19112022

2— SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 19, 2022

SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 19, 2022 — 3

4— SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 19, 2022

C 

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SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 19, 2022 — 5 

Step up efforts to revamp PHCs in your 

domains, FG charges Govs 

By Luminous 

Jannamike, Abuja 

The 

Federal 

Government, on 

Friday, urged state 

governments to step up the 

efforts to revitalise the 

primary health care 

system in their domains as 

part of moves to ensure the 

country achieve universal 

health coverage. 

It also urged state 

governors to demonstrate 

their commitment to the 

Seattle Declaration 

through the sustenance of 

their investment in the 

Primary Healthcare 

Centers (PHCs). 

The Executive Secretary, 

the National Primary 

Health Care Development 

Agency (NPHCDA), Dr 

Faisal Shuaibu, made the 

appeal in Abuja at the 

official Induction and 

Orientation of select 

professionals who have 

been appointed as members 

of the Independent Judging 

Panel (IJP) for the PHC 

Leadership Challenge 

Fund. 

The Challenge Fund is a 

multi-sectoral PHC system 

strengthening project 

executed by the NPHCDA, 

the Nigeria Governors’ 

Forum (NGF), in 

collaboration with UNICEF 

and funding from the Bill 

and Melinda Gates 

Foundation (BMGF). 

It is designed to catalyse 

the implementation of the 

Seattle Declaration by 

State Governors while 

seeking to renew their 

political commitments to 

improving PHC outcomes 

through 

regular 

engagement with relevant 

stakeholders, promoting a 

progressive increase in 

funding, and recruiting 

requisite health workforce. 

Nonetheless, Shuaibu 

stated that the progress the 

country is making to 

revamp the primary 

healthcare sector had not 

been significant and does 

not match Nigeria’s 

capabilities as a country 

He said, “For all of the 

investments that have 

been made in the primary 

healthcare space, we’re not 

seeing commensurate 

results in terms of the 

output. 

“Nigeria continues to 

have one of the highest 

rates of maternal and 

infant mortality. We have 

seen great progress in the 

last few years, but the 

progress that we are seeing 

is not significant enough 

and does not match our 

capabilities as a country.” 

In the same vein, the 

Chair of the Independent 

Judging Panel (IJP) for the 

PHC Leadership Challenge 

Fund, Prof. Clara Ejembi, 

said regretted that since 

1986 when efforts began to 

orientate the healthcare 

system towards PHCs the 

story in terms of positive 

indicators have not 

changed much despite all 

the investments. 

She said, “And some of us 

are in the twilight of our 

From left, Executive Director /CEO NPHCDA Dr.Faisa Shuaibu chatting with Dr. 

Lola Mabogunje, Fatima M Daura, Prof. Ayuba Zoakah,University of Jos and Vanguard 

Saturday Editor, Onochie Anibeze during inauguration of Independent Judging Panel 

(IJP) for the PHC LeadershipChalleng Fund held in Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga 

Olamikan 

The authour of the book, DAILY BREAD FOR ALL SEASONS, Rev Anthony Taiye 

Fadairo, (middle) with the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Dr. Adewale 

Martin's, the Bishop of Ijebu Ode Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Francis Obafemi Adeshina, 

The Chairman of the occasion, Mr. O. Alake and his wife and the Chief Laucher Mr 

Valentine Tongo and his wife during the launching of the book at St. Agnes, Maryland, 

Lagos on Thursday. 

Vanguard set for annual thanksgiving 

November 30 

By Providence 

Ayanfeoluwa 

Vanguard 

Media 

C h r i s t i a n 

Fellowship, VMCF has 

announced plans to hold 

the 22nd edition of her 

annual end-of-year 

thanksgiving and prayer 

service on Wednesday 

November 30, 2022. 

The event which is 

themed: “Every Yoke Must 

Be Destroyed” will hold at 

the company’s Head Office 

in Apapa, by Berger-yard 

bus stop, Mile 2, Lagos. 

The Fellowship 

Coordinator, Overseer 

Emmanuel Orisi 

Emmanuel, said that the 

theme is taken from the 

Book of Isaiah Chapter 10 

verse 27. 

According to him, the 

National Evangelist of 

The Apostolic Church 

Nigeria, TACN Pastor M 

A Oke is guest preacher at 

the service. Emmanuel 

said that the service 

which is organized for all 

staff of Vanguard to 

appreciate God for 

another year and ask for 

divine visitation will start 

by 1.00 pm. 

He said: “This annual 

thanksgiving and prayer 

service is organized for all 

staff of Vanguard Media to 

appreciate God for another 

year and ask for divine 

visitation for a 

tremendous turnaround 

for the best, not only in 

Vanguard but Nigeria at 

large”. 

•Pastor M.A. Oke 

National Evangelist 

The Apostolic Church 

Nigeria (TACN) 

career and are wondering 

what legacy we’re leaving 

behind, if after more than 

40 years, things are not 

changing. 

“We do recognize that we 

cannot achieve universal 

health coverage and health 

indicators cannot improve, 

if we don’t have a 

strengthen primary 

healthcare system. 

“We also recognize that 

no matter the effort, or the 

national level, the 

translation of policies and 

clients into actionable 

things and implemented 

compliance and getting the 

work done is at the subnational 

level. 

“In the same vein, we do 

recognize that governance 

is the foundation of every 

effort. Without leadership, 

stewardship and 

President of Nigeria, 

Muhammadu Buhari 

has described the Dr. Nabo 

Graham- Douglas Campus of 

the Nigerian Law School, 

built, furnished and handed 

over by the Governor 

Nyesom Ezenwo Wike’s 

administration as a grand 

wonder, structured to be selfsustaining. 

The president noted that 

the project, among several 

others, is no doubt an abiding 

testament to the 

commitment of Governor 

Wike to the promotion of law 

and development in Rivers 

State and beyond. 

President Buhari spoke 

while inaugurating the Dr. 

Nabo Graham Douglas 

Campus of the Nigerian Law 

School, Port Harcourt on 

Friday. He was represented 

by the Attorney General of 

the Federation and Minister 

of Justice, Abubakar Malami, 

SAN. 

“I need not engage in poetic 

verbosity to properly describe 

the grand wonder that is 

being commissioned today. 

The icing on the cake is the 

fact that this edifice and its 

state-of-the-art facilities are 

structured to be selfsustaining 

through 

associated revenue earners, 

as designed by a man of 

higher vision who is now 

fondly referred to as Mr 

Project.” 

President Buhari said he 

was aware that Governor 

Wike extended development 

initiatives to the 

neighbouring Bayelsa State, 

by executing multi-billionnaira 

projects that included 

a 900-bed space hostel and 

investments by our leaders 

in the sub-national level, 

we cannot achieve much.” 

Ejembi stated that the 

panel approach their work 

as an opportunity to 

challenge the state 

governors to move the dial 

in the right direction by 

beginning to invest more in 

primary health care and 

putting more effort at 

implementation of the 

agreement - the Seattle 

Declaration in their states. 

“We (Independent 

Judging Panel) hope that 

we’ll have credible results 

and this will actually 

challenge our governors to 

do more so that together, we 

can change the landscape 

for the good of our children, 

mothers, nation, and for 

the improvement of health 

and development in 

Nigeria,” she added. 

In his remarks, the 

Director-General, Nigeria 

Governors Forum, 

Asishana Okauru, 

reaffirmed 

the 

commitment of the 36 state 

governors to strengthen 

the primary health care 

system in the country. 

He said, “In fact, in 2016, 

the leadership of the forum 

were hosted in Seattle by 

Bill Gates and the Dangote 

Foundation, and 

eventually came up with 

the Seattle declaration. 

“And what we’re trying 

to do right now is to look for 

ways to ensure that those 

commitments are met. I 

mean this. 

“The independent 

judging panel has now been 

given the responsibility to 

ensure that we are able to 

identify states and 

governors who have been 

able to meet some of those 

B-R-I-E-F 

Alumni association 

celebrates 

University of 

Lagos at 60 

AS part of activities to 

mark the Diamond 

Jubilee of the founding of 

University of Lagos 

(Unilag), the University 

of First Choice and the 

Nation’s Pride, the 

University of Lagos 

Alumni Association will 

commission on Friday, 

November 25, 2022 the 

iconic, state-of-the-art 

Prof. Oyewusi Ibidapo- 

Obe Building donated to 

the association. 

Named after the 

institution’s late Vice 

Chancellor, Distinguished 

Professor Oyewusi 

Ibidapo-Obe, the building 

is located along Tafawa 

Balewa Way in the Akoka 

main campus of the 

university. 

In a statement by the 

Chairman of the 

Organising Committee 

and the First Vice 

President of the Alumni 

Association, Dr. (Chief) 

Fassy Adetokunboh 

Yusuf, he disclosed that 

the ceremony will be 

presided over by Mr. 

Udom Emmanuel, 

Governor of Akwa Ibom 

State and will be attended 

by alumni and alumnae 

of the University from all 

walks of life including the 

Pro-Chancellor of the 

university, Senator 

Lanre Tejuoso and Vice 

Chancellor, Prof. Folasade 

Ogunsola. 

Buhari lauds Wike at commissioning of 

P-Harcourt Law School Complex 

1,500-capacity auditorium, 

in the Yenagoa Campus of the 

Nigerian Law School. 

According to him, “these 

are indeed pace-setting and 

unparalleled contributions 

by a State Government to 

what is ordinarily under the 

remit of the Federal 

Government. Governor 

Wike’s dedication to these 

projects is better appreciated 

from the viewpoint of his 

being an unrelenting 

advocate of true federalism in 

Nigeria.” 

The president commended 

the good heart and 

Statesmanship of Governor 

Wike, on behalf of the entire 

justice family and lovers of 

justice in Nigeria for his 

unifying efforts and 

commitment to national 

harmony. 

In his speech, Rivers State 

governor, Nyesom Ezenwo 

Wike said that sequel to his 

request for approval to build 

a law campus in Port 

Harcourt and subsequent 

approval given, he is today 

most delighted to have 

delivered the facility, 

completed within 10 

months. 

He stated that the contract 

for the project was awarded 

to indigenous contractors, 

who handled each of the 

structures under strict 

supervision, costing the State 

government about N17 

billion. 

Governor Wike revealed 

that one of the reasons his 

administration has been able 

to embark on several projects 

was because President Buhari 

had graciously approved the 

payment and release of 

unpaid 13 percent derivation 

deductions since 1999 to all 

States in the Niger Delta. 

The governor insisted that 

the financial support given 

by the Rivers State 

government to the Nigerian 

Law School should be 

expended on the Dr. Nabo 

Graham Douglas Campus 

and no where else. 

The governor said it will be 

unfair for the Rivers State 

government to have spent so 

much on providing the 

campus and not have an 

admission quota exclusive to 

the State. 

In his good will message, 

President of the Nigerian Bar 

Association, Yakubu 

Maikyau, SAN, said governor 

Wike is a true leader who has 

shown excellence in 

governance and deliberately 

invested in the legal 

profession that will serve the 

course of justice to the people. 

Speaking for the Benchers, 

Chief Wole Olanipekun noted 

that there is no legal 

professional who has 

contributed as much as 

governor Wike has done to the 

promotion of legal practice in 

Nigeria. 

In his speech, Chairman of 

the Senate Committee on 

Judiciary, Human Rights 

and Legal Matters, Senator 

Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, 

who described the day as 

epochal for the legal 

profession, decried the 

inability of the National 

Assembly and other 

stakeholders to enact a new 

Legal Practitioners’ Act that 

should make the legal 

practice of international 

standard in the country.

C 

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6 — SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 19, 2022 

Verbal attack on Peter Obi: 

Verbal attack on Peter Obi: 

Ndigbo descend heavily on Soludo 

•He did not speak like a professor - Igbo Youths 

•Soludo’s outburst baseless, unwarranted –Obasi 

•No wisdom in his speech -Ex-Ohanaeze Chairman 

•There is wisdom in Soludo’s epistle- Onoh 

•Soludo envious of Peter Obi- Labour Party 

By Anayo Okoli, 

Dennis Agbo, 

Ugochukwu Alaribe, 

Steve Oko, Chinonso 

Alozie & Emmanuel 

Iheaka 

ENUGU—Prominent 

Igbo elders and leaders as 

well as stakeholders and 

various groups have 

continued to express anger 

over verbal attack on the 

Presidential candidate of 

the Labour Party, Mr Peter 

Obi by Anambra State 

governor, Professor 

Charles Soludo. 

Professor Soludo, in a 

recent Television 

interview described the 

present value of 

investments made by 

Peter Obi while he was 

governor as worthless and 

followed it up in a long 

article attacking Peter and 

concluding that Peter Oni 

can never win the 2023 

president election. 

In his reaction to Soludo’s 

outburst, former Imo state 

President of Ohanaeze 

Ndigbo, Professor Chidi 

Osuagwu said, “Soludo is a 

clever person but unwise. 

He has not shown wisdom. 

By Omeiza Ajayi, 

Abuja 

The 

Independent 

National Electoral 

Commission INEC has said 

in line with its tradition of 

adequately preparing for 

eventualities, it has enough 

logistics to take care of a 

possible run-off in next 

year’s Presidential Election. 

INEC Chairman, Prof. 

Mahmood Yakubu disclosed 

this on Friday in Abuja at a 

meeting with Bureau Chiefs 

and Regional Editors of 

media organizations. 

Many people who have 

made career success in 

Nigeria are people of 

questionable character. 

People should not take 

away that from their 

minds when accessing 

characters. Even now 

everybody is talking of the 

Igbo in 2023; I am not 

surprised that this 

statement is coming from 

an Anambra person. The 

Igbo must take note that 

the Anambra people are 

self-promoting too much. 

Other people should not see 

it as different; it is like what 

is happening between 

Osinbajo and Tinubu. But 

even within the Imo state 

the governing people, 

selling their people for 

personal aggrandizement, 

Enugu State Governor and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Enugu 

North Senatorial District, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (2nd left) with the PDP candidate 

for Nsukka/Igbo-Eze South Federal Constituency, Chief Engr. Vita Abba (2nd right), the 

lawmaker representing Nsukka West Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Hon. 

Dr. Emmanuel Ugwuerua (right), former member of House of Representatives, Hon. 

Charles Ugwu (middle) and former Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Dan Shere, 

during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Town Hall Meeting in Nsukka East 

Development Centre ahead of the 2023 polls, yesterday. 

2023: INEC expresses readiness for possible run-off 

Represented by the 

National Commissioner and 

Chairman, Information 

and Voter Education 

Committee, Barr. Festus 

Okoye, the INEC Chairman 

said the commission has 

always prepared for all 

elections and that it would 

not have the time to start 

printing new ballot papers 

within a space of three weeks 

in the event of a tie. 

“This is because the law 

gives the commission just 

21 days within which to 

engage in reverse logistics 

and conduct a run-off 

election in case there’s no 

winner,” he said. 

INEC also advised 

Nigerians to follow the 

procedure outlined in the 

Electoral Act 2022 (as 

amended) to make their 

claims and objections on the 

voters’ register as displayed 

nationwide. 

He said; “We will harvest 

all the claims, objections and 

complaints and carefully 

and objectively deal with 

them. 

“The whole essence of the 

display is for Nigerians to 

double check the register 

and assist the Commission 

put in place a robust, 

comprehensive, and 

acceptable register. 

“While it is Important to 

use the social media to point 

out errors, issues and 

challenges in the register, 

the correction of the errors 

and removal of malicious 

registrations must follow 

the procedure and sequence 

outlined in section 19 and 

20 of the Electoral Act 

2022. “We urge members 

of the public to approach our 

Revision Officers for 

assistance in making their 

claims, objections, and 

complaints. 

“We also encourage 

members of the public to visit 

the Commissions website 

and follow the protocols 

outlined therein in making 

their claims”. 

IN furtherance of his 

administration’s 

commitment to the welfare 

of civil servants, 

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi 

recently granted approval 

to the Enugu State 

Civil Service Commission 

(ESCSC) to conduct promotion 

exercise for eligible 

staff across the state’s 

Ministries, Departments, 

and Agencies (MDAs). 

The promotion exercise 

was in fulfilment of Governor 

Ugwuanyi’s earlier 

promise to clear all backlogs 

of promotions for civil 

servants in the state. 

for self-promotion are 

people who have come 

from within the Anambra 

border”. 

Chief Jerry Obasi, a 

former 

deputy 

governorship candidate of 

the All Progressive Grand 

Alliance, APGA, in Ebonyi 

state described Governor 

Chukwuma Soludo’s 

outburst against Obi as 

baseless and unwarranted. 

Obasi said that Soludo 

shot himself on the foot by 

his outburst against Obi 

and wondered if the former 

governor of the Central 

Bank actually thought 

about his feelings for Obi 

before going public. 

Insisting that Soludo 

harbours bottled up anger 

against Obi, Obasi stated 

that the right thing for the 

Anambra governor to 

have done was to support 

his party’s presidential 

candidate and ignore Obi. 

He said that Soludo has a 

huge task to match the 

records Obi made as 

Governor of Anambra 

state, stressing that no 

propaganda or bitterness 

can erase the fact that Obi 

saved money and made 

huge investments for 

Anambra state. 

His words: “You can see 

the level of public anger 

and criticisms against 

Soludo. Such outburst was 

unwarranted and could 

only show anger and 

bitterness against the 

Labour Presidential 

candidate. The right thing 

was not for Soludo to start 

contradicting Obi 

especially when he had no 

facts. Obi handed over to a 

successor who Soludo took 

over from. So, if there was 

any issue, Soludo needed to 

ask the man who handed 

over to him and not to 

dance naked in public by 

attacking Obi. 

“The issue of Obi’s savings 

and investments when he 

served as the Governor of 

Ugwuanyi moves to clear all promotion 

backlogs for civil servants 

Consequently, over 

3,000 state civil servants 

last weekend converged 

on the Government Secondary 

School (GSS), 

Enugu, for their 2021/ 

2022 promotional examination. 

Speaking on the development, 

the Chairman of 

the ESCSC, Mr. Robinson 

Odo, said that “the agenda 

for the 2021/2022 

promotion is to ensure 

that members of staff who 

scale through in the exercise 

are promoted without 

delay to enable them celebrate 

the upcoming yuletide 

as promoted officers.” 

Odo explained that “the 

just concluded promotional 

examination was in 

written form, and encompassed 

staff on salary 

grade levels 07 and 

above, whose briefs had 

earlier been received by 

the commission.” 

He added that the “ESC- 

SC has announced that 

the oral interview for the 

promotion exercise will 

hold from November 22 

to 29, 2022, at the commission’s 

premises, at 

9am daily.” 

The Chairman disclosed 

that all hands have been 

on deck both at the commission 

and the MDAs 

levels to ensure that the 

promotion processes are 

successful. 

Anambra state is a fact 

already in the public 

domain. No propaganda or 

bitterness can erase the fact 

that Obi saved money and 

made investments when 

he served as governor. 

“Again, with the 

popularity Obi enjoys in his 

presidential pursuit, 

Soludo should have 

remained silent and watch 

the electorate give their 

verdict on him. I am sure 

Soludo is envious of Obi. 

You know Soludo also 

nurses a presidential 

ambition. Maybe, he 

thinks that with Obi he 

may not have a chance to 

run for the presidency in 

future. Soludo forgot that 

Obi will make a better 

president 

than 

Muhammadu Buhari. 

Even Atiku Abubakar and 

Bola Tinubu are not in the 

same class with Obi; this is 

why the majority of 

Nigerians are supporting 

Obi. Nigerians want fresh 

air and Obi represents that 

dream. 

“That Atiku wants to 

succeed Buhari who is from 

the same North is the 

height of injustice. Maybe, 

Soludo is blind to the fact 

that Obi is just the man 

Nigerian needs at this 

moment. You can see that 

Soludo’s son even criticized 

him for attacking Obi. 

“An Igbo governor like 

Soludo could have kept 

silent and support his 

party’s presidential 

candidate, rather than 

dancing naked in the 

market place as he just did. 

Soludo should watch it 

because he is becoming 

unpopular. He has been in 

office for more than six 

months, what has he 

achieved; only lectures 

and mere rhetoric. I 

predict that he may serve 

for only one term as 

governor in Anambra 

State. Soludo’s outburst 

against Obi accounts for 

one of the reasons enemies 

of the Igbo have continued 

to say that we don’t love 

ourselves and don’t speak 

with one voice”. 

Also, the former 

National Deputy 

Chairman of APGA, South, 

Chief Chris Ejike Uche 

cautioned Soludo against 

laying landmines on the 

path of Peter Obi. Chief 

Uche submitted that 

Soludo should have called 

Obi privately to settle 

whatever issue if there was 

anything he knew which 

others didn’t know, rather 

than raising very 

contentious issues. He 

described Soludo’s action 

as an embarrassment on 

the Igbo and Nigerians of 

goodwill, adding that Obi 

responded maturely. 

Chief Uche called on Igbo 

leaders to unite in 

arresting the situation. 

According to him, “it is 

really embarrassing to 

Nigerians of goodwill. You 

can’t see the Yoruba or 

Hausa people do that. Peter 

Obi is not angling for 

governorship of Anambra, 

Prof Soludo is not running 

for presidency. Their lines 

don’t meet. If Soludo does 

not want to support Peter, 

why not remain silent. 

Don’t build, don’t destroy. 

“It is always difficult to 

manage success. Soludo 

should go for confession for 

telling lies. Peter Obi’s 

achievement in Anambra 

is glaring; nobody disputes 

that. It is very scandalous 

to say he achieved 

nothing. Soludo has a lot of 

people supporting and 

praising him, being a 

scholar. He should outgrow 

this mediocrity.


Restore my welfare package, Falodun, blind veteran journalist 

tasks Sanwo-Olu 

•Says ‘I have paid my dues’ •Insists that Nigeria is not a secular state 

By Sola Ogundipe 

VETERAN Journalist, 

Sir. Oluwole Falodun, 

who lost his sight following a 

botched eye surgery in 1996, 

is asking the Lagos State Governor, 

Babajide Sanwo-Olu to 

fully reinstate the state government’s 

promises to him. 

Falodun, who turns 80 on 

November 22, told Saturday 

Vanguard in an interview that 

he became blind after being 

diagnosed with glaucoma in 

his right eye. Still, the left eye 

was mistakenly operated on 

at the Lagos General Hospital, 

Marina. 

According to the octogenarian, 

a former reporter with 

Daily Times and Radio Nigeria, 

the Lagos state government 

took responsibility for his 

predicament including the 

education of his children. He 

was later given a house in 

2016 and placed on life pension 

by the Governor Akinwumi 

Ambode administration. 

Renowned for his Lagos 

Weekend “Wakabout” column, 

Falodun said, “The 

monthly payment was stopped 

when Ambode left in 2019 and 

later restored two years later 

in July 2021 after a series of 

interventions during the tenure 

of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. 

However, when the 

payment resumed, it was reduced 

from N250,000 to 

N150,000 and was not as regular 

as before.” 

Giving kudos to the Lagos e 

state government for keeping 

its promise to him, he, however, 

said things had since taken 

a turn for the worse. 

“Since July 2022 to date, the 

payment which was my subsistence 

has stopped completely, 

and I am left with no other 

means of survival. I am urging 

Governor Sanwo-Olu to 

restore regular payment of the 

original sum,” he remarked. 

Further, he said, “Since I retired 

from active practice, life 

has been hard. I used to be involved 

in a lot of charity work, 

but I can no longer do that because 

the funds are no longer 

there to continue what I started. 

The children that I am 

sending to University I can no 

longer continue to cater to 

their needs, even though they 

are other people’s children”. 

According to him, “At 80, I 

suffer memory blackouts, 

sometimes I’m incoherent, 

and that is why I prefer to have 

things documented, but I am 

still alive. When I go to be with 

the Lord, I do not believe in 

funeral ceremonies. I have 

told my children, that I do not 

believe in caskets. I should be 

buried in a coffin made of plywood, 

at the cheapest rate because 

I don’t attend funeral 

services. 

“The last funeral service I 

attended was that of the late 

best Primate of the Church of 

Nigeria, Archbishop Olufoyose, 

I think that was in 1993 

or so. I do not believe in extravagant 

expenses, although 

I go to Church, I sing and pray, 

I do not believe in those things. 

“In the bible, there was this 

man who was living well and 

wearing purple robes and 

when he died, the bible said 

that there were funeral ceremonies 

and there was Lazarus 

who was feeding under his table. 

“When Lazarus died, there 

was no ceremony, there was 

no Christian wake, and the 

bible said he was found at the 

bosom of Abraham. I believe 

that when I go to be with the 

Lord, I go straight to the bosom 

of Abraham.” 

“I live a modest life; I have 

abstained for almost 30 years. 

I’m close to God and God is 

close to me. I do not have regrets 

because there is nothing 

too much for God, but my joy 

was when the Archbishop of 

Canterbury, Dr. Robert Rumsey 

came to Nigeria in 1982. 

He spotted me and gave me 

the medal of St. Augustine of 

Canterbury. He personally 

picked me out of the crowd. 

“Throughout his life as the 

Archbishop of Canterbury, he 

said that he had traveled all 

over the world and that it was 

only in Nigeria that his activities 

had been broadcast live 

for the first time in his life, for 

two whole weeks, and I was 

responsible for that.” 

Falodun also recalled how 

two months later, Pope John 

By Luminous Jannamike & 

Ezra Ukanwa, Abuja 

FULL Gospel Business 

men Fellowship International 

has said that all the 

presidential candidates who 

are banking on mobilising a 

heavy financial war chest to 

win the 2023 elections will be 

sorely disappointed. 

The National President of 

the faith-based organisation, 

Arc. Ifeanyi Odedo, stated this 

while speaking at the just-concluded 

2022 National Convention 

of the body in Abuja. 

He, however, said that the 

Fellowship will announce its 

preferred presidential candidate 

for the 2023 general elections 

during its Nigerian National 

Congress, billed to hold 

early next year. 

“Money politics will fail this 

time. We must get it right this 

time. Don’t vote because a political 

party is popular. Don’t 

sell your conscience. Don’t allow 

anybody to exchange your 

Paul was coming to visit Canterbury 

for the first time after 

the Anglican and Roman 

Catholic had parted ways. 

“I was the only layman from 

the Nigeria laity that was invited. 

I met the Pope and the 

Archbishop of Canterbury and 

I was duly honoured at the 

Canterbury Cathedral. With 

that medal anywhere I went 

to I was always honoured, and 

having positions of recognition 

in the churches in the UK.” 

On the issue of Nigeria being 

a secular state, Falodun 

debunked the perception explaining 

that a secular state is 

one that has nothing to do 

with faith at all. 

“People should stop calling 

Nigeria a secular state. Countries 

like Russia and China are 

secular because they do not 

pray and do not believe in God 

and do not take the oath. But 

Nigeria is a multi-religious 

state because we pray and 

swear by God. 

“Our national anthem and 

national pledge mention God, 

and every year, the government 

is sending people to pilgrimage, 

Christians to Israel 

and Jerusalem and Moslems 

to Mecca.” 

According to the octogenarian, 

“the government built 

the central mosque in Abuja 

and the Christian centre, so 

that does not make Nigeria a 

secular state. People should 

stop making the mistake of 

calling Nigeria a secular state, 

it is a multi-religious setup.” 

Recalling that he joined 

Radio Nigeria as a correspondent 

in 1969, among his famous 

reports was the coverage 

of proceedings of the first 

armed robbery tribunal lead- 

ing to the execution of robbery 

kingpin, Ishola Oyenusi, Babatunde 

Folorunsho and others 

at the Lagos Bar Beach in 

1971. 

Among so many positions 

he held and activities in which 

he was involved, Falodun was 

a former secretary of the 

Christian Association of Nigeria, 

CAN, and former Public 

Relations Officer of the 

Church of Nigeria (Anglican 

Communion) Diocese of Lagos. 

Money politics will fail in 2023, says Full Gospel Businessmen 

OUT of the 111Private Uni 

versities in Nigeria, Covenant 

University emerges highest 

on the ranks at the Nigeria 

Prestige Education Awards. 

