Boko Haram Attacks Mobile Police Training School in Borno

ISWAP releases video of its men ransacking army institute, Chibok also invaded
Charles Ajunwa in Lagos Mobile Police Training School during the attack. attacking Tukur Yusufu Buratai Borno State last Monday. kidnapping the instructors.
and Michael Olugbode in in limankara, Gwoza Local In a related development, Institute for War and Peace Sources said Boko Haram “The terrorists overpowered
Maiduguri Government Area of Borno another terror group, the (TBI), a research Institute of attacked the Gwoza Mobile the policemen guarding
State, but the police authorities Islamic State in West Africa the Nigerian Army University, Police Training School with gun the school with ease, some
Boko Haram fighters late denied reports that 13 trainers Province (ISWAP) yesterday located in Buratai Village, Biu trucks and shot sporadically
on Thursday attacked the were abducted by the terrorists released a video of its fighters Local Government Area of into the air before allegedly Continued on page 5

Buhari Hosts Grand Khalifa of Tijjaniyya Islamic Movement… Page 5

Saturday 15 January, 2022
Vol 26. No 9776

www.thisdaylive.com
TR N
N250
UT H
& RE A S O

Irabor: Military Remains Loyal to Democratic Rule

Declares army now well-focused on performing its constitutional roles
Our Correspondents yesterday pledged the loyalty on a television programme, well-focused on performing doubt as to the subordination stay.
of the military leadership to ahead of the Armed Forces its constitutional roles. of the military to civil rule; I “I believe that no one is
The Chief of Defence Staff, democratic rule in the country. Remembrance Day, also stated He declared: “Today, I believe believe that no one is in doubt
Continued on page 5
General Lucky Irabor, Irabor, who was speaking that the military was now that Nigerians are no longer in that democracy has come to

South, Middle Belt Leaders Urge

Parties to Zone Presidency to South
‘The basis of any viable democracy, especially in a diverse and complex country as Nigeria,
Sa is fair and even sharing of power…Therefore, unequivocally, and in full resolve, call on all
political parties in the country to zone their presidential tickets to the South’
Deji Elumoye Chuks Okocha
and Udora Orizu in Abuja

The Southern and Middle Belt

Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has
met in Abuja and once again
demanded the return of power
to the South in 2023, while
also reaffirming its stance on
restructuring.
In a communique issued at
the end of the meeting, which
ended late on Thursday, and
attended by former governors,
ministers, federal and state
legislators, top politicians and
professionals from the Southern
and Middle Belt regions, the
Forum also called on all political
parties to zone their presidential
tickets to the South.
It warned that any political
party that fails to heed its
demand should not expect
support from the four regions FAREWELL MAMA MORENIKEJI KOMOLAFE…
in the 2023 general election L-R: The Ombudsman, THISDAY Newspapers, Kayode Komolafe; his son and wife, Kayode Junior and Funmilayo; the CEO, Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission,
i.e. South-west, South-east, Gbenga Komolafe; his wife, Pat; and Barrister Temitope Komolafe, during the Christian Wake/Service of Songs for their matriarch, Chief Mrs. Morenikeji Victoria
Continued on page 5 Komolafe at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Igbara-Oke, Ondo State…yesterday ABIODUN AJALA

Group Faults Gov Yahaya's Silence on Killings in Southern Gombe... Page 6

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2 SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2022 • T H I S D AY
SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2022 • T H I S D AY 3
4 SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2022 • T H I S D AY
T H I S D AY, T H E S AT U R D AY N E W S PA P E R • SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 , 2022
PAGE FIVE
Buhari Hosts Grand Khalifa of Tijjaniyya Islamic Movement
Begs God to help Nigeria surmount insecurity
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari
yesterday hosted the Grand
Khalifa (overall head) of the
Tijjaniyya Islamic Movement
World-Wide, Tidjani Ali Bin
Arabi, at the State House, Abuja,
and expressed happiness that
Arabi and his delegation agreed
to come and pray for Nigeria in
order to surmount its security
crisis.
Buhari expressed optimism
that the nation would overcome
the security challenges, while
also praying to God to hear
Nigeria's prayer for an end to
the crisis.
The President expressed
his readiness to take on the
terrorists by pursuing policies
to eliminate the security issues
facing the nation.
Buhari said his administration
“is conscious of its responsibility”
with regards to security and
would continue to do its best.
He, therefore, urged Nigerians
to be fair to his government in
BOKO HARAM ATTACKS MOBILE POLICE TRAINING SCHOOL IN BORNO
instructors were abducted,”
said the source.
The Borno State
Commissioner of Police, Abdul
Umar, yesterday confirmed the
attack at the training school,
but said nobody was abducted
by the terrorists.
The Borno police chief
said the insurgents were
successfully repelled by
policemen.
Umar, while addressing a
press conference in Maiduguri,
said: “The attention of the
Borno State Police Command
has been drawn to news
making the rounds on
social media, alleging that an
undisclosed number of PMF
personnel were abducted at
the Police Mobile Training
College, Gwoza.
“The Command wishes
to categorically debunk the
news, consider it as fake news,
and also to inform the general
public that the insurgents, who
attacked the PMF training
college on the 13th January,
2022 at about 2022hrs were
successfully repelled by our
gallant officers and men. The
police did not record a single
casualty or loss of firearms.
“On this note, I am using
this medium to call the
attention of the general public
to disregard any misleading
information that may likely
cause panic and disturb the
peace of innocent citizens
who are roaming endlessly
in search of greener pasture,
SOUTH, MIDDLE BELT LEADERS URGE PARTIES TO ZONE PRESIDENCY TO SOUTH
South-south and North-central.
SMBLF also maintained
that the extant Constitution
and Structure of Nigeria “are
grossly flawed and lopsided”
and restated its demand for
a fundamental restructuring
of the country “by enacting a
new Constitution that would
enthrone equity, fairness and
justice.”
The Forum agreed on the
country’s indissolubility.
The communiqué, jointly
signed by the leaders of the
Forum, Chief Dr. E. K. Clark,
Ayo Adebanjo, George Obiozor
and Dr. Pogu Bitrus, reads:
"The meeting extensively
discussed various issues
on the state of affairs in the
country, particularly, the
security situation, restructuring,
assessing the security issues in
the country by reflecting on what
obtained at the time he took over
in 2015, and the successes, as well
as the performance that marked
a decisive break from the past,
particularly in the North-east and
the South-south, adding that the
North-west, which had given the
nation some “headache”, would
soon experience a turnaround
for the better.
President Buhari also advised
Nigerians to take responsibility
and show interest in their own
security and complement what
the government was doing.
He added: “We have done
our best and we will continue to
do more by pursuing coherent
and consistent policies to deal
with terrorism. I hope God will
listen to our prayers.”
The President appreciated the
Kano State Governor, Abdullahi
Ganduje, who brought the Grand
Khalifa to Nigeria, saying:
“We thank you for inviting
them to come to pray for peace
and stability in our country. We
and to assure them of our
commitment, focus and
determination towards bringing
an end to the insurgency and
other crimes and criminality
in Borno State.”
The training school is located
25 kilometres from Gwoza
town. It is a border town
between Borno and Madagali
LGA of Adamawa State.
ISWAP Releases
Video of its Men
Ransacking Army
Institute
Meanwhile, ISWAP yesterday
released a video of its fighters
attacking Tukur Yusufu Buratai
Institute for War and Peace
(TBI), in Biu Local Government
Area of Borno State.
The army institute is located
in the hometown of the
immediate past Chief of Army
Staff and current Nigerian
Ambassador to the Republic
of Benin, Tukur Buratai.
In the video, the insurgents
were seen firing in different
directions, with no resistance
from troops. They pulled down
flags on the campus and
torched some military vehicles.
A security source said:
“Most residents have fled
to Moringa, another town
in Biu. The ISWAP came in
large numbers shooting RPGs
and anti-aircraft guns."
Reacting to the attack,
the management of Army
University in Biu confirmed
preparations for the 2023
general elections and zoning.
"Arising therefrom, the
meeting resolved as follows:
That the extant Constitution
and Structure of Nigeria are
grossly flawed and lopsided.
Accordingly, Forum restates its
demand for the fundamental
restructuring of the country by
enacting a new Constitution
that would enthrone equity,
fairness and justice. It must
be One Nation, One System.
"Cites that the northern
part of the country would
have fully enjoyed the office
of the presidency of the country
for the full statutory period
of 8 years by 2023, hence, the
presidency should rotate to the
South.
"That any political party that
are grateful that they agreed to
come.”
He joined them in praying that
God gives guidance and strength
to leaders to be accountable and
do right in all the things that
they do.
Earlier in his speech, Ganduje,
while introducing the Khalifa and
his delegation, which included
the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu
Ado Bayero and Sheikh Dahiru
Usman Bauchi, the leader of the
Tijjaniyya Islamic Movement in
Nigeria, said the government of
Kano State invited the Tijjaniyya
World Leader to the country
to lead the faithful in prayer,
considering the complexities
around security in particular.
According to him, the visit
of the Grand Khalifa had also
rekindled the old ties between the
Tijjaniya and the many cultural
and educational institutions in
Nigeria.
Also speaking, the Tijjaniyya
leader in the country, Sheikh
Dahiru Bauchi and the Grand
Khalifa, Tidjani Ali Bin Arabi
that two civilians lost their
lives but that normalcy had
since returned.
The statement read: “The
terrorists who came in
their numbers were met by
superior firepower forcing
them to retreat in disarray.
Unfortunately, two civilian
staff of the Institute paid the
supreme price.
“Management wishes to
commend troops for their
gallantry during the attack and
to commiserate with families
of the fallen staff.
Continued on page 38
IRABOR: MILITARY REMAINS LOYAL TO DEMOCRATIC RULE
in doubt any longer that the
current military leadership,
and of course, since the
democratisation in 1999, that
the military is well-focused on
performing its constitutional
roles.”
The CDS admitted that
some Nigerians might still be
struggling with the experience
of military involvement in
politics in the past.
Irabor’s declaration is
coming amid recent military
coups in West African countries
such as Mali and Guinea; as
well as North-Eastern African
country of Sudan.
Speaking on the significance
of the Armed Forces
Remembrance Day, Irabor
stressed the need to educate
the coming generation about
does not zone its presidential
ticket to the South should not
expect support from the four
regions.
“Therefore, unequivocally,
and in full resolve, call on all
political parties in the country
to zone their presidential tickets
to the South.
“Notes that the basis of any
viable democracy, especially in
a diverse and complex country
as Nigeria, is fair and even
sharing of power.”
The Forum also condemned
“the senseless killings of
innocent citizens across the
country by terrorists and
criminals, especially in the
North-west zone” and called
on the government and security
agencies to redouble efforts to
safeguard the lives and property
extolled the existing cordial
relations between Nigeria and
Algeria and prayed for guidance
and blessings for the country
and its leaders.
Why Kano State
Invited Arabi
Commenting on the reason the
Kano State Government invited
the Grand Khalifa, Ganduje said
it was aimed at developing a
good relationship between
Algeria and the city of Kano.
He said: "It is a kind of
rekindling of the relationship
because Kano is an old
civilization, with so many
Ulama (Ismamic scholars) from
Algeria hundreds of years ago,
who came to Kano to assist the
development of Sharia leadership
in Kano State.
"So, the invitation to the
world leader of Tijanniyya
Islamic Movement is a welcome
development for the people of
Kano State and for the people
of Nigeria. We invited him and
his team to pray for Nigeria for
peace, stability and prosperity,
and also to pray for peace and
stability of Kano State and the
whole of Nigeria.
"We are all aware of the
security challenges we're having
at the federal government and
state governments levels; we are
all doing our best. But praise
to Allah subhana wa taala. He
will also assist because Allah
requested us to request from him,
and he can grant us our request.
So, as you can see, he was in
Kano for four days. We were
together until Friday prayers.
In the Emir's Palace, he offered
prayers and we had a grand
occasion at Sani Abacha Stadium
attended by many Ulama from
the nation’s history.
“Going forward, I people who are not personnel
believe that some of these
misperceptions that some
Nigerians have had with
respect to military engagement
will begin to change.
“I am sure you also know
that issues that have to do
with civic responsibilities still
require a little push; I am sure
you know that literacy level in
the nation still requires a little
push; and so when you bring
these factors among several
other things, you know that
quite a lot of work needs to
be done,” he said.
Speaking on the crackdown
on the use of military gear
by civilians, the CDS stated
that the present security
situation “does not allow
of Nigerians.
SMBLF cautioned the
National Assembly to only
give consideration to Bills
that would promote equity,
justice, peace and national
cohesion, “instead of issues
that will exacerbate conflicts
and crises in the country.”
It urged governors and
members of the National
Assembly from the four regions
to commit themselves to the
subject of restructuring and
reaffirmed its commitment to
the unity of Nigeria, “situated
on the tenets of equity, fairness,
justice, and the principle of
federalism."
The meeting was held under
the chairmanship of its leader
and elder statesman, Chief Dr.
E. K. Clark.
all over Africa, from Nigeria,
and from 44 local governments.
"Lectures were delivered
for peace and stability of this
country and also, prayers were
offered. Also, we decided to
use the Tijanniyya Islamic
Movement as a tool for building
relationships. We organised a
lecture with Bayero University,
where we examined the history,
the origin and the spread of the
movement in Africa.
"Also in Kano State, we
constituted a committee with
his team in order to look into
issues of education, commerce,
and agriculture. So, we have
developed a very well-
coordinated synergy in order
to improve the quality of life
of the people of Kano State.
And by extension, we offered
national prayers for peace and
stability of this country.
"To round it off, we decided
to have a courtesy call with Mr.
President, where they prayed for
him, where they indicated the
importance of the relationship
between Algeria and Nigeria,
and where they indicated their
continued cooperation in prayers
for peace and stability of Nigeria.
That is what brought us to the
villa."
Ganduje: Kano Has
the Highest Number
of Almajiri
Ganduje also stated yesterday
that his state has the highest
number of Almajiri children
among the Northern states in
the country.
He, however, stressed that
most of the Almajiri, who are
in millions, were not citizens of
Kano State but from other states
and neighbouring countries like
the use of military gear by
of the Defence Headquarters
(DHQ).”
He said: “The criminals
among us have had to take
advantage of the military,
police, and other security
agencies’ gear to perpetrate
crime.
“We live in a peculiar society.
I do not need to restate what
the make-up of our society is,
what the level of discipline is
generally.
“And when you compare it
(Nigerian structure) to some
places where a few individuals
believe that whatever practice
goes on in those societies
should be replicated here, the
other elements of social life
in those societies; they do not
Also in attendance at the
meeting were delegations from
the four regional socio-cultural
organisations - Afenifere for the
South-west; Ohanaeze Ndigbo
for the South-east; Pan Niger
Delta Forum (PANDEF) for the
South-south; and the Middle
Belt Forum (MBF) for the
Middle Belt.
The delegations were led by
Chief Ayo Adebanjo, leader of
Afenifere; Professor George
Obiozor, President-General
of Ohanaeze Ndigbo; Dr.
Pogu Bitrus, President of
the Middle Belt Forum and
Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien,
National Chairman of Pan
Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF.
The meeting was also
attended by former governors,
ministers, federal and state
5
Niger and Mali.
The governor, who spoke
with newsmen at the State
House, Abuja after meeting with
President Buhari, said necessary
steps were being taken by the
state’s government to resolve
the Almajiri issue.
According to him, the
measures include introduction
of compulsory free education up
to secondary level, reformation
of the Almajiri system of
education in the state and
repatriation of some Almajiris
to neighbouring Cameroun and
Niger Republic.
Ganduje said: "But as you
will know, unless there's a
universal legislation, preventing
the movement of school-aged
children from one state to
another, it is a problem that
will continue to be here for a
long time because Kano is a
commercial nerve centre of the
Northern part of this country
and also a commercial nerve
centre of some West African
countries.
"So, you can imagine people
coming to earn their livelihood.
They usually come with
children, but we have enacted
a law, any parent that does not
put his child into school will be
prosecuted. So, now, we have
established a whole agency that
is now evacuating the Almajiri
to their respective states. And
those who are in Kano enjoy
the free education facilities.
"That is the effort we are
making. But as I told you,
unless there is universal synergy,
especially among the Northern
states’ governors, where there
is legislation preventing the
movement of Almajiri from
one state to another, Kano will
continue to bear this problem."
bring that to bear right here.”
He also assured Nigerians
that the DHQ would continue
to take appropriate actions
to ensure that they don't see
the military in a bad light
when they wear its gear.
“Ordinarily, we will be
glad to see that our symbol
(gears) is being used for good
causes.
“A good number of those
who use them have used
them for ignoble causes and
so, that brings us to a state
where you begin to make
certain assumptions.
“So, it is better for you to
be safe first, then by virtue
of your investigations, you
can exonerate those who are
using them for good causes.
This is where we are.”
legislators, top politicians and
professionals from the Southern
and Middle Belt regions,
including Obong Victor Attah,
former governor of Akwa Ibom;
Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu;
Alaowei Broderick Bozimo;
Senator Femi Okurounmu; Nze
Ozichukwu Chukwu; Simon N.
Okeke; Chief Supo Shonibare;
Akin Fapohunda; Amb. Okey
Emuchay; Senator Bassey Ewa
Henshaw; Prof. G. G. Darah;
Solomon Asemota; Dr. Alex
Ogbonna; Mr. Mac Emakpore;
Chief Douyi Douglas-Naingba;
Mrs. Nella Andem-Rabana;
Prof. Mrs. Chinwe Obaji;
Maj. Gen. Henry Ayoola
(Rtd); Engr. Ben Akaakar;
Dr. Ebun Sonaiya; Comrade
Jare Ajayi and Ken Robinson,
among others.
6 THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾
JANUARY 15, 2022
NEWS
Group Faults Gov Yahaya’s Silence on Killings in Southern Gombe
Deji Elumoye and Udora Orizu
in Abuja
The Southern and Middle
Belt Alliance (SaMBA) has
condemned the killing of 13
people in some communities
in Tal, Banganje and Kalmai
Districts in Billiri Local Govern-
ment Area of Gombe State by
suspected herdsmen.
The group in a statement is-
sued yesterday by its Spokesman,
Rwang Pam, berated the state
Governor, Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya,
saying his silence was a sign of
nonchalance and disdain towards
the loss of innocent lives of those
he swore to protect.
According to the group, the
failure of security agencies to
arrest the perpetrators of these
Obi Cubana Has Case to
Answer, Says NDLEA Source
Michael Olugbode in Abuja
Popular socialite, Obi Iyiegbu,
a.k.a Obi Cubana is in trouble
as the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)
has commenced investigation
into his links with drug money.
Though the NDLEA has
refused to officially comment on
the case against Iyiegbu who has
Cubana club in five locations -
Imo, Lagos, Rivers, Enugu and
Abuja, it was gathered from a
source from the anti-narcotics
agency that the socialite has a
case to answer and is still not
yet off the hook.
The source who preferred
anonymity, said: “Definitely
we have a case against Obi
Cubana but we are still laying
the background for the case to
know what next step to adopt.”
He added that: “The initial
invitation was a step towards
especially the case against him.
Terrorists Demand N57m Ransom for Niger
LGA Chairman’s Family Members, Others
Laleye Dipo in Minna
Terrorists who kidnapped 13
family members of the Chairman
of Shiroro Local Government
Area of Niger state, Alhaji Sulai-
man Chikuba, have demanded
for N57m ransom in addition
to two motorcycles before the
abductees will be released.
The chairman’s relations
including his elder brother were
kidnapped along with 37 others
at Chibani Village in Shiroro lo-
cal government on the 27th of
November last year.
Chukuba, who confirmed the
latest development to journalists in
Minna, the state capital, yesterday,
said the terrorists called on phone
and asked him to take the ransom
to a particular spot in Gwagwada
town of Kaduna State.
The council chairman said he
has become more apprehensive
about the safety of the victims
because of the recent activities
of the gunmen which has led to
scores of people being massacred.
“I am really worried about their
safety because they (gunmen) are
already accusing me of sending
local vigilantes to kill them. They
killings is a clear sign of the
governor’s nonchalance.
SaMBA therefore appealed
to the conscience of members
of the security agencies to fish
out these killer-herdsmen in
Southern Gombe.
The statement read in part:
“Our attention has been drawn
to the killings in Southern Gombe
by suspected Fulani herdsmen
these past three weeks and
the deafening silence from
the Executive Governor of
the state, Inuwa Yahaya. As
the governor is aware, these
attacks occurred just one week
after an Intelligence Report by
the Nigerian Security and Civil
Defence (NSDC) was leaked to
the public, that Fulani herdsmen
had a secret meeting within
We are hoping to invite him again
and his release should be soon
as no proof that he may be left
off the hook.”
Iyiegbu, who is the Chairman,
Cubana group of companies,
was initially invited to the
headquarters of NDLEA in Abuja
for questioning on Thursday and
after spending about five hours
during which he was interrogated
he was allowed to leave without
any charges levelled.
It was learnt that the case
against Iyiegbu was over some
suspicious payments allegedly
made into Cubana’s account by
three convicted drug dealers from
Malaysia, Nigeria and India.
The investigation against
Iyiegbu may not be by the
NDLEA alone but made in
collaboration with the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commis-
sion (EFCC) as it has to do with
“illicit” financial transactions,
according to the source.
insisted that I must pay N57 mil-
lion and two motorcycles before
they will release my people.
“I spoke to them on Thursday
and they told me that I should
bring the money to them in the
next one week. They even told me
to bring the money and the two
motorcycles to them at Gwagwada
in Chukun Local Government
Area of Kaduna State,” he added.
He pointed out that raising the
money to secure the release of
the people is a serious concern to
him, adding that: “Where will I
get the money from, I am really
confused, I don’t know what
to do, the unfortunate thing is
that the gunmen are not ready
to listen to anybody.”
Shiroro local government has
become the epicenter of terrorists
attacks the most recent being the
massacre of scores of people in
Nakurna and Wurukuhi villages.
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello
in a statement condemned the
latest onslaught on communities
in the local government area
and called for total war to be
mounted against the gunmen
“now that they have been termed
terrorists.”
09157401421 (sms only) Email charles.ajunwa@thisdaylive.com
Yamaltu terrain in Yamaltu
-Deba Local Area and shared
kola nut among themselves in
preparation for the attack on the
aforementioned locations in Billiri
Local Government Area. Follow-
ing this leak, Samuel Wabulari,
the Gombe State Commandant
of the Nigeria Security and Civil
Defence Corps, quickly denied
the viral memo which suggested
that Fulani herders had prepared
to launch an attack on Billiri Local
Government Area.
“It is of grave concern that few
days after that memo was leaked
to the public, attacks were carried
out in Tal, Banganje and Kalmai
DIPLOMATIC ENGAGEMENT …
President Muhammadu Buhari (r) receives the out-going Ambassador of Burkina Faso to Nigeria, H.E Mr. Piabie Firmin Gregoire N’DO,
during a farewell audience at the State House Abuja...yesterday
Don Advocates Review of Entrepreneurship Teaching in Schools
James Sowole in Abeokuta
To achieve the desired objec-
tives, a Professor of Sociology
of Education at the Olabisi
Onabanjo University (OOU),
Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Taiwo
Edun, has advocated review of
teaching of entrepreneurship at
all levels of education in the
country.
The review, according to the
don, should be done to focus
more on self-discovery by the
students to enable their talents
match opportunities they will
catch on in the environment.
Edun made the call while
delivering the 101 Inaugural
Lecture of the institution entitled
‘Rethinking Education for Gain-
ful Employment in Nigeria: A
Sociological Imagination’.
The don said the current
Nigeria Baptist Convention: N250m Paid to Secure Release of Abducted Bethel School Students
Segun Awofadeji in Gombe
The Nigeria Baptist Conven-
tion (NBC) has disclosed that it
spent N250 million to secure the
release of its students kidnapped
from the Bethel Baptist College,
Kaduna last year.
The disclosure was made by
the President of Nigeria Baptist
Convention, Rev. Dr. Israel Akanji
while speaking exclusively to
select journalists in Gombe
yesterday during the 2022
International General Workers
Conference for the North-east
News Editor Charles Ajunwa
Districts, Billiri LGA, Southern
Gombe State by suspected Fulani
herdsmen. Based on reports
received so far, the names of
the 13 people killed in Billiri
communities are Paul Ambore,
Titus Marwa (Kolokkwannin Vil-
lage); Nitte Kada, Zayo (Ayaba
Village); Ibrahim Alhamis, Nitte
Buba (Poshulte Village); Silas
Shirwa (Pokuli Village); Nadab
Na’aman (Prison Service officer
on Christmas break, Popandi vil-
lage); Biryam Jeji, Buba Akadaya,
Jacob Piyau Kwakbente, RSM
Jonathan Dale (rtd) (Kalmai
District) and Samaila Daulu
Banganje District. Those injured
approach to teaching of entre-
preneurship emphasises the
cognitive domain to the detriment
of the affective psychomotor
domains.
He noted that the current
approach entails that students
are introduced to the concepts
and principles and are only
expected to regurgitate them
in the examination.
According to him, most of
the teachers, who take these
students, too, have never been
entrepreneurs themselves.
He lamented that the current
situation promotes teaching of
entrepreneurship as a separate
subject to the extent that students
don’t see a link between their
academic specialisation and
entrepreneurship.
He said,” In order to close
the gap between the labour
held at the First Baptist Church,
Gombe.
The Convention President also
scored the fight against insecurity
by the President Muhammadu
Buhari-led administration as below
par considering the number
of innocent lives of Nigerians
that have been lost through
various acts of banditry and
insurgency.
According to him, “Initially
we didn’t want to spend money,
we didn’t believe in spending
any money, that was how we
began. I even said this openly that
were Salom Gideon, Samkong
Samuel Bataliya, Julius Samuel,
Paris Bitrus, Baba Lamido
Kwarau, and Richard Iliya.
“Against this backdrop SaMBA
is gravely concerned regarding
the silence, the inaction and
nonchalance of the Executive
Governor of Gombe State to
the killings going on in Billiri
Local Government Area. The
governor should be called to
order; his attitude is not in
sync with conduct expected
of anyone occupying the
highest office of Gombe
State. There is no doubt that
the governor has failed in his
market and tertiary institutions,
I advocated the team-teaching
approach in the handling of
entrepreneurship such that
practicing entrepreneurs will be
invited to handle the practical
aspects and serve as role models
to the students.
“A form of internship should
also be incorporated into the
entrepreneurship curriculum
so that the students can be
immersed into the process
within business firms.
“There should also be
two legs to the teaching of
entrepreneurship. The first
leg should be the general
introduction to the concepts,
principles and skills while
the second leg should be
specific to the disciplines of
the individual students.
“Employability should be
we will not spend money but I
am also saying it openly now that
we have had to spend money, we
were forced to spend money.”
Akanji added that, “when our
children spent one month and
did not come and these bandits
were telling us that they will start
killing our children one by one,
then we had to weigh between
our money being in our pockets
and our children dying or our
children being released to us
and we losing our money so,
preferred to lose the money since
the government will not help
constitutional duties to protect
innocent lives and properties
of the Gombe people. He is
making the situation worse
by failing to condole with
the family of the victims and
people of Gombe State, the least
expected of the occupier of the
highest office in the State. The
governor’s omission is an act
of negligence and dereliction
of duty. The Inuwa Yahaya-led
government must perform its
primary duty of protecting the
lives and properties of the people
of Gombe. He must also provide
immediate relief to the affected
communities.”
conceptualised and promoted
in its sense as transversing the
employees, self-employer and
employee continuum and should
be given pride of place in the
new curriculum.”
The don said the government
should endeavour to make avail-
able the critical infrastructure,
rejig fiscal and monetary policies
and steadily improve the ease
of doing business to enable
entrepreneurship to thrive.
He added that the social
investment schemes of the
government should be expanded
and graduated through proper
funding and transparent manage-
ment to guarantee livelihood for
the majority of unemployed
youths until such a time that the
economy will open up enough
to provide them with gainful
employment.
us we had to resort to self-help,
that was what happened and we
had to spend so much money.”
While speaking on the issue of
insecurity in Nigeria, the Conven-
tion President said that, “there is
no doubt in our minds, there is
no one that can convince many
of us that this administration has
done enough on security. We are
not saying that they have not
done nothing, they have been
saying that they are doing their
best but we are saying that their
best is below the belt, far below
our expectations.”
SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2022 • T H I S D AY 7
8 THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾
JANUARY 15, 2022
NEWS
Be Wary of Your Movements, UNIJOS Warns Students
Seriki Adinoyi in Jos
Following the murder of Jennifer
Anthony, a 300 level student of
University of Jos by suspected
ritual killer, the authorities of
the university have issued a stern
warning to students to always
be wary of their movements and
conscious of their whereabouts as
they resume for the 2020/2021
academic session.
The university has also
commended the Plateau State
Command of the Nigerian
Police Force for collaborating with
their counterparts in Benue Sate
to apprehend the main suspect
reported to be the mastermind
behind the murder of Jennifer.
In a statement signed by the
Deputy Registrar, Information,
Mr. Abdullahi Abdullahi, the
Management of the university
urged the police to do everything
in their power to unravel the
exact circumstances that led to
FG Has No Right to Regulate Freedom
of Opinion, Says House Minority Caucus
Udora Orizu in Abuja
The Minority Caucus in the
House of Representatives has
described the declaration by
the All Progressives Congress
(APC)-led federal government of
having lifted its unconstitutional
ban on use of Twitter in Nigeria
as further demonstration of its
appetite to suppress constitution-
ally guaranteed rights of citizens.
The caucus in a statement by
its Leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu,
said that freedom of speech and
opinion by Nigerians, including
expressing such through social
media tools like Twitter, are
clearly guaranteed in the 1999
Constitution (as amended) and
cannot be subjected to partisan
approval or regulation under a
democratic rule.
The lawmakers said the APC
government should rather be
apologising to Nigerians for
infringing on their rights as well
as for the huge economic losses
recorded as a result of the ban.
Katsina to Fund Security
Committees to Tackle Terrorism
Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Katsina State government
has said it has concluded plans
to fund the newly established
three-tier security committees to
efficiently and effectively tackle
activities of terrorists in the state.
The state deputy governor,
Mannir Yakubu, who disclosed
this at a one-day security seminar
held at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua
University, Katsina, said funding
the security committees would
avert the security challenges.
Governor Aminu Bello
Masari had inaugurated the
three-tier security structures
across the 34 local government
areas of the state in accordance
with the provision of the State
Local Government (Amend-
ment) Law, 2020 and reviewed
in 2021.
The seminar was organised by
the office of the Special Adviser to
Governor Aminu Bello Masari on
Security Matters, Ibrahim Katsina,
with the theme: ‘Strategic Engage-
ment with Relevant Stakeholders
Towards Enhancing Campus
Safety and Security in Katsina’.
the demise of the student, assuring
that it will cooperate with the police
towards providing any information
that may be useful in prosecuting
the perpetrator of the act.
The statement added that the
Management of the university
had earlier expressed deep shock
over the gruesome murder of
the student, who until her
demise hailed from Kafanchan
in Kaduna State, and was a
300 level student of the Visual
Handicaps Section of the Depart-
ment of Special Education and
Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty
of Education of the university.
“Following news of the grue-
some incidence being widely
reported on the social media,
the university Management
had immediately directed the
Dean of Students Affairs, Dean
of the Faculty of Education,
the Head of the Department
of Special Education and
Rehabilitation Sciences and
The Caucus insists that instead
of seeking to suppress free speech,
the APC government should be
open to the views of Nigerians
and make adjustments for the
good of the nation.
The caucus said, “That is
why at the wake of the ban on
the use of Twitter in Nigeria in
June 2021, the Minority Caucus
in the House of Representatives
forcefully condemned the decision
as provocative, obnoxious and
unjustifiable clampdown on the
rights of Nigerians which also
showed the APC government’s
intolerance and aversion to the
views, opinions and aspirations
of Nigerian citizens, especially
the youths, on matters of state.
“It was also in the light of that
that the Minority Caucus in the
National Assembly stood by the
law and charged Nigerians to
continue using Twitter irrespective
of the unconstitutional ban, since
they would not be contravening
any known law in Nigeria or any
international statutes.”
Yakubu said: “The state lo-
cal government law has been
amended to provide the three-tier
security committees and we are
going to ensure that we fund these
security committees this year to
effectively do their work and
reduce crimes.”
He, however, identified drug
abuse as the bane of insecurity
afflicting the state and the country
in general, saying the root cause
of most crimes in the country
originated from the menace.
According to him, “The root of
most of these crimes is the issue of
drug abuse. So, we must revolve
ways of dealing with drug abuse
not only on our campuses but in
the larger society.”
He reiterated that the seminar
was an opportunity to engage
critical stakeholders, students,
academic and non-academic staff
of tertiary institutions on how to
develop and resolve strategies to
ensure security within the state
institutions.
Katsina said security personnel
in the state were inadequate to
properly checkmate security
challenges.
the Chief Security Officer to
confirm the deceased’s status as
a student of the university given
that students of the university had
been on their sessional holidays
since November 2021.
“On confirming her status
as a bona fide student of the
university with Matriculation
Number UJ/2018/ED/2248, the
ECONOMY ON THEIR MINDS . . .
L-R: President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, when the latter
led Sokoto State delegation on a visit to the Bank to discuss partnership issues on economic transformation of Sokoto State in AfDB
headquarters in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire …yesterday
Bayelsa Most Affected By Climate Change Due to Environmental Degradation, Says Diri
Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator
Douye Diri, has said the state was
one of the most affected by climate
change in Nigeria due to the
high degree of carbon emissions
and environmental degradation.
Governor Diri stated this in
his office in Government House,
Yenagoa, when a consultancy firm,
Ecologistics Integrated Services,
presented a report on the state’s
participation at the 26th session of
the Conference of Parties (COP26)
at Glasgow, Scotland.
He said the world was transiting
from oil to cleaner energy, and
that all concerned should be part
Bagudu: Buhari Warned APC Govs Not to Take Peoples’ Confidence for Granted
Ismail Adebayo in Birnin
kebbi
Kebbi State Governor,
Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, yes-
terday revealed how President
Muhammadu Buhari warned
elected governors under the
platform of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) not to take the
confidence reposed in them by
the electorate in their respective
states for granted.
The Chairman of the Pro-
gressives Governors Forum,
who disclosed this while
speaking at a programme
Ondo Records 32 Cases of Lassa Fever, 2 Deaths
Fidelis David in Akure
Ondo State Government
has said over 32 cases of Lassa
Fever and two deaths have been
recorded in the state within the
university Management made
efforts to reach out to her family
to commiserate with them over
the unfortunate incidence.”
The university delegation was
led by the Dean, Student Affairs
represented by the Deputy Dean,
Dr Augustine Sambo Azi and
Chief Security Officer, Lt. Col.
Godfrey Chembap (Rtd), and
of the process so that the state
would not be left behind.
The governor also called on
environmental activists to partner
with government to attract the
needed resources for development
of the state.
In a statement by his Chief
Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah,
the governor explained that
Bayelsa participated at COP26
as one of the most affected
states by climate change and
the conference provided an
opportunity to take its challenges
to the global platform.
The governor noted that the
state was blessed with abundant
resources that needed to be
organised by youth and
women wing of the APC
North-west zone to celebrate
youth and women inclusion
in governance in Kebbi State,
said the President told the
governors to prove and ensure
that the confidence of people
in them are not in vain in their
states.
“For this, our administration
has decided to support the
youth and women by giving
hopes and opportunities to
them,” Bagudu said.
The governor said the Presi-
dent has demonstrated through
last one week.
The Special Adviser to the
state governor on Health,
Prof. Francis Faduyile, who
disclosed this in Akure said,
on the new wave of COVID-19
Course Coordinator of the Visual
Handicaps Section, Mrs. Doris
Gomos who represented the
Head of Department, Special
Education and Rehabilitation
Sciences.
“They conveyed the heartfelt
condolences of the Vice-Chancel-
lor, Professor Tanko Ishaya and
the entire university community
harnessed through partnership
and collaborations.
He thanked the consultants for
making a comprehensive report
on the state’s participation at
the conference, adding that the
government would work with
them to explore other areas to
improve its economy.
He said: “Bayelsa State is one
of the most affected by climate
change in Nigeria. Bayelsa is at
the epicenter in terms of climate
change. Our people and environ-
ment have been affected.
“Recently, we had one of the
worst oil spills in the world in
Nembe community.
That explains what people are
those he has appointed that
“we should not only bring
the young people into power
but show them how they can
bring the needed desire change
to the states and country as
a whole.”
He added that based on the
President’s warning and advice
his administration has brought
in courageous, ambitious and
talented women and youth in
kebbi into politics and power.
The governor cited the likes
of Abubakar Malami the Min-
ister of Justice and Attorney
General of the Federation and
infection in the state, there has
been increasing cases of the
deadly virus with 343 active
cases, but with low fatality.
While noting that one
death has been recorded in
to the father of the deceased, Mr.
Anthony Ruga. While praying for
the peaceful repose of the soul of
the deceased, they told the family
that the university community is
grieving with them and assured
of the university Management’s
readiness to provide them the
necessary support wherever
possible,” the statement added.
suffering in the state. For us, that
was an opportunity to take our
issues to the world.
“Let me use this opportunity to
call on our environmental activists
to be part of this process and
ensure that we are not left out
in this transition we are about to
experience. Particularly those of
us from this state, oil is about
to finish and we are transiting
to cleaner energy.
“Join hands with the state
government and see what
Bayelsa will make out of this
transition in terms of partner-
ship, technical know-how and
attracting the finances out there
for our state.”
Bawa, the EFCC chairman as
instance of youth brought to
power to take the rightful
place in the transformation
and development of Nigeria
and that of Kebbi State.
He said that “There are
consequences in making bad
appointments. Therefore, we
made sure the right people are
in governance in Kebbi State.”
Bagudu explained that when
the right young people are
invested in more entrepreneurs
who will create money and
wealth more than government
will be created.
Okitipupa, Faduyile said
government has embarked
on contacts tracing even as it
is doing everything possible
to contain the spread of the
virus in the state.
SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2022 • T H I S D AY 9
10 SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2022 • T H I S D AY
SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2022 • T H I S D AY 11
12 JANUARY 15, 2022 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

