21022021 - S/N govs. monarchs join forces against killer herdsman,crinimals
Vanguard Newspapers 21 February 2021
Vanguard Newspapers 21 February 2021
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PAGE 2— SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 21, 2021<br />
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State (left) with Jude Ogbodo Ogene, one of the six<br />
indigenes of the state who were among the recipients of the President’s NYSC Honours<br />
Award, for the 2018/2019 service year, when the governor rewarded them for making Enugu<br />
State proud, at the Government House, Enugu, yesterday.<br />
Ohanaeze tells Buhari: Restructure Nigeria now or insecurity continues<br />
*Sues for peace after military, ESN clash in Orlu<br />
*IPoB accuses armed <strong>forces</strong> of waging war <strong>against</strong> Igbo<br />
By Chinonso Alozie<br />
The President of Oha<br />
naeze Ndigbo World<br />
wide, Professor<br />
George Obiozor, yesterday,<br />
called on President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari to restructure,<br />
renegotiate and decentralize<br />
power to resolve Nigeria’s<br />
insecurity challenges.<br />
Obiozor spoke at the palace<br />
of the traditional ruler of<br />
Amaifeke in Orlu Local Government<br />
Area of Imo State,<br />
Eze Emmanuel Okeke, as he<br />
came to ascertain the security<br />
situation in the area after<br />
the military/Eastern Security<br />
Network (ESN), linked with<br />
Indigenous People of Biafra<br />
(IPoB), clashed.<br />
Tension had risen in Orlu<br />
late last week after the military<br />
began operations in<br />
search of the camps occupied<br />
by the personnel of ESN in<br />
the area.<br />
The tension was exacerbated<br />
when a video of aerial<br />
bombardments, on Thursday,<br />
surfaced on the social media.<br />
The spokesperson of the 34<br />
Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian<br />
Army, Obinze, Owerri,<br />
Babatunde Zubairu, confirmed<br />
the deployment of helicopters<br />
and other military<br />
gadgets in the operations.<br />
The army said the operation<br />
was a product of military<br />
intelligence.<br />
The ESN operatives had, in<br />
January, engaged in a bloody<br />
clash with the army from the<br />
Obinze Barracks where four<br />
soldiers were reportedly<br />
killed.<br />
The Ohanaeze PG spoke<br />
on the Orlu incident during<br />
yesterday’s visit to the<br />
Amaifeke palace: “We are<br />
glad there is peace in Orlu<br />
zone and that people are carrying<br />
out their normal duties.<br />
We appeal to the leaders of<br />
Orlu to maintain peace in<br />
Orlu, a zone traditionally<br />
known for being the most<br />
peaceful in Imo”.<br />
Speaking on the insecurity<br />
in the country, Obiozor said:<br />
“Our position to the Buhari<br />
administration is that no<br />
matter how bad Nigeria problems<br />
may be, only a peaceful<br />
solution will be best to guarantee<br />
Nigeria unity. This can<br />
be achieved through restructured,<br />
renegotiated, decentralized<br />
or through power<br />
devolution.<br />
“Insecurity in the country<br />
is real and must be treated as<br />
a matter of national emergency.<br />
In this context, I congratulate<br />
the South-East governors<br />
and government on the<br />
anti-open grazing ban.<br />
“Those who preach or prefer<br />
military solution to Nigeria<br />
problems are, today,<br />
equally a threat to Nigeria<br />
unity as those enemies they<br />
are fighting”.<br />
Meanwhile, the Indigenous<br />
People of Biafra, IPOB, has<br />
accused the military of waging<br />
war <strong>against</strong> Ndigbo under<br />
the guise of hunting for<br />
members of ESN.<br />
IPoB also alleged that the<br />
From left: Former Governor of Niger State, Muazu Babangida Aliyu, Chairman of the<br />
PDP Reconciliation & Strategy Committee and Fmr. Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola<br />
Saraki, and Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello, at the Government House,<br />
Minna — during the solidarity visit by the Committee to the Government House over the<br />
abduction of teachers and students in Rafi LGA, Niger State.<br />
armed <strong>forces</strong>, in conjunction<br />
with the Nigeria Police and<br />
the Department of State Service,<br />
invaded South-East<br />
with military jets, tanks and<br />
heavy war equipment.<br />
A statement by IPoB’s Me-<br />
10 years after escape, NDLEA arrests suspected drug baron in Lagos<br />
The Joint Task Force<br />
(JTF) Operation Unit of<br />
the National Drug Law Enforcement<br />
Agency, NDLEA,<br />
has arrested a suspected drug<br />
baron, Mr Chidi Olife, who<br />
escaped arrest for alleged importation<br />
of 5.250kg of heroin<br />
concealed in books from<br />
Karachi, Pakistan to Lagos in<br />
June 2010.<br />
Olife’s arrest in Lagos came<br />
just as operatives of the antidrug<br />
agency in Adamawa<br />
State nabbed an illicit drug<br />
dealer, Rabiu Imam, on Friday<br />
with Tramadal tablet<br />
225mg weighing 45.4kg. The<br />
Adamawa State Commander<br />
of the NDLEA, Idris Bello<br />
while briefing the Chairman/<br />
Chief Executive of the agency,<br />
Brig. General Mohamed<br />
Buba Marwa (retd), yesterday,<br />
said other illicit drugs allegedly<br />
recovered from Imam<br />
include Tramadol capsules<br />
100mg weighing 550grms;<br />
Diazepam tablet 850grms.<br />
He said the drug trafficker<br />
was arrested in a house at<br />
Unguwan Madina, Mubi<br />
North Local Government<br />
Area of Adamawa. He put the<br />
street value of the seized drugs<br />
at over N50 million.<br />
A statement by the agency<br />
giving details of Olife’s arrest<br />
states that following intelligence<br />
on the drug source,<br />
flight details, date and place<br />
of arrival, weight and mode<br />
of concealment, name, phone<br />
number and address of the<br />
Defend yourselves statement: Onitiri hits<br />
Magashi, Defence Minister<br />
Lagos activist and critic,<br />
Chief Adesunbo Onitiri,<br />
has berated the Defence Minister,<br />
Bashir Salihi Magashi,<br />
for asking Nigerians to defend<br />
themselves <strong>against</strong> bandits<br />
and other criminals ravaging<br />
the country.<br />
In a press statement in Lagos,<br />
Onitiri said the minister’s<br />
statement is an admission<br />
that the All Progressive Congress,<br />
APC, government has<br />
failed woefully in its constitutional<br />
duty of protecting<br />
Nigerians and property.<br />
He pointed out that the APC<br />
was elected into power based<br />
on its three points to provide<br />
security, fight corruption and<br />
improve the economy.<br />
But unfortunately, according<br />
to him, the Buhari administration<br />
has failed on all<br />
three fronts.<br />
The activist emphasised<br />
that the responsibility of government<br />
is to protect lives and<br />
property and failure to do<br />
this, it has no constitutional<br />
mandate to remain in power.<br />
“The Minister of Defence<br />
just said Nigerians should defend<br />
themselves <strong>against</strong> insurgents<br />
and bandits. We<br />
wonder with what?”, Onitiri<br />
said.<br />
“Is he saying that the Federal<br />
Government is now helpless<br />
and can no longer defend<br />
us? Is he calling for anarchy<br />
or asking the citizens to take<br />
up arms to fight the bandits?<br />
“We demand that government<br />
should allow every citizen<br />
to carry arms, especially<br />
AK47 rifle, now that herders<br />
are carrying AK47 rifles publicly<br />
without being challenged<br />
by securitymen”.<br />
He noted that during the<br />
debate at the National Assembly,<br />
it was resolved that<br />
the Federal Government<br />
should declare a state of<br />
emergency on security.<br />
STATE OF THE NATION: Nothing is working in Nigeria<br />
— Obadiah, Utomi, Briggs, Henshaw, others<br />
dia and Publicity Secretary,<br />
Emma Powerful, titled, ‘Finally<br />
the Nigerian Armed<br />
Forces have brought war to<br />
Biafra, but we will defend our<br />
ancestral land,’ alleged that<br />
the Nigerian government is<br />
recipient of the consignment,<br />
a planned controlled delivery<br />
operation was cordinated<br />
and led by the Commander<br />
NDLEA’s JTF, DCN Adeniyi<br />
Olumuyiwa.<br />
The careful execution of the<br />
operation led to the arrest of<br />
Oladimeji Oladotun and Alhaji<br />
Danjuma Idris allegedly<br />
while processing the documents<br />
for clearing the consignment.<br />
Both were said to<br />
be the clearing agents hired<br />
by Olife.<br />
Upon being arrested, Danjuma<br />
was used to effect the<br />
arrest of Oke Ningo who<br />
By Dapo Akinrefon<br />
Some eminent Nigeri<br />
a n s ,<br />
including foremost Economist,<br />
Professor Pat Utomi;<br />
former Deputy Governor of<br />
Central Bank of Nigeria,<br />
CBN and 2019 Presidential<br />
Candidate of the African<br />
Democratic Congress, ADC,<br />
Dr. Malaifia Obadiah; Senator<br />
Henshaw Bassey, Executive<br />
Director of Enough Is<br />
Enough Nigeria (EiE), Yemi<br />
Adamolekun and Tokunbo<br />
Sholu-Ekukinahave expressed<br />
worries over the state<br />
of the nation, saying nothing<br />
is presently working in the<br />
country.<br />
They also noted that life<br />
in Nigeria has become meaningless,<br />
stressing the current<br />
system of the country is unfair;<br />
killing the younger generation<br />
and their talents.<br />
According to them, all indices<br />
show that Nigeria is<br />
now a failing state.<br />
They spoke at the 2nd<br />
Goke Omisore Annual Lecture<br />
organized by a Yoruba<br />
launching land and air attacks<br />
on Ndigbo, saying this<br />
is a repeat of the genocidal<br />
war of 1967-1970, in which<br />
over five million people were<br />
killed.<br />
Federation of African Engineering Organisation honours Aluyor<br />
The Vice-Chancellor, Edo<br />
University Uzairue, Prof<br />
Emmanuel Aluyor, has been<br />
honoured for excellence in<br />
engineering education in Africa<br />
by the Federation of African<br />
Engineering Organizations<br />
(FAEO).<br />
The honour was bestowed<br />
on him at the 2020 General<br />
Assembly and Investiture<br />
Award Ceremony of the organization<br />
held virtually in<br />
Ghana. The award was in<br />
recognition of his tireless efforts<br />
and commitment to excellence<br />
in Engineering education<br />
in Nigeria, as well as<br />
his distinguished service to<br />
FAEO and the larger Engineering<br />
profession in Africa.<br />
In his remarks, President of<br />
the organization, Martin<br />
Manuhwa, praised Engr.<br />
Aluyor and the Vice- Chancellor,<br />
Harare Institute of<br />
Technology, Zimbabwe for<br />
particularly making Africa<br />
proud in actualizing their academic<br />
curriculum without<br />
interruptions or a hindrance,<br />
even in the face of the Coronavirus<br />
pandemic.<br />
Olife had allegedly contacted<br />
to receive the consignment<br />
from the agents on his behalf,<br />
but he (Olife) allegedly escaped<br />
arrest at the point of<br />
receiving the drug as he suspected<br />
the person with the<br />
clearing agent to be an<br />
NDLEA officer.<br />
Intelligentsia Group, Voice of<br />
Reason (VoR) in honour of its<br />
late Convener, Prince Goke<br />
Omisore, themed: “Creating<br />
an Inter-Generational Dialogue<br />
for the Nigeria We<br />
Want”.<br />
Others at the webinar included<br />
Dele Farotimi and<br />
Inibehe Effiong, Social Crusader<br />
and Nigerian Representative<br />
to the All African<br />
Students Union (AASU), Icon<br />
Olawale and Niger/Delta<br />
Activist, Annkio Briggs,<br />
among others.<br />
President of the<br />
BFI Group, Alabo<br />
Dr. Reuben<br />
Meitamuno Jaja<br />
and his wife, Alabota<br />
Patience<br />
Jaja, during his<br />
installation as<br />
Prince Soide<br />
Jaja II and Head<br />
of the Saturday<br />
Jaja War canoe<br />
House of Opobo,<br />
Rivers State.
SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 21, 2021, PAGE 3<br />
Land speculators have distorted FUTO<br />
master plan — VC<br />
By Chidi Nkwopara<br />
The management of<br />
Federal University of<br />
Technology, Owerri,<br />
FUTO, has cried out over the<br />
continuing encroachment of<br />
the institution’s land, by speculators,<br />
pointing out that it<br />
was distorting the master<br />
plan.<br />
The University’s Vice<br />
Chancellor, Professor Francis<br />
Eze, who raised the alarm<br />
while briefing the press in<br />
Owerri, however appealed to<br />
land speculators to “stay<br />
away from the institution’s<br />
Bandits strike again, abduct Katsina monarch, 13 others<br />
Amid anxiety over the<br />
fate of abducted students<br />
of Government College,<br />
Kagara, Niger State,<br />
bandits struck again in neigbourbing<br />
Katsina State, abducting<br />
a monarch and 13<br />
others in two separate attacks.<br />
The gunmen were said to<br />
have kidnapped the 91-yearold<br />
traditional ruler of Kunduru<br />
community on Friday<br />
night.<br />
Sunday Vanguard learned<br />
that the victim who is the<br />
Galadiman Kunduru is the<br />
father of the Secretary to Katsina<br />
State Government, Alhaji<br />
Kasimu Ibrahim.<br />
The monarch was whisked<br />
away by the gunmen who<br />
stormed the town on motorcycles<br />
One of his children who<br />
pleaded for anonymity, confirmed<br />
the incident to Sunday<br />
Vanguard yesterday,<br />
adding that the incident had<br />
already been reported to the<br />
Police.<br />
The nonagenarian was<br />
said to be having health challenges.<br />
Sources also said the abductors<br />
had not made any<br />
contact with the family.<br />
As of press time, the Permanent<br />
Secretary could not be<br />
reached as phone calls to his<br />
mobile phone were not replied<br />
to.<br />
When contacted, spokesman<br />
for the Katsina State<br />
Police Command, Superintendent<br />
of Police, Gambo<br />
Isah, said he was not aware<br />
of the incident.<br />
NCFRMI/UNHCR and the task of managing refugees in Nigeria<br />
By Agidike Abdul Onu<br />
The National Commis<br />
sion for Refugees, Migrants<br />
and Internally Displaced<br />
Persons (NCFRMI)<br />
was originally established as<br />
National Commission for<br />
Refugees by Decree 52 of<br />
1989, now Cap. 21, Laws of<br />
the Federation, 2004.. This<br />
was in fulfillment of the Federal<br />
Government’s obligation<br />
under Resolution 319(IV) of<br />
the General Assembly of the<br />
United Nations and Article<br />
35 of the United Nations<br />
1951 Convention.<br />
Article 1a(2) of the 1951<br />
Convention describes the<br />
term “refugee” as any person<br />
who as a result of events occurring<br />
and owing to well<br />
founded fear of being persecuted<br />
for reasons of race, religion,<br />
nationality, membership<br />
of a particular social<br />
group or political opinion, is<br />
outside the country of his nationality<br />
and is unable or<br />
owing to such fear is unwilling<br />
to avail himself of the<br />
protection of that country: or<br />
land because we have not ceded<br />
an inch of the land to any<br />
individual, group or association”.<br />
His words: “The increasing<br />
and unabated encroachment<br />
of FUTO land, by the host<br />
communities had continued<br />
to pose an impediment to the<br />
development of the 41-year<br />
old premier University of<br />
Technology in the country.<br />
“We came in here since<br />
1993, and we have brought<br />
tremendous development to<br />
the host communities, in addition<br />
to offer of employment<br />
and admission to deserving<br />
indigenes but surprisingly,<br />
“ I am not aware of that incident,”<br />
he told Sunday Vanguard.<br />
In a related development,<br />
gunmen kidnapped 13 travellers<br />
in Faskari Local Government<br />
Area of the state.<br />
The victims were made up<br />
of 12 women and the driver<br />
of the vehicle they were travelling<br />
in.<br />
Isah also confirmed the incident,<br />
saying the bandits<br />
struck at 10: am on February<br />
17, 2021.<br />
He explained that the victims<br />
were travelling to Funtua<br />
from Mai Gora to collect<br />
loans from a bank provided<br />
through a family support<br />
programme.<br />
The Police spokesman said<br />
three persons later escaped<br />
from the bandits.<br />
He added that the Police<br />
were making efforts to ensure<br />
that abductees were rescued<br />
alive.<br />
According to him, “it’s not<br />
true that seventeen women<br />
going for a wedding were<br />
abducted.<br />
“What happened was that<br />
thirteen women from Mai<br />
Gora were travelling to Funtua<br />
for this family support<br />
loan facilities from a bank,<br />
somewhere before Dan Rimi<br />
village, these bandits came<br />
from the bush and shot at the<br />
tyres of the vehicle they were<br />
traveling in, forcing the driver<br />
to stop. Three women escaped<br />
while the remaining<br />
nine and the driver were abducted.<br />
“We are making serious efforts<br />
to ensure that the nine<br />
who not having a nationality<br />
and being outside the country<br />
of his former habitual resident<br />
as a result of such events,<br />
is unable or owing to such<br />
fear, is unwilling to return to<br />
it. The National Commission<br />
for Refugees (NCFR) as it was<br />
then called was only responsible<br />
for managing the affairs<br />
of refugees.<br />
However, in 2002, President<br />
Olusegun Obasanjo enlarged<br />
the Mandate to include Migrants<br />
and Internally Displaced<br />
Persons and this was<br />
the beginning of the expanded<br />
responsibilities of the commission.<br />
Over the years, the NC-<br />
FRMI has approached its<br />
mandate of providing Care<br />
and Maintenance as well as<br />
durable solutions to all its<br />
Persons of Concern (PoCs)<br />
including: Refugees, Internally<br />
Displaced Persons, Stateless<br />
persons, and Returnees<br />
among others with every<br />
sense of responsibility.<br />
The corner stone of refugee<br />
operation is the provision of<br />
what we are seeing now is<br />
encroachment of our land by<br />
the host communities.”<br />
Answering a question, the<br />
VC said that out of sheer pressure<br />
by the host communities,<br />
the University management<br />
proposed to cede about 1,000<br />
hectares of her land to the<br />
agitators, leaving about 3,500<br />
hectares, which he said “must<br />
pass through due process”.<br />
Professor Eze dismissed a<br />
Memorandum of Understanding,<br />
MOU, said to have<br />
been signed by the host communities<br />
and the University<br />
for the release of land to the<br />
land owners as fake.<br />
women and the driver who<br />
are still in captivity are rescued<br />
alive. The incident happened<br />
at 10 a.m.”<br />
political protection and material<br />
assistance necessary at<br />
least to guarantee their basic<br />
human rights. In this regard,<br />
the Commission provides<br />
them protection, food and<br />
non food items, skill acquisition<br />
and other forms of empowerment<br />
aimed at ensuring<br />
that they regain their dignity.<br />
They are also assisted to<br />
enroll in the National Health<br />
Insurance Scheme (NHIS)<br />
and to obtain Convention<br />
Travel Document (CTD). Ultimately,<br />
the desire of the<br />
Commission is to ensure that<br />
the refugees are either assisted<br />
to return to their original<br />
homes voluntarily, integrated<br />
in their host communities<br />
or out right resettlement in the<br />
third countries.<br />
The Honourable Federal<br />
Commissioner NCFRMI,<br />
Senator Basheer Garba Mohammed<br />
(Lado) acknowledged<br />
the daunting task of<br />
managing increasing number<br />
of refugees due to insecurity<br />
across the globe which<br />
Nigeria is not left out. On assumption<br />
of office in August,<br />
From left: Oba Benjamin Olanite, Onimeko of Imeko; Alhaji Kabir Labar, South West<br />
Coordinator, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association; Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun;<br />
his deputy, Noimot Salako-Oyedele; Hon.Jamilu Akingbade and Eselu of Iselu, Oba<br />
Ebenezer Akinyemi at the inauguration of the Peace keeping Committee on Farmer-Herders<br />
Relationship held at the Governor's office, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Saturday<br />
Residents said the bandits<br />
were yet to contact any of the<br />
families of the victims as of<br />
press time.<br />
New passport charges: Group<br />
slams Nigerian High Commission<br />
in Canada<br />
By Adesina Wahab<br />
A<br />
group, the Nigerian<br />
and Canadian Business<br />
Network, NCBN, has<br />
flayed the Nigerian High<br />
Commission in Canada over<br />
its planned introduction of<br />
new service charges for passport<br />
renewal, passport replacement<br />
among others.<br />
The group is also of the view<br />
that the introduction of the<br />
charges at this point on time<br />
is not auspicious, bearing in<br />
mind the various economic<br />
issues Nigerians in Canada<br />
are grappling with now.<br />
It therefore vowed to sustain<br />
its opposition to the outrageous<br />
charges, describing<br />
their introduction as not only<br />
arbitrary and inauspicious,<br />
but also capable of bringing<br />
untold hardship to concerned<br />
family members, as well as<br />
Nigerian students who have<br />
had to grapple with the effects<br />
of COVID-19 pandemic.<br />
While appealing to the<br />
High Commissioner, Adeyinka<br />
Asekun, to halt the implementation<br />
of the new charges<br />
pending a meeting with the<br />
relevant stakeholders, the<br />
group explained that the decision<br />
would impose further<br />
hardship on its members.<br />
According to available reports,<br />
the High Commission<br />
had in a reference letter No.<br />
NHC/OTT/ADM.422/X dated<br />
2nd February, 2021 titled:<br />
“Presidential directive on the<br />
implementation of administrative<br />
charges at Nigerian<br />
missions,” announced the introduction<br />
of the new charges<br />
to ensure “effective management<br />
and efficient service<br />
delivery”.<br />
The letter reads in part:<br />
“Consequently, the High<br />
Commission hereby presents<br />
hereunder, the list of services<br />
as well as the administrative<br />
charges, which takes<br />
effect from Wednesday, February<br />
10, 2021. Passport:<br />
Fresh Issue/Renewal. 50; Expedited<br />
issuance (Wait and<br />
get) 200; Lost Passport<br />
(Caution Fee) 400; Letter of<br />
Certification of Passport 70;<br />
Emergency Travel Certificate<br />
(E.T.C.): With expired Nig.<br />
Passport 50; (ii) Without<br />
Passport (Lost Passport<br />
with police report) 100;<br />
Authentication of Documents<br />
30 (per document); Authentication<br />
of Corporate/Business<br />
documents 150; Letter to Police<br />
for Character Certificate<br />
(police report) 50; Repatriation/Shipment<br />
of Human Remains<br />
50 (per document);<br />
Driver’s License letter 100”.<br />
2019 as the Honourable Federal<br />
Commissioner, he set out<br />
clearly an agenda of strategic<br />
partnership with stakeholders<br />
in order to be able to<br />
tackle the challenges squarely.<br />
On refugee management,<br />
Senator Mohammed said<br />
the Commission has enjoyed<br />
immense support from the<br />
government as well as strategic<br />
national and international<br />
partners in tackling its<br />
mandate.<br />
According to him, the Federal<br />
Government under the<br />
leadership of President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari has done<br />
well for the Commission<br />
through special intervention<br />
funds to support budgetary<br />
provisions while noting that<br />
the United Nation High<br />
Commissioner for Refugees<br />
(UNHCR), the UN Agency<br />
responsible for refugees management,<br />
has been very supportive<br />
to the Commission.<br />
Continues on<br />
www.vanguardngr.com<br />
Onu is Head, Press and<br />
PR, NCFRMI<br />
FG to provide 25 megawatts power<br />
plant in Kano — Minister<br />
By Bashir Bello<br />
Federal Government<br />
says plans are underway<br />
to provide 25 megawatts<br />
power plant before<br />
the end of the year at the<br />
Kano Free Trade Zone to<br />
woo investors and boost<br />
trade and businesses in the<br />
zone.<br />
The Minister of Industry,<br />
Trade and Investment,<br />
Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo,<br />
stated this when he led<br />
Ekitipanupo institutes endowment fund<br />
for late Falegan<br />
By Tunde Oso<br />
Pre-eminent Ekiti intellec<br />
tual round-table, Ekitipanupo<br />
has instituted an endowment<br />
fund in memory of<br />
late Baba Isale of the group,<br />
Chief S. B. Falegan.<br />
In a statement by Ekitipanupo<br />
Leader, Alagba Gabriel<br />
Akinyemi FCS, considering<br />
his unique roles and contributions<br />
to the Ekitipanupo<br />
initiative, members have<br />
deemed it fit to honour the<br />
members of his team on<br />
inspection visit to industries<br />
and warehouses in<br />
the free trade zone located<br />
in Panisau, Ungogo local<br />
government area of<br />
Kano State.<br />
Adebayo said already<br />
the government has<br />
awarded and signed an<br />
agreement with Independent<br />
Power Project, IPP to<br />
provide the electric facility<br />
in the zone.<br />
memory of this great son of<br />
Ekiti.<br />
Akinyemi disclosed that<br />
many options were considered<br />
and after exhaustive debate<br />
comes up with the Option<br />
of Endowment for Prizes<br />
to be instituted in University<br />
of Ado Ekiti in the name<br />
of Chief S B Falegan for the<br />
best graduating Student in<br />
the field of Banking and Finance,<br />
the area where our late<br />
Babaisale was reputed to be<br />
an icon.<br />
Igbo’s funeral begins tomorrow<br />
Barely three weeks after<br />
the death of his wife,<br />
Madam Josephine Igbo, aka<br />
Nne Seminarians, Pa Dominic<br />
Nwafor Igbo, alias Domingo,<br />
has passed on.<br />
According to a statement by<br />
his eldest son, Job Igbo, on<br />
behalf of the family, the retired<br />
teacher, 69, died in a private<br />
hospital at Abakaliki, on<br />
February 10, 2021, following<br />
a protracted illness. He has<br />
been buried. His funeral starts<br />
tomorrow with a Holy Mass<br />
at his private residence in<br />
Ameta Amudo, Ezza South<br />
LGA, Ebonyi State.<br />
Late Pa Nwafor Igbo<br />
Azuka Anugwom dies at 70<br />
The death has been announced<br />
of a renowned philanthropist,<br />
Mrs Azuka<br />
Syllvia Anugwom, aged 70.<br />
The deceased, who ran an<br />
NGO for widows and orphans,<br />
died on January 19,<br />
2021 at Government Hospital,<br />
Owerri after a brief illness.<br />
She is survived by her husband,<br />
Dr. B.SC Anugwom,<br />
who worked as General<br />
Manager at the Nigeria Airways,<br />
London Office, nine<br />
children and 16 grandchildren.<br />
Service of songs holds tomorrow<br />
@ 4pm at St Agnes<br />
Catholic Church, 2 Ikorodu<br />
Road, Mende Maryland,<br />
Lagos.Sending forth for the<br />
deceased holds on Friday @<br />
9am at her husband’s compound<br />
at Umuowa, Orlu<br />
LGA, Imo State.<br />
Interment follows immediately.<br />
Late Mrs Anugwom
PAGE 4— SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 21, 2021<br />
From right: Former president, Goodluck Jonathan; Chibuike Pius Anyim;<br />
Chioma Pius Anyim, wife of the celebrant; Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, former<br />
Secretary to the Government of the Federation , celebrant; Nkechi Pius Anyim<br />
and Chisom Pius Anyim during the 60th birthday of Anyim Pius Anyim on<br />
Friday in Abuja.<br />
WORSENING INSECURITY: S/West <strong>govs</strong>, <strong>monarchs</strong> <strong>join</strong> <strong>forces</strong> <strong>against</strong> <strong>killer</strong>herdsmen<br />
...back NEC in three-point resolution<br />
By Adeola Badru<br />
overnors of South-West<br />
Gstates and traditional<br />
rulers in the region have<br />
agreed to adopt the National<br />
Economic Council (NEC)<br />
resolution on forest management,<br />
which will put the governors<br />
in the position to manage<br />
forest reserves in their<br />
respective states.<br />
The decision was taken<br />
during the over three-hour<br />
closed-door meeting held in<br />
Ibadan yesterday.<br />
In attendance at the meeting<br />
were Governor Seyi Makinde<br />
(Oyo), Dapo Abiodun<br />
(Ogun), Gboyega Oyetola<br />
(Osun), Rotimi Akeredolu<br />
(Ondo) and Kayode Fayemi<br />
(Ekiti).<br />
On the traditional rulers’<br />
side were the Ooni of Ife, Oba<br />
Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Alaafin<br />
of Oyo, Oba Lamidi<br />
Adeyemi; Olubadan of<br />
Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji;<br />
Akarigbo of Remo, Oba Babatunde<br />
Ajayi and Olugbo of<br />
Ugbo Kingdom, Oba Fredrick<br />
Obateru Akinruntan.<br />
The Chief of Staff to the<br />
President, Prof Ibrahim<br />
Gambari, who had convened<br />
the meeting, was absent.<br />
Also billed to attend the<br />
parley but absent were the<br />
Inspector General of Police<br />
and the Director General of<br />
the Department of State Service<br />
and Governor Babajide<br />
Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State.<br />
Gambari, IGP, DSS DG and<br />
Sanwo-Olu’s absence was<br />
blamed on bad weather<br />
which affected their flights.<br />
According to a communique,<br />
the meeting supported<br />
the NEC decision on forest<br />
management, that the nation’s<br />
borders need to be fully<br />
secured and protected, open<br />
grazing must be checked and<br />
that the media must assist to<br />
end fake news.<br />
Miffed by the menace of<br />
open grazing of cattle which<br />
was recognised as one of the<br />
flashpoints for insecurity in<br />
Nigeria over the past few<br />
years, the Chairman of the<br />
South-West Governors’ Forum<br />
and Governor of Ondo<br />
State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu,<br />
who read the communiqué,<br />
noted that the adoption of the<br />
NEC resolution became imperative<br />
owing to conflicts<br />
between herders and farmers<br />
caused by open grazing.<br />
The NEC had, during its<br />
meeting, last Thursday, resolved<br />
that federal and state<br />
governments should recommit<br />
to “the protection of all<br />
residents of all states including<br />
non-indigenous communities<br />
and religious and ethnic<br />
minorities within state jurisdictions”.<br />
It also recommitted to the<br />
arrest and prosecution of all<br />
perpetrators of crime.<br />
Similarly, it was resolved<br />
that in collaboration with federal<br />
authorities, there should<br />
be the commencement of “the<br />
reconstruction of destroyed<br />
•Why Gambari, IG, DSS-DG, were absent<br />
homes and payment of compensation<br />
where appropriate<br />
by State authorities for damage<br />
to property and livelihoods<br />
sustained during targeted<br />
attacks on communities<br />
within their jurisdictions.”<br />
Akeredolu said: “This<br />
meeting was called by the<br />
Chief of Staff to the President,<br />
Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, but,<br />
unfortunately, the Chief of<br />
Staff and the security heads<br />
Let’s assist the poor, Jonathan tells rich Nigerians<br />
Emma Ujah, Abuja<br />
Bureau Chief<br />
Former<br />
President<br />
Goodluck Jonathan<br />
has appealed to wealthy Nigerians<br />
to assist the poor, arguing<br />
that their wealth was a<br />
gift from God.<br />
Jonathan spoke at the<br />
launching of the Jennifer<br />
Etuh Foundation in honour<br />
of the late wife of Mr. Thomas<br />
Etuh in Abuja.<br />
He said, “Let me call on<br />
wealthy members of the society<br />
to please assist the poor<br />
and the vulnerable. This is<br />
important because what we<br />
have is a gift from God. If you<br />
are rich, it is a gift from God.<br />
If you have influence it is a<br />
gift from God.”<br />
The former president said<br />
that there were many Nigerians<br />
who could not afford the<br />
basic needs of life and that<br />
such people would need helping<br />
hands to move them from<br />
poverty.<br />
He eulogised the late Mrs.<br />
Etuh, who was said to have<br />
lived a life of charity, especially<br />
helping poor women and<br />
girls, as well as other needy<br />
members of the society.<br />
Jonathan pledged that his<br />
Goodluck Jonathan Foundation<br />
would work closely with<br />
could not make it here due to<br />
bad weather in Abuja. They<br />
had to cancel their flights.<br />
They called in to tender their<br />
apologies.<br />
“From the discussion, we<br />
had with our Obas here and<br />
the security teams are that are<br />
present, we agreed that the<br />
time is now to support the<br />
descision of NEC, that is National<br />
Economic Council<br />
about forest management.<br />
the Jennifer Etuh Foundation<br />
in order to fulfill the aspirations<br />
of its founders.<br />
In his short remarks, Mr.<br />
Etuh said that the foundation<br />
was established to fulfil the<br />
vision of his late wife who<br />
demanded its establishment<br />
in order to continue the char-<br />
And that we believe that all<br />
the states should be in position<br />
to manage their forests.<br />
“By that, it will give enough<br />
room for you to determine<br />
who and who are there, what<br />
purpose have they signed, and<br />
where we have people who<br />
are there illegally, the state<br />
will have to take some steps<br />
so that we can preserve our<br />
forests. All of us believe that<br />
we support that decision of<br />
NEC. So all of us here are in<br />
support of NEC decision in<br />
forest management.<br />
“We also debated on a few<br />
way in inciting the citizens to<br />
take up arms <strong>against</strong> other<br />
ethnic groups settling in their<br />
states.<br />
“The governors’ utterances<br />
emboldened criminals to<br />
unleash violence <strong>against</strong><br />
northerners.”<br />
Crisis had, on February 18,<br />
ity work she had started.<br />
According to him, hospitals<br />
and diagnostic centres would<br />
be built by the foundation in<br />
all six geopolitical zones of<br />
the federation to provide<br />
world-class services to rural<br />
women who ordinarily<br />
would not be able to afford<br />
them.<br />
From left: Sons of the deceased, David Etuh and<br />
Daniel Etuh; Speaker of the House of<br />
Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; Former<br />
President Goodluck Jonathan; spouse of the<br />
deceased, Mr. Thomas Etuh; former Executive<br />
Secretary, Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Mr.<br />
John Kennedy Opara; wife of the Speaker, Mrs<br />
Salamatu Gbajabiamila; son of the deceased,<br />
Emmanuel Etuh, and his brother Yusuf Etuh, during<br />
the first year memorial service and launch of the<br />
Jennifer Etuh Foundation, held at the Congress Hall,<br />
Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi<br />
Adeshida<br />
other things. Our borders<br />
have become too porous and<br />
that we need to do something<br />
urgently to prevent foreigners<br />
or foreign herdsmen from<br />
coming into this country without<br />
any form of caution, because<br />
a number of them are<br />
coming with their herds or<br />
cows and what they do is<br />
something of concern to all<br />
of us and we belive that our<br />
borders need to be checked<br />
and that we need to tighten<br />
our borders so that all these<br />
foreigners won’t come with<br />
there herds here and destroy<br />
erupted in Sasa following an<br />
argument that ensued<br />
between a pregnant Yoruba<br />
woman and, following the<br />
development, some persons<br />
were feared dead while<br />
houses were burnt.<br />
Governor Rotimi<br />
Akeredolu of Ondo State<br />
Minister describes Ilaji hotels and resort<br />
as perfect model Nigeria needs<br />
T<br />
he Minister for Youths<br />
and<br />
Sports<br />
Development, Mr Sunday<br />
Dare, has described Ilaji<br />
Hotels and Sports center as a<br />
perfect paradigm shift for<br />
sports development in<br />
Nigeria.<br />
Dare made this statement<br />
yesterday while inspecting<br />
the sporting infrastructure at<br />
the Akanran-based Resort.<br />
According to the Minister<br />
who also attended a retreat<br />
organised by the South West<br />
Group of Online Publishers<br />
(SWEGOP) held at the<br />
Center, he noted that there has<br />
been a gradual shift from the<br />
perception that sport is mainly<br />
a tool of entertainment to a<br />
business oriented one, adding<br />
that for sports to fully develop<br />
our farms.<br />
“We also discussed the fact<br />
that the time is now for us to<br />
support cattle breeding. There<br />
is need for government to support<br />
cattle breeding as we are<br />
supporting other areas of<br />
farming.<br />
“We also zeroed in on fake<br />
news. You journalists need to<br />
assist the country that fake<br />
news is played down. You have<br />
the duty on responsible journalism.<br />
You know what fake<br />
news did for us during End-<br />
Sars. We must work at it. We<br />
must not allow fake news.”<br />
Senate President attacks Yoruba governors, says they are responsible for Sasa, other killings<br />
By Henry Umoru<br />
SSenator enate<br />
Ahmad President,<br />
Lawan,<br />
yesterday, lampooned South-<br />
West governors, accusing<br />
them of being the<br />
masterminds of the killings<br />
in Sasa, Ibadan, Oyo State<br />
and other parts of the Yoruba<br />
dominated region.<br />
According to Lawan, the<br />
governors are also<br />
responsible for the violence<br />
and attacks <strong>against</strong><br />
northerners in the region.<br />
Speaking in an interview<br />
with BBC Hausa Service,<br />
Lawan attributed the<br />
violence to the latest call for<br />
the eviction of herders from<br />
south-western states, adding<br />
