The animal (in Syria) called man.

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Acknowledgment of this title goes substantially to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as he describes one of his books. When he was putting his thoughts together, Obasanjo did not even have particular suicide missioners in mind or how do we describe the self-delusion of Libya’s late ruler Muammar Gadaffy and the currently faltering Syrian President Bashar Assad? In hindsight, Gadaffy may even be conceded some sympathy for the omnibus miscalculation, which led to his death. Facing the people’s revolt after 42 years of uninterrupted one man-rule, Gadaffy relied on megalomania, to defy the entire world and by the time he faced the consequences, even Gadaffy could not believe as he was being lynched by the same Libyans whose love and affection for him he flaunted all along. In fact, as his ignominy loomed, Gadaffy was interviewed by CNN’s Christian Amanpour who advised him to negotiate a peaceful solution to the crisis. In a misplaced confidence, Gadaffy responded that “My people are not against me, they love me.” The bewildered world-viewed television reporter, (unlike Gadaffy who was in the dark about the rapidly collapsing structures around him) rather pitifully asked the Libyan leader that “the same people you claim to love and support you are the ones revolting against you. Are you not bothered?” At that stage, Gadaffy could take no more. Without uttering a word, he looked down on Christian Amanpour with the contemptuous nuances of a provoked Nigerian that “you deh craze?” and entered his luxurious vehicle. Gadaffy rebuffed that last advice to, possibly quit and go into exile. Thus began the final phase of the Libyan leader’s journey to a disastrous end. Yet, in a way, Muammar Gadaffy might deserve some pity that he had no instant lesson from which to learn. That cannot be said of his fellow Arab leader, President Bashar Assad of Syria, opportuned with Gadaffy’s bloody end. The portents are similar with better luck for the Syrian leader. The Assad family has ruled Syria for some 40 years like Gadaffy in Libya. But when the end came for Gadaffy, the political earthquake lasted not more than seven months. The Syrian leader on his part, has been on the same road to self-destruction for the past eighteen months. What started as a minor disturbance has now grown into a full-scale civil war as acknowledged by the United Nations and the Arab League. Significantly, when the Libyan revolutionaries captured the state television/radio stations and cut off Gadaffy from means of communications with locals and the outside world, the late Libyan leader from a secret location, made intermittent broadcasts on a Syria-based television station. There are more ominous signs. To emphasise President Assad’s total isolation, only three countries – China, Russia and Iran – openly identify with the current Syrian leadership. In contrast, over one hundred other countries have formed a Friends of Syria group with the main agenda of total support for the Syrian dissidents goal of ending President Assad’s regime. The open compromise of the Friends of Syria group is for a transition government excluding President Assad. The compromise is, in effect, more for public consumption. Conspicuous among the Friends of Syria group are the essential nations namely United States, Britain, France, Germany, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Switzerland, Holland, the Nordic countries etc. So far, the Friends of Syria group has held two major meetings in Paris, France and Ankara in Turkey. While President Assad seems to under-estimate the on-coming tragedy, key ones among his lieutenants have a clearer reading of the situation. Just like in the last days of Muammar Gadaffy, many Syrian government officials have abandoned President Assad to his fate. Ministers, high-ranking diplomats including ambassadors, senior military officials up to the ranks of four-star Generals have defected and declared support for the opposition Free Syrian Army and interim Free Syrian Council. France, Britain, United States, Germany and many European countries have either withdrawn their ambassadors or completely closed down their embassies in Syria. The course of the war in Syria has generated warnings (obviously for President Assad) of possible trial for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, a step which may eventually apply to both sides. The warnings of possible trial for crimes against humanity are on the assumption that President Assad is caught or indeed spared alive. After all, Gadaffy was caught alive while trying to escape in the last minutes and lynched on the spot. President Assad is even facing greater risks as the rebels have advanced from occasional military actions in Syria’s outskirts to the capital city of Damascus where three weeks ago, four of the topmost security chiefs died in a booby-trap at the highly fortified security headquarters while mapping out strategy for containing if not neutralizing the revolt against President Assad. Among those killed in this dare-devil operation were the Minister of Defence, the Interior Minister and a Vice-President. That particular incident, for its magnitude and location aptly conveys the day by day chance of President Bashar Assad’s survival. Unlike his arrogance in underestimating the revolt against him at the outbreak of hostilities eighteen months ago, even President Assad today admits that his country is at war. In that situation, Assad in his position has legitimate access to Russian and Chinese amoury. Quite significant also is that all efforts by Friends of Syria (a group of anti-Assad countries) to internationalise the conflict through the United Nations resolution to intervene have been vetoed three times by Russia and China. A major curiosity is over how the rebels have become stronger in weapons supply. There is the suspicion that Saudi Arabia and Quatar are topmost among nations supplying arms to the rebels. Much as supply of arms is essential, effective use of whatever weapons available is the determining factor. Here, the rebels have surprised the outside world. Last time, through United Nations resolutions, the Libyan Air Force was neutralized by the world-body’s sponsored air strikes. So secure from aerial bombings, the ground forces of the Libyan rebels sustained, consolidated and enhanced their advance against Colonel Muammar Gadaffy’s regime. In contrast, the Free Syrian Army has been facing the nuisance of especially the official Syrian Air Force. Latest reports are that the rebel forces have acquired anti-aircraft missiles from God knows where, and with which the Free Syrians hope to incapacitate President Assad’s Air Force. Despite the major handicap of being bombed in wrong places like schools, markets, mosques and residential quarters, the Free Syrian army has refused to be easily defeated. With limited supply of arms and ammunition from foreign backers, the Free Syrians either succeeded in destroying their opponent’s heavy weapons or in capturing such from surrendering and deserting soldiers of President Assad’s army. As it seems, the Syrian conflict is entering a decisive stage. American Ambassador to United Nations Susan Rice is on record that President Assad has lost his legitimacy. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton speaks in post-Bashar Assad terms. Defence Secretary Leon Paneta only this week said President Assad’s fall is not a question of if but when. With his record as the terminator of the world-dreaded Osama Bin Laden, Leon Paneta’s confidence should better be taken seriously by Syria’s President Assad. Neither are Americans the only adversaries of President Assad in this conflict. The Commander of United Nations military observer force in Syria and Secretary-General of Arab League have similarly dismissed all chances of President Assad’s survival. British Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague have also nailed President Assad’s political coffin. Above all, the opposition Syrian National Council and Syrian Free Army envisage President Assad’s hopeless situation and have therefore openly indicated that any stage of negotiation or even peaceful settlement belongs to history. Only one man refuses to acknowledge that another monumental history in the Arab world is in the making. That lone figure is Syria’s Bashar Assad, personalising the story of the animal in Syria called man.

