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N40bn deal: icpc quizzes jonathan’s man, ex-boi md, olaoluwa •Transparency International wades in, wants Buhari to remain firm on anti-graft warFBy Augustine Osayande (Abuja Bureau Chief) by former President Good- ICPC Headquarters Abuja obtained as stipulated by the including members of the ollowing series of dent Corrupt Practices luck Jonathan in May 2014. on Tuesday, 14 June, 2016 guidelines of the BOI and Civil Society, can have full petitions against Commission(ICPC) has in- in response to an invitation Industry standards and prac- disclosures on corruption the immediate past vited the erstwhile MD to The New Diplomat In- extended to him by the anti- tices and who bought these and help fight the scourge.” Managing Director explain his role and why a vestigations revealed that graft Commission. shares.of Bank of Industry(BOI) Board approval and other Olaoluwa allegedly sold the Checks at the ICPC head Reacting to these cases Regional Director forMr Rasheed Olaoluwa, stipulated industry due pro- shares 30 days after Presi- office in Abuja showed that bordering on corruption and West Africa, Mr Kanibaaccusing him and some cess were not followed in dent Muhammadu Buhari as at mid-day last Tuesday, impunity which character- told The New Diplomatmembers of his erstwhile the sale of 127 million units assumed office without a Olaoluwa was still being ised the Jonathan administra- on phone that Presidentmanagement of unau- of Federal Government documented Board approv- quizzed by interrogators who tion, Transparency Interna- Buhari’s integrity and rep-thorised and unapproved shares in WAMCO valued al or any written approval wanted to know why the over tional urged President Buhari utation is most high, add-stripping of the assets of at N40.15billion held in from the supervisory Min- N40 billion shares were sold to implement the bill for full ing that the president nowBOI to the tune of over trust by BOI. Mr Olaoluwa istry of BOI ---Ministry of so hurriedly, why due pro- access to information in the needs the media and civilN40billion, the Indepen- was appointed MD of BOI Trade and Investment. He cess was not followed, why war against corruption “so society to join his crusade was at the Financial Inves- a Board approval was not that citizens and the media, against corruption in Nige- tigations Unit (FIU) of the ria. air marshal ararile: why militancy in n’delta will linger… Pg. 4dtheinepw lomatowww.newdiplomat.ng @NewDiplomatnews NewDiplomatmultimedialimitedJune 20 - July 4, 2016 vol. 2 no 18 | ISSN 2560-8254 ...Ni geri a’s G lob al V oice! Price: N200, $1.00, £1.00 Alleged Faces Behindn115 billion recovered loot...Looted Funds UnveiledOn May 14, 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari, while attending an anti-corruption summit in London, said he would personallydisclose the details of all recovered stolen public funds and individuals who plundered the country’s resources. However, whenthe list of the recovered loot was made public, names and identities of the alleged looters were missing. In its tradition, The NewDiplomat has been able to unmask a list of those who allegedly returned money to the coffers of the Federal Government. The listalso includes those who had assets allegedly seized from them. omokore Dudafa badeh amosu usman Allison-Madueke$14m N900m $1m N2.3b N140m $18m Esther Nenadi Usman, The EFCC seized a Jide Omokore, Chair- Waripamowei Dudafa, From Alex Badeh, Ex The immediate past an ex-Finance Minister, is home worth $18m fromman of Atlantic Energy Former Special Assis- Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Air Staff Adesola alleged to have returned former petroleum minis-Drilling Concepts Nigeria tant Domestic Affairs to the EFCC allegedly re- Amosun, also allegedly re- the sum of N140m out of ter, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Limited, is another per- Goodluck Jonathan covered $1million cash. turned N2.3b to the Fed- N2.5 billion she allegedly Maduekwe. The Com-son who allegedly has The cash was found in eral Government. received from the office of mission alleged that thecoughed out over $14mil- Waripamowei Dudafa one of the houses belong- the former NSA, Sambo seized property, locatedlion, being crude oil royalty has forfeited the sum of ing to him. The money A source at the EFCC Dasuki, ahead of the 2015 in Asokoro, Abuja, waswhich his company failed N900million to the EFCC. was recovered after de- revealed that Amosu is- elections. She has surren- bought with stolen publicto remit to the federal trea- The money was found in tectives searched a man- sued two bank drafts to dered two of her houses funds. Also confiscated,sury between 2011 and one of Dudafa’s accounts, sion located at 6, Ogun the Federal Government to the FG as condition for were a wrist-watch worth2012. which was immediately River Street, Maitama, as part of the funds alleg- her release from the cus- £600,000 and jewelleries frozen by the anti-graft Abuja. edly diverted by his office tody of the EFCC. totalling about $2m. agency. as Chief of Air Staff. 12insideScorecard: Shock As Saraki, Akpabio, 28 Others Record Zero Bills (I) Olisa Agbakoba:TBy Augustine Osayande (Abuja Bureau Chief) Nigerians Hungry, hursday, June 9 this congratulated his colleagues Angry… May year marked exactly for scaling through a very Explode! one year that the 8th challenging first 12 months. Senate of the 8th Na- He commended the senators 2Why 3 Nigeriantional Assembly was inaugu- for their patriotism, supportrated. The Senate President, and hard work. However, The Reps Risk Jail InBukola Saraki, in an address New Diplomat decided to The USto the hallowed chamber continued on page 3 • Constituents move • Saraki • Ekweremadu • Akpabio • Akume to recall Ikon, othersDiplomat16.indd 1 6/17/16 9:40 PM

2 the new diplomat vol. 2 no 18 • june 20 - july 4, 2016 editorial comment   Scrap Governors’ Security Votes, JACs Now!The recent move by the Federal Govern- ment, through the Ministry of Finance, tions Committee (JAC) for states and the local N2billion on Security Votes monthly! On what rity Votes is loud and clear: Scrap it Now! to ensure even tighter monitoring of the government councils where state governors do these governors spend these humongous In the United States, any reckless handlingfiscal process in Nigeria should ordinarily be manage the statutory allocations that ought to sums in the name of security? of public funds  by state governors attractscommended. This is because given the eco- go directly to the local government tier of the Given the large volumes of cash that these two stiff sanctions and repercussions as pre-nomic crisis that we are presently embroiled federation. sub-heads usually involve, a more concerted, scribed by Law.in, the least that government should do is rigorous and prudent management would in- In a state like Lagos, efforts have beento be more prudent with the management No civilized society should condone these variably leave the states and LGAs with more  made to streamline allocations for core se-of the very scarce resources of the country. two financial evils.  The so-called “Security revenues with which to meet more important curity purposes by channelling same into aThat all the 36 states in Nigeria with the pos- Vote” through which state governors expend exigencies and execute much-needed develop- Security Trust Fund, a move that has alsosible exception of Lagos, are in parlous eco- scarce resources of our commonwealth without ment projects.  opened it up for further contributions by thenomic situation is to state the obvious! due monitoring is totally unacceptable in any In their defence, state governors point to the business community and the general public.  modern society. fact that there are indeed many below-the-radar This is most commendable and we urge all   However, there are gaps that are urgently security activities that they engage in to ensure other States to emulate this fine example.crying for attention in the current Fiscal Re- It has been revealed how state governors peace within their domains. They say that given One way to address the issue then is to makeforms agenda as espoused by the Federal dole out these funds and divert much of it for their timeliness and sensitivity, a lot of these en- budgetary provisions separately for core se-Ministry of Finance in collaboration with personal use at a time when workers’ salaries gagements would not fit into the regular bureau- curity purposes and for welfare.the 36 states. The two issues which stand out are not  being paid in many states. In Bauchi cratic process and as such can only be handled Security Votes, if they must exist in theas most embarrassing, fiscally reckless and State for example, the immediate past gover- within the omnibus construct of Security Votes. short term, must be subject to Budgetaryunjustifiable in a nation in deep economic nor, Isa Yuguda, according to figures released While we appreciate their point, we do totally Due Process. In effect, the processes for re-recession are the much-abused Security Vote by his successor, allegedly spent a staggering disagree with them.  And so do many Nigerians. leases must be subject to due approvals, au-provision in the states and the Joint Alloca- N91billion as Security Vote during his tenure. From North to South, the outcry against  Secu- dit and public sector retirement processes.  Reports also indicate that each state governor expends sums ranging from N500million to Alleged Faces Behind Looted Funds Unveiled Why Three Nigerian Reps Risk Jail In The US continued from page 1 him. The property is alleged to be worth who had plundered the resources of their Lawal Jafaru Isa (N100m) about N500million. country. Then came Sunday, May 29, with I• Constituents begin recall moves All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief- many Nigerians staying glued to their radio f allegations of sex offences levelled againsttain, Brigadier General Lawal Jafaru Isa (rtd), President Muhammadu Buhari at the anti- and television sets for the Presidential broad- three Nigerian House of Representativeshas allegedly returned N100million out of the corruption summit in London had declared: cast. members are anything to go by, the threeN160million he also received from Dasuki. “So far, what has come out, what has been fellows may find themselves battling ex- Umaru Fintiri, Ex-acting Governor of recovered in whatever currency from each The broadcast came and went. Alas! Noth- tradiction to the US to answer for their crimes.Adamawa State ministries, departments and individuals, I in- ing was mentioned about the promise the • A terraced house worth N500m tend on the 29th to speak on, because all President made to Nigerians. The three were in the U.S to participate in the Fintiri is another person who has allegedly that Nigerians are getting from the mass me- International Visitor Leadership Programmeforfeited assets to the Federal Government. dia is the number of people arrested either Indications that Nigerians may not get on Good Governance in Cleveland, Ohio.The EFCC seized a terraced house located by the EFCC, DSS. But, we want to make a what was earlier promised emerged later thaton No. 7, Gana Street, Maitama, Abuja, from comprehensive report on the 29th.” Sunday when Lai Mohammed, the Minister In the United States, solicitation is a crime, of Information, told Nigerians that the details an inchoate offence that consists of a person Thus began a long, tortuous wait by angry would be published before the end of the offering money or inducing another to commit Nigerians who wanted to know the people week but without the names. a crime of sex with the specific intent that the continued on page 3 Editor’s Note THE NEW DIPLOMAT know your embassies (14)As Long-Suffering Nigerians Chairman/Editor-in-Chief: Oma Djebah CanadaBegin To Fidget ... Awaiting Editor: Yemi Ogunsola Canadian High CommissionDividends Of Change ABUJA: 15, Bobo Street, Maitama, Director, Global Operations: Mike Uwechie Abuja.Your ever-juicy paper has done it again. Abuja Bureau Chief: Austin Osayande Phone: +234 9 4139910; Fax: +234 9 From grave matters of state, bordering on Editor, Business/Public Policy Desk: 4139911 hunger, anger and possible expression of Okeowo Olamilekan Email: [email protected] public discontent in militant ways to dis- LAGOS: 4, Anifowoshe Street, Victoriatinguished men who, allegedly, were not too careful South-south Bureau Chief: John Oghojafor Island, Lagos.the way they point their guns, The New Diplomat South-east Bureau Chief: Tony Icheku Phone: +234 1 2715650, 2622512/15;takes you on an interesting tour of the Politics of Fax: +234 1 2622517, 2715651Delta State where forces within the opposition par- Business Devt. Mgr: Nwosa Ifeanyi Hamilton Email: [email protected] in that State are massing up against the ruling Business Devt. Mgr (South-south): Harrison Ojogun Website: http://www.canadainternational.party, Olisa Agbakoba’s warning to Buhari and his gc.ca/nigeriaministers, the resurgence of militancy in the Niger Layout/Graphics: Peter DanjimohDelta where a retired Air Marshall (now a Royal Production Officer: Titilayo Olusoga ColombiaFather) and son of the soil proffers solutions… Creative Executive: Bimbo Odusanya Embassy of the Republic of Colombia Associate Director, Advertising: Emeka Opah Address: 43, Raymond Njoku Street, SW Yet another youth making waves in internet ad- Circulation Manager: Screen Agencies Company Ikoy, Lagosvertising