuse me, sir).” it was the 

cab driver. “Ne t’en faispas 

(Don’t worry),” Mudipapa 

responded. 

Then Mudipapa 

remembered an incident 

when he was wrongly accused 

of rape at age six. Some teenage 

boys then stripped him naked 

to examine his manhood and 

concluded that Mudipapa 

could not have committed the 

rape because his penis was 

flaccid. Mudipapa roared into 

laughter: “Clowns and 

inexperienced ignoramuses 

masquerading as experts, do 

people maintain erection after 

sexual intercourse?” He said 

to himself aloud. At this point, 

the cab driver turned, concerned, “excusez-moi, 

monsieur, j’espère que vous allez bien?” (Excuse 

me, sir, I hope you are alright?). “Je suis désolé, 

ne me dérange pas,” (I’m sorry, don’t mind me), 

Mudipapa mumbled in halting French. 

Mudipapa spent the rest of the trip to the airport 

in deep thought. 

Britain at the Olympics. The Welsh capital Cardiff 

fielded a club in the English Premiership a season 

ago but Glasgow Rangers, Celtic, Hibernian and 

Aberdeen do not play in England. 

Brexit has happened. The British left Europe 

and no one attacked them. Germany, Europe’s 

strongest economy did not press any buttons to 

hold the Brits back. They are gone and continue 

to hold on to the British pounds. When all Europe 

went for Euro, the United Kingdom, even as part 

of the European Union held on to their currency. 

France surrendered francs, Italy kept aside lira 

and the Germans left deutsch mark. 

Nigeria should learn from Britain now. Let us 

have countries like they do. I have chosen the 

path for us to follow. This is from me and anyone 

who wants to amend it is free. Nigeria should be 

divided into six republics : ODUDUWA. ANIOMA. 

CORED. HAUFULA. MIDDLE BELT and 

KANFUBA. 

ODUDUWA should comprise the Western 

Region as at January 1, 1966 then absorb all the 

Yoruba speaking people in Kwara, Kogi and Edo 

States. MIDDLE BELT will pull together, the 

present Plateau, Benue, Taraba, Kogi, Niger,, 

Kwara, all the non-muslim parts of Adamawa 

and Nasarawa. Southern Kaduna falls under this 

Republic too. 

ANIOMA will be the land of all Igbo in the old 

Eastern Region and the Igbo sub-groups in Delta, 

Rivers, Edo and Benue. The name is already being 

used by the Igbo, West of the River Niger. CORED 

represents the old Calabar, Ogoja Rivers agitation 

but includes their present South-South brothers 

in Edo and Delta respectively. The Igbanke of 

Edo and Ika, Aniocha , Oshimili and Ndokwa of 

Delta do not belong here. 

HAUFULA, coined from Hausa -Fulani will 

consist of the present South-West geopolitical 

zone excluding Southern Kaduna. KANFUBA is 

the acronym for Kanuri-Fulani-Bauchi/Balewa. 

This is the Republic of people from present Borno, 

Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa and Nasarawa. 

There are Christians in some of these areas 

especially in the Bauchi axis where you have 

Tafawa Balewa and the Tangale. 

This is time to work closely and look for better 

ways of building stronger nation states. Oil has 

not helped this country in any way. It is a curse 

because we have nothing to show for all the 

trillions of dollars this country earned from crude 

sales. Europeans call it black gold. The name 

should be black demon. There are brains littered 

all over Nigeria. We must check our population 

and we must think out of the box. Corona virus 

may be a blessing after all.


Girls trafficked from Akwa-Ibom for 

prostitution in Lagos open up: 

•We sleep with at least six men a day 

•COVID 19 affected our business 

•I came to hustle in Lagos – 13-yr-old 

•Rescued girls and suspects 


They were of different sizes, ages, 

heights, and complexion but 

bonded by the oldest trade on 

earth- prostitution! 

They were usually seen sitting in front 

of shanties along the railway line, Abattoir 

in the Agege area of Lagos. At the approach 

of any man, they beamed with smiles, 

revealing dark-stained teeth, suspected to 

be the result of the long usage of 

marijuana. They would beckon on their 

male visitors, especially those visiting for 

the first time, and at the same time posed 

sexually, competing for their attention. 

For the visiting men who already had 

steady ladies, they would walk straight into 

the particular shanty which served as a 

brothel. 

Activities of these commercial sex 

workers have been going for some time 

unhindered, until Wednesday night, when 

the Police in Lagos discovered that the girls 

were victims of human trafficking. 

Surprisingly, they were all discovered to 

have been trafficked from Akwa-Ibom 

State to Lagos. While some of them 

admitted being aware of what they were 

coming to do in Lagos, others claimed 

they were deceived with employment 

promises. 

Exposed 

Crime Guard 

gathered that one 

of the girls, Mary 

Effiong, 19, was 

declared missing 

in Akwa-Ibom, 

five months ago. 

Apprehension set 

in after efforts by 

her family to find 

her proved 

abortive. Her 

sister, Nwanna Edet 

Effiong, was said to 

have reported her 

disappearance to 

the Police. In the process of searching for 

her, news reached her family that she was 

seen around Agege area of Lagos. When 

informed, the Police in Lagos swung into 

action and tracked her to Abbatoir, where 

her indulgence in prostitution was 

exposed. 

Surprisingly, she was discovered not to 

be alone in the act. Twenty three other girls, 

all from Oron, Akwa-Ibom, some of who 

were teenagers, were also involved. To the 

amazement of the police team, one of the 

•The shanties ( where the girls were rescued ) 

girls was discovered to be 

13 years old. 

Meanwhile, back home in Akwa-Ibom, 

some of the rescued girls had been 

declared missing, as they reportedly left 

home without informing their families. 

The girls were identified as: Precious 

Okon Edet, 21; Offong Mary, 19; Favour 

Ime Bassey, 22; Blessing Steven, 17; 

Success Edet, 20; Ndifreky Okoh, 24; 

Queen Okon, 21; Alice Edet, 20; Blessing 

Esin, 21; Mary Etim, 20; and Faith 

Sunday, 25. 

Others were: Sonaj Beauty, 23; John 

Agnes, 13; Miracle Effiong, 23; Oriong 

Patience, 20; Effiong Blessing, 20;Vivian 

Edet, 23; Amanda Effiong, 14; Joy 

Timothy, 21; Edet Patience, 20; Sunday 

Glory, 20; Goodness Effiong, 19; Sandra 

Effiong, 20 and Gift Emmanuel, 27. 

Information at Crime Guard disposal 

revealed that some of those who 

patronized the ladies were criminals, who 

either passed the night with them after the 

operation, or spent some time with them 

before going for an operation. Some of 

their customers were also said to be 

pickpockets and hoodlums who hide under 

the cover of the dark to harass passers-by 

along that route. 

Services 

During interrogation, some of the girls 

revealed that they slept with at least six 

men a day, depending on the number of 

men that came visiting. One of them, said, 

“The least number of men we slept with a 

day was six depending on the number of 

men that came daily. Our customers were 

okada riders, malams (abokis), and even 

traders. Some of us have regular 

customers. For me, I don’t like ‘abokis’ 

because some of them don’t take their 

bath. Sometimes I allowed okada riders 

but only those who 

smell nice. I may not 

be rich but I like people 

who don’t have body 

odour”. 

Another girl, 

Effiong, said, “we used 

to collect N1,500 for the 

service. It is a standard 

charge. But we had to 

bring down the amount 

to N1,000 because of 

COVID -19, when 

customers were no 

longer coming. We were 

paying N1000 per day 

for the shanty. 

Unfortunately, the 

agents would collect 

the money we made 

in a day”. 

When asked what she 

came to do in Lagos, the 13-year-old girl 

simply said, “I came to hustle”. 

Four suspected traffickers arrested 

The Lagos State Police Public Relations 

Officer, DSP Elkana Bala, who confirmed the 

rescue of the girls, said, “ four male suspects 

who were members of the trafficking syndicate 

were arrested. They are :Okon Felix, 32; 

Michael Etim, 22; Victor Asuquo, 35 and 

Goodness Ebiefie, 32. Investigation is still 

ongoing”. 

Murder at dawn: How hooded gunmen killed General’s son in Lagos 

By Emma Nnadozie 

Like a well scripted scene from the 

movies, they arrived the scene in 

an SUV. They were four young 

men with well orchestrated plan 

to spill blood. They cleverly packed their 

SUV in an adjoining street, very close to 

where their target was and two of them 

alighted from the car while the rest took 

control of other unforseen circumstances. 

The two armed men took a pathway that 

led to a local joint where residents of the 

area and men of all shades frequent for 

traditional mixture of Kovic tonic As soon 

as they approached the joint, they saw their 

target in the midst of friends and others 

numbering about fifteen. The armed men 

quickly re-adjusted their masks and 

headed towards them. The crowd, on 

seeing the ferocious movement of the 

armed men, took to their heels and 

disappeared in different directions. The 

deafening bang of a gun was heard and 

one of the members of the crowd fell flat 

on the ground. His killers came closer to 

ensure that their target was hit before 

disappearing from the scene. 

The above ugly scenario played out, last 

Wednesday, in a local joint popularly 

called ‘Ify Joint’ at Adekunle Kuye, off 

Ikate street, Aguda in Surulere, Lagos. 

That day, Muyiwa Babafumilayo Opaleye 

who will be 41 this September was 

relaxing with his friends and well wishers 

when the unthinkable happened. The two 

hooded armed men just materialized from 

a footpath close to the joint, sited their 

target and one of them pointed fingers at 

Muyiwa, and pronto, they corked their 

gun and moved towards him. When the 

bewildered crowd which included a close 

relation to one time Governor of Lagos 

state and presently, a serving Minister, saw 

the menacing demenour 

of the armed men, they 

scampered for safety in 

different directions. 

While they were all 

running away, a single 

shot boomed and Muyiwa 

fell flat on the ground. All 

his friends ran for safety 

to their respective homes 

but one of them called 

Kunle, whom he earlier 

came to the joint with in 

his (Muyiwa’s car, a 

Honda City Sedan), 

turned back and 

compassionately rushed 

to save him. Kunle quickly 

bundled his body in a pool 

of blood to the car and 

rushed to Agbonyi hospital 

in Aguda, where, 

unfortunately, doctors 

pronounced him dead on 

arrival. Crime Guard 

learned that the police at 

Soloki station, Aguda 

were invited and Kunle 

was interrogated and 

Investigation 

revealed that 

similar 

mysterious 

killings have 

been going on 

in the area for 

sometime 

made to write a statement while Muyiwa’s 

body was taken to a morgue. 