that utterances by some<br />
governors in the zone were<br />
responsible for the killings in<br />
Sasa and other violence<br />
<strong>against</strong> northerners in the<br />
region.<br />
“Leadership failures in<br />
the region caused what<br />
happened in Oyo State and<br />
other things that kept<br />
happening in the southwestern<br />
states,” he said.<br />
“Some utterances by some<br />
governors also went a long<br />
Bandits, criminal herdsmen are not Nigerians — FG<br />
•Seeks amendment of ECOWAS protocol to block them<br />
he Federal Government,<br />
Tyesterday, addressed the<br />
issue of insecurity facing<br />
Nigeria, saying some of that<br />
the bandits and criminal<br />
herdsmen terrorising the<br />
country are non-Nigerians.<br />
Consequently, the<br />
government said it is seeking<br />
amendment of the ECOWAS<br />
Protocol on free movement<br />
of human and cattle within<br />
the sub-region.<br />
This came on the heels of the<br />
spate of kidnappings and<br />
banditry across the country,<br />
the latest of which was the<br />
mass abduction in Kagara,<br />
Niger State, last Wednesday.<br />
The Minister of Information<br />
and Culture, Alhaji Lai<br />
Mohammed, disclosed this<br />
when he featured on<br />
Channels Television<br />
programme ‘Sunrise Daily.’<br />
According to the Minister,<br />
bandits and criminal<br />
herdsmen coming into the<br />
country through the land<br />
borders could not be checked<br />
because of the ECOWAS<br />
Protocol that allows transhuman.<br />
“The ECOWAS Protocols<br />
allows trans-human between<br />
all the ECOWAS countries.<br />
That is why we are thinking<br />
of seriously reviewing the<br />
ECOWAS Protocols in that<br />
respect. What we find out<br />
today is that a lot of<br />
criminalities have been<br />
introduced through the<br />
herdsmen and trans-human,”<br />
he said.<br />
According to him, the<br />
criminal herdsmen and<br />
bandits also have access to<br />
sophisticated weapons<br />
because of the proliferation<br />
and smuggling of small arms<br />
and light weapons across the<br />
sub-region.<br />
“The issue of smuggling of<br />
small and light arms is a very<br />
serious one and it has to do<br />
with border control. If you go<br />
and build a house in the slum<br />
as a rich man, poor people<br />
will not allow you to rest.<br />
Nigeria is surrounded by<br />
countries that are either poor<br />
or land-locked,”<br />
Mohammed said.<br />
“We say we want to develop<br />
our local agriculture to<br />
ensure food sufficiency, by<br />
encouraging our farmers to<br />
grow rice, maize, cassava and<br />
stop importation of rice.<br />
“But our neighbour, the Benin<br />
Republic says no, because<br />
they make their living from<br />
the duties they collect from<br />
their ports. So, when we are<br />
charging 70 per cent duties<br />
on imported rice to<br />
discourage importation, they<br />
will charge five per cent.<br />
“All the rice smugglers from<br />
Thailand and the rest of the<br />
world will come to Benin<br />
Republic, but the rice is<br />
destined for Nigeria market.’<br />
had, last month, issued a<br />
seven-day quit notice to<br />
herdsmen operating illegally<br />
in the state’s forest reserves.<br />
Apart from ejecting<br />
herdsmen, the governor also<br />
banned underage grazing,<br />
night grazing, and cattle<br />
movement within the cities<br />
and on highways.<br />
KAGARA: No contact with abductors of students, others — Source<br />
By Nnamdi Ojiego<br />
ontrary to reports that<br />
Ccontacts had been<br />
established with the<br />
kidnappers of students and<br />
workers of Government<br />
Science College, Kagara,<br />
Niger State, Sunday<br />
Vanguard gathered that the<br />
abductors have not been<br />
located by state and non-state<br />
actors.<br />
Niger State governor,<br />
Abubakar Sani-Bello, had<br />
said consultations were<br />
ongoing between<br />
government and some<br />
bandits for the purpose of<br />
releasing the abductees.<br />
He added that<br />
negotiations were at the final<br />
stage.<br />
This was sequel to a visit to<br />
some bandits in the state by<br />
Sheik Ahmad Gummi and<br />
some government officials.<br />
But a source who was<br />
among those who visited the<br />
bandits told Sunday<br />
Vanguard that those who had<br />
a meeting with Gummi and<br />
Niger State officials were not<br />
the abductors of the Kagara<br />
students and workers.<br />
The source said the bandits<br />
only promised to assist in<br />
identifying the kidnappers,<br />
who belonged to another<br />
group of bandits terrorising<br />
the state.<br />
According to the source,<br />
“No direct contact has been<br />
established with the<br />
abductors of the Kagara<br />
students. We visited the<br />
bandits in the forests, but<br />
those people Nigerians saw<br />
on television are not<br />
responsible for the Kagara<br />
incident. They were<br />
kidnapped by another group<br />
and they have all been taken<br />
inside the forest. The bandits<br />
only promised to assist in<br />
locating them and<br />
establishing contacts with<br />
those responsible’’.<br />
in Nigeria compared to the<br />
way it is in the advance<br />
countries, there is need to<br />
develop the business aspect of<br />
it.<br />
He added that his office in<br />
conjunction with the Sports<br />
Ministry has been working on<br />
a policy plan that will see<br />
Nigerian government taking<br />
a total departure from the<br />
perception of seeing sports as<br />
a means of entertainment<br />
alone.<br />
His words, “For a while<br />
now, I have been working<br />
along with the Sports<br />
Ministry on a policy which<br />
will see us developing the<br />
business model for sports in<br />
Nigeria because that is the<br />
only way sports can be fully<br />
maintained and developed.<br />
Some of those who received Dare<br />
during the inspection of facilities at<br />
Ilaji Hotels and Resort
C<br />
M<br />
Y<br />
K<br />
SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021, PAGE 5<br />
APC MEMBERSHIP REVALIDATION:<br />
Furore over Tinubu,<br />
Akande, Oshiomhole<br />
•We want to return party ownership<br />
to members — Akpanudoedehe<br />
•Keyamo, Nwoye, Lukman also speak<br />
By Clifford Ndujihe,<br />
Politics Editor & Omeiza Ajayi<br />
THE membership revalidation and<br />
registration exercise of the ruling All<br />
Progressives Congress, APC, across the<br />
country is being assailed by knotty issues,<br />
controversies and crises.<br />
Suspicion among leaders, battle for<br />
territorial control, alleged attempts to whittle<br />
down the influence of some founding pillars<br />
of the APC, and weed out disgruntled people<br />
from the party among other issues have made<br />
the exercise a war of sorts being fought on<br />
many fronts.<br />
Currently, the exercise has been fraught with<br />
complaints and crisis in many states including<br />
Kwara, Delta, Rivers and Imo.<br />
It was suspended in Delta on account of<br />
misgivings over the composition of the<br />
committee.<br />
The APC secretary of the caretaker<br />
committee in Delta, Chidi Okonji, alleged that<br />
the chairman of the registration panel, Wilson<br />
Anyaegbu, was doing the bidding of a certain<br />
leader of the party in the state and that<br />
nominees for registration officers came from<br />
an Abuja-based politician.<br />
According to him, party leaders, including<br />
the Minister of State for Labour, Festus<br />
Keyamo; NIMASA Director, Victor Ochei;<br />
founding leader, O’tega Emerhor and Great<br />
Ogboru, were schemed out.<br />
Indeed, Keyamo, on February 10, alleged<br />
plans to hijack the exercise in Delta by an<br />
unnamed political leader.<br />
He raised the alarm in a protest note to Yobe<br />
State Governor and Chairman of the APC<br />
Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention<br />
Planning Committee, Mai Mala Buni;<br />
Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-<br />
Agege; Anyaegbu and other top party leaders.<br />
In Kwara, Minister of Information and<br />
Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, called for<br />
cancellation of the registration over alleged<br />
non-observance of APC’s rules and guidelines.<br />
Some youths are already in court to stop the<br />
exercise in Kwara and Rivers.<br />
In Imo, two factions are at each other’s<br />
jugular over ownership of the exercise. The<br />
faction of the party loyal to<br />
Governor Hope Uzodimma<br />
said the exercise had started<br />
while the rival camp led by<br />
Dan Nwafor said nothing like<br />
that is on in the state.<br />
Chairman of the South-East<br />
Governors Forum, and<br />
Governor of Ebonyi State,<br />
Dave Umahi, who recently left<br />
the Peoples Democratic Party,<br />
PDP, for the APC, cried out to<br />
Buni, last week, that the South-<br />
East zone was facing scarcity<br />
of registration materials.<br />
Aside the flaming crises, two<br />
former national chairmen of<br />
the APC and some leaders<br />
faulted the necessity and<br />
legality of the exercise and they<br />
were countered by some<br />
leaders.<br />
Thus, an exercise that should<br />
have united leaders of the<br />
party appears to be causing<br />
more division and hiatus as a<br />
pitch battle for the soul of the<br />
APC rage.<br />
Otherwise, the issues of scarcity and hoarding<br />
of registration materials, denying some areas<br />
the materials, angst over composition of the<br />
registration committees, litigations <strong>against</strong><br />
the exercise, claims and counter-claims<br />
among feuding leaders would not be upwelling.<br />
A host of APC leaders seem to see the exercise<br />
as an election itself. They are in a rat race to<br />
get more of their supporters registered why<br />
denying their perceived opponents<br />
opportunity. The number of members each<br />
politician gets registered is expected to count<br />
during party primaries ahead of 2023 whether<br />
direct or indirect.<br />
As seen in recent primaries of the party,<br />
those who controlled the party<br />
structure determined who<br />
emerged as delegates and<br />
candidates.<br />
‘’In the past, only a few<br />
people controlled the party<br />
structures to the disadvantage<br />
of most members of the APC.<br />
We want to end that and give<br />
all members of the party equal<br />
footing,’’ a top leader of the<br />
party told Sunday Vanguard.<br />
Why Akande,<br />
Tinubu,<br />
Oshiomhole<br />
kicked<br />
Some said<br />
Tinubu said<br />
this, Akande<br />
and<br />
Oshiomhole<br />
said that. They<br />
know that the<br />
party is bigger<br />
than an<br />
individual<br />
Interim National Chairman<br />
of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande,<br />
who was also a governor of<br />
Osun State, described the<br />
exercise as a waste of time and<br />
resources, which, if not<br />
carefully controlled and expeditiously<br />
managed, might end up in contempt and<br />
disgrace.<br />
Reacting to the registration/revalidation<br />
exercise in Ila Orangun, Osun State, he said:<br />
“I see the present APC membership<br />
registration within less than a decade after<br />
the original register as an indefensible<br />
aberration leading to certain ugly perceptions.<br />
“The first major perception is that APC,<br />
already having a well-computerised register<br />
for an average of 100 leaders of similar<br />
ideological orientation per each of the more<br />
than 120,000 polling units across Nigeria,<br />
might be lacking comprehension and matrix<br />
of the modern-day technology.<br />
“The APC leadership might be wasteful and<br />
unappreciative of the proper use of money in<br />
a kind of scanty economy in which<br />
Nigeria now finds<br />
itself.”<br />
National<br />
Leader of<br />
the APC<br />
a n d<br />
former<br />
governor<br />
of Lagos,<br />
Asiwaju<br />
B o l a<br />
Ahmed<br />
Tinubu, shared Akande’s<br />
views during an interaction<br />
with journalists at his Ikoyi<br />
residence in Lagos after<br />
registering.<br />
Noting that he had not<br />
heard that the party’s register<br />
submitted to the Independent<br />
National Electoral<br />
Commission, INEC, at the<br />
time of APC registration had<br />
been invalidated, he said:<br />
“Since we have a foundation<br />
and that foundation is on<br />
which the structure up till the<br />
present was built at the time<br />
of the registration of this party,<br />
I will not fault Baba Akande’s position; I will<br />
not but endorse it.”<br />
There is no revalidation<br />
in APC Constitution –<br />
Oshiomhole<br />
•Akande<br />
Immediate past National Chairman of<br />
•Oshiomhole<br />
APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, also<br />
faulted the revalidation of the membership of<br />
the party by the Interim Caretaker<br />
Committee, saying it was contrary to the<br />
party’s constitution.<br />
Oshiomhole told reporters after revalidating<br />
his membership of the party at Unit 1, ward<br />
10, Iyamho, Etsako West Local Government<br />
of Edo State.<br />
“APC is governed by a constitution and not<br />
by man, the constitution only provides for<br />
registration, and I registered as a member of<br />
the APC in 2014 under the Interim National<br />
chairman, Chief Bisi Akande”, he said.<br />
‘’There is nothing in the APC Constitution<br />
that says a member shall revalidate or renew<br />
his membership.<br />
“Once you registered when you <strong>join</strong>ed the<br />
party and you have not decamped, you are a<br />
member.<br />
“So, revalidation is strange to our<br />
constitution. I have only done this because I<br />
want peace to reign but in doing this we have<br />
to be careful not to create constitutional<br />
breach.”<br />
•Tinubu<br />
Fayemi, Odigie-<br />
Oyegun, others counter<br />
However, Ekiti State Governor and<br />
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’<br />
Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; and former<br />
APC National Chairman, Chief John<br />
Odigie-Oyegun, disagreed with<br />
criticisms of the exercise.<br />
Fayemi said there was nothing wrong<br />
with the exercise since it was being done<br />
in compliance with the party’s<br />
constitution, adding that the views<br />
expressed by Akande and Tinubu didn’t<br />
portray the exercise as unconstitutional<br />
and illegal.<br />
“Baba Bisi Akande is my father. I hope<br />
you know that and he is somebody I<br />
have the greatest respect for but I also read<br />
the constitution of the party.<br />
“What the constitution says I believe in<br />
Article 9 is that the party register must be<br />
updated every six months. So, if this is being<br />
done in compliance with the constitution of<br />
the party, I really don’t see anything wrong in<br />
it.<br />
“We don’t want to de-register anybody, let<br />
members revalidate their membership, and<br />
those who are non-members but interested<br />
should also feel free to <strong>join</strong> us, that is what the<br />
exercise is all about”.<br />
On his part, Odigie-Oyegun dismissed THE<br />
insinuation that the registration/revalidation<br />
exercise was aimed at destroying the political<br />
base of any party member.<br />
“I cannot understand the logic behind such<br />
thinking or fear. I also cannot comprehend<br />
reason some people started raising dangerous<br />
alarm about the exercise when it had already<br />
started.<br />
“The exercise was on the front burner for<br />
over three months and it was postponed twice<br />
or more. These people did not raise an eyebrow<br />
then until it started. Honestly, I cannot<br />
understand why.”<br />
Nagging questions<br />
The dust billowing from the exercise is<br />
raising a number of questions in the polity. Is<br />
there a provision for revalidation of<br />
membership in the constitution of the APC?<br />
What happens to members who could not<br />
revalidate their membership within the two<br />
weeks window provided for the exercise? Why<br />
are registration materials being hoarded?<br />
Why is the task being undertaking by the Buniled<br />
Caretaker/Extraordinary National<br />
Convention Planning Committee, whose sixmonth<br />
initial tenure was extended recently by<br />
another six months?<br />
Won’t the scarcity of registration materials,<br />
requirement of voter’s card among others<br />
affect members who do not have the<br />
documents?<br />
We want to return APC to<br />
members — Akpanudoedehe<br />
Speaking on these issues, Secretary of the<br />
APC National Caretaker Committee, Senator<br />
John James Akpanudoedehe, told Sunday<br />
Vanguard that the exercise is in the best interest<br />
of APC because it would return ownership to<br />
members and make the party a disciplined<br />
Continues on page 6
PAGE 6 —SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021<br />
Furore over Tinubu, Akande, Oshiomhole<br />
Continued from page 5<br />
one.<br />
Asked what would happen to a member who<br />
did not revalidate his membership, he said:<br />
‘’It’s at his liberty. That means he is no longer<br />
a member of the party. That means he is not<br />
interested in contesting for political positions<br />
on the platform of the party because<br />
membership is one of the requirements for<br />
you to vie for any office.<br />
“The National Executive Committee, NEC,<br />
of the APC gave us the mandate to revalidate<br />
our membership register; it doesn’t matter<br />
whether we are right or wrong.<br />
‘’In their wisdom, the NEC said, ‘go and do<br />
this’. If you don’t or not a law abiding person<br />
or feel you are bigger than the process, or there<br />
is something you know and we don’t know,<br />
you can stay out of it. “But the fact is that you<br />
must follow the rules and regulations. That<br />
means you are a sympathizer of the party, with<br />
my understanding.<br />
“I am even shocked by the massive response.<br />
We were targeting the number of votes we got<br />
last time, but, as I’m talking to you now, we<br />
don’t have cards; we have to be rushing to<br />
print more cards.<br />
‘’With due respect to what they did before,<br />
you can’t go to any ward and see your name in<br />
any register; it was stored in the cloud. Who<br />
does that?<br />
“Now, by the time we finish, we will return<br />
the membership to the wards. It is a continuous<br />
thing. If you are not <strong>join</strong>ing today, may be you<br />
will <strong>join</strong> tomorrow and they will issue you the<br />
card.<br />
‘’We can remember when someone said,<br />
‘don’t do it because of COVID-19’. That was a<br />
trap. We disagreed and said ‘thank you, we<br />
are going to finish this in six months and get<br />
out of here. We will not over stay our<br />
welcome’”.<br />
Told that the caretaker committee had<br />
exceeded its six months without organising<br />
national convention and has been handed an<br />
extension of six months, he said: ‘’You are a<br />
living witness of what happened. We were in<br />
lock-down for many months.<br />
“We are on the right path and doing what<br />
exactly they asked us to do. The response to<br />
the revalidation is truly tremendous and<br />
unimaginable.’’<br />
Asked if the party is doing biometric and<br />
other modern captures, he said: “Yes, for sure.<br />
You have to put your fingerprints. By the time<br />
we come down, it’s going to be the property of<br />
APC – the computer, data centre, etc.<br />
“It’s not going to be anywhere else. It is going<br />
to be here. We are going to print the kind of<br />
chip card like the INEC card. If you put your<br />
information everything will come out. When<br />
we finish we will send the cards to the wards<br />
for people to go and collect”.<br />
On comments that the party hierarchy wants<br />
to use the exercise to work <strong>against</strong> initial pillars<br />
of the party and check their 2023 ambition,<br />
Akpanudoedehe said: ‘’No, I don’t think that’s<br />
the truth. If you are a popular person and they<br />
want you to stop you... have you not been<br />
seeing people coming from the PDP and other<br />
parties and becoming what they want to<br />
become in APC?<br />
“That’s not the problem at all.<br />
To become President in Nigeria a lot of<br />
interests must be taken into consideration.<br />
We are trying to organise APC to be a<br />
disciplined party.<br />
“We need members of the APC to own the<br />
party. We have to do it because President<br />
Buhari is not going to be on the ballot. We<br />
have to be sure that those who are members of<br />
this party are also voters.<br />
“One of the requirements is voter’s card. You<br />
have to put your voter’s card number there. If<br />
you don’t vote on that day, we know our people<br />
have sold us out. We can calculate how many<br />
votes we can get in any state”.<br />
On comments that membership<br />
revalidation is unconstitutional because there<br />
is no provision for it in APC Constitution, he<br />
quipped: “Let’s say it is not in the constitution,<br />
what power has the constitution given to the<br />
NEC?<br />
“The NEC said we should go and do it and<br />
you say it is unconstitutional? NEC authorised<br />
it, what makes anyone feel it is not<br />
constitutional?<br />
‘’Some said Tinubu said this, Akande and<br />
Oshiomhole said that. They know that the<br />
party is bigger than an individual. The<br />
President holds them in high esteem. He does<br />
not expect us to disrespect them. “Akande is<br />
an elder statesman. When he advises, whether<br />
right or wrong, you don’t expect me to start<br />
arguing with him.<br />
‘’Tinubu is my personal friend;<br />
even though my loyalty has<br />
shifted to the President, you don’t<br />
expect me to forget my<br />
friendship with him and start<br />
abusing him.<br />
“These are elder statesmen<br />
that we must respect. Even if<br />
every other person can abuse<br />
them, I won’t. Besides I came<br />
from ACN.<br />
“If Oshiomhole talks, he is<br />
talking from the angle of anger,<br />
so we simply ignore it.<br />
‘’We have internal mechanism<br />
of resolving grievances. We have<br />
been mandated to do the<br />
revalidation exercise, and until<br />
mandated otherwise, we will<br />
stick to our mandate.<br />
“Their opinion or whatever<br />
they say will not derail what we<br />
are doing”.<br />
On PDP leaders’ allegation<br />
that APC was doing the<br />
revalidation and registration to<br />
prepare a rigging template for 2023, he said:<br />
“When somebody is more technical and<br />
knowledgeable than you, what will you do?<br />
What does membership revalidation have to<br />
do with rigging techniques? Their argument<br />
does not hold water. It is senseless.<br />
“Membership revalidation is, for example,<br />
Tambuwal and Saraki left with their<br />
structures, if other people are coming to our<br />
party in those states, how do we know? “What<br />
about those coming to the party with their<br />
members?<br />
‘’In the wisdom of NEC, it says ‘we are giving<br />
waivers to everybody’. So if you <strong>join</strong> the party<br />
now, it is like you are foundation member of<br />
the APC”.<br />
‘They are wrong’<br />
Caretaker Chairman of the APC in Enugu<br />
State, Dr Ben Nwoye, also faulted Tinubu,<br />
Akande and Oshiomhole.<br />
According to Nwoye, who spoke to Sunday<br />
Vanguard in an interview, Akande was wrong<br />
to have publicly faulted the initiatives of one<br />
of his successors when he had channels of<br />
making his submissions to the party<br />
leadership.<br />
He said; “On what our revered leader, Baba<br />
Akande, said, one of the guiding principles of<br />
The National<br />
Executive<br />
Committee,<br />
NEC, of the APC<br />
gave us the<br />
mandate to<br />
revalidate our<br />
membership<br />
register<br />
leadership is that when you leave office, your<br />
successors running the same office, you are<br />
supposed to allow them the peace of mind of<br />
handling the affairs of the party within the<br />
confines of the constitution as they deem fit.<br />
“This type of politics is normally not<br />
acceptable; you cannot stand up and begin to<br />
criticize what your successor does in office.<br />
“So, whatever informed the criticism of the<br />
methods on how this particular Caretaker<br />
Committee has decided to run the office, it is<br />
not expected that our elder, our leader, one of<br />
the founding fathers will go to the press to<br />
make his criticism.<br />
“What he should do is to advise and where<br />
the advice is given and perhaps not taken, you<br />
will watch the outcome of the decision which<br />
you advised <strong>against</strong>.<br />
“However, having said that, I beg to differ<br />
with Baba Akande on several fronts. One, it is<br />
in our Constitution that every so often, I believe<br />
it is six months, there shall be membership<br />
registration.<br />
“However, the revalidation I believe is<br />
occasioned by the fact that successive<br />
leadership, perhaps, did not<br />
maintain accurate register of<br />
members.<br />
“I am a founding member<br />
and I know that there were<br />
attempts by successive<br />
chairmen who promised that<br />
the registration would be<br />
electronically done and that<br />
everyone would receive a<br />
permanent card. They never<br />
did.<br />
“The first registration was<br />
done in 2013 and, up to this<br />
moment, we are still going<br />
about with slips of paper.<br />
“From July 31, 2013 when<br />
the party was formed till date,<br />
nobody has a permanent<br />
membership card.<br />
“So, one can say it is also a<br />
failure of successive leadership<br />
that led to this revalidation.<br />
“No member from 2013 to<br />
the present time has<br />
permanent membership card.<br />
It is a failure.<br />
“People are carrying slips that may have<br />
been torn, the data system is not well<br />
maintained, some people are dead and some<br />
names omitted<br />
Director General of the Progressive<br />
Governors’ Forum, PGF, Salihu Mohammed<br />
Lukman, on his part, said the fact that the<br />
three men revalidated their membership<br />
indicated that all party leaders are in sync<br />
with the decision of the APC.<br />
‘APC leaders not opposed<br />
to registration’<br />
Speaking on the issue, Lukman said,<br />
notwithstanding that after making those<br />
strongly worded remarks, Akande and<br />
Oshiomhole revalidated their membership of<br />
the APC, media reports were reduced to<br />
negative conclusions suggesting, perhaps, that<br />
part of the foundation leadership of the APC,<br />
including Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is in<br />
disagreement with the leadership of the party,<br />
especially the Caretaker Committee on the<br />
decision to conduct the membership<br />
registration/revalidation exercise.<br />
According to him, the disagreement among<br />
some leaders of the party is proof of the<br />
democratic credentials of the APC which<br />
allows for internal contestations.<br />
“Is it really true that because leaders are in<br />
disagreement, crisis will set in? Is it even<br />
possible for leaders of any political party not<br />
to disagree? Is there any political party worthy<br />
of any potential electoral victory whose<br />
leaders are in complete agreement with every<br />
position the party approves? If all leaders are<br />
in agreement, why do we have internal contests<br />
in political parties? Why should we even be<br />
interested in internal democracy?” the DG of<br />
Progressive Governors Forum said.<br />
“Once you eliminate internal disagreements<br />
among leaders of political parties, democracy<br />
will lose its appeal.<br />
“Rather than contest, what we will end up<br />
having in politics is some notional faith in the<br />
sanctity of the party and its leadership. “Like<br />
all our religious shrines, all that we will be<br />
talking of as members of our respective parties<br />
is some claims about the purity of our leaders<br />
and our party even as we know that our only<br />
justification in <strong>join</strong>ing the party is far from<br />
any imagined purity.<br />
“Integral to our decisions to <strong>join</strong> the party is<br />
the expectations we all seem to have in terms<br />
of what being members should translate to.<br />
“This is where most times leaders often<br />
distinguish themselves. While to ordinary<br />
members, the issue is about political<br />
permutations of who is going to emerge as<br />
candidate for election, for leaders, it is more<br />
about ensuring that the party is able to retain<br />
its electoral viability.<br />
“Call it enlightened self-interest, every leader<br />
will be much more concerned about the<br />
capacity to win elections as the propelling<br />
factor for personal ambitions.<br />
“As members of APC, we should be proud of<br />
our leaders and their ability to make open<br />
their positions about all the issues around the<br />
challenges facing the party.<br />
“We should be inspired by their disciplined<br />
commitment to support the decisions of the<br />
party irrespective of their personal positions.<br />
“We should be proud of the illustrious<br />
leadership of Chief Akande, Asiwaju Tinubu<br />
and all our leaders in APC for demonstrating<br />
in very strong unequivocal terms that to<br />
remain united is not about denying what your<br />
personal preferences are with regard to<br />
choices open to the party in addressing<br />
challenges.<br />
“Being united should be about accepting<br />
decisions that are not necessarily supportive<br />
of our personal preferences.<br />
“Since the time of the APC merger<br />
negotiations between 2012 and 2013, there<br />
has never been time when all our leaders are<br />
in agreement.<br />
“This is partly why there have always been<br />
internal contests within the party.<br />
“Part of the challenge facing the party today<br />
is to ensure that internal contests in the party<br />
reflect the freedom of party leaders and<br />
members to express themselves within the<br />
limits of both the rules of the party and the<br />
country.<br />
“It must be emphasized, therefore, in all the<br />
debate leading to the current membership<br />
registration/revalidation exercise of the APC,<br />
no one has disputed the current membership<br />
register of the APC.<br />
“The emphasis has been that it should be<br />
updated to delete names of members who have<br />
left the party and register new members.<br />
“In addition, the register should be<br />
domiciled in the National Secretariat of the<br />
party and not with individual leaders.<br />
“Having the membership register in the<br />
custody of individual leaders especially when<br />
such leaders are being speculated to have<br />
ambitions for electoral contests is<br />
problematic.<br />
“With all leaders of the party, including Chief<br />
Akande and Asiwaju Tinubu, accepting to<br />
revalidate their membership, the message is<br />
that every party member should revalidate<br />
his/her membership.<br />
“There is no better evidence today that all<br />
APC leaders are united other than the ongoing<br />
membership registration/revalidation<br />
exercise.”<br />
Rules fair enough - Keyamo<br />
Minister of State, Labour and Employment,<br />
Festus Keyamo, dismissed the fear that the<br />
APC membership registration and<br />
revalidation was targeted at diminishing the<br />
influence of some party leaders.<br />
Keyamo told Sunday Vanguard that the<br />
rules set for the exercise appeared fair to all<br />
tendencies in the party but however conceded<br />
that in politics, uniform application of such<br />
rules could pose a serious challenge.<br />
“In the last four, five days, I have been in<br />
Delta where I flagged off the exercise in the<br />
state as the Minister from Delta”, he said.<br />
“I also received the state registration<br />
committees. So far, so good, the rules they<br />
have set for the purpose of conducting this<br />
exercise appear fair enough. The rules appear<br />
equitable enough.<br />
“However, in most cases in politics, the<br />
application of the rules would be the problem.<br />
“So, we are watching closely. We are<br />
watching the committees closely. So far, they<br />
have tried to engage all stakeholders; they<br />
have tried to get our opinion on every issue”.<br />
C<br />
M<br />
Y<br />
K
C<br />
M<br />
Y<br />
K<br />
SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021, PAGE 7<br />
PIB: Origin of ‘oil war’ in<br />
Niger Delta communities<br />
In continuation of the story of the rivalry between two Niger Delta leaders, National Chairman, Host<br />
Communities of Nigeria (Producing Oil and Gas), HOSCON, Bishop Mike Emuh, and his Host Communities<br />
of Nigeria (Producing Oil and Gas), HOSTCOM, counterpart, Chief Benjamin Style Tamaranebi, which led to<br />
the exchange blows at the hallowed chamber of the House of Representatives during the public hearing on<br />
Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Sunday Vanguard traces the origin of the feud.<br />
By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor,<br />
South-South, Sam Oyadongha, Jimitota<br />
Onoyume, Egufe Yafugborhi and Chioma<br />
Onuegbu<br />
Scrapping or no<br />
scrapping NDDC<br />
Maintaining that HOSTCOM<br />
scandalously demanded for the scrapping<br />
of NDDC, Bishop Mike Emuh told Sunday<br />
Vanguard: “The act that Benjamin<br />
performed at the National Assembly was<br />
not as a result of argument on the bill, no.<br />
“We have not made any presentation<br />
there. He has a limitation of education,<br />
which was why he said at the National<br />
Assembly that NDDC should be scrapped.<br />
Why should you ever think about scrapping<br />
NDDC?”<br />
But the HOSTCOM President (Benjamin<br />
Tamaranebi) shot back: “We are not<br />
opposed to the existence of NDDC but the<br />
Commission has failed on its mandate and<br />
is now a political tool.<br />
“Therefore, NDDC should be<br />
restructured. The Oil Production<br />
Development Areas Commission is the key<br />
to oil and gas bearing communities that<br />
will deliver sustainable development.”<br />
13 per cent derivation<br />
Emuh also charged at Tamaranebi’s<br />
HOSTCOM for calling for 13 per cent<br />
derivation to be channeled directly to host<br />
communities, saying,” He has also said that<br />
13 per cent derivation should be channeled<br />
to host communities in the PIB, that it<br />
should be Host Communities Development<br />
Commission and it should be paid directly<br />
to the Commission.<br />
“That is an error. 13 per cent derivation is<br />
a law that has been established. NDDC is<br />
a law that has been established. PIB law is<br />
yet to be established; so these are his<br />
deficiencies.<br />
“I want to say that NDDC should stay,<br />
nobody should scrap NDDC. You can only<br />
amend the law. At the same time, 13 per<br />
cent derivation, you can only review and<br />
you do not have to talk about taking it away<br />
from governors. PIB is that if Host<br />
Communities Development Commission is<br />
established, let the host communities do<br />
the nomination of directors and<br />
commissioners, not politicians, which is our<br />
stand.”<br />
‘Our problem with<br />
the word settlor’<br />
Tamaranebi also said: “HOSTCOM also<br />
wants expunged from PIB Sections 115 and<br />
117.<br />
“Section 115 talks about settlors, which<br />
is that oil companies are settlors in our<br />
land. “How can they be settlors in our land,<br />
they should remain as tenants. Section 177<br />
talks about giving them Certificate of<br />
Occupancy. “We want these things<br />
expunged from the bill. A settlor in their<br />
words cannot be a landlord, we do not want<br />
to see that word settlor.”<br />
Genesis of crisis<br />
A Niger Delta monarch privy to the<br />
formation of HOSCON told one of our<br />
reporters: “After forming HOSCON with<br />
other persons, Chief Wellington Okirika<br />
was called to head DESOPADEC but<br />
between 2010 and 2015 when he was away,<br />
some individuals, led by Chief Alfred<br />
Bubor, changed the acronym from<br />
HOSCON to HOSTCOM.<br />
“We began to educate them since that<br />
time because most of them were new<br />
members that the group was founded as<br />
HOSCON but they<br />
remained adamant until<br />
2015 when it became clear<br />
to Okirika that these<br />
people were ready to<br />
cause more trouble.<br />
Bubor’s alleged<br />
deviation from<br />
other founders<br />
“He (Okrika) now<br />
brought in Bishop Mike<br />
Emuh. That was after<br />
much discussion. Bubor<br />
group agreed that he was<br />
about to finish his two<br />
terms of three years each.<br />
“He took over Chief<br />
Okirika in 2010, his first<br />
tenure ended in 2011,<br />
another one ended in<br />
2015.<br />
“So in 2015, they agreed<br />
that Bubor would step<br />
down because it was not<br />
supposed to be a life thing.<br />
“The highest you can get is two tenures<br />
but on the day he was putting in another<br />
executive, Bubor disagreed and the other<br />
founders said this cannot be, you cannot be<br />
blindfolding us and Mike (Emuh) was put<br />
in place.<br />
“There is nothing they have not done<br />
<strong>against</strong> Mike. They worked <strong>against</strong> him to<br />
the extent that they said that the money<br />
collected on gas flare was not anywhere.<br />
“They said Mike is fake and published<br />
that Mike has been removed by host<br />
communities. We were not bothered<br />
The other group<br />
went to arrange<br />
their own<br />
certificate of<br />
incorporation at<br />
the CAC, there is<br />
nothing they have<br />
not done until this<br />
very last one (fight)<br />
at the National<br />
Assembly<br />
because we know that he is the National<br />
Chairman.<br />
“They took us before South-South<br />
<strong>monarchs</strong>, there was nothing the other<br />
group did not do, they took us before<br />
