The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Building leaders

    Building leaders

    The first half of this year has been actionpacked and quite eventful in Lagos. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who clocked 54 this Wednesday, is lucky to be the Chief Helmsman of the Centre of Excellence at a time when Lagos is commemorating the 50th year of her creation. It is surely a historic moment to be the man in the arena. We have witnessed memorable events celebrating the undeniable rise to prominence of Lagos as Africa’s emergent model megacity. Yet it is so easy to forget that just 18 years ago, President Olusegun Obasanjo derisively referred to Lagos as no better than a jungle and he was certainly right. It was a city of chaos, groaning under the weight of refuse, paralyzed by traffic gridlock and crater-ridden roads, often submerged by destructive floods, crippled by crime, barely able to generate sufficient funds to pay its workers and roiling in ethnic bloodbath, religious tension and communal clashes. Men, women and children could be seen all over the city carrying assorted containers in search of water. Scores of children carried their chairs and desks on their heads to and from school daily. School walls routinely collapsed wounding and sometimes killing children.

    But that was another age, a time far faded in memory. Lagos had a visionary pathfinder in Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who revolutionized the finances of the state and laid the foundation for her economic and infrastructural resuscitation between 1999 and 2007. She had a hardworking and astute technician in Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) who accelerated the pace of the state’s transformation between 2007 and 2015. And in the current governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the quality of governance and pace of performance has been elevated to even greater heights. What is unique about Ambode is that he makes governance appear so easy. His leadership style is impactful without being obtrusive. His information management team does not engage in propaganda. Yet, throughout the length and breadth of the state, the presence and effectiveness of governance is palpable.

    Leadership is Nigeria’s direst need of the hour. It is critical to taming the monster of corruption beyond rhetoric. Broadminded, urbane and cosmopolitan leadership is needed to stem the current dangerous fractiousness and begin to rebuild cohesive nationhood. Nigeria desperately requires a leadership that is intellectually confident enough to attract the country’s best and brightest brains into government without feeling inferior or intimidated. The once self-styled giant of Africa is in need of leaders who possess the audacity of courage to think the unthinkable and steer the country in previously uncharted terrains of innovation, creativity and resourcefulness. Of course, these leaders will not drop from the sky. They will be bred and nurtured right here among us. Indeed, many of them are already in our midst and it is our challenge and responsibility to give them the opportunity to unfurl their potentials for our collective good.

    On Mr. Ambode’s birthday, I decided to reread his 118-page inspirational biography, ‘The Art of Selfless Service’, masterfully penned by the Solicitor and Advocate, Marina Osoba and published in 2014. It is a veritable manual on how to inspire and produce great leaders. Governor Ambode is the product of institutions and innovations that were created locally and once worked effectively but which we sadly allowed to decay and degenerate over time. These are structures that we must resuscitate and improve upon so that they can once again begin to help socialize and mould our youths into ethically conscious, purposeful, self-driven and achievement oriented individuals. For instance, his sojourn at the Federal Government College, Warri, played a tremendous role in shaping Ambode into the kind of man and leader he has become.

    The seven years he spent at the institution obtaining his O’ and A’ Levels certificates in flying colours totally transformed the young Ambode. He was exposed to great teachers such as the legendary Mr. Phillip Howard Davis who immensely influenced his personality and outlook on life. Apart from the rigorous academic calendar, FGC Warri was run in such a way that it fostered the emotional, cultural, spiritual, social and physical development of the students. The school even had a Students Representative Council (SRC) made up of students who represented their colleagues at school administrative meeting. This was to nurture training in leadership responsibility and participatory democracy.

    There was the rich ethno-cultural mix of the student population, which helped to forge a strong pan-Nigerian consciousness among the young men and women. As Marina Osoba writes, “As expected, he made lots of new friends from all over Nigeria at Warri, all of who have remained close friends to date. Warri was a great melting pot; all tribes, religions, social groups, cultures and traditions, all in the sanctity of the hallowed walls of Federal Government College, Warri, under the tutelage of some of the best teachers in the country and most of all, under the able administration of Phillip Howard Davis. This was a match made in heaven”.

    To build great leaders, we must re-invent and radically modernize not just our unity schools but all our public primary and secondary schools across the country. They provide the foundation for leadership development. We must once more nurture great and dedicated teachers who see the profession not just as another job but a calling. Incidentally, even after leaving FGC, Warri, Mr. Ambode retained keen interest in the affairs of the school and continued to contribute to its development. He not only headed the Lagos State chapter of the school’s old boys association for several years, he encouraged the establishment of chapters across the country as well as in foreign countries including The U.K. and U.S.

    Beyond his alma mater, Ambode in January, 2006, inspired the formation and registration of the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA) comprising all alumni of 100 unity Schools in Nigeria with the aim of providing “a national platform through which alumni can focus on rekindling and sustaining the vision of the founders of the Unity School concept as centres of academic excellence, integration, leadership and unity as well as influencing policy changes in the way and manner these schools are administered”.

    Apart from his experience as a student of Accountancy at the cosmopolitan environment of the University of Lagos, Mr. Ambode’s participation in the compulsory National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) in 1984 helped to deepen the national consciousness he had developed at FGC Warri. According to the author, “Sokoto was a blessing in disguise; it afforded Akin the opportunity to reconnect with former friends of his Warri days which made the whole experience invaluable. When orientation camp was over, he found himself posted to serve at the state branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria. This opened up a whole new horizon as he not only learnt about Accountancy, but also discovered the intricacies of working in the Public Service”.

    Today, the NYSC has become a shadow of itself. Most parents are understandably unwilling to allow their children to serve in parts of the country prone to violence and crime. Yet, the NYSC can be a very effective vehicle for building patriotic, broadminded and detribalized leaders. This is another institution that has to be re-imagined, reinvented and radically modernized to continue to play its nation-enhancing role within a vastly changed context.

