Human traffickers earn over $150bn annually —ILO

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

AS the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, steps up its campaign against human trafficking and other forms of forced labour including child labour in Nigeria, human trafficking and other forms of forced labour have been on the increase globally because of huge profit being generated.

According to the International Labour Organisation, ILO, not less than $150 billion profits are earned annually by traffickers across the globe.

ILO, in its report lamented that an estimated 21 million victims are trapped in modern-day slavery with 14.2 million (68%) exploited for Labour, 4.5 million (22%) sexually exploited, and 2.2 million (10%) exploited in state-imposed forced labour.

ILO explained that Forced Labour  takes place in many different industries stating that out of the 14.2 million trafficking victims exploited for Labour; 7.1 million (50%) forced Labour victims work in construction, manufacturing, mining, or utilities; 3.4 million (24%) forced labour victims are domestic workers; while 3.5 million (25%) forced labour victims work in agriculture.

It noted that 55% of trafficking victims around the world are women and girls and 45% are men and boys; 15.4 million victims (74%) are aged 18 or older, with the number of children under the age of 18 estimated at 5.5 million (26%).

According to the report, the Asia-pacific region accounts for the largest number of forced laborers with 11.7 million (56% of the global figure).

Africa has 3.7 million (18%) followed by Latin America and the Caribbean with 1.8 million (9%).

Countries in central, south-eastern and eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States have 1.6 million (7%). The Developed Economies and European Union account for 1.5 million (7%).

There are an estimated 600,000 (3%) victims in the Middle East.

Human trafficking does not always involve travel to the destination of exploitation:   9.1 million victims of forced labour (44%) moved either internally or internationally, while the majority, 11.8 million (56%), were subjected to forced labor within their place of origin.

Victims spend an average of 18 months in forced labour, although this varied with different forms of forced labour.

Human trafficking earns profits of roughly $150 billion a year for traffickers, according to the ILO.

The breakdown of the profits by sector shows   $99 billion from commercial sexual exploitation, $34 billion in construction, manufacturing, mining and utilities, $9 billion in agriculture, including forestry and fishing, just as $8 billion dollars is saved annually by private households that employ domestic workers under conditions of forced labor.

While only 22% of victims are trafficked for sex, sexual exploitation earns 66% of the global profits of human trafficking.

The average annual profits generated by each woman in forced sexual servitude ($100,000) is estimated to be six times more than the average profits generated by each trafficking victim worldwide ( $21,800), according to the Organization for Security and Co  operation in Europe, OSCE.

OSCE studies show that sexual exploitation can yield a return on investment ranging from 100% to 1,000%, while an enslaved laborer can produce more than 50% profit even in less profitable markets (e.g., agricultural labor in India).

In the Netherlands, investigators were able to calculate the profit generated by two sex traffickers from a number of victims. One trafficker earned $18,148 per month from four victims (for a total of $127,036) while the second trafficker earned $295,786 in the 14 months that three women were sexually exploited according to the OSCE.

It will be recalled that ahead of June 11, World Day Against Child Labour, 2017, ILO disclosed that there were over 168 million children in child labour across the globe, including Nigeria, lamenting that 85 million of them are engaged in hazardous work.

ILO however, said it is working closely with its government and employers’ and workers’ constituents, as well as with other international organizations, civil society and the media to support children affected by child labour in conflicts and disasters.

Speaking at the just concluded 106th session of the International Labour Conference, ILC,in Geneva, Switzerland,   Director-General of ILO, Mr. Guy Ryder expressed regret that the world was today facing the greatest refugee crisis for decades because of countries affected by conflict and disaster, even as homes and schools had been destroyed.

He explained that ILO was emphasizing the plight of children caught up in conflicts and disasters, and who were at particular risk of child labour.

According   to him: “Many families lose their means to earn a living. Family and social protection systems break down and increase the risk of child labour. Child refugees and migrants, particularly those on the move who are separated from their families, are especially vulnerable and can easily fall prey to trafficking and child labour.

Those who stay – or are left – behind are especially vulnerable to the worst forms of child labour, including in mining or scavenging for metal and minerals in war-torn areas, clearing rubble, or working in the streets.

In the most extreme cases, children find themselves as combatants fighting adult wars. Others are used by armed forces or groups as spies, helpers and porters – or become victims of sexual exploitation and abuse. All children have the right to be protected from child labour. Yet, around the world, there are still 168 million children in child labour. Eighty-five million of them are engaged in hazardous work.

Few days ago, NAPTIP said it had arrested a 45-year-old woman, Rhoda, alias Mama Bobo, for her alleged involvement in the trafficking of young girls from Benin to Europe.

NAPTIP Head of Press and Public Relations, Mr. Josiah Emerole, said in a statement in Abuja that the operatives of the agency in Benin Zonal Command arrested the suspect in an early morning operation on Tuesday.

Emerole explained that Omorogie, a nurse by profession and an indigene of Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State, was nabbed by the operatives at 5a.m. at her 65 Osayande Street, off Upper Sakponda Road residence in Benin, the state capital.

He said the suspected trafficker had been in hiding since June 16, following the arrest of one of her gang members, one Monday, by NAPTIP operatives that rescued three of the victims.

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Badoo: Another suspect set ablaze in Ikorodu

•Act now, residents tell Ambode, security agents
By Our Reporter
IN spite the declaration of traditional rituals by Ikorodu chiefs and traditionalists, to halt the activities of the killer gang, Badoo, the gang yesterday, stormed the Jumofak area of Igbo-Oluwo, Ikorodu at about 1am. But this time, the gang of three ran out of luck as local vigilance team arrived the scene as they were trying to break into one apartment near a gas station in the area.

The vigilance team however apprehended one of the suspects while the other two took to their heels.

Eye witnesses’ account said the trio were naked and rubbed their bodies with engine oil but it could not be ascertained if they were in possession of objects like hammers, white handkerchiefs and grinding stones which the gang was noted for.

A resident, Fatai Odulana told Saturday Vanguard that some of the residents kept vigils and raised the alarm as soon as strange movements were noticed in their area.

He stated that rather than alerting the Police, the local vigilance team was invited to the scene which chased the suspects and apprehended one of them.

It was gathered that the suspect was detained till about 6am while the vigilance team and other residents interrogated him.

A team of armed Policemen later got wind of the situation and arrived the scene, but the residents prevented the Policemen from taking away the suspect believing that the police would later relese the suspect. It was gathered that the mob later set the suspect ablaz Yesterday’s attack was the third within one week.

Over one hundred of people have been killed in their sleep leaving the Police and government clueless as nothing has been done so far to stop the trend. Resident said the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode led government has also not been proactive on the issue, adding that traditional rulers have also watch helplessly as the once noble area slip into a ritualists den.

Lagos will soon be flood-free —Ambode

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode yesterday launched the new environmental man-agement policy encaps-ulated in the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), expressing optimism that the development would drive the State to the desired future of achieving clean, hygienic and flood-free environment.

Speaking at the soft launch of the CLI held at Agege Stadium, Governor Ambode said the initiative was an enduring solution carefully designed to address the shortcomings in the management of the environment, as well as accelerate seamless cleaning of the State.

The Governor, who was represented by the State’s Deputy Governor, Mrs Idiat Adebule, said since the inception of his administration, sanitation had been given priority as it was important for maintaining a secure and more prosperous State.

While recalling the signing of the Environmental Management Protection Law which he performed in March 2017, Governor Ambode said deliberate reforms to revolutionize the solid waste management sector in line with international best practice have been put in place through the CLI, and urged the people to support government in its bid to transform the sector.

He said: “To roll back sanitation shortcomings and accelerate seamless cleaning of our environment, the Lagos megacity was in dire need of an enduring solution that would match the needed technology with the massive investment required for its attainment.

“It is this void that the CLI has come to fill by creating an environment for the private sector to harness international best practice in the vital area of solid waste management and consequently free public funds for other beneficial uses.

“As a result, residential waste collection and processing which is concessioned to a reputable and competent multinational Waste Services Company is being given a new lease of life with 600 brand new compactors and 900,000 electronically tracked bins, while wastes generated by the commercial sector would be handled by licensed waste management operators (PSP).”

Governor Ambode added that for efficient collection and disposal operations, the State Government has also concessioned three Transfer Loading Stations/Material Recovery Facilities at Agege, Oshodi and Simpson and three Waste Depots at Mushin, Ogudu and Simpson with the aim of rehabilitating and retrofitting the facilities to world class standard, while Engineered Sanitary and Engineered Hazardous Landfills were being constructed in different locations across the State under Build,
Finance, Operate and Transfer (BFOT) model.

“This is what the CLI represents as it aims to revitalize the entire solid waste management sector to have far-reaching benefits and multiplier effects for the State in particular, and the country at large. The new initiative will usher in new financially viable and technologically driven sub-sector to the Lagos economy, creating new business and job opportunities, including over 40,000 direct and indirect jobs with high poverty alleviation emphasis to serve as a model for the entire country,” the Governor said.

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Lionel Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo's wedding takes over social media

Former Barcelona greats Carles Puyol, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas and others have all arrived in Argentina for Lionel Messi's wedding. Lionel Messi's wedding with childhood sweetheart and mother to his children Antonella Roccuzzo was a global event, and of course we're here to give you some of the very best images from their special day. Puyol, Busquets, Alba, Xavi, Eto'o and Fabregas arrive in Argentina with their respective partners: Hola Argentina. #amics #somunequip A post shared by Carles Puyol (@carles5puyol) on Jun 29, 2017 at 8:58am PDT Alba, Pinto and Busquets play cards ahead of the wedding: Una partidita...

