The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Princess Kolade remembers mum

    Princess Toyin Kolade also known as ‘Iya-Alaje Apapa’ is a successful businesswoman and socialite of high note.

    She has her hands in many businesses including Oil and Gas, Interior decoration, real estate, maritime, hospitality, among others.

    A woman of substance, she commands deep respect from young and old, especially within the political, social and business radar. More importantly, she is also in tune with the current modern fashion trends. Call her a show-stopper and you will only be stating the obvious, as she is definitely a point of attraction at any social event she graces.

    Read Also: Comedienne Princess takes up first movie role

    Kolade is the Managing Director, Fisolak Global Resources, Fisolak Royal Furniture and Arikay Oil and Gas. She joined the millionaire club at a relatively young age of 21, having learnt the basics of doing business from her late mother, Madam Comfort Adejuyigbe.

    Society Rendezvous gathered that last month, top clerics converged at her residence in Lagos, where she held a very private house remembrance prayer session in memory of her late mother, marking her 3rd year of transiting to the world beyond.

    It would be recalled that, in April 2017, the top business woman, gathered the high and mighty in Nigeria at her home town in Ilesha Osun state, where her mother was laid to eternal rest.

  • Iya Adura’s philanthropic gesture

    by Oladapo Sofowora

     

    It seems founder of the Love of Christ of Generation (C & S) Church, London and The Esther Ajayi Foundation, Rev. Mother Esther Abimbola Ajayi has entered a covenant with her Creator to dedicate the rest of her life to humanitarian service. Anytime she shows her benevolent side, she loathes people singing her praise.

    Her generosity, particularly in recent times, has launched her into the hearts of several admirers across the country and far beyond the shores of the Nigeria. It’s no longer news that Iya Adura has passion for children.

    Recently, she enrolled an orange hawker, Ayomide Adeoye, who became an internet sensation for miming to a song by Tope Alabi at Avi-Cenna International School, on a full scholarship scheme. Also, Stephen and Sukanmi who were instrumental to his popularity, also enjoyed fully funded scholarship.

    Read Also: President hails Bill Gates, Dangote for service to humanity

     

    Last week, she once again, showed her kind-heart for children when she took a tour with Dayo Israel, member of the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) round primary schools within Kosofe and Lagos Mainland Local Government. Her foundation will adopt and rehabilitate primary schools within Lagos State, equipping it with modern facilities and conducive learning environment to meet global standards.

    Interestingly, during the tour, special need (inclusive unit) students of Maryland Primary School benefited from her sheer generosity, Mother Esther gifted the school a brand new Toyota Hiace bus to ease mobility.

    It would be recalled that, earlier this year, she also donated the sum of N10m to the ailing Nollywood star, Babatunde Omidina “Baba Suwe” to undergo surgery in the United States of America, USA.

  • Tackling shortage of processing machines

    Nigeria has the potential to meet the challenges of food production. Also, the food sector offers vast opportunities for processing. But there is a dire need to produce some classes of machinery, devices or technologies for food processing. This is because most locally produced machinery are unable to fulfill the demand of food manufacturers. Hence, they import the machinery for food processing.

    In response to this, the Nigerian Association of Technologists in Engineering (NATE) Lagos Branch has taken a hands-on approach to promoting sustainable mechanisation

    The association unveiled scaled down rice de-stoner and castor oil de-husking machine at a programme titled: “Driving Innovative Technology to Boost Nigeria’s economy in Lagos.”

    The programme held at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO) Oshodi, Lagos.

    NATE National President Mr. Ahmed Muhammed Yabagi said the Federal Government has taken agriculture as a priority and rice as one of the most consume food in Nigeria, but that research has revealed that the major challenge with locally produced rice is stone.

    NATE in its own capacity had decided to key in and boost the current agricultural revolution going on in Nigeria. This has led to the fabrication of the Rice De-Stoning machines as a solution to the worrisome problem facing our farmers.

    He reiterated the readiness of the association to work with the government, service providers and farmer organisations to develop strategies that support the implementation of sustainable mechanization at the local level.

    “Mechanisation that was overlooked in the past must now be on the drive, as a factor to fully analysing the way out of funding this nation with our local rice, and actualising food security at large.

    The Vice-President, NATE Southwest, Engr. Emmanuel Adesina noted: ““Averagely, a unit of a Rice De-Stoning machine can provide training for undergraduates and job for our youths.

    Read Also: Navy seizes 1221 bags of smuggled rice

     

    Hon. Bridget Obi said: “In the last few years, the Lagos State Branch of NATE has continued to live up to its vision and objectives by adding to the local market, locally fabricated smart and innovative technological solutions to accelerate production and reduce drudgery especially in the processing of Agricultural produce in Nigeria.”

    She added that: “As innovators, we should continue to focus more on the problems our products are meant to solve. As we are creating value for people in the process, we get reward and make the economy to grow.

    She said: “With the innovations of NATE in the area of scaled down rice de-stoner and castor oil de-husking machines, the next huge task we are facing is to find strategies on how the end users can have access to these machines.”

    The Chairman, NATE Lagos State Branch, Engr. Ibidapo Kayode Samuel said  the organisation is a professional body of practical technologists and engineers, member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), with the major aim of promoting professional excellence among technologists and engineers.

     

  • Institute hosts agribusiness conference

    From November 18 to 21, Abuja will host the 2019 National Agribusiness Conference of The Institute of Agribusiness Management Nigeria (IAMN).  The theme of the conference is “Think Forward: Driving Nigeria’s Pathway to Prosperity through Sustainable Agribusiness”.

    The conference is an annual gathering of professionals working in various segments of the agricultural value chains in Nigeria, including crop and livestock production, agro processing, food manufacturing, commodity exports, agro logistics, agribusiness education, development among others.

    This year’s edition will be hosted at Chelsea Hotel, Abuja.

    At a press conference organised by the Local Organising Committee to intimate the agribusiness community about the all-important conference, the Committee Chairman, Richard Ogundele reiterated the need for creation of more global market access for food commodities of Nigerian origin as well as create a pathway out of the various logjams that have inhibited the growth of agribusiness entrepreneurs toward sustainable profitability.

    Read Also: Agro business opportunities in Kaduna

     

    He said Nigeria’s population has been projected to hit 400 million by 2050; and from available statistics, over 65 per cent of them will be youths in need of employment, food shelter and basic needs of life. To this end, he said steps must be taken to ensure farmers have access to innovation for sustainable food production.

    The IAMN hopes that during the conference, practical solutions to address challenges highlighted, will be discussed and addressed with a view to sharing good business models with the public and organized private sector actors as a mean of facilitating economic growth and development using agribusiness as a major platform.

