01082020 - You're cruel insentitive for care of repentant terrorists, abandoning us

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6 — SATURDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 1, 2020 

Eid-el-Kabir: 

Pray for an end to Coronavirus pandemic; 

Farouq, govs, clerics task Muslims 

As Nigeria joined the rest 

of the world to celebrate 

this year’s Eid-el-Kabir 

yesterday, Nigerian Muslims 

have been charged to use the 

occasion to pray for peace, 

unity, security and an end to 

coronavirus pandemic. 

Minister of Humanitarian 

Affairs, Disaster 

Management and Social 

Development, Sadiya Umar 

Farouq, state governors, 

political and religious leaders 

in their separate messages 

yesterday also urged 

Nigerians to tolerate one 

another and live together 

peacefully. 

Farouq calls for 

sacrifice 

By Nneka Ikem 

In her special Sallah 

message, Farouq said 

Nigerians should rededicate 

themselves to helping people 

around them and contribute 

their quota to nation building. 

She said, “today is another 

opportunity for us as 

Nigerians and muslims to 

come together and help the 

less privileged around us as 

commanded by Allah. 

Today’s celebration is all 

about sacrifice and total 

obedience to the will of God. 

“For us as muslims, such a 

day is not just about visiting 

friends, neighbours, eating 

and killing ram. It is about 

focusing on the ideals and 

lessons as passed down by 

Prophet Ibrahim. We should 

begin to ask ourselves what 

we can do for Nigeria rather 

than asking for what the 

country can do for us. We 

need to come together as a 

people to make Nigeria a 

nation that we will all be 

proud of. We must imbibe the 

spirit of charity, generosity 

and sacrificial giving to the 

less priviledged, 

downtrodden, widows, 

orphans and internally 

displaced persons. As we 

celebrate this memorable 

day amidst covid-19 

pandemic, we should also 

endeavor to follow all the 

safety guidelines as issued by 

the World Health 

Organization, the Federal 

Government and other 

relevant health authorities to 

stop the spread of corona 

virus.” 

KANO 

By Bashir Bello 

In his sallah message, Gov. 

Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano 

State urged Muslims to 

“remain steadfast and imbibe 

the culture of compassion, 

honesty and peaceful 

coexistence.” Briefing 

newsmen shortly after 

observing the Eid prayer at 

Kofar-Mata praying ground 

in Kano metropolis on 

Friday, Ganduje said this 

year’s Eid-el-Kabir festivities 

came at a trying moment 

occasioned by the debilitating 

effect of the Coronavirus 

pandemic across the globe 

and enjoined the people of 

the state to adhere strictly to 

COVID-19 safety protocols to 

stem further spread of the 

pandemic. 

In the spirit of Eid-el-Kabir 

celebration, Governor 

Ganduje of Kano State 

pardoned 29 inmates with 

minor offences across the 

custodial centers of the 

Nigerian Correctional 

Service, NSC in the state. 

In his sermon, the Chief 

Imam of Kano, Prof Sani 

Zahradeen, urged Muslims 

faithful to pray for an end to 

the Coronavirus pandemic 

and insecurity in the country. 

Zahradeen admonished 

Muslims faithful to use good 

teachings of the Eid-el-Kabir 

to promote love and 

brotherhood as well as live in 

peace and harmony with one 

another. Thousands of 

Muslims faithful including 

children dressed in colourful 

attires attended the prayer 

session while security 

personnel were deployed at 

the prayer grounds to 

enforce compliance with 

COVID-19 safety protocols. 

BAUCHI 

By Charly Agwam 

In Bauchi, Governor Bala 

Mohammed urged Muslim 

faithful to use the Eid-el-Kabir 

celebration for selfassessment 

in the last one 

year. In his Goodwill 

message, Governor 

Mohammed said, “We 

should also use the Eid-el- 

Kabir occasion to strengthen 

the existing interpersonal 

relationship and create new 

ones”. Mohammed also 

urged citizens to imbibe the 

spirit of forgiveness, humility 

and respect for one another. 

The Chief Imam of Bauchi 

central mosque, Malam Bala 

Baban Inna while delivering 

his sallah sermon appealed 

to the Bauchi state 

government to pay workers 

their July salaries to enable 

them celebrate Eid-el Kabir 

comfortably. Baban Inna 

who alleged that some 

muslims were not able to 

celebrate sallah because they 

were not paid their July 

salaries begged Bauchi 

government to pay workers. 

IMO 

Imo State Governor, 

Senator Hope Uzodimma in 

his message said that this 

year’s Eid-el-Kabir was 

peculiar because it was 

celebrated when the world 

was grappling with the 

COVID-19 pandemic. While 

calling on Nigerian Muslims 

to imbibe the spirit of love, 

peace, kindness and sacrifice, 

Governor Uzodimma urged 

them to also use the 

opportunity of the Eid-el- 

Kabir to pray fervently for the 

end of the challenge of 

coronavirus pandemic. “The 

time to pray fervently for 

God’s intervention and 

mercy upon our country 

regarding the COVID-19 is 

now and I call on our Muslim 

brothers and sisters to make 

that one of their prayer 

points”, he said. 

ZAMFARA 

Gov. Bello Matawalle of 

Zamfara also called on 

Muslims to use the Eid-el- 

Kabir festival to pray against 

the COVID-19 pandemic 

afflicting humanity. 

Matawalle who made the call 

on Friday in a statewide 

broadcast said “this year’s 

Eid-el Kabir is coming at a time 

when the world is grappling 

with the threat of the dreaded 

coronavirus pandemic. He 

noted that Muslims from all 

parts of the world were not 

able to perform this year’s Hajj 

due to the pandemic. “As 

painful as it is, we shall take 

solace in the fact that Allah, 

the all-knowing, is fully aware 

of our situation; He will reward 

us for our patience and good 

intentions,” he said. 

OSUN 

Shina Abubakar Osogbo 

Osun State Governor, Mr. 

Adegboyega Oyetola, called 

on citizens of the State to 

renew their belief in God by 

being faithful to promises 

whenever they are made. He 

called for unity, togetherness, 

and good neighbourliness 

among the citizens. He also 

urged Muslims to celebrate 

the festival with the fear of 

God, caution and in 

accordance with the purpose 

that occasioned the 

celebration. We need to pray 

to God to help us on the issue 

of the pandemic that has been 

ravaging the entire world 

because God’s intervention is 

needed in rescuing our 

country from this challenging 

situation. Though, what we 

are experiencing today is 

community transmission, 

we must keep to the 

precautionary measures to 

ensure that we overcome the 

President Mohammadu Buhari (Right), others watch as Rams are being 

slaughtered to mark the Eid El Kabir celebration in Abuha with his family. 

PHOTO: STATE HOUSE 

menace. I want our people to 

celebrate, but this is not the 

time to throw parties. Let us 

celebrate moderately at our 

various homes”, Oyetola 

said. 

BORNO 

By Ndahi Marama, 

Maiduguri 

Borno State Governor, 

Babagana Umara Zulum 

called for unity amongst 

citizens with prayers for end 

to COVID-19 pandemic. He 

also called on the Muslim 

Ummah to tolerate one 

another and live peacefully. 

Governor Zulum also urged 

citizens to sustain prayers for 

the return of peace in the 

State. 

PLATEAU 

By Marie-Therese Nanlong 

Plateau State Governor and 

Chairman of the Northern 

Governors Forum, Simon 

Lalong urged Nigerian 

Muslims not to allow the 

impact of the Corona virus 

pandemic to demoralise their 

faith. 

He said, “although the 

Muslim faithful is marking this 

year’s Sallah in unusual 

circumstances of restrictions, 

the essence of this spiritual 

event cannot be neglected. 

This is the time to 

demonstrate the virtues of 

peace, love, sacrifice and 

tolerance that are taught by 

the Prophet Mohammed”. 

He urged the Muslim Ummah 

to exercise patience with 

restrictions that have been 

imposed to curtail COVID-19 

as the guidelines issued were 

meant to prevent the spread 

of the disease and protect the 

people. He urged the entire 

people of Plateau State to 

continue to live in peace with 

one another, and consolidate 

on the tranquility currently 

pervading the state. 

PDP salutes Nigerians, 

urges hope in God 

By Dirisu Yakubu 

The Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, has called on 

Nigerians to use the occasion 

of this year’s Eid-el Kabir to 

rekindle their faith, hope and 

trust in the Almighty Allah as 

the ultimate solution to the 

travails of mankind. The party 

in a statement by its 

spokesman, Kola 

Ologbondiyan, also advised 

leaders at all levels of 

engagement in the country 

to imbibe the lessons of Eid-el 

Kabir, especially the demand 

for total obedience to the will 

and command of the 

Almighty Allah. According to 

the statement,”the PDP notes 

that such dependence on the 

will and command of God by 

the leaders and citizens alike 

is the only way to pull our 

nation out of the economic, 

health and security 

predicaments that have 

confronted us in the recent 

time. The PDP further notes 

that our nation has been able 

to battle various challenges, 

the recent being the 

devastating COVID-19 

pandemic, largely by divine 

intervention, and as such 

urged Nigerians to remain 

steadfast in their trust in God”. 

YOBE 

By NDAHI MARAMA, 

Yobe state Governor, Hon. 

Mai Mala Buni has enjoined 

Muslim faithful in the state to 

exhibit good neighbourliness 

through love, peaceful 

coexistence and generosity 

in the spirit of the Eid-el-kabir 

Sallah celebrations. In his 

Sallah message, he said “this 

occasion inculcates in us the 

spirit of good 

neighbourliness, love, 

honesty, generosity, 

discipline and above all fear 

of Allah in all our actions. We 

should also be inclined to 

mutual understanding, 

justice and kindness to 

followers of other religions for 

the attainment of a stronger 

and united country.” 

KWARA 

By Demola Akinyemi 

Kwara State Governor 

AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq 

congratulated Kwarans and 

every Muslim household 

praying the Almighty God to 

ease the current global 

pandemic and insure 

humanity against 

recurrence. According to 

him, “as a Government, one 

of the key takeaways from the 

COVID-19 pandemic is the 

need to be proactive and 

inventive in filling the 

socioconomic and 

infrastructural gaps that 

would make life easier for our 

people. We will emerge from 

this pandemic stronger and 

better”. 

TARABA 

By Femi Bolaji 

Taraba state governor, 

Darius Ishaku who 

congratulated Nigerian 

Muslims for surviving the 

challenges of the present 

times, particularly, the deadly 

COVID-19 pandemic, 

however said global statistics 

of the devastation caused by 

the CoronaVirus indicated 

that the worst was not yet 

over. He further urged them 

to continue in their prayers 

against the pandemic while 

adhering to all precautionary 

measures. 

KEBBI 

Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi 

urged Muslims faithful to 

strictly adhere to the COVID- 

19 protocols, to stem further 

spread of the pandemic. 

Bagudu also enjoined the 

Muslims to pray for peace to 

overcome the security 

challenges in the country. The 

governor said that it was 

imperative for the residents 

of the state to take 

responsibility and ensure full 

compliance with the safety 

protocols to curtail spread of 

the pandemic during the 

festive season. While 

appealing to Muslims faithful 

to celebrate Eid-el-Kabir 

festival peacefully, Bugudu 

urged them to exhibit the 

virtuous principles of 

patience, tolerance and 

perseverance in their 

dealings. He admonished the 

Muslims to observe the festive 

season in line with the 

teachings of Islam. 

OGUN 

James Ogunnaike 

ABEOKUTA - The 

immediate past Governor of 

Ogun, Senator Ibikunle 

Amosun called on Islamic 

faithful to use the occasion of 

this year’s Eid el kabir to offer 

prayers to God for restoration 

of peace to our nation. In his 

Sallah message, Amosun, 

who is the Senator 

representing Ogun Central 

Senatorial District, enjoined 

Muslims not to be devastated 

by the current realities in the 

country, due to the outbreak 

of Covid-19 pandemic. He 

urged them to be patient and 

continue to cooperate with 

government at all levels so that 

the curve of the novel virus 

could be flattened in Nigeria. 

According to Amosun, 

with the adoption of a ‘New 

Normal’ as a way of life, we 

all need to take 

responsibility and be 

actively involved in the fight 

against the pandemic and 

other challenges 

threatening our human 

existence. 

Senator Goje 

By Henry Umoru 

Former governor of 

Gombe State, Senator 

Mohammad Danjuma Goje 

( APC Gombe Central), has 

called on Nigerians to 

remain united at this time of 

Eid-del-Kabir celebrations 

and in the face of various 

challenges facing the 

country. In a Sallah message 

signed yesterday in Abuja 

by his Media aide, Lillian 

Nworie, Goje who rejoiced 

with Nigerians, particularly 

the Muslim faithful on the 

occasion of the Eid al Adha, 

enjoined Muslims to seize 

the blessings of the season 

and pray fervently for the 

progress of Nigerians and 

Nigeria.

7 — SATURDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 1, 2020 

Ugwuanyi moves to re-position 

tourism in Enugu 

•Flags off decontamination of schools ahead of resumption 

By Anayo Okoli & 

Chinedu Adonu 

E State NUGU—ENUGU 

Government has 

embarked on projects to 

re-position tourism in the 

state and restore Enugu 

city to its tourist’s 

destination status. 

Already, Governor Ifeanyi 

Ugwuanyi has approved 

work to commence on the 

total refurbishment of the 

Nike Lake Hotel and Resort. 

Enugu which used to be 

tourists’ delight lost its 

tourism glory due to 

misplaced priorities of past 

administrations. 

The situation, no doubt, is 

givingGovernor Ugwuanyi 

serious concern, especially 

with his high interest in 

expanding the revenue 

base of the state. He has 

therefore set out to change 

it and restore Enugu to its 

old glorious days as a 

foremost tourist 

destination with lots of 

improvement to comply 

with modernity. 

For a start, the governor 

has embarked on massive 

rehabilitation of the state 

owned Nike Lake hotels and 

Resort which in the recent 

years has not been 

functioning optimally. 

Already, the government 

has done a good link road 

from the soon-to-be 

reopened Akanu Ibiam 

International Airport to the 

hotel in less than 15 

minutes. This will give 

visitors to the state swift 

access to the hotel without 

any traffic hitches. 

In addition, Ugwuanyi has 

embarked on the 

conversion of the Unity 

Park beside Okpara Square 

at the three Arms Zone to a 

unique tourist centre. 

Already massive work is 

ongoing there with the 

construction of various 

entertainment facilities. 

The molding of a giant size 

lion will be the centre of 

attraction at the park. There 

are plans to boost tourism 

in the state. 

Meanwhile, the state 

government yesterday, 

flagged off comprehensive 

decontamination and 

fumigation of secondary 

schools in the state, ahead 

of resumption of academic 

activities. The exercise is 

being carried out by the 

state fire service, led by its 

Chief Fire Officer, Engr. 

Okwudiri Ohaa. 

It would be recalled that 

Enugu State Government, 

on March 24, 2020, closed 

all educational institutions 

in the state, as part of 

proactive measures to 

contain the spread of the 

Coronavirus Disease 

(COVID-19). The state 

government directed all 

public officers/civil 

servants to work from 

home till further notice, 

except those on essential 

services, and has been 

paying them salaries, 

including the teachers, 

without delay, since then. 

Briefing newsmen shortly 

after the flag off, which took 

place at Queen’s School 

Enugu, the Commissioner 

for Education, Prof. Uche 

Eze, who monitored the 

exercise alongside the 

Chairman of Post Primary 

Schools Management 

Board (PPSMB) Barr. 

Nestor Ezeme, said that it 

was Governor Ifeanyi 

Ugwuanyi’s directives that 

“all our schools, 

classrooms, dormitories 

and school premises 

should 

be 

decontaminated and 

fumigated in preparation 

for resumption”. 

Prof. Eze disclosed that 

“this is to ensure that when 

the students and teachers 

are back to schools, they 

will be safe to learn in 

conducive environment”. 

The commissioner added 

that the exercise will take 

place in all the schools and 

will be completed on or 

before the evening of 

Monday, August 3, 2020. 

He pointed out that Gov. 

Ugwuanyi’s administration 

has utilized the four 

months of break in 

academic activities “in 

renovation and expansion 

of our school facilities to 

ensure that we have 

enough space for our 

children to maintain social 

distancing when they 

return to schools. 

Appreciating Gov. 

Ugwuanyi’s efforts 

towards enhancing the 

standard of education in 

the state as well as the 

welfare and safety of the 

students and their 

teachers, the Principal of 

Queen’s School Enugu, 

Mrs. Ada Nweke, said that 

the teachers will ever 

remain grateful to the 

governor for his 

commitment and good 

works in the education 

sector and beyond. 

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State (2nd right) with his deputy, Hon. Mrs. 

Cecilia Ezeilo (right), the State Chief Fire Officer, Engr. Okwudiri Ohaa (2nd left), 

others, when the State Fire Service displayed samples of the newly procured 

Automated Motorized Fumigators, Mini-Buses and customized decontamination 

machines, for use in public places, yesterday. 

Four persons found dead in apartment 

in Delta 

By Festus Ahon, ASABA 

FOUR persons, three 

males and one female, 

were found dead, 

yesterday morning at the 

living room of a two-bed 

room apartment at Rich 

Man Garden Estate, behind 

Anglican Girls 

Grammar School, Asaba, 

Delta State. 

The fifth occupant of 

the two bedroom apartment, 

identified as Maxwell 

was unconscious as 

at the time the door of the 

apartment was opened by 

the police and was taken 

to the Federal Medical 

Centre, Asaba for medical 

attention. 

As at the time of filing 

this report, Maxwell was 

on oxygen at the hospital. 

The identities of the deceased 

victims who reportedly 

moved into the 

apartment, Tuesday were 

still unknown. 

Confirming the incident, 

the State Commissioner 

of Police, Mr. 

Hafiz Inuwa said investigation 

was on to unravel 

the circumstance which 

led to their deaths, adding 

that the unconscious 

victim would help in the 

investigation if he survives. 

Inuwa however said autopsy 

would be conducted 

on the evacuated 

corpses. One of the residents 

of the estate who 

spoke to newsmen, expressed 

shock over the incident, 

adding that the 

power generating set of 

the victims worked from 

Tuesday night to about 

noon on Wednesday when 

it went off on its own. 

Pleading anonymity, 

he, however, said the generator 

was placed at the 

balcony of the apartment. 

The neighbour who 

claimed to have assisted 

in evacuating the corpses, 

said:“I went in there to 

assist in the evacuation 

and I counted five persons, 

four boys and one 

girl. 

“One of the boys was still 

alive but in critical condition. 

I did not find drugs 

or related substances. All 

of them were sitting in the 

parlour at the time we entered.” 

Also speaking,another 

neighbour, said they were 

worried that after over 24 

hours, nobody came out of 

the apartment, saying that 

the generator was not on 

the following evening. 

He said:“This created 

suspicion. So at dawn, we 

invited the police to come 

and check what was 

amiss. It was when the police 

opened the door that 

we found the lifeless bodies 

of four persons.” 

Another neighbour who 

identified himself as 

Odogwu, said other occupants 

of the building 

raised alarm over the well 

being of the new tenants 

who had not come out of 

their flat even when rains 

had soaked their belongings. 

Odogwu said: “At night, 

we discovered that even 

when it rained on their 

properties, they did not 

come out and then we 

knew all was not well because 

no sane person will 

leave his properties under 

the rain when he can take 

them inside. 

“This morning we became 

worried that they did 

not care for their properties 

and that was why we 

invited the police so that 

we could ascertain if all 

was well behind closed 

door.” 

The landlord of the 

building, Onuoha Okonji 

who also chatted with 

newsmen, expressed shock 

that four more persons 

had joined the original 

tenant who he identified as 

Maxwell from Ozoro. 

Saying he was shocked 

when he got a distressed 

call about the tragedy, 

Okonji said Maxwell was 

introduced to him by an 

agent and they concluded 

transactions before 

the said Maxwell moved 

in 

Ċhairman of the estate, 

Clement Okafor 

suspected that the victims 

may have died due 

to prolonged inhaling 

of carbon mono oxide 

from the generator. 

Lamenting that the estate 

has been without 

public power supply 

for over two years, Okafor 

called on the management 

of the Benin 

Electricity Distribution 

Company to activate the 

electricity transformer in 

the area. 

Trace, LG partner for new 

sound experience 

By Juliet Ebirim 

TRACE, an Afro-Urban entertainment company 

with a mission to empower youths have officially 

added a new dimension to its scope, as it recently 

unveiled a partnership with LG Electronics- 

XBoom range of products. The partnership is 

geared towards evolving a better way of listening 

to music using cutting edge technology. 

Speaking on the new partnership, the MD Trace 

Anglophone West Africa, Sam Onyemelukwe revealed: 

“For us at Trace, it’s always a pleasure to work 

with great brands and great partners, and the same 

can be said of this particular partnership with LG. 

We all know the change the younger generation is 

bringing into music and entertainment in general 

for our country and continent—it’s amazing! They 

are pushing boundaries and bringing recognition 

to Africa, and so partnering with such a reputable 

brand will further enhance the listening pleasure 

of music lovers.” 

Also speaking at the event, the General Manager 

of LG Electronics, Audio Video division, Mr. Kenny 

Cho said:“LG Electronics has been a global leader 

and major player in home entertainment. This partnership 

with Trace will bring about a new level of 

digital entertainment by providing Nigerian youths 

with cutting edge technological products of being 

entertained at any point in time.” 

Present at the sign-off ceremony of this new alliance 

were Hari Elluru; Head, Marketing, LG Electronics 

West Africa, Kenny Cho; General Manager 

(Convergence), Audio/Video, LG Electronics, West 

Africa, and Paul Mba; Marketing Manager, LG Nig. 

Limited. Also present were Trace’s Bassey Aniefiok; 

General Manager, Sales & Special Operations, 

and Sam Onyemelukwe,MD,Trace Anglophone West 

Africa. 

Through the years, Trace has widened its scope 

and perfected the art of content production and talent 

management service and with this new alliance 

with LG, not only has Trace become a Pan-African 

Ecosystem which empowers the young and young 

at heart globally, it has set itself up for the future of 

global digital entertainment. 

How we’ll change perceptions 

about insurance – OIBL 

ORANGE Insurance 

Brokers Limited (OIBL), 

has pledged its determination 

towards supporting 

micro, small and medium 

sized enterprises (MS- 

MEs) in the country. 

The MD/CEO of the 

company, Mrs. Janet 

Ibikunle, who gave the affirmation 

at the inauguration 

of the company’s office 

complex in Somolu 

said the company was determined 

to change the 

perception of people concerning 

insurance through 

its proactive products and 

policies. 

She gave the assertion as 

the chairman of the company, 

OIBL, Dr. Godwin 

Ehigiamusoe pledged the 

company’s determination 

to bring insurance benefits 

to low income earners. 

“One of our targets is to 

change peoples’ mentality 

By Providence Adeyinka 

about insurance and also 

protect micro, small and 

medium scale businesses,” 

Mrs. Ibikunle said. 

“Many people have a 

wrong perception of the 

insurance industry. They 

probably think insurance 

brokers or agents are not 

well to do set of people, but 

with this milestone tower 

at the heart of such a 

densely populated area 

like Somolu, first, that perception 

would change. 

“Also, according to our 

slogan, ‘we don’t speak 

grammar when there is 

claim’, this means that, 

when you have genuine 

claims, you are bound to 

have your compensation. 

By going through us, you 

pass the headache to us, 

then we run it for you till 

you get your compensation.

8 — Vanguard, SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020 

Killings: Police Deploy more to S/Kaduna 

By Ibrahim HassanWuyo 

As killings continued 

in Southern 

Kaduna, the state Police 

Command has 

ordered for immediate 

deployment of more 

Police personnel to 

Kajuru, Zango Kataf, 

Kaura and Kauru Local 

Government Areas of the 

State. 

The Commissioner of 

Police,Mr. UM Muri said 

in a statement on 

Friday , that the 

development was “part of 

efforts towards restoring 

law and order in the 

affected areas, as a result 

of the recent violence 

and other security 

challenges.” 

The statement signed 

by Mohammed Jalige, 

the Command’s PPRO, 

stated that Muri has 

directed all Area 

Commanders and DPOs 

within the affected areas 

to make adequate use of 

the deployed personnel 

in ensuring the safety of 

lives and properties as 

well as the full 

enforcement of the 24- 

hour curfew imposed by 

the Kaduna State 

Government. 

“The Commissioner of 

Police wishes to 

commiserate with the 

good people of Kaduna 

State, particularly those 

who have lost their loved 

ones and property as a 

result of the crises. He 

further assures that the 

Command will do 

everything within its 

powers to ensure that 

peace is restored in the 

affected areas. 

“In the same vein, the 

Commissioner of Police 

Oyo State governor, 

Engineer Seyi Makinde, 

has described the late 

industrialist and successful 

entrepreneur, Chief Bode 

Akindele, as a legend and role 

model for development. 

Governor Makinde, who 

stated this while speaking at 

the burial ceremony of the late 

Business mogul, said that 

Akindele will live forever 

because of his 

kindheartedness, success 

stories as an industrialist and 

philanthropic gestures. 

While addressing family 

members and church leaders 

at the burial service held in 

honour of Chief Akindele at 

the Methodist Cathedral, 

Agbeni, Ibadan, on Friday, 

Makinde asked the family to 

take solace in the fact that he 

left legacies of 

kindheartedness and success 

that will never die. 

A statement by the Chief 

Press Secretary to the 

enjoins the law abiding 

citizens of the State to 

cooperate with the Police, 

the Military and other 

law enforcement 

agencies as they carry 

out the full enforcement 

of the curfew amongst 

other measures with a 

view to ensuring their 

safety. He however warns 

troublemakers in the 

State to desist forthwith 

from acts of violence and 

lawlessness, as the 

Command will not 

hesitate to deal decisively 

with any person or group 

of persons found in the 

act of disturbing the 

relative peace enjoyed by 

the good people of the 

State,” he stated. 

Akindele, a legend, role model for development — Makinde 

governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, 

quoted Makinde as saying 

that the late chairman of 

Modandola Group lived a 

good life and left indelible 

marks on the sand of time. 

Makinde added that Chief 

Akindele followed the Biblical 

admonition in Psalm 90 verse 

12, that we should number our 

days and incline our hearts 

unto wisdom. 

“To Baba’s family, I say this, 

you may not see Baba 

physically anymore but our 

loved ones never really leave 

us. They live forever with us. 

Each time we hear a voice that 

sounds like theirs, someone 

that shares a similar look or 

act as they do, we are 

reminded that a part of them 

always remains with us. But 

even more than that, we take 

solace in the fact that someday, 

very soon, we will all meet 

again never to part,” the 

governor said. 

He added: “On this 

occasion, what came to my 

mind was Psalm 90 verse 12 

and I was surprised that when 

I came in here, it was the same 

verse that we read: Teach us 

to number our days that we 

may apply our heart unto 

wisdom. So, to number our 

days in wisdom is to leave a 

mark in the sand of time. It 

means to ensure that when we 

are no more and people are to 

speak of us, they won’t 

struggle to find things to say 

because we have left a legacy 

for posterity. 

“The first time I met Baba 

physically was in this church 

and I said to him that I have 

been looking for an 

opportunity for us to meet faceto-face. 

My father did pray that 

when I grow up, I should be 

like Chief Bode Akindele, 

Parakoyi of Ibadanland. This 

means Baba numbered his 

days in wisdom.” 

Governor Makinde recalled 

how Chief Akindele had 

Fasanmi’s death, a huge loss 

to Nigeria—PDP 

•He was a pathfinder of progressive politics 

— Ekiti Deputy Gov 

By Dirisu Yakubu, 

Rotimi Ojomoyela 

ABUJA- The Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, 

Friday, expressed sadness over 

the death of elder statesman and 

leader of the Afenifere group, Pa 

Ayorinde Fasanmi, describing 

wanted to volunteer his 

multimillion Naira medical 

facility to the state government 

as an isolation centre at the 

outbreak of the COVID-19 

pandemic, saying “Baba was 

looking for me on how to use 

his medical facility as an 

isolation centre for Oyo State. 

Not only that, it is also on record 

that Baba is the largest single 

donor to Oyo State COVID- 

19 Endowment Fund. So, he 

was a legend and will live 

forever. 

“He achieved success as an 

entrepreneur, industrialist and 

philanthropist. So, he remains 

a model for me. After I won 

the election, those that are 

familiar with my electioneering 

campaign will remember I 

promised that once we come 

in, I would go to Ikere Gorge 

Dam and ensure that, within 

one year in office, Oyo State 

must go into freshwater stream 

farming. So, I came in and we 

started all the work. 

the sad event as a huge loss to 

the nation and humanity at 

large. 

This is as the party described 

Pa Fasanmi as on outstanding 

democrat, who dedicated his life 

towards the stability and development 

of the nation, “particularly 

in his leading roles in the 

entrenchment of democratic 

practice, equity, justice and national 

cohesion, especially as a 

member of the House of Representatives 

in the First Republic 

and a Senator in the Second Republic. 

