Segun Awolowo's Reign Of Ruin At The Nigerian Export Promotion Council

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by SaharaReporters, New York Mar 25, 2016

Mr. Segun Awolowo Jnr., the Executive Director/CEO, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), sits atop a government agency brimming with corruption, mismanagement, tribalism as well as flagrant indifference to public service regulations and due process. Documents exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters show that Awolowo, a grandson of the revered administrator, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, along with some senior staff of the council, run a profoundly rotten agency.

The situation has provoked some insiders to call the attention of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Mike Enelamah; and the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, to the reign of impunity in the council. In letters of complaints separately addressed to the Minister and the Head of Service, the disaffected insiders are also demanding investigations into process abuse and the institution of genuine reforms to forestall a recurrence.
Awolowo, who, years back, was a famous figure on the Lagos social circuit, is living large at the expense of the NEPC. His life of immodest opulence as a public servant has further exposed Mr. Awolowo is a corrupt public officer holder. As Executive Director/CEO, Awolowo has a six-car fleet, including a siren-blaring pick-up van. However, officers on assignment at the headquarters are left to depend on car hire services. Also, only five out of 15 zonal offices of the NEPC have operational vehicles.
According to SaharaReporters sources, Awolowo runs a corrupt fund allocation system. He is said to allocate single-handedly funds, a disregard for the  federal financial rules, given the responsibility to the Fund Allocation Committee. This has resulted in inappropriate and lopsided allocations to departments. For instance, SaharaReporters learnt that the Trade Information Department, which is the biggest department, received N10 million in May 2015 while N20 million was allocated as a contingency.
Awolowo is also said to be fond of ceaseless overseas trips at the detriment of execution of operational duties. A travel agency ALML Travels & Tours, with the address. 25 Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja, Lagos, has so far been paid over N60 million for flight tickets issued. He has also been found to have collected monies for trips not made. Information made available to this medium show that Awolowo received funds for travel to AGOA Forum in Gabon between  August, 24 and 28 2015, Trade Mission to Belgium on  May 26th, 2015, Non-oil Export Trade Hub visit to Togo between October, 15 and 16 2014 and Export Warehouse Meetings in Maradi and Konni, Niger Republic between  June, 16 and 17 2014 and May,   12 – 14 2015 respectively. For all of the trips, payments were, made but trips were reportedly not undertaken. He has also been discovered to have developed a scheme through which he creams off money via frivolous projects. The 2013 Nigeria Solo-Exhibition in Lome, Togo, gulped over N170 million. Insiders said it should never have cost more than N15 million.
Another misdeed of the Executive Director is the practice of paying Estacode and Duty Tour Allowances, using the rates for officers in the directorate cadre for his personal staff who are not in the employ of NEPC. This is a contravention of the provision in the Public Service Rules rule as contained in Circular No 59729/T.1/154. Awolowo also paid N3.1million as out of pocket expenses to KPMG consultants to cater for their flight tickets, local transport, accommodation and feeding despite full payment of their consultancy fees.

The Executive Director is said to regularly brag about his family background and the fact that he is an in-law to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. Two weeks to the release of the now controversial results of the last promotion exercise in the NEPC, Awolowo was said to have issued an internal memo, saying whoever is aggrieved should write a petition. In another memo published on  October  28 2015 and titled “Decisions taken on NEPC Examination/Promotion Exercises,” Awolowo approved the abandonment of the aggregate formula as enshrined in the Public Service Rules that a pass in one section is the only qualification to another round/section. This action points to an abusive unilateral changing of Public Service Rules to suit personal interests.
A primary source of the complainants' anger is 2012, 2013 and 2014 promotion exercise conducted by the NEPC management between July 27 and 29  2015 was its assault on Public Service Rules and due process.
Awolowo, who was said to have repeatedly told NEPC staff that he had never heard of the NEPC until his appointment as CEO, is said to be dependent on the council's most senior Director, Mr. M. O. Ibrahim, for direction. Ibrahim, who is said to have a coterie of loyalists in the NEPC, is widely viewed as a champion of ethnic interests, an attribute that has promoted the institution of impunity, and the CEO's sidekick.
Specifically, the complainants identified a variety of abnormalities in the conduct of the promotion exercise. First was the alleged manipulation of the 2015 Establishment Budget by the Senior Staff Committee (SSC).
This, said the complainants, was deliberately done to hurt the promotion opportunities of staff by reducing the approved establishment budget. According to them, the arrangement was hurriedly made on  July 27, 2015, a day before the promotion examination and approved by the retiring Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment on July 28,  2015, which post-dated the effective date of promotion of  January 1 2015.
Another source of disaffection was the delay in the promotion exercise in the directorate cadre for three years (2012,2013 and 2014). This was said to have been done to smoothen the path for some selected officers, despite the existence of a circular halting notional promotion after 2011.
The Senior Staff Committee (SSC) also deliberately provided for accounting examination to the directorate cadre, which was not mentioned in the establishment budget. This was construed as having been done to accommodate and unduly favour some staff. Somewhat bizarrely, Awolowo included his Special Assistants (personal staff) in the SSC that conducted the 2014 promotion exercise contrary to the Public Service Rules as shown in circular No B.63433/73
Another curious occurrence was the changing of the Annual Performance Evaluation Report (APER) scores and cut-off marks after the conduct of the examination. The NEPC management, in total disregard of the stipulated provision in the Public Service Rules, raised the pass mark to 70% as against the 60%-after the conduct of the examination and without informing candidates who sat for the examination, something akin to changing the rules after the game.

