Negotiate Your Way to Power, Imoke, Saraki, Others Charge Nigerian Youth by Emameh Gabriel

•As Wike blasts Secondus, says he lacks character and quality of a leader •Rivers gov, Oshiomhole engage in verbal brickbats

Ahead of 2023, a former Governor Cross River State, Liyel Imoke, has charged Nigeria youths to leverage their influence and negotiate their way into power. This is as River State Governor, Nyesom Wike went hard on the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, describing him as a serial liar and one that could not be taken for his words. Imoke made the call yesterday in his opening remarks at his 60th birthday and 10th anniversary of his foundation, Bridge Leadership Foundation (TBLF) as well as 11th Career Day Conference of the foundation. He said despite the influence the Nigeria youths commanded both in and outside of the social media, they have not been able to annex such influence to break into what he described as the ‘boardroom’ so as to provide a fertile ground for them to influence policies in the polity. He identified the failure of the youths to set out their objectives before going into politics as one of the reasons they have been constantly sidelined by the current generation of leaders in the country. He noted that social media seemed to be the place, where the young people thought they had influence but added it was not enough, given the fact that government across Africa always had certain influence over the operation of social media. He advised that the current crop of leaders in the country would not be ready to shift except and unless the youths broke their ways in and be actively involved in politics. He, however, reminded them that just as 2023 was around the corner, it provided them another ample opportunity to get into the business of political leadership. He said they must be audacious to make the change they yearned for. He noted that it was not enough to be “a member of an organisation but to also be a member of the board, because that is where things happen, unless you are in the board, you will remain where you are. “Whenever you think you have such a power of influence for any activity, it must be for a purpose. It must be towards an objective. And until you become part of that decision-making process, your effort will remain just an effort. “Next time, before you finish your influences, make sure you negotiate your way into the boardroom. When you get to the boardroom, there you can influence policy. Until you get into the boardroom, you can never influence change! You can make all the noise, you can have all the activity, you can have all the followers, but, you will not change the policy. “This is the time for a new generation to get into the boardroom, it is time for a new generation to appreciate the importance of being audacious. No one, not anyone of us in front, or anyone there is going to shift! No one is going to shift by you saying, please make space for me, I am young, it is my time. “Nobody gave me space. At 30, nobody gave me space. It was hard work. But, the good fortune was that I wanted to be in the boardroom. The generation that we are talking to, 2023 provides you with an opportunity to be in the boardroom, provides you with an opportunity to take control and to take charge. But, it’s a lot of work. Are you ready to deliver? Are you ready to do what it takes? “The time has come for you to make those decisions”, he said recounting how one of the keynote speakers, Nelson Chamisa, an opposition leader in Zimbabwe challenged the government in Zimbabwe, and to the surprise of everyone else, he got 45% of the popular vote in the election. It was unprecedented and the most recent is Bobi Wine, a Ugandan politician, who challenged the status quo. Other dignitaries at the event also took their turns to extol the virtues of the former Cross River State governor, saying he laid the foundation, where the next generation of leaders would emerge from. Saraki, while speaking, described Imoke as a man of character and commended him for the feat the foundation had attained in the last decade. The former senate president said character was what makes a good leader not age even as he charged the youth to be actively involved in politics and to also leverage their population advantage to change the leadership narrative in the country. He said: “One of the important things is to build people with character. Character to be able to know what you stand for. Having an ambition is not a bad thing, because it is the ambition that will drive you to become a leader. “The youths must be ready to use their voting strength to make the change. They must not only engage in complaining but be fully involved. Please, be bold, be focused and be audacious”, he added. The PDP national chairman, Secondus, in his tribute, thanked the organisers of the event for using the occasion of Imoke’s 60th birthday to organise a platform for national leadership dialogue aimed at transforming the country. He said: “The country needs this foundation and many others that will gradually transform our country. Our country is in crisis, you are in the right place and in the right foundation. “Because of the situation in the country today, we must go back to the foundation, where we derived all the powers. As we see our country drifting today due to poor leadership, we must give way for our youths, who have learnt so much. You can come on stage, because you have been equipped to lead. “It requires one person, it doesn’t matter where you come from. I can see many of you have what it takes. We need the right leader, not only a leader but a statesman to lead this nation”, said Secondus, who added that the foundation has the capacity to produce one of such qualities to lead the country, just as he promised that the PDP would be working closely with the foundation to tap from its wealth of experience. But Wike later stole the show, when he walked to the podium amid encomiums from the crowd only to tongue lash Secondus, who left the occasion the same moment he was to give a tribute to the celebrant. Wike, in his usual brash manner of speaking, lambasted Secondus saying he talked with two sides of his mouth and blamed him for the current woes in the party. He said if Secondus, who came to the podium to talk about good leadership, had acted as one, the party would not