16 2023: Zoning APC summons Lai Mohammed, 14

presidency to accuses him of anti-party activities

It’s utterly short-sighted to be South not a 14
deepening Nigeria’s fossil-fuel
‘must’ —ZULUM Buhari exhibits poor skills in
dependency just as the world is
turning to net zero carbon! •Explains why open
grazing ban won’t work 9
managing diversity – COL UMAR
Nigeria faces six-year delay in achieving SDGs —IMF 19

VOL. 27: NO. 642369 THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021

Budget 2022: FG to fund 9

N5.62trn deficit with loans

As FEC okays 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, and Fiscal Strategy
Paper, FSP, okays N16bn erosion control contracts under Ecological Fund Provides key
budget assumptions Senate approves Buhari’s N2.343 trn external borrowing request —P8
CONDOLENCE VISIT...
NYSC:
Court
clears ex-
Finance
Minister,
Adeosun 8
Grazing
Routes:
Buhari’s
directive,
The Board and Management of Access Bank Plc paid a condolence visit to the Aig-Imoukhuede family over the death of Pastor Emily
Okhenren Aig-Imoukhuede, yesterday in Lagos. SITTING, from left, Mobolaji Balogun; Roosevelt Ogbonna (Group DMD, Access
empty order,
Bank; Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede; Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede (deceased's son); Ajoritsedere Awosika, Chairman, Access Bank; Frank
Aig-Imoukhuede (widower); Herbert Wigwe, GMD/CEO, Access Bank; Erekpitan Ola-Adisa (deceased's daughter); and Executive
says ex-NBA
Directors — Victor Etuokwu and Chizoma Okoli. STANDING, from left, Mrs Mfon Usoro; Ifeyinwa Osime, Independent Non-Executive
Director; Uloma Ike; Gregory Jobome, Executive Director; Ojinika Olaghere; Iboroma Akpana, Independent Non-Executive Director;
president,
Omosalewa Fajobi, Non-Executive Director; Adeniyi Adekoya, Independent Non-Executive Director; Oluseyi Kumapayi, Executive
Director; Okey Nwuke, Non-Executive Director; Adeolu Bajomo, Executive Director; Amaechi Okobi, Group Head Corporate
Daudu 60
Communications and Sunday Ekwochi, Company Secretary.
Mr & Mrs
Tough times await airlines over
flight delays, cancellations 5
7,554 domestic flights delayed in Q1’2021 out of 14,662
Tougher regulations, sanctions on the way — NCAA, FCCPC
Kidnappers of Tegina PDP lawmakers back Southern govs, 8
pupils reduce ransom to
N50m, 6 weeks after 6 reject bids to manipulate electoral bill
COLUMNISTS AMAECHI 17 SEE
INSIDE
2 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 3
4 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021

Tough times await airlines over
flight delays, cancellations
7,554 domestic flights delayed in Q1’2021 out of 14,662
Tougher regulations, sanctions on the way — NCAA, FCCPC
By Lawani Mikairu
A IRLINES operating
in Nigeria may be in
for tough times over flight
delays and cancellations,
as the regulatory agency,
the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority, NCAA, and Fed-
eral Competition and Con-
sumer Protection Commis-
sion, FCCPC, bare their
fangs.
Both federal agencies
have resolved to put a stop
to the phenomenon which
has over time, set airlines
against their customers,
and the strict regulations
may come sooner than ex-
pected.
Vanguard learned that a
Memorandum of Under-
standing, MoU, between
them on a new sanctions
regime would soon be re-
leased to stakeholders.
Of the 14,662 domestic
flights operated in the
President Muhammadu Buhari (left) assisted by the wife of the Chief of
Army Staff, Mrs. Salamatu Yahaya in decorating the Chief of Army Staff,
Farouk Yahaya with his new rank of Lieutenant General at the Presidential
Villa in Abuja. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.
I think the Federal
Government should
have invited him for
questioning which I
think he will honour.
Invading his residence
in the night is not
right, it’s like
kidnapping and I was
also surprised that the
governor of the state
was not briefed about
the invasion.
—Dare Shodipo,
Businessman
vanguardnews
country in the first quarter
of this year, 7,554 were de-
layed.
Although the searchlight
is now being beamed on
operators, passengers have
also been blamed for not
reporting to the Consumer
Protection Department de-
lays and infractions suffered
in the hands of the opera-
tors.
Industry regulator, Niger-
ia Civil Aviation Authority,
NCAA, told Vanguard that
airlines who failed to pay
adequate compensations to
delayed passengers were
constantly being sanc-
tioned, warning that the
sanctions will be tougher,
henceforth, if they failed to
raise their game.
Sanctions for
defaulting
airlines
On invasion of Sunday Igboho's house by DSS
T he g o v e r n m e n t
should treat
e v e r y o n e e q u a l l y. I
wonder why the
government is chasing
Sunday Igboho, but is
negotiating and
granting amnesty to
bandits and terrorists.
Why is it that those
who are committing
crime in Nigeria are
not getting this kind of
treatment, invasion by
the DSS?
—Oluwatobi Iwalokun
Before now, sanctions
such as fines and revoca-
tion of operating licences
were imposed on default-
ers, depending on what
the regulations says in
NCAA Act. "Sanctions are
not only in monetary terms.
Sanctions is proportional to
offence, depending on what
is laid out in the books.
"Some applicable sanction
could be letter of warning
or suspension of operations
or revocation of licence,"
NCAA spokesman, Sam
Adurogboye said.
However, the FCCPC
considered these not strin-
gent enough, saying they
give room for airlines to
easily explain delays and
go scot-free.
Reliable information from
the FCCPC also indicate
that tougher regulations on
flight delays and cancella-
tions will soon be in force.
Flight delays could be
caused by bad weather,
T questions;
his invasion is
partially
because based on
judicial review, he
illegal
should be charged to the
court so he can defend
himself, and not be
rough-handled by the
security agents. Besides,
the invasion was a rough
one because it resulted in
the killing of two persons
and destruction of
property.
—Oche Damian,
Educationist
@vanguardnews
technical fault, operational
reasons, lack of capacity or
equipment, etc.
When the delay is caused
by bad weather or techni-
cal faults, the airline in-
volved enjoys pardon from
the regulatory authorities as
these factors are many
times beyond the control of
the airline.
But when the delays are
avoidable and caused by
lack of capacity or equip-
ment, there are recom-
mended sanctions by
NCAA, in compliance with
International Civil Aviation
Organization, ICAO, con-
ventions .
Delayed,
cancelled filghts
Data obtained by Van-
guard from NCAA, show
that in the first quarter of
this year, 2021, out of the
14,662 domestic flights op-
erated in the country, 7,554
were delayed.
Also, 562 flights were de-
layed out of the 1,871 in-
ternational flights operated
out of the country. Nine in-
ternational and 149 domes-
tic flights were cancelled.
Currently, there are nine
domestic airlines operating
scheduled flights in the
country, as 19 airlines op-
erate international flights in
and out of Nigeria, accord-
ing to NCAA data.
‘Good thing for
aviation’
A frequent flier on the
domestic scene who didn’t
want his name in print, said
the MoU between the
NCAA and FCCPC would
be the best thing to happen
to the aviation sector in the
country, if well enforced.
Vanguard investigations
revealed that the Consum-
er Protection Department of
NCAA, in the first quar-
I don’t agree with
Igboho but how is
this the solution to all
the agitations? This act
will only escalate the
situation. Also,
chasing activists,
secessionist leaders
with federal resources
will only make them
more popular and
increase their cult
followership.
—Mr. Balogun David,
Fashion Designer
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 5
POCKET CARTOON
ter of the year, received sev-
en complaints from interna-
tional travellers and re-
solved two.
The department also re-
ceived 47 complaints
against domestic airlines
and was able to resolve 41
in the first quarter. There
were five reported cases of
discourtesy against domes-
tic airlines. No similar case
was reported against any
international airline.
Similarly, 10 cases of over-
booking and denied board-
ing were recorded against
domestic airlines, while two
cases were reported against
international airlines.
The above data indicate
that passengers are not re-
porting enough to the reg-
ulatory authorities infrac-
tions against them by air-
lines. This development is
said to have contributed to
the manner airlines treat
passengers.
NCAA warns
airlines
On the action taken so far
against airlines who delay
and cancel scheduled
flights, Mr Sam Adurog-
boye, General Manager,
Public Affairs, Nigeria Civil
Aviation Authority, NCAA,
said the agency had
warned all airlines to al-
ways adhere to the Nigeri-
By Yinka Latona & Cynthia Alo
W e need to ask some
was
Igboho invited or was there
any warrant for his arrest?
You can’t just invade
someone’s home and make
an arrest. This was same
tactics used on Lekki
protesters, many were
killed and the bodies taken
away. This is beginning to
make me wonder if PMB
is thinking of operating
military regime, even
Twitter ban is an invasion
of privacy.
—Solomon Raphaels,
Entrepreneur
an Civil Aviation Regula-
tions (NCARs 2015) and
Passengers Bill of Rights in
their dealings. He also said
passengers must get value
for their money, hence, “
NCAA will not refrain from
applying sanctions where
appropriate.”
He said further that air-
line operators are expect-
ed to always disseminate
information to passengers
on flight status and ensure
they provide right care to
passengers in times of de-
lays and cancellations, in
line with the Nig. CARs
2015 Part 19.
Adurogboye said: "If you
delay a passenger for up to
two hours, you have to give
him or her some refresh-
ments. You must have a
way of compensating them
until the flight is an-
nounced. There are many
reasons for delays and can-
cellations. Most of them are
safety-based.
"When safety is involved,
we don’t discuss comfort,
and we even encourage
airlines to delay or cancel
flights whenever they have
technical issues or weath-
er-related issues.
“So, when an airline can
prove to us that it delayed
a flight due to safety, then,
they are off the hook, and
that won’t attract sanctions.
Continues on Page 61
S o let’s think on the part
of his right as a citizen
of the country. First, he was
only exercising his civil
right to reject bad
leadership. So what they
did to him was not
justified. In my opinion, we
need to lend our support to
people risking their lives for
us. If we plan to divide,
Nigeria may or may not
survive. We cannot also
allow the military hijack
power as we know the
result.
—Joshua Oyekanmi,
Project Consultant
 6—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
Robber killed
as police foil
N13m robbery
attempt
By Dayo Johnson
A suspected member of a
robbery gang in Akure,
the Ondo State capital was
shot dead by police
operatives why trying to rob
a bakery.
It was gathered that after
the operation, the armed
robbers snatched a vehicle
belonging to the owner of the
bakery to escape from the
scene.
But police detectives
reportedly chased them to
Igbara-Oke, in Ifedore
council area of the state
where they engaged the
robbers in a shoot-out which
led to the killing of one of
them.
It was gathered that after
the shoot-out, one of the
robbers was arrested while
others fled the scene.
Also, Vanguard gathered
that police detectives foiled
an attempt by a five-man
gang to rob an Akure cocoa
merchant of N13 million in
Akure metropolis.
It was gathered the cocoa
merchant was trailed from the
bank before being attacked at
Oshinle area of the state
capital.
The eyewitness, who said
the victim reportedly fled on
foot with some of the cash
leaving his vehicle, added
that the prompt arrival of
policemen made the robbers
flee after shooting
sporadically and abandoned
their operational vehicle
However, it was gathered
that N2 million was stolen
from the remaining cash the
victim left in the booth of his
car.
The money was reportedly
shared by some boys in the
area who earlier helped the
victim when he was running
from the robbers.
In an interview, the cocoa
merchant said that the money
was meant to pay cocoa
farmers, adding that many
farmers do not have bank
accounts and preferred to
collect cash.
The command image maker,
Tee Leo lkoro, told Vanguard
that all those involved in the
stealing of the N2 million
have been apprehended
Court jails widow over death of husband in Ondo
By Dayo Johnson
A KURE—A Chief Magistrate's
Court sitting in Akure, Ondo State
has sentenced a woman, Mrs Toyin
Olusa, to one-year imprisonment for
causing the death of her husband,
Adeyinka.
Adeyinka Olusa was an auditor at
theSchoolofHealthTechnology,Akure
and died at the University College
:Vanguard News
Kidnappers of Tegina pupils reduce ransom
to N50m Warn no more downward review
Ask parents to pay immediately, or....
By Wole Mosadomi
M INNA—KIDNAPPERS of the
156 pupils of Salihu Tanko
Islamiyya School, Tegina in Rafi Local
Government Area of Niger State have
onceagainreducedtheransomofN200
million earlier demanded to N50
million.
It was gathered that the kidnappers
Fire outbreak at a one storey building, 137, Ladipo
Street, Mushin, Lagos, yesterday . Photo: Akeem Salau.
Lawyer docked over alleged N8.6m fraud
By Onozure Dania,
Chinonso Alozie &
Paul Olayemi
A lawyer, Adetunji Adenubi, who
allegedly obtained N8.6 million
under false pretence, was yesterday
arraigned before an Igbosere
Magistrates’ Court, sitting in Tinubu,
Lagos, just as a 37-year-old lady was
paraded in Imo State for allegedly
claiming to be a lawyer.
While an Area Customary Court
along Shell Road in Sapele, Sapele
Local Government Area of Delta State
was, Tuesday, razed by fire.
Adenubi, 36, whose residential
address was not stated, was arraigned
before Magistrate Kehinde Awoyinka.
The defendant is facing trial on a
three-count charge of conspiracy, fraud
and stealing, preferred against him by
the Police.
The prosecutor, ASP Haruna
Ibrahim, told the court that the
defendant committed the alleged
offences on April 19, at a bank in Ipaja,
Lagos.
HesaidthedefendantobtainedN8.6
million from the complainant, one Mr
Usman Salako, under the guise of
selling a half plot of land to him.
Ibrahim said the defendant did not
sell the land to the complainant but
converted the said money to his use.
He said the offences are punishable
under Sections 287, 314 and 411 of the
Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to
the charge.
The magistrate, Mrs Kehinde
Awoyinka, granted him bail in the sum
Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State in 2017.
The widow was accused of pouring
hot water on the deceased at their ljoka
areaintheAkuremetropolis. Heraction
allegedly aggravated his sickness and
later resulted in his death.
Toyin was said to have poured the
hot water on the deceased to revive him
when he became unconscious during
the illness.
Thehotwaterwassaidtohavecaused
severe burnt on his body, which
:@vanguardnews
havevowedthattherewouldneverbea
downward review again.
The bandits had at the initial stage of
the abduction of the pupils over six
weeks ago demanded N200 million
which was at different negotiation
periods reduced to N150m.
Parents of the pupils and other
concernedresidentswithinandoutside
the town had sent N20 million to the
 Woman ar rested in Imo for alleged
impersonation  Fire razes Sapele Area
Customary Court
Remains of the burnt customary court files in Sapele.
of N500, 000 with two sureties in like
sum and adjourned the case to July 16,
2021.
Lady arrested in Imo for
alleged impersonation
The Imo State Police Command,
yesterday, paraded a 37-year-old lady,
Princess Kate Duruji, from Orji in
Owerri North Local Government Area
of Imo State, for allegedly claiming to
be a lawyer.
The police said Kate was arrested
after an interrogation by the police
whensherepresentedherselfasalawyer
before the Police.
“When she was interrogated, the
eventuallyresultedinhisdeath.Shewas
thereafter arrested by the husband’s
family and handed over to the police
who later charged her to court.
Toyin was arraigned before the court
onacountchargeofassaultoccasioning
harm.
After much argument from both the
prosecuting counsel and the defence
counsel, Mr Femi Emodamori and Mr
Shola Agunloye respectively, the court
ruled that the defendant committed the
offence.
NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
banditstwoweeksagoasransom,which
was collected.
Thefamiliesofthevictimsandpeople
oftheareawerehappythatthechildren
would be released after the ransom
was collected.
But they were surprised when the
bandits later sent in a message that the
amount forwarded to them was short
by N2 million and so would not release
their wards until the demanded money
One dies, 2 injured in Lagos
midnight truck accident
By Olasunkanmi
Akoni
A T least one yet-to-be
identified female adult
reportedly died, while two others
sustained injuries in an accident
involving a 40 feet container
truck and a Toyota Camry car in
the early hours of yesterday, at
Ojuelegba bridge, Surulere Local
Government Area, Lagos.
According to an eyewitness, the
tragedy occurred at about
midnight, when the truck
reportedly developed a of the general hospitals in the
mechanical fault while ascending
the Ojuelegba bridge, inward
Jibowu and in the process of
suspect confessed to the crime, which
led to the recovery of a lawyer’s wig
conspicuously displayed on the
dashboard of her Toyota Camry car
withnumberplate,AbujaABC460GG.
Investigation is ongoing and as soon
as it is concluded she will be arraigned
in court.”
Fire razes Sapele Area
Customary Court
FireonTuesdayrazeddowntheArea
Customary Court along Shell road in
Sapele,SapeleLocalGovernmentArea
of Delta State.
The fire that gutted the building,
which also serves as the secretariat of
the National Youth Service Corps,
NYSC, and Delta State Independent
Electoral Commission, DSIEC, along
Shell Road in Sapele, was said to have
started at night.
Vanguard learned that vital
documents were lost as the inferno
engulfedthewholebuildingthathouses
the customary court.
A staff of the court, who craved
anonymity, said she was called from
the office at about 9 pm and when she
got there, the court building was on fire
until the fire service came.
The cause of the fire is yet to be
ascertained at press time.
was paid.
However, the bandits a few days ago
sent a message to the headteacher of
the school during which they disclosed
thattheyhadslashedtheransomtoN50
million.
They, however, vowed not to give
room for further downward review of
the money and that the pupils will not
be released until the N50 million is
complete.
Theyassuredtheparentsofthesafety
of their children but called on them to
complete the ransom before their
release would be effected.
rolling backward crashed into the
car behind it.
Unfortunately, an adult female
lost her life while two other
occupants, also yet to be
identified sustained minor
injuries.
Director-General of Lagos State
Emergency Management
Agency, LASEMA, Dr Femi Oke-
Osanyintolu, confirmed the
incident.
According to Oke-Osanyintolu,
the body of the victim had been
deposited at the morgue in one
state while the injured were also
given medical attention and
subsequently, discharged.
Shooting at BBA:
Court restrains
ex-BBA
president,
policemen
By Evelyn Usman
A Lagos State High Court has
restrained former President of the
Balogun Business Association, BBA,
ChiefOkeyEzeibe,seniorpoliceofficers,
among who are Area Commander ‘E’
Festac, Divisional Police Officer, Trade
Fair division and three others from
interfering and forcefully taking over
affairs at the Balogun Business
Association, BBA, International Trade
Fair Complex, Badagry expressway,
Lagos.
This followed an alleged attempt by a
team of policemen to force a leader on
the traders.
It would be recalled that there were
reported sporadic gunshots at the
market,Monday,withareportthatsome
policemen led by a Superintendent of
Police stormed the market, informing
that they were directed to install new
leadership in the market, in favour of an
opposition group.
However, the action was botched by a
team of policemen from the Force
Criminal Investigation Department,
FCID, Alagbon, who were stationed at
the market to ensure calm, owing to an
earlier alarm that some persons
threatened to bomb the market.
While delivering his ruling on the
EnrolmentofOrderthepresidingJudge,
Justice A.M Lawal, said, “ I have
considered the application in its entirety.
To avert this ugly situation, the interest of
justice demands a grant of some
preemptive succours to the claimant
pending when they will comply with the
requirements of the pre-election
protocol.
“ The defendants, Chief Okechukwu
Ezeibe and six others are accordingly
restrained as sought in the interim,
pending the claimants compliance with
the pre-election.
“ The defendants are restrained from
taking over or attempting to take over
thesecretariat,assets,fundsandproperty
of the first claimant, BBA, including her
international centre for commerce, trade
fair complex."
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 7
8 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
WORKSHOP—From left: Adeleke Adewolu, Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Nigerian Communica-
tions Commission, NCC; Ms Josephine Amuwa, Director, Legal and Regulatory Services, NCC; Hon. Justice John Okoro,
Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, NCC; Hon. Justice Rosalind
Bozimo, Administrator, National Judicial Institute, Abuja; Hon. Dongban-Mensem, President, Court of Appeal; Hon. Mo-
hammed Garba, Justice of Supreme Court, during the annual workshop for Judges on Legal Issues in Telecommunications,
hosted by the NCC, in Abuja, yesterday.
2021 budget: Senate approves Buhari’s N2.343trn
external borrowing request
*Passes supplementary budget of N895bn
By Henry Umoru
A BUJA — The Senate
has approved President
Muham-madu Buhari’s re-
quest for the authourisation of
N2.343 trillion ($6.183 billion
USD) as External Borrowing
in the 2021 Appropriation Act.
It also directed the Minister
of Finance, Budget and Na-
tional Planning, Zainab
Ahmed, the Director General
of the Debt Management Of-
fice, Patience Oniha, and the
Governor of the Central Bank
of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele,
to submit to the National As-
sembly within 10 working
days (excluding the day of
close of trading), a letter con-
taining the United States Dol-
lars amount so raised and re-
ceived as a result of the ap-
proval together with the ap-
plicable exchange rate.
This came as the Senate ,yes-
terday, also approved
N982.729 billion as supple-
mentary budget for the 2021
fiscal year. The N2.343 trillion
($6.183 billion USD) as Ex-
ternal Borrowing is expected
to be sourced through the Is-
suance of Eurobond in the In-
ternational Capital Market.
The approval by the upper
chamber followed the consid-
eration of a report by the Com-
mittee on Local and Foreign
Debts.
Chairman of the Commit-
tee, Senator Clifford Ordia
(PDP, Edo Central), said that
in considering the President’s
request, the committee noted
the serious concerns of Nige-
rians about the level of sus-
tainability and servicing of
Nigeria’s external borrowing.
According to him, “due to
the short fall in our annual
revenues in relation to our
need for rapid infrastructural
and human capital develop-
ment, we had to pass deficit
budget every year requiring us
to borrow to finance the defi-
cit in our budget.”
Ordia explained that the
new borrowing was calculat-
ed at Exchange rate of USD1/
N379, and raised from multi-
ple sources – multilateral and
bilateral lenders through the
issuance of Eurobonds in the
International Capital Mar-
ket. He emphasized that the
proceeds of the USD$6.183
billion would be used to fund
various specific capital
projects specifically from pri-
ority sectors of the economy
:Vanguard News
He added that the balance
of N37.93 billion would be
sourced from special reserve/
namely; Power, Transporta-
tion, Agriculture, and Rural
Development, Education,
Health, Provision of counter-
part funding for Multilateral
and Bilateral Projects, Defense
and Water Resources. The
lawmaker disclosed that the
final terms and conditions –
the interest rate and tenors in
the case of Eurobonds – can
only be determined at the point
of issuance of the Bonds in the
International Capital Market
and would be subject to mar-
ket conditions prevailing at
the time of issuance.
He added that the Primary
listing of the Bond will be on
the London Stock Exchange
while the Secondary Listing
will be Nigeria's Stock Ex-
change and Financial Mar-
kets Dealers Quotations,
FMDQ, Securities Exchange.
Ordia observed that, “mul-
tilateral and bilateral institu-
tions operate on standard
terms and conditions and Ni-
geria secures the best terms
and conditions within the con-
text of the market.”
Accordingly, the Senate
while adopting the resolutions
of the Committee on Local
and Foreign Debt approved
the issuance of $3 billion USD
but not more than $6,183,081,
643.40 Eurobond in the Inter-
national Capital Market for
the implementation of the new
External Borrowing of
N2,343,387,942,848, for the
financing of part of the deficit
authorized in the 2021 Appro-
priation Act.
It also approved that the
amount authorized may be
raised from multiple sources
such as the International Cap-
ital Market and any other
Multilateral or Bilateral
sources as may be available.
In addition, the upper cham-
ber directed the Minister of
Finance, Budget and Nation-
al Planning, the Director Gen-
eral of the Debt Management
Office and the Governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria to
submit to the National Assem-
bly within ten working days
(excluding the day of close of
trading) a letter containing the
United States Dollars amount
so raised and received as a re-
sult of the approval together
with the applicable exchange
rate.
In his remarks, the Senate
President, Ahmad Lawan,
stressed that the approved ex-
ternal borrowing is not a fresh
:@vanguardnews
loan by the President Buhari
administration but a request
captured in the 2021 Appro-
priation Act passed by the Na-
tional Assembly last year.
He, however, tasked Com-
mittees of the National Assem-
bly to carry out strict oversight
on how the loans are applied
to the implementation of the
2021 budget.
Lawan urged Ministries,
Departments and Agencies of
Government entrusted with the
management of the funds to
ensure prudent application to
projects across the country.
“Our committees should be
alert on how the funds that will
be borrowed will be used. No
frivolous expenditure should
be entertained. I imagine that
everybody in the trust of pub-
lic funds, especially this laws
will be as prudent and econom-
ical as possible”, he said.
Passes supplemen-
tary budget of
N895bn
The approved supplementa-
ry budget represents an up-
ward review of N86.9 billion
from the earlier amount of
N895.842 billion forwarded to
the National Assembly by Pres-
ident Muhammadu Buhari.
The passage of the supplemen-
tary Appropriation Bill 2021
was sequel to the consideration
of the report of the Committee
on Appropriations presented
by the Chairman, Senator Ji-
brin Barau, All Progressives
Congress, APC, Kano North.
A breakdown of the supple-
mentary budget shows that a
total sum of N123.332 is for
recurrent (non-debt) and
N895billion for contribution
into the capital fund.
It would be recalled that a
supplementary Appropriation
Bill to the tune of N895,842,
465,917 for 2021 fiscal year
scaled second reading penul-
timate Wednesday in the Sen-
ate.
In the approved supplemen-
tary budget, of the total sum of
N982,729,695,343 billion
passed, N123,332,174,164 bil-
lion is for recurrent (Non-Debt)
expenditure; and N859,397,
521,179 billion as contribution
to the Development Fund for
capital expenditure. In his pres-
entation, Senator Barau Jibrin
explained that the sum of
N45.63 billion required for
COVID-19 vaccine Pro-
gramme would be sourced
through existing World Bank
loan and other grants.
NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
levy accounts, comprising TSA
(Foreign currency component)
– N25 billion; MOFI CHQ
optional – N5 billion; and For-
eign Revenue E-Collection –
N30 billion; 65 percent Wheat
Floor Levy – N15 billion; 5.15
percent Wheat Grain Levy –
N15 billion; and Rolled-Over
Capital (unspent) – N5 billion.
According to him, the bal-
ance of N722.40 billion, which
is for capital expenditure on
procurement of additional
equipment for the security and
capital supplementation,
would be sourced from new
borrowing.
Barau explained that the
committee, in line with the
harmonised position with
House of Representatives
counterpart, recommended an
upward review of the funding
of some security agencies that
were grossly underfunded or
not funded in the supplemen-
tary Appropriation Bill.
NYSC Saga: Court clears ex-Finance minister,
the court held that Federal High Court, Abuja, in
Kemi Adeosun theBesides,
Plaintiff did not require a the case of Folakemi Adeosun
By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
A
BUJA — The Abuja Di
vision of the Federal
High Court yesterday cleared
former Minister of Finance,
Mrs. Kemi Adeosun of the con-
troversy that trailed her al-
leged non-participation in the
National Youths Service
Corps, NYSC, scheme.
Adeosun, who served as
Minister of Finance under
President Muhammadu Bu-
hari from November 11,
2015, to September 14, 2018,
voluntarily resigned the posi-
tion over an allegation that
she illegally obtained her
NYSC exemption certificate.
She subsequently ap-
proached the court to deter-
mine her eligibility or other-
wise to participate in the
NYSC scheme. The Attorney
General of the Federation,
AGF, was cited as the sole De-
fendant in the suit marked
FHC/ABJ/CS/303/2021.
Delivering judgement on the
matter, Justice Taiwo Taiwo
held that the former Finance
Minister, being a British citi-
zen, was not qualified to take
part in the NYSC as at the time
she graduated at the age of 22.
Justice Taiwo held that as at
when Adeosun formally re-
turned to the country and be-
came a Nigerian citizen at
over 30 years, she was not eli-
gible to present herself for the
NYSC service.
Nnamdi Kanu: Malami slams
Canadian Justice Minister,
Madu General of a provincial State
of Alberta in Canada", to fault
By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
A BUJA--The Attorney-
General of the Federa-
tion and Minister of Justice,
Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN,
has tackled the Minister of
Justice and Solicitor-Gener-
al of the Government of Al-
berta, Canada, Kelechi
Madu, for calling him a dis-
grace to the rule of law.
Malami in a clapback yes-
terday, described Madu as an
"ignoramus" whose views on
the re-arrest of leader of the
Indigenous People of Biafra,
IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, "are
eccentric and weird to the le-
gal profession".
In a statement signed by his
media aide, Dr. Umar Gwan-
du, Malami, the AGF said it
was "unfortunate for some-
one who claims to be a law-
yer of status of a Solicitor
PDP lawmakers back Southern
governors, reject ‘moves to
manipulate’ Electoral Bill
A BUJA — Peoples Dem
ocratic Party, PDP, cau-
cus in the National Assembly
has thrown its weight behind
governors of the southern
states on their stance on the
Electoral Act Amendment
bill.
The governors had on Mon-
day, rejected move by the Na-
tional Assembly leadership to
expunge sections that provide
for electronic transmission of
election results from the bill.
it would be recalled that the
lawmakers were set to pass
the bill with no room for elec-
tronic transmission of results,
despite calls for such reform
in Nigeria’s electoral process.
Speaking with reporters
yesterday, Senate Minority
Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe,
and head of the caucus, said
PDP lawmakers were taking
discharge certificate of NYSC
to qualify to contest election
to the House of Representa-
tives or to be appointed as a
Minister in Nigeria.
Consequently, it granted
four reliefs the Plaintiff sought
in the suit, among which was
"a declaration that the plain-
tiff, being a United Kingdom
citizen as at 1989 when she
graduated from the Universi-
ty of East London, London,
United Kingdom at the age of
22 years, was ineligible to par-
ticipate in the National Youth
Service Corpse scheme, estab-
lished by the National Youth
Service Corps Act, CAP N8,
LFN, 2004.”
Reacting to the ruling yes-
terday, Adeosun said in a state-
ment that she had been vindi-
cated. The statement read:
"My lawyers have informed
me of the judgment by the
"the internationally recog-
nized manner" Kanu was re-
arrested and brought back to
the country to face trial.
Malami branded the Cana-
dian Justice Minister as a fail-
ure that moved out of Nigeria
after he could not excel, say-
ing he "failed to keep himself
acquainted with the provi-
sions of general laws of the
country where he stays as well
as international laws".
The statement, titled
''Nnamdi Kanu: Madu’s
views ignoramus, legally ec-
centric', read: "Attorney Gen-
eral of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Abubakar
Malami, SAN has described
the ideas attributed to one
Kelechi Madu as outrageous-
ly ignoramus opinions that
are eccentric and weird to the
legal profession."
steps to ensure that the pro-
vision guaranteeing the elec-
tronic transmission of results
was not tampered with in any
form whatsoever. He said:
“The joint PDP national as-
sembly unanimously upholds
the resolution of the Southern
Governors’ Forum in vehe-
mently rejecting the clandes-
tine moves to manipulate and
alter the electoral act to re-
move the electronic transmis-
sion results from the law.
“Such furtive venture to
tamper with a critical com-
ponent of transparency and
credibility of the electoral
process is an unpatriotic and
mischievous attempt to sub-
vert our democratic process,
institutionalise rigging, bas-
tardize and frustrate genuine
efforts towards credible elec-
tions in our country."
v The Attorney General of the
Federation (FHC/ABJ/CS/
303/2021) in which the court,
presided over by Honourable
Justice Taiwo Taiwo, ruled that
the constitution does not re-
quire me to present my first-
degree certificate or any oth-
er certificate, including the
NYSC certificate, to be ap-
pointed a Minister.
"More importantly, he also
ruled that I was not eligible
to perform NYSC by virtue of
the constitution. This is the
position I have always main-
tained and am happy for this
official clarification.
"The ruling vindicates me
after a very traumatic spell. It
is, however, not only a person-
al victory; it’s also a victory
for many Nigerians in the Di-
aspora under similar condi-
tions who are desirous to serve
their country."

