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PAGE 2—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2020

PAGE 3—SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2020 

From right: Dr. Henry A. Adimula, Acting Principal and Chief Executive of 

Petroleum Training lnstitute (PTI); Dr. Famous S. Eseduwo, Director, Human 

Resource Management, Ministry of Petroleum Resources; Mrs. Mercy O. Omoifo 

- lrefo, President, American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), Nigeria 

Chapter; Mr. Onobrorhie C. Siakpere, Registrar (PTI); Mr. Alhassan Lawal, 

Deputy Director, Ministry of Petroleum Resources;shortly after the signing of 

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between PTI and ASSP on the establishment 

of Occupational and Health Safety E - Library, at PTI, recently. 

Boko Haram terrorists kill 66 farmers, fishermen 

in Borno 

By Ndahi Marama, 

Maiduguri 

ABOUT 66 people, 

mostly rice farmers 

and fishermen were 

killed by suspected members 

of Boko Haram sect in 

Koshobe village near 

Zabarmari, Jere Local 

Government Area of Borno 

State, reliable sources have 

said. The attack also left scores 

of people injured from gunshot 

wounds. The incident 

happened on a day Borno was 

conducting its first local 

government election after 

more than a decade. 

A security operative not 

authorized to talk to the press, 

APC plotting to destabilise 

us — PDP 

By Dirisu Yakubu 

THE Peoples Demo 

cratic Party, PDP, has accused 

the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, of plotting to 

destabilise the party, describing 

the alleged plan as a sign 

of desperation to remain in 

power. 

It also accused the party of 

abandoning governance, focusing 

on 2023 general election, 

barely two years into the 

second term of President Muhammadu 

Buhari. 

The leading opposition party 

also alleged, “the frenzy by 

the APC to commence the 

2023 election campaign, just 

a year into President Buhari’s 

second tenure of four years in 

office, is an indication that its 

leaders are now looking beyond 

its current structure and 

government, having realized 

Port Harcourt agog 

as Tres Bien holds 

10th annual show 

he rich industrial city of 

TPort Harcourt was agog 

again as Tres Bien Events, a 

front line event management 

consultancy in Rivers State 

organised the 10 th edition of its 

yearly show. 

The show with theme: 

Reinvent, said the Chief 

Executive Officer, Izobe Spiff, 

was carefully chosen because 

of the impact of COVID 19 on 

the industry globally, adding 

that thinking outside the box 

becomes necessary to sustain 

the industry. 

Continuing, she called on 

participants and admirers to 

follow her brand 

www.theballroom.live, 

stressing that Tres Bien had 

remained top in the industry 

because of her creative 

initiative and ability to reinvent 

to meet the current challenge 

posed by the global pandemic. 

The 2020 event also saw the 

launch of the Octopus series, 

featuring online learning 

courses developed by Tres Bien 

Events for event planners. 

Convener Izobe Spiff 

with host of panellists: (L- 

R) Oby Ivy, Itohan Asibor, 

Izobe Spiff (Convener) 

and Joyce Daniels 

that the next three years under 

the Buhari-led APC administration 

would be a waste.” 

In a statement by its spokesman, 

Kola Ologbondiyan, 

yesterday, the PDP alleged that: 

“the underground moves by 

APC leaders to disown the Buhari 

administration, given its 

failures; the conversation 

about possible change of their 

party’s name as well as the 

plot to destabilize the PDP, are 

signs of desperation to hold 

on to power despite APC’s failures 

and explicit rejection by 

Nigerians.” 

confirmed the incident, saying 

the attack took place yesterday. 

Koshobe, located north east, 

an a village under Mafa Local 

Government Area, mostly a 

Hausa and Saurian settlement 

who engage in farming and 

fishing is about 25kilometres 

drive from Maiduguri, the state 

capital. 

Sources said, the attackers 

armed with Ak47 rifles 

surrounded the Koshobe River 

when victims were busy fishing 

on the banks of the river and 

opened fire, leaving 66 persons 

including women dead. 

Others sustained gunshot 

wounds. 

“No fewer than 66 people have 

been killed this morning in 

Koshobe, a community under 

Mafa LGA after Dusuman. the 

victims were reported to have 

been slaughtered in a rice farm 

while other were fishing in the 

nearby river. So far, 43 bodies 

have been recovered and 

currently in Zabarmari town 

of Jere Local Government 

Area. 

From left: Mr. Kola Adeoye, Operations Manager, 

Institute of Management Consultants presenting 

a certificate of Certified Management 

Consultant to Mr. Ezekiel Isidahomen, CEO, 

Thems Security Systems Limited during an 

event where the latter was also conferred Fellow 

of the Institute. 

The attackers were more than 

100 who came on motor bike 

numbering about 50,” one 

fleeing resident, Adamu 

Abdullahi said. 

Another resident of Zabarmari, 

who gave his name as Haruna 

Isa said he saw some security 

vehicles including that of the 

Civilian Joint Task Force 

(CJTF) conveying the remains 

of the slain victims to an 

undisclosed hospital in 

Maiduguri yesterday evening. 

“Yes, there was an attack by 

insurgents on some fishermen 

in Koshobe village yesterday, 

although, I don’t know the 

actual number of casualties, but 

I saw some security vehicles 

conveying remains of the 

victims to Maiduguri this 

evening,” Isa stated. 

All effort to get confirmation 

from the Police Public Relations 

officer, DSP Edet Okon proved 

abortive as his phone could not 

be reached at press time. But 

the House of Representatives 

member, representing Jere 

Federal Constituency, Satomi 

Ahmed, confirmed the incident. 

No agreement yet to suspend strike —ASUU 

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru 

HE Academic Staff 

TUnion of Universities, 

ASUU, has denied reports 

that it agreed to call off the 

ongoing strike after meeting 

with the Federal 

Government’s negotiation 

team led by the Minister of 

Labour and Employment, 

Senator Chris Ngige. 

The team had reportedly 

increased its offer for Earned 

Allowances EA to universitybased 

unions and funding for 

the revitalization of public 

universities from N65 billion 

to N70 billion. 

World Bank urges Enugu to set up road maintenance fund 

By Chinedu Adonu …constructs 330km roads 

WORLD Bank, through 

Rural Access and Mobility 

Project, (RAMP-2) has 

completed construction of 

330km out of 385.419km rural 

road in Enugu State. 

The National Coordinator 

of RAMP, Ubandoma Ularamu, 

made this known during 

a stakeholders’ workshop for 

the dissemination and adoption 

of Low Volume Road 

It was reported that ASUU 

had agreed to call off the 

strike. 

According to the report, the 

university teachers agreed to 

call off the strike after 

government pledged to pay 

N40 billion for Earned 

Allowances and N30 billion 

for the revitalization of the 

university system bringing 

the total payment to N70 

billion. 

It was further reported that 

government agreed to settle 

the arrears of salaries of the 

lecturers before December 

31 

Ṫhe report also noted that 

ASUU was expected to report 

the agreement to its organs 

and then communicate their 

decision to the government 

after which a date for the 

calling off of the strike would 

be announced. 

But ASUU President, Prof. 

Biodun Ogunyemi, denied 

knowledge of any agreement 

to call off the strike, stressing 

that at the meeting, it was only 

agreed that the union should 

convey the position of the 

government to their organs. 

He said : “ I am not aware 

of that. All I know is that we 

had a meeting and we are 

going to report to our 

members. But I don’t know 

about suspension of strike.” 

Six die in Lagos-Ibadan Expressway road crash 

By James Ogunnaike 

SIX persons were 

confirmed dead 

while one other sustained 

injuries in an accident 

involving a truck and a Honda 

Pilot Sports Utility Vehicle 

( SUV) around Ogere on 

Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. 

The Ogun State Sector 

Commander, Federal Road 

Safety Corps (FRSC), Ahmed 

Umar, confirmed the incident 

to newsmen in Abeokuta yesterday. 

According to Umar, the incident 

happened around 7 am 

and was caused by excessive 

speeding which led to loss of 

control on the part of the SUV 

driver. 

The sector commander explained 

that eight male 

adults and one female adult 

were involved in the accident, 

pointing out that five male 

and one female died. 

Umar stated that the Honda 

Pilot marked LSR 525 FY 

was on excessive speed, lost 

control and rammed into the 

moving truck with registration 

number KRV 716 ZV. 

He added that the only injured 

victim was taken to 

Idera Hospital, Ogere for 

medical attention, while the 

deceased were deposited at 

FOS Morgue, Ipara. 

The Sector Commander 

advised the public to drive 

cautiously and obey traffic 

rules and regulations. 

Dry Season: Enugu takes 

safety measures against fire 

outbreak 

Enugu State Fire Service 

said it would commence sensitization 

on possible fire outbreaks 

on December 1, 2020. 

In a statement by the State 

Chief Fire Officer, Okwudiri 

Daniel Ohaa, it said the fire 

safety campaign, which will 

focus mainly on indiscriminate 

bush burning, would begin 

in markets such as the 

popular Ogbete Main Market 

Enugu, Timber Shed Enugu 

and 42 other markets 

across the state. 

Manuals (LVRM), held at 

Nike Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu. 

Ularamu urged the state 

government to set up a rural 

road maintenance fund to 

ensure that roads constructed 

by RAMP in the rural areas 

are adequately maintained. 

He said the LVRM would 

be used as a guide for engineers 

and other stakeholders 

in designing and maintaining 

roads in the state and Nigeria 

in general. 

He said the maintenance 

of an already constructed rural 

road would propel the 

state towards participating in 

the next phase of World Bank 

project, Rural Access and Agricultural 

Marketing Project, 

RAAMP. 

ALLEGED EJECTION OF MOTHER, CHILD: 

LUTH dismisses viral video 

By Nnamdi Ojiego 

THE management 

of Lagos University 

Teaching Hospital (LUTH) 

has dismissed an online video, 

which it claimed maligned 

the hospital. 

“According to the hospital, 

the attention of LUTH 

management has been 

drawn to a video posted online 

by a lady to malign our 

Hospital. The video is a total 

misrepresentation of the 

event that happened yesterday,” 

it said in the statement. 

“This video was posted by 

a social media-obsessed individual 

who hid her face. 

“On the 25th November 

Chief Ene 

dies at 62 

T 

he Ezeudo 1 of Umuaga, 

Ohazulume 1 of Umuabi, Chief 

Godson Chukwuma Ene is dead, 

aged 62. 

A statement by the family said the 

burial ceremony of Chief Ene, who 

died on 15th Oct 2020, begins on 

December 3 with a Christian wake 

keep at Umu Ukulu Umueze 

Umuaga by 7.00pm. Funeral service 

will hold at St John’s Anglican 

Church Umuaga Udi by 11.00am. 

Burial will hold on 4th Dec, at Chief 

Godson Ene 

Compound, Umu 

Ukulu Umueze 

Umuaga Udi, 

while thanksgiving 

service will be held 

on 6th December at 

St John’s Anglican 

Church Umuaga 

Udi by 9.00 am. 

He is survived by 

wife, children, 

grandchildren, brothers and others. 

This is the perfect season 

for Nigerians to travel 

—Michaels, Forbes Global Project CEO 

he CEO of Forbes Global 

TProject and tourism 

expert, Olushola Michaels 

has said this is the perfect 

season to travel. 

Michaels, CEO of the 

leading travel and tourism, 

well-known for its moneyback 

guarantees, explained 

that unknown to many, this 

season is the perfect time for 

Nigerians to venture into the 

diaspora as many countries 

of the world are waiting for 

Nigerians. 

According to Michael, who 

is also a Nollywood actor, 

“When the economy newly 

re-opened, we didn’t do 

much. But now that 

embassies are opening up, 

now is the time to apply for 

visas. A lot of countries need 

people now to work. People 

are afraid to go and work for 

many reasons including 

COVID-19. Countries are 

looking for immigrants, 

from Canada to New 

Zealand, to Australia, even 

US, UK and a lot of them. 

Their citizens won’t go to 

work because they know that 

•MICHAELS 

they will get paid irrespective 

of whether they go or not. I’m 

a global citizen, so I know this 

for sure. They pay their 

citizens because they don’t 

want them to resort to crime 

to survive. If you are getting 

that, why would you want to 

risk your life with a pandemic 

in play? All these have created 

a shortage in the workforce, 

so this is the time to apply for 

a visa,” he said. 

Michaels, who shot and 

produced over 15 movies 

within a year of breaking into 

Nollywood, and has been in 

the visa assistance business for 

the past 18 years also revealed 

why Forbes has remained a 

leading factor in the visa 

procurement business. 

Lagos East bye-election: Electoral 

College organises debate for Abiru, 

Gbadamosi, others 

Ahead of next Saturday's 

senatorial bye-election 

in Lagos East, the Electoral 

College Nigeria, said it will 

hold a debate for candidates 

of seven political parties vying 

for the senatorial seat. 

The senatorial district seat 

became vacant at the Senate 

following the death of Senator 

Bayo Osinowo in June. 

In a statement issued by the 

Executive Director, Electoral 

College Nigeria, Mr. Kunle 

Lawal, the non-partisan 

organisation said the 

purpose of the debate was 

to provide a credible platform 

for an effective interface 

between candidates and the 

people of the senatorial distric. 

Lawal further disclosed 

that the virtual debate will 

hold live on Sunday, November 

29, at 3pm on Zoom platform 

and other social platforms 

of the Electoral College. 

While stating that the candidate 

of the All Progressives 

Congress (APC), Mr. Tokunbo 

Abiru, his Peoples Democratic 

Party (PDP) counterpart, 

Mr. Babatunde Gbadamosi, 

and five other political 

parties have confirmed 

their attendance, he listed 

other parties as Social Democratic 

Party (SDP), African 

Democratic Party (ADP), 

New Nigeria Peoples 

Party(NNPP), African Action 

Congress (AAC) and Action 

Alliance (AA). 

2020, we had some challenges 

with the place where mothers 

stay. This place also houses 

a Crèche illegally attached 

to it. 

“We needed to evacuate the 

crèche to create more space 

for mothers to stay. Our neonatologist 

had even syndicated 

some money to improve 

and expand the place for the 

comfort of mothers. 

“There was a challenge 

during the evacuation of the 

crèche. The attention of 

LUTH management was 

called to this. The CMAC, 

Head of Neonatology Unit 

and her team members went 

immediately to the place to 

clarify issues,’’ the statement 

added.

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PAGE 4—SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2020 

Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State and the PDP National Legal Adviser, 

Mr. Emmanuel Onoidem, during the burial of Sir A.S. Akpan at Primary School, Utu Nto 

Obio Ekop village, Etimekpo LGA. Akwa Ibom State. 

•From left: Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero; Alaafin of Oyo, 

Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi and Sultan of 

Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar; at the 5th Coronation Anniversary 

Lecture of Ooni of Ife, in Ibadan. 

How Amotekun rescued kidnapped wife of Akeredolu’s Chief of Staff 

By Dayo Johnson, Akure 

Kidnapped wife of the 

Chief of Staff to Ondo 

State governor, Chief Olugbenga 

Ale, has been rescued 

by the personnel of 

Amotekun Corps in the 

state. 

Some of the kidnappers 

were reportedly arrested by 

the security outfit. 

Mrs. Olubunmi Ale was 

kidnapped at Owena in 

ldanre last Thursday while 

travelling from Lagos to 

Akure by the bandits who 

laid siege to the highway. 

It was gathered that the incident 

happened very close 

to a military checkpoint in 

the town. 

Vanguard learned that 

men of the Amotekun Corps 

swung into action immediately 

after the incident was 

reported to them. 

The security outfit in collaboration 

with local hunters 

and vigilante in the area 

reportedly combed the forest 

in ldanre. 

A source in the office of the 

security outfit confirmed to 

newsmen that some hoodlums 

were apprehended in 

connection with the crime. 

The source added that they 

have been transferred to the 

state capital, Akure for interrogation. 

The source said: “I can 

confirm to you that the wife 

of the Chief of Staff has secured 

her freedom and she 

is on her way to Akure. 

“She was rescued by 

Amotekun and local hunters.” 

Contacted, the commandant 

of the Amotekun 

Corps, Chief Adetunji Adeleye 

confirmed the release of 

the victim. 

Adetunji promised to brief 

the press on how the victim 

was rescued. 

Ale could not be reached 

for comment but a family 

source told Vanguard that 

the victim has reunited with 

her family. 

Recall that the abduction 

of the wife of the governor’s 

aide came barely 24 hours 

after a first-class monarch, 

the Olufon of lfon, Oba lsreal 

Adewusi, was murdered 

by suspected kidnappers at 

Elegbeke in Ose council 

area of the state. 

His vehicle was riddled 

IMO: Doctors abandon patients to die — Panel 

* Govt plans mass burial 

#ENDSARS: FG demands apology from 

UK over claim that Gowon looted CBN 

The Federal Government 

has demanded an apology 

from the British Government 

over what it described 

as an unsubstantiated claim 

by a member of its parliament 

that a former Head of State, 

Gen Yakubu Gowon, retd, 

looted Nigeria’s treasury. 

A report on TheCable, reported 

Ferdinand Nwonye, 

spokesman of the Ministry of 

Foreign Affairs, as saying that 

Nigeria also demanded that 

the statement be retracted. 

Tom Tugendhat, Chairman 

of the UK Parliament Foreign 

Affairs Committee, had accused 

Gowon of looting half 

of Central Bank of 

with bullets while his driver 

attempted to escape from 

the kidnappers. 

The traditional ruler was 

the hospital as their liaison 

office from where they allegedly 

poach patients to their 

clinics. 

It was also alleged that patients 

who don't have money 

to attend the private clinics 

are abandoned to die. 

"Because of this anomaly, 

almost 80 percent of patients 

who go to IMSUTH end up 

dying. That is why the mortuary 

is filled to the brim and 

mass burial is contemplated', 

returning to his domain after 

attending the council of 

Obaship meeting in Akure, 

the state capital. 

Victoria Ahuakagha 

for burial 

Ambassador Victoria 

Chinenyenwa Ahuakagha 

is dead. 

She was 57-years-old. 

Ahuakagha died after a protracted 

illness in Enugu. She 

will be buried on December 

4, 2020, at her home town, 

Orogwe, Owerri West Local 

Government Area of Imo 

State. She is survived by her 

husband, Sir Goddy O. Ahuakagha, 

MD/CEO, Premier 

Insurance Brokers, Enugu, 

children, sisters, brothers, 

mother-in-law, and a grandchild. 

•Ahuakagha 

Public Relations Officer, 

PRO, of Ondo State Police 

Command, Tee-Leo Ikoro, 

could not be reached to 

confirm the release of the 

wife of the governor’s aide. 

#EndSARS: Stray bullet fired by SARS operatives shattered my leg — Hairdresser 

By Henry Ojelu 

More revelations on the 

atrocities allegedly 

committed by the disbanded 

Police Special Anti-Robbery 

Squad, SARS, emerged, yesterday, 

at the Lagos EndSARS 

panel, as a 35-year-old hairdresser, 

Mrs. Hannah Olugbodi, 

narrated how her left leg 

was shattered by a stray bullet 

fired by SARS operatives. 

She told the panel led by 

Justice Doris Okuwobi,retd, 

that the incident took place 

in June 2018, at the Ijeshatedo 

area of Lagos when SARS 

operatives were attempting to 

arrest a young man with tattoos. 

Olugbodi said she was at 

Ijesha Market trying to buy 

pepper to prepare food for her 

children when she was hit by 

a stray bullet 

According to the petitioner, 

the SARS operatives who 

fired the bullet were at Ogun 

City Hotel, to demand money 

to fuel their vehicle when 

they saw the young man with 

tattoos among a group of persons 

watching a football 

match at the hotel. 

According to her, the owner 

of the hotel, one Abu, who 

usually gave the SARS operatives 

money, was not around 

to attend to them. 

She said the SARS operatives 

labelled the young man 

with tattoos a Yahoo Yahoo boy 

(cyber fraudster). 

She said an attempt by the 

SARS operatives to arrest and 

In what could be de 

scribed as a betrayal of 

their Hippocratic oath, 

doctors in lmo State University 

Teaching Hospital Orlu 

are alleged to be abandoning 

patients to die. 

It was alleged that the mortuary 

in the tertiary health institution 

is overwhelming 

with corpses such that government 

is planning mass 

burial. 

According to a report of the 

panel set up by government 

to investigate the institution, 

the patients were allegedly 

left to their fate because they 

refused to patronise private 

clinics owned by the doctors. 

The panel's report alleged 

that many of the doctors use 

Nigeria,CBN, when he left 

office. 

Speaking during the parliament’s 

recent debate on 

the #EndSARS crisis, Tugendhat 

said: “Some people 

will remember when General 

Gowon left Nigeria with 

half of the Central Bank, so it 

is said and moved to London.” 

However, the MP did not 

provide any evidence or 

source to support his claim. 

Nwonye said the ministry, 

upon learning of the claim, 

“immediately sought an 

apology and retraction of the 

unsubstantiated allegation 

from the British Government”. 

take the boy with tattoos away 

was resisted by the other boys, 

making the SARS operatives 

to resort to firing gunshots. 

The petitioner said she was 

eventually taken to the Lagos 

University Teaching Hospital 

where they said there was no 

bed space and she was given 

four bags of intravenous flu- 

id 

Ṫhe panel adjourned the 

case till December 8 for further 

hearing. 

Meanwhile,a widow, Mrs. 

Silifat Adeyemo, wife of Mr 

Rotimi Adeyemo, an officer 

of Lagos State Traffic Management 

Authority (LAST- 

MA), allegedly killed by the 

the report indicated", the report 

said. 

Angered by the development, 

the government dismissed 

the chief medical director 

and also ordered his 

prosecution. 

Among the alleged fraud in 

the hospital is the padding of 

salary from N147m paid in 

December 2019 to N236m in 

January 2020 when Governor 

Hope Uzodinma assumed 

office. 

Also, a top official of the 

hospital allegedly awarded 

disbanded Special Anti-Robbery 

Squad (SARS), yesterday 

pleaded for scholarship for 

her children. 

Silifat made the request to 

the Lagos State Judicial Panel 

of Inquiry for Restitution 

for Victims of SARS Related 

Abuses and Other Matters. 

himself monthly salary of 

N1.6m contrary to extant 

laws while he allegedly 

caused to disappear N10m 

monthly IGR. 

Imo State Commissioner 

for information and Strategy, 

Chief Declan Emelumba, 

announced to newsmen in 

Owerri that government took 

the measures to save the hospital. 

He disclosed that government 

was also going to punish 

all staff members indicted 

in the report. 

NAFEST: I invested in security in Plateau — Lalong 

Governor Simon Lalong 

of Plateau State reechoed 

the return of peace to 

Jos, noting that his government 

invested in security and 

welfare of the people. 

He spoke glowingly about 

the tourism and hospitality 

economy of Plateau, adding 

that Nigerians and foreigners 

alike must return and invest, 

recreate in a safe, secured 

and temperate city of Jos. 

Joined by the governor of 

Yobe State, Mai Bala Bunu, 

and Minister of Youth and 

Sport, Mr. Sunday Dare, Lalong 

explained that God has 

been in the forefront of the 

restoration of peace in the 

state and therefore deserving 

all the glory. 

After an awesome state -by 

-state colourful parade, with 

heavy drummings and songs 

from the diverse tongues and 

people of Nigeria, Dare disclosed 

that culture will help 

drive national sports and 

youth development across the 

nation. 

Otunba Segun Runsewe, 

the Director-General of the 

National Council for Arts 

and Culture (NCAC), in his 

remarks, explained that Plateau 

State is now the medical 

tourism capital of Africa due 

to its uniqueness, peace and 

tranquility. 

He further stated that culture 

will be the fulcrum of 

enterprenual rediscovery and 

empowerment among young 

persons and women in rural 

areas. Over 25 states and FCT 

participated in the week-long 

iconic cultural festival which 

had been at the forefront of 

promoting National unity 

and cohesion. 

Bayelsa won the overall 

best participating state, with 

Ekiti and Rivers States sharing 

the second spot. 

Toni Kan buries mum 

December 16 

Mrs. Patricia Oyibo 

Onwordi, nee 

Okonkwo of the family of 

Louis Onwordi, Umudike 

Quarters, Ibusa, Delta State 

is dead. 

According to burial arrangement 

by the family, 

Mrs. Onwordi, who will be 

buried on December 16, 

2020 in her home town, 

Ibusa, was a trained sculptor 

and talented ceramicist. 

She is survived by her husband, 

Mr. Louis Ozulonye 

Onwordi, and five children 

among whom is celebrated 

writer and PR man, Toni Kan. 

•Onwordi 

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2020, PAGE 5


SUSTAINABLE NATIONAL UNITY: Imperative 

of restructuring, true federalism 

By Adelegan Adegbola 

Awolowo paid minimum wage of five 

shillings in the West but in the East, they 

paid three shillings and six pence, while they 

paid three shillings in the North People have 

the right to self-determination. And by the 

virtue of that, they freely determine their 

political and economic status economic, 

social and culture development. It has become 

an axiom that, in a democracy, people get the 

kind of government they deserve. There can 

be no peace or security in Nigeria without 

political freedom. Nigeria is presently 

operated on wrong principles. As long as one 

group dominates others, as long as one group 

oppresses others, there would be strife and 

conflict. Man is selfish and the ideals of selfish 

interest and domination are perpetrated by 

man against man. Therefore, to live together 

in peace, there must be an acceptable 

agreement for people to follow. Hence it is 

imperative to restructure the country to enable 

her move forward. 

Humanity cannot stand on one leg. All forms 

of domination, exploitation of one section over 

another must be abolished. And new 

productive relations must be established. 

Our effectiveness is predicated upon certain 

inviolate principles of natural laws in the 

human dimension that are just as real as 

unchanging as laws such as gravity is in the 

physical dimension. 

These principles are woven into fabric of 

every civilized society and constitute the roots 

of every family and the country that endured 

and prospered. 

Fundamental moral principles are the laws 

of God. 

Authority 

Principles are not invented by man or any 

society; they are the laws of the universe that 

pertain to human relationships and human 

organizations. 

Federalism is the distribution of power in 

an organization (as a government) between a 

central authority and the constituent units. 

Federalism is ensuring “unity through 

federation”. It allows ethnic groups to live 

together without jeopardizing each of the 

groups cultural setting and allowing them to 

develop at their own pace. The sheer territorial 

size of Nigeria necessitated the adoption of 

“federal form of constitution” and hence the 

division of the country into regions even when 

the inhabitants were linguistically or 

ethnically homogeneous. Meanwhile the 

diversity of the country was a formidable 

obstacle to unity without a federal constitution. 