This, naturally, promoted the belief that APER forms were not assessed. The belief is strengthened by the failure of by Mr. Ibrahim, the most senior director, to give forms back, as expected, to most staff assessed for countersigning. The affected officers were awarded flat marks. A look at the Guidelines for Appointments, Promotion and Discipline issued by the Federal Civil Service confirms the illegality of what was done by the NEPC management. Tagged "Promotion Interview", it states: " Interview/examination marks shall be awarded as follows: a)Interview 70%, b) APER 20 %, c) Seniority 10 % and d) Overall pass mark is 60% respectively." While the guidelines stipulate the presence of a representative of the Head of Service at promotion interviews to ensure fairness, the NEPC promotion exercise was marked by the absence of observers from the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Office of the Head of Service.
Similarly curious is the fact that the examination questions were set days before the exams, an action contrary to Public Service Rules (PSR), and which made the questions susceptible to leakage. The rules provide that examination questions are to be set at the point of writing the examinations, while promotion exams will be conducted by the relevant statutory committees and not by ‘external consultants’ which, in this case, is the Centre for Management Development.
The infidelity of the exercise, said the complainants, is evidenced by instances of candidates scoring higher marks than the maximum achievable and bizarre coincidences in scores. They pointed to an instance where two friends, Messrs Faleke and  Oyeyipo on one hand, and Lawal Fatima B. (Nee Ibrahim), M. O. Ibrahim’s sister, and her friend, Akande M. Ajibola, on the other, scored same points in each section on a written examination. This, they argued, puts the fidelity of the exercise in doubt.
Equally dodgy was the deliberate addition of five marks to the scores of candidates aspiring to be directors. This appeared to have been done to boost the chances of the prospective ethnicity of candidates, an action in disregard of the Federal Character principle. The complexion of the results of the exercise provides a confirmation of ethnic/tribal considerations in its conduct. Of the 16 officers promoted in the directorate cadre, eight are from the same ethnic group.
While the promotion exercise may have headlined the decay in the NEPC under Awolowo, beneath it lies a raft of general administrative malpractices. SaharaReporters investigations reveal the NEPC as an ethical free-trade zone characterised by falsification of information as well as mutilation and distortion of staff records.
In one instance,  Mr Babatunde Faleke said to have been employed on February 25, 1991, and confirmed on  February 25  1999, has no letters indicating those milestones in his file, including that of transfer.
Faleke, who was said to have absconded from service, later pleaded to be allowed to proceed on secondment but denied by the former CEO. He was eventually granted transfer of service to Lagos International Trade Fair Complex. But surprisingly and at variance with Public Service Rules, he was later re-absorbed into the NEPC.
Even the most senior director, Mr. M. O. Ibrahim, is a beneficiary of the widespread malaise. Ibrahim, who should have retired by now, apparently falsified his age. He claimed to have been born in September 1956 and started his primary education in 1960. His current records, as SaharaReporters investigations show, indicate that he started school at the age of three years and four months, something almost unheard of at the time of his childhood when children started school at much older ages. He was also promoted to the directorate cadre in 2009 when no vacancy existed there. This gesture was also extended to two other directors, Mr. H. O. Otowo and Mr. Sidi Aliyu.
Down the ladder, it is the same. One Mr. R. S. Durodoye was promoted from the confidential secretary cadre to the officer cadre without proper conversion as stipulated by the rules. Also, an officer, Mr. A. G. Ganiyu, who had earlier been issued a letter that there was no vacancy for his promotion, was arbitrarily promoted in 2015. The promotion was back dated to 2011 when there was no corresponding vacancy and in bold disregard to the provisions of the Public Service Rules.  One Mrs. Opeyemi Abebe was seconded illegally from the NEPC to work in Canadian Embassy in Nigeria when her functions had no relationship whatsoever with activities of the council and the country.
Similarly symptomatic of the freak show at NEPC is the case of Mr.Tijjani K. Zakari. In 2011, Zakari was denied the chance of the writing promotion examination despite meeting all the requirements and after being invited for promotion interview. Another officer, Mr. Hassan Bala, suffered a similar fate, as he was excluded from being considered in the 2014 promotion exercise despite being eligible. He was also for the invited interview and participated fully.
Within the council, Awolowo's integrity continues to be questioned. For example, a huge cloud of doubt hangs over the authenticity of the letter of approval to implement an institutional and functional review of the NEPCl from the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. The letter is a litany of errors. One of these is the designation of the CEO, NEPC, which out to be known by the supervising ministry. The letter, however, addressed him as Director-General instead of the Executive Director/CEO. Also, the letter was effective  September 3 2015 and should therefore not be applicable to exercises effective January 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively.
The doubts swirling around his integrity has provoked loud and strident calls for full investigation of his tenure, outright cancellation of the last promotion exercise, a probe of the role of the Centre for Management Development in the exercise a far-reaching reform of the NEPC.