BIRTHDAY: From left; Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC),
Dr Kenny Obateru; Minister of Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva and Group Managing Director, NNPC
Mallam Mele Kyari cutting the 57th birthday anniversary cake of Sylva, at NNPC Towers, Abuja, yesterday.
2022 BUDGET: FG to fund N5.62trn deficit
with loans erosion
Provides key budget assumptions Okays N16bn
control contracts under Ecological Fund
By Johnbosco
Agbakwuru
A B U J A —THE
Federal Executive
Council, FEC, yesterday
approvedthe2022-2024Medium
Term Expenditure Framework
and the Fiscal Strategy Paper
(MTEF & FSP) authorizing the
funding of a N5.26 trillion budget
deficit through borrowings.
The Council also approved
N16. 041 billion for erosion control
contracts under Ecological Fund
which cuts across many states.
The Minister of Finance,
Budget and National Planning,
Dr. Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this
while briefing State House
correspondents at the end of the
weekly council meeting presided
over by President Muhammadu
Buhari at the First Lady ’s
Conference Room, presidential
Villa, Abuja.
The Minister said her ministry
presented a memo to FEC with a
2022 projected revenue of N6.54
trillion and N2.62 trillion to accrue
to the Federation Account and
the Valued Added Tax, VAT,
respectively, adding that this
revenue was projected to increase
in 2023 to 9.15 trillion.
She explained that the MTEF/
FSP described the Federal
Government’s socio-economic
and developmental objectives
and priorities for the reporting
period of 2022 to 2024 as well as
the fiscal strategies to be put in
place, and policies to achieve in
the priorities.
Ahmed stated that the report
to council highlighted the key
drivers of government’s revenue
and the spending plans.
She said: “The goal for us is to
improve the nation’s macro
economic situation or reposition
the economy on the path of
inclusive diversified and
sustainable. The MTEF FSP
consists of medium term macro
economic projections, fiscal
targets and estimates of revenue
and expenditure including
government’s financial
obligations.
“We have also presented to the
federal government the projected
revenues for the 2022 to 2024.
Specifically for 2022.
“The revenue that we expect
is 6.54 trillion and 2.62 trillion
to accrue to the Federation
:Vanguard News
account on VAT respectively.
And then there will be a net oil
and gas revenue available for the
Federation account FAAC for
distribution which will be 6.15 1
trillion in 2022.
“This revenue is projected to
increase in 2023 to 9.15 trillion.
The total expenditure that we
are expecting we have projected
and approved by Council is an
aggregate expenditure of 13.98
trillion Naira. This includes 1.1
trillion Naira of government
owned enterprises expenditure
as well as grants and donor
funded projects in the sum of
62.24 billion.
“This means that this budget
is just three percent higher than
the 2021 budget in terms of the
size of expenditure.
We also reported to council the
budget deficit and the financing
items for the expenditure. The
budget deficit that is projected for
2022 is 5.62 trillion, up from 5.60
trillion in 2021.
‘’This amount represents 3.05
percent of the estimated GDP
(Gross Domestic Products),
which is slightly above the three
percent threshold that is specified
in the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
“The FRA (Fiscal Responsibility
Act) empowers the president to
exceed the threshold in his
opinion, the nation faces national
security threats. And it is our
opinion on fact agreed that we
can exceed.
“The deficit is going to be
financed by new foreign
borrowing and domestic
borrowing, both domestic and
foreign in the sum of 4.89
trillion on privatisation
proceeds of 90.73 billion and
drawdowns from existing project
tied loans of 635 billion.
:@vanguardnews
“I just want to state that the
project had debt to revenue ratio
in the report is 43 percent. Which,
of course, we know Nigerians all
have concerns about the actual
debt to revenue ratio into in 2019
was 58 percent.
‘’So, this is an improvement over
the preceding over 2019. In 2020,
the ratio was up to 85 percent . So
2022 is a significant improvement
on 22 inch. I like to stop here at
this time.”
The minister said she provided
to council a macro economic
background which affirmed that
the Nigerian economy had
recovered from a negative growth
of minus 1.8 percent in 2020 to
2.5 percent.
She added: “Also, the inflation
has moderated from a 19 months
high in two months high. It’s now
moderated two months now, that
is coming down to 17.93 percent .
And our foreign reserves stands
at 34.2 billion at the end of May,
which is 640 million declined from
the previous month.
“The key macro assumptions
that were presented and council
approved is that there’ll be a crude
oil benchmark price of $57 per
barrel of crude oil for 2022, a crude
oil production of 1.8 8 million
barrels per day, and our exchange
rate of 410 to one US dollar, an
inflation rate of 10 percent in 2022,
and a nominal GDP of 149.369
trillion.
“What is interesting is that the
non oil GDP continues to grow at
N169.69 trillion compared to all
GDP of 14.8 trillion included in
the nominal GDP. I beg your
pardon, nominal consumption is
130 49.3 6 billion.”
Also briefing journalists, the
Special Adviser to the President
on Media and Publicity, Femi
Adesina said the council approved
Ecological Fund Projects for the
third and fourth quarters of 2020.
Adesina said the funds were for
soil erosion/flood control and
pollution control intervention
projects, with contracts awarded
in favour of various contactors,
in the total sum of
N16,041,101,334.79, inclusive of
7.5 percent VAT.
He said: “These are the
projects approved for
implementation today: Erosion,
Flood Control, Bridge
Reconstruction and Road
improvement at Umulenyi Nkpa
communities of Bende local
government area, Abia State;
Gully Erosion Control Works at
Umuokoro Lower Okata
Community, Ihitte Uboma LGA,
Imo State; Imaku Omi Erosion
Control Project, Ogun Waterside
LGA (Phase II), Ogun State;
Afforestation, Combating Land
Degradation, Road Improvement
Measures in Aworiosun, Ikoyi
Agroforestry Community, Isokan
LGA, Osun State; Erosion
Control at Calabar Free Trade
Zone, Calabar, Cross River State;
and Erosion and Road
Improvement Works at Yelwa
Primary School and Police Station
Road, Yola, Adamawa State.
“Others are Ecological Problem
at Federal College of Education
Technical, Gombe, Gombe
State; Flood and Erosion
Menace Affecting Lau
Community and its Environs
in Lau LGA, Phase II, Taraba
State; Erosion and Flood
Control at Birnin Kudu,
Budiga, Babaidu, Kafin Gana,
Sammiya/Buji LGA, Gofara,
Yayarin Tukur, Birnin Kudu LGA,
Jigawa State; and others.
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 9
NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
2023: Zoning presidency to
South not ‘a must’ — ZULUM
Explains why open grazing ban won’t work
G OVERNOR Babagana
Zulum of Borno State has
said that it was not a must that
the next president of Nigeria
must come from the southern part
of the country.
The governor, who reiterated
his support for power to shift to
the southern part of the country
in an interview on Channels
Television’s breakfast programme,
Sunrise Daily, yesterday,
however, warned his colleagues
that politics was a game of
numbers.
Zulum spoke against the
backdrop of the declaration by
southern governors in Lagos on
Monday that power should shift
to the south.
Rising from the meeting, the
governors in a communique read
by chairman of Southern
Governors’ Forum and governor
of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu,
had said: “The forum reiterates
its commitment to the politics of
equity, fairness and unanimously
agreed that the Presidency of
Nigeria be rotated between
southern and northern Nigeria
and resolved that the next
president of Nigeria should
emerge from the south.’’
But Zulum in the interview
clarified that the Southern
governors were not wrong in
calling for power shift to their
region, since it would promote
unity, but frowned on the use of
the phrase ‘’must.’’
He said: “I have said it times
without number that I am of the
view that the presidency should
go to the south in the year 2023
because the unity of our country
is very important.
FIRS rakes in N650bn
By Emma Ujah
A B U J A —THE
Federal
Revenue Service, FIRS,
Inland
generated N650 billion in June
2021.
Executive Chairman of FIRS,
Mr Muhammad Nami, described
it in an early morning statement
yesterday as the the highest
revenue realized in a single
month since COVID-19
pandemic started.
He said: “This feat was
achieved as a result of the
efficiency and effectiveness of the
TaxProMax Solution,
notwithstanding the challenges
“Secondly, inclusivity is very
important. Thirdly, I am in the
APC. Six or seven years ago, APC
had zoned the presidency to
northern Nigeria based on the
agreement that in 2023, the
presidency should go to the
south.
“But again, this is politics. We
are supposed to meet and discuss
this issue among ourselves,
among the political class.
“This statement that people
are saying that the president
must go to the south, I want them
to remove the word must.”
The governor also said the
prohibition of herders from
grazing openly in some states in
the country won’t work until the
insecurity situation as well as the
socio-political and economic
dimensions of the crisis is
addressed.
Many states in Nigeria,
including the 17 southern states,
had banned open grazing in their
region,tocurbcasesofrape,killing
and kidnapping traced to some
unscrupulous elements who
masquerade as herdsmen.
Despite stiff opposition and
criticisms by many northern
bigwigs, the Southern governors
met on Monday to set September
1, 2021, for the promulgation of
the anti-open grazing law in their
states.
But speaking on the
programme,GovernorZulumsaid
the socio-political and economic
dimensions of the insecurity in
the country and the
insurgency war in the North-
East were fast spreading to
other parts of the country and
must first be addressed.
and resistance faced in the early
stages of its adoption, and the
downturn orchestrated by slow
economic recovery.”
He recalled that as part of its
efforts at modernizing tax
administration in the country, the
FIRS recently introduced the Tax
Administration Solution for ease
of tax compliance.
According to him, the Solution
“enables seamless registration,
filing, payment of taxes and
automatic credit of withholding
tax as well as other credits to the
Taxpayer’s accounts, among
other features. It also provides a
single-view to Taxpayers for all
transactions with the Service.”
10 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
Court threatens to deny
LASIEC access to INEC's
voters' register based onthe57LGAsandLCDAs
'or any other number of LGAs in
By Onozure Dania
L AGOS—JUSTICE
Chukwujekwu Aneke
of a Federal High Court,
sitting in Lagos, yesterday,
threatened to deny the
Lagos State Independent
Electoral Commission,
LASIEC, access to the
Independent National
Electoral Commission,
INEC, register for Lagos
voters, scheduled for the
July 24 chairmanship and
council polls.
Justice Aneke gave
LASIEC seven days to
show cause why it should
not grant a prayer by an All
Progressives Congress,
APC, chairmanship
aspirant, Raheem Alani,
seeking to restrain INEC
from making the register for
Lagos’
Government
available.
20 Local
Areas
The judge gave the
ruling, following Alani’s ex
parte motion, dated June
24, 2021, and argued
through his counsel, Tope
Alabi, asking for four reliefs.
Alani, who is a registered voter
in Agege LGA, is the Plaintiff/
Applicant, while INEC and
LASIEC are the 1st and 2nd
defendants in the suit marked
FHC/L/CS/677/2021.
He argued in his affidavit of
urgency that LASIEC ought to
conduct the election in
accordance with the
'constitutionally-recognised'
LGAs in Lagos, and not based on
the 57 local council development
areas, LCDAs, created by the
state, that it intends to use.
“I know that the 57 LCDAs,
wherein the 2nd defendant
intends to conduct elections, are
a product of the unconstitutional
balkanisation of the 20
constitutionally-recognisedLGAs
in Lagos State,” he said.
He also argued that the
balkanisation meant he and
many others had been
'unconstitutionallyexcludedfrom
Agege LGA and put within the
unconstitutionally created Orile-
Agege LCDA', and he would be
deniedtherighttovoteorbevoted
for, as well as be 'robbed of voting
to elect the chairman of Agege
LGA or to be elected' its
chairman.”
Alani sought the court for an
order restraining INEC from
'giving,submittingand/ormaking'
the register available to LASIEC
for its use in the Chairmanship
and Councillorship elections,
Security expert advocates
measure to boost Police morale
By Henry Ojelu
L AGOS—A security expert,
Mr. Obed Chinonyerem, has
said that one of the key ways to
encourage Police officers to
effectively secure the country is
forcitizenstoshowthemloveand
appreciation.
Chinonyerem, who spoke at a
Strategic Crime Control
Programme in Lagos, tagged:
‘Police is Our Friend’, organized
by Global Allies and Lovers of the
Police Network, GALPONET, a
non-governmental organization
:Vanguard News
excess of the 20 LGAs, pending
the determination of the motion
on notice'.
He further called for an order
restraining INEC from giving
LASIECanylogisticalsupportfor
the elections based on the 57
LGAs and LCDAs.
Alani asked for an order
stoppingLASIECfrompreparing
for the polls based on the 57
LCDAs.
While delivering the ruling,
Justice Aneke held: “Being an
election matter and the process
is ongoing, I shall give the
defendant-respondent seven
days within which the defendant
shall show cause why the order
should not be made against
them.”This case is adjourned till
Wednesday, July 14, 2021. All
parties to be served.”
SUNDAY IGBOHO: Protest rocks Ibadan over DSS raid
By Dapo Akinrefon
& Adeola Badru
I BADAN—SCORES of
Yoruba Nation agitators,
yesterday, staged a protest
in Ibadan, Oyo State,
demanding the release of
agitators arrested by the
Department of State
Service, DSS, and other
security agencies, just as
they warned the Federal
Government to stop further
attacks on Yoruba freedom
fighter, Chief Sunday
Adeyemo, also known as
Sunday Igboho.
This came on a day the
Agbekoya Farmers Society
of Nigeria described the
raid on Igboho’s house as
crude and uncivilized.
Security agencies carried
out a raid on the Soka home
of Chief Adeyemo, and
arrested some people in the
house.
Protest in Ibadan
The protesters, in their
hundreds, carried placards
bearing different inscriptions,
while chanting solidarity songs
calling for the freedom of
Yorubaland.
The stern-looking protesters,
who marched to Igboho’s house
and subsequently walked
through major roads in Ibadan
before visiting the palace of Oba
Saliu Adetunji, the Olubadan of
Ibadanland,weredressedinblack
outfits and armed with charms.
Theyincludedfamilymembers
of those arrested and paraded by
theDSS.Theyhadearlierblocked
promoting the interest and
welfareofpoliceofficersandtheir
families, and also the convener of
the group, said: “Until we begin
to change this negative attitude,
we may not get the kind of police
wedesire.Showinglovetopolice
officers’ wives, husbands,
children, and relatives around
you, gives, them the impression
that they are respected and are
obliged to do more.
“No nation can survive in this
world without police, as long as
lives,properties,law,andorderare
concerned in that nation.”
:@vanguardnews
PRO-IGBOHO PROTESTS —The pro-Igboho protesters being addressed by Executive Adviser on
Economic Matters, to Governor Seyi Makinda, Mr. S. A. Odukoya (left), in Ibadan, yesterday.
Photo: Dare Fasube.
• FG given 7 days to reverse declaration of Igboho wanted
• I didn’t collect N50m to aid Igboho’s arrest —Olubadan
• Attack on Igboho’s house crude, uncivilized —Agbekoya
the Lagos-Ibadan expressway
briefly before moving on to
Challenge, Molete, other areas
of the city, and then marched to
the Olubadan’s palace.
They condemned the raid on
Igboho’s house, describing it as
“illegal,sad,barbaricandareturn
to authoritarian rule”, while
demanding the release of those
arrested.
One of the protesters said:
“What the DSS did was wrong.
Why not invite Igboho, if you
think he has committed a crime?
“He is fighting for a genuine
cause and we will all support his
agitation. We are here to give the
FederalGovernmentaseven-day
ultimatum to reverse the
declaration of Chief Sunday
Igbohowanted.”
The protesters, however, urged
Yoruba leaders to support their
cause to enable the fight for the
freedomofYorubalandachievable.
I didn’t collect
N50m to aid
Igboho’s arrest
—Olubadan
Mr. Adeola Oloko, who spoke
on behalf of the Olubadan of
Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji,
deniedreportsthattheOlubadan
collectedasumofN50millionfrom
theFederalGovernmenttomake
the arrest of Sunday Igboho
possible.
He said: “The protesters were
here and before they came we
havebeenhearingthroughnews
on social media that Kabiesi
received the sum of N50m from
the Federal Government for the
killing of Igboho, or for his arrest
to become possible.
“Iwanttoseizethisopportunity
to inform the public that Kabiesi
did not collect a dime from
anybody. Sunday Igboho is a
Yoruba man, he lives in Ibadan,
soheisasonofKabiesiOlubadan,
andweareduty-boundtoprotect
him.
“Soifheisoperatingwithinthe
limit of the law, we are supposed
to protect him, so Kabiesi is using
this opportunity to say that we
did not collect any money from
anybody irrespective of anybody
at all.
“At 92 going to 93, what does
he need much money for? Is it to
rear up children, to send children
to school, to build houses, to buy
vehicles? So tell me what he has
not been able to do in life.
“So, the story is not true, and
I’m also using this medium to
warn those on the social media to
be very mindful of what they
disseminate, because those
stories have a great effect on
innocentpeopleandnowthatthe
people have come, they have
seenforthemselvesthatwhatwas
reported was not true, and they
came with a lot of requests, and
Kabiesi has said to them that he
will present their requests to the
appropriateauthoritiesbeginning
fromthismoment,andhehassaid
we should summon a meeting of
the stakeholders.
“So, that the request could be
lookedintoandaddressedsothat
the necessary action is taken. We
do not want a state of anarchy in
Ibadanland, we want all our
youths to operate within the
ambit of the law that is the
Address agitations, don’t persecute
Igboho, Kanu, Onitiri tells Presidency
By Innocent Anaba
L AGOS—A socio-
political activist and
critic, Mr. Sumbo Onitiri,
yesterday, warned the
Presidency against
persecuting Nnamdi Kanu
and Sunday Igboho, but to
address their agitations and
dialogue with them.
Onitiri, in a statement in
Lagos, said: “Sunday
Igboho, to every discerning
mind, democrats and right-
thinking Nigerians, has
committednocriminaloffence.He
onlydefendedhispeoplefromthe
Fulanikillerherdsmenterrorising
his people. There is no offence in
self-defence.
“What Nigerians want is the
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message of the Kabiesi to them.”
Attack on
Igboho’s house
crude,
uncivilized
—Agbekoya
Reacting to the raid after a
meetingbyitsNationalExecutive
Council and the Iwarefa-ln-
Council, Agbekoya faulted the
manner and approach the
security operatives conducted
themselves.
President General of the guild
of farmers, Chief Kamorudeen
Okikiola described the raid as
“crude and uncivilized, more so
that no letter of invitation or
warrant of arrest was served on
Chief Sunday Adeyemo before
theyraidedhishouseliketheden
ofcriminals.”
Okikiola said: “It is very
unfortunate and disturbing that
thesecurityagenciesandsoldiers
who have not been able to arrest
andprosecutethecriminalFulani
herdsmen, bandits and
kidnappers, who have been
terrorizing and killing innocent
Nigerians over the years could
storm the house of an agitator,
securityoftheirlivesandproperty,
and when the government fails
in this, they will resort to self-
defence.
“Instead of chasing Nnamdi
Kanu and Igboho, the
governmentshouldfacesquarely
the terrorists, armed Fulani
herdsmen,banditsandcriminals
that are killing innocent
Nigerians, maiming, robbing,
raping and kidnapping innocent
people.
“We learnt that Boko Haram
membershavetakenoveralarge
chunk of territory in the North
East, appointed a governor over
thecapturedterritoryandarenow
collecting taxes from Nigerians.
“This despicable situation has
madeNigeriaalaughingstockin
the comity of developed nations,
who has been organizing
peaceful rallies to express his
opinions without following due
process of arrest.
“The conduct of the officers of
thesecurityagenciesisadisgrace
to Nigeria and the rule of law and
we are calling on the Federal
Government to apologize to
Sunday Igboho and also pay
compensation to the families of
those that were killed during the
raid.
“We are also calling on the
Federal and State governments
to urgently find lasting solutions
to the state of insecurity in our
society.”
Govt'll look into
your demads,
says Makinde
Meanwhile, Governor 'Seyi
MakindeofOyoState,whospoke
through his Executive Assistant
on Security Matters, Mr. Sunday
Odukoya assured the protesters
that government will look into
their various demands on self-
determination.
Odukoya also noted that their
variousdemandswouldbegiven
adequate media attention.
when they see our top
governmentofficialsandreligious
leaders negotiating with Boko
Haram and kidnappers, and
doling out big chunks of our
money to the criminals as
ransoms.
“The government should see
its critics the best friends who
want the best for the country. The
unwarrantedinvasionofSunday
lgboho’sresidencebyoursecurity
operatives is very unfair, crude
and barbaric.
“The Buhari government
should dialogue with Sunday
Igboho and Nnamdi kanu. It is
the criminals, killer Fulani
herdsmen, bandits and
kidnappers that the government
should turn their armoury on,
definitely not Igboho and Kanu.”
 Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 11
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Social Media Conversation

LAUNCHING—From left: ED, Commercial Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Carol Oyedeji; CEO, MT Olive
Nigeria Limited, Olori Elizabeth Ajibola; MD, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan, and Head, Consumer
Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Olukorede Demola-Adeniyi, during the official launch of Ellevate, a ready-
made banking for women focused businesses, by Ecobank, in Lagos, yesterday.

Police warn cultists against annual

7/7 celebration in Lagos
By Esther Onyegbula
L AGOS—LAGOS Police
Command, yesterday,
embarked on a 'Show of Force' to
warn cultists, especially Black Axe
members, to steer clear of the state
and to assure residents of
adequate security in the state.
Members of Aiye Confraternity,
aka Black Axe, usually mark their
annual 7/7 Celebration (Boogie-
Night) across the state.
The Police Command, however,
warned members of the
confraternity to desist from
celebrating their annual ritual in
any part of the state, saying other
security agencies have put
measures in place to resist such
celebrations.
The Commissioner of Police,
Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, urged
officers and men of the command
“to intensify efforts in resisting and
curtailing any act of lawlessness,
oppression and intimidation from any
Equation balanced!
group of individuals who might want to
engage in any unlawful gathering or
celebration of whatever kind.”
Odumosu also charged intelligence
and tactical units of the command to
beam their search light on the identified
areas that are vulnerable to attacks and
reprisal attacks by any cult group in the
state.

TSM'll tackle gridlock problems —Lagos govt

By Olasunkanmi Akoni
L AGOS—LAGOS
government, yesterday, said
the introduction of Traffic
State
Management Solution, TMS, in
the state, would address
controversial issues surrounding
operations of law enforcement
personnel, as well as curb traffic
violations.
TMSisatechnologically-drivendevice
to reduce human interface, eliminate
traffic congestions on the roads, and
manage violations of traffic laws.
Commissioner for Transportation,
FrederickOladeinde,whilespeakingon
the introduction of the device, held in the authenticity of drivers’ licenses,
Alausa, Ikeja, declared that the hallmark vehicle licenses and number plates
of the new device is about transparency,
which will further ease traffic congestion
in the state.
whichwillsignificantlyassistinachieving
thegoalofclampdownonmotoristswith
fake licenses and number plates.”
Oladeinde said: “TMS is a traffic law
complianceinitiativethatallowsthereal- We’ll not
time capture of picture and video
evidence of road traffic and vehicle
complianceviolationsastheyoccur,with
condone acts
the use of the handheld device. of lawlessness
“In line with the Smart City status of
the state, this innovation will align with —Ogun gov
traffic management structure on traffic By James Ogunnaike
law violations and compliance checks,
as well as the following — Resolution of
theperennialtrafficgridlockissuescaused
by traffic
A BEOKUTA—GOVERNOR
Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State,
yesterday,warnedthathisadministration
violations will not condone any act of lawlessness,
within the by individuals or group of persons, that
state. may lead to disunity in the state.
“Eradication He also sued for peace over clashes
of fine that occurred at the weekend in Your problem on your head!
payments Olokemeji village, in Odeda Local
controversy Government Area of the state.
between the Abiodun condoled with victims of the
traffic law skirmishes,whereindigenesandFulani
enforcement herdsmen had a clash that led to loss of
officers and lives and property.
violators as The governor, in a statement by his
o n l y Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin,
electronic described the incident as unfortunate
payments and promised that investigation would
guarantee be carried out to determine the cause of
t h e the clash.
clearance of Thestatementread:“Nobodyorgroup
a violation of people would be allowed to
from the compromise the unity that exists
violators’ betweenandamongallethnicgroupsin
list. the state and those who choose to live,
“Offender play and do businesses in the state.
may choose “Itisunfortunatethatpeopletakelaws
to visit a into their hands without involving the
Traffic Court appropriate authority. This community
and present and the State, in general, has always
the violation beenasafeandsecuredplacewithFulani
number for and indigenes cohabiting peacefully for
the violation decades."
he/she “Those criminal elements misleading
wishes to others through unfounded rumour and
challenge speculations that fuel this kind of crisis
electronic willnotsucceedinsowingseedofdiscord
verificationof or inciting people against each other." Test and test!
12 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2021
CONDOLENCE: From left, Deputy Majority Leader, Delta State House of Assembly, Oboro Preyor; Chief
Judge of Delta State, Justice Theresa Diai; Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, Sheriff Oborevwori;
President, Customary Court of Appeal, Delta State, Justice Patience Elumeze, and Deputy Speaker, Delta
State House of Assembly, Ochor Ochor, when the chief judge led judges in the state on condolence visit to the
House over the death of the member representing Isoko South 1 constituency, Mr Kenneth Ogba, in Asaba,
yesterday.
PIB: N-Delta youths reject 3% for
host communities to3-5% for host communities an invitation
anarchy — Ikponmwen  IOCs laud
By Akpan Udeme,
Joseph Erunke,
Ozioruva Aliu &
Obas Esiedesa
A BUJA—YOUTHS in
Niger Delta have rejected
theprovisionofthethreepercent
equity stake in the Host
Community Trust in the just-
passed controversial Petroleum
Industry Bill, PIB, to host
communities, saying it is
unacceptable.
This came as former Provost
Marshal of the Nigerian Army,
Brigadier-General Idada
Ikponmwen (retd), said the
three-five per cent proposed as
a benefit for host communities
under the Host Community
Trust, despite the abundant oil
wells in their land, while 30 per
cent is embarked for exploration
of oil in the northern part of the
country in the PIB is an open
invitation to anarchy.
The youths under the aegis of
Niger Delta Youth Council,
NDYC, are insisting that the
ceding of only a three per cent
equity stake to the oil and gas
producing communities is
unacceptable.
NDYC in a statement by its
National Coordinator, Jator
Abido, and Director for
International Affairs, Collins
Achakpekri, said: “We reject the
three per cent to host
communities and 30 per cent
per cent of the profit generated
by the proposed Nigerian
National Petroleum Company
Limited for the exploration of
oil in ‘frontier basins’ as
stipulatedinthePIB.Wedemand
10percentforhostcommunities
and five per cent for impact
communities.
“The three per cent allocated
tohostcommunitiesasanequity
stake in the Host Community
Trust is grossly inadequate. Prior
to the passage, many
stakeholders appealed to the
National Assembly to allocate
five per cent profit to the host
communities.
"The earlier five per cent
canvassed for was rejected to be
poor. Cutting it down to three
percent is unimaginable and
unacceptable. Communities,
which own these resources and
suffer the devastation of oil
exploration and exploitation,
deserve a better deal than three
per cent.
“It is our belief that the
members of the National
Assembly got it wrong at a point
but should revisit the issue and
:Vanguard News
make necessary adjustments.
Should the National Assembly
fails to do the needful, we call on
President Muhammadu
Buhari, who has proven to be
passionate about Niger Delta
issues to insist that the three
percentisreviewedto10percent
before signing the bill into law.”
3-5% for host
communities, an
invitation to anarchy
— Ikponmwen
Meanwhile,Ikponmwen,who
addressed newsmen in Benin
City, Edo State, yesterday, said:
“The idea of three percent or five
percent proposed as a benefit for
host communities from oil
proceeds while 30 per cent is
embarked for exploration of oil
in the northern part of the
country clearly reveals
arrogance, insensibility, disdain
on part of the proponents of the
PIB.
“Deeply examined, it is an
open invitation to anarchy. This
move cannot be acceptable to
those who have borne the brunt
of oil exploration and
exploitation of oil and gas in
Niger Delta, the President must
be enjoined to reject the bill and
have same returned to the
National Assembly.”
He supported the position of
the governors of southern
Nigeria that the presidency
should be ceded to the south in
2023.
He said: “Even a casual
reflection of those who have
been presidents of Nigeria since
inception and particularly since
returning to civil democracy
would reveal that the president,
come 2023, should be from the
southern part of Nigeria.
"This demand/ agitation is not
only based on the need for
equitable sharing of power
within a democratic setting but
also aggravated by the lopsided
sharing of executive offices in
the last six years of the current
government, where practically
all strategic positions have gone
to people of a particular area
and religious beliefs contrary to
the tenets of democracy and the
federal character provisions of
our constitution.
“On ending open grazing as
canvassed by the governors, this
measure will pave way for better
animal husbandry, it would
increase, in the long run, both
food and animal breeding and
indeedprovidealastingsolution
to the unending clash between
:@vanguardnews
NASS for passing PIB Experts spot 18
downs
farmers and herdsmen.
He cautioned the country’s
security agencies to stop
harassingNigeriansintheguise
of arresting suspects, singling
out the attack on the residence
of Yoruba nation agitator,
Sunday Adeyemo aka Igboho
and backed the governors’
position that before such
operations are carried out in
their states, they should be
informed.
I OCs laud NASS
for passing PIB
International Oil Companies,
IOCs,operatinginNigeriahave
commended the National
Assembly for passing the PIB,
after almost two decades of
trying.
Chair, Shell Companies in
Nigeria and Managing
Director, Shell Petroleum
Development Company of
Nigeria, Mr Osagie Okunbor
said: “We tried to hold them
responsible during the Nigeria
Petroleum summit and we are
happy to hear that the bill has
beenpassed.
“We want to believe that the
harmonised bill will meet the
demandsandexpectationsofthe
industry. Protecting the
infrastructure is key. If we get
the bill right and incentivise the
host communities, we will all be
better for it,” he added.
On his part, Managing
Director, TotalEnergies Plc,
Mike Sangster, said:
“Navigating to pass the PIB by
theNationalAssemblyisagreat
one and both the Federal
Government and the Assembly
deserve commendation.
“We look forward to the
harmonisation of the bill and
we hope to see a working
document that will enhance the
sector.
“The collaboration between
theexecutiveandthelegislature
is very important for the desire
to have a bill that will work for
the country.”
Alsospeaking,Chairmanand
Managing Director, Chevron
Nigeria Limited, CNL, Mr Rick
Kennedy, said: “We are looking
forward to seeing the final
version, which we believe will
enhanceoperationsinthesector.
“Chevron supports global
efforts to reduce carbon
emissions and is actively
investing in operations to
improve environmental
performancewhilealsoworking
with industry to develop new
innovative technology and best
practices to achieve these
objectives.”
Experts, others
spot 18 downs
Expertsandotherstakeholders
have spotted 18 downsides and
11 upsides for consideration.
For instance, in her
submission, Victoria Ibezim-
Ohaeri, Executive Director,
Spaces for Change, a non-
governmental organisation,
identified the downsides to
include the excess power of the
MinisterofPetroleumResources,
who doubles as the president of
the nation; lack of provision for
monitoring of Midstream Gas
InfrastructureFundinvestments
and continuous gas flaring
permitted in the PIB.
Shesaid:“Noprovisionforthe
President not to appoint himself
as the Petroleum Minister.
“Overridingpowervestedinthe
minister to regulate, revoke and
assign interests in petroleum
prospecting licences and
petroleum mining leases.
“No provisions for the
monitoring of Midstream Gas
InfrastructureFundinvestments.
“Provision of 10 per cent on
OilProspectingLicense,OPL;10
per cent rent on Oil Mining
Lease, OML and 30 per cent of
NNPCLimited’sprofitforoiland
gas for Frontier Exploration
Fund for the development of
frontier acreages
“Allows for continuous flaring
of gas, which will lead to
continuous devastation of the
local environment.
“Commission or authority to
approve environmental
managementplaninsteadofthe
Federal Ministry of
Environment (FMEnv) as
prescribed by the EIA Act.
“Commission or authority to
call for adjustment of the
environmental management
plan approved by FMEnv.
among others.
Similarly, a Port Harcourt-
based energy analyst, Dr Bala
Zaka, said: “The PIB is dead on
arrivalbecauseithastakenavery
long time for the nation to
produce it. Many foreign
companiesthatwaitedforithave
gone to invest in other countries,
including Angola, Ghana and
some East African economies.”
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Attack, killing of soldiers:
JTF locks down Egbema
kingdom to the commission of the crime
By Emma Amaize,
Regional Editor,
South-South
W ARRI—SOLDIERS of
the military Joint Task
Force, JTF, have locked down
Egbema Kingdom, Warri North
Local Government Area, Delta
State, in the last five days,
following an attack and killing
of soldiers by suspected
hoodlums at a military base in
Obodo community, Warri
South, a neighbouring local
government area of the state.
The blockade by soldiers,
which has made it impossible
for people to come in or go out
of the area since last week, has
led to the food crisis in the
affected communities with over
200,000 residents trapped.
The people in a Save-Our-
Soul, SOS, through the
President of Egbema Leaders of
Thought,ElderEdmundTiemo,
to the Chief of Army Staff, and
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa,
among others, yesterday, said:
“We wish to draw the attention
of the civilised world to the fact
that Egbema people in Delta
State are currently facing
starvation comparable only to
what is happening in the Tigray
region, were Ethiopian soldiers
refused to allow UN
peacekeepers and food to get to
the civil population.
“This gruesome picture is the
situation in Egbema Kingdom
of Warri North, today. The JTF
has laid siege to a whole
kingdom for the crime
committed by a few persons in
another local government area
and this is uncalled for.
“Whiletheydeniedourpeople
food and medical attention, the
army moved food to soldiers
who guide critical oil facilities
in our land.
“They have food, light and
medical attention in their
facilities in our territory, yet, as if
itisnotenoughpunishmentthat
we lack these essential
commodities. Our appeal,
therefore, is to the authorities to
open the Egbema Kingdom for
life to return while the
investigation, arrest and
prosecution of the hoodlums
can continue.
“Neither the people of
Egbema Kingdom nor the
people of Warri North agreed
Ojiemhenkele hails
reinstatement of Aziegbemi
F
ormer Esan Local
Government Area
chairman in Edo State, Dr
Andrew Ojiemhenkele, has
hailed the state Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP,
chairman, Tony Aziegbemi,
describing his patience as the
queen of all virtues.
Speaking on the
reinstatement of Aziegbemi as
the state PDP chairman,
Ojiemhenkele said: “Today, I
join millions of your well-
wishers, friends, relations, and
colleagues all over the world,
who are pouring congratulatory
messages with every sense of
humourandhonestshowoflove
on your return to the office as
Chairman of PDP in Edo State.
“As a just and upright man,
Aziegbemi has again
demonstratedthathehasnoaxe
to grind, yet he posed a
for which we have been
punished.Inotherclimes,where
crime is committed, security
men take time to investigate
and bring the culprits to justice
with the collaboration of the
locals. We have been and are
being punished for a crime that
was committed outside our
local government area.
“The background to this crisis
is the alleged attacked on a
military base station at Obodo
in Warri South Local
Government Area, where
soldiers were allegedly killed by
hoodlums.
“Although no official
statement on the attack has
been issued by the JTF, the
soldiers had told passengers on
the Benin River and Gelegele
axis of the attack, thus justifying
the blockade of Egbema since
July 2, 2021, when the incident
reportedly occurred.
“Before this incident, on June
28, 2021, few kilometres from
the scene as the Egbema
peacekeepers came under
attack by unidentified gunmen,
leading to loss of several lives.
Thus, the military operatives
who were attacked are victims
just like the Ijaw in the area were
also victims of criminal attacks.
Therefore, it will be wrong for
people who have suffered the
same magnitude of losses to be
subjected to this horror.
“The fundamental rights of
the people to move as
entrenched in Section 41(1) of
the 1999 Constitution as
amended have been clearly
violated in the guise of chasing
after hoodlums.
“Why on earth should the
innocent populace suffer
because of the crime of an
unidentified few? We cannot
agree less with Senator
Enyinnaya Abaribe when he
asserted that the Nigerian
government of President Buhari
operates two sets of laws. In the
North where criminals kidnap,
terrorise and kill both soldiers
evenschoolchildren,noneofthe
communitiesisundulypunished
for the crime of the few.
“President Obasanjo
introduced it in Odi in Bayelsa
State and now it has been taken
to a higher level, whereby a
whole kingdom of not less than
200,000 people is under siege
for over five days consecutively
without movement of people
and food items.”
compelling personality. The
events of today, in which those
who hitherto said he should be
crucified now later turn around
to sing hossana for him clearly
justifies that Aziegbemi is a man
of high moral principles and a
convinced philanthropist.
“He is a man of competent
character, morally upright,
technically and
administratively sound, and has
the right motivation to do the
job of state chairmanship of PDP
in Edo State.
“As a true and effective leader,
Aziegbemi is seriously guided
by his attitude of being
responsible and accountable to
the laws regulating and
governing his party (PDP), his
conscience, his primary
constituent, and those for whose
interest he was elected to serve
as state chairman of PDP in Edo.

