Author: Lawal AbdulSalam Olawale

The Maris Trust Council, MTC, organisers of the Maris Annual Public Service Lecture, is set to unveil the first female Guest Speaker for this year’s edition of the lecture series.

Secretary, MTC, Comrade Fidelis Egugbo, made the disclosure on Saturday morning in a statement he made available to journalists in Asaba, Delta State.

According to Egugbo, the general public, participants at the annual lecture series in particular, played vital roles in selecting who will deliver the lecture.

He said, “it is a thing of joy to say that in the next couple of days, we shall unveil the Guest Speaker at this year’s edition of Maris Annual Public Service Lecture.

We can confidently say that this year’s edition shall be delivered by a woman who has recorded first in several areas; of course, she will be the first female to feature as Guest Speaker at the annual event which is used to proffer solutions to the challenges of the society.

“We are grateful to the government of Delta State led by Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori for making the state conducive for the MTC to again, choose the state as host for the lecture which has participants from all over the world.

We also thank participants who are patiently waiting to know who will deliver the lecture and to those who suggested topics and guest speakers for this year’s lecture, we say, thank you as we look forward to your active participation and physical presence at the lecture.

“For those who will be attending the lecture from outside Asaba, you can make use of the Asaba International Airport; Asaba is safe, have hotels of international standards, good cuisine and hospitable people.

By God’s grace, this year’s edition shall hold on its traditional date of Wednesday of the Holy Week, that is, the Wednesday before Easter Sunday, March 27, 2024 at 12 Noon.

“Thank you. “

Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently put machinery in motion to tackle the insecurity plaguing the country.

Speaking in Lagos on Wednesday, George, the Atona Oodua of Yorubaland, advised Tinubu to deploy modern technology to deal with banditry, kidnappings and other vices.

said the late governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, would be remembered for established Amotekun, adding that “we copied the American Constitution without following it to the letter”.

“Americans have the FBI, state police and the county police, but what do we have here?”

He, however, said that the Nigerian Constitution is part of the obstacle that is recklessly disturbing the growth of the country, adding that Tinubu should revisit the report of 2014 Constitutional Conference where all decisions taken were unanimous.

On the economy, George opined that “it is simple economics that when you have too much money chasing fewer goods, it leads to hyper inflation”.

He questioned the rationale behind the creation of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, adding that working without data is not the best for the country.

George also criticised former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as the first culprit.

He said it was unthinkable that a Professor of Law and Senior Advocate of Osinbajo’s repute will be going to the market to share money in the guise of trader money and market money.

The PDP chieftain, who admitted that the economic crisis in Nigeria is global, opined that subsidies on electricity and other essentials that will cut across all strata of the populace would cushion the effect of the downturn in the economy, “rather than sharing money without data”

He also suggested a meeting with retired military officers to gain from their experiences on how to tackle the menace.

Some of them include Generals Yakubu Gowon, Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Theophilus Danjuma, Mohammed Gusau and others.

He said: “The insecurity in the land is no longer a party affair. It is no longer a Tinubu problem. From the North to South, East to West, nobody is safe again.

“This is the time for Tinubu to urgently meet retired military chiefs. He needs their help. This is also the time to deploy technology. All these characters kidnapping and killing people all over the place are not as powerful as the government.

“We have seen how technology is being used to deal with enemies of state in other countries. We must use same here to deal with enemies of Nigerians. Nigerians are no longer safe in their country. This is no longer acceptable.

“There is a need to deploy technology and train the military boys on how to handle modern equipment such as unmanned aerial vehicles (drones).

“The military is usually designed to take care of external enemies. But when the level of insurgency is beyond the police to contain, there is what we call ‘Aid to civil power’. It’s a special military operation to assist the police in quelling insurgency. The security challenge now is horrendous, and there is a need to use modern weapons such as drones. ‘Gramatology’ can no longer help. Let’s train our boys (military) in the use of modern equipment.”

George, who described the gruesome murder of two traditional rulers in Ekiti as ‘sacrilegious’, said “it is time to have a state police”.

