06072021 - We must okay FG's security operations in our states- Southern Govs

ELECTRICITY: 

N1.5trn 

investment 

turns sour, 

power coys 

suffer 

inadequate 

capacity 

22 

Electoral law 13 

without 

electronic 

transmission of 

results invitation 

to anarchy 

—NA’ABBA, 

UTOMI, OTHERS 

Midnight raids: DSS 

shouldn't behave like bandits 

Government agents maintained with the taxpayers’ 

money cannot be perceived to compete with hoodlums 

in their modus operandi. 

36 investors express interest in FG’s power plants 

18 

19 

VOL. 27: NO. 64372 TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 

SOUTHERN GOVERNORS FORUM'S MEETING, LAGOS... 

From left, Governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Douye Diri of Bayelsa, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta, Emmanuel Udom of Akwa-Ibom, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, Nyesom 

Wike of Rivers, Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Gboyega Oyetola of Osun, 

Kelechi Igwe, Deputy Governor, Ebonyi, Ude Oko-Chukwu, Deputy Governor, Abia, Placid Njoku, Deputy Governor, Imo and Phillip Shaibu, Deputy Governor, 

Edo, during a meeting of the Southern Governors Forum at Lagos House yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez. SEE MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 20. 

We must okay FG's security 

operations in our states 

— SOUTHERN GOVS 

•Say Presidency must return South in 2023•Back 5% equity stake for host communities in PIB•Set Sept 1 deadline 

for laws banning open grazing•Reject removal of electronic transmission of election result from Amendment 

Bill•Insist on true federalism, devolution of powers•Stop pursuing Igboho, apologise to him, Soyinka tells 

FG•Says FG kidnapped Nnamdi Kanu; notes his arrest was wrong•We respond for President — ADESINA 

Bandits attack another Kaduna 

school, abduct 150 students 

•26 escape attack, over 100 still missing •As soldiers foil attack on Oyedepo’s school, Faith Academy•El- 

Rufai condemns kidnap of Bethel Baptist students•Kaduna Assembly speaker laments attack •Kaduna 

orders 13 schools to close 

We spend N60bn 

annually to repair 

vandalised 

pipelines – FG 

9 

Unremitted funds: 

NCDMB recovers 

$100m from oil 

companies 

42 CSOs allege plot by NASS 

to manipulate key provisions 

of Electoral Amendment Bill 

•Presiding officers can’t determine 

outcome of amendment —LAWAN 

COLUMNIST EBISENI 14 DELE COLE 15 TENIOLA 18 DAKUKU 26 

8 

9 

8 

Mr & Mrs

2 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021

Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 —3


LAGOS — The 

Southern 

Governors’ 

Forum, SGF, yesterday, 

unanimously resolved 

that security agencies 

must notify them of any 

operations in their states 

before doing so. 

They also declared that 

the Presidency should 

return to the South in 

2023, saying rotation will 

ensure peaceful coexistence 

and unity in the 

country. 

The governors also set 

September 1 as deadline 

for the commencement of 

the ban on open grazing 

in all southern states of 

the country. 

This is even as Nobel 

Laureate, Professor Wole 

Soyinka, said yesterday it 

is neither criminal nor 

illegal for anyone to 

express intention to leave 

any federation, asking the 

Federal Government to 

leave Sunday Igboho 

alone and apologise to 

him over attack on his 

house by the DSS and 

soldiers. 

He also said there 

would be an uproar in the 

country if the truth of how 

Kanu was arrested 

became known in the 

country. 

The Presidency failed to 

react last night to the 

governors’ declaration, 

as Special Adviser to the 

President on Media and 

Publicity, Chief Femi 

Adesina, said: 

“It is not about the 

Presidency. We respond 

for the President. You 

can’t bring things that are 

not about the President to 

us." 

Efforts to also get the 

vanguardnews 

By Dapo Akinrefon, Deputy Regional Editor, 

South-West, Olasunkanmi Akoni & 

Johnbosco Agbakwuru 

Inspector-General of 

Police, Usman Alkali 

Baba, last night also 

proved abortive, as 

spokesman of Force 

Headquarters, CP Frank 

Mba, could not be 

reached on phone. 

But the position of the 

governors came against 

the backdrop of the attack 

on the Soka, Ibadan 

residence of Yoruba 

activist, Sunday Adeyemo, 

popularly known as 

Sunday Igboho, by a 

combined team of soldiers 

and operatives of the 

Department of State 

Service, DSS, last 

Thursday. 

15 govs present, 

2 absent 

15 governors were 

present at the meeting in 

Lagos to discuss issues 

relating to the state of the 

nation, while two, 

Governor Ben Ayade of 

Cross River State, and 

Willie Obiano of Anambra 

State, were absent. 

Those in attendance 

were Ifeanyi Okowa 

(Delta), Nyesom Wike 

(Rivers), Rotimi 

Akeredolu (Ondo), Dapo 

Abiodun (Ogun), 

Babajide Sanwo-Olu 

(Lagos), Gboyega Oyetola 

(Osun), Emmanuel Udom 

(Akwa Ibom), Kayode 

Fayemi (Ekiti), Douye Diri 

(Bayelsa), Seyi Makinde 

(Oyo) and Ifeanyi 

Ugwuanyi (Enugu). 

Other governors 

represented by their 

deputies are Governor 

Obaseki of Edo State, who 

was represented by his 

deputy, Philip Shuaibu; 

Governor Hope 

@vanguardnews 

Uzodinma, represented 

by his deputy, Placid 

Njoku; Governor Okezie 

Ikpeazu of Abia State, 

represented by his 

deputy, Ude Oko- 

Chukwu; and Governor 

David Umahi of Ebonyi 

State, who was 

represented by his 

deputy, Kelechi Igwe. 

Rising from the 

meeting, the second in 

the series of the Forum 

in Lagos, the governors 

in a communique read by 

the chairman and 

governor of Ondo State, 

Rotimi Akeredolu, said: 

“The Southern 

Governors Forum at the 

end of the meeting held 

on Monday, 5th July, 

2021, resolved that if for 

any reason security 

institutions need to 

undertake an operation 

in any state, the chief 

security officer of the state 

must be duly informed. 

“The forum frowns on 

selective criminal 

administration of justice 

and resolved that arrests 

should be made within 

the ambit of the law and 

fundamental human 

rights. 

“It sets a timeline of 

Wednesday, September 1, 

2021, for the 

promulgation of the antiopen 

grazing law in all 

member states. 

"The forum reviewed 

the situation in the 

country and focused on 

the current security 

situation, constitutional 

amendment, Petroleum 

Industry Bill, PIB. 

“The forum re-affirmed 

its commitment to the 

unity of Nigeria on the 

pillars of equity, fairness, 

justice, progress and 

peaceful co-existence 

between and among its 

people. 

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08052867058 

We must okay FG's security operations in our 

states — SOUTHERN GOVS 

“The Forum reiterates 

its commitment to the 

politics of equity, 

fairness 

and 

unanimously agrees that 

the Presidency of Nigeria 

be rotated between 

Southern and Northern 

Nigeria and resolved that 

the next president of 

Nigeria should emerge 

from the Southern region. 

“The Forum reviewed 

the security situation in 

the country and 

commends security 

operatives for their 

relentless efforts in 

restoring security and 

safety and commiserates 

with families and loved 

ones of those who have 

fallen in the line of duty; 

“It re-emphasised the 

need for state police; 

resolved that Funds 

deducted from the 

Federation Account for 

the Nigeria Police Security 

Trust Fund should be 

distributed among the 

states and federal 

government to combat 

security challenges. 

"On the PIB law, the 

Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021— 5 

POCKET CARTOON 

forum commended the 

National Assembly for the 

progress made in the 

passage of the PIB. 

"The forum, however, 

rejected the “proposed 3% 

and support the 5% share 

of the oil revenue to host 

community as 

recommended by the 

House of Representatives. 

"The governors also 

rejected the “proposed 

30% share of profit for the 

exploration of oil and gas 

in the frontier basins. 

“However, the forum 

rejects the ownership 

structure of the proposed 

Nigeria National 

Petroleum Company 

Limited, NNPC. 

“The Forum disagrees 

that the company be 

vested in the Federal 

Ministry of Finance but 

should be held in trust by 

Nigeria Sovereign 

Investment Authority, 

NSIA, since all tiers of 

government have stakes 

in that vehicle. 

“To consolidate our 

democracy and 

Continues on Page 27 

From left, member, Anambra State APC Governorship Primary Election Appeal 

Committee, Senator Julius Ucha, Chairman of the committee and Gombe State 

Governor, Inuwa Yahaya ; National Secretary, APC Caretaker/Extraordinary 

Convention Planning Committee, Sen. James Akpanudoedehe; Appeal 

Committee Secretary, Dr. Ijeoma Arodiogbu and member, Hajia Maryam Salifu, 

during the presentation of the report at APC national secretariat in 

Abuja yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan. 

On invasion of Sunday Igboho's house by DSS (1) 

By Yinka Latona 

The raid performed 

at Sunday Igboho’s 

house by the DSS 

is just evidence of all the 

wrong actions committed 

by the government. 

A raid without a warrant 

is one thing but the 

fact that the DSS were 

out to kill and even mistaken 

to be gunmen is 

disappointing. 

—Jonas Godwin, Entrepreneur 

The reason for the 

invasion of Sunday 

Igboho’s home may 

be valid but the mode of 

operation was wrong. 

How can raid a person’s 

private resident at night 

without proper identification 

and expect no 

resistance. The DSS was 

totally wrong in their 

action. 

—Oyinlola Martins, 

Businessman 

This invasion is 

another shock to 

Nigerians and to be 

candid, Igboho’s 

activities have caused 

more damage to the peace 

of this nation especially 

raising a flag in an 

existing government. This 

is constitutionally known 

as treason and it’s 

punishable by the laws of 

the Federal Republic of 

Nigeria. 

—Epelle Goodnews, 

Engineer 

The DSS action was apt. 

Prevention is better than 

cure. What Igboho was 

clamouring for is a divided 

nation and that is the least 

of our problems right now. 

Divide Nigeria, give us 

Yoruba nation, to do what? 

The invasion was to send a 

strong warning, not just to 

Igboho but to all whose 

agenda is to divide 

Nigeria. You cannot fight 

the government. 

—Kareem Hakeem, 

Researcher 

It’s unprofessional for the 

DSS, like a Gestapo 

Force, attacked Igboho’s 

residence, destroyed his 

property and killed some 

of his aides without 

arresting Igboho whom 

they had gone for. If the 

FG had not failed ussecurity 

wise - there 

wouldn’t have been an 

Igboho. The quest to mute 

the voices of the citizenry is 

palpable and it has assumed 

a desperate dimension. We 

are in a banana republic. 

—Folorunso Fatai, 

Analyst 

T 

he raid that took 

place at Sunday Igboho’s 

home is understandable 

but the attacks 

and killings by the DSS 

without a warrant is an 

act of banditry which is 

illegal and not acceptable. 

This kind of actions 

that takes place in the 

name of national security 

is getting out of hand. 

—David Benson, Student

6—Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 

:Vanguard News 

:@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058 

Minister 

slumps at 

Bauchi event 

By Charly Agwam 

BAUCHI—There 

was 

confusion over the health 

status of Minister of State for 

Industry, Trade and 

Investment, Mrs Maryam 

Katagum, as she slumped 

while on an official 

engagement in Bauchi State, 

yesterday. 

The minister, who was in 

Bauchi for the launch of an 

empowerment programme at 

Sanin Malam Plaza 

suddenly slumped as she 

tried to deliver her speech at 

the ceremony. 

Vanguard gathered that she 

was immediately rushed to 

the Trauma Centre of the 

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa 

University Teaching 

Hospital, ATBUTH. 

According to an 

eyewitness, the minister, who 

sat next to the Bauchi State 

Deputy Governor, Sen Baba 

Tela, at the event looked 

withdrawn touching her 

head occasionally as the 

programme was going on. 

Another eyewitness said the 

minister slumped as she 

stood up to deliver her 

address and launch the 

programme, adding that she 

just held her head and went 

down flat. 

At press time, she was still 

at the trauma centre of 

ATBUTH where she was 

receiving medical attention 

with the deputy governor 

monitoring the situation. 

Officials of the ministry as 

well as those of the state 

government were seen 

monitoring the situation as 

one of them confirmed that 

the minister was indeed 

inside the hospital. 

Gunmen 

abduct Taraba 

NLC chairman 

By Femi Bolaji 

GUNMEN suspected to be 

kidnappers have reportedly 

abducted the Chairman, Taraba 

State chapter of Nigeria Labour 

Congress, NLC, Peter Jediel, for 

the second time this year. 

Jediel was reportedly picked 

from his house in Sunkani, 

headquarters of Ardo-Kola Local 

Government Area of the state. 

His assailants, according to an 

EXCO of the state NLC, who 

confirmed his abduction to 

Vanguard via telephone, stormed 

his house in the early hours of 

Sunday. 

He also said the abductors 

have contacted the victim's family 

and are demanding ransom. 

The leader of the Southern 

Conference of the United 

Methodist Church, Rev. Philip 

Dopah, where Jediel worships, 

called on Tarabans to cry to God 

in one voice for the safe release 

of the labour leader. 

A closed associate of the family, 

who also spoke with our 

correspondent, lamented that the 

state government was handling 

security with kid gloves. 

Kidnappers abduct man, son-in-law, another, 

demand N30m ransom in Edo 

•As police rescue kidnapped passengers 

By Ozioruva Aliu 

A 

seventy-year-old man, identified 

as Aminu Ibrahim, returning to 

his base in Igarra, Akoko-Edo local 

government area of Edo State, after 

going to settle a marital issue 

between their daughter and the 

husband in Yamoya near Kabba, 

Kogi State, was weekend, abducted 

alongside his son-in-law and a yet to 

be identified person. 

It was gathered that the trio were 

abducted near Lampese, a border 

town between Edo and Kogi states. 

A family source, yesterday, said the 

abductors initially demanded N30 

million ransom, but later reduced it 

to N1 million per person. 

The source said: “The last time we 

spoke to him was when he said they 

were in Okene, that they would soon 

continue their journey to Igarra, 

which is about 40 minutes. Shortly 

after that, his phone was no longer 

going. Initially, my husband said 

maybe they were in an area where 

there was no network until we were 

told that their vehicle was attacked 

by kidnappers and three of them 

were taken away. 

“He is an old man and the 

kidnappers have been threatening us 

that we are delaying them. We have 

only been able to raise N200,000” 

A member of the vigilante in the 

area said they spent the whole of 

Saturday and Sunday night in the 

bush combing their possible hideout 

but no headway made. 

Police rescue 9 

kidnapped travellers 

Meanwhile, the police said nine 

travellers, who were kidnapped 

along the Benin-Auchi Road early 

Sunday morning, have been rescued 

by the men of the Edo Police 

Command at Igieduma village. The 

police said the passengers were 

2 missing children found dead in Gboko 2 days after 

By Peter Duru 

MAKURDI—Two children, 

seven-year-old Aondona Abba 

and six-year-old Aondoaseer Abba, 

declared missing, weekend, in Gboko 

town, Gboko Local Government Area 

of Benue State, have been found dead 

in a pool of water. 

Vanguard gathered that the kids, who 

were cousins, left their homes at 109, 

Captain Downes Street, Gboko East, 

Saturday, without the knowledge of 

their parents to watch a football match 

at a football viewing centre said to be 

located a few metres from their homes. 

But were probably abducted 

somewhere around the J.S. Tarka 

Institute of Political Studies at about 5 

pm by unknown persons. 

According to the source, a search was 

conducted for two days to locate the 

children, “nobody saw them but early 

Sunday morning, the footwear of one 

of them was found near a pool of water 

and the other had his footwear found 

nearby a Catholic church.” 

He said local swimmers were 

My late husband’s brother demolished my 

house because I refused to marry him 

By Chinonso Alozie 

OWERRI—A widow, Mrs 

Ifenyinwa Okechi, 

yesterday, cried out for justice 

after her late husband’s house 

in Ubahangwu Etiti Orsu 

Autonomous Community in 

Orsu Local Government Area, 

in Imo State, was reportedly 

demolished by her late 

husband’s younger brother, 

Mr Simon Okechi. 

Narrating her plight in 

Owerri, the widow claimed 

that the house was demolished 

because she refused to marry 

Mr Simon after she was 

severally forced to do so. 

She said the demolition of 

her husband’s house has 

exposed her and her five 

children to abject poverty as 

they now beg for food to eat. 

She said: “I did not offend 

my late husband’s young 

brother, Simon Okechi, before 

he called some young people 

to demolish the house of my 

late husband where I and my 

five children used to sleep. 

“At first, he asked me to 

marry him after my husband 

died, but I refused. He has 

been threatening my life and 

my children. 

“Because I refused to allow 

him to have me as his wife, he 

forcibly took over the house my 

husband built in Benin, he 

The children 

mobilised to search for the missing boys 

in the water but they were not found 

until Monday morning (yesterday) 

when their lifeless bodies were found 

dumped near the water at the J.S. Tarka 

Institute of Political Studies. 

Efforts to speak with their parents 

failed as they are still in shock but the 

elder brother of their twin parents, Dr 

Ben Abba, who described the incident 

as shocking, said the two kids were full 

•Widow cries out in Imo •Says N300,000, 2 

generators, motorcycle, others destroyed 

Mrs Ifenyinwa Okechi and her five children. Photo: Chinonso Alozie. 

drove us out of the storey 

building and put tenants 

there. 

“Since then, he has been 

collecting the rent and forced 

us to go to the village to stay, 

yet, he will not stop 

threatening us. 

“My pain now is that during 

the demolition I lost 

everything in that house 

of life and vigour, adding that the larger 

family would meet and take action on 

the matter. 

Contacted, the Police Public 

Relations Officer, Catherine Anene, 

confirmed the development in a text 

message, saying: “The two children, 

who were reported missing, were found 

dead in Gboko today (yesterday). 

Investigation in the matter is in 

progress." 

including cooking items and 

equipment I use to do my food 

vendor business, including 

bags of rice, N300,000, pots 

and utensils, motorcycles, two 

generators. 

“N115,000 to be remitted to 

people who gave me 10 bags 

of rice, table, wooden chairs, 

shoes, buckets, gas cooker 

cylinder, two mattresses, five 

coolers among others.” 

made up of three males and six 

females 

A statement by the Police Public 

Relations Officer, Edo Command, 

Kotongs Bello, said the command’s 

men swung into action upon 

receiving the distress call about the 

incident and engaged the kidnappers 

in a gun battle, leading to the rescue 

of the victims. 

The statement read: “On receipt 

of the information, the DPO, Ehor 

Division, CSP Benafa Benjamin, 

swung into action, mobilising his 

team of Police operatives from Ehor 

Division of Edo State police 

command and vigilante group for 

immediate bush combing. They 

moved into the lgieduma forest 

reserve where the victims were 

released.” 

Tricycle riders 

go berserk in 

Ilorin, attack 

police officers 

By Demola Akinyemi 

ILORIN— Tricycle riders went 

berserk, yesterday, in Ilorin, the 

Kwara State capital, beating any 

policeman on sight following the 

crushing of three of their colleagues 

to death by a police escort vehicle 

that also injured four others. 

It took the timely intervention of 

anti-riot policemen who were 

drafted to the scene to restore 

normalcy after firing several tear gas 

to scare away the angry mob. 

It was gathered that the multiple 

crashes, which occurred at 

Government Secondary School 

(GSS)-Fate junction, along Ministry 

of Agric, Ilorin, was said to have 

resulted from overspeeding and 

speed violation on the part of the 

escort vehicle. 

However, an eyewitness said three 

passengers from two of the 

commercial tricycles were killed on 

the spot by the Toyota Hilux escort 

vehicle, a development that 

reportedly led to the pandemonium 

in the area. 

The Kwara State Sector 

Commander of the Federal Road 

Safety Corps, FRSC, Jonathan 

Owoade, who confirmed the 

incident, said two yellow 

commercial tricycles and one black 

escort Toyota Hilux vehicle were 

involved in the auto crash. 

The FRSC boss also said one 

female adult passengers of a yellow 

commercial tricycle died and one 

minor severely injured in the crash. 

He said the two victims were 

rushed to a private hospital near the 

accident scene, adding that the 

female adult gave up the ghost while 

the minor is currently undergoing 

treatment at the hospital 

He said: “One female adult and 

one female child were rescued from 

the crash scene of the incident and 

taken to Olutayo Hospital with our 

patrol vehicle while two of the road 

marshals were left to control traffic 

as gridlock was building up. The 

dead victim had already been 

evacuated before our arrival. 

“Shortly before our patrol vehicle 

returned from the hospital, a report 

was received that a group of tricycle 

riders were beating up uniform men 

around and policemen who came for 

the rescue were shooting to scare 

them away. The marshals on 

ground were instructed to leave 

the scene immediately."

Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 — 7 

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

COMMISSIONING—Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akerodolu, SAN, (2nd left) with Mr. Kayode Falowo, 

President & Chairman of Council, Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce, and other government officials, 

during the unveiling of the plaque at the commissioning of the NBCC Plaza, in Lagos. 

We've evidence against Kenyatta's 

involvement in Kanu's abduction —IPOB 

•FG kidnapped Nnamdi Kanu, his arrest was wrong —Soyinka 

•Return Nnamdi Kanu to UK, Igbo youth leaders tell FG 

•S-East elders protest at UK parliament, accuse Buhari's govt of genocide 

•Malami, a disgrace to rule of law, says Canadian justice minister 

•ESN members allegedly arrested for planning to plant explosives in Imo 

By Chimaobi 

Nwaiwu, Chinonso 

Alozie & Steve Oko 

THE INDIGENOUS Peo 

ple of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday, 

described as a lame denial, 

the Kenyan Ambassador 

to Nigeria, Wilfred 

Machage's, attempt to exonerate 

Kenyan President, Uhuru 

Kenyatta, from the circumstance 

that led to the alleged 

abduction and extradition of 

its leader, Mazi Nnamdi 

Kanu, to Nigeria, saying that 

it has incontrovertible evidence 

against Kenyetta's involvement. 

IPOB alleged that the Kenyan 

President betrayed Mazi 

Kanu because of financial inducement 

by Nigerian government 

and promise of oil 

business, describing the Kenyan 

government denial as a 

smart but belated attempt to 

cover up its atrocities. 

This came as Nobel laureate, 

Wole Soyinka, said 

Nnamdi Kanu was kidnapped 

by the federal government 

and his arrest was 

wrong. 

Equally, Coalition of South 

East Youth Leaders, 

COSEYL, has asked the 

federal government to 

immediately return the 

abducted Leader of the 

Indigenous Peoples of Biafra 

IPOB Nnamdi Kanu to 

Britain where he is a citizen. 

In Britain, some southeast 

elders have stormed the United 

Kingdom Parliament in 

London to protest against 

President Muhammadu Buhari’s 

genocide in their region 

while urging the British 

authorities to prevail on Nigeria 

to halt the killings. 

In a related development, 

the Minister of Justice and 

Solicitor-General of the Government 

of Alberta, Canada, 

Kelechi Madu, has slammed 

the Nigerian Minister of Justice 

and Attorney General, 

Abubakar Malami, over the 

re-arrest of the leader of the 

Indigenous People of Biafra, 

Nnamdi Kanu. 

Meantime, four suspected 

members of the Eastern Security 

Network, ESN, of the 

proscribed Indigenous People 

of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday, 

were paraded for allegedly 

planning to plant explosives 

in a military checkpoint along 

Owerri/Orlu road in Imo 

State. 

Kenyatta's 

involvement in 

Kanu's abduction 

—IPOB 

A statement by IPOB Media 

and Publicity Secretary, 

Emma Powerful, entitled "We 

have incontrovertible evidence 

of how Uhuru Kenyatta 

betrayed our leader because 

of oil 

money"maintained that Kenyan 

security forces abducted 

Mazi Kanu, at the Nairobi 

International Airport and tortured 

him for eight days before 

handing him over to Nigeria 

government for extradition. 

IPOB statement read in 

part: "The attention of the global 

family of the Indigenous 

People of Biafra, IPOB, ably 

led by our great leader, Mazi 

Nnamdi Kanu, has been 

drawn to the lame denial by 

the Kenyan Ambassador to 

Nigeria, Wilfred Machage, of 

Kenya's involvement in the 

criminal abduction of our 

leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. 

"This denial is another 

smart but belated attempt to 

cover up their atrocities but 

unfortunately for them, we 

already have incontrovertible 

evidence of how the dirty deal 

between Nigeria and Kenya 

was struck. Our intelligence 

gathering has revealed all 

those involved in the heinous 

crime. 

"The fact remains that Kenyan 

security forces abducted 

our leader, Mazi Nnamdi 

Kanu, at the Nairobi International 

Airport and tortured 

him for eight days. Our Leader 

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was 

traveling with British passport. 

"Contrary to claims by the 

Nigeria Government, our 

leader was not traveling with 

any Nigeria passport because 

he is not a Nigerian. He was 

born in Biafra and he has since 

publicly renounced any connections 

with Nigeria. 

"From our intelligence, 

Kenya betrayed our leader 

because of financial inducement 

and offer of oil by Nigeria. 

The negotiations was 

midwifed by the Nigerian 

Ambassador in Nairobi who 

bargained with President 

Uhuru Kenyatta and the Kenyan 

Immigration Authorities. 

Uhuru Kenyatta was blinded 

by the oil money offer and he 

consented to the wickedness. 

"We have it on good authority 

that Kenyan Police tortured 

our leader, Mazi Nnamdi 

Kanu, for eight days without 

food. The Kenyan President, 

Uhuru Kenyatta and 

Ambassador to Nigeria, 

should be ashamed of themselves 

for betraying an innocent 

man because of money. 

But we assure them that they 

will pay heavily for this 

treachery!" 

FG kidnapped 

Nnamdi Kanu, 

his arrest was 

wrong —Soyinka 

Speaking with BBC Pidgin 

yesterday, the literary icon 

said there would be an uproar 

in the country if the truth 

of how Kanu was arrested becomes 

known. 

“It’s not for me to tell the 

president to prepare itself because 

it’s going to be a huge 

squawk when the truth about 

how Kanu was arrested 

comes out. People are alleging 

this or that. That is one 

phase whether Nigeria has 

acted outside international 

law,” Soyinka said. 

“The second issue, however, 

has to do with Kanu’s conduct 

outside the nation. There’s 

been a level of hate rhetoric 

which has been unfortunate, 

from Kanu. Hate rhetoric is 

an issue that can only be 

judged by the laws of any nation. 

“Was it right ‘to have been 

kidnapped?’ You can say intercepted 

as much as you want 

but I think Kanu was kidnapped. 

That is wrong internationally 

and morally." 

