14112020 - How to stop IGP from president's control

2 —SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
Fuel price to rise by N7.50/litre as
PPMC hikes ex-depot price
*Sells to marketers at N155.17
*Petrol stations to sell at between N167 and N175/litre
*It’s unacceptable — PDP, as IPMAN kicks too
By Michael Eboh &
James Ogunnaike, By
Dirisu Yakubu
THE Petroleum Prod
ucts Marketing Company,
one of the downstream
subsidiaries of the
Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation, NNPC,
yesterday, hiked the ex-depot
price of Premium Motor
Spirit, PMS, also known as
petrol, by N7.50 per litre to
N155.17 per litre from
N147.67 per litre previously
İn a memo from the Manager
Marketing of the
PPMC, Tijani Ali, to the
Executive Director, Commercial,
EDC, of the PPMC,
the NNPC subsidiary said
the new price would come
into effect from November
13, 2020.
The ex-depot price is the
amount at which the PPMC
sells the commodity at the
depot to retail outlets owners
and fuel marketers
across the country. This
means that at N155.17 per
litre, marketers would be
dispensing the product to
motorists at between N167
and N175 per litre, from Friday,
November 13, 2020.
The PPMC also put the
Ex-coastal price of the commodity
at N130 per litre.
The memo reads: “The
EDC may please refer to the
management directives in
respect of the above subject
(PPMC PMS prices for November
2020) as per the attached
memo.
“In line with the above, we
propose PPMC November
2020 actual prices for PMS
with effect from 13th November
2020, as follows:
PPMC Ex-Coastal Price for
PMS N130 per litre; PPMC
Ex-Depot Price (With collection)
N155.17 per litre.
Above is submitted for your
consideration and approval.”
The Executive Directive,
Commercial, also sought the
approval of the Managing
Director the PPMC, saying:
“Following your directive in
the attached memo to advice
the market of the change on
PPMC portal, we hereby
seek your kind consideration
and approval for the change
of price on the price portal.”
The Managing Director in
his response, Thursday,
November 12, 2020, gave
the EDC the approval for the
hike in the price of the commodity
to be effected.
However, the hike in the
price of the petrol by the
NNPC and the PPMC is
coming against the fact that
the price of crude oil in the
international market had
remained largely unchanged
over the last three
months.
Specifically, earlier in November,
the price of crude
oil had dropped to between
From left: Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq paying homage
to the Emir of Ilorin Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari shortly before the Jumaat
service to commemorate the 25th Coronation Anniversary of the Emir, at
Ilorin Central Mosque, on Friday.
$35 and $37 per barrel, before
rising to $42.97 per litre
as at 8am, November
13, 2020. Crude oil prices
had hovered around $40
and N42 per barrel over the
last three months.
IPMAN kicks against
increase, appeals to FG to
stay action
Meanwhile, the Independent
Petroleum Marketers
Association of Nigeria
(IPMAN) has described
the planned increase
of ex-depot price of
premium motor spirit
from 147.67 to 155.75
without any consideration
for the current economic
and political situation of
the country as uncalled
for.
IPMAN therefore, appealed
to the federal government
to stay action on
the implementation of the
new ex-depot price announced
by the management
of the Nigeria National
Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC).
The South West Zonal
Chairman of IPMAN, Alhaji
Dele Tajudeen, in a
statement issued in
Abeokuta, the Ogun State
capital, said the plea became
necessary so as not
to incur wrath of Nigerians
who are going
through economic hardship.
According to him, “the
increase is exclusive of
marketers margin, transportation,
loading expenses,
saying, that government
is insensitive to the
plight of the marketers and
the masses.
“We are therefore pleading
with federal government
to shelve the
planned increase until
further notice to give
room for consideration
and adjustment.
“Without any consideration
to the stakeholders
plights, the federal government
announced the
new price regime which
NNPC management said
would be effective from today,
Friday, 13th 2020” Tajudeen
stressed with concern”. He
declared that “IPMAN will
hold emergency meeting
with other stakeholders to
trash out this unbecoming
and the arbitrary increase in
the ex-depot prices”.
PMS: N170 pump price
wicked, unacceptable
— PDP
The Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, Friday, described
the recent increment of the
pump price of the Premium
Motor Spirit, PMS, to N170
per litre as wicked and unacceptable,
given the prevailing
economic situation in
the country.
This is as the party insisted
that the increase would
worsen the already suffocating
economic situation in the
country.
In a statement signed by
spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan,
the PDP held that the
ruling All Progressives Congress,
APC, “have no justification
to increase the cost of
fuel to anything above N100
per litre not to talk of “N170,
when there are practical options
to maintain affordable
price given our production
capacity and potentialities.”
The statement continued:
“It is evident that the continuous
increase in the pump
price of fuel under opaque
and nebulous indices is a
product of incompetence and
large scale corruption being
perpetrated by a few individuals
in the Buhari administration,
who are bent on fleecing
Nigerians and holding
our nation to ransom.
“Our party notes that the
APC administration has
failed to come clean on the
parameters being used for
the hike in prices vis-a-vis our
production, export and accruing
revenue.
“Indeed, the APC administration
is not being honest
with Nigerians regarding
the status and volume
of oil production, sales and
accruing revenue.
“This is in addition to its
failure to fix our refineries
and end crude oil theft, allegedly
to aid APC interests.
“This appears to provide
answers to why the APC
administration has failed to
offer any explanation on
huge fraud going on in the
management of our nation’s
oil resources including the
alleged stealing over N9.6
trillion ($25 billion) by APC
interests, as detailed in the
leaked NNPC memo.
“It has also failed to
publish details of its sleazy
oil subsidy regime, including
the involvement
of APC interests in the
claimed under-recovery
for unnamed West African
countries, running into
trillions of naira, while
Nigerians are made to
bear the burden of high
fuel costs.
“Such humongous
fraud in the management
of our oil resources is responsible
for the high
costs and unspeakable
hardship being suffered
by millions of Nigerians
who can barely afford
their meals and basic necessities
of life.
“Our party urges President
Buhari to end the
corruption and the stealing
of our oil resource under
his watch by APC
leaders, recover the looted
resources and immediately
reverse this increase
in price of fuel.
“President Buhari
should also take steps to
fulfill his promise to revamp
our refineries or accept
his failures and apologize
to Nigerians.
“It is still not yet late for
him to get more competent
hands to run our oil sector
instead of imposing more
hardship on Nigerians.”
FG processing $750m W/Bank loan
for states — Finance Minister
Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief
THE federal government is currently procession a
$750 million loan from the World Bank for state
governments to address the impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic among the populace.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, disclosed
this at the inauguration of the committee on Nigeria
Covid-19 Action Recovery for Economic Stimulus
(N-CARES), in Abuja, yesterday.
She said that the administration was determined to
assuage the impacts of the COVID-19 on low-income
earners who form the bulk of the Nigerian population.
Her words, “The diverse and severe impacts of the
COVID-19 pandemic continue to be felt across the world
with significant consequences on informal businesses,
and households that survive on daily income and the
peasant farmers who depend on their farm produce to
survive.
“This key population make up over 60% of our entire
population in Nigeria therefore, the need to cushion the
effects of the pandemic on the vulnerable sectors through
the provision of palliatives and stimulus package.
INEC fixes 15 pending
bye-elections for Dec. 5
By Omeiza Ajayi
THE Independent National Electoral Commission
INEC has disclosed of its resolve to conduct 15 pending
bye-elections in 11 States on December 5.
National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and
Voter Education Committee of the Commission, Barr. Festus
Okoye disclosed this in a statement issued Friday in
Abuja.
The statement reads; “The Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) met today Friday, November
13, 2020 and among other things reviewed the outcome of
its quarterly engagements and consultations with critical
stakeholders in the electoral process, and further reviewed
the security situation and other challenges regarding the
15 pending bye-elections in 11 States.
Police made my son commit suicide
after losing N7.7m in Forex trade
due to illegal police detention,
woman tells panel
By James Ogunnaike
MOTHER of a victim of police illegal arrest and detention,
Mrs. Funmi Akinade has revealed how her son, Seyi
Akinade lost N7.7 million to forex trade while in police illegal
detention which eventually led him to commit suicide. According
to Mrs. Akinade, a petitioner at the ongoing Judicial Panel of
Investigation said her late son, Seyi Akinade lost more than
seven million naira to forex trading on February 3, 2020 due to
his illegal arrest and detention by police officers from Obada-
Oko Police Station, Abeokuta who raided his hostel and locked
him and 16 other students up all night without a known cause.
Mrs. Akinade, spoke while defending her petition before the
Judicial Panel of Investigation set up by the Ogun State government
to investigate complaints of victims of police brutality,
human rights violations and extra judicial killings by security
operatives within the State.
She revealed that after the huge loss incurred by her son, he
became depressed and resorted to committing suicide by drinking
a poisonous liquid substance confirmed by a medical doctor
to be Snipper.
Recounting his experience, a witness and a friend of the deceased,
Mr. Damilare Adejoro who was also among those arrested
said, “on February 3, 2020, Inspector Babajide Adebusuyi and
his three other colleagues raided and arrested all the 17 students
staying inside Chocolate City Hostel at Camp, Abeokuta, detained
and locked us all night inside the cell at the Station”.
According to Adejoro, the officers did not tell us what our offence
was but rather when we got to the station, we were locked
up with other 52 inmates already in a small cell after we were
asked to pay a sum of two million naira for bail which we could
not afford to pay.
Adejoro added that while in the police custody, his late friend
who was a forex trader severally told the officers that he had
opened trading business online that would run into loss if not
attended to, but they refused him access to his mobile phone,
slapped and even made jest of him which eventually made him
lose over seven million naira.
Adejoro added that before his friend committed suicide on
April 22, 2020, he went on his Twitter page and wrote severally,
“this is my story in case anyone is wondering why I did it” and on
his last day on earth, he wrote “I guess it’s goodbye now...no one
heard my cry for justice and this had to happen haha...bye world”.
Mr. Adejoro said, “I believe this panel would ensure justice and
bring hope to the common man” while requesting that the parents
of the deceased be compensated for the huge loss that led to
the death of Mr. Seyi Akinade.
Speaking, a witness, Mr. Olaleye Adejare who was the landlord
of the victim confirmed the incident revealing that the police
officers eventually collected N120,000 before releasing the students
without any just cause.
On his part, one of the respondents Inspector Babajide Adebusuyi
said truly they arrested them all but it was because they
got information that some were smoking Indian hemp in the
house even though the deceased as well as his friend were not
culpable.

3.9m Nigerians suffering form diabetes
—Expert
By Rotimi Ojomoyela
ADO-EKITI: A Med
ical expert, Dr. Oluwayemi
Oludare has disclosed
that no fewer than
3.9 million people are suffering
from diabetes in Nigeria.
Dr. Oludare made the
disclosure yesterday in
Ado-Ekiti, at a press conference
to commemorate
the 2020 World Diabetes
Day organized by the Lions
Club International,
District 404B2 in collaboration
with Ekiti State chapter
of the Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ).
Lamenting the increasing
cases of diabetes in the
country, especially among
the people living in urban
areas, Oludare said the disease
has assumed epidemic
level in Nigeria, Sub-Sahara
Africa and the rest of
the world.
He said that the disease
could further pose serious
challenges to public health
if it was not tackled headlong.
He said that poor
management of the disease
could lead to eye complication,
kidney disease,
heart attack and stroke
among other problems.
He noted that diabetes
has no cure for now but
could be managed through
proper treatment. He enjoined
patients with diabetes
not to see it as a death
sentence, since the disease
could be managed,
urging them to avail themselves
of adequate treatment.
The Governor, District
404B2 of the Lions Club,
Dr. Ademola Adesoye
called on the federal government
to make diabetes
test mandatory for Nigerians
to stem the tide of the
disease.
Adesoye who was represented
by the Region 11
chairman, Taiwo Odebunmi,
urged the government
at all levels to collaborate
with the Lions club to sensitise
the people on the
dangers of diabetes.
He called on stakeholders,
especially government
to strengthen the capacity
of nurses who are
on the front line in the
treatment of diabetes patients.
In their remarks, the
Chairman, Diabetes
Awareness and Action
Committee, Ekiti Axis, Dr.
SATURDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 14, 2020 — 3
Pius Adeojo, and the Ekiti
State NUJ Chairman, Mr.
Rotimi Ojomoyela said the
awareness campaign over
the dangers of diabetes
was long overdue owing
to the rising cases of the
disease in the country.
They said the Lions club
in collaboration with NUJ
had series of activities to
mark International Diabetes
Day in Ekiti such as a
road walk to sensitise people
on the danger of diabetes
and offer free diabetes
tests starting from next
week Wednesday.
Air Force to deploy Tucano fighter jets against
Boko Haram, bandits
Rev [Dr] Bisi Oke, signing the Condolence Register at residence of the late
veteran journalist, Mr. Bisi Lawrence, former chairman, Publicity Committee,
LOC, Nigeria 99, Tuesday. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.
By Tordue Salem, Abuja
THE Nigeria Airforce
has disclosed its plan
to deploy six super Tucano
aircraft against terrorists
across the country. The Chief
of Air Staff, Air Marshall
Sadique Abubakar made
the disclosure yesterday before
the House of Representatives
Committee on Airforce
while defending
NAF’s N142.4 billion 2021
budget proposal.
He explained that the
fighter jets would be delivered
to Nigeria from the
United States before the second
quarter of 2021.
“The Super Tucano ,
among others is capable of
supporting basic and advanced
flight and combat
training, close-air support
operations, intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance
(ISR), armed overwatch,
counterinsurgency
and irregular warfare scenarios.
It is currently flown
by 15 countries, according
to SNC”, he explained further.
The NAF chief also told the
Committee, that arrangements
were concluded to
repair the Kainji runway
ahead of the arrival of the
fighter jets.
“The Super Tucano aircraft
is coming to Kainji. The runway
in Kainji is not really in
good shape for now. We will
not want to contract the job
out due to paucity of funds.
But we have our civil engineers
and out works personnel
that can be mobilised
through direct labour to
achieve repairs of that runway
before the arrival of the
super Tucano in the second
quarter of next year”, he
said.
The NAF chief disclosed
that NAF, is also expecting
“additional 17 aircrafts , in
addition to the 22 aircrafts
procured and at the disposal
of his outfit. He also said
there are three other special
mission aircrafts at the disposal
of his outfit under the
deep blue project of the federal
ministry of transportation”.
He made reference to the
plan to expend “N17 billion
for the procurement of 3 JF
17 multi role fighter aircraft
from Pakistan, N650 million
for procurement of various
aircrafts arm and ammunition,
N150 million for the the
procurement of small arms
and ammunition.
“It includes N271 million
for the procurement of three
unmanned aerial systems
and associated accessories
and infrastructural development
of newly established
NAF bases to the tune of N1
Commissioning of power project aborted due
to power play between governor, minister
By Aliyu Dangida, Dutse
C OMMISSIONING
of a transmission substation
at Gagarawa local
government area of Jigawa
state suffered postponement
yesterday following
disagreement between the
state governor, Alhaji Muhammed
Badaru Abubakar
and the Minister of power
Engr. Sale Mamman.
The commissioning of a
new 2 x 60 MVA, 132/33KV
was slated to hold at 10am
of yesterday at the Gagarawa
local government area
but it could not hold even
as many invited dignitaries
were seated. They were
kept waiting for several
hours at the venue as the
cold harmattan weather
raged.
It was after the emir of
Gumel, Alhaji Ahmed Muhammed
Sani, who was
tired of waiting, furiously
left the venue that other local
government chairmen
who were waiting to receive
the governor also left the
place without uttering a
word to the waiting crowd.
Findings by our reporter
revealed that the governor
was not contacted by either
the minister or his protocol
team about the commissioning
programme until
Thursday night. The development,
according to a
competent source at the
billion as some of the capital
expenditures worth
N31.9 billion for his outfit
in 2021”.
The chairman of the committee,
Rep Shehu Koko
who commended the role
played by NAF in battling
insurgency and assorted
crimes, in the country also
approved the usage of the
2020 budgetary allocation
and the 2021 budgetary allocation
to NAF. The lawmaker
expressed satisfaction
over the near total release
of NN26.9 billion component
of the 2020 budget
to NAF.
government house, angered
the governor who
vowed not to grace the occasion
to ‘teach the minister
a lesson’.
Why #EndSARS protest was
hijacked—Governor Oyetola
By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo
OSUN State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola said yesterday
that the #EndSARS protest was hijacked by hoodlums to
cause chaos in some parts of the country because the protest
lacked proper coordination. Speaking at the inauguration of his
second term campaign by the All Progressives Congress in the
West Senatorial District of the State on Friday in Iwo, he said the
protesters ought to have drawn their plans to allow for negotiation
at different stages of the protest.
Oyetola, who was represented by his Deputy, Gboyega Alabi
said quality leadership and coordination could have saved the
protest from hoodlums, who turned it into violence and an avenue
for looting and vandalisation of public and private property.
He stressed the need for cooperation between residents, especially
the youths and government as a means to endear development
to the state and the country as a whole, saying quality leadership
should always be selected to lead any future protest in order
to achieve results without resorting to violence.
“Concerning the recent #Endsars protest that just took place,
the only thing I can say as an advice is that a protest without a
leader is liable to be hijacked. Normally, they are supposed to
come up with a negotiation with the government so as to achieve
on their personal affairs. I’ll advise them that next time they want
to embark on a protest or rally, there should be leaders that will
help them channel their negotiations on the negotiation table.
They need good leadership for their commitments.” he said
On the second term ambition of the Governor, Alabi said the
objective of the campaign inauguration was to enhance unity
among party members and ensure adequate mobilisation of residents
ahead the 2022 governorship election in the state.
Nembe killings: Diri directs
immediate employment for slain
victims’ relations, others injured
By Samuel Oyadongha
Y
ENAGOA VICTIMS of the November 13, 2019 at
tack on Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members
and supporters in Ogbolomabiri-Nembe had cause to
smile Thursday night as the Bayelsa State Governor,
Senator Douye Diri, announced immediate employment
for the survivors and relations of those that lost their
lives.
The governor also directed the immediate promotion
for victims that are already in the state civil service as
well as the Commissioner for Health to take over the
medical bills and treatment of those still undergoing
treatment.
Diri in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr.
Daniel Alabrah, made the pronouncement at a meeting
in Yenagoa with victims and relations of the victims.
The attack on PDP faithful during Senator Diri’s campaign
rally in the community three days to the November
16 governorship election in the state reportedly
claimed no fewer than 21 lives while 195 persons sustained
injuries, according to a panel of inquiry set up by
the immediate past administration.
The panel also said 350 persons reported that their
properties were missing and that a total of 379 victims
appeared before it.
While commiserating with those affected by the gruesome
attack, Governor Diri described the meeting as a
solemn one and called for healing, forgiveness and unity
in the land of Nembe.
His words: “Today is a solemn day. I can see my brothers
on crutches and my sisters that are survivors of that
dastardly, inhuman and cowardly act that took the lives
of some of us.
“I commiserate with the families of those who lost their
lives and are here for this parley. We feel and share in
your pain. I assure you that we will stand with you at
times like this.
“It is on this note I hereby announce the employment
for all victims of the Nembe killings. All the relations of
those that lost their lives are hereby employed by the
Bayelsa State Government.
“For victims that are already employed in the state
civil service, I hereby direct promotion for them with
immediate effect. I also direct the Commissioner for
Health to take over the treatment of all the victims henceforth.”
Diri, who thanked God on behalf of survivors of the
onslaught on his party faithful, said God heard their cries
and delivered judgement at the Supreme Court.
He said: “For us, what happened triggered a reaction
from God Almighty as our cries and prayers went up to
Him. God had to come down Himself to give judgement
in the Supreme Court.

4 — SATURDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
Imo Speaker impeached
By Alozie Chinonso
SPEAKER of the Imo
State House of Assembly,
Chiji Collins was yesterday
impeached by his colleagues
in what would be
described as the most peaceful
impeachment so far in the
history of the state.
His impeachment followed
a motion sponsored by the
member representing Osu
State constituency, Ekene
Nnodimele and seconded by
Michael Onyemaechi from
Ihite Uboma State constituency
in a notice signed by 19
other colleagues. Paul
Emeziem from Onuimo
State constituency replaced
Collins who is representing
his people of Isiala Mbano.
Explaining why the
speaker was impeached,
Nnodimele disclosed that
the former speaker was
sacked following numerous
petitions ranging from gross
misconduct, incompetence,
financially rascality and sabotage.
While on a courtesy call to
Governor Hope Uzodimma
after the impeachment, deputy
Speaker of the house,
Chyna Iwuanyanwu who
led his colleagues informed
the governor that the former
speaker was impeached to
save their party,APC from crisis.
He said his successor
was more competent.
According to him, “the impeachment
of our former
speaker was borne out of necessity
to protect APC from
being the majority party in
the house, we decided to replace
him with somebody
who has the interest of the
party at heart.”
Governor Uzodimma while
responding, advised the lawmakers
to coexist as one and
as well have the fear of God
to move the State in a positive
direction.
He said “You are all elected
equally, but one person
must preside, you all should
have confidence in the new
speaker, from my heart I receive
the new speaker. I urge
you all to remain as brothers
and sisters, government
is a continuum.“
The former speaker who
accompanied his colleagues
on the courtesy call to the
governor congratulated the
new speaker and as well took
pictures with him, the governor
and other members of
the house.
246 men die weekly from tobacco related
diseases—NTCA *Calls for 70% tax increase on tobacco
By Gabriel Ewepu
and Alice Ekpang
THE Nigeria Tobacco
Control Alliance,
NTCA, disclosed that 246
men die weekly from tobacco
related diseases in Nigeria.
This was made known by
the Board Chairman, NTCA,
Akinbode Olufemi, during a
media briefing in Abuja while
presenting report titled: ‘Survey
To Assess Nigeria’s
Progress On SDGS-3 As It
Relates To Tobacco Control’.
Oluwafemi lamented that
the morbidity and mortality
caused by tobacco use in the
country is currently causing
huge loss to socio-economic
development, which has affected
individuals, families
and the country at large.
According to him the report
identified gaps to achieving
SDGs as it relates to tobacco
control and the recommendations
to provide stakeholders
the much-needed facts for
advocacy, campaigns, and
programming, as well as
guide decision makers.
He also explained that
findings of the survey conducted
by the NTCA was
basically to ‘Assess Government
Commitment and Nigeria’s
Progress towards
Achieving the Strategic Development
Goal (SDGs) with
emphasis on Goal 3 as it relates
to Tobacco Control’.
He further stated that the
SDGs being a United Nations
initiative was formally
adopted by the UN General
Assembly on September 25,
2015 in a resolution entitled
‘Transforming our world: the
From left:Mrs. Kigho Enajemo-Isire; Prince Austin Enajemo-Isire, Chairman,
Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF); Mrs. Augustina Diedjomahor and
Olorogun Jacob Diedjomahor, Founder/CEO, Jakesville57 Resort and Farms at the
opening of Jakesville in Ovwodokpokpor-Olomu, Delta State, recently.
2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development.’
He also said for 17 goals
and 169 targets to be
achieved over a 15-year period
(2015-2030), there is
need for collaboration for
countries to “end poverty,
StarTimes unveils Xmas promo
AS Christmas ap
proaches and the
pandemic disrupts annual
funfairs, StarTimes is
giving families more reason
to spend time together
with its Christmas upgrade
promo even as it is
giving every TV subscriber
access to view one subscription
on four devices.
The Christmas promo
which kicks off on November
15 to mid-January
next year offers subscribers
an opportunity to enjoy
more exciting channels.
Nova and Basic/
Smart bouquet Subscribers
who recharge for two
months will enjoy 2 months
of the higher bouquet while
Super/Classic package
subscribers will get 10 extra
days for free when they
recharge for two months.
Aside from that, StarTimes
has partnered electronics
firms, Lontor Bulbs and
Oraimo to appreciate
2020 loyal subscribers during
the festive period.
Also, StarTimes has
Youths under 40 must be appointed to cabinet
positions — Omo Agege
By Henry Umoru
protect the planet, and ensure
prosperity for all as part
of a new sustainable development
agenda.”
launched a one-for-four
plan. Active subscribers
can stream their choice
content on four devices simultaneously
at no extra
cost by linking their decoder
to StarTimes ON
streaming app on up to
three mobile devices. That
means four access (TV and
three phones) for family
members to watch whatever
they like anytime,
anywhere, any day.
DEPUTY President of
the Senate, Senator
Ovie Omo Agege, All Progressives
Congress, APC,
Delta Central has assured
that the amendment of the
constitution mandating the
president to appoint at least
five ministers, ambassadors,
high commissioners
from the youths who are
under 40 years of age would
give the youth a sense of
belonging.
According to him, the National
Assembly was prepared
to expand the political
space for youth and
women in the ongoing
amendment of the 1999
Constitution.Speaking yesterday
in Abuja when he
hosted a delegation of the
Brotherhood of the Cross
and Star, led by Archbishop
(Prof.) David Irefin,
Omo- Agege also called on
religious leaders to continue
to pray for the country.
Omo-Agege who doubles
as Chairman, Senate
Adhoc Committee on Constitution
Review, while
commending Nigerians for
their resilience, urged
them to strive towards
maintaining the oneness of
Ex-Buhari’s campaign director
blasts governors, lawmakers for
hoarding COVID-19 palliatives
By Dirisu Yakubu
FORMER Director, Media and Publicity of the Mu
hammadu Buhari 2019 Presidential Campaign Committee,
Engr. Kailani Muhammad has berated unnamed
governors and federal lawmakers for their role in hoarding
palliatives meant for distribution to Nigerians in the
wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying their actions
have revealed how selfish elected leaders have become
in this part of the world.
Engr. Muhammad who lauded President Muhammadu
Buhari for his investment in the youth population said
had leaders across other layers of government did a fraction
of what the first citizen has done; the fortunes of the
youths would have been better.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Muhammad
said time has come to let truth prevails in the affairs of
the nation, adding that but for the twist in the #End-
SARS protests, Nigerians wouldn’t have known that foodstuffs
meant for distribution were safely in warehouses
for reasons unknown to millions across the country.
“The average Nigerian hardly eats two meals a day,
but our politicians from the National Assembly to governors,
cruise flamboyantly in Sports Utility Vehicles, SUVs
around town. I am optimistic that this #EndSARS movement
will jolt them to stupor. The protesters have touched
the conscience of a mass section of the various strata of
our nation across board. What our so-called leaders
need to do now is to sit back and think deeply where
they went wrong.
“Those who are scared of the unknown because of skeletons
in their cupboards must have a rethink. They must
re-adjust so as not to be caught in the cross-fire that may
occur. The consequences of a repeat of a daring youth,
who might take a second peep through the lenses to
detect deliberate damaging attitude by any section of
governance, which inflicts avoidable pains on the populace,
might not have a hiding place.
“It was during the protests that Nigerians got to know
that President Muhammadu Buhari had long ago, approved
a whopping sum of N75 billion for Youth Investment
Fund, YIF, that is meant to empower the youth with
a loan facility ranging from N250, 000 to N50million.
That was a heart-warming revelation. Moreover, over
N53 billion was approved for state governors apart from
the palliatives from the Humanitarian Ministry,” he said.
300 students of Delta State
College of Education,
Mosogar, matriculate
By Etop Ekanem
ABOUT 300 fresh students weekend matricu
lated during the 4th matriculation ceremony
of the Delta State College of Education, Mosogar,
which was affiliated to the University of Benin
affiliate degree programme.
Addressing the newly matriculated students, the
Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof
(Mrs.) Lilian I. Salami, who was represented at
the occasion by the Chairman, Affiliate Supervisory
Committee and University of Benin Admission
Board, Prof Osamede Kingsley Omorogiuwa, advised
the students to concentrate on their studies
and remain in the positive side of history, warning
that, any act of social vices like cultism, prostitution,
drug abuse, examination malpractice, etc,
which may drive them from the school, would not
be tolerated.
While assuring management commitment to provide
good environment for learning, she however,
warned that the institution has zero tolerance for
corruption and any act of social vices.
the country.
The Deputy President of
the Senate also explained
his rationale for sponsoring
a constitution alteration bill
which seeks to reserve 30
percent of appointments for
youth and women at the federal
and state level.
Titled, “A Bill For An Act
to alter the provisions of the
Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to
specify the minimum number
of youths and women
appointed as Ministers,
Ambassadors and State
Commissioners”, the proposal
has passed Second
Reading and is currently
before the Omo-Agege-led
panel for further legislative
work.
Specifically, it amends
Sections 147 and 171 of the
Constitution by mandating
the president to appoint at
least five ministers, ambassadors
or high commissioners
under the age of 40.
Similarly, the proposed
legislation alters Section
192 of the Constitution by
providing that “There shall
be such offices of Commissioners
of the government
of the state as may be established
by the governor
of the state, of which (a) At
least five Commissioners
shall not be more than the
age of 40 years at the time
of appointment; and (b) At
least five shall be women.”

Tension in Benin as bloody clash
between cult groups claims 18 lives
By Gabriel Enogholase
& Ozioruva Aliu, Bnin
THE escalation of
bloody clashes between
rival cult
groups, Eiye and Aye has
heightened tension in parts
of Benin - City, the Edo
state capital and adjoining
towns as no fewer than 18
persons were feared dead
within the week. This is
coming on the heels of the
shooting of an Assistant
Commissioner of Police
and two senior police officers
in the early hours of
yesterday at the popular
Murtala Muhammed Way.
Vanguard gathered that
following the escalation of
violence between the rival
groups, soldiers have been
deployed to the troubled
areas of Upper Sakponba,
Idogbo, Three House Junction
and adjoining locations
where activities of the cultists
have sent residents
fleeing for their lives. It
was not clear what may
have sparked the latest killings
across major towns
and some local government
areas in the South senatorial
district of the state. It
was however learnt that a
key member of one of the
rival cult group was scheduled
for burial yesterday, a
development that attracted
other members of the confraternity.
The Assistant
Police Commissioner and
two other officers were said
to have been shot by the
hoodlums who sighted his
From left: Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya;
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Olayiwole Onasanya; Director
Vertinary, Dr. Rasheed Marculey and Chairman/CEO Lion Unisco Enterprises,
Alhaji Niniola Olayiwola, during an inspection to the facilities of the newly built
private abattoir in Ilaje Bariga, Lagos. Photo: Akeem Salau
team on rescue mission to
the troubled MM Way,
Upper Sakponba, Idogbo
and Ugbekun areas considered
as core den of the
cult groups. Several people
sustained gunshot injuries
in the process. The
policemen and others injured
were said to have
been rushed to the University
of Benin Teaching Hospital
and other nearby hospitals
for treatment.
The effect of the clash was
said to have affected other
areas of the city such as
Ekenwan road, Siluko
road, Wire road, Dumez
road, Texile Mill road,
New Benin road, Ogida
Quarters, Ogbe Quarters
and Ibivwe Quarters of the
city as about 450 shops, five
markets, banks, public
and private schools were
shut as at yesterday morning.
Parents had to rush to
the various schools to take
their wards home moments
the troubled atmosphere
became charged with endless
shootings. As the situation
became worse within
Upper Sakponba and
Idogbo areas of Ikpoba
Okha council area of the
state, residents were said
to have been helpless as
about seven police stations
within the localities were
razed down and arms and
ammunition carted away
during the recent End-
SARS protest that enveloped
the state. Sadly too,
the Benin and Oko Correctional
Centers along
Sapele road and Airport
road respectively were invaded
by hoodlums who
hijacked the peaceful End-
SARS protest where they
set free an estimated 2, 000
inmates out of which a
larger percentage of the
inmates was yet to return
to the faclities. Commissioner
of Police in the state,
Mr. Johnson Kokumo and
the Police Public Relations
Officer (PPRO) SP Chidi
Nwabuzor when contacted
yesterday on the ugly incidents
failed to respond to
their calls.
13% DERIVATION: Militants threaten N’Delta
govs to steer clear or face repercussions
By Emma Amaize,
Regional Editor,
South-South
A
coalition of militants
in Niger Delta under
the auspices of Reformed Niger
Delta Avengers,
RNDA,yesterday, warned
governors of the nine states
in the oil-rich region to steer
clear of the 13 per cent derivation
fund or face consequences,
which may lead to
destruction of oil facilities
in the creek. Speaking
through the General Officer
Commanding, GOC,
RNDA, self-professed “Major
General” Johnmark
Ezonebi, aka Obama, the
militants slammed the
Chairman of South-South
Governors Forum and Delta
State Governor, Senator
Ifeanyi Okowa, over his recent
claim that paying 13
per cent derivation directly
to the oil communities could
create misunderstanding.
The militants cautioned:
“Any attempt by Niger-
Delta governors to fight the
Presidency over our demand
and that of oil communities
that 13 per cent derivation
funds should not be paid
through them, we will declare
war against them because
enough is enough of
this man-made perpetual injustice
created by our governors
using the fund to buy
private jets, properties in
Abuja, Lagos and abroad,
build government houses
and buying billion naira
worth of exotic cars in their
convoys.”
Okowa, had, while answering
a question on derivation
during his quarterly
interaction with reporters,
Wednesday, said: “Besides,
it is not a question of I want
to manage the 13 percent,
they ought to say they want
to manage the 100 per cent,
what about the 87 per cent
being shared among other
states in the country?
“You did not push for the
87 per cent, but it is the 13
per cent coming to the state
that you want to manage, it
does not make sense. Unfortunately,
people just want to
be heard and noticed.
“And by the time the governors
are talking on their
own, you are getting a group
of communities talking and
those ones have a different
view point. By the time this
division is created, what then
happens? They will say we
are singing in different
tunes, that you do not have
a collective voice on the
management of resources in
your region,” he said.
However, militants, who
purported that Niger-Delta
governors were misappropriating
the 13 per cent derivation
fund, asserted: “Governor
Okowa and his counterparts
from the region are
warned to stay clear from
the 13 percent derivation
funds or else they will face
severe consequences, which
may lead to destruction of
all oil facilities in the creek.”
Ezonebi faulted the claim
by Governor Okowa, that
paying 13 per cent Derivation
Fund directly to oil
communities does not make
sense and would cause misunderstanding,
saying his
outburst was provocative.
He added that contrary to
the governor’s claim, “direct
payment to oil communities
and not state governors
will lead to effective development
of the region.”
“Governor Okowa’s statement
is provocative and an
attempt by the Niger Delta
governors to continue the alleged
diversion of 13 per
cent derivation meant to develop
oil producing communities
and the region.
“The governor’s position,
which is contrary to the stand
of the Presidency and oil/gas
producing communities is
that it is the governors that
can manage the fund on behalf
of the oil communities.
This is a great insult and deceitful
position by the governors
known to have misappropriated
funds meant
for the development of the
region.
“Okowa and his fellow
governors should come out
to tell us what they have
done with the 13 per cent
derivation and many other
funds that have accrued to
the region. Okowa’s position
is also an insult to the
agitating militant groups in
the creek and the oil producing
communities and traditional
rulers from the region.
“These Niger Delta governors
cannot continue to
enslave and mortgage the
future of our youths and that
of our unborn children in the
creeks. They should also not
provoke the wrath of the
gods upon their lives and if
they refuse to steer clear
from the 13 percent derivation
fund, we may be forced
to declare war against them
and tag them as enemies of
development of the oil -rich
region.
“In our years of agitation,
we have observed the damages
and the devastating effects
caused by this greedy
self -centered state governors
from the region. The oil
and gas producing communities
in region are saying
enough is enough,” the
RNDA leader said.
According to him: “ RNDA
wants to challenge the governor
of Delta State to pinpoint
the massive urban infrastructural
development
he has done so far with the
trillions he has collected
from the 13 percent derivation
fund since he assumed
office as governor of
SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020 —5
Kwara gov to send bill repealing
ex-govs’ pension law next week
By Demola Akinyemi
KWARA State Gover
nor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq will next week
send a bill to the State House of Assembly requesting
the lawmakers to immediately repeal the law awarding
pension packages to former governors and former deputy
governors.
This is contained in a statement issued by the governor’s
Chief Press Secretary Rafiu Ajakaye yesterday.
According to the statement,”the Governor has listened
to the majority of the citizens opposing the pension law
for former governors and deputy governors.
“In line with his campaign mantra and as a product of
democracy himself, he will be sending a bill to the House
of Assembly next week requesting them to repeal the
law. “As representatives of the people, the lawmakers
would exercise their discretion to call a public hearing
on the topic to further harvest wider opinions on the
topic.
“However, the governor feels it is time for the law as it
is to give way. He would rather the state commits the
scarce public funds to tackling the question of poverty
and youth unemployment.”
#EndSARS: CSO petitions IGP,
demands prosecution of Safar for
alleged hire of thugs to attack
peaceful protesters
By Gabriel Ewepu
A
Civil Society Organisation, Concerned Nigerians,
CN, yesterday, petitioned the Inspector General of
Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, and demanded investigation
and prosecution of one Ms. Hajiya Safar and
others over alleged hire of thugs to attack #EndSARS
peaceful protesters.
The petition was signed by Convener, CN, Deji Adeyanju,
with subject: ‘Petition To Investigate And Prosecute
Safar (@Safaamuadam) And Other Persons Involved
In The Procurement Of Thugs And Hoodlums To Attack
The Peaceful #ENDSARS Protest’. The group alleged
that Ms. Safar and other persons recruited thugs to violently
attack peaceful protesters and destroyed property
worth millions of Naira, yet have not been arrested, investigated
and prosecuted.
The petition reads in part, “We write to request for the
investigation and prosecution of Ms. Hajiya Safar and
other persons who procured and financed thugs to attack
the #ENDSARS peaceful protest.
“You will recall that sometimes in October 2020, a peaceful
protest erupted across most states in Nigeria, where
citizens called for the disbandment of the State Anti-
Robbery Squad, otherwise known as F-SARS, as a result
of several documented acts of harassment, torture
and extra judicial killings allegedly perpetuated by the
now disbanded unit.
“You will also recall that in recognition of the pervasive
conduct in the now disbanded F-SARS unit, which
the #ENDSARS protests was originally centred on, you
came on national television and proclaimed the F-SARS
unit dissolved. However, the disbandment of the unit
was just one of the five demands laid down by the protesters.
“While the peaceful protesters continued to demand
that other conditions be met, Ms. Safar and other enemies
of Nigeria recruited thugs who violently attacked
the peaceful protesters and burnt private properties worth
millions of Naira. As at the time of writing this petition,
none of these thugs or their sponsors have been arrested,
investigated or prosecuted.
US presidential final results:
Biden, 306 electoral votes,
Trump 232
THE final results of the U.S. 2020 presidential election
have been announced with Joe Biden winning 306
electoral votes and Donald Trump winning 232 electoral
votes.
President-elect Biden narrowly defeated Trump in
Georgia and Trump won North Carolina, as the two final
states were called on yesterday, a week and a half after
Election Day.
Biden became president-elect when he won
Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes on Saturday, passing
the required 270-vote threshold.
The victory for Biden in Georgia — a once reliably
Republican state whose politics have been pushed to
the left — means he flipped 5 states that Trump won in
2016. The others were Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania
and Wisconsin. Trump did not flip any states this year.
After every state has been called by the US networks,
Joe Biden won the US election with 306 electoral votes.
Legal efforts pulled by Trump’s campaign team to try
to overturn the results of the election have proved abortive
so far.