The new governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo says he has not created the ” Office of the Immediate Past Governor” to be domiciled in the Government House as being rumoured in some quarters.

Ododo made the rebuttal in a statement issued on Tuesday in Lokoja by his Chief Press Secretary, Oladele Nihi.

Ododo described the publication as mischievous, fake and laughable.

“The laughable report was concocted to create disaffection and mislead the public but the authors failed woefully to confuse intelligent Nigerians,” the governor said.

The statement reads thus :  ” The attention of the Kogi State Government has been drawn to a mischievous report that the Governor of Kogi State, His Excellency, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, has approved the establishment of the “Office of the Immediate Past Governor” to be domiciled in the Government House.

The fake news should be disregarded as the handiwork of psychotic mischief makers, who have been thrown into confusion by the unprecedented achievements of our former Governor, His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, CON, and the realisation that the good people of Kogi State sincerely appreciate this.

“The laughable report was concocted to create disaffection and mislead the public but the authors failed woefully to confuse intelligent Nigerians.

“We thank the media for exercising restraint and detecting, on their own, that the report was fake.

“We, however, urge the general public to always fact-check before spreading fake news.”.

I WILL be surprised if truthfully, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, is surprised by the exit of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic from the organisation.

The countries had in a joint statement on Sunday, January 29, 2024 announced on their state television stations, an immediate withdrawal, alleging that ECOWAS had “moved away from the ideals of its founding fathers and pan-Africanism.”

In an obvious reference to an initial threat by ECOWAS to militarily invade Niger and restore civilian rule, the troika claimed: “Furthermore, ECOWAS, under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles, has become a threat to its member states and its populations whose happiness it is supposed to ensure.

claimed that while pursuing punitive sanctions against them, ECOWAS “… notably failed to assist these states in their existential fight against terrorism and insecurity.”

The Commission’s unserious response was that it is “… yet to receive any direct formal notification from the three member states about their intention to withdraw from the Community”.

The withdrawal is not an “intention” as ECOWAS claims, but a done deal as the three countries made public and formal statements withdrawing from ECOWAS. It is another matter if they decide not to bother sending a formal withdrawal notification to ECOWAS. I am not sure there is any court or power that can force the countries to give the mandatory one year notice of withdrawal.

Also, ECOWAS seeks to give the impression that it was caught off guard by the decision of the troika. This is not good for the image of the Commission because the three countries had in the past four months clearly shown by their deeds and utterances, that they are leaving ECOWAS.

For instance, on September 16, 2023, they announced the formation of what was essentially a parallel commission called the Alliance of Sahel States, ASS (French: l’Alliance des États du Sahel, AES).

The announced objectives of the ASS include mutual defense, economic and monetary union and a common currency called Sahel. These three objectives are in fact, more concrete than those of ECOWAS which after 49 years of existence, has no defence pact, is still far from being an effective economic union, and whose common currency, the ECO, is virtually stillbirth. So, with the ASS in place, how can ECOWAS be surprised by the formal exit of those countries?

Three days before the announced withdrawal, an ECOWAS Ministerial Mission to Niamey, Niger Republic, to discuss the future of the country with the ruling junta did not show up. ECOWAS blamed this on technical issues with the aircraft it had chartered. It speaks volumes about the competence of ECOWAS that there was no alternative arrangement for such an important delegation after the Ministers might have flown to Abuja from their various countries.

The withdrawal of the three countries, whose size constitutes 54 per cent of the total ECOWAS landmass, should call for a state of emergency, including an Extraordinary Summit of the Heads of State.

even if the reasons the countries have given for the withdrawal are self-serving, ECOWAS ought to look into them, respond accordingly and take immediate steps to mend the cracks. The Commission folding its hands, waiting for the mandatory one-year withdrawal notice, is not a viable option. This is more so, when there is a high probability of Guinea, another member country under military rule, joining the new alliance.

If the ASS thrives, the possibility of more countries in the region joining it is high. If that were to be the case, ECOWAS would split into two and some countries may have one leg each in the two regional bodies.