In a statement by spokesman, 

Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP recalled 

“the patriotic roles played 

by Pa Fasanmi as a member of 

the national constitutional conference 

of 1994, which further 

laid the foundation for the birthing 

of our present democratic order, 

in addition to his continued 

leadership counsel towards the 

stability of our nation, to the 

very end. 

*Fasanmi, pathfinder of progressive 

politics—Ekiti D.Gov 

Also, Ekiti State Deputy Governor, 

Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, 

paid tributes to the late Afenifere 

leader, describing him as a pathfinder 

of progressive politics and 

service to humanity. 

Egbeyemi said the people of 

Ekiti State and lovers of democracy 

all over the world would 

continue to celebrate the ideals 

Pa Fasanmi lived for in his long 

years of service to his father 

land. 

Burial Service for the late Parakoyi of Ibadan Land, Chief Bode Akindele held at the 

Methodist Church Agbeni, Ibadan, Oyo state, yesterday. PHOTOS: Dare Fasube 

From left: Mrs Atenna and Mrs Olabisi the wives of the Late Chief 

Bode Akindele. 

Cross section of his Children. 

From left: High Chief S O Oguntimehin, Lisa of Ondo Kingdom and 

Chief Lekan Balogun Ekefa Olubadan Of Ibadan representing the 

Olubadan. 

From left: siting Mrs Olabisi and Mrs Atenna the wives of the Late 

Chief Bode Akindele with families of Late Chief Bode Akindele.

BUHARI breaks silence on EFCC, 

NDDC probes 

Says political appointees have abused trust 

*Past and present cases will be investigated 

*Security situation in North West, North Central very disturbing 

*Warns militants against destruction of oil pipelines 

*Says it will hurt Niger Delta people more than the rest of the country 

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru 

PRESIDENT Muham 

madu Buhari yesterday 

broke his silence on 

the ongoing probes of the 

Chairman of the Economic 

and Financial Crimes 

Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim 

Magu and the Interim 

Management of the 

Niger Delta Development 

Commission, NDDC, by 

the National Assembly, expressing 

disappointment 

that political appointees 

have abused the trust on 

them. 

President Buhari also 

said that the security situation 

in the North West and 

the North Central was disturbing 

even as he said 

that the expectation is that 

the security agencies 

should up their game. 

He said that while much 

had been achieved, security 

wise, from the situation 

he inherited in 2015, 

more still needed to be 

done. 

He gave assurance that 

there would be more resources 

for the country’s 

military, police and other 

security agencies to deal 

with the unwanted security 

situation in some areas 

of the country. 

President Buhari stated 

this after observing the 

Eid-el-Kabir prayers with 

his family members and 

aides at the forecourt of 

the Presidential Villa, Abuja 

yesterday. 

On the issue of corruption, 

President Buhari said 

that all past and present 

cases will be fully 

investigated,adding,“This 

is why we put the commission 

(of investigation) in 

place.” 

Asked how he feels 

about recent revelations 

coming out from the EFCC 

and the Niger Delta Commission, 

he said, “There 

has been abuse of trust by 

people trusted by previous 

administration and this administration. 

“A number of assets and 

money have been recovered. 

But we have introduced 

TSA where all the 

monies are taken and I 

said assets should be sold 

and the money be put 

through TSA so that it can 

be identified at any level 

and I will see who will 

come after us and take it 

back again to those who 

misappropriated public 

funds.” 

On the specific case of 

the Niger Delta, the president 

decried the wastage 

of the resources earmarked 

for improvements of the 

lives of the people of the 

region. 

He lamented that corruption 

had been unhelpful 

in that regard, especially 

“if you recall there is the 

13 per cent derivation.” 

He also warned against 

the destruction of oil pipelines 

in the oil-producing 

areas which often results 

in environmental pollution. 

He said, “Those who are 

destroying pipelines and 

interfering with the production 

of petroleum products 

are hurting their people 

more than the rest of 

Nigerians because majority 

of their people are fishermen, 

fisher women and 

farmers. 

“Now if they pollute the 

land and the waters, the 

fish goes into the deeper 

sea where the people cannot 

go and they cannot 

grow anything. They are 

hurting their immediate 

communities more than 

any other thing.” 

On his message to Nigerians 

as the Muslim 

faithful celebrate the Sallah, 

he told the citizenry 

to be conscious of what 

they do. 

He said:” I wish Nigerians 

the best of luck. In the 

Eid-el-Kabir sermon, the 

Imam has said it all, we 

want security, prosperity 

and well being of all Nigerians. 

We want Nigerians 

to be very conscious of 

their country. 

“What we inherited when 

we came in 2015 was Boko 

Haram in North East and 

the militants in the South 

South. Nigerians know 

that we have done our 

best.” 

Responding to the question 

on the performance of the 

Service Chiefs which recently, 

he said needed to get better, 

the President said that the 

Military, the Police and other 

security agencies are working 

hard. 

“We are making available 

resources to them to even do 

better,” he assured, adding, 

“What is coming up in the 

North West and North Central 

is very very disturbing indeed. 

“But I believe the military, 

the police and other law enforcement 

agencies from the 

report I'm getting, I think they 

could do much better. They 

could do much better but we 

are keeping them on the alert 

all the time to do their duties.” 

From left: Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; his younger 

brother AbdulRauph AbdulRazaq; and a relative Ishaq Olorundare; observing 

Eid prayer in their compound at Idi-Igba quarters in Ilorin, the state capital, 

yesterday. 

Nigerians agreed on North/South rotational 

presidency in 2015—Senator Clark 

*Northerners opposing zoning are hypocrites 

*Tinubu, other S’West aspirants should drop 2023 ambition for Igbo 

By Emma Amaize, 

Regional Editor, South- 

South 

ELDER Statesman and 

former Federal Commissioner 

for Information, 

Senator Edwin Clark, said, 

weekend, that it was uncalled-for 

and hypocritical 

for Northern politicians to 

argue that there was no rotation 

of power between North 

and South, as President Muhammdu 

Buhari presently 

serving his second term in office, 

rode to power in 2015 

based on the arrangement. 

Clark, also the leader of the 

South-South geo-political 

zone and chair, Board of 

Trustees, BOT, Pan-Niger 

Delta Forum, PANDEF, also 

tried to shoot down the presidential 

ambition of All Progressives 

Congress, APC, 

leader from the South-West 

zone, Alhaji Bola Tinubu, 

saying, it was the turn of the 

South-East zone to produce 

the next president in 2023. 

Reacting to the recent comments 

of former National 

Security Adviser, Mamman 

Daura, on some national issues, 

he said the agreement 

to rotate presidency between 

North and South was reached 

at the 2014 National Conference 

attended by over 490 

delegates representing various 

aspects of the Nigerian 

public, including professional 

bodies, trade unions, market 

women, the physically 

challenged and the youths. 

And the essence was to give a 

sense of belonging to all. 

His words: “It is, therefore, 

unnecessary and insincere of 

the same Northern politicians 

to say that they no longer believe 

in the rotation of the 

presidency between the North 

and the South because this 

was the reason, at that time, 

they accused former President 

Goodluck Jonathan of 

breaching the rotation 

agreement.” 

He contended that 

Northern politicians said: 

“That the presidency 

should rotate between the 

North and the South and 

insisted that the North 

should produce the president 

to complete the two 

tenures of eight years of 

President Umaru Musa 

Yar’Adua.” 

“It was this grievance, 

during the 2011 presidential 

elections that resulted 

to the crisis where many 

Southerners, who were in 

the North, including National 

Youth Service 

Corps, NYSC, members, 

were killed, particularly in 

Bauchi State, where 10 

were brutally murdered, 

including my nephew Mr. 

Elliot Adowie. 

SATURDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 1, 2020 — 9 

Tinubu, others should allow 

S-East take its turn 

AND it is for this reason that some of us are recommending 

that the South Eastern part of Nigeria should be allowed 

to produce the president of the country, now that it is the turn of 

Southern Nigeria to produce a president. 

“The likes of Ahmed Bola Tinubu of the Southwest zone, a 

zone which has ruled this country at three different times with 

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo ruling as military head of state and 

as a democratically elected president, and Chief Ernest Shonekan 

as interim national president, should allow the Southeast, 

which was also part of the three principal regions of Nigeria 

headed by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as first president of Nigeria 

from 1963-1966, the Sarduana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, 

the premier of northern Nigeria, and that of Western Nigeria, 

Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as heads of the regional governments. 

I didn’t misdirect Jonathan 

“I have been accused of advising and misdirecting former 

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Yes, I agree that I advised 

President Jonathan, because I contributed to his becoming the 

president of Nigeria; first, as Vice President in 2007, and when 

he became the acting president during the absence of President 

Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who went to Saudi Arabia on medical 

grounds, but did not comply with section 145 of the 1999 

Nigerian Constitution as amended which states that: 

“Whenever the president is proceeding on vacation or is 

otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, he shall 

transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and 

the Speaker of the House of Representative to that effect, and 

until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, 

the Vice President shall perform the functions of the President as 

acting president.” 

“Since this was not done by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, 

because of the nature of his illness, some prominent Northern 

politicians opposed and prevented Vice President Goodluck 

Jonathan, from acting as president. And as a result, there was 

growing tension in the country. For instance, groups led by Pastor 

Tunde Bakari of Southern Nigeria demonstrated several times 

in Abuja demanding that Dr. Jonathan should function as acting 

president of Nigeria. 

“As usual, former head of state of the country, Gen. Yakubu 

Gowon, a man of peace and a promoter of national unity based 

on equality of all citizens of Nigeria, invited some prominent 

leaders in the country to a meeting at the ECOWAS building. 

The meeting had in attendance former heads of state including 

late President Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Chief Ernest Shonekan 

and former late Vice President Alex Ekwueme ; three former 

justices of Nigeria including Justice Alfa Belgore, late Justice 

Idris Kutigi and Justice Mohammed Uwais; other prominent 

Nigerians including Gen. T. Y. Danjuma (rtd), Mallam Adamu 

Ciroma, Ahmed Joda and late Solomon Lar. I was also one of 

them. 

“It was during discussions at the meeting that Justice Alfa 

Belgore, raised the issue of Doctrine of Necessity citing instances 

of where the doctrine had been used where the Constitution of 

the country did not envisage such event and, therefore, not provided 

for in the Constitution. 

“After elaborate debates, it was decided that we should adopt 

the Doctrine of Necessity. Prof. Jerry Gana and Senator Jonathan 

Zwingina of Adamawa State, who acted as secretaries to the 

body, were asked to draft a letter to the National Assembly, 

recommending to them to consider the Doctrine of Necessity in 

order to solve the political impasse. 

“Gen. Gowon, who chaired the meeting, said that he will be 

leaving for Ethiopia immediately after the meeting, and asked 

the late former President Shehu Shagari to lead a delegation to 

the National Assembly and to the Vice President Goodluck 

Jonathan. 

“That was how the Senate presided over by Senator David 

Mark, the then Senate President, adopted the Doctrine of Necessity 

which was also later adopted by the House of Representatives 

presided over by Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole the then Speaker 

of the House. It was after that that President Goodluck 

Jonathan was directed to act as the President of Nigeria awaiting 

the return of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua,” he said. 

Daura wrong 

Clark asserted: “Mammon Daura as nephew to Mr. President 

has every right to speak on their family matters, because 

he is part of Muhammadu Buhari’s family. But he has no experience 

or qualification to give directives on Nigeria’s governmental 

affairs.” 

“The qualities of capability, competence, intelligence and 

transparent leaders, and availability of such, are not only in the 

North or in the South, neither is it the prerogative of one group 

or area. In fact, citizens with such qualities exist in each of the 

six geopolitical zones. In terms of size, each of the six zones is 

as large, in fact, each zone in the country is even larger and 

more populated than some African countries,” he said.

10—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 1, 2020 

Outrage as Boko o Haram 

am 

victims blast govt 

•Say it’s cruel, insensitive reintegrating our killers, abandoning us 

•Giving terrorists money, vocational training, gross injustice to us 

•Govt should rethink, Buhari should rehabilitate us 

•Some of rehabilitated terrorists have rejoined Boko Haram 

•How can they change when you pamper them, give them money? 

•Saturday Vanguard visits IDP camps in Maiduguri, Kaduna, Abuja 

By Joseph Erunke, Abuja; Ndahi 

Marama, Maiduguri & Ibrahim 

HassanWuyo, Kaduna 

VICTIMS of Boko Haram attacks in 

the Northeast now in various 

Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs’ 

camps in the north have expressed outrage 

and blasted the Federal Government for 

rehabilitating and reintegrating members 

of the terror group while they (victims) were 

left to rot away in the camps. Describing 

government action as cruel and the height 

of insensitivity, the traumatized victims said 

the government has not been fair to them, 

many of whom were killed, inflicted with 

life threatening injuries and their property 

destroyed. They said it was unacceptable to 

them for government to bring the same 

killers back into the community to co-exist 

with the same people whose lives they 

destroyed. 

The military had in 2016 launched 

Operation Safe Corridor, an initiative for 

the deradicalisation and rehabilitation of 

ex-Boko Haram members with the objective 

of reintegrating repentant Boko Haram 

members into the society. 

Last week, 601 Boko Haram members who 

have been deradicalized were released by 

the army to the Borno State Government to 

be rejoined with their families and relations, 

a situation that generated a lot of tensions 

among the public, victims, and host 

communities. 

Abuja 

Some of the IDPs,who spoke to Vanguard 

at their camp located at Kuchingoro, Abuja, 

also faulted the government for its N20,000 

monthly stipend to some rehabilitated 

members of the terrorist group, expressing 

fears that government’s action may rather 

strengthen the terrorists’ activities in the 

region. 

According to a 44-year-old man who 

identified himself as Ahmadu Giro at the 

camp, “how do you explain the fact that the 

government that doesn’t even know how we 

live here, how we are surviving here and how 

we feed in this camp is busy spending money 

to rehabilitate people who without any 

provocation, took up arms and killed many 

innocent and law abiding citizens of the 

country and also destroyed their sources of 

livelihood? Does it make any sense?” 

The father of three boys and a girl said 

they have resigned to fate as the government 

which they were counting on for 

rehabilitation following the losses they 

incurred in the hands of the terrorists have 

abandoned them. 

He said:”The last time we saw 

government’s presence here was five months 

ago when officials of the National 

Emergency Management Agency, 

NEMA,came here with a bucket of liquid 

soap and hand sanitizer to educate us on 

the need to adhere to coronavirus safety 

measures.” 

Another IDP, who gave his name as Nuhu 

Bala, told Saturday Vanguard that he 

narrowly escaped the insurgents’ attack in 

2016 in Bama, Borno State, adding however 

that his mother and father were not lucky to 

escape. 

“It was a miracle that I managed to escape 

the Boko Haram’s attack in Bama, Borno 

State in 2016. I lost my parents during the 

attacks. How I escaped and managed to be 

here at this camp is still a surprise to me. 

Apart from my parents, we lost everything 

to that fateful attack. Ever since, life has not 

been the same. So, for 

government to not only to 

rehabilitate these attackers 

but also place them on 

monthly N20,000 stipend is 

a gross injustice to the 

victims,” he said. 

He added:”To be able to 

feed in this camp, I wake up 

every morning to work for 

people in their farms. I spend 

most of my time thinking 

everyday whether I would 

one day return to our 

ancestral home again and I 

think government should be 

focused on this and not the 

attackers. Leaving us to our 

fate here at this camp and 

be spending money to make 

the lives of our attackers 

comfortable amounts to 

injustice,” the 32 year-old 

fumed. 

Another Boko Haram 

victim at the camp, 

Mohammed Lere, from 

Adamawa state, said they 

were tired of being at the 

camp as life was hard for them. On how he 

felt over the rehabilitation of some Boko 

Haram members and the monthly N20,000 

being given to those considered repentant, 

he said government’s action was an 

approval that it was better not to be a law 

abiding citizen than being one. 

The military had in 2016 

launched Operation 

Safe Corridor, an 

initiative for the 

deradicalisation and 

rehabilitation of ex-Boko 

Haram members with 

the objective of 

reintegrating repentant 

Boko Haram members 

into the society 

“You are asking as if you don’t know what 

government’s action indicates. How do you 

explain a situation where someone that 

followed me to my home to attack me for 

no just reason is pampered with juicy offers 

leaving the person he attacked to suffer? That 

is the situation we have found ourselves 

today. And with this, how do you expect peace 

to reign?”,he fumed. 

Also, a 38 year-man, Iliyasu Ali,who said 

he hailed from Munguno town in Borno 

State, appealed to President Muhammad 

Buhari to empower them either financially 

to start their businesses or make their homes 

suitable to enable them return to start life 

there. 

“Before I found myself in this situation, I 

had a business outlet where I was doing well 

selling second-hand clothes. Besides, I had 

two cars that were being used for 

commercial purpose. I lost all these to Boko 

Haram activities in one fell swoop. We will 

be appreciative if the government can only 

send away Boko Haram members from our 

communities and empower 

us with vocational training 

and money to start life,” he 

said. 

Speaking also,39-year old 

Maimuna Adamu said she 

lost her husband and two 

grown up children besides 

their house which she noted, 

was not spared in the 

insurgents’ attack that saw 

her in her present state. She 

added that her 21-year-old 

daughter who had visited 

from her husband’s house on 

the fateful day of the attack 

was abducted and wondered 

if she was alive or had been 

killed by the terrorists. 

Adamu,who said she didn’t 

know how she escaped the 

attack that claimed the lives 

of her husband and two 

children, begged 

government to restore peace 

in her community so that 

they could return home. 

She argued that 

government was not fair to 

the victims of the Boko Haram attacks. 

“How do you expect these people to think or 

change when you are pampering them and 

giving them money? You are rather telling 

them that they were right in what they were 

doing. How do you even feel rehabilitating 

and giving out money to someone who, 

without any provocation, killed people and 

at the same time the victims and their 

families that should have been considered 

for the rehabilitation are forgotten? I think 

they should rethink and do what is right,” 

she said. 

Kaduna 

At the IDPs’ camps in Kaduna, a widow 

who lamented what she went through in the 

hands of the insurgents expressed disgust 

that the government could decide to make 

life comfortable for the aggressors and 

abandon the victims to their fate. 

She said, “this thing is hurting. They killed 

my husband in my presence, they killed my 

son, I’m left suffering with four young 

children. Till death, I will never forget that 

day. I was left with children, with no help or 

assistance. See how harsh life is today, 

someday we eat, another day we stay hungry, 

that is how we have been suffering with the 

children. 

“Look at the kind of care being given to 

the Boko Haram members and those of us 

who have suffered for six years now were 

not taken care of. Truly, the government has 

not done justice here. I do menial jobs to get 

N500 to take care of the remaining children 

who are now out of school” she said. 

Similarly, a male victim said Boko Haram 

insurgents killed his relations and sacked 

his community. 

“They killed four of my relations. In what 

capacity are we going to stay with them 

again? Do we see them as human beings or 

animals? Or do they want us to meet them 

and take revenge?There will be a serious 

problem. They should go to Gwoza and 

Bama. Many of the repentant insurgents 

have rejoined the insurgency, there is nothing 

you can do to change a Boko Haram 

member,” he said. 

Spokesman for the Coalition of Northern 

Groups,CNG, Abdulaziz Suleiman, in his 

submission in Kaduna lamented that while 

the IDP camps lacked basic amenities and 

other infrastructure, government was 

rehabilitating Boko Haram members and 

re integrating them into the communities 

where they had earlier unleashed violence. 

According to Suleiman, “for government 

to even think of a phantom rehabilitation of 

so-called repented Boko Haram members 

at this point, is in itself the peak of 

misplacement of priority. It’s the height of 

insensitivity by the government. And for this 

to come at a time when almost the entire 

north has been turned virtually into a battle 

ground with camps for displaced persons 

spread around the region, it is a 

confirmation that what we have are leaders 

who think power is an end in itself; who 

mobilize our people only during elections, 

sowing seeds of division and leaving 

everyone poorer and more insecure. 

“This joke about rehabilitation of Boko 

Haram repentant fighters is a veiled 

admission of failure of government to wake 

up to the magnitude of the humanitarian 

disaster that the Boko Haram’s activities 

alone have created. From every reasonable 

point of view, it is folly to contemplate the 

rehabilitation of the Boko Haram fighters 

said to have repented without achieving full 

cessation of hostilities, disarmament, 

demobilization and reintegration in the 

entire region”. 

Continues on page 11

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 1, 2020—11 

What What Sam Sam Momah said said 

about Nigeria before 

he died Wednesda 

ednesday 


At the presentation of what turned 

out to be his last book on July 6, 

2020, former Minister of Science 

and Technology, Major General Sam 

Momah (retd) left some food for thought 

in the consciousness of journalists, guests 

and dignitaries at the event. The book (his 

twelfth) “Why We Must Restructure Now,” 

is arguably the most authoritative piece 

of literature on the subject 

matter till date. 

Away from the mere verbal 

tribute to restructuring, 

General Momah in the book 

he sub-titled “Nigerian 

Green Book,” dealt 

extensively with the mileage 

of the subject and allayed 

fears of those who see it as 

synonymous with resource 

control. Momah died in 

Abuja on Wednesday 

afternoon after long battle 

with diabetes. 

Here are some of the things 

he said at historic event. 

“Restructuring is not 

resource control. It is instead 

a globally agreed win-win 

strategy of replacing fossil 

energy with renewable energy 

in order to check effectively 

the worsening menace of 

global climate change which 

is causing floods of tsunami proportion, soil 

erosion, desertification and bush fire. 

”Restructuring is that fundamental, 

constitutional and reformist change 

Outrage as Boko o Haram am victims blast t govt 

Continues from page 10 

Such action, according to him “is a 

confirmation of the lack of leadership 

capacity required for the simultaneous 

challenges of continuing the fight against 

Boko Haram, rehabilitating IDPs and 

rebuilding lives, communities and 

infrastructure. 

“This also justifies our concerns that the 

quality of coordination of efforts, 

management of skills and resources and 

the capacities and integrity of government 

agencies are insufficient for addressing the 

sense of urgency in dealing with an 

escalating humanitarian disaster. 

“With about millions of our fellow citizens 

internally displaced and hundreds of 

thousands of orphans, and hunger and 

malnourishment becoming alarming 

features in most parts of the north, it is 

ridiculous that the sense of emergency 

needed for dealing with the scale and nature 

of the humanitarian disaster is diverted to 

rehabilitating those that caused it. 

“If the north today needs to hear the truth, 

it should be told that it is cursed with a set 

of leaders who have lost the energy and some 

of the sincerity and will power to take up 

such challenging issues as the resettlement 

of persons displaced by the Boko Haram 

insurgency, communal conflicts, cattle 

rustling, banditry and kidnapping. 

“The President, federal legislators and 

governors keep telling us that they are 

concerned over these issues, but every 

northerner must realize by now that the 

leaders and governments we elected cannot 

or will not do enough to bring the atrocities 

to an end. 

“Therefore, when we say that northerners 

bear the brunt of bad or poor governance 

more than other Nigerians, we speak from 

a solid experience of living under leaders 

who are inept in bringing relief and comfort 

to northern communities suffering under 

the current desperate circumstances,” he 

In a restructured 

Nigeria, legislative 

duties will be parttime 

while security 

vote, constituency 

projects and 

humongous 

allowances will be 

scrapped 

Nigeria must undergo to enable her 

replace sharing mindset with productive 

mindset for the sustainable development 

of the country. 

”Restructuring is the deliberate and 

systematic replacement of oil with 

Technologically Diversified Economy, 

TDE. Diversification must be technology 

based because technology is the 

inexhaustible oil well for 

humanity. 

“To save cost, the existing 

36 states will become 

provinces by doing away 

with (amongst others) 

legislative and judicial 

arms. Now, if the new 18 

states recommended by 

2014 national conference 

are accepted, they too will 

be provinces and a total of 

54 (36+18) provinces should 

be formed. Again, the 

number of federating states 

will be determined by 

E x t r a o r d i n a r y 

Constitutional Conference, 

ECC...The six geo-political 

zones will offer the best 

economic benefits if 

operated as the six 

federating states. 

”To initiate the entire 

restructuring process, a 

Presidential bill should be 

passed by the National Assembly thus 

empowering the ECC to hold and its 

outcome will then be confirmed in a 

national referendum. In the legislative 

said. 

Senator Ali Ndume representing Borno 

South who also spoke on the issue said 

rehabilitation and integration of repentant 

Boko Haram insurgents would be an 

exercise in futility as a repentant Boko 

Haram member who was recently 

integrated with his community, had killed 

his father, stole his wealth and 

disappeared. Ndume alleged that many 

of the repentant Boko Haram members 

had since gone back to the group adding 

that “they would never repent”. He 

contended that if there was sincerity of 

purpose on the part of the government, 

the displaced persons at the IDPs camps 

should be trained in various trades and 

vocations to enable them start life again. 

Borno 

At the various IDPs camps 

in Borno state located in 

Dalori, Bakassi, Customs 

House, NYSC, Teachers 

Village, Gubio Road, 

Stadium, Christian 

Association of Nigeria 

,CAN, Centre, Mohammed 

Goni College of Legal and 

The President, federal 

legislators and 

governors keep telling 

us that they are 

concerned over these 

issues, but every 

northerner must realize 

by now that the leaders 

and governments we 

elected cannot or will not 

do enough to bring the 

atrocities to an end 

Islamic Studies 

(MOGOCLIS) and Farm 

Centre, the displaced 

persons argued that they 

should be the ones to be 

rehabilitated by the 

government and not the 

terrorists saying that those 

who killed by the sword 

should be given the same 

treatment. According to them, a killer, 

rapist and abductor will never be welcomed 

in any community describing the 

reintegration initiative as terrible and 

baseless. 

•Momah 

arm, the existing 109 senate seats will be 

reduced to 54 (one per province) while the 

360 House of Representatives seats will 

be reduced to 108 (two per province). 

“In a restructured Nigeria, legislative 

duties will be part-time while security vote, 

constituency projects and humongous 

allowances will be scrapped, 

“It (restructuring) must be gradually 

phased within ten years (2020-2030)-the 

Decade of Destiny. There is a general 

global anticipation that COVID-19 

vaccine including US RESMESIVIR will 

be out early in 2021. Also, COVID-19 is 

expected to fade away by December, 2020. 

The federal government should therefore 

use the rest of 2020 to plan and thus, use 

early 2021 to hold the constitutional 

conference which will amongst others, 

determine the various vital phases 

restructuring will go through from 2021- 

2030. The report of the constitutional 

conference should go through the National 

cum State and the Houses of Assembly and 

finally, get it through people’s referendum. 

“The President Buhari administration 

has made giant strides in many areas 

including strategic infrastructural 

developments such as the 1.6km Niger 

Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan Highway/rail line, 

Kaduna-Abuja rail line; increase in 

Community 

rejects reintegration 

of repentant 

terrorist 

It was gathered that one of the deradicalised 

Boko Haram members, who 

was released recently went back to his 

community with some papers believed to 

be government clearance paper but 

members of the community rejected his 

being reintegrated into the society while 

condemning the authorities who released 

him back to the community. This followed 

a video released by Boko Haram 

that went viral of the gruesome 

murder of some humanitarian aid 

workers as one of those killed was 

from the same area where the 

repentant terrorist was being sent to 

be reintegrated. 

In his reaction, one of the 

displaced persons, Abba Ali who is 

taking refuge at Bakkasi Camp in 

Maiduguri, with two wives and four 

children strongly condemned the 

rehabilitation of Boko Haram 

members insisting that government 

must rescind the decision. 

He queried, “how would Boko 

Haram members who have killed 

and destroyed would be given 

pardon in the name of repentance, 

while their victims are wallowing in 

abject poverty and trauma with the 

government not showing any 

concern to their plight the camps?” 

He said, “imagine you had your 

children murdered, your wife raped and 

killed. The culprits are arrested and the 

government tells you they are now 

repentant. And while you are still at an IDP 

camp, with your family disorganised, and 

you are struggling to get food to eat, the 

production of local food items and 

improving on that by initiating the Green 

Imperative; blocking of financial leakages 

through TSA, PICA, IPPIS, enhanced 

remittance by NCS, JAMB, etc; nothing 

will best practicalise the progressive 

appellation of the All Progressives 

Congress and fulfil the CHANGE mantra 

and the NEXT LEVEL slogan on which it 

rode to power in 2015 and 2019 

respectively than the restructuring of 

Nigeria. 

“The success of restructuring will depend 

on how best all government functionaries 

and political leaders from top to 

bottom, patronize made-in-Nigeria 

goods. It’s unimaginable the catalyst effect 

plus the millions of jobs that will be created 

if the federal government directs and 

enforces the policy that henceforth, all 

official vehicles and computers must be 

assembled in Nigeria and 2030, all 

vehicles for government offices, should be 

based on renewable energy technology.” 