TROMPCON and, in that meeting, they<br />
brought a document for Mike to sign but<br />
he told them he was not signing.<br />
“We were invited to a reconciliatory<br />
meeting with 10 people but they came with<br />
more than 100 people.<br />
“Looking at the situation on ground, some<br />
people advised Mike to sign but write<br />
under that he signed under duress.<br />
“They required that him and one other<br />
executive member of HOSCON to sign the<br />
paper, but after he signed, the document was<br />
taken to Prince Whiskey, now a monarch, who<br />
declined to sign, saying he did not come to<br />
sign agreement but for reconciliation.<br />
“When they saw the way he spoke, they left<br />
the meeting.<br />
“After the meeting, the Emuh-led HOSCON<br />
was invited for a meeting at Aso Villa, Abuja.<br />
When the other group saw the<br />
photographs of our visit in<br />
newspapers, they were<br />
infuriated and that was when<br />
the current trouble started.<br />
“So the other group went to<br />
arrange their own certificate<br />
of incorporation at the CAC,<br />
there is nothing they have not<br />
done until this very last one<br />
(fight) at the National<br />
Assembly.<br />
“We were given the<br />
impression that we would be<br />
represented by two members<br />
and HOSCON was<br />
represented by two<br />
members; we also thought<br />
that HOSTCOM would be<br />
represented by two<br />
members.<br />
“The only thing I can<br />
remember is that<br />
HOSTCOM people just<br />
came and said Mike could<br />
not present his paper before<br />
them.<br />
“He, Benjamin, was raining blows on Mike,<br />
it is most unfortunate, and it is not as if Mike<br />
went to meet him and said ‘I must present<br />
first’, so Benjamin’s action looked<br />
unbelievable.<br />
“If you watched the video (of fight), you<br />
would see that Mike was seated and Benjamin<br />
was standing raining blows on him.<br />
“His position is that he would speak first,<br />
that he is the authentic Chairman. Note that<br />
Okirika handed over to Bubor, both are Ijaw,<br />
and he still thinks that he, an Ijaw from<br />
Bayelsa State, would continue as National<br />
Chairman. Emuh is Urhobo. Is the group<br />
owned by Ijaws? Are there no other tribes in<br />
the group?”<br />
The monarch explained that because Emuh<br />
is a bishop, he does not want crisis among<br />
host communities.<br />
“Even on that day that Benjamin fought him<br />
at the National Assembly, some people<br />
brought the police to arrest Benjamin but he<br />
(Emuh) said they should leave him”, he added.<br />
‘We‘re duly registered’<br />
HOSTCOM leader, Tamaranebi,<br />
responded to the claims: “My group<br />
(HOSTCOM) is a reliable structure. Oba of<br />
Benin is the life grand patron, King Edmund<br />
M Daukoru is the Chairman of BOT,<br />
TROMPCON President General is a board<br />
member while Pa Edwin Clark is the grand<br />
patron. Other well meaning personalities are<br />
involved.<br />
“The other group is not known anywhere;<br />
it is a political group going about with youths<br />
and claiming to be doing pipeline jobs,<br />
modular refinery and youth empowerment<br />
schemes etc.<br />
“They do not have structure in any<br />
community. The government of Delta State<br />
gave us office complex at 11 Uti Street,<br />
Effurun, Warri where our national secretariat<br />
is, so what are they saying?<br />
“We were duly elected and inaugurated, not<br />
just appointed by anyone and we are a<br />
registered organization and our operations<br />
are guided by our Constitution”.<br />
Intervention<br />
Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant to<br />
the President on Niger-Delta, Senator Etang,<br />
who was disturbed by the dirty linen being<br />
washed in the public by leaders of the host<br />
communities, invited the warring factions to<br />
a peace meeting in Abuja.<br />
Emuh and Tamaranebi attended the<br />
meeting.<br />
A source in the Emuh-led HOSCON told<br />
Sunday Vanguard: “The Special Adviser<br />
explained that he was disturbed by what<br />
happened at the House of Representatives and<br />
wanted both sides to iron out their differences<br />
and present a common front on PIB.<br />
“It was resolved at the meeting that we will<br />
put on a common front on the PIB but other<br />
issues were not resolved.<br />
“In fact, he said it not him that will resolve<br />
them.<br />
“So we have not resolved, the battle<br />
continues at home, we only agreed to present<br />
a common front on PIB”.<br />
Addressing the two factions on the need to<br />
present a harmonized position before the<br />
House of Representatives’ Committee, Etang<br />
said: “We would request using the<br />
instrumentality of this Office for the House of<br />
Representatives and the Senate Committee,<br />
even in their Committee Session, to hear us<br />
present a harmonized position at the National<br />
Assembly.<br />
“We have not invited you to settle any<br />
dispute but we have invited you to shake<br />
hands with each other and move on because,<br />
in the Niger Delta, dispute and disputation<br />
is a regular feature; so we are not settling<br />
dispute.<br />
“I know you people do not have dispute with<br />
yourselves, you only agree to disagree on the<br />
procedure and the disagreement passed the<br />
elbow to the ankle.”<br />
The presidential adviser decried a situation<br />
in which oil companies divide host<br />
communities while they sponsor and put fire<br />
on both sides.<br />
“They take the oil, desecrate the<br />
environment, abuse your children and your<br />
youths, give them instrument of selfdestruction<br />
and while we keep fighting,<br />
they keep clapping and taking our<br />
resources”.<br />
“Under President Muhammed Buhari,<br />
this would not happen again, we would not<br />
be perpetually at war with ourselves and<br />
we have agreed to come together for the<br />
purpose of defending the interest of the<br />
entire community.<br />
“So what I intend to do is to work with<br />
you, put you on the same page on issues<br />
contend on the Host Communities Content<br />
of the Petroleum Industry Bill, to enable you<br />
put up a unified presentation on what you<br />
want for the Host Communities for the bill<br />
to become law”.<br />
But Tamaranebi explained that the pact<br />
at the meeting was to jettison the demand<br />
for 2.5 per cent and stick to 10 per cent<br />
equity for host communities.<br />
“We did not just ask for 10 per cent equity<br />
without knowing our left from our right.<br />
The system is 100 per cent, the Federal<br />
Government holds 60 per cent equity and<br />
the oil companies 40 per cent. We are<br />
saying that both sides should surrender<br />
five per cent each and let us have 10 per<br />
cent equity as host communities”, the<br />
HOSTCOM leader stated.<br />
“Who says we are going to make any<br />
financial contribution? Our land and other<br />
assets therein are already there as our 10<br />
per cent contribution, we have surrendered<br />
our land to them for the business”.<br />
• N ext Sunday, Chief Wellington<br />
Okrika and more stakeholders in Niger<br />
Delta oil communities speak
PAGE 8—SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 21, 2021<br />
•Musa<br />
KAGARA:<br />
Killings for seven years preceded<br />
41,257 killed in road<br />
accidents in 97 months<br />
Says nine Niger LGAs under siege<br />
'How Katsina, Zamfara ara fores<br />
orest t aids banditry in Niger'<br />
school children abduction – Senator Musa<br />
•Says nine Niger LGAs under siege<br />
•'Ho<br />
•Speaks on why he sponsred motion on state of emergency on security in Senate<br />
By Charles Kumolu, Deputy Editor<br />
MID security <strong>forces</strong>’ manhunt for<br />
Athose behind the abduction of 42<br />
people, including 27 children, from<br />
Government Science College, in Kagara,<br />
Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State,<br />
Senator Sani Musa, who represents Niger<br />
East where the LGA falls in the Senate,<br />
speaks on the siege his constituents had<br />
been enduring over the past seven years<br />
from banditry. According to him, it is not<br />
only Rafi LGA that is under siege in Niger<br />
East. The other eight LGAs in the senatorial<br />
district are under attack. Heavily armed<br />
men in military uniforms raided the<br />
Government Science College on<br />
Wednesday, killing one student and spiriting<br />
others into a nearby forest. The mass<br />
abduction came just two months after 300<br />
students were kidnapped from a school in<br />
Kakara, Katsina, President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari’s home state, while the President<br />
was visiting home. The boys were later<br />
released by their captors after negotiations<br />
with government officials but the incident<br />
triggered outrage and memories of<br />
schoolgirls kidnapped by armed gangs in<br />
Dapchi, Yobe State and Chibok, Borno State<br />
that shocked the world. Out of at least 276<br />
girls who were kidnapped by the Boko<br />
Haram group from Chibok, at least 100 are<br />
still unaccounted for. In this interview,<br />
Senator Musa reveals how bad banditry<br />
has become in Niger State. He also frowns<br />
on the act of negotiating with bandits who<br />
he describes as criminals and terrorists.<br />
Excerpts:<br />
How bad are things in Niger State?<br />
Kidnapping has become a recurring<br />
decimal in Niger State in the last seven<br />
years. Almost every time I stood at the<br />
hallowed chamber, I brought the issue of<br />
security in Niger, especially in my<br />
senatorial district, to the fore. The area<br />
consists of nine local government areas of<br />
the 24 local government areas in the state.<br />
In the last seven years, three of the local<br />
governments have had serious attacks<br />
which were unreported. Because of that, I<br />
feel it is necessary that government, going<br />
by the Constitution, which guarantees the<br />
protection of lives and property, acts on it. I<br />
just felt it was necessary to ask on the floor<br />
of the Senate that a state of emergency be<br />
declared on insecurity in Nigeria.<br />
Abduction of schoolchildren happened in<br />
Chibok. It happened in Dapchi. It has now<br />
happened in Kagara. We can’t guarantee<br />
where next. Necessary steps have to be<br />
taken. A few days ago, about 19 people<br />
lost their lives to bandits in Niger East.<br />
The Village Head of Daras in Kusherki<br />
District heard a bang on his door and<br />
bandits forcefully entered his room, took<br />
him out and shot him in the presence of<br />
his family. They took his brother, his son<br />
and wives away.<br />
Pandogeri<br />
Some people came for an examination<br />
in Kagara. On their way back to<br />
Pandogeri, they were attacked. Two<br />
people lost their lives while seven were<br />
abducted. The same thing happened in<br />
Sarkin Power in Munya Local<br />
Government Area. It is continuous. The<br />
Federal Government needs to take the<br />
security of this nation as its priority. No<br />
matter what development we are talking<br />
about, no matter what palliative we give<br />
to people, if there is no security, it is as<br />
good as not doing anything. I stand to be<br />
corrected, is there anybody in this<br />
country that is immune to insecurity?<br />
The Federal Government is<br />
overwhelmed. I can say it without fear<br />
or favour that other tiers of government,<br />
it seems they lack the knowledge of how<br />
to rise to the security<br />
challenge.<br />
Tell us the number of<br />
local governments<br />
seriously under the<br />
siege of bandits…<br />
There are nine local<br />
governments in my<br />
senatorial district. I can tell<br />
you that almost all the local<br />
governments in the<br />
senatorial district have been<br />
attacked. Worse of it is the<br />
Rafi Local Government Area<br />
where Government Science<br />
College, Kagara is situated.<br />
Shiroro Local Government<br />
Area, from Alawa axis to<br />
Erena, has been under<br />
constant attacks. There is no<br />
presence of anybody in that<br />
axis other than bandits. I don’t<br />
call them bandits, I call them terrorists. If<br />
you go to Munya Local Government Area,<br />
it is the same thing. The situation is<br />
underreported. If you go to Gurarara Local<br />
Government Area by Lambata, it<br />
happened. Between Minna and Suleja it<br />
happened. It happened in Tarfa Local<br />
Government Area where some people were<br />
kidnapped just at the boundary between<br />
Niger and Kaduna State.<br />
Could you explain what you mean<br />
by a state of emergency in this context?<br />
What I meant by a state of emergency is<br />
very clear. It is an automatic option of doing<br />
Kidnapping<br />
has become<br />
a recurring<br />
decimal in<br />
Niger State in<br />
the last seven<br />
years<br />
what is needful and what is necessary to be<br />
done. For instance, when you say that the<br />
local government chairman is the chief<br />
security officer of a local government, what<br />
are his functions? It is to maintain law and<br />
order in the local government. Is that what<br />
is happening today? I can tell you without<br />
fear of contradiction that the majority of<br />
the local governments in this country are<br />
not operational. When you talk about the<br />
states, I can’t be the chief security officer of<br />
a state who has been having intelligence<br />
reports on security matters and I will come<br />
to the media to make statements that will<br />
be instigating the populace. In that essence,<br />
is there a security approach to it? At the<br />
national level, we have all the service chiefs,<br />
we have the Department of State Security<br />
Service, DSS, Defence Intelligence Agency,<br />
and National Intelligence Agency, who<br />
daily provide intelligence reports to the<br />
President and other organs of the state. Are<br />
other organs of the state making good use of<br />
the reports? The answer is no. What I meant<br />
by state of emergency is for the federal<br />
government to ask all state governments<br />
to take security as a<br />
priority.<br />
Boko Haram/banditry<br />
Boko Haram has been<br />
there for over 10 years. This<br />
banditry in the North-West<br />
and North- Central has been<br />
there for over seven years.<br />
Do you want to tell me that<br />
it is just something we have<br />
to live with? We don’t have<br />
to live with it. If we have<br />
armed <strong>forces</strong> that are<br />
overwhelmed, what do we<br />
need to do? We have youths,<br />
a generation that is just<br />
being wasted. We have<br />
youths that have<br />
graduated without jobs,<br />
why can’t we make use of<br />
them? Why can’t we<br />
recruit them to address the<br />
security challenge in this<br />
country? Why can’t we get the funds, buy<br />
weapons and equip the armed <strong>forces</strong> to make<br />
sure they chase these people to their door<br />
steps? Why do we always wait until an<br />
attack happens before we take action? Why<br />
can’t we get our soldiers ready and go into<br />
the bush to face these people?<br />
Are you saying the President<br />
hasn’t done enough?<br />
The President has done what is needful<br />
to be done. The President has assented to<br />
the budget. The President has never<br />
deprived the armed <strong>forces</strong> of what they<br />
require. The President has done so much<br />
for the state governments. Some of the<br />
state governments cannot even pay<br />
salaries. The federal government is<br />
assisting them. A lot of the state<br />
governments are embezzling security<br />
funds.<br />
But the President controls the<br />
police and the military…<br />
I am one person who was very vocal about<br />
former service chiefs. I felt they had done<br />
their beats and there was the need for them<br />
to go so that new people can take over. And<br />
this has been done. Mr. President has done<br />
that. The new service chiefs have<br />
commenced work. What I am saying is that<br />
we should energise them and give them all<br />
the logistics they require to face these<br />
criminals. When you are talking about<br />
ransom, in a decent society, this cannot be<br />
allowed to continue. If you negotiate with<br />
one group today, another cell will come up<br />
tomorrow. It is not done. No country will<br />
tolerate that.<br />
Locating bandits<br />
Talking about the terrain, Kagara Forest<br />
in Katsina and Zamfara extends to Kamuku<br />
Forest through Kosheriki and Pandogeri.<br />
If you come through Shiroro, the Alawa<br />
Forest is there. Most of these bandits were<br />
coming through the Alawa axis. And I had<br />
said it in so many of my motions on the<br />
floor of the National Assembly, that the<br />
military should establish a base within<br />
Alawa axis. There is no way they can’t pass<br />
through Alawa when they are coming from<br />
Zamfara. After my governor had tried many<br />
things without success, he tried to see how<br />
the Alawa axis can be handled. Meanwhile,<br />
these bandits had already come in. Without<br />
the field presence of the armed <strong>forces</strong>, we<br />
can’t do anything in that area. That is why<br />
these guys have a field day in that axis. And<br />
it is a hilly area but not a dense forest with<br />
poor visibility. I have spoken severally with<br />
my governor on the matter and he told me<br />
that he shares intelligence with his Kaduna<br />
State counterpart. It is by so doing that we<br />
are able to know the locations these people<br />
use. The governor has no powers to deploy<br />
the army and the police. All he can do is to<br />
get the information which he gives to them.<br />
There is nothing he can do without federal<br />
might. That is the reason I am asking the<br />
federal government to declare a state of<br />
emergency. With the insecurity in this<br />
country, we cannot runway from the<br />
disintegration our elders are talking<br />
about.
North has already destroyed itself<br />
“The North has become a<br />
region of endless funerals and<br />
perpetual bereavement.<br />
Bandits in the North have<br />
become a state. They impose<br />
fines and taxes, send notices,<br />
control spaces, determine life<br />
and death and operate without<br />
challenge” – Senator Shehu<br />
Sani of Kaduna State, March<br />
2020<br />
I<br />
wish that historical Lord<br />
Lugard and the King or<br />
Queen of England who<br />
granted him the powers to rule<br />
and ruin our lives are alive<br />
today to behold the explosions<br />
being set off by the time bomb<br />
they planted in this part of<br />
Africa in 1914. History does<br />
not tell us its alternatives. In<br />
other words, we don’t know<br />
what would have happened if<br />
amalgamation had not<br />
occurred. But, we are now<br />
beginning to see the<br />
beginning of the end of the<br />
“geographical expression”<br />
(apologies to the late Chief<br />
Awolowo) they formed and<br />
named Nigeria by the satraps’<br />
concubine.<br />
More than a century after,<br />
the feudal, mostly Islamic<br />
North, backward, slow to<br />
adapt to changes, mostly<br />
lacking in any interest in<br />
universal education and<br />
bereft of vision, remains<br />
relatively just that. Just about<br />
any major calamity impeding<br />
progress and tending towards<br />
the destruction of the disaster<br />
waiting to happen is now<br />
located squarely in the North<br />
whose elite have, for too long<br />
lived, under the illusion that<br />
the region could increasingly<br />
breed millions of almajiris<br />
side-by-side with the selfish<br />
tiny political and feudal<br />
minority without dire<br />
Email:biolasobowale@yahoo.com<br />
Phone Number: 07081372829<br />
Twitter:@DrDeleSobowale<br />
Instagram:delesobowalefranklyspeaking<br />
Website: www.delesobowale.com<br />
consequences. Well, the<br />
“judgment days” are here.<br />
The almajiris, hitherto docile<br />
and gratefully accepting the<br />
crumbs from the elite’s tables,<br />
have literally turned the tables<br />
<strong>against</strong> their masters –<br />
including Sani – who, now<br />
dumped from the buffet table,<br />
discovered wisdom which<br />
previously escaped him and<br />
his friends and associates for<br />
years. This article could easily<br />
have been titled, LESSONS<br />
FROM A SUPER-<br />
TERRORIST, and it would still<br />
have been apt. In my library<br />
is a little known book titled,<br />
HITLER’S SECRET BOOK,<br />
and written by the late<br />
German monster himself.<br />
One thing I have learnt from<br />
my adventures into history is<br />
the fact that when the major<br />
topic on the national agenda<br />
is war, then go and read what<br />
war-mongers think about it.<br />
What is wrecking Nigeria,<br />
especially the North, and will<br />
continue for years to come, is<br />
TERRORISM. So, the first<br />
port of call is a super-terrorist<br />
– Adolf Hitler, 1889-1945. It<br />
will amaze our leaders and<br />
readers to know how much of<br />
what had developed in the<br />
North since the rise of Boko<br />
Haram in 2009 could have<br />
been predicted by reading<br />
Hitler’s book. The FG in<br />
particular might also pick up<br />
some ideas about what to<br />
expect next. Finally, they just<br />
might discover how to<br />
combat it – for the sake of our<br />
country Nigeria. I wish them<br />
luck; although it is doubtful<br />
that those in charge of our fate<br />
now can ever learn anything<br />
useful. People who have lost<br />
the appetite for reading have<br />
almost always lost the<br />
Leaving the country<br />
in the hands of the<br />
least competent<br />
people to manage its<br />
affairs after<br />
independence was a<br />
master-stroke of<br />
wickedness<br />
appetite for learning, for<br />
thinking deeply and for<br />
finding novel solutions to<br />
serious problems. The brain,<br />
like any organ, rots – if not<br />
actively used – as is the case<br />
within Abuja’s top<br />
government circles. Buhari, as<br />
the Commander-In-<br />
Condolence Delivery, C-I-CD,<br />
is contented to just send<br />
condolence messages to the<br />
bereaved without an<br />
accompanying message of<br />
hope that terror will abate.<br />
There is no discernible plan.<br />
He is an example of what<br />
David Halberstam, in his bestselling<br />
book, titled, THE<br />
BRIGHTEST AND THE<br />
BEST, called “the best general<br />
for another war.” General<br />
Buhari (retd), clearly tired, is<br />
leading this war effort so<br />
badly, it is pathetic. He is<br />
actually now part of the<br />
problem and it is increasingly<br />
difficult to see him as part of<br />
the solution. That is bad news<br />
for all of us. “An increase in<br />
the population which finally<br />
no longer stands any relation<br />
to the productive capacity of<br />
its own soil to support life” –<br />
Hitler p 22. That, according<br />
to Hitler, follows from<br />
prolonged periods when a<br />
people or nation or parts of it<br />
regard “large families as a<br />
blessing rather than a<br />
burden.” Only recently, the<br />
Federal House of<br />
Representatives was treated to<br />
a show put up by a buffoon. A<br />
member from one of the<br />
northern states brought his<br />
four wives for exhibition of his<br />
prowess. He announced that<br />
he already had 19 children<br />
and he was just starting<br />
because his father had several<br />
wives and over 80 children.<br />
He did not tell us how many<br />
of the 80 siblings are<br />
almajiris. That is the sort of<br />
lunacy to which the South is<br />
yoked – like indentured slaves.<br />
Eventually, as Hitler had<br />
warned us, territorial<br />
expansion becomes<br />
imperative for those who have<br />
exhausted the limits of their<br />
capacity to provide for<br />
themselves within their own<br />
domains. I will come to it later.<br />
But, the rapid and violent<br />
expansion of herdsmen<br />
communities, all over<br />
Nigeria, in the last four years<br />
and nine months, is more<br />
deliberate than most of us<br />
realise and it is being<br />
encouraged at the topmost<br />
level of government. The body<br />
language says it all but what<br />
is being said to southerners<br />
and Middle Belt people can<br />
only be understood by a few.<br />
The C-I-C is alive and well in<br />
Abuja. But, first let us trace the<br />
history of how we got here and<br />
how goddamned Lugard and<br />
the British got us here.<br />
POPULATION WAS THE<br />
CAUSE OF OUR DESTINY<br />
Preparatory to their<br />
departure, our evil-minded<br />
colonial masters had a<br />
strategy for making the<br />
contraption they glued<br />
together to form Nigeria<br />
eventually unworkable – an<br />
accident waiting to happen.<br />
First, they conducted a bogus<br />
census. Whereas everybody in<br />
the far better educated South,<br />
Christian or Muslim, had to<br />
be sighted to be counted, the<br />
same was not true of the North.<br />
Women and young girls in<br />
harems were counted sight<br />
unseen. My eldest brother, who<br />
was born in Zaria, was one of<br />
the enumerators. The<br />
Megida of each primitive<br />
shanty stood in front of the<br />
place and issued a figure – so<br />
many wives and kids. The<br />
figures were accepted as the<br />
truth. The problem was, the<br />
young people in the<br />
communities knew how<br />
many of their age groups were<br />
in each shanty. My brother,<br />
who spoke Hausa fluently,<br />
knew that the figures he was<br />
forced to record were grossly<br />
exaggerated because the<br />
District Heads and Serikis<br />
had conducted a campaign<br />
misleading the people that<br />
money would be distributed<br />
SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 21, 2021,PAGE 9<br />
per head. So, the more people<br />
in the shanty the more money<br />
could be expected. The North<br />
was declared to have a larger<br />
population than the South.<br />
That made Nigeria unique in<br />
the history of the world – a<br />
country in which the arid zone<br />
had more people than the<br />
luxuriant and well-watered<br />
South. It was a deliberate<br />
ploy. England was just getting<br />
ready to play its biggest jokers.<br />
Armed with a bogus census,<br />
political constituencies were<br />
created and the North was<br />
given the majority. The<br />
country was handed to the<br />
region with less than five per<br />
cent literacy compared to<br />
already close to 50 per cent in<br />
the South. Leaving the country<br />
in the hands of the least<br />
competent people to manage<br />
its affairs after independence<br />
was a master-stroke of<br />
wickedness. But, they were not<br />
finished with us just yet. While<br />
southerners were encouraged<br />
to attend schools, northerners<br />
were urged to go into the Army<br />
with the ominous words “who<br />
controls the army controls the<br />
nation”. That was a campaign<br />
which the late Sardauna of<br />
Sokoto, Premier of Northern<br />
Region, carried to all the<br />
schools – primary and<br />
secondary – in the North.<br />
Meanwhile, Awolowo and<br />
Azikiwe enrolled us in<br />
schools. The Army was<br />
actually intended to safeguard<br />
northern elite interests and not<br />
to protect the nation <strong>against</strong><br />
external aggression because<br />
none of our closest neighbours<br />
– Cameroun, Benin Republic,<br />
Chad, Niger, Sao Tome, etc –<br />
was strong enough to attack<br />
us. The first coup of 1966,<br />
which was quickly crushed,<br />
came as a surprise. It was a<br />
temporary setback for the<br />
British. Thereafter, political<br />
and religious leaders in the<br />
core North – North-East and<br />
North-West – went about<br />
encouraging their people to<br />
breed like bed bugs – the more<br />
the better. Incidentally, most<br />
of the Middle Belt was left out<br />
of the race to over-populate<br />
the earth – mainly because of<br />
the higher percentage of<br />
Christians in the old Benue/<br />
Plateau zone. When the oil<br />
bonanza started in 1973 and<br />
federalism had given way to<br />
unitary government under<br />
General Gowon, population<br />
became the primary basis for<br />
sharing crude oil revenue. The<br />
lion’s share went North; the<br />
left-over came to the Niger<br />
Delta. It never ceases to<br />
amaze me when Niger Delta<br />
people welcome Gowon as<br />
they do. Making a hero out of<br />
somebody who enslaved the<br />
people is the clearest sign that<br />
the black man is indeed<br />
mentally retarded. The man<br />
took 50 per cent derivation<br />
from them and gave only one<br />
and a half per cent in the worst<br />
case of barefaced robbery in<br />
history and yet they still clap<br />
for him? Gowon established<br />
the template for the economic<br />
enslavement of the South –<br />
which exists till today. If I am<br />
an Ijaw or Ibibio, or Ilaje,<br />
Gowon would never be my<br />
hero. Never! He started the<br />
injustice which is still the basis<br />
for federally-allocated<br />
revenue till today. It might<br />
shock our readers to know<br />
that Gowon did not act alone.<br />
The Federal Commissioner<br />
(Minister) for Finance during<br />
the Gowon administration<br />
and the author of the atrocious<br />
edicts which resulted in the<br />
economic rape of the South<br />
was none other than our own<br />
dear late Chief Obafemi<br />
Awolowo. Papa helped to<br />
enslave us despite his known<br />
position on true federalism.<br />
We might never know why<br />
Awolowo did it. But, we<br />
cannot deny his complicity in<br />
the financial crimes <strong>against</strong><br />
the South. He and Gowon<br />
took our 50% and gave back<br />
to us as derivation a mere<br />
1.5% as federating units.<br />
Lagos now generates about<br />
60 per cent of Value Added<br />
Tax, VAT, revenue. It gets back<br />
less than four per cent!! But,<br />
without realising it, Gowon<br />
also set the events which will<br />
destroy the North eventually.<br />
He encouraged population<br />
explosion and idleness. He<br />
probably never knew about<br />
Ghandhi’s warning regarding<br />
the things that would destroy<br />
a nation.<br />
•Article first published on<br />
March 15,2020<br />
Joyfulhomes<br />
2015@gmail.com<br />
Do you really believe His word?<br />
Brethren, we’ll start off by<br />
asking a question that<br />
many people will answer in<br />
the affirmative.<br />
Do you really believe the<br />
Word? You are likely to say, if<br />
I don’t believe, I won’t be a<br />
Christian.<br />
The answer is deeper than<br />
that. The true test of your<br />
belief is actually a test of your<br />
faith. It’s easy to say, “I am a<br />
Christian. I go to church, I<br />
serve God, I’m<br />
knowledgeable in the word of<br />
God’. These words are 50% of<br />
the answer to the question.<br />
The answer to the question<br />
lies in how you respond to a<br />
major challenge in your life.<br />
You may have been waiting<br />
to have a child for years, five<br />
years, seven years even 10<br />
years. If your attitude is let<br />
the LORD do it when he wants,<br />
or you begin to say, I am tired<br />
of praying, or you say, my<br />
parents never waited, why<br />
should I be waiting? Once you<br />
allow these thoughts in your<br />
life, Brethren, you are not a<br />
believer. It doesn’t matter if<br />
your go to church 10 times a<br />
day.<br />
Let’s consider examples of<br />
one or two persons that<br />
believed the Word and others<br />
that had doubts.<br />
Daddy Abraham is the best<br />
example. Genesis 16 vs. 1: “<br />
Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare<br />
him no children……”.<br />
Abram was 99 years<br />
according to Genesis 17 vs. 1:<br />
“ And when Abram was ninety<br />
years old and nine, the LORD<br />
appeared to Abram, and said<br />
unto him, I am the Almighty<br />
God; walk before me, and be<br />
thou perfect”. In verses 5&6<br />
of the same chapter the LORD<br />
said, “ Neither shall thy name<br />
any more be called Abram,<br />
but thy name shall be<br />
Abraham; for a father of many<br />
nations have I made thee.<br />
And I will make thee<br />
exceeding fruitful, and I will<br />
make nations of thee, and<br />
kings shall come out of thee”.<br />
If you and I were in<br />
Abraham’s shoes, we would<br />
have our doubts.<br />
It’s human to have doubts<br />
but those in whom the Spirit<br />
of the Lord is, have their belief<br />
strengthened by faith.<br />
A good example of a<br />
Is your faith strong<br />
enough for you to<br />
discard the medical<br />
report from your<br />
thoughts and hold on<br />
to the Word of God?<br />
believer that had doubts is<br />
found in Sarah, the wife of<br />
Abraham after they<br />
unknowingly entertained the<br />
Lord. Genesis 18 vs. 10-13 “<br />
And he said, I will certainly<br />
return unto thee according to<br />
the time of life; and, lo, Sarah<br />
thy wife shall have a son, And<br />
Sarah heard it in the tent door,<br />
which was behind him.<br />
Now Abraham and Sarah<br />
were old and well stricken in<br />
age, and it ceased to be with<br />
Sarah after the manner of<br />
women. Therefore Sarah<br />
laughed within herself,<br />
saying, After I am waxed old<br />
shall I have pleasure, my lord<br />
being old also?<br />
And the LORD said unto<br />
Abraham, Wherefore did<br />
Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I<br />
of a surety bear a child, which<br />
am old?”.<br />
Note - she laughed within<br />
herself. In other words,<br />
though she was a believer, she<br />
doubted the Word.<br />
Doctors may have told you<br />
that the eggs you produce as<br />
a woman is weak, you may<br />
even have been told that you<br />
have reached menopause like<br />
Sarah, or were you told that<br />
your fallopian tubes are<br />
blocked, or that your<br />
husband’s semen is lifeless, it<br />
doesn’t matter the report that<br />
medical science has given<br />
you.<br />
What matters is what you<br />
believe? Do you believe the<br />
word of God in Genesis 1 vs.<br />
28 “ And God blessed them,<br />
and God said unto them, Be<br />
fruitful, and multiply, and<br />
replenish the earth, and<br />
subdue it: and have dominion<br />
over the fish of the sea, and<br />
over the fowl of the air, and<br />
over every living thing that<br />
moveth upon the earth”.<br />
Is your faith strong enough<br />
for you to discard the medical<br />
report from your thoughts<br />
and hold on to the Word of<br />
God? If indeed you are a true<br />
Believer, that medical report<br />
should make you move close<br />
to God and remind him of his<br />
promise to your. Do you know<br />
that God gave Abraham<br />
conditions that he must fulfill?<br />
Genesis 17 vs. 1&2 attests to<br />
this: “ And when Abram was<br />
ninety years old and nine, the<br />
LORD appeared to Abram,<br />
and said unto him, I am the<br />
Almighty God; walk before<br />
me, and be thou perfect.<br />
And I will make my<br />
covenant between me and<br />
thee, and will multiply thee<br />
exceedingly”. Are you<br />
walking with the LORD? Are<br />
you striving to be perfect?<br />
Simply put, are you living<br />
your life in accordance with<br />
the Word of God?<br />
Are you not giving in to<br />
pressure from your friends<br />
and parents that you should<br />
go and impregnate another<br />
woman outside your<br />
marriage?<br />
If you walk with God, the<br />
LORD, He will give you the<br />
physical and spiritual strength<br />
to disregard such pressure.<br />
Brethren, bear in mind that<br />
all parts of your body are<br />
created by God and not<br />
medical science.<br />
Therefore, God can make<br />
possible what doctors have<br />
told you is impossible.<br />
I once met a lady that<br />
doctors said, the husband’s<br />
semen was weak and the<br />
woman’s chances of<br />
producing fertile eggs was<br />
about 40% given her age.<br />
Scientifically speaking, the<br />
doctors were correct.<br />
However, our God is<br />
beyond science. He is able to<br />
make the barren fruitful at<br />
anytime. Age is no barrier to<br />
a miracle in the presence of<br />
the Lord.<br />
The couple I referred to now<br />
have three children, including<br />
a set of twins.<br />
May the LORD strengthen<br />
your faith and reward your<br />
faith as you hold on to HIM<br />
in Jesus name.<br />
Last week, I stumbled on the<br />
story of a couple that had been<br />
waiting to have children for<br />
six years but according to<br />
them, God embarrassed them<br />
with five babies at once.<br />
The woman speaking on<br />
Punch online said, “ People<br />
used to call me barren before,<br />
they used to insult me but I<br />
thank God today, that God<br />
embarrassed with five babies<br />
at a go. Two boys, three girls.<br />
What else can I ask from God?<br />
I really, really, thank God for<br />
this great gift that he gave to<br />
me.<br />
Brethren, what if the man<br />
had fallen into the<br />
temptations of impatient inlaws<br />
and unfriendly friends?<br />
What if the woman too had<br />
cheated on her husband in a<br />
bid to have children? To do<br />
any of these may mean<br />
shutting your doors <strong>against</strong><br />
the miracle of God. The<br />
testimony they now have may<br />
elude them.<br />
Even if you have doubts like<br />
Sarah, the merciful God can<br />
rise up for you and you will<br />
become a mother.<br />
Sister, Brother, hold on to<br />
God. I see the Lord embarrass<br />
you with your heart’s desires<br />
before this year ends in Jesus<br />
name.Ensure you have an<br />
improved relationship with<br />
the Lord that is never late.<br />
I see your rejoice soon.<br />
Be reminded that 40 days<br />
fasting period in the Christian<br />
calendar started on<br />
February17, Ash Wednesday.<br />
As you key into the fasting<br />
and prayer, make your<br />
demand specific before the<br />
Lord.<br />
God be with you.
