Osita Okechukwu: PDP untrustworthy, can’t rescue Nigeria. By: Ayorinde Oluokun

osita-okechukwu VON DG, Osita Okechukwu A chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC and the Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, has faulted claim by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that it will plans to rescue Nigeria from the ruling party. He said that going by the antecedents of the PDP, it cannot be trusted to rescue Nigeria . “How can Nigerians trust our sister political party, the PDP, given their antecedents riddled with trust deficit? We know that times are hard; methinks it’s better to allow APC to fix Nigeria. Where do one start from?,” Okechukwu said. He added: “Let’s start from PDP-In-house, by listening to Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo; “I handed over N11 billion in fixed deposit and N800 million in current account when I left as national chairman after seven months. I don’t see what was done with that money. “Millions were raised to finish our national headquarters; we don’t seem to have a trace of where all that money went. Our headquarters is yet to be completed. Today we don’t even have a party account. We have to get back to strict monitoring of our party accounts. “Our internal audit department needs to be strengthened and supported by the party leadership. Very strict sanctions must be imposed on the mismanagement of party funds. “I suggest that we include inviting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to probe erring officers and members and prosecution of those found culpable. This is the only way to create a deterrent,” Nwodo stated in his presentation.” Going further Okechukwu recalled how Kassim Afegbua alerted the EFCC of the monumental corruption in PDP. He said that PDP’s planlessness and squander mania were uncountable. “Can we forget the squandermania of 23 billion dollars Greenfield Refineries – one meant for Lagos, one for KOGI and one for Bayelsa? A golden opportunity cost to our economy. “Recall that on March 19, 2015, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) queried Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, then Minister of Finance thus, “May we under the Freedom of Information Act 2011, request for the full disclosure of transactions concerning the three Greenfield refineries and petrochemical plant contract awarded on May 13, 2010 by President Goodluck Jonathan to Chinese State Construction and Engineering Corporation Limited (CSCEC), at 23 billion dollars meant to be located at Bayelsa, Kogi and Lagos States.” “Secondly, why are they dead on arrival as six years down the line, neither the three Greenfield refineries nor petrochemical plant is under construction. The three Greenfield refineries one understands, on completion were to add 750,000 barrels per day capacity to Nigeria’s refining infrastructure and create over a million jobs. “The Greenfield Refineries fiasco happened when our Excess Crude Account had over 40 billion dollars the China State Construction Corporation even upped their equity to 80 per cent. The unfortunate outcome is that 15 billion dollars is fleeced off our national treasury annually for the importation of refined petroleum products for over a decade.” Asked why APC didn’t embark on the Greenfield Refinery in the last six years, Okechukwu answered that from all indications the company was frustrated by the PDP and we were excited by Dangote Refinery.(NAN)

The Investigation Of Tinubu By EFCC Should Serve As A Stern Warning To Other Politicians

The chairman of the Economic Financial Crime Commission has revealed to the public that Bola Ahmed Tinubu is currently under investigation by the Commission. This announcement by EFCC has generated a lot of mixed reactions from Nigerians. However, the basic idea of this announcement is solely to send a strong message to any politician who is intending to embezzle funds that are meant for the development of the country. The current administration running the affairs of EFCC has taken it upon itself to penalise and go after corrupt politicians who are bent on ruining the country with their embezzlement and greediness. Tinubu being investigated by EFCC will serve as a stern warning to others that they are not above investigation. Most Nigerians know how politically powerful Tinubu is, given that Tinubu is also the National leader of the All Progressive Congress. However, the supremacy of the law has brought him under the EFCC to be investigated. Sadly, most of the Nigerian politicians are only after their selfish interest, hence, public funds that are meant in developing the country is being embezzled by these greedy politicians. The only way to curtail the excesses of these greedy politicians is by going after them with the law and this is what the current EFCC administration is doing. This current EFCC administration, no matter who you're in the Nigerian politics if you are under their radar for any slight misappropriation of funds or corruption you will be invited over for investigation. If the EFCC continue this way, surely, the level of corruption by Nigerian politicians will reduce drastically because these greedy politicians will have it in mind that once they are caught misappropriating funds that are meant to develop the country, they will face the full wrath of the law. The extravagances of some of our politicians are what has brought our dear country to this state of pity where the average Nigerian can barely have 3 Square meal in a day. The money that is meant for the average Nigerian is being embezzled by some greedy politicians. Therefore, it is very commendable that the EFCC will go after any politician no matter how politically powerful that politician is. This will go a long way to serve as a stern warning to other politicians that they are not above the law and if they are caught misappropriating funds they will be dealt with according