COMMENTARY

CARING FOR THE UNWANTED

Rajendra Aneja writes about the compassionate work of Mother Teresa’s missionaries of charity

I
n the midst of lush green and exotic gardens of Chandi-
garh, India, there is a brick coloured, single-storey Home.
Enter the premises. Meet Smitha five months old,
wrapped in beautiful lemon-yellow shawl. Her eyes gaze
at you with wonder. Someday, Smitha will grow up, go to
school. If she is bright, she may also go to college. If she is
lucky, she could get married. Otherwise, she will stay in this
Home, to help another Rita or Sunita grow up. But, Smitha
will never know who her parents are. They abandoned her
at the doors of this Home on a dark, cold winter morning.
Now, Smitha has a life to live.
In another room meet Roshan, a mentally retarded and
physically handicapped boy. Though four-years-old, he
cannot perform any normal human function. He remains in
his bed all day. He has to be bathed, fed, his clothes have
to be changed and his toilet has to be administered. Other
inmates help him in these basic tasks. Roshan will grow
older, but he will always be in bed. He too, does not know
who his parents are. They abandoned him at the door-steps
of this house when he was just eight months old.
Meet Chanderpal. He is 58 and is suffering from Tuber-
culosis. He was an earning member of his family. When
Tuberculosis took hold of him and he could earn no more,
his wife and children disowned him. Chanderpal occupies
a bed in this house. A doctor comes to treat him. He lies in
his bed in a room. Chanderpal is waiting for his death. He is
grateful that he can receive it with dignity when it comes.
Smitha, Roshan and Chanderpal are among the 150
persons, who lived in this Home in 1986, when I visited
it a few times. This Home that provides shelter, has an
unassuming board, which reads “Shanti Dan” Missionaries
of Charity. Home for Sick and Dying Destitute, Crippled
Abandoned Children.” The Mission was founded by Mother
Teresa, honored as a Saint and a Noble prize winner. It is at
this Home, that I met Mother Teresa in 1986.
The Sisters of the Mission, administer to the needs of the
150 inmates. There are many pretty babies below the age
of 12 months. They lie in neat white cradles, covered by
spotlessly clean woolen shawls, their heads resting on soft
pillows. They hold out their tiny hands for affection. These
babies were all abandoned at the door-steps of this house.
Some were sent by hospitals, when their mothers did not
want to take them home.
There are also about 100 mentally retarded and handi-
capped children between the ages two to 15. Some of them
cannot even move a limb. When you enter their room, they
struggle to raise their thin, bony arms in greeting. Some
of them stutter and cannot even utter a word. Many older
people come to the house on their own to die quietly and
with dignity.
The Indian Government had withdrawn the permission,
for Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, to receive
donations from abroad from 25 December 2021. Fortunately,
the permission was re-granted again on 8 January 2022. I
FOR THE SISTERS WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES TO
THE CAUSE OF THE REJECTED AND THE DESTITUTE,
WORKING IN THE HOME IS A SAGA OF SACRIFICE AND
LOVE. THEIR ONLY REWARD IS A SMILE ON THE FACE
OF A BABY OR A SIGN OF LIFE IN THE NUMB LIMB OF
A HANDICAPPED CHILD OR AN ARTICULATE WORD
FROM THE MOUTH OF A STAMMERING CHILD
have had the opportunities to see the humanitarian work of
this organisation in some far-flung countries.
In Sao Paulo, (Brazil), Mother’s Home was located in a
large slum, managed by 10 Sisters, mainly from Europe,
when I visited it in 1997. The Sisters cared for 600-700
unwanted babies, deformed children and sick, terminally
old men, women. Though some of the rich people of Sao
Paulo offered to help to relocate the Home to more elegant
surroundings, the Sisters opted to stay put in the slum,
because they asserted, that is where their work was.
Even in affluent Sao Paulo, Mother’s Home was protecting
and caring for the unwanted, particularly the old and sick
parents. When Mother Theresa passed away in 1997, all the
inmates gathered to offer prayers for her, which I attended.
In Dar es Salaam, (Tanzania), the Sisters had cared for
unwanted babies for decades when I paid some visits there,
between 1999 and 2002. Many of the orphans were teenagers
and helping the Sisters to manage the Home. There was
a clinically clean room, with pretty cradles for abandoned
babies. There were clean beds and playgrounds for about
100 orphans, aged between three and seven years. They
would all break into a joyful dance at the commencement of
African folk music.
There was heartening support for the Mission from all
communities. A company took its staff and their families on
Sundays, to spend it with the children and the sick. Another
business installed an air-conditioner in the room, in which
new-born babies were kept, since the temperatures soared
during the summers. Another company installed a music
system, so that children could dance. There was a tiny,
simple chapel, where the troubled could seek solace.
In Abidjan, (Cote D’Ivoire), the Home was an oasis of
peace, in a country rent asunder with a civil war, when I
was based there in 2003. Despite the protracted curfews,
the Sisters of Charity served the sick, elderly and orphans
relentlessly.
All these Homes, amongst the 760 in 139 countries, were
managed by dedicated Sisters, from across the world, who
receive no salary. They manage with just two to three
(sarees) dresses per year and eat a simple meal with the
inmates. The astonishing commitment of Mother Teresa and
her Sisters, is an inspiration.
For the Sisters who have given their lives to the cause
of the rejected and the destitute, working in the Home is a
saga of sacrifice and love. Their only reward is a smile on
the face of a baby or a sign of life in the numb limb of a
handicapped child or an articulate word from the mouth of
a stammering child. They serve the needy, irrespective of
religion or nationality. Mother Teresa and her Missionaries
have transformed a desert of pain, into a garden of love.
Aneja was Managing Director of Unilever Tanzania. He
is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and the author
of books entitled, “Rural Marketing across Countries and
“Business Express”. He is a Management Consultant

A FRENZY ABOUT EDUCATION

Gov Inuwa Yahaya has done remarkably well in education, writes Yakubu Bayambe

T
hroughout human history, the concept of
development - whether social, economic
or infrastructural - has been a subject of
intense debate and interest, especially in our
clime. Since the return of Nigeria to democracy in
1999, the country has witnessed several attempts by
successive administrations aimed at short, medium
and long term social, economic and infrastructural
development. But whether these efforts towards
repositioning the country for optimal performance,
and more importantly to the benefit of Nigerians is
anything to write home is entirely a topic for another
day. However the overwhelming election of Muham-
madu Inuwa Yahaya as Governor of Gombe State
in 2019 leaves no one in doubt of his capacity to
immediately but effectively turn around the fortunes
of the State for the overall good of all, moreso that
his incredible performance as the Commissioner
of Finance and Economic Development during the
then administration of Danjuma Goje further gives
credence to his administrative acumen and leader-
ship sagacity.
At the onset of his administration, the policy
concepts and direction of Governor Yahaya were
clear, realistic and multi-disciplinary; given the
wide range of consultations through committees
made up of seasoned technocrats to discern on
what must constitute the immediate and long
term developmental needs of the people.
To begin with, the Governor, through the
submissions made by the various committees set
up by him declared a state of emergency on the
ailing education sector considered to be the life
wire of any meaningful human progress. Irked
by the sorry state of the sector on assumption of
office, Governor Yahaya had while addressing
an enlarged stakeholders meeting to articulate
his sweeping reforms on education made the
following remarks: “When we came into office
on May 29, 2019, I made it categorically clear
that the present state of the Education sector in
Gombe State was totally unacceptable. We met an
Education system that was ravaged by inadequate
and decayed infrastructure, large number of out of
school children, absence of instructional materials
and basic facilities as well as a teaching workforce
that was poorly trained and ill- motivated. For
years Gombe State continued to sit at the bottom
of the National Education, ranking like the
National Common Entrance Examination, the
WAEC or NECO. Through concerted effort we
declared a State of Emergency in the education
sector and deployed a multi-disciplinary approach
to deal with our educational challenges. On one
hand we rolled out the Better Education Service
Delivery for All (BESDA) project in order to
mop up out of school children and increase basic
literacy and numeracy on the other hand; we
ramped up investment in school infrastructure by
renovating over 400 schools through the effort of
the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB)
in conjunction with the Universal Basic Educa-
tion Commission (UBEC). Our administration
understands that there will be no improvement
in education outcome without commensurate
improvement in the quality and capacity of our
teaching staff. It is in this regard that we set up
the Teachers Resource Centre at Kwami which is
the first of its kind in the North East sub-region.
The Centre will help in training, retraining and
upgrading the capacity of our Teachers for
effective learning and better service delivery”. The
above remarks by Governor Yahaya summed up
and further reinforced his nine-point campaign
promises for the Education sector which are as
follows: Increase budgetary allocation to the sector
to enhance learning outcome; vigorously imple-
ment the policy of free and compulsory Universal
Basic Education; Pursue a comprehensive teacher
training and retraining programme for effective
service delivery and enhance the welfare of
teachers through prompt payment of salaries and
improve allowances. Others are providing critical
learning facilities and equipment in all Primary
and Secondary schools in the State; strengthening
guidance, counselling and mentoring units in
schools; Improve and ensure regular payment
of students bursary allowances to indigenous
students of tertiary institutions; Significantly
increase funding to the two State Universities and
other State owned tertiary institutions and increase
access and judicious utilisation of educational
funding from federal agencies, international
donors and NGOs.
The mid- term score card of Governor Inuwa
Yahaya reveals that on education his administra-
tion was able to deliver five of his campaign
promises while the remaining four are ongoing,
with appreciable progress. For instance, on
teachers training which is sine qua non to effective
teaching and learning, the administration has
established a state-of-the- art Teacher Resource
Centre in Kwami which is currently providing
regular comprehensive training of teachers across
the State. On free and compulsory education,
the Gombe State Government through BESDA
has since mopped up over 300000 out of school
children and established 676 non-formal girl-child
and Almajiri learning centres. Furthermore, the
government under the leadership of Yahaya
constructed/renovated and fully equipped 584
classrooms in 156 schools across the State. It
equally provided over 30, 000 students with
furniture in various schools and informal learning
centres. The government also drilled boreholes
and built VIP toilets in selected schools across the
11 Local Government Areas of the State; this is in
addition to the systematic renovation and upgrade
of five legacy schools to special schools. Similarly,
in the last few years of the administration of
Governor Yahaya, the Education sector has seen
an increase in budgetary allocation by more
than 50%. This has led to an improved learning
outcome as evidenced in the rapid improvement
in students’ performance especially in the 2020
and 2021 National Examinations. The payment
of bursary to students of Gombe State origin
was another area the Gombe State government
has been given adequate attention. To this day,
the administration of Governor Yahaya has paid
over N119 million in students bursary, and still
counting.
Today the education sector in Gombe State has
substantially been revamped as indicators now
show a considerable increase in school enrollment,
literacy, numeracy and positive learning outcomes.
For the administration of Governor Yahaya, the
mid-term score card is good; the governor has
been able to work the talk.
Bayambe wrote from Gombe
JANUARY 15, 2022 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER 13

INSIGHT

More grease...

Shonekan and a Country in Search of Sages DeepFakes Will Dominate 2023 Elections

I
have to state categorically that many methods will the skin appear too smooth or too wrinkly? Is the

S
ince independence in 1960, many problems
have rocked Nigeria to its foundations
ruining the promise of a country which
was once held the priceless promise of
becoming Africa`s first world superpower. From
the first military coup in 1966 which precipitated
a calamitous and precipitous Civil War in 1967
to subsequent military coups, military regimes of
dubious legacies and Nigeria`s struggle to enshrine
an accountable democracy since 1999, the Giant of
Africa has known rabid and rapid depredations at
the hands of those who would fetter a giant.
If Nigeria`s ship has stuttered in the stormy
waters of local and international affairs, it is
because many times it has been famished for
competent sailors and sages in spite of the
mushrooming elder statesmen many of whom
have become comical fixtures in the Nigerian
theatre of the absurd for the frequency of their
unguarded statements.
After 85 years during which fate briefly but
forcefully fixed him in the eye the Nigerian
storm, Mr. Ernest Shonekan, former head of the
Interim National Government, died in Lagos on
the morning of 11 January 2021.
A man of surging dignity and searing intel-
lect, he it was who was chosen to steady the
ship of the country after the terror- and-graft-
ridden government of Mr. Ibrahim Babangida.
His precarious position was only a few months
old when Mr. Sani Abacha burgled his way into
government via a military coup before proceed-
country well whenever he had the opportunity
to. In this regard, the Nigerian lawyer and the
Agbese of Egbaland was invaluable. His exit at
a time when Nigeria stands in critical need of
leadership is a lamentable loss which already
reverberates across the length and breadth of the
country. He will be sorely missed.
A country in dire need of good leaders will
forlornly look at the vacuum created by Mr.
Shonekan`s exit and find and feel only nostalgia
especially as it appears Nigeria`s leadership
crisis is worsening by the day. The Giant of
Africa is being led by the nose by gnats and
goblins who only want to reap from where
they did not sow. Thus, where there should be
granite decisiveness, there is dereliction. Where
there should be rectitude, the stench of rot raps
the air.
With the country retreating everyday into
the teeth of terror and the 2023 elections
drawing ever closer, Nigeria needs men like
Mr. Shonekan who always had the presence of
mind to see the trees for the wood.
He will be dearly missed. Decidedly, the
shoes he has left behind already terrify the
many charlatans who occupy Nigeria`s halls of
power.
Kene Obiezu, keneobiezu@gmail.com
be used to lie and deceive people in 2023 general
elections. Among these methods used will be the
power of computation that deepfakes afford anyone
with the skill and design prowess.
Deepfakes are the most prominent form of what’s
being called “synthetic media”: images, sound and
video that appear to have been created through tradi-
tional means but that have, in fact, been constructed
by complex software. Deepfakes have been around
for years and, even though their most common use
to date has been transplanting the heads of celebrities
onto the bodies of actors in pornographic videos,
they have the potential to create convincing footage
of any person doing anything, anywhere. What this
means is that I can create a video of you telling a lie
and put your face on it and share it on social media.
This is a disastrous thing, as it would accelerate
falsehoods in the political space. I must confess all
parties will use methods like this to spread division.
How to spot a deepfake. It has to be said that
there is no hard and fast rule to spot a deep fake,
and that is why you should rely more on traditional
news sources for your news and also compare them
across media before you make up your decision.
There are some ways like:
pay attention to the face. High-end Deepfake
manipulations are almost always facial transforma-
tions.
Pay attention to the cheeks and forehead. Does
agedness of the skin similar to the agedness of the
hair and eyes? Deepfakes are often incongruent on
some dimensions.
Pay attention to the eyes and eyebrows. Do
shadows appear in places that you would expect?
Deepfakes often fail to fully represent the natural
physics of a scene.
Pay attention to the glasses. Is there any glare?
Is there too much glare? Does the angle of the
glare change when the person moves? Once again,
Deepfakes often fail to fully represent the natural
physics of lighting.
Pay attention to the facial hair or lack thereof.
Does this facial hair look real? Deepfakes might add
or remove a mustache, sideburns, or beard. But,
Deepfakes often fail to make facial hair transforma-
tions fully natural.
Pay attention to facial moles. Does the mole look
real?
Pay attention to blinking. Does the person blink
enough or too much?
Pay attention to the size and color of the lips. Does
the size and color match the rest of the person’s
face? Despite all of this, I must confirm that people
will still fall for deep fakes, but most importantly we
must be careful and support healthy conversations.
Rufai Oseni, rufaioseni@gmail.com
No Bias in My Biases