“The governors and not the President as 

Nigerians erroneously think, should 

shoulder the burden of Nigeria’s economy 

because they (the governors) control the 

land, the manpower and the capital 

(security vote) while the President 

physically controls only the Aso Villa.” 

government brings the culprits, feeds and 

clothes them, gives them education and 

money to start a business and sends them to 

come and be your neighbors. 

“I am very much disappointed to see that 

our killers were given preferential 

treatment. I learnt that many of them who 

pretended to surrender were not only given 

money and certificates after their 

graduation from a radicalization centre in 

Gombe, but they were also allowed to be 

reintegrated into the society to mingle with 

their victims. It is very shocking to me in 

particular”, Ali said. 

Another displaced resident, Mallam Abor 

Mohammed who lost two of his children 

and some close relatives during Boko 

Haram attacks in Bama Local Government 

Area, and currently taking refuge at Dalori 

II IDPs camp, expressed dismay with 

government’s move, saying it was only in 

Nigeria that such a thing could happen. 

Mohammed said, “when I heard that our 

enemies are now treated as first class 

citizens after surrendering to the military, I 

asked, did the government know the 

implication of allowing the same people 

who terrorized us to be reintegrated into 

the society? But all I can say is that I am 

optimistic that Allah would do justice at 

the end”. 

Also reacting, an IDP from Damaturu, the 

Yobe state capital who simply gave his name 

as Usman Yakubu said, himself, his wife 

and three of his children were displaced in 

the last eight years when a group of 

insurgents ambushed their community in 

Buni Gari. 

Yakubu in an emotion laden voice said, 

“I was surprised to see that even during this 

trying moment of COVID-19 pandemic 

where schools remained closed, with no 

admission, promotion or graduation, Boko 

Haram sect members who pretended to 

have repented were not only freed to be 

reintegrated into the same society they 

unleashed terror upon, but equally given 

vocational training and were issued 

certificates”.


I’ve created connection 

between people and govt 

in Edo – Obaseki 

•Says APC, Oshiomhole donated Edo to PDP 

• My quarrel with Oshiomhole over cost of roads 

By Clifford Ndujihe, Politics Editor 

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, 

who is seeking for re-election on the 

platform of the Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, was in Lagos, on Sunday, where 

he shared his thoughts with reporters on 

his achievements, 

chances, and why the 

September 19 

governorship election must 

be free and fair. 

Your opponent, Pastor Osagie 

Ize-Iyamu of the APC, said in 

2016 you did not have a 

programme, four years after you 

still do not have unlike him that 

has the SIMPLE Agenda... 

Sometimes the political space is 

interesting because someone can just open his 

mouth and say nonsense and thinks he is saying 

something. Okay, you said you have a 

programme, when you were in government, 

what did you achieve? 

In campaigning for office, you need to say 

what you will do? That is what he calls his so 

called simple agenda. He doesn’t know that 

government is not that simple. 

I’m saying what I have done. We worked on 

a six-point programme. First, building and 

rebuilding institutions; strengthening 

governance because without the institutions, 

without the civil service, without the 

bureaucracy no matter how beautiful your 

programmes are there will be no basis to 

implement them. So, strengthening 

institutions, including the Judiciary, training 

and re-training your civil servants. The other 

plan is social development-the people. 

Focusing on education and health of the 

people. So, it is not about coming out to say I 

will do this, it is about what have you done. 

You can see what we have done in education. 

We went to the core of the problem-basic 

education, retrained teachers, gave and trained 

them how to use technology. So, today, our 

children are learning. Parents are moving their 

children from private schools back into public 

schools because I can tell you when a teacher 

is in school or not. I have a portal and every 

teacher must log in when he gets into school 

every day. Those teachers must complete their 

lesson notes. If they don’t, I can tell that and I 

can see it. They must take attendance of every 

child that comes to school. So, we know which 

child has dropped off school. It is a system that 

is working. So, it is not “I will do.” You have 

12,000 teachers who have been going through 

this. 

You have 300,000 kids who are in the system. 

So, you can go and check it. The same thing 

we have done in healthcare- build the primary 

healthcare centre, focus on the base, introduce 

technology, when these women go in there, take 

their records, try understand their health 

conditions at the beginning not when the thing 

is serious you begin to treat the chronic 

conditions. Make sure your community health 

workers, community nurses are trained to 

attend to people and get that information 

upfront. 

We also focus on the vulnerable particularly 

the older people and making sure pensions 

are paid. We cared about our people before 

talking about infrastructure. 

Today, go and ask Main One, Benin City is 

the most connected city. There is 400km of 

fibre around Benin City. No other city has it in 

this country. We did it in less than a year. People 

are using it. Talk about roads. 

What is the quarrel with Oshiomhole? I 

cannot build a kilometre of road for a million 

dollars. Why should I do that? What is there to 

•Obaseki 

build in a road? Is it not the 

graders? Is not the cement? What is there? So, 

I said no I won’t do that. I used the same 

contractors, I halved my cost. So, instead of 

one road, I build two now for the same amount. 

I mean in most cities how many roads are more 

than a kilometre? I don’t construct road but I 

construct communities. So, in terms of 

infrastructure, we have done much more. 

What about electricity? We worked and built 

our zonal power plant. We partnered with a 

Chinese company (CCECC). We are talking 

less and building more and that is what they 

are not used to in Nigerian politics. You build 

one toilet, you say it is VIP toilet. The amount 

you use for commissioning will be more than 

the cost of the toilet. We don’t do that. 

What about our environment? In the last four 

years, they cut off most of the trees and nobody 

cared. Edo that is rainforest is now looking 

like savannah. Now, working with the Federal 

Government, we just started with 25 million 

trees having protected areas. 

What about agriculture? We collected the 

money from the Central bank 

of Nigeria (CBN). We have 

resuscitated most of the farms- 

Agbede, Auchiwarake farms 

and so many others. Go there 

today and you will see they are 

all working. We are in 

partnership with the CBN. I 

have taken 100,000 hectares and 

we have now finished the survey. 

In fact, Central Bank has now 

approved five companies. Most 

of them are planting there 

including Flour Mills; Dufil, 

people who make noodles, etc, 

they are all there. 

On why best candidates 

should win elections and his 

chances 

The Nigerian kind of politics 

is one that is created. Today, in 

Edo, this is what is on ground: 

Edo is dearly a PDP state. It has 

always been. The PDP has won 

every national election and the 

APC only won local elections. So, in terms of 

the political configuration of the state, at best 

you can say it was 50-50. Who is APC? I am the 

state governor. (Adams) Oshiomhole does not 

have control of the APC structure. But, I have it 

- All the local government chairmen, members 

of the House and all the councillors. So, in 

terms of political structure, I believe I have at 

least 75 per cent of it. So, it is now 75 per cent 

of APC and 50 per cent of PDP in the new 

configuration. 

Coming to the people, politicians make our 

noises but at the end of the day, voter turnout is 

very low in Nigeria because there is very limited 

connection between the people and the 

government. 

What we have done in Edo in the last four 

years is remarkable. It is by providing services 

to people. You now begin to feel a connection 

with government. I have 300,000 children in 

my school system. I spend an average of about 

N16,000 on each of them in Edo Best. The 

parents, who are poor, are seeing a difference 

in their children. The teachers are now calling, 

giving their pupils training. 

So, does it mean the parents of the 300,000 

children don’t matter? They see a connection 

with the government and they are getting 

something now. So, would they just allow it 

walk away? Would they now not participate? I 

tell them that If I am not there, those children 

will not get these services any more because 

they will take the money. 

What about the pensioners? What about the 

civil servants who knew what their situation 

was before now? You think they will just keep 

quiet and allow? Look, in Edo today, I have 

what is called Ward Development Committees, 

where in every ward, there 

are 17 or more men and 

women who live there and 

consider themselves as a 

committee. 

You have maybe a priest, 

a native doctor, a teacher, a 

retired teacher, a retired 

We also focus on 

the vulnerable 

particularly the 

older people and 

making sure 

pensions are paid. 

We cared about our 

people before 

talking about 

infrastructure 

nurse and so many others. 

People just live in the 

community, meet regularly 

and I have asked them to 

talk about and bring up 

issues because the local 

governments are not 

strong. They do let me 

know what their priorities 

are. And I have them 

across the state. And the 

amount of digital 

penetration is amazing. 

What about my schoolbased 

management 

committees? My view in 

all of these is that if all 

don’t matter in the political system and 

these guys have enough instrument of arms 

to come and rig out the majority, then it is 

unfortunate for the system. 

However, I can assure you that Nigeria will 

never be the same because Edo is not in the 

extreme. It is a connecting point. Wth the crisis 

and tension in the country, anything that sparks 

in Edo, only God knows the effect. 

So, I hope and pray that people are sensible 

enough to know that with the level of digital 

penetration; with the effect of COVID-19, we 

must now begin to think and act properly. I am 

now in PDP. It is not like those days. There is a 

structure at the moment. Do they want to retain 

me in Government House? I believe so. Do the 

people who are in APC want me to still be 

there? I believe so. So, who are these 

opposition? The opposition is that tiny army 

of Oshiomole’s boys, not major political 

players of repute. 

Do you think you are capable of taming 

politics of violence because those boys you 

just talked about have a role to play on 

Election Day? 

We will not talk about that. Nobody has 

monopoly of violence. With Edo coming into 

PDP, the South-South is full completely. 

On allegations of APC using Federal Might 

and whether votes will count 

That is what we are saying. If we want this 

democracy to survive, don’t play games with 

Edo’s election because the moments are 

different. This is not a general election. It is 

a sole day election. So, everybody will be 

watching. And if we need anything in 

Nigeria today, we need a smack of 

credibility. So, I don’t believe people in 

Abuja are that dumb and crazy not to 

understand the danger and the crisis we 

will face if they don’t allow the votes count 

and militarise the election. In any case, 

the feedback is why should they do it? It is 

not like I willingly left APC. APC donated 

Edo to PDP. Oshiomole donated Edo to 

PDP. So, would they now come and fight 

and quarrel with us? No. They should 

rather fight with the man who decided to 

give away seven states. 

You saw what they did in Imo and that 

of the Kogi. How prepared are you? 

What I am saying is that as a governor 

of a state, it is not my style to begin to talk 

about violence and all of that. But, I want 

to say that they should be sensible not to 

try it because unlike other states Edo is in 

the middle of the country and any crisis 

in Edo today will have a major effect on 

other states in the country. 

Your opponents have been saying that 

you have nothing on ground, including 

your certificate... 

I think it is about the press really 

because someone who comes out in 

Nigeria and tells a very obvious lie and 

you are listening and saying okay. How 

can you even talk about my certificate 

when the university that issued it has come 

out itself to say that this person graduated 

this year and the person is saying he has 

issues with my certificate? So, what do you 

want me to do? 

He said I have done nothing and that there 

is nothing on ground. All the teachers’ unions 

are saying well done for transforming 

education in Nigeria. But, they are saying we 

have done nothing. You see it is the old politicsjust 

tell the lie repeatedly and it will stick but 

this country is different now. It is about us 

getting stakeholders on the table. This 

democracy is now 21 years. The old politics of 

just go and tell a lie and continue to repeat the 

lie in the age of technology is uncalled for. 

People are not stupid and foolish. Before 

they said it doesn’t matter but now, it 

matters because of COVID-19. If you look 

at that young man or young woman who 

used to run after vehicles to sell to chinchin, 

today, he is cannot any more. And 

you think the person will just sit down? It 

can’t happen. We should be very careful 

about this country. 

See the incident of ‘’I cannot breathe’’ 

in America despite its development. They 

are choking the whole population. Now, 

it matters we should very active. If I didn’t 

do the things we did to remove the choke, 

people would not have come back and 

invest in Edo. And it is those investments 

that are creating job opportunities. We 

have four Chinese companies. In fact, 

when we came in, they were two. Now, they 

are four and two more are coming. 

Everything in this room today can be 

manufactured in Edo. We have glass, 

ceramic tiles, doors, sanitary fittings 

because we have electricity-we are an 

electricity hub. 

What is your relationship with Senator Bola 

Tinubu of the APC? 

He is our father. We owe so much to him. I 

believe when you have a father that has done 

so well and helped propagate a new system, 

you should really pull back and see what he 

has created naturally. So, my relationship with 

him is not different from what it had been. 

But, your slogan ‘Edo no be Lagos?’ 

The reason for the slogan “Edo no be Lagos” 

was when Oshiomole’s boys started the 

nonsense in Abuja, they said they were going 

to give me the Ambode treatment (denying me 

second term as was done former Governor 

Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos). That 

happened in Lagos, not in Edo.


EDO 2020: It’s my time 

to govern Edo — Ize-Iyamu 

•How I ‘ll restore Edo’s lost t glory 

•Oshiomhole abused me in 2016 because he had bad product 

By Mike Ebonugwo & Clifford Ndujihe 

Edo State Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, 

APC, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, took his quest for the Edo top job to 

Lagos, last week, and told reporters that he would not allow political 

opponents distract him as they did in 2016. Ize-Iyamu, who had earlier 

granted an interview to Vanguard, said with his SIMPLE Agenda, he will 

transform Edo, if elected 

On the belief that some loyalists of 

Governor Godwin Obaseki, who did not 

defect to the Peoples Democratic Party 

(PDP) with him, might play the role of 

moles in APC during the election 

Yes, we know that there are moles within 

the party but I want to assure you that we 

will deal with that. I will not elaborate on 

our plan to deal with that, but we will deal 

with it. 

On rising tension in Edo and how 

violence can be averted before, during and 

after the poll 

We have said that we want this election to 

be issue-based. We don’t even want to resort 

to name-calling, let us focus on our agenda. 

I can assure you that we as party will do 

everything possible to avoid violence during 

the election and we hope that the other 

parties, especially the PDP will do the same 

because of what is already playing out. 

They have campaign billboards and 

posters across the state; in fact they started 

erecting such billboards before us but we 

approached the agency of government incharge 

and asked about available spaces 

and the cost. 

They told us and we paid only to find out 

that a top official of the government said 

‘how can APC be allowed to have campaign 

billboards at strategic locations?’ 

The next thing that happened was that they 

began to remove our campaign billboards. 

We have petitioned the commissioner of 

Police in Edo State and the state Director of 

the Department of State Services (DSS). 

Our campaign organization also 

addressed a press conference, where it made 

it clear that the PDP must be 

accommodating and tolerant as well as 

avoid anything that will trigger violence. 

We could have taken the law into our hands 

but we didn’t do that. From that time till 

now, they have not mentioned that one of 

their billboards was destroyed by our 

supporters. 

So, I am assuring you that there will be no 

violence during the election as we will do 

our best and will cooperate with the security 

agents to make sure that the election is 

peaceful. 

Have you been able to address those 

factors that worked against you in the 2016 

governorship election? 

If you had followed that election, you 

would have found out that despite the fact 

that I was coming from an opposition party 

in the state at that time, it was not easy for 

the ruling party. They had to postpone the 

election a day to it and brought it back after 

18 days and when the result started coming 

out and I was leading, you saw the drama 

that ensued and announcement of the results 

had to be stopped. 

By the time they came back, the whole 

thing had changed. But, when the Supreme 

Court says a particular person won, you don’t 

have to argue. However, I can assure you 

that everything that happened then have 

been addressed and this time is our time. 

Former Governor Adams Oshiomhole 

said all sort of things about you during the 

last election, but you are working with him 

now. How do you react to that? 

Yes, Oshiomhole threw punches at me in 

2016, but people tend to have short memory. 

Oshiomole was at Ben Idahosa University, 

when I was being given a doctorate and he 

spent over one hour praising me for my 

contributions in his government and the role 

I am playing in the state. 

Oshiomhole also came to my farm at one 

time, when I was graduating students and 

he listed the roles I was playing in the state. 

At my 50th birthday, there was no word he 

didn’t use to describe me including the fact 

that if he wants to mention those, who have 

helped him to succeed in government, there 

is no way my name will not be there. 

So, if during the campaigns for the 2016 

governorship election he was abusing me 

because I was on the other side, what do you 

expect? 

Of course, he needed to abuse me, 

especially when he didn’t have a good 

product. You can imagine how Governor 

Obaseki started his campaign for the 

forthcoming election. They placed a big 

screen on Ring road in Benin, where 

everybody passes and one would have 

thought that all he would be playing on that 

kind of screen are achievements of his 

administration in the last four years. Instead 

of that, he is playing about the 

governor of Kano State. 

It was when condemnation 

came from within and outside 

Nigeria that they had to stop it. 

What has the governor of Kano 

State got to do with the 

governorship election in Edo 

State apart from being the 

chairman of APC National 

Campaign Council? I am sure 

that those who had gone 

through campaigns before will 

tell you that people will call 

their opponents all sorts of 

names during electioneering 

campaigns, but if you allow 

those things to border you, they 

will distract you. 

In fact, I confessed somewhere 

that they succeeded four years 

because I had my SIMPLE 

Agenda but I didn’t talk about 

it as I spent all the time replying 

their insults. Everyone knew 

that I had the SIMPLE Agenda 

but I didn’t talk about what I had, which 

they never had. This time I will not allow 

myself to be distracted; I will tell Edo people 

about my SIMPLE Agenda. 

Are you going do to limit yourself to just 

one term in office if you win the election 

giving the clamour of Edo Central, which has 

never produced governor or deputy to 

produce the governor in 2024? 

When you are elected; are you elected to serve 

for two terms? You serve one term at a time 

and one term is four years, not eight years. So, 

in terms of planning, don’t leave any of your 

projects to run for an eight-year period or 20 

year-period. 

If you want people to appreciate what you 

are doing or you want your agenda to be 

measurable and achievable, let it be within 

the period of your tenure. So, when I say four 

years, I am clearly conscious of the number of 

years a tenure is. Again, we are not God and 

nobody knows who will be alive tomorrow and 

death is not determined by age or position. So, 

why don’t we talk about what is on ground and 

leave the future to God? 

What is your take on security votes and are 

you going to stop it? 

I won’t say that I will stop security votes 

because what is important is what you use it 

for. I can’t make security a cardinal part of my 

agenda and there are no security votes; it is 

ridiculous. 

How do you handle security matters without 

financial votes? But the money you put in will 

determine or reflect the seriousness you attach 

to that area. So, for me, part 

of the security votes apart 

from going to the security 

agencies should also go to 

vigilance groups. 

They should not be 

working for gratis. How 

can communities raise 

Oshiomhole also 

came to my farm 

at one time, 

when I was 

graduating 

students and he 

listed the roles I 

was playing in 

the state 

people, who are guarding 

farmlands and rural roads 

and government will not 

send them anything as 

support? 

Today, all the forests in 

Edo State have been taken 

over by criminals. If 

security votes were well 

managed by the present 

administration in the state, 

those forests would have 

been cleaned out. So, let use 

security votes judiciously 

and not see it as money for 

the governor. 

On whether his jumping 

from APC to PDP, and back to APC in four 

years is stable and won’t affect his chances 

It is not a question of instability. It is a 

question of being consistent with your goals 

and objectives. I have never hidden the fact 

that I am in politics to access government for 

the benefit of my people. And so if you find 

yourself in a political party that is not interested 

in winning election or that does not take 

seriously the issue of winning, of course a tree 

does not make a forest, you alone cannot do it. 

It will mean that you will have to have a rethink. 

When I left APC to join the PDP, of course we 

were angry with the way certain things were 

going on. The congresses then (party 

congresses) were being manipulated against 

many of our associates and we were not happy 

about it and we felt that there was a conspiracy 

of sort against us and it was better to move 

elsewhere. It was not because we felt that the 

APC manifesto or vision was not compatible 

with our own dreams. And since we left, a lot of 

people talked to us to return. We have done so 

•Ize-Iyamu 

much to see how we could revamp the PDP but 

we just realised that we were in the midst of 

strange bed fellows. Most of the people there 

did not share in our dreams and visions, so we 

met and discussed it. We came to a conclusion 

that it will be a lot better if we returned to the 

APC. No matter what you will say, the APC is 

quite purposeful, especially in terms of being 

in government; they take it seriously. We believe 

that whatever impact we want to make in the 

political arena can only be achieved when we 

get to government. 

It has been rumoured that the main reason 

you joined the APC is to have the ticket for 

this year’s election. How true is this? 

You must know that as human beings we 

have ambitions; but again, they say man 

proposes, God disposes. Any man who is wise 

will look at all the options available to him. In 

coming back to the APC, we came with an 

open mind. Open mind number one: you can’t 

run away from the fact that there is already a 

governor who is from the APC and who of 

course will desire a second term. So, we came 

in knowing that there could be a consensus in 

this direction, it was possible. No matter the 

difference that was brewing, it was possible 

that reconciliation could come and the 

governor could get a consensus affirmation. If 

that happened, we were not going to take a 

walk and leave the party. So that option was 

available to us. We knew that it was there and 

we told ourselves if that happens it simply 

means that we would ensure that we push for 

areas to be considered in the developmental 

plans of the governor as a condition for 

supporting and making his election easy, that 

was one. Another option was that the party in 

its wisdom could choose a new person. And 

again, if that happened, were we going to walk 

away? No! We said the important thing is that 

we are in a party that would be in government 

and we would use our presence there to ensure 

that we are able to push for development for 

our people and our constituents, and that again 

was an option. And there was a third option 

that said look Pastor you were in this party 

before, you are one of the founders of this party. 

It is also possible that some of those who have 

been urging you to return and all your old 

friends there might say, look Pastor, why don’t 

you run for governorship. I said if that is also 

possible, why not? It will give us the opportunity 

to implement our SIMPLE AGENDA which 

we believe is all encompassing and something 

that is a veritable roadmap for the 

development of our state. 

So those options were there. It is not as if 

one went with one mindset, it would have 

been foolish to just say you are going there 

only for governorship. 

Read more online at 

www.vanguardngr.com


Edo 2020: 

As Oshiomhole 

recants . . . 

By Ozioruva Aliu 

BY this time four years ago, the former 

National Chairman of the All 

Progressives Congress, APC, 

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who was then 

governor of Edo state and the current 

governorship candidate of the party ahead 

of the September 19 th governorship 

election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu were at 

daggers drawn at each other. 

Ize-Iyamu was then the governorship 

candidate of the then opposition Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, a ticket he got few 

months after he defected from the APC while 

Oshiomhole was marketing Governor 

Godwin Obaseki then the candidate of the 

APC to the people. 

But like role swap, less than four years 

after, Ize-Iyamu is now the candidate of the 

APC while Obaseki is now the candidate of 

the PDP. 

The verbal war between Oshiomhole and 

Ize-Iyamu then was so fierce that book 

makes never predicted the two could even 

come together on the same political space 

how much more that happening in less than 

four years. 

The verbal war got to a point that Ize- 

Iyamu publicly complained that he did not 

know who he was contesting against. A 

questions like is “Is Oshiomhole contesting 

for third term” was common. Oshiohole 

dominated Obaseki’s campaigns and 

rallies. 

He described Ize-Iyamu with virtually any 

available adjective in the negative sense. 

Among several other negative comments, 

Oshiomhole said in an interview on 

television: “I will recommend that PDP put 

Pastor as their candidate and if they do that, 

whoever we bring, we will win because you 

will be putting a known non-performer 

against somebody Edo people can trust... 

By 2007 on Election Day, Pastor Ize-Iyamu 

was restrained by the EFCC, he could not 

come out and vote. . .” 

Oshiomhole also said in a rally in Uromi, 

Edo Central Senatorial District “Because 

of crisis of identity, he (Ize-Iyamu) went to 

carry a bible and said I am born again but 

to carry a bible doesn’t give a clue about 

who you are. It is only God that knows the 

heart so by their actions we know who is a 

Christian, who is a Muslim , who is a pagan, 

who is herbalists, who is a cultist, who is an 

honest man and who is a gentleman. 

“When he cannot dispute the fact that PDP 

government with Ize-Iyamu as SSG could 

not build schools, could not build roads, they 

did not do anything he now said no, he 

cannot be blamed for the failure of 

Igbinedion government, alright if we cannot 

blame him for the failure of the government 

he was Chief of Staff and SSG is that why 

we will promote him to the office of 

governor? I am campaigning with our 

candidate who has said he will build on what 

we have done. Ize-Iyamu is not able to say 

he will build on what they have done before 

because they did not do anything” 

However, the war of words was not 

restricted to 

Oshiomhole as Ize- 

Iyamu countered 

in a rally in Benin 

City when he said: 

“Edo people 

trusted him and 

they voted for him, 

the kind of money 

that has come into 

this state in the 

past eight years, 

that kind of money 

has never come 

before. From the 

time of Midwest, 

to Bendel and to 

the period before 

he came in, if you 

add all the money 

together, it is not 

up to what Adams 

Oshiomhole 

collected. He says 

Pastor Ize-Iyamu 

is bad, Pastor Ize- 

Iyamu is useless, 

when he appointed 

Ize-Iyamu as his 

Campaign DG, Ize- 

Iyamu was not bad? 

When he was made 

National Vice 

Chairman of his party, he 

didn’t know that he was 

bad, now that he has left him,he now says he 

is bad, so who is a fool? The truth is that this 

man has embezzled the resources of our 

state. I welcome Adams Oshiomhole to 

probe the time I was in 

government, look for everything 

that I did. Let him do it because 

by the grace of God when I am 

governor, I will probe him” 

On another occasion, Ize- 

Iyamu said ”Edo people should 

forgive me for being one of those 

in the forefront that brought Mr. 

Oshiomhole to be the governor 

of the state. We now know who he 

is. Therefore, in the coming 

elections, Edo people should not 

repeat the mistake of the past. 

When I remember how we 

brought in Oshiomhole to contest 

the 2007 governorship election, 

I weep because we brought in a 

bad thing.” 

When, Oshiohmole fell out 

with Obaseki and the primary 

election of the APC was 

approaching, and it was 

becoming clear that Oshiomhole 

would support Ize-Iyamu whom 

he had lured back to the party, the comments 

of these two became the issue for debate in 

many places. They went viral in the social 

media. How were they going to recant these 

dangerous comments especially from 

Oshiomhole who once said Ize-Iyamu could 

not be trusted with money and even 

wondered how he became a pastor in a 

church as highly respected as the Redeemed 

•Oshiomhole 

Christian Church of Christ. 

But during a rally in his compound in 

Iyamho, Oshiomhole publicly apologised 

to the people that he made a mistake in 

bringing Obaseki and insulting 

Ize-Iyamu in 2016. 

Just few days ago when 

together the two visited the 

Enigie (Dukes) in Benin City, 

Oshiomhole shocked his critics 

when he said: ”I want to start 

by apologising that my 

I apologise for 

my poor 

judgment as they 

say, you can never 

know how a man 

is until he has 

money and power 

then his true colour 

comes out 

understanding was that my 

successor will continue the 

projects we started but never 

knew that along the line, he will 

stop everything so I apologise 

that I brought a man who 

pretended for eight years that 

he would build on the 

foundation that I laid . 

“When they are using my 

campaign, what I said about 

Pastor in the past, I say Pastor 

has never been governor. There 

is what you call tested and 

trusted, we have tested Obaseki 

and he failed so he cannot do 

resit. I apologise for my poor 

judgment as they say, you can never know 

how a man is until he has money and power 

then his true colour comes out. So if those 

who tell me that this man will betray, and 

they have turned out to be true, God has a 

reason for keeping me alive and well and 

strong so that working with you Your 

Highnesses, we will correct the mistake and 

bring someone who will make up for lost 

time “ 

Few days after, Ize-Iyamu received many 

youths under the aegis: Edo Youths 

Solidarity Movement in his house in the 

company of Oshiomhole. 

The former governor said: “In 2012, 

Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu was my DG. 

we were showing what we have achieved 

in every area, this time the out-going or out 

gone governor is showing pictures not of 

what he has done, he is showing pictures of 

what I have said. Okay if what I have said is 

the issue, I said looking at his face, I thought 

he was a decent human being but if 

somebody fails in primary school is that a 

reason to be promoted to secondary school? 

He has failed primary school and so cannot 

go to secondary and to 

my brother pastor, 

God has said you 

worked for me as 

my DG in 2012 and 

I won everywhere, 

God has said I will 

work for you by 2020 

so that you also win 18 

over 18. I heard them at 

the stadium shouting my 

name Oshiomhole, 

Oshiomhole, I said 

good for them let 

them be shouting my 

name and 

Oshiomhole is not 

in the ballot 

because they 

could not point 

to what they 

have down” 

In what 

looked like 

accepting 

Oshiomhole’s 

apology, Ize- 

Iyamu said: 

“Some people 

will pretend 

that they want 

to advise you, 

Somebody 

said Pastor, we 

like you but we 

don’t want 

Oshiomhole 

to campaign 

for you, he said because Oshiomhole abused 

you before, how is he going to campaign for 

you now but I said if the man who said you 

were not tall before and now say you are 

tall, is that a bad thing? That fact is that 

who has worked well, has worked well. If 

Oshiomhole had not worked well, will you 

people have hailed him the way you did when 

he came here? So no matter what anybody 

will say who has performed well has 

performed well. 

