JUST IN: Court issues warrant of arrest for ex-Minister Diezani by Abiolapaul

JUST IN: Court issues warrant of arrest for ex-Minister Diezani Posted by Abiolapaul on January 24, 2022 at 5:25pm 10038676469?profile=RESIZE_584x

A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an arrest warrant against former Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke. The Presiding Judge Bolaji Olajuwon made the order on Monday following an oral application made by Farouk Abdullah, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). EFCC said its investigations revealed that the ex-Minister who is facing several money-laundering allegations, has remained in her hideout in the UK and refused to return to the country to enter her plea to charges against her. Abdullah told the court that all efforts by the agency to get the ex-Minister extradited proved abortive. He stressed that the warrant would enable the EFCC to persuade the International Police (INTERPOL) to arrest Diezani and also help the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to facilitate her extradition. “We urge my lord to issue an arrest warrant against Alison-Madueke, who is believed to be in the UK to enable all law enforcement agencies and the INTERPOL to arrest her anywhere she is sighted and be brought before this court to answer to the allegation made against her,” EFCC’s lawyer added. EFCC anchored the application on section 83(1b) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015. After he had listened to the application, Justice Olajuwon granted it as prayed, even as he adjourned the case sine die (indefinitely) to await the arrest and extradition of the Defendant. EFCC had told the court that investigations revealed that the former Petroleum Minister was not only deeply involved in money laundering but equally played key roles in other financial crimes. It decried that since the ex-Minister fled the country immediately after she exited the office, it has been difficult to get her back to respond to different criminal allegations against her. In one of the documents it filed before the court, EFCC said Diezani was among other things, wanted over the alleged role she played in the award of Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) to; Septa Energy Limited, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited and Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited by NNPC. As well as to answer questions on her role in the chartering of private jets by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and Ministry of Petroleum Resources and her role in the award of contracts by NNPC to Marine and Logistics Services Limited. Besides, the agency said it was investigating the nature of business relationships the former Minister had with some persons. It listed some of Diezani’s alleged allies under investigation as Mr Donald Amamgbo, Mr. lgho Sanomi, Mr Afam Nwokedi, Chief lkpea Leemon, Miss Olatimbo Bukola Ayinde, Mr Benedict Peters, Christopher Aire, Harcourt Adukeh, Julian Osula, Dauda Lawal, Nnamdi Okonkwo, Mr Leno Laithan, Sahara Energy Group and Midwestern Oil Limited. JUST IN: Court issues warrant of arrest for ex-Minister Diezani A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an arrest warrant against former Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke. The Presiding Judge Bolaji Olajuwon made the order on Monday following an oral application made by Farouk Abdullah, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). EFCC said its investigations revealed that the ex-Minister who is facing several money-laundering allegations, has remained in her hideout in the UK and refused to return to the country to enter her plea to charges against her. Abdullah told the court that all efforts by the agency to get the ex-Minister extradited proved abortive. He stressed that the warrant would enable the EFCC to persuade the International Police (INTERPOL) to arrest Diezani and also help the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to facilitate her extradition. “We urge my lord to issue an arrest warrant against Alison-Madueke, who is believed to be in the UK to enable all law enforcement agencies and the INTERPOL to arrest her anywhere she is sighted and be brought before this court to answer to the allegation made against her,” EFCC’s lawyer added. EFCC anchored the application on section 83(1b) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015. After he had listened to the application, Justice Olajuwon granted it as prayed, even as he adjourned the case sine die (indefinitely) to await the arrest and extradition of the Defendant. EFCC had told the court that investigations revealed that the former Petroleum Minister was not only deeply involved in money laundering but equally played key roles in other financial crimes. It decried that since the ex-Minister fled the country immediately after she exited the office, it has been difficult to get her back to respond to different criminal allegations against her. In one of the documents it filed before the court, EFCC said Diezani was among other things, wanted over the alleged role she played in the award of Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) to; Septa Energy Limited, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited and Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited by NNPC. As well as to answer questions on her role in the chartering of private jets by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and Ministry of Petroleum Resources and her role in the award of contracts by NNPC to Marine and Logistics Services Limited. Besides, the agency said it was investigating the nature of business relationships the former Minister had with some persons. It listed some of Diezani’s alleged allies under investigation as Mr Donald Amamgbo, Mr. lgho Sanomi, Mr Afam Nwokedi, Chief lkpea Leemon, Miss Olatimbo Bukola Ayinde, Mr Benedict Peters, Christopher Aire, Harcourt Adukeh, Julian Osula, Dauda Lawal, Nnamdi Okonkwo, Mr Leno Laithan, Sahara Energy Group and Midwestern Oil Limited.