Bamanga Tukur by a hair’s breadth
When otherwise decent man Bamanga Tukur was elected national chairman of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), apprehension was expressed in this column that Tukur should watch out for two main reasons. He is not the usual PDP type and given Nigerian political history, many of his predecessors in that post were destroyed to make way for another. Bamanga Tukur has not been destroyed (yet) and at least for now, he is edging on by a hair’s breadth. Much as those involved in the fuel subsidy fraud are patrons, beneficiaries, friends of and donors to the PDP, Bamanga’s only crime is that he is the father of his son, Mahmud, one of those on trial. Otherwise, the PDP national chairman is not one of the suspects. Even then, opposition Action Congress of Nigeria demands the resignation of Bamanga Tukur as the national chairman of PDP. By now, ACN should have learnt the bitter lesson against rushing for the jugular of political opponents. Putting it in clear language, ACN today is fighting for its political life against the serious PDP allegation that a presiding judge in the Osun State gubernatorial election petition compromised himself by engaging in phone discussions with ACN stalwarts while the petition was being tried. Alleged details of the phone calls have been published. The first instant reaction is to express disgust at how far we unnecessarily stretch political disagreement especially to the extent of aiming to destroy a judge’s reputation and career. But then, the tactics was first employed by the ACN when it released to the public through the media what it (ACN) claimed to be phone calls and text messages between a PDP counsel in an election petition, Mr Kalejaiye, and another presiding judge in the election petition. Any public figure, cannot in all fairness be held criminally or even morally responsible for the action of his or her offspring, moreso, when such are adults. During the regime of former President Ibrahim Babangida, rogue bankers who destroyed the Structural Adjustment Programme by manipulating the exchange rate policy to become overnight billionaires were to be put on trial. But when the Ministry of Justice produced the draft of the Failed Bank Decree, the provisions were such that where a culprit banker absconded, his/her son, daughter, husband, wife, uncle, mother or father would stand trial instead. Nowhere in the world, even under a military regime, would such injustice/violation of human rights stand. General Babangida insisted on a review of the Failed Bank Decree to make only culprits liable. While the argument raged in government, the late General Sani Abacha assumed office, and not only signed the Failed Bank Decree into law but proceeded to implement the decree in its raw form. It was quite amusing to see the same Nigerians (who accused General Babangida of failing to deal with the rogue bankers) as they turned round to accuse General Sani Abacha of allegedly violating human rights by clamping the rogue bankers into detention for trial. If, therefore, under the military, family members were not made to pay for the sins of their relations, it is even more unfair to demand such obnoxious standard in a democracy. And when we claim to operate that system of government, we must sustain the standard as obtainable in advanced democracies. While in office, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair had to face the ordeal of his son, Euan who was arrested for being drunk and incapable. Opposition Tory Party did not, on account of that, demand the Prime Minister’s resignation. As British Home Secretary, Jack Straw’s schedule covered, among others, drug offences. Even, ordinarily as a member of parliament, everybody has the duty to join in the battle. In May 2010, Jack Straw’s son, William, joined more than one thousand protesters to sell cannabis to an undercover reporter. Even in 2010, the same Jack Straw, then as foreign secretary had to face another ordeal when his brother was convicted for indecent assault on a girl of sixteen. In all these personal agonies, no British political party demanded the resignation of Jack Straw either as a minister or member of parliament because a father cannot be punished for the offence of his son. Does PDP national chairman feel comfortable on the trial of his son, Mahmoud for the fuel subsidy fraud? It is doubtful or better still, any of us should wait until any of our offspring is so accused as Mahmud Tukur. It is not a crime to be the father of your son. Even if Bamanga Tukur committed the offence, once his son Mahmud owned up as a director of the company on trial for the fuel subsidy fraud, nobody can fault the father either in law or in fairness.