In a red carpet event over the 

weekend, which was aimed at 

honoring outstanding Primary, 

Secondary and Tertiary institutions 

all over Nigeria, Covenant 

University emerged as the Best 

Private University of the year 

2022. 

The Vice-chancellor, Professor 

Abiodun Adebayo was well represented 

by the Dean of Student 

Affairs, Professor David Imhonopi, 

Key members of staff and Student 

Council Executives.In a 

conscience with money,” he 

said. Odedo stressed that the 

Fellowship was concerned 

about the state of the nation, 

especially its political leadership. 

Nevertheless, he expressed 

confidence that the 2023 elections 

would usher in a new leadership 

that will emancipate the 

Nigerian people from the 

present sufferings. 

According to him, “We are 

concerned about the state of the 

nation, especially as it concerns 

political leadership. If there’s 

no nation called Nigeria, our 

ministerial work is paralysed. 

“We want the enthronement 

of those who have integrity and 

the fear of God, alongside passion 

and patriotic spirit over 

the people they will govern, not 

those who want to hijack all 

that belongs to all of us, and 

distribute it amongst themselves.” 

Covenant University wins best private varsity award 

statement made by the Dean, at 

the event, he stated, “It is safe to 

say that none of the accolades 

should go to the University’s 

Faculty, Staff or Students, but 

should go to God.” 

During the awards acceptance 

speech which was delivered at 

the event by the Chairman of 

Covenant University’s Students’ 

Council, Mr. VictorEgbadon, he 

attributed the University’s edge 

over other Universities to the innovative 

minds of the Staff and 

Students therein.Mr. Egbadon 

made allusion to the Schools 

Town and Gown Seminars, 

where the students are opportune 

to liaise with industry experts, 

therebytapping into 

hands-on Knowledge.

C 

M 

Y 

K 


From left: Lioness Oluremi Odunmbaku, past Distrct Governor 

404B1 Nigeria; Mrs Fadeke Kamilu; Lion Oladipupo Kamilu, new 

President of Lagos Egbeda Lion Club, District 404B1 Nigeria; Lioness 

Kema Ashibuogwu, District Governor 404B1 Nigeria, and Lion 

Ibrahim Jide Bello, District GMT Coordinator, 404B1 Nigeria, during 

the Fund Raising and Presentation of Lion Oladipupo Kamilu, as the 

23rd President at the International Association of Lions Club, held 

at Ikeja Business Club, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos. 

Oil theft fuelling unemployment — FG 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru, Abuja 

The Federal 

Government has 

blamed the menace 

of crude oil theft for the 

worsening unemployment 

situation in the country. 

Minister of Labour and 

Employment, Senator 

Chris Ngige, stated this in 

his opening remarks at the 

8th Meeting of the National 

Employment Council in 

Abuja. 

Ngige, who is the 

chairman of the Council, 

lamented that oil theft has 

made Nigeria to become a 

mendicant nation, 

resorting to begging for 

survival. 

According to him, this 

menace has hampered the 

efforts of the Federal 

Government towards 

creating jobs for the 

country’s teeming youthful 

population. 

The Minister in a 

statement by Olajide 

Oshundun, Head, Press and 

Public Relations, Federal 

Ministry of Labour and 

Employment, was quoted 

as saying, “I am aware that 

you people know that we 

are at a very critical stage 

in our nation’s life. We have 

economic problems all over 

the world, but our own in 

Nigeria is self inflicted. Our 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

An Abuja High Court 

sitting at Maitama, on 

Friday, dismissed the 10-count 

corruption charge the 

Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, EFCC, 

preferred against a former 

Secretary to the Government 

of the Federation, Babachir 

Lawal and six others. 

The court, in a ruling that 

was delivered by Justice 

Charles Agbaza, held that the 

anti-graft agency failed to 

establish a criminal case 

against the defendant. 

It held that no ingredient of 

any offence was made out by 

the 11 witnesses the EFCC 

brought to testify against the 

erstwhile SGF and his codefendants. 

Besides, the trial judge held 

that the prosecution failed to 

establish a prima-facie case 

that was capable of moving the 

court to compel the defendants 

main source of revenue is 

oil. 

“But, in the oil sector, two 

things are happening. One, 

Nigeria is not meeting her 

production quota. Our 

OPEC production quota 

used to be 2.2 million barrels 

per day. It slipped down to 

1.8 million barrels. Now, 

we cannot even produce the 

1.8 million barrels. We are 

hovering around 1.1 

million barrels per day, and 

they told us that some 

people are stealing our 

crude oil. “This is a very 

serious matter because it 

has made us become very 

mendicant. We cannot 

continue that way because 

N554m Grass-Cutting Scandal: 

Court acquits ex-SGF, 

Babachir Lawal, others 

L-R: Head of Operations Ripple Heights, Mr Ben Edokpolo; Representative 

of DDL Foundation, Sr Sochima Anyunwu; Chief Executive Officer, Kent 

Housing, Mr Chucks Uwaechia and Head of Projects Ripple Heights, Mr 

Solomon Ogundo, during a press conference on donation of water project 

to Bishop Okoye Memorial Nursery & Primary School, Nnsuka, Enugu 

State, held in Lagos Thursday. 

it has hampered our efforts 

to create jobs for our 

teeming youthful 

population.” 

He further said, “Some 

people were analysing the 

situation and said that 

when we started the 

country, the white men 

came here and took all the 

jobs. We were seeing them 

with white shirts and ties 

and the jobs became known 

as white collar jobs. Later, 

our own people started 

going to university and 

after graduation, joined in 

the “white collar jobs. 

“Our colonial masters left 

and bequeathed to us 

another group of colonial 

masters, which comprised 

the indigenous people. 

Those who took over from 

the colonial masters did not 

plan for tomorrow. Number 

one is that our population is 

growing uncontrollably. 

Our population 

astronomically outpaces 

our Gross Domestic Product 

(GDP). We are neither 

finding our youthful 

population white collar 

jobs, nor making 

arrangement for them to do 

the blue collar jobs. Blue 

collar jobs are the ones you 

do with your hands, 

applying skills.” 

The Minister also said 

that only few blue collar jobs 

UN condemns killing of staff, others at 

Military Base in Borno 

By Ndahi Marama, 

Maiduguri 

THE United Nations- 

Office for the 

Coordination of 

Humanitarian Affairs (UN- 

OCHA) has condemned the 

killing of its staff and others at 

a Military Base in Damboa 

Local Government Area of 

Borno state. 

This was contained in a 

statement signed by the 

Humanitarian Coordinator 

for Nigeria, Matthias 

to enter their defence to the 

charge against them. 

Consequently, it upheld a 

no-case-submission the 

defendants filed to query the 

competence of the charge, even 

as it discharged and aqcuitted 

them of all the allegations 

against them. Lawal, who 

served as SGF under President 

Muhammadu Buhari, 

between August 27, 2015 and 

October 30, 2017, was 

arraigned alongside his 

younger brother, Hamidu, 

two others- Suleiman 

Abubakar and Apeh Mondayas 

well as two companies – 

Rholavision Engineering Ltd 

and Josmon Technologies Ltd. 

The defendants were 

among other things, alleged to 

have connived and illegally 

diverted a contract the 

Presidential Initiative for 

North East, PINE, awarded for 

the removal of grasses in 

Internally Displaced Persons, 

IDP, camps, to his own 

company. 

Schmale, on Friday in 

Maiduguri. 

Recall that the Theatre 

Commander of Operation 

Hadin Kai, North East, Major 

General Christopher Musa on 

Thursday night disclosed that 

a soldier ran berserk in a 

military base, opened fire and 

killed a humanitarian staff of 

an Non- Governmental 

Organisations, NGO and also 

killed another soldier in the 

same base. 

Not satisfied, the soldier also 

opened fire on the co-pilot of 

one of the UN helicopters to 

the theater before troops of 

Hadin Kai neutralized him. 

According to General 

Musa, "yesterday’s killing of 

a staff member of the 

humanitarian nongovernmental 

organization 

Meedecins du Monde in 

Damboa, Borno State is 

deeply disturbing and sad. 

"On behalf of the United 

Nations, I convey my heartfelt 

condolences to the aid 

worker’s family and to her 

colleagues. I also wish a 

speedy recovery to a pilot 

working with the UN 

Humanitarian Air Service 

(UNHAS) who was injured in 

the deplorable attack by an 

apparently rogue soldier. 

"All humanitarian staff 

working in north-east Nigeria 

deserve our fullest respect for 

their courage and 

commitment to stay and 

deliver life-saving assistance 

to people in need in often 

difficult and dangerous 

circumstances. 

Humanitarian workers must 

be protected. 

"I laud the Government and 

the military’s efforts to 

speedily investigate 

yesterday’s incident and urge 

them to strengthen remedial 

measures to prevent similar 

incidents in the future". Said 

Schmale. 

In a related development, 

the District Head of Damboa 

Local Government Area, 

Zanna Lawan Maina 

expressed shock over the 

incident. 

"I am right now in Abuja 

when I received a distress call 

from some of my subjects that 

there was a multiple gunshots 

at Military Base. The Theatre 

Commander, Major General 

Christopher Musa also called 

me on the same incidence. 

"It is very unfortunate, but 

right now the situation is 

under control ", the traditional 

ruler stated. 

By Ishola Balogun 

The senior Pastor of 

KICC International 

Church Pastor Mathew 

Ashimolowo, Bishop 

TudorBismark, Dr. Mensa 

Otabil, Bishop Wale Ajayi, 

Rev. Sam Chika, Rev. 

Tunde Bamgboye and 

Rev. KachiAsugha, will be 

ministering at the 2022 

Kingdom Life world 

Conference of The 

Redeemed Evangelical 

Mission (TREM) with the 

theme “Exceeding 

Glory2”. 

The conference will hold 

from the 20th of 

November to the 27thof 

November 2022 with an 

opening ceremony on the 

20th of November from 4 

p.m. at The Cathedral of 

were created in the 

transport sector, especially 

in rail and maritime, 

without producing indirect 

jobs to complement them, 

while the situation was 

made worse by foreigners, 

especially Chinese and 

other West African people 

who have taken over most 

of the blue collar jobs. 

He blamed the 

overflowing joblessness for 

the youth restiveness all 

over the country. 

According to him, 

“Unemployment is not 

confined to Nigeria, but our 

own is worse because in 

other climes, people are 

earning money from blue 

collar jobs. Here, we have 

no blue collar jobs for our 

workforce. 

“We have polytechnics 

but they are competing 

with universities for 

degrees. We see a 

polytechnic say it is 

awarding degree. We have 

technical colleges that 

want to equate their 

certificate with a degree. 

Nobody is interested in 

having technical skills. 

Everybody wants to be 

drawing and designing in 

air-conditioned offices, 

which is what the degree 

man does. 

The degree men are not 

supposed to be the 

implementers. The field 

implementers are the 

technologists and 

technicians and in proper 

climes, they are very well 

paid and live decent lives. 

17yr-old girl 

locked up by 

aunt rescued 

in Jos 

By Marie-Therese 

Nanlong 

A 

17-year-old 

malnourished girl, 

Khadija who was locked up 

by her aunt in a house in the 

Rikkos, Jos North local 

government area of Plateau 

State has been rescued from 

her imprisonment. 

An anonymous neighbour 

had felt the plight of the girl 

and alerted the office of the 

National Human Rights 

Commission in Jos and the 

Police were involved to rescue 

the girl. 

It was gathered that the girl 

is an orphan who was living 

with her aunt who was in the 

habit of maltreating and 

starving her. It was not clear 

the reason for such action. 

Confirming the situation, 

the State Coordinator of the 

National Human Rights 

Commission, Mrs. Grace 

Pam said, “The Commission 

received an alert from an 

anonymous complainant that 

one Khadija, a 17-year-old girl 

who is an orphan, was locked 

up in the balcony of a house 

by her aunt, one Zainab. She 

was living with her 

grandmother before she came 

to the aunt’s house because the 

grandmother is sick. 

Ashimolowo, Bismark, Otabil, others 

ministering at TREM KLWC 2022 

His Glory. 

From the 21st of 

November 2022, the 

conference will begin with 

the morning session at 

9a.m .to 12 noon and the 

evening session from 

5p.m. daily throughout 

the duration of the weeklong 

conference except 

Friday. 

The closing ceremony is 

scheduled for November 

27th with Bishop Mike 

Okonkwo ministering. 

Thursday, November 

25th is scheduled for a 

special Edition of the 

International Women 

Prayer Conference (IWPC) 

for both men and women 

from 9 a.m. to 12noon 

with Bishop Peace 

Okonkwo, the Convener of 

IWPC ministering. 

Nollywood actor 

Hanks Anuku 

breaks silence 

over viral video 

N OLLYWOOD 

gangster actor, Hanks 

Anuku has broken silence 

following a video that went viral 

on social media during the 

week raising concerns about the 

actor’s mental state of mind. 

In the viral video, Hanks was 

captured wandering the streets 

in tattered clothes, sparking 

reactions from some of his fans 

and colleagues. 

Actress Shan George, 

however, dismissed the video, 

saying 'Anuku is not insane” as 

widely feared, stressing that he 

was on a movie set. 

Debunking the claim in a 

short video, which he shared on 

his Instagram page, 

@ha1962anukuha, yesterday, 

the gangster actor said the viral 

video enmanted from a movie 

set. Anuku said he has been on 

a movie set, while accusing 

people circulating the video of 

trying to destroy his image. 

Friday, November 25th 

will witness the Zarmar 

Musical conference tagged 

“Sounds of Africa” Edition 

from 9p.m. till dawn. 

Gospel musical Artists 

that are expected include 

Nathaniel Bassey, Ntokozo 

Mbatha, Bukola Bekes, 

Oluwalonibisi, Beejay Sax, 

Minister Lilian Colins, 

Tony Chris, Joe Smart, Mr. 

M. and Revelation, 

Solomon Lance, and 

many more. 

Since its evolution in 

1990 with the theme 

Walking in Dominion, the 

church has had several 

themes that become the 

life experience of those who 

make out time to be at the 

conference and this year’s 

edition will not be 

different.

SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 19, 2022—9 

RIVERS 2023: 

Anxiety as repeat of 

2019 scenario looms 

• PDP moves to stop opposition via judiciary 

• As court sacks APC, LP candidates 

• PDP wants to be sole contestant —Falana 

• Shame on the judiciary, it won’t work this time —Beke 

• I wish all opposition candidates bad luck —Wike 

By Egufe Yafugborhi & 

Davies Iheamnachor 

THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, 

in Rivers wants to win all seats 

available in the state in the 2023 

general polls. And it does not doing 

so as the only party on the ballot. Currently, 

the PDP has filed multiple suits in 

court aimed at disqualifying leading 

opposition parties and candidates in the 

2023 elections with some stakeholders 

expressing fear over sincerity of the judiciary 

and the likelihood of a repeat of 2019 

scenario when candidates of the All 

Progressives Congress, APC, delisted from 

the ballots in Rivers. 

Having benefitted hugely from the 2019 

misfortune of the APC of being delisted from 

the ballots which eased PDP’s clean sweep 

of that year’s general elections in the 

state, the Rivers PDP is not hiding its 

intention of repeating the feat in 2023 and 

this time at a larger scale. 

APC, LP candidates 

axed 

In multiple suits, Rivers PDP is 

directly or indirectly up against 

different political parties to 

eliminate their candidates before 

the electorate queue to vote. 

Already, a Federal High 

Court sitting in Port Harcourt 

on October 25 nullified all 

primary elections conducted by the APC in 

Rivers over unlawful exclusion of some party 

members as delegates to the primaries. 

Though Justice E A Obeli made the 

declaration in a judgement on a case 

instituted by one George Orlu and four 

others as plaintiffs against Rivers 

APC, who sought 

nullification of all the 

party’s primaries, 

many watchers 

of Rivers 

politics link 

the PDP to 

its 

outcome. 

On 

November 

4, in 

separate 

suits filed by Rivers PDP, Justice Stephen 

Daylop-Pam of Federal High Court sitting in Port 

Harcourt sacked three National Assembly 

candidates of the Labour Party, LP in Rivers. The 

candidates are for Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt 

City Constituencies. 

Daylop-Pam, who had handled similar cases in 

the past ruled that the PDP proved that 

Independent National Electoral Commission, 

INEC, did not monitor the primary elections in 

the affected constituencies and ordered the 

electoral umpire not to recognise the trio of 

Labour candidates for the 2023 general elections. 

However, in a pending PDP suit seeking to 

disqualify all National and State Assembly 

candidates of the APC for the 2023 elections, 

Justice Daylop-Pam bowed to repeated 

insistence of the defendants to recuse himself 

from hearing the matter on allegation of his 

vested interest likelihood to favour Governor 

Nyesom Wike and the PDP if he decide the 

matter. 

While the affected parties and candidates have 

all, almost immediately, appealed the various 

•Dumo Lulu-Briggs 

•Emeke Beke 

•Femi Falana 

judgements, there are fears that the APC and other 

affected parties could suffer the same fate as APC 

suffered in 2019. 

Stakeholders’ apprehension 

Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, who is counsel for the 

Social Democratic Party, SDP, in another suit by 

Rivers PDP seeking disqualification of 15 

assembly candidates of the party, considered the 

development unhealthy for democracy. 

Falana said: “PDP sued the INEC, the SDP 

and 15 members of the SDP, challenging results 

of the primaries conducted by the SDP. And I 

think PDP is doing that to all the other political 

•Wike 

After much plea, they 

collected N500,000 

and dropped me off at 

the early hours of the 

next day on the Long 

bridge 

parties in Rivers State with a view not to have an 

election in this state for any position. The sole 

purpose of the case is an attempt by the PDP to be 

the sole contestant in all elections in Rivers State in 

2023.” 

PDP won’t succeed this time – 

Lulu-Briggs, Accord candidate 

Dumo Lulu-Briggs, governorship candidate of 

the Accord Party in Rivers does not believe Rivers 

PDP would have its way this time with the 

meddling into internal affairs of other parties. 

“They claim they are big parties with big 

candidates. Why are they afraid of the Davids in 

so called small parties beating the Goliaths in 

their party? We are waiting for them. The 

judgement of the High court won’t fly, going by 

provisions of the electoral laws. We are ready for 

them.” 

Judiciary pandering to Wike’s 

wishes —Beke, APC chairman 

Chief Emeke Beke, Rivers APC Chairman, 

accused the judiciary in Rivers of pandering to 

the whims and caprices of Governor Wike, 

alleging that the High Court judgement which 

sacked all Rivers APC candidates in the state 

was predetermined weeks before it was delivered. 

Beke said: “This judgement has been on the 

streets of Port harcourt more than three weeks 

before it was delivered. Everybody was aware of 

this judgement before it came. It calls for concern 

that today the judiciary has turned to where 

people will buy judgements. It’s total shame on 

the judiciary.” 

Spokesman of the APC in the state, 

Darlington Nwauju, is optimistic that the appeal 

filed by the party against the High Court 

disqualification of t its candidates would succeed 

and upturn the judgement of the court of first 

instance. 

Nwauju said: ‘The appellate court shall treat the 

matter dispassionately and deliver justice because 

this is not an action against the primaries of our 

party but an attempt at challenging the 

composition of our delegates list. 

“We assure Rivers people that the attempt to 

rehash the 2019 episode in Rivers is already 

dead on arrival. Nothing will stop 

APC Rivers from being on the 

ballot in 2023. The Supreme 

Court has decided on a plethora 

of cases affirming that political 

parties are their own operating 

authorities and can regulate their own internal 

affairs. 

“The subject matter for which Justice Obene 

granted reliefs of the plaintiffs is entirely our 

internal affairs, therefore it is travesty of justice as 

far as we are concerned.” 

Ininasiya West, APC candidate, Akuku Toru/ 

Asari Toru Federal Constituency, accused the APC 

national leadership of spurring Wike to intensify 

the determination to deny Rivers APC participation 

in next year’s poll by the party’s actions and 

inactions. 

West said: “There are various court 

cases against Rivers APC 

candidates by Wike, hiding 

under PDP, again trying to 

win through the backdoor. 

He is pressuring the court 

to remove the party from 

the ballots as we suffered 

in 2019. 

“I don’t know how the 

APC national has taken 

this. Perhaps the 

national APC has been 

blowing Wike’s trumpet 

and the man feels it is in 

support of him to go on with the 

matter. We want the national APC 

to be proactive. Let us not wait to 

take steps only after the deed 

has been done.” 

APC has itself to 

blame — Gbemre 

Speaking on the issue, Zik 

Gbemre, National 

Coordinator, Niger Delta 

Peace Coalition, said: “I don’t 

appreciate the inordinate 

audacity of Wike but the APC 

should have itself to blame. If 

Rivers APC has restored internal 

democracy in her primaries this 

time around, learning from the 

bitter 2019 misfortune, Wike will 

have no room to meddle in their 

affairs. 

“By embracing the same imposition and 

dancing to the supremacy of the party 

leader above carrying everyone along, the 

party gave room to Wike to meddle. If they are 

not careful, they will suffer the same fate as 2019.” 

I wish all opposition 

candidates bad luck —Wike 

However, Governor Wike maintains that, “it’s 

PDP that will win this state, no other party will win. 

All those who want to run in other parties, I wish 

them bad luck because I don’t know why people 

would waste their money that they want to run for 

governorship in this state. What will they come and 

tell the people?”

10—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 19, 2022 

I 

Buhari friends 

with Tinubu but 

2023 elections 

no payback time 

Femi Adesina says President 

solidly behind APC but . . . 

•Naira redesign a master-stroke 

•Says Buhari will finish strong, leave 

Nigeria better than he met it 

Will APC succeed itself or do you see something 

new happening in 2023? 

Because it is democracy, and democracy is about the will 

of the people, we can only express our desire, we can’t be 

categorical. It’s about the will of the people, and the people will 

decide who should lead them. That is something the President 

has committed himself to repeatedly, both locally and 

internationally. The people must be respected and their wishes 

as to who leads them must also be respected. Therefore, it will be 

wrong to just sit back and begin to perfunctorily dictate or 

determine who should be the next president. It will be 

undemocratic, it will be against the spirit and letter of democracy. 

The people must decide who they want. But then, do I have a 

preference? I have always written it when I was in active 

journalism, that the APC is my preferred party and in the past 

seven and a half years, I have worked with an APC government. 

If APC wins I will be happy? But then 

it is the will of the people that must 

prevail. 

You are not sounding so 

sure-footedly. The President 

has said that because of the 

successes recorded so far, it 

would be better APC 

continues... 

Yes, I prefer that APC 

continues so that the good work 

Mr. President has started for the 

country would continue with 

assurance. You know that the 

tendency in this country is for 

new people to come and start 

new things and abandon what 

has been done, good or bad. So 

I’ll be glad if an APC government 

succeeds an APC, so that we can 

be sure that a lot of the good works 

that have been started will continue. 

Those that have not been finished will 

be concluded. So, no doubt about it. I will 

like an APC government. 

Nigerians craved for a change in 

By Levinus Nwabughiogu-Abuja 

nterviewing Mr. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to 

President Mohammadu Buhari always pops out sweet and sour scenarios. 

Sweet in the sense that he is always a Journalist’s delight, sour to the extent 

that he is always conscious and picky, editing his dictions on air. I have interviewed 

Adesina a couple of times since 2015 and he’s a familiar ground. I know his 

thought-processes and the thought-provoking questions to raise to elicit needed 

answers on turbulent issues for Nigerians. So, it was in that circumstance 

that we met again and had a one-on-one at the weekend on a wide range 

of political, social and economy issues. The outcome is therefore 

served for you to savour! 

•Buhari 

•Femi Adesina 

•Tinubu 

2015 and they got the change they 

wanted in President 

Muhammadu Buhari. For the first 

time, we saw an incumbent 

democratic president defeated. At 

the moment there is this craving 

by the youths and most people 

are tilting towards Peter 

Obi. Do you see Peter Obi 

winning, assuming the 

people decide? 

If it is the people that 

decide, it is democracy? It 

is democracy. One thing 

about democracy is 

that the will of the 

people will always matter. 

If on February 25, next year, what the people 

decide is that it is Peter Obi they want, so be it and 

Mr. President will ensure that whoever the people 

vote for is the one that emerges. He will not do 

anything to circumvent or to short circuit it. The 

will of the people must always prevail in a democracy. 

So, whatever is the will of the people as 

demonstrated on election day, is what must come 

to pass in my country. 

The President has also said that he will conduct 

the best election Nigerians will be proud of in 

2023. Do you think that will happen given what we 

have known in the past? 

I don’t recall that he said “best”. What he said 

was that he will conduct a free, fair and credible 

election, and that is what he will do. Almost 

everything that you need to get that kind of election 

is already in place. You have the electoral law, then, 

you have primaries that have been held and you 

have the security people in place, you have an 

INEC that is truly independent. You have a 

mobilized populace. You have people that have 

registered, we have close to about 95 million 

registered Nigerians now. So, you have all that it 

takes to have a free, fair, credible election, the 

President has created the enabling environment 

for that and he will ensure that it happens. 

There were speculations recently that INEC 

chairman might be removed? 

I am glad you said speculations. So, if it is 

speculation that is what it is. Speculations often 

don’t have any reality to it. 

But it’s often said in Nigeria there is no smoke 

without a fire. 

No, no, no. It is unlike the President. If the 

President will remove anybody, then that person 

will deserve to be removed. But, if anybody does 

not deserve to be removed, know that this President 

will not do it. 

Is the President finishing strong because he has 

a few months to go? 

He will finish strong because the things he has 

set out for himself to achieve have been achieved. 

Governance in any country of the world is a 

continuum. You will do it up to the point you can 

do it or hand it over to the next person. It is like a 

relay race, you run your beat and hand over the 

baton to the next person. What did the President 

promise to achieve? I will secure the country. Has 

he secured the country? The answer is yes. The 

country was in a far worse state than we are now, 

security wise, in 2015. In 2015, you weren’t sure 

that Nigeria would exist in the next weeks or 

months. But, here we are today. In 2015, the major 

challenge we had was insurgency. Now we have 

insurgency, we have banditry, we have cultism, we 

have militancy, we have kidnappings, all sorts of 

things. But, the President is still keeping the 

country together because the security forces are 

battling all these challenges. And, like he has said, 

he will leave a country that is much more secure 

than in 2015. That he will do. So, in terms of security, 

the President would achieve more than has been 

achieved now. Even as we speak now, we know 

that the challenges are not as stiff as they were: 

one year, two years, three years ago, things are 

getting radically improved. And, within six months, 

they can improve a lot more. So, the President has 

achieved a level of security. That is what people 

have been trumpeting to try to tarnish the image 

of his administration, but by the time he will be 

leaving, they will find out they have nothing to 

say. Now, he said he will revive the economy. Nigeria 

for more than 50 years had a mono-product 

economy —Oil. That was the only thing 

we had as foreign exchange earner. 

And, the President came and 

diversified the economy. 

The Nigerian economy is 

truly diversified today. 

That’s an 

achievement. And 

you see, GDP, 

quarter after 

q u a r t e r 

improving. It may 

not be at the 

pace and the 

rate that we 

d e s i r e 

compared to our 

population, but 

at least, it is 

positive. You 

know that all 

the world is 

challenged now 

as an aftermath 

of COVID 19. 

But, despite that 

challenge, the 

Nigerian 

economy 

continues to 

improve quarter 

after quarter. 

That shows the 

strength and 

the resiliency of 

the economy that has been built and diversified by 

the Buhari administration. So, he is not nearly as 

bad as some people want it to appear, it’s not nearly 

as bad as people want it to appear. Some countries 

have inflation over 40%. One neighboring country, 

last week, what I saw there was over 47%. So, 

Nigeria’s institution is not half as bad as some 

people want it to appear. Then, he promised that 

he will fight corruption. Look at the statistics, just 

look at the statistics. Two weekends ago, I wrote a 

piece on convictions by EFCC between 2010 and 

2015 and 2016 and 2022. 2016 to 2022, it’s nearly 

times three of what you heard. So, it shows you 

that the emphasis placed on anti anti-corruption 

Continues on page 14

Surprising rebirth of PDP 

W 

ITH 

the eye-catching nonappearance of the two former governors, Chief James Ibori, 

Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, and other leaders at the inauguration of the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, Delta State Campaign Council in Asaba, on November 

3, many thought the party, governing the state for over 23 years could not pick its 

pieces anymore. 