have been hit by the crisis that has started to consume it. “Talking about leadership, unfortunately, the national chairman (Secondus) left before I start. We should not be theoretical but be practical in what we practice. He goes to the church, you see the pastor, you pontificate him. He leaves the church, he does a different thing. What is the problem with this country: it’s leadership. “If he ( Secondus) had shown leadership in Cross River, our party would not have had the problem we have today. The national chairman said we need good leadership in the country, but if you don’t show good leadership, the party cannot produce good leaders. That is the truth of the matter. “We talk about character. What is leadership? Leadership is about character, boldness, selflessness and audacious. As a leader, you must have character. Not to speak white in the morning and you speak black in the evening. Is that leadership? What are we telling our youths? We are talking about the future of this country. “Our youths must be audacious. In essence, they should speak out. They should be bold. How many of us have been bold to speak out from our party? Those who are bold, those who are fair, those who have characters, do you want them to exist? Certainly not”, said Wike, who described Secondus as one who did not possess the qualities of a good leader. “Leadership is that you must decide whether to stand for the truth or not. You must decide whether to do the right thing or not. Leadership is the ability to say the decision I took was wrong and I have accepted that I was wrong and now I am in the position to correct it. There is nothing wrong with you admitting that you are wrong. That is one quality of a leader. To be able to identify, when he is wrong. “As the head of a family, you see crisis in your family, you take a decision that will keep that family together. Leadership is all about sacrifice. You put your ego down for the interest of the family. That is leadership. All the leaders, who are here should show good leadership. Like Oshiomhole’s APC, today the country is having leadership problem,” saying the ruling APC was a disaster. Reacting to Wike’s comment about poor leadership of the ruling APC, which he said has drifted the country into chaos, former Edo State Governor and erstwhile national chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole recounted one occasion, at a leadership meeting with PDP leaders and how he was almost prevented from speaking about the rots that characterised the PDP era at the centre. He said in that occasion, “They didn’t want me to talk about the fact that six hundred barrels of crude was stolen every day for two, three, four consecutive weeks. How can 600,000 barrels be stolen everyday and you didn’t want to talk about it? “It was Wike’s PDP that was in charge of the country then. I think if any young man here is in that hall, I do not think anyone of them can be more brutal than we were that day – speaking truth to power even though observers thought we were all in power. But some are more in power than some others.” Oshiomhole, who subtly took a swipe at another former Senate President, Pius Ayim, for allegedly dividing the attention of the audience said, “As you can see, as I am speaking here, the former Senate President (Ayim) has engaged a successor Senate President so that they will not hear what I am going to say”. He disagreed with other speakers, who harped on age as one of the fundamental problems of the country. “One of the points former Senate President made, Senator Saraki is when he talked about character. I think that sometimes we sectionalise and exaggerate the issues. I don’t think Nigeria’s issue is a matter of age. There are competent old men. There are incompetent old men. There are also rascally young boys and incompetent young boys and girls. “Therefore, I agree with you when you said we must speak about character, because we speak about age as if it’s a burden. It’s a stage in life. What is constant, is character. Our problem has to do with value, character and consistence,” he said. Oshiomhole, however, commended Imoke, saying “I want to join everyone to congratulate you for choosing to use your 60th birthday to have a conversation with the very young people and the not-so-young”. In his keynote address, Zimbabwe opposition leader, Chamisa said Nigeria stood on the threshold that could be the transformation in African history. He said young people must be ready to be part of political leadership and the democratic development in their country, adding that it was a crime as youth not to be revolutionist and also a crime not to be actively involved in politics. “The key question affecting Africans today is to ask the leadership questions that are important: how do we move forward? How do we become audacious? What are the roles of audacious young people? How are they able to move the continent forward? How do we build this new Africa? What is it that will make a new Africa new? “What do we do, how do we achieve transformation and modernization? When we talk about audacity, we are talking about willingness to check a series of audacious maneuvers; we talk of a patent of fearlessness, bravery, courage. “That courage, that picture of the future is very important. It will take you where you have to go and it will also make sure that you will never get lost: it is impossible to get lost, when you know, where you are going and it is important to be informed by your past, because your past shapes and informs the future. “But it is also impressive to have very audacious young people with audacious goals from the African continent. Those big audacious goals now on this continent are that we need to make sure that we democratise Africa and after this, the young people of Africa have to agree in governing ourselves and democratise our continent. “We will occupy Africa; we will crash, smash and squash dictatorship on the African continent. We will silence the hun and violence. We will be peace builders, we will end corruption, we will defeat exploitation, we must transform lives, we must build strong institutions, we must make leaders accountable and responsible in society in the nation. In governance, we must fight injustice and the breakdown of the rule of law, we must unite Africa, we will lead the world. Let us be leaders,” he said.