Commenting on the reactions 

that have trailed the 

swiftness with which the federal 

government arrested 

Kanu, the Nobel laureate said 

the federal government has 

not shown the same eagerness 

in going after bandits and 

insurgents. 

“The government cannot 

wash itself clean on what 

seems to be a kind of comparative 

energy in pursuing the 

destabilised forces in the nation,” 

he said. 

“If we take ourselves back, 

once when I threw a challenge 

to Buhari, what I expect from 

a true leader is to issue an order, 

give a deadline that any 

illegal occupant of any villages, 

farms is given 48hours to 

quit after which the mighty 

forces of the nation will be 

unleashed on them. It was ignored. 

“Years later, he came to say 

‘we will respond to these people 

in the language they understand’. 

This is what I expected 

him to have said years 

ago at the beginning of the 

insurgency. 

“Their leadership, the Miyetti 

Allah, should have been 

arrested years ago, long before 

IPOB was declared a terrorist 

organisation.” 

He said rather, the Miyetti 

Allah group has continued to 

act unchecked while the federal 

government has refused 

to “mount the same energy 

against them”. 

“So people are right to say 

there has been an unequal 

and irregular approach to security 

and enforcement in this 

nation,” he added. 

He advised the federal government 

to stop the blame 

game and take action." 

S'East elders 

protest at UK 

Parliament 

The South-East leaders in a 

video of the protest as obtained 

by SaharaReporters, 

noted that the government 

was fuelling the crisis in the 

region. 

It also accused the government 

of allowing attackers in 

form of herdsmen to maim 

and kill innocent people. 

One of the elders said: “It 

has been a long time, all of us 

came together. And now, we 

are here. This is the British 

parliament. This is the House 

of Commons and House of 

Lords, the mother of all parliaments. 

We are bringing this 

letter because of the problem 

in Igboland and the South- 

East generally, which can be 

classified as genocide. People 

are being killed daily. 

“The humiliation of the 

Igbo and South-East in Nigeria 

is unbelievable. Young 

boys and young girls are 

marched out of their houses 

by fully armed soldiers. They 

go into their houses and arrest 

them and they disappear 

and nobody asks any questions. 

It should stop. It must 

not be allowed to continue. 

“We are appealing to the 

members of the British parliament 

to please prevail on 

the Buhari government. We 

cannot go to our farms, the 

herdsmen are there, killing 

and maiming our people.” 

Igbo people in the UK have 

been protesting against various 

issues and decisions in 

Nigeria, including the recent 

arrest of the leader of the Indigenous 

People of Biafra, 

Nnamdi Kanu, who is in the 

custody of the Department of 

State Services in Abuja. 

Malami, a disgrace 

to rule of law, 

says Canadian 

Justice Minister 

Madu, in a post on his 

LinkedIn page, said if reports 

that Kanu was abducted from 

Kenya were true, Malami was 

not only a disgrace to the rule 

of law but also not worthy to 

be a public officer. 

The Canadian official, who 

is also the Deputy Government 

House Leader, said Nigeria 

and Kenya violated international 

law in the manner 

Kanu was extradited and 

called on world leaders to 

apply appropriate sanctions. 

Madu, who demanded the 

release of Kanu, urged the 

Nigerian government to ensure 

his safety. 

“The Attorney General of 

Nigeria, Abubakar Malami 

is a disgrace to the rule of law 

and not worthy to be an officer 

of the court. He has shown 

himself to be a bigot who does 

not understand what it means 

to live in a pluralistic society 

governed by the dictates of the 

rule of law,” he wrote. 

He also called on the international 

community and 

leaders of nations to use all 

their power to ensure “real 

consequences for these arbitrary 

violations of internationally 

accepted democratic 

norms and rules that govern 

civilized people.” 

Madu said, “Nigeria is 

burning, and the people of Nigeria, 

except those who are 

holding the country down, 

want out. You cannot destroy 

the hope and aspiration of a 

people destined for greatness 

and expect them to bow down 

in servitude. You cannot destroy 

a generation of people 

and expect them not to fight 

for their freedom. The power 

of guns, state-sponsored terrorism 

will not achieve peace 

or the preservation of Nigeria. 

“The Igbo and other ethnic 

groups in Nigeria who are 

calling for Nigeria to be renegotiated 

do not seek violence 

or war. They seek peace. 

They seek progress and the 

advancement of their people. 

They seek fairness, safety, equity, 

and justice for their people. 

They seek the opportunity 

for their children to grow 

up and achieve their God-given 

abundant potential. They 

seek the rise of a people with 

the work ethic, intellect and 

capacity to be a truly global 

super power on the continent 

of Africa. They seek dignity 

over inhumane treatment. 

They seek life over death. 

“Friends of the black world 

must unite and liberate the 

people of Nigeria from this 

bondage and from the claws 

of corrupt and inept politicians 

who have no business 

being near the corridor of Nigeria’s 

political power.” 

Return Nnamdi 

Kanu to UK, Igbo 

youth leaders tell 

FG 

COSEYL in a statement 

jointly signed by its President 

Goodluck Ibem and Secretary 

General Kanice Igwe, 

described the attack as “barbaric 

and mindless." 

According to the statement, 

“the true and only killers in 

the country are the murderous 

herdsmen/terrorists who 

kill people all over the country”. 

“The federal government 

has turned a blind eye to their 

atrocities and are only interested 

in arresting, tormenting, 

and dehumanizing innocent 

citizens who are not of Fulani 

extraction. 

“Government took all the 

pains and spent enormous resources 

to bring Nnamdi 

Kanu from far away Kenya 

while the Boko Haram terrorists, 

ISWAP and murderous 

Fulani herdsmen/terrorists 

are busy killing Nigerians in 

their thousands. 

“We demand that the Nigerian 

government should return 

Nnamdi Kanu to Britain 

where he is a citizen and if 

the federal government wishes 

to extradite him to Nigeria, 

they must follow due process 

of extradition according to 

international law. ” 

According to the statement, 

“the true and only killers in 

the country are the murderous 

herdsmen/terrorists who 

kill people all over the country.” 

4 ESN members 

arrested in Imo 

The State Commissioner of 

Police, Abutu Yaro, confirmed 

this to newsmen in Owerri. 

Yaro said that they were apprehended 

after ESN members 

engaged the security 

forces in a gun battle and in 

the process, they fell to the superior 

power of the police 

force.

8 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 



ANNIVERSARY: From left, Managing Director, Stratech Properties, Ambassador Moses Obisesan; Chairman, 

Project Advisory Board, Nurudeen AbdulQuadri and Promoter, Abuja International Housing Show, Festus Adebayo, 

during the 12th anniversary of Stratech Properties and Promoter of one million houses in Nigeria held in 

Abuja, yesterday. 

42 CSOs allege plot by NASS to manipulate 

key provisions of Electoral Act Amendment Bill 

By Henry Umoru & 

Luminous Jannamike 

A 

BUJA — A coalition of 

42 civil society organizations 

yesterday alleged that 

the National Assembly was 

planning to pass a manipulated 

copy of the Electoral Act 

Amendment Bill in a plenary 

scheduled for July 8. 

The CSOs, under the aegis 

of Alliance of Civil Society 

Organisations for Expansion 

of Electoral and Democratic 

Space, made the allegation in 

an emergency briefing in Abuja. 

Organisations represented 

at the briefing were Enough 

Is Enough, Yiaga Africa, 

Centre for Liberty, The Electoral 

Hub, and 38 others. 

Speaking on behalf of the 

group, a former Chairman of 

Nigerian Electricity Regulatory 

Commission, NERC, Mr 

Sam Amadi, claimed there 

were discrepancies between 

the approved version of the 

Bill and the alleged final copy 

where some key provisions 

have been allegedly manipulated. 

He cautioned the National 

Assembly that such 

plot to manipulate the electoral 

process would be a direct 

invitation to a crisis. He 

said: “The worst thing that 

anyone can do for the government 

and people of this 

country is to deliberately implant 

an electoral process 

that is not credible. 

“In the alleged final copy, 

some key priority amendments 

were rejected by the 

leadership of the National 

Assembly as follows; the electronic 

transmission of results 

has been prohibited, the limits 

on campaign expenses 

have been increased, and the 

proposal empowering INEC 

to review the declaration of 

scores and return of candidates 

made by a Returning Officer 

under duress or contrary to the 

provisions of the law has been 

rejected. 

“If it is passed, we would 

perceive it as an elite conspiracy 

to ensure Nigeria fails as 

a country.” 

Speaking also, the spokesman 

of National Consultative 

Front, Dr. Tanko Yunusa, said 

the alleged final copy of the 

Electoral Amendment Bill, 

which they have reviewed, 

does not represent the interests 

of the Nigerian people. 

“We, therefore, consider it a 

forged document that must 

not be substituted for our le- 

*Presiding officers can’t determine outcome of 

amendment, says Lawan 

gitimate demands. The National 

Assembly should give 

us an electoral law that will 

stand the test of time in promoting 

credible elections,” he 

said. 

While calling on the Senate 

President, Ahmed Lawan, and 

the Speaker of House of Representatives, 

Femi Gbajabiamila, 

to declare that they 

were not part of the alleged 

attempt to subvert the voices 

of Nigerians, the 42 CSOs 

urged the people to stand up 

to resist any attempt to manipulate 

the approved version 

of Electoral Act Amendment 

Bill for selfish reasons. 

Speaking on the isue yesterday, 

President of the Senate, 

Ahmad Lawan, said presiding 

officers of both chambers 

of the National Assembly 

were not in any position to 

determine the outcome of 

amendments to the Electoral 

Act (Amendment) Bill 

under consideration. 

Lawan made this known 

against the backdrop of insinuations 

and misgivings by 

some Nigerians that the leadership 

of the National Assembly 

was bent on accommodating 

contentious clauses in the 

Electoral Act (Amendment) 

Bill currently before it, that 

would stop the transmission 

of election results electronically. 

Speaking at the inauguration 

and swearing-in ceremony 

of the Chief Commissioner 

and Commissioners of the 

Public Complaints Commission 

in Abuja, Lawan disclosed 

that the upper chamber 

would consider the Electoral 

Act (Amendment) Bill 

within the next two weeks 

upon presentation of a report 

by the Committee on INEC. 

He, therefore, advised Nigerians 

to engage their representatives 

in both chambers of the 

National Assembly on whatever 

issues they feel strongly 

about in the bill. 

Lawan said, “The National 

Assembly is embarking on 

the amendment of the Electoral 

Act, probably by next 

week or within the next two 

weeks. 

“It is very important that 

those who feel very strongly 

about any amendment that 

they think should be effected 

in the Electoral Act should 

contact or talk to their members 

of the House of Representatives 

as well as Distinguished 

Senators. 

“I want to state categorically 

here that presiding officers 

are not the ones to determine 

what is carried or what is not. 

“So, it is very important that 

in the same way, the Public 

Complaints Commission is 

utilized properly by the general 

public.” 

The Senate President further 

charged the newly sworn-in 

Commissioners of the Public 

Complaints Commission to 

shun acts that would stifle 

fairness, transparency and 

accountability in the discharge 

of their duties. 

Lawan reminded them 

that the Commission is a machinery 

for the control of administrative 

excesses, noncompliance 

or non-adherence 

to administrative procedures 

or abuse of power. 

“It is principally an organ 

of government setup to redress 

complaints lodged by 

aggrieved citizens or residents 

of Nigeria against administrative 

injustice”, he said. 

The Senate President assured 

the Commission of the 

support of the National Assembly 

in the area of funding 

and amending the Public 

Complaints Commission Act 

1975, which has not been 

amended in the last fortyfive 

years since its enactment. 

“We are not unaware of 

some challenges confronting 

the Commission, the a National 

Assembly is making efforts 

to overcoming the challenges 

facing the Commission, 

and that is largely funding. 

“The Ombudsman institution 

is acclaimed worldwide 

as the machinery for the 

control of administrative excesses 

and providing the due 

reliefs and redress to citizens 

and foreigners residing in Nigeria”, 

Lawan added. 

Earlier, Speaker of the 

House of Representatives, 

Femi Gbajabiamila, said the 

Public Complaints Commission 

was conceived to, 

amongst other things, address 

issues of Human Rights abuses. 

“It is clear that the Public 

Complaints Commission is a 

product of necessity due to 

Human Rights abuses, societal 

victimization, high-handedness 

and other forms of 

practices of maladministration. 

“Such ugly practices had 

long been noticed in Nigeria 

IPAC rejects exclusion of 

electronic transmission of 

results in Electoral Act 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

Why we suspended Kano anticorruption 

chair — Majority leader 

By Bashir Bello 

KANO — The Majority 

leader, Kano State 

House of Assembly, Labaran 

Madari, said yesterday that 

chairman, Kano State Public 

Complaint and Anti-Corruption 

Commission, Muhyi 

Magaji Rimingado, was suspended 

for rejecting an accountant 

newly posted to the 

commission by the state’s accountant 

general. 

According to him, the antigraft 

chief breached and violated 

the financial management 

law in place in the state. 

The lawmaker said the law 

ABUJA—THE Inter-Par 

ty Advisory Council, 

IPAC, has rejected the exclusion 

of electronic transmission 

of results in the final version 

of the Electoral Act amendment 

bill by the National Assembly 

expected to be passed 

into law this month. IPAC described 

the decision of the 

National Assembly to remove 

electronic transmition of results 

as a coup against Nigerian 

people. 

In a statement issued by 

Ambassador Agbo Major, 

National Publicity Secretary 

in Abuja yesterday, IPAC said: 

“It is a coup against Nigerian 

people who desire and deserve 

credible elections, and turned 

the recent stakeholders meetings 

and public hearings on 

the matter with federal legislators 

to mere jamborees. It is 

unacceptable and repugnant 

to free and fair polls that have 

impeded our democratic process. 

“IPAC as the umbrella body 

of the 18 registered political 

parties by INEC and a critical 

stakeholder submitted its 

memoranda on Electoral Act 

and Constitution amendments, 

and demanded for electronic 

voting system and 

transmission of results in the 

quest for free, fair, credible, 

transparent, generally accepted, 

inclusive and peaceful 

elections in Nigeria. 

“This was the consensus of 

all stakeholders at various 

meetings and public hearings. 

It is unfair and unjust for the 

leadership of the National 

Assembly to thwart and sabotage 

the will, desire and expectation 

of Nigerians for 

credible elections that meet 

international standards. 

“More importantly, political 

parties are deregistered 

for failure to win a legislative 

seat among others. It will be 

an uphill task for political 

parties not in government to 

win elections if the process is 

grossly flawed.” 

IPAC said election is the 

beauty of democracy as sovereignty 

resides in the people, 

adding that the mandate of 

the electorate in a free and fair 

election must be respected. 

The statement further said: 

“To do otherwise, is an invitation 

to anarchy that characterized 

most elections in Nigeria 

since independence in 

1960. 

‘’The National Assembly 

must rise to the occasion, defend 

the nation’s frail democracy 

and expunge the obnoxious 

Section 50(2) of the proposed 

electoral bill which 

states, “Voting at election under 

this Bill shall be in accordance 

with the procedures 

determined by the Commission, 

which may include electronic 

voting provided that the 

Commission shall not transmit 

results of the elections by 

electronic means. 

“This provision makes 

mockery of the entire electoral 

amendment and dashed 

the hopes of patriotic Nigerians 

of having key reforms in 

the electoral process. “With 

the insertion of the anti- people 

clause into the bill legislators 

have shown clearly that 

do not mean well for Nigerians 

and undercut the gain 

made by INEC during the last 

Edo and Ondo Gubernatorial 

Polls which they also plan 

to do during the upcoming 

Anambra Polls coming up 

November 6, 2021. 

“IPAC demand immediate 

expunging of the clause to 

save Nigeria democracy and 

credibility of the nation’s elections. 

(Section 28 D) empowered the 

State’s Accountant-General to 

post accountants to Ministries, 

Departments and Agencies, 

MDAs, in the state. Madari 

said Rimingado rejected 

the accountants posted to his 

commission and chose to 

work with a junior staff with 

grade level 4 as head of the 

account section of the commission. 

He said: “We received a 

complain from office of the 

Accountant-General of the 

state over Muhuyi Magaji 

Rimingado’s rejection of an 

accountant newly posted to 

his commission. 

Unremitted funds: NCDMB recovers $100m from oil companies 

By Obas Esiedesa 

ABUJA — THE Execu 

tive Secretary of the 

Nigerian Content Development 

and Monitoring Board, 

NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote 

has disclosed that the board 

recovered close to $100 million 

from oil and services 

companies in unremitted levy 

to the Nigerian Content Development 

Fund in seven 

years. 

Wabote, who disclosed this 

at the opening of the 2021 

Nigerian Oil and Gas conference, 

NOG, in Abuja on Monday 

said the money was recovered 

from the companies in 

the undisputed obligations 

from the Third-Party Forensic 

Audit of remittances between 

years 2010 to 2017. 

He warned companies 

which are failing to comply 

with the provisions of the 

NOGICD Act that the agency 

was not helpless and would 

impose necessary sanctions 

on defaulters. He stressed that 

in line with the law, priority 

would continue to be given to 

Nigerian companies in granting 

oil and gas licences, 

award of oil blocks, and other 

contracts in the industry. 

“We continue to deploy the 

provisions of the NOGICD Act 

to fortify the oil and gas industry 

against these attacks 

such as Sections 3, 12, and 28 

of the NOGICD Act which 

state that first consideration 

shall be given to Nigerian operators 

in the award of blocks 

and licenses, to Nigerian 

goods and services in the evaluation 

of bids, and for the employment 

and training of Nigerians 

in any project executed 

in the Nigerian oil and gas 

industry. 

“Let me emphasize that this 

is the law of the land and the 

default mindset for any reputable 

local or international 

operator or service provider 

is to comply”, he added. 

Wabote cautioned those 

companies which consider 

cost first in determining where 

projects are manufactured 

that after exporting jobs, they 

may return to find the environment 

less conducive for 

their operation. 

“Great companies self-regulate 

to do the right thing within 

the confines of their business 

environment thus making 

their interface with agencies 

of government seamless." 

Local Content must not be 

seen as a cost centre but part 

of the business with several 

benefits to all nations, businesses, 

and investors involved 

in the practice. 

“Let me highlight that we are 

not helpless or oblivious of 

what to do as a regulator when 

it comes to dealing with recalcitrant 

defaulters. We are 

very pragmatic and only resort 

to the deployment of our 

powers when all efforts to 

bring offending parties to 

compliance fail”. 

He praised Total Energies 

for having faith in Nigeria by 

executing the bulk of the Egina 

project in-country thereby 

boosting Nigeria’s fabricating 

capacity from 60,000MT to 

250,000MT.


2021 UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS CONVOCATION LECTURE 

•The 2019 Convocation Lecture of University of Lagos held at the school in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTOS: KEHINDE SHONOLA. 

From left; Guest Lecturer & Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, 

Chairman of the occasion, Pastor Tunde Bakare, his wife, Mrs Tunde Overseer, Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare; Governor of 

From left: Chairman of the Council, UNILAG, Senator Lanre Tejuosho; The Serving 

Bakare, Pro Chancellor, University of Lagos, Dr. Lanre Tejuosho and Vice Central Bank of Nigeria, and Guest Lecturer, Mr Godwin Emefiele; Vice Chancellor, 

Chancellor, University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe. 

UNILAG, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe and other principal officers of UNILAG. 

Bandits attack another Kaduna 

school, abduct about 150 students 

•26 escape attack, over 100 still missing •As soldiers foil attack on Oyedepo’s school, Faith 

Academy •El-Rufai condemns kidnap of Bethel Baptist students•Kaduna Assembly speaker 

laments attack •Kaduna orders 13 schools to close 

By Ibrahim Hassan 

KADUNA—OVER 

a 

hundred students of Bethel 

Baptist High School, Damishi in 

Chikun Loxcal Governent Area 

of Kaduna State are still missing, 

while only about 26 have 

returned, after bandits attacked 

the school in the early hours of 

yesterday and abducted 

unspecified number of students. 

This is even as military also foiled 

another bandits’ attack in Faith 

Academy, owned by Bishop David 

Oyedepo, in another area of the 

same local government area, 

hours after the Bethel Baptist 

Academy attack. 

The bandits were said to have 

stormed the school at about 

2:00am shooting sporadically to 

instill fears in the students and 

their teachers. 

Reuters quoted the school’s 

founder as saying that about 150 

people had not been seen since 

the attack. 

President of Christian 

Association of Nigeria, Kaduna 

branch, Reverend Joseph Hayab, 

who confirmed the attack, said his 

son was among the students who 

managed to escape the attack. 

While the number of students 

abducted by the bandits is 

unknown, Reverend Hayab said 

on Friday, ‘’we counted about 180 

children who were part of the 

dormitory but this morning 

(yesterday), the number of people 

we received was not more than 

24 to 27.’’ 

Rev. Hayab, who noted that the 

school was surrounded by security 

forces, said: “They (bandits) 

overpowered the school’s security 

guards and made their way into 

the students hostel where they 

abducted an unspecified number 

of students who they took into 

the forest.’’ 

The state police command also 

confirmed the attack, saying 

security agents were on the trail 

of the bandits to rescue the 

abducted students. 

In a statement by spokesman 

of the command, ASP 

Muhammed Jalige, the police 

stated: “In the early hours of 

today, (yesterday), Monday, July 

5,2021, at about 14:00hrs, the 

command received a report that 

armed bandits in large number 

had gained access into Bethel 

Baptist Secondary School 

Kujuma in Chikun LGA of 

Kaduna State. 

“They shot sporadically, 

overpowered the school’s security 

guards and made their way into 

the students’ hostel where they 

abducted an unspecified number 

of students into the forest. 

“On the receipt of the 

unfortunate incident, a joint 

team of the Nigeria Police, Army 

and Navy Operatives were 

immediately mobilised to the area 

with a mission to rescue the 

abducted students unhurt. 

“The Operatives gave the 

bandits a hot pursuit occasioned 

by a tactical application of 

weapons and succeeded in 

rescuing twenty-six students, 

including a female teacher safely. 

“However, the rescue 

operation is still ongoing to 

ensure that all victims are safely 

returned. Officers involved in the 

said operation are charged to 

ensure no stone is left unturned 

to successfully accomplish the 

rescue mission since resources 

will be availed to them without 

delay. 

“The Command is, therefore, 

encouraging parents not to be 

deterred by the recent bandits’ 

activities in the state targeting 

schools and learning institutions 

as strategic measures will be 

emplaced to forestall further 

occurrence of such dastardly act 

of criminality against innocent 

children.” 

Gunmen suspected to be 

bandits have killed seven people 

over the weekend in Kaduna 

State. 

Baptist High School is a coeducation 

college established by 

Baptist church in 1991 at 

Maramara village in Chikun 

district outside the state capital, 

Kaduna. 

Monday’s attack was the 

fourth mass school kidnap in 

Kaduna State since December. 

Kaduna State governor Nasir 

Ahmad El-Rufai had been one of 

the most vocal local leaders 

insisting he would not pay 

ransom to kidnappers or bandits. 

Also yesterday, military 

personnel foiled bandits’ attack 

on Faith Academy, located at 

Mararaban Rido, Chikun 

Local Government Area of 

Kaduna State in the early 

hours of Monday. 

The school, owned by the 

Living Faith Church Worldwide, 

better known as Winner Chapel, 

was founded by Bishop David 

Oyedepo. 

Vanguard learned that the 

bandits broke part of the 

perimeter fence to enter the 

school, before soldiers foiled the 

attack. 

A parent, who confirmed the 

development, said the school 

management had met and 

planned to relocate some of the 

students to an undisclosed 

location “to continue with their 

preparation for their exams.” 

The governor of Kaduna State, 

Malam Nasir El-Rufai has 

condemned the kidnapping of an 

unspecified number of students 

from Bethel Baptist High School, 

Damishi, Chikun local 

government area. 

Samuel Aruwan 

,Commissioner, Ministry of 

Internal Security and Home 

Affairs, Kaduna State, said in a 

statement that the governor 

described the development as 

unfortunate and an untold evil 

to humanity and the cause of 

education. 

It would be recalled that distress 

calls were received in the early 

hours of Monday detailing an 

incursion of bandits into the 

school. The bandits shot 

sporadically as they advanced to 

the hostels and abducted an 

unspecified number of students. 

A team of Military and Police 

personnel were mobilised to the 

school and pursued the bandits 

in a bid to avert their evil 

intention. 

The governor is following the 

development and receiving 

hourly situation reports. 

Meanwhile, speaker of the 

State House of Assembly, Yusuf 

Ibrahim Zailani, condemned the 

kidnap of the Baptist students, 

decrying attack on key sectors of 

the economy. 

Zailani, who was reacting to the 

Baptist’s attack and last 

weekend’s abductions at the 

Leprosy Training Centre in Zaria, 

commiserated with families of 

victims. 

The speaker in a statement 

signed by his Special Adviser on 

Media and Publicity, Ibrahim 

Dahiru Danfulani,said such 

attacks were worrisome, noting 

that everything possible was 

being done to protect life and 

property of citizens. 

“We woke up this morning to 

yet another depressing news of 

abduction of students of Bethel 

Baptist High School, Kaduna. 

“This is not a cheering news, 

coming a day after the abduction 

at the Leprosy Training Centre, 

Zaria. 

“While commiserating with 

families of those affected, I am 

greatly worried by the fact that 

these two recent abductions are 

targeted at key sectors of our 

society, we are doing everything 

possible to ensure the protection 

of lives and property.'' 

KMeanwhile, the aduna State 

Schools Quality Assurance 

Authority, yesterday, ordered 13 

schools in areas vulnerable to 

bandits’ attacks to shut down 

immediately. 

This was contained in a letter 

to the proprietors of the affected 

schools from the authority, dated 

July 5, signed by its Director- 

General, Umma K. Ahmed. 

The statement reads: “Sequel 

to the information reaching the 

Authority on the security threat 

at the Bethel Baptist High school, 

Damishi, a meeting with the 

National Association of 

Proprietors of Private Schools, 

NAPPS, and some key 

stakeholders was held on 

Monday 5th July, 2021 with the 

resolution that the following 

schools should close with effect 

from Monday 5th July, 2021.” 

In a letter titled: ‘Notice of 

closure of some identified 

vulnerable schools’, the authority 

warned of sanctions against 

schools that fail to comply. 

The affected schools listed 

included, Faith Academy, along 

Kachia Road adjacent to 

Jakaranda, Deeper Life Academy, 

Maraban Rido, Ecwa Secondary 

school, Ungwar Maje and 

Bethel Baptist High School, 

Damishi. 

Others are, St. Peters Minor 

Seminary, Katari, Prelude 

Secondary School, Kujama, 

Ibiso Secondary school, 

Tashar Iche, Tulip Interational 

(Boys) School and Tulip 

international (Girls) School. 

