25022021 - Way out of Nigeria’s security problems

The irony of President Buhari’s 

nomination of Agah and Okonjo- 

Iweala as DG of the WTO is that he 

doesn’t share their economic views; 

but Dr. Okonjo-Iweala and Dr. Agah 

have done Nigeria and Africa proud 

and deserve our best wishes 

16 

Borno: Death toll 

rises to 16, over 60 

injured as survivors 

recount ordeals 

•FG to begin 

trial of 5,000 Boko 

Haram suspects 

14 

Osinbajo to lead discussions 

at Banks’ CEOs Summit on 

Economic Growth tomorrow 

Exit from recession, result of 

our fiscal policies —FG 

FG considers new options to deliver prepaid meters 

19 

8 

8 

VOL. 27: NO. 642281 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Victims of 

NAF plane 

crash for 

burial at 

national 

military 

cemetery 

today 

9 

18 killed 

in Kaduna 

as bandits 

attack 

6 

soft 

targets 

United 

Capital's 

profit up 

by 61% to 

N7.95 

19 

billion 

Senate 

confirms 

Bawa as 

EFCC 9 

chairman 

Way out of Nigeria’s 

security problems 

—IBB, ABDULSALAMI, 

ONAIYEKAN, OTHERS 

•Nigeria can overcome its security threats, if... —IBB•Negotiating with 

bandits not the best —Abdulsalami•Onaiyekan warns against dialoguing 

with criminals•Says there must be evidence of repentance before 

criminals are granted amnesty •Northern elders blast Gumi over profiling 

of military•Say military, professional, non-partisan institution•Urge 

public to see military as symbol of national unity•No apologies for 

defending herdsmen —Bauchi gov 

ZULUM VISITS ATTACK VICTIMS... 

Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno (R) commiserates with a victim of Tuesday night’s attack by Boko 

Haram insurgents who fired rocket-propelled grenades that killed 10 residents and injured 47 in Gwange 

and Adam Kolo communities, during his visit to the hospital in Maiduguri, yesterday. Photo: NAN. 

5 

•Babangida 

•Abdulsalami 

•Onaiyekan 

Mr & Mrs 

COLUMNIST AMAECHI 17 

30 

SEE INSIDE

2 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 — 3

4 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021

vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews 

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021—5 

POCKET CARTOON 

SENATE COMMITTEE ON NDDC VISITS RIVERS: Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers State (R), presenting 

a souvenir to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), 

Sen. Peter Nwaoboshi, during the visit of the Senate Committee to the governor in Port Harcourt, 

yesterday. With them is Minority Leader, Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe (M). Photo: NAN. 

Way out of Nigeria’s security problems 

By Joseph Erunke & 

Charles Agwam 

ABUJA—Former 

M i l i t a r y 

President, 

General Ibrahim 

Babangida, former Head of 

State, General Abdulsalami 

Abubakar, and Archbishop 

Emeritus, Catholic Diocese 

of Abuja, John Cardinal 

Onaiyekan, have 

suggested ways out of the 

nation’s security problems. 

The trio spoke, as 

Northern elders, acting 

under the aegis of North- 

East Elders for Peace and 

Development, yesterday, 

disowned Islamic cleric, 

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, for 

profiling the military as 

contributors to the security 

problems in the country. 

Gumi had alleged in a 

television interview on 

Monday that southerners 

in the military were 

responsible for killing of 

bandits in Nigeria. 

The Northern elders 

spoke on a day Bauchi State 

governor, Bala 

Mohammed, said he had 

no apology to make to 

anyone for defending 

Fulani herders against 

alleged ethnic profiling of 

herdsmen. 

What to do — 

Babangida 

Receiving Nigerian 

Governors’ Forum 

members who were on a 

courtesy visit to his Hilltop 

mansion in Minna, Niger 

State, late Tuesday, 

Babangida said the threats 

faced by Nigeria at present 

can be dealt with, if those 

in position of authority 

planned appropriately. 

According to him, 

quashing the threats posed 

by kidnappers, bandits, 

and insurgents require a lot 

of planning, and not a 

short-term plan. 

General Babangida, retd, 

said he has obtained 

information suggesting 

that security agencies were 

working together to map 

out new strategies on how 

to deal with the situation. 

The former president, 

who noted that he was 

concerned about the 

situation in the country, 

urged the government and 

the citizenry to join forces 

to overcome the problem. 

“At this point in time, interagency 

cooperation is very 

important to deal with 

these threats staring the 

country in the face,” 

Babangida said. 

Negotiating with 

bandits not 

solution — 

Abdulsalami 

Also receiving the 

governors in his residence 

in Minna, former Head of 

State, General Abdulsalami 

Abubakar, retd, said 

negotiating with terrorists 

and bandits is not the best 

way to tackle the insecurity 

in the country. 

He said the best way to 

solve Nigeria’s banditry 

and kidnapping issues was 

to first make sure that the 

crimes were not committed. 

While admitting that 

sometimes negotiations 

might be used to save the 

lives of kidnap victims, 

General Abdulsalami said 

the nation needs tight 

security to checkmate the 

miscreants before they 

strike. 

Alluding to the Kagara 

school abduction, 

Abdulsalami said: “Even if 

anyone knows where the 

students are, it will be 

foolhardy to storm the place 

in a bid to fight and bring 

them back.” 

He, however, urged the 

authorities to ensure that 

security is beefed up to 

forestall further 

occurrences. 

According to him, the 

nation’s security 

architecture is 

overstretched and the 

Police Force is underpopulated, 

hence the need 

for support from the citizens 

and an increase in 

manpower. 

General Abdulsalami 

appealed that all hands 

must be on deck to ensure 

that insecurity in the 

country was tackled 

appropriately. 

“Let us go back to when 

we were our brothers’ 

keepers,” Abdulsalami 

pleaded. 

The elder statesman said 

it is sad that citizens are 

now being seen as 

strangers and looked at with 

suspicion when they leave 

their states of origin to visit 

other parts of the country. 

Recall that the NGF, led 

by the chairman and 

governor of Ekiti State, 

Kayode Fayemi, were in 

Minna, Niger State, on a 

solidarity visit to the State 

governor, Abubakar Bello, 

over the kidnap of students 

and staff of Government 

Science College, Kagara, 

last Wednesday. 

Onaiyekan warns 

against dialogue 

with criminals 

Speaking in a similar vein 

yesterday, former Catholic 

Archbishop of Abuja, John 

Cardinal Onaiyekan, 

warned against dialogue 

with criminals who 

masquerade as bandits, 

saying doing so will further 

compound the security 

problems in the country. 

He also cautioned the 

Federal Government 

against granting amnesty 

to criminals until there is 

evidence of true 

repentance. 

He spoke against the 

backdrop of a statement by 

the chairman of Nigeria 

Governors’ Forum, NGF, 

Kayode Fayemi, that there 

is nothing wrong in 

dialogue with bandits. 

Fayemi had stated this 

when he led governors on 

a solidarity visit to Niger 

State governor, Abubakar 

Bello, following the 

abduction of students of 

Government Science 

College, Kagara, last 

Wednesday. The abductees 

are yet to be released. 

Onaiyekan, who gave the 

warning in an interview on 

Channels Television 

breakfast programme, 

Sunrise Daily, said 

dialogue with criminals 

might become an incentive 

for others to pick up arms 

with the confidence that 

they would receive 

amnesty. 

He said the Federal 

Government must not get 

to the point of giving the 

impression it cannot deal 

with criminals holding the 

nation hostage. 

“I don’t think we should 

reach a stage where the 

nation simply says we’re 

unable to deal with the 

situation. 

Continues on Page 28 

By Cynthia Alo 

Should FG grant amnesty to bandits? (4) 

F 

G should not 

grant any amnesty 

to the bandits. 

They should be in 

jail and not use amnesty 

to fix social 

vices. The law is the 

law! Northern elders 

need to take their IQ 

seriously and stop 

blabbering. 

— Chukwuma Eke, 

Medical Doctor 

Watching the SSG 

of Niger state and 

other Muslim clerics 

standing and discussing 

with those Bandits in the 

forest tells us that Northern 

leaders behind the 

crisis happening in our 

country. Let the Bandits 

state what they’re 

fighting for and we can 

take it from there. 

—— Kizito Omenukwa, 

Nurse 

The IPOB were tagged 

terrorist when they don’t 

even move about armed, 

how come bandits who are 

fully armed, and who kidnap 

and kill cannot be tagged 

same. 

Who knows if these bandits 

are not the Boko haram sect? 

If the federal government grants 

them amnesty then automatically 

and indirectly Boko Haram has 

been granted amnesty. 

—- Damian Ocho, 

Student 

Why should FG 

grant amnesty to 

bandits? What is the 

assurance that they 

won’t commit the crime 

again? I don’t think its 

right to grant amnesty to 

bandits. What if they use 

that opportunity to commit 

the crime again? 

—— Cinderella Kene- 

Onyiba, Accountant 

Amnesty in the first place 

is demanded by a set of 

people who are legally bound 

to be punished for either political 

offense or they have been 

publicly convicted. Hence the 

official pardon can be 

weighty... Northern bandits 

aren’t remorseful in the least, 

more so they should at least 

be convicted properly before 

expecting reprieve by the government. 

——Newton Epepa, 

Sales Executive 

Granting amnesty to 

bandits has never 

had any positive impact 

in the control of terrorism 

anywhere in the 

world even in this country. 

It rather motivates 

other rising group of 

bandits with the aim to 

be granted amnesty 

some day. 

— Okeke Henry, 

Self Employed

6— Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

One dead as 

gunmen 

attack 

bullion van in 

Delta 

By Festus Ahon 

ASABA—A lady was 

reportedly killed, Tuesday, 

when gunmen attacked a 

bullion van at Ubulu-Okiti 

along Benin/Asaba expressway 

in Aniocha North Local 

Government Area of Delta State. 

It was gathered that the over 

10 gunmen came out of a bush 

on sighting the bullion van, 

shooting sporadically until the 

bullion van and the escorts 

stopped. 

An eyewitness, who lamented 

that the gunmen succeeded in 

robbing the bullion van, said a 

female passenger in a bus was 

killed by a stray bullet from the 

gun of the armed robbers. 

The eyewitness, who pleaded 

anonymity, could not confirm 

how much the gunmen made 

away with, adding that the 

robbery attack caused serious 

traffic on the ever-busy 

expressway. 

Lamenting that motorists, 

passengers and villagers closed 

to the scene of the robbery, 

scampered for safety, the source 

said it took a while for those who 

ran into the bush to come out 

even when the robbers were 

gone. 

Contacted, acting Police 

Public Relations Officer in the 

state Police Command, Mr 

Bright Edafe, confirmed the 

attack, but said he was not aware 

if a female passenger was killed 

or not. 

Tipper driver 

crushes 

conductor to 

death in Abia 

By Steve Oko 

ABA—Many 

cried 

uncontrollably, 

yesterday, as the body of a 

conductor, who was 

accidentally crushed to 

death by his driver, laid by 

the side of the tipper 

opposite the entrance of the 

Abia Line Transport 

Network, Umuahia. 

It was gathered that the 

driver, who was conveying 

sand, was flagged down by 

the conductor and as he 

made to open the door of 

the tipper, his hand, 

unfortunately, slipped off 

and the back tyre ran over 

him. 

The conductor died on the 

spot following serious 

injuries he sustained as the 

tyre crushed his spinal 

cord, hands and neck. 

Bewildered by the tragic 

incident, the driver alighted 

and began to cry as he saw 

his conductor, who was said 

to be his kinsman, dead. 

The driver rushed to 

report the matter to the 

police, who later arrived at 

the scene and evacuated the 

corpse. 

18 killed in Kaduna as bandits attack soft 

targets 

By Ibrahim 

HassanWuyo 

EIGHTEEN persons have been 

reportedly killed by bandits in 

Igabi and Chikun Local 

Government Areas of Kaduna State 

with houses and barns set ablaze 

and cattle rustled. 

The state Commissioner for 

Internal Security and Home Affairs, 

Samuel Aruwan, said,yesterday, 

that seven residents were killed in 

one of the attacks on Anaba village 

in Igabi Local Government Area. 

He said many of the houses in 

the community were burnt down, 

with storehouses and barns. About 

20 cows were rustled and several 

birds slaughtered and carted away. 

•Dozens of bandits neutralised in several locations 

Aruwan said eight persons were 

killed by the bandits in Barinje 

village, Chikun Local Government 

Area. 

“Some residents were abducted 

and cattle rustled during the attack. 

An unspecified number of injured 

victims are receiving treatment in 

hospitals," he said. 

According to the commissioner, 

the attacks on these soft targets at 

Anaba and Barinje villages in Igabi 

and Chikun LGAs followed the 

killing of several bandits via 

targeted air operations. 

He said: "Air platforms had earlier 

conducted armed reconnaissance 

around Anaba village. The crew 

observed houses on fire and locals 

migrating to nearby settlements. 

Some motorbikes were observed 

with suspicious movements 

underneath some trees; probing 

shots were fired at them.. 

"Herds of cattle were spotted with 

bandits at Malul forest and were 

engaged accordingly. 

"Also, air platforms conducted 

armed reconnaissance over some 

affected locations. Kawuri, Chikun, 

Godani, Kusasu, Godani Station, 

Kwafe, Kuduru, Irina, Chikwale, 

Kudame, Kwakwau, Beni, Akilbu, 

Polewire, Rijana, Rugu, Olam farms 

and adjoining areas were covered. 

"Bandits in large numbers on 

motorcycles were sighted on a track 

leading to Kankomi. They were 

trailed and engaged by the crew, 

with scores seen neutralised 

afterwards. 

Regrettably, armed bandits 

attacked the loosely connected 

communities of Kwarten Rigasa, 

SENSITISATION: A team from the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, led 

by the Federal Controller of Works in Ogun State, Mr Umar Bakare, during a 

sensitisation of illegal occupants under the bridges on the Lagos-Ibadan 

Expressway on dangers of their abuse and advised them to vacate before forceful 

eviction, in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: NAN. 

Man tortured to death over missing goat 

in Benue 

By Peter Duru 

MAKURDI— Chairman of 

Ushongo Local Government 

Area of Benue State, Mr Joseph 

Asawa, has ordered an 

investigation into the alleged 

torture and death of a middleaged 

man, one Ordue Akume, 

over a missing goat. 

According to a statement, 

yesterday, by the Information 

Officer of the local government 

area, Mr Edmund Igbawua, 

the council chairman gave the 

order, Tuesday, after visiting 

the scene of the incident. 

Igbawua in the statement 

PRESENTATION: 

General Overseer, 

Christ Mercyland 

Deliverance 

Ministry, Senior 

Prophet Jeremiah 

Omotosho (right) 

presenting cash of 

N1.5 million to 

members of the 

National Youth 

Service Corps, 

NYSC, during the 

sendforth and 

welcome service 

for outgoing and 

incoming corps 

members at the 

ministry, in Warri, 

Delta State. 

explained that a sibling of the 

deceased had allegedly 

reported to the youths of the 

community that his goat was 

missing. 

“In the process of 

investigation, they decided to 

consult an oracle and 

according to them, the oracle 

revealed that it was the 

deceased that stole the goat. 

“The accused, however, 

denied the allegation but in a 

bid to ensure that he admitted 

and returned the stolen goat, 

the suspects persisted with all 

forms of torture despite pleas 

by neighbours and passersby 

to spare him. 

“When it became obvious to 

them that he would not survive 

the torture, they moved and 

dump him at a private clinic 

where he gave up the ghost. 

“The council chairman, who 

expressed shock at the barbaric 

act, enjoined the police and 

traditional rulers to effect the 

arrest of the six suspects who 

are now in police net. 

“He also visited the clinic 

where the corpse was 

abandoned and moved it to 

General Hospital, Lessel 

morgue for necessary action.” 

Meanwhile, efforts to reach 

the Police Public Relations 

Officer, Catherine Anene, was 

unsuccessful but it was reliably 

gathered that the suspects were 

being moved to the state 

command headquarters in 

Makurdi for further 

investigation. 

Kwarten Waziri and Kwarten 

Shaku in Igabi Local Government 

Area. 

"The bandits reportedly emerged 

from the Buruku area and raided 

the villages in a cattle rustling 

operation. In the process, one 

Danjuma Isa from neighbouring 

Ungwan Kanti village was killed, 

as he made his way on foot to 

Kwarten Rigasa. 

"Similarly, armed bandits 

invaded Sanhu Makera village, 

Birnin Yero in Igabi Local 

Government Area area and killed 

one Yakubu Abdullahi, a farmer. 

"In another incident, unknown 

assailants killed one Maryam Lash 

Tahir in unusual circumstances at 

the Ministerial Pilot Housing 

Estate, Millennium City, Chikun 

Local Government Area. 

Murder of 

housemaid: 

Court 

discharges, 

acquits Kano 

housewife 

By Bashir Bello 

KANO— A Kano Chief 

Magistrate's Court presided over 

by Ibrahim Khalil, yesterday, 

discharged and acquitted a 30- 

year-old housewife, Fatima 

Hamza, alleged to have 

murdered her housemaid, Khadija 

Isyaku, 22, in Sharada Quarters, 

Kano. 

Chief Magistrate Khalil 

discharged the defendant after 

terminating the First Information 

Report (FIR) based on legal advice 

by the Ministry of Justice, which 

found her not guilty of the offence. 

Khalil said: “Following the legal 

advice by the Department of Public 

Prosecutions, DPP, dated February 

22, I hereby terminate the FIR and 

discharge the defendant.” 

Earlier, at the resumed hearing 

of the case, yesterday, the 

prosecution counsel, M. Ahmad 

presented legal advice by the 

Department of Public 

Prosecutions, DPP, to the court, 

according to sections 376 (6) and 

299 (3) of the Administration of 

Criminal Justice Law(ACJL) 2019 

to terminate the FIR. 

Ahmad urged the court to 

terminate and discharge the 

defendant according to sections 

259(3) 376(3) of the Administration 

of Criminal Justice Law(ACJL). 

Ahmad said: “There is no single 

evidence that shows the defendant 

committed the offence. 

“The legal advice should also be 

forwarded to the State Police 

Command and make a proper 

investigation on the case, invite 

those involved, if found guilty they 

should be charged to court.” 

Counsel to the defendant, 

Ibrahim Chedi, did not object to 

the legal advice. 

It would be recalled that Fatima 

was arraigned in court on a count 

charge of culpable homicide 

sometime on January 22, for 

beating up her housemaid, 

Khadija, to a pulp before she was 

rushed to Murtala Muhammad 

Specialist Hospital where she was 

confirmed dead by a medical 

doctor.


Bandits on treetop kill policeman, injure 

3 others in Niger 

By Wole Mosadomi 

MINNA — BANDITS have 

devised a new strategy of 

attacking their unsuspecting 

victims in Niger State as a gang 

of Gunmen reportedly attacked 

and killed a Police Inspector from 

the top of a tree and injured 

three other policemen. 

It was gathered that the 

policemen drafted to protect 

travellers along Minna-Suleja 

road were attacked Tuesday 

evening at Kaffinkoro junction on 

the busy highway. 

The policemen were said to be 

standing patrolling the highway 

Boat driver, 11 

passengers 

missing as 

pirates strike 

in Bonny 

waters 

By Egufe Yafugborhi 

PORT 

HARCOURT— 

THE whereabouts of 11 

passengers and the driver of 

a Port Harcourt-Bonny bound 

commercial boat remain 

unknown following another 

pirates attack in Rivers State, 

on Tuesday. 

Chairman, Bonny Maritime 

Union Workers, Henry Jumbo, 

yesterday, said: “Our boat that 

left Port Harcourt yesterday to 

Bonny with 11 passengers and 

the driver have been 

apprehended by unknown 

gunmen. 

“A search party had gone 

round the creeks through out 

the night. This morning 

(yesterday) we started the 

search again with the help of 

another gunboat. No headway 

yet. 

“Please, government and the 

security agencies should come 

to our aid because Bonny 

people and Maritime Workers 

Union of Nigeria, Bonny Unit 

are suffering. 

“We frequently lose our 

customers, lose our boats, 

drivers, we are losing our 

entire business, increasing 

hardship among the people. 

We need all the help from 

relevant stakeholders.” 

Reacting, the new 

Commissioner of Police, Rivers 

State Command, Friday Eboka 

said: “I have not received any 

report on this. Give me little 

time to call my DPO Marine, 

please.” 

Moments after, Jumbo, the 

marine workers leader on 

update said the search party 

had located the abductors' 

hideout through intelligence 

gathering. 

“We only saw our life jackets 

worn by some of the 

passengers and other 

materials on the boat at the 

time it took off on the 

commercial ferry from Port 

Harcourt to Bonny. We are yet 

to find any of the victims," he 

said. 

when the bandits pumped 

bullets on them from the top of 

a tree, leaving the Inspector 

dead and injuring three others. 

The name of the deceased 

Inspector, who has since been 

buried according to Islamic 

rites, was given as Mohammed 

Mohammed, while the injured 

policemen were rushed to the 

IBB Specialist hospital, Minna 

by good Samaritans. 

An uncle of the diseased 

Inspector and former Speaker of 

Niger State House of Assembly, 

Ndanusa Hassan, confirmed that 

the deceased was buried 

yesterday. 

Tension as bandits 

invade Lapai 

community 

It was also gathered that a middleaged 

man was abducted while two 

others sustained injuries when 

armed men raided Ebbo 

communities in Lapai Local 

Government Area of the state. 

An eyewitness said the over 10 

armed men that invaded the 

community, Tuesday night, shot 

sporadically to scare the residents 

and succeeded in abducting a sales 

boy of a popular mobile telephone 

shop while two others were injured 

during the invasion. 

It was gathered that the target of 

the gunmen was the owner of the 

shop, one Malam Abu Magaji, who 

was said to have retired home, but 

his sales boy, Sule Isah, was 

abducted. 

Public Relations Officer of the state 

Police Command, Wasiu Abiodun, 

when contacted on phone to confirm 

the stories. 

NDLEA arrests Indian, 89 Nigerians in 

Lagos raids 

By: Kingsley 

Omonobi 

A BUJA.—NINETY 

persons, including an 

Indian, have been arrested by 

operatives of the National 

Drug Law Enforcement 

Agency, NDLEA, during raids 

of some drug cartels in parts 

of Lagos where a total of 

614.396 kilograms of various 

hard drugs were seized. 

During raids of some drug 

spots in Agege, Ikorodu, Lekki, 

Okokomaiko and other parts of 

Lagos State, the operatives 

busted one of the cartels led 

by one Samuel Ebenezer in 

Lekki. 

Ebeneezer’s cartel imports 

special sophisticated drugs 

baked in cakes, biscuits and 

cookies from the United States 

and sells them to the rich and 

affluent people in Lekki and 

Lagos Island. 

The second syndicate busted 

by the Lagos State command 

is co-ordinated by an Indian, 

Inderpreet Singh, alias Bobby, 

that imports Tramadol 225mg 

from India and sells in Nigeria 

from his Osy Agomo Close, 

Apple Estate, Amuwo Odofin 

area of Lagos. 

Singh is also a dealer in 

tricycle parts and Managing 

Director of Rashaan Trading 

Ltd. Arrested with him is a 

Nigerian, one Sylvester 

Omoredien. 

At the Apapa seaport, about 

two million capsules of 

Tramadol tucked in 554 cartons 

were intercepted in the 

•Impounds 614,396 Kilograms 

of hard drugs 

Singh (right) and his accomplice. 

container, which was falsely 

declared to contain ceramic 

tiles. 

According to the Apapa 

Seaport Area Commander of 

the NDLEA, Mr Samuel 

Gadzama, one of the containers 

bearing the illicit drug had been 

intercepted and seized in 

Kenya. 

“Though the second container 

found its way to Nigeria, the 

eagle eyes of our narcotic 

agents discovered it during a 

joint inspection of the ship. 

We’re continuing with further 

investigations,” he stated. 

In his reaction to the Apapa 

seaport seizure and Lagos 

raids, Chairman/Chief 

Executive of the NDLEA, 

Mohamed 

Marwa, 

commended the commanders, 

men and officers of the 

commands involved in the 

operations for their efforts even 

as he charged them to remain 

focussed on the maxim of his 

leadership, that is, offensive 

action against illicit drug 

users, peddlers, traffickers and 

the barons. 

Police nab 5 for killing kidnapped victim in Kaduna 

•After collecting N5m ransom 

By Ibrahim 

HassanWuyo 

FIVE 

suspected 

kidnappers, who 

allegedly murdered their 

victim after collecting N5 

million ransom, have been 

arrested by police operatives 

in Kaduna State. 

The command’s Public 

Relations Officer, Mohammed 

Jalige, who confirmed the 

arrest in a statement, 

yesterday, said on December 

30, 2020, the command 

received a complaint from a 

resident of Panbeguwa 

village, claiming that on 

December 9 his elder brother, 

of the same address, travelled 

to Delta and had never 

returned since then. 

He said efforts to reach him 

through his mobile phone 

number proved abortive. 

Jalige added that the 

complainant further stated that 

on December 12, 2020, he 

received a phone call, via an 

anonymous number, informing 

him that his brother was in the 

custody of the caller and was 

demanding N4 million as a 

ransom for his release. 

“It is, however, disheartening 

that the said amount was paid 

but the abductors failed to 

release the victim. Rather, they 

demanded an additional N1 

million, which the family 

obliged but yet, could not 

secure the freedom of the 

victim,” he said. 

Jalige said upon receipt of 

the complaint, the command 

immediately swung into 

action, using the available 

intelligence and technical 

support, and succeeded in 

arresting one suspect in Wase 

Local Government Area of 

Plateau, in connection with 

the incident. 

The police spokesman said: 

“Upon interrogation, he 

mentioned his accomplices 

and equally confirmed that 

they have since killed the 

victim. 

“In a bid to ensure that 

justice is served, as it has 

always been, the investigation 

was further expanded, using 

the available information from 

the first suspect in custody. 

6 killed, others 

injured as 

cultists clash in 

Lagos 

By Bose Adelaja 

R 

AMPAGING rival cult groups 

engaged in a violent clash, 

yesterday, in the Oyingbo area of 

Lagos, leaving one person dead and 

others injured. 

This is just as a similar crisis broke 

out Tuesday night in the Ibeshe area 

of Ikorodu, where five persons were 

feared dead. 

The Oyingbo victim, identified 

simply as “Badoo” was said to have 

been hit by a bullet from the warring 

cultists while on his way to an 

unknown destination. 

Help was far from the victim, who 

resided in the area, as everyone took 

to their heels. He was said to have 

bled to death. 

The cultists, according to 

eyewitnesses, blocked alternative 

routes in the axis having accessed 

the area through Jebba and Oko- 

Baba streets and extended to 

Herbert Macauley, towards 

Adekunle and neighbouring streets. 

Vehicular and human movements 

were hampered, while shop owners 

hurriedly closed for the day. 

An eye witness, Moronfolu 

Abedoye, said: “Violence started at 

about noon and lasted for about 45 

minutes before the intervention of 

policemen from Delton,” adding that 

dangerous weapons, including 

guns were freely used by the cultists. 

Another eyewitness, Mr Eriola 

Adedapo, said: “I boarded a 

commercial bus from Fadeyi en 

route Oyingbo to alight at the Post 

Office bus-stop. But the bus 

conductor delayed me due to lack 

of change. Out of annoyance, I 

followed the vehicle to the UBA area 

where I heard gunshots. We all ran 

for our lives and I ended up not 

collecting my N800 balance from the 

conductor." 

A similar incident occurred 

Tuesday night in Ibeshe area of 

Ikorodu during which five persons 

were feared dead. 

Vanguard gathered that some 

suspects had been arrested in 

connection with both crises. 

Reacting, Lagos State Police 

Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa 

Adejobi, said two suspects had 

been arrested and weapons 

recovered. 

“This equally yielded result, 

thus leading to the arrest of 

the other four suspects in 

Delta, Niger and Kano states.” 

He noted that the suspects 

had confessed to being 

involved in the kidnap and 

killing of the victim as well as 

other kidnapping incidents 

before the current one. 

Jalige said an investigation 

had commenced, adding that 

the suspects would be charged 

to court upon completion of the 

investigation. 

He also said concerted 

efforts were being made to 

apprehend the four remaining 

suspects currently on the run. 

Jalige called on all residents 

of the state to promptly report 

any suspicious disappearance 

of their loved ones and wards 

to the nearest police station for 

immediate action.

8 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

:Vanguard News 

Exit from recession, result of our fiscal 

policies — FG 

•As FEC okays N5.9bn for FCT projects 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

ABUJA —THE federal 

government said yesterday 

the country’s recent exit 

from recession was a direct 

result of its fiscal policies. 

Government insisted that 

sustained implementation of 

good fiscal monetary policies 

as well as economic sustainability 

plan by President Muhammadu 

Buhari led to the 

country’s exit from the recession 

which is the shortest exit 

so far. 

Minister of Finance, Zainab 

Ahmed, who briefed State 

House correspondents, along 

side Ministers of Information 

and Culture, Lai Mohamed, 

and FCT, Mohammed 

Bello, at the end of the 

Federal Executive Council, 

FEC, meeting, presided over 

by President Buhari, said the 

quick exit showed that government’s 

economic diversification 

efforts were yielding 

positive outcomes. 

The minister explained that 

the Vice President, Prof. Yemi 

Osinbajo-led Economic Sustainability 

Plan,ESP, approved 

by council last June, 

was being carefully implemented 

She said: “At he Federal Executive 

Council, we had the 

opportunity to brief Council 

on the National Bureau of 

Statistics recently published 

fourth quarter GDP report estimates, 

which measure the 

economic growth of our country. 

“Nigeria’s GDP in the fourth 

quarter of 2020 grew by 0.11 

per cent and in real terms in 

the fourth quarter of 2020. 

This follows, if you recall, two 

consecutive negative growth 

in the third quarter and the 

second quarter of 2020, which 

saw us as a country going into 

recession. As a result of this 

fourth quarter positive growth, 

the total growth for the year 

2020 is -1.92 per cent. 

“It would be recalled that 

we had ourselves reported, 

that we will be going into a 

negative growth at the end of 

2020 at -4 per cent and some 

of the international development 

institutions reported 

much higher negative growth 

for Nigeria. So at -1.92 per 

cent, it is a very good performance. 

But also, the good story 

for us is that with this positive 

growth in the fourth quarter, it 

means Nigeria has exited recession. 

This is one of the 

shortest lrecessions we have 

witnessed in the country, despite 

the impact of the COV- 

ID-19. 

‘’But I must say that the result 

of this exit is a function of 

the fiscal policies, the monetary 

policies and the Economic 

Sustainability Plan that the 

administration of President 

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

Muhammadu Buhari has 

been implementing. 

“So, of the 46 sectors of the 

economy, 17 recorded positive 

growth and this is higher 

than the number of sectors that 

had recorded positive growth 

in the third quarter. In real 

terms, the growth between the 

third quarter and the fourth 

quarter is a positive growth of 

3.73 per cent, a movement 

within one quarter we have 

never witnessed in this country, 

so we’re growing from one 

quarter to another by 3.73 per 

cent. 

“The movement from the 

second quarter to the third 

quarter also witnessed a 

growth of 2.48 per cent; this is 

an indication that the policies 

that are being implemented 

are the right ones and the trajectory 

is a positive one and 

Nigeria is well on its way of 

restoring a consistent and stable 

growth, a growth that we 

hope to grow to be a strong 

growth from the fragile 

growth that we now have at 

0.11 per cent. 

“So this is a good performance, 

but on a broad sectoral 

basis, the agricultural sector 

posted a strong growth of 3.42 

during the last quarter and 

when you compare to the previous 

quarter, it’s a much better 

performance. 

“Similarly, services sector 

grew. Other sectors that witnessed 

slow down in growth 

include industry, crude, petroleum 

and natural gas sectors. 

The decline in oil production 

and prices in 2020, of course 

reflective of global drop in 

demand, and it is one of the 

major reasons why our country 

went into recession. 

“Another positive story for us 

is that the non-oil sector grew 

by 1.69 per cent. This is an indication 

that the diversification 

efforts that the economy 

has been pushing is actually 

also posting results; while the 

oil sector is declining, the nonoil 

sector is is growing. “We’ve 

seen overall economic activities 

reported strongly in the 

quarry and minerals sector, 

in the ICT and Telecommunications 

sector, in the cement 

industry, in broadcasting, in 

crop production as well as in 

agriculture. 

“On the other hand, there 

are some sectors that are still 

witnessing negative and that’s 

why I said the growth is still 

fragile. These sectors include 

oil refining, air transport, coal 

mining, crude petroleum production, 

as well as accommodation 

and food services. 