The people controlling the government were 

of widely different origins, beliefs and interests. 

All the linguistic groups in Nigeria lived in 

harmony with one another but linguistic 

distinctions posed fundamental questions on 

how to live with one another, sharing natural 

resources, sharing political power and 

authorities. Patriotism was not love of the 

country or nation but loyalty to tribe or 

commune. The gentry and peasantry hated 

and feared one another and even the peasants 

were suspicious of each other. 

Nigeria should have as many provinces or 

zones, regions of states as there were linguistics 

or ethnic groups in the country, and each 

region should have a legislature and 

government of its own. There would be a 

central or national parliament and 

government on which the various linguistic 

groups in the country would be represented. 

Under this arrangement, each ethnic group 

could develop its own peculiar culture and 

institutions in accordance with its wishes and 

the inter-tribal acrimony and jostle for 

leadership which were rearing their heads 

would cease. The government of each 

linguistic group would be led by one of their 

members and Nigeria would be led by any 

Nigerian acceptable to all or to the majority 

of the country. 

The colonial governments were preoccupied 

with day-to-day concerns of 

administration of commercial interests. From 

their perspective, social change involved the 

adjustment of conquered people of life under 

colonial rule. The British, who had not given 

much thought to the heterogeneous character 

of Nigeria peoples in formulating their 

administrative arrangements, had been 

compelled to divide the Protectorate of 

Southern Nigeria into two for administrative 

purposes – because it was becoming more and 

more enlightened and articulate. In the main, 

language lay at the root of racial differences: 

•Buhari 

be they differences in culture and custom, in 

philosophy of life and political institutions, in 

national characteristics and social concept 

and practices. For example, Obaship and 

chieftaincy have been established from time 

immemorial in Yorubaland whereas the 

northern people had been living their lives as 

the traditional institution of Emirship 

permitted. The system is different in the Eastern 

part of Nigeria where the British had 

experimented with varying degrees of success 

and failure with “Warrant Chiefs” 

Ethnicities and people’s diversities are the 

cultural pride in Africa. The world itself is an 

assemblage of numerous ethnic groups of 

people clustered together on the planet to form 

a global village for the purpose of human kind. 

Nigeria’s project is a donation and 

contribution of numerous of ethnics, different 

cultures and different peoples lived in around 

themselves. And later parts of their lives were 

“forced together by foreign influence and 

forces simply for their economic gain. 

The Amalgamation of the North and South 

of Nigeria without their knowledge, the 

European just negotiated the destinies of 

people without the conscience of the people. 

The arrangement was against the ethos of the 

people. It was full of awkwardness, tangled, 

awry to the fundamental social life of the 

people. 

Unitary constitution with only one central 

government would only result in frustration 

to the more dynamic ethnic groups whereas 

division of the country into ethnic lines would 

enable each linguistic group to develop its 

own peculiar culture and institutions and move 

at its own pace without being unnecessarily 

pushed or annoyingly slowed down by others. 

The assumption that the present standards of 

common leadership which have been the 

“bone of contention” have been the basis of 

Nigeria nationalist activities was grossly 

misconceived. Nigeria needs a system in 

which the various linguistic units will federate 

to form a single nation and that is the way it 

was when Chief Obafemi Awolowo paid 

minimum wage of five shillings in the Western 

Region but in the East, they paid three shillings 

and six pence, while they paid three shillings 

in the North. But it is now we are saying 

everybody must do the same thing. That is not 

a ‘federation’. When Awolowo wanted to start 

the minimum wage, they said it was 

impossible. But he did it and also introduced 

free education. He did it because he had the 

leverage within the economy to generate the 

income and move in accordance with his own 

priority and at his own preferred pace. 

Exploitation, domination of man by man 

has been the social problem of humanity. The 

fundamental; problem is that of an unjust, 

distorted federation which has been 

manipulated to favour one section against the 

other by the military intervention to the polity 

of Nigeria. There is no way such an unjust 

arrangement can endure or generate peace 

and stability. Therefore change is inevitable. 

The world has entered a new stage of 

historical development. 

Continues on www.vanguardngr.com 

•Adegbola, FCPA, is Founder and 

President, Oduduwa Cultural Foundation, 

and Fellow, Chartered Institute of Local 

Government and Public Administration of 

Nigeria.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2020, PAGE 7 

COMMON MAN: 

How this 

recession 

will affect 

you 

By Dele Sobowale 

“To know that which before us lies in daily 

life is the prime wisdom…” -John Milton, 

VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, 

VBQ, p 275. 

Nigerians now know the truth. Nigeria is 

in a recession. The dreadful result was 

summarized for us this way in PUNCH, 

November 22, 2020. 

“The NBS, in its Gross Domestic Product 

report for Q3, said the GDP, the broad 

measure of economic prosperity, fell by 3.62 

per cent in the three months till 

September…For the first time in more than 

three years, the Nigerian economy shrank 

in Q2 by 6.10 per cent..” 

The World Bank (WB) added two bits 

of information to make the situation 

more depressing. First, the bank 

pointed out that this is the worst recession 

in 36 years. Second, WB followed that up by 

telling us that per capita income in 2020 

and 2021 could fall to 40-year low. For 

Nigeria, acknowledged world poverty 

capital, things cannot possibly be worse. It 

means that we will not soon relinquish the 

title of poverty capital; we only have our 

own dismal record to beat. 

A RECESSION FORETOLD 

IN MARCH 2020 

“For every folly of their [rulers], Nigerians 

feel the lash” - Horace, 65-8 BC, VBQ p 61. 

Grim as all these revelations might appear 

to Nigerians, they represent a tragedy 

already foretold, as usual by VANGUARD. 

While the rest of Nigeria was still 

wondering what would be the repercussions 

of COVID-19 on our economy, we 

presciently made the forecast of a recession. 

Read: 

“COVID-19 HAS CLOBBERED BUDGET 

2020 INTO A COMA 

‘Coronavirus: FG Considers Reviewing 

2020 Budget’ - DAILY INDEPENDENT, 

March 5, 2020, p 1. 

‘55 Nigerian oil cargo unsold as demand 

tumbles’ - PUNCH, March 6, 2020, p 23. 

Shakespeare, 1564-1616, must have had 

a situation like the one in which Nigeria 

now finds itself before pronouncing: ‘All 

things do help the unhappy man to fall.’ 

President Buhari, during one of his many 

trips abroad, once described himself as the 

most unhappy leader. He has a right to claim 

that title. Nigeria under him became the 

poverty capital of the world and that is a 

title that will not be relinquished soon. On 

four indices included in the Misery Index, 

MI — children out of school, maternal death, 

infant mortality and per capita income – 

Nigeria is ranked first in all of them. Nigeria 

is also home to two of the world’s five worst 

terrorist groups: Boko Haram and 

herdsmen. 

Although it is the poorest country among 

the Organization of Petroleum Exporting 

Countries, OPEC, and it is only the eighth 

largest producer, more crude oil is stolen in 

Nigeria than any other country. Thus, the 

Federal Government of a nation, which 

needs every dollar it can get from oil, stands 

and looks on while a few selfish but powerful 

crooks consign the rest of Nigeria to 

prolonged poverty and endless destitution. 

None of the big oil thieves has been 

apprehended and prosecuted. Instead of 

protecting our own most important source 

of funds, we are contented to make requests 

for $22 billion loan package. 

These observations are meant to provide 

background to what will follow in this article 

because Nigerians need to understand the 

disaster that awaits us on account of COVID 

– 19 and our near total dependence on oil. 

Perhaps the place to start is what was 

predicted last year when 

the 2020 Budget was 

presented to the 

National Assembly, 

NASS. Unfortunately 

for us, the demand for 

crude was less than 

expected from January 

1, 2020. It remained low 

throughout February 

and, as we move into 

March, we discover that 

COVID-19 has rendered 

Budget 2020 totally 

untenable. 

BUDGET 

OF SELF- 

DELUSION 

“The most obstinate 

illusions are ultimately 

broken by facts” - Trevor 

Round two 

of global 

lockdown 

means that 

Nigerian 

recipients of 

money from 

abroad are 

in for a 

tough time 

Roper, VANGUARD 

BOOK 

OF 

QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 

100. 

“Budget of Continuity 

was based on a 

benchmark oil price of 

$60 per barrel, oil production of 

2.3mbpd…government projected a deficit 

of N1.91tn. The revenue performance is only 

58 per cent of the 2019 budget’s target due 

to the underperformance of both oil and 

non-oil revenue sources. Specifically oil 

revenues were below target by 49 per cent 

as at June 2019" - President Buhari, Budget 

2020 presentation to the NASS, October 8, 

2019.” 

That was the 2020 Budget summarized. 

Below was my own reaction to it. 

STARTING ON THE 

WRONG FOOT; STAYING 

ON THE WRONG TRACK 

‘Morning shows the day’ according to an 

old adage. 

The disaster of the 2020 Budget actually 

had its origins in 2015. The first three 

appointments every modern Head of 

Government makes in today’s global village 

are: the Ministers of Defense, Finance and 

External Affairs. Those are the people other 

countries appraise most critically. And the 

appointments are made very quickly after 

elections are over. Bearing in mind that “a 

week is a long time in politics” (Harold 

Wilson, British Prime Minister 1970s), 

Buhari waiting for five months to make those 

key appointments had already sent a signal 

to the global community; and 

not a good one. To then turn 

around and hand the economy 

to people totally unknown in 

global financial institutions 

for the five months sent 

another signal. Mrs. Adeosun 

might be a good accountant; 

but, she is not and cannot be 

an excellent Finance Minister. 

The results showed very 

quickly. A recession followed 

in 2016.” 

The rest of the analysis of the 

2020 Budget went on to predict 

that it will never be 

implemented as it is. That was 

before COVID-19 gatecrashed 

into our lives and is 

now going to cause a lot of 

havoc to the budget of every 

country on the planet. The first 

signal of the problems ahead 

is the turmoil in global oil 

trade. OPEC is now in 

disarray. Saudi Arabia, the 

largest exporter, after failing 

to get Russia, a non-member 

to agree to a cut in production 

and supplies, had unilaterally 

reduced crude price and is now 

set to increase output. Those steps spell 

economic doom for countries like Nigeria 

which are more heavily dependent on oil. 

From the evidence available at the moment, 

the average price of crude oil on the global 

market is unlikely to exceed $50 per barrel 

for the next three months unless an 

emergency meeting of OPEC is held to 

establish a new quota and production level 

acceptable to all members. 

Even then, any agreement by OPEC 

members will not be binding on nonmembers 

– who now control a larger 

percentage of global oil output than OPEC. 

The cartel has lost the clout which in the 

past made it possible to dictate global oil 

prices. While there are several uncertainties, 

there is one certainty, which cannot be 

ignored. COVID-19 has devastated 

Nigeria’s 2020 budget. It was not realistic 

before COVID-19; it is totally in shreds now. 

It requires no high intelligence to realize 

that a budget review is urgently needed. 

BUHARI APPOINTS 

BUDGET REVIEW 

ADVISERS 

For once President Buhari did not waste 

time in approving a budget review 

committee of advisers. That is a step in the 

right direction. Other steps must necessarily 

follow – and quickly too because time is one 

of the variables they must bring into 

consideration. In that connection the most 

important matters to be decided include the 

following: 

•Bench mark crude price to adopt in the 

recommendations for the budget review 

•Time to start operating the new budget. 

•The impact on the Federal and State 

Governments 

•How to handle the inevitable recession 

In the second part of this series, I will 

elaborate on the four issues listed above. 

But permit me to be the bearer of bad news: 

ANOTHER RECESSION IS LOOMING 

ON THE NIGERIAN ECONOMIC 

ENVIRONMENT.” 

That was published in the second week of 

March – long before the FG started to 

address its mind to the possibility of a 

recession. 

If the Federal Government had reached 

out for information, it would have been able 

to reduce the decline in GDP growth 

considerably. Second quarter might not 

have slumped to -6.10 per cent and Q3 not 

as bad as -3.62. 

WHERE WE STAND NOW 

“Hell hath no limits; nor is it 

circumscribed in one self place, for where 

we are is hell…” - Christopher Marlowe, 

1564-1594, VBQ p 89. 

Food insecurity and famine in 2021 now 

certain. 

For Nigerians living today, the closest 

Continues on page 10


‘Why we may not 

exit recession in 

first quarter of 2021’ 

By Peter Egwuatu, Assistant Business Editor 

A 

chartered stockbroker and Executive Vice 

Chairman, HIGHCAP Securities Limited, Mr. 

David Adonri, in this interview, speaks on how 

Nigeria got into recession, the implication and possible 

way out among other things. 

Nigeria found itself in another 

recession in five years. Could it have 

been avoided? 

Nigeria’s economy is prone to recession due 

to its fragility. The economy has not been built 

to last. It has inherent structural deficiencies 

preventing it from withstanding stress. 

Recession in Nigeria’s economy is an accident 

waiting to happen. The last time Nigeria’s 

economy entered recession was when GDP 

contracted in 2016. Then, it contracted by - 

0.67 percent in the first quarter and fell into 

recession in the second quarter when GDP 

contracted by -1.49 percent. At the end of 2016, 

GDP had contracted by -1.73 percent. The 

recession eventually ended when GDP grew 

by 0.55 percent in the second quarter of 2017, 

after a negative position in the first quarter of 

2017. That recession lasted for one year. 

For the second time in five years, Nigeria’s 

economy has fallen again into recession. The 

country’s GDP contracted by -3.62 percent in 

the third quarter of 2020, after contracting by 

-6.1 percent. 

Several factors contributed to the 2016 

recession, the most important being crash in 

crude oil price. The economic boom of 2013, 

which saw inflation rate at single digit and 

GDP growth rate of 5.49 percent, fizzled out 

in July 2014 as a result of crash in crude oil 

price from USD111.8 per barrel continuously 

to as low as USD30.7 per barrel in January 

2016. That drastic drop put serious pressure 

on Nigeria’s foreign reserve, causing scarcity 

of forex, high inflation rate and devaluation 

of the naira. The tapering of Quantitative 

Easing by US Federal Reserve Bank in 2014 

also complicated issues for the Nigerian 

economy which was already reeling from the 

tension soaked build-up to the 2015 general 

election. The economic decline from 2nd 

quarter of 2014 intensified amidst laxity by 

government to take necessary remedial 

measures to avert the recession of 2016. The 

current recession is not surprising because of 

the devastating impact of COVID-19 

pandemic. Almost every country in the world 

suffered COVID-19 induced recession. If the 

Nigerian economy was more resilient, 

perhaps the impact would have been milder, 

considering the slower rate of transmission of 

the disease locally. Before the onset of the 

pandemic in February 2020, signs of weakness 

in Nigeria’s economy were apparent. Due to 

its fragility, early in January 2020, a global 

rating agency, Moody’s & Fitch had 

downgraded the Nigerian economy from 

stable to negative. The widespread 

devastation of the pandemic, whose intensity 

surpasses 2008 global financial crisis, only 

worsened the country’s steadily deteriorating 

economy. Other than disruptions to global 

trade and financial flow caused by COVID- 

19, Nigeria’s economy has been terrorised by 

•Prof. Adonri 

worsening insecurity and debilitating selfinduced 

trade containment. 

Experts have predicted hard times. 

Would the times really be as hard as 

they predicted? 

Recession is a backward movement of the 

economy from a previous position. It is a 

difficult time for a country when there is less 

trade and industrial activity than usual and 

more factors of production are unemployed. 

During recession, national and household 

incomes drop. Non-performing debts escalate. 

Government, corporations and households 

are unable to meet their financial obligations. 

Recession escalates poverty and provokes 

social unrest. 

The present case of Nigeria is more pathetic 

than recession. Simultaneously, the economy 

is faced with galloping inflation. This terrible 

condition is known as 

Stagflation. 

Inflation rate has risen 

in Nigeria for fifteen 

straight months, moving 

steadily from 11.02 

percent in August 2019 to 

14.23 percent in October 

2020. It is projected to 

reach 15 percent in 

December 2020 

according to the forecast 

made in recent Nigeria 

Economic Sustainability 

Plan (NESP 2020). 

Hyperinflation reduces 

the buying power of 

money, weakens 

domestic currency, 

constricts the disposable 

income of households, 

deepens poverty and 

escalates the cost of 

projects. Economies 

crave non-inflationary 

growth for development 

to be meaningful. 

All the 

adverse 

consequences 

of 

population 

explosion on 

the socio 

economy 

are already 

evident 

How 

can 

g o v e r n m e n t 

e n c o u r a g e 

production and exports to earn foreign 

exchange and boost the economy? 

Stagflation means that the economy is 

shrinking while costs are increasing. Domestic 

industrial and agricultural outputs are falling. 

Nigeria’s fiscal economy (production and 

trade) has suffered a series of setbacks since 

independence which has weakened its 

foundation. It is highly import dependent. 

Nigerian industries rely heavily on imported 

capital goods and raw materials to survive. 

Any time there is shortage of forex, their 

production is crippled. Nigeria also lacks the 

engineering infrastructure to sustain the 

productive momentum of industries and make 

the economy competitive and internally selfregenerating. 

This is a structural defect that 

cannot be fixed overnight. 

Nigeria’s inflation is essentially caused by 

her deficient supply-side economy, worsened 

by insecurity and scarcity of forex. Boosting 

inflow of hard currency through export may 

not be immediately feasible as a second wave 

of COVID-19 hamper the demand for crude 

oil and diaspora remittances wane. Other 

than crude oil which is the mainstay of 

Nigeria’s export economy, now in limbo, 

insecurity has already dented the country’s 

economy. Additionally, Nigeria’s 

manufacturing sector lacks the capacity to 

compete in global market, thus limiting 

available options for a leap in foreign income. 

This is why government is running from pillar 

to post trying desperately to secure foreign 

survival loans. 

What could have been done by 

government to avert recession? 

The high frequency of Nigeria’s economic 

bust is not surprising. Whenever the economy 

is subjected to little stress, be it political, social, 

trade dislocation, or natural disaster, it falls 

into immediate crisis. Between independence 

and the 1970s, Nigeria’s four years 

development plan cycles planned and built 

the economy to pro-actively forestall threats 

in future. They were geared towards the laying 

of a solid foundation for self-reliance. That 

objective became a mirage after the fourth 

national development plan was jettisoned by 

the next federal administration. The 

subsequent strategic plans which ended in 

2000, 2010 and ending 2020, were more of 

sloganeering rather than 

genuine attempts at building a 

resilient economy that lasts. 

Nigeria’s economy rests on a 

shaky structural foundation, 

hence the resort to short term 

panic measures to tackle 

economic crisis. If the necessary 

economic structures were in 

place before onset of COVID-19 

pandemic, there would have 

been enough inventory of 

consumer goods and financial 

reserve to see us through the 

period of lockdown. Now, we 

would only have been grappling 

with recession like Europe, Asia 

and America and not the 

harshness of Stagflation. Credit 

must be given to government for 

early lockdown and timely 

reopening of the economy 

otherwise, the economic crisis 

would have been worse. Apart 

from China, no other country 

succeeded in averting current 

recession. China’s world-class 

engineering infrastructure and 

early stern measures to curtail 

spread of COVID-19, enabled 

the country to sustain its fiscal 

economy. Although Nigeria was 

still functioning at low rate internally, drastic 

decline in demand for crude oil and decline of 

imports overwhelmed the economy. These are 

factors beyond the control of government and 

they are still prevalent. 

Can the monetary and fiscal policies 

proposed by government yield positive 

GDP? 

The dichotomy between fiscal and monetary 

policies has almost disappeared in Nigeria. 

In addition to formulating and executing 

monetary policies, Nigeria’s monetary 

authority, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, now 

also formulates fiscal policies presumably to 

plug fiscal gaps. It engages in formulation of 

trade policies and dishes out stimulus 

packages to industries. Government engages 

in an administrative method which 

misallocates public hard currency in a manner 

detrimental to the integrity and efficiency of 

Nigeria’s macro economy. 

The federal government said Nigeria 

will exit recession in first quarter of 

2021 while the World Bank maintained 

that the nation is at a critical 

juncture… 

It will be miraculous if Nigeria exits 

recession in the first quarter of 2021. The 

headwinds against the economy are not likely 

to disappear fully in first quarter of 2021. It is 

not likely that farm security will be restored 

early next year as Boko Haram, bandits and 

herdsmen are increasing their rampage. 

Despite the euphoria surrounding the 

emergence of effective COVID-19 vaccine, 

disruptions by the pandemic may persist 

beyond first quarter of 2021, hampering 

Nigeria’s crude oil export and affecting 

diaspora remittances adversely. Agriculture 

and crude oil are the main drivers of the 

economy. Their probability of recovery in 

early 2021 is remote. There is also no 

indication that the land borders will reopen 

soon to facilitate intra African trade. Nigeria’s 

structural deficiencies cannot be corrected 

within such a short period warranting an 

optimistic view that manufacturing can close 

any gap. The social environment remains 

charged as law and order have broken down 

in parts of the country. Consequently, the basis 

for government’s optimism that the economy 

will exit recession in first quarter of 2021 is 

difficult to understand. Government appears 

to be concerned only about recession. They 

are oblivious of the dire consequences of 

galloping inflation. 

What options do you think should be 

explored? 

Nigeria’s economic crisis is deeper than 

recession. It is Stagflation which is a deadly 

crisis that is difficult to eliminate. The 

macroeconomic policies so far enunciated 

by government are principally targeted at 

combating the recession but may also 

intensify the galloping inflation. The 

situation can degenerate into a serious 

hyperinflation if CBN’s expansionary 

monetary policy fails to stimulate 

production. Stagflation is not an economic 

crisis you can just spend your way out from. 

It requires careful identification of the 

specific factors slowing the economy and 

those fueling inflation and acting to 

eliminate them one by one. This is an 

opportunity to address the long term 

structural deficiencies and imbalances that 

make the economy fragile and import 

dependent. If we do not start addressing 

them now, the environment that provokes 

recession will continue to hound the 

economy. A critical imbalance in the 

economy is the ever increasing demand 

pressure piled by uncontrolled growth of 

the population. Purpose of economy is to 

meet the needs of people. Between 

independence and now, Nigeria’s 

population has increased by 390 percent. 

All the adverse consequences of population 

explosion on the socio economy are already 

evident. Excessive growth of population has 

orchestrated consumption and hampered 

savings accumulation in the economy. 

Incidences of recession can be minimized 

in Nigeria if demand management through 

population control is also factored into 

macroeconomic policies.


RECESSION: 

Quick implementation 

of fiscal policies 

needed for recovery 

—Prof.Uwaleke 

By Peter Egwuatu, Assistant Business Editor 

Professor Uche Uwaleke, a Financial Economist, is 

the President of Association of Capital Market 

Academics of Nigeria. In this interview, Uwaleke 

speaks on Nigeria’s plunge into recession and the 

likely paths to recovery 

Do you agree with the reasons 

given as being responsible for this 

recession? 

Unlike the recession of 2016 chiefly 

caused by the sudden crash in crude oil 

price resulting in a significant fall in 

government revenue to the extent that 

several state governments could not pay 

salaries thereby weakening aggregate 

demand, the current economic recession 

in Nigeria is the result of twin shocks 

coming first from the health crisis 

occasioned by COVID-19 and government 

attempts to contain it by imposing 

restrictions in movements and lockdowns. 

As you know, international flights were 

banned by most countries including all 

forms of public gatherings. 

Expectedly, there were disruptions in 

supply chains, production and exchange 

which hurt several sectors of the economy 

such as manufacturing, agriculture, 

transport, trade, construction, hospitality 

and education to name just a few. You 

recall that even schools were shut due to 

COVID-19. 

The second shock came from the 

collapse of crude oil price given the 

country’s dependence on the oil sector. I 

must equally mention that the OPEC+ cut 

agreement in response to the fall in crude 

oil price, led to a reduction in the country’s 

daily oil production. 

You recall that the 2020 budget was 

predicated on an oil output of about 1.8 

million barrels per day. The real GDP 

contraction of -3.62 per cent recorded in 

Q3 of 2020 was partly caused by the poor 

performance of the oil sector which 

witnessed a reduction in average daily oil 

production to 1.67 million barrels per day. 

So, in summary, this recession was caused 

by COVID’19 and collapse in crude oil 

price. I say this because before the 

pandemic, the economy was already on 

the path of growth recording about 2.27 

per cent in 2019. 

What is the implication of the 

recession for the ordinary Nigerians 

and the country as a whole? 

Recession as you know is simply the 

downturn in economic activities. Even 

before the release of the NBS report, it was 

obvious even to government that the 

economy, like many other economies of 

the world, was in a recession. 

The NBS report merely gave it an 

official status since the economy had gone 

through two consecutive quarters of 

negative growth in GDP. Unlike in many 

other countries also in a recession, that of 

Nigeria is made worse by the fact that the 

inflation rate is also on the rise. So, in the 

Nigerian context, it is actually stagflation. 

Against this backdrop, the implication is 

grave for the common man and for 

Nigerians in general who have been 

grappling with high cost of living, lower 

living standards, and for firms’ high cost 

of production and weak productive 

capacity. I wish to note that the 

disappointing performance of the 

agriculture sector in Q3 2020, at a mere 

1.39% growth, worse than the Q2 growth 

rate, gives cause for concern. The negative 

impact of food prices is capable of 

worsening poverty and the health crisis 

occasioned by poor nutrition. 

So, by and large, the twin 

impact of recession and 

rising inflation otherwise 

known as stagnation will 

only impoverish the 

common man. 

Inflation is on the 

rise, a foreign reserve is 

dropping and the 

manufacturing sector is 

shrinking. How can 

government encourage 

production and exports 

to earn foreign 

exchange to boost the 

economy? 

Inflation rate was on the 

rise even before the pandemic 

hit the economy primarily due to the 

continuous border closure, increase in 

Value Added Tax, VAT, and pump price of 

fuel as well as the scarcity of forex. As you 

know, inflationary pressure is coming 

more from food index due in part to 

insecurity in the food-producing areas of 

the country. As you rightly noted, the 

country is experiencing foreign reserves 

depletion. This is due largely to the point I 

mentioned earlier about the collapse in 

oil revenue as well as the exit of foreign 

investors and reduction in capital 

importation. Not 

surprising, therefore, the 

manufacturing sector, in 

particular, challenged by 

lack of forex to import raw 

materials, 

is 

underperforming. For 

several months now, except 

for this month, the 

Purchasing Managers 

Index, which is an 

indication 

of 

manufacturing activity, has 

been below the 50 point 

threshold. 