  • Akwa Ibom and World Bank medal

    By Silas Attah

     

    In recognition of its ongoing bouquet of sweeping reforms and attention to details in project execution, Akwa Ibom State was recently declared the best performing state in the South-south geo- during the 2019 fiscal year by World Bank Task Team Leaders on the state’s performance in project implementation.

    The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Africa Region, Rachid Banmessaoud, communicated this through a letter addressed to Governor Udom Emmanuel: “This is to appreciate your state’s participation in the just concluded Nigeria Portfolio Performance Awards ceremony hosted by the World Bank Country Office in Abuja, and to congratulate you on your state’s commendable performance which led to winning first position, as the best performing state under the South-South Region. The event recognized the performance of project implementation teams across the states and federal institutions.”

    Indeed, it is well deserved accolade. One thing is dear to the governor’s heart: creating an enabling environment to ease industrialisation, investment, entrepreneurship and wealth-creation. The governor has continually pushed for his state’s place on the global stage.

    Inspired by the stirring words of American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, Emmanuel had declared in his own inaugural address to the state in 2015: “We are tired of sailing our little boat inside the harbor. We want to go out where the big ships float, out on the deep where the great ones are. And should our frail craft prove too light for waves that sweep those billows over, we would rather go down in the stirring fight than drown to death at the sheltered shore.”

    Despite the difficult macroeconomic climate in Nigeria, great deals of investors have been coming in to doing business in Akwa Ibom State. The state which is relentlessly pursuing the execution of a deep water seaport, recently established its own airline for ease of transportation because it has enormous mouth-watering opportunities and potentials for investors. The present administration in Akwa Ibom made itself fully pro-business, as enablers and facilitators of business and investment.

    Under this new scheme of things, red-tape officialdom and uncooperative civil service personnel have not been allowed to become clogs in the wheel of progress. Once the governor and his team personally took charge, the pace of progress has been dizzying. With this mindset, lots of investments have been attracted to the state.

    What has helped matter is the fact that the governor brought into government his long and rich private sector background and experience in international investment business. This is a plus for the economic times we presently live in; a truly exposed man.

    As a chartered accountant, financial analyst and a technocrat, he is right in the thick of things as he brokers mouth-watering investments. On becoming governor, he gave himself a huge task and stated that the measure of his success in government would be the impact and consequent testimonies of investors, entrepreneurs, business owners and intending and existing domestic and foreign investors. He has relentlessly worked on the ‘Ease of Doing Business’, aiding investments and attracting new huge into the state’s economy.

    This all-out pro-business, enabling environment mindset is what brought the World Bank award as the most performing state in project implementation

    To mark the 32th anniversary of the state’s creation, Vice president Prof. Yemi Osinbajo was invited to commission some state-of-the-art industries and other achievements of Governor Emmanuel. These economic projects along with many others already on the ground, do demonstrate the success of the state government towards project implementation and the ease-of-doing business. It is pro-business to conceive and push these forward.

    One major way in which wealthy nations (defined as OECD member countries) makes it easier to do business, is to reduce regulations and change policies and consequently reap the benefits. New Zealand is ranked No. 1 in the world for overall ease of doing business in 2016, because it reduced the time required for getting an electricity connection. If you want a prosperous economy, if you really want wealth to flow in your society which comes through investor’s funds, you have to have a marketable leader and then carry out deep-reaching reforms and cut down retrogressive policies too much red-tape. Stagnation and dead-brain policies make it harder for businesses to succeed. And where businesses don’t thrive, they go elsewhere and the stagnating nation suffers economically. Real humane leaders don’t want this to happen. They just don’t sit down in Government House or fly jets on meaningless foreign trips. They work to attract investors.

    Emmanuel’s push has resulted in the setting up of at least 17 new industries in Akwa Ibom State. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has identified the state as recording the secnd highest volume of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This is a great credit to the state government efforts. Following his inauguration in 2015, Governor Emmanuel immediately set up an ad-hoc committee on FDIs and insulated it from politics and civil service bureaucracy. The FDI committee chairman, Gabriel Ukpeh (a former Pricewaterhouse Coopers employee), was willing to work with anybody, including members of the opposition, provided it helped attract industries. Politics and red-tape officialdom of the civil service is put aside in its operations. An investor on bringing evidence of financial and technical capabilities is taken by the committee to the Ministry of Land to process his choice of land. An MoU is prepared in the FDI office by a lawyer who is seconded from the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice vets the MoU and then it goes to the governor. Investors are insulated from the bureaucracy associated with the civil service. While over 200 MoUs with prospective investors have been signed, the administration of Governor Emmanuel does not believe in calling press conference to celebrate MoUs. It pushes ahead to getting actual work started.

    Former Prime Minister of Georgia, Nika Gilauri who, during his tenure, moved Georgia from 116 to 8 on the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’, has particularly exhorted nations on introducing smart regulations and the reduction of red tape as a master-key. Governor Emmanuel has been one of the very few leaders listening.

    With a stable democratic environment coupled with a transparent financial system and level playing field for investors, new businesses are been born almost daily in that state. What the Akwa Ibom government of Udom Emmanuel is saying loudly is that it can no longer tie its people’s economic survival and prosperity to oil money alone. The Nigerian economy became the largest African economy following the 2013 GDP rebasing exercise. Yet, the petroleum sector alone still accounts for over 90% of the country’s total export earnings. This is clearly unacceptable. Governor Emmanuel’s message therefore has been: “It is not that oil is not important but we cannot stand on one leg. We are blessed to have oil. But we cannot depend on one commodity. Therefore, in order to diversify from oil, we need to go into other areas, especially industries.”

    With the state’s huge population, there are opportunities for investors in agro-allied industries; the retail industry; consumer goods; real estate for a rising middle class; information and communication technology; agriculture; power and transportation infrastructure.

    Former United States, President Ronald Reagan, had an interdepartmental group on international economic policy which framed his administration’s views on international investment. President Reagan saw international investment ‘’as a vital and necessary ingredient in a stable, growing world economy.’’ Therefore, responsible governments should work for international investment flow. It is their own way of empowering their people. This is the area where Governor Emmanuel is currently waving the Akwa Ibom banner so high in Nigeria, resulting in the World Bank recognition.

     

    • Chief Attah, a retired civil servant, sent this piece from Uyo, Akwa Ibom.

  • Forum to unveil partnership for Nigeria’s prosperity

    AgroNigeria, the “Voice of Nigeria’s Agriculture”, is set to hold the “Farm2Fork Dialogue” slated for December 3 through 4 at the Main Auditorium, Government House, Ilorin, Kwara State.