PAGE 10 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 21, 2021<br />
My heart has been broken<br />
more than 999 times<br />
—Evia Simon<br />
Challenges<br />
Challenges are part of our daily life’s<br />
routine. I have faced a lot of challenges<br />
in the industry since I started acting. I<br />
have had to face a senior female<br />
colleague who insulted me for doing<br />
nothing on a location. I have had to hear<br />
a voice-note of a senior colleague who<br />
denied me after she introduced me just<br />
because she felt intimidated. I have<br />
escaped accidents from jealous<br />
colleagues severally. I have also, at<br />
different times, being propositioned for<br />
sex for a role by a director or a producer.<br />
Another annoying challenge in the<br />
beginning is the belief by some directors<br />
that they are doing you a favour and not<br />
paying you for your service. But in all,<br />
man is not God. There is always time and<br />
season for every one<br />
Low points<br />
My low point is trying to prove a point<br />
to a director or a producer that I can do<br />
this because most of them feel if they<br />
haven’t seen you act they find it difficult<br />
to believe you can give your best. I have<br />
learnt so much, which is believing in<br />
yourself and never giving up, no matter<br />
the countless times you have to go on and<br />
on to get what you really want from the<br />
career you have chosen.<br />
On sex<br />
Well, sex is sex, and having sex outside<br />
marriage is a sin <strong>against</strong> God because<br />
our body is the temple of God. We are not<br />
supposed to have sex before marriage. But<br />
it’s better having it with someone you love<br />
and care about.<br />
On relationship<br />
Relationships are sweet when you and<br />
your partner understand each other.<br />
Being there for each other, knowing each<br />
other’s likes and dislikes and not taking<br />
advantage of each other.<br />
On marriage<br />
The word “marriage” is big because it’s<br />
a school you will never graduate from. It’s<br />
where two people come together to form<br />
a union as husband and wife to become<br />
one. So many women go into marriage<br />
for many reasons which I find very<br />
annoying and improper and they end up<br />
breaking up after six months. Don’t get<br />
married if you are not mentally and<br />
spiritually ready for it; if you can’t trust,<br />
forgive, learn,<br />
understand and make amends. But<br />
marriage is sweet if you get to marry your<br />
friend , your gist and gossip partner. A lot<br />
of women are waiting for marriage to get<br />
out of poverty which is very wrong.<br />
On being sexy<br />
Being sexy to me is how intelligent a<br />
woman appears to be; smart, elegant and<br />
outspoken. You can be sexy in your body<br />
and be a dumb ass. And if you want to<br />
flaunt your sexiness make sure you are<br />
very intelligent and smart to compliment<br />
it<br />
On social media<br />
Social media has been the greatest tool<br />
to the success of my career. Gone are the<br />
days when social media was not in use<br />
and your works were only seen by certain<br />
people. But now social media is a<br />
platform to reach millions of people<br />
around the world without moving a<br />
muscle.<br />
beautiful Nollywood<br />
Voluptuously actress, Evia Simon has come a long way<br />
in the movie industry. She started acting in<br />
2007 but officially began her journey in<br />
Nollywood in 2011. She’s an actress as well<br />
as a producer. Some of her films include;<br />
Child Not Bride, Unbreak and Mind’s Eye.<br />
She has seen the good, the bad and the ugly<br />
sides of Nollywood and she bares it all in<br />
this interview with AYO ONIKOYI,<br />
Entertainment Editor.<br />
Embarrassing moments<br />
My most embarrassing moment is when<br />
you are being cast for a role and some other<br />
actors come to lobby with money or their<br />
body to get the role and you are being<br />
pushed out of the job. It is so embarrassing<br />
because you might have already announced<br />
to your friends you are starting the job.<br />
Another embarrassing experience was<br />
when a senior colleague insulted me<br />
and said to me I could never grow in<br />
the industry. If you ask her what I did<br />
wrong she’s got nothing to say. She<br />
even threatened to leave the set if I was<br />
allowed to remain.<br />
Turn-on in opposite sex<br />
What turns me on in a man is his<br />
generosity. Not just to me but to everyone<br />
around him; near or far. What turns me<br />
off in a man is laziness and someone<br />
who doesn’t care about people but<br />
himself alone.<br />
Sacrifices<br />
Leaving my business to suffer and<br />
travelling from state to state must be the<br />
biggest sacrifice. Also, letting go of one of<br />
my most cherished relationships because he<br />
wants to get married to an actress.<br />
Heartbreaks<br />
My heart has been broken more than<br />
999 times and in fact shattered<br />
severally. What I did was to build an<br />
unbreakable wall around me not to<br />
let my heart be broken again and<br />
if you can break the wall and<br />
penetrate through, then<br />
maybe you are the right<br />
person. I have also had my<br />
share of bad<br />
relationships, I have<br />
seen and met 999 wrong<br />
guys who think I am<br />
made, not knowing I am<br />
managing my life,<br />
hustling to survive.<br />
How `GOtv’ Max giving more content for less<br />
Since the reign of terrestrial television broadcasting<br />
went from the front row to the backseat in the wake of<br />
cable or digital television revolution, the question has<br />
been about content. And in the battle of content and what<br />
the viewers want, only the fittest and strongest are<br />
surviving and a step ahead beyond the imagination of<br />
their viewers.<br />
First to rule the digital realm in Nigeria is<br />
unquestionably DStv, and then MultiChoice introduced<br />
GOtv, a Digital Terrestrial TV service platform which<br />
delivers an array of quality and entertaining programmes<br />
at affordable rates.<br />
When they materialized on the scene, they met a few<br />
others already pulling their weight, but GOtv has<br />
consistently shown its innovative streak by playing the<br />
game differently. One of such tactics is offering more<br />
content for a lower price.<br />
While they have packages to suit all types of pockets,<br />
the package called GOtv Max, was the trump card to flip<br />
the balance in Digital Terrestrial TV service. As it is, the<br />
service provider is offering far more than ever before for<br />
less. A look at what GOtv Max offers is not only mouthwatering<br />
but also in sync with the prevalent economic<br />
condition of Nigeria and Africa at large.<br />
GOtv customers on Jolli and Jinja packages can still<br />
•Evia Simon<br />
take advantage of the “Max For Less” offer which started<br />
on January 14. This limited time-only offer, gives GOtv<br />
customers on the lower packages the opportunity to enjoy<br />
quality entertainment on the GOtv Max package at a<br />
discounted price of N2,999 only instead of N3,600. Jolli<br />
and Jinja customers who upgrade to the Max package<br />
get a wider range of quality entertainment to choose from<br />
over 72 great local and international channels.<br />
Sports lovers get to enjoy world-class sporting action<br />
such as: La Liga and Serie A and other select matches of<br />
the EPL, UCL and UEFA Nations League airing on<br />
SuperSport channels – SS La Liga, SS Football, SS Select<br />
1&2.<br />
There’s also a great serving of American and European<br />
leagues including Major League Soccer (MLS), Scottish<br />
Premier Football League (SPFL), Dutch Eredivisie on<br />
ESPN.<br />
GOtv Max package also boasts of quality international<br />
series and reality programming on channels such as BET,<br />
StarLife, CBS Reality, Discovery ID; local movies and<br />
dramas on Africa Magic Family, ROK GH and ROK 2; a<br />
variety of kids and educational content on channels such<br />
as Cartoon Network and Disney Junior; and movies from<br />
M-Net Movies 4, TNT Africa and lots more.
SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 21, 2021, PAGE11<br />
•Bolanle<br />
Ninolowo<br />
Bolanle Ninolowo<br />
(Nino B)<br />
One actor that is very hot<br />
in demand right now is none<br />
other than six-pack Ninolowo<br />
Bolanle. Every actress who is<br />
worth her name wants to be<br />
featured alongside this amazing<br />
pound of beautiful flesh.<br />
Bolanle Ninolowo popularly known<br />
as Nino B is a Nigerian actor,<br />
accountant, and entrepreneur. He began<br />
his career in the banking and music<br />
industries before venturing into the<br />
Nigerian movie industry, Nollywood.<br />
He made his debut<br />
production, Rebirth in 2010, and came to<br />
limelight in 2014, following a series of<br />
films he starred in. Over the past few years,<br />
Bolanle has made a name for himself and is<br />
often regarded as one of Nollywood hunks.<br />
Alexx Ekubo<br />
Nollywood actor, Alexx Ekubo, is famous<br />
for his lover boy roles and good looks. A<br />
member of the ‘Chop Life Gang’, alongside<br />
his friends IK Ogbonna and Yomi Casual,<br />
Alexx is blessed with a charming personality.<br />
A versatile hunk, he is one of the most<br />
relatable Nigerian celebrities on social media,<br />
with thousands of female admirers.<br />
An award-winning actor, model,<br />
motivational speaker, compere, producer and<br />
entertainer, Alexx is “Johnny” from the<br />
popular music video of Yemi Alade Song<br />
“Johnny”. He has won numerous awards and<br />
competitions including the Mr Nigeria<br />
contest in 2010 where he emerged 1st Runner<br />
Up, which gave him the platform to launch<br />
his mainstream movie career in Nollywood.<br />
He is a Law graduate from the University of<br />
Calabar and also has a Diploma in Mass<br />
Communication from Calabar Polytechnic,<br />
Nigeria.<br />
Kunle Remi<br />
Kunle Remi is an actor, model and<br />
entrepreneur. A graduate of the NewYork Film<br />
Academy, he started acting professionally<br />
after winning the 2010 edition of the reality<br />
TV show, Gulder Ultimate Search.<br />
From then on, Kunle has featured in many<br />
award-winning Nollywood films such as<br />
Tiwa’s Baggage, Sobi’s Mystic, Falling, etc.<br />
He has also starred in several TV series,<br />
including Tinsel, Lagos Cougars Reloaded,<br />
Africa Magic’s Forbidden among others.<br />
Talk about dripping with finesse! Kunle is<br />
the total package; an amazing actor, a<br />
handsome, charming dude with a body to die<br />
for! The 32-year-old has continued to wow his<br />
teeming fans and has been crowned the king<br />
of Tiktok in Nigeria for his entertaining and<br />
creative contents on the platform.<br />
He was rumoured to have dated actress<br />
Adesua Etomi before she got married to<br />
singer, Banky W. Kunle however denies this.<br />
IK Ogbonna<br />
Another member of the ‘Chop Life Gang’.<br />
Since he first featured on our screens, IK has<br />
kept the charm and ramped up the heat.<br />
Dubbed one of the most stylish men in the<br />
country, IK Ogbonna <strong>join</strong>ed Nollywood after<br />
his university education and has risen to<br />
become one of the biggest Nollywood actors.<br />
His first appearance in a movie was ‘Lovelorn’,<br />
produced by Rukky Sanda in 2013 and he has<br />
Nollywood hottest<br />
hunks<br />
•Alexx<br />
Ekubo<br />
By Juliet Ebirim<br />
They’ve got it all; the abs, the smile, charisma,<br />
successful careers and incredibly charming looks.<br />
These ones have established themselves in the<br />
hearts of many. Though not exhaustive and in no<br />
particular order, here are male Nollywood hotties<br />
setting our screens on fire!<br />
•Kunle<br />
Remi<br />
•Uzor<br />
Arukwe<br />
also won several awards for himself.<br />
He hit fame with his role in the movie<br />
‘Playing Safe’ alongside Tonto Dikeh<br />
and Ini Edo.<br />
IK Ogbonna and his Colombian wife, Sonia<br />
Morales parted ways in 2019.The couple got<br />
married in 2015 and have a son.<br />
Mawuli Gavor<br />
Mawuli Gavor, is a Ghanaian born actor and<br />
producer who also plies his trade in<br />
Nollywood. A TV presenter, accountant and<br />
entrepreneur, Mawuli is known for his six<br />
packs, heavily built biceps and baritone voice<br />
. Mawuli is the hot drink of chocolate we never<br />
knew we needed, until he stepped onto the<br />
scene, bringing steam to our screens, whether<br />
playing Linda’s husband in Rumor Has It, or<br />
playing the estranged son of a wealthy<br />
patriarch in Chief Daddy, Mawuli is the<br />
epitome of class and sexiness.<br />
He is also known for his exquisite fashion<br />
sense and made headlines when he kissed<br />
BBNaija Cee-C during a fashion shoot.<br />
BBNaija’s Diane was also alleged to have a<br />
thing for him.<br />
Timini Egbuson<br />
For those who don’t know who this charming<br />
dude is, Timini is the younger brother of<br />
Nollywood veteran actress, Dakore Akande<br />
(nee Egbuson). The actor who also doubles<br />
as a voiceover artist and influencer has carved<br />
a niche for himself in the industry. His<br />
handsome face and well-structured figure<br />
cannot be ignored and his fashion sense is<br />
top-notch. His role in blockbuster movies like<br />
Elevator Baby, SGIT, MTV Shuga Naija, is<br />
•IK<br />
Ogbonna<br />
•Swanky<br />
JKA<br />
•Ayoola<br />
Ayolola<br />
•Timini<br />
Egbuson<br />
commendable.<br />
Timini first came onto<br />
our screens thanks to<br />
MTv’s Shuga series, since<br />
then, the Bayelsa native has branched out into<br />
the big screens, with roles in movies like Fifty,<br />
alongside his sister, …but beyond his acting<br />
capabilities, Timini is a classy man, stunning<br />
on and off screen, working his charms on his<br />
female fans.<br />
Fredrick Leonard<br />
Frederick Nnaemeka Leonard is a Nigerian<br />
actor who won the award for Best Supporting<br />
Actor in a movie at the Golden Icons Academy<br />
Movie Awards in 2014 and in 2016, won the<br />
City People Movie Award For Best<br />
Supporting Actor of the Year at the City People<br />
Entertainment Awards.<br />
Beyond his steady climb since his<br />
emergence, Frederick has successfully turned<br />
the heads of ladies his way and still remains<br />
at it! He is no doubt one male figure ladies<br />
purr at every time a picture or a video is<br />
dropped on his social media timeline. This<br />
dude is not just a hunk of muscle and frame<br />
but also a smart ass!<br />
Enyinna Nwigwe<br />
Enyinna Nwigwe definitely makes the list.<br />
This fine gentleman was first noticed in Jeta<br />
Amata’s ‘Black November’ and has gone<br />
ahead to register his presence in various<br />
movies ever since, including the blockbuster<br />
‘The Wedding Party’. Since then,<br />
Enyinna has grown in leaps and bounds,<br />
blessing us with his presence<br />
on our screens.<br />
And we must<br />
admit, the<br />
leading man<br />
role, suits him<br />
rather nicely.<br />
If he were to<br />
upload a picture<br />
Instagram, with the<br />
caption “Single and<br />
searching” many ladies<br />
would fall over themselves to<br />
get his attention. The actor’s<br />
good looks cannot be hidden.<br />
However, his relationship status<br />
remains in a tight lid.<br />
•Fredrick<br />
Leonard<br />
•Enyinna<br />
Nwigwe<br />
Ayoola Ayolola<br />
Nigerian actor and singer, Ayo<br />
Ayoola came to prominence<br />
when he won the 5th<br />
Season of Project Fame<br />
West Africa, a popular<br />
reality TV show, in the<br />
year 2012. His compelling<br />
and commanding roles in<br />
various web series and<br />
movies such as Skinny<br />
Girl In Transit, The Men’s<br />
Club, If I Am President,<br />
Isoken, and Everything In<br />
Between will surely have<br />
you swooning, as he will<br />
definitely grab and keep<br />
your attention..<br />
Whatever your taste and<br />
flavor, Ayoola is sure to<br />
make it on your menu,<br />
because, what’s not to<br />
love? A dazzling smile,<br />
sexy eyes, confident aura...<br />
The 34-year-old Covenant<br />
University graduate is a<br />
performer through and<br />
through, definitely made for<br />
our screens. Ayoola left many<br />
ladies in tears in 2019 when<br />
he showed off his girlfriend<br />
whom he described as the<br />
“entire love of my life” on<br />
Instagram.<br />
Uzor Arukwe<br />
Uzor Arukwe is a<br />
Nollywood actor and<br />
model from Abia State.<br />
Popularly known for his<br />
role as Inspector Sam in<br />
the 2017 action/comedy<br />
Sergeant Tutu. Uzor<br />
started acting<br />
professionally in the<br />
popular TV series<br />
Flatmates alongside<br />
Yaw in the early 2000s.<br />
His big break came in<br />
2017 after he starred in<br />
the popular comedy,<br />
Sergeant Tutu. So far,<br />
Uzor has had the<br />
opportunity to work with<br />
some of Nollywood’s<br />
biggest stars, featuring in<br />
over 40 Nollywood<br />
movies and counting.<br />
He is known for the<br />
confidence he exudes in<br />
delivering his lines and his<br />
ability to blend into any film<br />
genre ranging from comedy to<br />
high-paced action movies.<br />
Currently one of the mostsought-after<br />
Nollywood actors, Uzor is an act<br />
that grows on you. Behind that nerdy<br />
demeanour, he’s got a sexy body on him, one<br />
that we hope will grace our screens for a long<br />
time.<br />
•Mawuli<br />
Gavor<br />
Swanky JKA<br />
Jideofor Kenechukwu Achufusi, born 17<br />
October 1991 is a Nigerian actor and model,<br />
best known for his portrayal of Nnamdi Okeke<br />
in Living in Bondage: Breaking Free as well<br />
as Neo in Trace TV’s campus drama series<br />
Crazy, Lovely, Cool. Known professionally<br />
as Swanky JKA, he won the Trailblazer<br />
Award at the 2020 African Magic Viewers<br />
Choice Awards. Originally a model, Achufusi<br />
began his acting career playing supporting<br />
roles in Nollywood films Poka Messiah, Black<br />
Rose, Pretty Little Thing, Ofu Obi and A<br />
Lonely Lane.<br />
Swanky JKA seems like the innocent new<br />
kid who <strong>join</strong>s the class in a new school year<br />
and steals everyone’s attention. Since he<br />
exploded on the scene, this tall glass of<br />
champagne has established himself as a<br />
Nollywood heartthrob. He has gotten a good<br />
start in the entertainment industry and there’s<br />
no doubt the future looks very bright for him.
PAGE12 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 21, 2021<br />
I was never<br />
married,<br />
Google lies<br />
—Actress, Ejine<br />
Okoroafor<br />
Just like the old mantra, “The mirror<br />
never lies” the new one everyone has<br />
become so comfortable with is “Google<br />
never lies” or “Ask Google” when in doubt.<br />
But the search engine is not infallible just<br />
as a Nollywood actress by the name of<br />
Ejine Okoroafor just pointed out<br />
to Potpourri.<br />
According to her, her Google update has<br />
it that she’s married which is totally false.<br />
Hear her: “My update on Google says I’m<br />
married. I don’t know the stupid blogger that<br />
wrote it in 2013 when I had my son in South<br />
Africa. I was never married. I am a single<br />
mother of one.”<br />
According to her update on Google “Ejine<br />
got married to Prince Wale and the product of<br />
that marriage is a son delivered in December<br />
2013 in Sandton, South Africa.”<br />
This cannot be farther from the truth and<br />
the actress, who is very much single wants<br />
to clear the air on this.<br />
Ejine Okoroafor is also a movie producer<br />
and an entrepreneur. She has produced<br />
movies like “Trophy Wife” directed by<br />
Tchidi Chikere among others.<br />
There’s lot of money on Instagram<br />
—Happiness Adebayo<br />
play with that business, it<br />
Happiness Adebayo, Chief Executive<br />
Officer of Glee Luxury Hair and<br />
Skincare, who is unarguably referred to<br />
as number one in Africa in the business<br />
of human hair and skincare, recently<br />
revealed in an Instagram post what has<br />
helped her business to grow.<br />
According to her, her discovery or the<br />
advent of Instagram changed the game<br />
for her.<br />
Hear her: “When I started my businesses<br />
on Instagram I had no idea they would<br />
turn out so big by just marketing and<br />
screaming on here. In fact if I had known<br />
that I could put up something for sale<br />
here and they will get sold out in no time,<br />
turn over, make sales, save and make a<br />
lot of money, maybe I would have<br />
doubled my hustle again.”<br />
“There is a lot of money on Instagram<br />
if you are consistently consistent. Don’t<br />
Nigerians rate “Two Weeks In Lagos”<br />
high after impressive opening weekend<br />
After an impressive opening weekend<br />
debut at cinemas across the country,<br />
Nigerians across board have nothing<br />
but praise for the movie Two Weeks In<br />
Lagos as the movie got up to a flying<br />
start at cinemas across the land.<br />
The movie which features the likes of<br />
Mawuli Gavor, Toyin Abraham, Beverly<br />
Naya, Joke Silva, Deyemi Okanlawon,<br />
Prince Jide Kosoko, Tina Mba, Shaffy<br />
Bello, Okey Uzoeshi, Steve Onu among<br />
others has spent barely a week at the<br />
cinema and has posted impressive<br />
numbers at the box office.<br />
The movie which is an original love<br />
story talks about a young man who has<br />
his eyes set on the lady he wants to<br />
marry but has to contend with his<br />
parents as they have other ideas of a<br />
bride for him, he is torn between<br />
working towards marrying the bride his<br />
way or having to seek the will of God<br />
concerning her.<br />
Two Weeks In Lagos has also been<br />
•Ejine<br />
Okoroafor<br />
can grow big if you build<br />
it. Even if it’s pure<br />
water I post for sales<br />
here strategically I<br />
will cash out,” she<br />
adds.<br />
Happiness<br />
Adebayo goes<br />
by the name<br />
@gleeoflife<br />
on Instagram<br />
and currently<br />
boasts over<br />
5 0 0 , 0 0 0<br />
followers. She’s a<br />
mother of three.<br />
Recently she gifted top<br />
Nollywood actress,<br />
Mercy Aigbe who is her<br />
brand ambassador a Range<br />
Rover HSE.<br />
tipped by industry watchers to pull more<br />
impressive numbers at the cinema judging by its<br />
picture quality, the way the cast of the movie<br />
collectively interpreted their respective roles and<br />
the quality of the lens used in shooting this<br />
amazing story of love.<br />
•Cast from Two Weeks in Lagos<br />
•Happiness<br />
Adebayo<br />
Many people<br />
don’t<br />
understand what<br />
real romance is<br />
—Nadia Buari<br />
Top rate Ghollywood-Nollywood actress, Nadia<br />
Buari has aired her opinion on what real<br />
romance is all about. The actress was in the spirit<br />
of the St. Valentine’s Day, when she made her<br />
thoughts public through her social media<br />
handles, perhaps, to give out some<br />
tips to the vulnerable and naive<br />
lovers yearning to celebrate<br />
love on that day, a week ago.<br />
According to her, in a lengthy<br />
post, “I think a lot of people<br />
don’t understand what real<br />
romance is. Anyone can buy<br />
•Nadia Buari flowers, candies and<br />
jewelries, there’s no love in<br />
those.”<br />
The truly romantic things<br />
in life are those little things<br />
you do every day to show<br />
you care, and that you are<br />
thinking of them. It is<br />
going out of your way to<br />
make them happy. The<br />
way you hold her hand<br />
when she’s scared; or<br />
you save the last piece of cake for him. The<br />
random text in the middle of the day, just to say “I<br />
love you” or “I miss you”. The way he stops to<br />
kiss you when he passes by. It’s dedicating your<br />
favourite song to her, and letting her eat your fries;<br />
telling her she’s beautiful even when she’s in<br />
sweats; with her hair in a ponytail and no makeup.<br />
It’s putting your favourite show on pause so she<br />
can tell you about her day, and laughing at his<br />
jokes even the really lame ones. It’s slow<br />
dancing in the kitchen and kissing in the<br />
rain. Romance isn’t about buying. It’s<br />
about giving. True romance is in the<br />
gestures,” she says.<br />
However, in real life Nadia has not<br />
been so lucky, or so it seems. She dated<br />
a handful of other celebrities like<br />
Michael Essien and Jim Iyke but the<br />
trysts never came to fruition. She’s a<br />
mother of 4 children out of which there<br />
is a set of twins but the snag here is that<br />
no one knows the father or fathers and<br />
the actress has never said a word about<br />
that.<br />
Genesis Restaurant<br />
launches new<br />
French designed<br />
outlet in Lagos<br />
Genesis Group of companies which has been<br />
in existence for over 30 years with<br />
interests in cinemas, restaurants, hotels,<br />
industrial catering and real estate, launches a<br />
new French designed restaurant outlet on Adeola<br />
Odeku, Victoria Island, Lagos.<br />
The now 23 Genesis Restaurant outlets across<br />
Nigeria are known for their signature looks and<br />
tastes. You will be pleased to know that the Adeola<br />
Odeku location does not disappoint. Every detail<br />
of this location was well thought out and intricately put together<br />
for you by a stellar team of national and international professionals.<br />
The stunning interior was designed by Patrick Norguet, the<br />
renowned French designer acclaimed for amongst other things, his<br />
iconic redesign of the McDonalds on the Champs Élysées in Paris.<br />
The project was exquisitely managed by the award-winning Dakota<br />
Design (South Africa) and Harcourt Aduke Associates (Nigeria).<br />
The modern fit-out of the building was executed by Desmo UK<br />
(United Kingdom) and the external design flawlessly done by<br />
Architect Chuka Okolo of PDT Consulting (Nigeria).<br />
Genesis Founder and Group Managing Director, Dr. Nnaeto<br />
Orazulike, shared the vision behind this location: “The Genesis<br />
experience is anchored on exceptional delivery of style and taste.<br />
When deciding to open our Adeola Odeku outlet, we had the Lagos<br />
professionals in mind. From the opening hours of 7:00am to 10:00pm<br />
every day of the week, to our delivery services and cost-friendly<br />
tasty meals, you can dine in style without breaking the bank.”
APC’s bashing of Lai<br />
Mohammed is unwise<br />
At end of the 2015<br />
election which was<br />
won by the then<br />
opposition party- the All<br />
Progressives Congress<br />
(APC), many Nigerians were<br />
confident that Lai<br />
Mohammed, the party’s<br />
national publicity secretary<br />
would easily clinch the<br />
position of Minister of<br />
Information.This was<br />
informed by his satisfactory<br />
performance not only in his<br />
management of the party’s<br />
political and electoral<br />
information but also his<br />
aggressive posture as the<br />
party’s ‘attack dog’ which<br />
virtually disarmed the then<br />
ruling Peoples Democratic<br />
Party (PDP). Lai has since<br />
then served as Nigeria’s<br />
Information Minister<br />
making him the face of the<br />
ruling party. It also made<br />
him the undisputed leader<br />
of the party in his home state<br />
- Kwara, which had no<br />
higher member in<br />
government.<br />
This position changed in<br />
2019 when the APC became<br />
the ruling party in Kwara<br />
State. Although Lai retained<br />
his position as the highestranking<br />
office holder at the<br />
federal level from the state,<br />
he can no longer lay claim<br />
to the same privileged<br />
position in the state which<br />
now has an APC governor.<br />
PhD,Department of<br />
Philosophy,<br />
University of Lagos<br />
08116759758<br />
opuruiche2000@gmail.com<br />
In the November 3<br />
presidential election,<br />
about five out of six in the total<br />
votes with which Joe Biden<br />
surpassed Hilary Clinton<br />
came from Georgia’s biggest<br />
metropolitan cities, namely,<br />
Augusta, Atlanta, Columbus,<br />
and Savannah. The Stacy<br />
Abrams Effect was also visible<br />
in the senate run-off election<br />
in the state, as Democratic<br />
candidates defeated the two<br />
incumbent Republicans to<br />
secure a razor-thin majority<br />
for their party in the upper<br />
legislature. With the<br />
increasing importance of<br />
patterns of racial and ethnic<br />
configuration in<br />
determining the outcome of<br />
elections in the US, the<br />
question now arises: What is<br />
the significance of black<br />
votes to Biden’s electoral<br />
victory? The short answer is<br />
– extremely significant. In<br />
fact, without the solid<br />
support he got from black<br />
voters during the primaries,<br />
it is very unlikely Biden<br />
would have emerged as the<br />
presidential candidate of his<br />
party let alone defeat<br />
Donald Trump in the<br />
general election proper.<br />
Remember, when the<br />
Democratic Party<br />
commenced its presidential<br />
primaries last year, Joe<br />
Biden initially fell behind<br />
Pete Buttigieg and Kamala<br />
Harris. His resurgence<br />
started in South Carolina, a<br />
state where 56% of the<br />
primary voters were black,<br />
and 61% of them voted for<br />
him. Three days later, on<br />
Super Tuesday, Biden won<br />
ten states with<br />
The dwindling position of<br />
Lai in the state has become<br />
glaring with the decision of<br />
the party to undertake a<br />
membership drive and<br />
revalidate existing<br />
membership. Rather than<br />
work together, the governor<br />
and the minister plus their<br />
followers have been at<br />
loggerheads as if the<br />
registration exercise is a<br />
contest between them.<br />
Only last week, the fight<br />
between the two groups got<br />
a media boost when<br />
Minister Lai addressed a<br />
press conference stoutly<br />
criticising the handing of the<br />
membership exercise in<br />
Kwara State. According to<br />
the minister, officials sent to<br />
the state to conduct the<br />
exercise violated the<br />
procedure set by the party as<br />
the registration was being<br />
done without Party<br />
Membership Register<br />
adding thattemporary<br />
membership slips, were also<br />
not given to any purportedly<br />
registered member.Having<br />
convinced himself that the<br />
anomaly was happening in<br />
no less than 80 percent of all<br />
registration units in the state,<br />
Lai called for the<br />
cancellation of the<br />
exercise.If anyone imagined<br />
that the minister had a point,<br />
Yekini Nabena, the deputy<br />
national publicity secretary<br />
Biden, Trump and the DisUnited<br />
States of America (2)<br />
overwhelming support from<br />
blacks. It has been estimated<br />
that Biden probably got<br />
about 90% of black votes in<br />
the last presidential<br />
election, which is<br />
impressive but still less than<br />
95% and 93% for Obama in<br />
2008 and 2012 respectively,<br />
but 8% more than Clinton’s<br />
in 2016. The improved<br />
turnout of black voters last<br />
year is probably because of<br />
the meteoric increase in<br />
early and mail-in ballots<br />
caused by the covid-19<br />
pandemic that tended to<br />
discourage in-person voting<br />
especially among<br />
D e m o c r a t s .<br />
Besides,Democraticleaning<br />
voters had learnt a<br />
bitter lesson from their<br />
complacency after Clinton’s<br />
defeat in 2016 and, this time<br />
around, decided not to take<br />
any chances. Accordingly,<br />
president Joe Biden owes<br />
black people a ton of<br />
gratitude for defeating<br />
Donald Trump. In order to<br />
retain their support he<br />
should implement<br />
programmes that address<br />
the main concerns of the<br />
African-American<br />
community such as racism,<br />
police brutality and<br />
growing unemployment,<br />
crime and dilapidated<br />
infrastructure in black<br />
communities.<br />
Trump’s emergence as<br />
president has proved once<br />
again that democracy does<br />
not necessarily guarantee<br />
that the most qualified<br />
candidate would be elected.<br />
Objectively considered,<br />
Hilary Clinton was better<br />
qualified in terms of<br />
of the party, held an opposite<br />
view. Nabena openly<br />
berated Lai over his demand<br />
for the cancellation of the<br />
exercise and advised the<br />
minister to put himself in the<br />
position of the state governor<br />
and submit to his leadership<br />
of the party in the state.<br />
Unfortunately, the<br />
intemperate and abusive<br />
diction of both leaders<br />
showed that the registration<br />
exercise had bluntly divided<br />
the ruling party into two<br />
warring groups - those in<br />
favour and those <strong>against</strong> the<br />
exercise. The minister who<br />
promised to avoid<br />
exchanging words with the<br />
party’s publicity secretary,<br />
did not forget to describe<br />
Nabena as an impostor on<br />
the ground that with the<br />
dissolution of the national<br />
executive of the party no one<br />
was mandated to be the<br />
party’s spokesperson. On his<br />
part, Nabena described Lai<br />
Mohammed as the “biggest<br />
problem” of the Buhari<br />
administration, who has<br />
added no value to<br />
government in the last 5<br />
years. This public fight which<br />
was an assault on the<br />
reputation of the ruling party<br />
went on for days with no<br />
intervention by party<br />
leaders. Certainly, all is not<br />
well with the APC!<br />
Nigerian politicians are<br />
generally known to be bad<br />
losers who always adversely<br />
criticise any exercise where<br />
they lose, but there is nothing<br />
special about the Minister’s<br />
complaint to warrant the<br />
bitter war of words between<br />
him and Nabena.<br />
Interestingly, no one is in a<br />
position to disprove the<br />
minister’s alarm going by<br />
how our politicians always<br />
seek to win any contest<br />
without playing by its rules.<br />
Trump’s emergence as<br />
president has proved<br />
once again that<br />
democracy does not<br />
necessarily guarantee<br />
that the most qualified<br />
candidate would be<br />
elected<br />
temperament, cognate<br />
experience and track record<br />
to be America’s president<br />
than Trump, a man whose<br />
persona and life as a<br />
businessman and public<br />
figure seem somewhat<br />
shallow and contrived. Yet,<br />
Trump was clever enough to<br />
exploit the throbbing<br />
resentment of white voters<br />
worried about the changing<br />
demographics that seem to<br />
threaten their irrational<br />
white supremacist beliefs,<br />
and disenchantment<br />
amongst a section of<br />
minority groups who feel<br />
that the 8-year presidency of<br />
Barak Obama did not<br />
improve their existential<br />
conditions in any substantial<br />
way. Clinton, like every<br />
politician, committed<br />
blunders that made her lose<br />
narrowly in states that she<br />
should have – for instance,<br />
collecting huge fees for paid<br />
speeches she gave to<br />
Goldman Sachs after<br />
serving a government that<br />
bailed out the financial<br />
sector which made her seem<br />
bad to many voters, and the<br />
issue of using private e-mails<br />
while serving as Secretary<br />
of State.. But Trump was<br />
worse: his lack of<br />
discipline,flippant cruelty<br />
and nonchalant attitude to<br />
the fine details of policy,<br />
penchant for conspiracy<br />
theories, ringing egoism and<br />
transactional approach to<br />
public office among other<br />
deficiencies eclipse<br />
Clinton’s deficiencies. In<br />
my opinion, Clinton lost for<br />
two main reasons. The first<br />
This is more so, as Lai’s<br />
grudge is <strong>against</strong><br />
Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq,<br />
a state governor who<br />
naturally belongs to a<br />
privileged group that plays<br />
The attack on<br />
Lai Mohammed<br />
along with the<br />
tacit approval<br />
given by the<br />
party is unwise<br />
the totalitarian politics of<br />
winning every contest and<br />
quite often scoring more<br />
votes than the total<br />
available. As Umar Ghali<br />
Na’Abba, a former speaker<br />
of the House of<br />
Representatives explained<br />
the other day, state<br />
governors are largely<br />
responsible for the absence<br />
of internal democracy in<br />
political parties in Nigeria.<br />
The implication of this is<br />
that in a bid to control party<br />
machinery, state governors<br />
often adopt the policy of all<br />
is well that ends well, no<br />
matter the procedure<br />
adopted.<br />
In the case of political<br />
party membership registers,<br />
our politicians are still not<br />
in the frame of mind of<br />
producing any viable<br />
documents. This is however<br />
one is sexism – Americans<br />
were just not ready in 2016<br />
to vote a woman into the<br />
White House. America is a<br />
great democracy and<br />
arguably the greatest<br />
country in human history.<br />
Yet, a sizeable percentage of<br />
Americans are still not<br />
psychologically prepared to<br />
break the last glass ceiling<br />
in presidential politics. As<br />
Ezra Klein, editor-in-chief<br />
atVox puts it, “Many of<br />
Clinton’s strengths were<br />
hidden by our gendered<br />
expectations of leaders –<br />
what she was good at would<br />
have been important for her<br />
presidency, but it was not<br />
what 44 male presidents in<br />