Bola Tinubu 49 page $460k Forfeiture For Laundering & Heroin - Naija247news

Snippets of the case and subsequent judgement are presented below. The complete document (VERY LARGE pdf file – 4mb) can be downloaded at the end of this report. The United States of America, by its attorney, Michael J. Shepard, United States Attorney for Northern District of Illinois, for its verified complaint of forfeiture, states as follows: This is a FORFEITURE action under 21 U.S.C , ss88 and 18, ss 981….. The DEFENDANT funds are located in the above-described accounts and were SEIZED pursuant to PROCESS ISSUED BY THIS COURT…. … 4…. beginning as early as 1988, Adegboyega Mueez Akande, WITH OTHERS OPERATED a organiszation (sic) which DISTRIBUTED WHITE HEROIN, a controlled substance under Title 21 of the United States Code. 5…. this DISTRIBUTION OPERATION was conducted on a LARGE SCALE and the PROCEEDS of the operation SUBSTANTIAL. The defendant funds represent proceeds of this OPERATION of property involved in MONEY LAUNDERING. 6…. the defendant funds represent proceeds of NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING … and … MONEY LAUNDERING….. the funds are therefore FOREFEITABLE to the United States…. JUDGEMENT: j… Neither a claim nor answer has been filed on behalf of the defendant funds …. accordingly, it hereby ORDERED that the funds in the AMOUNT of $460,000 in account…. in the name of BOLA TINUBU represents proceeds of NARCOTICS or were involved in financial transactions in violation of 18 U.S.C ss 1956 and 1957 and therefore these funds are forfeit to the United States….. Revealed: U.S Federal Agents Link Bola Tinubu to drug Trafficking Ring in Chicago Facts have emerged that the erstwhile Governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu may have been involved in a white heroin trafficking network which operated in Chicago and some parts of Indiana and led by one Adegboyega Mueez Akande between 1988 and 1993. The source of the white heroine was identified as one Mr. Lee Andrew Edwards who was incarcerated for attempting to murder a federal agent while the agent was executing a search warrant on him. According to the Verified Complaint for forfeiture in case No. 93 C 4483 which was filed on July 26, 1993 before the Hon. Judge Nordberg of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the United States Government urged the Court to order the forfeiture of funds in accounts Nos. 263226700 held by First Heritage Bank in the name of Bola Tinubu, funds in accounts 39483134, 39483396, 4650279566, 00400220, 39936404 and 39936383 held by Citibank N.A in the name of Bola Tinubu and funds in accounts 52050-89451952,52050-89451952, 52050-89451953 held by Citibank in the name of Bola Tinubu because there was probable cause to believe that the funds in Tinubu’s bank accounts represented proceeds of narcotics trafficking or were monies involved in financial transactions in violations of 18 U.S.C, sections 1956 and 1957 and therefore, was forfeitable to the U.S Government. However, in a tacit defense of the ownership of the funds, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu averred in Court that the funds belonged to himself, his wife, K.O Tinubu and his surrogate mother, Alhaja Mogaji and warranted that they had exclusive right, title and interest to the funds. In an affidavit sworn to by Kevin Moss, a Special Agent with the United States Internal Revenue Service, criminal investigation division in support of the verified complaint for forfeiture of Bola Tinubu’s moneys held in various Bank accounts, the agent gave a vivid account of how he came to the conclusion that the funds were proceeds of narcotics transaction in violation of the U.S law. Mr. Moss averred that prior to and during 1988; the government became involved in the investigation of a white heroin trafficking network operating in Chicago, Illinois and Hammond, Indiana. The investigation disclosed that an individual known as Lee Andrew Edwards was a source of white heroin. The government sources provided information about Lee Andrew Edwards including the identity of a telephone number which activated in electronic pager. This pager according to him was to be called to place an order for white heroin. According to Mr. Moss, this pager was subscribed to by one Adegboyega Mueez Akande who at that time was a resident of Chicago. Mr. Moss further averred that during February 1988, an individual named Abiodun Agbele arrived in the U.S from Nigeria and during investigation by the government, Agbele disclosed that Akande was his uncle who provided him an apartment in Hammond, Indiana. According to Agbele, Mr. Akande returned to Nigeria in1990; however, before he left, he instructed Agbale to serve as a source of white heroin for Mr. Lee Andrew Edwards as a result of which Agbele sold white heroin for Lee Andrew Edwards on numerous occasions. Following a tip off, Agbele sold one ounce of white heroin to a law enforcement agent undercover on November 28, 1990 for $7,000 and was subsequently arrested. After his arrest, Agbele agreed to cooperate with the law enforcement agents regarding the white heroin distribution and network of Akande. According to Agbele, Akande controlled the