6—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
Zamfara raises our fear we
are a conquered people
Niger Delta stakeholders react to gold
mining and sale by Zamfara
•Insis
Insist, t, however
er, , Zamfara ara is leading the way y in
Fiscal Federalism and resource control
•Want other states to emulate them
•Zamfara situation would give a new dimension to
the Niger Delta agitation
•Diri •Ayade •Uzodinma
•Emmanuel
•Wike
•Gov. Bello
By Samuel Oyadongha, Jimitota Onoyume,
Festus Ahon, Egufe Yafugborhi, Chioma Onuegbu, Ike
Uchechukwu, Davies Iheamnachor, Ochuko
Akuopha, Ozioruva Aliu
Stakeholders in the Niger Delta led by the apex socio-cultural
organization of the South South Geo-political zone, Pan Niger Delta
Forum, PANDEF have described as double standard the unwillingness
of the Federal Government to accede to the demand of the Niger Delta to
allow the federating units own and control their God given resources and
pay an agreed tax to the centre in line with the practice of true federalism
while at the same time turning a blind eye to Zamfara State government
mining of gold in its domain for commerce.
They described the mining of gold by Zamfara state government as a
breach of the Nigeria’s constitution which places mineral resources on the
exclusive list. They called for a review of the country’s federal structure to
give the states and federating units’ control of their resources.
ir Commodore Idongesit Nkanga (rtd),
ANational Chairman of PANDEF and
former military administrator of Akwa Ibom
State, said: “PANDEF has reacted to that
issue. We had asked what reason does Zamfara
state have to sell its gold and the Niger Delta
cannot sell its crude oil. So the whole thing is
just about the injustice that is in Nigeria. It
was even a top bank official who said they
would buy the gold from Zamfara. It is a very
big shame. We have been crying over the years
that there is a lot of injustice in the country.
Today, other people are beginning to feel it.
When we were talking about restructuring,
people were looking at it as a Niger Delta
issue. The fact that the federal government is
not saying anything about the issue only shows
the kind of policies that we are running. When
IPOB came out and said they were not happy
with what is going on in the country that they
wanted to separate, immediately they
declared them a terrorist group. But herdsmen
have been killing people and as far as they are
concerned they are not a terrorist group. So
with what is happening in Zamfara, it means
that we have different Law, for different people
in the same country. It is very sad”
According to Sir Matthew ltsekure,
KSC, Itsekiri activist, “It has again brought
to the fore the ingredients for true federalism
which has been opposed by the same Northern
elites who, unfortunately do not see true
federalism as a sure route to rapid
socioeconomic development for the country.
This is indeed a wake up call to begin a process
of sincere negotiation that will remove this
primitive thought of breaking away that is
clearly erroneous and misleading. The
singular act of Zamfara Governor only
reinforces our fear that we from the oil
bearing and producing states and
communities are a conquered people, a people
without a say on the natural resources lying
underneath our lands. The federal government
graveyard silence is suspicious, giving the
pattern of reaction it takes on matters of this
nature. The Zamfara action is capable of
instigating conflict if it were in our region. We
would have seen action from government to
suggest insubordination . So it is not out of
place to demand that government should do
that which will facilitate rapid socioeconomic
development through her policies”.
For Mr Abel Oshevire, National Publicity
Secretary, Urhobo Progress Union, UPU:
“Gold is a natural mineral just like oil and
both are governed by the same law of the land.
Therefore, if Zamfara State explores and sells
her gold without the Federal Government
raising an eyebrow, then the owners of the oil
in Niger Delta should also explore and sell
their oil. In truth, what Zamfara is doing is in
tandem with the practice of fiscal federalism.
In a nutshell, that is resource control. Zamfara
is already leading the way, other states should
follow suit. Gold is a natural mineral resource
just like oil.”
Also, former governorship aspirant in Delta
State, Chief Sunny Onuesoke said: “the
Central Bank of Nigeria should extend the
same gesture to Niger-Delta region
by equally allowing the people to sell their
own oil. The recent sale of bars made from
gold mined in Zamfara for N5b by the
Zamfara State government is a flagrant
violation of Sections one and two of the
Nigerian Mineral and Mining Act 2007,
which vests the Federal Government with
ownership of all the mineral resources in
Nigeria. The transaction between CBN and
Zamfara State Government suggests that the
Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act 2007,
which was passed into law on March 16, 2007,
to repeal the Minerals and Mining Act, no 34
of 1999, applied only to the Niger Delta.
I am saying this because Zamfara gold
was mined by illegal miners, whose trade has
now been legitimized, while illegal refiners in
the Niger Delta are hunted, arrested,
prosecuted with their property destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government is yet to
fulfill its promise to re-organise and legitimise
the activities of illegal refineries in the Niger
Delta.
My thought is that if the oil in Edo, Delta,
River and the rest were originally found in
Zamfara, Kano, Gombe and the rest of
northern state, I am afraid by this time there
won’t be anything like Nigeria. This is
cheating; the Niger Delta has continued to
shoulder the huge burden of the Nigerian State
by sharing the wealth of the region with every
part of the country, the North has continued
to enjoy its huge solid mineral deposits alone.
Why is it that the Niger Delta oil is for all
Nigerians, while Zamfara gold is for Zamfara
State alone? Gold, diamond and other
precious stones found in large quantities in
the North are owned, enjoyed and utilized by
Northerners. Oil and Gas fields ancestral to
Niger Deltans are shared by all Nigerians.
How long are we going to sustain this corrupt
and unjust system? I therefore demand that
those in the Niger Delta Region and other parts
of the country should equally be allowed to
Continues on page 7

Zamfara situation would give a new
dimension to the Niger Delta agitation
Continues from page 6
mine and sell their natural resources
themselves as Zamfara state government did
with CBN. This can only be achieved
by restructuring of the country into six
geopolitical structures with autonomous
powers to manage their lives, affairs,
resources, security and governance.”
Eric Omare, former President of Ijaw Youth
Council (IYC) worldwide said: ”I think the
Zamfara case is a classical demonstration of
the double standard of the Federal
Government of Nigeria to the issue of resource
ownership and enforcement of its laws.
Though it didn’t come as a surprise to some of
us because we have known all these years that
if oil and gas were to be found in the North,
the question of Federal Government
ownership of oil and gas would have been
something of the past. But the reverse is the
case because oil and gas are found in the Niger
Delta region occupied by minorities. As Niger
Deltans, the Zamfara situation has
strengthened our case for total control of our
resources. Also the Federal Government has
lost the moral and legal justification to go
after the local refiners in the Niger Delta region
when bandits are allowed to mine gold in
Zamfara State. In the days ahead, the Zamfara
situation would give a new dimension to the
Niger Delta agitation.”
Zik Gbemre, Coordination, Niger Delta
Peace Coalition said, “If Zamfara State has
liberty to own solid minerals, why are South-
South people exempted from owning their
mineral resources if same law is for
everybody? Why should States in the North
own mineral resources in their State, whereas
States in the South-South of the Niger Delta
do not have such rights? Can our
representatives in the National Assembly
create a conversation on this, while it is fresh?
It is either the said sales of gold is reversed, or
Niger Delta states be given same rights to also
sell their own mineral resources. The
fundamental issue here is: Zamfara State
cannot be selling its gold to the CBN while
Niger Delta States are not allowed to sell their
crude oil, condensate and natural gas to
whoever they want.”
Hon. Emmanuel
Deeyah, President of
KAGOTE, the apex sociocultural
group of Ogoni
ethnic nationality, said
thus: “The Federal
Government is meant to
own the mining totally
and give the Zamfara,
13per cent derivation as
they give to the Niger
Delta State. It should be
handled like the Niger
Delta oil wells. We are
suffering too much and I
think the right thing needs
to be done and that it true
federalism. It is the right
time for us to own the
natural resources given to
us by God. What will
happen if we allow the
people to explore the oil
and give returns to the
centre?
These much quest to be
president will end if we
take control of the oil in
our land.
This week, we marked the 25th
remembrance of the nine Ogoni sons that were
killed because of their quest to end
marginalisation against Niger Delta. What
we need is justice and fairness as regards
resources control. It’s the right time for us to
get what is right and just.
According to Chief Iduh
Amadhe, President General of the
Isoko Development Union, IDU, the apex
socio-cultural organization of Isoko nation,
“Nigeria majorly
depends on the Niger
Delta, particularly
Isoko communities, but
the the government
continuously ignores
the demand of the
people for resource
control and
restructuring.”
Similarly, Niger
Delta youth leaders,
under the aegis of G5
Ethnic Nationality
Youth Leaders, through
Comrade Presley Idi
said: ”This act is a
clear message to us that
whatever resources
found in the North
belongs to the people of
the North but whatever
is found in our back
yard here in the Niger
Delta including our
crude and water belong
to the Federal
Government. This, we
find very disturbing and
very provocative. Again,
we reiterate that it’s very provocative that the
Federal Government will allow locals of
northern extraction to illegally explore and
exploit mineral resources, including gold and
In truth, what Zamfara
is doing is in tandem
with the practice of
fiscal federalism. In a
nutshell, that is
resource control.
Zamfara is already
leading the way, other
states should follow
suit
SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020—7
other deposits found in the North and at same
time criminalize any such practice down south
especially when it comes to our crude oil, it’s
obvious the Nigeria government sees the Niger
Delta region as a conquered territory.”
A former House of Assembly member in
Cross River State, Hon Cletus Obun said:
“The deal between Zamfara State and CBN
must be clearly explained .Because it is a very
dangerous precedence and it has to be stopped
and checked immediately. There must be a
satisfactory explanation in context of our
constitution because it is an aberration that
no one can contemplate. The move may
precipitate another crisis among oil
producing states in the Niger Delta because
they will now also insist that they want to sell
their own crude oil.”
Also, former Provost Marshal of the
Nigerian Army, Brigadier-General Idada
Ikponmwen said: “The situation is quite
provocative because there is no way one can
explain the different approach to the same
issue. The mineral Resources Act, the
Petroleum Act, they are all pointing to vesting
all oil and solid mineral resources in the
federal government which means that without
any reference to the fact that is in sharp
contradiction to the whole idea of federal
system, you can see very sharp contradiction
and inconsistency in the approach of the
federal government to the same issue. If
Zamfara can mine, manage; sell their gold,
then what moral right has the federal
government to continue to sit on the oil
resources that vest in the Niger Delta area?
There is no way it can be explained. It is one of
the very worrisome aspects of the Nigerian
federalism and when we are saying that
federalism is the answer, fiscal federalism, these
are the integrals to the federal system of
government and the federal system of
government is a necessity, the only solution
for a plural society. The issue in Aburi during
the civil war, Ojukwu was agitating for a
government that would enable the constituent
federating units to be on their own and go on
their own so that they can commonly
contribute to the centre. That is what Aburi
was all about. The situation in Zamfara
cannot be explained, it cannot be rationally
explained. States having and managing their
own resources should be the end goal. This
situation in Zamfara will sharpen some
peoples’ wit, it will make them to see that what
people have been agitating for is the right
thing, so that is the good thing about the
Zamfara situation.”
Activists rescue 11-yr-old detained for wearing uniform of fleeing policeman
•To help him realise his dream to be an officer
By Ozioruva Aliu
ENIN CITY – ALTHOUGH he was taken
Bback into custody shortly after he was
brought into the open space where the police
wanted to parade suspected criminals who
were involved in the violence that trailed the
EndSARS protest in Benin City, his presence
as a minor, wearing the uniform of a police
sergeant, had caught the eyes of journalists
and in few minutes, his picture was already in
the media as one of the suspects to be paraded.
Others who were later paraded included
some of the inmates freed from the two
correctional centres in the state capital during
the crisis, those who went to loot several
government and private owned warehouses
and those who vandalised and torched police
stations, carting away their ammunition.
The story of 11 years old Gift Osayuwu
who is an orphan changed after that brief
encounter as human rights activists and
lawyers became interested.
The Benin branch of the Nigerian Bar
Association issued a statement condemning
the parade and demanded for his immediate
release and compensation just as it also
condemned the practice of parading suspected
criminals before trial.
The activists led by Marxist Kola Edokpayi
were interested in rescuing the lad and to stand
as guarantor to guide his future while the
lawyers represented by Felix Isere Esq were
first interested on the infringement of his right
by being paraded being a minor and wondered
how he could be involved in such a heinous
crime of participating in the destruction of a
police station and then have the audacity of
wearing a police uniform.
These combined interests were able to
negotiate his release with support from the
state Ministry of Justice through the
Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) and
today, he is back to school and believes he
would one day become a police officer and
the Inspector General of Police.
Arrest and detention
Young Osayuwu and her elder sister help
their mother in selling sachet water and soft
drinks at the popular Ring Road since they
lost their father about two years ago.
On the day the EndSARS protest turned
violent in Edo state when it was hijacked by
suspected hoodlums and led to the attack on
the two correctional centres in the state capital
and the destruction of police stations, Gift was
sent by his mother to get water from their
supplier but that turned out to be the beginning
of his woes as he was caught in the middle of
the protest and was given the uniform of a
(L-R) Edokpayi, Gift, his mother and Isere when
he resumed hs new school last Monday
policeman who apparently may have escaped
from the station pulling off and abandoning
his uniform to escape from the hoodlums who
took it away.
His mother, Mrs Happy Oyere
Osayuwu from Udo in Ovia South West local
government area told Saturday Vanguard
that: “On that day (October 19), we came out
as usual to sell and when I exhausted the ones
I had, I sent him to go and buy more water.
But I waited endlessly; I didn’t see him so I
started moving towards where he was
supposed to go and buy it. I looked for him
everywhere but I couldn’t find him. It was later
I was told that somebody gave him a police
uniform to wear and immediately I became
scared. I started looking for him everywhere.
I went to Ogida police station but police were
shooting teargas and sending people away. I
went to Evbuotubu police station, everywhere
was rough and they didn’t allow me in to check
if he was there. I went to Oba Market police
station but the whole place had been destroyed
so they did not allow anybody go there. I went
to our family house to see whether he would
be there. I knew that he would be released
because of his age if I saw him but he was not
there. Gift is not a thief and he is a small boy,
yet I did not find him. For four days I couldn’t
find my son. Police now called me on Thursday
that my son was with them. They described to
me how I would get to the state command
because I had never been there. When I got
there, the policeman who called me now took
me to see my son. I thought they were going to
release him to me since he is a small boy but
they said no, because he committed a grievous
Gift at the police state
command few days
before he was released
offence and would be tried in a court. I went to
buy food for him and I appealed to them but
they refused to even let me talk to my son.
They only allowed me to give him food but
refused to let me talk to him. They said I should
be bringing food to him everyday. I cried and
begged them but they refused to release him
to me.
“I went to meet a lawyer, the lawyer said
I should come and pay first. I was confused
and always crying but there was no hope for
me to see my son. Sometimes I would take
food there about 9 am but I would not be able
to give him the food until 2 pm. Police were
shooting teargas at people, maybe because
they felt the bad boys wanted to attack the
state command.
“It was a harrowing experience for me
but I thank God that God sent helpers to me.
The day he was eventually released to me, the
lawyer said I should bring N30,000 to
facilitate his release. I went everywhere but
couldn’t get money so I resigned to fate and
about 2 pm, I took food to him and it was
when I got there that I now met these activists
who were interviewing my son and when they
saw me, they interviewed me and they
promised they would release him to me and
that was how my son was brought back to
me.”
Gift
Narrating his own experience, Gift who said
he had always wanted to be a policeman
said ”The man that gave me the uniform
was also arrested by the police and he was
paraded. It was when my mummy sent me to
go and buy water and when I was coming
back, I met them near the police station. Then
he gave me the uniform to wear.
“When I was with the police, every
morning they used to beat me, they would say
I should tell my mummy to bring N100,000
to bail me. I have always said I wanted to be a
policeman. I used to tell my mummy that I
wanted to be a police officer”
Release and setting up a
trust fund
One of the facilitators of the release of Gift,
Marxist Kola Edokpayi recanted his
experience to Saturday Vanguard. He said;
“We saw it on social media that an eleven
years old boy was paraded by the police. After
two days, we approached the Commissioner
of Police and we told him that we were
interested in the matter, that we wanted to
make sure that we rehabilitated him. Though
it took us some times to convince the
Commissioner of Police but thereafter he
agreed that he would release the boy to us. We
also liaised with the DPP which also agreed
with us so at the end of the day, the boy was
released to us and we have taken him to school
and started the process of rehabilitation.
“We have opened a trust account for him,
there are so many friends who have shown
interest in the matter. Some have been sending
their contributions and we appeal to others to
do more. He has resumed school and we have
promised to fund his education so that he can
fulfill his ambition”
On his part, the Secretary of the Fund,
Felix Isere said the rescue and planned
rehabilitation of Gift and his family was one
of the positives that resulted from the
#EndSARS prottest. He called for more
support for the process.
“I became interested in the matter
because I was convinced that there was no
way that boy could commit such an offence
and I was concerned about the breach of his
fundamental human rights being a juvenile.
” We went to their house and it was an
emotional moment when we saw their one
room apartment where they stay. We felt that
we should not allow his dream to die and that
we should use him as a reference point to other
children in the street as a way of challenging
the government that every children in the street
are not miscreants, they are not all criminals,
they all have potentials, they have dreams but
unfortunately they don’t have the necessary
government support to make them what they
want to become.
” We appeal to every Nigerian who believe
that the EndSARS struggle was for the
ordinary man, that the struggle was a
revolution for the downtrodden to support him
and make him become what he want to be.”

8—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
How to stop IGP from being
subservient to President,
party in power
—Retd Police Commissioner
•Says current system of policing will not help Nigeria
•Proffers solution to police extra-judicial killings, corruption
•Wants commands, sections of men on patrol boldly written on their
vehicles, names, Force numbers of officers on patrol boldly written on
uniforms
•Nigerians should have right to record policemen on patrol, road
blocks must be dismantled
•Explains SWAT, rejects it for Nigeria
•Buhari
By Emma Nnadozie, Crime Editor,
Last week, we served you the red-hot exclusive interview with retired police
commissioner Nze Ibezimako Aghanya who variously served as Deputy
Commissioner of police in Anambra State and Police Commissioner in Benue,
Ekiti and Kogi states. He made startling revelations on why police engage in extrajudicial
killings and told unbelievable stories of corruption, misery and poverty in
the Nigeria Police Force. Today, we serve the concluding part of the interview
which largely proffers solutions to myriads of problems in the force. He believes
that if authorities get things right in Nigeria the Police will lead the fight
against corruption in Nigeria. He is not happy that the head of police in
Nigeria always subservient to the President and party in government. He
has recommended a change that can stop this. It’s your weekend delight.
Excerpts:
How to tackle unprofessional
conduct by Nigeria police
I will proffer solutions to unprofessional
conducts of our policemen.
Extra judicial killings: Every
policeman knows that extra judicial killings
are unconstitutional but I have admitted it is
done to hardened criminals due to factors I
already mentioned. The solutions lie in
investigation and prosecution duties. There
should be trained investigators on the due
process of interrogating suspects in accordance
with Police act of 2020.
Modern equipment should be provided for
forensic evidence that are needed to prove
capital offences.
There should be trained expert investigators
on the use of such forensic equipment in all the
State CIDs in 36 states and Abuja.
Reform of Administration of Justice to ensure
trials of capital offences are completed within
one year. This solution applies to torture of
suspects. There is no Nigerian hardened
criminal that confesses to crime without
torture but if there is hard forensic evidence
that will be tendered in court to convict him,
then torture to extract confessional statement
becomes unnecessary.
Extra judicial killings
during riots: There is no Police
Command today that can boast of non lethal
weapons to quell riots. As a Commissioner of
Police in three states, I never received supply of
Tear gas, rubber bullets, electric shock baton
or even the common wooden baton. Apart from
the two Water Canon vehicles in Abuja, there is
no such vehicle in 36 State Commands of
Nigeria Police. The Government should
provide non lethal weapons in sufficient
quantity for the Police so that during
disturbances lethal weapons can only be used
in extreme cases in accordance with sections
33(2)a,b,c of the 1999 constitution.
CCTV camera: If CCTV cameras
are mounted in Nigerian cities like in UK and
other populated cities of the world, it will assist
in the production of evidence to convict
offenders and arrest rioters. There will be then
less need for using force. I found through
research, that London city alone has 500,000
CCTV cameras. During the 2013 youth riot in
London, the rioters were violent but the London
Police used only non lethal weapons. They
arrested all the suspects with less efforts in their
homes through clips downloaded from CCTV
camera memory within 24hours after the riot.
UK judges sat even in the night, tried and
convicted the arrested rioters. Further into my
research, out of 20 most populated cities in the
world, I found Tokyo Japan, as number one
most populated city in the world with 320,000
CCTV cameras. Lagos, Nigeria is number 16
but I could not find record of number of CCTV
in Lagos while Rio de Janeiro Brazil as number
20 has 320,000 cameras.
Taking into consideration the reduced
revenue to government, it may not be possible
for government to be able to install sufficient
cameras in our cities. I therefore suggest that
companies, banks and other business concerns
that have 24hours power supply from public
source and private generator could be
encouraged by tax rebate to install high
revolution CCTV cameras along the streets
within their vicinity. It will be recalled that it
was the CCTV cameras in a super market the
USA Police downloaded to identify the Boston
Marathon terrorist bombers in 2013. I am just
imagining how the Nigeria Police can produce
forensic evidence to connect some of the
criminals that were not arrested committing
the offences of arson and murder during the
end SARS protest at the scene of crime.
Lack of body armor vest and amoured
vehicles: When the Policemen are deployed
to scene of disturbances or riot with lethal
weapons and no body armor vest or armoured
vehicles for self protection to enable them
move in to the crowd to make arrest, they
deploy lethal weapons in defence as soon as
rioters start throwing dangerous weapons at
them. Secondly with these logistics the Police
force can confront banditry in rural villages
and towns.
Solutions to internal
maladministration and
corruption
It is the Nigeria Police that should be in the
forefront among all the security agencies in
the fight against corruption. They are in all
nooks and crannies of the country and have
enormous powers within the law to eradicate
crime of which corruption is the mother of all
c r i m e s .
Corruption in the
Police cannot be
justified for any
reason. I therefore
advocate that all
static road blocks
mounted by any
sections of the
force with logs of
woods etc on our
highways should
be dismantled.
Subsequently, the
President should
direct all other
security agencies
to follow suit
The Nigerian Police
Force needs holistic
reformation so that
they can meet up with
the challenges of
insecurity in the
country
including the
Military. Military
can mount such
road blocks in
those states they are fighting against insurgents.
Static road blocks are primitive system of
combating crime on the highways. The only
purpose they serve is that policemen and
members of other security agencies see them
•Aghanya
•IGP Adamu
as an avenue of collecting bribe from innocent
motorists. It is a very shameful conduct.
Security on our streets and highways by the
police should be by patrol with vehicles painted
with police colour and registration number.
The Command and sections of the men on
patrol should be boldly written on the body of
vehicles being used for patrol for easy
identification. The men on patrol must wear
approved police uniform, name and force
number boldly written on the uniform. The
men on patrol should be warned that members
of the public have the right to film or take their
pictures while on patrol duty as a check to
record any unprofessional conduct. In USA
police patrol vehicles have installed video
cameras to record conduct
of police men on patrol. It
will be a serious disciplinary
offence for any policeman
on patrol to impound phone
or camera of any citizen
who is recording his
conduct while on duty.
Uniform: Nigerians
cannot exactly identify a
police man with any
particular uniform. The
policemen of today wear
different types and colours
of uniform sown in different
styles. The Nigeria Police I
joined in 1974 had a work
dress, office dress and
ceremonial dress. They are
of the same colour and
design in accordance with
the force order for rank and
file and Inspectors with a
little variation with that of ASP rank and
above. The Police Mobile force (Mopol) had
only one color of uniform. Today anything goes
as uniform and when you inquire, the men will
tell you they bought the material from open
market and used their money to sow. Uniforms
and accoutrements are supposed to be free for
Inspectors and rank and file. I therefore suggest
that uniforms of the Nigeria Police should be
produced by textile mills in Nigeria with
security marks. The force order on the pattern
of police uniform must be strictly enforced to
prevent impersonation.
Proliferation of sections: This
has created a lot of duplication of duties,
redundancy and waste of scarce resources and
poor output of work. The Commissioner of
Police in a state command, constitutionally
and under the Police Act is saddled with the
responsibility of maintenance of law and order
in his Command. He has Deputy
Commissioners of Administration, Operations
and Criminal investigation departments to
assist him. I therefore advocate that all
investigation teams in the State Command
should be a section in the state CID. The
sectional head of anti Robbery among other
criminal activities should be directly under
him. Each of these sections should be controlled
by an officer not below the rank of a
Superintendent.
Creation of SWAT
I do not subscribe to the creation of SWAT
which is an operational outfit. SWAT is simply
the official title of a security team that performs
the same duties like the Nigeria Police Mobile
force (MOPOL). The Nigerian Police Mobile
Force was well equipped when I was a unit
commander in the 80s. We were trained in all
kinds of operational duties until they were
converted to perform duties outside their scope
of operation. I therefore advocate that the VIP
Protection unit(Blue Beret cap) and the Antiterrorist
Squad (Red Beret cap) should be
integrated into Police Mobile Force (Green
Beret cap). They should have barracks,
efficient training and modern logistics to make
them efficient like the SWAT team of USA. It is
not the title of security outfit that makes the
outfit efficient but the logistics and training.
Appointment of Inspector
General of Police (IGP)
The 1999 constitutional provision and 2020
Police Act on the appointment of IGP make
him so subservient to the President and party
in power. Sometimes, it places IGP in a position
that will make him unable to defend the actions
of command Commissioners of Police when
they are falsely accused by politicians or
prominent citizens. For IGP to be independent
and resist pressure to act unprofessionally, I
advocate that if the President appoints IGP on
the advice of Police Council, the IGP can only
be removed from office on attainment of 60
years of age or 35 years of service or on medical
grounds and for any other reasons that must
be approved by two-third majority in the
Senate. If Chairmen of EFCC, ICPC, are
protected by rigid law from interference, the
Inspector General of Police should be placed
in such a situation too, to prevent being pushed
around by politicians and prominent
personalities who demand favors such as
armed police guards for those not entitled,
soliciting for underserved promotion and
posting for serving members who are their
friends and relations. In order to remain in
office, in most cases the IGP succumbs to those
pressures which amounts to
unprofessionalism. The current system may
not help policing in Nigeria. The IGP must be
able to stand up and be firm to all and not
succumb to the President and party in power
in a way that will affect fairness and
professional conduct. The IGP must work for
the entire Nigeria and not for the President
and party in power. The manner of his
appointment and security of his office will
guarantee and help professionalism. This way,
Nigerians will have confidence in the neutrality
and fairness of police force.
Ombudsman
The Police Service Commission should
establish the department of Ombudsman in
all the zonal headquarters of the Nigeria Police
force to investigate complaints from members
of the public in respect of unprofessional
conduct. The members shall include a human
rights activist to protect the interest of the
public, a retired police officer not below the
rank of Commissioner of Police to protect the
interest of the police and a journalist as the
third member. They will not receive complaints
directly from citizens for investigation. All
complaints must be approved by the Police
Service Commission or the Inspector General
of Police or the Public Complaint
Commission. Their reports shall be sent to the
Police Service Commission for necessary
actions.
Conclusion: Ensuring security of life
and property in any country is one of the
greatest factors to development. The Nigeria
Police are in the forefront for provision of
internal security. It therefore means that any
country that does not have efficient and
effective police will continue to have
challenges in development. The Nigerian Police
Force needs holistic reformation so that they
can meet up with the challenges of insecurity
in the country.

#EndSARS crisis: With no tear gas, no back-up, 300
rioters overwhelm 12 policemen, burn station
Security expert X-rays loopholes that made police stations easy targets of hoodlums
*Insists October 21 arson was well coordinated, premeditated attacks against law enforcement
*Regrets policemen have turned IDPs, recommends future prevention ways
By Evelyn Usman
r Ona Ekhomu, is the
DNational President of the
Association of Industrial Security
and Safety Operators of Nigeria,
AISSON. The renowned security
expert was a guest lecturer at a
workshop organized by the Assistant
Inspector-General of Police in charge
of the zone 2 command, AIG Ahmed
Iliyasu , in collaboration with the
Police Community Relation
Committee, PCRC Victoria Island.
The workshop was designed to work
on the psychology of men and officers
of the zonal command comprising
Lagos and Ogun States Police
Commands, in line with the
Inspector-General of Police, IGP
Mohammed Adamu’s directive to
policemen to take over the public
space by heightening safety and
security across the country.
Ekhomu, in his paper titled
“#EndSARS Mass Action and the
Governance of Internal Security in
Lagos”, x-rayed the recent mass
action embarked upon by hoodlums
who hijacked the #EndSARS protest
and revealed the loopholes which
the rioters exploited in breaching
police formations. He also gave an
account of how 12 policemen who
confronted over 300 rioters, were
overwhelmed .
Excerpts:
The attacks
“Southern Nigeria was hard hit
by the acts of wanton violence
unleashed by hoodlums after the
Lekki shootings of October 20, 2020.
The rioters looted, burned, pillaged,
vandalized, damaged and destroyed
assets throughout Lagos and other
states. The difficult events of October
21 and 22, 2020 almost brought the
Southern part of Nigeria to its
metaphorical knees. Aside attacks
on property and trophy buildings
such as the Igbosere Court complex,
the Nigerian Port Authority
headquarters building and banks in
Lagos State, the rioters targeted
police facilities and personnel.
Police as target
The October 21 to October 22,
2020 attacks on police throughout
Southern Nigeria was
unprecedented and historical. The
pattern of attacks, the ferocity of
attacks and frequency of attacks on
police personnel, police stations and
police cars would lead me to
conclude that the mass action was
indeed an attack on the police
agency. Although correctional
facilities, COVID-19 palliative
stores and some homes of
politicians were attacked, the
principal target of the rioters was
police personnel, police facilities
and police mission.
Looted arms,
ammunition
“The rioters also stole a large
number of AK47 rifles and other
weapons in police stations–arming
themselves and presenting a grave
threat to society. It is a known fact
that insecurity in Nigeria is
aggravated by the proliferation of
illicit arms and small arms and
light weapons in the West African
sub-region. The loss of hundreds of
police riffles to rioters is clearly a
worsening or exacerbation of the
arms proliferation in the country.
At the peak of the crisis on October
21, 2020, hoodlums controlled the
streets after over-powering the
police agency. There was palpable
fear in Lagos.
It is heart-breaking that some
police personnel are now hanging
around their stations like Internally
Displaced Persons, IDPs. Some
have rented tents and plastic chairs
to enable them sit down. It is quite
disturbing.
Attacks coordinated,
premeditated
“What happened in Lagos on
Wednesday and Thursday (October
21 and 22, 2002) were wellcoordinated
and premeditated
attacks against law enforcement
using the excuse or pretext of
shootings at Lekki toll gate to visit
violence on the police. It is not
normal for members of the public
to mount a large scale attack on
public law enforcement officers.
The attacks were unprecedented in
the history of Nigeria, where police
personnel were systematically
hunted and then killed or harmed
by members of the public that they
serve. I, therefore, wish to present a
research hypothesis that the attack
on the police formations and
personnel in Lagos was intended to
dislodge the police and pave way for
the looting that followed.
The fall of
Ajah division
“The Ajah Police Station fell at
about 1pm on October 21, 2020. The
station had been under siege from
7am to 3pm that fateful day. The
gallant police personnel – about 12
of them fought back more than 300
youthful rioters whose intent was to
raze the police station. The law
enforcement agents were boxed in
the middle fending off rioters from
the Western flank (Liberty Bridge
side) and turning quickly to attack
the rioters from the Eastern Flank
(Abraham Adesanya Estate side). The
police personnel would fire shots and
push back the rioters alternately on
each side. Eventually, it was said that
criminal gangs from Victoria Island
introduced guns into the theatre of
battle and that changed the conflict.
The Ajah police apparently caused
casualty among the rioters, some of
whom were treated in nearby clinics
and hospitals. No fatality was
recorded. However, the crowd was
overwhelming. Eventually, the
firepower from Victoria Island
helped to subdue the police
personnel. They all successfully
escaped from the rear of their
compound and then, the station was
sacked.
The Police facility was burnt down,
alongside apartments behind the
station, arms and ammunition were
looted, while police uniforms and
accoutrements, police vehicles and
private vehicles in the compound
were torched, exhibits were destroyed
while suspects in police cells were
let loose. The hoodlums recruited
themselves into the police force and
promoted themselves.
Analysis
“The fall of Ajah Police Station was
facilitated by the lack of backup on
the fateful day. Given that Police
Stations in Orile (where a police
personnel was killed), Ikorodu,
Surulere, and in other parts of Lagos
SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020—9
as he is the most visible agent of
governance. The Police must occupy
again for normalcy to return. We
must have a Leviathan who must
return law and order. That Leviathan
(or King) is you – Police personnel.
The law-abiding citizens of this
country appreciate and love you. We
also support you and will give you
information that will be important
in keeping our communities safe.
Please overcome your fears and
return to work. Life is good, but a life
of service is meaningful and purposedriven.
One should not go through
life without serving or without
contributing. Policemen are a royal
priesthood. You are a chosen race.
The kind of psychic rewards you
receive after saving a life cannot be
replicated anywhere. You may not
be remunerated as well as you
should, but your sacrifice and your
service cannot be rivalled by any
occupational group in Nigeria. Your
zeal to serve your community and
the nation is appreciated.
•Ona Ekhomu
were also attacked, there was ample
evidence that police facilities were
targeted. However, given the wide
spread nature of attacks against a
wide variety of targets in Lagos on
October 21, 2020, it became a
herculean task to defend the Ajah
Police Station. Aside from police
stations, media houses, Local
Government Secretariats, the family
home of Lagos State Governor were
all attacked. There is an urgent need
to calculate the design basis threat
for police stations. Clearly, the threat
of mass action is a grave one that
can overwhelm the police facility
and then cause irreparable harm.
“The relevant questions are: How
many police personnel can defend
a police station from the kind of
attack at Ajah on October 21, 2020?
How many canisters of tear gas do
they need? It is worthy to note that
no tear gas was fired before Ajah
Division fell. How can the armoury
be strengthened against looting by
criminals? What should be the
protocol for calling for OP MESA
or OP AWATSE, to give aid to a
police division in distress? Can the
police division have a mutual aid
agreement with private
organizations or host communities
that will guarantee help in an
emergency? Can the police agency
put helicopters to work in support
of police divisions that are seriously
threatened by hoodlums? Can
police stations have a better
structural barrier to prevent easy
breach by rioters and criminal
elements?
Can police managers and
executives conduct annual
vulnerability assessments of police
facilities to determine loopholes and
quickly plug them? The Ajah
division attack showed that there
were several loopholes which the
rioters exploited in breaching the
station. The police division should
collaborate closely with the
community it serves as their security
is intertwined. After the Ajah division
fell, nearby banks, businesses and
stores were looted by the criminals
and vehicles were wantonly
destroyed.
Encourages
Police
“The policeman has the authority,
Appeals for
better welfare
“We realize that the lack of
adequate resources is a big
drawback to effective policing in the
country, yet you stretch the little you
have to keep our communities safe.
From a strategic management
perspective, police executives must
find administrative, programmatic
and technological means to achieve
more with less. I urge police
executives to build trust between the
agency and the community that it
serves. The political pressure that will
bring about improvements in police
remunerations and conditions of
service will come from the
community. It should be noted that
politicians will not give the police
what it deserves, but what it lobbies
for. The community holds the key to
effectively speak out for the police.
The Association of Industrial
Security and Safety Operators of
Nigeria, as a leading professional
security body will continue to partner
with the police in obtaining resources
from the government to enable the
provision of quality service. We shall
continue to champion the cause of
the police agency and use our
contacts to lobby for enhanced
conditions of service. We also will
use our vast knowledge and
structured analytical tools to
interpret the realities that confront
the police agency and Nigerians. We
belong in an epistemic community
that is often not understood. The
ontology of policing, the
epistemology of policing and the
methodology of policing have to be
subjected to dissection, visualization
and empirical examination in order
to create new models of effective
policing.
“I also urge the various Police
Community Relations Committees
nationwide to lend the police a
shoulder to lean on in these tough
times. The PCRC as a natural ally of
the police agency must speak up and
speak out now that the morale is low
in the agency. We all need the police
and they need us.
I also wish to urge the mass media
to champion the cause of the Nigeria
Police Force. The Police perform a
crucial function of crime control and
order maintenance. Without safe
streets, legitimate activity cannot be
carried out. The media must do its
patriotic duty by telling the
stories of police personnel
callously murdered by
hoodlums. No police death
should be ignored. Every hero
deserves to be honoured. The
corporate world has a major role
to play. Funds should be
mobilized to help families
of fallen police heroes. Injured
police personnel should receive
first-class medical treatment. This
is expensive. The corporate world
should also help in rebuilding police
facilities destroyed in the October
madness that was emblematic of the
#ENDSARS protests.
Given the current decline in the
Federal Government’s oil
revenues, rebuilding the police
facilities would be a herculean
task. Patrol cars, modern policing
equipment and uniforms are
required to rebuild the police
service in southern Nigeria. The
individual policeman must engage
in self-talk that will encourage him to
get back to work. The safety net that is
provided by the police is torn right now.
It will take courage, commitment,
dedication, patriotism,
professionalism, perseverance and
the ingenuity of policemen and
women, police supervisors, police
managers and other police officials
to enable the healing that is required
to get things back to normal”.