a row have taught us to…see.<br />
Anyone who thinks that<br />
sexism isn’t a force in<br />
American politics should<br />
have a good answer to the<br />
question of why, in a country<br />
that’s more than half<br />
women, there has never<br />
been a female president and,<br />
aside from Clinton, no<br />
woman has ever come close<br />
to winning a major party’s<br />
nomination.” Secondly,<br />
these days in virtually all<br />
democratic countries the<br />
ability to govern based on<br />
objective assessment of the<br />
candidates running for the<br />
topmost political office plays<br />
a second fiddle in the minds<br />
of a broad section of the<br />
electorate. Majority of<br />
voters tend to gravitate<br />
towards candidates with the<br />
ability to attract attention<br />
and enthusiasm. Now, in<br />
terms of relevant knowledge<br />
and capacity to govern,<br />
Clinton was light years<br />
ahead of Trump. However,<br />
Trump, a former reality<br />
show host, knows how to get<br />
the attention of his<br />
audience, and he used that<br />
to great effect when he ran<br />
<strong>against</strong> Clinton. But<br />
everything has its limits.<br />
Trump’s ability as a crowdpuller<br />
which galvanises his<br />
loyal supporters makes him<br />
a great candidate which, as<br />
we have seen, does not<br />
necessarily mean he would<br />
be a great president. His<br />
shambolic tenure in office<br />
SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 21, 2021, PAGE 13<br />
not a new hobby. From a<br />
vantage position of<br />
personal observation as a<br />
Director in the nation’s<br />
electoral body some 3<br />
decades back, I recall the<br />
mystery found by a team to<br />
which I belonged while<br />
verifying party membership<br />
registers during the<br />
transition to civil rule<br />
programme of President<br />
Ibrahim Babangida’s era.<br />
Part of what we found then<br />
was that the registers were<br />
filled with fake entries of<br />
ghost names and in some<br />
cases non-existent<br />
addresses. In one location,<br />
we ran into a major problem<br />
as one old man we visited<br />
collapsed as soon as we<br />
asked him about a name<br />
listed <strong>against</strong> his house. It<br />
turned out to be the name of<br />
his son who died 11 years<br />
earlier, now listed as current<br />
party leader in the area. So,<br />
whereas the alarm raised by<br />
minister Lai may not be<br />
correct, no one can vouch<br />
for what the minister’s<br />
faction of the party may also<br />
have perpetuated during the<br />
ongoing registration<br />
exercise.<br />
In other climes, party<br />
membership registers help<br />
the parties to know their<br />
numerical strength and also<br />
serve as a guide to the<br />
direction from where to<br />
seek more members. But in<br />
Nigeria the registers are<br />
patently fake, just as every<br />
exercise to admit more<br />
members or to validate<br />
existing membership is used<br />
to displace power blocs<br />
within the party. In other<br />
words, admonitions by<br />
President Buhari to his<br />
party leaders to use the<br />
current exercise to positively<br />
position the APC is a tall<br />
order. Indeed, the appeal by<br />
has exposed the soft<br />
underbelly of relying on<br />
bluster and braggadocio<br />
without real substance or<br />
governing ability.<br />
Therefore, although for the<br />
second time he deployed the<br />
catchy slogan “Make<br />
America Great Again,” to<br />
captivate voters,<br />
unfortunately for him and<br />
Trumpians his ‘America<br />
First’ policy was not<br />
anchored on a detailed<br />
pragmatic economic<br />
framework that would<br />
cushion the negative impact<br />
of his trade wars particularly<br />
with China. In addition, his<br />
bizarre attitude to the covid-<br />
19 pandemic which has<br />
killed over 400,000<br />
Americans and devastated<br />
America’s economy was the<br />
biggest nail in the coffin of<br />
his re-election effort <strong>against</strong><br />
Biden.<br />
One of the important<br />
reasons why Biden<br />
succeeded where Clinton<br />
failed was because of his<br />
gender. Again, all things<br />
considered, he appears<br />
more “presidential” and<br />
compassionate than Trump.<br />
Millions of Americans were<br />
tired of the chaos, uncouth<br />
and petulant attitude of<br />
Trump and were looking<br />
forward to a possible Biden<br />
presidency to restore the<br />
decorum, gravitas and<br />
decency in the White<br />
House.Whereas Trump, in<br />
the eyes of many voters, was<br />
widening the racial cleavages<br />
and fault-lines in Americaby<br />
encouraging white<br />
supremacist and other<br />
extreme fringe groups, Biden<br />
consistently propagated the<br />
gospel of unity and pledged<br />
to work very hard not only to<br />
tackle the covid-19<br />
emergency head-on but also<br />
to reduce the divisions<br />
exacerbated by his rival.<br />
Biden’s message of being a<br />
unifier-in-chief rather than<br />
divider-in-chief resonated<br />
with voters who rewarded him<br />
with over seven million votes<br />
more than Trump, a feat<br />
unprecedented in American<br />
political history.<br />
That Trump is<br />
Senate President Lawan for<br />
the APC to use the present<br />
exercise to target 100<br />
million members would<br />
likely be marred by leaders<br />
seeking to overwhelm local<br />
rivals. It is thus rational to<br />
suggest that none of the<br />
factionsis bothered about<br />
the authenticity of<br />
membership registers. What<br />
they want is to tilt the<br />
registers in a manner that<br />
would win future party<br />
primaries for them.<br />
Painfully,the APC has<br />
failed to see the collateral<br />
damage of the atomistic<br />
behaviour of its factional<br />
leaders. To rubbish Lai<br />
Mohammed as Nabena has<br />
done goes beyond a<br />
personal loss. By telling<br />
Nigerians that Minister Lai<br />
only tells lies, our cynical<br />
nation has been reinforced<br />
to discountenance whatever<br />
the minister says later about<br />
government activities since<br />
his party member has<br />
testified that he is an<br />
effortless liar. To say the<br />
minister is of no use to<br />
government; yet he was<br />
picked some 5 years ago<br />
and reappointed 4 years<br />
later suggests that the ruling<br />
party is neither discrete nor<br />
result-oriented in<br />
assembling dead woods to<br />
run government business.<br />
While it is easy to ignore<br />
opposition politicians who<br />
lambast government<br />
officials, the situation is not<br />
same when the attack is<br />
from within. It is worse when<br />
the victim is the<br />
g o v e r n m e n t ’ s<br />
officialspokesperson who<br />
bears an imprint of the<br />
ruling party’s image. The<br />
attack on Lai Mohammed<br />
along with the tacit<br />
approval given by the party<br />
is unwise.<br />
temperamentally unfit to be<br />
president as Hilary Clinton<br />
claimed several times was<br />
proved beyond reasonable<br />
doubt by his disgraceful<br />
incitement of insurrection in<br />
the Capitol on January 6 as<br />
Congress was about to certify<br />
the Electoral College results.<br />
Several commentators from<br />
across the world, especially<br />
America’s chief rivals China<br />
and Russia, gleefully point to<br />
that event as evidence of the<br />
poverty of democracy. That<br />
judgment is flawed:<br />
democracy,as the Austrianborn<br />
British philosopher Karl<br />
Popper remarked, is superior<br />
to other forms of government<br />
because it provides an orderly<br />
nonviolent mechanism for<br />
replacing bad leaders.Indeed,<br />
that the insurrection inspired<br />
by Trump and his supporters<br />
ultimately failed is a<br />
validation of America’s<br />
democratic institutions,<br />
particularly the willingness of<br />
major actors in the electoral<br />
processes, including judicial<br />
officers, to carry out their<br />
constitutional duties without<br />
undue bias in favour of the<br />
incumbent president.<br />
On the surface, Nigeria<br />
operates the presidential<br />
system modelled after the<br />
American paradigm. The<br />
fundamental difference is the<br />
kind of human beings that run<br />
the system. If Trump was<br />
Nigeria’s president seeking<br />
re-election, beginning with the<br />
chairman officials of the socalled<br />
Independent Electoral<br />
Commission (INEC) would<br />
have concocted results in<br />
various states showing that he<br />
“won” with a wide margin.<br />
The judiciary up to the<br />
Supreme Court would have<br />
invented outlandish reasons<br />
why the fabricated results<br />
should stand in spite of<br />
evidence to the contrary. In<br />
politics institutions matter.<br />
However, the intellectual and<br />
moral quality of human<br />
beings running the institutions<br />
matters most – and there lies<br />
the fundamental difference<br />
between America’s<br />
presidential system and its<br />
deformed clone in Nigeria.<br />
Concluded
PAGE 14—SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 21, 2021<br />
Alabi-Isama: An officer and a socialite?: A tribute<br />
This article was published<br />
in the Vanguard when Gen<br />
Alabi-Isama hit 70. Very little<br />
has changed since then except<br />
that he finally published his<br />
book, which was a block-buster<br />
that sold out so fast. Alabi-<br />
Isama had to autograph its<br />
pirated version for his friends<br />
and admirers after the first<br />
edition sold out! He is the<br />
chairman of the Amala Group,<br />
a bunch of professionals who<br />
meet once a month to savour<br />
bowls of hot Amala with<br />
choice pieces of meat washed<br />
down with the best of drinks!<br />
Gen. Isama recently turned<br />
80 and this reprint is a<br />
celebration of the legendary<br />
soldier!!!<br />
Ihave often wondered<br />
who General Godson<br />
Alabi-Isama would<br />
have turned out to be if he<br />
hadn’t made that spur-of-themoment<br />
decision to enrol into<br />
the Nigerian Armed Forces a<br />
few months shy of his taking<br />
his West African School<br />
Certificate Examination<br />
(WASCE). He wasn’t scared<br />
of the exams - he’d taken quite<br />
a few after that and came up<br />
tops. According to him, he had<br />
watched a few military<br />
parades in Ibadan where he<br />
lived with his late mother,<br />
fancied being part of it and if<br />
he didn’t take that chance of<br />
<strong>join</strong>ing fresh recruits then, he<br />
might never have the<br />
opportunity again. He passed<br />
the test and that was it! Alhaja,<br />
his poor mum, was almost<br />
apoplectic. An only son of her<br />
two children <strong>join</strong>ing the<br />
Armed Forces? And, this at a<br />
time when <strong>join</strong>ing the Forces<br />
By Olasunkanmi Akoni<br />
The Lagos State<br />
government has<br />
commenced the<br />
process for the review of the<br />
State Properties Protection<br />
Law, LSPPL, 2016 to expunge<br />
the option of fines for any<br />
convicted landgrabber(s) with<br />
a mandatory six-year jail<br />
term<br />
Ṗermanent Secretary,<br />
Lagos State Lands Bureau,<br />
Mr. Bode Agoro, revealed this<br />
at a stakeholders’ forum on<br />
fraudulent sales of state<br />
government land by<br />
landgrabbers, popularly,<br />
called “Omo-Onile,” held in<br />
Aausa, Ikeja.<br />
He said: “Since the first of<br />
February 2021, you probably<br />
must have been exposed to our<br />
advertisement calling on<br />
Lagosians to the activities of<br />
was like sounding your own<br />
death knell. After a lot of<br />
efforts to pull her son ut failed,<br />
the poor woman had to resign<br />
herself to her fate.<br />
Well, Alabi-Isama<br />
thankfully lived to tell the tale<br />
of his exploits in the Army, and<br />
he is still telling tales of his<br />
mesmerising adventure in the<br />
war-front to anyone who<br />
cared to listen. You must have<br />
recently read of his military<br />
exploits in the various<br />
newspapers that have carried<br />
his stories - so I’ll spare you<br />
all that - again! All I’m<br />
convinced of is that if he<br />
hadn’t been a soldier, he would<br />
have excelled in any other<br />
profession of his choice. At<br />
37, he suddenly found himself<br />
in the midst of us ‘bloody<br />
civilians’, hung around for a<br />
while, then relocated to the<br />
USA to cool his heels before<br />
restrategising. And, so began<br />
a chain of events that<br />
eventually moulded him into<br />
the man he is today - a<br />
Brigadier-General and a<br />
highly-successful<br />
businessman carving his<br />
niche in the telecoms business.<br />
Yet, the man is not as cut and<br />
dried as he seems. A socialite<br />
in his own right, it is amazing<br />
how he could make friends<br />
with the low and mighty and<br />
make all of them feel like his<br />
bosom buddy. You step into<br />
his house - and the revel<br />
begins! He virtually pours<br />
booze down your throat - you<br />
name your poison, he has it -<br />
from champagne to the best<br />
of brandies down to lager and<br />
exotic wines and soft drinks.<br />
But scarcely would you find<br />
him touching the stuff. Once<br />
•Gen Alabi-Isama<br />
a member of the ‘Champagne<br />
Charlie’ gang, he said he once<br />
drove for house through a<br />
nerve-wracking traffic from<br />
Ikeja to his Surulere<br />
residence. He was naturally<br />
in his soldier-temper when he<br />
got home. Still seething, he<br />
popped open a bottle of<br />
champagne and glug the lot<br />
straight from the bottle! “It<br />
knocked me for six,” he<br />
confessed. “Why I reacted so<br />
badly to a drink I’d enjoyed<br />
for years really frightened me.<br />
There and then, I resolved not<br />
to touch the stuff and I haven’t<br />
really looked back. Apart<br />
from a few celebratory drinks,<br />
I’ve stuck to my gun. I guess<br />
I’d had more than my share<br />
of the stuff. My exploits as a<br />
member of the ‘Elbow<br />
Raisers’ Club attested to that.<br />
But, there are a lot of things to<br />
enjoy in life than steeping in<br />
booze...”<br />
Like what, for instance? I<br />
asked him. “Like charting the<br />
Djooky music contest calls for entries as Brian<br />
Malouf, Patrice Rushen, others emerge judges<br />
He is a people’s<br />
man who made a<br />
lot of lasting<br />
friendship during<br />
the war, people<br />
whose lives he<br />
had saved still<br />
show him a lot<br />
of gratitude<br />
course of all my children<br />
some of who, thank goodness,<br />
are in some of world’s best<br />
professions.” He is also very<br />
passionate about his business<br />
- and there is his resolve to<br />
write a book about the civil<br />
war. Interesting how his life<br />
always revolve round his stint<br />
in the Army. Several books<br />
have been written about the<br />
war and a lot of Generals<br />
have given different accounts<br />
of their dare-devil adventures<br />
that another book would be a<br />
sort of so-what? To the reading<br />
public. “Not this one I’m<br />
writing,” he assured. “It’s so<br />
easy to distort facts when<br />
you’re not smack in the<br />
middle of action. My book is<br />
guaranteed to fill in the gaps.”<br />
Alabi-Isama is a<br />
perfectionist and that is<br />
preventing his book from<br />
going to press. He has refused<br />
to use a ghost-writer and he is<br />
writing the book long hand<br />
and with his computer. He is<br />
By Tunde Oso<br />
AS part of its efforts to<br />
improve the traffic<br />
situation in Lagos, Lagos<br />
State Management Agency,<br />
LASTMA, has partnered with<br />
the Association of Nigeria<br />
Courier Operators, ANCO by<br />
appointing some members of<br />
the association as Special<br />
Traffic Mayors, STMs.<br />
Speaking at the induction<br />
of the new mayors in Lagos,<br />
Commandant of Special<br />
Traffic Mayors, Lagos, Mr<br />
Othman Adesina Tajudeen<br />
said the burden of managing<br />
and controlling the traffic in<br />
the metropolitan city is so<br />
enormous it could not be left<br />
for LASTMA or Police alone,<br />
hence the partnership with<br />
private organisations like<br />
ANCO.<br />
According to him, with the<br />
involvement of the special<br />
traffic mayors and publicspirited<br />
individuals, the<br />
chaotic traffic situation and<br />
enending and ubiquitous<br />
gridlock will be a thing of the<br />
past.<br />
Educating the newlyinducted<br />
ANCO members on<br />
the functions of a mayor, the<br />
LASTMA chief said: ‘’You are<br />
to control traffic anywhere<br />
there is gridlock and chaos on<br />
the road; You are also to<br />
monitor road users and traffic<br />
painstakingly going through<br />
the mountain of photographs<br />
he has of his war days. A sort<br />
of collector’s item, he<br />
muttered he might just make<br />
a separate book of those! A<br />
glance at him on his desk with<br />
that determined scowl on his<br />
face had often made me want<br />
to turn back and run, as more<br />
often than not, I’d be used as<br />
his sounding board. In time I<br />
realised that he often asked<br />
your advice, you gave it, he<br />
sighed and promptly did<br />
exactly what he set out to do!<br />
And, he had got into a lot of<br />
trouble for that too! I had<br />
shown my indignance when I<br />
had to intervene in some of<br />
his skirmishes but he wasn’t<br />
having none of it. “My sister,”<br />
he often patronised, “you<br />
know I seldom go out. Most<br />
of the time you find me here<br />
at home in my corner,<br />
minding my business. So, how<br />
could I be guilty of all those<br />
things people accuse me of?”<br />
Then, the argument would<br />
start. The soldier in him never<br />
allows him to cede. “I don’t<br />
suffer fools,” he snaps. So, he<br />
cuts those he sees as traitors<br />
off without a backward<br />
glance. I have often reminded<br />
him he is no longer a soldier,<br />
that he now has to deal with<br />
mere mortals and make<br />
allowances for their<br />
shortcomings. Once in a<br />
while, he listens. Other times,<br />
he gives me the look he must<br />
have given some of his preys<br />
in the war-front before he<br />
pounced!<br />
In spite of all that, he has a<br />
large and generous heart.<br />
Why he decided to have his<br />
Land grabbing: Convicts to face 6-yr jail term with no option of fine<br />
...as Lagos reviews law<br />
By Nnamdi Ojiego<br />
This year’s winner of the<br />
prestigious Djooky<br />
music contest award will go<br />
home with the star prize of<br />
$10,000 and an all-expensepaid<br />
recording session at<br />
Capitol Recording Studios in<br />
Los Angeles, United States of<br />
America.<br />
The runner up will get a<br />
$5,000 cash prize and the<br />
third prize winner will pocket<br />
a cash prize of $2,000.<br />
The Djooky song contest<br />
is a global music competition<br />
dubious elements in certain<br />
communities who are selling<br />
Lagos State government<br />
lands to unsuspecting people<br />
in some parts of Lagos.<br />
“The lands are located at<br />
Okenla village, Ibeju-Lekki,<br />
Idake village, Ajao Oki,<br />
Ladegbole, Imedu, Iratirin,<br />
Obadimisi, Ogombo, and Eti-<br />
Osa, among others.<br />
“These land grabbers have<br />
now taken their game to a<br />
new level as they have the<br />
audacity to erect signpost<br />
bearing government logo and<br />
excision application file<br />
numbers in their desperate<br />
attempt to deceive prospective<br />
buyers into believing that<br />
sales of such lands are<br />
genuine transactions and<br />
have government backing.<br />
“In line with our vision to<br />
be a platform for efficient land<br />
resources management that<br />
promotes easy access to land<br />
that runs four times a year<br />
(winter, spring, summer and<br />
autumn), and opens to all<br />
types of music and genres<br />
from artists across the globe<br />
including African countries<br />
like Nigeria, Ghana,<br />
Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire,<br />
Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda,<br />
Tanzania, South Africa,<br />
Namibia, Mozambique<br />
and Zimbabwe.<br />
The contest, backed by<br />
world-recognized platinum<br />
producer, Brian Malouf, will<br />
kick start the national voting<br />
round from February 21-23,<br />
and title registration in Lagos<br />
State and our mission to<br />
entrench a culture of<br />
excellence, that ensures<br />
prompt and efficient<br />
service delivery anchored<br />
on the most current<br />
technology,<br />
“We are doubling efforts<br />
to confront all<br />
circumstances that may<br />
undermine transparency<br />
and integrity in the process<br />
of accessing land for either<br />
residential or commercial<br />
purposes.<br />
“The Attorney-General of<br />
the state has drafted the<br />
proposed amendment bill<br />
and presently with the state<br />
House of Assembly for a<br />
public hearing. In the next<br />
two months or less, we<br />
expected the law to be in<br />
operation.<br />
‘The focal point of the<br />
review is to remove the<br />
aspect of the option of fines<br />
2021. The continental and<br />
global voting will hold from<br />
24 - 26 and 27 - 28 February<br />
2021.<br />
This year’s judging panel<br />
includes multi-platinum US<br />
producer, Brian; Grammynominated<br />
artist and music<br />
director, Patrice Rushen; UK<br />
Ivor Novello winning<br />
songwriter, Sacha Skarbek<br />
and producer/music executive<br />
and songwriter Justin Gray;<br />
and Music Producer and<br />
Founder of BukiHQ Media,<br />
Buki Sawyerr-Izeogu,<br />
amongst others.<br />
and make it mandatory of<br />
six years in jail for convicted<br />
landgrabber(s).<br />
“We cannot afford to fold<br />
our arms while some persons<br />
continue to take advantage of<br />
hardworking and responsible<br />
Lagosians by selling illegal<br />
lands to them.<br />
“This is even so as the<br />
consequences of those<br />
transactions put lands bureau<br />
The management of Edo<br />
State University<br />
Uzairue, formerly Edo<br />
University Iyamho, has<br />
announced<br />
the<br />
commencement of<br />
postgraduate studies.<br />
This was contained in a<br />
statement made available to<br />
Sunday Vanguard.<br />
According to the<br />
statement:"Edo State<br />
University Uzairue, formerly<br />
Edo University Iyamho has<br />
scored another academic<br />
milestone with the<br />
commencement of admission<br />
into her postgraduate<br />
programme for the 2020/<br />
2021 academic session after<br />
securing the approval of the<br />
National Universities<br />
Commission (NUC).<br />
The commencement of the<br />
postgraduate programme is<br />
a sequel to the graduation of<br />
70th birthday bash at his late<br />
mother’s city of Ilorin beats a<br />
lot of us who had been<br />
warming up for the big event.<br />
He did have a good party, a<br />
lot of people whose hearts he<br />
had touched over the years<br />
managed to make their way<br />
to the venue in spite of the fact<br />
that it was a day to Christmas.<br />
Alabi-Isama is still<br />
expanding on details he<br />
wants in his soon-to-bepublished<br />
three-part book.<br />
“Why don’t you turn it into a<br />
sort of Encyclopaedia of the<br />
Nigerian Civil War?” At least<br />
I tried to! Alabi-Isama has<br />
remained a good friend. His<br />
children relate well to him.<br />
So, do his wives. He is a<br />
people’s man who made a lot<br />
of lasting friendship during<br />
the war. People whose lives he<br />
had saved still show him a lot<br />
of gratitude. Even now, he<br />
seems humbled by the fact<br />
that he pops into<br />
establishments looking for<br />
one favour or the other and<br />
up pops someone, eager to<br />
help and extol his help when<br />
they stared despair in the face.<br />
He boats of a stack of<br />
awards; and letters of<br />
commendation mostly from<br />
his business associates<br />
abroad. But his best moments<br />
are when he is amongst<br />
friends and family, dolling out<br />
hospitality and making as<br />
much noise as most of his tipsy<br />
guests whilst he remained as<br />
sober as a judge. Izam! This<br />
is wishing you the best of the<br />
rest of your years. As for the<br />
twins you have on your wishlist,<br />
may they materialise in<br />
your children and not in you!!!<br />
LASTMA inducts courier operators as Special Traffic Mayors<br />
officers with a view of<br />
providing information and<br />
updates to the agency.<br />
‘’Special traffic mayors are<br />
also expected to participate in<br />
workshops, seminars and<br />
training on traffic<br />
management periodically to<br />
avail themselves of best global<br />
practices.’’<br />
under unnecessary pressure<br />
when the buyers eventually<br />
come forward to process title<br />
documents. That is why it<br />
is better to proactively<br />
tame this preventive action<br />
now".<br />
The STM Commandant<br />
pointed out that the same laws<br />
guide LASTMA officers and<br />
Special Traffic Mayors,<br />
reminding the new inductees<br />
that being a mayor does not<br />
make them above the law,<br />
stressing that it rather behoves<br />
a responsibility on them to be<br />
exemplary and lead by<br />
example.<br />
Edo State Varsity, Uzairue commences<br />
postgraduate programmes<br />
two sets of students and a<br />
resource verification visit to<br />
the University by the National<br />
Universities Commission in<br />
November 2020.<br />
"The University secured<br />
approval for postgraduate<br />
Diplomas, Masters and<br />
Doctors of Philosophy in<br />
Economics, History and<br />
International Studies and<br />
Political Science. Others<br />
include; Biochemistry,<br />
Computer Science, and<br />
Microbiology and<br />
postgraduate Diplomas,<br />
Masters in Accounting<br />
With this, graduate students<br />
from around the country are<br />
advised to visit the<br />
University’s website for more<br />
details and procedures to<br />
obtain the postgraduate<br />
admission form for the<br />
commencement of their<br />
programmes.
SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021, PAGE 15<br />
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Aviation Minister,<br />
responds to the reactions trailing his rumoured<br />
bid to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party<br />
(PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).<br />
Trap, spy claims<br />
Over the last one week, millions of Nigerians have expressed concern about which<br />
direction I am going politically and much has been said.<br />
Some have gone out of their way to reach out to me and offered their counsel out of<br />
genuine love and concern.<br />
Others have not reached out to me and have written or spoken out of ignorance, hate<br />
and malice imputing the worst motivations for actions which they claim I have<br />
purportedly taken.<br />
This contribution is an attempt to provide answers to just a few of the oftentimes<br />
asinine and absurd assertions and observations that the latter group has made.<br />
Some say they warned me and that I have fallen into a trap whilst others say my voice<br />
has been silenced, I am a spy and that this signals the end of my political career. My<br />
response to them and others who have conjured up even stranger motivations and<br />
conspiracy theories when it comes to FFK is as follows:<br />
To whom it may concern: spare me your crocodile tears and be rest assured<br />
that I am too big, too intelligent, too experienced and too forthright to fall into<br />
any trap. It is impossible to castrate a lion, render it impotent or silence its<br />
roar.<br />
Beliefs<br />
I stand on all my beliefs, core values and principles. I am the<br />
voice of the voiceless, I am a warrior, I fear nothing, I fear noone,<br />
I am as constant as the northern star and I will ALWAYS<br />
stand <strong>against</strong> evil.<br />
Speaking to other leaders across party lines in order to<br />
build bridges, engender peace, foster stability and enhance<br />
national unity ought not to create such national and<br />
international rage, panic and pandemonium.<br />
Are we so divided that we can’t even talk to one<br />
another and take pictures together without<br />
causing a public stir and setting the Internet<br />
on fire?<br />
You insult me and say I am scared of<br />
prison because I had a meeting with two<br />
APC governors?<br />
Do you know how many PDP and APC<br />
governors and leaders I interact with and<br />
meet regularly? Do you know how<br />
many I talk to on a daily basis?<br />
Do you know that I was prosecuted<br />
for seven years by PDP governments<br />
which tried to jail me simply for<br />
speaking out <strong>against</strong> them yet it did not<br />
deter me? Ask those that were in the<br />
Yar’Adua and Jonathan<br />
administrations.<br />
After a while they got tired because<br />
the more they tried to intimidate me into<br />
silence or make me flee the country, the<br />
more I stood my ground and fought from<br />
my corner till they gave up.<br />
Does that sound like a man that is scared<br />
of death or prison?<br />
You insult me and say I am broke because<br />
I had talks with two APC governors.<br />
Do you know that what I spend on salary<br />
in one month is more than what some of<br />
these people that are claiming I am broke<br />
earn in five or 10 years?<br />
I have 55 domestic staff in my house alone.<br />
Not one of them gets below 70,000 naira<br />
per month which is higher than the national<br />
minimum wage.<br />
I do not owe salaries and I feed each of<br />
them three square meals every day.<br />
I do all this just to help them and to ensure<br />
they can look after and feed their families.<br />
Does that sound like a broke?<br />
That is my little contribution to the welfare<br />
of our people because I certainly do not<br />
need so many staff. I employ them just to<br />
keep them off the unemployment line.<br />
Apart from that, do you know how many<br />
people I give scholarships to and how many<br />
people’s children I feed and educate? Do<br />
you know how many other families I am<br />
responsible for in terms of day-to-day living?<br />
The Bible says “be your brother’s keeper”<br />
and I do these things unto the Lord. I do<br />
them and I will never stop even when my<br />
good is repaid with evil.<br />
The Lord has always provided for me and<br />
given me the fat of the land. He has always<br />
caused me to be a blessing to others though<br />
I do not make noise about it.<br />
For the last 60 years of my life He has<br />
been good to me. He has caused me to excel,<br />
prosper and flourish and from beginning<br />
to end He has always been with me and<br />
mine. You say I make money through<br />
politics; meanwhile I left public office in<br />
2007 which is 13 years ago! Does that make<br />
sense to you? In any case is politics my only<br />
source of income?<br />
Am I your conventional politician who<br />
craves for elective office? Do I even attend<br />
their meetings? I have been in this game<br />
since 1990!<br />
I have been making contributions to<br />
current affairs, political discourse and<br />
politics for the past 31 years which is long<br />
before most of today’s governors or<br />
Ministers even knew the meaning of the<br />
word.<br />
NADECO<br />
And it was always a struggle which<br />
involved sacrifice. Where were my<br />
detractors when I was in NADECO and<br />
fought <strong>against</strong> military rule?<br />
The records are there and so are the essays<br />
and some of the people I worked with.<br />
Where were they when we set up<br />
•Dikwa<br />
Fani-Kayode opens<br />
up on ‘defection’:<br />
I am a lion<br />
that cannot<br />
be caged<br />
September Club in 1989 and some of the<br />
nation’s greatest leaders and elder<br />
statesmen and top politicians over the last<br />
30 years, including Presidents,<br />
governors, Ministers and<br />
legislators across party lines,<br />
were members?<br />
Where were they in the days of<br />
NRC, SDP and Choice ’92 when<br />
politics was real, when the<br />
greats held sway and when men<br />
honored their word?<br />
Where were they when we<br />
risked all for MKO Abiola’s<br />
stolen mandate and June 12th<br />
and even had to go into exile for<br />
years because of it?<br />
Where were they when we<br />
stood <strong>against</strong> the annulment of<br />
June 12th and fought <strong>against</strong><br />
the government of General Sani<br />
Abacha?<br />
Where were they when we<br />
formed the Progressive Action Movement<br />
in 1999 and some of the nation’s brightest<br />
and best young stars and minds made their<br />
I owe noone<br />
any<br />
explanation<br />
for what I<br />
will do or<br />
will not do<br />
tomorrow<br />
contribution to national affairs?<br />
Where were they when we fought <strong>against</strong><br />
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff who was<br />
allegedly sent to destroy the PDP?<br />
Where were they when I led<br />
President Goodluck Jonathan’s<br />
presidential campaign in 2015 and<br />
took the battle to the gates of the<br />
enemy?<br />
Where were they when I stood<br />
behind President Olusegun<br />
Obasanjo and faced down ALL his<br />
detractors?<br />
Where were they when I was<br />
targeted and almost assassinated<br />
on two separate occasions during<br />
the Obasanjo presidency simply<br />
because I was the President’s<br />
defender-in-chief and armour<br />
bearer and was totally committed<br />
to his cause?<br />
I did all this in the past and<br />
present and you say I am making money<br />
from it? Do you know the risks involved in<br />
these things?<br />
Do you know I could have been killed<br />
together with members of my family long<br />
ago and most certainly would have had it<br />
not been for God?<br />
Can my detractors give up so much and<br />
risk so much just for politics? Honestly it<br />
really is the deepest insult.<br />
Wealth and politics<br />
Some of us were born into wealth and have<br />
never lacked it. We were born into politics too.<br />
We were born into the circles of power so<br />
nothing moves us.<br />
For us politics is a noble calling and not a<br />
profession. It is about proffering solutions to<br />
complex national issues and not about<br />
acquisition of primitive wealth.<br />
We gave up all for the struggle for democracy<br />
and the opportunity to help to develop our<br />
country and move her forward and now we<br />
are insulted and mocked and told we did it for<br />
money? Which money?<br />
How much can I be bought or bribed with?<br />
All the money in the world could not move me<br />
because I have never lacked it.<br />
What have I not had or enjoyed in life from<br />
a very young age? Where have I not been?<br />
I came to the conclusion long ago that all is<br />
vanity and that material wealth means nothing.<br />
I would never sacrifice my principles or<br />
integrity for it.<br />
Mallam Abba Kyari, the President’s late and<br />
powerful Chief of Staff, was my brother for<br />
over 40 years and we interacted regularly<br />
whilst he was in power.<br />
I never asked him for ANYTHING from his<br />
government just as I never asked or got<br />
ANYTHING from any of the previous Federal<br />
Governments between 2007 and 2021.<br />
If I had done so I would not have been able<br />
to criticise those governments publicly and I<br />
would have been exposed. You cannot criticise<br />
where you eat from.<br />
I did not <strong>join</strong> APC when Abba was in<br />
government and I did not compromise my<br />
principles when I could have asked him for<br />
anything since he had the ear of the President.<br />
I respected and loved him for who he was<br />
and NOT for the position he held and the<br />
feeling was mutual.<br />
I opposed his government in spite of our<br />
friendship and did not share his views yet we<br />
remained friends because our friendship was<br />
well above politics.<br />
That is what civilised people do. They agree<br />
to disagree and respect each other’s views.<br />
They never let it come between their friendship.<br />
I opposed Abba’s government and risked<br />
losing an old and loyal friend and brother<br />
because I believed passionately in all I said. I<br />
believed all that I said then and I still believe it<br />
today.<br />
All that and now you dare to question my<br />
resolve and consistency? It is laughable.<br />
Consistent<br />
You say I am inconsistent. Meanwhile I<br />
have been more consistent in my views over<br />
the last 30 years than 95% of Nigerian<br />
leaders and I have stuck to my guns despite<br />
all manner of persecution and suffering!<br />
You say I have no relevance meanwhile<br />
millions all over the world read my words<br />
avidly every day and follow my actions<br />
religiously because I inspire them due to<br />
the fact that I have always had the courage<br />
of my convictions and I have always spoken<br />
truth to power.<br />
Unlike most politicians I actually inspire<br />
people and give them hope. And most<br />
important of all they trust me and trust my<br />
judgment.<br />
They have also acknowledged the fact<br />
that more often than not my words are<br />
prophetic and I have displayed remarkable<br />
insight and foresight when it comes to<br />
national affairs.<br />
How many of your so-called “relevant”<br />
leaders have done that? How many of them<br />
have displayed such courage under fire for<br />