operation of white heroin from Nigeria in conjunction with other individuals in Nigeria and the U.S. One other individual who worked with Akande according to the affidavit was identified as Bola Tinubu who later became the governor of Lagos state from 1999 to 2007. The investigation also revealed that in December 1989, Akande took Bola Tinubu to First Heritage bank where Bola Tinubu opened an individual money market. In the account opening application, Tinubu, gave his address as 7504 South Stewart, Chicago, the same address used previously by Akande and his company, Globe-Link. This is the same address used as the drop-off point for packages from Nigeria that contained the white heroin. According to bank records, Bola Tinubu also opened a joint checking account in his name and the name of his wife, Oluremi Tinubu. Mrs. Tinubu had previously opened a joint Bank account also in the same bank with Abdrey Akande, the wife of the heroin kingpin, Adegboyega Mueez Akande. Upon opening the account, Tinubu deposited the sum of $1,000 in traveler’s check. However, five days after opening the account, specifically, on January 4, 1990, Tinubu deposited the sum of $80,000 into the account. According to the federal agent, in a credit application dated January 6, 1990, Bola Tinubu disclosed that he resided at 7504 South Stewart and that Mueez A. Akande was his cousin. Tinubu further stated that he was an employee of Mobil Oil Nigeria Limited, Fairfax, Virginia and his take home pay was $2,400 per month. Additionally, Tinubu stated on the application that he had no other sources of income and listed his wife, Oluremi Tinubu as co-applicant for the application for automobile loan. The loan was secured with the certificate of deposit in the amount of $10,000 which Tinubu had purchased with a withdrawal from the $80,000 deposit in his checking account. According to the federal agent, Bank records from First heritage Bank disclosed that in 1990 alone, Bola Tinubu deposited $661,000 into his individual money market account and in 1993; he deposited the sum of $1,216,500 into the same money market account. The agent further avers that in 1991, Tinubu began opening accounts at Citibank in the section known as the world-wide personal banking unit where he transferred the sum of $560,000 from his money market account at the First Heritage Bank. This development prompted the Federal agents to interview representatives from Mobil Oil regarding Tinubu’s employment status and his take-home pay. The Mobil Oil representatives confirmed to the investigators that Tinubu was employed by the Mobil Oil as a treasurer. Mobil Oil further told the federal agents that this position did not involve the transfer of large amounts of money between banking institutions. Mobil oil representatives also stated that under no circumstance would Tinubu be permitted to retain money belonging to Mobil Oil in accounts bearing Tinubu’s name. Finally, Mobil Oil confirmed that the corporation never had any accounts in banks in the southern suburbs of Chicago. On January 10, 1992, the federal agents obtained a court Order freezing Tinubu’s accounts at First Heritage Bank and Citibank respectively. Thereafter, Tinubu contacted the First Heritage Bank to transfer money from his accounts and was advised that the accounts had been seized by the U.S Treasury. On January 13, 1992, Mr. Moss, the Federal agent contacted Bola Tinubu in Nigeria by phone using a number provided to the First Heritage Bank by Tinubu himself. Mr. Moss averred that during the course of the interview, Bola Tinubu confirmed that he knew Mueez Adegboyega Akande. Tinubu further admitted during the interview with the federal agent that he had wire transferred $100,000 to Akande’s bank account in Houston and that the $80,000.00 of the funds used to open the account at First Heritage Bank had come from Akande. Tinubu further admitted that he had other accounts in Fairfax, Virginia and London. Concluding his affidavit evidence, Mr. Moss stated that with all these evidence, there was probable cause to believe that the funds in the accounts held by First Heritage Bank and Citibank, N.A in the name of Bola Tinubu represented property that was involved in narcotics transaction in violation of the U.S law. He therefore, urged the Court to issue an order of forfeiture of the funds. After a protracted litigation in which Bola Tinubu claimed that the monies legitimately belonged to him, his wife, Oluremi Tinubu and his surrogate mother, one Alhaja Mogaji, Bola Tinubu finally opted for a stipulated settlement with the U.S government. According to the settlement Order dated September 15, 1993; Hon. Judge John A Nordberg ordered that the sum of $460,000 held by Bola Tinubu in The First Heritage Bank account be forfeited to the United States Government. The Court also ordered the release of the funds held in the Citibank account and any money held in excess of $460,000 at the First Heritage account to Bola Tinubu in line with the agreement and stipulation reached by Tinubu with the federal agents. Ironically, this case came up at the peak of the struggle against the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election by the Gen. Babagida-led military junta during which time Tinubu as a member and one of the leading financiers of the National democratic Coalition (NADECO) made several “pro-democracy” trips to the U.S ostensibly to press for U.S sanctions against the Nigerian junta. It is, therefore, doubtful whether most of those trips were actually connected with the June 12, struggle after all.

