How I Made It: Resilent Banking Guru, Jim Ovia by Zara Shenew

An unmistakable icon of Nigeria’s banking sector, Mr. Ovia is the founder Zenith Bank, one of the largest commercial banks in Nigeria. Zenith bank is widely known as a leading bank today from Ovia’s astute leadership. He headed the bank for 20 years until he resigned in July 2010. Four years later, he was brought out of retirement to be reappointed as chairman in 2014. Due to owning 11.29% of the direct shareholding in Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, will earn over N9 billion in dividends this year from the financial year of 2020. This is made possible by the number of shares Ovia holds in the lender, as the single majority shareholder of the bank. This makes him one of the highest-paid company chairman in 2020. Jim Ovia was born on the 4th of November, 1951 to the large family of Obi Olihe of Agbor-Obi, in Agbor, Delta State. He narrated in his memoir how his father died in his mid fifties, when Jim was just four years old. His mother, left to fend for herself and her family, “called upon her intuitive entrepreneurial skills to set up her own small trading business.” He attended Ika Grammar School, Bojiboji-Owa for his secondary education, before going to Lagos to join his elder brother. While in Lagos, he started his banking career in 1973 as a clerk at Union Bank, (formerly Barclays Bank) working at the branch at Oba Akran way, Ikeja. He worked for 3 years as a bank clerk before moving to USA, where he became widely read. He got a degree in Business Administration from Southern University, Louisiana, USA, in 1977, then a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School. Ovia founded Visafone, which was later acquired by MTN Nigeria. In 2015, he was profiled by Forbes to worth at least $550 million. His major drive in establishing his foundation is, in his words “to equip the future of our nation Nigeria, with the necessities for leadership and foster an ICT literate society that innovates and protects the future.” The Jim Ovia Foundation Scholarship was founded and funded by Mr. Jim Ovia in 2004, to provide financial aid to outstanding Nigeria youths. The scholarship gave rise to the MUSTE scholarship in 2007, where awardees are given funding for undergraduate study for the duration of their undergraduate program. The award includes tuition and maintenance allowance. The scheme offers an average of 100 opportunities every year. The Financial records show that as at October 2010, Mr. Ovia has invested 100 Million Naira in the program on 1,500 beneficiaries. The businessman also owns Jim Ovia Scholarship, Jim Ovia ICT Entrepreneurs Program and most recently, the Jim Ovia Foundation Leaders Scholarship (JOFLS) Fund (in partnership with Africa America Institute (AAI)

IPOB probes Wike, Ifeanyi Uba’s roles in Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest Edward Nnachi

The Indigenous People of Biafra has called on Nigerians and its global supporters to disregard as fake news the statement and audio notes making the rounds that Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and the senator representing Anambra South in the Senate, Ifeanyi Uba, were among those who facilitated the alleged ‘abduction’ of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu. The group, however, said a probe that would reveal their alleged involvement had been begun. According to the group, the statement, which was maliciously credited to its Directorate of Media and Publicity, was being peddled by agents of confusion, stressing that at the moment, nothing had indicted Wike and Uba in Kanu’s repatriation to Nigeria. Read Also Wike threatens election riggers, calls poll manipulation coup Wike lifts curfew in Rivers after two months UK parliament to debate Nnamdi Kanu's repatriation to Nigeria The secessionist group said in a statement signed by its Director of Media and Publicity, Emma Powerful, it had no evidence to link Wike and Uba to the “unlawful” arrest of its leader and called on its supporters to ignore the politics behind the statement. The statement read in part, “The attention of the global movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra, ably led by our great leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has been drawn to the false and malicious press statement and audio being circulated and purported to have been issued by our Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful. In the said statement, Powerful was quoted as accusing Senator Ifeanyi Uba and Governor Nyesom Wike of colluding with the enemies and facilitating the betrayal and abduction of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in Kenya. “We, therefore, wish to dissociate ourselves from the fake statement being peddled by agents of confusion. Our publicity secretary never at any time linked Senator Ifeanyi Uba or Governor Wike with the wicked betrayal of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. If they were involved in the dirty deal, our investigations into the matter will reveal it. But for now, we have no evidence to link them with the atrocity. IPOB does not act based on speculation or rumour. Our assertions are evidence-based and products of credible intelligence.”