    Themed “Eliminating the Impediments to a Prosperous Commodity Agribusiness”, the event, which is being hosted by the Kwara State Government, is targeted at fashioning the modalities to usher in a prosperous era in Nigeria’s agricultural sector. This is in light of the current realities plaguing the country’s agricultural commodity business.

    The Co-Convener of the Dialogue, Richard Mark-Mbaram, is of the view that the platform is imperative to facilitate the needed solutions to challenges bedeviling agri-business in the country.

    According to him, the event, which is being organised in conjunction with the Agricultural Trade Group of the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries Mines & Agriculture (NACCIMA), Organized Private Sector Exporters Association (OPEXA), and the Federation of Agriculture Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), will among other things leverage on the positive momentum generated by recent economic actions of the government with a view to ensure that the Nigerian economy and its critical stakeholders benefit there-from.

    Read Also: ‘Lack of incentives driving youths away from agriculture’

     

    “The dialogue will hinge on the key narrative that the Nigerian private sector in agriculture is keen on fostering a Proactive Partnership for Prosperity (PPP) with the public sector. Right from local production to processing, logistics, consumption and exports, there exists cross-cutting challenges which can only be comprehensively addressed by having all stakeholders around the table.

    “This is what the Farm2Fork Dialogue seeks to achieve. In essence, the Dialogue is designed not only to interrogate the causative issues resulting in the current reality of agro-commodity deficits in the country, but to evolve a trajectory for short-medium and long-term solutions – this premised on an inclusive template”, he said.

    AgroNigeria is an integrated agro-centric media and communications company famed for its cutting-edge reportage of critical happenings in the Nigerian agricultural landscape and bringing government and its agricultural policies closer to realities in the space.

    The organization also hosts the annual Feed Nigeria Summit (FNS) and The Nigeria Agriculture Awards (NAA).

     

  • ‘Innovation key to agricultural transformation’

    With two-thirds of Africans  dependent on farming for their livelihoods, boosting agriculture can create opportunities, reduce malnutrition/poverty and generate faster and fairer growth. To achieve this, African universities are building capacities in innovation and agriculture, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

     

    Feeding 1.5 billion  people  by  2030 and two billion by 2050 is a daunting challenge for   Africa. Therefore, transforming  agriculture into a competitive, inclusive and business-oriented sector  that  creates  wealth,  generates gainful employment and improves quality of life is critical, analysts have said.

    They said universities have the  mandate to produce the next generation of the workforce needed for the agri-food value chain.

    To achieve the transformation,   experts stressed that there was an urgency to institutionalise approaches that have  been tested  and are workable into the university  system.

    Addressing the Farm Management Association of Nigeria (FAMAN) 33rd National Conference with the theme “Revitalisation of Nigerian Agriculture to Meet the Sustainable Development Goals”, held at the Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB), in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Felix Salako, noted that as a specialised university, FUNAAB had always advocated for innovations that could transform agriculture.

    Salako, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Morenike Dipeolu, disclosed that FUNAAB had developed the first indigenous chicken known as FUNAAB Alpha, which is comparable to chickens in develop countries in terms of egg and meat production.

    Read Also: Use agriculture to reduce food import bill, Obasanjo tells DRC

     

    He said the university had developed and popularised the table dry odourless fufu for Nigeria, perfected the production of high quality cassava flour (HQCF) for inclusion into wheat flour for bread and confectioneries, as well as mechanised its agricultural farming system.

    Delivering the lead paper titled “Revitalisation of the Nigerian Agriculture to Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, a renowned agricultural economist, Prof. Peter Okuneye, said functional agriculture was key to achieving food security, employment generation, farm income, import substitution, foreign exchange earnings, and raw materials generation, among others.

    To enable this, he said there must be measures to boost productivity, value chain expansion, investment in infrastructural and rural development.

    The other things are improved efforts to address post-harvest food losses and wastes, building and enhancing resilience to weather shocks and reducing negative externalities, research, development and extension services as well as credit and financing.

    FAMAN President, Dr. Damian Agom said the association, had over the time, maintained a link with stakeholders and practitioners in farm management and production.

    He said the association has been networking with stakeholders, including farmers, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in an attempt to reposition the industry.

    In a related development, the Faculty Director, School of Agricultural Science, Fertiliser and Environment, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Morocco, Prof. Abdelaziz Yasri, said the future of large-scale agriculture lay in the adoption and integration of modern technology to boost food production.

    Consequently, there is a need for more skilled and qualified workforce to adopt and use budding tech innovations.

    He told The Nation that post-graduate students at the UM6P were exposed to world-class education to equip them to pursue careers in agriculture.

    He said they are exposed to several agricultural and food industry technologies e.g. fertigation (when nutrients are incorporated into irrigation water) and precision agriculture (the use of technology to obtain environmental and crop data so as to deliver the right dose of nutrients to plants to increase productivity.

    According to him, the school brings international academics and industry experts to take participants through various aspects of tech innovation in the agric sector.

  • Bayelsa poll: Where will pendulum swing?

    During the campaigns, Bayelsa State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate Senator Douye Diri canvassed continuity. His All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, David Lyon pushed for  power shift. Who will the electorate vote for  tomorrow? Senior Correspondent MIKE ODIEGWU examines the issues that will shape the poll.

     

    Tomorrow will be a historic day for the oil-rich Bayelsa State. Voters will come out at their various polling units to elect a new governor. Based on statistics obtained from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) out of the 923,187 registered voters, 867,088 persons, who collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), will decide the future of Bayelsa by voting for their preferred candidates in 2,243 polling units.

    Though Bayelsa has eight local governments and 105 wards, its terrain and topography have made election in the Ijaw homogeneous state a Herculean task. Most communities can only be accessed by water and INEC has said it will take three days to complete the electoral process and announce the winner.

    Whoever wins the poll will take over the reigns of power from Governor Seriake Dickson, who hails from Sagbama Local Government Area and has made history as the only governor at the verge of completing two terms.

    The election is a straight battle between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Senator Douye Diri and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Chief David Lyon. Other 43 political parties are in the race as pretenders apart from the candidate of the Accord Party, Ebizimo Diriyai, considered in some quarters as the dark horse  because of some seriousness he had demos treated ahead of the election.

     

    PDP versus APC

    Undoubtedly, the election is between the two leading political parties, the PDP and the APC. PDP has since 1999 perpetuated itself into the politics of Bayelsa. It has been at the helms of affairs with its structures spreading across the creeks and hinterlands.