Unfortunately, Kunle who made spirited 

efforts to save his friend was clamped into 

detention while the case was transfered to 

the State Criminal Intelligence and 

Investigation Department, SCIID, Panti, 

Yaba for further investigation. Crime 

Guard learned that Okpa, as Muyiwa was 

popularly called, is the last born in the 

noble family of one time military 

administration of Ondo state, 

Retd Brigadier General 

Opaleye. He was working with 

a sporting outfit called City 

Sports and he lives at Ajose 

Adeogun street in Victoria 

Island. He reportedly 

frequents Surulere where he 

has a lot of friends and 

admirers. His assassination 

sparked off a lot of sympathy 

and emotions from his 

Facebook friends who 

lamented his demise in words 

like, “unbelievable, So sad, a 

sad loss, etc”. Police sources 

hinted that already, crack 

homicide detectives at Panti 

have swung into action after 

receiving matching orders 

from both Lagos Police boss, 

Hakeem Odumosu and DCP 

Longe. 

It was gathered that they 

were given 48 hours to unravel 

the mystery surrounding the 

darstardly act and arrest the 

pepertrators. Some residents 

of the area who spoke with 

Crime Guard attributed the assassination 

to either cult-related reprisal attack or a 

case of mistaken identity. According to 

one of the residents who refused to disclose 

his identity, Muyiwa and his friends came 

to the local joint where many people go to 

take the much touted local mixtures that 

•Muyiwa Opaleye 

cure Corona virus. However, 

investigation revealed that similar 

mysterious killings have been going on in 

the area for sometime. An unconfirmed 

source said one young man was killed in 

a similar manner last year December in 

Surulere while another was also killed few 

days before that of Muyiwa thus fuelling 

deep suspicion of reprisal attacks. As at 

the time of going to press, police sources 

said a breakthrough was imminent as 

police authorities in Lagos are hell bent 

on getting to the root of the killings.


08111813022 

•Mercy Aigbe 

•Kelechi Eke 

•Modupe Susan

22—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2020


SYLVESTER KWENTUA 

09056980733 

sylkieboy@gmail.com 

Why I vowed never to 

date a broke guy 

– Moesha Boduong 

Curvy Ghanaian actress, Moesha Boduong has explained 

why she would never date a poor or broke guy. 

“ My first boyfriend was a man without cash and we 

were struggling together but he cheated on me severally and 

got my heart broken. After such experience, I vowed never to 

date a broke guy. I can’t date a man without a car, a man with 

at least a Corolla or a Hyundai isn’t bad for a guy who wants 

to date me,” she explained 

Contrary to the notion that she dates several men, Moesha has 

gone as far as advising other ladies to shun the practice, 

saying it can never make them rich. 

“Sleeping with different men will never make you successful 

or rich. No man will spend on a hoe, men love women who are 

exclusive. Don’t believe in everything you read on social 

media and don’t believe in rumours and gossips, she said. 

Moesha Boduong was a former military officer who rose to 

fame as an actress in Ghanaian movies, as a television host on 

Viasat 1TV and as a model. 

Fake life is expensive 

Mike 

Leading digital Pay-TV Company, 

StarTimes has expanded its religion 

genre with the addition of Dunamis TV, 

the official television station of the Dunamis 

International Gospel Centre worldwide. 

The newly launched channel will be showing 

on its DTT Channel 453 and DTH Channel 363 

for the delight of television viewers across 

Africa. 

With the current restrictions due to the 

COVID-19 pandemic, Dunamis TV channel 

will give StarTimes viewers an immersive 

‘church at home’ experience with praise and 

worship sessions, sermons, choir ministrations, 

prayers and other wholesome family 

programming from Dr. Pastor Paul Enenche, 

the founder of Dunamis International Gospel 

Centre (DIGC) in Abuja, Nigeria. 

Speaking on this development, The Chief 

Executive Officer of StarTimes, Mr. David 

Zhang noted that “The global pandemic caused 

by the COVID-19 is not only affecting the way 

we live and work but has also caused a 

disruption to the ways religious activities are 

conducted. 

He furthered noted that “As a company, we 

believe that this new offering will enrich the 

lives of our customers, keeping them better 

informed with religious programming to cater 

for the different denominational groups and 

keeping them connected during these 

challenging times.” 

- Mike Ezuruonye 

Nollywood ace actor and 

fashion model, Mike 

Ezuruonye has sounded a note 

of strong warning to people who pretend 

to be what they are not. He warns them 

that living a fake life is expensive. 

Mike, who may be referring to some of 

his colleagues in the movie industry, 

posted this on his official Instagram 

page: 

" Some people are fake! You got a G- 

wagon and you are squatting. You have 

been impressing the whole Lagos, now 

you need relief. I can't deal 

#fakelifeisexpensive". 

Mike Ezuruonye, from Abia State, is 

married with a son. He has featured in 

movies such as Keep Me Alive, The 

Duplex and many more. He has won 

several awards in his chosen career. 

•Moesha 

Dunamis TV debuts on StarTimes 

Simisola 

•Opeyemi 

•Daddy 

Showkey 

Weak people 

don't forgive 

- Opeyemi Aiyeola 

Beautiful Yoruba actress, Opeyemi 

Aiyeola has dished out a piece of 

advice to people who find it 

difficult forgiving wrongdoers. According 

to her, “It takes a strong person to 

forgive." 

Taking to her official Instagram 

account, the beautiful wife and mother, 

wrote " Forgiveness is the best form of 

love. It takes a strong person to say sorry 

and even a stronger person to forgive. 

May the Almighty help us all to love, so 

that we can forgive." 

Opeyemi Aiyeola, who is one of the 

most talented and influential actress in 

Nigeria, is estimated to currently worth 

over $300,000. 

E-money: Investigate 

poverty too 

—Daddy Showkey 

cries out 

Daddy Showkey is one 

Nigerian artist who 

hardly joins issues 

with people especially on 

social media, but whenever he 

has something to say, he 

comes all out and speaks his 

mind, without fear or favour. 

Just recently, the 'Showkey' 

crooner uploaded a video on 

his official Instagram page in 

which he sounded a note of 

warning to security officials 

who are always eager to 

investigate the source of 

people's wealth, he told them 

to "also investigate poverty." 

"Investigation! 

Investigation!! Investigate!!! 

When a man doesn't have, 

they won't investigate him. 

When he has, they suddenly 

investigate him! Please, let 

them investigate poverty too," Showkey said. 

Showkey, an Ajegunle-born and bred Nigerian 

performing artists may probably be reacting to the recent 

order given by the Inspector General of Police, to his 

officers, to investigate the source of wealth of E-money, a 

social media celebrity and brother of ace singer, Kcee, as a 

result of his lavish lifestyle. 

Singer, Simi grilled over 

respect 

Simisola Ogunleye, widely known as Simi by music 

lovers was probably not expecting the type of 

response she got from a fan, who obviously sounded 

disappointed by his favorite musician's post on Twitter 

recently. 

Taking to her official Twitter account, Simi who is tired 

of people addressing her as 'dear', wrote " I don't know 

what to do about people that call me "dear" or "ma". Let it 

end please". 

In response, a fan by the username @Taiwo Tolulope 

Oladiran, wrote " Respect, they say is reciprocal. People 

respect you with the "ma" and they expect your respect in 

return. Is this an indirect way of exhibiting no respect, 

by turning down supposed societal respect? People can 

misconstrue your humility for arrogance, if not 

empirically clarified." 

Simi who got married to Adekunle Gold early 2019, is a 

Nigerian singer, songwriter and actress. Her debut 

album, 'Simisola', was released in 2017.


•Adeleke 

Antonia Ally takes 

HOW to Isiokpo 

Juliet Ebirim 

08137897935 

juliet.ebirim@gmail.com 

Encomiums, as Ademola 

Adeleke clocks 60 

Praises, eulogies, encomiums have 

continued to pour in for Senator 

Ademola Adeleke who clocked 60 on 

Wednesday. The senator who represented 

Osun-West senatorial district until June 

2019, also contested in the 2018 

governorship election in Osun State. 

Popularly known as the dancing senator, the 

astute politician and philanthropist's 

doggedness, brilliance and energy is worth 

emulating. 

In a tweet, Senator Dino Melaye while 

felicitating with Ademola, prayed that he 

would continue to ‘grow from strength to 

strength’. 

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state also 

sent his best wishes to his friend and 

political colleague, via a heartfelt post 

shared on his social media platforms. 

On his part, Prof. Wale Oladipo who is a 

chieftain of the People's Democratic Party in 

Osun state described Senator Ademola 

Adeleke as a man of destiny and honour, 

whose intellectual capability cannot be 

quantified. 

Popular singer, Davido also eulogised his 

politician uncle for his doggedness in spite 

of numerous challenges in life. 

Amidst COVID-19, 

Vimbai Mutinhiri 

weds in Calabar 

"If only tears could speak, these ones 

would tell such a powerful story of how 

no matter what – God has a plan! Only 

He knows how a girl from Harare, 

ended up in the loving arms of a Prince 

in Calabar. The journey has been 

colorful and eventful, but by His grace 

we are ushered into a new chapter. 

What a testimony – that in every story – 

JEHOVAH has the final say." 

The above were the words of 33 year 

old Zimbabwean actress, model and 

TV personality Vimbai Mutinhiri who 

recently exchanged marital vows with 

her lover, Andrew Ekpenyong in 

Calabar, Cross River State. 

Despite the lockdown necessitated by 

the spread of the Corona Virus 

pandemic, the lovebirds went ahead to 

have a private court wedding! 

According to Cross Rivers State 

Minister of Finance, Asuquo 

Ekpenyong, who happens to be the 

brother of the groom: “loved ones 

witnessed the ceremony by means of 

video conferencing 

Sharing photos from the court 

wedding, Vimbai wrote: “What shall I 

render to Jehovah, for He has done so 

very much for me. Part 1 / Court 

Registry done – social distancing 

compliant, but you know we had to add 

our touch to it (while we watch and 

wait for the coast to clear for us to have 

the dream celebrations we spent 

months planning). Thank you to all 

who have shared their words of 

encouragement, their prayers and their 

well wishes!! We are so grateful to be 

blessed with so much love." 

Just as many corporate 

citizens and NGOs are 

confronting the 

COVID-19 pandemic, one 

woman who is joining the 

fray with her organization, 

HOW Foundation, is the 

delectable and societyconscious 

Antonia Ally. 