Global COVID-19 deaths now over four million Agency Report

More than four million people have now died of Covid-19 infections, the WHO said on Wednesday, as many richer nations prepared to loosen restrictions even as countries in Asia battle surging infections. Indonesia has become a global hotspot, with hospitals having to turn away patients, authorities forced to import oxygen supplies and a record 1,040 deaths reported on Wednesday. “The world is at a perilous point in this pandemic,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, calling the four-million figure an underestimate of the true toll. He said some countries with high vaccination coverage were “relaxing as though the pandemic is already over”, while others have seen sharp spikes in cases because of highly-transmissible variants and a “shocking inequity” in access to vaccines. Indonesia is one country being hit hard. The government has expanded restrictions across the archipelago following earlier clampdowns on the capital Jakarta and some other areas. “We need to pay attention to the availability of hospitals,” said senior minister Airlangga Hartarto. The new restrictions apply to dozens of cities and extend across the vast nation of nearly 270 million people, which has been hammered by the highly infectious Delta variant that was first detected in India. Delta-fuelled outbreaks have also led to the imposition of restrictions in Australia, including in its biggest city Sydney where lockdown orders on more than five million residents were on Wednesday extended by at least another week. “This Delta strain is a game changer, it’s extremely transmissible,” said Gladys Berejiklian, premier of New South Wales state, of which Sydney is the capital. Australia has largely kept its outbreaks in check since the pandemic began, but the government is under increasing pressure over the slow rollout of vaccines. “It’s still scary that the virus is out there,” said Menno De Moel, 44, at a vaccination centre in Sydney where he was getting his first shot. “Hopefully this is going to be the last lockdown, but on the other hand anything that is needed, needs to be done.” Officials announced Wednesday that the Olympic torch relay had been scrapped on Tokyo’s roads to prevent crowds. And with infections on the rise, the government is expected to extend restrictions this week that will likely affect the number of fans that can attend Olympic events. But in London, the Euro 2020 football tournament’s semi-finals and final are set to be held this week with 60,000 fans permitted at Wembley Stadium, despite Britain facing a new surge in infections. Mass vaccinations, however, have stopped a resultant surge in hospital admissions or deaths. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced the end of most virus restrictions, such as face masks and indoor social distancing, in England. Other UK nations — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are moving more slowly. – ‘Obnoxious’ anti-maskers – As some countries peel back Covid restrictions, the WHO sounded alarm over a lack of funding to fight the pandemic. It said Tuesday its global appeal for funding for coronavirus vaccines, treatments, diagnostics and equipment was still $16.8 billion short — almost half its total needs. Even in wealthier nations with successful inoculation programmes, authorities are wary of a resurgence and have kept some restrictions in place, such as the requirement for face masks on flights in the United States. But an American Airlines flight from North Carolina to the Bahamas was delayed by a day after around 30 teenagers refused to wear masks, US media said Tuesday. “It was bad. First, they were yelling. They were cursing,” witness Malik Banks told local station WSOC-TV. “They were being very obnoxious.”

