22092020 - S-Kaduna: No development without peace, unity— BUHARI

8 

Buhari, Akufo-Addo meet in Aso Rock 

over protest by Nigerian traders in Ghana 

57% of Nigerian 

children under 5 

years have no 

Fuel crisis looms 

nationwide, as 

truck owners 

withdraw tankers 

Previous govts spent N8.9trn on 

birth certificates 

subsidy in 10 years — PPPRA 6 

13 

— NPC 

from roads 

LCCI pushes for immediate implementation of CAMA 2020 

6 

19 

VOL. 27: NO. 64163 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 

S-Kaduna: No development 

without peace, unity— BUHARI 

•Cholera epidemic, hunger tear Boko Haram apart as 80 fighters defect from 

Shekau’s faction •Military alerted to planned joint ISWAP/defectors attacks 

on Baga town in Borno •Arewa youths claim bandits killed 11,000 in Zamfara 

Deduct at 

source, pay 

MDAs' 

electricity 

bills 

directly to 

DISCOs, 

KPMG tells 

FG 19 

UK appoints 

Damilola 

Ogunbiyi cochair 

of COP- 

26 summit 

11 

Crashed 

Quorum 

10 

Aviation 

helicopter 

had no fuel 

— AIB 

KADUNA ECONOMIC AND INVESTMENT SUMMIT... 

From left, Jimi Lawal, Senior Adviser-Counsellor, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, SSG, Governor Nasir El- 

Rufai, Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe and Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, Chief of Staff to the 

Governor, at the opening ceremony of the fifth Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KADinvest) 

held virtually in Kaduna, yesterday. 

Why we lost Edo to 

5 

PDP, by APC chieftains 

•APC congratulates Obaseki, says it's victory for democracy•How 

2023 permutations ruined party’s chance •Buhari, Buni, Ganduje meet 

in Aso Rock •APC was going to win, I don’t know what happened, says 

El-Rufai •How Oshiomhole, Tinubu, cost APC, Ize-Iyamu dearly- Ojo 

ODUMAKIN 16 

TENIOLA 18 

COLUMNISTS DELE COLE 17 

See 

inside 

8 

Army 

commander 

killed in 

Boko 

Haram 

ambush 

8 

Naira 

appreciates 

to N464.5/$ 

in parallel 26 

market 

Mr & Mrs

C 

M 

Y 

K 

2 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020

C 

M 

Y 

K 

Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 — 3

4— Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 

Suspected 

yahoo boy 

crushes Okada 

operator, 

passenger to 

death in Delta 

By Paul Olayemi 

A 

commercial motorcycle 

operator, popularly known as 

Okada rider and his female 

passenger have been crushed to 

death by a suspected cyber criminal, 

known as yahoo boy, around Oton 

area of Gana, in Sapele, Delta State. 

The suspected yahoo boy driving 

a GKL Mercedes-Benz car was said 

to have absconded after he rammed 

his car into the commercial 

motorcycle operator. 

Vanguard gathered that the 

motorcycle rider died on the spot 

while his passenger was said to have 

died at the hospital where she was 

rushed to. 

An eyewitness told Vanguard: 

“The Mercedes-Benz car driver was 

on speed and after crushing the 

Okada man and his female 

passenger, the Okada man died on 

the spot while the injured woman 

was taken to hospital where she 

gave up the ghost” 

An official of the Federal Road 

Safety Commission, FRSC, in 

Sapele, who confirmed the incident, 

told Vanguard that the commission 

operatives had recovered the car 

and damaged motorcycle from the 

scene of the accident and the 

commission has also evacuated the 

remains of the late Okada rider to 

the Sapele Central Hospital 

morgue. 

Truck crushes 

Neigbourhood 

Watch official in 

Lagos 

By Evelyn Usman 

TRAGEDY struck, yesterday, 

along the Isolo- Egbe Road, 

after an official of the Lagos 

Neigbourhood Watch was 

crushed by a truck 

The deceased identified as 

Osunde Kelvin , 38, was riding a 

bicycle to resume his afternoon 

shift at Excel College, which the 

school building collapsed 

recently in Ejigbo area of Lagos. 

On reaching Powerline busstop, 

Ejigbo to negotiate a bend 

leading to his destination, a 

commercial bus hit the bicycle. 

In the process, he was flung into 

an oncoming truck with number 

plate FKJ 240 AN, which rammed 

over him. Efforts to save his life 

was fruitless as he reportedly died 

on the spot . 

An eyewitness, who expressed 

disappointment over the reactions 

of onlookers, said: "When the 

incident happened, no one made 

effort to arrest the driver of the LT 

bus that hit him. Rather, everyone 

was busy taking shot of the dead 

man on the floor, thereby creating 

an opportunity for driver of the 

LT bus to escape. 

"The truck driver also 

abandoned the vehicle and fled 

the scene. Policemen from Ejigbo 

division later arrived, covered the 

deceased with a white cloth and 

evacuated his remains. They also 

took the truck away. Kelvin’s 

mother died not too long, in an 

auto crash.” 

Gunmen kill police inspector in Aba, snatch 

his AK-47 rifle 

By Ugochukwu 

Alaribe & Eric Ugbor. 

UMUAHIA— Gunmen have 

shot dead a Police Inspector at 

Uratta in Aba North council area of 

the state and made away with his 

AK-47 rifle. 

The inspector, whose name was 

given as Emma, was said to have 

been transferred from Umuahia to 

Uratta Police Station about two 

months ago. 

A police source told Vanguard that 

the slain policeman was on his way 

to work last Friday at about 8 pm 

when he saw a man riding a 

motorcycle. He was alleged to have 

stopped and impounded the 

machine for an undisclosed reason. 

The source explained that the 

policeman was riding on the 

motorcycle to the Uratta police 

station when on approaching Chief 

Obi Street, he was attacked by three 

armed men. 

The hoodlums were said to have 

inflicted machete cuts on him and 

ripped his skull open in the process. 

After killing him, the hoodlums 

reportedly fled with his AK-47 rifle. 

However, luck ran out on one of 

them when he was going home 

after killing the policeman as some 

members of the local vigilante 

noticed blood stains on his cloth and 

arrested him. He was later handed 

over to the police. 

Vanguard gathered that during 

interrogation, the suspect admitted 

his involvement in the killing of the 

policeman. 

Operatives from state Police 

Command headquarters, 

Umuahia, were said to have, in the 

early hours of yesterday, raided a 

popular brothel within the Uratta 

area in search of the fleeing 

hoodlums, but no arrest was made. 

Also, on Sunday night the gang 

attacked a police team at Azikiwe 

PROTEST: People of Ugwunani-Abor community in Udi Local Government Area 

of Enugu State yesterday protesting alleged encroachment on their ancestral 

land by the Enugu State government. 

16-yr-old suspected cultist arrested with 

gun in Anambra school 

By Vincent Ujumadu 

AWKA—ANAMBRA State 

Police Command said, 

yesterday, that it arrested a 16-yearold 

suspected cultist in an Anambra 

school, while no fewer than 80 

others were arrested in various parts 

of the state this month. 

The 16-year old (name withheld) 

was arrested with a double barrel 

gun in his school compound at 

Igboukwu, Aguaata Local 

Government Area of the state. 

The command said the arrests 

were part of efforts to stem the tide 

of cultism and other nefarious 

activities in the state during this 

period of ember months. 

The state Police Public Relations 

Officer, Mr. Mohammed Haruna, 

said the command’s Special Anti- 

Cult Unit (SPACS) carried out the 

raids at various hideouts and black 

spots where suspected cultists were 

allegedly hibernating. 

He said while 15 suspects were 

arrested at Ogidi/Nkpor axis, six 

were arrested at Awka/Amansea 

axis. 

Similarly, five suspects were 

arrested at Onitsha/Nkpor axis, 

seven at Oba/Nnewi axis, six at 

Nsugbe/Nkwelle-Ezunaka axis, 

eight at Ogbunike/Abagana axis, 

four at Nawfia and another four at 

Nimo/Abagana axis. 

Others are 12 at Ifitedunu / 

Awkuzu axis, four at Amikwo, five 

at Nsugbe/3-3 axis and four at 

Ebenebe/Ugbenu axis. 

According to the PPRO, of the 

number, 40 had been charged to 

court, while 15 were screened and 

released unconditionally. 

He said five of the suspects were 

placed under police supervision for 

being underage, while 20 suspects 

confessed membership of cult 

groups. 

Items recovered from them 

include two pump action guns, 10 

machetes , five axes, two daggers, 

three barrettes, one double barrel 

gun, two locally made pistol and 

three live cartridges. 

The state Commissioner of Police, 

Mr. John Abang, commended 

Anambra people for providing the 

command with actionable 

intelligence and reassured the 

public of adequate protection. 

MRA condemns continued detention 

of journalist, Ime Silas, demands his 

immediate release 

MEDIA Rights Agenda, MRA, 

yesterday, condemned the 

continued detention of Mr. Ime 

Silas, an editor with the privatelyowned 

Global Concord newspaper 

and publisher of the news website, 

The Profile. 

The group accused the Akwa 

Ibom State government of 

incrementally damaging Nigeria’s 

human rights record just to satisfy 

political egos and called for the 

immediate release of the journalist 

from custody. 

A statement by MRA’s 

Programme Officer, Mr. John 

Gbadamosi, recalled that “Mr. Silas 

was arrested on August 17, 2020 in 

Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State, for 

publishing a report entitled 

“Exposed: Okobo PDP Chapter 

Chair links Gov Udom’s Wife with 

the Plot to Blackmail Deputy 

Speaker.” 

He was accused of cyberstalking 

allegedly in violation of Section 24 

of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, 

Prevention, etc) Act of 2015. 

“On August 18, Mr. Silas was 

charged before a magistrate's court 

and denied bail. His lawyers filed 

another bail application on August 

24, which was granted on September 

10. Despite having been granted 

bail, Mr. Silas has remained in police 

custody since his arrest. 

“Mr. Silas’ detention after the 

court has granted him bail 

demonstrates the lengths to which 

authorities are willing to go to silence 

journalists who are unwilling to 

dance to their tune. We strongly 

condemn such arrogant violation of 

the constitution and careless 

disregard for the rights of a citizen. 

“The arrest and detention of Mr. 

Silas are in breach of Nigeria’s 

international treaty obligations, 

particularly Article 66(2)(c) of the 

Revised ECOWAS Treaty, in which 

Nigeria, as a Member State of the 

Economic Community of West 

African States, agrees to co-operate 

with other member states in the area 

of information and undertakes to 

'ensure respect for the rights of 

journalists. 

"Such arrest, detention and 

prosecution of journalists have been 

adjudged by the African Court of 

Human and People’s Rights to be a 

violation of the Revised ECOWAS 

Treaty in its binding judgment in 

the case of Lohe Issa Konate v 

Burkina Faso, delivered on 

December 5, 2014. 

“The arraignment of Mr. Silas for 

cyberstalking is offensive because 

the magistrate's court before which 

he was charged clearly has no 

jurisdiction to try the journalist for 

the offence of cyberstalking under 

the Cybercrime Act as it is the 

Federal High Court that is given 

such jurisdiction by the Law. " 

Road by Asa Road junction by 9pm, 

injuring a mobile police officer, while 

police reportedly shot two of the 

gang members dead. 

Contacted, Abia State Police Public 

Relations Officer, SP Geoffrey 

Ogbonna, who confirmed the killing 

of the inspector also said one of the 

suspects linked to the killing had 

been arrested and currently in 

police custody. 

DISCO agent 

drugs 14-yr-old 

girl with 200ml 

tramadol, rapes 

her 

The suspect. 

By Evelyn Usman 

A 

staff of one of the nation’s 

electricity distribution 

companies, DISCOs, has been 

arrested by the Police in Lagos for 

allegedly drugging and defiling a 

14-year-old girl in Ejigbo area of 

Lagos. 

The suspect (name withheld), 

had gone to install prepaid meters 

for some residents of Akinwunmi 

Street, Ile-Epo area of Ejigbo, when 

he met the victim (names withheld) 

who was trying to recharge her 

parent’s prepaid meter. 

The 17-year-old suspect offered 

to assist her but ended up taking her 

to the DISCO’s Okota branch where 

the recharge was done. 

However, on their way back, he 

reportedly took the girl to a hotel at 

Jakande gate, where he allegedly 

drugged her drink and raped her. 

During interrogation, he disclosed 

that he drugged her with 200 

milligrams of tramadol. 

According to him, “I offered to go 

and recharge their meter but her 

grandmother asked her to follow me. 

On our way back, I bought her a bottle 

of soft drink. But before giving it to 

her, I went to the hotel where I 

dropped 200 milligrams of tramadol 

inside. I took her to the hotel where I 

paid N2,500 and had sex with her. 

“She slept for too long because of 

the drug and by the time she woke 

up, it was late. When she got home, 

they asked what kept her long and 

in the process beat her to extract the 

truth from her. That was how she 

opened up. 

“I have never committed such a 

crime in my life. This is the first time. 

I used tramadol to sleep because of 

the noise of the power generating 

sets in my compound every night. 

My intention was never to end up 

in this type of trouble. 

"I dropped out of school two years 

ago because my mother, a widow, 

didn’t have money to pay for my 

WASSCE. I started installing prepaid 

meters and was paid N1,000 

commission. I have been saving the 

money to enroll for the WASSCE. My 

mother is working as a maid to keep 

the family going.” 

Spokesman for Lagos State Police 

Command, SP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, 

confirmed the arrest.

vanguardnews 

@vanguardnews 

Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 — 5 

NEWS HOTLINES 

018773962, 

POCKET CARTOON 

@vanguardnews 08052867058 

COMMISSIONING—Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, 

commissioning the 2 blocks of 48 rooms at the Nigerian Air Force Investment 

Limited Hostels in Kaduna, yesterday. Photo: NAN. 

Why we lost Edo to PDP, 

by APC chieftains 

By Clifford Ndujihe, Dayo Johnson, Henry 

Umoru Ikechukwu Nnochiri, Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru, Omeiza Ajayi, Dirisu Yakubu, 

Chinonso Alozie, Ugochukwu Alaribe, & President 

James Ogunnaike 

LAGOS — High wire 

political intrigues by 

some chieftains of 

the ruling All Progressives 

Congress, APC, with 

regards to who picks its 

presidential ticket in 2023 

may have contributed 

greatly to its dismal outing 

in last Saturday’s 

governorship election in 

Edo State, Vanguard has 

learned. 

Party leaders yesterday 

lamented APC’s loss of its 

only foothold in the South- 

South, with Governor Nasir 

el-Rufai of Kaduna State 

saying that three weeks to 

the poll, the party was 

primed to win but the 

unexpected happened on 

Saturday. 

A member of the Board of 

Trustees of the APC, Prince 

Benjamin Apugo, 

attributed the party’s loss 

to internal wranglings. 

A chieftain of the party, 

Jackson Lekan Ojo, 

fingered what he called the 

overbearing influence of 

former APC National 

Chairman, Comrade 

Adams Oshiomhole, and 

National Leader, Asiwaju 

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for the 

Edo fiasco in which 

Governor Godwin Obaseki 

of the Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP polled 307,955 

votes to beat Pastor Osagie 

Ize-Iyamu of the APC, who 

got 223,619 votes. 

A member of APC 

Caretaker/Extraordinary 

National Convention 

Planning Committee, 

Ismail Ahmed, who blamed 

APC governors, said the 

party would do a review to 

know exactly what 

happened in Edo. 

Meanwhile, torrents of 

salutations continued to 

pour in for Obaseki, 

yesterday, with former 

Olusegun 

Obasanjo, and former 

Senate President, David 

Mark, urging the governor 

to be magnanimous in 

victory to douse tension 

and continue to keep Edo 

on the path of growth. 

APC congratulates 

Obaseki, says election 

not warfare 

The ruling All 

Progressives Congress, 

APC, has congratulated 

Governor Godwin 

Obaseki of Edo State on 

his re-election as 

governor of the state, last 

Saturday. 

Chairman, Caretaker/ 

Extraordinary National 

Convention Planning 

Committee of the party 

and Yobe State Governor, 

Mai Mala Buni, in a 

statement issued in 

Damaturu, described the 

election as victory for 

democracy. 

The statement which 

was titled: ‘State 

Governorship Election: 

Victory for Democracy’ 

reads; “The September 

19, 2020 Edo State 

Governorship election is 

over, the winner has 

been declared by the 

Independent National 

Electoral Commission, 

INEC, in the person of 

Mr. Obaseki, candidate 

of the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP. 

We hereby congratulate 

the winner of the 

election, the people of 

Edo State and all 

Nigerians. The peaceful 

conduct of the election 

and its outcome 

represent victory for 

Nigeria’s democracy. 

“As a party, we join our 

leader, President 

Muhammadu Buhar to 

affirm our ‘commitment 

to free and fair elections’ 

in order to strengthen 

‘the foundation for our 

political and moral 

authority’. We commend 

INEC, our security 

agencies and all political 

parties that contested 

the election for the 

successful conduct of the 

election. As a governing 

party, we will take every 

step necessary to 

support the Federal 

Government to 

consolidate all the gains 

achieved. 

“We, in particular want 

to salute our candidate in 

the election, Pastor 

Osagie Ize-Iyamu for his 

tenacity and leadership. 

We similarly commend 

our Edo State leaders, 

especially our immediate 

past National Chairman, 

Comrade Adams 

Oshiomhole and all our 

members in Edo State for 

demonstrating 

unwavering support for 

our party and our 

candidate in the 

election. In the face of all 

the challenges, we 

collectively remained 

faithful and worked 

tirelessly during the 

campaigns. We appeal to 

all our members to be 

strengthened by the 

outcome of the election 

and unite in order to 

correct all the problems 

that worked against our 

party and our candidate 

in the just concluded 

election. 

“Finally, we specially 

hereby celebrate our Edo 

State 2020 Governorship 

Campaign Council led 

by His Excellency Dr. 

Abdullahi Umar 

Ganduje, Governor of 

Kano State. We 

acknowledge and 

appreciate the 

contributions of all 

members of the 

Campaign Council. As 

progressives and 

democrats, we are 

confident that all leaders 

and members of the party 

will celebrate the 


as free and fair as 

acknowledge by our 

leader, President 

Muhammadu Buhari. 

“Let us unite to move 

our democracy for 

forward. We must put an 

end to the era when 

electoral contest become 

warfare. We urge our 

candidate and all our 

members to join us in 

congratulating Mr. 

Godwin Obaseki and the 

PDP, being the declared 

winner of the election. 

Our attention must now 

shift to Ondo State and 

ensure that we win the 

October 10, 2020 

election. September 19, 

2020 Edo election should 

present a new 

watershed. We will work 

hard to win the Ondo 

election. Having 

reaffirmed our 

commitment to free and 

fair elections, it is our 

expectation that all 

opposition parties in the 

country will also commit 

themselves to free and 

fair contests. We will 

therefore accordingly 

expect congratulatory 

message from all parties 

just as we similarly 

guarantee that once we 

are defeated in a fair 

contest, we will 

congratulate 

winner." 

Chairman of the party, 

Comrade Adams 

Oshiomhole, was part of 

what played out last 

Saturday in Edo. 

One of them who had 

predicted that the ruling 

party was going to lose the 

election based on 

happenings in the party, 

said “the Edo election was 

essentially a contest 

between the North and the 

Continues on Page 26 

By Bose Adelaja, 

& 

Olayinka Latona 

the 

2023 

permutations 

Multiple party sources 

told Vanguard that 

permutations ahead of the 

2023 presidential election 

which led to the ouster of 

the erstwhile National 

On US, UK decision to place visa ban on election riggers (2) 

The UK and US 

governments' threat 

of visa ban, asset seizure 

and prosecution under 

international law, of those 

involved in electoral 

malpractice, is a good 

move. It will bring sanity 

to our electoral system. No 

politician will want to lose 

his assets overseas or be 

denied visas. It will expose 

and shame those involved 

in electoral malpractice. 

—Bankole Akinselure, 

Political Activist 

The visa ban placed on 

election riggers is a 

welcome development. It 

will deter politicians and 

those who seek to govern 

people from engaging in 

election rigging. 

Henceforth, we might see 

election outcomes being 

determined by the people, 

not aspirants forcing their 

way into office through vile 

and dangerous means. 

—Oluwafemi Omorege, 

Social commentator 

The UK and US 

placing a ban on 

election riggers would 

create fear in the minds 

those having such 

intention and it will 

improve the country’s 

rating in the international 

community when it comes 

to elections. Penalties like 

this should be 

implemented more to 

reduce rigging of elections. 

—Adebayo Ismail, 

Digital Marketer 

T 

his decision is the 

best for the 

betterment of our country 

and we should appreciate 

the UK and US 

governments. With these 

threats in place, all forms 

of electoral malpractice 

will be eradicated. Also, 

political thugs who believe 

election rigging is the only 

way to make ends meet, 

will no longer have jobs. 

—Adegoke Emmanuel, 

Cinematographer 

Nigeria has been of great 

interest to the 

international community due 

to corrupt practices of which 

election rigging is one. This 

decision by the UK and US is 

laudable in that it will make 

key players in Nigeria’s 

electoral process to respect the 

system. Credibility should be 

the hallmark of elections in a 

country where democracy is 

the system of government in 

operation. 

—Francis Adegbola, 

Corps member 

The visa ban is a 

welcome development. 

It will deter forces that try to 

undermine our nascent 

democracy. I think the ban 

should also include family 

members and friends of those 

election riggers. Secondly, 

their assets in those foreign 

countries should be seized 

and stiffer penalties meted out 

on them; only then can we 

salvage our country from their 

hands. 

—Usoh John, 

Civil Servant

6 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 

NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058 

LECTURE—From left: Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, Chairman, 2020 Kingsweek Planning Committee; 

Babagana Monguno, National Security Adviser; Leke Oshunniyi, Deputy president, King's 

College Old Boys' Association, KCOBA; Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, President, KCOBA; Olumide 

Akpata, President, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA; Andrew Agada, Principal, King's College, 

Lagos, and Sonny Echono, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, during the 

KCOBA 111th Annual Founders' Day Lecture, with the theme: 'Education: The Way Forward', 

held in Lagos. Photo: Akeem Salau. 

Fuel crisis looms nationwide, as truck 

owners withdraw tankers from roads 

By Michael Eboh 

NIGERIA Association of 

Road Transport Owners, 

NARTO, yesterday, ordered 

all its members to withdraw 

trucks, especially petrol 

tankers nationwide today and 

tomorrow. 

NARTO's directive was in 

protest to the order of the Federal 

Government, banning 

tankers with 45,000-litre capacity 

from lifting petroleum 

products in the country. 

The transporters are also 

issuing a 10-day strike notice 

to the Federal Government, 

effective September 24, 2020, 

over the issue. 

Addressing newsmen in 

Abuja, National President of 

NARTO, Yusuf Othman, stated 

that the leadership of the 

association, received with 

grave shock the recent government's 

decision to place 

immediate ban on all petroleum 

trucks above 45,000 litres 

capacity from plying Nigerian 

roads. 

Othman claimed that the 

Federal Government did not 

consult with transport owners 

before taking the decision, 

adding that the government 

also did not give them ample 

time to prepare for implementation 

of the policy. 

NARTO is the umbrella organization 

of all commercial 

vehicle owners in Nigeria, 

engaged in the haulage of 

petroleum products, general 

cargoes, and movement of 

goods and passengers within 

the country and the West-African 

sub-region. Othman described 

the sudden ban as 

highly insensitive and unappreciative 

of the efforts and 

contributions of NARTO 

members as businessmen and 

investors in the very critical 

and sensitive distribution and 

supply chains of petroleum 

products across the country. 

He also warned that if these 

trucks with 45,000-litres capacity 

are withdrawn suddenly 

and promptly as being demanded 

by the government’s 

decision, it would create another 

side effect of avoidable 

unemployment, especially as 

it is estimated that more than 

40,000 drivers/drivers mate 

and artisans would lose their 

jobs. 

He said: "For the records, 

we wish to state very strongly 

that our members are already 

discouraged and distressed, 

even with the fact that the 

transport sector which is one 

of the sectors that are worst 

hit by the COVID-19 pandemic 

because of the total restriction 

of movement, the federal 

government refused to extend 

some intervention to the sector 

as done to many sectors of 

the economy, including aviation, 

agriculture and others. 

"In the light of the foregoing 

and the fact that we understand 

the reasons behind government's 

decision, we equally 

demand that government 

should be more empathetic 

and sensitive to the plight of 

our members and the very 

harsh economic situation of 

the time by giving us ample 

time to source for money to 

re-engineer all affected trucks 

and operations accordingly. 

"We can assure you that 

none of the major transport 

companies across the country 

can continue any form of operations 

with this policy within 

this short time frame. 

"In view of the above, we are, 

therefore, constrained to allow 

the decision of all our members 

to park their trucks as 

from tomorrow (today) to 23rd 

September, 2020, prevail as 

warning, and furthermore, issue 

10 days ultimatum with 

effect from September 24, 

2020, for a full blown withdrawal 

of service. 

"If such scenarios occur, we 

earnestly plead with those who 

will lose employment, income 

and general public that will 

be negatively affected by this 

avoidable situation." 

He clarified that the leadership 

of NARTO was not in any 

way against the decision of the 

federal government to ban the 

use of truck with more than 

45,000 litres capacity in the 

conveyance of petroleum 

products, considering the dilapidated 

state of Nigerian 

roads but was particularly 

concerned about the sudden 

and prompt nature of the ban. 

"We consider the approach 

to be highly insensitive to the 

huge investments the Owners 

of these trucks have made and 

debts they incurred in executing 

the mandate given by previous 

administration. 