    A third major factor in Ambode’s development as a leader was his participation in August 1998, in the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Scholarship Programme at Boston University, Massachussets. This programme funded through the United States Department of State seeks to transform the mindset of the participant making him a team player rather than an isolationist, transform the man into an individual impassioned by the drive for excellence and integrity, empower the participant to help transform the workplace from which he came and also equip the participant to contribute towards transforming the society to which he will return. “To accomplish these objectives, programmes are designed to include various combinations of course work, independent projects, internships, consultations with U.S. faculty experts, field trips and special seminars. Under the guidance of a designated faculty advisor or ‘coordinator’, Fellows and scholars plan programmes that best suit their individual career development needs. However to reiterate, selfless service to society, being a major goal is one area that is not ignored”, the author writes.

    Continuing, Marina Osoba notes that “Akin’s Boston experience did all these and more. The period made him resolve to take service to a higher level than before; it re-engineered his entire educational experience, the exposure to the American way of doing things transformed his former ways and expanded the ‘can-do’ attitude he had. It solidified his belief that there was nothing unattainable when one serves selflessly and from the heart”. I am not aware that there is any equivalent of this kind of leadership development programme in Nigeria. Surely, the country has enough public spirited philanthropists who have the capacity to make such an opportunity for conscious, life-transforming leadership training and development available for promising potential leaders.

  • Nation building,the law and politicians

    I draw an analogy today between the role of the incumbent US Attorney General, Jeff Sessions in defending himself at the Senate on Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential elections and the role of Nigeria’s Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo in talking to leaders of both South East and the north over the rumpus of expulsion threat of Igbos from the North .

    I also today comment on the discharge and acquittal of the Senate President by the Code of Conduct Tribunal – CCT as well as the reason given by the Judicial Service Commission for the recall to duty of some judges whose residences were raided by the DSS and great publicity given to huge amount of currencies local and foreign found in their houses. It is my contention here that while the roles of Sessions and Osinbajo border on nation building and fence mending on behalf of the presidents they serve, that of the CCT judgement acquitting the Senate president as well as the reason given by the JSC were good example of making an ass of the law or making a mockery of justice.

    You may go along with me in calling the two issues both sides of the same coin in Nigeria’s temple of justice and you could be right; or you can name l them after that famous Clint Eastwood film called- the good, the bad and the ugly , this time of the Nigerian legal system and, you will have my genuine approbation. Let me start again with the Sessions/Osinbajo part of this story today. First, both gentlemen are time tested Attorney Generals well versed in the practice of law even though Sessions is much older and would have been a Federal Judge long ago but for charges of racism and discrimination that dogged and stopped his confirmation.

    Osinbajo of course is a professor of law and had spoken recently somewhere in Eastern Nigeria, at a summit of law teachers where he insisted that law teachers are the conscience of the spirit and practice of the rule of law, its sanctity and integrity. In a way both gentlemen are holding fort for their bosses. Sessions was in the Senate where he denied any knowledge of collusion with Russians in the election of his boss Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential elections. He called such allegation a detestable lie. He refused to disclose any discussion he had with the President of the US in public because he felt that was the proper thing to do.

    He literally paved the way for the prosecution of former FBI boss Comey who leaked similar discussion to the New York Times . He defended his decision to take part in the decision to fire Comey on the ground that it is part of his responsibility as US Attorney General and the FBI is just one of the many security outfits under his official purview . He said that the fact that he recused himself from one investigation , this time the Russian intervention allegation does not mean he has abandoned responsibility for the other duties of his job as Attorney General.

    Sessions defended his office and ipso facto that of his president brilliantly and confidently and it was obvious at a stage that he was enjoying himself before his former colleagues at the Senate given the mischievous glint in his eyes as he tried to suppress a smile or two because he knew his case was unassailable and that this would inevitably rub off positively on the many accusations against his boss, the president, on the matter. Similarly, the Nigerian Acting President held fort eloquently and brilliantly in the absence of our sick president in the way he spoke to leaders from the South East and the North and cautioned on the use of inflammatory language noting that words can cause war and that words like the pen can be mightier than the sword because that is what brings out the sword.

    This to me is vintage nation building through restraint and there is some warning to all sides in the matter that the state will not condone violence and will bring law breakers to order by all means. It is fascinating that the Nigerian Acting president has made fence mending and nation building quite easy and so desirable. He is also scheduled to meet religious leaders in the days ahead and that too is commendable.

    One can compare this with the famous effort of the US to do nation building in Iraq after the invasion of 2003 by establishing democracy which blew up Iraq as that gave power to the majority Shiite Muslims against who the better armed Sunni military cadre which ruled under Saddam Hussein have revolted ever since, and Iraq has not known peace. It is in that light that one should weigh the effort of the Acting President in cooling nerves in the absence of the president in the face of this expulsion and insurgency threat and tempest which really is an ill wind that does no one any good. We pray that the Acting President‘s efforts will yield the desired peace dividend and sanity will prevail at the end of the day.

    Let us now cross the fence as it were to the other side of the wall in Nigeria’s temple of justice where it is obvious the judiciary is at odds with the executive in Nigeria’s presidential system based on our now precarious separation of powers. On the two issues we highlighted, namely the acquittal of the Senate President and the return of the judges arrested by the DSS to duty, the Presidency through its Special Assistant on Prosecution has cried foul. In the case of the Senate President the Presidency disagreed with the judgement and an appeal may be imminent.

    In the case of the JSC recall of the judges, the institution’s spokesman took issues on dates for filing with the Presidency’s spokesman. But on both issues extra judicial considerations and politics were at play. With the Judges recall a case similar to what journalists call ‘dog does not eat dog‘ could be at play. It is similar to what senior civil servants call ‘espirit de corps’ which corrupt Nigerian policemen have bastardised when seeking illicit returns. Both the dog and corps narrative are about class protection against outsiders, this time the judiciary, protecting its own against the rest of us including those who are part of the legal system but are not judges.