“Making N1b will make this my last robbery”

 Late TK

 The life and times of TK, the militant, pipeline vandal and robbery kingpin felled by police bullets in what turned out to be his last robbery. By Ifeanyi Okolie Place of birth, areas of operation He was relatively off the radar of security operatives in Lagos State until last September, when he organized the abduction of the wife of the Deputy Managing Director of the Sun Newspaper, Steve Nwosu in their apartment in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos State. Toweki Joseph, a.k.a. TK, a 32-year-old native of Arogbo in Ese Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State, until last Thursday, was the leader of one of the most notorious and dreaded criminal gangs terrorizing states within the South-West and South-South regions of the country. Members of his gang who are mainly Ijaw natives and based in the creeks of Ishawo in Ikorodu and Ijegemo areas of Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, were said to be responsible for most of the bank robberies that took place in Ondo and Lagos states in 2015, that saw several residents including security personnel lose their lives during the operations. They were also linked to the abduction and killing of several security operatives in Ikorodu area of Lagos State. Late TK Late TK Waterloo Last Thursday, TK and 10 members of his gang met their Waterloo when they attempted to rob some banks and bureau de change operators at Seme, a border town between Nigeria and the Republic of Benin. Their target was to make up to the sum of N1 billion. It was gathered that TK, who lead a 17-man gang was ambushed by the security operatives when he arrived Seme through the waters in four speed boats and was armed with heavy assault rifles, such as two General Purpose Machine Guns, GPMG, seven AK-47 and 49 rifles, two LAR rifles and one automatic pump action gun. Sources disclose that operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, SIRT, an elite squad of the Nigeria Police Force, newly established by the current IGP Solomon Arase and trained to combat terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery and other heinous crimes within country, gathered an intelligence indicating that TK and his boys were planning to carry out a large scale robbery on banks and bureau de change at the Seme Border. Unlike in the past when such intelligence was generated by the SIRT and passed on to the Lagos State Police Command to act on, the SIRT operatives were deployed to Lagos State by Arase and they also alerted the Nigeria Customs Service, the Border Patrol Unit of Nigeria Police Force and men of the Intelligence Team B of the Inspector General of Police Special Task Force on Anti-Pipeline Vandalism. Crime Guard gathered that 72 hours before the operation, the Lagos State Police Command deployed men of its Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, their counterparts at the Area K Command and the Seme Police Division to protect the banks and bureau de change at the operator, while the policemen attached to Border Patrol and their counterpart at Anti-Pipeline Vandalism were deployed into villages around the border. Gang member assures on the N1 billion target Crime Guard gathered that 48 hours before the operation, the SIRT operatives, while acting on its intelligence, arrested a driver to a popular bottling company in Lagos, who was contracted as a member of the gang to help them ferry rifles, ammunition and explosives for the operation. The driver who was identified as Jonson Chukwuma, was picked up at the premises of his company at Ijora area of Lagos and when he was interrogated, told the police that he was contacted by one Ozoremena Obi, a.k.a. OZ, who he said resides in Seme to carry the arms, ammunition and explosives to the border so as to beat police check points. He told the operatives that OZ promised to reward him handsomely if the job was successful but he declined, thinking it was risky and it could get him into trouble. Chukwuma then took the SIRT operatives to Seme where they caught OZ in a hemp joint where he was smoking. The hemp dealer at the joint was also arrested by SIRT operatives. During interrogations, OZ confessed and told the SIRT operatives that he and one of his friends identified as Ifeanyi were the informants to TK and gave the idea of the job to TK. He explained that after conducting his surveillance around the banks and bureaux de change at the shops, he was confident that they would make as much as one billion naira if the job was successful. He added that to convince TK about the job, he told TK not to give him his own share of the loot if the money was not up to N1 billion. He added that TK told him that it would then be his last robbery if they succeeded. OZ also explained that TK wanted to come by road and escape through the waters and he wanted a truck to bring to Seme the arms, ammunition and explosives that would be used and he told him that it would be too risky, but TK insisted. He said he contacted Chukwuma to do the job for him, but later he brought in Ifeanyi to explain to TK that coming by road could be too risky due to heavy presence of security operatives on the road and he urged TK to come through the waters. He said TK accepted and promised to call him when he left his camp for Seme. Hours before death Crime Guard gathered that Seven hours before TK met his Waterloo, he called OZ while he (OZ) was in police custody, and said he heard he was arrested and OZ was asked to tell him that he was picked up by policemen from Area K Command who raided the joint where he was smoking hemp and he was detained for a night and he paid N1000 as bail. TK then told him not to worry, that he was on his way and after the operation, he would be well rewarded. Five hours later, OZ got another call from TK asking him to join them by the waterside in Seme with a motorbike, so that he would lead them to the banks as they were not familiar with the areas, but the SIRT operatives asked him to tell TK to come to land and TK refused. But while he was thinking of what do, TK was said to have moved closer into Seme and birthed close to Custom Barracks. Unknown to him, he was moving into an ambush. The custom officials on guard at the barracks on sighting TK and his men on the water, opened fire on them and they went into different directions. 