NBBF unimpressed as sports analyst Smith confesses ‘I messed up’ Segun Adewole

The Nigeria Basketball Federation seems unimpressed by the apologies tendered Monday night by American sports television personality, Stephen A Smith. Smith had apologised for his unsavoury comment following the win recorded by the Nigerian Basketball team, D’Tigers, against the United States. D’Tigers won the pre-Olympic exhibition game at Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday [9.30PM Eastern Time; 2.30AM Nigerian Time] with the final score line reading 90-87. Smith, who was displeased by the loss recorded by the US Basketball team, appeared on a TV show where he slammed the American team’s performance. The TV personality stated that it was awkward that his country’s star-studded team lost the basketball game to the Nigerian side with players who are not known. Reacting to his comment, the Nigerian Basketball Federation tweeted, “You can lament your loss without slandering the players who gave blood and sweet [sic] to grind out a win. Put some respect to their names.” His comment also received a backlash from many Nigerians who took to social media to call him out, leading to his apology. In a video tweeted via his verified Twitter handle @stephenasmith, Smith said, “I wanna start the show today the only way it can and should start, with an apology, my sincere apology, to be quite honest with you. “An apology that’s from me, that’s from the heart, not from the network, not from anybody else, just me. “Not something handed down to me to say on the airwaves, because I alone messed up. “I can say that my intentions were good, but as a black man in America, I’ve heard a lot of people say hurtful things about the black community, and they claimed their intentions were good. “I know it doesn’t work like that, and you know I don’t let people get away with that excuse when it’s targeted at black America.” Continuing, he said, “What I spoke about the Nigerian basketball team hurt people. “So, it doesn’t matter what my opinion was or my intentions were. What matters is that I messed up. And I intend to learn and listen to those people in those communities to better understand their perspective on their culture, on language, on marketability, you name it. “I messed up and hurt people with my words. For that, I apologise.” Reacting to the apology, the NBBF tweeted, “Thanks to all Nigerians (home and abroad) and all our friends who stood up to berate @stephenasmith after his unguarded remarks about our team .” Smith is not new to controversies, though, and he seems to thrive on it, as once reported by Chicago Tribune in a 2014 article titled, ‘Despite controversy, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith gets even more work.’ The medium had reported, “Despite being suspended for his comments about domestic violence, you will be able to hear more from Stephen A. Smith, not less. “It was announced this morning that ESPN will produce The Stephen A. Smith Show for SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sport Radio, channel 85. “ And Smith was reported to have expressed utmost excitement, “Words can’t express how excited I am to be going to SiriusXM,” said Smith in a statement. “I’ve waited a long time for this. All I’m going to say is Sept. 2 can’t arrive soon enough. So Buckle Up! Because I’m coming.” Smith reported came under fire for his comments on ‘First Take’ in the wake of the NFL’s ruling on Ray Rice. He appeared to suggest that women could be responsible for provoking men to become violent.” An arbitrator had overturned the National Football League’s indefinite suspension of Ray Rice, a former Baltimore Ravens running back, who knocked out his fiancée in an elevator altercation. As is the case with the D’Tigers, Smith eventually issued an apology on his show in 2014, though ESPN took him off the air for a week then.