Recently, Antonia took it 

upon herself, through her 

foundation to massively 

feed the people of Isiokpo 

community and its environs 

in Rivers state. In an effort 

to curb the effects of the 

spread of the deadly Corona Virus 

pandemic, and to further support 

government in making living easier 

for the masses, the nongovernmental 

organization, Herbert 

Onyewumbu Wigwe (HOW) 

Foundation, put smiles on the faces 

of thousands of people in these 

communities by distributing sundry 

foodstuffs and relief packages to 

several homes, families, and 

communities in the state, as part of 

its complementary efforts to alleviate 

the mounting effects of the lock down 

and restrictions measures put in place 

by many states. According to 

Anthonia, HOW Foundation’s 

activities, for now, are basically to 

alleviate the effects of the lock down, 

and by extension, aid the 

underprivileged people to stay home 

as the lock down continues to mount. 

Antonia Ally, the foundation’s CEO, 

made it known to the people of 

Isiokpo community and its environs 

that the NGO’s mission is to spread 

love and alleviate the effects of the 

lockdown on the people of Rivers 

State in general. 

•Antonia Ally 

Oba Elegushi celebrates Shina Peller 

Oba Elegushi celebrates 

Shina Peller 

Oba Saheed Ademola 

Elegushi has taken out time to 

felicitate with Nigerian 

•Oba Elegushi 

entrepreneur, politician, industrialist 

and a member of the 9th National 

Assembly, Shina Peller who clocked 

44 on Thursday. 

Sharing a picture of both of them 

•Shina Peller 

•Vimbai and hubby 

on his Instagram page, the king 

wrote; 

“Birthday is the beginning of a 

new year of your life. I hope Allah 

sends his angels to care and guide 

you in the coming years 

ahead. Happy birthday! My 

brother Hon Shina Peller” 

A businessperson and 

philanthropist, Shina Peller 

is the chairman and chief 

executive officer of Aquila 

Group of Companies and 

Club Quilox. Born to Alhaja 

Silifat and Professor 

Moshood Abiola Peller of 

Iseyin, Oyo State, he 

studied Chemical 

Engineering and Business 

Management. In 2019, 

Peller was elected into the 

Oyo State House of 

Representatives.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, , 2020—25 

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk 

Are women more reckless at pursuing wealth? 

You must have 

attended one of such 

parties in the past. It 

used to be the type of 

parties women dressed up to 

the nines for. The band in 

attendance was usually a 

leading one and most 

women would dance with 

such a frenzy that some 

appreciative men on the 

prowl for flings would 

plaster their foreheads with 

money – real money. Today, 

the picture is different. Most 

women who attend ‘heavy’ 

parties no longer go home to 

eagerly count their spoils. 

No, they invariably go home 

to take an inventory of how 

much they have foolishly 

frittered away and to fume 

at how they’d been outsprayed 

by other ‘classless’ 

women. 

What exactly is going on? 

Aren’t the simple things of 

life important anymore? And 

has money become so 

obsessively vital that a lot of 

women would literally kill to 

get it? It is a throw back to 

that dreaded oil-boom era. 

Heaven only knows what 

that era will finally signify 

in the history of Nigeria, 

especially now its price is 

virtually worthless, thanks 

to the current Covid-19 

pandemic. Suddenly, men 

who were drop-outs, who 

couldn’t string a few words 

of intelligence together, 

started clutching briefcases, 

wearing designer clothes 

and telling tales, of their 

jaunts all over the world. It 

was all thanks to those crazy 

contracts that you could 

virtually pick up on the floor 

of your toilet! These have 

recently given way to what 

you can make in politics or 

To help fight that cold and flu 

We’re now into the 

rainy season 

which wreaks a lot 

of havoc on our health. The 

most irritating is the colds 

and flu. If you’re currently 

battling with either of them, 

medical experts proffer 

these tips:- 

Unblock your nose: Using 

a nasal decongestant will 

open your breathing 

passage. However, don’t 

use one for more than three 

days in a row, or you may 

suffer a ‘rebound effect’ and 

end up more congested than 

you were to begin with. 

Some doctors suggest you 

use a Saline Spray instead 

of a nasal decongestant. It 

works more slowly but has 

no rebound effect. 

Stop the spread: Washing 

your hands properly is the 

best way to stop the spread 

of germs. Consider carrying 

an antiviral hand foam with 

you if you don’t have access 

to soap and water. 

Catch it and bin it: Always 

sneeze cough into tissue. 

This keeps droplets carrying 

the virus from spreading in 

the air and infecting people 

around you. Dispose off 

as a top civil servant! 

In the wake of the minimillionaires, 

several women 

were left in the lurch either 

because they did not fit into 

their men’s new status or 

because their men have 

acquired a few, other women 

as classless as they (the 

men) were. So, naturally, 

these abandoned women 

became bitter. They knew a 

few of the tricks their men 

used to get rich quick. And 

didn’t someone mention 

drug trafficking and 

financial scams? 

They quickly became 

mistresses of the game. 

So, at parties these days, 

you see a group of the same 

women – all professionally 

bleached, all wearing 

expensive lace, silk or Godknows-what-else 

materials 

and expensive jewelries to 

boot-spraying each other 

and making the band 

leaders almost eat at their 

feet. The men have since 

realised that they have lost 

in the Nairamania race. 

They sit quietly and dare 

not venture on to the dance 

floor. The few that usually 

do always put a straight face 

on. 

They make for the 

celebrant, clumsily spray 

whoever it is and hurry back 

to their seats, pointedly 

ignoring the sniggers of 

other women on the dance 

floor! Poor men! The current 

financial crunch hasn’t done 

much for their ego either. 

Money, money, money. 

used tissues straightaway. 

Boost your immune 

system: Drink plenty of 

fluids, eat healthily, get 

plenty of rest and consider 

taking Vitamin C and Zinc 

supplements. Even if they 

The last of such parties I 

attended, the spendthrifts 

were there as usual. The 

band leader, noticing this, 

wasted little time on his 

“testing, testing” caper! He 

started praising the women 

in turns until he came to a 

particular one who was 

conspicuously absent. The 

poor band leader thought 

she was at the party, as it 

was a member of her group 

that was the celebrant. He 

started extolling the bogus 

virtue he’d tagged her with 

and some of the guests were 

appalled. 

“What’s the matter with 

him?” hissed one of the 

women. In minutes, there 

were furious whispers as to 

how the woman in question 

can’t prevent a cold, there is 

evidence to suggest that 

they may help shorten the 

duration of one. 

Try natural remedy: 

Remedies that contain 

pelargonium extracts are 

specifically licensed for the 

treatment of upper 

respiratory tract infection. 

was now a guest in one of 

the prisons of the 

government of the United 

States! Poor greedy woman! 

She’d tried to find another 

warehouse to traffic drugs in 

and an X-ray room showed 

the authorities her new 

methods. 

A few months ago, a 

colleague said he was 

speechless when a friend of 

his girlfriend’s came to warn 

him that if this particular 

girlfriend didn’t stop 

trafficking in drugs, she 

might be caught – and soon 

too! 

“I went to her house 

immediately”, said the 

colleague. “I was convinced 

that this friend was raising 

an unnecessary alarm. I was 

instantly on my guard when 

I saw some few newly 

acquired expensive items in 

the living room. She then 

asked jokingly if I’d come to 

take her to dinner. ‘Dinner 

ke?’ I crowed, ‘where would 

I get that kind of money at 

such short notice?’ 

If it was a matter of a little 

item like money she said, 

then she would take me! 

I began to feel amused by 

this sudden show of wealth. 

As I led the way towards my 

nine-year-old tokunbo Benz, 

she said she would like me 

to have a feel of her new car 

– a brand new Jeep! 

“That did it! When we got 

to the restaurant, I warned 

her not to do anything 

dangerous as I’d heard 

some nasty rumours about 

her. She sneered that most 

of her friends were just 

jealous. That she now 

travelled strictly for business 

and would stop as soon as 

she hit a certain ‘target!’. 

The problem with jealous 

Nigerians, she said, was 

that they were always 

attributing honest wealth to 

shady deals. 

“Well, that was the last I 

heard of her. She was 

caught on her last ‘trip’ and 

the landlord has thrown her 

things out of the flat”. 

The saddest part of the 

whole sordid detail is that 

not only illiterates are 

resorting to dangerous 

means to get money. A 

respectable old man whose 

daughter was jailed abroad 

recently said he was sorry 

she was caught abroad. 

He would have wished 

that she were caught here 

and if possible paraded on 

the pages of the newspapers 

and shown on the tube like 

the cheap criminal she was. 

That might just serve as a 

deterrent to other would be 

criminals. But would it?! 

Hopefully in a few months 

time, we would be picking 

up our lives after the 

ravages of the virus. It’s 

always been said that the 

country has always stood on 

her feet in spite of her 

fortunes being plundered by 

the politicians because of 

the spoils from the activities 

of drug barons and yahoo 

boys. We’ll soon find out to 

what extent this is true.

26—Vanguard, SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2020 

Hi, 

Josephine finally returned home to 

her parents’ last week after a three 

year long battle to save her 

marriage. It was no secret to everyone 

that her marriage to her childhood 

sweetheart had hit the rocks even before 

then. Yet, events leading up to their 

irreconcilable differences had not failed 

to shock everyone who heard the story, 

including yours truly. And once again, 

my fear for the social media platforms 

was confirmed. It is no place for the naive 

and ignorant. 

Josephine had met Tayo, at a party, 

right after graduating from high school. 

Theirs was love at first sight and Tayo 

had been literally swept off her feet. And 

which young girl wouldn’t as Tayo, who 

already had a good job in one of the hip 

second generation banks and was 

already positioned to have a successful 

banking career. He had almost 

everything to execute the duties of a 

perfect knight in shining armour. By 

Josephine’s third year in the university, 

she became pregnant, sealing the fate 

of the relationship. Though some 

thought it a bit untidy and careless of 

the lovers, especially because Josephine 

was a bit too young and inexperienced 

for marriage at 21, family and friends 

rallied round and the ceremonies were 

performed. To the envy of many of her 

friends, Tayo bought her a little Nissan 

car as soon as the pregnancy was 

announced and on resumption back to 

school after the birth of their baby boy, 

he replaced it with a Toyota CRV. On 

graduation two years later, he helped 

establish a business of her own, insisting 

that he wanted her to devote enough 

time to him and their children. 

Unfortunately, Josephine was not able 

to conceive another child until she 

moved back home last week. What began 

as a happy ever after love story has been 

ruined by insatiable and unchecked 

desires, fuelled by the internet. And no 

one suspected a thing until it was too 

late to salvage the situation. 

Tayo had invited his unsuspecting inlaws 

to their home in Festac Town early 

one Saturday morning three years ago. 

He had refused to tell them of the 

agenda of the invite and insisted he 

wanted to spring a surprise on their 

daughter. But they became suspicious 

that the surprise might not be a happy 

one after all, when they arrived and met 

Tayo’s parents, the officiating pastor at 

their wedding, and some other key family 

members and friends already seated. 