13 of them, including TK, who were on three speed boats ran into Poturume, a village between Nigeria and Benin Republic, and they had a clash with policemen from the border patrol unit, backed by the Intelligence Team B of the Anti-Pipeline Vandals. Crime Guard gathered that 11 of the suspects including TK sustained fatal bullet wounds before they were handed over to the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja. “TK was like a field marshal” The Lagos State Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni, while confirming the deaths of the suspects, told journalists at the Command Headquarters Ikeja, that they found the following with the bandits: Three speed boats, one with inscription “Castina Marine”, 22 pieces of dynamites, four Ak-47 rifles, two GPMG, 3,678 assorted live ammunition, 28 magazines, eight live jackets, three 50 litres jerry-can of fuel, two 100 litres jerry-can of fuel, assorted pieces of charms and military magazine jackets. Owoseni described TK as a Field Marshall who commanded different armed gangs that engaged in all forms of criminalities such as kidnapping, high-profile bank robberies, pipeline vandalism, piracy and cultism. He said, “TK had his signature on almost all violent crimes in Lagos, Ondo, Delta, Ogun, Edo, and Benin Republic. Intelligence had revealed that TK, at a time, led a gang to hijack a vessel on the waterways of Ghana. Intelligence had also revealed that he had his base in a creek situated somewhere in Ijagemo in Amuwo Odofin LGA of Lagos State.” Residents mourn death of TK When news of TK’s death filtered into Ishawo Ikorodu, Arepo and Ibafo areas of Ogun State, Ijaw communities within these areas were thrown into mourning. A source who spoke to Crime Guard on the condition of anonymity, disclosed that TK’s father has been crying uncontrollably since he heard the news of his son’s death. When asked why TK’s father was crying for a son who was a known criminal, the source explained that TK built a house for his father and that made him very close to his father. Becoming a terror The source added that TK took to crime after he was excluded from the amnesty programme for Niger Delta ex-militants. The source said it was same with Ossy, another pipeline vandal. Said the source: “I am from the same town with TK and his real is Tokiwe Joseph. I knew him while we were growing up. I learnt he was angry that he wasn’t included in amnesty package given to the Niger Delta ex-militants and he came to Lagos with his boys and formed the Arepo Camp, where they were vandalizing NNPC pipelines. He had his boys at that time but in 2013, he was arrested for being in possession of a gun, was charged to court and remanded in prison. “When he formed the Arepo Camp, he and his boys weren’t using guns and I don’t know how he got the gun the police found on him. While he was in prison, Ossy came with his own boys and took over the camp. Ossy and his boys came with guns and they accommodated all TK’s boys into their command and became so strong that no one could confront them. They became very brutal and were killing anybody that stood on their way. They were responsible for the killings of many security operatives. When TK was granted bail, he came out a very angry man. When he went to Ikorodu, he discovered that Ossy had taken over the camp, and one Igbala was controlling the Yoruba boys and his deputy, Double Prince was all in charge of Ishawo and Arepo. “TK then decided to form his own camp since his boys were not ready to stay under Ossy. He took them to Ijegemo and they chased out the man controlling that creek and started working. I actually don’t know what made him go into armed robbery and kidnapping. I was shocked whenever they mentioned his name in any of these bank robberies or kidnapping across Lagos State.” Attracting the spotlight. Crime Guard investigations revealed that before Nwosu’s wife was kidnapped in their apartment, TK was almost completely off the radar. The IGP Special Task Force, Anti-Pipeline Vandalism, was the only security outfit that knew about his existence. However, the kidnapping of Nwosu’s wife, Toyin, and the subsequent killing of nine operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS, who were in Ikorodu to rescue the woman brought him into the larger picture. He took the top spot of the most wanted criminal after that incident and the IGP was said to have deployed the SIRT operatives to track him down. TK, who was said to be highly shrewd and tactical, was said to have always taken refuge within the creeks in Ijegemo or Arepo. Crime Guard gathered that SIRT operatives, in October 2015, arrested one of TK’s girlfriends in Abuja and it was discovered during interrogation that TK was planning a massive bank robbery in Lagos State. The information was passed on to the Lagos State Police Command with no specific area. Sources at the Lagos State Police Command told Crime Guard that the command swung into action and was placed on red alert with more emphasis placed on the Island and Ikorodu areas that had been previously attacked. There was also security beef up around Ikeja and other parts of the mainland, but a few days after, TK, led the gang and they struck at three banks in Festac Town and carted away large sums of money, while a middle-aged woman and her baby were killed during the operation. The source at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters also told Crime Guard that intelligence was also generated on the Agbara bank robbery, but the intelligence indicated that TK and his gang would strike at Badagry and Seme areas. According to the source, “The intelligence from the operative monitoring TK indicated in November 2015, that he was planning to attack banks within Badagry and Seme areas of Lagos State and security around banks in those areas was beefed up to maximum level by the late Area Commander, Epko Esoung who coordinated the operation. “But while he was doing that, TK and his team took a detour and attacked a bank in Agbara area of Ogun State and carted away over N110 million from the bank. But the Area Commander gave them a fight. Though he arrived the bank minutes after the robbery started, he engaged the robbers and forced them to abort the operation as they had intended to raid all the banks in that placed. They escaped through the waters and he hired a speed boat that took some of his men and went after the boys. When he arrived the creek where the boys abandoned their boat, he recovered several military uniforms and a cell phone belonging to one of the robbers, Blessing Olotu, who was eventually arrested a few days later. “Meanwhile, when the SIRT got the intelligence on the plan to rob banks at Seme, the IGP deployed the SIRT and ensured there was a synergy between all police formations and other sister agencies. The result is what you have seen. They didn’t just take down 11 members of his gangs, TK was killed and a large cache of his arms, ammunition and explosives were recovered”, the source concluded.