MEETING—Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State (5th left), with members of Board of Trustees of
the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, led by its Chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin (4th left), during a closed-
door meeting on the nation's challenges and the way forward for peace and unity of the country, held at
the Government House, Enugu, yesterday.
NNAMDI KANU: Address issues causing
agitations in S-East, Ohanaeze youths tell FG
•Appeal to Ndigbo not to abandon IPOB leader • As Malami slams Canadian
Justice Minister, Madu, calls him empty vessel
By Levinus
Nwabughiogu &
Ikechukwu Nnochiri
A BUJA—OHANAEZE Youth
Council, OYC, the youth
wing of the apex Igbo socio-cul-
tural organization, Ohanaeze
Ndigbo has urged the federal
government to address the issues
causing agitations in the South
East part of the country.
The group said that giving at-
tention to the issues of margin-
alization and political appoint-
ments would douse tensions in
the zone.
In a statement signed by its
President-General, Mazi Okwu
Nnabuike and the Secretary-
General, Comrade Obinna
Achuonye and made available
to Vanguard yesterday, OYC said
that the arrest and detention of
the leader of Indigenous People
of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi
Kanu would not stop the agita-
tion for equity, asking the gov-
ernment not to jubilate.
It encouraged the government
to go after the bandits terroriz-
ing the country with the zeal it
went after Kanu and Sunday
Igboho, reminding government
that criminal have forced Kadu-
na State government to shut
down schools.
OYC said it took time to react
to Kanu’s arrest because it need-
ed to gauge the pulse of the peo-
ple, advising that the govern-
ment should use this opportuni-
ty to address the various issues
fueling the agitations.
The group also appealed to
Igbo leaders not to abandon
Kanu to his ordeal.
The statement read : “It is no
longer news that Mazi Nnamdi
Kanu, the leader of the Indige-
nous People of Biafra, IPOB, has
been taken into custody by the
Nigerian government after he
was arrested in Kenya.
“We have also seen how the
government is gloating over his
arrest, as though it is a millenni-
al achievement. In any case, if
the government will care to lis-
ten, we advise once more that it
should leverage on Kanu’s ar-
rest to dialogue with the IPOB
and other agitating groups.
“The Federal Government
should look at what brought
about the agitation in the first
place; if you end up treating just
symptoms of a sickness, the ail-
ment will still be there. Ndigbo
have never suffered this level of
marginalization in Nigeria- total
exclusion, total abandonment.
“So, the FG should douse the
current tension and agitations
in the South-East by giving the
:Vanguard News
laws of the country where he
region a sense of belonging, what
is due for them, including Igbo
presidency in 2023.
“May we also tell the govern-
ment to utilize the same energy
to arrest bandits terrorizing the
North and the rampaging herds-
men ravaging Southern Nigeria.
As we speak, some schools in Ka-
duna State have been shut down,
with hundreds of school children
under the captivity of the ban-
dits, but the government is busy
looking for Nnamdi Kanu and
Sunday Igboho.
“The government must try to
be civilized in its approach, not
the kind of gestapo system used
in invading Sunday Igboho’s
house, we are not in a banana
republic.
“Nnamdi Kanu should also be
granted access to his family, med-
ical doctor, lawyer and associates.
He is still presumed innocent
until proven guilty and for that,
he should be given a fair trial.”
While thanking Igbo and Yoru-
ba youths for remaining calm,
the OYC pleaded with Igbo lead-
ers not to abandon Nnamdi
Kanu.
“The IPOB leader should not
be abandoned to his fate; we
know that he abused so many
Igbo leaders in his utterances,
but you don’t throw away the
baby with the bathwater,” the
statement added.
Malami slams
Canadian Justice
Minister, Madu
In another development, the
Attorney-General of the Feder-
ation and Minister of Justice, Mr.
Abubakar Malami, SAN, has
tackled the Minister of Justice
and Solicitor-General of the
Government of Alberta, Cana-
da, Kelechi Madu, for calling him
a disgrace to the rule of law.
Malami, in a clapback yester-
day, referred to Madu as an "ig-
noramus" whose views on the
re-arrest of the leader of the In-
digenous People of Biafra, IPOB,
Nnamdi Kanu, "are eccentric and
weird to the legal profession".
In a statement signed by his
media aide, Dr. Umar Gwandu,
Malami, said it was "unfortunate
for someone who claims to be a
lawyer of a status of a Solicitor
General of a provincial State of
Alberta in Canada", to fault "the
internationally recognized man-
ner", through which Kanu was
re-arrested and brought back to
the country to face trial.
Malami branded the Canadi-
an Justice Minister as a failure
that moved out of Nigeria after
:@vanguardnews
he could not excel, saying he
"failed to keep himself acquaint-
ed with the provisions of general
laws of the country where he
stays as well as international
laws".
The statement, titled; 'Nnam-
di Kanu: Madu’s views ignora-
mus, legally eccentric', read: "At-
torney General of the Federa-
tion and Minister of Justice,
Abubakar Malami, SAN, has de-
scribed the ideas attributed to
one Kelechi Madu as outra-
geously ignoramus opinions that
are eccentric and weird to the
legal profession.
"It is unfortunate for someone
who claims to be a lawyer of a
status of a Solicitor General of a
provincial State of Alberta in
Canada to fault the internation-
ally recognized manner through
which Nnamdi Kanu who
jumped bail was re-arrested and
brought back to face trial.
"It was abundantly clear that
bench warrant was lawfully and
judiciously procured through ju-
dicial process by a competent
court of law, whose bail condi-
tion Nnamdi Kanu breached
with impunity.
"There was no illegality in the
entire process and the question
of illegality does not even arise.
"It is a common principle of the
law that he who comes to equity
must come with clean hands.
"The self-acclaimed leader of
the proscribed Indigenous Peo-
ple of Biafra (IPOB) has enjoyed
representation by counsel of his
choice all through the judicial
process and was never denied a
right of choice of counsel or re-
course to one, even when he
symbolizes a proscribed associa-
tion (IPOB) in law, and in fact his
association has been legally pro-
scribed.
"Where was the so-called Madu
when Nnamdi Kanu was incit-
ing violence against the coun-
try? Why, as a lawyer, would
Madu support a fugitive who
jumped bail and accused of ter-
rorism and treasonable felony?
What stopped Madu from voic-
ing out dissent on the atrocities
of Kanu and his group?
"It is important to educate the
likes of Kelechi Madu that both
Nigeria (his country of birth) and
Canada (where he claims to be
practicing law) are signatories to
the Multinational Treaty Agree-
ment where, among others, fu-
gitive fleeing justice in nations
with similar agreement could be
brought back to face justice.
"It is a pity that as a Solicitor
General of a province, Madu
failed to keep himself acquaint-
ed with the provisions of general
NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
stays as well as international
laws.
"We wish to draw the atten-
tion of Madu to the provisions of
Consolidated Act Criminal Code
under the Canadian Law R.S., C
1985, c. C-46:1-2 on Treason and
other Offences vis: "46(1) Every
one commits high treason who,
in Canada: (a) Kills or attempts
to kill Her Majesty or does her
any bodily harm tending to death
or destruction, maims or wounds
her, or imprisons or restrains her,
"(b) Levels war against Canada
or does any act thereto; or "(C)
Assist an enemy at war with
Canada or any armed forces
against whom Canadian Forces
are engaged in hostilities,
whether or not a state of war
exists between Canada and the
country whose forces they are.
"46(2) Every one commits trea-
son who, in Canada "(a) Use
force or violence for the purpose
of overthrowing the government
of Canada or a province, "(b)
Without lawful authority, com-
municates or makes available to
an agent of a state other than
Canada, military or scientific in-
formation or any sketch, plan,
model, article, note or document
of a military or scientific charac-
ter that he knows or ought to
know may be used by that state
for a purpose prejudicial to the
safety of defence of Canada. "(c)
Conspires with any person to
commit high treason or do any-
thing mentioned in paragraph (a)
"(d ) Forms an intention to do
anything that is high treason or
that is mentioned in paragraph
(a) and manifest that intention
by an overt act; or "(e) Conspires
with any person to do anything
mentioned in paragraph (b) or
forms an intention to do any-
thing mentioned in paragraph (b)
and manifests intention by and
overt act. "As the saying goes
“an empty vessel makes loudest
noise”.
"We advise the so-called
“learned man” to shelve his ar-
rogance and learn to study the
law books before opening his
mouth to disgrace himself before
the right thinking members of
the society thereby attracting to
himself, criticism that may pro-
pel doubt about his suitability for
the job he claims to be doing now,
after moving out of his country
of origin in which he fails to ex-
cel", Malami stated.
The Canadian Justice Minis-
ter had in a post on his LinkedIn
page, said if reports that Kanu
was abducted from Kenya were
true, Malami was not only a dis-
grace to the rule of law but also
not worthy to be a public officer.
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 13
NUC approves University of
Medical Science in Ebonyi
By Peter Okutu
A BAKALIKI—THE National
Universities Commission,
NUC has approved for academic
activities, the King David Uni-
versity of Medical Science in
Ebonyi State.
The University which was built
under the administration of Engr.
David Nweze Umahi is situated
in Uburu, in the Ohaozara Local
Government Area of Ebonyi
State.
Governor David Umahi, had
penultimate week, announced
that academic activities would
commence at the university, in
September 2021.
According to a statement
signed by the Commissioner for
Information and Orientation in
Ebonyi State, which was made
available to journalists, in
Abakaliki, on Tuesday, the Ex-
ecutive Secretary of NUC, Prof
Abubakar Rasheed, gave the
approval in Abuja, on Tuesday.
With the approval, the state-
ment quoted NUC's Prof
Rasheed, as saying that King
Ugwuanyi, PDP BOT
members deliberate on
national issues, way forward
By Anayo Okoli
E
NUGU—GOVERNOR Ifea
nyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu
State, yesterday, held a closed-
door meeting with members of
the Board of Trustees (BOT) of
the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), led by the Chairman,
Senator Walid Jubrin, at the Gov-
ernment House, Enugu.
The meeting which lasted for
four hours was also attended by
other notable members of the
PDP Board of Trustees, such as
the former President of the Sen-
ate, Senator Adolphus Wabara,
former Governor of old Enugu
State, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo,
Sen. Stella Omu; Chief Rex On-
yeabo; Hon. Garba Shehu; Mrs.
Laurentia Mallam and Amb.
Justina Eze.
Others were Amb. Fidelia
Njeze; Hajia Hassana Dikko;
Sen. Ngiji Ngele and Prof. Ade-
wale Oladipo.
Briefing newsmen after the
closed-door meeting, Senator
Wabara, who spoke on behalf of
the BOT Chairman, Senator Ju-
brin said that the deliberation
was “very successful”.
He disclosed that they “dis-
cussed national issues and the
way forward for the peace and
unity of the country”.
Shortly after the meeting, Sen-
ator Jubrin, who is the Sarkin
Fulani of Nasarawa, met with
leaders of the Northern Commu-
nity in Enugu State, led by His
Royal Highness, Sarkin
Abubakar Yusuf Sambo, at the
Umahi appoints former
commissioner for LG as new
chief of staff Kenneth Ugbala on Sunday,
stated that the appointment was
By Peter Okutu
A
BAKALIKI—GOVERNOR
David Umahi of Ebonyi
State has appointed the former
Commissioner for Local Govern-
ment and Chieftaincy Matters,
Barrister Samuel Okoronkwo as
his new Chief of Staff.
Okoronkwo served as the
Commissioner for Local Govern-
ment and Chieftaincy Matters,
before the gGovernor dissolved
his cabinet about a month ago.
A statement by the Secretary
to the State Government and
Coordinating Commissioner, Dr
David University of Medical Sci-
ence became the 197th univer-
sity in the country.
The statement read: "History
was made today in Abuja, the
Nigeria's capital city, as King
David University of Medical Sci-
ences built by the administration
of the Governor of Ebonyi State
His Excellency, Engr. David
Nweze Umahi, was approved by
the National Universities Com-
mission for academic activities.
The University is the 197th Uni-
versity in Nigeria and the most
beautiful University Complex in
Africa.
"The King David University of
Medical Sciences (KDUMS)
Uburu, Ohaozara LGA, Ebonyi
State is designed as an ultra-
modern 21st century state-of-
the-art International Medical
University.
"The university’s central goal
is for specialized manpower de-
velopment in the most condu-
cive environment in all aspects
of medical specialties with the
highest form of professionalism,
ethics and excellence."
Government House, Enugu, in
the company of other BOT mem-
bers and Gov. Ugwuanyi, on fos-
tering peace and national unity
among the northerners and peo-
ple of their host communities.
The BOT Chairman, who de-
scribed Gov. Ugwuanyi as a
“frank, sincere and simple man”,
commended the governor for
promoting peace, national inte-
gration, and unity in Enugu
State and beyond.
Senator Jubrin urged North-
erners in Enugu State, to con-
tinue to cooperate with the gov-
ernor and live in peace and har-
mony with the indigenes of the
state, stressing that the unity of
Nigeria is paramount to its
progress and corporate existence.
“I am the Sarkin Fulani in
Nasarawa State. I am their lead-
er in the real tradition. I am con-
trolling all kinds of people. I have
gone to Abia State and spoke to
our people. I have gone to Ow-
erri, I spoke to our people. Any-
where I go, I brief our people and
they are intact.
“That is why they told me that
they are going to be with you
(Ugwuanyi).
“I told them that you (Ugwua-
nyi) are a very simple man; you
are very frank and sincere”, the
BOT Chairman said.
In their separate responses,
leaders of the l Northern Com-
munity in Enugu State told the
PDP BOT Chairman that Gov.
Ugwuanyi has continued to fos-
ter peace and national unity in
the state through his uncom-
mon leadership qualities.
with immediate effect.
"His Excellency, the Governor
of Ebonyi State, Engr David
Nweze Umahi, has approved
the appointment of Chief Sam-
uel Okoronkwo as Chief of Staff,
Government House, Ebonyi
State.
"The appointment is with im-
mediate effect. Please, accept my
congratulations," the statement
reads.
"Governor Umahi has been
working assiduously to ensure
the rejiging of his cabinet for bet-
ter service delivery."
14 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
Nasarawa fixes LG elections for
Oct 6, lifts ban on campaigns
By David Odama
L A F I A —
NASARAWA State
Independent Electoral
Commission, NASIEC,
yesterday, fixed October 6,
2021, for the conduct of local
government elections.
Chairman of the
Commission, Ayuba Usman
who addressed journalists on
the planned elections, said
the commission was set and
prepared to conduct the
council polls as enshrined in
the 1999 Constitution as
amended and other laws.
It will be recalled that the
tenure of the elected council
officials had expired since
May 28, 2021, thereby
creating leadership vacuum at
the third tier of government
across the 13 local government
areas of the state.
Sanitation: Toluwanimi
empowers Abuja community
W ORRIED by the
deplorable condition
of Jabi Lake Community in
Abuja, gospel artiste,
Toluwanimi Eleoramo has
launched an initiative aimed
at preventing outbreak of
diseases in the community.
Speaking during a three-
day sanitation exercise to
instil a culture of
environmental cleanliness in
the community, Eleoramo,
popularly known as
Toluwanimee said the project
was a corporate social
responsibility initiative,
conceived while shooting the
video of her recent gospel song,
titled: “Mercy” in the lake.
The singer said she was
inspired to give back to the
Tecno launches Phantom X as
new flagship individual’s way of life - being bold
T ECNO, a premium
smartphone brand has
ventured to new heights by
announcing its newest flagship
smartphone, Phantom X at a
colourful ceremony held recently
in Lagos.
According to Tecno, the new
Phantom X features an elegant
design of 3D border-less
screen and the industry’s first
silk glass back cover as well
as a combination of the 50MP
ultra-night camera and the
industry’s leading 1/1.3 super
large senor, 48MP ultra-clear
selfie camera with 105°ultra-
wide-angle, not to mention
the AI-assisted super night
mode and 50mm golden portrait,
provides a big leap in camera
performance. Powered by a
4700mAh, 256G+8G large
memory, and a newly-updated
HiOS 7.6 system, Phantom X
empowers and supports every
experience of users’ lives and
work.
Speaking at the launch,
General Manager, Tecno,
Stephen Ha said: “We’re proud
to introduce the all-new
PHANTOM X. It is an
extraordinary beginning that
encompasses Tecno’s vision,
encapsulated and re-framed for a
new audience of more
demanding consumers.
“Phantom X isn’t just an
innovative high-end
smartphone; it empowers the
modern extraordinary
:Vanguard News
According to him,
chairmanship, councillors
elections would hold on
October 6, 2021, nomination
forms shall be obtained
between July 22 and27, 2021,
while the return of completed
forms is slated for August 2
and 3, 2021, amongst other
programmes.
Wadai explained that the
conduct of the elections
would have taken place
immediately to replace the
outgone council officials, but
said logistic issues and many
other unforeseen
circumstances combined to make
the elections impossible.
“The commission has,
therefore, by the powers conferred
on it fixed October 6, 2021, for
both chairmanship and
councillorship elections across
the 13 LGAs and 147 electoral
wards across the state.”
community after observing
the deplorable state of their
environment, which also
serve as a major source of
their livelihood - fishing.
“Through our initiative
called the Mercy Project in
collaboration with the Niger
Delta-based African Centre
for Environmental Protection
we are here to clean up the
lake as part of efforts to
address the health concerns
of the residents as well as
boost their economic well-
being among others.
Head of the settlement, mainly
dominated by the Agatu ethnic
tribe from Benue State, Alhaji
Adamu Issa, told reporters how
some of their children have been
suffering from all kinds of diseases.
to reject the ordinary, always
striving for success, and with the
ambition to achieve new heights.
Buhari exhibits poor skills in managing diversity — UMAR
By Ibrahim Wuyo
K
ADUNA—A former
military governor of
Kaduna State, Col Abubakar
Umar (retd) has said the Buhari
administration has so far
exhibited poor skills in its
management of the country’s
diversity.
Umar in a statement,
yesterday, entitled Nigeria: A
Nation Challenged, said: “The
recent re-arrest of Indigenous
People of Biafra, IPOB leader,
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, was
greeted with a loud sigh of relief
and celebration in some
sections of the country. It also
elicited congratulatory messages
to the Federal Government
which appears overwhelmed by
the intractable security
challenges and in dire need of
any redeeming act.”
“This is clearly an exaggeration
of the security threat Nnamdi
Kanu and indeed IPOB pose to
our nation’s security and unity.
It is quite strange and disturbing
that the Federal Government is
according undue attention to the
threats of separatist movements
in contrast to the more daunting
ones posed by bandits, kidnappers
:@vanguardnews
ACCESS BANK BUSINESS CLUB EVENT: From left: Adebanji Jimoh, Regional Head, North Central and North
East, Access Bank Plc; Chima Cassandra, Customer; Barrister Fidel Chukwudi, Customer; and Ayodele Olojede,
Group Head, Emerging Business, Access Bank Plc during the Access Bank Business Club event held in Abuja.
APC summons Lai Mohammed, accuses him
of anti-party activities attacks
Threatens to punish him over
on Kwara gov
By Omeiza Ajayi
A BUJA—THE national
leadership of the ruling
All Progressives Congress APC
has summoned the Minister of
Information and Culture, Alhaji
Lai Mohammed over his recent
outbursts against the Kwara
State Governor, Abdulrahman
Abdulrazaq.
The decision was taken at
Tuesday’s meeting of the
Governor Mai Mala Buni-led
Caretaker Extraordinary
Convention Planning
Committee of the party. Buni was
however absent at the meeting
as he was in his state, Yobe,
attending to official matters.
Multiple party sources at the
meeting told Vanguard on
Wednesday night that the party
leadership has written the
minister asking him to appear
before it next Tuesday.
The leadership of the party was
reportedly so embarrassed by the
minister’s actions that it wrote
him two letters.
Vanguard sources said the
second letter accuses the minister
and insurgents in the North
West, some parts of North Central
and North East.
“Activities of those criminals
have resulted in the evacuation
of over 20 percent of the villages
in NW and NE. Hundreds are
being murdered and maimed
every week. Many more are
kidnapped for ransom. Millions
have been rendered internally
displaced, facing disease and
starvation. Over one thousand
schoolchildren were abducted in
the past eight months with over
300 still in the hands of the
bandits and kidnappers
demanding humongous ransom
payments. The rape of women
and young girls has become a
daily occurrence.
“Most economic activities,
particularly farming, which is the
mainstay of the people in these
areas, are now all but impossible.
“Government’s earlier claim of
having technically defeated the
BH insurgency in the NE has
turned out to be empty
propaganda. Contrary to this
claim, the enemy has morphed
into a more determined and
deadly force, threatening to
overrun the whole of the NE.
“For the average Northerner
NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
of anti-party activities, with his
decision last Saturday to open a
factional secretariat for the party
in the state capital, Ilorin.
“The party, through the
National Secretary of the
CECPC, Sen. John James
Akpanudoedehe has written the
minister, asking him to appear
before the committee on Tuesday.
The party wants him to explain
why he has been engaging the
state governor in the manner he
has done lately,” said a party
source privy to the meeting.
Another source said a second
letter was written the minister,
querying his recent opening of a
factional state secretariat for the
party.
“The party views very strongly,
weekend’s purported opening of
a new state secretariat for the
party. That is clearly anti-party.
He has factionalized the party.
How can you do that at a time
that the CECPC is trying to
reconcile all stakeholders? Well I
cannot preempt what the
decision of the committee will be,
but any action that will be taken
must be approved by Mr
living in these zones, who is
barely aware of the activities of
separatists, banditry, kidnappings
and insurgency are of greater
threat and concern to him. The
arrest of Nnamdi Kanu is of no
serious consequence since it does
nothing to ameliorate his harsh
and brutal condition.
“In recognising or reasserting
the right of every citizen or group
to express their desire for self-
determination, one does not
support or condone the use of
violence for such purpose. IPOB
and its leader may well be
responsible for some of the
violence, including the murder of
security personnel, arson and
destruction of public and
private properties for which
they should be held to
account. We must, however,
be honest enough to identify
the cause of the current growing
restiveness in the South East.
By all means, the government
needs to deploy nonviolent
means in addressing the problem.
“Truth be told, the Buhari
administration has so far
exhibited poor skills in its
management of our diversity.''
It is self-evident that justice,
fairness and equity are the best
President who appointed him as
a minister and who is the leader
of our party,” he stated.
Efforts to get the National
Secretary of the Party’s CECPC,
Sen. John James
Akpanudoedehe were however
futile as he did not pick calls or
reply to short messages sent to
his known mobile lines.
Meanwhile, the Kwara state
chapter of the party has said it is
examining the recent outburst
made by the minister with a view
to punishing.
Chairman, Caretaker
Committee of the party in Kwara
state, Abdullahi Samari
Abubakar disclosed this in an
interview yesterday in Abuja.
He said the party may apply
disciplinary measures according
to its constitution.
The minister had recently
claimed that he singlehandedly
bankrolled the election of the
governor in 2019, accusing Mr
Abdulrazaq of biting the fingers
that fed him.
However, Samari said: “I still
see the Minister as a member of
our party. Because he has not
means of building a united and
virile nation, particularly one as
diverse and fragile as Nigeria.
“It is my long-held that this
country is more beneficial to
all the federating units, if
Aviation ground handlers call for
uniform rates adjustment by FG
A VIATION ground
handling companies have
called on the Federal
Government to facilitate the
adjustment of aviation ground
handling rates in the country in
the interest of safety in the sector.
Nigeria currently has the lowest
rates in the West African sub-
region. The stakeholders have,
therefore, called on the Nigerian
Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA
to intervene in the handling rates
for aircraft for the sustainability
of the business..
One of the stakeholders, who
spoke on the issue in a statement
isaid the abysmal low rates also
apply to domestic airlines who are
not paying commensurate rates
He said: ”We are proposing to
adjust domestic ramp handling
rates to be at per with the
exchange rate which has
formally told us that he is moving
out of the party which I doubt if
he will go. He is a Minister of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria
where the APC as a ruling party
is running the administration of
government. So I would not think
he will want to move out, but from
those utterances he made, the
party, APC as a structure has
guidelines over issues. If we feel
that what he said publicly
amounts to disrespect or causing
acrimony within the party,
honestly, we are going to make
sure the rules of the party are
applied against him and any
other person.”
Asked whether the minister will
be suspended or expelled from
the APC, the Kwara party
Chairman said: “Well, there are
guidelines like I told you. If the
offense is commensurate with
suspending him, or any other,
definitely the rules of the party
are going to apply because
nobody is too big to be
sanctioned. We want to have
sanity in the party.”
Efforts to reach the Minister
for his reaction on the issues
were un successful.
only because it provides a
security umbrella to all its
units. None of them will fare
better in a balkanized Nigeria
due to their similar
diversities.''
significantly impacted on the cost
of operations”.
Also speaking about the low
rates, Mr Chike Ogeah, former
Chief Executive Officer, Skyway
Aviation Handling Company,
SAHCO said, “It shows that
something is wrong for Nigeria
to have the lowest handling
charges on the continent. NCAA
as the regulator must sit down
with the handling companies to
come out with a realistic regime
for the handling companies”.
Statistics show that while
Nigeria companies charge
between $400 and $1,139 for
narrow body aircraft and between
$3,000 and $3,200 for wide body,
countries like Guinea charge
$1,673 for narrow body and $4,715
wide body aircraft, Ghana –
$1,500 narrow body and $4,150
wide body, among others.
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 15
 16 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
Send Opinions & Letters to:
opinions1234@yahoo.com

T WO recent developments
firmly establish Nigeria’s
future as a fossil fuel economy.
One is the newly-passed Petroleum
Industry Bill, PIB, under which 30
per cent of profits accruing to the
Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation, NNPC, would be
used for further oil exploration.
The other is the Federal
Government’s decision to acquire,
through NNPC, 20 per cent equity,
costing over $4billion, in Dangote
Refinery, owned by Aliko Dangote,
reputedly Africa’s richest man!
The Federal Government
trumpets both developments as
being in the national interest,
despite being deeply divisive and
controversial. For instance, the
Southern Governors, more or less,
tore the PIB into pieces at their
recent Lagos meeting. Yet, the
Presidency exulted, saying: “Jinx
broken”, referring to the bill’s over
20 years’ gestation at the National
Assembly. As for the plan to invest
huge public funds, largely
borrowed, to acquire 20 per cent
in Dangote Refinery, the NNPC
said the aim was to guarantee
energy security.
My focus here is not on the
political controversies around the
decisions. Rather, it’s on the
direction that the developments
would set for Nigeria. Truth is, the
passage of the PIB and the decision
to invest public funds in Dangote
Refinery position NNPC, which
would be incorporated and wholly-
owned by the Federal Government,
as the main institutional driver of
the Nigerian economy. Thus,
Nigeria’s growth model is based
on a hydrocarbon-led economy,
while its energy generation is tied
to fossil fuels – oil, gas and coal.
But while Nigeria is excited
about deepening the role of
Nigeria faces a dire future as a
fossil fuel economy
hydrocarbons in its economy,
virtually all the developed nations
and a growing number of
developing countries are moving
in the opposite direction. They are
accelerating progress towards
renewable energy generation and
net zero carbon. By contrast,
Nigeria is doing absolutely
nothing to prepare itself for a post-
fossil fuel economy. Rather, it
harbours the great delusion that it
can prosper as a hydrocarbon-led
economy in defiance of the global
shift away from fossil fuels.
This was the theme two weeks
ago, on June 25, when I was a
virtual guest of two bright
Nigerians: Bankole Oloruntoba,
Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer of the Nigeria
Climate Innovation Centre, NCIC,
and Emmanuel Etaderhi,
Executive Secretary of the
Financial Centre for
Sustainability Lagos, FC4SLagos.
They invited me as guest speaker
at their organisations’ webinar
termed: “Fireside Chat with Prof.
Olu Fasan”. I spoke on Nigeria’s
energy and climate change
policies, drawing on my
experiences in the UK, where I
taught at the London School of
Economics, and advised the UK
Government, on the policies.
Now, I have long argued that
Nigeria pays lip service to tackling
climate change and embracing
renewable energy generation.
Over five years ago, in an article
titled “On the global climate deal
and Nigeria’s pledged actions”
(BusinessDay, December 21, 2015),
I questioned why President
Muhammadu Buhari attended
It’s utterly short-
sighted to be
deepening Nigeria’s
fossil-fuel dependency
just as the world is
turning to net zero
carbon!
the Paris Climate Conference with
a large entourage when Nigeria’s
Nationally Determined
Contribution, NDC, which sets out
how much a country would reduce
their emissions, was so miniscule:
a pledge to unconditionally cut
emissions by 20 per cent by 2030!
So, when I was asked at the
webinar whether Nigeria was
serious about tackling climate
change, about embracing
renewable energy, my answer was
an emphatic NO! What about
Nigeria’s “interim updated” NDC,
submitted to the United Nations
on May 27 this year: Was it
ambitious enough? Again, my
answer was an emphatic NO!
In its first NDC, Nigeria made
several commitments, including
ending gas flaring and ramping up
the rollout of solar energy
production; indeed, Nigeria said
it would “work towards” installing
13,000 MW of solar power. So,
what has happened to date? Gas
flaring continues almost unabated,
and solar or any other renewable
source is hardly in use. Put bluntly,
Nigeria’s climate change and
renewable energy commitments
are worthless, which is why,
according to the International
Energy Agency, IEA, greenhouse
house emissions from fossil fuel
production and use in Nigeria
increased by 16 per cent since
2015.
But why? Well, the answer is
simple: Nigeria is hooked on fossil
fuels. With an estimated 5.3 trillion
cubic metres of natural gas
reserves, an estimated 37 billion
barrels of untapped crude oil
reserves and an estimated 379
million short tonnes of coal
reserves, Nigeria refuses to wean
itself off dependence on
hydrocarbons. Thus, every effort is
made to incentivise and subsidise
fossil fuel production and use. But
hardly any effort is made to
encourage renewable energy
generation.
Indeed, the tendency is to
disincentivise the use of
renewables. For instance, in a
recent editorial, this newspaper
pointed out that the Nigerian
Customs Service arbitrarily
imposed a five per cent duty and
five per cent VAT on solar panels
coming into Nigeria, and that
batteries needed for storage of
solar energy “are suffering a 20 per
cent duty”. Yet, Nigeria would
spend 30 per cent of NNPC’s profits
on further oil exploration and
wants to invest over $4billion to
buy shares in Dangote Refinery to
“guarantee energy security”.
But Nigeria cannot solve its twin
problems of acute electricity
shortage and vulnerability to
climate change by burning fossil
fuels. Rather, the country must
align its energy and climate
change policies, with the energy
policy aimed at guaranteeing
energy security but doing so
through renewable and other low-
carbon sources. Anything short of
that is a dead end!
Yet, Nigeria faces even greater
challenges. Recently, Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo expressed
concerns about the rich countries’
pledge to stop funding fossil fuel
projects overseas. He wants the
Forum of Gas Exporting
Countries, GEC, to lobby against
the defunding. But that’s a lost
battle because defunding
hydrocarbon projects overseas is
part of the developed world’s net
zero agenda, so defunding will
continue. Even worse, as the
developed world shifts to electric
cars and other clean-energy
products, demands for fossil fuels
will fall significantly, leaving
Nigeria’s hydrocarbon-led
economy deeply fragile.
Put simply: It’s utterly short-
sighted to be deepening Nigeria’s
fossil-fuel dependency just as the
world is turning to net zero
carbon!