Therefore, to answer your 

question against this 

backdrop, government can 

encourage production and 

exports by investing in 

infrastructure, especially 

power, roads, rail and IT 

infrastructure in 

partnership with the private 

sector. The current plan by 

the government to have a 

N15 trillion Infrastructure 

Fund to be financed by the 

Central Bank of Nigeria, 

CBN, AFC, Sovereign 

Wealth Fund, SWF, and other private sector 

players, is a step in the right direction. It is 

also important that the insecurity which 

hampers production, especially in the 

agriculture sector should be tackled. 

Doing so will help diversify the revenue 

sources and attract foreign investments 

which will ultimately shore up foreign 

reserves. 

Was this recession avoidable? 

Regarding what the government could 

have done to avert the economic recession, 

it is my opinion that given the structure of 

I would like to 

see speed 

and a sense 

of urgency, 

especially 

concerning 

the 

implementation 

of fiscal 

policies 

•Uwaleke 

the Nigerian economy, which you well 

know is a legacy issue, the present 

economic recession was inevitable. 

No one doubts the fact the pandemic and 

the sudden collapse of oil prices were 

unexpected. In particular, the pandemic 

caught many countries including Nigeria 

unawares. Expectedly, these countries, 

both developed and developing, have 

recorded bigger contraction in real GDP 

growth. 

I think government through the Central 

Bank responded swiftly 

with various stimulus 

packages and 

interventions which have 

gone a long way in 

reducing the size of the 

recession below 

projections by 

international agencies 

including the 

International Monetary 

Fund,IMF. 

I must mention that a 

number of economic 

policies being 

implemented now, such 

as the increase in VAT 

could have been deferred 

till 2021 due to its impact 

on aggregate 

consumption and 

inflation. 

Recall that I said earlier 

that the real challenge the 

economy faces now is 

stagflation. There is also 

the issue of insecurity 

bedevilling the country, 

which I think could have 

been better dealt with. On 

the part of monetary policy, I think the 

right steps were taken. 

Can our monetary and fiscal 

policies yield positive GDP? 

I think, overall, fiscal and monetary 

policies are in the right direction. In 

response to the pandemic, government has 

scaled up the social investment 

programmes. It has also provided cash 

support to some households that were 

seriously affected by COVID-19. 

In addition, government came up with 

an Economic Sustainability Plan, outlying 

bold measures aimed at helping economic 

recovery including mass agriculture, 

housing and investment in infrastructure, 

especially solar energy. 

The major challenge now is its 

implementation to ensure a quick return 

of the economy to the growth path. 

On its part, the CBN has been deploying 

its development finance function, beyond 

the use of the traditional monetary policy 

tools, to support economic recovery. 

I think the policies are in the right 

direction. I would like to see speed and a 

sense of urgency, especially concerning the 

implementation of fiscal policies. 

Do you agree with federal government 

that Nigeria will get out of recession in 

the first quarter 2021? 

I am quite optimistic the Nigerian 

economy will weather the storm and pull 

out of recession by the first quarter of next 

2021. 

My optimism is predicated on the fact 

that unlike in Europe and America, the 

country may not have to grapple with a 

second wave of COVID’19 on a scale 

similar to what was experienced in Q2 

2020. 

Consequently, I don’t foresee another 

round of nationwide lockdowns and 

movement restrictions. 

Secondly, the economy is fast opening 

up and business confidence is gradually 

returning. I am sure you are aware of 

relative improvements in the Purchasing 

Managers Index which has now crossed 

the 50 point threshold. You must equally 

be aware of the current boom in the stock 

market, especially in recent times. Indeed, 

the entire financial sector has been 

resilient with positive performance as 

indicated in the NBS Q3 2020 report. 

Again, the early submission of the 2021 

budget proposal and the expectation that 

its implementation will commence in 

January hold a lot of promise for 

economic recovery. 

As I mentioned earlier, the impact of the 

raft of COVID-19 interventions by 

government should begin to manifest from 

the first quarter of 2021. Also, the 

implementation of the government 

Economic Sustainability Plan will go a 

long way in assisting economic recovery. 

It is equally important to mention that a 

critical assumption in all these is that the 

economy will not experience any major 

shock either coming from the external 

sector such as another crude oil price 

shock or another crisis in the magnitude 

of the one witnessed during the #End 

SARS nationwide protests. 

Is government getting it right in 

the area of diversification since the 

petroleum sector still accounts for 

the huge revenue earned? 

With respect to diversification of the 

export base and creating multiple sources 

of revenue for the country, this 

government, like many others before it, 

has articulated the roadmap in the 

Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. 

The key challenge has been the 

implementation of the lofty ideas 

contained in that plan especially in the 

area of diversification especially through 

Agriculture, Solid minerals and Tourism. 

This is not unconnected with bottlenecks 

in revenue generation for the purpose of 

executing developmental projects. 

In what ways do you think 

government can do better to take 

the country out of recession? 

Government projects the economy to 

recover next year with a real GDP growth 

rate projected at three percent. While I 

have no doubt a positive GDP growth rate 

will be recorded in 2021, I think a growth 

rate of three percent, though desirable, 

appears a little ambitious given the 

present state of the economy. 

To quicken economic recovery, the 

implementation of the 2021 budget, 

especially the capital component must 

start quite early next year. A lot more 

attention should be paid to the 

agriculture sector, which contributed 

about 30 percent of GDP in Q3 2020 but 

recorded a very weak performance. The 

CBN can also scale up its interventions in 

the agriculture value chain as doing so 

will not only bring down food prices but 

will also support economic recovery. 

Above all, government should move fast 

to tackle insecurity in the country, which 

is detrimental to the production and 

exchange of goods and services.


Recession ‘ll trigger withdrawals of 

FDIs, FPIs — Sanni 

•Urges govt to open borders for regional trade 

By Nkiruka Nnorom 

Group CEO, Emerging Africa 

Capital Group, Mrs. Tonyi 

Sanni, speaks on Nigeria’s entry 

into the second recession in five years and 

the way forward.. 

COVID-19 pandemic and even 

#EndSARS protest have been blamed 

for the recent recession, but beyond 

these two things, what other 

mistakes do you think led the nation 

into this second recession? 

Although the novel virus and EndSars 

protest have been blamed in some quarters 

for Nigeria’s current economic situation, 

from an analytic point of view, our 

challenges began long before the 

#EndSars protest. Recall that Nigeria had 

recorded a significant decline in GDP (- 

6.1%) even before the protest started in 

October. 

Africa’s biggest economy slid into 

recession due to the reduction in revenues 

following the crash in oil prices and other 

negative impacts of the virus in the 

country. 

For example, the lockdown brought 

about reduced consumption and 

production, disruptions in supply chains 

as producers could not produce during the 

period. 

Again, increased pressure on the naira 

due to falling reserves also affected our 

currency price whilst protracted border 

closure contributed to the rise in inflation 

rate and reduced purchasing power for 

household economies. 

With complete shutdown in 

business activities as curtailment for 

the COVID-19, do you think Nigeria 

could have escaped this considering? 

It is unrealistic to compare a fragile 

economy like Nigeria which had only just 

come out of a recession four years ago 

and has other structural challenges such 

as commodity dependence and import 

dependence to developed economies with 

more established financial systems. There 

are, however, steps we could have taken 

to ease the pressure on the populace 

including more impactful stimulus 

and palliative measures. However, 

we have the challenge of low fiscal 

headroom. 

In what ways do you 

think the situation will 

affect the ordinary 

Nigerian and the entire 

nation? 

The National Bureau of 

Statistics (NBS) reports are 

historical in the sense that they 

are recorded in the period of 

reference. So, it reflects the actual 

effect of the nation’s economic 

stance. 

The actual confirmation of the recession 

may further affect Nigerians by triggering 

further withdrawal of already reduced 

Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and 

Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPIs) into 

our economy and could discourage 

domestic investment in the short term. 

Inflation is on the rise, foreign 

•Sanni 

reserves are dropping 

and the manufacturing sector is 

shrinking, how can the government 

encourage production and exports to 

earn foreign exchange and boost the 

economy? 

Government can encourage production 

by improving the security environment for 

farmers to boost the agriculture sector. 

Second, government can also improve 

access to finance for manufacturers, re-open 

the borders to encourage regional trade and 

also manage our currency transparently and 

realistically. 

The federal government has said 

that Nigeria will get out of the 

recession in first quarter 2021, do you 

think we have the right monetary and 

fiscal policies to navigate out of this 

so soon? 

I believe this projection is hinged 

significantly on expectations of the 

availability of Covid-19 vaccine in major 

economies by Q1 which is expected to 

trigger increased demand for oil and 

correspondingly the recovery of our oil 

revenue dependent economy. 

Is government getting it right in 

the area of diversification? 

We must not only diversify our 

income source beyond crude oil sales 

revenue to other exports of agricultural 

products and solid minerals, we must 

also drive the process of conversion of 

primary produce to finished products. 

Our policies must encourage investment 

in production and in job-creating 

ventures. Security, political stability, 

rule of law and a transparent judicial 

system and financial inclusion are 

equally essential to our economic 

recovery and growth. 

What is the way forward? 

Political stability, good 

governance, transparency and 

elimination of corruption, fiscal 

prudence and responsibility and 

continuous building of trust of 

both domestic and international 

investors are the way forward. 

We also need the consistent 

implementation of balanced, even-handed, 

and consistent policies that create a 

conducive environment for investment. 

Property rights must be protected and so 

must human rights. 

COMMON MAN: How this recession will affect you 

Continued from page 7 

thing to hell is here. For millions of our 

people, especially rural subsistence farmers, 

hell is definitely here. Hell is here, not only 

because COVID-19 might trigger another 

lockdown, but because criminals – 

herdsmen, kidnappers, cattle rustlers and 

bandits – have now shut down a significant 

percentage of Nigeria’s farmlands. 

Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, Katsina, Sokoto 

and Borno states together accounted for 

about 30 to 35 per cent of our annual food 

production. Today, even two battalions of 

soldiers cannot guarantee the safety of 

farmers and their harvests in Borno State 

where the governor had escaped two 

assassination attempts. In Zamfara and 

Katsina states, the governors openly 

announce their negotiations with bandits in 

order for farmers to be allowed to work in 

peace. Invariably, the armed hoodlums 

break their promises and still attack farmers. 

Recent kidnap of senior police officers, on 

their way to Gusau, at the border of Katsina 

and Zamfara states, revealed what ordinary 

people suffer on those routes. 

The atrocities committed daily on the 

Abuja-Suleija-Kaduna highway only tell 

some of the story of food high-jacking by 

bandits in Kaduna and Niger States. Going 

to farm in many parts of the North has 

become a suicide mission; none but the 

bravest and most desperate now attempts it 

anymore. 

Chief Olu Falae, former Secretary to the 

Federal Government, former Minister of 

Finance, serves proxy for all farmers in the 

South besieged by suspected herdsmen. 

Herdsmen had been visiting Falae’s part of 

the South from time immemorial without 

creating havoc. Change came in 2015 when 

suspected herdsmen openly dropped their 

shepherd’s staffs and picked up AK-47s. 

Falae was kidnapped and ransom was paid 

and nobody was apprehended for it. A few 

days before I started to write this special 

report, suspected herdsmen devastated parts 

of Falae’s farm once again. If Falae had 

depended exclusively on farming for his 

livelihood, herdsmen would have forced him 

to stop farming as hundreds of thousands 

had done in the South. 

When criminal herdsmen went on the 

rampage, it never occurred to the powersthat-be 

that widespread famine would result. 

Large scale famine is now a reality with 

which government must now deal with. It 

will remain with us for a while because it is 

easier to destroy than to build. Millions of 

Nigerians have been forced to leave farms 

they have taken years to cultivate and turn 

into food machines for all of us. 

The devastation of farms and the 

impoverishment of millions of farmers have 

contributed in large measure to the current 

recession. As aggregate personal income has 

plummeted with the recession, demand for 

meat has also dropped sharply. Shortly after 

receiving call from the Sunday Editor to 

write this article, Head Butchers in seven 

Lagos markets were contacted to ask about 

demand for beef, goat and ram meats. The 

result was startling. On the average, there 

has been about 25 per cent drop in cows, 

goats and rams slaughtered and sold. A stop 

at the cattle market – Kara – revealed that 

there is a strong correlation between what 

the butchers reported and the reduction in 

cattle sold. Lagos cattle dealers are now 

sending back cattle. The tragedy has come 

full circle. 

Unfortunately, reduced demand is not the 

only problem facing herdsmen. Some of the 

cattle rustlers carrying off their animals were 

once farmers whose farms were devastated 

by suspected herdsmen. Information 

reaching us indicates that some displaced 

farmers are now imposing a sort of rural 

jungle justice – suspected herdsmen destroy 

farms; farmers seize their cattle in 

retaliation. Paradoxically, the cattle rustlers 

have discovered that it is more profitable to 

rustle cattle than to farm. Few of them will 

return to farming until government finds a 

way to restore security to rural areas. 

Agriculture, which was always the first 

sector to lead economic recovery after a 

recession, might not play that role now. The 

sector is in bad shape. Consequently, food 

prices will continue to rise. 

Manufacturing mauled 

“Consumption is the sole purpose of 

production.” 

This is an axiom in economics which 

pertains more to manufacturing than any 

other sector. Despite its importance, 

manufacturing will be touched only briefly 

in this write up. The situation here is not 

different from that in agriculture. 

Warehouses are full of finished products – 

unsold; and selling slowly. The demand for 

manufactured goods naturally lags behind 

request for food. With many Nigerians 

struggling to feed; manufactured goods are 

not top priority now. 

Hospitality and 

Entertainment 

This sector was simply wiped out during 

the lockdown. Many of the investors might 

never recover. And just as some people were 

looking towards the Yuletide to, at least, reopen 

shop, another lockdown is threatened. 

Millions of Nigerians have lost their jobs 

from the first lockdown. Another one will 

dash all hopes of getting re-engaged any 

time soon. Ali Baba and comedians will have 

to wait. 

Remittances 

reduced 

Close to twelve per cent of foreign 

exchange coming into Nigeria is from legal 

and illegal remittances. The foreign 

exchange coming through that source has 

helped to moderate domestic exchange 

rates. Global COVID-19 and universal 

lockdown had dealt a mortal blow to 

remittances. Nigerians abroad who were 

just barely surviving had little left to send 

home. Round two of global lockdown 

means that Nigerian recipients of money 

from abroad are in for a tough time in the 

early months of 2021 at least. 

IMMEDIATE 

FUTURE IS BLEAK 

“There are no desperate situations; only 

desperate men” - Joseph Goebbels, 1897- 

1945, VBQ p 38. 

Worldwide government officials are 

desperate as this year’s global recession 

appears likely to continue till at least the 

first half of next year. Aggregate demand 

for crude will remain low; so will the 

average price. Nigeria lacks any other 

exportable commodity which will provide 

the revenue we need to achieve the targets 

set out in the 2021 budget – which is already 

demolished even before the year starts. 

Try as the Central Bank might, it is going 

to be difficult to keep exchange rates from 

deteriorating in 2021. Galloping inflation 

will follow and a greater percentage of the 

national revenue will go into debt-servicing. 

SEVEN IMPERATIVES 

TO GET NIGERIA’S 

ECONOMY GROWING 

“Well my friend, get me out of danger. You 

can make your fine speech afterwards” - 

Jean De La Fontaine, 1621-1695, VBQ p 

68. 

As a friend of Nigeria, I feel duty bound to 

obey the French writer by offering some (only 

some) of the ideas that will help us out of 

crisis. 

Most economic “miracles” in history have 

hinged on the countries involved selecting 

and removing certain obstacles to progress. 

Each was unique and cannot be totally 

duplicated elsewhere. To me, Nigeria will 

progress rapidly if: 

•Government checks the activities of 

herdsmen, bandits and kidnappers of 

farmers. Without this the exodus from farms 

will continue. 

•Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has made 

credit facilities available for expansion of 

agriculture. But, farmers are not able to 

access the funds because there is a bottle 

neck which must be removed. 

•Government should concession 

everything that can possibly be. 

•Federal and state governments should 

consider and introduce toll gates. Toll is a 

user’s surcharge. If you don’t use, you don’t 

pay. Non-users should not be subsidising 

users. 

•Downsize governments; there are too 

many ministries and agencies. 

•Federal and state governments should 

aim at cost recovery for services provided; 

while making special allowance for the aged 

– 70+ 

• EVERY LOAN TAKEN MUST BE FOR 

A SPECIFIC PROJECT WHICH WILL 

REPAY THE LOAN WITH INTEREST. NO 

MORE LOANS SHOULD BE TAKEN TO 

FUND CONSUMPTION.

Fellow Nigerians, jawjaw 

is better than warwar 

“War is only a cowardly 

escape from the problems of 

peace” - Thomas Mann, 1875- 

1955, VANGUARD BOOK 

OF MQUOTATIONS, p 267. 

ikhail Gorbachev, 

born in 1931, of 

mixed Russian and Ukrainian 

parents, was the last President 

of the Union of Soviet 

Socialist Republics, USSR, 

the Communist bloc 

forcefully created by Russia 

after World War II as a rival 

to the power of the United 

States. But, by 1991, the Union 

had passed into history as 

each of the nations brought 

under the USSR umbrella 

went their separate ways – 

along ethnic lines based on 

language. The USSR military 

was powerless to prevent the 

break-up of the country 

because the forces themselves 

were sharply divided along 

ethnic lines. Today 15 different 

countries exist in the same 

geographical space occupied 

by only one until 1991. 

There is a lesson for all 

Nigerian leaders as they 

gradually and inadvertently 

push our country to the brink 

of blow-up and break-up 

similar to that of the USSR. 

As an incurable optimist who 

believes that we can still 

renegotiate our collective 

existence as one Nigeria, I 

must confess my increasing 

alarm concerning the slide 

towards the brink of national 

disaster. Indeed, this will 

Email:biolasobowale@yahoo.com 

Phone Number: 08055069026 

Twitter:@DrDeleSobowale 

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Website: www.delesobowale.com 

constitute the Mother of all 

Disasters to befall Nigeria in 

our own life time and it will 

usher in a period of instability 

which will overwhelm all of 

the Economic Community of 

West African States, ECOWAS 

– as well as other African 

countries. We urgently need to 

find our way back to peace; 

before the horrors of an 

endless civil conflict overtakes 

us. Then, peace will be more 

difficult to achieve – if it is ever 

attained. The break-up of 

India into India and Pakistan 

and the perpetual conflict 

between the two countries 

should caution us. 

“In times of victory, 

prophets are unnecessary 

distractions” - Professor 

Trevor Roper, 1914-2003, 

VBQ P 204. 

This article could easily 

have been titled, PRESIDENT 

BUHARI, NIGERIA IS ON 

THE BRINK OF NATIONAL 

CIVIL WAR, and it would have 

been appropriate. But, I have 

chosen instead to approach 

the matter from the angle of 

promise – the possibility that 

disaster can still be averted. 

The conflicts, which will erupt 

nationwide, will certainly 

consume most of us in one 

form or another. 

The reader is entitled to ask 

at this point if I am a prophet. 

The answers are Yes and No. 

Permit me to address the No 

first. Nigeria, today, is 

inundated with ‘prophets’ – 

With only a 

few weeks left 

to the end of 

2020, Nigeria, 

instead of 

being among 

top 20, is now 

the poverty 

capital of the 

world 

Christians, Muslims and 

traditional religion adherents. 

Invariably, the well-advertised 

ones, unlike the prophets of 

old, are in business to make 

money out of their 

predictions. Almost always 

their predictions are so vague 

(“Someone among my 

listeners will get a new job this 

month”, “A lady will get 

married before the year 

ends”) they constitute nothing 

more than spiritual 419. And 

they quickly pass the envelopes 

for donations or provide bank 

account numbers to which 

gullible followers will pay. I 

don’t belong in that class. 

The prophets of old never 

asked for a kobo. Elisha 

rejected the offer of reward 

after finishing his task. He, 

like all true prophets, was 

specific about his predictions 

and the consequences that 

would follow if ignored. Yes, I 

belong to that class and it will 

require several articles to 

remind our readers of the 

specific warnings given on 

these pages which have turned 

out to be true. Three will help 

before moving on to the 

substance of today’s article. 

In 1992, when the 

Babangida administration 

initiated VISION 2020; and 

everybody jumped on the 

bandwagon of forecasting 

that Nigeria would become 


one of the world’s top 20 

economies by 2020, there was 

one lone voice saying “it won’t 

happen”. The voice was mine. 

With only a few weeks left to 

the end of 2020, Nigeria, 

instead of being among top 

20, is now the Poverty Capital 

of the World. Nobody else can 

now repeat what he said 

about VISION 2020. 

Early in 1998, shortly after 

my fourth trip to detention 

under General Sani Abacha, 

and when the media was 

under siege by the regime, I 

wrote the following in one 

article in May 1998: “We, the 

media, shall write the obituary 

of all those in power today – 

whether they like it or not.” 

Abacha died on June 8 of that 

year. We are still writing the 

obituaries of those who 

collaborated with him. 

The third warning is more 

recent than others – as recent 

as 2016 as a matter of fact. In 

that article, Nigerians were 

warned about how the 

Governor of Kaduna State 

had deliberately ignited unending 

conflict in the state and 

had fractured Kaduna along 

religious and tribal lines as 

never before in the state’s 

history. Please read: 

‘EL-RUFAI TAKING 

KADUNA TO ALEPO AND 

NIGERIA TO SYRIA – 1’ 

“It makes a great difference 

by which causes and under 

what authorities men 

undertake the wars that must 

be waged” - Saint Augustine. 

Foreword 

It is probably the first time 

that a column appearing on 

this page would start with a 

foreword. There is an urgent 

reason. It is also probably the 

first time in Nigerian history 

that a columnist would be the 

first to alert all Nigerians to a 

war, already underway in 

Kaduna State which might 

eventually engulf at least the 

entire North and perhaps all 

of Nigeria. 

It is a religious sectarian war 

that had its origins in the 

Middle East since the death 

of Prophet Mohammed 

(Peace Be Unto Him) and 

which is at the bottom of a 

great deal of the blood-letting 

in Syria and Iraq today. 

President Buhari has been 

criticized for his silence on the 

events in Kaduna since the 

clash between the army and 

Shi’ites which claimed 

thousands of lives. The Head 

of State has my sympathies, 

for reasons you will read later. 

But, his chief handicap lies in 

the fact that he is a Sunni 

called upon to take a stand in 

the conflict between Sunnis 

and Shi’ites. 

One elected official who 

had not been reluctant to act 

is El-Rufai, the self-righteous, 

self-adulating Governor of 

Kaduna State. Last week, he 

called some reporters and 

handed them a bundle of 

partisan sectarian half-truths 

about the Shi’ites. He had 

earlier proclaimed the sect 

banned in Kaduna State. By 

so doing, El-Rufai had 

brought to our door steps in 

Nigeria the main cause of 

Islamic sectarian wars in 

Syria and Iraq. The rest of us 

innocent bystanders will feel 

the heat of battle.” 

That article was published 

in December 2016. Since 

then, Governor El-Rufai has 

added ethnic partisanship to 

the religious conflict 

engulfing Kaduna State. The 

once most congenial state 

capital in the North and the 

former regional capital is 

now a hell on earth for its 

dwellers. The carnage was 

foretold. Attention has been 

drawn to the warnings on 

Kaduna for the obvious 

reason. 

Kaduna State is not only 

central to any effort to achieve 

peace in the North in 

particular, it points to the 

problems Nigeria as a whole 

will have to restore peaceful 

co-existence. It is daunting 

task but not an impossible 

undertaking if we want to 

continue as a united country. 

I remain an optimist that we 

can avert disaster. But, the 

windows of opportunities are 

closing gradually. What 

happened to the USSR under 

Gorbachev becomes relevant 

as a lesson for us which we 

ignore at our own peril under 

Buhari. Here is why. 

‘IBB, Abdulsalami Declare 

Support for North-Central 

People’s Forum’ - DAILY 

INDEPENDENT, November 

19, 2020, P 2. 

Unlike most Nigerians, I 

read several newspapers every 

day. Until that report by DAILY 

INDEPENDENT was 

published, nobody could have 

convinced me that former 

Heads of State – Babangida 

and Abubakar – would ever 

enlist in any sectional or 

regional forum. In fact, in the 

concluding part of my article 

two weeks ago – ‘FACED 

WITH IMMINENT 

DISASTER, WHERE ARE 

THE NIGERIAN LEADERS’ 

– the two former military 

leaders had been suggested 

along with some others who 

might help Buhari to rescue 

us. I laboured under the 

impression that they have both 

successfully warded off 

requests to join the North 

Central of Middle Belt 

crusade for fairness. The 

DAILY INDEPENDENT 

report and the statement 

credited to IBB in particular 

broke my heart as it revealed 

how close we are to the brink 

of disaster. Here is part of what 

he said: 

“I have always wondered 

when I hear groups from the 

North-West, North-East, 

South-South and South-West, 

and I kept wondering where 

we in the North-Central 

belong…” 

Babangida was speaking to 

a delegation from the North- 

Central People’s Forum led by 

Lt General (rtd) Jeremiah 

Useni. The Forum, which has 

been busy lately, is the 

indisputable proof that the 

North has become openly 

divided. 

Get ready to be free 

Congratulations! We 

made it to the last 

Sunday in 

November, Glory be to God. 

Why is it necessary to 

mention this? It’s simply 

because in a few days, we’ll be 

counting down to Christmas. 

As we begin to count down 

to the yuletide season, may the 

Lord give us gifts that He 

alone can give us. 

Brethren, at this time, we 

must thank God. It doesn’t 

matter what one is passing 

through, we have to thank 

God for life. Why? We are not 

alive because we are 

righteous. 

Lamentation 3 vs. 22&23 ( 

NIV) reminds us : “ Because 

of the LORD’S great love we 

are not consumed, for his 

compassions never fail. 

They are new every 

morning; great is your 

faithfulness”. 

You know the rest either as a 

song or a prayer point. 

In our previous edition, we 

mentioned, prayer, praise and 

patience as three factors that 

are crucial for anyone 

desirous of a miracle. 

In this edition we’ll 

consider another factor that 

has more to do with the 

individual seeking a miracle 

than with the Lord Almighty. 

That factor is your “ 

determination to be set free”. 

Brethren, you need to ask 

yourself, do you really want 

an end to that affliction? Do 

you desire to sing a new song? 

Do you really want to testify 

to a miracle? 

If the answer is yes. It would 

reflect in your prayer life. 

How do I mean? I mean if 

you have been lackadaisical 

with prayer, it is time to put in 

more effort. Review the time 

you spend praying upwards. 

