Delta, gem of a state: We'll have a wagon of foreign investors in Delta soon, says Ofehe; we can attract minimum of $1bn in foreign direct investment to Delta in 2024 quota

(Chief (Comrade) Sunny Ofehe, is the Executive Assistant on External Relations and Diaspora Affairs to the Delta State Governor, Chief Sheriff Oborevwori. In this interview, Ofehe speaks on various issues, with particular emphasis on how foreign direct investment can be attracted to Nigeria and Delta State in particular.) How do you plan to sell Delta State to the rest of the world as an Executive Assistant on External Relations and Diaspora Affairs? We're not just going to sell Delta State to Nigerians in the Diaspora alone; we're going to sell Delta State to the global community at large. Delta State is very easy to sell. Delta State, as it is today, is the gateway to the South-South and South-East regions of Nigeria. Delta State today is the only state with two major functioning airports in the State capital Asaba with an international standard runway that can land even an airbus A380 and the other airport located in the State’s commercial hub city of Warri. Delta State today is the only state with despite underachieving four major seaports in the world, we have about 165 kilometers of coastline, which can also open doors to many economic activities including huge potential in blue-economy. And of course, currently we're the largest producer of crude oil in the country, and we have the highest gas reserve in the country. So we have all the abundant natural and mineral resources, even solid minerals to be precise, and in addition to that, we have high human capital development in the state because we pride ourselves as the state with the highest tertiary institutions in this country. So selling Delta State is as easy as selling anything that is good, and that is why we want to take a different approach this time around and look into how we can showcase Delta State beyond the crude oil that we are generally known for. That's a very good investment pitch, and I am sure if you're in a road show, I think investors will appreciate what you just said. But looking at crude oil, we have oil theft; looking at solid minerals, we have smuggling. How will you assure potential Diaspora that the money they commit to Delta State will be safe and secure? The current administration is working tirelessly to harness all the MDAs to jiggle all the officials that have been appointed, saddled with various responsibilities to push the state's potential in natural resources and human capital development around the world. So when you talked about the issue of oil theft, you talked about how we would assure investors. That's why the focus of this current MORE Agenda is on the area of infrastructure and security, and hopefully when we start rolling out those policies, we will be able to deal with those challenges that have been confronting us before now. The Governor, His Excellency Sheriff Oborevwori, just presented the 2024 Appropriation Bill of N725 billion naira that has been signed into law by the State House of Assembly. The approved budget is made up of N317 billion naira in recurrent expenditure, while the sum of N408 billion naira is for capital expenditure. This budget has been tagged, the “Budget of Hope and Optimism”, which is geared towards putting the economy of the state on the path to sustainable growth. The budget would boost both domestic and foreign direct investments with increased productivity while at the same time enhance the ease of doing business in the state. The budget is cutting down on recurrent expenditure in other to free up more funds for the sustainable financing of the State’s critical infrastructure and human capital. For the first time the government is focused, improving the ease of doing business so that we can attract domestic and foreign direct investments, and improve productivity while sustaining the growth of our domestic economy. Remember that since the commencement of this administration in the last six months, there has not been a single borrowing. Therefore, we are not only guaranteeing the security and safety of our Diaspora investments but we are also assuring them of a better business investment climate in Delta State. What about fashion? What is the Delta State Government going to do in the area of fashion? We pride ourselves on being one of the most dressed people in the country. There is this popular saying that “Warri nor dey carry last” and that has been in our DNA. As an administration, in the area of fashion, the state government is looking at investments in the key critical textiles sector. We used to have Asaba Textile Mill in Asaba, and we know today that about 70 percent of what most people wear, including what I am wearing today, is all made in Nigeria. So this current government is seriously looking into dragging in investment into the area of textiles. So we cannot only improve on our usual well-known way of dressing but also become the hub of textile products not just within Nigeria but across sub-Saharan African countries. In doing this, we will be able to create jobs for our young population while exposing them to modern system of textile production and the finishing. I can assure you that Delta State will become the red carpet of the global fashion industry. How challenging is this job for you because the Delta State Government has given you an enormous task to seek money and investors for the state? It's not challenging because I have lived in Europe for 28 years, and every day of my stay in Europe, I have always talked to friends and people who run companies and are willing to invest in Africa, most especially Nigeria, so it is a convenient zone for me. It's a place where I really strive because I see a lot of amazing opportunities. I see the determination of many Western companies to do investments here, but issues such as security and lack of infrastructure have always been the problem, particularly the challenges involved in their reaching out to the people who can actually take decisions as to how these investments can come into Nigeria. In other to mitigate these challenges, that is why this administration has devoted almost 60% of the 2024 budget on infrastructure particularly the construction of access roads, major expansion and fly-overs across the major cities. His Excellency, the Governor has also taken security as one of his major priority, meeting regularly with all the major security stakeholders in the state and providing the needed support and encouragement for effective discharge of their duties. So this is your terrain. For 28 years, you have been doing it. In those 28 years, how successful have you been because you are a Deltan? How successful have you been in terms of convincing your colleagues and prospective investors to come and invest in Delta State? I actually come into the country with a whole lot of them for them to see our hospitality and the potential that we have in human capital development, and they can also see that Nigeria is not as insecure as it's internationally claimed. Every country has its own challenges and a country is built on the past, present, and future, so we have our past, we're dealing with our present, and we're very optimistic about our future. When you look at Delta State today, the governor has defined his vision in a “MORE Agenda”, and he has started very well. For the first time, the state has contracted Julius Berger to do major flyover bridges construction to the tune of about N78BN naira in his first 100 days in office. Just recently I came with some European investors and Dutch experts on flood managements and shoreline protection. We even embarked on a trip to several communities in Escravos in Warri South-west Local Government area of the State and they were amazed with what they saw. They all planned to visit again and bring their knowledge and expertise. Whenever, I visit Delta State with foreign investors, I always ensure that they see our urban and rural communities and their lifestyles. They also see the potential we have in both natural, mineral and human capital development. What part of your 28 years in Europe has made it easier for you to convince investors to come in because, for the past 28 years, Nigeria has seen different economic circles? I think now it is a bit easier with the advancement of modern technology - the internet, and social media. You can sit in one remote location and view or relate anything you want to say about Delta State, and then the awareness is there for everyone to verify. Today, Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa, with a highly growing young population. We're the most populous black nation in the world. Our labour is also very cheap. These are incentives to attract foreign direct investment. So when you talk about the global North and the challenges they are facing from their Chinese counterpart, you know there is this determination now from western countries to look into how they can plug themselves into investment opportunities that are open within the Nigerian economy. So Nigeria is resonating very well with potential investors and this last trip I made, I came with about five investors in different sectors and we have looked around our state and had discussion with senior government officials so the government is laying the groundwork for investors to come in. We are looking at infrastructure as a major area that we need to improve upon to be able to attract this investors. And if you look at some countries in Africa, for instance, Botswana, as of 1966, when they gained independence, their annual per capita growth domestic product was about 70 dollars with just 12 kilometers of pave roads, but they were able to open up their diamond market to attract just one company to come in and do investment. Today, Botswana's annual per capita GDP is more than 800 million dollars, surpassing even their neighbor, South Africa. That's what foreign direct investment can do to your economy. But for Botswana, we saw economic policies; there was also serious, transparent leadership, and they resolved to open up the space for investors. What do you think we have been lacking as a country to attract foreign direct investment as much as we should in the past 10 years? Foreign direct investment has been declining, and what we have are portfolio investments, whereby when the economy is a bit okay, they stay once it is not, or when they see the interest rate going higher, they just pack their briefcases and leave. What have we not done right, and why is it challenging for us to bring in FDI at a time when we really need it as a country? I think the first thing is security. You can't invest in a country where every time you hear news of bombings, killings, and all that. The second one is infrastructure. You know we lack major roads. And thirdly, our fiscal policy is very poor. When you want to attract investors, you must guarantee that there must be security on their investment and there must be guarantee on their investment. Most importantly, you must allow them to repatriate their profits and their funds back to their home country. Look at the airline industry, for instance. It is said now that the International Air Transport Association, IATA, has said that there is a total amount of $2.3 billion in unrepatriated funds for major airlines across the world, and in that figure, Nigeria happened to be the highest, with $812 million. Look at the countries that follow: Bangladesh, Lebanon, and Pakistan. We shouldn't be in the league with those countries. So in order to attract these investors to come in, you must guarantee and assure them that whatever they make in your country, they will be able to have an easy financial corridor with which these money can be repatriated back to their country, You must also lay down the enabling environment for such investment to come in. You must look at your critical infrastructural sector, and that's what Delta State is doing now. Tackle your infrastructure challenges; open the way for investors to come in so that you can use those investments that are coming in to be able to create jobs and improve infrastructure. From what you have said, how much FDI can Nigeria attract in the absence of infrastructure? I also know our infrastructure needs are also investment opportunities, but how much FDI can we attract when we don't have good roads, with our airports not functioning optimally, our constant epileptic power supply, etc.? We can start with those infrastructural challenges as our area of FDI attraction. You just mentioned power. There are several alternative ways of generating power these days, particularly if it's a way of using clean energy to generate power and then putting your investment in those sectors. You can also look at other areas, like agriculture and solid minerals. I just mentioned Botswana relying on just Diamond. We have a whole lot of solid minerals that we can tap into. There are many companies that are willing to come and explore that sector of our economy. The volume of what we can attract is very high. Look at countries like India and even Brazil. Brazil has been able to increase its foreign direct investment flow in the first quarter of 2023 to about 21 billion dollars, even surpassing China. So Nigeria can fall in the league of those countries because, in terms of human capital, we have a young and dynamic work force with cheap labour, which we can tap into. We also have abundant natural resources that are still very much untapped. for instance, lithium. What stops us from discussing with companies like Tesla to come in and explore our lithium potential so that they can even set up a battery factory here that would not only create corporate and income taxes but will also at the same time create jobs for our teeming unemployed graduates who are out there? These are the areas we need to look at. Then also create the enabling environment. You talked about the area of aviation and our airports. I was flying from Lagos to Abuja; my flight was originally scheduled for 6 p.m., but I got an email that they had rescheduled the flight for 2 p.m. due to operational issues. So they brought the take-off time backward for the same day. You don't do that! What about if I have a crucial meeting by 4 p.m. and I decide to leave at 6 p.m.? Now you're forcing me to suddenly change my plans and I have paid you; you've given me a time slot; now you're forcing me to come and travel. So those things can also affect investors when there are inconsistencies in the system. It is only in Nigeria that I see when you come to the airport people are asking, “Is the flight on ground?” You don't see that in any other part of the world. We need to work on those things. I was in Nigeria for like nine days, and I had two major challenges in the aviation sector. I was supposed to take off from Abuja to Asaba. We were on