14012021 - COVID-19: Stakeholders back re-opening of schools, if...

17 

Professor Gambari is 

loyal to a fault; he must 

care about his own 

legacy as well as Buhari’s 

Kukah offended 

Buhari, many other 

Nigerians with his 

controversial 

remarks 

— PRESIDENCY 

8 

Zamfara, Bayelsa, Imo, Rivers, 

others lose out as FG 

9 

disburses N123.348bn 

performance grants to states 

No threat to justify religious 9 

crisis under current 

circumstances —NORTHERN ELDERS 

Buhari, 

Ohanaeze, 

Sanwo-Olu, 

others mourn 

as Ndubuisi 

Kanu dies 

13 

at 77 

Currency outside banks rises 55% to N2.3trn in 5yrs 

19 

VOL. 27: NO. 642248 THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021 

COVID-19: Stakeholders back 

re-opening of schools, if... 5 

•ASUU, NANS, NUT, NAPTAN back reopening of schools on conditions•Schools not drivers of 

pandemic — UNICEF• Closure of varsities unconstitutional, disastrous — AFE 

BABALOLA•Students threatening to beat up VCs, lecturers over closure — UNIBEN VC 

NIN REGISTRATION... 

A nursing mother taking instructions for NIN registration from a National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, official 

even as the NIMC unit of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria counts down to a 21-day ultimatum for an indefinite 

nationwide industrial action at the NIMC Headquarters, Wuse, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida. 

Navy warns N-Delta militants over 

Ex-soldiers 

protest 

pension 

arrears at 

Finance 

Ministry 8 

NECO 

releases 

2020 SSCE 

results; over 

73% record 

credit passes 

in English, 

Maths 14 

Mr & Mrs 

threat to resume attacks 

•Clark to Akpabio: Stop meddling in NDDC affairs 

•FG sued over sole administrator for NDDC 

12 

24 

SEE INSIDE

2 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14 , 2021 — 3


vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews 

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021—5 

POCKET CARTOON 

COMMISSIONING—From left: Sir Celestine Omehia, former Governor of Rivers State; Mr Peter 

Obi, former Governor of Anambra State; Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike; his deputy, Dr Ipalibo 

Harry-Banigo and Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Ikuinyi Ibani, during the Commissioning 

of Isiokpo internal roads phase 2 in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, yesterday. Photo: 

Nwankpa Chijioke. 

COVID: Stakeholders back 

reopening of schools, if... 

•Schools not drivers of pandemic – UNICEF•Closure of 

varsities unconstitutional, disastrous — AFE 

BABALOLA•Students •hreatening to beat up VCs, lecturers 

over closure – UNIBEN VC 

By Adesina Wahab & 

Rotimi Ojomoyela 

L AGOS—Stakeholders 

in the education 

sector, yesterday, told the 

Federal Government that 

they are in support of 

reopening of schools, if all 

necessary safety 

measures and facilities 

are in place to stem the 

spread of COVID-19. 

They include the 

Nigerian Union of 

Teachers, NUT, National 

Parents Teachers 

Association of Nigeria, 

NAPTAN, National 

Association of Nigerian 

Students, NANS, and 

even the Academic Staff 

Union of Universities, 

ASUU. 

The stakeholders were 

also reacting to the 

advisory of the the United 

Nations Education Fund, 

UNICEF, which said 

Tuesday that the closure 

of schools due to the 

COVID-19 pandemic will 

impact negatively on the 

development, safety and 

well-being of children 

globally, noting that 

schools are not drivers of 

the viral disease. 

This is even as 

renowned lawyer and 

founder of Afe Babalola 

University, Chief Afe 

Babalola, SAN, yesterday 

described the continued 

closure of schools as 

unjust. 

Vice-Chancellor of the 

University of Benin, 

Professor Lilian Salami, 

who apparently downplayed 

the fears of 

stakeholders about 

schools reopening, said 

yesterday that students 

are threatening to beat up 

lecturers over continued 

closure of universities, 

assuring that 

management of varsities 

are ready to resume 

academic activities in a 

safe and secure manner, 

as prescribed by the 

Presidential Task Force, 

PTF, on COVID-19. 

The Federal 

Government had set 

Monday, January 18 as 

resumption date for 

schools in the country, 

though the Minister of 

Education, Adamu 

Adamu had said the date 

was not sacrosanct. 

UNICEF warns 

UNICEF had warned 

that the effects of closing 

schools for another year 

will be felt for generations 

to come, maintaining that 

despite overwhelming 

evidence that schools are 

not drivers of the 

pandemic, steps had been 

taken to ensure that they 

remained shut. 

“In the case of lockdowns, 

schools must be 

among the first to reopen 

once authorities start 

lifting restrictions. 

“Catch-up classes 

should be prioritised to 

ensure that children who 

have been unable to learn 

remotely are not left 

behind. 

“If children are faced 

with another year of 

school closures, the effects 

will be felt for generations 

to come,” UNICEF 

warned. 

The UN agency noted 

that the number of out-ofschool 

children is set to 

rise by 24 million to a level 

not yet seen in years and 

to a level it has fought so 

hard to overcome. 

Meanwhile, the 

stakeholders, who spoke 

with our correspondent, 

also noted that the call by 

the United Nations 

Children’s Fund that 

schools should not be 

closed further because of 

the negative effects it 

would have on the society 

at large was based on the 

proviso that all necessary 

facilities to ensure the 

safety of teachers, 

students and others were 

put in place. 

ASUU’s position 

The National President 

of ASUU, Professor 

Biodun Ogunyemi, said 

his union is not opposed 

to reopening schools but 

noted that the needful 

should be done by the 

government. 

"Did UNICEF say 

schools should reopen 

without putting the 

necessary safety 

measures in place? We 

have had some situations 

in the country where a 

large number of school 

children tested positive to 

the disease. The younger 

ones are even stronger 

and have immunity that is 

stronger than the elderly. 

"We have seen professors 

die like chickens. We must 

say this: That we are not 

opposed to the reopening 

of schools but the needful 

must be done. Let the 

government implement 

safety guidelines they 

rolled out last July. 

"In the guidelines, they 

said all stakeholders must 

assess the situation in 

each school and agree 

that everything is okay 

before such schools are 

reopened. The 

prescription they have 

made will not be 

implemented by angels or 

some people from Mars. 

They must provide the 

enabling environment 

and that is what we need," 

he said. 

NUT 

The National Secretary 

of the NUT, Dr Mike Ene, 

and the National 

Treasurer, Comrade 

Segun Raheem, noted 

that UNICEF had been 

contributing greatly to the 

welfare of children 

worldwide and would not 

want any government to 

do anything to jeopardise 

their welfare. 

Ene said though it is 

inimical to keep students 

at home perpetually, only 

those who are alive could 

strategise. 

“If we know what we can 

do to get the children 

back to school without 

putting their lives and 

those of others in danger, 

no problem. Public places 

like markets and others 

are opened. We can open 

the schools but with 

modifications. We can 

Continues on Page 27 

By Providence 

Adeyinka 

On N20k monthly salary for 774,000 special public workers (4) 

What makes the scheme 

special? I advise 

everyone to just trust God and 

pray to Him to reveal to them a 

profitable venture that will help 

them to empower others. I 

started paying my lesson fees 

and buying my Christmas 

dresses from JS 3 at barely 14 

years. I made chin-chin and 

supplied. I sponsored myself 

in the university and even went 

further to bag a second degree 

and still progressing. 

—Omenmah Favour, 

Business Devt. Professional 

It is simply a waste of 

scarce resources in a 

period of pandemic; N15.5 

billion per month? That is 

N92.9 billion in six 

months- for the SPW! This 

huge amount can easily 

settle the promised 

allowances owed health 

workers and doctors dying 

at the forefront of the war 

against Covid-19. 

—Kingsley Muoneke, 

Peace Ambassador 

These people should be 

trained to be skilled or semiskilled 

workers and then 

equipped to become self-reliant. 

I commend the FG for this; it'll 

augment whatever they were 

earning. We should understand 

a concept before criticising it. 

Most of the programmes are 

with good intention but 

oftentimes, they are hijacked by 

politicians. There must be 

monitoring and evaluation. 

—Boiti Atayese, 

Haulage expert 

Spending so much on a job 

that will last just three 

months is unwise. The FG 

should create an office to solve 

the problem of unemployment. 

How can a graduate be 

struggling for N20K job per 

month? Can NASS 

members’ children survive on 

N20K a month? It’s time to stand 

up for our right. What happened 

to our agric? Govt. should do 

something before it’s too late. 

—David Oriname, 

Event planner 

This is good but the 

process of selection is 

wrong. Many selected 

candidates are employed. In 

Lagos, the three slots for some 

CDAs were taken by CDA 

chairman, secretary and 

treasurer; while in some LGAs, 

the recruitment was hijacked 

by politicians who fixed their 

loyalists. Another issue is, will 

they actually do the job? 

—Onaolapo Olatunji, 

Analyst 

Who are the workers; when 

was the interview done 

and what's the special 

work? How can govt. be 

deceiving us? Majority of the 

employees will be graduates; 

this govt. is always making its 

youth to shed tears, can they 

pay their children N20K for any 

job let alone public work? Mind 

you, they are going to spend 

more than half of the money on 

themselves. Why can’t they 

create good employment 

opportunities for people? 

—Ayo Blessing, Self-employed

6— Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021 

3 suspected 

thieves set 

ablaze in 

Calabar 

By Emma Una 

CALABAR— 

THREE 

persons suspected to be 

thieves were Monday night 

roasted at different locations in 

Calabar. 

The lynching took place in 

three places in Calabar South 

area of the city. One of the 

suspects, whose name was 

given as Okon, was roasted by 

an angry mob on Palm Street 

by Atu streets intersection. 

A resident said the suspect 

was caught when the family 

he went to attack raised alarm 

and neighbours went to their 

rescue 

He was set on fire with the 

keys he used to gain entry into 

the house. 

Another suspected thief was 

set ablaze at Mayne Avenue 

by Inyang Street. He was said 

to be a tricycle operator. 

“He was a Keke rider and 

after some time he stopped. I 

don’t know why he stopped 

but this is how he has ended. 

Things are hard but stealing 

is not the way to go,” Ubong, 

a Keke driver, told our reporter. 

The third suspect, who was 

set ablaze at Efioawan Street, 

according to a resident, was a 

terror around the area and 

residents got tired and decided 

to set him on fire. 

“He was caught several 

times and handed over to the 

police but they kept releasing 

him and yesterday, when he 

tried to snatch a bag from a 

lady, he was caught and set 

on fire.” 

The state Police Command 

spokesman, Irene Ugbo, said 

she was not aware of any of 

the incidents. 

NDLEA arrests 

60 drug 

peddlers in 

Ondo 

By Dayo Johnson 

SIXTY suspected drug 

traffickers have been 

arrested by National Drug Law 

Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, 

in Ondo State. 

A statement by the command’s 

Public Relations Officer in Akure, 

Mr Ekechuku Wilson, said the 

suspects were arrested between 

October and December last year. 

Ekechuku said the suspects, 

52 males and eight females, 

were arrested for their 

involvement in illicit drugs and 

psychotropic substances with 

3,770.39 kg of cannabis destroyed 

and 128kg of skutchies seized. 

He added that 13.8kg of 

monkey tail was also seized. 

According to him, “four 

vehicles and one Honda 

motorcycle used for transporting 

illicit substances were also seized. 

The agency successfully 

prosecuted 15 suspects convicted 

at the Federal High Court, Akure 

Division with 107 cases still 

pending. 

“The activities of the Drug 

Dependent reduction indicated 

that five drug-dependent people 

had also been counselled and 

reunited with their families, while 

five other people are currently 

undergoing rehabilitation.” 

Bauchi police arrest suspected ritualist in 

Nasarawa, recover female organs 

•Nab 14 for organising sex party 

By Charly Agwam 

BAUCHI—A 

19-year-old 

suspected ritualist, Abdulkadir 

Haladu, has been arrested by 

operatives of the Bauchi State Police 

Command in Mararaba town of 

Nasarawa State. 

The suspects reportedly fled from 

Jama’are Local Government Area 

of Bauchi State after taking part in 

the genital mutilation of a minor. 

During the parade of the suspect, 

yesterday, at the Command 

Headquarters in Bauchi, the Police 

Public Relations Officer, Ahmed 

Wakil, said: “Sequel to the genital 

mutilation of a minor by suspected 

ritualist, a terrifying incident which 

occurred in Jamaare Local 

Government Area on December 30, 

2020, the police have arrested the 

fleeing suspect, 19-year-old 

Abdulkadir Wada Haladu, of 

Chikamidari area of Jamaare at 

Mararraba in Nasarawa State 

where he voluntarily confessed to 

the crime. 

“Exhibits recovered from the 

suspect’s hideout include; two 

knives, one Mirinda bottle 

containing suspected genital 

organs. Three bottles containing 

native medicine, one carton 

containing some native dry 

medicines tied inside polythene 

bags, one dry animal skin, two 

native blackboards, one calabash, 

one hoe and two locally made disks.” 

14 nabbed for 

organising sex party 

In a related development, the 

police spokesman paraded 14 

suspects accused of organising sex 

party in Dass Local Government 

Area of the state. 

“Based on reliable intelligence 

that suspected criminal syndicates 

notorious for thuggery, phone 

snatching, and indecent acts, 

including sex parties, were 

terrorising residents of the state, the 

Commissioner of Police, Lawan 

Jimeta, raised a team of detectives 

led by the Commander, Rapid 

Respond Squad, who immediately 

embarked on a round the clock 

operation, which resulted in the 

apprehension of the suspects. 

“Findings reveal that on the same 

day of their arrest at about 2000hrs, 

they had conspired among 

themselves and organised a party 

suspected to be sex party with 

attendant series of atrocities within 

Dass town. The suspects will be 

profiled and charged to court. 

The suspects. 

Alex Ekwueme varsity lecturer-turned 

taxi driver found dead in Ebonyi 

By Peter Okutu 

THE lifeless body of a 

lecturer with the Alex 

Ekwueme Federal University 

Ndufu Alike Êkwo, AE- 

FUNAI, identified as Kyrian 

Nwoke, was Monday 

discovered near the popular 

Rice Mill in Abakaliki, Ebonyi 

State capital with bullet 

wounds. 

The deceased had 

reportedly gone to pick up 

some passengers with his 

private car, which he had 

converted to a taxi because of 

the non-payment of university 

lecturers by Federal 

Government for over six 

months. 

He had registered the car 

with an online car-service to 

make ends meet and take care 

of his young wife and child. 

It was gathered that he went 

missing Sunday after he 

reportedly picked up some 

passengers in Abakaliki while 

his car has not been found. 

One of his colleagues took 

to his Facebook wall to mourn 

him. He blamed his death on 

the Federal Government’s 

inability to pay lecturers in the 

country. 

The friend said: “Kyrian 

Nwoke was a lecturer in the 

Physiology Department at 

Alex Ekwueme Federal 

University, Ndufu Alike, 

Nigeria. He was also a Ph.D 

student. 

“As a result of the hardship 

occasioned by the prolonged 

ASUU strike and FG 

withholding of lecturers' 

salaries for over six months, 

he registered his car under 

the online taxi service to make 

ends meet. 

“On Sunday, January 10, he 

was called to pick up customers 

Late Kyrian Nwoke 

at Udemezue Street and drop 

them at a popular eatery 

(names withheld) known for 

local delicacies at Ogoja Road, 

Abakaliki. 

“He never returned from that 

journey as his lifeless body 

with a bullet wound was 

discovered the next day near 

the Rice Mill, along the same 

Ogoja Road and his car 

missing. 

“That is how Kyrian Nwoke’s 

sunset on that faithful Sunday, 

leaving his wife a widow and 

his little daughter fatherless 

and AE-FUNAI bereft of a 

hardworking, upcoming 

Physiology scholar. 

“But the security agents 

should do the needful and fish 

out the perpetrators of this 

dastardly act.” 

At press time, the Police 

spokesman in the state, Loveth 

Odah, could not be reached for 

comment. 

Gunmen abduct poly lecturer in 

Rivers 

By Davies 

Iheamnachor 

PORT HARCOURT— A 

lecturer with Ken Saro- 

Wiwa Polytechnic in Bori, 

Khana Local Government 

Area of Rivers State simply 

identified as Mr. James, was 

reportedly abducted, Tuesday, 

by unidentified gunmen. 

Speaking on the abduction, 

yesterday, chairman of 

Academic Staff Union of 

Polytechnic, ASUP, Ken Saro- 

Polytechnic chapter, Prince 

Nwiyo, said James was 

kidnapped at his residence at 

Igwurutali, Ikwerre LGA of the 

state about 2am, Tuesday. 

Nwiyo, who condemned the 

abduction, called for the 

unconditional release of the 

victim. 

He said: “The news of the 

kidnap of Mr. James came to 

us yesterday (Tuesday) as a 

shock. As a union, we are 

calling on the security 

agencies to take control of the 

situation and ensure a 

successful rescue of our 

colleague. 

“The abductors are in the 

same vein advised to release 

him unconditionally without 

further delay. The union will 

not accept kidnap of any of its 

members, even after he is 

released. If after a while, he 

is not released, we are going 

to embark on a serious 

peaceful protest.” 

Meanwhile, calls and 

messages to the Public 

Relations Officer of the state 

Police Command, Nnamdi 

Omoni, at press time were not 

responded to. 

Bandits kill 2 in 

Kaduna village 

By Ibrahim 

HassanWuyo 

TWO locals, Aliyu Daiyabu 

and Safiyanu Muhammad, 

were reportedly killed, 

yesterday, when bandits 

attacked Garu village of Igabi 

Local Government Area of 

Kaduna State. 

However, troops under the 

auspices of Operation 

Thunder Strike have 

continued clearance patrols in 

Gwagwada general area of 

Chikun Local Government 

Area, which connects with 

Kaduna-Abuja highway. 

Operational feedback to the 

Kaduna State Government 

revealed that the troops 

conducted clearance patrols to 

Napayako and Dajin Wuya, 

during which several bandit 

camps were destroyed. 

Kaduna 

State 

Commissioner, Ministry of 

Internal Security and Home 

Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said 

the patrol followed an earlier 

attack by bandits on hunters 

in the forest when two hunters 

were left with gunshot 

wounds. 

During the clearance 

operation, the troops 

mobilised to the location with 

some hunters, who escaped 

the prior attack. While the 

camps were dislodged, one of 

the wounded hunters, 

Yohanna Yakubu, was found. 

The other hunter, Isuwa Tanko, 

was eventually confirmed 

dead. 

Governor Nasir el-Rufai 

received the feedback with 

gratitude, praising the morale 

and resilience of the troops.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021—7 

Kidney transplant: Zulum releases N10m to 

save UNIMAID student •Mother, son confirm alert 

By Ndahi Marama 

M AIDUGURI—GOVERNOR 

Babagana Zulum of Borno 

State, Tuesday, approved the release 

of N10 million to save the life of 

Mbahi Sarki Suleiman, a 29-yearold 

300 level Geography student of 

the University of Maiduguri, who is 

in critical need of kidney transplant. 

The student hails from Yara in 

Hawul Local Government Area of 

southern Borno. 

The support came after the student 

and his mother featured on Brekete 

family, a morning programme in 

Human Rights Radio in Abuja, 

hosted by Ahmed Isa, popularly 

called ‘ordinary President’, with a 

direct appeal to Governor Zulum to 

save Bitrus. The family sought N9 

million being the cost of the 

transplant as they had a donor in 

waiting. 

On Tuesday, January 12, the 

family’s appeal was brought to 

Zulum’s attention by his media 

team, following which the governor 

directed the immediate release of 

N10 million to fund Bitrus’ transplant. 

Whereas the family needed N9 

million, Zulum added N1 million 

in case of an unforeseen 

circumstance. 

Yesterday, Saratu Sarki Bitrus, 

mother of the student, returned to 

Brekete family programme with her 

son, and confirmed on-air, that she 

had received bank alert of N10 

million as directed by Governor 

Zulum and she had already made 

payments to a hospital in Abuja, 

which is to undertake the transplant 

this week. 

Speaking with tears of joy, the 

Shalom, 

11-week-old 

baby with heart 

problem, dies 

THE 11-week-old baby, Shalom 

Omoike, with a heart problem, 

hoping to travel abroad for a heart 

surgery, is dead. 

His mother, Mrs Mercy Omoike, a 

journalist with the News Agency of 

Nigeria (NAN), said, yesterday, that 

Shalom died on Sunday evening while 

waiting to travel for the surgery. 

Omoike, while appreciating the 

gesture of kind-hearted Nigerians that 

donated toward the surgery, said such 

payments into the publicised bank and 

“Go Fund Me Account” should stop. 

She thanked kindhearted Nigerians 

and corporate organisations that had 

donated toward the planned heart 

surgery for Shalom. 

“We, however, regret to announce the 

death of the baby. The baby boy died on 

January 10, after a brief illness,” she 

said. 

It would be recalled that Omoike 

had earlier sought the support of kindhearted 

Nigerians to raise N7.5 million 

for surgery to save of baby born with a 

heart problem. 

Omoike said the baby boy was born 

on October 23, with a heart problem. 

According to her, the financial support 

was needed for Shalom’s surgery, visa, 

and travel expenses to India for the 

surgical intervention. 

Mr Buki Ponle, Managing Director 

of NAN had also on January 8, launched 

a #SaveShalom Appeal Fund to save 

the baby. 

KIDNEY TRANSPLANT: Standing:: Mbahi Sarki Suleiman, a 300 level student 

of UNIMAID (2nd left); his mother, Saratu Sarki Bitrus (third left), Mbahi’s 

uncle, Ishaya Bitrus (5th left), founder and host of Brekete family, Ahmed Isah 

alias Ordinary President (squatting) with some officials of Human Rights Radio 

and Borno government after Mbahi’s received N10 million for his kidney transplant 

released by Zulum... at the headquarters of Human Rights Radio, Abuja, 

Wednesday. 

patient, Mbahi, told the audience 

that he was the one that received 

the deposit alert of N10 million in 

his mother’s phone. 

He said: “Yesterday (Tuesday), 

my mother gave me her phone to 

show me a deposit of N5,000 that 

someone had made to her account 

and while I was going through that, 

I suddenly saw an incoming 

deposit and it was N10 million, I 

became shocked and showed my 

mum. We all knelt in disbelieve and 

started crying. 

“Later on, an aid to the governor 

called to ask if we had received the 

alert and we confirmed it. I do not 

know what to say to Governor 

Zulum. I can only wish that God 

blesses him and make him greater 

than he is. Nothing I say can show 

the extent of what I feel about that 

intervention to save my life. I 

currently survive on dialysis." 

After the family outing on Brekete 

family, a media aid of Governor 

Zulum met Mbahi, his mother and 

management of Brekete family at 

Human Rights Radio in Abuja, to 

convey Zulum’s well wishes for a 

successful transplant and speedy 

recovery. 

Our correspondent reports that in 

December 2019, Zulum had directed 

the Borno State Specialist Hospital 

in Maiduguri to offer free dialysis 

to all patients in the state. 

Owner of Club Victoria arrested over violation 

of COVID-19 protocols 

By Evelyn Usman 

THE Lagos State Police 

Command, yesterday, said 

owner of Club Victoria's, on Ajose 

Adeogun, Victoria Island, Lagos, 

Mr Owede Bruno, has been 

arrested for violating the COVID- 

19 protocols in the state. 

It would be recalled that the 

Commissioner of Police, Lagos 

State Police Command, Hakeem 

Odumosu, led a team of 

policemen, who raided some 

clubs at the early hours of last 

Saturday, among which was Club 

Victoria’s. 

Over 100 clubbers and strippers 

were said to have been arrested 

at clubs, at about 1.30 am. The 

suspects were charged to court the 

same day, where a fine of N20,000 

each was slammed on them. 

Irked by the defiance of club 

owners to close their clubs as 

directed by the state government, 

as part of the preventive measures 

to prevent the spread of the 

COVID-19 pandemic, Odumosu 

vowed that owners of clubs would 

be arrested alongside clubbers. 

Confirming the arrest of 42- 

year-old Bruno, the Lagos State 

Police Public Relations Officer, 

Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the 

suspect had been charged to 

court, adding that the arrest would 

serve as a deterrent to other defiant 

club owners. 

He said: “The suspect has been 

charged before the Ebute Metta 

Magistrate's Court today 

Owede Bruno 

(yesterday) on a four-count 

charge, according to the 

provisions of the Criminal Law of 

Lagos State, 

“The Commissioner of Police, 

Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, 

thereby reiterates the command’s 

readiness to consistently go after 

violators of COVID-19 protocols, 

including club owners, who 

remain recalcitrant. 

He further warns the general 

public against violation and 

disregard for the preventive 

measures being put in place by 

the government to halt the spread 

of the pandemic in the state. 

“While promising to intensify the 

enforcement of laws in Lagos State 

and COVID-19 protocols, he 

assures that policing the state will 

be all-inclusive and peopleoriented 

following international 

policing standards.” 

NAPTIP hands 

over 22 rescued 

children to 

Kaduna State 

Govt 

NO fewer 22 under-aged 

children were handed 

over to Kaduna State Ministry 

of Human Science and Social 

Development by National 

Agency for the Prohibition of 

Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, 

to be united with their 

parents. 

Director-General of NAPTIP, 

Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, in a 

statement, yesterday, in Abuja, 

frowned at the increasing rate 

of child trafficking, 

employment of children for 

begging and other 

exploitative labour in the 

country. 

Suleiman-Ibrahim said the 

children were rescued by the 

military, which intercepted a 

Peugeot J5, on January 8, 

conveying them. 

She explained that they were 

being taken from Kwasalo 

village in Ikara Local 

Government Area of Kaduna 

State to Nasarawa State for 

exploitative labour. Suleiman- 

Ibrahim further explained that 

the military handed them over 

to NAPTIP. 

Director-General said the 

children were crammed into 

the bus without windows and 

were weak at the point of 

rescue. 

The NAPTIP boss said 

investigation into the case was 

ongoing but owing to the age 

of the children, the agency 

deemed it necessary to reunite 

them with their families 

through the Kaduna State 

government. 

“She said: This is important 

to ensure that the children are 

available in furtherance of 

investigation and possible 

prosecution of their traffickers. 

“The driver of the bus is in 

custody as efforts are being 

expedited to ensure the arrest 

of other accomplices 

implicated in the case.” 

Suleiman-Ibrahim cautioned 

parents against giving out 

their children under any guise 

as they could be subjected to 

all forms of abuses and 

exploitation. 