And also Goodnews Secondary 

School, St. Augustine, Kujama, 

Comprehensive Development 

Institution (CDI), Tudun Mare 

9m pupils benefit from FG’s 

home-grown school feeding 

programme — Minister 

K ADUNA—HAJIA 

Sadiya Farouq, Minister 

of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster 

Management and Social 

Development, Hajia Sadiya 

Farouq, has said that no fewer 

than nine million pupils are 

currently benefiting from Federal 

Government’s National Home- 

Grown School Feeding 

Programme (NHGSFP) across 

the country. 

Farouq made the disclosure 

during the launching of 

NHGSFP enumeration exercise 

in Kaduna yesterday. 

The minister, who was 

represented at the event by Alhaji 

Dabo Tijjani, said that the 

exercise was aimed at verifying 

and updating the number of 

beneficiaries in the state, with 

headcount to be conducted 

alongside relevant MDAs in 

Kaduna. 

While stating that the 

programme was designed to 

reduce poverty in all its forms, she 

added that arrangement had 

been concluded to reach 

additional five million pupils by 

2023. 

“With more than 100,000 cooks 

employed and over 100,000 smallholder 

farmers participating in 

this value chain, NHGSFP is a 

serious potential for socioeconomic 

development and 

needs to be strengthened, scaled 

up and sustained nationwide. 

“This has also created massive 

employment opportunities within 

the school feeding ecosystem in 

transportation, agriculture, 

energy supply and food materials 

packaging sectors,” she said. 

The minister explained that 

NHGSFP was designed as a 

multi-faceted intervention to 

drive school enrollment, enhance 

pupils’ nutrition, support local 

production of food and encourage 

employment and income 

generation. 

“Specifically, it is aimed at 

providing one nutritious meal to 

all pupils in public primary schools 

in classes I to III,” she said. 

We spend N60bn yearly to 

repair vandalized pipelines — FG 

By Emmanuel 

Elebeke 

A federal BUJA—THE 

government 

spends N60 billion annually to 

repair and maintain vandalized 

oil pipelines across the country. 

It also revealed that the 

country loses an average of 

200,000 barrels per day to the 

wanton damage to pipelines and 

other oil and gas facilities. 

Minister of Information and 

Culture, Alh. Lai Mohammed, 

who disclosed this at the Town 

hall meeting on protecting oil and 

gas infrastructure in Abuja 

yesterday, noted that the town 

hall meeting was important, 

considering that the destruction 

of the infrastructure had socioeconomic 

and environmental 

implications on the government 

and host communities. 

He said this was so, as oil 

provides 80 per cent of Nigeria’s 

budgetary revenues and 95 per 

cent of foreign exchange 

earnings. 

“With oil providing 80 per cent 

of Nigeria’s budgetary revenues 

and 95 per cent of foreign 

exchange earnings, one can only 

imagine the impact of the 

incessant destruction of oil 

pipelines on the economy. 

“Between January 2019 and 

September 2020, 1,161 pipeline 

points across the country were 

vandalized. 

“Apart from the impact on the 

nation’s earnings, consider also 

the environmental problems 

caused by the incessant 

vandalism, in terms of freshwater 

pollution, air pollution, soil 

pollution, etc., and you will 

appreciate the enormity of the 

problem,’’ he said. 

According to him, the town hall 

meetings is focusing on creating 

in the public mind that 

government property are, indeed, 

citizens’ property which must be 

protected for the benefit of all 

sensitized communities, 

especially those where such 

infrastructure are located. 

‘It is also aimed at sensitizing 

the larger citizenry to support the 

widespread campaign on the 

protection and ownership of public 

infrastructure/assets, especially 

in the railways, roads and 

aviation sectors,’’ he said. 

While underscoring the need 

to protect public infrastructure, 

Mohammed further stated that 

the present government had 

embarked on massive 

investment in infrastructure 

since coming into office, 

despite dwindling resources.




We were excluded from Ekiti 

APC stakeholders’ meeting 

—Adeyeye, others 

By Rotimi 

Ojomoyela 

A DO-EKITI— 

LOYALISTS of former 

Lagos State Governor, 

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, have 

accused the leadership of 

the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, in Ekiti 

State, of deliberately 

sidelining them in the 

stakeholders’ meeting 

convened by the party. 

The meeting, held at the 

Government House, in Ado 

Ekiti, had in attendance 

Governor Kayode Fayemi, 

his Deputy, Chief Bisi 

Egbeyemi, Minister of 

Trade and Industry, Otunba 

Niyi Adebayo, National 

Assembly members, State 

Executive Committee and 

former political office 

holders. 

Part of the issues 

discussed were the 

forthcoming congreses, 

party discipline and unity, 

continuous registration 

exercise, and support for the 

Lawyer to sue 

Ogun APC over 

substitution of 

candidate 

By Henry Ojelu 

ABEOKUTA—A Lagosbased 

lawyer, Mr. 

Daud Segun, has 

threatened to sue the 

Chairman, All Progressives 

Congress, APC, in Ogun 

State, Chief Yemi Sanusi, if 

the name of his client and winner 

of the party's councilorship 

primaries for Ward 5, Iperu 

Remo, Mr. Osularu Muyiwa, 

was not made to appear on the 

list of councillorship 

candidates to partake in the 

local government elections 

slated for Saturday, July 24. 

Daud, in a letter dated July 1, 

2021, and addressed to Governor 

Dapo Abiodun and other 

stakeholders of the party in the 

state, stated that his client 

considered it as a grave injustice, 

rape on democracy and sheer 

illegality for the name of Efuwape 

Olaitan, who never participated 

in the Ward 5 Iperu councillorship 

primaries but, rather served as the 

returning officer, under whose 

observation the said primaries 

were conducted, to now have his 

name in the list of Ogun State 

Independent Electoral 

Commission, OGSIEC, as the 

councillorship candidate for the 

Ward in the coming local 

government elections. 

ABUJA—A 

human 

rights group, Youth 

Empowerment Initiative, 

YEI, has urged the National 

Assembly to quickly pass 

the Bill tabled before them 

by the National Taskforce 

on the Prohibition of Illegal 

Importation/Smuggling of 

Arms, Ammunition and 

Light Weapons, 

NATFORCE, because of its 

importance to the country 

present administration of 

Governor Fayemi. 

But Adeyeye, who is the 

National Chairman of a 

pro-Tinubu group 

christened Southwest 

Agenda for 2023, SWAGA, 

toldjournalists that he and 

top members of the group 

were precluded from the 

meeting. 

He said: “I was not 

invited . I don’t know 

anything about the 

proposed meeting.I didn’t 

get invitation from anyone”, 

Adeyeye said. 

However, communique 

issued at the end of the 

meeting and signed by the 

APC State chairman, Hon. 

Paul Omotoso, on Monday, 

clarified that those holding 

elective and appointive 

positions under the present 

government won’t be 

eligible to vie for any party 

positions in the coming 

congresses. 

The meeting further 

emphasised the need for all 

party members to eschew 

divisive tendencies and 

work towards ensuring the 

party is more inclusive and 

consultative across the 

board in reaching key 

decisions that affect all 

members. 

Speaking about the 

congresses, the party 

clarified that “Only fully 

registered and financial 

upright members of the 

party shall have the right 

to vote and be voted for into 

any of the elective positions. 

‘’Any member that has 

served for a continuous 

period of eight years on a 

particular party position 

shall not be eligible to stand 

for election to the same 

position,” it stated. 

2023: I’m done with partisan politics 

—Obasanjo ....Denies plan to float new political party 

Encourage entrepreneurship among youths, Emefiele tells 

Development Fund, 

varsities 

YEDP and Agri-business/ 

By Elizabeth 

Osayande 

L AGOS—GOVERNOR 

of the Central Bank of 

Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin 

Emefiele, yesterday, 

charged universities in the 

country to encourage 

entrepreneurial spirit in 

students. 

This, he said, would make 

them employers of labour, 

rather than job seekers. 

He stated this while 

delivering a Lecture, titled: 

'‘National Development 

and Knowledge Economy 

in the Digital Age: 

By James 

Ogunnaike 

A FORMER BEOKUTA— 

President 

Olusegun Obsanjo has 

denied report that he was 

planning to float a new 

political party ahead of the 

2023 general elections in 

Nigeria, saying he was 

done with partisan politics. 

In a statement by his 

Media Aide, Kehinde 

Akinyemi, the former 

military head of state and 

two-time democratic 

president said the report 

was unfounded and 

orchestrated by some 

people who wanted to drag 

him into their political 

games. 

Leapfrogging SMEs into 

the 21st Century', as part of 

activities to celebrate the 

University of Lagos, 

UNILAG, 51st 

Convocation. 

He said: "While 

government could invest in 

infrastructure and provide 

other support to SMEs, 

SMEs would, in turn, 

create employment 

opportunities and pay taxes 

to government, which 

helps to support more 

inclusive economy. 

"For Nigeria to tap into 

the productivity-enhancing 

benefits of a knowledgedriven 

economy, training of 

quality manpower through 

NATFORCE: Group urges quick passage of bill 

in the area of security and 

job opportunities. 

The group, in a statement 

by its convener, Comrade 

Nicholas St Mathew, said: 

“If the bill is passed and the 

NATFORCE commences 

operation, it would serve 

two purposes of fighting 

security challenges and 

provision of jobs for the 

youths that could be lured 

into crime, due to their 

BRIEFING: From left, Otunba Olayiwola Fadairo, 2nd Vice District Governor; Kema Ashibowgwu, 1st 

Vice District Governor; Rasheed Ologundudu, District Governor; Adeola Olatunbosun, Cabinet Secretary; 

and Lynda Odunmbaku, immediate past District Governor, all of Lions Clubs International District 404B1, 

during a press briefing by the District Governor on his plan and activities for the club, in Ikeja, Lagos, 

yesterday. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi. 

joblessness.” 

Besides, he said: “We are, 

therefore, begging 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari and the National 

Assembly to work towards 

providing jobs for our 

youths and curb security 

challenges in the country, 

especially, importation of 

illegal arms and 

ammunition into the 

country.” 

The statement read: "The 

attention of former 

President of Nigeria, Chief 

Olusegun Obasanjo, has 

been drawn to an 

unfounded report 

published in the news 

media that he was planning 

to float a new political party. 

''Obasanjo, who is 

currently in Kabul, 

Afghanistan, as a guest of 

President Ashraf Ghani, has 

declared that the report is 

false, adding that the 

fabricated story hardly 

comes as a surprise because 

he has, for some time now, 

observed with 

bewilderment the efforts by 

some people to drag him 

into their political games. 

“In my part of the world, 

both formal and informal 

educational curricular is 

essential. 

"Knowledge has become 

ubiquitous with the 

proliferation of digital 

channels. Our universities 

and learning institutions 

should be ready to tap into 

the educational trends that 

are significant drivers of 

productivity in advanced 

and emerging markets , in 

order to reshape our 

existing curriculum, 

enhance the learning 

experience of our students 

and foster innovation 

among the faculty and staff 

in our educational 

institutions. 

"Furthermore, enhanced 

collaboration between 

universities and players in 

key sectors of our economy 

is necessary to enable 

implementation of sound 

idea generated from our 

universities.'' 

The guest speaker who 

reeled out the several 

policies by the federal 

government to support 

SMEs such as: National 

Information Technology 

Policy with the 

establishment of the 

when you say goodnight in 

a place, you do not go back 

there and say good 

evening. The one who 

reported that may need to 

visit Yaba Left. And those 

who believe it can believe 

that their mothers are men. 

“I’m done with partisan 

politics but by my position 

in Nigeria and in Africa 

and without being 

immodest and indeed in 

the world, my door must be 

opened and it is open to any 

individual or group of 

individuals who want to 

seek my opinion, view or 

advice on any issue or 

matter and I will respond 

to the best of my ability, 

without being part of that 

individual or group. 

National IT development 

Trust Fund, to facilitate 

provision of capital finance 

for start-up of SMEs in the 

IT sector; Nigeria Inter 

Bank Settlement System, 

NIBSS; Youth 

Entrepreneurship 

''If anything, Chief 

Obasanjo’s political party 

today is the party of 

Nigerians facing insecurity, 

unemployment, hunger, 

poverty, and various other 

challenging issues. It is the 

party of Nigeria which must 

be saved, kept 

wholesomely united in 

peace, security, equity, 

development and progress. 

''Let those who want to use the 

back door to force Chief Obasanjo 

to return to partisan politics 

respect his choice to remain a nonpartisan 

statesman. On his part, 

the former President will continue 

to perform his role as a statesman 

focused on providing counsel, 

support, or solutions wherever 

possible in Nigeria, Africa and 

indeed the world.'' 

Small and Medium Enterprises 

Investment 

Scheme, AGSMEIS 

among others lamented 

that the policies and fund 

have recorded limited access 

by the public.


:@vanguardnews 

NEWS HOTLINES: 

08052867023, 08052867058 

Vanguard, , TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 — 11 

Social Media Conversation 

STUDY TOUR—From left: Business Development Manager, Wema Bank, Isolo branch, 

Oluwakemi Oladeinde; SS3 student of Ephraim School, Ibrahim Abubakar; Retail 

Product Manager, Toyin Peters; SS2 student of Ephraim School, Jessica Tminebiri, 

and Retail Cluster Head, Lagos Mainland, Folashade Adebayo, during the student’s 

study tour to understand the banking system, at the banks Ilupeju branch, in 

Lagos. 

Clampdown on Yoruba nation protesters 

lawless, undemocratic —NBA 

....As Falana wants coroner’s inquest into Jumoke Oyeleke’s death 

By Rotimi Ojomoyela & 

Onozure Dania 

ADO-EKITI—THE Nigerian 

Bar Association, NBA, Ikere- 

Ekiti branch, described as lawless 

and undemocratic, Saturday’s 

clampdown on peaceful Yoruba 

Nation agitators in Lagos. 

This came as a Lagos based 

lawyer, Mrs. Funmi Falana, has 

urged the Chief Coroner of Lagos 

State and the High Court of 

Lagos, to conduct an enquiry into 

the death of a teenager, Jumoke 

Oyeleke, who was allegedly 

killed during Saturday’s rally. 

Miss Oyeleke was allegedly 

killed by a stray bullet at the Gani 

Lagos passes bill to stop parade 

of suspects 

LAGOS—THE Lagos House 

of Assembly, yesterday, 

passed an amended version of 

the Criminal Justice Law of the 

state barring the police from, 

henceforth, parading suspects 

before the media. 

The bill was passed at a sitting 

presided over by the Deputy 

Speaker, Wasiu Eshilokun-Sanni, 

on behalf of the Speaker, Mr. 

Mudashiru Obasa. 

Section 9(A) of the newly 

passed bill states: “As from the 

commencement of this law, the 

police shall refrain from parading 

any suspect before the media.” 

The bill further stipulates 

conditions under which a 

policeman can arrest without a 

warrant, one of which is that a 

person must be reasonably 

Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, Lagos, 

during the Yoruba Nation rally. 

But addressing newsmen in 

Ado-Ekiti, as part of the activities 

heralding the 2021 NBA week, 

with the theme: ‘Insecurity and 

Rule of Law: Nigeria at a 

Crossroad’, the chairperson of 

Ikere-Ekiti branch of NBA, 

Kikelomo Owolabi, said the 

association was astonished that 

agents of government would 

pounce on people peacefully 

agitating. 

Owolabi said: “Our association 

condemned Saturday’s attack 

and arrest of peaceful protesters 

in Lagos. This development is 

strange to us because we are a 

suspected to unlawfully have 

firearms or other such dangerous 

instruments. 

A subsection of the bill also 

barred the police or any other 

agency from arresting a person 

“instead of any other person in a 

criminal matter.” 

The bill adds that a person who 

is arrested “shall be given 

reasonable facilities for obtaining 

legal advice, bail or making 

arrangements for defence or 

release. 

The bill stipulates that a suspect 

should be “accorded humane 

treatment, with the right to dignity 

of the person; not be subjected to 

any form of torture, cruel, 

inhumane or degrading 

treatment; be brought before the 

court as prescribed by this law or 

any other written law, or be released 

conditionally or unconditionally.” 

democracy and not in a lawless 

country. 

“It is our right to demonstrate 

peacefully in the streets and the 

actions of the police and other law 

enforcement agencies is 

condemnable.” 

As part of activities for the law 

week, Owolabi revealed that the 

Chief Judge of Ondo State, 

Justice Oluwatoyin Akeredolu will 

be delivering a lecture titled, ‘The 

Rule of Law: A Corner Stone of 

Peace and Insecurity in Nigeria ‘ 

in honour of the retired supreme 

court judge from the town, Justice 

Ekundayo Ogundare. 

Falana wants 

coroner’s inquest into 

Jumoke Oyeleke’s 

death 

Meanwhile, Mrs. Falana, who 

is the coordinator of Women 

Empowerment and Legal Aid, 

WELA, in a letter dated July 5, 

2021, requested the chief coroner 

of Lagos state and the High court 

of Lagos Ikeja, to carry out an 

inquest into the tragic death of a 

young trader, Jumoke Oyeleke 

who died after been hit by a stray 

bullet. 

She said: “On the 3rd day of 

July 2021, the agitators for Yoruba 

self-determination gathered at the 

Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, for 

a rally amid heavy presence of 

security operatives in the process 

of dispersing the protesters, the 

security operatives chased them 

and shot sporadically into the 

crows. A young trader Jumoke 

Oyeleke who was hit by a stray 

bullet gave up the ghost." 

Family wants Lagos govt to reverse monarch’s installation 

By Onozure Dania 

LAGOS—THE Olayide Royal 

Family in the Ikosi/Ejinrin 

Local Council Development Area, 

LCDA of Lagos State, yesterday, 

urged the state government to 

reverse the installation of Prince 

Elias Ijelu as the Olota of Otta- 

Ikosi town. 

The family said the installation 

took place, despite the pending 

suit before Justice Ajibola Lawal- 

Akapo of the Lagos High Court. 

The suit, marked IKD/2/2014, 

was filed by Pa Rasaki Oseni, 

(head of the family) and six others 

against the Commissioner for 

Local Government and 

Chieftaincy Affairs and nine 

others. 

The Olayide Royal Family, in a 

statement by its Secretary Alhaji 

Moshood Balogun, said: “The 

main issue for determination 

amongst other issues is which 

Ruling House should produce 

the candidate for the Olota of 

Otta-Ikosi Town. The trial had 

commenced in the suit. 

“More worrisome is the fact the 

court had on March 30, 2015, 

ordered all parties to maintain the 

status quo pending the 

determination of the suit. 

“Despite that, the Lagos State 

Government through the Office of the 

Commissioner for Local Government and 

Chieftaincy Affairs, went ahead to install 

Prince Elias Ijelu, the seventh defendant 

in the suit as the Olota of Otta-Ikosi.” 

The family said its lawyer had written 

to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on May 

5, 2021, urging him not to approve the 

installation of Prince Ijelu or any other 

person as the Olota of Otta-Ikosi pending 

the determination of the suit, adding that 

some of the parties, including the 

Attorney General and Commissioner for 

Justice, had filed their statement of 

defence, while trial had also commenced. 

Your gratitude'll open his wallet wider! 

Just give thanks...whatever's yours'll stay! 

\ 

Good ‘business!'




By Emma Amazie, 

Henry Umoru, 

Samuel 

Oyadongha & 

Emem Idio 

LEADER of Pan-Niger Delta 

Forum, PANDEF, Chief 

Edwin Clark, has described the 

newly passed Petroleum 

Industry Bill, PIB, as satanic, 

unjust, embarrassing and 

provocative. 

Clark, who is also the South- 

South and Southern and 

Middle Belt Leaders Forum, 

SMBLF, leader in an open letter 

to the Senate President, Ahmad 

Lawan, and the Speaker, House 

of Representatives, Femi 

Gbajabiamila, said the passed 

PIB has dashed the hope of the 

people of Niger Delta, just as he 

described as fraudulent and 

provocative, the passed 30 per 

cent provision for the Frontier 

Exploration Fund. 

This came as Ijaw ethnic 

nationality has rejected the 

recently passed PIB, particularly 

the ceding of three to five percent 

to host communities, describing 

it as a "Greek Gift." 

Meanwhile, Senator 

Matthew Urhoghide, 

representing Edo South 

senatorial district in the Senate, 

has said some people, out of 

ignorance or mischief, were 

propagating wrong 

information different from the 

facts and provisions of the 

newly-passed PIB by the 

National Assembly. 

Clark in the open letter said: 

“Given the depth of ingratitude 

expressed and delivered after 

decades of exploitation and 

neglect of the region, the entire 

people of Niger Delta, for and 

on behalf of the host 

communities, reject the 

following aspects of the bill: The 

three per cent and five per cent 

of operating expenditure 

granted to the host 

communities and the fraudulent 

and provocative 30 per cent 

provision for the Frontier 

Exploration Fund. 

“And now demand: The PIB 

must be reversed, reviewed and 

amended to ensure that the oilbearing 

communities must now 

receive not less than 10 per cent 

of operating cost. 

“If this is not done, the Niger 

Delta people may be forced to 

take their destiny into their 

hands and all International Oil 

Companies, IOCs, may find 

themselves denied access to their 

oil activities in such 

communities. 

“We want to warn seriously 

that the people ofNiger Delta 

have had enough of this colonial 

and oppressive mentality of our 

Northern brothers and friends. 

Today, the North controls the oil 

sector, even though day-to-day 

operations are being handled by 

IOCs on behalf of the Federal 

Government of Nigeria. 

“The ownership, control, 

marketing, maintenance, 

management and the accruable 

benefits from the operations of 

the IOCs are in the hands of 

some Northerners. 

Appointments to the topmost 

positions in the oil companies 

owned by the Federal 

Government are in the hands of 

the North who have at least 25 

managerial appointments, up 

to the position of Group 

Managing Director, GMD. 

"And only a few of these 

positions are held by 

Southerners, and fewer still by 

the Niger Delta, the home of oil 

production, an area which 

produces over 91 per cent of the 

total oil production, and who 

are the true owners of these Godgiven 

resources, contrary to the 

bogus and fraudulent claim by 

some uninformed persons that 

they own the oil because it was 

the revenue generated from 

groundnut that was used to 

develop the oil industry. 

“We have noticed with 

dismay, anger, disappointment 

and embarrassment, the 

oppressive and domineering 

attitude of most members of the 

National Assembly over the PIB, 

now due for imminent 

harmonisation by the National 

Assembly. 

Displeasure over 

the satanic and 

obnoxious 

allocation 

“The people of Niger Delta, at 

all levels at home and abroad, 

have expressed their great 

displeasure over the satanic and 

obnoxious allocation of a paltry 

percentage of operating 

expenditure to oil-producing 

communities by the National 

Assembly. It is important to state 

clearly here to all well-meaning 

Nigerians that the demand of 

the oil-bearing communities of 

the Niger Delta was a 

minimum of 10 per cent equity 

participation. 

“But you Mr Senate President, 

the Speaker and some of your 

colleagues in the National 

Assembly have further shown 

your disdain to the Niger Delta 

people by redefining host 

communities to include 

pipeline-bearing pathway 

communities, in which case 

states, where pipelines pass 

through to aid them with the 

privilege of cheap supplies of 

Niger Delta petroleum 

products, could also be entitled 

to the ridiculous and 

unacceptable percentages that 

the legislators are willing to cede 

to oil-bearing communities. 

“The long-suffering and 

oppressed people of the oilbearing 

communities of Niger 

Delta are not surprised at the 

news that the National 

Assembly finally passed the PIB, 

albeit the lofty dreams and 

vaunted expectations of over 

two decades of legislative dillydally 

had been dashed. 

"This unhealthy anti-climax is 

a predictable end as northern 

legislators combined with the 

delusional efforts of IOCs to pass 

an unjust piece of legislation to 

deny our people the benefits of 

the resources in their region. 

“The kernel of the bill passed 

is to deny our people 

commensurate benefits of the 

resources of our region while 

using our natural resources to 

earn profits for everyone other 

than the oil-bearing 

communities in the value chain 

and increasingly fatten the 

profits of IOC investors who are 

miles away from our 

communities. 

"This also brings to mind 

some of the assertions by some 

northerners that while the land 

belongs to the people of Niger 

Delta who live on it, whatever is 

underneath it, belongs to 

everyone nationally. 

“This negates the principle 

'Quic quid plantatur solo, 

sosocedit.' which means that 

something affixed to the land is 

part of the land. Therefore, 

whoever owns that piece of land 

will also own the things attached 

to the land. That is why in 

Zamfara State, where gold is 

mined, the land belongs to the 

state, as does the minerals 

underneath it. 

"But in Niger Delta, the same 

doesn’t seem to apply; the 

Federal Government has 

UNVEILING: Head, Marketing Operations, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Rilwan Yusuf (middle), Dangote 

Sugar Distributors, Chief Ifeanyi Igbokwe (right) and Sir Chima Ofiaeli, during the unveiling of the 

Dangote Sugar packaging in Onitsha, Anambra State. 

Passed PIB satanic, unjust, embarrassing, 

fraudulent, provocative —Clark 

•Demands reversal or block IOCs from region 

•INC, IYC reject 3-5% for host communities, insist on 10% 

•Mischief makers propagating wrong information —Urhoghide 

maliciously laid claim to the oil 

minerals under the land. What 

double standard. Different rules 

and laws for different parts of 

the same country. 

“The issue of real local content, 

that is to say, for Niger Deltans 

in general and the host 

communities, in particular, to 

play a major part in the oil 

industry is something that we 

consider our inalienable right. 

"Despite assurances in the past 

that efforts would be made to 

prioritise Niger Deltan content, 

there is very little evidence of it 

happening in real terms. 

"During the government of the 

late President Umaru Yar’Adua, 

it was agreed that when the 

Federal Government divests of 

its equity in its JVs with the IOCs, 

that 10 per cent would be given 

to the host communities. 

However, we see no sign of any 

commitment to this in any of 

the recent versions of the 

Petroleum Industry Bill, or any 

mention of it in any other 

government bill or policy. 

Inclusive 

participation in 

oil industry, 

“As part of the Pan Niger-Delta 

Forum’s, PANDEF, 16 Point 

Agenda, we demanded inclusive 

participation in the oil industry, 

covering issues such as the 

ownership of oil blocks, 

marginal fields as well as the 

boards and personnel of 

parastatals and agencies such 

as NNPC and its subsidiaries. 

Sadly, we are yet to see any real 

progress in any of these areas 

and the latest version of the PIB 

does nothing to address these 

issues. 

“Instead, despite us, as the 

owners of the land wanting to 

be real equity participants in the 

oil industry, that is to say, to be 

owners, shareholders, directors 

and senior management in 

Local Oil Companies, 

International Oil Companies 

and Oil Contractors, the concept 

of Host Communities Trust 

Fund is being imposed upon us. 