This move by the government 

will definitely be counterproductive 

considering the 

fact that sudden withdrawal 

of these trucks will impact 

heavily and negatively on the 

operations of our members 

and the withdrawal will also 

create heavy gaps in the supply 

and distribution chain 

bearing in mind the fact that 

NARTO, being the owners of 

these trucks, are integral part 

of the supply and distribution 

of petroleum products across 

the nation," he argued. 

NCC to usher in new pricing regime for 

mobile international termination rate 

•Commences cost-based study to determine new rate 

By Emmanuel 

Elebeke 

ABUJA — The Nigerian 

Communications 

Commission, NCC, has embarked 

on a cost-based study 

to set the new pricing regime 

for mobile international termination 

rate, ITR, for inbound 

international voice 

calls in the country. The ITR 

is the rate paid to local operators 

by international operators 

to terminate calls in Nigeria. 

As part of the process for the 

rate determination, the commission 

has organised a virtual 

stakeholders' engagement 

forum with relevant industry 

stakeholders to intimate 

them with the ongoing 

cost-based study and the need 

to cooperate with Messrs Payday 

Advance and Support 

Services Limited, the consultants 

engaged to carry out the 

study. 

Addressing the stakeholders 

in Abuja, the Executive Vice 

Chairman of NCC, Prof. 

Umar Danbatta, said the 

study has become imperative, 

following the various implementation 

constraints arising 

from contending industry and 

market dynamics that met 

previous efforts at finding an 

optimum price for the termination 

of international voice 

services in Nigeria. Danbatta, 

who was represented at the 

forum by the Executive Commissioner, 

Stakeholder Management, 

NCC, Adeleke Adewolu, 

said through the new 

ITR pricing, the commission 

would be able to balance the 

competing objectives of economic 

efficiency, allowing 

operators the latitude to generate 

reasonable revenue. 

The EVC, however, explained 

that in 2013, the commission 

issued a determination 

stating that mobile termination 

rate, MTR, were the 

same, irrespective of where the 

call originated, a clause he 

said was largely misconstrued 

by operators at that time to 

mean that ITR should be the 

same rate as the MTR. 

He said this led to operators 

ignoring the international 

cost portion, where ITRs 

were agreed at MTR level, 

without a positive residual to 

cover the costs of the international 

leg for local operators. 

“As a result of this, the ITRs 

continued to decline, in line 

with the MTR glide path and 

as the ITR was set in Naira, it 

suffered a further downward 

slide in dollar terms, following 

currency devaluation. 

''Ironically, Nigerian operators 

paid the international 

operators in dollars to deliver 

international calls which created 

an imbalance of payments 

as the ITR in Nigeria 

declined,” he said. 

Danbatta said Nigerian operators’ 

profitability and 

commercial results were negatively 

affected as a result, 

putting Nigeria’s ITR below 

that of most countries with 

which it makes and receives 

the most calls, thereby making 

Nigerian operators perpetual 

net payers. 

Danbatta said: “This has, 

therefore, led to undue pressure 

on the nation’s foreign 

reserves, which continue to get 

depleted by associated net 

transfers to foreign operators 

on account of this lop-sidedness, 

hence the need for Nigeria, 

with volatile currencies, 

to regulate the ITR to prevent 

or mitigate the imbalance of 

payments with international 

operators. 

Buhari asks Kaduna to surpass 

investment achievements 

•As USAID, KDSG sign MoU to drive 

economic devt in Kaduna 

Previous administrations 

spent N8.9trn on subsidy in 

10 years —PPPRA 

By Michael Eboh 

ABUJA — THE Petroleum 

Products Pricing 

Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, 

yesterday, stated that N8.9 trillion 

was spent on fuel subsidy 

by the Federal Government, 

mainly by previous administrations, 

between 2006 and 

2015. 

According to data released 

to support the need for deregulation 

of the downstream 

petroleum industry, the PP- 

PRA stated that the bulk of the 

sum was expended between 

2011 and 2015, where N6.7 

trillion, representing 74.8 percent 

of the total was spent on 

subsidy. 

Giving a breakdown of the 

figure, the PPPRA stated that 

N257.36 billion, N271.51 billion, 

N630.57 billion, 

N409.31 billion and N667.08 

billion were spent on fuel subsidy 

in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 

and 2010, while in 2011, 

2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, 

fuel subsidy gulped N2.1 trillion, 

N1.35 trillion, N1.32 trillion, 

N1.22 trillion and 

N653.51 billion. 

Minister of State for Petroleum 

Resources, Timipre Sylva, 

had stated that the Federal 

Government is not currently 

in a position, financially, to 

pay subsidy, as the COVID- 

19 pandemic had impacted 

By Ibrahim 

Hassan-Wuyo 

ABUJA—President Mu 

hammadu Buhari has 

asked both domestic and foreign 

investments worth about 

$800 million since 2015, with 

investors pledging a further 

$2.1billion. 

In his good will message, 

President Buhari noted that 

KADINVEST had become a 

respected fixture on the investment 

calendar held annually 

since 2016.’ 

He said: ‘’It is a fitting statement 

of the resilience of the 

Kaduna State Government 

that it is able to host the 2020 

edition amidst the severe disruptions 

to the normal order 

caused by COVID-19. 

''This is the sort of determined 

focus that can help the 

country to navigate the challenging 

consequences of the 

pandemic.'' 

Buhari commended the 

efforts of Kaduna State government 

in establishing its 

credentials as the investment 

destination of choice in Nigeria. 

‘’These efforts have received 

just recognition in the response 

of the business community 

which has put in new 

investments in the state.It is 

hardly a surprise that Kaduna 

State has emerged as the 

leading destination for foreign 

direct investment within 

Nigeria. 

‘’This is a further affirmation 

of the ranking of the state 

as Number One for Ease of 

Doing Business by the World 

Bank’s Doing Business Report 

2018. I call on the Kaduna 

State Government to keep up 

these laudable efforts and surpass 

the impressive results 

already attained,’’ he said. 

It will be recalled that the 

maiden edition of KADIN- 

VEST was held from April 6- 

7, with the theme: ‘’Let’s Move 

Kaduna into the Global Economy.’’ 

El-Rufai, who gave an overview 

of what the previous 

summits have achieved, said: 

‘’Kaduna has faced fiscal 

headwinds as a result of COV- 

ID-19 pandemic, with several 

mitigating strategies aimed at 

repositioning the state to maintain 

solvency and emerge stronger 

post- pandemic.’’ 

According to him, KADIN- 

VEST attracted 25 local and foreign 

investments worth $500 

million. 

‘’The summit also facilitated 

investments through the creation 

of a one-stop shop and operationalising 

of the ease of doing 

business charter, to break 

down barriers to investments and 

expansion of the fiscal space,’’ 

he added. 

El-Rufai said further that the 

second edition of the summit witnessed 

the launching of Kaduna 

State Development Plan, 

SDP, and ‘Sector Implementation 

Plan, SIP, as a vehicle to achieving 

SDP through annual budgeting 

framework.’’ 

‘’The Ease of Doing Business 

charter, Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) 

system, the Eyes and Ears Citizens 

Engagement platform were 

all launched at KADINVEST,’’ 

he added. 

According to him, a three-year 

Memorandum 

of 

Understand(MoU) with the 

United States Agency for International 

Development(USAID), 

to help drive the economic development 

of the state was 

signed at the event. 

negatively on the country’s finances. 

Sylva had also told newsmen 

in Abuja, that since the 

introduction of the deregulation 

policy in March 2020, the 

country had saved about N1 

trillion. 

Sylva noted that the deregulation 

of the downstream 

petroleum sector and the removal 

of subsidy was not a 

political decision, but had 

become inevitable, especially 

with the effect of the COV- 

ID-19 pandemic, the low 

crude oil prices and curtailing 

of Nigeria’s production 

output by OPEC, which had 

constrained government’s 

revenue. 

He said: “It became necessary 

that the country cannot 

sustain subsidy payments, 

hence the decision to deregulate. 

Government has stopped 

subsidizing petrol at the 

pump, but will now play its 

traditional role of protecting 

consumers from exploitation, 

by ensuring that marketers do 

not profiteer at the expense of 

ordinary Nigerians and consumers 

of the product. 

"We are no longer in the business 

of fixing prices; we have 

stepped back and allowed 

market forces to determine 

the prices. Henceforth, if 

crude oil price goes up or 

down, it would reflect at the 

pumps."

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

Buhari, Akufo-Addo meet in 

Aso Rock over protest by 

Nigerian traders in Ghana 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

A 

B U J A — 

PRESIDENT 

Muhammadu Buhari and his 

Ghanaian counterpart, Nana 

Akufo-Addo, met behind closeddoors 

late Sunday night at the 

Presidential Villa, Abuja. 

Although details of the 

meeting which was made public 

at about 11:36pm on Sunday by 

the Personal Assistant to the 

President on New Media, Bashir 

Ahmad, on his Twitter handle 

were not made public, Vanguard 

learned it may be due to the 

brewing duplomatic row between 

the two West African countries, 

occasioned by the maltreatment 

of Nigerian traders in that 

country. 

Bashir Ahmad had in his 

Twitter handle said: “President 

@MBuhari receives Ghanaian 

President H.E. @NAkufoAddo 

tonight in his official residence at 

the State House, Abuja.” 

The Presidential aide did not 

elaborate on the purpose of the 

meeting, but only posted a picture 

of both presidents on a walk. 

Recall that Vice President Yemi 

Osinbajo had recently addressed 

the Nigerian community in 

Ghana on the sideline of the 

extraordinary session of the 

Economic Community of West 

African States, ECOWAS, in 

Accra, the nation’s capital. 

The meeting, which held at the 

official residence of the Nigerian 

High Commissioner to Ghana 

was focused on the challenges 

facing Nigerians living in the 

West African nation, including the 

locking of hundreds of Nigerianowned 

shops. 

Responding to the issues raised 

by leaders of the Nigerian 

community at the meeting, 

especially the maltreatment of 

Nigerians by Ghanaian 

authorities, Osinbajo strongly 

affirmed the commitment of the 

Federal Government to deal with 

the issues, assuring them of 

justice. 

A statement issued by the 

Senior Special Assistant to the 

President on Media and 

Publicity, Office of the Vice 

President had quoted Prof. 

Osinbajo as saying: “I will 

certainly convey the depth of 

your grievances to the President. 

‘’I am sure he will be deeply 

disturbed to hear that despite the 

assurances that he had received 

(from the Ghanaian 

government) there are still 

problems and complications, 

many of which have been 

discussed at the highest levels 

with assurances of resolutions 

given.” 

He explained that the delay in 

resolving the issues might be due 

to bureaucratic bottlenecks 

which is generally a drag on 

government activities. 

He said: “I look forward to 

getting the details and making 

sure that we are able to begin to 

resolve some of these issues as 

quickly as possible. 

“But I think you must also 

recognize that generally 

speaking, governments tend to 

be very slow, processes are slow, 

bureaucracies are slow, but we 

will make sure that we do the 

very best we can to get you your 

rights, so that at least you are 

dealt with justly.” 

Referring to efforts made in the 

past and even recently to resolve 

the crisis, the Vice President said: 

“I have followed closely 

developments here, and many of 

the incidents that you have 

described, I am already very 

familiar with. As a matter of fact, 

the President had asked that a 

review of all that had taken place 

be done. 

“There have been direct 

communications between our 

President and President Akufo- 

Addo. Our President has spoken 

to him about this, he has made a 

formal complaint to him, and that 

conversation has been going on. 

What the Ghanaian government 

pledged to do, on three occasions, 

was that the shops will be 

reopened. I am a bit surprised 

that it has not taken place 

because my understanding was 

that, that was going to be done.'' 

Army commander killed in Boko 

Haram ambush 

THE Nigerian Army has 

announced the death of 

Colonel D. C. Bako, commander 

of the 25 Task Force Brigade, who 

was killed by Boko Haram 

insurgents in Borno State. 

Ado Isa, spokesman of the 

army’s Operation Lafiya Dole, 

said the colonel died from injuries 

sustained after his patrol team 

was ambushed by the 

insurgents. 

In a statement yesterday, Isa 

said the late officer was already 

recuperating at the hospital 

where he was being treated 

before he passed away earlier in 

the day. 

He did not state if there were 

other casualties in the ambush 

which happened after an 

onslaught on the insurgents. 

The army spokesman said: 

“Operation Lafiya Dole wishes to 

announce the demise of one of 

our gallant and finest war heroes, 

Colonel DC Bako. 

“The professional senior officer, 

who always at the frontline led a 

patrol to clear Boko Haram 

Terrorists from Sabon Gari- 

Wajiroko axis near Damboa when 

his patrol team entered an 

ambush at about 10 a.m Sunday, 

20 September, 2020. 

“Under his able leadership, the 

troops cleared the ambush 

resulting to the killing of scores 

of terrorists and recovery of 

weapons and equipment. 

“Sadly however, he was 

wounded in action and 

immediately evacuated by the Air 

Task Force Operation Lafiya Dole 

to the 7 Division hospital at 

Maimalari Cantonment. 

“The late senior officer was 

recuperating well after successful 

operation at the hospital, in good 

spirit and also said his prayers in 

the early hours of this morning 

before his sad passing at the 

hospital. May Almighty Allah 

grant his soul eternal rest.” 

Isa quoted Tukur Buratai, chief 

of army staff, as condoling with 

Bali’s family, saying the security 

agency is “most grateful for his 

contributions and sacrifices to the 

motherland.” 

Southern Kaduna: There can’t be development 

without peace, unity — BUHARI 

•Cholera epidemic, hunger tear Boko Haram apart as 80 fighters defect from Shekau’s 

faction •Military alerted to planned joint ISWAP/defectors attacks on Baga town 

in Borno •Bandits killed 11,000 in Zamfara — Arewa youths 

By Kingsley Omonobi 

& Ibrahim 

HassanWuyo 

A 

B U J A — 

PRESIDENT 

Muhammadu Buhari yesterday 

asked indigenes of Kaduna, 

especially Southern Kaduna, to 

cooperate with the government 

and security agencies to secure 

peace and harmony in the state. 

The President, who made the 

plea during his speech at the fifth 

edition of the KADINVEST, the 

state’s annual economic and 

investment forum, spoke as 

indications emerged yesterday 

that the fighting capacity of 

Abubakar Shekau's faction of 

Boko Haram has been further 

weakened by a sudden defection 

of about 80 fighters to the ISISlinked 

Islamic State of West Africa 

Province, ISWAP, according to 

sources, conversant with the 

terrorist group. 

These came on a day Arewa 

Youth Forum, AYF, claimed they 

that bandits have so far claimed 

killed no fewer than 11,000 adult 

males in Zamfara State, 

rendering 22,000 women widows. 

Buhari’s call for peace comes 

amid recent efforts to secure the 

state from incidents of violent 

crimes. 

For example, Southern 

Kaduna has endured ethnic 

violence this year, prompting the 

Federal Government to send 

Special Forces to the region. 

“We must live together as 

brothers and sisters because 

without peace, development 

cannot take place,” Buhari said. 

In his remarks, Kaduna State 

governor, Nasir el-Rufai, said he 

was committed to ending the 

Southern Kaduna issue, which, 

according to him, dates back 40 

years. 

The governor said the state has 

attracted more than $800 million 

of local and foreign investments 

since 2016, adding also that the 

state has had investment 

announcements of over $2.1 

billion in 2020, far ahead of Lagos 

and any other state in the 

country. 

Also, Vanguard gathered 

yesterday that outbreak of 

cholera and defection of about 80 

fighters to the ISIS linked- Islamic 

State of West Africa Province, 

ISWAP has further weakened 

Abubakar Shekau’s faction of 

Boko Haram, according to sources 

conversant with the terrorist 

group. 

Recall that the ISWAP faction 

is jointly led by Amir Abubakar 

Ba Lawan and Abu Musab Al- 

Barnawi, one of the surviving 

sons of Boko Haram jihadists 

founder, the late Mohammed 

Yusuf. 

According to the source, the 

recent defection of JAS fighters 

with their families followed the 

outbreak of deadly cholera 

epidemic which was further 

exacerbated by hunger in the 

Abubakar Shekau’s stronghold. 

This, according to the source, 

was further made worse by the 

failure of the terrorist leadership 

to prepare for and manage food 

shortage and the disease 

outbreak during known periods 

of heavy rains and floods in their 

hideouts and camps. 

He noted that one of the most 

fundamental reasons for this was 

the fact that the Shekau’s faction 

was in serious dearth of arms and 

ammunition to carry out attacks 

and seek for food and other 

necessities. 

It was learnt that many of the 

defectors are said to have 

expressed disappointment in the 

continuous power mongering, 

selfishness and tyrannical rule 

under Abubakar Shekau. 

“To compound their dilemma, 

the faction has been unable to 

maintain control of its area of 

influence in Northern Borno after 

a series of internal leadership 

crisis and factional competition for 

territorial control, with rival units 

loyal to the ISIS affiliated ISWAP/ 

Boko Haram terrorist’s group 

faction. 

“This massive defection, which 

is an additional battlefield and 

moral disaster for Abubakar 

Shekau’s Boko Haram terrorists 

group’s JAS faction, exposes the 

insignificance and fragility of the 

group’s loose cell-based structure 

kept together only by a thread of 

irregular propaganda materials 

and the reliance on the 

asymmetric nature of the 

insurgency to gain relevance. 

“It reaffirms the weak and 

shadow state of Shekau’s 

leadership hold on JAS faction. 

AWARD: Best 

Graduating Student 

of the Nigerian Air 

Force Institute 

Technology, Deborah 

Umoru receiving 

award from the Chief 

of the Air Staff, Air 

Marshal Sadiq 

Abubakar, during the 

graduation of the 

Institute in Kaduna. 

Although he may still be alive 

and in-charge of JAS, his faction 

is only relevant when connected 

to the activities of ISWAP against 

the interest of JAS. 

“ISWAP has been the most 

active of all jihadists/armed 

criminal gangs in the region. 

However, the ISIS linked ISWAP 

is also at its weakest capacity since 

it pledged allegiance to ISIS in 

March 2015. 

“Its unstable leadership and 

unit commanders have been 

severely depleted, following the 

series of successful ground and 

aerial coordinated offensive 

attacks by the Nigerian Army, 

Chadian forces, and regional 

troops of the Multinational Joint 

Task Force, MNJTF,’’ the source 

said. 

Sources on the ground have 

also said that the ISIS affiliated 

ISWAP has provided a safe 

haven for the families of the 

defectors, adding that they were 

made up of 10 females believed 

to be their wives and about 

eight children (3 girls and 5 

boys) aged between eight and 

10 years old. 

Meanwhile, sources have 

alerted military authorities of 

planned series of joint ISWAP 

and the defectors’ attacks against 

Nigerian troops and other 

security agencies deployed in 

Baga general area. 

A source said: “Some of the 

defected fighters have already 

been deployed among their hosts 

to familiarize themselves. The 

identified locations are along the 

Fish Dam areas in Baga general 

area, with a particular location 

given as Garin Mata showing 

significant presence of the newly 

deployed defectors.’’ 

Sources described the Baga axis 

as a very strategic location for 

ISWAP activities, as maintaining 

presence in Baga was key for the 

jihadists group’s daily survival, 

recruitment and fund raising 

activities. 

“ISWAP may be prepared to 

make sacrifice in their determined 

efforts to prevent and frustrate 

planned relocation of IDPs to 

Baga town and the holding of the 

first local government elections 

planned for November 28, 2020, 

by Borno State government. 

“Defections, internal rivalries 

and successful counterinsurgency 

efforts need to be comprehensively 

coordinated 

and sustained from the ongoing 

onslaught of ‘Operation Lafiya 

Dole’ to ‘Operation Boma Wrath’ 

and the existing MNJTF 

‘Operation Yancin Tafki, the 

sources said. 

Meanwhile, killings by bandits 

in Zamfara State has cost the 

lives of 11,000 adult males and 

left at least 22,000 widows, 

according to Arewa Youth Forum, 

AYF. 

National President of the 

group, Alhaji Gambo Gujungu, 

who disclosed this in a statement 

explained that the killings had 

also created some 44,000 orphans 

at an average of four children to 

a deceased person. 

“It’s worrisome that the present 

situation of incessant and 

barbaric killings, maiming, 

kidnapping for ransom, rape, 

cattle rustling and wanton 

destruction of property and 

economic assets by devilish forces 

of evil and blood thirsty 

insurgents has reached an 

unimaginable and horrendous 

proportion in a region which was 

hitherto peaceful and calm, called 

Northern Nigeria. 

“In fact, hardly a day passes 

without such incidents occurring. 

Of great disturbance equally, is 

the fact that the lives of Nigerians 

in towns and villages within the 

zone are now completely at the 

mercy of armed marauding 

bandits, wreaking havoc at will, 

which is negatively affecting the 

socio-economic activities of locals, 

in spite of intervention of security 

agencies. 

“Therefore, in view of this state 

of affairs and pursuant to Arewa 

Youth Forum’s Conflict 

Mitigation and Peace Building 

(CMPB) Project, we undertook a 

deep and holistic research aimed 

at finding out the root causes of 

the persistent security challenge, 

with a view to finding lasting and 

sustainable solution. 

“Our preliminary findings 

showed that within eight dark 

years of banditry in Zamfara 

State, a conservative figure of 

about 11,000 adult males that 

were bread-winners of their 

families were killed, leaving 

behind an estimated 

conservative figure of about 

22,000 widows.''

C 

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C 

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:Vanguard 

News 

Lagos helicopter crash: AIB 

releases report, says ill-fated 

chopper had no fuel 

By Lawani 

Mikairu 

L AGOS—NIGERIA 

Accident Investigation 

Bureau, AIB, yesterday, 

released the preliminary 

report on the accident 

involving a Bell 206B III 

helicopter with nationality 

and registration marks 5N- 

BQW, operated by Quorum 

Aviation Limited, QAL, 

which occurred at Opebi 

Area, Lagos, on August 28, 

this year. 

Recall the Quorum 

helicopter crashed onto the 

roof of a building and a wall 

fence at Opebi area of Ikeja, 

Lagos, impacting two 

vehicles parked in the 

compound. 

According to AIB, the 

initial findings revealed 

that the chopper had no 

capacity to jettisoning fuel, 

but there was no fuel left in 

its tanks, after the crash, 

even after the chopper was 

topped to full tank capacity 

on August 27, at Port 

Harcourt military airport, 

DNPM. 

The report also said the 

pilot proficiency check had 

expired, and there was no 

indication and 

evidence showing 

that “the pilot had applied 

for exemption provided by 

the NCAA’s All Operators’ 

Letter, AOL, DG020/20, 

neither was there evidence 

of an application for the 

exemption provided by the 

AOL DG018/20 for 

proficiency check.” 

Ooni seeks gods' intervention against COVID- 

19 pandemic ....Goes into seclusion for Olojo festival 

By Shina Abubakar 

ILE-IFE—OONI of Ife, 

Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi 

Ojaja II, has proceeded on 

a 7-day seclusion, as part 

of traditional rites for the 

The preliminary report 

read, in part: “The technical 

logbook entry revealed that 

there was an engine run for 

10 minutes and a test flight 

of 20 minutes, in 

preparation for a 

positioning flight the next 

day. 

“The chopper was topped 

to full tank capacity on 

August 27 and, after 

refueling, 10 minutes of 

engine run and 20 minutes 

of test flight were carried 

out on same day at Port 

Harcourt. The helicopter 

was fitted with a rangeextender 

fuel system. No 

fuel jettisoning capability 

on this helicopter. 

“The helicopter had an 

endurance of 3:24 hour. 

The operational flight plan 

filed by the pilot indicated 

an endurance of 3:15-hour 

and an estimated flight time 

of 2:45 hours. The 

helicopter engine was 

started at 09:15hour, and it 

took-off at 09:20hours. It 

later crashed at 12:14hour. 

There was no fuel left in the 

fuel tanks after the crash. 

The mast and main rotor 

blades were found intact 

during the post-crash 

inspection.” 

On the crew: “The pilot’s 

last medical examination 

was valid till August 6, 

2020. There was no 

evidence to show that an 

application for the exemption 

provided by the All Operators’ 

Letter AOL DG020/20 had been 

submitted to the Nigerian Civil 

Aviation Authority.” 

Olojo festival. 

Oba Adeyeye moved into 

“Ile Mole, Iremo” quarters, 

Ile-Ife, for the traditional 

rites as he appeared in 

white attires on his way out 

of the Ile-Oodua palace. 

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

Disciplinary c'ttee: Ojudu, Tinubu’s 

in-law, others fault Ekiti APC's directive 

By Rotimi 

Ojomoyela 

ASpecial DO-EKITI—THE 

Adviser to 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari on Political Matters, 

Senator Babafemi Ojudu, 

an in-law to All 

Progressives Congress, 

APC, National Leader, 

Senator Bola Tinubu, Mr. 

Oyetunde Ojo, and a 

former governorship 

aspirant of the party, Dr. 

Wole Oluyede, and eight 

others have faulted an 

alleged directive from the 

National Caretaker 

Committee, asking the 

state chapter to set-up a 

disciplinary committee 

against them. 

They stated that there 

was no directive from the 

National Caretaker 

Committee to that effect, 

A statement issued by his 

media aide, Moses Olafare, 

yesterday, disclosed that the 

monarch pledged to dedicate the 

spiritual moment to commune 

with the gods to completely 

eradicate the Coronavirus, 

COVID-19 pandemic from the 

earth, as well as seek peace and 

unity among humanity. 

He explained that Olojo is a 

festival that connotes a strong 

indication of God’s creation and 

the day of the first dawn on earth. 

“I am going into seclusion, I am 

going into fasting and prayers in 

the ways of our ancestors. Like 

you know that we’re gradually 

winning the war against 

coronavirus and we must indeed 

be thankful because we are not 

superior to those countries being 

crippled by this pandemic. 