schedule to be the number three flight to hit the runway, then there was a flight that shot off the runway. That cost us about six hours of delay. The flight was not even blocking the runway, but the exit for entering and exiting the gate. These are areas you think are little hiccups, but by the time you start accumulating them together, you will understand the damages. Any investor who wants to come here must do their research, do their due diligence, look at the environment, see if it's feasible, see if it's workable, and all that. Emirates is not flying to this country today, and most of the airlines have chosen not to use Nigeria as a hub for crew change. Those are losses in revenue and investment. Let's take a look at this FDI more closely. We will say we have the capacity to take as much money as we can. I think for roads, we need about 3 trillion dollars, at least for the next 30 years, to do our roads. President Tinubu has been going everywhere. Do we really have the capacity to take in FDI of over 200 billion dollars? For example, Delta state, if investors bring in money, is there propensity that they will make profits from that money in Delta State which is one of the oil rich state managed an FDI of about 1 million dollars until 2022. So if you take a look at this, how feasible is these? If you look at the MORE agenda of Delta State, that's why the emphasis is on infrastructure. Developing our roads, ensuring that we create a good public space for investors to come in, and there will always be a return on such investments, but the return on investment can be minimal because you have to mitigate the challenges that come from infrastructure. You talked about the highways; as it is right now, it is clear that the Federal Government cannot handle the major highways and the costs that are accruing following the inflation rate we currently have in our economy today. So what I would have suggested that this administration can do is price our roads. Return to the tollgate system, and then privatize those roads. Give the private sector the opportunity to invest in it and recoup their investment through people going through that road and paying for that road, where maintenance can be in their own hands. So once you're able to get that right in terms of infrastructure, the investment will definitely flow in, and investment in Nigeria and Delta State is not limited to just one sector like what we're seeing today, now that Nigeria is a mono-economy, relying almost 99 percent on crude oil. We should shift from that and move into, rather than becoming a consumption economy, looking at how we can become a production economy. We should also refrain from becoming an import-dependent economy and instead become an export-dependent economy. How do we do that? We can invest hugely in our agricultural sector and become one of the largest exporters of agricultural produce to other parts of the world. What kind of FDIs do we need? Because there are different kinds of FDIs due to the peculiarities of the Nigerian economy, what kind of FDI does Nigeria need? When you talk about the kind of FDI that we need, we just need to woo companies with technical expertise in specific sectors so that we know that we have the capacity to be able to sell what we have to the world. For instance, in agriculture, power, and solid minerals, that is one untapped area. We can also use our human capital advantage to attract FDI. I fly KLM and Air France. If you call KLM and Air France today and press option 2 for English, it will automatically connect you to Philippine, where they have a bunch of young people who are doing telephone services for them. This can be done by outsourcing. Delta State, as we speak right now, has the highest number of tertiary institutions in the county. What does that mean? That means we have the highest number of intellectually sound young people in the country. These can be used to attract investments in the human capital development indexes. But you may not judge by that because it is a different thing from having infrastructure and the illiteracy rate. Yes, having infrastructure can boost your literacy rate, but having educational infrastructure doesn't mean that you are also producing literate people. I hope you understand my point?. I do understand, but you cannot rule out the fact that in Delta State, we have abundance in human capital development when you talk about the entertainment industry, when you talk about the banking sector in the country today, even the media sector, we have the highest. So we should capitalize on that potential as a state, and that is what we are currently doing. Delta State is a name that's synonymous with investors across the world. Delta State has the capacity to become the seventh-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa. We are surely driving in that direction. We have a governor right now who is listening. Most of the foreign direct investment potential we will bring to Delta State will be like a pilot that will showcase itself for other states to follow. The target is for us to ensure that before the end of next year 2024, we will outgrow the 1.1 million dollars that you or NBS said are the highest we could bring in 2022. Our target is to grow that, and we are working toward that. We are definitely going to improve on that because Investors are coming in from all sectors. If we are saying we need FDIs, what kind of policy incentives are we putting in place? I mentioned earlier that about 27 states attracted zero FDIs into their states. States like Lagos got 3.6 billion dollars in 2022, but the issue now is: what is Delta State putting on the table in terms of policy incentives? And how are you pulling Deltans, talking about the governor, yourself, and your colleagues, because it's not just about coming to Delta, putting those FDIs in place, and at the end of the day, taking those dollars away in terms of capita flight and go? We are not going to do that. I have assured my governor that my office alone can attract in one year on a minimum amount of 1 billion dollars in foreign direct investment. I will be in touch with you when we begin to develop this from my office. The secretary to the state government has been engaging foreign investors in the state, so what we will first of all do is create an opening for engagement, which the government is already doing right now, and then we will also structure some possible external visits for the governor to go out there. For instance, we are arranging for him to visit Suriname, a Caribbean country, so that we can seek some collaboration that can help in our aviation sector, that can help in the agricultural sector, and most importantly, create a diplomatic relationship between both countries. Once we are able to do that, there is possibility that, through that, we can access the 1.5 billion dollars that are available from the Africa Import and Export Bank to encourage economic corporation between African countries and Caribbean (CARICUM) countries. so we want to leverage that. The first thing you need to do is understand the lines that are open for this investments. and to even surprise you, what we are doing with our foreign direct investment flow capacity is targeting international companies that will also come with their export credit, so it will not be a financial liability on our state. In some cases, we can agree on counterpart funding, but our counterpart funding portfolio can also come not in the form of money but that we can provide for the investor, such as land, labor and access to licensing, and all of that. So this is what we are actually working toward, and I am very confident that before the end of next year, NBS will make another review of what they have out there for Delta State, and there will be a remarkable improvement on that on the next figure that will be released. What sectors are you looking at for Delta state.? In renewable energy, there is what is called carbon capture, and it is unfortunate that it is free money that nobody is tapping into. Delta State will be the first state to invest in a foreign direct investment portfolio carbon capture fund that would surpass even some state total FDI inflow into their states. If we take a look into Nigeria as a whole, what will you say about President Tinubu's travels? Bearing this in mind, I think the World Bank will say in 2022 that Nigeria has the least diversified economy in the world, apart from Angola. We could do better than we are doing, even though we rebase our GDP, and about 15 percent of our GDP is served in agriculture. The oil sector, where we even get the most percent of our forex has been declining in terms of contribution to GDP. So how do we diversify, even the oil sector where we are getting money we haven't seen new investment in that sector in past few years and Delta is also an oil producing state? Let me start from President Tinubu's travels. I am a proponent of diplomatic engagement. I believe you cannot attract foreign direct investment if you don't go knocking on doors, so the travels I applaud them, they are good, they are putting Nigeria on the map and they are putting Nigeria on the lips of many people so you need that, you need that confidence. Any travel you do bilateral or multilateral you must gain something at the end of the day and that is what we are looking at, when you do that you must also come back to your own country and create the enabling environment for those investors to conveniently come in and do business without hiccups. And when you do that you must look at all the arms of government and strengthen all the institutions with greater emphasis on your judiciary. You must strengthen you judiciary, create transparency in it in the way that if any FDI company is having problem and they want to seek judiciary redress it can be achieve in no time and you must cut your bureaucratic bottlenecks and create a simplified ease of doing business. Like when you import stuff into the country, the processes to follow the paper you have to sign or when you export or people into agricultural export are complaining that before they go through the process of signing and approving documents for their goods to leave most times they become perished by the time they bet to the end destination. So these are the things you have to cut off! You mentioned we being a mono economy relying only on crude oil production even the crude oil production is punctured. There was a time I think this year that even Angola that you mentioned surpass Nigeria as Africa largest exporters of crude oil because we have infrastructural problems and not meeting up the 1.8 or 2 million barrels of our OPEC quota that was supposed to contribute to market. Today Nigeria quota is about 1.1 million barrel of crude oil per day and that is not encouraging at all. This is lose of foreign revenue, however, if you look at our economy before independence it was an agrarian based economy. We were able to live comfortably with that but when the oil boom period came between the 70s and 80s it became a different ball game entirely. We made so much money, so those profits we made from crude oil were supposed to use them to consolidate on our agricultural potentials and today we would have been one of the largest agricultural producing countries in the world but we lost that opportunity. Today we are still struggling within one economy which is not right for a population that is still growing. Any growing population must find a way to attract foreign direct investment because that is the only way you can create jobs, that is the only way you can build your infrastructures like roads, school, hospitals otherwise you will end up borrowing and borrowing and that is what we have been doing. We borrowed from China to take care of our infrastructure but that has to change. I like us to talk about the role of Diaspora remittances especially in attracting FDIs because last year according to official report about 21.9 million dollars was brought into Nigeria as Diaspora remittances. We see increase a bit because we suffered pandemic, the whole would suffered pandemic in 2020. But I am taking a look at how do we strike a balance between Diaspora remittances and attraction of FDI bearing in mind majority of our Diaspora remittances are for personal use. How do you intend to galvanize Deltans and even local direct investment (LDIs) because those of us who are Deltans but not in the state can also come in and invest so how do you strike the right balance between attracting FDIs remittances and those of us that are out? Well, we will critically look at it. You just mentioned in 2022, 21.9 billion dollars was remitted by Nigerians in the Diaspora which is huge, which is second highest after crude oil. But today successive governments have not be taking advantage of the Diaspora potentials. In less than two months I have been be contacted by several Nigerians, Deltans and those who are not Deltans reaching out to me believing that as a Diaspora I will understand better the challenges they have been facing trying to invest back home. We have huge potentials. There is no health fund in the world that you don't see any Nigerians working there. There is no multinational companies today in the world that you don’t see any Nigeria working there. And to shock you, even Nigerians here are also stretching their hands out there to attract foreign investment into this country. So I have received a whole lot of proposals. Now what we want to do is that we want to create this bridge between the Delta state government and the Diaspora community so that even when we bring in foreign direct investment, we can do some form of Private, Public Partnership (PPP) arrangement. We can open that to the world so that even the Diaspora can find a way to put their investment into this sectors. So they can also be par-takers of those investment because they know that in doing that there will be a patriotic benefit for them. In a way that employment would come maybe for their families and that can also reduce the sort of money they send to their family to feed. What about those of us here in Nigeria because you can see a lot of Deltans are doing good stuff? They can still leverage on the opportunities that we are bring in through attraction of foreign direct investment to the state. What we are doing right now is that the government is set and ready to open up the state-of-the-art website where people can have access to everything the government is doing. Like I said this administration is very open to those opportunity that the state has and that opportunity is what we are taking out as our incentives to attract what we need in order to grow our economy but not just to grow our economy but return places like Warri to the original economy and commercial hub that it used to be. I am assuring you that Delta State under the new “Sheriff” will surely be great again!