For the MFA, Benin Bronzes are a troubling gift Can a stolen object ever be ethically owned? By Malcolm Gay Globe Staff

Amid growing calls for restitution, museums mull consequences of keeping precious artifacts looted during a colonial era. Portuguese Soldier from the 16th century in the Benin Kingdom Gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts. The museum must decide what to do with this collection, which was looted by British troops during a 19th century military expedition. Portuguese Soldier from the 16th century in the Benin Kingdom Gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts. The museum must decide what to do with this collection, which was looted by British troops during a 19th century military expedition.LANE TURNER/GLOBE STAFF In 2012, the Museum of Fine Arts received what seemed like an unimaginable promised gift: a trove of centuries-old masterworks from the Benin kingdom, located in present-day Nigeria. The gift was not without its complications. Many of the 32 works, known as Benin Bronzes, had been among the estimated thousands forcibly seized by the British in 1897, when troops captured Benin City and ransacked the royal palace. The precious loot would be parceled out over time and scattered to various museums and private troves. More than a century later, intact collections of the Bronzes were not only rare, they were also controversial. But former MFA director Malcolm Rogers was determined to secure the collection for Boston, where the museum had only begun assembling its modest African holdings in 1991. “This is the transformation of our collection,” Rogers said at the time. “It’s some of the greatest art ever produced in Africa.” Today, the MFA finds itself at a crossroads as Bronzes around the world have become a central focus in the ongoing struggle over artifacts looted during that colonial era. The debate has intensified in recent months with a number of European museums moving to return the objects amid intensifying calls for restitution. European museums have moved more quickly in part because they are state-run, said MFA director Matthew Teitelbaum. “There’s reparations happening at the government level,” he said, noting some European governments were involved “in acts of looting themselves.” “American institutions have acquired their Benin collections in transactions in the marketplace.” But that doesn’t change how the Bronzes left Africa to begin with, said Dan Hicks, a professor of contemporary archeology at the University of Oxford. “The question for American institutions is: How many times does a stolen African object have to change hands between Europeans and Americans until it’s no longer stolen?” said Hicks, who is also a curator at Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum. “This is a conversation for Boston.” As a measure of the MFA’s evolving response, the museum told the Globe in July it planned to move forward and accept the promised gift: To date, the museum owns five of the 32 Bronzes on display in its dedicated Benin Kingdom Gallery. The donor, banking scion Robert Owen Lehman, owns the other 27, which he plans to transfer to the museum in the coming years. After the Globe began asking questions about the collection, the museum shifted course, saying it was temporarily “pausing converting promised gifts to outright gifts.” “It’s not the right time to start bringing things into the collection,” said Teitelbaum. “At the same time, we certainly don’t think we should encourage the return of the objects to the donor.” * * * For centuries, the kingdom of Benin — not to be confused with the country of Benin, which borders Nigeria — was a major power in West Africa, where it derived a portion of its wealth from European trade in pepper, palm oil, and, at one point, enslaved people. But by January 1897, tensions were high when a trade dispute prompted James Phillips, an official with England’s Niger Coast Protectorate, to defy the wishes of the oba, or king, and travel as an envoy to Benin City. An attack party ambushed Phillips’s group, killing seven British officials including Phillips along with an estimated 200 or more African carriers. The attack inflamed colonial passions, and within weeks the British had launched a so-called punitive expedition, described by newspapers at the time as a “little war” to avenge the attack and “thrash the bloodthirsty savages.” Traveling by foot and by boat, a large contingent of soldiers made their way inland that February, killing untold numbers as they machine-gunned their way toward the capital, ultimately capturing Benin City and ransacking the royal palace. “They’re making these very precise inland attacks from the ships and then retreating back,” said Hicks, author of “The Brutish Museums,” which reexamines the attack and the role museums played in the colonial enterprise. “Of course, that’s how you’re able to ship the cargo out. That’s how you can do so much looting.” British soldiers surrounded by loot plundered from the royal palace during the 1897 expedition. The objects can now be found in an estimated 160 museums the world over. British soldiers surrounded by loot plundered from the royal palace during the 1897 expedition. The objects can now be