The surprise was actually on Josephine 

who had no prior information that such 

a meeting had been scheduled. Without 

wasting much time, Tayo commenced the 

meeting and brought out heaps of 

printed papers to buttress his story. His 

pretty young wife had been cheating on 

him on the internet with another man. 

Tayo insisted that though his wife had 

not consummated the relationship with 

her supposed lover until that moment , 

he was convinced that the affair was not 

her first and that she would have done 

it, if the circumstances were different. 

How did this happen? 

Tayo revealed that he began suspecting 

his wife of keeping secrets from him 

when he noticed certain behaviours 

about her. His initial thought was that 

she might have fallen victim of 419 

activities in the course of her business, 

and did not want him to know. But later, 

he realised it was nothing that 

dangerous as she seemed to be enjoying 

whatever it was she was engaged in. 

Though he found it difficult to believe, 

he suspected infidelity and decided to 

hatch a plan to find out. So, he created 

a new Facebook account and personality 

for himself and befriended his wife. The 

discovery of his investigations were the 

print out papers. He revealed how his 

wife told him though she was married, 

her marriage was not a real one as she 

had been forced to marry her husband 

by her parents and he was a bit too old 

for her. She told her virtual lover whom 

Yetunde Arebi 

Beware of that friendship 

it 

If you observe 

carefully, you will 

discover that all 

those adages our 

parents used to 

admonish us with 

were really against 

Social Media 

she assumed was resident in the UK, 

how she was tired of the relationship as 

he was not taking good care of her and 

she needed money to start a business of 

her own. He showed evidence of the 

Western Union Transfers he made to her 

and all the sex laced messages they had 

been exchanging between them. He said 

she believed he arrived Nigeria the 

previous night and they had plans to 

meet later that same Saturday evening. 

It was indeed a bloody Saturday for 

Josephine and her parents. Tayo insisted 

that he had no plans to send her 

packing, but only wanted to let their 

parents, family and friends know that 

from then on, they were in an open 

marriage where each could do as he 

pleased. Everyone knew what the 

outcome would be, even without him 

voicing it out. So, no one was surprised 

two years ago when he announced that 

a female friend had birthed him a baby 

boy. The friend turned out to be an older 

woman and senior banker who had even 

attended their wedding. The lucky lady 

had given up on marriage and was only 

keen on having a child of her own when 

Tayo offered to donate his 

seed. As things turned out, 

three months after the birth of 

their baby boy, a visible 

pregnancy is already on 

parade while Josephine only 

has a 10 year old boy to show 

for all their years together. 

I have seen Josephine twice 

since she returned home and 

I cannot but wonder what 

actually went down in her head 

that would have led her to 

venture down the path she 

went. It definitely was not 

hunger, poverty, idleness or 

neglect. A man sensitive 

enough to know that his wife 

was hiding something from 

him, can’t really be guilty of 

neglect. But perhaps, the sex 

was not pleasurable enough. 

It is not the number of times 

you have sex, the positions, or 

the intensity of the strokes that 

really matters. If the sex is not 

pleasurable or satisfying for 

both partners, then it might 

just be a waste of time and 

effort. And many Nigerian 

men are guilty of this. I am one 

of those who spoke in favour 

of Josephine at the time. Since 

the affair was only on social 

media and not a physical one, 

then she cannot be totally 

culpable of infidelity. (wetin 

man for do? We must speak in 

favour of our own, a la Naija 

style) But Josephine is sure 

guilty of emotional infidelity 

and betrayal of trust. She is 

also guilty of defamation of 

character as everyone knows 

that whatever Tayo might be 

guilty of, it definitely was not 

lack of care and financial 

support. But that is the way the 

cookie crumbles. 

Anyone who wants to cheat 

in a relationship often looks for 

excuses outside of themselves. 

What their partners did or 

failed to do is usually 

responsible for their roving 

eyes. Rarely do we find men 

or women bold enough to tell 

Twitter: @yetundearebi 

yetty5050@yahoo.co.uk 

08054700825 

straight as it is, “I desire you and 

would like to share some time with 

you”! ”I can’t keep my pants on” or “I 

simply find you irresistible!” (Hmm! 

maybe that does really sound weird, 

right?) Tayo did kept to his promise not 

to throw Josephine out of the marriage, 

but he never promised to keep her 

actions secret. He maintains for all who 

cares to listen that he believes his wife 

was never faithful to him before or after 

their marriage and that he does not trust 

her enough to believe that she would, 

even after all that had gone down. But 

for the sake of their child, he would 

remain in the union and she was free to 

also take her decisions. Josephine 

finally made her decisions last week, at 

least, for the time being. Now that the 

pretenses are up, maybe proper 

interventions can now take place and 

the couple can be truly reconciled. After 

all, Tayo has taken his pound of flesh! 

Interestingly, I have recently 

discovered that a lot of shenanigans go 

on in the name of socialising and being 

a cosmopolitan individual with no 

inhibitions who can say or do anything 

as they please often in the name of 

catching fun. I recently accepted invites 

to some groups and the kind of contents 

I have been reading as contribution from 

some persons have been shocking. The 

brash banality of some words belie the 

personas against whose names the 

words are attributed. Married men and 

women, fathers and mother who ought 

to set worthy examples for younger 

generations on these groups often are 

the ones prodding and luring these 

children into unwholesome lifestyles and 

situations. The make believe virtual 

world of the Social Media has misled 

many to cast doubts about themselves 

and their reality, rather believing in the 

lovely pictures and glorious descriptions 

of places and events displayed by others. 

If you observe carefully, you will 

discover that all the those adages our 

parents used to admonish us with were 

really against Social Media. 

Many still don’t get it, that when we 

were told “all that glitters is not gold”, 

you will find the answers on Facebook 

and Instagram et al. Not all those pictures 

you see of beautiful faces in glam clothes 

and locations are real. There is hardly 

nothing Photoshop and some other 

computer software cannot fix these days. 

When you remember the warning about 

evil communication, remember the child 

of whom you are, or rather, the partner 

of whom you are, before courting the 

friendship of strangers on the internet. 

The parties and hang outs in the name 

of socialising might just be your 

undoing. Many have been thrown into 

perpetual depression after being duped 

of their money and body in the course 

of so called friendships and love affairs. 

This is not to say that good things don’t 

happen daily on Social Media, or that 

great relationships are not formed and 

life changing businesses are not 

brokered in these chat rooms, but the 

evil ones are also real and may destroy 

your life and all you have achieved. 

Had Josephine stopped to think for a 

moment that the person she was talking 

to at the other end could be anyone other 

than whom he claimed, perhaps she 

would not have told so much lies against 

her caring husband, simply to discredit 

him and paint the picture of a struggling 

and unloved woman for the sake of the 

benefits she was hoping to gain from 

the relationship. But Tayo insists he is 

unconcerned about all that. He says he 

would have forgiven her if she had not 

informed him that she had a party 

outside Lagos with some friends and 

would not be retuning until Sunday 

evening. Had he not been the writer of 

the script playing out, he would have 

allowed her attend without knowing a 

thing. That, he insists, is his main 

grouse. 

Hmmm! Do have a wonderful 

weekend!!


08116759759 

Brazil president still telling people to ‘ignore 

lockdown’ despite 6,000 coronavirus deaths 

More than 87,000 people 

have been infected with 

Covid-19 in Brazil, but 

president Jair Bolsonaro still claims 

social distancing is ‘not really 

necessary’ ore than 6,000 people in 

Brazil have died from coronavirus - 

but president Jair Bolsonaro insists 

residents continue to ignore 

isolation orders. 

To date, 87,364 people have been 

infected with Covid-19 in the South 

American country, with more deaths 

than China. 

Since the global outbreak, 

Bolsonaro’s view has dismissed the 

need for social distancing, claiming 

the disease has been ‘exaggerated’. 

And locals appear to agree, with 

support for isolation faltering as 

more and more pro-Bolsonaro 

supporters agree with the president’s 

views about coronavirus. 

Brazil is said to still be weeks away 

from the peak of the virus, but there 

appear to be no signs of any strict 

lockdown measures. 

He said only high-risk residents 

should isolate. When questioned 

about the worryingly high death toll, 

Bolsonaro replied: “ So what? I’m 

sorry. What do you want me to do?” 

Divina Baldomero, 75, is one of 

many that are defying the lockdown. 

She told the Mail Online : “At first 

I thought [the shutdown] was viable. 

“Later, I came to think we will have 

more economic difficulties, with the 

poverty there is. There should be a 

different way so we can be free of 

this.” 

Even celebrities are ignoring 

social distancing rules. 

Personal trainer Gabriela Pugliesi, 

told her 4.5 million instagram 

followers to stay home and take 

care of themselves after she 

contracted Covid-19. 

But after recovering, she threw a 

party at her apartment in Sao Paulo, 

where no one wore masks and in 

one video Pugliesi posted, she and 

friends shouted ‘Screw life!’ into the 

camera. 

Many others play down 

coronavirus as to nothing worse 

than the flu. 

Lilia Santiago, a 51-year-old 

dentist, said: “People at risk, with 

respiratory problems, auto-immune 

diseases, should take care, which 

doesn’t mean they can’t go out. 

“We can’t be locked inside an 

apartment or house. We need to 

circulate, but safely. 

“You don’t stand next to someone 

with a cold. 

“Flu kills more than coronavirus, 

folks! A lot of things kill more than 

coronavirus!” 

Last month, chilling pictures 

emerged of mass graves that shows 

the extend of the coronavirus 

pandemic that has gripped Brazil. 

It is speculated that some victims 

may not feature in the figures 

because they were not tested after 

they died. 

The nephew of Vítor Batista, who 

was buried in one of the mass graves 

at Vila Formosa in São Paulo, said 

his uncle may have been a victim 

after he died on pneumonia. 

Ulisses Frutuoso said his uncle 

passed away before the results of 

his Covid-19 tests returned. 

Three grave diggers, one dressed 

in a white protective smock, lowered 

the 96-year-old into his final resting 

place. 

Workers at the cemetery of said they 

are sure Covid-19 has claimed more 

casualties than official statistics 

suggest and burials have shot up by 

50 per cent since the first reported 

case of coronavirus arrived in Brazil 

in late February. 

One anonymous grave digger told 

FT.com : “We have been burying a 

lot. Many arrive here before getting 

the test results.” 

Bolsonaro previously slammed 

state governors for imposing partial 

lockdowns and fired his popular 

health minister, Dr Luiz Henrique 

Mandetta, after he said he wanted 

tighter social distancing rules and 

that there were more cases than those 

confirmed - calling the official 

figures ‘the tip of the iceberg’. 

A spokesman for the Health 

Operations and Intelligence Nucleus, 

or NOIS, said it was difficult to 

estimate the actual number of deaths 

because of the speed the virus is 

spreading combined with the low 

number of tests taking place. 