features in this edition while issues of Phone: +234 1 2615342security votes to governors and joint accounts be- EDITORS-AT-LARGEtween states and local government councils engage Europe: Marvin Ithoken Finlandour editorial comment. You’ll enjoy our Back Page Embassy of The Republic of Finlandpiece on legendary Mohammed Ali as our colum- USA: Alex Kabba Address: 9 Iro Dan Musa Street, Asokoro,nist, Ogaga Ifowodu, waxes poetic, philosophi- North America: Jamin Owhovoriole Asokoro, Abujacal etc as he takes you through the colourful jabs Phone: +234 9 9 3147256-7, 0803and jibes of “Cassius Clay” the way only a master Contributing Photographers: 7851150; Fax: +234 9 3147252wordsmith can. Then, you will also see some of the Udoka Agbaji, Joshua Omonemu Email: [email protected] faces behind the reported looting of the na- Contributing Editors: Emma Ado, Roland Ogbonnaya Website: http://www.finlandnigeria.orgtion’s treasury and senators who, for a whole year, EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARDsponsored no single bill without any untoward ef- Germanyfect on their jumbo salaries and allowances. Dr. Ayo Teriba (Nigeria); Embassy of The Federal Republic of Dr. Roland Stanbridge (Sweden); Germany Grab for your copies, hot cakes don’t last.. ABUJA: 9 Lake Maracaibo Close, off Mr. Kayode Idowu (Nigeria); Amazon Street Maitama, Abuja. Yemi Ogunsola Prof. Ehiedu Iweriebor (New York); Phone: +234 9 4130962, 4130964-5, Editor 7805181; Fax: +234 9 4130949 Amb. Eloho Otobo (New York); LAGOS: 15, Walter Carrington Crescent, Mr. Bode Oluwafemi (Nigeria) Victoria Island, Lagos. Prof. Onookome Okome (Canada); Phone: +234 1 2809966, 2809967; Fax: +234 1 2809969, 2809968 Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo (Texas) Website: http://www.abuja.diplo.de Prof. Duke Ophori (New Jersey); Mr. Eddy Odivwri (Nigeria); Dr. Nkiru Balonwu (California) Barr. Timothy Bonneth (Nigeria); Mr. Osaleke Obaze (Nigeria) Online Website Content Managed by: S2A Media Limited & Sharetray Data Networks Ltd. Parent Company: The New Diplomat Multi-media Ltd. Publication: The New Diplomat is published by The New Diplomat Multi-media Ltd. Design/Repro: AgborisoGrafix. Legal Adviser: Effy Solicitors THE NEW DIPLOMAT Head Office: Suite 89, Dolphin Plaza, Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos. Abuja Office: Suite B12, First Floor, Abraham Plaza, Plot 6, Ekukaniam Str., by ABC Transport, Utako, Abuja - FCT. Tel: +234-(0) 09095965814, (0)8068928079, (0)7066221737 Emails: [email protected], [email protected] Website: www.newdiplomat.ngDiplomat16.indd 2 6/17/16 9:41 PM

vol. 2 no 18 • june 20 - july 4, 2016 the new diplomat 3 LegislativeWatch Shock As Saraki, Akpabio, 28 Others Record Zero Bills (I) continued from page 1 in the period under review are Ahmed Sani Melaye who had 10 bills each. leiman Nazif and Abdullahi Adamu.gauge the performance of each of the 103 sena- Yarima (Zamfara), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso The New Diplomat check also show that Those that have sponsored three bills are Clif-tors in the last one year. The assessment is based (Kano), George Akume (Benue), Danjumasolely on the number of bills sponsored. The Goje (Gombe), Adamu Aliero (Kebbi), Jonah Senator Ben Murray-Bruce and Senator Philip ford Ordia, Dada Gbolahan, Shehu Sani, Ol-criterion of constituency projects is considered Jang (Plateau), Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe) and Aduda sponsored nine bills each, Isa Hamma uremi Tinubu, Kabiru Gaya, Chukuwuka Utazi,inapplicable now because of the long delay in Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom). Others are Misau has eight and Jibrin Barau seven. Others Joshua Lidani, Bala Ibn Na’Allah, Ovie Omo-the passage of the 2016 Budget. Out of the 103 Abu Ibrahim, Bayero Nafada, Jeremiah Useni, are senators Stella Oduah, Tijjani Kaura, David Agege and John Enoh.senators, 73 have sponsored bills in the period the spokesperson of the Senate Ali Sabi, Sulei- Umaru, Obinna Ogba, Sam Egwu, Ibrahimunder the review. A check by this newspaper man Hunkuyi, Muhammad Hassan,Abdul-Aziz Gobir and Rose Oko with six bills each. Those who sponsored two bills areAliyu Wa-shows that Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Murtala Nyako and Ahmed Lawan. mako, Bassey Akpan, Isiaka Adeleke, Emman-his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, former Senate Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, Senator Ali Ndu- uel Bwacha, John Enoh, and MallamAli Wakili.President David Mark and 27 others are among The review showed that Senator Andy Uba me (Senate Leader), Rafiu Ibrahim Adebayo,the ranking senators that fail to sponsor any bill led the chart with 13 bills, followed by Senator Joshua Dariye, Robert Boroffice, BuhariAbdul- Senators with a single bill to their names arewithin the period. Biodun Olujimi and Senator Theodore Orji who fatai, Gilbert Nnaji, Kashamu Buruji sponsored Foster Ogola, Banta Garba Masi, Baba Kaka had 11 bills respectively. They were followed by five bills each. Bashir Garbai, Ubali Shittu, Donald Alasoa- Senators who have no bills to their names Senator Babajide Omoworare and Senator Dino dura, James Manager, Sonni Ogbuoji, Ade- Among senators that had four bills each are ola Solomon, Kabiru Marafa and Abaribe Har- Sponsored Bills By Senators From S’West Lanre Tejuoso, Umaru Kurfi, Hope Uzodinma, court. Others are Sam Anyanwu, Danjuma Laa, Barnabas Gemade, FrancisAlimikhena, Shaaba Olusola Adeyeye, Nelson Effiong, Emmanuel Lafiagi, Mathew Urhoghide, Duro Faseyi, Su- Paulker, Mustapha Bukar and Gbenga Ashafa. Performance chart of Nigerian Senators By Bills sponsored Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central) Adesoji Akanbi (Oyo South) • Source: The New Diplomat Data Analysis Desk Wife of former Lagos State Governor, Sena- No bill is recorded against this senator’s nametor Oluremi Tinubu representing Lagos Cen- for the whole year Sponsored Bills By S’South Senatorstral Senatorial District, sponsored three bills Buruji Kashamu (Ogun East)in 12 months one of which is SB 122: Lagos He sponsored five bills two of which are SBState Economic Assistance Bill of 27/10/2015. 49: Mental Health Bill 08/10/2015; SB91: Na-However, despite the late passage of the 2016 tional Security Tax Fund (Est etc, 22/10/2015budget, she has been actively impacting on her Olanrewaju Tejuoso (Ogun Central)constituency through quarterly empowerment No bill was sponsored by this senator in 12programmes. months Olugbenga Ashafa ( Lagos East) Gbolahan Dada (Ogun West) He sponsored one bill in the whole year. Sponsored three bills. Like his counterpart in Adeola Olamilekan (Lagos West) Ogun Central, this senator sponsored no bill in He sponsored only one bill: SB 93: Federal a full yearcapital Territory Act2004 (Amendment) Bill on Ajayi Boroffice (Ondo North)22/10/2015 Sponsored five bills two of which are SB 90: Olusola Adeyeye (Osun Central) Presidential Transition Bill 14/10/2015; SB 92: Sponsored one bill Nigerian Council for Food Science and Tech- Babajide Omoworare (Osun East) nology (Est.etc) 27/10/2015) This senator sponsored 10 bills six of which Tayo Alasoadura (Ondo Central)are: SB222: National Assembly Budget and Re- There is only one bill to this senator’s namesearch Office (Est. etc) 2016 16/2/2016; SB 33: Yele Omogunwa (Ondo South)Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Act No bill to this name(Amendment) Bill 11/08/2015; SB130: Consti- Duro Faseyi (Ekiti North)tution Alteration Bill 25/11/2015; SB30 Consti- Sponsored four bills one of which is SB111:tution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria1999 Nongovernmental Organisation Regulations(Alteration Bill) 07/10/2015; SB 29 Constitution Bill 20/10/2015of the Federal Republic of Nigeria1999 (Altera- Fatimat Raji-rasaki (Ekiti Central)tion) Bill 07/10/2015; SB 28 Constitution of the This woman sponsored no single bill for aFederal Republic of Nigeria1999 (Alteration) whole yearBill 06/10/2015; SB 27: Nigerian Law reform Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South)Commission Act (Amendment) Bill 06/10/2015; This senator sponsored 11 bills seven of whichSB 25: Labour Transportation Bill, 12/08/2015 are: SB 37: Women Empowerment and Gender Isiaka Adeleke (Osun West) Equality Bill 30/09/2015; SB45: Equal Oppor- He sponsored two bills one of which is SB 87: tunity Commission (Est,etc) Bill 13/10/2015;National Parole and Prohibition Bill 14/10/2015 SB 46: National Library Act (Amendment) Bill Monsurat Sunmonu (Oyo Central) 15/10/2015; SB 47: Prevention and Punishment There is no single bill to the name of this fe- of Torture Bill 28/10/2015; SB53: Control ofmale senator Delegated Legislation Bill 03/11/2015;SB55: Buhari Abdulfatai (Oyo North) Counterfeit and fake Drugs and Unwholesome This senator sponsored three bills in all viz: Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provision)SB 101: Nigerian Political Debate Commission (Amendment) Bill 03/11/2015; SB 48: Nige-(Establishment etc) Bill 15/10/2015; SB 99: rian Tourism Development Corporation ActTraffic Warden Service Bill 14/10/2015 and SB LFN2004 (Amendment) Bill 04/11/2015.100 Police Development Tax Fund(Est.etc) Bill27/10/2015 Sponsored Bills By N’East Senators Binta Masi Garba (Adamawa North) Ahmad Zannah (Borno Central) Rose Oko (Cross River North) Sponsored no bill Sponsored one bill No bill to his name Sponsored six bills Nelson Effiong (A/Ibom South) Ahmadu Abubakar (Adamawa South) Ali Ndume (Borno South) Gershom Bassey (C/River South) Sponsored one bill No bill to his name Sponsored five bills No bills to his name Ben Murray-Bruce (Bayelsa East) Abdul Aziz Murtala Nyako Bayero Nafada (Gombe North) John Enoh (Cross River Central) Sponsored seven bills (Adamawa Central) No bills sponsored Sponsored three bills Emanuel Paulker (Bayelsa Central) No bill to his name Goje Danjuma (Gombe Central) Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central) Sponsored one bill Isah Hamma Misau (Bauchi Central) No bills sponsored Sponsored three bills Ogola Foster (Bayelsa West) Sponsored eight bills Abubakar Sani Danladi (Taraba North) Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North) Sponsored two bills Ali Wakili (Bauchi South) No bills to his name Sponsored two bills George Sekibo (Rivers East) Sponsored two bills Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf (Taraba Central) James Manager (Delta South) No bills to his name Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi North) No bills to his name Sponsored one bill Olaka Nwogu (Rivers S/East) Sponsored four bills Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South) Bassey Albert (A/Ibom North East) No bills to his name Abubakar Kyari (Borno North) No bills to his name Sponsored two bills Osinakachukwu Ideozu (Rivers West) No bill to his name Godswill Akpabio (A/Ibom West) No bills to his name • To be continued continued from page 2 Why Three Nigerian Reps Risk Jail In The USperson solicited commit the crime. er of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu State) have however denied the allegations. According to him, “Without conclusive evidence Dogara, had accused the trio of misconduct relat- The New Diplomat, in phone chats with some of any sort or contact with any of the accused in- In the state of Ohio, Prostitution, loitering, and ing to sex during a trip to the United States. The dividuals, the US State Department and US Em-solicitation for sex are punishable by up to 60 days visas of the three lawmakers were subsequently prominent citizens of Akwa Ibom, Bauchi and bassy in Nigeria have less than six days after yourin jail and a fine of up to $5,000. The Cleveland revoked. The affected members, Mr. Mohammed Benue states, learnt that moves were already on letter to the Speaker, gone ahead to revoke the USPolice Department claims to have has enough evi- Garba-Gololo (Bauchi State); Mr. Terse Gbillah to recall the embattled lawmakers. visas of the accused individuals based on hearsaydence that the Nigerian lawmakers made serious (Benue State) and Mr. Samuel Ikon (Cross River from the employees of the hotel in Cleveland.”attempts to engage in prostitution and solicitation. Meanwhile, one of the lawmakers, Mr. Terse Gbillah, has accused the U.S government of bias, Aletter from the USAmbassador to the Speak-Diplomat16.indd 3 6/17/16 9:42 PM