“Was it not Oshiomhole that did airport 

road? And several others so no matter what 

anybody will say, this man worked. The only 

thing is that his mouth is too sharp but the 

truth is that Oshiomhole did well. 

“This election is not about PDP or APC, it 

is not even about Obaseki and Ize-Iyamu, 

this election is about you. Do you want to 

continue like this, are you happy about the 

way things are? They claim Oshiomhole 

wants to be godfather but what did 

Oshiomhole ask you? Did he ask you for 

money?” 

In the days coming what happened in the 

past may be key factors in the campaigns 

for the September election. In 2016 it was 

largely Oshiomhole vs Ize-Iyamu and the 

man whose name was on the ballot paper, 

Godwin Obaseki became the secondary face 

of the campaign. Now, in 2020, it’s still 

Oshiomhole calling the shots against 

Obaseki as Ize-Iyamu hopes to reap from 

former APC national chairman. 

Oshiomhole remains the issue or perhaps 

the face of the Edo elections. The outcome 

could determine his place in the Edo politics 

after his fall at the national level. 

Edo 2020: A Pas 

astor 

or, , his tigers, lions and the rest t of us 

By Adaze Emwanta, 

It is now clear that Pastor Ize-Iyamu 

and the opposition APC hope on 

winning the election through rigging, 

killing, ballot snatching and sporadic 

shooting. This was exposed at last week’s 

meeting between Ize-Iyamu and his 

‘Tigers and Lions,” a pseudonym for thugs 

and touts mobilized to cause mayhem 

during elections. 

In a viral video, a renowned thug in 

Benin City, introduced other thugs to 

Pastor Ize-Iyamu saying, “These are the 

lions and tigers from different local 

governments of the state.” 

In defiance of the electoral laws that bar 

movement from one polling unit to 

another, Ize-Iyamu told his tigers and 

lions to move from one polling unit to 

another. He specifically said his 

administration would benefit the thugs 

because many rich men would flee from 

what they are capable of doing on election 

days. 

His words, “ Your influence goes beyond 

one polling unit. After doing your unit, you 

will move to another unit. In fact, you will 

move to other wards. Some of you are so 

DANGEROUS you will move to other 

local governments. 

“Make I tell you, this election will be 

operation show your result. And that 

operation, make I tell una the truth, na 

many of una e go favour, because wetin 

una go fit do, many big men nor go fit do 

am.” 

What Pastor has failed to realise or 

whether he refused to learn from history 

that no weapon is more powerful than the 

force of a people. 

He himself said the thugs he was 

addressing are DANGEROUS but one 

thing is clear, Edo people will make the 

‘tigers and lions’ claw-less. 

It is a pity leaders of the lions and tigers 

have accepted the orders of Pastor Ize- 

Iyamu. These are men who made billions 

of naira under Oshiomhole now receiving 

orders to go and disrupt elections because 

they want to return to the streets of Benin 

City to be harassing drivers, traders in the 

name of collecting revenue. 

Edo people have resolved to give 

Governor Obaseki another four years. 

Just as He did in the days of Samson and 

Daniel, God will give the rest of us the 

strength to stop the tigers and lions on 

election day. Their fangs will not open to 

devour anybody because God is with us. 

•Adaze Emwanta, a constitutional 

lawyer, writes from Benin City


NDDC PROBE: 

Akpabio, IMC, 

lawmaker 

ers s hiding 

something 

— N’Delta stakeholders 

•Lawan, an, Gbajabiamila must t not shield lawmaker 

ers 

•What President Buhari should do – Nkanga, Mitee, Ambakaderimo 

•Our patience running out – Ukene, Mene, Morris, Jackson 

By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, 

South-South, Sam Oyadongha, nJimitota 

Onoyume, Festus Ahon, Egufe Yafugborhi, 

Emma Una, Ike Uchechukwu, Chioma 

Onuegbu, Davies Iheamnachor, Emem 

Idio, Ochuko Akuopha, Francis Sadhere 

LEADERS, activists and other 

stakeholders in the Niger-Delta 

appraised the dirty war between the 

National Assembly on one side, Minister of 

Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio and 

Interim Management Committee, IMC, 

Niger Delta Development Commission, 

NDDC, on the other hand, during the week, 

and concluded that the parties were 

concealing the actual details of their deals 

from Nigerians. 

National Chairman of Pan Niger Delta 

Forum, PANDEF and ex-Military 

Administrator of Akwa Ibom state, Nkanga, 

Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga (retd.), 

former Ogoni ethnic nationality leader, Mr. 

Ledum Mitee, Convener South -South 

Reawakening Group, Joseph 

Ambakaderimo were dumbfounded the 

contenders were quarreling and threatening 

themselves over who stole more than the 

other, instead of development of the region. 

Warri-based constitutional lawyer, Akpo 

Mudiaga-Odje, immediate past president, 

Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide, Eric 

Omare, also bared their minds, saying 

President Muhammadu Buahri should 

personally supervise forensic audit of the 

Commission and ensure that those indicted 

were speedily sanctioned. 

They have something 

to hide — Nkanga 

PANDEF national chair, Nkanga, who 

spoke in Uyo, asserted: “It will be 

dangerous for me to speculate on what the 

issues are in the NDDC/NASS quarrel. But 

from what I have seen, and read, it does 

appear that they have something to hide. 

And in an attempt to do that, you can see 

blackmail and all that. So that is what we 

are seeing now from both sides.” 

“They are trying to outdo themselves 

through blackmail and cover up the real 

issue. The National Assembly is doing its 

oversight function and there might be few 

of them that will not be comfortable with 

the investigation, because once there is 

investigation, some people are going to be 

exposed at the conclusion,” he said. 

His words: “I do not think the National 

Assembly was prepared to investigate the 

entire life of the NDDC. They were only 

prepared for the issue of the allegation of 

N40 billion fraud. Since there is the forensic 

audit going on, I think they should limit 

themselves to the level of their oversight 

function and the areas where they have 

facts.” 

IMC using diversionary 

tactic —Mitee 

Former Chairman, Nigeria Extractive 

Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, 

Mr. Ledum Mitee, told Saturday Vanguard 

in Port-Harcourt, Rivers state: “The main 

issue thrown up in the NASS probe of the 

NDDC is that the Commission has been a 

cesspool of corruption and political 

patronages, instead of a development 

agency.” 

“Our attention has been diverted by 

allegations and counter 

allegations of who had 

which contract. To me, who 

had the contracts is not 

important. It is no answer to 

allegations that some 

members of the NA also 

partook in the looting. 

“What is important is were 

those billions properly spent 

for what the funds were 

meant for; were due themselves 

process followed in the 

award of the contracts; did 

those projects for which 

contracts were awarded 

meet the priorities of 

development of the 

communities of the Niger 

Delta; were the contracts 

executed; and why have 

those who committed 

infractions not been 

punished?” He added. 

“The National Assembly 

should focus on amending 

the NDDC Act to make it 

less bureaucratic and 

accountable to the people 

and not a political 

patronage outfit. 

“The President under whose control and 

direction the NDDC carries out its functions 

by law should free it from the Presidency’s 

They are trying to outdo 

through 

blackmail and cover up the 

real issue. The National 

Assembly is doing its 

oversight function and there 

might be few of them that will 

not be comfortable with the 

investigation, because once 

there is investigation, some 

people are going to be 

exposed at the conclusion 

political stranglehold and immediately 

sanction all those against whom, by the 

revelations so far, obvious prima facie 

corruption cases have been made,” Mitee 

stated. 

Minister, IMC play down 

allegations – 

Ambakaderimo 

Convener South- South 

Reawakening Group, Mr. 

Joseph Ambakaderimo, 

said: “The issues raised are 

germane to the overall 

development of the Niger 

Delta in the sense that it did 

not start today and the 

attempt to nip it in the bud 

has now met with stiff 

confrontation from within 

and without the 

commission. The quest to 

reposition the commission 

to bring it to meet the noble 

objective of why it was 

established should be the 

focus and top most on the 

mind of every Niger Deltan 

and Nigerians in general. 

But what we see today is an 

absurd show of shame 

where the least iota of 

morality is seen thrown to 

the wind.” 

“Yes... Minister Akpabio is 

disingenuously and deliberately behaving 

like the ostrich who buries its head in the 

sand and thinks the whole body is buried. It 

has become the recurring pattern of the 

Minister and the IMC to continue to 

trivialize very serious allegations of 

corruption levelled against the Minister and 

the IMC team. The Minister and the IMC 

team have so far not been able to respond to 

the allegations convincingly and all what 

they have engaged in is what I will describe 

as ‘hot cock turtle’ tactics. 

“Even though the lawmakers have not 

asked probing questions and done followup 

to logical conclusion, I will still maintain 

that Mr. Akpabio is deliberately muddling 

up the waters to cover up acts of blatant 

corruption and direct stealing from the 

treasury, which unfortunately and unknown 

to him are been discussed in the market 

squares by everybody. But he will not succeed 

because we are ready this time to take on 

anyone, who will become an obstacle to the 

development of the region. 

“It is this spirit that has propelled us to 

request the Nigeria Police hierarchy to come 

out with full disclosure on what they, the 

police, know about the N475 million 

purported to have been received from the 

NDDC for Covid -19 support as claimed by 

the IMC during the Senate hearings. 

“So far, the NASS has come short of 

expectation in all of the processes and 

conducts so far. Like I said earlier, not 

enough probing and follow up questions are 

been asked. One instance I will like to restate 

is the issue of diversion of scholarship funds 

been diverted to personal bank accounts 

mentioned by a person, who made those 

depositions on oath, yet the committee 

members could not see that serious enough 

to do a follow up and get details of those 

accounts so mentioned from the National 

Financial Intelligence Unit, NIFU, and 

Continues on page 18

16—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 1, 2020 SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 1, 2020—17

16—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 1, 2020

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 1, 2020—17


Continues from page 15 

CBN for further scrutiny. Or better still, 

they would have hired forensic auditors to 

prepare questions for them. 

“The President must do the needful to 

ensure the persons indicted face the full 

wrath of the law and this must be done 

expeditiously too. The other thing is the 

inauguration of the substantive board which 

of course can also oversee the forensic audit. 

Akpabio, Nwaoboshi, Tunji- 

Ojo should recuse 

themselves 

“The forensic audit should be 

discontinued forthwith because the outcome 

is pre-determined already and those who are 

superintending over the forensic have their 

hands in the till. Or are we saying the 

auditors would be able to indict Akpabio 

and the IMC team? Furthermore the names 

of NASS members alleged to have been 

beneficiaries are being leaked to him, which 

he now brought to the floor of the hearing 

and he mentioned this in the floor himself 

that the names were leaked to him by the 

auditors, so what does that tell us? 

“This is one of the reasons my group has 

said we are going to issue our own minority 

report to challenge the haphazard work that 

is been done if at all any real audit is going 

on. They ask for Chairmen of the two 

committees to recuse themselves while they 

are staying put to continue to oversee the 

forensic audit? The claim by the Minister 

that forensic audit is the root cause of the 

probe only flies in the face because some of 

us have called for the probe of the NDDC 

before Akpabio became governor of Akwa 

lbom state, so what is he talking about? They, 

the trio of Akpabio, Nwaoboshi and Tunji- 

Ojo, should recuse themselves as well. Punish 

wrong doing at the top and you will be 

sending the right message to all and sundry. 

Complications of NASS 

inquiry – Omare, ex IYC 

president 

Former IYC president, Eric Omare Esq., 

said: “The issues in the NASS/NDDC IMC 

are complex and interwoven. On one hand, 

there is the historical role of some members 

of the National Assembly, especially 

Committee Chairmen exercising undue 

advantage over the affairs of the NDDC in 

the course of their oversight functions. This 

has made some members of the NASS 

Assembly to become parties to the rot in the 

NDDC. On the other hand, there is the recent 

mindless looting of the NDDC by the IMC 

set up by Senator Akpabio and backed by 

President Buhari. “ 

“Now the NASS in a bid to exercise their 

constitutional oversight functions to probe 

the NDDC are confronted with the past 

deeds of some of their members. This is 

what has made the matter complex. It is 

common knowledge that members of the 

NASS, who are members of their 

committees, especially the committee 

chairmen have always had some much 

influence in the affairs of the NDDC 

especially in the siting of projects. If you look 

at the NDDC budget over the years, you 

would discover that most of the projects are 

sited in the constituency of NASS members 

that chair the NDDC committee, but do not 

have a drop of oil in their constituencies. 

“You may further investigate this point by 

looking at the last approved NDDC budget 

and look at the projects in the constituency 

of Senator Nwaboshi and Hon. Tunji-Ojo 

from Ondo state. You would easily 

appreciate the point I am making. The 

situation is made worse by the fact that the 

IMC was supposedly appointed to supervise 

the forensic audit, but is now entangled in 

multiple cases of corruption. 

“This is what makes the situation more 

complicated. However, I think that all these 

complications could have been avoided if 

President Buhari had listened to voices of 

reason, instead of listening only to the cabal 

around him. Some of us knew from the onset 

that the rot in NDDC involved some many 

persons, including former governors, 

senators, Reps members, traditional rulers, 

politicians from across the country. 

Therefore, any investigation of the NDDC 

can only be done by a neutral body and in 

this case we strongly suggested that Mr. 

President should supervise it personally but 

unfortunately he decided to do otherwise and 

the result is what we are seeing,” 

Fraudulent party can’t 

probe another guilt-ridden 

party 

Omare disclosed: “Yes, attention is being 

diverted from the issues because a guilty 

party cannot investigate or probe another 

guilty party. And this is in different stages. 

First, Akpabio and his IMC do no not have 

Akpabio, IMC, lawmaker 

ers 

hiding something 

— N’Delta stakeholders 

the moral justification to supervise the 

forensic audit because they are interested 

parties. Then on the other hand, some 

members of the NASS also do not have the 

moral basis to sit in an investigation over 

the affairs of the NDDC because they too 

are part and parcel of the rot in the NDDC.” 

“This is where the diversion and muddling 

up of issues are coming in. Therefore, we 

can only get to the root of the corruption in 

the NDDC through an independent 

investigation outside the Akpabio IMC and 

the National Assembly probes. 

Parties confusing 

Nigerians – Jackson, 

NDYM president 

Also speaking, National President, Niger 

Delta Youth Movement, NDYM, Comrade 

Joe Jackson, asserted: ”For us what we 

think about the face-off between NDDC and 

National Assembly is that there is something 

that they don’t want Nigerians to know. 

There is an attempt to cover up by both sides. 

If there is nothing to hide then why the 

quarrel? There is a saying that “there is no 

smoke without fire.” 

“We believe they are trying to divert from 

the real issues on ground just to confuse 

Nigerians. And we are not satisfied with the 

manner which the National 

Assembly is handling the 

investigation. We are equally 

not satisfied that the NDDC is 

not providing the answers 

needed to unveil the truth. 

“We believe that before 

they come out for probe, they 

should have their facts and not 

coming out to confuse the 

masses by saying this today 

and another thing tomorrow 

when they try to divert 

attention from the real issue 

on ground, which is the rot in 

the NDDC. How would the 

masses know who is actually 

telling the truth or who is lying 

to us? 

Reevaluate 

NDDC 

— Morris, 

environmentalist 

Bayelsa state-based Niger 

Delta environmentalist, 

Comrade Alagoa 

Morris, said: “The National Assembly is an 

interested party, as they, instead of making 

lawmaking and oversight function as their 

responsibility, have taken to the part of 

sourcing for contract from the same agency 

they are supposed to have oversight function 

on. This has the issue of conflict of interest 

coming to the fore. Again, that the National 

Assembly allowed all this to happen to this 

level means they have also failed in effective 

oversight and as such, culpable.” 

Perpetrators should face 

the music — Ukeni, SAN 

Chief Mba Ukeni, SAN, opined: “The 

NDDC probe is a litmus test to check the 

credibility of the Buhari- led 

administration’s anti-corruption campaign, 

which they used to kick the PDP out of office 

in 2015.” 

“It was on that basis that PDP was kicked 

out of office, this is the time to test their 

sincerity in this campaign. We were amongst 

the NGOs and CSOs that visited Akpabio 

when the investigations were initiated to 

voice our concerns. 

“If this is properly carried out, it will mark 

a turning point in the life of the South -South 

region. Any project awarded must be 

executed and completed and anyone found 

wanting should go in for it. It should no 

longer be a secret because the people are all 

public office holders and nothing should be 

kept secret anymore, it should be published 

because the world is watching. 

“Akpabio should go back and do a review 

and people, who are involved should be 

made to face the law, it is a shame for the 

quantity of money sunk in to go like that 

and the Niger Delta remains in this sorry 

state. 

The President 

must do the 

needful to 

ensure the 

persons indicted 

face the full 

wrath of the law 

and this must be 

done 

expeditiously too 

It’s all power 

show 

- Dr Mudiaga- 

Odje, lawyer 

Human rights activist 

and constitutional lawyer, 

Dr Akpor Mudiaga-Odje, 

hollered from 

Warri: ”The issues 

arising from the National 

Assembly and NDDC face 

off is satirically what the 

great Afro beat icon, Fela 

classified as ‘power 

show’. Power show in the 

sense that both institutions 

are unwittingly competing 

as to who calls the shots 

and distributes the 

largesse flowing from the 

goose that lays the golden 

egg, and that is the Niger 

Delta. 

“So painful that we had 

to come to this stage of 

‘comic drama and 

melodramatic theatrics’ 

on our mission to give the 

commission vision! Most importantly, what 

we request is for National Assembly to make 

recommendations, which the Senate has 

done as a first part, on how to drastically 

reduce sleaze in that commission. 

“I used the words drastically reduce 

advisedly, because no man on earth, 

including EFCC, Anti-Fraud Units or ICPC 

put together can ever stop corruption in the 

NDDC! We can only reduce it drastically 

but not totally. 

“We, therefore, urgently need to track the 

income and expenditure with an eagle eye 

and fine comb. Sort out capital and 

recurrent expenditure and diagnose where 

corruption is endemic under these two 

headings of expenditure. 

“Holding the commissioners representing 

the states on the board to render account of 

their stewardship will go a long way in 

eliminating sleaze. Indeed, attention had 

been or been diverted from the real issues as 

adumbrated above to the power show 

between National Assembly/NDDC/ 

Akpabio. 

NASS/NDDC feud is over 

2023 – Mumakai Unagha 

Former Presidential aspirant under the All 

Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2019 

Presidential election, Alhaji Mumakai- 

Unagha, said: “I have said it times without 

number and I will repeat it here again that 

the face-off between the National Assembly 

and NDDC is all about 2023 general 

elections, nothing far from that. 

“To me, I am convinced beyond 

reasonable doubt, that there are some 

Senators and House of Representative 

members, who want to control the 

Commission so that come 2023, they can 

have enough funds to prosecute their 

electioneering campaigns. They reasoned 

that it is only NDDC they can rake the fund 

for that purpose. This has been their usual 

practice since the establishment of the 

Commission in 2000 by former President 

Olusegun Obasanjo. 

“It is regrettable that their over sight 

function is only focused on the Commission, 

which to me should not be. Here we are, the 

various Ports Authorities in the Niger Delta 

region are all dead, yet these Senators and 

House of Reps members are not worried, 

all the federal roads in the region are today 

death traps, they are not bordered, Delta 

Steel Company that would have provided 

jobs for the teaming youths in the region 

had been closed down, our federal 

lawmakers have not showed concern, their 

only concern, is the NDDC, what manner of 

representatives. 

Senate President, Speaker 

shouldn’t shield anybody 

“The contracts were not executed, but paid 

for. They are afraid of the forensic audit 

hence, they are trying to frustrate the 

Commission. Any Senator or individual 

found to have been involved in contract scam 

should be made to pay for their sins. Both 

the Senate President and the Speaker should 

not shade any member. They should be 

made to account for job awarded to them. 

“The National Assembly should first and 

foremost purge itself of their iniquities. Yes, 

the probe is a welcome development, but 

they should beam search light on its 

members who collected contract without 

execution. 

“Mind you, I am not supportive of certain 

moves or steps taken by IMC, I think Mr. 

President should constitute an independent 

probe panel into the activities of the 

Commission, not leaving it for the Minister 

of the Niger Delta, who is an interested party. 

There are so many contractors who have 

executed their project but have not been paid, 

some have died. 

“The National Assembly should focus on 

laws for the good governance of the nation, 

I am not against the probe, however, the 

probe should be total and there should be 

no escape root or victimization. What we 

are made to understand, is that the National 

Assembly is set to witch-hunt some persons. 

NASS leadership 

defending lawbreakers 

– Mene, APC chieftain 

However, Organizing Secretary, APC, 

Delta state, Mr. Sunny Mene, told one of 

our reporters: 

“The issues in the NASS/NDDC face -off 

are - Does the National Assembly have the 

constitutional powers to carry out oversight 

function on government agencies, including 

the NDDC? The answer is yes; are the 

NDDC officials obliged to appear before the 

National Assembly when summoned by the 

NASS? The answer is yes. 

“These issues have been complicated by 

the complicity of some members of the 

National Assembly in the NDDC contract 

racketeering for themselves and proxies. 

Minister of Niger Delta, Chief Godswill 

Akpabio, has mentioned names. This 

situation is further compounded by the 

seeming cover-up and comradeship of the 

National Assembly towards culpable 

members. It is against the principal of 

natural justice for members to be judges in 

their own cause. 

Read more on www.vanguardngr.com

C 

M 

Y 

K 

There are stark reminders all 

around us if we needed any, of 

the strange times we are in. 

Yesterday typified one of them. Our 

Muslim brothers celebrated a major 

festival that symbolised atonement for 

sins. The festival traditionally needed 

the faithful to congregate at the mosque 

for Eid prayers before the ceremonial 

sacrifice of animals - preferably 

unblemished rams like the one 

Abraham, our forefather sacrificed. 

Yesterday, thanks to COVID 19, the 

doors to the mosques were locked. Just 

as they were three and a half months 

ago when Christians celebrated Easter. 

Never would I have thought that the 

doors to our churches would be shut 

on a day as holy as Easter. Or that Palm 

Sunday would pass without the 

symbolic walk to church with palm 

fronds which would be blessed during 

service and thereafter kept until Ash 

Wednesday the following year. 

Yesterday’s Sallah celebration, like 

the Easter celebration before it, would 

have been low key and muted around 

the Muslim world. I usually have friends 

I visit during Sallah. Some would offer 

alcohol. Some would not. Neither would 

matter much to me because fellowship 

was key and there were people I would 

not see again until the same time and 

the same place the following year. I 

missed that this year. Just as I have 

missed many such seasonal events so 

far this year. I miss the human touch; 

the camaraderie; the banter of friends 

who have come a long way together. 

But more than all of these, I miss 

church; my church specifically. I miss 

the cosiness; the small talk before and 

after service. I miss the Eucharist. This 

is coming from someone who hardly 

went to church in his 20s and 30s. I am 

not alone. Many of those I used to meet 

with for squash or tennis at the clubs on 

Sundays in those days are today 

respected members of their churches - 

Church Wardens, Lectors, Lay 

Presidents and Knights. It says a lot 

about our spiritual journey over the 

years. Like me, they all miss church and 

are disconcerted and even disoriented 

COVID 19: Should the house of 

god be opened now? 

by the turn of events. This is probably 

because going to church means different 

things to people. To some, it is a place of 

retreat; a refuge. Some have used church 

to find meaning to life. Some to stave off 

loneliness. Some, to give something back 

to community. Some to give back to God 

who has been good to them. Some to raise 

their profile in the community. Some, a 

Sunday-Sunday rite to fulfil all 

righteousness. Some attend to simply 

connect – and stay connected – to their 

maker. 

Whatever; the church serves needs 

which are currently being denied. There 

are people who are lost spiritually and 

emotionally without the church. There 

are people whose main meaningful 

outing is to the church. There are people 

who are happiest when doing one thing 

or another within the church. These 

people are currently listless. Some are 

probably at the fringe of depression. Then 

there are the priests and pastors whose 

adult lives have been devoted to the 

church. They have moved from being 

extremely public to being closeted. They 

have moved from wondering how 

quickly the day goes by to having so 

much time on their hands. Many are 

going to find themselves spiritually and 

emotionally challenged by the time this 

is over. This is not to underestimate the 

financial challenge many will face. It is 

indisputable that a lot of money is moved 

in the church. Not all of the movement is 

SATURDAY Vanguard, , AUGUST 1, 2020—19 

bad. A lot goes towards good causes. A lot 

oils the wheels of the national economy. 

Of course, there are the 

mercenary pastors whose 

main concern is the loss of 

income. Many of what I have 

listed applies to mosques as 

well. 

It is easy therefore to 

understand the clamour for 

the opening of the church – 

and mosque- when one 

considers the role they play 

in the religious, emotional 

and financial wellbeing of the 

faithful. There is a hole, a void 

which this closure brings. But 

the times, like I said earlier, 

are strange times. Many 

institutions have become 

casualties to COVID 19. The 

‘place of worship’ is just one. 

The virus thrives in closed 

places where there is 

shouting or singing or talking. 

The place of worship fits this 

to a ‘T’. The virus is vicious 

towards the elderly. These are 

the people who populate 

churches and mosques. It is merciless 

towards those with underlying conditions. 

Many of these attend churches and 

mosques for ‘healing’. So, if we look at 

the closure along these lines and allow 

the fact that hospitals and isolation centres 

are stretched, then the decision to keep 

the places of worship closed can be 

understood and respected. After all, the Holy 

Book said in more than one place that only 

the living can worship God. Fortunately, our 

faith teaches us that God is everywhere and 

can be worshiped in the closet of our rooms. 

It also teaches that God is not found in 

buildings however magnificent because no 

building can contain Him. It also says God is 

spirit and those who worship Him must do 

so in spirit and in truth. Besides, Jesus said a 

time would come when we would not worship 

Him in synagogues and churches but in our 

hearts. Perhaps that time is here. If telemedicine 

is feasible, then tele-worship, a 

communion of spirit, is even more feasible 

and efficacious. 

I thank God for the services which have 

sprung up on TV. I know it is not the same 

and it takes a lot to concentrate and get 

spiritual connection 

– if it is not Panadol, 

it is not Panadol. But 

with faith, we can 

transport ourselves 

into the realm of 

worship. I know 

people who dress up 

with shoes and all on 

the Sundays to sit in 

front of TV. I 

personally have 

Whatever; 

church serves 

needs which are 

currently being 

denied. There are 

people who are lost 

spiritually and 

emotionally 

without the church 

drawn spiritual 

strength from audio 

and visual services 

since the lockdown. 

However, I can’t 

wait to go to church 

and I believe that 

this too shall pass. 

Meanwhile, we must 

give unto Caesar 

what belongs to 

Caesar. This means 

we must give 

science its due by 

avoiding crowded 

places while praying to God to lift this cloud 

of death. May God have mercy on us and 

heal our land. 

It is now left to answer the question I asked 

in the headline by saying the house of God, 

whether it is a church or a mosque, was never 

closed because it cannot be closed. 

Given the fact that President 

Muhammadu Buhari has 

been widely perceived as 

taciturn and aloof, it is remarkable 

that at the heart of the engine room 

of his private political machine was 

until recently, a troika of newspaper 

men. 

The troika is what many Nigerians 

have referred to as the cabal that has 

been repeatedly described as the 

alternative presidency. 

The membership and the methods 

of the cabal have spurned many 

anecdotes. 

This troika until death recently 

started visiting defined the pace and 

pattern of the Buhari government. It 

consisted of three former newsmen; 

Mamman Daura, Abba Kyari and 

Mallam Isa Funtua all of whom 

interfaced with one another in the 

newsrooms of two of Kaduna’s once 

vibrant newspapers, the New 

Nigerian and The Democrat. 

It is also not surprising that the 

assumed head of the Buhari cabal, 

that is M.D. as his name is from time 

to time whispered, has also been 

repeatedly reputed as a recurring 

operative of the amorphous political 

wheeler-dealer body, the Kaduna 

Mafia. 

So, given this tie with 

newspapermen, how Buhari did not 

turn into a man of letters, words or 

gossip as journalists are perceived 

is a wonder. 

In fact, so straight-jacketed and 

predictable is our president that he 

hardly would deviate from prepared 

speeches handed over to him by his 

minders. 

Despite being newspaper men, 

these men, especially Kyari and 

Daura also become famously reticent 

despite their very visible roles in 

politics. 

Kyari as chief of staff was reputed 

Can Mamman Daura Recall The 

Kaduna Mafia? 

to be a man who read much but spoke 

very little. 

Funtua, the 

newspaper owner was 

perhaps more 

outgoing and 

outspoken than the 

other two men. 