“Just of note is that we had 

vigorously implemented the 

Economic Sustainability 

Plan and we continue to implement 

the ESP. Even as we 

are taking the principles and 

the tenets of the ESC into the 

new National Development 

Plan that will be completed, 

we hope in the Medium Term 

Plan that we hope will be completed 

and launched in the 

month of April.” 

In another development,the 

Federal Executive Council 

approved N5.9 billion for 

three projects under the Ministry 

of the Federal Capital 

Territory (FCT). The Minister 

of the Federal Capital Territory, 

FCT, Mohammed Bello, 

explained that three memos 

were on the provision of infrastructure 

in the city as well 

as the purchase of needed 

equipment to make the city 

safe He said: “During today’s 

(yesterday) Federal Executive 

Council meeting, I presented 

three memos, two of which 

were on infrastructure and the 

other was for the purchase of 

needed equipment to make 

the city safe. 

‘’The first was for a contract 

to rehabilitate the road leading 

to the Federal Integrated 

Staff Housing Estate in Apo, 

Abuja, and that contract was 

approved at the sum of N2.3 

billion with a completion period 

of 24 months. “As you 

know, the Federal Integrated 

Staff Housing Estates are being 

constructed in some locations 

in Abuja under the office 

of the Head of civil Service of 

the Federation and these estates 

are intended to provide 

needed accommodation to 

federal civil servants. 

“The second infrastructure 

project relates to the contract 

for the construction of an access 

road and car park for the 

Abuja light rail station at ring 

road II otherwise known as 

Kukwaba station, which you 

see on the airport expressway 

immediately after the city gate 

near the Kukwaba recreation 

park under the Ministry of 

Aviation. The contract was 

approved for N3.6 billion, 

with a completion period of 

18 months. 

“The intention is that by the 

opening of that road, that railway 

station can be made functional 

and then commuters 

can use the station either when 

they visit the national park 

there or they want to have access 

to the Kukwaba district.” 

Osinbajo to lead discussions 

at Banks’s CEOs Summit on 

Economic Growth tomorrow 

*Govs Fayemi, Zulum, Sanwo-Olu to speak 

VICE President Yemi 

Osinbajo, Finance 

Minister, Zainab Ahmed, 

Governor of the Central Bank 

of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele 

and Chief Executive Officers 

(CEOs) of banks will converge 

tomorrow at the Banks’ CEOs 

Summit. 

The event which is being organised 

by Vanguard Newspaper 

in collaboration with the 

CBN and the Bankers Committee, 

will also be attended 

and addressed by Dr Kayode 

Fayemi, Chairman, Governors’ 

Forum and Governor of 

Ekiti State; Governor Babagana 

Zulum of Borno State; and 

Governor Babajide Sanwo- 

Olu of Lagos State. 

Vice President, Prof Yemi 

Osinbajo, is the Special Guest 

of Honour at the hybrid event 

holding virtually and onsite, 

with the Minister of Finance, 

Budget and National Planning, 

Zainab Ahmed, as Guest 

of Honour. 

The event is coming against 

the backdrop of the country’s 

exit from its second recession 

in five years, and the need for 

measures to sustain the recovery 

and ensure robust economic 

growth in the new decade. 

The theme of the one-day special 

summit, which holds at 

Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos, 

is “How to Overcome the 

Pitfalls of Recession: Bankers 

Perspective and Prescriptions 

for An Enduring National 

Growth Path”. 

Among other things, the 

summit will feature a keynote 

address by three state governors, 

a special session on ‘Road 

Map to Economic Recovery’, 

and executive syndicate sessions 

of banks’ CEOs. 

Keynote speakers at the 

summit include: Dr Kayode 

Fayemi, Chairman, Governors’ 

Forum and Governor of 

Ekiti State; Governor Babagana 

Zulum of Borno State; and 

Governor Babajide Sanwo- 

Olu of Lagos State. 

Fayemi will speak on “Rebuilding 

the Economy Through 

State Governments”, Zulum 

Insecurity: Reps reject motion 

to allow citizens carry arms 

By Tordue Salem 

ABUJA — The House 

of Representatives yesterday 

shot down a motion to 

reverse President Buhari’s Executive 

Order prohibiting the 

issuance of licenses for fire 

arms by the police in Nigeria. 

Sponsor of the motion, 

Uzoma Nkem Abonta (PDP- 

Abia), failed to present the 

motion on notice when the 

public address system went off 

just after the speaker had introduced 

it. 

The lawmaker, however 

pressed to be heard, when the 

House Leader, Alhassan 

Doguwa (APC-Kano), interjected, 

saying the motion was 

“dead on arrival”, because, 

according to him, it is an unpopular 

subject. The motion 

was entitled “Need to Reverse 

the Executive Order and Police 

Directive banning Possession 

and Issuance of New Licenses 

for Firearms in the 

Country”. Sensing a strong 

swell of opposition to the motion, 

Abonta appealed to the 

speaker to allow him step it 

will speak on “Rebuilding the 

Economy of Northern Nigeria”, 

while Sanwo-Olu will speak 

on “Rebuilding Lagos and the 

Southern Nigeria Economy”. 

The session on “Road Map 

to Economic Recovery” will be 

addressed by Mr. Ben Akabueze, 

Director of Budgets in the 

Presidency, who will speak on 

“The Road Map to Economic 

Recovery: The role of Planning 

for a Desired Future”. On his 

part, HRM Sanusi Lamido 

Sanusi will speak on “The 

Road Map to Economic Recovery: 

Towards Positive Social 

Impacts”, while Dr. Doyin Salami, 

Chairman, Nigeria’s 

Economic Advisory Council 

will speak on “Insights on the 

Economy: Towards Sustainable 

Development and Growth 

Paths”. The session will be 

moderated by Mr Bismarck 

Rewane, MD/CEO, Financial 

Derivatives Limited. 

The executive syndicate sessions 

will feature six groups 

of banks’ CEOs. 

Group A will address “Exploring 

Agro and Agro Allied 

Businesses as a Booster to Economic 

Growth”. The discussants 

are the Managing Director/CEOs 

of Ecobank Nigeria 

Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, 

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, 

FSDH Merchant Bank. 

Group B will address “Resuscitating 

Nigeria’s Manufacturing 

Capabilities for the 

Next Level”. The discussants 

are the Managing Directors/ 

CEOs of FCMB Plc, GT Bank 

Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, 

Citibank Nigeria Limited, 

and Nova Merchant Bank 

Limited. 

Group C will focus on 

“Funding for the Telecom and 

Oil and Gas Sectors”. The discussants 

are the Managing 

Directors/CEOs, Polaris Bank 

Ltd, Standard Chartered 

Bank Ltd., Sterling Bank Plc, 

United Bank for Africa Plc and 

Titan Trust Bank. The syndicate 

session Group D will address 

“Harnessing Economic 

Potentials Through Integrated 

Rural Development”. 

down for next Tuesday. 

However, the speaker urged 

Abonta to go ahead and take 

the motion since the public 

address system had been restored, 

or withdraw it altogether 

not to waste legislative 

time. Gbajabiamila told 

Abonta that listing the motion 

for Tuesday could jeopardize 

the chances of other items 

making the order paper. 

‘’So many issues are pending 

and in need of attention,’’ 

the speaker said. At this point, 

Ahmad Jaha (APC-Borno), 

raised a point of order on 

matters of privilege, saying 

Abonta had three options 

available to him, including to 

take the motion already listed 

on the order paper; step it 

down for further legislative 

consultation beyond Tuesday 

next week; or to withdraw it 

totally, having developed cold 

feet in the ability of the motion 

to sail through. In his intervention, 

Fred Agbedi (PDP- 

Bayelsa), accused the House 

leader, Doguwa, of initiating 

the ill- will against the piece 

of legislation.

Y 

K 

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 — 9 



MEETING: From left; Former Governor Liyel Imoke, Fformer Governor Ibrahim Hassan 

Dankwambo, Hon. Linus Okorie, Former Senate President, Iyorchia Ayu, Former Senate President, 

Bukola Saraki, Former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim at the PDP National Reconciliation & 

Strategy Committee’s meeting with Senator Ayu at his home in Maitama, Abuja. 

Senate confirms Bawa as EFCC chairman 

•I’ve never sold a single asset seized by EFCC, Bawa tells Senate 

•Says all stolen assets must be repatriated for benefit of Nigerians 

A BUJA—THE 

Senate has confirmed 

the appointment of Abdulrasheed 

Bawa as the substantive chairman 

of the Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, EFCC. 

The upper legislative chamber 

confirmed Bawa after screening 

him for over two hours yesterday, 

after he entertained questions 

from over 14 senators. 

Bawa, who was ushered into the 

hallowed chamber at about 11. 

45am by the Senior Special 

Assistant to President 

Muhammadu Buhari, Senator 

Babajide Omoworare, was 

through with the screening at 1. 

55 pm. 

Last week, President 

Muhammadu Buhari nominated 

Bawa as EFCC chairman and 

asked the upper legislative 

chamber to confirm him. 

Bawa, 40, is one of the pioneer 

EFCC cadet officers. Before his 

appointment, he was the Lagos 

zonal head of the anti-graft agency. 

At the screening, Deputy 

Senate President, Ovie Omo- 

Agege, said Bawa’s nomination 

has generated hope for the youth. 

He said: “Ordinarily I’d have 

pleaded for him to take a bow but 

let him further showcase himself. 

This nomination has generated 

hope. 

“I thank President 

Muhammadu Buhari for this 

nomination. This is the first time 

we are sticking within the EFCC 

to govern this institution.” 

In his remarks, former Deputy 

Majority Leader, Bala Na’Allah, 

said Bawa has displayed the 

capacity to run the anti-graft 

agency. 

“He has displayed that he has 

the capacity to run the EFCC. I 

know him very well, he is not even 

half of the qualities of his father. I 

call on my colleagues to approve 

this nomination,” Na’Allah said. 

Speaking during the screening, 

Bawa, who was accompanied to 

the Senate by the speaker and 

members of Kebbi State House 

of Assembly, denied the allegation 

that he sold assets recovered by 

the anti-graft agency for personal 

gain. 

According to him, the power to 

dispose of any asset lies with the 

secretary of the commission. 

He said: “I never sold a 

single truck at the Port 

Harcourt office; the head office 

handled that at the time,” the 

nominee told the Senate. 

“When I took over the Port 

Harcourt office, they had 34 

convictions but when I got there, 

we recorded 216 convictions. 

“Anybody that is familiar with 

the processes of the EFCC 

knows that the chairman doesn’t 

have the power to sell an asset 

but the secretary of the agency.” 

Bawa, who assured that if he 

was confirmed, he would work 

towards strengthening the antigraft 

agency, said further: “Before 

we reposition, we need to know 

what the institution stands for. 

We would work on our standard 

operational procedures to 

improve on those procedures. 

“We are looking forward to an 

EFCC that when I give a wrong 

instruction to a junior officer; he 

will refuse it because that order 

contravenes the law.” 

He also said the nation must 

recover all stolen assets for the 

benefit of Nigerians, and promised 

to work with strategic partners 

around the world to see that 

Nigeria benefitted from the 

repatriation of assets stolen from 

its coffers. 

According to him, EFCC will 

FG sets up 13-member ministerial 

taskforce on digital switch-over 

By Soni Daniel 

ABUJA—THE Federal 

Government has set up a 

13-ministerial taskforce to 

conclude the transition from 

analogue to digital broadcasting 

in Nigeria. 

Government also released 

additional N9.4 billion for the 

conclusion of the process 

nationwide. 

The taskforce, which has the 

Minister of Information and 

Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, 

as chairman, also has Prof. 

Armstrong Idachaba (National 

Broadcasting Commission); 

Engineer Edward Amana 

(Digiteam); Dr. Tunde Adegbola 

(Digiteam); Hajia Sa’a Ibrahim 

(Broadcasting Organizations of 

Nigeria); and Engineer Sadeeq 

Musa as members. 

Other members include Mr. 

Godfrey Ohuabunwa; 

Dr. Lekan Fadolapo; Ms. Aisha 

Shehu Omar (Federal Ministry 

of Finance, Budget and National 

Planning); Mr J. O. Attah 

(Nigeria Customs Service); Mr. 

Nnanna Ibom (Federal Ministry 

of Information and Culture); 

Engineer Olusegun Yakubu 

(Pinnacle Communications); Mr. 

Joe Mutah (Federal Ministry of 

Information and Culture) who will 

serve as Secretary. 

So far, the digital switchover has 

only been piloted in Osun, 

Plateau, Kwara, Kaduna, Enugu 

states and the FCT, leaving the 

rest to continue to transmit on 

achieve its independent objective 

by sharing information with its 

partners. 

He promised that at the end of 

his tenure, the EFCC would be a 

better place than he met it, noting 

that his training by the FBI and 

the National Crime Agency of the 

United States and the United 

Kingdom respectively would 

come in handy. 

Bawa said he will reposition the 

commission by ensuring that it 

strengthened its standard 

operating procedures and 

improve on them. 

•Releases N9.4bn to complete DSO •Kick-starts Audience 

Measurement, Media •Project to create 1m jobs 

the analog mode, which is limited 

in scope and dynamism. 

The Minister of Information, 

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who 

disclosed this while inaugurating 

the ministerial task force, saddled 

with the task of completing the 

digital switch over across Nigeria. 

pointed out that with the 

payment of the outstanding 

amounts due to the stakeholders 

by the federal government, the 

roadblock to the entire process 

had been removed. 

He, however, warned that the 

government would no longer be 

subsidising the project but would 

encourage the private sector to 

drive the scheme which has 

enormous economic potentials. 

Mr. Mohammed said that with 

the payment approval by FEC, 

and with 31 states to cover, there 

was no more excuse by the 

ministerial committee not to 

rapidly roll out the DSO across 

the country and meet the 

expectations of the government 

and Nigerians. 

The minister made it clear that 

from now on, government 

involvement in the DSO would 

be limited and that the lucrative 

business would henceforth be 

spearheaded by the private 

sector. 

He said: “We have studied the 

trend and it is clear that we have 

to reduce government 

involvement in the DSO 

ecosystem and allow the private 

sector to take the lead, on purely 

commercial terms. With the 

devastating effects of COVID-19 

and the fall in government 

revenues, the Federal 

Government can no longer afford 

to subsidize the program, 

especially the Set-Top-Boxes and 

the Signal carriage, which 

ordinarily can and should be 

highly-competitive commercial 

ventures. And in order to begin 

the commercialization of the 

DSO, we need to create a 

structure and an ecosystem 

that is self-sufficient, self-reliant 

and able to generate revenue 

which will drive strategic 

growth in key areas. The details 

of that structure are for the Task 

Force to explore. 

“My decision to set up the 

ministerial task force to drive the 

DSO process is hinged on the 

fact that a successful digital switch 

over is a massive job creator and 

a huge revenue generator. This 

process is capable of creating over 

1 million jobs over the next three 

years. 

“As part of our efforts to 

maximize the opportunities 

available in the process, we have 

made necessary changes in the 

broadcast code to protect local 

jobs and production, we have 

started the process of introducing 

world class Audience 

Measurement and Media 

Monitoring to deliver on our 

potential 1-billion-dollar TV and 

Online Advertising revenue 

market and now we will ensure 

that the DSO ecosystem delivers 

value to the economy.'' 

Victims of NAF plane crash for 

burial at national military 

cemetery today 

By Kingsley Omonobi 

ABUJA—The 

seven 

Nigerian Air Force officers 

who died in last Sunday’s 

Beechcraft King Air B359i air 

crash will be buried at the 

National Cemetery, Lugbe, 

Airport Road, Abuja, today. 

The Nigerian Air Force, NAF, 

disclosed this in Abuja yesterday. 

Recall that the surveillance 

aircraft crash landed at Bassa 

village just before the runway of 

the Nnamdi Azikiwe 

International Airport, Abuja, 

after reporting engine failure. 

The late officers are Fl. Lt. 

Haruna Gadzama; Flight 

Captain, Fl. Lt. Henry Piyo (Co- 

Pilot); Flying Officer Micheal 

Okpara (Airborne Tactical 

Observation System Specialist); 

Warrant Officer Bassey Etim 

(ATOS Specialist); Fl. Sgt. 

Olasunkanmi Olawunmi (ATOS 

Specialist); Sgt. Ugochukwu 

Oluka (ATOS Specialist) and 

Aircraftman Adewale Johnson 

(Onboard Technician). 

The tragic incident generated 

an outpouring of grief nationwide 

while the Chief of Air Staff, Air 

Vice Marshal Isiaka Amao, 

ordered an investigation into the 

mishap. 

The CAS said the deceased 

personnel, had been in Minna, 

Niger State, for days conducting 

intelligence, surveillance and 

reconnaissance missions in 

connection with the efforts to 

secure the release of the 42 

students and staff abducted from 

the Government Science College 

Kagara, Niger State. 

Meanwhile, following the crash 

and the death of the seven 

young Air Force officers, tributes 

have continued to pour in from 

their family members and friends 

via different platforms. 

The father of late Gadzama, 

who hails from Borno State, is a 

first class electrical engineer who 

retired as a wing commander in 

the Nigerian Air Force and was 

By Nkiruka Nnorom 

THE 

Managing 

Director/CEO of First 

Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Adesola 

Adeduntan, has restated the 

bank’s resolve to continue 

providing funding and other 

supports that would enable the 

growth of Small and Medium 

Enterprises, SMEs, in Nigeria. 

Adedutan made the 

commitment at the 2021 

Ehingbeti/Lagos Economic 

Summit, with the theme “For a 

Greater Lagos: Setting the Tone 

for the Next Decade”. 

He noted that SMEs formed 

an important aspect of what the 

bank does due to the importance 

of SMEs in the overall growth 

and development of the 

economy. 

He said besides proving 

financing, the bank also provides 

advisory service and mentorship 

that helps the owners of small 

business to prepare basic 

financial statement through its 

SME College. 

He said the bank’s support for 

businesses that are relevant to 

growth and development of the 

economy was the secret of its 

enduring business success over 

also the HOD, Electrical/Electronics 

Engineering, while late Henry 

Piyo, has an aged father, Mr Bitrus 

Piyo, who lives in Jos. 

Piyo’s father, who hails from Plateau 

State, once worked as a staff 

of the University of Jos and later 

transferred to University of Ibadan, 

UI, is a retiree after working with 

the Plateau State Government. He 

currently lives in Jos, Plateau State. 

Abbas Waziri, a fellow officer and 

friend to late Gadzama, described 

his late friend as very friendly and 

intelligent fellow while alive. He 

said they shared the same 

battalion and he was also the 

course senior in the battalion. 

“Late Flight Lieutenant Ciroma 

Haruna Gadzama was not only 

a course mate to me he was also 

a brother. We were both air force 

cadets in the Air force wing of the 

Nigerian Defence Academy and 

his room was directly below mine 

in Charlie company. 

“The last time I saw Gadzama 

was at the Nnamdi Azikiwe 

International Airport when I was 

travelling to Lagos some time ago. 

He was himself. Dashing, lively 

and chatty. 

“People that saw the plane 

crash say the pilot and the copilot 

were brave and considerate. 

They maneuvered the plane to 

not crash into people’s houses 

and domain,” he said. 

Piyo Bernard, brother of the 

deceased co-pilot said on his 

social media page, “Woke up with 

a sad news. Just lost a very dear 

brother, Flight Lieutenant Henry 

Piyo who lost his life in the Air 

Force plane crash. Rest on 

brother, you will forever be 

missed.” 

Members of the Ex Junior Pilot 

Association also took to the social 

media to mourn Gadzama, 

describing him as a jovial and 

hardworking officer. 

They said, “We are saddened 

by the tragic death of Flt Lt CH 

Gadzama of 07 set of Air Force 

Secondary School Kaduna on 

the Sunday 21st of Febuary 2021. 

He was a jovial and hardworking 

officer of the Nigerian Airforce.'' 

First Bank reiterates commitment 

to SMEs support, funding 

the past 127 years it has been in 

Nigeria. 

He said: “As a bank, First Bank 

will always remain the largest 

lender to the SME sector. We 

have a dedicated portal that we 

call SME college where we 

basically support SMEs, 

providing them advisory services, 

ensuring that we up their skills 

and capabilities either in the area 

of preparing basic financial 

statement, assisting them with 

choice of technology and basically 

supporting them work through 

the threat. 

“Our portfolio of SME facilities 

is quite sizable and that’s quite 

understandable given the history 

of First Bank in Nigeria. We have 

been very active whether in 

providing overdraft, term loan, 

and all types of structured debt 

instruments to our SME 

customers.” 

Speaking at the plenary 

session on the topic, “Destination 

Lagos: Becoming the World’s Best 

Investment Destination,” 

Adedutan said: “If there is 

anything that is generally 

agreed, is the fact that the fast 

growth and development of 

Nigeria economy is by developing 

and growing SME sector.'' 

C


By Henry Ojelu 

LAGOS—TATA Africa 

Services, yesterday, 

dragged Jasper 

Biochemical and Allied 

Products Limited before a 

Lagos High Court over 

alleged breach of contract. 

According to court papers 

filed by Metrocrest Legal 

Practitioners, on behalf of 

Tata Africa, the company is 

asking the court to compel 

Jasper Biochemical to pay 

an outstanding debt of N39 

million for the supplies of 

industrial and food 

chemicals. 

Tata averred that Jasper 

Chemical had purchased 

some industrial and food 

chemicals worth N44, 

352,357.59, but only paid a 

marginal part of the 

:Vanguard 

News 

Tata Africa sues firm over 

alleged breach of contract 


INSECURITY: Allow states to secure their space —Akeredolu 

By Dayo Johnson, 

Ola Ajayi, Shina 

Abubakar & James 

Ogunnaike 

A 

K U R E — 

CHAIRMAN of 

the South-West 

Governors’ Forum, 

Governor Rotimi 

Akeredolu of Ondo 

State, yesterday, 

advocated that all states 

in the country should be 

allowed to secure their 

space. 

This came on a day the 

Olowu of Kuta, Oba 

Adekunle Oyelude, said 

that devolution of power 

remains the only 

solution to insecurity in 

Nigeria. 

Also, the Chairman of 

Myetti Allah Cattle 

Breeders’ Association, 

MACBAN, in Oyo State, 

Ibrahim Jiji, yesterday, 

distanced himself from a 

report that Fulani 

herders demanded 

damages of N475 billion 

from Governor Seyi 

Makinde for the losses 

they incurred during the 

recent crisis at Shasha 

market, in Akinyele local 

government area of the 

state. 

Similarly, the Ogun 

State House of Assembly 

said plans were in 

motion to legislate on 

animal husbandry and 

related activities, 

through the enactment of 

an all-inclusive law on 

anti-open grazing in the 

state. 

Allow states to 

secure their 

space 

—Akeredolu 

Akeredolu, who spoke 

during his swearing-in 

ceremony for a second 

term in office, also 

commended Amotekun 

operatives saying they 

have done well in their 

short time of existence. 

The second term 

inauguration ceremony 

of Akeredolu and his 

deputy, Lucky Ayedatiwa 

purchased sum leaving an 

outstanding balance of 

N39, 088,877. 

However, in a statement 

of defence, Jasper 

Chemicals denied all the 

claims against it and 

insisted that on the contrary, 

Tata Africa is indebted to it. 

The defendant is also 

asking for damages in the 

sum of N20million for 

breach of contract arising 

from the loss incured as a 

result of the sale of unfit and 

unsellable bad stock of food 

and industrial chemical 

Products which were 

returned by costumers as 

unsold. 

Meanwhile, the 

presiding judge, Justice 

Lateefat Folami has 

adjourned till April 15, 2021, for a 

hearing of the suit. 

• Says devolution of police central command is inexorable 

• My second term is not for relaxation 

• True federalism, a panacea to insecurity, says Osun monarch 

• Expedite action on compensation, Miyetti Allah tells Makinde 

• As Ogun Assembly considers law to ban open grazing 

attracted Governors 

Babajide Sanwo-Olu 

(Lagos), Dapo Abiodun 

(Ogun), Kayode Fayemi 

(Ekiti), Gboyega Oyetola 

(Osun) and Godwin 

Obaseki (Edo). 

Also present were 

former Lagos State 

governor, Asiwaju Bola 

Tinubu; former Osun 

State governor, Chief 

Bisi Akande; former 

Senate President, Ken 

Nnamani; former Deputy 

Governor of Osun State, 

Senator Iyiola Omisore; 

the Ohinoyi of Ebira 

land, Ado Ibrahim, 

ministers and National 

Assembly members 

Speaking on the state 

of insecurity in the 

country, Akeredolu said: 

“The primary 

responsibility of any 

government is the 

security of lives and 

property of its citizens. 

“We are of the firm 

belief that it is high time 

the police central 

command became 

devolved to the 

federating units for 

effective monitoring. 

“We have been 

relentless in advocating 

for the establishment of 

state police. There can be 

no other way if we are 

indeed serious about 

securing lives and 

property. 

“It is this incongruity 

which propelled the 

southwest governors to 

form a Regional security 

Network codenamed 

Amotekun. 

“The ultimate is to 

convince others to 

understand that 

devolution of authority is 

inexorable. Every state 

must be allowed to 

RETREAT—Chairman, Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, former president Goodluck Jonathan (centre) 

flanked by the former vice president of The Gambia, Mr. Ousiniu Darboe, and the Majority Leader, 

The Gambian Parliament, Hon. Kebba Barrow, in a photograph with delegates and officials of the 

Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, at the closing of the two-day consultative retreat for political party 

leaders on the draft constitution, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi 

Adeshida. 

secure its space.” 

On the setting up of 

the Amotekun outfit, he 

said: “It has been able to 

work within the law 

establishing it. Its 

operations and successes 

recorded justify its 

establishment. 

“We are not paying mere 

lip service to this avowal. It 

is a priority. There cannot 

be prosperity in an insecure 

environment.” 

My second term 

not for 

relaxation 

Governor Akeredolu 

assured the people of the 

state that his second term 

in office would not be for 

relaxation. 

His words: “The second 

term, for us, is not a time 

for relaxation. We are not 

under any illusion that it 

will be easy. We are, 

however, ready to proceed 

on the journey with 

renewed enthusiasm and 

vigour. 

“Though we are yet to 

reach the set goal, we are 

confident that this 

administration is on the 

right path. 

“We will not depart from 

the trodden path which has 

earned us affection and 

deep reverence for the 

citizenry. We shall continue 

with more vigour, to justify 

the trust earned by our 

administration. 

“We shall, God willing, 

continue to serve in the best 

interest of the people. Their 

welfare will be the central 

focus under my 

leadership.” 

Besides, the governor 

said that his administration 

in the next four years will 

pursue repackaged 

programmes christened 

REDEEMED. 

“Our administration 

intends to focus on 

agriculture and youth 

empowerment through 

entrepreneurship. 

“This has led us to 

establishment of the Ondo 

State Entrepreneurship 

Agency, ONDEA”, he said. 

I’ll bring Obaseki 

back to APC 

Governor Akeredolu, 

however, promised to 

ensure that Governor 

Godwin Obaseki of Edo 

State returns to the All 

Progressives Congress, 

APC. 

He said: “I will personally 

lead in bringing back my 

brother Governor Godwin 

Obaseki to our fold, the 

ruling All Progressives 

Congress very soon.” 

True Federalism, 

a panacea to 

insecurity 

—Olowu Kuta 

Meanwhile, the Olowu of 

Kuta, Oba Oyelude 

advocated for true 

federalism; an 

arrangement where 

powers are shared among 

the federating units which 

are coordinate, to exert 

overwhelming influence 

over their sphere of 

jurisdiction without any 

form of usurpation. 

The monarch, in a 

statement, said: “True 

federalism as a system that 

promotes devolution of 

power is the only 

institutional framework that 

arrogates exercisable 

amount of power and 

resources to every state to 

have overbearing influence 

on the governance 

activities within its spheres. 

“Taming insecurity and 

engendering social 

wellbeing are only 

realizable in Nigeria when 

the workload of the federal 

government emanating 

from the excessive power 

and influence which it 

wields, can be assuaged.” 

Expedite action 

on compensation, 

Miyetti Allah tells 

Makinde 

But Chairman of Myetti 

Allah in Oyo State, Alhaji 

Jiji has asked Governor 

Makinde to expedite action 

on the compensation he 

promised the herders who 

lost 27 cows in a crisis at 

Alafara/Ologuneru/Apata 

axis. 

Jiji, who spoke with 

Vanguard, said: “I don’t 

know anything about that 

demand but I want to plead 

with Governor Makinde, 

who has been of 

tremendous help to us, to 

please see to the 

compensation he promised 

my people, who lost their 

cows during the recent 

attacks at Ido local 

government area. 

“When that incident 

happened, the attackers 

shot 27 cows and also 

wounded the herder who 

is now in the hospital. 

Those who lost their cows 

have come to me that I 

should plead with 

Governor Seyi Makinde to 

help us as he had 

promised”. 

“My people had a 

meeting yesterday and 

they promised that they 

wanted to live in peace with 

everyone and that any 

move that will lead to 

peace, they will support it. 

“Fulani and Yoruba have 

been living together as 

brothers. We want this 

peaceful relationship to 

continue. We will abide by 

what Governor Makinde 

says because he is a father 

to us.” 

Ogun Assembly 

considers law to 

ban open 

grazing 

On its part, the Ogun 

State House of Assembly 

said yesterday that plans 

were in motion to legislate 

on animal husbandry and 

related activities through 

the enactment of an allinclusive 

law on anti-open 

grazing in the state. 

Speaker of the Assembly, 

Mr. Olakunle Oluomo, 

disclosed this during a 

parley with executive 

members of the State 

Coalition of Civil Societies 

led by its Chairman, 

Comrade Yinka Folarin at 

the Assembly Complex, 

Oke-Mosan in Abeokuta. 

Oluomo recalled that 

stakeholders including 

some northern leaders had 

openly condemned the 

uncontrolled wandering of 

cattle, which had resulted 

in series of attacks and 

criminal activities 

associated with herdsmen/ 

farmers’ clashes across the 

State, especially in the 

Yewa axis of the state 

The speaker noted that 

the Assembly had equally 

finalized plans to engage 

relevant stakeholders 

through public hearings to 

put in place laws for the 

creation of an agency for the 

collection and maintenance 

of database for all residents 

in the State, thereby having 

verifiable details and biodata 

to improve on security 

operations of residents 

across the State. 

He added that the 

legislative arm was already 

liaising with the executive 

arm to secure their 

commitment for the speedy 

assent of the bills within a 

reasonable time. 

C 

M 

Y

Vanguard, , THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 — 11 

:Vanguard :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 

MEETING—From left: Lanre Olusola, Secretary General, Association of Professional Bodies 

of Nigeria, APBN; Akin Oyegbola, President/Chairman, APBN; Dr. Danazumi Ibrahim, 

Director General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion, and Rawlings 

Elaumadu, Publicity Secretary, APBN, during APBN 2021 board meeting, in lagos, 

Yesterday. 

REHAB: Lagos to shut 3rd Mainland 

Bridge for 24hrs 

By Olasunkanmi Akoni 

LAGOS—LAGOS 

State 

Government said, yesterday, 

that it has concluded plans to shut 

down the Third Mainland Bridge 

from midnight Friday February 

26, to midnight Saturday 27th. 

The bridge was slated to be 

reopened to traffic by February 

ending, after over six months of 

rehabilitation. 

The Commissioner for 

Transportation, Dr. Frederick 

Oladeinde, said the closure of the 

bridge was slated to enable the 

contractors to move the equipment 

used, during the rehabilitation 

process, off the bridge completely 

to allow both the Oworonshoki 

and Adeniji bound lanes to open 

....Sets to launch FMLM scheme 

Decay in education, source of Nigeria’s crises, 

says Babalola 

By Rotimi Ojomoyela 

A DO-EKITI—FOUNDER 

of the Afe Babalola 

University, Ado Ekiti, ABUAD, 

Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, 

yesterday, attributed the decay 

in the nation’s educational 

system as the source of the 

crises confronting the country. 

Babalola said this in Ado- 

Ekiti, while playing host 

simultaneously to leaders of 

Bursars’ Association of 

Polytechnics and Colleges of 

Technology, BURSCON, and 

Glo leads Internet growth rate 

….As telecom sector contributes 12.45% to GDP 

N 

A 

T I O N A L 

telecommunication 

Company, Globacom, grossed a 

total of 11,172,220 new internet 

subscribers between December 

2019 and December 2020, thus 

emerging the highest percentage 

gainer for year 2020. 