Spend more time singing 

praises to the Lord. Increase 

your contribution and 

commitment to the work of 

God. 

Above all raise the level of 

your faith. Let the woman that 

is called barren begin to see 

herself as a mother of children 

particularly while praying. 

For the single lady, let her 

see herself settled in her 

matrimonial home. 

Brethren, these are steps that 

you have to take yourself. No 

Pastor can make you 

determined to have a break 

through. You have to show 

determination to be set free 

from bondage first, then the 

Holy Spirit will lead you to 

the steps to take physically 

and you can be sure of the 

intervention of God to put an 

end to the challenge. 

Do you know that 

challenges have been with 

Man for long but 

determination to set yourself 

free is so crucial to your 

liberty? 

Let’s consider one or two 

examples in the Holy Bible. 

We look at the activities of a 

King Herod as recorded in Act 

12 vs. 1-6. ( KJV) Here King 

Herod had killed James the 

brother of John. Then he 

went on to arrest Peter. 

Verses 4-6 gives us details of 

what Herod did with Apostle 

Peter .” And when he had 

apprehended him ( Peter), he 

put him in prison, and 

delivered him to four 

quaternions of soldiers to 

keep him; intending after 

Easter to bring him forth to 

the people. 

Herod planned to kill Peter 

as he did James because the 

death of James pleased h 

people. 

Peter therefore was kept in 

prison; but prayer was made 

without ceasing of the church 

unto God for him. And when 

Herod would have brought 

Determine in your 

heart that 2020 will 

not roll away 

without you 

receiving your 

miracle 

him forth, the same night Peter 

was sleeping between two 

soldiers, bound with two 

chains: and the keepers before 

the door kept the prison”. 

Verse 7 of the same chapter 

tells us : “ And, behold, the 

angel of the Lord came upon 

him, and a light shined in the 

prison: and he smote Peter on 

the side, and raised him up 

saying, Arise up quickly. And 

his chains fell off his hands”. 

Brethren, from this passage 

we see the power of prayer 

how it moved Divine 

intervention. 

In the name of Jesus, 

whatever the enemy has used 

to hold you down, physically 

or spiritually, the power of 

God will set you free in Jesus 

name. 

If the church prayed for Peter, 

you must imagine that Peter 

too must have prayed 

earnestly. Why? Peter would 

not want to be killed like 

James. Secondly, he couldn’t 

have enjoyed staying behind 

bars. Therefore, he too must 

have prayed. 

Are you saying that you 

have no intercessor? You have. 

Luke 4 vs. 18 ( KJV)Our Lord 

Jesus said : “ The Spirit of the 

Lord is upon me, because he 

hath anointed me to preach 

the gospel to the poor; he hath 

sent me to heal the broken 

hearted, to preach deliverance 

to the captives, and recovering 

of sight to the blind, to set at 

liberty them that are bruised”. 

Are you broken hearted 

because of inability to 

conceive, is yours because 

medical science has written 

you off, is it because of series 

of miscarriages? . 

Is your challenge related to 

series of broken 

relationships? Have your lost 

the peace in your marriage? 

Whatever it is, you have an 

intercessor in the Lord Jesus 

that is always around to heal 

the broken hearted. 

However, you must ask. You 

must be desirous to be free. 

Blind Bartimaeus is a good 

example of someone who was 

tired of his situation . 

Mark 10 verse 47 states of 

the action of blind 

Bartimaeus. “ And when he 

heard that it was Jesus of 

Nazareth, he began to cry out, 

and say, Jesus , thou son of 

David, have mercy on me”. 

His desperate cry got the 

attention of the Lord Jesus . 

As you spend quality time 

in prayer pouring out your 

heart to the Lord as Hannah 

did, you will receive the 

attention of the Lord in Jesus 

name. 

Note that there were people 

around the Lord who felt that 

the cry of blind Bartimaeus 

was a distraction to them and 

to the Lord. 

Nevertheless, he got the 

attention of the Lord. 

Verse 49- 52 tells us how 

Jesus reacted and the result 

that blind Bartimaeus got. 

“ And Jesus stood still, and 

commanded him to be called. 

And they call the blind man, 

saying unto him, Be of good 

comfort, rise; he calleth thee. 

And he, casting away his 

garment, rose, and came to 

Jesus . And Jesus answered 

and said unto him, What wilt 

thou that I should do unto 

thee? The blind man said unto 

him, Lord, that I might receive 

my sight. 

And Jesus said unto him, Go 

thy way; thy faith hath made 

thee whole. And immediately, 

he received his sight, and 

followed Jesus in the way”. 

Brethren, make up your 

mind to be free from bondage 

like Hannah, like blind 

Bartimaeus and the Lord 

will set you free. 

You may experience some 

discomfort while crying unto 

the Lord, you may even be 

mocked , just remain focused 

as you cry unto the Lord that 

can set you free. 

Determine in your heart 

that 2020 will not roll away 

without you receiving your 

miracle. 

Be prepared to sacrifice time 

and some of the pleasure of 

life. Spend more time, 

praying. Fast if your health 

permits and the merciful Lord 

will grant your heart’s desires 

in Jesus name. 

Whatever you lack today, be 

assured that Jehovah El- 

Shaddai is able to give you 

more than enough.Very soon, 

you that is being called 

barren will soon be called 

mother of twins. 

Your testimony shall be 

better than that of Hannah. 

Only believe and act your 

faith. 

It is well in Jesus name.

PAGE 12 , SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2020 

•Nkechi 

By Funmi Ajumobi 

emember the story of Mrs. Nwadise 

RNkechi Philomena, Visually impaired 

widow who hails from Ogwashi-Uku in 

Aniocha Local Government Area of Delta 

State. 

On August 23, 2020, Sunday Vanguard 

published the story of how she was given quit 

notice from a church property where she had 

resided and the new pastor who did not know 

her story threatened to bring the police to 

throw her out? 

The situation of the widow, popularly known 

as Mummy Favour, was disclosed to us by an 

NGO, Dew Drops Development Foundation. 

Narrating her story at that time, she cried to 

kind hearted Nigerians and Governor Ifeanyi 

Okowa of her home state, Delta, to rescue her. 

After the publication, a man of God who 

read the story in the far away Ireland came to 

her rescue. 

No one needs to ask her if she was happy 

with her new status because she was full of 

smiles when Sunday Vanguard visited her in 

her new home provided by the man of God in 

Ikorodu, Lagos State. 

Her way to victory 

“I don’t know how to say thank you to 

Vanguard and my sister (reporter). You are 

For over N12trn abandoned projects, new day beckons 

By Nnamdi Ojiego 

For ages, the story of project 

management in Nigeria hasn’t been a 

cheering one. 

It is nothing short of moderate success as 

many projects across the country hardly record 

100 percent completion. 

Owing to systemic failure, poor planning, 

and inefficient management, projects in 

Nigeria record about 60 percent failure. 

This is a fact that practitioners and outsiders 

hardly disagree on. 

Given that billions are invested with little 

results, the situation, which isn’t peculiar to 

Nigeria, is saddening. 

Project management is an innovative 

management practice that tends to achieve 

stated or specified objectives within a specific 

time and budget limits through optimum use 

of resources. 

Sadly, the reverse is obtainable in Nigeria 

where abandoned infrastructural projects such 

as houses, school buildings, power plants, 

dams, rail lines and roads among others litter 

its length and breadth. 

Trillions 

A presidential committee in 2011, had 

reported that the number of abandoned federal 

government projects in Nigeria were 

11,886. 

The 20-man Ibrahim Bunu-led Projects 

Assessment Committee put an estimated 

cost of N7.78 trillion on the abandoned 

projects. 

Also, in 2017, the Chartered Institute 

of Project Management of Nigeria, 

CIPMN, based on its survey, put the 

number of abandoned projects in the 

country at 56,000. 

According to the institute, the projects 

were worth over N12 trillion. 

Yet, with every change in government 

comes fresh promises of infrastructure 

development and completion of abandoned 

projects. 

Large sums of money are allocated for this 

purpose and contracts are awarded to different 

local and multinational companies. 

This has become a big problem for Nigeria 

as the cost of the abandonment does not only 

Visually impaired: Man of God helped 

me after church threw me out of home 

my sister for life”, she said when Sunday 

Vanguard arrived at the home. 

“I have nothing but what you have done, 

you don’t know it. Only I know. The night 

before Mrs. Bakare, the founder of an NGO, 

introduced you to me, I cried till morning for 

God to intervene in my situation so I won’t be 

thrown out of the house. 

“I didn’t know God had already prepared 

someone somewhere for me. 

“The moment I asked God had answered 

but fear of the unknown nearly killed me. 

“In the morning, Mrs Bakare came to say 

someone was coming from Vanguard to 

interview me and that was when I quickly 

prepared and you were asking me questions 

which I didn’t know the outcome until August 

23, 2020 which I will never forget in my life. 

“A woman, a church member 

rushed down and asked why I had 

to talk to a newspaper about my 

situation and the husband also 

called about the publication. 

“I told them that I had to cry to 

good hearted Nigerians to help me 

because they (church members) 

could not help me. 

“I also asked them where the 

church wanted me to go. The man 

said it was okay but I shouldn’t have 

done that and that since I had 

money for publication that was 

worth N600, 000, I should have 

used it to rent an apartment. They 

didn’t know it was God that did it 

for me. 

“Anything that is your heart’s 

desire, before you ask it, God will 

supply to you because you have 

done this for me. Vanguard will 

continue to grow from strength to 

strength. 

“I’m sleeping very well now. No more one 

eye closed and one eye opened. 

“I now live in a self -contained apartment, 

well tiled with burglary proof everywhere for 

my safety, it is like I am dreaming. 

“I always ask my daughter whenever I feel 

something to tell me what it is and how does 

it look? The colour of the tiles. 

“Aunty Funmi, you need to check the kitchen 

and the room well tiled. It’s like I’m in heaven 

affect the economy, it retards growth and 

development. 

Causes 

This mass failure of public projects over the 

years was blamed on inadequate budgetary 

provision, poor project conceptualisation, 

institutional weakness, and corruption by the 

Bunu-led committee. 

Other factors identified include lack of 

accountability, inadequate monitoring 

instruments, political instability, non-usage of 

accurate data, and inconsistent economic 

planning. 

Multiplier effect 

Over the years, experts have also observed 

that project abandonment has been left without 

adequate attention for too long, resulting in a 

multiplier effect on the construction industry 

in particular. 

To proffer a lasting solution, or at least, 

drastically reduce abandonment of projects 

in the country, President Muhammadu 

Buhari, recently, signed into law, the Chartered 

Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria, 

CIPMN. 

12 months 

The institute, which was established in line 

with Act 3, 2018, of the National Assembly, is 

the only statutory Project Management body, 

empowered by law in the country. 

compared to the former place. We moved in 

on October 30". 

Testimony 

Speaking on her good fortune, Mummy 

Fortune said, “A pastor from Ireland sent 

somebody to me at Surulere where I was 

staying and told me his pastor called him 

after reading a story in Vanguard and that 

he should come and confirm if it was true 

and if I was still staying there. 

“The man then called the pastor and 

gave me the phone to talk to him. “The 

pastor told me that he saw the story on 

the internet and he just scrolled past it 

but the Holy Spirit told him to read the 

story and make sure he took care of me 

and that was why he called to confirm. 

“He collected my phone 

number and that was how 

my turnaround started. “He 

instructed his church 

members in Ikorodu to look 

for an apartment for me 

and he paid. 

“He told me I shouldn’t 

bother about rent and 

promised to pay the rent 

every year. So, as I’m here 

now, it is like I am the 

landlady of this apartment. 

“He even told me to be 

managing this place for 

now and that he was going 

to get a better place for me 

when he returns to Nigeria. 

“Can you imagine what 

God has done for me? 

“I want all the people who 

know me in Surulere and 

my former church people to 

come and see where God has put me. 

“The kind hearted pastor even told me 

he will be giving me N15, 000 every month 

to maintain myself. 

“And he has given me two months 

already. He gave me in September and 

October. I’m now expecting the money for 

November like a salary earner. 

“Concerning my eyes, he said he will 

arrange for medical treatment which he 

Anything that is 

your heart’s 

desire, before 

you ask it, God 

will supply to 

you because 

you have done 

this for me 

Members of CIPMN Council and Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce, 

Otunba Niyi Adebayo, (4th right) during a courtesy visit to the minister. 

It is saddled with the responsibility of 

registering and disciplining members, 

licensing all practitioners; withdrawing of 

license of erring members, prohibiting nonregistered 

members from engaging or 

practicing Project Management in Nigeria, 

prohibiting non-registered members from 

being appointed, engaged or head any project 

management of any organisation, in private 

and public sectors, and to within 12 months 

after the commencement of the Act, register 

all Project Management professionals from 

abroad, who reside in Nigeria and wish to 

practice in the country. 

Act 

The Act also mandates CIPMN to accredit 

institutions of higher learning offering courses 

in Project Management leading to the award 

of a degree, supervise, regulate and train 

Project Management bodies and practitioners 

in Nigeria, and mobilise students who 

graduate from the Chartered Institute of 

Project Managers of Nigeria, after the final 

professional qualifying examination for the 

National Youth Service Service ,NYSC, 

among others. 

The institute has a council headed by Dr. 

Victoria Okoronkwo, to govern its affairs. 

Other members include the chairman, vice 

chairman, registrar, immediate past and 

present presidents and vice presidents of the 

institute, representatives of federal ministries 

of Finance, Works and Housing, Education, 

Industry, Trade and Investment, NACCIMAA, 

said he was going to pay for too when he 

returns to Nigeria after Covid-19 is over. 

“I thank God for how He has used him 

for me and what Vanguard has done for 

me. “Do you know how many stories are 

on the internet? Do you know how many 

stories Vanguard published that day and how 

many millions of people read my story that 

day and just flipped through? 

“But it took God to touch a person to help 

me. It is not that he is the richest man in the 

world or the richest man of God in the world 

but God touched his heart for me and I thank 

God that He yielded that day for my sake. 

“May God bless him. It is a sign that God 

knows and sees him in his little corner as a 

pastor. 

Help from 

former church 

The blind widow also spoke on the 

intervention of the General Overseer of 

her former church after reading her story 

in Vanguard: “Our General Overseer sent 

an elder from the church to come and see 

me after the publication and he said I 

should not worry as they will get a better 

place for me. 

“I waited and later they came and told 

me that they got a place for N400, 000 

but I told them to give me the money so I 

can get a place and pay after the rent 

expires. 

“They were holding meeting upon 

meeting and in the midst of this, God sent 

this pastor from Ireland to take care of 

me. “The kind hearted man of God had 

paid my rent when my church finally 

decided to give me N300, 000. I thank 

our General Overseer for the kind gesture. 

May God bless him”. 

Mrs. Nwadise thanked all kindhearted 

people that sent tokens to her account 

when they read her story, but still pleaded 

with them not to leave her alone. 

She needs upholstery, fan, radio to listen to 

news and television to keep her neighbor’s 

children who come to play with her busy. 

Her account is Nwadise Philomena Nkechi, 

GT Bank Acct 0114691234 

and members from the six geo-political zones 

of the county. Like every other professional 

body, membership of CIPMN includes fellow 

members, reserved for those with high 

professional or administrative standing, 

chartered, associate, graduate and student 

members. 

There are also honorary fellowships, 

awarded at the institute’s discretion for persons 

of distinction, and corporate members for an 

employer of labour. 

Speaking on what CIPMN holds for 

Nigeria, the Registrar of the institute, Mr. 

Henry Mbadiwe, said to achieve the lofty 

objectives of the agency, CIPMN has created 

a new Project Management delivery 

methodology. 

He said it is unique to Nigeria and would 

ensure the days of abandoned projects are over. 

According to him,”this is a methodology that 

takes into consideration Nigeria’s unique 

ethnic, religious, political and cultural 

diversities and how it impacts project delivery 

within Nigeria. Our DUCAP Methodology has 

been developed with insights from Project 

Managers, consultants, subject matter experts 

in different project delivery sectors, 

educationalists and other project delivery 

stakeholders in Nigeria. 

”The methodology has also seen a wealth 

of experience from contributors as regards the 

challenges of delivering projects in Nigeria 

and Africa at large and it is underpinned by 

four key elements namely pillar element, 

activity element, process element and vision 

element. The learning has also been taken 

from the PRINCE 2, PMP and Agile 

methodologies. 

”A full saturation of this methodology will 

see the days of abandoned projects in Nigeria 

come to an end. This project delivery 

methodology was wholly developed in 

Nigeria by Nigerians for Nigeria and Africa 

at large.” 

Meanwhile, the regulatory body would on 

December 3, 2020, hold its annual training 

and induction of new members in Abuja. 

The event is scheduled to commence at 9: 

am at the Aso Hall, International Conference 

Centre. Paper presentation and training would 

centre on adapting Project Management 

methodologies to suit Nigeria’s unique 

environment.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2020,PAGE 13 

RECESSION: 

NASS may reduce 428 federal 

ministries, depts, agencies 

-- Reps spokesperson 

•Says those querying legislature’s budget 

of N128bn, lawmakers ‘jumbo’ salaries 

unintelligent 

•‘How we will review Constitution’ 

•#EndSARS: Our position on protesters 

By Levinus Nwabughiogu 

The National Assembly is contemplating a reduction in the number of federal ministries, 

departments and agencies (MDAs) in the country to save cost of running government, 

according to Hon. Benjamin Kalu (Bende Federal Constituency of Abia State), spokesman for 

the House of Representatives. 

There are at least 428 federal MDAs in Nigeria. Kalu spoke to Sunday Vanguard on 

the heels of the second economic recession in Nigeria in five years. 

“To be honest, some of the MDAs are mere duplications and the National 

Assembly is looking at them. We can consolidate on the functions of 

the MDAs to reduce cost”, he said. 

The spokesperson also speaks on how NASS will carry out 

constitutional amendment, the legislature’s budget of N128billion, 

lawmakers’ ‘jumbo’ salaries, the backlash against protesters 

involved in #EndSARS and the role federal lawmakers will play 

in rebuilding states where properties were destroyed by hoodlums 

in the course of the protests among other issues. Excerpts: 

What’s your assessment of the 2021 

budget defense sessions? Do you 

entertain any misgiving? 

I must commend the executive for taking 

the budget presentation and defense 

seriously the same way the head of 

government took it seriously and kept to 

the calendar of presenting it early enough 

for us to work on it and get it back to the 

public at the beginning of next year and I 

am impressed that they took a cue from there 

and they have been coming. We just met with 

the Minister of Agriculture who did not send 

his perm sec to us. He came himself. The 

other day we met with Works and Housing 

Minister Fashola who did not send anybody 

but came himself and I can go on and on. 

The Minister of Health was with us the other 

day. All hands appear to be on deck to reverse 

the budget calendar from what it used to be 

to January to December in 2021 which is 

healthy for our economy. 

On the other side, what I have not observed 

so well is the impact of what COVID-19 

brought on the budget. I have not seen the 

MDAs integrating the innovations 

introduced by COVID-19 in their budgets 

which include the use of technology to reduce 

cost especially on virtual meetings to reduce 

trips and travels. If you put the amounts in 

the MDAs together and the amount 

appropriated yearly on local travels and 

international travels, you will see that it is 

very huge and with technology we can save 

50% of the amount we are currently spending 

on local trips and the rest of them. I have 

also not seen reductions in international 

travels. Most of the universities across the 

world, Harvard, Oxford, have gone online 

for their trainings, it doesn’t reduce their 

credibility, it doesn’t reduce the efficiency 

of the work they are doing with their students 

and so why are we not adopting that 

approach to training? 

I have also seen that some people come to 

us not prepared. They come with the mindset 

that the National Assembly don’t know what 

to look out for, they are not as thorough as 

they ought to be and so they will do any 

garbage in, garbage out and they expect us 

to accept it, the numbers are not adding up, 

their extra budgetary expenses, we don’t do 

that; we call them to order and make sure 

those things are taken care of. So, generally, 

there is a big cooperation between the 

National Assembly and the executive in this 

budget defense. 

There are four hundred and something 

agencies. In the course of this budget 

presentation, was there any thoughts by 

law makers to tinker with the number? 

To be honest, some of the agencies are 

Do you know that 

lawmakers borrow 

money to add to what 

they get here to be 

able to solve the 

needs in their various 

constituencies? 

mere duplications and the National 

Assembly is looking at them. We can 

consolidate on the functions of the agencies 

to reduce cost. The present economic 

leadership philosophy is to block leakages 

of revenue and reduce cost of governance 

and also finish up projects that are ongoing 

as against getting involved in brand new 

ones. Now based on that, it calls for 

restructuring where necessary to achieve 

cost reduction expectations of this 

government. There are two or three agencies 

that could come under one, it is one of the 

things the House is going to look at through 

motions and resolutions or the Acts that 

established some of the agencies and see 

how we can collapse them by repealing or 

amending the Acts for the sake of better 

control, efficient work and higher 

productivity as well as reducing cost and 

that is the yearning of Nigerians because 

we have so many petitions telling us that we 

have too many agencies doing similar jobs. 

But you know, it takes time and the situation 

was not created by this government. 

The budget of the Presidency; of the 

President and his Vice on travels is still 

high as it used to be in previous years. So 

talking about cost reduction, would you 

want to reduce that as a parliament or leave 

•Kalu 

it as it used to be? 

Our job as the National Assembly is to be 

the watchdog and we have oversight 

functions. Our job is to look at the numbers 

before us, it doesn’t have to be the President 

and the Vice President or the agencies of 

government, nevertheless, we deal with the 

judiciary as well as the executive, we look at 

the numbers that they are bringing to us and 

see how workable those numbers are in view 

of the challenging times and, if they are 

workable, we allow it, but if they are not 

sustainable, we say no to them and I am 

sure that is why the electorate elected us and 

this is for the interest of the people. It is not 

an attack, or to create acrimony or rancor; 

no, it is for the interest of the tax payers who 

have given us that confidence of overseeing, 

looking after their hard earned money. 

Constitutional amendment is here again 

and many Nigerians feel that the 

recommendations of the 2014 National 

Conference which many think may have 

the solution to the clamor for restructuring 

should be adopted. How is this 

constitutional amendment going to 

incorporate some of these yearnings as put 

together in the 2014 National Conference? 

In amending a Constitution, so many 

things come into play and information is 

harnessed to educate the framers of the 

Constitution, to educate the drafters of the 

Constitution, to educate the people 

amending the Constitution or reviewers of 

the Constitution. Constitution review is not 

something you just do, there is a template. It 

is a matter of understanding the wishes of 

the people. How do you harvest the desires 

of the people? It is by going into what has 

happened before that was documented. So, 

the report of the Constitutional Conference, 

if need be, would be called into use, the 

opinion of the public, if need be, would be 

called into use. Remember, people are going 

to send in memoranda and they will be 

collated, analyzed and incorporated into the 

process. So, no stone is going to be left 

unturned during this constitutional 

amendment. This constitutional review 

committee which I am a member of will 

reflect that. 

The #EndSARS protests that erupted 

recently in parts of the country rattled the 

National Assembly and the Presidency, 

and the Federal Government appears 

poised to prosecute some of the promoters. 

Does that sit well with the House? 

I don’t think you got the Federal 

Government right. The Federal Government 

will never prosecute those who are expressing 

their rights constitutionally. There is a 

difference between those who protested and 

those who were vandals. There is a 

difference between those who protested and 

the honour of what they believe in for there 

to be change and as citizens they own that 

right; freedom of expression, freedom of 

association as allowed by the Constitution. 

Nobody can deny them that right. But if in 

the expression of that right, you stepped on 

the toes of the law, the limitation of your 

right is the commencement of the right of 

the other person. Therefore in exercising 

your freedom of association or freedom of 

expression you must have at the back of your 

mind the dictates of the law. 

So the National Assembly will never 

support any attempt to silence those 

expressing their rights under the 

Constitution, no. But the National Assembly 

will support every move against hoodlums. 

The real protesters did not destroy 

properties, the real protesters did not burn 

down houses, the real protesters did not 

cause havoc but those ones who came and 

infiltrated the camp and started destroying 

cars, houses and all the rest of them, they 

should be prosecuted and the National 

Assembly will support their prosecution. 

In rebuilding the worst hit states, what 

role will the House play? 

It is taking interventions that will enable 

the executive to have the backing of the law 

to specially intervene where was greatly 

impacted. So any collaboration that the 

executive may demand from the House, we 

are willing to do it to make sure we rebuild 

our nation. 

How much does an average lawmaker 

in National Assembly take home as salary? 

I am not the institution. The institution is 

sitting on a tripod; the Senate, the 

Management and the House of 

Representatives. My answer will be different 

from the answer of a senator and the answer 

of the person that is working in 

Management. The Revenue Mobilization 

and Fiscal Commission; these things are 

tabled there. Go to the Management, the 

Clerk of the National Assembly is here and 

request for it and it will be given to you. But 

suffice to say it is very painful that Nigerians 

are not asking the right questions. We are 

known all over the world as very smart 

people and how come when it comes to this 

topic we pretend unintelligent? Why do we 

have this question coming up over and over 

again because of N128billion allocated to 

an arm of government, not a ministry, not a 

department of government, not an agency 

of government, a full arm of government? 

The budget of Nigeria, if shared to the three 

arms of government, do you think the 

National Assembly will be getting 

N128billion? This arm is the same as the 

executive arm and the judiciary. They are at 

the same level, on the same platform. None 

is greater than the other and Nigerians have 

not deemed it right to look at the percentage 

representation of their money, where it is 

going to and they are focusing on 

N128billion out of N13trillion. N128billion 

is about 0.8% of the entire national budget. 

Now tell me, you are looking for your money 

and you leave 99.02% of the money and you 

are spending two, three years looking at 

0.8%? Nigerians should start asking the right 

questions. They should ask what is 

happening to the 99.02% which is with the 

executive and these agencies that you 

mentioned. 

Do you know that law makers borrow 

money to add to what they get here to be 

able to solve the needs in their various 

constituencies because the expectations 

are high and the resources are low? 