Every party faithful knows that Ibori and Uduaghan did not see eye to eye with the 

governor and vice-presidential candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, on the latter’s 

preference for Rt. Hon Sheriff Oborevwori, the party’s 2023 governorship 

candidate, but with the Supreme Court finally recognizing Oborevwori, 

last month, they thought their leaders should sink their differences. 

Some opposition leaders viewed the nonattendance of Ibori and 

Uduaghan, despite their invitation and ranking in the council, as a 

very strong sign that PDP was in trouble. The decision, by Ibori’s 

favored candidate, Olorogun David Edevbie, days after, to join 

Agwarionovwe Ikie, in his suit against Oborevwori, current Speaker of 

the state House of Assembly at the Federal High Court, Abuja, after 

losing at the Supreme Court to Oborevwori, was the substantiation 

they needed. 

Therefore, when Ibori’s political ally and Delta Central senatorial 

candidate, Chief Ighoyota Amori, declared, recently, at a PDP’s ward-to-ward 

campaign, attended by Oborevwori, PDP’s House of Representative candidate for 

Ethiope federal constituency, Hon. Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, who is Ibori’s daughter, 

that Ibori was not against Oborevwori’s emergence as governor, and those against 

him fired back at him. 

In fact, a former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Monday 

Igbuya, who is on Edevbie side, 

discredited Amori’s story, saying 

he contacted Ibori, who 

distanced himself from Amori’s 

claim. 

The counterclaim came as a 

shock to the party faithful, as 

Hon Ibori-Suenu, on the 

ground when Amori made the 

statement about her father did 

not counter his assertion. 

Rather, she and Oborevwori 

busied themselves pleading 

with the electorate to vote for 

Atiku/Okowa presidential ticket, 

Oborevwori for governor, Amori 

for Delta Central senatorial 

seat, and Ibori-Suenu for 

Ethiope federal constituency. 

Going for 

the broke 

Opposition strategists also 

took advantage of the Amori/ 

Igbuya face-off, but 48 hours 

later, the bubble burst, as 

Uduaghan oiled the works for 

the PDP. 

Those who know Uduaghan 

recognize that he and Ibori are 

not just brothers; he is the 

closest political associate of his 

younger cousin, who brought 

him into politics. As Ibori, 

Edevbie, Senator James 

Manager, and any other person 

felt in the power game that 

threw up Oborevwori as the 

party’s gubernatorial candidate, 

so Uduaghan. 

Indeed, his daughter, Orode 

Uduaghan, believed to have 

the capacity, lost out in the 

scramble for the party’s Warri 

North House of Assembly 

ticket, despite his father’s 

position. 

However, last Saturday, 

Uduaghan changed the game 

for PDP, Oborevwori and 

Okowa, when he put to rest the 

speculation that the Ibori 

political family would work for 

the opposition candidate in the 

state. 

Since his smash hit “we are 

behind you” declaration of 

support for Oborevwori, the 

former governor said he had not 

slept as people have been 

calling and sending him 

messages to know why he put out his finger for 

Okowa and Oborevwori. 

At a meeting of Delta South senatorial district 

leaders to herald the ward-to-ward campaign in 

the district, which he hosted, on November 12, 

at Warri, Uduaghan, for the first time since 

Oborevwori’s materialization, said: “We have a 

governorship candidate, Rt. Hon. Sheriff 

Oborevwori, and deputy governorship candidate, 

Sir Monday Onyeme. They are our own. 

He reechoed the next day, November 13, at a 

meeting of the Old Students’ Association, 

Federal Government College, Warri, and 

FEGOCOWOSA. Saturday Vanguard learned 

that Oborevwori stormed the meeting and 

actually caught Uduaghan unawares. 

The ex-governor declared: ”I am sincerely 

excited that you (Oborevwori) are here today, 

something happened on Saturday, November 

12, 2022. I said something somewhere at a 

meeting and it has been trending in social 

media. It surprised many people that I spoke like 

that. 

“That I have identified with you properly 

because they assumed I was critically against 

you. As I told them at the meeting on Saturday, 

there is no transition from a sitting governor to a 

non-sitting governor that is very easy. 

•Uduaghan 

DELTA 2023: 

Uduaghan 

breaks the ice 

•Okowa, Oborevwori grin 

as opposition re-strategises 

•Party leaders wait for Ibori; 

Edevbie under pressure 

“I have openly identified with you on Saturday 

to kill a lot of rumors. Since Saturday, I have not 

slept, I have been receiving many messages, 

why did you do that, why did you do that? 

“I did it out of my personal convictions, we are 

humans, and we have our divisions. We 

have issues everywhere, there are issues even 

from the swearing-in, when you sit on that seat 

and lead us more until then; the problem will 

continue every minute, every day. 

“But by God’s grace, you have a lot of pushing 

in absorbing every multiple problem and we are 

part of the push, we are behind you. Delta State 

will benefit a lot from your administration if 

elected Governor next year,” he said. 

Knocking off balance 

Unlike Amori, PDP and opposition 

stakeholders have not mustered the courage to 

challenge the stand of Uduaghan, a senior 

member of the Ibori political family on 

Oborevwori. 

Uduaghan has thrown the major opposition in 

the state off balance, since last Saturday, when 

he threw his weight behind Oborevwori and the 

vice presidential ticket of Okowa, as it never 


thought the bad blood among PDP leaders 

would not cease. 

With Uduaghan’s open declaration for 

Oborevwori, Okowa, and all PDP candidates, the 

party faithful is waiting for Ibori to complete the 

circus. They know that Uduaghan and Ibori 

have been discussing the problems of the party 

and wherever Uduaghan stands, Ibori will not 

deviate. 

The Ibori political family, 

in which Ibori, Uduaghan, 

Okowa, and others are key 

leaders remains intact. The 

PDP family is also in one 

piece and we have to let go 

Okowa, Oborevwori smile 

Saturday Vanguard confirmed that the 

governor, Okowa, and Oborevwori have been 

grinning since Uduaghan oiled the works for the 

party. 

A happy Oborevwori told Uduaghan at the 

FEGOCOWOSA meeting: ”My boss, it is a 

privilege and honor to be here this today. I got 

the information that the old students of the 

Federal Government College, Warri, are having a 

meeting and I came over here to greet you 

people but did not know that my boss 

and immediate past governor of 

Delta State, His Excellency, 

Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan is 

here.” 

“When I got here and saw 

his car, I was shocked and I 

am happy meeting him here, 

he is a very humble, very calm, 

and a much-focused leader. He is a 

man of little words, but full of actions 

because I worked with him when he appointed 

me as Special Adviser on Security. I thank you, 

Sir. 

“I am part of your product and if I am bad, you 

have a bad product. His Excellency, I am 

here to greet you, this is not a political rally, I 

know some will not like it, but as a Warri boy, 

I know you will like it,” he said. 

Time to forget 

the wound 

Our findings showed the way delegates 

and candidates emerged at the primaries of 

the party created a supposed “toxic 

environment”, but the with Supreme Court 

finally determining the authentic 

governorship standard-bearer, some leaders 

reasonably believe it was time to accept what 

the party has offered and move on. 

A party leader, who confided in this writer, 

said: “Yes, many people are angry for one 

reason or the other, but we cannot move 

forward by continuing to hold a meeting 

upon meeting on an issue that the solution 

is very clear.” 

“The Supreme Court had since declared 

Oborevwori as our candidate and since the 

way forward is not for us to decamp from our 

party. As party men, we have to accept the 

position of the party. Therefore, holding a 

series of meetings and procrastinating to 

embrace our party’s governorship candidate 

is dangerous. 

“Those who still insist that we should wait, 

I do not see what we are waiting for, they are 

misleading others, and the best thing is for 

us to move ahead with our candidate. On my 

own, I felt we are wasting too much time, the 

2023 elections are here, and the way forward 

is that either you are in or you are out. 

“The Ibori political family, in which Ibori, 

Uduaghan, Okowa, and others are key 

leaders remains intact. The PDP family is 

also in one piece and we have to let go. 

“The controversy we actually have is 

about Oborevwori because of the query 

raised about him. However, if you really look 

at it, some people are over dragging the 

matter; Oborevwori is more acceptable than 

other candidates in the governorship race, 

God has a way of doing things beyond 

human comprehension, and what some of us 

see in Oborevwori is his deficiency, but God 

sees his strength, therefore, we should let 

God’s will prevail,” he added. 

Many believe that Uduaghan, who spoke 

for himself, and not for Ibori, took a popular 

decision, and remembering his John, the 

Baptist role when he joined and later left 

APC, he could herald Ibori’s endorsement for 

Oborevwori. Currently, Edevbie is also under 

pressure to fully support Oborevwori. 

APC predicts electoral 

disaster for PDP 

However, APC governorship candidate and 

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie 

Omo-Agege, whose party flags off its 

governorship campaign and presidential rally, 

today, at Warri, does not think that PDP has 

what it takes to continue governing the state. 

Complaining about the closure of routes 

leading to Warri Township Stadium, Warri, the 

venue of the flagship events, the Director, 

Communications, and Media Strategy of Delta 

APC Campaign Organization, Ima Niboro, 

predicted that PDP would face electoral calamity, 

next year, 

“Faced with its dismal performance in 

governance, the Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa-led PDP 

administration has clearly seen that their misgovernance 

portends a coming electoral disaster 

at the polls, next year, and has resorted to 

wickedness, illegality, and every dubious means 

possible to thwart their inevitable route,” he 

said, but PDP spokesperson, Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza, 

debunked the allegation.


Joe Nwokedi to Soludo: 

We’re still yearning 

for Peter Obi era in 

Anambra 

By Prisca Sam-Duru 

President, Anambra State Indigenous 

Lawyers Forum, Joe Nwokedi, has 

advised Anambra State governor, 

Charles Soludo to improve on Mr Peter 

Obi’s investments that brought massive 

development to Anambra state, rather than 

describe it as ‘worth next to nothing’. 

Nwokedi who spoke during Arise TV 

interview interview, stated that as an 

Anambra State indigene who was also in 

charge of young professionals during 

Obi’s administration everyone witnessed a 

better Anambra under Obi. “We were all 

there when Peter Obi was the governor and 

when that investment was made, we were all 

aware of it. We appreciated and applauded 

it as a welcome development”, he said, 

adding that “There were also some other 

investments and we were aware that the 

governor was thinking about the future not 

just the present. You don’t just run a 

government as if everything will end up with 

you. And when others were embezzling, he 

was investing, and when others were 

engulfed in several billions of money as 

•Soludo 

debts incurred for the state, Peter Obi was 

saving money, investing and, left without a 

single debt for Anambra State; instead he 

handed money to the governor that 

succeeded him- Willie Obiano”. 

While commending the Labour Party 

•Peter Obi 

presidential candidate, Peter 

Obi for encouraging foreign investors in the 

state, Nwokedi noted that “Obi finished his 

tenure about 15 years ago and a governor 

came after him… we expected him to move 

on, we had high hopes and we supported him 

believing he would take the state to further 

heights. 

“During the time of Obiano, most 

Anambra people were not comfortable 

with his own style of leadership; we were 

still yearning for that era of Peter Obithere 

was an integrated development in 

infrastructures; roads, schools, hospitals, 

and the state’s economy. We thought that 

Soludo will re-enact that Peter Obi style 

and take Anambra to greater heights”. 

Disappointed at Soludo’s anti-Peter 

Obi comments, Nwokedi said, “When he 

began to say all these things knowing we 

are in election period, and peter obi is 

running for a presidential election...he’s 

supposed to provide support for him 

especially since he has done well. “We 

are not supporting him because he is 

from Anambra State but because I’m 

convinced that he performed”. 

He recalled that “As soon as obi came 

in as governor of Anambra, he began to 

position the state and laid a formidable 

foundation on what his predecessor did. 

“We began to witness good governance 

and he gave us peace of mind in terms of 

security. What Soludo should do is to 

improve on that not to lambast the 

investment that was made. Somebody 

made an investment and you are saying 

it’s worth next to nothing”. 

While dismissing Soludo’s position 

that Obi cannot win the election, 

Nwokedi said that Soludo is not in the 

position to determine who wins an 

election or not. “I’m sorry to say this, he 

is my governor, but he cannot determine 

who wins election or not. Elections have 

not been conducted, you don’t know the 

minds of everybody. You might use your 

old style to try to measure the outcome 

of election but the world is changing. 

People are coming out to decide 

what they want irrespective of 

religion or tribe”. 

He further stated that 

“Soludo is still engrossed in 

tribal politics and that’s 

where he’s getting it 

wrong, he has not evolved 

otherwise, he would have 

known that that structure 

he keeps referring to is no longer there. 

Peter obi is not contesting election as 

Ohaneze Ndigbo candidate but as a 

Nigerian for Nigerians”. 

Until recently, you could have been 

convinced that your key challenger is the 

APC, and maybe the APGA. Now that the 

wave of the Labour Party is growing, because of 

His Excellency, Dr Peter Obi, don’t you think this 

will automatically hinder your chances of 

winning in 2023? 

I don’t think there’s anything that will 

mitigate my chances of winning. I don’t have any 

fears. I have always known what I am bringing to 

the table for the people of Ebonyi State. Another 

thing is that today, I am contesting for 

governorship and people know about it. 

There have been reported cases of attacks, 

harassment and victimisation of opposition 

politicians in the state, allegedly by the 

Ebubeagu operatives. Don’t you think that this 

may affect the chances of the opposition in 

2023? 

On this issue of insecurity and victimisation 

of our members and the government in power, 

trying to use coercion to create fear in the polity, 

we will soon get over it. Power belongs to the 

people. Power does not belong to the ruling party. 

The good news is that today, Ebonyi people have 

grown wiser and nobody can push them around 

anymore. Ebonyi people know who they want as 

their leader. 

They have an idea of the kind of government 

they want, the kind of governor that will help 

ensure that such a government is achieved and 

sustained in the state, come 2023. You can do 

anything or use coercive tendencies or what 

have you, but the truth is that Ebonyi people are 

not scared anymore and they are equal to the 

task. By God’s grace, come May 29, 2023, God 

will give us victory. And like I said, which popular 

government in the world’s history used coercive 

tendencies on opponents or those with opposing 

views? None! 

But since these people are not popular, that is 

why they are using coercion on opposition 

politicians in the state. They are forcing people to 

follow them. It doesn’t work. If they are popular, 

they should go and market themselves before 

the people like we are doing. Once you resort to 

deploying military-like measures on the masses, 

it means you are not sure of yourself. 

I am very sure that at the appropriate time, the 

people will resist it. However, one of the things I 

have told and will continue to tell all my followers 

is that they should be calm and law-abiding 

because I believe in the rule of law and that 

2023: Why APC’s coercion 

won’t work in Ebonyi —Odii 

Says it’s time to build human infrastructure 

should always guide our actions. 

People shouldn’t take laws into their 

own hands. We will continue to 

shout and alert the international 

community to be aware of what is 

happening in Ebonyi State. 

There are categories of 

individuals in the Izzi clan, who are 

championing the emergence of a 

governor from Ebonyi North, 

particularly from Izzi. How would you 

face the uphill task of winning the 

election given clamour that 

the next governor should 

come from Ebonyi 

North? 

One of the 

things we have 

done over the 

years is the 

fact that we 

have made 

ourselves 

sellable 

before the 

masses and 

all the clans in Ebonyi State. If you follow my 

activities within the state, you will see that I 

don’t discriminate. I don’t know whether you are 

from Ebonyi North, Central, South or Izzi. 

By Peter Okutu 

he Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governorship Candidate in Ebonyi State for the 2023 

Telection, Dr Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, is a businessman, philanthropist and Chairman of 

Orient Global Group. The Onicha, Ohaozara LGA born-politician, in this interview with Vanguard 

bared his mind on the politics of Ebonyi, gains of reconciliation efforts in Ebonyi PDP, his agenda 

for the state and his chances against the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, at the poll. 

•Odii 

All I believe is that we are all 

Ebonyians and that we should have a 

common destiny in the governance of 

our state, and that God has brought us 

together for the purpose of discovering 

this destiny together and channel it 

into avenues that will benefit our 

people. 

Whether you are from Izzi or any 

other clan in the state, we are one 

people and that’s what matters to me. 

Over the years, if you go to Izzi clan, I 

have built over five houses there and 

have students who are under my 

scholarship scheme. I don’t 

discriminate. Over the 

years, I have seen the 

Izzi people as 

Ebonyians first and 

that is my 

approach to all 

other Ebonyians. 

You are 

seeking to 

succeed 

Governor Dave 

Umahi, who has obviously built roads and other 

sundry infrastructure. Why do you think Ebonyi 

people should leave him and his APC to support 

you? 

For me, I’m not saying Ebonyi people should 

abandon any person. It is about the people, the 

manifesto and what you have done. You earlier 

asked me a question concerning the records from 

the NBS and I answered. Now, today you are a 

citizen of a state that is regarded as the poorest 

in the country. What that means is even if you 

built all the roads and flyovers but have not built 

the people (human beings), you have not done 

much. 

For me, I will focus on Human Capital 

Development (building people). Like I said 

earlier, I will go into new infrastructure, the type 

that will revolve around the immediate needs of 

the people. I am not saying I won’t build roads; 

but then I will first consider the impact those 

roads have on the people. Go and check today, 

how many of our farmlands do you have good 

roads leading to them? There is none. My 

government will prioritize the immediate needs of 

Ebonyi people and then I will allow them to grow 

therewith. 

If you don’t do that, it will be a misplaced 

priority, which is where Ebonyi State is currently. 

I will focus on ensuring that our children go to 

school, I will ensure that Ebonyi State becomes a 

business haven for investors and I will ensure 

that I industrialize the State. Today, how many 

industries do we have in Ebonyi State? 

What’s the level of commercial activities in the 

state? Talking about building an airport, which I 

know is another misplaced priority, how many 

Ebonyi people travel by air to warrant building 

an airport now? Just very few. I know of a state 

that finished building an airport, but no flight has 

landed on that airport because there are no 

passengers. Why waste these resources that 

could have been judiciously channelled into 

other sectors that would have been more 

beneficial to the masses? 

I have a very robust manifesto for Ebonyi 

people and my own is that at every point in time, 

I will be having town hall meetings to let the 

people know the progress we are making and 

you will be seeing the progress on the faces of 

the people.

SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 19, 2022—13


Imo ends Monday sit-at-home, 

editors thumb up for Uzodimma 

By Chidi Nkwopara 

O——————————————— 

WERRI—There is no doubt that 

some concerned citizens have not 

easily forgotten how Imo State 

successfully played host to a number of 

groups, in the past weeks, which came in 

quick succession. 

Apart from the previous gathering of the 

Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, 

CBCN, the state, and by extension, 

Governor Hope Uzodimma, played host 

to the Nigeria Police Force. 

The security egghead’s were in Imo 

State, for a retreat in Owerri and President 

Muhammadu Buhari, personally declared 

the event open. Alongside the President 

were many eminent Nigerians and high 

government officials, including all the 

Service Chiefs. 

While the Catholic Bishops uplifted the 

people, state and government to God in 

prayers, the police not only promised to 

do more, to secure the state and the 

citizenry, but also gave the Governor, what 

they called “Award of Excellence, in 

recognition of his support to the security 

agencies and contributions to national 

security.” 

Nobody can rightly claim that this 

award is misplaced and the reason is 

simple and straight forward. Most states 

in the South East geo-political zone, 

remain comatose every Monday. Even the 

residents of their state capitals dare not 

come out on all Mondays, for fear of 

unforeseen terror perpetrated by non-state 

actors. 

This ugly narrative has since become 

history in Owerri municipality, as 

Mondays have largely become like every 

other normal working day of the week. 

Continues from page 10 

war under Buhari is far, far higher. The latitude 

given the anti graft agency is far, far stronger, 

because the president fights corruption and 

he gives the latitude to the anti-corruption 

agencies to win the war. So, all those three 

key promises the President made are 

promises made, promises kept and being 

kept. 

Let me take you on the economy. Do you 

honestly think that the common man on the 

street feels this revitalization of the 

economy? 

It could have been worse. That’s what we 

must realize. When the world was shut down 

under COVID-19. There was no money. 

There was no international movement of 

goods and services. Imagine that we didn’t 

have home grown rice, 200 million people 

locked in, no food. It was a recipe for disaster. 

But, because emphasis had been placed on 

diversifying the economy with Agric we 

survived it. The president funded Agric. So, 

we had home grown rice. See all the 

palliatives given out then, mountains of rice, 

all home grown. If we didn’t have that Nigeria 

would have been in trouble. All grains, rice, 

maize beans, we don’t import them again. 

We used to import beans from Burkina Faso. 

We don’t import any of the grains again. So, 

we should be thankful that this president 

came and decided to put his money where 

his mouth is. And, that is why today, things 

are not as bad as they could have been. Yes, 

he will be happier and he has said many 

times. He will be happier when the average 

Nigerian feels the economy more in his 

pocket. But, the projections are that for the 

average Nigerian to feel the impact of the 

economy more, the economy must grow at a 

minimum of 6% vis - a - vis our population. 

We are growing at about 2.53%. The 

projection by the IMF was that we will grow 

at 3% this year. I think it was scaled down 

later but for Nigerians to feel the impact of 

the economy in their pockets, we must grow 

at 6% minimum. We are about 2 per cent 

but we are inching up. At Least, we are not 

retrogressing, we are making progress. 

Let’s also talk about corruption. Part of 

the new measures to fight corruption, is it 

the redesigning of the naira that came up 

recently? 

Yes, as President in 1984, he came in 

December 1983, he changed the naira, the 

colour. It was a master-stroke then. This is 

also is a master-stroke because you have 

Uzodimma has recovered Mondays for 

Imo people! 

The euphoria generated by the visit of 

the Catholic Bishops and the top echelon 

of the Nigeria Police, was yet to die down, 

when the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, 

opted to hold their conference in Owerri. 

It cannot be lost on careful watchers of 

the nation’s democratic engineering that 

media practitioners, were instrumental in 

forcing the military opportunists back to 

the barrack! 

Many suffered untold hardship, 

deprivations and incarceration. Others 

even went on self exile, in their quest to 

achieve the lofty goal of returning Nigeria 

to democratic status. In all these, NGE 

remains strong gatekeepers of the nation’s 

democratic architecture and governance! 

At all times, they hold government 

accountable. 

The Editors rounded off their four-day 

conference in Owerri, last Saturday. They 

came out with a verdict that Governor 

Uzodimma has performed appreciably 

well, after three years in office! 

Before coming up with the verdict, the 

conference gave the Editors the 

opportunity to go round the state and 

assess the projects carried out by the 

administration of the day. 

At the gala night, held in the 

Banquet Hall, Government House, 

Owerri, no member of the elite group 

had any dissenting opinion about 

Uzodimma’s developmental strides in the 

state, particularly on road infrastructure. 

Worthy of note are the signature projects 

of the Owerri-Orlu, Owerri-Okigwe 

federal highways, as well as a number of 

the internal roads in Owerri metropolis. 

The icing on the cake appeared to be the 

heard stories of people bringing millions of Naira 

that have been gummed together because they 

have kept them, some in soak-away pits, some in 

water tanks, in different kinds of humid 

places that have changed the nature of the 

currency. So, I tell you that those who have 

salted away the commonwealth of this 

country will have a challenge, because I 

think that you can only deposit 50 million 

naira in a month for new accounts, and 5 

million naira in a month for old accounts. 

So, if you have a new account, if for instance, 

you have stolen 500 billion and kept it away, 

and you can only change 50 million in a 

month, you have three months before the 

whole old currency will expire. So, you can 

only do 50 million. It is a master-stroke. 

Kidnappers and criminals who have been 

collecting ransom in hundreds of millions? 

What will they do? So, it’s a good 

development. That’s why the President has 

said repeatedly that he stands by that 

policy. 

The President I know before used to be a 

friend with the talakawas but I don’t know 

now. Is he still friends with these common, 

poor people on the streets? 

He has not changed. Let him make an 

appearance in the streets of any city and 

see how the people will gravitate and flock 

around him. And you know that the man 

has not changed. 

By the time he will be exiting the 

presidency, do you think he would have 

reunited the country or disunited the 

country? 

The country is complex, very complex. 

And, I make bold to say that Nigeria had 

always been divided 

How do you mean, sir? 

Divided right from 1914 when they were 

forcefully amalgamated. This was a country 

where the people were not consulted. They 

were not asked whether they wanted to be 

one country, whether they wanted to live 

together. It was done by force. Nigeria had 

always been divided right from the 

beginning. From time to time, it can be 

worse than at other times, but this country 

had always been divided. Therefore, 

Nigerians must make up their minds, 

whether they want to be united, whether 

they want to live together, whether they 

want to be one nation under God. Nigeria 

had always been divided. Every 

administration will therefore make his best 

effort to continue to unite the country. It 

•Hope Uzodimma 

renovated Imo State House of Assembly 

Complex, which is now fitted with modern 

facilities and equipment. 

From the assessment of President of the 

NGE, Mustapha Isah, to the Fellows of 

the Guild, Dupe Gbadebo and Imani 

Amarere, the Governor is quietly changing 

the hitherto infrastructural deficit 

must be the watchword of any administration that 

comes: unity in our diversity. Dismantling the nation 

must not be an issue. And, the President has said 

many times that those of them that fought the civil 

war will not be alive and see this nation dismantled 

under them. So, how else will a man pledge his 

loyalty to a country like that. So, he has done his 

best. All other governments that come must 

continue to work on it? Unity, Cohesion is 

something Nigeria must work on because right 

from day one, Nigeria had been disunited. 

In 2015, we saw Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu 

assisting the president to become the president 

that he is today. And now, towards the expiration 

of his own tenure, the presidential candidate has 

said APC “owes me that, to support me to continue 

the legacy.” Do you think it is a pay back time for 

Mr. President? 

Mr. President wouldn’t see it as that and I don’t 

see it as that. If it was payback time, he wouldn’t 

even have allowed Asiwaju to go through the party 

primaries. Yes, there was a democratic process. So, 

if Asiwaju had emerged, how would he have helped 

him to succeed? 

How close are they? 

They have always been close, always been close. 

They worked together to forge the APC. They work 

together because the progressives realized that if 

they were going to get rid of PDP, they needed an 

alliance, they needed a merger. And so, the old 

CPC, the part of APGA, and the old Action Congress 

of Nigeria, and the old All Nigeria’s Peoples Party; 

they all came together and APC was born, and 

they were able to take power from the PDP. If they 

hadn’t done that, remember that PDP threatened 

that it would rule us for a minimum of 60 years, 

they would never have been able to get PDP out of 

power if they didn’t merge. So, it shows that they 

had been allies. 

What is there for you at the end of your service? 

Me? I want to be a farmer and then return to 

active journalism. 

Floating your own newspaper? 

No, no. I have a job waiting for me. 

Back to where you are coming from? 

Yes. I have a job there waiting for me. I tell you 

that my publisher, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, is one of 

the best publishers I have seen in the world because 

he gave me all liberty I needed as MD/Editor-in- 

Chief of The Sun to run that newspaper. As MD/ 

Editor in Chief, I had sympathy for APC. My 

publisher was in PDP. All he would tell me then 

was Femi just give me a professional paper. And 

that was what I did. I had my sympathy for APC 

and for Buhari, that you could see in my column 

associated with Imo State. 

Despite the accolades, the Editors 

however, proffered suggestions to 

Uzodimma, on some areas that need 

improvement, in the interest of the 

citizenry. 

Making his closing remarks at the gala 

night, the Governor charged the Editors 

to always verify and carry out in-depth 

investigation of stories before going to 

town with them. 

His words: “There is the urgent need to 

interrogate issues properly and find out 

why our reasoning as Nigerians, in most 

cases, have been misapplied. Democracy 

remains the best form of government and 

democracy cannot thrive without the 

media. 