When tyrants seem to kiss.

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In August last year, they treated us to theatre of the absurd when they bandied abuses, calling each other fools at 70. Exactly one year later, they are now playing Romeo and Juliet, canoodling and issuing a joint statement on the state of the nation. When I read what two former presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida said about the perilous state of Nigeria, the first thing that came to mind was the quote by William Shakespeare: “Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss.” Yes, the two men were really smooching, and passing an indirect vote of no confidence on the government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. No sensible person will say Obasanjo and Babangida are not right on the parlous state of affairs in the country. “Currently, the nation is gripped by a regime of fear and uncertainty that virtually all citizens have difficulties going about their normal day to day lives without great anxiety and trepidation,” they submitted. Can anybody deny this? Bull’s eye. Real spot on. But the greater tragedy is that the two complainants are also the culprits. Directly and indirectly. Obasanjo and Babangida are the architects of the desperate and dangerous state of the country today. Between them, the two former presidents led Nigeria for 19 years. Nineteen uninspiring years, after which they both could not hand over to worthy successors in a country of millions of illustrious people. And as the saying goes, your success in office is determined by the quality of your successor. Let’s pardon Obasanjo’s first incarnation in office between 1976 and 1979, because it was involuntary in a way. He had power thrust upon him, after the assassination of Murtala Muhammed. It is on record that he didn’t want to be head of state initially, though he later enjoyed the position to the hilt. But what of the one he voluntarily sought in 1999 and 2003? He made a proper mess of his exit strategy, and contributed a great deal to the morass we are in today as a country. With a gambit to perpetuate himself in office through tenure extension having failed resoundingly, what did Obasanjo do in 2007? He decided to punish the whole country, and the northern part, particularly, by bringing out a half fit (no, quarter fit) successor. Obasanjo knew the medical history of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua very well, and still insisted on handing over power to him. And the elections, through which the latter got into office, went down in history as the very worst in the world, superintended over by Obasanjo, a pretentious nationalist. And as deputy to Yar’Adua, he had also positioned a man of doubtful competence. It was a recipe for chaos. The rest, as they say, is history. Yar’Adua could not last the distance just as Obasanjo had envisaged, Jonathan took over, and has been overwhelmed by the enormity of national problems ever since. He’s simply groaning under the burden of the weight, groping for direction. Who caused it all? Obasanjo. The fear and insecurity the former presidents talked about is a direct corollary of the mismanagement of its own power arrangement by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). We can excuse Babangida on that score because he stood for fidelity to agreements when the issue came up. But Obasanjo? He was the agent provocateur. He gloated, exulted as his cleverly laid plans fell into place. Yes, he had showed the North that you don’t trifle with Matthew Aremu Okikiolu Olusegun Obasanjo, and live happily ever after. He got power away from the region through knavery and chicanery. And till today, the country is paying for it. Yet, the same man now has the guts to decry the insecurity in the land. He should tell it to the marines. When any bomb explodes, Obasanjo should have a pang of guilt. When any blood is shed, it is upon Obasanjo’s neck. When hell enlarges itself, and souls flock into a premature, dark eternity, Obasanjo is not held guiltless, because he set the stage for it all. His artifice and duplicity created the evil that the country now contends with today, so no crocodile tears. And Babangida? Some people’s sins go ahead of them to judgment. After eight years in power, and many Insha Allahs that he would quit honourably, he left in the most chaotic, in fact, anarchic way possible. See the shambolic way he vacated office in August 1993, simply because he had over-dribbled himself in the bid to cling to power. Mindlessly, he annulled the country’s freest and fairest election till date, won by M.K.O. Abiola, installed a decrepit contraption called Interim National Government, which was a virtual sitting duck before Gen Sani Abacha. The latter sacked the ING headed by the puppet called Ernest Shonekan, and thus began the country’s descent into five years of horror and hell under Abacha’s murderous regime. Who caused it all? IBB. Abacha died, rather mercifully, and Abdulsalami Abubakar midwifed a transition to democracy. Who emerged again? Obasanjo. And we were in it again for eight solid years, turning round and round like a barber’s chair. Who caused it all? IBB. The domino effect continues till today. And Babangida has the guts to talk of insecurity in the land? Who is the architect of it all? Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, and no mistake. The alarm raised by the two former presidents deserves to be raised, but they simply were the wrong people to do it. They do not have the moral authority, not at all. Obasanjo and IBB have spoken about the need to keep Nigeria together. I agree. I desire it. Majority of us probably do. But to say: “the continued unity of this nation is not only priceless but non-negotiable?” I disagree. Unless we do the fit and proper things, the unity of the country will have to be negotiable. Do we continue in sophistry, stratagems, dissimulation and perfidy as we have seen under IBB, Obasanjo, and as we currently pass through, and say the unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable? Never. We want a united Nigeria, but it can only happen if the country does the right things – justice, equity, fidelity, honesty in governance, and many others. Without all these, to say our unity is non-negotiable is to delude ourselves, living in a fool’s paradise. We’ve done so for too long. After his birthday last August 17, Obasanjo said IBB was a fool at 70. The latter responded that Obasanjo was a greater fool, who did not even know his age. Today, the two men are canoodling, smooching. And Shakespeare was right. When tyrants begin to kiss, it’s time to fear.