Vanguard

Tributes Pour in as Johan Cruyff Dies of Cancer

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Netherlands footballing great Johan Cruyff has died of cancer aged 68 years.
Cruyff, who made his name as a forward with Ajax and Barcelona, was European footballer of the year three times.

He won three consecutive European Cups with Ajax from 1971, coached Barcelona to their first European Cup triumph in 1992 and helped the Dutch reach the 1974 World Cup final, where they lost 2-1 to West Germany.

The Dutch FA said: “Words can hardly be found for this huge loss.”
It added that Cruyff was the “greatest Dutch footballer of all time and one of the world’s best ever” and wished everyone “a lot of strength in this difficult time”.

Cruyff scored 293 goals in 521 appearances for five different clubs – including 204 in 276 games while winning 18 trophies in two spells for Ajax.
He first showcased the ‘Cruyff turn’ at the 1974 World Cup in a match against Sweden and scored 33 goals in 48 internationals.

With his precision passes, speed, technique and goalscoring ability, Cruyff set new standards as a player.
He helped end an era of dour defensive football, inspiring the Dutch team in their ‘Total Football’ offensive that took them to the 1974 World Cup final.

Cruyff had double heart bypass surgery in 1991 and gave up smoking immediately after the operation, swapping cigarettes for lollipops.

He even featured in a Catalan health department advert, warning the public: “Football has given me everything in life, tobacco almost took it all away.”
Barcelona won four consecutive La Liga titles – 1991 to 1994 – under Cruyff, who remained influential at the club after his sacking in 1995.

Cruyff was diagnosed with lung cancer in October 2015 but in February said he was “2-0 up” against his illness and was “sure I will end up winning”.
He “died peacefully in Barcelona, surrounded by his family after a hard-fought battle with cancer”, according to a statement on his official website.

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands said the country had “lost a unique and brilliant sportsman”.
He added: “He was a Dutch icon. He belonged to us all.”
Holland’s friendly against France on Friday will stop after 14 minutes for a minute-long silence in tribute to Cruyff, who wore number 14 as a player.

Barcelona FC expressed their “pain and sorrow” at the news of his death, adding: “We will always love you, Johan. Rest in peace.”
Pele, regarded by many as the best footballer of all time, said Cruyff “was a great player and coach” who leaves a “very important legacy”.

Bayern Munich’s Manchester City-bound manager Pep Guardiola, who played under Cruyff at Barca, said his former manager “painted the chapel and Barcelona coaches since have merely restored or improved it”.

David Beckham called Cruyff a “true hero” who was “not just one of the best footballers in the history of the game but also one of the greatest men and nicest person you could meet”.
Gary Lineker, an ex-Barcelona player, added: “Football has lost a man who did more to make the beautiful game beautiful than anyone in history.”

BBC football commentator Barry Davies said Cruyff deserved to be in the top three footballers of all time, along with Brazil’s Pele and Argentina’s Diego Maradona.
“He was so exciting to watch, so full of ideas,” Davies told BBC Radio 5 live.
Manchester City and Belgium captain Vincent Kompany called Cruyff “true football royalty”, adding: “I don’t think anyone has ever influenced the game as much as he has done. Football will miss him, but we will never forget.”
World Cup-winning Germany captain Lothar Matthaus said Cruyff was “a great man who transformed football”, while Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal called his fellow Dutchman “one of the true legends of the game”.

ThisDay

Queens College of scandal: School authorities must go down with Osifala -Old students, activists insist

