13062021 - Amid protest , Buhari vows:: i can die for Nigeria

After Ayade, many PDP govs in
defection talks with APC leadership
—Mustapha, ruling party chairmanship aspirant
By Demola Akinyemi
Alhaji Saliu Mustapha, 49, has his eyes
fixed on the National Chairman of the
All Progressives Congress (APC). With
over two decades of experience in party
administration and developmental politics,
the accomplished international businessman
with interest in real estate and construction
believes he is the man for the APC top job.
After attending St. Bartholomew Primary
School, Wusasa, Zaria, he proceeded to
Command Secondary School, Kaduna for
his post-primary education. For his higher
education, Mustapha studied mineral
resources engineering at the Kaduna
Polytechnic, Kaduna. Through Saliu
Mustapha Foundation, he has rolled out
charity projects in his Ilorin hometown and
beyond. On the average, he spends over
N100million in hard-earned funds annually
to execute projects under the Foundation,
including an annual financial empowerment
programme, annual scholarship and
educational support services, among others.
Politically, he is a force to reckon with
Kwara State. For years, he has nurtured and
maintained his SMS political movement that
cuts across the 16 Local Government Areas of
the state.
In 2019, the group joined forces with other
progressives in Kwara under the Otoge
political mantra that installed the current
state administration. Specifically, between
2001 and 2002, Mustapha was the National
Publicity Secretary of the Progressive
Liberation Party (PLP) under the leadership of
ACF opens up on state police, derivation
…says all 36 states should benefit from offshore oil, not only N-Delta region
By Henry Umoru
THE Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF,
has told the Committee on the
Review of the 1999 Constitution that
it has never been against the principle of
derivation provided it was designed to
compensate for the environmental
degradation resulting from oil exploration
or to reward efforts that are defined.
In a proposal submitted to the Committee
on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, the
ACF called for the review of the current
situation to allow for the proceeds from
offshore activities to become available to
all states.
In a 16-page document signed by the
Chairman of the ACF, Chief Audu Ogbeh,
and presented during the hearing by the
Sardauna of Katsina, Senator Ibrahim Ida,
the body said that if there must be
establishment of state police, there must be
a strong regulatory agency outside the
Police Service Commission, PSC, to be put
in place to regulate the activities.
The ACF, while advocating that the
immunity for the president, governors and
their deputies should be limited to civil
matters only, said, “The aim of the immunity
clause in the Constitution has been to reduce
Rotation
F
rumpus escalates as B
riends and associates of Prince Huxley
Adiniebo Unumadu, the poster boy of
culture and tourism in Delta State, threw
a surprise birthday party to celebrate his 52 nd
birthday.
The event took place at Kayden’s Lounge in
the heart of Obiaruku town, headquarters of
Ukwuani Local Government Area.
Unumadu is the Izomo of Umuebu Kingdom.
His Izomo Cultural Foundation (ICF) is in the
forefront of promoting the Ukwuani historical
and cultural life. ICF organizes the annual
Izomo Festival every year.
The maiden edition of his magazine focusing
on tourism and culture will be published in
December. In this interview, Unumadu speaks
on his activities. Excerpts:
•Saliu Mustapha
Dr. Ezekiel Ezeogwu. In 2003, he and other
like minds came together to form the
Progressive Action Congress (PAC) where he
was returned again as a National Publicity
Secretary. At about the time President
Muhammadu Buhari conceived the idea of
coming back into public service as a civilian
President, Mustapha keyed into the vision.
Thus, he became a member of The Buhari
Organisation (TBO) and the Buhari
Campaign Organisation (BCO) respectively.
He was a key member of the Buhari
Presidential Campaign in 2003 when the latter
ran under the platform of All Nigeria Peoples
frivolous litigations against presidents and
governors as well as their deputies in order
not to distract them from the important task
of governance. “However, there is the
clamour that immunity clause be expunged
from the Constitution precisely because its
protective role has aided corrupt practices
among those it had sought to protect.
“ACF recommends that immunity for the
president, governors and their
deputies should be limited to civil matters
only”.