STATE OF THE NATION: OBJ, IBB reach out to past heads of state, eminent Nigerians.

*Inaugural meeting to hold after Ramadan
*’Why peace move may hit brick wall’
*Prof. Akinyemi proposes Eminent Persons Group
By Jide Ajani
Consequent upon the continuing insurgency in the northern part of Nigeria, coupled with the “internecine crises raging across the land”, former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida have intensified efforts to mobilize other former heads of state.
This latest mobilization drive by both men would be extended to cover other national leaders of thought in the country.
Though Sunday Vanguard was not told the modalities that would be used to “determine how the leaders of thought would be selected”, it was nonetheless suggested that “both men are reaching across the broad spectrum of Nigeria’s leadership cadre with a view to finding lasting solutions to the plethora of highly combustible issues confronting the present administration”.
Possibly, according to what was suggested by information made available by a very dependable source close to both men, the inaugural meeting of the leaders, expected to hold immediately after this month of Ramadan, “may crystallize into a new body whose mandate would go beyond solving the immediate challenges confronting Nigeria”.
AKINYEMI ON NATIONAL EMINENT PERSONS GROUP, NEPG
Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, had told Sunday Vanguard in September 2010, at the height of the zoning crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that “time has become ripe for Nigeria to have a NATIONAL EMINENT PERSONS GROUP, NEPG”.

Former Presidents Ibrahim Babangida and Olusegun Obasanjo

According to Akinyemi, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard again yesterday, “The proposal I made in 2010 is today very much relevant because the time has come for Nigeria to have such a body.  You would recall that in an interview with you in May, I reminded you of the same idea which would go a long way to help resolve some of the problems confronting the government of the day; as well as some of the perennial challenges that are becoming a part of Nigeria’s crises-laden life”.
He continued: “Such a body would be completely apolitical and would operate separately and distinctly from the NATIONAL COUNCIL OF STATES, NCS.  In the NCS, you have state governors and past leaders some of whom have openly shown their preference for political platforms and as such, some of the arguments and discussions aat the NCS would likely be shaped by party positions.
“But a NATIONAL EMINENT PERSONS GROUP would be constituted in such a way that political cleavages would not be brought in since almost all the leaders in such a body would not be known to have political affiliations.  These leaders would also be the ones to go back to their respective communities to preach peace as well and give a feed back to the body on the potential issues that are likely going to create larger national crises.  Though it would be advisory, such a body is likely to go very far because it would be divorced from the day to day politicking that seems to becloud everything we try to do in this country”.
On Obasanjo and Babangida’s peace initiative, Professor Akinyemi said “any initiative at a time like this for peace to reign in the country makes a lot of sense”.
WHY PEACE MOVE MAY HIT BRICK WALL
In separate interviews with some national leaders, Sunday Vanguard was made to understand that whereas the move initiated by Obasanjo and Babangida is a welcome one at a time of national crises like this, the “down side is that it did not enjoy broad consensus”.
A two-time minister from North West Nigeria, who insisted on talking on condition of anonymity, said: “I think both men know what they are trying to do but they should have involved past leaders like General Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, General Muhammadu Buhari, Ernest Shonekan and General Abdulsalam Abubakar.  If they had collectively issued that statement of last Sunday, it would have carried more weight.
“The two leaders are known members of the PDP.
“One had served for eight years as President while the other attempted to get the party’s ticket on two separate occasions.  Now, when the two men come out to issue a statement on the state of the nation and the need for peace, is it not their party that is at the centre of governance?  The roles of the two men while they were leaders, when looked into critically, can not be divorced in any way – just as roles played by all past leaders – from the present state of affairs in the country”.
Another very vocal Second Republic legislator told Sunday Vanguard that “they should have broadened the scope of their move.  It would sound funny if you now begin to say Buhari or Shagari has joined forces with both men to seek peace.
BROADENING OF SCOPE
As if mindful of the sentiments voiced by those concerned about the stature of Obasanjo and Babangida, a source close to both men said: “Moves are already on and contact being made with past leaders.
“Both leaders know that the challenges confronting Nigeria today require all hands to be on deck and they suggested that in their statement of last Sunday.
“Yes, a tree can not make a forest and that is why they are also reaching out.  What is wrong in a peace initiative?  This is Nigeria and whatever people do, some are bound to find faults.  The country needs all hands to be on deck now”.
Last Sunday, both former presidents had issued a statement raising concerns about the state of the nation and all but said the present administration was clueless.  They advised that President Goodluck Jonathan should scale up his efforts.

Fashola to endorse new Lagos traffic law Thursday.

  By Yetunde Ebosele.