Following the death 

of Kyari last April and 

last month’s decease 

of Funtua, it was 

perhaps not wholly 

shocking that that 

loneliness that Daura 

had always sought 

became more gripping 

for him. 

It was in the wake of 

this loneliness that 

Daura, the president’s 

80-year old nephew, 

came out to grant his 

first interview in many 

years. 

It was remarkably, 

not a chance eruption 

of the alternative 

president bumping into a reporter 

along the way. 

The medium was well chosen, the 

BBC Hausa Service, indicative of the 

audience he sought to pass his 

message to. 

Though the 

full interview 

will only come 

out today, the 

BBC did not 

mind teasing us 

with an excerpt 

that has already 

However, that 

supplication is 

i n h e r e n t l y 

challenged because 

the North as Daura 

knew it 30 or so 

years ago in the 

heyday of the 

Kaduna Mafia is not 

what it used to be 

turned the 

political 

landscape 

upside down. 

In the excerpt, 

the interviewee 

stressed the 

need of burying 

the informal 

rotational 

system that has 

guided the 

selection of the 

country’s 

presidents. 

His argument 

for the burial of 

rotation in the 

distribution of the presidency was 

apparently aimed at enthroning 

competence in the affairs of the land. 

Why Daura would preach 

competence at this time over zoning 

ordinarily could be deciphered as the 

fears of a man apprehensive about his 

imminent displacement from the power 

peak he has operated from in the last five 

or six years. 

The exit of Buhari and his replacement 

with a southerner or a Middle-Belter 

apparently would not give him the kind 

of leverage he has had in the last five or 

so years. 

That the interview was granted to the 

BBC Hausa Service would also indicate 

the determination of the Kaduna Mafia 

operative to rally the faithful on the need 

to sustain the North’s hold over the reins 

of power in the country to the 

disadvantage of the South and the 

Middle Belt. 

However, that supplication is inherently 

challenged because the North as Daura 

knew it 30 or so years ago in the heyday 

of the Kaduna Mafia is not what it used 

to be. 

Just as two legs of the Buhari Cabal 

have been overcome by death, so other 

crucial legs upon which the Kaduna 

Mafia depended on have also ossified. 

The emotion and eruptions in Southern 

Kaduna today partly reflect the reason 

why Daura’s message will not go far. 

Indeed, with that section of the North 

enveloped in mourning with a Northerner 

in power, the people of Southern Kaduna 

would be at loss on what Daura would be 

wanting to pass to them about sustaining 

power in the North after Buhari. 

The one time unity that drove passions 

across geographical boundaries in the 

North has been decimated by the 

emergence of ethnic cum religious 

divisions. 

That is the legacy that will not be 

defined with the name of Mamman 

Daura, but with the name of 

Muhammadu Buhari, the man in whose 

name and under whose watch, the One 

North legacy of Ahmadu Bello have been 

fully buried.


Itook the decision to write on middleaged 

men’s health again after I 

completed my annual medical checkup 

and got the result on Friday last week, but 

a post on the wall of a Facebook friend, Viktor 

J. Okungbowa, inspired the title. Last 

Sunday, Okungbowa wrote: “you cannot 

pour from an empty cup, take care of yourself 

first.” 

My focus today is on my contemporaries, 

men around 55 years plus/minus one. It is 

shocking that some of us are still not taking 

our health serious. We provide for our 

families, which is wonderful, and meet other 

obligations, but forget our health. As I sat 

before the two doctors, who explained the 

results of my medicals to me at different 

times, the question on my mind was, “do some 

of my contemporaries realise what we are 

up against?” The results were generally good, 

just two minor issues which the drugs they 

prescribed should clear within 10 days. But 

you know that in health matters, it is the 

small issues of today that become major 

health challenges of tomorrow. 

The prostrate result particularly 

gladdened my heart because it proved me 

right in an experiment I have been involved 

in for about a year (I will share it with you 

subsequently; I do not want it to distract us 

from today’s topic). The kidneys were also 

very good, which also made me happy. In 

2012 when I did my medicals in India (I went 

there for another reason o!), the doctor told 

me that he did not want to scare me, but I 

should watch it. Whatever the defect or 

deterioration he saw has been reversed. 

Medicals cost money. Currently in Nigeria, 

it costs about N70,000. It can be less or more, 

depending on where you do it and the scope 

of your medicals, and further tests if the 

initial results throw situations that need 

further investigation. Of course, in a 

country, where the minimum wage is 

N30,000 per month and some employers are 

even paying lower, annual check-up is 

beyond the reach of some men. But there are 

those who are not doing it, but can afford it if 

they plan. If you keep N200 away every day, 

that comes N73,000 a year! That is enough 

for your medicals at the minimum. That is 

less than what many of us spend on airtime 

and data every day. Some men concentrate 

on external appearances the world can see. 

Looking good is good, but staying healthy is 

better. 

Another complete Nigerian just left 

Planet Earth. Chief Abdulrazaq 

Ganiyu Folorunso [AGF], first 

Lawyer from Northern Nigeria, pioneer 

student of the University of Ibadan was an 

exceptional gentleman. Born across the Niger 

to Yoruba parents, his early years in law 

practice were in Zaria. The man found a 

Yoruba wife, born in Enyimba City and was 

not only the father of a governor. one of AGF’S 

sons - in-law was a double governor and his 

senator daughter also married a former 

governor. 

You could not separate Abdulrazag from 

Ndigbo. There were connections with Dr. 

Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first president of 

Nigeria, Chief Emeka Ojukwu, the first 

university graduate to join the Nigeria Army 

and Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the first Vice 

President of Nigeria. Professors Ben 

Nwabueze and Green Nwankwo were his 

class mates. Another buddy, Prof.Aliu 

Fafunwa, the first Nigerian professor of 

Education, also had Igbo-in-laws. 

AGF was born on November 13, 1927 in 

Onitsha, to Ilorin Yoruba parents. Zik was 

born in November 1904 and hailed from 

Onitsha. Ojukwu was not only born in 

November[1933], he also died in November 

[2011]. The Owelle attended CMS Central 

School, Onitsha. Abdulrazaq was there too. 

Ojukwu was at CMS Primary School, 

Idumagbo, Lagos. 

After primary education, the Ilorin boy 

moved to Kalabari National, College, 

Buguma. He sure missed Onitsha and 

returned to the town to complete secondary 

education at African College. One of his 

teachers was Justice Chukwudifu Oputa. 

When he qualified as a lawyer in the UK in 

1955, he could not wait to get married. There 

she was. Alhaja Raliat Amope Abdulrazaq 

was born in Aba on May 26,1930 just one 

year after the Aba Women’s Riot. A family of 

firsts. She later became the first female 

councilor in Kwara State. The couple 

produced three lawyers: Dr. Alimi 

Abdulrazaq, Senator Khairat Gwadabe and 

Isiaka Abdulrazaq. 

The Abdulrazaqs gave out their daughter, 

Aisha, to Rear Admiral Mohammed Lawal, 

one -time military governor of Ogun State 

and former governor of Kwara State. Khairat 

got married to Col. Lawan Gwadabe, former 

military governor of Niger State. They have 

another son, AbdulRauf, who stayed away 

from jurisprudence but is doing fine in his 

Middle-aged men: “Tak 

ake care 

of your 

ourself fir 

irst” 

The human body is like brand a new 

car at birth, all things being equal. By 

the time you turn 40, you are like a fiveyear-old 

car. The brand, usage and prior 

maintenance (genes and lifestyle) 

determine the level of depreciation and 

the maintenance needed. By the time 

you are in your 50s, you 

are like a 10-year-old car. 

No matter the brand, 

maintenance or usage, a 

10-year-old car needs 

more attention if you 

want it to serve you well. 

So, middle-aged men 

cannot afford to gamble 

with their health. But 

some don’t even have a 

personal physician! That 

is a crime against 

humanity (your family 

and you). 

In many cases, the man 

is the breadwinner (cup) 

of the family, so he must 

continue to be healthy to 

win more bread. You 

cannot priotize the upkeep 

of the house over your 

health in your mid-50s. If 

you 

become 

incapacitated, the 

finances of the whole 

family are in jeopardy. You better go for 

medicals. Do physical examination, 

visual examination (if necessary), blood 

sugar level, liver function test, 

electrolyte, lipid profile, full blood count, 

urinalysis, prostate specific antigen, 

prostate scan, ECG, colonoscopy (when 

necessary); check your heart, kidneys, 

gallbladder, pancreas and spleen. Do 

chest x-ray (if necessary). I did a chest 

x-ray to check a persistent situation and 

was relieved when it came out negative. 

Chest x-ray will also 

show the state of your 

lungs; it detects 

heart-related lung 

problems, cancer, 

infections like 

tuberculosis and 

pneumonia or air 

collecting in the space 

around a lung. 

The beauty of 

medicals is that it 

helps to detect 

ailments that can 

lead to complications, 

incapacity or kill you, 

if not detected early. 

But if you get a clean 

bill of health, you get 

the reward of peace of 

mind. This is 

especially so when 

you have been 

having signs of a 

particular ailment 

and the test results 

point to the contrary. 

Beyond looking after your health, you 

should manage other aspects of your life 

that can affect your health. Food is one 

Abdulrazaq: Osha boy, , Aba 

wife 

chosen field. 

Kwara State governor, Abdulrahman 

Abdulrazak is the second son of AGF. He 

is neither a lawyer nor a soldier. He is 

like Abraham Lincoln. After failing 

many times to win elections, the oil man 

finally got lucky in 2019. One of his 

commissioners today is his niece whose 

father was also a 

governor. 

Abdulrazaq was so 

proud of his Igbo 

connections. He once said 

: “I speak Igbo fluently and 

my most enduring 

friendships are with 

statesmen like Alex 

Ekwueme and both 

professors Ben Nwabueze 

[SAN] and Green 

Nwankwo, who were my 

class mates”. 

Chief Ojukwu was sent 

to Britain by his father, 

Sir Louis, to study law. 

The Ikemba switched 

over to History and 

bagged a post graduate 

degree. Khairat was in 

the UK to pick a degree in 

History. She ended up as 

a lawyer. They must 

have read Abdulrazaq’s 

mind. 

According to AGF: “History is an 

essential subject that needs to be taught 

in our schools, to ensure that our youth 

are not goaded to rabid hatred, through 

biased social media or film narratives of 

Of course, in a 

country, where the 

minimum wage is 

N30,000 per 

month and some 

employers are 

even paying 

lower, annual 

check-up is 

beyond the reach 

of some men 

Nigeria History.” 

The Ojukwus and Abdulrazaq’s knew 

themselves. Zaria was the connection. 

The soldier began military training at 

the Nigeria Army depot, Zaria in 1957. 

The lawyer also set up practice in the 

same town. Ojukwu’s mother owned 

Jubilee Hotel which was very close to 

where AGF lived 

with his young 

family. That hotel 

unearthed a secret 

after the Ikemba’s 

death. He willed it to 

Tenny Hamman, 

You could not separate 

Abdulrazag from Ndigbo. 

There were connections 

with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the 

first president of Nigeria, 

Chief Emeka Ojukwu, the 

first university graduate to join 

the Nigeria Army and Dr. 

Alex Ekwueme, the first Vice 

President of Nigeria 

his daughter that 

was unknown to 

many close to his 

heart. 

AGF was Nigerian 

Ambassador to Cote 

D’Ivoire between 

1962 and 1964. In 

1970, Ojukwu flew 

into that country, 

on exile. Much later, 

an Ojukwu also 

became an 

ambassador. Mrs 

Bianca Onoh, a 

lawyer like 

Abdulrazaq, whose 

father Christian 

Onoh was also a lawyer and former 

governor, was appointed Nigerian 

Ambassador to Spain by President 

Goodluck Jonathan who adopted the 

name Azikiwe and gave Ojukwu full 

national burial. By the way, Ojukwu 

of them. Your food must be medicinal. Take your 

time to study various health benefits of the food, 

fruits and vegetables you consume. Be wary of 

eating anything that has no health benefits. Also 

avoid consumption of anything that aggravates 

your underlying health conditions. 

Another major one is finance. At 55, the 

number of years left for you to be economically 

active is not much, especially those involved in 

physical activities, like artisans. Those in 

employment have about five years before 

retirement. So, unless you have kept the money 

for your children’s education aside, you cannot 

begin to send children abroad for first degree at 

this stage. Do not rely on anticipated income to 

engage in such an adventure. Those whose 

children are there are eager for them to graduate, 

why start when you do not have the money in 

place either in a domiciliary bank account or 

other forms of concrete investments? 

For me, it is not even an age to send your 

children to a private university, if you have not 

kept the money aside. It costs between N6m and 

about N14m to see a student through a private 

university in four years. This is not the kind of 

project you should be engaging in at 55, hoping 

to fund it with anticipated income. The economy 

is too volatile and unpredictable for that. If your 

cash flow does not work to plan, you will be under 

enormous pressure, which might affect your 

health. Send your children to a state or federal 

university, preferably federal universities, 

because they are cheaper and also good. The only 

problem with government universities is 

incessant disruptions in studies. But nothing lasts 

forever. They will graduate someday. Remember 

your health comes first. 

If you are currently in a position where after 

paying the fees of the children in primary or 

secondary schools, you have no money left for 

yourself, withdraw and send them to cheaper 

schools and save some money to take care of yours 

health. Higher school fees do not necessarily 

mean better education. 

When you are in your 50s, especially mid-50s, 

your health is number one primary. You have to 

be healthy to take care of the family, while having 

an eye on retirement. At 55, you must have plans 

for retirement. I have said it before, retirement 

planning must be self-based not others-based. The 

way debilitating ailments are ravaging and 

wasting middle-aged men is scary. Let us help 

ourselves. On the aeroplane, the hostess usually 

announces that if the oxygen mask drops, fix 

yours first before the one of the child you are 

carrying. Middle-aged men, get your priorities 

right. 

was also a governor, like AGF’s son. 

Gov. Abdulrazak lived in Cote D’Ivoire as an oil 

magnet. Ojukwu also did business in the 

francophone country. His father, Sir Louis, a 

millionaire whose Rolls Royce was used by Queen 

Elizabeth in 1956, was a director of Shell, the oil 

conglomerate. While AGF was a commissioner 

in Kwara State from 1967 to 1972 and now his 

granddaughter, Ojukwu’s son, Emeka Junior, 

was a commissioner in Anambra State. 

Ojukwu’s mother later got married to a 

European, Bigger. Lt. Tom Bigger who died in 

Nsukka with Chukwuma Nzeogwu on July 29, 

1967, during the Civil war, was the Ikemba’s 

half brother. AGF was also close to Lauretta, from 

Europe and they had children together. The 

army officer had wives like Njideka and Stella 

before Bianca. 

Sir Louis Ojukwu worked with West African 

Railway. AGF was minister of state , Transport 

in charge of Railway when Azikiwe was President. 

Zik established the University of Nigeria Nsukka 

[UNN]. The Owelle of Onitsha settled at Onuiyi 

Haven, Nsukka. Abdulrazak’s friend, Fafunwa, 

got a job at UNN and rose rapidly to become a 

professor. Fafunwa later caught the Igbo bug. 

His daughter, Sherifat, an ex-national swimmer, 

found love in Prof. Okey Ndibe. Fafunwa’s son 

chose an Igbo wife, Ifeoma. 

I am not sure many remember that it was 

Abdulrazak that drafted the hand over note 

which gave General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi power 

to assume office as Head of State on January 16, 

1966. This is interesting because you had senior 

lawyers in that cabinet. Dr. Taslim Elias was the 

Attorney General of Nigeria. Richard Akinjide 

was also a minister. 

Abdulrazak died at 93. I doubt if Governor Willie 

Obiano has paid condolence visit to his brother 

governor in Ilorin. He should go with Dr. Okezie 

Ikpeazu of Abia. Alhaja Raliat Abdulrazaq is still 

very much alive at 90. Prof. Nwabueze may 

attend if Obiano beckons on him. I am also sure 

Eze Green Nwankwo will leave his palace to 

honour a soul mate. 

Kwara has a lot o Igbo lovers. From AGF to first 

governor, David Bamigboye, who went into an 

exchange programme with East Central State 

Administrator, Ukpabi Asika, we have had a 

Col. Frank Omenka playing soccer for 

Government Secondary School Ilorin. That is also 

the town of Alyusufsalam Rocks, a team made 

up 90 per cent of Ghanaians which almost won 

the Challenge Cup in 1976. The only Nigerian 

in that team was Humphrey Okechukwu, an 

Igbo. And it took an Igbo team, Enugu Rangers, 

to stop the Rocks in the grand finale.

Mamman Daura is 

powerful. His uncle 

is the president. So 

when he talks we must listen. 

And we must listen because 

the wife of the president once 

told us, in many words and 

rumpled face, that Mamman 

Daura had an enviable 

influence on the president. 

That was why when Mamman 

came out from back stage to say 

that we should discard power 

rotation and chose the next 

president on merit many were 

agitated. 

If Mamman Daura were 

another Buba Galadimma or 

one other old man from the 

Northern Elders Forum, his 

musings would have caused no 

consternation. But was 

Mamman speaking for his 

taciturn nephew? Only time 

will tell. But before it does , it’s 

important to remind 

Mamman that the only 

reason power rotation was 

adopted was to guarantee the 

participation of all sections of 

the country at the highest 

level of government. Before 

power rotation became a 

convention, only northern 

Muslims and a strange man 

like Abiola could look at the 

demographics and feel 

confident of winning the 

presidency. 

Mamman Daura wants 

power rotation jettisoned 

because it denies the nation 

competence where it matters 

most. He actually said that 

power rotation had failed. So 

left to Mamman the nation 

should be run like the Super 

eagles where only the best 

plays even if they are all from 

one womb. The only difference 

is that these other political 

bests will be selected, not by a 

sound technical adviser, but 

by millions of hungry and 

poorly educated folks. 

Mamman Daura’s idea, 

Mamman Daura’s Monkey-post 

Meritocracy 

despite the shortcomings of a 

democratic leadership 

selection process 

mediated by millions 

of hungry illiterate 

folks, thuggery and 

corruption, is not bad. 

Mamman must be 

frustrated too. This 

country has had more 

of its fair share of bad 

leaders. And if the 

country prioritized 

merit, and condemned 

mediocrity into the 

dustbin , it could 

redeem itself. 

The only problem, 

however, is that 

Mamman is calling us 

out to play monkey 

post. In football 

monkey post is played 

on a tiny fraction of the 

pitch and with a goal 

post just about 3 feet 

wide. Monkey-post is 

played when either 

space or numbers 

needed to play the full pitch is 

lacking. Why is uncle 

Mamman canvassing for a 

monkey-post game? 

Lets play the game, play full 

pitch. 

Nigeria is a country where 

Quota system and Federal 

character have had their knees 

on the neck 

of merit for 

decades. 

The federal 

government 

w o u l d 

conduct 

examinations 

f o r 

In 2023, power 

has to shift South. 

And when it comes 

south, it has to go 

to the part of the 

south yet to be 

accommodated in 

the rotation 

equation that 

began in 1999 

admissions 

into its 

colleges, 

and deny a 

child from 

D e l t a 

admission 

w h i l e 

admitting 

children 

from some 

states who 

have scored 

less than 

one third 

the score of 

the denied 

Delta child. 

The discrimination against 

merit happens everywhere. In 

the military, the spaces for 

officer training are allocated 

by state quota, and not by 

scores. Those who scored poorly 

are chosen and those who 


scored highly are left out. Even 

at the level of becoming army 

generals, state of origin affects 

promotions. 

I agree with Uncle Mamman, 

I see where he is coming from. 

He now wants competence and 

merit. 

But we must not do things 

‘half-half’ and half-heartedly 

. We must dislodge mediocrity 

and sectional sentiments 

through and through. So we 

must uproot Quota System ad 

Federal Character first, and 

immediately. Yes Mamman 

actually wants us to run this 

country like it were the Super 

Eagles. So that we can play our 

best players even if they are 

from one family and let only 

the certified best run the Army 

and the Customs. 

I agree with him. Once we are 

on that path of justice and 

merit then Zamfara can keep 

its Diamond and Bayelsa its oil. 

Then the Federal Institutions 

can close there eyes and chose 

students with best scores and 

fill up all the spaces even if they 

are from one village. If we start 

being One Nigeria today, 

nobody would bother when we 

choose to be no-more-zoning 

One Nigeria in 2023. 

It’s true Uncle Mamman, we 

have to let meritocracy 

breathe. But it cannot breathe 

in that tiny 2023 monkey post 

you are pitching. Let the game 

begin today and let it begin by 

a thoroughgoing constitutional 

amendment. For how long will 

Quota System, Federal 

Character and Zoning last? 

We can do something to 

cushion the shock. Since many 

are afraid of domination, let’s 

‘kukuma’ devolve power to the 

regions. In the regions, 

surrounded by kinsmen and 

political kindred spirits , folks 

would have no trouble 

accepting the rule of merit. 

And those who fear they might 

never occupy the seat of 

president will have too much 

power at home to bother with 

the effigy, the plumed 

presidency, at the centre. 

But Uncle Mamman, until 

we begin to dislodge the knee of 

quota system and federal 

character from the neck of 

meritocracy, any talk about 

stopping power rotation will be 

deceitful. My people have a 

funny way of telling a man not 

to mess with their heads. They 

simply remind the man that 

human beings are not cows : 

mmadu aburo efi. 

In 2023, power has to shift 

South. And when it comes 

south, it has to go to the part of 

the south yet to be 

accommodated in the rotation 

equation that began in 1999. 

But if scales have fallen off the 

eyes of Nigeria, and we are now 

earnestly desirous of becoming 

One nation, then let’s begin in 

2020, by discarding quota 

system and federal character, 

devolving power to the regions 

and allowing resource control. 

That’s how to play full pitch 

Meritocracy. 

Otherwise , in 2023, power 

has to go south, because 

mmadu aburo efi ! 

Hajiya Farouq factor as N- 

power empowers Nigerians 

By Nneka Ikem 

Over the years, many 

Nigerians have been left 

unemployed as they 

continue to struggle for survival . 

This is not because they are not 

mentally fit or physically 

qualified to tie down a job and eke 

out a living to support themselves 

and their loved ones , but because 

successive governments have in 

the past not lived up to their 

promises of job and wealth 

creation. 

Apart from the monotonous 

employment routine of the various 

ministries and parastatals which 

has turned out to be inadequate 

in catering for the ever increasing 

population of Nigerians between 

the ages of 18 and 35, no serious 

efforts were made in the past to 

open up other veritable means for 

employment opportunities. 

These tasks have been left to the 

private sector while government 

acted as if all was well. No wonder, 

many Nigerians gave up to seek 

greener pasture in other countries. 

While battling with the 

attendant brain drain and an 

unproductive population, the 

creative and manufacturing 

industries have been the worst hit 

•Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq 

in the process, turning Nigeria 

into a consuming economy. 

Due to the lip service paid to 

electoral promises by previous 

administrations, many were not 

really convinced about President 

Muhammadu Buhari’s promises 

of addressing the problem of 

unemployment while 

campaigning in 2015. 

But true to his words, 

immediately he was sworn in, 

efforts were made to fulfill his 

2015 electoral promise on job 

creation for Nigerian youths 

which overtime gave birth to N- 

Power scheme. 

Through the N-power 

programme, 500,000 jobs have 

been created in farming, agroprocessing, 

financial literacy, 

communication, digital skills 

amongst a host of others. 

No wonder, in the past one year, 

the effect on the economy has been 

so drastic with the agricultural 

sector receiving a major boost and 

the capacity of the nation to feed 

her-self. 

According to statistics, rice 

importation has dropped by 95% 

amongst other agricultural 

produce, hence the nation’s ability 

to be self-sustaining even before the 

Covid-19 global lockdown. 

Deep thoughts on how Nigeria 

would have been able to cope with 

the crippling effects of Covid-19, its 

attendant economic implications as 

well as inflation in prices of foodstuff 

as a result of scarcity reverberate. 

Under the watch of the 

Honourable Minister of 

Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster 

Management and Social 

Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar 

Farouq, government has stepped up 

effort in ensuring that more 

Nigerians benefit from this laudable 

project. 

According to recent statistics 

released, about 109,823 

beneficiaries of the N-Power 

programme have now started their 

own businesses which represent 

about 22% of the 500,000 Nigerians 

that have benefited from this 

programme since its inception. 

It means that government has not 

only succeeded in creating jobs for 

its citizens, but has also created 

more employers of labour. 

It is reassuring to know that the 

Buhari-led administration through 

the ministry, has targeted 100 

million Nigerians in the next 10 

years through the creation of 

productive opportunities for 

entrepreneurship and employment. 

No wonder, thousands of 

Nigerians on Wednesday July 29, 

2020 held a ‘Thank You Rally’ 

march to the Presidential Villa over 

the success of the N-Power scheme 

and other Social Intervention 

Programmes in the country which 

were further highlighted during the 

covid-19 lockdown. 

N- Power beneficiaries drawn 

from across the 36 states of the 

federation and the FCT expressed 

their gratitude for a job well done in 

alleviating poverty, creating 

economic opportunities and jobs. 

The Minister of Humanitarian 

Affairs, Disaster Management and 

Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya 

Farouq was singled out for her 

numerous interventions targeted at 

the vulnerable and less privileged 

groups in the country which has 

gone a long way in giving everybody 

a sense of belonging after many 

years of neglect. 

Apart from the N-Power scheme, 

Farouq has been able to kick start 

the National Home Grown School 

Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), 

National Cash Transfer Programme 

(NCTP) and Government Enterprise 

and Empowerment Programme 

(GEEP). 

The National Home Grown 

School Feeding Programme has so 

far catered for over 9 million pupils 

in 24 states across Nigeria while also 

creating additional 100,000 jobs for 

those in the hospitality business. 

It is on record that the 

implementation of the National 

Cash Transfer Programme 

introduced to cushion the economic 

effect of the covid-19 lockdown has 

also recorded a huge success. 

20,000 naira was distributed 

across 20 states in the 6 geo 

political zones while 297,973 

caregivers have also been trained 

by 2,495 Community Facilitators. 

The minister has shown a deep 

understanding of the needs of the 

people while introducing new 

innovations to meet the unique 

everyday challenges of Nigerians. 

She has proven to be a leader with 

the interest of the people at heart 

and a deep sense of commitment to 

the entrenchment of sustainable 

growth and development through 

laudable programs targeted at the 

grassroots and rural communities. 

As part of plans for post covid-19 

life, the Ministry of Humanitarian 


Social Development recently 

announced the commencement of 

enrolment for the batch C of the N- 

Power program. So far, over 3 

million applications have been 

received. 

To further highlight the landmark 

achievements of the ministry, His 

Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari in 

his Democracy Day broadcast on 

June 12, 2020 took time out to 

commend the ministry and its 

programmes as he noted that the 

Social Investment Programmes of 

the administration have continued 

to be a model to other nations. 

As part of plans for life post covid- 

19, the Ministry of Humanitarian 


Social Development recently 

announced the commencement of 

enrollment for the batch C of the N- 

Power program. 

So far, over 5 million applications 

have been received for the next 

batch to be evenly distributed 

across the 774 local governments 

in Nigeria. 

Despite the huge achievements 

recorded by the Ministry in the last 

one year, we must not be carried 

away and forget the daunting task 

of alleviating poverty, stemming 

unemployment rate as well as 

improving the living standards of 

Nigerians 

However, Nigerians should be 

rest assured that if this level of 

consistency can be maintained 

under the visionary leadership of 

Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, 

there will be light at the end of the 

tunnel.

22—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 1, 2020


08116759759 

DOUBLE TROUBLE 

'World's most identical twins' share same 

boyfriend, plan to get pregnant at same time 

he “world’s most identical 

Ttwins” have revealed they 

plan to get pregnant at the same 

time to their shared boyfriend. 

Anna and Lucy DeCinque, who 

both live in Perth with their 

partner Ben Byrne, say they do 

everything together, including 

shower and sleep in the same bed. 

Now the twins have revealed 

they want to experience 

pregnancy together along with 

their shared lover. 

Lucy said: “We want to 

experience pregnancy together, we 

want to do everything in life 

together, we’ll die together, we’ll 

grow old together.” 

They admitted: “We may have 

to go down the IVF route. 

“We will freeze our eggs at the 

same time, it will be a challenge 

but we just want to be the same.” 

The sisters often wear matching 

outfits and put in a lot of effort to 

look as identical as possible. 

But the pair admit they’re 

prepared to have children of a 

different gender as long as 

“they’re happy and healthy”. 

In the past, the sisters have had 

different boyfriends, but say 

they’re happier sharing Ben with 

one another. 

“Ben treats us equally and it’s 

been equal from day one. There’s 

no jealousy whatsoever. 

“He gets double the love, double 

the attention so he’s never 

complaining. Twinning and 

winning.” 