ing to bundle billions of Nigeria`s money into
the Swiss banking system while dipping his iron
fist in the blood of his opponents.
With the pages of Nigerian history rapidly
turning on those days when the Giant of Africa
was forced to cower at the feet of military men
whose plunder of the public purse knew no
parameters, Mr. Ernest Shonekan`s place is
fastened to these pages by the proud pegs of
prudence.
Despite being booted out of office and
brushed aside in brusque manner, Mr. Shonekan
did not take the backstage of Nigeria`s national
affairs with the kind of vindictive and vitu-
perative bitterness that marks the vile venue of
vultures many former Nigerian leaders enlist in
once they leave office. Instead, with the defiant
dignity of a man who had danced vigorously
when the flutes of history beckoned and the
serenity of a conscience that had done nothing
unconscionable, Mr. Shonekan was content to
weigh in with his wise counsel and wish the
T H E SAT U R DAY N E W S PA P E R
EDITOR YEMI ADEBOWALE
DEPUTY EDITOR AHAMEFULA OGBU
MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO
DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU
CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI
EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN
MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI
THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE
T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA
GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE,
ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI
DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS SHAKA MOMODU, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE
DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI
SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PATRICK EIMIUHI
CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI
DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO
TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com
I
have just found out about a new feature in
Microsoft Word, although only in some versions,
the “Inclusiveness” checker which looks for bias
in relation to age, culture, gender and race, etc. I
agree that they should all be excluded but it seems
over the top. I checked the latest Community
Gardens newsletter that I edit and there were 12
suggestions, some degendering comments about
some members but it also said that “Pot” is profane
in some cases. Our use of Pot is only in reference to
vegetables and our rules actually exclude growing
pot. I thought we were just a group of mostly
retired gardeners but suddenly we are much more
interesting.
Maybe it’s time for us to take personal
responsibility for what we write and say rather
than passing it over to computers to check. I didn’t
expect the uprising of the robots and computers
to involve Grammar checking although maybe it
might make Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator
easier to understand.
Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia
14
NEWS
IG Decorates Newly Promoted Guy Ikokwu, Second Republic
DIGs, AIGs, CPs with New Ranks Politician,
Olusegun Samuel inYenagoa behalf of Chief Ugonna Ogonna
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
The Inspector-General of
Police, Mr. Usman Baba,
yesterday decorated 25 newly
promoted senior police o΀cers
with their new ranks in Abuja.
The IG also decorated a
couple, Mr. Kehinde Longe
and his wife, Yetunde Longe,
with the rank of Commissioner
of Police.
The couple were among those
promoted by the Police Service
Commission recently along
with 15 other commissioners
of police.
Reading their citations,
RECOGNITION FOR EXCELLENCE…
British gospel artiste of Nigerian descent, Muyiwa Olarewaju (r) being decorated by The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, with the Officer of the
Order of the British Empire (OBE) award in the UK….Wednesday
FCT Police Command Arrests Suspected
Robbery Kingpin over Alleged Rape
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
The Federal Capital Territory
Police Command yesterday
arrested a suspected robbery
kingpin, Patrick Odey, over the
alleged raping of a 21-year-old
salesgirl.
The victim, an employee of a
relaxation spot. She was said to
have started work at a garden in
Orozo in the Angwansarki area
FG Inaugurates ICT Centre in Ilesa, Kwara Gov Swears-in
Announces N100m Technology Fund New Cabinet Members
Michael Olugbode in Abuja
The federal government yes-
terday said it would continue to
equip students and citizens with
Information Communications
Technology (ICT) skills such as
machine learning and artificial
intelligence and facilitate ICT
adoption in teaching and learning
in order to prepare them for the
future that will be strictly driven
by technology.
The pledge was made at the
inauguration of the Digital Nigeria
Centre (DNC) by the Minister of
Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola
in Ilesa, Osun State.
The minister also announced
the establishment of President
Muhammadu Buhari N100
million Technology Fund for
Empowerment to create world
Dies at 85
the Force Public Relations
2΀cer, Mr. Frank Mba, said
the husband and wife were
course mates and joined the
Nigeria Police the same day.
The o΀cers were decorated
with their new ranks amidst
cheers from their spouses, loved
ones and well-wishers.
The senior o΀cers included
Deputy Inspector-General of
Police in charge of Operations,
Mr. Zaki Ahmed and the DIG in
charge of Research and Planning
at the Force Headquarters, Mr.
Johnson Babatunde Kokumo.
Also decorated were six
Assistant Inspectors-General
of Abuja where she also lives in
one of the apartments.
The suspect, Odey, was said
to have forcefully entered the
victim·s apartment and raped
her at gunpoint from 1a.m. to
4a.m., and later took her to his
house where he continued.
A resident, who gave his name
as Obare, said the suspect was
arrested and a pistol found in
one of his cooking pots when
class technology experts, targeting
2,000 youths in the next two years
in Ijesaland who will be provided
with devices for training in different
areas such as software development
and design, amongst others.
The minister, who represented
President Buhari at the event which
held at Ijesa Muslim Grammar
School, Ilesa, said: “I am aware that
the programme was conceptualised
to promote the availability and
utilisation of ICT and resources of
the Internet in teaching and learning
in public schools in underserved,
unserved and rural areas. In other
words, this Digital Nigeria Centre
has been designed to promote the
connection of public secondary
schools to broadband internet in
Ilesa community, and the goal is
to equip beneficiaries with 21st
Century skills.”
of Police (AIGs) who were
elevated from their previous
rank of Commissioner of Police.
They include AIG Buba
Sanusi (former CP Katsina),
AIG Mohammed Ndatsu
Aliyu (former CP Anti-Fraud,
FCID), AIG Bello Sani Dalijan
(former CP INEC), AIG Yahaya
Sahabo Abubakar (former CP
Yobe), AIG Akingbola Olatunji,
(former CP Benue), and AIG
Hakeem Odumosu, (former
CP Lagos).
The 17 commissioners of
police who were elevated from
their previous rank of Deputy
Commissioners of Police include
the police searched the house.
He said Odey was the leader
of a cult, which had terrorised
the community in the last three
years.
“The suspect has been arrested.
He was sleeping when the police
came this morning. :hen his
house was searched, the police
saw a pistol with live ammunition
inside one of his cooking pots.
“He is one of the people that
Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
Kwara State Governor, Alhaji
AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq,
has inaugurated Àve new
cabinet members, charging
them to key into the rebuilding
eͿorts of the administration.
The new cabinet members
inaugurated yesterday are:
Abdulmaliq Bashir Mopelola
Risikatullah (:omen AͿairs) Remilekun Banigbe now heads
George Olabode Towoju (Com-
munications) Ibrahim Akaje
(Housing) and Adamu Jamila
Bake (Youth).
Barrister Sambo Murtala,
recently announced the Special
Adviser on Legal Matters, was
also sworn-in.
In a statement issued in
Ilorin signed by the governor·s
Chief Press Secretary, Mr.
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER JANUARY 15, 2022
CP Josephine Nneka Anyasinti,
CP Haruna Gabriel Garba, CP
Tajudeen Akinwale Abass and
the couple, CP Patrick Kehinde
Longe and CP Yetunde Longe.
The highlight of the brief
ceremony was the presentation
of an award to AIG Hakeem
Odumosu as the best Commis-
sioner of Police for the year
2021 by the President, Police
O΀cers· :ives Association
(PO:A), Hajiya Hajjara Usman
Alkali Baba for his commitment
towards women empowerment,
social development, eͿective
crime Àghting and quality
service delivery.
usually terrorise the community.
He is the leader of a cult in the
area called the Hardcore,” he said.
He said the suspect lived close
to the bar she recently joined as
a salesgirl.
The victim told the police that
the suspect came to her apart-
ment around 1a.m. He forcefully
opened the door of her room,
pointed a gun at her and asked
her to cooperate.
RaÀu Ajakaye stated that the
governor also moved three
existing cabinet members to
other ministries - a step he
said was meant to improve
service delivery to the people
of the state.
He said “the rejig saw
Olaitan Abosede Buraimoh
moving from Communica-
tions to Environment, while
the newly created Budget and
Planning.
“Formerly of Youth De-
velopment, Adenike Harriet
Oshatimehin goes to the newly
created Solid Minerals which
evolved from the defunct
bulky Ministry of Enterprise.
Deborah Aremu stays in the
now standalone Ministry of
Social Development.
Chief Guy Ikokwu, a Second
Republic politician, has died at
the age of 85.
The late Ikokwu was Chair-
man of the Nigerian Peoples
Party, (NPP) in the Second
Republic in old Anambra State,
and was the pioneer chairman
of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) in the state.
His demise was announced
yesterday in a statement issued
by the head of the Ikokwu family,
Chief Ugonna Ikokwu.
The statement said, “On
Obi Condoles with Makinde
over Akala’s Death
The former governor of
Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi,
has expressed his sympathies to
the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi
Makinde and to the people of Oyo
State, over the death of former
governor Otunba Christopher
Alao-Akala.
Obi encouraged Makinde, the
good people of Oyo and the entire
Alao-Akala family to accept his
death as the will of the Almighty.
PDP Sets Up Ward Congress Committee
for Ekiti Governorship Election
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The National :orking Com-
mittee (N:C) of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) has
approved the nomination of
the following party members to
serve on the :ard Congresses
Electoral Committee for the
Ekiti State governorship election.
The committee is mandated
to conduct party Congresses
in the state for the purpose
of electing three Ad-hoc :ard
Delegates.
According to a statement
Wike Demands Redeployment of DPO, NSCDC
Officer Fingered in Illegal Refinery Activities
Blessing Ibunge in Port
Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Mr.
Nyesom :ike, has urged the
State Police Commissioner, Eboka
Friday, to redeploy out of the
state a particular Divisional Police
O΀cer (DPO) in Emohua Local
Government Area of the state
who he alleged operates an illegal
reÀnery in the area.
This is as the Chairman, House
of Representatives Committee on
Host Communities, Dumnamene
Dekor, has commended Governor
:ike for his proactive measures
in tackling the activities of illegal
reÀning of crude oil products
popularly called ¶Kpo-Àre· in
the state.
Governor :ike made the
demand yesterday, at a meet-
ing with the local government
council chairmen and heads of
the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air
force, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian
Police, the Department of State
Services and the Nigeria Security
and Civil Defence Corps at Gov-
ernment House, Port Harcourt.
The governor frowned at
security agencies for the role
Ikokwu, head of Ikokwu Family
of Oba, I announce the transition
to glory of Chief Omenife Guy
Ike Ikokwu former President of
Otu Oka-Iwu, on :ednesday
12th of January 2022. He was
85 years old.
“He is survived by four
children and grandchildren,
seven siblings and numerous
cousins, nephews and nieces.
“Further announcements will
be made by the family. Mean-
while we ask for your continued
prayers for the repose of the soul
of Omenife in paradise.”
He prayed to God to grant eternal
rest to the deceased.
“On behalf of my family, I
commiserate with Governor
Seyi Makinde, the good people
of Oyo State and the entire Alao-
Akala family, over the death of
Otunba Christopher Alao-Akala.
May God who called him home
grant him eternal rest and give all
who mourn him, the fortitude to
bear the loss,” Obi said.
by the National Organising
Secretary, Bature Umaru, the
composition of the committee
has the governor of Akwa Ibom
State, Chief Udom Emmanuel,
who will serve as chairman.
Other members of the
committee are Hon. Michael
Mku, Mrs. Modinat Abosede
Adedibu, Zanna G. Mustapha,
while Kola Ologbondiyan, will
serve as member and secretary.
The party said that the exer-
cise is scheduled for Saturday,
January 15, 2022 in all the 177
:ards of the state.
some of their personnel have
played in aiding and providing
cover to the operators of the
illegal reÀneries in the state.
He said: “It·s unfortunate
for this country how security
people will be involved in illegal
bunkering. I can·t believe it. Mr.
CP, I thank you for transferring
the DPO in Rumuji, who owns
a reÀnery. But the man must
leave here, not transferred. He
must leave this state. I can·t be
governor here and security man
owns an illegal reÀnery. No, it
is not possible…the man has to
go. Take him to wherever they
allow bunkering.”
He directed the CP to imme-
diately arrest Chief :. J. :ocha,
Fubara Ohaka, and Chief Promise
Ezekwe, who have been Àngered
for operating illegal reÀneries
deep inside the forest of Ibaa
community in Emohua Local
Government Area.
The governor further urged
the Commandant of the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps,
Rivers State command, to im-
mediately transfer its personnel in
charge of vandalism of pipelines
in the state.
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾
JANUARY 15, 2022
08054699539
Barefaced Zulum Does Not Love Borno People
T
he biggest drawback to the war
against Boko Haram, ISWAP and
other terrorists has been the unend-
ing lies by politicians and military
commanders. That has always been
my position. Endless killings by
the terrorists in the last seven years have
proved me right. The politicians and the
military tell lies about virtually everything
in this war – military’s capacity, number
of terrorists killed, areas controlled by the
terrorists and the rest. This is why Borno and
other troubled states remain prostrate. The
languid governor of Borno State, Babagana
Zulum is in the forefront of this deceit. He
does it with so much impunity. Zulum’s
latest ruse is that “there is reasonable peace”
in Borno State and that the IDPs should
return home. What nonsense!
But early this week, the Borno State
Governor slipped and his brain experienced
a bit of rearrangement. He suddenly realised
that Boko Haram is in control of Abadam
and Guzamala local government areas of
the state. Zulum consciously stated this open
secret when the Chairman, Senate Committee
on Army, Ali Ndume led other senators and
military officers from the army headquarters
to his office in Maiduguri.
Zulum declared: “Presently, Guzamala
and Abadam local government areas are still
under the control of Boko Haram…Govern-
ment and people of Borno State, especially
those from southern and northern parts of
the state, are worried over the increasing
number of ISWAP groups who have been
terrorising their communities.
“Just a few days ago, I received a
security report that in some communities
in Mandaragirau axis, in Biu LGA, that
over 500 Boko Haram/ISWAP fighters were
converging with over 300 motorcycles and
even celebrating parties, marriages without
confrontation. ISWAP is more equipped,
sophisticated, intelligent and dangerous as
they grow from strength to strength. ISWAP is
collecting taxes along major roads in Damboa
and other axes in southern Borno. It is very
unfortunate.”
The lethargic Zulum has just realised that
Boko Haram and ISWAP control territories
and collect taxes in many communities in
Borno State. He has just realised that ISWAP
is more equipped, sophisticated, intelligent
and dangerous. These unending deceits by
politicians and the leadership of the military
have been sustaining terrorism. Zulum’s brain
is indeed experiencing some resetting and
it is good news for the traumatised people
of Borno State.
By now, Zulum’s pay masters in Abuja
must be jeering him for saying less than 10
per cent of the visible truth. The truth that
must be told is that about half of Borno State
is a no go area. The terrorists are roaming
unchecked and control these areas. Let’s hope
this brain righting will encourage Zulum
to face President Muhammadu Buhari and
Umahi Terrorising Opponents with Ebubeagu
One opposition voice you can’t miss in
Ebonyi State is that of the Peoples Democratic
Party’s Publicity Secretary, Chika Nwoba. He
takes on and punches holes in the rambling
administration of Governor Dave Umahi,
with facts and figures. The badly shaken
Umahi decided to send Ebubeagu, his security
outfit, after Nwoba. He was arrested on
the Abakaliki-Enugu highway last week,
thoroughly beaten and handed over to the
police “for circulating fake news in the social
media.” When did it become the job of
Ebubeagu to arrest people “circulating fake
news?” What a country!
The Ebonyi State Police Command
is also cooperating with Umahi on the
persecution of Nwoba. This innocent man,
who has been in police detention since last
Sunday, was taken to a Magistrate Court,
Abakaliki by the police last Wednesday to
face charges of “circulating fake news in the
social media.” The hapless PDP spokesman
Zulum
tell him to his face that Boko Haram and
ISWAP control Nigerian territories in Borno
State and collect taxes in many communities
in the state.
Zulum enjoys grandstanding and cares
less about his devastated people. This is
why he has been forcing IDPs out of their
encampments in Maiduguri. He wants them
returned home and into the claws of Boko
Haram. Zulum had dubiously claimed that
reasonable peace had returned to all parts of
Borno State. This is terrible. Most of those
he paid meagre resettlement allowances
and pushed out of some IDP camps are
still very much in Maiduguri town. They
have nowhere to go. It was obviously a
premature move. Most of the towns and
villages outside Maiduguri are still not safe
as confirmed by Zulum himself this week.
ISWAP Fighters have repeatedly attacked
Malam Fatori, the headquarters of Abadam
LG, killing many. This is the same Malam
Fatori that Zulum is planning to return 50,000
households who fled from Abadam and took
refuge in Bosso, Niger Republic. The story
of peace here is subterfuge. Zulum should
allow the return to Mallam Fatori happen
naturally. The people would know when
their communities are safe.
Most of the terror attacks in Borno are
under-reported. This is why Zulum goes
about talking bosh. A good example is
the attack last Monday at Tukur Yusufu
Buratai Institute for War and Peace (TBI),
a research Institute of the Nigerian Army
University, located in Buratai Village, Biu
LG. The terrorists came in loads with RPGs
and anti-aircraft guns. Buratai residents were
forced to flee to Moringa, another town in
Biu. The military claimed two civilians were
slumped while entering the courtroom, forcing
the police to rush him to hospital. He was
returned to the court a few hours after. But
the Magistrate refused to hear the matter,
and instead ordered Nwoba be taken to the
police clinic in Abakaliki for proper treatment.
This is Umahi pummeling citizen Nwoba
for being critical of his government. The
Nigerian human rights community must
rise in defence of Nwoba. Enough of this
oppression by Umahi.
It is this same tyrannical Umahi that
wants to be the President of Nigeria. What
will happen if he gets federal power? Your
guess is as good as mine. The good news
is that incompetent Umahi does not stand
the slightest chance of becoming Nigeria’s
President. He is just one of the jesters in
the race. That was why he said he was
not in contest with anybody but himself
for the Presidency.
killed during the attack. This is not looking
like the true story.
Just last Thursday, Boko Haram confi-
dently attacked the Police Mobile Training
School in limankara, Gwoza LG. We were
told they were repelled. None of the attackers
was apprehended.
Yet, Zulum is continuing with his murder-
ous operation “evict all IDPs from Maiduguri.”
Amnesty International is opposed to plans
to close these camps, saying it would expose
thousands of households to danger, but this
governor has refused to budge.
Based on 38 interviews with former
IDP returnees and individuals currently
living in camps within Maiduguri, Amnesty
said the survivors expressed fear for their
lives “as they are being forced to leave
the camps at short notice and many are
coerced to remain in resettled areas despite
escalating attacks.”
Even the pathetic story of Yagana Yerima,
a 30-year old mother at Teachers Village
IDP camp, did not touch Zulum’s heart
before the camp was forcefully dismantled.
Yerima said she did not have anywhere to
go even if given the N50,000 resettlement
aid, as her village is yet to be rebuilt and
her husband is still nowhere to be found
seven years after he was arrested and
detained by the military in connection
with Boko Haram.
She adds on December 17 last year: “I
was arrested along with my husband by
the military and taken to Giwa barracks
from Pulka in Gwoza LGA some seven
years ago. When I was released, I didn’t
have anywhere to go. As a result, I went
to the IDP camp. I have been living in the
camp without any means of livelihood
or source of income. I survive by the
handouts given by humanitarian agencies.
Now the Government is saying we should
leave the camp to our villages but our
house has not been rebuilt and there is
no security in our village.”
It should also be noted that before
Zulum became governor, in a number
of communities in Borno State where
IDPs were earlier resettled, they had to
scamper to Maiduguri when they came
under Boko Haram’s attacks. Schools,
homes and clinics built for them were
destroyed by the terrorists. The story the
government told them then was that the
communities were now safe. It turned out
to be a scam.
Besides the issue of security, the homes
and businesses of IDPs have been destroyed
by the terrorists and they will require basic
infrastructure if they are to be returned
home today. Things are evidently not in
place for these people to restart their lives.
The miserable money being paid to them
won’t get them anywhere.
The IDPs will naturally leave Maiduguri
and return to their homes if genuine peace
returns to the troubled communities. Even a
Umahi
15
blind man would know when Boko Haram
and ISWAP are genuinely eliminated. This
is the task that must be done; not forcing
IDPs out of Maiduguri into the claws of
terrorists. Zulum must be stopped from
continuing with his hazardous action.
For me, Zulum has always been a
muddled governor and I have no apologies
for this. I remember one television interview
with him in July last year, during which
he also refused to be truthful about the
plight of his people. Zulum was economical
with the truth throughout the interview.
On the one hand, he admitted that a large
number of his people could not go to their
farms because of raging insecurity, stating:
“The Nigerian military should create the
enabling environment for farmers to go to
their farmlands so that they can cultivate
their lands. It is no longer sustainable for
our internally displaced persons living in
IDP camps and host communities to receive
food and non-food items from donor partners.
People must earn their livelihood if we want
this insurgency to come to an end.”
On the other hand, during the interview,
Zulum said peace was gradually returning to
the North-East after over 11 years of Boko
Haram. Which peace is this governor talking
about? If peace is gradually returning,
close to a million people will still not be
living in IDP camps in the state.
During the same interview, Zulum
lamented: “The Nigerian Army does not
have the lethal weapons, fighter helicopter
and numerical strength to fight aggressors.
The Nigerian Army of the last 30 years
or of the last 40 years is better than the
Nigerian Army of today. It is sad, it is
very sad. We are supposed to have gone
far in terms of development but if you
look at it, the equipment we have in the
last 40 years are still in existence.”
So, how did this poorly-equipped
Army dismantle Boko Haram as earlier
claimed by Zulum? That this governor
is muddled is no longer in doubt. He
is clearly not in love with his people.
The people of Borno State are in a “one
chance” bus.
Killings in Shiroro
Shiroro Local Government Area is one
of the strongholds of terrorists in Niger
State. Here, daily, they kill and injure scores
of hapless Nigerians, unhindered. This has
been the situation in the last two years.
As usual, the terrorist struck in Nakundna
and Wurukuchi communities in Shiroro
LGA last Monday, killing many farmers.
They were harvesting crops when the
murderers struck.
Instead of going after the killers, the
Niger State Police Command was busy
analysing the number of people killed and
trying to bring down the figures. “Only 13
people were killed by the terrorists and not
37,” Niger State’s Police Public Relations
Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, told a puzzled
country, as if he was talking about lives
of animals. This is the extent security in
Nigeria has degenerated in the last seven
years of the Buhari government.
The Governor Abubakar Sani Bello,
has been a big disappointment in secur-
ing Niger State. This governor saying
“the desperate terrorists that carried
out the Shiroro attacks will be fished
out” is annoying. How many of such
terrorists has he apprehended in all
his years as the state’s Chief Security
Officer?
The governor added, “desperation
has been noticed amongst the terrorists
as a result of the onslaught by security
agents which has made them to target
unsuspecting rural inhabitants.” Haba
governor Sani Bello! Which onslaught are
you talking about? Enough of your lies.
Terrorists are roaming unimpeded in at
least eight local governments in Niger State.
16 SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2022 • T H I S D AY
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER JANUARY 15, 2022
Ferdinand Ekechukwu 08035011394
Email: ferdi_adthisday@yahoo.com
Burna Boy
Video of ‘Ballon D’Or’ out
Ferdinand Ekechukwu
I
t was an epic experience for Lagosians
at “Burna Boy: The Live Experience
Concert” held in Lagos, December 27
last year, as the ‘Ye’ crooner showed
up in grand style for his fans. After
performing on several stages across
the world including selling out the famous O2
Arena, the ‘Odogwu’ came to Lagos to give his
fans a well-deserved treat a couple of days
back.
He took to the stage to perform some of his
major hits back to back as well as his much-
loved tracks from his popular Twice as Tall
album . Opening his show, Burna Boy hit it off
with his ‘Wetin dey Sup’ single which had fans
screaming the lyrics in excitement.
Next was the beloved ‘Location’ by Dave
How Kaffy Walked out of Marriage
Ferdinand Ekechukwu
D
ateline: June 2, 2012 at 10am.
Venue: Ikoyi Registry, Lagos.
Couple: Kafayat Shafau
(Kaffy) and Joseph Ameh. Sol-
emn Declaration: For better
for worse till death do us part.
And so the union was formally instituted in
the presence of family members, friends and
industry colleagues. 8-9 years down the line,
all doesn’t seem as it was. No more feelings.
Their aspiration wasn’t their expectation,
or rather, their expectation wasn’t their
aspiration.
The option left is to manage but for how
long? It’s not just working and may not work
anymore, Kaffy concludes. She says it was
chemistry but not all chemistry is meant for
registry. She then likened the institution of
marriage to bagging a Ph.D, noting that it
required hard work (By the way, she got an
honorary doctorate degree). The popular
dance instructor and fitness coach would
then state that marriage “is not the way many
people view it”…
She avowed that the wrong perception of
people about marriage can be fixed if people
can change their mindset. At this point she
got Nigerians, especially her fans and fol-
lowers thinking and talking on social media.
What’s happening they asked? When did she
turn therapist? She had earlier in a post she
made within a month interval about marriage
and what people expect from it advised men
and women to wisely chose who to love and
submit to.
Reliving Burna
Boy’s Live
Experience
Concert
featuring Burna, then ‘Deja Vu’, as well as the
hit single, Ja ara’ e. Riling up the energy in
the building, Burna Boy dropped songs from
his African Giant Album including Anybody,
Another story, Wonderful, Dangote, Secret
featuring Serani and Jeremiah, Gbona and
Spiritual.
A few exciting surprises showed up on
stage to perform with the Grammy-winning
superstar, one of which was Mozambique’s
Yaba Buluku boys. This trio raised the roof,
complementing Burna’s energy while per-
forming their very own Yaba Buluku Remix.
Another exciting surprise performance
with Burna was BlackSherif performing the
Second Sermon Remix.
Throwing it way back to the golden
oldies, the crowd went wild when Burna Boy
performed Like to Party and Soke. Other
She then concludes that women have
been conditioned to live a life that needs a
man to validate their existence, stating that
it’s contrary to their purpose. The mother
of two had also stated that men are busy
searching for what is not right in the lives of
the women they meet. In all of her talk about
marriage within that period six months back,
the award-winning dancer wasn’t ready
to disclose that she and her partner has
estranged. She was still musing.
There has been speculation that the love-
birds have been separated since 2020. But
the fear of the pandemic was more favoured
than the fallout of their union. Ameh, the
music director and former drummer for
Nigerian duo P-Square isn’t the loquacious
type and doesn’t appear so. Kaffy is the one
that is often seen and heard. She also dances
for Psquare from way back. In fact, at the
Psquare ‘Reactivated’ concert in December,
Kaffy was on fire!
That ‘touching body thing’ in their dance
moves may have long discomforted Ameh.
Who knows but he doesn’t talk… Kaffy was
thrust into the limelight in 2006 when she led
her dance group to break the Guinness Book
of Record for “Longest Dance Party” after
they danced for 55 hours and 40 minutes. Six
years after, she got married to Ameh.
Although the couple is successful in their
own right, Kaffy, had during her Special
Recognition Award at the Headies2018 got
emotional in her acceptance speech that
she called Ameh on stage while dedicating
the award to him that her success has been
possible by the support given to her by her
hubby and family.
singles thrown into the mix include; Way Too
Big, Jerusalema, Onyeka baby, Question,
23, Ballon D’or, Kilometre, Odogwu and On
the Low. The show ended with the number
one track from the 2018 Outside Album,
Ye, which peaked at number 26 and 31 on
Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop and
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts, respectively.
Describing himself as “the lighter way dey
outside” , Burna Boy said that he was just get-
ting used to fans mobbing him in response to
their admiration of him. He however humbly
urged his fans not to jump on stage during the
show as this may startle him.
Respectfully honoring his request, the
show was a smooth ride with Burna’s perfor-
mance perfectly encapsulated in the words E
file fun Burna’, and fans taking to social media
to express their excitement during and after
Until her revelation this week of their
marital issue during one of the episodes of
her podcast, JustKaffy, on Monday night,
Kaffy never realized their destinies weren’t
at par, as she claimed. According to her,
marriage was supposed to be an alignment
of destinies but that was not the case in
her union. Giving snippets of her marital
misfortune, Kaffy explained: “Taking the
chance to break off our marriage was also
to see that we both grow to become what
we are supposed to be.
“Marriage is supposed to be an
alignment of destiny, that’s, for couples
to drive to a place God wants for them.
And mine didn’t work out that way. And
rather than looking at someone as the
problem, sometimes, you could be the
problem of that person. So, you know,
being an enabler of someone not being
able to do what they’re supposed to do
can also be that you’re not supposed to
be in that space.”
As if to justify her reason, Kaffy posted
thus on her Instagram page: “Separa-
tion isn’t the end of life for both parties
involved. In fact if you both are honest
about why you have to go apart, you will real-
l-
ize how much better life can be. Some people le
make it back, some don’t. What is ultimate
is the outcome borne out of love! We live in
a world that has created a cage even as we
were born.
“We only know what we are allowed to
know. It’s fine to know for who you can be, our
ur
creator is limitless and so are we. Discover
you and let that attract who should be in your
space.”
17
SHOWBIZFLAIR
the concert. The Live Experience concert
is part of the lineup of Stacked December
concerts which took place across Lagos in
December.
Meanwhile, Burna Boy has released the
video for his ‘Ballon D’Or’ single. During one of
their performances at the 02 Arena London,
in November last year, he had announced, and
on the spot, dropped this new single, featur-
ing Wizkid. This banging track is inspired by
one of the most prestigious trophies given
to professional soccer players - Ballon D’Or
whose recipient is regarded as the best male
football player in the world.
The masterpiece single is produced by
Nigerian British producer P2j. The music
video, shot in Lagos, shows the chemistry and
fluidity between these two most successful
African artistes, and Grammy award winners.
The video is a beauty to behold. Just in time
for the holidays, this upbeat, feel-good
sound arrives after the Afrofusion musician
announced his history-making debut appear-
ance at Madison Square Garden on April 28,
2022.
That makes him the first Nigerian artiste
to headline a concert at the iconic venue for
his show: ‘One Night In Space’, which follows
Burna Boy’s sold out debut at LA’s ‘The
Hollywood Bowl’, electrifying performances
at 2021 Global Citizen Festival and The
Governor’s Ball, as well as sold out interna-
tional shows at London’s O2 Arena, Paris’
Accor Arena, Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome and
more venues around the globe, as part of his
2021 Space Drift tour.
The video opens with on a boat cruise, sa-
vouring the serenity of the cool atmosphere
at a beach in the company of several ladies.
The visuals for ‘Ballon D’Or’ are phenomenal
yet playful as Burna Boy and Wizkid depict
their dreams in real time, matching a block-
buster sense of confidence and attendant
energy.
Revealing legendary welterweight
champion, Kamaru Usman who makes a
cameo in the video, ‘Ballon D’Or’ brims with
memorable melodies and beats and Burna
Boy’s impressive technique and delivery as
both singers croon about their heroics in the
music industry. Last year saw Burna Boy soar
like an eagle with diverse collaborations such
as “I Feel It (ft. Burna Boy)” with Jon Bellion;
and “Want It All” featuring Polo G.
He also had “Question” ft Don Jazzy, and
Becky G x Burna Boy’s “Rotate,” featured
in Pepsi’s global football campaign “Music
Keeps Us Fizzing.” The African Giant also
allied with Justin Bieber on the 8x Grammy
nominated album ‘Justice’ and with 9x
Grammy Award-nominee Sia for “Hey Boy”.
Kaffy
K ff and
d JJoaseph
h
18
SHOWBIZFLAIR
Globacom’s Giant Strides in Entertainment Industry
Chidiebere Nwobodo
I
n 2003 when Globacom Limited—the
first indigenous mobile telecom company
debuted in Nigeria, many optimists and
ICT enthusiasts saw the birth of a
promising mobile operator, that would
create competition in the telecom sector
and give more Nigerians much-needed
opportunity to own mobile lines. Except the
pathfinder himself—Mike Adenuga, Jr., no one
else envisioned unparalleled positive impact then
nascent telecom operator would have on the
nation’s entertainment industry.
Almost two decades later, Nigeria’s telecom
and entertainment industries have felt way better
as a result of sterling achievements of Glo in
these two strategic sectors of the economy. At
its inception, when the service provider firstly
announced its mission statement: “To be the
largest, most successful entertainment, informa-
tion and telecommunications solutions provider,
in Nigeria and Africa”, some cynics viewed it as
one of the highfalutin propaganda of corporate
organizations.
But after eighteen years of sweeping voyage
nicknamed GSM revolution; having Glo as
the main catalyst and its ripple effects on the
entertainment industry, the grains of optimism
had been conspicuously differentiated from
chaffs of pessimism.The vision of quintessential
entrepreneur—Mike Adenuga, Jr., has not only
demystified ownership of mobile lines but
brought life to the entertainment industry. It
has been a glorious sojourn that has unearthed
avalanche of opportunities in telecommunica-
tions and entertainment sectors, respectively, for
Nigeria and her neighbors.
With Glo in the ring of competition and its
aggressive market strategies, the nation’s
subscribe base skyrocketed from a paltry number
of 400,000 active lines in 2002 to humongous
180 million, as at September, 2021. Out of this
number, Glo has over 50 million subscribers—and
still growing rapidly. Beyond crashing price of SIM
card from N30,000 to N200, Glo’s pioneered Per
Second Billing System(PBS), altered the entire
industry and made subscribers to “Glo with Pride”
with cheaper lines, call and data rates. It is on
record that Glo’s promos are topnotch, customer-
oriented and rewarding.
When Chief Mike Adenuga, Jr., conceived the
idea of giving Nigerians—Africans in general,
cheaper access to mobile telecom services using
Globacom as the vehicle, in his mind; he imagined
more than a mobile telephony entity.The consum-
mate investor saw a telecom company that would
serve as a catalyst to propel massive growth in the
country cum regional entertainment industry. His
ultimate goal was to make Nigeria melting pot of
entertainment in Africa.
He has passionately and assiduously worked
towards actualizing this vision in the last 18
years of Glo’s operations. No company in the
nation’s private sector—in the last two decades,
has consistently invested largely in Nigeria’s
entertainment industry like Globacom Limited.
Adenuga’s vision is reflected in Glo’s youth-
driven ecosystem.There is no strata of Nigeria’s
entertainment industry that you will not find the
Jim Iyke Unveils New Book
Ferdinand Ekechukwu
A
ce Nollywood actor, Jim Iyke
has joined the league of authors
months after his blockbuster
movie, Bad Comments’. His
authorial debut is titled Walking
Through Walls. The book is the
first volume in his new book series, “The Gift
in the Odds”. Jim shared the exciting news with
his followers recently on his Instagram page.
In the post on his page, the ‘One Dollar’ star
wrote: “And unto serious matters, The Gift
In The Odds, my authorial debut launches
February 1st, 20222. Pre order on Amazon
Kindle, Apple Books and Kobo. This book will
change your life.”
The Gift in the Odds comes days after he
revealed that the viral video of him beating his
colleague Uche Maduagwu was staged. Bad
Comments’ ranks among the highest-grossing
Nollywood movies of all time
Adenuga
signature of Glo on it: from music to acting to
comedy to sports, etcetera, the list is long.
Glo has come to be regarded as a network of
stars. No corporate organization has had the kind
of constellation of entertainment heavyweights
as it brand ambassadors as Globacom. All
through the years, the cream of the country’s
musicians, footballers, literary icons, actors,
actresses and comedians have either be signed
on as brand ambassadors or featured in the
company’s commercials.
Some celebrities who have graced Glo’s hall
of fame include: King Sunny Ade, Ebenezer
Obey, Osita Osadebe, Oliver d’ Coque, Prof Wale
Soyinka, Yusuf Maitama Sule, Nelly Uchendu,
Onyeka Onwenu, D’Banj, MI Abaga, PSquare.
Others are Rita Dominic, Ini Edo, Juliet Ibrahim,
Matter Ankomah, Davido, Wizkid, Flavour,
Gordons, Basketmouth, I go Dye,Teniola, Brother
Shaggi, Mikel Obi, Victor Moses, Osaze Odem-
wingie, Joselyn Dumas, Michael Essien, Anthony
Joshua, etcetera.
While the commercials that featured these
stars helped to market Glo brand and make it a
household name, the partnership benefited these
celebrities very well as it served as strategic
public relations for their individual brands and
its attendant financial gains. So far, no corporate
organization has touched the lives of these
celebrities like Glo.The advent of Glo has really
been a blessing to celebrities in the industry and
beyond.The most interesting factor is that Glo
is still in the business of investing in the industry
despite excruciating economic realities in the
Recall that Jim Iyke had said that not
conducting himself well in the past, earned
him bad reputation. “One cannot make a
difference in anything in life if one is not
open to criticism. At first, don’t forget
we were not schooled about what to
expect as regards being famous and
handling fame. We did not understand
what it meant. We did a little bit too much
that earned us bad reputation. I could not
conduct myself with the best decorum in
those days.
“As one gets older, one understands
oneself, one’s pattern, the people around
one and the responsibility that has been
entrusted unto one. It is no small gift to
influence people. One owes the world a
certain responsibility whether one likes it
or not. We refused our responsibility along
the way but once one embraces it, things
would become easy. That is what I do these
days. It is about my businesses, family and
mental health.”
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER JANUARY 15, 2022
country.
One area Glo has done impressively well is in its
sponsorship of talent hunt shows. Nigeria is a res-
ervoir of talents when it comes to entertainment.
Having talent potentials and harnessing them
are totally two different things. Like treasures
buried in the ground, it takes resources and skills
to mine and refine talents. Chief Mike Adenuga,
having successfully excelled in the world of crude
oil explorations via ConOil Producing Limited,
understands nitty-gritty of talents discovery and
spotting hidden treasures, especially as it effects
our youths.
This explains Glo’s humongous investments
in talent hunt shows in the last eighteen years.
Examples: Rock ‘n’ Rule, GloNaiga Sings, Laffta
Fest, and the world number one music singing
talent realityTVshow, X Factor, which birthed
in Africa for the first time in 2013. Others are
Slide and Bounce concert, an entertainment tour
which went round all the geopolitical zones of the
country as well as Glo Mega Music Show; another
platform through which Globacom develops the
music industry and entertains Nigerians.
Youth unemployment is one of the social
malease bedeviling the country. Nigeria is the
most populous black nation on earth. There is
this school of thought that blacks are naturally
endowed when it comes to entertainment, but
because of years of alarming low investment in
this area, talents of our youths are deteriorating
with its corresponding unemployment, poverty
and general despondency in the land.
Nigeria’s unemployment rate is disturbingly
Jim Iyke
put at 33.3 per cent. Amongst these unemployed
statistics are youth whose talents are made to lie
fallow by non-availability of opportunities. Africa
has not really taken investment in music vis-a-vis
entertainment industry seriously. American
economy gains an average of $19billion annually
from revenues generated via its music industry
alone. Its film industry—Hollywood, is estimated
to worth close to $150 billion dollars. The market
size, measured by the revenue, of the Arts,
Entertainment and Recreation industry of the
U.S. is $275 billion in 2021.
How do we expect to solve challenges of inse-
curity and limited economic opportunities when
many of youth are still wallowing in the wilderness
of cluelessness and lack of talent developmental
opportunities. Globacom is redefining standard
and restoring hope to the forgotten youthful
demography. The mobile number operator
recently opened floodgates of opportunities for
the youth in the music industry, especially those
with dancing ability.
Globacom through its sponsorship of the
world’s biggest dance reality TV show, “Battle
of the Year” being hosted in Nigeria, like a skilled
explorer, is set to discover great talents again,
by giving the youth opportunity to showcase
their dancing dexterity to the world. According
to Globacom’s Communications Director, Andre
Beyers who spoke recently at the unveiling
ceremony was quoted as saying:
“In line with our commitment to promoting the
Nigerian entertainment industry and youth talent
development across the country, we are excited
to unleash the unlimited potentials of Nigerian
dancers and provide the platform for them to
show their abilities on the world stage”. He added
that N84 million prize money await the winners
of Glo Battle of the Year and an opportunity for
the winners to represent Nigeria and display their
talents at the global dance competition.
The Battle of the Year competition began in
Hannover, Germany, 20 years ago. It is an annual
international competition widely regarded as the
“World Cup of Breakdancing”. Glo has shown keen
interest in the growth of the nation’s entertain-
ment industry. As part of activities that marked
its 18th Anniversary, it launched a new online
streaming app called GloTV. It is an innovative TV
streaming service on Android, IOS apps and web
for watching live linear TV, video on Demand and
Catch-up with premium content.
Despite its massive investment in the enter-
tainment industry, Globacom’s eagle-eyed vision
of “Building Africa’s biggest and best telecom-
munications network” is still on full course. In
other to keep giving its subscribers value for their
money via improved Quality of Service (QoS)
and to reach Nigerians in far-flung corners of the
country, Glo recently entered into a strategic
partnership with Eutelsat Communications.
This partnership is aimed to deliver high-speed
broadband cum voice services via satellite to
businesses and communities in unconnected and
undeserved areas of the country. In summary,
Globacom is not only building the biggest telecom
company in the continent but energizing the rapid
growth of the nation’s entertainment industry.
I urge other corporate entities to emulate this
paradigm.
Chidiebere Nwobodo writes from Abuja via
chidieberenwobodo@yahoo.com
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER JANUARY 15, 2022 19