“In other climes, the media always 

partner with government for the good of 

the people, and in such partnership, there 

is reciprocity. I urge the Editors to think 

about prioritizing national interest in the 

course of your duties. 

“It is regrettable the work environment 

of the Nigerian media has its own 

challenges to effective practice. Most hit 

are those working in the private media 

houses who, more often than not, are 

compelled to act against their wish. 

“Regardless of the extremely harsh 

conditions under which most journalists 

work in Nigeria,, I plead with all of them, 

to take courage, as it may not be rosy but 

there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

“It is not enough to blame the man on 

the seat of power. All should come 

together and interrogate the issues that 

are holding back the progress, peace and 

development of the Nigerian nation” 

He then pleaded with the Editors 

to always see him as a willing 

and ready partner. 

One of the highlights 

of the event, was an 

award presented by 

NGE President, 

to Governor 

H o p e 

Uzodimma 

f o r 

excellently 

hosting the 

18th All 

Nigeria 

Editors 

Conference, 

ANEC, in Owerri. 

The prime message here is that if those 

that hold the government accountable, has 

now rewarded Uzodimma for great works 

done, the implication is that it is a great 

vote of confidence on the performance of 

the Governor. 

Buhari friends with Tinubu but 2023 elections no payback time 

but in treatment of news, we were neutral. So, a 

man like that when I was coming to government 

and I wanted to resign, he said don’t resign, I will 

give leave of absence. 

So, you have been on leave? 

I have been on leave of absence. He told me 

then. He said you may get to government and you 

don’t like it or you may be in government for eight 

years and you finish and you can always come 

back. And he gave me a letter. So, I have a job 

waiting for me. I would likely return there and 

then, do some farming. 

There was a time terrorists actually threatened 

to to capture Mr. President. It made headlines. It 

was about the time Kuje prisons was bombed just 

before the President visited Katsina, his home 

State. Was he rattled in anyway by threat? 

Is Nigeria a Banana Republic? It doesn’t even 

deserve an answer because we know that it will 

never happen in this country. 

Many would think that he actually quickened 

things up to arrest insecurity and that was when 

he gave a time-line that December, insecurity would 

be put to where it belongs, finally. 

Remember, the first deadline that came was in 

2016 when the military was given a deadline to 

end Boko Haram. And, at the end of that deadline, 

it was said that they had technically degraded Boko 

Haram even though that the insurgency didn’t 

end completely. So, you can’t say it was because 

Mr. President was threatened that, then, he gave 

a deadline that, the thing should end. From the 

day he was inaugurated, remember he moved the 

command centre of the war against Boko haram to 

Maiduguri. So, it shows you that right from day 

one, he has been interested in seeing the end of 

the insecurity. 

As we go into the election season, is there 

anything you want Nigerians to know coming 

from the presidency? 

Be well enlightened, educated about who the 

candidates are and vote for the best according to 

your conscience. Don’t sell your votes. Don’t be 

violent. Just go out, cast your ballot for the person 

you want and see the will of the people prevail 

because that is what President Buhari has said. 

So, votes will count? 

They will count. They counted in Anambra. They 

counted in Ekiti, counted in Osun. All the offseason 

elections, votes had counted. Some are still 

in tribunal. When the tribunals finish their case, 

we will know where those things are going. But, 

one thing is that from all that we see, for now, votes 

counted.


2022 Warri Fashion Week, held in Warri, in Delta State 

•2022 Warri Fashion Week team at the palace of The Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III 

with Warri Chiefs 

•Soheir Kids 

•Egascross by Edith Amatotsero 

•Samson Amatotsero, Convener Warri Fashion Week. 

•Soigne Fashion by Joane


Fans and football teams 

started arriving in Qatar as 

early as Monday this 

week, as the Middle East 

country is hosting in a historic 

World Cup 2022, which begins 

tomorrow. 

More than 1.2 million fans are 

expected to visit the Gulf 

country during the 

tournament. 

Qatar, a country of less than 

three million people, was 

awarded the right 

to host the global 

3 2 - t e a m 

competition in 

2010. Since then 

the country has 

undergone many 

changes to 

prepare for the 

showpiece event. 

Stadiums 

The tournament will be played across eight 

stadiums. Qatar, the first country in the Middle 

East to host the tournament, directly employed 

more than 26,000 people to prepare the stadiums 

for the November and December games. 

Seven new stadiums have been built for the 

event. The last of the newly built venues to be 

inaugurated was Lusail Stadium, which hosted 

a match between Egyptian club team Zamalek 

and the Saudi club Al Ahli in September. 

Lusail Stadium, with a capacity of 80,000 

people, is the largest tournament venue for the 

2022 World Cup and will host the final on 

December 18, as well as matches during each 

stage of the event. 

The eighth – the 40,000-capacity Khalifa 

International Stadium – has undergone 

renovations and upgrades. 

Accommodation 

There have been concerns that the country 

may not have adequate accommodation for the 

expected influx of football fans during the 

tournament. Over the past 12 years, the 

organisers have built hotels, apartments, villas 

and infrastructure to prepare for the mega event. 

The organisers have also allowed residents to 

put their houses and rooms up for rent in an 

attempt to ease accommodation concerns. 

Fans will also be staying on cruise ships and at 

sites in the desert. At least three floating hotels 

have docked in Doha with a combined capacity 

of about 10,000 beds. 

Authorities have also said some fans will be 

able to stay in 1,000 modern tents erected on a 

man-made island 

north of Doha. 

Organisers are 

introducing more 

than 500 shuttle 

flights a day allowing 

fans to stay in cities 

in neighbouring 

countries like Dubai 

in the United Arab 

Emirates, Muscat in 

Oman, and Jeddah in 

Saudi Arabia to 

alleviate concerns 

over a potential 

accommodation 

shortage in Qatar. 

Transport 

In the run-up to 

the championship, 

Qatar invested 

Qatar ready for football’s 

World Cup 2022 : Qatar dares 

Ecuador in opening match 

The tournament will kick off with 

hosts Qatar entertaining Ecuador 

in Group A action, with the match 

scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. local time (11 

a.m. ET / 4 p.m. GMT) on November 20 in Al 

Bayt Stadium. 

It is 

tournament 

tradition that 

the host nation 

plays in the 

tournament’s 

first match. And 

when the 2022 

FIFA World Cup 

schedule was 

set back in 

April, it raised 

eyebrows when 

it did not 

In 2018, when the World Cup was hosted 

in Russia, FIFA made more than $4.6bn 

in revenue. 

FIFA pays World Cup host countries’ 

organising 

committees, prize 

money, travel and 

accommodation 

for teams and 

support staff, plus 

a legacy fund to 

help develop the 

sport in the host 

country after the 

World Cup circus 

has left town. 

The winners of 

the Qatar World 

Cup will receive 

$44m out of a 

total prize pot of 

$440m, paid by 

FIFA. 

FIFA organises its accounts in four-year 

cycles around each World Cup. For the most 

recently published 2015-18 cycle, FIFA 

flagship tournament? 

heavily in upgrading its transport network. 

The host country built a metro rail system, 

which was launched in 2019, constructed major 

highways and inaugurated a tram system in 

advance of the games. 

For holders of a Hayya card – a fan ID that 

allows ticket-holders entry into Qatar and the 

stadiums – public transport will be free between 

November 10 and December 23. 

The 2022 tournament will be geographically 

the most compact World Cup in history, with all 

eight stadiums within a 55km (34 miles) radius 

of Doha. Fans will be able to attend more than 

one game a day if they wish to. However, it has 

also added to the congestion concerns with the 

World Cup essentially taking place in one city, 

the capital Doha. 

Five of the eight FIFA World Cup stadiums 

are directly connected to the metro railway, with 

the remainder connected by a combination of 

metro and shuttle bus services. 

A fleet of 4,000 buses, including 700 electric 

vehicles, will be used to shuttle passengers 

between transport hubs and stadiums. 

According to organisers, some 50,000 

passengers a day are expected to use buses 

during the World Cup, 

Security 

Qatar is deploying tens of thousands of 

security personnel for the World Cup. It has 

signed security cooperation deals with several 

countries. 

Turkey has provided police officers and 

Pakistan has sent troops, which will operate 

under Qatari command. Several participating 

countries are also sending delegations of police. 

Last month, Qatar security forces, along with 

partners, carried out a 

five-day security exercise 

across the country. The 

drills were aimed at 

testing the readiness 

and responsiveness of 

the emergency services, 

The Peninsula daily 

reported. 

According to the 

tournament’s security 

committee, the exercises, 

dubbed Watan (which 

translates to nation in 

Arabic), involved 32,000 

government security 

personnel and 17,000 

from the private security 

sector. 

SOURCE: AL 

JAZEERA 

include a traditional inaugural match 

involving host nation Qatar. Instead, the 

schedule at the time listed Qatar playing 

the second of four matches on opening day 

on Monday, November 21, behind Senegal 

vs. 

Netherlands. 

It was only 

three months 

before the 

tournament 

kick off that 

FIFA 

announced the 

change in the 

schedule that 

ensured Qatar 

kicked off the 

tournament a 

day earlier. 

brought in $6.4bn. In 2021, a single non- 

World Cup year, FIFA took in $766m. 

Most of FIFA’s income comes from selling 

TV broadcast rights for the World Cup and 

other 

international 

tournaments. 

Of the $6.4bn 

Qatar 

World Cup 

winners to 

receive $44m 

generated in 

the last cycle, 

$4.6bn came 

from TV rights. 

Global brands 

pay FIFA for 

the right to 

advertise at the 

organisation’s 

events. The 

biggest brands 

get to partner 

with FIFA on its 

development 

and social responsibility plans, meaning they 

have a foot in the door with FIFA’s non-profit 

side, investing in the sport of football at 

international, national and grassroots levels. 

Cultural showpiec 

With the World Cup beginning tom 

been revealed about the comp 

ceremony. 

World Cup opening ceremonie 

more elaborate from Italia ’90 onwards, w 

moments, including Diana Ross’ famous 

Nelson Mandela’s message at South Afri 

FIFA and World Cup chiefs in Qatar ha 

opening ceremony at the Al Bayt Stadium 

The decision to move Qatar’s first game to 

played first, disrupted initial plans, with FIF 

•Opening ceremony 

What make 

World Cup 

Amazing things that await fans as W 

Iwas in India 12 years ago when Christian 

Fianco, an Italian who spoke many languages 

reached me for a trip to Qatar. The media 

consultant worked for Qatar Bid Committee for 

the 2022 World Cup which hired experts from 

many areas to make their bid classic. 

Qatar invited sports journalists from all over the 

world to see what they would offer the world if 

they won the right to host the World Cup in 2022. 

I told Fianco to route my ticket through 

Delhi as I was in India at the time. 

The Bid Committee had 

Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad 

al Thani as chairman and 

Hassan al Thawadi as CEO. 

There was also Nasser 

Alkhater. At Dare, Qatar 

we watched them 

repeat the presentation 

they made to world 

football governing body, FIFA. After the 

presentation on May 15, 2010, we later 

watched the Amir Cup final between Umm 

Salah and Al Ryan. Alfonso Alves Martin Junior 

volleyed home in the 82nd minute to earn Al 

Ryan a 1-0 victory. The match took place at the 

Khalifa Stadium, a beautiful sports complex 

with cooling technology. In the heat of the 

summer in Qatar, the cooling technology 

could bring the 45 degrees centigrade 

atmospheric temperature in the stadium to 

25 degrees, making it soothing for football. 

At the presentation they demonstrated how 

they would install even a better technology 

in all the stadiums for the World Cup. They 

assured that all the venues would be 

ready at least one year before the World 

Cup. They would build sports cities with 

golf, media, education and other facilities 

within them. Lusail would be 

transformed to a magnificent city with 

the stadium that would host the 

World Cup final. Al Bayt would 

host the opening match. With 

statistics showing that Qatar 

was the 16th safest place in 

the world they exuded 

confidence that with first 

class facilities and technology 

to tame nature they had a 

World Cup 2022 open 

chance to bring the World 

Cup to the Middle East for 

the first time. Rail lines would 

connect all stadiums. With 

11,586 km area the world 

would experience such a 

compact World Cup that fans 

can watch two matches in a 

day. A game ends at 4pm, for 

example, a fan can easily link 

another stadium through 

metro line for another match 

that starts at 6pm or 7pm. 

Capacity of some of the 

magnificent stadiums would 

be reduced and the parts 

donated to developing 

countries. There were 

other lofty 

befitting ca 

“If this w 

FIFA the W 

Foussena D 

journalists 

presentatio 

2010 Qatar 

World Cup 

Japan and 

country ha 

focused on 

they were b 

conditions 

far reachin 

soared as th 

envy in thi 

President, G

ing ceremony: 

e awaits fans 

orrow in Qatar, details have schedule in August. 

etition’s upcoming opening Despite the alterations, FIFA have revealed the start 

time for the opening ceremony, which is due to begin two 

s have become significantly hours before kickoff between Qatar and Ecuador. 

ith some iconic and unusual With the shift of the tournament’s opening match to 

penalty miss at USA ’94 and Sunday(tomorrow), the opening ceremony has also moved 

ca 2010. 

a day earlier, set to take place in the immediate run-up to 

ve outlined there will be an the Qatar vs. Ecuador inaugural match. 

, despite some late changes. The ceremony is expected to feature the tournament’s 

November 20, to ensure they official anthem, songs from the soundtrack, and the mascot 

A only confirming the revised of the 2022 World Cup. 


The official FIFA World Cup soundtrack released its first 

single in April 2022, a song titled Hayya Hayya (Better 

Together) by American recording artist Trinidad Cardona 

alongside Nigerian singer Davido and Qatari singer 

AISHA. Lil Baby also has a single on the soundtrack with 

more expected. 

Meanwhile, the official World Cup mascot was revealed 

to be La’eeb at the World Cup Draw in April 2022. “La’eeb” 

is an Arabic word meaning super-skilled player. 

South Korea’s BTS confirmed on social media that 

Jungkook, one of seven members of the boy band, 

will perform at the ceremony, however speculation 

in recent days has focused more on famous 

names who will not be in Qatar. 

Former Take That star 

Robbie Williams i s 

performing at 

other World 

•Di Maria 

Cup events 

•Messi 

in Qatar, and 

could be 

involved, 

•Jungkook 

deas that would make 2022 a 

rnival. 

as the presentation they made to 

orld Cup is coming here,” I said to 

jagba, the leader of African 

who sat beside me during the 

n. It was prophetic. On December 2, 

was announced hosts of the 2022 

, beating the likes of USA, Australia, 

South Korea. The Middle East 

s not rested since then. While they 

delivering the best World Cup ever, 

eing jabbed over labour laws and 

of migrant workers. They carried out 

reforms but the criticisms even 

e ‘D’ day approached. Many read 

s and lent their support. Even FIFA 

ianni Infantino, at a time pleaded 

•Davido 

different! 

orld Cup begins tomorrow 

that football should be the focus. 

Before the recent upsurge in 

attacks was unprecedented 

energy by the Qatari people to 

wow the world during the 

games. 

“There’s no year you come 

here you don’t see 

significant transformation, 

there’s always an addition, 

some huge change from 

your last visit, it’s 

unbelievable” football 

legend, Ruud Gullit said of 

Qatar. And when the World 

Cup kicks off tomorrow at the Al 

Bayt Stadium with host country, 

•Robbie Williams 

s Qatar 2022 

Qatar taking on Ecuador in the opening match, amazing 

things await the fans and players. If you have flown into 

Qatar, the only time you’ll board a plane again is when 

you’re leaving Qatar. For all the matches, you go to the 

venues by road or metro. You need not fly to different 

venues as you did in the other World Cups. That’s the first 

unique thing about Qatar 2022. You need not change hotel 

throughout the duration of the games. You link all venues 

from your hotel. That’s another special thing. Your match 

ticket gives you the authority to bring in another fan who 

doesn’t have entry permit that the tickets grants you. That’s 

unique. The fan zones are amazing. There are plans to make 

them as entertaining as the stadium atmosphere. There will 

be trips to the deserts for Safari rides, a taste of Arabian 

hospitality. There will be cultural displays and music shows 

at fan zones and inside the stadiums on match days. Our 

own Davido is billed to play in the opening ceremony. 

Together with Aisha and Trinidad Cardona he composed 

HAYYA HAYYA (Better Together), the theme song of the 

2022 World Cup. It’s a moving soundtrack that would spur 

everybody into action. It’s so danceable you’re bound to 

gyrate. The compactness of the 2022 event makes it a 

unique World Cup. 

When we arrived Qatar in 2010, their slogan was EXPECT 

AMAZING. It was everywhere – banners, souvenirs etc. 

Their message to the World was to expect amazing things if 

they won the bid. They did and the slogan changed to 

DELIVER AMAZING. They vowed to deliver amazing World 

Cup. They have gone on to deliver some of the best facilities 

the world would ever see at the World Cup venues. The 

Qatar 2022 World Cup promises to be an amazing 

spectacle for the players and fans. And 

when in an interview with visiting 

journalists I told Hassan Al 

Thawadi, the head of the Supreme 

Committee for Delivery and 

Legacy if the slogan could, again, 

change to EXPEREINCE 

AMAZING during the World 

Cup he smiled and said ‘’you 

can take that to the bank”. 

And as the 2022 World 

Cup begins tomorrow, 

the world is in for 

amazing spectacle 

from the 

stadiums to the 

fan zones, to 

the hotels 

and streets 

of Qatar. 

Football 

takes centre 

stage ahead of the 

controversies on labour rights 

etc. Qatar has spent over 

$5billion on infrastructure 

alone. That’s comfortable for a 

country that earns billions 

from gas supplies. And the 

world may be bound to 

appreciate their capacity and 

tag 2022 World Cup the 

BEST EVER. EXPERIENCE 

AMAZING1 

Messi is ‘like an 

alien’ —Di Maria 

A 

ngel Di Maria has praised Lionel Messi saying that 

playing with him is the ‘best thing’ that has happened 

in his career - but that the responsibility does not always 

need to be handed to the Paris Saint Germain star. 

Messi, likely competing in his fifth and final World Cup, 

carries the hopes of a nation on his shoulders as him and 

his Argentine team-mates embark on a journey to win 

their first crown since the Diego Maradona-led triumph in 

1986. 

Speaking to La Nacion just days out from the start of 

the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Di Maria said Messi was 

‘like an alien’ but that others also had to step up to the 

plate. 

“For me, being by Leo’s side is everything. He’s the best 

in the world, an alien, and I won’t get tired of saying it,’ he 

said. ‘And I’ll say it again: playing with Leo is the best 

thing that happened to me in my career. 

‘We have spent many years together in the national 

team and I was even able to play in the same team with 

him, because seeing him every day is much nicer. 

‘I always try to connect with him, look for him, but also 

understanding that, although he can solve the play, you 

don’t always have to give it to him. Or you have to think 

about when it should be given.” 

Di Maria will be competing in his fourth - and like 

Messi, likely his last - World Cup having been part of 

every Argentina squad since 2010. 

The Juventus wide-player has performed admirably at 

the last two editions, playing a key role in the country’s 

run to the final in 2014 and briefly dragging them from the 

mire against France with a wonder-strike in Russia four 

years ago. 

The oldest 

player at 

World Cup 

2022 in 

Qatar 

The goalkeeper of the Mexico national team, 

Alfredo Talavera, is the oldest player who is likely 

to participate in the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Across all 

the squads, he was born before the likes of Pepe from 

Portugal, by a single year and Dani Alves from Brazil. 

Veteran players at Qatar 2022 

There are a number of legends of the Beautiful Game 

making the trip, in what is (surely) going to be their last 

FIFA showpiece tournament. Brazilian Thiago Silva, who 

has 38 years behind him, and there is also Cristiano Ronaldo 

and Luka Modric (former teammates at Real Madrid), as 

well as the América goalkeeper, Guillermo Ochoa. 

Ochoa and Ronaldo will play in their fifth World Cup in 

Qatar 2022, while Alves will feature for the third time after 

participating in 2010 and 2014, but being left out of the 

squad for Russia 2018. 

Below is a list of the oldest players to have been named in 

the 831 across the national team squads. Who is most likely 

to make the headlines? (Spoiler: of course, it’s him!) 

Alfredo Talavera - Mexico - Juárez - 40 

Atiba Hutchinson - Canada - Besiktas - 39 

Pepe - Portugal - Porto - 39 

Eiji Kashima - Japan - Strasbourg - 39 

Dani Alves - Brazil - Pumas - 39 

Remko Pasveer - Netherlands - Ajax - 39 

Aymen Mathlouthi - Tunisia - Etoile Sahel - 38 

Thiago Silva - Brazil - Chelsea - 38 

Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal - Man Utd - 37 

Danny Vukovic - Australia - Mariners - 37 

Steve Mandanda - France - Rennes - 37 

Guillermo Ochoa - Mexico - América - 37 

Bryan Ruiz - Costa Rica - Alajuelense - 37 

Luka Modric - Croatia - Real Madrid – 37

18—Vanguard, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2022 

08111813022 

•Femi Kuti 

How Akinwale Awatt emerged winner 

of Naija Highlandah champion 

Akinwale Awatt last weekend conquered 

every obstacle, earned his kilt, and the 

bragging rights as the first-ever Naija 

Highlandah champion, earning a trip to Scotland 

and a cash award of N2 million. The hunt by 

William Lawson for this coveted role began on 

October 6 and culminated on November 12 with 

the ultimate battle held at The Stables, Union 

Bank Sports Ground, Bode Thomas, Surulere, 

Lagos. 

Fifteen contestants, made up of 13 males and 

two females proved their grit, heart, and wit, 

competing in tough challenges for the top spot 

during the competition held across Lagos State. 

William Lawson’s, the classic blend of 

empowering and daring scotch whisky, was 

looking for the most brave, bold, and humorous 

person to represent the iconic Highlander this 

year. 

Congratulating the 

winner, Lerato Makume, 

Bacardi Marketing Manager 

in Nigeria, said “We are proud 

of Awatt and are pleased to 

have him on board to be the 

first Naija Highlandah for 

William Lawson’s. Awatt 

embodies the qualities of 

William Lawson’s of bucking 

convention, setting your own 

rules, and being daringly 

different. Our customers 

enjoyed The Naija 

Highlandah Challenge, and 

we will surely be back.” 

William Lawson’s gave 

Nigerians of legal drinking 

age exposure to the campaign 

at various outlets where they 

participated in exciting 

challenges for a chance to be 

one of the finalists to compete 

in the finale. The brave 

finalists who made the cut 

showed they were up for even 

more challenges, showing up 

at The Stables for their final 

opportunity to stand out from 

the rest and be named the 

ultimate Naija Highlandah. Guests who came 

in their numbers and were entertained by star 

What I suffered growing 

up as Fela’s son —Femi Kuti 

attractions, including the ‘Gongo Aso’ crooner, 

9ice, Orezi, ARB Band, and many more. 

The victor proved to be Nigeria’s most 

unorthodox and fearless person by defying 

expectations, overcoming obstacles, and defeating 

his/her competitors. The Naija Highlandah was 

determined by various challenges, including 

good-humoured ones, such as Spin The Bottle, 

Animal Imitation and Balloon Games. There 

were also bold challenges, including the walka-plank 

game involving men on high heels 

who are timed and needed to walk briskly on 

raised thin planks. 

The two unconventional challenges were 

the ‘Kaku Meter’, where contestants must 

guess the length of the bar counter – 

measured according to the length of a 

horizontally laid William Lawson’s bottle and 

‘Pull No Spill’, where 

each person is allocated 

a William Lawson’s 

branded cup filled to the 

brim. Using tissue 

from a toilet roll, they 

must pull the glass 

toward themselves 

without wetting the 

tissue. The wetter it 

gets, the more likely it is to 

tear. Contestants were 

judged on who gets the cup 

closest to them in 30 

seconds. Awatt who hails 

from Lagos state is an 

entrepreneur, a talent 

manager and currently 

studying Economics at 

the National Open 

University (NOUN). 

Speaking after his 

victory, Awatt said, “I 

want to thank William 

Lawson for giving me the 

chance to compete and take 

home the Naija Highlandah 

trophy. It has motivated 

many Nigerians, including 

myself, to come out in big 

numbers and to be their 

fearless selves. I am thrilled to be a part of it and 

looking forward to the trip to Scotland.” 

*Says: “My son was the only thing 

that mattered to me at a time’’ 

F 

emi Kuti, the eldest son of 

legendary Afrobeat pioneer, Fela 

Anikulapo-Kuti, has relived 

memories of how people hated 

him while growing up because of the 

fact that he was Fela’s son. 

Femi made this revelation, while 

featuring in this week’s episode of 

#WithChude. He also talked about 

being a single father, the loss of his 

parents, and the impact it had on 

his life. 

Recalling what he experienced as 

Fela’s son, while growing up, Femi 

said “people didn’t like me because I 

was Fela’s son. Schooling was a 

very depressing time for me 

because there were some teachers 

who liked my father,while many 

others didn’t like him. So, if I got into 

trouble with a teacher that didn’t 

like him, that teacher would beat me 

mercilessly because they didn’t like my 

father. Then there were the rich children in 

the same school who didn’t like me because I was 

Fela’s son. So, I was fighting for most of my time in 

school,” Femi recalled. 

Another sad experience he had while growing up 

according to him was that his father was always 

beating him as a child. 

Femi also shared about dealing with grief after the 

death of his loved ones, especially his mother. “I’ve 

also experienced death. The passing of my mother 

was probably the worst time because my mother 

was like my pillar, and when she died, I was lost. 

Till about three or four years ago I would still wake 

up wanting to go and say good morning to her hold 

on’! Fela had just gone, my sister had gone, my cousin 

had gone. Some people predicted that 12 of us will die, 

and I was thinking, is this prediction going to come 

through? Then we had our internal family problems, 

my wife went, and then they said, ‘Femi is going mad’. 

But I am thankful that I overcame it, I think it is what 

has made me a better person.” 

On his relationship with his son, the Afrobeat 

singer said “When I was bringing my son up, he was 

all that mattered to me. I had lost my mother, my 

wife had left, and he was my joy. Fela had gone, and 

the only thing I had to hold on to was him. He also 

reminded me so much of my youth, people had 

thought that because we were Fela’s children, it was 

so nice. So, I just said, where do I think Fela went 

wrong in my life? Where I think he went wrong, I’ll 

correct it with my son, and where I think he was 

right, I will emphasize it and bring him up to 

understand that I am still not a perfect father.” 

Continuing, he added: “When he was growing up, 

we spent six years in the shrine because they were 

sending thugs and police men to raid the place. So, 

the only way to stop that was to move into the 

shrine. I put all my adopted children and my son 

upstairs and then, somebody came to me and said, 

what if they kill your son? So, I thought it was a 

political message because I was very political at that 

time. Social media wasn’t as it is today. So, people 

would raid, police would also raid the shrine. Nobody 

would talk, and the press was against me for 

whatever reason they had against me. All I had was 

my son, my elder sister, and her daughter. But my 

son was closer because he is my son. So, I molded him 

and gave him all the opportunities I didn’t have 

musically and otherwise. So, everybody thought I 

was bringing him up as a spoiled child and people 

would say I was spoiling him. I would reply: ‘He’s like 

a flower; I’m giving him sunlight, and watering 

him.” 

Iyabo Ojo 

crushes over 

her new 

found love 

Controversial actress Iyabo Ojo is 

currently in a happy 

mood after several years of 

indulging in hide and seek game. The 

actress days back hinted about falling 

in love again, when she credited her 

mystery lover for her glowing skin and 

happiness. 

In an Instagram post, Ojo revealed that 

she has finally been captured by an Igbo 

man. 

“Thanks Obim for loving me so much and 

lifting my spirit…. Chai this Yoruba girl’s 

heart has finally been captured by an Igbo 

man,” she wrote on IG. 

In another post, the screen diva 

reminisced on the gains of love. 

According to her, “to love is nothing, to 

be loved is something. But to love and to be 

loved by the one you love, that is 

everything.” 

She said that “if this is lacking in your 

relationship or marriage then you are 

dating yourself or married to yourself. I 

want everything or nothing”. 