.Victim alleges teacher gave money, food in order to caress her breasts, buttocks
By HENRY OKONKWO, and GABRIEL DIKE
ACCUSATIONS and coun­ter-accusations have contin­ued to trail the case of alleged sexual molestation of students by a teacher, Mr. Olaseni Osi­fala at Queens College, Yaba, Lagos. Meanwhile, investiga­tions by stakeholders in the school have begun to unravel the rot in the popular 89-year-old high college.
Investigators from fed­eral and state agencies have been urged to also probe the school’s Principal, Mrs Lami Amodu, and her Vice, Mrs Kayode. The school authori­ties have been fingered as culpable in the sexual offence allegedly involving Osifala.
The call came against the backdrop of the school’s swift defence and exoneration of the teacher who was accused of being a paedophile. The school authorities were also accused by various indepen­dent investigation bodies, to have turned a blind eye to the allegations levelled against Osifala in the past.
The Queens College Old girls Association (QCOGA) in its fact-finding report, re­vealed that the accused teach­er has been involved in cases of alleged sexual harassment of pupils of the school for years unabated because the school authorities had alleg­edly shielded him always. Speaking to Saturday Sun, the QCOGA Fact Finding Committee chairperson, Mrs Laila St. Matthew-Daniel said that they have concluded their investigations and sub­mitted their petition to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police. “I would not want to speak further beyond our findings. We made our find­ing available to the public. So, we urge everyone to be calm as we await the outcome of police investigation into the matter.”
Findings by QCOGA re­vealed that allegations against Osifala and his male col­leagues have been on since 2005 and “were consistently reported to the current prin­cipal, his vice, former princi­pala and vice principals, yet, no steps were taken to stop the dastardly acts.” As a re­sult, the old students resolved to recommend a probe of the school authorities.
Corroborating the accu­sation of non-chalance by the authorities, some of the former students alleged that they were also victims of Mr. Osifala’s alleged sexual harrassment of students. The ex-students went on social media to recall how they were sexually preyed upon by the teacher some years back. One of them that gave her name as Jaqacline Ibeh, alleged that the accused, molested her and other girls, but when they re­ported to the matter to the au­thorities, they were snubbed. “Olaseni molested me way back as a student, and some other girls too. When I report­ed, they rebuffed me. No one ever believed us.” She further expressed her readiness to tes­tify before any panel once she is guaranteed her safety and that of her children.
Another victim, Olaoluwa Abagun also tell her stories of Osifala’s lewdness and inap­propriate behaviour way back when she was in QC. She alleged that Osifala gave them money and food so he could caress their breasts and buttocks.
One of the independent investigators that probed Osifala’s alleged sexca­pades told Saturday Sun that some of the victims alleged that the accused al­ways complimented them that they were beautiful and that he would love to marry them. “The allega­tions are weighty because our investigations reveal he has been molesting chil­dren individually telling them they are very beauti­ful and that he would love to marry them”.
Even in the face of the weighty allegations, the accused is pleading his in­nocence, adding that he is being targeted by individu­als who are envious of his achievements in the school.
Meanwhile, activist and lawyer, Evans Ufeli has assured that Mr. Osifala would be broken soon after he’s crossed examined.
“I have carried out my investigations and I found some traces of truths in the allegation,” he told Sat­urday Sun. “Many of the past students have gone on various platforms to report how this teacher sexu­ally molested them some years ago. And usually, in criminal matters such as this, you find the suspect denying but when they are cross-examined, enough evidence would be extract­ed from them.”
Barrister Ufeli, who was behind the sex molestation reports going viral on social media hinted that the inci­dent, is a metaphor of what transpires in many schools. He also condemned the protest of QC students, saying the school authori­ties should be queried over it. “It’s obvious that these students were brainwashed to protest. They should be studying for their mock ex­ams. They’ve used the stu­dents to make the suspect escape justice.”
…A chat with QC students
By Itoro Godwin
The environment in Queen’s college on Thurs­day was peaceful and calm but one’s curiousity would be aroused noticing a po­lice armoured vehicle and fierce looking policemen who asked any visitor, vis­iting the school for the first time, what business they came for in the premises.
Walking into the school premises, you are welcome by security men in blue uniforms at the gate. At the entrance is a hall where visitors stay to wait for their ward and the names of 50 resident staff pasted on the notice board.
When this reporter vis­ited the school by 9:30am, the students were seen loitering around with their bags while senior students will send the younger ones to carry their luggage for them while others were busy in groups discussing and also waiting for their parents to come and pick them after a Parents Teach­ers Association (PTA) meeting.
This reporter was stopped at the gate by policemen but claimed that she came to see her younger ones and also pretended to use the girls hostel toilet. Immediately she was given access to the hostel which is a five minute walk from the gate with a black fence. There Junior and senior students live together . It was how­ever noticed that JSS 1 and JSS2 students have a dif­ferent hostel while JSS3 and SS1-3 students share same rooms. When the re­porter went to SSS 2 class, she was informed by the students that the class has ten arms; SS2 Q-SS2 Z. When asked about the inci­dent if they know anybody with the surname, Okoye they called Sylvia Okoye who said she was not the victim of the controversial sexual assault adding that there are other Okoyes too in SS2.
According to Joy Sav­iour, a fair complexioned young lady in SS2 said that “Mr Osifala is our Biology teacher and a nice person to us. Besides, he does not even live in the school premises but lives outside the school premises. So I don’t want to believe that he could do something of that nature.”
Seyi Timothy in SS2 also said that “ I think it’s a scam to blackmail our teacher, he teaches Biol­ogy very well and is a jo­vial person, maybe the girl in question is not from our school.”
Toyin Lawal in SS 2Q said “though am not too close to him, he will just come and teache us biol­ogy and that is all. He is friendly to us but for me I don’t like coming close to male teachers like my friends do. So I can’t tell”
Another SS2 student who pleaded anonymity when asked how often they put on the school generator and light, she said there is usually light in the school from morning till 10pm. “Once it’s 10pm the light goes off till 5 in the morn­ing. We use our torchlight and once it’s 10pm, no­body goes out of the junior hostel but in senior hostel, it is an open space, only the main entranced is locked”, she stated.

Text of President Muhammadu Buhari’s remarks at the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja, March 24, 2016.