SHOWBIZFLAIR
Iseoluwa Abidemi

I Miss My Annual
Concert, I Miss
African Food
Teen gospel artiste, Iseoluwa Abidemi catapulted herself
into limelight following the release of her self-titled single
album, Iseoluwa and her maiden live music concert at 13
in 2017. She is an inspiration to many out there. Iseoluwa,
who recently relocated abroad with her parents and
siblings, tells Ferdinand Ekechukwu about her new
environment, study, her dream and her music career

W
hat’s been happening
to your music?
Well music was
pending because I just
relocated to the UK and
am settling into school,
this is a new environ-
ment. But I have been very active on social media.
How are you settling in, adapting to your new
environment?
I’m settling in fine, with new things to get
adapted to. Like the weather, food, the people but
so far, God has been faithful.
Pretty active on social media you recently
celebrated reaching 300K followers on Insta-
gram. How do you balance academic and music
with your social media engagements? Doesn’t
it affect your study?
Oh yes on that, I woke up one morning asking
my mum what will I do to keep my Instagram busy,
she told me go to God for direction and when you
ask Him he will give you directions. So I started a
Bible Study every Sunday that helped my page.
I’m honestly very grateful for having fans that will
support me and for my social media growing all
the way to 300,000 followers. As for it affecting
my study, the answer is no. Because I’m in college
now I don’t have classes everyday so I use my free
days most times to attend to my social media,
then my mum checks what I post. She also gave
rules and regulations about my social media, which
I try not to break any.That way I’m keeping things
separated.
You turned seventeen a couple of weeks ago,
how do you feel about your new age?
Yes I turned 17 last year December 18th, it feels
good, knowing am growing, with so much responsi-
bility and as the first child, a lot I’d expected of me.
Am grateful to God…
Are any of your siblings into music or doing
stuff related to music as well?
Well everyone has one passion or the other, my
brother is into sport, my other sister seems to be
showing serious interest in fashion and for baby of
the house, her height gave her easy breakthrough
into kids modeling.That is that about my siblings
for now.
Okay let’s talk about your school and study?
School is fine. All I do is study and study.That is
all about school. I recently graduated from High
School and I’m now in college. I’m going to spend
two years in college before I move straight to
University.
Is your dream to study Law still in place?
Oh yes by God’s grace, through Christ who
strengthens me. My dream to study Law and
become a Lawyer is still intact and it will always be.
What do you miss about Nigeria?
I miss my annual concert (Iseoluwa Live in
Concert), I miss some artistes that I am very close
to, I miss African food, yes I eat them here but it is
not like the real deal. I miss my home church. No
place like home. I think the one thing I missed the
most is my grandma’s cooking. . .
Iseoluwa
Is that all you missed?
And maybe a few friends here and there, but I
guess we all grow out of that.
Does it mean your mum’s cooking over there
doesn’t match your grandma’s own?
It does! It does, but you can’t really find the
ingredients that you will find easily in Nigeria. It
definitely does, my mum is the best cook in the
world.
What’s on Iseoluwa’s top list at the moment?
On the list for Iseoluwa is school. Am planning to
hit the studio soon. I just launched an online jewelry
store, called MOONGEM, All jewelry single handed
made by me from top to finish you can find on my
other Instagram page @moongemjewelry. My
jewelries consists all sorts of jewelries to match
people’s original style. Not just something that you
are forced to buy to match what you picked out.
Your style, something you can wear every day; it
consists of colours, consists of gem, consists of
beads, different sorts of jewelries. I also plan to
finish studying the whole Bible this year, by God’s
Grace.
When in Nigeria you probably would have
loved some artiste which you had wished to
meet.Which of them are you looking forward to
meeting soon over there?
I am looking forward to meetingTravis Greene. I
have always been looking forward to meeting him.
Any good artiste not just gospel artiste, it could
be inspirational artiste.They all hit me in different
ways, I mean their songs.
Any words for your fans/followers…
Well it’s your girl Iseoluwa, thank you for believ-
ing in me, despite not been around, I still feel the
love. God bless you all; keep you all in good health.
And yes believe in your dreams, that dreams that
seems impossible, and I pray God will help you
in Jesus name. I want to add that as much as the
Coronavirus is a disadvantage rather than looking
at it from the bad side, you should always look
at it as an opportunity to stay safe, and to move
forward and explore your talent, your potential,
search, find yourself, see what you are capable of.