DisCos must go, EKEDC as case study By Dele Sobowale

“An organization has no pants [trousers] to kick and no soul to damn. And by God, it should have both” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr, 1841-1935, Vanguard Book of Quotations, VBQ, P. 179. US Supreme Court Justice Holmes made that statement when judging another case before him involving a giant company which swindled and terrorised its customers in full confidence that none could strike back – until one was a final year law student who sued the company. Nigeria is full of business organisations which victimise their staff, neighbours, suppliers, contractors and, especially, customers. They get away with such because people are too scared to speak out. READ ALSO: CBN escrow of DISCOs’ bank accounts saved sector from collapse — Experts When the former President, Goodluck Jonathan, administration privatised the power sector most of us were extremely happy – believing that the private sector would do better than “NEPA”. The Distribution Companies, aka, DisCos, have proved us wrong. When General Babangida asked why the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, which worked wonders in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, failed in Nigeria, my reply to him in 1990 was simple. “The Nigerian Factor! Economic principles are based on the assumption that the people are reasonable. The vast majority of Nigerians, including business executives, are unreasonable.” Today, it is safe to state that Jonathan handed our power sector to individuals just as bad as public servants working for NEPA. DisCos have once again proved that principles which work elsewhere fail here because we are Nigerians. Dairy of a serial victim of DisCos “The customer is king”; an axiom of marketing companies worldwide. The reader must understand that I write from documented and objective experience – not emotions. I am naturally quantitative as an economist. Like late Papa Awolowo, I keep meticulous records – cheque books for ten years and “NEPA” bills for about fifteen years are around somewhere. Not from me statements like “they are useless”, I will present facts to indict them. Furthermore, directly or indirectly, I am responsible for paying five (5) DisCos – three South and two North. So, I have more than a narrow view of their operations. For Nigerian DisCos, the customer is a cow tied down by the Federal Government to be milked without restraint. They now illegally extort money from badly-serviced customers without any pang of conscience. From my observations, the FG will need to step in before fuel subsidy removal in order to prevent large scale violence against the staff of DisCos. Nigerians have had enough. No other business is allowed to charge customers arbitrarily and get away with it as DisCos have been doing. This has got to end. Why Lagos DisCos? Two reasons account for selecting Lagos Distribution Companies. First, a major culprit is DisCos in Lagos State – so called Centre of Excellence. Several blue chip companies and multi-national organisations are resident here. We should receive the best possible service of any place in Nigeria. Second, on the average, Lagosians are more enlightened than other Nigerians. Yet we have allowed ourselves to continuously lose billions of Naira every month to estimated billing. Crazy bills, sent out by DisCos, endured by us, constitute a violation of the basis of honest commercial transactions. Every financial transaction in a civilised country expects the seller to prove beyond doubt the quantity of measurable goods sold and at what price per unit. The customer is expected also to pay fully for the goods bought. The Nigerian Government, before and after the creation of DisCos, has created one group of suppliers who can charge customers for any volume of power, presumed consumed, as they want without proof. The DisCos have not been slow to take advantage. Another definition of legalised robbery will be difficult to imagine. Yet, this is the power that has been bestowed on Nigerian DisCos. There is a method in the madness “There is a pleasure in being mad which none but madmen know.” – Saul Bellow, VBQ, p. 147. There is a great deal of profit in sending “crazy bills, which the senders and the FG know too well. It will be difficult to believe that the FG which gave birth to DisCos, and established a toothless agency to mediate between the millions of cheated customers and the DisCos, was not aware that they were setting up catch-weight contests in which each individual customer faces a giant company – with all his rights to fairness removed. The FG knows it; the DisCos also know it. So, they exploit the situation to the fullest. To begin with, there is no such thing as a “crazy bill”. We dignify fraudulent bills by calling them “crazy” – as if a computer or a staff of the DisCo goes haywire and sends bills in error. The truth is more shocking. In every billing unit, a few clear-eyed and absolutely sane individuals sit and determine how much each of us will be charged. Almost all the time, it has nothing to do with how much we actually consumed. Here is how the swindle works. At the end of the month, each DisCo receives a bill from the Generating Units for the megawatts of power supplied to it. The DisCo allocates the total amount to each of its operating units. Each unit deducts from the total all payments received from prepaid meters. The balance is then distributed among those without prepaid meters. The consumption figure recorded on every customer’s bill has no basis in reality; it is just assigned in order to distribute the charges arbitrarily to consumers and to pursue fictitious claims. Below are some of the methods adopted by DisCos to deliberately cheat customers. A. Exceeding the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, approved maximum charges. Even the guidelines, the maximum consumption approved for consumers in each unit by NERC are disregarded if it pleases the officials of the DisCos. Thus, in December, a three bedroom bungalow, with four residents – three working and one baby – received a bill for consuming 1144KWH. That was 184KWH more than the maximum 960KWH approved