4 the new diplomat vol. 2 no 18 • june 20 - july 4, 2016 PlatformHRM (AVM) Your Majesty, the scenario which • HRM (AVM) Ararile, Awaeke 1, Ovie of Umiaghwa Abraka KingArarile: Why played out in the Niger Delta thatMilitancy prompted the Amnesty programmeMay Linger which you championed, appears toIn N’Delta have resurfaced with the recent bombings of oil installations and facilities by a new groupHis Royal Majesty, Lucky Ochuko Ararile, Awaeke of militants.The President has opted for a1 Ovie of Umiaghwa Abraka Kingdom in Ethiope military solution amidst other strategies.East Local Government Area of Delta State is a What would your advice be?retired Air Vice Marshall (AVM). Born in 1954, the62-year-old monarch joined the Airforce in 1974 Well, what people can say now is that itwhen he was just 20 years old. He had his early seems nothing has changed; but actually a lotlife in Kaduna where his father, who fought in the has changed. We had Movement for the Eman-Second World War, settled after demobilizing cipation of Niger Delta (MEND), we are nowfrom the war. The father worked with the Nigeria having the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). WeRailways, a job that took him to several cities such are going to have more unless the underliningas Jos, Jangidi, Kafanchan and finally Kaduna where issues are addressed. What that means is thathe settled. HRM Ararile had his early education at MEND has been settled. If you ask me, I wouldthe Army Childrens’ School, Kaduna and at the age say it has been over-settled. So, new kids areof seven, he was brought to the then Midwest State now on the block wanting to be settled. Afterby his uncle to stay with his grandmother in Abraka. you settle this, more would come. And I haveHe went to the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) always said this, we must look at things holisti-for the basic military training and thereafter went to cally in a fundamental way rather than address-flying training schools, including those of the Royal ing things that concern individuals. If we don’tAir Force as well as the United States Air Force. He look at the fundamentals, after the ‘Avengers’,was part of the ECOMOG peace-keeping mission we may have the ‘Revengers’.to Liberia and Sierra Leone from 1990 to 2000 andalso several peace keeping-missions in other parts …So what are the fundamentals?of the world. He was also involved in the Joint Task The fundamentals are that the environmentForce (JTF) Operation Restore Hope in the Niger has been degraded, the resources from a par-Delta region. He is the pioneer coordinator of the ticular region are being used to feed the wholeFederal Government Amnesty Programme in the country. It is not as if the other parts of theNiger Delta. A widely-read and widely-travelled pilot, country have nothing to contribute, to put on theHRM Ararile is quite vast on national issues and his table, they do. But what they have in other partsexperience traverses several fields. He answered the of the country are not reflected in the nationalcall of his people after retirement to come home and budget. When it is time for budgeting you hearlead as a custodian of the culture and tradition of the of oil benchmark.What about gold benchmark?people. In this exclusive interview with our South We have been having gold in the South west allSouth Bureau Chief, JOHN OGHOJAFOR, HRM these years. So, why is revenue from gold allArarile bared his mind on the way forward for Nigeria, these years not in the budget? What about lead?especially at this trying period. He also disclosed the Where is the revenue from lead? For example,root cause of the pockets of resurgence of militancy. about two years ago, about 1,000 children died of lead poisoning in Zamfara State in the pro- cess of mining. I keep asking the question: Whenever they want to do budgeting, they will talk of oil bench mark, 68 dollars, 50 dollars and so on. What about solid minerals bench mark? We have solid minerals in this country and they are being mined, some say it is illegal mining. So, if it is illegal, what is the federal government doing about it? The illegal bunkerers in the Ni- ger Delta are being pursued. Why are they not pursuing the illegal miners of solid minerals? You were the pioneer coordinator of the Amnesty Programme in the Niger Delta dur- ing the regime of late President Yar’Adua. Did you not believe the programme could address the problem of the Niger Delta then? Yes, I believed and still believe in it. It was not a unidirectional type of programme. It was a programme that encompassed the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), infrastructural development in the Niger Delta namely, the East-West Road, the East-West Coastline Road and the East-West Rail line project. And these are interventionist projects which, if we had pursued, would have created so much jobs. It would have impacted so much on the local communities, it would have developed the area. But these things were not done. So, theAmnesty Programme became a programme for just addressing the problems of 30,000 youths. And I have been saying it that the problems of youths’restiveness in the Niger Delta is more than the problems of just 30,000 youths. They are millions. Rather than come up with a holistic programme for the Niger Delta which the late President Yar’Adua planned for, it was abandoned. And they used 30,000 cap- tive figure to undermine the programme meant for the entire Niger Delta. So, we are dealing with 30,000 youths whereas we have probably more than 3 million youths to deal with. But immediately, Jonathan came in, all those things were abandoned. The Amnesty became tribalized. So, instead of the issues that will concern the whole Niger Delta, it became trib- alized. Even the National Assembly was trying to throw out the Petroleum Industry Bill pre- sented by the President, an Hausa president, a Fulani man. He was insisting that the bill must be there. So, what did we achieve in having a South South President? …Now the bombings are going on. What is the immediate solution? Bombings will go on if the fundamental issues are not addressed. But for us who are South Southerners, we must recognize that the people doing these bombings are not doing it in our own interest. They are not fighting our ownDiplomat16.indd 4 6/17/16 9:42 PM

vol. 2 no 18 • june 20 - july 4, 2016 the new diplomat 5 platform cause. They are fighting their own cause, they But there are cattle owners also in the want to be settled. South?Abraka Kingdom The President has adopted a military ap- Let me tell you why it is even so painful to Diplomat16.indd 5 proach. Would that solve the problem? me. In Europe now, if you want to transport cattle from pointAto point B, there are regula- Well, we adopted a civilian approach and it tions: the type of vehicle you can put them in, did not solve it. And I have just told you that the number of hours you can drive them, the it will continue. After ‘Avengers’ there will be temperature inside the vehicle; after you have ‘Revengers’. We cannot continue that way just driven them for a certain number of hours, you because people want to be settled. It may not must bring them out to exercise before you put be a matter of deploying more troops to the Ni- them back into the vehicle and take them to ger Delta. What I see right now is the failure point B. I’m not even looking at the cattle, of institutions. People are just being paid for I’m looking at the human beings. These are doing nothing. people, young and old people with wives and children that they have abandoned. For years, Another issue is that of persistent Fulani they will not see their wives. So, when they herdsmen attacks on hapless Nigerians. come to the South, even when they are in the Only recently a staff of the Delta State Uni- North, they are raping. Let me say this, it is versity, Abraka within the jurisdiction of not an issue that concerns only the South. In Your Majesty kingdom was murdered in Ghana, they have the same problem. In the his farm by these rampaging herdsmen. It North, they have the same problem. Zamfara is happening in the South East, South West has the same problem, Katsina has the same and even in the North. Is it the fact that Mu- problem, and Adamawa has the problem. So, hammadu Buhari, a Fulani man is in power it is not an issue of the North and South. It is an that has provoked other Fulanis to take up issue of a phenomenon. arms against Nigerians. What has hap- pened and what is the way forward? Are you saying it is because of the hostile life they are exposed to and some kind of (laughs). Do you know why I’m laughing, deprivation that are provoking them to at- because a Fulani man is in power then other tack people? Fulanis will just take up arms --- to do what? It doesn’t make sense. The simple thing is this, That you will take to the universities, let we must look at things from the fundamental them do the research. But what I know is basis. Cattle rearing the way we have had it that you cannot put a man who has a wife, in Nigeria is primitive. In fact, it is feudalis- two years three years leading cattle, and in tic. And I really don’t know why the United the bush with a woman farming, and no man Nations has not included it in one of its pro- around, you cannot stop it. And in any case, grammes. It is something that has to be elimi- the system that puts him in that situation is nated. It is modern slavery. You have money, guilty. That is what I’m saying, we are all you recruit me and give cows and I travel thou- guilty. Why should people be leading cows sands of kilometres, no wife, no children. It hundreds of kilometres? Why? This is the is wicked. When I read comments on these Twenty-First Century. Dogs can do this ef- issues in the papers I’m so disappointed by fectively. the level of our inability to analyze the prob- lem. It’s so sad. Will you send your child to The federal government, in pursuit of its lead your own cattle hundreds and thousands deregulation policy of the downstream sec- of kilometres from your home. It is even bet- tor of oil and gas, has finally removed sub- ter now with GSM they can communicate. In sidies from petroleum products. Fuel now those days they use to communicate with BBC sells for a minimum of N145 per litre. Is Hausa Service. this the right time to do this? Would the appropriate pricing of petroleum products But the Fulanis, as we know them, are solve the perennial problem of fuel scar- nomadic? city? It is not a question of nomadism, nomad- Let me tell you, this thing should have been ism is not that they just like trekking. If they done much earlier. It was first attempted in like trekking, then they don’t need cows, they 2012 and it was Diezani Madueke, the then should be trekking round the world. They are Minister of Petroleum, that actually messed looking for grazing areas for their cows, that up the Finance Minister, Dr. Okonjo Iweala. is why they are moving. It is not that they like OccupyNigeria went into the streets then. You trekking, ok. Let me tell you something, when see, we must deregulate and devalue the naira I was a student pilot in England in the Royal now, we must get appropriate pricing for pe- Airforce, 1974 to 75, we used to fly over the troleum products. If we don’t, we are living Yorkshire Moors. Yorkshire Moor is in York- in a fool’s paradise, we are heading towards shire. Now, when you overfly the Yorkshire Zimbabwe, we are heading towards Venezue- moors even in summer, it is all white. And you la. Venezuela refused to do this thing at the ap- think, is there snow in Yorkshire in summer? propriate time, now it has to increase fuel price And we were not allowed to fly below a certain by about 6,000 percent. Are you not aware? altitude. But as student pilots, when we were You can blame the IMF, you can blame the on our own, we flew low and we saw they are World Bank, that is your own business. all cattle, cows, sheep, goats. Hundreds and thousands of them probably but not one hu- …You are talking about devaluation of man being among them. Do you know what the naira, is that part of the deregulation control those cattle? Dogs! Dogs were trained package? to take care of those cattle. In the evenings when it was time for them to leave that place to They are all part of the same bouquet, it is their respective owners’ pens, it was the dogs a whole bouquet that we have to take. If you that would select them and lead them back have HIV for instance, you have a bouquet to the pens. In the morning, the dogs would of drugs that you have to take and you have bring them back there. Here we are, in 2016, to take them together. And that is where we Twenty-First Century, a human being gives have found ourselves. We have problem with another human being 100 cows to just keep devaluation, we have problem with deregula- trekking and looking for grass. It is worse than tion. We also have the issue of inflation. No slavery. The first thing is that the federal gov- matter what we do, inflation is coming. But ernment must come out with a policy to ban it. if we are able to manage deregulation and de- And I know as a fact that in Nigeria today in valuation then we would have fewer problems the North, we have invested so much in dams. ahead and the Central Bank can then effective- They can construct any type of ranch in the ly carry out its monetary and fiscal policies. North, they have the land, they have the dams. So, these things should be set up there. And it When Iran was to deregulate and re- is inhuman if we don’t do that. move oil subsidies, it took it two to three years to prepare the minds of the people How do you see the Grazing Reserve Bill for it by providing standard transportation purportedly with the National Assembly? and other welfare packages. Here in Nige- Would that solve the problem? Is it accept- ria, there was no arrangement to cushion able to you? the effect of deregulation and all of a sud- den it is removal of subsidies. Why? I have not seen the bill, so I don’t know its content. I really cannot comment on it. But Let me tell you about Iran you have just what I can say is that we can create environ- cited. Iran has just executed one billionaire ment for people to have ranches to take care of for corruption. Have we been able to even their cows. There are already enough dams in prosecute one millionaire for corruption? So, the North, there are enough land in the North. you cannot make those comparisons because continued on page 6 6/17/16 9:44 PM

