Niger Delta attacks: Osinbajo, security chiefs in crucial meeting

FRSC begins clampdown on vehicles with expired, substandard tyres

Please shoot me, I want to die, alleged wife killer begs police

Fani-Kayode appears at EFCC office, grilled for hours

ABUAD beats 30 varsities in London Unilever global contest

NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER

NO 16,497 TUESDAY, 10 MAY, 2016

—P38

—P5

—P33

Why Awo will forever be celebrated —Family

From right, chairman, African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, publishers of Tribune titles, Reverend (Mrs) Omotola Oyediran; co-chairman, Ambassador (Dr) Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu and the Bishop of Remo Diocese (Anglican Communion), Right Reverend (Dr) Olusina Fape, at the 29th memorial anniversary and patronal day of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, held at the Obafemi Awolowo Memorial Anglican Church (OAMAC), Ikenne-Remo, Ogun State, on Monday. PHOTO: TOMMY ADEGBITE. MORE PHOTOS ON PAGES 2,3,39

Nigerian TribuneNigerian Tribune @nigeriantribune TribuneOnline N150www.tribuneonlineng.com

Continues pg13

Obafemi Awolowo and Nigeria's contemporary issuesFRONT PAGE COMMENT

TWENTY-NINE years ago, Nigeria lost one of its greatest avatars. And so, even without any prodding, his country home, Ikenne, as usual, on Monday, played host to people of all classes. Obafemi Awolowo, statesman, patriarch and nationalist, played predominant roles in the pre and post-Independence Nigeria and his nationalism constituted the core of the superstructure of the Nigerian nation of today.

Three strands of Awolowo’s 79 years of existence have become subjects of intense and multi-pronged political and academic interrogations. The first is his moralisation of politics; the second, his developmental politics and the third, his exceptional leadership. Because no politician, before and after him, has arguably been able to equal these strides that have become legends in political discourses, Awolowo has continued to be, true to the description of former President Ibrahim Babangida, the main issue in Nigerian politics.

The struggle for Nigerian independence was fierce. Through the Ernest Ikoli-led Nigerian Youth Movement, which he pioneered with others like Hezekiah Oladipo Davies, James Churchill Vaughan and Oba Samuel Akisanya, and where he rose to become its Western Provincial Secretary, Awolowo became the driving force of much of the myriad progressive social legislations that forged a modern nation out of the erstwhile colony. As the first Leader of Government Business and Minister of Local Government and Finance, as well as the first Premier of the Western Region in a parliamentary system from 1952 to 1959, Awolowo consciously used governance as an instrument for the betterment of the lives of his people, as well as an anvil on which he unconsciously forged immortality for himself.

•Bayelsa gov, oil companies' chiefs also in Aso Villa

•Says he contemplated suicide before his arrest

—P4

—P38 —P6

29TH MEMORIAL ANNIVERSARY AND PATRONAL DAY OF CHIEF OBAFEMI AWOLOWO

From left, Chief Adewale Fakoya, Olotu Ayuba Agbelu, Ambassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu, Pastor Z. Olu Odugbose and Rev-erend (Mrs) Oyediran.

From left, Mrs Wemimo Anifowose, Master Iyanuoluwa Anifowose and Ambassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu.

From left, Ambassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu, Reverend (Mrs) Oyediran, Chief Adebanjo and Mr Yinka Odumakin.

Right Reverend Olusina Fape and Reverend (Mrs) Oyediran.

Chief Ayo Adebanjo with Chief (Mrs) Sade Ogunbiyi.

2 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016 Nigerian Tribune

From left, the Alakene of Ikenne, Oba Adeyinka Onakade; Olori Yemisi Onakade; Ambassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu and Rev-erend (Mrs) Oyediran.

Reverend (Mrs) Oyediran and Chief (Mrs) Mercy Ajayi.

Mr Bisi Olatawura and Ambassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu.

Reverend (Mrs) Omotola Oyediran (right) with Ambassador (Dr) Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu, at the 29th memorial an-niversary and patronal Day of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, held at Obafemi Awolowo Memorial Anglican Church, Ikenne Remo, Ogun State, on Monday.

Right Reverend Fape, Reverend (Mrs) Oyediran and Ambassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu.

PHOTOS: TOMMY ADEGBITE & D’TOYIN

From left, Chief Bisi Rodipe, Pastor Anthony Oladapo Okeowo and Pastor J. Ola Adegbite.

Chief Dipo Jimilehin (left) with Chief Adebanjo.

From left, Dr Amos Akingba, Mr Odia Ofeimun and Chief Ayo Adebanjo.

From left, Olori Yemisi Onakade, Ambassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu and Reverend (Mrs) Oyediran.

Otunba Gboalde Osunkoya (right) with Mr Moses Aiyetogbon.

3 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016 Nigerian Tribune

Prince Emmanuel Osibona with Mrs Comfort Olutunda.

Senator Tony Adefuye (left) with Senator Femi Okunrounmu.

Ambassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu and a guest.

From left, Abassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu, Bishop Olusina Fape, Reverend (Mrs) Oyediran and Chief Ayo Adebanjo.

From left, Ambassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu, Pastor Z. Olu Odugbose, Reverend (Mrs) Oyediran.

29TH MEMORIAL ANNIVERSARY AND PATRONAL DAY OF CHIEF OBAFEMI AWOLOWOPHOTOS: TOMMY ADEGBITE & D’TOYIN

4 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016news

VICE-PRESIDENT Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday eve-ning, met with

some critical stakeholders over the renewed attack on oil and gas installations by militants in the Niger Delta.

He started his meetings at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, at about 7.00 p.m. with some security chiefs, including those from Navy and Army and the Minister of State, Petroleum Re-sources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, alongside other govern-ment officials.

He also met separately with Bayelsa State gover-nor, Mr Henry Dickson and the Amayanabo of Toun Brass, Bayelsa State, King Alfred Diete-Spiff, before meeting with repre-sentatives of some oil com-panies in company with Dickson and Diete-Spiff.

Niger Delta attacks: Osinbajo, military chiefs in crucial meetingBayelsa gov, oil companies’ chiefs also in Aso Villa

Among the oil companies represented at the meeting were Shell, Total, AGIP, NLNG and Chevron.

Dickson, speaking to State House correspon-dents after the meeting, said it was at the instance of the vice-president, say-ing that it centred mainly on taxation disagreement between the government and the oil firms.

But he said the meeting also deliberated on the need to secure oil and gas assets in the Niger Delta and prevent disruption of production.

“First, we are here be-cause the Vice-President

took time to invite the state government and the repre-sentatives of oil companies operating in Bayelsa State because of issues the gov-ernment has with them in respect of taxation princi-pally.

“But we have also used this opportunity to talk about the need for a se-cured environment for the oil companies to continue with their operations.

“This is a time that we cannot afford to have any disruption, not to talk of vandalism of critical na-tional assets. This is a time that all hands should be on the deck.

“All of us as stakeholders are concerned and we have agreed to work together to ensure that production is not disrupted and that all partners should be respon-sible and do what we need to do.

“I want to use this oppor-tunity to say that yesterday (Sunday), at the meeting of the South-South governors in Asaba, this issue was discussed; the need for all of us to work together in the Niger Delta, compare notes and collaborate with the Federal Government was discussed.

“We agreed to have a meeting with the Presi-

dent. We have conveyed that message and we are looking forward to a date that will be convenient for the President.

“The meeting will be on how we can jointly protect strategic national assets, discuss our common and shared responsibilities for security and law and or-der,” he said.

A new Niger Delta mili-tant group which goes by the name “the Niger Delta Avengers” has recently in-tensified bombings of oil and gas installations in parts of the region, thereby hampering production of crude and gas.

Leon Usigbe -AbUjA

jAcob segUn oLAtUnji And KoLAwoLe dAnieL - AbUjA

jAcob segUn oLAtUnji And KoLAwoLe dAnieL - AbUjA

ABUAD beats 30 varsities in Unilever global contest in London

Reps may reduce age eligibility for political offices —Dogara

Buhari’s wife, Yobe gov back establishment of N/East Development Commission

Stolen vehicle

THE Afe Babalola Univer-sity, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), was in celebratory mood at the weekend, when the founder, Chief Afe Baba-lola, management, staff members and students of the institution celebrated a fresh graduate of ABUAD, Mr Olamide Popoola, who led a team to win an inter-national entrepreneurial competition in London.

Popoola, a fresh graduate

THE speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, on Monday, said that the House will consider lowering the age of eligibility for Nigerians seeking election into politi-cal offices in order to allow youths to actively partici-pate in the political process.

He equally charged youths to participate more actively in politics by breaking voters’ apathy and electing leaders who will secure their future and interests.

Speaking during a dialogue with students drawn from universities across the coun-

of Petroleum Engineering, had led a team of other students from other Nige-rian private universities namely: Babcock Univer-sity, Ilisan-Remo and Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo town, to the “Unilever fu-ture leaders league” com-petition and came first in one of the categories and second in another.

According to Olamide, students from 30 countries across the world partici-

try, at the National Assembly, the speaker said: “I am aware that young people often find themselves on the fringes of the political process. We need to develop a structured manner of involving our students and youths in the political process. I think, it may not be out of place to lower the age qualification for certain elective offices in the next constitutional amendment exercise.”

Speaking further, he said that, “Many young people are not involved in voting during elections, which threatens the representative nature of our democratic institutions”.

The speaker added, “This

sAm nwAoKo - Ado eKiti

mUhAmmAd sAbiU - KAdUnA

pated in the grand finale of the Unilever contest in Lon-don, England, with his team winning the number one category award for “authen-tically on brand, relevant to target audience and talk-ability and share-ability.”

Popoola said he had ear-lier led his team to win the Unilever national contest in Lagos in October 2015 and later went on to win the continental edition in South Africa, before win-

country belongs to you but it’s under the stranglehold of men and women of a genera-tion that have overreached itself. The truth is that noth-ing will be ceded or conceded to your generation without a fight. In this endeavour, your voices mean nothing if you don’t have the votes. There-fore, all students in Nigeria must not only register to vote and cast their votes during elections, they must also en-sure that their votes, count. There is no other better way by which you will earn respect for yourselves and ensure that the gifts you have taken to the university to polish ultimately benefit your generation.”

Kaduna Assembly set to commence debate on preaching bill

THE Kaduna State House of Assembly is set to start debate on the Preaching Bill sent to it by the state governor, Mallam Nasiru el-rufai, in December 2015.

The Director-General of the State Interfaith Bureau, Namadi Musa, said this during an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, in his office, on Monday.

The director-general, whose bureau is saddled with the responsibility of overseeing and handling re-ligious matters in the state, disclosed that on Wednes-day (tomorrow), all major stakeholders from both the Christian and the Muslim sides, will be at the Assem-bly to submit their memo-randum to the lawmakers.

He said the meeting with the lawmakers will also give the religious groups the opportunity to discuss on areas they felt should be amended or deleted.

According to him, after meeting with the major stakeholders, the Assembly will then, subject it to public hearing.

He assured the people of the state that the bill is in tandem with the current re-alities and happenings facing the state, insisting that the bill is people-oriented unlike the 1984 bill, which was superin-dented by the military.

“We need this bill to regu-late religious activities in the state. I want you to under-stand that we have registered over 280 religious groups.”

WIFE of President Muham-madu Buhari, Mrs Aisha Buhari and the Governor of Yobe State, Ibrahim Gaid-am, on Monday, declared support for the establish-ment of the North East De-velopment Commission.

Mrs Buhari’s position was contained in a memoran-dum she personally pre-sented at a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Commit-tee on Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs), Refugees and North East Initiatives.

Governor Gaidam, who was represented by the state Commissioner for Educa-tion, Mohammed Lamin, said the state government did not only support the es-tablishment of the commis-sion but also advised that its headquarters be located at the state capital, Damaturu.

He, however, said that Damaturu was more suited for the headquarters of the commission as it is more central for administrative purposes than Maiduguri.

“Yobe State with head-quarters in Damaturu, has minimal federal presence in terms of provision of infra-structure and socio-econom-ic development compared to the older states of Adamawa, Bauchi and Borno.

“Damaturu, the state capi-tal, also enjoys a central lo-cation and therefore ,is most suited for the administrative convenience and easy coordi-nation of activities across the states in the region,” he said.

On his part, the speaker of the state House of As-sembly, while declaring the public hearing open, said that their aspirations for the establishment of the com-mission were because “the North East suffers an excep-tional poverty amidst little opportunities to push itself out of the unfortunate socio-economic problem.

A vehicle, Honda CRV, 1999 model, black, with registration number EKY-581-BB, Engine num-ber B20B43009551 and Chasis number, JHLRD-1849WC802095, was sto-len, on Saturday, May 7, 2016, around 5.00 a.m, at Ajadi Estate, Powerline, Ologuneru, Ibadan, Oyo State.

If found, please, con-tact these mobile phone numbers 08060269655, 08036698891 or the near-est police station.

ning the global edition staged in London.

Chief Afe Babalola, who expressed joy at the feat of the young ABUAD, noted that such feats, which were now common in ABUAD, had made him not to re-gret investing over N787.2 billion in the university, saying if there’s any regret, “it is that I didn’t start the university earlier.”

He explained that the figure was released to him recently by the audit and accounting units of the university, adding that “the spending still contin-ues as a good number of projects aimed at ensuring unique learning environ-ment as well as deploy-ment of quality tutors and equipments is a permanent feature in ABUAD.”

Chief Babalola said that his university was the only tertiary institution in the country that currently had what is known as “Tal-ent discovery directorate”, where students are made to discover their gift areas early enough and get men-tored through provision of the right type of equip-ments until they are nu-tured to stardom.

Chief Afe Babalola (second right) in a handshake with Mr Olamide Popoola, while his wife, Chief Modupe Babalola (right) and the Vice Chancellor of Afe Babalola Univer-sity (ABUAD), Professor Michael Ajisafe watch, during the celebration of international entreprenueral competition won by Mr Popoola, in London. PHOTO: SAM NWAOKO.

Tuesday, 10 May, 2016news 5

THE 29th memorial anniversary and patronal day of the Sage, Chief Oba-

femi Awolowo, was held on Monday, at the Obafemi Awolowo Memorial Angli-can Church, Ikenne-Remo, Ogun State, with the fam-ily reaffirming reasons for the annual celebration of the life and times of the highly revered nationalist.

According to Ambassa-dor (Dr) Tokunbo Awolo-wo Dosumu, the Awolowo family had established a tradition of celebrating the birth and transition anni-versaries of Chief Awolo-wo, primarily to remind the generality of Nigerians, especially those occupying positions of authority, of the legacy of good gover-nance and spirit of nation-alism the sage instituted during his lifetime.

According to Dr Awolo-wo Dosumu during the service, Chief Awolowo extended his devotion to public goodwill even to his immediate family, adding that “as a father, he never allowed his political re-sponsibilities to affect his family.

“Even though we grew up with all the privileges, we cannot but recollect that this was a man who lived his life for the people of Nigeria. We remember him everyday but occa-sions of this nature offer us an opportunity to cel-ebrate him.”

Speaking further, she reminded the gathering of the need to continue to celebrate the sterling con-tributions of Papa Awo to humanity.

“The second critical rea-son we celebrate is to keep the great works he did in view for the present crop of leaders. It is unfortu-nate that the present crop of young people in Nigeria do not have any experi-ence of good governance, as obtained under Papa. This is one of the reasons we repeatedly keep his memories alive, so that the thoughts and solu-tions which he proffered to the myriad of problems bedevilling the nation can be kept in view as a lesson for the youth and also as a challenge to those in posi-tions of authority.

“If he has been gone these 29 years and yet his thoughts are still relevant, it behoves those in posi-

Why Awo will forever be celebrated —Familytions of authority to ask themselves what will be-come of the legacies they are leaving behind,” Dr Awolowo Dosumu noted.

Speaking earlier during the sermon, the Vicar in charge of the Church, Rev-erend Canon A. R. Akino-la, who took his message from the book of IIKings 2:1-15 and IIKings 6:24-end and chapter 7, assured that though the times were bleak in the country, “joy comes in the morning.”

The vicar noted that like the king of Samaria, the leaders of Nigeria needed to call on God for help at this critical time in the na-tion.

The vicar urged Nige-rian leaders to emulate the Sage, Chief Awolowo, es-chew all acts of selfishness and humble themselves before God, in order to take the nation out of the doldrums in which it was.

He also enjoined lead-ers to give their lives to God and look up to him, in order to leave a lasting legacy for generations un-born, so that they would be celebrated even when they were no more.

“We remember baba to-day because of the works he did while on earth and because he knew Christ and he served humanity. That’s why we celebrate him till today. He was a fo-cused person and utilised every moment to touch hu-manity. He contributed a lot to humanity, everyday he added value to human-ity and helped others. He lived to shape the future of the world, he did all this because he feared and knew God.

“Your action affects in-coming generation, think of what legacy you want to leave behind. Nothing is too small or too big to im-part on others’ life,” Canon Akinola stated.

Further in his sermon, the vicar stated that it was a fact that the problem of every individual and their challenges were different, adding that the challenges in the country at present affected every citizen.

He, however, enjoined everyone to take heart and be strong as what is hap-pening in the country was not new.

“As our looks are differ-ent, so are our challenges, they are very different. Each individual has di-verse challenges and dif-ferent source of sorrow, but I want us to know

when such things are hap-pening that it has hap-pened before. If we look at the word of God, we will know that all that is hap-pening to us at this period is for a while. It will come and go.

“Hardship and difficulty are common to human-ity, sometimes they mani-fest as diseases, economic troubles, inflation and cri-sis of various degrees, but I want us to know that at a time like this, there is succour from somewhere. Where we can find the succour is where we want to examine this morning in the Bible; 2kings 6: 24 till chapter 7: 20. If we look through this passage, we will see that what is happening in Nigeria has happened in some places in the past, but we should also know that there is no smoke without fire.

“If we look at what is happening to us today, we can relate it to what hap-pened to Northern Israel as a result of the siege from the Syrian army, there was terrible famine in their land, things became worse each day, things degenerated to the extent that all available business avenue for solution were explored, yet there was no solution. There was no food in the land anymore and people needed food to sustain their lives. Where it was possible, people took others’ lives as a way out; there was no justice, no leadership. Leader-ship became tougher and tougher, everyone felt the effects just like we are experiencing today,” he stated.

He explained further that “the king in the Bible passage acknowledged that in the prevailing situ-ation, only God can help. I am also telling us today that God is the only help. Let us learn from this sto-ry because yesterday, we said one politician is the best but today, we are say-ing a different thing. PDP is good, APC is good, but what I want us to know is that only God himself can restore this country and I pray that the God of res-toration will restore this country.”

Canon Akinola said there were three lessons to take away from the Bible verses – “the king is Israel tore his clothes and humbled himself before God, he was concerned and troubled by the situ-

Udoma presents 2016 budget breakdown Thursday

By yejide GBenGa- OGundreation of his people,” but lamented that in Nigeria, salaries were not paid and millions were still spent on big parties, jumbo salaries not slashed and yet the politicians were claiming they were reviving the co-matose economy.

“What the king in Israel then did is different from what our leaders are do-ing today. We are saying the economy is moribund, is this the period for us to say we want to add to the fleet of official cars? And we are getting one at the rate of N37 million? I pray that God will give our poli-ticians a spirit that shows mercy. This is not the sea-son to display wealth or status and class, let’s wait on the Lord. God is gra-cious and if we wait on Him in prayers, He will answer. It is when men have explored all human avenues and have re-signed to Gods in prayers that heaven steps in,” he said.

“In a time like this, let us look on to God, because He is the only one that can turn our sorrow into joy. But for this to have effect in our lives, we must give our lives to Christ. This is what Baba did and this is why he left enduring lega-cies,” he concluded.

Chairman of the Afri-

can Newspapers of Nige-ria (ANN) Plc., Reverend (Mrs) Omotola Oyediran, took the second reading for the service from the book of Ephesians 4:1-13.

Also present at the oc-casion were Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Senator Femi Okurounmu, Chief Sime-on Oguntimehin (Lisa of Ondo Kingdom); Senator Anthony Adefuye, Prince Tola Sotinwa, Chief Akin-bode, Chief Dipo Jimilehin, Chief (Mrs) Bola Doherty, Oba Yinka Onakade (the Alakenne of Ikenne); Pro-fessor Akin Osibogun, Also present at the occasion were Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Senator Femi Okuroun-mu, Chief Simeon Ogun-timehin (Lisa of Ondo Kingdom); Senator An-thony Adefuye, Prince Tola Sotinwa, Chief Akinbode, Chief Dipo Jimilehin, Chief (Mrs) Bola Doherty, Oba Yinka Onakade (the Alak-enne of Ikenne); Profes-sor Akin Osibogun, Chief (Mrs) Bisi Sangodoyin, Chief (Mrs) Sade Ogun-biyi, Chief Bisi Rodipe, Chief Kolapo Ogunjobi, Chief (Mrs) Comfort Olu-tunda, Chief Mercy Ajayi, Chief Odusona (represent-ing shareholders), Otun-ba Gbolade Oshunkoya, Prince Ade Osibona, Hon-ourable Mosanya Solaja,

Professor Femi Ajayi, Iya-lode Sade Ogunbiyi, Dr Amos Akingbola, Dr Kunle Olajide, Reverend and Mrs Sesan Adebanjo, Right Reverend Olusina Fape, Surveyor Orepitan, Prince Tola, Funke Awolowo, Bu-kola Awolowo, Mrs Wemi-mo Anifowose, Mrs Kemi Aderemi.Chief Adewale Fakoya, Mr Odia Ofeimun, Mr Bisi Olatawura, Yinka Odumakin, Sola Odumosu and Sina Adeniyi, among others. Chief (Mrs) Bisi Sangodoyin, Chief (Mrs) Sade Ogunbiyi, Chief Bisi Rodipe, Chief Ko-lapo Ogunjobi, Chief (Mrs) Comfort Olutunda, Chief Mercy Ajayi, Chief Odu-sona (representing share-holders), Otunba Gbolade Oshunkoya, Prince Ade Osibona, Honourable Mosanya Solaja, Profes-sor Femi Ajayi, Iyalode Sade Ogunbiyi, Dr Amos Akingbola, Dr Kunle Ola-jide, Reverend and Mrs Sesan Adebanjo, Right Reverend Olusina Fape, Surveyor Orepitan, Prince Tola, Funke Awolowo, Bu-kola Awolowo, Mrs Wemi-mo Anifowose, Mrs Kemi Aderemi.Chief Adewale Fakoya, Mr Odia Ofeimun, Mr Bisi Olatawura, Yinka Odumakin, Sola Odumosu and Sina Adeniyi, among others.

MINISTER of Budget and National Planning, Sena-tor Udoma Udoma, will, on Thursday, present the breakdown of the 2016 budget.

This was disclosed by

the ministry in a statement signed by media adviser to the minister, Mr James Akpandem, adding that Udoma would perform the assignment with the Minis-ter of State in the ministry,

Mrs Zainab Ahmed.It said that the Strate-

gic Implementation Plan would also be presented at the event, scheduled to hold at the Banquet Hall of the State House, at 10.00 a.m.

6 Nigerian TribuneTuesday, 10 May, 2016

LagosEdited byLanre Adewoleolanreade@yahoo.com

0811 695 4647

LEKAN Sonde, 57, who allegedly killed his wife in Egbeda area of Lagos State,

was said too have been con-templating suicide, before he finally surrendered himself to the police in Monday.

The suspect also begged the police to shoot and kill him, stating that life was not worth living for him again.

Lagos Metro also gathered that the suspect was tracked to a hotel at the Ikeja GRA by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), be-fore he finally decided to sur-render himself to the police. The police also recovered his wife’s phone from him dur-ing a search on him.

It was further gathered that the suspect had planned committing the alleged crime before he escaped to Ondo State from where he was persuaded to return home to Lagos, by his friend.

The suspect, who was inter-rogated by the state commis-sioner of police, Fatai Owos-eni was later transferred to the homicide section of the Lagos State police command at the state CID, Panti

Lagos Metro gathered that there had been a serious disagreement between the suspect and his friends, who advised him to surrender to the police, but he refused.

A source at the RRS told Lagos Metro that, “our men tracked him to a hotel in Ik-eja GRA but we were careful not to allow him escape. We kept monitoring the move-ment of people in the area.”

He added that, “at that time our men continued to appeal to him to surrender himself to the police and the com-munication was monitored. At about past 12 on Monday, he came to our office with some of his friends and sur-rendered himself.”

Lekan, who was accused of killing his wife, Ronke was later taken to the state police command headquarters by the commander in charge of RRS, Olatunji Disu.

The state police commis-sioner, Fatai Owoseni spoke with the suspect for about three hours, before he was fi-nally transferred to the State CID, Panti for further inves-tigations.

There were also claims that the suspect was planning to escape to Ghana and the Republic of Benin, before he finally surrendered to the police.

Olalekan OlabulO

The suspect was said to have sent about 70 text mes-sages to some of his friends that he wanted to commit suicide.

Some of the text messages, read “I want to die, Please help,” ”I can’t face police or cell,” “You are the only one advising me not to kill my-self, I will respect you till I die,” “I want to go to the Attorney General of Lagos State to surrender myself.”

Please, shoot me, I want to die, alleged wife-killer begs police

bOla badmus

bOla badmus

naza OkOli

ATTEMPTS by the Lagos State Environmental Sani-tation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) to close down illegal abattoirs, at Idi-Araba, Lawanson, at the weekend, resulted in one of its officials being abducted and a policeman attacked with cutlasses.

A butcher was also said to have been treated for matchet cuts.

The abducted official was said to have been released later, drenched in his blood.

The miscreants and illegal abattoir operators also al-legedly damaged two Toyota Hilux Vans and a Black Ma-ria belonging to the Agency.

The Public Affairs Officer of the Agency, Mr Taofiq Adebayo, said the enforce-ment operations who had successfully closed and sealed an illegal abattoir and slabs at Oshodi met a stiff resistance from the il-legal abattoir operators at Idi-Araba.

He said the miscreants and others came out in large numbers and started attacking the officials with dangerous weapons such as cutlasses and knives, while they also threw stones and broken bottles from differ-ent directions.

“During the fracas, a po-lice officer, Wilson Alaba, was matcheted on his left

hand with cutlass and a driver of the agency, one Mr Adekunle Victor, who was abducted and later rescued in a pool of his blood, had his head and left leg broken with dangerous weapons, and he is presently receiving treatment at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital, Emer-gency Unit, Ojota.

“Also, one of the hood-lums, a son of one of the illegal abattoir and slab op-erators, one Mr Olamilekan Adekunle, a 26-year-old, who had his right arm in-jured has been treated at FTG, Iyanu Clinic, 144, Sara Close, Idi-Araba, Lawan-son. Dr Aromire Samuel, who treated the rampaging

victim, however, confirmed that no ‘pellet’ was found on him,” Mr Adebayo said.

Illegal abattoir operators abduct Task Force official, stab policeman

•Remanded at Panti

THE University of Lagos (UNILAG), on Monday, commenced its First Semes-ter Examination in all the faculties of the institution, amidst tight security.

A final-year student from the Faculty of Social Sci-ences told Lagos Metro that students were required to show evidence that they had complied with the directives given by the school man-agement before they were allowed to go into the exami-nation hall.

“I have just finished my exam for today (5:00 pm). Nobody was sent out in my class, because we all signed our forms. The invigilators have a list of all the students who have submitted their forms.”

Meanwhile, a statement is-sued on Monday by the uni-versity’s Deputy Registrar (Information), Mr T. O. Ade-bule, said the examination commenced despite some ‘speculation and anxiety’ concerning the date.

“The first Semester Exami-nations for the 2015/2016 Academic Session have commenced in earnest in all faculties of the University, contrary to speculations and anxiety surrounding the May 9, 2016 date for commence-ment of examinations, the Information Unit hereby states that the 2015/2016 1st Semester Examinations have commenced.”

UNILAG begins exams amidst tight security

LAGOS State government has accused Chinese com-panies and businessmen of encouraging menace of street trading in the me-tropolis, lamenting that the Chinese businessmen were frustrating efforts by the state government to sanitise and rid the state of street trading.

Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Central Business District Chinese

Chinese firms behind street trading —Ambode’s aide

Sonde at police custody.

Sonde

7 Nigerian TribuneTuesday, 10 May, 2016

SylveSter OkOruwa

metro

Olalekan OlabulO

THERE was confusion at Adelaja Street, over the weekend in Oshodi area of Lagos State as a boy stabbed his elder brother to death during an argument over torchlight.

The mother of the de-ceased, Mrs Lucky Adelaja reported the incident with the police, after it had been confirmed that Ademuyiwa was dead.

Lagos Metro gathered that the deceased and the sus-pect were brothers and were until the incident, staying at their parents’ home at 6, Adelaja Street, Afariogun, Oshodi.

It was further gathered that the deceased, Ademuy-iwa and his younger brother had a serious disagreement over torchlight. The mis-understanding was said to have degenerated into a se-

rious clash but the duo were separated by their parents’ neighbours.

The deceased, Ademuy-iwa, had reportedly gone his way, when Remi reportedly went for a kitchen knife and stabbed his brother. Res-idents of the area quickly mobilised and made at-tempts to rescue the de-ceased Ademuyiwa, who died hours later.

The younger brother, on seeing that his elder brother had died, took to his heels, before he could be arrested by the policemen, who were invited by their mother.

The state police spokes-person, Dolapo Badmos told Lagos Metro that the police had begun investiga-tions into the incident and that detectives were on the trail of the runaway killer.

Meanwhile, the police in Lagos State have vowed not to treat the murder of

Ademuyiwa Adelaja by his younger brother as a family matter.

A source at the state po-lice command headquar-ters, who spoke with Lagos Metro, under the condition of anonymity denied that the police in the state were

Boy stabs brother to death over torch‘Police will not treat case as family matter’

considering treating the death as a family affair.

The police source said, “Though it was their mother that reported the case, we would not treat it as a family matter. The suspect would be made to answer for mur-der.”

THE Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has sealed 53 hotels and eateries for failing to remit about N119.41 million oc-cupancy and consumption taxes to the State Govern-ment.

The Head of the Distrain Unit of the LIRS, Mrs Ajibike Oshodi-Sholola, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.

She said the sealing was carried out by two enforce-ment teams set up by the LIRS.

Oshodi-Sholola, who led the enforcement teams, said the teams sealed 23 companies for not remit-ting over N66.07 mil-lion, while 30 firms were sealed for not paying taxes, amounting to N53.34, add-ing that the sealing of the firms was carried out ear-lier this month.

The LIRS official said that

not up to 70 per cent of ho-tels and hospitality compa-nies operating in the state were paying tax.

“The essence of the three-day consecutive sealing exercise is to ensure that large numbers of the hos-pitality firms owing occu-pancy and consumption taxes to the State Govern-ment paid their taxes.

“LIRS has, therefore, re-solved to frequently em-bark on such enforcements until tax payers and corpo-rate organisations in the state imbibed the culture of paying tax voluntarily.’’

Oshodi-Sholola noted that a large number of the affected hotels had rushed to LIRS offices to pay their taxes during the sealing enforcement, adding that the firms had since re-opened shops.

She said that hotels that were yet to make payments would remain shut until their taxes were paid.

Govt seals off 53 hotels for tax evasion

(CBD), Agboola Dabiri, said this on Monday at a press conference held at the Ba-gauda Kaltho Press Center, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

“They are over a thousand on the island. They do not allow Nigerians to travel to China to bring goods. They import the goods to our door step and mostly to those that sell on the walk-ways.