“After the 7-day seclusion, there 

follows the other activities one of 

which is the procession of the 

sacred Aare crown with which we 

will pray for the entire nation and 

humanity. 

“Every move of the Aare 

procession is highly significant, 

including the some strategic 

junctions of spiritual and 

historical significance like ITA 

ORANFE and ITA AGBANSALA 

and OKEMOGUN where I 

would make supplications and 

prayers to our ancestors. 

adding that the purported 

letter was a figment of the 

imagination of the state 

chapter of APC. 

The party leaders who 

had been critical of the 

composition of the party 

executives in the state noted 

that the decision of the Ekiti 

state APC to commence 

disciplinary measures 

against them and 

subsequent invitation is a 

clear violation of their 

fundamental human rights 

to seek redress in court 

when aggrieved with any 

process. 

Others are: Engr. Ayo 

Ajibade, Femi Adeleye, 

Nigeria @ 60: Alapomu chairs panel 

on Osun essay competition 

O Alapomu 

SOGBO—THE 

of 

Apomuland, Oba Kayode 

Adenekan Afolabi, Atoyebi 

II, has been nominated to 

chair the panel of judges 

that will determine the 

winners for the essay 

competition, organized by 

Osun State government, as 

part of activities marking 

the 60th independence 

anniversary of Nigeria. 

Oba Afolabi is expected 

to lead other distinguished 

Nigerians like: Dr. Lasisi 

Olagunju, an Editor with 

By James 

Ogunnaike 

L Association AGOS—THE 

of Retired 

Career Ambassadors of 

Nigeria, ARCAN, has lined 

up a two-week long, fivelecture 

series to 

commemorate the 60th 

Independence 

Anniversary of Nigeria. 

The lecture series 

scheduled to commence 

from Tuesday, September 

22, 2020 through to 

Tuesday, October 6, 2020 is 

themed “Nigeria @ 60- 

The Journey So Far.” 

Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, 

Bunmi Ogunleye, Akin 

Akomolafe, Bamigboye 

Adegoroye, Olusoga 

Owoeye, Dele Afolabi, 

Toyin Oluwasola, and Ben 

Oguntuase. 

Aside filling a suit at the 

Federal High Court in 

Abuja challenging the 

constitution of the Paul 

Omotosho-led State 

Working Committee, the 

affected members had 

under the auspices of APC 

Stakeholders Forum 

criticized the administration 

of Dr. Kayode Fayemi in the 

state of non-performance and 

victimisation of party leaders. 

The party had, last week, citing 

Nigerian Tribune, Dr. Mrs. 

Temitope Akintunde and 

Dr. Folorunso Oladapo, 

both educationists with the 

former being the Head of 

Department of Economics 

in Osun State University 

and the latter who is the 

Director of General 

Education Studies at the 

Adeleke University Ede 

respectively. 

Bayo Adeyinka who is an 

author, public speaker and 

seasoned banker is also on 

the panel. 

The topic of the essay, 

former Deputy Governor of 

Central Bank of Nigeria, 

CBN, and a presidential 

candidate in the 2019 election 

is expected to kick off the 

lecture series on Tuesday and 

will speak on the topic: 

“Nationhood, Development 

and Democracy in Nigeria.” 

Other speakers include: 

Bishop Matthew Hassan 

Kukah who will on Thursday, 

September 24, speak on the 

topic: “60 years of Nigeria’s 

Journey to Democracy: 

Hopes and Impediments.” 

While Dr. Vanessa Iwowo, 

an award-winning 

management will on 

Monday 28 September, 

VISIT—Executive 

Director, The 

Pacesetters, 

Jonathan Obatola 

(left), presenting 

an overview of the 

'Vote Not Fight' 

campaign flier to 

the Publisher, 

Triangle Magazine, 

Otunba Femi 

Salako, during 

his visit to the 

magazine's offices 

in Akure, Ondo 

State. 

directives from national 

headquarters set up a 10-man 

disciplinary committee against 

the party leaders over their failure 

to withdraw the suit instituted at 

the Federal High Court against 

the State Working Committee, 

describing their actions as antiparty 

activities and clear violation 

of the directives of the National 

Executive Committee, NEC. 

But in a letter addressed to the 

chairman of the disciplinary 

committee by their counsel, Chief 

Ademuyiwa Adeniyi, the 

aggrieved leaders explained that 

they would not be attending the 

committee’s invitation,”as it is 

sub-judice in law with 

consequences.” 

which is for Osun State 

indigenes in tertiary 

institutions across Nigeria 

is: 'Moving Ahead Post 

Coronavirus Pandemic: 

Impacts and Prospects on 

the Economy'. 

Participants are to 

submit in Microsoft 

f o r m a t 

to osunessay2020@gmail.com not 

later than September 25. 

The essay competition 

aims at developing and 

promoting creative writing 

amongst the students. 

Moghalu, Kukah to grace retired 

Ambassadors Independence Lectures 

speak on the topic: 

“Nigeria@60: Leadership, 

Democracy and the Politics of 

Identity.” 

A political activist and 

scholar, Dr. Usman Bugaje, 

will on Tuesday, September 

29, speak on the topic: “60 

years of Nation-Building: The 

Management of Our Diversity, 

Resources and Nation-Building.” 

According to the host, 

Ambassador Joe Keshi, “The 

series will review the state of our 

nation in the last 60 years and 

how the lofty dreams of our 

founding fathers of building a just 

and equitable nation where no 

man is oppressed can be truly 

attained."


:Vanguard :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnewsNEWS HOTLINES: 

BIRTHDAY—APC 

National Leader, 

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu 

(left), celebrating 

his wife, Senator 

Oluremi Tinubu, 

during the occasion 

of her 60th birthday 

anniversary, at their 

B o u r d i l l o n 

residence, in Ikoyi, 

Lagos, yesterday. 

My wish for Remi at 60 —Tinubu 

By Olasunkanmi Akoni 

LAGOS—ALL Progressives 

Congress, APC, National 

Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has 

praised his wife, Senator Oluremi 

Tinubu, who clocked 60 

yesterday for her perseverance, 

endurance and independent 

character, attributes exhibited 

particularly during the struggle 

against military dictatorship. 

Speaking with journalists at his 

Bourdillon, Lagos residence, the 

former Lagos governor, described 

Senator Tinubu, representing 

Lagos Central Senatorial District, 

as her greatest friend, ally and 

supporter even at most difficult 

times. 

He said: “We are a living 

symbol of love, care, perseverance 

and commitment. There are so 

many moments, many twists and 

turns in our lives. 

“You know, during the dark 

days when democracy was 

assaulted in this country, we 

suffered a lot, the family suffered. 

As a result of that, she was in 

America while I was crisscrossing 

Europe. 

“She was raising our children 

all by herself. It was a very trying 

period for every one of us. And 

then, we endured and got 

through all the turbulence and 

today we are still in positions to 

serve our nation, to serve our 

people. 

“You can go around the entire 

Lagos and particularly, the Lagos 

Central Senatorial District. There 

are so many that appreciated her 

commitment, her humanitarian 

care for both young, the elderly 

and the needy.” 

Thanking God for her life on the 

occasion, he said: “I am very 

happy for her on the attainment 

of 60. We give thanks to God 

Almighty that has spared our lives 

and preserved our love together. 

“Today, some people are still 

lying critically ill in the hospital. 

Some children have become 

orphans as a result of what is 

happening around the country. 

So it’s a sombre celebration on the 

occasion of her 60th. 

For, Nigeria, turning 60 is also 

a moment for reflection about all 

that we have been through and 

where we are”. 

On his wish for his wife, Tinubu 

said: “My wish is for her to live 

longer, for her legacy to be great, 

be in good health and continue 

to enjoy the fruit of her labour, 

enjoy her children and 

grandchildren, all of them in good health. 

And me too in good health.” 

Resumption: Parents tackle school owners over 

demand for third term fees 

• LASU mgt assures of safety measures, as final year students resume 

By Adesina Wahab 

LAGOS—PRIVATE primary 

and secondary schools in 

Lagos resumed on Monday, with 

parents tackling proprietors over 

demand for the payment of third 

term fees for 2019/20 session, 

UK appoints Nigeria’s Damilola 

Ogunbiyi co-chair of COP26 Conference 

UK—THE United Kingdom 

has appointed Nigeria’s 

Damilola Ogunbiyi as a co-chair 

of the United Nations Climate 

Change Conference’s, COP26, 

Energy Transition Council as it 

commences Climate Week 2020. 

The UK CoP President, Alok 

Sharma, will chair the council 

alongside Ogunbiyi, the UN 

Secretary-General’s Special 

• Ogunbiyi 

while the schools resumed for the 

first term of 2020/21 session. 

Investigation by Vanguard 

showed that the development 

could lead to some private schools 

losing pupils and students, as 

parents and guardians may 

withdraw their wards from such 

Representative for Sustainable 

Energy for All. 

Before her appointment by the 

UN Secretary-General, António 

Guterres, in October 2019, 

Ogunbiyi held various leadership 

positions in organizations 

focused on expanding energy 

access in sub-Saharan Africa. 

In June 2020, the United States 

International Development 

Finance Corporation Board of 

Directors named her among the 

first members of the agency’s 

inaugural Development Advisory 

Council. 

According to Ogunbiyi,”We 

cannot achieve the promise of the 

Paris Agreement or Sustainable 

Development Goal 7 - access to 

affordable, reliable, sustainable 

and modern energy for all, 

without a clean energy transition 

that leaves no one behind. Today, 

just under 800 million people 

globally lack access to electricity and we 

must close these gaps with renewable, 

efficient and affordable solutions.” 

schools. 

The trouble arose because not 

all pupils and students were able 

to take part in the online teaching 

organised by some schools when 

the schools were locked down due 

to the outbreak of Coronavirus 

pandemic in the country. 

Similarly, not all the affected 

schools also conducted online 

teaching during the lockdown 

period, but are demanding 

payment claiming they would try 

and bridge the third term gap in 

the new term. 

While some school owners 

insisted that pupils and students 

should pay third term fees in full, 

others found a middle course by 

giving some discount. 

Meanwhile, final year students 

of the Lagos State University, 

LASU, Ojo and some selected 

members of staff resumed on 

Monday after months of closure 

necessitated by the outbreak of 

Coronavirus disease in the 

country. 

This happened as the 

management of the institution 

gave the assurance that 

adequately health and safety 

measures have been put in place 

for staff and students. 

Right from the gates, returning 

members of the university community 

were encouraged by the security teams 

on ground to use their nose masks and 

wash their hands at designated hand 

washing points. 

...By fire, by force! 

...And will you ever be serious!? 

Who go tire first?

C 

M 

Y 

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12—Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 

:Vanguard News 

:@vanguardnews 

:@vanguardnews 

NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058 

NEW YAM 

FESTIVAL: From 

left, Shedrack Rapu, 

member 

representing 

Oshimili-South, 

Delta State House of 

Assembly; Ochor 

Ochor, Deputy 

Speaker, Delta State 

House of Assembly; 

HRM Obi Prof. 

Chile Edozien, 

Asagba of Asaba, 

and Her Royal 

Majesty, Modupe 

Edozien, wife of 

Asagba of Asaba, 

during the 

celebration of 

Asagba new yam 

festival in Asaba. 

Photo: Onojake 

Nathaniel. 

Oginibo crisis deepens as Desi 

rejects Gbagi’s conducted election 

•Insists Oginibu community doesn’t exist 

By Festus Ahon 

ASABA—Leader 

of 

Oginibo community in 

Ughelli South Local 

Government Area, Delta 

State, Chief Andrew Desi, 

has described the election 

allegedly conducted by 

Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi 

wherein one Mr Joel 

Ejukolemu was reportedly 

elected as President-General 

of Oginibu as a sham, 

insisting that Oginibu 

community does not exist. 

Desi in a statement, 

yesterday, insisted that 

Oginibu is not the name of 

their community, alleging 

that Oginibu was the creation 

of Gbagi. 

Noting that the name of the 

community remains 

Oginibo, he said they owe it 

a duty to conduct an election 

to elect a unified executive for 

Oginibo community after 

providing an enabling 

environment in the 

community. 

He said: “According to 

media report of September 

15, 2020, Gbagi spoke on the 

outcome of Oginibu election 

and added that ‘Uzor 

commends peaceful 

conduct’. 

“Gbagi did not mention that 

he conducted the election”, 

saying that “Uzor’s panel 

had already ruled that there 

is no Oginibu until Gbagi 

follows due process. 

“Archbishop Avwomakpa, 

Chairman of Oginibo 

Electoral Committee, OEC, 

whose duty it was to conduct 

the election for Oginibo 

community was absent. 

Bishop Onakovwen, the Vice 

Chairman was absent and 

Tareri Avwomakpa, the 

Secretary was also absent. 

“Gbagi conducted the 

election and they elected 

Oginibu exco. Since the 

Chairman, Vice Chairman 

and Secretary of Oginibo 

Electoral Committee did not 

participate in the sham 

election, the exco so elected 

cannot and will not function 

in Oginibo community 

because government has 

already ruled that Oginibu 

does not exist. 

Genesis of crisis 

“Let me speak on the 

background to this sad 

behaviour of Gbagi. On 

August 19, 2019, concerned 

sons and daughters of 

Oginibo published a fullpage 

rejoinder in the media 

to counter Gbagi’s claim that 

the name of our community, 

Oginibo, has been changed 

to Oginibu. Since then, 

Oginibo has known no 

peace. 

“At the peak of the Oginibo/ 

Oginibu crisis, the governor 

of Delta State set up a panel 

under the chairmanship of 

his Special Adviser on Peace 

Building and Conflict 

Resolution, Chief Edwin 

Uzor, to mediate in the matter 

and restore lasting peace to 

Oginibo. 

“After extensive 

consultations and painstaking 

investigations, the 

panel issued resolutions 

dated February 25, 2020, 

which reflected the position 

of government on the matter, 

covering nine major issues 

and appointed Oginibo 

Electoral Committee, OEC, 

under the chairmanship of 

Bishop Avwomakpa and 

Bishop Onakovwen as vice 

chairman. 

“The two contending 

factions in the community, 

Oginibo led by me, Chief 

Andrew Desi and Oginibu, 

led by Gbagi, nominated five 

members each to the 

committee. This committee 

was expected to implement 

its terms of reference to 

reconcile the contending 

factions in the community 

before holding the election to 

elect a new unified exco for 

the Oginibo community." 

Bayelsa to adopt bottom-top 

budgeting process for 2021—Diri 

By Emem Idio 

YENAGOA— Governor 

Douye Diri of Bayelsa 

State has expressed the 

resolve of his administration 

to embrace the bottom-top 

budgetting process in the 

preparation of the 2021 state 

budget. 

The governor, who decried 

that the top-bottom budgeting 

approach used over the years, 

noted that it has only resulted 

in proliferation of misplaced 

projects, misallocation of 

projects and sometimes non 

untilisation and duplication 

of projects, explaining that 

the bottom-top budgetting 

process will help eliminate 

all that. 

Diri, yesterday, in Yenagoa 

during a one-day 

stakeholders interactive 

session for the preparation of 

the 2021 state budget, 

stressed the importance of 

citizens participation in the 

budgetting processes, 

pointing out that the meeting 

was in line with the Fiscal 

Responsibility Law 2009 (as 

amended). 

Represented by his deputy, 

Senator Lawrence 

Ewhrudjakpo, the governor 

highlighted education, 

health and agriculture as the 

core priority areas of the state 

next year’s budget. 

He said: “What we are 

doing today is in line with the 

Fiscal Responsibility Law 

2009 (as amended), which 

states that government shall 

direct citizens participation 

conference to be convened 

and caused the action of the 

said conference together with 

the views so expressed to be 

published. 

“We are here not only to 

fulfill a necessary obligation 

of the prosperity government 

but also to fulfill a modern 

provision because over the 

years, we have always done 

the top-bottom budgeting and 

not the bottom-top budgeting 

which has always made us to 

misplace projects, mis-allocate 

projects and also to some 

extent undertake projects that 

are not utilised. There is also 

duplication of projects, 

therefore, this budget process 

will help us eliminate all that. 

We are here to plan so that 

we don’t fail." 

Efe Ekure elected P-G, Africa 

Youths Community Int'l 

By Gab Ejuwa 

NIGERIA’S Efeoghene 

Ekure has been 

elected President-General 

of Africa Youths 

Community, AYCi, 

International worldwide for 

a term of four years. 

AYCi is a global 

community of youths of 

African descent with an 

estimated membership 

strength of over 700,000 

young Africans and with 

chapters spread across 111 

countries of the world, the 

54 African countries 

inclusive. 

Driven by a clear cut 

vision to promote the 

fortunes of the African youth 

and the advancement of 

Africa as a continent, the 

policy thrust of the group 

is anchored on the 

realisation of certain set 

goals strategically 

earmarked to be achieved 

by the year 2030. 

Ekure, the Delta-born 

youth leader, emerged third 

AYCi President at the just 

concluded general 

elections of the community 

held in Addis Ababa, 

Ethiopia. 

With this achievement, 

Ekure has become the first 

Nigerian to be elected to the 

presidency of the 

continental youth body. 

Ekure, a good 

governance advocate and 

author of several books on 

leadership is the convener 

of The Social Patriotic 

Youths Initiative, a civil 

society group committed to 

youths' development, good 

governance and youth 

inclusiveness in 

administration and policy 

formulation processes 

across Africa. 

Ayade begins arrest of illegal 

tax collectors in Calabar 

By Ike 

Uchechukwu 

CALABAR — 

GOVERNOR Ben 

Ayade of Cross River State, 

yesterday, fulfilled his 

promise by arresting illegal 

tax collectors in Calabar, the 

state capital. 

The enforcement exercise, 

which began yesterday, by 

Cross River Anti Tax Agency 

led by its Chairman, Bishop 

Emma Isong, in collaboration 

with office of the state Security 

Adviser and Anti-Cult and 

Kidnapping Squad moved 

round Calabar metropolis 

arresting illegal tax collectors 

as well as ticket sellers. 

Vanguard learned that 

about 12 offenders arrested 

would be prosecuted 

immediately through the 

special courts created for that 

purpose. 

So far, 12 persons were 

apprehended yesterday, 

with various illegal tickets for 

the purpose of extorting 

unsuspecting taxi drivers, 

keke riders among others. 

Speaking shortly after the 

exercise, yesterday, 

Chairman of the anti-tax 

Opudu hails Okowa for leading S- 

South govs to clinch zone for PDP 

By Onozure Dania 

CHAIRMAN, 

Delta 

Waterways/Land 

Security Committee in Delta 

State, Chief Boro Opudu, 

has hailed the South-South 

governors, especially 

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of 

the state for leading a team 

and finally clinching the 

zone once more for Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP. 

Opudu, who spoke in Warri 

immediately after the 

announcement of Governor 

Godwin Obaseki of Edo State 

as winner of the September 

19, 2020, governorship 

election, described the team 

work of the governors as a 

agency, Isong, said the 

enforcement of Governor 

Ayade’s Anti Tax Law has 

taken effect. 

He said: “As you can see, 

we are on the streets this 

early morning to arrest those 

still flouting the government’s 

order on illegal tolls and they 

will be charged to court 

immediately . 

“Those arrested will not 

escape the arm of the law and 

are going to be immediately 

prosecuted at the special 

court as provided for in 2015 

and set up for this purpose. 

“We only enjoin Cross 

Riverians to go about their 

lawful businesses and report 

to the agency anybody found 

in the sales of tickets, 

collection of taxes from keke, 

taxi and low income earners,” 

he said. 

On his part, Security 

Adviser to the governor, Mr 

Ani Esin, said based on the 

order of the governor, they 

decided to comb the streets 

of Calabar as well as the 

metropolis to effect arrest of 

those engaged in illegal sales 

of tickets, collection of tolls 

and taxes from the poor 

citizens. 

World Peace Day: Benikrukru 

urges oil firm to promote peace, 

redress marginalisation 

By Jimitota 

Onoyume 

WARRI— 

Oil-rich 

Benikrukru 

community, Gbaramatu 

Kingdom in Warri South- 

West Local Government Area, 

Delta State has enjoined 

Chevron Nigeria Limited to 

promote peace in the area 

by redressing issue of 

marginalisation of the 

community by the oil firm. 

The community in a letter 

to Managing Director of the 

oil company by the Chairman, 

Boan Eric, and Secretary, 

Kingsley Ukuli, alleged 

marginalisation of the 

community by the company, 

saying the oil giant should 

not tamper with the Abiteye 

field security house boat, 

which is a source of income 

to the community. 


community had last week 

protested to the Abiteue flow 

station of the firm in their 

community with placards 

bearing various inscriptions 

denouncing the alleged 

marginalization. 

Ukuli read the letter, which 

was later handed over to 

representatives of the firm by 

the Chairman, Boan Eric. 

The community in the letter 

lamented the alleged long 

years of neglect by the 

company on matters of 

development, 

empowerment, employment 

and so on. 

Mr Francis Obodo who 

received the letter during the 

protest for the company said, 

it would be sent to the 

appropriate quarter, 

commending the protesters 

for their peaceful conduct. 

tsunami that swept through 

Edo State for victory. 

He thanked Okowa for 

strengthening the historical, 

cultural bond and affinity 

between Edo and Delta 

people, adding that it would 

boost commerce, trade and 

enhance security of the two 

states. 

He called on major 

stakeholders in the just 

concluded Edo governorship 

election, especially All 

Progressives Congress, APC. 

candidate, Pastor Osagie 

Ize-Iyamu, to display the 

spirit of sportsmanship and 

avoid unnecessary litigation 

that stagnates progress of 

states.

C 

M 

Y 

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VISIT: From left—Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, President-General 

of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo and the Obi of Onitsha, HRM, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, when the 

Igbo leaders paid a courtesy visit to the governor at Government House, Enugu, yesterday. 

IPOB warns against abduction, killing 

of members by security agents 

By Chimaobi 

Nwaiwu 

NNOUS NEWI—INDIGE 

People of Biafra, 

IPOB, yesterday, condemned 

in strong terms, 

the alleged harassment, abduction, 

torture and secret 

killing of its members or 

anybody suspected to be its 

member, throughout Igbo 

land. 

The pro Biafra group alleged 

that the deliberate 

ethnic cleansing has continued 

unabated despite its 

repeated alarms. 

In a statement by its Media 

and Publicity Secretary, 

Emma Powerful, IPOB alleged 

that for no justifiable 

reason, the Nigerian security 

operatives on September 

18, 2020, murdered 

one, Mazi Onyeka Udechukwu, 

a vigilante operative 

in Enugu State. 

It equally alleged that the 

men, whom it described as 

terrorists in security uniform 

also shot and shattered 

their victim, Udechukwu's 

father's private part with 

bullets at Ogui Road, Enugu. 

It said that the man 

whom they shattered his 

private part with bullets is 

currently receiving medical 

treatment at an undisclosed 

hospital. 

IPOB's statement read, 

"We the global family of 

IPOB, ably led by our great 

leader, Mazi Nnamdi 

Kanu, condemn in very 

strong terms, the constant 

harassment, abduction, torture, 

and secret killing of 

Biafrans or anybody suspected 

to be IPOB member 

throughout Biafraland. 

"This deliberate ethnic 

cleansing has continued 

unabated despite our repeated 

alarms. For no just 

cause, the Nigerian security 

operatives on September 

18, 2020, murdered 

Mazi Udechukwu, a vigilante 

operative in Enugu 

State. 

"These terrorists in security 

uniform also shot and 

shattered Udechukwu's father's 

private part with bullets 

at Ogui Road, Enugu. 

The victim's badly wounded 

father is currently receiving 

intensive medical 

treatment in a hospital. 

"It is still a surprise that 

the Nigeria security agents 

suddenly became a willing 

tool in the hands of the Fulani-led 

Federal Government 

for the elimination of 

Judo -Christians and Biafrans. 

"There is no gain saying 

the fact that the failure of 

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, 

to set up a panel of inquiry 

to investigate the recent 

unprovoked attack 

and barbaric killing of unarmed 

IPOB members at 

Emene, has only emboldened 

the perpetrators of this 

atrocity and criminality. 

"We are equally aware of 

the ongoing abductions at 

Omuma Road, Aba, Abia 

State, and Obigbo in Igweocha, 

Rivers State being 

perpetrated by those terrorists 

in Nigerian security 

uniform. 

"More than two people 

Leadership tussle: S'East APGA visits Njoku 

By Chinonso 

Alozie 

OWERRI—A cross sec 

tion of leaders of the 

All Progressive Grand Alliance, 

APGA, South East 

zone, have said that Edozie 

Njoku, remain their National 

Chairman of APGA. 

They spoke after they attended 

a burial ceremony 

of the mother of one of the 

chieftains of the party, Okey 

Emereonye, at Umuaghara 

Obibi Nguru, Aboh 

Mbaise Local Government 

Area of Imo State, weekend. 

They said that their reason 

for recognising Njoku 

as APGA, national chairman 

followed lawful decisions 

and rulings of the law 

courts, adding that it was 

for the court rulings that 

they sought for an order of 

mandamus at an FCT High 

court, Abuja, to compel the 

Independent National 

Electoral Commission, 

Edo State University, Iyamho resumes Nov 16 

B 

ENIN CITY—FOL 

LOWING the conclusion 

of 2019/2020 academic 

session online, Edo State 

University, Iyamho, has 

said that it would resume a 

new session on November 

16, 2020. 

The institution will also 

hold its post UTME screening 

exercise on September 

24, 2020, to admit students 

for the 2020/2021 academic 

session. 

According to the Vice 

Chancellor of the universi- 

ty, Prof Emmanuel Aluyor, 

the completion of the 2019/ 

2020 academic session, was 

in line with university's calendar. 