On derivation, ACF said, “ACF is not
aware of any federal system that could
reasonably be described as a universal. That
may explain why no two federal systems
are identical as federal systems have more
to do with the circumstance of their
emergence.
“For example, while the 13 American
colonies came together to form U.S.A, in
the case of Nigeria, it was the national
government that created the states as the
federating units?
“But the common mantra in all federal
systems is the need to balance the powers of
the national government with the
appropriate state levels in the overriding
need to make the center strong enough for
In your little way, how have you been able to
give the culture and tourism industry in Delta
State a boost?
In so many ways, I’ve made remarkable
impact in my mission to promote culture and
tourism in Nigeria, especially in Delta State.
First and foremost, I’ve been largely proculture
in my physical appearance,
in public events and official circles.
I’ve been promoting African attires
and costumes. And in my capacity
as a cultural brand, I have been
creating and expanding the Mr.
Tourism identity and cultural
awareness and consciousness.
Equally, people and organizations
invite me to add cultural content and
value to their events, especially public
events that require the inputs of our
various cultural heritages and
identities. When I attend traditional
events like coronation of new
kings or rulership
anniversaries or even different
festivals across the country, I
bring along my Izomo cultural
regalia comprising my official
customs, dancers and
trumpeters to add colour and
cultural values to the events. By so doing,
I’m promoting social integration and unity
of our various ethnic groups. I’m also the
SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 13, 2021, PAGE 27
Party (ANPP). In 2007, he held the forth for the
ANPP in Kwara where he contested as a
member of the House of Representatives for
Ilorin East and South Federal Constituency
but lost.
In 2011, Mustapha became a NEC member
of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)
first, as an Ex-Officio, and subsequently as
National Deputy Chairman under the
leadership of Prince Tony Momoh (of blessed
memory).
The CPC later merged with other legacy
parties to form All Progressives Congress
(APC). In fact, he was signatory to the merger
agreement on behalf of the CPC in the
coalition. Since then, he has remained true to
the progressive ideology as a stakeholder of
the APC both at his home state and at the
national level. Mustapha, in this interview,
speaks on why he is qualified more than
anyone else to be APC Chairman as the race
to fill leadership positions in the ruling party
at the federal level intensifies. Excerpts:
It is no more news that the Kwara APC
has been in crisis since the commencement
of the AbdulRazaq administration. What is
your take on this?
It is quite unfortunate that Kwara APC had
to find itself in this kind of situation; it is
uncalled for; it is unnecessary because it
started way too early. But it is understandable
that in politics, there would always be a
divergence of opinions, views and interests. It
is now a task for people like me now to see
that we reconcile everybody and find a solution
to the crisis that has been rocking the party for
the past two years. This is my state, and I will
take this as a challenge to communicate with
a united one country, but not so strong that
the country becomes a unitary system.
“Towards this end, devolution of powers
in Nigeria could be affected by appropriate
tinkering with the Exclusive and
Concurrent Lists in the Constitution.
“Arewa Consultative Forum is never
opposed to the principle of derivation
provided that the aim is to compensate for
the environmental degradation resulting
from any exploration or to reward efforts,
however defined.
“The disagreement has arisen from the
abolition of the onshore/offshore oil
dichotomy in defiance of international law
and the ruling of Nigeria’s Supreme Court.
“As a result, proceeds from offshore
activities that are not due to efforts of the
states or any host communities, nor cause
any degradation of environment, are
factored into calculation for derivation with
dire consequence to the economic
wellbeing of non-oil producing states.
“ACF, therefore, calls for the review of the
current situation to allow for the proceeds
from offshore activities to become available
to all states.”