for the area. The bill was N36,969.65. Even the 960KWH represents the maximum; not the mandatory charge. The biggest building in the same area is a four-storey residential tower with 42 rooms and over 240 residents. That unit should attract the maximum 960KWH charge. No honest business person can argue that the bungalow and the biggest building should be charged for 960KWH – let alone billing one for 1144KWH of power consumed. B. Charges made without stating units consumed. Furthermore, August bill for the bungalow was N11,423.85 – without stating the consumption. This is akin to a customer going to a filling station; and being asked to pay N11,000 without telling the customer how many litres amounted to N11,000. The stunt – charges without disclosing units consumed — was again repeated in September – when a bill for N14,639.45 was presented. C. Unsubstantiated claims for arrears. In March last year, a customer who has paid his bills fully, suddenly received a demand for payment of arrears for N22,624.60. Letters sent to the Customer Service Manager and copied to the Managing Director have not been acknowledged; not to talk of taking action. The protest letter accused the DisCos of fraudulent billing. It is doubtful if any CEO of any other company will allow his company to be branded that way and fail to take action. Only a DisCo MD can ignore such a charge. We have in Nigeria today an important sector which is not serving us at all. It is better to admit that privatisation has failed in this sector. Vanguard News

Atiku not qualified to contest 2023 election on account of age —Afegbua By Levinus Nwabughiogu & Dirisu Yakubu

PDP stakeholders chide Atiku for abandoning PDP in time of crisis ….Asks former VP to support southern candidate Former Commissioner of Information in Edo State and a member of opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Kassim Afegbua, has said former Vice President Atiku was not qualified to contest the 2023 presidential election on account of old age. He said PDP could not keep giving its ticket to Atiku, saying it would be immoral to do so, and urged the former Vice President to jettison his ambition and throw his weight behind the clamour for a Southern candidate. Afegbua, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, said it was time to give a younger person from the South an opportunity to lead the country on the platform of PDP. The statement read: “Having concluded the convention of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, with a new leadership that looks promising, the party will have to rise above board to produce a presidential candidate from the Southern part of the country to complete the narrative. “With the abysmal performance of President Muhammadu Buhari on account of age, incompetence and lack of capacity and political will to take deliberate and sustained action to bail out the country from all manner of challenges, it will be immoral for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to continue to express interest in seeking election in the 2023 presidential election having attained the retirement age. “He cannot assume the role of a perpetual candidate or professional aspirant year in, year out, as though the party was established for him alone. It defeats all sense of logic for such an old man to attempt another round of political contest at a time the general feeling and mood in the country supports a younger Nigerian from the Southern part of the country. “For me, furthermore, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar should drop his quest for presidency and support a southern Nigerian candidate in the spirit of fairness, equity and justice, that will assuage the feelings of stakeholders from the Southern part of Nigeria. It will be against the run of play and natural justice for any aspirant of Northern extraction to show interest in the 2023 presidential election within the Peoples’ Democratic Party. “It will offend national sentiments, emotions and logic for anyone from the North to show such interest given our diversities and hetereogenous political configurations. “Given PDP’s doctrine of political power balancing and fairness, it will be against its own unwritten rule to cede the ticket to any Northern aspirant least of all Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. “After the 2019 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar abandoned all of us in Nigeria and sought refuge in far away Dubai, thus exposing us to the intimidation, harassment and threats from the desperate APC’s power oligarchs. “It was a case of a General abandoning his troops in the battle field. Rather than draw strength from his presence, his absence exposed us to all manner of challenges. “He was in Dubai and left us to our fate. When it mattered most for us to reach out to our candidate for motivation and necessary encouragement, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar vanished into thin air. Knowing full well that political activities were to take off, he suddenly resurfaced and becomes a frontliner in his quest to fly the party’s flag once again. “That, to me, amounts to gross political selfishness and greed, which must not be allowed to flourish in our contemporary engagements. Even those who are promoters-in-chief of Alhaji Atiku’s aspiration, know in their heart of hearts that it is a project that is dead on arrival.’’ “The Southern geopolitical zones of Nigeria have eminently qualified Nigerians and parade great minds, who are competent and ready to take a shot at the number one job. ‘’Those who are advancing very nebulous theory of seeing the northern population as a stimulant to win the sympathy of the North against the South are either ignorant of the real demographics or at best, just playing the ostrich. No one in the North should take away what belongs to the South. “That will be hurting the conscience and feelings of the average southerner. If the argument is to suffice for example, for an Atiku presidency, he will be concluding his first term of four years at age 81. And were he to become a candidate in 2023 again, and per adventure he loses the election, are we, as PDP, going to reserve the position for him or any other Northerner in 2027? “These are very curious scenarios, which cannot be overlooked. For 2023, an Atiku candidacy will be like promoting an expired product in the face of very compelling reason to look towards the South in our quest to wrestle power from the fractured APC. “Earlier last year, I was conscripted into the Technical Committee for Atiku presidency. Having attended three meetings of the group, I found my spirit and conscience permanently in conflict with the ethos of justice, fairness and equity, which the south deserves. VANGUARD NEWS