He added: “The high degree of 

under-reporting may give a false 

impression about disease control 

and, consequently, could lead to a 

decline in the implementation of 

containment actions.” 

Struggling mum-of-eight with no money forced 

to cook stones for starving kids 

China mocks US handling of 

coronavirus pandemic with scathing Lego cartoon 

A 

n animation titled “Once Upon 

a Virus” has been released by 

the the state Xinhua news agency, in 

which a terracotta warrior tells off 

the Statue of Liberty for 

underestimating the danger of 

Covid-19 

China has released a cartoon 

taunting the US for its response to 

the coronavirus pandemic. 

The 90-second animation - called 

“Once Upon a Virus” - uses Legolike 

figures to represent the two 

countries. 

Posted online by Xinhua, China’s 

state news agency, the video shows 

red curtains opening to reveal a stage 

featuring a terracotta warrior 

wearing a face mask and the Statue 

of Liberty. 

The warrior alerts the New York 

symbol to the worrying spread of a 

new illness, saying: “We discovered 

a new virus.” 

In a response echoing comments 

made by US President Donald 

Trump, the statue then replies “So 

what? It’s only a flu.” 

The warrior counts off the grim 

milestones in China’s outbreak and 

advises the statue to stay at home, 

only to receive the answer: “It’s 

violating human rights.” 

“Are you listening to yourselves?” 

asks the warrior as the statue begins 

to turn red with fever and gets 

hooked up to an intravenous drip. 

“We are always correct, even 

though we contradict ourselves,” the 

statue replies. “That’s what I love 

about you Americans, your 

consistency,” says the warrior. 

Washington and Beijing have been 

locked in a war of words over the 

origins of Covid-19, which emerged 

in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the 

end of last year. 

Since then, the deadly virus has 

swept across the world and the US 

now has more cases than any other 

country by far, with more than 1.1m. 

More than 67,000 Americans 

have now lost their lives to the killer 

bug, a death toll greater than that 

suffered during the Vietnam War. 

China has suffered 4,633 deaths 

from the virus, and has officially 

recorded 82,877 cases. 

It is widely believed that the 

coronavirus first jumped from 

animals to humans at a live animal 

market in Wuhan, a transport hub 

in Hubei province. 

However, alternative theories 

have begun to surface and Trump 

said on Thursday that he is confident 

Covid-19 may have in fact 

originated in a Chinese virology lab. 

The US President declined, 

however, to describe the evidence 

behind his claim. 

China has been accused of 

misleading the world about the 

severity of the outbreak, and there 

are growing calls for an 

international inquiry into the origins 

of the virus. 

In an interview with Reuters, 

Trump said he believes China’s 

handling of the pandemic is proof 

that Beijing “will do anything they 

can” to make him lose his reelection 

bid in November. 

Lego’s press office has confirmed 

it had no involvement in the video. 

The company said in a statement: 

“We weren’t involved in making the 

animation in any way.” 

idow Peninah Bahati 

WKitsao, from Kenya, has 

been left penniless due to the 

coronavirus pandemic and cooks 

her children stones hoping they 

fall asleep waiting for food 

A widowed mum-of-eight was 

left so poor because of the 

coronavirus crisis that she was 

forced to cook stones for her kids 

in the hope they would fall asleep 

before their ‘meal’ was ready. 

Peninah Bahati Kitsao from 

Kenya used to wash laundry 

locally to make ends meet but 

since the lockdown she has been 

left penniless and 

unable to 

buy food. 

H e r 

concerned 

neighbour 

P r i s c a 

Momanyi 

told Kenya’s 

NTV about 

her struggle 

after she 

heard her 

children 

c r y i n g 

because they 

were hungry. 

Peninah, who lives in a twobedroomed 

house without 

running water or electricity, lost 

her husband last year after he was 

killed by a gang. 

She told NTV that her ruse was 

uncovered quickly by her 

children. She said: “They started 

telling me that they knew I was 

lying to them, but I could do 

nothing because I had nothing.” 

After the news station 

highlighted her heartbreaking 

plight donations have since poured 

in to help Peninah and her family. 

Money has been sent to her via 

mobile phone and through a bank 

account that was opened for her by 

Prisca as Peninah is unable to read 

or write. 

Peninah told Tuko news website: 

“I didn’t believe that Kenyans can 

be so loving after I received 

phone calls from all over the 

country asking how they might be 

of help.” 

The Kenyan 

government has 

launched a 

f e e d i n g 

programme to 

help the most 

vulnerable from 

the coronavirus 

pandemic but it 

had not reached 

Peninah. 

There have 

been 490 

coronavirus 

cases and 24 

deaths in Kenya. 

Since March 25, all 

international flights to and from 

Kenya have been suspended by the 

government. Cargo flights are 

excepted, but crew must observe 

strict guidelines. 

Anyone who entered Kenya 

between March 22 and March 25 

was quarantined for 14 days at a 

government designated facility 

which they would be charged for.


COVID-19: Investing in telecom, ICT 

easy way to revive our economy 

—Infravision Boss 

By Moses Nosike 

T 

he COVID-19 pandemic 

sweeping across the 

globe has affected 

economies and businesses in 

the ICT industry, leading to 

uncertainties, unemployment, 

cost increase and operational 

difficulties and more. Chief 

Operating Officer of 

Infravision, 

a 

telecommunications service 

provider, Arinze Chukwudile 

in this interview with Nosike 

Moses reveals the efforts of 

his organization to remain in 

operation at this time of 

COVID-19 pandemic hitting 

hard on global economies. He 

also mentions some of the 

challenges threatening 

Telecom/ICT industries 

especially this time and how 

government of the day can be 

of immense help to cushion 

the effects of doing business 

now in Nigeria. Excerpts: 

As a Nigerian business 

enterprise operating in the ICT 

industry, how is your 

organization coping at this 

COVID-19 pandemic period? 

Our organization provides 

managed services to Telecom 

Operators (that is supporting the 

Telcom Operators to manage their 

network infrastructure). Our staff are 

widely distributed across many 

states in Nigeria, providing field 

operations support that requires 

moving across several sites to resolve 

network issues. In addition, we have 

some dedicated employees at our 

HQ to provide back end support to 

the field team. In view of the nature 

of our business, we started making 

some preparations in advance, like 

purchase of material stock required 

for operations, purchase of PPE 

(Personal Protective Equipment) for 

regional field staff. The back end 

staff supporting the field operations 

team were accommodated in hotels 

close to their working facilities. In 

all, our planned forecast was just for 

a few weeks, but since the COVID- 

19 Pandemic is now extending for 

long time, we still need government 

support as our stocks will run out 

soon, which means the telecom 

network quality will be affected. 

Following this, we have sent a letter 

to the Hon Minister of 

Communication and Digital 

Economy, duly signed by 16 MDs of 

Telecom Service Providers to make 

our appeal officially known. 

What are the major 

challenges of your 

organization while providing 

Telecoms/ICT services in the 

country at this time of 

COVID-19 Pandemic? 

The main issue now is that 

Telecom operators have reduced and 

as well cut down their planned 

investments. This adjustment has 

affected service providers like us due 

to decrease in the network rollout. 

It also affected our gross revenue 

and decline in business 

opportunities. Despite the decline, 

operational costs keep rising 

because of an increase in material 

costs, service purchase costs and 

o t h e r 

unanticipated 

costs. Under such 

circumstances, it 

is most likely that 

some of us who 

are service 

providers may be 

indebted or go 

bankrupt. We are 

therefore 

With 

appealing to 

appropriate 

government 

authorities to the 

provide us some 

relief that could 

sustain our 

business and 

keep the job for 

our people, so 

that we continue 

to provide quality 

services needed 

in the ICT 

industry. 

There are 

fears and 

tension among 

employees 

mostly in the 

private sector of possible job 

loss should the COVID-19 

persists, is your organisation 

thinking towards that direction? 

We are not. Although there has 

been news circulating around that 

COVID-19 

pandemic plunging 

economies into 

recession, some 

countries like South 

Africa, South Korea, 

and the Middle East 

etc. have started 

investing in 

Telecommunications/ 

ICT sectors 

some organizations are trying to 

downsize workforce, our 

organization has ensured that its 

employees so far keep their jobs 

even as their salaries are being paid 

up till date. Considering also that 

we have our employees working in 

different states of the federation, we 

have maintained 

a steady touch 

with them via 

emails, video, 

a u d i o 

conferences to 

continually keep 

them abreast 

with the situation 

and their wellbeing. 

Honestly 

speaking, the 

situation is bleak 

at the moment as 

world we don’t know 

how long we can 

sustain this. 

However, we 

hope that with 

the anticipated 

intervention of 

the government 

in the Telecoms/ 

IT sectors, we 

can jointly create 

an enabling 

environment for 

the ICT Industry 

investment, 

which will 

ultimately 

protect the 

employment of 

our employees. 

What are the likely 

consequences of the situation 

on ground on the national 

economy? 

One of the obvious consequences 

on the national economy is 

reduction in staff overhead which 

will lead to job losses in order for 

businesses to stay afloat. This would 

also result to slower response times, 

thus causing poor network quality 

and increase in customer 

complaints. Other sectors that rely 

on Telecoms/ICT network to 

provide internet services to them 

such as banks, insurance companies, 

hospitals etc. will also be affected. 

As you can see, this would have an 

overall negative impact on the 

Nigerian economy and bad user 

experience. 

However, with COVID-19 

pandemic plunging the world 

economies into recession, some 

countries like South Africa, South 

Korea, and the Middle East etc. have 

started investing in 

Telecommunications/ICT sectors, 

as part of their strategy to speedily 

recover from recession, knowing 

that there is huge potential in the 

sector. And if Nigerian government 

can channel resources to 

Telecommunications/ICT sector, it 

would quickly help our economy to 

recover from the effect of the 

COVID-19 pandemic. So we advise 

the government and private sectors 

to consider investing in the 

Telecommunications/ICT industry. 

Since the lockdown, there 

had been reports of increased 

crime rates mostly in some 

parts of Lagos, Ogun and 

Abuja, what measures is your 

organization taking to 

protect your field workers? 

This is really a big challenge we 

are facing as an organization in this 

period of COVID-19 pandemic, 

because we have some of our field 

operations employees at risk while 

going to site to resolve network 

issues. We had to make special 

budget for their safety which has 

increased our operational cost. 

Even though we have good 

collaboration with law enforcement 

agencies and the local 

communities, we still encounter 

some of these challenges. For 

instance, one of our engineers was 

attacked recently by hoodlums on 

his way to site. Fortunately, he did 

not sustain serious injuries, but he 

lost his phone, wallet, ATM and 

some money to those attackers. 