This is according to statistics 

released by industry regulator, the 

Nigerian Communications 

Commission, NCC, and 

published on its website. 

According to the data, the 

telecom industry’s acquisition of 

28,145,458 new data subscribers 

represents 22 per cent increase, 

as the number of data users in 

Nigeria moved from 125,728,328 

subscribers, as at December 2019, 

to 153,873,786 in December 2020. 

Leading other operators, 

Globacom recorded 39 per cent 

fully to traffic. 

Meanwhile, the Managing 

Director of Lagos Metropolitan 

Area Transport Authority, 

LAMATA, Mrs. Abimbola 

Akinajo, has affirmed that the 

agency was working towards 'a 

connected Lagos' with the various 

transport projects being 

implemented through it by the 

state government. 

Akinajo spoke, while 

addressing officials of the Office 

of Transformation, Creativity and 

Innovation, (Office of Head of 

Service), who led consultants 

engaged for scoping assessment/ 

situating structure of MDAs 

whose mandate directly impact 

the T.H.E.M.E.S agenda of the 

state to the agency. 

the Federal Government’s Gas 

expansion Committee, who 

paid a courtesy call to ABUAD. 

While addressing the 

gathering of professionals, 

administrators and academics, 

the ABUAD founder said: “The 

problem we have today is 

decay in quality education in 

this country. That was why, 

after turning down ministerial 

appointments thrice, I agreed 

to go to the University of Lagos 

as Pro-Chancellor and 

Chairman of the Governing 

Council, where I had an 

insight into what was 

happening to our education 

growth in the telecoms sub-sector, 

adding 11,172,220 new data 

subscribers in 2020. It ended the 

year 2019 with 28,934,439 

subscribers and moved to 

40,106,659 at the end of 2020, thus 

surpassing the 22 percentage 

growth recorded in the sector in 

the year under review. 

Globacom's performance has, 

thus, lent credence to the NCC 

statement, Monday, which said 

that Nigeria telecoms sector’s 

contribution of 12.45 per cent to 

the country's Gross Domestic 

Product, GDP, played a huge role 

in getting Nigeria out of 

recession. 

In the second place is MTN with 21 

per cent growth, closely followed by Airtel 

with 20 per cent, while reverse was the 

case for 9mobile, which dropped figures, 

recording 12 per cent loss. 

She said: “We have a transport 

master plan, which speaks to the 

vision of Mr. Governor on 

transportation. We have six rail 

lines and one monorail, 14 Bus 

Rapid Transit, BRT, corridors, over 

20 water routes and are sure that 

when all of these are properly 

harnessed, Lagos will join the 

league of cities with an efficient 

transport system. 

“We have advertised four other rail lines 

for the private sector to invest in. We are 

working on the private sector so they 

could bring in about 1500 high-capacity 

buses by 2022; we would be launching 

our First Mile Last Mile, FMLM, scheme 

very soon. We are working on the 

construction of two interchanges at Mile 

2 and CMS. We want to ensure that 

Lagosians travel in comfort.” 

system. 

“At times, they used to close 

down the schools under the 

guise of strikes for almost a 

year, this is criminal. I want to 

be an example, a leader in the 

transformation of education, 

and that was why I established 

ABUAD. 

“Added to the foregoing was 

also our very selfish leaders. 

There are many Nigerians 

who could buy me; they are 

expected to set up a university 

like this to give functional 

education to Nigerians at 

affordable fees, but they never 

did. 

“I want you to be committed 

to financial discipline. But the 

problem has been that some 

wanted to be Bursars to steal 

because money is there. 

“The government is not doing 

enough to fund education. 

UNESCO directed governments 

to set aside 26 per cent to fund 

education, but what have they 

done? During the Western 

region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo 

set aside 22 per cent; the military 

came and reduced to nothing. 

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 

budgeted 12 per cent and now, it 

is just six per cent. 

“Looking at all these, we are not 

serious with education in this 

country. What are we doing about 

endowments? We must set up 

endowments in our schools. The 

endowment is the main source of 

funding for universities. If you 

check American universities, they 

were being majorly funded 

through endowments.” 

The 9 months cannot arrive oo, when your 

grammar has arrested the pregnancy 

...Including all the goodies that come with 

the vow. Smart man! 

...And for the mutual ‘gains' thereof! 

C 

M 

Y 

K




PRESENTATION: From left—Robert Giles, Senior Banking Advisory, Retail Banking, Access Bank Plc; Tolulope 

Agbaje, winner of Access Bank transact and win promo; Mr Victor Etuokwu, Executive Director, Retail Banking, 

Access Bank Plc and Chioma Afe, Group Head, Retail Marketing and Analysis, Access Bank, during the 

presentation of car prize to the winner of transact and win promo in Lagos. Photo: Akeem Salau. 

NASS to pass PIB April 

•As joint c'ttee regrets poor condition of Nigeria refineries 

By Davies 

Iheamnachor 

PORT 

HARCOURT— 

THE National Assembly 

said it was working tirelessly 

to ensure the passage of the 

Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, 

in April 2021. 

This came as the Joint Adhoc 

Committee of the National 

Assembly expressed regrets 

over the poor condition of the 

nation's refineries, adding that 

PIB when passed would revive 

the refineries to function optimally. 

The joint committee of Senate 

and House of Representatives 

said this in Port Harcourt, 

Rivers State, yesterday, during 

a visit to Port Harcourt Refinery 

Company, in continuation 

of its oversight visit of the refineries 

in the nation. 

Speaking, Mohammed 

Mougunu, Chairman of the 

Ad-hoc Committee in the 

House of Representatives on 

PIB, and Chief Whip of the 

House, noted that the committee 

was poised to pass the petroleum 

bill as soon as possible. 

Mougunu noted that the 

main focus of the Bill was to 

entrench reformation of all the 

nation's refineries to international 

standard, noting that 

there as the need to make the 

Ambassadorial appointments: 

Nigerians angry with NASS —Wike 

By Egufe Yafugborhi 

PORT HARCOURT — 

GOVERNOR Nyesom 

Wike of Rivers State, has reasoned 

that Nigerians are angry 

with the National Assembly 

for confirming the nation's 

recently retired service chiefs 

nominated by President Mohammadu 

Buhari as ambassadors. 

Wike, expressing disappointment 

of Nigerians in the National 

Assembly over the development, 

asked visiting Senate 

Committee on Niger Delta 

at the Government House, Port 

Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday, 

why the Senators who 

joined Nigerians in decrying 

poor performance of the service 

chiefs would now clear them 

for another appointment. 

He told the senators, "Let me 

express the dismay of most Nigerians 

at the Senate. Convey 

this to the Senate. We must be 

courageous in whatever we are 

doing. Everything must not be 

party affairs. You (Senators) sat 

and discussed that they should 

dismiss the service chiefs. 

"You said they're not performing. 

Now, same people who 

were not performing, you have 

confirmed as ambassadors. 

What kind of country is this? In 

Senate c'ttee assures NDDC of support, collaboration 

PORT 

HARCOURT— 

CHAIRMAN, Senate 

Committee on Niger Delta 

Affairs, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, 

has assured the Niger 

Delta Development Commission, 

NDDC, of the support 

and collaboration of his committee 

in the task of developing 

the Niger Delta region. 

Speaking during the oversight 

visit of the Senate Committee 

at the NDDC permanent 

headquarters in Port Harcourt, 

Rivers State, Nwaboshi 

noted that the commission's 

strategy of engagement and 

collaboration was important 

for progress in the Niger Delta 

region. 

He said: "The Interim Administrator, 

Mr Efiong Akwa, 

has been so nice in terms of 

reaching out, communicating 

and discussing. He opened 

discussions with us. He apologised 

for whatever happened 

country's refineries more 

competitive. 

He said: "The main thrust 

of the PIB is to reform our oil 

and gas industry, to make it 

more competitive and bring 

their operation in tandem 

with international best practices. 

"We are here in Port Harcourt 

refinery to see their constraints 

and how best within 

the prodigies of PIB, leverage 

on same and then make their 

operations more competitive 

in the past and he told us that 

he is ready to work for the 

people of the Niger Delta region. 

We are happy that he 

accepted that there is need for 

cooperation and collaboration 

for Niger Delta to move 

forward." 

Nwaboshi assured that they 

would continue to collaborate 

with the Interim Administrator 

and the NDDC for as long 

as Akwa remained as the 

Chief Executive Officer of the 

Commission. 

"We don't have any problem 

with anybody. Let's be clear 

on that. This committee has 

no problem with anybody. But 

if in the course of our oversight 

function, we step on toes, 

it is because it is our duty. 

What happened in the past 

happened in the course of our 

oversight function. 

"No commission is perfect 

because you cannot satisfy 

in a bid to attract the muchneeded 

investment in the oil 

and gas industry, especially 

against the backdrop of the 

fact that the world is now 

moving away from fossil fuels 

to renewables." 

The committee's co-chair, 

said NASS would ensure the 

passage of the long-awaited 

PIB in April, adding that the 

bill will bring to an end the 

capital flight. 

Speaking earlier in a meeting 

with the management of 

everybody. You started well 

by bringing peace and giving 

people the opportunity to discuss. 

I assure you that we have 

an open mind to collaborate 

and cooperate in the interest 

of the Niger Delta region. 

"The Interim Administrator 

appeared before us and we 

told him that to whom much 

is given, much is expected. We 

are here to represent the Senate 

and our function is to 

make sure that the interest of 

the people of the Niger Delta 

region is protected. We oversight 

the NDDC, Ministry of 

Niger Delta Affairs and the 

Presidential Amnesty Programme." 

Nwaoboshi expressed delight 

over the completion of 

the NDDC permanent headquarters, 

noting that the committee 

had appropriated N16 

billion for the completion of 

the headquarters building. 

Port Harcourt Refinery, 

PHRC, the Senate Ad-hoc 

Committee Chairman on 

PIB, Sen. Sabo Nakudu, noted 

that committees were 

mandated to submit it's report 

to the House as soon as possible. 

Also, Sen. Albet Bassey, who 

is Chairman Upstream, at the 

Upper Chamber, expressed regrets 

over the moribund condition 

of the nation's refineries, 

noting that efforts were on 

to return life to the facilities. 

However, the Managing 

Director of PHRC, Ahmed 

Dikko, expressed optimism 

that rehabilitation of the facility 

would commence in 

April. 

anything we do, we must remember 

there is tomorrow. 

Conscience is key. It's not because 

I want to be a loyalist to a 

party. There are things you cannot 

reconcile at all." 

On Niger Delta Development 

Commission, NDDC, the governor 

told the senators, "I don't 

like talking about it. It is unfortunate 

that those who fought for 

it if they knew that this is how 

NDDC will be, I don't think they 

would have even asked for it." 

He chided the National Assembly 

committees on NDDC 

for failing to provide sufficient 

direction to make the commission 

focus on the core mandate 

of developing the region, accusing 

some politicians of rather 

transforming NDDC into a 

cash cow for prosecuting sinister 

political agenda. 

Wike also expressed displeasure 

over a Senator (Smart 

Adeyemi) for allegedly overstepping 

his immunity during 

a plenary to demean a serving 

governor by calling him a 

drunk. 

Chairman, Senate Committee 

on Niger Delta, Peter Nwaoboshi 

told Wike, "As a committee, 

we are aware that you have 

some reservation about the 

NDDC based on your state's previous 

relationship with them. 

"We have come to assure you 

that with the people you have 

seen here, who are patriotic 

Nigerians, that we will make 

sure that the aspirations and the 

aim of creating the NDDC are 

achieved. We will do everything 

possible within the limits of the 

constitution through our oversight 

functions for them to 

achieve their objectives." 

I'm new king of Idumuje-Ugboko 

—HRM Solomon Nwoko 

Emma Amaize 

IAFTER DUMUJE-UGBOKO— 

a process that conformed 

to customs and traditions, 

HRM Solomon Nwoko, 

said, yesterday, that he is 

the new king of Idumuje-Ugboko 

in Aniocha North Local 

Government Area, Delta 

State. 

HRM Nwoko, who addressed 

newsmen at Idumuje- 

Ugboko in the presence of the 

Obi-in-Council, Diokpas, 

Iyase of Idumuje-Ugboko, 

Umu-Nwoko royal family 

and jubilant natives, said: "It 

is true that the Idumuje-Ugboko 

Kingdom now has a new 

Obi. His name is HRM Nwoko. 

I did not fall from the sky. 

I am one of you, your kith and 

kin and your blood. 

"Yet, I cannot be without you, 

as a leader has no value if he 

has no followers. I have 

emerged as Obi through a 

transparent process that has 

regard for the customs and 

traditions of our people. I 

come as a peacebuilder to 

right the wrongs of our yesterday 

and to open the floodgate 

to development and peace for 

our community." 

On the controversy that has 

dogged the kingdom since the 

death of Obi Albert Nwoko III 

in 2017, 

he said: "In 2017, the only 

LAND DISPUTE: Delta community 

leader raises alarm over threat to 

life •Accuses Police of shooting his wife 


ASABA—THE 'Arum' (Ad 

ministrator), of Ilenobu 

quarters, Umunede kingdom, 

Ika North East Local Government 

Area, Delta State, Mr Ifeanyi 

Ikem has raised the 

alarm over an assassination 

attempt on his life, following 

a lingering land dispute in the 

area. 

Narrating his ordeal in the 

hands of some police officers 

who purportedly came from 

Zone 5, Benin City, Edo State 

to arrest him, Ikem, said, "On 

that fateful day, February 18, 

2021, I just put off my generator 

so I could go to bed that 

night. I was about to lie down 

when I heard footsteps and my 

dog barking when I saw two 

men. One was wearing complete 

native attire while the 

other was on Jean trouser and 

a jean jacket. 

"They requested to know the 

occupants of the house but I 

kept quiet because I don't know 

them. So, my wife from inside 

the house sought to know who 

they were. They replied to her 

that she should call her husband 

that somebody is looking 

for him. 

"My wife told them that her 

husband was already asleep. 

They asked if he was not the 

one that just put off the generator. 

In the process of my wife 

interrogating them, they frequently 

called one Sunny. 

They said we had some discussions 

and arrangements. 

"My wife came in to ask me 

if I knew anyone by the name 

Sunny, I said no. They walked 

away and one of them was 

pressing his phone, so I 

thought they had my number 

and wanted to call me. I 

reached out to my phone and 

put it on silence. 

nominee as the Obi of Idumuje-Ugboko 

after the demise 

of Obi Albert Nwoko III 

on February 6, 2017, from 

existing records was I, Prince 

Solomon Nwoko." 

"In 1927, following the vacant 

stool of Obi of Idumuje- 

Ugboko, Nkeze, the son of 

Omorhusi, assumed the 

throne. Upon Obi Albert 

Nwoko III's demise in 2017, 

the Umu-Nwoko family met 

on August 21, 2017, at the residence 

of Diokpa Prince Onwuamaonyeuku 

Nwoko to 

recover the throne. 

"This was after confirmation 

that I, Solomon Ezeokwubundu 

was the only surviving 

son of Nkanye, the son of 

Nwabuokei. By the principle 

of primogeniture, the name 

of Prince Solomon Eziokwubundu 

was forwarded to 

the Aniocha North Traditional 

Rulers Committee by the 

Obi-In-Council of Idumuje- 

Ugboko, dated July 2, 2018, 

and signed by the Iyase of Idumuje-Ugboko, 

Chief Christopher 

Ogwu. 

"If this simple line of succession 

was adhered to, perhaps 

the Idumuje-Ugboko 

community would have been 

spared the agony of bloodletting, 

maiming of innocent citizens, 

court cases and the global 

stigmatization of Idumuje-Ugboko 

as a land of bitter 

royal tussle. 

"Since I assume this Arum, 

many things have been going 

on and I have been watching 

them. So, my uncle came out 

and questioned them on why 

they came at this time of the 

night to arrest someone? 

"They kept shaking the front 

burglary. By then, the window 

was opened because I wanted 

fresh air after putting off 

the generator. So, I closed it 

quietly. After some time, I 

thought they had gone, surprisingly, 

they returned and 

started forcing the glass on the 

window and they pulled down 

the burglary proof. 

"I told my wife and children 

to shout. Their shouting made 

people know that something 

was happening around the 

area. Three men entered first, 

we were struggling together. 

I saw them with guns and I 

thought they wanted to kill 

me. 

"After the first three persons, 

another three entered through 

the window, making it six, 

they kept dragging me. They 

opened the back door and we 

started struggling, including 

my wife. 

"I asked them to tell me 

what I did and they said one 

Prince Paradise sent them that 

I destroyed his car and building 

and I told them that I don't 

know anything about it. 

"As they saw that people 

were coming, they started 

shooting and they were still 

dragging me but my wife 

didn't allow them to take me 

away. So, they shot her as my 

wife was shouting that she had 

been shot, I held onto them, 

they started shooting and 

started their vehicle and 

zoomed off. They came with 

about three vehicles, one 

black Jeep, Tundra and one 

ash coloured Sienna, that was 

what happened that night." 

C 

M 

Y




RECEPTION: From left—Chief Chukuma Igwe, Secretary General, Ndigbo Lagos, Dr. Raymond Obieri, Chairman, 

Council of Elders, Ndigbo Lagos, Prof. George Obiozor, President General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Major 

Gen. Obi Umahi (retd.) , President General, Ndigbo Lagos and Amb. Okey Emutchy, Secretary General, Ohanaeze 

Ndigbo, during the Ndigbo Lagos civic reception for the PG, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, held at Civil Centre, Victoria 

Island, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.. 

BIAFRA: Igbo not at war with Nigeria 

—Obiozor •Says Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB must listen to us 

By Nnamdi Ojiego 

& Olayinka Ajayi 

THE PRESIDENT General 

of the apex Igbo socio-cultural 

organisation, Ohanaeze 

Ndigbo, Professor George 

Obiozor, yesterday, reiterated 

that Ndigbo are not at war with 

Nigeria, stressing that Ndigbo 

would continue their efforts to 

seek justice, peace and fairness 

in all their dealings with everybody 

in Nigeria. 

Obiozor who spoke at a 

grand reception in his honour 

by Ndigbo Lagos, at the Civic 

Center, Victoria Island, cautioned 

those making utterances 

that have tendencies to put 

Ndigbo in danger to refrain 

from it. 

He said: "Everybody should 

stop utterances or actions that 

will or have the tendencies to 

put Ndigbo in present and immediate 

danger or on harm's 

way. That is what my message 

is in this matter. 

"Igbo are not at war with Nigeria. 

I want it to be noted very 

clearly. And we are not planning 

to have a separate existence 

from Nigeria. People 

should make no mistake about 

it. 

"On the issue of Biafra, it is 

well beyond the capacity of 

young men to resolve. Biafra 

is a collective dilemma of Ndigbo 

and it is not a child's play. 

"Biafra is not a child's play. It 

requires mature and experienced 

handling. Children 

should stop playing with fire 

and children shouldn't play 

with fire. Nnamdi Kanu is one 

of us. He is our son and he must 

listen to some of us because he's 

one of us." 

The former ambassador of 

Nigeria to the United States of 

America, described the security 

situation in Igboland as a 

matter of concern and national 

emergency. 

"The greatest affliction of 

man is insecurity. With insecurity, 

nothing happens. It is the 

greatest challenge facing Ndigbo 

in particular and Nigeria 

at large. However, we thank 

God that the South East governors 

themselves shared this feeling 

and have started taking 

steps particularly, about antiopen 

grazing ban; a great step 

which we believe is the right 

step to take towards handling 

security challenges in Igbo 

land." 

On restructuring, Obiozor 

charged the Igbo to pursue it 

with pride and dignity, saying 

that Nigeria must be restructured 

in order to reduce hostile 

Kingsley Omonobi & 

Steve Oko 

OTIES NITSHA—AUTHORI 

of the Nigerian 

Army have dismissed as handiwork 

of unpatriotic elements, 

a trending video alleging that 

troops of 302 Artillery Regiment, 

Onitsha, were given orders 

to commence the killing 

of people at Orlu market. 

This came as the Indigenous 

People of Biafra, IPOB, has 

distanced its members from 

the purported killing of six 

children in Anambra State, 

describing the allegation as 

"malicious and mischievous". 

Deputy Director, Army Public 

Relations, Col Aliyu Yusuf 

made the army position 

known in a statement yesterday. 

Yusuf said:“The attention of 

Headquarters 82 Division Nigerian 

Army has been drawn 

to an orchestrated video clip 

by an unpatriotic element 

which is being circulated on 

the social media, claiming to 

be a soldier in the Nigerian 

Army by name Joseph from 

Bayelsa State. 

“The video was recorded in 

an unknown market claiming 

to be privy to a supposed order 

given by 302 Artillery Regiment, 

Onitsha to start killing 

everybody at Orlu market and 

environs, Orlu L.G.A in Imo 

State. 

“Preliminary investigation 

revealed that it was a calculated 

attempt to maliciously 

fabricate sensational stories 

to cause resentment and 

smear campaign against Nigerian 

Army Internal Security 

Operations. 

“The supposed individual in 

the video was not bold enough 

to reveal his true identity as 

claimed or present his so 

called military uniform and 

identity card which were deliberately 

obscured to deceive 

innocent target audience. 

“The Nigerian Army recognizes 

the right of citizens to 

hold and share opinions on 

tension among ethnic nationalities 

and move the country 

forward. 

According to him, restructuring 

would address the issue 

of hostile contacts 

among Nigerians and reduce 

tensions. 

On his part, Ndigbo Lagos 

President, Major General 

Obi Umahi, rtd, described 

the event as home 

coming for Ambassador 

Obiozor. 

He however, urged him to 

collaborate with south eastern 

governors to give considerations 

and attention to 

three key areas which are: 

"security of Alaigbo, requiring 

an urgent need for state 

police; . restructuring of the 

country and president of 

Igbo extraction come 2023. 

"Ndigbo are not asking for 

too much. They are only 

asking for equity and fairness 

in a country they have 

contributed so much to it's 

development", he stated. 

Orlu mayhem: Army debunks false video 

information 

•As IPOB denies killing of children in Anambra 

social media and not to spread 

divisive contents by unpatriotic 

individuals. 

“This mischievous misrepresentation 

of facts, misinformation 

and fabrication of outright 

falsehood as deliberately captured 

in the video clip are being 

orchestrated in the social 

media to tarnish the good image 

and reputation of the military. 

This great disservice is 

not acceptable by any standard. 

“The Headquarters, 82 Division, 

Nigerian Army therefore 

wish to reassure law abiding 

citizens that the Nigerian 

Army remains a professional 

force that respects fundamental 

human rights and deploy 

its personnel whenever or 

wherever duty calls. 

“It is worth to note that Nigerian 

Army troops deployed 

for Internal Security Operations 

are guided by extant rules 

and regulations as stipulated 

in Nigerian Army Code of 

Conducts and Rules of Engagement 

in line with global 

best practices. 

“The general public is therefore 

urged to disregard the 

false information contained in 

the video.” 

IPOB denies 

killing of children 

in Anambra 

Denying the allegation, 

IPOB in a statement issued by 

its Media and Publicity Secretary, 

Emma Powerful entitled: 

"it's ridiculous to link IPOB, 

ESN with killing of children 

in Anambra State", said mischief 

makers were behind the 

false report. 

The pro Biafra movement 

said it is inconceivable that 

IPOB and ESN whose main 

mandate is to defend the people 

of Eastern region against 

terrorists, would turn against 

the same people they stake 

their lives to protect. 

The statement read:"The attention 

of the Indigenous People 

of Biafra (IPOB) ably led 

by our great leader Mazi 

Nnamdi Kanu, has been 

drawn to a malicious and mischievous 

report trying to link the 

IPOB and the Eastern Security 

Network, ESN with the purported 

killing of six children in Anambra 

State. Fabricated claims 

like this is only akin to giving the 

dog a bad name in order to hang 

it. 

"Those behind this lame and 

poorly scripted dummy forgot 

the main reason for the establishment 

of ESN, and the mission 

of IPOB. We came to save 

lives and not to waste them. We 

don't kill those we daily put our 

lives on the line to save and 

protect. Associating us with 

such barbaric act is not only 

insulting but a lie from the pit 

of hell. 

"But for the sake of the gullible, 

we wouldn't have bothered 

to signify distracting reports like 

this with a response. We have 

no hands in the purported incident." 

IPOB also denied that those 

paraded by the military were 

ESN members arrested in Orlu, 

claiming that security agents 

only arrested innocent citizens 

and branded them ESN operatives. 

"We also want to debunk the 

reports by the Nigeria military 

that those it arrested in Orlu during 

their genocidal raid and air 

strike last week are ESN operatives. 

" It's just unfortunate that the 

Army could curiously arrest innocent 

Biafran civilians at Orlu 

branding them ESN 

operatives.Their propaganda 

cannot work. 

"We equally want to warn the 

Nigerian military to ensure 

nothing happens to the Jewish 

Rabbi Kelechi Nwachukwu 

and his family as well as other 

IPOB members they arrested 

out of frustration following 

their humiliation by the indomitable 

ESN operatives at Orlu. 

"We must warn Hope Uzodinma, 

to ensure that nothing 

happens to these IPOB members 

and 33 synagogue worshipers 

arrested in Orlu and 

paraded in the public as if they 

were criminals." 

Uzodinma lauds Buhari over 

Nigeria’s exit from recession 

O WERRI—GOVERNOR 

Hope Uzodimma of Imo 

State has commended President 

Muhammadu Buhari’s 

deft management of the economy 

which resulted to the 

country’s exit from recession, 

just as he predicted that the 

President would soon overcome 

the security challenges 


He said only a leader with 

the patriotism, vision and determination 

of President Buhari 

would have seen Nigeria 

through recession within five 

years, adding that the same 

zeal and vision will navigate 

the country out of the present 

security situation in the country 

Ṡpeaking with reporters in 

Owerri, Governor Uzodimma 

noted that it was remarkable 

that the president was not responsible 

for any of the recession, 

yet he fought gallantly to 

steer the economy to safety. 

He also recalled that while 

notable World economies including 

UK,US, Japan, 

France and Switzerland 

among others were still battling 

with Covid-19 induced 

recession, Nigeria was out of 

it due mainly to Buhari’s hardwork. 

“If you recall, the first recession 

occurred as the President 

was assuming office and the 

second one came about as a 

result of the Covid 19 pandemic 

which devastated the 

world economy, but our president 

rose to the occasion in the 

two instances,” the governor 

said. 

According to him, just like 

Japan overcame recession in 

2015, Buhari also led Nigeria 

Okorocha: Igbo rights groups 

attack Uzodinma 

By Anayo Okoli & 

Chidi Nkwopara 

ENUGU—ANGRY reac 

tions have continued to 

trail the alleged intervention 

of the Presidency when Senator 

Rochas Okorocha was arrested 

weekend by the police 

in Owerri for breaking the seal 

of Imo State Government. 

While the Commissioner 

of Information and Strategy, 

Declan Emelumba, 

claimed that the police released 

Okorocha late Sunday 

night on health 

grounds,", the former governor 

disclosed that he was released 

through the prompt 

intervention of the Presidency. 

IGBO elite group, Alaigbo 

Development Foundation, 

ADF, has condemned the invitation 

of the military by Governor 

Hope Uzodinma of Imo 

State to overrun Orlu zone, 

warning that Ndigbo will n ot 

forgive him if he pushes the 

Federal Government to declare 

war on Igboland. 

ADF urged Uzodinma to 

“moderate his extreme s lavish 

loyalty to the Northern 

to achieve the same thing by 

repositioning the economy. 

On the security challenges 

in the country, the governor 

noted that both state governors 

and local government 

chairmen should equally 

take responsibility for the security 

situation in their areas 

of jurisdiction, noting that security 

was the collective responsibility 

of all stakeholders 

He argued that the same 

tenacity from the president 

which propelled the country’s 

exit from recession will 

soon bring about a lasting 

solution to the security challenges 


He commended the president 

for being proactive last 

year by setting up the Economic 

Sustainability Committe 

which fashioned out 

ways of mitigating the effects 

of the pandemic in the 

country”s economy. 

He was also happy that the 

massive job creation embarked 

upon by the federal 

government including the injection 

of funds into the economy 

accelerated the exit from 

recession. 

Uzodimma said it was 

clear that Buhari has delivered 

on his campaign promises 

of reinvigorating the 

economy and will overcome 

the security challenges sooner 

than later. 

Canvassing support for the 

president from Nigerians, the 

Imo governor said Buhari 

was more than determinebd 

to turn the country around, 

the current challenges notwithstanding. 

Caliphate rulers and show 

loyalty to the people of Imo 

State." 

Another leading right 

group, International Society 

for Civil Liberties and Rule of 

Law, Intersociety, also described 

it as “sad” and lamented 

that the governor decided 

to compromise the security and 

safety of his own people by aiding 

the unspeakable state violence 

against his own people 

and the state. 

ADF, in a statement by its 

spokesperson, Chief Abi Onyike 

said: “Governor Hope Uzodinma 

should be advised to moderate 

his extreme slavish loyalty 

to the Northern Caliphate 

rulers. He will not be forgiven 

by Ndigbo if he pushes the 

Federal Government to declare 

war on Igboland. 

“He should show loyalty to 

the people of Imo State and 

stop behaving like a surrogate 

character. Afterall, no 

other Nigerian governor has 

ever invited the military to 

invade his domain. 

“He is becoming a major 

problem by his poor governance 

skills and treacherous 

anti-Igbo posturing”. 

C 

M 

Y 

K

14 — Vanguard, , THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 



Zulum secures FGC admissions 

for 959 out-of-school girls, boys 

By Ndahi Marama 

M GOVERNOR 

AIDUGURI— 

Babagana Zulum of Borno 

State, has facilitated the 

admissions into Federal 

Government Colleges, FGC, 

for 959 boys and girls from 16 

Local Government Areas, 

LGAs, who had been forced out 

of school by Boko Haram 

activities. 

Of the 959 children, 

admissions were secured for 

774 girls into Federal 

Government Girls College, 

FGGC, Monguno operating 

temporarily in Maiduguri; while 

185 boys were taken to FGC, 

Maiduguri. 

In the first phase of 

implementing Zulum’s multidimensional 

strategies on basic 

education, the Executive 

Secretary of the newly 

By Peter Duru 

M AKURDI—FIRST 

Lady of Benue State, 

Dr. Eunice Ortom, has 

expressed optimism that in no 

distant time, Sexual and 

Gender Based Violence, SGBV, 

would be a thing of the past in 

the state. 

Mrs. Ortom made the 

assertion yesterday in 

Makurdi at the assessment 

and review of activities of the 

State Sexual and Gender 

Based Violence, SGBV, Policy 

and 

Advocacy 

Implementation Team which 

she inaugurated last year. 

While expressing satisfaction 

at the efforts made by the 

committee members to work 

out a template to tackle SGBV 

in the state, the Governor’s 

wife noted that capacity 

building through campaigns 

established Borno State 

Education Trust Fund, Alhaji 

Maina Yaumi, yesterday formally 

welcomed 185 boys into JSS 1 at 

FGC Maiduguri for 

commencement of studies. 

Governor Zulum had already 

approved an initial N60 million 

for sponsorship of the 774 girls 

going to FGGC Monguno, and 

over N37 million, for the 185 boys 

at FGC, Maiduguri. 

The boys were drawn from 16 

local councils with most 

backward number of school 

enrollments in which long 

displaced Abadam was given 

the highest number of 17 slots, 

followed by Guzamala which 

got 15 slots, Marte-13, Maga- 

13, Mobbar-12, Kala-Balge, 11, 

Konduga 10, Ngala 10, 

Magumeri 10, Bama 10, Gubio 

10, Dikwa 10, Kaga 10, 

Kukawa 10, Nganzai 10 and 

Monguno-9 slots. 

Sexual, gender-based violence'll 

soon be a thing of the past in 

Benue — Mrs. Ortom 

and on-field contacts were imperative 

to reach local 

communities. 

She however noted that 

despite the gains made, “there 

is still room for improvement. 

That is why it is important to 

assess the successes so far 

recorded in order to seek ways 

to improve in areas that need 

attention. 

“I must also point out that 

with the work plan put 

together by the committee, 

I am optimistic that SGBV 

will soon be a thing of the past 

in Benue State.” 

Earlier, Chairman of the 

SGBV Implementation Team, 

Dr. Magdalene Dura stated 

that bills had been proposed 

to tackle obnoxious practices 

such as female circumcision, 

discrimination against 

disabled persons, equal rights 

and host of others. 