    It is obvious the war against corruption will suffer seriously in the temple of justice because of this attitude at the top of the judiciary and we wait to see its logical conclusion in the light of overwhelming public condemnation. In the case of the Senate President, one can actually congratulate him for his doggedness in pursuing his acquittal to a successful end. But his victory is a pyrrhic one and its negative cost in the minds of Nigerians is monumental.

    Some have wondered why he went to the Supreme Court to stop the trial when the CCT judges knew all along that without his written statement he could be acquitted. Also, the question could be asked if the EFCC prosecution was ’shoddy‘ because of the pending confirmation of the appointment of the EFCC boss before the Senate as some have alleged. It is a sad day indeed for the EFCC in terms of prosecution but it should not be discouraged as this is a victory of politics over justice and as the saying goes, the struggle continues for equity and justice. Once again, long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

  • Don’t pull Rohr down

    The knives are out. Critics who have been silenced by the results recorded by Super Eagles Technical Adviser Gernot Rohr are up in arms, with one objective – pull Rohr down. Curiously, they have returned with the warp argument that Nigerian coaches would have done better. They have forgotten so soon that Nigerian coaches have failed with the country’s representatives to the Confederation of Africa (CAF’s) inter club competitions since Enyimba FC last won it in  2004.

    Thrown into the dust bin  are some of Rohr’s gains in rebuilding the Eagles, with the inclusion of Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City FC of England, Alex Iwobi (Arsenal FC of England), Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City FC of England), Troost Ekong (Gent FC of Belgium), Simon Moses (Gent FC of Belgium) et al. The immediate impact of these players’ inclusion was the high level of competition in the team. Sadly, this edge suffered a setback following injuries to key players, such as skipper Mikel Obi, goalkeeper Carl Ikeme and defender Leon Balogun. Victor Moses’ toe surgery further crippled a side that had found its rhythm in previous matches. Had the quartet played against the South Africans, the result would probably have been different. This is not to say that we lost because of their absence. No. We had lost games with these stars playing but they would have made the difference,  with their experience. Ikeme would have done better than a fumbling Akpeyi.

    Eagles’ outing against South Africa underlined the importance of the quartet. Akpeyi’s errors were too elementary. If Akpeyi was more experienced, he would have stopped the South African attacker, knowing that he was the last man in the defence. If Akpeyi had fouled the attacker outside the box, he would have been shown a red card but the second goal would not have been scored.

    Balogun and Mikel wouldn’t have abandoned the defence in a bid to get the equaliser, knowing that a counter attack would  be disastrous, which was what it turned out to be with the back-breaking second goal. Either Mikel or Balogun or both would have remained to protect the rear from the counter-attack.

    Had Victor Moses played, the South Africans would have been kept busy, especially in the first half when the Eagles tried to impress. If Nigeria had scored from Moses’ darting runs, the visitors would have panicked. Iheanacho and Iwobi were not at their best, perhaps because of their in-today-out- tomorrow appearances for Manchester City and Arsenal in the European season.

    Of  importance in Saturday’s defeat is the absence of the 12th man inside the stadium – the ever vocal Nigerian supporters club. They were missing. They watched in awe as if our players were facing the executioner; permit my usage of this coinage. In the past, the restive supporters would have begun the

  • Spell Bafana with goals

    I woke up Monday morning at 6am trying to interpret an inner voice which suggested that Super Eagles will spell Bafana with goals inside the Nest of Champions Stadium in Uyo, in one of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Impossible; that was my first response, knowing that the South Africans had grown in stature, since hosting the 2010 World Cup. Spelling Bafana means the Eagles will score six goals against South Africa. It looks like a target to set for boys. But is it achievable? Yes. Will the South Africans just watch Eagles score six goals without scoring a goal or two? I don’t think so, but that is where the permutations for today’s game begin. Welcome to Nigeria, Bafana Bafana.

    The simple interpretation of my dream on Monday is that there will be goals in the game, with many feeling strongly that the Eagles could rout Bafana. It is also looking like a grudge game for the Nigerians, having missed out of the last two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations because of the bickering at the Glasshouse in Abuja. It got so bad in one instance in Calabar, when one of the warring factions at the NFF was stopped from watching the game by security operatives to save Nigeria from a FIFA ban. Congo Brazzaville beat Nigeria 3-2 in that game in Nigeria in the opening game of the 2015 edition’s qualifiers.

    Things got worse at the Glasshouse in the fallout of the NFF elections that Eagles flunked the chance to qualify for the last edition in Gabon by drawing 2-2 against Bafana Banfana. The situation at the Glasshouse is better and Nigerians expect the Eagles to avenge that unfortunate draw with a resounding victory.

    Our players know the importance of playing at the Nations Cup, aside the benefits from the government in the form of houses, cash gifts from soccer-crazy Nigerians and national honours. Our players must be reminded that a defeat (God forbid) today will dampen the morale of the fans rooting at the stands and indeed around the country. Victory for Nigeria starts the process of getting the ticket since South Africa appears the only stumbling block on our path.

    The South Africans can be beaten silly. They have had issues within their squad ahead of their trip to Uyo. Bafana are depleted by injuries with stars such as Hlompho Kekana and Kamohelo Mokotjo, being replaced by Tiyani Mabunda and Lebogang Phiri. Bafana Bafana doctor Thulani Ngwenya is reported to have warned that more replacements are in the offing. Ngwenya also revealed that Mulomowandau Mathoho had made progress after he missed Kaizer Chiefs’ last game of the season against Bidvest Wits due to a concussion.

    “Tiyani Mabunda, Andile Jali, Aubrey Ngoma, Mulomowandau Mathoho and Lebogang Manyama – some of the players who had knocks – were lively in Wednesday’s train ing, while Rivaldo Coetzee and Tokelo Rantie only did some light workouts”.

    It leaves Baxter with the unholy option of converting players to positions which make them vunerable to Eagles’ sustained assaults at dusk. This is the first game for Bafana’s coach Stuart Baxter with this squad. Indeed, the South Africans had to fall back to Baxter in panic .  Thank God Nigeria has only Victor Moses missing due to a toe surgery. Mikel Obi is recuperating but the team has shown that they can play without both men, following the results from their last two international matches against Corsica (1-1) and Togo (3-0) in France.