“What the Chinese busi-nessmen do was to give these traders small goods

to sell. Two days after, the businessman will approach each trader, accompanied with two body guards, to collect their money. Through their business strategy, they encourage street trading. Even if any-one has small money, one can start business with them,” Dabiri said.

He noted that the corpo-rate goods dealers lament daily over the Chinese busi-ness strategy, saying, “They sell their goods lesser than

the cost which Nigerians who had travelled to the manufacturers to import the goods were ready to sell theirs.

“We are not saying that they are not savvy business experts but they need to do things properly in Lagos. This is one of the challenges we have as regards street trading. But I can assure you that we are trying our best to ensure that we end street trading in CBDs in Lagos,” he vowed.

Chinese firms behind street trading —Ambode’s aide LAGOS State Police Com-mand on Monday arraigned a 27-year-old man, Rashidi Sikiru, over his alleged mur-der of one, Akeem Jimoh.

The accused is standing trial on a charge of murder before an Ebutte Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

The prosecutor, Maria Dauda, told the court that the accused, while drunk, allegedly stabbed Jimoh on his neck with a broken bottle which led to Jimoh’s death.

Dauda alleged that the accused committed the of-fence on April 20 at about 10:00 a.m., at Orisa Junc-tion, Imude in Ajangbadi, a suburb of Lagos.

She said that the offence contravened Section 221 of the Criminal Law of La-gos State, 2011.

The magistrate, Miss K.O. Ariyo, refused to take the plea of the accused on the ground that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the case.

Ariyo, however, ordered the police to continue with its investigation into the matter.

She also ordered that the police should duplicate the file case after completion of its investigation and send it to the state Director-ate of Public Prosecutions (DPPs) for legal advice.

He ordered the accused to be remanded at the Ikoyi Prisons and ad-journed the case to June 13.

Drunk allegedly stabs man to death

Pedestrians crossing the expressway, instead of using the pedestrian bridge, at Fadeyi, on Monday. PHOTO: NAN

Heap of waste at Onikan Stadium even with the fine notice clearly written on the wall. PHOTO: SYLVESTER OKORUWA.

Tuesday, 10 May, 20168

Tuesday, 10 May, 20169

Tuesday, 10 May, 201610

11 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016news

Chris AgbAmbu-AbujA

President Muhammadu Buhari flanked by Governor Bello Aminu Masari of Katsina State (left) and the deputy governor, Alhaji Mannir Yakubu, during the Economic and Investment Summit, in Katsina, on Monday.

Gunmen kill 7 policemen in Rivers, Delta

FIVE policemen, in-cluding a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), were

killed in a shoot-out with some gunmen in Okobe, Ahoada West Local Govern-ment Area of Rives State, on Monday.

This was just as two po-licemen were, also on Mon-day, shot dead by unidenti-fied gunmen in Warri, Delta State.

The five slain policemen, including DSP Nasiru Ha-lidu, were said to be head-ing towards 30 PMF (Police Mobile Force) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, at the end of their special mission in Yobe State, when they were ambushed by the hood-lums at about 3.00a.m. The hoodlums were said to have caught the policemen un-awares, killing all of them in a police van, in an operation that did not last more than 10 minutes.

A conductor attached to one of the tanker driv-ers who usually sleep over in Okobe, in the course of their journey, was also said to have been hit by a stray bullet. “One of my course mates, a DSP; his name is Nasiru Halidu, was among those ambushed and killed by the hoodlums. He was among the police officers

and men who went on a spe-cial duty in Yobe State.

“They were going back to Yenagoa after ending their special assignment. It was at Okobe in Ahoada West, on the East-West Road, that the incident happened,” a police source said.

As expected, the incident caused pandemonium, as members of the community took to their heels to avoid possible arrest by the police.

Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, Ahmad Muhammad, confirmed the incident, but he was silent

on the number of casualties. Ahmad also acknowl-

edged that the hoodlums laid ambush for the police-men who were travelling to Yenagoa.

He explained that the at-tack occurred in the early hours of Monday, adding that all the policemen, who were occupants of the van, died.

The Rivers PPRO, howev-er, dismissed claims in some quarters that the policemen were involved in a shoot-out with some members of a cult group, as he said the police-

men were not attached to the state police command.

“It is not true that they (the slain policemen) were involved in a shoot-out with cult members. The truth is that they were coming from Yobe State, after their spe-cial assignment and they were ambushed in Okobe, Ahoada West Local Govern-ment Area of the state.

“They (the slain police-men) were from 30 PMF and were going back to their base in Yenagoa, when the incident happened. It has nothing to do with any

shoot-out,” he added. The two policemen, who

were killed in Warri, were said to be dressed in mufti and had gone to a bank to withdraw some money.

They were shot dead at the Airport Junction roundabout, at about 1:00p.m.

Nigerian Tribune gath-ered that the victims had stopped over by a roadside mobile phones retailer kiosk to make some purchases.

A witness, one Mr Ahmed, said: “The two guys stood over there, pricing phones,

From DApo FAlADe AnD ebenezer ADurokiyA

AS part of strategic initia-tive of the Nigeria Police, aimed at adopting com-munity policing practices in addressing internal se-curity challenges, the In-spector-General of Police, IGP Solomon Arase, has directed all state commis-sioners of police (CPs) and the FCT to, as a matter of urgency, convene town hall meeting in their respective state commands.

The IGP, while reiterat-ing that the move was to address specifically the

IGP directs state CPs to hold town hall meetingmisinformation, anxiety and animosity being gen-erated as regards the cur-rent security challenges associated with local com-munities and herdsmen, directed that the proposed meetings should be held at state and area commands, as well as at divisional lev-els, to enhance the process of reassurance, policing and the need for peaceful coexistence and sensitivity of each community’s value, space and interest.

Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olabisi Ko-lawole, in a statement, in

Abuja, on Monday, said the forum, which would be utilised as a veritable plat-form for dialogue between all parties within the com-munity, would have partici-pants drawn from all stra-tegic security stakeholders, which included traditional rulers, community leaders, public officials, religious ac-tors, youths, bodies, local vigilante groups, women/market associations, police community relations com-mittee, other sister security agencies, professional bod-ies, media, state and non-state actors, among others.

Herdsmen: IGP sends investigative team to Enugu

DETERMINED to track down the Fulani herdsmen who recently unleashed mayhem on the people of Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Govern-ment Area of Enugu State, the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, has dispatched a high-powered investigative team to Enugu to unravel the remote and immediate causes of the carnage.

The newly-transferred state Commissioner of Po-lice, Emmanuel Ojukwu, disclosed this on Mon-day, while addressing area commanders, divisional

police officers and other heads of departments in the state police command.

Ojukwu expressed sad-ness over the recent loss of lives and properties at Nimbo, stressing that any person found to have been directly or indirectly in-volved in the killings would face the full wrath of the law.

“A high powered investi-gative team has been dis-patched by the Inspector General of Police, Solo-mon Arase, to unravel the remote and immediate causes of the incident,” he added.

The commissioner of po-lice, having analysed the

security situation in the state, warned all officers and men of the police force to brace up or call it quits, while he also admonished them to live up to their responsibilities of render-ing quality service to the people of the state.

He advised officers to

embrace the full tenets of community policing, which included partner-ship, openness, account-ability and respect for human rights, adding that they should work hard to restore public confidence.

The state police boss,

however, warned that he would not accept excuses from officers and men in his command, stress-ing that criminals should change from their evil ways, as the police had mapped out crime pre-ventive strategies to flush them out of the state.

juDe ossAi-enugu

but all of a sudden, a vehicle pulled up behind them and some guys, about two of them, came out of the ve-hicle and opened fire on the two of them.

“The killers zoomed off as soon as they had brought their targets down. It was like they trailed them to that point.

We later realised that they were MOPOL men because we saw the ID card of the dead victim.”

Delta State command’s PPRO, Celestina Kalu, when contacted, said the victims were mobile policemen from 27 PMF, Katsina and were attached to the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Warri.

She gave their names as Corporal Usman Ango and Corporal Usman Adamu, but described the incident as robbery.

OYO State government has reaffirmed its commit-ment to the prevention and spread of malaria fever among pregnant women and children between ages zero and five years in the state.

Wife of the state governor, Mrs Florence Ajimobi, said this through the pharmacist in charge of ABC Founda-tion, a pet project of Mrs Ajimobi, Miss Mariam Ba-logun, during the distribu-tion of mosquito nets; anti-malaria drugs, as well as breast examination kits to pregnant women.

The programme was or-ganised by the state Minis-try of Health, in collabora-tion with Malaria Partners, to mark the 2016 World Malaria Day, at the state hospital, Yemetu, Ibadan, recently

Mrs Ajimobi said the state government would leave no stone unturned at ensur-ing that malaria was totally wiped out among pregnant women and children, who are mostly affected in hu-man population. Also, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Olayemisi Iy-iola, speaking through the Director of Public Health, Oyo State, Dr Wole Lawal, said the essence of the pro-gramme was to allow the people of the state to know that the government had already put in place prag-matic measures at ensuring that malaria fever became a thing of the past among pregnant women and chil-dren.

SENATOR representing Oyo Central senatorial dis-trict, Monsurat Sunmonu, has thrown her weight be-hind the position advanced by Governor Abiola Ajimo-bi that land cannot be pro-vided for free for grazing.

Cattle rearing is business, no free grazing land —Senator Sunmonu

Oyo reaffirms commitment to prevention, spread of malaria

Contained in a statement, Sunmonu said the rearing of cattle should be equated as a business venture, hence cat-tle owners should be willing to purchase land for their businesses to thrive.

“In other parts of the world like UK and US, people who want to rear cattle purchase land/ranches on which they graze their cattle. This land is not provided for free by government, it is bought. Payment can be made in a number of ways and can be staggered over a period of time. Rearing cattle is no different to conducting any other business and should be treated like any other busi-ness,” she said.

“It is generally known that these cattle do not belong to herdsmen, but well endowed financial businessmen. The people rearing cows for busi-ness should be subsumed into the normal business realm and approach banks

for loans to buy land; in the same way farmers buy land to grow their crops. This will mean that we have statistics on cattle rearing for taxation purposes also,” Sunmonu added.

While also noting the subsist-ing Land Use Act as giving state governors the constitutional right to hold lands in their do-main in trust of the people, she noted that the National As-sembly was not constitutionally empowered to confiscate lands in states except there was a con-stitutional amendment to Land Use Act 1990, CAP 202.

In the same vein, Sun-monu added that the Graz-ing Reserve bill, reportedly pending at the House of Representatives, could only see the light of the day if the different states’ Houses of Assembly passed the bill into law, noting that land matters were not listed in the exclusive or concurrent lists of the constitution.

by Tolu olAmiriki

FCMB shuts down branches, sacks staff

N2.6bn fraud: Arraignment of 16 bank staff adjourned till July 4

Tuesday, 10 May, 201612 Nigerian Tribunebusinessnews

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has thrown its weight behind

the Economic and Finan-cial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the agency’s on-going investigations and ar-rests of Managing Directors of Deposit Money Banks (DMB) in Nigeria.

The bank, in a statement signed by Isaac A. Okora-for, Acting Director, Cor-porate Communications, CBN, said it was aware and indeed a part of the on-going investigations and is also carrying out its own “special examinations and investigations to ascertain the veracity of some allega-tions, as well as the extent and persons that may be involved in such activi-ties.”

Though the agency, a few days ago released the Man-aging Director of Fidelity Bank Plc, Nnamdi Okon-wo; the MD of Sterling Bank, Yemi Adeola and the Group Managing Director of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, who were arrested and interrogated over cer-tain transactions that oc-cured in 2015, it said the investigations continues.

The CBN said it wants all bank customers, oth-er stakeholders, and the general public to know that it was fully aware and indeed a part of the on-going onslaught.

“The bank would like to reiterate that financial system stability remains a priority and, therefore, as-sures customers and stake-holders that it would not allow the banking system to be used as a conduit for any illicit transactions,”

the statement read in part.

Some of these investiga-

tions it added, were rou-tine and only relate to iso-lated transactions.

“Therefore it is important to state that the safety and soundness of the Nigerian

banking industry remain strong,” the apex banking regulator said.

CBN backs EFCC’s investigation of bank chiefs•Says it is carrying out own special investigations

FIRST City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) has closed down some of its branches and sacked staff of those branches.

It was gathered last night that the branches affected were those formerly owned by Finbank, which was ac-quired by the bank.

THE proposed arraign-ment of 16 bank staffs charged with N2.6 billion fraud, has been adjourned till July 4.

The accused are: Nigeria International Bank Ltd, Chief C. S Sankey, Adekun-le Oladosun, Okechi Egwu, Lulu Ndubuka, Oyowole Ariyo. Kabiru Bello, and J.E Eriagbon,

Others are: Samson Ebie, Steve Obodomechine, Mik-ky Dons Nig. Ltd, Mark Anaele, Peter Harris, Peter

Oriade, Olusola Fagbure and Obianwa Chuba.

They are charged on 20 counts bordering on con-spiracy, intent to defraud, falsification of document, fraudulent alteration and diversion of over N2. 6 bil-lion belonging to MicMerah International Agency Ltd.

The case which was fixed for arraignment of the ac-cused was on Monday, fur-ther adjourned till July 4, following an information from the office of the Attor-ney General of the Federa-tion.

On Monday, the first ac-

Chima Nwokoji-Lagos

ayomide owoNibi odekaNyiN-Lagos

AMBROSE Omorodion, Chief Financial Officer, In-vestData Consulting Ltd, Lagos has said that faith-ful implementation of the budget would reverse the illiquidity in the capital market.

Omordion told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos that although the signing of the budget into law was late, its faithful implementation would erode its late passage.

He said the budget would boost the nation’s funda-mentals to attract local and foreign investors to the capital market.

Besides, he said good mon-etary policies by the Cen-tral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would impact moderately on inflation, currently above the interest rate.

He said the CBN might increase the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) in its next meeting to 13 per cent, above the 12.20 per cent core inflation rate in March.

NAN reports that the capital market All-Share Index last week rose by 639.19 points or 2.55 per cent to close at 25,701.60 due to the signing of the budget into law.

Budget: Good monetary policies ’ll reverse illiquidity in capital market

THE Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) says the passage of the 2016 budget into law is a good development for the private sector.

The Director-General of LCCI, Muda Yusuf, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the elements of uncertainty created by the non passage of the budget had been removed.

“It is good news for the private sector because it will boost investors’ con-fidence in the country’s economy. The country will begin to see positive devel-opments in economic ac-tivities,” Yusuf said.

NAN recalls that Presi-dent Muhammadu Buhari on May 6 signed the N6.06 trillion budget into law.

The president had with-held his assent for weeks due to the controversy sur-rounding the budget pro-posal he submitted to the joint sitting of the National Assembly on Dec. 22, 2015.

Yusuf said the N350 billion that the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, promised to inject into the system immediately after the assent would stimulate the economy.

LCCI happy over passage of 2016 budget

‘No power supply at Tin Can Island port’

ONE of the terminal op-erators at the Tin-Can Is-land Port (TICP) in Lagos, the Ports & Cargo Han-dling Services (P&CHS) has bemoaned the lack of power supply at the con-tainer port terminal. This is even as the operator of the Terminal C inside the TICP lamented the huge amount of money spent on diesel to provide alter-native power supply for port operations.

Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune in an exclusive interview, the Managing Director of P&CHS, Mo-hammed Danaro Bulango stated that the terminal operator spends millions to power the generators

that provide alternative power supply inside the terminal.

According to him, “We are connected to the na-tional grid, but anytime there is power failure, we switch over to our genera-tors. Over time. We spend so much on diesel to power our generators.

“I cannot be specific on the amount we spend on diesel every day, but we spend millions on diesel monthly to power our gen-erators.”

When asked how much power supply does the terminal enjoy from the national grid, Bulango ex-plained that, “ In the last one week, we have not had power supply for 5 minutes. We have had to

ToLa adeNubi-Lagos rely heavily on alternative power supply. Aside our generators, most of our tractors, cranes use diesel. So, monthly we spend mil-lions on diesel to run this facility.

“It is worse once it rains. Whenever there is a rain-fall, don’t just expect any power supply from the na-tional grid.”

Although calls to officials of the bank were not re-sponded to, it was gathered that the management of the bank resolved to rational-ize some redundant and unviable branches of the acquired bank, especially where there were two or three branches in the same

area because of the current state of the economy.

A source said while some staff members of those branches were seconded to other branches, majority were relieved of their duties.

It was also gathered that many of those who got the sack were those with issues.

cused represented by its staff Mr Ofodile Ojiako was present in court.

Other accused present were: Mark Anaele repre-senting Mikky dons Ltd, Lulu Ndukuba and Olusola Fagbure.

When the case was called, counsel from the office of the AGF, Mrs Kehinde Bode-Ayeni informed the court of AGF’s withdrawal of the fiat given to the for-mer prosecutor, Mr Gordy Uche (SAN).

She told the court that the AGF was yet to re-issue a fiat to another prosecuting counsel.

Based on this premise, the court adjourned the matter to July 4 for mention.

It will be recalled that the arraignment of the accused had previously been stalled on Feb. 9, March 2 and April 11, following the in-ability of the prosecution to serve the accused with the criminal summons.

In the charge, the accused were alleged to have con-spired to induce MicMerah

International Agency Ltd, to deliver the said sum to them, to be used for offset-ting a fraudulent import fi-nance facility scheme.

They were also alleged to have falsified documents to fraudulently secure the re-lease of four Volvo luxury buses and two 40 feet con-tainers from the Nigeria Custom Service.

The accused are also charged with obtaining property by false pretence, as well as corruptly enrich-ing themselves.

The offence is said to have contravened the pro-visions of sections 1(1) (a),1(3), and 8 (a), of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Related offence Act, 2004.

The offence also contra-vened the provisions of sections 161, and 162 of the Custom and Excise Man-agement Act, Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act, 2004 as well as sections 2, 2(1) and 10 (1) of the Recov-ery of Public Property Act, 2004.

From left: Mr Charles Binite, Chairman, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Pensioners; Adebisi Bright, Chief Executive Officer of LiveWell Initiative and Adetunji Ojo, Head, Institutional Banking-Lagos, Sterling Bank Plc at the medical check-up programme organised by the bank for the NPA pensioners in Lagos.

13 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016 Nigerian TribuneeditorialObafemi Awolowo and Nigeria’s contemporary issues

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AFRICAN NEWSPAPERS OF NIGERIA PLCFounders:Chief Obafemi Awolowo GCFR, SAN (1909 - 1987)

Chief (Dr) H.I.D AwolowoCON (1915 - 2015)

As Premier of the Western Region, Awolowo made developmental strides that have become nuggets and reference points for Nigerian leaders decades after him. Undoubtedly as a recognition of this, his Yoruba kin invested him with the leadership of the race, making him the first and only individual in modern Nigeria to be named Leader of the Yoruba.

The proponent of the Regime of Mental Magnitude, an idealised model for personal discipline and self-regulation involving gradual emasculation of fleshly excesses, Awolowo’s mental acuity and aggressive studies of other leaderships and developmental models across the world appear alien to the present Nigerian leadership for whom reading to mould the intellect is a rarity. He brought into government a high level of morality which was unprecedented. Before him and, worse still, after him, politics was an enterprise highly steeped in deceit, corruption and immorality.

Still, infrastructure was perhaps the axis where Awolowo’s immortality became a given. Recognising education as the superstructure for subsequent erection of an intelligentsia to drive development, he formulated an educational programme that made education free and mandatory for all in the Western Region, his most remarkable accomplishment to date, driven by the conviction that true nationalism, self determination and a progressive society would be achieved only when the generality of people were educated. At inception of the policy, it was envisaged that about 275,000 children would enrol in primary school but over a million did. There were only 25 secondary schools with 6,775 pupils at the inception of the policy in 1955. But the number had, by 1959, increased to 139 schools, with 841, 374 pupils. Indeed, even though he did not win the 1979 and 1983 presidential elections of the Second Republic, his free education and free health care policies were implemented with resounding successes in the states controlled by the Unity Party of Nigeria, and remain the pivot of political campaigns till the present day.

This system was thereafter to produce a corps of educated elite that drove the immediate post-colonial Nigeria. Thereafter, he began to weave an infrastructure web that became first of its kind in Black Africa. First was the establishment, in 1959, of the Western Nigerian Television (WNTV), which became the first television station in Africa. This was followed by an aggressive provision of road network that endured and was targeted at driving development, followed by the provision of free health services for citizens up till the age of 18 years, through which many people escaped avoidable sicknesses and diseases. Through a systematic and systemic integrated rural development programme and agriculture, he forged an enduring partnership between government and the agrarian communities, a partnership that sustained the economy of the Western Region through the exportation of cocoa, palm oil, cotton and allied products. From this aggressive agricultural enterprise, Nigeria became a prime exporter of these commodities in the world. This is

aside the construction of the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan, first of its kind in Africa and the first skyscraper in tropical Africa called the Cocoa House through the creation of a super business model — the Odua Group.

Till today, discourses on federalism have always revolved round the federalist ideas of Awolowo. In his Path to Nigerian Freedom (1947), Awolowo studied the constitutions of diverse countries and arrived at the first systematic federalist manifesto to be put together by any Nigerian politician. Beyond the mantra of forgetting and insisting on differences, proposed by his two most outstanding peers, Awo astutely proposed the management of differences for greater national productivity, as encapsulated in federalism, a proposal to which Nigeria sadly has refused to acquiesce in almost 56 years of independent nationhood, running what no less a personality than the current Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has described as ‘feeding bottle federalism,’ a centralism that promises to invalidate the labours of the country’s heroes, past or present. Indeed, it beggars belief that the same nation that Awo, in company with his peers, toiled tirelessly to forge has stubbornly refused to cast even a glance at the report of the 2014 National Conference fashioned to give vent to the federalist inclination which is sine qua non to Nigeria’s survival and potential greatness

Awo was reputed, among many others, with a powerful quotation of his discipline and morality. Awo philosophically explained his arguably superhuman political depth or source of his intellectualism when he famously stated: “When most people in public life and in the position of rulership are spending whole days and nights carousing in clubs or in the company of men of shady character and women of easy virtue, I, like a few others, am always at my post working hard at the country’s problem and trying to find solutions to them... Only the deep can call to the deep.”

Sadly, however, the current political class seems more enamoured of the theory than the practice of the Awolowo principles and policies. There are political parties and politicians that gleefully fritter away the national patrimony and refuse to respect fundamental human rights. Governors regularly mouth “free education” while pupils continue to sit on the bare floor in many of the states professing allegiance to the principles which made the Western Region administered by Awo the most enlightened section of the African populace, liberating many families from abject poverty and catapulting them into the commanding heights of the Nigerian economy. While Awo elaborated on the role of savings in the management of the economy, public functionaries at all the levels of government canvass the sharing of the national patrimony at every turn, purveying crass logic and dressing profligacy, inertia and mental indolence in the garb of national expediency. The time has come, therefore, to do justice to the memory of the sage by giving life to the policies and ideas to which he devoted his lifetime.

GOT NEWS?Contact: editornigeriantribune@yahoo.com or call:08055069471, 08116954630

Continues from Front Page

14 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016

LETTERS TO THE editor

Letters to the editor should be sent to letterstribune@yahoo.com or by sms to 08055001747 or 08054005323.It MUST be accompanied by the full name and address of the writer.

Will rise in crude prices benefit Nigerians now?T HE price of crude

oil is rising in the international mar-ket, but I am not

happy with this. Some may say that it will bring Nigeria out of its current economic crisis, which has seen the naira fall against the US dol-lar, but the truth is that the recovery will stall our eco-nomic development.

Due to the economic cri-sis, we have started look-ing inward; we are now campaigning in favour of made-in-Nigeria products, and companies that were on the verge of collapse quickly returned to profit-ability.

How did this happen? It was because importers of foreign goods found it dif-

ficult to bring in goods due to the fall in the value of the naira, and they had no other choice than to patro-nise local products.

Recently, a tomato paste factory in Lagos went from going to burst to opening a new N4billion line in just a matter of months.

This is the ‘success’ of the economic period we are in. For this tomato paste fac-tory, more workers have been employed to man the new lines. Apart from this, we are now talking about diversifying our economy; we are now looking at ag-riculture and the solid minerals sector, and when things go on as planned, then jobs will be created.

Now, why I don’t want us to get out of the cur-rent economic difficulty; the price of crude oil is rebounding, and the Fed-eral Government will have more money to spend, thereby making us to for-get all the good plans

RECENTLY, it was re-ported that the Federal Government had accepted a five-year expiry date for driver’s license. It will be recalled that many motor-ists have been agitating for the elongation of the expi-ry date for driver’s license from the current three years to some reasonable validity period, and this is as a result of the stress and some additional costs driv-ers are made to incur, cou-pled with the delay experi-enced in order to obtain or renew their license.

What I, however, find difficult to comprehend is the analysis by the Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, quoting from a communiqué issued that “The board has ap-proved an optional validity period for driver’s license of three and five years at different costs to provide more efficient and effective service delivery to its cus-tomers. That is, while the three-year license will cost N6,000, motorists are to pay N10,000 for the five-year license.

It seems to me that the FRSC is only interested in making Nigerians to cough-out more of their hard-earned money for everything that basically should have been provided free by government.

Will the new license with five-year validity be made of gold or something else other than what the Com-mission is using for the current three-year validity license? Moreso, there is hardly any difference be-tween obtaining the license newly or renewing the ex-pired one.

In a nutshell, the FRSC

On the new 5-year driver’s license

100 days in office: Gov Bello can do moreLAST Friday, the govern-ment of Alhaji Yahaya Bel-lo celebrated its first 100 days in office. When the governor was sworn-in on January 27, 2016, every-body had so much hope,

that we have made when things were rough. This is just how the human mind works.

Then, the prospects of diversifying our economy will become dim, since money is coming in from oil again.

The worst part is that since the petroleum sector has been deregulated, Ni-gerians will now pay more for petrol at the pumps. Before now, the govern-ment was subsidising the pump price of petrol, but that has been withdrawn. We are now at the mercy of the world oil market.

What then will be the price of fuel per litre when crude oil hits $100 per barrel?

It will definitely skyrock-et at the pumps; will Nige-rians be able to cope with N500 per litre of fuel?

I just pray that the global price of crude oil will per-petually remain low so that our politicians won’t even have money to steal again.

However, if the govern-ment can quickly get inves-tors that can start building refineries, then it will be a move in the right direction.

I, therefore, want to use this opportunity to suggest to the Federal Government

that now is the time to sell our refineries. Government has not been successful in managing businesses, and we can see this in our liq-uidated companies like the Nigeria Airways, NITEL, Nigeria Shipping Line, among others.

A thriving private sector is what we need for the de-velopment of the country. Jobs will be created, while the businesses will be sus-tained by experts who are profit-oriented.

•Dr Taju Alalade,Ilorin,Kwara State.

should review the validity of the license to be five-year across the board and at the old rate of N6,000. Nigerians are already fed-up of different policies that have no tangible differ-ence, other than to add to the pain of the people.

•Babalola Jacob O.Awedele Area, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.

but till date, Kogi people are yet to experience any change in their lives.

When this new govern-ment came on board, many people, particularly civil servants, felt they

would begin to enjoy their salaries as at when due, but nothing has changed from the way it was in the past. Again, the cost of living has outstretched our incomes, and inflation is galloping.

Our communities need roads, water, modern health facilities and better schools.

Many parents cannot afford decent meals for themselves and their chil-dren. Workers who spent their entire life serving the state are consigned to a life of scavenging in old age because their pensions are not being paid.

Some have died while standing on pension queues, while struggling to get their legitimate earn-ings and what is due to them.

These salient facts are not secret, the government knows, and the citizens are on the edge, having suf-fered so much in silence.

While there is still time to change the direction in which the state is heading, it is important that citizens bring where the governor needs to focus on to his at-tention.

I hope from now on, things will change for the better for the people of the state, because Kogi is so blessed for it to be experi-encing what it is facing at the moment.

•Balogun Emmanuel,Kabba,Kogi State.

The US gun curse

15 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016opinion

THE news releases from Nigeria’s military are beginning to talk about clearing out “remnants” of Boko Haram. While this in no way implies a final end of the terror group and the dislocation they caused to the people living in the North East of the country, it nonetheless marks a turning point in restoring order to the region. One will talk of remnants only after the main body of the group and the threat it posed to Nigeria have been neutralised.

Evidence of the progress made in taming Boko Haram is in the group’s resort to aiming for soft targets and even this di-mension has been largely tamed. Many of its commanders have been killed, arrested or surrendered.

But what lies ahead when Nigeria is able to announce a final victory over Boko Haram? No doubt, drawing from places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and other places that have battled fundamentalists, there is the reality that terrorists and the cells they have created do not just vanish back into the thin air. There remains the risk that dormant sleeper cells will attempt reacti-vation, while ‘copycats’ may attempt to cash in on the notoriety created by Boko Haram for the kick of it. I believe the Federal Government, through the various security services, will come up with something to make Nigeria’s case an exception in the history of nations that had combated terrorism.

From my perspective, the biggest task ahead centres around the victims, survivors and those affected by Boko Haram’s atrocities. Borno State happens to be the epicentre of the ter-rorists’ activities, even though its neighbouring states also bore the brunt of the insurgency. This is why I think Borno State is the centre of rebuilding efforts in the post-Boko Haram period.

In Borno State, same as its neighbours, some of the persons who were displaced by the insurgency are beginning to return to their communities while others are also giving thought to re-turning once they are certain that the armed fighters have been pushed farther away from their homes. Those who have been directly affected need psychological assistance, some have over stayed in the IDP camps but cannot go home due to the confu-sion of what to do and how to get their lives back on track; they require rehabilitation through useful ventures like farming and other ventures they were into before the disruption to the lives.

An immediate requirement is, therefore, the reconstruction of homes. Many buildings were razed either by fighters, or from

Borno: What lies ahead after Boko Haram?

bombardment during encounters. Other homes have simply fallen into disrepair after being abandoned by their owners who had to flee for safety. These homes have to be rebuilt and in rebuilding or repairing the homes, it would not be out of place to give them modern amenities as a way of ensuring that the residents that are returning have something to blunt the edge off the trauma and deprivation they have passed through both as victims of the insurgents and as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). It would not be out of place to ensure that the new homes are better ventilated, have basic toilet facilities and provision of potable water for communities that do not have it before.

We must also factor in how to strengthen the sense of com-munity that existed prior to the disruption of life in this axis. To this end, facilities like markets, health centres, schools, public libraries and town halls should be seen beyond the function we know them to serve. They must be included in the rebuilding efforts as integral part of the social fabric that will create meet-ing points among returnees and as assets that will speed up the healing process.

Furthermore, efforts at rebuilding the North East offer un-precedented opportunity at working with a new economic model that could later be adapted by other parts of the country. Boko Haram’s reign of terror practically destroyed the economy of the region. It is not enough to rebuild homes for those re-turning, it is as well important to empower them economically

to begin contributing to the national economy. My opinion is that the returnees should be set up to return to farming with the provision of the needed inputs. Those into business should be similarly empowered.

The additional layer to be added is to organise the willing ones into cooperatives to take up agro-processing in order to add value to the produce from the farms. Part of the amounts ear-marked for rebuilding can be channelled into this venture in the form of a revolving fund.

Building houses and restoring economic activities are, how-ever, not the only things the affected persons need. Till date, many of them are still in shock and would require therapy. If nothing is done to treat those in need on intervention, the con-sequences of post-traumatic stress disorder could turn out to be overwhelming in the years ahead. We must, therefore, leverage on the abundance of graduates in the relevant fields by asking youths to volunteer to serve in the rebuilt communities. Help must be available to those in need of it before they take a bad turn since the full impact of the trauma people have suffered will begin to manifest when the conflict dies down. This must be backed up with Behavioural Change Communication to get the wider society to see things from the right perspective. We can already see the dilemma of female Boko Haram abductees whose relations have ostracised them upon their regaining free-dom.