Kidnappers demand N60m as ransom for 

petrol dealer in Ekiti 

By Rotimi Ojomoyela 

ADO-EKITI— KIDNAPPERS 

of Mr Suleiman Akinbami, a 

petrol dealer in Ekiti State, have 

reportedly contacted his family, 

demanding N60 million for his 

release. 

Akinbami was kidnapped Sunday 

night by four gunmen in one of his 

filling stations in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti 

state capital. 

A family source, who confided in 

newsmen, yesterday, said the 

kidnappers called Tuesday night 

demanding the amount before they 

could release the victim. 

He said: “You know our man was 

kidnapped Sunday night in a very 

dramatic way and very late on 

Tuesday, we got a call from them 

asking us to pay N60 million if we 

are to see him. 

“We pleaded with them to reduce 

the amount and we are yet to hear 

from them since then.” 

Contacted, Ekiti Amotekun Corps 

commander, Brig. Gen Joe 

Komolafe (retd), said he was not 

aware of the ransom being 

demanded by the abductors, saying 

his men were trailing the gunmen. 

He expressed optimism that the 

victim would soon be rescued with 

the collaboration of Amotekun, 

police and vigilante in the state. 

Komolafe urged residents to 

volunteer timely and useful 

information on the activities of 

criminals in their domains. 

According to him, “Our personnel 

are very much in the bush trailing 

the kidnappers in a bid to rescue 

the victim. It is a joint collaboration 

with police and other security agents 

to rescue him unhurt. 

“ We are appealing to the members 

of the public to volunteer useful 

information on the criminal 

elements in their communities 

because the criminals are human 

beings and not spirits.

8 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021 

:Vanguard News 

Kukah offended Buhari, many other 

Nigerians with his controversial 

remarks — Presidency 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

ABUJA — The Presidency 

said yesterday 

that though Catholic Bishop 

of Sokoto Diocese, Most 

Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, 

offended the President 

and many Nigerians with 

his controversial remarks, 

he should be allowed to 

practise his faith. 

The reaction came 

against the backdrop of alleged 

ultimatum from a 

Sokoto-based group, Muslim 

Solidarity Forum, to 

Kukah to tender an unreserved 

apology to the entire 

Muslim Ummah over 

his remarks or leave the 

state.Senior Special Assistant 

to the President on 

Media and Publicity, 

Malam Garba Shehu, however, 

said in a statement last 

night that such ultimatum 

was wrong as it was not in 

line with the constitution of 

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

PROTEST: Retired soldiers during a protest over the non-payment of their pension and arrears at the 

entrance of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Central Business District, Abuja yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida. 

2023: We owe nobody apology, if we start 

grouping now — North Central leaders 

By Henry Umoru 

ABUJA — AHEAD of 

2023 general elections, 

leaders from the North Central 

geopolitical zone have 

said they owed nobody in other 

zones of the country any 

apology, if they start grouping 

and brainstorming on 

their political fortune and future. 

Addressing journalists yesterday 

in Abuja, shorty after 

the inauguration of the 

Steering Committee for the 

North Central Cultural week 

by the North Central Unity 

Bridge (The Bridge), President 

of the Organisation, Mr. Yabagi 

Yusuf Sani, said if the 

South East and the South West 

zones could meet and raise issues 

that concern them under 

the aegis of Ohanaeze Ndigbo 

and Afenifere, it would not 

be out now of place for the 

North Central to cry out, using 

a platform. 

Sani, who is the National 

Chairman of Action Democratic 

Party, ADP, said the zone 

has not produced a civilian 

president. 

He explained that the 

Bridge was not a political 

group but an outfit designed 

to promote the culture of the 

region, to encourage unity, as 

well as help encourage rapid 

economic development of the 

people. 

Sani said the group would 

come up with a cultural week 

November this year to bring 

to bear the rich cultural heritage 

of the North Central zone, 

create cultural harmony, and 

very wide communication 

among the people and others. 

Asked if the event was not 

about 2023, Sani said: “If we 

do it here to plan for 2023, we 

have not offended anybody, it 

will not be of place, others are 

doing it, Ohanaeze, the 

Afenifere and others are doing 

it, if we do it, we have not 

offended anybody and we 

owe no one any apology. 

‘’We want a voice for the 

people of North Central zone. 

Ohanaeze is a voice for the 

South East and Afenifere is the 

voice for the South West. Why 

can’t the North Central have 

same? 

‘’We have not produced a 

civilian president, it will not 

be out of place if we push for 

that ahead of 2023.” 

the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

''Father Kukah has greatly 

offended many with his 

controversial remarks 

against the government 

and the perswon of the 

President, with some even 

accusing him of voicing 

anti-Islamic rhetoric. 

On matters such as these, 

responsible leadership in 

any society must exercise 

restraint. Knee-jerk reactions 

will not onkly cause 

the fraying of enduring relationships 

but also the 

evisceration of peaceful 

communities such as Sokoto, 

the headquarters of the 

Muslim community as beacon 

of pluralism and tolerance. 

''The Sultanate has historically 

had good good relations 

with followers of all 

faiths. That is why father 

Kukah was received on his 

arrival in Sokoto with 

friendship and tolerance. 

''Under our laws, groups 

or factions must not give 

quit notices, neither should 

they unilaterally sanction 

any perceived breaches. 

Where they occur, it is the 

courts of law that should adjudicate. 

Unilateral action 

is not the way to go. 

''Groups such as the 

Musilm Solidarity Forum 

must be seen to share and 

uphold the country's multireligious 

principles. And 

individuals like father Kukah 

must respect the feelings 

of his fellow Nigerians 

in his private and public 

utterances.'' 

PIB: Let’s find ways of producing cheaper oil, 

Osinbajo tells stakeholders 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

ABUJA —VICE Presi 

dent Yemi Osinbajo has 

charged stakeholders in the 

oil industry to find ways of 

producing oil cheaper in large 

volumes, given the circumstances 

and future of oil itself 

and the country’s needs. 

The Vice President gave the 

charge at a virtual meeting on 

the Petroleum Industry Bill, 

PIB, with stakeholders in the 

industry under the auspices of 

the Oil Producers Trade Section, 

OPTS, in Nigeria, and 

Independent Petroleum Producers 

Group, IPPG. 

Prof. Osinbajo tasked the 

stakeholders to find and agree 

on cheaper means of producing 

oil, while also ensuring a 

more competitive environment 

that meets the needs and 

purposes of the Nigerian nation, 

including the largest production 

volumes possible. 

His charge was contained 

in a statement issued by the 

Senior Special Assistant to the 

President on Media and Publicity, 

Office of the Vice President, 

Laolu Akande, in Abuja. 

According to him, “we need 

to agree on terms that will give 

us a more competitive environment. 

We should find a 

way of producing oil cheaper 

at the largest volume possible 

given the circumstances 

and future of oil itself, and of 

course, given our requirements 

and needs.” 

The meeting, Akande said 

was held on Tuesday afternoon 

ahead of the consultations 

of the passage of the Petroleum 

Industry Bill, PIB. 

He noted that in line with 

the focus of the Buhari administration, 

there is need for 

stakeholders in the sector to 

agree on terms to create a 

more competitive environment, 

while maximizing opportunities 

in the oil and gas 

industry. 

Prof. Osinbajo said further: 

“The other point is that of gas. 

To sound the question of reconciling 

and maintaining our 

domestic gas obligation, and 

at the same time improving 

the gas environment in such a 

way that we are able to benefit 

maximally from it as a business 

and government. 

“I like the concept that gas 

should be an enabler for quick 

development and I think that 

we must reach some kind of 

balance with this, especially 

with this question around domestic 

gas obligation. I would 

like OPTS and IPPG to look 

more carefully and see in what 

ways we can come to some 

agreements as to how it 

should be done.” 

Speaking on the benefits of 

harmonizing interests in the 

PIB, Osinbajo observed that 

Ex-soldiers protest pension 

arrears at Finance Ministry 

Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

ABUJA — Retired soldiers 

yesterday 

stormed the Federal Ministry 

of Finance, Abuja, in protest 

over the non-payment of their 

20-month pension arrears. 

The ex-servicemen appealed 

to the Federal Government to 

approve the payment of minimum 

wage arrears accruing 

to them from 2019 till date. 

They also demanded an end 

to all deductions on the pension 

of all retired medical officers 

as well as the inclusion 

of officers who fought during 

the civil war on the military 

pension scheme. The protesters 

bore placards, some of 

which read: “Pay us our adjusted 

salary arrears of minimum 

wage approved since 

May 2019'’; ‘’ Veterans are dying.” 

The President, Ex-service 

men and Family Welfare Association, 

Anthony Agbas, 

who delivered a letter to officials 

at the Federal Ministry 

of Finance, told journalists 

that the nation had over 

97,000 retired soldiers who 

were supposed to benefit from 

what he described as the Security 

Department Allowance, 

SDA. According to him, only 

those who were discharged 

from 2017 to date have been 

paid, leaving the bulk with an 

By Egufe Yafugborhi 

PORT HARCOURT - 

FEDERAL Government 

has refunded to Rivers State 

government the N78 billion 

the state spent on federal 

projects, Governor Nyesom 

Wike, has confirmed. 

Wike gave the confirmation 

yestetrday at Isiokpo where his 

Special Guest, former Governor 

Peter Obi, commissioned 

Internal Roads Phase 2 in 

Ikwerre Local Government 

Area. 

He said: “Rivers people, the 

Federal Government has refunded 

us the money. I have 

not touched a dime yet and it 

is in the bank. I will use it for 

project execution. 

“I kept it to tell those who 

are making noise to know that 

the passage of the PIB should 

be seen as an opportunity to 

transform the industry by addressing 

lingering issues that 

have impeded development 

across the different sectors that 

make up the industry. 

“Businesses would like to 

invest and invest more in this 

environment. So, that is the 

point of convergence. We want 

more investments and obviously 

state governments like 

more investments, and you 

(private companies) would 

like to invest so that you can 

make more money. No question 

about that; what we 

should seek to do is to see to 

what extent we can come to 

that convergence,” the Vice 

President said. 

The new PIB, which was 

presented to the National Assembly 

by President Muhammadu 

Buhari in September 

last year, has already passed 

the second reading in both the 

Senate and the House of Representatives. 

unpaid arrears. 

He said: “We are supposed 

to be paid the Security Department 

Allowance, SDA, so we 

don’t use the skill we have acquired 

against the state. 

“All retired soldiers are 

trained on how to use weapons. 

So we are supposed to be 

paid that allowance, so we 

don’t use that skill against the 

state. ’Unfortunately, they 

paid only those who were discharged 

from 2017 to date. 

We have over 97,000 retired 

soldiers. Those that were paid 

are very few, that is why we 

are appealing to the President 

to use his good offices to pay 

all retired soldiers their allowances. 

“We fought to unite this 

country. We spent our youthful 

years to fight the Nigerian 

civil war to unite this country 

to remain one and an indivisible 

country. “Sadly, some of 

us are receiving only N10,000 

as pensions and were told they 

were overpaid since the last 

40 years. 

“We also appeal to the President 

to approve the inclusion 

of retired officers and soldiers 

who fought during the Nigerian 

Civil War but not on pension, 

but you asked Military 

Pension Board, MPB, to verify 

them in October 2015, [in 

the pension scheme]. These 

retired officers and soldiers 

are suffering.’’ 

Wike confirms receipt 

of N78bn FG refund 

I am going to work till the last 

day in office. I will continue 

to work for the interest of our 

people. I’m not resting. 

“They need to know that I 

will make sure what is supposed 

to be done for the people 

of Rivers is done. I will 

persist until we have improved 

and changed Rivers 

and bring it back to what it’s 

supposed to be.” 

He boasted of having laid 

solid foundation of leadership 

by completing all the projects 

he inherited from his predecessor 

and will complete all 

projects he initiated so his successor 

could have smooth sail 

in initiating his projects and 

pursue them. 

“No matter the tactics they 

deplore, no party can take Rivers 

away from PDP. They 

have to convince the people 

why they need the support of 

Rivers people. It is already 

known, they have nothing to 

offer. 

“We have something to offer 

and we have offered it to 

the people. They are angry 

that we are commissioning 

projects. Our business as a 

party is to make the other people 

to have serious high blood 

pressure. 

“Anywhere they are now 

they are crying that we are in 

every local government inaugurating 

projects. We are not 

vindictive. We are a government 

that carries everybody 

along,’’ the governor said. 

On his perception of who to 

support in the incoming Local 

Government (LG) elections 

in the state, Wike told the 

people, “Government is about 

what you can bring to your 

people. It is not what you will 

put in your pocket. People of 

Ikwerre LG and Isiopko, ask 

your people what they have 

brought back home for the 

good of the town.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021 — 9 



WORKSHOP: From left; Members of Tax Justice Network, Javier Garcia-Bernardo, Markus Meinzer 

and Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Muhammad Nami during a workshop on 

Geographic Risk Assessment Tool for Transfer Pricing Audit in Abuja yesterday. 

Bayelsa, Imo, Rivers, Zamfara lose 

out as FG disburses N123.348bn 

performance grants to states 

By Emma Ujah, 

Abuja Bureau Chief 

A Federal BUJA—THE 

Government 

has disbursed the sum of 

N123.348 billion (USD324.6 

million) to state governments in 

the second round of performancebased 

grants. 

The grants were given out 

under the States Fiscal 

Transparency Accountability and 

Sustainability, SFTAS, 

Programme. 

The Minister of Finance, 

Budget and National Planning, 

Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who 

disclosed this in a statement 

issued by Mr. Hassan Dodo, the 

Ministry’s Director of Press and 

Public Relations, yesterday in 

Abuja, explained that the 

disbursement followed the 

achievement of results by the 

states in the just concluded 2019 

Annual Performance 

Assessment, APA. 

The assessment was carried 

out by the Office of the Auditor- 

General for the Federation 

(OAuGF) as the Independent 

Verification Agent (IVA) and 

approved by the Programme 

Coordination Unit (PCU) of the 

Federal Ministry of Finance, 

Budget and National Planning. 

According to Mrs. Ahmed, the 

disbursement included N91.048 

billion (USD239.6 million) of 

performance-based grants for the 

2019 APA results achieved by 32 

eligible states across various 

Disbursement Linked Indicators, 

DLIs, covering fiscal 

transparency, accountability, 

expenditure efficiency, revenue 

mobilization and debt 

sustainability. 

States received grants in 

accordance with the number of 

results achieved, with Sokoto 

State receiving the highest 

amount of N6.612 billion, while 

Kano State got the lowest amount 

of N1.710 billion. 

“Bayelsa, Imo, Rivers and 

Zamfara states got zero allocation 

due to their inability to meet the 

2019 eligibility criteria which 

required states to publish online 

•N233.264bn grants given out so far 

approved annual budgets and 

audited financial statements 

within a specific timeframe,” the 

minister said. 

She noted further that the 

2019 APA results were a 

significant improvement on 2018 

where the total performancebased 

grants of N43.416 billion 

(USD120.6 million) were 

received by 24 eligible states, 

demonstrating the substantial 

progress states had made on fiscal 

reforms. 

The minister disclosed that the 

second part of the disbursement 

involved a new COVID-19 

response; implementation of a 

tax compliance relief programme 

for individual tax payers and 

businesses by states by 

September 30, 2020, where 34 of 

36 states (only Anambra and 

Zamfara states missed out) were 

able to achieve the results for this 

new criteria for the total of N32.3 

billion (USD 85 million) of grants. 

The disbursement came after 

the recent one in November, 2020 

Insecurity: Ex-IGPs begin sensitisation on community policing nationwide 

By Demola Akinyemi 

I Inspectors LORIN—FORMER 

General of Police, 

IGPs, in Nigeria have begun 

sensitisation of stakeholders 

across the six geo-political zones 

of the nation on the 

implementation of community 

policing in the country in order 

to effectively tackle the rising 

problems of insecurity in Nigeria. 

Vanguard reliably gathered 

that the former IGPs were said 

to have expressed concerns over 

the dangerous dimension the 

insecurity in the country had 

taken and came up with the 

agenda of community policing in 

their meetings with the IGP, 

Adamu Mohammed. 

Consequently, two former 

Inspectors General of Police, Tafa 

Balogun, Aliyu Ibrahim Attah 

and Governor Abdulrahman 

by the Federal Government 

where the sum of N66.5billion 

(USD175 million) was granted to 

35 states which achieved results 

under another new COVID-19 

response DLI: the passing of an 

Amended COVID-19 

Responsive 2020 Budget by July 

31, 2020. 

The Minister observed that 

since the first disbursement in 

April 2020, the Federal 

Government had thus far 

disbursed N233 billion 

(USD620.6 million) to states 

under the US $750 million World 

Bank-Assisted States Fiscal 

Transparency, Accountability and 

Sustainability, SFTAS, 

Programme. 

Mrs. Ahmed reiterated that 

SFTAS Programme was 

principally meant to strengthen 

fiscal management at the state 

level so as to ensure effective 

mobilisation and utilisation of 

financial resources to the benefit 

of their citizens in a transparent, 

accountable and sustainable 

Abdulrazaq of Kwara State 

addressed stakeholders, 

including traditional rulers, civil 

society organisations, among 

others, yesterday in Ilorin on 

community policing. 

Speaking at the forum, 

Governor AbdulRazaq reiterated 

his support for community 

policing which he described as 

long over due to strengthen 

security of lives and properties. 

He stressed the need for 

traditional rulers to be accorded 

constitutional roles, since they 

were the closest to the grassroots 

and better legally engaged with 

certain things related to the 

masses. 

He said: “I have always said 

that the traditional rulers are the 

fourth tier of government, their 

duties encompass all we do in our 

society. 

“We have always been grateful 

manner, thereby reducing fiscal 

risks and encouraging a common 

set of fiscally responsible 

behaviours. 

She noted that the SFTAS 

programme could not have come 

at a better time, given the 

dwindling government revenue 

occasioned by oil price volatility 

and coupled with the current 

impact of COVID-19 which has 

further intensified the need for 

improved practices in fiscal 

transparency, accountability and 

sustainability as enunciated in 

the SFTAS ideals. 

The Minister said: “We have 

thus far successfully adapted and 

implemented the SFTAS 

Programme to provide timely 

support to States with a view to 

strengthening their fiscal 

capacity for responding to 

numerous fiscal challenges in 

their respective domains. 

“The increase in the number 

of benefitting states and results 

achieved is indicative of the wider 

acceptance of SFTAS ideals by 

all states of the federation and 

this would herald a new era of 

transparency and accountability 

in fiscal governance at the subnational 

level.’’ 

to them because I receive calls 

daily from them on security 

issues, not just giving 

information but also curbing civil 

disturbances like we recently had 

in Ilesha Baruba. 

‘’In that community, there was 

a civil disturbance earlier and the 

Emir single-handedly calmed the 

situation and ensured that the 

community is safe. We deeply 

appreciate what he did. 

“In the last meeting of 

Northern governors held in 

Kaduna, there was the idea that 

the roles of the traditional rulers 

should be amplified and 

embedded into the constitution. 

This means we should give them 

constitutional roles in the society. 

That is an ongoing process, and I 

am a supporter of this initiative.” 

On his support for community 

policing, he said: “Community 

policing is an idea that is long 

No threats to justify religious 

crisis under current 

circumstances — Northern Elders 

•Say DSS' warnings aggravated fears 

By Luminous 

Jannamike 

ABUJA—DESPITE the 

attacks and counterattacks 

against some religious 

leaders by both Christian and 

Muslim groups, the Northern 

Elders Forum, NEF, said 

yesterday that there were no 

threats under current 

circumstances to justify actions 

that pose serious danger to peace 

and harmonious co-existence in 

the country. 

While admitting that some 

comments with religious 

undertones have caused anger 

and fear in the public domain, the 

Forum, however, stated that if 

there were reasons that could be 

exploited to engineer religious 

conflict, the government ought 

to have dealt decisively with 

those found culpable. 

The Department of State 

Service, DSS, had raised an alarm 

on Monday that some forces 

were out to subject the country 

to religious violence. 

But the Christian Association 

of Nigeria, CAN, in a swift 

reaction, described the alarm as 

a ploy by the DSS to silence 

clerics from commenting on 

Rural electrification should be 

FG’s priority in 2021 — Expert 

By Juliet Umeh 

R energy ENEWABLE 

expert, Mr Paul 

Ubon, has advised the Federal 

Government to channel its 

energy into rural electrification 

this 2021 if it hopes to solve the 

power problem in the country. 

Ubon said rural electrification 

will not only diversify power 

demand and supply in the country 

but will greatly enhance 

government’s delivery of 

dividends of democracy. 

He however warned that to 

achieve maximum benefits of 

rural electrification, the supposed 

supervising ministry, the ministry 

of power must be made to follow 

and observe due processes in its 

activities. 

Ubon who analysed the power 

sector at a media parley in Lagos, 

overdue. It helps to localise 

policing, brings security 

architecture closer to the 

grassroots, and gets a more robust 

buy-in of the people. It relies 

almost entirely on local 

intelligence and constant 

interactions with community folks 

to succeed. 

“However, it is important to 

state that the success of 

community policing depends on 

all of us seeing it as our baby that 

must be nurtured to success. 

“I therefore urge every 

stakeholder to support the 

initiative. As an administration, 

we are wholeheartedly 

committed to community policing 

and will continue to mobilise 

public support for it.” 

Speaking on the occasion, 

former IGP Chief Tafa Balogun, 

said: “The situation of insecurity 

in the country has called for the 

the state of the nation. 

The Christian body also noted 

that the alarm by the DSS had 

only succeeded in causing fears 

and worries among the populace. 

In a statement signed by NEF’s 

Director, Publicity and 

Advocacy, Dr. Hakeem Baba- 

Ahmed, the Northern elders also 

urged Nigerians to be wary of 

mischief makers and traitors who 

might be aiming to worsen the 

hardship in the land. 

The statement read: 

“Northern Elders Forum, NEF, 

is concerned over disturbing 

comments with distinct religious 

undertones which are causing 

anger and fear in the public 

domain. 

“The Forum’s concerns have 

been compounded by published 

warnings from the Department 

of State Service, DSS, over 

attempts to cause breaches in 

security and peaceful coexistence 

through incitement in 

many parts of the country. 

“The Forum invites attention 

to multiple pressures and stresses 

under which Nigerians of all 

faiths live. It will be cruel and 

tragic if communities are set 

up against one another in the 

names of their faiths.'' 

said Rural Electrification should 

rank among Nigeria’s topmost 

priorities and as such should be 

shielded from corruption. 

According to him, activities at 

the ministry of power should be 

better than it is at the moment. 

He said: “There’s a dangerous 

course of events at the Federal 

Ministry of Power, ranging from 

promotions without due process 

to decisions without the input of 

stakeholders. These kinds of 

actions cannot lift the fortunes of 

rural electrification.” 

Giving example of what he 

described as underhand 

Practices at the ministry, he said 

that on December 22, 2020, a 

certain Deputy Director was 

promoted to a Director 

without being due for 

promotion or attending any 

promotional examination. 

sensitisation on community policing 

by retired IGPs, with a view to 

stemming criminals activities in the 

country. 

“The former Inspectors General 

of Police decided to convene a 

meeting at the office of the 

Inspector General of Police , Mr. 

Muhammed Adamu, in Abuja in 

October last year on the need to 

offer advice on the need to stem 

the reported cases of banditry, 

kidnapping, armed robbery, 

among others. 

“Since the federal 

government has put in place a 

community policing strategy to 

address the issue, it behoves 

on us as former Inspectors 

General of Police to come out of 

our shell and be part of the move 

in order to support the efforts 

through enlightenment 

programme on community 

policing in the country.''


:Vanguard 

News 


Sexual harassment: Police end 

probe on Ogun commissioner 

By James 

Ogunnaike 

AOgun BEOKUTA—THE 

State Command 

of the Nigeria Police Force, 

NPF, said, yesterday, that 

it had concluded 

interrogation of the 

suspended Commissioner 

for Environment of the state, 

Mr. Abiodun Abudu- 

Balogun, who was accused 

of sexual harassment by a 

teenager, Barakat 

Melojuekun. 

Vanguard reliably 

gathered that Abudu- 

Balogun was grilled by the 

Commissioner of Police, 

Edward Ajogun, after the 

case was transferred to the 

State Criminal 

Investigation Department, 

SCID. 

The 16-year-old teenager, 

Barakat, had, in a viral 

video, alleged that Abudu- 

Balogun sexually harassed 

her by forcefully touching 

her breasts, caressing her 

and saying some 

incantations, with an 

attempt to place his hand 

2023 poll: 

Students’ group 

for Tinubu 

constitutes 

exco, 

committee 

By Adesina Wahab 

L AGOS—NATIONAL 

Advisory Council, 

NAC, of the Asiwaju 

National Students Support 

Organisation, ANSSO, 

yesterday, constituted 

national, zonal and state 

executive committees for 

the organisation. 

A statement by the 

Chairman of the Advisory 

Council, Mr. John Abbah, 

stated that the group was 

formed by a body of patriotic 

Nigerian students, who cut 

across the federation, and 

are passionate about the 

development of Nigeria 

through good and effective 

leadership. 

He said the group found 

the former Lagos Governor, 

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as 

possessing the 

requirements of a modern 

Nigerian leader, thereby 

drumming support for his 

presidential ambition. 

Apart from Abbah, other 

members of the NAC are 

Adeyemi Azeez Amoo; 

Secretary, Mr. Akanbi 

Afonja; Malam Ibrahim 

Ibrahim, Mr. Tayo 

Sanyaolu, Mr. Esinrogunjo 

Musbau, Comrade Bala 

Mohammed Oshoke, Mr. 

Adebogun Adedayo, Mr. 

Onyedika Agbo, and 

Comrade Mukhtar Akosh. 

Comrade Giwa Murtala 

Moore heads the National 

Executive Committee as 

the National Coordinator, 

while members and leaders 

were appointed for states 

and geopolitical zones in 

the country. 

on her head. 

Though Abudu-Balogun 

debunked the allegations, 

describing it as political 

blackmail, Governor Dapo 

Abiodun suspended him to 

allow for a thorough police 

investigation. 

While giving an update 

on a radio programme in 

Abeokuta, the Police Public 

Relations Officer of the 

Command, Abimbola 

Oyeyemi hinted that the 

police have concluded their 

investigation. 

Oyeyemi said: “We (the 

police) have concluded our 

investigation and we have 

forwarded our report to the 

Director of Public 

Prosecution, DPP, to know 

the next step. 

“According to the nature 

of the case, we have 

concluded our investigation 

and forwarded the report to 

the DPP. It is the DPP that 

will advise us on what the 

accused will be charged for. 