6 the new diplomat vol. 2 no 18 • june 20 - july 4, 2016Platform hrm (avm) ararile: Why Militancy May Linger in N’Delta continued from page 5 • HRM (AVM) Ararile, Awaeke 1, Ovie of and with your own idea of what resources they over him with an order to catch him if he even-you cannot compare us with other countries. Umiaghwa Abraka Kingdom have, judge. tually steals.Do I say we are anti-social? Basically, if you Buhari fighting?ask me, the problem with Nigeria is that we Are you trying to defend the Airforce With the free fall of oil prices and thedon’t apply the laws. Why do we even have the But some Nigerians are saying that Bu- now? downward trend in the Nigerian economyNational Assembly? Honestly, if you ask me, hari has achieved a lot in his anti-corrup- there are suggestions that the countryI don’t know. You cannot make laws that are tion crusade that should be appreciated by I’m not trying to defend it, I’m telling you should diversify and play down on depen-not applied. In Delta State for example, they the international community. the truth. I’m not telling you that people did dence on oil. What’s your view?passed the law for death penalty for kidnapping not steal, people stole. And I’m angry, I evenoffence. In fact, in all the states of the federa- I appreciate that, but I’m a little bit concerned, said some of them should be shot. It is con- Let me say this, Saudi Arabia finds itself intion, they have laws for death penalty for armed just like some other Nigerians. Given Buhari’s demnable. the same situation as we do. A deputy crownrobbery. Tell me when last they executed one antecedent, I have absolute confidence in his prince is now in charge of the economy and heconvicted armed robber either by hanging or integrity. But I was getting a little concerned I feel pained, I feel pained. I flew airplanes came out with a road map for Saudi diversifica-firing squad? So, what it the purpose of that about the opacity of the anti-corruption strat- that were poorly-maintained, I knew. I flew tion. There is a figure to it --- $2 trillion. Whatlaw? The primary problem with Nigeria, as far egies. We hear people are refunding monies airplane C130 from Lagos to Monrovia, three I’m hearing in Nigeria is that we are going toas I know and believe is that we have laws but but how much? I thought that with his back- hours flight on three engines to rescue my col- diversify, agriculture, we shall import grasswe don’t apply them. We have laws on paper. ground, he should, on real time basis, come out leagues. So, I knew I could have been a victim. from Brazil. My problem with Nigeria is thatIn China, there is one billionaire that will soon to say this is how much we have recovered, a Nobody in the Nigerian military that will come where will it begin? Nigeria has always beenbe executed. But in Nigeria, we don’t apply the cumulative daily, almost real time report. That and tell me about the risk that we faced from a proposition and a supposition. In Obasanjo’slaws. So, why do we need the NationalAssem- is what I expected from him which he didn’t corruption. The simple fact that I’m here now time, he kept stressing Nigeria was going tobly, to do what, to make laws that will not be do. But I will give him the benefit of the doubt is by the grace of God, otherwise I would have attain 10,000 megawatts of power generationapplied? given his own personal integrity. been a victim. and supply. Later on, Jonathan was talking of 16,000 megawatts. Suddenly, there was no While the petroleum subsidy regime All said, I think he has done well. But there A bit of diversion sir, during President megawatts again. So, Nigeria has always beenlasted, Nigerians were told that it was those are areas that need to be improved upon. For Jonathan regime, there were claims that either ‘suppose to’ or ‘going to’. So, this hasin the upper class who were actually enjoy- example, I don’t believe that corruption issue there was absolute absence of Urhobo in been our problem. Come out with a plan. Iing it because they have fleet of cars which can be solved by looking at the mega issues his government. One year into President thought that Buhari would have adopted one ofthey run with cheap fuel. The poor man has alone, that is, those people who stole billions Buhari’s government there is no presence the plans, 2020, 2015 or even bring up 2010no cars and hardly benefits from subsidies. only. There is so much corruption in the sys- of an Urhobo man in his government. As an and brush it up. But there has never been anyNow deregulation has come, subsidies have tem even down to the lowest level. Probably a Urhobo, do you feel the Urhobos have been plan. All that we are hearing is the same repeti-been withdrawn, it is still the poor that are different agency has to be set up for lower-level marginalized? tion of the same proposition and supposition.suffering. When will the burden upon Nige- corruption because this thing has to be tackledrians be lifted? holistically. I’m amazed at the job EFCC is Well, let me say this. Issues about tribal Do you think agriculture can pull Nigeria doing, I must commend them. I don’t know representation get me on the wrong side, truly out of this mess? You see, all those they are talking about the what their staff strength is, but I hear they get speaking. The earlier we got the right peoplerich enjoying subsidies is basically because of involved in N5 million, N2 million, N200,000 into the right places the better for us. I know I don’t see why not. First, we have to be ablecorruption. The whole essence of subsidies is corruption cases. I think the president should we went to see President Jonathan and he gave to feed ourselves. Whether we like it or not,to make things cheap. But even at that, the poor be able to look at some other structures; he us the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs. Before we just have to do that. If we don’t feed our-man does not see the cheap fuel to buy. So, it inherited these structures. He has been able that, it was Minister of State for Education. selves, the next time there is problem, we maybecame an excuse for corruption. Young boys to detach himself from the process and make From these, what did the Urhobo people ben- not find it easy to get rice from Thailand. Wejust fill papers with the corrupt system, they col- them work. efit? Is it just to have representation so that we already have problem with foreign exchange.lect billions of naira and they start buying pri- have people around the table to hear what they So, when people talk about security, securityvate jets. This is somebody you knew yester- And this is the point I wanted to make with are saying or what they are planning? In the by definition is the absence of fear. But whenday, his father does not even have one building, this Fulani issue. I think it is the failure of the real terms, we wanted a South South president, you widen that definition you will see that it in-now riding private jet. He has one or two pilots. security system, people looking at the body and Jonathan got there. So, what did we get cludes hunger, it includes physical abuse (suchDo you know how much it takes to maintain an language of the president, no, no. You are the as South Southerners? And what did the Ijaws as the Fulani herdsmen attack, armed robbery,aircraft? Even a twin-engine propeller aircraft. IG of police. Two or three years ago, you were get? Yes, the Orubebes, the Tompolos benefit- kidnapping, etc). You cannot lay claim to se-You will pay landing fees, any time you land in appointed the IG of police. All of a sudden, ted, but what did the Ijaws get? Other people curity if you cannot feed yourself. So, agricul-an airport you pay, any place you park you pay, we are having Fulani herdsmen all over the are now blowing up oil pipelines, degrading ture can pull us out of this mess on the basiseven the day you did not use the aircraft, you place. Fulanis have always been in Nigeria. the environment, their fathers and mothers can that every Nigerian should make effort to feedstill pay. At a time we were competing with Why this new phenomenon? Why didn’t you no more fish. himself or herself through getting involved inpeople who have the highest number of private tackle the problem when it was arising, even agriculture in anyway.jets in the world, yet we have few manufactur- if they were foreigners? This is because when The only thing they celebrated was thating factories. The motive of government in cre- they are coming from wherever, you have the Abacha gave them Bayelsa State. Bayelsa This reminds one of the Federal Minis-ating subsidies is great. But the institutions, the immigration officers, you also have DPOs in State depends on oil. And as at today, Bay- try of Agriculture’s cassava project in yourstructures for implementing, that is, to ascertain each of the Local government as they cross. elsa cannot pay civil servants’ salaries. They kingdom, Abraka. What is the progress ofthat you are entitled to this subsidy is not there. And these people are carrying arms and they have very little internally-generated revenue, that project now?So, DPR is jumping all over the place trying to are crossing freely into your local government so they are blowing up the pipelines. I wasforce people to sell fuel at N86.50, but I know area in which you are the DPO, and officers are telling them during the Amnesty Programme I’ll give you the details. It is true that thethat in Abraka here there was no filling station being promoted every day for doing nothing. that it was not in their interest. Now, Lagos has Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural De-that sold at N86.50. oil and they are going to commence explora- velopment through Delta State government un- The corruption issue has also eaten deep tion in the Lake Chad basin. I’m very happy der Gov. Uduaghan then, approached the com- So, what is the essence of this subsidy when into yourprimary constituency, the military. about that. Do you know why I’m happy? It munity to provide a land for a cassava project.you cannot implement it? It is a failure of gov- Are you shocked that such a disciplined unit is because at the end of the day we are no lon- The community provided the land and wenternance. The government, with all its coercive could be so deeply involved in corruption? ger going to be talking about Niger Delta or into some memorandum of understandingpowers cannot enforce the rules that it makes. South South, we are going to be talking about (MOU). The ministry actually came, we gave I’m not only shocked but I’m really em- oil producing states. Lagos is going to be there them the land and they planted 450 hectares of This takes us to the issue of corruption. barrassed. But we have not reached the end from the South West, Borno will be there from cassava. Usually, cassava matures in a year,A few days ago, the British Prime Minister, of investigation. Right now it is the Airforce the North East. The interest is no more North/ or maximum two years; beyond that it gets rot-Mr. David Cameron was making mockery where the former Service chiefs are being South. And when we now come to the round ten. The whole programme encompassed theof Nigerians as ‘fantastically corrupt’ and interrogated. It is so because of our own cul- table, the issue of solid minerals that have setting up of a processing plant to process thesome Nigerians were reacting, condemning ture in the Airforce. We have mechanisms for been exploited over these years that have not cassava. The Chinese partners were to buildit. What is your reaction? fighting corruption. And one way or the other been accounted for will be put on the table and the plant here in Abraka. Somehow, the plant the chairman of this presidential panel on arms people, not necessarily from the South South, was tied to a loan from the Chinese which did Those who were protesting against the asser- purchase is anAir Force officer. He knows our will join us. So, Nigeria is fortuitously moving not materialize, so the Chinese didn’t come.tion of the Prime Minister are actually the cor- own culture and he started from the Airforce. in the right direction. And with Buhari, I have So, the next strategy was for the ministry to gorupt Nigerians. I stand by the Prime Minister By the rating of most anti-corruption agencies, confidence in him. into a private public partnership (PPP) kind ofto say we are fantastically corrupt. We know the Nigerian Air Force has always been one of arrangement. The Bank of Industry (BOI) wasthis, we are corrupt. You see, as a pilot, the first the best-rated institutions as far as corporate How would you assess Buhari’s govern- to fund it but because of change in government,thing I was told when I was being trained as a governance is concerned. But to validate that ment so far? somehow the project became comatose. Now,pilot was that for you to survive in this industry, point, I want to challenge you to go to the Air two years after, the cassava have gotten ma-when you are lost, the first thing for you is to Force bases, Navy, Army, Police, Customs, He has been slow, I would say that upfront. tured and at the stage of getting rotten.accept you are lost. In those days, (unlike now Even for me, he is agonizingly so slow. A lotthat you have GPS, the global positioning sys- of things that should have been done have not What do we do? I went to the Minister oftem, and you can identify your location), it was been done. For example, he has not compen- Agriculture and I presented a position paper tonot like that. We had to sometimes use roads to sated hisAPC people. Why did they campaign him. The consensus was that we should har-identify our locations, we call it pilotage. Now, for him? Why did they vote for him? Why did