•In part two of interview next week, the 

House spokesperson speaks on the 

defection of Governor Dave Umahi of 

Ebonyi State from PDP to APC and the 

politics of Igbo presidency among other 

issues


Senate screening of INEC 

chairmanship nominee 

For the first time in 

Nigeria’s recent 

political history, the 

Senate of the Federal 

Republic appears to have 

placed commensurate 

premium on the importance 

of screening nominees of 

the President for certain 

positions. The assignment is 

indeed crucial because it is 

a constitutional 

requirement which is 

designed to ensure that any 

such nominee is a fit and 

proper person to occupy the 

office for which he/she has 

been nominated. Last week, 

the Senate committee on 

INEC was busy screening 

the former chairman of the 

Independent National 

Electoral Commission, 

Prof. Mahmood Yakubu 

who has been re-nominated 

for another term as INEC 

chair. From media 

coverage of the screening, 

it is observed that some of 

the issues bothering the 

general public about free 

and fair elections were 

interrogated. The benefits 

derivable from the 

screening are many. To start 

with, if the nominee scales 

through the exercise, the 

issues he had to explain 

would to a large extent 

serve as a veritable guide to 

his conduct in office. 

Secondly, the exercise 

would also sensitize all 

other nominees in future on 

the need to be conscious of 

the essence of 

accountability in office. 

One can therefore conclude 

that if Yakubu is given 

another term of office, one 

of the things he would 

guard jealousy would be 

postponement of elections. 

The high level of remorse 

he exhibited during the 

screening over the 

postponement of the 2019 

general elections by one 

week depicted a man who 

learnt a major lesson. We 

hope he would extend that 

to all elections irrespective 

of their nature, scope or 

level. Bearing in mind that 

there were cases where 

election postponement was 

foisted on INEC, like the 

2016 Edo governorship, 

Yakubu will have no option 

than to acquire greater 

strength and foresight to be 

up and against big men in 

the corridors of power who 

can use their connections 

with security agencies to 

contrive postponements. It 

is also hoped that INEC 

would no longer be 

pressurized into indulging 

in the game of plotting 

inconclusive elections. 

Against this backdrop, we 

commend the Senate for 

presenting an ending signal 

to its obnoxious ‘bow and 

go’ approach which it 

normally invokes when the 

person concerned is well 

known to many senators. As 

we have always argued 

here; that approach is more 

or less an abuse of office 

because a constitutional 

assignment is not expected 

to be subjected to a 

discretion that cannot stand 

the test of time. For 

example, to excuse a 

particular nominee from 

screening on the ground 

that he or she was once a 

legislator makes little sense 

because the new office 

necessitating a screening 

exercise, is different from 

lawmaking. An outstanding 

former legislator may not 

be a good minister or 

chairman of a sensitive 

agency. Therefore, every 

nominee ought to be 

thoroughly screened and 

found to be satisfactory 

before approval. It is only 

under such circumstance 

that the senate can acquit 

itself creditably as working 

in harmony with the 

executive for the public 

good. Whenever it acts 

otherwise, the senate is 

usually seen as a mere 

stooge to the executive. But, 

if the senate establishes 

empirical criteria for 

screening nominees, the 

idea of a group of lobbyists 

often in the form of ‘rent a 

crowd’ as we saw last week 

purporting to be canvassing 

the successful screening of 

Prof Mahmood Yakubu as 

INEC chair would become 

superfluous. 

There are many 

Nigerians who are opposed 

to the continuation of Prof 

Yakubu as INEC chair. 

Many of them may have 

strong reasons for their 

position. But it would be 

wrong to assume that the 

man does not have his own 

strong points. One of the 

things Yakubu did 

admirably in his first 

As events have 

shown, our 

desperate 

politicians can 

tempt angels and 

make them falsify 

election results 

tenure was his ability to 

resist pressures from the 

ruling party on the fake 

party primaries which she 

claimed to have held in 

Zamfara in preparations 

for the 2019 elections. 

Many politicians and their 

political parties must have 

realized from the tough 

stance of the INEC chair 

that election rules and 

guidelines are not meant to 

be experimented upon. 

Thus, this writer and other 

Nigerians who are neither 

for nor against Yakubu’s 

reappointment, should 

commend him on that and 

call on him to endeavour to 

remain so and in ALL cases. 

In other words, our position 

is to be positive at all times 

and expect Yakubu to 

surprise those against him 

by putting forward a 

superlative performance if 

reappointed. With a 

previous 5-year tenure, the 

learned professor would 

come into office for the 

second term with a 

quantum of experience to 

turn around our electoral 

fortune. 

What we have said so far 

suggests that he has to be 

quite innovative as he 

cannot afford to do the 

same things he did before 

and expect different results. 

For instance, it is not 

enough to recruit vice 

chancellors and university 

professors as returning 

officers and assume that 

all will be well. As events 

have shown, our desperate 

politicians can tempt 

angels and make them 

falsify election results. This 

is why all efforts must be 

made to fortify the system 

with modern methods of 

election management. 

Hence, the most enduring 

pledge Yakubu made 

during his screening was his 

determination to 

meticulously follow the 

incremental introduction of 

technology to the conduct 

of elections during his 

tenure. We have no doubt 

whatsoever that Nigeria is 

overdue for that. Already, 

we have seen how the 

introduction of the election 

viewing portal transformed 

INEC performance in the 

recent governorship 

elections in Edo and Ondo 

states. The numerous 

experts in election rigging 

sent packing by that piece 

of technology is a pointer 

to the fact that INEC needs 

to progressively discard the 

old analogue election 

monitoring system of 

gathering thousands of 

security operatives who 

often further complicate 

our election process. 

Accordingly, in the next set 

of elections well before 

2023, INEC must embrace 

the use of Z-pad and never 

again allow anybody 

including legislators to 

distort her well-organized 

template 

Such a template must no 

doubt include a greater 

assertive attempt at dealing 

with the issue of election 

offences. While we 

recognize that INEC may 

not have gotten all the 

support, she requires from 

the law enforcement 

agencies and the judiciary, 

we are not convinced that 

she has on her own evolved 

a uniform robust platform 

for the subject. This is the 

only way to interpret the 

trend whereby the only 

place where some work 

appears to be going on now 

is Akwa Ibom where the 

indefatigable Mike Igini is 

in charge. What about other 

areas where many election 

officials were found to have 

colluded with politicians to 

obstruct free and fair 

process? If the prosecution 

of election offenders going 

on now in Uyo is also 

happening elsewhere, it 

needs to be publicized for 

effect. If not, INEC officials 

in all the states must rise up 

and adopt a zero-tolerance 

approach to election 

offences to dissuade those 

who believe in winning 

elections through rigging. 

As more and more people 

continue to point accusing 

fingers at our politicians for 

leading those frustrating 

free and fair elections in 

Nigeria, we join Prof 

Mahmood Yakubu to 

appeal to our legislators to 

without further delay, give 

INEC a better Electoral Act 

to operate with. 

PhD,Department of 

Philosophy, 

University of Lagos 

08116759758 

opuruiche2000@gmail.com 

Futility of shaming the 

shameless 

That the creation of 

Nigeria by imperialist 

Britain is founded on a grossly 

flawed moral foundation and 

that perpetuation of the 

colonial amalgam entails 

prolongation of one of the 

grossest historical instances 

of British political 

gerrymandering in Africa is 

beyond dispute. One does not 

need to be an erudite historian 

like Kenneth Onwuka Dike, 

J.F.K. Ade-Ajayi or Tekena 

Tamuno to arrive at that 

conclusion after reading 

historical source materials 

containing details of how 

British colonial officials 

assisted by efulefus and ndi 

iberibe in the local 

populations treacherously 

brought together multiply 

plural ethnic nationalities to 

form the unwieldy amalgam 

initially called Niger area. On 

that basis, it is largely correct 

to claim that the intractable 

problem of transforming 

Nigeria into a united, strong 

and prosperous country is 

traceable to the faulty 

foundation on which she was 

constructed. Again, just as the 

rustic Islamic education 

introduced into what later 

became northern Nigeria by 

the arch jihadist, Usman Dan 

Fodio, and the one brought 

into the south by European 

missionaries were intended to 

keep the indigenous peoples 

mentally enslaved, Britain 

created Nigeria to serve the 

interests of the British Crown. 

The ugly situation has 

remained relatively 

unchanged after she attained 

what is essentially a flag 

independence more than sixty 

years ago. To bring this point 

into prominent relief, 

remember that the United 

States of America was a 

British colony until July 4, 

1776 when the thirteen 

American colonies defeated 

Britain and regarded 

themselves as sovereign states 

no longer under colonial rule. 

Presently, Britain is behind the 

US in terms of power, 

influence and prestige at the 

international stage whereas 

Nigeria, still battling with the 

teething problems of nationbuilding, 

is tied to the 

exploitative neo-colonialist 

apron-strings of her former 

colonial master to the extent 

that the Nigerian ruling class 

dominated by Fulani 

caliphate colonialists and 

their lackeys from the south 

continuously take dictations 

from number 10 Downing 

street, London. Therefore, it is 

not surprising that the current 

federal government of the All 

Progressives Congress (APC), 

like a child with severe 

congenital abnormalities, 

relies a lot on the British 

establishment for protection 

and support, which partly 

explains why Nigeria has 

It is largely correct to 

claim that the 

intractable problem of 

transforming Nigeria 

into a united, strong 

and prosperous 

country is traceable to 

the faulty foundation 

on which she was 

constructed 

regressed considerably since 

2015 when the ageing retired 

soldier, Maj. Gen. 

Muhammadu Buhari, 

replaced Dr. Goodluck 

Jonathan as President. It must 

be mentioned in passing that 

under Buhari the APC has 

almost mutated completely 

into what the Northern Peoples 

Congress (NPC) represented 

in the First Republic, that is, 

the undisputed champion of 

northern interests above all 

else. 

Unrelenting leadership 

blizzard in Nigeria was the 

focus of the little but forthright 

book, The Trouble with 

Nigeria, written by the late 

distinguished African novelist, 

Prof. Chinua Achebe. In that 

book, Achebe placed the 

problem of arrested 

development in the country 

squarely on the doorstep of 

successive incompetent 

political leadership whose 

principal actors were 

motivated primarily by the 

craving for selfaggrandisement 

and 

primitive accumulation. Prof. 

Achebe reiterated the same 

theme very briefly in There was 

a Country, but it appears that 

key players in Nigerian 

politics either have not read 

Achebe’s works or merely read 

through them for reading 

sake without seriously 

engaging and internalising 

the serious points he raised 

therein considering that the 

quality of leadership has 

grown progressively worse 

since Achebe’s books were 

published. I suspect that 

amongst those occupying top 

political positions at the 

moment President Buhari is 

not the only one that does not 

read, as the loquacious 

Rotimi Amaechi unwittingly 

revealed in a video footage 

that went viral last year or so. 

On the contrary one can 

safely bet that from the 

President through the top 

leadership of the three arms 

of government down to the 

local government level none 

of them have read from cover 

to cover any great book on 

political philosophy and 

leadership written by 

transformational leaders 

such as Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, 

Chief Obafemi Awolowo, 

Julius Nyerere and Lee Kuan 

Yew. In other words, at the 

highest levels of governance 

Nigeria is ruled by men (and 

few women) whose minds are 

bereft of deep knowledge and 

wisdom derivable from great 

literature, of relevant 

pragmatic ideas, policies and 

efficient implementation 

strategies that can transform 

the country from the poverty 

capital of the world into 

Africa’s version of Japan or 

the United States. 

It is evident to any 

discerning mind not 

beclouded by the deadweight 

of ethnicity, religion and other 

intellectual toxins that 

members of the ruling elite at 

all levels of governance are 

shameless. Now, the word 

‘shame’ describes the 

uncomfortable feeling one 

experiences when he (or she) 

knows that he has done 

something wrong or 

embarrassing, or when he 

knows that someone close to 

him has. When someone does 

not feel ashamed of a wrong 

or immoral act either 

committed by himself or 

someone close to him, the 

person is rightly described as 

‘shameless’ which, in the 

relevant context, is the 

opposite of ‘shame.’ It is clear 

from the foregoing that the 

feeling of shame is connected 

to the capacity for self-censure 

derived from the innate 

human capacity for morality 

activated and given practical 

significance in the course of 

socialisation within the 

family, educational and 

religious institutions etc. This 

means that the feeling of 

shame, when genuine, is an 

inward acknowledgement 

that one has fallen short of 

expected standard of 

behaviour which is a 

prerequisite for sincere 

remorse. On the other hand, 

anyone that is incapable of 

feeling ashamed or habitually 

pretends to be is a moral 

degenerate who cannot be 

relied upon to act in 

accordance with the 

fundamental principles of 

right and wrong. This 

becomes a matter of great 

concern if the person in 

question occupies leadership 

position in any sphere of 

human endeavour, especially 

politics. Keep in mind that 

shameless politicians are 

enabled, aided and abetted by 

journalists who, probably 

because of bribes or are unduly 

afraid of the repercussions for 

reporting or publishing 

unpalatable truths about 

those in power, use their 

vantage positions to suppress 

such information. 

In the months and weeks to 

the presidential elections in 

2015, there was a hurricane 

of allegations against the 

government of President 

Goodluck Jonathan. Chief 

Olusegun Obasanjo was at the 

forefront of the anyone-but- 

Jonathan crusade or jihad 

(depending on whether you 

are a christian or muslim), 

which included prominent 

Nigerians like Prof. Wole 

Soyinka, Bola Tinubu, Sanusi 

Lamido Sanusi, and a motley 

crowd of senior academics, 

the clergy, top players in 

different professions, 

celebrities, self-styled activists, 

and a cross section of 

Nigerians particularly in the 

north and south-west. On top 

of all this, the American 

government under President 

Barak Obama actively 

supported Buhari to the 

extent that Obama himself 

publicly endorsed APC’s 

propaganda of change, 

refused to sell arms to the 

Nigerian army to fight Boko 

Haram, and David Axelrod, 

Obama’s campaign 

manager, served as a 

consultant to Buhari’s 

campaign organisation. 

Even, prominent members of 

Jonathan’s party, the Peoples 

Democratic Party (PDP), 

decamped to Buhari’s APC all 

in a bid to return power to the 

north. And the shenanigans 

worked, although there were 

credible reports of massive 

underage voting and failure 

to use smart cards readers in 

most polling units in northern 

Nigeria. Let us be forthright 

about this: Muhammadu 

Buhari emerged President 

through an election that was 

marred by serious verifiable 

allegations of voter fraud and 

irregularities which became 

amplified in 2019 when he 

was re-elected for another 

four years in office. 

To be continued

C 

M 

Y 

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2020, PAGE 15 

Marriage is no 

shopping mall 

—Dayo Amusa 

Delectable filmmaker and 

singer, Dayo Amusa, has 

undoubtedly propped up 

her credential as one of the box 

office queens of Nollywood as she 

has wowed movie lovers with 

blockbusters after blockbusters but 

the downside to the glowing story 

of the Lagos-born talent and 

Moshood Abiola Polytechnic 

graduate is her inability to replicate 

same in matrimony. 

For those who may be in the dark 

concerning the marital status of the 

screen goddess, she told Potpourri 

all about it in a recent interview. 

“No, I’m not married. I believe 

marriage is blessed by God and 

should be honoured by man but 

then it is not something one should 

rush into. It is not a shopping mall 

where you can just go into and buy 

or do some window shopping and 

leave when you are tired. Marriage 

should be done right. Don’t worry, 

you will hear a wedding bell soon. 

Concerning sex, the actress 

expressed her opinion on one of her 

numerous Instagram posts and it 

does appear she’s rather worldly 

•Purfcie Conna 

TN Nigeria unveiled a new campaign for 

Mits youth proposition, MTN Pulse at an 

exclusive listening parley on Friday, November 27, 

2020. 

The campaign tagged #DoYou features a 

television commercial and radio jingle which 

encourage Nigerian youths to embrace authenticity 

and push for their dreams. Singing sensation, 

Joeboy was also unveiled as a brand ambassador 

for MTN Pulse. 

The well-attended event was hosted by media 

personality and event host, Biodun Laaro with 

appearances by celebrities including popular 

musician JoeyBoy, BB Naija’s Ozoemena Chukwu 

and Nengi Hampton, YouTube personality, Fisayo 

Fosudo, personal finance expert, Tosin Olaseinde 

among others. 

•Dayo Amusa 

about it. 

“I just wrote all I understand about 

sex in that Instagram post. I wrote 

that sex is good and unique. If you 

are lucky to have very good sex you 

will come alive. It boosts confidence 

of a woman because she will be 

happy and smile from 

inside,” she said 

When asked how 

often she gets laid, “I 

wouldn’t talk about 

that, lips sealed” she 

jokingly replied. 

Ghanaian actress, 

Purfcie Conna’s 

booty pictures that 

shook internet 

G 

hanaian actress who also doubles as 

marketing and business executive, sent 

the Internet into a meltdown when she released 

a series of raunchy booty-flaunting pictures 

to mark her birthday a week ago. The 

pictures set adrift a wave of 

comments that were as wild 

as they were untoward. 

But interestingly, 

Purfcie is still a 

virgin, if a 

statement she 

made to Potpourri 

a couple of years 

back is anything 

to go by. 

“Yes, I’m a 

virgin. I know 

people don’t 

believe it but it’s 

true. I have never 

had sex before. I just 

don’t do it,” she stated 

emphatically. You can say I 

attached religion to it because 

Bible wise ,God said we 

shouldn’t have sex before 

marriage. And that’s my 

policy till I marry,” she had 

said and she is still very 

single. 

MTN revamps “Pulse” Proposition, unveils 

Joeboy as brand ambassador 

Leveraging the diversity of the Nigerian youth, 

their varying interests and strong desire for 

significance, the revamped Pulse proposition 

empowers young people with lower call and data 

rates with social media bundles starting from 

N200. 

While unveiling the revamped Pulse plan, 

Oluwole Rawa, General Manager, Consumer 

Marketing, MTN Nigeria, reaffirmed the 

company’s commitment to provide Nigerian 

youths with the required support to showcase their 

creativity. He added that, “At MTN Nigeria, we 

fully comprehend the need for youths to express 

their creativity and use their voices.” 

MTN Pulse is a prepaid tariff plan that allows 

customers to enjoy a flat rate of 11.26k/sec for calls 

across all local networks in Nigeria and nightlife 

bundles of up to 2GB for N200. 

•Joeboy 

Many think actresses 

prostitute —Joke Lawal 

n-the-rise actress, Joke Lawal, is 

Oliving up to the title bestowed 

on her in 2016 as Nollywood New 

Bride by White Cowry Awards, as the 

one-time City People Awards 

nominee is rapidly becoming a force 

to reckon with in the makebelieve 

world. The Moshood 

Abiola Polytechnic graduate 

who dumped her degree in 

Business Administration in 

pursuit of her passion for 

acting in a chat with 

Potpourri has revealed 

what she hates about 

being an actress and what 

she would love to see 

change in the movie 

making landscape. 

“I would like to 

c h a n g e 

people’s 

perception of 

actresses. A lot 

of people 

think of 

actresses as 

prostitutes, they see 

us as people who are 

not worthy of 

marriage and 

having a 

family. If I 

•Joke Lawal 

•Julie 

Akpan 

have the power, 

this is something I will like to 

change. I will also like to see a 

change in the way our stories are 

written and interpreted, and in the 

quality of our film productions. 

Another thing I would like to 

change too is, how poorly actors 

are paid. As a producer I will like a 

situation where I can pay every 

actor that works on my project even 

if the person acts in just one scene. 

As an upcoming actress I acted in 

movies and didn’t get paid but 

because I was still new in the 

industry I didn’t have a choice. God 

help me, these are things I will like 

to change in the movie industry,” 

she said. 

The actress also explained why 

actors in the English-speaking 

sector appear to be more affluent 

and comfortable than their Yorubaspeaking 

counterparts 

“In the Yoruba part of the 

industry, some people have the idea 

of doing what I call padi 

padi, where, for example, I work 

on your production for free and you 

will do the same for me. I don’t 

really like that idea but then I have 

some people that I work for without 

collecting money because it is my 

way of appreciating them for giving 

me opportunities in the past. 

Meanwhile, I have acted in some 

English series like Hustle, 

Battleground and others and I got 

paid for my work. 

Joke Lawal began acting in 2009 

and has featured in films like 

‘Alayaki , Aye La Bowo and many 

others, but, it was the movie 

‘Campus Life’ that shot her into the 

limelight. 

Beauty has 

nothing to do 

with being sexy 

—Julie Akpan 

J 

ulie Akpan has a lot of reasons to 

cheer and be happy about as 

a Nollywood actress. In spite of 

having been just five years on the 

scene Miss Akpan has entrenched 

her footprints on the landscape 

in pomp and pride. In a matter 

of days, two films produced by 

her, titled Sister’s Plot and 

Intimacy, will go live on 

YouTube. Recently she spoke 

with Potpourri on some 

topical issues. 

On beauty and being sexy, 

she opines, “I don’t think 

being sexy has much to do with 

appearance alone or beauty because while 

beauty attracts, beauty in itself is not sexy. 

Many women tried to be sexy but failed 

because this isn’t something that can be 

practiced or faked. In my opinion, being sexy 

is more than just the appearance or the body of 

a person. Being sexy means being genuinely 

confident and positive, intelligent and proud 

of being who you are, and being able to take 

control of your life.” 

On her opinion on sex, marriage and 

relationships, she said, “ For me, sex is an 

exercise one gets to enjoy with your partner, 

someone you have feelings for, basically for 

adult, that is when it’s enjoyable. Marriage, 

on the other hand is a good thing but I must 

say is not meant for everyone because 

marriage is a necessity but not compulsory. 

On the other hand, a relationship is a normal 

thing,but it also depends on the kind of 

relationship we are talking about here, but 

whichever, it’s good for one to get involved.” 

Julie Akpan was born Juliet Akpan Daniel 

and has featured in films like Princess River, 

Against the Odds, Spiritual Wife, Material 

Wife, Impotent Alhaji, Sensation and many 

more.

C 

M 

Y 

K 

PAGE 16 —SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2020 

Who would a husband defend – His wife or the mistress!? 

Lately, I’d been regaling 

Dolapo, a former 

colleague’s FWB (friends with 

benefits) of decades, with tales 

of the escapades of some of my 

darling friends in recent 

months – especially in the last 

few weeks when a couple of 

them had virtually burnt their 

fingers with the spouses of their 

‘bits-on-the-side’. A few weeks 

after one of them, Kadijat had 

her annual birthday bash, when 

she almost got into hot water 

when Rex, her husband, who 

travelled showed up 

unexpectedly. It was a miracle 

that her friends helped her save 

her face. Two weeks later, she 

visited Jake, her lover and the 

‘co-sponsor’ of her party. 

He had conveniently 

disappeared from the scene as 

soon as he saw Rex, to avoid 

any embarrassment. “It was the 

first time we would have a 

decent chat after the party”, 

Kadijat explained, “and we 

were theorizing on what could 

have happened if we’d been 

caught red handed by Rex, when 

Jake’s wife virtually burst into 

his office. I’d seen her vaguely 

at one or two parties, sullenly 

looking my way as if daring me 

to say something untoward. But 

what could I have to say to her? 

I scarcely knew her, though her 

face looked vaguely familiar. 

`Good afternoon’, she snapped 

as she breezed in and sat down 

on the chair next to me, almost 

breathing fire. 

“Jake was making a 

semblance of introduction 

when she cut in: Ì know 

senior Kadijat now, she was 

four years ahead of me in 

secondary school’. No 

wonder she looked familiar. 

I instantly remembered she 

was one of the pests that were 

always making trouble in the 

school dorm in those days. 

She was constantly being 

punished by her seniors, 

myself inclusive. 

“How was I to handle this 

tricky situation? I tried to 

make small talks and, in 

fairness to her, she tied to be 

polite until she suddenly 

asked; `Senior Kadijat, 

what are you doing in my 

husband’s office?” She made 

me feel so old by her `senior\ 

tag even though Jake is only 

two years older than I am. I 

didn’t have an immediate 

answer but Jake quickly told 

his wife I was a friend’s sister. 

Ì know whose sister she is’, 

she sneered on the verge of 

being rude. `That still doesn’t 

explain why she is here. I also 

heard of her 50th birthday 

bash and the role you played 

in it. If you don’t mind, 

Senior Kadijat, I want to 

have a word with my 

husband. I think you should 

leave’. 

“I was shocked but it was 

obvious on whose side Jake 

was as he squirmed 

uncomfortably in his seat. I 

stood up in anger and as I left, 

Jake’s wife’s threat rang after 

me: `Don’t bother to show up 

here ever again. I have people 

watching you, and if you don’t 

want any embarrassment, 

hands off my husband!’ It was 

a very humiliating experience. 

I didn’t know how I made it to 

my car!”. 

Kadijat’s experience jogged 

the memory of a few friends 

who’d experienced a similar 

‘affront’. Joko recalled some 

years back when she’d gone 

to a thanksgiving party of Bob, 

a boyfriend who’d survived an 

attack by armed robbers. “I 

don’t often like to dine with 

the enemy”, Joko said. “so I 

told Bob I wasn’t interested in 

making his wife 

uncomfortable by showing up 

at such a private party. He 

assured me his wife didn’t 

know who I was, so I attended 

with a friend. The luncheon 

was self-service and as I 

hovered over the fried rice 

heating tantalizingly under a 

burner, Bob’s wife came over, 

pretending to see to the 

effective running of things. 

Ignoring her, I took the serving 

spoon and as I made to scoop 

some rice, she was at my side 

in a flash, pressing the spoon 

and my outstretched hand 

deep into the hot rice. I gave a 

painful yelp! ‘What are you 

doing here?’ she whispered 

furiously into my ears, trying 

not to make a scene. ‘Just put 

down your plate and walk out 

or you will be in deep trouble’. 

My friend was virtually 

shaking with nerves. 

Unfortunately, Bob was 

amongst friends and didn’t 

realise what was going on. 

My friend and I simply 

disappeared as quickly as we 

could! I’m sure Bob must have 

been told what happened but 

when he called a few days 

later, he feigned annoyance at 

my leaving so quickly. I told 

him his wife virtually hounded 

me out of the party, and he 

sounded shocked. The swine! 

Of course, he later made up 

generously for the 

embarrassment but the fact 

remains you shouldn’t take a 

fight to the enemy’s camp. A 

wife is a wife, no matter how 

hard the husband tries to 

convince you the marriage is 

now in name only. She can 

never be ‘the other woman’, 

no matter how much in love 

you are with her husband - 

and no matter how the 

husband assures you she’s no 

threat to your relationship”. 

I’m sure it was some of these 

hair raising experiences that 

prompted Dolapo to invite six 

of my friends to a New Year 

get-together. When I protested 

the year was well on its way, 

he said there was always .a 

reason to have a good natter. 

And any time Dolapo extends 

his once-in-a-blue moon 

invitation, my friends jump. 