    Will thunder strike on the same spot twice? Never. Eagles are a changed squad with a new coach, Gernot Rohr, who has transformed the team with an unbeaten eight-match run prosecuted by younger and fitter boys who ply their trade in Europe. And the results so far attest to the fact that the changes are yielding dividends, no matter if the bulk of the players are in Europe. All we crave for is the best collection of players for Nigeria. It isn’t any player’s birthright. If you lose form, you sit at home and watch others play for glory.

    Nigeria is ranked 38th in the world and fourth in Africa. This setting will ensure that we are seeded for the Russia 2018 World Cup, especially if we can beat South Africa today and Cameroon later in August. A top 20 ranking in the world by next year will help the Eagles play quality games against Grade A football-playing countries, such as Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Holland and England. This will increase the revenue of the NFF since international brands will want to showcase their wares in the high profile matches.

    Besides, our players will be exposed to bigger contracts in Europe at their terms, not the slavish deals that some have signed. They have nothing to say when it comes to choosing between clubs and country where there is a clash of fixtures.

    The South Africans arrived here on Wednesday night and trained on Thursday in Uyo, which they have described as their home, having not lost there. But how does Baxter intend to play his boys against the Eagles and what does he want to achieve?

    These questions Baxter answered when he said: “I think they’re a playing team. They’ve got a lot of players who want the ball into feet. They attack space because they’ve got speed upfront. If they build up they will attack space in-between and behind our defenders in the last third.

    “Maybe they don’t have the same extreme physical capabilities of the earlier Nigerian teams. But I think that they are still physical in their approach to the game. They want to press the ball immediately after they lose it. They want to get in your face. I’m sure that they want to drive the tempo of the game on. I’m hoping that there will be a bit of that physicality about it. Because then I think our mobility‚ and our speed and skill‚ will come to the fore.”

    “And we know that we’ve got to be good at getting out of that first pressure. If we do that‚ and the game opens slightly‚ then we have a chance to use our speed and mobility and hit them. And we may decide to press them really high. Or we may decide to drop off and create the space behind them for our quicker players to go into. It doesn’t really matter.

    “But we’ve got to make sure that if we go‚ we go together. And if we stay‚ we stay together. And when we win the ball that we’re calm enough to get out of their pressure‚ and then use what we are good at,” Baxter remarked.

    Tactics and counter plots will highlight today’s game, with the fans having full value for their money and time. Happily, the Eagles are not talking about how they hope to thrash the visitors. They are focused on the game. The team’s captain Ogenyi Onazi craves for respect from the South Africans. Well said, Onazi. Let your feet do the talking, boys. Good luck. Up Nigeria!

     

    Rare gem Ronaldo

     

    The UEFA Champions League finals turned out to be an anti-climax. Many pundits expected a closely fought game between Real Madrid and Juventus FC of Italy. But the Italians froze on Saturday. They lacked ideas against a rampaging Madrid revving on the tremendous ball skills, speed and superb goal poaching instinct of Cristiano Ronaldo.

    Ronaldo was the standout performer of the night. He threw into the trash bin any comparison with Barcelona FC’s mercurial player Lionel Messi. The next World Footballer of the Year is without any doubt Ronaldo. He has earned it, showing that with determination, everything is possible. Ronaldo is truly a rare gem. We had thought it was Messi but with the way Ronaldo is going, his records may be unequalled in the 22nd Century if he sustains this form in the next two years.

    Ronaldo made the game so easy. He interpreted his manager Zinedine Zidane’s tactics with gusto and struck the ball into the net twice, especially his second goal, with the speed of light – no hyperbole intended. His markers were awed. They looked at each other in shock, wondering how Ronaldo slipped through two markers for that brilliant third goal but Ronaldo’s second.

    Ronaldo’s speed exposed the ageing Juventus players who froze in defining moments of the game, especially with the third goal. The Juventus manager was clueless. His only game plan was to defend against a team that takes delight in scoring goals. The better side deservedly won the trophy. Hala Madrid!

     

    Sleep well Stephen Okechukwu Keshi

     

    Wednesday was exactly one year that Nigeria’s legend Stephen Okechukwu Keshi passed away in shocking circumstances. The late Keshi had troublesome knee problem, which eventually led to his death. Keshi left unmatchable records in the game as a player and as a coach.

    I hope that our players will use today’s game to bring cheers to Nigerians by beating the South Africans groggy with goals. The last time the South Africans were in Uyo, they earned a pulsating 2-2 draw, which ended Nigeria’s dream of playing at the Gabon 2017 Africa Cup of Nations which the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon won.

    Keshi was a pitiable sight after the game at the Nest of Champions Stadium last year. I challenge the players today to make us proud. Keshi gave the Eagles his best and it is that mentality he tried to imbibe in his players.

    It won’t be out of place if the boys dedicate today’s victory to the Big Boss’ memory. Continue to rest in perfect peace Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, aka Olubodun ti o te ri. Keshi loved being called Allan Ball, because he tailored his playing style after that of the England legend. Keshi was a great Liverpool FC fan. Big Boss, you never walked alone. Sleep well.

  • Njc’s dangerous complacency

    Njc’s dangerous complacency

    The date was Sunday, May 21, 2017. The venue was the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Abuja diocese. The occasion was a no doubt well deserved thanksgiving service held for the new Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Onnoghen. The man who now sits at the apex of the county’s judiciary certainly has so much to thank God for not least of all his elevation to his present enviable status. Speaking during the service, the CJN said “I thank Nigerians for attending this event. It is supposed to be a personal thing between and my God but I have no hiding place. I thank God for fulfilling this His promise to me”. I sincerely wish the CJN had stood his ground and offered his gratitude to God for his appointment in a more very private manner.  For the concept of thanksgiving in most cases has been bastardized and pulverized into just another meaningless Nigerian ritual. In any case, the best gratitude that the CJN can offer the God he serves in my view is to preside over the judiciary with integrity and credibility as well as help to mid-wife the birth of a ‘born again’ justice system for the country shorn of the current avoidable debilitating delays, distractions and pecuniary perversions that provide wings for corruption to soar higher and higher beyond the reach of justice.