He said it was hinged on 

the acquisition and utilization 

of the Canvas - Learning 

Management System 

despite the Covid-19 pandemic 

Edo University Iyamho is 

among the very few universities 

in the world where 

academic activities did not 

shut down due to the Coronavirus. 


university was commended 

by stakeholders in the 

education sector for the use 

of Canvas Leaning Management 

System. 

According to the Registrar 

of the university, Dr Isoken 

Ogboro, the school was 

ready to resume academic 

activities. She added that if 

the pandemic continues, 

the institution would continue 

its academic activities 

on CANVAS LMS. 

have already been murdered. 

IPOB is monitoring 

all these atrocities, and 

those behind them must be 

prepared to face the consequences 

when the time 

comes. 

"The latest victims of this 

criminality include Mazi 

Chukwudi Idika and 10 others, 

who committed no 

crime known to mankind. 

The Fulani dominated security 

officers in Abia State, 

also tortured an innocent 

woman and took her into 

custody without any provocation. 

"We are constrained to 

warn that Nigerian security 

agencies must stop using 

high handedness on 

the peaceful members of 

IPOB, and innocent citizens 

of Biafra from now, otherwise, 

they will regret their 

actions soon. Enough is 

enough." 

INEC, to recognise Edozie 

as National chairman of the 

party. 

APGA's South East National 

Vice President, Uche 

Ezekwelu, said: "I believe 

in the rule of law and respect 

for the decision of the 

law court and if you fail to 

obey the decision of the law 

court, you will not obey the 

law of the federation and 

that is why we are here to 

also pay a visit to our chairman, 

who has been recognised 

by law." 

Adding his voice, the 

Chief host, the Imo State 

chairman of APGA, Paul 

Abala, who chronicled the 

legal tussle between Victor 

Oye and Edozie Njoku, 

said: "Just as Edozie Njoku, 

was about to assume office 

as the National chairman of 

the party, following the congress 

held in Owerri, Victor 

Oye, rushed to FCT high 

court to stop Edozie Njoku 

from carrying out his function 

as National chairman 

and Edozie ordered his 

deputy, Mike Adams to 

continue to act." 

57% Nigerian children under 

5 years do not have birth 

certificates —NPC 

By Vincent 

Ujumadu 

AWKA—THE United Na 

tions Children's Fund, 

UNICEF, observed, yesterday, 

in Awka, Anambra State that 

about 57 percent of Nigerian 

children under five years of 

age do not have birth certificates. 

Speaking during the training 

of 75 health workers from 

selected health facilities in the 

21 local government areas of 

Anambra State, the child protection 

specialist in charge of 

UNICEF Zone A Field office, 

Enugu, Mr Victor Atuchukwu 

said, it was the right of every 

child to have a birth certificate, 

regretting that many 

parents do not consider it important. 

He urged the health workers 

to ensure that all babies 

born in their areas of coverage 

were registered at birth 

as that would assist in social 

and economic planning in the 

country. 

Although he identified lack 

of adequate manpower as 

contributing to the problem, 

Atuchulwu observed that 

without birth certificate, time 

would come when the child 

would have the need to present 

a birth certificate only to discovered 

that he or she has no 

official record of full names, 

place of birth and other vital 

information. 

He said that at such a time, 

their access to basic needs 

would be under threat, regretting 

that most of the councils 

in the state record below average 

in birth registration. 

Director of NPC in Anambra 

State, Mr Joachim Ulasi, 

who admitted that the Commission 

does not have enough 

man power for birth registration, 

said that the state had 

only148 registration centres 

in the 181 communities for 

over 4000 health facilities in 

the state. 

He said: "We just have 148 

registration centres, comprising 

21 controllers, who are 

deputy chief registrars for the 

21 councils. If they are removed 

from the 148, we are 

left with 127, which are located 

in health facilities throughout 

Anambra State. This 

number is not enough. We 

have 181 autonomous communities 

and we need at least 

one centre in each community 

while the large communities 

should have two or more.‘‘ 

Igbo Leaders applaud Ugwuanyi’s 

accomplishments on peace, good 

governance 

ENUGU—IGBO leaders 

have commended Governor 

Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu 

State, for his accomplishments 

in the areas of peace, 

good governance and the recent 

state’s economic rating. 

Speaking when the leaders 

visited Ugwuanyi at the Government 

House, Enugu, President-General 

of Ohanaeze 

Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, 

applauded the governor for 

the recent rating of Enugu as 

one of the six economically viable 

states in Nigeria that can 

survive without federal allocations. 

Nwodo, who was accompanied 

by the Obi of Onitsha, His 

Royal Majesty, Igwe Alfred 

Achebe and Chief Emmanuel 

Iwuanyanwu, added that 

Enugu was the only state in 

the South East geopolitical 

zone to accomplish such an 

outstanding feat. 

He disclosed that they were 

at the Government House, 

Enugu on a routine consultation 

on matters of Igbo concern. 

He revealed that they appraised 

the developmental issues 

in Igbo land and took 

brief on Governor Ugwuanyi’s 

budget priorities in the areas 

of digital education, health, 

infrastructure, security, 

among others “and we are 

pleased with what he told us.” 

Your large heart 'll stand you out 

for recognition, Buhari tells 

Okorocha 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

AMuhammadu BUJA—PRESIDENT 

Buhari 

has felicitated with the former 

governor of Imo State, Senator 

Rochas Okorocha as he 

turns 58, saying that his (Okorocha) 

large heart and detribalized 

outlook on the country 

will continue to stand him out 

for recognition. 

According to a statement by 

the Senior Special Assistant 

to the President on Media and 

Publicity Mallam Garba 

Shehu, in Abuja, the President 

noted that Okorocha has been 

using the Rochas foundation 

to reach out to the poor and 

downtrodden in the society. 

Buhari in his message of felicitation 

said he joined friends 

and family to celebrate "the 

consummate entrepreneur 

and philanthropist, whose 

kindness cuts across the nation." 

The statement said, "President 

Buhari shares the moment 

of joy with political associates 

of Owelle Okorocha, 

whose antecedents as Chairman 

of the Progressive Governors 

Forum, President, Nigeria 

Red Cross Society, President/Founder, 

Rochas Foundation 

Inc, President, Rochas 

Group of Companies Limited, 

Pro-Chancellor, African 

Business School and former 

Chairman, Board of Nigerian 

Airspace Management 

Agency continues to resonate, 

especially among young leaders. 

"The President believes 

Okorocha’s large heart and 

detribalized outlook on the 

country will continue to stand 

him out for recognition and 

appreciation, using his foundation 

to reach out to the poor 

and downtrodden in the society, 

building schools and 

health facilities, and providing 

scholarship for many. 

"As the Senator turns 58, the 

President affirms that his dedication 

to the development of 

the country, and unwavering 

commitment to the welfare of 

the citizenry deserves commendation."

C 

M 

Y 

K 



Kidnap of 40 farmers, serious 

threat to nation’s food security 

— AFAN 

By Gabriel Ewepu 

A 

B U J A — 

FOLLOWING 

weekend kidnap of 40 farmers in 

Zamfara State, President of All 

Farmers Association of Nigeria, 

AFAN, Kabir Ibrahim, yesterday, 

called on the government to 

bulldoze the forest bandits use 

as hideout. 

Kabir in a statement, lamented 

the unfortunate abduction of 40 

farmers from Gobirawan Cali 

community in Maru Local 

Government Area of Zamfara 

State, saying the incident sent 

wrong signal to farmers across the 

country. 

According to him, “The 40 

farmers recently abducted in 

Zamfara State by gun trotting 

bandits scares the living day 

lights out me and all farmers in 

Nigeria. Again, farmers are being 

kidnapped from my village, 

Faskari, Katsina State and some 

neighboring villages in Zamfara 

State largely because of the 

continued hiding places offered 

to the bandits by thickset forest 

that we are reluctant to bulldoze. 

“It is very sad that banditry and 

kidnapping are becoming a 

cankerworm in the food basket of 

the North West of Nigeria with 

the farmers bearing the brunt. 

The incessant kidnappings and 

general insecurity in the North 

West and other parts of the 

country portend a serious threat 

to our food system. If this matter 

exacerbates, the collapse of 

governance will rear its head and 

the country will pay a very high 

price for it. 

“Issues of climate change and 

other considerations constitute 

impediment to this thesis but a 

mitigation of the resultant effects 

of this action are also 

implementable. The obvious 

advantage of this defoliation or 

sectoral removal of these forests 

is the expansion of our cultivable 

land and even irrigable land. The 

issue of peace and security will 

be assured once these forests give 

way. The Cerrad in Brazil is a 

clear example of replacing 

wild forests with deliberate 

agricultural production and 

guaranteed food security.' 

“While we appreciate the effort 

of the government in ensuring 

security in some of these areas 

that have become epicenters of 

banditry and general insecurity 

there is still the need to revisit 

some of the advice that we have 

given in the various fora that we 

have been privileged to 

participate in.'' 

NICE expresses gratitude to FG 

over inspection of 3rd Mainland 

Bridge 

By Etop Ekanem 

E 

X E C U T I V E 

members of Lagos 

State chapter of Nigerian 

Institution of Civil Engineers, 

NICE, led by the its 

Chairman, Omolola Adetona, 

and Vice, Emeka Ibeh have 

expressed their gratitude to 

the Federal Ministry of Works 

and Housing for enabling the 

institution to do an on-thespot 

assessment of the ongoing 

repair works at the 

Third Mainland Bridge. 

NICE especially the Federal 

Controller of Works for Lagos 

State, Olukayode Popoola 

and Engr. Forosola Oloyede, 

who is the Project Supervisor. 

Speaking on the visit, 

Adetona said it was an 

opportunity for them to learn 

from the on-going repair work, 

adding that many of them 

were very young when the 

bridge was being constructed 

30 years ago. 

Adetona stated that even 

the students, who were part 

of the visit, had first hand 

interaction with the contactor 

about the bridge and that it 

was an opportunity for them 

to learn and ask questions 

and also familiarise with 

activities of bridge repairs. 

Speaking further, Adetona 

and her team expressed 

satisfaction with the level of 

work done on the bridge so 

far and thanked the Federal 

Government, especially, the 

Minister of Works and 

Housing, Mr. Babatunde 

Fashola for responding 

promptly to the yearnings of 

the people on the need to 

repair the bridge. 


AWARD: Security expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu (3rd left) with security chiefs who were conferred with Security 

Excellence Award by the School of Management and Security, Lagos. From left: Brig. Gen. Oladapo Olayiwola, 

DCP Muhammed Ali Ari, Class Governor, Matthew Ibadin, DCP Musa Garba and Timothy Oparah. 

Schools: FG to sanction violators of safe 

reopening guidelines — MINISTER 

By Bashir Bello 

K ANO—MINISTER 

of State for Education, 

Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, 

yesterday said the Federal 

Government had put in place 

mechanism to sanction erring 

violators of safe school reopening 

guidelines. 

Nwajiuba disclosed this during 

a one-day stakeholders meeting 

with stakeholders from the 

Northwest zone on the readiness 

for safe re-opening of schools 

organised by United Nations 

Childen’s Fund, UNICEF, with 

support through UNICEF Girls’ 

Education Project Phase 3, GEP 

3, Foreign Commonwealth and 

Development Office, FCDO. 

He said: “Accordingly, the 

Federal Ministry of Education 

developed the safe school 

readiness template for an 

integrated approach to safe school 

re-opening which comes with 

many lessons. The template 

requires the full engagement of 

all stakeholders which is 

considered a sine qua non for 

successful implementation. It is 

in view of the above, that the 

Ministry considers it expedient 

to hold this stakeholders’ meeting 

at this time to plan and address 

the eventual safe re-opening of 

schools and learning facilities, 

nationwide. We all know that 

great accomplishments are made 

based on synergy. 

“It is on this premise that we 

are all here to deliberate and 

adopt the template for safe reopening 

of schools and learning 

facilities. The template has some 

key roles and shared 

responsibilities to be played by 

the stakeholders at National, 

State, LGA and the school levels. 

It is imperative to ask the 

question “What are you doing in 

your state that is different from 

what is in the template. I urge 

you to critique the template 

assiduously for the benefit of 

Nigerian school child.” 

He added, “We have already 

put in place a monitoring and 

evaluation mechanism to check 

erring states or schools.” 

Similarly, Governor Abdullahi 

Ganduje of Kano State, said the 

meeting, among others, was to 

finalize level of readiness of the 

states for the safe re-opening of 

the schools for the well being and 

safety of the school children. 

Represented by the Deputy 

Governor, Nasiru Gawuna, 

Ganduje, said the state had put 

in place measures for safe reopening 

of the schools that 

included continuous disinfection 

of the schools, rehabilitation of 

schools and provision of the 

Personal Protective Equipments, 

PPEs, for both public and private 

schools in the state. 

Earlier, the Chief of UNICEF 

Field Office, Rafid Saleh, pledged 

the body’s support to the Federal 

and state governments to ensure 

schools were safe and ready to 

guarantee a safe, secure and 

MTF holds webinar on Pitching 

Ideas: The Art of Story-Selling” 

IN continuation of its 

virtual learning 

programme, MultiChoice 

Talent Factory will this 

Thursday, September 24, 

host a global webinar on 

“Pitching Ideas: The Art of 

Story-Selling.” The online 

session will be facilitated by 

the Academy Director (West 

Africa), Femi Odugbemi. 

The session offers emerging 

content creators in the film 

and television industry an 

insight into practical ways to 

pitch their story ideas and the 

structure of a strong pitch 

document. 

According to the MTF 

Academy Director, the 

webinar is part of 

MultiChoice’s mission to 

supportive learning environment 

for all children in the face of the 

COVID-19 pandemic. 

Others at the meeting included 

commissioners of Education and 

Health, Chairmen of State 

Universal Basic Education Board 

Directors from Kano, Katsina, 

Kaduna and Jigawa. 

assist emerging creatives in 

the film and TV industry, 

master the art of story-selling. 

“These young creative minds 

would get to understand how 

to shape their loglines, 

synopsis and presenting with 

the right kind of energy to 

spark interest in your project 

ideas” Odugbemi explained. 

The webinar, which is part 

of a series of industry 

presentations to upskill via 

our MTF Portal is also 

designed to help the next 

generation of African 

storytellers’ address 

industry concerns such as 

access to pitching 

opportunities at 

MultiChoice’s Africa Magic 

Channels. 

‘Belief in Nigerian economy 

motive behind new outlet' 

Aquick service restaurant 

(QSR), Kentucky Fried 

Chicken (KFC), has said the 

resilience of the Nigerian 

economy was the motivation 

behind the opening of its 23rd 

outlet in Nigeria. 

The management of the 

restaurant also said it has plans 

to open more branches before the 

end of the year, adding that the 

need to continue to offer 

Nigerians the opportunity to 

savour its menus was another 

factor that propelled the 

expansion. 

Speaking during the opening 

of the new outlet in Ikoyi, Lagos, 

Business Head, Devyani 

International Nigeria Limited, 

Mr. Manish Mehra said: “The 

decision to open the new outlet 

despite the current global 

economic challenges occasioned 

by the COVID-19 pandemic, is 

borne out of the belief of the 

brand in the resilience of the 

Nigerian economy and the need 

to continue to offer Nigerians the 

opportunity to savour KFC's 

world renowned menu with a 

secret recipe of herbs, spices and 

fresh ingredients of only the finest 

quality was responsible for the 

decision. 

"The opening of a new store 

means employment of more 

Nigerians who will work at the 

outlet. It means more business 

opportunities for our local vendors 

and suppliers, as KFC meals and 

product offering are affordable 

and offers great value for money." 

Lead, Sales and Marketing, 

Devyani International Nigeria 

Ltd, Mr. Damilola Owolabi, at the 

launch urged residents of Ikoyi 

and its environs to patronize the 

outlet and enjoy any of its menus, 

adding, "KFC is an international 

brand that is well respected for 

quality and high global standards 

that guarantees healthy meals 

for their customers."

C 

M 

Y 

K 



•CCTV footage of Offa robbery gang members in action. Courtesy ChannelsTV. 

Offa robbery and the aftermath 

THE Offa robbery of 

2018 and the 

irresponsible way 

Nigeria has handled the 

aftermath is one more 

good reason why those 

criticising former 

President Olusegun 

Obasanjo and Nobel 

Laureate Professor Wole 

Soyinka that Nigeria is 

tottering towards state 

failure should shut their 

traps. One of the key 

symptoms of a failed state 

is cutting deals with 

criminals instead of 

punishing them. 

The Offa robbery was a 

bloody one during which 

the criminal gang killed 

17 policemen and some 

civilians. One of the 

ringleaders of the 

operation is connected to 

a person who launched a 

vicious attack against me 

on behalf of his sponsors. 

I knew he wanted to use 

me to ingratiate himself to 

power wielders in the 

country so as to negotiate 

justice for the felons. I 

refused to swallow his 

bait. I just dismissed him. 

There are claims that he 

approached former Lagos 

State Governor, Senator 

Bola Tinubu, to assist 

when I was sick in 1999. 

He was somebody I had 

access to and would have 

reached directly if I was 

comfortable asking people 

for money. It was our 

lovely leader and father, 

Senator Abraham 

Adesanya, who called him 

and asked my wife to go 

and see him. It is not that 

I am an unfeeling and 

uncaring man who was 

taking credit for all I was 

doing even under 

illnesss. 

My wife said, in fairness 

to Tinubu, that he 

abandoned his food and 

lamented: “How can 

FEEDBACK 

Re: Constitutional negotiation we need 

Dear Sir 

THANK you for your 

article on the above 

subject. Thank you too for 

being one of those in the 

forefront calling for positive 

constitutional changes in 

Nigeria. You will recall that 

the 1999 Constitution we 

are operating today was not 

"approved by the people at 

a referendum". 

We have refused to learn 

from our past mistakes and 

those of other nations. 

History is full of the stories 

of the demise of nations that 

refused to listen to the voice 

of reason as it concerned the 

restructuring of such 

nations. 

All those who 

messed up the 

investigations 

into the 

robbery in Offa 

will answer 

questions 

before God 

some day as the 

lives lost were 

precious 

creatures of His 

The refusal of some 

Nigerians, both leaders and 

followers, to take seriously 

the issue of "Constitutional 

negotiation we need" makes 

me think that such persons 

do not believe in Nigeria as 

a country and in the concept 

of true democracy. Nigeria 

will celebrate its 60th year 

of independence on October 

1, 2020. 

One wonders what is 

being celebrated when the 

common man is undergoing 

a litany of woes and the 

rights of some ethnic 

nationalities are not 

respected. 

My people have the 

Yinka be going through 

this without letting me 

know.” He called the 

Heath Commissioner to 

arrange what I needed for 

medical trip. May Pa 

Adesanya rest in peace. 

Prof. Akin Onigbinde tells 

the story of how he 

physically led him and his 

wife to see a doctor when 

his wife was ill. There was 

a colleague of ours; he 

observed his wife was 

waiting for a child; he 

wrote some herbs for him 

to buy from a shop in 

London. The woman 

became pregnant in a 

month. Good old man! I 

saw you in your dirtiest 

with money that I couldn’t 

ask you for a penny even 

as I saw you rolling in 

sudden unearned dough. 

You were like king of Edom 

to me of whom Abraham 

said: “I willl not take a 

hoof, lest he says I made 

Abraham." I recall how 

you were camping two 

daughters of your late 

friend with baits of sacks 

of money. And you 

thought such would 

never have consequence? 

The young man you 

were trying to use me to 

cover his crimes obviously 

following sayings: "The big 

housefly that refuses to listen 

to candid advice usually 

goes into the grave with the 

corpse. The ear that refuses 

to listen to genuine advice 

will be forced to do so when 

the head is cut off." 

I pray that Nigerians, both 

leaders and followers, 

neither become the stubborn 

big housefly nor the ear. We 

should make haste while the 

sun shines. 

We must listen and mend 

our ways before the 

oncoming rain wets us and 

gives us the cold we shall 

never recover from. A stitch 

in time saves nine. 

Tony O. Ekwe. 

had some inheritance from 

a dad who allegedly did 

time in Minna Prison over 

stolen clothes in a 

laundry outfit where he 

worked. A senior 

advocate friend of mine 

sent me the lies you 

concocted a few days back 

which he said was sent to 

him. I did not ask him the 

person as my spirit told 

me immediately who it 

was. And like Apostle Paul 

said: “Alexander, the 

coppersmith who did me 

great harm”, I have to 

come back for you as five 

of the Offa robbers were 

arraigned in court a few 

days ago and your son 

was not among them. 

It was clear the 

Nigerian state had fallen 

for pranks when Offa 

robbery became part of 

the “O to ge” weapons 

against Senator Bukola 

Saraki. Instead of going 

after the criminals, 

spirited efforts were made 

to link the crime to the 

former Senate President 

whom they wanted out at 

all cost. 

Governor Nasir el-Rufai of 

Kaduna State was in Kwara 

State in June 2018 to 

commend the Inspector- 

General of Police, Mr. 

Ibrahim Idris, on the 

manner he had been 

handling the investigation 

of Offa bank robbery, 

saying he was doing an 

excellent job. El-Rufai made 

the commendation in Oro 

town at the annual 

Ramadan lecture 

organised by the Minister 

of Information and Culture, 

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, 

who is a native of the town. 

Recall that the National 

Assembly had just passed 

a vote of no confidence on 

the police boss whose 

actions and inactions they 

considered antithetical to 

democracy; but El-Rufai 

praised the police boss on 

the occasion and thanked 

the Chief Imam of Oro, 

Mikhail Onisan, for 

praying for the nation and 

leaders. 

He said: “I thank the 

Chief Imam for his prayers 

for the country, President 

Buhari, Inspector-General 

of Police, who is doing an 

excellent job, Minister of 

Information and others. 

God wins for Obaseki 

HERE is a big 

congratulation to 

my friend and brother, Mr. 

Godwin Obaseki, on his 

massive re-election as the 

Governor of Edo State for 

another four years. 

On the eve of the election, 

Obaseki stood before his 

God and asked Him to give 

victory to his opponent if he 

would need the blood of 

any citizen to be victorious. 

God answered his prayer 

and won the battle for him 

in a peaceful atmosphere. 

He beat his opponent the 

way pompous opponents 

should be beaten: silly. 

The sweet victory over 

godfathers should spur 

him to be closer to God the 

May God accept his 

prayers. Irrespective of 

what anybody might be 

saying, he (IGP) deserves 

commendation, and 

Almighty Allah will 

continue to guide him." 

The Almighty guided him 

out of office disgracefully as 

he politicised a high crime 

instead of dealing with the 

criminals. All those who 

messed up the 

investigations into the 

robbery in Offa will answer 

questions before God some 

day as the lives lost were 

precious creatures of His. 

The one who lied against 

me to curry favour from men 

would not have such 

privilege before God. This 

blood of the innocent will 

cry for justice loudly. 

Father and work harder for 

the people who have 

spoken loud and clear for 

him. 

His victory should also be 

a time of reflection for small 

men who play god over 

fellow human beings 

because they are drunk 

with power. 

God the Father is the One 

we should all bow to all the 

time and not men who 

misname themselves gods. 

It’s a new season in Edo 

that should send waves to 

the rest of the country. Our 

people should no longer be 

under the bondage of 

criminals taking advantage 

of them mercilessly. 

Enough is enough! 

C 

M 

Y 

K

Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 —17 

Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

Explosion in Beirut: 

Explosives in Lagos 

IT started with one truck 

parked outside the gate of the 

Tin Can Port, Apapa, Lagos 

because the truck park was full. 

The next day, two more trucks 

parked on the road awaiting their 

turn to lift cargo. The park was 

busy and so were the factories for 

wheat, sugar and cement (rebags, 

etc). Before long, and as Nigeria's 

appetite for imports grew, more 

and more trucks parked on all the 

roads leading to the ports on the 

flyovers, under the flyovers from 

Iganmu to Surulere, to Lawanson, 

on the Second Mainland Bridge, 

Eko Bridge creating a truck park 

that has almost strangled port 

activity. The trucks drove most 

residents in Apapa away. 

The cry to clear this horror has 

been shrill and long, but there is 

no respite. Why? Lagos State 

government claims that the 

bridges and roads leading to the 

ports are federal roads and 

therefore they can do nothing 

much about it. A Trumpian lie. 

Then they blame the Nigerian 

Ports Authority for the truck 

gridlock. The NPA may be guilty 

of all sorts of things, but you 

cannot blame them for the pillage 

on Lagos roads. 

Lagos State Government 

benefits substantially from the 

ports even if it does not own equity 

in it (we have always argued that 

Lagos State is entitled to equity in 

the airports and Lagos ports.) 

Are there factories inside the 

ports in Lagos? What kind of 

factories? If so, is it not time to 

decommission these factories and 

move them elsewhere. Lagos is the 

main port of Nigeria, bringing in 

fertilisers (ammonium nitrate) and 

storing them and other 

inflammable imports at the ports, 

including petroleum products and 

tank farms. The explosion in 

Lebanon was caused by the blow 

up of ammonium nitrate 

(fertiliser) at the ports. 

Ideally several truck parks 

should be built outside 

Lagos(Mombasa, Eritrea, Angola, 

etc., have new state-of-the-art port 

facilities) and trucks should only 

be on the road to go to the ports, 

pick up cargo quickly and leave. 

The NPA has to be ready to release 

cargo, as it has promised ad 

infinitum, within 24hours of cargo 

landing in the ports. Accelerated 

clearing of goods must be a 

priority for all engaged in this 

business. 

Is Lagos secure? Can it blow up 

like Beirut? Most definitely. We do 

have fertilisers in the ports. We have 

other inflammable materials. To 

ask the NPA to be more transparent 

in its operations is to speak as a 

fool. But the dangers persist. Let us 

build a scenario. If one of those 

trucks parked jowl-to-cheek were 

to catch fire, every truck on all 

those roads from Apapa, second 

bridge, Iganmu, Badagry road, 

etc., would catch fire because they 

cannot move and each has fuel 

tanks. The fire would be quick and 

compulsive, burning nearby petrol 

stations, tank farms and even the 

ports themselves with all their 

factories, etc. I believe that most 

of Apapa, Surulere, Badagry road, 

Festac Town, Alaba, etc., would be 

at risk. 