The sisters say they eat, drink, go 

toilet and shower together. They 

Man bitten by bus passenger in row 

over face mask being worn properly 

rishman Robert Murphy was 

Ibitten on the chest after he 

asked a man to put his mask on 

straight - leaving him with a 

couple of nasty-looking wounds. 

A bloke with vicious-looking 

bite wounds on his chest says he 

was attacked by a stranger after 

he asked the man to put his face 

mask on properly. 

Irishman Robert Murphy lives 

in Merksem in the northern 

Belgian province of Antwerp. 

He says was travelling on a bus 

when he heard a man sitting 

behind him sneeze and felt 

droplets on the back of his head. 

Robert, who is bald and so 

immediately felt the droplet 

land, says he asked the man to 

“at least turn away” if he was 

going to sneeze. 

Robert says that after he 

explained the situation: “The 

man apologised.” 

But shortly after that incident a 

couple boarded the bus and sat 

also take turns to have sex with 

Ben. 

Ben is a non-identical twin. 

While the sisters would both like 

to marry Ben, Australia law 

prevents polygamy. 

Previously the twins, who have 

admitted undergoing surgery, told 

The Sun: “We knew some guys 

might think it was kinky to date 

twins and see us as a trophy, so we 

had to feel sure that Ben genuinely 

liked both of us before we agreed 

to meet him.” 

directly opposite Robert with 

their masks hanging under their 

chins. 

He asked the couple to put their 

masks over their nose and mouth 

but, Robert says, “the man 

refused”. 

The row quickly escalated, with 

the man swearing at Robert and 

the Irishman responding by 

calling him “ a bastard.” 

The argument turned physical. 

Robert, 56, explained: “I tried to 

pull myself free, but I am disabled 

so it was not easy. 

“We tussled until the man threw 

himself at my chest and bit me. I 

couldn’t believe it. He was like a 

mad dog. I pushed him away, but 

he wouldn’t leave me alone. The 

whole time he tried to bite me 

again.” 

Other passengers managed to 

pull the man off and the couple 

reportedly jumped off the bus and 

made their escape. 

The Belgian police have since 

tracked down the 38-year-old 

attacker and his partner and 

arrested them, according to local 

media. 

Meanwhile, Murphy visited a 

local hospital for treatment for 

his bite wounds. 

He said: “Strangely enough, 

the doctor doesn’t want to do a 

Covid-19 test because I cannot 

show that the other person, the 

biter, was infected with the virus. 

Fingers crossed.” 

The investigation continues. 

OAP who said it’s ‘better to die of Covid 

than not have good sex’ makes full recovery 

ovid-19 positive Serbian 

Csinger Andrija Ojdanic, 73, 

said he wouldn’t give up sex had 

despite being admitted to 

hospital says he has been 

whistling to young women his 

bedside window. 

A randy crooner who said he’d 

rather die of coronavirus than 

give up sex has made a full 

recovery after contracting the 

deadly illness. 

Serbian OAP and singer 

Andrija Ojdanic, 73, made the 

bold statement before 

contracting the virus. 

Despite chancing it, he has now 

fully recovered and been released 

from hospital. 

Earlier this month, the star 

better known by his stage name 

Era, revealed that one of his six 

children was admitted to hospital 

for 15 days with covid. He then 

underwent a test which came 

back positive. 

He was treated at the Dragisha 

Mishovic Hospital before calling 

the reality show ‘Parovi’ 

(‘Couples’) where his nephew 

Urosh is a contestant to announce 

that he is feeling well again. 

During the phone call, Era said: 

“I have recovered and I am 

feeling well. I am enjoying my 

nephew’s behaviour (on the 

show), but you need to be careful 

with hygiene. A lot of young 

women are waiting for you to 

leave the show...” 

Era, who has referred to himself 

as a ‘womaniser’ in the past, told 

local media: “I can only see 

young women from my hospital 

window and I whistle down to 

them. 

“I wear glasses so I can see how 

the jeans fit them and who has 

the best boobs. 

“I tell my roommates which 

women have natural long hair 

and who has extensions. I miss 

all that.” 

In March, the saucy vocalist 

posted a snap of him wearing a 

face mask with the message: 

“Better to die of coronavirus than 

not have good sex in three 

months.” 

Weeks later, Era tested positive 

and he revealed: “I don’t have 

any symptoms, I am not in 

discomfort and I am not 

coughing or sneezing. I’ve had a 

high temperature for the last 

couple of days, but now I feel fine. 

“Doctors did an X-ray on my 

lungs and everything looks 

good.” 

The singer also entertained the 

medical team in the hospital by 

crooning some of his beloved 

hits. 

Era has been involved in the 

music industry since 1973. In 

2008, he took part in the reality 

show ‘Big Brother VIP’. 

He followed up his Big Brother 

outing with an appearance on the 

reality shows ‘Farm’ in 2013 and 

‘Couples’ in 2015.


By Emmanuel Elebeke 

Wonders they say never cease to 

happen. When she woke up 

on the morning of June 1, 

2020 to mark her 55th 

birthday, little did Victoria 

Wilcox know that she would not witness the 

next day. 

On that fateful day, late Victoria, a mother 

of two, from Arondizuogu, Imo state and 

married to Mr. Ralph Wilcox from Bonny LGA 

in Rivers State met her painful and gruesome 

death about 8pm, when her houseboy named 

Abdulkareem Babangida (Abba in short form), 

a native of Kachia LGA of Kaduna State 

clubbed her to death with the aid of a newly 

acquired cutlass. 

With the heinous job done, he dragged her 

lifeless body under a tree in the compound and 

waited patiently to administer same treatment 

to Ralph. 

Before her untimely death, the deceased, 

was said to have in 2005, retired into a private 

business from the Nigerian Housing Insurance 

Trust Fund, NHITF. 

According to reports, late Victoria and her 

husband had in July 2019 hired Abba to assist 

in her shop at the Aco Shopping Complex, 

where she used to sell some household items 

and sacramentals. Though, she did everything 

to please Abba, she never knew he had a sinister 

motive to send her to early grave. 

Narrating his experience, the widower, Mr. 

Ralph Wilcox, who miraculously survived 

Abba’s murderous intent, could not hold back 

his tears, saying, ‘‘Abba has blown my life 

away’’, wondering how he would cope with 

life without his soul mate. 

Mr. Wilcox, who was a Director in the Federal 

Ministry of Information and Culture until 11th 

March, 2020, when he retired from service said, 

‘‘It was about 8 pm that fateful day that I drove 

in to my compound and he (Abba) opened the 

gate for me and when I entered, I asked, ‘Abba 

why is it that there is light everywhere and there 

is no light here? He responded saying, ‘‘there 

was an explosion in the metre and that 

Mummy was aware, so I decided to switch on 

the generating set’’. I told him to give me a few 

minutes to park so as to check the metre where 

I asked him to wait for me. When 

I couldn’t see my wife, I asked, 

where is Mummy? he replied, 

‘‘Mummy is in the house.’’ 

Not suspecting anything 

sinister, Wilcox said he went into 

the house, only to be greeted by 

darkness all over the place, where 

the generator did not produce 

light. ‘‘I went in, dropped the 

birthday gifts I bought for my 

wife and my Automated Teller 

Machine, ATM cards and rushed 

out with my phone,’’ he continued. 

At this point, he said he never 

knew Abba had killed, wrapped 

his wife in a nylon bag and found 

later that he put on the generator 

to muzzle the sound of his wife’s 

cries when he (Abba) was killing 

her. 

Not too sure of what was 

playing out, Wilcox said he called 

one Alhaji to come to his aid and the number 

did not go, and now facing the metre to find 

out what the problem was, he heard the sound 

of an axe on my head. 

‘‘He started hitting me and hitting until I 

collapsed, I fell on the floor and felt tick blood 

over my head. By then I was weak and when he 

thought he had killed me, he went inside the 

house to look for the key of my newly bought 

Jeep in the house,’’ he narrated. 

Continuing, he said while Abba was still busy 

looking for the car key, he regained 

consciousness and crawled close to his 

bedroom and started banging the window, 

beckoning on the wife ‘‘mummy, 

mummy come out, we are under 

attack, Abba is attacking us,” not 

knowing she had been dead for 

long. 

According to him, ‘‘it was God 

Almighty that raised me after I 

collapsed again and battled to 

draw attention in the pool of my 

blood.’’ 

After mummy did not respond 

to his calls, he gained little 

strength and crawled again to the 

gate to seek help, noting that if 

Abba had started the car then; he 

would have run over him, and 

locked the gate. 

‘‘If he had succeeded, my corpse 

and that of my wife’s would be 

here decomposing and nobody 

When 

subjected to 

further 

interrogation, 

Abba admitted 

that he killed 

his Madam 

‘How our 

houseboy 

killed my 

wife, tried to 

kill me too’ 

would even know, maybe after few days would 

start smelling before people would realise that 

we were dead. But God foiled his plan, woke 

me and gave me strength to manage to open 

the small gate because he (Abba) forgot to lock 

the pedestrian gate as he was locking the main 

gate. That was how I escaped to the road, where 

I met someone coming with a 

jeep who saw me, and revised to 

call security men,’’ said the 

widower. 

According to him, as at the 

time the security men came, he 

was already unconscious, adding 

that it was much later they told 

him that the person with the jeep 

he had net on the road went to 

bring people. Abba did not 

know that the man had 

informed people. Abba lied to 

them that armed robbers had 

attacked and that he was trying 

to drive him to the hospital. 

At the point, he said 

the sympathizers now believed 

him (Abba) and packaged him 

and asked him to drive him to 

National Hospital. Abba, while 

serving his master pretended he 

never knew how to drive. 

While still battling to regain consciousness, 

he told Abba on their way to hospital to call 

mummy’s phone and inform her that he was 

under attack. 

‘‘It was like I was in a trance. I remember 

vomiting and dying. The last thing I said was 

branch to police station and tell them until I 

found myself in the hospital,’’ he said. 

Also speaking, Wilcox said ‘‘While in the 

hospital undergoing blood transfusion in 

preparation for brain surgery, the news went 

round the estate and people started coming to 

visit in the hospital and immediately the first 

set arrived the hospital, Abba had reversed the 

•The Jeep Abba 

used to drive Ralph to 

National Hospital 

•Ralph 

Wilcox 

vehicle to escape. But when the people saw 

him they blocked him, and started 

interrogating him. 

When asked what happened, he blamed 

armed robbers until he was taken home by 

2am, where the lifeless body of the madam 

was found under a tree. It was then, it dawn on 

them that Abba had killed his madam. 

When subjected to further interrogation, Abba 

admitted that he killed his Madam. On why 

he killed her, he said she was bringing Christian 

sacramentals in the shop for him, a Muslim to 

sell, which he said offended him. That was after 

he lied that they were not paying his salaries as 

and when due. 

When asked again, why he didn’t resign within 

the 11 months he was with the woman, he said 

he wanted to kill the couple and sell 

their car, house and other valuables. 

Justifying his wife’s business, Wilcox 

said she was selling sacramental 

because she was a strong Catholic and 

wondered why Abba would kill his wife 

for living her faith. 

When asked about the whereabout 

of Abba, he said he is currently with the 

police, the State CID and noted that he 

had written a petition to the Force 

Headquarters to inform the Police IGP 

through the Minister of Information 

and Culture, who signed it and copied 

the IGP. 

According to him, Abba’s father had 

reported to the police and was made to 

visit his son in the cell, while they were 

still waiting for the Alhaji (Agent) that 

•Late Victoria 

Wilcox 

brought him on contract basis. 

On how the boy was hired, he said, ‘‘it was 

the agent that brought him to us and we signed 

and paid. But our mistake was not going 

police to crosscheck. 

Speaking on Abba’s role in the house, Wilcox 

said ‘‘Abba stayed with us for 11 months. He 

was Madam’s shop keeper; he wasn’t coming 

into the house. We had other boys in the house. 

That week that he committed this crime, he 

caused quarrel between him and other boys 

and because of the way my wife took side with 

him, the other boys got angry and left because 

of Abba. We did not know he had a plan.’’ 

On how generous his wife was to Abba, the 

bereaved said, his wife bought Abba a new 

pair of Jeans trouser and T-Shirt and gave him 

N10, 000 to give his parents during the last 

Sallah break, and to make Abba 

comfortable, Abba was provided with 

everything he needed in his house which was 

also furnished with Air Condition on the 

demand of the deceased, wondering how she 

offended Abba to warrant her killing. 

When asked if he had any premonition 

before the incident, he said: ‘‘Yes, I told my 

wife few weeks before that Abba was 

changing but she said she trusted him, and 

because I did not want to offend her, I allowed 

him to stay. I started suspecting something but 

my wife did not expect it.’’ 

On whether Abba is truly a native of Kaduna 

state, he said ‘‘Abba told us that he is from 

Borno state but through police investigation, 

we later found out that he is from Kachia Local 

Government in Kaduna state. A lot of people 

have said he does not look like someone from 

Nigeria.’’ 

On the lesson learnt, Mr. Wilcox said ‘‘I will 

be very cautious and careful in bringing people 

to the house. I will not trust anybody again.’’ 

He advised the general public to always do 

due diligence before bringing anybody (House 

help) to their house. 

One of the eye witnesses, who is a native of 

Kaduna state who spoke to Vanguard said, 

‘‘that boy does not look like someone from 

Kachia. Even the Hausa he was speaking and 

video I watched, he is either a Chadian or 

Nigerein.” 

Another eye witness told Vanguard that Abba 

disclosed to them during interrogation that he 

had concluded plans to use the shovel available 

in the house to dig grave under a tree in the 

compound and bury the couple after he must 

have killed them. He would then take his time 

to sell all their properties including houses and 

if anybody asked about them, he would say 

they travelled abroad. 

Though, he has taken the situation in good 

fate, Wilcox said he is not pleased with the slow 

pace of the case by the Nigerian police and 

pleaded with them to give him justice in order 

to step up plans to bury his wife.


bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk 

Shameless absentee 

fathers who show up 

for weddings 

Whenever I see Bukky, I am 

amazed at the seeming ease 

with which she’s made the 

most of some of the bad situations in 

her life. A distant relation and a close 

friend, she’s forever rolling with the 

punches life dealt her and coming up 

smelling roses. She came out of the 

university into the embrace of Jimoh, 

a married industrialist who was 

besotted with her. After three years 

as a couple and spending substantially 

on her, Jimoh wanted to make her his 

second wife. But first, she had to get 

pregnant. He’d been busy amassing 

wealth when his wife had their three 

children. He said he wanted to be a 

better father this time around. 

“He never did leave his wife,” Bukky 

had informed me years later when we 

met up after her being abroad for over 

15 years. “I got pregnant,” she 

continued, “but all the way through, 

his feelings about the baby would 

change. Sometimes, he was very 

loving and would tell me that was what 

he’d always wanted. At other times, 

he would whine about what his family 

would make of the child. I was very 

confused. This was a man who begged 

me to have his child and relocated me 

abroad for the purpose. Luckily, he 

was abroad on a business trip when I 

went into labour. He promised to be 

at the hospital but he never turned up. 

I didn’t see him again until two years 

later! I have the gift of seeing way 

ahead of my problems and finding 

solutions to them. As soon as I had 

my daughter, I trained professionally 

and was lucky to get a reasonably well 

paid job. But it wasn’t easy being a 

single mother in a strange country. 

The day-care centre gulped a huge 

chunk of what I had left of my salary 

after I’d paid the rent and rates. 

“Jimoh visited a couple of times and 

Kenke was happy to have a father in 

her life. He could be fun, taking her 

out and treating her to expensive 

presents that she became attached to 

him. 

“Then, the disappointments started. 

He would call and set a date for a visit, 

then not turn up. After a few times, I 

stopped telling her he was coming, but 

I couldn’t cover up for Jimoh for so 

long. She would run to the phone when 

it rang and Jimoh would promise to 

come and see her, only to see her 

disappointment and hurt when he 

didn’t show up. Nine times out of 10, 

he’d ring minutes before he was due 

to arrive, saying he’d been called back 

to Nigeria urgently on business. 

“She was in her teens when she asked 

me for details about her early 

relationship with her father. I had to 

tell her the facts that he met her for 

the first time when she was two. She 

looked incredulous. 

“But he told me he remembered the 

joyous moments when he held me in 

his arms as a baby!”, she said. 

I’ve done everything I can to 

be a good mum, but I can’t be 

a father as well. She suffered 

in her teens when she started 

dating and there was no father 

to let her know that not all men 

were cads. But the letdowns 

didn’t get any easier as she got 

older. She would get very 

angry and upset with her 

father but would take it out on 

me. It is due to the grace of 

God that she’s grown up to be 

the well-grounded lady she 

now is. She came out of the 

university with flying colours 

and has since finished her 

youth service.” 

Bukky now runs her own 

business and is hugely 

successful. She’s married, had 

two boys and is now estranged 

from her husband. But her 

children lack for nothing. “And 

as for me, they’re there for the 

picking as long as they don’t 

have to spend the earth on 

you!” She once told me 

cheekily. Now Kenke works 

with her mother and is 

planning to get married early 

in the New Year. A beautiful, 

highly intelligent, charismatic 

lady, she confessed to me that 

her dad used to make her feel 

inferior to his other children”, 

Bukky said. “she’d put her 

father on a pedestal until it 

dawned on her he wasn’t 

worth her emotions. This is a 

man who had neglected and 

deceived me, he is incapable 

of behaving properly. 

“He doesn’t deserve my 

love,” she told her mother and 

made it clear she didn’t want 

Jimoh at her wedding. That 

she would rather have her 

step-dad who got her the 

lucrative job she had before 

teaming up with her mother. 

“Jimoh got to know about the 

wedding and called to find out 

if it was true,” Bukky said. “I 

told him he shouldn’t worry his head 

about it, we didn’t have the intention 

of putting his name on the invitation 

cards. Rather, we were using her step 

father’s name as he would give the 

bride away. He was livid and I relished 

twisting the knife in his wound. He’d 

hurt us too much, now let’s see how he 

felt being denied his parental 

responsibilities. He tried to talk Kenke 

round to letting him give her away but 

she refused. He’d disappointed her for 

too long and she wouldn’t want to be 

getting married fretting if her real 

father would ever show up to give her 

away. Sadly, there are a lots of 

absentee fathers all over the country. 

Fathers who’ve never been with their 

children on their birthdays even for 

30 minutes. Who’ve never been there 

for any special occasion but spring up 

like a bad rash when such children 

become successful; wanting to play the 

role of a proud father. They cut 

comical spectacles at weddings too, on 

the add occasions they got away with 

their pranks. Looking like a fish out of 

water, they sit dutifully watching 

wedding proceedings they seldom 

contribute towards. Their abandoned 

children, now briefly reunited with 

dad, would have bought the ‘asoebi’ 

which, more often than not, looks on 

the new-found dad like what 

Shakespear once described as a giant 

robe on a dwarfish thief!’ 

Why left-handers are ‘more likely to be psychotic’ 

Left-handed people have a 

strickenly higher chance 

of suffering from 

schizophrenia, suggests a 

research. A study revealed 

left-handed people accounted 

for a third of those with the 

mental illness. However, only 

around 10 per cent of the 

general population is lefthanded. 

It is thought that the 

changes in the brain that make 

people left-handed may also 

contribute to schizophrenia. 

Famous left-handers include Barack 

Obama, Prince Williams and Babatunde 

Fashiola. Researcher Jadon Webb, of 

the Yale University, US, said: “our 

results show a strickenly higher 

prevalence of left handedness among 

patients with psychotic disorders”. In 

contrast, just 10 per cent of those being 

treated for bipolar disorder or 

depression were left-handed – a figure 

much more in line with the rate of lefthandedness 

in the general population. 

Not long ago, I attended such a 

wedding. I had reluctantly joined in 

brokering peace between father and 

daughter. The lucky lady was getting 

married into an extremely influential 

family. The family has a reputation of 

thanking each of their in-laws, the fathers 

of the brides with car gifts. This poor 

excuse of a father wanted to ‘play his part’ 

at the wedding he just got to know of. It 

was to our embarrassment that not only 

did this estranged father of the bride 

invite a lorry-load of his friends, they all 

shamelessly helped themselves to food 

and champagne provided by the groom’s 

family. 

A few weeks after the wedding, the 

father called at my office to find out if his 

new in-laws’ had delivered the promised 

car. “Were you expecting to get the car if 

it was indeed,’ true it was promised?” I 

asked him, marvelling at his audacity. “If 

the car is intended for the father of the 

bride, then yes.” he said his temper 

rising. “Or have you shown my daughter 

another father?” 

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. 

This was a man who apart from initially 

denying being the father of the bride, 

contributed virtually nothing towards 

her education. He now has the nerve to 

want to reap where he never sowed. He 

warned he would keep his ears to the 

ground and if he got a whiff of any car gift 

he would raise a lot of dust! The cheek of 

some men! 

Nick Craddock, a psychiatrist at Cardiff 

University said: “This link between lefthandedness 

and psychosis builds on 

previous work that seeks to understand 

how the development and connections 

within the brain help us to better 

understand schizophrenia. That is an 

important prelude to developing better 

treatment. It also serves to highlight that 

severe psychiatric illness like 

schizophrenia have a very real physical 

basis in the brain and body and are not 

just ‘all in the minds”. 

Despite the link, most schizophrenia.

26—Vanguard, SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020 

Yetunde Arebi 

Twitter: @yetundearebi 

yetty5050@yahoo.co.uk 

08054700825 

Once married, the pressure to 

remain so, no matter the odds 

becomes a bigger challenge, once 

again, especially for the woman. Right 

from the wedding ceremony, she is made 

to understand that returning home is not 

an option for consideration. Marriage is 

about endurance, the window to return 

to single status is closed. You either make 

a success of it, or die trying to. And 

indeed, this has sent a lot of women to 

their untimely graves, even when not 

physically, but mentally and 

psychologically. Derin, a very close friend 

who had a successful career as a partner 

in a high profile law firm was forced to 

quit her job and lay low for almost five 

years in her bid to avoid a scandal when 

she eventually summoned up the courage 

to end her 12 years marriage to an abusive 

and jealous husband. “By the time I 

realised that I needed to get out or I would 

not be useful even to my children, I had 

become an emotional wreak, unable to 

even perform my duties at my office or 

church. I was always afraid I would do 

something that would set off his tongue 

against me. I finally figured that he hated 

the fact that I was successful at my work 

and had men like him working for me in 

the office. His, was not physical abuse, 

but he had a poisonous, double edged 

tongue that I was no match to. When he 

would start, I would cry because I could 

not find the strength to stop him. He would 

make fun of me, asking if that was how I 

dealt with the guys in my office. He would 

express the desire to invite them to the 

house to see me cry like a baby. I am also 

a woman leader of my group in church, 

he would make fun of me endlessly, 

taunting me that he would go and tell them 

that I am a weakling and know nothing 

about marriage, so they should relieve 

me of the post and not allow me to counsel 

anyone. My decision to remain in the 

marriage was not because I lacked the 

financial capability to take care of myself 

and my two children, but I felt trapped 

by moral and societal standards. I was 

afraid to be tagged a divorcee and a 

woman who could not persevere”. 

Like Derin, a lot of women are trapped 

by moral and societal values in marriages 

they are not happy in and cannot do 

anything to remedy. Those who try often 

have to face the hostility, insincerity and 

lack of support of family and friends, who 

ought to rally round them with love. 

Domestic violence has become an 

increasing menace and challenge in many 

marriages across the country, even 

though the Nigerian situation is not an 

isolation. Before now, many women 

endure systemic physical and 

psychological abuse in silence and are 

blamed for lacking the will to speak out. 

Speaking out, will help create awareness 

as well as assist them seek help to stop the 

abuse. The truth is that, many who 

manage to summon up the courage to 

speak up, often lack the support they need 

to get out of their abusive situation. 

Sometimes, help also comes too late. 

Fresh on my mind is the Kolade 

Arowolo murder saga in the city of Lagos, 

a classic case of persistent domestic abuse 

and crime of passion. The couple’s 

whirlwind troubled marriage was not 

unknown to their parents and friends. The 

fight that led to the death of Titilayo, the 

young banker wife and mother of one was 

indeed, not their first. They had fought 

several times and had settled. Titilayo had 

even allegedly told her parents and 

friends that she was tired of the 

relationship and wanted out, but she 

lacked the support from the right people 

who ought to offer or provide a safe 

haven for her. On that fateful night, 

something snapped inside Kolade that 

resulted in him stabbing his young wife 

76 times according to pathology reports, 

Till death do us part 

My decision to remain in 

the marriage was not 

because I lacked the 

financial capability to take 

care of myself and my two 

children, but I felt trapped 

by moral and societal 

standards 

thus resulting in her untimely death. A 

waste of life, a needless death which could 

have been avoided if marriage was not a 

“do or die” affair, as we often have it. 

Way back in the late 70s, (I’m no longer 

very sure of this date) my late dear friend, 

Honourable Bola James of the famous 

James family of Badagry, lost his sweet 

sister, Sena, to the murderous rage of an 

ex lover in London. According to Bola, 

his sister had finally summoned up the 

courage to call off their volatile and 

abusive relationship after many years of 

fighting and making up, and to prove to 

him that it was over, began dating another 

guy. Angry and unable to accept the 

development, he’d allegedly killed her and 

hacked her body to pieces in her London 

flat before calling the Police to report 

himself. Their long-term relationship 

which dated back to their high school days 

in Nigeria had been a tempestuous one, 

known to their family and friends, but to 

which they had no idea could result in 

death. Even if death seems a bit remote 

and far between, several stories abound 

of love-hate relationships that have 

ended on very sour notes. 

In March 2011, Chika Egbo 

was doused with acid by her 

boyfriend, David Sulaiman for 

undisclosed reasons. On May 

5, 2011, another 

undergraduate student of 

Federal University of 

Technology, Yola, Adamawa 

State, Franca Ogbu, was given 

the acid bath and permanently 

disfigured by yet to be identified 

persons. One report claimed an 

embittered wife of a lecturer 

Franca was allegedly dating was 

responsible while another 

report said it was a guy she 

rebuffed his love advances. Still 

the deed has been done. Deanne 

Igbo from Rivers State had her 

eye plucked out for ritual 

purposes by her husband/ 

boyfriend, Sylvester Emezi. 

Another woman was doused in 

Kerosine and set ablaze by her 

husband who suspected her of 

infidelity, and many more. 

Strangely too, the women are 

also taking arms against their 

husbands, some in self defence, 

others in moments of rage like 

their male counterparts. A 

classic case is that of Maryam 

Sanda who stabbed her 

husband, Bilyaminu to death in 

a feat of rage. Maryam had 

accused her husband of 

infidelity. Ironically, the 

woman he was accused of 

cheating with was his first wife, 

the one he’d divorced to be with 

her. Maryam has been 

sentenced to death by hanging 

by an Abuja High Court. In 

Katsina, Rabi, 19, stabbed her 

25 year old husband, 

Shamsideen to death over an 

argument. In Ajah Lagos, 41 

year old mother of four children 

paid N500.000 to assassins to 

kill her husband. He narrowly 

escaped death. One could go 

on and on. But the question is, 

should marriage end in “till 

death do us part” by our own hands? 

It took a well orchestrated campaign 

and counselling for the parents of a young 

lady to accept her back home after just a 

year of marriage recently. In what still 

remains shrouded in mystery, the lady 

and her husband began fighting seriously 

after just a few weeks into their marriage. 

On the last count, the husband beat her 

up so severely he left several bruises on 

her body and announced to the whole 

neighbourhood his intention to kill her if 

she refuses to leave their matrimonial 

home. Afraid for her safety and her little 

child’s, she returned home and informed 

her parents of her decision to quit the 

marriage. Naturally, they called a 

meeting with the guy and his family and 

he told them to their faces that he was no 

longer interested in the marriage. But to 

everyone’s shock, this young lady’s 

parents still refused to see the danger 

ahead, insisting that their Christian 

religious beliefs forbids divorce and they 

would not allow their daughter put them 

to shame. (Is their daughter’s life not 

worth more than religious beliefs?) I may 

not understand because I am not very 

religious. 

Last weekend, a young lady called me, 

wailing profusely on the other end. She 

told me that her husband who works 

outside Lagos would be returning this 

weekend, but had threatened to pluck out 

her eyes, should he find her at home. I 

asked what she was still doing in the house. 

What if he returns and God forbid, carry 

out his threat? That is, if he does not even 

kill you in the process. I asked what she 

would do without her eyes? She would be 

rendered useless to herself and a burden 

to her family. Chances are that he might 

walk away free or incarcerated, but the 

deed would have been done. According 

to her story, they have only been married 

for less than two years and had been 

blessed with a little baby girl. She said he’d 

presented himself as a gentle, born again 

Christian who in fact fasted on their 

wedding day throughout the ceremonies. 

However, barely two weeks after the 

wedding, he turned a new coat, irritable, 

irrational and uncompromising. Nothing 

she did was pleasing to his eyes anymore. 