found in an estimated 160 museums the world over. © THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM No one knows for certain how many objects the British plundered. It’s believed there are more than 3,000 Benin artifacts, though some estimate the real figure is closer to 10,000. The Benin Bronzes — a catch-all term that includes cast metal heads, figures, and relief plaques as well as other materials such as carved ivory and wood that date from at least the 16th century onward — played an integral role in the life of the kingdom, commemorating past rulers and offering an idealized history of dynastic life. In London, their beauty and technical bravura were recognized almost instantly. One museum curator hailed them as a “new ‘Codex Africanus,’ not written on fragile papyrus but in ivory and imperishable brass”; his European counterpart compared them favorably to the work of renaissance sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. Some of the choicest works, including a pair of ivory leopards, went to Queen Victoria. The British Museum now has more than 900 objects, including many plaques that once ornamented the palace. Some of the works were sold by dealers; others were retained by expedition members as spoils of war. Many more were dispersed around the world. Today, Hicks estimates that more than 160 institutions possess items from the raid, including American museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Chicago’s Field Museum, and Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Precious few of the Bronzes, however, are in Nigeria. “When you ask questions, they tell you, ‘Oh, you can come see it in our museum, we have kept it well,’” said Victor Ehikhamenor, an artist who has long advocated the Bronzes’ return. “At some point, humanity has to prevail.” * * * Lehman, who declined an interview request through a museum spokesperson, assembled his collection over the course of decades, often purchasing from dealers. And while the MFA declined to estimate the collection’s overall value, individual Bronzes can fetch millions even as their sale stirs outrage: Just two years before Lehman’s promised gift, Sotheby’s withdrew an ivory mask estimated at $7 million after the Nigerians denounced the sale. In Boston, it took less than a month after the announcement of Lehman’s gift for Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments to cry foul, sending a letter in July 2012 demanding the MFA “return these works to their home.” But former director Rogers held firm. Mounted ruler (so-called Horseman) from the 16th century. The work is one of thousands taken by British forces during the 1897 attack. It is now on display at the MFA as part of a promised gift from Robert Owen Lehman. Mounted ruler (so-called Horseman) from the 16th century. The work is one of thousands taken by British forces during the 1897 attack. It is now on display at the MFA as part of a promised gift from Robert Owen Lehman. LANE TURNER/GLOBE STAFF “We have every right in the world to own these beautiful pieces and make them available for the world public,” he told the Globe at the time. “It’s one of the most special things that museums do. We move objects into the public domain.” The commission’s director-general, Yusuf Abdallah Usman, fired back: “If these works of art . . . are so wonderful to move into the public domain in the US, would it not be more appropriate if they are first returned to their home?” he told The Art Newspaper. “We demand the return of these looted works.” Oba Erediauwa, whom Rogers approached separately, eventually sanctioned the display, sending a delegation to attend the 2013 gallery opening. The oba, who died in 2016, also instructed Bostonians from Nigeria’s Edo State, whose capital is Benin City, to work with the museum to help interpret the works. “He did not make a statement about long-term ownership issues,” Teitelbaum said. “But he did express pleasure that there was going to be this platform for understanding what these objects meant.” Rogers, who retired from the MFA in 2015, declined an interview request. In the years since, the MFA has continued to engage the Edo diaspora, with free museum admission, youth symposia, family events, and language lessons. Teitelbaum added that there’s a strong argument for exhibiting the works at the MFA, which normally hosts around 1.2 million visitors annually. “There is real value in the representation of culture in international museums like the MFA,” said Teitelbaum. “There’s real value in having those objects here for teaching, and for helping push museums to be more transparent and accountable.” To that end, the museum was among the first to explicitly describe the forceful removal of the Bronzes in its gallery labels, a practice since replicated by other institutions. “The recognition of that history is in itself progress,” said Chika Okeke-Agulu, who directs the African studies program at Princeton University. Even so, he said, “those objects belong to Nigeria.” * * * A growing number of European institutions have reached the same conclusion. Germany, whose combined state museums house roughly 1,100 Bronzes, signed a preliminary agreement with Nigeria last month paving the way to return a