expressed and enshrined in labour laws,

A future without child-labour: Accelerating action
By TIMI OLUBIYI
I T is a common sight in Nigeria and
indeed many developing nations to use
kids as labourers or expose them to indecent
activities such as traffic hawking, street
trading, housemaids, domestic services,
okada- riding and in several nano, micros
and small businesses as casual workers,
including agriculture.
These nano businesses include kiosk and
corner shops, vulcanizers, street vendors,
shoemakers, apprentice mechanics,
carpenters, tailors, barbers, hairdressers,
and in open market trades and so on. A
growing number of them engage in street
begging and some are seen in hazardous
work or illicit activities such as prostitution
and trafficking.
More than one in five children in Africa
are employed as child labourers. In fact,
United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF,
data has it that Africa is the region most
affected by underage labour and home to
almost half of the world’s child labourers,
with about 72 million children.
Therefore, it is safe to say that Africa has
the highest incidence of child labour in the
world. In the Nigerian context, child
labour is the employment of children under
the age of 18 in a manner that restricts or
prevents them from basic education and
development. According to estimates
determined by International Labor
Organisation, ILO, the number of child
workers in Nigeria is around 15 million;
however, from context observation, this
figure appears underestimated even though
it is the highest recorded rate of child labour
in West Africa.
Painfully what informed this piece is the
life of a young girl that was needlessly cut
short on July 3, 2021 in Lagos State. The
incident was reported to have happened at
the Yoruba Nation rally where police was
dispersing the agitators at Ojota, Lagos.
She was said to be a teenager of 14 years
who was a street or kiosk trader. The
perspective of this piece is that the poor
teenager ought not to have been hawking or
engaged in road side trading if things were
really the way they should economically and
socially be. But with the current realities in
the country most families need the children’s
support for sustenance and to boost income,
and secure daily meals. Therefore, we all
have to do more as a nation from individuals,
households, institutions, businesses and
government.
The truth is that many know that involving
kids in hawking, labour and trading is bad,
but survival is instrumental to this and there
There is a need to strictly
enforce child-labour laws and
extend social protection to them
all; in addition, there is urgent
need to encourage legislative
and practical actions to
eradicate child-labour
is a need for families to supplement their
incomes with the efforts of the kids and
wards. Most children labourers are unpaid,
and most children who offer labour are never
in any form of an employment relationship
with the guardian or a third-party employer;
but still they are subjected to work under
oppression and fear. This is not the perceived
situation of the late teenager but the general
perception of child-labour in the country.
Most times children are subjected to various
engagements against their wish and are too
young to understand that working as a minor
is illegal and can be reported to the
authorities.
Though the root cause of child-labour can
be adjudged to be poverty, however, the novel
coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic has
increased economic insecurity, disrupted
supply chains and seriously slowed down
family income, with majority experiencing
significant loss of income, inflationary
pressures, job loss and in some cases no
income.
This situation has further compounded the
wave of poverty in the country and in poor
families, child-labour is seen as a major
source of income for the family survival.
Recall, challenges such as increasing
insecurity and kidnapping along with
COVID-19 have forced children in some
localities to drop out of school; this, in turn,
has heightened the risk of child-labour due
to idleness and increase the number of out-
of-school children.
The unethical use of child-labour is an
issue that has been prevalent and is on the
rise in the country. So, in a nutshell with
school closures in some part of the country,
income losses, deepening poverty, and
limited social services, children are forced
into one form of labour or the other
increasingly. Agreeably, in recent times we
have seen a rapid rural-urban migration of
children, mostly teenagers from
disadvantaged families and background
particularly from unsafe villages to cities,
in search of economic opportunities that
often do not exist.
In my opinion, majority of these efforts
end up in child-labour because jobs
available to children are limited to
unskilled, physical and labour-intensive
tasks. Even in a commercial state like
Lagos, many kids from low-income families
often combine schooling with labour
activities and they face health hazards and
potential abuse. Parents, guardians and
employers usually take undue advantage
of these kids by making them work long
hours, knowing that they cannot summon
the courage to make formal complaints to
government agencies or any authority. Even
though the rights of children are well
there is a need to do more in the area of
actively enforcing it.
Without any doubts,child-labourers are
the worst paid and the most exploited in
labour activities, yet it is more prevalent
among children of the uneducated in the
country. Therefore, more efforts need to go
into education and giving more
enlightenment to parents, guardians and
employers. The protection of the rights of
these children is key and more social
protection needs to be extended to them in
the country.
It is a fact that Nigeria is an ILO member
since 1960 and has ratified 40 International
Labour Conventions which is a good
development for the country. However, there
is a need to strictly enforce child-labour laws
as expected and extend social protection to
them all. In addition, there is urgent need to
encourage legislative and practical actions
to eradicate child-labour. Furthermore,
government needs to address the high
informality of small businesses in the
country because this sector largely drives
child workers and labourers which are
usually unpaid and with no adequate
compensation in case of accident, injury or
death.
More so progress against child labour
needs to be intensified by making sure
primary and secondary education is legally
mandatory. Similarly, if education is
enforced without any form of interference it
is likely to increase the general level of
education in the country and reduce the
exposure to children to labour at tender age.
It will not be out of place for parents,
employers, organisations, civil society,
academic institutions, regional
organisations and even individuals to
propose specific actions that may
contribute, and drive the end of child
labourin the country. Good luck!
*Dr. Olubiyi, an entrepreneurship and
business management expert, wrote via:
drtimiolubiyi@gmail.com

Why do some people want out of Nigeria?
W HEN I hear privileged
Nigerians romanticising
the country’s sovereignty and the
inviolability of her territorial
integrity, I remember the speech
Frederick Douglass gave on July 5,
1852 titled: "What to the Slave is the
Fourth of July?" Nigerian leaders
talk glibly about the country ’s
indissolubility. They insist that her
unity is not negotiable. Some claim
that the country came into being by
divine providence. It may well be.
But it is all déjà vu. The history of
mankind is replete with stories of
those who benefit from an unjust
system doing all in their power to
sustain the status quo.
But addressing the Rochester
Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society at
Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New
York to mark the 76th anniversary
of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence, Douglass,
preeminent abolitionist, statesman
and writer, celebrated America and
reminded fellow citizens of the
damning contradictions that define
the country – a country that glorifies
freedom, yet denies a segment of its
population (Blacks) the same
inalienable right. “What have I, or
those I represent, to do with your
national independence? Are the great
principles of political freedom and
of natural justice, embodied in that
Declaration of Independence,
extended to us?” Douglass asked.
“What, to the American slave, is your
Fourth of July? I answer: a day that
reveals to him, more than all other
days in the year, the gross injustice
and cruelty to which he is the
constant victim …. This Fourth of
July is yours, not mine. You may
rejoice, I must mourn,” Douglass
said. These same questions resonate
loudly with those who want Nigeria
splintered up 60 years after
independence.
Dreams of the
founding fathers
Many who are clamouring for self-
determination are asking those who
rule Nigeria whether the great
principles of equity, fairness and
justice embodied in the dreams of
the founding fathers of the country
also extend to them. All over Nigeria,
the Sunday Igbohos and Nnamdi
Kanus are asking those who insist
that the unity of Nigeria is non-
negotiable the same questions
Douglass asked his audience 169
years ago: “Do you mean, citizens,
to mock me, by asking me to speak
today?” For Douglass: “I say it with
a sad sense of the disparity between
us. I am not included within the pale
of this glorious anniversary! Your
high independence only reveals the
immeasurable distance between us.
The blessings in which you, this day,
rejoice, are not enjoyed in common.”
The child from Zamfara who
gains admission into a Unity College
with a score of 25 does not
understand what Douglass says but
the sentiment resonates with a kid
from Anambra who is denied
admission into the same college
with a score of 120. Douglass says:
“The rich inheritance of justice,
liberty, prosperity and independence,
bequeathed by your fathers, is shared
by you, not by me. The sunlight that
brought life and healing to you, has
brought stripes and death to me.”
Those who claim they are born to
rule do not understand what
Douglass says, but the Igbo with a
glass leadership ceiling above his
head understands. That is the crux
of the matter. As President
Muhammadu Buhari’s supporters
argue, these contradictions preceded
his Presidency, but he has made
things worse in the last six years.
Indeed, “to drag a man in fetters into
the grand illuminated temple of
liberty, and call upon him to join you
in joyous anthems, were inhuman
mockery and sacrilegious irony.”
That is what those who insist on “one,
indissoluble Nigeria” at all costs are
doing. But it won’t work. In any
nation in denial over systemic
exclusion, peace is elusive. Nigeria
cannot be an exception.
In the wake of the kidnap in Kenya
of Kanu, leader of the Indigenous
Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, by the
Nigerian government, and the
thoughtless assault on Igboho’s
Ibadan property and killing of two
of his supporters, many have been
ululating, giving Buhari a hearty pat
on the back for a job well done. But
that is crass naivety. The attack on
Igboho and stern warning by the
In any nation in
denial over systemic
exclusion, peace is
elusive; Nigeria cannot
be an exception
Lagos Police Command didn’t stop
Yoruba Nation agitators from
protesting in Lagos. With the massive
deployment of security personnel in
the South East, the wanton killings
and repatriation of Kanu, things
may have quietened down. But it is a
peace of the graveyard. The spirit of
Biafra, which looms larger than
Kanu, is alive and well.
I am yet to meet any Igbo whose
stance on Biafra has shifted
fundamentally since Kanu was
rearrested. Instead, many have joined
the struggle. What Buhari didn’t
know is that while Kanu’s rhetoric
and style resonated with the hoi-
polloi, it put off many Igbo
intellectuals and alienated the
middle class. Now, such people are
back in the struggle, hoping to
redirect it away from incendiary
grandiloquence, unprovoked insults,
demeaning invectives and sundry
banalities that estranged many
compatriots, particularly non-Igbos.
If Buhari were given to
introspection, the fact that 86-year-
old Professor Banji Akintoye (he
became a Professor at University of
Ife way back 1974), a foremost
Awoist and Senator in the Second
Republic, is today leading the Yoruba
agitation for a country of their own,
should be sobering. But Buhari has
no such capacity. Instead, on
Tuesday, he did a victory gig over his
regime’s kidnap of Kanu and the
gangster-like invasion of Igboho’s
home, saying his security agencies
demonstrated “significant deftness,
guile and secrecy” in carrying out
the missions.
He described Igboho as “a militant
ethnic secessionist, who has also been
conducting acts of terror and
disturbing the peace under the guise
of protecting fellow ‘kinsmen’. “By
this singular action of our security
forces, sanity, calm and peace [have]
been returned to our communities
who previously lived in constant fear
of these misguided elements,” Buhari
swaggered. But he lied against Igboho
whose rallies have been peaceful. His
only crime was the audacity to
orchestrate the eviction of murderous
Fulani herdsmen from Igangan,
Ibarapa local government of Oyo
State when security agencies looked
the other way. The president boasted
that the arrest of Kanu has restored
sanity, calm and peace to the South
East. How naïve. When a movement
is erected on the foundation of
profound idea, it can hardly be
crushed. Biafra has become an
ideological battle cry for survival. It
is a metaphor for equity and justice.
That explains why, despite the state
brutality and coercion, the echo of
agitation is getting louder.
Why would Yoruba Nation
agitators dare the police, army,
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence
Corps, NSCDC, and other security
agencies with their armada of
military hardware to demonstrate in
Ojota last week? Did they take the
risk knowing the capacity of the
Nigerian state for malevolence
because of Igboho? No! The quest
has acquired a life of its own.
The question that should
concentrate the mind of Buhari is:
Why would a man of Akintoye’s
standing elect to lead Ilana Omo
Oodua, IOO, in the twilight of his
life? The issue in the South West is
not Igboho just as Kanu is not in the
South East. They are only symptoms
of a stage four cancer afflicting
Nigeria’s body-politic. Rather than
resigning to fate and succumbing to
imminent death, the people have
decided to fight back with a hope that
they may still salvage something. But
even if death becomes inevitable, they
die with some dignity.
Buhari said “assault weapons are
not tools of peace-loving people and
as such, regardless of who they are
and where they are from, the security
agencies should treat them all the
same.” That is true. But the terrorists
whom Buhari advised Benue elders
to live in peace with wield AK-47
assault rifles. The ancestral homes
of citizens living in IDP camps in
Benue, Plateau and other North
Central states are now occupied by
bandits, most of them not Nigerians.
What stops Buhari holding court
with his security chiefs and giving
them the same marching orders he
gave in the South East and say, any
illegal occupant of any farm,
ancestral village is given 72 hours to
leave or the security people will move
in? Why is Buhari, who is boasting
about the military pacification of
Alaigbo, not giving the security forces
who kidnapped Kanu from a foreign
country 30 days to take every
Nigerian living in an IDP camp back
to their ancestral homes with
maximum protection?
Why is he wittingly creating the
impression that some Nigerians are
sacred cows who can act with
impunity and get away with it? The
issue is Buhari and what he
represents. The issue is poor
governance and arrogance of power.
It is indecency in the corridors of
power. It is the lack of equity and
fairness. These are the reasons for the
Igboho and Kanu phenomena – the
reasons why most people want out of
Nigeria.
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 17
:Vanguard News
2023: No strained relationship between
Okowa, past Delta govs—Oghenesivbe
A SABA—EXECUTIVE Assistant to the
Governor of Delta State on
Communications, Dr Fred Latimore
Oghenesivbe, has debunked unfounded
allegation that power rotation within the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta,
has been technically voided by Governor
Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, through body
language and public comments.
The governor's aide while responding
to questions on ARISE TV live programme,
"The Morning Show," on Tuesday July 6,
2021, with lead Anchor, Dr Reuben Abati,
said Okowa is neutral as to who will become
his successor in 2023, saying that the
governor strongly believe that God, alone
has the capacity to know who will take
over from him.
He posited that the perceived agitation
may be related to the alleged implied or
express repudiation of the power rotation
arrangement, wherein some PDP
members in Delta Central and South
Senatorial Districts contested for the office
of governor, in 2015, when it was not the
turn of their districts to produce the
Governor, under the power rotation
arrangement.
He, however, assured that leaders of
the party in the state and incumbent
Edo communities sign peace accord
over land tussles 25th 2021 and made available to Vanguard
yesterday, the communities agreed to
By Oziruva Aliu
B Part of it read: “We the undersigned
ENIN CITY—AFTER a protracted
dispute over land, the people of
Amagba and Oko-Aroma in Ikpoba-
Okha local government area of Edo state
have agreed to be friendly neighbours
and maintain peace till all their land
cases are resolved in the conventional
court and the palace of the Oba of Benin.
This is sequel to a peace meeting under
the supervision of the Assistant
Inspector General (AIG) Zone 5 of the
Nigerian Police, Benin City.
In the peace deal signed by Pa Joseph
Iduoriyekemwen and three others on
behalf of Amagba community and Elder
Abel Emokpae and five others on behalf
of Oko-Arama community, dated June
Arewa leader in South lauds Timipre
of the Niger Delta region from his early
Sylva on PIB days as a youth in the region.
By Jimitota Onoyume
W ARRI—LEADER of Arewa in the
South Alhaji Musa Saidu, has hailed
the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief
Timipre Sylva for his effort in the passage
of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, by the
National Assembly.
Alhaji Saidu, said those condemning
the passage should realise that it took
almost two decades for the bill to be passed
by the National Assembly, adding that
they should commend the role of Sylva in
the passage while they can still lobby the
National Assembly for more.
Continuing, he enjoined President
Muhammadu Buhari to sign the bill into
law, describing it as a bill that will promote
national peace.
Alhaji Saidu who was also an aide to
the late Harold Dappa Biriye, a political
leader in the Niger Delta region, said he
had been championing the common good
OKPE: Centre launches food security
initiative to engage in agriculture, the introduction
of modern farming procedures for other
By Paul Olayemi
S
APELE—A non-profit organization,
the Sapele Centre for Development and
one of the recognized Entrepreneurship
Development Institutes, EDI, of the
Central Bank/Nigeria Incentive Risk-
Sharing in Agriculture Lending, NIRSAL
Agriculture-related Small and Medium
Enterprise Scheme, AGSMES, Monday,
launched the ‘Okpe Kingdom Food
Security and Economic Empowerment
Vision.
The initiative, a follow-up on the
agriculture-related summit it held in Sapele,
Delta State, with the theme: ‘Okpe
Kingdom: A Potential Food Basket of the
Nation’, in April, this year, is to harness
the local Agricultural potential or resources
available in the kingdom, to make it
another food basket of the nation and for
the economic benefit of the existing and
potential local farmers.
The centre also aims to achieve, by
building the necessary partnership to create
the enabling environment for more people
:@vanguardnews
governor, Senator Okowa, will take
appropriate steps, together with other
leaders across the three senatorial districts
to resolve grey areas, if any, in the power
shift conflict and lead PDP to another
landslide victory in 2023.
Oghenesivbe further asserted that
Okowa and past governors in the state,
are best of friends and political partners,
contrary to unfounded rumours making
the rounds that the governor's statement
about power rotation created friction
between former governor, Chief James
Ibori, and the incumbent governor.
The Justice of the Peace, JP, said that
the dissolution of cabinet by Okowa was
not meant to drop Ibori loyalists; Olorogun
David Edevbie, Chiedu Ebie, Esq and
others, pointing out that Okowa and the
past governors as well as their loyalists are
in good terms, and that no stranger will be
able to come between them.
"To the best of my knowledge, Gov
Okowa is not an obstacle to rotation of
power and will never be. But it appears, in
my considered opinion, that there are grey
areas in the power rotation arrangement
implementation, which leaders of the party
in the three senatorial districts must
endeavour to resolve," he said.
maintain law and order in the area.
members and representatives of Amagba
and Oko-Aroma community
respectively undertake and bind
ourselves over to live in peace and
harmony among ourselves pending the
determination of the land dispute cases
pending before the court and the palace
of Oba of Benin respectively.
“This undertaking is sequel to the
intervention of the Assistant Inspector
General of Police Zone 5 headquarters,
Benin City on the 25th Day of June
2021 where all parties concerned were
warned and advised to maintain law and
order as doing otherwise will attract
criminal prosecution”
"Those condemning the good work of
the Honourable Minister of State for
Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, should
know that this PIB must start from
somewhere.We know it is not enough
but the achievement so far brought about
by Chief Sylva should be commended.",
he said.
"There is so much suffering in the Niger
Delta region. Chief Sylva has tried as a
Minister and the National Assembly too
has tried. Those condemning should
know that there are different interest. For
Chief Sylva to put in all effort for this bill
to be passed ,he should be commended.",
he added
"The Minister is my friend, I was aware
of his effort. Niger Deltans should thank
him even if this is not enough. But they
should know it is a process.
"This bill has been in the National
Assembly for almost two decades until
this passage.", he said.
crops to be added to the traditional crops of
the kingdom — rubber, cassava and palm
oil.
The Project Coordinator of the center,
Ekpeme Temiagin, said: ‘With the
favourable ecosystem of the zone, the
vision is geared at shifting from traditional
farming methods, building the right
entrepreneurial mindset in Agriculture,
partnering with Agriculture related training
Institutions for capacity building, and
working with interested partners to provide
access to low interest funding and
overcoming the issue of availability of land
and land ownership.’
The launching, which had the Delta
State Commissioner for Agriculture, Julius
Egbedi, as its resource person, also had
the Head of PMRO, NIRSAL, Mr.
Azebeokhai Imhokhai; General Manager
of Songhai Delta Farms at Amukpe,
Afonughe Usenu, and Head/Trade
Promotion Advisor of Nigeria Export
Promotion Council, NEPC, Mr. Peter
Onokpasa in attendance.
18 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
FOR the people of Bauchi State,
Sunday, June 27, 2021 was a historic
day. For the first time in years, the
people of that part of the country who
have lived in dread of Boko Haram
terrorism and the rash of highway
kidnappings came out in their
overflowing thousands to watch
vintage football exhibitions at the
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium.
It was also the first time for many
years when a handful of private jets
landed at the Bauchi Airport due to
an event that had nothing to do with
a political rally or the wedding of the
children of occupants of high political
offices in the country.
Rather, these aircraft had brought
some of our retired football legends
and entertainers from Nigeria and
beyond.
These included Nwankwo Kanu,
Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha, Daniel
Amokachi, Celestine Babayaro, Tijani
Babangida, Joseph Yobo, Victor
Pedestrian bridges and suicidal Lagosians
By KAYODE OJEWALE
L AGOS and traffic congestion are
synonymous when describing life in
the Centre of Excellence. The reason is not
far-fetched because the city is heavily
populated and still increasing. Traffic
situation would have become worse by now
if the Lagos State Traffic Management
Authority, LASTMA, was not established
over 20 years ago given the attendant
increasing population occasioned by
infrastructural development in the state.
LASTMA officials, no doubt, do not only
manage and control vehicular traffic but
also handle human traffic while on the
road.
They help some passersby to cross at
times, especially on busy roads where there
are no overhead bridges for pedestrians.
Most times these traffic managers stop
vehicles for school children and the elderly
ones thereby distracting them from their
primary assignment on the road. That, to
an extent might be understandable because
school pupils and the aged are fragile and
not strong enough to trek long distance or
climb stairs.
Traffic flow is impeded when people cross
highways where pedestrian bridges are
located, thereby giving traffic managers
extra work to do.
One begins to wonder why pedestrians
find it difficult to make use of the foot
bridges built across Lagos. Why will
commuters rather prefer crossing busy
highways to using the pedestrian bridges?
Why would one deliberately embark on a
suicide mission knowing fully well the
Lighting up the North East
Ikpeba, Garba Lawal and Austin
Eguavoen. International stars such as
DR Congo’s Tremor Lomana Lualua
and Senegal’s Abdoulfatah Fadiga
were also in attendance.
These legends played exhibition
football with soccer academy cadets
from all over the country who had
been adopted by the soccer stars.
The budding soccer stars stood a
chance to be selected in the next batch
of talents to be sponsored for further
studies and continuation of their
growth in the game in Europe, South
America and the United States under
the banner of Engineer Noah Dallaji’s
African Children’s Talent Discovery
Foundation, ACTDF, also known as
OPINION
consequence of such action? Is the risk of
crossing the highway in a bid to arrive
one’s destination on time worth it in real
sense? When would all commuters imbibe
the culture of using the pedestrian bridge?
Pedestrian bridges are built for safety
purposes and to prevent avoidable deaths
on the highways, but these bridges have
become abandoned and turned to places
for buying, selling, alms begging and
displaying all kinds of body disabilities.
Government spent a lot of money putting
modern concrete pedestrian bridges in
place in order to ease traffic flow and
reduce highway knockdown of passersby
crossing the road. Some old bridges were
rehabilitated, new ones were constructed
and some others left dilapidated. On the
side of officialdom, the maintenance
culture is lacking because old bridges are
not being maintained. Most old bridges
have, due to disuse and disrepair, been left
abandoned.
Enforcing the use of pedestrian bridges
by commuters will be one good way to
prevent or reduce road fatalities. This will
be one good way to tame the continued
failure of pedestrians to use foot bridges.
Despite Lagos State’s attempts and
aggressive campaigns in the drive to
sensitise its residents to use pedestrian
bridges, the efforts have still not yielded
the desired outcomes to dissuade people
from the unhealthy and dangerous practice
of dashing across major highways.
There have been many reports of hit-and-
run motorists, who, on daily basis, knock
down pedestrians who cross busy highways
without using overhead bridges.
the Engineer Noah Dallaji Legacy
Project.
Established in 2006, the Foundation
had in the past led many Nigerian
artistes and celebrities to perform in
United Nations functions in the US
and Brazil.
It has also sent many young
Nigerians on scholarship to the USA.
This was made possible through
Dallaji’s Sister State Initiative with the
City of Oakland, California.
The ACTDF’s recent adoption of two
Nigerian Tokyo Olympic-bound
athletes – Patience Okon-George
(athletics) and Elizabeth Anyanacho
(taekwondo) with $10,000 each to
support their preparations was
While there are still many places in Lagos
today needing overhead bridges for
pedestrians crossing, it is unfortunate that
the existing and newly built ones are not
being used by pedestrians. Some old iron-
built bridges have also become death traps
and may collapse in no distant time. Some
abandoned bridges have also become
hideouts for pickpocketing and other
criminal activities.
Other unused overhead bridges are
places of abode for miscreants and street
urchins. For anyone who manages to use
such pedestrian bridge, they must be
mindful of their belongings.
In order to stem the spate of
environmental offences, the state
government is checking environmental ills
in Lagos through the Lagos State
One good way of ensuring that
pedestrians use the footbridges is
by making public the continuous
arrest and prosecution of
offenders who cross highways
Environmental Sanitation Corps,
LAGESC, which is saddled with the
responsibility of arresting pedestrians who
fail to use the footbridges.
It will be recalled that LAGESC officials
in 2020 arrested and prosecuted some
defaulters who failed to use the pedestrian
bridges built strategically for crossing
highways. Many arrests have been made
in time past, yet the prosecution of these
defaulting pedestrians have not deterred
others from committing same offence.
The Corps Marshal of LAGESC, CP
AkinpeluGbemisola (rtd), sometime last
year, encouraged pedestrians to make use
of the bridges for free flow of traffic and
effusively commended by the Minister
of Sports, Sunday Dare at an official
ceremony.
It is remarkable that an individual
patriot is committing his resources to
promote the talents of our youth at a
time that the woeful security situation
of our country is pushing many well-
to-do Nigerians to explore the so-
called “Option B” – fleeing abroad.
The staging of the Bauchi football
exhibition, which was hitch-free, was
a bold statement in commitment.
We call on our leaders both within
and outside government to emulate
this gesture of sowing in the talents
of the youth.
Youth abandonment is the major
reason for the insecurity confronting
us. Youth will only “behave well” when
we show concern for their welfare
and future. We commend the ACTDF
initiative and urge its promoters not
to relent.
Send Opinions & Letters to:
opinions1234@yahoo.com
the people, warning that it is an offence to
endanger their lives by crossing the
highways which puts them at risk of getting
knocked down by ‘hit and run’ drivers.
Pedestrians are their own enemies; apart
from their failure to use footbridges,
walkways and sidewalks meant for them
have been turned to market places.
Traffic congestion is triggered in some
areas, especially busy bus stops where
pedestrian movement surpasses vehicular
movement, by those who buy and sell by
roadsides. The obstruction by these buyers
and sellers become worse as from twilight
when there is heavy human and vehicular
movement. Lazy buyers that could not
walk into the main market patronise sellers
by roadsides and on the sidewalks, thereby
encouraging these violators to continue
their unguided practices.
Reasons some pedestrians do not use the
foot bridges range from, laziness to walk
the long stretch of thebridge length to
hurriedness to arrive their destinations.
Whereas in reality, the foot bridges help
save the time pedestrians waste by waiting
for vehicles to speed past. Some also claim
their fear for height is the reason they
cannot climb staircases, adding that the
bridge can collapse too.
One good way of ensuring that
pedestrians use the footbridges is by
making public the continuous arrest and
prosecution of offenders who cross
highways. The publication of the names of
defaulters and offenders in media space
would serve as deterrence to pedestrians
with such intentions. Pedestrian bridges
should also not be constructed too high to
cater for the acrophobic folks.
•Ojewale is of the Public Affairs and
Enlightenment Department of LASTMA