.Forum of Delta State NGOs transform to volunteer Advocacy, Policy Tracking, Monitoring Think-Tank

The first and foremost Forum of Delta State NGOs that was established and formally unveiled at the first ever summit of NGOs in Delta State on the 9th of July,2015 at the then Swiss Spirit Hotel, Asaba will be transforming to a volunteer advocacy, policy tracking and projects monitoring think-tank as from 1st of January, 2024. Deacon Okezi Odugala the Founder and Coordinator, said in a statement that this had become necessary in order to engage the present reality that confronts us, as we will be deploying a lot of digital contents in our not-for-profit services toward ensuring the full implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Africa Union Agenda 2063 and the present administration's MORE Agenda. After due consultation with identified stakeholders both local and international, we have decided to double our engagements to confront corruption, poverty and under-development in the midst of abundant human and natural resources. Our campaign NO MORE BUSINESS AS USUAL and proposed digital CITIZENS OMBUDSMAN will be fully operational as we call on all Deltans to join hands to make Delta State the reference point of sustainable development. We want to plead with our citizens to embrace peace and positive change while shunning corruption and other social vices that has limited us and brought shame and reproach. To our youths we plead with them to say no to drugs, cultism and financial crimes as leaders of tomorrow, let them embrace the numerous opportunities in education, entertainment, vocational entrepreneurship, arts, culture, sport, tourism, digital technology and artificial intelligence amongst many others to bring economic empowerment and positive image to our dear state. To our senior citizens we request them to be positive and exemplary compass to the oncoming generation as many are not model as the urge for corruption and selfish acquisition has made them negative societal signposts destroying the younger generation . We call on the Governor of Delta State Elder Sheriff Oborevwori to embrace the NO MORE BUSINESS AS USUAL campaign in order to succeed with the MORE AGENDA, as we cannot continue to run the affairs of governance the same way and expect different results, we want the Governor to be firm, transparent and accountable and shun favouritism and mediocrity of any kind in the delivery of good governance to Deltans. We commend and support his continuous call for quality service delivery and non-payment for shoddy jobs done by contractors in Delta State. We are more than ready to partner with him in projects advocacy and monitoring and call on contractors whose trademark is engaging in shady and shoddy jobs to have a rethink as our register of Name and Shame is ready. We call on such contractors to have a rethink and be on the right side of history for doing good works. We are disposed to criticize this government constructively without fear or favour as we roll out our massive advocacy and monitoring of public and private sector projects and programmes across the state. In conclusion, it is our clarion call for all to keep Delta State Clean and Healthy as we have observed that many of our towns and cities are unclean from indiscriminate dumping of refuse in unauthorized places, while we are engaging in advocacy for a Clean, Safe and Healthy Delta State. We call on the Ministry of Environment and her agencies and the local governments to enforce the environmental laws of the state without further delay. The present culture of dirt must be eradicated and those found wanting punished to serve as deterrent towards making our state an eco-friendly state. We will also be partnering with identified stakeholders to plant medicinal and fruit trees in the state to mitigate climate change.

PERSPECTIVE - Bourdillon, Almajiris and poverty in Yoruba land - The Politics of Collective Immiseration

By Moses Oludele Idowu "There are only two families in the world, the Haves and Have-Nots." - Miguel de Cervantes "A man may imagine things that are false, but he can only understand things that are true." - Isaac Newton The large crowd I saw at Bourdillon, in front of the house of Bola Tinubu, President of Nigeria and one of the leading politicians who have heavily profited from politics in this political dispensation, made me sad and caused my heart to sink. The long line of crowds of multitudes waiting for crumbs from one of the biggest political profiteers of this era is a reality to what I have been saying for a long time. Poverty is real in the land. But this is not the issue; the real issue is, if nothing is done to arrest this drift, if nothing is done to redirect the economic program and policies in more progressive and practical ways, poverty will envelope everyone soon, - except the very rich.