years on end?<br />
How many of them can have their<br />
newspaper columns in three national dailies<br />
closed over the years due to threats to the<br />
publishers from government and yet keep<br />
writing his essays on social media with<br />
millions of people all over the world still<br />
reading them and receiving the message?<br />
How many of them can be blacklisted by<br />
newspapers and television stations with<br />
threatening orders from above and still<br />
keep talking?<br />
How many of them across party lines can<br />
mould the thoughts and guide millions in<br />
this way with their counsel, words, actions<br />
and thoughts?<br />
First seven years of persecution under PDP<br />
then five years of persecution under APC!<br />
HOW many of your leaders can stand such<br />
fire and pain and still fight on?<br />
Almost all of them ever do is sell you down<br />
the river, tell you lies, ignore your pain,<br />
deceive you, mock you, use you and give<br />
you crumbs in return for your acclamation,<br />
support and loyalty but you love them for<br />
that.<br />
You say I am scared of even more<br />
persecution. At the age of 60 you believe I<br />
am scared?<br />
Continues on page 16
PAGE 16—SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021<br />
Searching for Home in<br />
The Camp<br />
Title: The Camp<br />
Author: Livinus Jatto<br />
www.thecampbook.com<br />
Publisher: AuthorHouse<br />
Number of pages: 131<br />
Year of publication: 2020<br />
Category: Fiction<br />
By Adegoke Tope Mark<br />
‘As the vehicle clambered<br />
up the last hill leading to<br />
Auchi town, the subtle<br />
petrichor of wet sand mixed<br />
with cow dung and the<br />
stench from overflowing<br />
dustbins lining the main<br />
road reminded him of<br />
home.’ The Camp, Livinus<br />
Jatto<br />
What tribe you belong to,<br />
your state of origin, religion<br />
is somehow what are used<br />
as yardstick to gauge a<br />
Nigerian. It doesn’t really<br />
matter his qualification or<br />
merit, these defining<br />
yardsticks or measures are<br />
the sentimental tools for<br />
sizing up a Nigerian. Thus,<br />
the Nigerian identity is<br />
very much troubled at<br />
home too; it begs the<br />
question, what or where is<br />
home truly? This is the<br />
story of Paul Badamosi in<br />
Livinus Jatto’s debut novel,<br />
The Camp. Through this<br />
character’s many obstacles<br />
and development, we<br />
witness the displacement of<br />
a person within his own<br />
country, and how systems<br />
that favours ethnic bigotry<br />
and religion and<br />
mediocrity up-ends him at<br />
different stages of his life<br />
and career.<br />
The novel is worked into<br />
eleven chapters, with every<br />
chapter short and titled to<br />
encapsulate the core theme<br />
it focuses on. In the opening<br />
chapter titled ‘A Camp<br />
Called Home’, it follows the<br />
origin of Paul Badamosi<br />
who became Faul Badamasi<br />
through the hand of the<br />
clerk who registered him<br />
into primary school:<br />
He didn’t notice that the<br />
Hausa teacher called him<br />
Faul, with his Hausa accent.<br />
Fani-Kayode opens up on ‘defection’: I am a lion that cannot be caged<br />
Continued from page 16<br />
What more can they do to me that they<br />
have not done already? And what more am<br />
I looking for in life that I have not enjoyed<br />
over the years?<br />
Yet you say I am scared! And those that<br />
say so can barely endure one tenth of what<br />
I have endured.<br />
Some of them make noise from the safety<br />
of other countries and stay away from Nigeria<br />
out of fear of being locked up yet they mock<br />
those of us that live on the doorsteps of our<br />
oppressors in Nigeria and dare them to their<br />
faces.<br />
Some of them have not been able to face<br />
hardship or deprivation and neither can they<br />
bear it when their rights are being violated.<br />
Yet to many of us this has become the norm<br />
and we are used to it yet we still continue to<br />
struggle and fight the system regardless. Let<br />
me give you just one example. Do you know<br />
that I have not been able to travel out of Nigeria<br />
for the last 13 years because my passport was<br />
first seized by a PDP government for eight<br />
years and then by an APC government for five<br />
years?<br />
Do you know that I could not even go for<br />
medical check-ups outside the country because<br />
of that?<br />
Locked up with<br />
B/Haram suspects<br />
Did you ever hear me complain or did this<br />
ever stop me from speaking truth to power,<br />
standing firm <strong>against</strong> injustice or speaking<br />
up for the weak, the persecuted and the<br />
voiceless?<br />
Do you know I was locked up by both PDP<br />
and APC Federal Governments for no just<br />
cause?<br />
Do you know I was even locked up in Boko<br />
Haram detention centers with Boko Haram<br />
suspects?<br />
Do you know that only terrorists were kept<br />
in the facility that they kept me? Do you know<br />
that that place was worse than Gauntanamo<br />
Bay and that it was built by the British<br />
government?<br />
Neither was he aware of the<br />
future impact of the<br />
misspelling of his surname,<br />
which now read<br />
“Badamasi”. At first glance,<br />
Badamasi and Badamosi<br />
looked the same, but the<br />
politics of Nigeria made this<br />
almost innocuous difference<br />
a matter of survival. The<br />
Northerners spelt theirs<br />
Badamasi, while those from<br />
the Southwest, mostly<br />
Yorubas, and Binis in the<br />
Midwest spelt the same<br />
name Badamosi.<br />
Whichever way it was<br />
spelt, it meant<br />
approximately the same<br />
thing. (pg. 9)<br />
Paul who was born to a<br />
stern and disciplinarian<br />
father learned from the<br />
onset of his childhood the<br />
complexity of his identity.<br />
His parents migrated from<br />
Midwest Nigeria<br />
somewhere called Tabo<br />
Gido-Ora to seek a new life<br />
in the northern part of<br />
Nigeria called Badaka State<br />
immediately after the Civil<br />
War. Badaka is a fictional<br />
state but resembles any<br />
cosmopolitan urban centres<br />
in the north that has<br />
various ethnic groups<br />
domiciled there. The<br />
author here is leaving the<br />
setting blank thereby<br />
creating a kind of template<br />
anybody with similar<br />
experience can copy theirs<br />
on. This makes the story<br />
ring true and shows the<br />
history of a nation is knitted<br />
with its peoples:<br />
The difference between<br />
the North, the South, the<br />
East and the West replicated<br />
throughout the whole<br />
national life of Nigerians<br />
and defined Paul’s growth<br />
and development as it did<br />
the growth and<br />
development of the<br />
country. These differences<br />
determined who could<br />
legitimately claim to have<br />
a stake in the entity called<br />
Nigeria. It shaped Paul’s<br />
evolution. It also played an<br />
important role in the<br />
stunned growth of the<br />
country. Both Paul and other<br />
Nigerians conduct<br />
themselves as if they were<br />
internally displaced. (pg. 9)<br />
As the narrative is<br />
centred on Paul, it follows his<br />
frustrations and<br />
disappointments in his<br />
quest to arrive at a place or<br />
point where he can call<br />
home. When he decides to<br />
visit his parents’<br />
hometown, he discovers<br />
home is just an idea as he<br />
has become an alien in his<br />
parents’ state of origin. They<br />
come from a minority<br />
group as ‘Midwestern<br />
Northerner’. He also<br />
discovers that baggage<br />
comes with certain<br />
advantages and<br />
disadvantages. The<br />
advantage being that<br />
standard could be lowered<br />
for him to scale through<br />
educational challenges. The<br />
author writes that the pass<br />
mark for JAMB, a tertiary<br />
entrance examination in<br />
Nigeria, can be lowered for<br />
northerners to fulfil the<br />
federal quota or character<br />
as stipulated by the<br />
constitution. This, he<br />
attests, through the<br />
protagonist entry into the<br />
university. The advantage<br />
he thought he had soon<br />
turned into a big<br />
disadvantage as he couldn’t<br />
apply for a bursary from his<br />
Badaka State because he is<br />
not legitimately recognised<br />
there because his parents<br />
only settled there and<br />
therefore cannot lay claim<br />
to his place of birth.<br />
Do you know how terrifying that was and<br />
that I could have been killed or maimed whilst<br />
there?<br />
Yet did you ever hear me complain about it,<br />
submit, compromise, give up or back down<br />
from criticising the government or previous<br />
governments because of these trials and<br />
tribulations?<br />
How many of your so-called “relevant” and<br />
“great” leaders can bear such torment and<br />
injustice without cracking? Did you ever see<br />
or hear me crack? Did I ever break?<br />
Do you know what horrors my first wife<br />
Regina and my daughter Remi were subjected<br />
to by a PDP government? Do you know why<br />
they had to go into exile and live abroad?<br />
Do you know what hell my ex-wife Precious<br />
and first son Aragorn were subjected to by the<br />
APC government?<br />
Do you know the tears we shed secretly and<br />
the number of times we suffered and were<br />
forced to go underground for no just cause?<br />
Do you know the kind of stress and torment<br />
this put us through? Do you know that all our<br />
bank accounts were frozen for five years?<br />
Did all that stop me or stop us from standing?<br />
Did we not endure and bear it all with dignity<br />
for years and still continue to make our<br />
contribution to national affairs with zeal and<br />
passion?<br />
Yet leaders like me that make these sacrifices<br />
and speak truth you describe as having no<br />
relevance, no consistency and you hate.<br />
You mock, ridicule, insult and believe the<br />
very worst about us at the drop of a hat. Some<br />
even have the nerve and effrontery to say we<br />
are not politicians simply because we have<br />
not run for elective office.<br />
It is those who speak truth and that are<br />
courageous enough to expose and confront<br />
evil that you hate, judge and always think and<br />
assume the worse off at the drop of a hat.<br />
Do you know that despite facing the most<br />
vicious persecution and prosecution for seven<br />
long years the court found me not guilty of<br />
corruption whilst I was Minister of Aviation<br />
and Minister of Culture and Tourism and<br />
acquitted and discharged me?<br />
How many of your leaders can endure going<br />
to court for seven years before four different<br />
CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR: NPDC, NOSL remember<br />
Eastern Obolo communities, others<br />
T HE<br />
P e t r o Nigerian<br />
l e u m<br />
Development Corporation<br />
(NPDC), in conjunction<br />
with their partner, Natural<br />
Oil Field Service Limited<br />
(NOSL) (a subsidiary of<br />
Sterling Oil), reached out to<br />
host communities in<br />
Eastern Obolo during<br />
Christmas/New Year.<br />
600 bags of rice, 66<br />
cartons of noodles, 66 bags<br />
of salt, 66 cans of cooking oil<br />
and cartons of wine were<br />
handed over to Engr. Hope<br />
Etetor, son of the<br />
paramount ruler of Eastern<br />
Obolo LGA who represented<br />
Dr Charles Mboung, leader<br />
of the Local Government<br />
Committee on Oil and Gas,<br />
in the presence of other<br />
committee members, Mr.<br />
Uro Bills and Mr. Loveday<br />
Ekuyok, at the admin head<br />
office of NPDC in Eket.<br />
The NPDC team was<br />
represented by Mr Olutope<br />
Bello while Group Capt<br />
Ettete Ekpo (rtd) led the<br />
NOSL team which paraded<br />
Mr. Eugene Unwana, Mr.<br />
Ubong Eti and Mrs. Emem<br />
Thomas. About 33<br />
communities from Eastern<br />
Obolo benefitted from the<br />
gifts. They include<br />
Akpabom, Elekpon,<br />
Atabrikang and Okoroete.<br />
Bills and Loveday lauded<br />
the kind gesture in spite of<br />
the adverse economic<br />
situation in the country,<br />
saying they got only rice in<br />
2019 but got salt, cooking<br />
oil, noodles and wine in<br />
addition to rice in 2020.<br />
They urged NPDC and<br />
NOSL to continue to reach<br />
out to their communities,<br />
improve engagement with<br />
them to ensure a conducive<br />
environment for their<br />
operations.<br />
In a brief chat with the<br />
Base Manager, Mr Fabian<br />
Ebri, in his office, he said, in<br />
addition to the items given<br />
to the Eastern Obolo<br />
communities and<br />
neighbours, military and<br />
some governmental<br />
agencies got another 1,200<br />
judges and in the midst of a vicious media<br />
witch-hunt in which most people who knew<br />
nothing about the case had declared me guilty?<br />
How many of you could have survived<br />
that without capitulating, cracking,<br />
begging and bending the knee?<br />
Do you know that I have been facing<br />
prosecution for the past five years in two<br />
separate courts for doing absolutely nothing<br />
wrong except leading a presidential campaign<br />
<strong>against</strong> Buhari and for Jonathan in 2015 and<br />
as a consequence of politically-motivated and<br />
malicious charges which were filed only<br />
because of my bitter and vicious opposition to<br />
the Buhari government?<br />
Do you know that under my tenure as<br />
Minister of Aviation there were no plane<br />
crashes whilst the year before I came in there<br />
were five and 453 died in those crashes?<br />
Do you know that I put a stop to those crashes<br />
and that I am the only Minister of Aviation in<br />
Nigerian history under which there were NO<br />
plane crashes?<br />
Poll<br />
Do you know that despite all the challenges<br />
and persecution I was recently polled by 85%<br />
of the readers of Vanguard Newspaper that I<br />
was the loudest and most consistent voice of<br />
opposition <strong>against</strong> the Buhari government<br />
over the last five years?<br />
All this yet you label me a coward and<br />
someone that has achieved nothing?<br />
Do you know that most of those leaders you<br />
revere and love so much are cowards who are<br />
unable and unwilling to risk all and speak<br />
truth to power.<br />
All they are able to do is to mislead you and<br />
their followers to hate and insult those of us<br />
that really care for you.<br />
Joker<br />
Honestly some people need mental health<br />
checks and medical attention!<br />
And for anyone to say I will not be welcome<br />
in a party that I have not publicly expressed a<br />
desire to <strong>join</strong> amazes me.<br />
The joker that claimed I was rejected by the<br />
bags of rice as NPDC and<br />
NOSL considers them<br />
important stakeholders.<br />
Ebri said NPDC and NOSL<br />
will constantly reach out to<br />
all involved in making<br />
their operations smooth<br />
and peaceful.<br />
From left: Mr. Eugine Unwana, Group Capt Etete Ekpo<br />
(rtd), Mr Olutope Bello, Engr. Hope Etetor, Mr.<br />
Loveday Ekuyok and Mr. Uro Bills during the<br />
presentation.<br />
Some of the items donated.<br />
Ekpo, leader of the NOSL<br />
team, in a chat after the<br />
presentation, assured all<br />
that the company, as<br />
always, would continue to<br />
give attention to the welfare<br />
of host communities and<br />
other stakeholders.<br />
APC needs to tell me where and when I applied<br />
to <strong>join</strong> them and what my registration number<br />
was!<br />
Did I tell you I am leaving PDP for APC? Or<br />
did I tell anyone that I will stay in PDP forever<br />
no matter what happens or no matter what<br />
they do to me or to the country?<br />
You see, unlike most, I am a one-man army<br />
and riot squad and I am accountable to no<br />
man or party. I am only accountable to God!<br />
Unlike most, I do not do things in the dark<br />
and I do not shy away from speaking the truth<br />
or my mind once it is set.<br />
When and if I ever choose to make a move I<br />
will be clear and categorical and I will let the<br />
world know, so hold your hate fire till we get<br />
to that bridge.<br />
Yet know this: I owe no-one any explanation<br />
for what I will do or will not do tomorrow, I<br />
will gladly live with the consequences of my<br />
actions and decisions and I will defend myself<br />
and explain my actions when I choose to do<br />
so if I believe it is ever necessary.<br />
2023 realignments,<br />
new alliances<br />
I do not know what the details are yet but,<br />
before 2023, there WILL be many<br />
realignments and new alliances. Both parties<br />
will see many shifts and many individuals will<br />
change sides.<br />
This is because we must get it right in 2023<br />
and we must ensure that whoever takes power<br />
at the center, regardless of party affiliation,<br />
restructures our country and takes our nation<br />
to the promise land.<br />
We must build bridges and secure the peace,<br />
unity and progress of this country and most<br />
important of all we must avoid civil war and<br />
do all we can to save our nation from armed<br />
conflict and fratricidal butchery.<br />
That is the challenge before us today and<br />
that is the reality of Nigerian politics.<br />
Whilst others meet secretly and hide from<br />
the cameras in their quest to achieve these<br />
objectives, I will not. I am the beloved of the<br />
Lord and I am a LION!<br />
No man born of woman can silence my roar!<br />
I am who I am. I am FFK.
SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 21, 2021, PAGE 17<br />
Must you confess to an affair?<br />
Most people want to<br />
keep their affair secret<br />
because they want to have both<br />
the marriage and the affair.<br />
According to Zelda West-<br />
Meads in her book: The<br />
Trouble With You: “Many<br />
people claim that an affair<br />
helps sustain their marriage,<br />
or provides a part of their<br />
needs that are not being met<br />
in the marriage. They are<br />
unhappily married, and they<br />
may recognize that the person<br />
with whom they are having the<br />
affair is not offering what they<br />
want on a full-time basis, but<br />
just providing something<br />
which is important at the time.<br />
There are some people who<br />
want their affair to be<br />
discovered, as a way of<br />
signalling to their partner that<br />
for them, the marriage is over.<br />
Or there are some people who<br />
want the affair to be<br />
discovered because of their<br />
guilt. They believe, foolishly,<br />
that if they tell their partner –<br />
and this is usually at the time<br />
when the affair is moving to<br />
an end or has just ended – they<br />
will be forgiven.<br />
But life is not like that and<br />
their partner is not into<br />
forgiveness at this stage – it’s<br />
too soon. So, the person who<br />
confessed, far from being<br />
forgiven, suddenly finds they<br />
are on the receiving end of<br />
outrage, anger, hurt, or even<br />
the desire to murder or destroy<br />
their partner or the other<br />
person involved. The desire<br />
to confess can be a selfish act<br />
if all you are trying to do is<br />
relieve your guilt. But if your<br />
partner suspects that you are<br />
having an affair, and insists<br />
they want to know the truth, it<br />
is fairer to admit it.<br />
If, on the other hand, an<br />
affair is over, and particularly<br />
if it is in the past, there is little<br />
point in suddenly telling your<br />
partner all about it, because<br />
for them, it will not feel over<br />
at all. Not only will this hurt<br />
them deeply, but they will want<br />
to know all about it. Equally,<br />
a one-night stand or a brief<br />
but regrettable encounter,<br />
would be deeply upsetting.<br />
Whichever way you look at<br />
it, discovery of an affair really<br />
does shake most marriages to<br />
their foundations. Some fall<br />
apart, others grind on<br />
unhappily, or continue and<br />
then break up several years<br />
later. Others, however, can<br />
recover and can end up being<br />
stronger and more loving than<br />
before the affair – although<br />
for most couples, this is a long,<br />
painful journey.<br />
Can the marriage be rebuilt<br />
after an affair? “If you<br />
really want to rebuild the<br />
marriage, and you’re both<br />
committed to this, it is<br />
possible, although not easy”,<br />
says the author. “It takes time<br />
and a great deal of talking.<br />
The person who has not had<br />
the affair usually needs to talk<br />
much more than the<br />
unfaithful partner tends not to<br />
want to be questioned about<br />
the details of the affair. They<br />
see a fresh start as a way to<br />
put the affair behind them and<br />
get on with repairing the<br />
‘marriage’. But their partner<br />
has to be given time and the<br />
opportunity to express<br />
negative feelings of hurt,<br />
disbelief, anger, grief, rejection<br />
and loss of confidence and<br />
self-esteem. As well as this,<br />
some questions have to be<br />
answered honestly. Who the<br />
affair was with, how long it<br />
had been going on, who else<br />
knows, when they met, and<br />
what the affair meant to them.<br />
This is painful to hear, but if it<br />
remains unsaid, it gives their<br />
partner no chance to deal with<br />
what has been going on.<br />
What is usually not a good<br />
idea, however, is to talk about<br />
intimate sexual details,<br />
because these can really stay<br />
in the mind of your partner<br />
and haunt them for years. So,<br />
when they ask, as most do, it<br />
is kinder not to be explicit. If<br />
you say too much, it can get in<br />
the way in the future,<br />
particularly when making<br />
love. It takes time for these<br />
memories to fade.<br />
The next state in the<br />
recovery process is moving<br />
from the recriminations to<br />
starting to look at what went<br />
wrong and what led to the<br />
affair. This is often<br />
particularly difficult for the<br />
partner who has not had the<br />
affair. For them, it is often<br />
easier to stick with the thought<br />
that it’s all their partner ’s<br />
fault and to go on blaming<br />
them, rather than looking<br />
at what they might have<br />
contributed. It is only by<br />
discussing what was going<br />
on before the affair that<br />
you can begin to<br />
understand each other and<br />
then painfully and slowly<br />
start to rebuild your<br />
relationship.<br />
What about making love<br />
again? West-Meads<br />
believes it is usually better<br />
not to rush into making<br />
love too quickly after the<br />
discovery of an affair.<br />
Some couples do so<br />
because the person who has<br />
not been unfaithful and<br />
want their partner to stay,<br />
feels it is a way of keeping<br />
them or repairing the<br />
relationship. It’s more<br />
often a woman who thinks<br />
this. She sees it as a way of<br />
showing she still loves her<br />
partner, or as a way to<br />
compete with the mistress.<br />
It usually does not work.<br />
This is because the man is<br />
missing his mistress,<br />
feeling guilty, or both,<br />
which can result in loss of<br />
interest in sex or the loss of<br />
an erection, which then<br />
feels like further rejection<br />
to the woman. Or the<br />
woman is too plagued by<br />
thoughts of the mistress, or<br />
the relationship is still too<br />
tentative. Either way, both<br />
of you can end up getting<br />
hurt.<br />
So for both sexes, if you<br />
do make love fairly soon<br />
after the discovery of an<br />
affair, it may be all right<br />
but you are more likely to<br />
think of what your partner<br />
might have been doing with<br />
their mistress or lover.<br />
These flash-backs are<br />
always possible, but they do<br />
fade and die. However, in the<br />
early days, the memory or the<br />
imagination are likely to be<br />
very vivid and do not help the<br />
recovery process. It is better<br />
for most people to allow time<br />
for trust to be rebuilt before<br />
love again.<br />
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Dear readers, please note that we neither operate, nor are we an affiliate of any match–making agency in or outside the<br />
country. Any reader who transacts business with any one claiming to be our agent does so at his/her own risk. Our mission<br />
is only to provide a platform for social networking.<br />
Also note that neither Vanguard, nor Yetunde Arebi will be liable for any error in the publication of requests which may<br />
result in any form of embarrassment to any member of the public. We therefore request that text must be sent through at least<br />
one of the numbers for contact. This notice is necessary to enable us serve you better in our refreshingly different style. You<br />
can send your requests to 33055. For enquiries, text or call 08026651636, or 08054700825<br />
Coca-Cola Foundation awards $85,000 grant<br />
to Aid for Rural Education Access Initiative<br />
By Josephine Agbonkhese<br />
The<br />
Coca-Cola<br />
Foundation, TCCF, has<br />
awarded a grant of $85,000<br />
to a non-governmental<br />
organisation, Aid for Rural<br />
Education Access Initiative,<br />
AREAi.<br />
According to the Public<br />
Affairs, Communications &<br />
Sustainability Manager,<br />
Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited,<br />
Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, the<br />
grant will be used to curb<br />
plastic pollution in six states<br />
across the federation, through<br />
recovery and repurposing of<br />
600 tons of PET Bottles in 12<br />
months.<br />
Speaking to Vanguard,<br />
Gideon Olanrewaju, Founder,<br />
AREAi, said beneficiaries of<br />
the project will include over<br />
60 communities in the Federal<br />
Capital Territory, Yobe, Kano,<br />
Kaduna, Kwara and Oyo<br />
states, where periodic recycling<br />
activities will take place and over 300<br />
women will be recruited as waste<br />
pickers and sorters.<br />
"These female waste collectors will<br />
be trained on financial literacy and<br />
environmental safety practices,<br />
equipped with Personal Protective<br />
Equipment, PPE, and empowered<br />
through a trash-for-cash recovery<br />
scheme.<br />
"Recycling stations would be<br />
instituted across these states, with<br />
public recycling bins also distributed<br />
to strategic locations to drive<br />
effective recycling processes and<br />
activities in the various<br />
communities," he explained.<br />
Reiterating Coca-Cola's<br />
commitment towards addressing the<br />
issue of plastic pollution,<br />
Onyemelukwe said: "Coca-Cola<br />
remains committed to addressing the<br />
issue of plastic pollution across the<br />
world. Our vision for a World Without<br />
Waste focuses on recycling and<br />
behavioural-change initiatives.<br />
Peaceful coexistence: Uvwie monarch<br />
lauds Arewa community<br />
His Royal Majesty<br />
Emmanuel Ekemejewa<br />
Sideso, Abe 1, the Ovie of Uvwie<br />
Kingdom has commended Arewa<br />
people in Uvwie kingdom for<br />
their peaceful and friendly<br />
disposition since he ascended the<br />
throne.<br />
The Uvwie monarch made the<br />
commendation in his remarks at<br />
his 13th coronation anniversary,<br />
noting that Arewa people under<br />
the leadership of Alhaji Suleiman<br />
Jauro had always identified with<br />
his palace and indeed the<br />
kingdom in ceremonial activities<br />
in wonderful ways.<br />
The traditional ruler also noted<br />
that there had never been issues of<br />
menace of herdsmen or clashes<br />
between Arewa people and his<br />
subjects under the Arewa<br />
leadership of Alhaji Jauro in<br />
Uvwie kingdom.<br />
While assuring Arewa people<br />
and other non indigenes of their<br />
peaceful stay in Uvwie, Abe 1<br />
urged the Arewa community and<br />
other non indigenes to sustain their<br />
cordial relationship with the Uvwie<br />
people.<br />
Alhaji Jauro, the Arewa leader<br />
in Uvwie, in a chat with our<br />
correspondent shortly after the<br />
event, expressed delight over the<br />
remarks of the Uvwie monarch,<br />
vowing that the remarks would<br />
spur them to build more cordial<br />
relationship with Uvwie people.<br />
While pledging his continued<br />
loyalty to the Ovie of Uvwie<br />
kingdom on behalf of the Arewa<br />
people in the area, Alhaji Jauro<br />
remarked that the Uvwie monarch<br />
has always carried the Arewa<br />
people along in his rulership of<br />
Uvwie kingdom.<br />
"That is why we always feel at<br />
home. We pray that Allah should<br />
blessed him (Abe1)with more<br />
peaceful and prosperous reign, " he<br />
added.<br />
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Eko Club: Again, Fanimokun<br />
wins at Appeal Court<br />
The Court of Appeal, Lagos, has<br />
dismissed the case filed by the Eko<br />
Club Board of Trustees and Guardian<br />
Council of Eko Club <strong>against</strong> Chief<br />
Babatunde Fanimokun over his third term<br />
as President of the club. Fanimokun was<br />
the president of Eko Club from February<br />
2017 to February 2019.<br />
However, his attempt to vie for a third<br />
term was opposed by Eko Club and the<br />
Guardian Council. Meanwhile, the Club<br />
and Council brought a candidate, Dr.<br />
Shamsideen Dosumu as their preferred<br />
choice.<br />
The Federal High Court, Lagos, presided<br />
over by Justice C. J. Aneke, on Monday,<br />
March 9, 2020, held that Fanimokun has<br />
every right to vie for selection as the<br />
President for a third consecutive year.<br />
But the Board of Trustees and Guardian<br />
Council challenged the judgment at the<br />
Court of Appeal.<br />
In her ruling on Wednesday, February 17,<br />
2021, Justice Otisi, dismissed the appeal<br />
and upheld the judgment of the lower<br />
court.
PAGE 18—SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021<br />
The sure mercies of David (2)<br />
What would you do if God told you (a<br />
Christian) to attack some people and<br />
kill everybody, including women and<br />
children? You might decide to pity some of<br />
them. You might see a newborn baby and decide,<br />
out of the goodness of your heart, to spare<br />
him. In short, you might end up declaring that<br />
you are more righteousness than God.<br />
Several years ago, God told me to terminate<br />
the appointments of all the people working<br />
with me. He then said I should tell those who<br />
still wanted to work with me to reapply. He<br />
told me, furthermore, that two people would<br />
not reapply because He did not want them to<br />
continue working with me.<br />
So, I did as I was told, and the two people did<br />
not reapply. They asked when they could submit<br />
all the official paraphernalia with them,<br />
and we made an appointment for the next day.<br />
Then, I became very sad. I said to myself in my<br />
heart, I was not even talking to God mind you:<br />
“What a pity that they have to leave.” And God<br />
heard me.<br />
I got into trouble. The Holy Spirit rebuked<br />
me sharply. “Are you more righteous than God?<br />
I said some people should go and you are asking<br />
that they should stay in your mercy. What<br />
do you know about mercy?”<br />
I know nothing at all.<br />
Judgment of Amalek<br />
For God to be merciful to<br />
us, he has to be merciless<br />
to somebody else<br />
When God told Saul to attack the Amalekites<br />
and kill everybody, that extreme instruction<br />
came out of God’s kindness to Israel. God<br />
remembered the wickedness of the Amalekites<br />
in attacking Israel from the rear in the wilderness.<br />
He was also trying to prevent the Amalekites<br />
from attacking David’s people in the future.<br />
Do you know that if Saul had completely<br />
wiped out the Amalekites as instructed, they<br />
would not have attacked David’s people<br />
much later at Ziklag?<br />
“Now it happened, when David and his<br />
men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that<br />
the Amalekites had invaded the South and<br />
Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with<br />
fire, and had taken captive the women and<br />
those who were there, from small to great;<br />
they did not kill anyone, but carried them<br />
away and went their way. So, David and his<br />
men came to the city, and there it was,<br />
burned with fire; and their wives, their sons,<br />
and their daughters had been taken captive.”<br />
(1 Samuel 30:1-3).<br />
In effect, the judgement of God on Amalek<br />
reflects the mercy of God on Israel. This<br />
is how the psalmist expresses this kingdom<br />
dynamic. He says the mercy of the God<br />
who killed the firstborn of Egypt but brought<br />
out Israel safely endures forever:<br />
“To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,<br />
for His mercy endures forever; and made<br />
Israel pass through the midst of it, for His<br />
mercy endures forever; but overthrew Pharaoh<br />
and his army in the Red Sea, for His<br />
mercy endures forever… To Him who<br />
struck down great kings, for His mercy endures<br />
forever; and gave their land as a heritage,<br />
for His mercy endures forever; a heritage<br />
to Israel His servant, for His mercy endures forever.<br />
(Psalm 136:15-22).<br />
According to the scriptures, calamities occur<br />
because God’s mercy endures forever. The<br />
psalmist says God killed all the firstborn of Egypt<br />
because His mercy endures forever. He drowned<br />
all Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea because His<br />
mercy endures forever.<br />
In effect, the mercy of God to Israel is the judgement<br />
of God to Pharaoh. Israel knows that the<br />
mercy of God endures forever because in one<br />
day God killed all the firstborn in Egypt in one<br />
fell swoop and spared all the firstborn of Israel<br />
in Goshen. Had the two different acts of God<br />
not occurred simultaneously, Israel would have<br />
been oblivious of the mercy of God.<br />
Thus, the same Red Sea that was the instrument<br />
of God’s deliverance of the Jews was the<br />
instrument of God’s destruction of the Egyptians.<br />
Unmerited favour<br />
God did this so both the Israelites and the<br />
Egyptians can fully appreciate the mercy of God.<br />
Some people were destroyed so that their land<br />
may be given to the Israelites. In this way, all<br />
men everywhere would fully appreciate the unmerited<br />
favour of God.<br />
Thus, God says to Israel: “I sent the hornet<br />
before you which drove them out from before<br />
you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but<br />
not with your sword or with your bow. I have<br />
given you a land for which you did not labour,<br />
and cities which you did not build, and<br />
you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards<br />
and olive groves which you did not plant.”<br />
(Joshua 24:12-13).<br />
Similarly, God gave me a fellowship that I<br />
did not start. He gave me a house in exclusive<br />
Victoria Island, Lagos that I did not build. He<br />
gave me a school, Nouveau International<br />
School, Lagos that I did not establish. He gave<br />
me a car, Toyota RAV4, that I did not buy. My<br />
house in Lagos is full of very expensive paintings<br />
that I did not pay for.<br />
As for you reading this, some people have died<br />
of Covid-19 but you have survived, for God’s<br />
mercy endures forever. Some people contracted<br />
Covid-19 and died while you contracted<br />
Covid-19 and survived, for God’s mercy endures<br />
forever.<br />
Therefore, from today, never talk about<br />
God’s unfairness again. What do you know<br />
about fairness? Who taught you fairness? Is it<br />
fair that your name should be written in heaven?<br />
It is fair that some should be in the hospital<br />
now but you are at home? Is it fair that you<br />
can see, but some are born blind? Is it fair that<br />
you should know the Lord and others don’t?<br />
Any insistence on fairness would cost you<br />
your salvation. The person who insists on fairness,<br />
or vengeance, is the person who despises<br />
the grace of God.<br />
Double-edged sword<br />
Therefore, if your father should die, if your<br />
brother you have an accident, if you should<br />
fail in your exams, if your husband should<br />
leave you for another woman, from now start<br />
seeing everything that happens from the perspective<br />
of God’s mercy.<br />
The word of God is sharper than any double-edged<br />
sword. Jesus is both a sanctuary<br />
and a rock of offence. He is a sanctuary and a<br />
gin and a snare at the same time. This is because<br />
for God to be merciful to us, he has to be<br />
merciless to somebody else. For us to live,<br />
Jesus Christ had to die.<br />
In your life, the mercy of God endures forever.<br />
You are born again, you are in the ark<br />
of Jesus Christ, for His mercy endures forever.<br />
From the ark, Noah must have seen a<br />
lot of dead bodies floating on the water and<br />
rotting in the sun, for God’s mercy endures<br />
forever. You have received what God promised:<br />
the sure mercies of David.<br />
“Therefore, consider the goodness and severity<br />
of God: on those who fell, severity;<br />
but toward you, goodness, if you continue<br />
in His goodness. Otherwise, you also will<br />
be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue<br />
in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God<br />
is able to graft them in again.” (Romans<br />
11:22-23).<br />
CONTINUED<br />
I ‘died’ but God raised me on third day – Asubiaro, G.O., Calvary Assemblies<br />