COVID-19 Delta variant: Don’t travel for Sallah, NCDC warns Nigerians by Kayode Oyero

As Muslim faithful prepare to mark the 2021 Eid-el-Kabir celebrations next week, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has warned against trips that characterise the period. NCDC Head of Risk Communications Division, Dr Yahya Disu, handed down the warning on Wednesday during Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ breakfast show monitored by The PUNCH. Disu said the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic started in Nigeria because people travelled for Christmas last December. He, therefore, urged Nigerians to avoid unnecessary trips as Sallah celebrations hold next week. The PUNCH had earlier reported that with the detection of the Delta COVID-19 variant in Nigeria, experts warned against a fresh lockdown, stating that imposing a new lockdown would have devastating impacts on the economic. The experts spoke against the background of a third wave of COVID-19 with the steady rise in positive cases in the last one week and the discovery of a new variant of the virus in Nigeria. The deadly Delta variant is recognised by the World Health Organisation as a variant of concern, given its increased transmissibility. Speaking of the third wave, the NCDC official said, “Before now, we knew the third wave was going to be inevitable. Third wave is about having increase in the number of cases. We have had increase and decrease in number of cases before now. So, the third one is starting but what is important is what we are able to do to ensure that we are able to reduce it.” He urged religious leaders to sensitise their followers on the need to strictly observe COVID-19 protocols in order to prevent rise in recorded infections. Disu said, “More importantly, Sallah is coming when people just travel and that makes the risk higher in villages, in different parts of the country. So, we need to warn people: they don’t need to travel if it is not necessary, you can celebrate where you are. During Sallah, we go to mosque in large numbers but this is the time we need to be very cautious. “We are working with the religious organisations. The second wave in Nigeria started because of Christmas, because people travelled for Christmas. So, we can avoid it, we can learn from it. A life that we lost is very important for every one of us, it could be anybody. So, it is not worth it to lose a life because we want to celebrate Sallah or Christmas.” Nigeria has recorded over 168,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 2,100 associated deaths since the index case of the virus was reported in the country in March 2020, according to statistics by NCDC who continues to urge Nigerians to maintain social distancing and hygiene practices as well as use masks in public to prevent transmission of the lethal virus which has been identified to move through droplets.

More suspects arrested over SuperTV boss Ataga’s murder -Police Sodiq Oyeleke

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested more suspects in connection with the murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga. The Lagos Police Commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, made this known during a parade of some suspects at the command headquarters in Ikeja on Wednesday, without giving details. “We have established a case of conspiracy in the murder and we have arrested more suspects,” he said. Ataga, whose wife and children reside in Abuja, was first reported missing by concerned friends and family after all efforts to reach him proved abortive. Later, officers of the Lagos State Police Command found Ataga’s lifeless body in a flat in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos with multiple wounds on June 16. Chidinma, a 300-level student in UNILAG’s Department of Mass Communication, later confessed to stabbing Ataga to death while being paraded at the state police command headquarters, Ikeja, Lagos State on June 24. But in a video that went viral on Monday, the undergraduate denied killing the Super TV CEO – a claim that is contrary to her initial confession. During her parade, 21-year-old Chidinma also confessed to withdrawing N380,000 from the deceased’s account to pay her school fees. The undergraduate also told newsmen in Lagos that she stabbed Super TV CEO Michael Ataga to death in self defence. Why we’ve not taken Super TV CEO’s suspected killer to court – Police The student, who said she was arrested at her residence at Alagomeji, Yaba, said that she met Ataga about four months before the incident. She also corroborated the claim in an exclusive video interview with The PUNCH. Odumosu assured the public that police would not compromise in the case, dismissing claims that one of the arrested suspected, Chidinma Ojukwu, was given a soft-landing. The police boss described the new claims made by Chidinma Ojukwu, the suspected killer of Super TV boss as an “afterthought”. Earlier, the House of Representatives warned that Chidinma Ojukwun must not die in the custody of the Nigeria Police Force. The House, in their resolutions passed by the lawmakers at the plenary on Tuesday, also called on the police to “conduct a proper investigation into the matter and refrain from parading Ms. Chidinma around to grant interviews on the matter under investigation.” The House further called on the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, to “call all police personnel to order and ensure that there is no repeat of this violation of human rights and media access to arrested persons in the future, to avoid compromising the case in a court of law.” In addition, the House said the IGP must ensure that “Ms. Ojukwu (the accused) does not die in custody or commit suicide while awaiting trial as in some past cases.”