National Convention: APC Govs DG warns against electing emperor as Nat Chairman by Romanus Ugwu

...Questions credibility of current aspirants The Director General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Salihu Moh. Lukman, has warned the ruling party against electing an emperor as the National Chairman of the party in the forthcoming National Convention. In a statement he issued in Abuja on Thursday, Lukman chided the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) for insulting party members and Nigerians with the laxity it has been approaching the proposed National Convention scheduled for February next month. Questioning the credibility of the aspirants for the position of the National Chairman, he advocated looking beyond the current aspirants. “Unfortunately, reckless party leadership is diminishing all these excellent political credentials. APC leaders must wake up to the responsibility of resolving the leadership challenges facing the party. Part of what is required at this point is to commence leadership engagement towards consensus building on a number of these issues and assess all the so-called aspirants. “Where necessary, APC leaders may wish to stretch the search for a National Chairman beyond current aspirants. APC need a National Chairman who is humble, with very good relations and respect among both party leaders and members. Steps must be taken to ensure that APC National Chairman and other members of the NWC do not reduce themselves into extorting parting leaders, especially aspiring candidates. “APC leaders must take every step to avoid vesting the responsibility of the National Chairman of the party on another ‘emperor’ who will end up conducting affairs of the party with absolute disrespect and contempt for decisions taken. APC need a National Chairman who can provide every level playing field for the internal party electoral contest for 2023. “Any new National Chairman of APC who can lead the party to electoral victory in 2023 must not be a surrogate to any aspirant for 2023 Presidential contest. Similarly, such a person must be ready to control other members of the NWC from demonstrating bias in favour of any candidate for 2023 Presidential contest within the party. “Being a humble National Chairman, such a person must be ready to subordinate himself/herself to party leaders at local levels. A situation whereby as National Chairman, the person become overbearing to leaders at state level must not be acceptable. There should not be any debate or contest about who should exercise leadership at state level. “The model should be what exists between President Buhari and leaders of the party in Katsina State. However, the National Chairman and party leaders at state level should be encouraged to develop structured processes of consultations to ensure that the political interest of the National Chairman is protected in the state. “Similarly, the National Chairman must also accept to protect the political interest of other leaders from the state, especially any serving Governor of his home state,” he said. “Beyond the National Chairman, APC leaders must also take every necessary step to elect very competent Deputy National Chairmen (North and South). It is important that the two Deputy National Chairmen to be elected are people with integrity. “In addition to Deputy National Chairmen, positions of National Secretary, National Legal Adviser, National Organising Secretary and National Publicity Secretary must be head hunted,” he noted in the statement. Enumerating other criteria for the national leadership positions, the PGF DG wrote: “Any potential candidate must have good relations will party leaders at national level, especially President Buhari. “The candidate must also have good relations with all party leaders in his/her state, including the Governor, where there is an APC government. It should be a strong advantage when the aspiring person has played any role during the merger negotiation that produced APC and has been consistent in the party since 2013. “This means such a parson would have the needed institutional memory to recognise and respect sacrifices made by party leaders and members to make the merger that produce the APC successful. It should be a strong disadvantage when any aspiring candidate has records of defection from the party or any of the legacy parties that merged to form the APC. “Finally, public service experience will not only be an advantage but a measure of determining the democratic credentials of the candidate. Any candidate with public service experience at whatever level without incontestable records of achievements, such a person can not inspire any party member and by extension Nigerians into believing that his/her leadership can bring any good electoral fortune for the party,” he wrote in the statement. Writing earlier, Lukman warned that the Buni-led Committee ‘ll get Oshiomhole’s treatment, he noted: “it will be necessary to remind all members of the CECPC and by extension all leaders of APC that part of the reasons that made it very necessary to dissolve the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led NWC was the disrespect for leaders and members of the party. “The CECPC leadership have returned the party back to mode of open disrespect for any recommendation given. It is even worse now given that the CECPC is ready to sacrifice the future of the party. Clearly, what is steering us in the face is that all the bad leadership records under Comrade Oshiomhole led NWC is about to be met and outstripped by the present CECPC,” the statement read.