10—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
Catholic church is
home for the poor
—Bishop Godfrey Onah
•We render services to the society through our schools, hospitals
By Chidi Nkwopara
The Catholic Bishop of Nsukka, Most Rev. Professor Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, remains a fearless cleric and a
reporter’s delight any day, anywhere. He was in Maria Assumpta Cathedral, Owerri, to celebrate at the Requiem
Mass of late Monsignor Theophilus Ibegbulam Okere. He spoke on a number of issues including insecurity in the land.
Excerpts:
How long have you served as Bishop of
Nsukka Catholic Diocese and what has
been your experience so far?
I have been a Bishop for seven years now and
my experience so far has been challenging
and exciting at the same time. It is challenging
because things keep coming up, which you
didn’t know or never knew that it would come
up. It is exciting because the Lord has been
good and merciful and the people have been
good and wonderful with their love and
support.
In the previous interview, you talked
about challenges. You have repeated
the same word again. Is yours a case of
endless challenges?
It is the same old challenges, from the point of
faith. Throughout history, the faithful and
indeed all of us are always struggling to live
out in practical life, what we profess in our
religion. These include, but not limited to life
of true and unadulterated love, life of
forgiveness, life of service. Leading the people
to be consistent, remains an eternal challenge.
Are these challenges not existential in
nature?
I think you are not far from the truth. When
you look at particularly, the circumstances of
our country, any critical observer will rightly
conclude that the social life and social
situation has been very difficult and
complicated. We all, are very familiar with it.
So, the people are struggling especially with
the economic realities and economic
difficulties and that of course, puts a lot of
strain on the living out on the faith. So, when
people are struggling to survive, struggling to
find their daily means of livelihood, it becomes
also a little more difficult to be coherent as
Christians. Of course, you know that as priests
and pastors of souls, we also try to help the
nation and society find the correct steps to
take for the benefit of all. It has not been easy.
The world is also experiencing the same or
similar problems. It is not peculiar to us in
Nigeria, but we may have our own specific
colouration of this universal problem.
Having identified these nagging
problems, what plans have you put on
ground to solve them?
I have mapped out a few modus operandi, in
solving the identified problems. Now, with
regard to the challenge of faith, catechasis,
faith formation, being close to the people and
always encouraging them, in my person as
Bishop and through the priests and other
pastoral agents. Happy enough, God has
continued to bless us with healthy vocations
to the priesthood and religious life. So, the
pastoral agents are there, who help in
educating the people, in their faith. Then, with
regard to the social problems, I will say that,
that is more difficult because we ourselves,
don’t have the resources to solve the social
problems of the people, especially when it
comes to poverty. We try as much as we can to
start self help projects in parishes, for the
diocese in order to provide jobs for a few, but
we don’t have the resources to employ many
or to pay them well. Again, through our
schools and hospitals, we are offering the
services we can, to the society. As limited as
they are, I believe that, that is the way the
Catholic Church, throughout the world, has
played its part in improving on the tone of the
life of the society.
As far as plan is concerned, we can only plan
with regard to what we can control, so to speak.
Pastoral plan is far easier to draw up than
anything regarding economic plans for the
Church, for instance, in a situation like ours.
Talking about the social and economic
problems of the citizenry, one is inclined
to believe that you, for instance, have
access to the
Governor of Enugu
State. Do you make
inputs when
necessary, with
regard to the people
and their suffering?
With regard to the people
and their suffering,
governments
throughout the world,
always say they are doing
their best. The global
economic situation was
not created by them and
our own particular
governor, is himself a
Catholic. So, he is
always there, listening to
the moral exhortations
of priests and bishops
and also, sometimes,
direct interactions with
him and with some other
people, who work in his
government. But you
know that our input and
advice in that area,
cannot be technical
because we are not
experts in technical
advice on these issues.
So, we can only give
moral exhortations and
point out things, if we
notice things that could
be done or could have
been done better. And I
must say that as much as
possible, in our own
circumstances, there has
been no confrontation
and no sign of
unwillingness of
government to listen.
Whether the government eventually, was able
to do what we expect it to do, is a different
kettle of fish.
What is the story of the
Cathedral you are
erecting in Nsukka
Diocese? Is it new, old or
refurbished?
(Laughs heartily) This is part
of the reality of our own
circumstances. Our Diocese
is a largely rural Diocese,
although the centre is located
in the University town,
Nsukka, but it is not a new
cathedral so to speak. It has
been under construction for a
very long time. Before the
Diocese was erected in
November 1990, the St.
Theresa’s Parish, Nsukka, had
made several attempts to
build a new church. That,
never really worked out. They
Most Rev. Professor
Godfrey Igwebuike Onah
Throughout
history, the faithful
and indeed all of us
are always
struggling to live
out in practical life,
what we profess in
our religion.
had started some foundation, some stanchions
but none of them worked out. When eventually
the Diocese was created, its first bishop, Rt.
Rev. Francis Okobo, embarked on a befitting
edifice of worship, for the ever-growing
population of Nsukka Diocese. And being a
man who had vision about the future, he
thought of a very large and imposing edifice,
even though, he knew that the resources would
be difficult to find. But one step at a time. We
are in the 30th year of the erection of the
cathedral
and it is only
now that we
are hoping to
bring it to a
situation, or a
condition in
which it can
be dedicated
to the worship
of God. It has
not been easy
because the
resources of
the people are
limited and
let me say that
there has not
been an
aggressive
drive for fund
raising,
knowing that
the people are
themselves
impoverished,
especially in
the past years
and with
what is
happening in
the oil sector,
which is the
mainstay of
our economy,
the people
themselves,
have been
struggling.
So, we have
been patient
and trying to
manage the
resources we
get well. This
is why we are hoping that by next week, the
cathedral will be in a situation that we will be
able to dedicate it.
What tickles your mind as the
dedication is now here with
us?
The place of worship is a place of
encounter with the sacred. It gives
direction to the people. It offers
orientation and stability to the
people. So, not having one place
like that as cathedral, from which
the pastoral administration and
the teaching of the Catholic
Church, goes forth to other parts
of the Diocese, has been a source
of discouragement for the people
I must say. It has also affected their
religious confidence and sense of
identity. I am noticing that as we
are approaching a date for the
dedication of the cathedral, more
or less completed because it is not
quite completed, it has only been
brought to a stage it can be used and work
will continue. I notice that as we approach
that date, the faithful themselves, and even
non-Catholics and non-Christians are very
such a place of worship means to them and for
everybody. That also puts me in the excitement
mood. It has taken a lot of work and we never
knew that we will be where we are now, at this
moment in time, especially watching the
economy. The people have been very generous,
very patient and also the fact that for now, we
can say it won’t be like the statement of Jesus
Christ in the bible that this man began a house
and was unable to complete it. Any
uncompleted project affects the psyche and
the disposition of the person or people who
started the project. So, at least, from that point
of view, which is very reassuring, but more
importantly, it is a sign of God’s presence
among the people. The fact that the cathedral
is there and complete, reassures the people in
these difficult times that God is still with them.
While some people are happy with the
new cathedral, there are obviously
others, who are thinking that you should
have channeled the resources to the
building of industries. What is your take
on this line of thought?
Yes, they are entitled to their opinion. I am
aware that some people out there, may be
asking why Nsukka Diocese should spend
money building churches when people are
facing excruciating poverty. Some may also
ask why we are not giving them food and
building industries. I’ll prefer to respond this
way. I lived in Europe for many years and while
there, I discovered that before Europe made
its scientific progress, that progress was
prepared by religious education that liberated
the human mind from slavery to the forces of
nature. Without that, the scientific explosion
in Europe would not have been possible. And
again, one thing about Catholic churches
especially and their places of worship, is that
they don’t belong to any person in particular.
Every poor person feels he or she owns this
place and feels at home. Let me recall with
glee that living and working in Rome, my
parents visited the Vatican, and I will never
forget their joy in entering St. Peter’s Basilica
and claiming it as theirs, because it was and
still is, a Catholic Church, where every
Catholic is at home because it is the house of
God and God is our father. So, from this point
of view, that church, that cathedral, is a home
for the poor. It is not something that oppresses
the poor, but something that gives them hope.
The history of building this one and the system
of fund raising, were such that every single
person in Nsukka area, had the opportunity
to participate. So, there nothing elitist about
the building of St. Theresa’s Cathedral,
Nsukka. So, everybody can walk into the
Cathedral and can say that he or she was part
of the building process. It is totally ours.
Are there special persons or groups that
were outstanding in the process of
realizing the project?
Definitely, there are, but I would prefer to deemphasize
such persons because, as Jesus said
about the widow who contributed her two
copper coins, which was all she had to live on.
Some people who gave very little, may have
given what cost them more than those who
gave quite huge amounts. So, from that point
of view, I would not single out any person or
group. We did organize some fund raiser, since
I became Bishop and I know some people gave
huge sums. Again, some of them wouldn’t want
to be identified or singled out for mention. It
may interest you to know that some people at
a stage, some years past, started giving a bottle
of beer to the Cathedral every week, N250
every week. They called themselves Club 250
and that meant a lot for me.
Yours is a rural Diocese and mainly
populated by farmers and the academia.
Yes, it is and petty traders.
How do you reach out to them?
I visit a lot and move a lot. I am always in the
midst of people, in different levels and recently
also, the social media and modern means of
communication, have also made it possible
for us to reach a wider public outside our
Diocese.
What about the security situation in
your area of jurisdiction?
(Took a deep breath) Security is a major issue
in our country, Nigeria. You may have heard
that some time in 2016, a section of my Diocese
was attacked by armed persons suspected to
be herders and that was a very traumatic
experience for the entire region. And there have
been other cases here and there, but none has
been massive as that one. As many as seven of
my priests have been kidnapped at various
points of the Diocese and outside. So, that tells
you all the story about the security situation in
my area of jurisdiction. We are in God’s hands.
Honestly speaking, I sometimes feel that even
the security agencies are overwhelmed. There
is so much trouble around that those poor
security personnel may not even be able to
attend to all the demands of their calling, no
matter how well they try.
Any advice to Christians, government
and security agencies?
My advice is that we should not give up or
lose hope. God is there and He has created us
in His image and likeness and sent His son to
teach us how to be God’s children. If we really
take Jesus Christ seriously, all of us will be
better for it, the leaders, the led, Christians,
non-Christians.
Christ’s message is for everybody. The church
Read more on
www.vanguardngr.com

SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020—11
CALABAR:
From Paradise City
to kidnappers’ den
By Emmanuel Una
On Tuesday, 13 th October, 2020,
Mayen, wife of Judex Okoro
the Sun newspaper
Correspondent in Cross River was
abducted at Big Qua Town, the heart
of Calabar Municipality by three
gunmen. As at the time of writing this
report on Thursday morning, where
the mother of four was taken to was
yet to be known.
This is the trend of events
in Calabar, the Cross River
State capital in the past few
years with kidnapping
taking place every every
time and this has effectively
turned the city from its once
glorious status as the
paradise city where many
found solace and safety to an
ignoble den of
kidnappers and robbers who
rob, abduct, kill and maim
at will.
Teachers, medical doctors,
pastors, motor mechanics,
drivers, journalists, students
and anyone who can afford
a few thousands are all
targets. This is different
from kidnappers in other
places who target the rich
and expatriates with big bank accounts
who could cough out millions of
money as ransom. Here in Calabar,
it is indeed a case of just anyone with
few bucks to settle the boys.
It is difficult to run a comprehensive
register of those who have been
abducted in the recent past as many
as four or five persons have fallen
victim on just one street and hardly
can anyone in the city say he does not
know one or two persons who have
been abducted with ransom paid.
Recently, the following persons were
abducted in the city. Dr Anthony Egbe
of the University of Calabar, Mr Efiom
Edem Asuquo, Dr Vivien Otu, Mr
Felix Ekpenyong a student and son
of permanent
secretary in the
state, four Chinese
nationals: Kan
Jinxi, Hunji
Chan, Jian Jijun,
Chen Quin
working for a
construction firm,
Danatrite others are
Glory Okon, wife of
a well known Calabar
man, Abonima, Mrs
Agube, wife of
Appeal Court judge,
Ms Etim, Ignatius
Agube whose police
Teachers, medical
doctors, pastors,
motor mechanics,
drivers, journalists,
students and
anyone who can
afford a few
thousands are all
targets
orderly was killed,
Matata twins, Ekanem
Iyamba, a broadcaster
with FRCN Fm station
in Calabar, and a
Cameroonian
diplomat whose name
was not made
available by the
police.
Some victims have
not been lucky to
return home alive
even after ransom was
paid. Among those
are Peter Etim, a
broadcaster with the state broadcasting
station, Cross River Broadcasting
Corporation, CRBC, another is a
trader, an eighty-year-old man from
Anambra state, Odinka Odinka whose
business mall is located along Target
Road.. They have both not been seen
several months after they were
abducted. Etim was abducted in
December 2018 while Odinka was
kidnapped in 2019. Another victim.
Jones who died in captivity, the
hoodlums brought the body in the dead
of night and took away the wife who
was only released after another ransom
was paid which according to the
kidnapper was for “suffering” them by
dying in captivity. Before now, there
had been abductions of ,
Seyi Adekunle, a Pastor with
Living Faith Church, aka Winners’
Chapel who was praying with some
of his pastors at his church location
opposite the Margaret Ekpo
International Airport Calabar to
prepare for the next day’s service
when gun men stormed the
place and dragged him into one SUV
and drove off.
Obong Ude, the owner of Udensco
filling station located along Eta Agba
Road was abducted and taken to an
unknown destination and the family
made to cough out some millions of
naira as ransom.
Within the same period another oil
merchant, Chief Agbor was abducted
at Ikotenim the eastern axis of the
city and a ransom extorted from him
before he was set free.
The amazing thing about these
abductions is the fact that the
hoodlums usually storm the homes of
their targets both in the day and night
to take their victims away while a few
others are taken close to their homes
without any challenge from the
plethora of security agents on the
roads. The ever bubbling night life in
the city has been brought to its knees
while many residents assume a low
profile life while some have relocated
to other places to avoid the prying
eyes of the hoodlums and their
informants.
These abductions are by no means
exhaustive as so many lecturers in the
University of Calabar have fallen
victims to this nefarious acts,
prompting the Academic Staff Union
of Universities, ASUU, to embark on
industrial action to drive the school
authorities to beef up security within
and around the school. So also are
medical doctors in the University
of Calabar Teaching Hospital
who have become regular
‘customers’ and cash
cows to the hoodlums.
The Nigeria Medical
Association, NMA,
has several times
called their members
out on strike to
demand for a stop to
the abduction of
their members
The Pentecostal
Fellowship of
Nigeria in the
state led by Dr
Lawrence
Ekwok had to
issue a
statement
warning the
hoodlums to
s t e e r
clear men of God
to avoid incurring the wrath of God
through extortion of what he called
“blood money from pastors”
The State Governor , Senator Ben
Ayade worried by the high rate of
kidnappings during his first tenure
sent a Bill to the State House of
Assembly to seek death penalty for
convicted kidnappers and for
the state to confiscate property
belonging to the convicted kidnappers
and this was passed into law.
Apart from the anti-kidnapping law,
the properties of kidnappers are being
demolished . Last month, Mr Alfred
Mboto, the Permanent Secretary, State
Security Adviser’s Office led a team
of police men to demolish several
houses belonging to known
kidnappers, yet this has not deterred
the activities of these hoodlums.
On Monday, 12 th October more than
twenty hoodlums were arrested in
Akpabuyo, in the outskirts of Calabar
by soldiers who mounted security
checks along the Bakassi – Calabar
road but this does not seem enough
deterrent to the kidnappers.
The Cross River State Police
Commissioner, Mr Abdulahi Jimoh
said several hoodlums have been
arrested in the recent past and some
charged to court and that no effort will
be spared in ensuring a crime free
Cross River State.
“I am using this opportunity to
appeal to all those who have criminal
intent or who are engaged in criminal
activities to abandon their heinous
ways of life or relocate to another
state.”

12—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
TRIBUTE TO MALLAM
UMARU ALTINE
- FIRST ELECTED MAYOR OF ENUGU
MUNICIPAL COUNCIL; 1952 – 1958
Benjamin Cardozo, an American Jurist and Philosopher said
—”history in illuminating the past, illuminates the present and in
illuminating the present, illuminates the future”
By Hon. Femi Kehinde
The story of Nigeria is a deep, intriguing
and enchanting metaphor. Its glorious past
had contradicted sharply with its current
political corundum. A Fulani man from Sifawa
in Sokoto Caliphate - Mallam Umaru Altine,
had in 1952 become elected as the first Mayor
of the City of Enugu, the heart land and heart
beat of the Igbo Nation.
He was in office till 1958.
Enugu is the capital of the old Eastern Region
of Nigeria. Umaru Altine was a product of Dr.
Azikiwe’s political Nationalistic and
cosmopolitan outlook. He was a Pan Nigerian.
His faith in one Nigeria, was unimpeachable,
unshakable and unquestionable. He was
Altine’s guide, pathfinder and mentor.
Umaru Altine, a cattle dealer, had left the
Sokoto province to sojourn in Enugu.
In Enugu, he married an Igbo Lady- Esther,
and was President of the Enugu branch of the
Youth wing of the National Council of Nigeria
and the Cameroons (NCNC).
Umaru Altine- a completely detribalised
Nigerian, became a prominent member of Zik’s
NCNC. A scion of the Sokoto Caliphate, he
became the first elected Mayor of Enugu.
As a descendant of Utman Danfodio, Altine
could have equally emerged as Sultan of
Sokoto, one day, but he preferred the truculent
life of trading, travel and adventure. He had
joined the Army and worked briefly with the
Railways.
He had played politics in the Tambuwal
District of the Sokoto Province, before his
eventual sojourn in the Coal city of Enugu. He
was handsome, always dressed impeccably and
had a magnetic touch.
In Enugu, he wore the
popular babariga, with a turban, and on some
occasions he wore Suits as the function of office,
demanded.
In Enugu he went to church, if his duties as
Mayor demanded and also went to do the kick
off at Stadia as Mayor, whenever invited.
Without loosing his identity, he smoked,
loved the native igbo Nsala Soup with fresh
fish, and according to his Enugu Igbo wife-
Esther, he had a high sense of personal hygiene
and a good command of English, Fufude, hausa
and Igbo languages.
Umaru Altine’s feats, could have been
unattainable, but for the encouragement and
supports of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, leader of the
NCNC- a consummate politician,
cosmopolitan, urbane and pan Nigerian.
Azikiwe wanted to use Altine’s story, or entry
into Enugu politics, to teach a lesson, and tell
a story of a Nigeria, that could only grow and
prominently too, without ethnic, religious or
tribal divides.
Azikiwe’s life, had been equally chequered.
He was born on the 16th of November 1904
in Zungeru, in present day Niger State to
Obed-Chukwuemeka Azikiwe and Rachel
Chinwe Ogbenyeanu. Obed, was at the time,
a clerk in the British Colonial Government.
Zik started his early elementary school in
Zungeru, and ended up in Onitsha where his
father had sent him, to enable him speak and
understand the indigenous language- Igbo.
He attended Hope Waddell Training College
Calabar and ended up at the Methodist Boy’s
High School in Lagos, for his Secondary
education.
In Lagos, he courted the friendships of
children of prominent Yoruba aristocrats like
George Shyngle, son of Egerton Shyngle,
Francis Cole and Ade Williams (a son of the
Akarigbo of Remo). These connections were
later of immense benefits to his future political
career.
Azikiwe later travelled to America for his
University education and obtained various
degrees from Washington DC, the University
of Pennsylvania and Colombia University,
respectively, before returning to Nigeria in
1934.
He became an active member of the Nigerian
Youth Movement (NYM), Nigeria’s foremost
Nationalist movement and supported
Adeniran Akisanya, as the NYM candidate,
for a vacant seat in the Legislative Counsel in
1941, that had been vacated by Sir Kofo
Abayomi, who had resigned from his position
to pursue further studies in Ophthalmology in
the United Kingdom.
The leadership of the NYM, had supported
Ernest Ikoli, an Ijaw man to succeed their former
President- Kofoworola Abayomi. Azikiwe,
disappointed by this choice, resigned his
membership of the NYM and accused the
leadership of disdain against the Ijebu Yoruba
members.
Interestingly, Obafemi Awolowo, Samuel
Ladoke Akintola and a host of other youths,
supported Ernest Ikoli, against the choice of
Adeniran Akisanya, by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.
Akisanya, bemoaning the loss, described
Awolowo and Akintola as “misguided youths.”
He later became the Odemo of Isara. Zik
became a Co founder of the NCNC in 1944 and
became its Secretary General in 1946 with Dr.
Herbert Macauley as its President.
He played Lagos politics and his newspaper,
The West African Pilot, was very prominent.
His militants in the Zikist Youth Movement
led by Osita Agwuina were Raji Abdala,
Kolawole Balogun M.C.K Ajuluchukwu and
Abiodun Aloba, whose pen name was
Ebenezer Williams.
In the politics of Lagos and its environs, the
Igbos and their acolytes have always held
sway. Alhaji Adegoke Adelabu (Penkelemesi),
Chief Theophilus O.S Benson, Chief Adeniran
Ogunsanya, Chief Olu Akinfosile, Chief
Richard Akinjide, were distinguished and
notable Yoruba politicians in their life-time,
and were equally close confidants of the late
Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe. T.O.S Benson (Nigeria’s
first Minister of Information) had earlier won
the Yaba Federal seat for the NCNC and in
1964 ran again as
Independent Candidate, to
defeat his former
Constituency Secretary,
Maduagwu Moronu, an Oba
man of the Igbo clan; as a
candidate for Yaba Federal
seat.
Zik won a seat to the
Western Regional House of
Assembly representing
Lagos and would have been
the first Premier of the
Western Region in 1952,
already coasting home to
victory, if the Action Group
had not boosted its
memberships by supports of
Ibadan’s People’s party,
Ondo Improvement League
the Out-Edo People’s Party
and other splinter groups to
secure a majority in the
Western Region House of
Assembly in 1952 following
the advent of the
Macpherson Constitution of
1951.
Ibadan political maverick-
Adegoke Adelabu, Dr.
Olorunimbe and TOS
Benson, were his ardent
supporters. As a result of this loss, he returned
back to the Eastern Region by displacing the
Ibibio man Prof. Eyo Ita who as Majority leader,
in the Eastern Region House of Assembly, was
leader of government business and
Azikiwe succeeded him, by being elected in
1954 as Premier of the Eastern Region.
He became Governor General on the 1st of
October, 1960 with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
as Prime Minister,- the first Nigerian appointed
to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
and the first President of Nigeria in 1963 when
Nigeria became a Republic.
In Enugu, a Northerner- Babasule was
equally prominent in politics about this time
and was President of the Stranger Elements
Movement in Enugu.
He synergised and supported Altine’s cause.
In 1956, a group in the NCNC had also
presented D. T Iyang as a candidate to run
against Altine, in the election to the Municipal
Council. He was easily trounced by Altine to
continue in office as Mayor of Enugu Municipal
Council. Interestingly, he won this re-election
as an Independent candidate.
He was also at this time, still very close to the
Sultan- Sadiq Abubakar who was the Sultan
of Sokoto for 50 good years- (1938 to 1988.)
In Enugu he went to
church, if his duties
as Mayor demanded
and also went to do
the kick off at Stadia
as Mayor, whenever
invited
•Umaru Altine
Umaru Altine grew up in the Sultan’s Palace.
On the 10th of November 1956, Umaru Altine
was elected as President of the NCNC branch
in Enugu without any opposition. He was in
office, comfortably and confidently until 1958.
In the Western Region, Umaru Altine had a
soul mate in Emmanuel Ebubedike, an Igbo
man from Ozubulu Town, in present day
Anambra State.
He was the Honourable member
representing Ajeronmi/Ife Lodun/Badagry
Constituency in the Western Region House of
Assembly.
In May 1962, he was the member, who on the
day of the crises in the House of Assembly,
prominently pitted his support for the
continuation in office of Samuel Lodoke
Akintola as Premier of the Western Region.
The crises that erupted on the floor of the
Parliament, eventually led to the dissolution of
the Parliament and government of the Western
Region and the eventual set up of the
Majekodunmi Emergency Administration,
between May 29 1962 and December 31 1962
by the Federal Government and the Tafawa
Balewa Administration.
Dr. Moses Adekoyejo Majekodunmi, asides
from being a member of the Senate of the
National Assembly was also Tafewa Balewa’s
friend, confidant and private medical doctor.
Ibadan, as a result of its rising growth,
economic development, and
its accommodating nature,
became a colony for large
migrants population. The
Western Igbos settled in
Mokola, Ekotedo and
Inalende, in the early 1920’s
whilst Sabon- gari was
planned in 1917 and
completed in 1920. The
overcrowding of Sabongari,
originally meant for the
Hausas, led to the
development of Mokola, to
also house, Nupe and Igbira
migrants, from the Northern
Nigeria. Late Waziri Nupe,
Alhaji Bello Muhammed
Bagudu, grew up and settled
in Mokola, Ibadan, until his
later life, when he relocated
back to Bida. He was a
member of Ibadan
Municipal Council in the
1950s. His son, Senator Isa
Mohammed, who also grew
up in Ibadan, attended Igbo
Elerin Grammar school,
Ibadan, founded by the late
Ibadan Monarch – Oba
Odugade Odulana. He was
a Senator, representing
Niger Central Constituency of Niger State, in
the National Assembly, between 1999-2007.
As an interesting corollary, a non-Ibadan
native, J.M Johnson (1912-1987), born in Lagos
of Lafiaji/Brazilian extraction, returned to civil
life in Ibadan after the Second World War and
became a Bank Clerk and later a business man
and eventually joined Politics, where he got
elected into the Ibadan District Council and
later became the first and only ever nonindigene
to serve as Chairman of the council.
From his Political life in Ibadan, he became
a Federal Minister in 1956, and served in
Internal affairs, Labour, Social welfare and
Sports, also acting twice as the Prime Minister
in the N.C.N.C and N.P.C. Coalition
Government. He was instrumental to the first
World Boxing Title fight in Africa, which took
place in Ibadan, Western Nigeria, between
Tiger and Fulman in 1963 at the Liberty
Stadium. In the same year (1963), he retired
from Politics by declining to contest in the
General Elections
Lord Lugard’s dispatches to London
Nigeria is a very complex country. Our
problems did not start yesterday. They started
about 1894. Lord Lugard came here as Major
Lugard and he was not originally employed by
the British Government, but employed by
companies
He was first employed by the East Indian
Company, then by the Royal East Company,
then by the Royal Niger Company. It was from
the Royal Niger company, that he transferred
his services to the British Government.
The interest of the Europeans in Africa and
indeed in the enclaves later known as Nigeria
was purely economic and it is still economic.
Nigeria was created as British spheres of
interest for business.
In 1898, Lord Lugard formed the West African
Frontier force, initially with 2000 soldiers.
Lugard became a Lord and imperialist.
When Lugard formed the West African
Frontier Force, about 90% of them were from
the Middle belt in Northern Nigeria.
His dispatches to London, between 1898 to
1914 were interestingly amazing.
He sent a number of dispatches to London,
which led to the amalgamation of 1914.
The Order-in-Council was drawn up in
November 1913, signed and came into force in
January 1914.
In those dispatches, Lugard said a number of
things, which are the root causes of Yesterday
and today’s problems.
Mary Shaw, a journalist, was Lugard
mistress, and she actually suggested to him, in
the amalgamation of the Northern and
Southern protectorates, the name- Nigeria.
The British needed railways, from the Coast
to the North in the interest of British business
The Amalgamation of the South, not of the
people, with the North, became of crucial
importance to British business interest.
Benin was conquered in 1896. It made the
creation of the Southern protectorate in January
1 1900, possible. Sokoto was not conquered,
until 1903. After the conquest of Sokoto, the
British were then in a position to create the
Northern Protectorate.
Unfortunately, what the British amalgamated
in 1914, was the amalgamation of the
administration of the North and South and not
its people.
Obafemi Awolowo had called Nigeria- “a
mere geographical expression” while Sir
Ahmadu Bello called Nigeria- “a mistake of
1914.”
In furtherance of the British interest, the
British started railway services from Iddo
Lagos in 1896 and it got to Ibadan in March
1901, when the Dugbe Train Station, was
opened, and from there, into the North, exiting
at Nguru then known as the Lagos to
Nguru line.
As a result of the discovery of Coal in Enugu
in 1906, by British engineer Mines Albert
Kitson, the British developed a city port, known
as Porthacourt in 1906 and developed a rail
line to Enugu for evacuation of coal to the Port
from Enugu mines, in 1913.
As at 1956 there were about 8000 miners in
Enugu, Coal was then like crude oil. There are
barely a few miners now in the Coal city.
The Porthacourt rail line traverses Enugu and
ended or exited at Kaura Namoda in
Maiduguri.
Porthacourt was actually named after Lord
Lewis Vernon Harcourt, former Secretary of
State for the colonies- (1910 to 1915.)
Both Lagos to Nguru and Porthacourt to Kaura
Namoda has a total spanage of 3506kms of
narrow rail track.
In fondest memory of the first ever Mayor of
Enugu, Umaru Altine, Agu Gab, in his capacity
as Chairman Enugu North Local Government
in 2004, invited the Umaru Altine family to
Enugu, to celebrate the achievements of their
late father.
According to Agu- ”our history before that
tune did not reflect its towering achievements
in terms of Nigerian unity. I was going to name
a public institution after him, but time did not
allow for that,..., “ but was glad to note - “a
street was named
after the late Mayor somewhere in the coal
camp in the city of Enugu during the first
Republic”
Alhaji Umaru Altine, certainly deserves
more.
Despite the history of its birth in 1914, its
hiccups and challenges and leadership deficits
coupled with its inability or refusal to
restructure, despite strident and trenchant calls,
Nigeria has certainly come to stay, and in
fondest memory of the likes of pan Nigerians
like Mallam Umaru Altine, there may be need
to re-echo with relish and undisguised
affection, and deep nolstagia Nigeria’s old
National anthem -
Nigeria we Hail thee
Our own dear native land
Though TRIBES and TONGUE may differ
In brotherhood we stand
Nigerians all, are proud to serve
Our sovereign Motherland…
(Adopted as Nigeria’s National Anthem
composed in 1960 by Frances Berda and
relinquished in 1978.)
May the soul of Mallam Umam Altine,
continually find peaceful repose with the Lord.
Article by-
HON (BARR.) FEMI KEHINDE,
FORMER MEMBER, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES,
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, FROM 1999 TO
2003,
REPRESENTING AYEDIRE/IWO/OLA-
OLUWA, FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY OF
OSUN STATE
&
PRINCIPAL PARTNER,
FEMI KEHINDE & CO.
(SOLICITORS),
84, IWO ROAD, IBADAN