substantial number of Bronzes beginning next year. Barbara Plankensteiner, director of Hamburg’s Museum am Rothenbaum, called the decision “a moral obligation.” Several British institutions have also initiated returns. In late October, Jesus College at the University of Cambridge returned a bronze cockerel; the next day, the University of Aberdeen in Scotland returned a commemorative bronze head of an oba that it purchased in the 1950s. Master of Jesus College Sonita Alleyne (left) and Abba Isa Tijani, director general of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments, spoke before a transfer ceremony for the looted bronze cockerel, known as the Okukur, to Nigeria. Master of Jesus College Sonita Alleyne (left) and Abba Isa Tijani, director general of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments, spoke before a transfer ceremony for the looted bronze cockerel, known as the Okukur, to Nigeria. JOE GIDDENS/ASSOCIATED PRESS In a statement before the transfer ceremony at Aberdeen, Oba Ewuare II said he hoped other institutions would take note and “see the injustice when they insist on holding on to items,” adding, the “return of stolen art is the right thing to do.” Meanwhile, Abba Isa Tijani, director general of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, said in a statement at Jesus College that “we would like other museums and institutions across the world to take this opportunity and follow suit.” The returns follow years of work by the Benin Dialogue Group, an international consortium of European museum heads and Nigerian leaders that has been discussing the Bronzes for more than a decade. They also coincide with plans to build the Edo Museum of West African Art, which is being designed by the Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye to display Bronzes and other works. Restitution efforts are slowly gaining momentum in the United States, where a few museums have approached Nigerian officials about returning the objects. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art announced earlier this month it had identified 16 pilfered Bronzes in its collection that the museum would seek to return. “It’s clear the objects were looted,” director Ngaire Blankenberg told the Globe before the announcement. “They were stolen.” Ehikhamenor, who is also a member of the nonprofit trust that is spearheading the new museum, attributed the restitution movement’s current strength in part to a groundbreaking 2018 report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron that urged the permanent return of objects looted from Africa. “He really set fire at a lot of institutions,” said Ehikhamenor. “Other presidents have no choice but to listen. Other institutions now know that they really don’t have any more moral ground to stand on.” * * * The MFA, which has grown in recent years to become a leader in restitution matters, garnered praise in 2014 when it returned eight items to Nigeria that were likely trafficked in the preceding decades. Kathryn Wysocki Gunsch, the museum’s chair and curator of African and Oceanic art, emphasized that the Lehman collection places the museum in an unusual position: Although all 32 Bronzes are promised to the MFA, the collector still owns most of the works on display. “This sounds duplicitous, but it is something seriously to consider: You can only return something if you own it,” said Gunsch, who specializes in the art of the Benin kingdom. “And you can only return something once.” Gunsch, who is also the MFA’s director of collections, added that despite Usman’s 2012 demand, it remains unclear who has proper standing to make a restitution claim: Is it the oba? Edo State? Or is it Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments? “It is not for art museums to adjudicate which claimant is the right claimant” said Gunsch, who added there has been recent division among the parties. “You have to wait and see how it sorts out. That’s true anytime there’s a claim for our works.” Enotie Ogbebor, an artist and authority on the Bronzes, bristled at the notion that the Nigerians lack a proper claimant, noting the MFA’s European counterparts have proceeded with restitutions. “All other issues about ownership are issues that will be resolved internally,” said Ogbebor. “You cannot pretend to be an ostrich.” So far, the Nigerians haven’t submitted a renewed claim to the MFA. Teitelbaum said that while the museum has been in contact with “a number of interested parties,” he has not had direct contact with Oba Ewuare II. He added that whatever the museum ultimately decides, the process should be transparent. This decision ”will come out of conversations with representatives in Nigeria and in the palace,” he said, noting that “you want to track how the issue moves. . . . Having an active dialogue helps us understand when that tipping point moves, and if it does, we will do the right thing.” In the meantime, Ehikhamenor said, he’s hopeful more Bronzes will return to Nigeria. “The children of the colonized are getting a bit wiser,” he said, noting that Nigeria didn’t gain independence until 1960. “The entanglements of colonialism took hundreds of years — to begin to unwind that is not going to be an overnight thing.”