APC to punish Lai Mohammed over attacks on Kwara governor By Omeiza Ajayi

The ruling All Progressives Congress APC has said it is examining the recent outburst made by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed against the Kwara state Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, with a view to punishing the minister. Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the party in Kwara state, Abdullahi Samari Abubakar disclosed this in an interview Wednesday in Abuja. He said the party may apply disciplinary measures according to its constitution. The minister had recently claimed that he singlehandedly bankrolled the election of the governor in 2019, accusing Mr Abdulrazaq of biting the fingers that fed him. However, Samari said: “I still see the Minister as a member of our party. Because he has not formally told us that he is moving out of the party which I doubt if he will go. He is a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria where the APC as a ruling party is running the administration of government. So I would not think he will want to move out, but from those utterances he made, the party, APC as a structure has guidelines over issues. If we feel that what he said publicly amounts to disrespect or causing acrimony within the party, honestly, we are going to make sure the rules of the party are applied against him and any other person.” Asked whether the minister will be suspended or expelled from the APC, the Kwara party Chairman said: “Well, there are guidelines like I told you. If the offence is commensurate with suspending him, or any other, definitely the rules of the party are going to apply because nobody is too big to be sanctioned. We want to have sanity in the party.” The sanction, Samari said will take place “very soon”. “There are steps according to the party. It has to start from the particular Ward of that fellow. Then, come down to the Local Government than to the state. So, whatever decision is taken at the Ward, to Local government then to state, it will then be forwarded to the national level for ratification.” The APC chieftain also confirmed that Lai Mohammed had earlier revalidated his membership of the APC in the state. “There are certain facts that some of you do not know. When the appeal committee came to Kwara, we met with them. There was this allegation that some people were not allowed to register, but mind you, that was wrong. If you come in then, the rooms were open. It was just that some people were discouraging others not to come out and register. For whatever reason, we may not know. Let me tell you categorically that Alhaji Lai Muhammed as a minister registered. Quote me anywhere. I can show the date he registered. “He registered at his ward at Oro, Kwara state. You can confirm that from me. The extension of registration is not a new thing. It is not that the Alhaji Lai group or camp has won anything. Remember that I also authorized a document that the APC national secretariat should extend the registration in Kwara state for at least one week because a lot of people came into the party. And, we just have to allow them as members of the party whereby they will have the equal rights to take part in whatever is going on during the congresses. “I authored a paper signed under the leadership of the governor who is the leader of the party in Kwara state, that is Governor Abdulrahman urging the national secretariat to please extend the registration exercise for at least a week in Kwara. If they are now extending it to two weeks, it is not glory to anyone who wants to claim because we requested for that, and I think the national leadership only acted in recognition of our letter.” Vanguard

Police arrest three suspected railway vandals in Enugu By Damian Duruiheoma,

Enugu State Police command has arrested three suspects for their involvement in railway tracks and slippers vandalism. The police also recovered the operational lorries used by the suspects as well as the large pieces of the vandalized items. In a statement issued through the police public relations officer, Daniel Ndukwe, the state commissioner of police, Mohammed Aliyu listed the suspects to include Chukwuma Okoye aged 56; Oluchukwu Igboke aged 25 and Boniface Eze aged 37, all from Anambra State. He disclosed that Okoye and Igboke were intercepted and arrested on 02/07/2021 at about 0140hrs, by a joint security patrol team, headed by the officer-in-Charge of the Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Squad, at Emene Enugu, along Enugu/Abakaliki highway. “Upon search conducted on two Mercedes trucks with registration numbers: AWK 296 YX and UWN 471 ZX, they were respectively driving, the operatives uncovered large pieces of vandalized railway tracks and slippers, they both confessed to be transporting from Ezza-Nkwubor, Emene to Anambra State. The two lorries and the vandalized items have been recovered. “Similarly, police operatives attached to the command’s CP Monitoring Unit on 10/06/2021 arrested one Boniface Eze aged 37, of Anambra State and recovered a Mercedes 911 lorry with registration number: XC 360 UWN loaded with vandalized railway tracks and slippers at Ezza-Nkwubor, Emene, Enugu. His arrest is due to the operative’s swift response to credible information, alleging that some persons vandalized the said railway tracks and slippers, loaded and were about to transport same to an unknown location. The suspect and driver of the said lorry also confessed to be transporting the vandalized items to Anambra State,” the CP said. Aliyu stated that efforts had been intensified to arrest accomplices to the crime, with the view to charging them to court once an investigation was concluded. He noted that the success was pursuant to the operational strategies, including collaborative security operations, devised by the command under him. While frowning at the act of criminal vandalism of critical national infrastructures, such as railways, that are meant for the public good, the CP warned unrepentant criminal elements to steer clear of such critical public assets in the state or be ready to face the full weight of the law. He, therefore, called on residents of the state to remain law-abiding, vigilant and promptly report criminals and their acts of vandalism to the nearest police station.