    But, the flowing tide of PDP’s acceptance appears to be shifting. In the 2015 governorship election when the Petroleum Minister (State) and former governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, contested on the platform against Governor Seriake Dickson, who ran for a second term in office, there was a strong sentiment against the broom party.

    The sentiment was used as a weapon to compromise critical institutions to stop the APC from winning the state. Most people felt that it would have been a double jeopardy for the APC to defeat an Ijaw son, former President Goodluck Jonathan, home and away. They felt it would have been disgraceful for the APC to sweep Jonathan out of the Aso Rock and still defeat his party, the PDP, at his home state, Bayelsa.

    But, the APC has grown in stamina after the 2015 reelection of Dickson. The strength of the APC is attributed to Dickson’s style of governance, his unimpressive performance in office, growing poverty under his administration, collapsed economy, and his alleged autocratic style, which culminated in his political choices ahead of the poll.

    Many people criticise Dickson for single-handedly picking the PDP’s candidate Diri, and his running mate, Senator Lawrence Ewrujakpor, without recourse to former President Goodluck Jonathan and other leaders.

    Even before the preparation for the  poll, the results of the 2019 general elections, showed that the APC was gaining momentum in the state.

    In the 2015 presidential election, Jonathan, who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), won Bayelsa, by landslide. Figures by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed that Jonathan defeated the then candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, with 361, 209 votes in the state. In fact, it was an abysmal outing for APC. Buhari, only scored 5,194 votes.

    Also in the 2015 National Assembly elections, APC candidates only contested for formality. While PDP candidates posted bogus figures and were declared winners in their districts and constituencies, APC contestants were left to lick their wounds.

    But, the scenario changed dramatically in the 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections. The margin of difference between Buhari and the PDP candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was a remarkable departure from the 2015 election. Atiku polled 197, 933 votes to beat Buhari of APC, who scored 118, 821 votes. It is a difference of 79,851 votes, compared to 356,015 votes difference between Jonathan and Buhari in 2015.

    There was also a close contest between the National Assembly candidates of the PDP and those of the APC. Beyond all expectations, INEC confirmed that candidates of the APC won two seats in the House of Representative and one in the Senate.

    The results showed that the candidate of the APC for Brass-Nembe Federal Constituency, Isreal Sunny-Goli scored 41,150 votes to his closest of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Marie Ebikake, who polled 19, 279 votes. In Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency, APC candidate, Preye Oseke, scored 56,804 votes to defeat the candidate of the PDP and Speaker of House of Assembly, Kombowei Benson, with 34,104 votes. APC also won the East Senatorial District with its candidate, Degi Eremienyo Wagara, scoring 43,303 to win his counterpart in the PDP, who polled 32,363 votes.

    The dynamics have further changed ahead of tomorrow’s election. Dickson is no longer contesting and many people view the choice of his candidate as a continuation of his reign. Therefore, observers believe that there is a general consensus and conspiratorial move to halt Dickson’s influence. Besides, those who caused the cancellation of Southern Ijaw results, which would have been used to upturn his mileage in that poll,  are not longer working with him.

    Though the APC message of liberation and better Bayelsa has resonated many people believe that it required more efforts for the APC to win than merely attracting crowd. The party is up against Dickson, known as a deft, calculative, cerebral and organised politician. Dickson with his bag of political tricks can always spring surprises to defeat his carefree opponent.

    Diri:

    Diri and Lyon are shaping the political discourse. The duo are from two different backgrounds. Diri, who hails from Kolokuma-Opokuma, the smallest local government in Bayelsa,  rose to prominence by holding various public offices. He once served in the Ijaw National Council (INC).

    But, he was propelled into mainstream politics by a former Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Timi Alaibe, who nominated him to serve as a Commissioner during the administration of Jonathan as a governor.

    His meteoric ascendancy began when Dickson became governor. He served as Dickson’s Deputy Chief of Staff, his principal secretary and was later handed the PDP’s Yenagoa-Kolokuma-Opokuma Federal Constituency’s ticket to represent the area in the House of Representatives. Diri was supported by Dickson to become a senator representing the Bayelsa Central District.

    Diri, against all odds, became the candidate of the PDP through his godfather, Dickson. The governor stepped on powerful toes within his party, including Jonathan, Alaibe, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and other PDP power brokers to ensure Diri’s victory at the PDP primary poll.

    The controversies and disappointment that led to the nomination of Diri  have yet to be resolved. Alaibe, rated the most popular aspirant and  the choice of Jonathan and other power brokers during the primaries, is still in the court challenging the process that threw up Diri.

    Alaibe, who mentored Diri and brought him to mainstream politics, has shunned pressures mounted on him by Dickson to withdraw his case and throw his weight behind the PDP candidate. Alaibe rated as the political powerhouse of Diri’s Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government Area, has remained resolute in his quest to retrieve the PDP ticket from Diri.

     

    Lyon:

    Unlike Diri, Lyon, who hails from Southern Ijaw, the largest local government area, rose to prominence through personal struggles and individual efforts. Lyon, who is married with three children, was famous for engaging oil multinationals operating in his community to live up to their social responsibilities. Lyon became an oil industry player, especially in the security sub-sector, when he proffered lasting solutions to illegal oil bunkering, pipeline vandalism and illegal refining of crude oil, which were rampant in Southern Ijaw.

    Lyon, a Christian,  has been a successful businessman and has expanded his business empire. He worked as a foreman in Western Geophysical Company LTD. But he is now the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Darlon Oil and Gas Nigeria Ltd, Darlon Group Nig.Ltd, and Arutex and Sons Nig.Ltd.

    Lyon is also known for his philanthropic gestures. He became popular by empowering the needy and the physically-challenged persons in the state. Through his David Lyon Foundayion (DLF), he has been floating a functional scholarship schemes with beneficiaries drawn from the eight local government areas of the state. He provides regular financial and material assistance to the elderly, widows, physically-challenged persons and other needy individuals.

    Lyon is not a political neophyte or a rookie in politics. He joined politics in the Third Republic. As a member of the defunct, National Republican Congress (NRC), he contested and won a councilorship election at Ward 4 in Southern Ijaw. But, the military incursion aborted his tenure in 1997. He was a founding member of the PDP in Southern Ijaw and was appointed a caretaker committee chairman of Apoi Olodiama Local Government Development Centre. He later joined the APC. During the trying times of the APC in Bayelsa, Lyon was said to have stood as its main financier. He kept the flag of the party flying and eventually won the admiration of most party members.

    Also against all expectations, Sylva surprisingly drafted Lyon into the governorship race. He plotted a process that led to the emergence of Lyon in a direct primary, which caused some rumblings in the party following refusal of a former Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and a founding member of the APC, Preye Aganaba, who contested the primary, to accept the victory of Lyon.