We are waiting for advice 

from the DPP. 

“You will remember that 

the girl and her father made 

efforts to withdraw the case. 

But the police did not agree 

to that. The case is no more 

their own. It is now between 

the Commissioner of Police 

and the accused. That’s 

why we continued with this 

case to get to the root of the 

matter. 

“We have done all that is 

necessary in our 

investigation. In fact, it was 

the CP himself that 

interrogated the accused 

person, the accuser and her 

uncle that took her to the 

house of the Commissioner 

for Environment.” 

By Dayo Johnson & 

Ikechukwu Nnochiri 

ABUJA—A Federal 

High Court in Abuja, 

yesterday, dismissed a suit 

that challenged the primary 

election that produced 

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu 

as the candidate of the All 

Progressive Congress, 

APC, in the last 

governorship election in 

Ondo State. 

This came on a day the 

Peoples Democratic Party, 

PDP, and its governorship 

candidate, Mr. Eyitayo 

Jegede, hurriedly closed 

their case and declined to 

call his 399 witnesses to 

back-up his suit against 

Governor Akeredolu at the 

Election Petition Tribunal, 

sitting in Akure. 

The Abuja court, in a 

judgement delivered by 

Justice Iyang Ekwo, ruled 

that the legal action, which 

was instituted by one Mrs. 

Olajumoke Anifowose, was 

statute-barred. 

Justice Ekwo held that 

the suit was brought outside 

the statutory 14 days period 

the law allowed for the 

commencement of a preelection 

matter. 

INTER-RELIGIOUS SERVICE—Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde (middle); his Deputy, Engr. 

Rauf Olaniyan (left), and representative of Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly and House 

Majority Leader, Sanjo Adedoyin, during the 2021 Annual Inter-Religious Service of Oyo State 

government, held at the state's Secretariat in Ibadan. 

STATE OF THE NATION: Nigeria must 

work for all —Akande 

By Shina Abubakar 

O 

S O G B O — 

FORMER Interim 

National Chairman of the 

All Progressives 

Congress, APC, Chief 

Bisi Akande, yesterday, 

emphasised the need for 

leaders to think out of the 

box to make Nigeria work 

for everyone and drive it 

to the path of 

development. 

He also warned against 

promoting the interest of 

some individuals above 

others. 

Akande, in a statement 

issued by his spokesperson, 

Adelani Baderinwa, 

enjoined leaders to make 

Nigeria a leading light 

globally, where collective 

interests overrides personal 

goals. 

Akande, who urged 

Nigerians to embark on 

fervent prayers for a quick 

end to the Coronavirus 

pandemic, said he would 

appreciate that people pray 

for the country, as a 

birthday gift, than visiting 

his country home for a 

birthday celebration. 

The statement reads: “I 

used the opportunity of my 

birthday to call for more 

strategic thinking that will 

make Nigeria a worldleading 

light where the 

ability to make things work 

over-rides selfish interests 

as the surest path to growth 

and development. 

“Nigerians should pray 

for me, as a birthday gift, 

rather than visit Ila for 

merrymaking as I prefer a 

healthy nation with 

prosperous citizens, as it is 

wise to observe Covid-19 

protocols and live than to 

celebrate in one day with 

dire consequences as a 

repercussion. I wish to have 

200 million Nigerians hale 

and hearty at all times if it’s 

possible. 

Ondo gov poll: Court dismisses suit challenging 

Akeredolu’s nomination 

The court noted that the 

cause of action in the suit, 

which was Akeredolu’s 

nomination by the APC, 

occurred on July 20, 2020. 

It stated that though 

Plaintiff lodged a suit 

against Akeredolu’s 

nomination on July 29, 

which was within the 14 

days period; she later 

withdrew the initial 

Originating Summons and 

substituted it with another 

one on August 20, 2020. 

Justice Ekwo, therefore, 

upheld a preliminary 

objection that Governor 

Akeredolu filed to query the 

legal competence of the 

suit. 

The judge said: “Let me 

make it clear that a careful 

perusal of facts in this 

matter showed that the first 

defendant, Akeredolu was 

nominated on July, 20th, 

2020, and the plaintiff came 

to court on July 29, 2020. 

“A new dimension 

however emerged when 

the plaintiff on August 20, 

2020, substituted the 

originating summon of the 

July 29, with another one 

due to the error discovered 

in the first one that sued the 

office of the governor that 

“I also urge Nigerians to 

ensure that they abide by 

all safety codes and 

procedures against 

COVID-19 at all times. The 

recent increase in the 

number of those who 

contracted it and death 

incidents from the 

pandemic should be 

sufficient to convince all 

hitherto doubting persons 

that the disease is real. 

“While I sympathised 

with those who have lost 

their loved ones to the 

dreaded disease, I pray for 

quick recovery of those 

undergoing treatment and 

congratulate those who 

had been successfully 

treated and pray for an end 

to the pandemic.” 

• Party crisis forces Ondo PDP, Jegede to close case 

did not participle in the 

disputed primary. 

“This substitution having 

not been done within 14 

days allowed by section 285 

of the 1999 constitution, 

makes this suit statued 

barred and constitutionally 

dead.” 

Plaintiff, Mrs. Anifowose 

had challenged the indirect 

primary election that 

produced Akeredolu as flagbearer 

of the APC in the Ondo 

governorship election. 

She contended that both the 

State Executive Committee and 

Local Government Committees 

of the party, violated section 87 of 

the Electoral Act and Article 20 

of the APC Constitution, as well 

as other relevant election 

guidelines, in the conduct of the 

indirect primary election. 

Party crisis forces 

Ondo PDP, 

Jegede to close 

case 

Meanwhile, it was gathered 

that the intractable crisis rocking 

PDP may be responsible for the 

decision of the party and its 

governorship candidate. 

Four hundred witnesses were 

listed to be invited by the party 

but only Jegede gave evidence 

in the suit. 

Justifying the development, 

counsel to the petitioners, 

Onyechi Ikpeazu said they opted 

to narrow their case to the 

evidence presented before the 

court. 

Ikpeazu pointed out that they 

are no longer interested in calling 

further witnesses aside Jegede 

who was in the witness box on 

Tuesday 

However, the Counsel to 

INEC, Charles Edosomwan, 

pleaded for time to further study 

the petitions. 

Counsel to the APC, Lateef 

Fagbemi said that of Governor 

Akeredolu and the deputy 

governor-elect, Lucky 

Aiyedatiwa, Akin Olujimi did not 

oppose the prayer of INEC. 

Further hearing has been 

adjourned till next Tuesday, 

January 19 to enable the first 

respondent, INEC open 

evidence in rebuttal. 

However, a party leader, who 

spoke in confidence, expressed 

regrets that the leadership of the 

party allowed the crisis to fester 

to the extent of adversely 

affecting the case at the 

tribunal. 

The party source said: “We are 

in a serious situation as of now 

because there is no way out for 

us to call witnesses who were not 

part of the suit initially. They are 

already on the records of the 

Tribunal. 

“He can only spill the case out 

of malice so we decided to leave 

them out not to get into more 

trouble.” 

Ondo APC hails 

court’s decision 

Meanwhile, the chairman of 

the APC in Ondo State, Mr. Ade 

Adetimehin, has commended the 

judiciary for supporting the 

development of democratic efforts 

in Nigeria. 

Reacting to the decision of the 

Federal High Court, Abuja, 

which dismissed a case 

challenging the governorship 

primary of the party in July 2020, 

Adetimehin said it behooves all 

hands must be on deck to sustain 

democracy. 

In a statement by its Publicity 

Secretary, Alex Kalejaye, the 

party congratulated Governor 

Akeredolu, leaders and members 

of the party on the deserved 

victory. He further encouraged 

them to remain focused on the 

interest of the State. 

He reminded any aggrieved 

member of the need to always 

explore all internal mechanisms 

for the resolution of issues before 

resorting to the legal option.


:Vanguard :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnewsNEWS HOTLINES: 

SWEARING IN—From left: Newly sworn in Judge, Justice Olubukola Aigbokhaevbo; 

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State; Chief Judge of the state, Justice Kazeem 

Alogba, and newly sworn in Judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi, during the swearing in of 

the new Judges by the governor, at Lagos House in Ikeja, yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez. 

Third Mainland Bridge: FG, stakeholders 

review diversion points by 4 weeks 

L AGOS—FEDERAL 

Controller of Works in Lagos, 

Mr. Olukayode Popoola, said, 

yesterday, that adjustments to be 

made on existing diversion points 

on the Third Mainland Bridge 

will now last between January 15 

and February 13. 

According to Popoola, the 

decision to extend the diversion 

shifts to four weeks from January 

15 to February 13 was reached at 

a stakeholders meeting. 

He told the News Agency of 

Nigeria, NAN, that the bridge was 

not going to be closed and that 

traffic switch, over the period, was 

still the same. 

He added that the existing 

traffic arrangements were still 

valid, but the contractor would 

move the current diversion point 

towards Oworonsoki and close 

COVID-19 scare: Lagos enforces ‘No face mask, no 

entry’ in Alausa Secretariat 

By Olasunkanmi Akoni 

LAGOS—LAGOS 

State 

government, yesterday, 

enforced COVID-19 safety 

protocols on staff and visitors at 

the state’s Secretariat, Alausa, 

Ikeja, as part of measures to 

prevent the spread of the virus. 

As early as 7a.m, when the 

gates of the Secretariat were 

opened for normal activities, a 

safety team from the state 

government, including security 

INSECURITY: Lagos becoming volatile 

—YOV 

By Dapo Akinrefon 

LAGOS—THE Yoruba One 

V o i c e , 

YOV, yesterday, urged the 

Lagos State Government to 

urgently inaugurate the 

SouthWest Security Network, 

Amotekun, in the state, warning 

that the state is becoming volatile 

with activities of cultists and 

ritualists. 

YOV, in a statement by its Secretary, 

Dr. Shina Okanlomo, said Nigerians in 

the diaspora are not happy with the 

present security situation in the state. 

The statement reads: “How do you 

want us to come back home where our 

lives and that of our families back home 

aren’t safe? Nigerians in the Diaspora 

the Adekunle slip road on the 

Lagos Island-bound carriageway. 

The controller said: “The period 

for the diversion shift will now be 

from Jan.15 which is Friday to 

Feb. 13. It will take four weeks, 

no more two weeks because of the 

volume of work. 

“They have to remove the 

expansion joints. As we are 

talking now, they have removed 

two, the one that is before that 

Adekunle Ramp down has not 

been opened or removed. 

“That will take time, not less 

than 10 days before they break 

and remove it, then we will now 

cast the concrete. So that is why 

we are taking four weeks.” 

He further said that it was 

discovered that the initial two 

weeks set for shifting of the 

diversion was not enough, hence 

....As Lagos Assembly suspends Jumat prayers 

personnel, were seen screening 

everyone coming into the 

premises for clearance. 

Those who did not keep to the 

basic safety protocols like the use 

of a face mask were turned back 

to get a face mask, while safety 

officers were checking 

temperature levels, with infraredthermometer. 

Similarly, the Head of Service, 

Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, has 

issued a new directive to workers 

on safety protocols. 

are worried. None of us abroad can 

contemplate coming to Nigeria without 

giving a thought to the porous security 

situation in the country. 

“Most unfortunate is the fact that a 

mega city like Lagos state tops the list of 

the most volatile state in the region. This 

is not unconnected with the activities of 

cultists and ritualists that have been 

terrorising the state. 

“For instance in Lagos state, 

Amotekun bill was signed into law in 

March last year and up till now; the 

security outfit is yet to begin operation 

in Lagos state” 

“No reasonable investor will risk 

investing in a state where the security of 

lives and property cannot be 

guaranteed. 

“This is most unfortunate that 

terrorists, marauding herdsme n kill 

people at will and we cannot continue to 

live in fear and temptation.” 

the review to ensure the concrete 

got set before reopening 

the slip road to traffic. 

“The way the Third Mainland 

Bridge is being used is the same 

way the motorists are still going 

to use the bridge. For instance, 

12:00 midnight till 12:00 noon, 

people coming from Oworonsoki, 

will still be using their lane 

coming to the Island,” he said. 

The controller said that the 

modification only affected the 

Adekunle slip road, hence road 

users would not be able to use 

the ramp to connect Yaba, and 

would not be able to use the ramp 

from Yaba to the bridge. 

“We are appealing to Lagos 

residents to bear with us. We are 

doing our best to ensure we do 

not extend the work beyond Feb. 

22. 

Muri-Okunola, in an internal 

memo, addressed to Accounting 

Officers, decried the spate at 

which civil servants are testing 

positive to Covid-19, saying that 

the development calls for serious 

concern and caution. 

The memo reads: “I wish to note 

with deep concern the spate at 

which Officers are testing positive 

to COVID-19 and hereby enjoin 

all Accounting Officers to come 

up with Duty Rosters to stem the 

outbreak in your respective 

MDAs. 

“The roster should be prepared with 

an Officer having to report for duty at 

most twice a month. 

“Please note that this directive is 

without prejudice to existing directives 

and only reinforces same which are in 

effect and compliance abysmal.” 

Lagos Assembly 

suspends Jumat 

prayers 

Meanwhile, the Lagos State House of 

Assembly Muslim Community has 

suspended Jumat prayer activities until 

further notice. 

The League of Imams, in a statement, 

yesterday, said the suspension became 

necessary to curtail the spread of COVID- 

19 which is increasing in number on daily 

basis in the state. 

The statement reads: “We, the Muslim 

Community of the Assembly, would 

cooperate with the State Government 

by following and obeying its directive on 

reducing the spread of the second wave 

of COVID-19. 

You don do wuruwuru...abi Nokia dey 

'sponsor' you? 

The message is clear...but for only who the 

'cap' fits!


By Samuel 

Oyadongha, Henry 

Umoru, Levinus 

Nwabughiogu, 

Dirisu Yakubu & 

Ozioruva Aliu 

THE Nigerian Navy has 

warned Niger Delta 

militants, who last week 

threatened to resume 

attacks on oil facilities over 

alleged Federal 

Government lackadaisical 

attitude to the development 

of the zone to have a rethink 

and toe the path of dialogue 

or be dealt with decisively. 

This came as South-South 

leader, Chief Edwin Clark, 

asked the Minister of Niger 

Delta Affairs, Chief 

Godswill Akpabio, to stop 

his constant interference 

with the activities of Niger 

Delta Development 

Commission, NDDC, for 

effective performance and 

service delivery to the 

people of the zone. 

In another development, 

the controversy trailing the 

appointment of a sole 

administrator for NDDC, 

took a twist, as a lawyer and 

indigene of Edo State, Dr 

Washington Osifo, has 

initiated a suit at the Federal 

High Court, Benin City 

challenging the 

appointment of a sole 

administrator for the 

commission, praying the 

court to declare it “illegal, 

unconstitutional, null and 

void.” 

He argued that the 

decision negates the 

provision of the Act setting 

up the commission. 

It would be recalled that 

some former militant 

groups had in recent times 

threatened to attack oil and 

gas installations in Niger 

Delta over Federal 

Government’s alleged 

interference in the 

management of NDDC and 

Presidential Amnesty 

Programmed, PAP. 

Flag 

Officer 

Commanding, FOC, 

Central Naval Command, 

CNC, with headquarters in 

Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, 

Rear Admiral Saidu Garba, 

handed down the warning 

in Yenagoa shortly after the 

official commissioning of 

housing projects at the 

command for naval 

personnel. 

Garba, who represented 

the special guest of honour, 

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice 

Admiral Ibokette Ibas, on the 

occasion said: “The Nigerian 

Navy and indeed the 

Nigerian military is poised to 

deal decisively with any 

person who in any way 

undermines the unity of this 

country. Specifically, the 

destruction of oil and gas 

infrastructure is economy 

sabotage. 

“I will advise that whoever 

is thinking of that should 

please heed the way of 

dialogue, discuss with 

government as to what their 

grievances are and I am sure 

the government will find a 

way to solve such problem. 

“I am aware that 

components of the 

government are already in 

touch with the relevant bodies 

in Niger Delta and other 

places to ensure that the 

problem (threats) does not 



Navy warns N-Delta militants over 

threat to resume attacks 

•Clark to Akpabio: Stop constant interference with NDDC affairs 

•FG sued over sole administrator for NDDC 

Chief Edwin Clark 

rear its ugly head. 

“I want to assure that we 

are ready to tackle any 

problem in line with our 

statutory responsibility.” 

FG sued over sole 

administrator 

for NDDC 

In the suit, defendants are 

Attorney-General and 

Minister of Justice; Senate 

President; Minister of Niger 

Delta Affairs, Godswill 

Akpabio; NDDC and the 

newly appointed sole 

administrator, Effiong Akwa. 

Osifo wants the court to 

declare that the Federal 

Government cannot appoint 

Akwa or any other single 

individual to head the 

commission in the absence of 

a properly constituted board 

to run the affairs of the 

NDDC. 

He also wants the court to 

declare that “the act of the 

Federal Government in 

appointing Akwa as sole 

administrator of the NDDC 

is illegal, unconstitutional, 

null and void. 

“A declaration that the 

Senate cannot lawfully and 

constitutionally approve any 

budget for NDDC or 

appropriate any money to the 

NDDC in the absence of a 

properly constituted 

governing board.” 

Osifo also wants the court 

to restrain the NDDC and 

National Assembly from 

appropriating funds or 

approving budgets for the 

commission until the board 

of the NDDC is properly 

constituted, 

He also wants “An order 

restraining Akwa from 

parading himself as the 

Administrator of the NDDC, 

which position is unknown to 

the laws setting up the 

NDDC.” 

Clark to Akpabio: 

Stop constant 

interference with 

NDDC affairs 

The Pan-Niger Delta 

Forum, PANDEF, chairman 

said the minister should note 

that NDDC is an 

independent interventionist 

agency, hence he should 

concentrate on the ministry 

and leave the NDDC to work, 

adding that the minister 

should live above personal 

interest and have the interest 

of Niger Delta at heart in all 

its ramifications. 

Clark also called on 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari to immediately 

constitute the board of the 

NDDC in consonance with 

the act establishing the 

commission. 

Speaking, yesterday, at his 

Abuja residence when he 

received the Interim 

Administrator of NDDC, 

Effiong Akwa, and his 

Interim Management 

Committee, IMC, Clark 

called on President Buhari to 

set aside a special fund to 

complete the East West Road 

started by the administration 

of former President 

Olusegun Obasanjo. 

Clark said: “There is a law 

governing NDDC, which we 

all participate in producing 

and no one should bypass 

that law or bridge it. Even Mr 

President has no power to 

bypass the law establishing 

NDDC except he has to go 

back to National Assembly for 

an amendment. So, any 

attempt to bridge the law will 

become illegal, null and void. 

“There has been many 

arguments about sole 

administrator or the legality 

and illegality, which have 

been discussed. The NDDC 

was under the presidency and 

we know how it was used. But 

many of us never thought 

removing NDDC to Niger 

Delta Ministry was the best 

thing to do because it would 

be misused. 

"Niger Delta Ministry is our 

ministry, therefore, NDDC 

going to the ministry would 

not have been a bad idea, so 

we supported it. But what we 

are opposed to is that NDDC 

is an independent agency like 

any other one, like NPA. Other 

agencies, the ministers did not 

abandon their ministries to 

concentrate on these agencies. 

That is the problem we have. 

“For some time, some of us 

have been advising the 

minister, don’t abandon your 

ministry and concentrate on 

NDDC, it is not fair. The 

Minister of Transportation 

Effiong Akwa 

does not concentrate on NPA 

or NIMASA or Railways. The 

Minister of State (Petroleum) 

did not concentrate on NNPC. 

On East West Road 

"The problem we have, 

therefore, is the constant 

interference with the affairs of 

NDDC by the Minister of 

Niger Delta. So, I do hope that 

in your performance of duties, 

you should have a free hand. 

“I was shocked when the 

minister announced that the 

East West Road must be 

completed, N18 billion was 

voted for the ministry for 

capital project. And the 

minister said we are going to 

spend about N16 billion on the 

East West Road and you have 

just confirmed it. 

"There’s no provision 

anywhere even in the NDDC 

budget that part of the budget 

is to be used for the completion 

of the East West Road. East 

West road is one of the 

economic roads in Nigeria. I 

see no reason why the Federal 

Ministry of Works should not 

be in charge of the East West 

Road. That is not the duty of 

NDDC. 

“So, we have been 

protesting that the Federal 

Government should make 

available special funds for that 

very important economic road. 

In the recent budget, Kano 

State alone has three roads 

within Kano, costing about 

N60 billion to be constructed 

with our oil money. 

"What is being done for us? 

Do we have to go and beg for 

money to build roads? So, 

whoever is the minister should 

live above his personal interest 

and put the interest of Niger 

Delta first. 

“So, Mr. President should 

provide enough for the 

completion of the East West 

Road.” 

We'll appeal to our 

boys to give peace 

a chance 

Clark, who appealed to the 

youths of the zone to give 

peace a chance to allow for 

development, said: “Nobody 

will leave this world with what 

they stole or what you 

acquired illegally, but the good 

name you leave behind, your 

children will benefit from. Let’s 

love ourselves. I wish you all 

the best of luck. We appeal to 

our boys to give peace a 

chance. Thank you for coming 

to visit me.” 

Road to be competed 

in 6 months 

— Akwa 

Earlier in his remarks, the 

Interim Administrator of 

NDDC, Effiong Akwa, who 

assured the people of the zone 

that the East-West Road would 

be completed and 

commissioned in six months, 

appealed to Delta youths, who 

last week blocked the Delta 

State axis of the East-West 

Road, protesting his 

appointment by President 

Buhari, to allow peace to reign 

for the benefit of the zone. 

Speaking further, the 

NDDC boss noted that the 

abandoned 750-bed hotels in 

the universities in Delta, Ondo 

and Rivers states would be 

completed and commissioned 

in the next three months. 

He commended the 

National Assembly for 

approving the 2020 budget of 

N453.2 billion for NDDC, last 

December after 12 months of 

not having a budget to work 

with, even as he assured that 

verified contracts that have not 

been attended to for years, 

would also be paid in phases. 

Glo sponsors GSM Village 

Business Promotion Carnival in Edo 

CHAIRMAN of Great 

GSM Village, Benin, Mr 

Aminu Abraham, has 

commended Globacom for its 

lead sponsorship of the 

association’s business 

promotions carnival, 

recently held in the Edo 

State capital. 

He announced the 

association's commendation 

and the details of the recently 

signed Memorandum of 

Understanding, MOU, 

between the association and 

the telecommunications 

giant, for the exclusive 

branding of the village as well 

as sponsorship of the 

carnival for the next five 

years. 

Abraham, in his remarks at 

the carnival, expressed 

gratitude to the management 

Forensic 

audit: NDDC 

contractors 

returning to 

project site 

—Akpabio 

By Chris Ochayi 

ABUJA— MINISTER of 

Niger Delta Affairs, 

Senator Godswill Akpabio, 

has said many contractors 

have returned to project sites, 

executing some of the 

hitherto abandoned projects 

with their money as a result 

of the ongoing forensic audit 

of the activities of Niger Delta 

Development Commission, 

NDDC. 

Akpabio made the 

disclosure while addressing 

newsmen in Abuja on the 

activities of the ministry in 

2020 and work plans for 2021, 

saying the ongoing forensic 

audit exercise at the NDDC 

has already achieved a lot 

even before the results were 

out. 

He said: “It is very clear that 

the forensic audit has already 

achieved a lot even before the 

results are out. I will give you 

just one example. In the 

estate where my brother, the 

Minister of State stays, about 

four road projects are being 

constructed and they are 

almost being completed. 

“You will be surprised that 

we have not given out one 

single road project since we 

came as minister because of 

the fact that we have issues 

of budget and budget 

perception, which was just 

resolved by the National 

Assembly last December 

“And also street lighting 

projects suddenly emerged; 

almost everywhere and we 

have over 75 projects right 

now that have been completed 

without even giving out one. 

“We don’t give contracts, we 

gave time frame within which 

you will get back to site, so 

that when the forensic 

auditors come to access your 

project, if they see you that 

you are doing substantial 

work, based on what you 

collected, then automatically 

it will show that the job is 

ongoing, otherwise it will 

show that the job is 

abandoned." 

of Globacom for their support 

in promoting the small and 

medium scale businesses of 

its members. 

He noted that the level of 

support received was highly 

commendable, specifically 

highlighting the visibility 

Glo’s sponsorship had given 

the carnival, the donation of 

a 60 KVA generator to power 

the village as well as the 

provision of a mini one-stop 

Glo shop to facilitate access 

to products of the 

telecommunications service 

provider. 

Speaking at the carnival, 

Globacom’s Regional 

Manager, Primary, Mid 

West, Mr. Augustus-ndu 

Offor, assured the GSM 

Village of the company’s 

continued collaboration.


By Clifford Ndujihe, 

Dapo Akinrefon, 

Olasunkanmi Akoni, 

Johnbosco Agbakwuru & 

Olayinka Ajayi 

THERE WERE torrents of tears es 

pecially in the pro-democracy 

community as Nigeria and the Igbo 

Nation lost two prominent sons – 

Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, retd; 

and Senator Onyeabo Obi. 

Ndubuisi Kanu, former military 

administrator of Imo and Lagos 

states, former chairman of Ndigbo 

Lagos and a major pillar of the National 

Democratic Coalition, NADE- 

CO, reportedly died of COVID-19 

complications in Lagos at the early 

hours of yesterday. 

President Muhammadu Buhari, 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Governor Babajide 

Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Chief Guy 

Ikokwu, Hon Rotimi Amaechi, Chief 

Goddy Uwazuruike, Afenifere, Iba 

Gani Adams, and Eminent leaders 

of Thought were among those who 

mourned Kanu and described his 

death as shocking and a huge loss to 

Nigeria at a time he was needed most. 

Also, Life bencher, leading lawyer, 

and Second Republic lawmaker, 

Senator Onyeabo Chukwunedum 

Obi, died on Tuesday, aged 82. Obi's 

demise was announced by his younger 

brother, Zik Obi. 

Second Republic politician and 

Elder statesman, Chief Guy Ikokwu, 

described Senator Obi's death as 

shocking. 

''This is shocking as I had the last 

meeting with him at our Enugu 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide Ime- 

Obi meeting and took pictures with 

him and wished he would show up 

at the Ohanaeze election in Owerri 

on January 10. What a pity. It is terrible 

as we had a heart to heart chat. 

May he rest in perfect peace,'' Ikokwu 

said. 