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Late OJB Jezreel resurrects in Etnik’s “Questionable” Collabo

By Ayo Onikoyi

Red-hot  dance-hall  act, Etnik, just released a massive chart  buster single titled “The Question”. The hardcore ragga and reggae revelation featured late Nigerian music icon and production legend, OJB Jezreel.

“The Question” has been generating a lot of talkability as fans and music enthusiasts have been wondering how and when the song was recorded. It is said to be one of the last collaborations the “Searching” and “Pretete” exponent did before he passed away.

Etnik is a dancehall artiste while OJB was an R&B singer and fans ovf both acts have been enjoying the fusion of both talents and genres.

The Question reaffirmed OJB’s skills as a production wizard as he produced and featured in the song. The song also reveals the talent the gifted singer has and leaves teeming fans emotionally touched by his sonorous voice, making them miss him even more.

“The Question” and other songs from Etnik can be downloaded on the MTN network by sending the following codes to 4100: “The Question” – 1032682;  “Diva Demon”  – 1032683  and “Follow Follow” – 1032684.

The songs are scheduled to be on other mobile networks, online platforms, apps as well.

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Lionel Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo's wedding takes over social media

Former Barcelona greats Carles Puyol, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas and others have all arrived in Argentina for Lionel Messi's wedding. Lionel Messi's wedding with childhood sweetheart and mother to his children Antonella Roccuzzo was a global event, and of course we're here to give you some of the very best images from their special day. Puyol, Busquets, Alba, Xavi, Eto'o and Fabregas arrive in Argentina with their respective partners: Hola Argentina. #amics #somunequip A post shared by Carles Puyol (@carles5puyol) on Jun 29, 2017 at 8:58am PDT Alba, Pinto and Busquets play cards ahead of the wedding: Una partidita...

Filmmakers to start earning royalties soon, as AVRS holds AGM

By Ayo Onikoyi

Filmmakers will begin to enjoy dividends from their works, like their counterparts in the music sector. Chairman of   Audio-Visual Rights Society (AVRS) of Nigeria,  Mr. Bond Emeruwa made the disclosure during  the second Annual General Meeting of the society  which held at the NAN Hall, National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, penultimate Wednesday.

Emeruwa who urged members to exercise more patience, promised that distribution of royalties accrued to them will commence in about six months time.The AVRS Chief reiterated that the society was only licensed as a Collective Management Organisation (CMO) about three years ago, and will soon start collecting money from users of their works.

According to him, “Setting up a Collective Management Organisation (CMO) anywhere in the world requires passing through seminal procedures during which careful steps and essential decisions are made for seamless operation afterwards.

It is even more peculiar in the case of AVRS as we are one of the very few Audio-Visual Copyright management organisations in the world.   What this means is that there is little or no precedence to follow. We have had to invent the wheel every step of the way. The existing copyright laws in some cases have also made it a little difficult for us to move forward at the desired pace. These are being worked out with the assistance of the Nigerian Copyright Commission and will soon be resolved,” he assured.

One of the high points of the event was the introduction of the new management staff of AVRS, led by the General Manager/CEO, Mrs. Olubunmi Fawole. Others on the team include Mrs. Bukola Adeyemi (Accountant), Samuel Osaze (Licensing Officer), Barrister Temilade Akinwolere (Licensing Officer), Elizabeth Idoko (Front Desk) and Godwin Okafor (Driver).

Other AVRS board members at the event include, former Chairman, Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Prince Jide Kosoko, Aina Kushoro, Chief Paddie Okao, Fidelis Duker, Tony Anih, Okey Ogunjiofor, Paul Okoli, and Nobert Ajaegbu.

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How Emeka and Nkechi got baby of their dreams

By Sola Ogundipe

Emeka and Nkechi had dreamt of becoming parents long before they were married. She expected he would be a wonderful father because he was so patient and devoted; and he also was certain she would be a great mother because she was caring and loving.

Soon after they signed on the dotted lines, the couple got down to the business of starting a family. Nkechi was a health buff. She ate well, slept well, exercised well and felt as perfectly healthy as could be possible. She checked her weight carefully to be just at the right weight. She was ready.

The week before their wedding, Nkechi’s elder sister, Chioma, who got married a year earlier, had given birth to an adorable baby girl, and Nkechi prayed she was going to get pregnant as fast as her sister. However, that soon turned out to be an unlikely wish.

Emeka who was equally expectant and excited about the prospects of becoming a father, soon got really anxious when this expectation did not materialize. It never crossed their minds that becoming parents or even becoming pregnant in the first place, would be a problem.

As the months rolled by, she found herself begrudgingly throwing away unsuccessful pregnancy tests.  After each disappointment, her worries slowly grew. Each month offered new hope, but the fear of it ending in disappointment grew stronger.

A year passed and still nothing to show. They consulted doctors who assured that nothing was wrong other than anxiety on their part. The doctors explained that about half of all married couples do not achieve pregnancy in the first year of marriage. Just try to relax, they were advised.

Nkechi was not in a panic, but she was worried. She envied her sister, Chioma, who got pregnant barely a month after marriage. Why hadn’t she got pregnant as fast as her sister? Chioma was four years older, but not as dedicated to her health as her younger sister.

She ate too much, exercised too little, drank alcohol and was overweight. Chioma didn’t have anything close to her sister’s near-perfect, yet she had no problem getting pregnant when she wanted.

All these developments worried Nkechi, but she kept hoping that the delay would soon be over. Time passed quickly and their wedding anniversary arrived. But the occasion held no special meaning, on the contrary, it depressed her.

Chioma threw a big party to mark her daughter’s first birthday. It was like a baby shower and friends and colleague brought their babies and young children. Although Nkechi attended the party, rather than lift her spirits, it further depressed her.

Another year passed as they went from one doctor to another. Each doctor had a different diagnosis—but the bottom line was that something was wrong with either or both of them. More tests, examinations and complicated procedures followed. They were becoming impatient.

They had been married five years when they seriously began the first round of assisted reproductive health treatments. The treatments begin with a simple injection in the arm, but gradually grew to be expensive, emotionally grueling and physically overwhelming. As the days progressed and nothing happened, enthusiasm waned.

Nkechi held in her heart the quiet confidence that she would do anything to have her own child. The months passed and she remained on her normal menstrual cycle, which only served as a reminder of her struggles. Every period that she had was more discouraging than the one before it.

Like so many couples, over the next three years they remained hopeful even if discouraged after each failed test. Desperately wanting to be parents, they tried the next round of fertility treatments but soon gave up because it turned their sex life into planned events and led to one surgery after another. Two years later, still nothing, but they were undaunted in their bid to become parents.

One day, everything changed for Nkechi. She was having her quiet time in church wondering if perhaps God didn’t plan for them to be parents, when her monologue was interrupted by a small child who was pushing on her knee and trying to squeeze in between her legs. Behind was the child’s mother who apologised and explained that the child loved to be chased down the aisle.

Nkechi listened as the woman, who introduced herself as Onyinye, explained that she was about to become a mother again. With a sudden pang of sadness, an unusual feeling she had come to know, she felt happiness for Onyinye, but it was mixed with hopelessness and envy because of how desperately she wanted to become a mother herself.

“How far along are you?” She asked. But Onyinye answered with a laugh that she was not pregnant. “My husband and I weren’t able to have children on our own. We have been working with a surrogate mother who chose us to adopt her baby boy. She is due next month and we just can’t wait for the baby to arrive.”

Nkechi was stunned. Adoption? She had never thought about adoption! Over the next hour, she had an inspiring conversation with the other woman about adoption, who shared how she and her husband adopted the first child and had planned to adopt another.  She explained how she wished they had learned about adoption far sooner than they did.

Nkechi couldn’t wait to get home and share the wonderful news with her husband. On that day and at that moment, her heart raced with optimism—a feeling she had lost long ago. As she got home, she rushed through the front door and embraced Emeka with the biggest bear hug she could muster.

Emeka was surprised; bear hugs after church were not the normal way his wife greeted him. He could feel her heavy breathing, and when he turned around and looked into her eyes, noticed something was entirely different about her.

He noticed she had the same look in her eyes, the same hope he saw years ago, when he proposed marriage and she accepted. He asked what was going on, and Nkechi’s hopeful words filled the room.

Emeka’s excitement instantaneously equaled hers, and the couple immediately began calling as many adoption agencies that they could find. But they had to wait a while before really beginning their journey to becoming parents.

Today, Emeka and Nkechi are proud parents of an adopted child. The happy couple openly shares the adoption story and it’s clear to everyone that the child is the centrepiece of their lives. Knowing how much it took for them to become parents and their difficult journey makes being parents all the more appreciated.

They have accepted that their problems with infertility were a blessing in disguise and that perhaps without those struggles, they probably wouldn’t have the child that they have grown to love more than they could ever imagine.

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Govt empowers Nollywood with N420m

THE Federal Government says it has released N420.2 million to the Nigeria film industry popularly known as Nollywood to improve and support aspiring film makers.

According to a statement issued by the Deputy Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Finance, Patricia Deworitshe, on Friday in Abuja, the money, which is the second payment to the sector, will help 105 film distributors. It would be recalled that the past administration had earlier introduced the “Project Act Nollywood”, with three primary components aimed at developing the movie industry.