TGL promises reduction in 

auto accidents in Nigeria 

THE pioneer of 

computerised vehicle 

inspection service (CVIS), Temple 

Group Limited (TGL), has 

reiterated its commitment to 

providing good services in an 

effort to minimise the rate of auto 

accidents and fatalities across 

Nigeria after it concluded its 

The group said it has partnered 

government at all levels to 

guarantee sound road 

worthiness of vehicles plying 

Nigerian roads. 

rising from its annual 

management retreat held in 

Abuja with theme "Greater 

Workforce for Sustainability," the 

group said the retreat which 

hosted top management staff and 

key executives of the company 

was to ex-ray some of the causes 

of road accidents with a view to 

proffering solution. 

According to the MD/CEO of 

TGL, Prince Segun Obayendo, 

the retreat was an opportunity 

for the company to strengthen 

the commitment to grow the 

people behind the Temple Group 

brand. 

He said: “You will all agree with 

me that last year was a defining 

moment for us as a group. Right 

from the headquarters here in Abuja 

to the coastal city of Lagos, we 

weren't totally immune to the destruction 

occasioned by COVID- 

19 and the #ENDSARS protests, 

which rocked the country to its 

foundation.'' 

He said the company will soar 

higher regardless of the pandemic 

and protests, saying: ”As we 

emerge from the ashes of these 

destruction into the bright 

sunlight, we are confronted with 

the reality that business will only 

triumph when its workforce is in 

full control of all the opportunities 

to improve its capacities and 

capabilities at its disposal.” 

Other objectives of the 

meeting was to ensure that 

vehicle owners and other road 

users ply the roads with minimal 

mechanical defects and accidents. 

Obayendo said among the 

inspections carried out at any of 

the computerised vehicle 

inspection centres are emission, 

headlamps test, brakes efficiency 

states, steering and alignment 

tests, visual inspection to check 

for safety requirements in 

vehicles and underneath 

inspection to check for chassis 

and frame of vehicles. 

BORNO: Death toll rises to 16, over 60 

injured, as survivors recount ordeals 

•As FG moves to begin trial of 5,000 Boko Haram suspects •Minister 

condemns attack 

By Ndahi marama & 

Joseph Erunke 

M VICTIMS AIDUGURI— 

of Borno 

Haram’s attack on Maiduguri 

Tuesday night yesterday 

recounted their ordeals, as death 

toll rose to 16, with over 60 

injured persons in hospitals 

receiving treatment. 

This came as the Federal 

Government disclosed that it 

would soon begin trial of no fewer 

than 5,000 Boko Haram suspects. 

Meanwhile, Governor 

Babagana Zulum early yesterday 

disclosed that 10 persons died in 

the attack, while 47 were injured 

but by noon, the death toll had 

risen to 16. 

A survivor in Kaleri/Adam Kolo, 

one of the densely populated area 

affected by the attack in the 

metropolis, Alhaji Musa Kolomi, 

71, said: “We were sitting just 

before magrib (evening) prayers, 

when we saw something (rocket) 

coming from a distance and it fell 

in the middle of the road. It tore 

the car that was parked there 

into pieces and those of us that 

were there got affected by the 

impact of the explosion. 

‘’A man carrying a mat to go to 

the mosque got hit and his skull 

was opened and he died instantly. 

Then the rest of us sustained 

injuries. My leg was injured, 

while two boys hit in the head 

were rushed to University of 

Maiduguri Teachning Hospital, 

UMTH.’’ 

Another survivor in Gwange, 

Abubakar Mohammed, said: “I 

was just standing in front of my 

house in Layin bori, near COCIN 

church, when something that 

looked like a rocket landed before 

me. There were several of us 

there, some of the people even 

got killed instantly.’’ 

Efforts to speak with some of 

the survivors receiving 

treatment in hospitals were 

unsuccessful as Vanguard’s 

correspondent who visited two of 

the hospitals was not allowed in. 

Most of the victims were in the 

emergency and intensive care 

units accessible only to health 

workers on duty call. 

Governor Zulum during his 

empathy visits to the State 

Specialist Hospital, and the 

University of Maiduguri Teaching 

Hospital, both in Maiduguri 

earlier yesterday, had told 

journalists that 10 persons died 

in the attack, while 47 were 

injured. 

The governor was told that 

some of the victims had sustained 

various degrees of injuries and 

were being treated, for which he 

directed the state ministry of 

health to take over their bills. 

According to him, “Indeed it is 

a very sad moment for the people 

and government of Borno State, 

about 60 persons were affected, 

among them, 10 have died. It was 

as a result of long distance shots 

fired by the insurgents. I believe 

this is a new trend we have to rise 

up and stop it. We experienced a 

similar incident exactly one year 

ago. The solution is to deploy an 

appropriate technology, which we 

will have to work on. I share the 

pains of all those affected. We are 

not just visiting hospitals, we do 

so much behind the scene in our 

combined responses to the Boko 

Haram insurgency and we will 

keep making these and more 

efforts.” 

On military’s recapturing of 

Marte, seized by Boko Haram’s 

terrorists few days ago, Governor 

Zulum said he was not just 

pleased, but optimistic that the 

Nigerian military would work had 

to retain, continue its peacebuilding 

and stability efforts in 

ways that should ensure the 

insurgents never took Marte 

again, or any part of the state. 

“I am optimistic that the 

insurgents will not take over 

Marte again,” Zulum said. 

Trial of 5,000 Boko Haram 

suspects 

In the meantime, on the 

planned trial of Boko Haram 

suspects in detention facilities 

across the country, the Director 

General of Legal Aid Council, 

Aliyu Abubakar, disclosed the 

development during a courtesy 

visit to Borno Governor Babagana 

Zulum at the Government 

House, Maiduguri. 

According to Abubakar, Giwa 

Barracks, Maiduguri, Kainji 

prisons were among facilities, 

where the suspects were being 

kept over alleged involvement in 

Boko Haram sect’s activities. 

He said the trial would be 

conducted by the Office of the 

Attorney General of the 

Federation, Office of the National 

Security Advisers in collaboration 

with the Theater Command 

Operation Lafiya Dole, while the 

Legal Aid Council had been 

mandated to provide defence for 

the inmates. 

According to him, the legal aid 

team had already interviewed 283 

suspects as part of efforts to 

establish their involvement in 

terrorism as well understand the 

nature of the crime they 

committed. 

Abubakar said “As their defence 

counsel, we have to interview 

them from time to time to enable 

us know their own part of the 

story. It so because regardless of 

the crimes they committed, it is 

possible that out of hundreds, you 

may find out that one or two 

persons are innocent. 

“It is necessary for them to be 

represented by this council to 

make sure that all the 

requirements of the law are 

fulfilled. All evidence must be 

presented against them before 

the court of the law so that those 

found guilty would be prosecuted. 

In as much as everybody is aware 

of the nature of the crime they 

have committed, under our laws, 

they are innocent until proven 

guilty.” 

Responding, Governor Zulum 

represented by his Deputy, said 

the government was ready to 

partner with the Federal 

Government to achieve its 

Saidu tasks northern 

leaders on dignity before 

southern politicians 

By Jimitota Onoyume 

WARRI—LEADER 

of 

the Arewa in the South, 

Alhaji Musa Saidu has enjoined 

Emirs and northern political 

leaders in the north to be mindful 

of how they visit politicians in the 

southern part of the country 

ahead of the 2023 general 

elections. 

Alhaji Saidu who is also 

spokesman of northern 

traditional rulers in the South 

said they maintain the dignity of 

northerners before southern 

politicians. 

Saidu spoke to the Vanguard 

in Warri, Delta State, saying they 

would continue to commend the 

Emir of Katsina for his courage. 

“Our northern politicians 

should not come to sell 

themselves in the south, they 

SOLIDARITY 

VISIT: Nigeria 

Governors 

Forum, NGF 

Chairman, 

Governor Kayode 

Fayemi of Ekiti 

State (2nd left); 

Hon Shina Peller 

(2nd right); and 

others, during a s 

solidarity visit to 

Governor Bello of 

Niger State over 

the recent 

kidnapping in the 

state. 

mandate and lauded the council 

for providing legal support to the 

people of the state. 

Minister condemns attack 

Reacting to the attack, Minister 

of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster 

Management and Social 

Development, Sadiya Farouq, 

condemned the attacks on 

residents leading to several 

fatalities. 

In a statement by her Special 

Assistant on Media, Nneka Ikem 

Anibeze, the Minister described 

insurgents ‘action as not only 

wicked and inhuman but also 

insensitive. 

The statement read: ”The 

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, 

Disaster Management and Social 

Development, Sadiya Umar 

Farouq has condemned insurgent 

attacks on residents of Borno 

state which left 10 persons dead 

and 47 injured. 

“Boko Haram insurgents fired 

rocket-propelled grenades shots 

from Kaleri on the outskirts of 

Maiduguri on Tuesday night. 

“Two densely populated 

communities Gwange and Adam 

Kolo areas including a children’s 

playground were mostly hit by 

the grenade. I condemn in its 

entirety, the attacks on innocent 

residents of Gwange and Adam 

Kolo commutes.'' 

should not sell northern honour 

before southern politicians. I also 

want to commend the Emir of 

Katsina for the way he has been 

carrying on. 

“As the leader of Arewa in the 

south, I also want to appeal to 

our Emirs to help defend the 

values of the north. The south 

calls us beggars, pest so we should 

be careful. 

“I implore our leaders to be 

mindful of how they visit. They 

should defend the northern 

honour. You know when you visit 

politicians, people will say they 

gave you money even if they did 

not. 

''So, as leader of Arewa in 

the South I appeal to our 

northern politician, leaders, 

to uphold the dignity of the 

north in all they do.“ 

C 

M 

Y 

K


GOVERNOR AKEREDOLU'S SECOND TERM INAUGURATION 

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and his Deputy, Mr. Lucky Ayedatiwa were sworn in for the second term at the 

International Centre for Culture and Events (The Dome), Alagbaka, Akure, yesterday. PHOTOS: DAYO JOHNSON 

From left; Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; wife of Ekiti State governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; 

her husband, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Ondo State governor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN); his wife, 

Betty; Ondo State Deputy governor, Mr. Lucky Ayedatiwa; his wife, Esther; Governor Adegboyega Oyetola 

of Osun State; his Ogun State counterpart, Prince Dapo Abiodun and Chairman, Ondo State Council of 

Obas, Oba Obateru Akinruntan (Okoro Ajija I) during the inauguration. 

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State (crouching) 

exchanging pleasantries with National leader of APC, 

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and former Osun State governor, 

Chief Bisi Akande (right). 

Governor Akeredolu and wife swearing to the oath of allegiance. 

From left: Wife of Ondo State governor, Betty Akeredolu, Governor Rotimi 

Akeredolu, his deputy and wife Hon Lucky Ayedatiwa while taking the oath of office. 

Governor Akeredolu and former Senate President Ken Nnamani. 

Governor Akeredolu, wife, Betty and traditional rulers at the ceremony. 

From left; Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, his wife, Betty, Ondo State Chief Judge, 

Justice Olanrewaju Akeredolu, Deputy governor Lucky Ayedatiwa and wife. 

Governor Akeredolu addressing the gathering. 

C 

M 

Y 

K


ISTORY is made,” the 

‘HWorld Trade Organisation 

exulted on February 15 after its 

164 members finally appointed 

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as its 

next Director-General. History is, 

indeed, made because, when she 

assumes office on March 1, Dr. 

Okonjo-Iweala will be the first 

female and first African Director 

General in the 73-year history of 

the WTO and its predecessor, the 

General Agreement on Tariffs and 

Trade, GATT, established in 1947. 

Since her appointment, Dr. 

Okonjo-Iweala has received 

congratulatory messages from 

across the world. I, too, 

congratulate her on her 

remarkable achievement. But 

congratulations are also in order 

for Dr. Yonov Frederick Agah, an 

outstanding Deputy Director- 

General of the WTO since 2013, 

whose tenure will end next week. 

This column pays tribute to these 

two great Nigerians and Africans! 

First, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala. Last 

November, the erratic Trump 

administration blocked consensus 

on appointing her for the WTO job. 

Thankfully, democracy intervened. 

Trump was voted out of power and 

Joe Biden became president. 

Elections have consequences: 

President Biden promptly 

endorsed Okonjo-Iweala for the 

WTO job after persuading her 

Trump-backed South Korean 

opponent, Yoo Myung-Hee, to 

withdraw her candidacy. 

In her acceptance speech, Dr. 

Okonjo-Iweala said: “Without the 

recent swift action by the Biden- 

Harris Administration to join the 

consensus of the membership on 

my candidacy, we would not be 

here today”, adding: “I am 

grateful to the US for the prompt 

action and strong expression of 

support.” She’s right: by lifting 

WTO: Kudos to Okonjo-Iweala and 

Agah for making Africa proud 

Trump’s block, Biden helped her 

make history! 

But she also, rightly, said: 

“Special thanks to President 

Muhammadu Buhari and all my 

Nigerian compatriots for their 

support and prayers.” Of course, 

apart from nominating her for the 

job, the Buhari government had 

little influence on her selection. 

Yet, the Nigerian element played a 

big role in her victory. Without it, 

she wouldn’t have won. So, what’s 

the Nigerian element and how did 

it account for Okonjo-Iweala’s 

victory? 

First, let’s bust a myth. Dr. 

Okonjo-Iweala didn’t get the 

Director General job mainly 

because of her former role as 

managing director of the World 

Bank. Indeed, that worked against 

her with the Trump 

administration. Recently, Robert 

Lighthizer, former President 

Trump’s trade chief, told the 

Financial Times that Dr. Okonjo- 

Iweala wasn’t qualified for the 

WTO top job because she “has no 

experience in trade at all”, adding: 

“We need a person who actually 

knows trade, not somebody from 

the World Bank who does 

development.” But WTO members 

knew that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was 

not a trade guru. Yet, they wanted 

her for the Director General job. 

Why? Well, the three things that 

everyone said about her were her 

negotiation skills, reformist 

mindset and anti-corruption zeal. 

These experiences were linked to 

her spell as finance minister in 

Nigeria, first, under President 

Olusegun Obasanjo, when she 

negotiated Nigeria’s debt relief 

The irony of President 

Buhari’s nomination of 

Agah and Okonjo- 

Iweala as DG of the 

WTO is that he doesn’t 

share their economic 

views; but Dr. Okonjo- 

Iweala and Dr. Agah 

have done Nigeria and 

Africa proud and 

deserve our best wishes 

and undertook far-reaching 

economic reforms, and second, 

under President Goodluck 

Jonathan, when she was believed 

to fight corruption. 

Of course, her World Bank job 

got her noticed in Nigeria in the 

first place; made President 

Obasanjo to invite her to be his 

finance minister, and President 

Jonathan to appoint her as his 

finance minister and coordinating 

minister of the economy. And her 

achievements as minister gave her 

a global profile. She captured these 

experiences and achievements in 

two fascinating books – Reforming 

the Unreformable and Fighting 

Corruption is Dangerous – that have 

been read by influential people 

globally. So, truth is, the Nigerian 

factor contributed significantly to 

her victory in the WTO’s DG race. 

But there’s also the American 

factor. By becoming a US citizen 

in 2019, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala 

strategically removed a potential 

obstacle to her being appointed as 

head of a world economic body. In 

2012, she lost out in the race for 

the World Bank presidency when 

President Obama appointed a 

Korean-American, Jim Yong Kim. 

But, recently, when a group of 

influential Americans wrote to 

President Biden urging him to 

endorse Okonjo-Iweala’s 

candidacy, they didn’t refer to her 

as a Nigerian. Instead, they said: 

“Her selection as the first 

American and woman of colour to 

serve as the WTO’s directorgeneral 

will send a clear message 

of inclusion to the rest of the 

world.” Dual-nationality, of 

course, has its benefits! 

So, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is Director 

General of the WTO, what next? 

Well, she wants to reform the WTO 

and will certainly inject fresh 

energy and momentum into the 

organisation. But unless she can 

manage the tense and febrile 

relationship between China and 

the US, she would struggle to 

make real progress. What’s more, 

Africa’s, nay Nigeria’s, entrenched 

opposition to sensible reforms at 

the WTO could also limit the scope 

Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

of what she can achieve. 

Which, finally, brings us to Dr. 

Agah. He was President Buhari’s 

first choice for the Director 

General job but later dopped for 

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala. Harsh, but it 

was a wise decision, given that 

Agah doesn’t have a fraction of 

Okonjo-Iweala’s global profile. 

Yet, he has been a linchpin of the 

WTO for nearly 15 years and has 

chaired all the main WTO bodies. 

In 2011, Dr. Agah served as chair 

of the WTO’s General Council, 

responsible for organising the 

WTO’s eighth Ministerial 

Conference. The conference was 

widely predicted to fail, but Agah 

snatched victory from the jaw of 

defeat, and ensured its success. He 

was rewarded two years later when 

DG Roberto Azevêdo appointed 

him as one of his four Deputy 

Directors-General, with 

responsibility for development, 

training and technical 

cooperation, knowledge and 

information management, among 

others. 

Dr. Agah is a strong advocate of 

economic liberalisation. Recently, 

he stressed the importance of open 

and predictable markets to foster 

economic recovery. Sadly, this idea 

is utterly at odds with the Buhari 

government’s entrenched 

protectionism. The irony of 

President Buhari’s nomination of 

Agah and Okonjo-Iweala as 

Director General of the WTO is 

that he doesn’t share their 

economic views. 

But Dr. Okonjo-Iweala and Dr. 

Agah have done Nigeria and 

Africa proud and deserve our best 

wishes. Indeed, if underperforming 

service chiefs could be nominated 

as non-career ambassadors, Dr. 

Agah certainly deserves a topranking 

diplomatic appointment! 

Dealing with gender-based violence 

By OMOLARA OTUYEMI 

ACCORDING to the 

United Nations, UN, Gender Based 

Violence, GBV, interchangeably used with 

Violence Against Women or at times 

domestic violence, is any act of violence 

that results in or is likely to result in 

physical, sexual or psychological harm or 

suffering to women/young girls, including 

threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary 

deprivation of liberty whether occurring 

in private (domestic) or public life. 

GBV is a global phenomenon and not 

limited to Nigeria. It occurs in various 

cultures and affects people irrespective of 

their economic status. The primary targets 

of gender based violence are women and 

adolescent girls. 

They also suffer exacerbated 

consequences as compared with what men 

endure. As a result of gender 

discrimination and their lower socioeconomic 

status, women have fewer 

options and less resources at their 

disposal to avoid or escape abusive 

situations and to seek justice. 

GBV can be physical, sexual or 

psychological. It can also be in the form 

of neglect and abandonment and 

economic disempowerment. 

It includes, but is not limited to, such 

acts as slapping, kicking, stabbing, 

shooting, hitting, pouring of acid or any 

other corrosive substance on victims and, 

of course, murder. Other forms are harmful 

traditional practices and female genital 

mutilation. 

Perhaps, the most common form of GBV 

is rape. Rape is having sex with a woman 

without her consent. Today, the rape 

epidemic in our society reflects the extent 

to which women’s human rights are 

flagrantly being threatened. Our laws and 

collective attitudes toward this weapon of 

domination and repression call to question 

not only our sense of justice but our level 

of civilisation. Like a scourge, the regular 

cases of reported rape in the country’s 

media and confirmed statistics from some 

states are threatening to smother the 

essence of the society. 

Each day, the media are awash with 

weird stories with varying degrees of what 

can be described as ludicrous: from child 

defilement to the rape of old women. 

Nobody, not even an infant, is safe from 

the rampage of these randy felons on the 

prowl. 

Domestic violence is so 

entrenched in our society that 

even the victims condone 

such violations of their rights 

Domestic violence is also a common 

aspect of GBV. These days, it is not 

unusual for husbands to turn their spouses 

to punching bags and oftentimes vent their 

anger and frustrations on the latter. They 

label their wives as witches whenever they 

experience downturn in their economic 

status or lose their jobs. 

Consequently, the wives suffer for the 

situations they did not create in the first 

place. In most cases, some charlatans 

pretending to be prophets or spiritualists 

are the major culprits. 

Similarly, if a woman earns more than 

the man, there may be conflicts in the 

home leading to domestic violence 

because the man may be feeling inferior 

and may believe the only way to assert his 

authority in the home is by becoming 

violent. 

In Lagos State, statistics have shown that 

30 per cent of females from age 15-49 have 

become victims of gender- based violence, 

either sexually, physically and 

emotionally, but most prevalently sexual 

violence. 2020, in particular, ushered in a 

spike in GBV. 

This, probably, is due to the COVID-19 

pandemic and its attendant effects on 

peoples’ sources of livelihood. 

For instance, at the peak of the 

pandemic, before the lockdown, reported 

cases of domestic violence in the state 

were relatively low compared to when the 

lock down was implemented. 

In the first half of 2020, the Lagos Police 

Command recorded 32 cases of sexualbased 

violence in the state. It was also 

reported that one in every four girls before 

attaining the legal age of sexual consent 

have been a victim of sexual violence. And 

this has continued to rise amidst the 

pandemic. 

In view of the evil it portends and 

dangers associated with it, the 

administration of Mr. Babajide Sanwo- 

Olu has demonstrated sufficient resolve 

to frontally confront the social vice in the 

state. In the forefront of the war against 

GBV is the wife of the State Governor, Dr. 

Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, who has declared zero 

tolerance to all forms of gender-based 

violence. 

Currently, diverse methods geared 

towards eradicating the monstrous crime 

of GBV in the state are being deployed by 

Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, with the support 

of relevant government agencies. 

With the active role of the Ministries of 

Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, 

WAPA, Youth and Social Development, 

Justice, Education, Health and 

Information and Strategy, Lagos State 

Judiciary, the State Police Command as 

well as the Lagos State House of Assembly, 

government is battling GBV through a 

multi-dimensional approach. This 

includes legislation, public enlightenment 

campaigns and proper implementation of 

existing laws against GBV, among others. 

Many GBV usually lack the courage to 

seek legal redress on the violation of their 

rights due to lack of positive response from 

the society as the problem is often 

dismissed as a private one even by law 

enforcement agents and the fear of being 

exposed to more intense forms of abuse. 

Domestic violence is so entrenched in 

our society that even the victims condone 

such violations of their rights as some 

perceive it as a sign of love and the socioreligious 

belief that a broken marriage or 

relationship is a mark of failure in life. 

And also because many women and girls 

depend on the financial resources of their 

husband, father or families, they are forced 

to put up with domination for fear of the 

withdrawal of this financial support. 

Therefore, in Lagos State, for instance, 

the government and its partners have 

continued to sensitise and educate women 

to draw a line between true love and 

abuse. 

Similarly, several empowerment 

programmes aimed at creating credible 

sources of livelihood for the women are 

being constantly organised by the 

government. 

The issue of gender-based violence is a 

social malady that requires holistic 

approach and solution from all 

stakeholders. The civil society groups, 

traditional and religious bodies, women 

rights groups, law enforcement agencies, 

all tiers of government and families must 

all work together with a view to stemming 

the tide of this dreadful societal ill. 

•Otuyemi is of the Features Unit, Ministry 

of Information and Strategy, Alausa, 

Ikeja.


The governor as a quisling 

THE idea of democracy is 

straightforward. “Democracy 

is government of the people for the 

people and by the people,” said 

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president 

of the United States, a definition that 

borrows heavily from its meaning in 

Greek – “rule by the (simple) 

people.” 

Lincoln simply amplified the 

essence of the concept, and his 

definition presupposes that in a 

democracy, the interest of the people 

is preeminent. It superintends over 

every other interest, including the 

interests of government officials. But 

the idea in an ideal democratic 

setting is for the interest of the people 

to resonate with the leaders since the 

ultimate goal is the promotion of the 

common good. 

For this to happen, there must be a 

constitution, which, among other 

things, guarantees basic personal 

and political rights, fair and free 

elections, and independent courts of 

law. In a democracy, the inalienable 

right of the people to choose, in a 

free and fair election, those that will 

allocate their collective values, is 

sacrosanct and inviolable because 

the fidelity of a leader to the common 

good is predicated on the fact that he 

owes his office to the sovereign will 

of the people expressed through the 

ballot box. 

But when leaders in a so-called 

democracy access power not by the 

sovereign will of the people but 

through the back door, they are 

alienated from the people they claim 

to lead. Their allegiance is to those 

powerful external forces who brought 

them to power. Such leaders 

inevitably become quislings - traitors 

to the common good. That is the 

wretched fate of Imo State today. 

When Imolites went to the polls on 

March 9, 2019 to elect a governor, 

they voted massively for the candidate 

of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, 

Emeka Ihedioha; not Hope 

Uzodimma, the man now sitting 

pretty in Douglas House. 

The Independent National 

Electoral Commission, INEC, 

dutifully returned Ihedioha winner 

and on May 29, 2019, he took the 

oath of office. But the sovereign will 

of the people was whimsically 

upended on January 14, 2020 when 

the Supreme Court illogically 

declared Uzodimma, the man who 

came a distant fourth, winner of the 

election in which the same Supreme 

Court had ruled barely two weeks 

earlier that he was not even a 

candidate. 

While throwing out the petition of 

the governorship candidate of the 

Action Alliance, AA, Uche Nwosu, on 

December 20, 2019, the apex court 

ruled that he was not qualified to vie 

for the election because he doubled 

as both the candidate of the APC and 

AA. 

In a lead judgement read by Justice 

Amina Augie, the apex court held that 

by virtue of double candidature, 

Nwosu, ab-intio, was not qualified 

to vie for the office. In an April 29, 

2020 article titled: “Hope 

Uzodimma’s 100 days of 

hopelessness”, I predicted that the 

consequences of the Supreme Court’s 

shenanigan will be dire for the state. 

“What the country’s apex court did 

by imposing Hope Uzodimma on a 

people who rejected him at the polls 

is to create a hopeless situation for 

the state. The consequences are better 

imagined.” 

You need to get this background to 

appreciate what is happening in Imo. 

Today, the state is in a sorry situation. 

There is little or no governance. Most 

workers are not paid their salaries 

as and when due. Those who are 

lucky to get paid at all take a cut 

without any explanation. Beyond all 

that, Imo is in a state of war, literally 

and metaphorically. In the last 13 

months since the Supreme Court 

torpedoed the electoral will of the 

people and imposed Uzodimma on 

them as governor, the stories have 

been horrifying, more so in the last 

two weeks. On the invitation of 

Uzodimma, military fighter jets took 

to the skies on Thursday, February 

18 reminiscent of the civil war years 

and rained bombs on towns and 

villages, killing and maiming 

innocent, law-abiding citizens in the 

name of hunting for operatives of the 

Eastern Security Network, ESN, the 

so-called military wing of the 

Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, 

led by Nnamdi Kanu. 

Suddenly, 51 years after the 

fratricidal war, Alaigbo has once 

again become a theatre of war, with 

videos showing old men, women and 

Alaigbo has once 

again become a theatre 

of war, with videos 

showing old men, 

women and children 

running out of their 

homes, some of them 

half-naked and terribly 

frightened as military 

jets hovered above 

children running out of their homes, 

some of them half-naked and terribly 

frightened as military jets hovered 

above because Uzodimma wanted 

to please those who made him 

governor. The only crime the IPOB 

activists committed was their 

audacity to resist bandits occupying 

the forests in the South East and 

committing unspeakable atrocities. 

Yet, no one is waging war against 

the bandits. 

Last week, Uzodimma boasted that 

“our government decided to invite 

military to flush out IPOB and their 

so-called ESN,” insisting that his 

administration will not hearken to 

the pleas of those calling for the 

withdrawal of the soldiers. He has 

made all manner of allegations 

against Igbo youths, accusing them 

of murdering “four Moslems doing 

their business in Orlu,” and killing 

“several policemen and innocent 

citizens in the area”, without any 

shred of evidence. 

Of course, he has been hailed by 

those who gave him the power he 

did not merit. Yet, the same people 

hailing him as an action governor 

for decimating his own people are 

negotiating for not only 

unconditional amnesty for the 

bandits up North but insisting they 

be paid compensation. Bandits 

wreaking havoc across the country, 

we are told by the northern elite, are 

not criminals. They are militants - 

and even freedom fighters - who 

have the right to carry AK- 

47 rifles, not to protect 

themselves but to kill 

Nigerians, if need be, 

because the herdsmen are 

aggrieved. 

Despite the carnage in 

the North, none of the 

governors hailing 

Uzodimma as a patriot has 

called for the military to 

flush out the bandits from 

their states even when they 

know where they are in the 

forests. Instead, they are 

negotiating and paying them 

millions of naira as ransom. This 

week, Uzodimma went to Aso Rock 

to brief President Muhammadu 

Buhari on how well the military 

operation in Orlu was going. “I came 

here (Presidential Villa), pleaded 

with Mr. President for his support and 

he sent additional support by 

sending in police and the military 

also came in. And that is where we 

are. It was on my invitation that the 

military came. And I did that because 

I know the situation was beyond the 

local arrangement, we needed help. 

And the help was given to us,” he told 

journalists after a close-door meeting 

with Buhari. 

That is what quislings do - they 

collaborate with an enemy 

occupying force. Uzodimma could 

invite the military to decimate his 

own people because he does not owe 

any allegiance to them. He owes 

allegiance to those who made him 

governor. He knows his power base. 

It is not Imo State. If he became 

governor without the people’s vote, 

why should he care a hoot about 

them? 

Political 

observers 

While the battle is still raging in 

Orlu, a new theatre erupted in Owerri 

between Uzodimma and one of his 

co-conspirators, Senator Rochas 

Okorocha, former governor of the 

state. Discerning political observers 

know it is a war foretold - natural 

consequence of a shenanigan taken 

too far. 

In his dissenting judgement when 

Ihedioha asked the Supreme Court 

to set aside its January 14, 2020 

ruling, Justice Centus Nweze - who 

was not part of the original sevenmember 

panel that nullified 

Ihedioha’s election - said most 

profoundly: “The decision of the 

Supreme Court in the instant matter 

will continue to haunt our (Nigeria’s) 

electoral jurisprudence for a long 

time to come.” 

He is right. But it is not only the 

electoral jurisprudence the 

judgement is haunting. It is haunting 

Imo State terribly. It is also bound to 

haunt those who orchestrated the 

injustice. That is called nemesis, 

which explains the deadly tango 

between Uzodimma, Okorocha and 

Ifeanyi Araraume. Okorocha’s 

humiliation over the weekend in a 

state he thought he had conquered is 

a well-deserved comeuppance. 

Same for Araraume who was denied 

the APC senatorial ticket in Okigwe. 

That is what happens when 

bootleggers sit back to share the 

spoils of their political philandering. 

Interestingly, Okorocha’s son-inlaw, 

Nwosu, has gone back to the 

Supreme Court to request a 

declaration that Uzodimma was not 

the APC candidate in the 2019 

election. He is also praying the apex 

court to declare Ihedioha winner 

and mandate the INEC to once 

again issue him with the certificate 

of returns. I wish the Supreme Court 

justices will appreciate the fact that 

Imo, a constituent part of Nigeria, 

will not know peace as long as 

Uzodimma continues to usurp a 

position he does not merit. And 

Nigeria will be worse for it. 


By Ozioruva Aliu 

BENIN CITY—THE Private 

Depot of Oil and Gas Marketers 

Association of Nigeria, PDOGMAN, 

has in collaboration with the Nigerian 

Security and Civil Defence Corps, 

NSCDC, inaugurated a security 

surveillance team in Benin City, Edo 

state to check incidences of pipeline 

vandalism across oil installation and 

oil pipeline routes. 

The Assistant Commander, Edo 

State Command of the NSCDC, 

Emmanuel Ojile who represented the 

Edo State Commander of NSCDC, 

assured that the command has what it 

takes to protect all federal 

government's critical assets and 

infrastructure in Edo State and the 

country in general, adding that it has 

Divisional Officers in all the eighteen 

local government areas of the state 

that can be called upon in case of any 

emergency. 

He said: "We have a core mandate 

to protect all federal government assets 

and infrastructure across the country. 

We are happy to be part of this success 

story that the Edo State branch of 

PDOGMAN is being inaugurated 

today. We have the capability to 

NANNM endorses JIK to promote 

hygiene practice in Nigeria 

By Gabriel Olawale 

L AGOS—NATIONAL 

Association of Nigeria Nurses 

and Midwives, NANNM has 

announced a strategic endorsement 

with leading household disinfectant 

brand, JIK to promote hygiene 

practices in Nigeria. 

The partnership is in line with JIK’s 

long-term vision to realise a world 

where families are safe from illnesscausing 

germs and viruses. It will 

also enable Reckitt Benckiser (RB 

Nigeria), through its brand JIK, to 

further encourage good hygiene 

practices in communities and the 

public through several far-reaching 

bouquet of programmes. 