Hoodlums attacks were much 

because of hunger and a lot of people 

who earn a daily living cannot go 

out as a result of the pandemic. We 

are asking the federal and state 

governments to put in place 

adequate security measures to 

protect lives and property during this 

pandemic period. 

How do you think 

government can help in 

resolving these challenges? 

The government can help by 

making available loans/ 

intervention packages to support 

struggling businesses or other 

supportive policy as incentive for 

investment. This will motivate the 

Telecom Operators to carry out new 

investments which would in turn 

provide revenue stream 

opportunities for other providers 

like our organization in this sector. 

As a maintenance team 

leader, what are the major 

challenges of your team 

working during this COVID- 

19 period? 

The first challenge is that many of 

the engineers are afraid of 

contracting COVID-19 despite 

wearing PPE to site. This fear has 

made some of them delay in 

responding to and resolving network 

issues at sites. Again, the situation 

has made it difficult to move around 

because of the restriction imposed 

by the federal and state 

governments, where at different 

check points security operatives 

carry out checks before they are 

allowed to move on. This no doubt 

causes a lot of delay and make 

engineers to arrive late at site. 

The situation on ground also 

makes it difficult for engineers to 

access sites located in residential 

homes, offices and estates because 

those areas have placed strict access 

restriction for non-residents or nonemployees. 

As such, the engineers 

find it difficult to access these 

locations to resolve network faults. 

This causes long fault resolution 

time (MTTR) and results to poor 

network service and bad user 

experience in the affected areas. We 

therefore call on the government, 

organizations, residential estates 

office organizations and 

individuals, having network 

equipment installed at their 

premises to give special 

consideration to Telecoms/ICT 

managed service engineers to 

enable them resolve issues timely. 

Tell us other challenges as 

a field team leader while 

carrying out Telecoms 

network rollout/expansion 

work during this COVID-19 

period? 

The first challenge is nonavailability 

of new network roll out 

jobs. Even some of the previously 

awarded contract jobs had been 

stopped and withdrawn by the Telco 

operators. As a result, many of the 

installation engineers who work on 

contracts are without jobs. Many of 

them have been placing calls to me 

and lamenting about the situation 

and how they find it difficult to feed 

themselves and their families. 

Another challenge is the difficulty 

of moving around this period as 

some of the engineers who are still 

having some jobs to execute 

complained bitterly the challenge 

of transportation and security 

checks.

Story of the National Institute for Sports 

– incomplete without Lasun Emiola! 

For very many reasons I do not 

like to write about the National 

Institute for Sports, NIS. 

Its story is a pathetic reminder of 

how Nigeria has lost its way in the 

development of Sports. 

The mere thought of what Nigeria 

could have achieved had the 

trajectory of the original visionaries 

of the national institute being 

sustained since it was established 

as an arm of the National Sports 

Commission in 1974 for the training 

of elite athletes, short–term 

professional courses for coaches and 

administrators, and as the best 

research centre for sports in the 

country, dampens the spirit. 

Every time I think of the NIS I am 

reminded of Onyeka Onwenu’s 1984 

BBC award-winning television 

documentary titled ‘The 

Squandering of Riches’. The 

National Institute for Sports is a 

national treasure being squandered 

on the altar of a leadership of 

Nigerian sports that is not often 

appointed on the basis of experience 

in the field, good qualifications, and 

passion, but on purely political 

considerations that often do not 

favour sports. 

Very easily the damage done to 

the NIS, a ‘carbon copy’ of the 

German Institute of Sports, GIS, in 

Hennef at inception, where several 

Nigerian coaches and sports 

administrators were trained in the 

days before the NIS was established, 

is primarily the result of the high 

turnover of the political appointees 

without a solid sports background, 

from the late 1980s, that continues 

to this day. Sports Ministers were 

often reluctant appointees from 

other disciplines. So, they never 

quite have the deep knowledge of 

the intricacies of the sector. That has 

been a big limiter of sports 

development, even as Mr. Sunday 

Dare, the current Minister of Sports, 

is determined to prove that 

German-born 

Nigeria 

international Leon 

Balogun has refused to rule 

out a return to the German 

Bundesliga . 

The future of the central 

defender will be the subject of 

speculation in the coming 

weeks as his contract with 

Brighton & Hove runs out at the 

end of next month. 

Balogun played for only 

German clubs until the summer 

of 2018 when he joined the 

Seagulls where he failed to nail 

down a regular spot, before 

switching to Championship 

outfit Wigan Athletic on loan in 

the January transfer window. 

“Germany is my home, I 

would always think about it,” 

Balogun said to Kicker 

according to Fussballtransfers. 

“I’m still fit. Even if I turn 32 

in summer, I still have a few 

years in my legs. I would also 

like to continue the experience 

of England, but the bottom line 

is that it is nowhere like at 

home.” 

The former Mainz, Werder 

Bremen and Fortuna 

Dusseldorf man has enjoyed a 

new lease of life since moving 

to the Latics, leading to his 

recall to the Super Eagles for 

their postponed Africa Cup of 

assumption wrong and make a 

difference. Time shall tell. 

It is for that reason that the 

National Institute for Sports has 

been one of the least funded 

parastatals in the entire 

government, because no one see and 

appreciates its relevance, or role 

within the polity. 

When Dr. Amos Adamu came from 

academia and soon headed the 

sports development department of 

the ministry in the early part of the 

1990s, he brought with him plenty 

of theoretical 

postulations, but little 

of their actual practice. 

So, he created his own 

version of sport 

development anew. He 

eventually, and 

unfortunately, became 

the most powerful 

administrator in 

Nigerian sports, 

without being well 

grounded in the 

original philosophy 

and mission of the 

institution. 

That’s what afflicted 

the NIS and started its 

decline down the rung 

of relevance in Nigerian 

sports development. 

Unfortunately, also, 

those that should have 

guided Adamu into 

that the NIS objectives 

were sacked or retired, and when 

responsibility fell upon him he was 

not adequately prepared with any 

deep understanding of the future 

envisaged by Isaac Akioye, Jerry 

Ekpeazu, Awoture Elayae, and all 

those first-generation sports 

administrators that laid the 

foundation stone of the NIS project. 

Adamu came in from a different 

‘planet’. 

He started to influence the 

appointment of the headship of the 

Leon Balogun faces uncertain 

future 

•May return to Germany 

Nations qualifiers against 

Sierra Leone in March. 

Balogun also lists Hertha 

BSC, FC Hertha 03 

Zehlendorf, Türkiyemspor 

Berlin, Hannover 96 and 

Darmstadt 98 among his 

previous clubs in Germany. 

Together we 

embarked on the 

most ambitious 

sports 

development 

project ever 

undertaken since 

the National 

Sports Festival 

was introduced 

in 1973 

national institute with his anointed 

persons with a strong leaning from 

academia, not technocrats on the 

practical side of sports as was 

originally envisioned. 

That’s when the derailment, the 

decline and decay started in the 

National Institute for Sports, with 

attendant effect on national sports 

development. 

It is no surprise, therefore, that no 

Minister, since Anthony Ikhazoboh 

left office, has fully grasped the 

essence and place of the NIS within 

Nigeria’s sports development frame 

work, and attempted to put it right 

back on track. They all largely 

neglected it in ignorance of its place 

in the development architecture. 

Today, the NIS is less than a 

shadow of itself. There is nothing of 

the original pieces of that institution 

left, apart from the dilapidated 

facilities and infrastructure. Nothing! 

That was the situation I met in the 

institution in 2000 

when I was made 

Chairman of the 

Governing Council. 

I was shocked to 

find that the 

management of the 

NIS had been trying 

desperately for years 

before that to get the 

National Technical 

Education Board, to 

accredit the Institute 

as a tertiary 

institution for the 

purpose of awarding 

National Diplomas 

like the OND, and 

HND. As noble as 

that objective may 

look on the surface it 

is a fundamental 

deviation from what 

the Institute was set 

up to produce. 

Any football player that could read 

or write qualified to enrol for a 

coaching course to enhance his 

knowledge and hone his coaching 

skills. That’s why several national 

coaches only had certificates from a 

few days’ or weeks’ of coaching 

courses in all manner of institutions 

abroad. Even clinics served as much 

needed qualifications to embark on 

a coaching career without hindrance. 

The NIS was conceived to bring 

an end to the traffic of retired athletes 

Diouf, Drogba weren’t at my 

level – Eto’o 

Samuel Eto’o has restated his 

belief that he is the greatest 

African footballer of all time, 

while also taking a jab at fellow 

former forwards El-Hadji Diouf 

and Didier Drogba. 

Former Liverpool forward 

Diouf recently claimed he was 

the greatest striker to ever come 

out of the continent, while 

debates over the best African 

players of all time tend to make 

mention of former Chelsea and 

Ivory Coast star Drogba. 

The claims of both have been 

dismissed by ex-Cameroon 

international Eto’o, who says 

his burning desire to be the best 

fired him to a stellar career. 

“Even if my brother Diouf the 

last time, with an extra glass, 

got a little lost, there is no 

debate”, said Eto’o, in a 

reference to the Diouf video 

where the former Senegal 

international appeared a little 

drunk. 

“None of them [Diouf and 

Drogba] can come and say that 

they were at my level or better. 

And it’s not the fact that I say 

it, it’s a fact, it’s something that 

is there. I wanted to be number 

one and I have been 

throughout my career.” 

•Emiola 


to Hennef, where Alabi Aissien, 

Christian Chukwu, and a whole host 

of other coaches had their coaching 

courses that gave them the 

necessary qualification to coach any 

of the national teams. 

‘Diamond Toe’ Baby Anieke, a 

member of the 1949 UK Tourists 

team, embarked on a coaching career 

with a few weeks course at the same 

NIS. That’s why he could coach the 

Junior national team when Isaac 

Akioye, his team mate in the squad, 

plucked him from his drinking 

addiction and led him into coaching 

the Junior national team in the late 

1970s. 

I served sports as Chairman 

Governing Council of the NIS for 3 

years (2000 to 2003). 

When I arrived at the NIS, the place 

had lost focus and was agitating for 

academic accreditation. 

My conviction was that there were 

only 2 ways to convince government 

that the NIS was heading in the 

wrong direction – bring back The 

German Institute of Sports that 

designed the original institution to 

remind government about its 

purpose; or introduce a new product 

or program that was working well 

elsewhere, and use it to convince 

government to tow that route. I 

chose the latter. 

I shared my thoughts with the 

Director of the NIS at the time, 

Professor Lasun Emiola. 

Together we embarked, in three 

years, on the most ambitious sports 

development project ever 

undertaken since the National 

Sports Festival was introduced in 

1973. 

With the Support of MTN who 

were introduced to the NIS by Mr. 