The components are the Film Production Fund (FPF), Capacity Building Fund (CBF) and Innovative Distribution Fund (IDF).

The FPF and CBF have been fully implemented, while the IDF, which is the third component of the project, is on-going. The IDF covers online, National, Regional and community categories of Nollywood Film distribution and exhibition. The objectives of IDF are to improve the distribution network of Nigerian Audio-Visual contents, cut down on piracy, create jobs, and protect Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) within the Nigerian Entertainment Industry.

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St Finbarr’s, Queens College win GTBank Masters Cup

Saint Finbarr’s College Bariga and Queens College Yaba have emerged the male and female champions of the 2017 GTBank Masters Cup. The final matches were decided at the Onikan Stadium, Lagos Thursday where the two schools triumphed over their challengers in a classical manner.

In the female final, which preceded the boys’, Queens College put everything to play when they trounced Ansar-Ud-Deen Girls High School, Itire 2-0 in an exciting match that attracted a near capacity crowd which was dominated by students from various schools. The first half ended 1-0 in favour of Queens College.

The second half began in a frenzy as the victors continued from where they stopped in the first stanza with waves of attack that resulted in the second goal.

I the boys’ final, St Finbarr’s saw off Anwar-Ul-Islam College 2-1 in a hard-fought encounter that kept the capacity crowd on the edges of their seats throughout.  With their vociferous fans cheering from the stands, St Finbarr’s were able to overwhelm their less-fancied opponents  with two clinical goals that gave them the crown.

Established in 2012, the GTBank Masters Cup is an annual football competition for first generation and private secondary schools in Lagos State geared towards the development of grassroots football, the discovery of young soccer talents, and fostering camaraderie amongst competing schools.

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Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo's wedding takes over social media

Former Barcelona greats Carles Puyol, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas and others have all arrived in Argentina for Lionel Messi's wedding. Lionel Messi's wedding with childhood sweetheart and mother to his children Antonela Roccuzzo was a global event, and of course we're here to give you some of the very best images from their special day. Puyol, Busquets, Alba, Xavi, Eto'o and Fabregas arrive in Argentina with their respective partners: Hola Argentina. #amics #somunequip A post shared by Carles Puyol (@carles5puyol) on Jun 29, 2017 at 8:58am PDT Alba, Pinto and Busquets play cards ahead of the wedding: Una partidita...

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Oil bear market amid pyrrhic victories

By Sony Atumah

The global crude oil market witnessed another fall in the price of the West Texas Intermediate, WTI from a cliff in the mid-fifties down the low forties. OPEC and non-OPEC members cut production by 1.8 million barrels per day to stabilize prices in their November 2016 meeting in the OPEC headquarters Vienna. The production cut led to a temporary rally in crude prices up to US$55 in January with hopes that it would rebalance supply and demand.

The price of the WTI crude last Thursday appreciated marginally to US$45.10; below expectations thus discounting the OPEC and non-OPEC cuts. Experts have described what has happened to oil prices since February 2017 as the worst half recorded in 20 years. Analysts doubt whether the nine-month extension till March 2018 would shore up prices or reduce oversupply. The statistics show that prices went down 22 percent in the first half of this year thus indicating a bear market.

Although the United States Energy Information Administration, EIA gave a lean inventory build of crude oil last Wednesday against the American Petroleum Institute, API figure the previous day, it is obvious that the American shale production increased global oil inventories arithmetically far and above the OPEC oil freeze volumes thus contributing to low crude prices being experienced.

Erroneously many have been made to believe that the exempt in production cut of two OPEC members, Nigeria and Libya (due to internal crises) contributed significantly to OPEC’s inability to achieve desired result of higher crude prices and low inventory. Agreed Libya added 935,000 barrels this week up from 885,000 barrels the previous week coupled with a projection that Nigeria’s production would raise by 62,000 barrels per day in August. These countries and noncompliant Iraq pump more to the market.

But the sentiments and emotions started in the seesaw between the shale producers and OPEC members showdown which ran riot in the harmful tumble in crude prices in July 2014. This has caused price to oscillate between US$40 and US$60 per barrel. The ding-donging over market share and price control continually witnessed advantage shifting from the United States to OPEC members and vice versa. The benefit or otherwise of this trend is a global rhetorical question which normative economics may not provide answers excepting a cut above ego.

Energy Analyst and Consultant David Blackmon writing for Oilprice.com ordinarily enumerated factors for this trend as global supply, global demand, economic growth or contraction, regional conflicts, export limitation agreements, the weather and more will no doubt have a temporary or ongoing influence on oil price in the coming months up to 2018, as they always have in the past.

But the undercurrents of shale producers’ survivals in the price downturn are the deployment of internal corporate mechanisms in budgeting and allocating capital resources to drilling programmes. These processes are employed to cut costs, increase efficiencies, advantages of economies of scale, refine drilling and frackking programmes and advanced technologies. Shale oil producers have intensified technological research and with generous incentives including hedges continued to give signals and threats that their production cost would soon have a breakeven to cripple conventional oil produced by OPEC.

Experts have advised producers to change their strategies in exploration and production to avert utter global petroleum chaos. Recent developments have made investors to be extremely cautious. If prices remain low for years international oil companies may experience cash flow problems for exploration. Hedge funds are wary of undesirable exposures after the nine month OPEC oil freeze extension that would end in March 2018. Recourse to hedges may not be effective because banks move towards where markets are in their favour.

Many OPEC economies are teetering in serial budget imbalances and hoping to hop, skip and jump to realistic economic rhythms. The fears of rising global oil supply counterbalancing OPEC’s oil freeze has called for extreme caution because an extension of production cut after March 2018 may not be guaranteed. Iranian Oil Minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh expressed fears of a consensus at the expiration the present cut in 2018. Zanganeh feels that an additional 700,000 barrels per day cut by March may solve the problem.

OPEC and non-OPEC technical committee on production enforcement was said to have examined the scenario including Nigeria and Libya’s exempt in the production cuts. Apart from Saudi Arabia and some Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC members, other OPEC members have high breakeven points in crude production. It is not clear whether OPEC led by Nigeria’s Mohammed Barkindo may decide to throw in by oversupplying the market to send a strong signal to shale producers that it can be a free-for-all. It is however in OPEC’s interest to wrap up its oil victory in price, volume produced and sold to give the desired revenue and bull market share.

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You are the world

By Muyiwa Adetiba

It was the last day of the long weekend and the second day of the public holiday. This gave me a good reason to stay in bed—not that I needed one since every day is a holiday of sorts to a self-confessed retiree. It was also a grey, cold morning which served as an added bonus. Then the phone rang. It was to be fair, at a time when the person on the other side felt normal people including retirees, should have been up and about. It was from Bola, himself a retired military officer, who called to say he was back in the country after an extensive stay abroad.

We talked about the country he had just come back to and the mindless brinksmanship of its component ‘youths’ and ‘elders’ which could easily lead to war and disintegration. We also talked about aging—a common topic among my friends these days—and the frightening reality that the day of reckoning was drawing closer and closer. As a Military Officer, the issue of death was something he had come to terms with very early in his career. He had one on me in that respect. We had barely finished when Dayo, a classmate called to remind me of the funeral service of another classmate scheduled for the weekend. Then Kingsley, my medical doctor neighbour called to inform me of yet another death. This was not how to start a day and it made the morning colder and greyer. It also made me pensive. The previous day, Uncle Sam had told me about the death of Mr Paul Agboola, a fine gentleman if ever there was one, and one of his oldest friends which he said occurred while I was away.

So I stayed in bed; not to sleep but to think about life and the inevitability of death. Then the music of Lionel Ritchie waffled through the air. Now Ritchie, during and after the Commodores, was one of the favourite musicians of my youthful days. Normally I would just have hummed the song, but that morning, for some reasons I have not yet analysed—it could be the greyness of the weather, the greyness of my mood and the awareness of my mortality—memories of my youth came flooding in with the song. Along with the escapades and scrapes, I suddenly realised that the largest body of my literary work was done in my 20s. I am awed and wistful now when I think of the quantity—and quality—of the interviews I did back then which I took for granted because I thought they would keep coming. Or the places I went to which I have never been able to visit again. For example, when I interviewed Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe in 1978, it never occurred to me that it would be my last time of visiting that beautiful African country.

It is not peculiar to me. Most people are at their most productive in their youth. Youth is the time to dream, to idealise, to revolutionise, to change your environment and if possible, the world. It is the time of boundless energy; of possibilities. And when the song: ‘We are the world’ came out, I thought Richie and Jackson were talking directly to me and my generation. We were the youths and therefore the world. We were the ones who would make the world a better place.

Unfortunately, youthful energy can easily be misdirected. Youthful perception can easily be rose tinted. For many youths, it is either black or white. Yet most of life is about grey areas. It is the time mistakes are recklessly made because of the belief that there is time to make amends. Yet time goes by so quickly. I should know. Today, many of the stars of my generation—athletes, actors and musicians—are in a pathetic state. Many are broke and broken. Many are bankrupt and in oblivion. Coming nearer home, I am not too happy about the place many of those I partied with in the 70s are at today or some of the bright people I started journalism with. Yet, it usually boils down to the road taken or not taken and the quality of advice given.