    What I find rather disturbing, however, is that the CJN utilized the opportunity of the thanksgiving service to mount a stout defence of the judiciary rather than send a strong message to both judicial officers and members of the public who try to procure favourable judgements from courts that it will not be business as usual under him. He lamented that the judiciary is under threat because some members of the sacred temple of justice were being investigated and accused of corrupt practices by agents of the Federal Government without giving them an opportunity to be heard. It is my take that the judiciary is the sole cause of any obloquy it may have attracted to itself even though I agree with the CJN that some of these agencies have been highhanded, insensitive, unprofessional and overzealous in the way they have sought to combat what they consider to be corruption in the judicial arm of government.

    The 82nd National Judicial Council (NJC)  meeting held on May 31st and June 1st, the NJC under Onnoghe’s Chairmanship recalled five judges who had earlier been suspended when  the Directorate of State Services )(DSS) invaded their residences alleging various acts of infractions of the law against them. The NJC is of the view that no case had been made against the judges. Out of the eight of the judicial officers tainted by the DSS raid, and who were suspended from office at the request of the Attorney General of the federation, Mallam Shehu Malami (SAN) pending the conclusion of investigations, the NJC avers and rightly too that only three had been charged to court – Justice N.S. Ngwuta of the Supreme Court, Justice A.F. Ademola of the Federal High Court and Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia also of the Federal High Court. Justice Adeniyi Ademola’s case has since been discharged and he has been acquitted of all charges against him.

    The NJC may rightly claim that it cannot wait indefinitely for the anti-graft agencies to get their acts right and charge all the judges to court in accordance with the legal process. This is particularly because the NJC claims that there has been a backlog of cases that have been lying unattended to in the affected judges’ courts for the last eight months. The NJC has a point there. An already cumbersomely slow judicial process can ill afford to be further bogged down by unheard cases accumulating in courts of judges who have been indicted by the security and anti-graft agencies but are yet to be convicted in any court of law. It is not impossible that the caution and meticulousness of the anti-graft agencies in pursuing the matter of the judges is due to their perception that it will be easier for the proverbial camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a judicial officer to be convicted in the context of the extant judicial system.

    Interestingly, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mallam A.B. Mahmud (SAN), which had also firmly called for the suspension of the affected judges, is now singing a different tune. According to Mahmud, “This situation is completely unsatisfactory and unacceptable. The NBA calls on the government to terminate the investigations against those judges and to enable them resume work as judicial officers”. I think the CJN, the NJC, which he leads and the NBA are all looking at this issue as a purely legal and technical one. It is not. The issue of the suspended but now recalled judges is more fundamentally a moral one.  On the psychological plane, it is difficult to understand how an accused person will stand in court with confidence in the integrity of a judge he considers morally leprous to preside over his or her case.

    At the time of the shocking DSS raid on the residences of some judges after midnight on October 8, 2016, this column was one of those which railed vehemently against what I perceived a gross violation of law and due process as well as a bid by the executive to intimidate and emasculate the judiciary. However, the discovery of humongous funds in diverse currencies in the residences of the judges, amounting to about N271.7 million was a great shock. It is surprising that in the Justice Adeniyi Ademola case, for instance, the court was only interested in establishing if there was any link between the huge amounts of cash found in his residence and any cases before him. The judge was simply not interested in how the judge acquired the money and why it was kept in a private residence out of formal monetary channels. After all, a judge’s house is neither a bank nor a bureau de change.

    Because of the skewed nature of its own key appointments leading to the widespread perception of the Buhari administration as essentially pro-north, the administration could not but confirm Justice Onnoghe as CJN being the most senior Judge at the apex court. That course of action no matter how well meaning   would have raised an unprecedented uproar particularly in the South-South. It is not too late, however, for the CJN to rise up to the onerous challenge history has thrust on him. That is to take more urgent and effective steps to stamp corruption out of the judiciary. If he does not lead the process of self-cleansing from within the judiciary, overzealous security and anti-graft agencies will be there to do it for them without grace, mercy or pity; security outfits that would not mind bringing the entire judicial edifice down on everybody’s head. More importantly, perceived judicial complacency and complicity in shielding its members from facing the law for pecuniary malfeasance may arouse a public uprising and catalyze a chain of events whose end no one can predict.(Apologies to the late Chief Anthony Enahoro).

     

    Odu’a : Why corporate governance matters

    The present governors of the South-West states deserve commendation for the new lease of life given to the Odu’a Group of companies since the emergence of Mr Adewale Raji as the company’s Group Managing Director since in 2014. In the first pace, the new GMD emerged through a highly competitive and rigorous process. Secondly, the governors have given the Raji-led Executive management committee the autonomy to operate as a business without undue partisan interference thus engendering higher corporate governance standards.

    The result has been improved profitability. Under Raji, the Group’s audited accounts showed that its Profit Before Tax increased from N378 million to N597 million in 2015 which made it possible for shareholders to be paid dividends of N167 million and N194 million respectively as dividends for the 2014 and 2015 financial years. It is believed that the synergy between the new Chairman of the Odu’a Board, Chief Segun Ojo, representing Ondo State, will help accelerate the process of fully rejuvenating and invigourating the company to play its role as the Special Purpose Vehicle to drive the objective of achieving greater South West economic integration as decided by owner state governors. The years 2009 and 2013 before the assumption of office of the current GMD, witnessed a near stagnant revenue performance of 3% decline and decline of 36% in Profit Before Tax making it impossible for the company to declare any dividends for the period. Chief Segun Ojo holds degrees in Economics and statistics, retired meritoriously from the Ondo State public service and had previously served on the Boards of Nigerite and Lagos Airport Hotel.