In his remarks, General Secretary 

:@vanguardnews 

Private depot operators, NSCDC 

partner to tackle pipeline vandalism 

interface and protect, even at the state 

headquarters, we are available for you 

to work with", he assured. 

Earlier in his opening remarks, the 

National Secretary of PDOGMAN, 

Mr. Fred Ufuah said the inauguration 

of the joint security surveillance team 

was made possible because of the 

MoU the body entered with NSCDC 

which spelt out all the legal 

requirements of the operation which 

he said is for three years in the first 

instance. 

According to Ufuah, "we signed an 

MoU, a legal document with them to 

collaborate in the security activity. The 

legal document was signed in July last 

year and it has three years tenure which 

is subject to renewal based on the 

performance of the officers in the job. 

Before the signing of the MoU, our 

officers went through lectures and 

training from the NSCDC command". 

While reminding the team 

members that the Benin NNPC 

petroleum products Depot became 

moribund because of pipeline 

vandalism, Ufuah urged them to hand 

over to the officials of NSCDC anyone 

caught vandalising petroleum 

pipelines or any other oil installation. 

Delta Speaker, Oborevwori was never 

invited by EFCC —CPS 


ASABA—CHIEF Press Secretary, 

CPS to the Speaker of Delta State 

House of Assembly, Mr Dennis Otu, 

Tuesday, said the Speaker, Chief Sheriff 

Oborevwori was never invited by the 

Economic and Financial Crime 

Commission, EFCC over the purchase 

of cars for members of the House. 

Otu in a statement made available 

to newsmen in Asaba, described media 

reports that the Speaker and the Clerk 

of the House, Mrs Lyna Ocholor were 

arrested and detained by the EFCC as 

incorrect and malicious. 

Noting that the report was the 

handwork of mischief-makers who 

were out to tarnish the good image of 

the Speaker, he explained that VAT 

and Tax were deducted at source by 

the office of Accountant General of the 

State from the value of the cars. 

ASUU offers scholarship to 30 most 

deserving UNIZIK students 

By Vincent Ujumadu 

AWKA—THE Nnamdi Azikiwe 

University branch of the 

Academic Staff Union of 

Universities (ASUU) yesterday 

awarded scholarships to 30 students 

of the institution as part of measures 

to reduce the burden on their parents 

who were finding it difficult to 

finance their education at this period 

of economic hardship in the country. 

The students received N50,000 

each for the 2019/2020 academic 

session, with the Unizik ASUU 

chairman, Comrade Stephen 

Ufoaroh explaining that the 

Explaining that the Clerk who was 

invited by the EFCC to bring 

documentary evidence of the cars 

transaction based on a petition, he said 

the Clerk returned same day after 

presenting documents requested by the 

Commission. 

Otu held that the cars were 

purchased in accordance with the 

procurement law, adding that the 

Petitioners decided to resort to 

blackmail having failed in their 

devilish act. 

While calling on the public to 

disregard the said media report in its 

entirety, he reiterated that neither the 

Speaker nor the Clerk of the House 

was detained by the EFCC. 

Insisting that the Speaker has never 

been involved in shoddy businesses, 

he said the Speaker is on the same 

page with the members and very 

transparent in the running of the 

House. 

beneficiaries were those who deserved 

it most. 

Ufoaroh said the gesture was to 

support the students to complete 

their academic pursuit, adding that 

ASUU members tasked themselves 

to raise the money despite the fact 

that all academic staff of Unizik were 

owed salaries between four and 

twelve months. 

He said: "Despite the prevailing 

problems, ASUU-Unizik, still saw 

the need to help in alleviating the 

suffering of our students, who have 

also borne the pains of the ruling 

class insensitivity to the suffering 

masses of this country.‘‘ 

of NANNM, Comrade Thomas 

Shettima, said the association was 

proud to identify with JIK. “Reckitt 

Benckiser’s products are well-tested 

and the efficacy of their products – 

especially JIK, is not in doubt; the 

reason for our endorsement. We are 

confident that this will further 

promote the acceptance of the 

brand.” 

With the Memorandum of 

Understanding signing, the 

association has granted RB the 

exclusive right to use its official logo 

on all its JIK products and brand 

materials. Every RB’s advertising 

material for JIK products and 

brands on all media platforms will 

likewise carry the association’s 

official endorsement and logo. 

C 

M 

Y 

K


IT has long been public knowledge 

that most occupants of political 

offices in Nigeria send their children 

to schools abroad due to the virtual 

collapse of quality education in 

Nigeria. 

A non-resident scholar of the 

Carnegie Endowment for 

International Peace, Matthew Page 

(who is described as “a Nigerian”), 

in a study titled: “West African Elites’ 

Spending on UK Schools and 

Universities: A Closer Look”, has 

accused Nigeria’s politically-exposed 

persons, PEPs, of perpetrating money 

laundering by using the education of 

their children and wards abroad as a 

conduit pipe. 

The report, which was 

commissioned by the United 

Kingdom government, according to 

its High Commissioner in Nigeria, 

Catriona Laing, was meant “to better 

understand the risk to the UK from 

illicit finance in West Africa. 

We will now consider the report’s 

Funding Nigerians’ education 

abroad with illicit funds 

finding and take a view on what if 

any further action is required”. 

Page’s report also accused the UK 

government of reluctance to 

acknowledge the shortcomings of its 

anti-money laundering policies or 

learn lessons from recent anticorruption 

failures, especially as 

many UK schools are clearly 

complicit in matriculating students 

linked to known or even convicted 

“kleptocrats”. 

We are waiting to see exactly what 

the UK government is going to do 

about this unwholesome finding 

which hurts both the UK and the victim 

countries. Nigeria bears the 

main brunt of public treasury fleecing 

to educate the children of PEPs 

abroad while virtually abandoning 

public-funded education. 

We suggest they start by monitoring 

the sources of funds being used 

to pay for the children and wards of 

these Nigerian PEPs and consider 

rusticating/deporting any student 

being sponsored with stolen or illicit 

public funds. 

The UK has an obligation to show 

its sincerity in commissioning the 

inquiry by the resolve with which it 

deals with the proven cases of 

money laundering. 

In spite of the much-vaunted “anticorruption 

wars” in Nigeria, the 

country has almost lost its capacity to 

bring culprits to book because of the 

nature of the system we run. 

Without the assistance of developed 

countries and international bodies, 

corruption in the topmost political 

circles in Nigeria virtually has no 

deterrence. 

The deterioration in the quality of 

education in Nigerian schools is 

greatly responsible for the poverty, 

underdevelopment and growing 

instability in Nigeria. 

It also affects advanced countries 

like the UK by way of the quantum of 

unwanted emigrants seeking better 

life. 

It is in the UK’s interest that 

Nigerian leaders are encouraged to 

educate the bulk of their children in 

well-funded and run domestic 

schools. 

OPINION 

The delusion of institutionalising online learning 

BY SEGUN IGE 

ALEARNING management system is an 

online learning platform or portal where 

lecturers upload lecture notes, slides, or videos 

on certain courses on the one hand, and where 

students download relevant materials, submit 

assignments and take whatever assessments, 

on the other hand. LMS is not actually a 

modern technique of learning. It’s been an 

integral part of every successful “management 

system” where learning is invariably mediated 

via socio-cyber space. 

Schools in Nigeria, in general, have not been 

digitally institutionalised and equipped to the 

point of meeting up with the demands of 

teaching and learning online. And as far as 

online learning is concerned, we’re extremely 

lagging behind because the foundation of our 

educational system wasn’t digital-driven, and 

we’re entrusted with the decades-to-come 

responsibility of recalibrating the education 

sector to the proper place of competence and 

performance. 

The new learning environment the 

pandemic has created is an indisputable social 

proof and indispensable fait accompli that 

students would not continually be physically 

gathering to learn for a long period of time, 

and the necessity of putting in place spatiallearning 

modes, models and platforms comes 

to the fore. It’s such a servile way of saying 

physical learning has come to an end. 

The deception of lecturers, who claim to be 

technological “know-hows” and have indeed 

been systematically bred and reared by the 

traditional ‘paper-and-pencil’ methodology of 

teaching and learning, is typically posing a 

great deal of threat to students who themselves 

have been endangered by such learning 

processes. 

The danger it presupposes is, of course, the 

overwhelming under-performance of students, 

who surely find it a herculean task coming to 

classes, let alone attending one Zoom lecture 

fluctuated by power outage and insufficient 

data, who are under duress and in a gruelling 

situation to grasp one thing or two. 

Such is the endemic problem students are 

achingly and perilously going through as a 

result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But clearly, 

the fact that the students would not rarely 

observe social distancing, and what have you, 

is a selling point that really they could resume 

physical learning some way or other. That is 

not to say that the preventive protocols of the 

pandemic would not be observed. No! It would 

and it should! This stance should not be 

If we’re going online, then 

students should not have 

problems accessing the internet 

put in place by the managements 

problematically given, notably when one 

considers the same holds sway in churches and 

mosques. 

To me, I could dare to argue, with the 

measures and sanctions imposed on schools 

vis-à-vis religious bodies, how deteriorating 

we’re devaluating and denigrating the role 

education plays in national-building and 

national development. I perceive there 

couldn’t have been any pandemic greater than 

that. Education, not religion, is the lifeblood 

and spring of life of everything and anything 

we do – adding to or subtracting from the social 

norms, moral principles, and all-round success 

of a nation – depending on how we handle it. 

What’s the lot of students struggling to learn 

online, download avalanche of lecture slides 

and materials which are largely untaught, 

amid unstable internet access, erratic power 

supply and exorbitant purchase of data from 

telecommunications network service 

providers? 

To be sure, the lecturers would admit that, 

because of how stochastic and sterile the 

operational system is in adapting to the “new 

normal,” going virtual is technically a will-o’- 

the-wisp. In other words, it’s a sheer waste of 

time, on the one hand, trying the impossible in 

an excessively monolithic environment and, 

on the other, the preference for physical 

learning could be overtly overemphasised. The 

bottom line is the online learning is not 

working for them! 

Students are seriously going to be on the 

receiving end, after all. The new measure 

seems to favour the lecturers who have 

generally been monochromatically 

programmed, nay in tabula rasa, in coming 

for late classes. The students, sometimes or 

most of the time, would be the ones running 

after them, reminding them, calling them, 

wasting their precious airtime and time in 

holding a diluted, prevaricated, soporific, 

jejune, ‘story-telling,’ ‘song-singing,’ mumbojumbo 

class. 

The narrative would essentially have been 

rather hooked to the sinker, thanks to the 

pandemic. Mostly, such is the pervasive scene 

of higher institutions of learning. Well, these 

lecturers themselves have been side-cheeked 

of their salaries, overtime, particularly with 

the Federal Government’s indefatigable 

enrolling of the new Integrated Payroll and 

Personal Information System mode of 

payment, which really denied certain senior 

staffers of their rights, regardless of the 

daggers-drawn altercation of one worldwithout-end 

Memorandum of Understanding. 

Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

The solution to this is to ensure the labourers 

get paid and the learners get quality education. 

And quality education is integrating, not IPPIS, 

but computer-assisted standards of learning 

the pandemic has envisioned for us. Period! 

It’s a good thing that now we’re embracing 

Zoom, Telegram, and the like, to hold two-orso 

hour classes. But beyond that, we need to 

start funding and supporting our social-science 

and engineering departments; encouraging 

and sponsoring them to compete with their 

global peers; and making use of and promoting 

our domestically-produced technological 

inventions locally and internationally. That’s 

what could squarely cement the synergy 

between the parents, the President, those in 

loco parentis, and those in statu pupillari. 

If we’re going online, then students should 

not have problems accessing the internet put 

in place by the managements. Remember, it’s 

a “management system,” not “student system.” 

They should not be deeply sorrowful and 

regretful ever coming to school, namely, the 

freshers. Some of these students absolutely 

depend on this that they use it to take tests, 

submit assignments, and eventually and if 

possible, take exams. It would be so, so 

catastrophic for them if they in the end see the 

outcome. It’s not ideal to use their ‘pocketmoney’ 

on data that’s largely predictably 

going to shatter their hopes on crucial days. 

That would be abundantly outrageous. 

And if we’re going physical, which is what’s 

presumably going to work if the former is not, 

we should strictly adhere to the safety measures 

put in place in preventing COVID-19. Simple! 

And as though they’re babes, they’ve been 

baby-seated in baby-walkers, while the babes 

themselves are physically learning in school 

every now and then. 

Continues online: www.vanguardngr.com 

•Ige, a freelance journalist, wrote via, 

igesegunadebayo5@gmail.com

ENERGY 


FG considers new options to deliver prepaid 

meters 

By Udeme Akpan 

THE Federal Govern 

ment has started considering 

new options in delivering 

prepaid meters to 60 per 

cent of consumers still being 

exploited through estimated 

billing in Nigeria. 

In its ‘Consultation Paper on 

the Review of Meter Asset 

Provider’ obtained by Vanguard, 

yesterday, Sanusi 

Garba, Chairman, Nigerian 

Electricity Regulatory Commission, 

NERC, disclosed that 

the three options include: 

allowing the implementation 

of both the National Mass 

Metering Programme, 

NMMP and Meter Asset Provider, 

MAP metering frameworks 

to run concurrently, continuing 

with the current MAP 

framework with meters procured 

under the NMMP supplied 

only through MAPs (by 

being off-takers from the local 

manufacturers/assemblers); 

and winding down the MAP 

framework and allow the 

DisCos to procure meters directly 

from local manufacturers/assemblers 

(or as procured 

by the WB), and enter into 

new contracts for the installation 

and maintenance of such 

meters. 

The Chairman, who noted 

that the options have their 

merits and demerits, stated: 

“Under the concurrent framework 

all customers are expected 

to pay their bills without 

any specific reference to 

metering charge. The metering 

component shall be embedded 

in the energy charge. 

The payment framework under 

the MAP-NMMP concurrent 

implementation option 

shall require all customers 

on the same tariff classification 

in a DisCo to pay a uniform 

energy tariff that includes 

a metering cost that would en- 

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING 

US DOLLAR 

POUNDS 

EURO 

FRANC 

YEN 

CFA 

WAUA 

RENMINBI 

RIYAL 

RAND 

379 379.5 380 

533.8973 534.6017 535.306 

460.6366 461.2443 461.852 

420.8773 421.4325 421.9878 

3.6006 3.6054 3.6101 

0.6819 0.6919 0.7019 

545.9805 546.7008 547.4211 

58.6297 58.7075 58.7853 

101.0505 101.1838 101.3171 

25.8178 25.8519 25.8859 

CBN Exchange rate as at 24/02/2021 

able DisCos recover the cost 

of meter and other associated 

expenses for the repayment 

of the NMMP facility and the 

services provided by MAP. 

“The repayment of the 

NMMP facility would be a 

second line charge against 

DisCos’ monthly collections in 

accordance with the term 

sheet for the financing. This 

option recognises the continued 

role of MAPs and the 

DisCos while strengthening 

the securitisation of payment 

to MAPs through a third line 

charge against the DisCos’ 

monthly revenues. This option 

maintains all other provisions 

of the Meter Service 

Agreement (“MSA”) except 

where both parties choose to 

make amendments to the 

agreements. 

“The MAPs are thus required 

to make arrangements 

for the procurement, financing, 

delivery and installation 

of meters in line with approved 

deployment plans and 

the MSA. Customers who 

choose not to wait to receive 

meters based on the deployment 

schedule of the NMMP 

shall continue to have the option 

of making upfront payments 

for meters which will 

be installed within a maximum 

period of ten working 

days. Such customers shall be 

NPA records 6.6% decline in 

vessel call 

MARITIME 

refunded by the DisCos 

through energy credits. 

“However, it is imperative 

to note that this option is an 

exception as all MAPs are required 

to deploy meters in 

accordance with the agreed 

meter roll out plan and consistent 

with the MAP framework. 

There shall be no option 

for meter acquisition 

through the payment of a 

monthly meter service 

charge. In the determination 

of rates payable by customers, 

the Commission shall 

take into account the blend of 

“cost of debt” on account of 

the concessionary financing 

to DisCos under the 

NMMP.” 

“The increase in registered 

customers was, in addition 

to the new connection, 

due largely to the ongoing 

customer enumeration 

exercise by DisCos 

through which unregistered 

consumers of electricity 

were brought unto the 

DisCos’ billing platform. 

Similarly, the increase in 

metered customers was attributed 

to the roll-out of 

meters under the MAP 

scheme. The Abuja, Benin, 

and Eko DisCos had metered 

more than 50% of their 

registered electricity customers 

as of 30 June 2020.” 

United Capital’s profit up by 61% to N7.95 billion 

By Godwin Oritse 

Reflecting the impact 

of the COVID-19 

pandemic on the 

maritimes sector, the 

number ships that sailed 

into the nation’s port (vessel 

call) fell by 6.6 per 

cent, year-on-year, (y/y) to 

3972 in 2020 from 4251 in 

2019. 

Similarly, the volume of 

goods imported into the 

country, or 

c a r g o 

throughput 

137.80 -0.50 fell by 2.2 

per cent y/ 

1,835.00 -1.00 y to 78.4 

million 

17.15 +0.14 metric 

tonnes 

(MT) in 

2020 from 

66.84 +1.47 

80.2 million 

MT in 

63.73 +0.90 2019. 

Managing 

Director, 

Nigerian 

Ports 

Authority, 

Hadiza 

B a l a - 

Usman, 

disclosed 

this yesterday 

while 

addressing 

maritime 

correspondents 

in a virtual forum. 

She said, “In 2019, we 

had a total of 4,251 vessels 

that called into our ports, 

according to the ship traffic 

data. In 2020, we had 

3972. So, we had a drop. 

In terms of cargo throughput, 

we had 78.4 million 

metric tonnes in 2020 

while in 2019 the nation 

recorded 80.2 million MT 

in 2019.” 

Speaking on the new 

truck park initiative designed 

to ease traffic 

around port access roads 

and drive down port cost, 

she said: “We will address 

the challenges we 

have with the movement 

of the barges themselves, 

to sequence it and make 

sure that the harbour 

master is in control of the 

activities. We will also 

develop a Standard Operating 

procedure on 

barge operations.” 

Bala-Usman warned 

trucks to desist from parking 

along the port corridors, 

noting that they could not 

drive into the ports to receive 

a cargo without using 

the e-call up app. 

She explained that the 

process is free, inclusive of 

on-boarding but the truckers 

would pay when they 

are exiting the truck park 

though it would not be operational 

till February 27. 

United Capital Plc, 

has recorded 61 per 

cent growth in Profit Before 

Tax, PBT to N7.95 billion for 

the year ended December 

2020 from N4.95 billion in 

2019. 

Consequently, the company 

recorded a 57 per cent 

increase in Profit After Tax, 

PAT which rose to N7.81 

billion N4.97 billion in 2019. 

The marked increase in profitability 

was inspired by a 50 

percent growth in gross earnings 

which rose N12.87 billion 

in 2020, from N8.59 billion 

in 2019. 

Furthermore, United Capital 

recorded a 48 per cent increase 

in total assets to 

N224.75 billion in 2020 from 

N150.46 billion in the 2019; 

while shareholders’ funds 

grew to N24.43 billion rising 

by 25 per cent from 19.59 billion 

a year earlier. 

Consequently, the Directors 

of United Capital have 

proposed a dividend of 70 kobo 

per share, amounting to a total 

of N4.2 billion dividend to be 

paid upon ratification by shareholders 

at its forthcoming 

Annual General Meeting, 

AGM. The 70kobo dividend 

per share, which is higher than 

the 50k per share declared in 

2019, is payable to shareholders 

whose names appear on 

the Register of Members at 

the close of business on 

March 5, 2021. 

The Group Chief Executive 

Officer, United Capital Plc, 

Mr. Peter Ashade, expressed 

delight on the performance, 

which according to him is 

cheering news despite the 

challenges that most companies 

faced in the year 2020. 

He said, “I am pleased to 

inform all stakeholders that 

United Capital delivered impressive 

returns amid the unprecedented 

environment 

worsened by the pandemic 

during the 2020 financial year 

with remarkable double-digit 

growth in revenue, PBT and 

PAT and solid performance 

across key business 

parameters. 

“This empowers us to adopt 

a more positive outlook for the 

year 2021 as we navigate the 

tough terrain compounded by 

a second wave of the COVID- 

19 pandemic among other 

severe economic challenges,” 

Ashade noted. 

WorldRemit 

backs CBN on 

new USD bank 

account 

opening process 

By Nkiruka NNorom 

MONEY MARKET 

WorldRemit, a crossborder 

digital payments 

service, has expressed 

support for directive 

of the Central Bank 

of Nigeria’s (CBN) mandating 

banks in Nigeria to 

facilitate money transfers 

by opening domiciliary accounts 

for those who 

currently do not have one. 

Commenting on this 

development, Gbenga 

Okejimi, Country Manager, 

Nigeria and Ghana, 

at WorldRemit, said: “We 

are very pleased by the 

CBN’s decision to mandate 

Nigerian banks to 

help citizens who do not 

have a dollar account by 

automatically providing 

this facility on their behalf. 

This development will 

make all the difference to 

those who receive 

support from family and 

friends abroad. 

“For our part, we are 

excited by the fact that we 

can continue to enable the 

transfer of remittances to 

more people across Nigeria 

while also supporting 

the Nigerian government 

in its efforts to strengthen 

the economy. 

C 

M 

Y


We need new ways to project Nigeria 

positively — Young CEO 

By Gabriel Ewepu 

THE Managing Director, 

Multimix Academy, 

Oluchi Okafor, in this 

interview expressed concern 

over challenges facing 

Nigeria’s supply chain 

industry and the need for 

urgent attention to tackle 

issues including professional 

manpower to boost the 

economy, as she discloses 

Multimix Academy’s 

commitment towards 

changing the narrative and 

her views about the Nigerian 

Press. 

Excerpts; 

On your recent 

appointment as the Managing 

Director of Multimix 

Academy, what was on your 

mind when you accepted the 

appointment? 

Well, I’m no stranger; it is my 

family’s business and was 

founded by my father, Dr. 

Obiora Madu about 25 years 

ago. In a way, it was a full 

circle moment as I have done 

holiday jobs here as a 

teenager, accompanied my 

father for presentations as a 

young girl and helped him 

change slides on his computer 

before laser pointers became 

the in-thing. Even during my 

10-year stint in corporate 

Nigeria, I was still involved 

with the company from a 

distance. However, it was time 

for the company to move in a 

different direction which made 

me take the very difficult but 

very necessary decision to 

leave paid employment and 

resume as General Manager 

of the academy. Becoming the 

MD of a company that has 

survived for so long is 

definitely daunting, but I have 

accepted the challenge 

wholeheartedly and with the 

help of the very impressive 

human capital of friends and 

mentors I have been able to 

build along the years. My 

father is now the Chairman/ 

CEO. 

What are you going to do in 

transforming this Academy? 

The transformation has 

already begun. Since my 

resumption in 2019, it has 

been about setting processes, 

and moving gradually into 

becoming a tech-enabled 

organisation. This work is 

currently ongoing and we are 

making great strides. 

Becoming tech-enabled 

essentially means that our 

services, customer 

engagement, advertising, 

marketing and teaching 

methods are up to 21st 

Century standards and in just 

two short years, we have 

achieved this. 

What areas of the academy 

do you want to improve and 

taken to the next level? 

We would like to be more 

visible than we currently are. 

We believe that we should be 

part of the conversation at all 

levels, where the topic is 

concerned in this country. The 

supply chain industry in 

Nigeria is suffering from one 

major thing; an extreme lack 

of talent, especially amongst 

the younger generation. They 

are unaware of the 

opportunities that lie within the 

sector. People who are already 

in it found themselves there by 

virtue of posting or that being 

The timing of 

Dr. Okonjo- 

Iweala’s 

appointment 

as DG of the 

WTOcould 

not be more 

important; 

she would 

not be there 

if she was 

not supported 

and 

encouraged 

in her quest 

for 

knowledge 

the only available course of 

study for them. We are 

committed to changing this 

narrative, one professional at 

a time through our intervention 

programmes for private and 

public organisations. A well 

trained supply chain 

department can make or mar 

an entire company and its 

goals. We understand this, but 

we need everyone else to 

understand this too. 

What do you intend to 

achieve in the next five years 

as MD? 

Apart from Multimix 

Academy becoming a 

household name, I would like 

to have achieved a lot with 

regards to working with the 

Nigerian government on 

supply chain and logistics 

matters. Many state and local 

governments organise training 

sessions in different fields for 

young Nigerians to give them 

more access to opportunities. 

Trainings in Logistics and 

Supply Chain should not be 

missing from the narrative. 

Imagine having more trained 

Warehousing personnel, 

procurement professionals, 

young people well versed in 

International trade and 

Import/Export processes. I 

would like to be a part of that 

and because we are an Impact 

First company, we measure 

our successes on the number 

of lives changed before 

speaking to monetary gains. 

This is what I intend to focus 

on, with the assistance of wellplaced 

individuals and others 

who buy into this vision. 

On the issue of girl-child 

education in Nigeria, are you 

impressed with the effort of 

government to give the girlchild 

a sense of belonging 

and quality education? 

I think a lot more needs to 

be done with our society in 

general not just the 

government. Yes, there needs 

to be more governmental 

support for girls in school but 

the society itself should also 

not have the perception that 

an educated female is a waste 

of money. The timing of Dr. 

Okonjo-Iweala’s 

appointment as DG of the 

World Trade Organisation, 

WTO, could not be more 

•Oluchi Okafor 

important. She would not 

be there if she was not 

supported and encouraged 

in her quest for 

knowledge. She is the first 

African and first female in 

that position and it is 

important that we ensure 

she is not the last. 

What do you think can be 

done to add value to girlchild 

education in Nigeria? 

A lot of care should be 

given to initiatives and 

NGOs that cater to 

ensuring education among 

disadvantaged children, 

male and female alike, 

while ensuring that these 

interventions take equality 

seriously, in terms of ratio 

of participation of boys and 

girls. Initiatives like Slum 

to School, The Stellar 

Initiative and Girls who 

Code are just a few 

examples. 

What is your assessment 

on the way government 

has addressed genderbased 

violence with rape 

topping the chart after 

several protests on the 

dastardly act? 

I like to look at issues 

from what can be 

immediately done, and not 

from the sea of problems 

plaguing whatever it is that is 

being discussed. Yes, the 

government has done some 

things recently with regards to 

posting some individuals as 

sex offenders and reviewed 

the punishments to be more 

suitable for the crime. 

However, stigmatisation is one 

of the major issues 

surrounding this. People are 

reluctant to come forward with 

allegations because no one 

believes them, and the longer 

time passes, the harder it is 

to prove it in a court of law 

and the perpetrator more often 

than not, walks away scotfree. 

More support must be 

given to survivors by way of 

therapy, support and mental 

health initiatives to help them 

heal and live a healthy life 

post- trauma. 

Do you have any plan to be 

a voice in this struggle to 

stop gender-based violence? 

Definitely, I am very 

passionate about this subject 

and I participate in any and 

every way I can to help any 

initiative that fights against 

this. 

Also being a media 

professional, what do you 

think about press freedom in 

Nigeria? 

Press freedom is 

unfortunately mostly a myth 

in a lot of countries in the 

world and not just Nigeria. It 

speaks to the innate difficulty 

of us as human beings to take 

criticism or to accept the fact 

that our best intentions are not 

viewed as what it is by the 

public. It’s really all about 

perspective for all parties 

involved. One party thinks 

they are doing all they can 

and the other party thinks 

nothing is being done. Press 

freedom in Nigeria can 

definitely be better, and will 

help the government plug 

identified holes detected by 

the media. 

Can you say Nigerian Press 

is divided along regional, 

religious and political lines? 

It is, but that doesn’t mean it 

is a bad thing. In developed 

countries, different factions and 

regions have their own 

dedicated media. One central 

media source alone cannot 

serve an entire nation, certainly 

not one as diverse as Nigeria. 

It is, however, important that 

the regional and political sides 

do not descend to falsehoods 

and maintain journalistic 

integrity at all times. 

What is the missing link in 

the Nigerian Press in terms of 

promoting professionalism? 

For me, there are several 

missing links. Passion must be 

rewarded and remunerated 

properly. The damage in ethics 

with most journalists and their 

willingness to sacrifice their 

professionalism more often 

than not boils down to 

Continues on page 21 

C 

M 

Y


Osaide for Girls Foundation awarded scholarships to seven girls during her first anniversary. Four from the 

secondary school and three from the university. In the Secondary School category were Idemudia Esohe 

and Purity Eloghosa Edegbe from St.Maria Goretti Girls' Grammar School; Osaigbovo Franca from Oba 

Akenzua Sec.Sch.and Osamwonyi Mercy from Imaguero Girls Secondary School, Benin City, Edo State 

while in the University category were Esther Imhande Ehiawaguan, Chemical Engineering (a first class 

student with a CGPA of 4.94); Jasmine Aizenosa Nosa-Ehima, Civil Engineering. Post-Graduate category 

was Maduka Hephzibah Chidimma,Civil Engineering, who made second class upper. 

Lokoja varsity viral videos: Kogi women network 

decries attack, calls for probe 

By Boluwaji Obahopo 

LOKOJA— A nongovernmental 

organisation, Kogi Women 

Network for Democratic 

Change and Good 

Governance, KWNDCGG, has 

decried the attack on the 

former Vice-Chancellor, 

Federal University Lokoja, 

Professor Angela Freeman 

Miri by some staff members. 

Last weekend, some 

members of the staff unions 

made a mock obituary poster 

of the former VC and 

circulated it round the achool. 

They also 'swept -off’ her feet 

from the institution. All these 

were recorded in a vedio that 

went viral across social 

network. 

The group, however, decried 

the action of those involved, 

describing the attack as a 

collective attack on womenfolk 

which should be resisted. 

National Co-ordinator of the 

association, Hajia Ramatu 

Muhammed made this known 

in a statement made available 

to newsmen in Lokoja on 

Monday. 

“We berate the few 

individuals within the 

university community who 

came out shamelessly and 

childishly to embarrass the 

entire university community 

with their ill-motivated protest. 

Continues from page 20 

“Those in the Ivory tower that 

should be cultured, 

abandoned decency, 

decorum and civilized way of 

life and embarked on a 

shameful, disgraceful and 

degrading protest carried out 

last Saturday.” 

The association who called 

on the law enforcement 

agencies to wade into the 

matter to unravel those 

behind the despicable act, 

stressed that those involved 

have been behind all sorts of 

wicked publications mounted 

in the last three and half years 

to cause serious disaffection 

in the institution between the 

former Vice-Chancellor, Prof. 

(Mrs.) Angela Freeman Miri 

and the rest of the staff. 

“It should be noted that 

these few individuals had 

been the evil brains behind 

various skirmishes between 

the university community 

and the host communities in 

the past. 

“They lied about and raised 

false alarms as well as sowed 

the seed of discord 

everywhere in order to create 

tension and chaos in the 

university. Prof. Miri, on 

several occasions, was 

accused of financial 

recklessness, corruption, 

nepotism and embezzlement 

which they could not 

substantiate. 

“They never had the 

audacity and the facts to 

prosecute her in a law court 

or any of the anti-corruption 

bodies. What did she 

embezzle? No funds came to 

her account. Most of the 

projects executed are 

TETfund-funded projects 

which she worked hard to 

attract to the university and 

the contractors were not 

recruited by her. The work 

done are there for all to see. 

“These enemies of progress 

did everything within their 

power and imagination to 

pull her down, but God did 

not allow them to have their 

selfish way. The only thing 

they felt they could do was to 

place an obituary of the 

woman who is hale and 

hearty. Everyone that had 

input in the obituary saga has 

no fear of God as they 

wanted her dead, This is 

wicked of them and they have 

belittled themselves and 

made the university a 

laughing stock of the 

Nigerian society. 

“They have done what 

ordinary illiterates wouldn’t 

have done. What a shame, 

and in Yoruba parlance, if 

people announce anyone's 

death when in actual fact, he 

or she is alive, it simply 

means he or she will live long 

and in fact outlive his or her 

detractors. For Prof. Miri, it 

is a sign of long life for her.” 

We need new ways to project Nigeria positively 

— Young CEO welfare of Nigerians, unity 

survival. Other missing links 

boil down to personal 

convictions and morality, and 

a willingness to deep-dive for 

the hidden stories, and to 

always report the hard truth 

and facts. 