In this regard I will say I have been lucky to have had people who took to me and gave advice that kept me grounded. Sam Amuka, Jibade Thomas, Eddie Aderinokun, Alhaji Jakande were some of the people who directly impacted my early professional life. And I will forever remember and appreciate the advice given by Sir Alex Akinyele and Alhaji Alade Odunewu when I first became Editor of a national newspaper. I was in my 20s with the world seemingly at my feet. But they told me in a nut shell, at different times by the way, that I should look beyond the moment to the time when the job and position would be given to someone else. That I should look at my predecessors and learn from them. All youths need people—‘especially those who have been there and done it’—to advise them, to mentor them and not to use them.

Unfortunately, many of our youths are being used and abused. They are being used as pawns in political chess games; as cards in religious poker games; as expendable chips in tribal casinos. They are being used, abused and dumped by politicians and elders. They are being used physically as foot soldiers and virtually as blackmail tools. The scars are there in their bodies and in their minds. Physically, they become the kidnappers and armed robbers; mentally, they are the ones who occupy the virtual space spewing venom and hatred on the internet. Many are so twisted that it would take a miracle to straighten them. Yet, straighten them we must if they are not going to spend their twilight years—if they make it that far—in regret and self-loathing. The world belongs to the youths; has always been, will always be. But it should be the time of dreams and not of nightmares. A  time to build and not to destroy. Our politicians—whether military or civilian—should learn to be more responsible and less self-serving. It is wicked of these politicians to use the youths as cannon fodders in their wars without a thought to the long term effects.

The time has come to build their self-confidence and belief in the country. Otherwise, Nigeria might not survive their generation. Its apt I think, to end this piece with a Yoruba proverb. “Omo ti a ko, a gbe ile ti a ko ta.” It’s a play of words which simply means: ‘A child you have neglected to nurture will sell the inheritance you have laboured to build.’

 

 

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Teni Majekodunmi unveils ‘Eclectic Chique’

By Juliet Ebirim

African inspired accessories brand,  Eclectic Chique  by Mrs Teni Majekodunmi officially launched its flagship store at Nakehnos Boulevard  for fashion and style enthusiasts.

Guests were invited to see and experience the brand and its wide range of affordable pieces, created through a mix of art, rich colours, vibrant prints and exquisite embellishments.

The indigenous print brand is known for their creative expressions on jewellery, bags, hats and even beach wear with every piece giving off that classic ‘’eclectic chique’’ vibe.

Mrs Teni Majekodunmi revealed on the day of the launch “The whole idea behind the brand is to show how much talent comes from our continent,  striving daily to change the perception of how African products are viewed Internationally. We do this by paying exceptional detail to the finishing touches of each product’’

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Wicked act of stealing

By Rose Moses

If you have been looking for the section of the Holy Book, where God, after creation, had cause to look back and declare that the heart of man is desperately evil, you need not look far. Just open the chapter on present day Nigeria, and even beyond, click on the verse or stories on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and you will see, crystal clear, how mean and wicked man can be to fellow man.

For when it is not bombs ‘mistakenly’ dropped in the camps of IDPs by those that ought to protect them from deadly invasions by Boko Haram terrorists, among others, it could be that the women are either being raped or forced into prostitution as means of survival.

Or simply, it could be that aids donated to them by well meaning individuals, organizations or groups, are diverted by those not so in need. What a shame!

In a country where leaders could steal even from the poor in various disguises, the poor are made, albeit fraudulently, to maintain the ostentatious and bogus lifestyles of those in power and its corridors, even with their lives.

Isn’t that why a top government official would claim to have cut grass, in the face of hunger at the IDP camps, to the tune of N270 million? What a depraved act that has rightly earned the man the sobriquet of ‘Grass Cutter of the Federal Republic (GCFR)’ by angry populace.

Because the rich brazenly steal from the poor, items as common as dates donated to the poor are diverted and sold in local markets. Relief materials that could provide succour and roof over the heads of homeless, helpless, hapless displaced people find their way into the homes of politicians. And the IDPs are left in squalor, hunger and disease, despite huge amount of money claimed to have been spent on them by governments.

Just few days to the end of Ramadan, an Islamic activity marked by fasting, and which preaches piety, self-denial, prayers and generosity to the poor and needy, the Nigerian government had to apologise to Saudi Arabia, after it was discovered that 200 tonnes of dates the kingdom sent as a Ramadan gift, were found on sale in local markets in Maiduguri.

Dates are usually the first thing eaten by Muslims when they break the Ramadan fast each evening, and Borno State being the hardest hit by the Boko Haram conflict, harbours millions of people in need of life-saving aid.

It is no secret that about half of relief materials, including food and funds, sent to the Northeast for IDPs by well meaning individuals, organizations and even governments, usually ‘develop wings. Government’s claim to investigate this callous act has yet to stop anything, more so when no arrests have been made.

Senator Florence Ita-Giwa wept recently on national television when relief materials she claimed to have sourced from the National Refugees Commission (NRC) for victims of fire outbreak in Dayspring Island, Bakassi, Cross River State, ended up at the home of a politician in the community for onward delivery to markets where they would be sold.

Few days after the emotional outburst, an opposing group in a protest march, however, accused Ita-Giwa of actually being the culprit, claiming she has been in the business of enriching herself over the years from materials meant for the displaced Bakassi people.

Though, she has long dismissed this twist as a sponsored campaign against her by the PDP-run state government, the fact remains that some privileged persons there have been diverting aids meant for the displaced, whose only sin is the misfortune of being led by a group of corrupt leaders.

Little surprise also that some officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were reportedly caught, recently, re-bagging some rice procured by government, benevolent Nigerians, and foreign donors for the IDPs, with the intent of selling them. That is how pathetic the situation could get.

Equally involved in the wicked enterprise of short-changing the IDPs are civil society groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), some of who claim to be working for their interest but with totally different motives.

Across the country, tales of inhuman acts against the poor by people, some of who have stolen so much from our common wealth to last them forever, abound. And you wonder how greedy a people could get.

It is therefore good to hear that the House of Representatives has raised the alarm on the ugly development, mandating its Committees on Emergency/Disaster Preparedness, Aids/Loans/Debt Management and IDPs to investigate the development, specifically, the sources of the donations, how they were applied, and to report back to the House.

It is also sweet music to the ear that the Presidency has assured that a new distribution matrix adopted under the Special Relief Intervention would significantly curb diversion of these aides to IDPs.

What will nonetheless make all the difference is that these promises are not swept under the carpet like most government’s pronouncements, more so now that the World Food Programme is scaling back its emergency plans in the Northeast due to paucity of fund.

The IDPs deserve to be treated better.

 

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Secession: Igbo are going no where, says Senator Abaribe

By Henry Umoru
ABUJA—CHAIRMAN, South-East Senate Caucus, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, PDP, Abia South said yesterday that inspite of separatist agitations in the country against the backdrop of the ultimatum given Igbo to leave the north on October 1 by some northern youth groups, the Igbo were going no where.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja during the unveiling of a high-end estate at Durumi District of FCT, Senator Enyinnaya Abarabe, noted that the continued investment of persons of South East extraction outside their geopolitical zone eloquently demonstrates their abiding faith in the unity and corporate existence of Nigeria.

Abaribe who called on the people of National South East extraction to remain committed to the development of the country said, ” we are going nowhere.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA’s policy of partnership with genuine estate developers was again on display as the Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello yesterday unveiled a high-end estate at Durumi District of FCT.

The FCT Minister, who was represented at the occasion by the FCDA Executive Secretary, Engr. Umar Gambo Jibrin, reiterated his Administration’s commitment to ensuring the provision of adequate housing for the residents of the Federal Capital Territory.

In a statement signed yesterday night by his Chief Press Secretary, Cosmas Uzodinma, the Minister said, “the FCT Administration sees this project as a partnership gesture and a demonstration of confidence in the present administration which is working to address the housing deficit in the Territory and attract foreign direct investment into the sector.

The Minister further stated that his Administration was putting measures in place to ensure that past infractions that hindered the faithful execution of the mass housing policy by successive FCT Administrations were eliminated. This, he stressed, is with a view to ensuring strict adherence to laid down guidelines and guaranteeing the successful implementation of these laudable policies.

Earlier in his address of welcome, the Chairman, Crown Realties Plc, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, drew attention to the high profile nature of Crown Realties Plc while making reference to the company’s other developments in Lagos, saying, ” our Crown Estate in Lekki Lagos is still one of the largest private community estate in the Lekki Peninsula with more than 1000 family units built in the early 90s and still occupies a pride of place today.”

Presenting the estate situated in a 5.97 hectares luxury residential estate opposite American International School, Durumi, the Managing Director, Crown Realties Plc, Arc. Darl Uzu, revealed that the development involves 81 blocks of family detached units of four bedrooms each. He said the estate boasts of 24/7 power supply as well as technology driven security and communication systems.

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Ohaneze must plan for 2023

By Emeka Obasi

Those of us who believe in the Igbo project within a wider concept know that there cannot be any headway without consultations. Politics is not for Monks. Saints who understand the game work assiduously to win as many souls as possible. There is more to power than youthful exuberance.

The Ohaneze Ndigbo as presently constituted and ably headed by  Dr. Nnia Nwoko should be the voice of the Igbo henceforth. There is enough room in Nigeria for everyone. What should occupy the minds of those who understand politics is how to work with the other ethnic nationalities to restructure the country.