    Lokpobiri challenged the emergence of Lyon at the Federal High Court, praying the court to declare him the authentic winner of the primary. Aganaba has also instituted a suit asking the court to void the primary that produced the APC candidate. While Lokpobiri has instructed his supporters to vote for the APC, Aganaba has remained silent, refusing to partake in the activities of the party.

    Those against Lyon claim he lacks the requisite academic background and good command of the English Language. But, his supporters insist that Bayelsa is in dire need of a candidate with the will to develop the state and not a grandiloquent orator.

    How far can the running mates, Ewrujakpor and Degi go?

    The two running mates are incumbent senators. While Senator Biobarakumo Degi of the APC represents the East District, Ewrujakpor, represents the Bayelsa West, the senatorial district of Dickson.

    Degi, who hails from Basambiri in Nembe Local Government Area, is a grassroots politician. He is also an astute public servant. His selflessness and philanthropy made him popular among the people. Degi-Eremienyo studied Agricultural Economics/Extension at the Rivers state University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1990. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the same university.

    Degi is seen as a better politician than his counterpart in the PDP. The APC running mate started his political career in 1980s. He became a member of the local chamber in Nembe Local Government Area in 1990. He became the vice-chairman in 1993 and emerged the Chairman of Nembe Local Government area in 1999. The chairmanship made him closer to the grassroots as he was said to have used the local resources to touch many lives.

     

    Read Also: Bayelsa poll: Defections won’t stop Diri’s victory, says Alabrah

     

    Besides, his emergence as the running mate was devoid of controversy. Analysts believe that Degi has added value to the campaign of the APC. His recent disqualification by the Federal High Court has become his major setback. The court, which gave judgement on Tuesday, four days to the election,  in a suit hidden from the prying lenses of media, said the senator presented false information to INEC in his form CF001, following multiple variations in names contained in his certificates.

    But Degi, who described the judgement as a travesty, said he had instructed his lawyers to seek redress at the Appeal Cour. He disagreed with the judgment saying the plaintiff he made the assertions could not prove his case beyond every reasonable doubt.

    In a statement he personally signed, the senator said: “Upon been served with the court processes, I quickly denied the allegation of presenting false information to INEC by deposing to a counter affidavit wherein I clearly stated the circumstances leading to the variation forming the plaintiffs complain.

    “I equally applied to the court to summon the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and Government Secondary School, Anyama – Ogbia to come with the particulars including photograph of the actual individual who sat for these examinations in order to ascertain whether it is any different from me.

    For the PDP running mate, Ewrujakpor, a man of intelligence, is a close confidant of Dickson. He hailed from same Tarakiri clan with the governor. The senator served as Dickson’s legislative aide when the governor was in the House of Representatives.

    In terms of academic prowess, competence and experience, Ewrujakpor is qualified to run as the deputy. Politically, however, Ewrujakpor is seen as a liability to the PDP. He has a low popularity rating politically.

    First, his origin as a descendant of Urhobo ethnic group in Delta State, has always hunted his political adventure. His community, Ofoni (Ughelli-Urhie), is an Urhobo community in Sagbama Local Government Area. When he was made the senatorial candidate of the PDP in 2019, hell was let loose as many Ijaw stakeholders protested. Following his victory after the senatorial poll, some Urhobo groups acknowledged him as the second Urhobo Senator in the National Assembly after the Deputy Senate President, Omo-Agege.

    His choice as a running mate to Diri attracted criticisms from some stakeholders, who insisted that they would not have Urhobo as their deputy governor in a homogeneous Ijaw state. It is believed that the sentiment may hunt the PDP at the poll.

    Besides, the emergence of Erwujakpor as a running mate created a lot of bad blood in PDP. Many stakeholders believed it was against zoning the principles of equity, balance and fairness espoused by Dickson. The issue tore the PDP apart, with many voices telling the governor to reconsider his position. They told the governor that it stood logic in the head for him to insist that his kinsman, Ewrujakpor, should be a running mate, despite the fact that his Sagbama local government is about completing eight years of governorship.

    In fact, many people in the state feel that Dickson’s insistence on Ewrujakpor is self-centered and in line with his ambition to succeed him at the Senate in case the PDP wins the poll. Stakeholders appealed to the governor to zone the position to the East and consider giving it to Ogbia, the local government area of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Others argued that, even if the governor wanted the position to remain in his Western zone, he should consider Ekeremor and not his own local government, Sagabama. Following the pressure mounted on him, Dickson promised to reconsider the matter and explore an option of substitution in a stakeholders’ meeting. But, the meeting, when it eventually held failed.

     

    Defections:

    The chances of the PDP may be affected by the decisions of most Dickson’s appointees to resign their positions. Resignation letters dropped in torrents as the affected appointees switched their camp to the APC. The defectors were particularly angry, that despite the hullabaloo that led to the emergence of Diri, Dickson still ignored entreaties to balance the polity by zoning the running mate slot to Bayelsa East Senatorial District, especially Ogbia, the local government area of Jonathan. They felt that the choice of Ewrujakpor, who hails from Sagbama, the same local government area of Dickson was a selfish calculation defiling all sound political permutations.

     

    The Jonathan factor:

    The influence of Jonathan is a huge factor. Jonathan and his wife, Patience, felt slighted by the way and manner Dickson cornered everything to himself. Dickson after choosing both the candidate and the running mate have tried in vain to get the support of the former President. Though Jonathan has kept himself busy with international duties, sources disclosed that he is disposed to the ambition of Lyon. Also, his wife was reportedly prevailed upon not to attend an APC flag-off rally that was held in Ogbia, Jonathan’s local government area.

    Recently, the body language of Jonathan’s family was revealed when Lyon and his campaign entourage visited Eunice, the mother of the former President. The mother gave her blessings to Lyon in Otuoke, Lyon was led to the home of Eunice by Ogbia leaders and Jonathan’s kinsmen, including a grassroots mobiliser and former Chairman of Bayelsa Environmental Sanitation Agency, Chief Robert Enogha, who recently left the government of Seriake Dickson to join the APC.

    The APC candidate, who exchanged pleasantries and held brief discussions with Madam Jonathan, bowed before the woman for prayers. Jonathan’s mother, who spoke in Ogbia dialect, was seen beaming with smiles as she received the candidate and his team. Also, many foot soldiers of Jonathan and Alaibe have abandoned the PDP for the APC. There are strong indications that many PDP leaders are bidding their time to join the APC.

    Also, the ex-militant leaders have declared their support for Lyon. A notable ex-militant leader, Ebikabowei Victor-Ben, popularly known as Boyloaf, who spoke on behalf of other ex-creek warlords, said the ex-militant leaders after due consultations, decided to adopt Lyon as their candidate for the poll.