“On good authority, we are 

aware that hours before the bill 

was passed, the IOCs, convened 

the Nigerian co-conspirators in 

hotels that some of us as 

stakeholders monitored. And 

these IOCs were doing what they 

had done over the years to delay 

and deny host oil-bearing 

communities of the 10 per cent 

minimum percentage that they 

had demanded. 

Funding of Frontier 

Exploration Fund 

"Meanwhile, an additional 30 

percent has been awarded to the 

funding of the Exploration of 

Frontier Basins (Frontier 

Exploration Fund). The newly 

proposed Upstream Regulator, 

the commission, has several 

responsibilities concerning 

what is referred to as 'Frontier 

Basins', especially for their 

exploration. 

“It is not clear to us where these 

Frontier Basins currently reside. 

We the people of Niger Delta 

would be more than happy if 

all the regions of Nigeria are to 

be oil-producing. However, we 

must be careful to use the 

resources put at our disposal as 

judiciously as possible. 

"Rather than using our 

country’s funds to exploit its 

existing resources, we are using 

our scarce funds on exploring 

for oil in the North, an exercise 

that many industry stakeholders 

have described as 'wasteful', 

others have labelled 'a wild 

goose chase' and 'a purely 

political exploration'.” 

INC, IYC reject 3- 

5% for host 

communities, insist 

on 10% 

The position of the Ijaw ethnic 

group was made at a joint press 

conference by the President of 

INC, Prof Benjamin Okaba, and 

the President of Ijaw Youth 

Council, Worldwide, IYC, Peter 

Igbifa, yesterday, in Yenagoa, 

Bayelsa State. 

Okaba queried: “How can 

one explain the continuous 

orchestration of injustice by the 

majority against the minority in 

the National Assembly? This 

Greek gift is rejected by the Ijaw 

people. You cannot continue to 

rob Peter to pay Paul. 

"The slashing of the 

compensation for the host 

communities to a ridiculous 

percentage and increasing the 

percentage on searching for 

more petroleum reserves in the 

'frontier basin', and redefining 

the meaning of host to include 

communities, where oil 

pipelines pass through, is 

disgusting and provocative. 

“We reject in its entirety the 

three percent and five percent 

provisions as to compensation, 

the redefinition of host 

communities and other 

provisions including the 

allocation of 30 percent of our 

oil resources to grope in the 

dark in the name of exploitation 

of a paradox of extreme kind 

that is not in symphony with 

common sense, equity and good 

conscience. 

“As we speak, the Ijaw people 

are faced with the ironic 

situations where princes are on 

foot while servants are riding on 

horses. What is ours is theirs what 

is theirs is theirs. We are all 

witnesses to the double 

standard displayed by the 

Federal Government in 

Zamfara and other parts of the 

North, where the state 

governments and individuals 

are allowed to mine gold 

deposits in their territories. 

"But the oil and gas resources 

in our territory are vested in the 

Federal Government for the 

benefit of all. It is not surprising, 

a member of the House of 

Representatives years ago was 

bodacious enough to declare to 

the world that the oil in Bayelsa 

State belongs to Jigawa State. 

“We are constrained to call on 

the Minister for Petroleum 

Resources (State), Mr Timipre 

Sylva, to use this opportunity to 

inscribe his name in gold and 

on the sand of posterity by 

standing firm with his people 

and against those who have 

vowed to continuously deny us 

the control and management of 

our God-given resources and 

have shown that the only thing 

they value about us is our oil and 

not what we suffer even in 

extracting these resources from 

the bowels of our ancestral 

land.” 

In his remark, IYC President, 

Peter Igbifa, called on the 

Federal Government not to 

allow the PIB to throw the 

region into another crisis, 

warning that the youths may be 

forced into agitation. 

Mischief makers 

bandying wrong 

information 

—Urhoghide 

Urhoghide, said: The PIB does 

not entertain equity 

shareholding for the host 

communities. Rather it has 

provisions for a percentage of the 

annual operational cost of the 

oil companies to which the 

Senate passed three per cent and 

the House of Representatives 

passed five per cent. 

“At the conference, which will 

harmonise this, we hope five per 

cent will be approved in the 

harmonised version. 

“Also, the host communities are 

entitled to all the amount realised 

as penalty for gas flaring because 

these communities bear the brunt 

of such activity and so the money 

will be used for their well-being. 

“Now coming back to the 

issue of the three per cent or five 

per cent, this has to do with the 

consideration given to the 

investors in this industry. As it is 

today, many investors are not 

interested in investing in Nigeria 

because of the high operational 

cost. 

“A profound argument has 

been put forth to substantiate this. 

It is because of this that we have 

not had new investments in 

upstream activities in the last five 

or more years. The case of 

Venezuela is a good example. 

“In the consideration of fiscals 

as far as the PIB is concerned, we 

must put all considerations 

together so that it is a win-win 

situation for all stakeholders. If 

we are not competitive in the 

international space, the investors 

will certainly look elsewhere to 

invest and our oil reserves will be 

underground, even in the face of 

the foreseeable irrelevance of 

crude oil where the world is 

moving in the direction of fossil 

fuel and renewable energy."


Electricity workers threaten 

strike over planned sale of TCN 

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

By Victor Ahiuma- 

Young 

WORKERS in the nation’s 

power sector, under the 

aegis of the National Union of 

Electricity Employees, NUEE, 

have served the Federal 

Government, a notice of strike 

over planned sale of Transmission 

Company of Nigeria, TCN, 

warning of its threat to Nigeria’s 

national security among others 

dangers. 

Already, Nigeria Labour 

Congress, NLC, which had earlier 

rejected the plan to sell the TUC, 

had declared operation save TCN 

from the enemies of Nigeria and 

full support for the workers’ 

action. 

NLC through its President, 

Ayuba Wabba, called on the 

National Assembly and other well 

meaning Nigerians to join forces 

with labour and stop any attempt 

to sell TCN to private individuals 

to the detriment of the Nigerians. 

Meanwhile, NUEE in a 

statement, yesterday, by its 

General Secretary, Joe Ajaero, 

argued that “leaving the nation’s 

full power architecture with the 

proposed privatization of TCN in 

the hands of private business 

owners who lack the expertise to 

own and run critical economic 

assets, poses serious security risk 

to the nation as we will be driven 

by the wimps and caprices of the 

‘harvestors.” 

Ajaero contended that the 

enemies of Nigeria had once 

deceived the country to grant 

about N1.5trillion to the same 

private individuals the 

government sold its 

distribution and generation 

facilities to at a ridiculous rate 

of not more than N400 billion. 

He lamented that almost eight 

years after the privatization of the 

power sector, there had not been 

any visible improvement in terms 

of power supply, expansion or 

investments by the new owners 

of the DisCos and GenCos. 

NUEE General Secretary 

fingered the “General 

Manager(Engineering), GM 

(Enforcement) and GM 

(Public Affairs) of Nigeria 

Electricity Regulatory 

Commission, NERC, as the 

three key officers working 

with a few vested interest 

individuals in the Ministry of 

Power, who do not understand 

the concept in power generation, 

transmission and 

distribution, to carry out their 

selfish personal privatization 

agenda and milk the nation 

off it’s vital economic assets.'' 

A BUJA—FORMER 

Speaker of the House of 

Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba 

and economist, Professor Pat 

Utomi, have alerted Nigerians of 

a conspiracy by the ruling powers 

to perfect the rigging of the 2023 

general election through the 

imposition of an unpopular 

Electoral Act. 

The duo expressed concern 

that the nation’s democracy 

would be exposed to 

unprecedented danger should 

Nigerians fold their arms to allow 

the National Assembly to pass 

the toxic document into law. 

Speaking under the umbrella 

of the National Consultative 

Front, NCFront of Leaders of 

Conscience; which they cochaired 

Na’Abba and Utomi, they 

called on all well-meaning 

Nigerians to come out enmass to 

challenge ‘’This unacceptable 

electoral act to be imposed by the 

National Assembly.’’ 

In a statement, yesterday, in 

Abuja, the NCFront, said: “We 

are compelled to address the 

Nation again on the new plot of 

the ruling powers in Nigeria to 

entrench the rigging of Nigeria’s 

democratic system through the 

imposition of an unpopular 

electoral act ahead of the 2023 

elections. 

“As a concerned Pan Nigerian 

Platform, the NCFront has 

decided to undertake broad 

mobilisation and consultations 

with national stakeholders and 

leaders of thought, as it has 

become incumbent on the Front, 

as the emergent political third 

force in the country, to provide 

the required leadership for the 

exploited masses of Nigeria 

appropriately in preventing the 

electoral sham to be passed for 

the conduct of the 2023 elections. 

PRESENTATION: From left: Executive Director, Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ), JD 

Faiza Abrahams Smith; Prince Ned Nwoko's Media Consultant, Adeniyi Ifetayo Moses and Founder, 

Nicholas Auto Solution, HRH Dennis Anabel Iseghohimen during the presentation of Certificate on 

"Becoming Multimedia Journalist" to Adeniyi at IAJ headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

Electoral law without electronic transmission of results 

invitation to anarchy — Na’Abba, Utomi, others 

By Chris Ochayi 

•Allege it’s plot to rig 2023 elections 

“For the avoidance of doubt, 

the said document to be passed 

as the new Electoral Law for the 

country does not embrace key 

concerns and yearnings of 

Nigerians, which include 

electronic accreditation using 

the card reader, electronic 

counting of votes, electronic 

transmission of results, 

electronic collation of results. 

‘’These are provisions that 

Nigerians believe will help 

overcome and reduce electoral 

malpractices drastically, while also 

taking care of electoral violence 

and intimidation during 

elections, to the extent of 

enhancing the credibility and 

integrity of our electoral system, 

while boosting public confidence 

in our elections. 

‘’The proposed document to be 

passed into law by the ruling 

political powers is regarded by a 

majority of Nigeria’s political 

stakeholders as heavily riddled 

with half measures and loopholes 

at a time when political office 

holders nomadically move from 

one political party to another and 

still maintain their seats. 

‘’This new imposition is 

unacceptable to us as it is targeted 

at the rigging the 2023 elections 

and to put Nigerian democracy 

in danger. 

‘’Therefore, we wish to call on 

all well-meaning Nigerians to 

come out enmass to 

challenge this unacceptable 

electoral act to be imposed by 

the national assembly. 

Akpabio to NASS: Pass PIB for devt of Niger Delta with any 

percentage 

MINISTER, 

Niger 

Delta Affairs 

Ministry, Senator Godswill 

Akpabio has appealed to the 

National Assembly to 

expedite action on the 

passage of the Petroleum 

Industry Bill, PIB law and not 

allow the issue of percentage 

to be allotted to the oil producing 

communities to delay its passage, 

so as to make life meaningful for 

the people of the Niger Delta 

region. 

Akpabio at the Town Hall 

meeting on the Destruction of 

Oil Pipelines and Gas 

infrastructure, organised by the 

Ministry of Information and 

Culture in Abuja, yesterday, in a 

statement by his Chief Press 

Secretary, Jackson Udom, said: 

“Let me appeal to my former 

colleagues in the National 

Assembly to pass the PIB into 

law, so that the people of the 

region will begin to have a new 

lease of life. 

“Let them not allow the 

argument on the percentage 

delay the passage of the bill. 

Whatever you agree on, we will 

accept. At least, let us start from 

somewhere. 

“It is not the percentage that 

matters. The bill has been there 

for over 20 years. I am speaking 

for the Niger Delta people. Let 

them not use the issue of 

percentage to delay the passage. 

No matter the percentage 

approved, we will accept it, 

whether three, four or even five 

percent. If they use it well, we 

can go back to demand for an 

increase. 

“I want the people of the Niger 

One dies, two injured as gas explosion rocks Ogun 

By James Ogunnaike 

ONE person was confirmed 

dead, while two others 

were seriously injured in Ijebu- 

Ode, Ijebu Ode Local 

Government Area of Ogun State 

a gas explosion that rocked the 

town, yesterday. 

Vanguard gathered that the 

incident happened on Folagbade 

Road in Ijebu-Ode, involving a 

tricycle, three motorcycles and a 

Honda SUV. 

An eye witness said the 

explosion was caused by gas 

cylinder belonging to one of the 

passengers of the tricycle. 

The eye witness explained that 

the rider of the tricycle that was 

conveying three occupants 

parked by the road when the 

owner of the cylinder discovered 

that the gas was leaking from the 

cylinder. 

He said, the tricycle was parked 

near a faulty car with a radiator 

problem. 

He said: “The owner of the 

cylinder had just refilled it and 

unknown to her, the cylinder was 

leaking. 

“The rider of the tricycle parked 

by the side of the road for the 

woman to fix the leaking 

cylinder, but unfortunately, 

there was a car with radiator 

problem parked nearby. 

Delta region to begin to see what 

has not happened before in their 

life. These are people whose 

ecosystem and means of 

livelihood have been destroyed. 

The people have suffered 

enough. If they pass the bill, it 

will change the economic life of 

the people, their life style will 

also change, and their living 

standard will also improve. If 

the bill is passed this week, I 

“The heat generated by the car 

triggered explosion,” he said. 

He added that the victims who 

suffered severe burn were rushed 

to Ijebu-Ode general hospital, but 

the hospital refused to treat them 

and they were taken to an 

unknown hospital. 

Public Relations Officer of the 

State Traffic Compliance and 

Enforcement Corps, Mr 

Merge PIB, Solid Minerals Act 

if you mean well, NASS told 

By Egufe Yafugborhi 

PORT HARCOURT— 

COALITION of Rivers Oil 

And Gas Host Communities, 

CROGHCOM, has asked the 

National Assembly to merge 

contentious Petroleum Industry 

Bill, PIB, with the Solid Minerals 

Act, if Federal Government 

means well for oil producing 

communities. 

CROGHCOM in a statement 

by its Chairman, Barituka 

Loanyie said: “The Solid Minerals 

Act which governs that sector 

has better protections for the 

communities hosting extraction 

sites predominant in the North. 

It gives explicit right to 

landlords over their property 

will be very happy. 

“I want to see most Niger Delta 

youths, women, the elders and 

children, more educated about 

the environment and more 

concerned about the 

environment and refrain from 

acts of vandalism. Even if they 

are lured, they will say no, I don’t 

want to destroy my land because 

25 years after, I will be the one 

suffering from the impact.'' 

Babatunde Akinbiyi confirmed 

the accident, saying that the 

tricycle, three motorcycles and 

one Honda SUV were burnt. 

He added that, the occupants 

of the tricycle also suffered severe 

burn and were taken to the 

hospital for treatment. 

Akinbiyi, however, said he 

could not ascertain if anyone died 

in the explosion. 

and we wonder why it is not same 

with the PIB. 

“Having critically studied the 

PIB recently passed by the 

NASS, CROGHCOM rejects it 

for failing to address lingering 

issues of the oil and gas 

communities. The bill, rather 

than solve germane issues in the 

oil and gas sector ends up 

compounding them. 

“The PIB as passed is a 

mischievous piece of legislation, 

a far cry from the yearnings of oil 

and gas host communities which 

only ends up providing a 

legal framework for 

corruption and portends a 

sinister ploy to continue 

with the unhealthy denial of 

host communities the right to 

their God-given resources.''


Bloody PIB and restructuring: Not yet uhuru 

BY SOLA EBISENI 

EVENTS in Nigeria are so 

intractable and occur with 

such rapidity that the trouble of 

each day is more than enough 

even for a week and get sons of 

men so confounded. Just within a 

week, the Nigerian security forces 

which have been so helpless and 

hapless in the hands of terrorist 

killer herdsmen and bandits 

surprised the world in a gestapo 

operation in bringing Mazi 

Nnamdi Kanu back to Nigeria 

from only God knows country. 

President Muhammad Buhari 

appears to have succeeded with 

Kanu what he narrowly but 

tactically missed in 1984 when his 

military regime drugged and 

bagged Shagari’s Minister of 

Transportation, Umaru Dikko, to 

be flown back to Nigeria but 

foiled at Heathrow Airport in the 

UK. However, whatever the 

gravity of the allegations against 

Kanu, which he has often denied, 

beyond vulgar abuses, he enjoys 

the presumption of innocence 

while the State has the burden to 

prove his guilt in a trial that will 

no less put Nigeria itself on trial 

before the international 

community. 

Kanu is now a child of the world 

and humanity watches beyond the 

fatal judgement of smiling 

crocodiles and dancing pythons. 

Just like the Nigerian State 

tactlessly radicalised Kanu and 

his followers, it has started with 

Sunday Adeyemo (Igboho) whose 

life the security forces narrowly 

missed in that official banditry 

operation in his house last 

Wednesday night. Of course, only 

the DSS believed its own story, 

including the unilateral 

advertisement of AK-47 rifles, 

which Nigerians have often seen 

branded by terrorists in the 

presence of our security men and 

political actors in league with 

professional negotiators with 

bags full of money in the course 

of negotiations to free victims of 

kidnapping and banditry. 

Victims of kidnapping 

and banditry 

Rather, even a casual observer 

of events in Nigeria believes that 

the only reason for which the life 

of Sunday Igboho is endangered 

is his resistance to the rape of 

women, kidnapping for ransom, 

destruction of farms and 

economic activities and wanton 

killings of people in the Ibarapa 

area in particular and Yorubaland 

in general. The invasion of his 

house, including the barbarity of 

killings and the inexplicable 

destruction of his property, reeks 

more of some personal or ethnic 

vengeance. 

The Yoruba self-determination 

campaign by Igboho, brought 

about by government constructive 

complicity and mute indifference 

(apology to Frantz Fanon) to 

terrorist herders ethnic militias, 

is nonetheless conducted 

responsibly, peacefully within the 

confines of the Constitution, law 

and permissible standards of 

international conventions and, 

therefore, legitimate. The crowd 

of Yoruba nation campaigners 

who boldly thronged Lagos in 

spite of the mayhem in Igboho’s 

home and his absence and 

notwithstanding the bullying 

operational armada of the 

Nigerian security allied forces, 

inadvertently set in motion the 

untold radicalisation of Igboho 

and the adherents of his message, 

including the symbolism of the 

presence of traditional 

worshippers. 

Igboho, from his state of 

relative obscurity, is irreverently 

thrown on the centre stage of 

national discourse, now seeing 

himself in the ideological image 

of Ken Saro Wiwa, having 

conquered fear. The pro-Nigerian 

preaching of restructuring by the 

pacifist elite and their 

organisations, including the apex 

Afenifere, is becoming unpopular, 

if not odious, in the ears of the 

ordinary Yoruba folks who rather 

prefer Igboho's sermons. 

PIB and restructuring. The 

noise that would have traced the 

The PIB and 

all it 

represents 

simply 

compound 

the problem 

of resource 

allocation 

and justice in 

a federation 

passage of 

the jinxed 

Petroleum 

Industry 

Bill, PIB, 

w a s 

drowned in 

the blood of 

the citizens 

killed at 

Igboho's 

house and 

on which the 

national 

parliament 

stepped to 

pass the bill. The cacophony of 

unwarranted war against 

freedom of expression and of 

peaceful protest at Ojota Lagos 

by the combined team of all 

Nigerian security forces against 

armless and harmless Yoruba 

nation campaigners was so 

defeaning as to pale the PIB into 

insignificance. 

The final product of the PIB is 

yet to unfold; nonetheless our 

people, particularly of the Niger 

Delta, to which I belong in all 

ramifications, should be curious 

at the ease with which the Bill was 

now passed, having been jinxed 

since it was first introduced in 

2008 by the Obasanjo 

administration. Unknown to 

most restructuring agitators, 

President Buhari has perfected his 

restructuring plans, using several 

Nigerians, including particularly 

members of the National 

Assembly, sometimes as innocent 

agents, apologies to our leader, 

Chief Ayo Adebanjo. 

The President only unfolded his 

restructuring agenda in his recent 

interview with the Arise 

Television. The top priority is land 

use which the President thought 

could be wrought as a security 

compromise on the so called 

herders/farmers clash which 

would force the indigenous 

people and governors of their 

states to yield grounds for such 

programmes as cattle colonies, 

RUGA, NLTP and Water 

Resources Bill, all of which have 

been rejected by the peoples and 

governments of particularly 

southern and Middle Belt states 

as surreptitious land grabbing 

devices. 

The hint last week by the 

Secretary to the Federal 

Government, Mr. Boss Mustafa, 

of plans to amend the Land Use 

Act, which the National Assembly 

cannot do because of the 

constitutional status of the Act, is 

part of the unrelenting efforts of 

the Buhari administration to 

change the land use structure 

against state control. It is a 

government policy brazenly 

aimed at legalising trespass on 

the lands of other peoples and 

nationalities across Nigeria by 

local and foreign herders of a 

predominant ethnic nationality. 

Governments, states or federal, 

have no powers to compulsorily 

acquire personal or community 

land except for overriding public 

purposes, which cannot be 

interpreted to include grazing 

routes for the personal enterprise 

of other citizens not to talk of 

foreign nomads. 

The current target is the oil and 

gas and the South-South region 

in general. The PIB just passed by 

the National Assembly is meant 

to douse the tension of 

restructuring momentarily in the 

Niger Delta while surreptitiously 

using it as a veritable weapon to 

prepare the North for the 

eventuality of any form of change 

affecting the federation. The first 

subterfuge is the proposed 

incorporation of the Nigeria 

National Petroleum Corporation 

as a limited liability company to 

be known as NNPC Limited. For 

whatever the legislators feel that 

is worth, it makes no real 

difference as the ownership of all 

shares in the company is vested 

in the government and held by the 

Ministry of Finance Incorporated 

on behalf of the government. 

With the Minister of Petroleum 

Resources being the President 

himself, and of the same region 

with the Minister of Finance and 

the Group Managing Director of 

the NNPC, who will transmute to 

the CEO of the new company, it is 

clear that the envisaged changes 

are only in the imagination of the 

legislators particularly those of 

the Niger Delta and the entire 

South who are thereby deceived. 

The approval of “thirty per cent 

of NNPC Limited’s oil and gas 

profit in the production sharing, 

profit sharing, and risk service 

contracts to fund the exploration 

of frontier basins” is the most 

unwieldy provision in the new 

law. In the first place, if the amount 

is meant for exploration to boost 

existing reserves, why limit the 

search to and specifically 

mention the “frontier basins” with 

obvious legal definition problems 

in the future. It is an important 

canon of interpretation of statutes 

that the expression of one thing is 

the exclusion of the other because 

it is reasoned that if the legislature 

had meant to include a particular 

thing within the ambit of its 

legislation, it would have referred 

to that thing expressly. 

Besides, the legislated 

expenditure of 30 per cent of the 

profit of the company is a blank 

cheque which nurtures and 

nourishes sharp practices 

ultimately. Moreover, in the light 

of the provisions of section 162. 

(1) which creates “the Federation 

Account” into which shall be paid 

all revenues collected by the 

Government of the Federation..”, 

it is left to be seen if the National 

Assembly has power to make law 

to deduct part of the profits of the 

NNPC which is payable into the 

federation account. The 

legislative authority of the 

National Assembly on the 

exclusive legislative list is 

“accounts of the Government of 

the Federation, and of offices, 

courts, and authorities thereof, 

including audit of those 

accounts”. 

Host community 

development fund 

Whether as a commission, 

corporation or government 

owned company, the Federal 

Government can only fund its 

Agencies from its own shares of 

the Federation Account. For 

instance, the Niger Delta 

Development Commission, 

NDDC, is funded, not from the 

federation account, but by the 

Federal Government. Ditto for 

the newly created North East 


NEDC. 

The three or five per cent, as 

against 10 per cent asked by host 

communities, is levied on the 

operating expenditure of oil 

companies, OPEX, annually as 

contribution to the host 

community development fund. It 

is meant as a quantifiable 

corporate social responsibility. 

The oil producing states are 

already being blackmailed that 

such contribution is estimated at 

some $500 million annually 

whereas the cost to the federation 

account of the 30 per cent of the 

NNPC profit to exploration which 

may be illusory in several areas 

is equally imaginary. 

For some gerrymandering 

effect, the Senate claimed to have 

consulted with the Minister of 

State for Petroleum Resources to 

give our people a false sense of 

belonging. 

Those whose hopes were raised 

by the President’s promise to 

accede to restructuring once the 

National Assembly brought the 

bill to him, now know better. The 

PIB and all it represents simply 

compound the problem of 

resource allocation and justice in 

a federation. We agree with 

PANDEF that “the PIB falls short 

of the expectations of the Niger 

Delta people”. It is not an 

alternative to restructuring. It is 

not yet uhuru. 

•Ebiseni is the Secretary General 

Afenifere 

:Vanguard 

News 

Expedite action in 

completing 2nd 

Niger Bridge 

project, Anglican 

Communion tells 

FG 

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu 

NNEWI—THE Church of 

Nigeria, Diocese on the Niger, Anglican 

Communion, has called on the 

Federal Government of Nigeria to expedite 

action in completing the ongoing 

second Niger Bridge project, saying that 

there is need to increase the tempo of 

work on the project. 

A statement jointly signed by the Bishop, 

Diocese on the Niger, Rt. Rev. Owen 

Nwokolo; Chancellor of the Diocese, Sir 

Nnamdi Ibegbu, SAN, and Synod Secretary 

of the Diocese, Venerable John 

Nkwoemezie, expressed satisfaction 

with the commitment of President Muhammadu 

Buhari's administration in delivering 

the bridge in 2022 as promised. 

Diocese on the Niger however regretted 

the alleged total neglect of southern 

roads which it said has resulted in total 

dilapidation of the existing roads within 

the geographical zone, urging the Federal 

Government to do all within their 

means to commence the construction 

of federal roads within the zone. 

Similarly, the Diocese expressed satisfaction 

with what it called 'matchless 

developmental strides' of Governor Willie 

Obiano in Anambra State, particularly 

the building of Anambra State International 

Cargo Airport. 

While commending Governor Obiano 

on other achievements of his administration, 

the Diocese reminded him 

about some of the promises he made 

that are yet to be fulfilled, which included 

completing the road leading from 

Onitsha-Enugu express road to Progressive 

School Umunya, which is now the 

site for the proposed University on the 

Niger and the road leading to St Christopher's 

Junior Seminary, 3-3, Onitsha. 

Okowa not 

obstacle to rotation 

of power in Delta 

—Oghenesivbe 

ASABA—A chieftain of the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, and Executive 

Assistant to the Governor of Delta 

State on Communications, Chief Dr Fred 

Latimore Oghenesivbe, JP, has dismissed 

negative insinuations making the rounds 

that governor Ifeanyi Okowa, is not favourably 

disposed to power rotation in the state. 