Benin artifacts and the choice facing Robin Hood By Azu Ishiekwene

WHEN you find two people from the Benin kingdom talking these days, chances are that they are talking artefacts. That kingdom never ceases to amaze me with the mythical, almost perplexing rootedness of its people to the past, side by side with a modern, avantgarde spirit. Not that bread-and-butter issues have disappeared in Bini talk. Or that safety and security are no longer a concern. It’s just that the news of the possible return of artefacts stolen from the Benin kingdom over 120 years ago has somehow displaced current misery, however, temporary. Yet, the conversation is also a statement of reckoning, an indication of how far the world has moved from Robin Hood, the decorated thief in English legend. Part of the legacy of slavery and colonialism was that the spoils belonged to the victor. Humans were chattel, and artefacts, side menu. In the world of the marauders of the time, humans, animals and artefacts were part of the spoils of war. Aborigines in North America and Australia; blacks in Africa and minorities in different parts of the world were victims of this travesty for centuries. The world has come a long way since, yet the vestiges of that horrific era linger on. Not only in our memories but also in the private collections and museums of private and institutional thieves who keep making money and excuses at the same time, for delaying restitution. The art of stealing The value of art stolen from Africa alone is worth billions of dollars by current estimates. But it is worth even more in spiritual currency. A BBC report three years ago quoting the New York Times, said, US art collector, Harry A Franklin, bought the Bangwa Queen, a wooden carving from Cameroon, for $29,000 in 1966. After his death, the artefact was sold for $3.4million. At Sotheby’s, the famous British-founded American auction house, the Clyman’s Fang Head, a Gabonese masterpiece, was offered for sale at between $2.5 and $4million last year. On a visit to Africa in 2018, French President, Emmanuel Macron, said while there were historical explanations for the theft of African artefacts, there are no valid justifications that are durable and unconditional. “African heritage,” he said, “can’t just be in European private collections and museums.” But that’s precisely where they have been for centuries. Three years after Macron’s lip service, the plundered artefacts are still languishing in private collections and museums. Macron is not the only problem. From ongoing discussions in Nigeria, the misery of pirated artefacts would be compounded not only by empty promises, but also by needless squabbles about provenance – their original home. Journey to Germany Nigeria is expecting Benin bronzes looted since 1897. Two senior German ministers told a Nigerian delegation on a recent visit to that country led by Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, that the German government planned “a substantial” repatriation of the plundered artefacts. The Nigerian government is demanding, and rightly so, that the return should be “whole” and “unconditional”. According to reports, the trove of looted items includes carved elephant tusks, ivory leopard statues, wooden heads and at least 900 brass plaques dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. Reports also say that over 3,000 Benin bronzes stolen in the 19th century are marooned in Europe and the US. German museums are hosting nearly half of this figure. The debate in Nigeria, especially among Benin folks, from whose homeland the artefacts were stolen, is not whether the loot should be returned, but to whose custody it should be returned. The house is divided against itself. Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki wants the artifacts back in the custody of the state government and has, in a subversive masterstroke, recruited the Oba’s son to press his case. Obaseki, the private sector’s gift to public service, is brimming with ideas of how to make the artefacts speak in foreign currency, by bringing in hundreds of tourists. The suspicion is that his motive is to hijack the collection and privatise it as retirement benefit. Ewuare II, the Oba of Benin, on the other hand, wants the artefacts returned to the palace, from where they were stolen; while Mohammed has said the priority of the Nigerian government is to have the artefacts on Nigerian soil. Since the artefacts don’t speak or understand German, I’ve tried to establish in whose course history might deploy itself. The closest historical antecedent in support of the palace is the case of the Faberge Eggs, looted from the palace of Russia’s imperial family by Bolsheviks during the Russian revolution. Who owns the art? Around 2004 when Roman Abramovich was lusting after Chelsea Football Club in the UK, his counterpart, Victor Vekselberg, made a stake of $90million on the Faberge Eggs. The storied egg is an intricately woven treasure chest made of precious metals and gems including the Coronation Egg, containing the prototype of the coach which Empress Alexandra rode into Moscow in 1897. Though Vekselberg did not say what he wanted to do with the collection, which is the second largest after those