vest the cassava and use the proceeds to replantwhen you get lost in that circumstance, the first they put their money there? All these things with the hope that before the next harvest sea-thing you do to yourself is to say ‘I’m lost’. If are not to steal money. It is just to raise their son the federal government should have set upyou fool yourself that you are not lost you will ego but it should be clear to them that if they the processing plant. But I’m sorry to reportbe flying around until you run out of fuel and steal money they would go to jail. So, put your that we now harvest the cassava and take themyou crash and die. So, the first thing you do people there. He has removed a lot of people to Lagos, and because of the transportation costis to be honest with yourself and say ‘I don’t but no replacement. Almost everybody work- we are making losses. The project is not deadknow where I’m’. Agree with yourself that you ing with him, apart from the ministers, are act- but we have challenges. By the time the gov-don’t know where you are and from there you ing. You cannot depend on somebody you put ernment settles down, probably they will seecan start tracing your location. And how do you there in acting capacity. He has to come out the need to revive the project. But for now thisdetermine that, you look outside and look at the very strongly. He has a lot of appointments is where we are. The project has been conces-map and when you are able to identify ‘some to make to release a lot of pressure from him- sioned to a private company who employs thelandmark, you get your bearing from there. So self. All that he has to do is to put tag on these community indigenes on a daily basis to do thefor us to tackle corruption, we must first admit people. harvesting. So, in a way, the community is notthat we are corrupt, otherwise, what is President making a loss because the people they engage That was what Obasanjo was doing, appoint daily are being paid wages. somebody and put another person to watchDiplomat16.indd 6 6/17/16 9:44 PM

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10 the new diplomat vol. 2 no 18 • june 20 - july 4, 2016 oil&GasTCrude oil price forecast for June 2016. Oil Price Forecast For 2016 And 2017 he forecast for beginning of June 49.67. Maximum price 54.98, while minimum price at the end 64.23, change for June 5.00%. Oil price forecast for July 2017. The forecast for beginning of August 66.16. 44.98. Averaged oil price for month Crude oil price forecast for June 2017. The forecast for beginning of July 64.23. Maximum price 74.11, while minimum 60.63. 49.90. Brent oil price at the end 49.98, The forecast for beginning of June 61.17. Maximum price 72.78, while minimum 59.54. Averaged oil price for month 67.07. Brent oilchange for June 0.62%. Averaged oil price for month 65.68. Brent oil price at the end 67.37, change forAugust 1.83%. Maximum price 70.65, while minimum 57.81. price at the end 66.16, change for July 3.00%. Oil price forecast for July 2016. Averaged oil price for month 63.47. Brent oil Crude oil price forecast for August 2017. • Culled from The Economy Forecast Agency. The forecast for beginning of July 49.98. Max- price at the end 64.23, change for June 5.00%.imum price 55.32, while minimum 45.26. Aver-aged oil price for month 50.21. Brent oil price at • The prices are in US Dollars per 1 crude oil barrel•the end 50.29, change for July 0.62%. Crude oil price forecast for August 2016. Table: Oil Price Forecast By Month The forecast for beginning of August 50.29.Maximum price 57.08, while minimum 46.70. Year Month Open Max Min Close Average Month%Ch Total%ChAveraged oil price for month 51.49. Brent oilprice at the end 51.89, change for August 3.18%. 2016 June 49.67 54.98 44.98 49.98 49.90 0.62% 0.62% Oil price forecast for September 2016. The forecast for beginning of September 2016 July 49.98 55.32 45.26 50.29 50.21 0.62% 1.25%51.89. Maximum price 59.93, while minimum 2016 Aug 50.29 57.08 46.70 51.89 51.49 3.18% 4.47%49.03. Averaged oil price for month 53.83. Brentoil price at the end 54.48, change for September 2016 Sept. 51.89 59.93 49.03 54.48 53.83 4.99% 9.68%4.99%. 2016 Oct 54.48 62.92 51.48 57.20 56.52 4.99% 15.16% Crude oil price forecast for October 2016. The forecast for beginning of October 54.48. 2016 Nov 57.20 65.15 53.31 59.23 58.72 3.55% 19.25%Maximum price 62.92, while minimum 51.48. 2016 Dec 59.23 61.90 50.64 56.27 57.01 -5.00% 13.29%Averaged oil price for month 56.52. Brent oilprice at the end 57.20, change for October 4.99%. 2017 Jan 56.27 64.99 53.17 59.08 58.38 4.99% 18.95% Oil price forecast for November 2016. 2017 Feb 59.08 68.23 55.83 62.03 61.29 4.99% 24.88% The forecast for beginning of November 2017 Mar 62.03 66.55 54.45 60.50 60.88 -2.47% 21.80%57.20. Maximum price 65.15, while minimum53.31. Averaged oil price for month 58.72. Brent 2017 April 60.50 69.88 57.18 63.53 62.77 5.01% 27.90%oil price at the end 59.23, change for November 2017 May 63.53 67.29 55.05 61.17 61.76 -3.71% 23.15%3.55%. Crude oil price forecast for December 2016. 2017 June 61.17 70.65 57.81 64.23 63.47 5.00% 29.31% The forecast for beginning of December 2017 July 64.23 72.78 59.54 66.16 65.68 3.00% 33.20%59.23. Maximum price 61.90, while minimum50.64. Averaged oil price for month 57.01. Brent 2017 Aug 66.16 74.11 60.63 67.37 67.07 1.83% 35.64%oil price at the end 56.27, change for December 2017 Sept. 67.37 70.40 57.60 64.00 64.84 -5.00% 28.85%-5.00%. Oil price forecast for January 2017. 2017 Oct 64.00 73.92 60.48 67.20 66.40 5.00% 35.29% The forecast for beginning of January 56.27. 2017 Nov 67.20 70.22 57.46 63.84 64.68 5.00% 28.53%Maximum price 64.99, while minimum 53.17. 2017 Dec 63.84 73.73 60.33 67.03 66.23 5.00% 34.95%Averaged oil price for month 58.38. Brent oilprice at the end 59.08, change for January 4.99%. 2018 Jan 67.03 77.42 63.34 70.38 69.54 5.00% 41.70% Crude oil price forecast for February 2017. 2018 Feb 70.38 81.29 66.51 73.90 73.02 5.00% 48.78% The forecast for beginning of February 59.08.Maximum price 68.23, while minimum 55.83. 2018 Mar 73.90 85.36 69.84 77.60 76.68 5.01% 56.23%Averaged oil price for month 61.29. Brent oil 2018 Apr 77.60 89.63 73.33 81.48 80.51 5.00% 64.04%price at the end 62.03, change for February4.99%. 2018 May 81.48 92.02 75.29 83.65 83.11 2.66% 68.41% Oil price forecast for March 2017. 2018 June 83.65 96.61 79.05 87.83 86.79 5.00% 76.83% The forecast for beginning of March 62.03.Maximum price 66.55, while minimum 54.45.Averaged oil price for month 60.88. Brent oilprice at the end 60.50, change for March -2.47%. Crude oil price forecast for April 2017. The forecast for beginning of April 60.50.Maximum price 69.88, while minimum 57.18.Averaged oil price for month 62.77. Brent oilprice at the end 63.53, change for April 5.01%. Oil price forecast for May 2017. The forecast for beginning of May 63.53.Maximum price 67.29, while minimum 55.05.Averaged oil price for month 61.76. Brent oilprice at the end 61.17, change for May -3.71%. Crude oil price forecast for June 2017. The forecast for beginning of June 61.17.Maximum price 70.65, while minimum 57.81.Averaged oil price for month 63.47. Brent oil lifeOutsidePowerNdoma-Egba, Victor Of 7th Senate Returns To Legal Practice  TBy Augustine Osayande(Abuja Bureau Chief) periscope finished at Mary knoll College Okuku in Ogoja, • Ndoma-Egba he erstwhile Senate Leader of the 7th Cross Rivers State. Ndoma-Egba has an LL.B Senate has since returned to legal practice corded by the 7th Senate. Ndoma-Egba carved a degree from the University of Lagos, LLM de- in his law firm “The Ndoma-Egba Ebri niche for himself and became a brand and force gree from the University of Calabar and various &co” in Abuja. He had spent a record to reckon with as far as legislative matters are certificates from the Irish Development Institute,three terms in the red chambers. A check shows concerned. Shannon Ireland, Stanford and Havard Universi-that the firm was established in May 1987. The ties in the United States. He was called to the Ni-firm which had his first office in Calabar is now   He was a member of senate committees on gerian Bar in 1978 and was elevated to the rankknown across and beyond the country. “We had Upstream Petroleum Resources, Human Rights of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 2004.briefs that took us round the country and beyond and Legal Matters, and Information and Mediathe country. The legal firm has produced Senior and is deputy chairman of the Judiciary Com- Ndoma-Egba was two-term Chairman ofAdvocates, high court judges and several Attor- mittee of the Nigerian Senate. In May 2008, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Calabarneys-General both at the state and federal level,” Ndoma-Egba spoke in favour of amendments Branch; Member, National Executive Commit-a source told the The Diplomat. in the Nigeria Police Act, which came into ef- tee of the Nigerian Bar Association; Member of fect on April 1, 1943 and has essentially been the Body of Benchers and President of the Cala-   Ndoma-Egba was elected as senator in the unchanged since. In May 2009, he accused the bar Chamber of Commerce. He has also been5th National Assembly (2003–2007) to repre- then Action Congress party of delays in listing Director of the Cross River Basin and Rural De-sent Cross River Central Senatorial District and the 37 Local Council Development Areas in La- velopment Authority and Honourable Commis-was re-elected in 2007 for another four-year gos State in the constitution. sioner for Works and Transport.term. Ndoma-Egba was re-elected as Senatorfor Cross River Central on 26 April 2011 on the  Born on 8 March 1956 in Ikom, Cross River Ndoma-Egba was reportedly among overPDPplatform and he was chosen as the leader of State, Ndoma-Egba’s primary education was at 1,000 persons who defected from the Peoplesthe 7th Senate. St Martin’s Primary school, Ikom. Democratic (PDP) to the All Progressives Con- gress (APC) early this year and was also report- As Leader in the 7th Senate, he was very in- He started his secondary education at Gov- ed to have been appointed into the APC Boardstrumental to the remarkable achievements re- ernment Boys Secondary School in Ikom and of Trustees.Diplomat16.indd 10 6/17/16 9:47 PM

vol. 2 no 18 • june 20 - july 4, 2016 the new diplomat 11Politics2019: Delta APC Moves To Tackle PDP• President Buhari • Ogboru • Emerhor • Ochei these individual interests? What message are theyBy John Oghojafor This much was contained in the address of the taking to the national body of the party when they   Responding to a question on who is likely toT(South-south Bureau Chief) leader of the party in the state, Olorogun O’tega go visiting in the next three weeks or so in terms become the governorship flag-bearer of the APC Emerhor, during the expanded SEC meeting in of development of the party in the state?  come 2019, a top member of the Prophet Jones- he much-expected fusing of the opposi- Udu, when he declared: “If we had won the gov- led executive who would not want his name in tion parties in Delta State into one politi- ernorship election in Delta State, the situation   It would be recalled that the issue of how to print, responded: “When we get to that bridge cal body on the platform of the All Pro- would have been different. There is a difference position the new political entrants reared its head we shall cross it”.  But that may not be the posi- gressive Congress (APC) has been slated between Delta State and Lagos State and even when the idea of the other parties fusing into the tion of some political gladiators in the new APCfor July, 2016.  This forms part of the resolutions Edo State.  The difference is because APC had APC came up last year.  It was on the basis of structure.  Indications are that the ethno-politicaladopted from the report of the APC Welcome their states.  So, it is important that we get our that, The New Diplomat gathered, that the APC rivalry which has been planted by the PDP in theCommittee set up earlier in the year to work out state.” Welcome Committee was inaugurated to discuss name of power rotation between the three senato-modality to integrate the different structures of   Olorogun Emerhor noted that theAPC in the with incoming political parties’members.  It was rial districts in the state cannot be easily dispelledopposition parties in the state into one formidable state contested the 2015 when the PDPwas at the the report of the Welcome committee that was even with the present leadership structure in theAPC party. national level but that in 2019, elections would presented and adopted recently.  Although while APC.  Every move among the top gladiators is  The resolution adopted in an expanded APC be conducted with the APC at the national level. addressing the expanded State Executive Council subjected to interpretation and mutual suspicionState executive meeting held at the Orhuwho- He added that although the APC was strong in of the party which met at Orhuwhorun, Olorogun pervades the air as the new political marriagerun, Udu Local Government Area of Delta State the state, it needed other strong people to join the Emerhor stated clearly that the original state ex- comes on board.  