I have been told and have seen it firsthand myself the truth of what many are saying that this is the worst Christmas in living memory. There is poverty everywhere. "But there has always been poverty in Nigeria and Jesus said, 'The poor you will always have with you' ", some wiseacre who are poor in theology would say. Yes, there has always been poverty in Nigeria; but it is poverty that can be managed. Poverty that most often could be hidden. But now poverty is visible and no one can hide it. Some well- dressed men gatecrashed to a christening ceremony of a child and begged the woman in charge of food to just give them soup, out of the leftovers. She should not even bother with meat but just only soup which they would take home to make garri. This is not in Hausa or Igboland, it happens here in Yorubaland, and they are Yorubas - land of culture and honour, now under siege of poverty, extreme poverty as a result of gross misrule by pseudo- progressives of APC. A northern politician once said something that Yorubas ought to ponder seriously about if we are still a thinking people. He said if Bola Ahmed Tinubu had come before Obafemi Awolowo, most Yorubas would be almajiris today. Did you hear that? I never heard a word so true from the mouth of a politician of the Fourth Republic. If destiny had pushed this man ahead and he was the first then most people in this Yoruba land will be beggars by now. Because everything will be priced out of the reach of the poor: housing, market, schools, colleges, universities... With scholarships only for children of those who are ready to 'ranka dede' him and lick the boot of his aides and foot soldiers. All over Yoruba land and even Nigeria the reports coming are not good. Poverty, institutional, multi-level, multi- dimensional poverty is on the march and Nigerians are shrinking and shrinking into their holes and shells. That poverty is on the march is not the issue. That is not the problem. Even as bad as things are they can be turned around. Poverty is not the issue. The real issue, the real trouble that I see now is that there is no political will and no intellectual capacity and moral sagacity to understand the real trouble bedeviling the economy, to arrest and address what Professor Eskor Toyo calls "Nigeria's basic economic deformities" and set this nation on the path of progress. And unless this is done, unless the economic war is won poverty will continue to spread and deepen. It is not about prayer or confessing positive things. Often times we muddle these things because we neither understand true Religion or Theology and Logic. Theology is compatible with Reason, in point of fact, it is built on it. This is why the more Nigerians pray the poorer they become; because both leaders and followers are operating outside of Reason. Can I be honest with you? Poverty will be worse in 2024 than even 2023 that people are crying about. Because there is nothing in place to avert recurrence, to arrest the march of poverty, to put people back to jobs, to put industries back in motion. Now Nigeria is on fast pace to de-industrialization. As the currency continues to weaken and more money required to purchase raw materials the prospect of survival will become narrower and foreign investors will begin to leave amidst other uncertainties. The same ruinous policies that Buhari pursued for 8 years - borrowing, printing money ( ways and means), doling out N20,000 to imaginary beneficiaries and numbers and party members..., these are the same policies being pursued by this dumb government. Poverty will continue. Poverty does not end because someone wishes it or prays about it. This is where Nigerians miss it and why they suffer so much. Poverty is arrested by deliberate programs of attack, calculated schemes of intellectual, industrial, moral and financial empowerment, social stability and collective engagement. It requires an assortment of weapons to kill and defeat this hydra- headed enemy of man. It is war. Poverty must be fought and defeated. Else, we will all lose. I shall come to this at the end. The more debts increase the lower the quality of currency will be and the more will be required to service existing debts that are matured. Governors who are largely economic illiterates have mapped out strategies to borrow another 2-3 trillions in the new year. They have lost it. The federal government now shells out billions to states on palliative and the states too shell out to those they wish. That is what the largest community of black in the world has become: from hand to mouth. Just borrowing and sharing. An economy based on such transaction is an economy of doom for everyone. It is collective Immiseration. In a way it serves the political class for people to be poor because it gives them leverage. An economically- empowered and liberated person cannot be told who to vote for. He cannot be pushed to do the bidding of politicians. Because he doesn't need them. Politicians fear and hate such category of persons. They are dangerous, too dangerous to their survival. They possess independent minds and Nigerian politicians dont like people with independent minds. That is why democracy is actually designed and can only function best among people who are economically empowered and politically literate. Those two things: economic empowerment and political literacy are crucial. Poverty serves the interest of Nigerian politicians. The crowds of have- nots thronging their houses and queueing on their streets give them a sense of empowerment and self- assurance. It boosts their ego, that these "slaves" depend on them for survival and need their favour. That is why they prefer to dole out cash, crumbs to crowds rather than govern well and wipe out poverty among the masses. We have known cases where as crowds struggle to collect pittance lives were lost. It happened a couple of time in Kwara State during the era of Bukola Saraki where on each occasion as many as 30 people died; over pittance. I ask the man who shared the Bourdillon video whether the crowds got anything? Nothing, he told me. They got nothing. They would trek back the long distance home on empty stomachs. They have no need of them now. Elections are over and no election is in sight or coming till another four years. This people are cruel. They have no mercy. They don't care about people as they pretend to be. Nigerians deserve their fate. Everyone gets what he deserves with leadership. However, there is something dangerous about this which everyone needs to watch out for. If poverty is not tamed or arrested everyone will lose at the end. Even the rich will also cry. If nothing is done to arrest this rampaging poverty that is spreading all over the land; then there could be a boomerang effect. I don't know what it would be. When a river course is blocked and it is not allowed its natural flow, it will cut out another channel elsewhere and return with vengeance. These children who are crying to sleep now because of hunger will grow up one day and may join the army or somewhere else. The teenager who is dropping out of university today because his parents could not afford the new fees won't forget and will not forgive. Nigeria is taking a big risk. Who knows where a Jehu or Hitler or Rawlings may spring or come from? Now there is hunger in the land. That much is certain. Soon hunger will turn to anger and anger will crystallize into popular action, and action to... It is really amazing that Nigerians have to come to this sorry state under civilians. What excuse will politicians give now for the state of things? That the military spoiled everything and destroyed everything... And 25 years are not enough to undo what the military "destroyed"? Everything of value today that Nigeria has was built by the military - national hospital, Third Mainland Bridge, Aso Rock, Alscon etc. And they never sold oil for the fraction that is now selling today or in the last 24 years. What is the excuse that poverty has deepened in the same period when oil sold for a hundred dollars per barrel under the politicians for a substantial period of time? Pay day does come. Yes, there shall be a payday. I don't know how but I know eternal principles that cannot fail. Seedtime and harvest wont cease. The one who sows must also reap. Politicians will reap in full and with compound interest what they have sown in the last 25 years to Nigeria. © Moses Oludele Idowu December 26, 2023 All Rights Reserved .

PERSPECTIVE - Diplomatic hostage, Alex Saab, returns in triumph

By Owei Lakemfa Venezuelan Special Envoy and Ambassador to the African Union, Alex Nain Saab Morán who, against the established diplomatic practice of immunity, had been illegally detained in Cape Verde for sixteen months and in the United States for two years, was freed on Wednesday, December 20, 2023. He was exchanged for 10 American prisoners in Venezuela who had been imprisoned for various crimes including an armed invasion, terrorism, kidnapping and extortion. The prisoner swap, brokered by Qatar took place in the Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Saab was abducted in the American tradition of extraordinary rendition while on a humanitarian mission to buy food and medicines for his country to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. This, with the fact that he is an accredited diplomat with immunity may have been responsible for the inability of the US to proceed with his trial. In contrast, the Americans exchanged including mercenaries and terrorists went through normal court processes. So, when the American White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan twitted that: “All the Americans who were wrongfully detained in Venezuela are now safely back in the United States.” he knew the aspect that they were “wrongfully detained” is false.