in the Kremlin, he said it was a redemption which captured the religious and spiritual essence of the Russian people. Since the revolution swept away the Russian imperial family, we cannot say what might have been the family’s disposition towards the retrieval of the Faberge Eggs. The point is: its recovery was an investment by a Russian oil sheikh. What he has done with it is nobody’s business. When countries have been involved in negotiations for the return of plundered artefacts, however, the records suggest that they’re returned directly to the country of origin, first of all. Eight years ago, when The Boston Globe reported that eight artefacts, including a wooden ancestral figure stolen from Oron, Southern Nigeria, were being returned from the Boston Museum, the objects – including the wooden figure – were apparently returned to the Nigerian museums. I’m not sure the “Ahta Oro”, the paramount traditional ruler of Oron, made a case for provenance. Similar repatriations by the US, Australia and the UK to India were received by the country, not by private individuals or the domains from where they were plundered. The Netherlands did the same with the stolen antiquities of Indonesia, returning artefacts dating back to 5000 B.C. It would appear though that once pirated collections have been returned in certain jurisdictions, a valid case can be made for repatriation to the crime scene. ‘Arti-cedents’ In the US, for example, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act is a federal law passed in 1990 that provides a process for museums and federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items, such as human remains, funeral objects, sacred objects or objects of cultural patrimony to lineal descendants. Australia has no laws directly governing repatriation, but a government programme exists that returns Aborigine artefacts. Sweden returned the totem pole stolen by a Swede from Canada to the community of origin; while Italy returned the magnificent sixth-century krater to its place of origin in Rome after a period of loan to the national museum. From the time of Erediauwa, the father of the current Oba, the Benin palace has invested in and campaigned vigorously for the return of pirated artifacts. The governor should not give the impression that he wants to reap where he has not sown or that he is desperate to have the collection as another set of trophies on his front desk. It would appear that the disagreement between the palace and Obaseki’s Osadebey House over the artefacts is a continuation of war by other means. In last year’s governorship election between incumbent Obaseki and his challenger, Ize Iyamu, the palace barely disguised its preference for the latter. For Obaseki to win the election and on top of that also strive to become the curator of priceless objects stolen from the palace, possibly with the assistance of his forebears, is understandably too much for the Oba to bear. Unfortunately, the governor’s winner-takes-all politics is re-echoing concerns that he could still be possessed of the subversive spirit that aided and abetted the plundering campaign of the Benin kingdom. The parties must close ranks. They need to work with Abuja first, to develop a cultural preservation programme, and then to recover the artifacts as quickly as possible to their ancestral home. There’s nothing more a reluctant Robin Hood would love than a house divided against itself. Strife and irreconcilable differences among members of the elite would suggest that the stolen artefacts might indeed be safer in exile. Let’s bring the artefacts home, where they belong. Vanguard News Nigeria

Nigerian Minister tried to stop Britons returning Benin stolen artefacts – Prince Akenzua By Gabriel Enogholase

• Says British looter worshipped artworks Prince Edun Akenzua is a member of the Benin Royal Family and the Enogie (Duke) of Obazuwa Dukedom. In this interview, Akenzua speaks on his involvement in the campaign for the repatriation of looted Benin artworks by invading British troops in 1897, the return of two artworks by Dr Walker to Oba Erediuwa of blessed memory in 2014 and the recent move to return the Cockerel by the Jesuit College, Cambridge University, London, and the head of Oba (Benin King) removed from the ancestral shrine by the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Excerpts: How did you get involved in the demand for the repatriation of the artefacts? I congratulate Omo n’ Oba, Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare II on his hosting of his guest on Monday, December 13, 2021. It is during his reign that the Federal Government made a pronouncement, for the first time, on the desirability of returning Nigeria’s artefacts that were looted from their makers and owners more than a hundred years ago. The Oba spent energy and resources to ensure that the reception was successful. The Oba warmly thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for saying the artefacts will be sent to the Oba and those from other parts of Nigeria to be returned to their places of origin. I join the Oba to thank the President. He is the first President to publicly speak in that tone. Military President Ibrahim Babagida set up Africa