He would abuse her, her parents and 

family, no one was too big for him to talk 

down at. He would slap her around a bit 

too, (if there is anything like that) throwing 

anything within his reach at her and even 

the baby. Once, he’d poured water on her 

and the baby while she was being fed. I 

had to tell her to stop at that point because 

the story had taken a new twist, he was 

either crazy or under a spell. What about 

his own family, if he did not respect his 

wife’s? The lady disclosed that it had 

become evident to her that her husband 

had very little respect for his mother too. 

It seemed a bit complicated. Anyone who 

does not have someone they listen to, or 

who can correct them is a dangerous 

person, run far away from such a person. 

So, this young lady has gone to her 

parents’ home for safety while we await 

her husband’s return this weekend. 

I am all for the marriage institution. It is 

ordained by the Almighty. It is the union 

of two imperfect individuals who have 

resolved to find perfection in the eyes of 

God and man. I love weddings, the sheer 

beauty of the ceremonies make me cry. 

But I also hate pain, my body and mind 

have almost zero tolerance for pain and 

painful situations and therefore I am 

against violence in any form, especially 

in a place dedicated for love. So, I am 

guided by the favourite quote of my very 

good friend whom I call the Giant; “by all 

means, marry. If you are lucky to marry 

a good partner, you will be happy. If not, 

you will become a philosopher”. 

Do have a wonderful weekend and, stay 

safe, please!!


MURDER AT DAWN: 

How Okada rider 

raped, murdered 

nursery school 

senior prefect in Ondo 

By Emma Nnadozie, Crime Editor 

On Friday July 17 th , 2020, Mama 

Zainab, as she was popularly called, 

sent her 12-year-old daughter, 

Zainab Justina Adeyemo to a neighboring 

village, Eshe-Akoko in Akoko North west 

Local government Area, Okeagba, Ondo 

state. The vivacious Zainab, a senior prefect 

at Saint Augustine Nursery and Primary 

School in her village, Iru-akoko, wasted little 

time in responding to her dear mother’s errand. 

Journey to the 

unknown 

She left their house around 2pm and took a 

motor bike to make it easier and quicker for 

her. Unfortunately, hours after her mother 

thought she would have come back, she was 

nowhere to be seen. The apprehensive mother 

quickly dashed to the village where her 

daughter was sent only to be told that she had 

long gone back after delivering the message. 

Still hopeful, she rushed back to her village to 

meet an empty house, no Zainab. 

In desperation, she went back to Eshe where 

she sent her and was told that her daughter 

joined a popular commercial motorcyclist 

called Dare while returning home. 

She was directed to Dare’s house 

where, to her chagrin, Dare 

denied seeing her. 

Suspect 

opens up 

This infuriated 

other commercial 

motorcyclists and 

they attempted 

lynching Dare, their 

colleague, but later 

ended up dragging 

him to the nearest 

police station where 

he admitted that he 

truly carried the girl 

with his motorbike and 

that he dropped her at Iru 

motor Park. At this stage, he 

was compelled to show them 

where he dropped her which he did. 

•Suspect 

•Late Zainab 

•Nwachukwu 

He was then taken to 

the nearest police 

station. 

Agony of 

a mother 

Mama Zainab 

who could not 

control her 

emotions at this 

stage narrated to 

Crime Guard in tears. 

“On getting to the 

police station, now 

visibly frightened Dare 

pleaded that he should be 

treated gently assuring that the 

missing girl would eventually be 

seen. Shockingly, he further claimed that while 

he was on his way from Eshe to Irun with 

Zainab, they had an accident and the girl was 

seriously wounded. 

“Initially, we told the police to carry out 

immediate investigation into his claims but 

they were insisting that we must wait for the 

stipulated 24 hours before taking any action. 

This infuriated villagers and they went out in 

search of Zainab without the police. Luckily, 

after about five hours' thorough search, the 

corpse of Zainab was discovered along a 

footpath in the bush. The police was informed 

and they later picked it. 

Protest for action 

“The delay by the police forced both 

commercial motorcyclists in the area and 

villagers to stage a protest demanding that 

Dare must be brought out to say what 

happened to the little girl. The protest made 

the police to accost Dare who started narrating 

how he raped and later killed the little girl. 

He told gory tales of how he was raping her 

inside the bush while they were on their way 

only to discover that she was dead. He 

claimed that Zainab died as result of the 

struggle that ensued between them during the 

process and he dumped her body in the bush.” 

Police sources said after his confession, the 

protesting crowd nearly set the police station 

ablaze by insisting that Dare must be handed 

over to them to be killed, However, the police 

succeeded in curtailing their moves and later 

transferred the suspect to the State Criminal 

Investigations Department in Akure where 

more investigations will be carried out over 

the case. 

•Mama Zainab 

Dogara’s defection in perspective 


When in the build up to the 2019 

general elections, Rt. Hon. 

Yakubu Dogara, immediate past 

Speaker of the House of Representatives, 

quit the All Progressives Congress, APC for 

rival Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; one of 

the reasons he advanced to justify his action 

was the failure of President Muhammadu 

Buhari to deliver on the much hyped change 

agenda. 

Addressing a National Executive 

Committee, NEC, meeting of the PDP in 

February 2019, the then Speaker came 

short of labeling the APC-led government 

a disaster, citing the lofty promises it made 

in the course of electioneering campaign 

and the harvest four years after. He deflated 

the President’s public morality which in his 

words had adorned the garb of hypocrisy 

for all to see. 

With applause punctuating virtually 

every point he marshaled; Dogara went for 

the killer when he said by failing to 

champion the cause of education for the vast 

majority of Northern youths, Buhari would 

struggle to earn a place in the hall of fame 

to which iconic leaders like Ahmadu Bello, 

Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe 

had since been inducted. 

“The almajiris have seen through the 

fraud, this charade. The President has lost 

his constituency. We thought Buhari would 

choose to become the Minister of 

Education, not Petroleum,” Dogara stated. 

For journalists who were yet to settle on a 

story angle, Dogara made their day as his 

remark relegated other speakers like former 

Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and the then 

Senate President, Bukola Saraki to the notch 

of “meanwhiles.” 

A little over a fortnight ago, the federal 

lawmaker presided over the screening of 

nine Ondo governorship aspirants, all vying 

for the sole ticket to contest the October 10 

election. Typical of him, Dogara took all 

aspirants down the distance; a development 

he pinned on the need to do a thorough job 

devoid of loopholes. Two weeks after this 

assignment, he returned to the party he once 

•Dogara 

branded a fraud. 

“I write to intimate you of my decision to 

resign my membership of the PDP. This 

became necessary because the same reasons 

why (sic) we fought hard in 2019 to effect 

changes in the governance of our dear state 

are festering now. I intend to bring these 

issues to the front burner once again as the 

fight to install decent and egalitarian 

government in our dear state continues. 

“Why are we segmenting salaries and why 

is payment of salaries of state workers 

outsourced to a private firm as consultants? 

Why are contracts inflated, awarded and 

payment of mobilization done in violation 

of extant rules on procurement? Why 

are our highly revered traditional 

rulers and elders treated with odium 

contrary to the guarantee we gave 

during the campaign that such will not 

happen under a PDP government? 

“If I abdicate this responsibility on 

the altar of partisan loyalty, I will be 

the most irresponsible 

and unprincipled 

politician in Bauchi 

state...” Dogara wrote 

in a letter he addressed 

last week to the PDP 

chairman of his 

Bogoro ‘C’ Ward. 

What the former 

Speaker has not been 

able to tell Nigerians 

is if returning to the 

fold of the APC has 

now made him 

“principled and 

responsible.” 

In his reaction, 

former Minister of 

Aviation, Femi Fani- 

Kayode described 

Dogara’s return to the 

APC as “unbelievable 

The almajiris 

have seen 

through the 

fraud, this 

charade 

and totally 

inexplicable.” 

That said, the former 

minister had to 

intercede on behalf of 

Dogara, saying “my prayer is that God 

delivers Yakubu and cause him to 

retrace his steps and come to his senses. It is 

never too late to return to the light and I 

believe that one day he will.” 

He continued: “I urge him to return to 

God and to the ranks of the God-fearing, 

the righteous and the faithful and to be the 

man that the Lord has destined him to be.” 

For Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike 

Ozekhomhe, Dogara’s defection is a portrait 

of the shoddy state of politics in the country 

after two decades of unbroken democracy. 

Likening his cross-over to the APC, 

Ozekhomhe noted that until the politics of 

stomach infrastructure is downplayed in the 

nation’s political process, the much-talked 

about dividends of democracy would 

remain a mirage. 

“It is inconceivable that Yakubu Dogara, 

a brilliant lawyer whom Nigerians hailed 

for politics of principles when he dumped 

APC for PDP in February 2019 and won his 

parliamentary election, could suddenly 

discover that he went to the wrong camp. 

How does a governor’s 

alleged non-performance in 

just a little over a year be 

enough reason to swap 

camps? It is all about 

inequitable elites’ 

distribution of the common 

patrimony. 

No one is deceived. If the 

governor was sharing the 

state’s resources, we would 

never have heard this. 

“Politicians share people’s 

money in the nights like 

witches and wizards in a 

coven. In the United States 

of America from whence we 

borrowed our presidential 

system, you can never hear a 

Democrat suddenly 

becoming a Republican 

overnight, simply because a 

governor in his state has not 

done well. They have party 

ideology. Here, there is none. 

It’s so embarrassing and 

shameful,” Ozekhome said. 

Unconfirmed reports link Dogara’s 

defection to the politics of 2023 with the 

Vice Presidency slot up for grabs. A school 

of thought claims that the APC is bent on 

settling for a Southern Muslim to fly its 

Presidential flag, while the Vice Presidency 

could go to a Northern Christian, liked 

across the North and South of the Nigerian 

divide. 

If this is the bait the former Speaker fell 

for, Nigerians can only wait to see how it 

pans out for him. For quitting the APC only 

to return to its fold, the simple matters of 

integrity and character would dominate 

discourse when the partly finally decides the 

bearers of its flag.


Adegbite’s Gold Finger 

Stories by Moses Nosike 

Since he was made the Minister of Mines 

and Steel Development by President 

Buhari, architect Olamilekan Adegbite 

has been working hard to turn the nation into 

a major gold producing one. With the price of 

gold hitting unprecedented heights since the 

pandemic began, Adegbite moves is bound to 

benefit the nation immensely. Just before the 

lockdown, the minister was at the stone laying 

ceremony of the Segilola Gold project, in Osun 

State by Thor exploration, a project which 

comprises a proposed open pit gold mining 

project based on an indicated mineral resource 

defined by a comprehensive drilling 

programme. 

According to sources, the project will process 

650,000 tons of ore, with a target production 

of approximately 80,000 ounces per year from 

next year. It was said that Adegbite has been 

actively supporting the project. During the 

block laying ceremony, the minister noted that 

the government was willing to give waivers 

on equipment and taxes to major investors 

willing to invest in the sector. 

“The Minister is overseeing the creation of a 

gold ecosystem in Nigeria. For the first time 

we have companies that mine and refine gold 

in Nigeria. Two gold refineries have been 

licensed who will refine the gold to international 

standards, which the CBN and other 

international investors can then buy,” says 

Ayodeji Adeyemi, special advisor on Media and 

publicity. He added that the vision of the 

honourable minister is to make Nigeria a major 

gold producing nation, which would generate 

revenue for the government and create a lot 

of job”. 

refined according to the London 

About two weeks ago, the first Bullion Market Association 

batch of artisanally-mined gold (LBMA) standards required for 

bars to be purchased by the Central the use of gold as a reserve 

Bank was unveiled at a reception instrument by the Central Bank 

ceremony to President Buhari on of Nigeria. 

July 16, 2020.This milestone is This means that the Central 

the culmination of 24 months of Bank will be purchasing gold that 

intense efforts by the leadership of has been mined, processed and 

Adegbite through the Solid refined under the Presidential 

Minerals Development Fund, Artisanal Gold Mining 

Kebbi and Osun states Development Initiative, PAGMI, 

government, Ministry of Mines for use as part of Nigeria’s external 

and Steel Development, and the reserves. 

Ministry of Finance, Budget and Adegbite said in his speech that 

National Planning under a this milestone is a demonstration 

Steering Committee led by the of President Muhammadu 

Chief of Staff to the President, Buhari’s commitment to 

Professor Ibrahim Gambari. It was diversifying Nigeria’s economy 

gathered that Nigeria has and foreign reserves. The 

produced, for the first time ever, Presidential Artisanal Gold 

in June 2020, artisanally-mined Mining Development Initiative 

gold that has been processed and (“PAGMI”) is a comprehensive 

artisanal and small-scale gold 

mining 

development 

programme, launched in 2019 to 

foster the formalization and 

integration of artisanal gold 

mining activities into Nigeria’s 

legal, economic and institutional 

framework. 

“PAGMI has been designed to 

integrate social, environmental, 

health and safety, economic, 

commercial and technical 

considerations, into its 

implementation. PAGMI is also 

designed as a broader strategy to 

address the structural and 

institutional factors such as rural 

poverty, lack of alternative 

livelihoods and difficulties in 

meeting legal and regulatory 

requirements that tend to push 

artisanal gold mining operators 

deeper into the informal 

economy”. 

Background: Using data from 

UN Comtrade, PAGMI estimates 

that between 2012-2018, 97 

tonnes of gold valued at over $3 

billion was illegally smuggled out 

of Nigeria. 

His Excellency, the President, 

approved PAGMI in 2019 to 

address these issues and foster the 

integration of artisanal gold 

mining into the formal system. 

PAGMI seeks to tackle and resolve 

these longstanding issues, while 

also contributing to President 

Buhari’s vision to lift 100 million 

Nigerians out of poverty within a 

decade. 

On how will PAGMI work, it was 

stated that the catalyst for the 

integration is the provision of 

access to markets for the artisanal 

miners through a National Gold 

Purchase Programme and the 

deployment of enhanced mining 

methods at artisanal and smallscale 

mining sites. However, 

providing better access to 

markets through the National 

Gold Purchase Programme is only 

the first step in a comprehensive 

artisanal and small-scale gold 

mining development strategy 

integrating 

social, 

environmental, health and 

safety, economic, commercial, 

and technical considerations. 

So, PAGMI will deploy safer and 

more efficient mining and 

processing technologies across 

artisanal mining locations across 

the country, starting with Kebbi 

and Osun states as the pilot states 

with intervention in Kaduna, 

Zamfara and Niger states to 

commence immediately after the 

pilot. 

Using a centralized offtake and 

supply system supported by a 

decentralized aggregation and 

production network, PAGMI will 

buy all the gold produced by 

artisanal and small-scale miners 

and aggregated by licensed 

buying centers and aggregators 

for supply to the Central Bank of 

Nigeria. 

Which States are benefiting 

from PAGMI? 

The main gold producing belt 

with history of artisanal workings 

and exploration activities in 

Nigeria will benefit from PAGMI. 

Intervention at artisanal mining 

sites will take place in Kebbi, 

Kaduna, Zamfara, Niger and 

Osun states respectively with 

Kebbi and Osun serving as pilot 

states. PAGMI will also be setting 

up gold aggregation centers in 

addition to supporting licensed 

buying centers and aggregators 

with access to financing options, 

Assessing Jobberman’s initiative in bridging Nigeria’s skills gap 

nemployment is high 

Uamong Nigeria’s youth 

population. This age demography 

(15-35 years) accounts for about 

50% of 200 million population. To 

avert unemployment escalation 

and its dangers, Nigeria can 

leapfrog education and up-skill its 

youth for appropriate jobs 

through Online education 

especially as Covid-19 has 

engendered New Normal. This 

report assesses Jobberman’s 

intervention in this regard. 

Late last year, at the 31st 

convocation of the Federal 

University of Technology, Akure, 

Ondo state, President 

Muhammadu Buhari expressed 

worry on the uncomplimentary 

remarks by employers of labour 

that Nigerian graduates are not 

employable. The sweeping 

assessment simply means these 

employers of labour find it difficult 

to fill critical vacant positions to 

drive transformations. 

While this challenge has 

implications for the smooth 

running of the companies and 

growth of the economy, it is 

obviously one of the factors 

swelling Nigeria’s unemployment 

rate presently at 23.1%. “This 

means that about 50 million out 

of the 200 million population do 

not have jobs. Some of those that 

have jobs are not appropriately 

fitted for the jobs. Unfortunately, 

the youth (those within the ages 

of 15-35 years) who form about 

50% of the population account for 

the highest number of 

unemployed out of which 25 

million graduates are said not to 

have jobs”. 

A source from Jobberman’s 

initiative said that yearly, 

Nigerian tertiary institutions 

churn out many graduates, some 

of who are ill-prepared both in 

character and content for their 

own jobs or white-collar jobs. 

According to the source, as at last 

year, there were 174 universities 

(43 Federal Universities, 52 state 

Universities and 79 private 

Universities). Nigeria also has 134 

recognised Polytechnics in Nigeria 

(29 Federal Polytechnics, 48 state 

Polytechnics, 57 private 

Polytechnics. Many of these 

institutions are poorly funded and 

they run on old models, a 

development which causes them 

to give birth to ‘poor’ students. 

“In the last few years, Nigeria 

has made strides to attract 

investments and equally 

encouraging local investments. 

These multi-billion dollar 

investments in various sectors of 

the economy that are competing 

in the global village need 

knowledgeable, hard-working, 

and articulate employees to 

handle tasks for the companies’ 

growth. It is not only about 

credentials, but having 

personable, cultured, confident 

and well-groomed individuals to 

represent the companies. 

While speaking at the 

convocation, Buhari who was 

represented by Suleiman Yusuf, 

the Deputy Executive Secretary 

of the National Universities 

Commission (NUC) tasked the 

universities in the country to 

ensure that their graduates are 

employable. “As it is and with the 

existing wide gap between 

employers’ demand and 

employees, the task of making 

Nigerian graduates, job seekers 

and workers fit into the new 

workplace environment is a task 

not only for Nigerian universities 

alone”. 

Jobberman’s intervention 

•Adegbite 

It was in this connection that 

Jobberman, Nigeria’s foremost 

recruitment platform that helps 

employers and job seekers solve 

their recruitment and 

employment challenges recently 

introduced its world-class online 

soft skills training, designed to upskill 

Nigerian youth between the 

age of 18 and 35 with the 

necessary soft skills needed in the 

workplace. 

Ordinarily, some University 

graduates and other job seekers 

may qualify academically for 

certain jobs, but they need certain 

non-technical skills to be recruited 

or retained on the jobs and this is 

where Jobberman, driven by 

tested managers, is filling the gap 

that some universities don’t offer. 

Jobberman, led by Hilda 

Kabushenga-Kragha who has 

worked in global consulting 

organisations including KPMG 

and McKinsey, understands how 

the Nigerian job market works. 

The firm is playing this critical 

societal role in career services to 

enable young Nigerian graduates 

secure their dream jobs. Having 

the right skills for the job is beyond 

a university degree. Many 

employers are looking for 

employees who have the 

necessary soft skills that make 

them better individuals in the 

workplace and can compete 

globally. 

Soft Skills, commonly defined as 

non-technical skills, enable 

individuals to interact effectively 

and cooperate better with others. 

These skills are vital to 

organizations and can impact 

culture, mindsets, attitudes, and 

behaviours throughout an 

enterprise. 

Participants who take part in the 

Jobberman Soft Skills training get 

certificates which can be presented 

to many employer 

partners looking to 

hire qualified 

candidates. So far, it 

is said that over 

20,000 people have 

participated in the 

first Jobberman Soft 

Skills post-training 

assessment and 

many of them have 

started getting jobs 

after 

the 

programme. 

Jobberman’s career 

up-skilling has 

become significant in 

today’s Nigeria as 

many Nigerian 

higher institutions 

have remained stuck 

to the past as they are 

yet to integrate the 

necessary skills that 

are in high demand 

by the labour market 

into 

their 

curriculum. Most 

courses are still 

taught theoretically 

without practical 

experiences and this 

makes the average 

graduate not 

appropriately fitted 

for the demands of the 

present labour 

market, hence 

leading to poor labour 

performance. 

Underscoring the 

J o b b e r m a n 

Online approach 

The present time, 

more than ever, reenforces 

technology 

as the backbone of 

business, education 

Read more on 

www.vanguardngr.com 

responsible sourcing mechanisms, 

management and technical 

expertise including improved 

testing and processing equipment. 

What will PAGMI achieve? 

PAGMI will result in the creation 

of over 500,000 new mining and 

formalized jobs, leading to poverty 

alleviation for more than 1 million 

households. 

Wealth Creation: Under PAGMI, 

artisanal gold miners will earn 

more from higher productivity, 

better recovery rates, 

mechanization of operations, and 

better access to reliable geological 

information. Increased earnings 

for the miners will have 

significant spillover effects in the 

local economies as businesses will 

grow to cater to the increased 

consumption per household. 

Agreements have been reached 

with Thermo Fisher Scientific and 

Mettler Toledo, leading producers 

of gold testing and weight 

equipment to equip up to 50 

buying centers across the 

country. 

Revenues: PAGMI estimates 

that the Federal Government of 

Nigeria could realize an annual 

average of $150 Million in taxes, 

$25 Million in royalties, and $500 

Million accretion to foreign 

reserves from the integration of 

artisanal gold mining activities 

implemented by PAGMI. 

Reserves: PAGMI will allow the 

Central Bank of Nigeria to 

purchase locally produced gold in 

Naira to boost the nation’s foreign 

reserves.. 

Health, Safety and 

Environmental Benefits: Effective 

implementation of PAGMI will 

help to control the use of lead, 

mercury, and cyanides. PAGMI 

will also improve the working 

condition of artisanal miners, 

thereby reducing the number of 

in-pit deaths that are seen on an 

annual basis. 

Security: Illegal artisanal 

mining has fueled instability 

across gold mining regions with 

intelligence reports confirming a 

nexus between illicit gold mining 

and a rise in banditry. For the first 

time ever, formalization driven by 

access to markets will give the 

artisanal gold miners a 

guaranteed pathway to 

prosperity. The greater 

transparency that PAGMI confers 

on the flow of financing in the 

sector will help diminish the 

incentives for criminality. 

PAGMI successfully separated 

and refined silver from the gold 

mined by the artisanal miners, 

thereby delivering additional 

value to them. 

Developing 

agric 

sector in Nigeria needs 

commitment 

— Eatrich Boss 

t is no doubt a globally accepted fact that 

Iagriculture sustains human existence. In its 

most basic form, agriculture ensures that there 

is food on the table and cloth for an average 

citizen. Hence, it has been described as one of 

the biggest and most profitable sector in the 

world. 

To bring it closer home, Nigeria is one of 

the countries that needs agriculture to grow 

its economy, even as it contributes a 

staggering 22 per cent of the nation’s Gross 

Domestic Product (GDP), more than any real 

sector of the economy. Also, it remains the 

single largest employer of labour in the 

Nigerian market, and a money spinner for 

smart investors. 

However, if properly planned for, many 

Nigerians yearn to tap into this huge 

goldmine to diversify their investment 

portfolio and generate residual income. Now 

those into it have not found it easy because 

agricultural sector in Nigeria has not 

developed. 

Following this background, in 2016, 

Eatrich Farms has carved a niche for itself to 

become a solid investment platform for 

Nigerians. Since established, Eatrich Farms 

has worked through the entire agriculture 

value chain ranging from planting, 

harvesting, processing, packaging and retail, 

and is poised to deploy this knowledge for the 

benefit of investors/partners. 

According to CEO, Ambassador Sam 

Afolabi, Eatrich is not just another 

agriculture company, it’s a story. “Eatrich 

emanated from stark experience of the 

challenges bedevilling agricultural practice 

in Nigeria and is committed to changing the 

narrative through strategy deployment of 

technology. I grew up in a family where my 

father and mother were raised as core 

farmers. I remember in those days where I 

used to follow my mum to the farm during 

school vacation. We worked practically all 

day on the farm all through my university 

Read more on www.vanguardngr.com

It is Thursday morning as I 

write this. 

I am thinking about Emmanuel 

Ndubuisi Egbo, the little-known 

Nigerian International goalkeeper 

(represented the country about 

a dozen times between 1998 and 

2002), who played his professional 

football mostly in the littleknown 

Albanian League, but has 

emerged recently as a historymaker 

in the annals of European 

football and of Black/Africans. I 

am thinking about the state of the 

world; about the way a small virus 

continues to humble mankind 

and bring him to his knees. I am 

thinking about how, indirectly, 

this still unfathomable virus has 

brought the vexatious matter of 

the Black race to the front-burner 

of global discourse and agitations. 

In recent days, I have been 

watching Pep Guardiola, one of 

the most respected football managers 

in the world today, in a recorded 

sound bite on CNN television, 

apologizing on behalf of 

all White people for the way 

Blacks have been treated in the 

world for 4 Centuries and how 

ashamed he feels as a Whiteman. 

It is simply incredulous to observe 

this sudden turnaround in 

the struggle of Blacks to find respect 

and equality in this world. 

In my small and insignificant 

contributions, several times in my 

newspaper columns in the past 

few years, I drew the attention of 

readers to the continuous barricade 

of Black athletes in Europe 

from entry into senior managerial 

and technical areas of sports. 

Why are Black players considered 

good enough to play the game, but 

never good enough to manage it? 

I was almost a lone voice then. 

The great influencers of sports in 

Africa, the journalists, kept silent 

as if they did not understand what 

was going on, victims also of the 

indoctrination of subservience to 

a superior race? 

I wrote about Black players suffering 

racial slurs and chants that 

remained largely unpunished by 

world sports governing bodies 

that appear to be silently complicit 

in perpetuating the ugly practice, 

because of the colour of their 

skin. The best that has been done 

is a slap in the wrist of offenders, 


‘Black Lives Matter’ 

all talk and no action. 

Here are some revealing facts 

in football. 

At the 

World 

C u p , 

France 

’ 9 8 , 

when 

the number 

of 

participating 

African 

teams 

was increased 

from 3 to 

5, no 

Black 

African 

coach 

led any of the 5 African teams. All 

the coaches were White. 

In 2010, when an African country, 

South Africa, hosted the World 

Cup for the first time in history, 

there was not a single African 

coach was at the party. 

At Russia 2018, Aliou Cisse of 

Senegal was the only Black/African 

coach amongst the 32 managers 

that participated in a championship 

won by France, a country 

that paraded 10 players of Black 

African descent. 

Since France ’98, 5 championships 

later, there have only been 

7 African coaches leading African 

teams. 

The worst case is in Africa itself. 

At the last African Cup of Nations 

football championship in 2017, 

with 16 countries in attendance, 

there were 13 White foreign 

coaches and only 3 Africans. 

Why, why, why? Why is it that 

Black players are the toast of some 

of the best teams in Europe, yet 

none of them is good enough to 

become a manager after their careers, 

even when they acquire all 

the necessary certifications and 

diplomas like their White counterparts 

that have monopolized 

management through the over 

150 years of European football at 

the highest level? 

I can go on and on. 

It is obvious that this is the product 

of 400 years of physical and 

mental enslavement and the failure 

of the Black race to break 

down the barriers of prejudice and 

racism. 

The present architecture of the 

world is not designed so the Black 

person can easily get to the top of 

anything. He occasionally does so 

but not 

without 

tears, 

sweat 

a n d 

blood, 

and by 

accid 

e n t 

more 

t h a n 

any systemic 

design. 

The evidence 

is 

a l l 

around 

us 

Ṫhanks 

t o 

events around the present pandemic, 

we are witnessing the birth 

of, probably, the greatest movement 

of the Black race in history 

that will finally unshackle him 

from slavery and racism. Now, 

entire sports teams ‘take the 

knee’, raise clenched fists in the 

air, adorn ‘T’ shirts and jerseys 

branded with the inscription 

‘Black Lives matter’. There is an 

unstoppable avalanche building 

up around the world in ongoing 

protest marches in major Western 

capitals of the world. 

Emmanuel Ndubuisi Egbo 

Why is it that 

Black players are 

the toast of some 

of the best teams 

in Europe, yet 

none of them is 

good enough to 

become a manager 

after their 

careers? 

adds a dimension to all this. 

The Nigerian emerges from the 

shadows into the limelight of European 

football as manager of KF 

Tirana, a premier division Club in 

Albania. He leads the club to win 

the 10-club domestic league, and 

will now lead it again into the 

prestigious UEFA Champions 

league next season. He may thus 

make history and become the first 

African to achieve both feats. 

So, we congratulate and celebrate 

Emmanuel Ndubuisi Egbo 

for breaking the Calabash, and in 

doing so, we ask other relevant 

questions: why it has taken this 

long, whether this is a one-off ‘accident’, 

what can be done to right 

the injustices of the past and to 

create a new world with Blacks as 

equal partners post-covid 19? 