Oghenesivbe, who set the records 

straight while speaking as a Special Guest 

at the “Peoples Parliament,” a Bridge 

FM Radio phone in live programme, in 

Asaba on Friday July 2, 2021, disclosed 

that the anger ragging over power rotation 

arrangement was caused by some individual 

members of the party, during the 

governorship elections in 2015. 

According to him, the very essence of 

power rotation within PDP is to ensure 

that the three senatorial districts; Delta 

North, Delta Central and Delta South, 

have equal opportunity to govern the state, 

irrespective of population and geographical 

size or economic endowment. 

He noted that majority of Deltans are 

very comfortable with the power shift thing, 

and that it was heartwarming to hear from 

royal fathers in the state, who recently 

reaffirmed their unalloyed support for the 

continuity and sustainability of the arrangement. 

Okowa’s EAC, told listeners that in 2015, 

some prominent stakeholders within Delta 

PDP consciously and deliberately violated 

the arrangement by contesting for 

the office of Governor, when it was not the 

turn of their senatorial districts to do so 

under the Power Rotation Arrangement, 

PRA, and therefore subjected the process 

to a child’s play, and eventually made a 

caricature of the entire PRA. 

“The beauty of power rotation is that it 

guarantees equity, peaceful coexistence 

and unity in the state, which is why majority 

of Deltans including royal fathers, are 

in support of the process, insisting that it 

must continue.‘‘

Power equilibrium: Russia, 

China and the US (2) 

Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 —15 

The first part of this piece focused 

on the dictatorial tendencies 

in the US political system 

HE could not spin himself 

out of a very inept handling 

of the US. As usual President 

Trump had to blame somebody 

else - this time it was the 

World Health Organisation and 

China. He charged that China 

was not transparent in telling the 

world about the virus, that it may 

have come from a laboratory engaged 

in bio-warfare. President 

Trump even called the virus a 

political weapon. But he misfired. 

While US citizens were 

dying by the truckload, China 

worked to contain it, succeeded 

and reopened its economy in the 

shortest time imaginable. 

Nevertheless, it is important to 

get the etiology of the pathogen 

to help in dealing with future 

pathogens when they occur. A 

new debate has now ensued. Did 

the virus jump from bat to human 

or was it a part of an accident 

in the laboratory of Wuhan 

where scientists were studying 

virus for use in biological warfare. 

Big bad boys behaving badly: 

The US abuses China for lack 

of human rights in China, Hong 

Kong and for denying freedom 

to Uyghurs in China who are 

moslems. The US further rejects 

China’s unacceptable threat to 

Taiwan which it still claims belong 

to China. It resents China’s 

influences in other South- 

East Asian countries. The US 

has had 145 mass shootings in 

four weeks since the verdict on 

the murder of George Floyd. 

Police kill Blacks daily. Republican 

states are busy disenfranchising 

Blacks in forthcoming 

elections. The cases of Duante 

Wright, Travon Martin and 

many others remain unsolved. 

The US would not allow Venezuela 

and Cuba to have peace 

and prosper, claiming that under 

the Monroe Doctrine those 

countries cannot be hostile to the 

US. 

Russia would imprison Alexy 

Navalny, mass its armies in 

Ukraine border; seize Crimea. 

China is on the offensive by repudiating 

China’s claim that the 

Urguyhs are not subject to ethnic 

cleansing as claimed by the 

US. Each time the US attacks any 

nation on human rights, they retort 

by holding up US racism and 

attack on Blacks for over 400 

years as the quintessence of US 

hypocrisy and double standard. 

An increase in demagoguery 

and a decline in the quality of 

leadership in the world. 

What else can the decline into 

tribalism and nativeness and otherness 

except a refusal to want 

to listen to all sides and to form 

policy which enhances diversity 

and promotes all? Can we 

snap Nigeria out of self-hatred? 

Politicians are reactionaries, not 

leaders. They achieve and maintain 

power by responding to 

public opinion, not driving it. 

US intelligence agencies have 

since nearly a decade been decrying 

the cyber-attacks of Russia 

on the US. They have highlighted 

their vulnerability to cyber-attacks 

from Russia, China, 

North Korea, Iran, etc. They 

have also claimed that Russia 

had influenced the 2016 election 

that brought in President Trump 

by trolling millions of attacks to 

targeted electoral audience - 

those in favour of Trump received 

favourable mention. Hillary 

Clinton, Trump’s opponent and 

the Democratic Party candidate 

was lambasted and lampooned 

in hundreds of thousands of 

email derogatory to her – she 

was accused of incompetence in 

Libya which led to the death of 

the US ambassador there. She 

was further accused of gross 

negligence and cover up in Bengazi, 

targeting these emails to 

specific groups and voting profiles 

submitted to the Russians 

by the Trump Campaign. 

The FBI was forced to carry out 

unending investigation of Mrs. 

Clinton and a private email server 

in her residence. Mr. Trump 

publicly invited Russia to publish 

the emails he claimed Hillary 

Clinton was hiding because 

it compromised her handling of 

the Bengazi fiasco. “Russia," 

screamed Mr. Trump, ” if you are 

listening publish the emails 

Mrs. Hilary is hiding through 

The US in a singular show 

of bipartisanship between 

the Democrats and Republicans 

has passed a law to 

fund research into beefing 

up US internet ability up to 

5G; what now is the difference 

between the US and 

China? 

WikiLeaks. Most scholars believe 

that without Russia interference 

in US elections, Trump 

would not have won. When 

Trump met Putin in Helsinki, 

Putin denied the charge and 

Trump accepted his denial. It 

would have been extraordinary 

for Putin to have accepted such 

a charge. 

But when the US, the most 

powerful nation on earth complains 

that someone outside the 

US was spying on it, using technology 

to interfere in US election, 

what should an observer 

take from this US seemingly 

impotent cry for help? What else 

could US do? When asked why 

Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

it did nothing, the US replied 

that it could act but doing so 

would compromise its assets in 

all these countries: Russia, China, 

Iran, North Korea. So what 

is more important to the US? Preserving 

the assets it has in these 

countries or stopping the activities 

of hackers into its infrastructure? 

It would be naïve to believe 

that US does not retaliate 

in kind by cyber means to these 

countries. 

China through Huawei has the 

most advanced G5 technology 

which would confine all other 

previous technologies to the 

dustbin. UK and several other 

countries had signed up to China’s 

G5, which is now 10 years 

ahead of Western prototypes. 

The US, the West, Australia and 

New Zealand share intelligence 

among themselves. Again in this 

arrangement the dominant partner 

is the US. 

The US threatened all other 

members of this intelligence club 

that if they accepted the Chinese 

G5 technology, it would 

pose a constant and imminent 

danger to the agreement because 

the Chinese would have installed 

a backdoor opening 

where G5 would be able to spy 

into Western intelligence and 

relay it to China. Britain was 

forced to pull out. 

The US in a singular show of 

bipartisanship between the 

Democrats and Republicans has 

passed a law to fund research 

into beefing up US internet ability 

up to 5G. What now is the 

difference between the US and 

China? 

Africa and the challenge of development 

By JEROME-MARIO UTOMI 

IT is no longer news that the 

Director-General of the Industrial 

Training Fund, ITF, Sir Joseph N. Ari, recently 

presented the ITF Mobile Android GSM smart 

phone to President Muhammadu Buhari at 

the Presidential Villa, Abuja. 

The DG said at the presentation that the ITF 

mobile phone, which was comparable in 

quality to any other brand of Android phone in 

the world, was assembled by the ITF Model 

Skills Training Centre, MSTC, Abuja, as part 

of the implementation of the vision of the 

incumbent management of the ITF with 

particular emphasis on research and 

development. The phone was produced with 

100 percent locally-sourced material. 

It is proof that given the enabling 

environment and opportunities, Nigerians will 

unleash their creative potentials. Definitely a 

cheerful development, but such joy easily gets 

abbreviated when one remembers that the 

shadows still linger of similar feeble attempts 

in the past which ended in shame. There exists 

also new awareness that this challenge is by no 

means unique to Nigeria as a country but cuts 

across Africa. 

The sad reality is that the continent is the 

second most-populated in the world (1.2 billion 

people), yet sadly represents only 1.4 per cent 

of the world manufacturing value added in 

the first quarter of 2020. This is 

further exacerbated by the fact that out of 

over 51 countries in Africa, only South Africa 

qualified as a member of BRICS, an acronym 

coined for an association of five major 

emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, 

India, China and South Africa. 

This worrying concern about how off-track 

Africa has gone in all facets of technological 

development and advancement recently came 

flooding during a conversation with C.N. 

Oragwu, a former university academic in 

physics, at his Lagos residence. Aside from the 

facts that the conversation leads to the title 

and partially forms the content of this piece, 

Oragwu, during the conversation critically 

highlighted how his new book entitled: 

Technology and Wealth of Nations, which is set 

for presentation to the public this month, 

chronicles the slanted and unsustainable effort 

different African governments made in the past 

to bring their nations out of technological 

woods, as well as outlined the way forward. 

There is also another distinction to make. 

Similar to construction of any business strategy, 

where it is acknowledged that three main 

players must be taken into account, the 

corporation itself, the customers and the 

competition - as each of this ‘strategic 3Cs 

which form the strategic triangle is a living 

entity with its own interests and objectives; but 

must be taken care of by any organisation 

desirous of survival; likewise, the book is 

Why is it that Europe, which 

hosted the industrial revolutions 

in the 17th and 18th centuries, 

did not permit technological 

education in Africa in about 50 

years of colonisation, and 

prefers to send aids afterwards? 

evident with some strategic antidotes that 

signal solutions to Africa’s hydra-headed and 

multi faceted technological challenge. A fact 

that more than anything else qualifies it a most 

read for policy makers in Nigeria and Africa 

as a continent. 

The above is not the only explanation as he 

went ahead to make further distinction. 

Separate from thoughtfully and masterfully 

examining the inspiring relationship between 

technological development and economic 

progress of nations, the book deftly argues with 

facts that the point of sail of all economies is 

the introduction of the manufacturing sector 

or the industrial economy. He establishes that 

Africa’s prolonged economic plight is centered 

on the two fundamental challenges of a 

manufacturing economy. 

It traces Africa’s economic backwardness to 

its roots – a key problem that has kept our 

policy makers handicapped and our 

economies crippled. With documented facts 

on the institutionalised crippling policies and 

organised sequences of stagnating events of 

the colonial masters, the author asks: Why is it 

that Europe, which hosted the industrial 

revolutions in the 17th and 18th centuries, did 

not permit technological education in Africa 

in about 50 years of colonisation, and prefers 

to send aids afterwards? 

Of course, the above question, in my view, 

may not be lacking in merit considering the 

fact that Africa presently is dotted with projects 

built with aids from Europe, United States of 

America, USA, and lately, China. For a better 

understanding of this piece, let’s take a look at 

the Chinese development aid to Africa. Going 

by reports, Chinese development aid to Africa 

comes to 47 per cent of its total foreign 

assistance in 2009 alone, and from 2000 to 

2012 it funded 1,666 official assistance projects 

in 51 African countries. Also, the Brookings 

Institution Aid Data study found that at least 

70 per cent of China’s overseas aid was sent to 

Africa from 2000 to 2014. 

Some of these projects includes but not 

limited to the African Union building in Addis 

Ababa, Ethiopia, which cost $200 million to 

build and was handed over in 2012. Recently 

also, China announced its willingness to give 

the Economic Community of West African 

States, ECOWAS, a $31.6 million grant to build 

a new headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. China’s 

scarves have found their largest African market 

in Egypt, which imported supplies worth $45 

million in 2014. The nations also have a 

healthy exchange of carpets, with multimillion 

dollar supplies travelling in both 

directions. Dozens of African hospitals have 

been built with Chinese funds in recent years. 

China’s largest commitments in Africa are to 

infrastructure projects, such as Nigeria’s $8.3 

billion Lagos-Kano rail line, largely funded 

through Chinese loans. 

Whatever the true situation may be, I believe 

that there exists something troubling 

technologically that characterises Africa more 

as a dark continent. More so, looking at the 

current happenings and commentaries within 

the continent, it is obvious that fair-minded 

and foresighted Africans are in support of the 

position as conversed by the book. 

In fact, many have at different times and 

places argued that though Africans may have 

overtly shown remarkable improvement in 

their culture and civilisation, the fact that after 

almost 60 years of independence, African 

countries continually look up to China for aid, 

tells a story of a continent lacking in capacity 

for taking responsibility for its actions and 

initiatives for values. 

On the way out of the continent’s 

technological debacle and the current wealth 

disparity among nations (industrial and 

industrial economies), let's again cast a glance 

on what the book is saying. The book argues 

that the current wealth disparity among 

nations (industrial and industrial economies) 

represented by highly industrialised Europe, 

North America and Japan on one hand and 

most developing (non-industrial economies) 

countries, in particular, those in sub-Saharan 

Africa, on the order is primarily the difference 

in the technical capability and capacity to 

produce and manufacture modern 

technologies and to use the technologies to 

produce and manufacture globally 

competitive industrial goods and to sustain 

the commanding tasks of science and 

technology in the economy. 

Continues online:www.vanguardngr.com 

*Utomi, the Programme Coordinator ,Social 

and Economic Justice Advocacy, SEJA, 

Lagos, wrote via: jeromeutomi@yahoo.com




ON Thursday, July 1, 2021, the Soka, 

Ibadan home of Chief Sunday Adeniyi 

Adeyemo (also known as Sunday 

Igboho) was attacked for the second time 

in six months. The first was on January 

26, 2021 when hoodlums burnt the same 

house in what was seen as a retaliation 

by suspected Fulani assailants. Three 

weeks earlier, Igboho and his men had 

evicted the families of a Fulani leader, 

Abdulkadir Salihu, from Igangan in Oyo 

State, over accusations of masterminding 

attacks, rapes, kidnappings, murders, 

destruction of farms, harbouring 

hoodlums and negotiating ransoms for 

kidnappers. 

While speculations were still swirling 

as to who carried out the second attack 

on Igboho’s household, the Directorate 

of State Services, in a statement issued by 

its spokesman, Dr. Peter Afunanya, 

claimed responsibility for it. The DSS said 

it acted on an intelligence report that 

Igboho had stockpiled arms in his home. 

According to the statement, on 

approaching the residence at 1.34am, the 

DSS operatives were fired on by nine men 

suspected to be Igboho’s guards. 

According to the statement, “six of 

them were armed with AK-47 guns and 

three others with pump action rifles. In 

the course of the exchange, two of 

Igboho’s armed men were gunned down 

while the rest were subdued and 

arrested”. The Service also said that seven 

AK-47 guns, three pump action rifles, 47 

AK-47 magazines with 5,000 rounds of 

ammunition, five cutlasses, one jack 

knife, Igboho’s passport, one pair of 

binoculars, two whistles, three voodoo 

charm jackets/traditional body armour 

and other items were recovered. 

We consider the manner of this 

nocturnal raid very disturbing because 

there is very little that differentiates it from 

Midnight raids: DSS should not behave 

like bandits 

the methods deployed by hoodlums and 

bandits in attacking innocent people. By 

staging this operation in the wee hours 

of the night, the DSS operatives gave the 

guards in that building legitimate reasons 

to try warding off the attack in the belief 

that the hoodlums who had earlier 

attacked the place were back. 

When the same DSS staged what it 

described as a “sting operation” on some 

judges in Abuja in October 2016, it was 

widely condemned as an unnecessary act 

meant to intimidate the suspects when the 

same objective could have been achieved 

through the civilised, due process of 

obtaining a court warrant. In this raid on 

Igboho’s residence, there was also no 

reported indication that it was done with 

a court warrant. The problem this poses 

is that the DSS agents were the only 

persons at the scene to process it and 

report of items recovered. There was no 

way of confirming the veracity of their 

claim that Igboho “stockpiled arms”. 

Furthermore, there is no reported 

evidence that the DSS took any action 

when Abdulkadir had allegedly 

established a commune which was 

guarded by armed men in Igangan and 

carried out his alleged criminal activities. 

Even when hoodlums attacked Igboho’s 

house, there was no known action from 

DSS to unravel the assailants. It was only 

the Police which said they were on the 

heels of the assailants, but up till date, 

never disclosed the outcome of their 

investigations. 

The Directorate had also carried out 

actions early in this administration which 

questioned its impartiality in the 

discharge of its duties. In April 2016, the 

Service, through its erstwhile spokesman, 

Tony Opuiyo, had issued a statement 

which read as follows: “Service has 

uncovered the heinous role played by the 

members of the Indigenous People of 

Biafra in the abduction/kidnap of five 

Hausa-Fulani residents, namely: 

Mohammed Gainako, Ibrahim 

Mohammed, Idris Yakubu and Isa 

Mohammed Rago at Isiukwuato LGA in 

Abia State. The abducted men were later 

discovered at the Umuanyi Forest, Abia 

State, where they were suspected to have 

been killed by their abductors and buried 

in shallow graves amidst 50 other shallow 

graves of unidentified persons”. 

That raised the question of how the DSS 

was able to only identify the five bodies 

of “Hausa-Fulani” ethnic origin without 

telling the public the identities of the other 

50 bodies. This manner in which the 

Service has sometimes performed its 

functions under the current regime also 

resonates with the Muhammadu Buhari 

government’s worrisome refusal to 

declare the armed pastoralists as 

terrorists. 

Meanwhile, the Global Terrorism Index, 

GTI, since 2015 had rated them as the 

fourth most murderous terror group in 

the world after ISIS, Somali Al Shabbab 

and Boko Haram. Since then, the armed 

herders have taken their terrorism to all 

parts of the Middle Belt and the Southern 

geopolitical zones,establishing camps in 

forests, killing people, raping, destroying 

farms, kidnapping for ransom and even 

collecting tolls in parts of Delta State 

before allowing farmers into their farms. 

Rather than declare them terrorist and 

protect innocent and law-abiding 

Nigerians from them, the government 

inappropriately describes their nefarious 

activities as “farmers-herders clashes”. 

Just last month, we did not hear a word 

from the DSS when a group of self-styled 

“Fulani Jihadists” threatened to attack 

Asaba and Agbor in Delta State unless 

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa “rescinded” the 

ban on open grazing imposed throughout 

the 17 Southern states by their Governors 

after a meeting in Asaba. Nobody has 

been apprehended to reassure the public 

that such threats cannot be tolerated by 

the government of the day. 

These uneven-handed approaches to 

the discharge of the Service’s functions 

do not augur well for faith in the country 

by Nigerians who feel at the wrong end 

of it. If anything, it will boost the camps 

of the aggrieved who seem to have totally 

lost their faith in Nigeria as their country 

capable of and willing to protect their lives 

and property. 

We call on the President to caution the 

Service. The DSS must conform strictly 

to the universally-established rules of 

engagement while performing official 

functions. Government agents maintained 

with the taxpayers’ money cannot be 

perceived to compete with hoodlums in 

their modus operandi. Civilised, 

professional and lawful conducts on their 

part will earn them respect and acclaim 

among the people and restore faith in 

Nigeria. These are what we ask of them. 

The first part of this piece focused on 

the major differences between Northern 

and Southern parts of Nigeria that were 

brought together by the colonialists 

BEFORE southern Nigerians pounce with 

glee (as they often this evidence of northern 

economic dependency on the South, one 

must pause and reflect that amalgamation was 

a British decision, not a northern one. Northern 

Nigeria had no more say in amalgamation than 

Southern Nigeria did (and probably, if given a 

choice, would have objected to it). One of the 

North’s leaders did, after all, later refer to amalgamation 

as ‘the mistake of 1914’. 

Effect an alliance with a Southern lady of 

means: The economic disparity between the 

two Nigerias made their amalgamation inevitable. 

In a light-hearted after-dinner speech to 

the Colonial Service Club in 1913, the secretary 

of state for the colonies, Lord Lewis Harcourt, 

used a metaphor to the impending amalgamation: 

“We have released Northern Nigeria 

from the leading strings (British) Treasury. 

The promising and well-conducted youth allowance 

‘on his own’ and is about to effect an 

OPINION 

The mistake of 1914 (2) 

alliance Southern lady of means. I have issued 

the special licence and Sir Frederick will perform 

the ceremony... May the union be and the 

couple constant! 

‘An enthusiastic practicing paedophile.’ In 

1913, Lugard named the south-eastern Nigeria 

city of Port-Harcourt after Lord Harcourt. Details 

of a man’s personal life should not ordinarily 

occupy much space in a history book 

about two nations. However, the continued 

prominence of Harcourt’s name in contemporary 

Nigeria justifies an exception. Harcourt 

ostensibly led an ordinary family life. His wife 

was the wealthy American 

heiress Mary Burns, who was 

a member of the Morgan 

banking family dynasty and 

the niece of the banker John 

Pierpont Morgan (founder of 

JP Morgan Bank). However, 

Harcourt (or ‘Loulou’, as he 

was known) ‘was an enthusiastic 

practising paedophile’, 

who abused both young boys 

and girls. 

Owing to his status, Harcourt’s paedophilia 

was largely unknown to the public, and knowledge 

of it was restricted to the elite circles in 

which he moved. Harcourt abused the son and 

daughter of his friend Viscount Esher (Reginald 

Brett). Esher’s teenage daughter Dorothy 

was so traumatised after Harcourt tried to sexually 

assault her that she avoided romantic relationships 

with men for most of her adult life. 

Harcourt’s predilection for preying on children 

was so well known that boys at Eton School 

(where he was a fellow) were warned not to be 

alone with him. 

Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

Harcourt also tried to sexually assault a young 

boy named Edward James during a party at 

Harcourt’s country estate. The boy reported the 

assault to his mother, who mentioned it to others. 

Harcourt was found dead early the next 

year after taking an overdose of sedatives. The 

most extraordinary aspect of Nigeria’s amalgamation 

was how little thought the British 

colonial administrators gave to its long-term 

consequences. The architects of both the 1914 

amalgamation and the Niger Committee’s report 

of 1898 had no guiding vision or objective. 

Not only did the colonial government fail to 

contemplate the north-south differences, but 

they paid little attention to how much British 

rule had amplified the pre-existing differences 

between the two regions. The introduction of 

Christian missionaries in the South had caused 

a revolutionary change to the region’s religious 

life and created a Western-educated cadre that 

was anxious for independence while the North 

had little interest in rushing into a union with a 

southern region that was so radically different 

in religious and social ethos. 

To be concluded

36 investors express interests to buy 

FG’s power plants 

By Emma Ujah, Abuja 

Bureau Chief 

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING 

US DOLLAR 

POUNDS 

EURO 

FRANC 

YEN 

CFA 

WAUA 

RENMINBI 

RIYAL 

RAND 

Danish Krona 

ECONOMY 

THIRTY-six power sector in 

vestors have submitted Expressions 

of Interest (EoIs) for the 

five National Integrated Power 

Plants (NIPPs) put up for sale by 

the federal government. 

Director General of the Bureau 

of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. 

Alex Okoh, told journalists in 

Abuja, yesterday, that the 

privatisation of the five NIPP 

plants was in line with the 

Bureau’s 2021 work plan as approved 

by the National Council 

on Privatisation (NCP). 

The affected plants are: Benin 

Generation Company Limited at 

Ihovba, Edo State; Calabar Generation 

Company Limited, Cross 

River State; Geregu Generation 

Company Limited, Kogi State; 

Olorunsogo Generation Company 

Limited, Ogun State; and 

Omotosho Generation Company 

Limited, Ondo State. 

Okoh revealed that based on the 

approval of the NCP, the BPE has 

already engaged the services of a 

Technical Adviser who would assist 

the agency in the transaction 

process. 

He added that the Evaluation 

Committee constituted by the Bureau, 

which also included nominees 

of the Niger Delta Power 

Holding Company (NDPHC) has 

commenced work on the EoIs. 

The initial process was for the 

ten NIPP plants to be privatized. 

That process commenced in 

2012 and by November 2013 bidders 

had submitted technical and 

financial proposals for their 

privatisation. 

“In the Request for Proposal 

(RfP), the bidders were informed 

that they would be required to pay 

the full purchase consideration for 

the acquisition of 80% equity in 

the NIPP generation companies”, 

Okoh stated, adding that an approval 

was given through the 

NDPHC in February 2016, to proceed 

with a phased implementation 

of the programme by negotiating 

with the Preferred Bidders 

of the four (4) NIPP generation 

153.05 -3.35 

2319.00 -35.00 

18.15 +0.21 

76.98 +0.81 

76.36 +1.20 

409.16 409.66 410.16 

562.3495 563.0367 563.7239 

483.7908 484.382 484.9732 

442.0484 442.5886 443.1288 

3.6719 3.6764 3.6809 

0.7237 0.7337 0.7437 

583.0749 583.7875 584.5 

63.1109 63.1885 63.266 

109.0919 109.2252 109.3585 

28.3162 28.3508 28.3854 

65.4186 65.4986 

65.5785 

CBN Exchange rate as at 05/07/2021 

CEREMONY — From left: Dr. John Adesioye, President/CEO, Utopian Consulting; Rotarian 

Femi Ojumu, Director, Public Image; Rotarian Dare Adeyeri, outgoing president, Rotary Club 

of Lagos; Rotarian Babawale Agbeyangi, incoming President, Rotary Club of Lagos; Dr. Adesola 

Adeduntan, CEO, First Bank of Nigeria Limited/Chairman of the occasion and Rotarian Adetunji 

Lamidi, Director, Membership at the installation ceremony of Rotarian Babawale Adegbeyangi 

as the 61st President of Rotary Club of Lagos and induction of the 2021-22 Board/Dinner held in 

Lagos. 

companies with the least challenges. 

However, he noted that the transaction 

was eventually stalled 

largely due to the liquidity challenges 

in the power sector, 

amongst other factors. 

He said that the challenges were 

being addressed comprehensively 

by the federal government through 

various programmes like the 

Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), 

the World Bank Distribution Intervention 

Programme (DISREP), the 

Emefiele pushes for entrepreneurship 

competition in universities 

By Babajide Komolafe 

MONEY MARKET 

THE Governor, Central Bank 

of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. 

Godwin Emefiele, has called for 

an entrepreneurship based competition 

for university undergraduates 

in order to boost the 

Small and Medium Enterprises 

(SME) sector and enhance job 

creation. 

Emefiele made this call yesterday 

while delivering the 51st 

Convocation Lecture of the University 

of Lagos, Lagos, saying the 

CBN is ready to partner with universities 

to develop the framework 

for such competition. 

In this regard he added 

that the Development Finance 

Department of the 

CBN will write to all the 

universities to conduct entrepreneurship 

based competition 

among their students. 

While pledging the 

CBN’s readiness to increase 

its development finance 

interventions to further 

support start-ups and 

SMEs in the country, 

Emefiele averred that universities 

should focus 

more on how to stimulate 

the entrepreneurial spirit 

of Nigerian youths. 