recently gave a two-week window for the new party to make it stronger. ecutive committee of the party led by Prophetmembers coming from the Light of Labour party   Jones Erue, was still intact, a new executive body   A few days before the June 6 expanded ex-led by Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru, the Accord    How possible is it to build a stronger party named the Delta State Leadership Council made ecutive committee meeting at Orhuwhorun,party led by former Speaker of the Delta State with old foes? That seems to be the question on up of 50 members has emerged from the Wel- the senator representing Delta Central Senato-House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei and Sen- the lips of some.Across section of the traditional come Committee report.  And reading the reso- rial District, Mr. Ovie Omo-Agege, was hostedator Ovie Omo-Agege, among other parties, to followers of Ogboru who have followed him to lution drawn from the report, the State Deputy to a grand reception by the Orogun Council ofregister as members of the APC. APC are of the views that anything short of their chairman of the party, Mr. Ogodo, disclosed that chiefs in Orogun town, his country home.  In at-  It was also resolved that after the conclusion leader making it to be the governorship candi- the new leadership structure would be reflected at tendance, among other dignitaries, was the duoof the registration of new party members, the date of the party in 2019 will be unacceptable.  the council and ward levels. of Olorogun O’tega Emerhor and Chief Greatstate APC would pay a courtesy visit on the na-   Meanwhile, the thinking in the camp of Vic- Ogboru, who, in more than a year, have not beentional leadership of the party in Abuja and there- tor Ochei, The New Diplomat gathered, is for   More interesting in the new structure is the seen together anywhere in Urhobo land.  Theafter, carry out what the Deputy State chairman the former Speaker of the Delta State House of fact that it shall pilot the affairs of the party until clinking of glasses and backslapping betweenof the party, Mr. Cyril Ogodo, dubbed a Mega- Assembly, to slug it out with the incumbent gov- party congresses are held. Notwithstanding the these two political juggernauts on that occasionrally to formally usher in the new members. With ernor, Ifeanyi Okowa, for the number one seat in fact that the original APC constitutes about fifty was a clear indication that the past had been bur-this development, The New Diplomat, gathered the state come 2019.  percent of the membership of the new body, it is ied in favour of a new-found love and politicalthat the APC in Delta State is set to take over the   On the part of Olorogun Emerhor, it is uncer- not very clear if the party state executive commit- relationship.  This much was expressed in hisstate in 2019. tain if he still has his eyes on the governorship tee led by Prophet Erue has ceased to exist or is in speech when Olorogun Emerhor took the floor  There is no gainsaying the fact that the whole race in 2019 but some of his key followers who limbo for the time being.  to address the mammoth crowd that attended theessence of the APC throwing its door open for spoke to The New Diplomat on condition of an- occasion. the fusion of other parties in the state is to build onymity, expressed a strong view that their prin-  Another issue not addressed yet is whether thea formidable opposition party capable of doing cipal remains most qualified.  So, how is the new new 50-man Leadership Council will also adopt   Said he: “Na oyibo talk am say ‘divided youbattle with and wresting power from the PDP.  house of the APC in the state going to resolve Prophet Jones and his executive members or a fall united you strong’ and that is why we are new set of members will be appointed to repre- coming back together.  The opposition is back sent the original APC’s interest. continued on page 14Abasiama Idaresit: Taking Internet Advertising To New HeightsAbasiama Idaresit’s story is one that reinforces confidence in the • Idaresit Internet could help her advertise cheaply and Diamond Bank in Nigeria, and Vodafone age-long maxim that ‘persever- find new customers. At first she wasn’t very in Ghana. ance pays’. Born in Calabar, trending youths keen. Until Abasiama offered a money-backNigeria, he attended primary and second- guarantee in the event that he failed to fulfil With this feat, the accolades have beenary schools in Nigeria, including Federal had a network of sales agents who combed his promise. pouring in. Abasiama was listed by a Paris-Government Colleges, Ido-ani and Ikot the streets of Lagos in search of customers. based think tank, Choiseul Institut, amongEkpene. He later proceeded to the London Monthly revenues were in the region of one With nothing to lose, she gave him N40, top 100 African economic leaders of theSchool of Economics to study Information thousand dollars. 000 (approximately $250) — his debut earn- future and voted most Inspiring Tech CEOSystems & Management. ing as an internet marketing consultant. for 2013 Abasiama tried to convince Baby M’s pro- He returned home in 2008 with one mis- prietor to give him a chance to show how the The results were phenomenal. Within He has also been involved with EDDIsion: to see how the Internet could help three months, Baby M’s revenues grew from Education for Democracy and Develop-transform the business landscape in Nige- $1,000 a month to $100,000 a month, imme- ment Initiative using accessible technolo-ria. That, in fact, was the focus of his dis- diately overwhelming her capacity to fulfill gies to empower the visually impairedsertation — the impact of technology on orders. among other technology-focused socialsmall businesses. initiatives.   He is also a subject matter ex- That feat attracted the attention of Google, pert with the Digital Marketing Institute of During those days of his early begin- which has since developed it into an Internet Ireland. While global corporate spendingning, the Internet-age was just beginning marketing case study. on traditional mediums (TV, radio, print)in Nigeria, Facebook was just picking up, has either declined or stagnated in the lastand Twitter was relatively unknown while Shortly after, Abasiama incorporated Wild few years, Internet advertising budgetsInternet advertising was almost unheard of. Fusion, to do for other businesses what he had have steadily grown and will continue to,Yet, Abasiama kept his dream alive. done with Baby M. into the foreseeable future. He started peddling his dreams. Without Wild Fusion is a digital marketing & social Forbes Magazine, in an article, namedsuccess. “For the first eight months, I didn’t media agency with offices in Accra, Lagos Abasiama among “Ten African Internetmake a dime,” he recalls. “People literally and Nairobi. Millionaires To Watch” in 2013. He haschased me out of their offices.” since surpassed that. Wild Fusion is on The company has since grown remarkably, track to make $10 million in revenues this Until Baby M. from its founder’s first $250, to over a million year Baby M was a small business that ca- dollars in revenue in 2012. It doubled that intered to the needs of new mothers and their 2013. For Abasiama and Wild Fusion, the fu-babies. It operated out of one store in Ikoyi, ture is clearly very promising.Lagos, near Abasiama’s residence. It also It was the first Nigerian company to be- come a Google Adwords partner, and today provides digital marketing and online media- buying services to a client list that includes names like Unilever, Pepsi, Samsung andDiplomat16.indd 11 6/17/16 9:48 PM

12 the new diplomat vol. 2 no 18 • june 20 - july 4, 2016Interview Olisa Agbakoba Blows Hot:Nigerians Hungry, Angry… May Explode! •  Buhari needs a stronger team; his ministers are too arrogant • Nigeria’s problem started at independence • 36 states unviable  Dr Olisa Agbakoba, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), OON, is a Maritime Lawyer but he is  widely acclaimed for hisHuman Rights Activism. He has dedicated the last three decades of his life to fighting for the common good. This he hasbeen doing through the apparatus of Nigeria’s foremost and oldest human rights organization, the Civil Liberties Organisation(CLO) which he founded. A former NBA President, Agbakoba is also the Principal Partner and founder of Human Rights LawServices (HURILAWS), an NGO that specializes in advocacy and law. His passion for his country is ever-burning, perhapsthis has to do with the fact that he was born on the 29th of May, a day designated Democracy Day in the country. He is quickand ever-ready to offer his ‘two cents’ on national issues. This, he demonstrated again when he spoke to Lekan Okeowo onsundry issues that could facilitate development in the country. EXCERPTS What is your assessment of the political • Agbakoba bugged down and couldn’t get into governance. tonomous market. ria can easily borrow N50trillion, all the country   However, credit must go to him on his anti- What that would do is breed massive cor-Isituation in the country? need to do is dedicate one oil well where there is started the first Civil Liberties Organisation in huge reserve of crude and say to the international corruption programme. However, my problem ruption, because people who can access forex Nigeria over 30 years ago to fight bad gover- community of lenders that “this is the asset”; it is with his anti-corruption programme is that it’s a at the official CBN rate would offload to the nance and I have been in this struggle since I called securitisation --- using the assets that you rigmarole. The programme has centred on stories next rate. was an adult. So there is a problem which we control to borrow money. that government is doing this and that, which isneed to sort out. good. But I must say that if the President keeps So, I’m going to give President Buhari’s gov-  When the money drops, then the government looking in the rear mirror, as he had been doing in ernment below average in respect of how it has The problem of this country started at Inde- needs to have a clear-cut idea of where to put it, the last one year, he won’t move. managed Nigeria’s macro-economic issues.pendence. Only Chief Obafemi Awolowo got it it won’t be a case of where one minister will putright when he sat with Nnamdi Azikwe (ZIK) it in his pocket. It becomes a case of deploying Buhari’s anti-corruption programme is an  and the Sardauna and said, “let us sort out the the resources to meet the interest which has been equivalent of a driver who is looking at the rear Do you think President Buhari has justifiedvarious issues before getting independence”. But, clearly defined. You can then look at your aggre- mirror to see what is happening behind. Such a his mandate?Zik and Sardauna said “no, we don’t trust this co- gate problems and draw out a plan on how you drive won’t move forward. We know that people No he hasn’t. But, it is not a hopeless case. Helonial master”. So the three parties did not get a are going to tackle them in five years. Take the had stolen money, but what we want to see is an can still justify it. He might not have justified hiscommon agreement, they just took the patched east-west road for example, all the infrastructure aggressive action plan. The Economic and Finan- mandate as of today, but, do I feel that there isup agreement into Independence. On hindsight, that you need to put in place, all the rail roads that cial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other law hope that if he takes some steps he can justify it?that was a big mistake, because, having failed to need to be constructed, all the ports development enforcement agencies, don’t have the resources, I will say yes. agree, when power came they couldn’t agree. that you need to do, you can now say “this is the capacity and the skills to fight corruption. So, the But, if you ask the man on the street with rice money to do them”. But, in the case where the resources we could have generated in the region being N20, 000 per bag, with the price of food- The problem escalated when the North teamed ministers are faced with empty treasuries, they of N2, N3 or even N4trillion aren’t coming in. stuff shooting through the roof, Nigerians areup with half of the Western Region, with Chief can only talk, there is no money to work with. angry. There is so much anger on the street. TheSLAkintola, to form the Nigerian National Dem- Then you ask yourself, “why don’t you go and However, I am proud to say that there has been grace is that Nigeria is not known to have a socialocratic Party (NNDP).The other half of the North get the money? How do you have plans and some strong action plan on the part of the Buhari revolution history, so we are calm. But, Buhariteamed up with ZIK to form the United Progres- there is no money to implement them?” So, if administration in tackling corruption. should not mistake that calmness for asinity. Itsive Grand Alliance (UPGA) and Action Group I am the president, I would ask, “where can we is important that in appraising the past 365 days,(AG). Since then, we have had this criss-crossing get money, can anybody bring me N50trillion?” The administration has had flip-flops in the our president should get to work, a leader doesof carpets. This APC, PDP cross-carpeting did And you will find out that a lot of people will area of security of lives and property. We have the not delegate leadership, he delegates tasks.   