By Adegbola Temitope &<br />
Abiodun Theresa<br />
From left: Pastor Asubiaro, celebrant; Pastor Paul,<br />
Guest Speaker and Mrs. Asubiaro when the General<br />
Overseer of Calvary Authority Pentecostal Assemblies<br />
celebrated his birthday.<br />
The General Overseer of Calvary Author<br />
ity Pentecostal Assemblies (CAPA), Pas<br />
tor Abel 'Segun Asubiaro, has narrated<br />
how he passed out following a sudden ailment<br />
but God raised him on the third day.<br />
Asubiaro gave this testimony in appreciation<br />
to God and in obedience to the vow he<br />
made to God that no matter the day his birthday<br />
falls, he will always set aside that day with<br />
family, friends and Church members to appreciate<br />
Him.<br />
He explained during his 61st birthday thanksgiving<br />
service held on Saturday, February 6,<br />
2021 that he lost consciouness on Friday, August<br />
14, 2020 and God raised him on Sunday,<br />
August 16, 2020.<br />
“Before Friday, August 14, I had been having<br />
signs of weakness and tiredness”, Asubiaro<br />
started.<br />
“But on that Friday I could hardly walk and<br />
I was already hearing strange voices of melodious<br />
songs different from human voices.<br />
“I managed to give myself Holy Communion<br />
thinking that it was time of departure.<br />
“By 7 p.m. or thereabouts, I lost consciousness.<br />
I knew that anywhere I slept on that day<br />
will be where I will breath my last except there<br />
was divine intervention.<br />
“I was forced to one hospital which had not<br />
happened for the past 31 years.<br />
“From the 14th to the 16th of August, I did<br />
not know what happened in this realm. I came<br />
back to life between the night of 16th & Monday<br />
17th.<br />
“After the sudden/quick recovery, the medical<br />
report revealed that my sugar level on the<br />
14th of August was 598 (I have forgotten the<br />
B.P. on the report now) which the doctors involved<br />
said no one gets to (598) and recovers.<br />
“One of them said my being alive before<br />
I was brought to hospital was beyond explanation.<br />
“Now, the miraculous aspect of<br />
it is this.<br />
I recovered within weeks not on special<br />
diet and not on medication of any sort.<br />
“I am back on my feet performing all<br />
pastoral functions (conducting revival programmes,<br />
having fasting & vigils, etc) doctors<br />
said that I would not be able to perform.<br />
“The recovery and back to normalcy<br />
clearly showed that what happened was not<br />
just an ordinary illness”.<br />
Guest Speaker at the occasion, Pastor John<br />
Dada Sunday Paul, District Superintendent of<br />
the Christ Apostolic Church, Royal District, Ikorodu,<br />
said Asubiaro is a gentleman who takes<br />
God's work as though it was his life.<br />
“When God asked us to number our days, it<br />
means you should know that your life is not<br />
yours and, no matter the number of days we use<br />
on earth, we should use them wisely and for the<br />
purpose God created man”, Paul said.<br />
The Guest of Honor urged Christians to pray<br />
and fight the battle for Nigeria spiritually.<br />
“They should pray in unity that God should<br />
fight for us. That is what will make peace to<br />
reign in this nation”.<br />
Earlier in his sermon titled, 'Be a part of histo-<br />
Primate Ayodele empowers journalists, youths, widows<br />
By Jacob Ajom<br />
The leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual<br />
Church, Primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele<br />
marked his 2021 annual Thanksgiving<br />
with a difference. The Primate, in his usual<br />
manner, dished out gifts, ranging from cash to<br />
cars, tricycles and facilitated the award of scholarships<br />
and jobs to hundreds of youth.<br />
Widows were empowered, the poor were given<br />
various forms of assistance, while some<br />
lucky religious devotees were aided with funds<br />
If there is nothing to<br />
write or put on record<br />
about you in history,<br />
that means you have<br />
come to this world in<br />
vain<br />
to go to the holy lands for pilgrimages.<br />
Strikingly, Primate Ayodele did not discriminate<br />
between the beneficiaries as, apart<br />
from Christians who will be travelling to<br />
Jerusalem, there were Muslims who also<br />
got funds to go to Mecca.<br />
The church leader also recognised the<br />
positive role the media has been playing in<br />
not only his life, but in the growth of his<br />
church. In appreciation, Primate Ayodele<br />
gave out a jeep each to two journalists, Lukmon<br />
Akintola of Octopus News and Folorunsho<br />
Hamzat of the Status News, an online outfit.<br />
Ten other journalists got N200,000 each from<br />
the church leader. He also announced the donation<br />
of a bus to NTA 10, Lagos.<br />
Speaking at the presentation, Primate Ayodele<br />
told the journalists not to see the gifts as bribes.<br />
“You should be free to criticise me if I do wrong.<br />
What I am doing here is a directive from God.<br />
He gave me all I have and I should share what<br />
he has given me with those who don't have.”<br />
ry’, the District Superintendent encouraged<br />
Christians not to pass through the world without<br />
making impact.<br />
''Let the world know and be able to put it on<br />
record that you actually came to this world.<br />
There are some histories that cannot be<br />
erased. You must be someone that has an impact<br />
in history because if there is nothing to<br />
write or put on record about you in history,<br />
that means you have come to this world in<br />
vain”.<br />
Paul advised <strong>against</strong> celebrating the dead<br />
than the living. He gave five steps to make<br />
someone a partaker of history: Always think<br />
of what to do for God, do not wait for you to be<br />
compelled before you are moved to do the<br />
work of God, have zeal and a great passion<br />
for things that need urgent attention in the<br />
church of God and sacrifice for genuine prayer<br />
and fasting with a big heart to work.<br />
Asubiaro, addressing the gathering, said he<br />
owed God a lot as he had no regret since he<br />
started the ministry.<br />
“In some ministries, people have godfathers<br />
to push them to the top but God is my godfather”,<br />
the General Overseer said.<br />
“He secured the building and everything<br />
needed to start the ministry.<br />
"God has been so kind to me.<br />
Unlike some churches where the elders frustrate<br />
their pastor, my elders are very unique<br />
and very supportive. They are God-sent angels<br />
to me.“I never thought of becoming a<br />
pastor but there were so many experiences I<br />
went through that proved that God called me<br />
despite my refusal several times not to do the<br />
work of God.<br />
“Despite all odds, we are now building young<br />
generations (called young crusaders) to also<br />
buy into the vision of going out there to expand<br />
the ministry”.<br />
He assured that those who didn't get this<br />
year should be hopeful. “Next year, it could be<br />
your turn,” he pleaded.<br />
The height of the day's activities was the<br />
hoisting of the United Nations flag at the<br />
church premises, as, according to Amb Nabit<br />
Kapoor, head of delegation from the International<br />
Association of World Peace Advocates,<br />
IAWPA, Primate Ayodele was being honoured<br />
by the UN for his enormous contributions to<br />
world peace, particularly in Africa. The IAW-<br />
PA chief was accompanied by Amb Blessing<br />
Palmberg, Amb Emmanuel Nkweke, among<br />
a host of other important personalities.<br />
C<br />
M<br />
Y<br />
K
Some of the beneficiaries of miracles waiting to testify during the last crusade at the national headquarters<br />
SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021, PAGE 19<br />
For your old<br />
garment to<br />
become new<br />
you must be in<br />
Christ because<br />
in Him only shall<br />
we obtain new<br />
life<br />
FIRST TESTIMONY<br />
HOW SOWING SEED<br />
BROUGHT ABOUT BLESS-<br />
ING OF A FOUNDATION<br />
OF 3 BEDROOM FLAT<br />
My name is Sister Antonia<br />
Alemo. I reside in Ogun state<br />
and worship at Ojore branch<br />
aka Solution branch. I want<br />
to testify the goodness of God<br />
upon my life. It happened that<br />
I was not able to attend last<br />
year’s annual program titled<br />
“from Sorrow to Joy program”,<br />
because I travelled to<br />
my hometown. So it was my<br />
children that attended the program.<br />
So, on Sunday being<br />
the last day of that crusade, my<br />
son called me while Pastor was<br />
rounding up his ministration<br />
and said Mummy, Daddy GO<br />
is rounding the prayer now, I<br />
should queue into the prayer.<br />
So as I was listening to the prophetic<br />
utterances of our Daddy<br />
GO, he said, there was a<br />
woman listening to my<br />
prayers who is worried because<br />
she is no longer experiencing<br />
menstrual period but<br />
now I’m commanding that<br />
period to be restored. When I<br />
heard that I knew that the<br />
word of knowledge was for<br />
me. In the night of same day,<br />
I started feeling pain at the<br />
back and before I knew it my<br />
period started flowing and<br />
that was how my 6 months<br />
menstrual period was restored.<br />
Secondly, I took a loan of<br />
#250,000 in a place where I<br />
am working and pondering<br />
on what to use it for, one<br />
thought ministered to me to<br />
use it and buy land. So, I<br />
called my former branch<br />
pastor, Pastor Enoch and told<br />
him that I want to buy a land<br />
and he prayed for me. Thereafter<br />
I had another ministration<br />
that asked if I had consider<br />
the bad condition of my<br />
branch pastor before venturing<br />
into purchasing personal<br />
property. So I changed my<br />
mind and out of the money<br />
sowed a seed of 30,000 into<br />
the life of my branch pastor.<br />
Lo and Behold within a short<br />
time God released showers of<br />
blessings upon my life that<br />
today, God of Chosen made<br />
me to lay a foundation of 3<br />
bedrooms flat.<br />
Thirdly: My Managing Director<br />
which is also my husband’s<br />
brother favoured me<br />
with 50,000 last December<br />
SECOND TESTIMONY<br />
One of the beneficiaries of miracles rejoicing during the<br />
last crusade at the national headquarters.<br />
ISAIAH 64: 6 says, “But we<br />
are all as an unclean thing,<br />
and all our righteousnesses are<br />
as filthy rags; and we all do<br />
fade as a leaf; and our iniquities,<br />
like the wind, have taken<br />
us away”<br />
Beloved, in every sense<br />
of it, filthy garment<br />
epitomizes ugly situation.<br />
The horrible situation<br />
could be physical such as dirtiness,<br />
muckiness and grimness<br />
or spiritual as when one<br />
is engrossed in chronic sin<br />
such as smoking, adultery,<br />
fornication, masturbation,<br />
lying, fighting, drunkenness,<br />
etc, of which you have made<br />
efforts to stop but to no avail,<br />
instead it has brought reproach<br />
to you on many occasions.<br />
Filthy garments could<br />
also be considered as a condition<br />
of barrenness, poverty,<br />
lacks, hindrances, etc. It<br />
could also be affliction of different<br />
kind or sickness and<br />
disease. I want to let you<br />
know that the filthy garment<br />
in the form of ugly situation<br />
mentioned above must be<br />
changed so that the purpose<br />
by which you were created<br />
would be actualized. You<br />
should understand that all<br />
those ugly situations are the<br />
works of the devil and for it to<br />
be changed Jesus Christ must<br />
be presence in your life.<br />
The Scripture says, “… For<br />
this purpose the Son of God<br />
was manifested, that He<br />
might destroy the works of the<br />
devil” (1Jn 3: 8). In order to<br />
destroy these ugly situations,<br />
Jesus was manifested. But before<br />
then we were bonds, fetters,<br />
shut and locked up in the<br />
prison-house of affliction,<br />
poverty, barrenness, sickness,<br />
diseases, and above all subjected<br />
under the dominion of<br />
sin, and power of Satan, but<br />
the Son of God came to rescue<br />
us, to break our fetters,<br />
and to set us free. He came<br />
that we might have life and<br />
have it more abundantly. Your<br />
ugly situation in the form of<br />
filthy garment remains until<br />
He comes into your life.<br />
Putting on the new garment<br />
means that you have been<br />
Former Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha (right), presenting to the General<br />
Overseer of the Lord's Chosen , Pastor Lazarus Muoka(left), the child he granted full<br />
scolarship during theMgbidi 2021 Crusade<br />
baptized with Christ, surrendered<br />
and ready to obey<br />
Him. When you accept Jesus<br />
Christ as your Lord and personal<br />
Saviour and are baptized<br />
in Him, you have put on<br />
Christ and through this have<br />
removed the filthy garment,<br />
that dirty garment that have<br />
been constituting reproach<br />
and mockery in your life and<br />
in the lives of members of<br />
your family.<br />
Those problems that have<br />
brought shame and mockery<br />
to your family, and even to<br />
you, those problems that people<br />
would see and conclude<br />
that nothing good will come<br />
from you are the works of the<br />
devil. Those problems of stigmatization<br />
that will make<br />
people say, you are the son or<br />
daughter of that poor man<br />
that has been sickly, that<br />
woman that has been suffering<br />
from diabetes and then<br />
they will conclude that you<br />
will likely suffer the same, are<br />
the works of the devil. If that<br />
is your situation, I declare today,<br />
that situation cannot remain.<br />
Today, if you are suffering<br />
the judgment of poverty,<br />
sickness, oppression or affliction,<br />
but are ready to accept<br />
Jesus as your Lord and personal<br />
Saviour, God will show<br />
you mercy and that mercy<br />
shall prevail <strong>against</strong> judgment.<br />
I am assuring you that experience shall be no more,<br />
day, that old and filthy garment<br />
every power behind your you shall be clothed with a<br />
problem shall be withered. new garment that will bring<br />
All your sorrow shall today about all round blessing upon<br />
be turned to joy and it shall your life. The only requirement<br />
be well with you in Jesus for this new experience is to<br />
name.<br />
repent and surrender your life<br />
Beloved, that mockery to Christ.<br />
must cease. If they have referred<br />
to your family as a if any man be in Christ, he is a<br />
2Cor. 5 : 17 says, “Therefore<br />
home where nobody goes to new creature: old things are<br />
seek for spouse, family passed away; behold, all things<br />
where people die prema-<br />
are become new”<br />
Changing the filthy garment (2)<br />
turely, a family that even if<br />
one marries the woman will<br />
not stay at home and cannot<br />
conceive, and even if the<br />
woman manages to have<br />
one child, the child would be<br />
imbecile or a sicklier, I want<br />
to tell you that from today<br />
after your garment have<br />
been changed, those aspersion<br />
will no longer be your<br />
portion. If they have told you<br />
that they know where you are<br />
coming from and could predict<br />
your end and as far as<br />
they are concerned you are<br />
potentially an object of<br />
mockery and caricature. So,<br />
looking at you, makes them<br />
draw conclusion that you are<br />
a failure because nobody has<br />
made it in your family. But if<br />
these things are your experiences,<br />
consider them as<br />
filthy garment we are talking<br />
about that must be<br />
changed today by the operation<br />
of the Holy Spirit in<br />
Jesus name.<br />
I don’t know what has constituted<br />
a filthy garment in<br />
your life and business but<br />
what I know and can assure<br />
you is that with God all<br />
things are possible. Remember<br />
that when God comes<br />
into any situation there must<br />
be a positive change. As He<br />
comes into your situation to-<br />
For your old garment to become<br />
new you must be in<br />
Christ because in Him only<br />
shall we obtain new life. If any<br />
is in Christ, his affections, his<br />
motives, thoughts, hopes, and<br />
whole life will be renewed. So,<br />
have your filthy garment<br />
changed today by giving your<br />
life totally to our Saviour Jesus<br />
Christ. And as you do so I am<br />
assuring you it shall be well<br />
with you in Jesus name.<br />
WITHOUT WOMB I<br />
GAVE BIRTH TO FIVE<br />
CHILDREN<br />
My name is Sister Margret<br />
Ejeh. I’m from Ayabo 4 in Ijegun.<br />
I <strong>join</strong>ed Chosen in 2008<br />
in a programme titled “Hope<br />
for the Barren” (Needy). I am<br />
that sister that had ectopic<br />
pregnancy in June 2008. Because<br />
of the ectopic pregnancy,<br />
my womb was cut off including<br />
my fallopian tubes<br />
but by the grace of God of<br />
Chosen today I am a mother<br />
of five children.<br />
For the benefit of new comers<br />
who did not know my testimony,<br />
let me repeat it in a<br />
summary. In 2008, I had ectopic<br />
pregnancy, because of<br />
that, my womb and fallopian<br />
tubes were cut off. In the sight<br />
of man, I couldn’t conceive<br />
again but in the sight of God,<br />
all things are possible. In<br />
November of that year, I was<br />
invited here by my uncle in<br />
that very programme but that<br />
time it was called Hope for<br />
the Barren. During ministration<br />
through prophetic utterances<br />
the General Pastor said<br />
“There is a woman here<br />
whose womb was cut off, I<br />
request for new womb from<br />
above for her, in the name of<br />
Jesus I give her a new womb<br />
now”. I claimed it and shouted<br />
amen. Brethren, that was<br />
all. That statement alone<br />
changed my situation and I<br />
became pregnant. The cutting<br />
off of my womb was done<br />
at LUTH by professor Abudu.<br />
But God began a new thing<br />
in my life, in the year 2009, I<br />
had my first Child named<br />
dominion, my second child<br />
named Abundance came in<br />
2011, in 2013 I had Victory<br />
and in 2015 I had Confidence.<br />
And now the last is Hope that<br />
came 2018.<br />
In 2008, when I firstly came<br />
in here, I was just looking,<br />
watching what was happening.<br />
Today, I’m a living testimony.<br />
As you too have come,<br />
God will give you hope in<br />
Jesus name. To crown it all,<br />
this last delivery was in my<br />
bedroom, not in the hospital.<br />
God of Chosen is wonderful<br />
indeed. May His name be<br />
glorified in Jesus name.<br />
C<br />
M<br />
Y<br />
K
C<br />
M<br />
Y<br />
K<br />
PAGE 20—SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021<br />
We have translated Bible into 26 Nigerian<br />
languages — BSN<br />
By Olayinka Latona be dedicated on February 27,<br />
at the Atiku Square, Ayetoro<br />
THE Bible Society of Ni<br />
geria, BSN said it has<br />
translated the Bible into 26<br />
Nigerian languages in addition<br />
to the Braille Bible for<br />
those who have visual disability<br />
and Nigerian Sign<br />
Language Bible for the deaf.<br />
The General Secretary of<br />
BSN, Rev. Dare Ajiboye revealed<br />
this during a news conference<br />
to dedicate the Igala<br />
Bible and Okun New Testament<br />
at Bible Guest House,<br />
Ilupeju, Lagos.<br />
The BSN boss noted that<br />
through translating the Bible<br />
into Nigerian languages, the<br />
society has helped to preserve<br />
various Nigerian languages<br />
and culture.<br />
Adding that the two languages<br />
are spoken predominantly<br />
among locals in Kogi<br />
State.<br />
In his words: "This is in pursuance<br />
of our mission to meet<br />
the scriptural needs of every<br />
Nigerian and to help them interact<br />
with the Word of God.<br />
So far, we have the full bible<br />
in 26 Nigerian languages,<br />
while revision and translation<br />
is ongoing in 10 Nigerian<br />
languages.<br />
"It costs us a minimum of<br />
N72 million to complete a<br />
translation project, if completed<br />
in 12 years," he said.<br />
On the dedication of the two<br />
Bibles, Ajiboye said that the<br />
Okun New Testament would<br />
Jesus the pioneer and perfecter<br />
of our faith<br />
TEXT: HEB 12:1-2<br />
“Therefore, since we are surrounded<br />
by such a great cloud<br />
of witnesses, let us throw off<br />
everything that hinders and<br />
the sin that so easily entangles.<br />
And let us run with perseverance<br />
the race marked out<br />
for us. 2 Fixing our eyes on<br />
Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter<br />
of faith. For the joy set before<br />
him he endured the cross,<br />
scorning its shame, and sat<br />
down at the right hand of the<br />
throne of God. 3 Consider him<br />
who endured such opposition<br />
By Pastor G.C. Osuigbo<br />
CAC Madaiyese Regional Headquaters<br />
Plot 701/702 Durumi District<br />
P.O. BOX 2577<br />
Garki, Abuja.<br />
Contact us on: 08155555048, like us on<br />
facebook @cacdurumi<br />
from sinners, so that you will<br />
not grow weary and lose<br />
heart.”<br />
The word ‘therefore’ is a<br />
part of speech known as<br />
a conjunction which is used<br />
to <strong>join</strong> a phrases or sentence<br />
together. It can best be described<br />
as a linker referring<br />
to the consequences of one<br />
event upon another. The preceding<br />
chapter in Christian<br />
circles is known as the library<br />
of faith. It is a catalogue of<br />
heroes of the Jewish and<br />
Christian faith who surmounted<br />
all oppositions to<br />
stand out for Christ. The first<br />
Rev. Emmanuel Awazie<br />
*Assemblies of God Church<br />
Nigeria, 111 Clegg Street,<br />
Surulere, Lagos.<br />
Friendship with Jesus (2)<br />
The fundamentals of<br />
friendship with Jesus<br />
Christ rest in inherent qualities,<br />
which are formed in us<br />
by the incoming and indwelling<br />
of the Holy Spirit; they<br />
are not by natural birth. Then<br />
as we obey the revelation<br />
granted, friendship begins to<br />
grow.<br />
Like anything that thrives<br />
and that is beneficial,<br />
friendship must be cultivated<br />
and nurtured and certain<br />
conditions are essential for<br />
the achievement of this, viz:<br />
1.Acquaintance with<br />
Him: Friendship is based<br />
on a relationship “Can two<br />
walk together, unless they<br />
are agreed?” – Amos 3:3.<br />
This is the very foundation<br />
and the implication is that<br />
you must have renounced<br />
in Kogi State, while the Igala<br />
Bible would be dedicated on<br />
March 13, at the Chapel of<br />
Resurrection, Kogi State University,<br />
Ayingba.<br />
He said that the Okun New<br />
Testament translation had become<br />
the fastest new testament<br />
translation with a<br />
record of four years and three<br />
Satan, the world and every<br />
sinful entanglement in order<br />
to cultivate a relationship<br />
with God.<br />
2.Read and meditate on<br />
God’s word: The person<br />
who will cultivate a relationship<br />
with God must have<br />
a passionate hunger for His<br />
word. You must long to meet<br />
Him daily in the word. He<br />
commands that “This Book<br />
of the Law shall not depart<br />
from your mouth, but you<br />
shall meditate in it day and<br />
night, that you may observe<br />
to do according to all that is<br />
written in it. For then you<br />
will make your way prosperous,<br />
and then you will have<br />
good success.” Joshua 1:8.<br />
The vigour of our spiritual<br />
life will be in exact proportion<br />
to the place held by the<br />
Scriptures in our lives and<br />
months, while the Igala Bible<br />
was completed within 11<br />
years.<br />
He added that the Old Testament<br />
of Okun is in its advanced<br />
stage of completion.<br />
The society also called on<br />
the Federal Government and<br />
other tiers of government to<br />
make deliberate efforts to<br />
preserve Nigerian languages<br />
by enforcing their usage,<br />
especially in schools.<br />
Baptist cleric emerge CTPAN president<br />
By Olayinka Latona<br />
CHRISTIAN Tourism<br />
Practitioners Association<br />
of Nigeria, CTPAN has<br />
elected the Senior Pastor of<br />
Shepherdhill Baptist Church,<br />
Obanikoro, Lagos, Rev. Israel<br />
Kristilere as her new president.<br />
The body which comprised<br />
of over 60 registered pilgrimage<br />
operators nationwide<br />
was led by Mrs Adeola Adekola,<br />
the CEO of Ideal Pilgrimage,<br />
until when Israel<br />
Kristilere was unanimously<br />
elected as the new president.<br />
At the same time, Deaconess<br />
Lola Oluokun was elected<br />
Vice President while Pastor<br />
(Mrs) Jumoke Adeniyi,<br />
was elected General Secretary<br />
and a host of other officers<br />
were elected.<br />
In his response, Rev. Kristilere<br />
appreciate the body including<br />
the former executives<br />
for counting him worthy to<br />
lead the group.<br />
He, however, pledged to<br />
work with all the members in<br />
order to take Christian Pilgrimage<br />
in Nigeria especially<br />
the privately organized<br />
tours to an enviable height.<br />
While reflecting on the<br />
challenges the COVID19<br />
pandemic posed on Christian<br />
Pilgrimage in the last one<br />
year, he expressed hope that<br />
in the next few weeks, the borders<br />
of Israel shall be opened<br />
to Nigerian pilgrims again<br />
and those who have been<br />
yearning to walk in the footsteps<br />
of Jesus and experience<br />
the Holy land shall find their<br />
dreams coming to pass.<br />
The cleric further solicited<br />
for the support and co-operation<br />
of all CTPAN members<br />
as they all strive together to<br />
make a difference during their<br />
tenure and bring into the fold<br />
other Private Christian Pilgrimage<br />
operators that are<br />
yet to <strong>join</strong> the association.<br />
verse of chapter twelve points<br />
us to these cloud of faithful<br />
witnesses who despite their<br />
outstanding spiritual accomplishments<br />
are incomplete in<br />
the spiritual order of things<br />
without us. They had been effective<br />
witnesses despite the<br />
negative effect of the environment<br />
upon their lives. Our<br />
own times and seasons although<br />
ladened with its own<br />
peculiarity should not overwhelm<br />
us. The heroes before<br />
us are heroes because they<br />
overcame and are witnesses<br />
and a confirmation to us that<br />
we too shall overcome.<br />
The evidence to their becoming<br />
heroes of the faith is<br />
that they threw off sin that<br />
hinders and easily entangled<br />
them. Definitely a great number<br />
of those listed had one<br />
form of entanglement or the<br />
other, but that they appear listed<br />
here proves that they overcame.<br />
thoughts.<br />
3.Make prayer a lifestyle<br />
– Ps. 5:3: It is impossible to<br />
be in a relationship and not<br />
have time to commune and<br />
talk with each other. Prayer<br />
is talking with God. People<br />
who are in a relationship<br />
frequently want to express<br />
their thoughts and feelings<br />
towards each other and in<br />
prayer, friendship is developed<br />
and expressed with<br />
God, “Evening and morning<br />
and at noon I will pray, and<br />
cry aloud, And He shall<br />
hear my voice.” Ps. 55:17;<br />
it is not just in order to have<br />
things, but is a place of<br />
sweet adoration and dealings<br />
with Him.<br />
There are many more<br />
conditions that are necessary<br />
but as we learn to fellowship<br />
with Him on a regular<br />
basis, He will not leave<br />
us empty; He is not selfish<br />
“Then you will call upon Me<br />
and go and pray to Me, and I<br />
will listen to you. 13 And you<br />
will seek Me and find Me,<br />
when you search for Me with<br />
all your heart.”– Jeremiah<br />
29:12 – 13.<br />
FG, activists call for stiffer sanctions<br />
<strong>against</strong> child abuse<br />
By Dirisu Yakubu<br />
gainst the backdrop of<br />
Afrequent incidences of<br />
child molestation and abuse,<br />
the federal government,<br />
stakeholders and activists,<br />
Wednesday, called on the<br />
National Assembly to come<br />
up with laws providing for<br />
tough sanctions <strong>against</strong><br />
infringement on the rights of<br />
the child.<br />
They specifically drew the<br />
attention of the public to<br />
Section 15 (Right of a child<br />
to free, compulsory and<br />
universal primary education,<br />
etc) of the Child’s Rights Act,<br />
wondering why the law<br />
prescribed that in the event of<br />
failure of a parent or guardian<br />
to enrol a child under his care<br />
in primary school, such a<br />
person would pay a fine of<br />
N2000 or spend a month in<br />
prison in lieu of fine or both.<br />
Addressing participants at a<br />
workshop on child abuse,<br />
organised by Kidsright<br />
international, Minister of<br />
Women Affairs, Mrs. Pauline<br />
Tallen, decried the fact that<br />
By Etop Ekanem<br />
he management of<br />
TSoloti Gaming Limited,<br />
a new investor in Nigeria’s<br />
fast-growing gaming<br />
industry, has announced its<br />
entry into the gaming sector.<br />
Soloti Gaming Limited<br />
recently obtained its<br />
operation licences from the<br />
National Lottery Board and<br />
Lagos State Lottery Board<br />
and is poised to<br />
revolutionise the sports<br />
betting industry in Nigeria.<br />
The Chairman of Soloti, Mr.<br />
Adebayo Tade expressed<br />
optimism at the consistent<br />
growth trend in the gaming<br />
industry in Africa and<br />
Nigeria.<br />
According to Mr. Tade, “We<br />
have over the last two years<br />
been conducting extensive<br />
research on the gaming<br />
industry in Africa, notably<br />
West Africa, and we believe it<br />
Onuesoke lauds Buhari’s support for<br />
Premium Steel Coy<br />
By Ephraim Oseji<br />
Peoples Democratic<br />
Party (PDP) chieftain<br />
and former Delta State<br />
gubernatorial aspirant, Chief<br />
Sunny Onuesoke has<br />
commended the Federal<br />
Government support and<br />
encouragement for the<br />
development of Premium<br />
Steel and Mines Limited,<br />
Warri, Delta State and other<br />
steel industries in Nigeria.<br />
He equally hailed the<br />
government move for the<br />
proposed Metallurgical<br />
Industrial Bill, stressing that<br />
when approved, it would<br />
support the growth and<br />
development of the steel<br />
industry in Nigeria.<br />
Onuesoke made the<br />
commendation during the<br />
facility tour of Premium Steel<br />
and Mines Limited, by<br />
the Minister of Mines and<br />
Steel Development,<br />
Olamilekan Adegbite,<br />
recently.<br />
The Minister had earlier<br />
called on the steel company<br />
to speed up the production<br />
process, as the mandate of the<br />
Students hail appointment of Akwa as NDDC<br />
Sole Admin<br />
By Jimitota<br />
Onoyume<br />
Akwa Ibom State’s<br />
students have hailed<br />
the appointment of Mr<br />
Okon Effiong Akwa as the<br />
Sole Administrator of the<br />
Niger Delta Development<br />
Commission, NDDC.<br />
A statement by the<br />
some states in the country are<br />
yet to domestic the Child<br />
Rights Act.<br />
Represented by Adekunle<br />
Balogun-Ashry, the Minister<br />
counselled parents and<br />
guardians to accord child<br />
right pride of place, noting<br />
that until children are<br />
protected from the ills of the<br />
society, they would struggle<br />
to realize their potentials<br />
early in life.<br />
“A memorandum was last<br />
By Chioma Obinna<br />
morale of frontline<br />
Thealth workers at the Nigerian<br />
Institute of Medical<br />
Research, NIMR, is gradually<br />
getting low following nonpayment<br />
of their COVID-19<br />
allowances by the institution.<br />
The workers accused the<br />
management of NIMR of refusing<br />
to pay their accrued<br />
COVID-19 allowances.<br />
Soloti Gaming Limited announces<br />
entry into Nigeria’s gaming industry<br />
is time to revolutionise and<br />
reposition the gaming<br />
industry in Nigeria, offering<br />
innovative and more<br />
strategic outcomes beneficial<br />
to the over 70 million Punters<br />
in the Nigeria Gaming<br />
industry.”<br />
Speaking on the entry of<br />
Soloti Gaming Limited’s<br />
foremost product, FRAPAPA,<br />
Mr Derrick Bell, Chief<br />
Executive Officer, stated: “We<br />
are thrilled to announce the<br />
entry of FRAPAPA; a unique<br />
product under Soloti<br />
Gaming Limited into<br />
Nigeria’s fast-rising gaming<br />
industry. Our entry into<br />
Nigeria supports our<br />
strategic business decision<br />
and global growth strategy<br />
aimed at adding value to the<br />
gaming industry through<br />
innovative offerings, human<br />
capital engagement and the<br />
value chain of wealth<br />
creation.”<br />
Ministry was to expand the<br />
steel sector and use it to<br />
diversify the economy, create<br />
jobs and generate revenue for<br />
the government.<br />
Reacting to the minister’s<br />
statement, Onuesoke said<br />
Premium Steel would save<br />
the nation more than a<br />
million tons of steel in import<br />
and conserve about $600<br />
2 couples win Tec<br />
echno’s Blue<br />
Valentine promo<br />
By Ephraim Oseji<br />
Two couples, Osho<br />
Ganiyat Kofo and Gift<br />
Ajirioghene Efeteha won N1<br />
million each in the Techno’s<br />
Blue Valentine promo held<br />
recently in Lagos.<br />
The programme was held<br />
to celebrate St. Valentine’s<br />
Day and reward couples.<br />
The PR & Strategic<br />
Partnership Manager, Tecno<br />
Mobile, Jesse Oguntimehin<br />
said: “Without a doubt,<br />
Valentine’s Day is a big deal<br />
President of National<br />
Association of Akwa Ibom<br />
State Students, NAAKISS,<br />
University of Port Harcourt<br />
chapter, Comrade. Favour<br />
Emah, said Akwa would<br />
take the commission to a<br />
greater height.<br />
” We congratulate our<br />
great son, Mr. Okon Effiong<br />
Akwa on his new upliftment<br />
as the interim Sole<br />
Administrator of the<br />
year presented before the<br />
National Assembly for the<br />
review of the Child Rights Act<br />
and I can assure you that we<br />
won’t rest until the right thing<br />
is done. States in Nigeria that<br />
are yet to adopt this law need<br />
to rise up and show concern<br />
for our children who are the<br />
leaders of tomorrow,” said<br />
Balogun-Ashry, who pledged<br />
the readiness of the Ministry<br />
to work with stakeholders<br />
and civil society<br />
organizations with thematic<br />
focus on child’s rights.<br />
COVID-19: NIMR health workers<br />
grumble over allowances, working<br />
conditions<br />
Some who spoke to Sunday<br />
Vanguard under anonymity<br />
said they had only<br />
been paid three months of<br />
their COVID-19 allowances<br />
in April, May and June 2020.<br />
According to them, the<br />
management of NIMR has<br />
continued to claim that the<br />
federal government has not<br />
paid their allowances.<br />
The workers also claimed<br />
that the results of COVID patients<br />
were being delayed due<br />
to the failure of the management<br />
to fix one of the machines.<br />
While saying the situation<br />
in NIMR may impact<br />
negatively on the efforts of the<br />
federal government to reduce<br />
the spread of the virus, a patient<br />
who pleaded anonymity<br />
at the NIMR Laboratory<br />
for COVID-19 test told Sunday<br />
Vanguard that the workers<br />
are facing a lot of pressure.<br />
He said many patients who<br />
were manifesting COVID-19<br />
symptoms, last Wednesday<br />
were asked to come back for<br />
the result one week after.<br />
He said: “We found out that<br />
the delay was because one of<br />
the machines for the test has<br />
broken down and has not<br />
been fixed.<br />
“I also learnt that some<br />
NIMR employees are sleeping<br />
over in the office just to<br />
ensure that deadlines are<br />
met.”<br />
Responding to the allegations,<br />
the Director-General<br />
of NIMR, Professor Babatunde<br />
Salako, in a text message<br />
to Sunday Vanguard<br />
dismissed the allegations.<br />
million in foreign exchange<br />
when operated at full<br />
capacity.<br />
Onuesoke said it is exciting<br />
that the present government<br />
has initiated a simultaneous<br />
and wide-ranging<br />
investment plan in<br />
infrastructure, which is<br />
expected to boost the steel<br />
demand, while also serving<br />
as the backbone of Nigeria’s<br />
industrialisation.<br />
all over the world. It is a day<br />
for lovers to celebrate and<br />
flaunt their love<br />
’’This year, Techno played<br />
the ultimate lover to its fans,<br />
serenading them with lots of<br />
gifts and cash to the tune of 2<br />
Million.’’<br />
The smartphone brand<br />
called for Nigerian couples<br />
in romantic relationships to<br />
tell their love stories as each<br />
participating couple shared<br />
beautiful stories and records<br />
interactive videos with their<br />
partners telling how old their<br />
love journey was, their<br />
experiences, and the things<br />
they admire in each other.<br />
NDDC. We are indeed so<br />
proud of you and we pray<br />
that God will be with you<br />
throughout your service in<br />
good health”, they said.<br />
” You will bring your<br />
wealth of experience to bear<br />
on the job, take the<br />
commission to greater<br />
heights. You are a nobleman<br />
from Akwa Ibom and a great<br />
value to the commission “, the<br />
students said.