  • Terrorism, elections and treason

    GREAT events happened globally this week and as a perpetual student of history I am quite excited. In a week that celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Middle East Six days war of 1967 between Arabs and Israel, and the Allies’ Normandy Invasion of June 6 1944 that finished Hitler’s vast and powerful Germany’s Third Reich in the Second World War, equally mind bogging and highly potentially historical moments and events happened this last week.

    It is my goal today to make a meal of them , as the saying goes, but really without any exaggeration, I ask you to come along and enjoy or shrug off my analysis and perceptions on them, as you deem fit. First in the UK , an election called from a perceived position of strength by incumbent PM Theresa May was ‘high jacked’ by terrorism and has resulted in a hung Parliament instead of a renewed mandate for‘ strong leadership and stability’. In the Middle East nine leading Arab States, unbelievably, but ostensibly at the prompting and behest of a domestically battered and media – hunted US president, for once stood against global terrorism and ostracised one of them, Qatar, by disengaging with it and its citizens, on land, sea and air.

    Thirdly, in the US, and before a stunned US Senate Committee , a fired FBI spy master admitted that he retaliated against his boss, the newly elected US president who sacked him, by giving confidential state information to the news media and most of the powerful US media saw nothing immoral or treasonable in that . Fourthly in Nigeria some Northern youths asked Igbos to vacate the North within three months claiming darkly that the two governors from the North calling them to order had ‘disengaged from reality ‘ because of their ambition to become the Vice President in the event of the death of our ailing president.

    Fifthly the Acting President of Nigeria mid week visited Maiduguri in Borno State where three female Boko Haram suicide bombers killed 18 people and wounded 24 others in multiple suicide bombings. This then is our menu list for today. I proceed now to dilate and give my perceptions on each of these events and happenings in the last one week. Firstly, the fact that UK PM May did not win the mandate she asked for in going to the polls this June 8 should not come as a surprise. This is because, fate, timing, and terrorism took the matter of the campaign and election completely out of her hands, and consequently her political control. I never went along with those pundits who had said rather laconically and ominously that – it is time for May to go in June – because I believe that she deserved a better electoral fate than that wished her by her adversaries, especially the Labor Party.

    This is because her electoral slogan of strong leadership and stability is precisely what Britain needs at this point in time. Unfortunately the opposite has happened with the election results and the British people have become divided, unstable and leaderless henceforth by rejecting May’s slogan and that really is their funeral. The timing of the election too, so soon after the Brexit referendum hiatus and its reality, made the election itself a well placed scapegoat for a suddenly awakened, party – blind electorate, eager to settle scores with the British political class for the uncertainty and fear of their future unleashed by the Brexit Referendum results. Also terrorism made the June 8 election a charade in terms of security. The reasonable thing would have been to postpone the election because of the bestiality of three terror attacks in three months.

    Two on Westminster and London Bridges with car crushing and knives and one, more deadly with suicide bombing in Manchester. But Leadership Hypocrisy, the peculiar British one that says they must stay ‘united and strong’ in the face of terror, prevailed . Even though May tried at the last minute albeit too late for positive effect, said the truth and admitted that Britain had been too tolerant of extremism and after another concert had been organized by the singer at whose concert over 20 innocent people had been killed in Manchester, barely two weeks ago.

    Any nation that organizes elections in the midst of terrorism is fooling itself on security as has been proven in Pakistan, Iraq, and Syria – nations to which radicalized British youths flee to learn terror and its application from the Madrasas of Pakistan and the Middle East and terror spitting Imams. They then return home to London and Manchester to unleash horror on the unsuspecting British public, ever so trusting of their Police, under whose nose and radar reported cases of violent suspects have been ignored repeatedly as investigations of the three election- timed acts of terrorism in the last three weeks have shown. Undoubtedly, with a hung Parliament, and the new Minority government of Theresa May the UK is in for the worst of times in its war against terrorism. But it is one it must win only by separating its core values from Islam which the Mayor of London said ‘is compatible with British values’.

    Which unfortunately was an observation which several British politicians dared not contest at election time, in the face of rampant and real terrorism and the quest for power. I presume this proverbial ostrich with its head buried in the sand type of British leadership hypocrisy is the main weapon that the opposition Labour Party will use to heckle and harass Theresa May’s new government as she tries to implement her late election campaign promise that the UK has been too tolerant of extremism. Moreso in a British environment that has been laid prostrate by misplaced multiculturalism which in turn has made security a real and expected nightmare to be appeased rather than confronted.

    This really is the problem and the challenge for Theresa May’s new Minority government and the Hung Parliament fostered by terrorism and Multiculturalism on June 8. Secondly, and again, the fact that major Arab states like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait and the oil rich Gulf States like Bahrain, the UAE, Yemen and others have severed their relations and those of their citizens with Qatar is a direct consequence of the Middle East foreign policy of the beleaguered Trump Administration, following so closely on his recent visit to the Middle East, Israel, and the G7 meeting in Europe . During the visit, in an address to leaders of 50 Muslim majority nations in Saudi Arabia, the new US president urged them to drive away Muslim extremists in their midst as they cannot wait for the world at large to do it for them.

    Trump shouted loud and clear – drive them from your communities, drive them from the earth! It is obvious that the call is like a call to sanity or prayers to Arab leaders and nations and that is why they have identified oil rich Qatar with its famous capital of Doha as the first culprit to be identified and punished for supporting Islamic terrorism typified by the bloody Islamic state and Boko Haram. That is vintage productive diplomacy and the US president deserves kudos for waking up a sleeping giant that is well positioned to fight global terrorism from within and without, and stemming the tide of radicalization that has brought the world to its knees in terms of brutal murders and killings in the name of religion from Paris to London and Maiduguri.

    We recall that when former President George Bush addressed the US Congress on 9/11 in September 2001 and launched the war on terror he said – Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies justice will be done. In 2003 he launched the invasion of Iraq which in retrospect was the catalyst for the rise of Islamic state or ISIS, aided and abetted by eight years of the luke warm, pacifist and sermonizing without action, of the Obama Administration. Ironically barely two weeks after the visit of a new US president and his call on Arab leaders in a diplomatic shuttle the Arab world has broken ranks and banished one of them for supporting global terrorism.