Dan Ngerem, the President of the 

Nigeria youth international 

Godfrey Bitok Stephen who 

plies his trade with Isloch in the 

Belarus top flight has tested 

positive for coronavirus. 

Bitok was part of the Imama 

Amapakabo U-23 national team 

that failed to qualify for the Tokyo 

2020 Olympic Games after 

crashing out of the Africa U-23 

AFCON. 

Bitok who is a regular for his 

club was voted in the team of the 

week after the last round of 

matches has since been isolated 

following the commencement of 

treatment for the virus. 

He becomes the second Nigerian 

footballer after Italian-Nigerian 

player King Paul Akpan Udoh to 

have contracted the virus which 

has been ravaging the world since 

Athletics Federation of Nigeria at 

the time, a passionate and 

consummate professional in sports 

administration, we invited officials 

from the Australian Institute of 

Sports, a global model sports 

development institute with 

excellent programmes at the time 

in Australia, to partner with the NIS, 

sign a relationship agreement, and 

undertake the design of a 

programme for all-round 

development of Nigerian elite 

athletes. 

It worked like a clock. Even 

President Obasanjo, president of 

Nigeria at the time, witnessed the 

agreement signing ceremony 

between the two institutes in the 

board room of the Australian Institute 

of Sports in Australia during his visit 

there. Within two years the job was 

completed and Nigeria had a brand 

new 10-year Elite Athletes 

Development Plan leading to the 

2016 Olympic Games. The project 

eventually collapsed like a pack of 

cards shortly after President 

Obasanjo left government. 

The man that drove those reforms 

and initiatives, a programme that 

would have transported Nigerian 

sports far into the 21st Century, was 

Professor Lasun Emiola. He took it 

from me and ran with it till he 

succeeded. That’s the nature of the 

man – a true hardworker. 

Last week Professor Lasun Emiola 

died at the Bayero University Kano. 

He served for 2 terms as Director of 

the NIS, from 1999 to 2007. After 

completing his tenure at the NIS he 

went to the University of Ilorin, and 

later to Bayero University Kano as a 

lecturer in the department of 

physical and health education. 

As I write this, he has been buried 

in accordance to Muslim rites. 

It is rather unfortunate that his 

huge contributions have not been 

acknowledged at all. Indeed, I have 

not seen a single major public 

announcement of his death, or a 

tribute to a man who was on the 

verge of writing one of the greatest 

chapters in the history of the NIS 

and the story of sports development 

in Nigeria. 

Let this be my humble tribute, 

therefore, to Professor Lasun Emiola 

on behalf of the entire sports 

fraternity, a man of nobility, a great 

visionary, a dedicated sports 

administrator, a first-class scholar 

and a great family man. The story of 

the NIS shall never be complete 

without a chapter on his 

contributions. 

My condolences go to his family, 

as I wish him a peaceful journey back 

to his Creator. 

Nigerian player tests positive to 

coronavirus 

The Bundesliga will be very 

different when it resumes 

today following a two-month 

suspension caused by the 

coronavirus pandemic. 

There will be no children to 

accompany players onto the 

field, no contact between rivals 

in the tunnel before games, no 

handshakes with the referee or 

match officials, substitutes will 

have to wear masks and sit 

apart, and even goals in the 

empty stadiums will be somber 

affairs — players have been 

warned to keep their emotions 

January and has resulted in halt 

to all economic and sporting 

activities throughout the world. 

The league in Belarus was the 

only tournament that didn’t shut 

down until recently after recording 

cases of coronavirus. 

Bundesliga resumes: No fans, 

no hugging, no spitting 

in check. 

Coaches will be permitted to 

remove their masks to shout 

instructions at their players – 

as long as they stay at least 1.5 

meters (yards) away. 

To compensate for the lack of 

atmosphere, Sky TV says it will 

offer viewers a new audio 

option with prerecorded fan 

chants, singing and reactions 

based on the games. Borussia 

Mönchengladbach will have 

artificial cutouts of real 

supporters in the stands for its 

remaining home matches.


Let Keshi rest i 

By NNEKA IKEM 

There have been many 

unverified allegations of 

coaches asking players to 

pay if they wished to be in the 

National or World Cup teams. 

There were also allegations of 

board members imposing players 

on the coaching crew. Coaches 

have also been accused of inviting 

players who were of no value to 

the national team just to appease 

an agent or just to showcase the 

player to international scouts. 

These are part of an unverified but 

syndicated game playing 

allegedly playing out at the 

national teams level and even at 

the U-17 cadre. 

In July 2018, a video footage of 

the then Super Eagles Coach 

Salisu Yusuf, allegedly collecting 

a cash gift of $1000 from 

investigative journalist Anas 

Aremeyaw Anas, who posed as a 

representative of Tiger Eye 

Agency to influence the selection 

of two Nigerian players Osas 

Okoro and Rabiu Ali was 

published. 

Yusuf, according to the 

undercover, had collected the 

money as bribe to get the players 

selected for the 2018 Africa Cup 

of Nations. 

He was tried and found guilty 

by the Nigeria Football 

Federation’s Committee on Ethics 

and Fair Play after pictorial 

evidence was presented and 

banned for one year with a fine of 

$5,000. 

Four years earlier, the Super 

Eagle technical crew of home 

grown coaches had qualified 

Nigeria for the 2014 World Cup 

In Brazil. 

The formidable crew of Stephen 

Okechukwu Keshi popularly 

known as the ‘Big Boss’ led Daniel 

Amokachi also known as ‘The 

Bull’, Sylvanus Okpala aka ‘Quick 

Silver’ in his hay days and 

goalkeeper trainer Ike Shorunmu. 

The Big Boss is late but a former 

Super Eagles player will not let 

the Big Boss rest in peace. Four 

years after the most successful 

Nigerian coach passed on, 

Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi has called 

out the coach who won the Africa 

Cup of Nations in 2013, accusing 

him and his crew of asking him 

for money before putting him in 

the 2014 Brazil World Cup bound 

team. 

Sylvanus Okpala, retired 

Nigerian football midfielder, ex 

International and former Super 

Eagles assistant trainer has 

quickly rebuffed Obasi’s 

damaging accusations on the 

dead and queried why it took him 

six years to speak out . 

“After the Africa Cup of Nations, 

I was asked to leave the national 

team so I wasn’t at the World Cup 

but Obasi wasn’t even part of our 

plan. Even when we went to the 

Nations Cup, he was not there and 

he never trained with us. 

“When we were there, we picked 

players based on merit . If you 

were not performing, we had no 

business with you and trust me, I 

don’t bend anyhow. So all we did 

was the right thing and I think 

Keshi performed well. If Obasi was 

truthful and confident that 

somebody demanded money, he 

should have said it when Keshi was 

alive. What stopped him from 

saying this since 2014? Was he 

dreaming of coming back to the 

national team? You have to check 

your age then you can damn the 

consequences and come out to say 

the truth. I’m not trying to defend 

anyone or say that it’s not 

happening, but I didn’t experience 

this in the squad that went to the 

Nations Cup and while I was 

there, there was no such thing. 

“Everything we did was based 

on merit. If you’re good, you’re 

good but if you weren’t good, 

sorry, we picked players based on 

merit. We did not look at faces.” 

Quick Silver is one of those 

dreaded Nigerian coaches 

because he calls a spade a spade 

without mincing words. 

“Obasi said he played in Europe 

and in the Champions league 

when he was dropped. What does 

that mean? That you’re playing in 

the Champions league doesn’t 

mean that a player who is not 

playing in the Champions league 

cannot be better than you. 

Football performance is not 

measured that way. The only 

difference is that your team is 

playing the Champions league 

and you’re fortunate to be in the 

team, but it doesn’t make you 

better than a player whose team 

is not playing in the Champions 

League. That is not the yardstick 

for measuring a good player. 

“These are some of the 

parameters we use that are wrong 

because football is not 

mathematics where two plus two 

gives you four. 

Obasi mentioned failure to 

bribe their way to the World Cup 

which was why players like Brown 

Ideye and Taiye Taiwo didn’t 

make Keshi’s team to the 2014 

edition but Okpala pulled his hair 

as he explained what transpired 

in the team at the time . 

“Brown Ideye helped the team a 

lot. He was instrumental to the 

team winning the Africa Cup of 

Nations in 2013 and made a lot 

of sacrifices. However, I wasn’t 

there during the World Cup but 

playing very well in the Nations 

Cup doesn’t mean that your form 

will be intact for the World Cup. 

You must continue to be in form 

to make the next competition. 

“In 1980 when we won the 

Nations Cup . Nigeria 

overwhelmed the Algerians here 

but the following year during the 

World Cup qualifiers, they 

defeated us 

both home and 

away. It was the 

same Algerian 

team with 

almost the same 

Nigerian team. 

So, in football, 

you have to 

maintain your 

form and not 

rely on your 

previous 

performance 

because other 

players are 

trying to break 

into the team 

and the coach 

wants to take 

the best to the 

competition. 

“However, if 

you ask me, I 

know that not 

all the 23 players will play in the 

World Cup. If you’re lucky without 

injury, you may play the World Cup 

with only 18 players. Based on his 

contributions during AFCON, 

maybe I would have asked Coach 

Keshi if we could add Ideye’s 

name for his contributions in the 

past. He was one player then that 

if you said you didn’t have a player 

on the left, Brown would go and 

perform creditably well. But that 

•Ike Uche 

Playing in the 

Champions 

league doesn’t 

mean that a 

player who is 

not playing in 

the Champions 

league cannot 

be better than 

you 

didn’t mean he 

had to relax 

because he won 

the Nations Cup. 

You must be in 

form for a coach 

to pick you. So, I’m still waiting 

for those who want to say rubbish 

about Keshi. 

Ikechukwu Uche 

I was not surprised that 

Ikechukwu Uche did not make it 

to the World Cup because I knew 

what we went through with him 

during the 2013 AFCON. In our 

first game, we were playing 1-1 

but were reduced to ten men and 

he was asked to come in. The 

coach told him what to do. When 

he got onto the pitch, he refused 

to do those things. 

“We had to change another 

player to fortify our defense. When 

that player was going in, Stephen 

Keshi told him what to tell Uche 

but he still refused to play to 

instruction. We were one man 

down and Uche was not falling 

back to defend. It was mass attack 

and mass defense but he refused 

to do all that and he was not in 

form too. 

“He was dropped from the team 

because he was disobedient. He 

kept on telling us that in his club, 

this was how they used to play and 

this is what our coach used to tell 

us. Then at a point in time, I called 

him and said IKE Uche, there is a 

way we want you to play here. 

This is the Nigerian National 

team and not your club, so this is 

how we want you to play. Don’t 

come and tell us about your club. 