How the APC is reinventing
itself ahead of 2023
By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA: Months after it lost its Mojo, the
ruling All Progressives Congress APC
seems to be on the path of selfrediscovery
following the determination of
the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention
Planning Committee CECPC to heal all
wounds and unite the various tendencies in
the fold.
The Governor Mai Mala Buni-led
Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning
Committee CECPC was inaugurated on 25th
June, 2020 with a mandate to reconcile all the
warring factions and also conduct a national
convention.
More than four months into its six-month
mandate, the CECPC has been able to secure
the support of majority of the leaders and
members of the party. This is in spite of
dissenting views from a former Senator for
Zamfara Central, Kabir Marafa and a member
of the party from Benue State, Okpoku
Ogenyi. Both men have however been
reportedly disowned by their respective state
chapters of the party.
Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the
party, Mr Yekini Nabena said the Buni-led
committee is focused on achieving true and
lasting unity, peace and reconciliation across
party ranks and ahead of the planned national
convention of the Party.
Recall that the CECPC was constituted and
inaugurated by the 8th resumed meeting of
the APC National Executive Committee
(NEC) in June with a core mandate to “achieve
peace-building, true reconciliation and to give
a sense of belonging to every member of the
Party”.
“While a section of the media has been awash
with reports of a tenure extension for the
CECPC, the focus remains achieving and
sustaining the APC caretaker committee’s
peace and reconciliation core mandate”, said
Nabena.
He said it is important that the APC conducts
its planned national convention to produce the
Party’s national leadership as a united house,
otherwise the main aim of constituting the
CECPC following the dissolution of the
immediate-past National Working Committee
(NWC) will be defeated.
According to him, the Governor Buni-led
CECPC has deployed a combination of true
reconciliation, consultation and inclusiveness
in achieving unity and cohesion in the Party.
In specific terms, Gov. Buni had in order to
reposition the Party to ensure good
governance, proposed the recentlyinaugurated
tripartite Executive/Legislative/
APC consultative Committee.
The committee is to ensure synergy, good
governance and accelerated implementation
of the Next Level agenda of the President
Muhammadu Buhari administration.
“A peacemaker and stabilizing voice,
Governor Buni is meeting all leaders,
known party groups and interests in
order to accommodate all interests.
This has resulted in renewed
commitment on the part of party
members”, said the party spokesman.
Confidence Vote
The Caretaker Committee has
received the endorsement of elected
National Executive Committee NEC
(Non- National Working Committee)
members. The non-NWC NEC Forum had at
a recent meeting with the Party’s national
leadership, passed a vote of confidence on the
Governor Mai Mala Buni-led CECPC.
Before then, the 36 State APC Chairmen,
including that of the Federal Capital Territory
FCT also passed a confidence vote on the
CECPC.
It does appear that in spite
of disagreements among
some stakeholders with
regards to the 2023 general
elections, there is an
unanimity of support for the
caretaker committee.
One of the major
challenges that has pushed
APC into avoidable crisis in
the past was its faulty reward
system. Many of those who
worked towards the electoral
successes of the party across
the country were left in the
lurch.
However, to further carry
along dedicated party
members, the CECPC said it
is already working with
President Buhari to urgently
address the reward system
for dedicated and loyal party
members, particularly on
appointment of deserving
party members into several
boards, agencies and
parastatals of government.
One of the most visible achievements of the
reconciliation efforts of the Buni Committee
is its success in persuading some former
leaders of the party who left its fold to return
home.
The consultative Party leadership style
instituted by Governor Buni as Chairman of
the APC CECPC has brought back many
prominent Party members and leaders
including, former national chairman of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator
Barnabas Gemade; former Speaker of the
House of Representatives, Rt.
Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Dr. Alex
Otti among others.
Also, the CECPC has
resuscitated the Party’s internal
dispute resolution mechanisms
and has set up reconciliation
committees for Oyo, Edo, Ondo,
Imo, Ogun, Ekiti among other
States chapters with reported
disputes. According to Nabena,
the Committees are already
meeting with the key
stakeholders in the various
states and has achieved
substantial reconciliation in
many states.
“The success stories of the
ongoing reconciliation efforts
abound. Case points are Cross
River State where the CECPC
reconciled the two factions and
appointed a State Caretaker
Committee led by Sen.
Matthew Mbu (Jnr.) as acting
State Chairman. In Ondo State,
all the Governorship aspirants
were brought together,
campaigned and worked for the
successful re-election of the
APC Candidate, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu
(SAN)”, he said.
In Akwa Ibom State where the Secretary of
the caretaker committee, Sen. John
SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020—13
•Gov. Mai
Mala Buni
Akpanudoedehe hails from, the CECPC has
been able to bring together all the contending
interests under one roof and achieved what
seems a true reconciliation. Today, in Akwa
Ibom, leaders such as Sen. Godswill Akpabio,
Obong Nsima Ekere, Mr. Umana O. Umana,
Sen. Ita Enang, Barr. Bassey Dan Abia (Snr)
among others are said to be working together
in collective pursuit of Party interests.
One of the reconciliation efforts which
seemed impropable at the beginning was that
between the Minister of Transportation, Hon.
Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and Minister of
State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre
Sylva. Curiously, with the mediating influence
of the CECPC, both men have resolved in Party
interest to work together and strengthen the
Party, particularly in the South South geopolitical
zone.
The CECPC said it has substantially
reconciled various factions in some affected
states, viz: Bauchi, Bayelsa, Cross River, Edo,
Ekiti, Enugu, Zamfara, Ondo, Oyo States.
At the same time, it has continued to hold
meetings with identified stakeholders/elders,
state governors, state chairman, National
Assembly caucus, identified youth and women
groups, ministers and heads of parastatals.
The CECPC is constantly briefing the
President, Chairman Progressives Governors
Forum, Senate President and Speaker, House
of Representatives with a mid-term report
which will enable the CECPC to take allinclusive
decisions.
The APC has three modes of selecting
candidates for elective positions. The methods
are direct primary, indirect primary and
consensus. However, efforts to use direct
primary method in some places have usually
hit a brick wall due to the absence of a reliable
membership register.
The planned nationwide registration,
update, revalidation of the Party’s
membership register would however help the
party in planning and in conducting direct
primary. It would allow it know its numerical
strength too.
Like Nabena said, “it is important to take
cognizance of the fact that the prior internal
party crisis which was unfortunately left to
fester before the advent of the CECPC
distracted public attention from appreciating
the monumental strides that the President
Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government is
making in delivering on APC’s three critical
electoral promises – fighting corruption,
security and revamping the economy from 16
years of the Peoples Democratic party PDP
misrule and mismanagement”.
Ahead of the planned APC National
Convention and indeed the 2023 General
Elections, he said stakeholders should
continue to support the CECPC efforts to unite
the party in order to make it formidable
enough to consolidate on the APC’s national
governing status and landmark achievements.
The party has said it will not go into a
National Convention, and indeed a general
election in crisis. “We should take it one step
at a time and ensure that the ongoing national
reconciliation process being undertaken by
the CECPC is sustained, successful and
continue to yield results”.
As the APC seeks to reinvent itself before
conducting a national convention, it is
incumbent on aggrieved Party members who
had earlier gone to court to now heed the call
of the CECPC to withdraw such cases. That is
the surest way to ensure a positive electoral
future for the party.
ECOWAS Parliament: legislating its way to legitimacy
By Victoria Ojeme
The Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) was
created in 1975 by the Treaty of
Lagos (ECOWAS Treaty). The creation of
an ECOWAS Parliament came almost 20
years later, when it was formed alongside
other Community institutions with the
revision of the ECOWAS Treaty in 1993.
Established by Article 13 of the
ECOWAS Revised Treaty, the Community
Parliament was established with a
mandate to provide advice to the
Community on a variety of integration
issues, ranging from respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms,
through public health policies and
interconnection of telecommunication and
energy networks, to youth and sports,
among other things.
It took a further six years before the first
legislature of the Community Parliament
was officially inaugurated in Bamako
(Mali) in November 2000.
The Parliament is composed of one
hundred and fifteen (115) seats. Each
Member State has a guaranteed
minimum of five seats. The remaining
forty seats are shared on the basis of
population.
As noted earlier, the First Legislature of
the parliament was inaugurated in
Bamako, Mali with a five-year mandate
(16 November 2000 to 5 October 2005).
Professor Ali Nouhoum Diallo was elected
the first Speaker. That same year, the
Authority of Heads of State and
Government directed the ECOWAS
Commission and Parliament to present
proposals on the enhancement of
Parliament’s powers, in the hope that the
next legislature would be the last one with
only an advisory capacity.
Following the restructuring of ECOWAS
Institutions by the Authority
of Heads of State and
Government in 2006, in
which the life span of the
Legislature was reduced to
four years, the Second
Legislature was inaugurated
on 11 November 2006, under
the leadership of Mahamane
Ousmane from the Republic
of Niger. The Legislature
lasted until 10th November,
2010.
This legislature formed an
ad hoc committee to work on
proposals of parliamentary
restructuring including
study visits to other regional
Parliaments, such as the
East Africa Legislative
Assembly (EALA), which is
one of the few regional
parliaments in Africa with
legislative powers, and the
European Parliament.
Though reports and
recommendations were
made on the enhancement
process, the term of the
second legislature ended
One of the major
challenges that has
pushed APC into
avoidable crisis in
the past was its
faulty reward
system
without
their
implementation.
The Third Legislature was inaugurated
on 8 August 2011 with Ike Ekweremadu
from Nigeria as the Speaker of
Parliament. This legislature immediately
set up an ad hoc committee to – once more
– work on enhancing its powers. After one
year of work, the committee submitted a
Draft Supplementary Act (DSA) to the
Plenary, which it proposed would replace
all preceding legislation
governing the Community
Parliament.
Ekweremadu during his
tenure advocated that
Parliament needed to
move to a higher status
and called on the
ECOWAS Authority of
Heads of State and
Government to accelerate
It took a further six
years before the
first legislature of
the Community
Parliament was
officially
inaugurated in
Bamako (Mali) in
November 2000
the processes of making
the Community’s
Parliament a full-blown
legislative institution.
“The end of democracy
should be development for
the Community and better
life for our people through
good governance,” he said
upon his election.
Ekweremadu, in his
valedictory address said
the adoption of the
Supplementary Act on the
Enhancement of the
Powers of the ECOWAS
Parliament by the
Community Decision
Making Bodies remains
the most significant
achievement of the Third Legislature.
The Fourth Legislature of the ECOWAS
Parliament was inaugurated at its first
sitting on 4 February 2016. Moustapha
Cisse Lo from Senegal, was elected
Speaker. The Legislature lasted until 3rd
February, 2020.
On the 7th of December 2016 the
Ministers of Justice of ECOWAS endorsed
the draft Supplementary Act on the
Enhancement of Powers of the ECOWAS
Community Parliament. The
Enhancement of Powers Act is meant
among others, to permit the ECOWAS
Parliament to be involved in the process
of budget as well as the oversight of
activities of ECOWAS institutions.
Hence, the ECOWAS Parliament is
presently undergoing a transition from a
merely consultative body, characterized
by internal institutional inertia rooted in
the lack of decision-making powers,
towards a more assertive directly elected
Community legislature with a measure of
legislative powers.
This fifth and subsisting Legislature of
the ECOWAS Parliament was inaugurated
during its first sitting on 9th March, 2020
by Issoufou Mahamadou, President of the
Republic of Niger and Chairman of the
Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and
Government. Sidie Mohamed Tunis of
Sierra Leone Elected New Speaker.
Although the current legislature since
its birth has been overshadowed by the
COVID-19 pandemic, parliament has been
active in peaceful democratic processes
in Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali. Also
on the table is how to fully maximize the
African Continental Free Trade Area
(AfCFTA) which the Speaker said holds
the promise of prosperity for all Africans
amidst the coronavirus pandemic, to the
benefit of the economic bloc.
Continues on www.vanguardngr.com

14—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
FCT: #EndSARS hoodlums came from as
far as Niger Republic —Sarkin Jiwa
By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA: The recent hijack by hoodlums
of an otherwise peaceful #EndSARS
protest in the Federal Capital Territory
FCT might have ended but not without leaving
in its trail a series of devastation.
What happened in places where the
hoodlums left their signatures can best be
described as ‘Operation Sweep’. It was more
than just looting. It was a complete sweep of
the affected facilities as the hoodlums went
as far as removing rooftops, breaking the
walls to remove the conduit pipes and cables,
removing ceilings, doors, windows and even
carting away office tables, stationeries and
files.
The extent of damage was so shocking that
the only rational conclusion would be to hold
that hoodlums from neighbouring countries
might have come in to assist their Nigerian
counterparts. Otherwise, one may also be
right to conclude that there are more
hoodlums in Nigeria than law abiding
citizens.
Both positions could also be a true reflection
of what happened. For, as the Sarkin Jiwa,
HRH Dr Idris Musa said, those who looted
structures in the FCT came from the far North
including Katsina, the president’s home state
and neighbouring Niger Republic.
Speaking in his palace when he recieved
the ‘FCT Ministerial Committee on
Assessment of Losses caused by #EndSARS
Unrest’, the royal father said the committee
needed not to look far because those who
perpetrated the looting can be tracked with
the assistance of security agencies.
He said; “It is very sad and we do not pray
to see such ugly incident again. We saw what
we were not supposed to see because those
who vandalised these things, most of them,
came from the far North, Niger Republic,
Katsina and other parts of this nation.
“And I want to advise, in order not to waste
your time, I have been advising since almost
five years that government should take action
in this part of the city which is he
headquarters of the Babangbola (scrap
collectors). With this #EndSARS, what they
(scrap collectors) have done to the city is bad.
In this axis, most of the houses that were
being built were vandalised. They went there
and vandalised all the aluminium. In some
areas where they vandalised stores, most of
the machines were recovered by the military.
So, you should liaise with the military and
recover those machines. About 92 machines
were recovered by the military. Some items
were recovered in the bushes and are kept in
the Gwagwa and Karmo Divisions. So, you
can visit those places and see what they have”.
Some of the facilities affected were the
orientation camp of the National Youth Service
Corps NYSC in Kubwa, the FCT Customary
Court in Dutse, the outposts of the Nigerian
Police Fire and the Nigeria Security and Civil
Defence Corps NSCDC in Dutse public and
private warehouses in Idu, Jabi, Tunga Maje,
Gwagwalada and other places.
In fact, out of the six Area Councils in the
FCT, only one, Abaji was not affected.
In Kuje, the Council’s Central Store which
contained medical supplies and other nonmedical
assets was also looted.
The Council’s ICT Centre and Library was
looted with 20 desktop computers, eight
standing fans and eight Air Conditioning
systems and 13 inverter batteries stolen. The
hoodlums also invaded the offices of the FCT
Fire Service and the Federal Road Safety
Corps FRSC within the library premises
where they carted away office equipment and
stationeries. They even went away with the
electricity metre and vandalised the power
plant in the premises.
An attempt to invade the Area Council
Secretariat was however stoutly resisted by
soldiers but that was after the hoodlums had
pulled down the rear perimeter fence of the
Secretariat.
The Women Centre in Jiwa was looted bare
and the place has been turned into a “public
toilet” as the assessment team was welcome
into the premises by a pungent stench of
human faeces.
Saturday Vanguard correspondent had to
immediately turn back due to the stench, and
in spite of wearing a face mask.
In Kwali Area Council, the famous Dr Ladi
Kwali Pottery Centre which was
commissioned by former President Olusegun
Obasanjo in 2005 and which has continued to
attract global attention was vandalised.
Other places in Kwali where the hoodlums
left their footprints were the Council
•How they wrecked havoc in Abuja
•Women Centre turned into public toilet
•Famous Ladi Kwali Pottery Centre destroyed
Some vandalised vehicles at a
factory in Idu
A vandalised Government store
in Gwagwa-Tasha
A vandalised private estate
under construction in Gosa
Secretariat, FCT Fertilizer Store, Micro
Finance Bank and Veterinary clinic.
Similarly, the hoodlums stole food items at
Gwagwalada LEA Staff Multipurpose
Cooperative Society. Popularly known as
“Teachers’ House”, the building also
contained motorcycles and
other items bought by the
teachers to empower
themselves. The hoodlums also
destroyed FCT Fadama House,
zonal Headquarters of the
Federal Radio Corporation of
Nigeria FRCN, FCT Central
Store and others.
Boreholes were not left out of
the looting spree and the
hoodlums made away with not
just the submersible pumps,
but even the overhead tanks.
In some of these places, the
hoodlums literally left their
footprints. They forgot their
footwear but does Nigeria have
the forensic knowledge and
database to track the owners of
such footwear?
machines
At the end of the activities of
violent non-state actors across
the country, the FCT Directorate
of Road Traffic Services DRTS
(also known as Vehicle
Inspection Officers VIOs)
bemoaned the invasion of its Auto Pond in the
In some areas where
they vandalised stores,
most of the machines
were recovered by the
military. So, you should
liaise with the military
and recover those
machines. About 92
were
recovered by the military
Stripped bare: A vandalised
factory in Idu
A vandalised borehole
An empty FCT Auto Pond
Gosa area of Abuja, putting the value of its
losses at over ¦ 1billion.
Director, FCT DRTS, Wadata Aliyu Bodinga
disclosed this on when the ministerial
committee visited the Pond.
The Auto Pond is where impounded
vehicles and motorcycles which
have overstayed in the hands of
the DRTS are kept. Though, a
few other security agencies also
liaise with the DRTS to keep
some vehicles at the pond.
Giving a breakdown of the
losses, Bodinga said no fewer
than 174 vehicles, 3, 432
motorcycles and 43 Rickshaws
(tricycles) were carted away by
hoodlums.
According to him, the
hoodlums operated
unchallenged for about three
days and in the end also
vandalised offices in the
premises, stole the electricity
transformer and looted about 40
solar panels.
“We had over 3,432
motorcycles and not one of them
was spared, not even a bolt was
left because everything was
completely looted. We had
about 174 vehicles and even the
offices were vandalised,
including the roof which were removed. About
40 poles of solar have equally been removed;
A recovered Safe
Kuje Area Council ICT Centre
the observation post was
vandalised. Anything metal,
whether alloy or non-alloy were
removed. The fence was pulled
down and the rods removed.
About 43 Keke NAPEP were
stolen. The transformer
supplying the place electricity
was also taken away. I think the
hoodlums stayed here for like
three days or so, continuously
looting the place.
“We have evaluated the items.
Like the motorcycles, we placed
a value or N26, 000 on each and
even at that value, you have
money running into over N800
million and the value of the
vehicles is about N76 million. So,
in all, what has been looted here
is over N1 billion”.
Saturday Vanguard observed that a nearby
private estate under construction was also
looted, with the roof of the houses removed.
At the Idu Industrial Layout, Chairman of
the Abuja, Nasarawa and Niger Branch of the
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria MAN,
Mr Odun Emasealu who commended the
FCT minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello
for his prompt intervention to halt the looting,
said billions of Naira in investments have
been lost.
“We have gone round and the industrial
equipment looted are very expensive. They
raided the buildings and vandalised
equipment. About 15 to 20 factories were
affected. They took away windows, doors and
other things including toilet seats and
bathtubs, all running into billions. They have
rendered these factories totally incapacitated
and in fact, the owners need to reinvest to get
some of them back up again. We just hope
that these people will no be demoralised, that
they will have the faith to come up again”,
said Emasealu.
Chairman of the committee and Director
General of the FCT Emergency Management
Agency FEMA, Alhaji Abbas Idris said his
team would so a meticulous job and present
its findings to the relevant authority.
“Honestly, the level of devastation is much.
If you look at what we saw in Jiwa, Gwagwa,
Kuje and Gosa area, you will know that billions
of Naira have been lost in this circumstances.
When you come to Idu Industrial Layout, many
factories were invaded and it is just beyond
anyone’s imagination”, he stated.

Clergy men and limit of political prophecies
By Dirisu Yakubu
”
Not everyone who says unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that does the will of my Father which
is in heaven.
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
And in thy name have cast out devils? And
in thy name done many wonderful works?
“And then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity,”- Matthew 7: 21-23
For the past two decades,
Nigerians, particularly
Christians have had to put
up with the antics of men
unction to carry on the
mandate of Jesus Christ
across the world. Although,
the nation is not short of
Pastors who have
distinguished themselves in
their callings, this piece
focuses on Men of God, that
have in the past few years,
courted controversies with
their flirtation with political
prophecies.
The word of God is settled,
exact and firm for the Holy
Book in Proverbs 30: 5-6
says “Every word of God is
pure. He is a shield to those
who put their trust in Him.
Do not add to his words, lest
he rebuke you and you be
found a liar.”
Across the world,
preachers are highly respected for in them,
the people see ambassadors of God on
earth. They are expected to speak truth
regardless of the circumstance which is why
in moment of crisis when citizens are afraid
or too broken to speak up; the vast majority
look up to Men of God to speak on their
behalf.
One of the world’s most vocal civil rights
activists, Martin Luther King Jr. started off
as a Baptist Pastor until activism took the
better part of him in the mid-50s. Until his
brutal assassination on April 4, 1968,
Martin Luther King Jr. was a turn in the
flesh of successive American governments
for their social segregation against the
blacks. From King, Americans expected
true utterances, messages of hope anchored
on the undiluted word of God.
In Nigeria and in many other African
countries, political prophecies many of
which have turned up as outright falsehood
are gradually becoming a way of life. One
of the country’s most eloquent Pastors,
Tunde Bakare, founder of the Latter Rain
Assembly, struck fear into the psyche of
former Head of State, Chief Olusegun
The Literary Lives And Times Of Ken Saro-Wiwa
By Maxim Uzoatu
Perhaps, no time had
pastors in the land
struggled for the crown
of the most authentic
political seer than the
recent United States of
America Presidential
election won by
Democratic Party
candidate, Mr. Joe
Biden
There is no escaping the fact that Kenule
Beeson Saro-Wiwa, famously known as
Ken Saro-Wiwa, packed too many
lifetimes into one life. His hanging by the
General Sani Abacha regime on November
10, 1995 was a universal cause célèbre. It can
be all too easy for many to give Ogoni
activism the greater parameter in any
discussion of the mourned one, but make no
mistake about it: it was literature that offered
Ken Saro-Wiwa the needed pedestal to
bestride the globe.
Ken Saro-Wiwa understood the power of the
written word from very early in his
educational attainments. By the time he got
admitted to the famous Government College,
Umuahia, his embrace of the liberal arts was
total. At the University of Ibadan, he upped
the ante with service as the President of the
Dramatic Society, and he equally weighed in
as a redoubtable performer with the
University Travelling Theatre.
It was indeed a problematic world that Ken
Saro-Wiwa grew up into, needing to break
from Biafra during the civil war into the larger
Nigerian nation. The politics of the time is
not my forte here. It suffices to stress that
beyond the politics of the war and the
aftermath, Ken Saro-Wiwa was poised on a
literary upswing when he was among the over
six hundred wannabes who entered for the
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC),
London playwriting competition in October
1971 tagged “Write A Play For Africa”. Ken
Saro-Wiwa’s entry entitled “The Transistor
Radio” won the “Joint Fourth Prize” alongside
fellow Nigerian Charles C. Umeh’s “Double
Attack” and Ghanaian Derlene Clems’
“Scholarship Woman”. The First Prize was
won by the South African Richard Rive for
his two-actor play “Make Like Slaves”. The
Obasanjo when ahead of his inauguration
as democratically elected President of
Nigeria in 1999; he prophesied an awaiting
doom of Egyptian proportion.
“Obasanjo is not your messiah. He is King
Agag and the prophetic axe will come upon
his head before May 29, 1999,” Bakare said,
only for the civil- war hero to in addition to
a seamless inauguration, also won a second
term in office in 2003. Bakare’s prophesy
failed to materialize but the world moved
on. No questions were put directly to him
apart from individual whispers of “Can God
lie?” among those bold enough
to question the divinity of that
prophesy.
Despite the fruitlessness of that
first prophesy, Bakare in a video
that went viral two years ago
told who ever cared to listen that
a successor to President Buhari
has been named by no one than
God, creator of heaven and
earth.
Addressing a capacity-filled
auditorium in Lagos, the lawyerturned
clergy said, “I will
succeed Buhari as President of
Nigeria, nothing can change it.
I am number 16, Buhari is
number 15. I never said it to you
before. I am saying it now and
nothing can change it. In the
name of Jesus, he (Buhari) is
number 15, I am number 16. To
this end was I born and for this
purpose came I into the world. I
have prepared you for this for
more than 30 years.” At least,
we can wait for this one. 2023 is almost
here!
On his part, another clergy man blessed
with the gift of the garb, Pastor Chris Okotie
of the Household of God Church had in
different election cycles vied for the
Presidency only to fail to garner sufficient
votes for a tenancy in Aso Rock, even though
he told Nigerians he heard from God that
victory would be his. In 2003 and 2007, he
contested the plum seat on the platform of
Justice Party and repeated same in 2011 on
the platform of Fresh Democratic Party,
FDP.
Perhaps, no time had pastors in the land
struggled for the crown of the most
authentic political seer than the recent
United States of America Presidential
election won by Democratic Party
candidate, Mr. Joe Biden.
Incumbent President, Donald Trump had
in the years leading to the polls, battled
scores of opposition given the unbridled use
of his tongue in many fora as Commanderin-Chief.
Seen largely as a hater of black
people; Trump in 2016 was quoted by the
then Democratic Party Presidential
candidate, Hillary Clinton to have referred
Ken-saro-wiwa
three judges for the contest were Wole Soyinka,
Martin Esslin and Lewis Nkosi.
Soyinka’s statement on “The Transistor
Radio” reads thus: “It is really well shaped.
We get a sense of literally the whole city being
fake and phoney, and in the end you wonder
if such a town exists. But in spite of that the
characters are there, their vitality, their will
to live. Their means are discreditable but the
author achieves this difficult task of arousing
condemnation and at the same time
admiration for the individuals.” According to
Lewis Nkosi, “Transistor Radio really
captured my heart. The quality of the dialogue
really gave me the feeling of real people
talking. I’m very partial to comedy when it is
well done, and really one must prize comedy
because these problems are so crucial that
often there is a tendency to be very weighty,
•Trump
to some women as “pigs, slogs and dogs.”
Remember his shithole comment? All these
could have turned many a voter away from
the Trump’s ship.
But for televangelist and Founder of
Christ Embassy, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome,
haters of Donald Trump are nothing but
haters of Christians across the globe.
”There are those who think that Trump,
the President of the United States is hated
by many Americans; he is not hated by many
Americans, I want to tell you the truth.
Trump is not the problem, they don’t hate
Trump. They hate those that Trump seems
to support. They are angry at Trump for
supporting Christians, you better know it.
So the real ones they hate are you who are
Christians. That is what the hatred of Trump
is all about.
“Before he started giving his voice in
support of Christians and in support of
Israel, he was the friend of the West. Don’t
forget. He was their darling, they loved him.
Because he doesn’t come from their
sponsorship, and they didn’t expect him to
become President, they blamed the
evangelicals, they blamed the Christians for
voting him into office,” he said in a viral
video that elicited diverse reactions.
With barely a handful of weeks to the US
morally weighty, about them.”
It is indeed interesting that the celebrated
Jimi Solanke played the lead role of Basi in
the BBC recording of the play on July 23, 1972.
“The Transistor Radio” is a very funny comedy
about the young unemployed Lagos man Basi
who devises many tricks for not paying his
rent to the landlady and generally surviving
on the edge in the big city with bright lights.
It can be argued that the entire theatrical
output of Ken Saro-Wiwa via the television
series “Basi and Company” emanated from
the 30-minute radio play “The Transistor
Radio”. Ken Saro-Wiwa spelt his name back
then as Ken Tsaro-Wiwa.
Writing also as Ken Tsaro-Wiwa, he first got
published in 1973 by the Lagos-based
Longmans Publishers with two children’s
books: Tambari and Tambari in Dukana. The
eponymous hero’s adventures in the rural
beach town of Dukana are captured within
the ambit of childlike innocence and magic.
The half-human, half-fish Mami-water rules
the waves. There is the arresting story of the
happy-go-lucky man Kaiza who threw his
fishing net into the waters and came up with
“a bag of money” which he eventually lost.
Like Basi in “The Transistor Radio” the
thematic thread reads: “Come easy, go easy.”
Nothing much issued from Ken Saro-
Wiwa’s pen after the initial promise of the
early 1970s. He had to wait till 1985 to publish
a collection of poems Songs in a Time of War
through his newly-established publishing
company Saros, based in Port Harcourt. The
verses are in fine a meditation on the Nigeria-
Biafra war though the longest piece in the
collection, a pidgin poem “Dis Nigeria Sef”
was written in 1977, seven years after the war
had ended. Poetry, it has to be stated, is not
Ken Saro-Wiwa’s strongest forte.
Ken Saro-Wiwa raised not a little
controversy upon the publishing in 1985
ofSozaboy: A Novel in Rotten English. The
SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020—15
polls; Taribo West joined the Trump-mustwin
band of political priests who unlike the
rest, saw the businessman-turned politician
as the man destined by God to lead the world
most powerful democracy beyond 2021.
But unlike others, West, the former FC
Auxerre, Inter Milan, Ac Milan and Derby
County Centre Back was furious with the
handlers of his church, Shelter in the Storm
Ministry’s social media platforms.
According to the ex- Super Eagles defender,
he had made some prophesies which turned
out true in the past but were not made
public.
Thus at a church service with him
presiding, he said: ”There are a lot God
vomits (what a word!) out of this Ministry
but because of our social media and the
way we have been working; nothing is
coming out. Before the election in Edo, I
said Obaseki would win. Is that true? Did
he win? Nobody said it anywhere, nobody
bring (sic) me out anywhere, nobody quote
(sic) it anywhere. I said it here before the
election. I also said in Ondo election that
Akeredolu would win. Is that true? Did he
win?
“Now, I want you to shoot this out, the
way I want it. Donald Trump will win the
election with a slight split edge over Joe
Biden. So, quote me and I want it to be out
before time.” With a shout of YES greeting
every question he asked his parishioners,
West directed the church’s social media
handlers to hit the ground running, first with
his prophesy of a Trump’s victory. It is not
clear, if he has had the time to reflect on his
declaration now that Trump appears to be
on his way out of the White House.
If West’s sojourn in political prophesy
ended in ignominy, that of Prophet (Dr.)
David Kingleo Elijah is even more difficult
to capture in words.
Prophet Elijah who calls the shot at the
Glorious Mount of Possibility Church told
his members that an American politician
would take his life for failing to support
Trump, whom he described as God’s chosen
to lead the United States beyond a single
term.
Here him: “If care is not taken and prayer
is not made-this prophesy has two ways: If
proper care is taken, and prayer is made,
and the person involved repents, it will not
happen. But if he doesn’t repent, I see a
politician in America because of Donald
Trump, committing suicide. I said a
politician in America because of Donald
Trump, will commit suicide because Donald
Trump is going to win again. Any man God
is behind, you can condemn the man but
you can never condemn the God behind
him. Any man God says go and he’s going,
no matter what you do, you cannot stop him.
“So, let them know-they should pray and
repent. If they don’t repent, I see somebody
in American politics commit suicide and
die because of Donald Trump.
“But listen to me: God is going to work
for his children. God is working for Donald
Trump. Pass the message to Donald Trump
that God is working for him.”
Commit suicide and die? That’s what
Prophet Elijah told his flocks. It would
interest the world to hear from this unique
“Prophet” if anyone has ever committed
suicide and lived thereafter. So long for
religion in a world of little spiritual revival.
book based on the meaninglessness of war
can be said to be Ken Saro-Wiwa’s magnum
opus. His use of language, which he calls
“rotten English”, has been acclaimed by some
critics. The title character Sozaboy is a naïve
young recruit in the war who lacks any
understanding of what he is in the war for,
and ends up broken. The critic Pita Okute,
writing in Vanguard newspaper, dismissed
Sozaboy for having a “silly plot”.
This criticism drew the ire of Ken Saro-Wiwa
who had to depict the critic Pita Okute as Pita
Dumbrok in his novel-in-progress being
published in the Nigerian newspapers. The
novel was eventually published as Prisoners
of Jebs with Pita Dumbrok mouthing “silly
plot” at every turn. He first wrote about the
novel-in-progress in his 1977 column in The
Punch newspaper. The column eventually
resurrected in Vanguard newspaper in 1985.
Jebs Prison was set up by the then Organisation
of African Unity (OAU) on an artificial island
in the Atlantic Ocean off the Nigerian coast.
Ken Saro-Wiwa penned a sequel to the novel
entitled Pita Dumbrok’s Prison.
Building on the early gravitas of “The
Transistor Radio” and the hit television series
he created, Ken Saro-Wiwa published Basi and
Company: A Modern African Folktale in 1987.
Basi deploys the trickster motif of the tortoise
in African fables to survive all obstacles. It is
within this domain that Saro-Wiwa in the
selfsame 1987 published Basi and Company:
Four Television Plays.
Ken Saro-Wiwa’s collection of short stories,
A Forest of Flowers, was shortlisted for the
Commonwealth Writers Prize in 1987.
Graham Hough, writing in London Review
of Books, stressed: “Ken Saro-Wiwa’s
extremely accomplished collection of short
stories stands to Nigeria in something of the
same relation as Joyce’s Dubliners to Ireland…
Read more on www.vanguardngr.com

16—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
Corpse of my son killed by SARS
yet to be released for burial 7
months after —Father cries out
•Says, our lives
now in danger
By Ikechukwu Odu
A
retired police officer, Andy Samuel
Ugwu, whose son, Augustine Ugwu, was
extra
judicially killed by a personnel of the just
disbanded Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS
of the Nigerian Police Force, in April, 2020,
yesterday, cried out over the delay in releasing
the remains of his son for burial seven months
after he was murdered in Nsukka, Enugu State.
Ugwu said that he has faced a lot of
frustration from the police in his attempts to
receive the remains of his son who was a finalyear
Law student of the Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, Awka, Anambra State before his
death. He also disclosed how SARS officers
in connivance with one Oliver Ozioko,
allegedly framed and plotted to kill his
principal witness, Emeka Ogbu, in order to
evade justice.
While regretting that his son’s killer, one DSP
Nnamdi Ochin, who he claimed has confessed
to the crime, was still walking freely with all
his accomplices, he said his life and that of his
principal witness were now in danger.
He added that save for the EndSARS protests
by Nigerian youths to reform the police, so
many innocent souls would have been wasted
by the police.
His words: “My son is not yet buried. My
only happiness is that I have seen the remains
where police deposited it. The killer, DCP
Ochin, who earlier denied having anything to
do with my son’s death, later confessed to the
crime when detectives from Abuja interrogated
him in June this year.
“My greatest worry now is that my principal
witness, Emeka Ogbu, the owner of the beer
parlour where my son was arrested, is now
being molested for giving factual accounts of
my son’s arrest. He was arrested by one DSP
Friday Okpo, attached to the just disbanded
SARS. He was transferred from the SARS
headquarters Abuja to Nsukka here for the
•The
deceased,
Augustine
Ugwu
assignment and has been living
with one of the principal suspects
to my son’s death, one Oliver
Ozioko.
“Both of them invaded the
residence of my principal witness
and invited him to their office. On
getting to the SARS office in Nsukka
here, Friday Okpo, went inside his office,
brought a gun and placed it by his side and
ordered him to sit down. He snapped and
videoed him with another suspect identified
as ‘Escato.’ He started interrogating him about
the gun, but my principal witness told him he
knew nothing about it. He tortured him in his
office for about an hour in a bid to extract
information from him. The following day, he
moved him to their head office in Enugu where
he was tortured for a week and three days.
“When he was released from
detention, after we have paid over
N250,000 to the police, he told me how
the officers who carried out the
operation nearly killed him along Opi-
Enugu Road if not that one of them
objected to the plan. In their office at
Enugu, one of the insiders disclosed to
him that there was a plan to terminate
his life and warned him not to eat any
food from the police unless the one
brought by his family members.
“Two days after SARS released him,
he was rearrested by personnel of the
Anti-cult Unit from Enugu where he
spent two months under serious torture
and other forms of brutality.
“The most painful aspect of my story
is that my son was buried behind Queen
of the Rosary College, Nsukka, by the
principal suspect who later exhumed the
body and sold it to a
known Teaching
•Andy Samuel
Ugwu, whose son
was killed
Hospital
in
Enugu for
students’
experiment.
That
was where
the body
parts would
have been
harvested
and sold out.
But I raised
alarm and he
took it away
from there and
deposited it in
a mortuary.
“Many police
men you see living
above their income is
as a result of the
atrocities they commit on
duty. All the suspects who masterminded my
son’s killing are still walking freely. Some
police officers from command headquarters
in Abuja came and obtained statements from
them in June and disappeared since that time.
Some highly placed officers in Enugu
Command here are covering them up from
facing justice but I won’t allow that because
my son is in question here. The CP only
transferred them out of Nsukka here and
nothing has been done since then.
“The civilians who were involved in the
killing of my son are also walking freely,
trailing me and my principal witness to kill
us. Our lives are in danger now. I am appealing
to the police authorities to release the body of
my son for burial. Must it take them two years
before they do the needful? Each time I called
Abuja Command, they would promise that
they would come the next day, but I would not
see anybody.
“I am equally appealing to President
Muhammadu Buhari, the Enugu State
Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and all the
senators to ensure that the current
Commissioner of Police in Enugu State,
Ahmad Abdulrahman, gets maximum
punishment for my son’s death because he
backs the officers under his watch for extra
judicial killings. It was his laxity in supervision
of his men that led to
these atrocities in the
state,” he said.
In his reaction, the
principal witness,
Ogbu, told Vanguard
that he went through
hell in the hands of
police officers who
framed him and
plotted to kill him for
While regretting that
his son’s killer, one DSP
Nnamdi Ochin, who he
claimed has confessed
to the crime, was still
walking freely with all his
accomplices, he said
his life and that of his
principal witness were
now in danger.
giving factual
information of how
the late Ugwu was
arrested in his shop.
He equally alleged
that after spending
N250,000 before
securing his bail from
SARS, Anti-cult Unit
of the Nigerian Police
equally extorted over
N600,000 from him
before letting him go.
He said, “one of the
SARS personnel who
arrested me from
Nsukka known as
Isaac, A.K.A Baba T, told me while they were
moving me to Enugu that if he was in charge
of my case, I would sell my land before
regaining freedom. In the detention at Enugu,
a suspect who they forcefully took his
photograph with me told me how the officers
used him to frame me up.
“Sometimes, around 12 a.m, an officer
would just order out an inmate who had
already written his statement, asking him to
go and rewrite his statement and the next thing
we would hear was gunshot outside the
detention room, and the person would not
come back again.
“I received series of torture at the Anti-cult
Unit at Enugu. Sometimes, I would beg them
to stop beating me and the officers would
demand money. I paid from N10,000 to
N5,000 to avoid being tortured. Before I left
there, I had gave them over N600,000 because
I spent over two months there. My life is now
in danger because some of the suspects are
still trailing me,” he said.
We made millions of naira from ransom on kidnapped victims
kidnapped their
— Suspects crews and killed
By Ifeanyi Okolie
peratives of the Force Special
OIntelligence Response Team, IRT,
have arrested two members of a notorious
kidnap and sea piracy syndicate terrorizing
seafarers traveling along the Gulf of Guinea
and Bayelsa and Rivers State. Vanguard
gathered that the suspects, identified as
Kelvin Dikuro, aka General Small Voice
and Erememi Captain, A.K.A Nwalanta,
were arrested recently, when operatives of
the IRT, who had received several
intelligence reports about their activities,
trailed them to their hideouts in Bayelsa
and Rivers States, where they were
apprehended.
Sources disclosed to Vanguard that the
suspects, had taken part in several sea
piracy operations, where they hijacked
foreign vessels plying the Gulf of Guinea
and kidnapped crews on board the vessels
and released them after huge amounts were
paid as ransom. The source added that the
suspects were also fingered in the 2019
attack and bombing of a Nigeria Navy
house boat, patrolling the creeks of the
Southern Ijaw area of Bayelsa State and
killing all the soldiers on board.
Vanguard learned further that some of the
intelligence which led to the arrest of the
suspects who were also linked to the May
2020, kidnapping of the father of Sagbama
Local Government Chairman of Bayelsa
State, were generated by officials of the
Nigeria Navy, who regularly patrolled the
Gulf of Guinea and it was passed on to
operatives of the IRT led By Deputy
Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari. When
Vanguard interviewed the suspects, they
gave details of their modus operandi and
narrated how they attacked foreign vessels,
naval personnel on
patrol.
Confessions
24-year-old Kelvin
Dikuro, alias
General Small
Voice, who is a
native of Nembe
Local Government
Area of Bayelsa
State, in his
confession said:
“I am not General
Small Voice, that
name belongs to my
elder brother who is
dead. My brother
was a kidnapper, he •Suspects
was also into oil
bunkering but he
was killed because
of his recklessness in
our community. My
brother had five Ak-rifles which he bought
because of his business but he was killed on
August 17, 2017 after he was released from
police detention. After my brother’s death,
I inherited his guns, formed a five-man gang
and we ventured into kidnapping. We
kidnapped nine foreign sailors from their
vessel in January 2019, at the sea in Bayelsa
State and we took them to them to New
Jerusalem Island in Buguma Local
Government Area of Rivers State. We kept
them for 14 days and fed them with noodles.
One of my brother’s friends known as
Commander Sunday, was the person
communicating with relatives of the victims
and the sum of N5million was eventually
paid as ransom for the release of the sailors.
I was given N200,000 as my share and
other gang members got their own share,
but N400,000 was also given to me to buy
ammunition for the
gang. The second
kidnapping we carried
out was also on the high
sea in Bayelsa State
where we kidnapped
five foreign sailors
again with our
magazines loaded with
30 rounds of live
ammunition on each of
the rifles. We took our
victims to New
Jerusalem Island and
Sunday did the
negotiation for the
ransom and the sum of
N10million was paid as
ransom before they
were released. I got
N1million as my share
of the ransom. We also
carried out two sea
pirate operations where
two persons were killed.
I wasn’t in town when
the kidnapping of the father of the Sagbama
Local Government Chairman took place. I
was in Omoku in Rivers State with my
family when it happened and I got a call
from one Preye, who informed me that my
gang members were behind the kidnapping.
He wanted me to negotiate the release of
the man and he gave me the sum of
N1.3million to take into the creek and give
to my boys. I fled with the money because
Commander Sunday who was with my
guns, led the kidnapping and he didn’t brief
me about the operation or the amount he
was negotiating as ransom. I was arrested
in my house in Omoku, one week after I
collected the money and I don’t know if the
father of the Sagbama Local Government
Chairman has been released”, he narrated.
In his own confession, Erememi Captain,
alias Nwalanta, who was a fisherman,
based in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, but
ventured into sea piracy and oil pipeline
vandalism, when he met a friend identified
as Owei, said; “Owei was the person that
introduced me into sea piracy and
kidnapping and I have gone out with his
gang on several operations. The leader of
our gang was Moriekem who is from
Southern Ijaw. The first kidnapping I was
involved in was the kidnap of some oil
workers and a military officer at Ayama
Town. 10 of us went for that operation and
all of us were armed with Ak-47 rifles
loaded with 120 rounds of live ammunition
each. The second kidnap was at Dodo
North oil Rig belonging to Shell Petroleum
Development where we kidnapped one of
the workers on the rig at Ekeremor Local
Government area of Bayelsa State. It was
Moriekeme who negotiated with the
company and I don’t know how much was
paid as ransom but I built a house with my
share of the ransom. We also attacked and
destroyed a Navy house boat with dynamite
killing all the soldiers onboard the house
boat at Ekeremor. The reason we carried
out that operation was because the Navy
house boat had been destroying our camps
where we were keeping our kidnapped
victims and illegally refined petroleum
products. Our gang also ambushed and
killed four soldiers and took away their
rifles. All our rifles were kept in the creek
by Moriekeme. We also killed some soldiers
at southern Ijaw in June 2020. We attacked
a merchant vessel named Ambica in Dodo
River and killed four military officers
attached to her and went away with their
rifles. I have also gone for kidnapping in
Rivers State where the police engaged my
gang and in the process I was hit with a
bullet on my right hand but we managed to
escape. I also belong to a cult group called
Green lander it was Morikeme who
initiated me.”