Similar to providing therapeutic services, we must immediate-ly address what happens to orphans from the crisis. As the dust settles down in the wake of Boko Haram’s defeat, the true scale of children who have lost their parents and guardians would emerge. There must be a system set up for reuniting lost chil-dren with their families just as a system should be instituted for re-homing orphaned children. The various Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and relevant government departments in charge of preventing human trafficking must be part of this effort to ensure that vulnerable children do not leave the trauma of the war for the horrific ordeal that human trafficking is.

•Ode is executive secretary, Peace, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Initiative, Abuja.

By Lewis Obi

IT was in the once famous John Plowman’s Talks that I saw the saying that for every man, there is one thorn bush, and he is fortunate if there are not two. And, so, even the United States, with all its natural gifts and enor-mous re sources, was not spared this limitation or afflic-tion. It came in the form of guns.

On several occasion, the US President, Barack Obama, had shed tears from his eyes on account of the tragedies that guns have wreaked in his country.

But what would the United States have been without guns? No one is sure. But some of the country’s founding fathers found saw guns as a ready source of protection.

Having to insert themselves in another man’s land meant the possibility of having to fight for survival. The Native Americans were not hostile at first until competi-tion for resources, as always, kin dled some hostilities.

The guns helped in huge territorial acquisi tions. The entire New England became theirs with minimal fight-ing. The original 13 states that eventually came together to form the United States of America in 1776 were freed from colonial rule and freed from domestic native intru-sions by guns.

And so, it was no surprise that the second amendment to the US constitution decreed that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms (note the capitalisation of arms), shall not be infringed.”

The first time President Obama dropped tears was on 14th December, 2012 when Adam Lanza, armed to the teeth, and having killed his own mother at home, forced his way into the Sandyhook Elementary School and opened fire on those little children, almost all of them six-year olds. Lanza killed 20 little children, six adults, including some heroic teachers who tried to protect their pupils, be fore he killed himself. It was the closest thing to the Biblical massacre of the innocents.

Now, those guns were lawfully acquired, bought by

Adam Lanza’s mother with her money. No one can say why she bought them. A few people also had the knowl-edge that Adam had some psychological problems, but no one thought they were serious enough. He had seen a psychiatrist but not much was done.

Now, a rational person would imagine that after this massacre of six-year-olds, the United States Congress would, in revulsion, move to pass a law to control guns, at least, to make sure that they are kept out of the reach of the mentally-unstable. The National Rifle Asso ciation (NRA) made sure that no such thing happened as it has done through its history.

In 2013, total number of deaths caused by guns in the United States as computed by the Center for Disease Con-trol and Prevention, stood at 33,169. In Japan, for that period, the fig ure was under 70. The breakdown of the figures showed that 11,208 deaths were the result of ho-micide; 21,175 deaths resulted from suicide; 505 deaths resulted from accidental discharge, and 281 deaths were due to firearms use of “unde termined intent.”

Guns seem to be so accessible that in 2009, the Con-gressional Research Service estimated that there are 310 million firearms in the United States, and these exclude, of course, the weap ons owned by the US military.

The US President is also the consoler-in-chief. He has to pay condolence visits on behalf of the country, comfort the injured and the bereaved and it is easy to imagine the burden of receiving the body of soldiers killed in wars, then having to bury innocent people and console others

in what often seemed like senseless murders.“Guns don’t kill. People do.” That’s as close to the

slogan of the NRA as one can get. The association can raise millions of dollars within hours. As everyone who followed the issue could see, indeed, they immediately made moves to capitalise on the President’s executive orders to begin fund-raising to oppose any attempt to control firearms under any guise.

The President would want gun sellers to, at least, have a license. How can that be construed as un-constitutional? The President wants gun sellers to do some background check on anyone trying to purchase a gun, if only to know whether the buyer is of sound mind or has a criminal record. How can that be considered a bad thing? The President wants to strengthen men-tal healthcare so that the mentally-disturbed could have easy ac cess to care; how can this not be a good thing? The President wants to slow by a few hours the speed of gun purchases. Men have quarreled with their wives and gone off to buy guns as tem pers ran high, almost always leading to tragedies, whereas a few hours wait would have got tempers to cool.

It is difficult to compute comprehensively the tragedy of mass killings in the US. San Berna dino left 14 dead on 2nd December last year and on November 19, three were killed in Colorado Springs, Colorado while nine died at Roseburg, Oregun on 1st October. On 16th July five were killed at Chattanooga, Tenessee and on 18th June nine were killed in Charleston, South Carolina, all in 2015.

The US Supreme Court is cited as the biggest culprit in the inability of Americans to do more having decided in its 2008 ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment meant an unrestricted access to firearms. The full 2nd Amendment reads: “A well regu-lated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”

•Obi is a global affairs analyst.

By Sam Ode

16 Nigerian TribuneTuesday, 10 May, 2016

agriculture

WH E N was your s t a r t i n g point in

Agriculture?Right from my childhood,

I was always interested in agriculture. I wanted to study agric and a friend re-ported me to my then agric teacher, Ademosun. I was in SS 2 then. He called me and asked if I really wanted to study Agricultural Science. I said I would like to own my farm. He however advised that I do not need to study agriculture in order to own a farm. He cited the example of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who was then the president. He made reference to the fact that he did not study Agriculture and yet, he has a farm.

What are the chal-lenges you’ve been fac-ing as a young farmer?

Challenges in agriculture are many. But for women, the principal problem is that of insecurity. In 2009 when I first started,that was after my service year, I was man-aging a farm in Epe, Lagos State. I had to go there by myself. I discovered a lot of discrepancies and in fact uncovered several corrupt practices, which I made known to the owner. One day, the owner of the farm told me she wasn’t comfort-able being there alone to work on the farm because of

one. Profit would definitely be maximised and more ideas would be generated.

Also, there is the issue of storage. Farmers can’t store after harvest because there is no power. Also, there is the challenge of no standards in Nigeria. If you don’t have standards, it will be difficult to sell. For example, I have a basket of tomatoes to sell. I can’t allocate it to a buyer until I take the basket to the buyer. I can’t say there is fifty kilogram (kg) of toma-toes unless the buyer sees what type of tomatoes. So I can’t negotiate before my goods get there. The buyer will first say ‘let me see’ be-fore negotiation begins. But if standard is put in place, it will be easier for farmers and they won’t have to always be at the mercy of the buyers. They don’t have to be at the point of sales all the time.These and many more fac-tors affect Agricultural pro-

duction in Nigeria

What picture of farm-ing did you have in mind?

My major driver right now is to getas many people as possible into farmingin Ni-geria. We all need to con-tribute into Agriculture, no matter how little. There is a growing apprehension in terms of food insecurity. The signs are there; the rain is receding. Some basic food produce are getting scarce and more expensive. A Min-ister of Agriculture purport-edly predicted that food cri-ses may take place in 2030. With current trends such as herdsmen destroying farm lands, Boko Haram in the north, rise in dollar price, which affected poultry, this prediction may be sooner. I therefore encourageevery-one to rise to the occasion in one way or the other. Be-sides, you don’t have to end

EWEDU farming is one of the lucrative businesses in agribusiness. It has been said that an acre of Ewedu could generate as much as half a million naira in prof-its in less than a month.

Like other vegetables, Ewedu is easy to farm. Ewedu farmers say that the business is highly profitable

during the dry seasons, which could be an area to explore for someone look-ing to maximise profits. To farm during dry season, it is encouraged that planting occurs somewhere between late September to early January.

Ewedu thrives on swampy areas, so those that farm-ing it during dry season sounds appealing to this

should be put into consid-eration. For those who want to start small, maybe from their backyard, make a bed for your ewedu by tilling the ground till it is soft. Some may feel comfortable add-ing some manure into the soil to increase soil nutrition and bumpy harvest.

Wale Olorunsogo, who deals in ewedu business, said Ewedu seeds are sold

by farmers and can go be-tween N600 to N900 per measure (about 850ml). For someone starting small, less than 850ml of ewedu seed is okay to start with, Olorunsogo said, while those interested in start-ing with an acre could buy more, depending on their expected outcomes.

Before planting the seeds, it is advisable that the seeds

were parboiled for less than five minutes and are shade dried. The purpose of parboiling is to enhance speedy germination of the seeds, Olorunsogo said. To parboil the seeds, pour boiling water on the seeds, leave for less than five minutes, drain and dry the seeds under a shade.

To plant on the already made bed (for small start-

Looking to make millions? Try Ewedu businessBy Ruth Olurounbi

Aderonke Eko-Aderinoye is a young ambitious Nigerian farmer, who left her banking job to start farming business. She was the winner of the Wimbiz Impact Investment Competition in 2015 and also winner of Tony Elumelu Enterpreneurship Programme in 2015. She was the finalist in British Council Enterprise Challenge in 2016. In this interview with OYEYEMI OKUNLADE, she speaks on numerous opportunities for young Nigerians in agriculture, the need for immediate revolutionary farming in Nigeria, among others.

Why I left banking for farming —Eko-Aderinoye

up in a farm before you can do something in Agriculture. There are a lot of avenues to make money in agric and these are issues that are dis-cussed in workshops, semi-nars we organize from time to time.

So, I’m passionate about building capacities. In my in-teraction with farmers, one of the major problems is lack of information and standard. So in order to bridge that gap, I in partner with other colleagues, organise train-ings and seminars to help build capacities. One will be coming up on the tomorrow in Lagos. The world is grow-ing global and Nigeria must step up in terms of globaliz-ing its local produce. Again, the issue of standard arises. If you produce pap for the lo-cal community, how will you go about it to meet the inter-national standard?How will you compete favorably with similar products such as cus-tard? There are so many lo-cal products that Nigeria has which the world will want to see, if only we can meet up with international standard. So my picture of farming for my country is to attain inter-national recognition.

However, on a personal note, I have this dream of combining agriculture and tourism (laugh). I want to create a farm where people would come and practically learn how to start their own farm, but as well have some form of relaxation. It’s more like agric tourism.I get a lot of inspirations, relaxation and relief when I’m on the farm. And I want people that come also to experience that. Although, a lot of things have changed, I still have it in mind and I want to retire on that dream.

You left your banking job for farming, it was even rumoured you left at the verge of being pro-moted. Is it true?

Yes. It was the week of my promotion last year. I am grateful for the banking

experience. But it is diffi-cult when you know where you’re supposed to be and even when your colleagues tell you every day that you’re wasting your life where you are.Not that I was bad at my job, it was like fish out of water; I wasn’t finding fulfillment. Whenever there was a discussion pertaining to agriculture and I spoke, the expression on their faces is like “what are you doing here?” And I got that almost every week. It was getting to a point that if you believe in what you’re saying, then go out and prove it; stop preaching the message you don’t believe. At that point, I stepped out to take charge of my destiny.

With all these chal-lenges, are there pros-pects for agriculture, especially for Nigerian youths who think the white collar job must be the way out?

The truth of the matter is that when there are chal-lenges, it simply means there are also opportunities. The land is still very virgin. So, whoever jumps in first has the first-mover advan-tage. Every aspect of the agricultural sector has nu-merous opportunities, right from seeds, to planting, har-vest, processing, packaging and marketing. There are opportunities everywhere. I also want to correct the no-tion that the fact that you want to go into agriculture does not mean you need to go the farm. The farm is just step two in seven-step pro-cesses which is part of what I will discuss at the workshop.

A lot of people consult me on the prospect in farming. I tell them, you don’t have to begin by owning a farm. Start by empowering your farmers from the village. Take their products; process it, package and sell. When the volumes of sales in-crease, that means the farm-ers will produce more. In-directly, you are producing

the farm-hands issues. She was afraid that the workers could attack and in fact kill me. And so, I had to stop. But I was not discouraged.

In addition, finance is another major problem in farming. It is not out of place to start small. One can. But in order to become success-ful, farming must be done in volumes, large quantity. You need large economies of scale for farming to be rela-tively profitable. There are a lot of peasant farmers all around who depend heavily on subsistence method of farming. And as such, they cannot grow what will sus-tain them in a long term. But if everybody could be brought to work together, there will be a large econ-omy of scale. For example, if farmers in a village come together and clear about ten hectares of land at once, that will bring down the overhead cost of production for every-

My expectations from Buhari —Abuja fish farmer

17 Nigerian TribuneTuesday, 10 May, 2016

By Ruth Olurounbi

Make farming priority for prisoners —Industrialist

AS President Muham-madu Buhari signed the 2016 budget into law, what do you want the government to do in or-der to help fish farmers?

What will help the farm-ers is capital; farmers can be able to produce their own feeds to feed their fish. With capital, farmers can be able to hatch and buy the ma-chine and the equipment that will be used and set up their farms, hatch and pro-duce feeds. We spend much money buying high cost feed from Israel and France, but everything they use in pro-ducing the feeds, we have it too here in Nigeria. If we can have capital to buy ma-chines, to buy materials, we can produce our own feeds at lower level to maximize the profit and reduce the cost of production.

What are the pro-gresses you have recorded in this fish business?

In fish farming, there is al-ways profit, if you know how to do it, if you know how to apply your idea in a better way, you will make profit. I was able to make profit in my last harvest, from that profit, I increased the num-

ber of fingerlings from 5000 to 8000. I stocked 5000 fingerlings in January, and harvested them in February, then I stocked 8000 finger-lings in the same February, I will harvest them by July.

What are the major challenges?

The major challenges we are facing is lack of capital, because in fish production, you need a space but land in Abuja is very expensive.

There is suppose to be a provided area for fish farm-ers. The government should provide a space where the fish farmers will go stock their fishes and make it like a market. But we don’t have a space provided by the federal government where we can go and develop our business.

If you go to other coun-tries, like Italy, they have gone far in fish production because they got help from their government. Their gov-ernment is serious to help them to produce fish in large quantities for their market. That is why we happen to be their customer, instead of producing, we are buy-ing their products. So as we are buying their products, the money we are making is bouncing back to them.

What is your advice to the government?

The major challenge we have in the sector is that we have a ministry of Agricul-ture, but the ministry doesn’t have a farm, they are just doing their farm on paper. They should have their own farmlands, where they will employ people, give them loan, guide them, improve them, and they depend on their own potential.

value for your home town. There are so many opportu-nities. For example, the goat farming business is a huge market nowadays. Before now, people were not rearing goat commercially especially in the West African. But with the advent of asun, which is a now a delicacy in birth-day parties, wedding, nam-ing and burial ceremonies, house warming, and so on, there is a huge demand for it. In Lagos, there’s a restau-rant that consumes over 100 goats in a day.

AN International agricul-tural Organisation, Harvest-Plus last weekend launched and introduced biofortified vitamin A maize and Cas-sava at the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure Ondo

Fortified Vitamin A cassava, maize launched in Ondo

state capital. Speaking on the new de-

velopment and innovation by the HarvestPlus, at the event, the Country Manager of the organisation, Paul Ilona, said that the aim of the organization was to en-sure that these two agricul-

tural products are fortified with essential nutrients

According to him, the blood requires some neces-sary nutrients like zinc, iron and vitamin A in the body for an healthy living saying Nigerians have access to nu-tritious foods through bio

fortification, saying “many people have gone blind as a result of lack of essential nutrients in the food which is needed for the body.”

He explained that the es-sence of the fortifying the two agricultural products was to improve the nutri-tional value of maize and cassava especially for chil-dren under the age of five.

“Over 2,200 children un-der the age of five die every day in Nigeria due to lack of these nutrients, to cur-tail this we must improve our nutrition. We intend to make eating of staple crops become the channel of good nutrients for the body; we have vitamin A varieties re-leased in Nigeria, very soon we will produce vitamin A plantain and banana,” he added.

He disclosed that re-searchers have endorsed the two fortified agricultural products through a research carried out in Kenya where it was discovered that the yellow cassava improves growth velocity while there was fewer episode of illness in the children

Ilona said that the organ-isation had established a collaboration with the Fed-eral College of Education, Akure, in order to put in place the value change, to train the students of the in-stitution on Vitamin A vari-eties production and also to produce future managers of agriculture for the country.

Speaking at the inaugura-tion, the state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, said his administration has priori-tised agriculture in the state by encouraging youths and young grafuates to embrace agriculture.

Mimiko who was repre-sented by the state Com-missioner for Agriculture, Segun Ayetin, said the state government had trained many youths to be self em-ployed and employer of labour through its agri–prenuer programme.

He disclosed that the state government has revolution-alised Cocoa in the state with an assurance that the state will regain its foremost position as the best cocoa growers in the continent, saying no fewer than 76 tonnes of cocoa is produced in a season.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, receiving cassava bread from Director General of FIIRO, Dr Gloria Elemo, during his visit to the institute, while others look on, in Lagos.

Hakeem Gbadamosi -Akure

AN industrialist, Alhaji Ay-inde Sukazeem, has advised President Mohammadu Buhari to present before the National Assembly, a bill that will allow prisoners across the country to take farming as their priority dur-ing their jailed term.

Sukazeem, who deals with mechanised farming equip-ment added that the bill, if passed into law, would allow the prisoners to produce their foods and sell the remaining to ease the scarcity of farm produce in the country.

Sukazeem gave the advise recently, while addressing journalists in Ibadan, Oyo State.

He explained that the huge sum of money being budgeted every year by the Federal Government to feed prisoners is too much, espe-cially now that the country is facing economy challenges.

“More than N50 billion allocated for the feeding of prisoners every year should be diverted to another sector like agriculture that would ease the hardship faced by the populace. The high cost of foods in the market now-adays has become unbear-able,” he said.

In this interview, COLLINS NNABUIFE spoke with a fish farmer Muhammed Sani on his expectations as President Muhammadu Buhari signs the 2016 budget into law.

AS the percentage of women in agriculture is increasing in Nigeria, the Federal Govern-mnet has been tasked to fast track the implementation of the gender policies and gen-der inclusive research and technology; and to improve women’s access and control of tools of production, to boost sustainable agricul-tural production and mar-kets in Nigeria.

Olabukunola Williams, Coordinator for Nigerian Women in Agricultural Re-search for Development (NiWARD), a platform for African Women in Agricul-tural Research and Develop-ment (AWARD), speaking recently, said creating the right environment is key and that should be the role of the Nigerian government.

According to her, if re-search findings show that women carry out as high as 70 per cent of agricultural labour, 50 per cent of animal husbandry related activities and 60 per cent of agricul-tural processing activities, then governments must be willing to provide them with the dame access to in-puts, training, technologies, financing and resources as their male counterparts and given control over the re-sources such as land.

“African governments promised to allocate 10 per cent of their budget to the agriculture sector and en-sure its efficiency and effec-tiveness in the Malabo Dec-laration and the Nigerian government has not met this pledge. If agriculture is going to part of the diversification scheme of the government, then they need to act like it and put their money where their mouth is and imple-ment the policies,” she said.

It will be recalled that the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had established that if women worldwide had the same ac-cess to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 per cent and raise total agricultural output by 2.5–4 per cent, which suggest that the estimated gains in ag-ricultural production alone could lift 100 to 150 million people out of hunger.

FG tasked on robust agric production through gender inclusivity

ers) or already made ridges for large farmers, it is rec-ommended that the plant-ing occurs in the evening. The reason being that seeds are shielded from birds or neighbourhood chickens, as well as the scorching sun, in the evenings.

Ewedu leaves are threat-ened by pests, so it is ad-visable to put measures in place to control pests.

18Group Politics EditorTaiwo Adisa - 08072000046tai_adis@yahoo.com

Some founding fathers of the party under the aegis of PDP Northern

Elders are at loggerheads with the acting national chairman, Alhaji Ali Modu-Sheriff, asking him to resign.

From North to South: PDP and theburden of in-fighting As factionalisation continues to dog the efforts of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to forge unity across the country, KUNLE ODEREMI, ABIODUN AWOLAJA and HAKEEM GBADAMOSI examine the intrigues at play and the implications for the 2019 polls.

TESE are obviously not the best of times for the op-position Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). While the party appears to be in tatters in the North, it is plagued by in-fighting in the South. For instance,

some founding fathers of the party under the aegis of PDP Northern Elders are at loggerheads with the acting national chairman, Alhaji Ali Modu-Sheriff, asking him to resign. The group is reportedly led by a former Information Min-ister, Professor Jerry Gana. Some stakeholders from the North are also said to be demanding the resignation of the acting national chairman, threatening to dump the PDP or organise a parallel national convention. The hide and seek among PDP stakeholders over the shar-ing of national offices is not peculiar to the South-West. There are indications of a serious cold war raging in the South-South over the reported bid by the current deputy national chairman of the party, Chief Uche Secondus, to retain his seat. Some forces have reportedly coalesced to deny him the opportunity based on what they consider as the need for equity and justice. For instance, there is seeth-ing anger in the Delta/Edo wing of the party over the said discreet moves by those forces to ensure Rivers State, where Secondus, hails from, retains the position. The two chap-ters are alleging marginalisation in the sharing of positions over the years. The political configuration of the zone comprises Rivers/Bayelsa, Edo/Delta and Cross River/Akwa Ibom as sub zones. A source was quoted as alleging that “Since the in-ception of PDP in 1998, Rivers State had dominated the Rivers/Bayelsa sub zone with the occupation of all the ma-jor party and public offices allotted. The occupants include Late Senator Francis Ellah, late Dr Marshall Harry, Chief Godspower U. Ake, late Chief A. K. Dikibo, Honourable Chibudom Nwuche, Hon. Austin Opara, Prince Uche Sec-ondus, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja and currently Chief Uche Secondus again, with immediate past president of the country, Dr Goodluck Jonathan from Bayelsa state as the greatest beneficiary of the decades of

continues on pg19

struggle for the emancipation of the peoples of the South-South. From the Cross River/Akwa Ibom sub zone, Chief Ufot Ekaette, Emmanuel Ibeshi, Venatius Nkem and currently Bolaji Ananni. This leaves Edo/Delta seemingly margin-alised, with Chief Tony Anenih toeing the path of honour by voluntarily resigning as BoT chairman after his party, the PDP was roundly defeated at the centre, leaving party faithful and curious Nigerians wondering whether the NWC positions were paid employment for its current occupants to remain and wait for retirement.”

A contentious sharing formula Meanwhile, the zoning formula announced by Alhaji Oye-dokun after the parallel meetings seems to have introduced a dramatic twist to the tussle over the soul of the PDP in the South-West. Going by the pronouncement by zoning committee, the hopes of some PDP members, who have indicated interest in offices zoned to the South-West, ap-pear dashed, even though some party members claimed the announcement of the sharing formula was merely pre-emptive.

The report of the committee under the chairmanship of Oyedokun, stated that the office of the national secretary has been zoned to Osun State; national auditor to Ogun, while the office of the national publicity secretary was zoned to Ondo State, whereas a number of contenders for the post had had earlier emerged from Osun and Ekiti states. But, the nine-member committee said Ekiti State would now produce national vice chairman. The offices were reportedly divided on the basis of the three sharing blocs in the zone: Lagos and Ogun, Oyo and Osun and Ondo and Ekiti. The committee also alloted the ex-officio offices among the six states as follows: national Ex-officios are Lagos (male), Ogun, (female); Ondo, (fe-male); Ekiti, (male); Osun, (male); Oyo (male). Other mem-bers of the zoning committee include: Senator C.K. Awoy-elu, deputy chairman; Prince (Senator) Buruji Kashamu, chairman, mobilisation and organisation committee South-West; Honourable Ebenezer Alabi, Honourable Segun Ode-bunmi; former Lagos PDP governorship candidate, Dr Ade Dosunmu; Chief Mrs. Aduke Maina, Alhaja Bose Adedibu and Honourable Segun Adekoya, who served as the secre-tary of the committee.

Cost of factionalisation To all intents and purposes, the South-West geopolitical zone is currently in a political quandary. This followed the perceived non-performance of the ruling APC and the bit-ter in-fighting among members of the PDP. The people of the zone, as Dr Olusegun Mimiko implied in his address at the South-West PDP leaders’ meeting held in Akure, last week, are keenly watching political developments on the sidelines, and will judge the political class sooner or later. The PDP, the leading opposition party in the South-West, currently appears set to repeat the mistakes of the post-2011 era when it was uprooted by the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Mimiko Sheriff Kashamu

Tuesday, 10 May, 2016

19 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016politics&policy

The call for unity in the party however dominated discussions as an agenda for the leaders of the party in the South-West at the meeting held in Akure.

continued from pg18

The crisis over zoning

George Secondus

Already, notable Nigerians are grumbling loudly that the party has, so far, failed to play the critical opposition role necessary for the sustenance of democracy. Comment-ing on the issue at the weekend, a Professor of Political Science and public affairs com-mentator, Ayo Olukotun, noted that it was a good thing that the PDP leaders from the South-West gathered in Akure on Wednes-day, setting aside differences and costly ego games that would have denied them a fight-ing chance. He however observed that the retreat of the party with respect to the principal roles of intellectual combatant and treasury of alter-native governance ideas has come at a time when the nation is in dire need of imagina-tive options. He added: “The elusive arith-metic of petroleum subsidy, the hangover of sensational fuel queues in major cities, growing insecurity which has lately collated around rampaging Fulani herdsmen, a rap-idly weakening national currency, runaway inflation and the persisting problems asso-ciated with diminishing power generation are symptomatic of current malaise. The same argument can be made for the major opposition party whose main brief is to pro-vide an opposing platform to policies which even if they are sound are certainly lacking in implementation vigour.”Indeed, had the ruling APC been in oppo-sition, there is no doubt that it would have taken up the current administration on the issues mentioned by Olukotun and many others, particularly as some members of the ruling party are themselves express-ing dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, a founding leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), recently told the Nigerian Tribune that, as disorganised as PDP was, it gave every member a sense of belonging. He lamented: “The time we were going into a merger to become the APC, our feeling was that the then government of PDP was not giving us that desired governance and Nigerians were suffering. We wanted to be part of the solution to the problem to make life easy for our people. But how far have we then achieved those aspirations? There is nothing to show for it now.” Kawu, like Gov-ernor Mimiko did in Akure last Wednesday, also hinted at the possibility of a new party emerging on the political horizon ahead of 2019. As things stand, the South-West PDP ap-pears set to repeat the mistakes it made after it lost out to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2011. In March 2011, the ACN had swept the South-West with its trademark broom, uprooting the remnant Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led governments in Oyo and Ogun states. However, Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State refused to yield ground, as the Labour Party (LP) had a clean sweep of the elections in the state. The ACN, a party formed to float the presiden-tial ambition of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in 2006, was formerly known as the Action Congress (AC). Though the greatest boost for the party was the judicial victories of Governors Kayode Fayemi and Rauf Aregbesola in the Court of Appeal, the ACN also profited from the internal rancour within the PDP. Indeed, results from the 2011 elections indicated that that the ACN would have posed no threat to the PDP in Oyo State had former Governor Rashidi Ladoja not pulled out of the party to join the Accord Party (AP). Similarly, internal rancour within the Ogun State PDP effectively gave the state away to the ACN’s Ibikunle Amosun. Indeed, the Ogun case presented a very interesting di-

mension because the Peoples Party of Ni-geria (PPN,) founded by Governor Gbenga Daniel, proved to be the albatross for the PDP in the state. The PPN was formed by Daniel when he and members of his faction could not reach an amicable settlement with the Obasanjo faction of the PDP. While nei-ther Daniel nor Obasanjo is blameless in the Ogun PDP saga, the Yewa/Awori ethnic sec-tion of the state has been the victim of the disagreement between the duo. Ahead of the 2015 general election, the South-West PDP also shot itself in the foot through factionalisation. For instance, in Oyo State, the APC candidate, Governor Abiola Ajimobi, pointed out, ahead of the 2015 general election, that he would not lose his re-election bid because his main challenger, the PDP, had morphed into four parties, namely Accord Party, Social Democratic Party, Labour Party and PDP proper. Now, with rival factions of PDP in the South-West, the PDP appears to be tow-ing the same path of self-destruction.

South-West of rancour In a way, though, the dust raised over the controversies trailing the sharing of posi-tions zoned to the region ahead of the na-tional congress of the party was well man-aged at a meeting held in Akure by leaders of the party last Wednesday. The presence of the Ekiti State governor, Dr Ayodele Fay-ose, at the meeting attended by who-is-who in South-West PDP put paid to the specu-lations that there exists a frosty relation-ship within the house of Oduduwa. Reliable sources hinted that Yoruba leaders who had been spitting fire over political positions zoned to the zone were persuaded by the Ondo State governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, to arrive in the state on the eve of the meet-ing, in order to iron out areas of disagree-ment.

Participants at the midnight meeting held at the Government House grounds in Akure, which according to findings lasted over 10 hours, agreed to let go of the agita-tion for the position of national chairman of the party and settle for the positions allot-

ted to the zone. This, according to sources, did not come easy, as leaders adduced sev-eral reasons why the zone should not go for the national chairmanship of the party, now that the party is in opposition. The sponsors of the argument reportedly hinged this on the need to placate the North ahead of the 2019 general election. After much argument for and against the proposal, the leaders lat-er agreed to distribute the positions zoned to the region equitably among the six states in the region.

The call for unity in the party however dominated discussions as an agenda for the leaders of the party in the South-West at the meeting which was held at the International Culture and Events Center (The Dome) in Akure, Ondo State capital.

In his opening remarks, Governor Mimiko stressed the need for the leaders of the party in South-West to speak with one voice in the interest of the South-West. Mimiko said: “This is the time to get our acts together and take our rightful position in the politics of the country. There is no alternative to our unity in the South-West. If we don’t show enough concern about the issues concerning the people now, there is no way people will have confidence in us through their votes, and 2019 is around the corner. If we mess up, another party will come up. There is no doubt about it that Nigerians are watching. If we mess up, a new party will emerge and become the darling of this country because this country is waiting.”

Similarly, Ekiti state governor, Fayose, also preached unity in the party, noting that there was no alternative to peace for PDP to be back in its rightful place. His words: “We will be doing ourselves great injustice if we allow personal ego and resentment to con-tinue to cause trouble and division between us”

Fayose appealed to the party leaders to come together and reinvigorate the party in the region, rather than allowing the party to be hijacked by money bags, thugs and people with no ideas. He reiterated his commitment to the unity of the party in the region and Nigeria with a pledge not to do

anything that will jeopardise its chances, adding that he would not stop criticizing the ruling administration in the country until the dividends of democracy are delivered as promisedwwww by President Muhammadu Buhari and its party.

However, the leaders at the end of over five hours’ meeting resolved to share the avail-able positions zoned to the region among the six states in the region, while a com-mittee was put in place to sit and deliberate on the positions zoned to the region. In the communique issued at the end of the meet-ing and read by former Minister for Youths and Sports, Professor Adedoja, the leaders of the PDP in the region resolved “ that the time is ripe for all members of the PDP in the Southwest to forge a common front and pursue a common agenda towards occupy-ing their destined leadership position in Ni-geria.

Intrigues at Ijebu Igbo parleyHowever, the fact that two parallel meet-

ings of the core stakeholders held simul-taneously last Wednesday was an unam-biguous confirmation that the PDP in the South-West still has a long road to travel. The fit of anger in the speeches of a couple of speakers at the Ijebu Igbo was an expres-sion of the necessity for a quick resolution of whatever the differences among the leading lights in the party.