Femi Adebayo Becomes StarTimes’ Brand Ambassador

N
ollywood actor, Femi Ade-
bayo has been appointed
as a brand ambassador
by digital-TV platform,
StarTimes.
The filmmaker was
unveiled by StarTimes last
Monday.
The endorsement deal reinforces
StarTimes commitment to broader invest-
ment in local content.
Femi Adebayo, who enjoys cult follower-
ship in the movie industry, will be instrumen-
tal in strengthening the bond between the
brand and its customers.
StarTimes opted to identify with the
actor because of his strong connection with
entertainment lovers. StarTimes recently
made a broader commitment to Nollywood
with the production of two-hit series,
Ile-Alayo, and Okirika. Both series gained
massive viewership on StarTimes when
they were released in December. Ile-Alayo
was produced by Femi Adebayo.
Chief Executive Officer, StarTimes, Alex
Jian said Femi Adebayo is an actor
who exhibits all that StarTimes, an
affordable digital-TV platform, stands
for.
“StarTimes made digital-TV
entertainment available to all homes
and has continued to offer unmatched
service delivery to every household,
irrespective of income level.
“Adebayo is greatly loved by
Nollywood fans. We are delighted
to have Femi Adebayo as our brand
ambassador. Over the years, Femi
has continued to add value to our TV
screens. We are delighted with this
partnership. We have decided to work
with the veteran actor who also shares
our core values in terms of dedication,
service, and quality entertainment.”
On his part, Femi Adebayo said,
“StarTimes offers something tasty. It
resonates with the kind of entertain-
ment that Femi Adebayo always
doles out. I am happy to represent the L-R: Alex Jian with Femi Adebayo
StarTimes brand.”
20 SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2022 • T H I S D AY
SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2022 • T H I S D AY 21
22
PERSPECTIVE
Access Bank Vs Late Sunny Odogwu:
Moving against Recalcitrant Debtors
MD, Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe
Oluchi Chibuzor
T
he recalcitrant attitude of debtors
who take depositors funds by
way of loan facilities with no
intention to repay has once again
come into public focus with the
recent dispute between the Estate of the
late Chief Sunny Odogwu, and his related
companies.
While it is not in dispute that a facility
was taken from the bank to finance a hotel
project at 31-35, Ikoyi Crescent, Ikoyi, Lagos,
the said facility is yet to be repaid.
The impression being created by the Estate
of the late Chief Odogwu and his related
companies that they can take depositors
funds to finance projects and rather than
repay such funds, they would make false
claims to the ownership of the assets of
the debtors as inheritance to be shared is
a vivid reminder of the era of failed banks
in the country.
The dubious attempts by the Estate of the
late Sunny Odogwu to rewrite the terms of
the facilities is not only a show of shame
but a clever attempt by the family to inherit
dubious assets gotten from depositors’ funds
which does not form part of the estate and
as such should not be allowed.
It would be recalled that the defunct
Diamond Bank Plc, an iconic bank
comparable to Eastern Nigeria’s African
Continental Bank (ACB) almost went under
due to recalcitrant borrowers and the bank
was rescued by Access Bank Plc.
Unfortunately for the Estate of the late
Sunny Odogwu and his related companies,
the facts of the matter, terms of the loans
and the dispute has been litigated and
pronounced upon by the Federal High
Court and the Odogwu Family had the
opportunity to present their own side
of the story which they did before Hon.
Justice Saliu Saidu of the Lagos Division
of the Federal High Court in suit number:
FHC/L/CS/1633/14, in November 3, 2015.
Delivering judgment in the suit, Hon.
Justice Saidu held that the first to third
defendants were in fundamental breach
of the contract for the financing of the
construction of the Luxury Collection
Hotels and Apartments, having admitted,
“Indebtedness to the plaintiff in the sum of
N10, 252,315,567.28 on the project finance
Late Sunny Odogwu
facility as at December 20, 2011.”
Additionally, the learned trial judge
held that the first to third defendants
have not produced before the court any
evidence that any of the conditions for
the grant of the facility was waived or
demonstrated to the court how they
liquidated their indebtedness.
His words: “With all the facts before
me, I am satisfied that the first to
third defendants who have admitted
indebtedness has not shown how the
indebtedness was liquidated.
Flowing from these grounds, Justice
Saidu made the following consequential
order: “Judgment is entered in the sum of
N26, 229,943,035.22 jointly and severally
against the 1st to 3rd defendants being
the outstanding sum as at September 30,
2014 advanced by the plaintiff for the
1st to 3rd defendants’ project which sum
has remained unpaid despite several
demands.
“That leave is granted to the plaintiff
to foreclose and sell the said property
situated at 31-35 Ikoyi Crescent, Ikoyi,
Lagos and to deposit the proceed of the
sales into the 1st defendant’s account
kept with the plaintiff towards the
partial satisfaction of the judgment
sum against the 1st to 3rd defendants.
The idea or impression
that the beneficiaries
of the estate of the late
Sonny Odogwu can lay
any claim of ownership
to an asset acquired from
depositor’s funds of a
financial institution as
forming part of the estate
when they are aware that
the underling facility has
not been repaid is not only
sad but actionable
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER JANUARY 15, 2022
“That leave is granted the plaintiff
with the supervision of the Court’s
Registrar to sell property situated at
No 31-35 Ikoyi Crescent, Ikoyi, Lagos
being the security for the sum of N26,
229,943,035.22 advanced by the plaintiff
to the 1st to 3rd defendants for the
development of the project called Luxury
Collections Hotels and Apartments, the
repayment of which facility, the 1st
to 3rd defendants have failed, refuse
otherwise neglected to make despite
several demands.”
It was against this background that
the Estate of the Late Odogwu entered
into a settlement agreement in May
2019 on the matter.
The key parts of the settlement include
the following: “The defendants (the
Estate of the late Sunny Odogwu and
his related companies) agreed to sell
a property described therein as the
(Berendo Property”) in Los Angeles
and to pay the sum of $11,111,111.11
within (60) days from the date of the
settlement agreement to the Bank,
failing which, the ownership of the
Berendo property was to be assigned
to the Bank, and the defendants also
agreed with the bank in satisfaction of
the outstanding settlement amount after
receipt of the net proceeds of the sale
from the Berendo property to assign
such additional properties directly to
the bank by way of an agreed asset
swap arrangement subject to the terms
of this settlement agreement.
Also, the defendants agreed to provide
the bank with all the original documents
pertaining to certain properties after the
execution of the settlement agreement
and undertook to execute and provide
all documents required to perfect the
legal interest of the Bank in such
properties and also perfect the asset
swap for the purpose of liquidating
the outstanding settlement amount
with the bank and shall provide such
warranties and representations including
without limitation, clean, undisputable
and unencumbered title with quiet and
peaceful possession. All these shall be
achieved within seven days from the
date on the settlement agreement.
Furthermore, the defendants failed
to facilitate/conclude the sale of
the Berendo property, hence the sum of
$11,111,111.11 has not been received by the
bank in line with the settlement agreement.
Consequently, the defendants have failed
and refused to assign the Berendo property
in Los Angeles to the Bank. Rather, the
defendants compromised the property at
Los Angeles without paying the agreed
sum to the bank.
Furthermore, the defendants refused to
hand over the Dubai property to the bank
in line with the settlement agreement. The
defendants have refused to grant vacant
possession to the properties at Kirikiri as
well as the Dubai property till date in line
with the settlement agreement.
Recalcitrant debtors negatively impact
the critical banking sector and defeat the
essence of granting such facilities to aid
business growth.
Regrettably, the Estate of the late Sunny
Odogwu instead of repaying the facility in
line with the terms of the settlement have
apparently opted for assets stripping and
have failed to comply with the settlement
agreement.
The idea or impression that the
beneficiaries of the estate of the late Sonny
Odogwu can lay any claim of ownership to
an asset acquired from depositor’s funds
of a financial institution as forming part
of the estate when they are aware that the
underling facility has not been repaid is
not only sad but actionable. And this is
exactly what the Failed Bank Act seeks
to prevent.
At the end of the day, depositor’s funds
are savings by hard working Nigerians
who believe in the financial system.
Banks are merely custodian of this funds
and as custodians, when banks grant credit
facilities to customers to finance and fund
assets and projects, such assets do not form
part of the estate of the customers for the
beneficiaries to share and leave luxurious
lifestyles at the expense of the depositors,
until such facilities are fully repaid.
Access Bank Plc has remained resolute in
its determination and in its typical manner
of dealing with chronic and recalcitrant
debtors, has indicated that it will continue
to deploy every legal available resource to
ensure that this debt is fully recovered.
This is why dodgy and chronic debtors
must steer clear of accessing facilities from
Access Bank Plc.
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER JANUARY 15, 2022
INTERVIEW
My Reappointment, a Challenge
to Fulfill Yearnings of Niger Delta
In this interview with THISDAY, The Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland
Dixon Dikio (rtd) speaks on a number of issues including his plans to sustain the peace in the Niger Delta
H
ow did you receive your
reappointment from the
Presidency?
I want to thank God, that
Mr. President found me
worthy to be reappointed but
most importantly, I want to
acknowledge destiny helpers,
who worked behind the scene. I would not forget
to thank the ex-agitators’ community that felt
very strongly about my being reappointed. The
fact that they expressed their concerns through
the media instead of the street protests that
used to be the tool of choice in the immediate
past was heartwarming. The reappointment, to
me is a kind of challenge to fulfill the yearnings
and expectations of primarily, the ex-agitators’
community and the larger Niger Delta region.
The Presidency’s statement concerning your
reappointment reads: “you command a lot
of respect among stakeholders in the Niger
Delta”. How do you want to sustain that?
I have worked and still work very closely with
many key stakeholders in the region. Some have
been working very quietly behind the scene
to advance our vision for the Niger Delta, so
that it could be the safest and the best place
to live and do business in Nigeria. Seeing this
number of people who believe in the paradigm
shift motivates me every day. It is an endless
motivation to do better every day.
What are your plans for ex-agitators in
the New Year?
Principally, we want them to be trained,
employed and mentored but this will start with
about 8,000 delegates who have never been
trained at all. The second group of people will be
those who have been trained but not empowered.
To aid that process, some of the contracts that
were awarded are being reviewed, especially the
ones that have not been executed up to 50%.
We are working with the vendors to ensure
that they adjust their contracts to reflect our
current vision to train, employ and mentor our
delegates. We are ready to partner with anyone
who is ready to align with our vision especially
if they meet our viability criteria.
Ultimately, what we want to achieve is that
these ex-agitators are given the training they
need to either become entrepreneurs or acquire
the qualification they need to compete in the job
market successfully. For the economy at large, we
want to encourage them to think about shared
prosperity. Where there is prosperity or what
is called human security, the urge for violent
agitations will be reduced to the minimum because
their sources of livelihood are protected. That’s
the whole idea.
What were your findings when you first
assumed office?
If I had not been a soldier who had faced
tough challenges in the past, I probably would
have chickened out, because to say the least,
the place was very dysfunctional. I inherited
a debt of N71.4bn and a fractured logistics
process that was evident everywhere; there
were goods lying around in the rain because
they were procured without due needs analysis.
It was very disheartening.
To compound it all, there was dichotomy
between the Reintegration consultants who are
principally the main drivers of the Programme
and the civil servants who are supposed to
support them. This lack of staff harmony is
still evident though to a less degree now. We
are addressing this through a complete top to
bottom reorganization.
There was trust deficit from the ex-agitator
community and the students; often times they
had to block roads for their stipends or In-training
Dikio
If I had not been a soldier who had faced
tough challenges in the past, I probably
would have chickened out, because to say the
least, the place was very dysfunctional. I
inherited a debt of N71.4bn and a fractured
logistics process that was evident every-
where; there were goods lying around in the
rain because they were procured without due
needs analysis. It was very disheartening
allowances to be paid. So, one of the first things
I did was to say: “Hey, this thing is not rocket
science, you know you must pay people every
month, let’s challenge ourselves to a date.” Many
people thought that I was walking on thin ice and
said that payment on the 25th of every month
was not possible. However, by the grace of God
we have been able to do that. Most times, these
payments are made before the 25th of the month.
The Minister of Finance and the Accountant-
General of the Federation have been very sup-
portive in processing our finances and in ensuring
that there are no bottlenecks concerning our
releases. My immediate superior, the National
Security Adviser has gone above and beyond
the call of duty, to enable us to overcome the
challenges I mentioned earlier.
We are also mindful not to bend the structure
so hard so we don’t break it in the course of trying
to fix it. I insist on all concerned to understand
23
that they have a part to play. This is a collective
responsibility because the image of PAP is
not the image of Dikio, but that of everybody
associated with the Programme and peace in
the Niger Delta region.
What has been your experience in the last
one year of touring the Niger Delta?
One of the things that was widely expressed
by delegates and other critical stakeholders,
was that, they had never seen someone in my
position in the Amnesty Office come that close
to the people in the region, and I believe that is
why I have the kind of support I enjoy. People
are hungry to meet with decision makers to
express their views. For example, when we
went to Uyo, many of our delegates came out
of curiosity to find out if I was really on ground.
When they saw me, they said they had a lot of
complaints to make, but because I was there
physically, they would not express those concerns
anymore. Their leader asked if I could go to Oron
to see his jetty and I agreed. On getting to Oron,
even the paramount ruler came out to greet us.
These are the kind of interactions that have
created the connection they had craved for so
long. It’s really the ‘hearts and minds’ approach
that connects us to the stakeholders.
Why is the Amnesty office verifying ex-
agitators?
The question of who is in and who is out is a
moving target. This is because some of these
problems were based on decisions that were
pragmatic at the time of disarmament but have
become problematic over time. After the disarma-
ment in Phase 1, there were some agitations
to increase the pool of people that needed to
be included in the Programme. Incidentally, the
diligence that went into Phase 1 appeared not
to have been carried over into Phases 2 and 3.
Hence, you have a situation where slots were
allocated to the Phases 2 and 3 leaders, whereas
in Phase 1, the ex-agitators were identified as
individuals under various leadership camps. The
problem is therefore identifying the bonafide
individuals or identity of those in these slots.
Over the years, there has been acrimony about
people that were included or those removed. Our
task now is to dialogue with the key players so we
can sort it out amicably and reduce everybody
to an individual instead of groups.
What exactly are you doing differently that
changed the horrible reputation of PAP you
inherited?
We have different motivations in life. I come
from a background where failure is not an option,
so I don’t make excuses. People just want you to
level with them and the few occasions when, for
instance, we were not able to pay as promised
on the 25th, we proactively let the ex-agitators
know ahead of time that the stipends won’t come
as expected, but it will come not long after the
expected date. So, these are the kind of things
that have built the kind of confidence that we
have enjoyed so far. I was trained as an officer
to face challenges with the clear objective to
win; I keep that in focus all the time.
What legacy do you intend to leave behind?
I don’t claim to have a magic wand but I believe
strongly that my appointment was divine and all
along I have had destiny helpers assisting me.
With the support of people of the region, we will
be able to make a mark that cannot be erased.
I am in that stage of life where I intend to leave
a legacy of righting some of the administrative
wrongs in this special agency created to address
some of the challenges in the Niger Delta region.
Ultimately, I want to contribute to making the
Niger Delta the best place to live and do business
in Nigeria.
24
POLITY
Gbenga Awoyale
PDP Can’t Return in Kwara After 16 Years of Misrule
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State and President General, Orisun Igbomina in
Kwara South Senatorial District, Chief Gbenga Awoyale talks to select journalists in Ilorin about the crisis
rocking Kwara APC, among other issues. Hammed Shittu was there
What is your assessment of Governor AbdulRahman
AbdulRazaq in almost three years?
G
overnor AbdulRazaq has set developmental
milestones since he assumed office on May 29th,
2019. He has touched the nooks and crannies of the
state with different masses-oriented initiatives. He
has completely deviated from the ills and sharp
practices that characterised the past administra-
tions in the state. It’s in this same Kwara State we
had people helping themselves and their cronies
to public funds, at the detriment of building infrastructure and
delivering good governance to the good people of Kwara State.
Very recently, discovery of billions of Naira linked to yet to be
identified persons and a suspicious address speaks volumes
of where Kwara was coming from. Till date, no one knew who
domiciled the huge amount of slush funds in the bank account
discovered by the anti-graft agency. Kwara has never experi-
enced this spate of development and growth before now and it
is not centered just in the state capital but spread across the vari-
ous communities of the state. Even those who have lost hope
in government have now found it under AbdulRazaq. Do we
talk about the impactful Kwara Social Investment Programme
(KWASSIP) that has helped raise and sustain lots of vulnerable
Kwarans, fixing of major waterworks like that of Oyun, Igbaja,
Lafiagi, among several others or expunging the state from the
black list of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC),
which manifested in fixing of hundreds of classrooms across
basic schools in the state. It has actually been so far, so good for
Governor AbdulRazaq. When he took the mantle of leadership,
he earnestly disbursed payment to complete the state secretariat
which the former administration abandoned. These are what
Kwarans have been yearning for. He also completed some of
Governor Lawal’s water and infrastructural projects aban-
doned in the state. So, it appeared comical to me when I heard
the Kwara PDP zoned governorship ticket to the same Kwara
North they neglected for decades and where AbdulRazaq had
concentrated developmental projects to ensure the narratives
of their marginalisation is a past tale. I imagined the basis that
the opposition, PDP and its leaders will go back to campaign for
them.
How would you rate the performance of the State
House of Assembly?
The set of lawmakers we have in our state House of As-
Celebrating Icha-Ituma, a Dynamic Leader at 47
Maxim Uzoatu and Collins Azu
P
rofessor Afam Icha-Ituma, Vice-Chancellor of
Coal City University, Enugu, Nigeria, turned 47
years on Wednesday, January 5, 2022. He is the
second Vice-Chancellor of one of the fastest-rising
and globally-focused universities in the country.
Professor Afam Icha-Ituma ranks amongst the
youngest Vice-Chancellors in Nigeria.
He was born into the noble family of His
Excellency, Dr Emmanuel and Lady Theresa Icha Ituma of
Ohaukwu Local Government of Ebonyi State. His father was
a rare gem and a former Nigerian Ambassador to Australia
with concurrent accreditation to New Zealand, Papua New
Guinea, Vanuatu and Fiji Island; first Deputy Governor of old
Enugu State, Secretary to the Government of (old Anambra
State, old Enugu State and Ebonyi States respectively), among
other top government positions. Professor Afam Icha-Ituma,
however, decided early in life not to bask in the glory and
accomplishments of his father of blessed memory but to carve
his name and path through hard work, honesty, courage and
humility.
Of course the apple does not fall far from the tree. The
young Afam could not avoid the values and virtues of his fa-
ther in service for the public good with a high level of proven
integrity and distinction. As the first son, the personable Afam
decided to contribute his quota to nation-building and honour
his father through his work to humanity. He earned his B.Sc
in Mass Communication from the Enugu State University
of Science and Technology (Nigeria), MBA from University
of Leicester (UK), PhD in Human Resource Management
from Brunel University (UK) and Post Graduate Certificate in
Teaching and Learning from Brunel University.
Professor Afam Icha-Ituma has a rich background in aca-
demic research, university management and strategic policy
advice for governments and national agencies. He is a Visiting
Professor of Human Resource Management at the University
of Lincoln (UK). He has served as a Visiting Research Fellow
at Kingston Business School (UK), and University of Leiden
(Netherlands). He has also been a Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Research Fellow at the University of London (UK) and at the
University of Lisbon (Portugal), Erasmus+ Visiting Profes-
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾
JANUARY 15, 2022
sembly as presently constituted are resourceful and conscious
of their legislative responsibilities. These are people, working
relentlessly with the governor as partners to ensure physical
and human capital development. The thorough scrutinisation
of annual state budgets has paved ways for administrative
creativity and GIGO that used to be operational in the past.
They have also passed several bills with significant impact on
social security like KWASSIP, they also have to their credit the
Kwara State Sports Commission bill which has changed the
structure and tune of sports development in the state and some
others like the amendment of public procurement law and
enactment of public audit bill to strengthen public institutional
transparency and accountability. Notwithstanding their excellent
delivery in their primary functions, we have seen numbers
of them who organised empowerment programmes for their
constituents and also floated youths and students support
programmes. Look at the lawmaker representing Share/
Oke-ode state constituency in the state House of Assembly,
Hon. Razaq Owolabi, he has done no fewer than three rounds
of massive empowerment programmes for youth, women and
aged. The federal lawmakers are also making giant strides.
Look at what Senator Lola Ashiru is doing in Kwara South.
Sen. Ashiru has facilitated infrastructural development to each
of the seven local governments in Kwara South despite the
fact that Ashiru is not a principal officer of the Senate. Kwara
North and Central Senators are not also doing badly. They have
actually upped legislative business in Kwara.
With the crisis rocking leading APC in Kwara State
and Nigeria at large, do you think the party can attain
victory in 2023?
Let me use Kwara State as an example. Those who are at
the helms of affairs in APC are experienced and people with
integrity. I can assure you they will mend fences and we will
come out stronger. PDP that created Nigeria and Kwara’s socio-
economic and political problems can’t feign sainthood or being
solution-driven now. Meanwhile, there’s a crisis in PDP, what
makes APC crisis more popular is not far-fetched, it’s because
the party is in power. The opposition will want to ensure they
do everything possible to remove them from power. In the
case of Kwara State, different stakeholders within the party had
Icha-Ituma
sor at the University of Kent (UK), and Linnaeus-Palme
Academic Visitor at the University of Gavle (Sweden). He has
served as External Examiner at the University of Manchester,
University of Northumbria, University of Wales, and Pan-
Atlantic University.
He spent many years overseas occupying senior level
positions at top British institutions and collaborated with
world class scholars in over 30 institutions around the globe.
His desire to make a significant difference in his homeland
led him to voluntarily resign his position at Bournemouth
University and forego for good those lucrative positions
and the established life in the United Kingdom to return to
Nigeria with his family in 2012. This remarkable decision
to voluntarily return to Nigeria contrasts with that of many
Nigerian scholars who are leaving the country in droves in
search of a better life abroad instead of generating innova-
tive solutions to address the numerous challenges facing
the Nigerian university system and to bring it to beneficial
functionality, national relevance and global competitiveness.
In 2020, Prof Afam Icha-Ituma was selected after a carefully
Gbenga Awoyale
been consulted by leaders of the party, among them is Prof.
Oba Abdulraheem and they’ve made us to realise that PDP is
not for them. Majority of the warring members are ready for
reconciliation. PDP, led by Senator Bukola Saraki cannot win
election in the state but merely wants to leverage on the internal
cracks within the APC and we are getting that settled. Let me
quickly remind you that, if we are not settling the internal crisis,
Gbemisola Saraki will not be among APC National Convention
committee. So, all those gimmicks by PDP of coming to Kwara
to gather support would not work again. Kwarans know what
they want and can’t be cajoled again in the next elections.
What is your take on moves by the Kwara PDP to take
over the state in 2023?
Let me tell you this, PDP agitation is just a mere wishful
thinking. It can never work out well after their 16 years of
misrule in Kwara. What has been their achievement when they
were in power? This is a very essential question we should
ask Bukola Saraki. What Kwara North want and desire is
development and equal opportunities and, without sounding
immodest, no State government has prioritised development
and governance inclusion of Kwara North like this present
administration since the creation of the state.
designed process as the second Vice-Chancellor of Coal City
University (CCU) to champion the vision of making CCU a
world-class University with Sir Chinedu Ani as Chancellor,
Professor Chinedu Nebo as Pro-Chancellor, and Professor
Chidiebere Onyia as Chair Strategic Advisory Board. Since
his assumption of office as the Vice-Chancellor, he has been
creating a community-friendly campus that places students
first and foremost in its priorities. The intellectual life of the
University has become increasingly vibrant with many
academic activities and high quality teaching from well-
qualified scholars recruited from top universities both home
and abroad. He is leveraging on his extensive international
experience and global network to build strategic partnerships
with institutions internationally to make Coal City University
an internationally competitive institution in Nigeria.
As a quintessential institutional builder and dynamic
leader, he has brought in eminent world-class scholars to
the campus to nurture the mind and soul of this fast rising
university in Africa. He continues to demonstrate that leading
from the well of intellectual generosity, kindness and respect
can be successful in the Nigerian university system.
His leadership style amply proves that great leaders
demonstrate achievements, humility, continuous
learning, and wise counsel. His strength of character,
work ethics, firm roots in industry, transparency, and
selfless service to humanity are the kinds of qualities
and values that are desperately needed in Nigeria and
around the world. He has earned a reputation as a
rigorous but fair leader who does not play favourites.
He steadfastly welcomes fresh ideas, and appreciates and
acknowledges the work of others. His cheerful, friendly, sup-
portive, and approachable demeanour sets him apart from
many top chief executive officers.
Professor Afam Icha-Ituma’s credentials prior to becoming
Vice-Chancellor includes being Professor of Human Resource
Management and Dean of Faculty of Management and Social
Sciences, at Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike
(AE-FUNAI), Nigeria. His career at AE-FUNAI was character-
ized by many firsts.
Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾
JANUARY 15, 2022
Winning War against Smuggling in Katsina
The Katsina Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service is taking proactive measures in tackling smuggling in the state, writes
Francis Sardauna
A
s Nigeria battles with security issues on many
fronts, one cankerworm which has proved to be
a major drain on the economy is smuggling. It
is a national problem and those who engage in
it are considered economic saboteurs by many
pundits in the country. According to reports, the
country loses trillions of naira yearly in revenue
to smuggling of prohibited goods such as cars,
poultry products, textiles, rice, amongst others. This age-long
problem paralyses the nation’s local industries and it is a drain
on the foreign earnings of the country.
This underscores why the Katsina Area Command of
the Nigeria Customs Service has intensified war against
smuggling to protect local industries, create employment and
prevent the use of the nation’s markets as dumping ground
for fake, substandard and unwholesome prohibited items. A
rare combination of intelligence and swift enforcement by of-
ficers and men of the command led by DC Dalha Wada Chedi,
is yielding results as heavy blows are dealt on the unrepentant
smugglers with massive seizures and arrests of suspects in
connection with the seized contraband.
Chedi, who took over the mantle of leadership of the
command on 23rd March, 2021, has made the Area Command
to be known for not only seizing smuggled contraband or
products, but also nabbing the ‘men behind the mask’. This
knack of exposing those behind the smuggling and ensuring
their prosecution as well as pressing for their conviction at
the courts obviously become an imperilment to the economic
saboteurs.
The anti-smuggling combatant’s resolving strategies and
transparency in curbing smuggling and other activities of
the criminals in the state has led to the blockage of the four
recognised border posts with the Niger Republic —Magama
in Jibia, Kongolom in Mai’Adua, Babban-Mutum in Baure
and Dankama in Kaita Local Government Area of the state.
For instance, illegal routes in Sabon-Garin, Mai-Dabarau,
Gadirge, Korama, Alele, Bayan Bariki, Raini and Wayo
communities in Jibia local government which were hitherto
used by smugglers to ferry in contraband into Katsina, the
state capital, have been blocked due to the relentless effort of
DC Dalha Wada Chedi.
In Kongolom, Mai’Adua Local Government Area, investi-
gation revealed that most smugglers of rice were using unap-
proved routes from Maimaje, Botsotsuwa, Tsatsumburum
and Yekuwa communities from Niger Republic to ferry in
Celebrating Media Veteran Okumide Lawal at 70
Tunde Akanni
B
etween Alhaji Abdul Lateef Olumide Lawal and
the late first executive governor of Osun State
who later became a two-time senator, Isiaka
Adetunji Adeleke, exists a most mysterious but
pleasant tie. Adeleke died in 2017 but no year
has passed without Lawal dispensing tributes
with fresher angle each year. Countless fellow
compatriots from Ede, appreciate Haji Lawal’s
faithfulness to friendship. Alhaji Lawal’s undying commit-
ment to the bond is probably the least the community would
jointly volunteer on account of the rescuer intervention
that Adeleke’s emergence as governor symbolised. His
disposition to Adeleke only typifies his most outstanding
quality-being appreciative of kind gestures no matter how
insignificant.
From Uncle Olumide to children, nephews, nieces and his
treasured younger colleagues, every encounter is routinely
laden with prayers and inimitable words of inspiration
and encouragement. Not one that surrenders to fate where
action is indispensable, he relentlessly scouts for opportuni-
ties for folks as if he is the potential beneficiary even as he
is the last person describable as an opportunist. Who can
believe that Haji Olumide doesn’t feel tempted to plunge
into compromise to seek favours from Davido, the re-
nowned musician publicly acknowledged as an indomitable
spender, in spite of all he has done for Davido’s uncles Isiaka,
Ademola and Adeeyo? Uncle Olumide would not deride
anyone either for not patronising him. Quite clearly his is a
life dedicated to gratitude, by faith and personal conviction,
I would argue.
Uncle Olumide today savours the quietude of his country
home in Ede as a journalist supposedly retired but he still
beams with vigour. He had relocated to Ede before the
former late Senator Adetunji Adeleke died in 2017 and so
was the commanding officer of the Serubawon political
campaigns which yielded victory even as he had to compete
with digital natives on the side of the opponents. Seruba-
won’s death hardly impacted on anyone as much as Uncle
Olumide, extremely depressed. But that didn’t deter him
from being protective of Serubawon’s interest even after his
demise. Promptly, he rose to rouse the campaign facilities
for Ademola,Serubawon’s brother who offered to complete
Serubawon’s term in the senate. This he did so much to
the extent that he became the trans-generational bridge for
Bags of foreign rice and vegetable oil recently seized by the
command.
their smuggled commodities into the country, but the illegal
routes have been shut down by the anti-smuggling crusader.
This noble gesture of stemming smuggling is also applicable
in communities and villages across Babban-Mutum and
Dankama.
The anti-smuggling move of the deputy comptroller of the
Nigeria Customs Service in the state has yielded tremendous
success as seizures of contraband are being recorded on daily
basis while the smugglers and other economic saboteurs
crippling the federal and state governments’ quest for a viable
and sustainable economy development are now on the run in
the state.
Thus, the number of seizures recorded under the leadership
of DC Chedi has been unprecedented in the last 10 months
and this is due to the proactive measures undertaken by the
acting comptroller that has zero tolerance for smuggling
activities being orchestrated by the marauding smugglers.
In April 9 and May 4, 2021, the Katsina Area Command of
the NCS, seized 486 bags of 50kg foreign rice, 304 cartons of
spaghetti, 197 Jerry cans of 25 litres of vegetable oil, 98 bags
of foreign sugar, 12 cartons of macaroni, and 21 cartons of
foreign couscous. Others were nine vehicles, six cartons of
tomato paste, 30 cartons of foreign milky creamer and 32
Jerry cans of PMS. The duty paid value of all of them was
N50,378,800.00.
Between August 1 to September 6, 2021, the command
seized smuggled vehicles, foreign rice and other items worth
more than N65 million. The contraband includes; a Mercedes
Benz C180 worth N1.89 million, two Peugeot 504 worth
Olumide Lawal
the success of Ademola beckoning the young and the old
for Ademola’s support. Although this writer, for instance,
was Ademola’s classmate, it was at the instance of Uncle
Olumide that Ademola earned one’s support.
Uncle’s philosophy consistently manifests continuity of
good legacy. A descendant of the great Lawal Family of
Ailaka Compound Ede, Uncle happened to be one of the
leading science students in his class at the Seventh Day
Adventist Grammar School Ede, clearly the most expensive
in the entire Osun Division of that era. But one of the teach-
ers had managed to introduce political education of Marxian
leaning to the smart ones among the students who would
want to do their best to realize a better Nigeria.
One of the world leaders showcased as excelling with
the ideology to the young Olumide was Fidel Castro. On
account of the young man’s obvious outspokenness, he
earned the label Fidel Castro. The young Olumide was also
outstandingly ever neat , thus had the Fidel replaced with
Finni (short form of Ajisefinni, meaning one whose most
constant priority is neatness. Ajisefinni was the sobriquet
for Ede’s arguably most renowned barber in the 70s and
80s). Consequently, the young Olumide had his nickname
properly indegenised to Finni Castro and the name has stuck
through ages. He is hailed Castro till date by his contempo-
raries.
Beyond ‘flying’ out of the school with the Castro label,
he has had his mind moulded. Rather than purse a science
inclined career, he chose journalism, the path of his uncle,
Late Chief Sola Lawal, a pioneer journalist of the Tribune
25
POLITY
N135,000 each, Kia Sorento of N2.7 million and a Volkswagen
Golf III worth N675,000.
Within the period under review, the command also seized
two MAN Diesel trucks valued at N8.1 million each and
another Volkswagen Golf III worth N877,500. Also, a Fiat J5
bus valued at N1.6 million, a Peugeot 307 worth N1.485 mil-
lion, Toyota Hilux jeep worth N29.7 million and Nissan Patrol
worth N405,000. In all, the total value of the 12 seized vehicles
was N55,822,500.
Also, the command seized 202 motorcycles from suspected
bandits and their collaborators in the state. The motorcycles,
mostly Boxers and Jencheng models, were seized around
forests close to border areas between August and September,
2021 as part of ongoing efforts to ensure that no contraband
or illegal item is brought into the country through any of the
borders in the state.
The command, in November, 2021, intercepted N71,350
million cash concealed in ‘Ghana Must Go’ bags at the Jibia
border in a Toyota vehicle driven by three persons. The
three suspects were arrested and the money deposited at the
Katsina branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Other items seized included 186 pieces of jerk knives worth
N542,900, eight vehicles of different models, 281 bags of
foreign rice, 498 cartons of foreign spaghetti and seven bags of
foreign macaroni.
Also, within the period under review, the command
intercepted 22 jerricans of foreign vegetable oil, 10 cartons
of medicament diclofenac, three bags of potash, 35 cartons
of foreign milky creamer, 81 kegs of petroleum products, 75
sacks of petroleum products and 37 wraps of second hand
clothing, among others worth N105,103,830.00.
Similarly, on November 4, 2021, the command nabbed one
Saifullahi Lawal with 230 bags of Indian hemp in Shargalle
community along the Daura-Katsina expressway in Mashi
Local Government Area of the state.
Shedding more light on the seizures made within the
months in question, the acting Customs Area Comptroller
who expressed concern that smugglers were bringing in
contrabands and giving them spurious labels to beat security
agents at the land borders in the state, however, said the com-
mand was winning war against smuggling in the state.
Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com
newspapers, Nigeria’s oldest surviving newspaper. “Having
been politically cultivated at Seventh Day Adventist, there
was no stopping the fire in me. I saw a convincing model
in Uncle Sola Lawal. My uncle was a highly principled
professional, yet was socially and economically successful
in the superlative rating. Thus began my career in broadcast
journalism, specifically radio.”
He continued in a recent conversation with this writer: “I
love writing frequently, another strong practice cultivated
at Seventh Day Adventist. So, for me, advancing the cause I
believe in has to be done through all possible windows. But
that’s why I defied all odds and threatening risks to stand
by Senator Ademola Adeleke when he needed to speak out
through the media during his travails. I got all reputable
media invited to Ede to come hear his side of the raging
story. Fierce looking security operatives had flooded the
entire state just to ensure Ademola didn’t have access to the
world through the media. But what quality would a journal-
ist appropriate to himself if not tenancity? I had to change
venue some three times and finally I got Senator Ademola’s
friends mobilised to speak for him and today the rest history
to the glory of God.
Beyond the Adelekes, Uncle Olumide has equally
remained steadfast with Sir Eyo as he fondly referred to late
Dr. Wale Adeeyo, publisher of the defunct Anchor news-
papers. Is it not surprising that somebody who, beyond
being grounded man of letters, was a publisher of a national
newspaper, didn’t attract published tributes worth citing
from at least a few of his former employees? Beloved Castro
is the last man standing!
All the good gestures from Haji olumide were merely
expressions of aniyan to daa ( or good wishes) rather than
for pecuniary gains as this new septuagenarian is reasonably
endowed materially and visibly radiates contentment as
much as discernible. Some five years ago, the wedding cer-
emony of one of the children which he personally bankrolled
held at an “all amenities completed hotel” (to echo Fuji
founder, Ayinde Barrister) in the heart of Lagos. In addi-
tion to the monarch from Ede, Kabiyesi Muniru Adesola,
Laminisa 1, the Timi of Ede, the guests’ list was a spectacle
of who’s who from around Nigeria, even as the lowly were
duly catered for in line with the spirit of Finni Castro.
– Akanni, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Journalism
at the Lagos State University, Nigeria.
Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com
26 THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾
JANUARY 15, 2022

POLITY
How Not to Cast the First Stone in Ogun State
Tajudeen Adekoya “Never play with the feelings of others, because you may win to address the crowd.
Amosun had said: “Come Saturday, let us go out and vote

T
he Senator Adamu Abdullahi-led Reconciliation
Committee of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), set up by the Mai Buni National Caretaker
Committee, was on a one-day trouble- shooting
mission to Ogun State recently. Essentially, the
Committee was tasked to mediate in the crisis
rocking the party in the state and to see the best
way to pilot reconciliation efforts, preparatory to
the 2023 general elections.
The major thrust of the Committee’s business was to broker
a peace deal and mend fences between the faction of the
Governor Dapo Abiodun, and that of his predecessor, Senator
Ibikunle Amosun, who is currently representing Ogun
Central in the National Assembly. It shouldn’t be surprising
that the crisis is far from over. The Committee which was
saddled with the responsibility did all it could to thaw the
frosty relationship between the two factions, and at the end
of its mission recognised the Dapo Abiodun-led faction as the
authentic leadership of the state’s executive.
“In unity lies strength, I wish the winning side will be
magnanimous in victory and the other side accepts the reality.
Everyone has his own time,” Abdullahi said.
It should be noted Amosun ought to realise that he is no
longer the governor, but his ambivalence and maverick
stance towards the current administration in the state is an
aberration and an act of insubordination to the constituted
authority which he once sat upon. As Emperor, throughout
his eight-year (two terms) in office, Otunba Gbenga Daniel
(his predecessor), who was already declared, “persona
non-grata”, dared not walk freely in the streets of Abeokuta
(the state capital), let alone raise unnecessary dust against the
sitting Governor.
But the reverse is the case with Amosun in his acrimonious
rivalry with his successor in office, Abiodun. The current
governor (Abiodun) and his predecessor, Amosun, were very
good friends, but the mere indication of the latter for the num-
ber one job of the state in mid-2018 pitched him against the
former. The Ogun Central Senator threw caution to the wind
and resorted to all forms of shenanigans and other dirty tricks
in a bid to scuttle the governorship ambition of his estranged
friend. The current travails the immediate past governor is
facing in the political calculus of the leadership structure of
the APC are the attendant repercussions of his bargains, and
this explains why it is not desirable to cast the first stone at
your benefactor who subsequently became his foe.
the game, but the risk is that you will surely lose the person for a
lifetime,” said Williams Shakespeare.
Government is all about continuum. Reminiscent of the 2019
governorship election in Ogun State, the attendant camaraderie
or dirty tricks employed by political gladiators, who were then
calling shots at the centre with plots to foist their own anointed
son, Adekunle Akinlade, as successor and frustrate Abiodun
from winning presented a comic relief of sort that had made
the principal actors look like a ribaldry butt of jokes before the
people of the state and beyond.
Events preceding the electoral victory of Prince Abiodun as
Ogun State Governor in the May 9, 2019 were such that they
were riddled with the sphinx of evil machinations and intrigues
in a deft bid to outdo him.
However, despite overtures by critical stakeholders within
the party, well-meaning Nigerians, spiritual leaders and
respected traditional rulers to persuade Amosun to accept the
candidature of Abiodun and work collectively for the victory
of the APC at the governorship poll, he was adamant and
uncompromising to ‘let go’ the emergence of his bosom friend,
now estranged. In not less than 28 trips, Amosun shuttled to
Aso Rock (Abuja) to get the attention of PMB to rescind and
upturn the decision of the national leadership of the party in a
bid to give the Ogun APC governorship ticket to Akinlade, but
it ended in a stalemate.
Fresh, but still memorable was the attack on President
Muhammad Buhari at the presentation of the party’s flag to the
Ogun State governorship candidate of the APC held at Abiola
Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta, on Monday, February 11, 2019. At
the rally, the then sitting governor had a raw deal and rebuffed
every entreaty to allow security agents detailed from Abuja to
take charge and frisk every member and supporter entering the
stadium. He had allegedly ordered the gate to be thrown open
to allow hired street urchins gain entry under the guise of pav-
ing way for all the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) members
to attend the ceremony when it was evidently suspected there
was likely to be a breakdown of law and order while the 35,000
capacity facility was filled to the brim.
The street urchins threw objects at the President and leaders
of the party who were in attendance during the rally, including
stones and sachet water. While PMB was raising Abiodun’s
hand, the crowd jeered, “No, No” and hurled objects at the
President and Abiodun, who is now the governor.
The fracas which began like a mild drama subsequently de-
generated, shortly after Amosun handed over the microphone
to the then, National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole,
for President Muhammadu Buhari and on March 2, let us look
elsewhere. I hope you understand me and get my message.
And let it be known to you all, after the March 2 poll, we shall all
become APC again.”
Also, erstwhile Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola (now,
Minister for Interior Affairs) had cautioned those he labelled
as “hypocrites” against “staying indoor and fighting the home
outside.” The Ogun Central Senator is leading a rebellion in
the state against the leadership of the APC over the rejection
of his political godson, Akinlade, as the APC governorship
candidate. Akinlade had moved over to pick the flag of the APM
on Saturday, March 9, 2019, which he lost to Abiodun, the APC
candidate.
However, as if that wasn’t enough, one began to wonder
whether government is actually a continuum or not. Few days
from his exiting office, Amosun was busy heaping sand at every
available space where his successor, Abiodun, was expected to
hold his inauguration activities.
Forget that Amosun had promised to ensure that his succes-
sor got a hitch-free inauguration, pointers to the fact that the
predecessor was still nursing the ill-feeling that his surrogate
did not emerge his successor was obvious. The foyer to the
inauguration venue, June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta,
was blocked with heaps of sand and a grader under the pretence
of the ongoing construction of the Kuto flyover and also, the
reconstruction of a roundabout.
And the feeling you get was that the governor was not
interested in what happens to his state after leaving office, just
because his choice of successor was not heeded.
Like a joke taken too far, Abiodun inherited a near empty
treasury from his predecessor, who hurriedly elevated a dozen
directors in the civil service to Permanent Secretary (PS) status
and also employed hundreds of fresh graduates into the service,
without due process in the twilight of his exit from office on
May 29, 2019, all in a bid to make the state ungovernable for his
successor.
Meanwhile, with these anti-party activities, the party’s
hierarchy wielded the big stick and sanctioned him with suspen-
sion from the APC, but the punishment was subsequently lifted
owing to his strong and close personal relationship with PMB.
– Adekoya wrote from Ijebu-Igbo, in Ijebu North LGA of
Ogun State
Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com

PHOTO NEWS

Publisher, City People Media Group, Dr. Seye Kehinde; Chairman, Guild of Photojournalists Nigeria,
Abiodun Ajala; Group Chairman, Mutual Benefits Assurance, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi; and Managing Di-
rector, Marketing Edge, John Ajayi, during the investiture of Ogunbiyi as grand patron of Guild of L-R: Category and Brand Manager for PZ Wilmar Ltd, Oluwatoyin Popoola-Dania; King’s Dorm
Photojournalists Nigeria (GPN) at Mutual Benefit Assurance office, Lagos... recently Season 2 Winners, Odinaka Moemeka; and Elizabeth Moemeka of the Moemeka Family; and Head
of Marketing, PZ Wilmar Ltd, Chioma Mbanugo, at the grand finale of Devon King’s Dorm Season
2, held in Lagos, yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R; Managing Director, Black and Precious Communications, Mr. Chris Moweta; Foton Country Man-
ager, Mr. Johnson Zhang; Special Guest, Victory Wilson; Managing Director, Auto and Transport, Ke-
walram Chanrai Group, Mr. Anil Sahgal; Head Automobiles, Mr. Sudeep Mittal; Foton PV Manager,
Mr. Jack Zhou; and Foton Parts Manager, Mr. Zhou Guangshun, during the launch of Foton View C2
Minibus and Van by Kewalram Chanrai Group in Lagos… recently
L–R: Sports Correspondent, Solid100.9FM, Jane Nwaeze; RichBlitz Sports, Justina Aniefiok; Sportsdayonline.
com, Bibian Onwugbolu; and NaijafootballPlus.com, Faith Meremegbinam, on arrival in Yaoundé, Cameroun
to cover all Super Eagles matches at the 2021 African Cup of Nations. The quartet of female sports correspon-
dents are being sponsored by Stanbic IBTC as part of its plan to provide gender sensitivity support for female
sports correspondents in Nigeria
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾
APRIL 24, 2011 3