C<br />
M<br />
Y<br />
K<br />
SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021, PAGE 21<br />
FIREWORKS IN KANO OVER ‘DIVISIVE’ CLERIC<br />
Among other sins, Abduljabbar<br />
has led a lot of people astray<br />
—Prof Labdo<br />
By Bashir Bello<br />
Umar Labdo is a professor of<br />
Islamic political thought at<br />
Maitama Sule University,<br />
Kano. In this interview, Labdo<br />
speaks on the banning of an Islamic<br />
cleric, Sheikh Abduljabbar<br />
Nasir Kabara, by Kano State<br />
government on account of<br />
preaching inciting messages.<br />
The state government had, a<br />
fortnight ago, banned the cleric for<br />
alleged inciting preaching.<br />
Muhammad Garba, the state<br />
Commissioner for Information,<br />
who announced the order in a<br />
statement, said government<br />
considered the cleric’s mode<br />
of teachings as incendiary.<br />
Kano State government<br />
has banned an Islamic<br />
cleric,<br />
Sheikh<br />
Abduljabbar, from<br />
preaching and other<br />
religious activities for<br />
what it termed as<br />
incitement...<br />
I think the decision of Kano<br />
State government to ban<br />
Abduljabbar from preaching and<br />
other religious activities is<br />
long overdue. It should<br />
have been done a long<br />
time ago. This man<br />
claims to be an Islamic<br />
scholar but his ways are<br />
divisive. He is working<br />
to divide Muslims in<br />
•Labdo<br />
Kano and other places in Nigeria. His<br />
method is that he quotes non-text from<br />
authentic sources but gives them<br />
interpretations that are entirely his<br />
own. Islam is 1, 500 years old. This<br />
young man is now coming out with<br />
new interpretations that are unheard<br />
of. I am an expert in Islamic Studies,<br />
although my field is Islamic political<br />
thought. I did my Islamic studies in<br />
Arabic not in English as others do. I<br />
can tell you authoritatively that<br />
Abduljabbar is a charlatan. I can’t even<br />
call him a scholar because<br />
he doesn’t understand<br />
the Qur’an. Everybody<br />
will tell you that whenever<br />
he quotes from the<br />
Qur’an, he makes grave<br />
mistakes. And an Islamic<br />
scholar is supposed to<br />
commit the Qur’an to<br />
memory which is the basic<br />
requirement of Islamic<br />
scholarship. In the past,<br />
committing the Qur’an to<br />
memory used to be the<br />
elementary stage of<br />
studying Islam. The<br />
Qur’an is a fountain while<br />
other knowledge of Islam<br />
emanate from the Qur’an.<br />
How can somebody who<br />
doesn’t know Qur’an claim that he is<br />
an Islamic scholar?<br />
Sermons<br />
Second, if you listened to his sermons<br />
and lessons, you will be surprised that<br />
some people regard him as a scholar. This<br />
is somebody who will be uttering<br />
unguarded utterances. This is<br />
somebody who will tell his followers to<br />
slaughter anyone who differs or goes<br />
contrary to their teachings. He was<br />
openly calling for violence. This is the<br />
kind of person that, if left unchecked,<br />
could grow to be another Maitasine,<br />
another Muhammad Yusuf (leader of<br />
If you<br />
listened to<br />
his sermons<br />
and lessons,<br />
you will be<br />
surprised<br />
that some<br />
people<br />
regard him<br />
as a scholar<br />
Boko Haram).<br />
First, he told<br />
young people<br />
not to go to<br />
Western<br />
school like<br />
Zakzaky did in<br />
the 1980s. We<br />
were in the<br />
university and so<br />
we knew what<br />
•Sheikh<br />
Abduljabbar<br />
Nasir Kabara<br />
happened. Now,<br />
Abduljabbar is trying<br />
to take the place of<br />
Zakzaky because he is also<br />
a Shiite. Now, because Zakzaky is old<br />
and devastated because six of his<br />
children were killed and he has<br />
been in detention for five years,<br />
Abduljabbar is trying to take<br />
his place. He said that<br />
publicly. That is why I said<br />
what government did was<br />
right. It came a little late<br />
because the young man<br />
has led a lot of people<br />
astray. Many young<br />
people now listen to him as<br />
if he is significant. He is<br />
zero in the world of<br />
knowledge and not a<br />
religious man. He is<br />
exploiting our bad situation<br />
because we have a lot of<br />
Almajiri children and<br />
unemployed youths<br />
roaming the streets that<br />
need to be entertained. And<br />
he is providing<br />
entertainment.<br />
Sword<br />
Go to social media, you will see him<br />
sometimes with a sword, marching on the<br />
streets of Kano and hundreds follow him.<br />
And he would threaten that whoever dares<br />
him would be dealt with. If not because<br />
we are not serious, how could we tolerate<br />
this man all these years? He should have<br />
been dealt with long ago. What the Kano<br />
State government did is in order and they<br />
are equally fair to him for even agreeing<br />
to organise an open debate. It is also in<br />
line with Islamic tradition and culture<br />
to organise an open debate<br />
between opposing camps.<br />
For hundreds of years,<br />
traditional rulers have<br />
been organising this. In<br />
history, here in Kano, Emir<br />
Sanusi I, organised such an<br />
open debate. It is to convince<br />
the populace that what the<br />
government did is in order.<br />
Let this man come out and<br />
air his views and scholars<br />
will be there.<br />
Don’t you think a lot of<br />
people might also be<br />
derailed during the<br />
debate?<br />
No, he would air his views<br />
and scholars would be there to reply<br />
him. It would also be an opportunity to<br />
examine his evidence and show that it<br />
is faulty. Once this is done, even if he is<br />
not convinced, people would be<br />
convinced. That is why it is for<br />
government to organise this open<br />
debate.<br />
What about his followers?<br />
I think his followers should be<br />
rehabilitated because most of them are<br />
jobless. They are idle people. They just sit<br />
around and some are drug addicts.<br />
Government should empower them by<br />
using scholars to salvage them from the<br />
situation he led them into.<br />
Ganduje instigating Imams<br />
<strong>against</strong> Abduljabbar — Lawyer<br />
By Bashir<br />
Bello<br />
R abiu<br />
Shuaibu<br />
Abdullahi<br />
is a member<br />
of the legal<br />
team of the<br />
b a n n e d<br />
Islamic cleric<br />
in Kano,<br />
S h e i k h<br />
Abduljabbar<br />
Nasir-Kabara. In<br />
this<br />
interview,<br />
Abdullahi accuses Kano<br />
State government of wrongly<br />
accusing his client of inciting the<br />
public. He gives a fresh<br />
perspective on the matter.<br />
What can you say about the<br />
controversy surrounding Sheikh<br />
Abduljabbar?<br />
On February 3, this year, around 11:30<br />
am, we heard an announcement from<br />
Kano State Commissioner for<br />
Information that Sheikh Abduljabbar<br />
has been banned from preaching. His<br />
mosque and all his places of religious<br />
activities were directed to be closed<br />
with immediate effect. The following<br />
day, at about 5 am, security men were<br />
mobilised to his residence, library,<br />
mosque, school, and others situated at<br />
Sani Mainange in Filin Mushe. Since<br />
then, he has not been allowed to come<br />
out and nobody was allowed to see<br />
him except his lawyers who got access<br />
to him after encountering many<br />
difficulties. The team of lawyers sat<br />
down and resolved that we should take<br />
legal action for the reinforcement of<br />
his fundamental human<br />
rights. His freedom of<br />
liberty was affected, right<br />
of movement, religion,<br />
assembly, thoughts, and<br />
life among others. We<br />
now filed a case before<br />
Federal High Court and<br />
it was slated for hearing<br />
on February 10, but the<br />
matter was not heard<br />
because we had two<br />
motions (motion ex-parte<br />
and motion of notice). The<br />
judge said the matter<br />
itself is of urgency. Both<br />
are of urgency, so he<br />
would not entertain the<br />
motion ex-parte but will<br />
entertain the substantive<br />
matter on February 18.<br />
We will now appear<br />
before the Federal High<br />
Court for the hearing of the motion of<br />
notice.<br />
What is the update about your plans<br />
to go to the state High Court?<br />
We have two problems. First is the ban<br />
from preaching, closing of his mosque<br />
which touch on fundamental human<br />
rights and that is the one we took to the<br />
Federal High Court. The second issue is<br />
an order given by a Magistrate Court in<br />
Gidan Murtala. That order was not<br />
properly given to our understanding. We<br />
got the order and observed that only one<br />
party (applicant) was before the court but<br />
not the respondent. We have never seen<br />
that kind of order before.<br />
Recently, some lawyers said there<br />
shouldn’t be dialogue in the matter...<br />
Yes, I read the view of my learned friend,<br />
Barrister Marouf Yakasai. He is a very<br />
good friend but, with all due respect, he<br />
did not even understand the issue. It seems<br />
he didn’t read the order of the court. The<br />
order banned Sheikh Abduljabbar from<br />
preaching and conducting other religious<br />
We have two<br />
problems.<br />
First is the<br />
ban from<br />
preaching,<br />
closing of his<br />
mosque<br />
which touch<br />
on<br />
fundamental<br />
human<br />
rights<br />
activities. It also stopped media stations<br />
from broadcasting his preaching and his<br />
alleged unguarded utterances. What is the<br />
relationship between this and dialogue?<br />
Is he going to preach in that dialogue? Is<br />
he going to make unguarded utterances<br />
in that dialogue? Dialogue is different<br />
from preaching. It implies he will discuss<br />
with Ulamas. We welcomed the idea when<br />
we heard that government is now trying<br />
to do justice to our client by giving him a<br />
fair hearing. These Ulamas lodged a<br />
complaint <strong>against</strong> him. They said he is<br />
making unguarded utterances.<br />
Let’s go back to the dialogue, is your<br />
client looking forward to it?<br />
My client is very eager for this dialogue.<br />
I went to my client a few days ago on the<br />
dialogue. He said he is waiting for the<br />
dialogue and wishes it comes soon. It is<br />
with this dialogue that my client will<br />
enlighten the public on his intentions,<br />
interpretations and understanding of<br />
Islam. Without the dialogue, justice will<br />
not be served and people will not<br />
understand what is happening. Without<br />
this dialogue, people will be deceived.<br />
They are already being deceived. And<br />
some minorities are deceiving the public<br />
and want to continue. That is why they<br />
don’t want this dialogue to take place<br />
because definitely, something will come<br />
out of it.<br />
But your client is said to have a link<br />
with the Shiite movement...<br />
My client has already answered this<br />
question in an interview with BBC. Let me<br />
quote my client. He said: “If you ask me,<br />
are you a Shiite? I will ask you what is the<br />
meaning of Shiitism? The answer you give<br />
will determine the answer I will give you”.<br />
These are the wordings of my client and I<br />
don’t want to add to it. If<br />
he is allowed to exercise<br />
his right of movement,<br />
will he be safe? My client<br />
did not see any threat<br />
from anybody here in<br />
Kano except that from<br />
government who sent<br />
security men to guard<br />
him. At a meeting between<br />
the governor and the<br />
Friday Imams,<br />
penultimate Thursday, he<br />
(Governor Ganduje) gave<br />
them directives on what<br />
he wanted them to say in<br />
their sermons on Friday.<br />
He was instigating<br />
Imams to preach <strong>against</strong><br />
him and he is now sending<br />
security men to guard and<br />
protect his life. Would<br />
you accept it? We don’t see<br />
any threat from the public but<br />
government. Our governor’s utterances<br />
are very scary.<br />
The cleric was quoted to have<br />
allegedly said he is being witchhunted<br />
for working <strong>against</strong><br />
Ganduje in 2019...<br />
This is purely a religious issue. Can<br />
you hide under Ulamas to take revenge<br />
on what happened during an election?<br />
He is not supposed to do that. Leaders<br />
are leaders because they have big<br />
hearts above their subjects.<br />
But some people are saying<br />
government’s action is long<br />
overdue...<br />
That is their view. Have you ever heard<br />
Sheikh Abduljabbar on radio or<br />
television station? He doesn’t take his<br />
preaching to public radio stations or<br />
television stations. It is through social<br />
media. It is you that will buy your data<br />
and log into the site voluntarily. Why<br />
would you log into the site, listen to<br />
him and complain? It is restricted to<br />
those willing and not the entire public.
Y<br />
K<br />
PAGE 22 —SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021<br />
Viewpoint<br />
BY GAB EJUWA<br />
BY ABDUL JELIL ADEBAYO<br />
WITH over 15,000 cubic meter per hour<br />
and about 131 million cubic meter per<br />
annum, the FCT Water Board can be said to be<br />
one of the best potable water providers not only<br />
in Nigeria but also across the sub region.<br />
It is a government utility organisation saddled<br />
with the responsibility of providing safe,<br />
adequate and affordable water supply service<br />
in the country. And it has not failed in that aspect<br />
despite the challenges along its path of<br />
operations.<br />
The Board was established in 1989 with the<br />
sole responsibility of providing water supply in<br />
accordance with World Health Organization<br />
and Nigerian drinking water quality standards<br />
to residents of FCT, Abuja.<br />
With four departments and seven operational<br />
units and 17 Area offices, only 40 per cent of<br />
FCT has potable water.<br />
Its main sources of raw water are the Lower<br />
Usman Dam (LUD) in Abuja and Gurara, Kachia,<br />
in Kaduna State. It has six storage tanks<br />
and 13 booster stations for high elevation.<br />
The Board has 54,584 customers including<br />
major ones like Julius Berger, Transcorp,<br />
Remembering Hannah Arit Ejuwa<br />
HOSE we hold most dear never truly leave<br />
Tus, they live on in the kindness they<br />
showed,the comfort they shared and the love they<br />
brought into our lives.’’ —IsabelNorton<br />
How timeflies!!<br />
Just like yesterday!!<br />
It’s exactly 365 days now that my Friend, Bestie,<br />
Comforter, Sunshine, Dearest,<br />
Soulmate,Sweetheart, Counsellor, Adviser, Treasure,<br />
Precious, Gold, Diamond, Jewel, Darling<br />
and One in a Million Wife - HANNAH ARIT<br />
EJUWA - left us for the great beyond.<br />
On February11, 2020.<br />
Indeed, my heart is still heavy and full of sorrow;<br />
the pain is unbearable while the woundis still<br />
open.<br />
Han, how could I ever forget you? Your presence<br />
was a never-ending delight ; your good<br />
deeds will forever remain indelible in my heart.<br />
I remember those good old day sand our<br />
perfect bonding. We shared a lot of things in<br />
common! Yes, O!! Such a person like you is rare.<br />
No one can ever replace you. Your untimely and<br />
sudden death mean much to me as it left a big<br />
vacuum in my heart and life.<br />
Han, howcould I ever forget you, when everything<br />
reminds me of you? I love you. Han, I still<br />
love you! I have not stopped loving you. And, I<br />
will not stop loving you. Each time I sit up, memories<br />
of your love kept crowding in on me!<br />
How can I forget you when everything reminds<br />
me of you? You were a wonderful person to be<br />
remembered always. You brought joy into my<br />
life. I thank you for all you did to my life. You were<br />
my pillar of strength. My life pillar. I vividly remember<br />
how you led me to know Jesus Christ,<br />
our Lord and Saviour. You made me know thatthere<br />
is God, and there are gods. The gods that<br />
have mouths, but cannot talk; have eyes, but<br />
cannot see; have ears, but cannot hear; of whose<br />
hands and legs are paralysed and are deaf and<br />
dumb. You made me know that the one and<br />
only God is JEHOVAH!!! Jehovah Jireh! Jehovah<br />
Rapha! Jehovah Elohim! Jehovah El-Shaddai!<br />
Han, you are always in my heart. You left too<br />
soon. I never thought I was going to lose you this<br />
soon!<br />
Each evening, my mind could not accept the<br />
fact that you were gone, hoping somehow, that<br />
one day you would come back from work, and<br />
shout ‘’Gabo, honey, I love you; which food should<br />
I prepare for you?<br />
I have cried and cried and cried over and over<br />
because there’s no one who can ever take your<br />
place.<br />
What a life!<br />
Hans, thatyou are gone is like a candle in the<br />
FCT Water Board Giant Strides<br />
Sheraton, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,<br />
University of Abuja Teaching Hospital,<br />
NIA, NAF, CBN, Nigerian Army, 7UP, Coca<br />
Cola, Dantata and Sawoe, Presidential Fleet,<br />
NNPC, CGC and ACG.<br />
Since the appointment of Dame Joy Okoro as<br />
acting General Manager of the Board late last<br />
year, there have been changes that reflect in the<br />
increase of its revenue generation and performance.<br />
Out of her intolerance for corruption,<br />
The Abuja Water Supply Master Plan first<br />
phase is fully operational and has raw<br />
water supply source from LUD and Gurara<br />
she warned the Board staff to desist from collecting<br />
cash from customers with the claim to<br />
help them pay. She vowed that any staff caught<br />
would be dealt with; this, she said, would stem<br />
tide of corruption among its 1,402 staff.<br />
*Arit Ejuwa<br />
whirlwind; it is still a mirage. You always say<br />
you were not going to leave me; that we are<br />
forever! Now I have to go through life alone.<br />
Alone without you is emptiness and void. Like a<br />
match stick without its box! Naked! How could<br />
I burn without you?<br />
Oh, death where is thy sting? If nobody had<br />
ever told you, you’re most wicked and callous!<br />
Why did you snatch away my soulmate? Anyway,<br />
who are we to question Jehovah God?<br />
Only He knows why! He alone knows best,<br />
Okoro therefore urged customers to make use<br />
of the four platforms for payments: direct payment<br />
at the 16 area offices of the agency, e-<br />
Transact, Remita and Nibox. She also encouraged<br />
regular customers meetings with the area<br />
offices, where complaints are tabled and addressed.<br />
Before her appointment, the monthly revenue<br />
was as low as #95,000 to #150,000 monthly,<br />
but now the revenue has increased from between<br />
#195,000 and #209,000 monthly, an<br />
improvement stakeholders commend her for.<br />
In the meantime, funding of the Board is<br />
through FCT annual statutory budgetary appropriation<br />
and Donor Agencies. Unfortunately<br />
the funding has been irregular, insufficient<br />
and inconsistent with attendant consequences<br />
in slow operation and dwindling revenue generation.<br />
For instance, in 2011, the Board was able to<br />
realize #2.195 billion while, in 2016, it realised<br />
only #1.585billion and, as of August last year, it<br />
generated #895million only. A poor outing one<br />
may say. But since the assumption of office of<br />
why He decided to take you out of this sinful<br />
world for you to be with him in Eternity.<br />
Hans, no day passes without the loving<br />
thoughts of you! I sit and contemplate many<br />
things. You were a vibrant prayer warrior, very<br />
hospitable. Always ready to help those who<br />
came to you for assistance; you could almost<br />
give your eyes to please people. You very much<br />
believed in the Biblical saying, that, ‘’It is more<br />
blessed to give than to receive.’’ You are the best<br />
wife in the universe! Awife like you is really<br />
hard to find.<br />
You’re a kind-hearted woman! It is no overstatement<br />
t o declare that you are the best<br />
woman any man could desire! You were a precious<br />
gift from God, somuch beauty, love and<br />
patience, very pleasant, loving and characteristically<br />
courageous. I appreciate your care and<br />
devotion. You touched my heart in so many<br />
ways; your strength and smileeven on dark days<br />
made me realise I had an Angel beside me. You<br />
encouraged me when I was down. I remember<br />
on such occasions, you would lovingly say, ‘’Gabo,<br />
cheer up.’’ For the rest of my sojourn here on<br />
Earth, you’ld have a Special place in my heart! I<br />
miss you dearly!<br />
Continue to rest in the bosom of our Lord and<br />
Saviour Jesus Christ until the Resurrection Day<br />
when we shall meet to part no more.<br />
‘’Sleep on, beloved, sleep and take thy rest...<br />
Lay down thy head up on thy Saviour’s breast...<br />
We love thee well, but Jesus love thee best...<br />
Good night!Good night!! Good night!!!!<br />
Okoro, the revenue has increased to an average<br />
of #200million every other month.<br />
In spite of this, however, the Board has been<br />
able to serve the city effectively. It has also over<br />
40 per cent coverage level of water supply to<br />
the FCT and environs. It has introduced AMR<br />
meters to enhance billing efficiency and revenue<br />
generation.<br />
The infrastructural development plan was<br />
designed to be implemented in five phases,<br />
which, unfortunately, was not followed hence<br />
the hiccups in smooth flow of water to every<br />
cranny of the territory.<br />
The Abuja Water Supply Master Plan first<br />
phase is fully operational and has raw water<br />
supply source from LUD and Gurara.<br />
The 1, 2, 3, and 4 Water Treatment Plants,<br />
WTPs, are fully operational, while six Storage<br />
Tanks at the periphery of the city (2, 3, 4 and 5)<br />
are completed and 1 and 6 located at Katampe,<br />
Maitama, Asokoro, Apo and Lokogoma<br />
Districts re under construction.<br />
Continues on<br />
www.vanguard.ngr.com<br />
•Abdul Jelil is an Abuja based journalist<br />
and writes via<br />
abduljelil2001@gmail.com<br />
BY CHUKWUMERIJE OKEREKE<br />
30% power supply from renewables by 2030: Another perspective<br />
VICE President Yemi Osibanjo was re<br />
ported by many news platforms as reaffirming<br />
the commitment that Nigeria will<br />
achieve at least 30 percent of its power supply<br />
from renewable energy by 2030.<br />
It is reported that he reinstated the commitment<br />
to this ambitious target while inaugurating<br />
a 1.12 MW Solar Hybrid Project at the<br />
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, in Bauchi<br />
State.<br />
The intention to have at least 30 percent of<br />
the total electricity supply from renewable energy<br />
is very welcome and heartwarming.<br />
It signals that Nigeria is committed to the<br />
Paris Agreement and fulfilling its climate<br />
change action pledge as contained in the Nationally<br />
Determined Contributions (NDC).<br />
More importantly, it shows that Nigeria is cognisant<br />
of the global transition away from fossil<br />
fuel and the vast opportunities that renewable<br />
energy provides for solving the country’s<br />
energy poverty and economic development<br />
challenges. With around 80 percent of its rural<br />
population relying on wood, charcoal,<br />
dung, and other traditional biomass for cooking,<br />
there is no doubt that expanding access to<br />
affordable, reliable and clean household energy<br />
services is one of the most pressing developmental<br />
challenges facing Nigeria today. At<br />
the same time, the supply of adequate and affordable<br />
modern energy is a key enabler of<br />
other developmental sectors in the country.<br />
Furthermore, the fact that this commitment<br />
is coming from the Vice President at<br />
the period of Covid-19 pandemic, indicates<br />
that the Nigerian government understands<br />
that COVID-19 should not be used as an<br />
excuse to focus on more fossil fuels and ignore<br />
investment in renewable energy as a<br />
central piece of the post-COVID-19 economic<br />
recovery. It is commendable that the<br />
government has embarked on Energising<br />
Education Programme (EEP), which is<br />
aimed at solving the energy deficit in all<br />
the 37 federal universities and seven teaching<br />
hospitals in the country by using renewable<br />
energy, with the programme having<br />
been completed four projects at four<br />
different sites.<br />
However, in as much as the commitment<br />
is commendable, government must be clear<br />
that just saying that 30 percent of the total<br />
electricity supply will come from renewable<br />
energy by 2030 is not sufficient to make it<br />
happen.<br />
The commitment must instead be backed<br />
up by a clear and bold plan of action.<br />
There is a need to fashion a workable strategy<br />
towards achieving the target because as<br />
of today Nigeria is not on course to meeting<br />
the pledge. So far, there have been several<br />
places where the government is missing it –<br />
namely political will, policy implementation<br />
and evaluation, financing and investment.<br />
One mistake the country has made so far<br />
is that it seemed to concentrate too much on<br />
solar energy in meeting this ambitious target.<br />
While aggressive investment in solar is<br />
welcome, focusing only on solar PV to meet<br />
the target as seems to be in the case in the<br />
current NDC is too ambitious and unrealistic.<br />
This overemphasised interest in solar PV<br />
electrification may also be responsible for the<br />
low renewable energy penetration in the country.<br />
Continues on www.vanguard.ngr.com<br />
* Okereke, a professor, is the Director, Centre<br />
of Climate Change and Development at<br />
Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-<br />
Alike Ebonyi State. He is a Visiting Professor<br />
at Oxford University, UK and Coordinating<br />
Lead Author for the United Nations’<br />
IPCC.<br />
ANAMBRA 2021: Help is on the way to make our state great again<br />
BY EJIKE ONUOGU<br />
THE definition of a failed state is often<br />
found in the history of its foundation, and<br />
in that foundation lies the truth that has<br />
plagued Africa since the dawn of the 20th century.<br />
A foundation built on the emergence of<br />
despotic leaders and other human moles infused<br />
in the fabric of governance, whose primary<br />
allegiance is not to Africa, but to the<br />
whims and caprices of a Colonial Human<br />
machine, dedicated to burrowing into the<br />
mindset of a people, programming them to<br />
live only in the here and now of time, and in<br />
that psychological arrest, Springs and sustains<br />
a failure to reflect on the past and project into<br />
a brighter future. The envisioned outcome is<br />
perpetuation of apathy, inertia, and lack of<br />
motivation, blindsided by a dominant egodriven<br />
pursuit of self-serving principles to the<br />
exclusion of altruism.<br />
The success of this war machine unleashed<br />
<strong>against</strong> Africa has found expression in the failure<br />
of many Africans states to chart a course of<br />
unity amongst her people, provide a solid foundation<br />
for sustained economic growth, raise<br />
awareness of her people on the doctrine of collective<br />
nation-building, shedding the cloak of<br />
divisive <strong>forces</strong> embedded in religious, ethnic<br />
and tribal sentiments and intolerance as well<br />
as other class driven caste systems. These and<br />
other factors have chained Africa to the ground,<br />
preventing the emergence of a time-driven<br />
paradigm shift, challenging Africa to greater<br />
heights and place in the world of human accomplishments.<br />
Little wonder the great continent<br />
of Africa is at the bottom of the barrel in<br />
infrastructure development, human capital<br />
acquisition, healthcare delivery, resource and<br />
production- oriented educational curriculum,<br />
as well as technological innovations. Black<br />
Africa must be ashamed that it ranks first in<br />
poverty, infant and maternal mortality, corruption<br />
index, human rights violations and a<br />
host of other vices.<br />
The Nigeria situation is a microcosm of an<br />
African tragedy where a nation is turned on its<br />
This overemphasised interest in<br />
solar PV electrification may also be<br />
responsible for the low renewable<br />
energy penetration in the country<br />
head by the shortcoming of its own people. By<br />
extension, the black man in failing to understand<br />
himself and his positioning in the pyramidal<br />
stratification of the human race, continues<br />
to live in a fool’s paradise, oblivious of the<br />
fact that his house is on fire. It is not an accident<br />
but rather by design that the black man is<br />
positioned at the bottom of this pyramid in<br />
terms of productivity, self-sustenance and definition<br />
of character. Africa, through abandoning<br />
its heritage and cultural values, in preference<br />
for a white only ideology has opened itself<br />
up for exploitation and self-imprisonment;<br />
more so as the dichotomy created by these competing<br />
variables will never fit into a coherent<br />
monolithic construct of a pathway to global<br />
competitiveness. This is our Achilles’ heel and<br />
the reason why Africa is so vulnerable to the<br />
intrusive <strong>forces</strong> of colonialism and neocolonialism.<br />
In the Nigerian experiment, history must not<br />
always repeat itself especially when the outcome<br />
is inimical to our survival. History will<br />
always judge us for standing by and doing<br />
nothing in the face of growing danger in a<br />
society drifting towards attrition, moral decadence,<br />
collapse of her traditional ethos, and a<br />
struggle between the <strong>forces</strong> of sensual validation<br />
and vindication of just practices, values,<br />
self-sacrifice and self-effacement.<br />
Indeed, the danger of a dying society is that<br />
it is agog with celebration of the primordial<br />
and mundane aspects of life to the exclusion<br />
of the need to take stock of the expedient needs<br />
of that society.<br />
When this is juxtaposed with the fact that<br />
everybody can intellectualize on what the<br />
problems are, and able to proffer rambunctious<br />
solutions to these problems; the missing<br />
link has always been the inability to bring these<br />
solutions to fruition.<br />
Continues on www.vanguard.ngr.com<br />
*Onuogu, a medical doctor, lives in New<br />
York, United States<br />
C
SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021, PAGE 23<br />
CAF Confed Cup: Green blasts Anyasi-Agwu over<br />
false thuggery claims<br />
...Crunch time ... Rivers United and Enyinmba<br />
The build-up to today’s<br />
CAF Confederation<br />
Cup second leg play off tie<br />
between Rivers United and<br />
Enyimba has been marred<br />
by accusations and counter<br />
accusations.<br />
Enyimba was reported to<br />
have written a petition to<br />
CAF complaining that Rivers<br />
United planned to unleash<br />
thugs <strong>against</strong> the visiting<br />
Enyimba entourage.<br />
The match has now been<br />
upgraded by CAF as a<br />
“high risk”.<br />
However, Rivers State<br />
Football Association<br />
chairman Chris Green said<br />
Awoniyi targets Liverpool return<br />
Former Flying Ea<br />
gles star Taiwo<br />
Awoniyi, has said he is<br />
hopeful of returning to<br />
Liverpool despite the<br />
lingering issue of workpermit.<br />
Awoniyi currently on<br />
loan at Union Berlin<br />
was signed by Liverpool<br />
in 2015, but has<br />
spent most of his time<br />
outside the English<br />
Premier League after<br />
failure to pass the hurdle<br />
of work-permit.<br />
“Liverpool will always<br />
be the priority for me<br />
and I am grateful to everyone<br />
at the club,”<br />
Awoniyi has told World<br />
Soccer Magazine on<br />
seeing his path blocked<br />
on Merseyside.<br />
“I still don’t have the<br />
work permit to play in<br />
England. But with the<br />
new rules in place, and<br />
the minutes I have<br />
played in Germany this<br />
season, no one knows<br />
what the future will<br />
hold regarding the UK<br />
work permit.<br />
“If I become eligible<br />
*Awoniyi<br />
to play in the UK, I<br />
think I can have a say<br />
on what my decision<br />
will be. Things have<br />
changed remarkably<br />
with the new rules and<br />
this will certainly help<br />
me decide my next<br />
step.<br />
“Liverpool is a very<br />
special club. They are<br />
always in contact to see<br />
how I am doing and to<br />
ensure I know that they<br />
are following my<br />
progress out here. It<br />
motivates me to know<br />
my parent club is following<br />
up and have my<br />
best interests at heart.”<br />
Enyimba was engaged in a<br />
tactic of intimidation, he<br />
accused Enyimba and their<br />
chairman, Felix Anyasi-<br />
Agwu of bad faith.<br />
“To me, it’s uncalled for<br />
and it’s regrettable because<br />
I didn’t expect that<br />
Felix Ayansi Agwu, an executive<br />
member of the Nigeria<br />
Football Federation<br />
(NFF) will write <strong>against</strong> a<br />
fellow Nigerian team. It is<br />
sad commentary of our<br />
game and he has actually<br />
done a disservice to Nigerian<br />
football,” he said.<br />
“As the Chairman of the<br />
Rivers State Football Association,<br />
it is my responsibility<br />
to ensure that the<br />
game goes hitch free. And<br />
that is what I am going to<br />
ensure.<br />
“Football is a game of<br />
friendship and amity. I<br />
wonder what Enyimba<br />
would gain by heightening<br />
tension in a football match<br />
of brothers. This is why we<br />
have said that it is quite unethical<br />
for a person to be<br />
head of a club and a member<br />
of the Executive Committee<br />
of the NFF. We expect<br />
a good example.”<br />
Rivers United will be tough<br />
—Enyimba coach<br />
Holding a 1-0 advan<br />
tage from the first<br />
leg, Enyimba of Aba coach,<br />
Fatai Osho said today’s<br />
CAF Confederation Cup<br />
tie <strong>against</strong> Rivers United<br />
will be a tough duel.<br />
The winner of the tie will<br />
qualify to play in the group<br />
stage of the competition.<br />
Rivers United are highly<br />
motivated for tie and playing<br />
in front of their teeming<br />
supporters today in Port<br />
Harcourt, their target is to<br />
beat Enyimba and advance.<br />
But Enyimba are<br />
equal to the task of stopping<br />
the flow of Rivers United.<br />
“It is not going to be an<br />
easy task, we’re quite aware<br />
of that.<br />
“Looking at the quality of<br />
our opponents and looking<br />
at what happened in the<br />
first leg, none of the teams<br />
will be so sure of getting the<br />
ticket because the two<br />
teams looked equally<br />
matched.<br />
“We have to be honest<br />
with ourselves, coming in<br />
here, it won’t be an easy task<br />
but we want to be optimistic<br />
that we’ll scale this hurdle.”<br />
Osimhen disowns brother’s<br />
claim on Napoli<br />
Super Eagles striker,<br />
Victor Osimhen has<br />
disowned claims by his<br />
brother Andrew Osimhen,<br />
that he was not playing to<br />
potentials at Napoli.<br />
Osimhen has scored only<br />
two goals after his high<br />
profile move to the Italian<br />
side. He has battled with<br />
injury and coronavirus infection.<br />
“I wish to make it clear<br />
that asking for a footballrelated<br />
opinion from a relative<br />
of mine is not the<br />
same as asking me directly.<br />
I love Napoli, the club,<br />
my coach, and my team. I<br />
especially love my teammates<br />
and I hope to continue<br />
growing and improving<br />
to help the team more”,<br />
he posted on Instagram.<br />
“This is my official opinion<br />
and I ask you to respect<br />
it. No one is my spokesperson<br />
or whatsoever,” he concluded.<br />
Osimhen is barring any<br />
circumstances will be on<br />
hand to help Napoli in today’s<br />
Serie A clash <strong>against</strong><br />
Atalanta.<br />
Arteta banks on Saka to lift Arsenal <strong>against</strong> City<br />
Arsenal coach Mikel<br />
Arteta, has said he<br />
would continue to play<br />
Bukayo Saka despite the<br />
19-year-old facing the<br />
threat of burnout in his second<br />
full season as a firstteam<br />
regular.<br />
Another highly-rated<br />
product of the Emirates<br />
Stadium academy system<br />
has cemented a standing<br />
as a key man for the Gunners<br />
and England despite<br />
*Osimhen<br />
his relative lack of senior<br />
experience.<br />
Arteta continues to select<br />
the youngster whenever he<br />
can, with 29 appearances<br />
taken in across all competitions<br />
in the current campaign,<br />
and is not about to<br />
start reining Saka in.<br />
“I think he’s in a great<br />
moment, he’s full of confidence,”<br />
Arteta has told reporters<br />
of Saka ahead of a<br />
Premier League clash with<br />
Manchester City today.<br />
“He’s been really important<br />
in recent results. His<br />
form is probably the highest<br />
that it’s been since I’ve<br />
been here and he’s been really<br />
consistent. He needs to<br />
keep going and (we need to)<br />
be wise with him because<br />
at the moment he’s a big<br />
part of the team.<br />
“I think we have to protect<br />
him and keep the extractions<br />
where they<br />
should be, but I’m not going<br />
to put a brake on his<br />
development or how much<br />
he can do week in, week<br />
out.<br />
“We have to support him<br />
and give him the best possible<br />
advice all the time,<br />
and then manage his minutes<br />
so he can maintain this<br />
level.<br />
“It is (difficult) at the<br />
moment because he’s been<br />
a real threat. He’s involved<br />
in a lot of goals all the time<br />
and his consistent performances<br />
make him a starter<br />
obviously. So it’s a fine<br />
balance, but at the same<br />
time he’s 19 years old and<br />
we have to protect him.”<br />
Tuchel berates Hudson-Odoi as Chelsea falter at Southampton<br />
*Osaka<br />
Osaka beats Brady to grab<br />
second Australian Open title<br />
Naomi Osaka crushed Jennifer Brady 6-4 6-3<br />
to secure her second Australian Open title<br />
yesterday and cement her standing as the new queen<br />
of the women’s game.<br />
Osaka’s one-sided win over the 22nd-seeded<br />
American in the final at Rod Laver Arena gave the<br />
Japanese juggernaut her fourth major crown, with<br />
her career still budding at the age of 23.<br />
She <strong>join</strong>ed Monica Seles and Roger Federer as<br />
winners in their first four Grand Slam finals, marking<br />
her out as the ultimate big match performer.<br />
“My reaction is that that’s very amazing company,”<br />
Osaka told reporters, sitting next to the winner’s<br />
Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.<br />
“I hope that I can have one grain of how their<br />
career has unfolded. But you can only wish and you<br />
can only just keep going down your own path.<br />
“But it’s definitely something crazy to hear.”<br />
Ojez lauds sports minister on<br />
National Stadium pool<br />
reopening<br />
Swimming enthusiasts have heaved a sigh of relief<br />
at the complex as the Sports Ministry has cleared<br />
the coast for activities to reopen at the National Stadium<br />
swimming pool complex in Surulere, Lagos.<br />
The pool has been under lock and key for almost a<br />
year running following the coronavirus lock down and<br />
the renovations embarked upon by the Sports Ministry.<br />
While the swimming pool was closed, there was no available<br />
Olympic standard swimming pool for the athletes<br />
to practice or do their time trials.And there were fears<br />
that the complex renovated by entertainment entrepreneur,<br />
Joseph Odubeatu a.k.a Ojez, will relapse into disrepair.<br />
“It is a good thing that the Sports Minister, Sunday<br />
Dare has directed the swimming pool to be opened again<br />
we thank him very much,” Mr Odubeatu said yesterday.<br />
“It was not because of our personal gains that we embarked<br />
on the renovations. It was because of our commitment<br />
to sports development in the country and we<br />
are going to cooperate with the sports ministry to ensure<br />
that the facility is well maintained and ready all the time<br />
for athletes training and hosting of national and international<br />
competitions.”<br />
Dean returns with red card for Ajayi<br />
M<br />
ike Dean took centre stage on his return to the<br />
Premier League by showing a red card to West<br />
Brom defender Semi Ajayi at Turf Moor yesterday.<br />
After taking a break from top-flight duty on the back of<br />
receiving death threats for a recent decision, the referee<br />
once again had to make a potentially match-defining<br />
VAR call.<br />
Dean initially waved play on amid Burnley protests for<br />
handball <strong>against</strong> Ajayi, who had intervened in attempt<br />
to prevent returning striker Matej Vydra from storming<br />
through on goal.<br />
As soon as play stopped, though, the 52-year-old headed<br />
straight towards his pitchside monitor and, ultimately,<br />
returned to brandish a red card to Ajayi.<br />
Dean followed that up by turning down two strong Clarets’<br />
penalty appeals upon the restart, the first of which<br />
for another handball incident he wasn’t asked to consult<br />
VAR for.<br />
Chelsea coach, Tho<br />
mas Tuchel has said<br />
that he was “not happy”<br />
with Callum Hudson-<br />
Odoi’s performance in the<br />
1-1 draw at Southampton<br />
when he substituted the<br />
winger after bringing him<br />
on at half-time.<br />
The England international<br />
reacted angrily to<br />
being substituted but Tuchel<br />
stood by his decision<br />
and said he expected more<br />
from Hudson-Odoi.<br />
“I am not concerned<br />
about Tammy Abraham, it<br />
was not about the injury, it<br />
was hard for him to show<br />
his quality,” he told BT<br />
Sport after the game.<br />
“He could not put his<br />
stamp in this game so we<br />
changed the formation. We<br />
brought in Callum Hudson-Odoi<br />
but I was not<br />
happy with his attitude,<br />
energy and counter-pressing.<br />
“I took him off and we<br />
demand 100%, I feel he is<br />
not in the right shape to<br />
help us. It was a hard decision<br />
but tomorrow it is<br />
forgotten and he has all<br />
possibilities to start<br />
<strong>against</strong> Atletico Madrid.”<br />
Speaking in a news conference<br />
afterwards, Tuchel<br />
added: “It was hard to<br />
create chance and we<br />
needed counter-pressing<br />
to force errors for the second<br />
ball and get an easy<br />
chance.<br />
“We had to be sharp with<br />
counter-pressing and I<br />
didn’t feel this from Callum<br />
today. I did not feel it,<br />
but I trust him.”
SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021<br />
SEE SOLUTION PAGE 3<br />
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