Reparation Movement and named the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola as Chairman. Although the movement’s mandate included the repatriation of Africa’s looted artworks, he did not go the whole hog or make public demands as President Buhari has now made. MKO worked doggedly to ensure that the looted artworks were returned. He established the United Kingdom and European branch of the movement in London and named the late Bernie Grant, a member of the British Parliament, as Chairman. I had the privilege of collaborating with Bernie Grant on the same cause for about five years. We were to jointly present a paper to the House of Commons. I know about the Cockerel. A journalist, Colin Freeman, writing for the Telegraph of London, came to interview me in 2016. His article was published on October 8, 2016. While the students union of Jesuit College, Cambridge University, England protested that the Cockerel must be removed from where it was mounted, students of Oriel College, Oxford University also demanded the removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes from the college. Jesuit students said the Cockerel presence reminded them of British colonialism and its inhumanity to colonized people. The Cockerel, which had resided in Jesuit College since 1930, was removed from public view in March 2020. It is like tracking down a thief who has stolen your car, only for him to tell you that you can’t have it back because there is a risk it might get stolen again. What was the agreement signed at the Benin palace on Monday, December 13 all about? I have not seen the agreement signed. I was told five persons signed including Nigeria’s High Commissioner to London. I was told the High Commissioner said that was how they do it over there. I wonder why a person who is being given back his stolen property needs to sign an agreement or MOU? It is ludicrous that a person who’s stolen property is being returned is made to sign an agreement or an MOU before the stolen items are returned to the owner. It is a colonialism hang-over. For the Federal Government to fall for that ruse or scam make itself a neo-colonialist. A simple letter of acknowledgement would have sufficed. I cannot comment much on this because, as I said, I have not seen or read the agreement signed. What are the relationship between Oba Erediauwa, the present Oba and your good self? Oba Erediauwa was my brother. We were born of the same mother. Oba Ewuare II is his son and therefore my biological nephew. In our custom in Benin, Oba is the traditional father of every Benin person including uncles, aunties and cousins. You talked about collaborating with MP Bernie Grant. How did you meet him? Omo N’ Oba Erediauwa, my brother, set up a committee in 1986 which he named Benin Centenary Committee. The committee was to organize and execute the commemoration of the British invasion of Benin in 1897. The Oba named me as Chairman of the committee. In that capacity, I and some members of the committee travelled to the United Kingdom, Europe and places where the looted bronze and elephant tusk works were domiciled. It was then I met MP Bernie Grant with whom we carried on the campaign for the return of the looted cultural properties. Which of the artefacts were brought during the time of Oba Akenzua II, and Oba Erediauwa? A British medical doctor, Dr Walker, returned two bronze works, Ahiamwen Oro and a Gong, on June 20, 2014, to Oba Erediauwa. Dr Walker’s grandfather was an intelligence officer, a major in the British military that invaded Benin in 1897. Their commander allowed the officers to take any of the items that they fancied as a memento. Major Walker took the Bird and the Gong which he passed on to his daughter, Dr Walker’s mother, and then to his grandson. The story and return of the bronze works make interesting reading. The doctor did not have pathological love for the items like his grandfather. Being a professional, he was also not money-driven. He saw how his grandfather worshipped the items. One day it just got into his mind that if his grandfather doted on the items that much, how much will the owners from whom they were looted dote on them? He made up his mind to return them to the owners. Then the drama began. He had heard of my campaigns for the Benin bronzes return. He got in touch with someone who knew some Benin persons in London. They finally got in touch with me through my daughter, Vivian. I called Engineer Uwoghiren, who is the Odionwere of the Binis in the UK, and urged them to go to the Nigeria House and see the High Commissioner, Dr Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, and that I will speak to him and request him to facilitate giving Dr Walker and his team Nigerian visa. Dr Tafida was very excited to hear that Dr Walker was bringing the items to the Oba for free, charging nothing. Dr Tafida then offered to give them tickets along with visas. By coincidence, the Minister of Culture and then-Director General of Nigeria Council for Museum and Monuments, NCMM, visited London. The High Commissioner was at the airport to pick them up. Back in his office in Nigeria House and still excited by Dr Walker’s gesture, he told the Minister of what the English man planned