Nigerian gang forcing women into prostitution busted in Italy.Agency Report

Map of Italy Italian authorities said the criminal network forced 41 Nigerian women into prostitution while nine were forced to beg for money on the streets. The exploitation stretched outside Italy into Germany and Libya, according to dw.com The gang lured dozens of Nigerian women to Italy where it then forced them into prostitution and kept them in a cycle of ‘physical-psychological coercion’ Italian police on Monday announced that they had broken up a Nigerian crime ring operating across the country with the arrest of some 40 suspects. The suspects have been charged with money laundering, facilitating illegal immigration, human trafficking, forced prostitution and slavery, according to a police statement. Authorities say the network was active in Cagliari, Sardinia; Turin in Piedmont; and Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region. Beyond Italy, the network stretched from Nigeria via Libya and up to Germany as well. Police say dozens of other individuals are currently under investigation. Police said the people arrested Monday had been responsible for the fates of 41 women who were forced into prostitution and nine more who were forced into begging. According to investigators, the gang managed to move nearly €11.4 million ($12.5 million) in prostitution, money laundering and begging profits to Nigeria. They did so by using an informal Hawala system that moves money across international borders outside the formal banking system. Police say the group used 11 teams of cash couriers — hiding cash inside retractable luggage handles or pasta packages to elude searches at Italy’s airports. The men arrested Monday were said to have lured young Nigerian women to Europe with the prospect of working in Italy and the payment of their travel costs. Upon arrival the women were psychologically abused and even subjected to “macabre voodoo rituals,” designed to keep them from contacting Italian authorities for help and making them fear harm to their families back home should they fail to repay their expenses or disobey their handlers. Authorities were tipped off by a Nigerian woman who sounded the alarm — saying the women incurred debts as high as €50,000 to be brought illegally to Italy, where they were then forced into prostitution to pay off the debt. Measures taken by judicial authorities in Italy ended up helping the victims break “the ties of physical-psychological coercion which kept them bound” to the criminal network. While sex work is legal in Italy, exploiting prostitutes is a crime.

Will Tinubu Be President? by Wole Olaoye

Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a redoubtable politician and one of the most dexterous political acrobats in the circus called Nigerian politics. Like him or loathe him, you deceive yourself if you say he is not consequential in determining who becomes Nigeria’s next president in 2023. Right now, Tinubu is one of the issues in Nigerian politics. For good or for ill, depending on which side of the political aisle you are entrenched in, Tinubu, the Jagaban of Borgu and Asiwaju of Lagos, is one of those who will determine who becomes Nigeria’s next leader. And that is putting the matter coyly because the word on the streets is that, this time around, the kingmaker wants to wear the crown himself. How feasible is a Tinubu presidential project? I am not one to dismiss it with a wave of the hand because in Nigeria, even a rookie analyst knows that the first law in Prediction 101 is “Never say never”. To my knowledge, Nigeria is the only country where reluctant candidates are foisted on the people, plucked from either retirement, anonymity or other pursuits and planted in the state house to run the show in accordance with the expectations of those who propped him up. In 1978, Shehu Shagari wanted to be a senator. Indeed, we all thought the NPN presidential ticket would go to Maitama Sule, but the godfathers of the party drafted Shagari to contest the presidency. He became president after the 1979 presidential elections, albeit a reluctant one. He was a good man, incorruptible, but incapable of reining in the vultures surrounding him. Twenty years later, Olusegun Obasanjo was fervently praying that the death sentence passed on him by Abacha’s kangaroo tribunal would not be carried out. Then Fate intervened. Abacha died. The succeeding military government plucked Obasanjo from jail, tidied him up and catapulted him to the presidency in 1999. He was a competent president in many respects, but an authoritarian one; certainly not a democrat. In 2007 a retreating Obasanjo instructed all other contestants for the PDP presidential ticket to step down for Umaru Yar’ Adua and even foisted Goodluck Jonathan on him as running mate. When President Yar’Adua died in office, Jonathan (former deputy governor who unexpectedly became the governor when his boss was impeached in bizarre circumstances) found himself taking the oath of office as president and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. He completed Yar’Adua’s first term and won another four years in his own right. The most charitable thing one can say about the shy, good-hearted zoologist is that he wasn’t the best president Nigeria ever had. Apparently, governing Nigeria demands more than a good heart. Between 2012 and 2013, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, having done a strategic calculation of how the incumbent President Jonathan could be defeated, approached Muhammadu Buhari, a serial loser in past presidential contests, and offered him the presidential ticket based on a merger of parties and pinching of identified heavyweights from PDP. Buhari’s party CPC, was controlling only Nasarawa State while Tinubu’s ACN had six governors, six state legislatures, etc. The attraction for Tinubu was Buhari’s cult following by northern voters who consistently gave him about 12 million votes. The added forces from ACN, ANPP, a faction of APGA