For instance, amongst the Americans released were former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, who were captured when mercenaries invaded Venezuela in 2020. While the US claimed that the invasion was a fiction manufactured by the Venezuelan government to divert attention from internal economic problems, the families and colleagues of the men were crying in the US to confirm that the men were not ghosts and that the US should intervene to get them released. The leader of the invasion, Florida-based ex-Green Beret and three-time Bronze Star US combat veteran, Jordan Goudreau, who escaped back to America, confessed to the Associated Press that the invasion truly took place and that it was an attempt to “liberate” Venezuela in a mission called ‘Operation Gideon’. He told the press of his attempts in the US to get his colleagues freed: “I’ve tried to engage everybody I know at every level. Nobody’s returning my calls, It’s a nightmare.” Goudreau had shown the press a copy of an alleged $200m contract he signed with the US-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to carry out the invasion. He mentioned a captured Venezuelan National Guardsman Captain Antonio Sequea, as a commander working with him inside the country. A total of ten mercenaries were amongst the 114 arrested during the invasion. It is incredible that thirteen years later, the US Security Adviser would claim that these men were “wrongfully detained” In contrast, Saab, neither attacked anyone nor invaded any territory. He was on a humanitarian Special Mission to purchase basic supplies like food and medicines from Iran for his people. However, the US claimed the mission amounted to bursting the sanctions it had imposed on Venezuela and Iran, so the funds Saab was carrying, amounted to money laundering. Therefore, when the diplomat’s aircraft made a stopover to refuel in the West African country of Cape Verde on June 12, 2020, America used its diplomatic and economic might to force the later to detain Saab. Earlier, the US had tried to make Switzerland put Saab on trial for allegedly using the Swiss UBS Bank America for money laundering. But the Geneva Public Prosecutor had declared that it was pointless investigating such a claim. A month after Saab’s detention in Cape Verde, the US had in July, 2020 tried to seize four vessels carrying Iranian fuel to Venezuela on the ridiculous excuse that the Iranian government had stolen the oil from the Iranian people. Ten years earlier, the US had been involved in criminal acts like extraordinary rendition, which is the abduction of persons in various countries, torturing and dehumanising them and throwing them in prison without trial. This was the same tactics it used on Saab, save for two variations. First, it used another country, rather than its own forces to abduct Saab, and secondly, it wanted the diplomat sent to its territory rather than to another country. Ambassador Saab contacted the internationally acclaimed Nigerian Human Rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana to take his abduction case to the regional Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS Court in Abuja. Saab asked the court: “for the enforcement of his human rights to dignity, liberty, fair hearing and freedom of movement guaranteed by Articles 5, 6, 7 and 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights respectively.” On March 15, 2021, the ECOWAS Court ordered Saab’s release as there was even no INTERPOL Red Notice nor an arrest warrant for him. It also ordered that the US extradition process be terminated immediately and Saab paid $200m for illegal detention. Also, the United Nations Human Rights Commission on June 8, 2021 demanded that Saab be freed. Additionally, the African Bar Association on September 28, 2021 demanded that Cape Verde should obey the ECOWAS Court judgement. Falana also reported that the: ” African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights granted a provisional order to restrain Cape Verde from extraditing him to the United States pending the determination of the complaint of his human rights to dignity, life and freedom of movement. “Tragically, Cape Verde a little country of 4,033 square kilometres and a population of 549,935 could not withstand the bullying of the US even when both countries had no bilateral extradition agreement. It allowed its sovereignty to be raped by yielding to US pressures. So in October 2021, it handed the hapless diplomat to the Americans who flew him to Florida. However in two years, the US in its own court, could not make the alleged case of money laundering to stick. Also, it could not get round the fact that Saab, as a diplomat has diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) which provides for the protection of the diplomat and his or her family from any form of arrest or detention. The US only made a fool of itself when it claimed that Saab is not a true diplomat because he was appointed by President Nicolas Maduro. Who else can appoint a country’s diplomat but its sovereign Head of State? Across the world, ‘Free Alex Saab’ groups emerged demanding his freedom. Here in Nigeria, the Venezuelan Solidarity Campaign in Nigeria, VSCN joined the international campaign for his release. The VSCN reacting to Saab’s release characterised it as a victory for international solidarity grassroots movements. VSCN Coordinator, Dimeji Macaulay, in a statement said: “The release of Mr Alex Saab again shows that if we fight, we can win. If we don’t fight, we’ve already lost.” Ambassador Saab’s release restored some confidence in the diplomatic traditions of humanity.

Oborevwori approves land for Federal Medical Varsity, Kwale

Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State has approved provision of take off site for the Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, Kwale in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of the State. The State Commissioner for Lands, Surveys and Urban Development, Chief Emamusi Obiodeh announced the Governor's approval to journalists in Asaba on Friday. According to the Commissioner, the Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences take-off site is the place previously used by the School of Marine Technology, Kwale. The Governor has approved 15 hectares of land, including all facilities and infrastructure previously used by the Delta State School Marine Technology, Kwale campus which has moved to their permanent site. The new university will operate from this take-off site pending when they move to their permanent site of 100 hectares at Umuseti-Kwale. The Commissioner said Governor Oborevwori appreciated the Federal Government for the choice of Delta State for this all important specialised university. He expressed the State Government's preparedness to partner with the Federal Government, and any other serious investors with capacity that are ready to invest in the state. The Commissioner said Governor Oborevwori has directed him to provide land to investors who are ready to partner with the state with viable developments that will impact positively on the lives of Deltans and other Nigerians

PERSPECTIVE - Wike, Fubara and the 48 Laws of Power

By ETIM ETIM In words and actions, Gov. Siminalayi Fubara has shown that he is a good student of history and power dynamics. He has surprised and outsmarted his enemies and impressed his admirers with the manner he’s dealt with the political crisis in his state. So far, the governor has maneuvered deftly through Nyesom Wike’s threats, combustive anger and the subtle intimidations of the Presidency. I think we need to pay attention to Mr. Fubara’s strategy in the context of Nigeria’s politics of avarice, corruption and application of power to serve selfish interests. Fubara, we recall, was the state’s accountant-general when Wike was governor, and they worked together in managing and spending the resources of the state.