    That is a very unexpected volte face for the Arab world which had been luke warm hitherto, like the last US president in taking the bull by the horn in confronting global terrorism. Next we take on the issue of the testimony of the sacked FBI boss in the US who admitted that he gave information to the New York Times because he felt defamed by the reasons given for his sack by the US President Donald Trump.

    That to me is a betrayal of faith and misuse of discretion on state matters unbecoming of the head of any intelligence outfit especially that of the US. No wonder a senator bellowed rather contemptuously during the hearing that the only thing that has not been leaked so far was that the US president is under investigation denied by Comley but already in the public domain. In any other part of Europe or indeed the civilized world this former US FBI boss will be charged for treason. Yet the US media has already overlooked this criminal act and is still awaiting the impeachment of the US president over collusion with Russia to win his 2016 presidential election. Which to me is such a pathetic approach to presidential politics that is quite new to the ethics of democracy in the transparent and accountability world of today’s global democracy.

    Lastly, the call of the Arewa Youths for the Igbos to leave the North is disruptive and treasonable. Just as the Biafra MASSOB call and intransigence, years after the civil war. Equally troublesome and anarchic was the support given the youths’ call for Igbos to leave by a spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, Professor Ango Abdullahi . Both the Arewa Youths and the Elders Forum should put heads together and unite to defeat Boko Haram which killed 18 people and wounded 24 others in the North East last Wednesday even as the Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo was on a visit to distribute grains to IDPs in Maiduguri and its environs.

    The dead in Maiduguri and its environments killed by suicide bombers, who are Boko Haram girls, are full blooded Nigerians and driving Igbos away from the North will not solve the problem. Blackmailing the two governors of Borno and Kaduna with legitimate but undeclared political ambition is childish and distasteful when all they are doing is protecting Nigerians within their state. Both Northern Elders and youths should know that the era of ‘born to rule is over‘ and that Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians who obey its laws and not only to those who make a mockery of such laws, as if they are above them. A word is enough for the wise. Once again long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

  • Language, terrorism, and global peace

    AN observation by a devout Muslim friend on the latest Manchester bombing after a youth concert that left 22 innocent people dead and 50 others wounded, provides the essence of today’s rumination on the above topic. Whilst condemning the horrible bombing and noting rightly that radical Islamists had penetrated British and Western society, he concluded loudly that Britain has not seen anything yet to which I asked him if he was celebrating the bombing.

    He flew into a rage and closed the conversation which somehow I am resuming here to day. The basis of that resumption of the closed argument is to show that the use of language matters in any discussion and undertaking. This is especially so in any discussion on suicide bombing and terrorism and strategies aimed at combatting and deterring both, if we must make the world safe for our peace of mind and the pursuit of prosperity, which is necessary for our collective welfare in the very shrunken global village we now live in.

    To say that the British have not seen anything yet implies in that context that they are getting what they deserve or reaping what they have sown. Which is not only unfair but is a merciless, cold blooded judgement of a nation reeling from mindless murder which happened in Manchester this week.

    That makes the question of whether the speaker was enjoying the spectacle pertinent even if deemed offensive or mischievous to the speaker. More directly today, however, we look at how various world leaders aside from my friend have reacted to terrorist bombings, killings and mayhem in recent times including of course the latest bombing incident in Manchester, UK. We shall look first then and again at Barak Obama’s speech in 2009 at Al Azhar University in Cairo and compare that with that of his successor Donald Trump in 2017 this week, to an audience of leaders, kings, and sheikhs of over 50 majority Muslim nations in Saudi Arabia. At home, we look at how the Lagos state Governor has made Lagos safe for road users and those doing business in Lagos by a decision stop daily road ‘terrorism’ on Lagos roads this week and its immediate effect. Let me say clearly at the beginning that I do not question the attitude of those who feel good in showing a brave face and doing business as usual after the gruesome killing of innocent people by terrorists.

    Indeed I appreciate their goal of not being seen as afraid of the terrorists or making the terrorists feel fulfilled that it has stopped their way of life or tarnished their values. Which really is the way of thinking in Europe and the US nowadays and which is distinctly different from the reaction of the Middle East nations including Saudi Arabia which is ‘an eye for an eye’ or in modern parlance, immediate and commensurate retaliation.

    Ironically, both the passive other cheek turning in Europe and the US as well as the retaliatory approach of the Arab states, home states of Islamic state terrorists, have not deterred both terrorists and suicide bombers. I must say here that I hold suicide bombers on a higher pedestal of terror from other terrorists because a person ready to die in the process of killing others is a far more dangerous prospect for humanity than a whole army fighting to overcome any opposing force. Let us now go back to both Barak Obama and Donald Trump and their speeches in the Middle East on terrorism and Islamic militancy eight years apart and their import on global peace.

    Barak Obama spoke at the beginning of his presidency in June 2009 just as Donald Trump is doing at the beginning of his in May 2017. Obama told his Arab audience in Cairo that the US and Islam are not in competition and that Islamic scholars have contributed historically to human knowledge through Algebra, the discovery of the magnetic compass and other sciences well before the Renaissance and Enlightenment in Europe. He admitted that he is a Christian, born of a Muslim father in Kenya, who attended mosques in Indonesia with his step father and knows that Islam and Christianity preach peace and that the Middle East should embrace peace and condemn violence by fundamentalists. Obama’s speech earned him the Nobel Peace prize for peace even before any reaction to it in the Middle East.

    When the reaction came eventually it was the Arab Spring of which removed dictatorships in Tunisia, and the whole of North Africa ending with the removal of Gaddafi in Libya and the toppling of Housni Mubarak in Egypt from the ensuing Tahrir Square of uprising. Obama‘s speech in 2009 galvanized a momentum for change to democracy in the Middle East and French President Sarkozy and the British PM then, David Cameron paid solidarity visits to the area to support demonstrators aiming to uproot dictators based on Obama’s Cairo speech. At the end of Obama’s two – term presidency however the Army had returned to power in Egypt and Islamic state terrorists had taken over Libya after fleeing the war in Syria and Obama was to lament that removing Gaddafi without making provision for the aftermath was the greatest failure of his administration.