Wenot start today. We have never had any real Nige- give that answer, but, that will be after we have herdsmen menace, the Biafran question, and the need to see a more vigorous, communicative andrian in a political party that will espouse doctrines solved the political problems and the country is renewed Niger Delta militancy. However, there visible president as he goes into his second year.and staunch belief that “I am in this party for the in peace. have been successes in containing the Boko Ha- Do you think there is need for a change ofbenefit of Nigerians”. I think what President Bu- ram crisis. So, we need a new counter-insecurity guard around the president as he is appar-hari should do with his integrity, whatever is left How will you rate this first year of Presi- apparatus that can deliver results. ently being given a wrong impression that allof it, is to resolve Nigeria’s political problems. 36 dent Muhammadu Buhari’s administration? is well?states are unviable; that is why they are all broke   What gives me the greatest concern is the I think the president needs a stronger team. An--- apart from Lagos. So, why don’t we have a In appraising the one year in office of President unclear economic direction of this government. appraisal is how your team functions at optimum,serious discussion on how to have a viable Nige- Buhari, we must acknowledge the crisis of the I see two competing forces in the Buhari admin- so the president has to consider if in his secondria based on a new and true, balanced federation? old order and the hope of change. The fact of the istration. I see state control from the President year, his present team can assist him in deliveringThat is my view.  old order remains that things were very difficult, and I see private sector framework from the Vice on his mandate. It is not for me to answer that there was high corruption, there was insecurity, President. A good example is the handling of the question. But, it is an important aspect for him to I was at the National Conference and I had we had the Boko Haram menace, among oth- shortages of petroleum products. Marketers were look at. The whole idea is that as a patriotic Ni-thought that former President Goodluck Jonathan ers. The pertinent question you then ask is, “how excluded. The Nigerian National Petroleum Cor- gerian, I want the country to work, to be strongerwould have implemented the recommendations. has President Buhari handled them?” In the be- poration (NNPC) was asked to solely import and and I know we have the tools to do this. But inSo, if we can resolve our political crisis, then we ginning of this administration, I was cautiously distribute, and it failed. The government ran back order to do so, we must examine ourselves. So,can grow. Nigeria has the capacity to be great, to positive, but right now, I am cautiously negative. to the marketers who now demanded a special most of this media chats I do assist me in put-be among the top ten countries in the world.  But I am waiting to see what will happen. In all rate, and they got N285, the current PPPRA tem- ting out my voice so that when, in the year 3000, fairness to President Buhari, he has been chal- plate. So, I see that tension within government. historians are looking, they will say “Agbakoba There are indications that the country is lenged by the unenvisaged crisis of governance One is state enterprise and the other is private said this and that”.broke, you also said there is need to stimulate he met; a technically insolvent country, bailouts enterprise. This confusion has led to four foreignthe economy, how can this be done? and many of those things which meant he was exchange regimes. First, we have the official rate, the rate for the marketers, now there is the third Nigeria is broke; if you look at the broad vital one for the discos and the fourth one is the au-signs, you could say that Nigeria is technically in-solvent. But, economists, people who know howto bring money out of rocks, abound in Nigeria;people like Chike Obi and Bismarck Rewane andI begin to wonder why those in power won’t callthese people who have the ideas for solution. And, I will say this so that the Minister forTransport, RotimiAmaechi, can hear this.  WhenI met him and told him I have ideas that canmove this industry forward, I detected a form ofdisinterest in him, and maybe he thought I waslooking for contracts. He should be coming tosee me, not the other way round. I am not look-ing for contracts. That arrogance has to stop; it isvery important. Most of the ministers think theyare doing us a favour. Their arrogance is makingsure they are not getting top advice. There are people who can bring money out ofthe woods and how do we do that? For example,let us assume we are looking for N100trillionwhich sound very big. You first determine whatyour debt ratio is. Do you know what Nigeria’sdebt ratio is? It is only 5%. So we are good toborrow. Borrowing is not a bad thing, forget thisidea of criminalising debts. But when you bor-row, you must do it with good purpose. So, Nige-Diplomat16.indd 12 6/17/16 9:48 PM

vol. 2 no 18 • june 20 - july 4, 2016 the new diplomat 13Diplomat16.indd 13 6/17/16 9:49 PM

09095965814 (sms only) BY oma djebah email: [email protected] 14 the new diplomat vol. 2 no 18 • june 20 - july 4, 2016 GlobalPropertySonuga: We’ll Match Global StandardsAbill on the national building code, still • Haven Homes embellished with a romantic feel with techni- tiles to celebrate the entry. Its unique features in the National Assembly is expected we did by ensuring they came with brighter cal architectural design that easily captures included a home office, lounge passage, indoor to solve most of the nation’s building colours and aesthetics. With the colourful ex- the eye. Once you step into the house, you are garden overlooking an atrium with a fountain, problems, particularly poor standards. teriors, the 2010 models were patterned after greeted by an expanse of double volume and a family recreation area comprising of a gym,   Already, a few housing developers spare the way a lady prepares herself for a gorgeous triple volume spaces which are interconnected mini bar, games area and a terrace wrappingno expense to deliver livable homes that are af- occasion; puts on her clothes and then applies faultlessly just as if you are in a shopping mall. round the whole house with a palm gardenfordable to discerning buyers. One of such pro- her make-up (lipstick and eye-shadow in the The living rooms were elevated with pebble overlooking a natural gorge.” moters of choice property is the Managing Di- right places). Though simple, the 2010 wererector of Haven Homes, Tayo Sonuga, whoseforay into building of signature homes began a 2019: Delta APC Moves To Tackle PDPdecade ago. Haven Homes entered the Lagosproperty market in 2006. It delivered its first continued from page 11 and O’tega Emerhor might not be in the inter- political leaning), no APC member from Deltahousing units in Magodo GRA in Lagos with and now we have a strong Senator to support est of the Anioma agenda --- which seems to cut State has been given national appointment soa huge acclaim from the then Commissioner us. And I can tell you, between us we are taking across political divides in the area.  As it seems, far. The question on the lips of so many mem-for Housing in Lagos State, Hon Bamidele back our state.” the burden now rest on the shoulders of Ogboru bers of the party in the state is, how can the APCOnabokun, during the commissioning. and Emerhor to rebut that presumption. take over Delta State without any empowerment Reacting to Emerhor’s statement shortly after from the party at the national level? In 2009, the homes were described as the the ceremony, Chief Ogboru averred that he was Indeed, there seems to be many rivers to crossmost romantic in Lagos, in 2010. They got the in the same page with him on the issue.  “You by the APC in Delta State in its quest to form a Emerhor however disclosed during the meet-appellation of the best designed homes in Lagos saw it, you were there, I don’t need to add or formidable opposition that can give the PDP a ing that a Contact Committee comprising emi-by top real estate publications across the coun- subtract from it.  As a matter of fact, I would run for its money.  nent personalities in the party who are of Deltatry. In 2014, Haven Homes got the prestigious stand on all fours with what Chief O’tega said State origin has been set up to reach out to keyaward for the Most Affordable Development today. And I believe we can build on it and Del- And talking about monetary strength, the officers in national positions to solicit for em-of the year, the same was awarded to it again ta will be better for it,” Ogboru said. current APC in the state seems to be a weak- powerment for APC members in the state.  Butin 2015. Now, in 2016, the more improved ling, notwithstanding the fact that the party is from our findings from the interim report ofversions of these homes are currently being The New Diplomat investigation has re- in control at the federal level. The New Diplo- the committee presented by its secretary, Mr.referred to as the most functional and readily vealed that the above comments of Emerhor mat investigation reveals that up till now, over Ogbalor during the meeting, not much appearsaffordable luxury homes in Lagos. and Ogboru have drawn the ire of politicians 90 percent of the party’s bill is still being picked to have been achieved.  It is also very apparent from Victor Ochei’s camp who see it as a fresh up by Olorogun O’tega Emerhor who contested from the recent list of ambassadorial nominees But how has Haven Homes been able to ploy of Delta Central to snatch the governorship the 2015 governorship election on the platform announced by the Presidency that Delta State isachieve the enviable feat of constantly deliver- from Delta North in 2019.  Although investiga- of the party. While speaking during the expand- conspicuously missing.ing such quality luxury homes to Nigerians de- tions, show that zoning the 2019 governorship ed executive meeting however, he noted thatspite reservations from pundits about the firm’s ticket inAPC to Delta North was not at any time “pockets don dry”.   But hope was revved again when Emerhorcapacity to maintain the standard it started with considered as condition for Ochei’s coming into declared that their expectations would be metin 2006? the party, there appears to be palpable fear and The New Diplomat investigation reveals that sooner than later.  What exactly ‘soon than later’ suspicion among the APC members in Delta apart from the Minister of State for Petroleum, means in the circumstance, remains a matter of What the company did was measured and North that the coming together of Great Ogboru Dr. Ibe Kachukwu, a Delta Northerner who was conjecture.deliberate. Sonuga said, “The mission was clear appointed by President Buhari (not based onfrom the onset. We wanted to make a statement.We wanted to change the trend. We knew it waspossible to replicate the standards in Europe,America, Dubai and other developed parts ofthe world here in Nigeria. That is what we havebeen doing effectively and consistently in themost affordable way for about a decade now.It is our passion and it will surely continue toget better.” Going back to the firm’s developments inMagodo GRA Phase 2 on the Mainland, Sonu-ga explained that the company’s vision of luxu-ry homes delivery was put into reality througha unique partnership with award-winning ar-chitecture firm, PLAYINARCHITECTURE.“With the partnership, we were able to developnever-seen-before luxury homes in Nigeria.The homes looked crafted, something likesculptures. The precision with which we deliv-ered the homes could be seen from their sharpwall angles. We were able to create a uniquebalance between brick and glass. The windowareas in the homes were phenomenal and theythrew in sufficient light inside the building fromall directions. Even with the abundant light andventilation, we were still able to creativelymaintain privacy and security of the residents,”Sonuga explained. He added that after the re-sounding success with the 2008 and 2009models, there was the need to make the 2010models better and even more attractive. “This How Muhammad Ali Transcended Sports... continued from page 15 than the odds he faced against Liston, Foreman saved Ali’s career. The US Supreme Court had confrontation with illegitimate authority.” Shel-other than the live performances in and outside and Frazier, that dogged his every aspiration to initially decided to uphold Ali’s conviction and ley believed that art bore an integral relationshipthe ring, buttress the claim, not to mention his be human in Jim CrowAmerica: that it is a mere sentence. Then “a pair of clerks prevailed on to “Revolution and Oppression,” with his ownforays into Rhythm and Blues culminating in opinion (of those “who find it easier to live in the one Justice to read The Autobiography of Mal- “Ode to the West Wind” as an enactment of thishis nomination for a Grammy Award; artistic world they’ve been given rather than to explore colm X,” after which “he came to a different belief. In a sense, this is the (wishful) power ofachievements that Rolling Stone magazine cites the power to change it”), that it is not a “fact” view.” The government’s argument “that Ali’s words to turn ideas into reality—to create thein “Muhammad Ali: Four Ways He Changed or “declaration,” but a “dare” and “potential”; religion was racist was a misrepresentation of world out of nothing, as the Jewish account ofAmerica.” in short, that impossible is “temporary,” “noth- the fighter’s true beliefs,” the judge now thought beginnings has it. And it is what Gilmore says, ing.” By insisting on the impossible through and he in turn brought the other justices round to regardingAli,  was “hope made flesh” and what, Ali was a poet not only