to do and how he (Dr Dalhatu) offered to give them tickets to travel to Nigeria. The DG told the High Commissioner to route the trip to Abuja so that they would hand the items to the President. They called me from London and told me about the development. Dr Walker said they would rather come to Benin because his grandfather got the items from Benin. What a sense of history? Surprisingly, the Minister told the High Commissioner that if Dr Walker will not go to Abuja, the High Commission should not issue the tickets. A few days before their flight, they were told the High Commission will no longer issue them flight tickets. I called then- Governor Oshiomhole promised to send first-class tickets to Dr Walker and three other members of his team to travel to Benin which he did. You keep using the word ‘loot’ or ‘stolen’ in describing what the British did after the war of 1897. Did the British troops not simply take away the spoils of war? Before the 1897 war, Capt. Philip, who was the Assistant British Consul in the so-called Protectorate of Benin, had written to the British Home Office, urging them to remove King Ovonramwen from the throne so that British companies in Benin will have access to trade. Their main interest was palm oil, which the British needed to prop up the industrial revolution. He told the British government that they did not have to worry about the cost of the war because they would find sufficient ivory and elephant tusk works whose value would compensate for the cost of the war. British troops fought with artillery guns, rocket and rocket launchers against Benin troops armed with only Dane guns, bows and arrows and charms. The war lasted 12 days. When Benin fell, the British meticulously searched for bronzes and ivories which they carried away. They were about four thousand pieces. After that, they torched the city, including the palace. We have a copy of Capt. Philips letter. The second reason is this. When Dr Walker brought back the Ahianmwen Oro (Bird) and the Gong, they also brought a diary that his great grandfather kept during the war of 1897. I told you earlier that his grandfather was a major in the army that fought in Benin. The diary was written by the major and contained photographs of Benin and the war in which he personally took part. Under two of the pictures, he wrote ‘loot’ and ‘more loot’. Those writings show that the British knew in 1897 that they were looting. He brought two replicas of the diary. He presented one to the Oba and gave one to me. Vanguard News Nigeria

38-Year-Old Businesswoman Declares Presidential Ambition Ahead Of 2023 General Elections.

A-38-year old businesswoman, Khadijat Okunu-Lamidi has joined the league of politicians seeking to replace President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa as the battle ahead of 2023 begins. The businesswoman cum media entrepreneur declared her intention to seek a political party’s nomination to contest 2023 presidential election. Her decision many days is in response to the Not-Too-Young to run slogan recently signed into law by President Buhari. Okunu-Lamidi, who is the founder, Slice Media Solutions, declared that she had become the arrow-head for the intervention of her generation’s interests across the nation for politics and good governance. She declared, “I seek to change the direction of our country, because time and chance will happen to all of us and the time for action is today.” Stating further, she said “We need a better class and a better crop of leaders that are selfless, disciplined, and bound with integrity, and above all, who love the country and are invested in her future. I am here to activate all people, the old, the poor, the rich; to unite around a common ideal on the basis of a consensus about a superior national development agenda,” she said. She is of the opinion that 70 percent of youths were often disenfranchised and have not taken their rightful place in choosing the government of Nigeria. According to her, Nigeria had missed important milestones in building the nation, adding that, it was more pertinent that Nigerians must begin to think differently in the way things were being done. “We are all guilty for surrendering to temporary powerlessness, we can and must start to think differently. We sing often about our heroes past. These are people who entered the governance of Nigeria by design or by chance at a very young age to take over from the colonial power that ruled Nigeria,” she said. In her words, “This again is a generational inflection point for the nation. A nation desperate for leadership needs the young, the strong, those who have a vision, those who have ideas, those who have a united Nigerian identity and a belief in this country. The people of Nigeria believe in Nigeria, they should not be led by leaders who don’t. “We have to keep fighting for what we believe in, and above all, never lose hope. If you were waiting for a sign, this is it,” said Okunnu-Lamidi. She is yet to declare for any political party. Okunnu-Lamidi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Human Resources Management from the University of Bolton and a Master’s Degree in Strategic Project Management (MSc.) from Heriot-Watt University.