and the breakaway faction of the PDP which called itself the New PDP teamed up with Buhari’s CPC to clinch victory — and Nigeria has never been the same since. Now , we are on the march again. A group of Tinubu’s admirers led by Senator Dayo Adeyeye have launched a pro-Tinubu group, South West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA), calling on their mentor to declare his interest in the 2023 presidential race. If you understand the lingo of Nigerian politics, this is one place where politicians routinely organise huge rallies of endorsement which they themselves had bankrolled. The fact that a man with boiling ambition has to be ‘begged’ to declare interest in a public office is a uniquely Nigerian art form. But will Tinubu be president? One cannot dismiss the amount of legwork that has been done to realise the Tinubu-for-president project. SWAGA gives you one of the ‘official’ reasons why Tinubu ought to succeed Buhari: “It is indeed payback time for our national leader, who had through his years of service contributed to the lives of many others and today you can see his footprints across the country… We shall continue to appeal to him to contest for the position of the President… We need viable, experienced and a man (sic) who understands the diverse nature of Nigerian economy.” Tinubu’s foot-soldiers have gone round the six zones of Nigeria. In the North, they have not been as loud as SWAGA, but their conspiratorial style has been quite effective. The payback referred to by SWAGA strikes a tune with some northern leaders who feel that Tinubu should be rewarded for his role in making Buhari president. But there are two other discernible groups that don’t want Tinubu. There is suspicion that Nasir el Rufa’i, Governor of Kaduna State, would prefer a younger person to Tinubu. If you put your ears to the ground, you’ll hear rumours of alliances between el Rufa’i and some southern politicians, notably Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi. The other group deserving of mention is the Progressive Consolidation Group (PCG), a group backing Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. The group was the first to receive official recognition as a support group of APC from the Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Committee of the party. According to its leader, Bala Gide, “We deeply appreciate the widening mobilisation and deepening support that PCG and all associated groups working towards an Osinbajo presidency, all our grassroots and national leaders, as well as current governors, federal and state lawmakers along with various labour and professional groups will have further significant roles to play post-2023”. The die is cast. In APC, it will be a straight contest between Tinubu, Osinbajo and a dark horse that may strut into the race course propelled by conspiratorial elements. Given the weaponisation of religion in the country today, the feat achieved by the historic duo of MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe in 1993 with a Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket is inconceivable today. Therefore the following conclusion is inescapable to the dispassionate analyst: If Tinubu is paired with a fellow muslim, Christians in the country will vote for the opposing party If Tinubu is paired with a Christian from the North, Muslims in the North will not vote for the ticket because they would consider that combination as shutting them out of the power equation. The fact that Tinubu’s wife is a Christian will not have any effect on the equation. If the PDP fields Atiku Abubakar who is probably their best bet in combination with a strong running mate (I’ve heard Nyesom Wike’s name flung around) and if they are contending against a Tinubu/Christian running mate ticket, northern muslims are likely to vote for Atiku massively. To have a chance of retaining power, a pairing of Osinbajo with a Muslim running mate from the North, appears to be APC’s best bet, especially if he secures the full blessing of his boss, Buhari, and his godfather, the Jagaban himself. Osinbajo doesn’t excite serious negative passions in the Southeast and South-south, or any other zone of the country. If President Buhari stands aloof, he may be the first and last president from the APC stable. If Tinubu insists on self above party, the house that those legacy parties built together will collapse on their collective heads. If PDP play their cards right, all they have to do is wait under the mango tree and pray for APC to violently shake it from the top. All that PDP would then have to do is simply bend down and pick the mango. Leadership

APC to hold National Convention February 5, Presidential primaries third quarter of 2022 Businessday

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said its National Convention will now hold on February 5, 2022. BusinessDay also gathered that the ruling party may retain the Caretaker Committee to conduct the presidential primaries in the third quarter of 2022. Some of the chieftains within the Caretaker Committe are said to be lobbying to retain positions ahead of primaries. “I can confirm to you that the National Convention of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), will hold on February 5, 2022 where a new Exco will be elected,” a chieftain of the party said on condition of anonymity. APC members also disclosed that President MuhammaduBuhari had wanted the convention to hold on Decenber 28, 2022, but was persuaded by APC governors to yield to February 5, 2022 date. It had earlier been reported that top leaders of APC had earlier agreed to hold the convention on any of the weekends between the first and third week of February 2022. It was also gathered that APC had decided to zone its presidential candidacy to Southern Nigeria. President Buhari is from Katsina State, North West Nigeria. “The President wants the convention done as soon as possible. February 5, 2022 is the date marked for the APC Convention,” Chieftain of party added.