So, there we all were in our 

expensive ‘casuals’ with a 

handful of Dolapo’s friends 

trying to recapture their 

fading youths with clothes 

they must have borrowed off 

their grown up sons! It was 

whilst the conversation verged 

on the antics of wives and their 

husbands’ girlfriends that 

Dolapo told me his wife 

wasn’t like that. “How would 

you know?”, challenged Bisi, 

his FWB. I’d often tried my 

best to respect her by behaving 

like the good employee who 

had nothing but professional 

affection for her boss and his 

wife. She was at my wedding, 

remember? She even gave me 

one of the loveliest presents I 

got”. 

He smiled wryly. “You 

believe that in a company as 

big as the one we both worked 

with, no one would have told 

my wife about us? When 

virtually everyone knew what 

was going on? Of course, she 

knew about our `little 

arrangement’, as she called it. 

She came to the office several 

times to see the type of 

relationship we had and even 

encouraged you to bring your 

ex-husband to the house under 

the pretext of being a caring 

big Àunty. It was after you 

got married that she told me 

she knew I was bonking you, 

but didn’t mind because you 

were a sweet lady who wasn’t 

particularly interested in 

husband-snatching! On top 

of which you were polite and 

not confrontational”. Bisi was 

lost for wards. 

Networking / 

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Dear readers, please note that we neither operate, nor are we an affiliate of any match–making agency in or outside the 

country. Any reader who transacts business with any one claiming to be our agent does so at his/her own risk. Our mission 

is only to provide a platform for social networking. 

Also note that neither Vanguard, nor Yetunde Arebi will be liable for any error in the publication of requests which may 

result in any form of embarrassment to any member of the public. We therefore request that text must be sent through at least 

one of the numbers for contact. This notice is necessary to enable us serve you better in our refreshingly different style. You 

can send your requests to 33055. For enquiries, text or call 08026651636, or 08054700825 

FUPRE VC lauds FG on commercialisation of Gas Project 

The Vice Chancellor of the 

Federal University of 

Petroleum Resources, FUPRE, 

Effurun, Uvwie local 

government area of Delta State, 

Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh, has 

commended Federal 

Government policy on 

commercialisation of gas, 

stating that the Ajaokuta- 

Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline 

project will reduce drastically 

gas flaring in Nigeria. 

Speaking at the annual 

International Environmental 

Management Stakeholders' 

Conference organised by the 

Chartered Institute of 

Environmental and Public 

Health Management of 

Nigeria at the institution, Prof. 

Rim-Rukeh stated that the 

discovery of oil in Oloibiri in 

1958 was a welcome 

development, but lamented 

that the interest was only on 

crude oil, with gas was left to 

flare without considering 

environmental pollution. 

He, however, commended 

the present Federal 

administration in efforts at 

ensuring that the 

environment is safe for the 

citizens, especially those 

who reside in such areas of 

exploration with the 

initiative of the Ajaokuta- 

Kaduana-Kano Gas 

Pipeline project. 

He maintained that the air 

the people breath in, the food 

they eat and water they drink 

are very sacrosanct to good 

health and commended the 

organisers, especially for 

choosing notable topics on 

how to manage the 

environment with lectures 

delivered by Engr. Prof. S. A 

Olagoke and Engr. Prof. 

Olagoke amongst other 

guest speakers. 

The highpoint of the 

ceremony was the induction 

of the Vice Chancelor into 

the institute and investiture 

of executive committee 

members of the Delta State 

Chapter of the Institute. 

Vice Chancelor, FUPRE, Prof. (Engr.) Akpofure Rim-Rukeh (right),with 

members of the International Environmental Management during the 

ceremony 

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Chairman of Gladtrico Intl, 

Ebozele loses mother 

Mrs. Elizabeth Itosoa Idahosa (Nee 

Okogie), the mother of Chairman/ 

Managing Director of Gladtrico Intl Limited, 

Chief Eric Ebozele, is dead. 

The deceased died at the age of 83. 

A statement by the Gladtrico boss said:"The 

families of Okogie , Ebozele and Idahosa, of 

Ewohimi, Esan South East Local Government 

Area of Edo State, has announced the death of 

Deaconess ( Mrs) Elizabeth Itosoa Idahosa 

(Nee Okogie). 

She died in a London hospital on October 9, 

2020, at the age of 83. 

"She is survived by seven children including 

Chief Eric Ebozele, Chairman / Managing 

Director, Gladtrico Intl 

ltd, sisters , brothers, 

grandchildren and 

great grand children 

and other relations. 

She was a retired and 

trained Nigerian and 

UK nurse. 

Burial arrangements 

will be announced later •Late Mrs. Elizabeth 

by the family. " Idahosa


Walking by faith and not by sight (2) 

Although God is invisible, when we walk 

by faith, we know He is with us and 

can see Him with our hearts. I once 

caught God looking through my eyes. He was 

not looking at me. He was looking through 

the window of my eyes. 

We have two eyes, but they must be single. We 

must see the physical in the light of the spiritual. 

We must see the visible in the light of the 

invisible. Even as we only fully understand the 

Old Testament in the light of our understanding 

of the New Testament, even so, we must 

interpret the physical by the invisible. 

In all cases, our focus must always be on 

knowing what God is doing. It means we are 

interrogating situations and circumstances. We 

are asking God questions. We know He is behind 

everything. So, we ask: “Daddy, what are 

you doing?” “Daddy, what do you mean by 

doing this?” “Daddy, why are you doing this 

like this?” 

The answer is always to trust God. The answer 

is always in knowing that no weapon fashioned 

against us can prosper. Knowing that 

all things work together for our good. Confident 

that God always causes us to triumph in 

Christ. Recognising that Jesus has overcome 

the world. 

Spiritual warfare 

Living by faith means we are always engaged 

in spiritual warfare. It means our physical and 

spiritual lives are lived as one. We know what 

is happening in the physical is being controlled 

or manipulated by what is going on in the spiritual. 

We know the devil, who often manipulates 

the physical, is a liar. Therefore, we don’t 

believe our lying physical eyes. We rely on our 

The new Heaven and new Earth (3) 

Everlasting gospel delivered by 

the Holy Father, The 

Supernatural Teacher and Sole 

Spiritual Head of the Universe, 

Leader Olumba Olumba Obu 

(BCS) WHQ 34 Ambo Street, 

Calabar, Nigeria 

From that moment, they have opted for 

eternal condemnation. Their desires for 

wealth will not be met and they will forever not 

have peace, joy and freedom. 

This same reason explains why you see people 

wandering from one church to the other 

and from one hospital or juju priest shrine to 

the other yet do not have peace. But a true child 

of this Kingdom has no problem; he is ever 

blooming with joy every minute. 

At times many people begin to wander why 

My life was saved by 

my faith in God who 

is my eyes 

spiritual eyesight. 

If we walk by sight, we can only do the 

possible. But if we walk by faith, we can do 

the impossible. We can even walk on water. 

This is because we know that the God with 

whom nothing shall be impossible is with 

us. He is the doer of the work. David acknowledges 

that God Most High: “performs 

all things for (us).” (Psalm 57:2). 

Peter got out of the boat to walk on water 

by faith in Christ. But he started to drown 

when he started walking by sight. This is 

because walking by sight brings anxiety. 

But walking by faith brings peace. Therefore, 

child of God, don’t believe your eyes. 

Believe your God. 

Eye of faith 

Do you see with your natural eyes? See 

what eyes cannot, and have not, seen. See 

with your eye of faith. The scriptures say of 

the men and women of the Hall of Faith in 

the book of Hebrews: “These all died in 

faith, not having received the promises, but 

having seen them afar off were assured of 

them, embraced them and confessed that 

they were strangers and pilgrims on the 

earth.” (Hebrews 11:13-14). 

we converge here every blessed day singing, 

dancing and receiving the word of God, 

and get surprised that we do not spare a 

time for rest. Of course, the reason for their 

thought is lack of adequate knowledge 

about our hope and expectation. They do 

not know that we are desirous of sharing in 

the new heaven and a new earth. Already 

we are in the Kingdom of God where righteousness 

and peace dwell. 

God’s word is true and ever sure. We have 

read that it was written that this generation 

would not pass away until all the words of 

God come to manifest. Read St. Matthew 

24: 34. “Verily I say unto you, this generation 

shall not pass, till all these things be 

fulfilled”. 

Today have you not seen all that was written 

about this age manifesting? The limiting 

factor for very many of you in this King- 

The bible tells us that our God Himself is not 

constrained by the visible. Paul says God, who 

gives life to the dead: “calls those things which 

do not exist as though they did.” (Romans 4:17). 

Therefore, he prescribes the same approach for 

us. He says we should stop looking at the things 

that are seen and start looking at the invisible: 

“For the things which are seen are temporary, 

but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 

Corinthians 4:18). 

dom is that you are still walloping in sins; so 

long as you are still in sin, you are blinded against 

God. The truth is that no sinner can see God. 

For you to see God and be in close communion 

with Him, you have to sanctify yourself. Furthermore, 

for you to benefit from your call into 

this Kingdom, you have to re-order your priorities. 

Stop henceforth to ask God for mundane 

things, rather focus your hope in this new heaven 

and a new earth where righteousness and 

peace dwell. This is the Kingdom of God. For 

you to merit it you have to refrain from sinful 

acts and frivolous demands, after all, these are 

not what brought you into this Kingdom. 

You came here principally to inherit the new 

heaven and new earth – anything outside this is 

secondary and appendage. Many people have 

this misconception that when they are told to 

love one another and embrace peace, it is because 

in so doing people will love them back, so 

that they will have to utilize that avenue to establish 

links that will aid them to acquire wealth. 

Blessing of faith 

When the disciples told Thomas that Jesus 

had risen from the dead and appeared physically 

to them, he would not believe. He said to 

them: “Unless I see in His hands the print of the 

nails, and put my finger into the print of the 

nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not 

believe.” (John 20:25). 

Therefore, Jesus appeared in his presence: 

“Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger 

here, and look at My hands; and reach your 

hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be 

unbelieving, but believing.’ And Thomas answered 

and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ 

Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have 

seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those 

who have not seen and yet have believed.’” (John 

20:27-29). 

In the world, they say: “seeing is believing.” 

However, believers in Jesus believe to see. If we 

say seeing is believing, we cannot walk with God 

for God is invisible. But if we believe to see, we 

will receive a great blessing. Only those who 

believe to see can see the glory of God. 

Thus, Jesus said to Martha before He raised 

Lazarus from the dead: “Did I not say to you 

that if you would believe you would see the glory 

of God?” (John 11:30). David expressed the 

same sentiment: “I would have lost heart, unless 

I had believed that I would see the goodness 

of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 

27:13). 

The bible says: “The just shall live by his faith.” 

(Habakkuk 2:4). When we do, the word of God 

defines reality for us. That means we not only 

believe in the promises of God, we walk according 

to them. We also talk about them, confident 

of their fulfilment for: “From the fruit of 

his mouth a man's stomach is filled; with the 

harvest from his lips he is satisfied.” (Proverbs 

18:20). 

Indeed, those who walk by faith see things 

in the past tense, knowing God’s promises are 

fulfilled in the spirit long before they manifest 

in the flesh and in the world. 

So, if God says he is going to make you rich, 

what should you expect? You should expect 

the evidence of what you do not see. Expect 

the contradiction first. Expect to become poor 

and then you will become rich. Remember 

this: “The Lord makes poor and makes rich; 

He brings low and lifts up.” (1 Samuel 2:7). 

Saved by Faith 

Recently, I decided to walk from my office 

to my bank rather than go by car. To do that, 

I had to cross a major road, Adetokunbo 

Ademola. It was a one-way street, divided in 

the middle by a big intersection. I waited patiently 

for the cars coming on the road to pass 

by. When it was free, I decided to make a 

move. 

But God cautioned me. “Femi,” He said. 

“The fact that it is a one-way street does not 

mean you should not look on the other side. 

Look on the other side before you cross.” 

I obeyed immediately. I looked on the other 

side, only to discover that there was no impediment, 

then crossed the road. But I completely 

forgot about this injunction on my way 

back. I had to cross again the same one-way 

road from the other side, so I waited again 

patiently until there was no car coming. 

But as I took a step to cross over, a motorcycle 

moving at top speed on the wrong side 

of the road whizzed past me. I had forgotten 

to look at the other side because it was a oneway 

street. Had the motorcycle been just fractionally 

slower, it would have killed me because 

I would have moved right in front of it. 

My life was saved by my faith in God who is 

my eyes. 

Far be from this; the fact that you are told to 

practice righteousness is to qualify you to inherit 

the new heaven and a new earth. Therefore, 

brethren, whatever is done here is not to 

please man or acquire wealth. It is for the 

sake of the new heaven and the new earth that 

we are awaiting. Ipso facto, it behoves us all 

to be without blemish. 

The people of the world see Brotherhood 

members as a group of insane fellows, why 

this impression? It is because we do not want 

the things of this world, our hope is in the new 

heaven and a new earth and our lives depend 

on its arrival because it is our treasure. For it 

is said that where one’s treasure lies his heart 

is there. The reason why we opt for the new 

heaven and a new earth as opposed to the 

material lust of their world is that the material 

things of this world will soon fade away 

with time, whereas the new heaven and earth 

is forever. To be continued 

Dr. William Orakwue Egbuna 

Healing Disciple of God 

And Knight of The Holy Grail 

08055765207 

What is killing Nigerians!(2) 

Continued from last Sunday 

CLINICAL PATHOLOGY AND 

FEATURES 

The syphilis germs from the mother 

through the placenta invade all the or 

gans and tissues of the foetus. The bony 

deformities persist after birth and constitute 

the stigmata. The damage continues after birth 

and causes progressive destruction of many 

organs and tissues. The secondary rash appears 

at about two years of age and often mistaken 

for and termed late measles epidemic. The 

early tertiary rash appears between the ages of 

12 and 15 years i.e. the Pimples. Almost every 

Nigerian has gone through the adolescent pimples. 

GENERAL SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS 

Symptoms arise from many organs and tissues. 

They are varied and at times weird in 

nature that the average Nigerian with his simple 

intuition calls it spiritual attack, witchcraft 

or juju. He is frequently amazed when after 

successful treatment lasting about one 

month that he recovers often fully! The 

symptoms include generalized itching and 

"pins and needles". Numbness and "things 

crawling round the body. In children, persistent 

fever, catarrh and cough, inability to 

gain weight and vomiting. Those cervical 

and axillary glands are prominent. Chestx-ray 

may show "Tuberculosis". At times pericardia! 

effusion occurs. Bone pains is a 

common symptom and with the associated 

skull bossing, raises the question of Sickle 

Cell Disease differential. Pain in the muscles 

is also common. Individual peripheral 

nerves are also affected, most commonly 

the sciatic nerves, at times causing severe 

pain and pseudo-paralyses (Sciatica).In 

many older children and adults these symptoms 

and signs persist. In the rest, the BCG 

infection burns itself out but the syphilis 

progresses to death unless treated and the 

organ and tissue damage arrested medically 

or corrected surgically. 

ILLNESSES AND DISEASES 

These include persistent or recurrent headaches, 

dizziness, amnesia, insomnia, dementia, 

twitching, convulsion, epilepsy, blindness, 

deafness, dumbness, asthma, catarrh, 

cough, haemoptysis, weight loss, stroke, heart 

failure, kidney failure, liver failure, ulcer, abdominal 

pains and discomfort, tendency to constipation, 

frequency of passing urine, infertility 

in both men and women, various forms of cancer 

and insanity! 

APPLICATION 

The recognition by a discerning physician that 

these two chronic diseases i.e. Congenital Syphilis 

and "Tuberculosis" are present in almost all 

Nigerians from birth, affords him a fantastic 

advantage. Any other illness is superimposed 

on these. Even very bad kidney cases and crippling 

heart diseases recover within a few weeks 

of management1. And infertile couples become 

blessed with children! 

SOLUTION 

A good Basic Heath Structure for the Country 

will eradicate both Syphilis and Tuberculosis 

simultaneously within a couple of years. 

The Secondary and Tertiary Health Institutions 

will join in managing the major organ 

damages and complications. In a decade or 

two, a healthy and vigorous Nigerian population 

will emerge and Medical Tourism will 

become history! 

Bishop Ore goes home in a blaze of glory 

By Sam Eyoboka 

THE General Superintendent of Deeper 

Life Bible Church, Pastor William Ku 

muyi, former General Overseer of Foursquare 

Gospel Church, Rev Wilson Badejo, 

founder of Christ Life Church, Bishop Francis 

Wale Oke and the immediate past chairman of 

Lagos Chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria, 

Apostle Alex Bamgbola were among several 

dignitaries who graced the final burial ceremony 

of Bishop Sola Ore who died on October 

26 

Ḃishop Ore was the chairman of the Lagos 

Chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, 

PFN. 

The burial ceremony which held at the LAW- 

NA Territorial Headquarters, Ketu Lagos also 

witnessed a large gathering of Pentecostals 

and members from other blocs of Christian 

Association of Nigeria, CAN across Nigeria. 

Speaking at the ceremony, Bishop Oke who 

described Bishop Ore as his spiritual son said 

believers don’t die. He added also that when a 

believer dies he has only changed residence. 

Describing Bishop Ore as a jovial and engaging 

personality, he said there was nowhere 

Bishop Ore entered that would not be lightened 

up. 

In his words: “He was a man of high-level 

integrity though he cracked jokes, he was highly 

principled. In all my years of relating with 

him, I can tell you that he was a Christian 

indeed. He never told a lie to my knowledge 

all through the time I knew him.”

PAGE 18 —SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2020 

sam.eyoboka@gmail.com 

The wonders of freedom from sin (7) 

He believed the Lord and 

received the Saviour cheerfully 

and Christ went to his 

home so that he would be able 

to go to the heavenly home of 

Christ. If you do not take the 

Saviour to the home of your 

heart, He would not take you 

to His home in heaven: it is a 

two way thing! 

John 14:2-3 "In my Father's 

house are many mansions: if 

it were not so, I would have 

told you. I go to prepare a 

place for you. And if I go and 

prepare a place for you, I will 

come again, and receive you 

unto myself; that where I am, 

there ye may be also." 

Let Jesus forgive your sins 

so that all the guilt of sin would 

be taken away too. Then, when 

life is ended here on earth, He 

would take you to heaven. 

Where are you? The much 

awaited time for your salvation 

has arrived and the moment 

when your name will 

come into the record book of 

God has finally arrived. 

If you want Jesus to be your 

Pastor William Kumuyi 

Saviour today, bow your head 

and let us pray together. 

Father in the name of Jesus, 

I pray for all these my friends 

who have come to give their 

lives to Jesus Christ. According 

to your promise that cannot 

fail, set them free from sin. 

Forgive their sins, change their 

lives and give them your redemption 

and let there be the 

witness of your Spirit in their 

hearts that their sins are forgiven, 

their lives turned around 

and their names written in the 

book of life. 

Thank you LORD because I 

know that you have answered. 

In Jesus name I pray! Amen! 

Temperance: Regaining the 

mastery over the unruly self 

DISCIPLINE is the Di 

vine instrument that 

tames, tampers, moderates 

and instills temperance, 

“...God’s discipline is always 

good for us, so that we might 

share in his holiness.” Hebrews 

12:10. Discipline 

makes us do what we do not 

want to or enjoy, in order for 

us to achieve what we have 

ever dreamed of in life. Temperance 

is the Godly quality 

we acquire through the discipline 

He gives in His Word; it 

ensures proper behavior. It is 

the practice or method of 

training that God adopts to 

enforce acceptable patterns of 

behavior for our good or advantage; 

“...God uses it to prepare 

and equip his people to 

do every good work.” 2 Timothy 

3:16-17. 

There is a terrible vice in the 

human nature, a spiritual 

monstrosity; even the holiest 

believer must each moment 

agree and confess that he has 

sin within his fleshly members, 

as was the realization of 

the apostle Paul who exclaimed, 

“...I know that in me 

(that is, in my flesh) nothing 

Rev. Emmanuel Awazie 

*Assemblies of God Church 

Nigeria, 111 Clegg Street, 

Surulere, Lagos. 

good dwells;....” Romans 7:18. 

At the fall of Adam and Eve, 

our primal parents, the human 

nature acquired the nature 

of Satan and assumed a 

monstrous dimension that led 

to their expulsion from the 

Garden. That was the same 

disposition that expelled Lucifer 

from Heaven, Scriptures 

record “...you are fallen from 

heaven, O Lucifer,...you are cut 

down to the ground,... you have 

said in your heart: ‘I will...exalt 

my throne above the stars of 

God;....’” Isaiah 14:12-13. This 

prideful nature remains within 

us even after conversion and 

continues in rebellion, opposition 

and sabotage against 

God’s purpose, “...For the sinful 

nature is always hostile to 

God. It never did obey God’s 

laws, and it never will....” Romans 

8:6-8, also read Gal. 

5:17. 

God is however, never intimidated 

by our wild and riotous 

nature because He has put 

in place a spiritual system and 

technology that can checkmate 

and overrule our sinful 

human nature, this He 

achieves by His love and 

Made in His image 

TEXT: Genesis 1:26-27 

These are very interesting 

times, times when technological 

advancement have come 

to stay and have advanced the 

course of the average human 

life. 

We seem to forget that there 

was an era when wood technology 

was principal. Then, 

everything man built revolved 

around the use of wood. I once 

read the story of a farmer who 

And it came to pass, 

when Moses came down 

from mount Sinai with 

the two tables of testimony 

in Moses’ hand, when 

he came down from the 

mount, that Moses wist 

not that the skin of his 

face shone while he 

talked with him. Exodus 

34:29 KJV 

Why do you come to 

church? A lot of people 

come to church for different 

reasons. Some people 

come to church to do business, 

some come because they are 

on the look-out for a spouse, 

others come to worship, and 

lots of other reasons. 

The bible says the face of 

Moses shone, why? His face 

Success in life and ministry: The knowledge of God (7) 

INTRODUCTION 

It had been an interesting 

adventure in previous serials 

learning about the success 

of Moses the Man of God 

in life and ministry. Last week, 

we considered the Rod of 

Moses as God’s strategy for 

turning an ordinary fugitive 

herdsman into an extraordinary 

instrument for performing 

miracles, signs and wonders 

towards the deliverance 

of Israel from Egyptian bondage. 

In today’s episode, we 

shall be considering some of 

the other feats performed 

through the Rod of Moses. It 

must be borne in mind at this 

point that Moses had known 

now that it was the Rod of God 

in his hands and not just Rod 

of Moses (Exod. 4:20). Let 

God take over that thing He 

had put in your hands, and it 

will become an instrument for 

miracles, breakthroughs, 

signs and wonders. Remember 

that it was also when Peter 

gave Jesus Christ His boat to 

preach, that he caught the largest 

quantity of fish ever in his 

history! Turn that thing over to 

Jesus, and you can smile your 

way into the good success 

promised by God. (Joshua 1:8) 

THE ROD OF MOSES 

AND THE RODS OF THE 

EGYPTIANS 

The first assignment to be 

carried out by the Rod of 

Moses was to confront the 

worldly rods or staffs. We can 

call these rods the worldly standards 

and value systems, 

which are many and varied. 

However, God’s Standard is 

only one – Holiness! (2 Tim 

2:19). At God’s instruction, 

Moses was to cast down his 

Rod first, and it became a serpent. 

The essence of this is to 

lay the foundation and standard 

for others. That is our 

calling as Christians. We are 

to set the standards and value 

systems for the society to follow. 

Not surprisingly, the Egyp- 

08023145567 (sms only) 

We are not meant to eat more than twice a day —Adeboye 

By Sam Eyoboka 

Pastor Akinola 

tians too have their own several 

standards through their 

“wise men and sorcerers”, 

which they also cast down. 

To God’s glory, the single Rod 

of Moses swallowed up all the 

rods of the Egyptian sorcerers! 

The implication of this for us 

is that we should boldly confront 

the society’s value systems 

with the Word of God, 

which has been delivered to us. 

These worldly values and standards 

will surely capitulate 

before God’s Word! 

God’s Standard or wisdom 

is far above the world’s own. 

The Bible says that God’s wisdom 

had made foolish the wisdom 

of this world (1 Cor. 1:20). 

The Bible states further that 

THE General Overseer of 

the Redeemed Christian 

Church of God, RCCG, Pastor 

Enoch Adejare Adeboye 

has said if we are to follow the 

Bible example of how God fed 

Elijah, we are not meant to 

eat more than two times a day. 

Pastor Adeboye gave the 

opinion during a live broadcast 

on his Facebook wall. 

Making reference to the Bible 

story of Elijah and how he 

was fed by the bird at the east 

of Jordan, he stated that God 

would have commanded the 

birds to feed Elijah seven or 

more times because there was 

no indication that the bird 

could be tired of bringing food 

to him. 

In his words: “From what 

we saw, the birds fed Elijah 

twice. So, if we are to follow 

By Pastor G.C. Osuigbo 

CAC Madaiyese Regional Headquaters 

Plot 701/702 Durumi District 

P.O. BOX 2577 

Garki, Abuja. 

Contact us on: 08155555048, like us on 

facebook @cacdurumi 

*Ituah Ighodalo is the 

Senior Pastor, Trinity 

House, Trinity Avenue, Off 

Ligali Ayorinde Street, 

Victoria Island, Lagos.+234- 

808-895-6162 

info@trinityhouseng.org 

was doing some cleanup work 

on his farm land. He saw a 

log of wood lying carelessly 

which was of little or no value 

to him. He had decided to burn 

it when a woodcarver who was 

passing by saw the wood and 

appealed to the farmer to give 

him the wood. 

The farmer told him to take 

it. When the wood carver got 

to his workshop. He began to 

work on the wood and for 

about a week he chopped and 

carved at the wood as if there 

was a great eagle trapped within 

it that he wanted to let out. 

After very tedious work, he had 

sculptured out an eagle which 

he put on display for passersby 

to see. 

A week later the same farmer 

was passing by the wood 

carver’s workshop when he 

saw the bird. He loved and 

approached the wood carver. 

The carver told him the price, 

which the farmer paid for 

gladly and carried away his 

prized possession. 

The farmer did not know 

that the wood from which the 

eagle was carved was at one 

time a log of wood condemned 

to be burnt on his 

farm. God sees in you what 

no other person sees. Man 

was made out of very precious 

material. 

His Spirit and Soul bear 

Gods likeness and nature and 

man is designed to act and 

Do you need a makeover/ (where 

is your shine? 

shined because he had an encounter 

with God. When we 

have an encounter with God, 

we have a shine that is visible 

for everyone to see. Just as the 

children of Israel were not able 

to look at the glory of God that 

shone on Moses’s face, we 

would also have that shine of 

God reflected in all we do that 

none of the princes (wise men) 

of this world know this wisdom 

of God, because if they knew, 

they would not have crucified 

the Lord of Glory. (1 Cor. 2:8). 