Kanu, in 1975, was the only Igbo 

appointed into the supreme military 

council, SMC, before General Olusegun 

Obasanjo dissolved it when he 

assumed office in 1976 as head of 

state. 

He fought on the Biafran side during 

the civil war but was reabsorbed 

into the Nigerian military at the end 

of the war in 1970. 

After retirement, Kanu, who occupied 

many commands and political 

offices as part of his military postings, 

quickly civilianised himself. 

In a swift reaction to the death, 

Vanguard gathered that the incumbent 

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide 

Sanwo-Olu received the news 

with shock, describing the deceased 

as "a great Nigerian." 

A chain of catastrophe 

—Ohanaeze 

The Professor George Obiozor-led 

newly elected leadership of Ohanaeze 

Ndigbo described the deaths 

of Kanu and Obi as a catastrophe. 

In a statement by its National Publicity 

Secretary, Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, 

the apex Igbo group said: 

''The Ohanaeze Ndigbo are devastated 

by the news of the sudden death 

of our two prominent sons; Rear 

Admiral Ndubisi Kanu, Rtd and Sen. 

Onyeabo Obi. 

''Admiral Kanu was a member of 

the Supreme Military Council 

(SMC) in 1975 under General Olusegun 

Obasanjo. At the creation of 

Imo State in 1976, Kanu was appointed 

the military administrator 

of Imo State where he made indelible 

footprints. As a robust thinker, he 

engaged the service of town planners 

to prepare a master plan for Owerri 

metropolis; built durable roads and 

was instrumental to increasing the 

number of local government areas 

in Imo State to 21. Among his legacies 

is the Imo Broadcasting Service, 

which went on air in December 1976. 

''In 1977, Kanu was appointed the 

Military administrator of Lagos 

State. Due to his impressive records, 

Kanu was promoted to the enviable 

rank of a Rear Admiral and subsequently, 

the Chief of Naval Staff before 

his retirement. 



Tributes as Nigeria, Ndigbo lose Kanu, 77, 

Onyeabo Obi, 82 

• Late Ndubuisi Kanu 

''At retirement, Kanu founded the 

RANGK LTD, a maritime consultancy. 

He was a chieftain of National 

Democratic Coalition, NADECO, a 

pro-democracy movement that 

played a leading role in the agitation 

for the actualization of the annulled 

June 12, 1993 presidential 

election. 

''Kanu at various times expressed 

profound passion for his people by 

playing several stabilizing roles in 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo. He was very jovial, 

personable but firm and courageous 

in his convictions. Throughout 

his career history, Kanu remained 

untainted and exemplary. 

We are devastated because Ndigbo 

and Nigeria will miss his disarming 

intellect and wise counsel. 

''Senator Onyeabo ObI (82) was a 

Lawyer and graduate of the London 

School of Economics, England. He 

was a senator of the Federal Republic 

of Nigeria from 1979-1983. He 

followed his family tradition in the 

love for the Igbo nation. His father, 

Chief Z C Obi was the national leader 

of the Igbo Union before the Nigerian 

civil war. He served as the 

President of the Otu-Oka Iwu, Lagos-a 

body of Igbo prominent lawyers. 

During the 1994 National Constitutional 

Conference, Senator Obi 

worked assiduously with the late Dr. 

Alex Ekwueme, Chief Emeka Ojukwu 

and many others to produce an 

Igbo position paper. 

''Like Kanu, the sagacity and outspokenness 

of Senator Obi will be 

missed. This is a chain of catastrophe 

very painful to bear. May their 

souls rest in perfect peace.'' 

Kanu's patriotic 

virtues 'll continue to 

inspire younger 

generation —Buhari 

President Buhari while commiserating 

with Kanu's family and friends, 

prayed for God’s covering over all 

his loved ones. 

President Buhari also condoled 

with "all professional colleagues of 

the gallant military officer, who distinguished 

himself in all positions 

and responsibilities during service, 

taking up more daunting, but historically 

rewarding challenges like 

speaking up for the weak and vulnerable, 

and the struggle for the 

country’s return to democratic government." 

Buhari, in a statement by the Senior 

Special Assistant to the President 

on Media and Publicity, Mallam 

Garba Shehu, said he believes 

that Kanu’s credentials in serving the 

nation, as a career military officer 

and as an activist with NADECO in 

actualising the June 12, 1993 mandate, 

remained commendable and 

will continue to inspire younger generations 

on patriotism. 

Kanu's death a great 

loss to the progressives 

—Aare Gani Adams 

• Late Onyeabo Obi 

The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, 

Iba Gani Adams described 

Kanu’s death as a great loss to the 

progressives. 

Aare Adams, in a statement by his 

Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde 

Aderemi, said the death of the foremost 

administrator had robbed the 

progressives of a man of great honour 

and integrity. 

The statement reads: "In life, he was 

a great leader and leader of leaders 

because he stood for democracy and 

true federalism, and even in death 

his memories will for a very long 

time remain indelible in the minds 

of great democrats. He had a strong 

conviction about good governance. 

We will all miss him because, I could 

remember those moments we shared 

together in our struggle for this democracy. 

"The late Ndubusi Kanu was a 

model for good governance. He was 

always present at our programmes, 

especially the annulled June 12 commemoration, 

and on many occasions, 

he attended three programmes 

in a day.” 

Kanu, a fighter for 

greater Nigeria core 

values —Ikokwu 

On his part, Chief Guy Ikokwu 

said: ''Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu 

was a fighter for the core values of a 

greater Nigeria and devoted his time 

to bridge the gap between all our ethnic 

nationalities no matter where 

they came from. Because of his devotion 

to our common bondage he 

was one of the few Nigerians who 

governed two states - Imo and Lagos. 

He fought for the return of democracy 

and civil rights of citizens 

as a NADECO leader even when 

some had chickened out. He was a 

frontline leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo 

Worldwide and supported the 

stand of the Southern and Middle 

Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF's resoluteness 

for a restructured template 

for governance system and devolution 

of powers. The Lagos State Government 

honoured him with the 

Ndubuisi Kanu Park at Ikeja. His 

family structure is evidently intertribal. 

We had consultations with him 

•Buhari, Ohanaeze, Sanwo-Olu, Ikokwu, 

Amaechi, Afenifere, others mourn 

•It's a chain of catastrophe —Ohanaeze 

on ways to diffuse the alarming rate 

of insecurities and economic degradation 

with our new rating of the 

economic capital of the poor. 

''When I was unable to speak with 

him as he was out of Lagos in the last 

two weeks, I was bewildered and proceeded 

to Imo State for our Ohanaeze 

Ndigbo Worldwide Confab to 

fathom a new template for a resolution 

of our existential precepts in our 

clime. On our return to Lagos State 

we just found the calamitous realities 

of our new World Order unraveling 

exponentially with his demise 

and movement to the galactic world 

zones beyond. May his Gentle Soul 

rest in peace.'' 

Kanu left indelible 

footprints —Uwazurike 

Former President of Aka-Ikenga, 

an Igbo intellectual think tank 

group, Chief Goddy Uwazuruike, 

said the late naval chief was an enigma. 

''Admiral Godwin Ndubuisi Kanu 

was an enigma. He had a soft voice. 

Yet he became a Commander. Physically 

he didn't look like a military 

man. What he lacked in physique he 

gained in his brainpower. It is therefore 

not a surprise that he rose to the 

height of his profession. As the Governor 

of both Imo state and Lagos 

states he left his footprint in the sands 

of time, he was a complete Igbo man, 

very passionate, brooked no nonsense 

and he never stood on ceremonies. 

He was the chairman of NA- 

DECO and was even manhandled 

by Abacha for his membership of 

NADECO. We have lost a great man,'' 

he said. 

Death of a patriot, 

good seaman 

—Amaechi 

Minister of Transportation, Rotimi 

Amaechi expressed shocked at the 

death of Kanu, who he described as 

a patriot and a Seaman that would 

be missed by all. 

“It’s saddening. It’s the death of a 

patriot and a good seaman. May his 

soul rest in peace. '' 

Kanu’s death painful, 

huge loss —Afenifere 

The pan-Yoruba socio-political 

organisation, Afenifere, described 

the death of Rear Admiral Ndubuisi 

Kanu as a huge loss to Nigeria. 

National Publicity Secretary of 

Afenifere, Mr Yinka Odumakin, 

said: “It was a very painful death. 

We have lost a very ebullient, vibrant 

and progressive someone. There is 

nothing we can do than to accept the 

will of God. 

“He has lived a fulfilled life and 

dedicated his life to good causes for 

which we shall always remember 

him. May his soul rest in peace and 

may God protect all that he left behind.” 

Kanu's guidance in 

the struggle for 

prosperous Nigeria 'll 

be greatly missed 

On their part, eminent leaders of 

thought, senior citizens, leaders of 

civil society on the banner of Project 

Nigeria Movement led by Professor 

Ben Nwabueze, condoled with 

Kanu's family on his demise. 

Describing Kanu as one of their 

strongest associates, they said in a 

statement by Comrade Olawale 

Okunniyi, that: Admiral Ndubuisi 

Kanu, a veteran of the struggle for 

the restoration of democracy in the 

90s was military governor of old 

Imo State in 1975 and of Lagos State 

in 1976. 

He also made waves in 1975, when 

he became the only Igbo appointed 

into the then ruling Supreme Military 

Council before General Olusegun 

Obasanjo dissolved it when he 

assumed office as head of state in 

1976. 

''Kanu, a Biafran war veteran, became 

a dogged pro-democracy activist 

upon his retirement from the 

military. As a staunch member of the 

National Democratic Coalition, 

which spearheaded the struggle for 

the actualisation of the late Moshood 

Abiola’s annulled June 12, 1993 presidential 

mandate, Kanu was among 

those who signed an ultimatum's for 

the General Sani Abacha's regime 

to revalidate Abiola’s mandate and 

hand over power to him. 

''He was the chairman of NADE- 

CO’s Action Committee, which organised 

and participated in protest 

marches and public sensitisation 

against military dictatorship. 

''Kanu until his demise was also a 

frontline member of the Apex 

Project Nigeria Movement, which 

has Eminent Jurist, Prof Ben Nwabueze, 

SAN as its Chairman. The 

Group was initiated to build national 

consensus and political stability 

for Nigeria through constitutional 

restructuring of Nigeria. 

Other arrow heads of the senior 

citizens group, which is currently 

mourning the sudden exit of Kanu 

are Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Chief Ayo 

Adebanjo, Elder Solomon Asemota, 

SAN, General Ike Nwachukwu 

(retd), Dr Kali Idika Kalu, Prof Akin 

Oyebode, Prof Pat Utomi, Commodore 

Dan Suleiman, among others. 

''The active guidance of Kanu for 

the struggle to create a new democratic 

and prosperous Nigeria will 

be greatly missed by all Leaders of 

Conscience in the Project Nigeria 

Movement, NADECO and in the 

broad civil society constituency of 

Nigeria.'' 

Latest Nigerian Army postings lopsided, flout 

Federal Character —Inter-society 

By Ikechukwu Odu 

A 

HUMAN rights group, the In 

ternational Society for Civil 

Liberties and Rule of Law, Inter-society, 

yesterday, alleged that the latest 

Nigerian Army postings were 

lopsided and did not reflect Federal 

Character. 

The group further alleged that the 

postings were done to enhance the 

Muslim domination of the security 

forces and to encourage jihadist penetration 

of Nigeria. 

In a statement signed by the chairman, 

Board of Trustees, Emeka 

Umeagbalasi, and other principal 

officers of the group,it said that out 

of 47 Major Generals of the Nigerian 

Army posted, the North got 32 

including 27 Muslims, leaving the 

South with only 15 postings involving 

seven Muslims. Out of the 15 

postings for the South, South-South 

got five Major Generals while 

South-East got three. 

The human rights group equally 

alleged that the lopsidedness was 

also reflected in the posting of 163 

Brigadier Generals. It disclosed that 

the North got 110 postings involving 

84 Muslims, while the whole of 

the South got 53. A breakdown of 

the postings in the South according 

to the statement showed that South- 

West got 23 slots, South-South 20, 

while South-East got 10. 

Part of the statement also reads: 

"A peep into the remaining postings 

involving 450 Colonels, 309 Majors, 

251 Captains and 322 Lieutenants 

also indicated same gross Northern- 

Muslim domination and control. 

Such jihadist and ethno-religious 

cleansing policy, put in place since 

mid 2015, is also replicated in other 

security establishments including 

Navy, Air Force, SSS, NIA and so 

on.




Death toll in Benue cholera outbreak 

hits 14 — HEALTH COMMISSIONER 

By Peter Duru 

M death AKURDI—THE 

toll in the recent 

cholera outbreak in parts of 

Benue State has risen to 14 while 

25 others are currently being 

treated for the disease. 

Commissioner for Health and 

Human Services, Dr. Joseph 

Ngbea, made this known 

yesterday at the end of the 

weekly State Executive Council 

meeting in Makurdi. 

Dr. Ngbea who explained that 

10 of the victims died in Agatu 

Local Government Area, LGA, of 

the state while four others died 

at Abinsi in Guma LGA said 25 of 

the victims had been successfully 

treated. 

He said the state government 

had taken steps to contain the 

spread of the disease with the 

deployment of drugs and medical 

personnel to the affected areas 

to provide treatment for the 

victims. 

“As we speak aside the medical 

personnel, we have also supplied 

consumables and drugs to the 

affected areas in line with the 

directive of Governor Samuel 

Ortom to ensure the speedy 

treatment of all those infected. 

The Governor has also directed 

the Benue State University 

Teaching Hospital, BSUTH, to 

provide additional 10 bed spaces 

to take care of those infected,” 

the Commissioner said. 

Dr. Ngbea urged the people to 

complement the efforts of the 

government by always getting 

their drinking water from safe 

sources as well as ensuring proper 

treatment of the water before 

drinking to stem the disease. 

Fani-Kayode to Muslim Forum: 

Kukah didn’t attack Islam, he 

won’t apologise 

FORMER 

Minister 

of Aviation, Femi Fani- 

Kayode, yesterday said the 

statement made by Bishop of 

Sokoto Catholic diocese, 

Matthew Kukah, did not attack 

Islam. 

While accusing Buhari of 

nepotism in his Christmas 

message last December, the 

priest said there could have been 

a coup if a non-northern Muslim 

president did a fraction of what 

Buhari has done. 

But the Arewa Youth 

Consultative Forum, AYCF, called 

for Kukah's prosecution for 

allegedly demanding a coup. 

Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) said 

the Christmas message was a 

“calculated attempt to insult” 

Islam and Muslims in the country. 

On Wednesday, Muslim 

Solidarity Forum asked Kukah to 

apologise for his alleged attack 

on Islam or leave the Caliphate. 

In a series of Twitter posts, Fani- 

Kayode said the Bishop did not 

say anything wrong and will not 

apologise. 

He warned the groups asking 

the bishop to apologise to mind 

their words and maintain peace. 

“Bishop Hassan Kukah did not 

attack Islam and has nothing to 

apologise about,” Fani-Kayode 

said. 

“He has always sought for 

religious tolerance and peaceful 

co-existence between Christians 

and Muslims. Those that demand 

that he “must apologise” or “leave 

Sokoto” must mind their 

utterances and keep the peace. 

“Bishop Hassan Kukah did not 

attack Islam and has nothing to 

apologise about. He has always 

sought for religious tolerance and 

peaceful co-existence between 

Christians and Muslims. Those 

that demand that he “must 

apologise” or “leave Sokoto” 

must mind their utterances 

and keep the peace.” 

Zulum orders employment of 40 

more doctors for Borno hospitals 

By Ndahi Marama 

M BORNO 

AIDUGURI— 

State 

Governor, Babagana Zulum, 

yesterday directed the 

recruitment of 40 additional 

medical doctors to meet 

healthcare needs of the state. 

The decision came four months 

after the Governor had approved 

the recruitment of 594 health 

workers, among them, 86 medical 

doctors, 365 nurses and 

midwives, 45 pharmacists and 100 

health technicians and other 

supportive staff. 

Zulum announced the latest 

approval for 40 doctors after 

meeting with the chief 

executives of seven public 

hospitals and related institutions 

located in Maiduguri 

Metropolitan Council and Jere 

Local Government Area. 

The meeting centred on 

improving healthcare system and 

ensure effective, efficient and 

qualitative service delivery to the 

citizens in accordance with the 

policy thrust of the Zulum led 

administration. 

After the meeting, Governor 

Zulum undertook an assessment 

of the Specialist hospital and 

directed the construction of 

additional ward to decongest the 

already overcrowded facility. 

Minimum Wage: NLC writes Ganduje over cut 

in salaries 

•Demands refund, full payment of wage to avoid industrial unrest 

By Victor Ahiuma- 

Young 

A Labour BUJA—NIGERIA 

Congress, NLC, 

has written to Governor 

Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano 

State, expressing disgust over his 

government sudden stoppage 

in the payment of the new 

national minimum wage to 

workers and slash in the workers’ 

salaries. 

In a letter dated January 4, 

2021, President of NLC, Ayuba 

Wabba, asked the government to 

immediately pay the balance and 

return to full implementation of 

the N30, 000,00 minimum wage 

to avoid industrial unrest. 

Recall that the state 

government recently reverted to 

the N18,000 minimum wage 

citing the economic 

consequences of COVID-19 for 

its reason. 

Protesting the new 

development, NLC President in 

the letter among others said:, 

“The National Minimum Wage 

Act is a law which must be 

obeyed by every employer in 

Nigeria. It is not negotiable. The 

refusal by any employer to pay 

the N30,000 new national 

minimum wage is tantamount to 

willful violation of our laws. 

Persistence in doing so can only 

be described as a dangerous stroll 

in “Anarchy” boulevard. 

“Kano State has been a shining 

example of progressive politics in 

Nigeria. Your Excellency would 

recall that after the new national 

minimum wage was signed into 

law on May 13, 1981, Kano State 

government under the Late 

Alhaji Abubakar Rimi without 

any prompting added two Naira 

to the N125,00 Minimum Wage. 

Kano State also went ahead to 

declare May 1 as public holiday 

thus becoming the first state to 

accord workers the honour of a 

DESOPADEC boss laments spate of communal 

clashes in Isoko nation 

By Perez Brisibe 

M 

A N A G I N G 

Director of the Delta 

State Oil Producing Area 

Development Commission, 

DESOPADEC, Bashorun Askia 

Ogieh, has lamented the spate 

of communal clashes in Isoko 

nation with a task on executives 

of the Isoko National Youth 

Assembly, INYA, to foster peace 

building and conflict resolution 

among all Isoko communities. 

The DESOPADEC boss also 

pledged his support for the youth 

group with a promise to corporate 

and take part in the peace drive 

in Isoko nation particularly in the 

various crisis ridden communities. 

Askia at the DESOPADEC 

headquarters during a visit on 

him by the newly elected INYA 

executives, who said they were 

at his office to thank him for the 

leadership roles he played during 

their elections, described the 

recent communal clashes in 

Isoko nation as a new wave that 

is alien to the Isokos. 

He said: “We are known to be 

very civil, but suddenly, in the 

recent past, the narratives have 

changed, and it’s very worrisome 

that the narratives are changing 

not for good but for bad. I am 

pained, the narratives out there 

is not good for us.'' 

state-wide holiday in 

commemoration of Workers’ Day. 

“Since assuming the reins of 

power in Kano State, Your 

Excellency has striven to give 

further verve to the dynamics of 

progressive politics in Kano 

State. We urge Your Excellency 

not to drop the ball now. If there 

is any time to even increase 

workers take home, it is now as 

the impact of the COVID-19 has 

pauperized millions of workers in 

the world including many of our 

NECO releases 2020 SSCE results, 

with over 73% pass in English, Maths 

By Wole Mosadomi & 

Joseph Erunke 

M N INNA—THE 

a t i o n a l 

Examinations Council, NECO, 

yesterday released the Senior 

Secondary School Examination, 

SSCE, results with a 2.3 per cent 

increase in the number of 

candidates who scored five credits 

and above, including English and 

Mathematics. 

The Registrar and Chief 

Executive of NECO, Prof 

Godswill Obioma, announced 

the results at the council’s 

headquarters in Minna. 

The registrar said no fewer than 

I,221,447 candidates registered 

for the examination, made up of 

665,830 males and 555,617 

females. 

Obioma said the number of 

candidates that sat for the 

examination was 1,209,992,796 

males, representing 55.53 per 

cent and 550,126 females, 

representing 45.46 percent. 

By Peter Duru 

M 

A K U R D I — 

BENUE State 

Security Council, yesterday 

imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew 

on Ukum and Katsina-Ala Local 

Government Areas to check the 

increasing cases of banditry, 

kidnapping and armed 

robbery as well as general 

insecurity in the area. 

The state Deputy Governor, 

compatriots in Nigeria. This is the 

reason why most countries of the 

world are supporting their 

workers and citizens with all 

manner of palliatives and even 

salary raises. Why should the 

case of Nigerian and Kano State 

workers be different? 

“We demand that the cuts in 

salaries paid to Kano State 

workers be stopped forthwith and 

the shortfalls reimbursed 

immediately. We also demand 

that the Kano State government 

According to him, the number 

of candidates with special needs 

that sat for the examination was 

160, saying: “Number of 

candidates who made credit and 

above in English language is 

973,331, representing 82.68 per 

cent. Number of candidates who 

made credit and above in 

Mathematics is 1,060,100, 

representing 90.08 per cent. 

“Number of candidates who 

made five credits and above 

including English and 

Mathematics is 984,101 

representing 73.89 per cent; 

compared to 2019 June/July 

SSCE figures of 829,787, there is 

an increase of 2.3 per cent. 

Number of candidates who made 

five credits and above irrespective 

of English Language is 1,112,041, 

representing 91.91 per cent; 

compared to 2019 June/July 

SSCE figures of 1,04,989, an 

increase of 2.01 per cent. 

“Number of candidates involved 

in various forms of malpractice in 

2020 is 33,470, representing 2.61 

Mr. Benson Abounu while 

briefing journalists at the end of 

the council meeting said the 

curfew which commenced 

yesterday, would be effective from 

8pm to 6am daily. 

The Deputy Governor also 

said the council resolved to 

sustain the ban on the use of 

motorcycles of all kinds in the 

area known as Sankera 

political axis pending further 

review of the security 

situation in the volatile area. 

According to him, “the 

PRESENTATION: 

Pastor Roland Oluwole, 

guest of honour (left); 

Olushola Kolade, MD/ 

CEO, City Tasty 

Confectioneries 

(middle), and Ayeni 

Omowunmi, winner, 

distributor of the year, 

during the gift 

presentation at the City 

Tasty Confectioneries’ 

New Year party in Lagos. 

goes back to the lawful discharge 

of its obligation to pay the New 

National Minimum Wage of 

N30,000. The consequential 

adjustment is a product of 

collective bargaining which the 

Kano State government is duty 

bound to honour. 

“While we look forward to your 

immediate intervention to stave 

off a looming but unnecessary 

industrial unrest in Kano State, 

please accept the assurances of 

our highest esteem.” 

•233,000 candidates affected by #EndSARS protests 

per cent, and 40,630, representing 

3.53 per cent of such cases, were 

recorded in 2019. 

''The council has a long tradition 

for zero tolerance for malpractice. 

12 schools – four in Adamawa, 

two in Kaduna State, two in 

Katsina, one in Taraba and one 

in the Federal Capital Territory, 

FCT, were recommended for derecognition 

for two years for their 

involvement in mass cheating. 

While 24 Supervisors were 

blacklisted for various offences 

ranging from poor supervision, 

aiding abetting and connivance 

with non-candidates to write 

answers on chalkboard.” 

Meanwhile, owing to the 

#EndSARS protest that 

prevented a total of 233,000 

candidates from taking the 

examination in some states, the 

management of NECO has 

pledged to accommodate such 

candidates in the external 

examination slated for Monday 

1st February 2021 to Wednesday 

3rd March 2021. 

INSECURITY: Benue imposes dusk-to-dawn curfew 

on 2 LGAs 

movement of patients and pregnant 

women among other very 

necessary cases for medical attention 

using motorcycles where there 

is no vehicular presence would be 

allowed after thorough investigation.” 

He said the council observed 

that motorcycle operators had 

migrated from areas affected by 

the ban to neighbouring rural 

communities where they were 

causing mayhem and urged 

security agents to intensify 

surveillance in those areas.


Christian wake keep for late Mr. Gbolabo Ogunsanwo in Lagos, yesterday 

From left: Lanre Adenuga; Babajide Ogunsanwo, son of the deceased; 

Babatunde Adeoti, and Olalekan Omole, during the Christian wake keep for 

late Mr. Gbolabo Ogunsanwo, veteran journalist and former Editor, Sunday 

Times, held at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Gbagada, Lagos, 

yesterday. Photos: Kehinde Shonola. 

From left—Pastor Cosmos Daramola, Asst. Pastor, Demola Ogunfeyimi, and Pastor 

Dele Jayeoba, during the wake keep. 

• Choristers ministering during the occasion. 

• A cross section of the late Mr. Gbolabo Ogunsanwo's family, during the 

Christian wake keep for the late veteran journalist, yesterday.


Outgoing USA President, Donald Trump. 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

With few days remaining for 

the curtain to fall on the 

administration of the 45th 

President of the United States 

of America, Donald Trump, it 

appeared the domino effect of 

his lost re-election bid, has 

placed the oldest democracy 

on trial. 

The US presidential election 

which held on November 3, 

2020, saw the opposition 

Democratic Party, wrestling 

power away from its historic 

rival, the Republic Party. 

The Republic candidate, 

Trump, despite his power of 

incumbency, became the first 

US president since George H. 

W. Bush in 1992, and the 

eleventh incumbent President, 

to lose a bid for a second term. 

Candidate of the Democratic 

Party and former Vice 

President, Joe Biden, 

garnered more than 81 million 

votes, which represented the 

largest percentage of the 

popular vote won by any 

challenger to an incumbent 

since 1932, to defeat him. 

Biden equally won Trump by 

a margin of 306 to 232 votes 

in the US electoral college. 

Expectedly, Trump was 

dissatisfied with the outcome 

of the election which he 

EDITORIAL 

Innocent Anaba 

( Editor) 

Ikechukwu Nnochiri 

Henry Ojelu 

Onozure Dania 

Jane Ochewendoo 

insisted was rigged against 

him through ‘illegal votes’. 

In a turn of events akin to 

the ‘Nigerian style’, Trump 

and his supporters launched 

dozens of lawsuits to overturn 

Biden’s victory. 

One of such lawsuits that got 

to the US Supreme Court, 

sought to invalidate election 

results in four states - Georgia, 

Michigan, Pennsylvania and 

Wisconsin. 