Recall that the mother of two, hinted at 

being in a relationship during Season 1 of 

Real Housewives of Lagos reality show.

SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 19, 2022—19

20—Vanguard, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2022 

By Juliet Ebirim 

0813 789 7935 

Osinbajo thrills, shines 

light on Afrobeats 

It was indeed a pleasant experience at the World 

Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) conference which 

held in Lagos during the week, as Vice-President 

Yemi Osinbajo sang and danced to Afrobeats star, 

Kizz Daniel’s 2022 hit, ‘Buga’. 

Prof. Osinbajo, who represented President Buhari 

at the event, spoke on the theme, ‘Linking Tourism, 

Culture and Creative Industries: Pathways to 

Recovery and Improving Development’. He noted 

that cultural genres, including arts, music, crafts, 

dances, and cultural festivals cut across culture 

and language. 

“Music, for example, as we all know, is a global 

language. Even though people don’t know the 

meaning of the words of a song, they enjoy the 

rhythm... you don’t need to understand the words 

of any song to enjoy it and to be able to sing it. 

Osinbajo then started singing ‘Buga,’ which 

drew cheers from the audience. “The phrase 

‘buga won’ is a Yoruba expression. It means 

‘flaunt your hard-won success, take the fruit of 

your work. Take the opportunity, show off your 

successes.’ Don’t sit down there thinking ‘my 

success is too small.’ Feel it, show it off. 

Many people all over the world are squaring 

up their shoulders and saying, ‘It doesn’t matter 

how hard it seems or looks, I must show off my 

own success, no matter how little it may seem to 

others. It may seem to you that it’s small but I’m 

just going to buga won anyway’” he reiterated. 

Professor Osinbajo also highlighted popular 

songs by Nigerian Grammy award winner, 

Burna Boy and rave of the moment, Asake 

among others. 

•Vice president Prof. 

Yemi Osinbajo 

Shahida Sanusi 

blows hot 

hahida Sanusi, daughter of former 

SCentral Bank governor and 14th Emir 

of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has taken 

a swipe at men who destroy their wives’ 

self esteem and isolate them from 

people. 

The beautiful mother of three stated 

this on her Instagram story during the 

week, while commenting on a post 

about a woman being treated badly by 

her husband. 

“Husbands that destroy their wives’ 

esteem. Keep them down so they can step 

on them. Subhanallah. May Allah protect 

us from such monsters. They will isolate 

you from everyone and make you 

feel you can’t live without 

them...Infact they feel they are 

doing you a favour by staying 

with you abi?” 

Radically brilliant and 

brave, Shahida predicted 

her 

father’s 

dethronement as Emir 

of Kano, a prediction 

•Shahida Sanusi 

which eventually 

came to pass. 

Garlands for 

Folorunsho Alakija 

illionaire businesswoman and philanthropist, 

B Apostle Folorunsho Alakija has bagged an honorary 

doctorate degree from Chrisland University, Abeokuta, 

Ogun State. 

She was honoured with a Doctor of Science in 

Business Administration during the 4th 

convocation of the university in recognition 

of her outstanding achievements and 

contributions to business, entrepreneurship 

and public service, among others. 

While receiving the award, Alakija 

thanked the management for counting 

her worthy of honour. She praised the 

university management for positively 

bringing to life the dream of 

impacting the education sector 

from kindergarten to the tertiary 

level. 

“I sincerely thank the board 

of trustees, the governing 

council and staff of the 

school for this honorary 

degree. I will always 

try my best in 

whichever way I can 

to give my support to 

the development of 

the university.” she 

said. 

•Apostle 

Folorunsho Alakija 

Onyibe, Attah, others attend 

Trump’s daughter’s wedding 

•Donald Trump 

and Magnus Onyibe 

iffany Trump, daughter of former 

T American President, Donald Trump, tied 

the knot with her fiance, Michael Boulos at 

Trump’s private estate, Palm Beach, Mar-a- 

Lago, Florida, last weekend. 

Quite a handful of Nigerians were in 

•Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro's 

daughter, Abidemi and her 

beau, Adebayo 

attendance to honour the newlyweds 

including Magnus Onyibe, a public 

policy analyst and columnist. Other 

Nigerians sighted at the lavish 

ceremony were Tony Attah, a former 

MD/CEO of Nigeria Liquified Natural 

Gas and his wife, Lady Oma; Lagos 

lawyer and socialite, Jide Coker and 

his wife Sola, daughter of late auto 

magnate, Chief Sunny Asemota of 

Sunny Motors and Omoregie Motors. 

Music producer, Cobhams Asuquo 

and clergyman, Pastor Paul 

Adefarasin and his wife, Ifeanyi. 

Tiffany and Michael made their 

romance official in January 2019. The 

duo met at Lindsay Lohan’s club in 

Mykonos, Greece, in the summer of 

2018. In January 2021, Tiffany 

announced that she and Michael were 

engaged. 

Michael, on his part, was raised in 

Lagos and is a naturalised Nigerian, 

though of Lebanese and French 

descent. He is the son of Massad, the 

Chief Executive Officer of SCOA 

Nigeria, and his mother Sarah is the 

founder of the Society for the 

Performing Arts in Nigeria. 

Boulus has been the associate 

director of SCOA Nigeria since 2016; 

the director of Fadoul Group since 

2019; and the business development 

manager of Royalton Investment since 

2019. 

Senator Obanikoro’s 

daughter weds beau 

Senator Musiliu 

Obanikoro, the 

former Minister of 

State for Defence and 

his beautiful wife, 

Alhaja Moroophat 

Obanikoro, celebrated 

their daughter, 

Abidemi’s wedding to 

Adebayo Falana last 

week. The colourful 

event took place at the 

Monarch Event Centre 

in Victoria Island, 

Lagos. 

The politician spared 

no cost towards 

making the wedding 

memorable. Dignitaries 

from all walks of life were in 

attendance. Gbenga 

Adeyinka was a worthy 

compere who ensured that 

guests were treated to ribcracking 

jokes, while Funke 

Bucknor of Zapphaire event 

coordinated the ceremony 

seamlessly. 

The beautiful bride 

Abidemi, is the first 

daughter of Obanikoro, she 

holds a Masters degree in 

Marine and Maritime Law 

(Shipping Law) from 

Cardiff University in the 

United Kingdom.

Bandits now in full force in 

South West, turn the heat on 

Lagos - Ibadan expressway 

By Evelyn Usman 

Vanguard columnist, Dr Ugoji 

Egbujo, in his column last 

Saturday, November 12 2022 

wrote: 

“The Lagos Ibadan corridor is 

infested with bandits. The menace is 

growing. In the last week, three or 

more brazen attacks have occurred. 

Gunmen jumped out of the bush, 

attacked and abducted hapless 

citizens. Mothers and children were 

among those seized in daylight. That 

was how the Abuja-Kaduna cancer 

started like a joke. And before the 

federal government rose from 

slumber, our travelling soldiers had 

started avoiding the route”. 

The bandits are now in the forests of 

the South West in their large numbers, 

kidnapping for ransom, killing and 

destroying. They have turned the heat 

on the South West region. 

Last week, sporadic gunshots from 

suspected kidnappers who were clad 

in military camouflage jostled 

motorists plying the Lagos-Ibadan 

expressway, leaving many passengers 

with gun shot wounds. 

Though that was not the first time 

motorists along that axis have been 

attacked, it was the first time such 

brazen conduct would be made, an 

indication that validates earlier report 

of terrorists’ presence in the South 

West region and Lagos in particular. 

Days before the attack, precisely on 

Friday October 28, 2022, same 

scenario occurred on the same 

expressway, where some travellers 

were kidnapped. 

A policeman lost his life while 

another was injured during a rescue 

operation of the abducted travelers. 

One of the freed passengers, 

Aminat Taiwo, whose father 

reportedly paid N3.2 million ransom 

for her release and her companion, 

Tobi Orekoya, disclosed that their 

captors killed others whose relatives 

could not pay ransom for their 

release. 

How it started 

There have been repeated cases of 

kidnapping and robbery on this 127.6 

kilometre-long Nigeria’s oldest road 

that was commissioned in 1978. 

Besides connecting Ibadan, the 

Oyo State capital and Lagos 

State, the expressway is also 

considered as the busiest interstate 

road and a major connecting 

route to the northern, southern 

and eastern parts of the country, 

as well as one of the largest road 

networks in Africa. 

Crime on this expressway 

started with activities of 

marauders who vandalised 

broken down vehicles abandoned 

by their owners. It later 

degenerated into full time attack 

of owners of these vehicles. 

New dimension 

A new dimension was however, 

introduced by herdsmen who 

come out of the bush at night to 

kidnap helpless, defenceless and 

stranded owners of broken down 

vehicles, at the Long Bridge end 

of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, 

between Ifo and Obafemi Owode 

local government areas of 

Ogun State. 

Herders who 

live under this sixkilometer 

bridge, would 

kidnap 

stranded 

victims 

on the 

bridge, 

t a k e 

them to 

t h e i r 

enclaves 

under the 

b r i d g e 

which link 

the forests, 

from where they 

contact victims’ 

relatives for 

ransom. 

Sometime ago when 

Saturday Vanguard went to 

the bandits’ enclaves under 

the bridge in 

company of 

security 

agents we 

w e r e 

greeted by 

offensive 

stench, 

apparently 

f r o m 

decomposing 

bodies of victims who died either from 

injuries inflicted on them by their captors 

or out of shock and exhaustion from the 

long walk into the forest. 

In a bid to achieve their deadly aim, these 

kidnappers would throw dangerous 

sharp objects on the Long bridge, 

especially at night, to puncture vehicles’ 

tyres. 

Some motorists who are aware of this 

trick would keep moving with punctured 

tyres until they get to safe zones. 

Unfortunately, others who are unaware of 

the trick, end up becoming preys when 

they stop to fix their vehicles. 

One of their victims was Brigadier 

General Sylvester Iruh (rtd). He was on 

his way to Lagos when his vehicle had a 

burst tyre on the Long bridge on July 7, 

2012. 

He had barely stopped to repair it 

when some fierce looking and arms 

wielding marauders launched an attack 

on him that claimed his life. This 

happened three years after he retired from 

the military. 

On that same day, a 

commercial motorcyclist 

had one of his ears 

chopped off by these 

herders, in an 

After much plea, 

they collected 

N500,000 and 

dropped me off at 

the early hours of 

the next day on 

the Long bridge 

attempt to 

snatch his 

motorbike. 

W h i l e 

lamenting the 

impact of his 

death on his 

family, the 

General’s 

w i d o w 

appealed to 

the Federal 

Government 

to address 

the state of 

insecurity on 

that axis. 

Unfortunately, 

ten years down 

the lane, one can 

not boldly declare 

that her prayers 

have been answered 

A cab driver, Ad e 

Ahmed who also stopped 

on the bridge on March 5, 

2022, to effect repairs on his 

vehicle shared his ordeal in the 

hands of these herders. 

According to him, “I was heading to 

Berger bus stop with four passengers when 

my vehicle broke down on the Long bridge. 

That was before 6am. 


Immediately I alighted to check what 

the problem was, some herdsmen came 

out from nowhere. One of the passengers 

managed to escape. In my confused state, 

I jumped down from the bridge in a bid to 

escape, only to discover that I landed right 

in their cave. 

I was seriously beaten and led to the 

forest from where they demanded N50 

million ransom, threathening to kill me 

if they did not get the money. 

“After much plea, they collected 

N500,000 and dropped me off at 

the early hours of the next day on 

the Long bridge”. 

There was also another case of a 

kidnapped victim from Warewa 

community who paid an 

undisclosed ransom to herders 

before he was released. 

While many lived to share their 

experiences, others never did as 

they were neither found nor heard 

of till date. 

Spreads to Lagos 

There is at present anxiety in 

Lagos State owing to the spread of 

these criminal acts into the 

metropolitan state. 

Although it has not been 

narrowed down to any particular 

sect, but there have been pockets 

of kidnap in the Epe area of Lagos. 

Some of these kidnappers as 

gathered, have hideouts where they 

keep victims hostage in Epe, for as 

long as they get ransom from their 

relatives. 

Investigation also revealed that 

some farmers kidnapped in 

Ikorodu and other kidnapped 

victims from different parts of 

Lagos were kept in their hideouts 

in Epe. 

Challenges 

Bushes on both sides of the 

Lagos-Ibadan expressway serve 

as coverings for these 

kidnappers who pretend to be 

feeding their cows with the 

grasses. 

In a bid to address the 

incessant attacks on the Long 

Bridge in particular, 

authorities released an 

adjoining dam and filled under 

the bridge with flowing water. 

That measure went a long way 

to discourage herders and other 

criminal elements from 

gathering under the bridge. But, 

for unknown reasons, water 

stopped flowing under the bridge and they 

came back in full force, apparently to 

make up for the period they were starved. 

Also the long stretch of the expressway 

is not lit, to assist motorists have clearer 

vision of the road particularly at night. 

Besides, the gridlock caused by the 

lingering ongoing construction work on 

this expressway has further escalated 

robbery operations as motorists who are 

trapped between three to six hours on a 

spot, are left at the mercy of robbers. 

Again , Saturday Vanguard observed 

that there are no constant patrols of this 

long stretch expressway by security 

agencies in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states, 

especially at night. 

Investigation revealed that though a 

joint patrol by the Lagos /Ogun and Ogun/ 

Oyo Police Commands have been 

instituted, but their presence is rarely felt 

even in the day time due to inadequate 

logistics. 

The Assistant Inspector -General of 

Police in-charge of zone 2, AIG Adeleke 

Adeyinka recently directed the 

Commissioner of Police in charge of Lagos 

and Ogun States Commands to ensure 

constant patrol of the Long bridge as well 

as adjourning areas indicated as flash 

points. 

Army declares 

war on kidnappers 

Recently, the Nigerian Army declared 

war on bandits, militants, kidnappers and 

criminal acts, with the flag off of Exercise 

Still Water in Lagos and Ogun states. 

The Commanding Officer, 81 Division, 

Major General Ajunwa highlighted 

objectives of the exercise to include: 

reducing to the barest minimum the 

prevailing security threats in riverine 

environment such as piracy, illegal oil 

bunkering activities, pipeline vandalism, 

cultism, militancy, terrorism and other 

common sundry crimes. 

According to Dr Egbujo, 

”The police say they have beefed up 

their presence on that route. But the 

audacity of the kidnappers is challenging. 

The demons had the guts to repeat the 

attacks at nearly the exact location three 

times in a week”. 

Nigerians , especially those plying the 

Lagos-Ibadan expressway and those living 

in communities close to the expressway 

therefore hope that measures will be put 

in place to flush out kidnappers and 

bandits from this route before they enter 

Lagos State unhindered.


It is no longer news that some 

Nigerians, especially youngsters 

and professionals, are leaving in 

droves. I said it a few weeks ago that the 

world is a global village and everybody 

has the right to decide where he wants to 

live. As I said in the article on Japa 

(relocating from Nigeria), you must have 

a plan, the right papers, and you must 

go through the legal routes. Without 

these, you might be planning for a worse 

experience than you are fleeing from. We 

know that for some years now, many 

Nigerian youths have been trying to get 

into Europe via Libya. They start this 

perilous journey by being packed like 

sardines into vehicles. These Nigerians 

start dying in Nigeria due to suffocation 

as a result of overloading of the vehicles. 

The number of casualties increases 

once they cross into Niger Republic. 

They die due to the desert heat, 

dehydration, starvation and gunshots 

from armed bandits in the desert. They 

go through unimaginable treatment. 

They drink their own urine or beg for 

urine of other migrants to drink to 

quench their thirst once their water 

finishes. The menstruating women 

squeeze their pads and drink their 

menses to quench their thirst. Reports 

from migrants inform us that there is a 

well in the Sahara Desert where dead 

bodies are dumped. These migrants fetch 

water from the well with dead bodies to 

drink. But all these are child’s play. Their is tough right now and there 

woes multiply once they get into Libya. is insecurity, but it is nothing 

According to them, the Libyans see close to what the migrants 

blacks as subhuman. They are beaten go through in this mindless 

and maltreated. The extortion is journey. The insecurity on 

massive, some of the migrants who the Libyan route once you 

cannot pay are sold as slaves and leave Nigeria and the 

commodities while some of the women hardship the migrants go 

are forced into prostitution. According through are unimaginable. 

to some Nigerian Libyan returnees, as Before you embark on a 

many as 20 per cent of the people who journey, you should do some 

started the journey with them never get research and ask questions 

to Libya or die in Libya. 

to enable you prepare 

A large part of Libya is currently a adequately. Apparently they 

lawless with the death of their former do not. How can you embark 

supreme leader, Col. Muammar on a journey through the 

Gadhafi. If America had known that Sahara Desert without basic 

Gadhafi was keeping so many mad things like water to drink and 

people in check, they would probably clothing to protect you from 

have let him be. The instability in Libya the element of the weather? 

has spread to West Africa. The insecurity 

Japa via Libyan route 

currently plaguing Nigeria has a lot to 

do with the collapse of Libya. It worsened 

the proliferation of illegal arms in 

Nigeria. 

The last and major hurdle that migrants 

face is crossing the Mediterranean Sea 

to get to Europe. Over 20,000 migrants 

have perished in that sea over the last 10 

years. They embarked on that perilous 

journey mainly from West Africa, Central 

Africa, East Africa and Asia. Sometimes 

as many as 300 migrants can perish in a 

single boat mishap. Not 

surprising, many of the 

victims are Nigerians. And 

some people are saying they 

are fleeing from the 

hardship in Nigeria. Nigeria 

I have been listening to the tales of woes 

from the returnees. Sometimes, you want 

to slap them. According to one of them, 

he was a sales boy who “served” (worked 

for) his master for an agreed number of 

years. When he was done with his 

apprenticeship, the master settled him 

with N5m. That was a lot of money then. 

Even as at today, if some youngsters get 

N5m, they can start a small business and 

grow gradually. He not only had N5m, 

he had the knowledge necessary to 

succeed in that field of business. But, when 

his friends told him about the Eldorado 

in Europe, greed took 

over. Why not grow 

his wealth gradually 

over time like 

building a house one 

block at a time. But 

The last and major 

hurdle that migrants 

face is crossing the 

Mediterranean Sea to 

get to Europe. Over 

20,000 migrants have 

perished in that sea 

over the last 10 years. 

They embarked on that 

perilous journey mainly 

from West Africa, Central 

Africa, East Africa and 

Asia 

his friends convinced 

him that he can 

simply get to Europe 

and blow (become 

rich overnight)? 

Anybody who has 

gone to Europe and 

America knows there 

is no such thing. Even 

our doctors, nurses 

and other 

professionals go 

back to school or 

training to get 

certificates and other 

qualifications before 

they can get jobs. And 

that is for those who 

entered legally and 

have genuine documents. For others, it 

is Israelite journey. They do menial or 

odd jobs and nobody blows by doing odd 

jobs. Those who blow after a couple of years 

abroad engaged in illegal or criminal 

activities. 

Anyway, this migrant and his friends left 

Nigeria for Europe via Libya. He said as 

many as 200 of his friends died between 

Nigeria and while in Libya. What has 

hardship in Nigeria got to do with this case? 

This is pure greed. I can never praise the 

Nigerian governments at all levels over 

time. They put us in this mess and turned us 

to a laughing stock all over the world. But 

this foolish journey can never make senses 

to me. 

Families get together, sell the family land 

to enable them to raise money to send their 

daughters to Europe. Their only 

qualification is secondary school education 

and some did not even get certificates; they 

also have zero skills. What does that tell 

you? The families are sending them for 

prostitution. Is that because of hardship in 

Nigeria? Parents who send their daughters 

for prostitution are morally bankrupt. 

Nigeria is very tough, I will continue to 

say it. But trying to japa via the Libyan route 

is the height of foolishness. If you must 

Japa, have a plan of what you want to do 

with your life, prepare adequately and get 

professional guidance. Serious people who 

want to japa do so through the airport and 

fly by air to Europe and America. Africa is 

an Island and you cannot get outside Africa 

by road. 

In spite of all the sordid stories of the 

Libyan route, some youngsters are still 

warming up to go to Europe via Libya. I 

watched a video where youngsters were 

being tutored on the dangers of the Libyan 

route. I heard comments like, “it will not be 

my portion in Jesus name,” “those when die 

na their luck,” “everybody with im own 

destiny.” There is a proverb that the dog 

that is destined to go missing does not hear 

the whistle of the owner at the end of 

hunting. This perilous route is not worth 

the effort. The efforts individuals and 

families are putting into this perilous 

endeavour might just yield better results 

here in Nigeria if properly directed. Nigeria 

is frustrating our youths, but if you feel the 

only way to realise your dream is travelling 

abroad, go through the proper and legal 

channels. 

There is always something new 

out of the Nigerian judiciary. 

You may call it dynamism 

depending on interpretation which is 

also subject to more analysis on the 

alter of equity. Often one ends up in 

confusion, unable to hold on to logic. 

Chief Ikechi Emenike is in the best 

position to unravel the confusion that 

has left many in slumber. He was 

coasting home with the gubernatorial 

ticket of the All Progressives 

Congress ( APC) in Abia State until 

a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja 

and presided over by Justice Binta 

Nyako ruled otherwise. 

Emenike is not new to the court. 

Since the journey to fly the APC flag 

began, it has been moving from one 

hurdle to the other. Right from his 

Nkwoegwu Ward, hurdles kept 

mounting. He was able to scale them 

using available legal processes. 

The National Working Committee 

of the APC adopted the Indirect 

Primary for Abia and sent a 

Governorship Primary Elections 

Committee headed by Chief Tony 

Obiefuna. A total of 907 delegates 

were accredited. On the day of the 

primary at Chidiebere Park Umuahia, 

892 votes were counted. 

The outcome favoured Emenike 

who polled 672 votes. Emeka Atuma 

followed from a distance with 150 

votes. Paul Ikonne got 22 votes, 

Daniel Eke finished with 16 while 

Obinna Oriaku bagged 12 votes. 

Remarkably, Alex Otti and Uchenna 

Ogah were voted for by some of the 

delegates. 

Oti had withdrawn from the race 

after dumping the party. Therefore, 

he was not part of the primary. Ogah, 

the immediate past minister of state 

for Mines and Steel Development, 

distanced himself from the exercise. 

However, two members of the 

House of Representatives, Nkiri 

Emenike’s long walk to ticket 

Onyejeocha and Ben Kalu graced the 

occasion. So did Senator Nkechi 

Nwaogu and former Minister of 

Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu. Also 

present was Chief Henry Ikoh. 

Emenike had hardly settled down 

when an Abia High Court ruled that 

he was not qualified to run based 

on alleged suspension 

from the APC by his 

ward. Justice A.O. 

Chijioke later reversed 

himself. The legal 

fireworks began in 

2021 when Justice 

Benson Anya sitting at 

Umunneochi voided 

the suspension. 

Ogah has been on 

the road and also in 

the air. High Courts in 

Umuahia and Abuja 

have been busy 

entertaining 

arguments for and 

against. Emenike 

enjoyed the upper 

hand when thrice, the 

Court of Appeal ruled 

in his favour, in 

Owerri and Abuja 

respectively. 

Eke later went to court claiming that 

he was not part of the primaries and 

prayed the court to disqualify both 

Emenike and Ogah on the grounds 

that they contravened the APC 

Emenike had 

hardly settled 

down when an 

Abia High Court 

ruled that he was 

not qualified to 

run based on 

a l l e g e d 

suspension from 

the APC by his 

ward 

constitution. His wish was was not 

granted by Justice Evelyn Anyadike. 

Ogah is backed by a former Speaker 

of the Abia House of Assembly, 

Stanley Ohajuruka and a retired 

High Court judge, Justice Sunday 

Imo. Attempts were made by party 

chieftains to make peace. That led to 

what was tagged the 

Ntalakwu Accord. 

The recent 

pronouncement by 

the Abuja High Court 

has set tongues 

wagging. It is 

strange for a lower 

court to upturn the 

ruling of an 

appellate court. 

Emenike is therefore 

convinced that 

justice cannot be 

denied in this case. 

The National 

Working Committee 

of the APC duly 

recognised Emenike 

as the authentic 

winner of the 

primary and 

submitted his name 

to the Independent 

National Electoral Committee ( 

INEC). The name has been uploaded 

on the INEC website. 

The APC says the court ruling is of 

no effect and has affirmed that 

Emenike’s mandate cannot be tampered 

with by any legal hurdle until the 

Supreme Court decided otherwise. 

Chidi Avaja, Secretary of Abia State APC 

called it miscarriage of Justice. 

Legal Adviser of the party in Abia 

State, Barrister V.C. Nwankwo said, “ 

in the eye of the law, Ikechi Emenike 

still remains the APC candidate in Abia 

State. The law is trite that judgments of 

the appellate courts are binding on the 

lower courts and parties.”. 

The judiciary should serve as guardian 

of democracy. If the party has done the 

needful by conducting a primary that 

elected Emenike, the law should not 

delve into ambiguity. Justice should 

prevail in this case. 

I wonder what the Nigerian 

Ambassador to the United States, Uzoma 

Emenike will be thinking. She is a 

trained diplomat, very well versed in 

International Law. In other climes, this 

development will sound absurd. In 

Nigeria, strange things do really 

happen. 

All hope is not lost, though. Labour 

Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi 

changed the face of Nigerian politics in 

2006 when he used the court to reclaim 

his mandate which was stolen by the 

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 

2003 Anambra State gubernatorial 

elections. 

Obi was not done. When others 

expected him to run in the 2007 elections 

just after one year in office, he went back 

to court. While other parties battled for 

the position, he sat quietly in his office. 

The PDP candidate Andy Uba, who won 

the voided poll was asked to vacate 

office. 

It has been a long way to the Abia APC 

ticket. Emenike knows the globe, from 

Dublin to Washington. Lagos to New 

York is a long haul. Umunneochi to 

Umuahia to Owerri and Abuja is quite 

some distance. I am sure Emenike will 

not stop moving.

There is a saying that it is better to 

shut your mouth when you have 

nothing to say than to open your 

mouth and prove it. This is one way of 

reading the aversion of our main 

Presidential front runners to TV debates 

and interviews. Two of the leading 

candidates have shied away from many 

debates so far and from the look of things 

might never engage in any. Their handlers 

believe that they have more to lose by 

subjecting their candidates to debates 

which might expose their inadequacies. 

One spokesman actually, and somewhat 

cynically,said Nigerian presidency is not 

won through debates. That may be true 

to some extent. After all, we have someone 

in Aso Rock now to prove the point. But 

that same argument can be used by 

proponents of TV debates because nobody 

wants a repeat of the situation where 

someone got to Aso Rock without being 

subjected to the rigours of debates thus 

denying the people the chance to have his 

political agenda dissected. Democracy 

has evolved over the years to 

the level where aspirants are 

assessed through constant 

exposures to the people. TV 

debates and interactive Town 

Hall sessions have proved a 

veritable tool in probing the 

essence of a candidate. No one 

wants a pig in a poke 

anymore. We currently have 

one whose direction of 

leadership was shrouded in 

secrecy until it became too 

late. That is one too many. Prof 

Pat Utomi made the case for 

many Nigerians when he said 

a certain minimum number of 

presidential debates should be 

deemed necessary for those 

who want to occupy Aso Rock. 

A debate highlights many 

things including the level of 

your preparedness for 

leadership beyond ‘emilokan’ 

in all its variants. A good, 

interactive presidential debate will reveal 

passion, commitment to serve and 

temperament. More importantly, it will 

show the thrust of your administration. It 

Who is going to hold our presidential 

aspirants’ feet to the fire? 

is one thing to have experts write a 

manifesto. It is another thing to be able 

to own it. The degree of ownership of a 

manifesto will show during these series 

of interactive 

debates. We 

will also get to 

see how you 

A debate highlights 

many things including 

the level of your 

preparedness for 

leadership beyond 

‘emilokan’ in all its 

variants. A good, 

interactive presidential 

debate will reveal 

passion, commitment to 

serve and temperament 

rate among 

o t h e r 

presidential 

candidates. 