Defections: PDP Rep calls on Secondus to resign By Tordue Salem, Abuja

A member of the House of Representatives, Rimamnde Shawulu, Thursday called on the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP to resign from his position with immediate effect, for failing to stanch the flow of defections from the party to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. The lawmaker urged Secondus to throw in the towel before the next general elections, because of his failure to stop the gale of defections from PDP. In a letter he wrote to a Secondus entitled: “In the Interest of our Party, Democracy and the People of Nigeria: Time To Do The Needful”, Shawulu pointedly told the Chairman to resign. “I plead with you sir to show leadership today and in the interest of the party, your good name, and the future of Nigeria to resign immediately as National Chairman”, he said. According to the lawmaker from Taraba State, “Today, not unexpectedly, four members of the House of Representatives from Zamfara State denounced the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and defected to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). Unlike other times, when leaders of the party in the House (both the Minority Caucus Leadership and the House PDP Caucus Leadership), put up some form of protest, not a whisper was heard or a hand raised in protest against the decamping! Our Leader, Sir, I write this letter with a heavy heart; and with the deepest regard for your office and your person, no one can doubt that you have made your contributions to the growth of the party. Sir not much use will be served in going down memory lane on the formation of the PDP, your contributions to the party and the sacrifices you and other leaders have made. Indeed, when the Governor of Rivers State HE Nyesome Wike sought the support of members of the House of Representatives for your candidacy of the National Chairmanship of the Party, he extolled your virtues of tenacity and commitment to the party and our hope, then, to win the 2019 elections. He said you were the most experienced and loyal person who would commit everything to the success of the party. Indeed, and according to him, the relentless pursuit of success would be the guide of your actions. “The PDP, as you very well know, ought to represent the hope of Nigerians for a new future and to, at the very least, provide some formidable resistance and pull from the brink that the APC government has tragically brought Nigeria to. Unfortunately, the increasing weakness, incoherence, and daily loss of membership of our party to the ruling party have contributed to the general feeling of hopelessness in the country. The populace has now begun to feel that we don’t have the capacity to take over the reins of power from the ruling party. To put it bluntly, in a presidential democracy, a strong opposition party is necessary to provide a viable alternative to the governing party. Our party is failing in this regard. We don’t need a soothsayer to know that as our party weakens or its leadership abandons pressing issues to embark on trips to ‘Afghanistan’ such as last week’s protests against Loretta’s Onochie’s nomination as a commissioner of INEC, more members will be tempted to leave the party to secure their political future. Some will be too discouraged to fight the unconstitutional acts and brazen illegalities being perpetrated by the ruling party as the reign of terror and insecurity envelope the country, while vast swathes of land are being taken over by bandits and ISWAP Boko Haram, who are already setting up forms of governance in some part of the country. Most dangerous for everyone, including our party, is the fact that more people will become despondent and resort to self-help and or line up behind thugs and local warlords. “Dear Chairman, Sir, events in the last two years call for sober reflection and sacrifices by both the leadership and membership of the party and it is necessary you set the ball rolling so that the party will come back to life and be seen as a viable alternative to the ruinous APC. Then, will its doors be seen to be open to the millions that want to come into the party to mobilize Nigerians to take back the country from the iniquitous forces that have seized it by the jugular? This was the obvious wish of the opinion of party members and leaders when Dr Adamu Muazu resigned as Chairman of the party. Your good self took over to enable the party to regain momentum. Presently, without discounting the efforts and sacrifices you have made, it is obvious that our party is in far worse circumstances than when Alhaji Adamu Muazu fled the scene. You cannot fail to note that our party lost both the 2015 and 2019 elections, and we have fewer members in the National Assembly than we had in 2015. And, as well, our outing during the 2019 National Assembly leadership contest was so disastrous that even members of the public may be wondering whether our party still has members in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Besides the gale of defections from the party which may continue to haunt us, our party is so divided in many states that without reconciliation we may not stand any realistic chance of winning the forthcoming elections. One is wont to dismiss as idle prattle rumours making the rounds that some at the highest levels of our party have been “settled” or compromised such as to make the PDP unelectable. But in politics perception no matter how wrong-headed often drives reality and even rather outlandish conspiracy theories will gain more traction with more defections of governors or of members of the National Assembly to the APC, which given the havoc it has inflicted on the country ought to be the party on the run. “The way out: Parents sacrifice for their children. Leaders sacrifice for the good of the people they lead. History is replete with examples of leaders who have had to leave their positions so that the people they lead will survive or prosper. In several of our cultures in Nigeria, leaders who lead their people into disastrous circumstances commit suicide! Sir, history calls and beckons on you to do the needful, not to die but to live for the party by surrendering leadership, in order for reconciliation and repositioning of the party to begin in earnest for a fresh start. You, and indeed, all members of the National Working Committee should make such a sacrifice in the interest of the PDP, Nigeria and democracy. I plead with you sir to show leadership today and in the interest of the party, your good name, and the future of Nigeria to resign immediately as National Chairman. “The 2023 elections are just two years away, with a few off-cycle governorship elections in a few states getting underway in a few months, the party needs time to reorganize, reconcile feuding members and prepare to campaign with well-prepared and articulated programmes to rescue Nigeria from the present morass. It bears restating that time is not on our side. You and the current national working committee members will be unable to lead the reconciliation process because you are unfortunately enmeshed in several current controversies. My Chairman, Sir, I come in peace, and do know that God will lead you aright if you ask him to!”. Vanguard