A former deputy national chairman of the party, who doubles as Bot member of PDP, Chief Shuaib Oyedokun, exhibited maturity in his capacity as the chairman on the occa-sion. After giving a clinical analysis of the role played by him and other representa-tives in the ad hoc committee set up by the PDP on zoning, he expressed strong opti-mism about the huge prospects of the three national offices zoned to the South-West. His explanation became imperative because of the strong reservations and allegations in certain quarters that he and others betrayed the zone, especially against the backdrop of demand that the position of national chair-man ought to have been conceded to the South-West, at least for the first since 1998 when PDP was formed.

While the meeting was in progress, Oyedo-kun had apparently monitored events going on in Akure, and at a stage, announced that the stakeholders seemed on the same page with him and other PDP leaders meeting in Ijebu Igbo, where a communiqué stated, in-ter alia, “that the PDP South West is one and indivisible family working for the actualisa-tion of the dreams of the party as articulated in the vision of the founding fathers.”

Perhaps, more poignant and instructive was the view of Senator Buruji Kashamu in his brief remarks at the meeting. His speech, which drew a loud applause from the entire audience, amply demonstrated that all the existing tendencies in the South-West PDP could soon strike a common chord before the party’s national convention.

“Although we have been called names over our proposals and actions, we remain committed to whatever we belief is in the best interest of our party, the good people of the South-West and Nigeria,” he reas-sured.

With the zoning of the national secretary, national auditor and national publicity sec-retary to the South-West by the PDP, he declared: “We will mobilise delegates from the South-West to support the incumbent National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sher-iff, to continue in office, if he indicates his interest in contesting for the position of the national chairman at the 21st May, 2016 National Convention, scheduled for Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.”

20 21Tuesday, 10 May, 2016

features

HE is a rare gem; virtually all the things he touched turned to gold in the affairs of men. His thoughts and views on mat-ters concerning Nigeria serve as the veritable template for leadership, as his grasp of issues was legendary.

For the sage and inimitable politician, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, more than two decades and nine years after his transition to glory,

his name resonates like those of Winston Churchill of Britain, Abraham Lincoln of United States and Mahatma Ghandi of In-

dia. His star glows in the firmament of Nigerian politics. Awo, as he is fondly called, towered above his contemporar-

ies. Through hard work, exemplary and visionary leadership, coupled with Spartan lifestyle, he rose to become a colossus, touching lives at every stage of his life. No wonder, a late Brit-ish prime Minister, Harold Wilson asserted that Awo was in-deed a material for advanced democracies. “He could lead the

United States and or Britain; he came too soon for Nigeria,” Wilson said.Ikenne in Remo land in Ogun State gave Nigeria and indeed

mankind the Great Awo, a foremost architect of modern Nigeria. From the colonial era when he fought like a Trojan to secure in-

dependence for the country from Britain to the post-independence period, Awo strode on the nation as a true patriot, courageous and visionary leader. He was consistent in ideas and principles, all which have ensured that his name, life and times remain deeply rooted in

the subconscious of the citizenry. Having established an enduring template for good governance, due process and accountability, most

political actors have continued to rise on the crest of his reputation to public office. As a political leader, he was known to dissipate enormous energy and wisdom in addressing the problem of mankind, with his phi-losophy directed at elevating the status of Nigerians towards making life

more enduring, enjoyable and comfortable for them. His doggedness to this cause was underscored by the then military gover-

nor of old Oyo State, Tunji Olurin in his obsequy. It read: “Now, here lies the legendry Awo; Here lies a great patriot; Here lies a great nationalist; Here lies the prophetic Jeremiah of Africa; Here lies the end of an era.”

Of course, Papa Awo was not just a politician. He was often prophetic when driving his point home on crucial national issues and at very auspi-cious moments. His prophesies were to serve as wake-up calls to the author-ities when things went awry. But those prophesies were naively ignored by

those in authorities in a deliberate conspiracy against the citizens and in the country. A good instance was in the Second Republic. The country

was literally heading for the rock because of the ineptitude of the Na-tional Party of Nigeria (NPN) federal administration, coupled with

the profligacy of the governing elite. Awo raised the alarm about an impending economic doom. Rather than heeding the warn-

ing and take pragmatic measures to detonate the time bomb, they resorted to vulgarity and recalcitrance, just because the

timely admonition emanated from the late founder of main opposition Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

In subsequent years, many of his adversaries in politics admitted playing politics by manner of their criticism of

Awo’s brand of politics of clear forthrightness, courage, vision and mission. One of such NPN leaders that came

out with the open confession was late Chief C. C. Onoh, who had a brief stint as the governor of old

Enugu State. He had said: “ Many of us opposed him in politics and made lots of unfavourable

comments about him merely to win elections.” A prominent author and political activist, Mokwugo Okoye, was at a stage a critic of the Awo and his brand of politics. The equally highly cerebral political activist later con-

fessed that he was an admirer of the late sage as a quintessential leader and politician. “Chief Awolowo was probably the most loved and most hated of his contemporaries in Nigeria, but his position as one of the founders of modern Nigeria is well secured in history, even when he is physically no lon-ger on the scene….With Awo’s death, we shall no doubt miss his tremendous energy and moral integrity, his courage, intellectual acumen and organiza-tional skill. But we are not likely to forget, for many years to come, his great legacy of constitutional federalism, universal education and medicare.”

The man and his dreamHe came with a purpose and mission which were translated into actions in

so many ways. The society reaped bountifully from his dream through the four cardinal programmes his political adventures that spanned both the pre and post-colonial period in the chequered history of Nigeria.

His economic wizardry made him distinct during the Nigerian civil war. He touched lives and it brought about how he moulded himself for the

future. In separate tributes to Awo there were many others who predicted that, “The political arena would not be so active by way of having more charismatic and visionary politicians,” just as others contended that his “enemies were often willing to concede that his faults stemmed more from stubborn integrity than selfish malice.”

Awo as an idea Awo subsists and thrives as an idea with the epicenter being the people. His

tenacity to principles of democratic process have continuously earned him accolades and honour everywhere. Awo as a philosophy has waxed stronger not necessarily because of the efforts of his discipline aimed at sustaining his good works. The philosophy has stuck because of the indelible marks he left on the sands of time. His legacies abound in every facet of the nation’s life. His skillful managerial ability, mercurial touch that turns wastes to wealth, and his uncommon acumen that led to the western part of the country be-coming the political headquarters and commercial hub of the country are such legacies that he bequeathed to posterity.

Party organisation and disciplineTo many, Awo remains an enigma, who came to turn things around for

good. He went about it through a combination of intellectualism, party politics, writings and philosophy and service delivery at the highest level of government when he became the Minister of Finance at a period the corporate existence of the country was under a grave danger. He made a huge personal sacrifice to guarantee national unity. But one major sore point in the annals of the country is that Awo could not lead the country in the capacity of an elected president. Some forces conspired against his ambition even when it was obvious that he was about to coast home in victory. His resilience, comportment in the face of intimidation and denial necessitated two major actors in the life of the country empha-sizing the strategic place of Awo in the life of Nigeria. While former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida described him Awo as the main issue in Nigerian politics, late war Biafran leader, Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu asserted that Awo was the best president Nigeria never had. It was a twist of irony on the part of Ojukwu, who had been a critic of the sage.

As a leaderAs a quintessential leader, Awo appreciated the importance of team work.

To put his ideology in proper perspective, he wrote a number of books that have become authorities in different areas of politics and the polity. His works have been widely acknowledged as important study in constitutional issues and federalism by experts across the globe. His depth as an author and charisma as a politician with welfarist inclination endeared him to mil-lions. And even as of today, his ideological disciples are a multitude. Suffice to name a few of those that formed part of the Awo political dynasty. The list include nationalists like Chief Ayo Adebanjo and Sir Olaniwun Ajayi, as well as late Chief Bola Ige, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Chief Ebenezer Babatope; late Alhaji Ganiyu Dawodu, Pa Adekunle Ajasin, Chief Josiah Olawoyin, Chief Anthony Enahoro, and Pa Alfred Rewane.

Brand of politicsAwo was a detrabilised politician and elder statesman. He discountenanced

traces of tribes and ethnicity in his political life and encouraged ethnic co-habitation even at his home front. He was a champion of the oppressed and took it upon himself to be counted when such oppression manifested. Thus, Awo played a leading role in the emancipation of the Minorities across the country, with his party, the Action Group (AG), leveraging on his attitude and thinking by providing all necessary support-logistics, lawyers, among other professionals, to fight for the rights of Minorities each time they were being trampled upon.

But in his dogged pursuit of such ideal, Awo ensured a delicate balance be-tween the Majority ethnic groups and the minorities throughout his forays into partisan politics. Realising the danger in enthroning an unjust system, he fought to institute a super structure that ensured that all constituents

Awo yesterday, today and tomorrowof the federation were not marginalised in the scheme of things. In other words, he was determined to resolve such riddle as the National question, which is the euphemism for inequality and injustice in the Nigerian feder-alism.

It should be noted that Awo’s political parties and campaign organisations reflected the diversity of the Nigerian people, as espoused by him. The pres-idential ticket of his parties, be it UPN or AG, also captured Nigeria’s ethnic heterogeneity. Even his most strident critics acknowledge Awo’s unparal-leled dexterity in political engineering that amply manifested in discipline and organization such that his parties have become reference points in the political circle.

Presidential ambitionEvents surrounding his three attempts at being elected the president

of the country constitute major topics for public discourse. He was close to victory in 1979, before some forces and fate played a cruel game. His second effort, to be precise in 1983, at becoming president through the ballot box was frustrated again by pro-establishment forces. This pro-voked serious anger in the land, but in his characteristic manner, Awo waxed philosophical over the conspiracy against his ambition, saying Nigerians would strongly demand their democratic right at the appro-priate time in the future. His wife, who he described as his Jewel of Inestimable Value underscored the mien of the sage each time he was faced by tough challenges as a politician. According to her, he never de-spairs. Instead, she said: “He took every failure philosophically. He was outstandingly courageous.” Many of his political associates and disci-ples said such dogged spirit and courage exhibited by Awo constituted a minute percentage of the abundant virtues and attributes of Awo. Late Chief Adekunle Ajasin, who was among the five UPN governors in the Second Republic, saw Awo as an enigma, with a predestined mission. He compared Awo to other world legends with innumerable footprints in the sands of time. Ajasin said of the irrepressible Awo: “I saw him as a unique man, what in Yoruba we call Abami Eniyan.” Late social critic and foremost educationist, Dr Tai Solarin, further stretched the import of Ajasin’s reflection on the life and times of Awo: “Men of his type are rare to come by. They appear as lone stars in any country in a century.”

In his tribute to his father when he transited, Chief Oluwole Awolowo was quoted as saying, “The king is dead and the king lives on.” The eu-logy of the elder statesman, who has the singular honour of being re-ferred to as the Action governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Awo belonged to another planet, so nobody could step into his shoes. His words: “Pa left no shoes, so the question of someone stepping into his shoes does not arise.” He opined that God often create once in a while, a great individual such as Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, among other legends.

As the nation celebrates the 29th remembrance of the transition of the inim-itable politician and patriot, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, KUNLE ODEREMI writes on his many sides.

ON POLITICS• For those who have had real experience of it, politics is a series of excit-

ing and interesting adventures. And the ultimate aim of practical politics is the attainment of power.

• As far as I am concerned, politics is. the art of selfless service to our fellowmen.

DEMOCRACY• The trouble in Africa is that there is the disease on tenacity of office.

That is to say, once you are in office, you want to remain there until you die.

EDUCATION• Education, is the foundation for progress. It is the cornerstone of rapid

social, economic and political development.• Any people that is starved of books, especially the right type of books,

will suffer intellectual malnutrition, stagnation and atrophy.

CORRUPTION• A country that allows its rulers to revel with impunity and reckless

abandon in the worst forms of corruption and misrule, cannot hope to be blessed with the grace of light.

• Intolerance and the desire for wealth at all cost are so ingrained in our ego that nobody wants to do good.

HIS WORDS ON MARBLEPHILOSOPHY• I hold the view that anything that happens to man in this world happens

to him for his own good.• As there are good soldiers, so also there are good politicians. Not all sol-

diers are saints, and not all politicians are devils.• The greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising each time you fall,

TRIBALISM• If we are really sincere in our desire to stamp out tribalism, we must put

an end Lo at least, most of the manifold evils which abound and proliferate, with general approval, in a capitalist economy. Try as we have, we will not succeed otherwise.

POVERTY•In my humble opinion, the causes of poverty are: the abject state of the

peasant class of this country, their inertia through want of health, their enslavement by ignorance and superstition, their antediluvian methods of cultivating the land and the progressive deterioration of the fertility of the land due to bad husbandry and also their ‘hopelessly unorganised system of marketing their farm products.

FUTURE•There are many who are beginning to despair about the future of our great

country. May I reaffirm, in all humility and unshaken faith that there is no cause for despair. For, it is to the progressive and radical elements in Nige-ria whose number are rapidly increasing, that the morrow of our illustrious country belongs.

ECONOMY•Our economic problems may be summed up in two words which may

be described as two ‘s,’ Inefficiency and Inadequacy. The two is run right through the whole gamut of our economic activities.

VIOLENCE•Violence is a kind effect of a fundamental cause, and you don’t deal with

effect to cure the cause. You deal with cause in order to cure the effect.

ABOUT HIMSELF• I have always fought what I believe without relenting and regardless of

consequences to myself. I have no doubt and I say this without any spirit of immodesty, that in the course of my political career, I have rendered services to this country which historians and the coming generations will certainly regard as imperishable.

•I have spent all my adult life fighting for the unity of Nigeria and the freedom, welfare and happiness of its people. I won’t like to see all that destroyed while I am still alive.

With

tommy Adegbite

0811 695 4631tommyabijo@yahoo.com

For bookings, contact ’Laolu Afolabi on 08054681741 or Tommy Adegbite on 08116954631

22 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016

From left, Head of Operations, British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) West Africa, Charles Kyalo; Area Head, Legal and External Affairs, West and Central Africa, BATN, Freddy Messanvi; the Ol-ubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji; Managing Director, BATN, Chris McAllister and the Area Head, Human Resources, BATN, West Africa, Tosin Akinyemi, during a courtesy visit by the BATN management to the Olubadan, recently.

The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba AbdulRasheed Adewale Akanbi, with students of Courage University, Porto-Novo, Benin Republic, during their visit to the Oluwo’s palace in Iwo, Osun State, recently. PHOTO: TOMMY ADEGBITE.

From left, Honourable Toun Adediran, former Deputy Speaker, Lagos House of Assembly; Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Civic Engagement, Kehinde Joseph: the celebrant, Mrs Omo-lara Abeke Vaughan; Honourable Jide Jimoh, member, House of Representatives and a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, at the 70th birthday ceremony of Mrs Vaughan, at The Red Carpet Event Centre, Oniru Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos.

From left, Group Executive Vice Chairman, SIFAX Group, Dr Taiwo Afolabi; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Olori Wuraola Ogunwusi and Mrs Afolashade Afolabi, during the birthday celebration of the SIFAX Group boss in Lagos.

Engineer Gbenga Ilori (second left) presenting an award to Dr (Mrs) Oby Ezekwesili (right) at the thanksgiving ceremony of first female professor of quantity surveying in Africa, Professor (Mrs) Bola Babalola (second right). With them is Mr Kunle Ogunsola. PHOTO: TOMMY ADEGBITE

Former Minister of Sports and Special Duties, Professor Taoheed Adedoja, addressing Bodija Muslim Youths. With him are Alhaji Rasidi Adesokan and others, at Muslim Community Central Mosque, Housing Estate, Bodija, Ibadan, recently.

From right, Miss Taiwo Abimbola, Prince Ridwaanullahi Abimbola (celebrant), Prince Dauda Abimbola, his wife, Abiodun, Prince Dhikrullah Abimbola and Miss Kehinde Abimbola, at the 60th birthday ceremony of Prince Dauda Abimbola at his residence in Iwo, Osun State, recently.

The newly wedded couple, Mr and Mrs Oluwagbemiga Collins Ojehseme, during their wedding at Comfort Arinola Hall, Penton Rise, Bodija, Ibadan, recently.

Tuesday, 10 May, 201623 Nigerian Tribune

South-WestTheTunde Busari

08127593530

Yejide Gbenga - Ogundare08116706853

Tunde Ogunesan08116954634

Got news for us; contact: southwesttribune@yahoo.co.uk or southwesttribune@gmail.com

CREW

Editor Wole Efunnuga 08111813056

Continues on pg24

To many people, calabash carving, a major source of wealth in the Old Oyo Empire is a craft of the past. This belief is however an erroneous one as today, the ancient craft rather than go extinct is a money spinner for carvers who have ensured that the craft remains a family business. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE writes.

IT was 10.00am on a Tuesday morning and Owode in Oyo, one of the oldest towns in the South Western part of Nigeria was already alive and bustling with series of activities. Though it was quite early, the sun had a

fierce glare and the hoot of horns by vehicles and smokes from the exhaust of passing trucks added to the hyper- ac-tive aura of the environment. And men of the Oyo State Road Traffic Maintenance Agency were seen on the road stopping vehicles from parking haphazardly around the streets.

This is not unexpected as Owode area is an important one in the vintage town of Oyo and quite popular for many reasons; it is a commercial center, and also the major road that links Oyo Town to Ogbomoso and other surrounding communities. But this is not the only reason that Owode stands out, the area is also known as home to art and craft, being the first settlement for calabash carvers popularly called afingba in that community as well as leather work and drum makers.

Calabash carving is an art that started since the early 50s and it is a hereditary trade that is passed down to gener-

ations in the Afingba family. The carvers’ shops occupy a straight stretch on the road and are situated side by side with beautiful displays that attract pedestrians and vehicle drivers as well as their passengers.

Owode is however not the only abode of calabash carvers in Oyo town, many have dispersed from the original settlement to set up trade around the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and in a long row of stalls in Akesan market. They can also be found at Alaaka market in Ilora, a suburb of Oyo town.

The art of calabash carving is one that has different stages and it is one that requires concentration and patience in ad-dition to creativity. The trade gained popularity when it at-tracted the attention of foreigners in the 50s, before this era, calabash carving was only synonymous with the Alaafin and his palace; carvers at that period used to carve white cala-bashes for the Alaafin and his chiefs, including other Obas in neighbouring communities. It was also used to design tradi-tional worship centers.

A carver’s workshop in reality looks like a butcher’s work-shop devoid of blood as there are different types of knives

in diverse sizes with calabashes in different stages of pro-cessing strewn around though some have modernised their workshop and have created a work space that is different from the show room.

The knives have different names; there is one called Gan-gan due to its distinct pointed edge used for filing the base of the calabash that is deeper than other parts, there is Ogokoo used for filing the outer part of the calabash, an-other one is Ifaa used as a scooper to file the inside of the calabash and there is one called Afinna that is used to create and carve designs on calabash.

Today, calabash carving has also evolved from the period when images of deities or animals are carved, aside the carving from ancient motifs and techniques, a new genre has evolved in the styles, form, themes and general appear-ance of the modern day calabash though it is still done by the old carvers.

We now have calabash carved with current themes and life experience like airplane, flora, fauna and calligraphic

UCH: The good side, the bad side

Our profit per week is more thana professor’s monthly salary—Calabash carvers

Pg25

Tuesday, 10 May, 201624 Nigerian Tribunethesouth-westrepresentation of various types while many are produced to be given as souvenir for cer-emonies like birthday, marriages and other ceremonies.

Calabash carving has evolved so much that some of the descendants of the early carvers have moved to other towns especially the Yo-ruba speaking states to set up trade. Majority of these carvers that moved are said to have moved to Osogbo, Ede, Lagos and Ibadan.

In fact, the calabash carving has evolved to embrace other religious beliefs and is no more a traditional believer’s tool of worship as be-lieved by many and there is an infiltration of modern thoughts. Carved calabashes now have messages like: Jesus Cares, Nigeria will be great, God is wonderful, Jesus Never Fails, The Lord is My Shepherd, Happy Home and God bless our home among many others.

Also, there are images like the coat of arms, the national flag, the map of Africa, map of Nigeria, the world globe, bell and handshakes. The craft has moved from what it was in the past to a more acceptable one.

According to Mr. Yemi Salaam, the Director of LSA African Works of Arts, what now ob-tains in calabash carving is different from the norm in times past. “We have advanced in cal-abash carving, like everything, we are moving with the trend and time, that’s the only way our educated children can be involved in it. We are better and have moved with the times, there is nothing we cannot recreate in terms of interior decor now; our fathers didn’t get to that level.

“We now have flower vases, wall hangings and all sort of decorative ornaments made from carved calabashes and we have them in various colours, it is no longer plain white as we have in those days,” he said.

The carvers believe that carving has gone be-yond the functional cultural creation and has become a source of financial empowerment which is the main stay of many families. The art is extremely commercialised and is a great export opportunity for entrepreneurs.

The acceptability of carved calabashes as decorative ornaments was attested by Tola Abinna, a Lagos based carver that usually pa-tronises carvers in Oyo. According to her, as an interior decorator, she has been able to cre-ate a unique identity by using cultural items in decorating homes and even offices.

“I have found out that these items are good for decoration and they make my work stand out by creating any effect I want at cheap cost and without any overbearing challenges. What many have taken for granted has given me a uniqueness that ensures that in the midst of many in the industry, I get adequate busi-ness to sustain me’” she said.

Nigerian Tribune also found out that the carved calabash is still in high demand in the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo. The Igba Ademu serves as a saucer in the palace to serve kolanuts routinely and during tradi-tional ceremonies. The use of this type of cal-abash also extends to other traditional institu-tions across the South Western part of Nigeria.

It was also gathered that carvers smile to their banks during the Osun Osogbo festival. Carvers explained that the ornamented carved calabashes are booked in huge numbers by re-tailers that sell them to foreigners during the festival. Beautifully designed calabashes are usually in high demand by tourists who throng the Osun Osogbo festival annually from other parts of the world as they not only find them fascinating but also buy them as souvenirs.

The carvers further expressed the belief that though business is not as it used to, the craft will soon bounce back and cease to be a sea-sonal trade as they are sure that people always find their ways back to traditional things no matter what technology brings.

Nigerian Tribune further gathered that carvers also make huge sales from unpro-cessed calabashes as some Nigerians that live abroad and foreigners buy them in large quan-tity as raw materials to decorate and export back into Nigeria as imported decorations.

The calabash carving business is an unpre-dictable one as carvers don’t regularly enjoy

Continues from pg23 ‘We make more from export than local sales’massive trade; they just sit in front of their shops daily waiting for the trickles that come to patronise. But this can change in the blink of an eye as a customer can ensure that a carver makes huge fortunes in just a day. This is the reason that carvers depend more on foreign buyers than local patronage.

Another challenge faced by carvers is

WHEN did you start the business of calabash carving?

It has been very long. We all learnt from our father from childhood, it was a craft that was handed over to us.

So, it is hereditary?Yes. All calabash carvers you see here in Oyo

inherited the craft from their fathers. It is a family business.

Is calabash carving lucrative?It is lucrative, that is why it was handed over

to us. This is the craft that we use to send our children to school and all our children, in spite of education, still learn this from us.

Aside your children, do you take trainees from outside?

We used to take trainees in the past but we

‘We don’t train people calabash carving again’Ganiyu Alade is a calabash carver in Owode. He speaks on calabash carving as a lucrative business and why they don’t train people to be carvers again. Excerpts:

Mr Yemi Salaam is the Director of LSA African Works of Art located at Owode in Oyo town, he speaks on calabash carving as a hereditary craft. Excerpts:

WHEN did you start this calabash carving busi-ness?

From childhood, we met the craft in our family; it is a hereditary kind of business that starts from early in life.

Meaning when you retire, someone else takes over?

Yes, there is always a family member that will continue the business, it is a part of our tradition and that’s how it is going to con-tinue

What importance is the calabash to the culture of the Yoruba people and how did calabash carving start?

The calabash is a very important item in the Yoruba culture right from the begin-ning, it is used during installation rites, they will put different items in different cala-bash and ask the king to open one, even for various traditional rituals, the calabash is used for certain rite, it is used during mar-riage engagements even by market women to sell their wares. At this period, it is part of fashion to carve designs on the human body, they draw various things on parts of the body, this art is called Soju, that was the fashion trend then; people draw birds and such things on their bodies as fashion but with the advent of civilisation then, that was in the 50s, they started drawing them on the calabash as household ornaments and as gifts

How do carvers develop themselves

to move with modern trends since there is no formal training?

You know this craft is like an in-born art, not something that is learnt so basically, it is inspiration. Once you are constant in doing something, creativity sets in. once you see the calabash, you get inspiration for what you want to do. And sometimes, the occa-sion or purpose influences the art. For ex-ample, if a gift is for someone that just built a house, the carving must have a theme that will suit that purpose. You just carve what-ever you are inspired to carve based on the situation and happenings around you.

Do people export carved calabashes a

Aside calabash carving, what do you also do because I can see drums, leather works and wood carvings?

I introduced the drum aspect of the busi-ness, this started when I was in primary school, whenever I came home for holidays, I used to visit a friend of mine who is now a pharmacist at Iwo, he is from the drum-mers’ compound and that is where I learnt to make drums. I now discovered when the white people come, their children used to be fascinated with the drums, so I started mak-ing drums on the side and people started asking for it too in substantial quantities. For the wood carvings, it is being done by the Odekunle family and we assist them to sell them, for the leather works, the mother of one of the people that my father trained is from the family where leather works are made, that’s why we also sell leather works

‘It is possible to make over N500,000 in a week from calabash carving’

that raw calabash are now expensive to pur-chase like all other crops as the number of farmer that engage in calabash farming are on a regular decline as it is not as lucrative as other crops that can be planted like twice or thrice a year. Calabash is planted annually and it renders the farmland useless during this period as it is not mixed with other crops on the farmland. This is unlike other crops where a farmer can plant two things together like maize and cassava or cocoyam and maize.

In spite of the challenges, the art of calabash engraving has proved that whatever the situ-ation, it has come to stay and if well managed can be a source of income generation for the country.

for them.

That means that in Oyo town, there are specific families that engage in particular art forms?

Yes, when you mention a particular form of art in Oyo, there are families that are known to be the ones that engage in it and it has been like that over the years.

What advice do you have for young people studying art?

What I will say is that they should not take any trade for granted; there is no work without profit. There may be a dry spell but if you can be patient, things will pick. The truth is all the trade that people take for granted yield good profits and this is good for us because we don’t want influx of peo-ple into the trade.

What advantages do these carved decorations have over the contempo-rary ones?

There are many advantages but the main benefit is that these ones are easy to com-prehend; they are easy to maintain and they have a longer life span. These ones have no risk for small children even if it breaks and it is cheaper to buy.

Do you think calabash carving can generate revenue for Nigeria?

Yes. It is a good source of tourism and rev-enue generation but this can only be possi-ble if government looks into it. Government has taken it for granted and they do not be-lieve it is a lucrative art. Before, we go for shows and trade fairs organised specifically for such arts by government, there is noth-ing like that again and even when provision is made for artisans, it doesn’t get to us.

do not take them again because we found out that it is these trainees that go out and bas-tardize the trade and make it a valueless one. So we have stopped training people, it is only a family affair now, it passes from one generation to the other.

Tuesday, 10 May, 201625 Nigerian Tribunethesouth-west

UCH:64 years after

The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, has, since inception, decades ago, lived up to its responsibility of providing adequate medical care to Nigerians and non Nierians alike. SADE OGUNTOLA, in this piece, takes a look at what makes the hospital stand out among its peers globally, its major achievements, challenges and peculiarities.

THE University College Hospital, (UCH) Ibadan was established by an act of parliament in November 1952 in response to the need for

the training of medical personnel and other healthcare professionals for the country and the West African Sub-Region. The establishment of the Hospital was sequel to a Visitation Panel in 1951 to assess the clinical facilities for the clinical postings of medical students registered for M.B.B.S. degree of the University of London. The visitation panel, led by Dr T.F. Hunt of the University of London rejected the enhanced facilities provided by the Government/Na-tive Authority Hospital at Adeoyo, Ibadan following the establishment of a Faculty of Medicine in the University College, Ibadan (now University of Ibadan) in 1948.

Since its establishment by an Act of Par-liament in November 1952, the University College Hospital (UCH) has remained an institution to behold. The intention behind its establishment was to provide quality medical attention for the people of the Southwest in particular and Nigerians in general.

Strategically located in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, then the largest city in West Africa which is also the seat of the first University in Nigeria, the physical develop-ment of the hospital commenced in 1953 in its present site and was formally commis-sioned after completion on 20 November 1957. It was initially commissioned with 500 bed spaces. At present, the hospital

has 850 bed spaces and 163 examination couches, as well as a current bed occupancy rates of over 70 per cent.

The hospital, at inception in 1948, prior to the Act of parliament, had two clinical departments (Medicine and Surgery). However, the hospital has evolved to ac-commodate about 60 departments among which is the first Department of Nuclear Medicine in Nigeria commissioned by the Honourable Minister of Health, Professor Eyitayo Lambo on 27 April 2006. The hos-pital and the University of Ibadan, function in excellent symbiosis and it is impossible to think of one without the other.

Today, the hospital has recorded many

firsts, in terms of manpower and world class equipment to the extent that it now compares favourably with many hospitals abroad.

The story of UCH has been that of a metamorphosis quite difficult to ex-plain,but the roles played by the previous and incumbent Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) which include Professor Ebenezer Oluwole Akande; Professor Abiodun O.K. Johnson ; Professor Benjamin O. Osun-tokun; Professor Olajide Ajayi; Professor Michael O. Olatawura; Professor Abio-dun Ilesanmi and Professor Temitope O. Alonge, remain remarkable. In 1957, the UCH, Ibadan, was one and only tertiary healthcare institution in Nigeria and proba-bly in the West African sub-region provid-ing top class healthcare services such that the hospital was ranked amongst the top five amongst the hospitals in the Common-wealth in the ups.

Today, different people have different perceptions about the modus operandi of the hospital vis a vis workers’ attitude to patients. While some gave the hospital kudos, some gave it knocks.

Mr. Ayodeji Olagoke started work at UCH as a clerk at the X-ray department in 1985. According to him, in those days, the care given to patients had no equal. Nowa-days, he said regrettably that the story has changed. Then, students and staff were served meals. Students at the Schools of Nursing Medical Laboratory Sciences and Radiography were paid allowance, and

equipment were hardly out of function because they were well maintained and services by staff trained by their suppliers to do so.

It was a norm then “when any patient identified a staff and such is stopped for guidance, whether the person is on duty or not, he/she must take the patient to which ever clinic or doctor he or she wants to see. Things have changed; staff just walk past the patient. Even in those days, “When you see people crying, maybe after the loss of a loved one in the ward, staff will move close to pamper, support and calm the person down. This was not restricted to nurses or doctors. Now, what you will see are people, including the hospital staff, staying aloof and watching as if a film was going on.”

Mr Olagoke said this upturn the services started in the 1990s when commitment of staff to patient care started to dwindle and many equipment were not functional.

“Many of the workers do not realise that hospital job is humanitarian; they only come in because they see it as a federal government civil service appointment to earn money.”

There is no doubt that patients come to UCH, Ibadan because of its name, quality of equipment and expertise. However, he said its expertise has been in doubt because of issues such as private practice and inade-quate equipment.

“Take a consultant with an hospital out

Continues on pg26

Today, different people have different perceptions about the modus operandi

of the hospital vis a vis workers’ attitude to

patients. While some gave the hospital kudos, some

gave it knocks.

Tuesday, 10 May, 201626 Nigerian Tribunethesouth-west

side or who also works at another hospital. That is a divided interest.”

Despite this shortcomings, Mr Olagoke said he would still recommend the hospital to anybody with an ailing health because thorough examination will be carried out to be sure of what is wrong before they start to give treatment.