In truth, ECOWAS suffers from lack of focus, vision and strategic thinking. In 2017, it bogged itself down with the completely unnecessary intrigues of whether or not Morocco, a country in North Africa, should be admitted into its fold.

ECOWAS sanctions against regimes ought to be handled in such a way that it would not adversely affect the collective fight against terrorism which envelops countries like Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad. Simply shutting in Niger, isolating it, imposing punitive sanctions, including food and electricity, and wanting to invade it, was not a wise decision.

ECOWAS has failed to even discuss, not to talk of addressing the fundamental issues of France imposing its will on French-speaking ECOWAS countries, nakedly exploiting them, compelling them to under- sell their commodities, and forcing a currency regime on them.

Again ECOWAS seems to have a very narrow view of democracy as an electoral process to the exclusion of good governance and service delivery, as well as the welfare and security of the people.

Even its view of constitutional rule is parochial, as it does not take on board elected political leaders who rape the constitution. For instance, Cote d’Ivoire President, Alassane Ouattara, is on an illegal third term in office. His fellow pro-France friend, President Macky Sall of Senegal, tried to run for an unconstitutional third term which threw the country into chaos. Only an uprising stopped Blaise Campore from a third term in Burkina Faso, while the Guinean President Alpha Conde was ousted from office in September 2021, after he forced an unconstitutional third term on the populace.

Today, there are protests in Guinea Bissau against the government shutting down the National Peoples Assembly. As usual, ECOWAS has turned a blind eye, would not discuss such unconstitutional steps, and is unlikely to call the government to order.

So, there is an urgent need for ECOWAS to look inwards, refocus, rebuild and set goals, including greater trade amongst members, monetary and economic integration, common currency, and a defence pact. It also needs to aggregate the interests of the region and defend them against external interests. Most importantly, it needs to move from the Assembly of Heads of State with a tokenistic parliament and a court whose decisions are hardly respected to a union of peoples with sovereignty over all powers in the region.

Nigeria, whose population constitutes about half the 420 million people in West Africa and accounts for 77 per cent of its trade, is best placed to lead the ECOWAS reforms. However, it must first think clearly beyond its illusionary beliefs in so-called market forces, make governance people-driven than elite-centred, and be governed by monetary politics. It also needs to be independent of all countries no matter how powerful, rich or seemingly benevolent.

If Nigeria gets it right, West Africa is likely to get it right; if Nigeria is not shamed, ECOWAS will not be shamed. The cracks in ECOWAS need to be mended, not widened.

Delta State Governor, Rt Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, Friday, said his administration is planning to revamp the Warri Township Stadium into a world class sports facility.

Speaking when he received members of the National Assembly from the state, led by Hon. Nicholas Mutu, on a victory and solidarity visit at Government House, Asaba, Governor Oborevwori said the designs for the new stadium was currently ongoing and would be one of the best in the country when completed.

While thanking the Federal lawmakers for the solidarity visit, the Governor pointed out that his administration had recorded appreciable progress in the past eight months, assuring that more developments await Deltans with the court cases now put to rest.

Governor Oborevwori said: “I am very happy receiving you today as you have come to congratulate us not just me for all the victories, most especially the Supreme Court victory, having survived 38 cases.

“To God alone be all the glory. This has soften my heart more to continue to serve God. Deltans displayed the organic love they have for me when we got the Supreme Court victory. There was no local government were people did not celebrate the victory.

“You people have come together as one and not as a party. We must be one because that is the only way we can advance Delta State

In the past eight months we have initiated some projects and we have also consolidated on the old ones we inherited despite the difficulty in funding projects at this time.

“We have brought in the best construction company to Delta State, Julius Berger because we want nothing but the best for Deltans.

We awarded them a contract of N78 billion, they have mobilised to site and already working and we are also maintaining some access roads within Warri and environs to reduce traffic during the construction work.

“The road from Sapele through Adagbrasa is completed and awaiting inauguration. We are also working on the road from Okan junction to Agbarho to link the East-West Road so that when you are coming from Benin and you are going to Ughelli or Port-Harcourt, you don’t have to get to the Effurun roundabout to reduce the traffic in that area.