The ACF also warned that it appeared
that Nigeria has reached a level where state
creation should stop or else the states shall
Govt does not appreciate use of culture, tourism to
promote peace in Edo, Delta — Prince Unumadu
Unumadu
founder and head of the Izomo Cultural
Title Holders of Edo and Delta States
and our meetings and events bring
about cultural integration of the
various Izomo chieftaincies in our
two states. To a very large extent,
therefore, I’ve taken the spotlight
in culture and tourism promotion
and, apart from events like
marriages and annual
anniversaries, festivals have
taken me to a number of countries
in Africa and Europe and all
the nooks and crannies of
southern Nigeria. But that
notwithstanding, I’m
pained and deeply
disappointed by the
failure of successive
governments in Edo and
Delta to give me support
capable of opening the
window of opportunities
to impact fully in the culture and tourism
industry of the two states. You can see that
in Delta for example, we still have a lot to do
all stakeholders and bring back everyone on
board in oneness. The crisis in Kwara is going
to be a litmus test for my capacity and ability
to manage the crisis. I believe that in the
shortest time possible, I would be able to
achieve this by sitting with the governor and
other party stakeholders as one family to
resolve the issues. The problems are not
beyond us to resolve. I believe we can sit down
together again to laugh, play, strategise and,
most importantly, deliver on our party
promises, so that we are able to win the next
election in the state as overwhelmingly as we
did in 2019.
Don’t you think the crisis can affect your
ambition as the saying goes, a house divided
against self cannot stand?
Let me tell you for a fact, for any progressive
organisation to succeed, there must be conflict.
It helps us reflect on the ideology upon which
the party was formed and chart a way forward.
And it’s a phase any serious group would go
through. But what is of importance is that we
are not beclouded by these hassles when
making sacrosanct decisions. Beyond party
lines, we also see ourselves as partners in
progress. And it is on this premise that many
of our brothers in the Kwara APC, irrespective
of the crisis, have been contributing towards
my emergence.
What is the position of the Kwara governor
on your aspiration to be the National
Chairman of APC?
To be honest, I am not supposed to be
discussing that on the pages of
newspapers. But for the avoidance of
doubt, I have always enjoyed a good
relationship with Governor
AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. He is aware
of my ambition and he is very much
supportive of it. With all sense of humility,
this aspiration has taken a life of its own
in Kwara. It has obviously become a pan-
Kwara agenda, and everyone that matters
in Kwara today from the governor to the
party stakeholders and ordinary person
on the street is on queue behind this
aspiration. Nothing gives me bigger joy
than the fact that my state has found me
worthy of their support. I am enjoying
every bit of it, and I am immensely grateful
for it.
Continues on www.vanguardngr.com
become mere efforts or cost centres which
will consume the needed resources for
other developments, just as it called for
the scrapping of State Independent
Electoral Commission and the transfer of
elections to Local Government Councils
to the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC.
On state Police, ACF said, “In the light
of current realities, ACF accepts the
argument that giving power to state
governments to create state police and
exercise greater control over security
issues will be helpful in achieving better
security or the whole country.
“This is on condition that the states have
the financial capacity to equip and fund
these”.
“However, permitting states and
perhaps local governments to establish
police formations must be accompanied
by stringent checks and balances.
“In that aspect, the Police Service
Commission will not be enough. There will
be a need to set up a strong regulatory
agency that will monitor and control the
establishment, management and
operations of all such police formations,
so they do not become instruments of
political oppression by state
governments”.
in pushing the frontiers of culture and
tourism to enable the sub-sector play its
role in uniting our people and clans. We
still experience a case of brothers fighting
each other in the name of communal
clashes as they make claims to land and
so on. The modern state of tourism and
cultural values has grown beyond that
barbaric level.That is a simple assignment
for those of us in culture and tourism
practice to handle. My Izomo Foundation
and of course our Izomo Culture Title
Holders Association could handle this
intervention effectively. It’s part of our
traditional mandate to promote peace and
harmony in the polity.
What inspired your love for culture and
tourism?
My love for culture and tourism
emanated mostly from my search for
something that would constantly reflect
my identity as a black man. The whiteman
wears suit. That his cultural identity. We
too must identify ourselves anywhere with
our dress. I got captured by the mysteries
surrounding our traditional heritage, the
history of wars of our fore-fathers, the
stories of our ancient discoveries.
Continues on www.vanguardngr.com