He said well it will help me but I 

told him that if he played for 

Villarreal and Liverpool bought 

him, will he go to Liverpool and 

start telling them that 

this is how they play 

in Villarreal? You 

don’t tell the coach 

how to play you in 

Liverpool . 

Taiye Taiwo 

I also read about 

Taiye Taiwo’s outburst 

in the papers. After our 

experience with him, 

we never invited him 

again. 

During our AFCON 

qualifier against 

Rwanda, Taiye didn’t 

play well in that 

game. Keshi 

complained after the 

game but the players 

went back to their 

rooms and started 

plotting how to remove Keshi. 

They never knew that Keshi’s room 

was the next to Taiye’s room. 

“Taiye was telling other players 

that Keshi was shouting at him and 

that he will do to Keshi what he 

did to other coaches and that they 

would ensure that Keshi was 

sacked. 

“Keshi was in his room listening 

to all their conversations. Now, 

most of them are now coming to 

•Taiye Taiwo 

reacts to bribe 

•Captures inner workings of Keshi’s tea 

talk about money. It wasn’t about 

money because I knew about these 

two issues involving Taiye and 

Uche. 

“Which coach will like to invite 

a player who wants him sacked in 

his team? It’s not possible . I am 

telling you what happened as an 

insider. 

“One of the problems we had 

then in the National team was that 

some NFF officials had too much 

contact with the players. They 

called them on the phone, became 

too familiar with the players, 

gossiped about this and that. You 

don’t do that with players. 

“I had an experience during one 

•Sunday Mba 

of the days in camp. I was in 

charge of training the players. 

Sometime in 2012 before our 

qualifying match against Rwanda. 

I took a decision to do a little ball 

work instead of strenuous 

training, since we would be 

playing a match and it would help 

them get used to the game early. 

“So, I introduced the ball work 

but some of the so called big 

players went and complained to 

Keshi that he should see what I 

had introduced and that they 

didn’t want that. Keshi now called 

me and said that I should change 

and that the players didn’t want 

that, and that I should use the 

•Ideye


n peace, Okpala 

ry allegations 

m 

other warm up plan. 

Do you know what is happening 

today? Almost all the teams in 

Europe and around the world have 

adopted what I did so many years 

ago. I never saw anyone doing it 

back then but that is what is in 

vogue now. They use ball work to 

warm up now. The players rejected 

it many years ago. Is it because 

I’m not a white man? Is it only the 

Europeans who can develop 

tactics? Today, some of those 

players are coaches and they’re 

doing what Okpala initiated some 

years ago. 

“We must have to find players 

who want to play for the national 

team.” 

Why coaches run from home 

based players 

The issue of including home 

based players in the national 

teams is a sad story. We have many 

good players. What is making the 

coaches to run away from the 

home based players is the work. 

You need to train and coach them 

and you also need to teach them. 

This takes a lot of energy . 

“I know what we suffered to 

painstakingly get those home 

based players that we took to the 

Nations Cup and the 2014 World 

Cup. It was because we wanted to 

prove a point. It’s not because the 

players are not good. You can 

polish them to a standard but it 

takes a lot of hard work. 

Remember it was even the home 

based players who helped us to 

qualify for the 2013 Cup of 

Nations. During the qualifiers, we 

used about five players from the 

domestic league to execute the 

matches because most of them 

coming from Europe were not fit. 

We went to the Nations Cup with 

about three or four of home based 

who also played and won the cup! 

Which one is now better? A 

coach who took home based 

players and about three or four of 

them played and won a Nations 

Cup or a coach who never took 

home based players and never won 

the Nations Cup? Even in that 

Nations Cup, there’s no team that 

you’d say that overwhelmed the 

Super Eagles. 

“We played the 

Zambians, we 

played Burkina 

Faso twice..in the 

group stage and in 

the final. We played 

Mali and the 

Ivorians that 

everybody was 

afraid of playing. 

When we mention 

Cote D’Ivoire, it’s 

not the Ivorians of 

the last two or four 

years. I’m talking 

about the Ivorians 

of then... Yaya Toure 

and Didier Drogba. 

These were top 

players and our 

team dealt with 

them. We used the 

home based to win 

convincingly. They were taken to 

the World Cup and about four of 

them played while the rest were in 

the reserve team. They went to the 

2014 World Cup and qualified for 

the second round of the Mundial 

only to be defeated by France 2-1 

and you all knew what happened. 

“The game was very tight but 

France later won 2-1. How can 

you compare this performance 

with a coach who said home based 

players have nothing to offer? He 

went to the World Cup with all the 

professionals he’s talking about in 

Europe and he couldn’t get to the 

second round. These are the 

questions we need to ask.” 

During Okpala’s stint with the 

Which coach 

will like to 

invite a player 

who wants 

him sacked in 

his team? It’s 

not possible 

•Okpala 

Super Eagles, he recalled how the 

late Stephen Keshi invited the 

players in the domestic league to 

the national camp and released 

them for their club matches at 

weekends. 

“When Keshi was the Super 

Eagles Coach, he gave me the 

responsibility of inviting home 

based players to the national 

camp. He gave 

me the 

assignment and I 

remember 

encouraging him 

to keep the players 

because we could 

make something 

out of them. I 

remember telling 

him that by the 

time we start 

coaching these 

domestic players, 

he could tell them 

to go after two 

weeks , but if we 

are patient and 

keep them beyond 

two weeks, he 

would see the best 

of them. 

“It did happen that after the first 

one week, Keshi said no... no... 

these people have to go. I 

reminded him of my earlier 

warning. I told him to be patient 

and we were able to get about six 

home based players who won the 

Nations Cup and although some 

were dropped in the team to the 

World Cup when I wasn’t there. 

“Now, there are more talented 

players than before because I 

watch the league but the stress of 

bringing them to be at par in 

performance with those coming 

from Europe takes a lot of time 

and energy and that is what 

coaches are running away from. 

“Stephen Keshi went to the 

Nations Cup and won it. He went 

to the World Cup and qualified for 

the second round. He was not 

offered a contract rather they 

criticized him everyday in the 

media for nothing. Then, we had 

an assembly of good coaches. We 

had Stephen Keshi, Amokachi, 

Ike Shorunmu and myself and we 

knew where the direction we were 

going. 

“Suddenly, they came and 

disintegrated and destroyed the 

team. They removed me and 

caused a lot of trouble in the team 

because we won the Nations Cup 

or for whatever reason. I don’t 

know. We had a very formidable 

coaching crew. We set a goal and 

said this is where we were going. 

“Westerhof is being regarded as 

the best coach that ever tinkered 

the Nigerian team but it took 

Westerhof 5 years and 6 months ... 

let’s say six years to achieve the 

same thing that Stephen Keshi 

and his crew achieved in one year 

and six months! So who is better? 

Is it because we are Nigerians? 

“I needed to reply them because 

I was an insider and nobody can 

say I’ve taken money from him to 

do this or that, Okpala said. 

He probably forgot that 

Westerhof took an almost all 

home-based players to the 1990 

Nations Cup and won silver. That 

was just about one year after he 

resumed. Only Ademola Adeahina 

and Andrew Uwe were the foreignbased 

players in the team. From 

then till he left Westerhof used 

home players in matches. But this 

does not take anything away from 

the valid and brilliant points 

Okpala made. 

Joshua/Fury two-fight deal 

on horizon – Hearn 

Eddie Hearn claims 

Anthony Joshua is ready 

to sign a two-fight deal to 

face Tyson Fury in 2021. 

Hearn says Joshua will only 

fight once in 2020 in his IBF 

mandatory against Kubrat 

Pulev sometime this autumn 

and wants to agree a clash 

with Fury for the undisputed 

heavyweight title next year. 

WBC champ Fury is 

contracted to a trilogy fight 

with Deontay Wilder next and 

Hearn said: “It would 

probably be a two-fight 

deal. Any deal between 

Fury and AJ, you run it 

twice. 

“It’s not a condition of 

the deal, but it was in 

their deal with Deontay 

Wilder and it’s the 

biggest fight in boxing, so 

it’s likely you will see that 

twice. 

“I had a conversation 

saying, ‘Wilder is not 

stepping aside, we will take 

care of that fight, you take 

care of the Pulev fight, but 

let’s get a deal done for 

2021’. 

“We have no problem 

signing now to fight Fury in 

2021.” 

The Pulev fight, scheduled 

for June 20 at the Tottenham 

Hotspur Stadium, has been 

postponed because of the 

coronavirus and Hearn still 

hopes to stage it in the UK, 

despite offers to go abroad. 

•Anthony Joshua 

Man Utd set up Covid-19 testing 

station in training ground 

Manchester United have 

set up a testing facility 

in the car park of their 

Carrington Training Complex 

to test players and staff for 

coronavirus ahead of a return 

to training next week. 

The Red Devils are the 

latest of a number of clubs 

who are carrying out testing 

in line with 

the Premier 

League’s 

Project Restart 

plans to 

resume the 

season. 

Wolverhampton 

Wanderers 

were the first 

side to test 

staff for COVID-19 on 

Monday, when over 10 

members of their backroom 

staff were swabbed. 

Wolves have set up a drivethrough 

station at their 

Compton training ground 

where nose and mouth swabs 

were carried out by Premier 

League-approved medics. 

Samples were then sent to 

London for analysis and 

returned to the club’s doctor, 

with further tests to be carried 

out later this 

week and at 

further regular 

intervals. 

Wolves 

returned to 

training on 

Monday for the 

first time since 

the Premier 

League season 

was suspended in March, 

while United are set for a 

staggered return to 

Carrington starting next 

week. 

Coronavirus may cause 

‘irreversible’ lung damage 

– German doctor warns Bundesliga stars 

Bundesliga stars have 

been warned that 

catching coronavirus could 

cause ‘irreversible’ and 

‘career-ending’ lung damage 

by a top sports doctor ahead 

of the league’s return this 

weekend. 

The German Football 

League (DFL) has drawn up 

strict rules to protect players 

from the risk of being infected 

with the virus with games 

being played behind closed 

doors and only a limited 

number of media and officials 

allowed to attend. 

Players have also been told 

to avoid pre-match 

handshakes and celebrating 

goals together ahead of this 

weekend’s return. 

The DFL says while 

no plan could ever 

be ‘100 per cent safe’, the 

guidelines aim to create a 

playing environment with a 

low, ‘medically-justifiable 

risk’. 

However, professor Wilhelm 

Bloch, from the German 

Sports University in Cologne, 

warns that contracting the 

coronavirus has the 

potential to 

end a player’s 

career.

C 

M 

Y 

K 

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 16, 2020 

CROSS WORD PUZZLE 

SOLUTION TO PUZZLE ON 4 

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16052020 - Boko Haram -provided recruits sex slaves not wives money as promised

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