Although 

nobody can 

give what they 

don’t have, 

leaders can be 

persuaded to 

give of they 

have or made 

to share from 

what they 

would rather 

hoard. This is 

what Town 

H a l l 

interactive 

meetings and 

public debates 

can do. 

However, In the absence of public 

debates or even in addition to them, 

pressure groups need to step up to 


candidate, it safe to hold the feet of all the 

leading candidates to the fire and get 

whatever concessions we can get from them. 

Who knows? It might even influence the 

outcome at the polls. For example, the socio/ 

political groups should meet collectively 

with each of the leading candidates to 

extract concessions that are common to 

them and privately for concessions that are 

peculiar to their groups. Those concessions 

can then be used to canvas votes for the 

favoured candidate. In other words, rather 

than complain about Muslim/Muslim 

ticket, the Christian body should use that 

apparent weakness to secure concessions 

that would be compensatory. Ditto the 

Muslim body, ditto the Business Community. 

It is called lobbying in the presidential 

system. 

Hitherto, the type of lobbying we had was 

to get your person to become the Finance 

Minister or Secretary to the Government or 

even the Vice President.We all now know how 

that would pan out. We would make 

individuals rich and influential without 

necessarily altering the political or 

economic trajectory of the country. I will use 

the account of a Netflix documentary on 

how Qatar won the bid for the World Cup as 

an illustration. As to be expected, countries 

bidding to host such a prestigious 

tournament as the World Cup, would make 

overt offers to FIFA and covert offers to those 

powerful delegates whose votes would 

decide the outcome. It was said that many 

European and Latin American countries 

used their votes to get Arab projects and arms 

deals for their countries while African 

delegates negotiated for themselves and 

used the power of their votes to make 

themselves richer with their countries 

benefitting nothing. It is a pattern that is all 

too familiar with African leaders who get to 

the world stage where they can use their 

clouts to bring relief to the poor but instead 

use that same poverty as a bargaining chip 

to make themselves rich. It is a pattern that 

is all too familiar with every electoral cycle 

in Nigeria where negotiations are made for 

positions and not for needed projects. It is a 

pattern that has to change if we want to 

make democracy meaningful to the 

collective and not just to individuals who 

have already been fattened by the system. 

extract promises from the candidates. It 

is in this light that I want to mention a 

call I got from a respected colleague 

shortly after my last article. He had 

called to commend my article on 

Afenifere and to comment on why the 

once revered organization came to the 

sorry pass it now finds itself and what it 

can do to change the narrative for the 

better. It was inevitable for someone 

acknowledged nationally and 

internationally for his cerebral 

contributions to public discourse 

through his articles, that the conversation 

would veer in the direction of the coming 

presidential elections; especially given 

the fact that he was once very close to 

one of the leading contenders. In his usual 

incisive way, he dissected the chances of 

the front runners and suggested the likely 

winner. Although I shall keep his ‘expo’ 

to myself for now, his analysis has made 

me look at the unfolding scenarios in the 

political space in a new light. But he said 

something which got me thinking and is 

the theme of this article. ‘Now that things 

are still very fluid, we must hold the feet 

of the man inching towards the throne to 

fire. The nearer we get to February, the 

more things will crystalize, and the more 

reluctant he will become to giving 

concessions’. Since the rest of us don’t 

have the insider advantage which he has, 

and might not be able to zoom in to one 

Perhaps no other two persons 

have stirred political drama in 

Nigeria’s South-South region 

in the Fourth Republic than Governors 

Nyesom Wike and the comrade 

governor, Adams Oshiomhole. 

The sight of Governor Wike 

commissioning his numerous projects 

and the praise singers cheering 

‘Nyesom Wike pepper dem well, 

pepper dem well…as eh dey sweet us 

e dey pain dem, as e dey pain dem, e 

dey sweet us..’ has become one of the 

more enthralling take aways from the 

sight and sound of the project 

inaugurations in Rivers State. 

It is a reminder to the shouts of Osho 

Baba, Osho Baba that rented the air 

anytime Comrade Oshiomhole went 

out to inspect the Airport Road project 

or the Storm water project in Benin. 

Oshiomhole as governor of Edo State 

was about the most excitable person 

in the political arena in his time. While 

governor, he regularly took to the 

roads to demonstrate his flair for 

political drama. Just like Wike, he was 

not about the most admired of persons 

especially among the political elite. 

Oshiomhole’s celebration of his 

killing of political godfathers was 

celebrated as about the way Wike has 

also been celebrating his construction 

of projects all about Rivers State. It is 

remarkable that the two men only 

interacted as governors for one year 

as Oshiomhole left office about a year 

after Wike was inaugurated. 

Though they came in through 

different political parties few would 

doubt that the personalities of the two 

men would have rubbed off on the 

politics of the South-South had they 

served together as governors for a 

longer period. 

What is remarkable is that Wike to 

the embarrassment of his critics has 

kept on delivering projects in a way 

that has stupefied many. In fact, it 

makes a mockery of fellow governors 

Oshiomhole and Wike: The 

friendship of Obaseki’s enemies 

that one governor keeps 

commissioning projects even 

inviting some of them to come and 

commission his projects. 

The project inaugurations have 

remarkably, been stages for 

Governor Wike to make political 

statements. Almost unfailingly, he 

has used the project inaugurations 

to accentuate his point on issues 

pertaining to the crisis in the PDP. 

Predictably, Wike has not made 

any pretence in fencing out his 

political enemies from the live 

television commissioning activities. 

He has snubbed the leadership of 

the PDP and even its presidential 

candidate, Atiku Abubakar and at 

the same time invited political actors 

from other parties for the 

inaugurations. 

As he started the commissioning 

of projects this week, the governor 

could not hide his reaction to 

mutterings within the PDP over his 

invitations to Oshiomhole and Obi 

for the high-profile inaugurations. 

His reaction was that it is his right 

to invite whosoever he desires as 

he threw a punch to the critics to 

also commission their projects. 

Now the appearance of 

Oshiomhole in Port-Harcourt was 

perhaps one of the most remarkable 

political statements that came from 

the project inaugurations. 

Few would forget the role the two 

men played in the Edo State 

governorship 

election of 2020. 

It would be 

recalled that in the 

days leading to the 

election that the 

PDP had sought a 

kind of man with 

grit to face the APC 

attack that was 

marshalled from 

the background by 

Oshiomhole. 

Wike by all 

parameters fit into 

that image and he 

was duly appointed 

as chairman of the 

Edo Governorship 

Campaign Council. 

Wike’s main man, 

Chief Dan Orbih, a 

long-time political 

foe of Oshiomhole’s was also 

appointed the campaign manager. 

The two worked together to deliver 

Obaseki for a second term with votes 

significantly above the muddle that 

brought him as governor in the first 

term in 2016. 

That both Orbih and Wike fell out 

with Obaseki, just as Oshiomhole 

Predictably, Wike has not 

made any pretence in 

fencing out his political 

enemies from the live 

television commissioning 

activities. He has snubbed 

the leadership of the PDP 

and even its presidential 

candidate, Atiku Abubakar 

and at the same time 

invited political actors 

from other parties for the 

inaugurations 

who first brought him to political light 

had earlier done, is not the issue here. 

What has amazed your correspondent is 

the way that Oshiomhole and Wike have 

resonated with the political philosophy 

of no permanent enemies in politics but 

permanent interests. 

Another political saying that comes to 

mind is that the enemy of my enemy is 

my friend. 

Wike was prompt to offer his apologies 

for the way he fought Oshiomhole even 

putting aside the claim that he did not 

take a bath for three days as he 

prosecuted the election war for Obaseki 

against the former APC national 

chairman. 

The rapprochement with Oshiomhole 

is significant. The former 

Edo governor is the 

number two man in the 

operations department of 

the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu 

Campaign. It will be 

difficult for anyone to 

believe that comrade and 

Wike did not discuss how 

they could help the APC 

presidential candidate 

when they were alone. 

It is no news that of the 

three leading presidential 

candidates that Wike has 

been reported to be more 

disposed to Tinubu than 

Atiku or Obi. The reasons 

are numerous and did not 

start today. However, the 

Rivers State governor is 

constrained by the tremor 

on the ground around 

him. 

That political tremor came to play when 

the Labour Party presidential candidate 

did a walkabout with Wike last Thursday 

during the commissioning of another 

flyover in Port-Harcourt. As the two men 

stamped the streets, there were shouts 

everywhere of Obi! Obi!! Obi!!! 

That is the puzzle for Wike.


Gifted with many charlatans as 

leaders, Nigerians are enjoying the 

comicality of shallow electioneering 

campaigns. Ortom, who now wears 

multicoloured suits since he became 

Wike’s apostle, woke up one morning 

and, in a fit, said that anyone who likes 

Atiku is his enemy. He spoke in plain 

English. Some of Ortom’s cheering 

supporters might have believed that 

hating Atiku was godly. But three days 

later, Ortom was in Bauchi to woo a 

Fulani governor. And before the cocks 

had crowed thrice, Ortom denied ever 

making the divisive statements he made 

in Benue. 

He actually said that anyone who 

understood what he said literally to 

mean what he said was mischievous. 

Ortom is the deputy leader of the 

‘Intigrity’ group. The group that globetrots 

to real Madrid, Turkey and London 

every once in a while, at taxpayers’ 

expense, to defend the interests of the 

common man in Africa. Let’s forgive Gov 

Ortom. He needs logistics. And Wike is a 

renowned provider of logistics. 

Time flies. In 2015 Buhari used to tell 

us pridefully how he owned only 150 

cattle. Then the APC preached Change 

and Modesty. Buhari was their emblem. 

The frugal man who abhorred 

ostentation. In 2022, The APC has 

forgotten the word Change. It’s no longer 

mentioned. And when APC supporters 

see anyone exhibiting or pretending 

modesty or moderation, they lament 

and moan against the glamorization of 

poverty. It was APC supporters who 

pointed out that Peter Obi had hired a 

campaign aircraft. They have come 

down from the moral high ground. The 

sybaritism they once abhorred is now 

valorized. At the APC rally in Jos the Jos 

airport was filled with jets. Jets became 

2023 Elections: Political small chops 

a sign of capacity. Some APC members 

scoffed that the Labour party was so 

wretched, so structureless, it wouldn’t 

muster 10% of the air traffic Jos 

witnessed. Who would have 

thought? 

In Benin, while his hopes 

hung in the balance in the 

supreme court, Gov Obaseki 

praised the Obi phenomenon. 

He said every household in 

Edo had been infected with 

Obidiency. Then Obaseki was 

an internally displaced 

politician. But once the courts 

restored his control of the Edo 

PDP, Obaseki developed an 

allergy towards Obidiency. 

Recently he refused to let Obi’s 

people use the stadium for 

their rally. In defending that 

refusal, he described the 

Obidients as confused people with 

virtual existence. Who can blame 

Obaseki? Now that he is firmly sheltered 

in the PDP, he cannot afford to frighten 

his party men by declaring the 

monstrosity of the Obidiency. But he has 

to worry about Oshiomhole too. Because 

during Oshiomhole’s make-up visit to 

In 2022, The APC has 

forgotten the word 

Change. It’s no longer 

mentioned. And when 

APC supporters see 

anyone exhibiting or 

pretending modesty or 

moderation, they lament 

and moan against the 

glamorization of poverty 

Gov Wike, Oshiomhole said he would ask 

Wike to lend him election logistics. 

One of the most comical has to be the 

governor of Cross River. 

Once a riverine Emperor 

donated some buses to the 

PDP in his state, the strong 

and loquacious Olympotic 

man began to fret. The story 

is that the Emperor sent 

heavy earth-shaking logistics 

as the first phase of an 

intervention programme. 

The fretting governor called 

a rice governor in the 

southeast to pray for him. 

That governor reached out to 

the Enyimba governor, and 

prayers of intercession were 

delivered to the riverine 

Emperor. A meeting was set 

up. The three governors gathered in the 

palace of the Emperor and begged him 

to stop providing heavy logistics to the 

opponents of the beleaguered governor. 

The troubled governor prostrated 

before the megalomanic Emperor. The 

Emperor promised to consider his 

request for an embargo of heavy logistics 

to political dissidents in his state. The 

Cross River governor was naive. 

Talking about heavy logistics. Obi, who 

doesn’t give shishi, was in Rivers state. 

Once he was promised logistics, he cast 

at his running mate and threw the entire 

Rivers Labour Party under a moving bus. 

His party’s governorship candidate has 

been a bulwark against the state 

governor’s arbitrariness. She had for 

seven years stood up for teachers and 

pensioners in the state. She has, since 

winning the labour party ticket, dreamt 

of rescuing Rivers from political 

banditry and prebendalism. But since 

the last few weeks, she has been 

bedridden. Occasionally, standing up 

with the aid of crutches. But Peter Obi, 

the hope of the poor and sick, came to 

Port Harcourt, exchanged banter with 

the oppressor and opponent, got the 

promise of logistics and a few gratuitous 

votes, and threw the broken woman and 

her compatriots in Rivers under Wike’s 

overspeeding train carrying 200,000 

political advisers. If Peter Obi were an 

old wily Nigerian politician who uses 

shishi and wuruwuru freely to attain loft 

political objectives, no one would raise 

an eyebrow. But this is St Peter Obi. 

Since Atiku returned from America, 

where he attended only closed-door 

meetings, where pictures couldn’t be 

taken, he has been relatively silent. That 

picture that showed sixteen black men, 

including a former vice president, being 

seen off by a single white lady didn’t lend 

any dignity to the Waziri and his crew. 

But Waziri’s men are working overtime. 

They have been excavating narcotic 

archaeological sites in Chicago. So Waziri 

can work behind the scenes recruiting 

elders to mend ‘intigrity’ fences. 

These are exciting times. 

By Marie-Therese Nanlong 

MINING is an important sector 

which supports the economy of 

any country that embraces it. It 

encourages entrepreneurship, improves 

employment opportunities and boosts the 

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the 

country. 

Minerals like, Bitumen, Coal, 

Limestone, Tin, Lead/zinc, Gold, and 

Baryte, Iron ore and others are available 

and are mined in Nigeria, engaging 

millions of people, directly and indirectly, 

creating wealth and stimulating economic 

growth but sadly, the mainstream miners 

in Nigeria has only 6.8% women, while 

the remaining 94% are men. 

The few women in the sector are being 

edged out by many factors and the 

number will continue to dwindle if 

nothing is done to stop it. 

To remedy the situation, Women in 

Mining on Friday, inaugurated the Girls 

for Mining, G4M clubs for secondary 

school girls in Plateau State to mentor the 

young girls to show interest and possibly 

pursue a career in the sector. 

Addressing the students at the event in 

Jos, the National President of Women in 

Mining, Engr. Janet Adeyemi through the 

Secretary, of Women in Mining, Plateau 

State, Mrs. Raulatu Piwuna said, “… we 

are creating landmark history. When our 

generation is no more, the G4M will 

remain, and thousands of you school girls 

who have become accomplished and highprofile 

women in mining by then, will 

look back at the fond memory of today 

and proudly say, I was there… 

“70-80 per cent of everything we use in 

our daily lives are products of mining, 

from the ceramic at your home to the gold 

and metals on your mobile phones, to the 

glass on your windscreen and bulbs, to 

even the stainless steel and alloy on your 

wristwatches and it goes... 

“Nigeria is dependent on crude oil as its 

major source of wealth, however, the 

world does not want crude oil anymore. 

Now they want solar energy, hydropower 

and other sources of power that are not 

oil. We are witnessing the gradual passing 

away of the oil and gas sector in the globe 

and when it finally fades out, Nigeria will 

be left with only two means of wealth 

creation- Mining an 

Agriculture…” 

Plateau: 

Women in Mining take steps to 

bridge gender gap in sector 

She decried the gender gap in the sector, 

adding, “When I look at statistics, of all 

the mainstream miners in Nigeria today, 

only 6.8% are women, the remaining 94% 

are men. So, the women in the mining 

sector today are a drop out of the ocean, 

and the few women in the sector are being 

edged out of the game by gender-blind 

laws and by misogynists. So, the number 

of women in the sector will keep dropping. 

If we do nothing to pump female miners 

into the sector now, the women on the 

ground today will all be gone someday. 

“The only way to meaningfully populate 

the mining sector with productive women 

is to begin to guide our girls from their 

school age, into a prosperous future in the 

mining sector… We unanimously accepted 

this sustainable initiative and resolved 

that G4M will be created in all states of 

Nigeria and Plateau is the very first state 

we are inaugurating this club.” 

She explained, “All students in the G4M 

club will regularly participate in interschool 

quizzes, and debates. Winners will 

be awarded in each competition. All 

students of the G4M will go for annual 

excursions to mining sites, tourist sites, 

natural resources regulatory agencies or 

other places of interest in line with the 

overall intent of the G4M. 

“Each student of the G4M club will 

stand a chance to travel abroad for an 

exchange visit, to tour mine sites, meet 

fellow students abroad and meet with 

high-profile female miners for mentorship 

and opportunities. All students of the 

G4M club will have mentors who shall 

guide them through their secondary 

education. Any student of the G4M club 

who has decided to pursue a career in any 

mining-related courses will be assisted to 

secure admission to study that course at 

any tertiary institution of her choice in 

Nigeria. 

“All students of the G4M club will have 

the opportunity to work with Women In 

Mining in Nigeria for a year Internship 

and Training…” 

The State Commissioner of Secondary 

Education, Elizabeth Wapmuk 

represented by Assistant Director, of 

Science and Technology, Chung Sati 

lauded the initiative citing the vital role 

the mining sector plays in the 

development of the nation’s economy and 

assured the Ministry would work towards 

incorporating mining consciousness into 

the school curriculum and encouraged 

young girls to consider making a career in 

mining for the development of not just the 

State but the country. 

Air Force Girls Military School, Jos; 

Federal Government College, Jos; 

COCIN Headquarters Church Secondary 

School, Jos; Government College, Jos; 

GSS, Chwel Nyap; Baptist High School, 

Jos; TCNN Staff School, Jos; Kings’ 

Secondary School; Jos; St. John’s 

College, Jos were among the participating 

schools. 

From left: Erelu Olusola Obada representative of Former President, Dr Goodluck 

Ebele Jonathan; Dr Willye Mai Tolbert King, Liberian Ambassador to Cote D'Ivoire 

and daughter and representative of former President Dr William Tolbert of Liberia 

assassinated in 1980 and Nebolisa Arah, Honorary Awardee of Bowen University 

during the 17th convocation of the school held recently.

Physically challenged 

coach recounts selling 

his car to fund his PhD 

•Won two golds without kits at National Sports Festival 

•Says ‘sports marketing now my target’ 

My background 

I am from Uhunmwonde local government area of 

Edo state, based in Benin City, I am fifty years old. 

I was born and brought up 

in Benin City, I attended 

Edaiken Primary School 

and then Edo College and 

thereafter University of 

Benin where I read 

Business Administration. 

I have my Bsc in 

Business Administration 

and Masters in the 

same course and today 

I am a Phd holder in the 

same field. I finished in 

2017. 

Today I work with the 

Edo State Sports 

Commission and I am 

the Head Coach, Edo 

State Deaf Athletes. 

I was a promising 

footballer when I was 

growing up. My dad 

gave me a coach 

when I was in 

primary school who 

was coaching me. 

But while I was 

playing football in 

primary school, I 

had an injury on 

my hand that led 

to the 

amputation of the 

hand because of poor management of 

the injury. Then, my mum was working in Auchi, 

Etsako West Local Government Area but we chose 

to stay with our dad in Benin city because we 

wanted to enjoy city life. I believe if she was at 

home with us, the lapses that led to the amputation 

would not have occurred. Although her working in 

Auchi polytechnic then also helped us because 

she encouraged us academically by 

buying books for us and making sure 

that we got the best we could get 

academically until she lost her job and 

that left us distressed. 

After the amputation, I was 

demoralized, I thought I would not be 

able to go to school again because I 

was no longer feeling comfortable. 

Anywhere I went, people would be 

looking at me because of my disability 

so I told my mum I was not going to 

school again. I am the eldest son of 

my father, so my mum had to beg me 

to continue my education. There was 

a teacher, Dr John Enahoro, who was 

a student of Auchi poly then, anytime 

I went to Auchi on holidays, he was 

always teaching me mathematics. He 

wrote me a letter from Auchi to go to 

school. When I insisted I wanted to 

play football, he told me that even 

Socrates of Brazil was a medical doctor, 

yet a successful footballer, he made 

me to know that I could go to school 

and also be a professional footballer 

because I dreamed football, I ate 

football, I coached football, I was in 

charge of my church team. I later 

heeded his advice and went back to 

school. 

Overcoming the 

challenges 

By Ozioruva Aliu 

ENIN CITY – THE success story of Dr Sunny Edosa Aimufua, the Edo 

BState coach of deaf athletes is that of sheer determination to succeed damning 

the societal challenges of being physically challenged. 

Aimufua who is a staff of the Edo State Sports Commission has his eyes set on 

his next target which is to go into sports marketing. He said he was a footballer 

growing up and even had a personal coach hired for him by his father until a 

poorly managed hand injury cost him one of his arms and ended his football 

career. 

•Aimufua and the Deputy 

Governor, Comrade Philip 

Shiabu and other athletes 

I was about ten years old when the incident that 

led to my amputation happened. I will give my 

mother the credit for my being able to overcome 

the challenge of being disabled. As a mother, she 

was committed to our growing up. I was one of the 

best in my classes in the primary school 

and even Edo College 

for my 

secondary 

school; I was 

one of the 

best. It was 

when my mum 

lost her job that 

my academic 

performance 

dwindled. She 

lost her job 

when Buhari 

came the first 

time as military 

head of state. As 

a result of the 

sack, she could no 

longer afford my 

books or pay 

school fees and I 

was no longer 

regular at school. I 

now had to trek a 

long distance to 

school. At times, I 

was only able to go 

to school once a 

week. 

Some people have 

contributed positively 

to my growth while 

some gave me nasty 

experience. I remember one day I 

went to the Chemistry lab and the teacher was 

mad at me, he was hostile to me for coming to the 

laboratory. If the society knows what it means to be 

physically challenged, they will do more and that is 

why in my case, I can never forget 

somebody like Dr John Enahoro 

who gave me the push when I said 

I was not going to school. I stopped 

using my prosthesis because I felt 

I was a bit 

scared of going 

for my masters 

because I had 

challenges in my 

first degree. I 

skipped my 300 

level exams 

because I had to 

travel to attend an 

interview in 

Lagos for bursary 

award for people 

with disabilities 

I can’t be deceiving myself that I 

have two hands when I have only 

one hand. 

My sporting life 

When I was preparing to round 

up my proramme in UNIBEN, 

the para-games was then 

introduced. There was one Dr 

Ogojiafor of the Ministry of 

Education who introduced me to 

the sports and that was when I 

started training again but this time 

it was athletics because there was 

no para-football. I started training 

when I was in my final year in 1992. 

When I went for my NYSC in Osun 

state, I played football. I was 

awarded the best sportsman in 

camp and I was given an award by 

the late Governor Isiaka Adeleke. 

I wanted to go back to football, so 

I played Under – 13 tournaments 

but many clubs did not take me for 

professional football. I went to 3SC, 

Rojeny Park in Onitsha and even 

Bendel Insurance but I was not 

taken. However, when I was in 

school, I told myself that after football, I would go 

into sports marketing. 

Experience in 

para-sports 

In 1995, I represented 

Nigeria in Egypt for the 

Afro-Arab games. I was 

supposed to run 100 metres 

but there was a delay in 

issuing us our international 

passports so we missed the 

first batch that went to Egypt 

and by the time we got there, 

they had done the 100 and 

200 metres events so I had 

to settle for 800m which was 

not my race. But based on 

my experience in football as 

an endurance sport, I entered 

for the 800 metres and I was 

able to win a bronze medal. I 

also did triple jump and had a 

silver medal. That was my first 

attempt at the international level. When I came 

back, I started training for the National Sports 

Festival which was then coming up in Benue State 

in 1996. But there was no recognition from the 

state, the Sports Council did not recognize us, they 

didn’t give us track suits. What they gave me was 

just a T-shirt and it was tennis T-shirt, they managed 

to give me a spike shoe of low quality so I had to 

use the one given to me by a friend of mine, Clifford 

Enomayo which was what I used for the festival. 

When I got to the festival, on the first day, I picked 

two gold medals in 100 and 400 metres and in less 


than one hour, Edo state was having two gold 

medals and that was when the officials started 

coming to congratulate me and I started to wonder 

that, so these people knew that I was existing yet 

they put us in one dirty place in the camp in Makurdi. 

At the end of the competition, I won three gold 

medals for Edo State in 100, 200 and 400 metres, so 

I was the first para-athlete in the history of Edo 

State to win three gold medals for the state. 

•Aimufua at his Phd 

graduation ceremony 

•Aimufua with one 

of his athletes 

How I got, lost my job 

After the sports festival, I was offered a job by the 

military government of the then Col Bassey Asuquo 

as a level 8 officer. Six months into that job however, 

we were retrenched by Baba Adamu Nyiam. So, 

that gave me another challenge. We made an 

appeal to the then governor to bring me back 

considering my situation as a physically challenged 

person but it did not work. As I was now finding it 

difficult to pay my house rent, I had to go to Kano 

state where I won two gold medals for them at Imo 

98 National Festival. It was against my wish to 

represent Kano at that festival but I had to go 

when I could no longer take care of myself. The day 

I agreed to compete for Kano, I went to Church to 

weep because it was not my wish to dump Edo 

State; it was a sad day for me. When Governor 

Lucky Igbinedion came on board, he called all of us 

back home and that was how I came back to Edo 

State and ever since I have been here. I have done 

my best to develop the sport. I have done my best 

to bring physically challenged people across the 

state and today my team, the deaf athletics team, 

is the best in Nigeria. My athlete is the only 

Nigerian athlete that has won an 

individual medal in deaf Olympics called 

deaflympic, he won silver in 100 and 200 

metres. The second medal was won by a 

female relay team and my girl was there 

who was later promoted from level 5 to 

level 12. She is also the African champion 

in long jump. She won one gold, one silver, 

and one bronze in the African 

Championship. So, I have done my best. 

At the moment, we are having a 

developmental programme for Under-15 

deaf athletes. I have a good athlete now 

from Auchi, Alliat Musa, she is just 13 

and she is part of my team for the festival. 

She was in last year’s youth games, so 

we are grooming those children for the 

future. 

Funding challenge 

When I finished my first degree, I was a 

bit scared of going for my masters because 

I had challenges in my first degree. I 

skipped my 300 level exams because I 

had to travel to attend an interview in 

Lagos for bursary award for people with 

disabilities. When I was given admission, 

I was able to buy my books but I didn’t 

pay my school fees immediately so I thank 

UNIBEN for giving me that concession 

as they allowed me to write my 

examination before I paid my school fees. 

I dropped my Msc because I could not 

cope and I thought I would not be able to 

go for my Phd. I initially thought I would 

not be able to do my Phd with my MBA. 

It was when we returned from the Port- 

Harcourt Sports Festival that I collected 

my Phd form. I got some money from the 

allowance we were paid by the then 

government in 2011 and I started my Phd 

in 2012. Funding was a big challenge for 

me so, at a stage, I had to sell my car and 

took a loan from a commercial bank to be 

able to complete my programme. 

Government 

commitment to 

sports 

One thing I have learnt from 

the current state government 

is that there is no discrimination 

in their approach to issues of 

sports development. I 

commend the state 

government and the deputy 

governor. They have done their 

best. The para-lifting have 

their own gym with all the 

needed facilities and it has not 

happened before 

Sports marketing 

When I was going for my 

first degree, I already made up 

my mind that whenever I 

leave active sports, I will go 

into sports marketing because 

all of my life I have been into 

sports, even in my Phd, I 

wrote a paper on sports, but 

the system has not 

recognized sports marketing. 

I think I have something to 

offer in that direction 

because I like challenges, I 

need a new challenge and I 

think marketing and sports 

business is the next level 

that I want to go into. I was brought into coaching 

because of my ability and I proved this when one of 

my athletes won 400 and 800 metres in less than 

one hour in Abeokuta National Sports Festival. 