Motorists seek adequate public enlightenment
BARRING last minute change of plans, Governor Babatunde Fashola will on Thursday sign Lagos State’s new traffic bill into law.
The bill, which was sponsored by the Chairman House Committee on Transport, Bisi Yusufu, was passed on July 12, 2012 by the State House of Assembly.
The bill seeks to criminalise traffic offences and sanction offenders as part of strategy to bring under control the chaotic traffic situation within the metropolis.
A source told The Guardian yesterday that the bill is among many functions the Governor is expected to perform on Thursday as scheduled in the manifest.
“The governor may sign the bill into law on Thursday”, the source said.
Meanwhile, more reactions continue to trail the resolve by the Lagos State government to curtail lawless motorists by applying far reaching sanctions.
A cross section of motorists who spoke with The Guardian yesterday commended the various steps taken by the Fashola’s administration to sanitise the chaotic traffic situation in the state.
While calling for adequate enlightenment, some respondents who spoke with The Guardian argued that implementation is the bane of several laws in this part of the world.
For example, a senior driver in one of the prominent transport companies in Lagos, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “We support the effort of the state government in this regard. My worry is the revenue or financial aspect of the new law. I hope this is not another opportunity for some people to get rich over night”.
He explained that the first thing to do is “educate those who are to enforce the law including the police and staff of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA). The necessary equipment such as vehicles, video cameras and other items must be ready before the new law is allowed to take effect”.
Another motorist, Mr. Muyiwa B. Oloitan, said: “It’s a commendable step. But, how do you prove that I was smoking while driving? I cannot differentiate between fake and original licence. The Lagos state government should embark on an aggressive campaign before the law is effective. Apart from that, more alternatives to driving should be provided.”
Explaining further, Oloitan said numerous motorists within the metropolis are ignorant of the proposed laws, adding that the state government should “carry us along for the law to have its desired effect”.
He added: “I can tell you that most of the offenders especially the commercial motorcyclists and commercial bus drivers are not aware of the proposed law. Their thinking is that as soon as they are apprehended, they will bribe their way through”.
The proposed law stipulates that:
• Riding a motor-cycle against traffic.
• Riding on the kerb, median or road setbacks (Penalty) 1st time offender – N20,000 subsequent offender N30,000 or the rider’s motor-cycle will be impounded.
• One-way driving (Penalty) 3 years jail term after psychiatric examination.
• Smoking while driving (Penalty) N20,000 fine
• Failure to give way to traffic on the left at a roundabout (Penalty) N20,000 fine.
• Disobeying traffic control (Penalty) N20,000
• Violation of route by commercial vehicles (Penalty) N20,000 fine.
• Riding motor-cycle without crash helmet for rider and passenger (Penalty) N20,000 or 3 years imprisonment or both.
• Under-aged person, under 18 years old riding a motorcycle (Penalty) N20,000.
• Driving without valid driver’s licence. (Penalty) Vehicle to be impounded.
• Learner driver without permit (Penalty) N20,000
• Driving with fake number plate (Penalty) 1st offender N20,000 or 6 months imprisonment or both

Oil theft, terrorism: How to contain the two monsters, by Gen. Olanrewaju.