Tribute
Adieu, Uncle Bisi Lawrence,
Man of Garb, Grit, Guts
By Ikeddy ISIGUZO
THE only thing immaculate
about Uncle Bisi Lawrence –
who passed Wednesday 11
November 2020 – was not his white
attire. He was a man of garb, grit,
and guts who lived a fulfilled life that
flowed to others – I was one of them.
BizLaw, as many called him, after
one of the most enduring of the
numerous columns he wrote for
Vanguard, was a man of many parts,
not in the sense of all of us having
many components. He knew
something about almost everything.
These reflected in his Vanguard
columns which in the earlier days
ranged from radio, television and
newspaper reviews to the weather,
sports, and the famous interview
column 'Conversations with Bisi
Lawrence. The conversations were
with those 70 years and above.
Conversations took BizLaw round
Nigeria, by road. He drove himself,
a comment on the state of our roads
then, and safety across Nigeria. The
depth of the discussions in
Conversations showed the divergent
tangents from Nigeria. They also
displayed in huge hues the grit of
BizLaw who excelled in broadcasting
and the print media, exiting from
broadcasting as the General
Manager/Chief Executive Officer of
Radio Lagos in the early 80s.
While at Radio Lagos (Alhaji Lateef
Jakande was Governor of Lagos
State), he midwifed Lagos Television,
which pioneered 24-hour television
in Nigeria, though it was initially on
weekends. Lagos Television’s duel
with the Nigerian Television
Authority for audiences improved
broadcast content until the military
intervention on 31 December 1983
blunted the opportunities the
competition presented.
His voice on Nigeria Broadcasting
Service, later Service, the forebear
of Federal Radio Corporation of
Nigeria, was a delight. “We were
taught to pronounce words correctly.
Bisi Lawrence, cutting the cake at his 83rd birthday anniversary in Lagos
We spent hours getting the correct
pronouncement of words, even
names, no matter in which
language, before going on air” he
once told me. “No excuses were
acceptable,” said BizLaw who read
English at the University of Ibadan.
“I attended CMS Grammar,
Lagos, not the one in Bariga,” he told
#MyLagosStory, in an April 2017
video recording for the 50th
anniversary of the creation of Lagos
State. He grew up in the Campos
area of Lagos, “when it was one of
the friendliest spots on earth”. It was
a Lagos of dance and song, with the
best people in sports, entertaining,
politics, and professions gravitating
to Lagos for the opportunities it held,
he said.
Lagos then, he said was crime free.
“It was like paradise,” he recounted,
noting that they danced from
Campos Square, on Easter Sundays,
to Yaba, and danced back in the night
without any incidents. “People
walked a lot. There were no danfos,
only one public transport service that
an Italian ran.”
The first time I met BizLaw was on
the pages of The Punch. He was
writing a must-read column. I was
concerned that a broadcast
journalist was taking the place of
print journalists. When I finally met
him at the Vanguard in 1984, I took
an instant liking to him. He wrote so
much weekly that I held him in
wondrous contemplation.
I found out he liked me too. He
called me Ikeee, with a drawl that
turned the name into a song in my
ear. He was the chairman at my
wedding in 1989 and saved me
professionally when I wanted to
depart Vanguard in April 1986 to
join a soft sell magazine. He would
not hear of it when Chris Okojie, my
boss and brother, reported “the
madness”, as they both deemed it, to
be
Ẇe debated the matter until well
past midnight when he won. He had
threatened to cut relations with the
magazine founder, who he had
known for decades. We downed a
bottle of Seagram to seal the deal
that I was staying.
BizLaw’s feet were where to sit if
one wanted to learn writing, speech,
and loads of history of Nigeria,
particularly, Lagos where he seemed
to know everyone in each of the
SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020—17
prominent, and not so prominent
households. He knew who had
Portuguese, Sierra Leonean, or
nearby Lagos origins.
In the same way, he would dissect
the ancient Benin Kingdom, where
he had some roots, as if he was ever
prepared to be asked those questions.
It could be a casual discussion, a
•Bisi Lawrence
mention of a name or place,
something about a date. He would
correct kindly, educate thoroughly
on the issues, with his avuncular
simper moderating the settings.
BizLaw would recount events with
the same punctiliousness he attached
to his writings. It did not matter if
they took place decades ago or
someone told him.
The easiest way to get into his
wrong side was to correct his script
wrongly. He was usually unforgiving
of that. His script would arrive with
all the indications of the nuances
they bore. Those tonalities expressed
in an italicised word, a comma, a
quote, or a seemingly meaningless
capitalised line, could be ruined by
an Editor who aligned them to house
rules.
He meant what he wrote. He wrote
what he meant, choosing his words
without waste but weight. His anger
over a ruined script was often lost on
those who thought he was too fussy
about his scripts. When I gained his
confidence to manage his scripts, I
also made demands from him,
among them that the script would
get to Vanguard much earlier, for
him to read the edited copy before
press.
Without telephones then, it was the
only way to get back to him with
concerns. His was in the
diminishing tribe of those
with persistence about
things being done well,
properly, correctly. He
had enough
reminiscences about
life to bring people
to knowledge, if
not conviction.
“I had achieved
all my set goals in
broadcasting. I
had received
expert training at
the BBC, worked
for years at the VOA
in Washington,
headed a radio station
and even founded
another in Nigeria, got
bored and retired. I was
not even 50 years old yet,
and looked forward
to years of
delightful
indolence
ahead. I
started a
beer parlour
- where I was
my own best customer,” he wrote in
a June 2015 column in Vanguard, a
birthday message to Uncle Sam,
Vanguard founder, who turned 80
then. Uncle Sam kept visiting
BizLaw’s Ibi T’o Tutu (The Cool
Place), his beer parlour, where he
claimed he was the only patron, to
get BizLaw to work for Vanguard.
A couple of us visited the beer-hole
until he shut it down. I am not sure if
we paid for the quaffs.
His contributions to sports, outside
his writings and committees he
headed, were in the Nigeria Football
Association, where at various times
he was Team Manager, Publicity
Secretary, and Vice Chairman.
Adieu Uncle BizLaw, for whom the
written and spoken words were art,
act, and artistry rolled into cascading
columns of communication without
cant. You will be missed but you left
a lot that when we turn, there are
lives you impacted.
Fairy-tale wedding of Anobili-Shekoni children
It was a fairy-tale affair spruced
with glamour and glitz when
Obianuju Afolake Anobili,
daughter of Chief and Mrs Opena
Anobili was swept off her feet into
matrimonial bliss by Babatunde
Anwal, son of Late Alhaji Rabiu
Babatunde Shekoni and Alhaja
Fausat Shekoni on October 10,
2020.
The couple exchanged their
nuptial oaths at the Catholic Church
of the Visitation, Festac Town
followed by a tasty reception at the
Villa Park in Amuwo Odofin. It was
a day to remember as guests were
treated to the best local and
continental cuisines as well as drinks
and top of the range entertainment
by live bands and Disc Jockeys.
L-R: Chief Charles Okonyia; groom, Tunde Shekoni and Chairman of
the wedding reception, Chief Peter Ejiofor.
The couple and their parents with the officiating priests; Rev. Fr. Simeon,
Rev. Fr. Melvin, Rev. Fr. Panachy and Rev. Fr. Leon
The Shekonis : Tunde and Obianuju
at their traditional marriage
The couple flanked by bride's parents; Chief and Mrs Opena Anobili

18—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEBER 14, 2020
Amother’s duties to her children start
from conception. There are certain
foods recommended for pregnant
women at each stage of the development of
the foetus for the proper formation and
health of the baby. These foods include
sweet potatoes, lean meat, berries,
avocados, dairy products, fish liver oil, dried
fruits, amongst others. An expectant mother
has a responsibility to eat the right food for
the proper and healthy development of her
unborn child.
Duties of mothers to unborn babies also
include quitting or, at least, suspending
smoking. Research findings have shown
that smoking retards the growth of the
developing foetus, retards the development
of the foetus’ brain, impairs the breathing
of the baby after birth, could lead to
premature birth and other complications,
asthma and sudden death syndrome (SID)
among others. Smoking is a health hazard,
but for pregnant women it is a no-no.
Another bad habit to avoid during
pregnancy is the consumption of alcohol.
Researchers have found that heavy
consumption of alcohol by pregnant women
can cause birth defects. To date, researchers
are not even sure how much alcohol is safe
for pregnant women. Sometimes, what is
safe for Jane, because her body enzymes
can easily break down the alcohol, might
not be safe for Janet? I know some pregnant
women take alcohol to combat nausea. I also
know some pregnant women have abused
alcohol in the process of combating nausea.
The best advice is that pregnant women
stay away from alcohol. As David Garry, DO,
associate professor of clinical obstetrics and
gynecology at the Albert Einstein College
of Medicine, rightly observed, “If you
wouldn’t give a two-month-old a glass of
wine, then why would you drink a glass of
wine when you’re pregnant?”
Scientists say fetuses develop auditory
system by the 25 th week or thereabout.
Thereafter, they are said to hear sound of
voice and music and respond. Parents are
encouraged to talk to their babies in the
womb. For me, whether or not, they hear or
understand is inconsequential. Their God
and guardian angels hear and understand
the parents and know what the parents wish
their children. I am an apostle of talking to
children both in the womb and at early
stages. In the early stages, what they do
Duties of a mother to her
children
not understand, they treasure in their
hearts until they understand. I have told
the story before of how a relative told
me that “you will lament it in future”
when I was a little boy. I neither knew
the meaning of lament nor future, but I
kept both words in my heart until I
became knowledgeable enough and
understood them. Start speaking good
and life into your children’s lives from
their time in the womb.
Breastfeeding is another duty that a
mother owes her babies. Ideally, a new
baby should be on breast milk
exclusively for the first six months. But
this is not easy for many mothers to
practice these days because they have
8am – 5pm jobs. But as much as
possible, mothers should give their
children breast milk for the first six
months. I was lucky that all my children
had the privilege of being exclusively
on breast milk for the first six months of
their lives and I declare categorically
that children, who are exclusively fed
with breast milk for the first six months
of their lives, are healthy babies.
The first 10 years of children’s lives
are the most important years in their
formation. That is when children are
most pliable and amenable. That is also
when the foundation of the child’s life
is laid. Unlike the foundation of a
building that you can breakdown and
make again, here once the foundation
is laid, it is laid. It takes the grace of
God to build a new foundation after the
child crosses 10 years. What basically
happens is that you build on the
foundation that is already laid. Parents
should ensure they are fully present
in the lives of their children as well as
acquire the right parenting skills,
especially in the first 10 years. Some
couples have made great sacrifices in
this regard. Often, one of the parents
quits his/her job to
do something else
that will enable
him/her have
enough time for the
children in their
early stages. Many
a time, the mothers
make this sacrifice.
Every mother
should train her
daughters to be
good cooks and
homemakers. It is
sad to see girls go
into marriage
without an inkling
of how to cook. You
employ maids to do
practically all the
Researchers
have found that
h e a v y
consumption of
alcohol by
pregnant women
can cause birth
defects
house chores.
Unknown to you,
you are preparing those maids for
marriage and motherhood at the
expense of your children. Cooking is
a wife’s primary responsibility and if
you bring up daughters, who are
unable to cook, you have partly failed
as a mother. Not only your daughters,
also train your sons to be good cooks
and good homemakers. These two
skills are very important for modern
day young men. The current world is
not in favour of young husbands, who
are useless around the home once their wives
are not around. You should know your way
around the house and fix yourself a meal if
your wife is not around or indisposed.
One of the things men crave a lot is respect.
Teach your daughters how to respect their future
husbands by the way you treat their father. Some
mothers have already ruined their daughters’
marriages before the marriages commenced. I
know some women, who treat their husbands
like filth and these women have allies in their
daughters. How do you think they will treat
their husbands in future? I will not encourage
my sons to marry from such homes. No matter
how bad your husband (I am not talking about
abusive husbands) is, for the sake of your
daughters, treat him with respect. If you cannot
respect him, leave the marriage and revert to
your maiden name. My resolute belief in the
indissolubility of marriage notwithstanding, you
cannot be answering “Mrs” to get respectability.
Meanwhile, you are disrespecting the person
who conferred it on you. The one
that annoys me most are sons, who
acquiesce and support their
mothers in treating their fathers
like trash. Do not worry, you will
reap what you are sowing now.
Shebi, you go marry, born
children too? Spouses do have
their differences, but please leave
the children out of your
disagreements and fights.
I said previously that the home
is a domestic church and the wife
is the assistant parish priest or
assistant pastor. A good mother
should be prayerful and help build
a praying family. She should use
her prayers to cover herself, her
husband and her children. In
many homes, the fathers do not
even realise that they are parish
priests or pastors of their domestic
church. Any mother in such a situation should
become the de facto parish priest or pastor. Do
not leave any vacuum. Build godly children.
Nigeria needs them.
A mother has many other duties: teacher,
adviser, home doctor, driver, refuge and disputes
resolver; being both father and mother
sometimes, role model, mentor, watchwoman,
disciplinarian and many more. Being a
successful mother is tough business. But the
joy of motherhood is indescribable.
Nigerian History without
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu is like gun without bullet.
Love him, hate him. Rebel leader or
General of the people’s Army, there is much
to learn from the earthly sojourn of this son
of a multi millionaire who though not as
wealthy, affected the globe more than his
dad.
Emeka Ojukwu was different in so many
ways. Born in Zungeru in the North, his
early school years were spent in Lagos. His
roots, Nnewi, in the East did not get to see
much of their son until the Civil War years.
And there he rests today, eternally.
Ojukwu came in November and died in
November. That is also the month of birth
of three other Nigerian leaders : Dr. Nnamdi
Nnamdi Azikiwe, Gen. Murtala
Mohammed and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
Like Zik, Ojukwu was born in Zungeru.
Sir Luis Ojukwu and Azikiwe were friends.
At the military academy in Teshie, Ghana
Capt. Ojukwu taught Murtala Tactics. In
2011 when Ojukwu died, Jonathan was
president. The leader of Biafra was given
full military burial.
You cannot take his achievements away.
Ojukwu was the first university graduate
to join the Nigeria Army. He enlisted as a
recruit, without letting the instructors know
he had a post graduate degree in History
from Oxford University.
This same man had served as a senior
officer in the Colonial service in Udi. And
his mother owned Jubilee Hotel, Zaria. He
sneaked into the military training Depot. A
smart European drill sergeant was not
going to be deceived by one equally smart
African trainee.
Ojukwu taught his teacher how to
pronounce English words. Sure, the son of
a super rich man who lived big in the
United Kingdom cruising a Rolls Royce
tried to show the instructor that Africans
Ojukwu: Good, bad and …
were not inferior to their colonial
masters.
Game over, Ojukwu had to be
recommended for officers course. Back
to Britain he went. Eaton Hall, Chester
was the new training
ground. More courses at
Hythe and Warminster gave
him the best he needed.
Ojukwu would later
become the first indigenous
Quarter Master General
(QMG) of the Nigeria Army.
His academic background
and sojourn in England
made him understand the
intrigues of colonialism and
the place of Africans as
pawns.
At 11 in 1944, Emeka did
the unthinkable. He slapped
a Kings College, Lagos
teacher, Mr. Sleigh, for
maltreating an African
woman. That had nothing to
do with his father’s wealth.
However, it was enough to
take him away from Lagos
to Epson College, Surrey.
At Epson, Ojukwu also left
a mark. He was the school’s Junior
discuss champion and played rugby.
He was unlikely to be bullied by
anyone because he combined brain
with brawn. And money was not a
problem at all.
As an army
officer, Ojukwu
w a s
outstanding.
He served
with the
Ojukwu taught his
teacher how to
pronounce English
words. Sure, the son of
a super rich man who
lived big in the United
Kingdom cruising a
Rolls Royce tried to
show the instructor that
Africans were not inferior
to their colonial masters
U n i t e d
Nations in
Congo and
became
attached
emotionally to
the Fifth
Battalion,
Kano. His first
posting was
there, he
returned in
1961 and
eventually
commanded
the battalion
before Gen.
Johnson
Aguiyi Ironsi
appointed him Military Governor of
Eastern Region on January 1966.
If anyone doubted Ojukwu’s love for country,
Kano cleared all that. His driver was Yusuf Azi,
a Berom. Yusuf Abdulkadir Kanabe, served as
orderly. Chief Clerk, Pius Ayegba was Igala. His
best friends were Ado Bayero, who later became
Emir of Kano and Yakubu Gowon.
The trio of Gowon, Bayero and Ojukwu
frequented Samaritan club, Kaduna as well as
the home of the Ikes whose father was one of
the early Anglican missionaries to the North.
Edith Ike eventually became Gowon’s friend
and they have a son, Musa Ngonadi.
Ojukwu was the only one who dared
Chukwuma Nzeogwu during the January 1966
coup. As the Commanding officer, Fifth
battalion, Kano, he detained Captain Chris Ude
who was sent to the Junior Nzeogwu to collect
money from a Lt.col.
The same Ojukwu talked of restructuring
Nigeria when crisis took everyone to Peduase
Lodge, Aburi, Ghana in January 1967. Today
our politicians are seeing what Ojukwu saw 53
years ago. The Eastern Region declared Biafra
in 1967. This is 2020, Biafra is still an issue.
Biafra was necessary in May 1967. Ojukwu
did not carry everyone along as from 1968. He
lost the support of wise men like Zik and other
elders. This did not help as powerful African
statesmen who had soft spot for the secessionists
because of Azikiwe stayed away.
The war effort also became a mess. Biafran
ingenuity was there but Ojukwu did not even
trust some of his best officers. He removed Hilary
Njoku as Army Chief, sidelined Alex Madiebo
until things got really bad. You could imagine
sending Brig. Sylvanus Nwajei, a GOC to man
a fuel Depot, Brig. Tony Orji, Nigeria’s first
Signals commander to the Fire Brigade and
Col. Ogboo Oji to the police.
Emeka Ojukwu was not a coward. He fought
in Oguta, carrying an MG1, during Operation
Now or Never. His half brother, Lt. Tom Biggar,
died in battle with Nzeogwu. Ojukwu flew to
Abidjan in search of peace, a code for exile. He
came back, lost senatorial election to Dr. Edwin
Onwudiwe. The man died, in London. And we
have not achieved peace here.

C
M
Y
K
Many news buffs who rely on
CNN for their news – a lot of
people across the world do –
will see Mr Donald Trump the
incumbent US President, as a man who
is unworthy of the office he holds. Over
the course of his presidency, Mr Trump
has been portrayed by CNN, not without
substance I must add, as a leader with
serious character flaws. CNN is not
alone. The mainstream media in general
think very little of him. One described
him as a serial liar using fact- check
which has attributed about a lie a day
on the average to him, as proof. One
went even further to say he has no
character at all. Many were appalled
that he got there in the first place.
Mr Trump does not help his own cause
to be fair. His administration is
unorthodox at best and simply chaotic
for the most part. His favourite sentence
in ‘The Apprentice’ the reality show that
got him good ratings was ‘you are fired’.
It turned out to be one of his more
favourite sentences in office. He had
hired and fired more executives in his
four years as President than any of his
predecessors. He is still firing as we
speak. Its probably indicative of the
allegations of ruthlessness, lack of
empathy and narcissism that seem to
trail him. His term as President was
preceded by scandals. They trailed him
throughout his four years. But ‘tell all’
books which would have damaged many
public figures had little effect on him.
Scandals which would have hurt others
hardly scratched his indelicate skin.
Like water on a duck, he simply shrugged
off one scandal after another with
hardly any movement on his approval –
or disapproval - needle. Sometimes it
seemed he welcomed the scandals as
distractions from weightier issues of
governance.
On the other hand, those who watch
Fox News or read some conservative
journals see a different portrayal of Mr
Trump. Fox News and a few right wing
media portray a strong, macho man
who is ready to defend the age-old
values of America. The last man
standing against the invasion of
immigrants. The bastion of basic rights.
The defender of rural America and
those things that once made America
great – even when those things are
Trumpism is not a common cold
intangible or racist. The Evangelicals see
him as the man who will checkmate the
excesses of liberal, or if you like, immoral
behaviour; the man who will bring God
back to the society. And some - even this
beggars belief – see him as the man
ordained by God to take on the Anti-
Christ who they see in whomever they
choose. To make all these believable,
conspiracy theories are woven so deep
and around so many dark issues, that they
become mind blowing and frightening.
The more frightening the conspiracy
theories, the better because fear is the
glue that binds them. Fear is the opium
they feed on. Ignorance, fuelled by fear,
is what makes alternative facts become
sacrosanct. Welcome to the world of
Trumpism.
Some adherents, especially the
evangelicals, are sometimes
uncomfortable with his brashness, his
bullying nature, his lack of deep moral
values and his disrespect for truth. They
probably would want a man more
suitable to the ‘godly mission’ they have
assigned him. Some adherents seem too
outwardly suave and sophisticated to
publicly claim their support for Trump
because of what it would say about their
persons. So they admire him in the closet.
Other adherents actually love the
brashness that goes against the grain of
orthodoxy if not decency. They see it as
coming from a man who is not afraid to
call it as he sees it. All of them however
look beyond his character traits to the
bigger picture. That bigger picture is
what over 72 million Americans voted for
during this election despite his
mishandling of the pandemic, despite his
SATURDAY Vanguard, , NOVEMBER 14, 2020—19
tax debacle, despite his impeachment,
despite the downward spiral of the
economy. That bigger picture is
Trumpism. Lesser mortals would have
been swept away by these developments
in an election year. Not Trump. Instead,
he got 10 million more
votes than he had in 2016.
The second highest in the
history of American
elections. If ever a
referendum was needed on
what Trump represents, this
was it.
Joe Biden, the Democratic
flag bearer and now
President-elect, said the
contest was for the soul of
America. He was right. The
contest was not about the
pandemic that had claimed
a quarter of a million
American lives; it was not
about
rising
unemployment; it was not
about healthcare; it was not
about character. Many of
those things which
normally decided elections
in the past had become
tangential. It was also not
about the GOP and its
position on lesser
government, gun control
and family values. Those issues had also
become tangential. What was crucially
important to voters was which America
would emerge in 2021. Americans had
been largely capitalists. Its politics had
been centre left or centre right. Those on
the fringes had always been humoured
but largely ignored. But it didn’t stop them
feeling angry and frustrated believing
America was leaving them behind. Their
numbers grew. So did their desperation.
So did their tendency towards militancy.
The far right ate into the Republican Party.
The far left ate into the Democratic Party.
While the Democrats tried to
accommodate its far left without losing its
essence, Donald trump seized the far right
and ran with it. The rise of populism, email
scandal and voter apathy gave him the
Presidency in 2016. He has spent the last
four years strengthening and emboldening
the far right. Today, he owns it and what it
represents. Today it has consumed the
Republican Party. That explains why the
leaders of the Party cannot challenge Mr
Trump without consequences even when
they feel queasy about some of his antics.
This explains their lack of spine to do what
is right with the outcome of this election.
Besides the tussle between the far right
and far left, there is the
existential tussle
between White
Americans and
Coloured Americans. It
is telling that almost
60% of White
Americans voted
Trump while almost
90% of Black
Americans voted
Biden. Simply put, one
wants an America that
will retain its privilege
and culture. The other
craves relevance in a
diverse culture and a
chance to breathe in a
stifling environment.
The issues are literally
life and death to the two
sides. But they don’t
have to be mutually
exclusive. A common
ground can be found.
So Trumpism is not
just a common cold that
will burn itself out. It is
a coronavirus that can destroy vital organs
if not treated promptly. Trumpism must not
be treated as cavalierly as Donald Trump
treated COVID19. It cannot be wished
away. Can GOP find a vaccine soon? For
its sake? For the sake of America?
Mr Trump does
not help his own
cause to be fair.
His
administration is
unorthodox at
best and simply
chaotic for the
most part
Maybe because of the
African maxim not to talk
ill of the dead, many
Nigerian leaders have been praising
what they claim as the good legacy
of Alhaji Balarabe Musa.
Everywhere there is talk of the
virtues of the first of the Second
Republic governors of Old Kaduna
State as if he had no personal or
political flaws.
Indeed, the saying not to talk ill of
the dead was significantly breached
last August by Dr. Olusegun
Obasanjo in his reaction to the death
of Senator Buruji Kashamu.
In the wake of the outpouring of
grief over the death of Senator
Kashmau, Obasanjo gave his
stinking rebuttal of the man he
accused of using the maneuver of
the law and politics to escape justice.
So, when Dr. Obasanjo like
virtually everyone else paid tribute
to the late Balarabe Musa as a
virtuous politician, it fitted in with
the consistent narrative of Balarabe
Musa.
But if he was that virtuous and good
why was he then never popular with
the political class.
We do not forget that the only time
that Balarabe Musa was vested with
a public political office that he was
quickly removed in the first case of
impeachment in the history of
presidential democracy in the
country.
The flow of tributes remarkably has
seen both leading lights of the
Peoples Democratic Party, and the All
Progressives Congress, APC salute
what they called the consistency of
the late politician.
Musa’s consistent political virtue
is reflected by the fact that he did
not once deviate from the Peoples
Redemption Party, PRP to join any
of the two major parties.
Even more than that was the fact
The hypocrisy about Balarabe Musa
that he lived by his outdated socialist
principles.
Besides Obasanjo, those who hailed
the virtues of the late Musa were
President Muhammadu Buhari, the
PDP, APC chieftains including its
former national
chairman, Comrade
Adams Oshiomhole,
Senator David Mark
among many others.
Speaker of the House
of Representatives,
Femi Gbajabiamila;
Deputy Speaker,
Ahmed Wase, and
several governors.
Musa would have
been shocked with
what many in the
political class are
saying about him
despite his ideological
distance from them.
Musa had been sick
for almost one year and
before then because of
ill-health and old age
stepped down from the
political arena. In that time there was
no report of any of these major
political actors visiting him in his
austere bungalow in Kaduna to tap
from his good virtues!
But with the little breadth in him he
was able to as recent as last August
describe the Buhari administration as
a failure largely on account of the
pervasive insecurity and other
challenges in the land.
Buhari in
mourning him,
however, hailed
him as “a voice for
the voiceless” who
left bold footprint
But in the wake of
these praises, one
is at a loss as to
why all those now
praising him kept
him at a safe
distance while he
was alive.
in Nigeria’s
democracy.
National leader of
the APC, Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu
mourned him as
one who refused to
compromise his
convictions and
gladly paid for it
with his 1981
impeachment and
removal from
office.
The PDP in its
tribute issued by
its National
Publicity Secretary, Kola
Ologbondiyan said Musa was a
forthright leader, an embodiment of
ideals, who championed equity,
fairness and rule of law in every sector.
Of the outflow of tributes perhaps few
were as touching and as revealing as that
from the former national chairman of the
APC, Comrade Oshiomhole.
Oshiomhole revealed how Musa was
the first person who as governor gave him
a political appointment in Kaduna State
with the appointment into a board.
The depth of their relationship
according to Oshiomhole was conveyed
by the fact that even when he was known
to be sick and infirm that the two of them
were still exchanging telephone calls.
“Only recently we had a robust
telephone conversation which was more
like a reminiscence of the good old days,
when politics was played along
ideological persuasions.
“He was loud and firm, as usual,
espousing his thoughts about building a
united Nigeria where tribes and tongues
no longer matter in deciding our
nationality.”
But in the wake of these praises, one is
at a loss as to why all those now praising
him kept him at a safe distance while he
was alive.
None of those praising him now related
with him or his valued ideals.
Musa did not regard poverty as a
virtue, but his beliefs led him to be
contented with what he had. He chose
his path.
Despite his exposures to money as an
accountant and his sojourn in the United
Kingdom, he did not incline himself to
primordial capitalism.
Despite the humiliating disgrace of
Leninist-Marxist ideology, Musa hung
on to it. As governor he made efforts to
establish collectives in the form of stateowned
industries, but they never thrived
exposing the bankruptcy in his socialist
thoughts.
But he was a good man. Humble,
honest, and frank, and straightforward.
It is difficult to pick out these virtues
among those praising his legacy. That is
the hypocrisy of the nation that Balarabe
Musa has left behind.