GLOBAL
NEWS

SOCCER
A WEEKLY PULL-OUT 15.1.2022
TOP OF THE TABLE
CLASH
PAGE. 29

Super Eagles Seek Early

2nd Round Against Sudan
28
GLOBAL SOCCER
Super Eagles Seek Early
2nd Round Against Sudan
Super Eagles players celebrating Kelechi Iheanacho’s goal against Egypt at AFCON 2021 in Cameroon
Fresh from an impressive 1-0 win against seven-time champions- Egypt in
their opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Super Eagles of Nigeria
would be hoping to book their place in the second round of the competition
as they confront the Falcons of Jediane today at the Roumdé Adjia Stadium,
Garoua, writes Kunle Adewale
W
hen erstwhile national
team manager, Gernot
Rohr was sacked by the
Nigeria Football Federa-
tion (NFF), it was wel-
comed by many football
loving Nigerians but there was a question
mark on the timing of his sack- with just
about six weeks to the commencement of
the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
But with the tactical play the Super Eagles
put up in their opening game against the
Pharaohs of Egypt on Tuesday, interim coach,
Augustine Eguavoen gave very little away
that he just had few days of training with
the team with manner he set up against the
seven-time African champions.
On paper, the game against the Pharaohs
was supposed to be the most challenging
tie in the group, but the Super Eagles made
light of it after their dominant display.
Super Eagles star performer on the
evening, Moses Simon indeed showered
praises on Eguavoen for his fine display
against Egypt.
Simon credited the team’s coaching staff
led by Eguavoen for his brilliant display
during the team’s 1-0 win over Egypt in their
Africa Cup of Nations opener on Tuesday
evening.
“I’d say all thanks to the technical staff,
the coach for giving the team the confidence
to play,” Simon said at the end of training
on Wednesday.
“Of course, it’s all about the team spirit
so it’s not an individual process.”
Simon remained modest when asked for
his thoughts on the Super Eagles sealing
qualification to the last 16 with a game to
spare if they defeat Sudan today.
“The game against Sudan is something
we need to be careful with because now in
Africa there is no small team so we need
to face them the way we played against
Egypt.
“We just need to go all in all. The way we
took the game against Egypt is likewise
the same thing that we are going to do
against Sudan. We have to do our best and
give 100 per cent to have three points.”
“We have to do our best and give one
hundred per cent to have the three points,”
he concluded.
Super Eagles safe hands Maduka Okoye
indeed says the team is totally focused
for the clash against Sudan.
“It’s good to start the competition with
a win. It’s always good when you come
to a big tournament like this and start on
a positive, “Okoye said after the team’s
training session on Wednesday.
“What is important now is for us to
approach the game like we did against
Egypt. We must remain humble and not
take them for granted.
“Our focus is now on Saturday’s (to-
day’s) game. The game against Egypt is
behind us now and we want three points
in this one.”
Okoye predicted a physical battle when
the Super Eagles face off with the Falcons
of Sudan in their second group game at
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾JANUARY 15, 2022
the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria
at the end of training on Wednesday,
Okoye said : “I think it’s going to be
more of a physical game but we have
enough quality so I’m sure we will get
the job done.”
Leganes defender Kenneth Omeruo says
he expects a tough encounter against the
Sudanese and is urging his teammates
not to lose focus as they target a spot
in the round of 16 with a game to spare.
“We will take the match serious, it is a
good start for us but we shouldn’t lose
focus to think the next game will be easy,
we have to win the next game so we can be
sure of the next round,” Omeruo stressed.
“I am happy with our output against
Egypt and especially the way the boys set
up and approached the game the way we
agreed was best. Everything worked. But
we have shifted our focus completely to
the next match and it is another day and
another team and a different approach. I
am happy with the playing personnel that
we have got and the way they are ready
to give their all,” Coach Eguavoen told
thenffnews on Thursday morning.
Eguavoen has waved aside the record of
his being the only Nigerian coach to have
led the Super Eagles to win all three group
phase matches at the AFCON, when his
wards steamrolled Ghana, Zimbabwe and
Senegal in Egypt 16 years ago.
“I am focused on winning against Sudan
for now; I don’t want to think about any
record or how we go about our third match.
Sudan is in focus now and we have to deal
with that squarely.”
Three points on Saturday (today) will
guarantee group leaders Nigeria a place
in the Round of 16 of the 33rd AFCON,
meaning a more relaxed approach to
their final group phase clash with
debutants Guinea Bissau also in Gar-
oua on Wednesday next week. If they
finish top of Group D, the three-time
champions will remain in Garoua for
their Round of 16 task.
“I am happy with our output against
Egypt and especially the way the boys set
up and approached the game the way we
agreed was best. Everything worked. But
we have shifted our focus completely to
the next match and it is another day and
another team and a different approach. I am
happy with the playing personnel that we
have got and the way they are ready to give
their all,” Coach Eguavoen told thenffnews
on Thursday morning.
Eguavoen has waved aside the record of
his being the only Nigeria coach to have
led the Super Eagles to win all three group
phase matches at the AFCON, when his
wards steamrolled Ghana, Zimbabwe and
Senegal in Egypt 16 years ago.
“I am focused on winning against Sudan
for now; I don’t want to think about any
record or how we go about our third match.
Sudan is in focus now and we have to deal
with that, squarely.”
Three points today will guarantee group
leaders Nigeria a place in the Round of
16 of the 33rd AFCON, meaning a more
relaxed approach to their final group phase
clash with debutants Guinea Bissau also
in Garoua on Wednesday next week. If
they finish top of Group D, the three-time
champions will remain in Garoua for their
Round of 16 task.
The Super Eagles will advance to the
last 16 with a game to spare if they defeat
Sudan today.
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾JANUARY 15, 2022 29

GLOBAL SOCCER Premiership Table

Man City 21 40 53
Chelsea 21 29 43
Liverpool 20 34 42
Arsenal 20 8 35
West Ham 20 10 34
Tottenham 18 3 33
Man Utd 19 3 31
Wolves 19 0 28
Brighton 19 0 27
Leicester 18 -2 25
Crystal Palace 20 -1 23
Brentford 19 -3 23
Aston Villa 19 -5 22
Southampton 19 -9 21
Everton 18 -9 19
Leeds 19 -16 19
Watford 18 -14 13
Burnley 17 -11 11
Newcastle 19 -23 11
Norwich 19 -34 10

Premier League
TODAY
Man City v Chelsea 12:30
Burnley v Leicester 15:00
Newcastle v Watford 15:00
Norwich v Everton 15:00
Wolves v Southampton 15:00
Aston Villa v Man Utd 17:30

SUNDAY
Liverpool v Brentford 14:00
West Ham v Leeds Utd 14:00
Tottenham v Arsenal 16:30
Manchester City forward, Raheem Sterling battles for possession with Chelsea Cesar Azpilicueta when both side met at Stamford Bridge

Man City Seek to Consolidate

Hot Shot
PLAYERS CLUB GOALS
Mo Salah Liverpool 16
Diogo Jota Liverpool 10
Jamie Vardy Leicester 9

Top Spot with Chelsea Visit

Emmanuel Dennis Watford 8
Michail Antonio West Ham 8
Cristiano Ronaldo Man Utd 8
Heung Son Tottenham 8
Emile Smith Rowe Arsenal 8
Raphinha Leeds 8
Premier League leaders-Manchester United would be seeking to consolidate their Sadio Mané Liverpool 8
position on the table as Pep Guardiola’s men welcome second placed Chelsea to the Mason Mount Chelsea 7
Raheem Sterling Man City 7
Etihad Stadium.The Citizens have been in devastating form, winning 11 straight league Neal Maupay Brighton 7
matches. But considering that it was City that inflicted the Blues their first defeat of season Bernardo Silva Man City 7
Riyad Mahrez Man City 6
at Stamford Bridge,Thomas Tuchel would want to avoid another defeat today Bukayo Saka Arsenal 6
Conor Gallagher Palace 6
Luiz Jorginho Chelsea 6