What Buhari told senators, Reps at dinner by Sodiq Oyeleke

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has told members of the National Assembly that his regime is ready to use everything within its powers to end insecurity in the country and bring perpetrators of criminal activities to book. The President, spoke on Tuesday at a dinner with members of the National Assembly, held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, according to a statement by his media aide, Femi Adesina. The president was quoted as saying, “insecurity, manifesting as insurgencies, banditry, kidnapping and urban crime of all sorts is the single most difficult challenge we face today.” He expressed concern that insecurity had inhibited government’s ability to build infrastructure, provide the much needed social services to the people, and to attract investments that drive innovation, create industries, and provide jobs and create wealth. ‘‘Some of the people who perpetuate these various manifestations of insecurity do so for profit, others, in the name of discredited ideologies. ‘‘Whatever their motivations may be, their actions are an existential threat to our country. ‘‘In the circumstances, we must do everything within our power, without consideration of distractions, to put an end to their activities and bring them to book. ‘‘We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted from this objective, or waver in our commitment, and I am confident that together we will triumph in our present efforts,’’ he said. Buhari also used the occasion to hail the ninth National Assembly for discharging their legislative duties with maturity and competence, describing the legislature as ‘‘full partners in national development.’’ He particularly commended the minority parties in the legislature for their cooperation and support for Government programmes. ‘‘Our ability to govern in the best interests of the Nigerian people depends to a great deal on effective collaboration and partnership between the Legislature and the Executive. ‘‘The obligation to check and balance each other is not an invitation to conflict, and it should not be characterised by quarrelsome disagreement when consultation, engagements and compromise have proven time and again to be a more effective approach. Read Also ‘‘In the ninth Assembly, you have distinguished yourselves by your conduct in office, by the scale and quality of your legislative interventions, and by your capacity for engaging with the difficult questions facing the country with maturity and competence,’’ he said. The President listed some legislative accomplishments of the ninth assembly ranging from returning of our budget cycle to January to December, the amendment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), the Nigeria Police Act, the Finance Act, the Deep Offshore Production Sharing Contract Act, amongst others. Commending the leadership of the National Assembly under Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila for their dedication through challenging times, the President told the legislators, ‘‘You have also succeeded in overcoming the political and other obstacles that have, for two decades, inhibited the much-needed reforms of our Oil and Gas industry, resulting now in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill. ‘‘I congratulate you all, and thank you for your contributions to the difficult, yet necessary task of nation building.’’ The President noted that the executive and legislature came into office at a time of significant challenges for the country. ‘‘Overcoming these challenges require that we finally confront long ignored questions of economics, politics, law and history that are often at the root of our national problems. ‘‘This moment in history requires us to make hard choices, take difficult decisions and act with diligence and patriotism to ensure that our country can survive and thrive long after we have all left. ‘‘What this means in effect is that our jobs will not get any easier. However, the objectives we seek, and will work together to achieve, deserve our best efforts regardless the sacrifice,’’ he said. As the second legislative year of the 9th Assembly has just come to an end, the President noted that it was appropriate to jointly review shared commitments, to identify what has been achieved, and what is still left undone. ‘‘This way, we can prioritise activities and allocate the resources necessary to ensure that in the lifetime of this Assembly, and of the administration, we can complete the work we have started, and leave behind a record of achievement that will stand all of us in good stead in the assessment of history,’’ he said. The President said he looked forward to continued collaboration and partnership between the Executive and Legislative arms of government, working together to achieve a shared vision of a peaceful and prosperous country.