While on this subject of fire, has 

it occurred to anyone that South 

West Ikoyi is a fire hazard? It was 

built as a residential area, but like 

all things in Nigeria, good 

intentions succumb to 

unfathomable greed. One day we 

saw one shop in Awolowo Road 

then another, then offices, petrol 

stations, etc. There is a military 

arms and explosive dump in 

Dodan Barracks. There are 10 

petrol stations on Awolowo Road. 

When an area has been planned 

for a particular purpose should we 

Having noticed what 

has happened in 

Beirut, please let us do 

something to clear the 

roads of Lagos before 

we all get blown up 

not try to maintain that purpose? 

The most dangerous area of 

Nigeria is still the ports. Suppose 

Nigeria is fighting a war with 

Benin and Togo or any other 

country. Our ammunition stocks 

are low and we have ships at the 

ports to re-equip our army. The 

ports are jammed because of the 

trucks. The military cannot be 

resupplied. What do we do? Or 

suppose a dissident group was to 

fire-bomb those trucks? 

The problem can be solved. A few 

years ago Mr President threatened 

to come on a state visit to Lagos. 

Apart from the usual preparation 

of school children, after hours of 

drill, learning to sing for the 

President while waving flags 

welcoming him, something 

extraordinary happened. 

Every single truck parked on all 

those flyovers, all trucks blocking 

Apapa, Iganmu, Badagry road, 

etc., was removed. The Lagos State 

government announced the closure 

of a good number of roads from 

Ikeja to Lagos. Of course the 

airport was closed to all traffic. All 

trucks on Airport Road were 

removed. 

The President came. He flew 

from the airport to the State 

House, thus depriving the children 

the opportunity to show Lagos 

hospitality. Mercifully he did not 

spend the night. He returned to 

Abuja. My plane from Lagos to 

Abuja was delayed for six hours!! 

Who pays for all those trucks 

causing the gridlock outside the 

ports? The owners of the trucks are 

paid by the importers who simply 

add the cost to the price they sell 

the goods which you and I have to 

pay for, thus keeping inflation high. 

The trucks/trailers clogging the 

roads make travelling to work and 

around slow, more expensive and 

dangerous. And again, we pay for 

it. If you spend eight hours in traffic 

daily, it is eight hours you could 

have done productive work. The 

tedium of the delay affects your 

mental state, causing stress and 

other psychological problems that 

will impact on our health and 

economy. 

Finally, having noticed what has 

happened in Beirut, please let us 

do something to clear the roads of 

Lagos before we all get blown up. 

The Lagos airport is in a similar 

danger to the existence of Lagos 

considering hundreds of petrol 

tankers parked on the airport 

roads waiting to be supplied from 

the airport flow stations. If one of 

those trucks catches fire and the 

tank farms are ablaze can the fire 

be contained? 

What kind of contract did Lagos 

sign with China stopping it from 

finishing the railway and the 12- 

lane road to Badagry and Seme? 

China has shown its ability to carry 

out such projects in Luanda, 

Mozambique, Mombasa, Somali, 

Eritea; why not Nigeria? 

What we need in Nigeria is a 

whole reconstruction of the supply 

routes to the ports, consisting of 

first class secure roads, trailers 

parks, hotel, etc. The people of 

Lagos have suffered enough. They 

demand and deserve better 

facilities. Government must meet 

its standards and promises. If not, 

there is always the vote. 

People who live in Lagos must 

rise up to the dangers they face. 

Five years ago, it took most 

workers one or two hours to get to 

work and back. Today, it takes five 

to six hours for the same trip; why? 

Why should you vote for a 

government that punishes you so? 

Their pedigree would show that 

they can do better. LSDPC is now a 

shadow of its former self. People 

could vote for Alhaji Lateef 

Jakande because he did what he 

promised. 

He built new schools and stopped 

children having to go to school in 

two streams, morning and 

afternoon, so that you found 

children returning from school as 

late as 10 or 11pm. You could get 

a house for N30,000. He repeated 

this feat in Abuja when he was 

Minister of Works. When he fell out 

with SDP he left the party and the 

people of Lagos followed him. He 

remodelled schools, paid teachers, 

controlled Lagos traffic, built 

estates and roads fulfilling the old 

electoral jingle of life more 

abundant: indeed life is now short 

and brutish and insecure; and 

Lagos is liable to massive 

conflagration. 

As if that is not enough, Lagos 

may also be extinguished by refuse 

and chemical and human waste. 

We cannot wait for the land fills 

before opening near truck parks 

but the landfills system of LASMA 

is outdated and corruption-ridden. 

Lagos still pollutes all the water 

around it by dumping waste from 

soakaways in the lagoon. All the 

factories in Lagos do the same 

because Lagos has no plans for 

liquid waste. If the ports do not get 

you, Alausa will. 

Tackling insecurity through media and police synergy 

By AYINDE IJADUNOLA 

THE third president of the United 

States of America, Thomas Jefferson, 

said if he was asked to choose between a 

government without newspapers and 

newspapers without a government, he 

would not hesitate to pick the latter. His 

was an extreme libertarian expression of 

the view that the media was indispensable 

if democracy was to have its full course 

and benefit the people maximally. But we 

must understand where Jefferson was 

coming from. 

He was one of the founding fathers of 

the United States. And in his days, 

emancipation, freedom, liberty, rights of 

the people more than the rights of 

government were what dominated the 

conversation in the society. 

Given the experience of the colonies at 

the hand of imperial England in the 18th 

century, the Americans believed that less 

oppressive government and more media 

which would champion the rights and 

voice of the people was needed. But as I 

said earlier, it was a farfetched view. 

Now, if Jefferson would take such a 

position in a contest between the media 

and government, where would he stand if 

the equation featured the media and the 

Police? Would he prefer a nation which 

would exist without this law and order 

agency? Or the Police without a nation? 

Or a nation running at full throttle with 

the backing of the media and the Police? 

Last week, the Police chief in Lagos, 

Hakeem Odumosu, offered a better 

version of the Jefferson puzzle along with 

a much improved arrangement of how 

society should operate for the greatest 

good of the greatest number of citizens. 

Police Commissioner Odumosu presented 

the picture of journalists and the Police 

coming together to render priceless 

service to Nigerians. He has given the 

nation a strategic synergy that can assist 

the society defeat the scourge of insecurity 

threatening to swallow us and reverse all 

the advances our nascent democracy has 

made over the years, even as we prepare 

for the diamond jubilee of our 

Independence. 

Odumosu’s contribution to the 

discourse was captured in a statement 

released to the press by the Public 

Relations Officer, Lagos Command of the 

Police, PPRO, Muyiwa Adejobi. The CP 

was quoted as calling for "partnership 

between the Police and media 

professionals to strengthen security in 

Lagos”. Adejobi said:” CP Hakeem 

Odumosu…charged the fourth estate of 

the realm to partner in strengthening the 

security architecture of Lagos State and 

Nigeria at large…He urged the media to 

always project the country, Nigeria and 

the police in a positive light as their views 

count on the rating of the Nigerian polity.” 

Odumosu spoke when the General 

Manager of the Nigerian Television 

Authority, NTA, Channel 10, Adegbirin 

Kamarudeen, visited him. 

So, whereas about three centuries ago a 

concerned public officer sought the 

exclusion of a state institution and the sole 

employment of the press to preserve 

society and its people, another public 

office holder several generations after is 

asking for collaboration between two 

critical institutions. It’s impossible to 

challenge CP Odumosu’s thesis that the 

society needs the gentlemen of the press in 

the two-fold business of securing the nation 

and restoring its severely battered image. 

The point is that what is generally given 

to the people as the achievements of 

government and its agencies or institutions 

starts with what sociologists and analysts 

describe as perceptions, interpretations 

and ‘coloured’ reportage in the media. 

True, this reportage is a reflection of the 

productive forces in a given setting. 

However, in the long run, in the course of 

Nigeria’s greatest challenge is 

insecurity and all arms of the 

state, notably those who 

reportour activities for today and 

posterity, must be respectably 

brought into the loop of 

protecting the country and its 

people 

processing the reports a lot can take place. 

For instance, there can be a ‘tendentious’ 

headline that buries the ‘virtues’ of an event 

credited to government deep in the belly 

of the story which an impatient reader 

would not arrive at before forming an 

opinion. Editors don’t mean mischief 

when this happens. All what they may 

doing is to satisfy core professional 

demands. But, as Odumosu observes, a 

pact can be struck between the media and 

strategic bodies of the state to let 

newsmen key into a larger vision of 

combining their professional ethics with 

nation-building goals. The reporter must 

be allowed to go about his duties, but it is 

within the bigger context of serving the 

nation with his skills. But how does this 

relate with the security of the nation? 

What’s the connection between the Police 

and the journalist? What’s the nexus that 

Odumosu thinks should be strengthened? 

There is only one answer to these posers. 

The media represents the Fourth Estate of 

the Realm, after the Executive, Legislative 

and Judiciary. These three are all arms of 

government that are responsible for the 

upkeep and security of the state. But 

although these media personnel are 

‘independent’ of the state, they are needed 

to produce what emerges as the 

perceptions and realities in the country 

through reporting the activities of those 

other official arms. 

These realities and perceptions are the 

tools that make or mar and influence the 

image and security situation in any 

nation. Nigeria can dwell heavily on what 

Hakeem Odumosu is proposing as the 

panacea for the insecurity in the land. The 

country’s greatest challenge is insecurity 

and all arms of the state, notably those 

who reportour activities for today and 

posterity, must be respectably brought into 

the loop of protecting Nigeria and its 

people. Surely, it will be a death knell for 

Nigeria’s insecurity if the country’s 

journalists and the Police would come 

together in a coordinated onslaught on 

the criminals in our midst. 

•Ijadunola, a social commentator, 

wrote from Lagos 

C 

M 

Y


CONTRARY to widespread 

expectations, the just-concluded Edo 

State governorship election has come 

and gone successfully. The fire and 

brimstone we expected to fall from 

the skies did not happen. 

The pre-election sabre-rattling, 

which peaked with the removal of the 

roof of the Edo State House of constitutional mandates professionally, 

Assembly and gun violence around the outcome always gives reason for 

the palace of the Benin monarch, the people to celebrate. 

fizzled out into a generally-peaceful, We commend every stakeholder, 

free and fair election. For the second especially the two frontline political 

time since the November 19, 2017 reelection 

poll of Governor Willie PDP, and the all Progressives 

parties – the Peoples Democratic Party, 

Obiano of Anambra State, the Edo Congress, APC, for generally desisting 

governorship election ended with the from a pronounced degree of violence 

will of the people prevailing and and electoral malfeasance. We are 

without bloodshed. 

gratified that the feared clash between 

The simple reason for this was that “governor’s incumbency power” and 

President Muhammadu Buhari kept “the federal might” did not take place 

his word towards ensuring a free, fair after all, despite the mobilisation of 

and peaceful election. Whenever the governors of both parties to Benin for 

Independent National Electoral the expected “battle royale”. 

Commission, INEC, and the security While we congratulate Governor 

agencies are made to carry out their Godwin Obaseki and expect him to be 

Edo poll: We are relieved, but•• 

a servant to all Edo people, we also 

urge those who feel aggrieved to 

follow the due process of the law in 

seeking redress. The judiciary should 

also emulate the INEC and security 

agencies in ensuring that justice and 

the people’s will prevail. 

In particular, we commend our 

international partners, especially the 

United States and the United 

Kingdom, which have resorted to 

imposition of stiff sanctions on 

election riggers and promoters of 

violence through visa bans, asset 

seizures and possible prosecutions 

under international law. This must 

have gone a long way in ensuring the 

peaceful outcome of the Edo 

governorship election. It probably 

also helped our government in sitting 

up and ensuring the right thing was 

done. 

We call on President Buhari to 

continue to ensure that all elections 

that will be conducted under the rest 

of his watch will be free, fair and 

transparent. These include the 

forthcoming off-cycle Anambra, 

Ondo, Ekiti and Osun governorship 

elections as well as the 2023 general 

elections. At this juncture of his life 

and tenure, Buhari owes Nigeria’s 

democracy a shining legacy, being a 

beneficiary of a free, fair and peaceful 

election. 

He should lead efforts to ensure that 

all residual legal and legislative 

requirements which will promote 

further INEC independence and the 

true will of the people are put in place 

before the next elections. 

To who much is given, much is 

expected. 

THE presidential pardon granted by 

President Muhammadu Buhari to 

former Nationalist and Minister, Chief 

Anthony Eromosele Enahoro (1923-2010) and 

also to Professor Ambrose Folorunsho Alli 

(1929-1989), former Governor of the defunct 

Bendel State and endorsed by the National 

Council of State is most welcome. I hope the 

pardon will be extended to others, including 

Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju, former 

Minister of Transportation, whose cases are 

being reviewed in the Presidency. 

Let us discuss that of Professor Ambrose Alli 

first. On December 31, 1983, President Shehu 

Shagari’s elected government was dethroned 

by a military coup headed by Major General 

Muhammadu Buhari. Also dethroned and 

detained were elected governors who served 

between 1979 and 1983. They are Dr. Victor 

Olunloyo and Chief Bola Ige (Oyo), Alhaji 

Lateef Jakande (Lagos), Chief Bisi Onabanjo 

(Ogun), Chief Michael Ajasin (Ondo), 

Professor Ambrose Alli and Chief Samuel 

Ogbemudia (Bendel), Chief Cornelius 

Adebayo and Chief David Attah (Kwara), Dr. 

Clement Isong and Chief Donald Etiebet (Cross 

River), Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa, 

Alhaji Abba Musa Rimi and Alhaji Lawai Keita 

(Kaduna), Alhaji Garuba Nadama (Sokoto), 

Alhaji Abubakar Bardeh and Wilberfoce Juta 

(Gongola), Mohammed Guni and Asha Jarma 

(Borno), Chief Jim Nwobodo and Chief C.C. 

Onoh (Anambra), Chief Sam Mbakwe (Imo) 

and Chief Solomon Lar (Plateau), Alhaji 

Abubakar Rimi and Alhaji Barkin Zuwo 

(Kano), Chief Melford Okilo (Rivers), Alhaji 

Abubakar Tatari Ali (Bauchi), Mr. Aper Aku 

(Benue) and Alhaji Muhammed Anwal 

Ibrahim (Niger). 

In overthrowing President Shagari’s 

government, Brigadier Sani Abacha, told the 

nation in a broadcast on December 31, 1983 

that: “You are living witnesses to the great 

economic predicament and uncertainty which 

an inept and corrupt leadership has imposed 

OPINION 

Historic perspective on the pardon 

of Alli and Enahoro 

on our beloved nation for the past four years. I 

am referring to the harsh, intolerable 

conditions under which we are now living. Our 

economy has been hopelessly mismanaged. 

We have become a debtor and beggar nation. 

There is inadequacy of food at reasonable 

I hope the pardon will be 

extended to others whose cases 

are being reviewed in the 

Presidency 

prices for our people who are now fed up with 

endless announcements of importation of 

foodstuff. Health services are in shambles as 

our hospitals are reduced to mere consulting 

clinics without drugs, water and equipment. 

Our educational system is deteriorating at an 

alarming rate. 

“Unemployment figures, including the 

undergraduates have reached embarrassing 

and unacceptable proportions. In some states, 

workers are being owed salary arrears of eight 

to 12 months and in others there are threats of 

salary cuts. Yet our leaders revel in 

squandermania, corruption and indiscipline, 

and continue to proliferate public 

appointments in complete disregard of our 

stark economic realities. After due consultation 

over these deplorable conditions, I and my 

colleagues in the armed forces have in the 

discharge of our national role as a promoter 

and protector of national interest decided to 

effect a change in the leadership of the 

government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 

and form a Federal Military Government. This 

task has just been completed.” 

Shortly after, the Supreme Military Council was 

constituted and the following were appointed as 

members: Major General Muhammadu Buhari, 

Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of The 

Nigerian Armed Forces from Kaduna state; 

Brigadier Babatunde Abdulbaki Idiagbon, Chief 

of Staff, Supreme Headquarters((Kwara State); 

Major-General Domkat Bali, Defence 

Secretary(Plateau State); Major General 

Ibrahim Babangida, Chief of Army Staff(Niger 

state); Commodore Augustus Aikhomu, Chief of 

Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

Naval Staff(Bendel State); Air Vice-Marshal 

Ibrahim Mahmud Alfa, Chief of Air 

Staff(Gongola State); Major-General 

Mamman Jiya Vatsa, Minister of Federal 

Capital Territory(Niger State); Brigadier 

Joseph Olayeni Oni, GOC, 1st Mechanised 

Infantry Division-Kaduna(from Lagos State); 

Brigadier Mohammed Sani Abacha, GOC 

2nd Mechanised Division -Ibadan(from Kano 

State); Colonel Salihu Ibrahim, GOC, 3rd 

Armoured Division- Jos(Kwara State); 

Brigadier Yohanna Yerima Kure, GOC, 82nd 

Division-Enugu(Kaduna State); Brigadier 

Mohammed Mangoro, Minister of Internal 

Affairs(Sokoto State); Brigadier 

Muhammadu Gado Nasko, Commander- 

Nigerian Army Corps of Artillery(Niger State); 

Brigadier Paul Omu, Army (from Bendel State); 

Navy Captain Ebitu Ukiwe, Flag Officer 

Commanding, Western Naval 

Command(from Imo State) and Air 

Commodore Larry Koinyan, Air Force(from 

Rivers State). 

On April 5, 1984, General Buhari 

promulgated decree Number 3 and decree 

Number 8. Decree No. 8 states that the Federal 

Military Government hereby decrees as 

follows: 1. Immediately after subsection (1) of 

section 1 of the Recovery of Public Property 

(Special Military Tribunals) Decree 1984, there 

shall be inserted the following new subsection 

(1A), that is - “(1A) Any public officer who - (a) 

has engaged in corrupt practices or has 

corruptly enriched himself or any other 

person; or (b) has by virtue of abuse of his 

office contributed to the economic adversity 

of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; or has in 

any way been in breach of the Code of Conduct, 

shall be guilty of an offence under this Decree 

and upon conviction shall, apart from any 

other penalty prescribed by or pursuant to any 

other provision of this Decree, forfeit the assets, 

whether movable or immovable property, is a 

product of a family that has served the country 

meritoriously, notably my friend, Ben Enahoro, 

To be concluded


LCCI CCI pushes for immediate e implementation of 

CAMA 2020 

By Yinka Kolawole 

ECONOMY 

AMIDST the controversies 

surrounding the new Company 

and Allied Matters Act 

(CAMA) 2020, the Lagos Chamber 

of Commerce and Industry 

(LCCI) is now pressing for urgent 

gazetting of the law, saying that delay 

is creating uncertainties in 

business decisions anchored on 

the law. 

Director General, LCCI, Dr. 

Muda Yusuf, in a statement made 

available to Vanguard yesterday, 

noted that the delay in gazetting 

the law is yet another example of 

how bureaucratic bottlenecks are 

allowed to impede economic 

progress. 

Recall that CAMA 2020 was assented 

to by President 

Muhammadu Buhari over a 

month ago, following which several 

groups alleged that certain 

sections of the new law was draconian 

and could precipitate unwholesome 

take-over of private 

entities by the government. 

But Yusuf stated: “The legislation 

and the subsequent assent 

were widely applauded by the 

business community”, lamenting 

that six weeks after the legislation’s 

presidential assent it is yet to be 

gazetted. 

He stated further, “The implication 

of this is that the formal copy 

of the law is not yet available to 

the public and therefore the law 

cannot be operationalized. This is 

yet another example of how bureaucratic 

bottlenecks could impede 

the progress of an economy. 

“Ordinarily, and in line with the 

ongoing digital revolution and the 

E- Government agenda of government, 

the law should have been 

uploaded on the Federal Government 

and National Assembly 

websites hours after the assent by 

the President. 

“Being a major business legislation, 

the non-availability of the 

gazetted copy of CAMA 2020 has 

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING 

US DOLLAR 

POUNDS 

EURO 

FRANC 

YEN 

CFA 

WAUA 

RENMINBI 

RIYAL 

RAND 

120.70 -1.50 

2,625.00 -16.00 

13.13 -0.25 

41.34 -1.81 

39.05 -2.06 

379 379.5 380 

491.7146 492.3633 493.012 

448.8188 449.4039 449.996 

416.3463 416.8955 417.4448 

3.631 3.6358 3.6405 

0.6625 0.6725 0.6825 

535.2047 535.9107 536.6168 

55.9541 56.0284 56.1026 

101.0182 101.1514 101.2847 

23.4838 23.5148 23.5457 

CBN Exchange rate as at 21/09/2020 

stalled many activities in the business 

environment. These are activities 

anchored on the new legislation. 

“Additionally, the regulations 

that ought to be issued by the Corporate 

Affairs Commission on account 

of the new legislation have 

equally been stalled because there 

is no formal document to act 

upon.” 

“The situation has created enormous 

uncertainty in business decisions 

which require the legislative 

anchor of CAMA 2020 to 

PRESENTATION: From left — Cyril Matthew, Deputy Corps Commander, FRSC, RS2.1 Lagos Sector 

Command; Charles Nwachukwu, Divisional Head, Institutional Business, Cornerstone Insurance; Imoh 

Etuk, Zonal Commanding Officer, RS2HQ Lagos; Chidiebere Nwokeocha, Executive Director, Business 

Development, Cornerstone Insurance; and Tokunbo Bello, Executive Director, Technical/Operations, 

Cornerstone Insurance during the presentation of kiosks donated to FRSC by Cornerstone in Lagos. 

Deduct at source, pay MDAs electricity bills 

directly to DISCOs – KPMG to FG 

By Ediri Ejoh 

ENERGY 

THE Federal Government 

has been advised to consider 

a direct deduction of the electricity 

bills of Ministries, Departments 

and Agencies (MDAs) and 

paying them directly to 

the electricity Distribution 

Companies, DISCOs, 

to drive development in 

the country’s power sector. 

Vanguard gathered 

that the DISCOs are being 

owed N98 billion by 

the MDAs and have not 

been able to collect the 

debts being owed them 

over time. 

In its latest report titled: 

‘The Twin Shocks and the 

Nigerian Energy & Natural 

Resources Industry- 

An Analysis of the Challenges, 

Consequences 

and Cure’, KPMG Nigeria 

said that the government 

may need to continue to 

provide financial support 

to businesses in this sector 

in their present circumstance. 

But it stated: 

“However, this support 

must be administered in 

a manner that guarantees 

improvement in power 

infrastructure across the 

progress. As it were, a legislative 

vacuum has been created. The 

CAMA 1990 has been repealed, 

CAMA 2020 is yet to be gazetted, 

six weeks after assent. 

“It is important that the bureaucracy 

works in tandem with the 

new normal of leveraging technology 

so that the desired outcomes 

of reforms can be 

achieved, and expeditiously too. 

“The implementation of the e- 

Government programmes 

should be accelerated to make the 

public service smarter, efficient 

country. 

“An obvious impact of the current 

situation on electricity distribution 

companies in Nigeria 

arises from the loss of revenues 

due to the reduction of demand 

from commercial and industrial 

customers. The government 

should consider deducting MDAs 

bills upfront and paying the same 

to the DISCOs directly. 

“Government should ensure 

consistency and clarity of policies 

as this will encourage investments 

in the sector; criminalize energy 

theft and enforce penalties against 

offenders, as well as codify coherent 

fiscal policy that encourages 

the production of renewables, 

mini-grids and solar home systems 

to the market.” 

On liquidity and collection challenges, 

the report noted that “DISCOs 

may consider the introduction of 

bulk payment incentives to encourage 

consumers to invest in significant 

pre-payment and ease the cash flow 

challenges. This may, however, not 

be possible in the short term until a 

cost-reflective tariff or price deregulation 

is achieved; and DISCOs should 

be allowed to engage any Meter Asset 

Provider available, anywhere in 

the country, without any restrictions 

(other than quality review and approval 

by NERC). This would encourage 

the mass deployment of 

meters to consumers.” 

NIMASA, , Bureau of Public Service partner to 

transform maritime sector 

By Godwin Oritse 

MARITIME 

THE Nigerian Maritime Ad 

ministration and Safety 

Agency, NIMASA, and the Bureau 

of Public Service Reforms, 

BPSR, are currently in talks on 

how to implement transformational 

initiatives in the maritime 

sector. Speaking in Abuja during 

a visit to the Bureau, NIMASA’s 

Director General, Dr. Bashir 

Jamoh, emphasized the importance 

of efficient and effective 

and cost effective. Given the current 

wave of digital revolution sweeping 

across the public and private sectors, 

the role of the Federal Government 

Press in the dissemination of official 

legislations and other publications is 

at risk of diminishing relevance. 

“It has become imperative for electronic 

copies of official publications 

to be promptly disseminated to the 

public to ensure swift activation and 

access to the benefits and values 

which such publications offer for the 

economy and the society.” 

Public Service to Nigeria’s economic 

prosperity adding that the Agency is 

committed to collaborate with the 

ongoing initiative. 

Jamoh, who was represented by 

the agency’s Director, Reform Coordination 

and Strategic Management, 

Dr. Kabir Murnai, said the partnership 

would be focused on reform initiatives 

and development research. 

According to him a sustainable relationship 

between the two Federal 

Government agencies was essential 

for capacity development. 