Last year, the EFCC suspected that there were some unethical practices in the manner they used these monies and so the commission moved to arrest Fubara who went into hiding. He was subsequently declared wanted by the EFCC. But to protect him, Wike made him the PDP governorship candidate and went ahead to get him elected governor. Fubara now has immunity from arrests and prosecution, but Wike, who was Fubara’s boss and knows everything about how Rivers’ funds were managed and mismanaged, has not been not been questioned by the EFCC. We have seen this play out in many states across the land, including my own Akwa Ibom, since 1999. In these arrangements, the outgoing governor would dictate how much he would be paid in cash periodically by his successor as a reward for facilitating his emergence, in addition to other perks and patronages. In return, the governor will take steps to discourage the arrest and prosecution of his predecessor. In addition, the former governor will assume the status of the ‘emperor’ of the land. But all too often, these agreements don’t last. After a few months in office, Fubara repudiated the understanding he had with Wike (some accounts say the former governor was receiving N2 billion monthly) and discontinued the payment. All hell broke loose and there began the crisis that has engulfed the state since October. Two weeks ago, President Tinubu stepped in and invited both men for a peace meeting. The terms of the peace agreement seemed to favour Wike more, prompting many to term it as a Presidential Directive rather than an agreement. Some persons who attended the peace meeting in the Villa actually said in interviews that it was only the President who spoke at the meeting; and that he was essentially directing the parties on what to do, after which they all signed the paper without as little as stating their own sides. Both Wike and Fubara however elected to stay silent until Boxing Day when the governor released a lengthy statement, in which he announced that he would abide by the terms of the proclamation because ‘’the Peace Pact is not as bad as it is being portrayed by those who genuinely opposed it’’, adding that ‘’it is certainly not a death sentence’’. Many persons interpret this to mean that the governor has finally capitulated, having been subtly intimidated by the President at the meeting, and that Wike would soon return to his former status as the emperor of the state. A well-known TV anchor actually told me that the governor ‘’is dumb’’. They are wrong. Unknown to them, Fubara’s motives, implicit in his Christmas message and evident in some of his actions, show that he is smarter than he’s given credit for. He seems to be taking some lessons from The 48 Laws of Power propounded by Robert Greene, the American author of books on strategy, power and seduction, 25 years ago. Gov. Fubara is dealing with this matter with a great deal of political astuteness and clever tactics. He says one thing in public, but is stealthily undermining his enemies in secret. He has shown that he is a good student of history and power. Law 3 of the 48 Laws of Power states: ‘’Conceal your intentions: Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defence. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelop them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late’’. By pledging to abide by the terms of the Peace Pact, when in fact, he does not mean it, Fubara is leading Wike and the President on a wrong path, keeping them guessing, while constantly digging into the trenches and undermining Wike’s moves. While those in Abuja see this as political disagreements, the governor and indeed, the Ijaw people of Rivers of whom Fubara is a scion, have turned it into an ethnic war. Their constant threats to bomb crude oil pipelines if the governor is impeached and removed from office should not be ignored. I am sure that President Tinubu is not taking those threats lightly. Between Wike and crude oil exports, I know whom the President will choose! Fubara also seems to be taking the 12th Law of Power to heart. ‘’Use Selective honesty and generosity to disarm your victim. One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armour, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift – a Trojan horse – will serve the same purpose’’. Paragraph 12 of the governor’s speech succinctly captures this selective act of honesty. His words: ‘’I reaffirm my acceptance of the Presidential Peace Pact Proclamation and my commitment to implementing both the spirit and letters of the declaration…without compromising the collective interest of our people and our cherished and shared democratic values’’. Who determines what the interest of Rivers people are and what are the cherished and shared democratic values? Does the interest of Rivers people entail illegal payments of monies to a former governor? Is it part of shared and cherished democratic values for the governor to remain subservient to his predecessor? In other words, only Fubara will determine what constitute the collective interest of his people and their cherished and shared democratic values. The governor is also drawing on the 21st Law which states that: ‘’Play a Sucker to catch a sucker – seem dumber than your mark. No one seem stupider than the next. The trick, then, is to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives’’. By constantly calling Wike ‘’my Oga’’ and pretending to be compliant and respectful, Fubara is playing the fool, a tactic well captured in paragraph 14 of his speech: ‘’I have said before, there is no price too much to pay for peace. And with the realization that the worst peace is better than the best war, we will try to make peace with all segments and interest groups without surrendering our freedom or jeopardizing the interest and well-being of the good people of Rivers State who graciously entrusted us with their cherished mandate’’. It is notable that the governor is constantly referring to the ‘’interest of Rivers people’’, and his condition for keeping to the agreement is that ‘’it must not violate the interest of Rivers people’’. And who defines these interests? It is the governor himself! This is similar to what happens when the United States invades another country to protect its own national interest. Only America defines what its national interest is! Law 33 states that: ‘’Discover each man’s thumbscrew. Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usually an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage’’. Nyesom Wike’s weakness is his greed and inordinate ambition to control his successor. Fubara realizes this and is misleading the FCT Minister into hoping that he would keep to the agreement. While Wike is hoping against hope that the billions will flow again, the governor is winning more and more supporters, including those who hitherto loathed him, to his side. Sooner than later, Wike’s ‘’structures’’ will collapse like Lagos buildings. Unfortunately, Wike has flouted Law 34: ‘’Be loyal in your own fashion: Act Like a king to be treated like one. The way you carry yourself will often determine how you’re treated: In the long-run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. A king respects himself and inspires the same sentiments in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown’’. Frankly, Nyesom Wike has disgraced himself before the country by allowing his covetousness and greed to overwhelm him. By acting comically and desperately, he has exposed himself to ridicule and scorn. Now, compare Wike’s conduct to that of Senator Godswill Akpabio after he fell out with Gov. Udom Emmanuel in 2016. Akpabio simply walked away and later moved to another party in 2018. If Akpabio had not walked away from his successor when their fight started, he would not be senate president today. What of Gov. Umo Eno and his predecessor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel? Although Udom Emmanuel has succeeded in putting Eno in office as governor, the two men seem to be managing the relationship in a fairly decent manner, and so far, the terms of their agreements have not been breached. Surely, Chief Wike has a lot to learn from others while we have a lot to learn from Simi Fubara.

PERSPECTIVE - Killings on the Plateau: The shame of a nation

By Etim Etim The brutal killings of over 160 Nigerians in three LGAs in Plateau State on Christmas eve and Christmas Day by terrorists have once again illustrated the failure of the Nigerian State to protect its citizens. Over 20 villages across Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu LGAs were attacked in what has become a pattern of a failed or a fast-failing state. I am sad, pained and aggrieved by the flagrant failure of the security agencies to thwart the terrorists’ plots or arrest them after their heinous crimes. Many Nigerians, including a retired general who had once served as the Commander of Operation Safe Heaven on the Plateau, Gen. Henry Ayoola, believe that there are elements in the security agencies that collude with the terrorists and are complicit in these killings. Defence Headquarters, the highest authority of the military high command, has stated that although the military did receive over 30 distress calls from the villagers when the attacks were going on, it could not respond soon enough because the terrains to those communities are bad. What an excuse! It sounds like the police telling victims of armed robbery that they had no petrol in their vehicles or the fire service complaining of lack of water in their trucks while a home is burning. How did the terrorists gain access the communities if the terrains are that bad? Excuses like this give credence to speculations that some soldiers and, perhaps, officers may be sympathetic to the agenda and ideology of the killers.

The frequency of the killings and the fact that no single person has ever been arrested and prosecuted also support the theory of collusion by some members of our police and armed forces. It brings a sinking feeling to my stomach. Last June, over 100 villagers were slaughtered by terrorists in Mangu LGA alone. Nigerians of different walks of life and some members of the international community, have been shocked by what is apparently ethnic cleansing of the Christian communities of some parts Northern Nigeria. The Sultan of Sokoto, Middle Belt Forum, PANDEF, Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Northern Governors’ Forum, Peter Obi, Shehu Sani are among those who have shown outrage at the carnage. The Pope and Amnesty International (AI) have cried out. AI has a long history of criticizing the military for what it describes as human rights abuses, but in the aftermath of the Christmas killings in Plateau, the Country Director of AI, Isa Sanusi, is going a step further to ask for a probe into the activities of the military. ‘’The Nigerian authorities must investigate the inexcusable security lapses that allowed the horrific killing of over 140 people by gunmen across over 20 villages… Our investigation shows that the gunmen were on rampage of killing and destruction for more than 48 hours, moving from one village to another’’, said Saunusi. A few days after the attacks, Gen. Henry Ayoola (rtd), former Commander of Operation Safe Haven, the very security organization that was put in place to prevent terrorist attacks on the Plateau, was on Arise TV, suggesting that some elements in the military are more loyal to the terrorists than the country. He should know. Ayoola said in the interview that he had submitted a detailed report to the military authorities on this before his retirement a few years ago. The police authorities have also come under severe criticisms for their tardiness and inability to secure the safety of the people. Nigerians are also venting their anger on President Bola Tinubu for hunkering down in his Lagos home, enjoying the holidays and refusing to visit Plateau State to express solidarity and compassion. Although the President has dispatched Vice President Shettima and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to Jos to meet with Plateau leaders, that is not enough to assuage frayed nerves. Some commentators are quick to liken his response to that of President Buhari who only issued sympathy statements and sent Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on countless condolence visits. Why are US Presidents eager to jump into Airforce One to fly to disaster areas, visit with local officials and offer words of comfort to affected communities but our own commanders-in-chief do not care as much when disaster strike? In the last two years, President Biden has visited over half a dozen cities to assess damage and comfort the hurt. In September 2021, he flew down to New York and New Jersey to survey damage from Hurricane Ida. In January 2023, he went to California to the damage from a series of devastating storms that slammed the western part of the country, forcing residents to flee mudslides and rising floodwaters. In May 2023, he was in Utah and offered federal assistance to aid recovery efforts in affected by flooding. In August, the President travelled 13 hours to Hawaii to tour destructions caused by wildfires and the following month, Joe Biden was in Florida to survey destruction from Hurricane Idalia and comfort victims. The essence of these visits is to show compassion and empathy, which is the number one quality of a good leader. Just two months ago, terrorists crossed over from Gaza Strip and killed over 220 people in Israel. Pronto! Prime Minister Netanyahu declared war against the terrorists and today, bombs are falling on Gaza. But in Nigeria, terrorists from the same ancestry and with the same ideological bent, have been killing thousands of people of Plateau, Benue and Southern Kaduna for years now in a well-organized pogrom designed to seize their lands, yet no Nigerian leader has shown any capacity and political will to bring justice to them. On the day of the attacks – October 7 – Netanyahu addressed his nation and promised to dismantle Hamas from power and destroy their military capabilities. The world has been watching with both admiration and anger as Israel Defence Force is pummeling Gaza. Leadership is everything. Those who trenchantly criticized Buhari for appearing soft on terrorists because he is of same ancestry with them will need to come up with new explanations on why the Tinubu administration is not acting differently. The images of Plateau women rolling on the floor, crying and wailing over their misfortunes, and the men fleeing their villages with their mattresses and household items are too heart-wrenching for me. The sufferings of the vulnerable members of our communities cut me to the quick. On December 5, the Nigerian military mistakenly dropped two bombs on the people of Tudun Biri in Kaduna State. Defence Headquarters later explained that the people were mistaken for terrorists. On December 24, terrorists invaded 20 villages in Plateau State and murdered over 150 people. The same Defence Headquarters explained that they couldn’t launch counterattacks to repel the attackers because of bad terrains. What more excuses should we expect? The shame of a country!