I must tell  Ndigbo the truth. Time has come for them to wake up and face the struggle for power in Nigeria. Those who think exiting this country will take them to paradise  do not understand the movement of History. They do not have to remind anyone that all that the Igbo lost as result of the Civil war made the other parts richer.

There is no doubt that Nigeria has come to be seen as a fraud formulated by the Imperialists and manipulated presently by vultures wearing different ethnic masks. The diversity of the fraudsters who have hypnotised their countrymen is only seen by the gullible majority who have failed to realise that the Hausa-Fulani is in league with the Yoruba and dines with the Igbo. They all invite the minority  cronies to perpetuate their grip on power.

It will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for an Igbo to rule this country in 2019. This is the bitter truth.

That  miracle may not come before 2019. If the Igbo so believe in God, Obasi di nelu, let them continue to fast and pray. After all, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan did not dream of becoming President of Nigeria. There  could be a politically correct solution to the plight of the Igbo under the present dispensation. The word is change in the form of restructuring.

There is every reason to thank President Muhammadu Buhari for bringing the Igbo back to life. Someday, history will crown him as Enyi Ndigbo( Friend of the Igbo ). He showed them that there is a great deal of difference between 95 percent and five percent. No diplomacy about it all.

When Dr Alex Ekwueme was thrown away for Chief Olusegun  Obasanjo in 1998, Ndigbo did not get the message. When the latter played one South-East Senate President against  the other, it did not sound strange. In fact, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo so loved the position that he began to dance to OBJ’s agidigbo.

Chief Adolph Wabara thought he had it all when Obasanjo relayed his childhood railways story. The Senator speaks undiluted Yoruba and was even fed by the Balogun of Owu. Cake is sweet but the one Wabara ate purged him. Thank God he was not diagnosed. It was poison from the Villa, the Senate President was treated worse than a village chief and sent back to Ohambele, empty handed.

President Umaru Yar’Adua was not bothered when the Nigerian tripod was broken. An Hausa-Fulani President, an Ijaw Deputy, Middle Belt Senate President and Yoruba Speaker of the House. The Igbo were  sentenced to the Boys Quarters. They could not even serve tea by Chief Emeka Ojukwu’s standard. Second to Oga at the top in the National Assembly was their lot.

Jonathan was a bigger disaster in terms of Igbo relevance. They eventually began to serve tea and manage the economy. Choice ministries were allocated to them. And General Azubuike Ihejirika became the first Igbo Army Chief in almost 60 years. Ndigbo served Goodluck  so well that his departure brought them bad luck. And they gained nothing as a people for all their support.

Buhari came and did not play pranks. A very straightforward gentleman, he began to punch the Igbo left, right and centre. There was no tea to even serve. The economy went to blazes. Many thought it was a dream. The lone Igbo State that voted massively  for the President’s party was so debased with a junior ministerial appointment that Imo Governor, Rochas Okorocha, looked like he sent his in-law to Sambisa, or better still, Siberia.

Failure they say, is the back door to success. Having failed to progress politically since the return of democracy in 1999 and unable to even speak with one powerful voice like the Yoruba and Hausa-Fulani, the Igbo must put on their thinking cap. Dr. Nwodo must realise that he is not only leading a social cultural organisation. Ohaneze must assume the role of an advisory body.

We have had enough of outbursts from the younger ones. They are full of emotional energy which is not enough to play politics. Thugs are not meant to be leaders. There are polished and celebrated men and women from Asaba to Opobo whose contributions can leave the world smelling sweeter. And they are of Igbo background.

The next move now is to play politics the way it should be played. Ndigbo cannot go it all alone. They need the other groups that make up Nigeria. That is why they must caution against the hate speeches and cyber attacks. They must stoop to conquer. I am sure these younger ones have heard that Obasanjo had to stoop to be returned as President in 2003. Those who thought he was a coward later realised they had sold their joker to a powerful man.

It should bother Ndigbo that in the Second Republic, they were the Bride and Beauty of Nigerian politics. And that was less than a decade after the War. Dr. Ekwueme was Vice President, Chief Edwin Umezuoke became Speaker, House of Representatives. Prior to the elections, all the political parties except Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) had Igbo running mates. Chief Philip Umeadi, Dr. Ben Nzeribe and Sam Ikoku.

In 2017, 50 years after the crisis, Ndigbo are like the beast of Nigerian politics.  They have nothing  to celebrate under the Buhari administration. It will not be out of place to say that there is no Igbo man in Aso Villa. The few that go there are escorted like prisoners changing location or slaves going to see their master.

This is an ethnic nationality that produced the First President of Sierra Leone and that country’s last Governor General, Christopher Okoro Cole and the fifth President of Liberia, Edward James Roye. The current President of Gabon has Igbo blood in his veins. The first President of Nigeria as well as the country’s first military leader were Igbo. The first three Senate Presidents : Dr’s Azikiwe, Dennis Osadebay, Akweke  Nwafor Orizu came from Igbo land just like the First Speaker of of the House of Representatives, Dr. Jaja Anucha  Nwachukwu.

You cannot fault the list of Firsts. James Nwoye Adichie, Chimamanda’s father, first Professor of Statistics. Laz Nnanyelu Ekwueme, First Professor of Music. Jerome Oputa Udoji, first African District Officer (D.O.). Nnodum Okongwu, first PhD. holder. Keneth Onwuka Dike, first Vice Chancellor. Johnson Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, first African to command United Nations troops. Julius Onuorah Onah, first Professor of Marketing. O.Z. Chiazor, first African officer of the Canadian Navy. Tim Onwuatuegwu, first  Nigerian Junior Under Officer, Sandhurst. J.T. Ogbolue, first indigenous police officer. Emmanuel Arinze Ifeajuna, first Commonwealth gold winner. Immaculeta Chioma Ajunwa, first Olympic gold medallist.

The first female judge in the Solomon Islands is Nkemdilim Amelia Izuako. While Aso Villa was built by foreigners, Frank Mbanefo designed Ojukwu’s Bunker. The Grey Ghost took Ojukwu into exile in 1970 was flown by Osakwe. The same pilot  was flight commander that took Yakubu Gowon to Kampala in 1975 from where he lost his Command as Head of State.

There must be a reason Forest Whitaker declared his Igboness with the title, Nwanne di namba of Nkwerre. Daniel Glover, became Enyioma of Nkwerre. The man on keyboard for Jamaican pop group, Third World when they visited Nigeria in the 1980s, was Michael Igbo Cooper. The group did Lagos jump thereafter and remembered that Igbo man called him Ikechukwu.

Ohaneze must bring all Igbo together. There should be nothing like Rivers Igbo or Delta Igbo. Oneness creates one love. Let Ndigbo reach out to the Yoruba. There are many more Adeniran Ogunsanyas, Adeyinka Adebayos, Alani Akinrinades, Ganiyu Adelekes, Ayo Fayoses, Femi Fani-Kayodes and Segun Martins waiting. In the North, the Sultan has a huge role to play as well as Governor Hassan Dankwambo.

In the old South-East, the Dr. Sam Imoke family is available. There is the Dr. Thompson Akpabio family. Chief Emma Agumah’s children are waxing stronger and Willy Murray Bruce’s siblings have a voice. General Philip Effiong has a son who behaves like his father.

This is the way to go. Let the North complete their tenure in 2023. Ndigbo should strategise for 2023. All the traders and cheer boys will have their say but the elite must have their way. Enough of the Ochanja -Ariaria rabble. Boys will be boys. The men must decide.

 

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OBJ, Anyaoku, others to unveil Kings Celia resort centre

Nigeria forex reserve dips slightly in June from a month ago

Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserve stood at $30.25 billion by June 28, down 0.36 percent from a month ago, central bank data showed on Friday.

The reserves showed a 14.8 percent rise from a year ago, when they stood at $26.34 billion. Nigeria’s dollar reserves have risen slightly this year thanks to the rise in global oil prices.

The OPEC member country has added $4.2 billion to its reserves since the beginning of the year. Foreign reserves stood at $26.09 billion at the beginning of the year.

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Why looters need much money !

By Bunmi Sofola

A report in the British Daily Mail a few years ago had this to say about our lovely countrymen: “Move over the Peking Pound, Lagos Lolly is taking over the West End. Nigeria’s booming oil industry has resulted in a flourishing middle class looking for somewhere to spend their money. Thousands from

the West African nation are flocking to London, following the lead of wealthy Chinese, Arab and Russian shoppers who have already become hooked on Britain’s favourite pastime.

“However, unlike other tourist-shoppers, Nigerians eschew designer labels such as Burberry and Gucci in favour of mid-market shops like M & S and John Jewis. Debenhams in Oxford Street has put up signs in Nigeria’s principal language, Hausa, to make visiting shoppers feel at home. Hitherto, foreign shoppers have flocked to Bond Street and Knights bridge. Indeed, visitors from the Middle East were such big spenders that high-street stores began to time their sales around the pre-Ramadan rush of foreign shoppers to London. But now, Nigeria is giving them a run for their money.

“The country was once set to become Africa’s biggest economy and the globe’s fifth most populous by the middle of the century—and the number of Nigerians visiting the U.K. now stands at almost 150,000 a year. Visitors from Nigeria are now the U.K.’ s fourth biggest foreign spenders, splashing an average £500 (about N200,000) in each shop they patronize—four times what the average Brit spends.’