 PROTOCOLS
We are members of the legacy party, plus APGA and DPP. We realized since 2005 that to remove the PDP from power, we must sink our differences, come together and form a party. God willing, that eventually happened and that is why we are where we are today, coming together inspite of our differences, both personal and ideological. We must not forget that. Having identified that as members of the legacy party, we again identified three fundamental things facing us. First, security, second, economy and unemployment and thirdly, corruption. We campaigned throughout the country on these three fundamental issues and nobody successfully challenged us and these issues remained relevant. On security, we have made progress. It was a very courageous decision that the party took and executed by the Executive by removing most of the military hierarchy and appointing those to take over from them, acquiring some new hard and soft ware and raising the morale of the military to go secure the rest of the country which was then 14 out of 774 local government. I have said it often that as far as I know and the service Chiefs who are on ground, they are not holding any local government. But they still have some capability especially on soft targets by using technology. For Niger Delta, the militants are sending some conflicting messages. Some have said they are ready to drop their arms and join the rest of the nation to build it. But part of them are still sabotaging installations which is making investments in that lucrative area of Nigeria difficult because nobody will submit his riches to financial institutions, get money only to suffer huge loss. So, the environment for investment is being sabotaged by our own selves, Nigerians. We are doing our best with the military by trying to persuade them to join the rest of the country because in unity lies our strength. Of course the leadership of INEC has been changed, but I appeal to the leadership of the military, security agents and INEC that what I want Nigerians to remember me for, even if I have to leave the Presidency tomorrow is that I respect them. I want all Nigerians to believe and hold their PVC as personal entitlement as Nigerians and use it the way the like, and vote for whoever they like at which ever election. If they voluntarily sold it, it is part of their right and so, let them sell it and remain at home and not participate in any election. But let the law enforcement agencies give them the confidence that nobody will come out who has money to hire thugs, give them drugs and stop them from exercising their fundamental right. I am afraid I did not succeed in the election in Kogi, Bayelsa, Rivers. I think that more Nigerians are killed or killed themselves in Rivers than in any particular state. At this stage of our political development, to remain brutal is shameful and as a government, I promise we will do something by the next general election. On the economy, the fall of oil prices after Nigeria has made itself a mono economy is a disaster. I wonder why people could not believe that in Nigeria, about 27 out of 36 states have difficulty in paying basic salaries of their workers. If from 1999 to at least 2003, oil is above 100 dollars per barrel and an export of about 2 million barrel per day, how come Nigeria failed to make some arrangement to cushion the effect of a probably volatile oil market? Again, it show failure of the last administration. But we are now to pick the pieces as an APC government and so, there is no need complaining, but let us concentrate and see how much we can do with whatever remains of the economy. We realized that agriculture and solid minerals are two areas that can quickly come to help us to recover economically, at least in terms of employment and feeding ourselves and more importantly, saving the hard currency to make sure that what is left our industries remain open, employing Nigerians and producing goods and services which is very important. The policy we are trying to implement is TSA. When we insist that we have to know what comes in and what goes out for us to make a comprehensive amendment to the economy. If you go and see the Central Bank Governor, he will tell you that in the TSA, we have more than N3 trillion. Where would this money have been if TSA was not in vogue? I was made to understand that vouchers would have quickly been raised towards the end of the financial year and checks made. Whether they are going into projects or private pockets, nobody can prove it to you. But that money is there, it is identified, if is quantified and when the budget comes back eventually, the Ministry of finance will see how to allocate it to the rest of the country. We have tried to make sure that NNPC is reorganized, so that we know how much of our crude is taken, how much it is sold and to which account the money is going. But I tell you that up to the time we came, if anybody told you that he knows how much of crude exchanges hands either on the high sea or reaching their destination and the accounts the money goes into, that person is not telling you the truth. We are getting the cooperation of countries that has received this crude. But we have to be sure of the facts in our hands before we start prosecution so that Nigerians will believe what we have been telling them. Again, I have to repeat myself here for you to appreciate what I am going through because you are closer to the people than myself. I was telling a British team that came to supervise the training team they sent, that when I was in uniform, you took the perceived corrupt ones and put them in safe custody and quietly told them they were guilty until they can prove themselves innocent. But now under multi-party democratic system, I see some of them ride Rolls Royce, some of them have built estates here, but they are innocent until we can prove them guilty. This situation is true and you don’t need to stress your imagination to find out. If you can find out, you discover that a level eight officer has five houses, while you, as a Permanent Secretary or Commissioner is still living in a rented house. We have to get credible evidence to carry out successful prosecution and get judgement from the Judiciary. But effort is being made to give a list of recoveries in whatever currencies so far so that Nigerians will know that it is not all about long stories. For the party, I will like you to continue to make sacrifice. I know you are being harassed since the election that they haven’t seen anything on the ground. Well, if you have any explanation that could be accepted, is that you have three more years to go. When we came in after 16 years of PDP, each government had 42 ministries. We reduced them to 24, removed 21 Permanent Secretaries. We sat down and reflected seriously. We were all in the process of taking over at a time of national budget. So, imagine the volume of work and with what happened in the National Assembly, the padding, it would appear that below the Permanent Secretaries, there are still a lot of bureaucracies that are still with them. So, you have to appreciate the position we are in. Having cut 42 to 24, correspondingly, the parastatals will be cut down to some size and realigned and the boards reconstituted. We gave a blanket order which we had to rescind when we said all boards are suspended or dissolved. We had to go back and lick our vomit in terms of university boards because we found out that according to their laws, they cannot choose Vice Chancellors unless the Boards seat down, interview prospective candidates who wants to be VCs. So, there is nothing wrong in saying sorry and going back on your decision. So, we said sorry and allow all the universities to continue with their boards. But for the rest, eventually, we will make it. So, please, try to bear with us as we reflect on where we found ourselves. For globetrotting, sometimes, you need to present your case on personal basis to your economic colleagues and neighbors. Nothing is better than personal touch and I believe that we are learning a lot and eventually, the nation will realize so, I don’t envy you on the harassment you are going through from your constituencies. Take it with a lot of determination and we will be all right, God willing.

Many feared dead as Ijaw, Urhobo clash in Delta

Many residents of Aladja, in Udu Local Government Area, and Ogbe-Ijoh, in Warri Southwest Local Government Area, both in Delta State, were feared dead yesterday in a renewed clash.

Several others were injured and property worth million of Naira were destroyed.

There has been an age-long communal rivalry between residents of Aladja and their Ogbe-Ijoh counterparts.

It was gathered that youths from Ogbe-Ijoh invaded the community’s Divisional Police Station, carting away arms and ammunition.

Aladja, an Urhobo community, and Ogbe-Ijoh, an Ijaw community, have been engaged in protracted civil strife over land ownership and access to road.

Although security agents comprising the Army and the police have taken over the communities to stem hostilities, it was gathered that residents of both communities abandoned their homes because of the fears that the confrontation might worsen.

At the time of filing this report last night, sources said several persons had been injured while two homes – one each in Aladja and Ogbe-Ijoh – had been razed.