The suit was filed by the 

Republican Attorney-General 

of Texas, Ken Paxton, who is 

Trump’s ally. 

Texas specifically alleged 

that results in those four states 

were unlawful owing to 

changes introduced to the 

voting procedures to allow 

Americans to cast their ballots 

during the coronavirus 

pandemic. 

The plaintiffs wanted the 

court to stop the use of 

“unlawful election results 

without review and ratification 

by the defendant states’ 

legislatures”. 

To show his full support, 

Trump swiftly filed a motion to 

intervene and become a 

plaintiff in the case. 

However, in a prompt ruling 

on December 11, the US 

Supreme Court dismissed the 

suit after it held that Texas 

lacked the legal standing to 

file the case. 

The apex court, in its judicial 

intervention, stressed that 

Texas failed to demonstrate a 

legally cognisable interest in 

the manner in which another 

state conducted its elections. 

In an earlier ruling it 

delivered on December 8, 

2020, the US Supreme Court 

also dismissed a similar legal 

action that sought to halt the 

certification of Biden’s election 

victory in Pennsylvania. 

Remarkably, Trump had 

prior and during the election, 

CJN,Ibrahim Muhammad 

TRUMP’S IMPEACHMENT SAGA: 

Lessons for Nigerian 

judiciary 

suggested that the election 

result would eventually be 

decided in the Supreme 

Court. 

He had within his fading 

four-year tenure, appointed 

three of the Justices that are 

currently on the Supreme 

Court bench. 

The most controversial of the 

appointments came few weeks 

before the election, as he 

appointed conservative 

Judge, Amy Coney Barrett as 

replacement for late Justice 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who 

was regarded as the most 

liberal justice on the apex 

court bench. 

There is no doubt that the US 

remains the oldest surviving 

federation in the world. 

Following the failure of its 

Confederal form of 

government in 1781, USA 

adopted the Federal form of 

government in 1789, the same 

year its Constitution became 

effective. 

It was 

unfortunate 

that Nigeria 

continued to 

practice what 

he termed as 

'democracy by 

court order' 

08152060944 

Since its ratification, the US 

Constitution has been 

amended 27 times, in a 

process that retained its status 

as the supreme law of the 

States. 

Anchored on firm doctrine of 

separation of powers, the 

Constitution separated the US 

government into three 

branches, with potent 

processes of checks and 

balances that ensure that no 

branch of the government 

gained supremacy. 

There are obvious 

similarities between the 

system of government in the 

USA and the present model of 

government in Nigeria. 

Does Nigeria have any 

lesson to learn from the torrent 

of events trailing the just 

concluded US presidential 

election? 

To signpost such lesson(s) 

must be the 

acknowledgement of the 

operational force of the Rule 

of law and the principle of 

separation of powers. 

One would argue that the 

US judiciary not only 

cautiously and promptly 

resolved all the legal issues 

that arose from the election, it 

equally insulated itself from 

the political arena. 

Analyzing the development 

with Vanguard lawpage, an 

Abuja based constitutional 

lawyer, Mr. Egbune George, 

insisted there were many 

lessons for Nigeria to learn 

from the unfolding events in 

the US. 

Egbune said it was 

unfortunate that Nigeria 

continued to practice what he 

termed as “democracy by court 

order”. 

He noted that courts in the 

country had on many 

occasions, turned itself into an 

electoral body, tabulating 

election results within its 

reverred hallowed temples, 

and declaring winners to the 

consternation of even the 

Independent National 

Electoral Commission, INEC, 

itself. 

“It is quite unfortunate that 

election litigation has become 

an inevitable part of the 

electoral process in Nigeria. 

“While the INEC has the 

responsibility to conduct and 

manage elections, the 

judiciary on its part is charged 

with the responsibility of 

resolving disputes arising 

from the process”, Egbune 

noted. 

He decried that the rating of 

the Nigerian judiciary drops 

with every election circle, 

“owing mainly to barrage of 

ex-parte orders and 

contradictory injunctions that 

sometimes emanate from 

courts of the same coordinate 

jurisdiction”. 

He said: “Look at the recent 

governoship election in Edo 

State for instance. Since that 

election held on September 19, 

2020, there have been over 

seven judgements from 

different courts. 

“In a particular instance, 

while the Federal High Court 

in Abuja affirmed the eligibility 

of the opposition candidate of 

the All Progressives Congress, 

Osagie Ize-Iyamu and his 

Deputy, Gani Audu, another 

court in Edo State disqualified 

them. 

“Likewise, the court 

delivered judgement in the 

certificate forgery case that was 

filed against the Edo State 

Governor, Godwin Obaseki by 

the APC, on Saturday January 

9, 2021, about 12 hours to the 

expiration of the 180 days 

constitutional lifespan of the 

suit that was filed since July, 

2020. 

“Sometimes these 

judgements come a day apart 

or even on the same day. 

“But to also be fair to the 

judiciary, bulk of the blame 

must go to lawyers and 

litigants who most of times 

flood the court with so many 

frivolous applications and 

preliminary objections in a bid 

to frustrate the expeditious 

determination of time-bound 

election cases”, Mr. Egbune 

added. 

Another constitutional 

lawyer, Mr. Sani Abdul, further 

argued that the ongoing moves 

by the US House of 

Representatives to impeach 

President Trump, holds 

enough lessons for Nigeria. 

House Democrats had on 

Monday introduced a fourpage 

impeachment article 

against President Trump for 

allegedly inciting a mob that 

attacked the Capitol last week, 

a day the US Congress met to 

rectify Biden’s election victory. 

The House, led by its 

Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, passed 

a resolution asking the Vice 

President, Mike Pence to 

activate the 25th Amendment 

and strip President Trump of 

his power. 

However, with the obvious 

rejection of the resolution by 

Pence, the House, on 

Wednesday, swung into full 

action to ensure that President 

Trump was impeached before 

the expiration of his tenure. 

Speaking to the issue, Mr. 

Abdul, in his interview with 

Vanguard, wondered if such 

action would have ever 

occurred in Nigeria. 

“If it were to be in Nigeria 

where the power of 

incumbency is everything, the 

story would have been 

different by now. 

“You would have either seen 

a heavy deployment of hooded 

armed security personnel that 

would bar the lawmakers from 

conducting any proceeding. 

“Or a situation where various 

courts would have dished out 

restraining orders stopping the 

House from taking further 

steps on the impeachment 

process, pending the 

determination of cases before 

it. 

“By the time such cases are 

eventually decided, the 

country would have moved on 

to other issues. 

“We should really learn from 

what is happening in America 

today. The elementary lesson 

here is that the Rule of law 

must be allowed to flourish at 

every turn. 

“Each organ of the 

government must operate 

within its bound, ably guided 

by the doctrine of separation 

of powers,” Abdul posited. 

C 

M 

Y 

K

C 

M 

Y 

K 

WHEN Professor Ibrahim 

Agboola Gambari was 

appointed as President 

Muhammadu Buhari’s new 

Chief of Staff in May last year, 

he pledged total dedication to 

the president. In fact, in 

response to a journalist’s 

question, he said: “I don’t 

report directly to the nation, I 

report to the president.” He then 

set out what he saw as his task: 

“To give a very loyal, dedicated 

and efficient service to the 

president in terms of his 

priorities and legacy.” 

Nearly one year on, we can 

all agree that Professor Gambari 

has been very loyal and 

dedicated to President Buhari. 

The president himself attested 

to this in a tribute to Gambari 

on his 76th birthday last year. 

President Buhari said: “I am 

proud to testify that he is one of 

the most brilliant, dedicated, 

patient and humble public 

officials I have ever met.” So, 

we can agree that Professor 

Gambari has been serving 

President Buhari with utter 

loyalty and dedication. We can 

also agree that Professor 

Gambari has followed what he 

described as his guiding 

principle, which is “to serve the 

president to the best of my 

ability.” 

But what about “efficient 

service”? Well, “efficiency” must 

be measured by outcomes. 

Judging by some of President 

Buhari’s decisions, such as the 

brutal military response to the 

peaceful #EndSARS protests 

and the frequent orders to the 

Central Bank as if it’s an 

extension of the Presidency, a 

violation of its statutory 

independence, one can 

question whether the president 

Gambari wants to help secure Buhari’s 

legacy, but time is running out! 

has been receiving an “efficient 

service” in terms of good 

advice. I say this in the sense 

of Gambari being not just as 

President Buhari’s gatekeeper, 

but also his chief strategist and 

adviser. 

Now, the most important word 

in Professor Gambari’s 

statement is “legacy”. 

Essentially, Gambari was 

saying that he would give 

President Buhari “a very loyal, 

dedicated and efficient service” 

to help him secure his “legacy”. 

Every president wants to leave 

behind a positive and enduring 

legacy and would value any 

aide that can help him define 

and secure that legacy. So, 

Gambari’s pledge must be 

music to the president’s ears. 

But here’s the rub. President 

Buhari is running against time 

to secure a legacy; time is not 

on his side at all. By May this 

year, he will have only two years 

left in office, and by May next 

year, he will, more or less, be a 

lame duck president. Why? 

Because politicking for the 2023 

presidential election, which 

will, in any case, start this year, 

will, by May 2022, grip the 

country and almost inevitably 

leave office today he would 

leave behind no positive legacy 

worthy of remembrance. On the 

economy, national security and 

nation-building, President 

Buhari cannot, except he is 

listening to sycophants and 

praise-singers, say that he has, 

so far, done anything that 

influences the course of 

Nigerian history, which is what 

makes a true legacy. 

Take the economy. Nigeria 

entered into a recession twice 

under the Buhari 

administration. The recession of 

Sachet economy: How should Nigerian government intervene? 

By TIMI OLUBIYI 

SACHETS dominate the retail industry 

particularly the Fast-Moving Consumer 

Goods, FMCG, in many parts of Africa but 

more significantly in Nigeria where 

population is high and there is huge demand 

for consumer goods. Therefore, sachet products 

or single-serve packs as they are normally 

called in the FMCG industry are dominating 

the retail landscape and they are products that 

can be consumed at once or ready for single 

usage. 

In colloquial terms, the model is referred to 

“sachetisation” which is known to have kicked 

off in Nigeria in the ’90s with the making of 

smaller sachets of drinking water (pure water) 

and powdered milk. Then the idea was 

necessitated by innovation to penetrate the 

larger low- or no-income populace. The idea 

was later followed by intense and stiff 

competition. Today, literature suggests that 

over 60 million units of pure water is consumed 

per day with loads of other sachet pack 

products in Nigeria. 

The sachet trend has continued to expand 

due to shrinking income levels, wide-spread 

hardship and rising poverty amongst the 

populace and these no doubt has led to the 

growing adoption of sachet packs in the 

country in recent times. For companies, the 

tough operating environment, decrepit 

infrastructure, porous borders, waning bulk 

consumption have further heightened the need 

for the sachet model adoption. 

Both individuals and businesses are feeling 

the weight of the economic challenges and over 

time the disposable income of consumers 

continues to wane. Besides, the novel 

coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic, economic 

recession and the high inflation rate in the 

country have also continued to worsen the 

situation. 

The current economic situation has also 

made products and services more expensive 

nationwide. In fact, many manufacturing 

companies are witnessing reduced patronage 

because not everyone can afford the bulk 

purchase or regular packs, and consumers 

continue to look for cheaper alternatives. So, 

“sachetisation” is a business strategy and an 

alternative to engaging customers continually 

in this trying time. The idea is to make products 

affordable to consumers in particular the 

majority that are daily income earners and 

constitute the large chunk of the country’s 

population. 

Most companies have resolved to adopt the 

sachetisation model to give some of the poorest 

people in Nigeria access to everyday household 

essentials with ease and for continuous 

patronage. In fact, companies continue to 

innovate and roll out sachet products to enable 

them to penetrate the larger low-income 

market which are the worst hit economically. 

Also, for the companies this time, it is a way to 

increase sales within the customers who cannot 

afford to buy in larger quantities. 

History has it that sachetisation did not begin 

in Nigeria or Africa. The ‘sachetised’ products 

have long been part of Indian culture, which is 

believed to have pioneered the bite-sizing of 

consumers’ products and commodities some 

70 years ago, beginning with tea in small paper 

pouches tucked in precious leaves just enough 

to make tea for two. 

Even though the sachet model saves wastage 

with portion control, it requires minimum 

packaging materials, less storage, low 

shipping, and transportation cost, and most 

importantly it is pocket friendly to the endusers. 

However, the painful truth and disclosure 

are that this trend is an indication of income 

inequality, unaffordability, the wide gap 

between the haves and have nots, high 

unemployment rate, dwindling economy, and 

high level of poverty in the country. Supportably, 

the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, in the 

“2019 Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria” 

report, highlights that 40 percent of the total 

population, or almost 83 million people, live 

push real governing to one 

side. Anyone who doubts that 

does not understand the theory 

of presidential election cycle. 

Without strong political 

leadership and steering, any 

presidency could be buffeted by 

events in an election season. 

Why does this matter? Well, it 

matters because, truth be told, 

if President Buhari were to 

Professor Gambari is 

loyal to a fault; he must 

care about his own 

legacy as well as 

Buhari’s 


2016 was the first in more than 

20 years, and last year, for the 

second time in less than five 

years, the economy fell back into 

a recession. And, of course, 

Nigeria became “the poverty 

capital of the world”, overtaking 

India, under President Buhari. 

These are not things he would 

like to be remembered for; or are 

they? 

What about national security? 

Governor Muhammad Yahaya 

of Gombe State recently said that 

“Nigeria is facing the worst 

security challenges in history.” 

And that’s under Buhari, who 

ran for office on a national 

security platform. Boko Haram 

has not been defeated, the 

rampaging herdsmen are 

acting with impunity and, as the 

Financial Times put it, “AK-47 

wielding, motorcycle-driving 

gangs of men set up fake 

checkpoints on highways to 

kidnap busloads of people or 

ransack villages and murder 

civilians.” That’s not a legacy 

Buhari wants! 

Then, there’s the much-talked 

about nepotism and 

sectionalism. Check President 

Olusegun Obasanjo’s 

government, his inner circle 

consisted mainly of people from 

outside the South West. 

Consider President Goodluck 

Jonathan’s administration, his 

kitchen cabinet was dominated 

by people from outside the 

South-South. But look at 

Buhari’s closest aides, the socalled 

cabals, they are all 

entirely from his ethnic group. 

That’s not a legacy Buhari 

should leave behind. 

Of course, President Buhari 

and his supporters would say 

he is building railways and 

below the country’s poverty line of 137,430 

naira ($381.75) per year. This figure even 

appears underestimated in my opinion, due to 

lack of data on the extremely huge informal 

sector of the country. However, these sachet 

products give the poor in the country the access 

to everyday household essentials even though 

their disposable income continues to shrink in 

real terms. 

From observation, hardly is there any market 

leading FMCG company in Nigeria that has 

not manufactured a single-serve pack (sachet 

packed product) just to capture the poor 

consumers. To buttress the adoption of this 

model, the various operators in the open 

Literature suggests that over 60 

million units of pure water is 

consumed per day with loads of 

other sachet pack products in 

Nigeria 

markets in the country, unknowingly practice 

the sachet model on perishables, vegetables, 

and food stuffs freely. All due to economic 

reasons and the waning purchasing power of 

the consumers. The regular essential 

consumables that are noticeable in sachet are 

milk, detergent, cooking oil, cereal, margarine, 

liquor, pepper mix(pepper, tomatoes and 

onions), toothpaste, sugar, tomato sauce, 

shampoo, cornflakes, seasoning/spices, 

biscuits, dishwashing liquid, shaving sticks, 

cereals, bleach, sachet with just two tea bags, 

diaper sachet with just two units, disinfectant 

and energy drink, amongst others. 

From sampled opinion this sachet trend is 

on the increase in a bid for companies to 

continue to increase market share, increase 

market penetration, and remain competitive. 

The important thing is that the trend is now 

becoming increasingly popular and even 

choice brands are not left out of the growing 

wave. An example is the revered creamy liquor 

Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

investing in agriculture to make 

Nigeria “self-sufficient” in food 

production. But, as I once 

argued in this column, 

borrowing money heavily, 

trapping Nigeria in 

unsustainable debt, to build 

railways is not a legacy, at least 

not a good legacy. As for selfsufficiency 

in food production? 

Well, it is as misguided as it’s 

utopian. No country achieves 

self-sufficiency in food 

production. Even the best 

agricultural countries like 

Brazil still import food items. 

In any case, the policies you 

need to achieve self-sufficiency, 

even if it’s possible, are 

protectionist and will raise food 

prices, impoverish your people 

and make your economy 

uncompetitive 

and 

unproductive. Again, that’s not 

a good legacy for President 

Buhari. 

Which brings us back to 

Professor Gambari. If he really 

wants to help President Buhari 

secure his legacy, he should 

advise him to start this year the 

process of restructuring 

Nigeria. He should urge Buhari 

to aspire to be “the father of a 

new Nigeria” by building a 

national consensus for a 

negotiated constitutional and 

political settlement. 

Restructuring Nigeria would be 

Buhari’s best and most 

enduring legacy. 

Professor Gambari is loyal to 

a fault. He served Buhari, the 

military dictator; he defended 

Sani Abacha, the brutal despot; 

he’s now serving Buhari, the 

self-willed president and 

personal ruler. He must care 

about his own legacy as well as 

Buhari’s. But time is running 

out! 

brand usually packaged in special bottles of 

different sizes is now packaged in sachets as 

well. This is to encourage quick sell and 

increase competitiveness in the consumer 

goods space where affordability continues to 

be a big issue. 

It is a common argument that consumer 

goods are needed by humans irrespective of 

social class to reasonably live and survive. But 

the common trend in Nigeria is that the lowincome 

earners, also known as Bottom of the 

Pyramid, BOP, most time ends up paying more 

for consumer products than the rich who buy 

the regular packs and sometimes in huge 

quantities. Simply put, the poor pay more than 

the rich for the same basic products in real 

terms in Nigeria. For instance, the retail price 

of a 50g sachet of cereal is N100, 10 sachets 

cost N1000(50g X 10 = 500g). However, the 

retail price of a 500g pack is N750. 

Conspicuously, purchasing 500g sachets of 

cereal cost approximately 33 percent more. 

Even imagine, in some cases, an additional 

50g to 100g comes as an extra giveaway on a 

500g pack when purchased during promotion 

time at no cost. The reality is that poor 

Nigerians are under-served and over-charged 

with consumer goods while the rich spend even 

less. 

Importantly, companies need to note that 

the population of the poor in the country 

continues to grow indicating that those 

unwilling to flow with the sachet trend will be 

at risk of running out of business. Considering 

the economic griefs in the country the trend is 

beneficial as regards patronage, sales and for 

business continuity. No doubt, sachet model is 

on the increase in the country and it is currently 

a winning strategy to sell what a large 

percentage of the population can afford. 

Continues online:www.vanguardngr.com 

•Dr. Olubiyi, an entrepreneurship & 

business management expert in Business 

Administration from Babcock University, 

wrote via drtimiolubiyi@gmail.com


RECENTLY, the Minister of State for 

Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, 

sounded a note of warning to 

Nigerians against lowering their 

guard in expectation of COVID-19 

vaccines. 

The minister’s warning is in 

consonance with an admonition by the 

Chairman of the Presidential Task 

Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to 

the Government of the Federation, 

Boss Mustapha, who remarked that 

persons not adhering to safety 

protocols because vaccines have been 

discovered are risking their lives. 

The warnings by these officials are 

timely. Even as COVID-19 vaccines 

from the pharmaceutical 

transnationals are becoming widely 

available, their availability should not 

be license for complacency. 

The COVID-19 vaccination may well 

be the biggest vaccination effort in 

history and an important tool to help 

COVID-19 vaccination not licence for 

complacency 

stop the raging pandemic. 

Evidence from series of clinical 

trials shows that the best performing 

of these vaccines stop 95 percent of 

coronavirus infections. 

Administration of two doses of the 

vaccines three weeks apart boosts the 

recipient’s immune system and 

minimises the risk of infection from 

the virus. 

Essentially, COVID-19 vaccination 

offers protection from sickness with 

the virus because the vaccine “trains” 

the recipient’s immune system to 

recognise the virus and to act against 

it. So, in the event of an infection, the 

vaccinated person is better protected 

and less likely to get sick. 

This immunity boost, however, does 

not occur immediately; it takes some 

time. 

A vaccinated person could, 

therefore, be exposed to the virus 

before or immediately after being 

vaccinated. 

As Nigeria is finalising plans to 

begin vaccination of her citizens, it is 

important to caution all that 

vaccination is not a cure or license for 

complacency. 

At no time should we let our guard 

down during and after the vaccination 

process. 

We must ensure that all the 

recommended non-pharmaceutical 

interventions, NPIs, and other safety 

guidelines are maintained in order to 

prevent transmission and potential 

infection with the virus. 

The message is for everyone to 

continue to stay safe and abide by the 

NPIs and guidelines, even after 

vaccination. 

We must continue to wash our hands 

regularly with soap and running 

water, wear face masks in the midst 

of others, while maintaining at least 

two metres distance, avoiding crowds 

and ensuring use of alcohol-based 

hand sanitisers where there is no 

access to soap and water. 

By MOHAMMED BELLO YUNUSA 

NIGERIA is once again approaching 

another peak of Coronavirus or 

COVID-19. It is another chance to reflect on 

the vulnerable, particularly the minors. The 

immediate ones that come to mind are the 

almajirai(Islamic pupils) that populate the 

Tsangaya schools (Quran learning centres) 

predominantly in Northern Nigeria. The 

Tsangaya education has made its mark in 

intellectual production and teaching in parts 

of the country. 

In the face of the health crises, we cannot 

afford to be oblivious of the Tsangaya schools 

and the minors that attend them. In Northern 

Nigeria, the Tsangaya made its contribution 

by making the Hausa and possibly Fulani 

languages the first ever written with known 

alphabets before the introduction of English 

alphabets. That explains the ajami, that is 

Hausa written using Arabic alphabets, 

including writings on the Nigerian national 

currency. This is remarkable and a major 

contribution to development. When all logics 

and patriotic appeals were defied and the 

writings were removed from some of our 

national currencies, a cogent national 

historical monument pride was destroyed. 

Still, later development saw the use of ajami 

in public administration, particularly in 

Northern Nigeria. Gradually, and over time, 

the use of ajami in public administration even 

in the North fizzled out. With the development, 

a good proportion of people from that part of 

Nigeria became increasingly excluded from 

mainstream national processes. With the 

current debates on the Tsangaya schools and 

planned criminalisation of Islamic education 

and knowledge, we are at another precipice of 

national calamity. Some political elites, 

particularly those who have been voted to 

exalted political offices, are set to roll back 

the hand of the clock, deny history and 

civilization based on their infatuation with 

globalisation coated in modernity and 

Westernisation. These elites have contempt and 

disdain for Tsangaya schools even when it is 

obvious that they have not grown or improved 

the Tsangaya schools. Northern Nigeria 

governors, except a few, during the peak of the 

COVID-19 wave appropriated the powers of 

the Almighty, the transient nature of their stay 

in Government Houses notwithstanding. This 

appropriation is a reflection of how public 

affairs are conducted in the states. In the states, 

the governors are the law and policy, so much 

that everything revolves around the ‘Alpha and 

Omega’ without whom nothing is possible. 

Now back to the almajirai under the 

prevailing COVID-19 situation. The absolute 

powers of the governors apparently blinded 

them to their responsibilities and respect for 

ordinary rights and dignity of citizens, 

including minors. Those at the receiving end, 

this time, are the minors and teenagers who 

need and deserve utmost state protection. The 

victims, more specifically, are the young 

children and youth studying Islam and Islamic 

books in Tsangaya. Their apparent crime is 

the choice to attend a Tsangaya. 

The outbreak of COVID-19 made this period 

a tough one for children and youth in our 

communities, towns and cities. Following the 

outbreak of the pandemic in Nigeria the 

Almajirai were literally smoked out of the 

Tsangaya schools and deported to various 

states or communities of origin as if they are 

not citizens of Nigeria. Apparently, the 

Tsangaya pupils lost freedom of movement, 

association and conscience. Personal dignity 

and respect were certainly violated. The states 

simply declared them persona non grata 

and furthered the pupils’ hunger, poverty and 

deprivation boundaries. State governments 

rolled out vehicles and carted the children and 

youth away in several directions, purportedly 

their home states and villages! This is propelled 

by their earlier conviction that the almajirai 

are a bunch of beggars and miscreants. In 

about 2009, the Africa Studies Centre of 

Leiden, The Netherlands, organised a 

OPINION 

COVID-19, Almajirai pupils and northern governors’ responsibility 

conference in Abuja. My take home from that 

workshop was and still is the stereotype of 

almajirai as street beggars and miscreants. In 

my book, Understanding the Almajiri, a copy 

of which was sent to all Northern states 

governors and Owelle Rochas Okorocha, then 

governor of Imo State. I insisted that not all 

street children are almajirai and not all 

children that beg are almajirai. The governors 

never came to terms with this. 

When COVID-19 broke out the governors 

of some states vehemently chose 

irresponsibility over responsibility in handling 

the Tsangaya schools and their attendants. The 

pupils were denied citizenship of their country 

and basic rights that go with it. The governors 

based their action on the claim that begging is 

a menace and an embarrassment to the North 

and Nigeria. This is intriguing and I was 

piqued. 

Even if begging is a social menace, it is better 

to leave the beggars alone if you have nothing 

to offer them. Other than interpersonal 

linkages with the Tsangaya schools, politicians 

and development policy makers have for years 

Children and youth of the North 

are in more serious 

circumstances that need state 

attention 

remained oblivious of the schools and pupils. 

I dare say education is education and your 

citizens are your citizens. The Northern 

Governors Forum and their members must 

come to terms with these. Children and youth 

of the North are in more serious circumstances 

that need state attention. The closed livelihoods 

and employment opportunities, including 

inabilities to set up homes are major 

frustrations that have propelled the youth and 

children to drug addiction and other social 

vices. Begging is not an issue; in fact it is an 

official business. 

All federal, state and local government 

projects are dependent on begging the World 

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opinions1234@yahoo.com 

Bank, IMF, other lending and donor agencies 

not to mention the over drawn facilities of 

domestic banks by agencies of governments. 

No meaningful research activities are going 

on in the universities without proposal writing 

and begging international agencies for 

funding. Ask the Professors. In the ministries 

the best funded projects are products of 

begging. The shame of executive begging that 

puts heavy debt burden on impoverished 

citizens is a perpetual menace and 

embarrassment to poor citizens. The governors 

forum must talk to this not the almajiri. 