What can help the Nigerian 

Press impact positively in the 

of the country and attraction 

of investors and tourists to 

Nigeria? 

A lot is to be said of how we 

are projecting the nation. I 

personally think not enough 

attention is being paid to 

places like our very own 

Silicon Valley in Yaba, by 

members of the traditional 

press corps. The majority of 

the news that has gotten out 

there with regards to Yaba is 

via social media and other 

means of reporting. It seems 

like news about Nigeria is 

restricted to more traditional 

roles like medicine, education 

and social governance, but it 

is tech that is attracting big 

names like Mark Zuckerberg 

and Jack Dorsey to come to 

Yaba. We need to look for 

new ways to project the 

nation positively. 

Make shelters more accessible to 

PLWDs, foundation tells NAPTIP 

By Esther Onyegbula 

NATIONAL Agency for 

the Prohibition of 

Trafficking in 

Persons, NAPTIP, has been 

urged to ensure that safe 

homes and shelters are more 

accessible to people with 

disability. 

The call was made recently 

in Lagos at the public 

dissemination of findings on 

gender audit report of 

shelters and safe homes in 

Lagos by Cleen Foundation. 

According to the Executive 

Director, Cleen Foundation, 

Benson Olugbuo: “NAPTIP 

should monitor existing safe 

homes and shelter services 

and ensure caregivers and 

other service providers take 

a victim-centered approach 

to victim care. 

“NAPTIP should carry out 

quarterly monitoring of all 

safe homes and shelter to 

ensure compliance with 

stipulated guidelines as well 

as develop uniformed 

template guidelines for data 

collation with built-in periodic 

Imaan Sulaiman – Ibrahim 

By Providence Adeyinka 

ANon-Governmental 

Organisation, NGO, 

Bola Oyebade 

Foundation, BOF, has 

empowered some Nigerian 

entrepreneurs as part of 

activities marking the 50th 

birthday anniversary of Bola 

Oyebade. 

Oyebade is the founder of the 

NGO and some of the items 

given out to empower the 

entrepreneurs included 15 

sewing machines, 10 barbing 

kits, five industrial machines, 

five grinding machines and 

cash to 50 traders in 10 

communities which is part of 

the NGO’s third anniversary 

celebration. 

Meanwhile, he urged the 

government to extend lowinterest 

loans with long 

payback period to 

entrepreneurs to further boost 

the small and medium scale 

sector. 

submission method of data 

collated by all frontline 

protection service providers,” 

he said. 

Olugbuo noted that it is also 

paramount for the agency to 

popularize the existing 

National Monitoring Centre 

and expand its use to 

accommodate data entry by 

other frontline protection 

service providers. 

The project, which was 

focused on preventing forced 

migration and trafficking of 

women and girls in Nigeria, 

was aimed at building 

resilience, promoting 

sustainable development as 

well as enabling a gendersensitive 

policy environment 

that addresses forced 

migration and trafficking sites. 

The project also seeks to 

strengthen genderresponsiveness 

of 

interventions by the National 

Agency for the Prohibition of 

tTrafficking in Persons, 

NAPTIP, and other relevant 

government agencies. 

Beyond the 16 days of 

activism observed globally in 

the month of December, the 

gender audit report of safe 

homes and trafficking 

shelters resonates perfectly 

to increase efforts to amplify 

the voices of women workers 

in the informal economy 

while continuing to end all 

forms of gender-based 

violence in public and private 

spaces. 

Human trafficking which 

mostly involves women and 

girls is a form of gender-based 

violence and must be stamped 

out from our communities. 

Gender-based violence is a 

pervasive threat that survives 

through harmful gender 

norms and silences, and which 

has been exacerbated by 

COVID-19 pandemic. 

Foundation empowers entrepreneurs, 

calls for low interest loan 

In a statement, Oyebade said 

that the items received by the 

entrepreneurs were in 

fulfillment of the vision of the 

NGO which was founded to lift 

individuals through economic 

empowerment and improve 

their lives. 

“For one to live and help 

others, he must be equipped 

with sustainable skills. The NGO 

planned to delve into 

mechanised agribusiness, 

micro credit scheme, 

entrepreneurial mentorship 

and vocational training,” he 

said. 

In his address titled: Turning 

ideas into profitable ventures, 

financial expert, Ayobami Alabi, 

said that lack of passion, 

commitment and poor funding 

are some of the factors that 

impede 

budding 

entrepreneurship. 

Alabi advised entrepreneurs 

to deploy their savings in 

starting up a business instead 

of borrowing. 

C 

M 

Y 

K


By Davies Iheamnachor 

SENIOR Advocate of 

Nigeria, SAN, Tuduru 

Ede in this interview, 

speaks on the 

reoccurring clashes 

between herdsmen and 

farmers across the 

country and how a 

holistic amendment of 

the Land Use Act can 

effectively tackle the 

problem. He also speaks 

on the agitation by oilbearing 

communities and 

other national issues. 

Excerpts: 

IN recent times, cult-related 

killings have been on the increase 

in Rivers and some other states 

in the Niger-Delta area. How can 

this be checked? 

Cult killings and restiveness 

arising from cult-related activities 

have been on the rise and this is 

traceable to some politicians. 

Unemployment, opportunities for 

self-actualisation of our youths are 

also responsible for the rise in cult 

activities in the region. When 

some of us left secondary school 

in the late 70s, we had the 

opportunity to work anywhere we 

wanted. We got employed without 

knowing anybody. I think one of 

the ways to tackle the problem is 

for government to come up with 

worthwhile programmes to 

engage the youths. 

Do you think new laws should 

be made or enforcement of 

existing ones should be given 

more attention in order to end 

this menace? 

Enforcement of law and making 

of additional laws will not really 

solve the problems of the society. 

Take for instance, immediately 

after the civil war, laws relating 

to armed robbery were enacted, 

but people also forget that there 

have been laws governing armed 

robbery. Those days, they used 

to call it Highway Robbery. If you 

look at the Tribunal set up 

pursuant to the robbery laws that 

were enacted by the Federal 

Government, has it reduced 

armed robbery? It has even 

accentuated it. So it is not a matter 

of making new laws. 

I agree on enforcement, but it 

is also the business of the society 

to give out information to the law 

enforcement agencies about cult 

and criminal activities. Don’t also 

forget that sometimes, those who 

pass information are also given 

out by the security agencies, who 

receive this information and that 

is why we have what I may term 

the conundrum in law 

enforcement. 

EDITORIAL 

Innocent Anaba 

( Editor) 

Ikechukwu Nnochiri 

Henry Ojelu 

Onozure Dania 

08152060944 

HERDERS/FARMERS' CLASHES: 

Review of Land Use Act 'll ensure 

lasting solution — EDE, SAN 

The Petroleum Industry Bill 

has generated a lot of debate, 

particularly on the aspect of 

percentage of equity holding by 

host communities. How can oilbearing 

communities get a bill 

that will protect them? 

The simple thing is to make oilbearing 

communities co-owners. 

You cannot produce oil from a 

community and not make the 

people have a sense of belonging 

in a resource that is removed from 

under their soil. Communities 

should be made part owners of 

the resources. For instance, if oil 

well is struck in community A, 

you should be able to give the 

community opportunities relating 

to employment. I am aware some 

companies enter into MoU and 

GMoU with the host communities. 

They should, however, go 

further to say, if from this oil well 

we make N1 million, we intend 

to give back to the community 

something in the region of a given 

percentage, so that, if the oil no 

longer flows, the community will 

know that they will no longer get 

anything. I can assure you that 

when such is done, some of these 

agitations will be brought to the 

barest minimum. 

Oil spill is a regular occurrence 

in the oil-bearing communities 

from the activities of the oil 

majors, but most times, the 

regulatory agencies fail the 

people by not holding the oil 

majors accountable. Even when 

oil communities get court 

judgment, paying the judgment 

sum is often times frustrated by 

the oil majors. What should be 

done to make sure oil 

communities that suffer spills 

don’t continually go through that 

challenge? 

All the companies, with 

exception of one or two, are 

colossally responsible for the 

incessant oil spills in most of the 

communities, but they claim that 

the spills are largely man-made, 

sabotage or third party 

interference. It is not true. First, 

the communities do not have the 

technical know-how, the 

knowledge on how to tamper with 

those facilities. It is the company 

staff that go to the communities 

and collude with some persons 

to ensure that there are spills to 

enable them give out or get 

contracts. Again, if 1000 barrels 

of crude oil spills in a community, 

the oil company in collusion with 

the regulatory agencies like 

NOSDRA and DPR will bring 

down the quantity of the crude 

oil spill to about 500 barrels in 

order to escape payment of 

compensation to the people. 

It is even worse when they go 

to the spill site with armed escorts 

and exclude the communities. Part 

of the solution will be to make oil 

conglomerates pay judgment 

sums accruable to communities 

and affected landlords from the 

share they hold or they are 

If one section of the 

country uses the 

issue of herdsmen 

to say let all the 

people from a 

particular origin 

leave their place, 

there may be some 

reprisal from the 

other states to say 

people from this 

ethnic group should 

leave their place too 

•Ede, SAN 

obligated to give to the company 

through the JV agreements. All 

the oil companies have JV 

agreement with the NNPC. So if 

the National Assembly can go to 

the extent of providing for a kind 

of funds or making it part of the 

law that when oil company owes 

community, then NNPC should 

be made to pay, that will help the 

communities get their judgment 

sum paid on time. 

What is your take on what 

played out in the country 

following the quit notice given 

to killer herdsmen by Oyo State 

Government and FG’s reaction 

to the issue? 

It is a complicated situation. 

First, there is the provision for 

freedom of movement. You also 

have the freedom or Right to Life. 

If you put these together then, 

somebody should be able to leave 

his home and go to some other 

place to be able to find a living 

and occupation provided that 

person will make all efforts to 

conform with the rules and norms 

of the locality where he or she 

resides. The issue of killer 

herdsmen has been a problem all 

across the country. You and I know 

that to do a meaningful activity 

here, our people buy cows. So if 

you ask them to completely move, 

what do we do? Secondly, 

amongst the lot you will always 

find those who cause security 

challenges; robbery, kidnappings 

and killings. 

My attitude to it is that, the state 

governments and governors 

should actively engage the 

Federal Government, so they 

have a common solution. If one 

section of the country uses the 

issue of herdsmen to say let all 

the people from a particular origin 

leave their place, there may be 

some reprisal from the other states 

to say people from this ethnic 

group should leave their place 

too. 

What is the way out? 

When there is an issue, you 

complain and the authorities do 

not seem to listen to you, the best 

approach is to make public your 

concerns. For me, I commend 

those who protest when no 

listening ear has been extended 

to their complaints. I commend 

them because that is the only way 

they should go. I urge the 

security agencies not to terrorise 

them, not to cause them any harm. 

In civilized societies, when 

people protest, it is the place of 

the security agencies to shepherd 

them along and ensure that they 

are not attacked and they are safe; 

subject only to the fact that you 

can also give reasonable notice 

not seeking permission because 

I am aware that within the laws 

of Nigeria, if you want to protest 

or demonstrate, you don’t need 

to secure any permit from any 

place. But you can give notice of 

what you intend to do so that the 

authorities will ensure that traffic 

is not halted. 

Which areas of the Constitution 

do you think need to be 

amended to forestall looming 

ethnic crisis in the country? 

The most challenging aspect of 

the Constitution in relation to what 

is going on generally in Nigeria 

is the question of the Land Use 

Act. It needs either to be 

completely abrogated or to be finetuned 

to assure every community 

and every landlord of their right 

to use the land upon which they 

were born or inherited, just the 

way people exercise rights 

relating to property. It is not 

strange that we are from the 

Niger-Delta. That is what God 

has done for us. It is also not 

strange that people are born 

elsewhere. The best and most 

fundamental change which the 

Constitution will receive is if the 

Land Use Act is tinkered with. I 

say so because you are talking 

about oil spill which has to do with 

Land Use Act. If you are talking 

about herdsmen, it is about Land 

Use Act. If the rights of every land 

owner is protected and if the 

mineral laws do not say once oil 

is discovered, the land 

automatically belongs to 

government, the problem will be 

less. If somebody is not 

somewhere misinterpreting the 

law by saying that because of the 

Land Use Act, all land belongs to 

government, the issue of 

herdsmen will be less. 

You saw how the judiciary 

refused to be used to thwart the 

US election. What lesson should 

Nigeria’s judiciary learn from 

this? 

It shows that each of the three 

arms of government can function 

effectively without one 

overlapping into the functions of 

another. I can tell you too that our 

judges have done very well. The 

judiciary in Nigeria does not 

receive what it ought to have. So, 

it also tells you a lot about how 

our elections should be conducted. 

If there are no disputes, the case 

won’t go to court. 

The first point is to conduct 

credible elections. If we conduct 

the elections well and INEC do 

their job well, no case will go to 

court. In the US election, it was 

confirmed by the election agency 

that nothing went wrong, but in 

our case, INEC will be the first to 

say everything went wrong. 

C 

M 

Y 

K

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 — 23

C 

M 

Y 

K 


Ekeh: Toast to an 

entrepreneur-patriot 

By RAY UMUKORO 

NIGERIA is reputed to be a difficult place 

to do business, especially if your 

business is the type that requires constant 

power supply. It’s even more cumbersome if 

other businesses depend on your business to 

thrive. When your business is an enabler of 

other businesses, you are encumbered with 

more pressure and responsibility. You must 

grind out success for others to succeed. That 

was the dilemma of Leo Stan Ekeh over three 

decades ago when he returned from the United 

Kingdom to birth an information 

communications technology, ICT, start-up. And 

he chose the complex computer ecosystem, 

then thought to be out of the ken of knowledge 

for Africa and Africans. Against odds, he has 

made a success of it, etching his name on the 

boulder of history. 

As he marked his 65th birthday, February 

22, it was apposite to peek into the life odyssey 

of the man who easily typifies the true Nigerian 

spirit of courage and productivity even in the 

face of crippling headwinds. Needless to say 

that no comet heralded his birth but his life 

has been a herald of hope for humanity and 

the nation. And if every victory has a scar, as 

it’s often said, then Leo Stan bears many scars, 

seen and unseen. He has fought many battles, 

chief of which is the battle against ignorance. 

The Imo State-born computer magnate is 

reputed to be behind the computerisation of 

many Nigerian secondary schools, higher 

institutions and corporates. He has spent more 

than half of his life working to change the 

orientation of Nigeria and Nigerians from 

analogue to digital. This has seen him at the 

cutting edge of pioneering several tech-based 

initiatives, and growing a small computer typesetting 

office operating from a rather obscure 

office in Alausa, Lagos into a conglomerate 

with interests in ICT, property, banking, e- 

commerce, oil, among others. 

Gifted with unrelenting entrepreneurial 

spunk, he has since grown his yesterday’s startup 

from its initial one-office space in Lagos to 

a multinational with offices in Africa, Europe 

and Asia. So, who’s Leo Stan? He’s the one his 

close associates call the pioneer-in-chief. He 

pioneered desktop publishing in Nigeria. It’s 

akin to setting the captives free. He changed 

the entire Nigerian publishing landscape from 

its slow and dodgy analogue routine to a smart, 

clean digital patch. Newspapers, advertising 

agencies and printing houses were the early 

birds to embrace what was then seen as the 

magic box, the computer. At a time Nigerian 

media houses felt very comfortable with their 

typewriters and compugraphic machines, it 

took Leo Stan to disrupt the system. He pushed 

aside their burly 

compugraphic 

machines and 

placed in their 

hands the then 

rave of the 

moment, Apple 

computers. He’s 

the one who for the 

Leo Stan is the one 

his close associates 

call the pioneer-inchief; 

he pioneered 

desktop publishing 

in Nigeria 

first time 

introduced theWorldwide Interoperability for 

Microwave Access, WiMAX, to Nigeria, 

planting the first hub in Yobe State in 2007, 

and exposing the state to a brave new world of 

opportunities and skill in cyberspace. He 

pioneered the deployment of digital dispensing 

pumps at Nigerian filling stations, a business 

born out of circumstance than anything else. 

Before he partnered with then Elf oil (now Total 

Plc) to upscale fuel dispensing with digital 

dispensers, he had fallen victim to a notorious 

scam among petrol station attendants who 

cashed in on the unintelligent analogue fuel 

pumps to cheat on motorists. 

Leo Stan was fleeced at a filling station in 

Ikeja, Lagos. It was that incident that opened 

his eyes to the business opportunity unnoticed 

by many at the filling stations. He’s the 

archetypal street-smart opportunistic investor. 

Again, who’s he? He’s the undisputed pioneer 

of e-Commerce in Nigeria when he launched 

BuyRightAfrica.com in 2012. Aside being the 

forerunner of all the e-commerce ventures in 

Nigeria, BuyRightAfrica, though suffered a 

temporary death, was later resurrected by his 

son, Prince Nnamdi Ekeh, first as Yudala and 

now Konga. He’s the man who, having made 

a success of automating corporate Nigeria 

with exotic computer brands, decided to create 

his own brand, a Nigerian computer identity. 

He made good his ambition when he launched 

the Zinox range in 2001 during President 

Olusegun Obasanjo tenure. Zinox was not just 

an expression of patriotism and ambition, it 

was a carefully created brand and the first 

indigenous computer to earn both Intel and 

Microsoft certification. It came bundled with 

inbuilt power surge protector, taking 

cognisance of Nigeria’s epileptic power supply 

prone to surges and brownouts. Plus, it has a 

naira sign cleverly engrafted as part of the Q- 

w-e-r-t-y keyboard. 

This gave Zinox a shoulder-high advantage 

over other exotic brands to the delight of 

President Obasanjo who had to issue a 

directive to ministries, departments and 

agencies, MDAs, to standardise their tech 

operations on Zinox and other indigenous 

brands most of which were swamped in the 

marketplace by foreign brands until Zinox 

burst into the stage. Today, the Zinox brand 

has not only made inroad into Nigerian offices, 

it has been deployed to host major 

international conferences and events 

including the seventh Ordinary Session of the 

Assembly of the Africa Union, AU, from July 2 

to 5, 2006 in Banjul, The Gambia. The list is 

•Leo Stan Ekeh @ 65 

long. Leo Stan is the patriot who made gamechanging 

interventions during Nigeria’s 2007 

and 2011 general elections. He leveraged on 

the strength and international partnerships of 

Zinox to salvage Nigeria’s voter registration 

exercise by delivering 11,500 Direct Data 

Capture, DDC, machines in 14 days for the 

2007 polls. That marked an epochal 

introduction of technology into the nation’s 

electoral process and ended the duplicity that 

hallmarked the voter register in the past. 

He repeated the same feat in 2011 when he 

delivered 80,000 fully integrated units of DDC 

machines within 35 days ahead of two foreign 

companies just in time for the conduct of the 

general elections of that year much to the relief 

of then INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru 

Jega. Though a successful entrepreneur, but 

he’s quick to tell you he’s not mindful of the 

balance sheet, but is concerned more by the 

value he adds to humanity. He tells you he’s 

not driven by profit but by empathy for 

mankind and it shows in the manner he strives 

to wipe away tears from those who weep and 

give food to the hungry. A very silent 

philanthropist, he has built a collateral of 

integrity over the years which has earned him 

respect from global players in the ICT agora. 

For his ceaseless efforts to help in building a 

better Nigeria not just by creating jobs but by 

creating the milieu and technology that make 

it possible for Nigerians, especially the youths, 

to claw their way into the complex computer 

technology marketplace where they have 

brought honour to the country, Leo Stan has 

been rewarded with a couple of national 

medals. President Muhammadu Buhari in 

2019 honoured him alongside Aliko Dangote 

and others with the National Productivity 

Order of Merit, NPOM, award. President 

Obasanjo also on October 1, 2001 named him 

‘Icon of Hope,’ a symbolic emblem that speaks 

to his birthing of a new threshold of hope for 

the nation and her teeming youths. 

All this in addition to the Order of the 

Federal Republic, OFR, national honour, 

Microsoft Global Adviser, dozens of national 

and international awards and several honorary 

doctorate degrees (Honoris Causa) from 

Nigerian universities. 

Continues online:www.vanguardngr.com 

•Umukoro, a journalist, wrote from Lagos 

TRIBUTE 

Jide Akinbiyi: Man of history drops into 

history 

By BANJI OJEWALE 

AFTER his long engagement in enriching 

and enchanting encounters with history, 

Prince Edward Olajide Akinbiyi has himself 

slipped into the annals, passing on at the age 

of 87. He died in Lagos on Tuesday, February 

9, 2021, leaving behind a mixed multitude of 

mourners and merrymakers. It has been a rare 

hybrid of emotions at the loss of one man. 

The point is that all deaths, even if timely at 

a grand old age, bring up criers. Akinbiyi didn’t 

depart a young man, but there are those 

grieving who would have loved to relish more 

of his old age tenderness, compassion and 

charity. They claim they got to meet the prince 

of Ibadan only lately. And then suddenly, he 

was cut off from them. Surely, they have 

reasons to be sorrowful. 

There’s a large crowd of this group in the 

prince’s primary constituency, journalism. A 

WhatsApp conclave with the mission to revive 

the ideals of the iconic WNTV, Africa’s first TV 

station, has continued to wail on account of 

the death of Akinbiyi, a revered member of the 

platform. He was part of the pioneering staff 

of the news room of WNTV when it all started 

in 1959. They say they will henceforth be bereft 

of the prudence of his intervention each time 

they derailed. And we go off line often in the 

group. We routinely depart from the mission 

and vision that should drive the struggle to 

reclaim the Obafemi Awolowo dream aborted 

by a military junta under Olusegun Obasanjo 

in the '70s. 

Yemi Farounbi, Nigeria’s ex-ambassador to 

the Philippines and one-time general manager 

of WNTV-WNBS, leads us in the group. He is 

our chief mourner. He can no longer count on 

the weighty counsel of Akinbiyi. For, in the 

past, when the former envoy failed to tame the 

tempests of members’ wild tempers, he would 

look in the 

direction of the 

sedate Pa 

Akinbiyi. The 

prince of 

Ibadan never 

turned him 

down. What 

many of us 

didn’t know 

A nationalist until 

he died, Akinbiyi 

never supported 

the strident calls 

that Nigeria should 

break up 

was that most 

times Farounbi kept the hotline between him 

and Baba busy, all in the service of the group. 

Mama Olufemi Akinbiyi, Pa Akinbiyi’s 

spouse of 55 years, is in the company of 

mourners. In her 80s also, she will miss Baba. 

They were love birds to the end. Each time you 

called to say hello to Akinbiyi, and you 

rounded off by requesting him to extend your 

compliments to his wife, Akinbiyi would say: 

"She’s right beside me. Will you want to speak 

to her?” And Mama’s voice would be next on 

the line. They were inseparable. Now, there’s a 

divide: doleful, painful and baneful. You can’t 

blame Mama if she weeps, consolably or 

inconsolably. 

The community of activists urging that 

Nigeria should be structured in order to return 

the country to a genuine federal arrangement 

that powered its progress before the military 

struck in 1966 would also miss Akinbiyi. He 

was a recognised member of Afenifere and 

National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, 

two of the implacable anti-military bodies that 

have been responsible for Nigeria not sliding 

into anarchy and extinction. He was also a 

founding father of Alliance for Democracy, 

AD, the party seen as the successor to Awo’s 

UPN that made waves in the Second Republic. 

Akinbiyi’s early links to the camps of the 

great Obafemi Awolowo and Lateef Jakande, 

Awo’s acolyte, placed the Ibadan prince in the 

ideological cauldron that served to brew a 

disciple who on his own continued to shape 

himself, first from what was passed to him by 

the masters, and later from what he gained by 

diligent study of the Nigerian political 

environment. The progressive camp in the 

society will feel the absence of Baba Akinbiyi 

because his professional exploits were 

interpreted, correctly in my view, as the 

outgrowth of his intercourse with politics. 

His position, as I gathered in many of 

discussions with him, was that journalism, or 

any other profession, should be an avenue to 

serve the society. So, when there was a political 

crisis in the Western Region that displaced his 

hero, Awo, Akinbiyi left WNTV. The emerging 

•The late Prince Edward Olajide Akinbiyi 

atmosphere threatened the concept of 

marrying ideology and profession. There must 

be a union of the twain to allow for perfect 

professional service to the people. So in 1964 

he dashed to Lagos, where he applied his 

experience at the premier TV station to work 

in the Nigerian Television Service at Victoria 

Island. That, again, was history for Akinbiyi. 

He would go on to be at the centre of the 

formation of Nigerian Television Authority 

Network News. 

That didn’t last. Akinbiyi wasn’t getting 

ideological fulfillment in his work at NTA, 

owned by a conservative government at the 

centre. Jakande, his old friend, had become 

the governor of Lagos State in the Second 

Republic in Lagos. Seeking to break the 

propaganda monopoly of the central 

government as well as use the media to 

publicise the great socio-economic strides in 

Lagos, Jakande brought in Akinbiyi to 

establish the leveller Lagos Television, LTV8. 

It was a leveller because other states followed 

suit and opened their own stations, ushering 

in a level ground for TV broadcast. The Federal 

Government was no longer on the high horse 

we all looked up to in the industry. 

How did Jakande and Akinbiyi develop such 

intimate bond? Once, Akinbiyi had left Lagos 

to interview Jakande in Ibadan. The latter was 

working on a script he couldn’t abandon to 

attend to Akinbiyi, who was kept waiting for 

five hours. The interview finally commenced 

at 1.00am! Akinbiyi impressed Jakande, 

himself a journalist of no trifling note, who 

knew how to weigh a reporter through his 

capacity to endure or manage seeming 

rejection by the ‘prey’. 

Now, for Jakande also, like Awo when he 

inaugurated WNTV, your service to society 

through your journalism, must be in the context 

of your ideological instincts. Let’s not make 

any mistake about it: when you report the news 

or engage in any editorial outgrowth of the 

news, you’re reflecting society, not for the raw 

mission of informing, but for applying a 

complex process of the information to improve 

society. A study of the legislative debate that 

preceded the creation of WNTV forcefully 

confirms this. 

In his lifetime Akinbiyi followed that 

tradition, standing on journalism to look into 

his environment. He didn’t suffer any prismatic 

disorder to blur his vision. A nationalist until 

he died, Akinbiyi never supported the strident 

calls that Nigeria should break up. He coined 

the term ‘emirate north’ to describe the cabal 

responsible for the problems of Nigeria. He 

argued this group would be neutralised only if 

Nigeria is restructured to let the regions operate 

with a severely enervated centre. 

I did say at the opening of this tribute that 

there are those who would celebrate the 

passage of Jide Akinbiyi, even when we mourn. 

They are those, like me, that sat at his feet and 

received an exceptional experience of history. 

He would speak of journalistic trips. He would 

tell you of meetings he had with great 

personalities: Awo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Jakande, 

Kwame Nkrumah, Anthony Enahoro, etc. He 

would tell you that his country began sinking 

when the weight of the military was added to 

the ship of state. 

Sadly, Baba Akinbiyi didn’t complete a book 

he began writing in old age to document the 

story of Nigeria and the roles of some of these 

nationalists along with his interpretations of 

their actions and how they could help repair 

the gravely battered polity now on a cusp 

overlooking an abyss. The country will miss 

Prince Edward Olajide Akinbiyi! 

*Ojewale, a journalist, wrote from Ota, Ogun 

State.

Towards a new Nigeria: From Federal 

Fatherism to a Commonwealth 

BY DR AKINWUMI 

ADESINA 

I 

would like to congratulate my 

dear brother and friend, H.E. 

Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, on his 

well-deserved re-election as the Executive 

Governor of Ondo State. 

Your renewed mandate by the good 

people of Ondo State, is an undeniable 

mark of confidence in your remarkable 

leadership. 

Thank you for greatly honouring 

me with an invitation to deliver this 

inauguration lecture. My lecture today 

is titled: “Towards a New Nigeria: 

From Federal Fatherism to a 

Commonwealth”. 

Let me be clear from the onset that 

I speak for no one, I speak about no 

one, I speak for myself, from my 

heart, about my country, the nation 

of my birth, for which I have a relentless 

passion and longing for its glorious 

future, not too far from now. It 

has been a long time Governor 

“Aketi” since our student days at the 

great University of Ife, where we always 

say “great”. Today, I say to you 

“Aketi”: “Great”! - congratulations! 

Your Excellency, Governor Akeredolu, 

like an athlete on the 4th and 

final lap of a 400-meter race, you 

must now run for the home stretch 

with your eyes fixed on the finish line 

that is ahead of you. 

Race for legacy 

It is a race for legacy. A legacy, for 

you, a legacy for the people of Ondo 

State. You stand today as Governor 

of Ondo State, for a second time, by 

the grace of God. Be the instrument 

to change things, more radically. 

Make your second term one of double 

blessings for the people. 

Make growth more inclusive. 

Harness the dynamism and entrepreneurship 

of the youth and the 

power of the industrious women of 

Ondo State. This is the time to consolidate. 

This is the time to readjust. 

This is the time to move at a pace 

faster than you ever have. There is 

always a tendency for complacency 

during a second term, with the pressure 

of running for re-election no 

longer a factor. In such situations, 

the sense of urgency can easily evaporate. 

Therefore, with an eye on history, 

this is the time to reignite your 

vision. When the pages of history are 

turned, let them be turned to remember 

you for the exceptional good that 

you have done for the people of Ondo 

State. 

As a Minister of Agriculture in 

Nigeria, I had the great opportunity 

to work with all the state governors 

and state governments. When I 

launched the Agricultural Transformation 

Agenda that revolutionized 

Nigeria’s agriculture and food security, 

and turned agriculture into a 

business, I recognized that success 

required that I worked very closely 

with all state governments of the 

federation — regardless of party 

affiliation. Without the States, there 

will be no Nigeria. 

Therefore, Nigeria can only be as 

strong as its constituent States. Ondo 

State is rich in resources. Consider 

that it has the second largest deposits 

of bitumen in the world. With an 

estimated 37 billion barrels of bitumen 

reserves, the bulk of which is 

found in Ondo State, this vital resource 

remains untapped in Nigeria 

(Source: The State of the States 

Report, 2018). 

Given its vast resources in bitumen, 

Ondo State should have the best 

roads in Nigeria. But its roads are 

barely tarred with bitumen. That is 

the irony of Nigeria: it imports what 

it has in abundance and leaves its 

own resources untapped. The total 

value of bitumen reserves in Nigeria 

could be worth up to $1.5 trillion. 

With an estimated 16 billion barrels 

But let us face it, 

political autonomy 

is meaningless, 

unless it is backed 

by greater fiscal 

selfreliance at the 

state level 

ency. 

State Governors now spend more 

time in Abuja than they do in their 

own states, seeking the monthly federal 

manna. This financial pilgrimage 

creates a sense of helplessness 

and overt dependency on the centre. 

States must become financially 

independent of the centre in Abuja. 

The USA from which Nigeria 

derived its federal system, is 

essentially a coercive federalism. The 

federal government uses conditional 

grants to states to mainly support 

social, infrastructure and insurance 

programs. Essentially, these are 

‘carrots’ to get the states to do what 

the centre expects. 

Nigeria’s system is essentially a 

revenue sharing system. To be clear: 

only three states in Nigeria can 

survive without a Federal Revenue 

Allocation. 

This is a Federalism of fiscal dependency. 

It is a Federalism that is 

fiscally unhealthy for the states and 

the Federal Government. Because 

Nigeria depends on oil for over 70% 

of government revenues, any decline 

in the price of oil creates fiscal and 

economic volatilities that reverberate 

across the states. What’s needed 

is greater economic and fiscal autonomy 

for the States. The issue is 

less about state or regional autonomy, 

but financial and economic viability 

of Nigeria’s constituent states. 

If Nigeria were to be a conglomerate 

firm, it would not be economically 

viable because 92% of its constituent 

‘subsidiary companies’ are 

not viable without the support of the 

holding company. Nigeria’s federalism 

does not grow its constituent 

entities. It simply makes them perpetually 

dependent. The Nigerian 

system is therefore not Federalism ... 

but ‘Fatherism’. The agitations for 

decentralization can be understood 

in Ondo state, the potential state 

wealth from bitumen alone could be 

worth $657 billion. The paradox 

however is that Nigeria spends over 

300 billion Naira importing 

bitumen. The publication The State 

of States (2018) shows that the vast 

deposits of bitumen can help Ondo 

State break into the asphalt shingles 

market that is estimated to be worth 

$10 billion globally by 2022 (The 

State of States, 2018 edition). 