20—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
It didn’t start today. In A Man Of The
People, Achebe’s Max and his fellow
idealists tried to fix the rot in the politics
of their country. They knew the problems—
corruption, greed, indolence. They knew
the ideals—patriotism, transparency,
selflessness and imagination. But Max and
his fellow political saints failed woefully.
In the second republic, we had many
Maxes. Soyinka, Achebe, Tunji Braithwaite
and others. They tried to steer the country
towards principled governance and
freedom by immersing themselves in
peripheral parties. That failed too.
In the third republic, we saw Gani
Fawehinmi and company. We saw their
National Conscience Party ( NCP). We saw
how the public never thought it was a real
party. They stayed too clean, too aloof and
practically inconsequential.
After Gani and his NCP, we have seen
other puritanical fringe parties. These
parties were supposed to help set political
agenda and deepen discourse. But even
such theoretical ambitions were rarely met.
They were not seen as feasible alternatives
so their political sermons sounded as if they
were meant for a future generation.
A few weeks ago the nation convulsed.
The youths rose to demand change in
policing and in governance. Since then
there have been talks about the rot in our
politics. How then can politics be fixed?
I think our politics can only be fixed if
good people, idealists inclusive, roll up
their sleeves and do real politics. Yes it’s
important that a few people stay above the
fray and perhaps retain the capacity to claim
to be moral compass but in the main, a
critical mass of good people must take the
risk and get into the stinking, muddy
waters of mainstream third world politics.
That won’t be an easy decision for many in
a community where politicians are seen as
pigs. Many a social critic would rather
retain his holiness and stay at the ineffectual
periphery. But for how long would ego
massage.
Take Sowore and Ezekwesili. They
stepped up in 2019, but they stepped into
small parties. These parties failed to incite
the imagination. If Sowore and Ezekwesili
I
know that immediately some
persons saw the title of this article
all that came into their minds was
nothing but economic indices. Yes, the
economy is important, but it is the result
of several other things. Any nation that
lacks a well-schooled workforce cannot
have a healthy and growing economy.
That country can hardly produce
anything, repair its infrastructure – just
like Nigeria. Yet, the economy alone is
not the thrust of this article, even though
Buhari has failed, just as Goodluck
Jonathan failed and as Olusegun
Obasanjo failed to grow jobs or the
economy. The manufacturing sector has
been contracting since 1999, worsening
unemployment. Inflation has been rising
unchecked, the Naira depreciating daily.
By 2003 Naira to the dollar rate was
N127 to a dollar. 1 USD fetched 199.2570
NGN in 29 May 2015 when President
Buhari was inaugurated President. But
what do we have today? On Wednesday,
28 October 2020, I got this from the
internet: a “¦ 460/US$1 in the parallel
market”. And yet, nobody is apologetic.
Instead, there is a fierce pride among the
members of government, even as Nigeria
manufactures almost nothing, and so
imports almost everything, so the cost of
almost everything, imported and not
imported – whether rice, yam, beans,
orange, banana, petrol, clothing, etc, has
increased over a hundred fold.
What about the pump price of petrol?
How can it be said that Nigeria, after over
five years of the government headed by
a former Minister of Petroleum, under
whose watch in that past government
some three refineries were built in four
years, cannot get a single refinery to be
functional? And to add to the
disappointment, this President, who had
been a former Petroleum Minister, had
also served as a Military Head of State.
So, ordinarily, few Presidents have had
as grand a preparation as President
Buhari. So, why is that under him, so
far, Nigeria has been unable to fully
repair a single petroleum refinery or build
a new one if the old ones have proved to
be obsolete? Under him, all we do is
routinely increase petrol pump prices!
My apologies pLease, because of the
Fixing Our Politics: Saints
must play in the main
streams
had gone into the PDP or the APC they
would have had to discard their
sanctimoniousness but they might have
affected Nigerian
politics in more
significant ways.
Achebe’s Max and
his compatriots failed
because they made
themselves aliens;
they didn’t
understand the
electorate. They
danced to their own
rhythm and not to the
rhythm presented
them by the situation.
They were aloof. They
came with good
intentions but
couldn’t play the
game before them.
Some of them played
the game as if they
were in Sweden.
Gani Fawhenmi
might not have cured
the PDP of political
leprosy but he would
have helped the country better if he
jumped into in the PDP or the AD rather
than the NCP. Idealist and social
Buhari:Have you changed
Nigeria for the better?
promised history of youth uprising
will wait till next week. I set out today
fully convinced that Nigerian
columnists have often failed to see
the big picture because we have been
unduly fascinated by the story of
individual government functionaries.
So, I am more concerned with the state
of the MIND of Nigerians than
individuals who run or ruin the
country … or the economy. That is
why Nigeria has little to offer any one
that is interested in the lessons of
history. That is also why Nigeria
disdains the truth about events, no
matter how heavenly or hellish, no
matter how heroic or courageous or
demeaning and divisive.
State of the mind? How wholesome
is the state of the mind that justifies
murder of non-members of their
religions or ethnic groups? How
excellent is the state of the mind of a
people to whom excellence in the
workplace or in education means
nothing, but to whom prebendalism
and favouritism is everything? How
can the state of the mind of a people
be raised when not even the
government tells the truth?
What state of the mind does the
government expect its citizens to
have when even the government
itself has refused to acknowledge the
Asaba Massacre and the random
killings that went on throughout the
Anioma area of Delta State during the
Nigerian Civil War?
Many a social
critic would rather
retain his holiness
and stay at the
ineffectual
periphery. But for
how long would
ego massage
crusaders should drop their huge
egos, join the mainstream parties and
help reform them from within.
A few people could
sneer and say
To really understand my stance,
please consider the My Lai
massacre of some 500 South
Vietnamese civilians by U.S. troops
on March 16, 1968. Now we know
that U.S. soldiers from Company C,
1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment
and Company
B, 4th Battalion,
3rd Infantry
Regiment, 11th
Brigade, 23rd
(American)
I n f a n t r y
Division carried
that massacre.
Yet, the Asaba
massacre took
place a year
before that and
till today, the
Nigerian
government or
m i l i t a r y
authorities
never asked
questions on it.
The US tried
twenty-six
soldiers charged
with criminal
offenses over it
Professor Utomi
joined the APC and
got lost in the
currents. But that
brings me to the next
point. A critical mass
of good people is
needed in the
mainstream parties.
If the others had
chosen Utomi’s path,
we would have been
nearer the threshold
needed to steer these
parties towards
becoming enduring
moral institutions for
political and
e c o n o m i c
development rather
than mere
contraptions for the
appropriation and
misuse of political
power.
Some would say Aminu Kano
belonged to a bygone era when votebuying
didn’t exist and politicians
Nigeria has been
unable to fully repair a
single petroleum
refinery or build a new
one if the old ones
have proved to be
obsolete? Under him,
all we do is routinely
increase petrol pump
prices!
but Nigeria
charged no one.
Now we are asking questions
about what took place at the Lekki
Toll Gate on Tuesday October 20 this
year, when protesters were allegedly
didn’t have to make provisions for INEC staff
and security officials to win popular support.
That’s not true. Aminu Kano retains the moral
high ground, played by example but went in
deep enough to ward off the money politics of
the NPN in kano and Kaduna—present day
Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and Jigawa.
Others would say they would rather be like
Aminu Kano—avoid the being swallowed up
by the filth of the NPN and seek success with a
cleaner, small party in a small section of the
country. Aminu Kano’s PRP was not such a
small party. It was neither NCP of the recent
past nor today’s AAC. Within its domain, the
Aminu Kano’s PRP didn’t just preach socialism,
it had offices everywhere. The PRP dominated
the grassroots in its territory. They didn’t do
more seminars than community organizing.
Aminu Kano pitched his tent on the streets and
local power brokers joined him.
I have an advice for the EndSars youths, 2023
is at the door. They have to do more politics
than protests. Protests are good. In fact, having
the capacity and willingness to protest against
social injustice is commendable. But finding
the tact to seize political power in a society
where youths have numerical strength must
be their immediate preoccupation. They won’t
achieve anything if they do not strategize. The
rot is systemic.
They can form new parties but they must shed
conceitedness and pour themselves into the
mainstream parties. They won’t win by
espousing ageism. They won’t win by being
insensitive. Their target must be to dominate
the state legislatures. If they take hold of 6 or
more state legislatures in 2023, they would have
seized the country. They have the voice and
energy to dictate the pace from just six
important states. It is tempting to believe they
can wake up one morning, march the streets
long enough, generate a ‘Nigerian Spring’ and
dislodge the old order. That could happen.
But it’s more realistic, more sensible to work
towards an organic capture of political power
through party politics and the polls. In the latter
route, they would be tested by the system.
While they must not become pigs overnight,
they must know that politics is not church. They
must play the game set before them with all
righteousness compatible with a reasonable
chance to win. Fringe parties might work. But
they must learn from history.
mowed down. Has the Army commenced
any investigations? All we hear is that the
Army was not involved in the shooting. Such
sweeping away of crimes against the nation
deaden peoples’ consciences and reduces
the state of peoples’ minds.
Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, Jr., a
helicopter pilot n, saw dead and wounded
civilians as he was flying over the village of
S¡n Mù, providing close-air support for
ground forces. He played a major role in
ending the Mù Lai Massacre and later
testified against the war criminals
responsible, even though US troops did not
shoot at Americans. That is how the state of
the mind of a country marches from one step
of civilization and development to the next.
Thompson and his crew members Glenn
Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn were
awarded high military decorations. Glenn
Andreotta was awarded his medal
posthumously, as he was killed in Vietnam
on 8 April 1968.
I have been terribly worried about the
kind of Nigeria that will
arise from the ashes of the
#endSARS protest. Would
we become more
dehumanised? That is the
only way to go if those who
killed protesters at Lekki Toll
Gate, Lagos, are allowed to
go unpunished. Hey, who
ordered that military
action,,, against defenceless
Nigerians? Yes, Nigerians,
who were waving the
Nigerian flag and singing
our national anthem. One
social media video has
shown a hooded soldier who
allegedly warned his mates
not to shoot and later
allegedly videoed the
carnage, and the video later
claimed that the soldier
would be court marshalled.
If such a soldier exists, and
released such a video, he
should be applauded. He
is a true and courageous Nigerian. He
deserves high honours and a Presidential
handshake. In such a way, Buhari will taking
Nigeria to the next level and humanising
and Nigerianising our minds.

SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020 — 21
My marriage is
sacred, not an
entertainment
—Treasure Daniels
•Says: ‘I never left my twin sister, only that
I am now Mrs. Richardson’
By BENJAMIN NJOKU
After what happened to her twin
sister, Tracy about eight years
ago, when her marriage to her
Indian expatriate husband crashed
as soon as it was contracted in 2012,
Treasure Daniels is doing everything
to avert having similar heartbreak.
The golden girl of Nollywood,
recently got engaged to her
American-born long-time boy
friend, Micheal Richardson, and she
can’t risk showcasing her marriage
on social media.
Though she announced her
engagement on her Instagram page,
when she shared beautiful photos,
flaunting her engagement ring
which happened in Calabasas,
California.
However, in a chat with the actress,
Treasure described her marriage as
being sacred, adding “It’s not an
entertainment.”
“My husband is not not an actor.
He’s a normal person like you,
almost like my late dad, cool
headed, respectful and loves me and
our daughter to pieces,” the damsel
said.
Speaking further, Treasure who
relocated to the United States
alongside her twin sister last year,
said “I do not intend to showcase my
family on social media and I hope
everyone respects that.”
Recalling how her engagement
happened, the actress said it wasn’t
ceremonial. “My engagement
wasn’t ceremonial because I had
made it clear in our relationship;
through my values and personality
display, that I will not lay emphasis
on just ceremonies but on the
realities of marriage and what it
truly represents.”
Treasure, who hinted that
her traditional marriage
rites and white wedding
will be coming up next
year, said she has
known her hubby for
more than two years
now. “We went on
and off because of
the nature of his job,
which always
have him offshore
for months.
Then I was
based in Lagos,
while he works
and lives in his
•Daniels
home country,
America. Those
situations really
got toll on our
u n i q u e
relationship as it was.”
“Moving forward because destiny
can never be denied even when
delayed, we were still able to work
beyond those challenges because of
the love we had for each other and our
determination to be together. Today we
are one of the happiest couples around
and the rest is history,” the actress
narrated.
On twin sister, Treasure, said she still
loves Tracy, and has not left her. “My
husband actually bought us a bigger
house with enough rooms just to make sure
she feels well accommodated anytime she
wants to visit.”
“He supports our twin dream and never
comes between us. As a matter of fact, he’s
Tracy and Treasure biggest fan. Only change
is that now, I am officially known as Treasure
Richardson while she’s Tracy Daniels for
now,” she added. Meanwhile,Tracy has since
congratulated her. “I see it shining shining
girl congratulations my twin sister,” she wrote
on IG.
Hope for better days to
come, actress Stephanie
Zibili tells Nigerians
As things are gradually
returning to normal, after the
Lekki Toll gate massacre,
Nollywood actress, Stephanie Zibili
has sent out words of inspiration and
encouragement to Nigerians,saying
‘there is hope for better days to come.’
In a chat with us, the actress
sympathized with the families of
those who lost their lives to police
brutality as well as during the
#ENDSARS protests. She
described them as ‘true heroes
whose sacrifices towards building a
better Nigeria will not be forgotten.”
She also commiserated with
individuals and corporate bodies
whose business premises were
vandalized by hoodlums during the
protests.
“I know these are trying times for
us because of the degree of
destruction that happened. But it is
important that we remain hopeful
that there is better days to come.
There is still a lot of work to be done
and we will never give up the
struggle.”
“Meanwhile, the government needs
to be alive to its responsibility of
protecting the lives and property of
its citizens. Only a secure nation
prospers,” said the beautiful
actress who has starred in
such films as ‘The
Johnsons’, ‘Superstory’,
‘Assistant Madams’,
‘Tinsel’, ‘Ajoche’ among
others said.
She, however, lauded
the efforts of the
Nigerian youths who
have been relentless in
their struggle to put an
end to police brutality
and bad governance in
the country.
“As much as we are
trying to resume to our
normal lives. We should
make sure we stay safe,
protect our mental
health and observe all the procedures
laid down by the government.
COVID-19 is still very much with us,
and so, we should do all we can to
protect ourselves,” she noted
Speaking on her journey into
Nollywood, Stephanie said “I’m not
where I want to be yet. But I’m proud
•Stephanie
Zibili
of how far I have come. I was
determined to feature in some shows
I grew up watching like ‘Tinsel’, ‘The
Johnsons’, and Superstory, and that
happened. In ‘Superstory’, I played
a lead role and the experience was
beautiful,” she further stated.
•Roger Brown
Berklee set
to mentor
Nigerian music
stars as MTN
Y’ello star
project
beacons
erklee College of Music is poised
Bto participate in Y’ello Star, the
latest music reality project by MTN
Nigeria, with Afrinolly as Technical
Partner.
Members of the Berklee community
will also serve in various capacities
on the project, and the winner of the
music reality project will record their
debut single at the Power Station at
Berklee NYC.
Berklee President, Roger Brown said
they are excited to work with MTN
and Afrinolly Creative Hub on
the Y’ello Star Project.
According to Brown: “This is
a great opportunity for
artistes from the vibrant
Nigerian music scene to
get advice and
mentorship from
B e r k l e e ’ s
knowledgeable
professors while
broadening
awareness of Berklee
in the region through
MTN’s large
audience. We look
forward to hearing all
of the talents and
welcoming the winner
to the Power Station at
BerkleeNYC.”
MTN Nigeria created
Y’ello Star to search,
discover, nurture and
launch music talents in the young
Nigerian community. Over 10,000
contestants submitted entries for the
project, and just the top twenty
contestants will make it to the hub
for the competition.
Speaking on the project, the Acting
Chief Marketing Officer, MTN
Nigeria, Anthony Obi emphasized
the unique difference between MTN
Y’ello Star and other music reality
TV shows.
“This project goes beyond
discovering talent in the Nigerian
entertainment industry. MTN Y’ello
Star is a conduit for capacity
building within the creative industry,
empowering the contestants and
industry with the relevant practical
knowledge to compete on a global
scale. We are thankful for partners
such as the Berklee College of
Music who share this vision.”
Nollywood moves to Badagry
as ‘The Kujus’ premieres
ollywood fans are in for a
Nfascinating trip to Badagry,
Lagos, as the historical movie,
“Introducing The Kujus” (ITK),
premieres in the ancient town amid
applause.
The blockbuster movie which is
distributed by FilmOne goes to the
theatres across the country from
Friday, November 27. ITK is one of
the latest flicks expected to bring
back the sparks and excitement to
Nigerian cinema after the long
break following the global
coronavirus outbreak.
Set in the history-rich border town,
ITK stars Nollywood favourites
Bisola Aiyeola, Timini Egbuson,
Femi Jacobs, Bimbo Ademoye
and eccentric comedian, MC
Lively. Others are Kunle Remi,
Mimi Onalaja
Cast of the movie.
and Ronke Odusanya.
The movie puts the shine on the
famed city known for historical
landmarks and relics such as
Gberefu Island (Port Of No Return),
Slave Museum, first story-building
among others.
ITK movie is directed by acclaimed
filmmaker, Biodun Stephen and coproduced
by Winifred Okpapi with
Adeoluwa Owu as Director of
Photography. ITK Movie takes fans
on a journey with the Kuju siblings
who are tricked by their youngest
sister into visiting their hometown
(Badagry) for a remembrance of their
late mother.
The trip comes five years after the
death of their matriarch revealing a
b i g vacuum she left behind due
t o her role as a unifying factor.
ITK’s vibrant cast brings
the adrenalin-rush that
movie fans love to see
as the siblings soon
find out about an
unspoken tension
threatening the
cohesion of their once
united family.
Sounding upbeat,
Bisola Aiyeola who
earns her first
producer credit in
ITK Movie expressed
her anticipation to
experience the movie
with her fans in selected
venues around the country.
“For me, this is like a
Christmas gift to my ‘family’
and I really cannot wait to
enjoy the ITK experience with
my fans. This is the first time
your girl, Bisola Aiyeola is coproducing
a movie, I’m excited
and anxious at the same time.
It was a whole new experience
for me one that I cherish greatly.
I that I cannot wait to share with
the world. I hope my excitement for
this special movie will allow me
sleep in the days leading to release.”

22—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk
Don’t let the resentment
of a break-up ruin the
rest of your life
Finding out that Sunny, my exhusband
had taken his new
girlfriend abroad for the
summer while I was still chasing
after him for the school fees for our
two children, was the final
straw,”said Mariam, a 46-year-old
copy writer who’s currently
separated from her husband of 21
years. Ït was over a year since our
marriage had ended that. Sunny
started a serious affair with a much
younger woman. It was like living a
nightmare when he left so he could
be with her any time he felt like it.
“The injustice of my scrimping in
order to feed and clothe our children
while he swanned around on exotic
holidays made my blood boil.
What’s more, having to deal with
financial worries as well as trying
to care for my bewildered children
was taking its toll on me. I was
having a good moan with a friend
who had been through a very similar
experience years earlier with her exhusband,
when she cut me short by
saying, Ýou can’t change his
behaviour – all you can change is
your reaction to his behaviour’. That
was all well and good, but how was
I going to change my reaction? I’d
already tried the usual methods of
coping with marriage breakdown –
drowning my sorrows with a bottle
of wine, throwing myself into my
work, doing a bit of forced
socialising and counselling – none
of them had worked and I was still
bitter.
“My husband and I had met 23
years ago at a friend’s birthday
party. It was pretty much love at first
sight and soon we were inseparable.
After an exciting courtship,
marriage and two lovely children
now aged 20 and 17 years, followed
in quickly succession our first ten
years together were reasonably
happy. But the crack were beginning
to show by the time our younger son
was born. While Sunny watched
football on television most evenings,
I’d be in the kitchen cooking or
doing some late-night work on my
write-ups. We slept with our backs
to each other and had a miserable
15 months in which we either
avoided each other or disagreed
about every little thing.
Ït was around this time I
discovered Sunny had fallen for a
young woman he’d met a year
previously through a mutual friend
of ours. I was devastated. He refused
to give her up after we’d had heated
arguments about her that in the end,
he opted to move out. The first few
weeks after he left, the children and
I went about our every day lives in a
state of bewilderment. There were
times we got four plates out at meal
times by mistake, eating in numb
silence and painfully aware of the
empty fourth chair. After a while, the
children seemed to be more
accepting of the situation. But I, now
46 years old and on my own for the
first time in over 21 years, was still
failing to contain my grief.
“The level of anger and resentment
I felt scared me at times and I knew
it was detrimental for the children
as well. I would get stressed about
every little thing and yell at them, or
How to relight the fire of a fizzling zling love life!
“W
hen we met 12 years ago,
m
y
man and I took every opportunity
to jump into bed, and our sex life
was unpredictable and incredibly
exciting,”remembers Elizabeth, a
34-year-old beautician. “But these
days, when he’s in the mood, I often
pretend to be asleep because I’m too
tired after a day at the spa I owned
and coming home to two kids. Ör I
just can’t be bothered because sex is
so samey. Don’t get me wrong, I still
fancy my husband but I fear we’ll
never feel that red-not passion
again...
Of course you all remember when
you and your partner couldn’t keep
your hands off each other. When your
relationship was so rampant, just
one touch had you tingling with
desire, ready to fling off your clothes
and head for bed. Unfortunately, the
endless pressure of kids, chores, jobs
and house-work can put even the
raunchiest sex life under pressure.
So, if you’d really rather read a book
at bedtime than wrap yourself
passionately around your partner,
you’re not alone. But don’t despair.
Below, Louise a marriage counsellor
gives tips on how to bring the
vavavoom back to the bedroom!
She believes that in a relationship,
there are times sex goes off the boil.
And although passion may have
dulled, it doesn’t mean it’s gone
forever. These ideas of hers should
make sex intense and thrilling
again...
*Be honest: A lack of sexual desire
often stems from a hidden problem
in the relationship. So if you feel
taken for granted, overwhelmed by
house work or anxious about paying
the bills, talk frankly to your partner
about how to make things better.
When you’re communicating and
feel happier together, sex naturally
improves.
*Ring the changes: When sex is
Passion food to get in the mood
Steak: Red meat is bursting
with zinc, known to enhance
libido. Oysters are rich in zinc
too.
Watermelon: the Viagra of
the fruit world! It boosts
circulation, just as the love
drug does.
Porridge: Its image may be
more water-bottle than pushup
bra, but porridge increases
testosterone and boosts
stamina.
Pine nuts: These wonder
nuts contain arginine, which
dilates blood vessels, so more
blood flows to the clitoris.
Whizz them up in a delicious
home-made pesto.
Chocolate: Another brilliant
they’d find me sobbing at the
dinning table, feeling unloved, and
totally out of my depth. I knew
something had to change, but how?
My divorced friend suggested I tried
a new counsellor they had in her
Church who had helped her cope
with her grief. I snorted -haven’t I
had enough of those? But what did I
have to lose?
“The counsellor we met didn’t
look like your run-of-the-mill priest.
Fairly young and trendy, he knew
what he was talking about when he
talked me through the need to
release deep tension from my body
by evoking self-controlled thoughts.
predictable, boredom follows. Go
to bed earlier, get frisky on the sofa
or in the kitchen – anywhere that’s
different to usual. Experiment with
sexual positions that’ll make your
orgasm easier.
*Build anticipation: This is a welltested
technique to revive your sex
life. You and your partner agree not
to have sex for a week. Instead, kiss
and hold each other, and gradually
move on to touching and stroking
each other, and perhaps oral sex, or
masturbation – whatever feels right.
But don’t allow orgasm. By the end
of the week, you’ll both be desperate
for one.
*Try the 10-minute rule: Even if
you think you don’t want sex, give
yourself 10 minutes to make sure.
Hug your man, as this produces
oxytocin, the hormone that
facilitates trust and sexual
connection. And nuzzle his neck. It’s
scent is often an aphrodisiac.
*Pleasure yourself:
Masturbation can work wonders
for your sex life. Explore your body
and the way it reacts, then tell your
partner exactly what turns you on.
*Sexercise! Testosterone isn’t just
a male hormone – we produce it in
the ovaries too, and it’s essential for
our sex drive. Levels drop after our
20s, but exercise increases it. So
swim, run or get to the gym.
reason to indulge. Dark
chocolates contain
magnesium and a compound
that releases the same feelgood
brain chemicals
triggered by sex.
Eggs: An omelette makes a
sexy breakfast, delivering
energy and vitamin B, which
boosts hormone levels.
Óften, we continue to build tension
deep inside the core of the body’, he
said, änd as a result can end up with
symptoms such as sleep difficulties,
depression, anger and back pain –
even post-traumatic stress disorder’.
Now he had my interest as he
stressed the importance of exercise
designed to relieve tension.
Ït was later my friend told me he
was a psychologist as wee as a
pastor. Three more sessions with
him and there was a boost to my
confidence. When next Sunny came
round to see the children, I went into
the living room instead of hiding in
my bedroom, greeted him warmly
and asked him if he wanted a drink.
He looked as surprised as I felt but
said yes, he wanted a drink and I
gave him one as our sons stared in
disbelief. I realised I felt totally
different towards him. For the
months since we split up, I’d seen
him as a heartless stranger, hurting
me with everything he did and said.
Now he was just Sunny, a man from
my past, the father of my children
and a human being who simply
made mistakes.
“Thanks to my changed
behaviour, we were able to talk
frankly. I told him how much distress
and pain he’d caused me and the
children. To my surprise, he texted
me later that day, saying that he was
‘deeply sorry’. I had wanted but never
expected an apology from him, so
this was hugely significant for me.
Ït hasn’t been all sweetness and
light since my breakthrough
moment. When I found out recently
that he’d taken his girlfriend to meet
his mother, the tears flowed freely.
And the first night he had our
younger son at the flat he shares with
his girlfriend, I had a sleepless night
wondering how it was going and
secretly hoping my son wouldn’t like
her. But he did: only now, whenever
I feel myself getting stressed or upset,
I go to my bedroom at the earliest
opportunity and go through the
notes I made with the pastor’s
counselling. The impact on my
whole family has been enormous.
The children now hear me singing
round the house again, and when I
speak of their father, I do so without
gritting my teeth.
“While I can’t imagine being
exactly ‘friends’ with Sunny just yet,
I have recently spoken to his
girlfriend on the phone when I called
to enquire about stuffs my children
left in their flat-another huge
breakthrough”.

SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020—23
08116759759
Dead
Lucky
STYLISH skulls donning hats
and flower crowns were
paraded through the streets of
Bolivia yesterday in the Fiesta de las
Natitas.
Known as “ñatitas”, the noggins
are decorated and paraded to the
General Cemetery of La Paz a week
after All Saints Day.
The bones are dressed with sunglasses,
cigarettes and fetching flower
crowns and hats - all things they
are thought to have enjoyed in their
past life.
Their eyes are also stuffed with cotton
wool so they can see again, and
festival-goers splash cash to musicians
and mariachi bands to serenade
the bones.
Some lucky skulls are also fed
booze and sweets.
There are huge parties, known as
prestes, and festival-goers also attend
mass across the country.
The celebration of the skulls -
which are kept indoors most of the
year in special urns or glass boxes,
with some even having their own
"bedrooms" - is part of an ancient
tradition honoring their miracleworking
powers in a bid to win some
good luck.
Followers can amass huge collections
of the skulls, with each having
its own name given by a witch who
realises the moniker in a dream.
The festival is celebrated on November
8 every year, with “ñatitas"
roughly translating as “little pugnosed
ones”.
The festival takes place eight days
after the start of the Catholic "All
Saints" celebration, and events are
carried out in numerous cemeteries
across the country.
The Fiesta de las Natitas, or Festival
of the Skulls, is believed to have
its roots in the Uru Chipaya custom
of digging up the bodies of loved ones
at the one-year anniversary of their
death.
The tradition dates back to precolonisation
of the Americas and is
thought to be linked to the tradition
of reuniting dead friends' and family
members' skeletons with their
souls.
We come to ask or the devotees
come here to ask for the favors they
want, especially asking for health
and for the well-being of family,”
said Angel Aduviri, celebrating the
day, adding the skulls helped people
get things they needed.
“In 2014 a person told the skulls
that he wanted to be a lawmaker and
the skulls granted his wish, the person
was elected a lawmaker.”
Traditions and cultures of the Aymara,
Quechua and other groups
remain strong in Bolivia, where indigenous
people are a majority.
“I have come to visit the Natitas,
we come every year, there are many
devotees,” said devotee Rosario Zelaya.
“They are our angels, they take
care of us, guide us, help us, protect
us and bless us. Obviously first God
and then our souls.”
Newborn baby rescued by shocked locals
after being buried alive in field in India
Boy who travelled 430 miles to exam turned
away y because he was 10 minutes late
ramatic footage shows the
Dmoment a dumped newborn
baby was rescued by villagers after
being buried alive on a farm in
India.
who saw their face poking out of
the earth as they worked nearby.
The baby’s right knee and foot
and their right arm was also
visible when they were found.
The video clip shows locals and
the police frantically rescuing the
baby, who is covered in mud, out
of the shallow grave where they
were buried among stones, roots
and dirt.
The baby remains motionless
before the clip shows the tot being
swaddled in cloth for protection
and warmth while being
surrounding by shocked men and
women.
The baby’s mouth was wiped as
the crowd appear to be shouting
instructions at each other on how
to save the tot’s life.
The abandoned infant was
rushed to a hospital and is now
said to be in a stable condition.
This is not the first time a
newborn baby has been found
buried alive in India.
A newborn girl was buried in a
shallow grave allegedly by her
parents who wanted a boy.
The three-day-old tot was found
alive wrapped in cloth and placed
inside a sealed clay pot which was
buried three feet beneath the earth
at a village crematorium in
Northern India in December last
year.
Labourers who were digging a
grave for a stillborn tot stumbled
across the little girl who was called
a fighter by medics.
In January 2019 a three-weekold
baby girl was found buried
alive after her faint cries were
heard by a local in Uttar Pradesh,
northern India.
Her weak whimpers were heard
as temperatures dropped to just 3C
and she was rushed to hospital.
In 2017 a newborn girl was
thrown into a thorny bush and left
for dead by her parents in the city
of Una in the Gujurat state.
Luckily she was found alive and
covered in scratches under the
plant.
antosh Kumar Yadav spent
Smore than 24 hours travelling
to his designated exam centre in
Kolkata, India but sadly arrived just
10 minutes after the doors were
closed.
A teenage boy who travelled more
than 400 miles to get to an important
exam was turned away at the door
because he was 10 minutes late.
Santosh Kumar Yadav, a resident
of Darbhanga in Bihar, India,
embarked on a journey to Kolkata
to take his National Eligibility
Entrance Test (NEET).
The entrance examination must be
taken by all students wishing to study
medicine or dentistry at Indian
universities.
Santosh travelled for more than 24
hours, changing buses twice, to cover
the almost 430 mile (700km)
distance from Darbhanga to Salt
Lake, a township east of Kolkata
where the exam was taking place at
2pm.
Students had until 1:30pm to enter
the centre before the doors would be
closed. Heartbreakingly, Santosh
arrived 10 minutes later and was
refused entry.
“I pleaded the authorities but they
said I was late,” he told a local TV
station.
“The examination started at 2 pm.
I reached the centre around 1.40pm.
The last deadline for entering the
centre was 1.30 pm.
“I lost a year,” he added.
He says a traffic jam delayed his
bus by nearly six hours and he would
have been on time otherwise.
This year NEET participants were
asked to report to their exam centres
at least three hours in advance to
allow time for new security and
health checks introduced during the
coronavirus pandemic.
Local lockdowns have caused
many transport problems for
students taking the exam, with many
having to fork out huge sums of
money to travel to designated centres
in hired cars.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state
president Dilip Ghosh accused the
government of being unsympathetic
to the plight of students.
“The Supreme Court said that
students should get all help to travel
and get accommodation,” he said.
“During the Joint Entrance
Examination (JEE), examinees in
West Bengal had to face a lot of
difficulty and the chief minister had
said 70% of them could not take the
test. This government is not at all
sympathetic towards students.”
State education minister Partha
Chatterjee agreed that students faced
difficulties in getting to their exams.
“We knew that students would face
trouble,” he said.
“The metro railway can carry them
within Kolkata but what about those
from other districts? Chief minister
Mamata Banerjee cancelled the
state-wide lockdown on Saturday
only to help students travel.
“But they still faced problems
because of the pandemic situation.”

24—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
Shame on you,
my Igbo people
By Chioma Ugochukwu,
Pennsylvania
Iam home today nursing a torn
muscle from my treadmill workouts
and thought that I should comment
on asomething that happened recently.
I noticed that a video was trending on
Twitter a few days ago. It was a video
of folks from a church in the
Southeastern part of Nigeria holding
a prayer walk for Donald Trump. We
saw reports earlier that another church
in the region also held a parade for
Trump. Those of you who follow me
know that I have written about this
strange phenomenon of Nigerians,
particularly Igbos (my ethnic group),
supporting and praying for Trump. It
started with the false meme that
spread on social media that Trump
supports Igbos (Biafrans). Some Igbos
are pushing to secede from Nigeria due
to their discontentment with the
tensions between Christians in the
North (Igbos are mostly Christians)
and Muslims in the North.
Many of us Nigerians in the United
States are dual citizens. We have often
found it baffling that our brothers and
sisters back home don’t seem to fully
understand who Trump is. Most of
them truly believe that Trump is a
devout Christian and some even call
him a God-sent. Those of us who know
Trump better find the claim to be
ludicrous. Anyway, I have often tried
not to be too critical of our folks back
home, but seeing this video trending
on Twitter and reading that Trump
acknowledged it sent me over the
edge.
While I understand that we are all
entitled to our opinions, beliefs, and
values, I find myself in a position of
using my own voice to express my
opinion and disdain for what I am
seeing. This is personal to me. I
recognize that I am about to take
a harsh tone here, but
sometimes you’ve got to take a
stand for your own values. I
have no doubt in my mind that
Trump does not give a damn
about Igbos or Nigerians. In
fact, he has blocked visas and
family reunification programs
for Nigerians. He has not
spoken out against the issue of
police brutality in Nigeria,
which most of our Igbo folks are
fighting against with the
#EndSARS movement. Trump
has also blocked the
appointment of Nigerians to
leadership positions within
some international
organizations.
So, if you are one of the
Nigerians holding prayer vigils
and parading for Trump, shame
on you! You are actively praying
for a man who is doing his best
to make life harder for your
brothers and sisters in the
diaspora. I have not seen a
prayer walk from any of you for the
various issues we’ve encountered.
We’ve had mass shootings in the
United States and none of you held
parades or vigils to pray for our safety.
You pray for Trump and shamelessly
tell us that we need to return home if
we find his policies unbearable.
Meanwhile, you are all too happy to
receive the billions of dollars in
remittances that we send to Nigeria
every year. Your prayers for Trump are
prayers against our welfare and the
welfare of our children. So, shame on
you!
I don’t comment too much on events
happening in Nigeria and it’s not
because I don’t care; it’s just that I left
•Trump
Nigeria decades ago, which means
that I can no longer draw on my lived
experience for commentary. I can rely
on research, but that means that I will
miss some nuances because one’s
lived experience will always trump
what one can deduce from reading.
Many of you Nigerians praying for
Trump actually believe that reading
memes and news articles make you
experts on Trump and the American
experience. You see the things you hear
on the 700 Club and TBN as nonpartisan
and true. You are often
dismissive of your brothers and sisters
in the United States who draw on their
lived experience to form their opinion
of Trump. It will be nice if you would
give us the benefit of the doubt and
acknowledge that we may know this
guy better than you do.
Trump does not give a
damn about you or any
other African nation!
Trump is not a Christian,
so shame on you for
believing otherwise!
Shame on you for
supporting someone
who saw a black man
sitting in his lobby as an
eyesore. Shame on you
for professing to be
Christians even as you
support a conman who
defrauds workers, sleeps
with porn stars,
separates children from
their parents, denounces
refugees fleeing wartorn
locations, takes
away food stamps from
children, and who is
actively working to take
away health insurance
from millions. The Igbos
pride themselves on
being smart. Whatever
caused you to parade for a man who is
pushing the world toward antiintellectualism?
Were we not taught
that God is love? What does your Bible
say about lust, greed, wrath, envy, and
pride? Are they still deadly sins or
not?
We have a name for people who
sympathize with their abusers. We
need to see if this is a case of the
Stockholm Syndrome or just another
case of the regular, everyday colonial
mentality. I recognize that I am being
tough here, but if you are willing to
support a white supremacist who
spends all day sowing division, then
rest assured that I have no problem
distancing myself from you and your
values.
The Eviction of
Donald Trump
By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
If you don’t pay your rent, you get evicted
from the house.
Whether you are living in
a face-me-I-face-you hellhole
in Ajegunle or in the superduper
White House is
immaterial. Once the rent is
expired, the man living there
is also expired.
That is the trouble with the
big man that used to brag all
over the place as President
Donald J. Trump of the
United States of America:
POTUS 45.
His rent has expired and he
is making some noises about
going to this court or that
court instead of packing out
of the White House.
If he likes, let him go as far
as to ECOWAS court,
disgraceful eviction stares
him in the face. There is even
the suggestion that he could
hire the Supreme Court of the
Giant of Africa to install him
in the manner that one
governor was installed as a
Supreme Court Governor in one Nigerian
state.
The Americans are not laughing at all
at the antics of Mr. Trump, and I
understand that bailiffs are already
waiting to throw the
vulgar man out.
Trump’s tenancy in the
White House was marked
with too much
braggadocio. When lowly
Senator Joe Biden came
out to challenge him for
It turned out as the
height of humiliation
and shame that the
old man tagged
“Sleepy Joe” ended
up knocking out the
bragging big giant
who promoted
himself as “The
Donald”
the diadem he dismissed
the old man as “Sleepy
Joe”.
It turned out as the
height of humiliation and
shame that the old man
tagged “Sleepy Joe”
ended up knocking out the
bragging big giant who
promoted himself as “The
Donald”.
Call it American
Wonder, and I will remind
you that one of America’s
greatest film stars,
Charlton Heston, wrote in
his Diaries that a big man
can never win a fight
against the little man. If
the big man wins the fight he is
condemned as a bully, but if the giant
somehow gets beaten by the small fellow
he is ridiculed as a buffoon.
No less a personage of avid letterwriting
than Chief Olusegun Obasanjo
has written in yet another letter that it was
good that defeated evil.
Trump is in no man’s land in his
devastating defeat, and his evangelical
supporters cannot stop jabbering in forked
tongues.
There is the cry that angels from shithole
Africa will be summoned to restore the
fallen Trump to the White House.
Papa Hezekiah who led a procession for
Trump in one Onitsha church remains
marooned in a spiritual wonderland in the
bid to offer a spellbinding solution.
In the realm of poetry, one cannot find
any great poem to bring to bear on the
Trump matter except the good old nursery
rhyme “Humpty Dumpty”:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king’s horses and all the king’s
men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
If Trump can no longer be put together
again like Humpty Dumpty, he has nobody
else to blame but himself.
He started out acting like the owner of
the ball who takes away his ball once he is
dribbled while kids are playing football.
He blabbed that he could never ever be
defeated, so he had no Option B. He kept
racking up points at the beginning of the
contest but once he got to number 214 he
got stuck, making one local wag to quip:
“Chai! E be like say na African traditional
merecine dem take pin Mister Trump at
214!”
Meantime, the erstwhile “Sleepy Joe”
racked up insurmountable numbers that
led to a resounding victory.
Trump now cries of mail fraud because
it was mailed-in votes that did the
damage, but he ought to have known that
Joe Biden is so popular he receives more
letters than the post office!
Trump is only good at tweeting, but
tweets don’t count as votes! If you keep on
tweeting, you get reduced to a twit!
The canonization of Trump got the goat
of not a few people, offline and online,
such that one Didymus of a Doubting
Thomas protested thusly: “The Devil’s best
work was being able to convince
evangelicals that a racist man who makes
fun of dead soldiers, has five kids with
three wives, gropes women, incites
violence, and never tells the truth, was sent
here by God.”
As Trump was trounced ever so
comprehensively, another naysayer went
Biblical thus: “God can never be mocked.”
One of the Ghanaian prayer warriors for
Trump has just declared in surrender: “Our
prayers for President Donald Trump didn’t
work because his heart is not clean.”
Robert Reich has put it in bold print this
way: “Donald Trump built his real estate
empire evicting people of colour. This
week, people of colour evicted Donald
Trump.”
There is a raging bull in the American
china shop. With the mention of
“American china”, the bigger pun of China
pops up - and it’s as though the “China
virus finally got him!”
But before we get derailed by
“hydroxychloroquine treatment” of
Trump’s Dr Stella Emmanuel, let’s re-stress
the real McCoy of evicting the raging bull,
alias Don the Con, in the American china
shop poised to pull the entire
commonwealth to pieces.
The crystal ball starkly tells that this
eviction will not be to Trump Towers but
to a federal correctional centre.
A tear for Trump!