He stated: “We are here to see how 

we can connect with BPSR in order 

Cornerstone 

Insurance 

partners FRSC 

on COVID-19 

awareness 

INSURANCE 

AS part of efforts geared 

towards flattening the 

curve of corona virus cases, 

Cornerstone Insurance Plc 

Foundation, the Corporate 

Social Responsibility, CSR, 

arm of Cornerstone Insurance 

Plc has partnered with the 

Federal Road Safety Corps, 

FRSC, to create an enlightenment 

campaign on covid-19. 

To this end, Cornerstone Insurance 

Foundation has donated 

12 kiosks and 500 

branded reflective jackets as 

well as flyers to the Lagos and 

Ogun Commands of the FRSC 

for advocacy and public enlightenment. 

At the presentation ceremony 

over the weekend in 

Lagos, Executive Director, 

Business Development, of Cornerstone, 

Mr. Chidiebere 

Nwokeocha, who represented 

the Managing Director, Mr. 

Ganiu Musa said that Cornerstone 

is a responsible 

organisation that is creating 

positive impact on the lives of 

Nigerians, even as the partnership 

conforms to the vision of 

the FRSC of safe travel all over 

the country. 

Nwokeocha said: “Our partnership 

with FRSC dates back 

to 2014. We have worked with 

them in several areas. The 

partnership on covid-19 enlightenment 

is to ensure that 

this campaign is carried to vehicle 

drivers.” 

Speaking to Vanguard, Executive 

Director, Technical 

Operations of Cornerstone, 

Mr. Tokunbo Bello said that 

Cornerstone has been partners 

to FRSC for a very long 

time, even as they have undertaking 

a number of CSR initiatives 

together. 

Bello said: “This particular 

partnership emanated because 

of the covid-19 that has 

brought a new normal to the 

world. We want to sensitise our 

people that covid-19 is real so 

they should know what they 

need to do to prevent the 

dreaded disease. So we felt 

that if we partner with the 

FRSC, it will create a big impact.” 

On his part, the Zonal Commanding 

Officer, Zone RS2 of 

FRSC, Mr. Imoh Etuk stated 

that Cornerstone Insurance 

has shown commitment to 

FRSC course, adding that it is 

a shared responsibility of all 

to safeguard the lives of Nigerians. 

to clearly understand and key 

into government's specific priorities, 

while still pursuing the 

respective mandates and goals 

of NIMASA. 

“We desire advisory and technical 

support services for 

change management teams, to 

engender an environment of 

learning within NIMASA." 

Similarly, Director of BPSR, 

Mr. Dasuki Ibrahim Arabi, 

pledged the Bureau’s commitment 

to the collaborative agreement 

for the mutual benefit of 

the two agencies.

C 

M 

Y 

K 

20 — Niger Delta Voice, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, , 2020 

VOL. 1: NO. 253 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 

ERRATIC POWER SUPPLY: Bayelsa 

communities tackle oil firm, defy soldiers 

•Lay siege to NAOC facilities, vow not to leave until they get electricity 

•Bayelsa govt intervenes, meets with oil firm, villagers 

By Samuel Oyadongha 

BISENI- 

TENSION 

heightened at the rustic 

riverside Biseni clan, Yenagoa 

Local Government Area, Bayelsa, 

last week, when angry natives laid 

siege to the road linking crude oil 

facilities owned by the Nigerian 

Agip Oil Company, NAOC, 

protesting the company’s alleged 

refusal to provide steady electricity 

supply to their communities 

contrary to promises. 

Not even the arrival of armed 

soldiers could deter the aggrieved 

villagers of Biseni communities 

from abandoning their occupation 

of the road, where they tied fresh 

palm fronds round the barricades. 

They carried placards, some of 

which read, “NAOC: Biseni Clan 

is tired of your fake promises”, 

“No to this injustice, No 24 hours 

light, No Operation,” among 

others, saying they want the 

state and federal governments to 

compel the company to honour its 

promise of supplying their 

communities uninterrupted 

electricity supply from its gas 

turbine at Idu in neighbouring 

Rivers State. 

Though the state government 

had waded into the matter and 

met with representatives of the 

communities and officials of the 

company with a view to resolving 

the crisis, informed sources told 

NDV that the natives were not 

prepared to end the siege until their 

demand is met. 

No light, no operation — 

Zidigah, CDC chair 

A leader of the protesters, who is 

also the Community Development 

Committee, CDC, chairman, 

Tambiri I, Biseni clan, Talkwell 

Zidigah, said: “Since 2014 we 

have been struggling for this light, 

24 hours power supply. A place with 

over 50 oil wells, yet we are 

suffering. Go to Ogbaland, you will 

see that day and night, they are 

enjoying light from the company’s 

gas turbine. 

“If they cannot give us 24 hours 

power supply, there will be no 

operation. Though we are 

presently relying on generator to 

power our community, the noise 

pollution has been a major 

challenge to us coupled with 

irregular supply of diesel.” 

Sometimes, we’re in 

darkness for 3 months 

– Chief Ndiware 

Also speaking, public relations 

officer, Biseni Council of Chiefs, 

Chief Clarkson Ndiware, said 

“Agip has continued to extract 

crude oil from our soil for over two 

decades, yet we are not fit to enjoy 

power from its gas turbine at Idu, 

BAYELSA… 

THE JERUSALEM OF 

IJAW NATION 

Biseni communities lay siege on the road leading to NAOC facilities. 

which is just across the river. 

Connecting Biseni clan to the 

company gas turbine will not only 

help boost economic activities 

here, but also give our people a 

sense of belonging.” 

“Sadly, here in Biseni clan, we 

sometimes stay without electricity 

supply for three months when 

other neighbouring communities 

in Ogbaland, across the Orashi in 

Rivers State, are enjoying 

uninterrupted power supply. If 

they could not give us light day and 

night, there will be no operation 

on our land,” he warned. 

Transformer lays idle 

for about 2 years – Mrs 

Odiowei, Andrew 

In her remarks, the clan’s women 

leader, Mrs Faith Odiowei, 

Bayelsa women protest oil communities’ neglect by NDDC 

By Emem Idio 

YENAGOA-HUNDREDS of 

women from oil producing 

communities in Bayelsa State 

have protested against the 

Niger Delta Development 

Commission, NDDC, over the 

neglect of their communities by 

the Commission and destruction 

of their means of livelihood by 

multinational oil companies. 

The dissenting women 

stormed the state liaison office 

of the commission, located 

along ever busy Melford Okilo 

Road, brandishing placards 

with several inscriptions to 

ventilate their grievances and 

demands. 

Some of the inscriptions on 

the placards read, “NDDC 

intervene to alleviate poverty, 

suffering from ecological 

disaster,” “NDDC come to our 

aid, our means of livelihood is 

destroyed,” “We are tired of the 

man-made poverty in our 

lands,” “NDDC release funds 

issued by FG for devastated oil 

communities,” “Toxic chemicals 

and dynamite are devastating 

our rivers and lands,” “NDDC 

come and empower our 

women,” among others. 

Spokesperson of the women, 

Mrs. Sophia Ogoun, from Ekeni 

community in Southern Ijaw 

local government area, said: 

“We are from the coastal 

communities from Southern 

Ijaw, Ekeremor, Nembe and 

Brass local government areas, 

we are here on a peaceful 

protest at the NDDC because 

of what we have been passing 

through. 

“The essence of this protest, 

recall that sometime early this 

year, there was chemical dump 

in the high sea that killed 

millions of fishes, and this has 

adversely affected our 

fishermen and women, 

periwinkle and other 

commodities 

“Coupled with the Covid-19 

pandemic, we are in dire need 

Gangsters scare A’Ibom 

residents AKWA IBOM … 

By Chioma Onuegbu 

THE LAND OF 

UYO—RESIDENTS of Uyo, 

capital of Akwa Ibom State, 

are currently living in fear, 

following the resurgence of 

criminal activities, especially 

incessant night robberies and 

attacks by gangsters. 

NDV finding showed the 

hoodlums numbering between 15 

lamented that even the 

transformer provided by the 

company since 2018 had been 

lying idle , adding that they were 

tired of writing letters to official 

quarters seeking intervention 

without response, hence their 

protest to draw attention to their 

plight. 

Another native, Okorie Andrew, 

stated: “We have made enormous 

sacrifice as an oil producing area 

with nothing to show for it. Who 

will believe we have over 50 oil 

wells here. Even the transformer 

that was supplied by the company 

has been laying waste since 2018. 

We will not lift this blockade until 

our demand is met,” he said. 

At the time of filing this report, 

they were still barricading the 

road. 

BAYELSA… 

THE JERUSALEM OF IJAW NATION 

of funds to kick start a new life, 

therefore, we are demanding 

N20billion as intervention funds 

from the NDDC from the coastal 

oil communities to help alleviate 

our plights,” she said. 

Addressing the protesting 

women, the Principal Manager, 

NDDC, Bayelsa Offfice, Mr. 

Diete Famonyo, who 

commended the women for their 

peaceful disposition and 

described their demands as 

legitimate, said as a liaison 

office, they would collate their 

demands and forward same to 

the Managing Director at the 

Commission headquarters. 

and 20 go from house to house and 

shops, ransacking and 

dispossessing their victims of 

money, GSM phones, laptops, car 

batteries among other valuables. 

The areas under constant 

attacks were Afaha Ube Itam, 

Udoudoma, Eneneh Afaha, 

Idoro Road, Atiku Abubakar, Ikpa 

Road, Asutan Street and Atan 

Offot, all in Uyo. 

Residents disclosed they 

observed that the activities of the 

criminals increased within the 

state capital since the curfew 

occasioned by the COVID-19 

pandemic was relaxed. 

Inhabitants of Asutan Street, 

close to Akwa Ibom Government 

House in Uyo, said they no longer 

sleep with both eyes closed, 

following incessant robbery 

attacks. 

It’s getting out of control – 

Inyang 

Mr. Inyang, who spoke to NDV, 

last Friday, lamented: “I became 

more afraid when I heard that 

robbers broke into a chemist 

store, Wednesday night, and 

cleared everything inside. And 

my surprise is that there is always 

heavy presence of vigilante group 

in the area during the night.” 

“Unfortunately, throughout the 

period that the 8.00 pm to 6.00 

am curfew imposed by 

government was still in force, Uyo 

was enjoying relative peace. 

There were no complains of 

robbery attacks by residents. 

Government and security 

agencies should look into this 

problem, it is getting out of 

control,” he said. 

How they attacked my 

family and me 

— Businesswoman 

A businesswoman and one of 

the victims of robbery attacks at 

Okedo Estate, off Ikot Ekpene 

Road, disclosed that hoodlums 

broke into her house through the 

window after removing the 

window louvers. 

Her words: “I and my family was 

fast asleep when they broke into 

my house. The incident 

happened about 2.00 am. They 

stole my phone and as they were 

about to remove other valuables 

they sighted the night guards 

approaching and ran away. I do 

not know what would have 

happened to my children and me 

if the night guards had not come 

at that time.” 

Police came after 

apprehended suspect 

escaped —Dweller 

A public servant who simply 

identified himself as Mr. Bassey 

explained that when he woke up 

one morning, last two weeks, he 

discovered that the hoodlums 

may have entered the estate 

because they tried to force his car 

open, but did not succeed. 

He recalled that in 2017 and 

part of 2018 the criminal gangs 

used to enter the estate almost on 

weekly basis, removing car 

batteries, which had forced the 

residents to hire private security. 

“We decided to go for private 

security when we observed that 

police were insensitive to our 

situation. In fact, there was an 

instance when one of the suspected 

criminals terrorizing the area was 

apprehended by the residents and 

when a police officer within the Itam 

Division was contacted, they 

promised to come."

C 

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SCHOOLS RESUME: From left—Principal, Monatan Junior High 

School, Iyalode, Ibadan, Mrs. Ayansola Abosede, addressing the 

students on the COVID-19 protocol, to avoid the spread of the 

pandemic within the school premises. Also, below, pupils of Adeola 

Nursery and Primary School, in Lagos, observing the COVID-19 

protocol, after the school resumed for another calender year, 

yesterday. Photos: Akeem Salau & Dare Fasube. 

UNVEILING—From left: Olalere Odusote, Commissioner, Lagos State 

Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources; Doja Ekeruche, Advisory 

Board member, Eko Innovation Centre; Governor Babajiide Sanwo- 

Olu; Victor Afolabi, Founder, Eko Innovation Centre, and Mrs. Toke 

Benson-Awoyinka, Special Adviser on Housing to the Governor of 

Lagos State, during the unveiling of winners of the Lagos Smart 

Meter Hackathon, at Eko Innovation Centre, Lagos. 

LAUNCH—From left: Marketing Director, Beebeejump Solar 

International, Abel Su; Regional Sales Manager, South-West, David 

Idem; CEO, Power Alternatives Solutions, Rotimi Adebari; Director, 

EPC Department, Beebeejump Solar Int'l, Charlie Wen, and 

Catherine Eloh, Sales Manager, Power Alternatives Solutions, 

during the launch of Power Alternatives Solutions offices, the official 

partner of Beebeejump Int'l, in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

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Developer boosts housing delivery 

with Beaufort Park in Lekki, Lagos 

By Kingsley Adegboye 

D ISCERNING 

investors and 

prospective home owners 

who are desirous of 

acquiring and living in 

the ‘New Lagos’ may have 

had their dream come 

true, following the launch 

weekend of Beaufort 

Park, a 72-unit threebedroom 

plus boys 

quarters residential estate 

located on Ablag Avenue 

(CMB Road) Off 

Monastery Road, behind 

Novare Mall, Lekki, 

Lagos. 

A partnership project 

between Dayola Property 

& Development 

Company, developer and 

promoter of the project, 

and Shell East Staff 

Investment Cooperative 

Society Ltd known as 

Coop East, major 

subscribers to the multibillion 

Naira housing 

estate, and financed by 

FirstTrust Mortgage Bank 

Plc, sits on a hectare of 

land. 

At the ground breaking 

of the sprawling project 

by managements of 

Dayola Property & 

Development Company 

and Coop East, the 

Managing Director, 

Dayola Property & 

Development Company, 

Dayo Olaiya, said the 

residential estate which is 

a premium affordable 

fully 

finished 

development when 

completed, is built for 

discerning investors and 

home buyers who are 

eager to acquire and 

enjoy living in the 

developing area of the 

Lagos Island metropolis, 

adding that the project 

will add value to the 

investors and the 

neighbourhood. 

Describing the location 

of the estate as new 

Lagos, Olaiya said before 

now, Victoria Garden City 

Model of houses at Beaufort Park 

VGC, was the reference 

point along Lekki axis. 

Disclosing that his 

company has plans to 

construct the road leading 

to the estate, Dayola 

Property boss noted that 

infrastructure and 

facilities expected in the 

estate include power with 

alternative power supply, 

sewage treatment plant, 

fibre optic (internet 

connection), close circuit 

TV, fire alarm system, 

DSTV piping, water 

treatment plant and 

intercom. 

Others are security post, 

cleaning services, lawn 

tennis court, basket ball 

court, dedicated car park 

spaces, children play 

area, full tiled 

surroundings, sanitary 

fittings and kitchen 

cabinet 

Speaking earlier, the 

President of Coop East, 

Hyginus Onuegbu, who 

explained the 

involvement of his 

cooperative society in the 

project, said “When my 

exco came into office, we 

did a strategy session, and 

part of the information 

from that session is the 

fact that currently, Lagos 

is the fifth largest 

economy in Africa, and it 

will soon become the third 

largest. 

“We also looked at the 

landmark in Lagos, size 

and population of Lagos. 

The landmark in Lagos is 

smaller than some local 

government areas in 

Nigeria. Based on these 

dynamics, we said Lagos 

is the best place to do 

business, because the 

property market in Lagos 

is the most valuable in 

Nigeria and one of the 

most valuable in Africa. 

“Based on this 

information, we then 

decided that we must be 

a major player in that 

market. So, we opened an 

office in Lagos in 2018 and 

we began the journey. 

Since then, we have 

multiple developments in 

Lagos. We have with 

different developers in 

various residential estates 

in Lagos. 

Onuegbu who said 

Coop East is investing 

N1.5 billion in Beaufort 

Park, noted that “Our 

interest in Beaufort Park is 

that we saw Dayola’s 

profile, his existing 

projects, and we got 

people to do a background 

check on him. 

We were convinced he 

could give us value for our 

money. After this, we also 

carried out market survey, 

and what is the value of 

our members? 

“So, from what we saw, 

we agreed we could do 

business with the 

company. We felt this is 

reasonable. And as I speak 

with you, we have 

between 55 and 60 

members that have 

subscribed to the project 

already. I know that by the 

time we finish this ground 

breaking today, more of 

our members will key into 

the project”, Coop East 

President stated. 

Environmental pollution: Stakeholders, elder 

statesmen must see to Ogoni clean-up — CISLAC 

By Gabriel Olawale him,”Although a 

framework for a definite 

Civil 

Society intervention was 

Legislative provided in 2011 through 

Advocacy Centre a report by the United 

CISLAC, and its allies Nations Environment 

have raised the alarm Programme UNEP, the 

over the level of issues surrounding 

politicking that has contaminated land, 

enveloped the entire groundwater, surface 

clean up process which water, sediment, 

was conceived to restore, vegetation, air pollution, 

remediate and public health, and 

rehabilitate the people of industry practice are yet 

Ogoni and the Niger unresolved, thus 

Delta region as a whole. endangering the lives of 

Speaking during a millions of hapless 

media parley organized citizens in the area. 

by CISLAC in “Several oil spills have 

partnership with negatively affected 

Cordaid, Executive human health and other 

Director of CISLAC, receptors including land, 

Auwal Musa, said that air and water resources, 

four years after the leading to extensive 

federal government socio-economic and 

flagged off the muchacclaimed 

Ogoni cleanup, 

nothing tangible had 

been achieved. 

According 

to 

cultural impacts on local 

communities in the area”. 

Musa said that field 

observations showed that 

most lots had stopped 

work long before 

COVID-19 pandemic in 

Nigeria, insisting that 

“Some lots had stopped 

work between September 

2019 and January 2020, 

reportedly over lack of 

payments, while others 

are still active, with 

reduced staff capacity. 

There have been 

increased protests by 

workers on sites. 

“Evidence also exists 

that workers have not 

been paid because 

contractors have not been 

paid too. While 

contractors lobby to be 

paid, others have locked 

their sites and embarked 

on ‘no pay no work. What 

this means is that the 

institutional issues as 

well as recommendations 

and steps to be followed 

in carrying out the 

exercise have become 

victims of senseless 

politicking”.

26— Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 

vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews 

NEWS HOTLINES 

018773962, 

08052867058 

SCHOOLS RESUME—The students of Community Junior High School, 

Alapere, Ketu, Lagos, observing Covid-9 protocol, during the school 

resumption, yesterday. Photo: Kehinde Shonola. 

Why we lost Edo to PDP, 

by APC chieftains 

Continues from Page 5 

South.” 

He said: “What 

happened in Edo was a 

result of multiple factors but 

let me tell you about the 

ones that concern the party. 

One, there is the local Edo 

politics. There were people 

who had issues with 

Oshiomhole, even right 

from when he was 

governor and felt it was 

payback time. That is in 

Edo. 

“Now, within the party, it 

was you (the media) who 

reported that some of our 

governors were not happy 

that Obaseki was denied 

the governorship ticket and 

frustrated out of the party 

like an ordinary person. 

“Well, I do not want to 

confirm or dismiss that, but 

maybe we have to ask them 

(governors) why only two 

of them were visible in Edo 

during the campaigns. 

What happened that the 

APC could not do a grand 

finale of its campaigns? In 

other words, we did not 

close our campaigns 

properly. It has never been 

like that. Even if the 

President was not going to 

be there, at least the vicepresident 

would be there. 

“We had a 49-member 

National Campaign 

Council with about five 

serving governors, former 

governors, senators, 

ministers and others but the 

campaigns were reduced 

to Oshiomhole and Ize- 

Iyamu. 

“I saw only two 

governors, Abdullahi 

Ganduje of Kano who was 

chairman of the council and 

his vice, Governor Hope 

Uzodimma of Imo. So what 

happened? Where were the 

others?” 

Another party source who 

was a member of the 

dissolved National Working 

Committee, NWC, of the 

party said the governors 

cannot be exonerated. 

He said: “You would recall 

how some of us had 

expressed misgivings 

about the letters or 

statements that were being 

written by the D-G of 

Progressive Governors’ 

Forum, Salihu Mohammed 

Lukman. He constantly 

assailed Comrade 

Oshiomhole and 

condemned our campaigns 

in Edo. Nobody called him 

to order. What he did was 

anti-party. He claimed to 

have been speaking in his 

personal capacity but how 

could that have been true? 

He was speaking for his 

paymasters who have their 

sights on 2023. These are 

people who do not want to 

hear anything Tinubu. 

Their aim is to deflate 

Tinubu. They see 

Oshiomhole as a Tinubu’s 

man. My only fear is that if 

you deny Tinubu the ticket 

and give another person, 

are we sure APC would still 

remain intact by that 2023 

when President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

would not be contesting 

again? Personally, I am not 

happy that we lost in Edo, 

Naira appreciates to 

N464.5/$ in parallel market 

By Elizabeth Adegbesan 

THE Naira, yesterday, appreciated to N464.5 per 

dollar in the parallel market. 

According to naijabdcs.com, the live exchange rate 

platform of the Association of Bureaux De Change 

Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the parallel market 

exchange rate dropped to N464.5 per dollar from 

N465 kobo per dollar last week Friday, indicating 

50 kobo appreciation of the naira. 

.However, the naira yesterday was stable at N386 

per dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) 

window. 

Data from FMDQ showed that the volume of 

dollars (turnover) traded in the window dropped by 

18 percent to $68.14million from $83.35 million last 

week Friday. 

having suffered in Rivers 

and then in Bayelsa. We 

used to have 23 governors 

or so, but now I think we 

have about 19. Are we 

progressing or 

retrogressing? 

“How can some people 

revolt against the party just 

because of one man? What 

happened in Edo is going 

to haunt us for a long time. 

I am happy Governor 

Ganduje has said that the 

party needs some soulsearching 

because what 

happened is an insight into 

2023. I hope they will take 

him very seriously because 

he was on ground in Edo 

as chairman of the APC 

National 

Council.” 

Campaign 

Post-mortem 

A member of APC 

Caretaker/Extraordinary 

National Convention 

Planning Committee, 

Ismail Ahmed, said the 

APC would do a review to 

know exactly what 

happened in Edo. 

Ahmed who represents 

the youth demography in 

the caretaker committee 

spoke on the sidelines of a 

meeting with APC social 

media influencers who he 

said must be appreciated 

for their role in selling the 

party to Nigerians. 

He expressed dismay 

that for the first time the 

APC does not have a state 

in the South-South. 

Ahmed who conceded 

that Ondo also remains 

dicey due to the fact that 

APC lost the presidential 

election in the state, said 

the party would however 

put its acts together to 

retain the state. 

On APC’s outing in Edo, 

Ahmed said: “Are you 

calling that performance 

dismal? Remember we ran 

against an incumbent 

governor and everybody 

knows the history of Edo 

governorship primary and 

there were a lot of 

circumstances we cannot 

explain. 

“We actually hoped we 

would win. We had 

prepared and we set up a 

very good campaign 

council. We thought we had 

covered the grounds really 

well but clearly, in an 

election there is always a 

blind side. Maybe there 

was a blind side that we 

didn’t see but the party has 

not officially done a postmortem 

which we intend to 

do this week. 

“The National Chairman 

would probably call us. I 

don’t know, I am not saying 

that he will but I am sure 

he would call for a post 

mortem to know how far 

and what went wrong and 

how we found ourselves in 

this kind of situation. 

“We have another election 

on October 10 in Ondo. In 

Ondo also, APC did not 

win the Presidential 

election in 2019 and so, that 

is very dicey. Although we 

are in a good place; the 

governor has done most of 

the reconciliation that he 

needed to do based on 

what the reconciliation 

committee recommended to 

him. We hope that we are 

in a good place but we are 

not going to take anything 

for granted any longer. 

Buhari, Buni, 

Ganduje meet in 

Aso Rock 

President Buhari, 

yesterday, met behind 

closed doors with Mai 

Mala Buni, and Governor 

Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano 

State at the Presidential 

Villa, Abuja. 

Governor Ganduje was 

the chairman of the APC 

Campaign Council for the 

just concluded Edo 

governorship election. 

Although the meeting 

was described as private, it 

may not be unconnected to 

the Edo governorship 

election. 

The APC Caretaker 

Committee Chairman, who 

is also the governor of Yobe 

State and Ganduje were 

seen departing the 

president’s office using a 

route to deliberately avoid 

State House reporters. 

Ganduje and his Imo 

State counterpart, Hope 

Uzodimma, spent the 

weekend in Benin City as 

they hoped to oversee the 

victory of the APC in the 

poll. 

APC set to win 3 

weeks ago but... 

– El-Rufai 

Kaduna State Governor, 

Nasir El-Rufai, yesterday, 

said he was surprised at the 

loss of the APC in the Edo 

State governorship election 

because three weeks to the 

election, polls indicated 

that the APC was set to win. 

“We would have loved to 

win,” El-Rufai said, during 

an interview on Sunrise 

Daily. “Quite frankly I was 

optimistic. Up to three 

weeks ago, the polls 

indicated that we were 

going to win. I don’t know 

what happened in the last 

two, three weeks of the 

campaign. 

“As you know, a large 

number of voters make up 

their minds in the last two 

weeks of election. Many 

voters decide, no matter 

what happens, this is how 

I am voting. But most 

people want to wait and 

watch and make up their 

minds in the last two 

weeks. 

“Three weeks ago, the 

polls clearly showed that 

APC was going to win, but 

the results came out 

differently from what we 

expected.” 

However, El-Rufai 

commended President 

Buhari for his policy of noninterference 

in elections. 