BY BASHIR ADEFAKA Major-General Tajudeen Adeniyi Olanrewaju (rtd) seldom speaks.  The Lagos  prince, who made his marks in the nation’s defence sector as Commander, Corps of Artillery; General Officer Commanding (GOC), Three Division of the Nigerian Army, Jos; member, Provisional Ruling Council (PRC); was Chairman, Presidential Review Committee  on the General Abisoye Panel report on the reforms of the NNPC and left the stage as Minister of Communications.  When confronted by Sunday Vanguard with questions bordering on his views regarding the current complications in the oil and gas sector of the nation’s economy and national security challenges, he had no choice but to speak. Excerpts:
Oil theft has become a major problem in the petroleum sector and Shell Company has raised the alarm over the problem.  As a man once in the saddle, what exactly do you think is responsible?
There  is a structural defect within the oil sector and lack of authority.  But as far back as 1991, I think the General Abisoye Panel said we were losing 150,000 barrels per day which was about one billion dollars.  That was before this Shell outcry which now says we have lost at least 170 billion dollars so far.  And the problems as identified by Abisoye Panel: one is the issue of DPR, Department of Petroleum Resources.
DPR used to be what you call the NNPC now.  It was under the ministry but it was later on removed.  The second problem is that we have not been able to turn the NNPC into a blue-chip company because of this structural defect. Now in the NNPC, according to Abisoye Panel, it was agreed that there should be a department called Petroleum Inspectorate Agency (PIA), which is supposed to be in charge of technical and security control of the oil sector in order to avoid  oil theft.
At that time, it was identified that in the upstream, it (oil theft) was caused by understatement of accounts and over invoicing; then statistics manipulation.  That means the crude oil that we claim to have sold out, there is different between the oil they buy from us and where was the difference?  It was in oil leakage, oil theft.  That was as far back as 1991 as identified by General Abisoye Panel.
Now the downstream, which is the pipelines that they blow all around and the incapacitation of our oil refineries so that they don’t work, which led to our importation of oil.  And when we start importing now, the same problem we are still having diversion of fuel, bunkering, understatement of accounts, over invoicing and the oil subsidy scam we currently have in our hands.  That is the downstream problem and that is the reason the PIA was recommended by the Abisoye  Panel  to be established.
As far as I am concerned, there are many dimensions to the nation’s security challenges but there are solutions if we want to.  Oil theft that is being cried about is one of the major causes.  We have to protect our oil and gas industry and sector.  We cannot be losing $170 billion on oil theft and at the same time spending $170 billion to import (refined) oil.
How do you expect our economy to grow?  Oil is the cash cow of the country at the moment and nothing can be too much for government to invest in protecting it against  oil thieves, bunkerers or  external aggression. Take for instance the 2012 Olympics, the games are starting  and Britain is devoting heavy security to protecting the people coming for the games because they know that any failure of the games will affect their prestige and economy.
I am saying that there is need for the use of combined forces of  army, navy, air force in protecting the country’s onshore and offshore and then I’m calling for the establishment of Petroleum Regulatory Authority (PRA) and Pipelines Protection Authority (PPA) to handle the regulation, technical and security control of the oil industry,  and both should be placed under direct supervision of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki.
I know his antecedents and I can comfortably tell you that he has the liver to face the challenges headlong. This has become necessary because, from the look of things, it is clear that solving the problem of security in the area is beyond concessioning.  And we have to protect this country against 2015.  The NSA should take note.
What form will the PRA and PPA take should they now be considered by the present administration being that it looks like hungry for solution to the many challenges in the oil sector that is the cash cow of the nation?
That PRA as advocated by me should be like a commission or an authority for them to be able to enforce like the EFCC so that they can arrest and prosecute.  From that angle, the PRA and PPA are there, you know; statutory, technical and security control.  The technical control is just to block the over invoicing and understatement of accounts and statistic manipulations both in the downstream and the upstream.
That means you need somebody from the Ministry of Trade for waste and balance so that we can know how much oil is going out; we need somebody from the Ministry of Finance and we need somebody from all these ministries; those are in charge of technical control.  You know they do auditing from outside and that is the only thing that can block it.

Gen. Olarenwaju (rtd)