    Describing Dickson as an emperor, Boyloaf said the ex-militant leaders would work to dethrone  to enthrone the government of the APC.

    Lyon revealed the undercurrents in the Ijaw nation ahead of the poll. At the APC rally, the APC candidate devoted ample time extending greetings to Jonathan, E.K. Clark and and the Commander of the Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo.

     

    Local councils:

    There is no doubt that Sagabama, the local government area of Dickson with 105,705 active votes will opt for the PDP. Apart from Dickson’s presence, Ewrujakpor and Miebi Bribina also hail from the area. PDP is also expected to win Ekeremor, which has 123,567 votes, but not by landslide, following the defections of key politicians, including a former acting Governor, Peremobowei Ebebi from the PDP to the APC. Both local government areas are from the Bayelsa West.

    “In Bayelsa East, Nembe (89,866 votes), Ogbia (108,691 votes) and Brass (65,900 votes) may vote massively for the APC. For the first time in the history of Nembe, the two dominant communities, Nembe Bassambiri and Ogbolomabiri are on the same political page on Lyon candidacy. Brass has been the stronghold of the APC while Ogbia based on Jonathan’s factor and the allegations that Dickson hates them and has done nothing to develop their area may opt for Lyon.

    In the Bayelsa Central, Southern Ijaw with 164,844 votes seems to have made of their minds across party lines on the APC candidate since Lyon hails from the area. The candidate is also very popular in his local government area. The People of Kolokuam-Opokuma with the least votes of 50,477 may give Diri their votes since he hails from the area. But the APC presents a big obstacle in the area following the anger among most of them that the PDP ticket should have been given to Alaibe instead of Diri.

    Yenagoa with 180,263 votes, however, will be a battleground. Most non-indigenes are unhappy with the PDP because of the collapse of the economy of the state and may likely cast their votes for the APC. Also, the Epie-Atissa, a dominant ethnic group in Yenagoa have been canvassing votes for the APC. But the APC leaders need to summon courage to confront a member of the House of Assembly, Ofor Orji, who has been the game changer for the PDP in the area.

     

    ‘We want to assure you that as far as the credible processes are concerned, we shall maintain our neutrality as umpires. INEC is not a political party. INEC has no candidate in the election’

     

    INEC, Police preparedness:

    The National Chairman of INEC, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, has insisted that the commission was fully ready for a free, fair and credible election in the state. Mahmood was quoted to have said that only an atomic bomb would change the plans of the commission. On two occasions, the chairman visited Bayelsa and held consultative meetings with stakeholders.

    Mahmood said the commission was ready to conduct peaceful, free, fair, credible and conclusive election in Bayelsa and appealed to the traditional rulers to make suggestions and contributions that would change the narrative in Bayelsa.

    He said: “We want to assure you that as far as the credible processes are concerned, we shall maintain our neutrality as umpires. INEC is not a political party. INEC has no candidate in the election.

    “The choice of who becomes the next governor eat entirely in the hands of the people of Bayelsa State. We have delivered all the non-sensitive materials for the election. We have secured funding and made funds available to the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the administration of the election.

    “We have no problem whatsoever.  We will deploy straight from our office in Yenagoa to the registration areas to make it faster for us to be able to open the polling units at 8am. We are committed to ensuring that voters don’t wait for INEC officials and materials to arrive. We should be there waiting for voters to come and vote.”

    The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, also visited the state, held pep talks with policemen and attended a consultative meeting, where the candidates signed peace accord. Adamu read the Riot Act on critical areas including buying of votes and violence during the election.

    Also 32,000 policemen detailed by the Inspector-General of Police to monitor the election began arriving in the state. The activities of the policemen are to be supervised by 15 Commissioners of Police, three Assistant Inspectors-General (AIG) of Police and the Deputy Inspectors-General of Police (DIG) deployed in the state for the poll.

    Some of the Commissioners of Police are Garba Baba Umar, Sanusi Buba, Bello Makwashi, Usman Sule Gomina, Mohammed Gimba, Bashir Makama, Habu Sani and Danladi Bitrus Lalas, Omololu Bishi, Joseph Mukan and an Acting Police Commissioner Odumosu Olusegun among others.

    The DIG of Police on Bayelsa Election, Anthony Ogbizi , assured the people of the State of their safety and promised that the security personnel would ensure level-playing ground for the INEC to conduct a free, fair and credible election.

    Bishi called on the people to come out en masse to cast their votes for their preferred candidates on Saturday election. However the pendulum swings on Saturday, Bishi has words of advice to the people. He said: “Anybody that wins the election is a son of the soil and not a stranger. There is no need for anyone to fight because no office is worth the blood of the people.”

     

     

     

  • Danger on the electricity turf

    It is a paradox that electrical installation in Government Reservation Areas (GRA) since four decades ago are still intact while new ones are falling off because of lack of adherence to construction and installation standards. Many Nigerians have been electrocuted as a result of this unfortunate practice, writes JOHN OFIKHENUA.

     

    The Federal Government has saddled the Nigerian Electricity Management Services (NEMSA) with the responsibility of enforcing technical standards and regulations, technical inspection, testing and certification of all categories of electrical installations, electrical meters and instruments to ensure the efficient production and delivery of safe, reliable and sustainable electricity supply and guarantee safety of lives and property in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and for related matters.

    NEMSA Managing Director, Peter Ewesor, brought the state of the national grid to bear last week as the guest lecturer at the 5th Engr. Otis O.T. Anyaeji Annual Distinguished Lecture in Abuja, with the theme: “Electrical Safety”.

    It is noteworthy that by his position, he is also the Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation. In other words, he is the number one electrical engineer as far as the nation’s grid is concerned.

    His revelations about the grid were, however, unbecoming of a country of Nigeria’s population and electricity market.

    He noted that it is obvious that many issues are plaguing the power industry and other workplaces today, and these include lack of adherence to rules and regulations, adding that there was the issue of inappropriate and inadequate specifications.

    The Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation also cited issues of poor, aging, and dilapidated network as some of the challenges militating against the progress of the industry. He frankly pointed out that there were high rate of electrical accidents and electrocution.

    He also took electrical engineers to the cleaners. According to him, they are the ones designing, supervising installation and maintenance of electrical works. He spotted an irony of professionalism on the part of the new generation engineers, when he noted that although the power installations that our forefathers built were still intact while the new ones hardly last a decade before wearing out and causing accidents.