“The election was 

reasonably decent,” he 

said. “We were all worried 

about violence; there was 

very little violence or none 

at all. So Obaseki has won, 

that’s it. You can’t go into 

an election without 

averting your mind to the 

possibility of losing.” 

How 

Oshiomhole, 

Tinubu, cost 

APC, Ize-Iyamu 

dearly- Ojo 

Jackson Lekan Ojo, an 

APC top-notcher from Oyo 

State attributed the failure 

of the party’s candidate, 

Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, to 

what he called the 

overbearing influence of 

Comrade Adams 

Oshiomhole, and Asiwaju 

Bola Ahmed Tinubu. 

Reacting to the outcome 

of the election, Ojo berated 

Oshiomhole and Tinubu 

for their display of 

“unnecessary influence,” 

adding that the manner 

Obaseki was treated in the 

build-up to the APC 

primary election, won him 

huge number of supporters 

across the state. 

In an exclusive chat with 

Vanguard, Ojo advanced 

reasons APC failed to pick 

the only state in the South- 

South it controlled for 12 

years. 

“Adams Oshiomhole’s 

overbearing influence on 

the campaign train affected 

the chances of APC and its 

candidate. I know Ize- 

Iyamu to be a grassroots 

politician in Edo State 

politics but the involvement 

of Oshiomhole cost him 

dearly. People should 

realize that the forces that 

removed Oshiomhole as 

APC national chairman are 

still very much around. He 

was removed even though 

he was a very powerful 

party chairman. That 

means the powers and 

influence he had then have 

now reduced drastically. So 

those forces fought him 

again and Ize-Iyamu. 

“Secondly, Nigerians are 

not fools. They know that 

the high level of insecurity 

in the country has not been 

well handled by the APCled 

government. The same 

is true of the economy and 

nothing is working at the 

moment. So, the people 

decided to vote against the 

party. The over 200,000 

votes Ize-Iyamu got were 

earned based on his 

personality, not because of 

the APC platform. The 

party added no value to his 

contest. If APC was of any 

help, Obaseki couldn’t 

have reached anywhere. 

Ojo also faulted 

Oshiomhole’s decision to 

apologize for the words he 

used in describing Ize- 

Iyamu during the 2016 

governorship campaign 

saying “I said earlier that 

Oshiomhole should have 

withdrawn himself from 

the campaign. If he was not 

a member of the campaign 

team, there would have 

been no need to apologize 

for the words he uttered in 

2016. The words he used 

in describing Ize-Iyamu in 

2016 were heavy and they 

became campaign tools for 

PDP. Oshiomhole played a 

prominent role in the defeat 

Ize-Iyamu suffered in this 

election.” 

Be 

magnanimous in 

victory, 

Obasanjo urges 

Obaseki 

Former President 

Obasanjo has called on 

Governor Obaseki to be 

magnanimous in victory, as 

it was charitable and would 

cool passions in the wider 

interest of the state and 

country. 

Obasanjo said Obaseki’s 

victory was a proof that the 

people of the state valued 

his leadership and 

appreciated his efforts on 

their behalf. 

“I salute you and all those 

who worked for your reelection,” 

Obasanjo stated 

in a congratulatory letter 

signed by his Special 

Assistant on Media, 

Kehinde Akinyemi, on 

Monday. 

He wrote: “No doubt, the 


broadly reflects the choice 

of Nigerians who have, by 

their conduct, visibly 

demonstrated that they 

value our present 

democracy and will do their 

utmost to make it work. 

“I urge you, therefore, to 

reciprocate their trust by 

doing everything you can 

to strengthen their faith in 

democracy and in its ability 

to bring about improved 

material conditions and 

better service delivery. I 

also count on your support 

of well-meaning Nigerians 

like me in our quest for 

national peace, stability and 

economic development and 

trust that you will play an 

active and visible role in our 

pursuit of these noble and 

desirable objectives. 

“You have fought and 

won the elections and 

deserve to savour the 

victory despite all the odds 

and challenges posed by 

opposition. As you rejoice, 

however, I would urge that 

you should be 

magnanimous in victory 

and stretch a hand of 

fellowship to the other 

candidates who failed in 

their bid for the elected 

office. 

“Such a gesture is not 

only charitable but should 

also help at this time to cool 

passions in the wider 

interest of the nation and 

your State. You are now, as 

before, Governor of Edo 

State and not Governor of 

only those who voted for 

you in Edo State.” 

APC lost to 

internal 

squabbles 

– Apugo 

Prince Benjamin Apugo, 

while attributing the 

party’s loss to internal 

wrangling, said it was 

Continues on Page 27


Why we lost Edo to PDP, by APC 

chieftains 

Continues from Page 26 

regrettable that APC had to 

lose an election it could 

have won convincingly if 

not for avoidable internal 

squabbles. “Edo State was 

APC until few months ago 

when the governor and his 

supporters decamped as a 

result of internal wrangling 

which some of us think was 

unnecessary in the first 

place.” 

“I think that enough 

lessons should have been 

learnt from what happened 

in Edo State last weekend 

when APC threw away a 

state that was in her firm 

grip, but we are putting 

that behind us. We are 

putting what happened in 

Edo behind us and APC is 

definitely going to win 

Ondo and other states in 

subsequent elections, more 

so when new blood has 

been injected into the 

leadership of the party,” he 

said. 

Jegede 

congratulates 

Obaseki, asks 

Ondo voters to 

choose good 

governance 

The Ondo State PDP 

governorship candidate for 

the October 10 poll, Eyitayo 

Jegede, SAN has 

congratulated Governor 

Obaseki on his victory and 

asked voters in Ondo to 

choose good governance. 

Jegede in a statement said 

the result of the election was a 

manifestation of the people’s 

conviction that the PDP is the 

credible alternative that can 

provide good governance for 

the people. 

The statement was signed by 

the Head, Media Research of 

his campaign Organisation, 

Samuel Fasua. 

“I express personal joy at the 

victory of Governor Godwin 

Obaseki of Edo State; 

particularly for the fact that it 

symbolised Nigerians’ 

disenchantment with the 

ensuing poor leadership 

under the APC and their 

conviction that a PDP 

government is the credible 

alternative.” 

“What has taken place in 

Edo thus beckons our good 

people of Ondo State to bear 

their destiny in their hands, by 

similarly rejecting these 

feudal lords posing as 

democratic leaders, and elect 

the PDP in the October 10 

governorship election,” he 

said. 

I didn’t reject poll 

result 

– Uzodimma 

Imo State Governor, 

Senator Hope Uzodimma, 

has distanced himself from a 

report trending in the social 

media that he rejected the 

result of the Edo governorship 

election. 

Dismissing the report as 

fake, the governor who listed 

a litany of similar ‘’fake’’ 

reports he said were meant to 

damage him, said the latest is 

an attempt to discredit him. 

The Imo State government 

urged members of the public 

to regard as fake, a press 

release on Edo governorship 

election credited to the Chief 

Press Secretary to Imo state 

governor, Oguwike 

Nwachukwu and circulated 

on social media. 

The State Commissioner 

for Information and Strategy, 

Declan Emelumba said: “In 

their desperation to discredit 

Governor Uzodimma on the 

outcome of the Edo 

governorship poll, they have 

cast innuendos; insinuating 

that he has rejected the 

outcome of the governorship 

election and that he had 

accused the Independent 

National Electoral 

Commission of being 

compromised, and that the 

All Progressive Congress will 

get judgement from the 

tribunal. 

“Their insinuation also 

includes that the governor said 

that the entire process was 

marred by irregularities from 

INEC officials who, they 

claimed, sabotaged the 

system. 

Obviously relying on the 

position of Governor 

Uzodimma as the APC 

Deputy Chairman for the Edo 

Governorship Campaign 

Council, the criminal-minded 

writers of the irritating fake 

news did not stop at that. They 

had insinuated that the 

governor described the entire 

exercise as shameful. 

If the authors of the fake 

reports still have some brain 

in their head, something 

would have told them that 

since Governor Uzodimma is 

neither from Edo nor 

Chairman of the APC Media 

Campaign Council, the 

mischief they were primed to 

accomplish will not fly. 

“They were also so daft to 

know that the governor was 

not a candidate in the said 

election and would not have 

spoken on an election he was 

not a candidate.” 

Triumph of people’s will, 

says Senator Mark 

Former President of the 

Senate, Senator David Mark, 

described the re-election of 

Obaseki and his deputy, Philip 

Shaibu as the triumph of 

people’s will. 

Senator Mark in a good will 

message to the duo and the 

PDP family by his Media 

Adviser, Paul Mumeh, 

described the victory as 

freedom for the people and 

enthronement of democratic 

culture and practice in the 

country . 

He said that the 

overwhelming victory of the 

PDP candidate is a testimony 

of the people’s endorsement of 

good governance being 

demonstrated by the Obaseki/ 

Shaibu administration in the 

last four years in Edo State, 

and urged them to be 

magnanimous in victory by 

extending hands of fellowship 

to their opponents and to 

spread social amenities to all 

parts of the state irrespective 

of political differences. 

“The entire state is your 

constituency. Demonstrate 

leadership and magnanimity 

as always to all. Be steadfast 

and work hard as always to 

justify the mandate and trust 

of the citizens of Edo State” 

because “the mandate given 

to you by the people through 

their votes is a direct 

investment that must of a 

necessity attract dividends for 

them.” 

70 CSOs laud 

INEC, Police, 

urge NASS to 

pass electoral 

offences 

commission bill 

The Nigeria Civil Society 

Situation Room, on Monday, 

commended the INEC for 

conducting what it termed as 

a much-improved 

governorship election in Edo 

State. 

The Situation Room which 

is a coalition of 70 Civil 

Society Organizations, CSOs, 

that monitored the 

governorship election, urged 

INEC to ensure that the 

progress made with 

improvements in its conduct 

of the election, are deepened 

and sustained during the 

Ondo State governorship 

election scheduled for October 

10 

Ṫhe coalition, which issued 

a statement on reports of 

observers that monitored the 

Edo governorship election 

from commencement of polls 

to the collation of results, 

further commended the 

professionalism and conduct 

of the Police and some of the 

security agencies deployed for 

election duty. 

The Situation Room 

however noted that the 

menace of vote trading 

appeared to have worsened, 

decrying that “politicians are 

increasingly investing monies 

to buy votes, with voters 

appearing to be willing to sell 

their votes.” 

It urged the National 

Assembly to urgently proceed 

with legislative action to 

ensure the passage of the 

Electoral Offences 

Commission Bill that creates 

a body to enforce respect for 

election laws. 

The statement, which was 

signed by the convener of 

Nigeria Civil Society 

Situation Room, Mr. Clement 

Nwankwo, read in part: “The 

administration of the Edo 

State Governorship Election 

appears to have been a 

marked improvement on 

recent previous governorship 

elections. 

“INEC’s processes appeared 

to operate smoothly. The 

logistics issues of distribution 

of materials, deployment of 

staff and challenges in the 

Voters’ Register were 

significantly reduced. In 

addition, security personnel 

acted professionally. 

“The usual issues cited such 

as logistical challenges and 

overbearing security presence 

were less of an issue in this 

election, although the 

challenge of vote buying/ 

trading was still prevalent... 

“There was an improved use 

of Smart Card Readers in the 

election, as they were widely 

deployed and utilised across 

the state. Isolated cases of card 

reader malfunctions observed 

were reported to have been 

rectified, with voting resuming 

soon afterwards. 

“On a general note, 

Situation Room commends 

the professionalism and 

conduct of the Police and some 

of the security agencies 

deployed for election duty. 

“Reports received by 

Situation Room indicate that 

security personnel wore 

identification tags and 

intervened to resolve 

disruptions that arose in some 

voting locations. 

“Situation Room however 

received reports of some 

Nigerian military personnel 

harassing and intimidating 

COVID-19: It is premature to say 

Nigeria is flattening curve — EXPERT 

...Says country’s sampling system has collapsed 

By Chioma Obinna & 

Gabriel Olawale 

A 

renowned 

molecular biology 

laboratory expert, Dr 

Casmier Ifeanyi on 

Monday cautioned 

Nigerians against 

jubilating over a statement 

credited to the Presidential 

Task Force on COVID-19 

that the country was 

gradually flattening the 

curve of the COVID-19 

pandemic, saying, Nigeria 

was not yet out of the 

woods. 

Last week, the PTF 

Chairman and Secretary to 

the Government of the 

Federation, SGF, Mr Boss 

Mustapha, hinted that 

Nigeria was beginning to 

flatten the curve with 

regards to the COVID-19 

pandemic, even as he 

warned against 

complacency to avoid a 

second wave pandemic. 

Flattening the curve 

refers to community 

isolation measures that 

keep the daily number of 

COVID-19 cases at a 

manageable level. 

Ifeanyi, who is also the 

Secretary-General of the 

Association of Medical 

Laboratory Scientists of 

Nigeria, AMLSN, 

debunked the claim. 

In a chat with Good 

Health Weekly, he argued 

that from all the 

parameters for measuring 

the gains of the COVID- 

19 response so far, it was 

premature to say that 

Nigeria was out of the 

woods. 

“While the other parts of 

the world are talking about 

the resurgence of second 

and third waves of COVID- 

19, it’s sad that a country 

which has not tested up to 

700,000 out of about 200 

million population is 

claiming to be already 

flatting the curve. 

“Such a claim is 

laughable when you just 

resumed international 

flights and allowed 

students to go back to 

school. The claim is not in 

line with experiences from 

other parts of the world. 

“This is a global 

pandemic and as long as 

other regions are not out of 

the woods, it would be 

misleading to convince the 

world that Nigeria is 

flattening the curve.” 

According to Ifeanyi, 

most of what is been done 

in this part of the world as 

regarding COVID-19 

response is largely copy 

and paste due to reliance 

on modelling from another 

part of the world. 

“For us, the managers of 

COVID-19 should hold on 

as the economic and 

educations begin to open 

up before claiming that we 

are flatting the curve. 

Because we have moved 

from 500 cases a day to less 

than 200 consecutively for 

some days now, doesn’t 

mean that we are out of the 

woods because our testing 

A COVID-19 molecular lab in operation. 

capacity has significantly 

reduced. 

“You have done less than 

600,000 tests and you want 

us to believe that you have 

flattened the curve of a 

global pandemic? It’s 

laughable. 

“Our testing volume 

doesn’t meet the 

recommendation, what we 

are suffering from is apathy 

in sampling, the sampling 

system has collapsed.” 

He said initially the 

system was booming but 

he blamed the managers 

of not managing the 

situation well as a result of 

which some of the 

volunteers have backed 

out. “Nigeria has over 

20,000 private laboratories 

with over 4,000 duly 

registered but they fail to 

ride on it,” he avowed. 

On the reopening of 

schools and other public 

places, Ifeanyi noted: 

“Most countries have gone 

back to lockdown because 

of re-opening of school or 

economy. South Africa 

opened up their businesses 

and now they are back with 

worse cases.” 

He warned that “if we do 

not have experience with 

the full opening of various 

sectors, it will not be 

appropriate to say we are 

flattening the curve 

because we now have 

international flights from 

countries that are 

experiencing a second 

wave why some countries 

have ban flights from such 

countries. 

“I think the managers 

should have a rethink, we 

cannot say it's safe yet we 

are not out of the woods. It 

is wrong timing to say we 

are flattening the curve 

when we have not done 

enough scientifically.” 

In its own response to the 

claim, the Nigerian 

Medical Association, 

NMA, challenged the 

Federal Government to 

produce evidence that the 

country was indeed 

flattening the curve. 

In a chat, the President 

of the NMA, Prof Innocent 

Ujah, said the country is 

doing less tests now even 

as he argued that the 

determinant is the number 

of tests done. 

AXA Mansard seeks right mental 

balance in business environment 

By Chioma Obinna 

For 

proper 

transformation to 

continue in a business 

environment, AXA 

Mansard Insurance PLC 

has stressed the need for 

players in the business 

environment to possess 

capacity in emotional 

intelligence with the right 

mental balance. 

Stating this position 

during its webinar themed: 

""Transformational 

leadership in the Evolving 

Business Environment", the 

company stressed that 

having good mental health 

encompasses staying 

positive, limiting exposure 

to so many news and social 

media, seeking and 

developing a support 

system, family, friends, 

exercise, physical and 

mental exercise as well as 

reaching out to a 

psychotherapist. 

Speaking, the Head of 

Energy and Emerging 

Corporate, Mr. Akinlolu 

Akinyele, explained that 

the event was to improve 

collaboration with partners 

in the broking community, 

as well as deepened 

technical excellence and 

overall growth of the 

insurance industry. The 

webinar focused on mental 

health awareness, 

transformational 

leadership, emotional 

intelligence and its 

impact on the industry 

currently. 

Speaking, the duo of 

Head Preventives and 

Wellness unit, AXA 

Mansard Health, Dr. 

Edeigbini Omokhudu 

and, Principal Consultant 

and C.E.O, VTB 

Consulting Limited, 

Victor Tamunokuro 

Briggs stressed the need 

for people to pay 

attention to their mental 

state as it affects. Saying; 

"It is a state of being that 

appreciates his or her own 

abilities and can cope 

with the normal stresses 

of life; thus, making him 

or her productive to 

themselves and to the 

society. 

They also explained 

that with every state in 

life, there can also be a 

state of disequilibrium or 

imbalance which is 

referred as mental illness.

C 

M 

Y 

K 


TRIBUTE 

SOT: A Worthy Matriarch at 60 

By MOBOLAJI SANUSI 

Only a life lived for others is a life 

worthwhile —Albert Einstein 

WE, as human beings, prefer 

to live. But not all lives are 

worth celebrating because not all 

lives qualify to be described as 

impactful even when accorded an 

opportunity to make it so. 

However, it gives joy to state, with 

all sense of decorum, that on 

September 21, Senator Oluremi 

Tinubu, SOT, the adorable wife of 

my political father and benefactor 

(omo olodo ide), Asiwaju Bola 

Ahmed Akanbi Tinubu - The 

Jagaban of Borgu land- falls into 

the category of those who deserve 

to be celebrated for her attaining 

an eventfully depth-filled three 

scores on mother earth. 

She is a savant in the public 

service of this country that is 

playing a momentous 

complementary role in Asiwaju’s 

service to political development of 

the country and humanity as a 

whole. 

On SOT, I have an illuminating 

experience to share with readers. 

In my four years, three months in 

the public service of Lagos State, 

SOT made an indelible impression 

on me out of all the people that I 

was privileged to come across as 

the immediate past Managing 

Director/CEO of Lagos State 

Signage and Advertisement 

Agency, LASAA. 

In our clime where being close to 

a man of immense political power, 

not to talk of being the wife of such 

a man, carries a lot of awesome 

privileges, unnecessary hubris 

and undeniable authority, SOT, 

stands out for her humility, 

mental acuity, no-nonsense 

disposition, humane outlook and 

unusual respect for those hovering 

round her powerful husband 

seeking one favour or the other or 

sometimes coming around to pay 

obeisance to the man for past 

favours received, to curry 

anticipated assistance, or that 

daily throngs their residence to 

reaffirm their continuing loyalty 

to the man. 

Viewed from these prisms, one 

could, with all sincerity of purpose, 

tell the whole world that SOT is 

devoid of empty guile that is 

usually the hallmark of wives/ 

children of powerful political 

figures. As a senator, she has been 

a pride to her constituents; as a 

•Senator Oluremi Tinubu 

wife, a devoted better half to her 

husband, committed mother to 

her kids, devoted Christian and a 

study in humility and firmness to 

the many who crossed her paths, 

including someone like me in my 

brief encounters with her. SOT, 

from personal study, is not fond of 

throwing her weight 

unnecessarily around. My first 

encounter with her was as 

interesting as it was intriguing. 

She had wanted a request for 

someone and she called me directly 

on my line unlike others in her 

shoes who would bark orders at you 

through a third party. I missed her 

calls, and more intriguing with 

that call was the fact that I did not 

have her number on my phone. 

Not minding my undue ‘insolence’ 

of not picking her calls, she sent 

me a text message introducing 

herself. When I saw the text and 

her missed calls, I immediately 

called her and apologised for 

missing her calls and only called 

back when I saw her text message. 

She was on the other end very 

calm and surprisingly respectful, 

addressing me with the prefix ‘Mr’ 

and ending her statements with 

‘sir’. To a minion like me in the 

political compound of her powerful 

hubby, it is unbelievably 

commendable. SOT did not end the 

call with an order but a plea to me 

to meet the person she’s interceding 

for and to consider her request if it 

is not inimical to the interest of the 

agency. I thanked her and later 

met the person before getting back 

to her. This is a sharp contrast from 

many wives or spoilt brats of 

powerful men who erroneously 

believe that underserved respects 

must be accorded them even when 

they’re not known to have 

successfully handled any known 

business or occupied any noticeable 

office, other than using their 

patriarch’s influence to wreak 

havoc on the system. SOT does not 

belong in this category, for she’s 

using her spousal relationship to 

further elevate the BAT brand, not 

to diminish it. SOT has character 

which has to do with how one treats 

those who have nothing to offer. 

Another example was during last 

year’s election when I was still the 

SOT has 

character 

which has to do 

with how one 

treats those 

who have 

nothing to offer 

head of the 

outdoor 

regulatory 

agency, 

SOT stood 

o u t 

amongst 

t h e 

candidates 

of all the 

political 

parties that 

contested in the state. It needs no 

repeat to state that most politicians 

exhibit lawlessness when it comes to 

especially the issue of deployments 

of outdoor advertising materials. The 

politicians, irrespective of position, 

education or class have no respect 

for the law but SOT, with all sincerity 

and sense of public duty, does not 

belong to that lawless class. On 

countless number of occasions, she 

either called me personally or 

through Alawiye King, the then 

Director General of her campaign 

office to ask for the position of the 

law or how best to go before 

embarking on any political 

campaign materials deployment. 

SOT hates being identified with 

abuse of power or immoral flexing 

of muscle. I say with all sense of 

responsibility that she’s one of the 

very few candidates who paid 

outdoor advertising practitioners 

for outdoor exposures, not waiting 

for freebies, and the only political 

figure that made my job as a 

regulator easy, pre- and postelectioneering 

seasons. 

My very last official encounter 

with her was when she sent a letter 

of request for the placement of some 

graduate interns in the agency - 

all expenses paid by her. Despite 

having sent the agency a formal 

request, she, in her humble self, 

followed up with a personal call to 

me, taking her valuable time to 

explain, the laudable objective of 

the initiative to her constituents. 

Without being immodest to others, 

even in lesser shoes to that of SOT, 

they’re known to bark orders at 

you through an aide rather than 

‘descend’ to the level of talking 

directly with a minion head of an 

agency. From personal experience, 

some spoilt brats will usually expect 

you to accede to their illegal 

bidding because of their false sense 

of importance, probably working 

for your removal from office as if 

that is the end of the world. SOT is 

not in this misguided class. 

From my psychological 

dissection, as a journalist/lawyer 

and trained managerial 

psychologist, l could discern that 

she was just acting her real, 

humble, stern and firm self. Again, 

my encounter with her after 

leaving LASAA affirmed her 

humanely humble disposition to be 

real, despite being highly placed and 

married to Jagaban. 

I have gone this far to underscore 

the fact of SOT’s humanity as 

against the empty haughtiness that 

is known to be the hallmark of wives 

and children of powerful men of 

power, in the corporate and 

especially the political worlds. 

Several others that l selflessly 

assisted, both high and low, close or 

far friends/relations, have not 

deemed it necessary to check on me 

not to talk of finding out whether l 

am faring well but such is life. 

Back to SOT, the matriarch of our 

political family. She has carved an 

enduring niche for herself as a 

noteworthy public figure, not by 

completely relying on the name of 

her husband or exploiting her 

feminine gender as an excuse. She 

has, through her commitment to 

public service and humanity in 

general, become a beacon of hope 

of how far and better a woman can 

perform, given the right atmosphere. 

As a First Lady of Lagos state, she 

set up the First Era Foundation that 

came up amongst others with the 

pioneer Spelling Bees competition 

and One -Day-Governor for the 

winner of an academic competition 

among secondary school students in 

the state. The two competitions, still 

retain their importance till date. As 

a Senator of the Federal Republic, 

so far, she has deployed her resources, 

time and energy to truly serve 

humanity. SOT is always in contact 

with her constituents through her 

well organized and attended Town 

Hall Meeting to render accounts of 

her stewardship thereby collating 

cogent feedbacks in the process. 

SOT is not a benchwarmer in the 

Red Chamber of The Senate as her 

sponsored bills have serious 

positive consequences on the polity: 

Is it her sponsored bill on Social 

Security for Elderly Citizens; her 

bill seeking amendment of the 

Labour Act meant to enhance 

employment opportunities for 

women in the country or her 

sponsored bill to provide Special 

Economic Assistance to the center 

of excellence to mitigate the 

pressure on the state arising from 

being the former federal capital 

and the melting point for all ethnic 

nationalities in the country. It is 

on record that she gives yearly 

scholarship and grants to her 

constituents running into several 

millions of naira. 

Tertiary institutions like Sir 

Michael Otedola College of 

Primary Education, The Lagos State 

University, Adeniran Ogunsanya 

College of Education have all 

benefited from her boisterous 

influence in the Senate. Some 

primary and secondary schools in 

Lagos also got federal attention 

through SOT’s influence. She is the 

convener of the annual Musical 

Youth Fiesta Initiative designed to 

promote Godly lifestyle amongst 

our youth. 

SOT is deservedly a recipient of 

the national award of the Order of 

the Niger, OON. SOT’s life is a study 

in leadership. This is a lesson to other 

wives/children of powerful figures 

that, being virtuous, humble, 

hardworking and being committed 

to a cause are four of the key 

ingredients that can turn them to 

successful brands that SOT has 

become and not by throwing 

unnecessary weight of their 

husbands/parents around to compel 

undue recognition. 