More important to this discussion is the security of the oil sector and you have made mention of that here.  How should the security control by the advocated authorities go?
I am suggesting that by the security control, there should be a National Task Force (NTF), just like it is in India and it is supposed to be a combination of the navy, the airforce, the army and of course the police.  And it should  be a special trained force just like America trained the Air Marshal following Al-Qaeda 9/11 bombing.
There was nothing like Air Marshal before then, that problem faced by the United States prompted the need for that professional forces and that means you have to develop human capital and you have to be specific.  Not just to say navy, even the navy you are raising into the NTF has to be trained for that particular purpose and once that is done, they are supposed to be placed under direct supervision of the National Security Adviser. It is not what the President is doing presently awarding the contract of that security to a foreign firm by concession.
Are you saying concessioning the maritime security like it has been done is not part of  the way to solve the problem?
Concession, well, solving the problem is beyond concessioning the way it has been done.  And this is because oil is the heartbeat of our nation’s economy as of now and wherever oil is located, it is a military target when there is war.
And most of them are on our territorial waters, which is one of the main objectives of the Army; to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria and so, when you expose that to a foreign firm, it becomes very dangerous.  That is what we are saying.  If you are exposing us to external aggression, you are exposing our economy to the foreign people …Instead of that, we should protect our own territory by ourselves because, that is the heartbeat of the economy.
And when you look at the leakages in the oil and the money they have, the next thing they do is to control the political power of that country.  That is what they are doing now.  Whether they give you an oilrig …..whether you are doing understatement, these people are scattered all over Nigeria…..  So wherever the ill-gotten money from the oil theft reaches, it is used to perpetuate political power.  That is one of the problems we have in Nigeria.
If you talk about Libya itself, it is all about oil money in Libya, which made Gaddaffi stay.  And because the money was so much, Gaddaffi was in Mali, he was in Somalia, he was in Uganda and he was giving them foreign loans; even up to the one in France which we all heard about.
Oil money!  It’s like having drug money in South America and Mexico and they come up to topple the government. That is why the country (Nigeria) is shaking and so there is need for us to block that aspect.  And by the time you block that aspect (oil theft), I’m sure you are blocking terrorism directly or indirectly.
What you are saying in essence is that oil theft is responsible for the insecurity that we suffer presently as a nation.  Is that right?
Yes! And you should block it because that is where the activities are.  That is why if you ask INEC, they will tell you that it is the money politics that is happening in Nigeria.
You were so particular about NSA brazing up for the business of tackling the problem under discussion.  What is it particularly that informs that position of yours?
Let me now talk more about why the NSA should brace up.  You see, the collapse of Ghadaffi was why those fundamentalists migrated from Libya and Islamic State has been declared in Mali so that, from Libya, people are migrating with arms and ammunitions to cause Bok Haram.  That is the assumption.  There are people that are trained with arms and ammunitions in Nigeria and so the NSA should look at it in those two ways.
If that is the case, he has to be proactive.  What you have as Boko Haram in the North is what you have as militancy in the South; the banditry, the robbery, the kidnapping and it is the same urban terrorism.  So these people can migrate to anywhere.  The arms are coming from all the borders and people are making money from it just like the subsidy money.  You have to look at that side and tackle it from the source.
Tackling the arms and ammunitions importation from the source means going into the countries of source and fight or what are you suggesting in the light of international laws?
America did four things: it first of all sensitised the people.  Apart from the Al-Qaeda that came first, you have not heard of any bomb explosion and, if there is, it would be by a Nigerian.  So America sensitised the people by propaganda and, after the propaganda, they updated their technology and developed human capital.  The moment they identified the source of what was threatening lives of their citizens and security in their country, George Bush left his country without regard for any international law and entered Afghanistan and Iraq.
When you are doing this kind of thing, people don’t look at international laws.  In Kenya now, they have entered Somalia because they know that is where these people are coming from, to bomb their country!  What America is using is diplomacy.  If you want to use the United Nations you use them; if you want to use NATO, you use NATO  all in the name of fighting terrorism.
And in the case of Nigeria, and the NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, should take note, once you have been able to identify that the many security challenges Nigeria is facing as a nation and as a people is being fuelled by arms and ammunitions from certain countries outside Nigeria, you should go for those countries wherever they are!  If you want to use ECOWAS, use ECOWAS; if you want to use the AU, go ahead.
But it must be spelt out here that in this kind of situation, you don’t respect any international law.  When you say you are respecting international law, diplomacy can take over.  If you tell Mali that, “Look, these people that are bombing my country are in your country”, you advance there. That is what America is doing and that is why America is safe right now.
So I don’t see any reason that Nigeria will know that these so-called Boko Haram people are coming from Mali to bomb its country and it will not invade Mali.  In actual fact, by pursuing and blocking them you are creating fear into them.
If you look at all the people doing this Boko Haram, they cannot be more than two thousand people and these are people holding about 150 million Nigerians into ransom!
So what you need to do is to update our technology, update our data, develop our human capital and use force with dialogue.  Yes, you can dialogue but the fact that you are dialoguing does not mean you cannot prevent the crime from happening.  And when you are preventing that crime you have to put force.  So, dialogue and force go together because you have to prevent them from killing all our people.
You have just addressed how to tackle the challenges in the North.  What about the militancy in the Niger Delta?
Niger Delta, I have always said, is an area where ethnic purity is the issue.  It is an area where you hardly see Hausa and Yoruba people and that gave them the privilege to control the area through arms when they were agitating for oil deprivation and all that.
But now I think you move soldiers to that place because you cannot compare that place with Lagos, Ibadan, Kaduna and that was a mistake on the part of the Federal Government.  Before his demise, President Umar Musa Yar’Adua started addressing the issue of ethnic purity in the Niger Delta by moving a battalion there but I think they should enlarge it.
If I have the opportunity, the guns that the Immigration is using and those used by the  Customs, the navy, army, the air force and even the police would be arranged such that if any gun is recovered outside, you can readily say where it comes from among the security agencies.  Now that everybody is using AK 47, how do you identify where the arms are leaking!  That is one of the problems we have.

Model Drags Nigerian Breweries, Insight to Court.

NBL Headquarters


By Raheem Akingbolu
A Nigerian model, Emmanuel Alakpa, who appeared on the communication materials of the Legend Real Deal Promo, has dragged Nigerian Breweries and Insight Communications to court for using his photograph for the build-up campaign of the promo without his consent. According to his lawyer, Felix Ogunmade of Felix Ogunmade & Co, the image was used for six weeks without the consent of the model.

Mr. Alakpa through the counsel is asking for N300million for damages. He is also praying the court to compel Nigerian Breweries to pay the sum of N100million being remuneration for the commercial exploitation of the claimant’s photographic image towards increasing the company’s business’ turnover and profits in the Legend Real Deal Promotion.

In the second claim, the lawyer asks Insight Communications to pay the sum of N100million as exemplary damages for deceit perpetrated on the claimant and another N100million to be paid by the agency and Nigerian Breweries as damage for the psychological and emotional trauma which, they, by their infamous acts, perpetrated against the claimant.

Alakpa told THISDAY that he was made to go through strenuous screening process, which climaxed in the photo session at Votiso Lenses along Adeniyi Jones only to be informed that he was not chosen for the job. He explained that the decision did not bother him because he knew some opportunities would come but what angered him was when he received call from a close friend that he was actually the face of the Legend Real Deal promotion.

“When I got to airport road on May 2, 2012 where the first poster of the campaign was hoisted, I was amazed. I called my agent to know if any of the three finalists was used for the job but he denied. My agent is Robert, the Managing Director of Bert Model.”

Alakpa, however, said efforts to get Insight Communications and Bert Model to explain the rationale behind the campaign without his consent were rebuffed. He stated that the agent later told him that contract papers would be signed after his lawyer stepped in. The model further stated that he reminded the agent of his initial stand that he was not qualified.