“About two weeks ago, somebody called to say that he was diagnosed with kidney problem and that he was on his way to Ota for treatment. I advised otherwise because in UCH proper assessment and tests would be done to ascertain his condition and treatment given such that it needs not kill him.”

Mr Olagoke said he had also benefited from the health expertise at UCH, when he had persistent headache and had treated malaria severally. After his colleagues persisted that he visited the staff clinic and batteries of test down, he was diagnosed of high blood pressure and lack of proper rest.

Although, the hospital carries out high tech surgeries like heart surgery regularly, he expressed concern over its affordability to the common man.

“It is only when it is affordable to all Nige-rians that it is accessible,” he declared.

The frequent complaints by patients and their relatives to the hospital he said occur more at the initial stage of getting the pa-tient admitted into the hospital, adding that “When you can endure, you will get the best from the hospital.”

Although Chief Sunday Alawode retired from the hospital’s environmental health unit decades ago, making him and his facility entitled to free health care for years, he said a good arrangement to ensure good healthcare services could be provided when the hospital was established back in 1957.

Also speaking , Chief Alawode, the chair-man, Nigerian Union of Pensioners, UCH branch, who linked some of the challenges faced to professional rivalry in the health sector, said “in terms of patient care, UCH, Ibadan, in my view, is doing well. Nobody can score 100 per cent, but its score is well over 50 per cent.

“Initially, UCH was the only teaching hospital in Nigeria and overtime, it serves many patients. Its patient load is heavy. No system or organisation can score 100 per cent in its rating, but in my assessment, it is trying given all that is available.

“It will surprise you that its doctors are always working in the theatre,” he said.

Mrs Sola Adeleke recounting her experi-ence when she had to rush a friend of her daughter to UCH after a dog bite as an eye opener to the dearth of hands at many of the nation’s health facilities.

“We were attended to but when the dog bite was to be dressed, we had to wait for over two hours. After the anti- rabies in-jection, the nurse attending to us could not continue with the care because she had to assist in transferring a pregnant woman in Labour to the ward.

“Granted, they wanted to assist us, but the number of nurses on duty that day at the accident and emergency unit of the hospital was small compared to the number of pa-tients that are continuously brought in for prompt medical attention.”

The experience of Mrs Moji Adeleke (not real name) is not different, one that sug-gests poor staffing of core areas of health delivery. The husband had experienced stroke. While being attended to on the coach, he fell down because the relatives were not around his bed and the nurses available were also busy attending to other patients.

Professor Temitope Alonge, Chief Medical Director, UCH, Ibadan, reacting said that UCH since its inception had been foremost in healthcare delivery and development of manpower for Nigeria’s health care system

“In the early 2000, a report indicated that almost two thirds or three quarters of the Chief Medical Directors and Medical Direc-tors of Federal Medical Centres at that time had part of their training at UCH, Ibadan.

While the hospital still remains the big-gest centre for training surgeons and phy-sicians for West Africa, he said since 2011, the hospital has been taken super luminary doctors from more than 20 different hos-pitals also for training for periods ranging from three months to three years.

“We are top heavy in terms of manpower and there is no department where we do not have staff. And that is what makes UCH

unique in terms of contributing to man-power development in the health sector.”

Despite challenges faced by the hospital, including funding, he said the hospital has recorded remarkable achievements difficult to quantity.

“In terms of clinical acumen, we are still the best in terms of neuroscience in the whole of West Africa. For instance, Profes-sor Temitayo Shokunbi popularised a sur-gical procedure for treating hydrocephalus, what is termed water in the head-the-head babies, which leaves no scar on their head. He has also trained many neurosurgeons on how it is done.”

While the likes of world renowned experts like Professor Oye Gureje and late Professor Kayode Osuntokun had contin-ually made UCH’ name to be said world over based on their great contributions to knowledge, he said the hospital had been foremost in resolving both local and inter-national health issues.

Professor Osuntokun’s work brought to light the effect of cyanide in Garri on people’ gait, which was then called Ijesha-shake. Also recently, the riddle of people dying mysteriously in Ode Irele, Ondo State was solved at the hospital when they linked it to methanol poisoning and not the “gods”.

Professor Alonge mentioned other feats to include its first open heart surgery, cervical cancer treatment, telemedicine, laparos-copy surgeries, including that for treating

kidney cysts by Dr Augustine Takure and ectopic pregnancy.

The hospital which he said years back was involved in the compounding its intrave-nous and dialysis fluids from its under-ground manufacturing base, he said had commenced again production of hypochlo-rite solution for its uses while awaiting support to fully resurrect it for production of other pharmaceutical products.

“The technology at that time uses bottles, but now it has changed to plastics. And of course, with the down turn of the economy, we are still looking for investors.

Can UCH help check medical tourism? Why do Nigerians love to travel abroad for medical treatment? Professor Alonge gave four major reasons why people travel abroad for treatment as heart (cardiac) problem, kidney problem, hip and knee surgeries and cancer.

These are conditions that are treatable at UCH and that are treated everyday at the hospital, thus negating people travelling abroad for treatment.

“Our cardiac centre had carried out many heart surgery procedures about 36 open heart surgery, in fact, the last was done on a child by an Italian on a visit to the hospi-tal and the child has been discharged. So, there is really no reason why people should go abroad to do heart surgeries except for heart transplant.

Aside dialysis for inpatient with kidney problem, he said the hospital also has facili-ties to do kidney transplant. “We have done more than four kidney transplants since I came in as the hospitals’ chief executive,” he declared.

However, Professor Alonge said reasons for medical tourism were in multiple fold, including equipment, manpower, attitude of health workers and personality problem.

“They want to go out and then come back to flaunt that fact that they had their treat-ment abroad. But the hospital has what it takes to stop people from going abroad to seek medical advice,” he added.

Just recently, the Health Minister, Pro-fessor Isaac Adewole, he said, called to say that there is a patient that had an aneurysm and was thinking of travelling abroad for treatment. Meanwhile, UCH is top heavy when it comes to aneurysm clipping. In fact, it presented this at the presidential villa about four to five years ago.

He declared that UCH’s preparedness to meeting common reasons people travel abroad for medical care was borne out of the hospitals mortality data that have helped the hospital to identify the top leading causes of death in the hospital and become proactive in tackling them.

In ensuring indigent patients can also access care, he said different funding mechanisms were put in place. An indigent fund account opened for members of the hospital to willingly donate money and this is supplemented by the Itunu fund that is given by Basorun and Chief Mrs Kola Daisi.

The Daisi’s release 0.5 million every quar-ter of the year to look after patients that cannot afford payment for their care.

As part of its corporate social responsi-bility, Professor Alonge said regular public awareness programmes such as that on Ebola fever and Lassa fever were carried out by the hospitals.

Though its 19 house stations in Oyo, Ogun and Osun States, he said the hospital has been moving healthcare to the door steps on Nigerians even in the rural communi-ties.

Professor Alonge lauded supports the hospital received from many philanthropist and groups, declaring the hospitals big do-nors as Chief Tony Anenih who sponsored the first purposely built Chief Tony Anenih Geriatric Centre as well as Basorun and Chief Mrs Kola Daisi who constructed and furnished a comprehensive health centre at Yemetu, Aladorin in Ibadan.

Continues from pg25

In terms of clinical acumen, we are still the best in terms of neuroscience in the whole of West Africa.

Ayodeji Olagoke Chief Comrade Sunday Alawode

Temitope Alonge, UCH CMD

UCH: The good side, the bad side

Tuesday, 10 May, 201627 Nigerian Tribunethesouth-west

THE Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe Aladesanmi III had dreamed of a befitting arena for the boisterously convivial and highly

popular annual Udiroko festival of the Ado people. For many years, it seemed that the task of putting the kind of arena the mon-arch had envisioned in place, was unachiev-able owing to numerous factors, chief of which was economic. And thus, from 2007 when Oba Adejugbe conceived the idea, the dream remained as such until sometime in 2013.

Then, Governor Ayodele Fayose, who was seeking to be re-elected as governor, came to the palace and saw the efforts of the Ado Ekiti people, through the Ewi, to build a be-fitting pavillion for the Udiroko festival and sundry use of the people of the community. He promised, as part of his campaign dur-ing the build-up to the 2014 governorship election, that he would complete the project and inaugurate it for use of the palace and the people of the town if he got elected.

But before then, the monarch as well other sons and daughters of Ado Ekiti and their friends had made efforts to ensure that the construction continued. A number of them, including Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) and Chief Julius Adelusi Adeluyi, who had brought the MTN Foundation, made hand-some donations towards the completion of the project and this encouraged the com-munity to trudge on in the quest to to see it through.

Oba Adejugbe acknowledged Chief Afe Babalola’s (SAN) donation of “a whooping N10 million at the inception of the project and other support and kind gestures.” The monarch added: “Equally, we are grateful to all Ado Ekiti sons and daughters and their friends that donated cash and materials for the take off of the project. I also thank the MTN Foundation for the donation of N25million for the construction of this am-phitheater project.”

However, after the take-off of the project, a snag set in. Oba Adejugbe said a team was set up in February 2008 and after consul-tations a contractor was chosen to carry out the project. He noted that “the company started on a good note until it began to play pranks due to its insatiable love for money while smuggling extraneous terms into the contract.” He noted that the attitude of the contractor, which he described as “strange behaviour”, slowed down the pace of work “and the company (contractor) eventually took the palace to the arbitration panel de-manding bogus outstanding claims over and above the initial agreed contract sum.”

The monarch noted that the development stalled the project for several months. He noted that “while awaiting the outcome of the arbitration panel every work on the site was put on hold and because it took so much time, most of our people had considered the project an abandoned project.”

The chairman of the Palace Arena Com-mittee, Deacon P. A. Osatoyinbo was even more explicit in his description of the trou-bles the project had encountered. In an ad-dress at the inauguration, Osatoyinbo noted that the matter with the contractor went through not just the panel, but a regular law court, to which the palace and other stake-holders in the project had been dragged. He even lamented that it was while the execu-tion of the project was at this comatose state that the chairman of the building commit-tee, Professor Oke Akande passed on.

Osatoyinbo said he became the chairman of the committee following the demise of Professor Akande and noted that his com-mittee “came in when already there was an attack of doubt, distrust or disillusionment in the administration and execution of the project.” The committee, he said, tried to engender smooth working relationship with the contractor but “his greed and materialis-tic tendency was unreconciliable.” But they were determined to move on and eventually

agreed with the contractor to appoint a sole arbitrator, who came up with a bill of N4.5 million which the committee should pay to the contractor. He said that the arbitrator also recommend that “the contract stands terminated as the parties could no longer work together, that the committee could continue with the work at the site and that the contractor should be allowed to remove his working tools from the site.”

Interestingly, Osatoyinbo continued, the committee agreed and had even issued a cheque but the contractor rejected the terms of agreement and went to court. The con-tractor lost the case and even lost the money initially awarded him.

After the dispensation of the case, which was handled gratis by the Emmanuel Cham-bers of Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), the com-mittee became free to continue its pursuit of the completion of the amphitheater. To the Ewi Ado, the planning committee, the archi-tect, the quantity surveyor and the people of Ado Ekiti, the completion of the project is a prayer answered. Oba Adejugbe said “when all hope seemed lost, the Council of Chiefs and I embarked on fervent prayers to God for intervention. God heard our prayers and sent help to us in a miraculous way through Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose.”

Following the travails, Osatoyinbo said

“the graceful mercy of God smiled on us at this point in time by sending indomitable assistance of Governor Fayose, who had during his campaign meeting months ear-lier, promised a wholistic take over of the project for completion if he could be re-elected governor of the state.”

The Architect of the amphitheater, Ade-mola Oluwadiya, whom Oba Adejugbe de-scribed as “Ewi’s modern palace designer”, expressed delight after Governor Fayose

inaugurated the arena in company with his colleague-governors from Abia, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Gombe, Taraba, Rivers and Ondo states. Oluwadiya said “between 2007 - 2016, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. But the glory must go to the Al-mighty God. It is the joy of every architect to see his project completed.”

According to Oluwadiya, “the Ewi gave us the mandate to design and said that the old structures under it should not be destroyed. That was a tall order but since it is our training, we thank God that saw us through the project.” He said the am-phitheater was a 2,500-seater capacity, was conceived in 2007 and work started in 2008.”

The Quantity Surveyor, Mr Moses Gbadebo, explained that the initial pro-jection for the project was N54million. He said the projection was “all things being equal. But along the line, following varia-tions etc, we had spent N48million before Governor Fayose took over.”

Today, the project, which witnessed near total reconstructed has been renewed and the people are delighted that Fayose has kept his promise. The Ado Ekiti mon-arch had noted that “several governments equally made several promises to take up and complete the project to no avail.”

The Ewi gave us the mandate to design and said that the

old structures under it should not

be destroyed.

Sam nwaoko - Ado Ekiti

For the Ewi and Ado Ekiti people, a dream has come true...

THE Akinrun of Ikirun, Oba Rauf Adedeji , is arguably one of the re-spectable voices in the Osun State Council of Obas. This is not only

because of his age. His sharp intellect as for-mer Banker with a Masters Degree from the premier University of Ibadan also stands him out as an authority on contemporary issues.

His passion till date remains spending good time in his library where in stock are variety of books and journals. It is a routine for him to spend quality time burning mid-night oil like a student preparing for an ex-amination.

Given this, a reporter not worth his salt will crash before him and end up being in-terviewed and indeed tutored by the mon-arch.

He would, for instance, argue against Ni-geria’s wholesome borrow of foreign system of government unmindful of Nigerian polit-ical milieu and its needs and its challenges. Even at that, Oba Adedeji is not given to many words. His response to question strictly follows the rule of conciseness.

This, to him, is a way to enjoy communica-tion better instead of dominating talk with a little ear for listening to other views.

His rise to the throne was not accidental being a prince. However, he was unsure it would get to his turn. So, his concern was to build his life on a solid rock foundation with a view to becoming an important personal-ity in future.

THE President Oyo State Chambers of Commerce and Industry Mines and Agri-culture (OYCCIMA) Chief Olaitan Alabi, JP, has recommended that Odu’a conglomerate should partner with other investors to con-struct a refinery in any of Odu’a states.

Chief Alabi stated this recently while speaking with some select journalists in Ibadan on review of economic situation in the country.

While proffering solution to the periodic lingering fuel scarcity in the country, Chief Alabi said the long term solution to the pe-riodic fuel shortages is to increase the refin-eries in the country through private invest-ments.

He said “it may not be out of place to rec-ommend that Odu’a conglomerate should, in partnership with other investors, local or foreign, build in any part of Odu’a states, preferably in Ibadan where there is the larg-est fleet of vehicles.

“The best government can do is to cre-ate an enabling environment for the mas-sive production of the commodity through among others relaxing the stringent condi-tionality attached to the issuance and oper-ation of licence to build and operate refiner-ies by private sectors.

“Several licences had been issued out sev-eral years ago which cannot be utilized as a result of the stringent conditions attached to them. Another regulatory body may then

Evidently, the Akinrun emerged the best student at the Akinorun Grammar School, Ikirun, a feat that deservedly earned him a scholarship by the school to study Physics at the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU), Ile-Ife.

He continued his brilliance freak at the university and completed his Bachelor of Science Degree at record time. The bond

be set up to regulate the activities and check the excesses of the importers. This will bring competition and ultimately prize stabiliza-tion while the product will be available at all times.

“It is high time we face the reality that gov-

scheme under which he bagged his degree meant he had to return to his Alma Mata to pick up a job.

“I returned to Ikirun to teach according to the agreement. But later I got another job at Ahmadiyyah College, Agege, Lagos. I later got another job at the Ministry of Aviation. I was posted to the department of meteorol-ogy where I was subjected to in-house train-ing according to the practice. It was there I enrolled for my Masters in Business Admin-istration (MBA).

“I was in high spirit to equip myself with

ernment cannot effectively control the price of any product it has no control over its sup-ply. The federal government should deregu-late the price of PMS as done in case of die-sel so that marketers can import the product and sell at the price profitable to them. Since its deregulation, diesel has never been in short supply though its price had risen as-tronomically.”

On dwindling power generation, Alabi ad-vise Oyo State government to explore the utilization of alternative and renewable en-ergy sources of power generation like solar, wind, coal or hydro.

He added that “the state can be segmented into units with each unit using different sources of power generation. Winds can be tapped for example to generate electricity for the people of Oke-Ogun while the little megawatts generated from the many water dams scattered all over Oyo State can serve the neighbouring communities. Solar can be used in the metropolis- state secretariat, local government secretariats, institutions, hospitals ect.

“This is the time to face reality. We must look inwards. Admittedly, we cannot be an island of ourselves. But on the other hand our existence/survival cannot depend solely on external factor that can fail anytime. It has now become very clear to everybody that no meaningful progress can be made in the efforts to diversify the economy of the state if we do not win the battle to stabilize our power supply,” Alabi noted.

necessary qualification to be relevant in the society. And then MBA holders were highly respected people so much that you won’t be satisfied with your first degree until you also get MBA,” he revealed.

Oba Adedeji, armed with MBA, chanced the course of his career and turned a Banker at the defunct Savanah Bank.

He was a Manager in charge of credit and advancing loan to customers. He was a prominent among the top shots at the Broad Street, Lagos Island office of the bank.

His designation afforded him ample op-portunity to test his human relations, an ad-vantage he explored until the call came from home to mount the throne of his forefathers in 1990.

This, however, did not come on a platter of gold. Having been selected by the kingmak-ers, a litigation reared its head and held the proceeding.

While it lasted, Oba Adedeji was unper-turbed. He maintained his composure in his office only waiting for the right time the coast would be clear for him to take his rightful position.

“I was confident because of the matter on ground. I was the most favoured and sup-ported. And once this was done, there was nothing to worry about. When the matter was resolved I returned to town and com-menced the traditional process. The rest is history,” the monarch recalled.

The last 25 years in Ikirun under Oba Adedeji have witnessed a remarkable leap, in terms of socio-economic development. Ikirun’s physical development as headquar-ters of Ifelodun Local Government Coun-cil under has placed it at the side of major towns in Osun State. With the development, Oba Adedeji’s joy knows no bound as the royal father of a steadily growing town.

Although he is not complacent, the future of the town is left in the hand of God whom he believed has seen the town through to its current state.

“Everything about the future is in the hand of God because it is God that determines what happens tomorrow. Man may propose. Only God has the power to dispose. But I am positive Ikirun will witness greater develop-ment in the nearest future,” he affirmed.

Contrary to the supremacy of nation’s con-stitution in public administration, the role of traditional rulers remains invaluable to the peaceful co-existence of the people of the grass root.

Although Oba Adedeji is averse to under-rating the status of the public office holders, a town without a monarch is like a house without a roof. The paraphernalia of the throne, he said, are not nothing but spiritual statement on the significance of the stool.

Traditional obligations of royal fathers such as hosting and supervising cultural events, remains their exclusive right as cus-todian of customs and tradition. But the monarch admits that both Islam and Chris-tianity have combined to pose a challenge to the traditional faith.

“Science too which promotes knowledge has made it difficult to people to come to term with worshipping inanimate objects. I am a Muslim and satisfied with my religion. I am not condemning any religion but my faith is my faith because religion is a matter of conviction,” he stated.

Tuesday, 10 May, 201628 Nigerian Tribune

How Akinrun of Ikirun rose from banking hall to the palaceTwenty-five years ago, he was enjoying his career at the defunct Savanah Bank on Lagos Island, then the call to fill the vacant stool of his forefathers came, Oba Rauf Adedeji returned home and became the Akinrun. TUNDE BUSARI writes

OYCCIMA President wants Odu’a to construct refinery in South-West

I was confident because of the matter on ground. I was the most favoured and supported. And once this was done, there was nothing to worry about.

By Tunde Ogunesan

Chief Alabi

Powerful Nigerians behindnon-passage of PIB—PENGASSAN PresidentPresident, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Francis Johnson, in this interview with journalists in Abuja, speaks on the non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill and other sundry industry issues. SOJI-EZE FAGBEMI, who was part of the session, reports.

with Soji-Eze Fagbemim:08179047919

e:sojiezek@yahoo.co.uk

Tuesday, 10 May, 201629 Nigerian Tribune

THE nation had wit-nessed shortage in fuel supply for a very long time; and there

have been a lot of claims and counter-claims, particularly between the Federal Gov-ernment and the Indepen-dent Oil Marketers. As one of the important stakeholders in the industry, how do you think we can permanently address this issue?

When this government came on board, even before their inaugu-ration, the Central Working Com-mittee of the PENGASSAN gave directives to sector leaders, asking them to avail us the list of their very critical problems.

When that was done, we sent our recommendations and a road map in the oil and gas sector to Mr President. In our letter, we recom-mended that a state of emergency be declared in the oil and gas sec-tor. The truth is, despite all the talks about diversification, oil still remains the mainstay of our econ-omy. It is when there is stability and improvement that the quest of diversification can be achieved. Let us not put all our eggs in one basket.

The fall in oil price is af-fecting all the facets of our national lives. As the people directly involved in the in-dustry, how would you de-scribe the impact on your members?

Our members bear the direct brunt of the oil price dip. We had a meeting with the Minister of La-bour and with the International Oil Companies (IOCs). The main issue during those meetings was that the government’s main cam-paigning point before the elec-tion was job creation, but after it came on board and the oil prices crashed, we could not have job cre-ation. But if you cannot create jobs for now, then let us ensure that the jobs of our members are secured.

Contract staffing and casu-alisation have constituted se-rious challenges confronting the oil industry. How would you describe the situation now as it affects your mem-bers?

At the meetings we had at the instance of the Minister of Labour and Employment and other key stakeholders, one of the fallouts

THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Delta State Council, has called on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, to prioritise regular payment of pension to the state pensioners to improve their living standard.

Factional Chairman of the state NLC, Mr Williams Akporeha, made the appeal while address-

ing a cross section of workers and pensioners who paid him a visit in Warri as part of the May Day cel-ebration.

Akporeha who noted that a lot of pensioners who served their fatherland meritoriously were now suffering unduly as a result of delayed and irregular payment of

pensions and retirement benefits, said: “Congress wish to appeal to the governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa to consider the plight of pensioners as top priority at all times. It is also possible with your interven-tion to ensure that pensions are paid as at when due even as effort is being made to clear pension

DUE to paucity of funds and dwin-dling budgetary allocation, the Na-tional Directorate of Employment (NDE) has taken a critical step to seek for additional sources of funds to implement its various job creation programmes and proj-ects, scattered across the country.

As a step in this direction, the NDE has commenced training of section of its staffs in the critical area of grant sourcing. The Direc-torate has just concluded a Special Workshop on: Grant Sourcing, its officers, held in Abuja.

The Acting Director General of NDE, Mr Kunle Obanya, who de-clared the workshop opened said the NDE began training of its staff on how to secure grants and source for alternative funding to boast the Federal Government job creation efforts.

Besides, he said it is an attempt to overcome the challenge of in-

adequate funding in job creation, knowing fully well that the govern-ment cannot do it alone.

Mr. Obanya said the era of wait-ing for government subventions before unemployed youths can be empowered will soon be over with the new innovation being intro-duced.

He said: “Like we all know, NDE and many other agencies of gov-ernment are funded from the same common public purse. Unfortu-nately, resources are limited while needs as such as tackling mass un-employment are unlimited.

“Over the years, inadequate funding has become one of the nagging problems confronting the NDE in her quest to reduce unem-ployment to tolerable levels in Ni-geria. A critical look at our funding statistics shows that the quantum of resources made available to us for our critical tasks keep reduc-

ing with every passing year. In the face of this daunting challenge, the NDE management has resolved to think outside the box and to find alternative sources of funding job creation within the scope of the operations of the NDE.”

These efforts, according to him is targeted at providing sustainable and decent employment opportu-nities for unemployed Nigerians.

He explained that a special unit has been created to give the idea effective implementation.

He said: “At the workshop, ex-perts will interact with partici-pants, thereby providing them with the needed skills and infor-mation relevant to the sourcing of grants from donor agencies, foun-dations, NGOs, FBOs, CBOs etc within and outside Nigeria.”

The special training is being han-dled by Management Alternative Limited.

of that meeting was a committee that was given eight weeks under the chairmanship of late Mr James Ocholi, may his soul continue to rest in peace.

Let me also use this medium to say that, yes the man is late, but there are other members of the committee, so we are waiting for the Federal Government to re-ap-point a Minister of State for La-bour, so that the committee can continue their deliberation on the mandates given to them. Members of the committee comprises all the stakeholders in the sector and I believe it will deal with the issues affecting the sector.

The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is one critical document which industry watchers be-lieve is capable of addressing the challenges in the sector, if passed into law. Why do you think it has been difficult to

pass the bill?In all we do in life, honesty, sin-

cerity and commitment must be our watchword. Our conduct, perspective and attitude should not be self-driven. For instance, it is only in our clime that we have the issue of budget padding. But our people, especially politicians have forgotten that they will not take away money when the trum-pet sounds. They are sometimes acting on the erroneous belief that when they die, their children inherit the wealth. But again, the wealth sometimes become a bur-den to the children.I then wonder why people running the affairs of government cannot look at issue holistically and shun sentiments, which, have more often than not, being cog in the wheels of the na-tion’s progress.

It is also unfortunate that most of our government functionaries love fire brigade approach to issues. For

backlog.”On workers welfare, Akporeha

appealed to Governor Okowa to commence the payment of thir-teenth month salary to the state workers sayings, “ just as there are expectations of higher pro-ductivity from workers to grow the state economy, there can be no limit to the deployment of ad-ditional motivation strategies for the state workforce. Congress wish therefore to appeal you to revisit the issue of payment of thirteenth month salary to workers in the state which was already receiving attention by the previous govern-ment.”

He reiterated other issues his leadership raised during Sunday May Day celebration for govern-ment to consider revamping ail-ing industries in the state, a law to eradicate all forms of casualisation of workers in the state as well as introduction of social security ben-efits to unemployed youths.

Akporeha also disclosed that Congress had earlier held a rally around the twin cities of Warri and Effurun as part of the unique feature of this year’s celebration which was deliberately designed by Congress to give the masses a sense of belonging and to assure them that Labour movement be-longs to the people.

NLC urges Gov Okowa to prioritise pension payment to pensioners

Job creation: NDE moves to find alternative sources of fund

example, we wrote a letter request-ing for audience with the Federal Government over some issues of great concern to our members for over two weeks now, nothing has been done. By the time we take an

action,they will say the union has started again. The PIB is capable of restoring lasting peace to the oil and gas industry. Our fear is that, because of many interest, the bill may still suffer set-backs.

Johnson

Global stakeholders must be engaged to develop 5G standards —Gwandu

Jane Oluchi Ikeji is a recent graduate of the University of Liverpool, with an online Postgraduate Certificate. In this interview with BODE ADEWUMI, she shares her experience and gives advice for students considering online programme.

Oluchi Ikeji

StorieS by bode Adewumi

Omatek set to fill power vacuum in Nigeria

Tuesday, 10 May, 201630 Nigerian Tribune

OMATEK Ventures Plc, Nigeria’s leading integrated Information and Communication Technology (ICT) company, is set to fill the

power vacuum in Nigeria. Omatek’s lat-est and modern solar factory is now in the best position to immensely provide the as-sistance towards ensuring that the Federal Government delivers enduring power to or-dinary Nigerians.

Engr Florence Seriki, the Group Managing Director of Omatek Ventures Plc, disclosed this at a recent public forum in Lagos. She said the 50KVA three-phase off-grid solar solution commissioned earlier in its factory will provide 24/7 power with 85 per cent reduction in power consumption for facto-ries, banks, telecoms firms, government and other organisations that require big power installations.

She also disclosed that the factory as-sembles locally the 12 watts, 20 watts, 500 watts power solutions that replace the “I better pass my neighbour generator”, for small homes, shops, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), churches, rural elec-trification and rural system, street lighting implementation, schools and for students, farmers among others. “Why should our students still use lantern to read as we did, in this new digital age?” she queried.

She added that Omatek is now more than ready to partner with the Federal Govern-ment to offer affordable power solutions to communities and rural areas as part of Pres-ident Muhammadu Buhari’s agenda of find-ing a lasting solution to the perennial power

WHAT was your motivation for fur-thering your education online, and why did you choose human resource management as your area of special-isation?

I currently work in customer service and public relations, but I’ve always been inter-ested in the field of human resources, with a view to owning my own HR management consultancy one day. I needed a programme that would allow me to study towards acquir-ing the skills necessary for the achievement of my goal whilst maintaining my full-time job. The University of Liverpool’s online Global Human Resource Management programme was a perfect match for me.

Why did you choose the University of Liverpool for your online pro-

gramme?I chose the University of Liverpool because

it is one of the top-ranking universities with an effective and flexible online programme, offering the opportunity to graduate on cam-pus. I also felt that the institution’s Postgrad-uate Certificate in Global Human Resource Management programme offered the con-tent and skills I needed to learn in order to achieve the next step up in my career.

What would you say are the key strengths of the online programme?

The interactive online sessions and prompt feedback received from my course leaders; the enriched study materials; and the qual-ity of the expert lecturers and support man-agers provided by the institution.

Why online remains best for working students —Oluchi Ikeji

A former acting Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commis-sion (NCC) and the Chairman, Common-wealth ITU Group, Dr Bashir Gwandu, has called on all Fifth Generation (5G) systems engineers and standards developers to en-sure full engagement with key stakehold-ers around the globe when developing 5G standards for the 5G to succeed and avoid the pitfalls of other technologies such as the Wimax and even the 3G.

Gwandu made the call in London, United Kingdom during his analysis of the 5G de-velopment efforts as part of his presenta-tion on “Delivering a sustainable and long-term 5G future” at the recently-concluded 2nd International Conference on 5G Hur-dle 2016 organised in London by Wireless World Research Forum –a group of leading experts and researchers on 5G networks in association with Forum Europe.

Gwandu spoke on a number of strategies that the experts needed to adopt for 5G to have a sustainable future. In particular, he spoke on ensuring sustained research ef-fort; global stakeholder engagement and collaboration; innovative regulation and policy development; technical standards harmonisation and spectrum availability and early release; infrastructure design and harmonisation; co-existence and network interference minimisation; security, pri-vacy, resilience and reliability; partnership and funding.

On research effort, Gwandu suggested more focus on latency reduction, resilience, availability for confidence building, spectral efficiency and speed, mobility, and antenna versatility.

He spoke on timely spectrum release and adequate planning and harmonised slots/channel arrangements. On innovative policies, he spoke on technology neutral-ity, infrastructure deployment and cover-age, accurate digital and regular update of high-resolution maps and accurate posi-tioning, weather and ecological consider-ation in antenna deployments, etc.

Importantly, Gwandu was very emphatic about the need to carry all key stakehold-ers and major end-users along in require-ment capture for standards development, mentioning some stakeholders such as governments, regulators, verticals such as auto-manufacturers, transport and logistics industries, retail and general fast-moving con-sumers goods sellers, health and social care institutions, Business and financial services, and experts from various user groups.

with Bode Adewumim:08055001765

e:bodekafi@yahoo.com

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, VDT Communications, Mr Biodun Omoniyi (middle); displaying the two awards won at BoICT Awards 2016, (Bandwidth Company of the Year and ICT Personality of the Year); flanked by the company’s Chief Technology Officer, Mr Victor Omoyeni (left) and General Manager, Sales and Marketing, Mrs Bimbo Ikumariegbe, during the award presentation in Lagos,recently.

problems in the country. She said that the entry cost has reduced

since the company has reduced the con-sumption required by about 85 per cent and this reduces the solar wattage require-ment.