Children enjoy bliss at DAO Foundation’s fun-filled Christmas Party, as Doris Ochei urges the rich to show love to less privileged

The sleepy town of Onicha Olona came alive when the Doris Amaka Ochei Foundation (DAO Foundation) on Boxing Day, Thursday December 26,2023, ignited uncommon love for children when it hosted them to a well funded and fun filled Christmas party. The event which was the Foundation's second edition Christmas Party for children was held at Ugba Primary School field, Onicha-Olona, in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State. It was attended by over 2,000 children from all the schools and families within and outside Onicha-Olona. It had the esteemed presence of the husband of the Founder and Executive Director of DAO Foundation, Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei, Major General Raymond Ochei who was the Father of the Day. Members of Ezemu Girls Grammar School Old Girls Associations, Ubulu-Uku, Viva Foundation, Lagos and friends of the founder were also at Onicha-Olona to add colour and support to the party. The monarch of Onicha-Olona, His Royal Majesty, Obi Agbogidi Christopher Uzumefune and members of Obi In Council were also with the children at the event.

At the event, the children who came with their teachers and parents were treated to a three course meal, varieties of activities such as dancing competition, drama portraying the humble birth of Jesus Christ, concentration games, Cultural display, Michy Mouse dance and distribution of gifts by Father Christmas The Foundation also distributed over 2000 customized school bags with water bottles, note books, pencils and biros worth millions of Naira to all the children at the party. In his remarks, the Father of the Day, Major General Raymond Nkem Ochei commended the Foundation's activities, which he said had continued to demonstrate love to the less privileged children and women in the society. He appreciated them for putting up the party for the children, pointing out that it has continued to bring together the privileged and less privileged children together to interact in love.

The General urged the Founder and members of the Foundation to remain relentless in their efforts towards bringing out the less privileged from poverty, even as he urged those present to continue to uphold the Foundation in prayers with a view to doing more for the betterment of the society. Earlier in her welcome address, one of the children, Miss Kikachukwu Glory Olunwa said she was excited to welcome guests on behalf of the entire children to their Christmas party. She appreciated the Founder of DAO Foundation, Dr. (Mrs) Doris Ochei for her kindness towards children and prayed to God to continue to bless the Founder and the Foundation. Speaking in an interview with Journalists in her country home after the party, Dr. Doris Amaka Ochei appreciated God for the success of the Second Edition of the Foundation's Christmas Party for Children.

She attributed the Foundation's gesture to the desire to always want to give back to society. She said the motivation came out of the need to carry children along, in the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ by way of making them happy and giving them what they will live to always remember for good. She said when one is blessed, it is not complete if others are not blessed by the one who has been blessed. She maintained that she is blessed of God and she has made it a duty to ensure that others, especially the less privileged are blessed from that which God has blessed her with. Dr. Ochei said: "The reason God blesses us is for us to be a blessing to others. If you come to this world, you are so wealthy and you have not touched lives, then you have not come to the world at all. "Another thing is that for the children, I want to leave a legacy. I want to be able to teach the kids that this is the way to go. Whatever you have, you share. When they grow up they won't depart from it. They would want to do what I am doing", she said. Dr. Ochei revealed that what she was doing was what she learned from people when she was growing up, saying that she admired such gestures and it helped in no small measure in inspiring her in reaching out and giving to the less privileged and the needy in the society.

The highly charismatic woman maintained that she did not establish the DAO Foundation because of politics and that she has never been involved in politics, saying that the Foundation is all about giving back to the society from what God has blessed her with. "DAO was born out of compassion for humanity. It is a Foundation that is to reach out to the downtrodden, a Foundation that is meant to reach out to those who are genuinely in need and we are indeed living to our goals and objectives. We are torching lives in different ways and one of them is the children's Christmas Party," she affirmed. The DAO Foundation boss also revealed that the Foundation has the youth section and hinted that a programme geared towards empowering the Youths has been fixed for Easter next year. "The youth section of our programme comes up by Easter when some of the Youths would be empowered. We are coming up with a unique idea to empower them and teach them how to fish, from there, they can fish for themselves," she said. Doris Amaka Ochei also said her Foundation is focused on Women development, even as she said the DAO Foundation had been able to empower over 140 women who she revealed were given interest free loans to engage in one form of small scale business whereby the loans are put together, return at the end of the year and given back to the women to continue with the business at the beginning of the new year.

"By so doing, they have the capital, year in, year out to continue with their business all the time. "We also have DAO Market Women Empowerment Programme. It is a scheme basically for market women which we have done in Ubulu-Uku and we are ready to replicate in Onicha-Olona in January 2024," she said. While revealing that the Foundation is also involved in infrastructure development for communities such as building and rehabilitation of markets, construction of roads, provision of water bore holes and provision of Solar Street lights, Dr. Doris Amaka reiterated the fact that DAO Foundation remains a Non Governmental Organization being fully funded solely by herself. She said the Foundation did not receive donations from anybody or from any organization, even as she debunked the insinuation that the Foundation was established for money making just like some other NGOs.

She maintained that she remains a business woman, a serial entrepreneur, a stock broker, having a stock brokerage company, a traveling consulting company, a water producing company and other business that gives her the ease to be able to fund her Foundation. Other highlights at the event was the Bible quiz, and cutting of the Christmas cake. Also of significant importance was the presentation by the K'ibedinma Divas, the wives of K'ibedinma Social Club of Enuani, which in collaboration with DAO Foundation made the following presentations to primary six pupils of two schools to help them to enrol for the Common Entrance and first School leaving certificate examinations in 2024. The schools which each were presented with a cheque for N300,000 making it a total of N600, 000 were Iyiogbe Primary School and Ugba Primary School, Onicha-Olona.

Atiku mourns Akeredolu, Na’Abba

It was with a rude shock and sadness that I read about the passing of the Governor of Ondo State, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Gali Umar Na’Abba. Governor Akeredolu was a quintessential gentleman who took the finesse to governance. A two-term elected governor of the Sunshine State, Akeredolu was a politician of class because he was never known for destructive politics. Hon. Na’Abba on the other hand raised the bar of legislative enterprise in Nigeria as it is evident that the 1st Session of the National Assembly where he served with distinction between 1999-2003 remains one of the best in the annals of our legislatures. Both Governor Akeredolu, Aketi, as he was fondly called, and Speaker Na’Abba will be sorely missed for the inestimable roles that they played in our national development. I express deepest condolences to their respective families and pray to God to grant their souls a peaceful repose. I also join the good people and governments of both Ondo and Kano States to mourn the demise of these towering political figures. Signed: Atiku Abubakar Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007 27th December, 2023.

Oborevwori mourns as Governor Akeredolu dies at 67

Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori has expressed deep sadness on the passing of Ondo State Governor, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, at the age of 67. Governor Oborevwori, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sir Festus Ahon in Asaba, expressed his condolences to Akeredolu’s wife, Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, family members, the government and people of Ondo State on the passing of the renowned senior lawyer. He noted that the late Governor Akeredolu who was Chairman of Southern Governors’ Forum, was an urbane and cerebral leader of great value who was progressively committed to the growth and development of Ondo State and Nigeria. “On behalf of the government and people of Delta, I commiserate with the Akeredolu family, the government and people of Ondo State on the painful passing of my brother governor, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN). "As a senior lawyer and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Akeredolu contributed immensely to the growth and development of the legal profession in the country. "Chief Akeredolu paid his dues and had a fulfilling legal career that culminated in his emergence as President of the Nigerian Bar Association and later as Governor of Ondo State. "It is my firm belief that the achievements of the late Governor in the legal profession and in the governance of Ondo State will continue to inspire many to take to the legal profession and contribute to nation-building," Oborevwori said. The Governor prayed to God to grant the soul of the legal luminary eternal rest.