Nigeria faces six-year delay in achieving SDGs
— IMF
By Peter Egwuatu, with
Agency Report
ECONOMY
T he International Mon
etary Fund (IMF) has said
that Nigeria is facing a six-year
delay in achieving its Sustain-
able Development Goals
(SDGs).
Kristalina Georgieva, IMF
Managing Director, made this
known in her remarks at the UN
high level political forum on
sustainable-development.
Georgieva said the decision
of policymakers across the
world resulted in an increase
in the IMF global growth fore-
cast to six per cent in 2021 and
four per cent in 2022.
She said despite the increased
growth projection, some coun-
tries are facing a setback in the
path to accomplishing the
SDGs.
She further noted that enor-
mous challenges are faced by
countries with high vulnerabili-
ties, adding that “achieving the
SDGs will be even more chal-
lenging after the pandemic”.
“To be more specific, what we
are assessing is that the financ-
ing needs of the SDGs will in-
crease by an average annual
2½ percentage points of GDP,
or almost $60 billion per year
for all low income countries,”
she said.
“In other words, the road to
travel has become tougher.
Enormous challenges are faced
by all countries with high vul-
nerabilities.
“In Nigeria, for instance, be-
cause of the pandemic, the
country faces a six-year delay
in achieving its SDGs. In
Rwanda, it is five years.”
The IMF MD called for in-
creased mobilisation across
countries for pro-growth struc-
tural reforms, supported by
more fiscal capacity through
domestic resource mobilization.
She added that there should
be improved private sector en-
gagement to boost achievement
of SDGs.
152.78 -0.30
-1.71
17.84
74.16 -0.45
CURRENCY BUYING SELLING
US 409.12 409.62
DOLLAR 566.9176 567.6104 568.3033
POUNDS 484.4799 485.072
EURO 443.2503 443.792
FRANC 3.6974 3.7019
YEN 0.7221 0.7321
CFA 581.8622 582.5733 583.2844
63.2618 63.3396
WAUA
RENMINBI 109.0841 109.2174 109.3508
RIYAL 28.7616 28.7968
RAND
CBN Exchange rate as at 07/07/2021 tions from inception to 31
Danish Krona
BROKERS’FORUM : From left, Managing Director/CEO, Heirs Life Assurance, Niyi Onifade;
President, Nigerian Council of Registered Brokers (NCRIB), Dr. Mrs. Bola Onigbogi; and Ag.
Managing Director/CEO, Heirs Insurance Limited, Dr. Adaobi Nwakuche at the Brokers’
Forum organised by Heirs Life Assurance and Heirs Insurance for NCRIB members held in
Lagos on Tuesday
PenCom fines 25 firms N446m over pension
default at 31 March 2021. sector accounted for N115.83 bil-
ECONOMY
By Rosemary Iwunze
T he National Pension Com
mission, PenCom, imposed
N446 million penalties on 25 em-
ployers that defaulted in remitting
pension in the first quarter of 2021,
Q1’21.
This represents 161.5 per cent
Month-on-Month, MoM, in-
crease from N170.6 million pen-
alties imposed on 17 defaulting
firms in the fourth quarter of 2020,
Q4’20.
PenCom disclosed this in its
Q1’21 report that N608.6 mil-
lion was recovered from default-
ing employers in Q1’21 against
N553.03 recovered in Q4’20.
The report stated: “Following the
issuance of demand notices to de-
faulting employers whose pension
liabilities had been established by
the Recovery Agents (RAs), the
sum of N608.55 million represent-
ing principal contribution of
N162.39 million and pen-
alty of N446.17 million was
recovered from 25 default-
ing employers during the
quarter under review.
“In Q4’20, following the
issuance of demand notices
to defaulting employers
whose pension liabilities
had been established by the
Recovery Agents (RAs),
N553.03 million, repre-
senting principal contribu-
tion of N382.46 million and
penalties of N170.57 mil-
lion were recovered from
19 defaulting employers
410.12 during the quarter under
review.”
485.6641
The report also disclosed
444.3337
that the Pension Fund Ad-
3.7065
ministrators, PFAs, regis-
0.7421
tered 84,368 Retirement
63.4173 Savings Account, RSAs,
during the quarter under
28.8319 review. “This brought the
cumulative RSA registra-
March 2021 to 9,300,058 as
“However, the PFAs registered
a total of 68,827 RSAs during
Q4’20. This brought the cumula-
tive RSA registrations from incep-
tion to 31 December 2020 to
9,215,788.
“The total pension contributions
remitted to the RSAs in the first
quarter of 2021 stood at N203.10
billion. Out of this total, the public
NGX reviews 13 market indices
By Peter Egwuatu
N
igerian Exchange Group
(NGX) has announced the
results of its half year market index
review for the following indices –
the NGX 30, NGX Lotus Islamic,
NGX Pension, Corporate Gover-
nance Index, Afrinvest Bank Value
Index, Afrinvest Dividend Yield In-
dex, Meristem Growth Index, Mer-
istem Value Index; and the five
Sectoral Indices of the Exchange -
NGX Banking, NGX Insurance,
NGX Industrial, NGX Consumer
Goods and NGX Oil & Gas.
The review has led to the entry
and exit of some companies from
several indices effective Thursday,
1 July 2021. The incoming and exit-
ing companies in the various indi-
ces are as follow: Under NGX 30
Index, United Capital Plc joins and
11 Plc (delisted) was removed.
For NGX Consumer Goods In-
dex,NGXBankingIndex,NGXIn-
dustrial Index, Corporate Gover-
nance Index and NGX Insurance
Index, no company joined and non
exited.
In the NGX Oil & Gas Index,
none joined but 11 Plc exited while
intheNGXPensionIndex,Vitafoam
Nigeria Plc joined and 11 Plc re-
moved; NGX Lotus Islamic Index,
PrescoPlcandNigerianAvia-
tionHandlingCompanyPlcjoined
while Chemical and Allied Paints
Plc and Cadbury Nigeria Plc were
removed.
Afrinvest Bank Value Index, Fi-
delity Bank Plc and
FCMB Plc joined and United Bank
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 —19
lion or 57.03 per cent while the
private sector contributed N87.27
billion or 42.97 per cent. The cu-
mulative pension contributions re-
ceived from both the public and
private sectors from inception to the
end of the first quarter of 2021,
therefore, amounted to N6.91 tril-
lion, up from the N6.70 trillion as
at the end of the Q4 2020.
CAPITAL MARKET
for Africa Plc was removed.
AfrinvestDivYieldIndex,Dangote
Cement Plc joined while Africa Pru-
dential Plc and Vitafoam Plc were
removed.
ForMeristemGrowthIndex,Aiico
Insurance Plc, Jaiz Bank Plc,
NCRIB president endorses Heirs
Insurance, Heirs Life Assurance
By Cynthia Alo
P
resident of the Nigerian
Council of Registered Insur-
ance Brokers, (NCRIB) Dr. Mrs.
Bola Onigbogi, has endorsed Heirs
Insurance Limited (HIL) and Heirs
Life Assurance Limited (HLA) de-
scribing both companies as progres-
sive with their array of product of-
ferings and promise of excellent
service.
Welcoming Dr. Adaobi
Nwakuche, Ag. CEO, Heirs Insur-
ance Limited and Niyi Onifade,
CEO, Heirs Life Assurance, at the
meeting of the Council on Tues-
day in Lagos, she said: “I have no
iota of doubt in my mind that Heirs
Insurance and Heirs Life are com-
panies to watch out for in the mar-
ket.”
She added, “A critical examina-
tion of your workforce and your
enthusiasm to host this members’
evening at a time like this is a
pointer to a greater business ex-
ploit you are poised to accomplish”.
She further described the com-
panies as broker friendly, endors-
FIRS rakes in
N650bn in June,
highest in 15
months
By Emma Ujah, Abuja
Bureau Chief
ECONOMY
T he Federal Inland Rev
enue Service (FIRS) gen-
erated N650 billion in June
2021, the highest since the
coronavirus, COVID-19 pan-
demic outbreak in March 2020.
Commenting, the Executive
Chairman of FIaRS, Mr
Muhammad Nami, said:
“This feat was achieved as a
result of the efficiency and ef-
fectiveness of the Tax ProMax
Solution, notwithstanding the
challenges and resistance faced
in the early stages of its adop-
tion, and the downturn orches-
trated by slow economic recov-
ery.” He recalled that as part
of its efforts at modernizing tax
administration in the country,
the FIRS recently introduced the
Tax Administration Solution
(TaxProMax) for ease of tax com-
pliance.
According to him, the solution
“enables seamless registration,
filing, payment of taxes and au-
tomatic credit of withholding tax
as well as other credits to the
Taxpayer ’s accounts, among
other features. It also provides
a single-view to Taxpayers for
all transactions with the Ser-
vice.”
Mr Nami reminded taxpayers
of the one-off, one-month exten-
sion granted earlier this month
for the filing of Company In-
come Tax returns by taxpayers
with December 31, 2020 ac-
counting year-end whose statu-
tory tax returns were due not
later than 30th June 2021.
Presco Plc and PZ Cussons Nige-
ria Plc joined while Africa Pruden-
tial Plc, Ardova Plc, Dangote Ce-
ment Plc and Glaxo Smithkline
Consumer Nig. Plc were removed.
Meristem Value Index, Ardova
Plc, Custodian Investment Plc
and Unilever Nigeria Plc joined
while Conoil Plc, Presco Plc, Wema
Bank Plc and Nascon Allied Indus-
tries Plc were removed.
INSURANCE
ing the companies as partners for
brokers to collaborate with.
“I guarantee you for your en-
dorsement by my professional col-
leagues”, she added.
Nwakuche, during her address,
acknowledged NCRIB as an im-
portant stakeholder in the business
of insurance, liaising between cus-
tomers and insurance firms. She
emphasised the mission of Heirs
Insurance while introducing the
company to the brokers present:
Onifade introduced some of the
affordable products specialist life
insurance company, Heirs Life, is
bringing to the market, including
its savings and investment prod-
ucts, term life and group life plans
for employees. He noted that col-
laboration with NCRIB will ad-
vance both companies’ ambition of
providing customers with insur-
ance service that is simple, quick,
accessible, and reliable.
The event was attended by about
300 brokers from across the coun-
try.
20— Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
USAID launches action to prevent,
treat complications from Obstetric
Fistula in Nigeria
By Victoria Ojeme
U NITED States Agency for
International Development,
USAID, has launched an action
that will prevent and repair
complications from obstetric fistula,
a debilitating condition arising
during pregnancy and childbirth
endured by countless Nigerian
women.
The U.S. Ambassador to
Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard
disclosed this virtually in a joint
meeting with the Minister of
Women Affairs and Social
Development, Dame Pauline
Tallen.
According to Leonard, the
USAID/Nigeria Safe Surgery in
Family Planning and Obstetrics
activity, a part of the global USAID
MOMENTUM project, will
reduce maternal and newborn
mortality and morbidity by
supporting institutions and local
organisations to introduce, scale-
up and sustain evidence-based
prevention and surgical
management of obstetric fistula
and female genital mutilation,
mitigating the adverse effects and
complications of these conditions.
She said: “This new U.S.
assistance will help Nigeria’s
healthcare providers identify,
manage and prevent obstetric
fistula, female genital mutilation,
Women can bridge Nigeria’s energy deficit via renewable
energy —WIMBIZ, All On
By Ebunoluwa Sessou
T HE need for more women
to explore opportunities
in renewable energy has been
highlighted in a recently
concluded roundtable event
organised by Women in
Management, Business and
Public Service, WIMBIZ.
With the theme: Women in
Energy: Leveraging the
opportunities in the Renewable
Energy, the panelists, Omobola
Omofaiye, Chief Commercial
Officer, arenergy; Pamela
Adegbite, Group Head, Sales
for Commercial and Industrial
Sector, Starsight Energy
alongside the moderator,
Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani,
Executive Council Member,
WIMBIZ, explained that
renewable energy is birthed to
reduce waste as well as serve
as alternative source of energy
for numerous households and
businesses.
“There is a deficit in the
power sector and 80 million
Nigerians do not have access
to reliable energy. The
opportunities in renewable
energy are enormous if the
government is ready to reduce
the cost of operations. The
value chain in solar is huge,”
they noted.
Inyembe-Nwankwo,
Executive Council
Chairperson, WIMBIZ,
explained that the reason for
organising the roundtable is to
and other forms of gender-based
violence in a complementary
manner. Fistula is both
preventable and treatable, and by
working in partnership with
government agencies, we can do
both.”
Obstetric fistula occurs when
complications during delivery
result in a hole between the
mother’s birth canal and either the
bladder or rectum — usually
exacerbated by a lack of quality
medical treatment. Nigeria
accounts for 40 per cent of fistula
cases worldwide.
Nigeria accounts for 13,000 new
cases of fistula per year, and as
many as 400,000 women languish
on waiting lists for corrective
surgery.
•Dame Pauline Tallen
•Women in renewable energy on site
bring women together and this
is done every month.
"We look for interesting and
topical issues to discuss and the
reason for this is that we want
women to be equipped to take
on the world.
“Over the last few months, it
has been interesting when you
hear about what is going on and
you look into the future and
you look into renewable
energy. The idea is for us to let
women understand what
renewable energy is.
“Secondly, it is for women to
figure out what and how they
want to interact with
renewable energy. WIMBIZ is
an organisation that wants to
The $10 million activity builds
on the gains of the previous
USAID funded fistula
interventions in Nigeria, which
conducted over 18,400 fistula
surgical repairs and about 800
non-surgical repairs in 14 fistula
centers in 13 states. Under the
activity, partners trained more
than 50 surgeons in fistula
repair and 2,700 other
healthcare workers in fistula
prevention and treatment.
Over the next five years, USAID
Implementing Partner,
Engender Health will lead a
coalition of local and university-
based international partners and
see more women in leadership
across business, management
and public service.
“And for many business
women, power is a big cost
component for these
businesses, we want them to
see the alternatives and
understand how they can use
other alternative ways to
power their businesses in a
long-term, sustainable way
that makes them more
competitive and to succeed.
“For women who are in the
management and private
sector, the pandemic has
shown us that the world is
constantly evolving and we
want to encourage women to
learn new skills and new areas
professional organisations to
implement the activity in Bauchi,
Ebonyi, Kebbi and Sokoto states,
as well as the Federal Capital
Territory.
On her own part, Minsiter of
Women Affairs, Dame Pauline
Tallen, said: “This is a call to
action. All hands must be on deck.
So many women are in so much
pain. The need is tremendous.
This robust program will reach
more women who are suffering
and empower survivors with hope
and the joy of living again.”
Other dignitaries included the
First Lady of Kebbi State,
commissioners of Health from
so that it will be easier for them
to move into their careers and
explore new innovation. Women
are then able to decide if they
will work in renewable energy
or enter into partnership
arrangements for better growth.
“Lastly, we want women in the
sector to meet other women in
their sector so as to encourage,
support and help each other to
grow. Ultimately, we want to see
more women in renewable
energy, more women adopting
renewable energy as a way to
power their businesses as well
as seeing more women in
leadership in Nigeria."
WIMBIZ at 20
•Ambassador Mary Beth
Leonard
Bauchi, Kebbi, Sokoto, and
Ebonyi states, as well as Nigerian
actor and model, Stephanie
Linus, who is also a fistula
prevention advocate.
•Ngover Inyembe-Nwankwo
Speaking on the 20th
anniversary of the organisation
coming up in November in
relation to the roundtable, she
said it is significant.
“Twenty years is a milestone,
the number of what we have
started but yet, we have not
finished and for us at WIMBIZ,
it is interesting to see that we
have stood the test of time and
continue to stand the test of
time.
“Over the years, WIMBIZ has
evolved and the conference
will hold between November 1
and 5; we have been putting on
new programs and looking back
after 20 years to see the journey
to empower women, connect
women and lots of advocacy for
women.
“As part of the 20th
anniversary, we will be
honouring women who have
gone before us and paved the
way for us. We will be shaping
Continues on page 21

Non-GMO, gluten-free foods Women can bridge Nigeria’s energy deficit
highly recommendable for
healthy living —Nutritional
industrialist allergies.
We keep our products non- is next for WIMBIZ for the next campaigns that educate people
By Chris Onuoha
K EHINDE Akinyemi-Okomah
is a passionate leader, with
a long track record of successful
business management. Though
coming from a finance
background, she has been in the
Oil & Gas industry for over 18
years before delving into snacks
and juice production as the
founder, TemnnysFoods. In this
interview, Kehinde talks about the
effects of GMO food, eating habits
and other things.
Speaking about eating habits
generally, what do you consider
harmful in the way people eat?
A vast majority of people give
little or no attention to proper
eating habits or even study about
eating habits and what it entails.
Poor eating habits are detrimental
to the body. The risk of poor
nutrition also has its roots in our
eating habits. A very common bad
eating habit is snacking round the
clock on high calorie, unhealthy
and junk foods. This habit can pose
a threat to one’s health in the long
run. Snacking on organic, gluten-
free, non-GMO foods is highly
recommendable and body- friendly.
When you say, snacking on
organic, gluten-free, non-GMO
foods is highly recommendable
and body-friendly, what do you
mean?
It’s very important that I explain
the term ‘GMO’; that way you
would understand clearly. GMOs,
short for genetically modified
organisms, are subject to a lot of
controversy. In the food industry,
GMO crops have had genes added
to them for various reasons such
as improving their growth,
nutritional content, sustainability,
pest resistance and ease of
farming.
While GMO crops make farming
much easier, there is some
concern around their potential
effect on the environment and
their safety for human
consumption — specifically
surrounding illnesses and
•Akinyemi-Okomah
via renewable energy —WIMBIZ, All On
Continued from page 20
the future for WIMBIZ as well.
We will be talking about what need to run public awareness
GMO and gluten-free because
we ensure the use of natural
plants whose genetic
components have not been
altered.
In Nigeria, foods such as
fufu, garri, yam and others
are taken as satisfying
meals. Will your non-GMO
snacks ever replace major
meals in this clime?
We understand the love that
Nigerians have for their
conventional meals and we are
very much aware that Nigerians
have some of the best of meals
in the world. However, snacking
will never replace the delectable
Nigerian heavy meals but rather
complement them. We also
understand the importance of
a balanced diet. Eating healthy
shouldn’t be hard and it should
not hold you back from doing
what you love.
What are the challenges of
doing business in Nigeria?
Nigeria as one of Africa’s
major players in commerce
and industry is faced with some
challenges that may overwhelm
the operations of businesses.
These challenges include the
current security issues
plaguing the country, poor
electricity supply and lack of
adequate infrastructure.
In what way do you think
government can be of
assistance to the food
manufacturing industry?
No business can succeed very
well without government’s
commitment to ensuring a good
environment and business
policies for all forms of
businesses to thrive.
Government and business have
a relationship with the action of
one imposing a resultant effect
on the other. The best way the
government can be of assistance
is to create enabling and
sustainable business policies
and regulations that would
encourage business activities in
the country.
relevant for the growth of the
sector.
“For the sector to grow, we
20 years.
“We also encourage women
within their spheres of life to
impact their communities and
younger generations. We need
a pipeline of women to pull
along the next generation."
WOMEN IN STEM
Speaking on opportunities in
renewable energy, Adaobi
Oniwinde, Policy & growth and development.
Partnerships Manager, All On,
advised young girls to take
advantage of STEM subjects at
the university before starting a
career.
“We recognise that fewer
women than men are studying
STEM. That is a gap that needs
to be filled, but there are so
many other ways to get into the
sector.
“For example, studies show
that solar installation is
actually one of the fastest
growing jobs in renewable
energy. Solar installers are at
the core of the industry. We
know that even in rural parts
of Nigeria, without formal
tertiary level education,
women are entering solar
installation.
“In the absence of STEM or
technical background, there
are so many other areas in the
sector where women can
thrive. The sector needs to do
more to offer more diverse,
rewarding opportunities in
office-based functions such as
HR, Finance, Legal,
Communications and
customer service which are
Private jets, instruments of evangelism
—Rev-Mother Esther Ajayi
By Ebunoluwa Sessou
F OUNDER of the Love of
Christ Generation Church
C&S (Worldwide), Rev. Mother
Esther Abimbola Ajayi, has
urged all Nigerians to embark
on intensive prayers even as
the nation is faced with
incessant insecurity
challenges.
Ajayi made the call during a
visit by executive members of
the Nigeria Union of
Journalists, NUJ, Lagos
Council led by its Chairman,
Mr. Adeleye Ajayi recently.
According to her, there is a
need for all of us to be more
prayerful because there can
never be peace when there is
crisis in the land.
The Christian cleric said that
she would continue to pray for
Nigeria as she was optimistic
that there would not be any
outbreak of war in Nigeria.
“He is God of new beginning
and nothing is impossible for
Him to do,” Ajayi said.
Reacting to the rumour
being peddled widely of
owning a private jet, the
philanthropist said she had no
private jet in her name.
“I see private jet as an
instrument of evangelism. I
have ridden on chartered
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 21
on the potential and usefulness
of solar for example. You need
communications experts to tell
impact stories in a way that
regular non-technical potential
consumers can digest.
“We recognise the need to
catch them young. The data isn’t •Adaobi Oniwinde
encouraging. Fewer female
a home-grown event with an
secondary school and university emphasis on women’s career
students are studying STEM
courses because the energy Through our relationship with
sector as a whole, is still male-
WIMBIZ, other such
dominated. partnerships and
“There is plenty of data to
support the need for the
engagements, we aim to create
platforms that help get more
inclusion of women earlier on in women into the energy sector
their careers into the energy
careers and entrepreneurial
sector. We know that a lack of opportunities.
gender equality is a hindrance
“This is the right time to
in the utilities industry, engage women in the
particularly when you consider
renewable sector. It’s a
that you need gender equality relatively nascent sector the
to boost innovation. Yet the
world over actually, so Nigeria
industry isn’t made attractive for isn’t that far behind. We have a
women and less women feel
responsibility to ensure that
encouraged to enter or study women are included early and
courses that would naturally
gain top positions from the get-
lead to a sector they aren’t well go. This is happening, but not
represented in.
nearly enough.
“On overview of what All On is “These steps are particularly
doing regarding women
important in a post-Covid
empowerment in the Renewable world in which numerous
Energy sector, she said: “One of
studies have shown that
the four pillars of All On’s
delivery approach is creating an
women the world over have
suffered the most from
enabling environment for the economic, financial and
renewable energy sector in
emotional loss as a direct
Nigeria to grow. We do this result of the pandemic.
through training and capacity-
“Our relationship with
building, advocacy, enabling WIMBIZ through engagements
regulation and sponsorships of
like this would help get more
conferences such as the women into energy sector
WIMBIZ conference where we
careers and entrepreneurial
have an opportunity to support opportunities,” she said.
private jets with associates on a
few gospel trips.
“I don’t want a private jet or
wealth that I won’t be in a
position to help the poor or
needy,” Ajayi said
The cleric said the work of
Christianity was all about
making life meaningful for the
less privileged.
“I am one of the major funders
of Moses Orimolade University,
located at Omu-Aran, Kwara
State.
My plan is to make the
university cheaper and
affordable for Nigerians who are
not well to do.
“I also print 10,000 copies of
the Holy Bible every year from
China and I give it out freely to
people,” she added. •Rev-Mother Ajayi
On his part, Lagos Council
Chairman, Mr. Adeleye Ajayi
appreciated the cleric for her the Covid-19 pandemic. We are
warm reception. also aware of how Esther Ajayi
“We are here to seek your Foundation has been impacting
motherly and spiritual lives positively, “he said.
blessings and look forward to Ajayi assured the cleric of one
collaboration between your of the highest Awards of NUJ
Ministry and Lagos NUJ,” the during the Lagos Council Press
NUJ Chairman said. Week scheduled for October
Ajayi applauded the 2021.
philanthropist for her The visit also afforded the
assistance especially to the Lagos Council Executive
needy. members an opportunity to
“I want to commend you for seek assistance towards the
the palliatives you shared completion of the council’s
secretariat being remodeled.
among Nigerians in the heat of
22 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
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Grazing routes: Buhari’s directive empty
order —Daudu, SAN
By Innocent Anaba
J oseph Daudu, SAN, is a former
President of the Nigerian Bar
Association, NBA. In this interview,
he spoke on the position of the law on
grazing routes and how the issue
should be tackled. He also spoke on
Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest, proposed Press
Council Law, judiciary autonomy and
other sundry matters.
Excerpt:
What would you say has been
responsible for the growing
agitations in most parts of the
country and how should these
agitations be handled by the
government?
The growing agitations by and
among the constituent ethnic groups
that make up Nigeria is as a result of
manifest injustice, inequitable
distribution of the national resources
among competing groups,
marginalisation of some identified
groups and individuals based on
ethnic and other extraneous
considerations, the use of the vast
powers of the central government to
favour the agenda of the minority
cattle breeding community and use
of government power for vendetta
and other revenge agenda.
As to how the agitations should be
handled, I think the Central
Government itself knows that it is
incidental and ancillary to peace and
good governance that it relates to
all constituent parts of this great
nation in a fair, just and equitable
manner. There is, therefore, no need
to lecture the personalities involved
on the necessity of suppressing their
primordial instincts of bias,
nepotism, favouritism, partiality,
religious bigotry and other negatives.
A word in the circumstances is
usually enough for the wise and a
stitch in time saves nine.
IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu was
recently arrested and returned to
Nigeria. How important was it for
Nigeria to have complied with
international standards in his
extradition?
It is important to note that the
extradition of a Nigerian from
another country, particularly a
country that is a member of the
Commonwealth of Nations is a
matter of due process and the Rule
of law. It is indeed a beautiful but
cumbersome process to undertake.
Consequently, nations desirous of
bringing in to justice their fugitive
offenders are at times impatient with
the slow grinding wheel of the due
process of law.
Extradition of one’s citizen
involves three key elements: (a) The
existence of an extradition treaty or
agreement between the requesting
nation and the surrender or host
nation, (b) The existence of domestic
legislation in the country requesting
for extradition and (c) The existence
of a statute governing the process of
extradition in the surrender nation.
Now, coming to the case of Nnamdi
Kanu’s ‘extradition’ from a third
party nation and no one is
categorical about the exact manner
EDITORIAL
Innocent Anaba
( Editor)
Ikechukwu Nnochiri
Henry Ojelu
Onozure Dania
C
M
Y
K
•Joseph Daudu, SAN
of his entry into Nigeria but snippets
allude to the fact that he was escorted
back to Nigeria from Kenya. Now,
without clear facts from the
participants, stakeholders or even
Kanu, anyone commenting on the
legality or otherwise of this exercise
would be engaged in outright
speculation.
One thing is clear and it is that self-
help is not permitted in these
circumstances and when a nation
engages in it, it will indeed amount
to a gross violation of the sanctity of
public international law and the
harmony that exists between the
comity of nations.
Any country that enters another
country and pounces on its citizen in
the name of retrieving its errant
citizen in utter disregard of the
applicable laws on this matter (local
and international) commits an
offence in breach of international
law. Such breaches can lead to severe
sanctions from the Security Council
of the United Nations, the external
nation affected and other
international agencies.
There appears to be a face-off
between the federal and state
governments over grazing route.
What are your thoughts on the
matter?
Again, this is a rather simple and
indeed uncomplicated issue. The
Nigerian Constitution puts the issue
of control of land under the state
governors. In reality, it is a residual
matter, whose legislation is strictly
guided and guarded by the Nigerian
Constitution. Consequently, the
Federal Government cannot ride
rough-shod over communities in
possession of prime land just because
kinsmen of those in power would like
to use their land. The wise thing to
do in the circumstance is to
accelerate the formal education of
all the parties concerned in this
matter. Exposing the children of
herdsmen to formal education will
instill into them the knowledge that
living in this world and the good life
does not come from the barrel of an
AK-47 rifle. No matter how people
are brainwashed to pursue other
people’s agenda of hate, divisiveness,
bitterness, prevarication and
anarchy, it will only last a short time.
All that is happening at the moment
is very unfortunate particularly the
attitude of government while these
atrocities are committed in broad
daylight.
Also, what do you make of the
President’s directive to the AGF to
recover lands across the country
under the grazing route for
herders?
What makes a
judiciary
independent is (i)
the purity and
thoroughness of the
appointing
procedure of
superior court
judges, (ii) courage
and integrity of the
serving judges, (iii)
judicial
accountability,
respect for the
constitution and the
rule of law and due
process etc
It is an empty unenforceable
order not backed by any existing
law. The President is sworn on the
Holy Book to uphold Nigerian laws
and implement same faithfully.
Incidentally and this is the truth, his
word, directive or instructions is not
Sanusi, Ezekwesili, Onigbanjo, others to speak
at NBA Lagos conference especially at a time information
F
ORMER Central Bank of Nigeria,
CBN, Governor, Mohammed
Sanusi, Attorney-General of Lagos,
Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, former
Minister of Education, Mrs Oby
Ezekwesili and Public Analyst, Mrs Efe
Etomi have been slated to address
critical issues at the Nigerian Bar
Association, NBA, Lagos Law Week
scheduled for next week.
Sanusi and Ezekwesili are expected
to give the keynote address of the
annual Law Week tagged: Disruption,
innovationandtheBar.
They are expected to set the tone for
the conference by giving an overview
of how technology, innovation and
trade liberalisation are disrupting the
practice of law across the globe and
what it means for the Nigerian legal
08152060944
law and does not bind any person
except it is located within the four
walls of an existing law.
Be it known that this country does
not operate a dictatorship or a
totalitarian or fascist government,
whatever may be our affinity to or
antecedents from military rule. There
is no need to go into the legality or
otherwise of the colonial grazing
routes, if they exist, vis a vis the
prevailing law and the provisions of
the Land Use Act. What is important
is that the 1999 Constitution has
drawn the boundaries in respect of
governmental powers over land.
Do you think it is right for the FG
to suggest a review of the Land Use
Act without recourse to the National
Assembly?
No. It is not possible to review any law
in Nigeria without the initiation by or
input of the National Assembly.
A bill seeking to whittle down the
constitutional powers of the media is
presently before the National Assembly.
In the light of various laws that regulate
media practice, do you see the need for
such bill that allows government to fully
control the media?
Flowing from your question, if the effect
of the Bill is to whittle down the
constitutional powers of the media then
by the provisions of section 1-(3) of the
1999 Constitution (as amended), such a
law will be unconstitutional, null and
void. Consequently, Nigerians have two
options, (i) wait for the Bill to be passed
and challenge the excessive and
conflicted parts in court so as to have
them annulled or (ii) mount a sustained
campaign and lobby against the passage
of the Bill at the National Assembly and
other relevant fora.
However, charity must begin at home.
Members of this estate, i.e., the media,
must themselves be in the forefront of
the campaign against the proposed Press
Council Law, which is rightly seen as a
gag on press freedom. It is ironic that a
government which rode into power on
the wings of the activities of a free press
will now be the one seeking to muzzle
the press due to ultra-sensitivity to
negative press. However, I really do not
have any sympathy for the formal media
(print and electronic) in respect of their
current predicament.
They were adept at hunting with the
hounds and running with the hare. It
was difficult since the advent of politics
to associate the Nigerian media with the
yearnings and aspirations of the people.
That is why it appears as if majority of
Nigerians do not care if the Press goes
under as a result of this current assault.
The Press has been far detached from
the sufferings of the masses.
Consequently, the Press must retrace its
steps and become people-friendly, else,
it will go under.
JUSUN recently called off its two
months-long strike to demand judiciary
autonomy. Do you see any seriousness
practitioner.
Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, and Mrs.
Efe Etomi are expected to formally open
the two-day conference which will
feature eight plenary sessions.
Other experts from various sectors of
the economy will discuss issues around
national security and our fundamental
rights; creating world class law firms in
Nigeria; bringing justice delivery in
Nigeria into the 21st Century; and
changing landscape of arbitrator
disclosure obligations.
Other plenary sessions will address
topicsonFinancialAutonomyoftheJudiciary:
Key to Judicial Independence or Ruse?; Young
Lawyers, Minimum Wage, Brain Drain and
ProfessionalDevelopment.
A statement by the organising
committee said: “This theme is apt
on the part of governors to grant the
judiciary true autonomy?
Respectfully, I take a fundamentally
different view on the issue of judicial
autonomy when it is inextricably linked
to the financial purse strings of the state
government. With humility, it is not
independent or autonomous access to
funding that enhances the
independence of the judiciary. What
makes a judiciary independent is (i) the
purity and thoroughness of the
appointing procedure of superior court
Judges, (ii) courage and integrity of the
serving Judges, (iii) judicial
accountability, respect for the
Constitution and the rule of law and
due process etc. Governors will no doubt
behave like the politicians that they are.
It is for the judiciary to beget the respect
of the entire populace by living up to
their respective oaths of office. Funding
is critical but the system has almost
solved the problem. This is because by a
unique constitutional arrangement, all
salaries and emoluments of Judges are
paid as a first line charge on the
Consolidated Revenue Fund of the
Federation.
That is why no judge is owed any
money by way of salaries and allowances.
As for the capital expenditure of the
federal and state judiciaries, there is no
complaint from the courts that make up
the federal judiciary because funds for
the development and construction of the
court system, purchase of vehicles and
other expenses are released promptly
to Heads of Federal Courts for use as
budgeted. That brings us to 75 per cent
compliance. The remaining 25 per cent
is in respect of State Courts and it is
limited to the release of capital funds for
the development, construction and
maintenance of their respective court
rooms and judge's residence. They are
at the moment items budgeted for in
the respective States’ Appropriation
Laws and disbursed in a majority of cases
through the Commissioners of Finance
to the Chief Registrars’ of the various
courts in the states’. Some states claim
that they release appropriated funds
directly to their Heads of Court.
At the moment, only Rivers, Lagos
and Delta claim to be compliant.
Consequently, it is not that the state
judiciaries do not receive what is due to
them, their grouse is that for the majority
of states, capital expenditure is not
released directly to the Heads of Court.
If one is to score, you would probably
score the compliance level at 10 per cent
out of 25 per cent. It means, therefore,
that the funding compliance of the
executive to the judiciary as analysed
above is 85 per cent. The question
therefore begging for a rational answer
is why any person in his right frame of
mind will shut an entire and indeed, the
most important arm of government on
an issue that already possesses 85 per
cent compliance rate. The damage from
the last JUSUN strike is still
unquantified but I can assure you that
it will take us at least five years to recover
from the ill-effects of the said misguided
and injudicious strike action.
There is a suggestion for a moratorium
on SAN conferment. What are your
thoughts on the issue?
I do not subscribe to that view. There
is a corresponding increase in the
population of lawyers and the growth of
courts that Advocate-Legal Practitioners
can ply their trade. The only caveat is
that only the best and most qualified
candidates should be selected or
preferred.
technology is virtually driving major
innovations around the world and also
changing the way businesses do things
ranging from communication to banking
and payments, education,
transportation etc.
“The fast paced innovation, disruptive
solutions and services that information
technology is bringing about have
serious legal implications for every
country including Nigeria.
“It is, therefore, pertinent as lawyers
that we understand the practice of law
in this technological era, how to be
positioned and relevant.
"The relevance of a lawyer in a
developing nation and the world at large
goes beyond litigation, lawyers should
be aware of how to gain relevance in a
changing world and challenges to face.”