A
highly-anticipated top-of-
the-table clash kicks off the
Premier League action on
Saturday, as Manchester
City welcome closest chal-
lengers Chelsea to the Etihad
Stadium for a lunchtime battle.
Pep Guardiola’s men currently sit 10
points clear of their upcoming opponents
in the standings, with another defeat for
the Blues seemingly rendering their title
charge impossible.
When even Pep Guardiola admits that
his side probably should have come up
second best on the day, Man City were
certainly counting their lucky stars
against Arsenal, who ultimately suf-
fered a 2-1 defeat in a controversy-filled
encounter on New Year’s Day.
Riyad Mahrez and Rodri’s efforts
cancelled out a first-half opener from
Bukayo Saka as Mikel Arteta once again
fell to his former master, and while the
champions surprised some by putting
out an incredibly strong team for the FA
Cup amid a COVID-19 cluster, it en-
sured City’s progress with a 4-1 success
over Swindon Town last Friday.
The victory over Ben Garner’s outfit
was Man City’s seventh in a row across
all competitions as the Premier League
table-toppers seek to extend their lead
at the summit, and the returning Etihad
faithful ought to be treated to quite the
spectacle for their first home game of
2022.
Guardiola’s relentless crop have come
up trumps in each of their last seven
games at home across all tournaments
- including each of their last five in the
Premier League - and even without
a recognised striker for much of the
campaign, City have still averaged at
least three goals per Premier League
game at the Etihad.
In total, the reigning champions have
strung together an 11-game winning
streak in the Premier League, although
they can take nothing for granted against
title-challenging opponents buoyed by
reaching a mid-season cup final.
There was not a shred of sentimen-
tality towards Antonio Conte as the
Tottenham Hotspur boss reunited with
former club Chelsea for the second leg of
their EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday,
as the Blues got the job done in North
London to advance to the final.
The decision to drop Hugo Lloris in
favour of Pierluigi Gollini did not go
down too well with the Spurs fanbase,
and it was a call that ultimately did not
pay dividends, as the Italian failed to
meet Mason Mount’s corner and Anto-
nio Rudiger headed home to ensure a 3-0
aggregate success.
A shot at glory against either Liver-
pool or Arsenal awaits the Blues next
month, but keeping their fleeting title
hopes alive is currently the main aim for
Thomas Tuchel’s side, who are at risk of
falling 13 points behind City with defeat
at the Etihad.
The Blues could also finish the week-
end in third should Liverpool get the
better of Brentford a day later, but they
have excelled away from home amid a
batch of Stamford Bridge stalemates -
winning six of their last eight top-flight
games on rival turf and conceding a
league-low six goals in such games.
Gabriel Jesus was Man City’s saviour
in a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge earlier
in the season, but not since the 2017-18
campaign have the champions done the
double over Chelsea, who marched to a
2-1 success at the Etihad last term.
Meanwhile, Manchester United will be
looking to return to winning ways in the
Premier League when they travel to Villa
Park to take on Aston Villa this evening.
The Red Devils recorded a 1-0 victory
over Villa when the two teams met
in the FA Cup on Monday, with Scott
McTominay scoring the only goal of the
third-round contest at Old Trafford.
Villa have shown their intent by bring-
ing Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Dinge
to the club during the January window,
and there is no question that Gerrard
will be targeting a top-half finish,
despite the fact that the team actually sit
a disappointing 14th in the table after 19
matches of the 2021-22 campaign.
The hosts have won seven, drawn one
and lost 11 of their 19 league games
this term to collect 22 points, but they
are only three points behind 10th-
placed Leicester City, and it is difficult
to look too closely at the table at the
moment, as a number of teams have
matches to catch up on after COVID-19
issues.
Villa have lost four of their last five
matches in all competitions, including
three of their last four in the league
against Liverpool, Chelsea and Brent-
ford, which has seen them slide down
the table.
The Lions beat Man United 1-0 in the
reverse match at Old Trafford back in
September, but they have not overcome
the Red Devils at Villa Park in the
league since August 1995.
The visitors might have beaten Villa
in the FA Cup on Monday, but they
lost their last league game at home
to Wolverhampton Wanderers on
January 3, which put a dent in their
top-four aspirations.
Ralf Rangnick’s side are currently
seventh in the table, six points behind
fourth-placed West Ham United with
two games in hand on the Hammers,
so they are still very much in the argu-
Maxwel Cornet Burnley 6
Callum Wilson Newcastle 6
Head to Head
21-09-25 Chelsea 0-1 Man City
21-05-08 Man City 1-2 Chelsea
21-01-03 Chelsea 1-3 Man City
20-06-25 Chelsea 2-1 Man City
19-11-23 Man City 2-1 Chelsea
19-02-10 Man City 6-0 Chelsea
18-12-08 Chelsea 2-0 Man City
18-03-04 Man City 1-0 Chelsea
17-09-30 Chelsea 0-1 Man City
17-04-05 Chelsea 2-1 Man City
16-12-03 Man City 1-3 Chelsea
16-04-16 Chelsea 0-3 Man City
15-08-16 Man City 3-0 Chelsea
15-01-31 Chelsea 1-1 Man City
14-09-21 Man City 1-1 Chelsea
14-02-03 Man City 0-1 Chelsea
ment for a Champions League spot.
Cristiano Ronaldo has said that only a
top-three spot will be good enough for the
club, but they are 11 points off third-placed
Liverpool and will find it difficult to finish
any higher than fourth this term.
The 20-time English champions
have three huge Premier League
matches against Villa, Brentford and
West Ham to finish the month of
January before taking on Middles-
brough in the FA Cup at the start of
February.
The Champions League also resumes
next month, with the Red Devils facing
Atletico Madrid in the round of 16, and the
2021-22 campaign could yet to be a success
for Man United despite their issues thus far.
30
GLOBAL SOCCER
Super Eagles winger, Moses Simon was a thorn in the flesh of the Egyptian defence
AFCON 2021
Eguavoen Rules Out Awaziem against Sudan
Super Eagles interim
boss Augustine Eguavoen
has revealed that defender
Chidozie Awaziem will not
be part of the Super Eagles
game against Sudan today
because of an ankle injury.
Awaziem was not part of
the squad that prosecuted the
game against Egypt, which
raised eyebrows, considering
that he is currently one of the
best defenders in the team.
Awaziem was believed to
have suffered a knock and
was also under the weather.
It was hoped Awaziem
would recover in time for
the game against Sudan, but
speaking ahead of the game,
Eguavoen revealed Awaziem
would not feature, but he is
expected to return soon.
“That’s beyond me and
only the medics can answer
that,” Eguavoen said at the
pre-match press conference
Moses Gives Reason for Performance against Egypt
Super Eagles forward Mo-
ses Simon has said that he
gave a superb performance
against Egypt because he
was able to express himself
under interim boss Augus-
tine Eguavoen unlike when
he played under coach
Gernot Rohr.
Moses had one of
his best games in the
green and white jersey
as Nigeria secured a
comfortable 1-0 victory
over the Pharaohs.
He had a hand in the
only goal of the game
DStv, GOtv to Beam Live WWE Raw, Smackdown Thrillers
Fans of the WWE can
brace for another thrilling
week of action on Super-
Sport, with live airings of
the NXT, SmackDown and
Raw shows running from
Wednesday 12 to Tuesday
18 January 2022.
The action begins on the
morning of Wednesday
12 January with WWE
NXT Episode 651. LA
Knight has promised to
put Grayson Waller in
his place on the develop-
mental brand after their
recent comings together.
“Talk about the guy
who did one halfway
cool move at War Games,
with help, and all of a
sudden he thinks he’s
special,” said Knight.
“Somebody go find
as per Victor Modo.
“I know he has an ankle
injury and will be back very
soon.”
The team’s media officer,
Babafemi Raji, has however
denounced claims in some
quarters that Awaziem has
contracted the COVID-19
virus.
Speaking on the medical
condition of the player, Raji
rebuffed claims that the
player had either contracted
the virus or suffered a knock
as speculated.
“Awaziem is a bit under
the weather, nothing really
serious but just a little illness
otherwise he would have
been here (in training). It is
also nothing pertaining to the
knock he had or people said
he had. He is good to go.”
However, even with the
absence of Awaziem, the
team still boast of adequate
after his cross, which
was intercepted, bounced
towards Kelechi Iheana-
cho’s path.
Egypt fullback Mohamed
Abdelmonem injured
himself while marking
the 26-year-old, and his
replacement Akram Tawfik
had a tough time defending
against the Super Eagles
star.
Ahead of the game against
Sudan, the Jos-born forward
explained the reason for his
fine form whilst aiming a
slight dig at former Nigeria
Grayson Waller, tell him
I’m here or tell him to
come and find me if I
don’t find his a** first!”
Saturday 15 January
brings Episode 1169 of
WWE SmackDown. The
Viking Raiders have been
on a run of form lately and
will be chomping at the
bit to get a shot at the
Tag Team titles on the blue
brand.
“There is no person,
there is no team safe in the
entire land of SmackDown,
because the Viking Raiders
are here,” said Ivar.
Tuesday 18 January will
feature Episode 1495 of
WWE Raw. Bianca Belair
believes she has closed
the book on her rivalry
with Doudrop and is now
cover in central defence.
The partnership of William
Troost-Ekong and Kenneth
Omeruo was fantastic in the
game against the Pharaohs.
Although Omeruo picked
up an injury in the game
against Egypt, he returned
to training on Thursday. The
Super Eagles can also count
on the likes of Semi Ajayi
and Olisa Ndah.
Meanwhile, Eguavoen is
keeping his cards close to
his chest with regards to his
starting lineup for the clash
against Sudan.
When asked if he was
going to make changes to
the starting lineup, Eguavoen
said at the pre-match press
conference: “That’s a little
bit hard to say, we still have
24 hours. We hope that
everybody stays healthy and
fit and then tomorrow we
will see the lineup.”
coach Gernot Rohr.
“The game against Egypt
is one of my best in two
years,” Moses said at the
pre-match conference for the
game against Sudan.
“Every coach have their
mentality and impact. The
previous coach, I play to his
instructions. With the new
coach, he gave us freedom
and allowed us to bring our
style of play at club side.”
The Super Eagles star will
hope to continue in the same
vein when Nigeria face the
Falcons of Sudan.
turning her attention to
claiming some gold.
Belair said, “Doudrop
has been focusing more on
my career than hers,” said
the ‘EST of WWE. “I’m not
in her way, she’s in her
own way. Now I’m gonna
move on to new things...
she told me to get to the
back of the line, to earn
my way back to the top
and I’ve proved that. Now
I’m coming for the Raw
Women’s Championship.
I’m a keep doing what I do!”
Meanwhile, GOtv view-
ers can also enjoy some
world-class WWE action
every Wednesday evening
on SuperSport GOtv Select3,
with a past Pay-Per-View
(17:00), WWE 205 (21:00)
and a documentary (21:30).
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾JANUARY 15, 2022
Novak Djojovic is the defending champion of the Australian Open
Le Roy Gives Reason for Low Scoring at AFCON 2021
Experienced former football
manager Claude Le Roy has
adduced disrupted preparations
as reason for the low-scoring
start to the Africa Cup of
Nations.
Hosts Cameroon are the
sole side to have scored
two or more goals in a
game, while 10 of the first
14 matches have ended
1-0 - with two 0-0 draws.
“Fifa allowed the clubs to
let players arrive at the last
minute and that means the
first games are like prepara-
tion or training matches,”
Frenchman Le Roy, who led
Cameroon to Nations Cup
glory in 1988, told the BBC’s
Djokovic Faces Deportation after Australian Revoke His Visa
World Number 1 Novak
Djokovic faces deportation
after the Australian government
revoked his visa for a second
time, three days away from the
start of the 2022 Australian Open.
Immigration Minister Alex
Hawke released a statement
explaining that his decision to cancel
the men’s world number one’s
visa was made “in the public
interest”.
Djokovic, who has won the
Melbourne Grand Slam three
years running and nine times in
his career, can appeal the decision
in Federal Circuit and Family
Curtain Closes on Oba of Benin Golf Tourney Today
The 8th Oba of Benin Golf
Tournament which teed off
on Wednesday will come to a
close today at Benin Club Golf
Section (BCGS), Edo State.
The Oba Cup tournament is
one of the biggest golf event
in the South-South and it
featured over 200 amateur
and professional golfers from
various clubs in the country.
Captain of the Benin Club
Golf Section, Mr. Mayer
Ologbosere revealed during
media briefing on Wednesday
Nigeria vs Sudan Live on StarTimes as Nigerians Confident of Eagles Victory
After an impressive perfor-
mance against the Pharaohs
of Egypt at the ongoing Africa
Cup of Nations, Nigerians
now have high hopes in the
Super Eagles and can’t wait
to watch the next matches
showing live and in HD on
StarTimes.
The meeting between Ni-
geria and Sudan is scheduled
for 5pm kick-off today at the
Stade Omnisport Roumde
Adjia in Yaounde. Viewers
at home can watch live on
World Football podcast.
World Football - Africa
Cup of Nations: Under way
in Cameroon - BBC Sounds
The former Uganda and
Sierra Leone coach Johnny
McKinstry on the Africa Cup
of Nations.
“It is very, very difficult
for the coaches and the
teams to present a collective
way of playing because there
were so few training sessions
together.
“Normally for an Afcon
you have training for two
or three weeks before the
competition, like for a European
Championship.
“It (the quality of football)
Court.
The 34-year-old was included
in Thursday’s first-round draw
amid the wait for a decision over
whether he could remain in the
country, and had been due to
begin his pursuit of a 21st Grand
Slam title against unseeded Serb
Miomir Kecmanovic.
Hawke said: “Today I exercised
my power under section 133C(3)
of the Migration Act to cancel
the visa held by Mr Novak
Djokovic on health and good
order grounds, on the basis that
it was in the public interest to
do so.
stated that yesterday featured
handicaps 0-28 men, and 0-36
ladies as well as all veterans
and super veterans, while the
cocktail party was slated for
6pm same day.
He added that hcp 0-18
men as well as hcp 0-28
ladies and all guests will
exercise their skills at the
event today, while the dinner
and presentation of trophies
and prizes will be held at
6pm same day.
Similarly, Chairman of
the StarTimes World Football
channel in high definition
picture quality. Football fans
can pay-per-day to enjoy the
thrills at N200 for classic
bouquet (antenna users) and
N400 for super bouquet (dish
users). Fans can also watch
online via the StarTimes-ON
mobile app which costs just
N400 weekly for sport VIP
subscription.
A win against Sudan today
would qualify Nigeria into
the knockout stage, with a
will definitely improve a lot
after one or two weeks. It will
be so, so different.”
Le Roy, who has managed
at nine Nations Cups believes
the competition does not get
the respect it deserves in
Europe.
“The clubs in Europe think
it is a very good thing to find
players in Africa and take the
best of Africa, but they don’t
realise that maybe sometimes
they have to help a little bit,”
Le Roy, 73, added.
“They don’t realise how
important Afcon is for African
people - it is more important
than the World Cup, and they
have to realise that.”
“The decision followed
orders by the Federal Circuit
and Family Court on 10 January
2022, quashing a prior cancellation
decision on procedural fairness
grounds.
“In making this decision, I
carefully considered informa-
tion provided to me by the
Department of Home Affairs,
the Australian Border Force
and Mr Djokovic
“The Morrison Government is
firmly committed to protecting
Australia’s borders, particularly
in relation to the COVID-19
pandemic.”
the Tournament Organising
Committee, Peace Anunah
confirmed that His Royal
Majesty, Oba Ewuare II,
Oba of Benin Kingdom will
perform the ceremonial
tee-off today at 9am.
“Winners in each
category will take home
trophies and other prizes,
while individual perfor-
mances such as longest
drive, and nearest the pin
will be rewarded,” Anunah
concluded.
game to spare.
Sudan, meanwhile, were
lucky against Guinea Bissau in
their opening game after their
opponent missed a penalty.
Both countries have met 14
times, with Nigeria winning
eight times, while Sudan won
twice wins and four ended
in draws.
Following their dominance
in the victory over Egypt,
the Super Eagles are now
favourite to lift the Afcon
title in Cameroon.
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾JANUARY 15, 2022
Paul Mukairu, Now A Red
After several reports dating back
to close to two years Nottingham
Forest have confirmed Nigeria’s Paul
Mukairu has finally joined the Reds
from Antalyaspor
Paul Mukairu
N
ottingham For-
est were initially
considering a bid
for 21-year-old
Nigerian forward,
Paul Mukairu in the
summer of the 2022 but the Reds
have now made a move for the
youngster in the ongoing January
transfer window, as they aim to
finish in the Championship top
six this season for a chance to gain
promotion to the Premier League.
Nottingham Forest agreed
on a deal in principle with the
winger, after the Nigerian was
linked with a move to the City
Ground back in the summer,
with Dane Murphy thought to be
a huge fan.
The 21-year-old who signed
for Antalyaspor in 2021 made
19 appearances during 2021/22,
scoring four goals for the Turk-
ish top-flight outfit.
He returned from a loan spell
with Anderlecht during the
summer but for whatever rea-
son, hasn’t quite settled. Now, it
seems as though Forest will steal
in and land the player.
The report claims that Forest
will part with £1.8 million for
the player. There will also be a
clause included that sees Anta-
lyaspor claim 20 per cent of any
future sale.
Mukairu can play on either
flank. He has also showcased his
ability to operate through the
middle as a centre forward this
season.
Three of his goals have come
from playing upfront. That level
of versatility will suit the criteria
for what Steve Cooper likes in
his players.
Antalyaspor would welcome
the funds to bolster their own
squad. Now, it remains to be
seen whether Forest will do a
deal before the January transfer
window closes.
Mukairu has been linked with
Forest seemingly non-stop since
the summer. The fact he’s started
14 times this season and become
integral makes the current link
somewhat strange.
Turkish reports aren’t typically
the most reliable. This time,
there is actually a Turkish team
involved so at least this will
spark interest among support-
ers.
If Forest can get Mukairu over
the line, it could prove an excit-
ing addition. At 21, he has bags
of potential and his versatility
would make him a useful addi-
tion.
Supporters will probably tem-
per optimism right now. Until
one of the top domestic journal-
ists tweets something out, this
could be more idle gossip from
the continent.
Forest are ninth in the Champi-
onship table.
Ajansspor had earlier reported
that Forest wanted to sign Mu-
kairu from Antalyaspor in the
summer of 2021 and made an
offer £2 million for the Nigerian
forward, but Turkish club Anta-
lyaspor turned it down.
The Reds were trying to add
forwards to their squad, as they
aimed for better fortunes in front
of goal.
Forest scored the third-lowest
number of goals in the entire
EFL last season and naturally,
that saw the club target attack-
GLOBAL SOCCER
ers.
Mukairu has previously been
linked with Tottenham. Clearly,
he has talent and it’s perhaps
no surprise that Antalyaspor
wanted to take a closer look at
him.
The youngster does fit the pro-
file of a Murphy signing down
to the ground. He is young, has
considerable resale value and
wouldn’t cost the earth.
The tricky part of any deal
could be that he’s currently
featuring regularly in the
Antalyaspor team and that
muddies the water some-
what.
Mukairu can play in a
number of positions and that
does make him an attractive
proposition. Having players
that can adapt is a big aspect
of Forest’s squad and the
Nigerian fits that bill.
The youngster has a contract
until 2024 in Turkey and it
remains to be seen whether
Forest will move in January.
Manchester City hero,
Vincent Kompany is of the
opinion that Mukairu could
become an absolute star,
possessing all the necessary
attributes to become ‘special’.
“Paul has everything to
become a special player,” said
Kompany.
“I saw a player with 200 per
cent enthusiasm for train-
ing. As if he had come to
Anderlecht to let his family
survive,” Kompany had said.
“Someone who works hard
like him, who is so eager to help
the team, must be rewarded. His
goal is his reward.”
31
He plays with the name ‘Paul’
on the back of his shirt and with
the number 12 on the upper
back. The latter is a tribute to
Thierry Henry, the great idol of
Mukairu.
It is therefore no coincidence
that the Nigerian on the football
field sometimes reminds us of
Henry, not through the same
dose of quality, of course, but
through a similar style.
Because Mukairu has a natural
flair, a certain feast for the eyes
that not all footballers have, just
as Henry did in his days.
Furthermore, Mukairu proved
to possess all the core qualities
originally attributed to him. He
is enthusiastic, goal-oriented,
explosive and knows how to
handle the ball.
Moreover, Mukairu is not
afraid to do his defensive work
in an energetic style.
G LO B A L S O C C E R
ASSISTANT EDITOR
KUNLE ADEWALE
THISDAY ON SATURDAY
EDITOR
YEMI ADEBOWALE
DEPUTY EDITOR
AHAMIFULA OGBU
THISDAY NEWSPAPERS
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN
NDUKA OBAIGBENA
MANAGING DIRECTOR
ENIOLA BELLO
DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR
ISRAEL IWEGBU
32 THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾JANUARY 15, 2022
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾JANUARY 15, 2022 33
34
AUTO WORLD
Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost
Rolls-Royce: 2021 Sales
Highest in 117-year History
R
olls-Royce Motor Cars has
reported record 2021 sales,
up 49% on the same period
in 2020, which is the highest
sales in the marque’s 117-year
history.
According to the automaker, all-time records
were set in most sales regions, “including Greater
China, the Americas and Asia-PaciÀc, and in
multiple countries across the world”
with “high demand for all models, particularly
Ghost and Cullinan.
“Rolls-Royce is the undisputed leader in the
+€250k segment. Orders extend into the third
quarter of 2022; Bespoke commissions also at
record levels. Record intake for Apprenticeship
Programme: 37 apprentices join in September
2022.”
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Of-
Àcer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said, “2021 was a
phenomenal year for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
We delivered more cars than at any time in the
marque’s 117-year history with unprecedented
demand for all products in every global market.
Our extremely strong product portfolio, an
exceptional Bespoke oͿering, together with
the Àrst full year of availability of Ghost, the
launch of Black Badge Ghost in October and
the continuing record demand for Bespoke
New Mercedes-AMG SL is Short
Version Luxurious Roadster
T
he new Mercedes-AMG SL, the
new edition of an icon, returns
to its roots with a classic soft top
and sporty character, according
to the automaker.
At the same time, the luxurious
roadster as a 2+2 seater is particularly suitable
for everyday use and puts its power down on
the road with all-wheel drive for the first time.
High-tech components such as AMG ACTIVE
RIDE CONTROL suspension with active anti-roll
stabilization, rear-axle steering, and optionally
available AMG ceramic high-performance composite
brake system are available. In combination with
the Handcrafted AMG 4.0-liter V8 biturbo engine,
this results in a driving experience of the highest
order. As a consistent Performance Luxury model,
Mercedes-AMG in Affalterbach has developed
the SL completely independently. Two models
with AMG V8 engines will kick off the market
launch.
Almost 70 years ago, a sports car launched in
Stuttgart immediately became a legend. The vision
personalisation, has contributed meaning-
fully to our extremely strong performance.
This is hugely encouraging as we prepare
for the historic launch of Spectre, our Àrst
all-electric car. Building on this year’s success,
we will continue to evolve as a true luxury
brand, beyond the realms of automotive
manufacturing.”
In 2021, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars delivered
the highest-ever annual sales results in the
marque’s 117-year history.
The company delivered 5,586 motor cars to
clients around the world, up 49% on the same
period in 2020. This overall Àgure includes
all-time record sales in most regions, including
Greater China, the Americas and Asia-PaciÀc,
and in multiple countries across the globe.
All Rolls-Royce models performed extremely
strongly. Growth has been driven principally
by Ghost, with demand surging further, fol-
lowing the launch of Black Badge Ghost in
October 2021. This, together with the continuing
pre-eminence of Cullinan and the marque’s
pinnacle product, Phantom, has ensured order
books are full well into the third quarter of
2022. The company’s Provenance (pre-owned)
programme also enjoyed exceptional sales
results in 2021, achieving an all-time record.
Bespoke commissions remain at record levels,
with magniÀcent individual examples including
of expanding the potential of the Mercedes-Benz
brand through motor racing successes produced
the first SL as a result - a road-going racing sports
car. Shortly after its debut in 1952, the 300 SL
(internal designation W 194) reaped success
after success on the race tracks of the world.
In its first year, it achieved, among other things,
a spectacular one-two victory in the legendary
24 Hours of Le Mans and even took the first
four places in the Nürburgring Grand Jubilee
Prize for sports cars. Its successes quickly make
the SL a legend.
The successful racing car was followed in
1954 by the 300 SL production sports car (W
198), which is called the “Gullwing” because of
its unusual doors. In 1999, a jury of motoring
journalists voted it the “Sports Car of the Century.”
Other highlights of the model history include
the “Pagoda” (W 113, 1963-1971), the evergreen
R 107 (1971-1989), which was built for 18 years,
and its successor, the R 129, which is considered
an automotive sculpture because of its striking
wedge shape.
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER JANUARY 15, 2022
07052343083 Email:bennett.oghifo@thisdaylive.com
the spectacular Phantom Oribe co-created with
Hermès, alongside the Phantom Tempus, and
Black Badge Wraith and Black Badge Dawn
Landspeed Collection cars. The company
signalled its commitment to leading a new
contemporary coachbuilding movement with
RollsRoyce Coachbuild becoming a permanent
Àxture in its future portfolio, and with it the
unveiling of its latest coachbuilt masterpiece,
Boat Tail.
Rolls-Royce also announced its Àrst all-electric
car, Spectre, during 2021. The extraordinary
undertaking of bringing Spectre to market by
the fourth quarter of 2023 has now begun,
and the most punishing testing protocol ever
conceived for a RollsRoyce is underway. This
2.5million-kilometre journey, which extends
to all four corners of the world, will simulate
more than 400 years of use for a RollsRoyce.
While preparations are made for the marque’s
all-electric future, Rolls-Royce continues to
meet the surge in demand for its current
portfolio through a Áexible manufacturing
process and the dedication of the over 2,000
people who work at the Home of Rolls-Royce
in Goodwood, West Sussex and around the
world. The Rolls-Royce factory at Goodwood
is currently running at near-maximum capacity,
on a two-shift pattern to fulÀl orders from
clients around the world.
The new Mercedes-AMG SL
Bennett Oghifo
TIPS OF THE WEEK
Top Tips to Reduce
Car Noises
All cars make all sorts of noises, but not
all those noises mean the same. While some
noises indicate a problem, most of them are
just a part of the car’s regular operation.
I am guessing here, but I think that most
drivers would love to reduce those noises to
enjoy a quieter and more peaceful drive.
The normal noises in your car can sometimes
be annoying. Yes, even those that you know
are part of its everyday use, such as the noise
from the road, the air passing the car, and the
hum from the engine bay.
All these noises are transmitted through
vibrations, and that’s actually the key to
reducing noise – reduce the vibrations, and
you cut down the noise.
You can do that with insulation, soundprooÀng,
and other methods, but let’s Àrst look at the
good and bad noises that your car makes. After
that, we’ll check out 10 ways you can do to
for a quieter drive.
What Car Noises Are Bad?
Firstly, we must all remember that a car
making noise when driving isn’t necessarily
a good thing, so don’t ignore it by playing music
louder. On the Áip side, it’s not necessarily a
bad thing either, so don’t be too quick to panic.
That’s why drivers should know how to
separate the good from the bad. Unfortunately,
they didn’t teach us any of this back in driving
school.
When you can tell the good from the bad
just by listening to your car, you’ll be able to
nip small issues in the bud and avoid costly
problems later. You can check out our previous
article to learn about eight car noises that should
warn you of a real problem.
In this guide, we’re going to focus on sounds
you don’t need to worry about and what you
can do to reduce them.
What to Do If Your Car Starts Making
Strange Noises
Car noises are not things that you should take
lightly. So, what do you do if your vehicle starts
making noises that you know aren’t good signs?
1. Try your best to identify the sound. That
will make everything so much easier when
you try to describe the issue to your mechanic.
It might seem ridiculous at Àrst to mimic
the noises you hear and tell your mechanic
you heard a “ping-ping-ping” or a “tut-tut-tut”
sound, but that’s how it is.
Just do your best version of the sound because
your mechanic has been in the business for
quite some time and will likely recognise the
car noise you’re trying to replicate.
More important than that, observe two other
things about the noise and impart this info to
the mechanic.
2. Take note when the noises happen. For
example, do you hear the car noises when
accelerating only, pressing the brakes, or both?.
(Source: Carpart)
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER JANUARY 15, 2022
AUTO WORLD
Suzuki Dedicates Strongest Comeback Award in Nigeria to Loyal Customers
O
wners of Suzuki cars in Nigeria will
soon have the opportunity to join
the Suzuki by CFAO owners club
and earn rewards for their loyalty.
Aissatou Diouf, General Manager,
Suzuki by CFAO, disclosed this while reacting to
the award received as the ‘Strongest Comeback Car
Brand Of The Year’ given to the Japanese automobile
franchisee at the last Nigeria Auto Journalists Associa-
tion (NAJA) awards night held at the Eko Hotels
& Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Fielding questions from motoring journalists on
how she felt about Suzuki being voted as the strongest
comeback brand of the year, Aissatou Diouf, one of
the very few female strong players in the country’s
automotive industry said, “ It is a great honor for
the Suzuki team to have been awarded. We are
happy Nigerians have warmed up to our brand
and it gladdens our hearts to see Suzuki cars on
the road across the country.
The general nanager expressed appreciation to
customers for trusting in the company and promised
that her team will continue seeking ways to enhance
their driving experience.
Reacting to those marketing strategies adopted that
shaped and increased public awareness of the brand
within a very short period of her assumption of office,
Aissatou Diouf said that the team actively listened
to Suzuki customers in order to better understand
Toyota Develops All-new 2022 Corolla Cross
As the newest versatile family member in the Corolla
family, the first-ever 2022 Toyota Corolla Cross kicks off
the new year with the “Just Right” campaign, which
highlights the compact SUV’s capabilities and features
that are sure to accommodate life’s adventures.
“We’re excited to launch the first-ever Corolla Cross
here in the U.S. with the ‘Just Right’ campaign, which
encourages guests to cherish life’s perfect wins, big or
small,” said Lisa Materazzo, group vice president, Toyota
Marketing, Toyota Motor North America. “Corolla Cross
has everything our drivers want – an elevated and
upgraded compact SUV, designed for every lifestyle.”
The fully integrated Corolla Cross campaign was
developed using Toyota’s long-standing Total Toyota
(T2) marketing model, fully considering the transcultural
mainstream audiences across America. Toyota campaigns
are integrated through one strategic brief, creative idea
and media plan – and create a cohesive marketing
approach inclusive of multicultural marketing and the
total market model. The T2 agency team includes
Saatchi & Saatchi, Burrell Communications, Conill
Advertising and Intertrend, with ZenithMedia placing
TV and outdoor media buys.
The campaign showcases a unified style across all
creative throughout the T2 agency broadcast spots,
which are highlighted below:
Guarding Against Excessive Speed in 2022
I wish I was a Prophet. I also wish that God called
me to be His Minister with a thriving Church in any
part of the country but I am grateful that I have my
market place which is saving precious lives on the
road. However, I sometimes operate prophetically
in my marketplace like I have done in previous
years, when in December I raised alarm on certain
behavioral tendencies responsible for avoidable road
traffic crashes such as excessive speeding.
But before I continue, I must start this piece by first
expressing my profound gratitude to the Almighty
God for his mercies that kept us all through 2021.
The year 2021 was loaded with challenges but in all
of these challenges, we are still standing strong and
thankful for the gift of life. I must thank God also,
for my readers and my editors as well as my critics
who spare me the blade whenever they attempt to
hit me below the belt for not meeting up to their
expectations.
I must also express gratitude to God for those who
ignored the wise counsel against travelling during 2021
yuletide because of the inherent risks in the face of
the current global pandemic and its variants. These
counsels and warnings came from various quarters
such as the World Health Organization (WHO) as
well as world leaders. The World Health Organization
was the first to warn countries not to underestimate
Omicron. The WHO observed that over 77 countries
had reported while noting that it is in most countries
even if not reported. The Organization warned that
Omicron is spreading at a rate not seen with any
previous variant, warning countries and individuals
Suzuki Baleno
their expectations and create offers to suit their needs.
“We understand that our customers are our
greatest assets and for us to be successful we have
to give them the best value for their money. We
In the spot created by Saatchi & Saatchi and directed
by Max Malkin, “Perfect Getaway” features a group
of friends heading out for a weekend escape. They’re
in awe as the rain suddenly clears so they’re able to
pack up their Corolla Cross. As they’re leaving town,
all the traffic lights turn green, and the day suddenly
falls into place for their road trip.
In “Find Your Groove,” created by Burrell Com-
munications and directed by Daniel Azancot, internet
dance phenomenon Aubrey Fisher and his friends
pack up for a road trip, utilizing the Corolla Cross to
help them find their groove to begin their trip – from
an automatic liftgate and spacious cargo area to five-
passenger seating.
Intertrend developed two spots, “Showtime” and
“Picture Perfect,” that highlight the all-new Corolla
Cross’ available AWD capabilities and seamless style. In
“Showtime,” a man picks up his cousin from the airport,
who’s come to America for the first time. Looking to
impress him, he takes him to a one-of-a-kind view of
the Northern Lights, equally as unique as the Corolla
Cross. In “Picture Perfect,” a content creator couple
looks to amaze their followers with the help of the
Corolla Cross. Through every turn of their drive, the
couple, their dogs and the Corolla Cross are in perfect
sync to the beat of the music.
SAFE
DRIVING
with
Jonas Agwu
amnipr, mcipr,mprsa,arpa
Assistant Corps Marshal
Zonal Commanding Officer
Federal Road Safety Corps.
not to dismiss Omicron as mild, saying that whoever
does so is at his peril noting that the sheer number of
cases could overwhelm health systems. The WHO
therefore appealed for sustained vaccination as well
as compliance to other protocols. Even the Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson and
other world leaders reechoed similar warnings, pleading
for restrictions on travels during the yuletide which in
our clime fell on deaf ears as most people including
my dear pals dared Omicron and travelled without
compliance with the protocols.
Now that we have crossed over to 2022, the year
that holds greater promises from above, it is time to
pause and attempt a postmortem on how we fared in
2021. I am sure you heard the Corps Marshal of the
Federal Road Safety Corps when he lamented on the
spate of road crashes especially the ill-fated fatal crash
that occurred during the yuletide around Baguada
Law School, on Kano-Zaria expressway caused majorly
by excessive speed and loss of control. The statement
conveyed directives to intensify enforcement of the
introduced the SMART Link Display innovation
to some models, expanded our aftersales network,
and also engaged more with our customers through
our various lifestyle events”.
The All-New 2022 Toyota Corolla Cross
installation of speed limiting devices by commercial
vehicles operators nationwide. The statement further
noted that the unfortunate crash occurred as a result
of speed limit violation involving two Toyota buses
which conveyed a total of 45 passengers out of which
26 were injured while 19 comprising 15 male adults
and five female adults were killed.
During our media chat as stated earlier, we identified
speed violation, dangerous driving, route violation
as major causative factors within the Federal Capital
Territory. I was therefore not surprised when some
observers within the FCT submitted that crashes in
the Abuja roads are birthed from over speeding and
driving under the influence such as the one which
occurred along the Kubwa express and claimed some
lives. Another concurred but added poor driving skills.
There were several others who shared the same with a
handful submitting that no regards for other road users
as well as basic driving etiquette were also responsible.
The development has prompted our renewed
enforcement on speed limiting devices in 2022 which
is compulsory for commercial vehicles. Although I
intend to focus on speed limiting devices next week,
permit me to inform you that in 2021, a total of 5006
arrests were effected within Zone 7 comprising the FCT
and Niger State. However, the sampled views make
it imperative for the FRSC to also focus on private
car owners who also constitute a cross section of bad
and irresponsible drivers in Abuja and other parts
of the country. That is why I am prompted today to
publish this piece which I hope would deter speed
freaks from committing driving hara-kiri. I do hope
35
On where CFAO Motors is taking the Suzuki
brand to in a few years, she expressed optimism in
the fact that they will continue to provide efficient
mobility solutions.
you know what happens when you fail to drive by
the approved speed limit as contained in our traffic
laws. Statistics available to the Federal Road Safety
Corps indicates that excessive speed ranks as the
highest causative factor, accounting for about 725
cases in the FCT in 2021. Dangerous driving is the
second highest as it accounted for 109 cases. This is
despite the provisions of the National Road Traffic
Regulations which spells out the speed limits for
various categories of vehicles on our roads. While
the law speciÀes 100kmh for private cars for
private cars on the expressway, the same law
speciÀes a speed limit of 90kmh for taxis and
buses. Trailers and Tankers have a maximum
speed of 60kmh and 45kmh for towing vehicles
while in a build-up area, the speed limit could
be between 20-30kmh to 50kmh.
Despite this prohibition on speed, excessive
speeding remains on the increase even though
research Àndings indicate that at a speed of a
1000kmh, your vehicle does 28 metres per hour.
This development prompted the Corps to midwife
the installation of speed limiters in vehicles. It
held nationwide stakeholders’ fora on speed limiting
devices and called on relevant stakeholders such as
the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) on
the need for speed calming devices to be installed
along strategic corridors. Across the country, various
stakeholders threw their weight behind the new
initiatives, stressing the significance of speed limiters
in the campaign to check excessive speeding in
the country.
36
EXPRESSION
‘Gossip’: Mostly Uncountable
Y
OU are welcome to this
edition with this horren-
dous howler “…who was
arraigned on a 34-count
charge bothering (border-
ing) on the diversion of….”
From DAILY INDEPEN-
DENT of January 7 come the next two
errors: “We assure Your Excellency that
this confidence reposed on (in) our former
Senate Leader is well placed and will
manifest without probation.”
“CSR: NLNG invests N200m on (in) 10
Nigerian postgraduate scholars” Source:
as above)
For the first time since 2013 when
this column birthed, we continue this
edition with an advertisement: “Salt
Spring Resort has been redefined and
renovated to provide excellent service.” A
refreshing experience of paradise; provide
an excellent service or provide excellent
services
Still on the above source: “We are
poise (poised) to deliver uncompromise
(uncompromised) quality product that will
ultimately satisfied (satisfy) our es-
teemed customers. Come lets (let’s) give
you….” (Full-page advertisement by Nanet
Hotels Limited) What do we do with the
sub-literacy of advertisement copies?
“Anger, protests, as deceased’s friends
point fingers at lawmaker” Get it right:
point the finger at lawmaker
THE NATION ON SUNDAY of January
9 endangered the English language
on two occasions: “In most cases, the
necessary environment does not exist for
meaningful importation (impartation) of
knowledge.”
“Matters are not helped by students
who are now distracted by things that
have no bearing to (on) their studies.”
“Gov. Aminu Tambuwal, appears set to
2023 Gladiators: My Perceptions
T
he closest theory to our frame
of thought, and upon which our
subsequent arguments and infor-
mation is based, is the constructivist
theory of perception by a British
pioneer of cognitive psychology, and
professor of Neuropsychology at
the University of Bristol, England, Richard Langton
Gregory, CBE (1923 - 2010). A paraphrase of an
aspect of his 1970 theory relevant to us today
argues “that past knowledge and experience is the
most important factor when making sense of the
world around us. Gregory proposed that perception
worked by making reasonable guesses about what
we are seeing based on what it is most likely to be.”
So, let us use that as a keyholder in understand-
ing the subtleties driving our perceptions of the
folks jostling to rule Nigeria in 2023. (Surely, you
are not one of those who characterise the mindsets
of most Nigerian political leaders as some sort of
craving to ‘lead’?)
We have a heavy cast of contenders, pretenders
and comedians - at the last count, more than
20 people. Some of those with long-standing
ambitions of nurturing presidential hope include:
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former president, Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan, former vice president, Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar; Sokoto State governor, Aminu
Waziri Tambuwal; former governors of Lagos State,
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Imo State, Owelle Rochas
Okorocha; Kano State, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso;
Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki; Abia State, Chief Orji
Uzor Kalu; Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, and Mr. Gbenga
Olawepo-Hashim.
Recently, we have witnessed stirrings, kite-flying,
and muted flare campaigns by amorphous groups
intimating us of some newcomers to the presi-
dential groovy train... Names have been dropped,
such as: Governors David Umahi (Ebonyi), Kayode
Fayemi (Ekiti), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Yahaya
Bello (Kogi) and Nyesom Wike (Rivers); as well
as Messrs Chris Baywood-Ibe, Peter Obi, Rotimi
Amaechi; Senators Danjuma Goje, Anyim Pius
Anyim, Ali Modu Sheriff, and the current senate
president, Ahmad Lawan. Of course, the list is by no
means exhaustive, as names are popping up every
other day.
My self-imposed assignment is not to analyse
take the bull by the horn (horns) by declar-
ing his interest in the 2023 presidency….”
“Students of the Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, Awka, are to cough-out (no
hyphen) a total of N5 million for repairs
of damages (damage) they perpetrated
during a demonstration in July last year.”
‘Damage’ admits an inflection only in
reparative matters.
“Now, It in the race for the coveted seat
of vice-chancellorship, and boy, are the
learned dons falling over themselves (one
another) to out do (one word) each other
(one another)?” When two fellows are
concerned, we use ‘each other,’ but if it is
more than two, it becomes ‘one another’,
“Secret cult in the campuses” Always on
campuses
“Kano Pillars in trouble…yet to sign-on
players” ‘Sign on’, a phrasal verb, does not
require hyphenation.
“Thus, cargo that have been certified
okay here….” I certify that ‘cargo’ is
singular.
“Inconsistent government policies is
globally disturbing….” Concord is one of
the simplest things in grammar. Anybody
who lacks this rudimentary knowledge
has no business contributing to the most
authoritative newspaper (name withheld!)
in Nigeria. You must develop your com-
municative skills first.
“Banks impose a lot difficult conditions
on exporters and even charged (sic) some
‘hidden’ fees before the disbursement of
these loans are (is) done…
“CPC to clampdown on illegal microfi-
nance banks” Phrasal verb: clamp down
(two words).
“An acknowledged scholar, a distin-
guished statesman and a team leader
per excellence” Get it right: leader par
excellence.
“New trends in electioneering cam-
their credentials to contest for the biggest office
in the land; not even their competencies, and
suitability - not their electability nor their capacity to
exhume a war-chest brimming with billions of naira
and other foreign currencies, which would be sorely
needed to put up a serious-minded and significant
campaign… that and more would be critical
towards claiming the right to succeed President
Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
My perceptions are simply self-designed criteria
to which we intend to sieve the aspirants through,
and which we strongly suspect may be similar
to that of the majority of ‘non-aligned’, non-party-
card-carrying members of the Nigerian society.
You must have noticed that we avoided using the
phrase ‘non-partisan’ in our description above - such
Nigerians are in a worryingly minute minority - to
the point of being near untraceable.
We will hover across the names of random
aspirants in no particular order, and make our
perceptions known without fear or favour. We will
also appreciate your feedback afterwards, with
equal openness and fairness.
Of course, we anticipate that these perceptual
interventions may not sit well with some supporters
of this or that aspirant, and would hasten to dismiss
our perceptions in the usual Nigerian “aggression”
and “resilience”. It won’t matter if millions of other
Nigerians ‘perceive’ your candidates as such, and
you refuse to do the needful - meaning that you
should stay away from compounding our problems
or prepare for a tortuous ride to nowhere. Let us
move...
Rochas Okorocha, 59: The former Imo State
governor has been struggling to be a president long
before he became the governor of Imo State in
2011. He is currently the senator representing Imo
West senatorial district - a position he stepped into
after leaving the Owerri governor’s lodge as a two-
termer. He switched positions with the incumbent
governor, Hope Uzodinma who was his predecessor
in the Nigerian Senate - after a dramatic judicial
masterstroke.
Okorocha is a flamboyant politician with a fairly
extensive entrepreneurial outlay even before he
joined mainstream politics.
He is perceived to be unserious, largely
showboating for political overdraft, and blessed
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER JANUARY 15, 2022
paigns” Politics Today: just electioneering
or political campaigns. ‘Electioneering
campaign’ is sheer verbiage! ‘Electioneer-
ing’ encompasses campaign and other
related electoral issues.
“Some countries have taken tobacco
manufacturers to court for the damages
their products cause.” The will to die:
damage is uncountable, except in repara-
tive applications for indemnity.
“…what happened was that somebody
filed a writ of summon.” This way
(singular): a writ of summons; plural:
summonses.
“It is the Federal Board that is always
guilty of that, because it is them who take
riff-raffs as welfare officers.” ‘Riff-raff’,
just like ‘stuff’, is uncountable.
“Modern technology has reduced
the world into (to) a hamlet where the
inhabitants are their brothers’ keepers.”
This way: brother’s keeper (fixed idiom),
irrespective of the number of people
involved.
“The coincidence in the timing of
all those sleazy gossips in soft-sell
magazines and the beginning of his
fashion parade….” ‘Gossip’, in this context,
is uncountable.
“More overaged players for youth
soccer” Get it right: overage players.
“Residents of some of the troubled
spots in Libya in disarray” Witness to
lexical mayhem: trouble spots.
“…rummaging all the bags and
ransacking every nook and corner.” Stock
expression: nook and cranny.
“The police requires (require) a
redeemer who can uplift the Force from
the battering it (they) suffered during the
long years of militarization.”
“I inquired from those that appear to
know and they said that the president is
(was) roaming the country in the name of
with an outsized ego driven by pretensions of
intellection.
In 1999 when this fourth republic emerged,
he contested the gubernatorial primaries on the
platform of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP to
be Imo State’s chief executive. He lost to Achike
Udenwa. In 2003, he contested the presidential
primaries of the All Nigerian People’s Party, ANPP.
He lost.
He returned to the PDP and became a Special
Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo after the
2003 elections. His portfolio? Inter-Party Affairs
(read between the lines).
For the 2007 elections, Okorocha needed to
own a political party so as to sufficiently accom-
modate his presidential ambition - pronto, Action
Alliance (AA) was formed in 2005. When that
vehicle collapsed alongside his ambition in 2007,
he returned to PDP, whereupon he revved up his
tireless machinery for the next campaign: to be the
national chairman of PDP! Well, same story...
For the 2011 gubernatorial elections, the
Okorocha caravan moved once more - to another
party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)
for his second attempt at the cherished Imo gover-
nor’s seat. Despite concerted efforts to push him
out of APGA in 2010, Okorocha battled against
all odds, and succeeded as APGA’s candidate at
the April 11, 2011 polls. He beat his former party
co-combatant, and incumbent governor, Ikedi
Ohakim (PDP). The election umpire, INEC, declared
the election inconclusive as thousands of votes
were cancelled in more than 250 polling units, in
23 out of 27 local government areas. Collations
were allegedly marred by irregularities, and some
places abandoned voting due to security threats.
Nonetheless, Okorocha won the re-run election.
He also added “iberiberism” to our political
lexicon - a word crafted from Igbo language to
explain some acts of foolishness...somewhat apt
when juxtaposed with his soapbox antics and
exhibitionism. You may also not be too far off
the mark if you characterise him as an energetic
mobilizer who confuses braggadocio for charisma,
and vitriol for erudition.
Two years into his tenure as Imo governor,
he moved to the newly formed All Progressives
Congress, APC. In deference to his knack for
MEDIAGAFFES
EBERE
WABARA
ewabara@yahoo.com, 08055001948
campaigns.”
“There is (are) no electricity, no security,
no water, no roads, no health facilities in
Nigeria.”
“Foreign companies will be falling over
themselves (one another) to come and
invest here if we get the 2023 elections
right.”
“...given the lame-duck posture of the
opposition parties, the PDP simply held
sway from the onset (outset).”
“Reactions on (to) the Pope’s visit,
however successful, were mixed in Egypt,
a country inhabited by a predominantly
Muslim population.”
“Prior to the Pope’s visit, Egyptian
Catholics have (had) opted out of the….”
“The first part was published last week
Friday.” Monday politics: either last Friday
or Friday, last week.
“Vigilante (Vigilance) groups, committed
to….”
FEEDBACK
MY brother Ebere, “celebrator” or
“celebrant”, like “enquiry” or “inquiry”, is
becoming similar in United States and
United Kingdom. In the future, the word
“celebrator” might be outdated because it
also refers to a special beer, dopplebuck
beer, and with apology, a satisfied “sex
life” using a Clito-vibrator! Latest research
by Jose Carillo, February 2013 citing
authorities in lexicography/American
Heritage DIC (AHD), has overtaken
Merriam Webster/Oxford online defini-
tions of “celebrator”. However, current
Oxford dictionary also defines “celebrant”
(American English) as someone celebrat-
ing something e.g. a party. “Celebrator” is
omitted. But will it be old-fashioned? Time
will tell. Cheers! (Contributed by Sunny
Agbontaen, Benin City, 08055162531)
COUNTERPOINT
FEMI
AKINTUNDE-JOHNSON
fajalive1@gmail.com
08182223348 - (SMS Only)
brouhaha and compulsive animated bravura, he was
elected by his opposition governor-mates as the
chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum.
His tenure in Imo State is still being painted
in many uncharitable colours, making canvas of
his first public service a knowingly exhausted
kaleidoscope of exaggerated populism, outlandish
infrastructures, misplaced do-goodism, and
such cranks notorious with individuals under the
influence of hubric delusion and self-importance.
Still thirsty for presidential cocktails, Nigerians
were not surprised when Okorocha tried his luck
against Buhari in the 2015 presidential primaries
- even as a sitting governor, eyeing a second term!
He lost once again, but was returned to the Owerri
stool of power.
In furtherance of his peculiar self-conceit, he
handpicked his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu (insidiously
appointed earlier as his chief of staff) to run as the
candidate of APC in the 2019 elections, so as to
succeed him! Well, the gods must have had enough
of Okorocha’s rigmarole.
Nwosu lost the ticket to Hope Uzodinma,
then a senator; and defected to his father-in-law’s
re-exhumed party, Action Alliance, where the ticket
was undisputed. But, the chief puppeteer of the
charade, Okorocha, was promptly suspended from
APC for the usual practice - anti-party activities.
As it is common in the chicanery called Nigerian
politics, Okorocha rallied his machinery, and won the
senatorial seat in the Imo West/Orlu district - under
the usual chaotic Nigerian political clouds and
smokes.
Today, Senator Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha
wants to aim, once again, for the only exalted office
that has failed him many times - the president of
Nigeria - in 2023. The signs are clear that he may
have a loooong wait, where the only solid peg
to hang on while biding his time, and nursing his
war-chest, and Providence - is another on the run at
the Senate seat, again and again.
THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER JANUARY 15, 2022
FEATURES
How Toby Okechukwu Uses
Education to Fight Poverty
Olaoluwakitan Babatunde, who was at the recent education grant-giving event by theToby Okechukwu
Foundation, x-rays how Deputy Minority Leader, House of Representatives, uses educational
empowerment to wage war against poverty
C
all it love for education. Call it
war against poverty. You will
still be right, for just like the
late nationalist and former
President of Tanzania, Julius
Nyerere, the Deputy Minor-
ity Leader of the House of
Representatives, Hon. Toby
Okechukwu, and his wife, Mrs. Lillian Uche
Okechukwu, strongly believe that education is
not just a way to escape poverty, but also a way
of fighting it. And they are not alone.
According to the Global Partnership for Educa-
tion, ensuring quality education for all is not only
central to the achievement of all the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG), but in particular the
goal to end extreme poverty.
Likewise, a UNESCO Global Monitoring/Edu-
cation Commission Generation Report provides
empirical evidence on the impact of education
on individual’s earnings and economic growth.
According to the report, 171 million people could
be lifted out of extreme poverty if all children
left school with basic reading skills. That will
be 12 per cent drop in the world total. Also, the
absolute poverty could be reduced by 30 per
cent from learning improvements outlined by
the Education Commission.
Going further, the report shows that education
reduces economic inequalities. It shows that
if workers from poor and rich backgrounds
received the same education, disparity between
the two could decrease by 39 per cent.
In “Milestones in Educational Empowerment”,
a compendium of the strides of The Toby Oke-
chukwu Foundation in education across Aninri/
Awgu/Oji River Federal Constituency, Okechuk-
wu recalls how Singapore moved from a small,
poor, tropical island with mostly uneducated and
unskilled tiny and thinly populated Third World
nation that she was at independence in 1965, to a
First World nation courtesy of education and the
visionary leadership of Lee Kwan Yew.
“No nation makes progress beyond the
quality of its educational system. More so in
the competitive world of knowledge-driven
economies where the successes of the leading
economies – U.S.A, China, Japan, Germany,
India, U.K, France, Italy, Brazil, Canada, South
Korea, among others - are underlined by heavy
investments in education and Research and
Development (R&D).
“The story of South Korea, which broke into
the club of trillion dollar economies in 2004 is
particularly interesting, as it achieved in just a
few decades what took many developed nations
of today centuries to achieve. Also, India, which
could only muster a measly $189.439 billion
GDP in 1980, rose from an agrarian economy to
a knowledge economy. India hit a $2.94 trillion
GDP to overtake U.K and France and become the
fifth-largest economy in 2019.
“Human progress can only come through
the mastery of every operating environment;
and I am supremely confident that education
provides the right of way to that path.
“My wife and I believe that a journey of a
thousand miles starts with just a step. We also
appreciate the fact the market will remain
empty all should everyone wait in the comfort
of his or her home for others to fill the market
before venturing out. Therefore, we decided
to invest in the education of our people as the
greatest and most basic empowerment there
is and as our modest contributions towards
changing the dwindling fortunes of education
in Nigeria, and by extension the nation’s woe-
ful economic and development narratives.
“It is a path we have chosen and hope to walk
till the end of time, God’s grace”, Okechukwu
writes.
Some of the students that benefited from the foundation
Making a difference
Since its establishment in 2012, the Toby
Okechukwu Foundation has continued to make
a difference by giving back to the society in the
areas of education, healthcare, and vocational
training, and poverty alleviation. It has devoted
ample resources to capacity building of teach-
ers, infrastructural interventions, provision
of instructional materials, and ensuring that
most indigent children obtain at least a Senior
Secondary School Certificate.
Before 2021, about 3,000 students have
benefited from the Foundation’s education
grants, which enabled them to register for the
West African School Certificate Examination,
WASCE. The Foundation has also donated
instructional materials to public schools in
Greater Awgu in addition to sponsoring the
training of Science teachers in the Scientific
Equipment Development Institute (SEDI),
Akwuke, Enugu.
Through the interventions of the Chairman of
the Foundation, a number of schools have been
renovated and new blocks of classroom erected.
He has also assisted with school furniture.
Furthermore, Mobile Science Kits for Physics,
Chemistry, and Biology have been provided for
all the public in secondary schools in Greater
Awgu, in addition to other instructional materi-
als.
2021: Back on a familiar track
Continuing in the established traditions, it
was therefore fanfare and rekindling of hope,
as the Foundation doled out educational
grants to 600 beneficiaries drawn from 60
public post-primary schools in Greater Awgu
to help them pay for their West African School
Certificate Examination (WASCE) fees on the
fringes of the yuletide. Students, teachers,
teachers, community leaders, and stakeholders
were particularly ecstatic since the outbreak
of Covid19 pandemic prevented them from
gathering in like manner in 2020.
Meanwhile, the education grant has helped
many students in Greater Awgu to sit for WAEC
free of charge, thus lifting the burden of some
parents, especially those who could not afford
the fees.
Speaking for the Foundation, Dr. Godwin
Udeughele, described the selection process was
impeccable.
“This selection process for the beneficiaries
is one of the best processes we’ve had since the
inception of this program. There was no petition
Okechukwu
or complaint as it is very transparent.
“Toby was supposed to pay for everybody, but
because resources are scarce, he said he could
only pay for 600 students from his constituen-
cy. What we did is that in every school we get to,
we do simple random sampling by having a piece
of paper wrap that will tally with the number
of the entire students. In all the 60 secondary
schools, we randomly selected 10 students. That
was how we got the 600 beneficiary students
gathered here today”.
Handing out the cheques, exercise books, and
instructional materials, Hon. Okechukwu, on
his part, said he was only trying to compliment
the efforts of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to lift
education in the Enugu State.
Thanking former Deputy President of the
Senate, Senator Ekweremadu, for setting the
pace for him and other lawmakers in the state,
he said, “I must let you know that the interven-
tion we do in education was set forth by Ikeoha
Ndigbo. We have had testimonies of people who
were able to go to school just because of his
Foundation”.
He further emphasised that Nigeria’s future
depended on the ability to educate the citizens.
“The difference between someone who is
roaming about in the village and the person who
has gone to school is education. Sometimes,
people think that the best way to overcome
37
poverty is to have education. It is not only the
best way to overcome it, but it is the best way to
fight it. So, you must always take education very
seriously”.
Ekweremadu, in his remarks, commended
Okechukwu and his wife, Lillian, for their
humaneness, and urged the beneficiaries to put
the opportunity to the best use.
“I believe our children will appreciate this
gesture by being good citizens, reading and
passing their examinations so that as they
advance they will remember this day. Then when
they grow up and have the opportunity, they can
also extend this kind of gesture to others.
“I advice you to shun hard drugs and on no
account should you join cult groups. People, who
made it in life, did not do so through drugs and
cultism. If we had indulged in drugs and cultism,
some of us would not have reached where we
have reached today. I implore you to concen-
trate in your academics and avoid antisocial
vices”, he stated.
Member representing Udi/Ezeagu Federal
Constituency, Hon. Dennis Amadi, commended
Toby Okechukwu for bringing in a new style
that gives competitiveness in the educational
sector.
Speaking the minds of parents and other
stakeholders, the Commissioner for Education,
Enugu State, Prof. Uche Eze, who was repre-
sented, commended the Foundation for “taking
heavy burdens off the shoulders of parents”.
The principal of Rosary High School Awgu,
the host school, Rev. Sister Aniekwe, recalled:
“The day I was told that I would host this year’s
educational empowerment programme, I was
so happy and excited because it is the bridge to
the future of so many students. So, I thank God
for today”.
On her part, the principal, Girls High School Ihe,
Awgu LGA, Mrs. Felicia Onyeazo, described it
as a miracle that despite the random selection
process, the indigent students were usually the
lucky beneficiaries.
“We usually hope on it as the last hope for
students, who have no way of paying their fees.
And the surprising thing is that God helped
those students who don’t have hope of paying
their fees because most of them were the ones
who picked the yes”, she narrated.
Therefore, a Chief Supervising Principal with
the Enugu State Post-Primary School Manage-
ment Board, Mazi Emeka Ikpenna, and the
President General Obeagu Town Union, Awgu
LGA, Comrade Anthony Abba the urged more
people to emulate Okechukwu to expand the
opportunities.
It was all smiles for the benefiting students
and schools as they sang and danced, appre-
ciating the Toby Okechukwu Foundation and
pleading to justify the kind gestures extended
to them by studying hard and being of good
character.
Miss Chioma Ude, a student of Rosary High
School Awgu, said: “I’m really excited and I pray
that God will grant him his heart desires. I will try
my best to pay him back by reading my books
and passing all my exams”.
Although only 600 students benefited from
the 2021 education grant, there was something
for everyone and every school in Greater Awgu
as the lawmaker, through the Foundation,
handed out 24,000 exercise books to public
schools in the federal constituency, with each
getting 400 pieces in addition to magic boards
and other instructional materials. Thus, the
people of Greater Awgu are keenly looking
forward to the next edition.
To many, therefore, these gestures by
Okechukwus and his family is the typical case
of lighting the candle rather than blaming the
darkness.
38 THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER JANUARY 15, 2022