It is open secret that the state and local 

governments have lost the capacity to own and 

manage ordinary public primary schools. 

Poor people have lost access to elite education. 

Those that manage to go to school end up in 

a closed opportunity system. They have 

certificates without jobs. With closed access, 

the poor have really lost interest in elite schools 

and they should be let alone. The governors 

must not embarrass the citizens, more so the 

almajiri during this second lockdown. 

To let the people and their type of education 

be, the governors ought to have seen the 

opportunity offered by COVID-19. Tsangaya, 

the cradle of Islamic intellectual development 

dots all villages, towns and cities in the North. 

But the modern day policy makers know next 

to nothing about them and could not have 

done a thing to sustain them. So it is easy for 

the governors to blow the opportunity at the 

first instance. 

With the Tsangaya schools all over the place, 

what could have been done and should be done 

now? The COVID-19 and the associated 

lockdown offered the opportunity for locating 

and enumerating Tsangaya schools, their 

capacities and pupils. COVID-19 and the 

associated lockdown would have been used 

and should be used to establish the number of 

Tsangaya schools, more Almajirai in each 

Tsangaya and improving learning conditions 

covering learning materials, sleeping places 

and sanitary facilities, feeding among others. 

Continues online: www.vanguardngr.com 

•Yunusa is Executive Secretary, Socio-economic 

and Environment Advocacy Centre, Zaria

MONEY MARKET 

ECONOMY 

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021 — 19 

Currency outside banks rise 55% to N2.3trn in 

5yrs *As banks’ reserves increases by 211% 

By Babajide Komolafe & 

Elizabeth Adegbesan 

Currency outside the banking 

system rose sharply by 55 

percent to N2.3 trillion in 2020 

from N1.46 trillion in 2015, as Nigerians 

had to spend more on 

goods and services in response to 

sharp naira depreciation within the 

past five years. 

Data from the Central Bank of 

Nigeria, CBN, obtained by Vanguard 

shows that the sharp increase 

in currency outside banks 

was driven by sharp naira depreciation 

in 2016 and 2020, which 

occasioned spike in prices of goods 

and services. 

In 2016, the naira depreciated 

in the official foreign exchange 

market by 55 percent to N305 per 

dollar from N197 per dollar in 2015 

while the inflation rate rose sharply 

by nine percentage points to 18.55 

percent from 9.55 percent in 2015. 

Similarly, in 2020, the naira depreciated 

by 5.1 percent in the Investors 

and Exporters (I&E) window 

while the inflation rate rose 

by 2.9 percentage points to 

14.89 percent in November 2020 

from 11.98 percent in 2019. 

As a result of these two episodes 

of sharp naira depreciation and 

increase in the inflation rate, currency 

in circulation recorded the 

From left: Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Onari 

Brown; Chairman, Josepdam Port Services Nigeria Limited, Saheed Kuteyi, during the donation 

of computer systems and office gadgets to NPA as part of Josepdam's solidarity visit over 

#EndSARS protesters' attack on its headquarters in Lagos. 

LCCI calls for policy to encourage FX inflow 

By Nkiruka Nnorom 

The Lagos Chamber of Com 

merce of Industry, LCCI, has 

lamented the continued liquidity 

crisis in the Foreign Exchange 

(forex) market and its impact on 

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING 

US DOLLAR 

POUNDS 

EURO 

FRANC 

YEN 

CFA 

WAUA 

RENMINBI 

RIYAL 

RAND 

124.05 +2.65 

2,512.00 +14.00 

15.84 +0.38 

56.20 -0.38 

55.95 +1.01 

379 379.5 380 

518.3204 519.0042 519.688 

461.1293 461.7377 462.346 

426.4176 426.9802 427.5428 

3.646 3.6508 3.6556 

0.6887 0.6987 0.7087 

546.9987 547.7204 548.442 

58.5717 558.6494 58.7272 

101.0182 101.1514 101.2847 

24.7484 24.7811 24.8137 

CBN Exchange rate as at 13/01/2021 

highest growth rates of 25 percent 

and 12 percent in 2016 and 

2020. 

According to the apex bank’s 

data, currency outside banks recorded 

the highest growth of 25 

percent, year-on-year, y/y, in 

2016, when it rose to N1.82 trillion 

from N1.46 trillion in 2015. 

This was followed by a 2.6 percent, 

y/y growth to N1.78 trillion 

in 2017, and 7.0 percent, y/ 

General, LCCI, stated 

this yesterday at a 

webinar tagged: “The 

Naira in 2021: 

Optimising Choices for 

Growth”, put together by 

Arbiterz Media Limited 

in collaboration with 

Cordros Capital, a 

Lagos-based investment 

banking firm. 

He said the liquidity 

crisis coupled with the 

issue of depreciation in 

naira heightens uncertainty 

for investors, hampers 

smooth planning 

process for the importdependent 

local manufacturers 

and also lead to 

spike in the cost of production 

and operation. 

Yusuf, who also decried 

what he termed 

“”excessive focus on the 

demand management 

side of the foreign exchange 

market”, said 

rather than focus on 

managing demand, the 

y growth to N1.91 trillion in 2018. 

Currency outside banks grew 

further by 6.0 percent to N2.02 

trillion in 2019. The second highest 

growth of 12 percent was recorded 

in 2020, when currency 

in circulation rose to N2.26 trillion. 

Following the same trend, bank 

reserves rose by 211 percent during 

the five years period to N12.3 

trillion from N3.95 trillion in 2015. 

businesses, saying that it is 

worsening the rate of divestment 

in the country. 

Mr. Muda Yusuf, Directorauthorities 

should set clear strategies 

that would encourage more 

forex inflow into the economy. 

“When you have a situation 

where you make a demand for 

forex either to import equipment 

or raw material and you get just 

10-20 percent of what you requested 

for, what are you going 

to do with that. 

So, that is creating a lot of problem, 

it is creating a lot of uncertainty 

in the economy for investors 

and it is escalating the risk 

of divestment because when you 

are not sure when, how and at 

what rate you are going to get 

your FX, it constitutes a major 

problem for planning,” he said. 

He cautioned against the multiple 

exchange rate system, saying: 

“We need to normalise the 

situation so that we can have 

more transactions on the table. 

Right now, there are a lot of 

transactions under the table. You 

have an exchange rate, you pay 

a particular rate officially and 

pay another rate unofficially. 

These things are creating a 

whole lot of problem in the 

economy.” 

Bismark Rewane, Chief Executive 

Officer, Financial Derivatives 

Company FDC, who 

also spoke at the event, raised 

concern over exchange rate fixing, 

arguing that flexibility 

While bank reserves dropped by 

16 percent, y/y to N3.32 trillion in 

2016 from N3.95 trillion in 2015, 

it pick up in 2017 with 17 percent, 

y/y, growth to N3.98 trillion. This 

trend continued in 2018 with 11 

percent increase to N4.42 trillion. 

The growth in bank reserves 

shot up in 2019 and 2020 recording 

40 percent and 98 percent, y/ 

y, growth to N6.2 trillion and 

N12.3 trillion respectively. 

would lead to a more market determined 

value of the naira and 

growth in the economy. 

He also cautioned against the 

continuous effort to defend the 

naira, noting that a stronger 

economy would lead to a strong 

naira and not the reverse. 

AfCFTA: MAN 

seeks SON’s 

positioning at 

borders 

ECONOMY 

By Yinka Kolawole 

The Kano branch of Manu 

facturers Association of Nigeria 

(MAN) has called for Standards 

Organisation of Nigeria 

(SON) to be properly positioned 

at the nation’s entry points following 

the commencement of the 

implementation of the African 

Continental Free Trade Area 

(AfCFTA) agreement. 

National Vice President, North 

West Zone, MAN, Alhaji Ali 

Madugu, made the call in Kano 

when the Director General, SON, 

Mallam Farouk Salim was in Kano 

recently a working visit. 

Madugu emphasised the need 

for SON’s quality verification of all 

imported products including those 

from West African countries, even 

with the rule of origin in the 

ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation 

Scheme. 

According to him, the commencement 

of AfCFTA further 

underscores the need for SON’s 

presence at the entry points to prevent 

Nigeria from being turned 

into a dumping ground of substandard, 

fake and counterfeited 

products from other African countries. 

He acknowledged the need for 

product authentication as an additional 

tool to fight faking, adulteration 

and unfair competition 

with substandard products in the 

market and urged SON to look at 

the best way to implement it without 

putting genuine manufacturers 

at disadvantage in terms of cost 

and the procedure for compliance. 

Responding, Salim noted that 

SON was set up to provide technical 

assistance and support to 

genuine local manufacturers as 

well as protect them from unfair 

competition from substandard 

products. He acknowledged 

their sacrifices through investment 

in infrastructure, creation of job opportunities 

and regular payment 

of taxes as part of growing the 

nation’s wealth and assured them 

of his commitment and support. 

#EndSARS: Josepdam donate 

computers to NPA 

By Godfrey Bivbere and 

Providence Adeyinka 

MARITIME 

Terminal operator, Josepdam 

Port Services Nigeria Limited, has 

donated an all purpose personal computers 

to Nigerian Port Authority, NPA, 

as part of its support and expression of 

sympathy. 

Meanwhile, as the dust raised from 

#EndSARS protests gradually settles, 

more sympathisers are still besieging 

the Lagos headquarters of NPA to express 

solidarity with the management 

over the attack and vandalization of the 

premises by hoodlums, who masqueraded 

as protesters. 

Presenting the items to NPA management, 

Chairman, Josepdam, Saheed 

Kuteyi, said NPA has been a good landlord, 

making it possible for the operators 

to work under a friendly atmosphere. 

Kuteyi said: “On behalf of my man- 

agement and staff, I am here to 

present these items just to support and 

commiserate with NPA in respect of 

what happened during the 

#EndSARS protests. We have been 

working together with NPA since 

2006 under very conducive atmosphere. 

This is just a token, and better 

things are coming in future.” 

Also, Managing Director, NPA, 

Hadiza Bala Usman, commended 

the management of Josepdam, while 

expressing surprise that anybody 

could imagine attacking NPA, an 

organisation that is for the good of 

the country. 

Usman who was represented by the 

Executive Director, Marine and Operations, 

Onari Brown, said: “On behalf 

of managing director, we appreciate 

you for identifying with us in 

our moment of sorrow and need. In 

fact, NPA is an organisation that 

should be protected because government 

doesn’t give us money in anyway; 

we rather contribute to 

government’s purse. We do our corporate 

social responsibilities. 

C 

M 

Y




Our Hustle 

The extraordinar 

xtraordinary 

women in E-hailing 

ONCE upon a time, it was a rarity to see female 

commercial drivers even in our major cosmopolitan 

cities. These days, the tables are turning, with several 

women now driving buses, tricycles and even motorcycles, 

popularly known as okada. 

Istarted in December 

2017. I was motivated 

due to the fact that I 

needed to get something done. 

I was looking for how to earn 

money. I needed to earn a 

living for my family. 

I saw the pleasure in 

transportation, although I had 

a driver’s license but I did not 

have a car at that time. I just 

felt the need to earn a living. I 

believed it was an avenue to 

make a living on my own terms. 

I started the business and 

within a short time, I started 

meeting people. When I 

started, I had no car to myself. 

I just sold my car at that time. 

ECOWAS celebrates es 20 year 

ears of UNSC Resolution 

1325 on women, peace, security 

By Victoria Ojeme 

THE Economic 

Community of West 

African States 

(ECOWAS) is commemorating 

the 20th anniversary of the 

United Nations Security 

Council (UNSC) Resolution 

1325 on Women, Peace, and 

Security (WPS). 

Twenty years ago, the 

United Nations Security 

I'll showcase my passion in gender, women 

welfare —Perm Sec 

By Chris Ochayi & 

Victoria Ojeme 

ABUJA—The newly 

r e d e p l o y e d 

Permanent Secretary 

to the Federal Ministry of 

Women Affairs, Dr. Anthonia 

Ekpa, has vowed to bring her 

passion in gender and women 

to bear in order to realize the 

agenda of government in the 

ministry. 

Ekpa made the vow after a 

brief handover ceremony 

between her and the outgoing 

Permanent Secretary, Dr. 

Ifeoma Anyanwutaku, at the 

Ministry in Abuja. 

Speaking during the 

occasion, Dr. Ekpa, who was 

redeployed from office of the 

Head of Service to the Federal 

Ministry of Women Affairs, 

vowed to bring her passion in 

gender and women to bear in 

order to realize the agenda of 

government in the ministry. 

Ekpa described her 

redeployment to Women 

Affairs, as a God-given 

opportunity to share her 

passion with others in the 

By Ebunoluwa Sessou 

But, I got a car on lease. So, 

someone gave me his car and 

after a while I was able to save 

more to buy my car. 

I had N3000 as savings daily 

and in a year, I was able to save 

over one million and I bought 

my own car. 

The experience for me is 

rewarding. Although it is not 

100 percent, at least my family 

and I are comfortable. There are 

ups and downs. 

One major challenge of the 

business is bad roads. Another 

issue is the attitude of people 

towards female drivers. Some 

people are always excited 

seeing a female driver; some 

Council emphasised the 

importance of women’s 

participation in peace processes 

with the adoption of Resolution 

1325 on Women, Peace and 

Security. 

UN Resolution 1325 was 

followed by nine additional 

resolutions, which addressed 

more strongly the issue of 

sexual violence in conflicts, as 

well as the active involvement 

of women in peace building. 

ministry, stressing that her PhD 

centered on Gender and 

Women studies. 

“I happen to have some 

interest in gender. I did my 

Gender/ Women studies in my 

PhD. I have some knowledge of 

what you are doing here. It is a 

passion and God has given me 

an opportunity to share with 

you. 

“The outgoing Perm Sec has 

told me how good you are. She 

said the directors here are very 

hard working, they are 

collaborative, cooperative. So 

you are a team and I am part of 

the team. So we continue 

where she stopped. 

“I will solicit your 

cooperation I know you will 

give me that and we will do our 

very best also” she stated. 

Responding, Anyanwutaku, 

commended the members of 

staff for immense support she 

receive. 

She however assured the 

incoming Per. Sec. a promising 

work experience in the 

ministry, while urging the staffs 

to extend the support to her. 

I almost committed suicide 

—Awoyera Ifedayo 

people are conservative in their 

opinion about female drivers. 

I see the business as a job. I 

am a professional driver and I 

feel that the respect given to a 

doctor or banker or other female 

professionals should be given 

to me. 

So far, the experience has 

been interesting and I have 

been able to learn lots of things 

from the job through people’s 

experiences. 

It is necessary for a woman to 

have an earning power. A 

woman without earning power 

does not deserve to be called a 

woman indeed. It is sad for a 

woman not to have an income 

to support herself or 

her home. 

Challenges 

To be honest, if you do not like 

driving, you cannot enjoy the 

job. I joined the job because I 

needed to make money. I was 

a business woman on Lagos 

Island at a time until my shop 

With many aspects of the 

resolution(s) still not sufficiently 

implemented, supporters had 

looked forward to the 

anniversary year with great 

hope; however, it is clear that 

2020 did not deliver significant 

progress for the 1325 agenda. 

The COVID-19 pandemic 

even caused significant 

setbacks for women’s rights, 

including economic 

marginalisation, an increase in 

violence against women. 

Dr. Ekpa 

“I only ask that you also 

extend the same level of 

cooperation to the incoming 

Permanent Secretary. As I 

leave, you never know, our 

paths may cross again. And I 

thank you all for the 

cooperation I have received in 

this ministry. 

got burnt and there was no 

source of income. But, prior 

to that time, I liked driving 

and I saw an avenue for me 

to earn a living through 

driving. 

Driving is a school I did not 

pay for. I have learnt lots of 

lessons. 

Day of driving 

I feel fulfilled when a 

passenger alights from my 

car safely. I feel fulfilled when 

I see myself as a solution to 

other people’s problems. I 

feel fulfilled when people say 

they are proud of what I am 

doing. 

Business taking to another 

level 

It is unfortunate that in 

Nigeria, we have a regulatory 

body that does not 

understand how the industry 

operates. The transportation 

business is a lucrative one if 

the regulatory body 

understands how it operates. 

Transportation business is a 

job for other people to come 

into and be successful. Some 

of the terrible experiences 

that we encounter as drivers 

is that fact that some people 

will want to injure the driver. 

There is no adequate 

security to profile drivers. 

Another thing is that the 

driving system is not 

commensurate with the 

maintenance of the car. The 

transportation is an industry 

on its own and it should be 

taken seriously. 

Suicide 

I have attempted suicide 

before when I thought I did 

not have an option. I used to 

tell women that it is always 

good to earn a living. Every 

woman must be an asset in 

Ifedayo 

her world. And it is about the 

passion for the job. There is no 

short cut to life. No woman should 

encourage suicide and she 

should be ready not to be a 

liability. 

Like every other business, the 

e-hailing agent came my way 

through a friend who knew the 

challenges I was passing 

through. 

I am a mother of three and a 

widow. There is no means of 

survival. So, a friend advised me 

on the need to venture into the 

driving and that’s how I became 

an Uber Driver. At least, I can take 

care of the financial obligations 

concerning my children. 

I have been battling the 

challenge of taking care of my 

children. 14 months ago, I 

ventured into the business and 

since then, I have been taking care 

of my children. This business has 

enabled me to take care of myself 

financially. 

I am considering investing 

into another business because I 

might not be able to sustain e- 

hailing business for another five 

years due to the age limit. 

Investing into another business 

that would be convenient for me 

will not be compromised at all. 

My advice is that people 

especially women should see 

themselves as a source of blessing 

to others by trying to make a 

living for themselves and their 

families. Unfortunately, most 

people prefer to be fed instead of 

feeding others. Any woman who 

belongs to the category of being 

fed should desist from doing so. 

Nigeria has become a country 

where you must always find 

means of survival. It is better to 

survive and live, rather than 

thinking of becoming a liability to 

the country and your families. 

Continues on page 23

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14 , 2021 — 23 

Our Hustle 

I’ve had wonderful experiences with clients —Omolola Temitope 

Istarted e-hailing in 2019. 

Basically, I was looking 

for a business I could start 

without getting any capital 

from anyone. 

I reckoned that I could 

become a female driver. I was in 

a commercial cab one day when 

I was curious about the need to 

become a female driver and I 

started asking questions if I 

could do it. A month after, I took 

another cab and asked the same 

question. This time around, the 

man encouraged me. 

I asked the man on the criteria 

involved in becoming a female 

driver and he said I must have 

my driver’s license. And I said, 

if I can make money, I would be 

glad to go for it and that was how 

I became a female driver. 

I started June 2019 and the 

journey has been interesting 

although it has its ups and 

downs. You will meet interesting 

people as well as those who are 

not. You will be good and bad 

people. It is a mix of interesting 

experiences. 

I have had men who told me 

they liked me. Some people react 

negatively especially when they 

make their request and they see 

that I am a woman, they 

cancelled out rightly. Although, 

most times, it is not because we 

are females. For us, our 

calculation reads 100 percent 

that because we are women, 

customers tend to ike our 

services. Some of them are 

surprised when they see female 

drivers. Most of the time, they 

share their both pleasant and 

ugly experiences with us, 

eventually when hiring our 

services. 

Some people do not bother 

about who is rendering the 

service. Theirs is to take them to 

wherever they are going. Some 

people are excited that they are 

in a shuttle with a female driver. 

Before, e-hailing, I used to be 

a banker. I worked in a bank for 

five years; you have both the 

mental stress and the physical 

stress. I was bothered with the 

fact that I had to wake up very 

early and also get home very late. 

But, the e-hailing, it is more of 

the physical stress including 

driving, bad roads and sitting in 

the car. For the e-hailing, you are 

Continues from page 22 

in control of your car. And it is like 

doing business on your terms. The 

only stress is the traffic especially 

Lagos. And the security issue 

especially late night robbery. 

Wonderful surprises from clients 

but I have never been robbed nor 

involved in an accident and I pray 

such will not be my portion. 

Experience that stands out is 

when clients give me money as a 

way of appreciating my service. 

I have not had a negative 

experience on the job. I know that 

some drivers complain about their 

cars. 

For those who want to join, I will 

tell them it pays to join the 

business. For me, I am a 

workaholic and like to earn my 

money. I think it is a very good 

business especially for those who 

have their cars. Although it is 

stressful , once you understand the 

business, you will be glad. It is also 

important to note that as a woman, 

you must discipline yourself. And 

with prayers, things will be well. 

It is better than sitting and waiting 

for manna to fall from heaven. We 

have an association and we are 

close to 100 in number. There are 

many single mothers among us 

and they are happy with their 

jobs. This is what we depend on 

and it is what we are using to 

put our body and soul together. 

As a widow, I take care of my 3 children —Susan Alvin 

LIKE every other business, 

the e-hailing agent came 

my way through a friend 

who knew the challenges i was 

passing through. 

I am a mother of three and a 

widow. There is no means of 

survival. So, a friend advised me 

on the need to venture into the 

driving and that's how i became 

an uber driver. At least, i can take 

care of the financial obligations 

concerning my children. 

I have been battling the 

challenge of taking care of my 

children. 14 months ago, i 

ventured into the business and 

since then, i have been taking care 

of my children. This business has 

enabled me to take care of myself 

financially. 

I am considering investing into 

another business because i might 

not be able to sustain e-hailing 

business for another five years due 

to the age limit. Investing into 

another business that would be 

convenient for me will not be 

compromised at all. 

My advice is that people 

especially women should see 

Omolola 

themselves as a source of blessing 

to others by trying to make a living 

for themselves and their families. 

Unfortunately, most people prefer 

to be fed instead of feeding others. 

Any woman who belongs to the 

category of being fed should desist 

Susan 

5 things you probably didn't know about Jill Biden 

INCOMING First Lady of 

the United States, FLOTUS, 

Jill Biden might not be one of 

the most internationally recognizable 

political wives, but 

she is certainly one of the 

most fascinating. 

1.The USA's first first lady 

to hold a paid job outside 

the White House. 

Biden, a college English 

professor with a doctorate in 

education, has said that she 

hopes to continue teaching 

after her husband, Presidentelect 

Joe Biden, enters the 

White House. 

2.POTUS Joe Biden is her 

second husband. 

She divorced her first husband, 

Bill Stevenson, in 1975 

after just 5 years of marriage 

and married the president 

elect 2 years later at the UN 

Chapel in New York, raising 

his two children from a prior 

marriage. 

3.She is worth about 9 mil 

lion dollars. 

Though at the Northern Virginia 

Community College 

where she is a professor, Federal 

financial disclosures have 

shown that her salary is typically 

around $100,000 per 

year; the incoming FLOTUS 

has a combined net worth of 

about 9 million dollars with 

her husband. In the two years 

following Biden’s vice presidency, 

the couple earned more 

than $15 million; $1.8 million 

from book tour events; $2.4 

million from speaking fees; 

and the University of Pennsylvania 

paid Biden $775,000 to 

lead the Penn Biden Center for 

Diplomacy and Global Engagement. 

Jill Biden made 

$700,00 in speaking fees. 

The Bidens also benefit from 

pensions and social security 

benefits, as well as rental income 

from a cottage in Wilmington, 

DE. 

4. She co owned a bar. 

For someone who ended up 

an academic, she has had a 

from doing so. Nigeria has 

become a country where you 

must always find means of 

survival. It is better to survive and 

live, rather than thinking of 

becoming a liability to the country 

and your families. 

most diverse career, which 

included enrollment to study 

fashion design. She also had 

a stint as a model. 

The incoming FLOTUS ran a 

bar, the Stone Balloon in Newark, 

Delaware which became 

one of the most successful 

college bars in the nation; 

with her ex, which became a 

big problem in their divorce. 

5. She is a published 

author 

She is an author who has 

written two books, mainly 

around her passions. In 2013, 

she published a children’s 

book called Don’t Forget, God 

Bless Our Troops. 

Relief, joy, as 

Lagos disburses 

FG cash transfer to 

vulnerable 

By Olasunkanmi Akoni 

AMID jubilation and 

gratitude, thousands 

of beneficiaries in 

Lagos State received the 

Conditional Cash Transfer 

initiative of the Federal 

Government, during the third 

Bi-monthly payment to each of 

the eligible households in Epe 

Local Government Area of the 

state. 

The Lagos State Government, 

through the Ministry for Wealth 

Creation and Employment had 

in April 2020 kicked off the 

initiative in the state. 

At the flag off of the Bimonthly 

cash transfer last 

week, each beneficiary 

received the sum of N10, 000 

for the months of September 

and October 2020, presented by 

the state Commissioner for 

Wealth Creation and 

Employment, Mrs. Yetunde 

Arobieke in Epe. 

She said the initiative, which 

would be administered through 

the designated household 

caregiver, aimed at improving 

the living standard of the 

households. 

Arobieke, enjoined mothers to 

utilize the opportunity. 

The Commissioner lauded the 

efforts of the Federal 

Government, through the 

National Social Safety Nets 

Coordinating Office under the 

Ministry of Humanitarian 

Affairs, Disaster Management 

and Social Development, for 

their support in the 

establishment of the cash 

transfer unit in Lagos State. 

She also expressed gratitude 

to Governor Babajide Sanwo- 

Olu for his commitment and 

enormous support in making 

the implementation a success. 

“It is of the essence to mention 

that the process of enrolment 

of about 8,147 households 

captured by the State Cash 

Transfer Office was approved by 

the Governor and commenced 

in the month of April to fasttrack 

a conditional Cash 

transfer to beneficiary 

households in order to alleviate 

the sufferings of the poor and 

vulnerable,” she explained. 

Traditional ruler, Alara of 

Ilara, Oba Dr Olufolarin 

Olukayode Ogunsanwo Telade 

VIi, expressed appreciation to 

both the federal and state 

governments for the laudable 

initiative. 

The Executive Chairman of 

Eredo Local Council 

Development Area, Adeniyi 

Saliu Razaq, expressed 

gratitude to the State 

Government for choosing the 

Local Government as a 

beneficiary. The Household 

Uplifting Programme (HUP), 

otherwise known as 

Conditional Cash Transfer, was 

introduced in 2016 as one of 

the four social investment 

programmes anchored by the 

Federal Government to tackle 

poverty and hunger.

24— Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021 

Tertiary education: 

Unions begin year in 

‘war' mood with govt 

By Adesina Wahab 

THE relief that many 

stakeholders felt following the 

suspension of the nine-month-old 

strike by the Academic Staff Union 

of Universities, ASUU, is already 

giving way to anxiety that academic 

activities in the nation's universities 

and even polytechnics may not have 

a smooth sail this new year 2021. 