From obscurity to limelight:
AVM Lar bows out of Armed Forces
•Says ‘Till date , my village has only 21 compounds’
•AVM Kingsley Lar handing over to the new
NAFRC Commandant, AIT Vice Marshal
Isiaka Amao
By Evelyn Usman
Vehicular and human movements into the
Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement
Centre, NAFRC Oshodi , Lagos, were
unusual last Wednesday. Guests in Military
uniforms and mufti drove into the centre in
different posh cars.
Wives of Military personnel of the three
sister Forces under the auspices of the
Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre
Officers’ Wives Association, NAFRCOWA who
were adorned in their white attire with colorful
headgears, added a blend of color to the
ambience of the environment.
Those who came on foot , had to board
tricycles and motorcycles at the entrance of the
gate to the centre’s parade ground.
But a spectacular sight was that of residents
within the NAFRC community who managed
to turn out in what they considered their best
attires.
Most of them who arrived at the venue long
before the take-off of the event, trekked from
the entrance of the gate, not necessarily
because they wanted to, but because they
could not afford N50 fare.
From the expressions on their faces, they
never cared about the distance. Rather, their
major concern was to honour Air Vice
Marshal, AVM Kingsley Lar, whom they
said had touched their lives in different ways,
beyond what they knew the Military for.
The occasion was AVM Lar’s official
retirement from the Nigerian Armed Forces.
The farewell parade was held at the Centre’s
parade ground as a sign of respect and final
farewell having served for over three decades.
Representatives of the Service Chiefs, AVM
Lar’s colleagues , both serving and retired,
were present to celebrate the occasion with
him.
Activities
Activities lined up to mark the auspicious
occasion began on Friday, with a Jumat prayer,
followed by a Golf tournament in his honor,
at the Nigerian Air Force Golf Club, in Shasha
area of Lagos, the next day.
On Sunday, November 1, 2020, a
thanksgiving service was held at the Saint
Stephen Protestant Church at the Centre , with
a dinner on Monday.
A visibly elated Air Vice Marshal Lar, who
was the Commandant of the NAFRC, had his
speeches in all the events laced with gratitude
to God for a successful sojourn in the Military.
Of particular mention was the fact that the
Plateau born General who
turned 56 years a day after
he bowed out of the
Military, never envisaged
he would join the Armed
Forces, let alone reaching its
pinnacle.
Valedictory
In his valedictory speech
at the pulling out parade,
AVM Lar, tried not to betray
his emotion as he recalled
how God picked him from a
village with just 21
compounds, till date, to
honour him.
He recalled how
providence played a role
in being where he is today,
even against his wish to join
the military.
Hear him: “When I
arrived in Lagos as a four
year old in 1968, I never in
my wildest imagination
contemplated that 52 years
after, God, in his infinite
mercies will grant me the
opportunity to end my very
eventful and meritorious
military career here in Lagos
where I started a new life after my place of
birth Panshin,as a little boy.
“It was on August 1, 1978 exactly 42 years,
two months and fifteen days ago, that I began
my Military career as a soldier. I would like
to place on record that but for my dear friend,
now Barr.Similola Diya, I probably will not
•SSS, EFCC, NIA, NFIU should go after suspects -Ejiofor, retd SSS Director
•Don’t sweep the lead under the carpet -Alobi, retd CP
By Omeiza Ajayi
BUJA: On 30th October 2020, the
AUnited States Navy Seal Team 6 was
reported to have rescued an American citizen
somewhere in “Northern Nigeria”.
Philipe Nathan Walton was taken from his farm
in Massalata village in southern Niger days
earlier by armed men who demanded ransom
from his father.
“The United States is committed to the safe
return of all U.S. citizens taken captive. We
delivered on that commitment late last night
in Nigeria, where some of our bravest and most
skilled warriors rescued a U.S. citizen after a
group of armed men took him hostage across
the border in Niger”, said US Secretary of State,
AVM Kingsley Lar being pulled out
From the expressions
on their faces, they never
cared about the distance.
Rather, their major
concern was to honour
Air Vice Marshal, AVM
Kingsley Lar, whom they
said had touched their
lives in different ways,
beyond what they knew
the Military for
Michael Pompeo.
“Thanks to the extraordinary courage and
capabilities of our military, the support of our
intelligence professionals, and our diplomatic
efforts, the hostage will be reunited with his
family. We will never abandon any American
taken hostage”, he added.
While many saw the development as a failure
on the part of the Nigeria Immigration Service
NIS for not adequately patrolling the borders,
others wondered how the Americans could
carry out such an operation in a foreign land.
However, Minister of Defence, Bashir
Magashi has said the federal government
actually worked with the Americans to rescue
the hostage. But he did not say why the
kidnappers found Nigeria a better place to hold
their victim they kidnapped in Niger and
be standing here.
“I recall that in September 1982, shortly after
I resumed form 5 in the Nigeria Military
School , it was Saturday and the day we were
to write the entrance examination into the
Nigeria Defence Academy for the 34th
Regular Course.
“That morning I decided that I was not going
for that exam. Even though the school bus that
was arranged to take us parked at the back of
my room being the number one
room in the Nigeria Military
school, I decided that I was not
going to take the exam. But my
dear classmate, Barr. Similola
Diya, the boy that he was then,
came to my room and compelled
me against my will to go to
Kaduna to take the entrance
exam that eventually got me into
the Nigeria Defence Academy
,as a member of the 34th
Regular Combatant course in
the Military.
“ God in His infinite mercies
made room for me and today to
his glory, I have attained this
high rank of AVM and have the
opportunity to contribute my
own quota to the growth and
development of the Armed
Forces and the Federal Republic
of Nigeria.
“It might interest you all to
know that my village , even as
we speak today, has only 21
compounds. This is to tell you
that I come from a very small
town and yet by the grace of God,
here I am being celebrated by
all of you”.
At this point, he became
emotional , as his voice became shaky. But
he was quick to say that it was a
manifestation of ecstatic joy.
He appreciated Nigeria for her role in his
life,as well as President Muhammadu Buhari
, for alleviating the pains of retired military
personnel .
American hostage, UAE convictions
and the fight against terror
moved him to Nigeria.
Days after the incident, reports emerged that
six Nigerians had been convicted in the United
Arab Emirates UAE for financing terrorism in
Nigeria.
A court in Abu Dhabi had reportedly
sentenced Surajo Abubakar Muhammad and
Saleh Yusuf Adamu to life in prison. Ibrahim
Ali Alhassan, AbdurRahman Ado Musa, Bashir
Ali Yusuf and Muhammad Ibrahim Isa were
each given a 10-year sentence.
According to reports, between 2015 and 2016,
the accused transferred $782,000 from Dubai
to Nigeria to support Boko Haram.
Two Nigerians who were said to be top
government officials in Nigeria were also
reported to be working for the terrorist sect.
A retired Director in the State Security Service
SSS, Barr. Mike Ejiofor has however advised
the spy agency, the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission EFCC, the Nigeria
Financial Intelligence Unit NFIU and the
SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020—25
In his appreciation to the Chief of Air Staff,
CAS, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, Lar has
this to say: “ There are those here who know
that but for the person of the Chief of the Air
Staff , somebody from the Air Provost
squadron or from the Air Provost specialty,
might not have had the opportunities that I
have had in the last five years , to hold
significant and strategic appointments in the
Nigerian Air Force”.
He appreciated the CAS for his mentorship
and style of leadership which he said was
worth emulating.
He also appreciated his wife, Mrs Sheila
Lar and his children , for keeping the home
front peaceful, a virtue he said helped him
contribute his quota to the growth of the
Armed Forces in particular and the nation in
general.
Thereafter, a change of flag signifying the
end of his reign as the Centre’s Commandant
and announcement of a new one, took place.
Pulling out Parade
At the end of the distinctive pattern of the
parade, the occasion reached its climax, when
AVM Lar and his wife Sheila, entered an
open roof Land Rover stationed not too far from
the parade ground. The Land Rover was
decorated with white ropes in the front,
with senior officers subordinate to Lar,
pulling them, at the instruction of the most
senior of them.
As they gradually pulled the rope, Lar and
his wife waved at the teeming crowd , among
who were pupils of the NAFRCOWA primary
and Secondary School , waving the national
flag and banners which had the inscriptions :
“ As you retire from NAFRC , sir, do not be
tired of doing the good work to humanity, God
bless you sir’ , , Sir, your service to NAFRC and
the nation is highly commendable ‘etc,.
With the band escorting, , they were pulled
out of NAFRC premises , signifying Lar’s last
moment with the Nigerian Airforce in
particular and the Armed Forces in General.
Commendations
Everyone spoke well of the retired AVM
Lar, particularly in the area of transforming
at the Centre within the 10 months of his stay
as Commandant.
One of those who spoke was Major General
Olusimilola Soneye, who was a coursemate
with retired AVM Lar.
He disclosed that more than 90 persons
started the course with them but that some
had died. He therefore appreciated God for
sparing Lar, even as he boasted that
the 34th Regular Course, which he and Lar
belong, had produced not less than 30
Generals.
He described his course mate as a committed
and hard working man who proved his worth
at every given assignment .
He said, “ He is a perfect gentleman and
a perfect family man. He gets along with
everybody. From the turn out you will know
he is someone well known. He is God fearing
and also an ardent golfer. He encouraged
me to start playing golf. Retiring into civil
life will not be a problem to him because he
has trained retirees. So, he won’t have
problems blending with civil life.
On his part, President of the Association of
Industrial Security and Safety Operators of
Nigeria, AISSON, Dr. Ona Ekhomu,
described AVM Lar as a sociable and focused
individual that had interest in nation
building.
He said, “ We’ve been relating to matters of
security and nation building nationally. He
goes out of his way to make everyone feel
welcome and respected. He has this
philosophy of life and seems to have a happy
go lucky approach to life but he is very focused
and hand working . His life history is really
a case study of how to get to the top and remain
humbled. The way members of NAFRC
community trooped out to honour him is an
attestation to who he truly is”.
To many of the NAFRC community
members, they described him as a man who
related with everybody but kept his stance.
•Sir Mike Ejiofor
Nigeria Intelligence Agency NIA to
collaborate towards tracking terrorist’s
financiers in the country.
He said; “It is very worrisome especially
because we have not been able to secure such
Continues on pg 26

26—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
Social Media Censorship:
Time to Put Out The Fire?
By Dirisu Yakubu
“The Northern leaders are living in a world
T
of their own and they think there’s not much
hat Nigeria is currently sitting on the edge
agitation or rejection of the proposed regulation
is neither a hyperbolic statement nor
or censorship of social media. It will shock them.
rhetoric from the camp of the opposition.
It will take them by surprise. You are trying to
Nigeria, Africa’s largest country and by a mile,
gag the voice of the people who collectively
the continent’s most resource endowed nation,
gave you mandate and entrusted you into public
is facing big threats of its own creation. Two
office; and you are saying that the biggest
weeks of intense protests, which later morphed
concern for you is to stifle their voice? It will
into violence and shameless invasion of
really shock them when it hits them.
warehouses for COVID-19 palliatives have
“Citizens will rise. A couple of weeks ago,
since driven fear of the unknown in the psyche
we saw how young people united and
of the nation’s political leadership such that,
organized themselves peacefully under the
solution, however awkward is now being
#EndSARS protests. That is a tip of the iceberg,
sought.
if they go ahead and try to gag social media and
Two weeks ago, a meeting of the Northern
stifle the voice of the citizens. Before you form
Governors Forum held at the Kashim Ibrahim
a government, it is the citizens that actually
House (Kaduna State Government House)
formed the government because legitimacy
ended with a communiqué that sought among
flows from them. So, if they continue, citizens
others, the regulation of the social media, as a
will take back that legitimacy. Hopefully, we
way to put out the next fire, which impact, in
don’t have leaders who will like to put Nigeria
the reasoning of the governors, would be
in chaos. I believe that young people are
difficult to predict.
relatively peaceful and they will continue to
Read by the Chairman of the Forum and
undertake their role as active citizens
Governor of Plateau state, Simon Lalong, ”The
peacefully. But then, they should not be pushed
meeting took note of the devastating effect of
to the wall.
the uncontrolled social media in spreading fake
“Right now, it is about survival and with the
news and therefore, calls for major control
impact of COVID-19, you can’t come with a
mechanism and censorship of the social media
policy that gags the voice, rather, come up with
practice in Nigeria.”
a policy that guarantees quality life style, access
While there have been calls for the governors,
to healthcare, employment, sustainable jobs
most of whom were elected on the platform of
and economic growth. Let’s grow the Gross
the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to
Domestic Product, GDP and make Nigeria
instead focus their minds on the spate of killings
proud, rather than discussing social media.
in their domains; it appears censorship of the
Other countries are talking about big data
social media tops the agenda in their respective
companies -Facebook, twitter, youtube, you are
list of “Must-Do,” given the attention accorded
focusing on your citizens to shut them up. Who
it in that historic gathering in Kaduna.
does that?
Censorship and 2023
Lawal minced no words in relating the
attempt by government to regulate social media
to the politics of 2023.
According to him, having
successfully driven fear down
the spine of the traditional
media with the imposition of a
N3 million fine each on the trio
of Arise Television, Channels
TV and the African
Independent Television, AIT,
recently, the federal
The Beginning
In fairness to the governors, censorship of
social media was not their invention. In 2019,
Senator Mohammed Sani Musa representing
Niger East Senatorial District sponsored the
“Protection from Internet Falsehood and
Manipulations Bill,” which in his words, aimed
at curtailing the spread of falsehood and fake
news in Nigeria. Also known as the Social
Media Bill, the proposed law faced a barrage
of criticisms, particularly from the media, civil
society organizations and advocacy groups,
who saw in the bill, a move to gag free speech
and freedom of expression.
With the official declaration of support by the
Northern governors earlier in the week, the
bill perhaps, may hit the long road to becoming
law in the months ahead.
Censorship will shock
Northern Governors, leaders
—Lawal
Youth activist and founder, Connected
Development, CODE, Hamzat Lawal has
issued a strong warning to the governors of the
19 Northern states not to play with the fire
expected to generate from the regulation of
social media.
Lawal, co-founder of Follow The Money, a
data-driven initiative dedicated to tracking
government spending and international aid,
also slammed the President Muhammadu
Buhari-led government, accusing same of
governing by propaganda without evidence to
show for what it has done for nearly six years
in the saddle.
Appearing on the Channels Television
Breakfast Show, Sunrise Daily, Lawal had this
to say of the proposed regulation:
Continues from pg 25
convictions here. We must also commend the
UAE for the effort. But, like in that report where
it was clearly stated that two top government
functionaries in Nigeria were working with
the convicts, the Nigeria government should
in the same light collaborate with the UAE so
that this will now serve as a lead to identify,
arrest and possibly prosecute these two
suspects who are in Nigeria because nobody
is sure now that they are still not active and
operating.
“In the fight against terrorism, you must
follow the money. By following the money, I
expect the NFIU, EFCC, SSS and NIA to
collaborate and see how these people can be
identified. You know one of the challenges we
have in Nigeria is that nobody seems to be
fully responsible for the fight against this
insurgency. Everybody is doing his thing his
own way. The Police is there, the Army is in the
lead fighting physically, the SSS is providing
intelligence but we need to have, like in the
US, a Fusion Centre where policies are
formulated and then there is proper
implementation of such policies.
“As it is now, nobody seems to be in charge.
Everybody seems to be doing his own thing
and because of political considerations, one
government will now turn in
the direction of the social media
to dictate the narratives there;
warning however that the
aftermath would be difficult to
manage.
He continued: “This social
media gag is all about 2023.
What we have had in the past
six years is more of
government propaganda.
When you don’t have evidence
to show for what you have
done, how you have kept the
promises you made, then you
have to find a way to gag the
voices. “First they came for the
mainstream media and now they are coming
for the social media. Social media is a platform
where people can express themselves freely.
“Nigerians will live and survive beyond 2023
and again, we need leaders that will look beyond
2023. Today, Northern Nigeria is not secured.
You cannot travel 200km without the scare of
getting kidnapped. Here we are, Northern
leaders sitting and meeting at the Kashim
Ibrahim House. We thought they were going
to talk of a secured Northern Nigeria but rather
they talked about stiffening the voice of these
young people.”
Don’t sweep the lead under the carpet -Alobi, retd CP
agency will be seeking to outdo the other to
show that it is superior. The politicians and
other government functionaries who have no
business in security matters will be issuing
statements that Boko Haram has been defeated.
Today you will hear the Army saying that an
enclave of the terrorists has been destroyed
and their leaders killed; then you will hear the
Air Force telling you that it located and bombed
a terrorist cell and killed a thousand. Then you
would ask, with these numbers they are killing
every day, are they not depleted? Everyday
you hear the terrorists are killed. Don’t they
get finished? The terrorists are still coming out
stronger. So, it gives cause to really worry.
“The National Security Adviser NSA is
supposed to be coordinating the activities of
the agency but what we have is the Multi
National Joint Task Force MNJTF which is not
in charge of formulating policies but ensuring
that the fight is brought to an end. But we need
policy and guidance. We need policy to say
that this is how the fight would be, this is how
it will be funded and if it fails, you know who
to hold responsible. But, who are you holding
responsible now? Nobody. There is no proper
coordination of operations”.
On the rescue of an American hostage in
Nigeria, Ejiofor said the Nigerian government
actually provided the needed intelligence
In fairness to
the governors,
censorship of
social media
was not their
invention
•Gov. Simon
Lalong
Focus on security, poverty,
CISLAC counsels Northern
Governors
For the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy
Centre, CISLAC, it is a shame on the part of the
governors to dwell on social media while
looking away from the pangs of poverty,
unemployment and child malnutrition; three
vices threatening to sink that part of the country
today.
In an exclusive chat with Saturday Vanguard,
CISLAC Executive Director,
Auwal Ibrahim Rafsanjani
said: “It’s surprising and
worrisome to see needless
push for the regulation of social
media by Northern governors,
despite significant governance
issues awaiting attention like
insecurity, rising poverty level,
dilapidated healthcare system,
endemic childhood
malnutrition and youth
unemployment that
backpedal the region’s socioeconomic
progress.
“We observed from the
clamour for the regulation of
social media, pre-determined
undemocratic strategy to
suppress and intimidate
Nigerians from demanding
transparency and
accountability in governance.
This should not have a space in
our democracy.”
Rafsanjani further warned of
the grave implication of
shutting down the voice of the people in a
constitutional democracy, saying “with due
consideration for human rights implication,
there are relevant national, regional, continental
and international laws protecting individual’s
freedom of speech and expression. It is more
disappointing to see recurring undemocratic
efforts to violate these rights by all levels of
government.
“We must on this note recall that Article 19 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) protects the right of everyone to
freedom of opinion and expression. This right
while the United States provided the requisite
technology for the operation.
“I wouldn’t see it as failure on the part of the
agencies because our borders are very porous.
So, you don’t know which route that the victim
was taken through. Most of the perpetrators of
these crimes are not Nigerians. How do they
come in? It is because of the porous nature of
our borders. On the rescue of the American, it
shows the premium the American Government
places on its citizens but they can’t also do that
without the collaborative efforts of the Nigerian
government. So, the impression people are
having that the Americans came to breach our
territorial integrity is not correct. The fact is
that the global trend of terrorism or insurgency
is fought jointly between countries and
stakeholders with support of other countries.
So, Nigeria provided the intelligence required
and they (US) probably gave the technology,
because we might have the intelligence but
without having the necessary technological
support to get to the root of all these things. So,
that is our problem.
“Also let the agencies be more committed to
the fight against this scourge. They kidnapped
one person in another country and then took
him to another country”, the retired SSS director
added.
On his part, a retired Commissioner of Police,
includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers. Just as Section 39 (1) of
the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of
Nigeria guarantees every citizen’s right to
freedom of expression, including freedom to
hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas
and information without interference. This
includes the right to own, establish and operate
any medium for the dissemination of
information, ideas and opinions.”
He advised the Nigerian government to look
at the positive sides of social media “instead of
ill-thought effort to regulate it, as such is
tantamount to the violation of citizens’ right,
adding that “the advent of social media has
exposed majority of Nigerians to different
interactive platforms where different kind of
unfiltered information is exchanged, making
significant impacts in individuals’ orientation,
behaviour as well as policy decision.”
Social media, home of fake
news- Prof. Ladi Adamu
Lending her voice to the conversation is
Nigeria’s renowned Broadcasting teacher,
Professor Ladi Adamu who says with the
negative impact of fake news, there’s need for
some form of regulations.
Ladi, who holds the unique honour of being
the first Professor of Broadcasting in Northern
Nigeria, justified her call for regulation this
way: “It is a good thing to regulate the social
media. I was on AIT chairing a panel on that
sometime in February this year. There are lots
of misinformation in the social media, a lot of
fake news and hate speech. And some of these
things mislead people. Recently, I was reading
online that Channels TV was off air but I was
right there watching Channels. Sometimes,
you will read that 10 died in a place and it will
turn out to be false. So, I subscribe to the
regulation of social media.
“Unlike the traditional media where what
comes in can be checked, there is no
gatekeeping in social media. Citizen
journalism has taken over everywhere and
some of the practitioners are not even media
men and women. They don’t even know
anything about the ethics of the profession. So,
there’s need for regulation,” she added.
Regulation in order- Sani
On his part, immediate past Secretary
General of the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF,
Anthony Sani sees nothing wrong with
censoring the social media space.
“I do not see anything wrong in regulation of
social media which is not one and the same
thing as banning social media or curbing right
of speech. My view is predicated on the fact
that there is no system of human affairs that is
without some form of regulation. Even families
have some form of regulation. That is why it is
often stated that any system that is left on its
own without any form of control tends to a state
of maximum chaos.
“Though social media contributes a lot to
information and education of the people and
help youths to speak to power, its drawbacks
are fake news and hate speech that are counterproductive.
That is why most countries in the
world exercise some form of regulations on
social media. That also explains the invitations
by American Congress of Chief Executives of
Facebook, Google to appear and discuss how
best fake news, hate speeches and
misinformation in social media could be
checked for benefits of the society, and not to
destroy the society.
“To that extent, I share the sentiments of those
who advocate some form of regulation of social
media in order to check fake news, hate
speeches and incitement, provided the
sanctions for infraction do not include capital
punishment,” he said.
Will the National Assembly gives the
legislative nod to this contentious bill in a bid
to accelerate the process of making it a law
now that Northern governors have thrown their
weight of support behind it?
Time will tell!
Barr. Lawrence Alobi said the UAE has provided
a lead to the Nigerian government to work on
and trace the two suspects reported to be
working for terrorists in Nigeria.
Alobi said; “Constitutionally, the primary
duty of government is the security and
wellbeing of the people. If a nation was able to
track, arrest, prosecute and secure the
conviction of some people for sponsoring Boko
Haram and they give us a lead that there are
some persons in Nigeria who are linked to
that, then it is incumbent on the Nigerian
security formation to follow up on that
information to trace the people. That is how to
detect and prevent crime. They must see how
such persons can be identified and questioned.
It is not good to sweep it under the carpet. The
international community will be looking at how
we handle the development. So, there is need
to track the suspects, interrogate them and see
if they are culpable so that they can be
prosecuted.
“Recently, America came and rescued its
citizen. But like the Minister of Defence said,
they authorised that action. Our borders are
very porous. So, the immigration cannot be at
all points because they have challenges of
manpower, equipment and logistics. We can
continue to blame the agencies, but the truth is
that most agencies are not adequately
empowered to discharge their mandate”.

Vanguard, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2020—27
Clearly, it had not come as a surprise,
still, many were thoroughly
disappointed when Toyin
announced that she was pregnant. There
was no doubt that she planned to keep the
baby, thus, the announcement of the
pregnancy. She would have found a solution
to it, if she had truly considered it a problem
and wanted out. But Toyin as I would later
discover was very proud of her new condition
as she asked me what I thought about her
keeping the pregnancy. Before I could
respond, she slipped it in that the baby was
a free gift from God to her. It was what some
women, older and more experienced than
her where looking for. Many would even
pay dearly to be in her shoes. So, what
answer was one to give other than affirm
that she was on the right path? But the truth
was that Toyin was not in the position to be
talking about a pregnancy in the first place,
not to mention her wayward unfolding
drama. Toyin, at the time (about seven years
ago) was just a SSS 1 secondary school
student.
Tall, dark, well bosomed with all the right
womanly curves, she’d seemed to grow up
before her time when I met her about a year
before the pregnancy brouhaha. We had
just moved to the area and her mother ran
the neighbourhood retail shop right in front
of their house which was adjacent ours. One
could not but notice Toyin and her family,
no matter how much one may love to ignore
them. Her mother, a very polite, slightly
heavy figured woman made it her duty to
exchange pleasantries with all the
neighbours as they drove or walked past their
shop. I assumed this was her strategy for
attracting customers to her shop as further
down the road, she had a bigger and younger
competitor. A look at the family and you
will discover that all the children took after
their mother, tall, dark complexioned and
blessed with her good looks. Toyin’s father,
though dark skinned, was the opposite of
his household. Short, slender, with a
monstrous temper. He went off the handle
often and ‘does not send’ when his temper
possesses him. So, you might hear his voice
ringing out in the early hours of the morning,
arousing you from sleep or as late as
imaginable. He does not care for the
neighbours’ disapproval of his actions and
many decent people would rather avoid him
totally. I saw him as a frustrated man and
this was confirmed over time by events and
stories emanating from their household. He
was not happy with his wife and children
and perhaps, what his entire life had become
over the years. However, he did not know
how to address the issues properly and so,
everything continued to degenerate around
him, before his very eyes.
Together, the couple has four children,
Toyin, the second born, two other girls and
the last child, a little boy, less than 10 years
of age. Toyin’s father, also the only man
fondly called Babalandlord on the street was
obviously quite advanced in age, much more
than his wife. By the time we moved into the
neighbourhood, the first girl, had been
‘married’ for a couple of years. Like history
was repeating itself with Toyin, she too had
gotten herself pregnant by a guy, whose
family also owned a property in the
neighbourhood and had moved in with him.
At less than 21 and without secondary school
education, she already was saddled with two
children. But she and the children appeared
well taken care of as the ‘husband’ seemed
level headed and doing well at his job. (I
have no idea what) Toyin’s younger sister,
Shade, at less than 14 was already set in
following in the footsteps of her sisters and
would later drop out of secondary school in
JSS 3. All were thoroughly enmeshed in the
business of the loins that brought pleasures
to the sexes. It was a pity to watch as their
mother struggled with curtailing the
excesses of her children as well as the
explosive manner her husband handled
them. It soon became clear that the family
only lived together but was disintegrated
perhaps, beyond redemption.
So, who got Toyin pregnant? We were not
surprised. It was no other than her long time
puppy love. A young secondary school boy,
who had recently dropped out for obvious
reasons too. Sunny lived with his father and
younger brother who was in Primary school
Yetunde Arebi
What a man sows, so
he reaps
Tall, dark, well
bosomed with all the
right womanly curves,
she’d seemed to grow
up before her time
when I met her about a
year before the
pregnancy brouhaha
despite his advanced age at the time. They
lived in a rented room in the house right
opposite Toyin’s father’s house. Sunny was
learning to become a bricklayer after their
drunkard father had declared he could no
longer support his education. Their mother
had died several years back, I learnt. It was
Toyin who had been supporting him for as
long as anyone could remember. In fact, story
had it that she’d once stolen her mother’s
thrift savings to pay for their accumulated
house rent some years back. A development
that had pitched the two families against
each other, with Toyin’s parents banning the
young couple’s association. Unlike her older
sister, Toyin had managed to get herself into
a worse situation, pregnant for a jobless
dropout with no roof over his head, nor
inheritance (Sunny’s father is not a landlord)
to look forward to. But her parents had no
choice, obviously tired of schooling, the
pregnancy was Toyin’s excuse to bail out.
She told all who cared to listen that the
pregnancy was already past its first trimester
and she could not therefore succumb to her
parents’ wishes to terminate it.
Toyin’s father went around like
an enraged bull and wounded
lion combined, disturbing the
neighbourhood about the
fresh twist in his fate and
threatening all sorts of
calamities for his wife and the
erring youths. Toyin stayed
‘put’ in her father’s house as
she could not cross the road
with her belongings into the
room Sunny shared with his
father and younger brother.
And so they gave birth to their
lovely daughter whose names
are laced with the beautiful
adjectives of love, fate and
God’s will. But it would not be
the typical happily ever after
story. Many of us neighbours
were keenly interested in the
unfolding events and trust me,
I had predicted that the so
called love story would end a
disaster, especially for the boy.
He had led himself into a trap
that he might never be able to
escape from unless he
relocated from the
neighbourhood or even city as
soon as possible. I told them
that while he would be
struggling to provide for the
child his entire life time, his
girlfriend would move on with
her life with the help of her
parents. With time, I was
proved right.
Besides the fact that Toyin’s
parents were against their
daughter’s choice of a
‘husband’, It soon became
obvious to her that Sunny was
not likely to ‘make it’ anytime
soon. Their fights over the
welfare of the child had
become almost a daily
occurrence and Toyin’s parents
were not ready to take full
responsibility of their
daughter’s love child. Sunny
must provide them with the
sum of N200 everyday for his
Twitter: @yetundearebi
yetty5050@yahoo.co.uk
08054700825
child’s upkeep. So, Toyin got herself a job
as a sales girl in one of the new super malls
springing up all over the country. She soon
discovered that she had indeed short
changed herself by limiting the tentacles
of her sexual exploration to the arms of a
no-good novice who in perhaps seven life
times would not be able to give her the
new life she now craved. When the child
became of school age, with mother now
firmly in charge, daily feeding allowance
was increased to N500 to be paid by Sunny
while Toyin paid school fees. It was
obvious that the boy was paying with his
blood to meet the demands, for anytime
he fell short, the neighbours were treated
to a session of his dehumanisation. With
time, Toyin forgot about the circumstance
of her real life, that though not married,
she had a legitimate relationship with the
man who had fathered her child. She
began bringing home her lovers who
dropped her off in their flashy cars.
Naturally, they were older, richer and more
experienced and poor Sunny stood no
chance at all. Sometimes, she would not
return for several days and would offer no
explanations. The relationship died a
natural death but the N500 daily levy
continued. On such days that he could not
come up with it, curses, hail and brimstone
would be poured on him publicly. Sunny
bore everything in silence and I fell in love
with the dignity with which he carried
himself.
But everything would come to a head
late one evening. Obviously acting on
information, three young ladies came
calling as soon as Toyin returned from
work. Their noise made me look out from
my bedroom window as usual and within
a few seconds, a large group of people had
surrounded them. They accused Toyin of
dating the boyfriend of one of them. They
had come to teach her the lesson of her
life, they said. She was fond of doing such
they claimed and called her all manner of
unprintable dirty names. Perhaps, feeling
pity for her, poor Sunny felt he had to do
something, so he stepped in and tried to
ask questions. That did it! The girls
appeared to have a dossier on Toyin and
Sunny’s relationship and proceeded to
reveal its content. They called him names
and told the whole gathering that he was
the biggest fool they had ever come across.
The child they gave to him was not his. He
only came into the picture when the real
father refused to accept paternity. He
should stop wasting his time and use his
N500 daily donation to better his life.
Though Toyin too refused to be shouted
down, everyone had heard the important
information, including Toyin’s parents.
The girls were eventually driven away but
the damage had already been done. The
fallout of the event made the rounds for
the next few days and a few months after,
Sunny left for a job in Abuja and has since
not returned. That is almost two years now.
Toyin has abandoned the child with her
parents and is said to be ‘married’ and
living somewhere in Ikorodu.
Toyin’s father has continued to shout to
the heavens anytime the demons come
upon him. But the story is that he dug his
own grave. Those who knew him in the
neighbourhood some 25+ years back
claim these people were not his original
family. Toyin’s mum was just a little girl,
who had barely completed her primary
school education when he impregnated
her. The aunt, learning he was an elderly
man with a house of his own and children
even older than her sister, brought Toyin’s
mum and dumped her with him. Angered
by his shameless action, his wife who
already had a house of her own had left
him, taking their three children with her.
One of them we hear now lives in the UK.
Rumour has it that they don’t want
anything to do with him. He’d been stuck
with his little child bride who suddenly
became a mother and then grandmother
at barely 40+ years. Pray, what sort of
parenting can a primary school girl of
about 12-14 years give as a mother? Surely,
our men can, and must try to do better
than this.
Do have a wonderful weekend!