He is Garba Usman. You cannot have sustainable 

sports development without the marketing 

components and structures and this government 

is doing its best to develop sports. But I believe 

sports development cannot be sustained without a 

marketing structure. Today, I am a member of the 

American Marketing Association because of my 

interest in marketing.


bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk 

When To Suspect Your Partner Could Be Off His Rocker! 

Recently, a former 

colleague told me 

that she was worried 

about an older brother who 

had suddenly gone 

religious. According to her, 

this brother said: “he could 

hear God talking to him 

through the radio. He also 

alleged that all of us in the 

family were evil because, we 

didn’t believe in the 

spiritual church. He thinks 

his own spiritual church and 

his beliefs are right. As wild 

as he looked when he made 

these allegations, it was 

obvious that he was cracking 

up. So, how do you tell if 

someone close to you is 

cracking up!” With all these 

named disasters and 

economic crunch plaguing 

the country wouldn’t it be 

nice to know? 

According to psychiatrists, 

there are seven clues to alert 

you. For instance, an 

unexpected change in 

behaviour is the big tip-off 

that a friend, relation or coworker 

is suffering from 

emotional problems and 

may need professional help. 

Here are the seven clues to 

look for: 

• A person who is 

usually energetic acts tired 

and indifferent. The person 

may complain about being 

tired. His work may be 

Yetunde Arebi 

Hi, 

Should a woman beware of a man who’d 

once been married? These two women 

whose stories you will be reading today think 

so. Do you have a different experience or 

opinion, drop your response via the contacts 

above. Responses to my email address will be 

published here. Cheers! 

Edida (31), a Caterer, against her wishes 

suddenly found herself in a polygamous 

marriage. She claims she never knew that 

Femi, (48), was already married. 

“I swear to God that I never knew he was 

married until we had our first child. The 

naming ceremony was performed with a small 

traditional wedding as he did not have family 

members in Benin. He had only come there to 

work. The only person I knew was his mother 

whom I had spoken on the phone with a few 

times. She never told me that her son already 

had a child and wife back in Lagos. My child 

was already six months old when we visited 

Lagos. One of his cousins leaked the secret to 

me, not even his siblings. My husband and the 

lady had been living together with their child 

when he got the job that relocated him to Benin. 

When I confronted him with the story, he said 

he could not tell me because he was afraid I 

might leave him. He swore to me that they 

were separated and he was finished with her 

and I had nothing to fear. Honestly, I wanted 

to end the marriage then but my relatives 

prevailed on me. Once a while, I would 

overhear her talking and crying on the phone 

with my husband and he would be shouting at 

her that he has moved on and that she can 

drop the child with his mother as he had no 

money to be sending to her for upkeep. That 

was the time I should have left him but I didn’t 

because he said he loved me and would never 

do that to me. . 

Unfortunately, he did not keep his promise 

to me. It was just like the proverbial saying 

neglected and he doesn’t 

seem to care. 

• A previous polite 

and caring person suddenly 

becomes insensitive. 

Manners and social etiquette 

often fall apart during mental 

illness, said a psychiatrist. 

“Words like please’ and 

‘thank you’ may disappear 

from the person’s vocabulary 

and he or she may act rude – 

pushing ahead of others in a 

line, for example.” 

• A person who usually 

controls his alcohol or drug 

intake loses control. When 

someone with no history of 

alcohol or drug-abuse begins 

to abuse these substances, it 

can be a sign of mental 

illness. And drug abuse 

doesn’t necessarily have to 

mean illicit drugs – it also 

can mean prescribed drugs. 

• A person who 

usually maintains stable 

relationship starts to develop 

difficulty with important 

ones. The person may have 

trouble dealing with people 

on the job – and with his or 

her spouse. He or she may 

resort to physical or 

emotional abuse and may 

yell or scream. 

• A person with 

emotions in the normal range 

becomes despondent or 

shows rapid shifts in mood. 

The person may begin to 

have rapid shifts in 

emotions going from anger 

to playfulness, from sadness 

to giggles. 

• A previously 

decisive person has trouble 

making decisions. Even the 

smallest decision, like 

choosing clothes, becomes 

difficult. The person might 

make up his or her mind and 

then changes it possible 

several times. 

• A person with good 

hygiene develops poor 

hygiene. His or her clothes 

may be inappropriate, dirty 

or not ironed. Often, the 

person may wear the same 

clothes for days, not brush 

his or her teeth and bathe 

less frequently – and may 

even begin to smell bad. 

According to a recent 

publication in a medical 

journal, you could be a 

candidate for a nervous 

breakdown if you answer yes 

to six or more of the 12 

questions: 

• Did you have a 

tragic childhood? A parent’s 

death or separation? 

• Was your childhood 

unsettled with constant 

moves, parents coming and 

going? 

The proverbial whip on the rooftop 

about the whip used in beating the first wife is 

kept on the roof top for the second. It was a 

friend that first informed me that my husband 

was cheating on me. By the time I caught him, 

it was already too late. The lady was pregnant. 

The most annoying thing is that she is even 

older than me. I was too angry. I packed and 

went to my parents but I was sent back. They 

said that I had to stay and solve my problem. 

He first got a place for her to stay and she gave 

birth to a girl. A few months later, he was posted 

to Lagos and they left together. I cannot begin 

to tell you how I suffered. Eventually, after two 

years, he sent for us too. 

I still love my husband despite everything. 

We all live together. His wife has two children 

and I have three. It is difficult to share your 

man but what can I do? I can’t leave him for 

her. Never. We try to behave as politely as we 

I still love my husband despite 

everything. We all live together. His 

wife has two children and I have 

three. It is difficult to share your man 

but what can I do? 

can to each other but the tension is always there. 

I hate it when they sleep together. That is the part 

that hurls most. That my husband is no longer 

my own but “our own”. The finances are not too 

good, especially at these hard times. Things are 

rough but I have my business to fall back on. I 

know that whatever he has belongs to all of us 

including the other child from the first woman, 

When he dies everything will be shared between 

the three of us! That is if he has something 

worth inheriting.” 

Regina (48) Civil Servant married James 

(65) after 12 years of his separation from his 

first wife. Two years after their marriage he 

Impregnated another woman. Regina believes 

that some men are now tricking women into 

polygamy against their wishes. 

“I think it has to do with the fact that we were 

married according to native law and customs, 

otherwise, I would have sued him for Bigamy, 

when he impregnated a woman. Though they 

were not married, our law recognises the child 

as legal and our tradition also recognises the 

woman, even if it is not as a full wife. She is not 

an ordinary girlfriend. 

My husband already had three children from 

a first marriage which 

ended 12 years before I 

moved in. It was after our 

first child that I knew he had 

started having an affair with 

his Secretary in the office. 

He did not admit their 

relationship until she 

became pregnant. I was also 

pregnant with my second 

child at that time and both 

children were born barely 

months apart. . There was 

nothing I could do as I had 

sworn that I would only 

marry once in my life and 

never divorce my husband. 

Which was another reason for marrying him 

because I thought being much older and 

having tasted disappointment in a marriage, 

he will be more dedicated to ours. But I was 

wrong. 

He rented an apartment for her and has 

never brought her home, even though we 

sometimes meet at family functions. We also 

• Do you always feel 

everyone is bigger, more 

clever, and nicer than you? 

• Do you think too 

much or take drugs? 

• Are you the sort of 

person who thinks happiness 

won’t last? 

• Have you always felt 

people criticize you behind 

your back? 

• Do you find it 

difficult to express your 

feelings? 

• Do you find it hard to 

be angry even when you’ve 

reason to be? 

• Do you find it 

difficult to find and keep 

friends and lovers? 

• Have you been 

exposed to a nervous 

breakdown sufferer, 

particularly when young? 

• Are you pre-occupied 

with your health? Indeed, 

reading this, are you now 

convinced you’re having a 

nervous breakdown. 

According to the 

psychiatrist: “In approaching 

someone you think needs 

help, do so in a caring 

manner. Say something like, 

“something seems to be 

different about you. You’re 

not acting like your old self. 

I really care about you and I 

think you should talk to 

someone who is skilled about 

it”. 

Twitter:@yetunderebi 

yetty5050@yahoo.co.uk 

do talk a bit, but nothing serious. She is not my 

friend and I don’t even regard her as my family 

member. He shuttles between our house and 

his wife’s apartment. At a certain stage in the 

heat of their passion, my husband practically 

moved there and would not come home for 

several days. It was only natural to believe that 

she bewitched him and at a point, I started 

running from one spiritualist to another to 

bring him back to me. But when I realised how 

much money it was gulping from me, I had to 

borrow my brain some sense. 

James’ excuse was that his family had advised 

him to take a second wife to forestall a repeat 

of what happened to him with his first 

marriage. A wicked liar. 

I have four children while she has six. She 

has also continued to live outside our home, 

though I sometimes wonder which is home. 

Naturally, he has changed, at least he is not the 

same man I married. Love! I don’t think I love 

him again! At least, not the way I used to before 

he betrayed me. I am here because of my 

children, all seven of them because his older 

children also regard me as their mother. 

Financially he is trying but it cannot be the 

same, you will always think he could have done 

better if the other woman was not there. This 

means that I take up the responsibility for some 

of the things my children need. Sometimes he 

refunds us, most times it is just promises that 

will never be kept. And if you don’t want him to 

run away, you can’t continue to hang on to it. It 

is more painful in my case because this woman 

never brought in a kobo of her privately hard 

earned money. She was working for my 

husband and getting paid from our sweat 

before she sneaked into our lives and has 

continued to spend our money ever since. I 

never pray that any of my female children 

should experience what I went through. It’s just 

not fair.” 

Hmmm! Do have a wonderful weekend!!

LITF: Japan identifies investment 

opportunities in Nigeria 

Stories by Moses Nosike 

The Japanese government 

has indicated business 

interest to increase its 

trade relationship with Nigeria, 

having identified many 

investment opportunities that 

would benefit both countries in 

the coming years. 

The Trade Commissioner and 

Managing Director, JETRO 

Lagos, Taninami Takuma, said 

this after receiving an award 

from the Lagos Chamber of 

Commerce and Industry (LCCI), 

organisers of Lagos 

International Trade Fair 

recently concluded. 

Continuing, Takuma said that 

within the duration of the event, 

the pavilion attracted more than 

23,000 visitors from various 

products, services and 

technologies exhibited by the 

exhibitors, while more than 

1,000 B2B discussions were 

recorded with the 10 days event. 

He also explained that JETRO 

held stage events where six 

companies promoted their 

products in front of the audience. 

“In the pavilion, Alteco Inc, 

Japanese super glue 

manufacturer distributed their 

products to the visitors “Cooling 

Patch” as a testing sample. 

In the spirit of celebrating African 

history through entertainment, 

Coca-Cola Nigeria’s beverage 

brand, Sprite, has partnered with 

Filmhouse Cinemas for the West 

African premiere prior to the global 

premiere of the ‘Black Panther: 

Wakanda Forever Film, the followup 

to the Chadwick Bosemanstarring 

original, at Filmhouse 

IMAX in Lekki, Lagos. 

This partnership reflects the 

company’s reputation which seeks 

to deepen collaboration, bonding, 

and fun times amongst the different 

demographic. Additionally, it aims 

to establish trusting bonds with 

A 

s Christmas approaches with funfairs and happy 

moments associated with the festive period, 

affordable pay-TV company, StarTimes has rolled out 

exciting plans for subscribers in its Xmas Beta Level 

Promo. 

In partnership with Longrich and electronic 

companies like Amaz and Weyon, StarTimes is giving 

families more reasons to spend time together with its 

Christmas upgrade promo and high-end giveaways. 

The Christmas promo, which kicks off on November 

15 to January 15 2023, offers subscribers an 

opportunity to enjoy more exciting channels with a free 

upgrade plan. 

“Nova, Basic and Smart bouquet subscribers who 

recharge for two months will be upgraded to the next 

higher bouquet, while Super and Classic package 

subscribers will get ten extra days for free when they 

recharge for two months. 

“Also, subscribers who key into the promo will stand 

a chance to win fantastic prizes 

like home appliances that include twenty Smart TV 

sets and eighty blenders; PA systems; hygiene products 

like clippers and Longrich mouthwash,” PR Manager 

L-R: Taninami Takuma, trade commissioner/managing director, JETRO Lagos; 

Bolaji Akinremi, director, economy, trade and investment, ministry of foreign 

affairs; Michael Olawale-Cole, president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce 

and Industry (LCCI); John Odeyemi, chairman, board of trustee, LCCI, and 

Knut Ulvmoen, deputy president, during the closing ceremony of 2022 Lagos 

International Trade Fair in Lagos. 

Cooling Patch works for people 

who have fever when they place 

it on their foreheads. Visitors 

were enjoying themselves, 

feeling cool and looking around 

inside the pavilion,” he said. 

Taninami described this year’s 

exhibition as successful enough 

to attract visitors, while 

promising to bring more 

Japanese brands to the fair in 

2023. 

He further said that the 

commission would keep 

promoting and introducing the 

African most outstanding 

market to Japanese companies. 

“The Japan pavilion has a 

successful close, we welcomed 

more than 23,000 visitors to our 

Japan pavilion. We are expecting 

that next maybe more 35,000. 

Buhari unveils NICA Bill to strengthen credit administration in 

Nigeria 

In line with his administration’s 

policy of encouraging and 

promoting economic growth and 

diversity, President Muhammadu 

Buhari will on November 22, 2022 

unveil to the public the National 

Institute of Credit Administration 

(Establishment) Act No 1018 of 

2022 which he signed into law on 

August 16, 2022 at Four points by 

Sheraton Hotel, Victoria Island, 

Lagos State. 

Speaking to a selected journalists 

in Lagos about the programme, 

President/Chairman of Council, 

National Institute of Credit 

Administration, Andy Ojei, FICA, 

said that the unveiling of NICA by 

the President will further boost the 

institute and what the institute 

stands for. 

Ojei said further that now the 

Institute is signed into law as NICA, 

the impact will be bolder, forthright, 

and it’s now a different ball game. 

“The Act now gives us the power to 

regulate the practice of credit 

management and credit 

administration in the country, also 

it gives us the right to organise 

training that is geared towards 

capacity development in the area of 

credit management and credit 

administration. It also gives us the 

right to regulate any person that 

desires to set up any business that 

has to do with credit administration, 

even as we are saddled with the 

responsibility to ensure that such 

practices are done with high level 

of professional competence and 

integrity”. 

Sprite partners Filmhouse in West African Premiere of ‘Black 

Panther’ Sequel 

many cultures, collaborate with 

them, and foster diversity via Coca- 

Cola brands like Sprite. 

The premiere will adopt an ‘afrocelebratory’ 

theme that promises to 

be a grandiose showcase of African 

culture through costumes, venue 

decor, food, and music. 

In his remark, Marketing Director, 

Coca-Cola Nigeria, Yusuf Murtala, 

reiterated the importance of 

celebrating history in a fashion that 

inspires and fuels ambition. He 

explained saying, “Coca-Cola 

alongside its other brands like 

Sprite would continue to support 

entertainment, globally and locally, 

especially those that resonate with 

According to him, this is important 

as we all know that no economy 

grows without the use of credit and 

there is no example of any advanced 

society where credit is not in use. 

“The Assent of Mr. President to the 

NICA Bill is an unprecedented 

foundation laid for transition of 

Nigerian economy from age-long 

cash-based to modern credit-based 

economy, a system which will serve 

as a catalyst for both economic 

growth and social transformation. 

In addition, Council Member, 

National Institute of Credit 

Administration, Dr. Felix 

Amieyeofori, FICA said that the 

Institute is ready come November 

22, 2022 when the President will be 

in Lagos for the unveiling of NICA 

Bill. 

youths and promote Africa’s rich 

culture and heritage”. 

Sprite seeks to connect with its 

consumers through music and film 

that speaks to the heat in their lives, 

as it provides platforms with content 

from fearless artists/producers who 

take on the heat, using their 

creativity to make pieces that fans 

love and that speaks to them to 

create refreshing moments of clarity. 

On his part, the Chief Cinema 

Operating Officer of Filmhouse 

Cinemas, Dr. Onamari Horsefall 

said, “Black Panther is a story 

carved out of African culture and 

history. 

read more on www.vanguardngr.com 

StarTimes rolls out prizes as Beta Level Xmas promo kicks-off 

Lazarus Ibeabuchi said. 

“Christmas festivities are relishing moments we long 

for all through the year. Many families share this special 

period to unwind, recall, reunite, feast and refurbish their 

homes. StarTimes knows the importance of TV 

entertainment to nourish family bonding during this 

special season. Thus, we are giving families access to more 

enriching entertainment for less, as well as safe cost for 

them as we have dedicated home appliances and hygiene 

products to refurbish various homes,” Lazarus said. 

To liven up family fun moments during the festive period, 

StarTimes has also earmarked munchie content like Ile- 

Alayo season 3; intriguing telenovelas like Waves of Life; 

live world-class football matches; over five kiddies’ 

channels, and more on its over 95 TV channels. 

Mr Lazarus noted that StarTimes is committed to the 

well-being of its stakeholders. In 2022, StarTimes devoted 

resources to supporting the creative sector in Nigeria and 

Africa. The pay-tv embarked on collaborations with 

stakeholders in the creative sector - especially with the 

music and movie industries - to express its dedication 

towards the growth and continued success of the 

entertainment sector. 


Capacity Building: 9mobile trains 

journalists on the consequences of 

fake reporting 

Nigeria’s telecom service provider, 9mobile, recently held another 

impactful virtual capacity-building session for journalists, aimed at 

strengthening and equipping them with relevant skills to improve their 

work process and make them more efficient in their assignments. In 

attendance were journalists from both print and online news platforms. 

This sixth edition of the capacity building session focused on two distinctive 

themes: “Storytelling: Embracing features in new media facilitated by Digital 

Strategist and Founder, Hybrid Tech, Adeoye-Wilson Kupolati, and Fake 

News: Uncovering the truth” facilitated by News Editor/Political Analyst, 

Kayode Ladeinde and both imparted on the participants significantly. 

The Executive Director of Regulatory and Corporate Affairs at 9mobile, 

Abdulrahman Ado, represented by PR lead, 9mobile, Chineze Amanfo, while 

highlighting the importance of the themes, said, “Fake news is something 

that has become rampant in these times, making it more crucial to ask the 

question, how do we uncover fake news and separate the truth from mistruths? 

We are pleased that the facilitators for this training have the pedigree and 

experience to point us towards the right answers.” 

Amanfo noted that the knowledge imparted to the participants during the 

training would aid them to work smarter and even create room for 

collaboration with their colleagues seamlessly and professionally. She 

commended the journalists for their consistent participation in the training 

and said the session indeed lived up to the expectation. 

Ladeinde, in his presentation, educated participants on identifying 

elements of fake news and its sources. He shed more light on the negative 

impact fake news has had on society, admonishing media practitioners to 

be guided by the principles of the profession. He said, “Breaking news 

remains an essential ingredient in the journalism business; a misleading 

piece of news can cause a big damage and ultimately break the brand you 

may have worked hard to build”. read more on www.vanguardngr.com 

Awatt wins 2m at William Lawson’s 

first Naija Highlandah competition 

L-R: National Sales Manager, Olumagin Thomas, Bacardi-Martini Nigeria 

Limited; Project Lead, Chain Reactions Africa, Dixon Odukoya; Winner, The 

Naija Highlandah Challenge 2022, Akinwale Awatt, and Customer 

Marketing Manager, Bacardi-Martini Nigeria Limited, Lerato Makume at 

the Grand Finale of The NaijaHighlandah Challenge by William Lawson’s 

held in Surulere, Lagos. 

kinwale Awatt has conquered every obstacle, earned his kilt, and the 

Abragging rights as the first-ever Naija Highlandah champion, earning 

a trip to Scotland and a cash award of two million naira. The hunt by 

William Lawson’s for this coveted role began on October 6 and culminated 

on November 12 with the ultimate battle held at Surulere, Lagos. 

Fifteen contestants, made up of 13 males and two females proved their 

grit, heart, and wit, competing in tough challenges for the top spot during 

the competition held across Lagos State. William Lawson’s, the classic 

blend of empowering and daring scotch whiskey, was looking for the most 

brave, bold, and humorous person to represent the iconic Highlander this 

year. 

Congratulating the winner, Lerato Makume, Bacardi Marketing 

Manager in Nigeria, said, “We are proud of Awatt and are pleased to have 

him on board to be the first Naija Highlandah for William Lawson’s. Awatt 

embodies the qualities of William Lawson’s of bucking convention, setting 

your own rules, and being daringly different. Our customers enjoyed The 

Naija Highlandah Challenge, and we will surely be back.” 

Speaking after his win, Awatt said, “I want to thank William Lawson’s for 

giving me the chance to compete and take home the Naija Highlandah 

trophy. It has motivated many Nigerians, including myself, to come out in 

big numbers and to be their fearless selves. I am thrilled to be a part of it and 

looking forward to the trip to Scotland.” 

William Lawson’s gave Nigerians of legal drinking age exposure to the 

campaign at various outlets where they participated in exciting challenges 

for a chance to be one of the finalists to compete in the finale. The brave 

finalists who made the cut showed they were up for even more challenges, 

showing up at The Stables for their final opportunity to stand out from the 

rest and be named the ultimate Naija Highlandah. Guests who came in 

their numbers were entertained by star attractions, including the ‘Gongo 

Aso’ crooner, 9ice, Orezi, ARB Band, and many more. 

read more on www.vanguardngr.com 

L- R; Ekuma Eze, Director, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Nigerian 

Bottling Company (NBC); Alfred Olajide, Managing Director, Coca-Cola 

Nigeria; Matthieu Seguin, Managing Director, Nigerian Bottling Company; 

Vivian Ikem, Public & Regulatory Affairs Manager, Nigerian Bottling 

Company; Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, Director, Public Affairs, Communications 

&Sustainability, Coca-Cola Nigeria at the 28 th Nigerian Economic summit, 

held at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja on Tuesday 15 th November 2022.

28— SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 19, 2022 

EJIOFOR OB 

LUCKY ALEXANDER IKHILE 

ECHEWA NWOSU EG OMOKWAIGBE 

I, formerly known as MISS. The names LUCKY AKPEVWE I, formerly known as I, formerly known and I, formerly known and I, formerly known and 

VICTORIA IFEANYI STEPHANIE and LUCKY CELESTINE CHIKWADO. addressed as MISS IKHILE addressed as MISS addressed as MISS 

EJIOFOR. Now wish to be known AKPEVWE belongs to me as one Now wish to be known and GLORY now wish to be known ARUTOGHO FAITH now 

OMOKWAIGBE, FAITH now 

and addressed as MRS. and same person. Now wish to be addressed as ALEXANDER 

and addressed as MRS. wish to be known and addressed 

IKHILE NWAJEI GLORY as MRS. ECHEWA FAITH 

wish to be known and addressed 

VICTORIA IFEANYI OJEAH. known as LUCKY AKPEVWE CHIKWADO CELESTINE. 

ERUMOLOR. All former OGHALE. All former as MRS. ONORIAKPORE, 

All documents bearing my former STEPHANIE. All documents All documents bearing my documents remain valid. documents remain valid. FAITH. All former documents 

name remain valid. General public bearing any of the names remain former name remain valid. General public please take General public please take remain valid. General public 

take. 

valid. General public take note. General public take note. note. 

note. 

please take note. 

ADEYEMI 

This is to inform general public 

that Adeyemi Taiwo Oluwaseun 

and Emiabata-Adeyemi Taiwo 

Oluwaseun are bear by same 

person. Henceforth wish to be 

address as Emiabata-Adeyemi 

Taiwo Oluwaseun. All documents 

remain valid. General public take 

note. 

AMADI OB 

MOHAMMED OLAIDE 

I, ADAMU MUHAMMAD and I, formerly known as Grace 

ADAMU MOHAMMED is one Abosede Akinboboye now 

and the same person. But now wish wish to be known and addressed 

to be known and addressed as as OLAIDE OGUN. All 

ADAMU MOHAMMED. All former documents remain 

former documents remain valid. valid. General public, please 

General public should please note. take note. 

ADEOLA 

OYAWIRI 

AMRORE 

I, formerly known as MISS IWUJI 

ANNE UGOCHINYERE now 


as MRS. AMADI ANNE 

UGOCHINYERE. All former 

documents remain valid. General 

public, please take note. 

I Formerly known and addressed 

as MISS ADEOLA ENIOLA 

EDEGBUWAGUN now wish to 

be known and addressed as MRS. 

AFOKEOGHENE ADEOLA 

ADEGBUWAGUN henceforth all 

former documents remain valid. 

General public take note 

SUNDAY 

IHUNYERA 

LETICIA 

JOHN 

I, formerly known called and 

addressed as Miss MABEL 

JOSEPH JOHN. now wish to be 

known and addressed as Mrs. 

MABEL FRITZ YOOS. All 

former documents remain 

valid. General public take note. 

EVANS 

OBAHOR 

ADEYEMI 

This is to inform general public 

that Adeyemi Kehinde Oluwaseyi 

and Emiabata-Adeyemi Kehinde 

Oluwaseyi are bear by same 

person. Henceforth wish to be 

address as Emiabata- Adeyemi 

Kehinde Oluwaseyi. All documents 


note. 


as MISS OKORHI VIOLET 

ESEOGHENE now wish to be 

known and addressed as MRS. 

OYAWIRI VIOLET 

ESEOGHENE henceforth all former 


public take note 

IWUEKE 

I, formerly known and addressed 

as Chizomam Gloria Iwueke, now 


as Chizomam Gloria Iwueke- 

Emecheta. All former document 

remain valid. Banks, concerned 

authorities and general public 

should please take note. 

FREEMAN 

UDEAGBALA 

EBERE 

IREDIA 

AGBI 


as Miss. AGBI Taiwo 

Deborah.Now wish to be known 

and addressed as Mrs. CHUKWU 

Taiwo Deborah. All former 

documents remain Valid. The 

general public should please take 

note. 


as MISS AMRORE 

EJOVWOKE, now wish to be 


AKPOWEVWE EJOVWOKE 

henceforth all former documents 


note 

SAMUEL UKPONG WILLIAM 

I, Formerly known and I, formerly known and addressed This is to certify and confirm that 

addressed as SAMUEL as UKPONG, TOYIN SUNDAY UKUT-ABASI EDET 

ROSELINE, now wish to be 

WILLIAMS ANWANA AND 

now wish to be know and 

WILLIAM ANWANA is one 

known and addressed as addressed as SHONDE 

and same person but henceforth 

OJIRIKE ROSELINE. All CHRISTIANA TOYIN. All wish to be known and addressed 

former documents remain documents bearing former name as WILLIAM EDET ANWANA 

valid, General public and remain valid. Maritime Academy .All former documents remain valid 

authority concerned please of Nigeria and the General Public General public and authority 

take note. 

should take note. 

concerned please take note. 


as SUNDAY DESTINY 

MABEL, now wish to be known 

and addressed as AKPAGBUE 

DESTINY MABEL. All former 

document remain valid. Banks, 

concerned authorities and general 

public should please take note. 

I, Formerly known and called 

as IHUNYERA JENNIFER 

CHIDERA now wish to be known 

and addressed as NWABUGWU 

JENNIFER CHIDERA. 

All former documents remain 

valid, any authority it may concern 

and the general public to take note. 


as Miss Ogonna Chikodili Leticia 

Okolo, now wish to be known and 

address as Mrs. Ogonna Chikodili 

Osita-Okoli. All former documents 

remain valid. Anambra State 

Government and general public to 

note. 

I, formerly known as MISS 

DEBORAH NMA EVANS, now 


as MRS. DEBORAH NMA 

OKOROAFOR. All former 

documents remain valid. Banks, 

NYSC and general public should 

take note. 


OBAHOR EMONENA JULIA, 

now wish to be known and 

addressed as MRS BEN- 

IWHIWHU EMONENA JULIA. 