The future is going to be a global 

War, but without guns. Power 

will never be surrendered to Africans 

on a platter, because it is 

never surrendered, but taken by 

‘force’. 

I am thinking. When I chose to 

contest for political office in Ogun 

State two years ago, my mission 

was to use my homestead in Nigeria 

as the site for the establishment 

of the epicentre of a new 

Black and African Consciousness, 

Civilisation and Culture in the 

world (what Ghana has embarked 

upon now) to be driven by specific 

projects designed to catalyses, 

facilitate, enforce and accelerate 

the achievement of that vision. I 

wanted to promote the revival of 

the World Black and African Festival 

of Arts and Culture as the 

fulcrum of the movement, held in 

a new format that would involve 

all aspects of leisure and entertainment 

– dance, drama, music, 

film, sports, literature, etc - and 

where every participating Black 

and African country would independently 

choose the scope of 

their involvement in the annual 

cultural festival and fund it. That 

way rather than be a burden on 

the host country, it will be a great 

economic, social and political development 

catalyst. 

This morning, I am thinking all 

of that, plus Chief Moshood Kashimawo 

Olawale Abiola and his 

call for reparation for 200 years of 

Black slavery in the 1990s. I hear 

that same call reverberating 

around Western capitals today as 

the Black movement gathers momentum. 

That great man saw tomorrow. 

I am thinking this Thursday 

morning about many things! 

The underlining theme, however, 

is that the time is here when, 

truly, Black Lives will start to matter. 

Goodnight, Chukwuma Igweonu! 

He was a great Nigerian insideforward 

who was so good that that 

a song was waxed in his name by 

a popular Onitsha-based Highlife 

musician (I don’t remember his 

name) when he featured prominently 

for Jos Highlanders, Port 

Harcourt Red Devils, Enugu 

Rangers, and the national football 

team of Nigeria, the Red Devils. 

I can recall a part the sweet melody 

and a few lyrics of the song 

as if it was yesterday: 

“Chukwuma shoot am o, 

It is a goal o, Dike, 

Chukwuma shoot am o, 

It is a goal o”. 

I was too young to have watched 

him play but his name was everywhere, 

mostly in radio commentaries 

of matches by Ishola Folorunsho. 

I met him, however, in the late 

1990s when I organised the first 

ever reassembly of all surviving 

ex-internationals in the country at 

the National Stadium, Surulere, 

Lagos. I hosted the two days and 

it brought together a lot of the old 

greats from the group of the 1949 

UK Tourists to that present: Justine 

Onwudiwe, Isaac Akioye, 

Okwudili Daniel, Cyril Asoluka, 

Fabian Duru, Amusa Shittu, 

Johnny Egwuonu, Dan Ajibode, 

Ismaila Mabo, Emmanuel Okala, 

Christian Chukwu and Chukwuma 

Igweonu, amongst others. 

It was on that occasion that I met 

the goal-scoring machine and 

football legend called Chukwuma 

Igweonu. The large contingent 

from outside Lagos were accommodated 

at Dr. Victor Olaiya’s 

Stadium Hotel, behind the national 

stadium. The old crooner 

was a great football fan. He knew 

most of the players personally 

during their playing days. For the 

two nights that they spent in Lagos, 

Dr. Victor Olaiya spiced up 

the evenings with LIVE performances 

with his band of his evergreen, 

delightful Highlife songs. 

It was the first and the last such 

assembly in Nigerian football history. 

Last Tuesday, July 27, 2020, at 

the age of 83, Chukwuma Igweonu 

joined his ancestors in a 

hospital in Awka, Anambra State. 

On behalf of all generations of 

Nigerian footballers, I send condolences 

to the family, and pray 

that he finds eternal, peaceful rest 

as he journeys back to his Creator. 

Lokosa parts ways 

with Esperance 

Nigeria striker Junior Loko 

sa has parted ways with his 

Club Esperance of Tunisia, the 

club confirmed. 

The club said in a post on their 

social media handle on Wednesday 

that the Nigeria international 

has ended hi spell at the club. 

Lokosa joined the club in winter 

2019, had his best time in the first 

half of 2019 before an injury 

slowed down his progress at the 

Tunisian club. 

The former Kano Pillars forward 

went down the pecking order after 

Esperance decided to bring 

many strikers into the squad. 

The 26-year-old managed two 

goals in 11 appearances for Esperance 

but won the CAF Champions 

League and Tunisian 

league title with the club. 

Italian Serie A club Napoli have 

finally confirmed the signing 

of Nigeria international, Victor 

Osimhen. 

The financial terms and length of 

contract signed by the former Lille 

striker have not been disclosed 

by the two-time Serie A champions. 

However, Italian transfer market 

expert Gianluca Di Marzio earli- 

EPL: Ndidi misses 

out on top 

interceptor accolade 

Leicester City holding mid 

fielder Wilfred Ndidi has 

missed out on the top interceptor 

accolade in the English 

Premier League for the 2019-2020 

season. 

Football statistics website 

Whoscored.com has confirmed 

that Bournemouth’s Spanish leftback 

Diego Rico racked up the 

most interceptions in the recently 

concluded season - 84 in total 

from 27 games. 

Ndidi comes in second with 80 

interceptions spread across 32 

matches, ahead of Chris Basham 

(Sheffield United), Jan Bednarek 

(Southampton) and Declan Rice 

(West Ham United). 

Napoli signs Osimhen 

.Striker to pocket 20 m Euros in 5-yr deal 

er informed that Osimhen has put 

pen to paper on a five-year deal, 

with Lille pocketing 50 million 

euros from the deal and the Super 

Eagle set to earn 20 million 

euros over the duration of the contract. 

A product of Ultimate Strikers, 

Lagos, the 21-year-old had a breakout 

2019-2020 campaign at Lille, 

netting 18 goals in all competi- 

The Nigeria 

international 

Ndidi 

w a s 

ranked 

the seco 

n d 

best 

tackl 

e r 

(128) 

following 

the conclusion 

of the season, behind 

Manchester United 

fullback Aaron Wan-Bissaka 

(129). 

tions and providing six 

assists spread across 38 

matches in all competitions. 

Osimhen began his 

professional career 

abroad at Wolfsburg, for 

whom he made 16 appearances, 

before transferring to 

Sporting Charleroi, where he rediscovered 

his goalscoring form, 

scoring 20 goals in 36 games. 

Gerrard heaps praise on Aribo 

Rangers manager Steven Ger 

rard has heaped praise on 

both Joe Aribo and Brandon Barker 

for their performances in preseason 

[Rangers FC Twitter]. 

Rangers recorded four wins in 

fixtures earlier this month 

against Lyon, Nice, Motherwell 

and Coventry as players got 

minutes in the legs ahead of the 

new season. 

Aribo was the standout performer 

across the games 

link- ing play well in forward 

areas and 

showing real prowess 

in the box, while 

‘Saka among 5 best 

defenders in world football’ 

Bayern Munich young de 

fender Alphonso Davies 

reckons that Arsenal’s 

Bukayo Saka is among the top 

five fullbacks in the world. 

Predominantly a winger, the 

Anglo-Nigerian has underlined 

his versatility be playing 

in multiple positions this term, 

including left-back, left wingback 

and left midfielder. 

Saka has had a breakout season, 

highlighted by the fact that he’s 

one of three players in the running 

for Arsenal’s Player of the 

Season and the Nigeria Football 

Federation are keen on securing 

his services. 

In an interview originally published 

on 90 min and reproduced 

Barker earned major praise from 

Bears for the impact he made off 

the bench, especially against 

Lyon. 

With the league opener against 

Aberdeen now just a day away, 

Gerrard has placed on record just 

how pleased he was with the two 

players he brought in from English 

clubs last summer. 

“During pre-season, we have 

been very consistent,” said Gerrard 

on Rangers FC Twitter handle. 

“Joe Aribo has been stunning, 

defensively we have looked solid 

and looked threatening going forward.” 

by Tribuna, Davies said when 

asked to name his top five fullbacks 

: “Hakimi [a new signing 

of Inter] is one of them. 

“I really like how Benji [Pavard - 

a Bayern teammate] plays, scoring 

goals and getting assists, so 

those two. 

“Trent Alexander-Arnold definitely 

and I really like [Bukayo] 

Saka from Arsenal. He’s a really 

good player.” 

To complete the shortlist, the 19- 

year-old Davies picked himself as 

the fifth fullback. 

Saka has been nominated for the 

prestigious 2020 Golden Boy, an 

award previously won by Wayne 

Rooney, Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba 

and Raheem Sterling.

30 — SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 1, 2020 

Day TIJANI BABANGIDA 

Tijani Babangida grew up in the same neighbourhood with 

Daniel Amokachi and Garba Lawal in Kaduna. The trio played 

childhood football together and years later, found themselves 

playing for Nigeria. They were discovered by the same man, 

Sani Nagogo, who nurtured them in the backsreets of Kaduna 

before they shot to national and international limelight. 

Babangida spoke with us on his childhood dream, journey 

through life as a footballer, his fears, achievements and how 

he broke into the national team. Babangida spoke with Jacob 

Ajom. Read on. 

How and when did you start 

playing football? 

I grew up watching DIC Bees, 

Kaduna Rocks and UNTL Football 

Clubs in Kaduna at that time in 

the 1980s and early 1990s. I 

developed a lot of interest in 

football when I saw most of my 

idols play. I made up my mind that 

I wanted to become a professional 

football player. Even when we 

were playing as children, 

watching the big players and the 

great Pele of Brazil on videos, it 

encouraged me more to go into 

football. Another thing was that I 

heard that Pele and other 

international stars were being 

paid for playing football. And I 

was wowed by that piece of news 

because I thought they were 

having fun on the field and 

making money at the same time 

wowed me. For me that sounded 

like a bonus because I thought 

playing football was fun. That 

attracted me more to football. 

About what time was this? 

When did you actually start 

playing football and who 

discovered you as a player? 

There was this man who was 

playing with UNTL called Sani 

Nagogo. He was wearing jersey 

number 7 at that time. His game 

inspired me. From there I signed 

with Arewa Textiles, playing in 

the state league at that time. 

I came to limelight through the 

Manua Adebajo Cup, when 

Kaduna State won it for the first 

time. I played a major role in the 

cup triumph where I emerged the 

Most Valuable Player of the 

tournament. We also had Daniel 

Amokachi in that team. From 

there I signed for Arewa Textiles. 

At Arewa Textiles Niger 

Tornadoes spotted me. I moved to 

Tornadoes where I played for two 

seasons. 

While at Tornadoes, I was 

invited to national U-23 camp by 

coach James Peters. At U-23, we 

went to Holland on a training tour, 

after which we attended the 1991 

All Africa Games in Cairo, Egypt. 

At the Games, Amuneke and 

myself emerged as the shinning 

stars. After the Games, Amuneke 

found himself signing for a club 

in Egypt, while I moved to 

Holland. 

Fantastic. Your rise was 

meteoric indeed. In Holland, you 

replaced your compatriots, 

Nwankwo Kanu and George 

Finidi at Ajax? 

I played with JC Rhoda first. 

When I got to Holland I signed a 

contract with JC Rhoda but the 

club loaned me to VV Venlo, 

where I played for one and a half 

seasons before I went back to 

Rhoda. I played three seasons 

with Rhoda because I had to 

justify myself. It was after Rhoda 

that Ajax finally signed me. 

Yes, like I said before, you went 

to Ajax after Kanu and Finidi. Did 

you feel any pressure in terms of 

expectation, particularly after the 

exploits of the two Nigerians 

there? How demanding was it at 

Ajax? 

One thing you must understand 

here is that when they take you 

from Africa to Europe, it takes 

sometime before you can adapt to 

their system. But my case was 

different because I was already in 

Holland for over four seasons and 

they had seen me as a good 

replacement for Finidi George, 

which was, of course, very 

difficult. It was hard to find a good 

player of that calibre because 

Finidi was a phenomenal player. 

So that was how I found myself 

because they had already 

checked and found me worthy of 

being a good alternative to Finidi, 

even if I was not exactly like him, 

I was still good enough to fill that 

gap and be part of their team. That 

was what happened. 

Going to Ajax had its own 

challenges. It was challenging 

because Finidi had done so much; 

they won the Champions League, 

so you could see how he made it 

difficult to find a good 

replacement who would be as 

good as himself. Anyway, I did my 

best; he was a winger and I was a 

winger who scored a lot of goals. 

You noticed I scored a lot of goals 

at Ajax, more that any Nigerian 

that was in Holland. That year we 

went up to the semi final of the 

Champions League. I scored in 

the quarter final against Athletico 

Madrid in Spain to take Ajax to 

the semi final of the Champions 

League after extra time. 

After the semi final, what 

happened? You didn’t get to the 

final? 

We lost to a Zinedin Zidaneinspired 

Juventus side. That was 

the first time I was seeing him and 

he did not disappoint as he was 

playing fantastically. We drew in 

Holland and lost 3-0 in Turin. 

Juventus got to the final to face 

Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund 

defeated them in the final. 

You mentioned Zidane who was 

a fantastic player, today he is a 

fantastic coach. It is not common 

to find good players becoming 

good coaches. What is your 

thought on Zidane? 

Even before we played against 

them, we had a player who had 

played together with him in 

France. He warned us about a 

certain Juventus playmaker 

called Zidane and that we must 

watch him closely. It was very 

unfortunate because on the match 

day, he caused us a lot of havoc 

and emerged Man Of The Match. 

Zidane was a very fantastic 

player, you had to see him play 

because no description could 

adequately capture his enormous 

skill and displays. 

As a coach, he is doing 

marvelously too, because when he 

left Real Madrid, the club was 

dropping like a plane that was 

being pulled down by the force of 

gravity. And when he returned to 

the team, he succeeded in taking 

the club back to ascendancy and 

won the La Liga title. He has done 

in Champions League 

*My form at Ajax raised questions on my exclusion 

from 1994 Super Eagles squad 

*Nigeria’s joke at 2002 World Cup 

*What happened to Oliseh’s Eagles 

* NANPF must make the system work to benefit the players 

very well as a coach and a player, 

which you already pointed out 

how difficult it is to find a good 

coach who was also a good player. 

Most times you don’t find good 

players transforming into good 

coaches, who can teach younger 

ones to become better than 

themselves. Zidane has proved 

beyond doubt that he is as good a 

coach as he was the player 

everybody loved to watch play. 

Back to yourself, you had a 

glowing career in the national 

team. After your 1991 All Africa 

Games medal, how was your 

progress to the Super Eagles? 

It was very difficult because in 

Nigeria, players graduate from 

one stage to another. If you did 

well in U-17 you would be moved 

to U-20, from U-20 to U-23 and so 

forth. And very few players find 

themselves in the Super Eagles. 

After Cairo ’91, I went back to my 

club and I was doing very well. 

Westerhof at that time did not 

invite me to the national team for 

the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations. 

After the Nations Cup, there was 

a lot of pressure on coach Clemens 

Westerhof from the international 

press. They were wondering how 

I could not make the national 

team, despite my great form at my 

club. It was the international 

press that forced him to invite me 

to the 1994 World Cup, although 

before my invitation, he had made 

up his mind that I was not going 

to the World Cup. Eventually, I 

made the 23-man squad as one of 

the alternate players because I 

was young and doing very well. 

If I had played in the 1994 World 

Cup, I would have given Nigeria 

cause to cheer because I had all it 

took to have made that team; I 

was young and a natural predator 

who was always hungry in front 

of goal. I ended up watching the 

World Cup from the tribune 

because I was not 

registered for the 

tournament, so I couldn’t 

play. But after the World 

Cup, I found myself in 

the Olympic team, the 

Dream Team, under 

Coach Jo Bonfrere. We 

went to the Olympics 

and you already know 

the story, we won it. It 

was a fantastic outing for 

Nigeria and Africa. 

From the Olympics you 

knew then the team was 

a dream team. From the 

technical crew to the last 

man in the team were 

automatically promoted 

to the Super Eagles. . I 

was part of the qualifiers 

for 1998 Nations Cup, 

scoring some fantastic 

goals as well. We went to 

the World Cup and at the 

World Cup, I scored a 

goal but it was a very 

boring game because we 

were losing 4-0 before 

my goal. However, it 

remains my greatest goal 

because it put my name 

in the history books of 

the World Cup. 

How was it like, scoring a 

World Cup goal? 

I told you it was a boring game 

because we were losing. But for 

me, it is the best goal in my career 

because it puts me among World 

Cup goal scorers. It was historic. 

So, that goal is very important to 

me. 

I was happy but I could not 

celebrate much because of how 

the game ended. 

After the World Cup we came to 

the Ghana/Nigeria 2000 Africa 

Cup of Nations where I started as 

a bench warmer and then became 

a regular from the semi final when 

I scored two quick goals against 

South Africa. Those two goals 

enhanced my CV to a high level 

as they catapulted Nigeria to the 

final of the tournament which we 

lost to Cameroon. 

From there we started qualifiers 

for the Korea/Japan 2002 World 

Cup. We had a very difficult game 

against Ghana in Port 

Harcourt, where I 

also scored two 

great goals that 

qualified Nigeria 

for the World Cup. 

After that we 

went to the 

Nations Cup in 

Mali where we 

won a bronze 

m e d a l . 

Unfortunately, that 

was where our 

problem started. We 

lost the semifinal 

match and had 

problems with the 

officials. It was 

unfortunate that barely 

two weeks to the 

World Cup, many 

players in the 

squad were 

dropped. It was 

a big joke. The problem was so 

unfortunate because I don’t think there 

is any country in the world that can try 

such a joke and succeed. Nobody can 

imagine such a joke even in countries 

with developed and sustained football 

traditions. That was my story with the 

Super Eagles. I did not play in the 1994 

World Cup. If I had, I would have played 

in three World Cup tournaments but I 

only played in two – 1998 and 2002. 

Let’s go back to that AFCON 2000 

semi final match against South Africa 

in Lagos. We all knew you as a winger 

who, originally, operated from the right 

but on that day, you were played from 

the left. What did coach Bonfrere tell you 

before that match? 

Well, it was a strategy by the coach, 

which I found very difficult to accept. 

We had some issues but the coach 

insisted I must play from the left and I 

had no choice but to obey the coach and 

do his bidding. I couldn’t do otherwise 

because he was the coach and luckily, I 

went in and did my best. I had a 

memorable game, scored two fantastic 

goals that are still being talked about 

in world football today. 

That was the first time I was seeing 

a natural right-footed winger 

operate from the left side, but it is 

common today in modern 

football. 

At that time, the system 

wasn’t regular for you 

to see something 

like that. But at 

the end of the 

day it paid 

off. That is 

where 

y o u

encountered Zidane 

tie 

could see the ingenuity in Bonfrere Jo, 

who introduced such a system as far 

back as year 2000. Indeed, it was my 

first time playing from the left and the 

first time I saw a ringht winger playing 

from the left wing. 

(Babangida did not know that 

Bonfrere acted on a technical report 

from a group that went to Kumasi to 

monitor Ghana/South Africa match 

which Bafana Bafana won. In the 

match South Africa’s right back, Mark 

Fish appeared slow and was always 

overlapping but with slow recovery rate. 

The group recommended that a very fast 

attacker be played on the left. That 

group included late Coach Amodu, 

Saturday editor of Vanguard, then sports 

editor, Onochie Anibeze and one other 

one other coach) 

You were an assistant coach to 

Sunday Oliseh at the national team. 

What really happened to those Eagles 

because everything just crumbled? 

It was because of the system the NFF 

are using which is not good. You can 

see that when they want peace, they try 

to find peace for themselves. The peace 

they are enjoying now is because they 

have not been able to bring the 

technical committee together to vet the 

team and disrupt the coach’s team 

selection. During Oliseh that was 

exactly what happened. Oliseh wasn’t 

happy with that because he was not in 

the same line with members of the 

technical committee. That was why 

things fell apart. 

You can see that Gernot Rohr doesn’t 

have such problems because I am sure 

he must have given them some 

conditions that he wouldn’t want such 

a thing (like picking players for him) 

to happen. So, they allowed Rohr some 

freedom which they couldn’t do for 

Oliseh? Instead they were busy 

talking about the mentality of Oliseh 

that Oliseh is different, Oliseh is 

this and that. 

Now Rohr is as free as a bird; 

no technical Committee to 

disrupt his team and nobody is 

concerned about team 

selection. Why don’t we 

encourage our own to excel? 

With your experience as 

a member of the 

technical 

crew of the national team under 

Oliseh, would you accept another 

offer to coach the national team 

again, if called upon? 

You can never say no to your 

country when they call on you. 

Why did I accept to lead the 

players union? It is because I 

realised the union needed 

someone to lead them. It is your 

country. Whenever something 

like that comes up, you never can 

say no. 

After such a glorious career, 

both at club and international 

levels, what does Tijani 

Babngida do today? 

I am still into football. I am the 

President of the Players Union, 

the National Association of 

Nigerian Professional Footballers. 

I am here to see how we can help 

the younger ones and see how we 

can influence a change for the 

system to work for the benefit of 

the players. 

How have you been able to 

tackle the problems since you 

took over? 

It is almost two years now. I 

have seen the problems and I have 

known the problems. One needs 

to have the political zeal and 

power to resolve the issues at 

stake, and they must trust you. You 

know it is one union broken into 

two, trying to do the same thing. 

They have been rumblings and 

fighting for over twenty years 

which are affecting the welfare of 

the youths and footballers of 

Nigerian now. 

Luckily for me, Harrison Jallah 

is a very nice man, I have spoken 

with him. I think we are all the 

same thing and I see a thin line 

between him and the other side. 

He has agreed to come back so 

that we can set the structures 

right. If nobody does anything, 

history will not forgive all those 

involved in this problem. I hope 

that we will be able to work 

together with Jallah hand-inhand, 

so that we can push the 

union and also help the system. 

Because right now, the system 

is not working. We will have 

to force the system to work. 

It must work. It is not a 

small thing; it’s a big 

issue. 

How soon should we expect to 

see the two unions collapse into 

one? 

Very soon because we are 

already talking about the 

roadmap, how we will be able to 

work together and make it work. 

We have gone beyond talking 

about the individual, we are now 

talking about how to help the 

system work. We are not going 

there to talk about Tijani 

Babangida but about the union of 

players who are still active in the 

game like Mikel Obi, Ahmed 

Musa, Victor Osimhen and their 

likes. 

The question is, how are we 

going to use the system to reach 

them? How does the system assist 

them? Do they have, for instance, 

health insurance? There are a lot 

of things to put in place for our 

players, so that they won’t become 

laughing stocks after their 

football careers. 

If you recall, when you played 

in Nigeria, the home-based 

players were better catered for 

than the situation is today. Most 

of them are being owed salaries 

for months. What plans have the 

union put in place to see to the 

improvement of the welfare of 

players in the the domestic 

league? 

I have already told you that 

everything has to do with the 

system. When the system starts 

working everything will fall in 

place. We have to assist the system 

work and once it starts working it 

will reflect in all aspects of the 

game like salaries, match bonuses 

and every other benefits due to the 

players. 

Recently, the world football 

governing body, FIFA released $1 

million(American Dollars) to the 

NFF and CAF released $500,000 

as relief funds to cushion the 

effect of coronavirus pandemic. Is 

the union in touch with the NFF 

on the sharing formular of these 

palliatives? 

We are not involved but our 

appeal to the NFF is that there 

should be openness and fairness 

in the manner they carry out the 

sharing. Ghana have done their 

own, Zambia too have done theirs. 

The NFF can follow what the 

others have done and do same. All 

we can do now is wait and see 

what the NFF wants to do with the 

money. It is in your place (the 

media) to continue to ask the NFF 

how they intend to share the 

money. We are not involved and 

have nothing to do with that 

money. Our only concern is how 

it will affect the lives of our 

members, particularly, players 

who have been owed salaries and 

match bonuses for months; we 

want to see if this money can help 

them ahead of the new season, we 

will be happy. 

How do you see the Super 

Eagles under Rohr? 

Rohr has done well. He has 

chosen to work with youthful 

players. Nigeria is having a batch 

of young generation of footballers 

in the national team. Very soon, 

with this Rohr formation, we 

should be able to get the best out 

of our team. All we need is 

somebody who can push them to 

the next level. 

The appointment of Yobo? 

It is a good one but I feel the 

NFF should have put more on 

Yobo’s training and some 

intellectual courses. But no matter 

how you look at it, Yobo is going 

to be of positive influence on the 

young players in the team because 

of his experience as a former top 

class player. 

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 1, 2020 — 31 

FA Cup Final : Chelsea, 

Arsenal battle for supremacy 

The FA Cup, which is the oldest 

knockout competition in world 

football, will close the 2019-20 

top-flight English domestic 

season with the all-London 

meeting of Arsenal and Chelsea 

at Wembley Stadium today. The 

match will be aired live on 

SuperSport and GOtv. 

Arsenal upset Manchester City 

in the semifinal on the 

penultimate weekend of July, 

with Gabonese star Pierre- 

Emerick Aubameyang scoring 

both goals in a 2-0 victory. The 

Gunners will be chasing a recordextending 

14th FA Cup title and 

hoping this will be a repeat of the 

2017 final in which they defeated 

Chelsea 2-1. 

Arsenal’s win over City in the 

FA Cup followed on quickly from 

a victory over Liverpool in the 

Premier League, leaving manager 

Mikel Arteta hopeful that his side 

has turned a corner after a rollercoaster 

ride of a season. 

“We are really happy with what 

has happened in the last four or 

five days,” explained the 

Gunners’ manager. “To beat 

probably the best two teams in 

Europe is the nicest thing to do so 

credit to the players for what they 

are doing, their performances and 

By Ben Efe 

In the face of the hardship, 

frustration and inactivity due 

to the prolonged lock down of the 

various stadia across the country, 

Nigerian athletes and people 

with businesses inside sports 

complexes around the country, 

have called on the Sports 

Minister, Sunday Dare to take 

steps to reopen them. 

The stadia, particularly the 

National Stadium Surulere 

Lagos, which is also a business 

hub have been under 

lock and key since 

March following the 

break out of Covid ’19 

pandemic which 

forced worldwide 

cancellation and 

postponement of 

sporting activities. 

The closures have 

caused a lot of 

disruptions to 

•Aubameyang 

the level of fight they are 

showing.” 

Arteta also reckons that an FA 

Cup success would convince 

Aubameyang to remain with the 

club, following months of 

speculation over the striker’s 

future: “Good and beautiful 

moments, they are always better 

than the bad ones,” said the 

Spanish tactician. 

NBA continues on ESPN on DSTV 

AFTER the thrilling season’s opener between Los Angeles Lakers 

and LA Clippers on Friday morning, action-starved basketball 

enthusiasts will continue feasting as the LA Clippers will be back in 

action tomorrow morning when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans, 

while evening of the same day sees the Boston Celtics face the Portland 

Trail Blazers. 

Celtics coach Brad Stevens will be glad not to be coming up against 

Oklahoma Thunder’s Steven Adams, who dominated his side in a recent 

pre-season game. 

“You know, we’re 

gonna have to do better 

as a team. Obviously 

Enes [Kanter] did a 

pretty good job when 

he was in there, but he 

didn’t play against 

Adams a ton. He 

obviously hurt us. That 

strength and that 

physicality is a 

problem and good 

news is I don’t think 

nobody gets any 

stronger than Steven 

Adams.” 

The evening of 

Tuesday 4 August is 

headlined by the Milwaukee Bucks v Brooklyn Nets, while early 

Wednesday 5 August features the Portland Trail Blazers taking on the 

Houston Rocket. 

Athletes, business owners beg 

Sports Minister to reopen Stadia 

athletes training and grounded 

businesses operating in the 

premises. 

“It’s almost five months now 

and those stadia are still locked. 

It has affected our daily training, 

some of us have resorted to 

training on hard surfaces and 

tarred roads. 

“We don’t have access to 

equipment and some of us are now 

nursing injures. In other 

countries, athletes are training 

and competing already, but here 

nothing is going on.

C 

M 

Y 

K 

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 1, 2020 

RESULTS 

SERIE A 

Milan 1 - 1 Atalanta 

ITALY - SERIE B 

Livorno 1 - 5 Crotone 

Chievo 4 - 1 Cittadella 

Ascoli 2 - 2 Pordenone Calcio 

Cosenza 2 - 1 Pisa 

Frosinone 2 - 3 Benevento 

Trapani 1 - 0 Delfino Pescara 

Cremonese 0 - 0 Spezia 

Salernitana 2 - 4 Empoli 

Venezia 1 - 0 SS Juve Stabia 

Virtus Entella 0 - 2 Perugia 

FRANCE - CUP 

PSG 1 - 0 Saint-Etienne 

CROSS WORD PUZZLE 

PORTUGAL - PRIMEIRA 

Santa Clara 2 - 2 Guimaraes 

SOLUTION TO PUZZLE ON PAGE 6 

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Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X). EDITOR: ONOCHIE ANIBEZE. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

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