This is because a number of issues 

are cropping up threatening 

industrial harmony in those 

insititutions. The main issues 

threatening industrial harmony in 

the nation's universities are all 

fallouts of the recent ASUU strike. 

Agreement leading to suspension 

of ASUU strike 

Apart from the fact that some issues 

agreed to by the union and the 

Federal Government that led to the 

suspension of the strike are yet to be 

implemented by the government, 

some points in the agreement are 

strongly objected to by other staff 

unions in the university system. The 

government is yet to pay the arrears 

of salaries owed university lecturers. 

It is between four to six months in 

some cases. Also, Visitation Panels 

have not been set up for the 

universities and the issue of 

proliferation of universities by state 

governments not yet looked into 

among others. 

Speaking on the matter, the 

National President of ASUU, Prof. 

Biodun Ogunyemi, said he would not 

want to say much on the matter. "We 

are talking with the government on 

the issues and we hope they would 

not disappoint. That is all I can say 

on the matter," he said. 

However, the National President 

of the National Parent Teacher 

Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, 

Haruna Danjuma, wanted all the 

issues thrashed as quickly as 

possible. ' We don't want a repeat of 

the experience we had in 2020 and 

so we hope all the issues are settled. 

Let the government pay the lecturers 

their salaries. We wasted more than 

enough time last year and we don't 

pray for such thing again,"!he noted. 

While the government is yet to take 

certain steps, some promises made 

to ASUU are causing commotion in 

other unions, especially the nonteaching 

staff unions. Top on the list 

is the issue of Earned Academic 

Allowances. ASUU claims it is 

majorly for its members, while the 

Non-Academic Staff Union, NASU, 

the Senior Staff Association of 

Nigerian Universities, SSANU, and 

the National Association of 

Academic Technologists, NAAT, are 

saying they have been cheated in the 

sharing of the fund. 

NASU and SSANU are already 

spoiling for war over the matter, as 

they have formed a Joint Action 

Committee, JAC, and are mobilising 

to protest and go on strike over the 

issue. 

The two unions said members 

would embark on a three-day protest 

on a number of issues including the 

earned allowances, the Integrated 

Personnel and Payroll Information 

System, IPPIS, among others. The 

directive to embark on the protest 

was arrived at on Friday night at a 

meeting held by the leadership of the 

two unions in Abuja from which a 

communique was issued. 

The communique was endorsed by 

Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, the 

National President of SSANU and 

Comrade Peters Adeyemi, the 

General Secretary of NASU. 

The JAC listed issues that 

necessitated the directive to include 

inconsistencies in IPPIS payments; 

non-payment of Earned Allowance; 

non-payment of arrears of new 

minimum wage; delay in the 

renegotiation of the FGN)NASU/ 

SSANU 2009 Agreements. 

Others are the non-payment of 

retirement benefits to former 

members; non-constitution of 

visitation panels to universities; poor 

funding of universities; teaching staff 

usurping the headship of nonteaching 

units among others. It 

added that after the protest, the union 

members would consider other 

options to take including embarking 

on an indefinite strike. 

ASUP sings war song too 

As if to say students in the 

polytechnics in the country should 

not feel safe from disruption of 

FG endorses Irikefe's book as resource material on 

entrepreneurship 

By Mary Obaebor 

THE Federal Government 

through the Nigerian 

Educational Research and 

Development Council (NERDC) has 

endorsed the “Handbook of Skill 

Acquisition Training and 

Empowerment Programmes” as a 

national resource material on 

entrepreneurship, skill acquisition 

programmes, micro, small and 

medium scale enterprises 

development recommending same 

for institutions across the country. 

The FG’s approval was contained 

in a letter transmitted to the author, 

Dr Benjamin Onoriode Irikefe, and 

signed by the Executive Secretary of 

NERDC, Prof. Ismail Junaidu, one 

of Nigeria’s foremost educational 

technocrats. 

The Handbook of Skill 


Empowerment Programmes 

chronicles the author's well over 28 

years’ involvement in the training 

and management of non-militant 

and militant youths, women and 

persons. 

With the adoption of the Revised 

Second Edition, otherwise known as 

the “Nigerian Educational Research 

and Development Council (NERDC) 

Approved Edition,” there is now a 

nationally approved handbook that 

can contribute to the exiting of 

Nigeria from socio-economic 

doldrums when widely utilised 

alongside other government 

policies. The Revised Second Edition 

was borne out of NERDC’s review 

and re-jigging of the 2019 Second 

Edition, based on her very strict 

prescribed standards and guidelines. 

•From left, the Acting Vice Chancellor of the Lagos State University, 

LASU, Prof. Oyedamola Oke and the immediate past Vice Chancellor, 

Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, SAN, during the latter's inspection of the 

guard of honour mounted for him by security personnel of the 

university as part of activities to mark his last day in office on Monday. 

The Handbook of Skill 


Empowerment Programmes has 

accommodated the interest of 

diverse stakeholders, organisations 

and also suitable for General 

Readership. This version has 

received numerous accolades from 

academic and renowned scholars. 

According to Prof. Olukayode 

Ogunsanwo of the Faculty of 

Renewable Natural Resources, 

University of Ibadan, “The book is a 

masterpiece, produced by an erudite 

trainer and a competent coach. It 

presents a comprehensive text on the 

principles, fundamentals and the 

practices of skill acquisition for 

myriads of distressed and volatile 

members of the society. It was 

meticulously written to provide 

information on a broad spectrum of 

training and empowerment 

programmes. The book is a mustread 

for policymakers and special 

coaches; especially the trainers of 

unemployed graduates, National 

Youth Service Corps members, 

restive youths, ex-agitators/militants 

amongst others.” 

academic activities and calendar, 

the Academic Staff Union of 

Polytechnics, ASUP, has also said its 

members can down tools any 

moment from now. Their grouse 

include inconsistencies in IPPIS 

payments, deductions not remitted 

appropriately, lack of promotion, 

backlog of payment of new 

minimum wage etc. 

Speaking in a chat in Lagos, the 

Yaba College of Technology, 

Yabatech Chapter Chairman, Mr 

Remi Ajiboye, said salaries of 

members were being cut 

indiscriminately, citing an instance 

in which he was paid N4, 000 as 

monthly salary. Ajiboye is a Senior 

Lecturer whose salary should be over 

N300,000 monthly. Ajiboye added 

that his members were also being 

owed 10 months' new minimum 

wage arrears and that despite the 

promise to clear the arrears by July 

last year, nothing was done. "We are 

in support of our Council of National 

Officers, who have been battling for 

months to get many of the issues 

redressed. Actually, we can say that 

the government is killing us 

gradually with this IPPIS of a thing. 

Deductions like for cooperative 

societies are not remitted. Even our 

union dues are not remitted regularly. 

"Now, nobody can say this is what 

he or she earns a month. The salary 

has become an undulating object, 

you only get whatever catches the 

fancy of those in the IPPIS office. 

There was a month I was paid 

N4,000 as monthly salary. And it is 

not that the money forcibly taken 

away would be repaid any time soon," 

he said. 

Ajiboye also said his members are 

also not happy that promotion 

arrears for 2018 and 2019 have not 

been paid. "Only three federal 

polytechnics have been paid the 

promotion arrears as we talk. The 

blame is also on the workings of the 

IPPIS. We have endured enough and 

it seems the only language the 

government understands is strike. We 

were the first set of workers to reject 

IPPIS when it was introduced. We 

pointed out the lapses and said it was 

not going to work. 

"The government went back and 

said they would address those errors 

and after about a year, they came 

back to demonstrate what they have 

done and the lapses were no longer 

there, only for us to see they were to 

use another template to implement 

the payment system where we have 

these errors," he said. 

The ASUP chairman added that 

the NEEDS Assessment done in 

2014 has not been implemented, 

adding that Yabatech ought to have 

received over N5 billion to upgrade 

facilities from the exercise. He hinted 

that an emergency National 

Executive Council meeting would 

hold soon to consider all the issues. 

Will government allow the 

bubble to burst? 

For now, it is only workers in the 

Colleges of Education that have not 

come out with threat of strike over 

any issue, but this is not to say they 

don't have any. Going by the pressure 

government is mounting on ASUU 

to exercise patience about its slow 

pace in implementing some of the 

issues in the agreement between the 

two sides, the government may not 

watch and allow the bubble burst. It 

was gathered that issues needing 

finance to implement are slow in 

being implemented because of the 

parlous state of the economy. "in fact, 

ASUU called off its strike when 

various stakehoders in the sector and 

government officials showed them 

the state of the nation's economy. 

Government is hard pressed and it is 

just trying to rake in money here and 

there to meet some of the demands. 

Those threatening to go on strike 

may have a rethink when confronted 

with the realiities on ground," a 

source said. 

WAEC confirms Jan 29 as deadline 

for 2021 WASSCE registration 

By Elizabeth Osayande Council invites potential 

T 

candidates to register for the West 

HE West African 

African Senior School Certificate 

Examinations Council, 

Examination ( WASSCE) for 

WAEC Nigeria, has stated that 29 

private candidates , 2021-First 

January is the deadline for the 

Series. Registration pins and 

registration of the West African 

information CDs can be obtained 

Senior School Certificate 

at WAEC office, Aduwawa Benin 

Examination (WASSCE) for 

city, banks and accredited agents. 

private candidates, 2021-First 

Entry closes on January 29th, 

Series. 

2021. Registration fee is N3, 950, 

This was disclosed over the 

00. “ 

weekend by the WAEC Head of 

Reacting to the release, Mr. 

Public Affairs, Mr. Demianus 

Ojijeogu explained that “The 

Ojijeogu who confirmed that the 

public announcement is from our 

report from its Zonal WAEC office, 

WAEC Zonal offices, Benin City, 

Benin City, Edo state that 

Edo State. This information 

announced the deadline for this 

applies to Nigerians who want to 

year’s WASSCE from was true. 

sit for WASSCE this year. And the 

Part of the information read: 

pin can be gotten from any WAEC 

“The West African Examinations 

office nearest to them.


26—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021 

:@vanguardnews 

Priest tasks congregation on COVID-19, lauds 

Owie on charity 

By Ozioruva Aliu 

BENIN 

CITY—AS 

students of the University 

of Benin resume 

school soon, the Rev, Fr, in 

charge of St, Albert Catholic 

church situated inside the 

Ugbowo campus of the University 

of Benin, Rev Fr. 

Andrew Obinyan has 

charged members of the parish 

to observe safety protocols 

established for the ravaging 

Covid-19 which has entered 

a second wave. 

Addressing members of his 

congregation at a church 

service where he lauded the 

philanthropic activities of the 

wife of former Chief Whip of 

the Senate, Lady Helen Owie 

who was in the church for her 

birthday thanksgiving, 

Obinyan also said plans are 

on the way to have a mini 

quarantine for students coming 

back to school just as he 

said observation of safety 

measures like wearing of face 

masks, physical distancing 

and others would be more 

strict. 

Talking about Owie, 

Obinyan said: “We want to 

thank God for the seed of 

charity he has sown in your 

heart towards me and towards 

Rev Fathers. There are persons 

every Father will come 

they will have problem with 

the Father, there are some they 

have problems with some not 

all, there are other parishioners 

they have trouble with no 

priests, every Father who have 

left their parishes once you 

mention her name, they will 

say she is a mother and this is 

what I am thanking God for. 

When there are ceremonies, 

God will touch her heart to 

bring me food and I will share 

with people and I have that 

honour to tell the people that 

I am in a family where people 

bother that the Rev Father 

will eat. Some bring me raw 

food and all that but most 

times, she brings me assorted 

food, every kind of food and I 

share with people with joy 

and delight, it makes our 

house busy so Mama, may 

God bless you for your goodness 

and kindness.”

Continues from Page 5 

also apply more measures 

than the ones we have on 

ground now. 

"Research has shown 

that crimes like rape were 

on the increase during 

the lock-down, but if 

students are engaged 

positively, there will be no 

issues. Interestingly, we 

are gradually getting 

used to the safety 

protocols. My small child 

knows the importance of 

face-mask, sanitiser, and 

other safety measures,” 

Ene said. 

Raheem said education 

drives the economy of any 

nation, but added that 

anything that could 

spread the virus should be 

put at bay. 

“My take on the matter 

is that we know large 

gatherings help spread 

the disease and schools 

are large gatherings; we 

must not only be safety 

conscious but must 

provide necessary 

facilities and adhere to all 

protocols. Do we have all 

these in place?" he asked. 

Naira appreciates to N393.33/$ in 

I&E window 

By Elizabeth Adegbesan 

The naira yesterday appreciated to N393.33 per 

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

even as the volume of dollars traded fell by 52 

percent. 

Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative 

exchange rate for the window dropped to N393.33 

per dollar from N394 per dollar on Tuesday, 

indicating 67 kobo appreciation of the naira. 

However, the volume of dollars (turnover) traded 

in the window fell by 52 percent to $17.23 million 

from $36.07 million on Tuesday. 

vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews 

COVID: Stakeholders back 

reopening of schools, if... 

NANS frowns at 

continued 

shutdown of 

schools 

Similarly, the South- 

West Zonal Coordinator of 

NANS, Comrade Kappo 

Samuel Olawale, said as 

long as some schools in 

the country are in session 

and had been able to cope 

with the pandemic with 

no cases reported, schools 

should reopen. 

"It is clear that we do not 

have the technology to 

administer virtual 

learning as it is being 

done in developed 

nations, but this should 

not mean a pause to the 

education of Nigerian 

children. We are learned 

adults and will adhere to 

all safety protocols. We are 

confident that our 

members will not breach 

any protocol meant to 

protect them," he said. 

Olawale also called on 

the authorities to provide 

the facilities needed for 

the safety of all 

stakeholders. 

Parents want 

children back in 


The National President 

of NAPTAN, Haruna 

Danjuma, in his reaction, 

said his association and 

parents at large are weary 

of students staying at 

home. 

He,however, promised 

that like his association 

did during the outbreak of 

Ebola some years back 

when it helped in the 

provision of safety 

facilities, it will do so 

again. 

“There is no need for 

this confusion. All other 

public places are opened. 

My fear is that 

government is shying 

away from the provision 

of facilities for safe 

reopening of schools. 

Parents, students are 

ready to comply with all 

protocols, let the 

government do its own 

part," he stated. 

Closure of 

varsities 

unconstitutional, 

disastrous— Afe 

Babalola 

Lending his voice to the 

need to reopen schools, 

yesterday, legal luminary 

and founder of Afe 

Babalola University, Ado 

Ekiti, ABUAD, Aare Afe 

Babalola, SAN, described 

as unconstitutional the 

mass closure of Nigerian 

universities by the 

Federal Government due 

to the second wave of 

COVID- 19 pandemic . 

Babalola, who spoke in 

Ado-Ekiti at a press 

conference about attempts 

by the Federal 

Government to defer 

resumption of universities 

earlier slated for January 

18, said such action will 

turn out to be counterproductive 

and disastrous 

to the education sector, 

especially closing down of 

private schools without 

prior consultation. 

Expressing opposition 

to mass closure of 

universities, Babalola 

said: 

"I am of the firm view 

that mass closure of 


is 

unconstitutional, 

disastrous and counter 

productive. 

"It is certainly unjust to 

the parents, teachers, 

students and proprietors 

of schools and also 

violates the rule of natural 

justice." 

Babalola disclosed that the 

United States Centre for 

Disease Control and 

Prevention had taken all 

these into consideration 

when it officially 

recommended that 

universities should be 

accorded preferential 

treatment under COVID- 

19 in terms of operations. 

"The USCDC said 

universities are different in 

terms of size , geographical 

location, structure and in 

their abilities to take 

measure that will 

guarantee minimum risk to 

students and teachers in 

their schools, which in turn 

will ensure undistrupted 

and on-campus learning for 

students. 

"On the contrary, 

universities which do not 

possess these facilities are 

within high risk category. 

"I hereby strongly advise 

that the Federal 

Government should stop 

mass closure of schools. All 

schools, particularly the 

private universities that 

have the required worldclass 

health facilities and 

have complied with 

Presidential Task Force 

regulations which will 

enable them to implement 

low to medium risk 

measures ought not and 

should not be shut down," 

he said. 

He insisted that his 11 

years old university had 

been having a smooth and 

uninterrupted academic 

calendar before abrupt 

disruption by COVID-19, 

thereby stalling operations 

of the university, in spite of 

the world class facilities it 

parades to prevent the 

spread of the lethal disease. 

The legal luminary 

added: "The Federal 

Government should know 

that schools in Ekiti are 

safer than that located in the 

heart of Lagos. We must 

consider the geographical 

location. Any worker here 

who goes to Lagos, Abuja 

and Port Harcourt goes for 

special test and seven days 

isolation. This underscores 

the level.of our 

preparedness." 

He urged the Federal 

Government to emulate 

foreign countries by paying 

the salaries of lecturers in 

private universities, which 

were shut down because of 

COVID-19. 

Babalola reminded 

Federal Government that 

should the low-risk private 

universities remain shut 

down to wait for high-risk 

one will make the ivory 

towers remain comatose for 

long . 

On whether he will 

approach the court to 

challenge the closure of 

private universities, 

Babalola said: 

"I am not going to court 

because we have not 

exhausted the option of 

negotiation and local 

remedy. I am a friend of the 

FG and I know that the 

Attorney-General of the 

Federation will look into it”. 

On how his university 

had been affected, Babalola 

explained: “We can’t even 

quantify our losses. We 

have been following 

international standard, 

which was September to 

July academic session 

before this global problem. 

"We have done seven 

convocations in ten years . 

We used to pay salaries on 

the 24th of the month and 

nobody has been sacked, 

despite this suspension of 

work. But this has affected 

our purse. How can we be 

paying for services not 

rendered? This is unfair. 

Students threaten 

to beat up 

lecturers, says 

UNIBEN VC 

In a similar development, 

the Vice-Chancellor of the 

University of Benin, 

Professor Lilian Salami, 

said yesterday that 

students are already 

threatening to beat up 

lecturers over continued 

closure of universities, 

saying the school 

management is ready to 

resume academic 

activities in a safe and 

secure manner. 

Salami, who noted that 

varsity managements had 

adhered to the directives 

of the National 

Universities Commission, 

NUC, and PTF to put 

measures in place to stem 


spread of the virus, said 

her university 

management would 

enforce strict compliance 

with COVID-19 protocols 

to protect students and 

members of staff from 

being exposed to 

coronavirus infections. 

The vice-chancellor, 

who spoke while featuring 

onNTA Good Morning 

Nigeria breakfast show 

yesterday, said some 

students have started 

issuing threats to beat up 

lecturers should the 

closure of public 

universities persists. 

Salami said: "I want to say 

categorically that vicechancellors 

are responsible 

persons, having gone 

through the furnace. We 

will not in any way want to 

expose our staff and our 

students to any danger. 

"Having said that, publicfunded 

universities are far 

from what they ought to be. 

We have said this over and 

over that there is poor 

funding, infrastructure are 

down and decayed. The 

ratio of staff to students is 

quite large, such that for 

proper learning to take 

place, we have to address 

these issues. 

“We know that these 

issues exist but how long 

are we going to wait until 

these issues are taken care 

of? These should not 

continue to be used as 

reasons schools should not 

reopen. We will make do 

with what we have now 

available. For instance, we 

know that residential 

students are about 10 to 15 

per cent of total students’ 

population. We will as 

much as possible enforce 

compliance and that is all 

we can do. 

“Yes, they (students) are 

very restless; yes, they will 

want to go and visit friends 

but we will try as much as 

possible – and I think all 

Vice-Chancellors will do 

that – to protect our 

students and our staff so 

that we don’t unduly 

expose them to COVID-19. 

NEWS HOTLINES 

018773962, 

08052867058 

UGWUANYI INAUGURATES ROAD IN ENUGU...Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi 

of Enugu State (middle) cutting the tape to inaugurate the 12km Ugwuomu Nike- 

Godfrey Okoye University (GOUni) Road, in Enugu East Local Government Area of 

the state, yesterday. With him are the state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, 

Engr. Greg Nnaji (left), the council chairman, Alex Ugwu (4th left), Bishop Emeritus 

of the Catholic Diocese of Enugu, Most Rev. Dr. Anthony Gbuji (seated), Vice 

Chancellor, GOUni, Prof. Christian Anieke (3rd left), Chairman, Board of Trustees, 

GoUni, Prof. Bartho Okolo (2nd left), President -General, Ugwuomu Nike Town 

Development Union, Nnanyelugo Felix Nnamani (right), his wife, Sandra (2nd right), 

and others. 

But to think that if all of 

these are not taken care of, 

we will not reopen, I can 

assure you that in the next 

ten years, the kids will all 

be home. 

“We know all these 

deficiencies and we will 

continue to adjust and 

renovate the structures on 

campus. It is a gradual 

thing, there is no magic 

about it.’’ 

“On a lighter note, I have 

heard some students say, 

look, if you don’t open, we 

will beat up the Vice- 

Chancellors and start 

beating up the lecturers. 

Maybe other vicechancellors 

can take up the 

beatings but I can assure 

you that Professor Salami 

is too fragile to be beaten.” 

The vice-chancellor 

further said that UNIBEN 

has started the production 

of automated 

handwashing equipment, 

hand sanitisers and other 

materials crucial in dealing 

with the pandemic. 

Students of public 

universities have been at 

home since March 2020 

when the Academic Staff 

Union of Universities 

began a nine-month-long 

strike over certain 

demands. The union, 

however, conditionally 

suspended the industrial 

action on December 24, 

2020, after a lot of footdragging 

by lecturers and 

the Federal Government. 

However, when students 

were hopeful of returning 

to classrooms, the country 

entered the second wave 

of the pandemic while the 

Presidential Task Force on 

COVID-19 subsequently 

ordered schools to remain 

closed till January 18, 

2021 to contain the spike 

in COVID-19 infections 

in Nigeria. 

But ASUU has insisted 

that it is not safe for 

lecturers and students to 

return to classrooms as it 

cannot guarantee social 

distancing in crowded 

classes and congested 

hostels.


We’ll expose those supporting herdsmen to 

unleash terror on Oyo —Amotekun commandant 

By Ola Ajayi 

IBADAN—THE Chairman, 

Oyo State Security 

Network Agency, also known 

as Amotekun, Gen. Kunle 

Togun (retd) has said the 

security outfit has stumbled 

on credible evidence that 

Fulani herders who kidnap, 

maim, rape, or kill innocent 

people in the South-West 

zone of the country are not 

Nigerians. 

He gave this hint in an 

exclusive chat with 

Vanguard. 

The retired Army general 

said, in a polite manner, that 

the issue of security is not 

something that should be 

thrown into public space as 

people expect. 

According to him, the 

security outfit has made 

tremendous achievements 

since it came on board but 

people “know little or don’t 

•Gen. Kunle Togun (retd): Amotekun Commandant in Oyo State 

even know anything at all.” 

Togun said it will be foolish 

for any security agency which 

puts its security plans in the 

public domain noting such 

plans could be sabotaged. 

He said: “The Army will 

never tell you how they will 

counter Boko Haram. We can’t 

be telling people this and 

that. It will be tantamount to 

exposing our security plans 

which is not in tandem with 

security issues. It’s not done 

in security. 

“What people should 

understand is that this is a 

security agency and security 

operations are secret. So, we 

can’t be revealing our plans 

because people will sabotage 

it.” 

When asked about the 

achievements of the outfit and 

how to forge ahead in 

ensuring peace reigns in the 

Pacesetter State, he simply 

said: “There is a time, 

probably next Friday or early 

next week, when we shall 

invite the press for a briefing. 

It is there we shall give details 

of what is happening, our 

challenges, and what we 

expect from people. We are 

planning that. 

“Some of the achievements 

we have made are not known 

to people because we don’t 

talk. 

“We’ll show them with 

evidence especially those 

making noise that those 

Fulani herders troubling us 

are Nigerians. We have 

credible evidence that they 

are not Nigerians. We will 

show the whole world all their 

activities and those Nigerians 

who are supporting them in 

gaining entry into the country. 

“We have started clearing 

some of them out of Oke 

Ogun. That day, people will 

know how far we have gone.” 

Ondo lawmaker, Tofowomo, trains 150 

youths on ICT, empowers 200 constituents 

By Dayo Johnson 

AKURE—THE lawmaker 

representing Ondo South 

Senatorial District, Senator 

Nicholas Tofowomo has 

distributed 100 motorcycles 

and 100 sewing machines to 

empower his constituents 

across the six councils in the 

Southern Senatorial district 

area of the state. 

The programme took place at 

Ileoluji town hall. 

The Senator had earlier 

sponsored a Computer 

Training and Empowerment of 

150 Youths in Ondo South, 

bringing the total number of 

constituents empowered 

within two days to 350. 

After the training, each 

beneficiary of the ICT training 

was given one HP computer 

system with a 3-in-one 

wireless HP printer that has 

the capacity to print, scan, and 

photocopy. 

Tofowomo said the training 

of 150 youths in ICT and the 

empowerment of 200 

constituents with sewing 

machines and motorcycles is 

just the tip of the iceberg. 

According to him, the 

training is to change the old 

order where people are being 

given money instead of 

training them on skills for selfreliance. 

The sewing machines, 

according to him, are to 

support those in tailoring and 

dressmaking, the senator said 

on Tuesday afternoon. 

His words: “Better things are 

still coming, what you see is a 

tip of the iceberg, by 

December, I will roll out 

another set of empowerment. 

Our students will be given 

scholarships; I will facilitate 

more projects for my 

constituency. 

“Just recently, we trained 150 

people on ICT and now, we 

gave out 100 motorcycles to 

support our farmers in the 

area of transportation and 100 

By James Ogunnaike 

ABEOKUTA —A Non- 

Governmental 

Organization, Toyin Amuzu 

Foundation has donated a 

borehole to Oke-Ijeun 

community in Abeokuta South 

local government area of 

Ogun State. 

The borehole project, which 

was commissioned by a 

former House of 

Representatives member, Mr. 

Oladipupo Adebutu was 

aimed to end water scarcity 

problem that has been 

sewing machines to assist 

tailors in Ondo South 

Senatorial District.” 

He also promised to provide 

interest-free loan and more 

laudable empowerment 

programmes for the women. 

He said: “I will facilitate 

grants and interest-free loan 

scheme to the women by 

December. I will do more 

laudable programmes for our 

women in our subsequent 

empowerment programmes.” 

Speaking at the occasion, the 

former National Vice- 

Chairman South West of the 

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, 

Dr. Eddy Olafeso lauded the 

Senator for giving back to the 

people of his constituency. 