A car inside the Ogbe-Ijoh property was damaged.

It was also gathered that yesterday’s clash started in the morning when some Aladja youths blocked the only access road from their town to Ogbe-Ijoh, leading to a free-for-all.

Giving the account of the incident, the Coordinator of the Ogbe-Ijoh Peace Movement, Friday Deinghan, said although the crisis started early, it was curtailed through the swift intervention of the Army.

Deinghan said: “One man, identified as Freedom from Ogbe-Ijoh, is lying critically injured as a result of the clash. But for the quick intervention of the Army, there would have been a total breakdown of law and order in the area.

“The area under contention has been declared a buffer zone, but some persons carried blocks and sand to erect structures there. The evidence is there. This morning (yesterday), Aladja residents started restricting people from passing to Ogbe-Ijoh; they beat up our people. Before we knew it, they had started advancing to Ogbe-Ijoh, and there were some little skirmishes.”

But a community leader in Aladja, who spoke in confidence, said: “Ogbe-Ijoh drew first blood. Their youths held and molested Ajadja women who wenre farming in the bush. In reprisal, our youths restricted their passage through Aladja to their community.

“There has been confusion since then. We can’t give a clear report of casualties now.”

Udu Local Government Area Chairman Solomon Kpoma said he was told that even when security forces demarcated both communities, some Ogbe-Ijoh residents still used the waterway to attack Aladja.

Kpoma said: “The police and the Army formed a barricade to cordon off Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja and prevent the two sides from attacking each other. But somehow Ogbe-Ijoh residents, from the report I got, came through the river to attack. That was the report this morning.

“When Ogbe-Ijoh residents were gearing up for this fight, they attacked the Ogbe-Ijoh Police Station, which is very close to Aladja, and carted away their arms and ammunition. With that, the police became helpless. That was when they called for reinforcement.”

A truce, involving the chairmen of Udu Local Government Area, for Aladja; his Warri Southwest counterpart, for Ogbe-Ijoh, and 10 representatives of both communities, was being convened last night by the Warri Area Commander of the police, Mohammed M’uazu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP).

TheNation

Saraki may say ‘Bye Bye’ to being Senate President sooner

By Amako Nneji 

The ruling of the Justice Umar Dalandi-led Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, on Thursday, March 24, that it has the jurisdiction to hear the case against the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, for allegedly declaring false assets while he was Governor of Kwara State, seems to have knocked Saraki down to his knees.
This came barely 48 hours after Justice Abdukadir Abdu-Kafarati, of the Federal High Court in Abuja disqualified himself from a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Saraki to quash his trail at the CCT.
Related: CCT delivers judgment against Saraki
Kafarati, had fixed Tuesday, March 22, for delivery of judgment on the suit. However, he announced his withdrawal from the case on the basis that his integrity had been called to question in the matter.

“It is only in this country that people can wake up and start calling people names.
“In the circumstance, I disqualify myself from this case. I will hereby send the case file to the chief judge for re-assignment to another judge,” the judge had announced.

Political pundits averred that the Dalandi Umar-led Tribunal seemed to have nailed Saraki’s political coffin by the decision to go ahead with the trial.

“There are fears that the CCT chairman, Danladi Umar, has not left anyone in doubt that he is on a mission to convict Saraki by all means,” a source said.

The source added: “Therefore, to subject himself to be tried by this tribunal and by this chairman is to commit political suicide.
“The Senate President has gone to every judicial length to stop this trial by the CCT not because he is running away from justice, but because he knows there is no way he is going to get justice off the case, if it goes to trial”.
Saraki was arraigned by the Federal Government on a 13-count criminal charge that bordered on corruption, false declaration of assets, and illegal operation of a foreign bank account while in office as a public servant on 22nd September, 2015.
Already, Saraki has allegedly come under immense pressure from within the National Assembly to resign and face his trial.
Some senators are canvassing the appointment of a Senate President in the interim to allow Saraki effectively take care of his trial while still being assured of the safety of his position at the end of the CCT trial.
To them, “with President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock, the chickens are coming home to roost.”
However, other lawmakers still loyal to the embattled Senate President have opposed calls for his resignation citing the issue of fair hearing and justice.
Post-Nigeria learnt that the charges of false declaration of assets, if proven, carry grave consequences for Saraki.
Related: Saraki in total disarray as APC ‘gods’ sentence him to ‘death’
If he is convicted on any of the allegations, the guilty verdict would have deleterious consequences for him at three levels.
First, a conviction could see Saraki relinquishing the position he currently occupies as senate president.
Second, a conviction could also damage irreparably his reputation as a two-time governor of Kwara State, a qualified medical doctor, and a rising politician with an eye on the 2019 Presidential ticket.
Third, by law if the CCT finds that a public officer contravened any provision of the Code of Conduct, such person could be punished by being asked to vacate the office he/she occupies, seizure and forfeiture of assets in contention, or made to suffer any other penalty as may be imposed by the National Assembly.
Recall, that Saraki emerged Senate President on the floor of the Red Chamber on June 9, 2015, against the wish of some leaders of the APC, who had indicated their preference for his rival, Senator Ahmed Lawan.
Since his emergence as Senate President, the body language and certain utterances of those who opposed to his emergence had shown that they would have their pound of flesh.
This perhaps was why Saraki, while being put in the dock at his first appearance at the CCT disclosed that the reason why he was being tried was because he is Senate President.