Tough times await airlines over flight
delays, cancellations Mbanuzuo, who spoke
through the airlines’ Corpo-
Continues from Page 5
We don’t announce it when
we sanction airlines be-
cause sanctions are like de-
marketing the airlines.”
Poor capacity
utilisation
However, industry stake-
holders have blamed unend-
ing flight delays and cancel-
lations on poor use of capac-
ity across domestic routes.
A former Acting Director-
General of the NCAA, Captain
Abdullahi Sidi, once said at
an aviation conference that
the trend is “unacceptable,
and the domestic carriers, es-
pecially, must begin to take
proactive and realistic meas-
ures to tackle the delays."
He observed that most op-
erators often put all their air-
craft into service at once, to
get the highest returns.
“But all their plans easily get
scuttled when one of the oper-
ating aircraft goes out of serv-
ice," he explained.
Similarly, former Director
of Consumer Protection Di-
rectorate, NCAA, and current
Executive Commissioner,
(Operations), at FCCPC, Al-
haji Adamu Abdullahi, said
tougher regulations on flight
delays and cancellations are
on the way. Abdullahi said:
“You see, sector regulators al-
ways try to balance interests
of consumers and producers
of services.
"An airline is a provider of
service and at the same time
also a consumer of the servic-
es provided by Federal Air-
ports Authority of Nigeria,
FAAN, Nigeria Airspace
Management Agency,
NAMA, and other aviation
agencies. In fact, they also
enjoy the services of NCAA in
airworthiness and personnel
licensing.
"Therefore, from day one,
the NCAA CPD ,( Consumer
Protection Directorate ), has
to strike a balance between
the two — airline and passen-
ger. Yes, flight is delayed, so
what’s the cause of delay?
Weather, technical, operation-
al, lack of capacity or equip-
ment, etc?”
Delays not
caused by
over-booking
Warner Media partners with MIPAD in support of UN International
Decade of People of African Descent
W ARNER Media News
& Sports has an-
nounced its collaboration
with Most Influential People
of African Descent, MIPAD, to
amplify global black narra-
tives, following the opening of
Naira stable at N411.45/$
in I&E window
By Elizabeth Adegbesan
The naira yesterday was stable at N411.45 per
dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window.
Data from FMDQ showed that the volume of
dollars traded (turnover) in the window stood at
$110.67 million on .
He said most delays are not
caused by over-booking as
most times, flights leave half
empty. Speaking about lack
of capacity of some domestic
airlines, the FCCPC Commis-
sioner said: “That is a major
flaw with the NigCARs 2015.
An operator requires three
aircraft to go into scheduled
operations.
"If any of the aircraft now
has an Aircraft on Ground
(AOG), or goes for a check,
there’s an immediate prob-
lem. The airline has scheduled
with three aircraft and all of a
sudden, it has only two, at
times only one, so passengers
will have to wait as two or even
an aircraft battle(s) with the
schedule of three.
“The only solution is for air-
lines to enter into interlining
and code-share agreements,
but unfortunately, airlines are
vehemently opposed to that.
Demuren battled on that un-
til he left NCAA but no way.
“That way, if one buys his
ticket from airline A, he’ll be
endorsed to airline B whenev-
er airline A has a delay or can-
cellation. Dana and Ibom Air
recently went into such an
agreement. Let’s hope that it’s
a sign of good things to come.
“You see, it’s entirely a com-
mercial thing, so NCAA can’t
force it. It’s a developmental
phase and shall come to
pass.”
Regulations
under review
On the proposed tougher
regulations, Adamu revealed:
“Thankfully, the regulations
are currently being re-
viewed. When we go into our
MOU with NCAA on aviation
consumer protection, things
will certainly look up.
"FCCPC is just for the pro-
tection of consumers, so we
can take a harder stance on
violations and we’ll not give a
hoot about what leads to de-
lays and cancellations. All we
are interested in is how the
passenger was treated.
One of the operators on the
domestic front, Dana Air, said
it had always done the need-
ful on existing sanction re-
gime whenever it had cause
to either delay or cancel
flights.
Chief Operating Officer,
COO, Dana Air, Mr Obi
Black achievers across the serving as the lead to drive the
world, and are particularly observations of the UN Year
the 76th United Nations Gen-
eral Assembly slated for Oc-
tober 1-4, 2021, in New York
City.
The media company in-
cludes brands, such as CNN
Original Series and CNN
rate Affairs Manager, Mr
Kingsley Ezenwa, said: "I
don’t know about any sanc-
tions, apart from enforcing
Part 19 of the NCAA regula-
tions which stipulates what
airlines have to provide for
passengers in cases of delays
or cancellations.
“Refreshments in case of
delays over two hours, refunds
or compensation for flight
cancellations if done less than
24 hours to the flight. Accom-
modation for flights cancelled
or delayed after 10pm at night
etc."
We’re already sending bandits, others to God to
answer for their crimes —COAS
We’re teaching those carrying arms in language they
understand — Defence Minister
By Johnbosco
Agbakwuru
A
BUJA—The new
Chief of Army Staff,
COAS, Lt. Gen. Farouk Ya-
haya, declared yesterday that
many bandits and other crim-
inal elements undermining
national security have been
sent to God to answer for their
crimes.
The Army chief spoke short-
ly after he was decorated with
his new rank of Lieutenant
General, by President Mu-
hammadu Buhari at the First
Lady’s Conference Room,
Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Minister of Defence, Major-
General Bashir Magashi,
retd, said insurgents, bandits,
kidnappers and other violent
criminals are already being
handled in the language they
understood
However, the declaration of
the Army chief and Defence
minister elicited concerns
from civil society organisa-
tions, who fear that this could
translate into extra-judicial
killings of innocent persons in
areas of operation.
Fielding questions from
journalists after the brief cere-
mony, Lt. General Yahaya ap-
preciated the President for the
confidence reposed in him,
pledging his unalloyed loyal-
ty on behalf of the officers and
men of the Nigerian Army.
He spoke against the back-
drop of recent elimination of
scores of bandits, insurgents
Films, Turner Sports +
BleacherReport, and the event
is in commemoration of MI-
PAD’s Recognition Week.
The company said the col-
laboration will afford it the
opportunity to tap into MI-
PAD’s network of black
achievers across the world.
Johnita Due, Snior Vice
President and Chief Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion Officer
for WarnerMedia News and
Sports, said: “We are thrilled
to partner with MIPAD in rec-
ognition of the remaining
three years of the UN’s pro-
claimed International Dec-
ade of People of African De-
scent to support the contribu-
tions of people of African de-
scent worldwide.
“We’re looking forward to
tapping into its network of
From left: House of Representatives Minority Leader, Hon. Ndidi Elumelu;
Senate Minority Leader , Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe; Senate Minority Deputy
Whip, Senator Philip Aduda and Senator Matthew Urhoghide during the
joint committee of the PDP caucus of the National Assembly press briefing
on their aligning with the position of the Southern Governors in Abuja,
yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.
swer for their crimes. And we
and other criminals by the
Nigerian Army and other
agencies in the fight against
violent crimes in the country.
Lt. General Yahaya prom-
ised that the Army will con-
tinue to do its best to arrest
insecurity in Nigeria, partic-
ularly insurgency and other
violent crimes, adding that the
military will continue to lev-
erage on successes recorded
so far and its experience.
He said: "I want to, first, sin-
cerely appreciate the Presi-
dent and Commander-in-
Chief of the Armed Forces for
the confidence reposed in me
and now being decorated
Lieutenant-General and
Chief of Army Staff.
"I want to pledge my unal-
loyed loyalty on behalf of the
officers and men of Nigerian
Army and also continue to do
our very best to arrest this
challenge that we have, par-
ticularly insurgency, banditry
and other violent crimes.
“We are already getting suc-
cesses. We will leverage on that
and our experience in this job
and by the grace of God, we
shall get there.”
Asked what message he had
for bandits and other crimi-
nal elements undermining
national security, given Presi-
dent Buhari’s declaration that
they would be treated in the
language they understood, the
Army chief stated: “That’s
what we have started doing
already and many of them
have been sent to God to an-
excited to begin the relation-
ship this year when MIPAD is
engaged in activities relating
to the UN Year of the Creative
Economy.’’
With the declaration of
2021 as the International Year
of Creative Economy by the
United Nations, MIPAD’s
Recognition Week 2021 will
celebrate high achievers of
African descent who are us-
ing creativity to uplift and
change the narratives for peo-
ple of African descent world-
wide. ‘’The 2021 UN Year of
Creative Economy puts the
‘orange economy’ front and
centre at a time we need crea-
tive solutions for the world’s
challenges,’’ said Marisa
Henderson, Chief of the Cre-
ative Economy Programme
at UNCTAD, the UN agency
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 61
will continue to do that.”
Also fielding questions,
Minister of Defence, Major-
General Bashir Magashi,
retd, said the ceremony was a
normal decoration, adding
that the President had given
his directives on what he want-
ed them to achieve. He said:
“It is a normal decoration, the
President has already talked
to us how he wants us to oper-
ate, how he wants us to solve
the problem of this insecurity,
especially in the North-East,
and he (the army chief) has
already started.”
On what the President ex-
pected from the new Chief of
Army Staff, the minister said:
"I think, like every other chief,
his mandate is to bring an end
to banditry, kidnapping and
the Boko Haram issue and I
think right from his resump-
tion to date, there is a lot of
improvement in the way we
are fighting this war. "The
planning is thorough, the ac-
tivities are going on accord-
ing to operational plans, and
I am sure with that kind of
arrangement, we will get out
of the insurgency problem. “
Asked whether they had
started implementing what
the President said about crim-
inal elements undermining
national security, he said: “I
really don’t seem to see any
need for explanation. If you
commit an offence, you will
be tried and if you are guilty,
you will be punished.
"But for anybody picking
arms against soldiers, you
of Creative Economy.
In his remarks, Kamil Olu-
fowobi, Chief Executive Offic-
er of MIPAD, said: “In con-
tinuation of our efforts to high-
light and showcase the posi-
tive contributions made by
people of African descent
worldwide. This year’s Recog-
nition Week (RW2021) will
feature the release of two glo-
bal 100 lists – the Creative 100
and the 100 Under 40 lists.”
“MIPAD’s collaboration
with United Nations and a
leading global media compa-
ny like WarnerMedia sets the
stage for us to further amplify
global black narratives to
showcase the many untold sto-
ries of our struggles and tri-
umphs in every corner of the
world, sometimes in unex-
pected places and high posi-
tions.’’
know what it means; we will
also treat him according to the
law. I don’t think that there is
anything wrong getting rid of
your enemy if he wants to get
rid of you and that is what the
President is saying.
"You cannot burn our weap-
on and be allowed to stay alive
because he can use that weap-
on against you. So we use the
weapon against them and
that is what we are doing.
“We are getting a lot of them
to understand that language
because we have been follow-
ing humanitarian approach
but still, we are not being ac-
knowledged. So, now, we
want to do the right thing, we
want to take on anybody who
is carrying arms and that is
the truth about it. Nigeria will
not allow this kind of non-
sense to be happening; that is
our message.”
Reacting to the minister and
army chief’s declarations,
Evans Ufeli, Executive Direc-
tor, Cadrell Advocacy Centre,
said: "The expression from the
Army chief presupposes that
the army wants to crush the
bandits by unleashing maxi-
mum force against them."
‘’The implication of this is
that law-abiding citizens with-
in these areas must be careful
and vigilant so they do not
become casualties of the ex-
ercise. I have implicit confi-
dence in the military to take
drastic decisions howbeit that
this may lead to harvest of
extra-judicial killings.
The military should play by
the rules of engagement, if
force will lead to manifest
casualties of, and/or result in
the death of the outer general
civil populace, caution must
be taken to avert that and oth-
er strategies deployed to bring
down the bandits.
‘’I further think the procla-
mation by the army was not
necessary as this may send the
bandits into hiding. Security
decisions like this need not be
blown out like, it’s like selling
off your strategy to the enemy.
‘’As a good security agent,
the last thing you want your
enemies to get is information
about you and your next
move. This ought to be con-
cealed and remain formless.
‘’Your strategy should only
be known after you have
struck your targets, not before.
The bandits must not be told
anything. They should be tak-
en unawares and brought to
their knees through a thor-
ough and calculated intercep-
tion that will blow them off
and properly send to God to
answer for their sins without
mistake or any leakage of in-
formation whatsoever.
62 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
STATE OF THE NATION: We’re on precipice —Eleazu
*There may be no 2023 poll, we must halt imminent fall urgently
*How FG made Nnamdi Kanu prominent
Dr. Uma Eleazu, 91-year,
elderstatesman, economist, political
scientist, administrator and former
presidential aspirant on the platform
of the defunct Social Democratic
Party, SDP, served in the 1978
Constitution Drafting Committee,
CDC, and Constituent Assembly set
up by General Olusegun Obasanjo
to midwife the 1979 Constitution.
The erudite scholar, who set up the
National Institute for Policy and
Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Kuru, in
this interview first published by The
Niche newspaper , shared his
thoughts on the state of the nation
and offers suggestions on the way
forward.
On the rising wave of insecurity
in the South-East
We have a very tricky situation in
the Southeast. Tricky in the sense
that we have young people who are
aggrieved about what is going on
in Nigeria. And if I were young like
them, I too will be aggrieved.
Why?
I will be aggrieved because we
fought a war and we were promised
reconciliation, rehabilitation and
reconstruction but it is not happening.
By the time our people came back after
the war, they (those with bank accounts
no matter their balance) were given
20 Pounds to start life. And in the East,
you look at the division of the states,
initially, we were all grouped into one
– East Central State. Anything that was
happening was in that East Central
State being further divided into the
five states that we have now.
And then, the way they share money
based on local governments and all
those criteria which they did when we
were not present to contribute, favour
them; to use local governments to
allocate revenue when the old Kano
State has almost the same number of
local governments as the East Central
State even after we have been divided
into five states. The only thing that has
happened to Kano is that they created
Jigawaoutofit.Whenrevenueisshared
on the basis of local governments, you
know we are cheated.
And there are so many other subtle
ways in which we have been cheated.
Is it in development? A whole federal
government will make plans like the
gas master plan, and bypass Alaigbo.
Same with railway. It is a tug of war
for Enugu that has had airport for a
long time to be recognized as an
international airport. They use tax and
all kinds of subterfuge to kill our
people’s businesses. You remember
Ibeto’s story with Dangote Cement. Or
is it INNOSON Motors? If they had a
chance, they would have destroyed the
place.
So, the young people look at these
things and those who are angry, in my
opinion, are justified. They have a
reason to be angry.
So, what do you do when you are
angry, even if justifiably so?
That is where we part ways. The
anger should make us come inside,
being the kind of people we are, to see
what we can do for ourselves.
In 2005, Bob Ogbuagu, who used
to be the secretary of the Eastern
Nigeria Development Corporation,
ENDC, wrote a paper and came to
me and said, ‘Uma, join me, you are a
younger person, in case anything
happens, let us go and see the
governors.’
We went round and saw those who
were governors in the South-East then.
And what was his proposal? That they
should set up something like the old
ENDC which Dr. Michael Okpara
used to do all the magic he did in
Eastern Nigeria. And this structure will
be in charge of only infrastructure and
he mentioned roads, railway from Port
Harcourt to Enugu and possibly to
Makurdi, electricity.
In other words, he was saying, let us
take and hive off what will make
investment in these five states attractive
so that we can develop our region.
How was the scheme to be
executed?
He suggested that each governor
should pay about N100 million
monthly to a central fund and he
calculated it and it will be about N6
billion every year.
He said with that the executive of the
organization that will be set up will
now be able to look for the engineers
and contractors, employ our people
the same way that the ENDC was
working. And be developing the whole
region so that the states can
concentrate on things like schools,
hospitals, etc.
What did the governors say?
The idea didn’t wash with the
governors. Then, sometime during
the Obasanjo regime, the Movement
for the Sovereign State of Biafra,
MASSOB, came into being and
when MASSOB split, Nnamdi
Kanu, who was part of MASSOB
jumped into IPOB and started his
rabble-rousing. And he has so much
following.
At that point, he took over IPOB
from Emeka Esiri, who was trying
to follow quasi-judicial process of
getting a referendum as the UN
people advised him. At one stage,
they even wrote to a few of us at
Ohanaeze to come and be members
of what they called the Traditional
Council of the Indigenous Peoples
of Biafra. That was how Dr. Dozie
Ikedife got in.
Ikedife called me and said, your
name is on this thing, and I told him
I don’t like the way Nnamdi Kanu
talks. I told Ikedife that I don’t think
we should give Nnamdi Kanu that
aura. The original IPOB was what I
was interested in, the one that will
be legal and we can get ourselves to
the point where the outside world
will say okay, we will come and help
and conduct a referendum. So, I
decided not to join them.
Coming back to your question, we
are in a delicate situation. In 2017,
when they declared IPOB a terrorist
group, that was what gave Nnamdi
Kanu prominence. He was now seen
by others as a persecuted person and
the only person who can speak up
about these problems in the South-
East. But he is not the only person
who can speak, or in fact, who is
speaking. Many others are speaking
up.
What could Nnamdi Kanu have
done differently?
A lot. I remember in the last
Anambra State governorship
election, he was advised to come and
campaign for Osita Chidoka. He
was told, look what you are saying
is okay. Some of our governors are
not doing well. But come, let us go
through the political process, get one
state and showcase how Alaigbo
should be governed and if you get
that one state, then subsequently
move on to Imo, Abia, until we now
have all the five states being run
under the same kind of ideology at
the same time, not fighting with the
Federal Government. We will just
receive whatever they say is due to
us and properly use it to develop our
people. He refused.
So, right now, he has played into
the hands of Buhari, that is the way I
see it, and as far as Buhari is
concerned, Alaigbo is IPOB. He
considers the whole of the Southeast
*Chief Guy Ikokwu
*Dr. Uma Eleazu
as IPOB and he can now say, oh, we
will talk to them in the language
they understand.
If you go down to the village level,
you will find out that there are so
many people who are supporting
Nnamdi. If you tell people in my
village that he is not all that they
are seeing in the social media and
television, that he is leading us into
a war, a war that we don’t need to
fight, they don’t want to listen.
So, that is the problem that I see.
But gradually, I think it is dawning
on some of them that Nnamdi may
not be the messiah Ndigbo want.
Coupled with Buhari’s style of
governance, the country is down to
The effort we
should be making
now is to see
whether we can
halt drift. When I
close my eyes, I see
something like a
truck going over a
precipice
pieces.
While so many Southern leaders
including the governors are
unanimous in saying no to open
grazing, the President is up in arms,
insisting it is open grazing or
nothing. In fact, in the interview
with Arise Television, he said he
had told the Attorney General to
dig up a First Republic gazette on
grazing route and reserves. Are
you aware of such a gazette and is
it a solution to the problem at hand?
That is why I said that he is a little
senile now and tends to remember
only things that happened long ago.
There may be a gazette on grazing
routes. I don’t know the number and
the year. I know that there is
something said about grazing in a
document called Lord Lugard’s
Political Memoranda. They created
grazing routes and it was all within
the North then. To bring cows to the
South, they had to use train.
So, until Abubakar Malami finds
the particular gazette that Buhari is
talking about, we will wait and see.
I have read somebody who said
Malami has found the gazette and
that only Oyo State, Oyo North
specifically, was in the gazette. The
rest of the South was not part of it.
Why? Because Oyo shares borders
with the North coming from around
Ilorin. It is only from there up. It is
not in the South, definitely not in the
East, part of the West and not in
Lagos. But during the years of
planning, I am now talking from
about 1970 to 1978, at least I
participated in the making of the
Third and Fourth National
Development Plans.
This was a time that we had seen
the possibility, in other words, there
were background papers presented,
we had a conference in NISER, I
can’t remember who presented that
paper but it was anticipated that
there would be desert encroachment
in the North and it would be better
to have plan of action.
It will require looking at the Third
and Fourth National Development
Plans to see the projects that were
planned under the Ministry of
Agriculture. But that was when the
River Basin Development
Authorities were created. And what
they were intended to do was to
develop each river basin to ensure
that we retain enough water to
irrigate parts of the North where it
would be very dry during the dry
season.
So, the solution at the time was to
provide water there in the North.
These were issues discussed in
seminars. So, what I am saying is
that the problem that Buhari is trying
to solve, he is doing that in a very
wrong way.
Yes, there is problem in the Sahel
region and people are now on the
move, but should they go and
displace people in their own
ancestral homes? People can travel
and resettle somewhere else because
of desert encroachment and with
goodwill and if they are prepared to
abide by the rules of the new place
that they have found themselves, they
adapt to the situation. I don’t think
people in the South would have
chased any Fulani away if they were
just coming because of the desert
problem.
After all, they have been living
among us and people didn’t chase
them away. They have been bringing
their cows and selling them until this
modern AK47-carrying herders,
instead of the stick that Buhari
himself said they used to carry.
We have been living with the
Fulani people with stick and cap for
many years. There was no problem.
They were given lands. Some local
governments built abattoirs for them
where they slaughter their cows and
sell them and there was no prob-
lem. Some of them had children in
the East who went to school there
and speak Igbo like you and I. Just
like our own children, who were
born in the North, went to school
over there speak Hausa.
There was even a time Zik
proposed that every school in the
Eastern Region should teach Hausa.
That was his own idea of
nationalizing everything so that
everywhere you go, you either speak
Igbo or Hausa. I think there was a
law that every child in school in the
Eastern Region must be able to
speak Igbo and one other Nigerian
language. It is either Efik, Hausa or
Yoruba.
But the way Buhari now wants to
completely displace people from
their ancestral homes and bring
people from other places to come
and live there will not work. That is
the source of all the trouble we have
in Nigeria now.
Do you then agree with those who
claim that Buhari has Fulani
supremacist agenda?
I believe so. He started playing his
Fulani card since 2001. You
remember when he went to the then
Governor of Oyo State, Lam
Adesina, to ask why Yoruba were
killing his people. Buhari still
regards Boko Haram as his people.
He didn’t see Boko Haram as
fighting the Nigerian State. He saw
them as fighting infidels, Christians
and other people. It is good if they
bomb churches as far as he is
concerned.
When people talked about the
inhumane nature of Sharia, he said
they only cut the hands of Muslims,
not Christians. When he eventually
won election, where did he go to
present himself? Niger Republic. He
went to Niger even before he was
inaugurated. And look at what he is
doing. He wants to move everything
to Niger Republic.
So, I believe that he has more than
sympathy for his ethnic group, and
he is not prepared to allow others
have the same level of sympathy for
their own ethnic groups. I love Igbo
just as he loves Fulani but that is not
a reason if I am President of Nigeria,
I will say Fulani people should all
be killed.
That is the difference. So, people
talk about inclusion, about
managing our diversity, he just
hasn’t even tried to manage diversity.
Instead, he has worsened the
diversity in Nigeria by his policies.
Will Nigeria survive Buhari?
It depends on what we consider as
survival. In my own opinion, the
country is already finished. What we
are doing now is to see how to pick
up the pieces. He has destroyed the
country. And if we allow him to
continue, I even doubt if we will have
any election in 2023. So, I think he
has messed up the country.
The effort we should be making
now is to see whether we can halt
drift. When I close my eyes, I see
something like a truck going over a
precipice. The front tyres have
already crossed the edge and the
truck is now hanging in the balance.
That is where we are. The front tyres
are already hanging on the
precipice and people are now trying
to see if they can pull it back. It only
requires the earth beneath that truck
shifting a little bit and the whole
thing will collapse. That is the kind
of Nigeria we are in now. That is the
mental picture I have of what is
happening.
What is the way out for Nigeria?
The way out right now is for us to
have a good conversation, which
cuts across the length and breadth
of this country and also vertical in
terms of age structure. Left to me,
that discussion will ask just one basic
question: Do we want to have a
country called Nigeria? If the answer
is yes, then each group will answer,
under what condition are you
prepared to accept one Nigeria?
That is where we are all going to
differ until we can come to an
`Read more on
www.vanguardngr.com