Speaking on the issue, counsel to Alakpa, Ogunmade, admitted that the model was indeed invited at a point by Insight Communications to participate in a screening process that would lead to the choice of the model that would feature in Legend Extra Stout campaign but was informed after the screening process that he failed in the exercise.

Having run the same campaign for 6 weeks, Ogunmade said: “At that time, the advertisements were being run nearly on a daily basis in newspapers apart from the fact that it was all over the place so the only thing we could do was to run to court to get an order of injunction to stop them from using the photograph in subsequent advertisement. We initially got an exparte motion and later we got interlogatory restraining orders.

By that, they have been fully restrained from using that photograph until the matter has been finally resolved one way or the other. So I have not been seeing it in newspapers again. But they had run it for more than 6 weeks.” On the damages meted out to his client, Ogunmade maintained that “Our client is claiming monetary sum up to about N300million in different forms of damages. The damage in terms of deceit by Insight Communications, damage in the sense that his image has been exploited commercially by Nigerian Breweries and damage in the sense of psychological and emotional trauma  inflicted on him. So based on those three counts we claim N100million each.”

When contacted, Insight Communications, through its Marketing & Strategic Manager, Franklin Ozekhome, declined comments, saying the matter is already in court and that his comments could affect the judgment especially if his position stands in favour of his agency.

Quality education revolution: A string of firsts in Ondo .

Written by Akinwale Oshodi.

FROM the first day in office, the  administration of  Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, did not only mouthed his desire to change the face of Ondo State, he equally put it to practice its vision of making the Sunshine State the best administered state in Nigeria and the cynosure of all eyes, even beyond the shores of the most populous nation in the black world.
The administration, immediately it came on board, in February 2009 made the task of restoring the glory of the education of the state, regarded as critical a must, due to the unimaginable sad situation it met it.
The education sector below the tertiary level was simply in a parlous state. The sorry state of the Inspectorate Unit of the Ministry of Education was unbearable. It became dysfunctional and ineffective to cope with the challenges of supervision in the 21st century.
The resultant effect was that the number of qualified candidates for admission into tertiary institutions fell far the below 20 per cent. It could not have been otherwise. The performance of the students in external qualifying examinations such as WASSCE, NECO-SSCE, UTME and others was appalling. Only 27 per cent of students, who sat for the WAEC in Ondo State between 1999 and 2009, passed English Language and Mathematics. Examinations malpractices also became a norm.
Equally growing at an alarming rate almost out of hand, was the aimless roaming of streets by pupils and students at a time of the day they were supposed to be in class. To worsen the already bad situation was the continued practice of the ineffective Inspectorate System inherited from the British Colonial administration.
Nobody seemed to know when the solution will come or who will put a check on the mess.  Indeed, a monster had emerged in the education sector that no one was fit enough to tame.
After critical assessment of the sector, the Mimiko administration started plotting the ‘war’ graph, drew the operational order and launched a full scale offensive against the rot in the system. Thus, the overhauling of the education system began on the 16th of September, 2010, with the establishment of the Quality Education Assurance Agency (Q. Ed) charged with the primary task of restoring public confidence in this all-important sector.
The ‘battle plan’ also included enrolment drive, adequate sensitisation where there were low enrolment in public primary and secondary schools and a follow up.
Equipped with 245 evaluators, 22 Hilux vans, 22 motorcycles, a millennium compliant headquarters and field offices in the 18 local government areas, the Q.Ed launched an aggressive large scale battle on the ills hitherto plaguing the education sector.
In pursuit of this goal, the agency started to use  the Whole School Evaluation (WSE) instrument which has three components: School Self Evaluation (SSE) being conducted by the school administrators; External Evaluation being conducted by professional evaluators in the agency and the Systematic Evaluation that is conducted for the purpose of recognition/accreditation for Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE).
It was actually time for real action. The agency never toyed with the checking of students’ attendance and participation in curricular and co-curricular activities. The teachers are not spared continuous monitoring, all in a bid to ensure full commitment to curriculum development to keep learners in school.
Have these measures actually redeemed the hitherto bad situation? What has been the impact of the ICT-driven solution adopted in the sector?
Findings revealed that since Q. Ed introduced, there has been significant increase in enrolment in places where cluster evaluation was the norm before now. These daily activities have undoubtedly put teachers on their toes in the areas of curriculum delivery from planning stage, preparatory stage, the use of approved national curriculum, development of scheme of work, lesson plan and lesson notes up to the actual delivery, i.e. teaching.
To create conducive teaching and learning environment for both teachers and students, the state government embarked on the construction of over 30 Mega Primary Schools, massive renovation of over 240 secondary schools spread across the state and equally provided relevant books and other teaching aids for better performance.
Three years after, the scheme has restored discipline, confidence and standard to the public schools. Q .Ed was in June 2012 rated high by the Joint Consultative Committee on Education at its Reference Meeting in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital,  through assessment and interaction. It is however not surprising that states in the federation are now eagerly plotting how to adopt the Quality Education Scheme. Another positive development in the scheme is that more public schools in the state have won both national and international competitions.