NEWS
Air Peace Honours Nigerian
Military with Priority Boarding
Chinedu Eze
Major Nigerian carrier, Air Peace,
has announced the introduction
of a Priority Boarding Policy for
Nigeria’s military personnel- both
serving and retired- as a way of
honouring them for the huge
sacrifices they make for the nation.
Air Peace Chief Executive Of-
ficer, Allen Onyema, who made
the revelation in a press release
issued on Thursday, January 13,
2022, stated that the airline holds
in high regard the indispensable
contributions of the military in
securing Nigeria and defending its
territory from external aggression.
Stressing that the uniformed
men and women put their lives on
the line in the course of defending
the state and its interests against
external armed threats, Onyema
added that the new policy of board-
ing military personnel first before
other passengers commenced on
Wednesday, January 12, 2022, and
has become a permanent practice
in all Air Peace stations.
“This Priority Boarding Policy
we are introducing is our own way
of appreciating and recognising
the noble and patriotic efforts of
the officers and men of Nigeria’s
Armed Forces, for the risks they
take and all the sacrifices they make
in defending the territorial integrity
of this country.

Borno Signs N11.5bn Contract for

NEW YEAR VISIT…
L-R: Prelate, Methodist Church of Nigeria, His Eminence, Dr. Samuel Chukwuemeka Kalu Uche and Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Rt.
Hon. Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji, when the Prelate visited the Speaker at his residence in Umuahia…recently
Gbajabiamila to Deliver UNILAG’s
Convocation Lecture as 238 Bag First Class
Uchechukwu Nnaike
The Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Hon. Femi
Gbajabiamila, will deliver the
convocation lecture for the
52nd convocation ceremonies
of the University of Lagos
(UNILAG).
The lecture titled ‘Building
Back Better: Creating a New
Framework for Tertiary
Education in Nigeria in the
NSCDC Treats 905 Civil Cases, Recovers N54.3m in Katsina
Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Katsina Command of the
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence
Corps (NSCDC) said it has treated
905 civil cases across the state and
recovered N54.3 million and
handed over to rightful owners
in the state.
The civil cases, according
21st Century’ will hold on
Monday, January 17, 2022 at
the J.F. Ade. Ajayi Auditorium
by 12 noon.
Speaking during the
2019/2020 pre-convocation
press conference, the
Vice-Chancellor, Professor
Oluwatoyin Ogundipe,
said the convocation lecture
would be delivered under the
chairmanship of Honourable
Justice Amina Adamu Augie
to the Command, range from
indebtedness, misunderstanding,
land-related farmers/herdsmen
conflict, domestic disputes and
tenancy disputes.
Addressing journalists yesterday,
the state Commandant of the
NSCDC, Muhammed Sanusi Bello,
said out of a total of 1,161 cases
handled in 2021, 256 criminal cases
of the Supreme Court.
He announced that a total of
12,217 graduating students will
receive their degrees, diplomas
and certiÀcates; out of which
7,799 will receive Àrst degrees
or diplomas, while 4,418 will
receive postgraduate degrees.
In the Àrst degree category,
he said 238 obtained Àrst class
honours, with the Faculty of
Engineering leading with 63
Àrst class. From the Faculties
were handled between January
to December.
He explained that the criminal
cases were related to banditry,
kidnapping, theft, drug traffick-
ing, rape, vandalism, criminal
trespassing, smuggling of petrol
resources, assaults, fraud as well
as impersonation and are ongoing
prosecution at different courts in
of Pharmacy, Basic Medical
Sciences and Clinical Sciences,
36 students graduated with
Distinctions, 17 who are from
the Faculty of Pharmacy.
Furthermore, he said 2,454
students graduated in the
second class upper division,
while 3,459 obtained second
class lower division; 1,183
students graduated in the
third class division; while 85
students made the pass degree.
the state.
He said: “From January to
December, 2021, the Command
had received and treated a total
of 905 civil cases of different
nature, ranging from indebted-
ness, misunderstanding, land
related farmers/herdsmen conflict,
domestic disputes, tenancy disputes
and so on.
Construction of Roads in Maiduguri
Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri
Borno State Government has
signed a contract of about N11.5
billion with the Eighteenth Engineer-
ing Company (EEC) and Obtuse
Tech Engineering Company Limited
for the construction and dualisation
of major roads within Maiduguri
metropolis.
The road projects which are to be
executed within the next 12 months
will also have two bridges and drain-
age with specifications and guidelines
approved in the contract signing.
Speaking during the contract
signing ceremony in Maiduguri
yesterday, the Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Works, Engineer Ali
Goni Lawan, said the construction
Nigerian Tech Entrepreneur Appointed
to Lead UK-Africa Trade Ties
Sunday Okobi
A Nigerian tech entrepreneur,
Joel Popoola, has been appointed
to head the task force to improve
trading ties between Africa and
the United Kingdom.
Popoola, a digital democracy
campaigner and the creator of the
Rate Your Leader app, is to lead a
Special Interest Group for Africa
would effectively be monitored and
evaluated by relevant government
officials without compromise.
Lawan, who now oversees the
ministry following the redeploy-
ment of the former commissioner,
Architect Yerima Saleh to Ministry
of Environment, said the first slot
of the road projects is the 5.3
kilometers combined dualisation
with drainages and two bridges at
Ahmadu Bello Way to link Bama
Road, Shehu Sanda Kura Road at
the Cemetery Junction linking the
Elkanemi Roundabout through to
Elkanemi Bridge, down to Lagos
Junction, Bolori Roundabout to
Mogoram Junction down to Lafiya
Road and was awarded to EEC at
the cost of N8.8 billion.
established by the UK Institute of
Directors (IoD)-one of the world’s
oldest and most prestigious
business leader groups.

Zetin’s Founder Sues

Boko Haram Attacks Mobile Police
Training School in Borno Cont’d from Pg. 5
“Finally, management wishes to
assure the general public that the
Institute remains 100% operational
as security has been beefed up in
the general area.”
Chibok LGA Attacked
Four persons have been found
dead, while a search for missing
persons is ongoing, following an
attack by ISWAP in Kautikari com-
munity, Chibok Local Government
Area of Borno State yesterday.
According to residents, the
insurgents invaded the area around
5pm with different of weapons
and started shooting sporadically.
The terrorists thereafter set houses
ablaze, and residents had to run
to the bushes for safety.
“They first went to the market
area as today is our market day,
and they looted almost everything.
After that, they set the market on
fire. And then they started burning
the houses. They also burnt this
big church in the village, one of
the villagers said.”
Another source said when the
insurgents arrived, the army’s 28
task force brigade headquarters
was contacted but there was no
Pa Akomolafe, Former Associate for Synergy among
of Awolowo Dies at 104
immediate response “and the attack
lasted more than two hours”.
Although the village is about 17
kilometres away from the army
brigade headquarters in Chibok,
there is an army company under the
117 battalion stationed in Kwada,
not too far from the scene of the
attack.
A company is a military forma-
tion usually made up of at least
80 soldiers.
“We know it could take time
for troops to mobilise from the
brigade, but we were shocked
that the company that was just
one kilometre away didn’t move
an inch to help,” the source said.
The villagers said they had
also reached the air force, and a
fighter jet came to the area after
the insurgents had left.
Meanwhile, troops are on the
ground conducting a search-and-
rescue operation.
“Four dead bodies have been
found, and an unknown number
of women and girls have been
abducted. The insurgents also took a
number of tricycles belonging to the
villagers,” another resident added.
Nigerian Engineers
The Adepoju Akomolafe Dynasty of Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State, with a heart The founder of Zeetin Engineer-
of immense gratitude to God and in celebration of an impactful life of ing Limited, Azibaola Robert,
enduring legacies, has announced the triumphant transition to glory of its FNSE, has said that sincerely
dearly and deeply beloved Patriarch, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, embracing and deploying science
Uncle and Cousin, Omooba (Dr.) Adepoju Akomolafe, JP on January 4th, and technology by Nigerians, rather
2022. He was 104 years. Akomolafe was a consummate teacher in Western than pandering to any ethnic or
Region of Nigeria for 25 years, teaching at various schools such as CMS tribal sentiments, would facilitate
School and Igbobi College, Lagos. He was the pioneer principal of Ekiti and deepen the economic and
Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti for 15 years, from 1954 to 1968. infrastructural development of
Akomolafe, a community man, served Ekiti in different capacities. In Nigeria.
1954, he was elected the first chairman of Ido/Osi Local Council. He was Robert stated this in his Abuja
a founding member of the Action Group (under the leadership of the
office, when he hosted a delegation
late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo) on whose platform he was elected a
member of the Federal Parliament in 1959. He was a shadow Minister for of the national executive of the
the Federal Ministry of Establishment and Deputy Leader of Opposition Association of Professional Women
in the Parliament during the first republic. Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN), led
Akomolafe, a devout Christian and a genuine lover of God, served in by its President, Engr. Dr. Elizabeth
different positions in the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). He, along Jumoke Eterigho.
with others, worked for the establishment of “There are many things wrong
the Anglican Diocese of Ekiti, serving as its first with Nigeria’s technological
Registrar. He was Lay President of the Church advancement,” Robert said,
of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) for 15 years. adding “And until we sincerely
Late Akomolafe was either the chairman or a embrace and deploy science and
member of many government corporations technology as the necessary tools to
and pararstatals chief amongst which was The facilitate and deepen the economic
University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, and infrastructural development
Enugu State where he was the Board Chairman. of Nigeria, rather than pandering
His tenure witnessed several developmental to ethnic or tribal sentiments or
projects, including the construction of a modern considerations, we will not be able
theater where the first open heart surgery in Late Pa Akomolafe to develop and make progress as
Africa was performed. a country.”
SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2022 • T H I S D AY 39

PENDULUM
DELE MOMODU
My Visit to PDP Chairman Dr. Iyorchia Ayu
F
ellow Nigerians, this has been an amazing
week as I took the leap of faith and fate
and finally announced my decision to
contest the 2023 Presidential election on
the platform of our great party, PDP. I
have been trending ever since I presented my letter
of intent to our National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia
Ayu. Here’s the magic letter:
“The National Chairman,
People’s Democratic Party
DR. IYORCHIA AYU.
PDP National Secretariat.
Abuja.
13th January, 2022
My Great Chairman,
RE: DELE MOMODU DECLARES
FOR PRESIDENTIAL RACE
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to present
this epoch-making letter at very short notice. It is a
palpable demonstration of your intellectual discipline,
simplicity and cosmopolitan worldview, and our
party is fortunate to have such a serious academic
and patriot as our Chairman at this momentous
period in the life of our troubled country. May
God help you to lead us from glory to glory.
In the last few days, there have been widespread
speculations about my Presidential bid for a second
time. I have been greatly humbled by the excitement
already generated which reminds me of how it
was 29 years ago when your good friend and
my own adopted father, Chief Moshood Abiola,
threw his hat in the ring. It is very obvious that
Nigerians are eager to restore that promise of hope
and the accompanying peace and joy that we lost.
The time has come for full reconciliation and
forgiveness and a closure of our ugly past. Nigeria
urgently requires a reset and a total redirection.
With this letter, Sir, I wish to humbly put the
speculations to rest by coming to you with every
sense of purpose and responsibility.
After due consultations with my family, friends
and some stakeholders, I have arrived at the decision
to contest the 2023 Presidential election on the
platform of our great party, PDP, if selected as
the Party’s candidate. I hasten to add that this is
my personal decision, although I have received
advice, encouragement and support from diverse
quarters since I started my consultations.
I therefore offer myself to the PDP as the best
aspirant to turn the fortunes of our esteemed Party
and our well-endowed country around. In this regard,
and with a deep sense of humility and profound
respect, I urge the Party not to consider picking
its candidate based on the usual considerations
which had spectacularly failed our country in
the past. The mood of the teeming youths, and
indeed every patriotic Nigerian, who we need to
come out en masse to vote for our party, aligns
with this view.
It is for this reason, that I invite our great party,
PDP, to accept that it must search for a veritable flag
bearer with the requisite leadership and visionary
qualities that Nigerians now earnestly yearn for.
I’m convinced that the time has come to seriously
challenge and dislodge those politicians who have
held our country to ransom by kidnapping, hijacking
and destroying the future of our younger generation
and generations yet unborn. I’m better prepared
now than at the time of my first foray into the fray
in 2011, and I am fully ready and certainly capable
for the onerous tasks and responsibilities ahead.
I wish to place on record my firm promise
and commitment not to be harassed, bullied
or intimidated by anyone who feels he or she
can buy the whole of Nigeria with loads of cash
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Saturday, January 15, 2022
MISSILE
Soyinka to Interlopers
“Here we go again. The same boring illiterate public interlopers who lack
the courage of their conviction and must steal the identities of their
betters…The signature of this latest moron is familiar – he or she does not
even know the difference between ‘Laureate and Laurel”
–Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka denying throwing his weight
behind Bola Tinubu’s presidential ambition as claimed by an online post.
Momodu with Ayu
fraudulently and illegally filched and taken from
the Nigerian people.
I’m proud to follow in the best traditions of
my heroic mentor, Chief Moshood Abiola, who
had wanted to banish poverty in our land, but
was disastrously disallowed from achieving this
laudable objective. Nigeria has paid a heavy price
and penalty in the last 29 years and suffered
untold agony and indignity as a result of that
tragic misadventure.
Nigeria deserves much better than where we are
now, and my appeal to fellow Nigerians is that we
should collectively rescue our dear country from
the suffocating claws of slave masters, overlords
and tyrants. I vociferously and vehemently reject
any suggestion that Nigeria should continue to
tread this dangerous path. The die is cast, and we
must regain and take back our country! I fully
and unequivocally commit and dedicate myself
to this cause.
So help me God.
Thank you Sir.
DELE MOMODU”
My decision was triggered by the unprecedented
reaction to the interview I granted the Arise News
Channel as I needed to seize the momentum…
Let me give some excerpts:
“You see Reuben has virtually made a declaration
on my behalf. Thank you. And since you want
me to declare so I might as well declare right
here. Let me say that I am very ready. I always
tell people that it is impossible for you to be
the president of a country as big, as diverse, as
complex and complicated as Nigeria if you did
not prepare for it. Most of the people we have
as politicians never prepared for anything. All
they prepare for is the next election; what are we
going to do, how are we going to do it, how are
we going to rig. But I can tell you that I have
followed the template of my adopted father, Chief
Moshood Abiola; I studied him as a book. I can
do a Ph.D on it, and I can see that the reason we
are in this mess is that you have leaders who are
not accomplished. All over the world; it is not
about your age; it is not about tribe or religion;
it is about your personal accomplishment. And
where you have leaders whose accomplishments
you cannot understand; you cannot verify then
you are going to have problems. So for me, I tired
of just sitting down and lamenting which is what
we know how best to do in Nigeria. Everybody
laments. Everybody grumbles. Everybody groans.
Everybody mourns. But to do what is needful?
No. I can tell you that about 11 years ago, I
N
& RE A S O Price: N250
dele.momodu@thisdaylive.com
decided to contest on the platform of NCP, and
the only lesson I learnt from there is that I was
contesting a national election from a fringe local
party which had no capacity to win the election.
I went back. The same thing happened to Chief
Abiola in 1981 when NPN frustrated him out of
their party. He wanted to be president; they saw
it, and frustrated him out of the party. He left.
He came back 12 years later, better prepared. In
2023, it will be 12 years since my last attempt; I
am better prepared and I am ready.
Chief Abiola was a newcomer in 1993. He joined
the SDP two months to go. The chairman of the
party, Babagana Kingibe was interested/contesting,
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was contesting; 29 years
ago, and Chief Abiola joined. The first thing you
have to prove to the party is that you can win
them the ticket. Any serious party that wants to
win election will not just go and pick someone
who does not have that global appeal. If you do
that, you know that you have already lost that
election. So today, I don’t need to do any other
thing other than to be scientific. the world has
moved on except our politicians. It is important
for you to prove to your party your capacity, and
that is the job. The main job between now and
whenever the primary will take place is for you to
show clearly your ability to win them the election.
And in my own case, I don’t have to travel far.
From my telephone, I can show my party my
foot soldiers across Nigeria, It’s scientific. Every
major township and village; there are people that
we have empowered. Even the government of
today; if they talk about empowerment; ask them
to come and show who has benefitted; they can’t.
We have so much that we are doing, and it is not
on television that we will reveal our strategy, but
I can tell you that we are better prepared.
Fantastic! You just confirmed what Paulo Frere
said about the oppressed. The best way to change
the mindset of the oppressed is by bringing someone
who is bold enough to challenge that status quo.
There is no where in the world where things don’t
change if one man is ready to make the necessary
sacrifices . Chief Abiola made that sacrifice. That
is that. The biggest problem facing Nigeria today
is lack of unity. I tell people today that anybody
can build roads, but if you have a leader who
does not have the mindset of uniting the country;
that is why everybody keeps saying I’m Biafra,
I’m Yoruba Nation and so on. This is because you
have leaders who does not believe in one Nigeria.
I am a child of diversity; my father came from
Edo State (south south), married my mother in
Ile-Ife from Gbogan in Osun State (south west).
Today, I am one of the closest people you will
find in Igbo land. If you have been following
me on social media, I am the only person ever
mentioned by name by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu that
this is a man who speaks the way a Nigerian
should speak. That he says he would turn the
south east into a technology hub, a Silicon Valley.
If this is how the other leaders were speaking, we
would not be agitating the way we are. So, you
just need someone who can turn the depression
and frustrations around - bring joy back to Nigeria.
The country is a depressive mood. I have not seen
any of the leaders you have mentioned who have
that kind of diversity. My surname is Momodu.
My grandparents were Muslims and my parents
were Christians. So, I understand the dynamics of
those sentiments because in Nigeria, it is always
ethnicity, religion and of course loads of cash. On
all three accounts, I may not have my own personal
cash, but I have worked most of my live with
those who control the economy of Nigeria, and
that is important. If you are not in business, you
may not even know how to manage resource. A
man who never managed one million, you now
give him 10 trillion to manage; he is going to find
it difficult. A man, who has no knowledge about
how to turn one naira to 10 naira; it is going to be
difficult to hand over a country to such a person.
When I saw that his case has become irredeemable;
you don’t just give up on a leader, then I looked
for the next alternative, and that was Atiku
Abubakar presented to us by PDP. Again, I was
not a member of PDP - that is how you know
principled people. If there are two candidates,
and you have seen the worst of one, what other
options do you have? You go to the next one. I
wasn’t a member of PDP. Today, I can see the
excuse that they can use in 2023 - ‘you people
didn’t offer yourselves, so we used those who were
available’. I can tell you confidently that there is
nobody currently in Nigerian politics today who
can say he was ahead of me in politics. By 1983,
I was private secretary to Chief Omoboriwo, the
then Deputy Governor of Ondo State, and from
that moment, my trajectory is uncommon, and I
think it was orchestrated by God Himself because
it is uncommon to find someone at 23 to work
for the Deputy Governor of Ondo State when it
was a combination of Ondo and Ekiti.
It is very easy. What did Chief Abiola do? He
employed people from everywhere. At Concord,
you will think you are in a mini Nigeria. It didn’t
matter where you come from. That’s one. Two -
meritocracy - put merit above ethnic sentiment. If
I want someone from Adamawa today, I’m sure I
will find a qualified person from Adamawa. But
most politicians don’t have the patience to search
for competent people. That is the problem. The
moment you are able to be fair to all - the moment
you are able to have competent people, nobody
will complain. Since I joined PDP, you don’t see
all those people who use to shout Biafra, Biafra on
my social media pages - now they are like maybe
there is hope after all. Nigerians love Nigeria.
How you know it when they are playing football.
When Buhari came, people thought he was
serious. Even my driver in London from Afghanistan
told me ‘I hear you now have a good leader in
Nigeria’. You see there is a way hope radiates across
everywhere. When you give people hope, they are
ready to make sacrifice, do what you want them
to do, pay their taxes. The first thing is to get the
right mood. The atmosphere in Nigeria now is so
fouled up that nobody believes in Nigeria. The
few people that have money would rather take
it elsewhere to invest. For me, the first thing is to
make sure that we have a star-studded cabinet
of people of ideas.“
The popular slang now in vogue is the hashtag
#delemomoduwemove