Ondo State also has abundant deposits 

of metals and minerals such 

as granite, gold, marbles, gemstones, 

lignite, and diorite. The State has one 

of the largest gas deposits in the 

world. It could also become a leading 

exporter and processor of cocoa 

and earn at least $1 billion per year 

(Source: The State of the States, 2018 

edition, by www.YourBudgit.com). 

But nobody eats potential. 

Ondo State’s wealth is not seen. It 

is locked under the ground. The state 

ranks number 13 of the top 20 States 

in Nigeria in terms of its GDP, estimated 

at $ 8.4 billion. That is the 

irony of Nigeria’s states: They are 

poor in the midst of plenty. They do 

not maximally explore or leverage 

what they already have in abundance. 

The Federal system of monthly 

grants has paralyzed them. With 

stupendous resources, all concentrated 

at the centre, states are ever dependent 

on the centre. With the magnetic 

field of federal revenue allocations, 

states are constantly pulled, 

powerlessly into perennial depend- 

Dr Akinwumi Adesina 

when viewed in the light of a craving 

for greater autonomy. 

Greater fiscal selfreliance 

But let us face it, political autonomy 

is meaningless, unless it is backed 

by greater fiscal selfreliance at the 

state level. Nigeria has an estimated 

87 million people living in extreme 

poverty. You cannot tax people who 

can barely afford to eat. This 

debilitating poverty makes the country 

highly vulnerable to social and 

political risks. And it provides fodder 

for anti-social behaviour and recruitment 

by insurgents and terrorists. 

Poverty provides supermarkets 

for terrorists. 

The level of indebtedness of 

Nigeria is extremely high, at N22 

trillion. The debt stock of states is 

over N4.1 trillion. The three states 

with the highest revenues also have 

the highest levels of debt. Without 

incomes and rising debt, many states 

are essentially not viable. Nigeria’s 

inequality is also extreme. Over 55% 

of the youth do not have jobs. Rural 

areas are now zones of economic 

misery with high rates of poverty and 

extremely high birth rates. This 

double whammy continues to 

perpetuate an inter-generational 

transfer of poverty. Poverty, comingled 

with high levels of unemployment 

and underemployment 

has led to an astonishing rise in 

crime, banditry, and kidnappings. 

Great dangers of leadership 

Sometimes leaders think all is well 

when it is not! One of the great dangers 

of leadership is to rely on others 

to tell you what is going on. Effective 

leaders must connect themselves. 

You can delegate tasks, but you 

cannot delegate your vision and responsibility. 

Transparency is the core 

of accountability. Citizens have the 

right to know. Today, therefore, there 

is a greater need for e-governance 

systems to enhance transparency and 

accountability to the people. That is 

people-centered governance. That is 

why the African Development Bank 

is developing a public service 

delivery index that will rate 

governments on the quality-of-service 

delivery for citizens. Participatory 

tax-based financing systems demand 

participatory governance. 

While tax rates are low in Nigeria 

compared to several African and 

non-African countries, this is not a 

justification to increase taxes. 

Norway's tax to GDP ratio is 39%. 

In Singapore, the tax to GDP ratio is 

13.2%. Nigeria’s tax to GDP ratio is 

6.1%. It is easy to make the 

comparison and say Nigeria needs 

to raise its taxes to similar levels as 

in Norway or Singapore. But in Norway, 

like all the Nordic countries, 

education is free through university. 

Singapore, a country that had 1/3 of 

Nigeria’s per capita income at its 

independence in 1965, has today 

100% access to electricity and 100% 

access to potable water. 

Also think of the following: the per 

capita income of Norway is $68,000, 

while that of Singapore is $ 65,300. 

Nigeria’s per capita GDP is just $ 

2,250. Taxes must therefore take income 

levels into consideration. The 

rich must pay more, but we cannot 

tax the poor to death. We must distinguish 

between nominal taxes and 

implicit taxes — taxes that are borne 

by the people but are not seen or re- 


corded. Truth be told, Nigerians pay states focus on unlocking the huge 

one of the highest implicit tax rates resources they have, based on areas 

in the world. 

of comparative advantage, they will 

Many Nigerians provide rapidly expand wealth for their 

electricity for themselves via people. With their increased wealth 

generators; they repair roads in their they will be able to access capital 

neighborhoods, if they can afford to. markets to secure long-term 

There is no social security system. financing to fast-track their growth 

They provide security for their own and development. 

safety. They provide boreholes for States that adopt this strategy 

drinking water with their own monies. 

Governments simply transfer trips to Abuja for grants. 

would have less of a need for monthly 

their responsibility to citizens. When Instead, part of their federal 

governments or institutions fail to revenue allocations can be saved as 

provide basic services, the people internal ‘state sovereign wealth 

bear the burden of a heavy implicit funds’. This can then be used as 

tax. If people pay taxes, governments guarantees against borrowings from 

must deliver services. The public capital markets. 

service is the engine of government. Restructuring should not be driven 

The more efficient it is, the better by political expediency, but by 

government runs. The slower and economic and financial viability. 

more bureaucratic it is, the slower Economic and financial viability are 

governments deliver. Governments the necessary and sufficient conditions 

for political viability. 

should set high performance targets 

for public service and be held Surgeries are tough. They are 

accountable. 

better done well, the first time. The 

Tangible delivery 

resources found in each state or state 

If the people do not see tangible groupings should belong to them. 

delivery in terms of improved quality 

of services, they should demand federal taxes or royalties for those 

The constituent entities should pay 

for them. That is why the African resources. The achievement of 

Development Bank will support the economically viable entities and the 

development of public service delivery 

indices for state and federal gov- 

requires constitutional changes to 

viability of the national entity 

ernments in Nigeria. 

devolve more economic and fiscal 

There is an urgent need to diversify powers to the states or regions. The 

the source of financing for states stronger the states, or regions, the 

across Nigeria. Just take a look at stronger the federated units. In the 

the Nigerians in the diaspora and process, our union would be renewed. 

what they hold in resources. The value 

of remittances to Nigeria in 2019 of Nigeria, we could think of The 

Instead of a Federal Government 

was $24 billion. Compare that to the United States of Nigeria or The 

value of crude oil exports at $48 billion. 

Remittances to Nigeria ac- 

will pass away for the new. We would 

Commonwealth of Nigeria. The old 

counted for 50% of the value of crude change the relational mindset 

oil exports from Nigeria. 

between the states and Abuja: the 

It is clear: Nigerians in the diaspora 

are Nigeria’s new oil. State gov- 

the centre would support them, not 

fulcrum would be the states, while 

ernments should float diaspora lord over them. 

bonds targeting specific investments With good governance and better 

in their states. States can match the accountability systems, and a zero 

diaspora resources to finance infrastructure 

development. 

economically stronger constituent 

tolerance for corruption, more 

We need a better way of supporting 

States to finance critical infra- 

We would unleash massive wealth 

states would emerge! 

structure. While many roads are across the states. It would be a 

federal roads, the challenge is that commonwealth. Wealth for all, not 

they pass through state boundaries. wealth for a few. A New Nigeria 

The poor condition of some of the would arise! We will need all of us — 

Federal roads negatively affect the not some of us. From the flickers of 

economies of the states. The very fading longings of forgotten rural 

high cost of construction makes villages, to our boisterous and 

many of the roads too expensive for dynamic urban areas; from the 

the States. As a result, critical roads sparks of desire in the eyes of our 

take forever to complete. People in children, to the heartbeat of hope of 

the states do not care whether a road our youth; from the yearnings of our 

is a federal road or a state road. women and mothers, to the pride in 

They just need good roads. We must the heart of fathers for a better 

learn from others and deliver quality 

infrastructure, faster. For a com- 

that our end would be better than 

tomorrow, and the desires of the old 

parison, the Golden quadrilateral our past; from the hard-working 

road project, the largest in India, with street vendors and small businesses 

a length of 5,846 kilometers, with 4- to the largest business 

6 express lanes, was started in 2001 conglomerates — we must create a 

and completed in 2012 — in just 11 movement of hope. Hope for a better 

years. The total cost? $13.2 billion Nigeria! Not a Muslim Nigeria. Not 

or $2.2 million per kilometre. In Nigeria, 

the East-West road, of only 337 Nigeria, Western Nigeria, or 

a Christian Nigeria. Not Eastern 

kilometres, is one that has been on Northern Nigeria, but one Nigeria - 

the books for decades. Originally estimated 

to cost N211 billion in 2006, A New Nigeria, powered by 

a New Nigeria. 

its cost has since risen to N349 torrents of hope, trust, equity, fairness, 

billion, with estimates that it may and wealth at every level, in every 

cost up to one trillion naira by the state ... by all and for all. We have the 

time the road is eventually capacity to do this and make it 

commissioned. 

happen. We must rise above mistrust 

For a 337 Km road, that is a cost and divisions and make history. Not 

of $2.7 billion or $8.1 million per the history that is written about us, 

kilometre. It’s been 14 years and the about Northern Nigeria, Eastern 

road is still not completed.This is also Nigeria, Western Nigeria; not the 

the case with the Lagos-Ibadan history of divisive political parties; 

express way, a road of only 128 but a new history that we commit to 

kilometers. It is time for governments write for ourselves - the history of a 

to strongly embrace the private New Nigeria — a nation where 

sector more strategically and majority prosper, not just a privileged 

transition into Public-Private few; a nation that provides real 

Partnerships for all major opportunities for the youth. A nation 

infrastructure projects. The Federal where equality of opportunities for 

government could also allow states women is a reality, not a dream. 

to own these roads by delegation. A nation known for wealth, not 

This will allow the states to support poverty. A nation set on a hill whose 

their construction by utilizing light will never be hidden. A New 

development finance institutions to Nigeria that we all are proud to call 

provide cheaper sources of finance home. So, help us God! May the 

to complete these roads. 

same God bless you, Your Excellency, 

I am delighted with the progress Governor Akeredolu. Thank you 

Nigeria is making of recent on very much. God bless you all. 

railways. The recent launch of the Speech Delivered By Dr Akinwumi 

A. Adesina, President, Afri- 

InfraCo to mobilize 1 Trillion Naira 

for investment in infrastructure, can Development Bank Group, on 

under public-private partnership, is The Inauguration of His Excellency 

Rotimi Akeredolu, S.A.N, Exec- 

highly commendable. It will be the 

first such fund in Africa. This should utive Governor of Ondo State, February 

23, 2021 Akure, Ondo State, 

help support infrastructure 

development across the states. If Nigeria


How to end farmers/herders’ crises 

— YCE, AFENIFERE, AGBEKOYA, HUNTERS 

•We’ve lost over 60 members — FARMERS’ ASSOCIATION 

By Dayo Johnson, Dapo 

Akinrefon, Ola Ajayi, 

Rotimi Ojomoyela, Shina 

Abubakar & James 

Ogunnaike 

THE clash between farmers and 

herders across the coun-try has 

led to sorrow, tears and blood. 

Already, tongues are wagging over 

the rising conflict between herders 

and farmers in Nigeria especially in 

the South-West which is taking a 

dangerous dimension if not urgently 

nipped in the bud. 

There have been repeated calls on 

governments, at all levels, to wade 

in and calm frayed nerves by finding 

a lasting solution before it degenerates 

to a level that can no longer be 

salvaged. 

Unfortunately, the violence between 

herders and farmers has 

escalated, killing more than 1,300 

people since January 2018. 

Also, it has been discovered that 

three factors have been identified to 

aggravate the decades-long conflict. 

They include the environmental 

degradation in the far north and 

encroachment upon grazing 

grounds in the Middle Belt: militia 

attacks; the poor government response 

to distress calls and failure to 

punish past perpetrators; and new 

laws banning open grazing in some 

states. 

With the incursion of killer herdsmen 

into the South-West, stakeholders 

are no longer at ease with these 

pastoralists, who have seen the region 

as a haven to unleash terror on their 

hosts. 

S-West govs should enforce 

anti-open grazing law 

The Director-General of 

Development Agenda for Western 

Nigeria, DAWN, Mr. Seye Oyeleye, 

proposed the enforcing of open grazing 

law in the region saying it will 

solve the problem of incessant 

herders/farmers clashes. 

Oyelele said: “Our governor 

should use the police and Amotekun 

to enforce the ban on open grazing. 

You can’t make a law and go to bed 

expecting that it would be complied 

with. Former Governor Ayo Fayose 

enforced the law when he was there. 

Our governors are serious but to 

be seen as serious, they must enforce 

the anti-open grazing law. 

“Open grazing has been banned 

by states in the South-West and we, 

at the DAWN Commission, believe 

this is the first step towards ensuring 

security in our forests. 

“Everybody must comply, we don’t 

want open grazing. It is the way of 

life of some people to graze cows but 

that way of life is harmful to our own 

way of life which is agriculture and 

it must stop.” 

But the Yoruba Council of Elders, 

YCE; the pan-Yoruba socio-political 

organisation, Afenifere; the 

Agbekoya Farmers’ Society, and the 

Soludero Hunters’ Association, 

share different views to the farmers/ 

herders’ clashes. 

There’s no clash but terror 

from herders — Afenifere 

On his part, Yinka Odumakin, 

National Publicity Secretary of the 

pan-Yoruba socio-political 

organisation, Afenifere, insisted that 

there is no clash between herders and 

farmers but terror from herders. 

Odumakin said: “There is no clash 

but terror from herders. The way out 

is for government to become governmental 

or for the people to fight 

back as the Minister of Defence has 

advised. But enough is enough!" 

Govs must ensure 

enforcement of the law 

— Agbekoya 

While proffering solution to the 

conflicts, the Agbekoya Farmers’ 

Society, who spoke through its 

National Publicity Secretary, Chief 

Olatunji Bandele said: “The South- 

West governors should enact a law 

banning open grazing of cattle and 

ensure the enforcement of the law. 

“Nigeria’s porous land borders 

should be properly manned to 

prevent illegal foreign Fulani herdsmen 

from entering Nigeria and the 

South-West. 

Also, erring criminal herdsmen, 

bandits and kidnappers should be 

prosecuted. The federal and 

state governments should conduct 

farmers and herdsmen enumeration 

and issue identity cards to them.” 

Herdsmen should stop 

destroying farmlands 

— Hunters Association 

While speaking with Vanguard in 

a telephone interview, the National 

President of Soludero Hunters' Association, 

Oba Wahab Anabi expressed 

worry over the pains inflicted 

on farmers and their families in the 

region. 

Anabi said: “In this year alone, they 

have killed over 40 people across the 

state. People keep calling me to inform 

me about the atrocities of these 

herders. I don’t know how many 

women they have raped. They are 

too many. 

“We are not out to kill Fulani 

because they are our brothers. We are 

ready to live in peace with them. But, 

any Fulani herder caught with 

dangerous weapons will be arrested 

and handed over to the police. 

“Also, those Fulani herders whose 

intention is to kill, rape, maim our 

people and destroy our farms will be 

arrested. Now, we Soludero Hunters’ 

Association, are in Oke-Ogun 

area of Oyo State. We are here to 

ensure that all those bad eggs among 

Fulani herders are fished out. 

“We promise our people that by 

the time we are able to fish out these 

bandits, they will experience a great 

relief.” 

When asked how the issue could 

be resolved, he simply said the violent 

Fulani herders must stop kidnap- 

ping, raping women and destroying 

their farmlands. 

He said: “The only way out is for 

Fulani herders to stop disturbing the 

peace of our zone. When they stop 

kidnapping people, raping our 

women and destroying our means 

of livelihood which is farming, there 

will be peace. But, you don’t expect 

us to fold our arms while our promising 

men and women are being 

hacked down. 

"We are ready to live in peace with 

those Fulani who are not violent or 

armed with dangerous weapons.” 

We’ve lost many members 

— Farmers’ association 

The Chairman, Ondo State Agricultural 

Commodities Association, 

OSACA, Gbenga Obawoya 

expressed worry that no fewer than 

FARMERS KILLED BY 

HERDSMEN SINCE 

JANUARY 2021 

OYO — 40 

ONDO — 10 

OGUN — 15 

OSUN — 1 

10 farmers have been gruesomely 

murdered since January this year by 

the herders adding that the herders 

have destroyed farmlands worth over 

N500m since January this year. 

Obawoya said: “Because of the 

stigma, those who have been raped 

kept it to themselves without 

reporting to the association. But 

many wives and daughters of farmers 

have been raped in their presence 

on their farms. It is really a pitiable 

experience.” 

On his part, the Chairman of the 

All Farmers Association of Nigeria, 

in Ogun State, Chief Segun Dasaolu 

said: “The State government has set 

up a Conflicts Resolution 

Committee, which I am the 

chairman. The committee will, 

among other things, uncover the root 

cause of the problem and the number 

of casualties.” 

Investigation by Vanguard revealed 

that no fewer than 15 persons 

had been killed by Fulani herdsmen 

in different parts of Ogun State between 

January and now. 

Also, a farmer identified as Ridwan 

was killed on his farm at Boole 

village via Ijabe in Osun State after 

a fight ensued between the deceased 

and herdsmen, following the 

destruction of his farm by the latter’s 

herd. 

The secretary of farmers association 

in the state, Adewale Wahab said 

the deceased was killed on January 

12, 2021 at a village in Ijabe, Odo- 

Otin Local Government Area of the 

state. 

Our morale is low in Oyo 

— Amotekun official 

One of the coordinators of 

Amotekun in Oyo State, who is not 

authorised to speak, confided in 

Vanguard that from January to date, 

Fulani herders have killed several 

people. 

The operative said: “I can confirm 

that they have killed a lot of people. 

I have lost count of their number.” 

The official used the opportunity 

to tell Vanguard that the morale of 

his colleagues is down now because 

of one Amotekun operative the police 

arrested for the past 35 days over 

the death of a Fulani herder. 

The official said: “There was a 

distress call and the officer was there 

to help but the Fulani herder opened 

fire on him, used machete but all 

these didn’t have effect on the 

Amotekun operative. It was then 

somebody shot the herder in the thigh. 

He started bleeding and was rushed 

to the hospital where he was confirmed 

dead.” 

“Despite the fact that it was not the 

operative that shot the herder, he was 

arrested and taken to Iyaganku. For 

over 35 days now, he is still being 

held by the police. His wife has been 

extorted many times to the extent that 

the grocery store she has went under. 

“The Amotekun operative has now 

been transferred to Oyo town. So, 

this has lowered the morale of other 

operatives. If such a thing could 

happen to a colleague, then it means 

we, too are at great risk.” 

Amotekun’ll ensure safe 

forest in Osun 

— Brig-Gen Adewinmbi 

When contacted, the Amotekun 

Corps Commandant in Osun State, 

Brig. Gen. Bashir Adewinmbi, retd, 

disclosed that though herdersfarmers’ 

clash is minimal in the state 

but the corps is not relenting in 

ensuring the forests are safe for 

farmers. 

According to him, the state has 

mechanism in place with which it is 

settling crisis between farmers and 

herdsmen and avoid escalation. But 

the corps is not overlooking the 

possibility of any eventualities. 

Adewinmbi said: “Although the 

issue of violent clash between farmers 

and herdsmen is minimal here, 

possibly because of the peace committee 

on farmers-herdsmen 

relation put in place by the state government 

to resolve disputes before it 

escalates into crisis, however, the 

corps is not relenting to ensure 

measures are put in place to tackle 

any eventualities that may arise as a 

result of displacement of herdsmen 

from other states in the region. 

“We are also exploiting area of 

common interests with our partners 

in a bid to ensure our forests, along 

border lines, are also secured.” 

Herders must be law abiding 

— Ondo Amotekun 

Commander 

For the Amotekun Commander in 

Ondo State, Chief Adetunji Adesina, 

the “only way out is for herders to 

stop destroying farmers' crops, the 

farmers are doing their business, the 

herders are doing their business, both 

of them are doing their businesses, 

they should respect each other’s 

position. You don’t expect the farmers 

to sit idle when their crops are 

destroyed by the herders. 

“Tactically, they are destroying the 

farmers’ economic base and that of 

the herders are growing and that’s 

not fair. That’s why the government 

is not too happy about it. 

“You’ve the right to do your business 

and they also have the right to 

do theirs. 

“The herders should respect the 

law, once everybody is law abiding, 

there would not be clashes. 

“The herders can do their 

businesses anywhere in the country 

and the farmers can do theirs too. 

“If the herders are law-abiding and 

respect the right of others, there 

wouldn’t be any skirmishes.” 

Amotekun established to 

serve our people, — Ogun 

Amotekun Commandant 

On his part, the Commander of 

Amotekun Corps in Ogun State, Mr. 

David Akinremi, said that the corps 

is established to serve the people of 

the state 

He said all states in the South- West 

region of the country need to work 

and collaborate to guarantee 

security of lives and property that will 

allow indigenes and residents of the 

region to sleep with their two eyes 

closed. 

He said: “We are prepared, we are 

taking our time to ensure that we get 

the best available grassroots men 

who will be able to function 

adequately well towards achieving 

the vision and purpose of establishing 

the agency. We have been given 

the go-ahead to commence recruitment 

by His Excellency and we are 

working out modalities to ensure 

that we have quality men in line with 

the Ogun Standard of excellence. 

“The state has been known for 

producing fantastic men and women. 

We want to leverage on that and 

ensure that we have an effective takeoff. 

On the issue of fear being 

expressed by our people, I want to 

assure them that we have come to 

work. We have come to serve them. 

“Our people have no cause to fear, 

we are on top of the situation. Notwithstanding 

that operatives have 

not taken off, we are doing some 

strategic work underground on the 

security situation on hand, not just 

within the state but in the South-West 

as a whole. 

“I had cause to meet with my 

colleagues from other states trying 

to tap from their experiences to build 

up the security architecture that 

would meet our security challenges. 

“Criminals are everywhere! I hate 

it when people begin to profile some 

set of people. Criminals abound 

everywhere. 

"All that is important is to make it 

clear to people that it is either you 

Continues on page 27


ASHIRU 

I, formerly known as Ashiru 

Saifullah, now wish to be known 

as Ashiru Saifullah Inuwa. All 

former documents remain valid. 

General public take note. 

ACHINAULO 

I, formerly known as Onyinye 

Josephine Achinaulo, now wish 

to be known as Onyinye 

Josephine Imonigie. All former 

documents remain valid. General 

public take note. 

FALLANG 

I, formerly known as Fallang 

Paul Benard, now wish to be 

known as Bernard Konang 

Paul. Date Of Birth 22/02/ 

1994. Not 12/12/1992. All 

former documents remain 

valid. General public take note. 

ABUH 

I, formerly known as Abuh 

Patience, now wish to be 

known as Alilu Ezekiel Patience. 

All former documents 

remain valid. General public 

take note. 

PETER 

I, formerly known as Peter 

Benjanin Ezioba, now wish to 

be known as Benjamin Osita 

Ezioba. My Correct Date Of 

Birth Is 28/12/1974. Not 17/ 

11/1974. All former documents 


take note. 

SHAIBU 

I, formerly known as Shaibu 

Popoola, Shaibu Popoola 

Salaudeen and Salahu Shu’aibu 

Popoola, now wish to be known 

as Shu’aibu Salaudeen Popoola. 

All former documents remain 

valid. General public take note. 

HAKEEM 

I, formerly known as Hakeem 

Nekan Bashiru, now wish to 

be known as Abdulhakeem 

Bashir. All former documents 

remain valid. NIMC and Polaris 

Bank and general public 

take note. 

SALLAU 

I, formerly known as 

Abdulrahman Sallau, now wish 

to be known as Abdulrahman 

Sallau Nuhu. All former documents 


take note. 

MUHAMMAD 

I, formerly known as Jamila Aliyu 

Aja, now wish to be known as 

Jamila Muhammad Aja. All former 

documents remain valid. First 

Bank PLC and general public take 

note. 

DAVID 

I, formerly known as David Sunday, 

now wish to be known as 

David Uzah Sunday. All former 

documents remain valid. Access 

Bank PLC and general public take 

note. 

USMAN 

I, formerly known as Usman 

Hadiza Bawuro, now wish to be 

known as Hadiza Bawuro. All 

former documents remain valid. 

General public take note. 


How to end farmers/herders’ 

crises 

Continues from page 26 

are law-abiding or you are 

not. 

If you are law-abiding, you 

have a peaceful enjoyment of 

the facilities but where you 

decide to run afoul of the law, 

of course, the long arm of the 

law will catch up with you. 

We are willing and ready and 

we are capable of providing 

protection to their lives and 

property. 

There is no security without 

human beings and no human 

beings without security. It is a 

symbiotic relationship. The 

work of security agencies at 

whatever level cannot be done 

without the support of the 

people. 

That is why we want to build 

a people-oriented 

organisation.” 

YCE on way out of 

farmers/herders 

clash 

Secretary-General, Yoruba 

Council of Elders, YCE, Dr 

Kunle Olajide, who spoke on 

the way out of the farmers/ 

herders clashes in the South- 

West said: "Honestly, I don't 

know where the Federal 

Government stands on the 

matter, because Mr President 

hasn't addressed the nation on 

this issue. Unfortunately, our 

EKE 

I, formerly known as Eke 

Joy Oluchi, now wish to be 

known as Uchechukwu Joy 

Oluchi. All former documents 

remain valid. General 

public take note. 

ENANG 

My name was wrongly captured as 

Sylvanus Enang, instead of Precious 

Enang Sylvanus, henceforth wish to 

be known as Precious Enang 

Sylvanus. All former documents 

remain valid. General public and 

authority concerned please take 

note. 

WARRIE 

I, formerly known as Miss 

Etieneabasi Uyoata Warrie, 

now wish to be known as Mrs 

Etieneabasi Maurice Inyang. 

All former documents remain 

valid. General public and 

authority concerned please 

take note 

IKOTIDEM 

I, formerly known as Miss 

Patience Asuquo Ikotidem, 

now wish to be known as Mrs 

Patience Enobong Ntuen. All 

former documents remain 

valid. General public and 

authority concerned please 

take note 

YAKUBU 

I, formerly known as Yakubu 

Mohammed, now wish to be 

known as Yakubu Mohammed 

Kabiru. All former documents remain 

valid. General public take 

note. 

HASSAN 

I, formerly known as Hassan 

M. C. Tahir, now wish to be 

known as Hassan Muhammad 

Tahir. All former documents 


please take note. 

unitary constitution has put all 

the powers over the security 

agencies in the hands of the 

Federal Government and the 

Federal Government's body 

language appears to support 

the invasion of forests 

anywhere and in fact, a state 

governor was quoted to have 

said that anybody can go into 

any forest, it is as if we are in a 

lawless society." 

Besides, the YCE scribe said: 

"Personally, I would think state 

governors ought to take up the 

responsibility of protecting 

their states and find whatever 

means possible to flush out 

criminal herders in their 

forests. I know about South- 

West, I know that there are no 

free forests in the South-West. 

The forests are either forest 

reserve or forest owned by 

family and you will have to go 

through certain processes to be 

able to go to the forest. The 

Chairman of Governors' 

Forum reminded us a few days 

ago that in the days of yore, we 

had forest guards employed to 

secure the forests so that no 

invaders go into the forests. 

"Forest reserves are treasures 

for the people of the states. I 

think that the way out is number 

one... the governor of Kano 

State has made very cogent 

point, that he had land that he 

was prepared to surrender for 

ranches. I think we should 

encourage that. On top of it all, 

those who are interested in the 

genuine unity and progress of 

this country must push for a new 

constitution that would give 

powers over security to the 

governors of the states and then 

will devolve powers to the states 

and local governments where 

the citizens of this country 

reside. 

"The citizens of this country 

reside in the states and local 

governments, not in Abuja but 

this constitution has reversed 

the order, it gives the power to 

Abuja, whereas few of the 

citizens reside in Abuja. 

"The final solution to this 

recurring crisis is for us to have 

a new constitution that will 

empower each of the states to 

take responsibility for its 

security, protection and welfare 

of its citizens and their 

property." 

Ban open grazing 

— Ekiti Farmers' 

Association 

When contacted on 

telephone, the chairman, Rice 

Farmers Association who 

doubles as the Secretary, All 

Farmers Association of 

Nigeria Ekiti State branch, Mr. 

Kolawole Rotimi affirmed that 

there had been many cases of 

herders killing farmers and 

destroying farms in the state. 

Mr Rotimi said: "There was 

a recent case of Mr Ilori, a rice 

farmer and a hunter; he was 

killed by herdsmen. I led a 

protest to the Government 

house but to my surprise, 

nothing concrete has been 

done to put a stop to this 

dastardly act. 

On its part, the Ekiti State 

Security Network Agency 

codenamed Amotekun Corps 

has revealed that the decisions 

of governors in the South-West 

to ban open grazing would go 

a long way to address the 

lingering farmers-herders 

clashes. 

The Amotekun Corps 

commander, Brig. Gen. Joe 

Komolafe (retd) noted that 

the herders must be made to 

adhere strictly to the new 

directives, saying his 

personnel would be out to 

enforce the directive.

28—Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Way out of Nigeria’s 

security problems 

Continues from Page 5 

“We should be able to deal 

with it and on one hand, 

we must be open to 

amnesty, forgiveness, and 

on the other hand, we need 

to keep law and order and 

not make it an incentive for 

others to pick up arms and 

wait for amnesty and 

rehabilitation,” he said. 

Onaiyekan said though 

he believed criminals 

should be forgiven when 

they repent, there was the 

problem of figuring out if 

they had truly repented or 

not. 

He asked the 

government to ensure that 

criminals had truly 

repented before they were 

given amnesty. 

He cited instances of 

return to insurgency of 

some Boko Haram 

members after they had 

been granted pardon by 

the federal government. 

According to him, the 

supposedly repentant 

Boko Haram members 

either return to the sect as 

fighters or informants. 

Onaiyekan said: “I 

believe firmly in what the 

Bible says, that it is not 

the will of God that a 

sinner should die but that 

he should repent and 

live. 

“So obviously, if a 

criminal sincerely repents, 

he should be forgiven. 

But the question is when 

it comes to the real facts 

of whether he has 

repented or not, the state 

must have a way of 

making sure that this is 

not a joke. 

“The whole idea of 

amnesty is not only to be 

applied to armed bandits, 

in that case it is true for 

everybody in jail in 

Nigeria. For the sake of 

law and order, to protect 

the rest of us, the few who 

are making life difficult 

have to be restrained. The 

armed dogs should be 

tied down. The armed 

bandits should be 

disarmed. 

“Before we talk of 

amnesty, there should be 

clear evidence that there’s 

a sincere repentance and 

that the people concerned 

have decided not to pick 

up arms anymore, that 

they’re ready to go back 

to their normal way of life 

and if they’re foreigners, 

they’re ready to go back 

home. All this must be 

part and parcel of the 

process of amnesty. 

“The bandits must be 

reconciled with society, 

they must change, they 

must decide to be really 

repentant and show it 

clearly. And not be put in 

a position to brag around 

to appear that they have 

actually won, and 

defeated the nation.” 

Rejig 1999 

vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews 

constitution 

He also canvassed total 

overhaul of the 1999 

constitution to make way 

for state police, so that 

governors and local 

government chairmen can 

be seen as real chief 

security officers of their 

domains. 

According to him, this 

will help to effectively 

protect the nation’s illegal 

entry points to stop 

criminals from infiltrating 

the country. 

“I don’t know who 

doesn’t want this 

constitution to be 

improved because too 

much of it does not work,” 

the cardinal said. 

Northern elders 

disown Gumi 

Also yesterday, northern 

elders dissociated 

themselves from recent 

comments credited to 

Islamic cleric, Sheikh 

Abubakar Gumi, who 

accused the military of 

triggering the raging 

banditry in parts of the 

North. 

Gumi had alleged in one 

of his visits to interface 

with bandits in Kaduna, 

Zamfara, Kaduna and 

Niger states, that non- 

Muslim soldiers had 

carried out orchestrated 

killings in some 

communities, 

precipitating anger. 

But replying Gumi, the 

northern elders in a 

statement signed by the 

National Coordinator of 

NEEPD, Engr. Zana 

Goni, said Gumi’s 

allegations are not a 

representation of the 

position of the region, 

saying the public must 

see same as personal 

sentiments of the cleric. 

While urging the 

general public to 

discountenance the 

allegations, the elders 

vouched for the 

professionalism and nonpartisan 

nature of the 

Armed Forces of Nigeria. 

The elders vowed to 

resist attempts by any 

individual or group to 

profile the military which 

they maintained 

remained the most visible 

symbol of national unity 

and cohesion. 

They wondered why an 

Islamic cleric and scholar, 

who had taken the 

initiative to discuss with 

bandits, will end up 

taking sides, as his 

statements suggested. 

The elders expressed 

worries that Gumi’s 

action might expose the 

lives and safety of non- 

Muslim soldiers to serious 

danger in their operational 

theatres in the North. 