    In the cause of inspection the agency found out that the state of the networks were appalling across the country. Visibly worried, he said “these are what contribute to electrical accidents

    New ones and aging networks, according to him, are also posing tremendous challenges to the sector when he said “we are building defective network from day one”. “Sometimes we go to some sites four to five times before we can approve projects. Once we don’t do it right, it leads to electrical accidents,” he added.

    Poor installations, Ewesor said, have become a drain in the consumers’ purse, blaming the issues in the sector on low investment. He was also worried that electrical installations of several decades in some Government Reservation Areas are still intact whereas the recent ones are already collapsing and causing accidents.

    Epileptic power supply, he said, is a factor of electrical safety. Not only was his analysis of the state of the network scary when he opened up, the revelation was also unbecoming of a sector that had gulped billion dollars from annual budgets, grants, loans interventions from development agencies .

    His words: The poles, cross arms have gone bad, they are no longer being supported by insulators of cross arms, they are dangling, and definitely, such line cannot carry quality power supply to our houses, to factories or wherever you want it to be. So, sometimes you have power on the grid, on the network, but such power cannot get to me and you because the installations are not fit, not reliable to carry that power. I say to this audience, that if you look at it we have been lucky because we don’t have 24/7 power supply. That is why today if the DisCos and even the Transmission Company of Nigeria have a lot of respite. The day Nigerians have 24/7 power supply for full month, more than about 70 percent of those conductors will melt and a lot of accidents will occur. This is because the conductors have been there for 20- 30 years. Many of them have whittled, many of them are weak but because they receive current intermittently they are still standing.”

    As odious as weak network is to lives and property, so it is to revenue generation in the sector because of the technical, commercial and collection losses they culminate. The NEMSA boss, therefore, explained that an industry that has up to between 20, 30, and 40 per cent ATC and C losses would always grapple with revenue issues. But he was hopeful that tackling the technical and commercial issues in the Nigerian electricity market could improve its revenue generation.

    The NEMSA boss also complained that use of substandard materials and equipment is in fact hitting the roof. In the bid to arrest the situation, he revealed that the agency has made recommendations to the Standard Organisation (SON), which the agency usually make its report on substandard materials.  He urged the engineers to ensure that on noticing some of the terribly bad materials from mostly Asian countries not to pretend. On his own, he has changed electrical equipment in his bathroom five times this year due to poor quality.

    Read Also: Tales of sorrow from electricity consumers

    Speaking technically, he said: “In fact, we split conductors, somebody wants to take power to a particular house or community, the person buys 150mm, splits it into two; 75 and 75mm basically, the 75mm cannot carry the quantum of power that is to be taken to the place. The challenge is that when that conductor carries more than the power it is supposed to carry, it will definitely melt because there will be a lot of heating effect. This is why when we did our investigation we found out that what should have been prevented was not prevented.”

    He recalled that at the University of Lagos three years ago, a girl lost her life to electrical accident while walking, the conduct snapped and dropped on her. She couldn’t survive it. “If things had been done well, that would not happen,” Ewesor lamented.

    As a result of the accident, according to Ewesor, the agency forced the University to carry out underground wiring in the area. He also told the gathering that as stakeholders they are responsible for the safety of their houses, urging them not to solely entrust the safety of lives to the distribution companies and the government, urging them to be vigilant.

    Ewesor noted that customers usually have two sources of supply: Discos and their generators to a three pole changeover switch. According to him, the consumers could in the cause create the problem of paying the DisCo even when they are using their generators. Educating consumers and engineers, he noted: “It is a closed circuit and any time you are on, your generator will feed into the system. Two, if you have your house the earthen is not there and there is a short circuit, there is earth leakage in the meter, because there is no way to discharge that current to ground, your meter will read. This is because it is a virtual load and it will be recorded. That is why people will say crazing bill.”

    For Nigerians to ensure safety, he insisted that they must do earthen in their houses, urging consumers to mitigate all attendant safety lapses. He also narrated how the country lost a police officer and his five children to bad electrical materials in Jos. What happened, he said, was that they wired their cooker control unit with 1.5mm, but when the incident happened they thought it was the DisCo. The family in Jos went to bed and ignored the smell of burnt wiring that emanated from their household, which touched the rug, and set the entire house ablaze.

    He also revealed that the agency is battling those who have crossed the Abuja -Kaduna line with power line to put the necessary cradle guide. The NEMSA boss explained that since the railway line is a metal, if an electricity conductor falls on it and the power fails trip, its result could be disastrous. According to him, while he was a young engineer in the defunct National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA), it was forbidden to cross a major road, railway line, radar crossing with power line without a cradle guide. His words: “It is a practice when I was young in the system, when I was in NEPA, what happened is that you cannot cross a major road, railway line, radar crossing with your power line without putting a cradle guide. You may be sacked.

    Today, we are battling with those, who have crossed the railway line from Abuja to Kaduna or to anywhere. If you don’t put cradle guide it is a disaster. If the conductor drops on the railway line, it is metal, and the system unfortunately fails to trip, that particular track is electrified and you can know what the consequences are.”

    Ewesor, however, noted that the agency has always insisted on the right practice, adding that once NEMSA gets a hint of such malpractice, it writes to ensure that the utility provider complies with the law.

    When a participant asked him about the compliance with right of way on the Abuja -Kaduna railway line around Kubwa, he disclosed that the contractor is already providing the cradle guide. According to him, the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) is mounting the cradle and earthen guide along the railway line. He said once the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) informs NEMSA in any construction on the right of way, he writes to inform the authority to effect the necessary correction.

    In order to rid the right of way of encumbrances, he noted that some state governments have commenced the removal of structures from the paths. He also cautioned the distribution companies on the risk of supplying electricity to residents on power line, stressing that, “if you as a DisCo you are supplying my house and I am under the right of way of power line and I am paying you electricity bill, if anything happens in that particular place, well, it is DisCos, who would be held responsible”.

    He said the agency has found out that the state of the network throughout the country is appalling. But he vowed to weed out faulty installation in the grid regardless of the position of violators of electricity code, adding: “I will better disobey man and please God.”

    He described any point load on 33-line location as a potential problem and informed engineers that most of electrical materials are substandard, carrying labels higher than their actual capacity. “Once you use a substandard material, it is a challenge,” he added.

    According to him, NEMSA has removed 93 poor quality transformers and 400 concrete electric poles from the system.  He expressed worries that “there is now a total deviation from the normal practice and if we don’t change it, we will not have power”.

     

    The poles, cross arms have gone bad, they are no longer being supported by insulators of cross arms, they are dangling, and definitely, such line cannot carry quality power supply to our houses, to factories or wherever you want it to be. So, sometimes you have power on the grid, on the network, but such power cannot get to me and you…..