If God allows them to harden 

their hearts, it is because He 

wants to show more of His glory. 

TEN TIMES BETTER 

IN a rare display of divine 

intelligence versus worldly 

wisdom, Daniel demonstrated 

that with God’s wisdom, which 

sounds foolish to the world, he 

would be ten times better than 

his contemporary Babylonian 

magicians and astrologers 

(Dan. 1:20). 

Continues on 

www.vanguardngr.com 

darkness would 

not be able to 

have its way in 

our life. 

Is your face 

shining? Can 

people see the 

glory of God 

reflected in 

your life? 

Why do you come to church? 

Basically, we have come to 

church to seek God for ourselves. 

We are supposed to seek 

God by ourselves, whether the 

choir sings well or not, whether 

the minister’s sermon is 

good or not. We must have a 

personal relationship with 

God, spend time with God. We 

need to learn how to spend 

Magistrates and judges are ministers of God unto men 

The most High God, rules 

in the kingdom of men 

and gives it to whomsoever 

He wills-Daniel 4:17. Hence 

he sets up governments, to enforce 

law and order in the 

kingdom of men, so that the 

kingdom of men will not be 

like animal kingdom. The 

most important arm of the 

Government, in the sight of 

God, are the HIGHER POW- 

ERS, that are made up of 

magistrates and judges. All 

souls are commanded to be 

subject to these magistrates 

and judges, because they are 

ordained of God-ROMANS 

13:1. Every judge or magistrate 

bears the sword of God, 

to execute judgment upon the 

evil doers in the society. 

For every judge or magistrate 

is the minister of God to 

the people, for their good. But 

if they do that which is evil, then 

they should be afraid; for the 

judge or magistrate beareth 

J.K. Akinola. (Senior 

Pastor) The Gospel Faith 

Mission International (GO- 

FAMINT), Ibadan, Nigeria. 

(Telephone: 08033376660, 

08055405095) 

Pastor (Dr). E.O. Abina – 

General Overseer 

not the sword in vain: for he is 

a revenger to execute wrath 

upon anyone that doeth evil- 

ROMANS 13:4-5. 

Therefore, any government 

in Power, or the citizenry, who 

refuse to obey any court injunction, 

are resisting the ordinance 

of God, and shall receive 

to themselves, greater 

that example, we should be 

eating twice a day.” 

He said further that believers 

should cultivate the 

habit of fasting and praying 

noting that when one is fasting 

and the person feels like 

going to eat to break the fast, 

the person should understand 

that it is time to pray. 

“When you are fasting and 

you feel like going to eat, it 

shows it is time to pray. Fasting 

without praying is like going 

on a hunger strike.” 

Beyond fasting, the RCCG 

leader counseled that food 

should not be a controlling 

factor in the life of the believer. 

Quoting Paul in the Bible he 

said, anybody who is being 

controlled by his stomach is 

an enemy of the cross: “People 

should learn to keep their 

stomach under check”, he 

said. 

work like God. The ignorant 

do not know this and so have 

allowed sin and this world to 

degrade their true value. Like 

the log waiting to be burnt, the 

end of such people is destruction. 

Like the wood carver 

passing by, Jesus sees in each 

of us what we don’t not see in 

our selves. His greatest desire 

is bring out the beauty in us 

and to make us a spectacle 

before all of God’s creation. 

Do you know that you were 

made in Gods image? Do you 

know that you are fearfully 

and wonderfully made? Do 

you know that you have the 

life of God in you? Do you 

know that even the angels are 

envious of what constitutes 

you? To bring out the real you, 

you must accept and acknowledge 

Jesus as your lord 

and Saviour. Choose him today 

and live. 

time with God. 

Seeking God for yourself ensures 

that we are internally regenerated, 

and the glory of 

God in us is eternally proclaimed. 

As you come out everybody 

would know you have 

had an encounter with God. 

Why is it important to spend 

so much time with God? To get 

answers to questions that are 

bothering us and seems difficult 

for us. To worship God. To 

have a focal point in life, so 

that we can achieve much, succeed, 

and excel in life. Spending 

time with God gives us 

control and puts us in a place 

of dominion. 

Do you know that God is 

waiting for you? 

He wants you to have an encounter 

with him, so that you 

can have that change you desire 

from the inside of you. 

damnation from God- Romans 

13:2. 

Judges and magistrates, on 

their own part, are warned to 

take heed what they do, for 

they judge not for man but for 

the lord who is with them in 

any judgment. 

Continues on 

www.vanguardngr.com 

Knights of St. Mulumba inaugurates 

youth arm 

By Cynthia Alo 

he Knight of St. Mulum 

Tba, Lagos Metropolitan 

Council has inaugurated the 

Youths of St. Mulumba (YSM) 

group. 

Speaking at the inauguration 

ceremony in Lagos recently, 

Deputy Metropolitan 

Grand Knight, Sir. Don Ezeh, 

said the formation of YSM was 

informed by the need to keep 

the church strong, vibrant and 

resilient through the coming 

years. 

According to him, the decline 

of Catholic Church in the 

United Kingdom and Europe 

from where the missionaries 

came with the holy gospel to 

Nigeria 150 years ago, holds 

great lessons for the catholic 

youths. 

He said, “Thinking about the 

future of the church and our 

society, we must invest time 

and treasure in our youths of 

today. We will nurture and 

groom them to take over from 

us and continue the laudable 

journey of providing strong 

leadership in various Catholic 

Laity organisations, supporting 

in a special way the 

Catholic Church and the Society.” 

He enjoined the youths to see 

the YSM initiative a worthy 

mission that needs strong commitment 

and sacrifice to make 

it work. 

He disclosed the mission’s 

commitment to the spiritual 

formation and growth of 

youths, saying, “we plan to ensure 

by design that our YSM 

programme activities will reinforce 

spiritual formation and 

growth in a manner that will 

prove spiritually enriching for 

our youths. 

“Spiritual formation/growth 

activities and focus on reinforcing 

strong morals and ethics, 

and key catholic training perennial 

habits such as mastery 

of the Rosary/Mysteries and 

regular Catholic prayers and 

songs, the habit of visitation to 

the Blessed Sacrament, active 

participation in Adoration, 

Station of the Cross, Confessions, 

informed dialogue and 

the search for inspiration in 

meditation and the exemplary 

lives of the saints and the lives 

of iconic world leaders that 

have impacted and inspired 

humanity.”


There is an end to 

believers’ affliction 

Cross section of overflow during the last church programme. 

2Tim. 2:12 says, “Yea, and 

all that will live godly in Christ 

Jesus shall suffer persecution”. 

Brethren, without 

doubt we all can at 

test to the fact that 

they who are devoted Christians 

standing on holiness and 

righteousness, preaching the 

gospel in season and out of 

season, who regularly observe 

the precept and tenets 

of the Scripture, are bound to 

experience persecutions. This 

persecution is worse when the 

victim is at the forefront of the 

campaign winning souls for 

Christ. When this is the case 

the devil will unify all his 

kingdoms in all realms of existence 

for the purpose of inflicting 

injury to the believers’ 

feelings, families, reputation, 

properties, and liberties. All 

these is to ensure the propagation 

of the gospel is frustrated. 

Any believer who aspires to 

live a godly life, must expect 

to be subjected to such persecution. 

So, they who have 

chosen to preach to all creatures, 

should come prepared 

to be persecuted. And when 

you are persecuted for the 

sake of the gospel, it is an evidence 

that you are a true disciple 

of Christ. Any genuine 

believer who has not been 

persecuted in any way, should 

inquire whether it is not an 

evidence that he is not faithful 

in evangelism. 

Although, we have been 

warned to expect tribulation 

while we are in this body. 

However, one thing that is assured 

is that there is an end to 

the believer’s affliction or 

persecution, and a joyful end 

indeed. The same Lord who 

allows the tribulation/ afflictions 

will also recall them 

when His purpose of allowing 

it is accomplished. God 

will never allow persecution 

and affliction of the enemy to 

rend and devour the righteous. 

None of his trials can 

destroy him neither can the 

furnace hold him for a moment 

after the Lord bids him 

come forth of it. 

Brethren, in the year 2013, 

The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic 

Revival Church and his 

members suffered fears persecution 

that could only be 

compared to what the disciples 

experienced in the Bible 

days. We were hounded, battered, 

derided, ridiculed, despised, 

abused, deprived of 

our rights and privileges, just 

because somebody somewhere 

from the pit of hell alleged 

that Chosen is demonic. 

This is despite the fact that 

we are consistence in preaching 

absolute holiness and 

righteousness as the criterion 

for making heaven and the 

need for repentance. We were 

mocked and disrespected by 

everybody included some 

members of the body of 

Christ. 

But such persecution never 

discouraged us in pursuing 

our three-folds vision of 

grassroots revival all over the 

world, revival of the apostolic 

Christian experiences 

among the body of Christ and 

revival of heaven consciousness 

in the heart of believers 

and a mandate of ten billion 

soul for the kingdom of heaven. 

Indeed God is on our side 

from the inception of the ministry 

and now at His appointed 

time, we are vindicated. 

Today, in all ramification it is 

very clear that Chosen was established 

by God. 

Christ says, “I will build my 

church; and the gates of hell 

shall not prevail against it” 

No degree of campaign of 

defamation can scuttle the 

will of God, for only the counsel 

of the LORD, that shall 

stand. (Prov. 19: 21). The restitution 

cum confession of bro 

Usman published below and 

many others yet to be published 

have vindicated us. 

This is a happy moment 

and a celebration for the Chosen 

people. God established 

The Lord’s Chosen for the endtime 

revival. When we started 

16 years ago, there was apprehension 

particularly in 

places where people were 

hoodwinked in the name of 

the Lord. Devil thus decided 

to package an agent and 

brought her to Nigeria to discredit 

the power of God. And 

many churches joined her in 

envy because their members 

were joining Chosen in torrents 

and supported by demonic 

kingdoms who felt 

threatened because of the 

truth and righteousness in 

Chosen. Their aim was to stop 

what God is doing or close 

The Lord’s Chosen. 

When the lady in her evil 

revelation mentioned seven 

churches and Chosen was not 

included, nobody made a 

cassette, no one propagated 

it, but as soon as Chosen 

which was their target was 

mentioned CDs and Cassettes 

were quickly made and freely 

distributed. But it is written, 

“Take counsel together, 

and it shall come to nought; 

speak the word, and it shall 

not stand: for God is with us” 

Psalms. 33: 10 says, “The 

LORD bringeth the counsel of 

the heathen to nought: he maketh 

the devices of the people 

of none effect”. God overrules 

the thoughts and wills, 

and actions of men, whether 

single or united. He frustrates 

and makes their plots to end 

Any believer who 

aspires to live a 

godly life, must 

expect to be 

subjected to such 

persecution 

in nothing. He holds satanic 

malice in check by boundless 

power and makes their persecutions, 

slanders, falsehoods, 

against His people to 

produce no result at all. 

Chosen is blessed and shall 

not be cursed 

CONFESSION OF PAS- 

TOR JOSHUA USMAN 

Area view of Chosen Revival ground showing a section of the auditorium and the overflow 

during a church programme. 

My name is Pastor Joshua 

Usman, I reside in Abuja 

(FCT). I want to confess the 

role I played ignorantly in the 

persecution of the General 

Overseer Pastor Lazarus 

Muoka and his church, The 

Lord’s Chosen Charismatic 

Revival Movement. The 

whole thing started when I left 

Deeper Life Church to establish 

my own ministry. Within 

same period a movement 

called HOLINESS REVIV- 

AL MOVEMENT WORLD- 

WIDE sprang up. It happened 

that the director of this movement 

invited me to join the 

movement and I became a 

member and by extension got 

my ministry involved in the 

activities of that movement. 

About 2012 a lady from Sierra 

Leon called Linda visited 

and shared a revelation of 

what she saw when she visited 

heaven and hell fire. Afterward 

she was asked by the 

director of the movement to 

repeat her testimony in a larger 

congregation and when 

that was done she returned to 

Sierra Leon. In the following 

year being 2013, she visited 

again and before we knew it, 

we heard she was getting 

married to the director. 

And on the wedding day 

when it was time to testify 

about the life of the bride, two 

Sierra Leoniens made up of 

a lady and a man who 

claimed to be her relations 

appeared. We also were informed 

that these people purposely 

accompanied her to 

Nigeria to witness the wedding. 

As they came out to testify 

the director interrupted 

them and instructed that they 

should be taken aside and 

interviewed while the wedding 

continued. 

After the wedding and before 

the reception, the director 

inquired about what the 

two relatives of Linda said. 

We told him that the duo were 

alleging that Linda was not 

just active in marine kingdom 

but was still a powerful agent 

that should be avoided. That 

the whole revelation she gave 

was fake. That she (Linda) 

shared same revelation in 

Sierra Leon which caused 

sharp division among the 

body of Christ of which has 

not abated hitherto. And that 

the HOLINESS REVIVAL 

MOVEMENT should not 

uphold her revelation otherwise 

what happened in Sierra 

Leon would be a child’s 

play in Nigeria. But the director 

swept the matter under 

the carpet and said we should 

forget about their allegation. 

And that was how these people 

was shut up from exposing 

the deception of that agent 

of Marine kingdom called 

Linda. 

During further interrogation, 

these duo from Sierra 

Leon told us that when Linda 

firstly shared her revelation 

in Sierra Leon, she told them 

that she saw in hell fire a popular 

Archbishop from Sierra 

Leon and other renowned 

men of God. This claim 

sparked contention, bitterness 

and division among the 

body of Christ. Some people 

who were jealous and envious 

of those mentioned ministries 

gave credence to her 

revelation while others who 

considered it slanderous debunked 

the story. Meanwhile 

when she shared her revelation 

to us, the director and 

almost all the members of the 

movement upheld it. So we 

aligned ourselves with the position 

of the director as nobody 

would want to oppose 

what the director had accepted 

to be the truth. 

During our annual 2013 

conference held in August, the 

director told the coordinators 

which comprised mainly of 

those who were overseers of 

various ministries that joined 

the movement that Linda has 

gotten another revelation and 

would be sharing it during the 

conference. 

On that D-day, she mentioned 

seven churches in Nigeria, 

which their overseers 

and members will not make 

heaven, and these included 

Redeemed Christian Church 

of God, Deeper-Life Ministry, 

Mountain of Fire, Living 

Faith (aka Winners), Omega 

fire ministry, T.B Joshua (Synagogue 

Church), Love World 

Ministries (aka Christ Embassy) 

and TREM (The Redeemed 

Evangelical Mission). 

Her testimony was the 

high point of the conference 

and there was no reaction 

from those ministries but it 

was talk of the town. 

Then in December same 

year, when we had another 

convention, she shared revelation 

again but this time she 

included The Lord’s Chosen 

Chosen church among the 

people that will not make 

heaven. She emphasized that 

Chosen is a satanic Church 

and everything should be 

done to bring out their members 

from that satanic bondage 

otherwise they would perish 

and God will require their 

blood from our hands. So, 

after the convention, the director 

hurriedly summoned 

emergency meeting of all the 

coordinators and told us that 

the part of the revelation concerning 

the Chosen has been 

documented in a cds and cassettes 

and ready to be distributed 

freely across the nation. 

That it was our (coordinators) 

duty to ensure quick circulation 

of it to all churches, market 

square, schools, buses, etc. 

He said we should also organize 

crusades and share the 

cassettes. To meet the demand 

of this instruction we went to 

churches and told them to 

come together so that we 

present to them the CD of an 

end-time church so that they 

will know and be wise. 

So, after they had gathered 

and watched the CD, every 

participant would be falling 

upon one another to collect 

his/her own free copy. 

Through this means, we distributed 

thousands of the CDs 

and many after watching got 

hoodwinked and ignorantly 

believed, that Chosen is an 

evil church. 

I was assigned to cover western 

states of Nigeria comprising 

Osun, Ibadan, Ondo, 

Ogun, Ekiti, etc while others 

were sent to the North, East 

and South respectively. That 

was how the evil CDs spread 

like wild fire. We were just like 

Saul of Tarsus who was persecuting 

the church, and 

thinking he was working for 

God. We were very zealous 

distributing the CDs thinking 

we were working for God. But 

somehow, I observed that 

whenever, I finished carrying 

out this assignment there 

would be no peace in me and 

I would be worried and dejected. 

However, within a short 

time, confusion set in and 

about 18 coordinators resigned. 

It was at this juncture 

we started reasoning that 

those two Sierra Leonians 

who gave us exposition about 

Linda were really saying the 

truth, but because the director 

did not give us chance and 

Linda has been married to 

him, we could not act against 

his will. Before I could know 

what is happening, I began 

to hear a voice, telling me, 

“my son leave that place”, 

come out from them”. However, 

I ignored the voice and 

continued in my foolish zeal. 

I have two Chosen friends 

and two of them had a revelation 

almost at the same 

time and told me that God 

said I should leave the evil 

movement called HOLI- 

NESS EVANGELICAL 

MOVEMENT WORLD- 

WIDE, that if I disobey I 

would die. As they continued 

to pressurize me, I told them 

if actually what they were 

saying was true, that God will 

do it at the appointed time. 

Later, in my dreams angels 

started confronting me to renounce 

the Movement and 

go to that Chosen and do restitution 

but I refused to give 

heed to the instruction. 

However, in 2018 when I 

eventually made up my mind 

to come out, I visited Chosen 

headquarters but received no 

attention and went back. 

Then early this year I visited 

again and put all efforts to do 

restitution but to no avail. At 

this juncture the angel of God 

appeared again in my dream 

and said to me “my son why 

are you delaying? Why are 

you still there, if after you 

shared this cassette and later 

found out it is fake, what will 

you do?.” 

Again I had another dream 

were we were in a congregation. 

And the angel mentioned 

my name and asked” 

“are you here? And I said yes, 

He asked again “have you 

come out from them? I said 

yes! He said “ok, God will 

bless you”. As he finished talking 

to me and turned to go, I 

saw angels escorting him, 

and when they reached the 

pulpit and took position as 

ushers, the G. O of The Lord’s 

Chosen appeared and 

climbed the pulpit and I woke. 

Brethren from that moment, 

I became fully convinced that 

the presence of God is in Chosen 

and that I have been in 

the wrong place. 

Then I decided I must as a 

matter of urgency make restitution 

on the alter of the 

Chosen. Although, it wasn’t 

easy but the grace of God was 

there to help me to expose the 

campaign of calumny and 

wickedness committed 

against the chosen people 

and the General Overseer 

through sharing the revelation 

of Linda. 

Brethren, if God had not 

been in Chosen what we have 

done, would have pulled 

Chosen down. In fact, there 

wouldn’t have been anything 

like Chosen but truly God is 

with them. No church would 

have survived such campaign.. 

I pray that God 

should by His benevolence 

have mercy on me. Many who 

have watched the cassette are 

in trouble today, I pray that 

God will deliver them. 

Once again, I want to ask 

God for forgiveness, I also 

want the General Pastor, 

members and those who by 

the account of what I did had 

left chosen to forgive men. 

Praise the Lord.

PAGE 20 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 29, 2020 

APC panel on restructuring (II) 

Majority of Nigerians want 

devolution of powers 

…oppose merger of states 

•S/East strong on demand for additional state 

•Weak demand for regionalism across country 

In the second part of our 

serialization of the report of 

the panel raised by the All 

Progressives Congress (APC) on 

restructuring, the committee found 

that, although there are divergent 

views on devolution of powers, 

majority of Nigerians favour it. 

The panel was headed by 

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of 

Kaduna State but since the report 

was submitted in 2018, it has been 

in the cooler. 

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: 

Creation of states 

Opposition to creation of new 

states is strongest among 

respondents from the northern 

states and online. North-West in 

particular is very strong in this 

regard. 

On the other hand, North-East, 

North-West, South-East and online 

respondents are fairly strong in 

their advocacy fo r the creation of 

more states. South-East in 

particular is seeking the creation 

of an additional state to achieve 

parity with other geo-political 

zones. 

The demand for regionalism 

exists but in a low key. The demand 

came up in the FCT, North-West, 

South-West and among electronic 

respondents. The low intensity of 

the demand does not warrant a 

major consideration at this time. 

It would seem that the preference 

in general is for retaining what we 

have. 

Overall across the country, 48% 

of respondents are opposed to 

creation of new states while 36% 

are in support. The demand for 

return to regions enjoys support 

from 7% respondents while only 9% 

are actually in favour of 

maintaining the status quo. 

Recommendation 

It is the considered opinion of the 

committee that creation of more 

states is not expedient because to 

do so will merely create new subnational 

bureaucracies and their 

attendant costs while reducing the 

share of federal statutory 

allocation accruing to existing and 

proposed new states that are 

already grappling with the high 

cost of governance, payment of 

salaries of workers and bringing 

development to their people. 

The creation of states could 

further weaken the federating 

units and thus run contrary to 

popular demands for “true 

federalism” which the APC stands 

for. 

The creation of new states would 

weaken rather than strengthen 

true federalism in the sense of 

denying federating units enough 

resources and ability to discharge 

additional responsibilities that 

would be thrust on them. 

However, there may be a need to 

attend to the isolated case of South- 

East zone where there is a demand 

to balance states to be equal to 

other geo-political zones. Since 

there are clear procedures already 

spelt out in the constitution should 

the need arise in 

future, and such 

demand enjoys 

widespread 

support, deserving 

cases cannot be 

ruled out. Indeed, 

the Nigeria 

constitution 

should and does 

leave room for 

creation of states 

in future provided 

the laid down 

requirements are 

met. 

Merger 

of states 

Three views 

were variously 

expressed here namely opposition, 

support and status quo. 

Opposition to merger of states is 

clearly very strong in North-East, 

North-West and North-Central 

while the support was low key in 

FCT, South-West and South-South. 

There is some support for the idea 

in the North-Central, North-West 

and South-West although at low 

key. Some others in the North- 

Central and South-West simply 

prefer the status quo. In general, 

the consensus is clearly in 

opposition to merger of states. 

Overall, 78% of respondents are 

opposed to merger of states while 

only 16% are in support. 8% are in 

support of maintaining the status 

quo. 


There is no widespread support 

for merger of states. Merger would 

entail the fusion of two or more 

states into one state while the 

previous entity or entities would 

cease to exist as states. 

This does not enjoy wide support 

as hardly 

anyone would 

want their state 

abolished or 

be replaced 

The Committee 

recommends that 

the party put its 

political weight 

behind the 

overwhelming 

popular demand for 

devolution to states 

by the federal 

government 

with a higher 

or different 

political 

leadership and 

authority. 

Nonetheless 

the committee 

strongly 

recommends 

that the 

Constitution 

should provide 

for legal and 

administrative 

frameworks for 

states that 

might in future 

wish to consider this option 

provided this does not threaten the 

authority or existence of the 

federation. This recommendation 

is based on the growing regional 

economic cooperation that is 

being witnessed among states in 

various geopolitical zones of the 

country in order to maximize their 

potentials and opportunities. 

Devolution 

of powers 

Nationwide and based on 

weighted data, 74% of respondents 

are in favour of devolution of 

powers while only 7% are explicitly 

opposed to it. Of all stakeholders 

who submitted memoranda, 19% 

did not offer any opinion about 

devolution. 

Responses on devolution of 

powers are overwhelmingly in 

favour of devolution of powers 

across all geographical zones and 

online respondents. There is some 

notable opposition among 

stakeholders from the North-East, 

North-West and South-West even 

though more are still in support 

than those opposed to the idea of 

devolution of powers in those 

zones. 

Items to devolve 

The 74% that support devolution 

is further analyzed to see the 

specific items that stakeholders 

are advocating for devolution. 

More than 30 items were 

identified by stakeholders for 

devolution from federal to state 

governments across the six zones 

and online submissions. Among 

these items, police and community 

policing topped the list. Other 

items that were identified by a 

significant number of stakeholders 

include education, prisons, health, 

road, security, agriculture, railway, 

mineral resources, trade and 

commerce and housing. 

Most stakeholders are 

demanding devolution of security 

(state/community Police, 19%), 

social services (education, health 

and housing, 11%), commerce 

(9%), natural resources (land, 

water, fish and fisheries, 8%), 

transportation (roads, railways 

and maritime, 8°/0). 

Those asking for devolution of 

powers in respect of roads are 

actually of the opinion that 

management of most roads should 

be ceded to state governments 

while the federal government be 

limited to only a few cross country 

inter-state roads. 

It is important to note that 

stakeholders in Sokoto and Uyo 

locations did not identify specific 

items which they wanted to be part 

of devolution of powers to other 

stakeholders. 

FCT 

In line with the national 

viewpoint, Police/Community 

Policing was most widely 

mentioned in FCT as an item for 

devolution. Other items that 

enjoyed most of the stakeholders’ 

support for devolution are 

railways, airport, defense, prisons 

and price control. 

Ilorin 

Police/Community Policing is the 

number one item the stakeholders 

in Ilorin wanted to be transferred 

to other tiers of government. In 

addition, education, health, 

agriculture, mineral resources, fire 

service and market are other 

preferred items. 

Jos 

With Police/Community Policing 

topping their demand, 

stakeholders in Jos location 

identified twelve items among 

which are education, prisons, 

health, security, agriculture, 

railway, mineral resources, 

customs & excise, labour, airport, 

maritime, License and mining 

Bauchi 

Police/Community Policing, 


commerce are the three most 

important items the stakeholders 

from Bauchi wanted for devolution 

to the states, followed by railway, 

prisons and taxation. 

Adamawa 

Police/Community Policing tops 

other preferred items such as 

education, prisons, health, road, 

security, agriculture, railway, 


commerce, water, military/ 

intelligence and judiciary for 

devolution. 

Kano 

Just like most of the locations, 

Kano stakeholders agreed that 

Police/Community Policing should 

be number one on the list of 

various items identified for 

devolution of powers. Also, 

demanded are prisons, health, 

road, security, agriculture, railway, 

custom & excise, labour and 

military/intelligence. 

Edo 

For stakeholders in Edo, only 

three items were specifically 

mentioned for devolution of 

powers namely, security, customs 

& excise and citizenship. 

Akure 

Among the nine items proposed 

for devolution of powers in Akure 

location, Police/Community 

Policing emerged top on the list. 

Other items identified include 

education, prisons, road, 

agriculture, railway, mineral 

resources, maritime and 

transportation. 