The statement read: “We 

rise in one voice to 

dissociate ourselves from 

the dangerous and divisive 

allegations levelled against 

NEWS HOTLINES 

018773962, 

08052867058 

NLC PROTEST—President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Waba (M) leading 

the joint unions of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) employees in a protest over alleged antilabour 

matters by CAC management, in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN. 

our patriotic soldiers by 

Sheikh Gumi in one of his 

missions to meet with 

bandits in a forest around 

Niger State. 

“Ordinarily, we would 

have commended the 

Sheikh for daring to do 

what the authorities failed 

to do, but for the profiling 

comments attributed to him, 

which we consider 

abhorrent and unhelpful to 

national development and 

peace. 

“We insist that our military 

is one of the finest in the 

world, with zero-tolerance 

for partisanship, ethnic 

consideration and other 

unprofessional 

dispositions. 

“We warn that comments 

such as this have the 

potential of pitting the 

exposed soldiers against 

general areas in the North, 

where they have continued 

to put down their lives to 

protect the territorial 

integrity of the nation from 

those that seek to violate it. 

“Our concern is further 

hinged on the possibility of 

the world concluding that 

the North may be offering 

tacit endorsement to 

banditry and associated 

crimes against society. 

“To douse this tension, 

therefore, we call on 

relevant authorities, 

including prominent 

individuals and groups 

from the North, to condemn 

Gumi’s position in a 

manner that will absolve 

the region of conspiracy and 

vicarious liability in the 

long run 

“In whatever position we 

find ourselves, we must, at 

all material times, 

endeavour to put the 

collective interest of 

Nigeria over and above all 

other considerations, 

bearing in mind the fact 

that when the country 

collapses, it will do so on 

all of us, regardless of 

religion, ethnicity, or belief. 

“Lastly, we urge Gumi to 

stop approbating and 

reprobating at the same 

time, and to immediately 

call-off his mission, if he 

has developed lethargy in 

the course of undertaking 

visits to deep forests.” 

No apologies to 

anybody — Bauchi 

gov 

Meanwhile, Bauchi State 

governor, Bala 

Mohammed, has said he 

won’t apologize to anybody 

for defending Fulani 

herders against alleged 

ethnic profiling. 

The governor, who stated 

this during the official 

launch of the 2020/2021 

annual livestock 

vaccination campaign, held 

at Galambi Cattle ranch in 

Bauchi, said the Fulani, 

over the years, had made 

so much sacrifices in their 

nomadic and pastoral life, 

noting that they provide the 

protein needs of the country 

through the supply of beef, 

milk and other essentials. 

He said: “We kicked 

against the profiling of the 

By Innocent Anaba 

A Federal High Court 

sitting in Lagos, 

yesterday, adjourned till 

March 2, 2021, to rule on 

whether to hear the 

contempt application 

filed against three banks 

and their officials for 

disobeying a court order 

to block Shell Petroleum 

Development Company 

of Nigeria Ltd bank 

accounts. 

Trial judge, Justice 

Oluremi Oguntoyinbo 

adjourned to the date 

after hearing arguments 

of counsel on which 

application should be 

heard first. 

AITEO Eastern E & P 

Company Ltd through its 

counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, 

SAN, had filed form 48 

against officials of the 

three banks. 

Pinheiro told the judge 

that the alleged 

contemnors willfully 

disobeyed the court’s 

interim orders of 

Fulanis as killers and 

kidnappers. We have no 

apology for what we have 

done because what we 

have done is to say the truth 

that there is no tribe or 

group that is free of 

criminality. 

“We are not saying that 

to spite anybody or spark 

unnecessary controversy, 

we have made our point. 

Nigerians across board 

have discussed it and I am 

happy to say that from all 

indications, majority of 

sensible Nigerians have 

appreciated what we have 

said and that is the point. 

“I, therefore, won’t say 

anything further on this 

matter, for fear that 

controversy will be 

escalated. I will listen to 

voices of reason and keep 

quiet about it. I am calling 

on our brothers, the 

Fulanis, to ensure they 

make their communities 

free of criminality.” 

The governor, however, 

urged the Fulani to rid their 

communities of criminals 

among them and make 

efforts to show that majority 

of them are good citizens. 

“They must make sure 

they fish out the bad eggs 

among them because 

criminality is criminality. In 

as much as we will protect 

them from being badly 

profiled, they should make 

efforts to show that majority 

of them are good citizens, 

contributing positively to 

the growth and 

development of Nigeria,” 

he added. 

Governor Mohammed 

said his administration will 

free resources which 

belong to the Fulani 

pastoralists, so they could 

have their own right of way, 

thereby reducing the 

conflicts between Fulani 

herders and farmers. 

Shell $2.7bn ‘oil theft’ case: AITEO asks court 

to commit 3 banks officials to prison 

January 25, 2021, 

directing them to block 

SPDC’s accounts for 

allegedly “interfering, 

obstructing and/or 

frustrating compliance 

with the interim orders.” 

Justice Oguntoyinbo, 

had on January 25, 2021, 

made the interim order 

against SPDC, following 

AITEO’s ex-parte 

application, seeking to 

recover the cash value of 

more than 16 million 

barrels of crude oil 

allegedly diverted by the 

oil giant from AITEO. 

She directed 20 banks 

to “ring-fence any cash, 

bonds, deposits, all 

forms of negotiable 

instruments to the value 

of $2.7 billion and pay 

all standing credits to the 

Shell companies up to 

the value into an interest 

yielding account in the 

name of the Chief 

Registrar of the court.” 

Pinheiro told the judge, 

yesterday, that out of 20 

nominal respondent 

banks in the case, only 

the trio had failed to 

comply with the order. 

The banks’ and Shell’s 

counsel opposed the 

application to hear the 

committal proceedings 

first. 

SPDC counsel, 

Adewale Atake, SAN, 

informed the court of his 

pending motion praying 

the court to stay 

proceedings and refer 

the case to arbitration. 

But the judge declined 

his oral application, 

noting that the Federal 

Government was not a 

party to the suit. 

Counsel for the banks, 

Mr Olawale Akoni, 

SAN, also prayed the 

court to hear his motion 

to discharge the Mareva 

order first. 

Justice Oguntoyinbo 

said the Mareva order 

subsists and differed 

ruling on which 

application to be heard 

first on March 2, 2021.


NLC, TUC affiliates at war over CAC's workers 

By Victor Ahiuma-Young 

ONE of the things the harsh 

economic situation and 

globalisation has taught trade unions 

especially in this part of the 

world, is that the days of armchair 

unionism where workers are 

forced into union membership 

through legislation and check- off 

dues automatically deducted and 

remitted to unions is fast fading 

away. 

In fact, the principle of 

voluntarism as encapsulated by 

the Trade Union Amendment Act 

of 2005 has made unions’ struggle 

for membership more daunting 

and demanding in the midst 

of unwilling and antagonistic 

employers. 

In efforts to boost their membership, 

affiliate of Nigeria Labour 

Congress, NLC; 

Amalgamated Union of Public 

Corporations, Civil Service 

Technical and Recreational 

Services Employees, AUPCTRE, 

and affiliate of Trade Union 

Congress of Nigeria, TUC; Senior 

Staff Association of Statutory 

Corporations and Government 

Owned Companies, 

SSASCGOC, are at each other's 

throats in long drawn battle over 

the unionisation of workers of the 

Corporate Affairs Commission, 

CAC. 

Already, the SSASCGOC, has 

petitioned the Minister of Industry, 

Trade and Investment, 

Otunba Richard Adebayo, accus- 

•NLC pickets commission over alleged anti-Labour practices 

ing NLC and AUPCTRE, of efforts 

at reversing the judgment 

of National Industrial Court, 

NIC. 

In the petition by its General 

Secretary, Ayo Olorunfemi among 

others, the union insisted that 

“AUPCTRE has no locus standi 

under the law as pronounced by 

the NIC judgment, to speak for 

any senior staff be it in CAC or 

any Statutory Corporation until 

the judgment of NIC is reversed 

through the Court of Appeal or 

Supreme Court. 

"We make bold to state this 

because the NIC has made 

several pronouncements/ 

judgments to that effect that the 

freedom of association as 

enshrined in the Nigeria Constitution 

is not absolute. The Trade 

Union Act specifically classifies 

AUPCTRE as a junior staff union. 

These judgments and the 

provision of the Trade Union Act 

can never be subjected to the 

NLC President’s mere internal 

digestion. He must obey the judgment 

otherwise he risks being 

charged for contempt of the 

court." 

According to him, NLC and 

AUPCTRE do not have jurisdiction 

over senior staff of Corporate 

Affairs Commission and cannot 

speak for them. NLC and 

AUPCTRE can only speak on behalf 

of junior staff of CAC which 

they represent according to the 

Trade Union Act and NIC judgments. 

SSASCGOC which is the 

legitimate union of senior staff in 

CAC has put machinery in place 

to discuss and resolve all 

industrial relations issues both 

old and emerging trends. 

If NLC and AUPCTRE are not 

happy with the NIC judgment, 

they should approach the Court 

of Appeal or the Supreme Court 

as provided for in the law of the 

land. SSASCGOC that controls all 

the senior staff of the Nigeria Ports 

Authority and many other 

Statutory Corporations in 

Nigeria, has never issued threat 

of strike or picketing because we 

advance our courses.” 

Pending appeal 

Reacting, President of 

AUPCTRE, Benjamin Anthony, 

among others said: “Ordinarily, 

we would not have responded to 

such a petty write up if not for the 

ignorance of the position of law 

displayed and an attempt to mislead 

the Minister and the general 

public. It should be made 

clear that the court judgment 

floated by SSASCGOC has been 

appealed against and is still 

before the Federal Court of 

Appeal. That signifies that status 

quo ante should be maintained. 

Unfortunately, SSASCGOC 

goofed in questioning the 

legitimacy of NLC to intervene in 

a case where the CAC has turned 

itself to a defacto management to 

proscribe AUPCTRE, dissolve 

the executive and transfer all 

union executives to all parts of the 

country without regards to 

married people within the executive. 

“The excesses of the Registrar 

General of CAC must be curtailed. 

Workers are no slaves. 

Their rights must be protected. 

Having a meeting with 

SSASCGOC as they advised the 

Minister to do, will amount to creating 

a heroic figure out of nonentity 

thereby giving them 

recognition. The Registrar-General 

of CAC should be advised to 

face his work and stop dabbling 

into union affairs. AUPCTRE is 

disposed to a mutually beneficial 

industrial relations practice that 

will endure peaceful coexistence." 

NLC pickets CAC 

Meanwhile, officials of NLC, 

led by its President, Ayuba Wabba, 

yesterday picketed the Maitama, 

Abuja, headquarters of the CAC 

to protest alleged anti-Labour 

activities of the management. 

However, when the NLC 

officials stormed the premises as 

early as 8 am, they were 

confronted by members 

SSASCGOC who tried to stop the 

picketing. 

This led to a mild drama 

between leaders of AUPCTRE 

and SSASCGOC members led by 

its General Secretary, Ayo 

Olorunfemi. 

There was exchange of harsh 

words as well as accusations and 

counter-accusations by the 

leaders of the two unions on 

issues of jurisdiction and the 

rights to organize and unionize 

the members of the commission 

between the NLC and the TUC. 

In the melee, a young man, 

who attempted to set ablaze NLC 

buses used to block the entrance 

of the CAC’s building was 

arrested by policemen who were 

around to ensure the picketing 

did not degenerate. 

Addressing the protesters and 

others, Wabba said: “All the female 

workers with their husbands 

working here (CAC head office), 

the Registrar General had 

transferred them and left their 

husbands here causing problem 

is their homes. 

“We are here to make the point 

and to ensure that workers’ right 

are not meant to be trampled 

upon. The fundamental issue is 

not about unionization. It is about 

respecting workers’ right. It is not 

about the issue of membership but 

about defending the workers’ 

right. For the first instance, we 

will be here for three days. He 

(the Registrar General) should try 

to come out to address workers 

because we have raised some 

fundamental issue of how he 

used N250 million to build car 

pack. 

how he used N35million to fumigate 

office, which is why he is 

afraid that the unions have exposed 

him; and that is why he is 

fighting the unions.

C 

M 

Y 

K 


Incessant abduction of students: Great 

disservice to education — Stakeholders 

By Adesina Wahab 

HOLDING the unenviable 

record of being home to the 

highest number of out-of-school 

children, OSC, about 15 million, and 

also regarded as the poverty capital 

of the world, Nigeria’s quest for 

economic and social growth will be 

further hampered if the trend of 

abduction of school children is not 

stopped now, stakeholders have said. 

The mass abduction of school 

children started with the kidnap of 

students of Government Secondary 

School in Chibok, Borno State on 

April 14, 2014 and was followed by 

the abduction of over 110 school girls 

in Dapchi, Yobe State on February 

19, 2018. 

While over 100 of the Chibok girls 

are still missing, only Leah Sharibu, 

is still unaccounted for among the 

Dapchi girls. However, with the 

abduction of students in Government 

Science College, Kankara, Katsina 

State, last December and a repeat of 

the incident at the Government 

Science College, Kagara, Niger State, 

penultimate Wednesday, it is like the 

kidnap of students to bargain for 

certain things has come to stay in the 

country, a development that will 

adversely affect education, according 

to stakeholders. 

By Adesina Wahab 

THE Registrar, Teachers 

Registration Council of 

Nigeria, TRCN, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, 

has said the country needs 

technologically savvy teachers to be 

able to cope with developments in 

the sector and achieve her potential. 

He noted that though technology 

will not be able to fully replace 

teachers in the classroom, teachers 

who are able to use technology to 

aid their work will replace those 

who lack the ability. 

He described teachers who are not 

technologically savvy as “Born 

Before Computer.” 

Ajiboye stated this while delivering 

the 48th Inaugural Lecture of the 

University of Ibadan, titled: 

Teaching: In the classroom, as a 

regulator. 

While emphasizing the 

importance of teachers in the 

education sector, Ajiboye noted that 

while education is a means to better 

life and uplift the society at large, 

teachers, being the major operator 

of the system, have a lot of 

responsibilities thrust upon them. 

He added that the modern world 

requires the kind of education where 

knowledge is the primary 

commodity and therefore, teachers 

must be able to fit into that. 

“Today’s teacher is therefore, 

expected to function and fit into this 

world. It is for this world that today’s 

educational system and schools 

have to prepare learners who will 

contribute to its continued progress. 

“Teachers are essential players in 

promoting quality education. They 

are advocates for and catalysts of 

•Immediate past Deputy Vice-Chancellor, who is also a Professor of Statistics at the Redeemer's University, 

Ede, Osun State, Prof. Kayode Adekeye, left, with the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Anthony Akinlo, 

after Adekeye delivered the Seventh Inaugural Lecture of the university titled: Assignable variation: The 

unknown that must be known. 

Psychologist’s view 

A psychologist, Adeyemi Akinleye, 

explained that the trauma of being 

kidnapped is not only felt by the 

victim, but by many other people 

too. “To know how such a 

development would adversely affect 

people apart from the victim, let me 

give you this Yoruba proverb that says 

“one’s child being dead is better than 

one’s child being missing.” Apart from 

the victims, the effects on relatives, 

parents and others are also weighty. 

The victims would have been seriously 

traumatized no doubt and that will 

surely affect their perception of 

education and going back to school. 

“Also, the incident may negatively 

affect other students too, whether in 

the same school or other schools. They 

may not feel safe in school. An 

unfortunate aspect of the 

Type of teachers Nigeria needs now — Ajiboye, TRCN boss 

change. This, therefore, means that 

no education reform is likely to 

succeed without the active 

participation and ownership of 

teachers. “The progress of education 

is judged mainly by the products 

(results or outcomes) and these 

cannot be the desired type and level 

if the processes go wrong,” he said. 

While calling for better funding of 

the sector, he noted that quality 

education must be provided for the 

youth and that the image of the 

teacher be enhanced. 

On what the TRCN is doing to 

improve the lot of teachers and the 

teaching profession, Ajiboye listed 

the introduction of the Professional 

Qualifying Examination, PQE, 

and the Professional Qualifying 

Examination Integrated, PQEI. 

“The PQE and PQEI have put the 

Council on global map and are 

paradigm shift that introduced 

teachers to the digital world and 

make them literate in computer 

application and manipulation. 

By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo 

OVER 27,500 applicants, out of 

which over 19,000 were 

female sat for the recently-concluded 

teachers' recruitment test exercise 

conducted by the Osun State 

Government. 

The Special Adviser to the state 

Governor on Education, Jamiu 

Olawumi, in an interview with 

Vanguard, said the state government 

deliberately outsourced the 

computer-based test to the Joint 

Admissions and Matriculation 

Board to ensure credibility. 

“Also, the new career path for 

teachers recently approved by the 

National Council on Education, and 

professional standard for teaching 

in Nigeria serve as a major stepping 

stone and introduction of a new path 

for teachers career programme and 

growth,” he stated. 

By Mary Obaebor 

THE Office of Education 

Quality Assurance, OEQA, 

Ministry of Education, Lagos State 

has commenced safe school 

clearance visits to public and 

private schools below tertiary level 

in the state to ensure they are safe 

to remain open for academic 

activities. 

OEQA had earlier mandated 

public and private schools in the 

state to register online on the 

development is that the schools being 

targeted are boarding schools that the 

government set up to be a sort of model 

schools and take some burdens off 

the parents. 

“Now the boarding schools are 

being shut down, the parents and 

students are back to square one. The 

parents of the affected students will 

be in deep pain. The Chibok girls that 

are still missing, can one imagine 

how the parents have been coping for 

the past seven years? All the Dapchi 

girls have been freed except Leah 

Sharibu, let us put ourselves in her 

parents’ shoes, over three years and 

the girl is still missing. Unfortunately, 

all these terrible things are 

happening in a region where the 

literacy level is very low. To convince 

parents to send their wards to school 

now may be difficult and such will 

have ripple effects on the country as a 

whole,” he submitted. 

Parents’ view 

The National President of the 

National Parent Teacher Association 

of Nigeria, NAPTAN, Haruna 

Danjuma, described as unfortunate a 

situation where innocent students 

have been turned to objects of 

merchandise by criminals. 

“How do we want the parents to 

feel now? Students are now being used 

by criminals to bargain for freedom 

or make cheap money through 

ransom payment. In as much as we 

sympathise with the government, we 

want them to take the necessary steps 

and do the needful. Ugly incidents like 

this must be nipped in the bud and 

not allowed to be a recurring decimal 

in our society. Security in and around 

our schools must be beefed up and 

people should also help in 

intelligence gathering. If we continue 

to have ugly developments like this 

happening over and over again, 

many will lose interest in education," 

he noted. 

Teachers’ opinion 

According to the Lagos State 

Chairman of the Nigeria Union of 

Teachers, NUT, Rotunda Adesina 

Adedoyin, human life is no longer 

valuable in the country. “What we are 

seeing is a reflection of the high level 

of insecurity in the country. 

Unfortunately, that has translated to 

the school environment now. It is not 

only the students that are feeling 

threatened and unsafe, teachers too 

are feeling so. How do you get the 

best out of the teacher if he has to 

work in a state of fear? 

"Something urgent must be done 

about the issue. A nation’s 

development is tied to its level of 

educational development. If those in 

the education sector are now 

traumatized to the point of not feeling 

safe in their beat, then we have a big 

problem on hand,” he said. 

Students’ perspective 

The Coordinator, South-West Zone 

of the National Association of 

Nigerian Students, NANS, Kappo 

Samuel Olawale, urged the 

government to put an end to the 

development as quickly as possible. 

“Nigerian youths want to be educated 

and be able to compete with their 

colleagues anywhere in the world, but 

that cannot be possible with these 

abductions of students every now and 

then. Students should feel safe in 

schools if we are not to discourage 

parents from sending their wards to 

school,” he said. 

COVID-19: Lagos starts safe school clearance visit 

agency’s website, develop and 

upload learning plans which 

include: operational, 

communication, environmental 

and safety & health plans to obtain 

a clearance for reopening. 

The process includes schools 

self-assessment on COVID-19 

safety protocols and an online 

training, a certificate to be issued 

which ends up with visits from 

OEQA evaluators for physical 

assessment of submitted plans to 

obtain a final clearance to remain 

Osun teachers' recruitment: 27,500 candidates sit for test 

He berated those spreading 

rumour that the state deliberately 

wanted to fail candidates, saying the 

questions were such that they met 

prerequisites for teaching, including 

questions in Mathematics, English 

Language, Education Psychology 

and Education Management. 

He added that the cut-off mark 

arrived at by the State Executive 

Council meeting was 40% for an 

average graduate teacher and 35% 

for an average NCE teacher. 

"A major problem is that some of 

them couldn't operate computer and 

scored zero and they want to give 

Osun students 21st Century 

education, it is not possible. Don't 

forget about 32,000 registered for it, 

29,000 accessed the internet for the 

exam, while 27, 000 wrote the exam 

proper. 

"Out of this, we have close to 19,000 

female candidates and about 8,500 

male candidates. There are also 

candidates from other states of the 

federation that came. So, if you now 

say the cut-off mark is this, do they 

expect an examination not to have a 

pass mark? So you can't deliberately 

fail anybody. 

open. 

Speaking during the visit to 

Corona Day Secondary School 

and Primary School, Lekki, the 

Director-General, Office of 

Education Quality Assurance, 

Mrs. Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, 

disclosed that the OEQA had 

commenced the physical 

assessment of schools across the 

state. 

This is based on the clearance 

request of schools received upon 

successful online submission of all 

required safety plans. According to 

her, the state government had put 

measures in place to ensure 

compliance to COVID-19 safety 

protocols which would help reposition 

the state’s educational 

system to fulfill the T.H.E.M.E.S. 

agenda of Governor Babajide 

Sanwo-Olu, on education and 

technology. 

OEQA has embarked on a 

continuous professional 

development training for its 

evaluators, private school 

proprietors, public junior and 

senior secondary school 

principals and heads of public 

primary schools, on what is 

expected of them this period.

AFCON Qualifiers: Lesotho train in Covid’19 bubble 

Lesotho have created a 

Covid’19 bubble for their 

players to train ahead of 

next month’s Africa Cup of Nations 

qualifying tie against the 

Super Eagles. 

The Likuena were given the 

green light to train by the country’s 

National Covid-19 Secretariat 

(NACOSEC) on Tuesday. 

Lesotho will play against Sierra 

Leone before coming down to Lagos 

to face the Super Eagles in 

must win games, if they hope to 

qualify for the AFCON billed for 

Cameroon February 2022. Lesotho 

have just two points so far. 

Last month, LeFA suspended all 

footballing activities on the back 

of a spike of Covid-19 cases. 

The government later declared a 

national lockdown suspending all 

sporting activities. 

Lesotho coach 

According to Lesotho Football 

Association (LeFA) secretary general 

Mokhosi Mohapi, 

NACOSEC met with cabinet on 

Eagles suffer blow as Osimhen 

out until early March 

Manager Gernot Rohr’s 

bid to have Victor 

Osimhen available for 

Nigeria’s two African Cup of Nations 

qualifying matches next 

month, has been dealt a big blow 

as the Napoli striker’s doctor 

warns he’ll be out until early 

March. 

The forward fell backwards and 

•Pepsi Football Global Stars: Jadon Sancho, Leo Messi, 

Shanice Van De Sandem and Paul Pogba 

Joshua: I’m the boss of Fury 

Anthony Joshua insists “all options 

are open” for the location of 

his fight with Tyson Fury, and has 

described himself as “the boss” as 

talks intensify. 

Joshua and Fury’s teams are 

locked in negotiations to finalise 

the generation-defining heavyweight 

fight that would crown an 

undisputed champion. 

IBF, WBA and WBO titleholder 

Joshua exclusively told Sky 

News: “[The pandemic] is getting 

close to things being normal. 

We’re working on a date for 

around June. 

“So if Tyson is serious, which I 

think he is, he’ll know where to 

come and find the boss! 

“I’m ready. I’m really looking forward 

to competition - all I want to 

do is fight, fight, fight!” 

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn 

recently told Sky Sports that 

Saudi Arabia, America, Qatar, 

Dubai, Singapore and China were 

all interested in hosting the fight. 

Joshua told Sky News when 

asked if it was possible for the 

fight to remain in the UK: “Any 

option. Home turf, Middle East, 

my back garden, your back garden. 

I don’t mind where it is. 

“I’m just ready to fight. I want 

that belt. I want to compete with 

Fury so all options are open to 

me.” 

Man Utd, Arsenal, Leicester in 

Europa League action tonight 

Europa League is back today 

with round of 32 return leg 

showing matches holding across 

different venues, with the likes of 

Manchester United, Arsenal and 

Leicester, featuring Eagles duo of 

Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi 

Iheanacho all bidding to qualify 

to the next ound.. 

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 

Arsenal will face a tough match 

against Benfica with the first leg 

ending in a draw. 

Marcus Rashford’s Manchester 

United and Tottenham Hotspur 

have less pressure, having won 

the first leg. Last English club, 

Leicester City, will have to step 

up their games if they want to advance 

in the competition. 

Monday and tabled LeFA’s proposal 

for commencement of 

preparations for the AFCON 

qualifiers. The proposal was approved. 

After hard fought victories 

against South Sudan and 

Rwanda recently at the 2021 

Afrobasket qualifiers, D’Tigers 

shooting guard, Keith Omoerah 

says the team should be prepared 

for more difficult games on the 

continent. 

Many expected and predicted a 

stroll in the park but we were 

shocked when D’Tigers had to 

dig deep before pulling off a 75- 

70pts win against South Sudan in 

their first game and another 64- 


Get politicians off our sports 

– Professor Bademosi 

By Jacob Ajom 

surgeon 

Alfredo 

Bucciero to 

Radio Kiss 

Kiss. 

“Now the 

medical tests 

are showing 

good results, 

but we still 

need to wait 

for the natural 

recovery time 

to be completed. 

hit his head on the turf during the 

Serie A match against Atalanta on 

Sunday and was dropping in and 

out of consciousness. 

He was rushed to the local hospital 

for tests, which fortunately 

all came back clear, but it has 

emerged he has no memory of the 

incident. 

“He suffered head trauma with 

memory loss,” explained neuro- 

“We don’t 

have signs of a 

haematoma 

on the brain, nor damage to the 

skullcap. We must be cautious, he 

needs at least a week of complete 

rest. 

“I think he could be available 

again from early March. Osimhen 

is in a rush, he wants to play and 

asks me to hurry up the process, 

but in these situations, rest is necessary. 

We cannot run any risks.” 

African opponents tougher than ever- 

Omoerah 

Coach Fatai Osho has said 

Enyimba have a good chance 

of becoming only the first Nigerian 

club to win the CAF Confederation 

Cup. 

The two-time African champions 

have been drawn in a tough-looking 

Group A of the Confederation 

Cup alongside Orlando Pirates of 

South Africa, Algeria’s ES Setif 

and Al Ahli Benghazi from Libya. 

At the weekend, Enyimba pipped 

fellow Nigerian club Rivers 

United 5-4 on penalties after aggregate 

scores stood at 1-1. 

‘The People’s Elephant’ open 

51pts victory against Rwanda. 

The player who is currently with 

Mykolaiv in Ukraine reckoned 

that kudos must go to their opponents 

for putting up a good fight 

to make them sweat for the wins. 

“We didn’t have big wins this time 

around against South Sudan and 

Rwanda unlike when we met the 

first time and that’s credit to them. 

Every time we play a team we are 

going to get their best effort, especially 

in Africa and that was apparent 

in those games. We have to 

be ready for that and we will be”. 

Enyimba can win CAF Confederation Cup—Osho 

their campaign in the group 

phase at home on March 10 

against Ahli Benghazi. 

“It’s a tough group, I believe 

none of the teams are 

comfortable with this pairing,” 

admitted Osho, who 

calls his own brand of football 

as “Sugar Football”. 

“All four teams are very experienced 

playing on the 

continent. 

“We respect our opponents, 

but we remain positive and 

our immediate target is our 

Former Captain of the Nigerian 

and West African Cricket 

teams, Professor Jide Bademosi 

has called on the federal government 

to get rid of politicians in the 

administration of sports in the 

country. 

Speaking with our reporter in his 

Ibadan home early in the week, 

Professor Bademosi who turned 80 

today said it was unfortunate that 

people who had no business running 

sports were occupying sensitive 

positions and taking decisions 

that affect the everyday life 

of athletes in the country. 

“They should get rid of politicians 

who want to interfere with the administration 

of sports in the country,” 

he said at the interview which 

was part of events lined up to mark 

his 80th birthday. 

Continuing, the former Nigerian 

national cricket team captain said, 

in place of politicians, they should 

“get people who are knowledgeable, 

who have a background in 

sports whether on academic or on 

practical basis. 

“And more importantly, probity. If 

you cut away all those fringes like 

Senators, friends and all those who 

see every sporting event as a jamboree, 

where you pay one individual 

estacodes that would be 

enough to pay the whole team 

things would be better.” 

He recalled the step he took to 

ensure probity, when he was captain 

of the Oyo State cricket team. 

“As captain of my team, I was supposed 

to be on $180 – $250 dollars 

a day, but as a player, I was supposed 

to be paid $6 dollars a day. 

Yet they wanted me to take more 

officials who would have been paid 

$180 dollars a day. We asked some 

of them, why don’t you let go part 

of your allowances, put it in the 

kitty, along with mine and we distributed 

it among the players. But 

that is on a personal basis as either 

a captain or a player.” He said 

the excess money was shared 

among the players who were all 

happy to give their best. 

“If we have such strict adherence 

to probity and justifiable administration 

of funds and those who 

know enough, not because they 

want to be there for the largess, 

then there will be a future,” he remarked. 

He praised the efforts of cricketers 

both old and young who have 

invested their time and resources 

in the development of the sport in 

the country, heaping encomiums 

on the present leadership of the 

first game against Benghazi at 

home. 

Osimhen, Ndidi among most expensive stars in world football 

...Worth N29 Billion, 26 Billion Naira respectively 

Napoli striker Victor Osimhen star Paul Pogba and his teammate 

and Leicester City Kalidou Koulibaly. 

midfielder Wilfred Ndidi have However, his valuation decreased 

by 6.8 million Euros since 

been ranked among the 150 most 

expensive football stars in the December 2020 an account of personal 

performance, the 

world. 

Top auditing firm KPMG has Coronavirus Pandemic among 

published its latest market valuation 

of football stars after it last Defensive midfielder Ndidi is 

several other variables. 

did so in December 2020. the 122nd most valued player in 

Osimhen, 22, who cost Napoli a 

record-breaking 83 million Euros 

when he moved from French 

Ligue 1 club Lille last summer, is 

the most valued Nigeria star. 

The report put his market value 

at 50 million Euros (about 29 Billion 

Naira) and that places him as 

the 98th most expensive player in 

the world. 

Wilfred Osimhen Ndidi 

His value is higher than those of 

the likes of Manchester United 

The Europa League matches are 

live on pay television network, 

StarTimes. 

Arsenal, who drew 1-1 against 

Benfica, will play their home 

game in Greece because of the 

Covid 19 pandemic, while Leicester 

City, who played a goalless 

draw in Slavia Prague, welcome 

the Czech club to the King Power 

Stadium. 

Bademosi 

Enyimba 

the world with his price tag now 

44.2 million Euros (about 26 Billion 

Naira) after an increase of a 

million Euros from December 

2020. 

Genk striker Paul Onuachu is 

666th most expensive footballer 

with a price tag of 14.10 million 

Euros following a remarkable increase 

of 8 million Euros from 

December 2020.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

TODAY’S CROSSWORD 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION 

TODAY’S PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER 

ACROSS 

7 Definitely (7,4) 

8 Set alight (6) 

9 Powerful (6) 

10 Hang loosely (6) 

12 Spanish rice dish (6) 

13 Melody (3) 

14 Vocalist (6) 

16 Trial (6) 

18 Sloping script (6) 

20 Need for food (6) 

22 US state (5,6) 

DOWN 

1 Small branch (4) 

2 Twine (6) 

3 Ancestor (8) 

4 Stalk (4) 

5 Bracelet (6) 

6 Fleet of small ships (8) 

11 Airmen (8) 

12 Foretell the future (8) 

15 Eight pints (6) 

17 Concerning teeth (6) 

19 Head-cook (4) 

21 Whirlpool (4) 

How to Play Sudoku 

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

two of the same number). 

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

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

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

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

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

multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination. 

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

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

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

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

25022021 - Way out of Nigeria’s security problems

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?