“ And while wealthy Chinese shoppers tend to drop by in the two weeks after Chinese New Year and buyers from the Middle East spend time in London during the summer, Nigerians—and their wallets —arrive all the year round…. “

Much as this write-up is stating the obvious, the sad fact is that the average Nigerian rich is a selfish megalomaniac. The fact there is a recession on hasn’t dampen their spend-thrift nature. There is scarcely any week you switch on the TV or the radio without one or two appeal to these rich big-heads, urgently asking for a drop in their wealth to cure cancer, kidney or heart disease patients. But very, very rarely do we hear of such bills being settled by ‘anonymous’ donors.

Maybe we can now figure out why. With all the scheming rogues like recently caught Evans(notorious kidnapper), and the dare-devil escapades we are continuously treated to; coupled with the sleepless nights ‘pen-robbers’ spend on diabolical plans to beat the system; giving such loots away needs a lot of soul-searching. Such ‘Father Christmas’ gestures must be backed by legitimate earnings, and Nigerians tend to bad-mouth ‘philanthropists’ with no visible means of income. Except the ones that go for stupendously lavish parties and ‘spray’ hard currency on the dance floor!

“Some months back,” recalls Raymond, a small-scale businessman, “I went to an uncle for a soft loan of less than half a million to boost my fledging business. The tales of woe he told me were so pathetic that if I had the type of money I believed he had, I would gladly give him a chunk of it.

“Not long after, he had a lavish show-stopping wedding reception for his daughter that left everybody gawping at the extravagance. Waiters had a field-day ignoring most of the guests and ferreting bottles of very exclusive champagne to various hiding corners. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, congratulated my uncle and offered to be put in charge of his guests. He showed me to where the choice drinks were and by the end of the reception, I’d helped myself to quite a number of bottles. The security men did not even bat an eyelid as I took them to my modest car—they thought it was with my uncle’s authority. I made a small fortune from their sale!”

When the average Nigerian comes into money, he gets an itchy palm to spend and spend. First, some designer clothes, then exotic cars, one or two impressive property, some friends’ wives they’d once admired from afar, followed by a string of parties that leave guests thanking their stars they were either invited or had successfully gate crashed. Talk about a fool and his money being responsible for the best parties!

Now that the ‘whistle’ blowing is on-going, it is the swan song of, ‘Don’t Cry For Me Nigerians’ for shame-faced looters. The sad bit is that after this round of looters have been dealt with, up comes another batch with their own set of schemes.

 

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DINO MELAYE VS GOV BELLO: Between the voice of Jacob, hand of Esua

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

THE attempt at recalling the lawmaker representing Kogi West Senatorial District in the Senate, Sen Dino Melaye, is such that would remain a reference point in Nigeria’s political space considering the factors that threw it up.

No matter, who the crisis favours at the end, it would definitely leave in its trail a questionable precedent for actors on the political scene.

From the manner it emerged, to the pace with which it is being pursued, the ongoing recall process in Kogi State means different things to different people.

To some, it is a healthy democratic norm as stipulated in Section 69 of the 1999 Constitution, which provided 10 steps on how a senator can be recalled from the Senate.

Many others view it as an attempt allegedly conceived by the executive in the state to push aside, Melaye, who is a fierce critic of the state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.

Notwithstanding, the latter seems to have gained ground among analysts, who argued that the dynamics of Nigerian politics are such that could not have easily made a recall process this fast, especially the collection of signatures at the constituency level.

Melaye may have had enemies in the course projecting his convictions on how best the state should be governed, many think that was not enough to have warranted the initiation of a recall process by his opponents.

This argument found relevance in the maxim that a recall process could only be necessitated by discontent on the part of the members of a constituency and not through external prodding.

The duo had enjoyed a healthy relationship as they both worked for the election of President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in 2015 at different levels.

Though Melaye worked for the Audu/Faleke team, the party leadership’s consensus on Bello as Audu’s successor was supported by the senator.

The senator’s backing of Bello was believed to have provided key support to Bello, whose emergence as Audu’s successor was characterized by controversies.

Expectations that the relationship between the duo would open a new vista in the state, have been dashed by the current crisis which stems from disagreements over the manner the state is being governed.

Melaye, a firebrand, among other things, had accused the governor of not using bailout funds and Paris Club refund for the betterment of the state and its indigenes.

He had on different occasions, lamented that worker and pensioners in the state were not being given the priority they deserve.

Melaye was also irked that the administration is allegedly using local government caretaker committees to siphon the funds.

Enough is enough

He expatiated his grouse thus: “Yahaya Bello collected N20 billion from the federal government as bailout fund, still, he refused to settle workers. He also collected N11 billion from Paris Club refund money. Still, he refused to pay workers and pensioners.

“Children can no longer go to school and tenants can no longer pay for house rent. Enough is enough. The people of Kogi State are tired of this government.

“I will continue to speak the truth for the sake of my people. No amount of intimidation will stop me from fighting for the course of my people.

“I have fought for the rights of the people at the national level. God will not forgive me if I don’t fight for the rights of my people at home.”

At another forum where he launched his new book: Antidotes for Corruption, Melaye regretted supporting the governor.

“If you put him (Wada) alongside Yahaya Bello today, I will vote for Wada. At least, throughout his tenure, we did not agree but he never attempted to assassinate me.’’

It was on this premise that the lawmaker demanded the resignation of the governor, an action observers found not to have been out of context in any democratic setting.

Instructively, the state has witnessed protests as a result of the feud with one leading to the death of three persons at the state capital.

Submission of 188, 580 signatures

The decision to recall the legislator from the Senate which analysts argued was not original to Melaye’s constituents, has got the crisis to its peak. And like Melaye, who accused the governor of funding the recall with N2 billion, not a few think that Bello’s administration was not instrumental to the process.

However, an earlier report by SaturdayVanguard had stated that some appointees of the governor from his Senatorial District were believed to be behind the development which resulted in the submission of 188, 580 signatures in support of the petition for Melaye’s recall.

Though the appointees had reportedly sworn that the governor was not bankrolling the exercise, what seems to be the interest of his camp in the matter,   is somehow giving credence to suspicions about the origin of the recall exercise.

Bello’s camp is, however, relentless in its claims that the crisis was not birthed by Melaye’s allegations.

While the promoters of the exercise seem not to be looking back, findings by SaturdayVanguard revealed that Melaye still commands a huge followership in his constituency with many uncomfortable with the turn of events.

This is even more evident from the outpour of solidarity for the Senator by various groups and leaders of Kogi West Senatorial District.

Most of these groups somewhat corroborated claims that the process of collecting signatures was fraught with irregularities occasioned by forgery of signatures.

They were also alarmed that 188,000 signatories were said to have signed the recall paper even when the total vote cast in the last senatorial election was 111,000.

SaturdayVanguard gathered that the combination of these and other factors informed the sympathy most sections of the constituency have for the lawmaker, who is regarded as one of the leading lights in the Senate.

In fact, majority are concerned that some of the senator’s kinsmen are believed to be driving the process, a development that was described as inimical to the interest of Okunland, where Melaye hails from.

Credibility questions

The fact that most people, who condemned the exercise hail from Kogi West Senatorial Districts, was found by SaturdayVanguard to have raised so many credibility questions about the whole process.

One of such platforms is Okun Professional Network, OPN, an umbrella group of indigenes of Yoruba speaking áreas of Kogi State.

In a jointly signed statement,   OPN said: “We consider it necessary to make this statement as the largest body of professionals of Okun descent worldwide. We are not unaware of the events that have led to the recent events culminating in the recall attempt of our Senator, Dino Melaye. We, therefore, wish to make the following submissions.

“Our position is that the principle of leadership by example must always hold in public service and as such, our conclusions were drawn mostly on this principle. We completely dissociate ourselves and this noble group, OPN, from any attempt to coerce or motivate the people of Kogi West to recall Senator Dino Melaye.

“We wish to call the Senator to give an account of his stewardship with evidence of performance. Lessons should be drawn from these events, public office is not for self-aggrandizement but for service, our leaders should make amends accordingly.

“We agree with our Senator’s call on the government to pay all outstanding salaries, pensions, and allowances in Kogi State immediately without any further delay.”

Similarly, Melaye’s Bunu kinsmen, who were said to be among the signatories to the recall process, denounced being involved.

Mr. Kingsley Mokikan, Leader of Bunu Youth Forum said:”We have waited for them to submit their petition to INEC and thank God they have done just that. We are waiting for the next step from INEC.

“As far as we are concerned as Bunu Youths, we have not at any time appended our signatures to any document regarding the recall of Senator Dino Melaye. We in Bunu don’t destroy the house that we use our hands to build. We voted for Senator Dino and we have no reason whatsoever to recall him.

We have no reason to recall him  

“We are ready to testify in any law court under oath that we never signed any document and we are ready to challenge the process in court.

“We have not had it this good in the history of the Nigerian Senate as far as the District is concerned. Sen Dino is doing us proud. His legislative prowess has no match. Presently he has the highest number of Bills and Motions and all these are people-oriented.

“His problems started when he stood up to challenge the non-payment of salaries and pensions as well as the closure of all the higher institutions of learning in the state which no one has been able to question the governor and his aides about.’’

Also making its position on the matter known, Okun Development Initiative, ODI, said: “A recall process premised on the disenchantment of majority of West Kogites with their elected senator is acceptable but what will not be condoned is every delusive attempt by those bent on exerting political leverage to dictate to the majority of Okun people how they should feel about their senator, why and when they should express their displeasure. Okun people and Kogi West, in general, should be allowed to decide the fate of their senator.