Noting that increased 

access to finance for startups 

and SMEs was highly 

essential for the nation’s 

economy to grow, Emefiele 

said: “I expect universities 

to call CBN for support for 

graduating students to set 

up their businesses. That is 

what we should be thinking 

now.” 

Emefiele highlighted the critical 

role of vibrant and growing 

SMEs to the growth of the 

economy and the creation of jobs 

for Nigerian youth, noting that 

special consideration needed to 

be given to the strengthening of 

physical and ICT infrastructure to 

enable SMEs perform more efficiently 

and become globally competitive. 

While noting that the potential 

of SMEs in enhancing economic 

growth was hampered by limited 

access to finance, inadequate infrastructure 

and poor digital 

penetration, Mr. Emefiele enjoined 

the Government and the 

private sector to provide more 

support in addressing the challenges 

of SMEs in the country. 

Specifically, as users of new technology, 

he urged that policies 

should incentivise the adoption 

of innovations that will improve 

SMEs competitiveness and productivity. 

He also tasked all relevant 

stakeholders to deepen reforms 

that will improve human 

capital development through 

skills enhancement and proper 

linkage of research to the SME 

sector. 

Speaking on the role of the 

CBN in the development of SMEs 

in Nigeria, the Governor reiterated 

that the Bank had rolled out 

massive developmental interventions 

in some critical sectors of 

the Nigerian economy, especially 

in agriculture, manufacturing 

and SMEs. He said attention had 

also been paid to advancing 

knowledge and innovation 

through various initiatives targeted 

at promoting youth’s entrepreneurship, 

research and development. 

Congratulating the graduating 

Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 —19 

Ministry of Finance and Central 

Bank’s interventions in addressing 

the sector’s payments management, 

as well as, the bottlenecks 

between the Distribution Companies 

(DISCOs) and the Transmission 

Company of Nigeria (TCN). 

students, Emefiele urged them to 

take advantage of some of the 

Bank’s directly aimed at supporting 

SMEs such as the SME Credit 

Guarantee Scheme (SMECGS); 

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises 

Development Fund 

(MSMEDF); Youth Entrepreneurship 

Development Programme 

(YEDP); Agri-business/Small and 

Medium Enterprises Investment 

Scheme (AGSMEIS); Creative 

Industry Financing Initiative 

(CIFI); Targeted Credit Facility 

(TCF) and the Nigeria Youth Investment 

Fund (NYIF). 

AfCFTA: CBN 

charges banks to 

brace up for 

maximum 

benefits 

By Yinka Kolawole 

ECONOMY 

THE Central Bank of Nige 

ria (CBN) has charged financial 

institutions in Nigeria to 

be properly positioned to reap 

maximum benefits from the operations 

of the African Continental 

Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) 

agreement. 

Deputy Governor, Economic 

Policy Directorate, CBN, Dr 

Kingsley Obiora, made the call 

yesterday in a webinar organised 

by the apex bank to prepare the 

financial sector to take full advantage 

of the continental trade 

agreement. 

“There is a need for the sector 

to reposition and play a key role 

in reaping the benefits provided 

in the agreement,” Obiora 

stated. 

He assured that CBN would 

provide the needed support to 

stakeholders in the country’s financial 

sector to ensure that optimal 

benefits were reaped from 

the AfCFTA deal. 

Also speaking at the webinar, 

CBN’s Director, Payment System 

and Management Department, 

Mr. Musa Jimoh, asserted that 

Nigeria has a resilient payment 

system that is more than ready 

for the AfCFTA agreement. 

He noted that Nigeria’s payment 

system was recently ranked 

first in Africa and 6th in the 

world. 

According to him, “Nigeria 

plans to become the hub for payment 

in Africa which requires a 

resilient payment infrastructure 

that Nigeria already has.” 

In her remark, Dr. Ozoemena 

Nnaji, Director, Trade and Exchange 

Department, CBN, however, 

cautioned that a lot of 

bottlenecks still need to be removed 

for Nigeria to reap maximum 

benefits from the AfCFTA 

agreement. 

She particularly identified the 

need to address the issue of logistics 

at the existing ports, and 

called for the opening up of additional 

ports to accommodate 

the volume of expected transcontinental 

trade. 

FMN records over 34% growth 

in revenue 

CAPITAL MARKET 

By Jimoh Babatunde 

FLOUR Mills of Nigeria Plc 

(FMN) has recorded 34.5 

per growth in revenue for the 

year ended 31st March 2021 to 

N771.6 billion from N573.77 billion 

recorded the previous year. 

The company also said that 

profit before tax rose by 112 per 

cent to N37.19 billion from 

N17.50 billion, while profit after 

tax (PAT) grew by 126 per 

cent to N25.72 billion from 

N11.38 billion the preceding 

year. Profit after tax increased 

by 127 per cent to N25.7 billion 

from N11.4 billion. 

Net finance cost fell from 

N17.5 billion to N15 billion, resulting 

from better cost and financial 

management strategy. 

Commenting on the result, 

Group Managing Director, Mr. 

Omoboyede Olusanya said that 

the Group achieved impressive 

topline growth for the year, 

aided by gains from its agro-allied 

turnaround strategy. 

Championing backward integration 

programmes also enabled 

the company to expand 

value delivery across all value 

chains, including strategic 

partnerships with smallholder 

farmers, resulting in an average 

revenue gain of 34 per cent 

across all business sectors. 

Based on the performance, 

the board has proposed a dividend 

of 165 kobo per share up 

from 140 kobo per share last 

year. 

Olusanya said: “Flour Mills 

emerges from the prevailing 

COVID-19 environment as a 

stronger, more resilient, flexible, 

and confident business as a result 

of the collective strategic 

actions made over our 60-year 

history. I want to thank all our 

employees for their patience 

and hard work as we consistently 

adapted to the year’s 

challenges and invested significantly 

in our purpose of feeding 

the nation every day.”

20— Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 

SOUTHERN GOVERNORS FORUMS MEETING 

Governors from the southern states of Nigeria, under the aegis of Southern Governors' Forum (SGF) 

met at Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday. PHOTOS: BUNMI AZEEZ 

From left: Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa; Ondo State gov, Rotimi Akeredolu; 

Gov Nyesom Wike of Rivers and Ogun State gov, Dapo Abiodun. 

From left: Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), 

Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Gboyega Oyetola (Osun). 

Governors Seyi Makinde, Oyo (left) and Udom Emmanuel (Akwa-Ibom.) 

From left: Kelechi Igwe, Deputy gov (Ebonyi), Oko Chukwu, Deputy Gov (Abia), 

Placid Njoku, Deputy governor (Imo) and Phillip Shaibu, Deputy governor (Edo.)



A decade of Gas: Imposing VAT on LPG will scuttle development — OGSPAN 

By Udeme Akpan 

THE Oil and Gas Service 

Providers Association of 

Nigeria, OGSPAN, has urged 

the Federal Government not to 

impose the Value Added Tax, 

VAT, on Liquefied Petroleum 

Gas, LPG. 

According to OGSPAN, the 

planned imposition of VAT on 

LPG would stifle, demand, 

utilisation, investment and 

growth of the sector in the 

country. 

In an interview with 

Vanguard, yesterday, National 

President of the association, 

Colman Obasi, said: “As a 

stakeholder in the sector, we 

were delighted when the 

Federal Government previously 

excluded operators in the LPG 

sector from paying the VAT. 

“We were even more delighted 

when it declared January 1, 

2021 to December 31, 2030, as 

‘The Decade of Gas 

Development for Nigeria’, with 

emphasis on LPG. 

“Specifically, the official 

launch of The Decade of Gas 

was declared by President 

Muhammadu Buhari, on 

March 29, 2021, also recognised 

2021 as ‘Year of Gas'. 

“However, having taken these 

steps, we were shocked to learn 

that the Federal Government is 

currently considering imposing 

VAT, targeted at increasing its 

revenue.” 

According to him: “A 

Presidential directive was 

issued on July 11, 2005, to 

remove VAT on LPG. But the 

approved memo erroneously 

had the word 'import' left on it, 

because at the time imports 

were the only source of gas. 

“This meant that the Federal 

Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, 

charged VAT on locally 

produced LPG but there was no 

output VAT, so the VAT cost was 

absorbed as a loss by industry 

players. 

“Industry operators fought for 

14 years to reverse this situation 

and the Minister of Finance 

finally removed the VAT on 

'domestically produced gas' 

under a gazette issued in 2019, 

thus stopping the FIRS from 

charging VAT on LPG under a 

loophole that was created in 

error. 

“The FIRS itself, under several 

subsequent letters (now 

available in the public domain) 

advised companies that neither 

input nor output VAT was 

payable on LPG, in line with 

other petroleum products." 

TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 

Electricity: N1.5trn inves 

estment turns sour, , power coys 

suffer inadequate e capacity 

• 8 years after, DISCOs still reject load 

•196m Nigerians lack access to electricity 

By Prince Okafor 

NIGERIA’S 

electricity 

challenges continue to 

worsen, as power generating, 

transmission and distribution 

companies suffer from inadequate 

capacity, despite investments 

totalling N1.5 trillion sunk in the 

sector since the privatisation 

exercise. 

According to leading labour 

centres in the electricity sector, this 

staggering amount has done 

nothing to add a kilowatt of 

electricity to existing capacity since 

2013. 

For instance, households across 

the nation still experience 

blackouts for days, weeks, months 

and even years, as the eleven 

electricity distribution companies 

still reject power load, while the 

power sector is yet to maintain 

adequate spinning reserves, thus 

leading to persistent system 

collapses. 

An x-ray of the nation’s power 

grid stability, which is a pointer to 

the current challenges, shows that 

from 2013, when the electricity 

privatisation process was 

completed, till date, the country 

has witnessed 131 grid collapses; 

a situation that experts and 

operators said would persist. A 

breakdown shows that the nation 

witnessed 72 total system 

collapses and 52 partial collapses. 

In addition, it has been tales of 

woes across the country, as it was 

gathered that power evacuation, 

especially in the Eastern axis, 

constitutes great challenges as 

bulk power is usually stranded 

within the region, mainly due to 

lack of adequate line capacity to 

evacuate Ibom and Gbarain power 

generation. 

The Adiabor-Itu 132kV line has 

been out of operation for 

reconductoring for more than a 

year now, and is yet to be 

completed. There is load limitation 

of more than 100MW on Aba/Itu 

132kV line. This calls for urgent 

attention. 

Replacement of burnt relay/ 

control room at Afam V 330kV T/ 

S to enable the evacuation of 

power from 2 X 138MW GT19 and 

GT20 Afam V GS units, 

replacement of damaged Benin/ 

Delta 132kV towers (Nos 41 & 42) 

and 150MVA 330/132kV inter bus 

transformer at Delta Ts that has 

excluded Delta 132kV and 

Effurun 132kV Ts from the national 

grid are highly recommended. 

Also, Delta/Benin 132kV line 

needs to be provided with a turnin/turn-out 

capability to enable 

reliable supply of power to 

Amukpe 132kV T/S. 

Investments 

On the contrary, evidence shows 

that the power sector has not 

lacked investments across all its 

value chain over the years. 

A breakdown of investments in 

the sector since 2010 shows that 

the World Bank, in 2010, advanced 

a loan of $300 million (N108.6 

billion) to the country, for the 

Nigeria Electricity and Gas 

Improvement Project, NEGIP, 

which ended in December 2018. 

The Japanese Agency for 

International Cooperation, JICA, 

gave 1.317 billion Japanese Yen 

or $12.4 million (about N4.5 billion) 

grant for the Transmission 

Company of Nigeria, TCN, to 

install capacitors and switch gears 

at the Apo (Abuja) and Keffi 

(Nasarawa State) substations in 

April 2018, which have been 

inaugurated. The TCN also raised 

another $1.661 billion (N601.3 

billion) multilateral loan to increase 

capacity through the Transmission 

Rehabilitation and Expansion 

Programme, TREP. 

Irrespective of the amount spent, 

so far, former Executive Chairman 

and Chief Executive Officer of 

Nigeria Electricity Regulatory 

Commission, NERC, Dr. Sam 

Amadi, warned that Nigeria would 

still suffer more system collapses 

because the system is irregular. 

In a chat with our correspondent, 

Amadi said: “The national grid will 

always collapse from time to time, 

since power supply goes off and 

on due to several external factors. 

“System collapse can only end if 

the necessary attention is given to 

it. The power system is frail, and 

taken for granted by the regulatory 

board, so once there is a 

disturbance, collapse happens. 

Source: NERC 

“Because the system is frail and 

it does not have enough spinning 

reserve to carry power when 

something goes off, or when 

everybody is on one network and 

there is a breach on one end, it 

collapses. It is a matter of incapacity. 

We do not have enough spinning 

reserve and redundancy, except 

this is fixed and we create a robust 

system.” 

Amadi noted that there is no 

clarity on the total cost of system 

collapse. He said: “Basically there 

is no clarity on the accountability 

of system collapse, but what we 

planned before we left was to fix 

the system such that individuals 

bear the cost of fixing the system. 

“For example, if the power system 

collapses due to the inability of a 

particular DISCO not able to take 

load properly, they would have to 

compensate other parties in the 

power chain for their losses. At this 

point there is no clear monetary or 

financial clarity of system.” 

196m Nigerians lack access to 

electricity 

Reacting to the state of the 

nation’s power sector, Secretary- 

General of the National Union of 

OIL MARKET WATCH 

Bonny Light $74.16 

Brent $76.23 

OPEC Basket $74.84 

WTI $75.24 

MARS $73.11 

(As of July 5, 2021) 

Electricity Employees, NUEE, 

Joe Ajaero, lamented that the 

country is currently generating 

4,000 megawatts, MW, or a little 

above that. The global index is a 

million people to 1,000MW, and 

the people that fall under that are 

classified as suffering from power 

poverty. If we take four million 

people by the global index; say 

4,000MW for four million people, 

what we will be having is 196 million 

people without access to electricity. 

“Former President Olusegun 

Obasanjo's government spent over 

$16 billion trying to revive electricity. 

Then, globally, with a billion 

dollars, we could have 1,000 

megawatts. That money could 

have ordinarily given Nigeria 

16,000MW, assuming we did not 

have any pole, line or anything. 

But we missed it. 

“Then we now moved into the 

Energy People Projects, EPP. At a 

stage, almost $11 billion was spent, 

down to President Goodluck 

Jonathan's era. We did not have 

the desired results. 

“After privatization in 2013, the 

Federal Government of Nigeria has 

pumped about N1.5 trillion into the 

private sector, as grants. You sold 

your house, and you are giving 

money to the buyer to paint it? N1.5 

trillion, no matter how we think of 

it, could have given us over 

20,000MW. 

However, in a chat with Vanguard, 

the former managing director, 

Transmission Company of Nigeria, 

TCN, Mr. Gur Mohammed, 

disclosed that the privatisation 

process was built not to work, as 

the nation sold its 60 per cent stake 

to unqualified investors that have 

no record of successful projects in 

the past. 

According to him: “I was part of 

the team that started the Power 

Sector Reform Programme in 2007, 

and I was called to be the secretary 

of the team during President 

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's 

administration. I declined the offer, 

because I already knew the 

programme would never work. 

“The DISCOs accuse the TCN 

of being the weak link in the power 

chain, and its wheeling capacity 

was around 5,000MW but, 

currently, it can boast of a wheeling 

capacity of over 8,000MW, why are 

we still witnessing load rejection 

as inadequate poor distribution to 

households?”


24—Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 

•Traffic chaos in Lagos 

Traffic snarl: Lagos on lockdown 

•Motorists, commuters cry out as gridlock takes over metropolis 

•Govt calls for understanding 

By Olasunkanmi Akoni and Bose Adelaja 

AFTER what will appear as a temporary 

respite, traffic gridlock has once again 

reappeared on most Lagos roads, leaving residents, 

especially commuters, in untold agony as they 

travel from one part of the state to the other. What 

many find most distressing is the alarming 

indication that there is no immediate solution in 

sight. The state-wide gridlock has been attributed 

to different factors, with the poor state of some 

roads across the metropolis top on the list. To make 

matters worse, most of the roads have become 

significantly unmotorable following recent 

downpours in the state. 

On account of this, motorists have gone back to 

telling sad stories of their nightmarish experiences 

in standstill traffics which have continued to 

expose them to frequent attacks by hoodlums and 

robbers. Also being blamed for the return of the 

traffic gridlock nightmare are the various ongoing 

road reconstruction projects and activities 

of commercial bus drivers. 

Areas most affected by the daily gridlock include 

Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ikorodu Road, Ojodu, 

Ikeja environs, Agege, Ogudu, Oshodi, Funsho 

Williams Avenue, Iyana Oworosonki-Gbagada 

Expressway, Mobolaji-Bank Anthony Way, Lagos- 

Abeokuta Expressway, Ozunba-Mbadiwe Way, 

Lekki-Epe Expressway, Ajah, Ikoyi, Oshodi-Apapa 

Expressway, Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Isolo/ 

Ikotun/Egbe Road, Eko Bridge, among others. 

Apapa roads, however, remain the worst hit. In 

fact, the area has in recent years attained the 

notoriety of being an axis of traffic chaos, whether 

you are accessing Apapa through Oshodi-Tin Can 

end or through Wharf Road. 

Completion of road 

rehabilitation 

But this was recently puntuated by the cheery 

news of some measure sanity now existing around 

the Mile 2 area following the completion of road 

rehabilitation under the bridge there. The situation 

around Apapa the during rainy season is usually 

frustrating as vehicles break down frequently, 

heavy-duty trucks often overturning or getting 

stuck in muddy potholes. In most cases, motorists 

have no choice but to disembark at particularly 

failed sections of the roads to push rickety and 

articulated vehicles, thereby causing gridlock on 

the roads. 

The situation report in Apapa is that the Federal 

Government has already completed the 

reconstruction of Wharf Road, Apapa. Minister 

of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, 

had also assured that the next road to be given 

consideration for reconstruction within Apapa 

would be Tin Can/Coconut section of the Apapa- 

Oshodi Expressway, which had since started. 

Fashola added that discussions had already 

begun on the issue at the Federal Executive 

Council level. He said: “I just want to appeal to 

residents of Apapa, to people whose livelihood 

depends on Apapa, that Apapa is one of the priority 

roads under our priority of works to solve roads that 

lead to critical ports. We also have Calabar on our 

radar. But one after the other, there would be an 

enduring solution. 

“Years, you will see that the provisions for the 

budget funding of Apapa and the Tin Can Island 

and Mile-2 to Oworonsoki Roads, all of which 

evacuate the Port have not been sufficient really to 

deal with the cost. The cost that we are getting from 

the contractor is in the region of about N100 billion 

and above and the annual budgetary appropriation 

that is approved for us is about N7 billion. And then 

there are debts that we met. I, therefore, appeal to 

residents and other users of the road to exercise a 

little more patience.” 

Whenever it rains in Lagos, residents are thrown 

into panic, despair and anguish as the already 

deplorable roads become almost impassable due 

to flooding and road projects. From Lagos Island to 

the Mainland, the expressways to high streets and 

the inner streets, it is lamentations galore by residents 

on account of the poor state of the roads long 

neglected and abandoned by both state and local 

governments. Just as motorists and commuters 

plying Apapa/Oshodi Expressway are lamenting over 

the agony they go through as a result of the deplorable 

road and the 

attendant gridlock 

they face daily, it is 

the same bitter 

experience for 

motorists and 

commuters on the 

Agege Motor Road. 

For instance, the 

Mushin-Idi-Oro axis 

to Ojuelegba end is 

so bad that even 

trailer and tanker 

Whenever it rains in 

Lagos, residents are 

thrown into panic and 

anguish, as the already 

deplorable roads 

become almost 

impassable due to 

flooding and road 

projects 

drivers now avoid the 

ever-busy highway. Particularly notable are the 

potholes on the road have become an ever-present 

danger or death-trap to those who dare to drive 

through the road. So, it is little surprising that there 

are usually many broken down vehicles on that road. 

Daring drivers of smaller vehicles plying the road 

often have to contend with attacks by robbers who 

take advantage of gridlock to strike with impunity. 

Consequently on account of the worsening gridlock 

in the state, a journey of few minutes takes hours to 

accomplish. It is now a common sight to see 

overturned trailers, tankers and containers and 

broken down vehicles on a daily basis, especially 

when it rains. This is even as the Road Safety and 

Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, 

officials are not helping matters: They are often 

acused of failing to do their work, resorting instead 

to extorting harassed motorists and worsening the 

traffic situation in the process. 

Residents lament: Mr. Sanyaolu Abidemi who 

resides in Alakuko area and works at Marine Beach, 

Apapa, said he usually leaves home as early as 4.30am 

but arrives his place of work at about 8.am just to 

avoid traffic. According to him, there are no 

dedicated parks along the Tollgate down to 

Alakuko, a situation which has led to commercial 

drivers stopping and picking passengers 

indiscriminately. 

His words: “There are no official bus-stops 

from Sango/Tollgate to Alakuko. Commercial 

drivers just stop and pick passengers anywhere 

they see commuters. Apart from this, there are 

portholes and failed portions of the road which 

make vehicles maneouver to find their way out 

and this causes gridlock along the axis.” 

A businesswoman, Madam Aishat Sule, who 

lives at Meiran/Ijaiye and operates a shop at the 

local Airport said she spends about three hours 

daily to connect both ends in her Toyota Camry 

car. “Ordinarily, the journey that is supposed to 

be about 25 minutes has gradually stretched to 

two hours due to persistent gridlock caused by 

the ongoing road reconstruction. Another major 

factor is activities of street urchins popularly 

called ‘Area Boys’ who swoop on commercial 

drivers to collect levies. All these put together 

have been causing delay on the road,” Sule said. 

A commuter, Mr. Ibukun Thomas said: 

“Commercial vehicles plying the Airport route 

from National Park stop indiscriminately to pick 

passengers along the way. By so doing, they cause 

a gridlock which usually stretches from National 

into the expressway, thereby affecting free flow 

of traffic at Ikeja-Along up to Mangoro and 

Cement bus-stops to link the existing gridlock 

inward Akowonjo Road especially at peak 

hours.” 

According to many road users and commuters, 

the effects of the ongoing road rehabilitation at 

Ebute/Ipakodo Road has affected the traffic 

situation in Ikorodu axis causing a back flow 

from roundabout down to Haruna and Agric 

such that motorists spend hours connecting Mile 

12. At Owode-Elede, Vanguard observed a 

crater-like pothole causing serious gridlock 

which also results in accidents and robbery in 

the area. 

Activities of 

Area Boys 

A car owner, James Okoli, said he was 

travelling from Ikorodu roundabout to the Island 

on Wednesday when two young men dashed 

across his vehicle and pointed a gun at him. “They 

ordered me to cooperate and ended up removing 

my personal effects. Time was about 6 am at 

Haruna,” he informed. Places like Ojuwoye and 

Idi-Oro, Ogunmokun and Daleko in Mushin, 

Eko Bridge, Ijora Bridge Phase 3, Boundary/ 

Ajegunle, Iddo, Tom Jones, Eyin-Eyo, and 

Mosalasi on Lagos Island areas are not left out 

as gridlock persists due to human factors, 

including indiscriminate parking of vehicles, 

indiscriminate dumping of refuse, failed portions 

of the road, clogged up drains, activities of “Area 

Boys” and road side trading, to mention but a 

few. 

From Adeniji down to Tom Jones area, 

Vanguard observed that the major road has 

failed, with drains overflown such that vehicles 

have to maneouver through some failed inner 

roads to access the major road. Some road users 

said this usually leads to loss of man hours daily. 

Also, road users complained that the gridlock 

has made them susceptible to traffic robbers and 

other dangers on the road. 

Lagos govt reacts: Reacting to series of 

complaints, the Lagos State Commissioner for 

Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, 

called for understanding of the public, saying: 

“We regret every inconveniences caused by this 

development. Our target is to work before the 

rain comes. People are complaining of not doing 

anything before now and now we are doing 

something. We have rehabilitated over 400 

roads, such as Pen Cinema Flyover, Agege, 

Agbado Oke-Odo, 31 network of roads in 

Alimosho, Ikoyi too, Omi-Tuntun, Victoria 

Island, Ikorodu among others. Road building in 

Nigeria is seasonal, we have little things to do 

because the weather is unpredictable. We are 

trying to do as many as possible at the same 

time. 

“When Governor Bababjide Sanwo-Olu read 

the state of the state address, he urged residents 

to continue to bear with the state and that’s whats 

going on. We are all part of it, we are aware of 

what they are going through. no pain without 

gain. By the time these projects are completed, 

everywhere will be free. We urge residents to 

continue to show understanding. Every work has 

its schedule. Many of these projects will be 

completed in the next six months and the first 

quarter of next year. The gridlock will soon 

disappear and give way to seamless traffic in 

Lagos and we will all be the beneficiaries.”

Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 6 , 2021 — 25 

COVID-19 vaccines are efficacious, 

safe, health experts insist 

.Dismiss claims of magnetism from vaccination as false, unscientific 

By Sola Ogundipe and 

Chioma Obinna 

THE social media has 

been awash with series 

of videos and negative 

reports about the lifesaving 

COVID-19 

vaccines. Although 

research has found that the 

vaccines are safe, these 

videos and reports have 

continued to discredit the 

efficacy and safety of the 

different vaccines. 

These videos have 

added to the existing 

conspiracy theories about 

COVID-19 pandemic. 

Sadly these have promoted 

vaccine heisitancy in 

different parts of the world. 

For instance, shortly after 

researchers came up with 

the first set of vaccines, 

there were reports about 

some of the vaccines 

causing blood clots in 

humans. 

In some other instances, 

it was being rumoured 

that the vaccine would 

change the recipient's 

DNA, or cause death 

within two years. 

Governments across the 

world continue to address 

the earlier doubts raised by 

side effects of the vaccines 

as well as ensure more 

doses are available and 

that the citizens keep to the 

safety and prevention 

protocols in order to 

achieve herd immunity in 

their domains. 

However, these doubts 

are now threatening to 

reduce the mileage in the 

fight already covered 

against the pandemic. 

In some of the videos, 

the makers claimed that 

taking the jab will cause an 

electric bulb to light up or 

make the recipient to 

become magnetic at the site 

of injection. 

Also, there are numerous 

pictures and videos on 

social media platforms of 

people with metallic 

objects stuck to their arms 

and bodies following 

claims that they received 

the COVID-19 vaccine. 

In one particular video, 

a man claimed that his 

cellphone became stuck to 

his arm at the vaccination 

site after he received the 

jab at a centre in Lagos. 

In yet another viral video, 

another man claimed that 

an electric bulb was 

lighting up at the site of 

vaccination on his arm. 