28—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
Mitchell Elegbe: A giant stride of a
visionary y who transformed
electronic payments in Nigeria
Stories by Moses Nosike
Give me my tally number” – This
would sound weird to millennials
and young adults as the days of ‘tally
numbers’ are over. Well, “who is the last person
on the queue?” or “your machine has
‘swallowed’ my card”, may sound more
familiar as people try to perform electronic
payments using Automated Teller Machines
(ATM) in the country.
Yes! e-payments in Nigeria has arguably
taken an innovative turn since one man,
Mitchell Elegbe, Founder and Group CEO of
Interswitch, took it upon himself to champion
the vision and a series of strategic
interventions over almost 2 decades
transforming and revolutionizing electronic
transactions as we’ve come to know it today.
From the management source, Interswitch
is an Africa-focused integrated digital
payments and commerce company that
facilitates the electronic circulation of money
as well as the exchange of value between
individuals and organisations on a timely and
consistent basis.
“The company envisioned and midwifed by
Mitchell, along with a team of young and likeminded
pioneers started operations in Nigeria
in 2002 as a transaction switching an
electronic payments processing company that
builds and manages payment infrastructure
as well as deliver innovative payment products
and transactional services throughout the
African continent.
Interswitch Limited, now a pan-African
company, provides technology integration,
advisory support, transaction processing and
payment infrastructure services to
governments, banks and corporate
organisations and high-net individuals.
Mitch, as he is fondly called, is an Electrical/
Electronic Engineering graduate from the
University of Benin in Nigeria.
He is an alumnus of the IESE/Wharton/
Orijin Nigeria has officially
unveiled new brand
ambassadors that embody the
distinctive qualities and
characteristics of Orijin.
Living up to its reputation as
flagbearer of tradition and culture,
Orijin Nigeria unveiled
Olamilekan “Laycon” Agbeleshe
and Emuobonuvie “Neo” Akpofure,
two acclaimed finalists of the 2020
Big Brother Naija Lockdown
season, to members of the press.
The duo reflects the rich, soulful
and culturally rooted character of
CEIBS Global CEO Programme and he is a
Bishop Desmond Tutu fellow of the African
Leadership Institute. He had worked as
the Group Head for Business
Development at Telnet, a fast-growing
telecommunications company, and was
a Wireline Engineer at Schlumberger.
As a student, Mitch struggled to make
ends meet by making a business out of
dubbing cassettes he borrowed from
friends but an encounter with an
ATM seizing his card in Scotland
inspired the idea for Interswitch.
One of his ideas as a young
engineer working at the
telecom firm, Telnet, at the
time—modernizing Nigeria’s
payment system—grew into
Interswitch, which makes life
easier for Nigerians of all
economic backgrounds to
make financial transactions,
mostly, cashless.
When he envisioned
Interswitch at the turn of the
century, the cash that
dominated Nigeria’s economy
had become worrisome. And
such that banks were closing
on Friday afternoons as
Nigerians withdrew cash to
last the entire weekend. This
process increased crime (cash
robbery) or getting exhausted
if more expenses are
encountered.
Developing electronic payment in Nigeria required
overcoming a strong cultural bias toward cash as Nigerians use
cash as a solution to almost any situation including giving cash
as gifts at weddings, at burials, at childbirth, and other occasions.
Smartly, Mitchell decided that the best approach is not to
eliminate cash but to preach a message that is more efficient to
use it.
He also had to overcome skepticism captured in questions
Orijin unveils Laycon and Neo as brand Ambassadors
Orijin. In a statement released
earlier, Adenike Adebola,
Marketing & Innovation Director,
Guinness Nigeria, said, “We are very
excited about today’s unveil of these
vibrant, authentic, passionate and
inspiring creatives as members of
the Orijin family.
“Orijin has a long and
unparalleled tradition of youthful
exuberance and with these culturally
diverse individuals, we look forward
sharing our extraordinary range of
colourful and distinct bittersweetness
with the world.”
Commenting on the
announcement, Laycon enthused, “I
am thrilled to join the awesome
Orijin family. Orijin embodies the
spirit of orijinality that I like to
communicate through my music
and my persona.
“As an ambassador for the
authority in fruit and herbal
beverages, I believe together we can
inspire Nigerians to reconnect and
remain true to their roots in a truly
iCONic way.”
Enjoy Orijin Responsibly. Not to be
sold to persons below the age of 18.
Oluwa chieftaincy family visits, commiserates with AJIF over attack
by hoodlums
he Oluwa chieftaincy family led
Tby Oluwa of Lagos and Apapa,
High Chief Mukaila Kolawole Oluwa,
few days ago, visited the Ajeromi
Ifelodun Council Area for an
assessment of the level of damage
caused by hoodlums who hijacked
and took advantage of the EndSARS
protest to loot and wreck havoc in the
council area.
Oluwa who described the action of
the hoodlums as very shocking used
the opportunity to call on unemployed
youths to seek better avenues to
channel their energy and talent into
as an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
He decried the level of destruction
carried out by the hoodlums and
prayed that in no distant time the
council will regain lost grounds and
record more successes than it had
before the attack.
On the way forward, he said,
“parents need to send their children
to school, and help to imbibe good
characters in them. They also need to
make them understand that aside
from going to school and getting a
certificate, they can also learn a
handwork as white-collar jobs are quite
difficult to get these days. This way,
we will have less jobless youths on the
streets who are tools for destruction
and havoc”.
On his part, Chairman of the Local
Government Hon. Ayoola Adekunle
Fatai disclosed that it will take about
N800 million to rebuild the council and
replace items that were stolen.
He lamented that the wanton
destruction and looting has taken the
council ten years back and reechoed the
need for shunning fake news and
verifying information before taking
P+ Measurement Services, Nigeria’s foremost
Independent Public Relations (PR) measurement and
evaluation agency, marks its fifth-year of successful
operation in Nigeria with qualitative offerings that
surpasses clients’ expectation.
The leading agency with expertise in Media
Monitoring, PR Measurement and Audit, CEO Media
Performance and Advisory, has offered services to over
45 brands and 15 Public Relations agencies in its five
years of operation in the country.
As the only AMEC Member in Nigeria, P+ has strong
partnerships with the Nigerian Institute of Public
Relations (NIPR) and Reel forge Media Monitoring;
•Mitchell
Elegbe
From left - Baale
Kareem Amodu-
Baale of
Dankaka
community,
Prince Dr. Ganda
Oluwa, Gen. Sec-
O l u w a
Chieftaincy
Family: Prince
Wale Oluwa,
Asiwaju Rabiu
Oluwa, The
Oluwa of Lagos &
Apapa- High
Chief Mukaila
Kolawole Oluwa,
others.
action.
He further called on youths to come
forward and state their case, when
aggrieved as destroying government
property, is not the best way to go.
such as: ‘How do you run a 24/7
business in a country where power
is not constant? In a country where
telecom is still very unreliable?
When the people you target are
predominantly in love with their
cash? How do you get the human
resources needed for an entirely
new area like electronic payment?’
etc.
Mitch knew that electronic
payment could be appealing to
banks as well as the Nigerian
people because transactions are a
significant source of banking
revenues. He partnered Accenture
to develop a business case and a
business plan.
The plan avoided the
‘one-man business’
syndrome but gave
ownership to
institutions that
were needed from
a corporate
governance
point of view to
assist in
growing the
business.
B a n k s
owned
about 85
per cent of
t h e
company,
with one
or two IT
companies
to ensure
t h a t
proper
corporate
governance
w a s
followed.
This
close
partnership
with key
players
i n
finance
and IT
helped
Interswitch stay ahead of the
competition and to avoid some of
the pitfalls of sole ownership.
Even though the company was
built on his idea, he began life at
Interswitch as an employee with no
shareholding. His priority was not
ownership of the company, but
rather to see out the execution of
what he believed was a brilliant
idea.
I
His stellar leadership of the
company eventually earned him
and his team stakes in the enterprise.
With the benefit of hindsight, he is
convinced that his decision to forgo
ownership of the company at
inception was correct and had a
significant impact on the company’s
stable growth in its early days.
In 2004, Interswitch won a gold
medal for innovation at the
Computerworld Honours, an
international award programme
which recognizes individuals and
organizations whose achievements
in ICT have impacted society.
Before receiving the award, the
company had seven local banks on
its network.
Thereafter, the number increased
to 13, and the first set of non-banks,
including an ATM consortium and
Globacom, a mobile
telecommunications provider, were
added. Today, the company has
almost all Nigerian banks and
11,000 ATMs on its network.
Eight years after it was set up,
Interswitch’s shareholders decided
to tweak the ownership model of the
company. With the company valued
at over $170 million, a private
equity deal was structured and twothirds
of the company was sold to a
consortium.
The equity injection bolstered
Interswitch’s balance sheet and
paved the way for it to begin
realizing its ambition for the
continent, which was soon reflected
by its acquisition of Bankom,
Uganda’s leading transaction
switching company.
From 2014 to 2019, Nigeria’s
fintech scene took in more than
$600m in funding, according to a
report by McKinsey, the
consultancy. In the past three years,
fintech investments in Nigeria
almost tripled, while in 2019,
Nigerian fintech took in one-quarter
of all funding raised by African startups,
the report said, Interswitch was
not left out.
As a leader, Mitch fosters creativity
at Interswitch and encourages
employees to air their views and to
pursue ideas and passions not
directly tied to their job description.
The company also sponsors a
“Hackathon” in which its engineers
work on a project for 72 hours and
showcase to a panel of judges.
Read more on
www.vanguardngr.com
Hollandia UHT milk restates nutritional
benefits
n its quest to continually advance the dairy milk conversation in Nigeria,
CHI Limited is relentless in its drive to innovate and set new category
benchmarks in the drinking milk segment with its ready-to-drink Hollandia
UHT milk.
Retailing at N600, Hollandia UHT milk is a wholesome ready-to-drink
milk that does not require mixing with water. Thus, it delivers value with its
convenience and rich creamy taste. Available in two variants of full cream
and low fat, the milk is produced using a 6-layer aseptic and hygienic
packaging process to give it a high level of protection and guarantee a
longer shelf life. While the full cream variant can be taken by anyone, the
low fat variant is for lovers of a nutritious milk that suits their diet-conscious
lifestyle.
The milk is a rich tasting complement to hot beverages like tea, cocoa
beverage or coffee. It can also be used in making smoothies and is an ideal
accompaniment for snacks as well as meals, especially when cold.
Hollandia UHT Milk is a good source of Protein, Calcium and
Phosphorus. Protein is essential for making enzymes, hormones and
antibodies. It is also an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage,
skin, blood and the body’s immunity. While Calcium helps to maintain
strong bones and supports our nerves to carry messages from the brain to
different parts of the body, Phosphorus helps in the formation of strong
teeth.
According to Brand Manager (Hollandia), Tony Ogbonna, the product’s
convenience, rich taste and healthy nourishment are at the core of the
product’s values which has endeared the brand to consumers.
“We are aware of consumer expectations from us. The growing popularity
of Hollandia UHT Milk is a result of its varying beneficial qualities tailored
to meet consumer lifestyle needs in an increasingly dynamic market”.
Both variants of the milk are available in 1Litre pack size and can be
purchased at CHI shoppe, departmental stores and neighborhood shops
across Nigeria.
Firm marks five years of effective operation with unique offerings
the biggest media monitoring agency in the
East African region covering more than five
countries.
Speaking on its business portfolio, the Chief
Insights Officer, Philip Odiakose, said every
client media data has a story to tell and it
depends on how strategic you are in flogging
the data to yield meaningful results.
He avowed that P+ services with state-ofthe-art
technology and highly skilled media
analysts has greatly enhanced clients’
businesses to immeasurable heights, exceeding
their expectations, thus making P+ unique in
the industry it operates.
“Our Measurement and Evaluation report is
in-depth, robust and flexible to accommodate
valid metrics that brands desire to see reflected
in their reports, and it is also based on the AMEC
Standard in accordance with the Barcelona
Principle 3.0. We deploy the P+MCA(media
content analysis) methodology for media
evaluation and analysis based on qualitative and
quantitative metrics in analysing media
exposure,” Odiakose affirmed.
On the agency’s portfolio, the Chief Operating
Officer, Olufunke Mohammed, points out that
P+ understands the value of valid PR metrics to
its clients’ media performance audit report.

Fatai Amao and the
2030 World Cup!
I
read this morning that Fatai
Amao, ‘Arsenal’, one of the most
brilliant midfielders of his generation
in the 1980s, a player who,
with his silky touches on the ball
and immaculate dribbling skills,
could have played for any club in
the world when he was at his best,
is assembling a new national Under-17
team for Nigeria.
As has become the story every
time the team is being assembled
in recent times, there will be a
high turnover of players entering
and leaving the camp as a result
of the hurdle of MIR checks that
will be undertaken to determine
the eligibility (not the true ages)
of the players. This is a scientific
process that measures bone density
to eliminate those whose bone
structure is considered older than
that of a 17-year old. It is such a
fallible test that, privately, people
chuckle at some of the results. For
example, two brothers went for
the test, the older brother sailed
through with flying colours and
his younger sibling failed the same
test with honours. The MIR test
is that ‘foolproof’.
This high turnover of players,
with the resultant fits and starts
in training plus other distractions
it brings, is an ordeal every national
coach of that age-grade has
had to face. The situation often
degenerates into a moral dilemma
for the coach, with the resultant
accusation by a scrutinising
public of complicity in the falsification
of documents and ages of
the players.
Meanwhile, the most difficult
thing to obtain by anyone in this
country is an authentic document
on anything. Every document is
produced and presented to serve
an ulterior purpose different from
ascertaining authenticity and
credibility. Shortcuts to success
are in the people’s DNA, and there
is very little that Fatai Amao can
do to change anything because
that is not his primary mission.
In Nigeria, it is a tough call and
ierra Leone pulled off a massive
Scomeback, coming from four goals
down to draw 4-4 with Nigeria in an
exciting 2021 Total Africa Cup of Nations
(AFCON) qualifier at the Samuel
Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City,
Nigeria yesterday.
The Leone Stars looked dead and
buried after going 4-0 down after only
29 minutes, but they showed superb
fighting spirit, going 4-1 down at halftime
and scoring three goals in the final
20 minutes of the match to grab a
memorable point.
The Super were punished for complacency
and going to sleep with a
healthy cushion, while Sierra Leone
fought back to grab a third successive
draw in the qualifiers.
A double from Alex Iwobi and one
each from Samue Chukwueze and
Victor Osimhen had given Nigeria a
comfortable cushion, with Kwame
Quee grabbing one for Sierra Leone
before the break.
It was a substitute’s show in the second
half as Alhaji Kamara grabbed a
brace off the bench with Mustapha
Bundu adding another for John
Keister’s charges.
Within the opening half an hour, the
Super Eagles had already flown away,
scoring four unanswered goals. Iwobi
scored his first after just four minutes
with a low shot from outside the area
after Osimhen was dispossessed as he
tried to pull the trigger.
Sierra Leone had a chance to draw
level in the 20th minute, when Kei
Kamara was gifted of the ball inside
the box after Leon Balogun mistimed
a clearance, but the forward blasted
his effort over with only the keeper to
beat.
They were made to pay immediately
on the turn with Osimhen scoring
the second for Nigeria with a side foot
shot from inside the box, finishing off
Zaidu Sanusi’s cross from the left.
Following the Super Eagles 4-4
a tough job to be the coach of the
Under-17 National team.
I used to think, naively, that solving
the problem of cheating and
falsification of documents in Nigerian
football simply requires an
honest coach to be put in charge,
one that would go to the schools
where all Under-17 year olds should
be, and recruit his national team
players, and that would be it. Far
from it, even the schools are a problem.
There is little football in the
vast majority of the schools. There
is the case of misplaced priorities
by school heads who see sports as
a distraction from academics, and
only as extra-curricular activities
that do not directly impact education
or even the students.
So, school heads separate academics
from the promotion of physical
health and wellbeing that
sports build into students. They
also have ‘good’ reasons for not
promoting sports - no more sports
levies, no funds, no sports
grounds, no motivation. What is
missing from the present generation
of school proprietors and their
heads is the proper education
about the value and place of sports
and physical exercise in education
and in society as a whole now; that
sports are much more than mere
recreation and could impact the
lives of young persons in many
ways, provide great careers in the
sector, and even the contribute to
national economic growth in ways
that were inconceivable only a few
decades ago. Today, as a powerful
vehicle and tool, sports can change
the world!
Yet, having said that, the future
of Nigerian football, of developing
the best football players from the
grassroots, of increasing the possibility
of achieving Pele’s prediction
that Nigeria would be the first African
country to win the World
Cup, depend on how well and how
sincere the country is in developing
exceptional players from the
grassroots through the Under-17
cadre – the players in secondary
Nigeria 4 : 4 Sierra Leone
schools.
Till now, the options for the
coaches have been to win at that
level or to be shown the way out
of the national team. That’s why
they are pressured to cut corners
and try to win by all means, to the
detriment of the grander vision of
the ultimate reward. a bigger reward
in football.
So, we win several times at Under-17
and become the greatest
country on earth at that level, but
never grow much beyond that, and
The bar of
success by his
predecessors has
been lifted
very high,
unfortunately. At
that level, Nigeria
has attained very
phenomenal
record as the
most successful
country in the
world
also never reap the bountiful harvests
only available at the highest
level. This present way, we continue
to reap the harvest of the small
Raw Eagles blow 4-goal lead
draw with the Leone Stars of Sierra
Leone, critical Nigerian football fans
soon went to town asking, “what magic
would Coach Gernot Rohr apply before
the second leg which comes up in
Freetown in a few days?”
The result aside, the injury to striker
Victor Osimhen is a major concern,
not just for Super Eagles supporters
fans but also for Napoli tifosi with everything
pointing to a severe wrist problem
for the young striker.
Rohr's technical acumen was put to
the test in the encounter which his side
led 4-1 at half time, only to succumb to
a second half fightback from the visitors.
The Eagles merely survived because
the the referee ended the match
at the end of added time as the visitors
looked fitter and hungrier in the
second period. If it were boxing, it
would have been safe to say the Eagles
were saved by the bell.
The coach who came under heavy
criticism after the 2018 World Cup and
the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations from
prominent and respected Nigerian
football experts like Chief Segun
Odegbami, Dr Felix Owolabi among
others, displayed very elementary tactics,
particularly after the injury on
Osimhen.
Rohr took out Osimhen and brought
in Paul Onuachu. In another panicky
move, he took out Samuel Chukwueze
who was a thorn in the flesh of the
Leone Stars and in his place he threw
in Ejuke, Onuachu's team mate at KRC
Genk in Belgium. The replacement of
Leone Balogun(injury), Osimhen (injury)
and the unnecessary change of
Samuel Chukwueze exposed the lack
of depth in the team, which gave the
visitors space to operate.
•Rohr
Amao
After scoring their second and third
within ten minutes, they knew they
could get a fourth as Rohr looked lost
on the sideline. He had no answer to
the rampaging Sierra Leoneans who
grew in confidence and panache.
For Maduka Okoye who was in goal
for Nigeria, it was a horrendous home
debut. Okoye could not organise his
back men and displayed a poor ability
in reading opponents' moves in the
vital area. At least two of the goals he
conceded could have been stopped by
an Enyeama or an Ikheme.
Generally, it was a game of two
halves. While Nigeria won the first,
the visitors actually carried the day in
SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020—29
seed that we sow in a shallow
grave.
We must change the narrative.
We must re-strategise. We must replace
our priorities by having a
grand plan of ascension and
progress up the ladder of Nigerian
football from the base through to
the apex, and the ultimate goal -
the World Cup! Everything along
the way is taken only as a stepping
stone, not as an end in itself.
The Nigeria Football Federation,
with its technical directorate steering
the ship, must design a pathway
of development and growth
from Under-17 through to the Super
Eagles. The goal shall be to
have the aggregation of the work
of the coaches at all the different
levels leading to identifying, developing
and eventually assembling
the best players honed in the traditions
of Nigerian football, with
some deliberately directed to clubs
and environments abroad as a deliberate
strategy. That way, we establish
a production line for our
natural raw materials. That way,
we can become the greatest football
nation on earth because that
is our primary goal. We must, however,
do things differently.
Technically, we must also appreciate
that Nigeria is not represented
by the endlessly passing style of
football of present generation of
Diaspora-born and bred Eagles
and saturating most of Europe
now. We are like Brazil of old, of
the culture of flamboyance, expressive
dribblers, showmanship, flair,
power, speed and entertainment.
At our best, we are the definition
the second half.
Vanguard's Patrick Omorodion asked
from Abuja, “who will coach the Super
Eagles in the return leg in Freetown?
Is it the same Rohr”
Richard Jideaka reacting to Omorodion's
question on Facebook quipped,
“Our Eagles disappointed, big time.”
Following the Super Eagles 4-4 draw
with the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone,
critical Nigerian football fans soon went
to town asking, “what magic would
Coach Gernot Rohr apply before the
second leg which comes up in Freetown
on November 17?”
Rohr's technical acumen was put to
the test in the encounter which his side
led 4-1 at half time, only to succumb to
a second half fightback from the visitors.
The Eagles merely survived because
they were able to hold on before
the referee's final whistle as the visitors
looked fitter and hungrier in the
second period. If it were boxing, it
would have been safe to say the Eagles
were saved by the bell.
The coach who came under heavy
criticism after the 2018 World Cup and
the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations was,
however retained by the Nigeria Football
Federation at the expiration of his
contract.
Prominent and respected Nigerian
football experts like Chief Segun
Odegbami, Dr Felix Owolabi both
members of the 1980 AFCON winning
squad were of the belief that Coach
Rohr lacked the capacity to handle the
Super Eagles.
Against Sierra Leon in Benin Rohr
displayed very elementary tactics, particularly
after the injury on Osimhen.
The German tactician took out Osimhen
and brought in Paul Onuachu.
of the ‘beautiful game’. Look back
at 1973, 1980, 1985, 1989, 1994,
1996. Those were the best years of
the true demonstration of the rich
culture and style of Nigerian football.
If I were the head of Nigerian
football, I would change the narrative
of Nigerian football. I shall
set new goals. I shall explain to
Nigerians the process, demand of
them some patience, open a great
relationship with the ministries of
Education, National Orientation
and the Nigeria Schools Sports
Federation to take football back to
schools by catalysing and driving
the process, and making sure that
Nigeria’s Under-17 players all
come from the schools, come rain,
come shine.
The success of all the coaches
should be measured differently - by
their contributions to the national
goal, and not primarily by winning
unmerited laurels at junior levels,
shortchanging the country and
mortgaging the country’s greater
ambitions.
To win with a genuinely Under-
17 team of Nigerian players is not
possible, for now. Why?
Where do you get them from? At
Under-17 they should be in secondary
schools. Hardly any of the players
we shall assemble now will be
in school. They will come from
clubs and academies. It will be foolhardy
for anyone to, therefore, look
towards the schools for now. But
going forward, we must start to
shape a future of higher prizes than
we have been doing through the
previous decades.
For now, I can only wish ‘Arsenal’
the best of luck in his well-deserved
assignment.
He should ride with the new
wind and spirit of change and a
new Nigeria blowing and pervading
the country now. I shall team
up with other well-meaning Nigerians
to join hands with him and
set the grassroots of Nigerian football
on the right path.
The bar of success by his predecessors
has been lifted very high,
unfortunately. At that level, Nigeria
has attained very phenomenal
record as the most successful country
in the world.
For many reasons, all the
achievements have not translated
into success at the very top, the
World Cup.
That may be the all the motivation
that Fatai Amao needs to
choose to rewrite the script of Nigerian
football at Under-17 level
and create the foundation for a
new, bright and better Super Eagles.
He cannot fail because to win
is not to come first at the start of a
race, but at the end. The end this
time should be the World Cup of
2030 and beyond! Good luck, ‘Arsenal’.
In another panicky move, he took out
Samuel Chukwueze, who was a thorn
in the flesh of the Leone Stars and, in
his place he threw in Ejuke, Onuachu's
team mate at KRC Genk in Belgium.
The replacement of Leone
Balogun(injury), Osimhen(injury) and
the unnecessary change of Samuel
Chukwueze exposed the lack of depth
in the team, which gave the visitors
space to operate.
After scoring their second and third
within ten minutes, they knew they
could get a fourth as Rohr looked lost
on the sideline. He had no answer to
the rampaging Sierra Leoneans who
grew in confidence and panache.
For Maduka Okoye who was in goal
for Nigeria, it was a horrendous home
debut. Okoye could not organise his
back men and displayed a poor ability
in reading opponents' moves in the
vital area. At least two of the goals he
conceded could have been stopped by
an Enyeama or an Ikheme.
Generally, it was a game of two
halves. While Nigeria won the first, the
visitors actually carried the day in the
second half.
Vanguard's Patrick Omorodion asked
from Abuja, “who will coach the Super
Eagles in the return leg in Freetown?
Is it the same Rohr”
Richard Jideaka reacting to Omorodion's
question on Facebook quipped,
“Our Eagles disappointed, big time.”
Mutiu Adepoju a former Nigeria international
said on his Twitter handle,
“the result of the Nigeria versus Sierra
Leone match should be a big lesson.
A match is never won until it is
over.
“Every game comes with its lessons
and this game against Sierra Leone is
one of them. A match is not won until
the final whistle is blown. Fellow Nigerians,
I appeal to you that we keep
supporting our dear Super Eagles and
I strongly believe they will bounce back
in the return leg.”

30— SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
T
hey were the back-to-back tournaments that
catapulted Nigeria above Brazil and into the
throne as the record five-time FIFA U-17 World
Cup winners.
At UAE 2013, the Golden Eaglets averaged a
staggering 3.7 goals per game en route to their fourth
crown, before 3.3 per game propelled them to its
defence at Chile 2015.
On the fifth anniversary of the latter’s final in Vina
del Mar, we look at what five members of those
prodigious classes have gone on to achieve.
Kelechi Iheanacho
The Taye Academy starlet struck four goals in Nigeria’s
curtain-raising 6-1 win over Mexico, and was on target
against the same opponents in a 3-0 victory in the UAE
2013 final. He finished UAE 2013 with six goals, seven
assists, the adidas Silver Boot and adidas Golden Ball.
Iheanacho’s performances by the Arabian Peninsula left a
who’s who of European giants vying for his signature.
Manchester City seized it, but the striker found playing
time tough to come by due to the presence of Sergio
Aguero and Gabriel Jesus –
both of whom have starred
at FIFA youth tournaments –
so he joined Leicester City
in 2017. Iheanacho has
netted three goals and two
assists in two starts in the
UEFA Europa League this
season.
The 24-year-old started
Nigeria’s last two games at
the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Russia and has scored
nine goals in 27
internationals overall.
Francis Uzoho
Despite only playing in
goal for the first time when
he was 12, at 14 he served
as deputy to Dele Alampasu
at UAE 2013.
Uzoho became, at 18 years
and 352 days, the youngestever
foreign goalkeeper to
play in La Liga. After a few
Year of Independence,
1960, brought with it a
harvest of achievements for
left back, Fabian Duru.
While Salaudeen Akano of
the Navy lowered the Union
Jack for Nigeria’s Green-
White-Green, the footballer
changed from red to green
jersey.
The national soccer team
was known as the Red
Devils until October 1960
when a new name, Green
Eagles, was adopted. Duru
captained the team against
Black Stars of Ghana on
September 10, 1960. In
October, he led the squad to
the West African Games, the
first time green jerseys were
worn.
It was in 1960 that the
Electricity Corporation of
Nigeria (ECN) lifted the
Challenge Cup for the first
time. Duru captained the
Lagos Electricians to
achieve that. It became a
five-year deal as the team
won again in 1965 and
made it again in 1970.
ECN were on course to
grab a fourth Challenge
Cup in 1975, with one
dangerous striker, Segun
Adeleke, propelling the
attack. That ambition
coincided with the glory
What happened to
the history-making
Golden Eaglets?
loan spells, he is now at
APOEL in Cyprus.
The 6ft 5ins Nwangele
native kept goal for Nigeria
•Iheanacho
in all three of their matches
at Russia 2018, keeping a
clean sheet against Iceland
and impressing against
Lionel Messi and Argentina.
•Uzoho
•Osimhen
Kelechi Nwakali
The multifunctional
midfielder, who hails from
the same city as Nwankwo
Kanu, Owerri, won the
adidas Golden Ball at Chile
2015.
Nwakali joined
Arsenal in 2016, but
relocated to Huesca
last year and
helped them win
promotion to
La Liga. He
represented
Nigeria in a
friendly against
Atletico Madrid
in May 2018,
but despite
scoring a
•Nwakali
spectacular
goal did
not make
their
squad for the
following month’s
World Cup.
Victor Osimhen
Osimhen hit ten
goals at Chile 2015,
breaking the ninegoal
record for a FIFA
U-17 World Cup shared
by Florent Sinama
Pongolle and Souleymane
Coulibaly. The Ultimate
Strikers Academy player
also become the first
champion to have scored in
all his team’s matches.
Things didn’t work out for
Osimhen at Wolfsburg, but
in the colours of Lille he
finished as the joint-fourth
leading scorer in Ligue 1
last season, alongside
Neymar and behind Moussa
Dembele, Kylian Mbappe
and leading marksman
Wissam Ben Yedder.
The 21-year-old recently
made a move to Napoli and
scored his first goal for the
club with a fine strike
against Atalanta.
DId you know?
The €70m Napoli paid
Lille for Osimhen made him
the most expensive African
footballer in history,
breaking the fee Manchester
City paid Leicester City for
Riyad Mahrez.
Culled from FIFA.COM
DURU: First Nigerian captain of Green Ea
By Emeka Obasi
years of Enugu
Rangers.Both teams met in
the semi final. Sam ‘404’
Onyeaka made a lot of
difference. The Flying
Antelopes coasted home to
victory.
Duru ended the year 1960
as Sportsman of the Year. It
was the first time a footballer
would win the award in
Nigeria. He was fully
involved in the Roma ’60
0lympic Games qualifiers
although Nigeria could not
make it. One player who
shone but left midway was
Chris Ohiri.
When I met Duru in 1992,
he was proud to inform me
of his 1960
accomplishments. Last
captain of the Red Devils,
first skipper of the Green
Eagles, captain of
Challenge Cup champions,
ECN and Sportsman of the
year.
Duru never forgot the 7-0
humiliation Nigeria suffered
in Ghana in 1955. Keeper
Carl ‘ Gentleman’ O’Dwyer
was made to look so
ordinary. NFA Secretary
General, Effiom Okon and
his assistant, Oyo Orok Oyo,
never forgot that game until
they passed on.
The defender also had
reason to celebrate in
Ghana. Nigeria won the
Nkrumah Gold Cup right
before President Kwame
Nkrumah. The Osagyefo
handed over the trophy to
Duru.Nigeria relied on away
goals rule after a 1-1 draw.
Right winger, Baba Yara,
captained the Black Stars.
All through Duru’s
captaincy, Ghana did not
have it easy with Nigeria. In
their last game as Red
Devils, the hosts were forced
to a two all draw. Godwin
Nnamoko and Dejo Fayemi
scored for Nigeria. Edward
Acquah’s brace saved the
visitors.
The Nigerian team
comprised : Clement Andre
in goal, Cletus Onyema,
Duru, John Onyeador,
Godwin Achebe, Dan
Anyiam as defenders. In the
middle were Godwin
Nnamoko and Amusa Shittu.
Fayemi and Boniface Okoro
completed the list. Reserve
goalie, Ezekwe, warmed the
•Red Devils
bench with Elknah Onyeali and
Emenako.
Ghana had keeper Dodo Ankrah,
captain Baba Yara, Ben Simmons,
Emma Oblitey, Mamah Ankrah, Addo

gles
Port Harcourt based
football writer and
author, China Acheru has
revealed in his book, “A
thousand times on the same
road” how a planeload of
Odametey, Joe Aikins, Wilberforce
Kwadwo Mfum, Acquah, Edward
Aggrey Fynn and Mohamodu
Salisu.
The referee was Kurt Tschenscher
Day Dolphins FC sponsored planeload
of ‘area boys’ to Ghana
street urchins also known as
area boys were taken to
Ghana for a
Champions
League game.
Acheru, who
has been on a
radio tour of
Port Harcourt
to promote
his book
told a
Radio
Nigeria,
Treasure
FM 98.5
audience
that in a
bid to take
more fans
to support
the club in
Ghana, the Rivers State
government mistakenly took
a planeload of “area boys”
on the trip.
“In 2005 Dolphins were
supposed to play a match
Euro Nations League:
Switzerland plot to upset Spain
A
s
•Acheru
the 2020-21 UEFA
Nations League and
Euro Qualifiers continue
this week, GOtv Jolli
subscribers are promised
live coverage of these
matches on SuperSport.
Action continues today in
the UEFA Nations League
as Spain up for a clash
against Switzerland
tonight.
The match will be aired
live on Super Sport
Football channel. Spain
tops Group A4 with seven
points but their 13-game
unbeaten run ended last
time with a shock 1-0
defeat to an inexperienced
Ukraine team.
Switzerland are at the
foot of Group A4 with two
points, having recorded
two impressive draws
against Germany, but lost
their remaining games. A
defeat here would mean
relegation to League B.
Also on Saturday is
Malta vs Andorra.
The Nations League
continues tomorrow with
Denmark playing host to
Iceland while Czech
Republic and Israel will
slug it out on SS Select.
from West Germany. Ghana’s
coach, Joseph Ember, also
handled the Nigerian
national team later. Keeper
Ankrah once served as Sam
Ibiam’s reserve at Accra
Hearts of Oak.The Black
Stars later won their first
African Nations Cup in 1963.
Duru was nicknamed ‘
Mechanic’ because of his
ruggedness. He regaled me
with tales of his outstanding
display against visiting
Dynamos of Moscow in a
Lagos friendly. Again, the
game was played in 1960, a
remarkable year.
He said: “In 1960, during a
friendly with Dynamos of
Moscow, I stopped a goal
bound shot with a sliding
tackle and the following day
there was a newspaper
headline, ‘Duru bites the
dust’. I also got a miniature
Sputnik with the other
Nigerian players.”
In 1961, he left for further
studies in the United
Kingdom. Duru had trained
as a teacher in Kafanchan
but went for Engineering at
Liverpool University. To
make ends meet the player
relied o…
against Accra Hearts of Oaks
in Ghana and we normally
travel maybe three or four
days before games with just
the core team and a few
people joining us.
“But this time, the sports
commissioner thought that
we should have more people
watching the team and
supporting them, so he told
the Governor then, Dr. Peter
Odili that instead of taking
the team to Ghana for three
or four days, they could go
on match day,” Acheru
explained.
He continued that the plan
was simply that the group go
on Match Day in a chartered
flight and return
immediately after the game.
The money saved on extra
accommodation and feeding
By Jacob Ajom
Former British and
Commonwealth boxing
champion, Peter Oboh has
predicted that heavyweight
champion of the world,
Anthony Joshua would beat
his challenger, Kubrat Pulev
in their December 12 IBF
mandatory fight at the O2
Arena, London.
Speaking on the
impending fight, the first by
Joshua since reclaiming his
IBF. WBO and WBO titles
from Andy Ruiz Jnr in
December last year, Oboh
said, “Pulev can’t last the
distance.”
Oboh who fought as a
British boxer during his
time, said, “I know Joshua
very well. His punches are
packed with lots of power
and his ring craft puts
him far above Pulev who
is also disadvantaged
by age.”
The former pugilist
who is back in
Nigeria and has
become an preacher
of the Gospel said
he was happy with
Joshua’s
preparation for the fight and
believes that he would be
prepared 100 per cent before
the fight.
“Right now, he has
demonstrated a lot of
discipline and, in terms of
tactics and technique, he is
under the best hands.
Joshua should beat Pulev, to
pave way for the bigger
fight against Tyson Fury,” he
SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020 — 31
could be used to charter a
second plane so more people
can watch the game.
“So two planes were hired
for the trip and when you do
this, you have the task of
filling them up, but after
sports ministry staff,
commissioners, government
personnel and supporters
club executive, one plane
was not even filled up yet.
“So the chairmen of Sharks
and Dolphins supporters
clubs were asked to submit
names of their members to
join the trip and that was
where the crisis began,
though we did not know it,”
Acheru continued.
He explained that during
that era in Port Harcourt,
area boys were very
powerful and got wind of the
development so they began
to call the supporters club
chairmen threatening that
they include names of their
colleagues rather than
bonafide members of the
supporters’ clubs.
“So, unfortunately for us,
we took a plane load of these
boys to Ghana for the gain
and it did not end well for us.
“How this situation ended
can only be known if you
buy the book,” Acheru said.
China Acheru was the
media officer of Dolphins FC
for 13 years between 2003
and 2016. He is also the first
Nigerian to officially record
watching one thousand
games at various stadia
across the world.
His book, “A thousand
times on the same road”
based on that experience
was out for sale on Friday,
November 6, 2020 and can
be purchased on
Amazon.com, via
www.ATTOTSR.com and at
Bookville World in Port
Harcourt.
Joshua ‘ll KO Pulev, Oboh predicts
•Joshua
•Oboh
reiterated.
Oboh, however, warned
Joshua against complacency,
a factor he said played
against the British-Nigerian
when he lost to Andy Ruiz
Jnr in their first fight.
“Pulev is equa;lly a hard
puncher and in boxing, all
you need is one lucky punch
and your opponent is down.
He(Joshua) must not be
careless, he musn’t drop his
guard so that he does
not make himself
vulnerable. Once he
takes Pulev serious,
show him some repect,
he is bound to win the
fight, hopefully, by a
knockout.”
Oboh spared a
moment to
congratulate Joe
Biden, Presidentelect
of the USA for
his victory over President
Donald Trump and prayed
that the former Vice
President’s victory would
usher in a new era for
American sports men and
wome, particularly the
blacks and other athletes of
colour who have had a
fractious relationship with
the White House under
Trump.
DStv Premium Golf Day holds today
A
total of 99 golfers will be
taking part in the
inaugural DStv Premium Golf
Day scheduled to tee off this
morning at the Ikeja Golf Club,
Lagos.
The participants were
selected from over 500 golfers,
who indicated interest for the
event, which will follow the
stroke play format.
Organisers of the event,
Flykite Productions said the
number of participants was
pruned in accordance with the
COVID-19 safety protocols.
Also, in line with the safety
protocols, the best 50 golfers
will be hosted to a cocktail at
the end of the event.
Ikeja Golf Club captain, Mr.
Oladimeji Durojaiye,
expressed delight at the huge
interest shown by golfers and
commended the sponsors,
DStv, for partnering the club.
Other prominent members of
the club involved in the
organization of the event
include Messrs. Akin Areola,
Chairman, Managing
Committee; Jide Oreagba,
Tournament Director; Biyi
Fetuga and Omini Ofem, who
are in charge of registration.
The first prize at the event is
a business class ticket to
Dubai for a weekend stay at a
five-star hotel, while the
second prize is a business
class ticket to Rwanda for a
weekend stay at a five-star
hotel. The third prize is a
weekend stay at a five-star
hotel in Lagos, with the prize
for the longest drive a 55-inch
television set.

C
M
Y
K
SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
CROSS WORD PUZZLE
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE ON PAGE 4
Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355.
Advert Dept Hotline: 01-4544821. Abuja Advert Hotline: 09-2921024. E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Advert:advertproduction@yahoo.com
Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X). EDITOR: ONOCHIE ANIBEZE. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.