All former documents remain 

valid. Concerned authorities and 

general public should take note. 

OSOGWU 


as MISS SANDRA 

CHIAMAKA OSOGWU, now 


as MRS. SANDRA 

CHIAMAKA NWANERI. All 

former document remain valid. 

Banks, concerned authorities and 


note. 

POINTAUS 

OKONTA 

I, formerly known as Miss 

Okonta Iheoma, now wish to 

be known and addressed as Mrs 

Hilary Iheoma. All former 

documents remain valid. 

Concerned authorities and 

general public should take 

note. 

ANEGBODE 

EGEJURU 

MAGAJ OD 

AMADI 

UGOCHI OFOUWINOR TENUMAH 

I formerly known and addressed as 

MISS EGBEBIKE UGOCHI 

CHRISPINA. Now wish to be 

known and addressed as MRS 

NJOKU UGOCHI CHRISPINA. 

All documents bearing my former 

name remains valid. General public, 

Bank and Relevant Authorities 


I, formerly Miss Freeman 

Chantale Sherill now wish to 

be known as Mrs Ahamuefule 

Chantale Sherill. All former 


General public take note. 

I, formerly known called and 

addressed as UDEAGBALA 

CHINENYE VIVIAN. now 


as OBABUEKI CHINENYE 

VIVIAN. All former documents 


note. 

I, formerly known as UGWUEJE 

SAMUEL CHINEMEZU, now 


as UGWUEJE SAMUEL 

EBERE. All former documents 

remain valid. Concerned 

authorities and general public 

should take note. 

I, formerly known as IREDIA 

VIVIAN ESE, now wish to be 

known and addressed as ODIASE 

ATEWE VIVIAN. All former 


Concerned authorities and general 

public should take note. 


as MISS. OFOUWINOR. 

ESTHER. Now wish to be known 

and addressed as MRS. 

WURUSIBEWEI. ESTHER. All 

former documents remain valid 

general public please take note 

OKWUEGO 

I formerly known and 

addressed as OKWUEGO 

CHINEMEREM CYNTHIA 


addressed as EGBUCHULEM 

CHINEMEREM CYNTHIA. 

Former documents remain 

valid. General public take note. 

This is to confirm that the name: 

OFORMA ONYEBUCHI 

CHUKWUMA POINTAUS 

PASCHAL and OFORMA 

ONYEBUCHI CHUKWUMA 

refer to me.I now wish to be known 

as OFORMA ONYEBUCHI 

CHUKWUMA. All formal 


public please take note. 

I, FORMERLY KNOWN AND 

ADDRESSED AS MISS. 

OSAZENAYE JUSTINA NOW 

WISH TO BE ADDRESS AS MRS. 

ANEGBODE JUSTINA 

AGHAMA. ALL FORMER 

DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. 

CONCERN AUTHORITIES AND 

GENERAL PUBLIC TAKE NOTE. 


as Miss. EGEJURU Gift 

Akumefuna. Now wish to be known 

and addressed as Mrs.OBINOZIE 

Gift Akumefuna. All former 

documents remain Valid. The 


note. 

EBUKA 

MUSA 

I formerly known and 

addressed as SEKINETU 

ESIOVWA now wish to be 

known and addressed as 

SEKINETU OMOLEGHO 

MUSA. All former documents 

remain valid, general public 


NWANGWEREN 


Nwangweren Joy Ifeyinwa, 


addressed as Mrs Igwaran Joy 

Ifeyinwa. All former 




note. 

AGBOMAH 

I, formerly known as MISS. 

AGBOMAH HILDA KWENE. 

Now wish to be Known, called 


AKOGWU HILDA KWENE. All 


Concerned Authorities, Banks, 

NIN and General public should 


IKPIN 


as Miss. GLORY FRANCIS 

IKPIN, Now wish to be known 

and addressed as Mrs. GLORY 

JOSHUA AKPAKPAN. All 

former documents remain Valid. 

The general public should please 

take note. 

CHIMA 

OKWOR 

OZEGHE 

MBAKWE 

AMOKE 

I, formerly known as 

ABDULSALAM KAFAYAT 

AMOKE, now wish to be 

known as ADELEKE 

ABDULSALAM KAFAYAT 

AMOKE. All former 


General public take note. 

NKWOR 


Nkwor Ugo, now wish to be 

known and addressed as Mrs 

Onyeisi Ugo. All former 




note. 

ASABOR 

GOGO 

NJOKU NWOSU EG BASHIR 

I, formerly known as CYOGO 


ONYINYE EMMANUELLA 

VICTORIA ONYINYE, now 

NJOKU, now wish to be 



as GOGO VICTORIA ONYINYE EMMANUELLA 

ONYINYE. All former NWAPA. All former 

documents remain valid. documents remain valid. 

General public, please take General public, please take 

note. 

note. 

IKOYO OD 

ONOS 

ODIVWRI 

I Formerly known and 

addressed as ESTHER 

IKOYO now wish to be known 

and addressed as ESTHER 

EFEDAYE henceforth all 


valid. General public take note 

I, Formerly known and addressed 

as ABDURASHED ALASAN, 


addressed as ALASAN 

ABDURASHED MAGAJ. All 

former documents remain valid, 

General public and authority 

concerned please take note. 


as AMADI MARYANN 

CHINAZAEKPERE, now wish to 

be known and addressed as 

AHAIWE MARYANN 

CHINAZAEKPERE. All former 

document remain valid. Banks, 

concerned authorities and general 

public should please take note. 

I formerly known and addressed as 

Miss TENUMAH RITA. Now 

wish to be Known and addressed 

as Mrs OSIEBE RITA ALERO. 

All former document remain vaild. 

General public, banks and 

concerned institution should 

please take note 


as EZENWUBA EBUKA 

THEOPHILUS now wish to be 


E Z E N W U B A 

C H U K W U E B U K A 

THEOPHILUS. All former 


public please take note. 


as MISS OBEHI 

AZEKHUMHEN now wish to be 


OBEHI ONOS OJAREGOR 



note 

I, Formerly known and addressed 

as Miss Chima Chidinma 

Maranatha, now wish to be known 

and addressed as : Mrs Ajigboye 

Chidinma Maranatha. All former 

documents remain valid, General 

public and authority concerned 


I formerly known and addressed 

as OKWOR & OR NNAMANI 

BIBIAN IFEYINWA but now 


as MRS. EZE BIBIAN 

IFEYINWA. All former 

documents remain valid, 

ENSBUEB, FEDERAL 

REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA , 

general public take note. 


as MISS. OZEGHE 

OGHENENENYEROWO Now 


as MRS. ELOHOR FAVOUR 

OGHENEYEROVWO. All former 

documents remain valid general 

public please take note 


as MISS MBAKWE 

MUNACHI SILVERPET now 


as MRS ONUOHA MBAKWE 

MUNACHI SILVERPET. All 


valid.General public take note. 

OKOM 

I, formerly known as MISS. 

OKOM SANDRA. Now wish to 

be Known, called and addressed 

as MRS. UCHE ASHIONYE 

SANDRA. All former documents 

remain valid. Concerned 

Authorities, Banks, NIN and 

General public should please take 

note. 

I, formerly known as ONOME 

SUCCESS ASABOR now wish 

to be known and called MRS 

ONOME SUCCESS 

OJARIKRE. All former documents 

remain valid. The general public 

and to whom it may concern 



Abdulwakeel Nafisat Abike, 


addressed as Bashir Nafisat 

Abike. All former documents 

remain valid. General public, 



as MISS ODIVWRI VIVIAN 

AFOKE now wish to be known 


EMUOBOSA VIVIAN AFOKE 



note 

OKPOSIO 

I , formaly known and addressed 

as OKPOSIO Esther Onome, 

Now wish to be known and 

addressed as ADEOTI Esther 

Onome. All former documents 

remain valid. The general public 


EDEGBE 


ANTHONIA OMORAGBON, 


addressed as MRS. 

ANTHONIA EDEGBE. All 


valid. The general public please 

take note. 

PATRICK 


addressed as: Samson Etuoma 

Now wish to be known and 

addressed as: SAMSON 

ETUOMA PATRICK. All 


valid general public please take 

note 

ODIMEGHA 

I, formerly known and 

addressed as MISS 

OKENYEHIKE PROSPER 


addressed as MRS 

ODIMEGHA PROSPER. All 


valid.General public take note. 

CHINEDU 


addressed as MR. CHINEDU 

OGBU. Now wish to be known 

and addressed as MR. 

CHINEDU JOSEPH OGBU. 

All former documents remains 

valid. General public please 

take note. 

OKORODUDU 


OYIVWI VIVIAN ESE, now 


as MRS. OKORODUDU 

VIVIAN ESE. All former 




note. 

EZEDOM PEACE 

I, formerly known as IDAHOSA 

NJIDE SOPHIA. Now wish to be 

Known, called and addressed as 

IDAHOSA NJIDE PEACE. All 


Concerned Authorities, Banks, 

NIN and General public should 

please take note.

C 

M 

Y 

K 

08116759759 

Man completes marathon in 

three and a half hours while 

chain smoking cigarettes 

Amarathon runner known 

as ‘Uncle Chen’ chainsmoked 

cigarettes for the 

entire 26-mile run – and broke 

his own personal record. 

Chen, aged 50, completed the 

Xin’anjiang Marathon in 

Jiande, China, two weeks ago. 

He came 574th out of 1,500 

runners with the impressive 

time of 3 hours, 28 minutes and 

45 seconds. 

This beats his previous times 

of 3 hours and 36 minutes in 

2018, and 3 hours and 32 

minutes in 2019 – which he also 

did while lighting up. 

Within running circles he is 

known as the ‘Smoking 

Brother’ after doing the same 

back in 2017 at an event in 

Hangzhou city. 

His smoking habit has 

clearly not held the 50-year-old 

back, 

as he has also 

competed in 

ultramarathons. 

As there is no 

known record 

of someone 

completing a 

marathon with 

a packet of 

cigarettes, 

Chen may be 

the fastest ever 

runner to 

complete a 

race while 

c h a i n 

smoking. 

There are 

currently no 

rules prohibiting marathon runners 

from smoking. 

Images of Chen were posted on 

popular Chinese social media app 

Weibo, where some were frustrated 

he was allowed to smoke throughout 

the race. 

One commented: ‘This type of 

behaviour 

should be 

banned 

from the 

race.’ 

Another 

said: ‘I feel 

bad for the 

runners 

around 

him.’ 

But some 

found it 

hilarious 

that he was 

able to run 

the long 

distance 

w h i l e 

inhaling 

cigarette 

smoke. 

‘So this is 

what peak 

performance 

looks like,’ 

joked one 

Instagram 

user. 

Other 

called him 

their ‘hero’, 

saying 

‘watch him 

as he 

smokes’. 


Villagers cut open huge 22ft python 

to find missing grandma inside 

grandmother’s loved 

A ones worst fears were 

confirmed after her remains 

were found inside a 22 foot 

long snake in Indonesia. 

Her grim death at the hands of 

the monster python was revealed 

after villagers cut the serpent’s 

bulging belly open. 

The family of Jahrah, 54, had 

become worried last week after she 

disappeared while collecting rubber 

from a plantation in Jambi province. 

It is thought that she was likely 

swallowed whole after being bitten 

and suffocated to death. 

Now villagers in the Tanjung 

Jabung Barat regency are on edge 

after a number of other giant 

reticulated python have been 

spotted in the area. 

After she failed to return last 

Friday night, relatives called the 

emergency services, who began 

searching woodland. 

By Sunday morning, horrified 

locals had found the enormous 

snake stretched out in a clearing 

with its stomach bulging. 

Grim pictures and 

video show their fears 

being confirmed when 

they cut open the 

animal to discover the 

petite grandmother’s 

remains curled up inside 

her. 

Residents carrying 

machetes and sticks 

were seen in crowds at 

the scene. 

Footage shows one 

man striking the reptile 

with a stick before it is 

trapped. 

The animal’s 

chopped up remains 

were then put in a 

bag after being 

covered with a 

tarpaulin. 

Anto, Head of the 

Terjun Gajah village 

where Jahrah lived, 

said the snake is 

believed to have 

attacked Jahrah by 

biting her and then 

wrapping itself 

around her to 

suffocate her. 

She was then 

eaten in a grim 

ordeal that would have taken at least 

two hours from her head to her toes. 

The official added: ‘Residents killed the 

snake and dissected its stomach 

contents. 

‘Everyone was astonished. 

‘It turned out that the woman we were 

looking for was in the snake’s stomach.’ 

Anto said no residents witnessed 

when Jahrah was eaten by a snake as 

she went to the garden alone. 

He said that the atmosphere in his 

village was now tense because a number 

of giant pythons have been seen in the 

village. 

Previously residents tried to catch a 

snake that was longer, allegedly 

measuring around 27ft. 

But its enormous size meant they 

could not capture it. 

Anto continued: ‘Previously there 

were three people who found and tried 

to catch a 27ft long snake, but failed. 

‘Villagers are now worried that bigger 

snakes are still in the forest.

30 — SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 19, 2022

It is Saturday, November 19, 2022. 

Tomorrow, the 2022 FIFA World Cup will kick-off. 

Qatar is on my mind. 

I have a message for all Africans, particularly 

Nigerians. 

The population of the world hit the 8 billion-mark only a few days ago. Easily, 

half this population will have their eyes rivetted on Qatar, a country of 

less than 3 million people that has opened it doors to welcome an estimated 

2 million visitors to the biggest single sports 

event in the world. Qatar becomes the smallest 

country, and the first in the Middle East, to 

host the FIFA World Cup. 

In a strategic ‘building up to’ effort, Qatar 

developed a soft power strategy that rests 

on the pillars of “the hosting of sports events, 

overseas sports investments, and leveraging 

domestic excellence”. 

Over a 23-years period, the country 

organised over 30 regional and international 

sports events to prepare itself for this 

moment, and to earn its seat at the Table of 

Civilisations as one of the world’s foremost 

cultural, business, sports and tourism 

destinations. 

For Qatar 2022, the country, with an area 

less than the size of Lagos State in Nigeria, 

built 8 magnificent Stadia within a radius 

of 55 kilometres, and defeated some of 

the most powerful nations on earth (the 

USA and Japan) to the rights to host the 

biggest, most glamourous, most lucrative 

and most powerful, non-political, single 

sports event on earth. 

On paper, it was an ‘impossible’ feat. 

Yet, here we are, witnesses to the stark 

reality unfolding before our eyes. 

How did Qatar do it? Why did it go to 

extra-ordinary lengths to shatter all 

known norms in earning the hosting rights 

to the FIFA World Cup? This is an Arab 

country that had never participated in the 

World Cup in its history, and had little 

credentials of significance in football to 

host the event. Even the man who 

superintended over the choice of Qatar 

on December 2, 2010, in South Africa, 

former disgraced President of FIFA, Mr. 

Sepp Blatter, has admitted, on the eve 

of Qatar 2022, that ‘it was a big mistake’. 

The world knew that corruption has 

been deeply-rooted in FIFA’s story since 

Joao Havelange brought big business into 

football, but it is Qatar 2022 that pried 

open its underbelly, revealing the 

organisation’s dark and secretive side plus 

the unbridled power it wielded. 

All Stars converge 

on Abidjan for 

CANEX 2022 

he Creative Africa Nexus Weekend (CANEX 

TWKND) 2022 is primed for a thrilling climax 

following the unveiling of the star cast of artistes 

that would be performing on the last day at the 

three-day summit. 

The all-star line-up, specially curated by the All 

Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA and CANEX 

WKND aims to showcase the diversity of talent 

from across the continent, with an important nod 

to the diaspora. 

Artists representing the various regions of Africa 

will bring their star talent and energy to the closing 

event of what promises to be a historic time out for 

Africa’s creative sector. 

Leading the line of those to thrill the participants 

and the continent at large is Julian Marley, son of 

the legendary Bob Marley alongside multiple 

award winning Nigerian afro-pop singer, Yemi 

Alade. 

Others include Josey (Côte d’Ivoire), Nandy 

(Tanzania), Nadia Nakai (South Africa), Suspect 

95 (Cote d’Ivoire), Didi B (Côte d’Ivoire) and DJ 

Mohgreen (Morocco/ France) 

Toofan, Blinky Bill, Ayodele, The Cavemen, 

Elaine, and Oswald Kouamé et N’Zassa Music 

will also be performing according to the organisers. 

CANEX WKND 2022, is billed 

to come up from 25 – 27 

November 2022 in 

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. 

It will be a three-day 

gathering of creatives, 

investors, industry 

leaders, creative industry 

businesses and 

g o v e r n m e n t 

representatives, with a 

strong focus on sharing 

skills and best practices from 

sectors across Africa’s 

creative and 

cultural industries. 

Qatar 2022 and Africa in a New 

World Order! 

The alleged sleaze involved in awarding 

the World Cup to Qatar may have precipitated 

the collapse of the old FIFA empire and birthed 

a new one under Giovani Infantino. But that is 

not my interest here and now. 

I have been admiring the spirit and 

motivation of those that foresaw a future for 

Qatar and strategically deployed soft power 

tools to make it the new centre of the 

‘universe’, the world’s new tourist capital, 

an oasis in the Arabian desert that will 

have 4 billion eyes trained on it for the 

next 30 days, at least. This is at a dark 

period in human history, with the 

Russian/Ukraine war polarising the 

world and posing the greatest threat to 

global peace. The first real threat of a 

Nuclear conflagration since the Second 

World War, lurks dangerously 

Yet Qatar 2022 will go on, and will 

offer the world a Truce, a period of 

restrained (psychological and physical) 

for the people of the earth to enjoy their 

beautiful game. That is power! 

For the next 30 days, teams from 32 of 

the 207 countries that started the 

‘journey’ to Qatar 2022 in 2020, will 

set aside, to some extent, the political, 

religious, economic, cultural and social 

differences between their countries as 

the world’s best football superstars put 

on the spectacle that will dominate all 

other interests on the planet in the 

unique drama of the World Cup. That is 

power! 

Think about it – what we are 

witnessing today is a simple game that 

has the full attention of the world in its 

ith the World Cup kicking off at the 

Wweekend, most teams are raring to 

go in Qatar and simply waiting for that 

first whistle of their first game. And while 

the USMNT has plenty to look forward 

to in a difficult Group B, Adams revealed 

that they aren’t quite 100% ready just yet, 

with a captain still to be named. 

When asked about who would be 

taking the armband, the midfielder 

admitted: “We have no idea who the 

captain is going to be yet.” 

Crucially, though, he added that a 

number of players feel comfortable and 

confident about the prospect of leading 

out the team. 

Gregg Berhalter’s side heads into 

Qatar shouldering the hopes of a nation 

that hasn’t been to a World Cup since 

2014. Adams himself is now a Premier 

League regular with Leeds United and 

could be named captain himself, as 

could Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic and 

Nashville’s Walker Zimmerman. 


grip. That is power! 

I have read an article in The Guardian of 

December 3, 2010, by Hassan Al-Thawadi, 

secretary-general of the Qatar Supreme 

Committee for Delivery and Legacy. It 

explains Qatar’s motivation for hosting the 

World Cup: ”a platform to open up the gates 

of communication between Qatar and the rest 

of the world, in order to showcase the former’s 

economic and cultural distinctiveness”. 

I am also reading the works of Paul 

Michael Brannagan, a scholar specialising 

in the study of major global events. His 

revealing publications include Leisure 

Studies, Global Society, Diplomacy and 

Statecraft and International Affairs, as well 

as Entering the Global Arena: Emerging 

States, Soft Power Strategies and Sports Mega- 

Events (2019) works that are getting me even 

more intrigued by an unrelated concept and 

project sprouting in Nigeria. 

I am excited. 

I have decided to cede the rest of this column 

to publish a one-page concept note that is 

mushrooming in the Sports and Diplomacy 

unit at the Nigerian Institute of International 

Affairs, the official policy think-tank of the 

Federal Government of Nigeria on 

international relations and foreign affairs. 

It reads: 

On October 20, 2022, Professor A. Bolaji 

Akinyemi, a former Minister of External 

Affairs of Nigeria, and former Director- 

General of the Nigeria institute of 

International Affairs, NIIA, delivered a 

lecture at the NIIA titled “Towards A New 

World Order”. 

The paper was insightful. It served notice 

of the inevitability of the emergence of a realignment 

of political, economic and social 

powers in a New World Order in the aftermath, 

Qatar 2022 World Cup boosts Showmax Pro fortunes 

s Showmax Pro ramps up for its 

Abiggest broadcasting event yet – the FIFA World Cup Qatar, 

where all 64 matches will be streamed live, courtesy of 

SuperSport, the African streaming service has just announced 

a 111% year-on-year growth. 

Showmax Pro is a streaming service available for subscribers 

in Africa that bundles the existing Showmax entertainment 

offering with music channels, news, and live sports streaming 

from SuperSport. 

For the first time since the platform was launched in 2020, 

Showmax Pro will offer a 4K streaming experience to subscribers 

for the World Cup, the biggest sports tournament in the world, 

scheduled to start tomorrow. 

The 4K stream will have up to 50 frames per second (fps), 

double the standard 25 frames per second (fps). Successful 4K 

tests have already taken place on selected Premier League 

matches. Showmax made history by becoming the first streaming 

service in Africa to make mobile downloads possible for offline 

viewing and launched the lowest data streaming option in Africa 

last year on iOS devices, a feature that will help fans not to miss 

out on any of their favourite matches. 

Speaking on the game’s debut, Barry Dubovsky, Chief 

Operating Officer of MultiChoice Connected Video said: “We’re 

offering our sports fans the opportunity to watch the world’s 

greatest sports spectacle in 4K, at an exceptional price point. 

This time of year is all about bringing communities together, 

through sport and entertainment.” 

US team has ‘no idea’ who will 

be captain at World Cup —Adams 

particularly, of the Ukraine/Russian War that 

has, once again, polarised the world. 

Africa will be impacted and affected as the 

world enters a new era in global affairs with 

new challenges, new possibilities and new 

opportunities on offer. 

In Professor Akinyemi’s words: ”what we 

should focus on now is the need for Africa to 

promote a common position on issues that 

will form the agenda of the new world order. 

Firstly, Africa must make sure it speaks with 

one voice, and on its own steam rather than 

as an adjunct of any power. This is going to 

be difficult. France is still embedded in 

Africa and through its surrogates could 

influence the direction of African policies 

which claim to speak for Africa”. 

In short, Africa needs to come together in a 

common front and with a unified agenda to 

have any say in the re-alignments that will 

take place. 

Many years earlier, Nelson Mandela had 

also said: ”Sport has the power to change 

the world”. 

He also said: ”The world will not respect 

Africa until Nigeria earns that respect. The 

Black people of the world need Nigeria to 

be great as a source of pride and 

confidence”. 

In short, Mandela identified Nigeria as the 

authentic African ‘personality’ to lead Africa 

when the global ‘power-sharing’ starts. And 

that sport is a powerful tool. 

Professor PLO Lumumba also puts it nicely 

and aptly when he suggested during one of his 

recent lectures that Africa must now choose 

between being the ‘Waiter’ at the Table of 

Civilisations (as it has been for 5 Centuries, 

picking crumbs), or being a ‘Diner’, like the 

others, partaking in eating the main meal. 

Africa’s choice in Lumumba’s illustration 

is apt. At the same time, however, the continent 

will not simply be handed a seat at the table 

and a partnership on a platter. That has not 

happened in 5 Centuries. It is not about to 

happen now. The continent will have to earn 

it. 

How to do so is what ‘The 

Conversations’ series set out to achieve? 

The 3rd in The Conversations 

Series takes place in Lagos on December 15, 

2022, towards the tail-end of the World Cup. 

Nigeria shall be drinking lavishly from the 

fountain of Qatar 2022 to birth a new soft 

power concept and strategy that shall give 

Africa a comfortable seat as a Diner when 

new global powers meet at the Table of 

Civilisation to discuss a New World Order. 

Mark that date. 

500 athletes to compete in GCU Invitational Relays 

By Jacob Ajom 

T he 4th edition of Government College Ughelli 

annual Intercollegiate Invitational Athletics 

Competition {GCU Relays} hold today with over 

500 student athletes from over 60 secondary 

participating. 

Speaking on the event, President General of 

GCUOBA, Worldwide, Arc Charles Majoro said 

the cardinal objectives of the GCU Relays, is to 

project the products of the previous editions and 

the future of the Games, whilst emphasizing the 

need for stricter code of conduct, high level of 

discipline and zero tolerance for mercenary student 

athletes. 

“The Relays engender discipline and competition 

in a beautiful environment, in line with our motto: 

a sound mind in a sound body. 

“We have modern tartan tracks so they will be 

competing in an environment and a surface that 

one can get anywhere in the world.” 

As usual, Majoro named this year’s GCU 

Relays Ambassadors as Ojukwu and Ruks Bazunu 

Sale of beer with alcohol banned at 

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums 

The sale of all beer with 

alcohol at the eight World 

Cup stadiums was 

banned Friday, only two days 

before the soccer tournament is 

set to start. Non-alcoholic beer 

will still be sold at the 64 matches 

in the country. 

"Following discussions between 

host country authorities and 

FIFA, a decision has been made 

to focus the sale of alcoholic 

beverages on the FIFA Fan 

Festival, other fan destinations 

and licensed venues, removing 

sales points of beer from ... 

stadium perimeters," FIFA said in 

a statement. 

Champagne, wine, whiskey 

and other alcohol is still expected 

to be served in the luxury 

hospitality areas of the stadiums. 

Outside of those places, beer is 

normally the only alcohol sold to 

regular ticket holders. 

Ab InBev, the parent company 

of World Cup beer 

sponsor Budweiser, did not 

immediately respond to a request 

for comment. 

AB InBev pays tens of millions 

of dollars at each World Cup for 

exclusive rights to sell beer and 

has already shipped the majority 

of its stock from Britain to Qatar 

in expectation of selling its product 

to millions of fans. The company's 

partnership with FIFA started at 

the 1986 tournament and they are 

in negotiations for renewing their 

deal for the next World Cup in 

North America. 

While a sudden decision like this 

may seem extreme in the 

West, Qatar is an autocracy 

governed by a hereditary emir, who 

has absolute say over all 

governmental decisions. 

Qatar, an energy-rich Gulf Arab 

country, 

follows an 

ultraconservative form of Islam 

known as Wahhabism like 

neighboring Saudi Arabia. 

However, alcohol sales have been 

permitted in hotel bars for years. 

Qatar's government and its 

Supreme Committee for Delivery 

and Legacy did not immediately 

respond to request for comment. 

Already, the tournament has seen 

Qatar change the date of the 

opening match only weeks before 

the World Cup began. 

When Qatar launched its bid to 

host the World Cup, the country 

agreed to FIFA's requirements of 

selling alcohol in stadiums, and 

again when signing contracts after 

winning the vote in 2010. 

who, he said, “have key roles to play at the Meet”. 

H recalled,” only last week Ojukwu was at the 

College where he joined the training session of 

the GCU Team”. 

He promised, “this year’s edition will be funfilled, 

higher performances levels and lasting 

memories for the school athletes. 

“We shall commence with the pre event and 

arrival cocktail, followed by the evening of Special 

Dinner, Wine and Music to be concluded on the 

Final Day with the Burn – Fire,” Majoroh disclosed. 

Interestingly, GCU Relays co-Ambassador 

Bazunu has promised the best male and female 

athletes of the meet a surprise package, just as 

they benefitted from a year’s scholarship in the 

past. 

Ruks Bazunu ruled School Boys athletes in the 

sixties whilst featuring for GCU in most Grier cup 

competition. 

The chairman of the Local Organising 

Committee, Ejiro Omonode also assured that 

everything has been put in place to ensure a hitchfree 

meet. “We are ready to welcome all to the 

meet.”

C 

M 

Y 

K 

SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 19, 2022 

CROSS WORD PUZZLE 

SOLUTION ON PAGE7 

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

Advert Dept Hotline: 01-4544821. Abuja Advert Hotline: 09-2921024. E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Advert:advertproduction@yahoo.com 

Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X). EDITOR: ONOCHIE ANIBEZE. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

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