Malami calls Canadian Justice Minister ignorant for defending Nnamdi Kanu by Lesi Nwisagbo

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has described the views of the Solicitor General of Alberta in Canada, Kelechi Amadi, regarding the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu as an “outrageously ignoramus opinion that is eccentric and weird”. Malami stated this on Wednesday in a statement that was issued by the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Office of the AGF, Umar Gwandu. “Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) has described the ideas attributed to one Kelechi Madu as outrageously ignoramus opinions that are eccentric and weird to the legal profession. “It is unfortunate for someone who claims to be a lawyer of a status of a Solicitor General of a provincial State of Alberta in Canada to fault the internationally recognized manner through which Nnamdi Kanu who jumped bail was re-arrested and brought back to face trial,” it read. Malami also insisted that there was no illegality in the arrest of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. According to him, “It was abundantly clear that bench warrant was lawfully and judiciously procured through judicial process by a competent court of law, whose bail condition Nnamdi Kanu breached with impunity. There was no illegality in the entire process and the question of illegality does not even arise. “It is a common principle of the law that he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. Malami wondered why Madu never spoke up when Kanu was inciting violence against Nigeria. “Where was the so-called Madu when Nnamdi Kanu was inciting violence against the country? Why, as a lawyer, would Madu support a fugitive who jumped bail and accused of terrorism and treasonable felony? What stopped Madu from voicing out dissent on the atrocities of Kanu and their group?” he asked. The AGF said it was important to educate Madu that both Nigeria (his country of birth) and Canada where he practises law, are signatories to the Multinational Treaty Agreement where, among others, fugitive fleeing justice in nations with similar agreement could be brought back to face justice. “It is a pity that as a Solicitor General of a province, Madu failed to keep himself acquainted with the provisions of general laws of the country where he stays as well as international laws,” said Malami. The AGF urged the Canadian public officer to go back to educate himself in matters of the law, adding that Madu only left for Canada after failing to succeed in his country of birth. “As the saying goes ‘an empty vessel makes the loudest noise’. We advise the so-called ‘learned man’ to shelve his arrogance and learn to study the law books before opening his mouth to disgrace himself before the right-thinking members of the society thereby attracting to himself criticism that may propel doubt about his suitability for the job he claims to be doing now, after moving out of his country of origin in which he fails to excel,” he added.