“I am very sure because I know the capacity of Julius Berger, so I am convinced that they will deliver the projects within 27 months. We have fully mobilised them with 25 percent of the contract sum and they are already working.

“We are also working on revamping the Warri stadium. They are already working on the designs and once the designs are ready we will come up with a very standard stadium that will be one of the best in this country when completed.

“I want to continue to count on your support because we must be united, that is the only way that will bring peace and more unity for us in Delta State.

“When there is peace, there will be more developments. So we need more peace and unity and we will continue to work together whether in the National Assembly or here in the State House of Assembly.

“We will continue to collaborate to ensure we give our people the best as we have promised. But in all, we give God thanks for these achievements and for these victories.”

Earlier, Hon. Victor Nwokolo who spoke on behalf of the delegation said they were at Government House to congratulate the Governor on his victory at the Supreme Court.

According to him, “we have come here to identify with you as your representatives in the National Assembly to thank God for what He has done for us here in Delta.

“We are here to rejoice with you on your victory and to thank God for what he has done for us because a lot of stories were involved. But thank God because only God can give power and what God has done, no man can change.

“When God gives you truly no man can upturn it. Like the Bible said, many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivered them all.

“It is on record that nobody has ever gone through what you went through but we are most grateful that at all times the finger of God was very visible.

“On that note we are here to rejoice and identify with you, to tell you that we are praying with you and we will keep praying for the peace of Delta State.

“All of us here are fully happy with your victory and we identify very strongly with the decision of God through the Supreme Court of Nigeria.”

Members of the delegation included; Hon. Julius Pondi, (Burutu Federal Constituency); Hon. Thomas Ereyitomi, (Warri Federal Constituency); Hon. Ejiroghene Francis Waive, (Ughelli/Udu Federal Constituency); Hon. Ben Etanebene, (Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie Federal Constituency); Hon. Ngozi Okolie, (Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency) and Hon. Nnamdi Ezechi, (Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency).

.

According to impeccable industry sources, MTN had tried to intimidate and blackmail GLOBACOM on its soil but the telecoms company stood its ground by challenging MTN to prove whatever case it had instead of engaging in cheap blackmail. It turned out to be a fight worth fighting. From experience, GLOBACOM was used to being harassed by those who failed to realise that its promoters built its business conglomerates in an organic fashion and never through the surreptitious processes. MTN had slammed a whopping sum of over N7.05 billion on GLOBABOM, covering interconnect charges of N1.6 billion (which was already paid before the controversial publication), VAT of N1.7 billion allegedly paid on behalf of GLOBACOM and a compounded interest of N3.6 billion, which GLOBACOM considered preposterous since it is the absolute prerogative of companies to pay its interests and never through proxies. Thus it was bizarre that MTN paid VAT on its behalf when it was already a fact that GLOBACOM met all its obligations to FIRS. To establish that GLOBACOM was not short of funds but only fighting for its fundamental rights and integrity in the industry, the company posted a payment guarantee of N3,489,961,881.48 and also issued seven bank cheques each of N500m making a total of N3.5b. but MTN later opted for the bank guarantee. GLOBACOM then requested the commencement of a reconciliation exercise. The earlier threat to disconnect GLO was obviously in bad faith and poor taste since it had even paid the N1.6 billion before the publication and was only seeking transparency in the MTN claims. After the parties sat down for due diligence with the Regulators at NCC offices in Lagos, it was established that contrary to the MTN insistence on claiming the earlier published sums, the interest element of the interconnect debt due from GLOBACOM to MTN stands at N2,368,290,400.81.

Because of this painstaking reconciliation, MTN can now go ahead to call up the First Bank payment guarantee dated 17th January 2024. This shall represent the full and final payment.

GLOBACOM insists that MTN should never have been pampered to the extent that it wields the power of life and death over homegrown competitors. According to checks on MTN operations elsewhere, this is the same modus operandi that led to several major telecom companies collapsing and fleeing from Ghana.