COVID-19: UNILAG shuts student hostels indefinitely, suspends on-site classes by Sodiq Oyeleke and Grace Edema

The management of the University of Lagos has shut down the student hostels over reported cases of coronavirus on the campus. Also, the management also approved that lectures for the rest of the semester should be delivered virtually with effect from 26th July 2021. The decision was reached at an emergency senate meeting held on Wednesday at the J. F. Ade Ajayi Auditorium. Our correspondent gathered that the students were directed to vacate the halls of residence latest by 12.00 noon on Thursday, July 15, 2021. They were also advised to move all their personal effects at once. A member of the university’s senate confirmed this to The PUNCH, saying, “After getting the report, which I don’t like to discuss with you, we decided that the hostels should be shut down.” As of press time, students are already seen packing their bags to go home. Information from UNILAG Director of Student Affairs titled, ‘Important Notice: Immediate Closure Of Hostels To Check The Spread Of COVID-19 On Campus,’ read, “To check the spread of COVID-19 on campus, the University Senate has directed that all students vacate the halls of residence latest by 12.00 noon on Thursday, July 15, 2021. No access will be granted to any student after 12.00 noon on 15 July. The hostels will be locked indefinitely therefore students are advised to move all their personal effects at once. Lectures for the rest of the semester will be delivered virtually with effect from July 26, 2021.” The PUNCH had reported that there was panic among students and staff of the university over cases of COVID-19 recorded in the institution. The management of the university earlier said its medical centre recorded an increase in the number of patients with COVID-19 symptoms. It also confirmed that the institution is being affected by a potential third wave of coronavirus in a ‘COVID-19 pandemic update’ published on the university’s website on Tuesday. The statement read, “The University of Lagos Medical Centre wishes to inform all members of the University of Lagos Community about what appears to be the start of a potential 3rd wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Lagos State. “The Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-olu, in his press statement issued on July 11, 2021, stated that since the beginning of July there has been a steep increase in the number of daily confirmed cases, with the test positivity rate going from 1.1% at the end of June 2021, to its current rate of 6.6% as at the 8th of July 2021. This is with a concurrent increase in the occupancy rate at Lagos State isolation centres. “The University of Lagos community has also been affected by this potential 3rd wave, with an increase in the number of patients presented to the University of Lagos Medical Centre with flu-like symptoms which are similar to COVID-19. “The Medical Centre hereby assures all members of the University community, that all necessary actions in line with the Federal and Lagos State Government guidelines have been taken regarding this potential threat in our community. “The Medical Centre will also return to providing EMERGENCY ONLY SERVICES during this period, in order to protect all members of the community from potential infection within the facility. The Medical Centre Emergency Contact line: 09095879781 remains open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

FCMB appoints Yemisi Edun as managing director by Nike Popoola

The board of directors of FCMB Group Plc has appointed Yemisi Edun as the managing director of First City Monument Bank Limited. A statement on Tuesday said the announcement was subsequent to the end of service of the bank’s former Managing Director, Adam Nuru. The bank said the board had earlier reviewed media allegations made in late 2020 against the former managing director and did not establish any contravention of its policies. “The board of directors of FCMB thanks Mr Nuru for his years of dedicated service and wishes him all the best in his future endeavour,” the statement said. Read Also FCMB stated that prior to her appointment, Edun was the executive director/chief financial officer of the bank and previously served as the acting managing director. It stated, “With a work experience spanning nearly 35 years, Edun holds a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife and a master’s degree in International Accounting and Finance from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom. “She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and a Certified Financial Analyst, CFA®️ Charter holder.” She is also an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers; an associate member of the Institute of Taxation of Nigeria; a member of Information Systems Audit and Control, U.S.A; and a Certified Information Systems Auditor, the bank said.