However, in Nigeria 

today, due to lack of trust 

in government, 

particularly in theuir 

handling of the pandemic, 

many eligible people who 

would have taken the 

Table by Gabriel Olawale 

vaccine are now reluctant 

and also discouraging 

others. But public health 

experts say the stories of 

magnetisation among 

others as a result of 

vaccination are false and 

baseless. 

Public health 

experts react: 

Speaking to Good 

Health Weekly on the 

unverified claims, the 

medical experts dismissed 

their claims, saying the 

claimants have no 

scientific proof. 

According to them, 

COVID-19 vaccine has no 

microchips that are 

injected into the recipient's 

body along with the 

vaccine. 

According to the Centres 

for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC), 

receiving a COVID-19 

vaccine will not make the 

recepient magnetic, 

including at the site of 

vaccination, which is 

usually the arm. 

Under its "Myths and 

Facts about COVID-19 

Vaccines," the CDC 

explains that COVID-19 

vaccines do not contain 

ingredients that can 

produce 

an 

electromagnetic field at the 

site of injection 

The fact sheet explains 

that “all COVID-19 

vaccines are free from 

metals like iron, nickel, 

cobalt, lithium, and rare 

earth alloys, as well as any 

manufactured products 

such as microelectronics, 

electrodes, carbon 

nanotubes, and nanowire 

semiconductors”. 

It said: “In addition, the 

typical dose for a COVID- 

19 vaccine is less than a 

milliliter, which is not 

enough to allow magnets 

to be attracted to your 

vaccination site even if the 

vaccine was filled with a 

magnetic metal." 

In a chat with Good 

Health Weekly, a Professor 

of Virologist, Prof Oyewale 

Tomori, described the 

claims as outright fake 

news and ridiculous lies 

that have been scientifically 

shown not to be true. 

Tomori who cited that 

millions of people around 

the world including 

himself, have taken the 

vaccines, declared that they 

are safe. “I hear China 

vaccinated 30 million 

people a day,” he said. 

On his part, former Chief 

Medical Director, Lagos 

University Teaching 

Hospital, LUTH, Prof Akin 

Osibogun said the various 

claims by individuals have 

no scientific basis. 

“The stories about 

magnets and bulbs are not 

worth spending time on as 

they have no scientific 

basis. They look more like 

pranks or Antivaxx 

disinformation efforts. 

“The vaccines appear to 

be generally safe based on 

our experience with the 

AstraZeneca vaccine,” he 

added. 

Also in a report, an 

infectious disease expert 

and senior scholar at the 

Johns Hopkins Centre for 

Health Security, Dr Amesh 

A. Adalja said: "This is 

stupid. This is completely 

made up.There is no new 

magnetic capacity 

conferred by being 

vaccinated." 

Popular vaccines 

Among the COVID-19 

vaccines are Pfizer 

BioNtech vaccine which 

has been shown to be 95 

percent effective at 

preventing symptomatic 

COVID-19, using genetic 

material called mRNA. 

Also, the AstraZeneca- 

Oxford vaccine, which 

comes in a multidose vial, 

does not need to be 

diluted and it is said to be 

a clear to slightly brown 

colour. 

According to studies, its 

efficacy ranges between 62 

and 90 percent, depending 

on dosage amount and 

time between doses. 

Lagos lost 14 health professionals 

to COVID-19 — ABAYOMI 

... As GE, Sterling, LASG, 27 others 

honoured with NHEA Awards 

By Chioma Obinna 

THIRTY individuals and 

institutions were last 

week honoured with the 

Nigerian Healthcare 

Excellence Award, NHEA 

even as the Lagos State 

Commissioner for Health, 

Prof Akin Abayomi said the 

state lost 14 health 

professionals to COVID- 

19. 

Among the awardees 

were Smile Train, GE, 

Sterling Bank, Lagos State 

Government, JNCI, 

Federal Medical Centre, 

Ebute Metta; St. Nicholas 

Hospital, The Bridge 

Clinic, Vanguard 

Pharmacy, and DCL 

Laboratory, among others. 

Speaking at the event 

tagged: “Celebrating Our 

Healthcare Heroes, while 

Lagos state commissioner 

for health, Prof Akin 

Abayomi who represented 

the State governor, 

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said: 

“During the battle of 

COVID-19, we lost 14 of 

our health professionals – 

12 doctors and two nurses. 

“Due to people still 

dying of COVID-19 

around the world, we 

implored the third wave 

committee to stop Lagos 

State from going to third 

wave. The team is to make 

sure that we can carry on 

with our economic 

livelihood in the centre of 

excellence. 

“We have a policy not to 

receive any award on 

COVID-19 because the 

disease still exists, but 

today we are here to 

acknowledge some of the 

bravery of all the health 

front line workers.” 

It was a double honours 

for Lagos State as the state 

emerged as the most 

responsive COVID-19 

State Government of the 

Year, while the state’s 

Commissioner of Health, 

Prof. Akin Abayomi, was 

celebrated as the Most 

Outstanding COVID-19 

State 

Health 

Commissioner of the Year 

at the event. 

Abayomi, while 

receiving the ward hailed 

all health workers in Lagos 

State, saying the awards 

were dedicated to the 

healthcare practitioners 

who were committed to 

their work since the 

outbreak of the pandemic. 

Speaking at the event 

well attended by different 

personalities across the 

country, the Chairman, 

NHEA Advisory Board, Dr. 

Anthony Omolola, said 

they were proud of the 

2021 awardees and how 

they have demonstrated 

excellence in the past year 

despite the challenges of 

COVID-19. 

He recalled that NHEA 

had in March 2021, called 

for nominations which 

lasted for two months and 

received over 20,000 

nominations and the 

NHEA Jury shortlisted 

over 100 nominees made 

up of organisations and 

individuals both from the 

public and private sectors 

for voting. 

“The juries made a 

shortlist based on 

published criteria for each 

set of awards for online 

voting on the NHEA voting 

portal. We also evaluated 

claims of nominees 

simultaneously across the 

country. In a bid to 

continuously improve our 

current process to meet 

international best practice, 

there was tremendous use 

of technology with 

improved 

features.” 

COVID-19: What you should know about 

Delta variant 

THE Delta variant is a 

more contagious 

variant of the COVID-19 

virus that is spreading 

around the world, 

causing a surge of cases 

and prompting new 

lockdowns in some 

countries. 

According to the World 

Health Organisation, the 

delta variant, which was 

first identified in India, 

now accounts for most 

new COVID-19 cases in 

the US, parts of Europe 

and Asia and is on track 

to become the dominant 

version of the virus. 

Why it is a concern 

The Delta variant is a 

variant of concern because 

it is more transmissible, 

causes more severe illness 

and reduces the 

effectiveness of vaccines or 

treatments. 

Officially known as 

B.1.617.2, the Delta 

variant is the most 

contagious of all the 

known variants to date, 

including the highly 

transmissible alpha variant 

that was first identified in 

Britain. 

It is said to be up to 60 

percent 

more 

transmissible than the 

alpha variant. 

What is the "delta plus" 

variant? 

A mutations of the Delta 

virus is dubbed “Delta 

plus.” While it has not yet 

been designated a variant 

of concern cases involving 

Delta plus have been 

reported in some 

countries, even as 

investigations continue 

regarding whether it 

security 

carries additional risks or 

is associated with 

increased transmissibility. 

There are indications 

that the delta variant may 

cause more severe 

disease. 

Where is it spreading? 

The Delta variant has 

been reported in more 

than 98 countries, 

including the US, UK, 

South Africa, Uganda and 

Ghana, among others. 

The variant is fueling new 

outbreaks around the 

world. 

Are vaccines effective 

against this variant? 

Available vaccines 

appear to offer good 

protection and most 

scientists agree that fully 

vaccinated individuals 

likely face little risk. 

Continues on Wednesday


Power begins with voter registration 

BY DAKUKU PETERSIDE 

IT is a cliche to refer to youths 

as “future leaders of Nigeria”, 

ignoring the fact that they have a 

role to play now in the leadership 

of this country. Some youths are 

even wired to wait endlessly for a 

tomorrow that may never come. 

Little wonder we see an 

unprecedented level of political 

apathy among the youth. When 

youths get involved in politics, they 

sometimes allow themselves to be 

used as thugs to either truncate the 

process or create havoc on the 

electoral system. 

The political apathy of the 

youths denies them the front line 

role of designing, developing, and 

influencing the future they want. 

Other youths see politics and 

governance as dirty, risky, and 

unimportant. This anomaly must 

change if we are going to build a 

great country that will compete 

among the comity of nation-states 

in this 21st century. Youths, “your 

vote is your power” and that power 

begins with voter registration . 

For Nigerian youths to make a 

difference in the long term, they 

must be engaged in formal 

political processes and have a say 

in formulating today’s and 

tomorrow’s politics and policies. 

Inclusive political participation is 

a fundamental political and 

democratic right and is crucial to 

building stable and peaceful 

societies and developing policies 

that respond to the specific needs 

of younger generations. For young 

people to be 

adequately represented in 

political institutions, processes, 

and decision- making, and 

particularly in elections, they must 

get involved. The first critical step 

is to get a voter’s card that enables 

them to become participants, 

decision-makers, and influencers. 

Criticising from the side-lines or 

on social media would not make 

much difference. 

Participation in the 

electoral process 

•Nigerians queuing to register and obtain their PVC 

Participation in the electoral 

process affords the young the 

power to decide on the quality of 

life for themselves and future 

generations. Nothing gives you 

power to make changes in 

policies and programmes like 

having a voter’s card and going 

out to vote. If young people do 

not vote, someone else will decide 

for them, and it may not be about 

their interest. The real power is in 

your one vote. The INEC 

continuous voter registration is 

the opportunity to get involved, 

take advantage of the changing 

demographics and champion a 

new vision for society. Future 

generations are depending on 

your ‘one vote’ to secure the 

unknown future. 

INEC recently commenced the 

Continuous Voter Registration, 

CVR. According to the INEC 

National Commissioner and 

Chairman, Information and Voter 

Education Committee, Festus 

Okoye, intended registrants 

created 331 accounts on the CVR 

online pre-registration portal, 

launched at 7 a.m. on June 28. He 

claimed sadly that barely 24 hours 

after the launch, only 59,331 

accounts have been created; 

42,211 applications received, out 

of which 27,759 individuals 

applied for new voter preregistration 

services. We expect a 

better uptake than this, and we 

implore every one of voting age, 

especially the youths, to engage 

actively in this process. 

Nigeria’s population is about 

200 million people, and more 

than half of this number is within 

the voting age range. The country 

has, over recent times, been a 

hotbed for voter apathy. During the 

last general elections and the 

presidential election held in 2019, 

for the first time in history since 

the return to democracy in 1999, 

Nigeria recorded the lowest voter 

turnout rate of 34.75 per cent. This 

rate is the lowest of all recent 

elections held on the African 

continent. Data compiled by 

International Institute for 

Democracy and Electoral 

Assistance, I-IDEA, an 

intergovernmental organisation 

that supports sustainable 

democracy worldwide, reveals 

that the turnout of voters in that 

election happens to be thesecond 

lowest in the history of elections 

held in African countries, only 

slightly better than the 32.3 per 

cent recorded in the 1996 

Zimbabwean presidential 

election. 

A look at other African countries 

helps to put the situation in better 

perspective. The top 10 countries 

with the highest voter turnout in 

their most recent polls are 

Rwanda: 98.2 per cent, Equatorial 

Guinea - 92.7 per cent, Angola - 

90.4 per cent, Seychelles - 90.1 per 

cent, Guinea Bissau - 89.3 per cent, 

Zimbabwe - 86.8 per cent, Sierra 

Leone - 84.2 per cent, Kenya - 79.5 

per cent, Liberia - 75.2 per cent, 

and Burundi -73.4 per cent. 

Understandably, several issues 

induce voter apathy among 

Nigerians. Some of these include 

pervasive insecurity, violence, 

incessant postponement of 

elections, poor planning and 

clumsy voting process. Many 

Nigerians see the days of elections 

as work-free rest days during 

which they can sleep, play football 

or engage in household chores. 

Another contributory factor to 

voter apathy is that most citizens 

have lost faith in the democratic 

process. Often, some of our 

political leaders end up 

disappointing those who stayed for 

hours in queues, under the rain 

and sun, to cast votes for them. 

These disappointed citizens would 

no longer be keen to go through 

the rigour for another round of 

elections. If democracy is 

delivering development to the 

people, it will increase voters’ 

turnout because there is a clear 

link between democratic 

development and campaign 

promises. When people’s lives are 

not improved, when poverty, 

misery, injustice, and inequality 

are institutionalised, people find 

it difficult to connect to the social 

contract they entered through 

voting and the deliverables from 

democracy. 

Another reason is the crisis of 

confidence in democratic 

institutions. Some elections held 

in the country in recent years have 

dampened citizens’ interest in the 

electoral process. Due to incessant 

rigging of elections by politicians, 

some Nigerians have concluded 

that their votes would never count. 

This problem is exacerbated by 

killings, arson, and the level of 

violence and ‘militarisation’ of the 

Nigerian electoral process and the 

campaign of calumny of which 

Nigerian political parties are 

known, which demeans the 

electoral process. 

Be that as it may, everyone, 

especially the youths, should not 

If participatory 

democracy is 

indeed the best 

form of 

government, every 

citizen must be 

involved in this 

process, especially 

the youths 

be put off voting and other forms 

of participation in the political 

process by these numerous 

electoral challenges. Voting is an 

inalienable right that every citizen 

must exercise. 

If participatory democracy is 

indeed the best form of 

government, every citizen must be 

involved in this process, especially 

the youths. Your voter's card is your 

power to ensure continuity of 

excellent government or removal 

of bad government at the local, 

state, and federal levels. 

Elections have consequences, 

and the implications of poor voter 

participation in a democracy are 

dire. These implications are in 

terms of the policies, ideologies, 

and focus of the government. And 

it is improbable that the policies 

of the government will reflect 

popular interests unless the 

majority participate. 

It is arguably true that, in an 

ideal situation, an elected official 

or somebody running for office 

will not spend as much time 

focusing on the needs and interests 

of people who do not vote.They 

will most likely focus on the needs 

and interests of those who do vote 

because they are accountable to 

them during the voting process - 

they can be voted in or out by the 

voters. 

By voting, the voters exercise 

power to decide on the quality of 

life for themselves and future 

generations. Voting is the chance 

for the citizen to stand up for the 

issues they care about and affect 

their lives. It is a time for the 

citizens to decide what is best for 

them. The voters who do not vote 

give up their voice. The voters 

decide the election. When people 

do not vote, others will decide for 

them. The power of the citizen over 

the politician is the vote. By voting, 

the citizen chooses what public 

funds would be used for because 

they determine the candidate who 

best aligns with their philosophy, 

aspiration, and outlook. 

Besides, voting offers the citizen 

the opportunity to change the 

system. It is an opportunity for the 

citizen to impact and bring greater 

good to the community. The 

citizens have the chance to make 

their voices heard. Any other 

peaceful or violent way to change 

the system apart from elections is 

unconstitutional and a waste of 

time. Young people should desist 

from such wasteful protests 

demanding for change of 

government. Their weapon is their 

votes, starting from getting a voters 

card. 

Youths exercising their right to 

vote would never mean much if 

they do not weigh their options 

against their values and demands 

of leadership to elect 

representatives who can employ 

those values and leadership skills 

in their work for the common good. 

Therefore, before casting votes, 

youths should find out the strengths 

they want to see in a candidate and 

the weaknesses they hope to avoid. 

Simple research can help them 

find every candidate’s position on 

issues that affect their lives or are 

essential to them. 

Our youths should realise that the 

best way to impact government 

and governance is to be an integral 

part of the democratic process. 

They must be active participants 

in this process. Youths should 

spend more time and show more 

interest in the political process. Our 

youths’ political participation will 

exponentially increase if the 

attention they pay to social media 

sleaze and TV entertainment 

programmes (Big Brother Naija, 

Naija Got Talent, and the English 

Premier League) is shown to the 

political process. They will take 

back their future from the hands 

of the older generation, who 

unfortunately are making policy 

decisions that they will not be alive 

to see the consequences. Then, our 

youths will genuinely become 

“leaders of tomorrow.” 

In conclusion, youths should 

translate their anger (against 

“political jobbers” and “political 

contractors” masquerading as 

leaders and seeking the political 

office) into participation in the 

electoral process. They should 

always vote or be voted for. They 

should eschew all forms of violence 

and never allow anybody to 

convince and use them to subvert 

the electoral system. They should 

become politically literate and 

never fall prey to the pernicious 

propaganda of ethnic bigotry and 

religious fanaticism. No matter 

where young people come from in 

Nigeria, their problems, pains, and 

aspirations are the same. A better 

Nigeria now and for posterity is 

the dream of all. I, therefore, 

implore all, but especially our 

youths, to engage actively with the 

INEC registration process and, in 

due time, use their votes to decide 

the destiny of this great nation. 

•Dr. Dakuku, former DG of 

NIMASA, wrote from Lagos 

:Vanguard 

News 

Pandemonium as 

LG officials 

demolish Anambra 

market 

By Vincent Ujumadu 

AWKA—THERE was pande 

monium at the popular Oye Agu Market, 

Abagana in Njikoka local government 

area of Anambra State following the demolition 

of the market by officials of the local 

government to pave the way for a shopping 

mall. 

Owners of the affected shops, under the 

aegis of the Concerned Oye-Agu Shop 

Owners Association, COSOA, said yesterday 

that it was inhuman for the authorities 

of the council to deny them their 

source of livelihood. The traders had to 

rush into their shops to salvage their goods. 

Their spokesman, Mr. Joseph Ogbuze 

alleged that the local government gave 

them a quit notice to vacate their shops 

and ordered them to move to a refuse 

dump in the area, regretting that the local 

government chairman, Mr. George Ozo 

could not even assure them of regaining 

their shops after building them. 

According to him, what the chairman 

said was that "we should come back and 

negotiate for the new shops with 

N2.5million." 

Ogbueze claimed that the traders had 

religiously been remitting all the revenue 

accruing to the government, adding that 

they were also asked to register for the 

shops with N3000 which they equally complied 

with, not knowing they were to be 

chased out. 

He said: "We were ordered to quit our 

shops in the three affected areas, namely 

Unity, Bright and Front lines and move to 

SeaWorld Hotel area. We are confused 

because we were taken unawares. 

"To worsen the situation, there were no 

terms of agreement with shop owners, 

neither was there any documentation that 

should give us authority to reclaim our 

shops after construction. The chairman 

just left us in the middle of the sea and 

expect us to forgo our shops, which we 

have occupied for over 37 years. 

"Now, they said we should pay 

N2.5million after the rebuilding to enable 

us to reclaim them. Where should we get 

such money from?” 

He appealed to Governor Willie Obiano 

to intervene in the matter, adding that 

with the development, their businesses 

and family members would suffer unduly. 

Attempts to speak with the Council 

Chairman, Ozo, who allegedly gave the 

order was not successful as he did not pick 

his call. 

GCUOBA holds 

APT, 40th 

anniversary of 

Class ‘80 

By Ochuko Akuopha 

UGHELLI—THE Government Col 

lege, Ughelli Old Boys Association, 

GCUOBA, has held it's 2021 Awards, Prizes 

and Testimonials, APT, Reunion/40th 

anniversary of GCU 1980 class with a vow 

to continue to contribute towards the infrastructural 

development and enhance 

the quality of teaching and learning in 

the school. 

Speaking weekend, during the event, 

President General, Worldwide of the association, 

Charles Majoroh lauded members 

of the class of 1980 for projecting the 

"name of our Alma Mater well. We are 

indeed very proud of you for holding aloft 

the touch and keeping the ship sailing." 

Majoroh said: "Government College, 

Ughelli is more than a name to all of us 

who attended the school. 

It is for us, an evocation of our unique 

identity as a group that was nutured in 

the finest tradition of a school built on the 

foundation of British colonial education 

passed down through the years and generations. 

In his remarks, Chairman of the Class 

of 1980, Mr. Endurance Miuweme, noted 

that the class had identified with the National 

Executive Council of the association 

to renovate the dilapidated old Engineering 

Drawing building as a Skills Acquisition 

Centre for Tailoring and Leather 

works (shoe making).


Continues from Page 5 

strengthen the electoral 

process, the Southern 

Governors’ Forum rejects 

the removal of the 

electronic transmission of 

the election results from 

the Electoral Act; and also 

rejects the confirmation of 

exclusive jurisdiction in 

pre-election matters on 

the Federal High Court. 

“The Forum 

unanimously chose Lagos 

State as its permanent 

secretariat and 

appreciated the governor 

of Lagos State for the 

wonderful hosting of this 

meeting, while 

commending him for his 

good work in the state.” 

Leave Igboho 

alone, apologise 

to him 

— Soyinka 

Also yesterday, Nobel 

Laureate, Prof. Wole 

Soyinka, asked the federal 

government to leave 

Sunday Igboho alone, 

saying it was not criminal 

to agitate to quit any 

federation. 

He condemned as 

bizarre, the midnight raid 

by the Department of 

State Services, DSS, on 

the Soka house of the 

Yoruba activist last 

Thursday in Ibadan. 

Soyinka, who spoke 

during an interview with 

BBC News Pidgin 

yesterday, urged the 

government to apologise 

to Igboho. 

He said: “How can you 

place the will for 

separation as a criminal 

act? That kind of 

language doesn’t exist in 

the constitution, it doesn’t 

exist in law. It does not 

exist in the catalogue of 

immoralities because it is 

not an immoral act or 

position to say that you 

want to stop being part of 

an entity or you want to 

join an entity.” 

Soyinka subsequently 

gave examples of people 

who left a federation or a 

union to form or join 

another state, including 

the Bakassi people of 

Southern Nigeria who 

seceded to Cameroon. 

"My advice to the 

government is that they 

should stop pursuing 

Igboho as a criminal 

because you have begun 

by acting in a criminal 

fashion against him. 

"If and when Igboho 

comes to trial, I guarantee 

you the government will 

be very embarrassed. 

"I think they should tell 

Igboho ‘we made a 

mistake’, ‘we should not 

have acted in this way’, 

‘you are no longer 

wanted’, ‘go back to your 

home, in fact escort him 

to his home’ and let him 

resume his normal life," 

he said. 

According to Soyinka, 

Igboho’s fight for 

vanguardnews 

We must okay FG's security operations 

in our states — SOUTHERN GOVS 

freedom was preceded 

by criminal acts of 

enemies of Nigeria who 

"appear to be supported 

by the force of the state." 

While Soyinka noted he 

doesn’t ‘like the sound of 

a Yoruba Nation’ anymore 

than he likes the sound of 

a Tiv or Igbo nation, he 

said the country must be 

restructured through the 

decentralisation of power. 

He noted that Nigeria’s 

current structure was 

imposed upon the people 

by the military. 

‘Huge squawk 

when truth of 

Kanu's arrest 

comes out’ 

On the arrest of IPOB 

leader, Nnamdi Kanu, 

Soyinka said: “It’s not for 

me to tell the President to 

prepare himself because 

it’s going to be a huge 

squawk when the truth 

about how Kanu was 

arrested comes out. 

"People are alleging this 

or that. That is one phase 

whether Nigeria has 

acted outside 

international law. 

"The second issue, 

however, has to do with 

Kanu’s conduct outside 

the nation. There’s been 

a level of hate rhetoric 

which has been 

unfortunate, from Kanu. 

Hate rhetoric is an issue 

that can only be judged 

by the laws of any nation. 

"Was it right ‘to have 

been kidnapped?’ You can 

say intercepted as much 

as you want but I think 

Kanu was kidnapped. 

That is wrong 

internationally and 

morally." 

Commenting on the 

reactions that have trailed 

the swiftness with which 

the Federal Government 

arrested Kanu, the Nobel 

laureate said the Federal 

Government had not 

shown the same 

eagerness in going after 

bandits and insurgents. 

He said: "The 

government cannot wash 

itself clean on what seems 

to be a kind of 

comparative energy in 

pursuing the 

destabilising forces in the 

nation. 

"If we take ourselves 

back, once when I threw 

a challenge to Buhari, 

what I expect from a true 

leader is to issue an order, 

give a deadline that any 

illegal occupant of any 

villages, farms is given 48 

hours to quit after which 

the mighty forces of the 

nation will be unleashed 

on them. It was ignored. 

"Years later, he came to 

say ‘we will respond to 

these people in the 

language they 

understand’. 

This is what I expected 

him to have said years 

ago, at the beginning of 

the insurgency. 

“Their leadership–the 

Miyetti Allah — should 

have been arrested years 

ago, long before IPOB 

was declared a terrorist 

organisation.” 

He said rather, the 

Miyetti Allah group had 

continued to act 

unchecked, while the 

Federal Government has 

refused to “mount the 

same energy against 

them.” 

“So people are right to 

say there has been an 

unequal and irregular 

approach to security and 

enforcement in this 

nation,” Soyinka said. 

He advised the Federal 

Government to stop the 

blame game and take 

action. 

@vanguardnews 

NEWS HOTLINES 018773962, 08052867058 

Some Parents of the abducted Students of Bethel Baptist High School, along 

Kaduna-Kachia road during a protest for the immediate release of the children 

at the school premises yesterday. Photo: Olu Ajayi. 

S’Court hears motion for leave to appeal 

$15bn judgement against Nigeria Oct 7 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

A BUJA—The 

Supreme Court 

yesterday fixed October 

7 to hear a motion 

seeking leave to appeal 

the £2.556billion 

judgment the Federal 

High Court entered 

against the Central Bank 

of Nigeria, Union Bank of 

Nigeria, the Minister of 

Finance and the 

Attorney-General of the 

Federation in 2014. 

At the resumed 

proceedings in the matter, 

Union Bank, through its 

lead counsel, Chief 

Adegboyega Awomolo, 

SAN, told the apex court 

that it filed a motion for 

leave to challenge the 

verdict which the high 

court entered in favour of 

Petro Union Oil and Gas 

Limited, which was also 

affirmed by the Court of 

Appeal. 

The court, in the 

judgment it gave jointly 

and severally against all 

the four Respondents, 

held that the sum would 

attract interest at the rate 

of 15% per annum 

between 1994 and 2014, 

and thereafter at the rate 

of 10% per annum until it 

is paid. 

The total judgment sum 

currently stands at about 

$15.5 billion. 

When the case was 

called in Monday, 

Awomolo, SAN, drew 

attention to his 

application, shortly after a 

five-man panel of justices 

of the apex court resolved 

the issue of legal 

representation for Petro 

Union Oil and Gas 

Limited. 

Two senior lawyers, Joe 

Kyari Gadzama, SAN, and 

Onyechi Egwuonwu, had 

immediately the case was 

called up, separately 

announced their 

appearances for the oil 

company. 

Egwuonwu maintained 

before the court that he 

was briefed to institute the 

case that led to the 

judgment at the Federal 

High Court. 