PERSPECTIVE - Buhari and Fashola’s legacy of killer roads

By Felix Oboagwina This fateful Friday of 28th July 2023, a heavy blanket of sorrow enveloped the entire population of Eket Council in Akwa Ibom State. A burial was taking place at the Eket Stadium. But this was no routine funeral. It was a state burial, a mass interment of 13 indigenes, including a baby, killed on a journey. THE EKET 13 Their Salvation Army-branded bus, “AKWA IBOM-KET-779AV,” travelling back from a church conference trip to Lagos, had joined the long queue of vehicles traversing the bad portion at the Ovia-River Bridge along the Ore-Benin Expressway that Thursday 29th of June. That spot had become notorious for accidents –whole families had been wiped out there; carcases of all makes and shapes and sizes of vehicles even now lie around there perished forever. Yet the cause of the accident was nothing a little effort could not fix. All it would take to patch that blood-sucking spot would be no more than two tipper loads of coal-tar. But day after day, vehicles are forced to queue up there in a snarling traffic jam, to navigate the potholed portion at snail-speed. That queue could drag for one whole hour. Several days on which the road thirsts for blood, one careless heavy-duty driver would forget the routine, fly into the place at top speed and slam into queuing vehicles, spilling blood, death, cries and anguish. Those homebound Salvation Army from Eket were killed, 13 of them. Of the returning church members, four missed death –a man and his wife and two others. The couple, who sat in front, had fortuitously taken the opportunity of the slowdown to climb out of the vehicle to ease themselves. Backs turned to their bus, they heard the deafening bang. They raced back only to behold the mangled, broken bodies of their brethren trapped in the bus underneath a heavy-duty trailer. Everybody in Eket knew everybody who died. The whole town mourned. One family lost four. Governor Udom Emmanuel turned up for the funeral at the Eket Stadium. He wept openly. Neither Governor Emmanuel nor Eket’s Salvation Army mourners would be the first or the last to weep over the blood spilled unnecessarily at that killer spot of Ovia Bridge. Yet it would cost less than N20 million of an inflated contract to fix the bad portion. Even the FERMA or PWD arm of the Ministry of Works would make the repairs in less than 48 hours. On the day the Salvation Army travellers got killed, Lagos State’s former Governor Babatunde Fashola was Minister of Works and Housing. WHERE DID THE TRILLIONS GO? The girls of “YOUR VIEW,” the breakfast show at TVC just love, love, love Fashola. The ladies of the flagship breakfast programme of the Lagos-based TV station once had a show where they wondered aloud when Fashola would receive his call-up to continue his "meritorious service" with current President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. But truth is that after his eight-year stint as a "super” Minister under President Muhammadu Buhari, the SAN’s report card shows that, just as he did in Power and Housing, he ended up performing woefully in handling the roads construction portfolio at the Ministry of Works. What can this Senior Advocate boast of after eight years as Buhari’s Works Minister? In September 2022, Information Minister Lai Mohammed informed that the Ministry of Works had constructed 8,352 kilometres of roads, rehabilitated 7,936 kilometres more, constructed 299 bridges, and maintained 312 bridges more. They reportedly spent some N1.584 trillion for Works and Housing in six years of Buhari’s government, between 2016 and 2021. Can they point out the 8,300 kilometres of done roads? Where did all those trillions go? Today Northerners complain of bad roads. Southerners complain too. Where are the roads? Even the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project the Buhari regime inherited from President Goodluck Jonathan, who inherited it from President Umar Yar’Adua, who inherited it from President Olusegun Obasanjo, remained unfinished till the tenure of Fashola expired. That road is just 128 kilometres. It remains Nigeria’s most important road, connecting the nation’s commercial capital and ports to everywhere upcountry! Eight years of Fashola left it a half-baked work-in-progress. ALL ROADS LEADING TO LAGOS However, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is not the only project in which overrated Fashola fell short. The man simply refused to avert his mind to the inlets into the state he once governed. Lagos-Abeokuta remains a death-trap that only those with a “death wish” dare to traverse. Articulated vehicles routinely crash on that hell highway virtually every day, spilling all their goods, several valued at millions of dollars. Except that Dangote took over the road from Apapa Port and Tin-Can Port in Lagos, that axis would still have remained a forbidden zone. Even then, it remains unfinished. The less than 20 kilometres between Oshodi and Apapa Port is an international route. When the government failed to maintain the road, Dangote took it over for concrete matting. Today, it remains unfinished and has become a second home to drivers and motor-boys, whose tankers, trailers, haulage and articulated vehicles line up to access and exit the Apapa Port. They spend months per trip. They keep crawling on that impossible queue to access the ports and then spend an equal duration to exit. Not less daunting is the nightmare of plying both the Badagry-Seme road or the Ijoko-Otta road to connect our next-door neighbour, Benin Republic. All these border roads constitute a disgrace. Imagine the disgust other West African citizens must feel when they come visiting, when their own countries boast of expansive autobahns. What then is the whole hype about Nigeria being Giant of Africa? ALL ROADS LEADING TO ABUJA, EAST AND NORTH Equally, all roads leading into the Federal Capital Territory Abuja suffer the same fate: The one from Kaduna. The one through Lokoja. The one from Suleja. The one from Jos and Keffi. Under Fashola, the Abuja-Kaduna road remained a write-off. Apart from the insecurity, the deterioration of the road caused travellers to massively embrace the train. As I put together this piece, a video clip went into circulation, telling the same story of woe about the Nsukka-9th-Mile Enugu-Ngwo Expressway that connects the South-East to Benue and the North. The Ibadan-Ilorin highway remains bad even after an expenditure of N23 billion. The entire East-West-East route lies totally tattered and ruined! The Benin Bypass remains a hellhole. Trailers and tankers perpetually park thickly on both sides. At that bypass, vehicles end up spending up to two and more hours to hip-hop through what should be a short 15-minute drive. Similar fate befalls the Benin-Sapele road connecting Edo State to Delta State, ditto the highways from Delta to Rivers, to Akwa Ibom to Cross River. Going to Abuja from the South-South remains a nightmare. Benin, through Ekpoma, Irrua, Auchi and Okpella in Edo State to Okene to Lokoja in Kogi State en route Abuja comfortably competes with the Hammer House of Horror. On the Benin-Auchi axis, smaller vehicles pass through inner roads of villages to escape the horror of heavy articulated vehicles that have languished on those evil spots for months. That route new Works Minister Dave Umahi travelled recently and spent 12 hours for a five-hour trip, with all his blaring sirens, gun-toting MOPOL and daredevil soldiers. In traversing the harrowing Yola-Maiduguri road, like several Nigerian roads, you would be funnelled into driving one-way, facing oncoming traffic, terrible go-slows and ACCIDENTS! This writing did not set out to catalogue Nigeria’s deplorable roads, but mention needs to be mentioned of notorious nightmare routes in the North like: Kano-Kaduna Road, Kano-Maiduguri Road, Kano to Hadjia in Jigawa State, Kano-Katsina Road, Yobe State’s 50-kilometre Damaturu-Tarmuwa road and Nangere-Jakusko roads, Maiduguri-Damaturu Road that leads to other states and the Bama Road. Drivers also dread the Gombe-Biu Road, the Bauchi-Gombe Road that regularly claims the lives of commuters and motorists, and the Kaduna-Saminaka Road that links Jos, the Plateau State capital. Can any insurance cover the wear and tear, man-hour loss and stress that man and machine suffer on Nigeria’s killer roads? Terrible roads have turned Nigeria into the graveyard of vehicles from all over the world. Cars used in this country lack second-hand value anywhere else. Abi have you heard of Nigeria exporting fairly-used vehicles to even “poorer” neighbours like Benin Republic or Cameroon? Just when we thought Fashola and Buhari could salvage their tattered roads records with the completed Second Niger-Bridge, suddenly, the country woke up to hear the shocking news that N260 billion would be needed to make that bridge usable. This is a bridge that they did not start but ONLY completed. DEMYSTIFIED Pray what did Fashola and Buhari spend eight years and several trillions doing in the country’s roads sector? The question begs for answers. However, like it did Buhari, the last regime clearly demystified Fashola. As former Works Minister, Fashola unfortunately will only be remembered by his legacy of killer roads. That is the testimony of passengers, goods and drivers wasting their days sleeping on bad roads North, South, East and West Nigeria. That is the testimony as well from those 13 tombstones of the Salvation Army travellers in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, and from all those other unknown souls cut short in needless road accidents nationwide. Those deaths stand as epitaphs to that ingloriously disastrous era of Fashola as Works Minister. • Oboagwina is an author, journalist and publisher, reachable via: foboagwina@gmail.com