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Happiness is a choice

By Francis Ewherido

“Life is not fair,” is a common  refrain by many people and do you blame them? What is fair about losing your spouse at a young age? What is fair about losing a beloved sibling? What is fair about being predeceased by your child? What is fair about losing your only child? What is fair about failing an examination because you refused to “sort” out the lecturer either financially or sexually? What is fair about losing a contract not due to incompetence, but because you did not bribe somebody? What is fair about being wrongfully detained by law enforcement agents either because you did not bribe them or your adversary is a powerful figure. What is fair about working like an elephant and eating like an ant? The world is filled with injustice and unfairness and it has always been so. What did Abel do to merit being killed by Cain?

Yet in the midst of all these, you have a responsibility to make yourself happy. Happiness, like sadness, is a choice. While growing up, my mother always reminded us that if you look in only one direction, your neck will become stiff. Learn to look in all directions and free your neck from stiffness; that is why God created it to revolve and be multi-dimensional. Sometimes the very things that you take for granted or make you sad are the same things that bring happiness to others.

A man is happy because after suffering sexual dysfunction for a long time, he was able to fulfill his marital duties. Meanwhile, another man has committed suicide over the same sexual dysfunction. A passenger is grinning from ear to ear and taking selfies, just before an international flight, probably his first. Meanwhile, sitting beside him is a miserable wreck who is lamenting his change in fortune. He used to fly business class, but has now downgraded to economy due to lean finances. He has forgotten that there are others who cannot fly anymore for the same economic reasons, but are very happy just reliving those old times they were able to fly.

Paying your children’s school fees has become a routine, but your neighbour is walking on his head in pride because he has scrapped through and managed to pay his children’s school fees for another term. You are miserable because you are still driving the same car after eight years, while your contemporaries have replaced theirs with newer and bigger cars. Meanwhile, there is jubilation and celebration in the house of Solomon because he just bought a car for the first time in his life, a fairly used and older model of your car that is making you miserable. Meanwhile, Solomon was your classmate in the university. You are tired of eating beef. You want “healthier” and more expensive options like chicken, snails, sea food, etc. Meanwhile, another family is celebrating because after eating “without” for a long while, they are eating meat today.

Happiness does not result from what life throws at you, happiness results from how you handle what life throws at you. Recently, a Catholic Church parish had a mass wedding for couples who have been co-habiting, but not married in the church. The joy and fulfillment in the faces of these couples was indescribable. And when it was time to dance, some of these old people rolled back the clock; see bubbling. Meanwhile, have you not heard of youngsters preparing for wedding and fighting over inconsequential issues: cost of rings, wedding gown, shoes and suit; venue for the reception, choice of photographer and cake maker. Some proposed marriages have died over these issues.

Happiness is a choice. Choose happiness, because “Life is 10 per cent what happens to me (you) and 90 per cent of how I (you) react to it.”(Charles Swindoll). Choose happiness because “if you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough” (Oprah Winfrey). Choose happiness, “remember no one can make you feel inferior (or sad) without your consent”(Eleanor Roosevelt). Choose happiness because “when one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us”(Helen Keller). Choose happiness because “everything (and everybody) has beauty, but not everyone can see (But you should see it) (Confucius). My world has changed because I have changed my thought (Norman Vincent Peale).

Life has been cruel to all of us, but some of us have chosen to be happy. Senator Akpor Pius Ewherido, my dear brother, yesterday made it four years since you left. I still grieve, but I have chosen to be happy; I still ache, but I have chosen to be happy; I miss you sorely, but I have chosen to be happy; you left a massive void in my life, but I have chosen to be happy. I still cry over your death, but I have chosen to be happy. I am happy because we spent 47 magical years together before you left. I am happy for the wonderful times we shared. I am happy because you were a special gift God gave to us. I am happy…..

Rest on big brother. I will always love you.

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The making of an African North Korea: Nigeria’s three gods

By Ugoji Egbujo

Kim Jong Un yawns, Generals clap vigorously. Our own gods have come. Nnamdi Kanu came from nowhere. They stand in the rain, in their thousands, and chant his name. He stands in a covered balcony and takes the cheers. It’s surreal. Nigerians were once known for having their minds. He nudges his cameramen and points to the crowd, they must not miss the expanse and the enthusiasm.  When he raises his hands, the delirious crowd goes into a rapture. A god acknowledging holy devotees. When he moves on the road, he gets stuck.  They don’t let him pass, they want to retain his presence, for themselves, forever. When he visits intellectuals, they are confounded, they become clowns. They confess they have been waiting sleeplessly for his arrival. Nnamdi Kanu, the deity of Biafra.

He pronounces a boycott of elections in the Southeast with a flippancy that will make Idi Amin painstaking. They jubilate. The redeemer has come. The stupidity of the decision  stares at everyone except his worshippers. It is whispered into his ear  at night, the boycott is literal self destruction.  He risks being demystified. He scowls a little  as gods do when their omniscience is challenged. Then he concedes and  night continues with a vigil of  thanksgiving to a compassionate and listening god.

In the morning, he declares that he would want to install the next Anambra governor “at his own terms.”  His supporters are ecstatic. They now want to partake in the communion of the zoo. If he defecates publicly at Ogbete market, they will applaud him. He would be credited with the ingenuity of exposing the hypocrisy of  our collective repugnance at public defecation.  Gods do as they please. It is for their devotees to find moral justification for their  occasional nakedness and somersaults.

He  declares a day of rage and sends them ululating. The day when they will destroy all personal belongings that associate them with the zoo. They will incinerate their passports, national identity cards and voters cards. They talk about it with uncommon pride. They may  now have to confirm from their authorities if they will  keep the voters card for a while. The god was silent on the unrighteousness of the naira.

Wherever he goes, a crowd follows him. He has been touring. Everywhere he goes megalomania follows him. His dressing is a cross breed between an Igbo emergency traditional ruler and a peripatetic Jewish Rabbi. Everything is halfhearted and makeshift.  He is infallible.  His Igbo critics are  deemed irreverent cowards committed to eternal servitude. Fire and brimstone will fall on all such  traitors at the fullness of time.

The Niger Delta  has their own god. Jonathan, the fantastically humble one. Even in his fallen state his worshippers have remained loudmouthed. Their devotion is sharpened by their hypersensitivity towards all manifestations Hausa Fulani hegemony. Many of those who worship Kanu, worship Jonathan. But Nnamdi Kanu has set the bridge on fire. Kanu now thinks that Jonathan whom he once adored was  truly weak and incompetent. This is Africa.  Kanu committed a sacrilege. He told Jonathan, the strong man of Otuoke, publicly, that the wife he married with his money and kegs of wine is stronger than him. Jonathan’s devotees reacted timidly to that defamation of their god. Nnamdi Kanu is their  kindred spirit,  he has been  tirelessly  making things difficult for Buhari, their arch opponent.

The effectual  One whom sleepless benevolent spirits have been cracking  kernels for  since his shoeless days in Otuoke has been very visible recently. Mo Ibrahim and the Nobel committee had refused to listen to his vociferous supporters.  Jonathan had accomplished a super human feat in conceding defeat in an election he lost.  There were great expectations. He was left to wander and wonder. Buhari’s men teased, nosed and  poked. His supporters cursed the  government’s temerity to defame their god and his angels. Who would blame them? Since time immemorial, it  has been  the duty of mortals to magnify the gods.  They didn’t expect much from the Economist, and David Cameron. Racists and imperialists. Mo Ibrahim came with his snub.   Jonathan was not a former president of Guinea Bissau.  What would a man whose wife has hairdressers who have 5 million dollars in their account do with Mo’s Ibrahim’s  prize? His nightmare is the Daura god and  his choir  which perpetually blares  trumpets of war on corruption into his ears.

A real god must see the future. Jonathan’s prophesies are coming true.  In a land with many reputable prophets who make only vague and rogue prophecies, Jonathan must truly be a god. When he told the CNN that corruption wasn’t Nigeria’s major problem or threat, he was lampooned. No one saw Nnamdi Kanu and cattle herdsmen coming. So he may be right after all. He may be right he fought corruption too. He says he fought it scientifically and with a human face. His subjects old underage voters, Obama and their gods dislike for shedding of blood for their unending grief.

The Daura god came, it would appear, when we abandoned a hero at hand  and went for a messiah in the bush\farm, with cattle. Those who beat their chests in 2015 are now being mocked.  The songs of ridicule have changed theme from school certificate to medical certificate. It was  once about Gulliver and his travels , it’s now about waiting for a recuperating god.

The president is infallible. His critics are treated with the suspicion reserved for rogues. It seems enough that the incorruptible one agreed to attend to our messy situation. And because he is so authentic, we are supposed to accept his good intentions as evidence of good performance. When his wife called our attention, they  hushed her. They said she was a woman of little faith. The cabal they said was a figment of her hallucinations.  When the cabal rears its head in daylight and embarrasses their god, they ask us to allow the god relish in the tantrums of his angels. The hale and hearty god came back from his medical leave to announce that he had never been so ill in his entire life. His supporters jumped into the air and worshipped his honesty. The Eid address came in Hausa. We were asked to contain ourselves. They were irritated by our naivety. We can’t ask what the report of the investigation on the alleged corrupt practices by the SGF is waiting for?  That will be rude.