verbally but also in the the forced association of unlike things (recall the unanimous view that “the draft board (read I think, poetry at its most sublime and meaning-sublime aesthetics of his skill that turned pugi- his famous similes: “float like a butterfly, sting America) had erred.” As Mikal Gilmore right- ful really is.lism from a brute sport plied by men seemingly like a bee”), mostly through metaphor or figura- fully notes in “How Muhammad Ali Conqueredall brawn and no brain—“Fighters,” as Ali him- tive speech—what the American poet Adrienne Fear and Changed the World,” in effect “Mal- So if Ali was vilified and then valourised dueself put it, “are just brutes that come to entertain Rich describes as “the great muscle of metaphor, colm X’s words—which, I would add, were to the poetry of his pugilistic craft and oratory,the rich white people. Beat up on each other and drawing strength from resemblance in differ- nothing but incandescent political poetry in their then Shelley was right.break each other’s noses, and bleed, and show ence”—poetry prescribes alternative realities. rhythm, cadences and the palpable urgency ofoff like two little monkeys for the crowd”—to And makes of its devotees visionaries, purveyors their tremulous truth—“had saved him.” Only that in his vindication, first through thea study in form and content demanding of the of a future waiting to be born. Rich argues that US Supreme Court’s quashing of his conviction,truly great the agile exercise of mind and body, “when poetry lays its hands on our shoulders, In his 1821 “Defence of Poetry,” Percy Bys- then his endearment to the heart of every consci-and perhaps of mouth as well. Poetry in motion, we are almost to a physical degree, touched and she Shelley claimed that poets are “the unac- entious human of his time, and then the awardsto evoke that clichéd expression. Indeed, one can moved. The imagination’s road opens before us, knowledged legislators of the world.” This has by the self-same US government to him of thesay that poetry was the portal to Ali’s transcen- giving the lie to that brute dictum, ‘There is no often been taken literally by poets eager to seize Presidential Citizens Medal and the Presidentialdental greatness for the simple reason that its alternative.’” for themselves the recognition too often grudged Medal of Honour, then Ali may just have re-province is imagination, which by definition is them by a philistine world. As Rich observes, versed Shelley by becoming an acknowledgedillimitable. It is, in short, whatAli himself figures At any rate, it was words by his earliest cham- however, for Shelley “there was no contradiction moral legislator.in his definition of “impossible,” a word, other pion and later estranged friend, Malcolm X,  that between poetry, political philosophy and active  Adieu the Greatest!  [email protected] 14 6/17/16 9:49 PM

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16 the new diplomat vol. 2 no 18 • june 20 - july 4, 2016view pointBY Ogaga IfowodoHow Muhammad Ali Transcended SportsTo Become A Moral Titan Of The CenturyThe quest for an affordable ticket had landed me with a far longer journey than • Muhammed Ali his mentor. The defiance, racial pride, self-belief one of the most powerful images in sports history necessary—a predicament that all budget life until the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle fight in and militant resistance preached by the Nation of was one taken outside a sporting arena, at a news travellers of the world know too well. Kinshasa where Ali regained his heavyweight Islam unnerved white America and so Ali who conference in the wake of Ali’s objection to theWith final destination Abuja, I had first to fly championship by knocking out George Fore- had been given a failing grade in his draft test was draft. In it, Ali is flanked by some of the greatestfor over three hours from Austin, Texas, to New man, described as “the hardest-hitting heavy- adjudged anew to be intelligent enough, after all, American athletes of the time: Bill Russell, Ka-York, then nearly 6,000 kilometres overnight to weight champion ever” and a “battleship in the to be recruited into the army and sent to Vietnam. reemAbdul-Jabbar (formerly LewAlcindor), JimParis, before finally embarking on the six-hour ring.” DuringAli’s ban, Foreman had conquered Brown and Willie Davis. All African-Americantrip home. I scanned the in-flight movie menu. “Smoking” Joe Frazier,Ali’s deadliest opponent. It goes without saying that this is the single sportsmen with everything to lose but choosing toAli, the 2001 biopic directed by Michael Mann, transformative moment that turned Cassius Clay/ stand up for a cause greater than their individualstarring Will Smith, was available. At a running Amidst the episodes of his love of music and MuhammedAli from just a handsome and brash- selves and bank accounts. That moment has nottime of nearly three hours, I would spend half of friendship with Sam Cooke, Malcolm X and ly charismatic prize fighter who had stunned and ever again been repeated in professional sports. the flying time from Paris to Abuja in delightful the Nation of Islam’s influence (leading to his charmed the world in equal measure with his box- Christ would have come again before Michaeldiversion. dropping the slave name Cassius Clay), to his ing genius and poetic eloquence into the most vis- Jordan or Tiger Woods or Lionel Messi, or even dalliances with women, two others stand out ible victim ofAmerica’s simmering bigotry and a Floyd “Money” Mayweather from the sport Ali When news of Ali’s transition to join the an- in the trajectory of Ali’s emergence as a tower- global moral icon all at once. It was reminiscent gave glamour and infinitely larger purses, wouldcestors broke, I was, like the rest of the world, ing moral figure in the world.(He was named in of Mandela’s 1956 to 61 treason trial alongside speak so openly of the burning political injusticessaddened but grateful for the extraordinarily life 1999 by the British Broadcasting Corporation as his co-accused leaders of the African National of the day. What was it that fuelled Ali’s supremehe lived: as a prize-fighter, poet and moral con- the Sports Personality of the (20th) Century and, Congress and other anti-apartheid groups. Like self-belief in the face of impossible odds? Behind,science ofAmerica during one of its most troubled by Sports Illustrated as the Athlete of the Cen- Mandela, what Ali lost at home he gained a mil- or rather, driving, Ali’s braggadocio was “fear”.and shameful epochs, and as a shining example of tury, having also won the World Sports Award’s lion-fold in the veneration of the rest of the world. The sort that leads to astonishing self-determina-self-sacrifice and beacon of hope to the oppressed World Sportsman of the Century). tion by forging an iron will to live a life fully wor-of the world. In the instant before I pressed play, I Then there is the scene from the 1967 “What’s thy of human dignity. As Chinua Achebe memo-recalled the two Ali posters that graced the walls First was his refusal to be drafted into Ameri- my name?” fight. Ernie Terrell, who had been rably portrays through Okonkwo in Things Fallof my office in the English Department at Texas ca’s purely ideological war against Vietnam. He awarded the title stripped from Ali, would, quite Apart, though of course without the pathos of thatState University until May 2014 when I left aca- would not kill or maim people he did not know, harmlessly as it were, refuse to call him by his character. As Ali would later confess when askeddemia and returned home. He alone had the hon- with whom he “ain’t got no quarrel,” who had Muslim name. Not many, Ali’s father included, what he would have said to Liston had he hadour of two spots on walls that paid homage to Leo never called him nigger. The result was the un- had got used to the new name and even the ven- the chance of meeting him before his (Liston’s)Tolstoy, Charles Dickens, Miles Davis and Che leashed fury of America which, forced to con- erable Martin Luther King would counsel that death: “Man, you scared me.” That fear, subli-Guevara. There was the iconic one from the sec- front its racism and hypocrisy, chose instead to “Casssius should spend more time proving his mated into the poetry of gritty determination andond Liston fight where he looms menacingly over further brutalise the victim by convicting, then boxing skill and do less talking.” And so Ali’s re- bravery bordering on suicidal recklessness, wasthe fearsome but fallen champion (supposed to jailing Ali for five years, stripping him of his solve to taunt Terrell by demanding that he say his what made him rise to his feet the same instantkill the young braggart this time, having astonish- title, banning him from fighting for three of his name amidst a punishing fury of lethal jabs and he was decisively knocked down by Frazier, hisingly failed to do so in their first encounter). Ali’s peak years and extracting from him a fine of hooks. I may be running with the allusions but fiercest rival, in their first bout tagged the “Fightright hand was bent menacingly across just under $10,000 (to buy more guns for the war?). Al- I can’t help recalling the scene in Beloved, Toni of the Century” and emerge the moral winner.the twin-rock mounds of his chiselled chest, lethal thoughAmerica did not, in the early sixties, need Morrison’s classic novel of slave self-renaming,left still clenched, ready to send the prone Liston any provocation to end the life of an “uppity ne- in which the eponymous character, murdered by But what is that about Ali being a poet and anwhom he dared to rise and fight back down if gro,” never mind his career merely, it was plain her escaped mother rather than let her be recap- acknowledged legislator of the world? The firsthe did. As a teacher of writing and literature, I to see that Ali had been specifically targeted to tured into slavery, returns to compel a reckoning part, I believe, we can all agree upon: though hecouldn’t resist the playful humour and hyperbole stop his emergence as a charismatic and fear- with the past and demands that Paul D, the char- did not define himself essentially as such, he wasofAli claiming that he, and so his punch, was fast- less figure capable of transcending, through the acter most resolved to “forget” the past, call her nevertheless the quintessential oral poet, a grioter than the speed of light! And, hence, the second innocuous medium of sports, barriers that the by her name and “touch her in the inside place.” who found the words, rhymes and reasons to ex-poster which memorialised the stupendous boast: religious-cum-political leaders of the civil rights press the playful and the profound almost at a mo-“I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light movement might not.  Worse, Ali had formed a But the film hardly covers the legend’s life: Ali ment’s notice. In any case, I accept the opinion ofswitch in my hotel room and was in bed before the friendship with and allowed Malcolm X to be transcended boxing or sport. And so it was that one of my favourite poets, Marianne Moore, onroom was dark.” It was a variation on the theme this. Moore, it was, who wrote the liner notes to Iof his phenomenal quickness as a boxer rendered Am the Greatest,Ali’s spoken word poetry albumunforgettably thus: “Float like a butterfly/Sting recorded in 1963, six months before he would be-like a bee/The hands can’t hit/What the eyes can’t come the heavyweight champion of the world.see.” I recalled yet another inconceivable conceit: Said the evidently enamoured Moore of Clay/“I done handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in Ali: “He fights and he writes. Is there somethingjail.” I pressed play. I have missed? He is a smiling pugilist.” And added, for good measure, that Clay/Ali is “neat, First thing to strike you is the portrait of the spruce; debonair with manicure,” just, we mightpoet-pugilist as a young man—that moment on say, as Moore who was master of the unconven-the bus when Little Cassius is transfixed by the tional poetic line as a “delicately unimagined”horrendously mutilated body of Emmet Till, the feat exemplified by “the neatness of finish” (see14-year-old African-American boy from Chi- the poem “An Octopus”). Indeed, Ali’s was per-cago, who, allegedly for talking to or looking at a formance, rap or spoken word poetry before thatwhite lady, was, in 1955, tortured, murdered and genre became a jaded fad. Ten years ago, Georgedrowned in a river in Mississippi. Lois—described by Time magazine as a “me- dia renaissance man,” an “iconoclastic genius” The lynching took place in the aptly named and a “legendary advertising guru”—publishedtown of Money—what was plantation slavery, Ali Rap, a collection of Ali’s verbal ephemera inafter all, but the outcome of a lunatic pursuit of which he proclaimed him “the first heavyweightlucre?—where Till had been visiting his great champion of rap.” Two spoken word albums,uncle. Soon,Ali moves closer to the newspaper inthe hands of a man sitting two or three rows ahead continued on page 14of him to memorise, it seems, every detail of thathideously disfigured body. Did he, perhaps, de- • Ogoga Ifowodo, PhD (Cornell Uni-tect echoes of himself in Till, said to be a hand-some and cocky “negro” boy? The rest of the versity), lawyer, poet, activist and writer is abiopic traces the well-known highlights of Ali’s member of the Editorial Advisory Board of The New DiplomatDiplomat16.indd 16 6/17/16 9:50 PM