•Some of the distributed items: Sewing machines, 

motorcycles, ICT equipment 

items distributed to them but 

Olafeso advised the 

to ensure that they build on 

beneficiaries not to sell the 

the gesture and be self-reliant. 

Water scarcity: Foundation donates borehole project to Ogun community 

affecting the community for 

over ten years. 

Speaking at the 

commissioning, Adebutu 

charged the beneficiary 

community to make good use 

of the water project to 

encourage the donor to do 

more in future. 

He charged the people to 

protect all public facilities in 

the area against theft, 

vandalism and misuse. 

Speaking at the ceremony, 

the donor of the project, Toyin 

Amuzu assured the people of 

the area of more interventions 

as long as they are able to 

maintain them. 

He said: “I expect you to take 

good care of this project, if you 

want my foundation to 

continue this partnership in 

the future. 

“The project has health 

implications for all and 

sundry. It is not everywhere 

you get clean water but we 

have made it possible for you 

to have unhindered access to 

clean water which goes a long 

way to ensuring improved 

health.” 

Amuzu assured that the 

project will stand test of time 

and will never be abandoned 

by his foundation. 

“So for this borehole, we 

have gone so deep to the 

water table and the evidence 

of that is that the water is 

tasteless and it will last. 

Mr. Bola Ayegbade, a 

resident of the community, 

recalled that for over 10years, 

the people were always 

visiting Sapon, a nearby 

community to fetch water.


COVID-19: Workers fume over redundancies by SPDC, 

Chevron, others 

Stories by Victor 

Ahiuma-Young 

WORKERS across the 

globe have continued to 

be the scapegoats of the 

economic impact of the 

ravaging CoronaVirus, 

COVID-19 pandemic as 

employers resort to 

redundancies, salary cut, 

non-payment of salaries, 

freezing of allowances, 

promotion, among other anti- 

Labour strategies to cope 

with the consequences of the 

pandemic. 

Like some workers in 

Nigeria, oil workers are 

among the worst hit and 

investigations revealed that 

no fewer than 5000 junior and 

senior staff have been forced 

out of the nation’s oil industry 

in the last one year. 

As at today, leaders of 

Petroleum and Natural Gas 

Senior Staff Association of 

Nigeria, PENGASSAN, are 

battling with Shell Petroleum 

Development Company, 

SPDC, Chevron Nigeria 

Limited, CNL, Baker 

Hughes, Halliburton, 

Pressure Control, Tenaris 

among others, over one form 

of redundancy or the other. 

While Vanguard gathered 

that discussions are ongoing 

between the management of 

some of these companies and 

leaders of PENGASSAN on 

redundancies, some have 

been concluded. 

An official of 

PENGASSAN, told 

Vanguard in confidence that 

among the companies the 

Association is having 

discussions with over 

redundancies include SPDG 

and CNL and called on 

federal government to 

intervene before the issue 

goes out of hand and lead to 

industrial unrest in the sector. 

According to him, “we 

cannot continue like this. The 

earlier government 

intervenes the better before 

the situations lead to 

industrial unrest that may 

cripple the sector and worsen 

the economic situation of the 

country.” 

Meanwhile, Vanguard 

checks, revealed that CNL 

made a proposal to retrench 

no fewer than 25 percent of 

PENGASSAN members in 

the firm which the union 

rejected. 

Since the management 

made its intention known to 

the Association, it was 

gathered that the 

management and leaders of 

PENGASSAN have been to 

the Ministry of Labour and 

Employment, Department of 

State Services, DSS, and 

Nigerian National Petroleum 

Corporation, NNPC, over the 

planned redundancies. 

In the same vein, the 

management of Baker 

Hughes and PENGASSAN 

are in court over plan to sack 

workers. 

Leaders of PENGASSAN 

are not finding these 

redundancies funny and 

have expressed their 

misgivings over this and 

other perceived unfair 

08052202308 (sms only) 

Workers protesting at Chevron Nigeria Ltd, Lekki in Lagos recenlty. 

Labour practices. 

In fact, increasing 

redundancies and other 

unfair practices were some of 

the major issues discussed at 

the Association’s National 

Executive Council, NEC, 

meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom 

By Joe Ajaero 

WE have lost yet another 

soldier! Comrade Didi 

Aifediyi Adodo was reported 

by his family to have died 

earlier in morning of Tuesday, 

January 12, 2021, at a 

Hospital in Benin – the capital 

of Edo State after a brief 

illness. 

He would have been 58 

years on the 14th of April this 

year. 

And he was until his death 

the General Secretary of Iron 

and Steel Senior Staff 

Association of Nigeria 

(ISSSAN), a position he 

returned to as part of his 

passion to salvage the 

fortunes of the Union which 

he had previously served as 

its General Secretary before 

leaving for Edo State to serve 

its people and Government. 

An alumnus of the 

University of Benin where he 

obtained a BSc in Political 

Economy, a student union 

activist who held positions 

both within the University 

and in National Association 

of Nigerian Students 

(NANS). Didi attended many 

academic programmes in 

various fields both here in 

Nigeria and internationally 

and was one of the earliest 

participants from Nigeria in 

the US Leadership 

programmes for aspiring 

leaders in Nigeria. 

A two-time commissioner in 

Edo State under the 

leadership of Comrade 

Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, 

Didi was an impactful public 

official which explains his 

long stay as a commissioner 

for the 8 years of Adam’s 

government in the state 

holding many critical 

portfolios amongst which was 

being the commissioner that 

led the critical work of creating 

spaces for expanding and 

modernizing road 

infrastructure in Benin City 

the Edo State capital. 

State, not long ago. 

In a communique issued at 

the end of NEC meeting, 

President and General 

Secretary of PENGASSAN, 

Festus Osifo and Lumumba 

Okugbawa, respectively, 

noted that the “NEC-In- 

Didi Adodo was the first 

substantive General 

Secretary of the United 

Labour Congress of Nigeria 

(ULC) from where he 

returned to ISSSAN his 

former Union after working 

assiduously with others to 

resolve the disagreement 

within the trade union 

movement ensuring that the 

Nigeria Labour Congress 

(NLC) remains united and 

stronger. Adodo was once 

the Secretary General of the 

Trade Union Congress of 

Nigeria (TUC) and then the 

Congress of Free Trade 

Unions (CFTU). 

He would be remembered 

for his intellectual 

contributions to the building 

of the trade union movement 

including the students 

movement in Nigeria. Many 

intellectual works still stand 

to his credit. He was involved 

in the creation of many civil 

society platforms especially 

on the left that galvanized 

various popular struggles of 

the last four decades in 

Nigeria against the various 

retrogressive actions and 

policies of past and present 

governments. 

His passing is indeed a 

huge loss to the trade union 

movement in Nigeria and 

indeed all of the civil society 

of which he was a voice and 

a champion. As tears flow 

down our cheeks, we say 

goodbye to this fallen soldier, 

a patriot and a committed 

•Late Didi Adodo. 

Session while expressing 

concern over the rising cases 

of the COVID-19 pandemic 

and its global effects on 

Organizations, and the 

working class, expresses her 

disgust with Management 

comrade! 

As we collectively mourn 

his death, we pray that God 

will grant his immediate 

family the fortitude to bear his 

contrived COVID-19 antiworkers’ 

policies geared 

towards redundancy, pay cut 

or outright retrenchment. As 

an Association, NEC-In- 

Session vows not to condone 

any retrenchment that does 

not follow guidelines as 

enshrined in our relevant 

laws, regulations, and 

Collective Bargaining 

Agreements, CBAs, entered 

and signed by parties 

involved. 

“The NEC-In-Session 

after a holistic review of cases 

on unilateral redundancies in 

the sector that have 

negatively affected some of 

our members, with specific 

reference to Baker Hughes, 

strongly condemns the 

process adopted by the 

Management of the 

company and mandated the 

Central Working Committee, 

CWC, to activate all industrial 

tools at the disposal of the 

Association to ensure that the 

contrived redundancy 

targeted at our members is 

painful exit. May his soul be 

granted eternal rest in the 

bosom of God Almighty who 

he loved dearly. 

reversed and to ensure all 

requirements are satisfied 

where credible redundancy 

exercise are to be 

implemented.” 

According to the 

communique “The NEC-In- 

Session noted the payment 

of percent of the 22 months’ 

salary shortfall, to our 

members in the affected 

agency and urge 

government to expedite 

action in paying the balance. 

It also took cursory note of 

irregular payment of salaries 

to our members in some 

Federal Government 

Agencies especially due to 

forceful enrolment into the 

IPPIS scheme without 

capturing their compensation 

peculiarities. It resolves that 

the Leadership of the 

Association will work 

assiduously to ensure 

expeditious approval of the 

2015 Harmonized Annual 

Emolument Template which 

will enable proper and 

accurate disbursement of all 

outstanding payments to 

affected members without 

further delay.” 

TRIBUTE COMRADE DIDI ADODO: Our eyes brim with tears; 

An obsequies 

*Ajaero is Secretary 

General of National 

Union of Electricity 

Employees, NUEE.

30 — VANGUARD, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021 

Trump impeached again 

*May lose benefits of ex-President 

By Henry Ojelu with 

agency report 

Barely one week before the 

end of his tenure, US President, 

Donald Trump has been 

impeached by House of Representative 

on charges of insurrection. 

Trump is now officially the 

first US president to be impeached 

twice. 

The president was impeached 

two years ago over 

allegations he sought help 

from Ukraine to boost his 

chances of re-election. The 

Senate however acquitted 

him of the charges. 

Speaking before voting by 

House members, Speaker of 

the House of Representatives 

Nancy Pelosi said Trump is 

Ukraine to sanction persons linked to US election meddling 

Ukraine government 

has said it will do everything 

in its power to hold 

to account those accused of 

meddling in elections in the 

United States, the head of 

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s 

office, wrote on Twitter 

on Wednesday. 

According to Reuters, the 

United States on Monday 

imposed sanctions on several 

Ukrainian individuals and 

entities, accusing them of U.S. 

election interference and associating 

with a pro-Russian 

‘clear and present danger’ 

“We hold the power and 

bear the responsibility,” she 

says, harkening back to 

Abraham Lincoln’s words. 

“We know that the president 

of the US incited this 

insurrection, this armed rebellion 

against our common 

country. He must go. He is 

a clear and present danger 

to the nation that we all 

love.” 

Trump has denied the allegations 

of insurrection 

against insisting that his 

speech to the protesters at 

the Capitol did not contain 

inciting words. 

The procedure would now 

move to the Senate, where 

a two-thirds vote is necessary 

to convict the president 

and remove him from office. 

It is unclear if Democrats 

would get those numbers in 

the Senate, where they only 

hold half of the seats. 

If convicted, Mr Trump 

would also lose benefits 

granted to his predecessors 

under the 1958 Former 

Presidents Act, which include 

a pension and health 

insurance. He could also lose 

a lifetime security detail at 

taxpayers’ expense, although 

experts say it is unclear 

if this would happen. 

If Mr Trump were to be 

convicted, the Senate could 

also hold a further vote to bar 

him from holding public office 

again. 

A memo from an aide to 

Senate Republican leader 

Mitch McConnell says the 

soonest the upper chamber 

Ukrainian lawmaker linked 

to efforts by President 

Donald Trump’s allies to dig 

up dirt on President-elect 

Joe Biden and his son. 

“For the sake of clarity - 

regardless of party affiliation, 

this administration will 

do everything in its power 

to hold those responsible for 

meddling in U.S. elections,” 

Yermak said. 

The U.S. Treasury Department 

accused the seven individuals 

and four entities 

of involvement in a Russialinked 

foreign influence network 

associated with Ukrainian 

parliamentarian Andriy 

Derkach. Derkach was 

hit with sanctions by the U.S. 

government in September 

over accusations he tried to 

interfere in the 2020 U.S. 

election won by Biden. 

Among those blacklisted 

was Ukrainian parliamentarian 

Oleksandr Dubinsky, 

from Zelenskiy’s ruling Servant 

of the People party. Dubinsky 

denied interfering in 

the election. Derkach has 

could take up any articles of 

impeachment from the 

House would be on 19 January, 

the day before Mr 

Trump’s term expires. 

The document says Senate 

rules mean the chamber 

could therefore not begin a 

trial of Mr Trump until one 

hour after he had left office, 

or a day later. 

But senior House Democrats 

say that the party may 

choose not to send any articles 

of impeachment to the 

Senate until after Mr Biden’s 

first 100 days in office. 

That would allow Mr 

Biden to confirm his new 

cabinet and kick-start key 

policies including tackling 

coronavirus - something that 

would have to wait if the Senate 

had already received the 

impeachment articles. 

Constitutional experts are 

split on whether impeachment 

can proceed to a Senate 

trial after a president has 

left office. 

been a key figure in promoting 

unsubstantiated allegations 

that Hunter Biden improperly 

used his influence 

with his father - vice president 

at the time - to help Burisma, 

a Ukrainian energy 

company on whose board he 

sat, and that Joe Biden improperly 

pressured Ukraine 

to fire a top prosecutor who 

had investigated the firm. 

Derkach said in a statement 

those blacklisted were 

being punished for exposing 

alleged corruption. 

Israel launches major air strikes 

on Iran-linked targets in Syria 

Israel launched an air attack 

against Iranian-linked targets 

in Syria near the main border 

crossing to Iraq in the early 

hours of yesterday, one of the biggest 

strikes yet in a campaign that 

has escalated in the Trump’s administration. 

Israel has been stepping up 

strikes against Iranian targets in 

Syria, part of aggressive posture 

adopted before President-elect Joe 

Biden takes office next week in 

what could bring a reassessment 

of Trump’s “maximum pressure” 

policy on Iran. 

Syrian news agency SANA and 

Syrian state media said Israel had 

struck sites in Al Bukamal, the 

Syrian city that controls the border 

checkpoint on the main Baghdad-Damascus 

highway. The 

highway is part of the main overground 

supply route linking Iran 

to its proxy fighters in Syria and 

Lebanon. 

The Syrian reports also said Israeli 

strikes had hit areas in Deir 

al Zor province, where Iranianbacked 

militias and Iran’s Revolutionary 

Guards fighters have a 

heavy presence. 

Two residents in the regional 

capital Deir al Zor City told Reuters 

they could hear the distant 

sound of huge explosions, apparently 

from arms depots destroyed 

in the raids. 

Israel’s military did not immediately 

comment. Tzachi Hanegbi, 

an Israeli government minister, 

told Israeli radio he would not 

discuss the specific reports, but that 

Israel hit Iranian targets in Syria 

“whenever our intelligence dictates 

it and according to our operational 

capability”. 

The United States has a small 

number of troops at Tanf, a base 

in Syria near Al Bukamal, the 

main city struck by Wednesday’s 

Israeli raid. 

US executes only woman on federal 

death row 

Lisa Montgomery - the 

only female inmate on 

federal death row in the 

US - has been executed for 

murder. 

She received a lethal injection 

at a prison in Terre 

Haute, Indiana, after a lastminute 

stay of execution 

was lifted by the US Supreme 

Court. 

The case attracted attention 

because her lawyers 

argued she was mentally 

ill and suffered serious 

abuse as a child. 

The 52-year-old strangled 

a pregnant woman 

before cutting out and kidnapping 

her baby in Missouri 

in 2004. 

Her victim, 23-year-old 

Bobbie Jo Stinnett, bled to 

death but her baby was safely 

recovered and returned to 

her family. Montgomery is 

the first female federal inmate 

to be put to death by the US 

government in 67 years. 

According to witnesses, a 

woman standing next to 

Montgomery during the execution 

process, removed the 

inmate’s face mask and asked 

her if she had any last words. 

Montgomery responded 

“no”, and said nothing else. 

She was pronounced dead 

at 01:31 (06:31 GMT). Montgomery’s 

lawyer, Kelley Henry, 

said that everyone who 

had participated in the execution 

“should feel shame”.

Barca to pay Messi 

£170K per week till 2025 

Cash-strapped Barcelona will still have to fork out a mas 

sive £170,000 per week to Lionel Messi until 2025 if he 

does eventually leave in the summer, according to reports. 

Messi was desperate to leave the Spanish giants for free in the 

summer after becoming disillusioned with proceedings on and 

off the pitch, but Barcelona blocked any move by insisting suitors 

- particularly Manchester City - would have to pay his £629million 

release clause. 

Messi’s future is now up in the air - with it still being expected 

that he will leave in the summer - and if that is the case, he would 

still earn an eye-watering £170,000 a week for the next four years 

from Barcelona due to a contractual agreement, according to Marca. 

The report claims that the six-time Ballon d’Or winner will bank 

£34.7million (€39m) at the end of the 2020-21 campaign, which is 

half of his £69.4m (€78m) bonus that was agreed when he put pen 

to paper on his last contract renewal in 2017. 

The other half of the £69.4m bonus is reportedly being paid in 

instalments, which will see the Argentine icon receive the money 

in eight separate payments over four years - which would go on 

until 2025. 

That would equate to roughly £170,000 a week for Messi, who 

has attracted plenty of interest from both City and Paris Saint- 

Germain. 

•Lampard 

Chelsea draw 

up shortlist 

to replace 

Lampard 

Chelsea have five can 

didates in mind 

should owner Roman 

Abramovich lose patience 

and sack head coach 

Frank Lampard. 

The pressure is growing 

on Lampard following a 

run of four defeats and a 

draw in the Blues’ last six 

Premier League matches. 

Abramovich signed off 

on £220m worth of transfers 

last year and the Russian 

is said to be ready to 

wield the axe if Chelsea’s 

disappointing form continues 

Amid the speculation 

that Lampard’s job is under 

threat, Bild reporter 

Christian Falk claims that 

Chelsea chiefs have 

drawn up a list of five possible 

replacements. 

Thomas Tuchel - sacked 

by Paris Saint-Germain 

last month - is said to be 

one of the leading candidates 

to take over, while 

fellow out-of-work boss 

Massimiliano Allegri is 

also on the list. 

Leicester City boss 

Brendan Rodgers, RB 

Leipzig’s Julian 

Nagelsmann and Ralph 

Hasenhuttl, who has 

earned big praise for his 

work at Southampton, are 

also being eyed up. 

I’m still a 

Liverpool player 

– Awoniyi 

Taiwo Awoniyi has been 

in great form for Union 

Berlin, contributing to seven 

goals (5 goals, 2 assists) in 

his last eight matches in the 

German Bundesliga and 

helping the capital outfit 

climb to fifth in the 

standings. 

Since his celebrated move 

to Premier League giants 

Liverpool in the summer of 

2015, the former Nigeria 

U23 international has been 

frustrated in his attempts to 

play for the first team of the 

Reds due to missing paperwork. 

Awoniyi has been farmed 

out on loan to six different 

clubs namely FSV Frankfurt, 

NEC Nijmegen, Royal 

Excel Mouscron, Gent, 

Mainz 05 and Union Berlin. 

The 2013 U17 World Cup 

winner says his main goal 

is the play in the English 

Premier League for Liverpool, 

provided he is granted 

a work permit. 

“For me I am still a Liverpool 

player, presently I belong 

to Union Berlin until 

the end of the season and 

after that we’ll see what 

happens again,” Awoniyi 

said to TVC News. 

“It has always been my 

dream to play in England 

Rivers United coach 

Stanley Eguma said 

their CAF Confederation 

Cup opponents, 

Bloemfontein Celtics have 

been handed an advantage 

as the round of 32 second 

leg tie will now hold in 

Cotonou, Republic of Benin. 

Due to Covid 19 protocols 

set by the Federal government, 

Rivers United could 

not entertain the South African 

side on January 6 in 

Port Harcout. CAF ruled that 

the game must now be 

played in a neighbouring 

country with relaxed 

protocols. Rivers United 

•Messi 

and to play for Liverpool 

and I keep on 

dreaming but we 

never know what 

will happen in the 

future. 

“The most important 

thing is to concentrate 

on the 

league and we’ll see 

what happens”. 

Awoniyi has played 

for all of Nigeria’s 

youth teams, making 

appearances and 

Uwe’s experience ‘ll be good for 

Vandrezzer, NNL 

— Akanni 

Former Chairman of the 

Lagos State Football Association, 

Waidi Akanni has 

hailed the appointment of 

former Nigeria international 

Andrew Uwe as coach of new 

Nigerian National League outfit, 

Vandrezzer FC, saying it will 

benefit the team and the NNL. 

Akanni, a former teammate of 

Uwe, said that the new coach 

who has been involved with 

youth teams for several years 

in the US would bring his experience 

to bear, while also 

serving as a role model for the 

young players. 

Apart from securing the services 

of Uwe, Akanni stated 

CAF Confederation Cup: 

Playing in Cotonou a 

disadvantage, says Rivers 

Utd coach 

won the first leg 2-0 in 

Bloemfontein. 

“All we need do is to prepare 

ourselves very well. 

“But the thing is that we 

played the first leg in their 

home, they have their own 

advantage. 

“We are supposed to also 

have our own advantage in 

the second leg but now playing 

in Cotonou is like we 

are playing another away. 

“I think it’s a plus to them 

and minus to us but we will 

work hard to complete the 

job which we started in 

Bloemfontein,”Eguma told 

brila.net 

•Awoniyi 

scoring in the 2013 U17 and 2015 

U20 World Cups, but has not been 

capped at senior level. 

that Vandrezzer has become a 

model club with importance 

placed on players contract and 

welfare as well as developing 

a youth academy that would 

feed the main team 

“I am excited about the hiring 

of Andrew Uwe by 

Vandrezzer. He is a qualified 

coach who will help the team 

grow and he will also be a role 

model to the players in the 

league. 

“He is also in a team that 

takes players contract and 

welfare seriously, a team that 

is developing a good youth 

academy, while it has its own 

television network that will 

showcase league games and 

other activities the team is involved 

in. 

Akanni, who played with 

Uwe at the junior and senior 

national team levels, wished 

his former teammate success 

as he begin his sojourn in 

coaching in Nigeria. 

The former Chairman of Lagos 

State Football Association 

who paid kudos to the 

Vandrezzer management for 

relocating the team to Lagos 

said it would give the players 

the needed exposure. 

•Akanni 


Iwobi: So 

sweet to score 

again after 15 

months 

Alex Iwobi has expressed his 

delight after he scored his 

first Premier League goal in 15 

months to inspire Everton win at 

Wolves and climbed to fourth on 

the table. 

Iwobi opened scoring after just 

six minutes as Wolves ran away 

2-1 winners Tuesday night. 

It was his first goal since he 

scored on September 1, 2019, also 

against Wolves in a 3-2 home win. 

“That 3 Point feeling’s so sweet”, 

the 24-year-old Iwobi rejoiced on 

Twitter after the big win. 

Everton are fourth on the Premier 

League table with 32 points 

from 17 matches, four points behind 

new leaders Manchester 

United. 

Man Utd ready for 

Liverpool cracker 

—Solskjaer 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is relishing Sunday’s showdown 

with Liverpool and insists his players are ready for “a 

great test” after Manchester United claimed top spot in 

the Premier League. 

Paul Pogba’s deflected second-half volley secured a 1-0 

victory over Burnley at Turf Moor that saw United open up 

a three-point cushion over the champions ahead of their 

clash on Super Sunday 

“It’s a brilliant position to be in,” Solskjaer told Sky 

Sports. “Of course we know we’re going to the champions 

who have had an unbelievable three-and-a-half-seasons, 

we know it’s going to be a difficult game for us, but we are 

ready for it. 

“We couldn’t have asked for a better time to play them 

because we are in good shape, good form and hungry, 

which is a good thing because these boys want to get better 

and that’s the test of their character and quality.” 

Solskjaer added: “We’re looking forward to it. Of course, 

we enjoy being where we are [at the top of the league] at 

any time, be that the first game or the last game, which is a 

big, big difference. 

“We’re looking forward to it, it’s a great test of where we’re 

at against a good team. We’re almost halfway through the 

season so it’s a little bit of an indication of where you’re at, 

but no one will remember the league table on January 12.” 

Alaba’s height sparks 

Liverpool rejection 

Liverpool are reportedly 

not interested in sign 

ing David Alaba from 

Bayern Munich due to reservations 

over the versatile 

defender’s height. 

Alaba is due to be out of 

contract at the Allianz Arena 

in the summer and is not expected 

to agree fresh terms 

with Bayern before then. 

Premier League champions 

•Alaba 

•Solskjaer 

•Iwobi 

Liverpool are one of several 

clubs to have been 

tipped to move for the Austria 

international this 

month. 

However, reports by The 

Independent of UK stated 

that while the Reds have 

previously held talks with 

Alaba’s camp, they do not 

believe that he fits the profile 

of the type of player 

that they are after. 

It is claimed that Liverpool 

are after a centre-back who 

is stronger aerially than the 

28-year-old, who stands at 

5’9 - the same as Joe 

Gomez, but smaller than 

Virgil van Dijk and Joel 

Matip. 

Real Madrid are considered 

the frontrunners to 

sign Alaba, who is also 

comfortable playing at leftback, 

though his rumoured 

wage demands could prove 

a major hurdle.

C 

M 

Y 

K 

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

TODAY’S CROSSWORD 

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION 

TODAY’S PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER 

ACROSS 

1 Motorcycling event (8) 

6 Also (3) 

9 Spring month (5) 

10 Move forward (7) 

11 Fiasco (7) 

13 Gloss (5) 

14 The sign of the bull (6) 

15 Summary (6) 

19 Perfume (5) 

21 Endanger (7) 

22 Submarine weapon (7) 

23 Contempt (5) 

24 Owing (3) 

25 Immaculate (8) 

DOWN 

2 The American reindeer (7) 

3 Boring tool (3) 

4 Bold as brass (6) 

5 Listen secretly (9) 

6 Strained (5) 

7 Large sea (5) 

8 Brigand (6) 

12 Very many (9) 

16 Root vegetables (7) 

17 Mute (6) 

18 Japanese robe (6) 

19 Located (5) 

20 Eagle's nest (5) 

23 The sun (3) 

How to Play Sudoku 

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

two of the same number). 

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

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

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

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

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

multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination. 

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri-Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Hotline: 

08027767834; 01-4544821. Abuja office: 7, Dambata Close, Area 7, Garki, 09-2921024. Ikeja office: 73, Awolowo Way. V.I. Office: Murplus Plaza, 27, Sanusi Fafunwa Street. Asaba: 21, Anwai 

Road. Benin City: 4E, Arusa Street. Port Harcourt: 50, Ikwerre Road; Warri: 102, Efurun-Sapele Road. Advert: advertproduction@yahoo.com; E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, 

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

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