Ibadan 

The position of Ibadan 

stakeholders is in favour of seven 

items with Police/Community 

Policing top of the list. Other items 

include education, prisons, road, 

water, labour and military/ 

intelligence. 

Devolution of 

powers items 

Online 

The number of items identified 

by online respondents for 

devolution of powers is more than 

any of the locations. Also, online 

respondents reaffirmed the 

general position by identifying 

Police/Community Policing as 

number one. Others are education, 

prisons, health, road, security, 

agriculture, railway, mineral 

resources, trade and commerce, 

customs & excise, external affairs, 

housing, water, military/ 

intelligence, airport, defense, 

immigration, fire service and rural 

electrification. 


The Committee recommends 

that the party put its political 

weight behind the overwhelming 

popular demand for devolution to 

states by the federal government. 

This would entail the transfer of 

items on the Exclusive Legislative 

List, some to Concurrent List and 

others residual to the states to 

enhance and localize the demand 

side of governance and make states 

more accountable to the electorate 

thereby freeing the federal 

government to concentrate on 

regulatory functions and as a basis 

for incorporating diverse local 

political interests into the national 

policy priorities. 

A major issue with the Nigerian 

federation is the enormous 

exclusive legislative powers of the 

federal government with resultant 

over-centralization of power and 

authority. It is generally believed 

that a further decentralization of 

some of these powers by devolving 

more powers, autonomy, and 

resources to the federating units 

will foster efficiency and subnational 

responsiveness and local 

accountability. 

Based on the views expressed by 

stakeholders consulted and view 

point from the consultation 

centers, the committee hereby 

recommends the following 

schedule of distribution of roles or 

powers between the federal, state 

and local government for 

consideration for constitutional 

amendment. 

To be continued


When the cash-cow dies! 

About a fortnight ago, 

I ran into an old friend 

on the Island. I was 

really glad to see him. He’d 

simply disappeared from the 

social scene with his family. 

After the usual pleasantries, 

he told me he had to leave the 

country when he did as his life 

was virtually falling apart. He 

explained: “I was thinking of 

what to do with my life after I 

was made redundant when I 

heard the good news that a 

bosom friend Leke, was being 

made a top dog in one of the 

local governments. What a 

stroke of luck! 

“After series of meetings 

with him, he agreed I wasn’t 

really the businessman 

material. But if I could 

provide fund, the fund would 

be invested with contractors 

who had little or no cash to 

effectively execute their 

contracts, and regular returns 

would be made to me on my 

capital. I was ecstatic. All my 

redundancy pay and the little 

I’d put by from some of the 

petty contracts I’d done in the 

past were handed over to him. 

Talk about watching your 

money grow! Since he was 

the over-all boss, my cheques 

were paid and my investment 

almost tripled. My Camry 

car had had its share of 

refurbishing. This was the 

time to buy another car. And 

none of the tokunbo variety 

either. 

“I went round a few car 

dealers and collected prices 

Seplat flaunts the potentials of Oben Gas Plant 

…as firm pays courtesy calls on Edo governor, community leaders 

The Seplat team with Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State 

Governor Godwin 

Obaseki, on Friday, 

November 20, 

received a team of SEPLAT executives 

who were on a visit to 

Edo State government as 

well as host communities of 

the Oben Gas Plant facility 

sited at Oben Field situated 

in the state. 

SEPLAT has deepened its 

business and investment in 

energy infrastructure in Oben 

Field with its construction, 

years ago, of a massive state 

of the art ultra-modern gas 

plant which today supplies gas 

to energy companies and 

industries across Nigeria. 

The Oben gas plant 

provides gas that facilitates 

the provision of over thirtyfive 

per cent of electricity in 

the country. According to 

Roger Brown, who recently 

assumed office as Seplat new 

Chief Executive Officer, "it was 

pertinent to pay courtesy visit 

to critical stakeholders who 

are our hosts in these areas 

where our significant gas as 

well as oil assets are located". 

The SEPLAT team, 

comprising the Chairman, Dr 

ABC Orjiako; Chief Executive 

of cars that would now suit my 

new status. My capital was 

still in my friend’s outfit – all 

that I would be spending 

would be the interest and this 

was after my friend had taken 

his share! I also had money 

to buy my round of drinks at 

the Club and at parties. Life 

was good. 

“Out of greed, I told my 

friend I wanted a really showy 

car. Could I lump my savings 

with the capital and re-invest 

so that the returns would be 

high? He was agreeable to 

this but when next I saw him, 

he told me some nosey 

external auditors were 

looking through the books 

with a tooth-comb. He, 

therefore, suggested that we 

cool things for about six 

months. Since he complained 

that the company we used 

featured too frequently in 

their books, I suggested we 

register a new company. He 

reluctantly agreed. His 

reluctance led me to pump all 

the money I had into this new 

company knowing the returns 

would be higher. After that, if 

my friend wanted to take 

things easy, I would be gone 

with my nice windfall. I was 

stuck in one of the long queues 

that were the norm in those 

days, and was getting really 

impatient by the long wait 

when a friend spotted me and 

walked over to my car. “Isn’t 

it sad about Leke?”, he asked. 

I spluttered, “What happened 

to him?”`Didn’t you hear/ He 

died this morning. 

“This conversation took 

Officer, Brown, and other 

executives, began the visit with 

a courtesy call to Obaseki and 

later to His Royal Majesty, 

Felix Mujakperuo, Orhue 1, 

the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, 

and His Royal Highness, 

Odoligie Frederick Ogiemwonyi, 

the Enogie of Oben 

community. 

During the courtesy visit to 

Obaseki, the SEPLAT CEO 

congratulated the governor 

on his re-election and 

successful inauguration for 

another four years in office. 

He said SEPLAT would 

continue to create value for 

the federal and state 

governments through the 

payment of royalty, taxes and 

levies; communities through 

robust corporate social 

investments especially in 

capacity development, sustainable 

community infrastructure 

projects and 

economic empowerment programmes. 

Brown reaffirmed that 

SEPLAT has continued to 

drive up its commitment to 

increasing the country's energy 

security and boosting 

Nigeria's gas to power 

initiative through deliberate 

place late in the night. As soon 

as I filled my tank, I drove 

straight to Leke’s house. It was 

a bit quiet but the night guard 

confirmed what I just learnt. 

I didn’t know how I made it 

back home. I woke my wife 

and was crying like a lunatic. 

My tears were for all the 

fortune I would be losing by 

Leke’s death. What would 

happen to my five children for 

goodness sake? My landlord 

had also reminded me that 

my annual rent would be due 

soon. Now this, my wife was 

really upset that I took things 

so much to heart. I hadn’t told 

her the shady deals we did and 

how much Leke and I were 

making on the side. 

“He was buried a week 

later. His remains were laid 

in his house for about two 

hours before he was taken 

away for burial. I wanted to 

be there. To see his body. To 

really confirm that he was 

now helpless to retrieve my 

STEP will 

develop the 

competencies 

of teachers 

to improve 

the quality of 

their 

teaching 

significant investment in its 

gas business. 

He added, "To date, Oben 

remains a major gas hub and 

that the company has recently 

drilled additional new gas 

wells in Oben to increase 

further our production and 

our ability to meet growing 

demands". 

The CEO elaborated the 

numerous benefits of the Oben 

Gas Plant to the immediate 

communities, the state and 

the country. 

He also harped on the 

different activities and 

programmes of the company 

in Edo. Brown listed a few to 

include the provision of 

medical equipment/items to 

the state government to 

support containment of COV- 

ID-19 pandemic and also 

provision of palliatives to 

communities to cushion the 

effects of the lockdown arising 

from the COVID-19 pandemic 

Ṫhe SEPLAT CEO added: 

"As a responsible corporate 

organization, we are 

committed to contributing to 

the development of Edo State, 

economically and otherwise. 

“Since the commencement 

money for me. 

“His body wasn’t the most 

pleasant sight I’d seen. He 

looked grotesque and almost 

unrecognisable. How could 

you? I screamed at him silently 

as I paid my bogus last 

respect. How could you die 

now with all that money at 

stake? I staggered out of the 

room and went back home. 

There was no point going for 

any funeral service or the 

actual burial. I didn’t feel up 

to it at all. 

“About a week later, I went 

back to his office. Because 

Leke and I were very close, I 

never dealt with his staff 

directly. It was Leke who 

always collected the cheques 

and he always promised to 

take care of the `boys’. It was 

one of them who told me, 

along with the contractor we 

always used, that the auditors 

were around if I wanted to talk 

to them. The auditors told me 

after I’d said my piece that my 

of operations in the state, the 

company has undertaken important 

health, education and 

numerous community 

development projects to 

support sustainable development 

in Edo”. 

He highlighted that, in 

addition to the yearly Seplat 

PEARLs Quiz programme for 

Secondary Schools, which 

has helped students' academic 

performance in Edo, Seplat 

just introduced a new 

programme targeted at 

teachers. 

The new programme, 

called SEPLAT Teachers 

Empowerment Programme 

(STEP), was scheduled to 

debut in Benin on November 

24. It will systematically 

support and encourage 

Science, Technology, 

Engineering, Arts and Mathematics 

(STEAM) in schools. 

STEP will develop the 

competencies of teachers to 

improve the quality of their 

teaching. 

The select teachers will in 

six months, undergo a 

customized programme. 

A total of hundred teachers 

from Edo and Delta will be 

the first beneficiaries in the 

first instance. 

Obaseki, in his remarks, 

welcomed the SEPLAT team 

and commended the 

company and its partner, 

NPDC, for the significant investment 

made in Edo. 

He pledged the state 

government’s continual 

support of the company in its 

quest to drive development in 

Edo. 

The governor assured of the 

state and communities 

collaboration with SEPLAT in 

providing the enabling environment 

for the company to 

operate. 

Obaseki expressed his 

appreciation for Seplat's 

money was a small drop in 

the ocean of 

misappropriation they were 

trying to sort out. They said I 

should write a formal 

complaint in triplicate and 

bring them back to the office. 

They would look into my case 

after they’d dealt with the big 

ones. 

“I never went back. What 

was the point? I was now in 

my late fifties. What sort of job 

would I be looking for at my 

age? And since all my savings 

were now wiped off leaving 

me in debts, what capital 

could I boast of to start a new 

business with? I finally 

relocated to Britain. We are 

all British citizens and my 

pensions were being paid 

already. Life was bearable but 

I missed home. It was at this 

point my wife started talking 

back whenever I scolded her. 

She said I was a tyrant and a 

bully. That she stuck it in 

Nigeria because I refused to 

encourage her to work. Well, 

that was over, she threatened. 

“One more violence from 

me and she would deal with 

me! She’d never in her life 

spoken to me like that before. 

I was blind with rage and I 

struck her. She rushed out of 

the house and came back 

with the police! They told me 

politely that my wife feared 

for her life and didn’t want me 

around her and her children 

as I was a dangerous man. 

Could I pack a few of my 

things and leave? I felt really 

defeated, I’d forgotten that 

you don’t get away with 

domestic violence in Britain. 

If a family were to break up, it 

social programmes. 

He noted that the goals of 

educational initiatives of 

SEPLAT align with that of the 

state which emphasizes 

improving the standard of 

education. 

The governor continued: 

"We are focused on education, 

retooling and resetting our educational 

system. 

“Thank you for your quiz 

programme. Our children are 

now learning because we 

have retooled our educational 

system in Edo State. 

“We would like to work with 

you on the teachers' 

employment programme 

because as a state, we have 

experimented a lot in terms 

of teachers' reforms. 

“I just reviewed the progress 

we have made in the threeyear 

teachers' programme 

that we have just introduced 

in Edo State." 

Obaseki requested to 

partner with Seplat in the 

construction of roads in some 

parts of Edo. He also charged 

the company to provide 

electricity to some immediate 

communities within its 

operations. 

During the courtesy visit to 

the Orodje, Mujakperuo, 

Seplat Chairman, Orjiako, 

thanked the monarch for the 

cordial working relationship 

between the company and its 

communities in Okpe 

Kingdom. 

He expressed appreciation 

for the support given to the 

company since inception regarding 

its operations, 

adding that Seplat is committed 

to the development of 

Okpe Kingdom. 

In his remarks, Brown also 

expressed appreciation to the 

Orodje for the support given 

to the company for its operations. 

The CEO assured that 

s the husband that is asked to 

leave. So I left and that was 

the end of my marriage! My 

wife has found some caring 

jobs to do, my children are in 

good schools so they don’t 

really need me. 

“I found a modest 

accommodation and have 

since picked up the pieces of 

my life. I have a British 

passport, so girls are no 

problem as they believe I 

would re-marry and make my 

new wife a citizen. I don’t 

intend to do any of such thing. 

And I don’t intend to tell them 

either. Since women are deft 

hands at deceiving and using 

men, I intend to play them at 

their own games ..” 

Too much of a good 

thing (Humour) 

Mrs. Kelly is at the shops 

when she bumps into Father 

Flaherty. “Hello, Mrs. Kelly!” 

he says. “Didn’t I marry you 

and your husband two years 

ago? “Yes, Father”, she replies. 

“And any wee ones yet?”, “No, 

not yet”. Father, “Well, I will 

light a candle for you and your 

husband”. Òh, thank you’, 

she says. 

Some years later, they meet 

again. The priest asks: Mrs. 

Kelly, how are you these days? 

Oh, very well, Father, she 

replies. “So, have you any wee 

ones yet?” `Yes, Father’, she 

tells him. `Three sets of twins 

and four singles 10 in all’. 

“That’s just great”, the priest 

says. “And how’s your 

husband? Mrs. Kelly replies 

curtly. `He’s gone off to Rome 

to blow out your blasted 

candle’. 

Seplat is committed to the infrastructural 

and capacity development 

of communities in 

the Okpe Kingdom. 

Mujakperuo, who gladly 

received the Seplat team, 

commended the company for 

its commitment and support 

to host communities, stressing 

that the relationship must remain 

a win-win situation for 

the people and Seplat. 

He urged the company to 

continue its good works while 

enjoining it to provide 

additional support in healthcare 

infrastructure, employment 

of graduates from the 

area and award of contracts 

to Okpe vendors. 

At the palace of the Enogie 

of Oben, Brown commended 

Oben Field Communities for 

providing the enabling 

environment for Seplat to 

operate. 

The CEO emphasized the 

importance of Oben to the 

company's business and the 

nation with the colossal gas 

infrastructure in Oben 

Community. He stressed that 

the firm would sustain the 

working relationship with the 

Oben Field Communities and 

continue to execute sustainable 

community development 

projects and programmes for 

the benefits of the communities. 

The Enogie and other Oben 

Field Community leaders, 

while expressing their appreciation 

on the Seplat visit and 

activities in their locality, 

requested the company to 

employ its teeming youth; 

provide uninterrupted electricity 

and patronage of 

indigenous contractors from 

the communities. 

Brown pledged the 

company's willingness to 

sustaining the cordial 

working relationship between 

it and the communities whilst 

reiterating the commitment 

to contributing to their socioeconomic 

development 

through Seplat's continued 

sustainable community development 

activities and 

programmes.

PAGE 22 —SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2020

Maradona’s “Hand Of God” shirt goes on 

sale for $2 million 

T. 

he shirt worn by Diego 

Maradona when he 

scored his famous “Hand Of 

God” goal against England 

at the 1986 World Cup in 

Mexico could be available 

for $2 million following the 

Argentine’s death on 

Wednesday, says an American 

sports memorabilia expert. 

The shirt is owned by 

former England player 

Steve Hodge, who got it 

from Maradona after the 

match in which his attempted 

back pass led to the controversial 

goal that helped 

dump England out of the 

tournament which Argentina 

went on to win in Mexico. 

“I was walking down the 

tunnel and Maradona was 

coming in the opposite direction. 

I just tugged my 

shirt and we swapped 

there and then,” Hodge, 

who had been delayed on 

leaving the pitch doing a 

TV interview, told British 

media. 

The shirt is currently on 

display at England’s National 

Football Museum 

in Manchester. 

“It’s very difficult to 

gauge (the value) with the 

“Hand Of God” jersey, but 

I know that the owner was 

looking for a $2 million 

private sale,” David Amerman 

of Goldin Auction in 

New Jersey told Reuters. 

“It certainly could be a 

possibility, the values 

have jumped quite a bit in 

soccer.” 

… Police launch investigation into Maradona’s death 

*Okoku, 

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2020, PAGE 23 

Diego Maradona’s 

death will be investigated 

by Argentinian police 

to decide whether it was a 

case of medical negligence, 

judicial sources have revealed. 

Recordings from neighbourhood 

security cameras 

have been requested 

by three prosecutors 

working on the case. 

Maradona died of 

‘acute lung edema and 

chronic heart failure’, 

according to a preliminary 

autopsy report, in his 

sleep at noon while resting at 

his home in Tigre, Buenos 

Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday. 

His laywer, Marias Morla, 

had earlier called for an investigation 

into claims ambulances 

took more than half 

an hour to reach the football 

star’s home in response 

to a call on the day 

of his death. 

The prosecutor’s office 

in Buenos Aires has opened 

a file entitled ‘Maradona, 

Diego. Determination of 

the cause of death.’ 

Okoku lauds mandate to have four 

NPFL stars in Eagles 

E x-international, 

Paul Okoku, has 

welcomed the decision to 

mandate Technical Adviser, 

Gernot Rohr, to include 

four players from 

the Nigeria Professional 

Football League in future 

Super Eagles squads. 

Speaking against the 

backdrop of the recent 

poor showing of a wholly 

foreign-based Eagles 

squad against Sierra Leone 

in a 2022 Africa Cup 

of Nations qualification 

Dennis faces fine of 100,000 

Euros 

Emmanuel 

Dennis 

should be fined at least 

100,000 Euros after he 

stormed off the team bus for 

a UEFA Champions League 

tie, according to a former star 

of Club Brugge. 

This week, Dennis caused 

a huge uproar when he got 

off the team bus heading for 

a Champions League clash 

after he was not allowed to 

sit where he wanted. 

He was dropped for the 

game at Borussia Dortmund, 

which Club Brugge lost 3-0. 

Former Club Brugge star 

Gert Verheyen has now said 

the player ought to be hit seriously 

in the pocket for him 

to come round to his 

senses. 

“The board has to resolve 

this matter. The 

only way to check such 

behavior is with a heavy 

fine”, Verheyen told Het 

Nieuwsblad 

Aribo not suffering from 

corona virus, Rangers reveal 

Glasgow 

Rangers 

have disclosed that 

striker, Joe Aribo was not 

suffering from corona virus 

as was being speculated, 

but only a stomach 

infection. 

A tweet from the club 

said: “Rangers can confirm 

that Joe Aribo is currently 

being treated for a minor 

illness and is being monitored 

accordingly over the 

weekend. We expect Joe to 

rejoin the first-team squad 

*Dennis 

early this week.” 

On Thursday, coach 

Steven Gerrard had 

said: “Joe was unwell. 

He had a stomach 

complaint last night. 

Hopefully he will be 

available for the weekend. 

“It’s important to say 

it is not Covid-related. 

He was negative on 

his test, before people 

start putting two and 

two together” 

*Maradona 

double-header earlier in the 

month, Okoku frowned at the 

reluctance of Rohr to have 

home-based players in his 

squad. 

A member of the Eagles team 

that won silver at the 1984 Africa 

Cup of Nations under Coach 

Adegboye Onigbinde, Okoku, 

said that it was commendable 

that the Minister of Sports and 

Youth Development, Sunday 

Dare and top officials of the Nigeria 

Football Federation, led 

by President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, 

were in agreement on the 

need to have at least four NPFL 

stars in the country’s elite team. 

Speaking further, Okoku, a 

former vice-captain of the first 

Flying Eagles team to qualify 

for the 1983 FIFA U-20 World 

Cup in Mexico, said that, ‘’this 

decision will encourage our 

players in Nigeria to be at their 

best in all games because they 

know that somebody is watching 

them and if they excel, they 

will most probably get an invitation 

to the Super Eagles team. 

‘’It is a morale booster for the 

players playing at home and 

serves as an impetus to 

reach for heights never 

reached before and increases 

the competitive spirit in 

the players, the local teams 

and the Super Eagles. 

‘’This is the way to go because 

no meaningful and 

sustainable development 

can be attained in our football 

if we neglect the homebased 

players in our Super 

Eagles squad. 

“Players like my humble 

self, Tarila Okorowanta, the 

Olukanni brothers, Segun 

Odegbami, Adokiye Amiesiamaka, 

Taju Disu, the late 

Stephen Keshi and a host of 

others, were discovered 

from the local scene and 

going back to that model of 

football development is the 

way to go for the success of 

the Super Eagles’’, added 

Okoku, winner of the first 

Tessema Cup with Nigeria 

in 1984. 

Going forward, Okoku 

said that, ‘’I would love to 

see the number of homebased 

talents in the Eagles 

rise, without putting a cap 

on the number’’. 

Piqué wants Messi at Barca for 

years to come 

*Piqué and Messi 

Gerard Piqué hopes 

Barcelona can convince 

Lionel Messi to stay 

at the club for years to 

come. 

Messi, 33, sensationally 

requested to leave the La- 

Liga giants during the close 

season, but ended up staying 

at the club. 

However, the six-time 

Ballon d’Or winner is 

linked with the likes of 

Manchester City, Paris 

Saint-Germain and Inter 

with his contract expiring 

at the end of the 

season.But Piqué hopes 

Messi will remain at 

Barça, where he has spent 

his entire professional career. 

“We will have to ask Leo. 

It is his personal decision 

… and we will see what 

happens,” the defender 

told Radio Marca. 

“I believe that as long as 

he continues to wear the 

Barça shirt there is always 

hope. 

“We hope they can seduce 

him so that he stays 

more years.” 

Outrage as Edo 2020 

postponement hits athletes, 

coaches hard 

By Ben Efe 

Nigerian athletes and coaches have been pouring out 

their hearts after the Presidential Task Force on Covid’19 

and the Sports Ministry threw the spanner in the works 

of the National Sports Festival. 

“Edo 2020” was postponed for the second time last week 

with just a few days to the start of the festival and it set off 

alarm bells among athletes and coaches around the country. 

Though the sports fiesta has now been rescheduled for 

January 3-17 in Benin City, the main actors are not impressed 

by the seeming lack of understanding of how much 

work they have put into preparations, only for the powers 

that be to pull the plug. 

“It is very demoralising, the zeal to focus on training and 

performance has been thwarted,” coach Johnny Igboka fired 

from Awka, Anambra State. 

“Athletes have targeted time for training and each time 

the festival is postponed, time and money are lost and who 

is going to bear the cost in these hard times?” 

“It’s devastating, discouraging and disappointing,” high 

jump coach, Kola Adebayo gushed out, as he let down his 

stopwatch during a competition at the Teslim Balogun Stadium 

in Lagos. 

“It seems our governament doesn't have the interest of 

the athletes at heart. We devote so much energy preparing. 

This is the life of many of our youths. 

“Is the government trying to sabotage our efforts? Because 

I don’t want to believe that it is because of coronavirus 

they are doing this. Other countries that are hardest hit 

by the virus have moved on. Even in midst of the pandemic, 

sports is going on in those countries, so why is Nigeria doing 

this to us? 

“We have only a few athletes who have qualified for the 

Olympics. Those who are eager to meet the standards are 

looking to use the narrow window to earn qualification 

before the Games next year. 

“And then as a country you now shut down such an opportunity. 

Nigeria does next to nothing for her athletes 

and now you are slowing down the efforts of athletes who 

are struggling to meet world standards. Is this not sabotage? 

“This thing is even more than what we are seeing,’’ sprinter 

and coach, Prince Adegboyega Emmanuel concurred. 

Most parents are even so discouraged and have urged 

their wards not to come into athletics. 

“I can’t even look at some of the parents in the face anymore, 

because it hard to convince them athletics will help 

them achieve their aims in life,”said coach Isaac Osagie- 

Ikhabome. 

Deji Aliu, who won the world junior in 1992 couldn’t 

hide his feelings. 

“I feel so ashamed to call myself a Nigerian. They don’t 

have any regard for how the athletes and their coaches 

feel. 

“We worked so hard in training and then what do we get, 

postponement after postponement. Is this how it is done in 

other countries? And we are aiming to match their results?’’, 

he asked rhetorically. 

NWFL: Edo Queens target success 

Edo Queens Football Club of Benin-City captain Os 

ahenoma Igbinovia, has reiterated the club’s commitment 

in winning laurels in the forthcoming 2020/21 

Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) season. 

Captain Osahenoma, told her colleagues during a training 

session in Abuja to brace up, adding that the only way 

to get the State government’s attention is by winning 

matches. 

“We must know that it is no longer business as usual,if 

we must enjoy full support of the State government, it is 

mandatory for us to win matches, because the only way 

to draw government’s attention to meet our demands is 

for us to show total commitment to our job and doing 

very well.” “We should remember that Edo Queens FC is 

highly rated among female clubs in the country, and alot 

of female league players want to come to Edo Queens 

because of the commitment of the State government towards 

the club and rebranding that has taken place. So it 

is our collective responsibility to ensure that Edo Queens 

do what is expected of them as professional league players.” 

Liverpool fans angry over Salah’s 

disallowed goal 

Liverpool fans have questioned how pedantic VAR 

should be after Mohamed Salah had a goal against 

Brighton and Hove Albion ruled out. 

The Reds thought Salah had put them into the lead against 

Brighton when the attacker ran through and slotted past 

Mat Ryan. 

It was a devastatingly efficient attack which was ultimately 

ruled out by the narrowest of offsides. 

It prompted fans to question why VAR decisions with offside 

should not be clear and obvious like it is with penalties. 

Despite the decision, pundits Peter Crouch and Joe Cole 

praised the build-up play for the disallowed goal. 

Cole said it was an example of the quality Liverpool have 

in their side and praised Salah’s finish, which bounced over 

the goalkeeper after initially hitting the ground. 

He said: “When you play for Liverpool and you have that 

quality, you can make things out of nothing. 

“They were poor, Liverpool, but this is exquisite, this is 

divine. The finish, he’s bearing down on goal, it’s on his 

weak foot, and he’s hit it into the ground, Salah, and you 

can’t discount the fact that, a player of his quality, I think 

he’s done that on purpose.”

SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 29, 2020 

SEE SOLUTION PAGE 5 

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Advert Dept: 01- 7924470; Hotline: 01-4544821; Abuja Advert Hotline: 09-2921024. 

E-mail website: sundayvanguard@yahoo.com, editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, sunvanguardmail@yahoo.com. Advert:advert@vanguardngr.com. Internet: www.vanguardngr.com 

(ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: WALE AKINOLA 08023145556. All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

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