“However, for this to go round most Ni-gerians, federal and state governments can assist by encouraging smooth consumer-type procurement where civil servants, teachers etc can buy on consumer basis and pay over a period from salary deduc-

tions,” she said, adding that this will bring smiles back to Nigerians as sleeping in the heat can be very depressing. Students and farmers are not left out from this arrange-ment as banks, leasing companies, insur-ance companies, cooperative societies etc can consider partnering to assist Nigerians to own this solution.

“Omatek is currently engaging distribu-tors, partners etc for this change process and for the bright future of our country,” she said.

What advice would you give to pro-spective students who are consider-ing an online degree programme?

Do not think twice or waste time in mak-ing the decision to take up study. It does not have to affect your regular job in any way; you just need to be determined enough to study no matter what it will entail.

Raumplus restates commitment to enhance local content development

Ogun unveils houses to reduce housing deficit among workers

Expert proposes ways to end activities of land grabbersStorieS by Chukwuma okparaoCha - LagoS

Tuesday, 10 May, 201631 Nigerian Tribune

with Chukwuma Okparaocham:08038984495

e: chukscop2005@gmail.com

THE Chairman and Chief Executive of Concord Es-tate and Properties Ltd, Chief Isiaka Adekunle,

has called on the government at all levels to as a matter of urgency put solid structure and policies in place which will put an end to the menace and activities of land grab-bers in the country.

Notoriously known as “omo oniles,” land grabbers, accord-ing to Chief Adekunle, have even devised a more audacious way of achieving their aim of stripping lawful land owners of their lands and properties, by specialising in writing “frivolous” petitions to the police with a view to laying claim to such properties from their orig-inal owners.

However, he alleged the com-plexity of the police in the whole development, saying quite often, some police officers allowed them-selves to be dragged into land is-sues by omo oniles, thus corrupt-ing themselves.

He therefore called on the In-spector General of Police, Mr Sol-omon Arase, as well as the state commissioners for police for both Lagos and Ogun to ensure that

RAUMPLUS, an interior and furniture design company, has underscored its commitment to accelerate the development of the property industry in Nigeria through transfer of skills and the establishment of factories to pro-duce its products locally.

Mr Adeyanju Adelakun, Manag-ing Director, Raumplus Nigeria made the assertion at the opening of the ultra-modern office com-plex and showroom of the com-pany in the Federal Capital Terri-tory (FCT), Abuja.

The occasion was graced by Professor Amos Utuama, former Delta State Deputy Governor and Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, represented by his Special Ad-viser, Mr Obafela Bank Olemoh.

Adelakun said the company had in no small measure engendered growth in the nations’ property market by creating and adding value through quality furnish-ing products to complement the structural developments in the nation’s property industry. He said it was the vision of the com-pany to commence building fac-tories in Nigeria to promote local content development and provide employment opportunities for Nigerians.

According to him, Raumplus, Mr Adeyanju Adelakun, right, presenting a gift to Professor Amos Utuama, former Delta State Deputy Governor, at the opening of the Raumplus Nigeria Ultra Modern Office Complex/Showroom in Abuja.

such erring officers were called to order.

“Land grabbers always write friv-olous petitions to the police so as to claim land and properties from their original owners. This often leads to arrests and detention of land owners for more than a week in police custody without any charges,” he said.

To put an end to the omo onile menace, the real estate expert pro-

posed that the police leadership should invite all the “big time” land agents and property inves-tors to a roundtable where issues relating to land in Ogun and Lagos states, because those two states, according him, are the “hot beds of criminal activities of land grab-bers,” would be ironed out.

Chief Adekunle also called on the police bosses to quickly setup committees within the police that

would handle any land matter that involves criminal intention and re-fer the civil aspect of it to seasoned property investors to handle.

He further advised the adminis-tration of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that its “change agenda” spread across all sectors of the economy, including the housing sector, which he insisted had long been overlooked by pre-vious governments.

has brought innovations into the Nigerian interior design sec-tor, saying the company, with its “cutting edge technology has introduce products that helps in achieving home design dreams.”

In his speech at the occasion, La-gos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode stated that Nigeria’s economy offered huge poten-tials and opportunities for inves-tors to leverage on and establish their businesses. He commended Raumplus for retaining a strong pedigree in the nation’s furniture industry and the Nigeria’s prop-erty market in general.

NIOB moves to rebuild construction industry through enhanced artisans’ skillsIN its response to the challenge of paucity of competent artisans in the Nigerian construction indus-try, the Nigerian Institute of Build-ing (NIOB) has come with ways of enhancing the skills of artisans in the country.

This was done at a workshop or-ganised by the institute for build-ers, which was tagged: ‘Agenda for Skills Development in the Nige-rian Building Industry.’ According to the organisers, the workshop, was among other things aimed at upgrading the skills of builders towards theoretical and practical training of building artisans.

In his remarks at the Lagos-end of the event, the National Pres-ident of the Institute, Tijjani Shuaib, emphasized the need for

training and re-training of artisans and craftsmen in the construction industry as a response to the Fed-eral Government’s desire on job creation and youth empowerment.

Apart from Lagos, the two-day workshop was also held in three other states, Abuja, Enugu and Kano, in the past few days.

According to the NIOB presi-dent, the workshop would help advance the drive for the assess-ment and certification of artisans and craftsmen by the institute as a certificate awarding body. “It will also encourage members to open up training centres, and ultimately ensure that Nigerian youths are gainfully engaged and that the best workmen are used for construction works for quality

outputs to curb building collapse. The workshop would also ensure that foreigners do not take up jobs Nigerians should do,” he said.

During the workshop’s technical session, seasoned building pro-fessionals were on ground to do justice to the various topics rang-ing from: scope of building and construction skills, skills acqui-sition infrastructure in Nigeria, construction practices and skills gap in the construction industry, national vocational qualification framework, national occupational standards for construction trades in Nigeria, setting up and running of training centres and emerging trends in the use of Solignum as wood preservatives in construc-tion process in Nigeria.

OGUN State Government has commissioned a total of 160 units of 2 and 3 bedroom detached and semi-detached bungalows and storey-building as part of efforts at providing affordable housing for its workforce.

Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari while commission-ing the phase 1 of the Estate, named after the first Head of Service in the State, Chief Adedo-tun Adedeji Kayode Degun (AAK Degun MITROS Estate) located in Laderin, Abeokuta, lauded the state government for its commit-ment at making life comfortable for the workers.

Mrs Buhari, who was repre-sented by Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, while un-veiling the plaque, commended the vision of the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led administration in providing standard housing units for the state’s civil servants, while also urging the state work-ers to continue in supporting the mission to rebuild the state.

She added that the construction of the edifice estate was a remark-able achievement for the present administration in the housing sector, noting that the initiative would have great impact on the socio-economic development of the state and the country at large.

Governor Amosun on his part said that the workers estate would reduce the hardship civil servants in having home of their own, adding that the gesture would avail them the opportu-nity to access decent homes at affordable cost.

He added that the project was part of his mandate on Home Ownership which seeks to deliver fully serviced homes to hundred families within its workforce.

Tuesday, 10 May, 201632

33 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016news

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Monday, said President Muham-

madu Buhari possessed leadership qualities of a committed patriot, who is ready to protect the sover-eignty of Nigeria from in-surgents.

He spoke as a guest of hon-our at the third Convenant University International Conference on African De-velopment Issues, with the theme: “Driving inclusive and sustainable develop-ment in Africa: Models. methods and policies,” held at the African Leadership Centre of the university, in Ota, Ogun State.

Obasanjo, who gave a talk on “What is right with Africa,” identified lack of commitment and continuity as major factors hindering sustainable development in Africa.

He re-empahsised his position on the leadership qualities of President Mu-hammadu Buhari as a com-mitted patriot, who is ready to protect the sovereignty of Nigeria from insurgents.

He said: “I will tell you what I know and I will tell you what I don’t know. I know General Buhari, he served under me in the mili-tary and he served me in the administration.

“His characteristics that I know, his behaviour that I know, he hasn’t deviated from it. He was not a perfect man and he would never be a perfect man and no leader would be a perfect human being. But if you really read my book “My Watch,” what I said about him is still cor-rect.

“He is not a hot person when it comes to economy, he is not a very hot person when it comes to foreign af-fairs, but he will do well in the matters of military and he will do well in fighting Boko Haram.

“I have gone to Maidu-guri, I have met the Theatre Commander, I have met the GOC and he’s got that right. That yes, the final nail on the coffin of Boko Haram is not military, it will be socio-economic development and to be able to do that, the security of the area must be taken care of.

“So, for me, if we have no hope, we would have no fu-ture, we would have no life. I’m an incurable optimist as far as Nigeria is concerned. If somebody doesn’t get it all right, for now, we would get somebody who would come on and get it right.

“Whatever the situation is, the administration be-fore this had no clue on how to deal with Boko Haram. There is no doubt about that. This one is dealing with Boko Haram. The adminis-tration before it was deep in corruption. This one says it is fighting corruption; you may not like the way it is fighting it.

“I fought corruption. We recovered $1.25 billion from Abacha and his henchmen. We didn’t make noise. £100

Olayinka OlukOya - abeOkuta

Former spokesman, Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, arriving at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) office in Abuja, on Monday. PHOTO: SUNDAY OSUNRAYI

million and about N30 bil-lion. That’s our way of do-ing it. And those who were helping us, the lawyers, said there was still at least $1 million to be recovered. I put it in my handover note. I don’t know how much of it was recovered. Rather than follow it scrupulously, I think we had another spate of corruption.”

Obasanjo urged Afri-can leaders to continue to do with what was good and show commitment to

the growth of their coun-tries and the continent as a whole.

Speaking on his succes-sor, the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Obasanjo said he failed to build on the suc-cesses recorded by his ad-ministration while in office for eight years.

He noted that some Af-rican leaders got it right in administering their coun-tries because of their will and sense of determination in developing their nations.

Obasanjo further said the late president campaigned on the slogan of continu-ity through the length and breadth of the country, but jesttioned it for disconti-nuity, when he eventually became the number one citizen.

He added that Yar’Adua was misled by some people immediately he assumed power to reverse some of the policies and programmes embarked on by his govern-ment.

My views on Buhari, Jonathan, Yar’Adua —ObasanjoSays Yar’Adua failed to continue with his administration’s policies

“If you remember - may his soul rest in peace - Yar’Adua campaigned on the slogan of continuity. That was the content of his campaign. When he got there, he jettisoned continu-ity and began discontinuity.

“After his death, I asked one of his close associates. I said ‘tell me what really happened’. He said as soon as we left, some people got up and said look, ‘you will never succeed unless you run down Obasanjo.’ He believed that. So, that was what he believed and that was what he did.

“Some of the things we put in place that would help the country - I have talked about agriculture, I talked about debt; in fact, if debt relief was possible to be reversed, Yar’Adua would have reversed it,” he added.

In their remarks, the key-note speaker, Professor Joy Ogwu and the Chancellor of the University, Bishop David Oyedepo, said no one would change Africa for Africans and that the con-tinent either survive on its own or go into extinction.

They maintained that their was no sustainable de-velopment without sustain-able commitment from the people.

THE new Speaker of Edo House of Assembly, Mrs Elizabeth Ativie, was on Monday sworn into office by the Clerk of the Assembly, Mr Lawson Ugiagbe.

The event, which took place at the assembly’s chamber, followed the im-peachment of the former Speaker, Mr Victor Edoror, by 16 members of the House.

Edoror was accused by the lawmakers of high-handed-ness, dictatorial tendencies and financial recklessness.

The News Agency of nigeria (NAN) reported that the new Speaker, after assuming duty, also admin-istered the oath of office on

Ativie takes oath of office as first female Edo Assembly Speakerher Deputy, Mr Justin Oko-nobor.

Ativie, who promised to run an open door policy, described her election as historical and a clarion call to restore the glory of the as-sembly.

“Today, history has been made in the Edo House of Assembly.

“I have been chosen as the first female Speaker of the House, a position which the entire women of Edo and the world at large are so pleased with.

“I am overwhelmed by the implicit confidence that my distinguished colleagues have reposed in me to lead

the House at a time like this, so that we can collectively bring back the lost glory.

“I will run a transparent, honest and open door policy to all throughout my ten-ure.’’

She promised that the House would continue to collaborate with the execu-tive, in order to transform the state.

Meanwhile, the Edo House of Assembly has lift-ed the suspension placed on its impeached Speaker, Vic-tor Edoro (APC-Esan Cen-tral).

The new Speaker, Mrs Elizabeth Ativie, announced this on Monday, at plenary.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that 16 out of the 24 mem-bers of the assembly, on May 3, impeached Edoro at plenary for alleged high-handedness, dictatorial ten-dencies and financial reck-lessness.

Edoro was subsequently suspended for three months for allegedly “ invading the hallowed chambers with thugs’’ after his impeach-ment.

But speaking at plenary on Monday, Ativie said: “In the spirit of reconciliation, we, hereby, lift the suspension placed on the former Speak-er, Victor Edoror.”

Saliu GbadamOSi - abuja

Fani-Kayode appears at EFCC, grilled for hours

TRUE to his vow that he will make himself if in-vited by the country’s anti-corruption agency, former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, ap-peared at the Economic and Financial Crimes Com-mission (EFCC) office in Abuja, to answer questions on the N840 million he col-lected from the Director of Finance of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Or-ganisation, Senator Nenadi Usman.

Senator Usman had named Fani-Kayode, among others, as a ben-eficiary of the N2.5billion she received from the Cen-tral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) ahead the 2015 presidential election.

The N2.5 billion was part of N4 billion alleged to have been transferred from the account of the CBN into a special account known as the Ministry of External Af-fairs Library, which sources at EFCC said was created by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) under the immediate past National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Da-

suki (retd), on the instruc-tions of the Presidency.

The EFCC had, last Fri-day, extended an invitation to Fani-Kayode, who was the Director of Publicity of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation to appear on Monday, May 9.

The EFCC’s letter sum-moning Fani-Kayode was dated May 6, signed by one Mr Mohammed Umar Abba, on behalf of EFCC

acting chairman, Mr Ibra-him Magu and delivered to him same date.

The letter stated that the anti-graft commission was investigating a case of crim-inal conspiracy and money laundering involving Joint Trust Dimensions Limited, adding that Fani-Kayode’s name featured prominently in the alleged scam and he was needed to clarify some issues.

According to the letter, “the commission is inves-tigating a case of crimi-nal conspiracy, fraud and money laundering involv-ing Joint Trust Dimensions Limited which you featured prominently. In view of the above, you are requested to kindly report.”

The former minister, who was dressed in a blue kaf-tan, arrived the EFCC head-quarters at about 9.39 a.m.

in a convoy of three vehicles and entered the Idiagbon House of the commission in company with his lawyers, including Ahmed Raji.

Inside sources informed that Fani-Kayode was inter-rogated by investigators on the fund he received from Usman, among others.

As of the time of filing this report, the former minister was still with the commis-sion.

34 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016 Nigerian Tribune

SCHEDULE

DECEASED: APPLICANTS FOR GRANT:

LEGAL NOTICE

SCHEDULE

DECEASED: APPLICANTS FOR GRANT:

WHEREAS the persons whose names are set out in the first column of the Schedule hereto died intestate on the dates and at the places mentioned therein.AND WHEREAS the persons whose names and addresses are set out in the second column of the said Schedule along with particulars of their relationship to the said deceased (where-ever found necessary or expedient) have applied to the High Court of Justice, Oyo State of Nigeria for the grant unto them of Letters of Administration in respect of the real and personal properties of the deceased.NOTICE is hereby given that the said Letters of Administration will be granted to the said applicants unless a notice to prohibit such grant is filed in the Registry of the High Court of Justice, Ibadan, Oyo State of Nigeria within Twenty-One (21) days from today.

A. POY/7101: GABRIEL AGBOOLA ADEWALE A. Mr. Kehinde Adewale and Mr. Late of Sw8/773A, Bolarin Street, Molete, Adenekan Adewale of Sw8/773A, Challenge Area, Ibadan, who died on 21st Bolarin Street, Molete, Challenge September, 1988 at Ibadan. Area, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.B. POY/219/2002: MRS. C. OLADUNNI AMODU B. Mr. Mufutau Amodu and Tajudeen Late of No. 17, Oyinlola Avenue, Ring Road, Amodu of No. 17, Oyinlola Avenue, Ibadan, who died on 3rd September, 2001 at Ibadan. Ring Road, Ibadan and No 2, Bolarinwa Street, Ajeigbe, Ring Road, Ibadan. Applicants are Son and Grand-Son of deceased.C. POY/366/2004: EMILY NWANGAJI UMEZURIKE C. Mr. Kenneth Oluchi Umezurike of No Late of No. 39, Omotosho Street, Eleyele, Ibadan, 39, Omotosho Street, Eleyele, Ibadan who died on 1st May, 2002 at St. Martina’s Hospital, Applicant is the Son of the deceased. Nw6/102, Ayorinde, Ibadan.

D. POY/486/2007: ALHAJI KARIM OKUNOLA ASHAMU D. Dr. Dauda Oyeniyi Ashamu and Mr. Late of No 71, Ondo street, Old Bodija, Ibadan, Mayowa Fatai Ashamu of No 71, who died on 13th December, 2009 at U.C.H, Ondo street, Bodija, Ibadan. Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.E. POY/661/2010: EMMANUEL ADENIYI ADELEYE E. Chief Olusegun Akiti and Mrs. (A.K.A. Adeleye E.A.B.) – Late of Plot 2, Akinloye Florence Olabimpe Filani of No. 32, Layout, Alma Guest Area, Bodija, Bodija, Ibadan, Folawiyo Bankole street, Surulere, who died on 28th June, 2010 at U.C.H. Ibadan. Lagos. Applicants are Brother and Sister of deceased.F. POY/261/2011: MR. JAMES EJIKE OKEKE F. Mrs. Gladys Okeke and Priscillia Late of No. 2, Ojofeyitimi street, Ikolaba Okeke (Miss) c/o Bayo Oyedeji Esq, Estate, Ibadan, who died on 29th January, Plot 8, Rotimi Williams Avenue, off 2010 at Ibadan. Awosika Avenue, Bodija, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Daughter of deceased.G. POY/067/2012: ARC AKINDIRAN DAVID AJANI A.K.A G. Mrs. Olufunke Dorothy Akin-Ajani ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE, DWORKS SYNERGY and Mrs. Gbemi Ayansina (Nee LIMITED AND VINTAGE COMPUTERS – Late of Ajani) c/o their solicitors, Wale Plots 8 & 9, Akin Ajani, Estate Layout, Ojoo, Oluwusi & Co, Solicitors & Notary Ibadan, who died on 10th January, 2012 at Ibadan. public, 1, Abinusawa crescent, Basorun, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Sister of deceased.H. POY/009/2013: SOLOMON OYEMOMILARA H. Mrs. Grace Arinlade Okunlola, Mrs. OKUNLOLA (A.K.A. OYEMOMILARA OKUNLOLA) Taiwo Olufunke Adeyemi and Mr. Late of No. 5, Road 6, Oyo State Housing Corp Akinola Oyekunle Okunlola of No. 5, Estate, Bashorun General Gas, Akobo, Ibadan, Road 6, Oyo State Housing Corp who died on 17th August, 2012 at U.C.H. Ibadan. Estate, Bashorun General Gas, Akobo, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Children of deceased.I. POY/845/2014: ISREAL AYINDE I. Esther Cordilia Nwayinbuego Ayinde Late of 145, Old Lagos Road, Orita Challenge, Emeleogu and Michael Emeleogu Ibadan, who died on 24th July, 2014 at the of 145, Old Lagos Road, Orita Hospital. Challenge. Applicants are Widow and Son of the deceased.J. POY/108/2015: PROF. TAJUDEEN ADEDOKUN J. Adebimpe Bamgbose – Martins and BALOGUN – Late of 4, Ekiti close, Bodija, Ibadan, Adedokun Balogun c/o Oladipo who died on 10th October, 2012 at U.C.H, Ibadan. Olasope of 2, Aperin Street, Awolowo, Bodija, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.1. POY/113/2016: MICHAEL PRICE OLORUNFEMI 1. Prof Emmanuel Otolorin and Mrs OTOLORIN – Late of 9, Afolabi-Lesi Street, Ibironke Sosina of 9, Afolabi-Lesi Ilupeju, Lagos, who died on 24th March, 2007 Street, Ilupeju, Lagos. Applicants are at Hospital. Children of deceased.2. POY/114/2016: AKINOLA EMMANUEL 2. Adenike Akinola, Samson Akinola and Late of No. 1, Akinola Street, Idi Oya, off Aiyegun, Toyin Akinola c/o Jide Makinde & Co Oleyo Road, Ibadan, who died on 15th May, 2015 24, Onireke Layout, Ibadan. Applicants at Hospital. are Children of deceased.

3. POY/115/2016: SGT. MURAINA OYEDEJI (RTD) 3. Lateefat Oyedeji and Ibrahim Oyedeji Late of No. 1, Arokoto Street, Jeje, Apete-Awotan of No. 1, Arokoto Street, Jeje, Apete- Ido Local government Area, Ibadan, who died on Awotan, Ibadan at Ido Local 7th October, 2015 at Home. Government Area. Applicants are Children of deceased.4. POY/116/2016: LAWANSON SEGUN (INSPECTOR) 4. Lawanson Comfort Funmilayo and Late of N5/602 Attender, Ajibodu Street, Ibadan, Segun David of N5/602, Attender, who died on 21st October, 2015 at Ogidi, Anambra Ajibodu Street, Ibadan. Applicants are State. Widow and Son of deceased.5. POY/119/2016: FAUSAT IKUMAPAYI 5. Aminat Ikumapayi and Balikis Late of No. 20, Owode Academy, Ibadan, who Ikumapayi of No. 20, Owode Academy died on 12th August, 2015 at Hospital. Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.6. POY/120/2016: MRS. NURAT OLAYIDE SULAIMON 6. Mr. Sulaimon Rafiu Akangbe and Mr. Late of Elegun’s compound, Tapa, Ibarapa North Sulaimon Sherifdeen Alabi c/o their Local Government, Oyo State, who died on 22nd solicitor, Akeem .A. Okelola Esq, Niyi April, 2015 at General Hospital, Igboora. Ogunjimi & Co, 9, Queen Elizabeth Road, Mokola, Ibadan. Applicants are Widower and Son of deceased.7. POY/121/2016: DNS ADERINTO ESTHER 7. Mr. Aderinto Amos Oluniyi and Mr. OLUFUNMILAYO – Late of Jokodolu House, Adenike Aderinto Olumuyiwa of Jokodolu’s Lautech Area, Ogbomoso, who died on 6th House, Adenike Lautech Area, September, 2015 at U.C.H. Ibadan. Ogbomoso. Applicants are Widower and Son of deceased.8. POY/122/2016: VICTORIA ADEBIMPE ADESANYA 8. Prince Adegbuyi Adesanya and Prince Late of 22, Oguntuga Street, off Omo-Owo Road, Adesina Fasasi of Qtr 22, Ibara Housing Ijebu-Ode, who died on 23rd December, 2013 at Estate, Abeokuta. Applicants are Son Orisa, Ijebu-Ode. and Brother of deceased.9. POY/123/2016: CELESTINE CHUKWUWWUBA 9. Mrs. Gloria Ify Okwuduba of R.39, OKWUDUBA – Late of R. 39, Railway Quarters, Railway Quarters, Dugbe, Ibadan. Dugbe, Ibadan, who died on 19th September, Applicant is the Widow of deceased. 2015 at U.C.H. Ibadan.10. POY/124/2016: MR. ASIMIYU OLAGOKE 10. Mr. Olayemi Olayiwola, Mrs. Jumoke OLAYIWOLA – Late of No. 11, Alaaka Street, Lawal (Nee Olayiwola) and Segun Idi-Osan, Ibadan, who died on 5th August, 2015 Olayiwola of No. 11, Alaaka Street, at Home. Idi-Osan, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.11. POY/125/2016: MR. ILORI DARAMOLA 11. Elder Joshua Daramola, Mrs. Olateju Late of J36A, Ifofin Street, Ilesa, Osun State, Fatai (Nee Daramola) and Mr. Olaitan who died on 3rd September, 2008 at Ilesa, Daramola of Plot IV, Block III, Ago Osun State. Tailor, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.12. POY/126/2016: OKEDEJI MOYOSORE BOSEDE 12. Chief Okedeji Adekunle Mojeed and Late of Elesingodogbo, Adewumi, Olosunde, Eniola Ladapo of Elesingodogbo, Ibadan, who died on 8th November, 2015 at Adewumi, Olosunde, Ibadan and 13, Adeoyo State Hospital, Ibadan. Omoniyi, Street, Sangisa, Lagos. Applicants are Widower and Son of deceased.13. POY/127/2016: SOLOMON ADEMOLA OWOJORI 13. Adebusola Adunni Ayoade Owojori, Late of No. 42, Ire Akari Street, Oremeji, Bolanle Paulina Owojori and Temitope Ibadan, who died on 10th March, 2015 at Owojori of No. 42, Ire Akari Street, U.C.H. Ibadan. Oremeji, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Children of deceased.14. POY/128/2016: ONI KAYODE ADELEKE 14. Mrs. Rebecca Oni, Temitope Oni and Late of No. 6&7, Onajobi Street, Felele Rab, Fehintoluwa Oni of No. 6&7, Onajobi Ibadan, who died on 7th June, 2015 at God’s Layout, Felele Rab, Ibadan. Applicants Faithfulne Hospital, Ibadan. are Widow and Children of deceased.15. POY/129/2016: TAIWO PETERS 15. Gilbert Olufemi Peters and Babatunde Late of Jegede Area, Akanran Road, Ibadan, Samuel Peters both of Jegede Area, who died on 15th July, 2015 at Eko Hospital, Akanran Road, Ibadan. Applicants are Lagos State. Senior Brother and Younger Brother of deceased.16. POY/130/2016: JACOB OSUOLALE 16. Osuolale Olusegun, Osuolale Sunday Late of Gbena Area, Monatan, Ibadan, who and Osuolale Kayode of Gbena Area, died on 28th September, 2014 at Home. Monatan, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.17. POY/131/2016: IDOWU WAHABI 17. Mrs. Saratu Wahabi and Mr. Waheed Late of No. 50, Arowosaye Street, Odo- Idowu of No. 50, Arowosaye Street, Oba, Ibadan, who died on 2nd August, 2014 Odo-Oba, Ibadan. Applicants are at Home. Widow and Son of deceased.18. POY/132/2016: BABALOLA OLUSEGUN (A.K.A. 18. Babalola Mary Abolade, Babalola DAMMY VENTURES, ASELARI COMPANY, DAVID Oluwaseun and Babalola Olumide c/o OLUSEGUN BABALOLA) – Late of No. 7, Obiageli C. Benson, Agbaje, Agbaje & Owolashoge Street, Iyanu Akanle, Alakia, Ibadan, Co, No. 3, Obafemi Awolowo way, who died on 3rd September, 2015 at Emmanuel Oke-Bola, Ibadan. Applicants are Medical Centre, Osogbo. Widow and Children of deceased.19. POY/133/2016: AYOMOBA PAUL 19. Ayomoba Simon Abayomi c/o His Late of No. 1, Irepodun Street, Agbowo Express solicitor, Folorunso Ahmed Esq, 2nd Ibadan, who died on 28th May, 2014 at Hospital. floor, 2nd suite, Lister Building, Ring Road, Ibadan. Applicant is the Son of deceased.20. POY/134/2016: ALHAJI ABUBAKAR TOLEJO 20. Yahya Abubakar Tolejo, Ahmed Late of Gbonkan village, near Ipapo Itesiwaju Abubakar Tolejo, Abdullah Tolejo and LGA, who died on 4th August, 2014 at Home. Issa Tolejo of Gbonkan Village, near Ipapo, Itesiwaju LGA. Applicants are Children of deceased.21. POY/135/2016: MR. SANNI AKEEM OLATUNDE 21. Mrs. Mojisola Sanni of Bola Ige Estate, Late of Ologuneru, Gbopa Area, Ibadan, who Ologuneru Area, Ibadan. Applicant died on 1st August, 2014 at Hospital. is the Widow of deceased.22. POY/136/2016: BLESSING IBUKUN AKPEJI 22. Benjamin Adeche Akpeji c/o His Late of Ade Adebayo, Ajadi – Power line, solicitor, Damilola Onabanjo, 18, His Ologuneru, Ibadan, who died on 21st November, Grace Plaza, Ajibade Street, Mokola, 2015 at King’s Hospital. Ibadan. Applicant is the Widower of deceased.23. POY/137/2016: ADEYEMO FATAI 23. Yekeen Salewa Muyibat (Nee Adeyemo) Late of No. 25, Agbowo Carpenter, U.I, Ibadan, and Ajibola Rofiat Iyabo (Nee who died on 13th February, 1999 at Home. Adeyemo) of No. 25, Agbowo Carpenter, U.I. Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.24. POY/138/2016: ALHAJI RAIMI ISHOLA BELLO 24. Dr. Adebayo Taiwo Belo c/o Late of Ile Baale Paku, Isale Ora, Ogbomoso, Olugbemiga Ladanu & Co, 4, Oak who died on 1st July, 2012 at Gboko, Benue State. street, Alalubosa Estate, Ibadan. Applicant is the Son of deceased.25. POY/139/2016: MR. JIMOH AJIWE 25. Mr. Lawal Jimoh Ajiwe, Mr. Samson-deen Jimoh Ajiwe Late of N1/65, Ayeye, Ibadan, who died on and Mr. Sulaiman Jimoh Ajiwe c/o Adekola Kareem Esq, 6th June, 2014 at Home. Adekola Kareem & Co, 3rd floor, Ance Building, Jericho, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.26. POY/140/2016: ADEGBOYEGA SAMUEL 26. Oyetola Mary Taiwo and Oyetola OYETOLA – Late of Adegbayi street, Ife Pelumi Jeremiah of Adegbayi street, Road, Ibadan, who died on 5th November, Ife Road, Ibadan. Applicants are 2015 at Oke Ado Hospital, Oke Ado, Ibadan. Children of deceased.27. POY/141/2016: EMMANUEL OLAYIWOLA 27. Caroline Adebimpe Opaleye and OPALEYE (A.K.A. LAYI OPALEYE & CO) -Late Bolanle Malomo of Plot 14A, Mokola Plot 14A, Mokola layout, opposite St. Louis layout opposite St. Louis Grammar, Grammar, school, Ibadan, who died on 26th school, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow August, 2015 at Ibadan. and Daughter of deceased.28. POY/142/2016: DR. KOLAWOLE JACOB 28. Mrs. Jolade Oladipupo and Mrs OLADIPUPO – Late of Leadcity Garden Afolakemi Saba (Nee Oladipupo) c/o Estate, Arapaja, Ibadan, who died on 12th Ipinsokan Iheoma(Mrs), Ranti September, 2015 at U.C.H. Ibadan. Ajeleti & Co, 46, Awolowo Avenue, Bodija, Ibadan. Applicants Widow and Daughter of deceased.29 . POY/143/ 2016: JACOB ADEWOLE OLAOGUN 28. Samuel Temilade Adebunmi and Hon. Late of Faosin Amuloko, Akanran Road, Ibadan, Lasun Adebunmi c/o Bowofade who died on 27th February, 2015 at Adeoyo Aderemi & Co, 11B, Aare Avenue, Maternity Hospital, Yemetu, Ibadan. New Bodija Estate, Ibadan. Applicants are Son and Brother of deceased.30. POY/144/2016: AMEH JAMES ODOMA 30. Mrs. Mary Idedole Odoma c/o M. Late of Aba Ibeji village, Odo Ona Kekere, Raji & Co. Barrister & Solicitor, Suite Ibadan, who died on 23rd February, 2015 at 22, Daze shopping complex, opp 7th Holley Memorial Hospital, Ochadamu, Kogi. Day Adventist Church, Oke-Bola, Ibadan. Applicant is the Widow of deceased.31. POY/145/2016: BENJAMIN OWOLABI IYIOLA 31. Mrs. Adesola Iyiola and Mr. Bayo Late of Zone 6, Idi-Ose, Akanran Road, Ibadan, Iyiola of Zone 6, Idi-Ose, Akanran who died on 1st September, 2015 at Adeoyo Road, Ibadan. Applicants are Father Teaching Hospital, Ibadan. and Widow of deceased.32. POY/146/2016: AKINMOLADUN ELIJAH TAIWO 32. Opeyemi Elizabeth Akinmoladun and Late of No. 4, Akinduntire Street, Okitipupa, Adebowale Akinola Akinmoladun of Ondo State, who died on 7th June, 2015 at No. 4, Akinduntire Street, Okitipupa, General Hospital, Okitipupa. Ondo State. Applicants are Children of deceased.33. POY/147/2016: PROF. OLUBAYO TIMOTHY 33. Mrs. Stella Iyabo Olateju and OLATEJU – Late of 7, Osanaiye Crescent, Agodi Mrs. Olajumoke Afolayan of 7, GRA Secretariat, Ibadan, who died on 19th Osanaiye Crescent, Agodi GRA

November, 2015 at U.C.H. Ibadan. Secretariat, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Daughter of deceased.34. POY/148/2016: MICHAEL AYODELE OGUNSUSI 34. Mrs. Titilayo Esther Ogunsusi and Late of Lane 9, Precious Island, Papa David Ifeoluwa Ogunsusi of Lane 9 Ogungbade, Ibadan, who died on 25th December, Precious Island, Papa Ogungbade, 2015 at Sauki Clinic adj. Emir’s Guest House, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Ibadan way, New Bussa, Niger. Son of deceased.35. POY/149/2016: MR. MUSIBAU ADENIJI ALABI 35. Mrs. Funke Alabi and Mr. Samson Late of Alase Area, Moniya, Ibadan, who died Adisa c/o Mrs Sarah Adetunji on 26th August, 2014 at the Hospital, Ibadan. Okoruwa, solicitor, 3rd floor, Cooperative building, Dugbe, Ibadan Applicants are Widow and Brother of deceased.36. POY/150/2016: MICHAEL FOLARIN MODUPE 36. Adelekun Oluwakemi (Nee Modupe) Late of Ope Ita Street, Obada Oko, Ogun State, Modupe Temitope c/o their solicitor, Who died on 31st January, 2013 at General Oluwafemi Omotayo Benjamin, Hospital, Ijaiye, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Adenike Shalimi & Co, 10, Ope Agbe Street, Cappa & D’Alberto Building, Onireke, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.