The wives, sons and daughters of 

powerful figures must learn from the 

model lifestyle and positive 

approach to public service of SOT 

as she clocks 60 years on earth. To a 

pious woman, adoring mother, 

conscientious wife to Jagaban, a 

committed public spirited officer 

and matriarch of our political 

family, l say a hearty happy 60th 

birthday Yeye Asiwaju. 

Congratulations Ma. 

•Sanusi, immediate past MD/ 

CEO of LASAA, is a lawyer/ 

journalist, who resides in 

Lagos. 

Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020—29 

:Vanguard 

Edo: Owan West LG boss lauds 

Obaseki's victory 

By Ozioruva Aliu 

BENIN CITY—CHAIRMAN 

Owan West local government 

area, Hon Frank Ilaboya has lauded 

the victory of Governor Godwin 

Obaseki and his Deputy, Comrade 

Philip Shaibu, describing the 

victory as an expression of the 

wishes of the people of Edo State. 

In a press statement signed by 

Ilaboya an ace Sports Journalist, he 

paid tributes to Obaseki and his 

administrative acumen. Owan 

West local government area is the 

only council Obaseki and the 

Peoples Democratic Party won out 

of the six councils that make up Edo 

north. 

Governor Godwin Obaseki, the 

PDP candidate polled a total of 

307,955 votes to defeat his 

opponent, Mr. Osagie Ize-Iyamu of 

the APC, who scored a total 223,619 

Isoko North PDP resolves to retain 

zoning for elective positions 

By Ochuko Akuopha 

OZORO—THE 

Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, in 

Isoko North Local Government 

Area, Delta State, has reaffirmed its 

resolve to retain the current zoning 

arrangement and status quo of the 

various elective positions in the 

forthcoming elections. 

Briefing newsmen on the outcome 

of a joint meeting of the party's LGA 

Executives and 13 ward Chairmen, 

Legal Adviser of the PDP in the 

council area, Mr. Isaac Atikueke, 

said the resolution was in the 

interest of peace, unity and stability 

of the party in the local government 

area. 

He said the "party at both LGA 

and Ward levels appreciated the 

state Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa 

for his unwavering support to the 

party and making the party to attain 

a limelight position across the state. 

Atikueke disclosed that the party 

constituted a seven-man 

disciplinary committee headed by 

Mr. Isaiah Onokowake, even as he 

noted that the party called on those 

"who initially left the party pre-2019 

general election" to "officially return 

to the party through their ward 

Chairmen" 

The party, at the meeting, passed 

a vote of confidence on the Mr. Leo 

Ogor led leadership of the party for 

the manner they have been piloting 

the affairs of the party in Isoko North 

and the Chairman of the PDP in the 

LGA, Prince Godwin Ogorugba "for 

his exemplary leadership style that 

is making the party more united, 

peaceful and formidable in the local 

government." 

Edo people have proven themselves 

worthy of emulation —Tajudeen 

Bello-Osagie 

B 

ENIN CITY—A social com 

mentator and businessman, 

Tajudeen Osagie, has commended 

the people of Edo State for a 

peaceful election, devoid of violence. 

According to him, "The good 

people of Edo State have acquitted 

themselves well in the discharge 

of their civic duties and 

have also proven themselves to be 

worthy of emulation by other 

states." 

He lauded the role played by the 

Oba of Benin Ewuare II, noting 

"The Oba's intervention and call 

for peace between the two leading 

candidates of the APC and PDP 

led to a dousing of tension in the 

polity." 

Okoko's death, huge loss to Ijaw 

nation —Ezonebi 

ASABA—THE 

Publicity 

Secretary-elect in the 

inconclusive election of the Ijaw 

National Congress, INC, Engineer 

Oyakemeagbegha Ezonebi, has 

commiserated with the immediate 

family and the entire Ijaw nation on 

the death of Professor Kimse 

Okoko. 

Ezonebi described the death of 

the former president of the congress 

and Emeritus Professor of Political 

Science at University of Uyo as a 

huge loss to the Ijaw nation and the 

country at large. 

votes. 

The statement reads:"It was one 

of the longest and toughest 

electioneering campaigns ever in 

the history of Edo Politics, but thank 

God for giving us victory, a well 

deserved one for that matter. 

"Edo people spoke loudly and 

clearly that we are a collection of 

people whose voices and will must 

be respected at a decisive moment 

like this. 

“It was a battle between godfather 

and the good people of the state, a 

battle of light over darkness, and as 

always, the voice of the people 

remains the voice of God. 

“We give God all the glory for 

making what the doubting 

Thomases think was impossible. 

"I have no doubt that the next four 

years will witness another phase of 

taking Edo State to an enviable level 

that will make the citizens and 

indeed all Nigerians very proud of 

the governor and his team.” 

He also commended President 

Muhammadu Buhari for ensuring 

a free and fair election in the state. 

He said, "This wouldn't have 

been possible without the president's 

clear directive to the electoral 

body, INEC and relevant security 

agencies to ensure a hitch 

free poll." He appealed to the President 

to pass the pending Electorate 

Act into law, 

According to him, "This would 

further entrench and imbibe the 

tenets of democracy in the polity 

and ensure a long and enduring 

legacy for the president." 

Congratulating the winner of the 

election and current Governor 

Godwin Obaseki for a hard fought 

victory, he enjoined him to extend 

a hand of fellowship to his main 

rival, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu 

In a condolence message he 

issued in Asaba, Ezonebi expressed 

shock at the passing of Prof. Okoko, 

noting that the former Ijaw leader 

was a source of inspiration and a 

dependable mentor to the younger 

generation of Ijaws. 

He said: “He gave purposeful 

leadership to the Ijaw National 

Congress, and his wise counsel and 

sense of direction would be greatly 

missed.” 

He urged the family to take solace 

in the fulfilled and impactful life the 

renowned Professor lived, praying 

God to grant the soul of the departed 

eternal rest.


Exploration rises as Nigeria records marginal increase in rig count 

By Sebastine Obasi 

NIGERIA recorded a slight 

improvement by two, in its 

rig count in August, having posted 

eight, as against six recorded in July. 

This is coming at a time the 

Organisation of Petroleum 

Exporting Countries, OPEC posted 

a dismal minus 15, as its August 

record showed 377, as against 392 

posted in July, latest data from 

OPEC shows. 

World rig count, however, 

improved by 19, as the record for 

the month of August stood at 1,168 

against 1,149 posted in July. 

Libya was the only country that 

equalled Nigeria’s plus two record, 

among the 13-member OPEC, as 

its August rig count stood at 13 as 

against 11 recorded the previous 

month. Angola completed the 

group that made improvement 

having recorded one in August as 

against none recorded the previous 

month. Saudi Arabia, the biggest 

OPEC producer led the loser’s 

group with its minus nine, having 

posted a record of 83 in August, as 

against 92 posted the previous 

month. It was followed by Kuwait, 

which had minus six, as its August 

record showed 43, against 49 

recorded the previous month. Iraq 

had its reduction by three, as its 

record showed 29, as against 32 

posted within the period under 

review. It was closely followed by 

the United Arab Emirates, UAE, 

which had its reduction by two, as 

its record showed 51, as against 53 

posted within the period under 

review. Six OPEC members had 

their rig count unchanged within 

the period under review. Angola, 

Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, 

Iran and Venezuela had 30, 0, 1, 0, 

117 and 1, respectively. 

The United States had minus five, 

as it recorded 250 as against 255 

recorded within the period under 

review, while the United Kingdom 

had its rig count unchanged at four. 

Canada made an impressive plus 

20, as it posted a record of 53 in 

August, as against 33 posted in July. 

The OPEC data also stated that 

crude oil spot prices extended their 

gains in August, climbing to a sixmonth 

high as physical market 

fundamentals continued to recover. 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 

Nigeria’s oil output in fresh downward 

•As FG enforces compliance to OPEC quota 

trend 

By Udeme Akpan, 

Energy Editor 

AMIDST pressures on 

the 2020 revenue generation 

efforts, Nigeria’s oil production, 

mainstay of the budget funding, is 

currently recording a downward 

trend as the third quarter's (Q3’20) 

average output dropped to 1.362 

million barrel per day, mb/d, about 

25 percent down from 1.819 mb/d in 

the corresponding period of 2019, 

Q3’19. 

According to the on month-onmonth, 

MoM, Oil Market Reports of 

the Organisation of Petroleum 

Exporting Countries, OPEC, obtained 

by Energy Vanguard, the nation 

produced 1.353 mb/d and 1.361 mb/ 

d in June and July 2020, against 

1.827 and 1.760 mb/d produced in 

the corresponding periods of 2019. 

It also produced an average of 1.55 

mb/d in the second quarter of 2020 

compared to 1.79 mb/d in the 

corresponding period of 2019, 

showing a 24.5 percent drop, which 

overwhelmed the marginal increase 

recorded in the first quarter of 2020. 

The country produced an average 

of 1.75 mb/d in the first quarter of 

2020 compared to 1.70 mb/d in the 

corresponding period of 2019, thus 

indicating an increase of 4.7 per cent. 

The recent significant declines began 

in June 2020 after OPEC mounted 

•Pipeline vandalism, oil theft persist 

pressure on the country to comply 

with its quota cuts agreed three 

months earlier. 

Nigeria had largely breached the 

OPEC quota agreement in the first half 

of 2020, apparently in a desperate 

measure to stem the drastic fall in its 

revenue following the coronavirus, 

COVID-19 pandemic induced crash in 

oil price. 

Surprisingly, the actual output has 

now gone below the OPEC quota for 

the country put at 1.4 mb/d. At the 

current level of output, Nigeria’s oil 

revenue is expected to come under new 

pressure as it falls significantly below 

the 2020 budget target of 1.8 mb/d. 

This development may impact 

negatively on the ability of the 

government to fund its 2020 revised 

budget. In the 2020 budget 

breakdown obtained by Energy 

Vanguard, the government had 

stated: “The aggregate revenue 

available to fund the 2020 budget is 

projected at N8.42 trillion (3.2% or 

N263.94 billion more than the 

Executive proposal, and 10.9 percent 

more than 2019 Budget of N7.59 

trillion). In aggregate, 44 percent of 

projected revenues is to come from oil 

related sources while 56 percent is to 

be earned from non-oil sources. 

Overall, the size of the budget has been 

constrained by our relatively low 

revenues.” 

However, the government had 

projected to use its condensate 

component of crude oil output to make 

up for the output shortfalls. Energy 

Vanguard learnt that the addition of 

the condensate component brings 

Nigeria’s total output to 1.7 mb/d, 

though it is still below the 1.8 mb/d 

2020 budgeted target. 

In the Oil Production Status report 

obtained by Energy Vanguard, the 

Department of Petroleum Resources, 

DPR, stated that Nigeria produced 

about 350,000 barrels of condensate 

daily, which were not captured in 

OPEC reports, thus bringing Nigeria’s 

total output to 1.7 mb/d. At the 

current oil price of $42.60 per barrel, 

the oil revenue appears to also 

compensate for the output shortfall as 

the revenue expectation is based on 

$28 per barrel. 

OPEC quota 

The drop in production was 

attributed partly to Nigeria’s moves 

to comply with OPEC quota, which 

restricted the nation to 1.4 mb/d 

following the decision of OPEC+ to cut 

supply by 10 mb/d between May and 

June 2020, 8 mb/d between July and 

December 2020, and 6 mb/d from 

January 2021 to April 2022, 

respectively. Consequently, the 

country is required to produce 1.412 

mb/d, 1.495 mb/d and 1.579 mb/d 

between May and June, July and 

December and January 2021 and 

April 2022, respectively. 

Pipeline vandalism, oil theft 

Though oil industry authorities 

have not given reasons for the recent 

downward trend in the country’s oil 

output, Energy Vanguard findings 

reveal that pipeline vandalism and 

oil theft are still plaguing the industry. 

Our correspondent, who visited 

Bayelsa State, a major location for oil 

production activities, had some 

encounters with the illegal operations 

on the land, swamp and offshore. 

In its Briefing Notes, obtained by 

Energy Vanguard, Shell Petroleum 

Development Company Limited 

stated that pipeline vandalism and oil 

theft have impacted very negatively 

on its operations. Nevertheless, it was 

gathered that these vices thrive 

because the locals work with their 

foreign collaborators to supply the 

stolen oil to, not only the illegal 

refineries, but also abroad, thus 

depriving the nation of huge foreign 

exchange. 

Experts’ comment 

However, in an interview with 

Energy Vanguard, the founding 

Managing Director, Niger Delta 

Exploration and Production Plc, Dr. 

Layi Fatona, said: “Production 

curtailment arising from OPEC cuts 

is being effectively imposed and 

monitored. To increase Nigeria’s 

production output, we have to create 

the opportunity to use the crude oil 

locally and internally. The excess 

capacity now out of use due to the nonfunctioning 

of our refineries remains 

a major source of concern. Of course 

the illegal stealing of crude oil 

continues with very negative impact 

on the nation’s economy. Everyone 

can see and feel the effect. Indeed, 

Nigeria has ‘lost’ a major proportion of 

its foreign exchange earnings.” 

Similarly, Lead Promoter, 

EnergyHub, Dr. Felix Amieyeofori, 

said: “Nigeria has the capacity to 

produce about 2.0 mb/d, despite the 

Niger Delta issues, but had to submit 

to the 23 members OPEC+ quota 

restriction because of the COVID19 

pandemic with the hope of shoring up 

crude prices. Unfortunately, the prices 

have not picked up significantly as 

expected because it is mostly hinged 

on the pandemic. 

“Besides, the industry, especially, 

the upstream segment has been 

bedevilled by many issues, including 

the delay in passage of the Petroleum 

Industry Bill, PIB, which has created 

significant investment disincentives 

and the various challenges in the 

Niger Delta, resulting in untold 

hardship, loss of humans, facilities and 

revenues in the industry. Of course, 

the Ease of Doing Business, and the 

general country risks, especially 

political, security, poor infrastructure 

and unstable macroeconomic indices 

are all working against the growth of 

the industry. 

Way forward 

“However, if Nigeria must make 

anything out of its vast oil and gas 

resources, it must focus on creating a 

hub for petroleum products through 

refining, petrochemical, and 

aggressive investment in gas 

monetization. Like the USA, Nigeria 

must have to drink its own oil, as it can 

no longer depend 100 per cent on the 

global market. The market has 

become so competitive with 

geopolitical leanings, and of course, 

between the Cold wars of the United 

States dominated West and China/ 

Russia controlled East. Nigeria must 

look inwards to develop adequate 

infrastructure to refine most of its 

petroleum for domestic use and export. 

Exporting crude is no longer the way 

to go. 

“I think the handwritings are clear, 

COVID-19 is here for the long run, and 

its impact on the global economy will 

take some time to wane out. It is 

unlikely that our quota will increase 

beyond 1.5 mb/d soon. Consequently, 

we need to start looking away from oil. 

In addition, we must aggressively 

adapt innovative technologies to 

ensure efficient production of the 

allocated volumes and expand the 

product frontiers. The country must 

also accept to face the reality that oil is 

becoming extinct, and must therefore 

do everything to shift towards gas and 

other renewable and cleaner forms of 

energy. In other words, the world has 

changed and will continue to change. 

Finally, the government and all 

stakeholders must constantly engage 

and share ideas on these realities.” 

However, in another interview with 

Energy Vanguard, Ghana National 

Petroleum Corporation, GNPC, 

Professorial Chair, Oil and Gas 

Economics and Management, 

Institute for Oil and Gas Studies, 

University of Cape Coast, Ghana, Prof. 

Omowumi Iledare, said: “Unlike in the 

past, Nigeria might not be in a position 

to overshoot OPEC quota because of 

capacity constraints. First, many fields 

have matured and in the declining 

phase. Second, insecurity abounds 

where assets to expand capacity 

abound. Third, in my opinion, the 

protracted PIB debates add significant 

uncertainty to development 

investment that takes years to recoup. 

Finally, too, with production coming 

from a relatively high cost deep 

offshore, low oil price is a constraint to 

expand output.”

Suarez terminates 

Barca contract 

•Tipped to join 

Atletico Madrid 

LUIS SUAREZ is officially 

a free agent after agreeing 

to terminate his contract at 

Barcelona. 

The Uruguayan, 33, still had 

one year left on his deal at the 

Nou Camp but was told by 

Ronald Koeman he did not 

feature in his plans in a brutal 

one-minute phone call. 

That triggered an angry 

response from the striker’s 

team-mate and close pal Lionel 

Messi, who rocked the club by 

handing in a transfer request. 

Now the forward is searching 

for a new club after RAC1 

claimed he agreed to give up 

part of his salary to secure an 

early exit from his 

Barca agreement. 

The ex-Liverpool 

and Ajax ace is 

believed to be 

heading to Barca’s 

training ground this 

afternoon to say his 

final goodbyes. 

His departure is 

due to be officially 

confirmed within 

hours, according 

to the report. 

Evra launches a 

stunning attack 

on Man Utd 

Manchester United 

legend Patrice Evra has 

launched a stunning attack on 

his former club in an emotional 

20-minute monologue posted 

on his Instagram account. 

In the devastatingly honest 

social media clip, the 

Frenchman takes aim at Ed 

Woodward, chief transfer 

negotiator Matt Judge and 

former team-mates ‘too scared 

to speak up’. 

One of the main targets of 

his rant is chief executive Ed 

•Agu 

Suarez 

•Musa 

•Patrice Evra 

Woodward, who he claims 

trusts people that he shouldn’t. 

‘If I have a problem with Ed 

Woodward, I won’t talk on 

social media,’ Evra said. ‘I will 

just call him or meet him faceto-face 

about what I think 

about something. 

Moyes favourite to be axed in 

Premier League sack race 

DAVID MOYES is heavy 

favourite to be axed first 

in the 2020-21 Premier League 

sack race after West Ham lost 

their first two games of the 

season. 

The Hammers slipped to a 2- 

0 at home to Newcastle in their 

opening game of the season. 

The East Londoners then lost 

2-1 at Arsenal on Saturday. 

•Moyes 

West Ham, with zero points, 

sit above the drop zone on goal 

difference only, ahead of 

Fulham, Southampton and 

West Brom. Next up in the 

league, West Ham will play 

Wolves, Leicester, Tottenham, 

Manchester City and Liverpool 

in a horror run of matches. 

With that in mind, Moyes has 

now been installed as the 

bookies’ favourite to become the 

first manager to be sacked in 

the Premier League at 2/1 with 

Ladbrokes. 

On the Premier League sack 

race, Alex Apati of Ladbrokes 

said: “West Ham’s fixture list 

doesn’t exactly favour David 

Moyes. 

Emenalo, Olofinjana in running for 

NFF technical director post 

Top officials of the 

Nigerian Football 

Federation, have sounded 

former Chelsea director 

Michael Emanelo as well 

Wolverhampton Wanderers 

official Seyi Olofinjana for the 

vacant post of NFF technical 

director. 

Former Super Eagles defender 

Emenalo was until recently the 

sports director at Ligue 1 club 

AS Monaco, while another exinternational 

Olofinjana has 

risen through the ranks at 

Premier League side Wolves. 

Rohr rolls out 25-man 

Eagles for Cote d’Ivoire, 

Tunisia friendlies 

Super Eagles’ Technical 

Adviser, Gernot Rohr has 

called up 25 players ahead of 

next month’s friendly matches 

against the Elephants of Cote 

•Osimhen d’Ivoire and the Carthage 

Eagles of Tunisia, scheduled 

for Austria. Five other 

players have been put on 

standby. 

In the three –time African 

champions’ first games this 

year, as a result of 

the prolonged 

global coronavirus 

pandemic, Rohr has 

listed top names 

Ahmed Musa, 

Kenneth Omeruo, 

William Ekong and 

Wilfred Ndidi, as 

well as new brooms 

Frank Onyeka and 

•Chidera Chidera Ejuke. 


Former U17 World Cup 

winning goalkeeper Dele 

Alampasu returns to the 

group, as well as 

midfielder Mikel Agu. 

Captain of the most recent 

Nigeria U17 squad, 

Samson Tijani will join up 

with the elite, as well as 

Portugal –based exciting 

wing back Zaidu Sanusi. 

Goalkeeper Maduka 

Okoye, now in The 

Netherlands, is heading to 

Austria as England –based 

forward Kelechi 

Iheanacho also returns. 

Victor Osimhen, now in 

Italy with Napoli, and 

another former U17 World 

Cup winner Samuel 

Chukwueze are also 

called. 

National Principals’ Cup: 

Organisers name Amokachi, 

Dosu, Onyali ambassadors 

•Ex-internationals hail return of tournament 

It was a new dawn in the 

history of school sports on 

Monday as the organisers of 

the re-branded Principal’s 

Cup announced three exinternationals, 

Daniel 

Amokachi, Joseph Dosu and 

Mary Onyali, as the 

ambassadors for the 

competition. 

The trio were products of the 

school sports with Amokachi 

winning the competition in 

1988 after getting to the 

knockout stages a year earlier 

with his school, Government 

College. 

Apart from the unveiling of 

the brand ambassadors for the 

Cup, the official logo and the 

winners’ giant trophy were 

also unveiled. 

The landmark event was 

witnessed by the Minister of 

Youth and Sports 

Development, 

Sunday Dare, 

the Permanent 

Secretary in the 

ministry, Gabriel 

Aduda, the 

consultant for 

the tournament, 

HideaPlus 

Limited, the 

president of the 

Nigeria Football 

Federation, 

•Emenalo 

•Olofinjana 

Amaju Pinnick among others. 

According to the Permanent 

Secretary, the main objective 

of the revived Principal’s Cup 

will be to discover and 

develop talents at the grass 

roots level while also 

exposing them to more 

competition and standard 

facilities. 

“This historic event, the 

unveiling of the 2020 

Principal Cup is yet another 

stride towards the 

actualization of mandates, 

vision and mission of the 

Ministry of youth and sports 

development,” Aduda said. 

In the past, football was the 

only sport tagged with the 

Principal Cup, but the 

ministry has added other 

sports like athletics, Table 

Tennis, Boxing and 

Badminton. 

Golf Hall of Fame excites Ibitayo 

Ilorin base Golfer, 

Oyedele Ibitayo is indeed excited 

when he received nomination into 

Who is Who in Golf in Nigeria, a 500 

page golf book jointly produced by 

Nigeria Golf Federation and a blue 

chip printing home in Abuja, 

Marvelous Mike Press Limited. 

The book which was packaged by 

Nigeria’s foremost Golf writer Tony 

Akhigbe is The Hall of Fame on 

those Nigeria golfers who offered 

selfless services to impact on the 

Fury fires 

salvo at 

Joshua 

•Vacate WBO title, 

fight me in 2021 

WBC heavyweight 

champion Tyson Fury 

has applied pressure on his 

domestic rival, Anthony 

Joshua, to bypass any further 

obligations that stand in the 

way of a 2021 showdown. 

“Rather than fight all these 

mandatories he’s got, I’d say 

just vacate those belts and 

fight the fight everyone wants 

to see,” Fury told Behind the 

Gloves. 

“I ain’t running from you, I 

don’t care about you. I’ll go 

through you like a knife 

through butter. Come and 

fight the big boy, step up to 

the plate and get knocked out. 

Then fight all those easy 

guys. No disrespect to 

Oleksandr Usyk – great 

fighter, cruiserweight world 

champion, probably going to 

be heavyweight champion if 

he fights Anthony Joshua – 

but don’t take my retirement 

cheque, baby. Don’t do it. 

•Fury and Joshua 

FIFA delays 

Akpoguma Super 

Eagles switch 

World soccer governing 

body FIFA is now 

being awaited to give the final 

approval for former Germany 

youth international Kevin 

Akpoguma to be eligible to 

play for Nigeria. 

Super Eagles coach, Gernot 

Rohr disclosed that he would 

have loved to have the 

Hoffenheim towering 

defender to make his debut 

for Nigeria during the 

friendlies against Cote d’ 

Ivoire and Tunisia but that 

wouldn’t be possible. 

The centre-back 

was born to a 

German 

mother 

and a 

Nigerian 

father and 

has •Akpoguma 

represented 

Germany U16, 

U17, U18, 

U19, U20 and 

U20 teams, 

featuring 

in more 

than 60 

games. 

game’s development. 

And in view of this, Ibitayo who has 

impacted on the Ilorin Club he joined 

five years ago in area of tournament 

sponsorships and infrastructural 

development became eminently 

qualified to be among 250 nominees 

published in the historical golf book. 

Oyedele Ibitayo, a staff of The 

Department of Petroleum Resources 

(DPR) said he was totally shocked 

when news got to him that he made 

the Hall of Fame list.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 

TODAY’S CROSSWORD 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION 

TODAY’S PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER 

Across 

1 Brave (8) 

6 Scatter seed (3) 

9 Rule (5) 

10 Altered (7) 

11 Go before (7) 

13 Muscular strength (5) 

14 High regard (6) 

15 North American country (6) 

19 Foolish (5) 

21 Calmed with a drug (7) 

22 Entreat (7) 

23 Large container of milk (5) 

24 Enemy (3) 

25 Christmas time (8) 

Down 

2 Distinguished (7) 

3 Compete in a race (3) 

4 Surpass (6) 

5 Right side of a ship (9) 

6 Greek letter S (5) 

7 Make broader (5) 

8 Threefold (6) 

12 All people (9) 

16 Amaze (7) 

17 Helping (6) 

18 In addition (2,4) 

19 Rigid (5) 

20 Become void (5) 

21 Incision (3) 

How to Play Sudoku 

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

two of the same number). 

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

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

(nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means 

that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row. 

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

multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination. 

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

C 

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22092020 - S-Kaduna: No development without peace, unity— BUHARI

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