He told the court that it 

was when the matter got 

to the Court of Appeal 

that he invited Gadzama, 

SAN, to lead the legal 

team for Petro Union as 

the “instructing 

counsel”. 

Egwuonwu further told 

the court that following his 

application to disqualify 

Gadzama from further 

appearing in the matter 

and to be disbarred, 

Gadzama hurriedly 

informed the court of his 

intention to withdraw his 

appearance in the case 

and followed this up by 

filing an affidavit to the 

same effect. 

He argued that, having 

done so, Gadzama was, 

therefore, stopped from 

changing his mind and 

continuing to act as 

counsel to Petro Union. 

Egwuonwu argued that 

having been instructed on 

a contingency fee basis, 

which means that his fee 

was tied to a portion of the 

judgment sum, and 

having been instructed 

through an irrevocable 

power of attorney, he 

could not be pushed out 

of the case. 

However, after the apex 

court panel tried in vain 

to get the two warring 

lawyers to amicably 

resolve 

their 

disagreement, it 

subsequently enquired 

from three representatives 

of the company who they 

briefed to handle the 

matter. 

The representatives took 

turns and confirmed in 

open court that Gadzama 

was asked to lead their 

legal team, adding that 

Egwuonwu was however 

urged to work with him. 

Following this 

confirmation, the court, on 

Monday, said it would no 

longer grant Egwuonwu 

audience in the matter. 

This paved the way for 

counsel to Union Bank, 

Chief Awomolo, SAN, to 

introduce his pending 

application. 

Lawyers that 

represented the CBN, 

Minister of Finance and 

the Attorney-General of 

the Federation, Damian 

Dodo, SAN and Tijani 

Ghazali, SAN, informed 

the court that they would 

not oppose the 

application. 

On his part, counsel to 

Petro Union, Gadzama, 

SAN, told the court that 

he had filed a preliminary 

objection to the 

application. 

In view of the 

contentious nature of the 

application, the court 

adjourned hearing in the 

case to October 7. 

It is will be recalled that 

the Petro Union saga 

commenced in 1994 

when the company got a 

cheque from a branch of 

Barclays Bank in the UK 

with a value of £2.556 

billion and presented it at 

one of Union Bank’s 

branches in Lagos, under 

the pretext that it was 

meant to construct three 

petrochemical refinery 

complexes in Nigeria and 

establish a bank. 

While the required due 

diligence investigations 

were being carried out, 

one Mr. Okpala, the 

Managing Director of 

Petro Union, inundated 

the Bank and the CBN 

with visits and demands 

for the release of the 

cheque. 

Eventually, both the 

CBN and Union Bank 

advised Petro Union that 

Barclays Bank in the UK 

had been contacted and it 

confirmed that the cheque 

could not be given value 

to because the company 

that purportedly issued 

the cheque dated 29 

December 1994 (a 

company, known as 

Gazeaft Limited) did not 

exist on the Register of 

Companies in the UK. 

The response similarly 

affirmed that the account 

on which the cheque was 

drawn was closed on 21st 

September 1989 whereas 

the cheque was issued on 

29 December 1994 - five 

years after the account 

was closed. 

Despite the foregoing 

startling discovery and 

decisive response, Petro 

Union and Isaac Okpala 

persisted with their 

demands and this 

culminated in a petition 

by the company to the 

Lagos office of the EFCC, 

for alleged offences of 

stealing and criminal 

conversion against the 

CBN and Union Bank. 

Following, the petition, 

the EFCC investigated the 

allegation by 

interrogating the CBN 

through a letter dated 

12th January 2005. 

In a letter dated 27th 

January 2005, The CBN 

responded to the query 

by the EFCC wherein it 

denied the allegations of 

Petro Union. The EFCC 

also made other efforts to 

investigate the 

allegations including 

corresponding with 

Barclays Bank in the UK. 

Having concluded its 

investigation, the EFCC 

issued a letter dated 10th 

May 2005 addressed to 

the Managing Director of 

Union Bank exonerating 

the Bank from any 

wrongdoing.


AKINTOLA 

I, formerly known as Miss 

Akintola Oluwasola Faith, 

now wish to be known and 

addressed as Mrs Aigbogun 

Oluwasola Faith. All former 

documents remain valid. 

General public please take 

note. 

OGUMAH FESTUS 


Ogumah Oluwakemi Sarah, 


addressed as Mrs Emesone 

Oluwakemi Sarah. All former 



note. 

LAMA 


Lama Helen, now wish to be 

known as Mrs Lama Kalabar. 

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valid, general public take note. 

MIUWEME 

I, formerly known and addressed as 

Miss Miuweme Onajomo Juliet now 

wish to be known and addressed as 

Mrs Afokewhre Onajomo Juliet. All 

former documents remain valid. And 

any authority it may concern and the 

general public take note. 

SINTE 


Birimoye Sinte, now wish to 

be known as Mrs. Birimoye 

Sinte Solomon. All former 



note. 

EVANS 

I, formerly known as MISS 

EVANS ANITA ANIETIE, now 

wish to be known as MRS. 

OMOYIBO ANITA ANIETIE. 

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note. 

ADISA 

I, formerly known and 

addressed as Kadiri Waheed 

Adisa, now wish to be known 

and addressed as Kadiri Waidi 

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remain valid. General public 

please take note. 

TAIWO 

I, formerly known as MISS TAIWO 

OLUWABUSOLA TEMITAYO and MRS 

YALIMCAN OLUWABUSOLA 

TEMITAYO, now wish to be known as MRS 

CONNOLLY OLUWABUSOLA 

TEMITAYO. All former names remain 

valid. General public take note. 

UZOR 

This is to confirm that Uzor 

Emmanuel Ifeanyichukwu and Uzor 

Theodore Ifeanyichukwu refer to one 

and same person, now wish to be 

known as Uzor Theodore 

Ifeanyichukwu. All former 

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public please take note. 

NWONU 


Nwonu Chidinma Mary, now 

wish to be known as Mrs Ezeh 

Chidinma Mary. All former 

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OBIOMAH 

I, formerly Miss Ruth 

Oghenerukevwe Obiomah, now 

wish to be known and addresed as 

Mrs Ruth Oghenerukevwe Precious. 

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concern please take note. 

CHANGE OF NAME 

IMMANUEL 

My name was wrongly captured on 

my BVN as Ededey Toju Immanuel 

instead of Ededey Toritseju 

Immanuel. I know wish to be 

addressed by my correct name 

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former documents remain valid. 

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I, formerly known as Sunday 

Happy, now wish to be known 

as Imaga Happiness. Former 

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general public should take 

note. 

OGIEVA 


MISS. OGIEVA KENDRES 

PARKERS, now wish to be known 

and addressed as MRS. HENRY 

STEVE KENDRES henceforth. 

Former documents remain valid. 

General Public, to whom it may 

concern should please take note. 

VICTOR 


Victor Omonyeme, now wish to be 

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take note. 

GBORUBO 

My correct name is Gborubo 

Wongiemi, but it was wrongly 

written as Gbourbo Wongiemi on 

some of my documents. Gborubo 

Wongiemi remains my correct name. 

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OKEI 


Jennifer Okei, now wish to be known 

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ADEIFE 

I, formerly known and 

addressed as Adeife Isaac 

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OPARAH 


Oparah Chidinma Mabel, now 

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IFECHILURU OT 


KENNETH VERA IFECHILURU, 


addressed as MRS.ONU VERA 

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OBODO 


Obodo Patience Oghenesairue, 

now wish to be known as Mrs. 

Emerhivwie Patience 

Oghenesairue. All former 



OTITIGBE 


OTITIGBE 

DUBEM 

OGHENEOVO, now wish to be 

known and addressed as OTITIGBE 

OGHENEOVO. All former 

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I, formerly known as Augustina 

Kitzing, now wish to be known 

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OKON 


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I, formerly known as UYIEKPEN 

GOLD OSAHENOMASE, now 

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ANOSIKE 

I, formerly known as MISS FAVOUR 

CHINONYEREM ANOSIKE, now 

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OKPOCHI 

I, formerly known as OKPOCHI LADY, 

but now wish to be known as OKPOCHINI 

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First City Monument Bank (FCMB), BVN, 

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now wish to be known as Mrs 

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Esekie. All former documents 


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OGHENENYORE, now wish to be known 

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OTEHERI 


MISS TEDJE OTEHERI, now wish to 

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TEDJE OTEHERI AKOLOKWU. All 

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OCHONOGOR 


OCHONOGOR PATRICIA IFEOMA 

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BASSEY 

This is to confirm that EDWARD 

BASSEY and EDWARD BASSEY 

ODONG belong to one and same 

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Uwamiowuhu Queen and 

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I, formerly known as MISS ZOR-OL 

RUTH DAVID, that I now wish to be 

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Public please take note. 

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I, formerly known as 

Areprekumor Akpos, now wish 

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Akpos Nurse. All former 



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ABHASIBHEWEWE 


Abhasibhewewe Helen, now 

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as Mrs Daniel-Esekie Helen. 


valid. General public take note. 

NDUKWE OK 

I, formerly known as MISS OYIDIYA 

NDUKWE, now wish to be known 

and addressed as MRS. JOY 

OYIDIYA OKWARA. All former 

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EMEASOBA 

I, formerly known as Mrs 

Amaka .A Emeasoba, now wish 

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Obikwelu. All former 



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IFEOMA LINDER, but now wish to 

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IFEOMA LINDER, all formal 

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ABBY 

This is to confirm that Abby 

Quadri is the same as Abiola 

Oyindamola Quadri. All 


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public take note. 

WARRI—DELTA South sen 

atorial district of the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, Solidarity 

Front, has described as unfair, a 

newspaper publication disowning 

Dr. Alex Ideh and others of the 

APC Delta South senatorial 

district's publication on the rights 

of the Urhobo Ethnic Nationality 

to Federal appointments. 

Also, the Itsekiri Action Movement 

for All Progressives Congress, 

IAMFAPC, has lambasted the duo 

of Benjamin Eboh and Gabriel 

Okandeji, over what it described 

as an utter show of disrespect to 

prominent leaders of the APC in 

the Delta South senatorial district. 

Ideh had allegedly said that federal 

appointments in the senatorial 

district should only come to persons 

of the other three ethnic 

groups of Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko. 

APC Solidarity Front, in a statement 

by Mr. Awala Gbubemi, said: 

"The communique (by Ideh) did 

not say that the people of the six 

Federal wards in Warri South (part 

of Warri urban), who are mainly 

Urhobos, should be denied Fed- 


Group calls for release of 

Nnamdi Kanu 

THE IGBO National Move 

ment, INM, has followed the 

events of the past week and 

noted the country's continuous 

slide into a pariah state, after the 

way it 'abducted' the Leader of 

the Indigenous People of Biafra, 

IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and 

called for his immediate and unconditional 

release. 

“In a joint statement, signed by 

the movement's President and 

Legal Adviser, Messrs Anthony 

Okolo and Eze Eluchie, respectively, 

following the press conference 

by Nigeria’s Attorney General 

of the Federation and Minister 

for Justice, Mr. Abubakar 

Malami, on Tuesday, June 29, 

2021, during which the ‘international 

interception’ of the leader 

of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, 

IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, 

was announced, and the press 

briefing by Minister of Information 

and Culture, Lai Mohammed, 

on Thursday, July 1, which provided 

updates and further insight 

into the mindset of the Federal 

Government of Nigeria on that 

case, the INM posits that the Nigerian 

Federation is supposed to 

be operated and governed as a 

democraticy, rooted in constitutionalism 

and the rule of law. 

APCSF, IAMFAPC decry attacks 

on Ideh, others 

By Jimitota Onoyume 

NUJ calls for Media Trust Fund, 

honours Zaura 

By Emmanuel Elebeke 

ABUJA—THE 

Nigeria 

Union of Journalists, NUJ, 

has called on the Federal Government 

to set up a trust fund 

for media practitioners, in order 

to better their lot. 

Chairman, FCT Council of 

NUJ, Mr. Emmanuel Ogbeche, 

made the call when the union 

paid a courtesy visit to the Chairman, 

Zaura Energy Limited, Abdulsalam 

Zaura. 

Ogbeche also called on good 

spirited and patriotic Nigerians 

to contribute towards raising the 

funds, noting that some of the 

practicing journalists were already 

living in abject poverty, due 

to the absence of social welfare 

packages. 

Meantime, the council conferred 

the Peace Ambassador 

award on Zaura for his philanthropic 

contribution to the poor 

in the society. 

Presenting the award, the 

Council Chairman explained 

“The Nigerian State, therefore, 

cannot be unmindful of how 

negatively it is being perceived 

by participating in the unlawful 

abduction of a British passport 

holder without recourse to legal 

avenues to which extradition is 

purposed. By operating in manners 

unexpected of a territory governed 

under democratic precepts, 

this government puts itself at par 

with pariah states, which consider 

illegality as an acceptable modus 

operandi in achieving its objectives. 

“In view of the multiplicity of 

accounts of the manner in which 

Mazi Kanu was ‘abducted’, some 

of which accounts have led the 

British and Kenyan Governments 

to forcefully deny their involvement 

in any state sponsored acts, 

it has become pertinent for the 

Presidency to come clean to its 

citizens and clarify exactly how 

this abduction was carried out in 

international territory, outside 

jurisdiction of the Nigerian State. 

“In view of the above, it is impossible 

to expect that the accused 

in this case will be accorded 

anything remotely resembling a 

free, fair and public trial in accordance 

with our Criminal Procedure 

Act, which limit powers of 

arrest and jurisdiction where such 

arrests may occur,” the statement 

declared. 

eral appointments. 

"The Ijaw, Isoko and Itsekiri 

jointly produce over 80 percent oil 

and gas in Delta State. Therefore, 

in our view, it is fair, just and equitable 

that one of them should be 

appointed into any vacancy meant 

for Delta State on Niger Delta 


NDDC, board. 

"Is it that all federal appointments 

must go to Urhobo, otherwise 

hell will be let loose? Don't 

the Ijaw, Isoko and Itsekiri of Delta 

South not also deserve appointments, 

especially one that deals 

with oil and gas production amelioration? 

"It is unfortunate that the authors 

in their write up decided to 

attack the person of Chief Obruche, 

a renowned and highly respected 

politician in Warri South, who has 

always projected the rights of the 

Urhobos of Warri South in the 

Warri politics in the past 20 years 

from DPP, to Labour Party and now 

in APC. " 

Itsekiri Action Movement For All 

Progressives Congress, IAM- 

FAPC, in a statement by Awala 

Omagbitse, said: "We note the use 

of foul and insulting language, 

which these two persons used on 

our leaders, but we would not descend 

to their level to join issues. 

that the Council found Zaura 

worthy of the award after a close 

monitoring of myriads of philanthropic 

and humanitarian gestures 

he executed in the society 

as well as many pursuits of peace 

in the country. 

He also said the award recipient 

was honoured for several 

community development project 

he single-handed carried out in 

Kano state and beyond. 

For him, Alh. Zaura has distinguished 

himself as an outstanding 

leader, grassroots developer 

and committed media supporter, 

‘‘who is not only a man of affluence 

but also of influence saying 

that he has dedicated his life 

to helping the less privileged 

persons in the society.’’ 

Receiving the award, Zaura, 

who was taken unawares by the 

presentation, however, thanked 

the NUJ for the gesture. He described 

journalists as wonderful 

people that have continued to 

spotlight his activities, saying the 

award would spur him to do more 

for the society.

Rohr makes U-turn on 

home-based Eagles 

•Hints on inviting 'em for World Cup qualifiers 

Super Eagles coach Gernot 

Rohr has hinted he could 

include Nigeria Professional 

Football League players in his 

squad for their 2022 Fifa World 

Cup qualifiers which will begin 

in September. 

He was on the bench as the 

home-based players suffered 

a 4-0 defeat to Mexico in an 

international friendly game on 

Sunday. 

Despite the disappointing 

score, Rohr commended the 

NPFL stars for their efforts in 

Los Angeles and he is looking 

forward to working with some 

of them in his regular team 

during the next window. 

“Mexico is number eleven 

in the world and they showed 

why," the former Bordeaux 

manager said. "Our young 

team is the best professional 

players from Nigeria playing 

at home. They tried too so well, 

they learnt a lot and I saw some 

interesting players who could 

be part of the next World Cup 

qualifiers in September. 

“This match, we learnt a lot 

and that’s why we are happy 

to see this match in these 

Euro 2020: 

Morata can hurt Italy, 

Bonucci warns teammates 

taly's stand-in captain 

ILeonardo Bonucci is 

taking nothing for granted 

when he comes up 

against Juventus teammate 

Alvaro Morata in 

their Euro 2020 semi-final. 

The Spain striker has 

been the target for much 

criticism in his homeland 

due to his relatively poor 

form with two goals in five 

matches at the finals, a 

disappointing return for 

the number of chances he 

gets. 

Bonucci saw Morata 

score 19 goals while on 

loan at Juve from Atletico 

Madrid last season and 

while he has every 

sympathy for what his club-mate has had to 

endure with offensive messages on social 

media, the veteran defender will not treat him 

differently to any other opponent at Wembley 

today. 

"Alvaro is a friend of mine, we often spend a 

lot of time together in Turin and I was really 

struck by what happened to him and what we 

all have to go through," he told a pre-match 

press conference. 

"I've had to go through what he went 

through and I know what it’s like to read and 

feel certain things as well 

"I’ve always been right behind him. He’s 

•Bonucci, morata 

conditions like a normal football 

game.” 

After qualifying for the 2022 

Africa Cup of Nations in 

Cameroon, the Super Eagles 

always had my support. He’s a great guy and a 

terrific footballer, a complete striker because he can 

run into space, he holds the ball up well. 

"He is one of the best centre-forwards in world 

football and we need to make sure we are switched 

on tomorrow, not only to keep an eye on Morata 

but the team as a whole." 

Bonucci and his centre-back partner, regular 

skipper Giorgio Chiellini, are the only survivors 

from the chastening 4-0 defeat in the final of Euro 

2012 when Spain became the first side to win backto-back 

European Championships. 

IT'S COMING ROME 

England only second-favourites to win 

Euro 2020, says supercomputer 

NGLAND are only SECOND-favourites to win Euro 2020, 

Eaccording to a supercomputer. The Three Lions booked a 

date with Denmark at Wembley in Wednesday night's 

second semi-final after thumping Ukraine 4-0. 

Despite the impressive performance in Rome, England 

aren't yet favourites to lift the trophy come Sunday. 

In fact, dark horses Italy are now favourites after 

beating Belgium in their quarter-final, say the 

numbers from Stats Perform. Roberto Mancini's side 

have looked in imperious form since day one of 

the tournament after beating Turkey 3-0. 

Italy then thumped Switzerland 3-0 before 

beating Wales 1-0 to top their group with a 

maximum nine points. 

They then won their last 16 and quarterfinal 

ties 2-1 against Austria and Belgium 

respectively. And thanks to their 100 per cent 

record, the supercomputer has given the 

Italians a 39.8 per cent chance of winning 

the tournament. England come in secondfavourites 

having won all but one match - 

the 0-0 group stage draw with Scotland - 

with a 29.4 per cent shot. Spain rank third 

with a 22.4 per cent chance of going all the way, with 

Denmark the outsiders with a mere 8.4 per cent shot. 

have their sights set on the 

World Cup in Qatar next year. 

Rohr concluded that 

Sunday’s encounter against 

Mexico came as a good lesson 

for the home-based players 

who could play a part in their 

qualifying campaign to the 

global competition. 


Exposure programme for 

Eagles B will continue 

—Pinnick 

he plan of the Nigeria 

TFootball Federation to get 

the Super Eagles B exposed 

to high grade international 

games to improve their level 

of confidence and aptitude 

remains in place, despite the 

defeat by Mexico’s ‘A’ Team in 

Los Angeles on Saturday, 

President of the NFF, Mr 

Amaju Melvin Pinnick has 

stated. 

Pinnick, also a Member of 

the FIFA Council, has also 

counseled the players to 

discountenance the highscore 

defeat and rather take 

to heart the great lessons of 

the encounter, while 

embracing the fact that they 

need such games to come to 

great stead and be able to 

compete creditably at 

international level. 

“There is nothing that 

has happened here that 

will discourage us from 

pushing ahead with the 

plan we have for the 

team,” Pinnick said after 

the match watched by 

an impressive 53,258 

•Pinnick 

Dessers pushes to 

replace Onuachu in Genk 

Cyriel Dessers was on target twice, 

including producing a wonderful 

overhead kick goal, as Genk recorded 

a big win in a pre-season friendly 

ahead of the big kick-off in Belgium. 

One of Dessers goals was a 

spectacular bicycle kick against 

non-league Eendracht 

Termien in the second half 

as Genk cruised to an 8-1 

win. 

Dessers celebrated his 

effort on social media. 

The striker, who made his Super 

Eagles debut last year, will want 

to push for a first-team place in 

the coming season as everything 

points to the departure of 

compatriot Paul Onuachu this 

summer. 

Dessers fired five goals in his 

first season back at hometown 

spectators inside the LA 

Coliseum in the State of 

California. “Our programme to 

get the team to a higher level 

through regular exposure to 

the toughest games possible 

will continue apace. 

“I believe the players gave 

their best in the encounter, and 

the result could have been 

different if we didn’t concede 

those early goals and we took 

our chances that came 

immediately after. The 

difference was in greater 

experience and much more 

exposure, and nothing stops 

our boys from standing up to 

the Mexicans with a number 

of games under their belts in 

the next few months.” 

Star –studded El Tri mined 

immense psychological 

advantage from scoring two 

goals in the opening four 

minutes as Nigeria’s defenders 

were still settling into the 

encounter. Livewire Anayo 

Iwuala muffed an opportunity 

and tripped on another, and 

El Tri went ahead to score two 

second half goals to wrap up 

the tie. 

“I am strongly of the belief 

that the players should be 

commended for their efforts in 

the game. They did not just 

lie down to slaughtered. They 

put up a fight and were only 

unlucky. 

“We will go ahead and 

deliver on the programme we 

have for them to be a much 

stronger team, as we look 

forward to the next African 

Nations Championship.” 

Djokovic cruises into 

Wimbledon last eight 

ovak Djokovic eased into 

Nhis 50th grand slam 

quarter-final with a straight 

sets victory over Cristian Garin 

on Centre Court at 

Wimbledon. 

The world number one 

made it 18 consecutive slam 

wins as he chases a third title 

of the year and 12 consecutive 

sets taken at the All England 

Club this year with a 6-2 6-4 6- 

2 success. 

Had he been able to pick an 

opponent for a last-16 clash at 

Wimbledon, he could have 

done a lot worse than Chilean 

Garin who, despite being 

seeded 17th, is a clay-court 

specialist and had never won 

a match at SW19 prior to this 

year. 

he first batch contingent of Team Nigeria 

Twill today depart Abuja for the Tokyo 2020 

Olympics. 

According to the Director, Federation of Elites 

Athletes Department, Dr Simon Ebhojiaye, 

members of the Canoeing team, Ayomide 

Bello and her coach Ebenezer Ukwunna, 

Esther Toko and her coach, Regina Enofe of 

Rowing event alongside Secretary General 

Olubunmi Oluode will depart through the 

Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport by 

Ethiopian Airline. 

Also in the team is the Special Adviser on 

Sports to the Minister Ambassador Mary 

•Djokovic 

He had benefited from a 

kind draw to make it this far 

and he got a taste of the 

afternoon he was in for as 

Djokovic won the first eight 

points of the match and raced 

through the opening set. 

•Onuachu and Dessers 

club, but could have enjoyed 

more game time but for the 

awesome form of Onuachu. 

Cup winners Genk will take 

on champions Club Brugge in 

the Belgian Super Cup in a 

fortnight. 

Anelka 

urges 

Mbappe to 

dump PSG 

ylian Mbappe needs to 

Kleave Paris Saint-Germain 

in order to "echo Cristiano 

Ronaldo and Lionel Messi" by 

becoming a Ballon d'Or winner, 

claims Nicolas Anelka, with the 

France international urged to 

consider moves to the likes of 

Chelsea, Manchester City and 

Liverpool. 

Interest from England in the 

highly-rated 22-year-old has 

continued to build over recent 

years, with the World Cupwinning 

forward cementing 

his reputation as one of world 

football's brightest stars. 

Anelka, who spent many 

years in England during his 

playing days, believes 

Mbappe needs to spread his 

wings in order to reach the 

very top, telling The Athletic 

of his illustrious countryman: 

"If you want the biggest 

accolades, you will have to 

move from PSG at some point. 

"Whatever you will do in 

Paris will be good but 

somebody will always say, 

‘Well, you did great for PSG 

but it was only in France. The 

best leagues are in England 

and Spain, so you didn’t 

compete with the best players 

in the best league’. 

"You will have to decide. If 

you want to win the Ballon 

d’Or, which is what you should 

be looking at to echo Cristiano 

Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, 

you will have to compete with 

the best. 

"You can’t say you compete 

with the best all the time when 

you are at PSG. The French 

league is not easy, don’t get 

me wrong, but I think the 

toughest league is in 

England.” 

•Mbappe 

Team Nigeria 1st batch departs for Tokyo 

Onyali, MFR, Medical crew of Dr. Samuel 

Ogbondeminu, Messrs Okoh Joseph, 

Abdulsalam Shuaibu and Ekundayo 

Ogunkunle. 

Earlier on Monday, an advance team of the 

Ministry of Youth and Sports Development 

departed via the Muritala Mohammed 

International Airport in Lagos. The second 

batch will depart on July 13.“Nigeria will be 

competing in nine sports at the rescheduled 

Tokyo Olympics which runs from July 23- August 

8, 2021 while the Paralympians will be 

competing in four Sports from August 24- 

September 5, 2021.



Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 

TODAY’S CROSSWORD 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTION 

Sudoku 

TODAY’S PUZZLE 

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER 

ACROSS 

1 Quantity (6) 

4 Counterfeiter (6) 

8 Go in (5) 

9 Doctor's client (7) 

10 Heartfelt (7) 

11 Trite (5) 

12 Strewn (9) 

17 Mean person (4,3) 

19 European country (7) 

21 Unbeliever (7) 

22 Bet (5) 

23 Rubber (6) 

24 Beasts (6) 

DOWN 

1 Relaxed (2,4) 

2 Excursions (7) 

3 Courage (5) 

5 Autumn month (7) 

6 Verdant (5) 

7 Baby's toy (6) 

9 Abundant (9) 

13 Shorten (7) 

14 Sold from the cask (7) 

15 Cricket referee (6) 

16 Embellishes (6) 

18 Capital of Bulgaria (5) 

20 More recent (5) 

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. 

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06072021 - We must okay FG's security operations in our states- Southern Govs

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