37. POY/153/2016: SAIDU ADEOYE AJIBADE 37. Esther Olubisi Ajibade and Rebecca Late of Adeoye compound, Aroje, Ogbomoso, Olubunmi Ajibade c/o our solicitors, who died on 21st January, 2016 at Ilorin. Ayoola Ajayi & Co, Renown Chemist Building, Oke-Ado, Ogbomoso. \ Applicants are Widow and Daughter of deceased.38. POY/154/2016: EKPO FELIX BASSEY 38. Ekpo Felix Joy of No. 2, Abasa, Ile Late of 17, Udokang street, Uyo, who died Tuntun, Ologuneru Area, Ido Local on 15th March, 2014 at Premier Hospital govt, Ibadan. Applicant is the Widow Tour Lane, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. of deceased.39. POY/155/2016: OPADEJI FRANCIS KEHINDE 39. Opadeji Hannah Adewumi c/o Philip Late of St. Patrick’s Catholic Mission, Fiditi, Olu Ojo & Associates, No. 1, Agricola who died on 13th May, 2014 at Oyo. street, U.I, 2nd gate, Ibadan. Applicant is the Widow of deceased.40. POY/156/2016: JAMES ADEAGBO OMILEYE 40. Mr. Oladipo Omileye, Mr. Olufemi Late of Sw8/950, Adesina Crescent, Oke-Ado, Omileye and Mrs. Folusho Ibadan, who died on 1st October, 2001 at Olajubutu of Sw8/950 Adesina Crescent, Oke Ado, Ibadan. Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased. 41. POY/157/2016: YESUFU ISAH 41. Razak Isah Yesufu and Mrs. Rafatu Late of Sw5/284, Atere’s Compound, Oke- Awoniyi Cecilia c/o their solicitors Foko, Ibadan, who died on 30th June, 2011 at Kunle Jimoh & Co, No. 21, Queen Elizabeth Road, Mokola, Home. Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased42. POY/158/2016: PAMOH UMORU FRANK 42. Mrs. Patience Kuronakiah Ben c/o Late of Foubiri Compound, Insabagreia Town, Olujimi Falaye Esq, Fadele & Fadele Yenegoa, Bayelsa State, who died on 18th First floor, Al Barka Plaza, Bodija, October, 2014 at Ibadan. Ibadan. Applicant is the Daughter of deceased.43. POY/159/2016: MRS. MOTUNRAYO JOKE 43. Mr. Folahan Moses Adeleke and ADELEKE – Late of community primary Miss Ifeoluwa Adeleke of No. 28, School II, Ijokodo, Ibadan, who died on 17th Alafia Avenue, Yidi Arola, Apete, June, 2014 at Lagos State Government General Hospital. Ibadan. Applicants are Widower and Daughter of deceased.44. POY/160/2016: OLADIPO MOSHOOD ADEREMI 44. Oladipo Akeem Adewale and Late of Plot 9, Iyeruokin Palace, behind Oladipo Modinat Adenike of Sw2/ Iderade Hospital, Boluwaji Area, Ibadan, who 324, Isale Ijebu street, Idi Arere, died on 12th December, 2015 at Ayo Hospital, Ibadan or Plot 9, Iyeruokin Palace, Ibadan. behind Iderade Hospital, Boluwaji Area, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.45. POY/161/2016: MRS. BASHIRAT SOLA ADEMODI 45. Ganiyat Yinka Suleiman (Nee Ademodi) Late of 71, Oluyole, New Extension, Ibadan, and Omotayo Musbau Ademodi who died on 21st January, 2016 at Ibadan. c/o solicitor, Stella Taiye Babafemi Docal Plaza, Orita Challenge, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.46. POY/162/2016: LAMIDI ADERINTO 46. Mr. Sule Lamidi and Mrs. Suliat Late of No. 6, Olusoji, Oluyole Estate Ext. Muniru c/o Jide Alao & Co (Solicitors) Ibadan, who died on 19th Nov, 2015 at Ibadan. 3, Oluyole Street, Oke-Ado, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased47. POY/163/2016: MR. AKUE SAMUEL 47. Mrs. Akue Grace Nehomo and Mrs. Late of Afuda Road, Areghen street, Uromi, Opemiyan Abosede Odegua c/o Musibau Adetunbi & Co, Edo state, who died on 8th April, 2014 at No. 38, Ladoke Akintola Avenue, New Bodija, Ibadan. Home. Applicants are Widow and Daughter of deceased48. POY/164/2016: MRS. BENEDICTA ADEFUNKE 48. Mr. Oyewusi Oyewole Atilade and OYEWUSI – Late of Ikolaba Ayoola Compound, Miss Oyewusi Oyepeju Olayemi of Ahoyaya, Ogbomoso, who died on 25th May, Federal College of Education 2015 at Ibadan. (special), Oyo. Applicants are Children of deceased.49. POY/165/2016: AKINYEMI EMMANUEL OLUWOLE 49. Mrs. Akinyemi Nike Adijat and Mr. Late of No. 53, Papa Alafia, Apete, Ibadan, who Oluyombo Akinyemi of No. 53, Papa Alafia, Apete, Ibadan. died on 21st November, 2014 at Home. Applicants are Widow and Son of deceased.50. POY/166/2016: HELEN OLUSOLA OJOFEITIMI 50. Oluwatade Ojofeitimi and Oluwa- Late of 2, Ojofeitimi Crescent, Ikolaba, Seun Alakiu of No. 2, Ojofeitimi Ibadan, who died on 7th September, 2015 at crescent, Ikolaba Area, Idi-Ape, U.C.H. Ibadan. Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.51. POY/167/2016: ADERIBIGBE WASIU AKANMU 51. Mrs. Aderibigbe Aminat and Late of Elebu Extension, Ibadan, who died on Aderibigbe Rofiat of Elebu Extension 8th April, 2012 at Home. Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Daughter of deceased.52. POY/168/2016: TIJANI LIADI OLATUNJI 52. Mulikat Tijani and Mohammed Toha Late of 1, Olomi Avenue, off Ola, Bodija, Ibadan, Tijani of 1, Olomi Avenue, off Ola, who died on 2nd August, 2015 at BCOS Clinic Bodija, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow Secretariat, Ibadan. and Son of deceased.53. POY/170/2016: ENGR. OLUDOTUN OKUNRIBIDO 53. Mrs. Olubanke Olufunmilayo Late of 1, Sanya Soyanwo close, Ikolaba, Ibadan, Okunribido and Mr. Oluwaseun who died on 1st November, 2015 at Ibadan. Oyekorede Okunribido c/o Adedayo Ajakaiye Esq, 36, New Court Road, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Son of deceased.54. POY/171/2016: OLORUNFEMI JACOB 54. John Oludayo Adekunle and John Late of E9/ 747A, Oke Adu, Ibadan, who died Adeniyi Taiwo of E9/747A, Oke Adu, Ibadan. on 16th April, 2014 at Home. Applicants are Children of deceased.55. POY/172/2016: MR. SAMSON AJADI ADEEYO 55. Mr. Adewale Adeeyo and Mrs. Late of No. 12, Idi Mangoro, Aba Baale, Victoria Oredola Olojoku(Nee Adeeyo) Olunde, Ibadan, who died on 2nd January, of No. 47, Ikoyi Road, Ogbomoso, 2014 at Home. and Zone G, 78, Oke-Ola, Kehinsi Are, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.56. POY/173/2016: KANIKWU CHUKS DAVID (.A.K.A 56. Kanikwu Mary Jane Chidinma and CHUKS AND JANE NIG. LTD) – Late of No. 17, Mrs. Kanikwu Florence Dumebi c/o their solicitor, Adebajo Street, New Bodija, Ibadan, who died B.K. Salami Esq, Akofa Building, Idi-Ishin, Jericho, Ibadan. on 8th December, 2015 at U.C.H. Ibadan. Applicants are Daughter and Widow.57. POY/174/2016: SIKIRU SALAMI AYINDE BALOGUN 57. Rasaq Balogun, Sulaiman Dan- Late of No. 24, Lamina Lawal Street, Isolo, Salaudeen, Al Maroof Balogun and Lagos State, who died on 16th December, 2010 Samsondeen Balogun c/o their Solicition, E.O. Leyimu Esq, at Westminster City. No. 5, Johnson Street, off Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja, Lagos State. Applicants are Children of deceased.58. POY/175/2016: LAWOORE JOSAIAH ADEBOWALE 58. Lawore Abayomi Oluwatoyin and Late of Lawoore Residence, opp. C&S church, Olawoore Wale Adelodun of Oke Ola, Igboora Road, Eruwa, who died on 9th Lawoore Residence, opp. C&S church September, 2015 at His Residence. Oke-Ola, Igboora Road, Eruwa. Applicants are Children of deceased.59. POY/176/2016: ADEDAPO ABAYOMI ADELUGBA 59. Yetunde Crighton-Adelugba of No. 5A Late of No. 5A, Oba Akenzua Avenue, Old Oba Akenzua Avenue, Old Bodija, Bodija, Ibadan, who died on 23rd November, Ibadan. Applicant is the Daughter of 2014 at Molly Specialist Hospital, Ibadan. deceased.

60. POY/177/2016: RAJI BABARINDE 60. Alabi Mulikat Ajoke and Oladapo Late of Ajeigbe, Jinadu Adeosun layout, Oke- Moronfolu c/o Adeyemi Opakunle Ado, Ibadan, who died on 13th January, 1982 at Esq, 45, Iwo Road, Red Brick House, Home. Holiness Bus stop, Iwo Road, Ibadan. Applicants are Daughter and Grand-Son of deceased.61. POY/178/2016: MR. ABAYOMI OLADIDUPO 61. Mrs. Grace Bolanle Olabode-Nicol OLABODE-NICOL – Late of Plot 3, Akintunde and Miss. Oluwaseun Elizabeth Kongo layout, Kute, Ibadan, who died on 8th Olabode-Nicol of Plot 3, Akintunde September, 2015 at U.C.H. Ibadan. Kongo layout, Kute, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Daughter of deceased.62. POY/179/2016: DR. GERALD CHINEDU 62. Dr (Mrs) Fechi Grace Nkwocha of NKWOCHA – Late of Plot 11, Dele Shoge street, Plot 11, Dele Shoge street, Sharp Sharp corner, Oluyole Extension, Ring Road, corner, Oluyole Extension, Ring Road, Ibadan, who died on 25th May, 2015 at U.C.H. Ibadan. Ibadan. Applicant is the Widow of deceased.63. POY/180/2016: GANIYU ALABI 63. Mrs. Doris Ganiyu Alabi and Mr. Late of No. 9, Alagbagba Area, Bodija, Ibadan, Azeez Oladokun Ganiyu of No. 9, who died on 8th October, 2012 at Home. Alagbagba, Bodija Area, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Son of deceased.64. POY/181/2016: OLADOKUN AKINLOYE MUNIRU 64. Iyabode Olatundun Oladokun and Late of No. 2, I Road, Poly Quarters, Oke-Odan, Akinwale Akeem Oladokun of No. 2, Apete, Ibadan, who died on 23rd January, 2016 I Road, Poly Quarters, Oke-Odan, Apete, Ibadan. at Ibadan Polytechnic Health Centre, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Son of deceased.65. POY/183/2016: MRS. ADEYEMI MODUPE 65. Alade Abiodun Raimat (Mrs) and TEJUMADE – Late of Plot 3, Bameke layout, Adeyemi Ayodeji Muslim c/o their solicitors, Adewale Jankata Area, Apata, Ibadan, who died on 6th Oyesola of Adewale Oyesola & Co, 69, Adelaja street, December, 2014 at Her Residence. Mokola, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.66. POY/184/2016: MR. OGUNKOYA OLUDARE 66. Mr. Oluyomi Temitayo Ogunkoya and TEMIDAYO – Late of 4, Yomi Ogunkoya Street, Dr. Elijah Olukayode Ogunkoya of 4, Ologuneru, Ibadan, who died on 14th April, Yomi Ogunkoya Street, Ologuneru, 2008 at U.C.H. Ibadan. Ibadan. Applicants are Father and Brother of deceased.67. POY/185/2016: MR. KABIR YINKA DURODOLA 67. Mr. Durodola Samuel Olayiwola and Late of No. 10, Ahoyaya Area, Olodo, Ibadan, Mrs. Durodola Janet Oluwatoyin of who died on 14th January, 2016 at U.C.H. No. 10, Ahoyaya Area, Olodo, Ibadan. Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Son of deceased.68. POY/186/2016: ABIOLA ABIBAT LAWAL 68. Rukayat Adebukola Akano and Mr. Late of Zone 5, Oloya, Onibuore, Monatan, Bayo Lawal of No. 53, Zone C, New Ibadan, who died on 22nd March, 2011 at Town Amuloko, Ibadan. Applicants U.C.H. Ibadan. are Brother and Sister of deceased.69. POY/187/2016: KOMOLAFE FEMI OLANIRAN 69. Abayomi Matthew Olaniran and Late of I-13, Erijiyan, Esa-Oke, Osun state, who Gabriel Oluyemi Oladeji of No. 9, Agunbelewo, died on 9th April, 2015 at State Specialist Osogbo and No. 18, Olode, Adegbayi, Ibadan respectively Hospital, Asubiaro, Osogbo. Applicants are Brother and Nephew of deceased.70. POY/188/2016: MUFUTAU AKANMU 70. Saheed Mufutau and Saudat Mufutau Late of Plot 12, Block 11, Agbowo U.I. Ibadan, of Plot 12, Block 11, Agbowo U.I. Ibadan. who died on 1st May, 2000 at U.C.H. Ibadan. Applicants are Son and Widow of deceased.71. POY/189/2016: OGUNJANA OLAGOKE 71. Suaibu Mayowa Florence (Nee Late of Abeku Street, Sanyo, Ibadan, who Ogunleye) and Ogunleye Micheal died on 3rd January, 2016 on the road. Oluwole c/o Olayemi Kolade (Mrs) of No. 5, Abinusawa street, Radio Nigeria Basorun, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.

72. POY/190/2016: AKINRINADE JACOB ADEGBEMI 72. Akinrinade Akinade Sunday and Late of Ile-Agbelekale Aawe, Oyo State, Akinrinade Adegbola Oluwafemi of Ile who died on 3rd November, 2014 at Home. Agelekale Aawe, Oyo State. Applicants are Children of deceased.73. POY/191/2016: OLUWAFEMI OKANLAWON 73. Mrs Modinat Omotayo Azeez-Yusuf AZEEZ – Late of Baasin’s compound, Pako, and Mr. Babatunde Keji Azeez-Yusuf Igboora, who died on 17th November, 2015 c/o their solicitor, Akeem A. Okelola at Mak Mercy Hospital, Igboora. Esq, Wale Okelola & Co, 19, Queen Elizabeth Road, Mokola, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Son of deceased.74. POY/192/2016: AKINRINOLA REBECCA 74. Popoola Bolaji Jacob c/o Babafemi MOJIRADE – Late of No. 24, Kufeyiji Street, Iyiola Esq, 84, Iwo Road, Ibadan. Agodi Gate, Ibadan, who died on 13th Applicant is the Son of the deceased. November, 2015 at Adeoyo Maternity Teaching Hospital, Yemetu.75. POY/193/2016: MR. OWOLABI OLUSESAN 75. Mrs. Yemi Maria Owolabi c/o PETER – Late of Oladele, Gbekuba, Apata, Akindelano, Legal practitioners, Ile Ibadan, who died on 19th February, 2015 at Oridetu, 1, Shell close, Onireke, U.C.H. Ibadan. Ibadan. Applicant is the Widow of the deceased.76. POY/194/2016: JOSHUA AMOS OLADELE 76. Richard Ade Olumuyiwa Oyewole OYEWOLE – Late of No. 17, Olanipekun Lane, and Rahmon Adeyemi Adebayo of No Alapata, Ikare-Akoko, who died on 9th 1, Oyewole close, behind Ibukunoluwa February, 2009 at U.C.H. Ibadan. Baptist Church, Ologuneru, Ibadan and No. 11, Fadipe close, Idi-ishin, Ibadan Respectively. Applicants are Son and Grand-Son of the deceased.77. POY/195/2016: JAMES ADENIRAN OLAGBEGBO 77. Akinrinade Adeyemi .A. and Orobiyi Late of Ile-Agbelekale compound, Aawe, Adefunke of Ile-Agbelekale compound

Tuesday, 10 May, 201635SCHEDULE

DECEASED: APPLICANTS FOR GRANT:

A.A. OLATUNJI - DANIEL (MRS)(PROBATE REGISTRAR)

who died on 21st July, 2013 at Home. Aawe. Applicants are Children of deceased.78. POY/196/2016: CLEMENT OLUJIDE AKINWALE 78. Akinwale Grace Toyin and Akinwale Late of S4/464C, Omilabu Area, Odinjo, Ibadan, Clementina Tosin of S4/464C, Omilabu who died on 31st March, 2013 at Gunduma Area, Odinjo, Ibadan. Applicants are General Hospital, Jigawa State. Widow and Daughter of deceased.79. POY/197/2016: BAKARE RAIMI 79. Ramota Bakare Ogedengbe (Nee Late of No. 1, Gbadebo Street, Veterinary, Bakare) and Ademola Kasali of No. 1, Mokola, Ibadan, who died on 19th October, Gbadebo Street, Veterinary, Mokola, 2013 at Inland Hospital, Ikare. Ibadan. Applicants are Younger Brother and Sister of the deceased.80. POY/198/2016: MR. AGBI OLORUNFEMI 80. Mrs. Grace Kemi Davies of No. 10, Late of Aro Meta area, Eleyele Express road, Segun Oriola street, Eleyele area, Iddo local Government area, Ibadan, who died Ibadan, iddo local government area, on 9th March, 2015 at Ibadan. Ibadan. Applicant is the Daughter of the deceased.81. POY/199/2016: MR. LAWRENCE ABIODUN OJO 81. Mrs. Christiana Funke Ojo and Mrs. Late of No. 9, Idikan Street, Ogunpa area, Christiana Yetunde Ojo of No. 9, Ibadan, who died on 8th November, 2014 at Idikan Street, Ogunpa area, Ibadan. Home. Applicants are Widows of the deceased.82. POY/200/2016: CHIEF SAMUEL ADEBAYO 82. Mrs. Foluke Koyejo and Mrs. Folasade OGUNDARE – Late of No. 13, Olatunji Agoro Fasanya of No. 13, Olatunji Agoro Street, Ring Road, Ibadan, who died on 21st Street, Ring Road, Ibadan. Applicants October, 2015 at Home. are Children of deceased.83. POY/201/2016: BOLAJI KASUMU 83. Belau Abiodun Kasumu and Taofeek Late of Yidi-Agugu Area, Ibadan, who died on Kasumu Abiodun of Yidi-Agugu Area, 26th February, 2014 at General Hospital Ibadan. Applicants are Father and Management Board, Nasarawa State. Brother of deceased.84. POY/202/2016: GBADAMOSI SAKA 84. Gbadamosi Solomon and Gbadamosi Late of Abedo village, Moniya Area, Ibadan, Mary of Otun Agbakin, Moniya Area who died on 23rd November, 2011 at Home. and Abedo village, Moniya area, Ibadan, respectively. Applicants are Children of deceased.85. POY/203/2016: MR. ADESIYAN EZEKIEL 85. Babatunde Olukemi Adewumi (Nee ADEDIRAN – Late of Elepe’s compound, Iseke, Adesiyan) and Miss. Adesiyan Oyo, who died on 12th January, 2015 at Home. Elizabeth Ayodele of No. 5, Abinusawa Street, Radio Nigeria B/stop, Basorun, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.86. POY/204/2016: RASHEED ALANI OLAWUWO 86. Miss Mariam Tolani Olawuwo and Mr. Late of Road 3, Elere Area, Apata, Ibadan, who Jubril Olawuwo of Road 3, Elere Area, Apata, Ibadan. died on 13th October, 2014 at U.C.H. Ibadan. Applicants are Father and younger sister of deceased.

87. POY/205/2016: EGUNYEMI SAMUEL ADEBISI 87. Egunyemi Julianah Bosede and Late of No 47, B Zone, Olojo, Olodo, Ibadan, Egunyemi Emmanuel Oluwafemi of who died on 25th March, 2016 at Home. No. 47, B Zone, Olojo, Olodo, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Son of deceased.88. POY206/2016: BABATUNDE SILIFATU TITILAYO 88. Akande Noah Oluwatobi and Babatunde Late of Babatunde House, 14, Kanisuru Street, Ayooluwa Joshua c/o their solicitor, Araromi Area, Oyo, who died on 5th February, Wahab A. Adedigba Esq, Wahab 2015 at Lautech Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso. Adedigba & Co, 1, Arole-Oba Royal Compound, Arole-Oba Area, Oyo. Applicants are Children of deceased.89. POY/207/2016: OLASEINDE RUFUS OLADIMEJI 89. Olaseinde Abosede Abiola and Olaseinde Late of Plot 25, Ladimeji Laniyan Street, Yetunde Olamide of Plot 25, Ladimeji Apata, Ibadan, who died on 26th January, Laniyan Street, Oloruntumo, Apata, Ibadan. 2015 at Hospital. Applicants are Widow and Daughter of deceased.90. POY/208/2016: ALHAJI AJAGBE GAFAR (A.K.A 90. Mr. Gafaru Saheed and Gafar Hammed GAFAR AKANMU NIG. ENTERPRISES) - Late of Jagun, Old Ife Road, Ibadan. of Plot No 7, Jagun, Old Ife Road, Ibadan, Applicants are Children of deceased. who died on 29th August, 2015 at Oluyoro Oke=Offa Catholic Hospital, Ibadan.91. POY/209/2016: SALISU OLAWALE ADEYEMI 91. Mariam Omolola Adeyemi and Michael Late of Sw9/950, Aba Alamu, Bembo Road, Adetunji Adeyemi of Sw9/950, Aba Apata Area, Ibadan, who died on 3rd May, 2015 Alamu, Bembo Road, Apata Area, at Hospital, Accra, Ghana. Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Son of deceased.92. POY/210/2016: DAMOLA ADESOKAN 92. Mrs. Ibiyemi Adesokan and Adebisi Late of 18, Olasonde Street, Papa-Ajao, Adesokan c/o Ibukun Oyewole & Co, Mushin, Lagos, who died on 9th April, 42B, Ganiyu Bello Street, Felele, 2008 at General Hospital, Lagos State. Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Son of deceased.93. POY/211/2016: OLUJIDE SAMUEL OLAWALE 93. Olumuyiwa Amos Olawale and Bayo Late of E7/182B, Gbaremu, Oloba, Ibadan, Samson Olawale and Sunday Olawale who died on 10th September, 2015 at Home. of E7/182B, Gbaremu, Oloba, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.94. POY/215/2016: MR. YISAU ADEYEMI OLATUNJI 94. Risikatu Yemisi Koko and Adeniyi Koko KOKO – Late of AR27, Olawoore House, of AR27, Olawoore House, Sanyo Area, Sanyo Area, Ibadan, who died on 24th October, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Son 2009 at Hospital. deceased.

95. POY/216/2016: IGE ABIODUN GEORGE 95. Ige Oyedoyin Ebunoluwa and Ige Late of Baba Ige’s House, Agbada Compound, Oyeronke Abisola of Ori-Oke Idahunsi Aborerin, Eruwa, who died on 11th August, Adura, Quarry Road, Saje, Abeokuta, 2015 at Hospital. Ogun State. Applicants are Children of deceased.96. POY/217/2016: MR. OLUSOLA ABIODUN 96. Miss. Adisa Mojirola and Mrs. Aduroja ADUROJA – Late of Alakia Elelu Area, New Ayoola Olayinka both of Alakia Elelu Ife Road, Ibadan, who died on 3rd January, Area, New Ife Road, Ibadan. Applicants 2015 at Home. are Step Daughter and Widow of deceased.97. POY/218/2016: BELLO FATAI OYEWALE 97. Mr. Tunji Oyewale c/o their solicitor, Late of Plot12 & 13, Alhaji S. A. Lawal Layout, Taiwo P. Iyanda of Taiwo Iyanda & Co, Akingbile, Ibadan, who died on 17th February, 4th floor ANCE Building, Magazine Road, Jericho, 2015 at Hospital. Ibadan. Applicant is the Son of the deceased.98. POY/219/2016: SALAWU WAHABI 98. Salawudeen Adeyemi Saheed c/o His Late of E16, Ifelajulo Orogbangba, Oki solicitor, Folorunso Ahmed Esq, city Olodo, Ibadan, who died on 22nd November, solicitors, 2nd floor, 2nd suite, lister 2015 at Home. Building, ring road, Ibadan. Applicant is the Son of deceased.99. POY/220/2016: OLATUNJI OLURONKE 99. Mr. Olatunji Idowu c/o their solicitor, BUKOLA – Late of No. 3, Moyede Adebola Adeola of Adebola Lufadeju & Anifalaje, Akobo, Ibadan, who died on 9th Co. Applicant is the Widower of March, 2016 at Ilorin. deceased.100. POY/221/2016: FELIX ILEGBNEJIE 100. John Osagie Okodugha and Mabel OKODUGHA – Late of No. 57, Adelaja Osamudiame Oni (Nee Okodugha) Street, Mokola, Ibadan, who died on 15th of No 57, Adelaja Street, Mokola, Ibadan August, 2015 at Mokola, Ibadan. and No 6, Olagoke Akano Street, Abayomi, Iwo Road, Ibadan respectively. Applicants are Children of deceased.101. POY/222/2016: MISS. JOSEPHINE OMOLOLU 101. Mrs. Osifade Susan Vinuyan, Mrs. WILLIAMS¬ – Late of Plot 11, Bodija Housing Oguntolu Olutoyin Oluseyi and Mrs. Estate, Ibadan, who died on 18th November, Adeniji Diane Olusheyi c/o Olumide 2012 at Beltsville, Maryland, USA. Aliu & Co of Mide Chambers No38B, Awolowo Avenue, Beside Domino’s Pizza, Bodija, Ibadan Applicants are Children of deceased.102. POY/223/2016: AYODEJI BODE BUKII 102. Mrs. Adedoyin Oluremi Ogunjobi and OGUNJOBI – Late of 26/27, Ogo Oluwa Mr. Funsho Ayodeji Bode-Ogunjobi c/o Estate, Akobo, Ibadan, who died on 30th Ranti Ajeleti Esq, Ranti Ajeleti & Co, 46, August, 2015 at Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Awolowo Avenue, Bodija, Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Son of deceased.103. POY/224/2016: ROSENA ABEGBE YETUNDE 103. Olukemi Modupeola Olutoyin Adentan AJAYI (A.K.A ROSINA ABEGBE YETUNDE AJAYI) (Nee Ajayi) and Victor Olufemi Ajayi of Late of 21, Premier Hill, Onilegogoro street, No. 21, Premier Hotel Hill, Mokola, Mokola, Ibadan, who died on 11th January, Ibadan. Applicants are Daughter and 2012 at Wellwood Court, Houston, U.S.A. Widower of deceased.104. POY/225/2016: MR. ADLLA MADHUSUDHAN 104. Mr. Gunamgari Prabhakar Reddy c/o REDDY – Late of Plot 10, Block 1, Oluyole, Eyitayo Adesuyi of Plot 1 & 2, Ring Road, Ibadan, who died on 1st February, Aleshinloye layout, Ibadan. Applicant 2016 at Hospital. is Nephew of deceased.105. POY/226/2016: ASAOLU ISAAC 105. Mr. Kayode Asaolu and Mr. Gbenga Late of Alagbafo Street, Odo-Ona Elewe, Asaolu c/o Gbenga Ojo Esq, Black & Orita, Ibadan, who died on 29th December, White Law firm, Oke Ado, Ibadan. 2015 at Ayo Hospital, Odion, Oke Ado, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.106. POY/227/2016: OBASANMI MUYIWA 106. Michael Obasanmi and Mary Obasanmi OLUWASEUN – Late of 51, Bosere Street, 51, Bosere Street, Ijaiye Ojokoro, Lagos Ijaiye Street, Ojokoro, Lagos, who died on Applicants are Children of deceased. 22nd August, 2015 at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja .107. POY/228/2016: BAMIDELE ASOGBON 107. Suzana Ebere Asogbon c/o Akin Akanbi Late of 29, Ore Ofe Street, Osunkunle Esq, Adeoye, Akanbi & Co, 87, Salvation Adeojo, Old Ife Road, Ibadan, who died on Army Road, Ekotedo, Ibadan. Applicant 23rd August, 2015 at Hospital. is the Widow of deceased.108. POY/229/2016: RAFIU ABODUNRIN 108. Miss Folasade Suibat Mustafa and Miss MUSTAFA – Late of No 8, Abayomi – Ige Bolanle Shakirat Mustafa c/o Olujimi Street, Eyin Grammar School, Molete, Falaye Esq, Fadele & Fadele, Bodija, Ibadan, who died on 24th November, 2015 at Ibadan. Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.109. POY/230/2016: EWEDEMI OMOTAYO 109. Mrs. Ewedemi Bisola Olamiposi and Mr ADEDIRAN – Late of House 11, Federal Adeoye Ademola Ewedemi c/o Olujimi Pay Office Quarters, Alalubosa, Ibadan, Falaye Esq, Fadele & Fadele, Bodija, who died on 26th October, 2015 at Ibadan. Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Son of deceased.110. POY/231/2016: MR. AMOS RAFIU 110. Mrs. Adeleke Dasola Abidemi, Kazeem Late of N1/275, Alekuso, Okutoro, Ibadan, Rafiu and Adegoke Adijat Temitope of who died on 23rd September, 2015 at N1/275, alekuso, Okutoro, Ibadan. Aderanti Clinic Maternity, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.111. POY/234/2016: MARGARET WURAOLA 111. Mr. Adegboyega Ogunwusi c/o His OGUNWUSI – Late of N5B/2457, solicitor, Kings Practice, 13, Alawode Jadesola Fadesere Street, Akobo, Bashorun, street, Mokola, Ibadan. Applicant is the Ibadan, who died on 24th April, 2012 at Son of deceased. U.C.H. Ibadan.112. POY/235/2016: MR. AKINTOLA BASHIRU 112. Mr. Nureni Akintola and Mr. Yussuf Late of 14, Onitire Street, Surulere, Lagos Akintola of N3/595, Inalende, Ibadan. State, who died on 30th January, 1996 at Applicants are Children of deceased. General Hospital, Lagos.113. POY/236/2016: OKEDIRAN SAMUEL 113. Okediran Peter Olujinmi and Igbekele ADEPOJU (A.K.A. OKEDIRAN SAMUEL) - Adeyemi Emmanuel c/o Niyi Ishola & Late of Aro Residence, Apara, Oyo, who Co, 14, Adifala Street, Bodlink-Mtn Office Area, died on 12th March, 2016 at Aro Residence Isale Ososami, off Ring Road, Ibadan. Oyo. Applicants are Son and Nephew of deceased.114. POY/237/2016: MRS. TERESA TITILAYO 114. Mrs. Adeyeye Funmilayo Biola and AKINOLA – Late of No. 3, Muritala Street, Oluwaseun Akinola of No. 3, Ogunsola Orogun, Ibadan, who died on 29th Street, Orogun, Ibadan and No. 3, October, 2014 at Ibadan. Muritala Street, Orogun, Ibadan respectively. Applicants are Children of deceased.115. POY/238/2016: PHILOMENA 115. Mr. Oyebolade Oyeniyi Sobowale and OLUWAFUNMILAYO SOBOWALE – Late of Mrs. Tolulope Adebutu (Nee Sobowale) 7, Olaneye Okuboyejo close, Aromolaran, c/o Prime Solicitors, No. 9, Ring Road, Off Old Ife Road, Ibadan, who died on Ibadan. Applicants are Children of 8th October, 2014 at Ibadan. deceased.116. POY/239/2016: AKANBI RAUFU SALAWU 116. Engr. Gbolagade Ibrahim Salawu and Late of NW5/158, Nalende, Omitowoju Mrs. Anifat Tanwa Salaudeen c/o their Street, Ibadan, who died on 6th January, solicitors, Agbonjator Emmanuel .A. 2015 at Home. Esq, the anchor legal consultants, 14, Suara sanusi street, Orita challenge, Ibadan. Applicants are children of deceased.117. POY/240/2016: DAUDA AJIFERUKE 117. Wasiu Ajiferuke and Titilope Ajiferuke Late of Sw5/7,Foko, Ibadan, who died on of Sw5/7, Foko, Ibadan. Applicants are 11th March, 2014 at Ijebu Ode. Children of deceased.118. POY/241/2016: ALHAJI AILERU ALAGBE 118. Yahaya Ayinla Taajo, Yaccubu Taajo, TAAJO - Late of Sw4/666B, Ile Akako, Oke Ahmeed Ademola Tajo and Olayiwola Foko,Ibadan, who died on 14th November, Abisola (Nee Latifat Tajo) of Sw4/666B 1999 at Home. Ile Akako, Oke Foko, Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.119. POY/254/2016: YESUFU ABASS 119. Alhaji Rafiu Abass and Alhaji Sule Abass Late of S1/339 Alesinloye compound, Isale- c/o their solicitor, P.A. Fakoya Esq, 57, Ijebu, Ibadan, who died on 23rd June, 1975 Awolowo Ave, Bodija Est, Ibadan. at Ibadan. Applicants are Children of deceased.