Omo-Agege: Graced beyond measure
By FELIX O. OKPE
S ENATOR Ovie Omo-Agege,
the Deputy President of the Senate, DSP,
and senator representing Delta State Central
Senatorial District, is a public servant that is
graced beyond measure on matters of public
policy, effective representation, and good
governance. Omo-Agege, has a track record
of incredible achievements in just two years as
DSP. On assumption of office, Omo-Agege
made a commitment to give a periodic public
account of his stewardship at the Senate to his
constituents. Premised on the notion that, there
can be no accountability without access to
elected representatives and the opportunity to
speak truth to power, the DSP directed that an
objective yearly account of his public service
and leadership at the Senate be made available
to the people of Delta Central and the public.
Based on anecdotal evidence gleaned from
National Assembly records, Omo-Agege holds
the record as the most productive senator
elected by Delta Central on core legislative
duties, constituency projects, and strategic
political engagements. During the second year
of his tenure as DSP and senator representing
Delta Central, Omo-Agege secured, facilitated,
influenced, and executed more than 75
electrification projects. He also successfully
pursued the Federal Government approval for
the establishment of 1.3 megawatts solar
hybrid power plant at the Federal University
of Petroleum Resources, Ugbomro, Delta State.
This was in addition to facilitating the laying
of the foundation for the construction of
NDPHC/NIPPS injection substation to
improve power supply to Orogun town and
environs.
These verifiable projects were cited and
spread across every local government area of
Delta Central and enefitted other senatorial
districts because of its multiplier effect and
economies of scale. Rural electrification as a
process of connecting electricity to rural and
remote communities, is a major development
issue in Delta State. In many instances, the
national grid
fell short of The citing of a
e l e c t r i c i t y Federal Polytechnic
d e m a n d s . in Delta Central is a
With the policy
and economic major development
understanding milestone whose
that improved
e l e c t r i c i t y social and economic
supply will advantages cannot
e n r i c h be overemphasised
agriculture,
enhance communication, and create
employment for farmers, women, and youths,
Omo-Agege addressed the issue substantially
to the advantage of Delta State.
As a matter of policy and economic
development, Omo-Agege believes that an
improved access to clean, safe, and reliable
water supply in Delta Central will make Delta
State an attractive destination for critical
public and private infrastructure and
investments. It will also improve agriculture,
healthcare, and sanitary solutions. There are
many communities that have been neglected
by the state government in this regard to the
detriment of economic growth and progress.
One can imagine the effect of the dire need in
communities that rely on unsafe sources of
water. The DSP took up this issue as a matter
of urgency for Delta Central. Consequently, on
his second year alone, Omo-Agege, through
the performance of his core legislative duties,
executed more than 18 safe water projects to
expand access to clean water in Delta Central.
In his second year in office, the DSP’s
legislative agenda dug deeper into educational
development in Delta State that focused on
the extension and expansion of technical
education in Delta State. The overall idea is to
pursue policies and design academic
programmes that will equip Deltans and other
Nigerians with the best tools that will spur
innovations in science, business and
technology that can help meet the challenges
of economic development primarily in Delta
State. To bring this goal into fruition, one of
the most significant records of the DSP is that
of successfully pursuing the approval of the
Presidency for the take off and commencement
•Senator Ovie Omo-Agege
of studies at the Federal Polytechnic, Orogun
in October 2022. The citing of a Federal
Polytechnic in Delta Central is a major
development milestone, for which the social
and economic advantages for Delta State
cannot be overemphasised. Recall that during
the DSP’s first year in office, he initiated and
sponsored the Bill for the establishment of the
Federal Polytechnic at Orogun, Delta State.
In addition to the incredible record of
assisting to cite a Federal Polytechnic in Delta
Central, the DSP also influenced and executed
over 18 remarkable educational and ICT
infrastructure in schools across Delta State.
These projects include construction of blocks
of new and renovated classrooms, ultra-
modern ICT infrastructure, provision of desks,
computers, and sports equipment to facilitate
learning in schools. To enlarge access to
primary healthcare, the DSP facilitated the
provision and installation of Dental and
Opthalmological equipment to Mariere
Memorial Central Hospital in Ughelli and
the construction of a primary healthcare
centre at Omavovwe-Agbarha, both in Delta
Central. On human capital development and
economic empowerment, the DSP successfully
recommended the employment of Deltans
from all senatorial districts as political aides,
into boards of federal parastatals, governing
councils of tertiary institutions, ambassadorial,
and key political positions. Focusing on women
and youths on his economic empowerment
initiative, the DSP facilitated the provision of
hundreds of motorbikes, tricycles, sewing, and
grinding machines. This was in addition to
sponsoring Deltans for federal intervention
programmes including loans, grants,
establishment of SMEs and skills acquisition
training.
The most visible legislative activity of the
DSP yet, is the appointment by his peers as the
Chairman of the Senate Committee for the
Review of the 1999 Constitution, CRC.
Coordinating the submission of over 250
memoranda on the thematic areas of the
exercise, the determination of the DSP is to
give all Nigerians a fair shot to participate in
the process to produce a constitution that will
work and be satisfactory to all Nigerians. The
DSP’s approach to this assignment lies in his
belief that constitutional amendment is a
fundamental principle of constitutionalism in
the context of a participatory democracy. While
assuring Nigerians that the Senate will not
use the exercise and the process to kill any of
the pending Constitution alteration Bills at the
National Assembly, the DSP reports that under
his leadership, the CRC will critically review
the memoranda that were submitted to the
CRC. The CRC is on schedule to have a vote on
each of the proposed Bills for the amendment
of the Constitution before the Senate proceeds
on its long recess in July 2021.
With a track record of extraordinary
legislative achievements and rising political
torrent in just two years as DSP and the senator
representing Delta Central, Omo-Agege has
demonstrated what is possible through effective
and accountable public service. Going
forward, the political permutations in Delta
State should, and ought to be about, who has a
better record and outstanding delivery of
public service to run on to bail Delta State
from its economic woes, underdevelopment
and failed policies. If that is the question, Omo-
Agege is befitting and graced beyond measure
to provide Delta State with good governance.
•Dr. Okpe is a lawyer and Senior Special
Assistant to the Deputy Senate President .
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 63
:Vanguard News
Jehovah’s Witnesses hold global virtual event in
240 lands, over 500 languages reasons
the
B REAKING FROM a century-
old tradition in the name of
health and safety, Jehovah's
Witnesses, JWs, has moved its
annual in-person event to a virtual
format for the second time in many
years, canceling nearly 6,000
conventions in 240 lands.
The theme of the event:
'Powerful by Faith!', will be
delivered in more than 500
languages to households
throughout the globe over six
weekends in July and August
2021.
It is expected to unite about 20
million people in 240 countries.
Since the convention is typically
held from Friday through Sunday,
Court restrains Ozigbo from parading as PDP guber
Uba is further claiming that the governorship election fixed for
candidate primary election conducted at the November 6, 2021, to elect
By Innocent Anaba &
Vincent Ujumadu
A N ANAMBRA State High
Court sitting in Awka, has
restrained the candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in
the November 6, 2021,
governorship election, Valentine
Ozigbo from parading himself as
the PDP candidate.
Trial judge, Justice Obiora
Nwabunike in suit no. A/230/ at
the instance of counsel to
Ugochukwu Uba, Emeka
Nwankwo, also restrained the PDP
from presenting Ozigbo and
prohibited Independent National
Elecoral Commission, INEC, from
accepting Ozigbo as candidate of
the PDP until the final
determination of the suit brought
by Uba, seeking to nullify the
parallel congress held at the Dora
Akunyili Women Development
Centre, Awka, where Ozigbo
emerged winner with 62 votes.
Uba in the suit is contending
that the congress at which Ozigbo
emerged was conveyed in
disobedience to the judgment of
an Abuja High Court and in
violation of section 87 of the
Electoral Act, sections 25 and 50
of the PDP Constitution and
directive of INEC dated June 22,
2021, which mandated PDP to
comply with the Abuja High Court
order issued by Justice AO
Adeniyi.
:@vanguardnews
to be sad, occasioned by
global prevailing
the program will be available in six
installments, corresponding to
morning and afternoon sessions.
According to a statement issued
by the church, Friday morning’s
session will be available for
streaming or download, beginning
June 28, 2021.
On the 2020 'Always Rejoice!'
Virtual Convention, Abednego
Isere, from Ekpoma in Edo State,
said: “We could hardly wait till the
end of the program to pour out our
heartfelt appreciation for the lovely,
timely and comforting provision of
the 'six days' viewing of the 2020
Regional Convention.
''It gives us reasons to always
rejoice, despite many justifiable
Anambra State Congress held at
Saint Paul University, Awka at
which Uba emerged winner and
PDP governorship candidate with
275 votes was the proper party
primary election in full obedience
to the judgment of an Abuja High
Court, compliance with section 87
of the Electoral Act, sections 25
and 50 of the PDP Constitution
and directive of INEC dated June
22, 2021, which mandated PDP to
comply with the Abuja High Court
order of Justice Adeniyi.
Justice Nwabunike in the ruling
held: “The defendants are hereby
ordered and directed to await the
determination or outcome of this
suit and restrained from presenting,
receiving, parading, or accepting
any person as the governorship
candidate of the PDP for the
Forensic auditors uncovered
12,128 abandoned projects
projects in the region.
—Akpabio Senator Akpabio, during the
By Chris Ochayi
A
BUJA—MINISTER of Niger
Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill
Akpabio has said that the interim
reports from the ongoing forensic
verification exercise of activities of
Niger Delta Development
Commission, NDDC, has
uncovered over 12,128 abandoned
circumstances.”
Speaking on the event,
spokesman of Jehovah's
Witnesses in Nigeria, Olusegun
Eroyemi, said: “Faith has helped
our global brotherhood to continue
to thrive even during a pandemic.
“Our faith will continue to unite
us in worship –even virtually –as
millions gather in private homes
around the world to enjoy a
powerful and inspiring spiritual
program.”
It invited guests to attend the
event via JW.ORG on the web or
JW Broadcasting on the free JW
Library iOS or Android app, or on
streaming platforms like ROKU TV,
Apple TV, and others.
governor of Anambra State"
The court adjourned hearing of
the main suit to July 12, 2021
It will be recalled that the first
suit in the wake of the primary
elections which held on June 26,
2021, was filed July 5, 2021, at the
Court of Appeal, Abuja by the
Ozigbo faction which in CA/ABJ/
359/2021 PDP VS ANYAKORAH
& ORS had sought to bar Uba from
enjoying the fruits of the State
Congress which endorsed his
candidature.
The two motions, including the
one for stay the judgment of the
High Court were decried by the
appellate court as bereft of merit
and logic, forcing the PDP's
counsel, Othai Otokpa, to
withdraw the applications which
were struck out by the appellate
court.
visit of the United Nations, Deputy
Secretary-General, Hajia Amina
Mohammed, to him in Abuja, said:
"Most of these abandoned projects
have become sanctuaries to
criminals. Projects were embarked
on without consultations.
"There was no initial
coordination. So, as part of its
mandate, the Ministry has
adopted a programme called,
Strategic Implementation Work
Plan, SIWP, which will coordinate
the activities of development
partners and stakeholders to
prevent duplication of projects in
the region."
He explained that the Ministry
was developing a programme
"Catch them young" where young
people in primary and secondary
schools were enlightened on the
importance of peace and the
dangers of destroying oil
installations, which has a serious
impact on the ecosystem and the
nation's economy.
He said: "In other to address the
situation, the present
administration decided to set up a
forensic auditing process to access
and evaluate the achievements
that have been made by NDDC
in the region since its existence."
The minister acknowledged that
Mohammed was a frontrunner in
championing the course of the
Niger Delta region and the Ogoni
clean-up during her tenure as
Minister of Environment.
Responding, the United
Nations, Deputy Secretary-
General, Hajia Amina
Mohammed, noted that issues
bordering on the Niger Delta
region were important to the UN
and would do everything within
UN programmes to address all
issues of disillusionment in people's
expectations.
She commended the efforts of
the Federal Government and the
Ministry in the way they have
handled the Niger Delta affairs as
well as move to sanitise the NDDC.
64 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
After paying N1.4bn bill, UNILAG. seeks
solution to electricity problems
By Adesina Wahab
T HE University of Lagos,
UNILAG, paid about N1.4
billion as electricity bills between
January 2020 and June 2021, the
Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin
Ogundipe, has said.
This is just as the VC added that
the management of the university is
looking at alternative sources of
generating power and also
discussing with the power firm on
how to bring the monthly bill of the
institution down.
Ogundipe explained that in
January 2020, the power firm
serving the location brought N50
million bill and that the lowest bill
was brought in June 2020 which was
N21 million during the Covid-19
lockdown when students were not on
campus.
The highest bill of N181 million
was given to the university in May,
this year.
“We are working on alternate
sources of power and how to secure
such because we are surrounded by
slums and most of the time, facilities
like that are vandalised by unknown
persons. We are also talking with the
power company to bring the bill
down.
“We are paying the bills from funds
generated internally and our
business ventures and we appreciate
the prudence of our people and we
won’t allow anything to stop our
march towards progress,” he said.
Meanwhile, a total of 15,753
students are to be awarded various
Class skipping: Lagos counsels parents, school owners
By Adesina Wahab
L AGOS State Government has
advised parents and school
owners to allow their children and
pupils finish their primary school
education by not skipping the last
class, Primary Six.
The Commissioner for Education,
Mrs Folashade Adefisayo stated this
during the Lagos State Day at the
Total School Support Seminar/
Exhibition, TOSSE, organised by
Edumark.
“Primary Six is slowly eroding.
People are making their children to
skip Primary Six and go to
secondary school. It is a serious
private school concern. It is not good
for private school owners to accept
children who are as young as eight
or nine years into secondary school.
“People should stop admitting
underage children into secondary
school. These innocent children are
not emotionally mature and we
don’t need to rush them through life.
Whatever they would be in the future,
they would be not that we should rush
them through life,” she said.
Adefisayo said the state
government had embarked on
massive construction of classrooms
and upgrade of facilities in public
schools and that the results were
already showing with the attendant
increase in the enrollment of pupils
and students in such schools.
“No fewer than 1,097 projects are
ongoing across schools in the state.
degrees at the 51st Convocation
ceremony of the university during
which a 71-year-old woman,
Marinze Ifeyinwa Felicia, is among
the 148 to be awarded doctorate
degree in various fields.
Also, the late former Vice-
Chancellor of the institution, Prof.
Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, will be given
the position of Emeritus
Professorship (Post-Humous).
Ogundipe said a total of 7,754
would be awarded first degree in
various disciplines, while 7,999
would bag postgraduate degrees and
diplomas in various fields.
Out of the figures, 281 have first
class degree, with the highest number
CONVOCATION:
From left: Drs.
Lucy Akoma, Elvis
Otobo, Maria
Ehioghae and
Comfort Apuh
savouring the joy
of completion of
their doctorate
programme at the
19th
undergraduate and
10th post-graduate
2nd Virtual
Convocation
ceremony of
Babcock
University, Ilishan-
Remo, Ogun State.
Also, 970 schools are covered and
87,000 dual furniture supplied to
schools and we have also trained over
15,000 primary school teachers. We
are also not taking for granted the
welfare of our teachers,” she said.
Fielding questions from
stakeholders, the Director- General,
Office of Education Quality
Assurance, Mrs Abiola Seriki-Ayeni
said giving approval for starting
schools is done painstakingly
because education is a vital part of
societal development and that there
should be no room for laxity.
Explaining the reasons for testing
Winners emerge at TFC schools art competition
By Elizabeth Osayande
G
RADE 9 student, Dorcas
Oyetunji, of Christian
College has emerged winner of
the Tasty Fried Chicken, TFC
schools art competition recently
held in Lagos with the aim of
promoting art culture among
children.
The competition which saw 10
students from different schools all
over Nigeria emerge as finalists,
also had Teniola Anthony and
Israel Aissi emerge as first and
second runner-up respectively.
At the finals which lasted for
about an hour, the finalists were
tested on their creative abilities,
attention to details among other
parameters, even as they were
tasked to draw a replica of the
of 70 coming from the Faculty of
Engineering.
“The best graduating student with
the highest CGPA is Alimi Ibrahim
Adedeji 4.98 from the Department
of Mechanical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering. He has
emerged as the Best Graduating
Student. He is closely followed by
Popoola Victoria Opeyemi with
the CGPA of 4.90 from the
Department of Economics,
Faculty of Social Sciences and
also has the best result in the
Humanities.
‘The best overall PhD thesis for
this year was presented by Moruf
Rasheed Olatunji from the
structures being used as schools,
Seriki-Ayeni said some school
owners sometimes operate from
rented apparent and might not know
the quality of the structures they are
using.
“Material testing is for the safety
of all. Sometimes a school owner
starts from rented apartment and
they may not know the quality of the
structures. For those building their
own facilities, we are making the
testing of their structures
affordable.
“We are also working on the
automation of the approval process.
colourful caricature chicken on
TFC logo.
Oyetunji, Anthony and Aissi
finally emerged winners, going
home with a Playstation 4, HP
Laptop, and a Bicycle respectively.
Addressing journalists after the
competition, the Business
Transformation Director, TFC,
Adewale Sultan, said the
competition was in line with the
company’s transformation into the
future.
He said the company was
focused on enhancing the
creativity of the younger
generation and trying to position
them in the manner that, in the
next couple of years, they would
see themselves as confident, very
stable and critical thinkers.
Department of Marine Science,
Faculty of Science. Mesagan
Peter Ekundayo from the
Department of Economics,
Faculty of Social Sciences will be
awarded the best PhD thesis in the
Humanities.
“We have a record in the
university, Marinze Ifeyinwa
Felicia born on 6th March, 1950
(now 71 years old) will be the
oldest to be awarded a PhD in the
history of the university. She has
just demonstrated to the world that
age is no barrier to attaining any
height, “ he said.
The VC announced that
honorary doctorate degrees
would be awarded Dr Ameyo
Stella-Adadevoh (Post-Humous),
Dr Biodun Olusina Shobanjo,
Alhaji Mohammed Indimi and
Dr Kessington Adebutu.
We are working with stakeholders
on this and it is for the good of all,”
she said.
The state government officials
present at the event were drawn from
different departments including the
Scholarship Board, the Teaching
Service Commission, the Vocational
Education Board, the State
Universal Basic Education Board
among others.
The Chief Executive Officer of
Edumark, Mrs Yinka Ogunde,
expressed satisfaction with the
presence of the state government at
the event.
“They will see their society in a
way and manner that will portray
Nigeria as a country to be
reckoned with.
“There are a lot of talents in-
house and we need to harness all
of them. We see a lot of Nigerians
go outside the country and they
perform very well, so we are proud
of that.
“We also want to make our
contributions towards the
development of not only our
organisation and community, but
Nigeria as a whole,” he said.
Speaking on what stood the
three top winners out, he singled
out their creativity, delivery,
presence, drive and their attention
to details among other things.
Children upbringing:
Rector bemoans
parental failure in
society
By Mary Obaebor
T HE Rector, Eko College of
Management
Technology, Mr.
and
Segun
Oshundairo has said parents have
failed in their responsibility to
properly bring up their wards,
thereby negatively affecting the
future of those children.
Oshundairo, who spoke at the
third matriculation ceremony of
the institution in Ikotun area of
Lagos, also decried the rate of
divorce, saying it is increasing
social vices.
“The rate of parental failure in
the society today is worrisome and
lamentable and it is affecting the
future of the young ones. Closely
related to it is the rate at which
homes are breaking up. We must
all rise up as a society and address
these vices. Those of us who are
educationists come face to face
with the reality of the effects of
poor or failed parenting on the
young ones,” he said.
The Rector urged the students to
be technology-compliant, stressing
that being technologically savvy
has huge benefits in a modern age.
“We are now in a new age. It is
the age of the internet, the age of
technology, where virtually
everything now has technology
content or technological
implications. Even the good old
dancing has gone technological.
“The implication of this is that
irrespective of your course of study,
you must be technologically savvy,
whether you are in arts, music,
engineering or management.
Anyone who does not know about
technology these days is lost,” he
said.
Be committed to
your studies,
TASUED VC charges
new students
By Mary Obaebor
T HE Acting Vice-Chancellor of
Tai Solarin University of
Education, TASUED, Ijagun, Ogun
State, Prof. Wole Banjo has charged
the newly admitted students of the
institution to invest their time wisely
by engaging in academic activities
that will be beneficial to their
career.
Prof. Banjo gave the advice during
the matriculation exercise for new
students for the 2020/2021 academic
session which took place recently at
the Ijagun campus of the university.
The VC also urged them to engage
in vocational training activities on
campus which is another selling
point of the institution, with a
warning that the university has zero
tolerance for cultism and other anti-
social vices that may jeopardize their
studentship on campus.
He further reiterated his earlier
warning to students that regular
attendance at lectures is
paramount, adding that a minimum
of 70% attendance at lectures must
be achieved before being allowed to
participate in examinations.
Prof. Banjo also noted that the
university frowns at indecent dressing
on campus as the institution is a
specialised University of Education
where they train would-be teachers.
He, however, charged the Students’
Affairs Office not to relent in
penalising those students who flout
the university's dressing codes.
The oath of allegiance was later
administered by the Acting Registrar,
Mr. Tunde Oduwole.

Adamawa accounts for majority of out-of-school
children in North-East — NGO
By Umar Yusuf
Y OLA: A research finding by a
Non-Governmental
Organisation, The Project
Community-Led Collective Action
for Girls Education, C-CAGE, has
indicated that Adamawa State
accounts for 51 per cent of the 60 per
cent out-of-school children in the
North-East region.
The NGO in its bi-annual report
made available to newsmen in Yola,
also discovered hidden levy charges
on students in various schools by
principals in conjunction with the
schools’ PTA in the state.
This is even as the state has
proclaimed free education at the
Universal Basic Education level
which covers all primary schools,
junior and senior secondary schools.
Senior Programme Officer,
African Centre for Leadership
Strategy and Development (Centre
LSD), Mr. Lawal Amodu, who signed
the statement, said a research
conducted by Malala Foundation
using three local government areas
of Numan, Song and Maiha as
project focal communities
representing Adamawa North,
Central and Southern Senatorial
districts at the moment has a
precarious situation of out-of-school
children.
The statement added that the
Covid-19 pandemic
disproportionately affected women
and girls, and the current schools
safety realities as it relates to the
Covid-19 regulations requires an
urgent intervention as clean water,
toilets and hygiene which are
essential components of the
regulations are grossly lacking.
It added that their findings have
also shown that the hidden levies are
not only problematic to some of the
parents and guardians, but also have
the capacity to demotivate in-school
students from continuing their
education while also discouraging
potential returnee out-of-school girls
from enrolment.
82 bag first class as Babcock graduates 2,079
By Elizabeth Osayande
A TOTAL of 82 students made
first class out of 2,079
comprising 1,660 undergraduates
and 417 postgraduate at the 19th
convocation ceremony of Babcock
University, Ilisan Remo, Ogun State.
Okunola Temitayo of the
Department of Mass
Communication who emerged
overall best graduating student with
4.91 CGPA on a scale of 5.
The overall best postgraduate in
the PhD programme was Olomojobi
Femi (PhD) with a CGPA of 4.81 on
a scale of 5. Amarachukwu Peace of
Public Health Department was
overall best Master ’s degree
graduate with a CGPA of 4.77 on a
scale of 5.
Okunola Teslimat Temitayo also
won the President’s award for the
best performance in leadership,
academic, community and spiritual
services.
Speaking at the 10th postgraduate
second virtual convocation event, the
President/Vice Chancellor of the
institution, Prof. Ademola Tayo, who
congratulated the students and the
university community for their
contributions to the achievements
the school recorded, noted that the
university’s academic programmes
were fully accredited by the National
Universities Commission, NUC,
International Board of Education
It further said that this is happening
in the face of the free basic education
for all as enshrined in the UBE Act
2004 and taken forward by the
government of Adamawa State.
It also identified lack of qualified
teachers, the absence of standard
WASH facilities – which greatly
affects the girl-child negatively,
inadequate and dilapidated
classroom blocks – which in most
cases do not have chairs and tables
that facilitate learning and teaching.
These concerns and several
challenges spotted informed the
Centre’s advocacy and campaign to
community leaders, the executive
and legislative arms of the state
government, even as the surveys
were undertaken by officials of the
NGO in conjunction with officials
of the UBE board.
The research work also observed
that most schools lack washrooms
and poor conditions force girls to
leave school grounds to attend to
their sanitary needs, thereby
increasing the likelihood of them
being dropouts.
The statement advised that to
effectively address the out-of-school
girl challenge, Centre LSD
*A cross section of the students of the Tai Solarin University of Education, TASUED, during the
matriculation ceremony held in the school.
,IBE and the Adventist Accrediting
Association, AAA.
He added that the fully equipped
Babcock University Centre for Open
and Distance, eLearning Centre, was
ready to provide opportunities for
many desiring to advance their
academic career outside the walls
of the university as soon as NUC gives
the nod for the Centre to commence
academic activities. Prof. Tayo said:”
Again, the School of Earth and
Environmental Sciences Classroom,
offices and workshops are being
prepared for NUC’s Resource visit
Why teaching is not for just anybody
— Ajiboye, TRCN boss
By Adesina Wahab
T
HE Registrar/ Chief Executive
Officer of the Teachers
Registration Council of Nigeria,
TRCN, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, has said
teaching is a profession with its
qualities and characteristics and that
it is wrong to see it as what just anybody
can dabble into.
He said apart from the necessary
training one needs, it is not everybody
that has the passion and patience to
excel in the profession.
Ajoboye, who stated this in a chat,
said with the world becoming a global
village due to advancement in science
advocated to key stakeholders in the
education sector, held town-hall
meetings with key gatekeepers and
media engagements, build capacity
of selected education stakeholders
and established safe spaces for in-
school and out-of-school girls for the
purpose of peer learning and
experience sharing between and
amongst the girls.
Beyond this, it added Centre LSD
engaged and trained 275 key
education stakeholders comprising
traditional/religious leaders, PTA
and schools' board management
Convocation: WDU gives automatic employment
to best graduating students Otefe Okobiah said the school
By Mary Obaebor
I
N furtherance of its
avowed commitment to
academic excellence, the
Western Delta University,
WDU, Oghara, Delta State,
has given automatic
employment to nine graduates
to enable the commencement of the
programme in environmental
sciences.” Tayo said the University
would continue to pursue the path of
excellence with passion and
spirituality, urging the graduates not
to keep their eyes on the things that
were transient but on those
wholesome values and virtues that
they derived from the institution.
He stated that Nigeria’s
developmental challenges awaited
their contributions in the form of
solutions. “You are the solutions.
and technology, Nigerian teachers are
being nurtured by TRCN to also be
able to compete globally and become
global products.
“Teaching is a profession like any
other and that is why TRCN came into
being. You don’t wake up one day and
say you are a medical doctor for
instance. You have to be trained to
become one and the ethics of the
profession are there to follow. The
same goes for anybody who wants to
be a teacher.
“At TRCN, we organise professional
qualifying examinations for teachers
and license them in accordance with
the law that set up TRCN. We are not
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 65
premium on resolving the issue in
the three focal communities of
the C-CAGE project.
committees in selected communities
of the three focal Local Government
The posting of teachers should
be such that rural communities
not only have a fair share of
Areas, LGAs of Maiha, Numan and quality teachers but should be
Song.
encouraged and motivated to
The NGO recommended that serve in those areas
government must continue to
Enhanced coordination and
monitor and ensure the full cooperation between Ministries
implementation of the free education of Education, Health and
program across the state.
Finance and stronger
The reality of free education seems multisectoral action by actors
to be effective in the state capital, working in global education and
while the same is not available in
health, to tackle WASH in
the rural areas. schools to make the school
It also urged government to environment safe especially for
expedite action to complete the
the girls and to limit to the
process of recruitment of quality barest minimum the chances of
teachers across the state and put outbreak of health challenges.
would continue to reward
of the institution who attained
merit to stimulate discipline
academic and other distinction
and strong competition that
during the 2017/ 2018— 2019/
would impact the overall
2020 academic sessions.
academic excellence of the
Announcing the gesture at
students of the university.
the combined 8th to 10th
While congratulating the
convocation ceremony at the
graduands for their patience,
university's permanent site,
diligence and hard work,
the Vice- Chancellor, Professor
Okobiah reminded them of the
sacrifice of their parents
whom, despite the harsh
economic reality of the nation,
did their best by seeing them
through university and
advised them to make
judicious use of what they
have acquired in the
university in the general
society and the world at large.
She charged the graduating
students not to forget the
school but to be good and
worthy ambassadors of the
Western Delta University by
promoting and protecting the
image of the school at all
times.
A total of nine students
graduated with First Class
Honours, 212 bagged Second
Class Upper Honours, 443
Second Class Lower Honours
and 76 obtained Third Class
Unleash your ingenuity and the
knowledge you have acquired here out of the total 776 students
on the world and make it a better
place,” he said. The vice chancellor
that graduated in the
combined 2017/2018 to 2019/
charged the graduates not to stop 2020 academic sessions
learning as their learning which has
convocation.
just started
w o u l d
continue
throughout
their life
time.
relenting in
our efforts to
rid the
profession of
quacks and
unqualified
persons.
This is
necessary
because the
quality of
our teachers
w o u l d
determine
t h e i r
productivity
and what
they teach
o u r
children.
66 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
•Sunday Igboho's house attacked in Soka, Ibadan.
ATTACK ON SOKA HOME: Clampdown on Sunday Igboho poses
danger to our existence in Ibarapaland—Fulani herders
•As Yoruba group flays FG over attack
By Adeola Badru
F ollowing the attack on
Yoruba nation agitator and
freedom fighter, Chief Sunday
Adeyemo, popularly known as
Sunday Igboho by operatives
of the Department of State
Services, DSS, Fulani
herdsmen in Ibarapaland have
shown apprehension over
attack on Igboho, saying that
the clampdown on the Yoruba
freedom fighter might pose a
great danger to their existence
in the South-West.
Men of the Department of
State Services, DSS, swooped
on Igboho’s residence, killed
two, arrested some and
vandalised his property in
what has been described as a
nocturnal raid.
Sequel to the clampdown,
the Federal Government had
declared Igboho wanted, thus
attracting kicks from groups
and individuals across the
globe.
While speaking
with Vanguard, the head of
Fulani herders in Ibarapa,
Mallam Kajibo Saliu,
expressed the fear that loyalists
of Sunday Igboho might
leverage the attack on him to
launch another fresh eviction
order on them.
His words: “I was born and
bred in Ibarapaland. I don’t
even know my country home.
I built my house here and I
married two wives.
“For over 30 years, I have
been living in Ibarapaland, I
have not had the course to
travel to any other place. We
have become indigenes of
Ibarapaland.
“The attack on Sunday
Igboho will pose a serious
threat to our stay in
Ibarapaland. Many of the
attacks on farmers in
Ibarapaland are not from the
Fulani.
“Some intruders have
infiltrated us, posing to be
Fulani, perpetuating the evil
acts. I am also a farmer, so why
will I allow my cows to destroy
the farms of another farmer?
“My siblings are herders; I
can kill any of them if they
allow their cows to graze on
farmlands of Yoruba people.
“We want peace and we won’t
allow the attack on Sunday
Igboho lead to our final
eviction from Ibarapaland. No
one can tell if those
perpetrating the evil acts are
real Fulani.
“These people also attack
Fulani too, but we want peace
to exist. Igboho should be
allowed to live in peace. Where
will I go if I am evicted from
Ibarapaland with my family?
Intruders in S-West’ll be
tackled—Yoruba group
Meanwhile, a Yoruba
pressure group called
Agbekoya Warriors has
cautioned the Federal
Government against its
decision to arrest Igboho and
other persons championing the
cause of self-determination,
saying that the call is
legitimate under the United
Nations Charter.
The group gave the warning
in a statement by the
Jagunmolu Agbekoya of
Yorubaland, Kunle Adelakun
(Eruobodo), titled: Re-
Invasion of Sunday Adeyemo’s
house and the clampdown on
Confusion in Gboleru ruling house: Elders, Prince in verbal war
over origin
By Shina Abubakar
O SOGBO—AS the Gboleru
ruling house prepares to
present candidate for the
vacant Akirun stool, the family
has disowned Prince Tajudeen
Adesegun as a bonafide
member of the ruling house.
Addressing a press
conference at the Gboleru
family compound at Oke-Afo,
Ikirun on Tuesday, on behalf
of the family head, Prince
Alimi Olaleye, Mrs. Wosilat
McCarthy said Adesegun lacks
the qualification to contest the
stool because he is only related
to the family through his
•Sunday Igboho
Yoruba Nation agitators by the
Federal Government.
The statement reads: “We are
calling on the Federal
Government, under President
Muhammadu Buhari, to back
off from any attempt to arrest
Prof. Banji Akintoye, Chief
Sunday Igboho, Iba Gani
Adams and every key member
of Yoruba nation agitators.
“Failure to listen to this
advice might cause
unnecessary and avoidable
political tension in the
country. The country has
already been charged and the
government should not add to
the situation.
“Agbekoya doesn’t have
guns or AK-47 because we
don’t believe in it. God’s
wisdom is our strength.
Agbekoya members are elders
whose powers transcend
conventional power. We have
the power of the almighty God
and the power of the earth
which is more than the
language in which President
Buhari believes; the language
he is using to suppress the
will of the people.
“Our candid advice for the
President is to apply wisdom
in dealing with the current
Adesegun is not a bonafide Wuraola is accepted, there was
paternal grandmother.
A member of the Gboleru
family, Prince Gboyega
Olatunji had led two other
family members to adopt
Adesegun as its candidate for
the stool.
But McCarthy while
speaking before other family
heads said Olatunji lacks the
right to speak for the family
since he was not resident in
Ikirun nor attend any formal
family meeting on the issue,
adding that the family has 10
bonafide candidates for the
stool.
“We sit here to set the record
straight that Tajudeen
Asking Igboho to surrender self: Olowu
Kut
utaa goof ed, sa
goofed, ys UK Y
says oruba group
Yoruba
By Dapo Akinrefon
A United Kingdom-based
Yoruba socio -cultural
group, the Isokan Yoruba, has
taken a swipe at the Olowu
impasse, injustice, inequity
and agitations. Nigerians had
never had it so bad in the
history of the fraudulent
amalgamation of Northern
and Southern protectorates,
since 1914. In a democracy,
people always have their way
and the tenure of the
president and the elected
representatives are limited or
would expire, whether they
like it or not.
“The time is ticking. Without
a gunshot, the god of the
Yoruba nation will prevail.
There is no joy for a leader to
see his people being
oppressed and subjected to
hardship, avoidable killings,
invasion, poverty and
destruction of human life.
“Agbekoya would surely
stand by the side of the people
when the need arises. We urge
all political leaders and our
politicians in Yorubaland to
come back to Omoluabi values.
The Yoruba nation must be
resolute and firm in our
collective conviction. There’s
no wrong in calling for self-
determination. It is acceptable
under the United Nation’s
charter.”
member of Gboleru family
neither did we adopt him for
the exalted stool of Akirun.
“The first contact he made
was through Chief
Imolokunola who brought his
senior aunt to meet with the
Baba Baale. At 57 years of age,
with his aunt at 80 years of age,
no member of the Gboleru
family knew him and neither
has he ever visited the
compound until he learnt of
the demise of the late
monarch.
“Mr. Segun was therefore
told without mincing words
that even if his story of
Kuta and Chairman, Supreme
Council of Owu Obas, Oba
Hameed Makama, for his
position on the current
manhunt for Yoruba self-
determination agitator, Chief
Sunday Adeyemo also known
as Sunday Igboho.
Oba Makama had advised
Ighoho to give himself up to
the DSS, saying it is the
honourable thing to do.
But in a statement by its
President and General-
Secretary, Chief Akinola Rufus
and Mr. Ilelaboye Akinnagbe,
respectively, the group said
the monarch goofed and call
for a retraction of his statement,
which it viewed as “a position
of an attention-seeking
glutton, pursuing bread and
butter at the expense of his
race.”
The statement reads: “We
should view the ongoing
clamour for Yoruba nation as
the last hope for our race and
the manhunt for Chief Sunday
Adeyemo Igboho as a siege on
the Yoruba race. Any attack
meted out to Igboho is a direct
attack on the Yoruba people
and will be resisted by all of
us.
“Igboho is a symbol of our
people. He can have his
foibles, just like all of us. He
is human and susceptible to
make mistakes. But on the
present manhunt, we are not
seeing his image but the
struggle he represents, which
is the popular stance of the
overwhelming majority of the
Yoruba people. We shall shield
him, we shall support him,
and we shall fight for him, win
or sink with him on this course
which he championed for the
good of all of us.
“We are tired of a Nigeria that
promises no hope for our race;
a Nigeria that is daily
plundering our economy,
raping, maiming and killing
our people so indiscriminately.
We shall fight with Igboho
until our freedom is delivered.
“We call on Oba Makama, to
as a matter of urgency,
withdraw his statement and
tender unreserved apology to
the Yoruba people or be ready
to face the people with his
position on a race so battered
and traumatised by the ruling
class whose intention is to
render us frustrated and
useless, by turning our land
to an undeserved war zone.”
no way a candidate of female
descent can be considered for
the exalted throne of
Ikirunland throne,” she said.
Reacting, Adesegun said that
casting him out of the family
was an attempt to blackmail
him out of the race for the stool
for a preferred candidate.
He said: “If they said I am
not part of the family, why am
I attending family meetings,
why am I coming home to see
grandpa, why are my brothers
coming to me? The person
behind this has a candidate
for the throne. It is cheap
blackmail.”