     

    He said from the observation of faults in the network, the agency has insisted that all primary feeder lines must use minimum of 450mm aluminum steel reinforced conductor because the steel inside the middle will give it additional mechanical strength than what it ought to be. Anything fall short of this standard, he vowed, will not get NEMSA’s approval.

    He also raised stakeholders’ hope that the agency was preparing a construction and installation standard guideline manual for the industry, which would a must for every DisCo. This, according to him, is to achieve unification in the industry by the end of the year to mitigate accident in the industry. Safety in the industry, however, continues to depend on the readiness of the stakeholders to play by the rule.

  • Books and movies

    Yejide and Akin’s path crosses at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife. It is not really love at first sight for both of them but there are some forces pulling them together. Akin give up his relationship and insist on Yejide. With time she agrees, and with time they become husband and wife, and that is when the drama that will make a good movie begins.

    Baba Segi has plenty children or so he thinks, but still goes ahead to marry a new wife. His three other wives give her hell. They are also afraid of her because of a secret that binds them. In this secret is a drama that is bound to make the cinema bubble with laughter.

    And there is this story of four men—Donatus, Chidi, Osahon and Haruna. Connecting all of them is Yinka, who preys on their avarice and ignorance.

    Donatus is a photojournalist who worked for a newspaper whose publisher is a big-for-nothing fool. Salaries were not paid promptly, allowances non-existent and welfare zero. Chidi is an undergraduate who suddenly feels the urge to hit it big. Osahon, on the other hand, has been on the run from Benin where he is wanted for cult-related offence. As for Haruna, his case is different; the medical doctor just feels tired of Nigeria after his mother’s death and he feels going abroad is it.

    Their displeasure with Nigeria leads them all to Yinka, whose motive for wanting to help them go abroad is far from noble. The signs that Yinka’s gestures may not be noble are glaring, but these men are blinded by their frustration with Nigeria. Their minds are simply no longer here. Even when family members call these guys’ attention to possible danger in Yinka’s offer; they lie to make the whole thing look good. All that is important is to just get out of Nigeria, which is likened to hell.

    In another instance, there is Esi, a girl whose mother is Nigerian, and her father is Ghanaian. She is forced to do things she does not want to do but she asserts herself against all odds.

    These scenarios are from four books: Yejide and Akin are the narrators in Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay With Me; Baba Segi and his wives are the must-love characters in Lola Shoneyin’s Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives or Secret Lives of Four Wives; Donatus and co are in Nze Sylva Ifedigbo’s My Mind is no longer here; and Esi is the darling of Bisi Adjapon’s Of frog and Women.

    These books and many others, I believe, will make good movies. Some weeks ago, Stella Damasus, the Atlanta-based Nigerian thespian who is a pioneer of our movie industry known as Nollywood, was involved in a twitter battle over the pending adaptation of Americanah, the amazing love story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

    The 2013 novel tells the story of a young Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, who immigrates to the United States to attend university. She is in love with Obinze, who eventually relocates to London but finds life as an illegal immigrant difficult. He is bundled back home and fortunes later smile on him.

    Distance breaks them up. Ifemelu starts another relationship and then another one, but her heart remains with Obinze, who also moves on by getting married and starting a family. But for the two of them, what goes up must come down.

    Of Adichie’s three novels, Americanah seems to have made the most impact. Like her Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah is set to go on the screen.

    Over the years there have been many Hollywood movies with Nigerian characters played by people from other nations. Their interpretations of the roles have always been subjects of disagreements. This is where Stella is coming from and I am sure this will continue when the series goes on air. People will watch out to see how Lupita, who is from Kenya, will pronounce Igbo names. Will she speak Igbo?

    Biyi Bandele’s adaptation of Half of a Yellow Sun was enmeshed in a similar controversy. Not a few felt the twins should have been played by Nigerians instead of Thandie Newton (Olanna) and Anika Noni Rose (Kainene).

    Nollywood is an industry that is cash-challenged. Acquiring screen rights of internationally-published works, such as Americanah, does not come cheap. By some agreement, ace cinematographer and director Tunde Kelani adapted some literary works of the late Akinwunmi Isola, such as Kosegbe and Oleku. Jude Dibia’s Walking with Shadows is also set to become a movie. I am sure no one dictated the choice of lead actors to either Kelani or Funmi Iyanda, the force behind the adaptation of Dibia’s book.

    Unlike Nollywood, the adaptation of literary works is commonplace in Hollywood. Movies, such as The Hate U Give, Crazy Rich Asians, If Beale Street Could Talk and hundreds of others, are made from books. Unconfirmed reports say over half of Hollywood movies were first books.

    Like Stella, I believe Nollywood is blessed with great actors. She is one. So are Genevieve, Stephanie, Rita, Omoni Oboli, Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD), Toyin Abraham, Olu Jacobs, Adesua Etomi-Wellington and many others.

    While the talents of Toyin and many others are not in doubt, it is not an automatic ticket that when Nigeria-centred roles are available in Hollywood it will be waiting for them. Genevieve and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde have a measure of international fame, but even at that power (role) is never served a la carte. There are other considerations other than talents.

    He who pays the piper calls the tune. Movie-making, like publishing, is business and the investors are always concerned about how to recoup their investment. This is, for me, a genuine concern. They are not into charity. If they feel that they need Hollywood actors to get the return on their investment, we certainly cannot begrudge them.

    Aside Stay With Me and others earlier mentioned, I have been told Nigerian novels, such as Night Dancer, On Black Sisters’ Street, The Fishermen, Son of Man, In the Name of Our Father and Ayodele Olofintuade’s Lakiriboto Chronicles, will make good movies.

    Eghosa Imasuen’s second novel Fine Boys, in which boys love blood, violence, and they feel insecure without the badge of confraternity, looks like what will also be good for the big screen. Richard Ali’s debut novel, City of Memories, in which Eunice and Dibarama have followers who are ready to kill and die for them, is also an interesting tale that can sit well on the big screen.

    I look forward to seeing these gripping stories on the big screen. Whether it is Hollywood or Nollywood, I do not care. All I want is for the books to become movies for us to enjoy.

    My final take: The Federal Government, through any of its arts-related agencies, should help movie makers option great books and turn them to movies. This way, the publishing industry, especially the creative writing sector of it, will be given a lifeline. I dare say it is gasping for breath now and badly in need of oxygen.

     

     ‘The Federal Government, through any of its arts-related agencies, should help movie makers option great books and turn them to movies. This way, the publishing industry, especially the creative writing sector of it, will be given a lifeline. I dare say it is gasping for breath now and badly in need of oxygen’