Nigerians steadily  becoming North Koreans.

 

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Gunman Henry Bello guns down six staffers at New York Bronx-Lebanon Hospital

A female doctor was confirmed dead while at least five other hospital staffers were wounded after a gunman identified as doctor Henry Michael Bello, a former employee at the hospital, stormed Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center on Friday, gunning down at least the six staffers before taking his own life, a senior law enforcement officials revealed.

45-year-old Henry Bello was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the 17th floor after a two-story shooting rampage that left one victim, believed to be a female doctor, according to a senior law enforcement official, dead and five others wounded. The injured are also believed to be hospital staffers, senior law enforcement officials say.

JUST IN: At least 3 people shot at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital by a gunman, law enforcement sources say. https://t.co/SgGzAZGqq9 http://pic.twitter.com/4eMyM0Gb5b

— ABC News (@ABC) 30 June 2017

Sources told NBC 4 New York that a preliminary investigation revealed Bello resigned from the hospital in 2015 in lieu of termination. A New York State licensing website does not reveal any disciplinary history.

Police are investigating the shooting as a case of workplace violence and former NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said it does not appear to be terror-related.

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Germany beat Spain to win under-21 Euro

Boko Haram’ll be defeated not with guns, weapons – Bishop Kukah

ABS FC’s injured Metu out for rest of season

Breaking: Etisalat Chairman Hakeem Belo-Osagie resigns over recent banks’ takeover moves

Breaking: Appeal Committee nullifies AFN board elections

The National Sports Federations Elections’ Petitions/Appeals Committee has nullified the elections of four board presidents and reinstates Brown Ebewele, Rosa Collins as AFN board members.
In a media briefing by the National Sports Federations Elections Petitions Appeal Committee, it said it also nullified the election of Ibrahim Gusau as the President of AFN.

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UN rights chief says demand for closure of Al Jazeera ‘unreasonable’

1 officer, 3 soldiers die as IED explodes – Army

APC has succeeded in dividing Nigeria – Chekwas

CLI initiative‘ll provide 40,000 jobs, ensure health safety – Ambode

Japan gives Nigeria 31 ambulances

Ronaldinho stars but Man United beat Barcelona in legends battle

Having only turned 37 in March, there's a case to be made for Ronaldinho still being able to play at the top level. However, it's been two years since the two-time FIFA World Player of the Year last turned out professionally, which means that legends games tend to be the only option to see the great man in action these days. Having stolen the show with three assists against Real Madrid earlier this year, Ronaldinho donned the Barcelona shirt once again on Friday for a clash with Manchester United...

Kobe Bryant talks soccer, friendship with Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho

Kobe Bryant is an AC Milan fan, but also loves Barcelona. Soon after then-six-year-old Kobe Bryant moved to Italy with his family, he went down to a local park in search of a basketball game. The court was easy enough to find but what the local kids were doing on it looked a lot different. Underneath each basket was a set of goalposts, allowing the kids to play pickup games of soccer on the court. "I remember saying, 'What is going on? Where am I, and how does this happen?' Bryant said in an exclusive interview with ESPN FC via telephone. "So it was...

Breaking⚡: FUTO ICT Centre on Fire

Melaye’s recall: our signatures forged, 18 constituents allege

We don’t know when Buhari will Return -APC

Those against Nigeria’s restructuring are Buhari, el-Rufai, Ango Abdullahi, Lai Mohammed,Tanko Yakassai – Afenifere

Fake job recruiter jailed 5 years for defrauding applicants of N1.48m

A 45-year-old man, Olakunle Owoyale, who has been fleecing innocent job seekers of unearned money to the tune of N1.4 million will be out of circulation for at least five years, courtesy of an Abeokuta Magistrates’ Court.

Owoyale will serve five years in prison after he was convicted of N1.4 million.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convict had pleaded not guilty to the charges of fraud, forgery and false representation brought against him.

The Magistrate, Mr Idowu Olayinka, said that all evidences tendered in court during the trial proved beyond reasonable doubts that the accused committed the three-count offences preferred against him.

Olayinka, in his judgment, said: “After all evidences tendered in court, I find the accused guilty of the three-count charge of fraud forgery and false representation.

“I consequently sentence the accused to five years imprisonment without an option of fine.”

Earlier, the Police Prosecutor, Insp. Olakunle Shonibare, told the court that the accused committed the offences sometime between March and May 2017 at Alani Abiodun Street, Alogi in Obantoko area of Abeokuta.

Shonibare said the accused, who claimed to be a government-licensed recruitment agent for ministries, departments and agencies, fraudulently obtained various sums of money from 17 job applicants and appropriated the money.

“Owoyale fraudulently obtained N1. 48 million from one Kolawole Ogbontolu and 16 others on the pretext of assisting them to secure jobs at the Federal Ministry of Education.

“The accused also collected N60,000 from his wife, and gave her an appointment letter stating that she was posted to the Federal Secretariat Complex in Ogun.

“The complainant had to resign his previous job and also gave the accused another N70,000 after which the accused also gave him another appointment letter into the same Federal Ministry of Education.

“For that reason, the complainant introduced 15 other people to the accused all of whom he promised to assist to secure jobs.

“When the complainant submitted the appointment letter at the Ministry of Education, Federal Secretariat in Ogun, he was told that the employment letters were fake,” Shonibare said.

The prosecutor also said the accused forged the signature of one Mr Jamila Shaura, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education and also printed the letter heads of the ministry for the illegal transactions.

He said the impostor also presented himself as an official of the Federal Ministry of Education in Abeokuta.

The offences contravened Sections 390 (a), (d) , 419, 480, and 486 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ogun, 2006.

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Ban to join global leaders’ group founded by late Mandela

The former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has joined `The Elders,’ a group of independent global leaders founded by the late Nelson Mandela.

Kofi Annan, Ban’s predecessor at the UN and chairman of the group, welcomed the former South Korean diplomat to the group on Friday in New York.

The group brings together global leaders who no longer hold public office.

“As a new member of The Elders from East Asia, Ban will bring a unique and valuable perspective based on his record of global leadership and understanding of geo-politics,” Annan said.

He said that the The Elders is a non-political group that works for peace and human rights by engaging in private advocacy and highlighting neglected issues.

Annan added that the The Elders and the UN share the same values of justice, solidarity and determination to fight for peace and human rights.

In his acceptance speech, Ban expressed appreciation to Annan and other members of the group for accepting him.

“I eagerly await the task ahead in this new chapter of my career,” he said.

Ban served two terms as UN secretary- general from January 2007 to December 2016.

He was widely tipped to run for president of South Korea earlier this year, but later announced he was pulling out despite opinion polls showing him as a popular choice.

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Group advocates fair treatment as panacea to address national issues

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA– A Group called Fair Society Initiative & Citizen Campaign Against Poverty and Corruption, CACPAC, yesterday, advocated for fair treatment as panacea to address national issues.

This was stated by the Convener/Chief Mobiliser, CACPAC, Chief Ray Morphy, who said government should place Nigerians above themselves with more importance and welfare to achieve peace and development.

Morphy said the countries that have been fair to their citizens have made tremendous progress and everybody has a sense of belonging in national and individual issues.

He said: “We at fair society initiative believe that the basic solution to all problems of human society is located within the context of interpersonal interactions.

“A country in which the leaders are fair to the citizenry will be Eldorado, but one in which the citizens are brutally treated will remain a horror movie for all concerned. This is the difference between North Korea and Finland or Norway. This is all the difference between countries of Europe and countries of Africa.

“The so-called good countries recognize their citizens as assets and treat them fairly while the other countries regard their citizens as burdens and as such treat them unfairly. Crime, instability, insecurity and corruption are the result of the practice of unfairness while peace, growth, security and development is the product of the conscious practice of fairness.

“We know that once a majority adopts fairness in their dealings with one another, human society will automatically change for the better. Every interaction that is built on fairness results in a win-win situation for all parties.

“Every situation, every relationship that has fairness as its soul will bring peace, friendship, growth, happiness to all parties while the opposite of unfairness brings anger hostility, misery and war.

“The adoption of fair practices by any society is logical, it is necessary and it is an investment that yields the dividends of a better society for all. The practice of fairness simply involves putting oneself in the shoes of others and treating them as you would want to be treated.

“Who wants to be cheated? Who wants to be insulted, humiliated or diminished? Who wants his children to be out of school? Who wants to live in dirt and squalor? Who wants to be sent to the warfront without bullets? Who will like to be a patient in a hospital without light, without drugs and without staff? I guess no one. So to understand how to treat others we simply take how we would like to be treated and then treat others that way.”

Also as a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, he stated that for the country to achieve its dreams the following should be considered, regards for others, courage to do the right things, self discipline, justice, honesty, devotion to duty, belief in common humanity.

“Once we adopt fairness as a social principle, then our group and individual lives become immeasurably better, then our society and nation will regain its lost glory. Do join us in the effort to build a fairer society. All that is required is for you to treat everyone you meet fairly and justly. We all will benefit when we adopt this behavioural initiative and the whole society will be better for it.

“Just learn to treat everyone you interact with fairly. Whether they are rich or poor treat them fairly. Treat your customers fairly, treat your neighbour fairly. Treat your pupils fairly, treat your friends fairly, treat your spouse and children fairly and all together, we will have a much fairer society to the good of all and to the glory of God. Thank you as you experiment and reap the many dividends of the practice of fairness”, he stated.

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