UNKNOWN GUNMEN ON THE PROWL IN EKITI:
We’re now targets of kidnappers — Monarchs
*Security agencies, Amotekun Corps, local hunters race to secure the state
By Rotimi Ojomoyela
A DO-EKITI—EXCEPT
something urgent is done
to arrest the dangerous trend,
Ekiti State is fast becoming a feast-
ing zone for kidnappers, as men
of the underworld no longer oper-
ate on lonely or deserted roads,
neither do they limit their scope
to those who walk in dark alleys
or stay late out from the safety of
their homes.
They go after their victims, any-
way, anyhow with reckless aban-
don.
People are being kidnapped
from their homes and taken to
unknown destinations, traditional
rulers and their hallowed palaces
have been desecrated.
On the 14th of April, 2021, un-
known gunmen stormed the pal-
ace of Obadun of Ilemeso-Ekiti,
Oba David Oyewumi and without
any respect for the traditional
ruler, dragged him out of his
throne into a waiting car.
They made away with him to an
unknown destination, the tradi-
tional ruler spent four days in the
kidnappers’ den.
Ilemeso-Ekiti is a neighbouring
town to Isan and five minutes
drive away from the country home
of Governor Kayode Fayemi in
Oye Local Government Area of
the state.
The suspected kidnappers,
armed with dangerous weapons,
scaled the fence of the palace, sent
the people who were in the palace
to pay obeisance to the Obadun
into different directions as they
rent the air with gunfire.
Sources disclosed that the kid-
nappers, after gaining entrance
into the palace, went straight to
the bungalow housing the mon-
arch and his family members.
Barely 23 days after the abduc-
tion of Obadun of Ilemeso-Ekiti;
the Elewu of Ewu-Ekiti, Oba
Adetutu Ajayi, in Ilejemeje Local
Government Area of the state, was
shot by suspected gunmen while
returning from a journey to his
hometown.
The monarch escaped by the
whiskers from the scene but had
gunshot injuries and was
hospitalised in a private hospital
in Ado-Ekiti for two weeks before
being flown out of the state by
members of his family for further
medical attention.
The monarch, on a fateful day
before the incident, was travelling
in his official car to the neighbour-
ing Ayetoro Ekiti in Ido/Osin
Local Government when the gun-
men waved him down and started
raining bullets on his car.
The bullets which rattled his car
also hit him on the legs, arms and
stomach.
Another ugly incident that con-
firmed the thinking in some quar-
ters that traditional rulers in the
EDITOR: Dayo Johnson (08033509763)
Deputy Editor: Dapo Akinrefon
08023844928
CORRESPONDENTS:
Ola Ajayi Ibadan
Dare Fasube (Photo)
Rotimi Ojomoyela Ekiti
Adeola Badru Ibadan
Shina Abubakar Osogbo
James Ogunnaike Abeokuta
•Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, •One of the kidnapped monarch who was later
Babatunde Mobayo
state are fast becoming a soft tar-
get of kidnappers in recent times
was the abduction of Eleda of Eda-
Ile in Ekiti East Local
Government Area of Ekiti State,
Oba Benjamin Adeniran Osho.
Oba Adeniran Osho was said to
have been kidnapped in the pres-
ence of his only wife while return-
ing from their farm at Eda-Ile,
after a heavy downpour in the
area.
Barely 24 hours after the abduc-
tion of the monarch, a source who
craved anonymity told journalists
in Ado Ekiti that the monarch and
the wife would have been kid-
napped, but for pleading made by
the traditional ruler.
The source said: “The Oba and
his wife went to a farm and were
accosted by these gunmen on their
way back home. The two would
have been kidnapped, but the
monarch begged the bandits to
free his wife, which they did.
"N2 million ransom was raised
by the family to secure the release
of the monarch after spending sev-
eral days at the kidnappers’ den."
Monarchs now target of kid-
nappers—Oba Alabi
Shortly after the release of the
monarch was secured, the chair-
man, Ekiti State Council of Tra-
ditional Rulers, Oba Olabanji
Alabi, the Alawe of Ilawe issued a
release to lament on the level of
insecurity in Ekiti State and the
country at large.
The first class monarch who la-
mented over the situation, how-
ever, charged the government to
redouble its effort by improving
on the security architecture in the
state.
The traditional ruler also led
some of his colleagues to the of-
fice of the Deputy Governor of the
state in company of the chairman
of Oye Local Government, Mr.
Foluso Ojo, to seek the govern-
released
N2 million ransom
was raised by the
family to secure
the release of the
monarch after
spending several
days at the
kidnappers’ den
ment’s support for improved se-
curity in their domains.
The monarch particularly
made mention of his members
who were recently abducted by
kidnappers in their palaces and
those accosted on the road as wor-
risome and called on the federal
and state governments to inten-
sify effort in ensuring the security
of lives and property in the state.
The Onisan of Isan Ekiti, Oba
Ayodele Adejuwon, said there is
need for deployment of more se-
curity personnel to carry out a
sustained and coordinated show
of force in communities in the
state.
Oba Adejuwon drew the govern-
ment’s attention to challenges fac-
Osun monarch, bizman in verbal war over the
invasion, destruction of farm
By Shina Abubakar
O
SOGBO—THE Elegbedi
of Egbedi in Osun State,
Oba Abdulazeez Olaniyi, has
accused a businessman, Mr.
Abiodun Oladapo, of invading his
farm with armed thugs, who
destroyed it.
Oba Olaniyi who narrated how
the incident happened, explained
that about a month ago, he
cleared a parcel of land
measuring about 20 acres in his
town, and planted maize on it.
While the machine was working
on the farm, Oba Olaniyi alleged
that Oladapo attempted to stop
the work and brought some thugs
to the farm, but the attempt was
thwarted by the labourers, who
resisted the thugs and told the
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 67
ing the Police and Civil Defence
formations in the state especially
the lack of operational vehicles
which have made the Obas engage
the services of local hunters.
Similarly, the Oloye of Oye Ekiti,
Oba Oluwole Ademolaju, and the
Alafon of Ilafon Ekiti, Oba Akin
Owoeye asked the government to
identify the black spots used by
suspected kidnappers across the
state to be busted as early as possi-
ble to nip criminality in the bud.
We’re collaborating with secu-
rity agencies —Ekiti govt
Responding, the Deputy Gover-
nor of the state, Mr. Bisi Egbeyemi,
expressed the readiness of the Ekiti
State Government to collaborate
with security agencies to comb for-
ests and other dark spots in a re-
newed bid to tackle kidnapping
and other criminal activities in
the state.
While sympathising with the
royal fathers on the kidnap of their
colleagues, the Deputy Governor
emphasized that the government,
security agencies and residents
have much to do with intelligence
gathering and consciousness on
the movement of strange people
in their localities.
On his part, the Owa Ooye of
Okemesi Ekiti, Oba Adedeji
Gbadebo, suggested the use of tra-
ditional African medicine to
tackle the menace.
invaders to meet the monarch and
discuss.
He further stressed that he owns
the land and he has not sold it to
anyone including Oladapo, who
according to him, was also laying
claim to it.
He further explained that
Oladapo had already petitioned
Iwo Area Command of the
Nigeria Police Force, adding that
his representatives had appeared
before the Area Commander on the
issue.
He said: “A few days ago, I was
informed that some armed thugs
stormed my land and destroyed
what I had planted there. So I
called the police. Those that
perpetrated the act are working
for Oladapo. Police should
intervene and stop this illegal act.”
The monarch, who described the
traditional method as the only al-
ternative way to curb insecurity in
the country, explained that Nige-
rians have so long abandoned the
use of traditional charms and
African traditional power, the
move which he described as the
main cause of the rise in insecurity
in the country.
In another kidnap saga, a farmer
Mr. Josiah Isah was kidnapped in
the presence of his family on his
farm along Ikere/Ise road.
The kidnappers told the family
to go home and look for money to
secure the release of the farmer.
The family of the farmer was said
to have raised N800,000 before
they could release the farmer.
Aside from those mentioned
above, other prominent figures
who have suffered the same fate
in the hands of kidnappers are the
wife of the late Auditor-General
of the state, Mrs. Funmilola
Osalusi; former Ekiti Commis-
sioner for Agriculture, Mr.
Folorunso Olabode, an Ekiti West
councillor, an aide to the Speaker
of Ekiti State House of Assembly
and so many others.
Were raiding black spots, comb-
ing forests—Police
While speaking on the matter,
the Ekiti State Police Command,
regretted the various incidents,
despite the rigorous joint patrol,
raiding of black spots and comb-
ing of forests by its men to dislodge
criminals.
The Commissioner of Police in
the state, Mr. Babatunde Mobayo
said he had issued a directive that
the combined forces of Police,
Amotekun Corps, Vigilante
groups, local hunters, chiefs,
drivers union, motorcycle riders,
farmers and other stakeholders
should carry out a joint operation
being diligently observed simul-
taneously across the 16 local gov-
ernment areas before the gunmen
struck.
Mobayo said: “Some unknown
gunmen mischievously defied the
operation, came out and attacked
the Elewu of Ewu, Oba Adetutu
Ajayi while he was on transit be-
tween Ewu-Ekiti and Ayetoro-
Ekiti at about 1900hrs.”
However, it appeared that efforts
of the security agencies in the state
are beginning to yield fruits with
the arrest and parade of suspected
kidnappers, who were students of
a privately-owned Polytechnic in
Odo-Ekiti, a suburb of Ado-Ekiti,
Ekiti State.
According to the Police Public
Relations Officer, PPRO of the
command, Mr. Sunday Abutu, an
Assistant Superintendent of Police
ASP, they were arrested by the
officers of Rapid Respond Squad,
RSS, attached to the command
following the abduction of one
Akiode Akinyemi who is also a
student of the polytechnic.
But when contacted on Sunday,
Oladapo, who tendered an order
of Osun State High Court, sitting
in Ede, dated 30th January 2020,
restraining trespassing on a
parcel of land located at Iloba
and Olasope villages, said the
land Oba Olaniyi claimed
belonged to him was already a
subject of litigation and that the
court order that gave him
possession of the land had not been
quashed.
Oladapo, who insisted the parcel
of land belonged to him, also said
the royal father failed to appear
in person before Iwo Area
Commander after he had
petitioned the Police to report the
encroachment.
68 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
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AW
I formerly known and addressed
as Miss AKANIMO NELSON
EKANEM now wish to be
known and addressed as Mrs
AKANIMO DIANABASI
AKPAN. All documents bearing
former name remain valid. The
general public and authorities
concerned please take note.
AI
MENDO
I was formerly known as MISS
MENDO IFEANYICHUKWU
STEPHANIE. now wish to be
known as MRS ONOME
IFEANYICHUKWU
STEPHANIE. All documents
bearing my former name remain
valid, general public please take
note
CHARITY
I, formerly known as
OSADJERE CHARITY, now
wish to be known and
addressed as OSADJERE
EDITH OVIGUE. All former
documents remain valid.
General public should take
note.
OLUSEYE
I, formerly known as Oluseye
Temitope Abayomi, now wish
to be known and addressed as
ATOBATELE TEMITOPE
ABAYOMI. All former
documents remain valid.
General public should take
note.
ONURU
This is to confirm that in my BVN
and during account opening my
name was mispelt as ONURU
instead of OWURU. My correct
name is OWURU VALENTINE
OVIE. All former documents
remain valid, general public take
note.
DI
ASENETU
I formerly known and addressed
as BESIRU ASENETU now wish
to be known and addressed as
HASSENETU YUSUFU. All
former documents remain valid.
General public please take note.
ODJUVWU
I, formerly known as MR JOSEPH
ODJUVWU, now wish to be
known as MR JOSEPH COKER
OGHENEMARHO. All former
documents remain valid. General
Public and Authorities concerned,
please take note.
OGU
I, formerly known as
ONYENAGUBOR PEACE
OGECHI NKECHI, now wish to
be known and addressed as OGU
PEACE OGECHI NKECHI. All
former documents remain valid.
General public please take note.
ENA
This is to confirm that Osikorobia
Ena in my BVN and Osikorobia
Ivwromonena is one and same
person. I now wish to be known as
Osikorobia Ivwromonena. All
former documents remain valid.
The authorities to whom it may
concern and the general public to
please take note.
OMOLARA
I, formerly known and
addressed as Miss Kehinde
Balqees Omolara now wish to
be known and addressed as
Mrs Adabanija Kehinde
Balqees.All former
documents remain
valid.General public take
note.
JEMIBOR
I, formerly known as Olayemi
Ejuyadonmi Jemibor, now
wish to be known as Olayemi
Eyetigha. All former
documents remain valid.
General public please take
note.
CHECHE
I was formerly known as MISS
CHECHE FLORENCE NNEKA.
now wish to be known as MRS
NWAEDOZIE FLORENCE
NNEKA. All documents bearing
my former name remain valid,
general public please take note
OKECHUKWU
I, formerly known as MISS.
LOVETH MMIRIMMA
OKECHUKWU, now wish to be
known as MRS. LOVETH
MMIRIMMA AGBUGBA. All
documents bearing my former
name remain valid. The general
public take note.
UGBOBO
AH
I, formerly known as Ugbobo
T. Glory, now wish to be
known and addressed as
Okieruovo Glory
Oghenetega. All former
documents remain valid.
General public should take
note.
ADISA
This is to confirm that in my BVN
my name was wrongly captured
as ADISA ISSA ORIYOMI instead
of KOLAWOLE ISSA
ORIYOMI. My correct name is
KOLAWOLE ISSA ORIYOMI.
All former documents remain
valid, general public take note.
DOSUNMU
MODJOTA
I, formerly known as Miss
Dosunmu Adebukonla Kafayat,
now wish to be known as Mrs.
Adebukonla Kafayat Dosunmu-
Uthman. All former documents
remain valid. General Public and
Authorities concerned, please take
note.
OGHENERO
This is to confirm that
OGHENERO was omitted from
my name during account opening,
I now wish to add it to my name.
My correct name is OROWHE
OGHENERO PRINCE. All
former documents remain valid.
General Public and Authorities
concerned, please take note.
EYAUFE
IWEBEMA
I, formerly known as EYAUFE
VICTORIA OGHENERO now
wish to be know as MRS. BAKPA
VICTORIA OGHENERO. All
former documents remain valid.
General Public and Authorities
concerned, please take note.
DE
FEBOH
I, formerly known as Miss
Feboh Ebikaboere Edith, now
wish to be known as Mrs.
Oboshenure Ebikaboere Edith.
All former documents remain
valid. General public please
take note.
EBISINE
I Formerly known and addressed
as, Miss Ebisine Pere-Ere maria
Now wish to be known and
addressed as, Mrs Aweola Pere-
Ere Maria. All former documents
remain valid general public please
take note.
OYOVWO
I formerly known as OHWOFASA
OYOVWO, now wish to be known
and addressed as OHWOFASA
ROBINSON. All former documents
remain valid any authority it may
concern and general public to take
note.
AWUPI
This is to confirm that AWUPI
JUSTIUNA, AWUPI
ODEOHWO JUSTINA and
AWUPI JUSTINA ODEOHWO
refers to one and the same person
but now wish to be known and
addressed as AWUPI JUSTINA
ODEOHWO. All former
documents remain valid. General
public that note.
ALOZIE
I, formerly known as MISS
ALOZIE BRIDGET
UCHECHI, now wish to be
known and addressed as MRS
JOHN BRIDGET UCHECHI.
All former documents remain
valid. General public should
take note.
ZI
PETER
JOSEPH
I, formerly known as
Ogheneovo Ayo Joseph, now
wish to be known and
addressed as Ogheneovo Ayo
Larry. All former documents
remain valid. General public
should take note.
:Vanguard
News
Imo Debt Mgt
law to be
signed by
Uzodimma
By Chinonso Alozie
O
WERRI—THE Imo
State House of As-
sembly has passed the Imo
State Debt Management
Bill to be signed into law
by the state governor,
Hope Uzodimma.
Also to be signed into
law, a law to provide for
Audit Service Board in the
offices of the State Auditor
General, and Auditor Gen-
eral for Local Government
and other related matters.
Speaking on the two ex-
ecutive bills, yesterday in
Owerri, the Deputy
Speaker, Amara
Iwuanyanwu, said the debt
management law was
aimed to, "Establish a Debt
Management Office to
provide a data base to
regulate government's bor-
rowing, and ensure proper
management and adminis-
tration of the State Gov-
ernment debt loan and re-
lated facilities by the gov-
ernment."
Tokyo
Olympics:
Sifax Group
supports
Quadri,
Oshonaike
L
AGOS—AS part of efforts by
the Federal Ministry of
Youth and Sports Development’s
#AdoptAnAthlete programme,
SIFAX Group has provided fi-
nancial support to 7-time Ol-
ympian, Olufunke Oshonaike
and Aruna Quadri to aid the
preparations at the forthcoming
Tokyo Olympics.
The sum of $10,000 was given
to each of them as support
funds.
The #AdoptAnAthlete pro-
gramme is an initiative to can-
vass support from the private
sector for athletes representing
the country at the 2020 Tokyo
Olympic Games.
The support was provided un-
der the #AdoptAnAthlete pro-
gramme, an initiative of the Fed-
eral Ministry of Youth & Sports
Development to canvass sup-
port from the private sector for
athletes representing the coun-
try at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic
Games.
The financial support will ca-
ter to the athletes’ preparations
for the Olympics including
medical expenses, hiring of
personal trainer, dieting and
other related needs.
A statement by the Corporate
Affairs Manager of Sifax,
Muyiwa Akande, noted that Dr.
Taiwo Afolabi, Group Executive
Vice Chairman, SIFAX Group,
commended Mr. Sunday Dare,
Minister of Youth and Sports
Development for the initiative,
describing it as an avenue to fur-
ther encourage athletes to give
their best at the global event.
He said: “We wish to applaud
the efforts of the Honourable
Minister for bringing relevant
stakeholders onboard to support
our athletes going to the Tokyo
Olympics. This laudable initia-
tive will go a long way in en-
couraging the Olympians to aim
for gold, knowing fully well that
the country is ready to provide
some sort of support to put them
in the best frame of mind and
shape for the competition.”
 Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 69
YOUR LUCK TODAY LEISURE
By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 SAYINGS OF
TAKE HEART — ELLA RANDLE
CANCER: Conjunction between the Sun and Mercury in OUR PEOPLE
your Star Sign will enhance your brilliance to the betterment
of your cause. Back your hopes and wishes along your career “One must give value to their existence by be-
line with practical approach.
having as if ones very existence were a work of If you are
LEO: This is a good day to seek good advice from profes- art.” -Friedrich Nietzsche- looking for a
sionals, especially if what at hand is legal related. Both your
present and immediate future should be taken more seri- This is how you need to see yourself, as a work of fly in your
ously. art, always in progress. No need to get upset, or food it means
VIRGO: Romantic attractions through your career/busi- come down hard on yourself, cut yourself some that you are
ness lines may become a little stronger than before. But your
best bet now is to utilize your closeness to influential people slacks and just do the best in the moment! Ella full. ~South
to better your career line. Randle African Prov-
LIBRA: Although others may try to oppose your brilliant
erb
ideas it indicated that you will laugh last today, especially if
you refuse to be intimidated. Love and listen to your spouse.

SCORPIO: The language that will appeal to you more

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Kola Fayemi
today is hard work, and whoever is coming with idea of
joining the band wagon of merry making may be talking to
the wrong channel. Watch your health.

SAGITTARIUS: Young-at-heart among you are in for an

exciting day when both excitement and satisfaction can go
together. Enterprising business personalities among you
will smile. Take your health seriously.
CAPRICORN: Naturally you are the ambitious type and
good opportunity to exhibit your innate ability will come your
way. Please try not to neglect your domestic responsibilities;
be more family minded.

AQUARIUS:Opportunitytoconsolidateonprogressmade
yesterday will come. This is a good day to make practical
your new ideas at work. Lovers will smile. New attractions
while on the move indicated.

PISCES: Although tomorrow will prove more successful

for you, here is a day you can enhance your financial pros-
pects through practical and ambitious approach from you.
Be more family minded.
DUDU in “ROLLING HOT” By A.O.OLAIDE
ARIES: If you are already committed emotionally, it is
better you discourage new romantic attractions while on the
move or else you find yourself at cross roads sooner than you
can imagine.

TAURUS: Whatever happens success will crown your

efforts today. Yet you will need to keep both yours and other
people secrets because of another day. Utilize your new
ideas and take good advice.
GEMINI: Your close friends and other influential person-
alities are willing to assist you to make it a successful day. You
are becoming more irresistible to the members of your oppo-
site sex. Be more loving.
ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING
ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING

Send yyour
our dat
datee and place of bir th ttoo the As
birth tr
Astr ological
trological dadadekola@yahoo.com
Counselling, PP.M.B
.M.B 1100
00 7, Apapa, Lagos
007, VIRGINIA
BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF ARIES

Being natives of the first Zodiac sign, Arians are forced

most times to rely on their initiatives by necessity rather
than mere wishful thinking. And as the saying goes “ne-
cessity is the mother of invention” they bring new ideas
and techniques that make them respectable leaders both
in the academic world and in business/professional circle.
However, that is not to say Arians cannot record any
meaningful progress without going through severe pains
or difficulties. You are the ambitious type who truly crave
for importance and recognition. And the Aries cardinal
connection will induce you to take practical actions that
will ensure your becoming very prominent. HOME & ABROAD By Lawrence Akapa
Arians are truly active and impatient. The element of fire
in their system makes them enthusiastic set of people
with abilities to instil confidence in others and burn them-
selves and others with fire of desire to excel. That is an-
other talent for leadership. If they (Aries born people)
can cultivate consistency, they would wear down any op-
ponent- be it physical or other-wise.
Influence of Aries indicates leadership ability, boldness,
ruggedness, aggressive approach and competitive spirit.
Mars that rules Aries makes it’s natives combatants in
many ways and most often times they are winners. Aries
born people feel their needs and wants profoundly and
then give in to strong desire - especially as it concern
their wishes.
You will agree with the fact that desire often leads to
ambition, thus most Arians are ambitious and if any
body dare to block their ways or try to obstruct their.
70 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
Udinese ready to sign Simy at N3.8b
U dinese have joined the
race to sign Nigerian
marksman Simy Nwankwo
from Crotone. Simy is
expected to leave Crotone
following his fantastic
season in the Italian top-
flight last season.
Although the
Pythagoreans went down
last season, Simy ’s
performance was head and
shoulders above the rest of
his teammates.
The 29-year-old broke
and set many records last
campaign after scoring 20
BRIEFING: From left; Mr Tunde Aina, Chief Operation Officer, StarTimes goals in 38 league games.
Nigeria; Mr Alex Jian, Chief Executive Officer, StarTimes Nigeria; Mr Femi
Adebayo, Actor/Producer, Ile Alayo and Ms Viki Liu, Content Director,
StarTimes Nigeria, during the press conference to announce Film Drama
It’s the highest an African
has scored in a single Serie
A season since Samuel
Series, ''Ile Alayo'', by StarTimes Nigeria at Marriott Hotel, Joel Ogunnaike Eto’o scored 21 for Inter
Street, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi. Milan in the 2010/2011
season.
Simy ’s performances
have attracted a host of
Serie A clubs, with Genoa
and Sampdoria also
credited with an interest.
However, it appears
Udinese are favourites to
sign the Nigerian
international. According to
Alfredo Pedullà per football
Tokyo 2020:
Biden wades into Richardson’s
UNVEILING: From left; Engr Onuorah Emmanuel – President, Premium
marijuana row where
“We know the rules are
they are, maybe we
T
Breadmakers Association of Nig. (PRAN); Aderemi Adepoju – Head Quality he White House
Assurance Dangote. Sugar Refinery Plc, Bello Saddiq – GM Sales & yesterday said it may be
Marketing; DSR Plc ; Mrs Orekoya Bolanle – Group Head (Multem Systems) worthwhile to review anti-
SON-MSC; Adegboyega Badejo – Felicia Modupeoluwa trading company doping rules in sport after
ltd; Elder Mark Irozuru of Marco Graphics & Concepts Limited at the American sprinter
Sha’Carri Richardson
unveiling of Dangote Sugar new package in Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.
tested positive for cannabis
use.
USA Track & Field
(USATF) on Tuesday
declined to select
Richardson to the relay
team for the 2020 Olympics
in Tokyo after she accepted
a one-month ban for the
prohibited substance,
which she said was to cope
with her mother ’s death.
read more
The 21-year-old was
expected to be one of the
biggest draws in Tokyo but
is unable to compete in the
individual 100m event as
her suspension wiped out
her win at the trials.
Selection for the relay
team was her only
remaining hope of
competing at the Games.
INSTALLATION: From left; Chairman of the occasion and Chief Executive Officer,
First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan; Immediate Past President, 2020-
2021, Rotarian Dare Adeyeri; President, 2021-2022, Rotarian Babawale Agbeyangi;
Incoming District Governor, Rotary International District 9110, Rotarian Remi Bello, Nigeria’s Babatunde to Fight for
during the installation ceremony of Rotarian Babawale Agbeyangi as the 61st President
and Induction of the Board for the 2021-2022 Rotary Year in Lagos. WBO title undefeated against local
I nternational Boxing
Federation (IBF)
Intercontinental
Welterweight champion,
Nigeria’s Rilwan “Baby
Face” Babatunde, is
scheduled to take on
Ukraine’s Dymtro
Mytrovanov for the World
Boxing Organisation
Oriental Middleweight
title.
The fight, scheduled for
17 July at Eguides Club,
Kiev, the Ukrainian capital
city, is the Nigerian’s first
fight outside the country’s
shores and will underline
his rising profile since his
discovery at the inaugural
edition of GOtv Boxing
LAUNCH: From left; PR Communications and Media Manager, TECNO NextGen Search.
Mobile, West Africa Region, Vincent Uzoegbu; General Manager, TECNO
Baby Face has enjoyed a
Mobile Nigeria, Chidi Okonkwo; Integrated Marketing Communications meteoric rise in his
Manager, TECNO Mobile Nigeria, Seun Badmus and Content Creator and professional career during
Founder, MissTechy, Tobi Ayeni, during the launch of PHANTOM X in Lagos. which he has remained
Italia, the White and Blacks
are considering making a
move for the former Gil
Vicente man after they
cancelled their agreement
with PSV’s Maxi Romero
due to a failed medical.
But they are likely to pay
his current value of €8m (¦
3.8b) if they want to take
him off Crotone. Simy’s
contract with the relegated
club runs until 2022.
Watford join Gunners, Hammers
in chase for Onuachu
P remier League side
Watford are keen to add
Super Eagles striker, Paul
Arsenal and West Ham.
The Hornets are
understood to have made
Onuachu to their fold as their interest known to
they prepare for the new Genk, but discussions are
season. not thought to be at an
Watford who regained advanced stage yet.
promotion to the EPL are in
need of a top striker and
Onuachu who is Genk and Wimbledon
Belgian League highest
scorer with 29 goals and 35 struggles to
goals from 41 games in all
competitions last season fill seats
W
fits their description. imbledon announced
Onuachu who is valued at with excitement last
£20million is also on the weekend that it would be
radar of London clubs the first sporting venue to
welcome crowds at full
capacity, but the public are
yet to bite.
As part of the British
social season, Wimbledon
is always oversubscribed
but this year spectators have
failed to materialise even
should take another look at for the premium courts.
them,” White House press Tickets are still available
secretary Jen Psaki said in for Centre Court today and
a CNN interview, adding Saturday — when the
that President Joe Biden Ladies’ Singles final is
had paid particular scheduled. Tickets for the
attention to her after the
Gentlemen’s Singles final
tragedy she endured. have not yet been released.
Wimbledon: Federer suffers
Polish heart-break
R
oger Federer’s dream stupendous display he put
of winning a record- in against his own
equalling ninth Wimbledon childhood idol.
title ended with a heart- All the cheers and
standing ovations in the
breaking 6-3 7-6(4) 6-0
quarter-final defeat by world could not save
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz on Federer from the Centre
Wednesday. Court mauling as it seemed
Before this fortnight, 14th his 39-year-old body finally
seed Hurkacz had won only said enough is enough.
four matches on turf but no A Federer forehand into
one would have guessed his the tramlines handed
lack of grass court pedigree Hurkacz the biggest win of
his career while fans were
after witnessing the
left wondering that should
this turn out to be the
Swiss’s final Wimbledon
appearance, there could not
have been a more cruel way
to bow out than losing 6-0
and international
in the final set of his 22nd
opponents. appearance.
He has won the national,
West African Boxing Union Never before had Federer
and IBF Intercontinental been wiped out in a set at
welterweight titles since Wimbledon.
bursting on the scene.
Speaking about the
forthcoming bout, Baby
Face said he is confident of
winning and adding to his
laurels despite the fact that
he is facing the opponent in
his home country.
“I have nothing to fear.
I’m preparing well and I’m
confident of defeating
Mytrovanov. It doesn’t
matter that the fight is
holding in the Ukraine. A
fifth round knockout is what
my opponent should
expect,” said the boxer, who
had previously turned
down bouts in the United
Arab Emirates and Saudi
Arabia.
 Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 — 71

Messi, Neymar to clash in

Copa-America final
Okagbare misses podium position in EMILIANO Martinez saved three penalties as Argentina beat
Colombia in a semi-final shootout to advance to Saturday’s
Copa America final against Brazil.
Olympics “rehearsal race” The Aston Villa keeper denied Davinson Sanchez, Yerry Mina
and Edwin Cardona from the spot after the game ended 1-1.

T
OP world women
sprinters were in
Budapest, Hungary at
the Istvan Gyulai meet on
Tuesday night to paint a picture
of what to expect at the Tokyo
Olympics 100m final.
Jamaica’s ElaineThompson-
Herah ran 10.71 seconds, her
compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-
Pryce was second with 10.82secs,
Cote d’ Ivoire’s Marie-Jose Talou
was third with 10.86 second while
Lionel Messi set up Lautaro Martinez to put Argentina ahead
Nigerian hopeful Okagbare was before Luis Diaz levelled to send the game to penalties.
forth with 10.89 seconds. It was Messi, Lautaro Martinez and Leandro Paredes all scored their
Okagbare’s fifth 10.secs run this penalties in the shootout, but Emiliano Martinez was the hero as he
season. At the Athletics produced a hat-trick of diving saves after being rarely troubled
Federation of Nigeria Olympic during the game.
trials, she posted a wind aided The 28-year-old, who moved to English football with Arsenal and
10.63seconds which sparked a lot had loan spells at Rotherham, Oxford, Reading, Sheffield Wednesday
of furore. and Wolves, also earned a talking to from the referee for his ceaseless
On Friday in Monaco, chat aimed at Colombia’s players as they lined up to take their kicks.
Okagbare is expected take on “They took us to penalties and that’s a question of luck, today it
Fraser-Pryce, Talou and Shunae was my turn for glory,” he said. “I’m speechless.”
Miller-Uibo, Tamara Clark over Six-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi, who is looking to win his first
200m at the Herculis EBS meet. senior trophy with Argentina, praised the Villa keeper for ensuring
they “fulfilled our objective” of reaching the final.

Ndidi not for sale “It was difficult at times,” Messi said. “But we have ‘Emi’ and
he’s phenomenal. We trusted him.”
Argentina, who won the last of their 14 Copa America titles in
— Rogers warns suitors 1993, face defending champions Brazil at the Maracana on Saturday.
Brazil, who have won the Copa America nine times - and on all

A MID speculations making the rounds about five of the previous occasions they have hosted the tournament -
the future of Nigeria midfield beat Peru 1-0 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
maestro Wilfred Ndidi at his English
Premier League club, Leicester City,
coach Brendan Rogers has warned
potential suitors to keep off from their •Okagbare
jewel.
Recently, Manchester United fans had made
the Nigeria international a trending issue on
social media following their club’s signing of
Toure tips
Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. The fans urged
Ole Solskjaer to bid for the Leicester City man so Mancini’s Italy to
much so that the Nigerian became a trending
issue on Twitter. win Euro 2020
It is not the first time that a defensive mid-fielder
to shore up their midfield.
Ndidi who is valued at about $70 million still
has a contract that could see him at Leicester
aF ormer Manchester City
n
Cote d’ Ivoire legend, Yaya
d

City till 2024 and his manager is not in a hurry Toure has praised the efforts •Neymar and Messi
to dispense with his services. of his former manager at City,
“He is one of the top players in world
football at the moment. The quality in his
football keeps improving all the time. “He
Roberto Mancini at the on-
going Euro 2020 Championship. Morata sent ‘disgraceful’ threats
The Azzurri made it to the final
is irreplaceable for us. He is fantastic for
a young player and ready to learn. He
of the championship on Tuesday
night by beating Spain 4-2
after Spain exit
will still improve and become better. I’m
happy he plays in my team,” Rogers
enthused.
•Ndidi (penalty shootout) after the game
ended 1-1 full time. Italy ’s A lvaro Morata’s wife has slammed “disgraceful and
unacceptable” threats she received on social media after Italy
knocked Spain out of Euro 2020 on Tuesday.
unbeaten run is now at 33
matches in all competitions ahead Morata, who plays on loan at Juventus from Atletico Madrid,
Akpeyi eyes CAF Champions league of the final game on Sunday.
“Ooooooh Mancini! Oooooh,
started on the bench at Wembley but came on to score an 80th
minute equaliser against the Azzurri to cancel out Federico
title with Chiefs Mancini! 33 games unbeaten,
incredible, just incredible! I love
Chiesa’s opener and take the semifinal to extra-time.
The former Chelsea striker then had his penalty saved as Italy

S uper Eagles keeper, Daniel Akpeyi

believes his South African club, Kaizer
Chiefs are eager to win their first CAF
you my coach Roberto Mancini,”
Toure tweeted.
won 4-2 on penalties to progress into Sunday’s final.
Alice Campello, Morata’s wife, who is Italian, posted on
“Congrats Roberto Mancini on Instagram stories some of the menacing
Champions League title when they clash messages she received written in Italian
with Egyptian side Al Ahly at Casablanca’s reaching the finals with five
straight wins! What an incredible after the game.
Stade Mohamed V on July 17. “Your husband has cancer.... your children
Interestingly, Chiefs face Al Ahly who beat manager, leading Italy to be one
Sundowns in the 2001 final of the Champions of the winning contenders of Euro too” was one of the texts she received, while
League. Ahly also beat Orlando Pirates in the 2020! Mancini, what a man, what another one said: “Don’t you dare post a
2013 final. a coach!” photograph of Morata’s goal or I will go to
“I am sure everyone knows Al Ahly to be a your house and burn you on live Instagram.”
tough side, they are a solid team and they Campello responded to the abuse and
are a team you need to be focused on 120 wrote: “I’m honestly not suffering with
percent,” said Akpeyi. regards to these messages, truthfully. I don’t
“It is not going to be an easy day but I’m think it’s a factor of ‘Italians’ but of
sure that is the reason why we are preparing ignorance. I do, however, think that if it had
early, in camp at the moment working out happened to a more fragile woman, it would
strategies and plans on how to actually face have been a problem.
this huge game. I’m sure they [Al Ahly] are •Akpeyi “Let’s remember that this is a sport to unite
also expecting a lot from us.” “So this is actually more like a happy not to vent your frustrations. I really hope
moment for every South African to see the team get to this stage and that in the future there can be serious
winning the trophy. I am so sure that everyone is waiting right now in measures taken for these types of people
South Africa for July 17 and also waiting to see Kaizer Chiefs come because this is disgraceful and
back with the trophy.” unacceptable.”
•Morata
•Mancini
Man City can’t afford to buy Kane or
Haaland this summer — Pep Neymar slams CONMEBOL as Jesus out of final
P ep Guardiola has revealed Manchester City are finding it ‘impossible’
to sign a striker this summer because the Premier League champions
‘cannot afford it’. City have been heavily linked with a move for Harry Kane
B RAZIL striker Neymar has hit out
at South American football body
“It is very sad to be on the hands of
people who make this kind of
CONMEBOL after confirmation decisions,” Neymar said of the
and have had a £100million bid rejected for Gabriel Jesus is out of the Copa America
the Tottenham and England striker, while also incident on Instagram.
being credited with a significant interest in
final against Argentina because of a red CONMEBOL also fined Jesus
Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland. card he received during his team’s 1-0
$5,000. Brazil cannot appeal the
Guardiola and the City hierarchy have been quarterfinal win over Chile.
CONMEBOL said in a statement on decision. Jesus said on Instagram he
targeting a new striker following the did not agree with the decision.
departure of the club’s all-time record Tuesday it suspended Jesus for two
matches. The striker didn’t play on “Two-match ban and no appeal?
goalscorer Sergio Aguero, who joined
Barcelona on a free transfer earlier this Monday in Brazil’s 1-0 semifinal victory Congratulations CONMEBOL. I
summer. against Peru, being replaced by winger think you didn’t see what happened
But speaking to Catalan network TV3, the Everton. right,” he wrote.
former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Jesus was sent off shortly before the Neymar also posted on Instagram
insisted ‘there is more of a chance’ no new second half of Brazil’s victory against to support his teammate.
addition will come in to replace the Argentine Chile after he hit Eugenio Mena with a The Copa America final will be
because billionaire-backed City have also flying kick. The Brazilian said it was an played on Saturday at the Maracana
been affected financially by Covid-19. Haaland. accident and apologised. Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Kane
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021

QUICK CROSSWORD
TODAY’S CROSSWORD YESTERDAY'S SOLUTION

Sudoku
TODAY’S PUZZLE YESTERDAY’S ANSWER
ACROSS DOWN
1 Operatic song (4) 1 Fire-resistant mineral (8)
3 City formerly known as Constantinople (8) 2 Asian country (5)
9 Nomadic Arab (7) 4 Open-toed shoe (6)
10 Stir up (5) 5 Assent (5)
11 Killed (5) 6 Bunch of flowers (7)
12 Broad street (6) 7 Untruths (4)
14 Expenditure (6) 8 Obsolete gold coin (6)
16 Middle (6) 13 Branch of mathematics (8)
19 Tone of voice (6) 15 Diplomatic (7)
21 Sacred song (5) 17 Sell abroad (6)
24 Blunder (5) 18 Intense or violent effort (6)
25 Side by side (7) 20 Vote into office (5)
26 Erasing (8) 22 Asunder (5)
27 Remain (4) 23 Old (4)

How to Play Sudoku

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same
number).
Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to
bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number
from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block,
column or row.
Nomathematicsisinvolved–noadding,subtraction,divisionormultiplication,justplain
logicandyourimagination.
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