120. POY/269/2016: MR. KENNY OLADIMEJI 120. Bola Jokodola (Mrs) and Mr. JOKODOLA – Late of No. 1, Jokodola Mosebolatan Jokodola of No. 1, Street, Ologuneru, Eleyele, Ibadan, who Jokodola street, Ologuneru, Eleyele, died on 4th February, 2016 at University Ibadan. Applicants are Widow and Medical centre, Texas. Brother of deceased.

DATED THIS 9TH DAY OF MAY 2016.

36 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016 Nigerian Tribunenews

Seyi Makinde still in SDP —Party PRO

THE Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Oyo State has described as fallacy, the speculations that its guber-natorial candidate in the 2015 governorship election, Seyi Makinde, has left the party for the Peoples Dem-ocratic Party (PDP).

In a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the party in Oyo State, Alhaji Akeem Azeez, a copy of which was made avail-

A man, on Sunday night, yet to be identified, was crushed to death along MKO Abiola Way, Ring Road, Ibadan. An eye wit-ness told the Nigerian Tribune that the unfor-tunate incident occurred about 7:48p.m.

The deceased was said to have wanted to cross the road a few metres away from a popular night club, before Olusanya round-about when his attire got hooked to the articulated truck loaded with goods.

The middle-aged man, believed to be of Hausa ex-traction, was said to have been dragged by the trailer unknown to the driver for about 15 metres and died instantly on the spot af-ter the driver eventually stopped, close to the Olu-sanya roundabout.

Two Hausa men around claimed to have known the deceased.

The police officers around from Orita division were able to maintain peace af-ter the incident and they also ensured flow of traffic.

The mangled body of the deceased was later moved away in a police van from the Challenge Command at 8.37p.m.

Some of the sympathis-ers wept on seeing the dismembered body of the man whose identity could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report.

Four men believed to be among the Hausa natives around Dikkat-Ajeigbe junction helped in evacuat-ing the body into the police van.

able to the Nigerian Tri-bune on Monday, the party noted that Makinde was yet to have any discussion with the PDP be it at the national or state level.

“Mr Seyi Makinde is still a bona fide member of the So-cial Democratic Party (SDP) and as a matter of fact, a ma-jor financial member both at national and state levels. He is indeed the leader of the party in Oyo State.

“Makinde, who was our standard bearer in the 2015

governorship election in Oyo State, has committed his resources to the growth of the party before, during and after the April 11, 2015 governorship election.

“We, however, acknowl-edge the concern of party members, admirers and eminent citizens of Oyo State who have called to confirm the authenticity of the story. We, therefore, urge members of the public to disregard the rumour.” The statement said.

FORMER Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon and former Vice-Presi-dent Alex Ekwueme, and other eminent Nigerians, on Monday, in Lagos, fe-licitated with former in-terim Head of State, Chief Ernest Shonekan, who celebrated his 80th birth-day.

The former Heads of State and others were all in attendance at the thanksgiving service which took place at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos, in honour of Shon-ekan, who was born on May 9, 1936, and served as the Head of the Inter-im National Government between August 26, 1993 and November 17, 1993.

Gowon, who spoke brief-ly with reporters after the programme, congratulat-ed Shonekan at 80, urg-ing the youths to emulate the virtues of the elder statesman in order to be useful to the country.

Gowon, Ekwueme, others honour Shonekan at 80

Archbishop Okoh, in his sermon, said the church was pleased to associate with Shonekan because of his humility and legacies, even as he reeled out sev-eral achievements of the elder statesman.

Okoh said Shonekan de-served to be emulated for his contributions to the growth of the Anglican Church in the country.

He called on the former head of interim govern-ment to use his wealth of

experience to speak the truth to power, adding that at the age of 80, Shonekan had nothing to fear.

Speaking further, the Archbishop commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his anti-corrup-tion war, but warned that recent killings by herds-men could sabotage Bu-hari’s change agenda.

Former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Gbenga Daniel, also congratulated Chief Ernest Sonekan on

his 80th birthday anniver-sary, describing him as a man of history and one of the finest leaders ever pro-duced by the country.

Shonekan, who spoke shortly after the pro-gramme, thanked his friends and families who witnessed the programme, saying, “I thank God for his mercies on me, that I am alive to celebrate my 80th birthday today with fami-lies and friends. I’m highly elated.”

DOCTORS and consultants at the Federal Teach-ing Hospital,

Ido Ekiti, have raised the alarm over what they said was threat to their lives and petitioned the Inspec-tor General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, to protect them and provide a secure environment for them to work.

The medical personnel said they had to cry out fol-lowing the violent protests that had greeted the death of three of their colleagues in an auto crash on April 24 in Kaduna.

The doctors, under the aegis of Medical and Con-sultants’ Association of Ni-geria (MDCAN), at its ex-tra-ordinary meeting held on May 9, 2015, said they would not be comfortable in the hostile environment and declared that they could continue with their normal duties only if their

security was guaranteed.Two of the doctors in the

hospital, a Chief Surgeon, Dr Tunde Aladesanmi and Dr Alexander Akinyele of the Department of Com-munity Medicine had died in the accident.

Following the disaster which had claimed the lives of three other doctors from other hospitals in the state and their driver, FETHI workers embarked on a violent protest, and claimed that the death was mysterious and that the Chief Medical Director, Dr Lawrence Majekodunmi

Ayodele, must be removed from office.

The protests had raised tension in the hospital and created an atmosphere of rancour among the various categories of workers.

In a letter dated May 9, 2016 and signed by their General Secretary, Dr Ad-ewunmi Bakare, the doc-tors said some of their colleagues had been physi-cally assaulted due to the violent protests that had resulted after the death of their members.

“This is to inform you that the security situation

of our hospital is not con-ducive for our members to carry out their duty.

“It is worth mentioning that some of our colleagues have since been assaulted physically and some are re-ceiving anonymous threat calls, this has resulted in tactical withdrawal of ser-vice.

“We therefore request your command to provide adequate security within our hospital and its envi-ron so that our members can resume their lawful duty,” he said.

A communiqué issued

after its meeting and read by its branch chairman, Dr Timothy Olajide, la-mented that the violence that is rocking the hospi-tal is gradually eroding the legacy left behind by their departed members.

He added that the man-ners through which their colleagues were being pre-vented from duty could af-fect the patients adversely.

Olajide explained that no security was deployed in the hospital on Monday while some of the rooms were still under lock and key.

Oyo govt gives Temidire market traders ultimatum

THE Oyo State government on Monday, said it was set to commence the develop-ment of Temidire market, ordering all occupants of the market to immediately vacate or risk being force-fully ejected.

Special Adviser to Gov-ernor Abiola Ajimobi on Communications and Strat-egy, Mr Yomi Layinka, who sounded this warning, said the larger public interest of averting environmental problems, especially fire di-saster in the area, supersed-ed the interest of political interlopers and other self interest groups, who were bent on antagonising govern-ment policies.

He bemoaned that the state government had in 2013, asked the occupants of Temi-dire market to relocate to an alternative Fasade com-munity, on Ife Expressway, Ibadan, only for the traders, who initially left, to return to the Temidire site in 2015.

Similarly, Layinka hinted that traders in Temidire mar-ket had become illegal occu-pants, noting that the last lease agreement government signed with the market lead-ership was in 1976 and was at no time renewed.

Ekiti doctors cry out over insecurity, petition IGP

Ibadan North LG boss urges FG to prosecute killer-herdsmenIN order to checkmate the alleged attacks and kill-ings by herdsmen, the Fed-eral Government has been charged to enforce the rule of law and ensure that who-ever kills another must be treated as a murderer and should face the full wrath of the law.

The Caretaker Chair-man of Ibadan North Local Government, Honourable Yinka Akinbode, gave this charge in Ibadan, on Mon-day, in his goodwill mes-sage at the security summit organised by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ibadan North Local Government Divisional Command at the Conference Hall of the Council Secretariat.

According to him, there is punishment for every crime and for every violation, there is restitution.

In his words, “there are too many security challeng-es that stare us in the face in Nigeria today. They include terrorism as exemplified by the Boko Haram insur-gency in the northern part of Nigeria, armed-robbery, kidnapping, drug traffick-ing, arms smuggling, oil pipeline vandalising and militancy in the southern part of Nigeria.

Bola Badmus - Lagos

Trailer crushes man to death

By Nurudeen Alimi

By Wale Akinselure

From left, former head of Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan; his wife, Margaret, children and in-laws, at Shonekan’s 80th birthday thanksgiving service held at Christ Church Cathredal, Marina, on Monday. PHOTO: Sylvester Okoruwa.

Sam Nwaoko - Ado Ekiti

Herdsmen killings’ll sabotage Buhari’s change agenda —Anglican Primate

37 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016newsShi’ite expresses dismay over arrest of 2 minors, 18 others in Kebbi

THE Islamic Movement in Nigeria(IMN) has expressed its dismay

over the alleged continued detention of two minors and 18 members of the sect by the Kebbi State government in two months.

A statement issued to newsmen in Kaduna, and signed by its spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, disclosed that among those arrested were five women and two minors, whose names given

Troops clear more terrorists’ camp in Sambisa Forest

Arraign 34 Shiites accused of killing a soldier, judge insistsMuhammmad Sabiu -Kaduna

TROOPS of the 21 Brigade, 7 Division, have continued their offensive operations against the Boko Haram terrorists still hiding in the Sambisa Forest.

On Sunday, the troops cleared four villages in the terrorists’ enclaves which included Bala Karege, Gos-ke, Harda and the famous Markas 3.

The army, in a statement, noted that there was no en-counter with the terrorists in all the villages, as Boko Haram terrorists had aban-doned their huts and ran away.

The statement noted fur-ther that the troops, un-fortunately, ran into an ambush at Harda village, while advancing. It said the resilient troops successfully cleared the ambush without any casualty and proceeded with the operations.

“The formation recovered suicide vests and quite a number of high calibre weapons which include one Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) Bomb, 18 rounds of 23mm Shilka ammunition, one Barrel of AK-47 rifle, 1 Extra-barrel of General Pur-pose Machine Gun (GPMG), 3 AK-47 rifle magazines, metal link of 12.7mm am-munition and a heavy-duty solar panel battery.

“The troops also recovered 10 vehicles and 50 motor-cycles belonging to the fleeing terrorists.”

Also, the Nigerian Army on Monday cautioned media practitioners in the country against negative reports that would hamper the ongoing war against terrorism in the North East.

Army cautions media on negative reportsChris Agbambu -Abuja

as Nana Firdausi Usman, six-year-old and Siddiqa Aliyu, 13-year-old.

“As at Sunday, May 8, 2016 the Nigeria police ar-rested more than 20 mem-bers of the IMN living in Gwandu town of Kebbi State.”

The statement read in part: “It has come to our notice that the state gover-nor Atiku Bagudu is silently launching a sectarian mis-sion against Shi’ites and Islix Movement in the state.

“The Kebbi State gov-ernment, using the police,

has made several arrests in different parts of the state, thereby subjecting members of the IMN, who the government sees as Shi’ites, to outright intimi-dation and suppression.

“The first arrest was made on Friday, May 6, 2016, where 13 members of IMN were arrested by the DPO in Gwandu with one Bello Agro showing them whom to arrest.

“What is astonishing about this particular arrest is that the accused were not ar-rested inside a mosque hold-ing an educational session, rather they were arrested in their homes at Adarawa neighbourhood of Gwandu to justify the government’s sectarian cleansing agenda.

Meanwhile, Justice Ha-natu Balogun of the Kaduna High Court has said 34 per-sons involved in the alleged murder of a soldier must be produced in Court on July 20, 2016 so that she could take a decision on their mat-ter.

When the matter came up for hearing on Monday, the Prosecuting Counsel, Dari Bayero complained to the Judge, that the sure-ties to the 34 accused had refused to produce them in court, and therefore pleaded with the Court to decide on whether or not to withdraw the bail.

The case was then ad-journed till June 20, 2016.

Brigadier-General Victor Ezugwu, General Officer Commanding (GOC), 7 Divi-sion of the Nigerian Army, stated this while speaking with newsmen in Maidu-guri.

Ezugwu said the call be-came imperative because the media had a great role to play in the success of the anti-terror war.

“Nigeria must defeat Boko Haram; for us to be able to make progress, the media has a role to play in this,” he said.

BARELY two weeks after four criminal suspects were set on fire at various loca-tions in Warri, another an-gry mob, on Monday, burnt to death, a middle-aged criminal suspect in Warri, Delta State.

The deceased, identified as Emma Blue, was razed to death at the First Marine Gate junction, on Warri/Sapele Road, Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State.

The alleged criminal was said to have been picked up by the mob on Sunday night and held hostage till Mon-day before he was publicly “roasted.”

The incident caused heavy gridlock on the busy Warri/Sapele Road, while sym-pathisers watched with pity.

The suspect was described as a notorious criminal, al-ways marauding the area, preying on his victims.

A witness, who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune, said “Emma Blue is a noto-

Jungle justice: Mob sets criminal suspect ablaze in DeltaEbenezer Adurokiya -Warri rious criminal in this area;

he has been arrested several times and released by the police.

“This time around, he went to rob and was caught in the process.

‘’They should continue to burn them to serve as deter-rent to others,” he said.

Another witness said the reign of jungle justice on criminals in Warri would stamp out the menace of robbery in the city.

According to him, “set-ting criminals ablaze is good because people don’t have much confidence in police, when a criminal is arrested, before you know it, he is re-leased.

On April 24, no fewer than four suspects were burnt alive at strategic locations in Warri, by angry mob.

The Police Public Rela-tions Officer (PPRO), Delta State command, DSP Ce-lestina Kalu, could not con-firm the incident as of the time of filing this report, as she said she was yet to be briefed.

38 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016news

THE Federal Gov-ernment has di-rected the anti-corruption agency,

the Economic and Finan-cial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to commence full investigation into the al-leged misappropriation of Global Fund grants re-ceived by Nigeria between 2010 and 2014.

Minister of Health, Pro-fessor Isaac Adewole, who revealed this on Monday, said President Muhamma-du Buhari had ordered the investigation.

According to the minister, President Buhari gave the directive as part of govern-ment’s effort and commit-ment to fight corruption in the country.

The president had also di-rected the Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF) to review earlier au-dit reports from the Office

of Inspector General.To this end, the SGF had

set up two high-powered investigative panels to look into the affected pro-

THE Federal Government has vindicated the Senate Minority Leader and for-mer governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, over his decision to construct a world-class Specialist Hos-pital in the state, stressing that with the facilities at the Ibom Specialist Hospital, medical tourism would be-come a thing of the past.

It also promised that the government at the centre would partner the Akwa Ibom State government on the operation of the hospital.

The Minister of Health,

FG vindicates Akpabio over Ibom Specialist Hospital

Dariye still wanted in UK for money laundering, witness tells court

Professor Isaac Adewole, disclosed this in Uyo, while inspecting facilities at the Akwa Ibom State govern-ment’s owned Ibom Special-ist Hospital.

Professor Adewole noted that “with the facilities at Ibom Specialist Hospital, medical tourism abroad can be reversed.”

According to the former vice chancellor of the Uni-versity of Ibadan, “visiting the hospital complex today is an eye opener and as far as I know, there is no such complex like this anywhere

in Nigeria.”He declared that “with the

proposed partnership, no Nigerian will be allowed to go abroad for treatment on government sponsorship from January 2017.

“We will partner to make sure that it works and revers-es medical tourism. People from Ghana and Togo can come to Nigeria for medical treatment.

“We will start using this facility and with these facili-ties, no Nigerian will be al-lowed to go abroad for treat-ment,” he stressed.

He warned medical doc-tors to desist from running a syndicate of sending peo-ple abroad for treatment for pecuniary interest, not-ing that individuals could go abroad on their own ex-penses if they so wish, but not on government spon-sorship.

Meanwhile, the Akwa Ibom Professional Forum (AKIP-ROF) has called on those who accused former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, of not doing any-thing in the state, particularly in the health sector, to tender

From left, member, House of Representatives, Honourable Yakub Balogun; Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Boboye Oyeyemi and the chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator Tijani Kaura, during a stakeholders’ forum on tyres, in Abuja, on Monday. PHOTO: SUNDAY OSUNRAYI

grammes and the financial transactions.

The first panel, headed by Professor Adewole, will conduct indepth review

of all programmes, while the second panel, chaired by Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr Samuel Ukura, will review all finan-

cial transactions during the period.

The two committees are expected to submit their re-ports within four weeks.

Alleged misappropriation: Buhari directs full investigation into global fund grants

“Mr President assured members of the interna-tional community that all funds received by Nigeria would be well utilised and accounted for under his watch to avoid national embarrassment,” the SGF said.

He further said that all indicted officials would be given fair hearing and those found guilty would be sanc-tioned, to serve as deterrent to others.

Clement Idoko - AbujA

SundAy ejIke - AbujA

THE Federal Government has issued fresh ban on the importation of used tyres, otherwise known as Tokunbo tyres, with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) threatening to prosecute dealers in the fake and substandard tyres in the country.

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) had ac-cordingly commenced na-tionwide clampdown on vehicles with expired and substandard tyres.

Acting Director-General of SON, Dr Paul Angya, speaking at a stakeholders’ forum on tyres on Monday, in Abuja, which was or-ganised by the FRSC, said many lives had been lost to

FRSC begins clampdown on vehicles with expired, substandard tyresthe use of Tokunbo tyres in the country.

Secretary to the Govern-ment of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal, who reinforced the position of the government, said as a responsible government, the current administration could not continue to toler-ate senseless loss of lives

JUSTICE Adebukola Ban-joko of the High Court of the Federal Capital Ter-ritory (FCT), sitting in Gudu, said on Monday that the former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, is still wanted in the United Kingdom (UK)

and property of the citizenry on the roads through use of tyres which were either fake, expired or non-conducive for our environment.

Represented by the Per-manent Secretary, Special Duties in his office, Mrs Philliz Nwokedi, the SGF pledged to give the FRSC necessary support to make

over his alleged involve-ment in money launder-ing.

A ninth witness of the Economic and Finan-cial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecuting the former governor, who is now a senator represent-ing Plateau Central Sena-torial District at the Na-

Nigerian roads safe for all citizens.

He called on tyre manu-facturing companies which relocated from Nigeria over the years due to harsh economic environment in the country at the time, to return and reinvest in the country, saying things were changing for better.

tional Assembly, Mr Peter Clark, a retired detective with the Metropolitan Po-lice Service (MPS), told the court that 11,560 pounds was traced to Dariye.

He told the court that a warrant of arrest that was issued against Dariye, after he jumped bail in London and ran back to

Corps Marshal and the Chief Executive of FRSC, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, had in a remark, disclosed that he had already ordered his officers and men to com-mence nationwide clamp-down on all vehicles with expired and substandard tyres effective from Mon-day.

Nigeria to escape being prosecuted, was still valid.

Clark, who led a team of Met police officers who arrested Dariye on Sep-tember 28, 2004, gave the court a vivid account how his team arrested Dariye and his personal assistant, Christabel Bentu, in a ho-tel in London.

From SojI-eze FAgbemI And SAde oguntolA

yInkA olAdoyInbo-lokojA

Bello signs N99.9bn budget into law

THE Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, on Monday, signed the 2016 state appropriation bill of N99.9 Billion into law.

The governor, who as-sented to the bill at the Lugard House, Lokoja, de-scribed it as a budget of chLizard.

He said, following the drop in the state’s share from the federation alloca-tion, government had em-powered the state Board of Internal Revenue (BIR) to raise the IGR of the state to complement federation’s allocation.

He, however, stated that government would ensure full implementation of the budget. This, he said, had made government to con-stitute implementation monitoring committee to ensure seamless imple-mentation.

The governor, who said his government would be fair and transparent in the management of the state’s resources, commended the state House of Assembly for ensuring that the budget was passed into law, even in the face of unnecessary distraction.

The governor said: “We will be guided strictly by the content of the budget,” say-ing with the federal alloca-tion, the state would strive hard to increase the inter-nally generated revenue (IGR), not only by 100 per cent, but far above that,” he noted.

The governor noted that he blocked all the loop-holes, saying the state gov-ernment would prioritise and set a budget monitor-ing committee.

“We shall also be guided by principle, transparency and accountability,” the governor stressed.

a public apology and pray for forgiveness from God and the people for their campaign of falsehood and hatred against the Senate Minority Leader.

This was contained in a statement issued by the group and signed by its na-tional president, Pastor Odu-du Udofia.

“Those who have been en-couraging and spreading lies and total falsehood on the in-comparable achievements of the former governor should seek forgiveness from God and man or bury their heads in shame,” he said.

From left, Pastor (Mrs) Oyindamola Adebajo, Reverend Emmanuel Sesan Adebajo and Mrs Toun Onasile.

From left, Pastor Z. Olu Odugbose, Pastor R.A. Akanji, Pastor J.A. Adegoke and Pastor E.A. Folorunso.

Funke Awolowo (left), Mrs Kemi Aderemi and Master Iyanuoluwa Anifowose.

Chief S.A. Odubona (right) with Mrs Bose Ayankoya.

Chief Elijah O. Akinbode (left) with Prince Tola Sotinwa.

39 Tuesday, 10 May, 2016 Nigerian Tribune

Chief Bola Doherty (left) and Mrs Tokunbo Ogundipe.

From left, Professor Akin Osibogun, Mr Biodun Olugbenga and Professor Femi Ajayi.

Reverend (Mrs) Oyediran (left) with Princess (Mrs) Bisi Sangodoyin.

Sir Chief Simeon Oguntimehin, Olori Yemisi Onakade and Ambassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu.

Chief Kola Ogunjobi and his wife, Chief (Mrs) Jumoke Ogunjobi.

29TH MEMORIAL ANNIVERSARY AND PATRONAL DAY OF CHIEF OBAFEMI AWOLOWOPHOTOS: TOMMY ADEGBITE & D’TOYIN

NO 16,497

SIDELINES

Printed and Published by the African Newspapers of Nigeria PLC, Imalefalafia Street, Oke-Ado, Ibadan. E mail: editornigeriantribune@yahoo.com Website: www.tribuneonlineng.com MANAGING DIRECTOR / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: EDWARD DICKSON. EDITOR: DEBO ABDULAI. All Correspondence to P.O. Box 78, Ibadan. ISSN 2712. Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation. 10/5/2016. ABC

N150

THE Confederation of African Football (CAF), has fined Nigeria $5000,

about N1 million for the overcrowding and poor security at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna on March 25 when the Super Eagles hosted the Pharaohs of Egypt.

The 16,000-capacity stadium was over crowd-ed, with spectators almost reaching the playing area after the Kaduna State government threw gates open in order to ensure there was adequate sup-port for the Eagles, but the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

According to a state-ment released on the CAF website on Monday, the decision was one of many actions taken during its disciplinary board meet-ing held on April 18.

The Egyptian federation was equally fined $5000 over incidents during the return leg.

Egyptian fans were ac-cused of excessive use of lasers in Alexandria where Ramadan Sobhy’s 65th minute goal handed the Pharaohs maximum points to end the Super Eagles’ dream of reaching Gabon 2017.

CAF also sanctioned Etoile du Sahel for use of foul language towards the referee in their CAF Champions League game against Enyimba.

Coach Faouzi Benzarti and Ahmed Akaichi were also suspended for offen-sive language and insults towards the referee in the first leg in Port Harcourt against the People's El-ephants.

Both will serve a four-match ban which will be in the CAF Confederation Cup, while Etoile du Sahel will also pay $5000 fine.

However, the reports of violent behaviours and mistreatment allegation levelled against the Tuni-

CAF fines Nigeria for overcrowding in Kaduna

sian side in the second leg of the encounter have not been attended to by CAF.

Meanwhile, Nasarawa United’s first round oppo-nent, Generation Foot FC

were also fined $5000 for throwing missiles into the pitch which enabled Nige-rian outfit to progress after ending the game in a goal-less draw.

TUESDAY, 10 MAY, 2016

EMBATTLED Michel Plat-ini is to resign as UEFA president following the Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision not to overturn his ban from football activity.

Platini did have his ban - which was related

to a $2 million (£1.3m) disloyal payment made by then FIFA chief, Sepp Blat-ter in 2011 - reduced from six years to four by CAS' three-man appeal panel.

CAS also reduced his fine from CHF 80,000 (€70,000) to CHF 60,000

(€55,000), but main-tained he was right to be punished and had taken into account "the absence of any repentance" and the impact of the saga on FIFA's reputation.

Platini, who denies any wrongdoing, said prior

to Friday's ruling, he was optimistic of having his punishment annulled and a statement released by his lawyers stated he was "deeply disappoint-ed" by the "injustice" of the decision and is now ready to resign.

Platini to quit as UEFA boss

NIGERIAN international, John Obi Mikel, was full of regrets after Chelsea lost 2-3 to Sunderland last weekend.

The Blues were leading 2-1 going into half time, before they bungled the lead and ended leaving the Stadium of Light with no point.

Fabio Borini first restored parity in the 67th min-ute for Sunderland before Jermain Defoe netted the match winner three min-utes later to brighten the Black Cats' hope of retain-ing their premiership sta-tus next season.

“We started the game well and for the first 30 to 35 minutes we had control

and we were playing well,” Mikel who started 18 times in the top flight this season told chelseafc.com.

“We were creating chanc-es, moving the ball quickly and players wanted to get involved.

“In the second half we came out and we wanted to carry on where we left off, but we didn’t kill the game when we had the chances to do it.”

Meanwhile, in the event that Liverpool wins the Europa League, it is con-firmed that Chelsea has lost the chance to qualify for the competition next season, with 11 points gap from West Ham United who is seventh on the table.

LIVERPOOL winger, Sheyi Ojo has insisted he still has a lot to learn and will not be carried away by the praise from manager, Jurgen Klopp.

Klopp described the Nige-rian-born Ojo as “wonder-ful” after the 2-0 home win over Watford last Sunday at Anfield.

The 19-year-old winger has sparingly featured for the Reds this season, but has impressed in the 11

games he has played for the Liverpool first team this season.

However, he has insisted he still has to improve.

“Even if I were to play amazingly, there are always more things I could still do. I can always play better,” he told the Liverpool website.

“Whenever I reflect on games, I'm always trying to improve and trying to fig-ure out what I can do more for the next game to come.”

The youngster went on to state that playing for Liver-pool has been good for him, adding that he will keep do-ing well if he keeps getting the opportunities.

“Obviously to play for such a big club like Liverpool at my age is very good and I'm grateful for how things have gone,” he said.

“I've always believed that if I was given the opportunity then I would be able to play at this level and to play well."

I'm still learning at Liverpool—Sheyi Ojo

Mikel rues loss to Sunderland

Mikel

Platini

Ojo (left) on duty for Liverpool

The Lagos State council of the National Union of Road Transport Work-ers (NURTW), has introduced a code of conduct to guide the activities of its members from being involved in shady or illegal deals. A good one. But how will they be able to stop their members from taking 'paraga' hot drinks which some of them claim keep them awake on wheels?