    Which was similar to the removal of the Saddam Hussein regime by the Bush Administration and British PM Tony Blair without making an arrangement to replace him with a strong man. Instead Bush wanted to build a democratic state in a power vacuum and played into the hand of Iran whose Shia Muslim came to power in a democratic game of numbers only to be violently and fatally resisted till today by the minority Sunni minority with huge military skills and experience under the long Saddam Hussein regime. The result was the sectarian violence from the Middle East spreading all over the world during the Obama presidency to raise Boko Haram in Nigeria and the rise of a leader like Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential elections. Now what did Donald Trump say to 50 majority Muslim nations in the Holy Land of Islam? He called on them to do business with America and asked them to condemn Islamic Radicalisation by driving out extremists in their midst and funding a learning centre that teaches how to fight jihadism and radicalization.

    Talking of Islamic terrorists, especially Islamic state, he told his high profile Arab audience – drive them out of your communities, drive them out of your Holy Land, drive them out of this earth, drive them out. To me Trump spoke the correct language to the appropriate audience that can really call Islamic terrorists to order and what did he get in return?. First the approbation and approval of the Sunni Muslim world led by Saudi Arabia whose King Salman gave him the highest honor of Saudi Arabia. At home he got the derision and abuse of the US press which has not forgiven him for calling them fake news.

    To drive home the point of western and US media contempt for Trump, Obama was given a media award in Germany which he received on the same day that German Chancellor gave audience to the new US president during Trump’s trip to Europe. Of course a Nobel Prize proposal for Trump will be rubbished by the US media. Yet time will judge who really deserves this peace prize between the pacifist Obama who left more violence behind than he met, and a terrorist driving Trump who got a prize in the Islamic holy land by asking Muslim leaders to put their house in order first, in confronting and driving out the terror malcontents in their midst. We look next at the issue that I have branded road ‘terrorism’ in Lagos state which is not bloody like suicide bombing but is also as debilitating to those at the receiving end of it.

    The Lagos state Governor Akinwunmi Ambode stopped the state vehicle inspectors from stopping motorists in Lagos and the traffic flowed as if a blocked and cancerous artery has been pierced or removed from the human body bringing life – enhancing relief. The good Governor similarly asked the Federal Road Safety Corps to move to the surbubs and not stop motorists on the highways. This has prompted the FRSC boss to question the language of the Governor in asking the menace of FRSC staff to quit his legal domain of authority. But it is the FRSC boss who should mind his language and indeed keep quiet on the matter.

    This is because both the Vehicle Inspectors in their now hateful black and white attires and the FRSC in their brown and claret, have become at sight even from afar, dangerous signs of fear, disturbance and apprehension to Lagos road users who have learnt to have their vehicle particulars ready, but are not immune to the ‘go slow‘ traffic always created by these two group of vehicle inspectors who ambush Lagos motorists at areas which traffic go at its fastest, so they can create bottle necks and have their fill of vehicular inspection, for which offenders pay dearly into private pockets on a daily basis. It is therefore rather kind and responsive of the state governor in the overall public interest of road users and commuters who earn their living by moving on Lagos roads on a daily basis, to remove the ‘terror’ of the road which these two vehicle inspection outfits have made of themselves, to the chagrin and vexation of the Lagos road users and public transport commuters generally. Once again, long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

  • Too close to call

    The most exciting European league season ends today in Cardiff, with the UEFA Champions League final game between Real Madrid FC of Spain and Juventus FC of Italy. The Italians remain the only undefeated team in this year’s tournament. Manchester United, in 2008, was the last undefeated champion. Unfortunately, Real Madrid is the defending champion but has been beaten twice en route this game. Real lost the first leg game 2-1 to Atletico Madrid, although it qualified. The Los Blancos side lost 2-1 at home to Bayern Munich to equal the scores at 3-3, having beaten the Germans by the same score-line. Real moved on in the competition, courtesy the 4-2 extra time victory over Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu Stadium.

    Bets have been placed on either team to carry the day, with those rooting for Juve laying claim to the difficulty of previous winners winning the trophy back-to-back. This is the biggest jinx confronting the Galaticos, whose fans couldn’t be worried by such mundane submission, given the dynamic nature of the game and its unpredictable results since August, last year. AC Milan (1989, 1990), Ajax (1995, 1996), Juve (1996, 1997), and Manchester United (2008, 2009) – these teams lost their finals as cup holders. Will this be Real Madrid’s lot tonight? God forbid, many people will say.

    Do you believe in jinxes? Have such myths been destroyed since the competition began? After all, we have seen players win the trophy as players before transforming to coaches to win the title again. Indeed, Zidane will be the first player to win the trophy back-to-back as a coach. Can somebody say Amen there? Amen. Amen. Amen.

    What are the other facts associated with this competition, with regards to the clubs, players and coaches? Real Madrid will be the first team to score 500 goals in the UEFA Champions League, if they are able to score a goal in Cardiff. The Galaticos have scored 499 goals from the group stage to tonight’s final in the competition’s history. Interestingly, Real Madrid has the record of titles, winning five. Juventus has the unenviable record of losing more matches with four defeats and only one victory against Ajax in 1996.

    Curiously, Real Madrid and Juventus will play their sixth Champions League final, just like AC Milan FC of Italy. Besides, Real Madrid, only Inter Milan, Marseille and Porto have a 100 per cent winning record.

    Indeed, Juve’s strength is Real Madrid’s sore point and it could be the deciding factor tonight. What is Juve’s strength? The Italians’ defence appears impregnable, given the fact that they held star-studded Barcelona 180 minutes without conceding a goal. Barca’s Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar (MSN) have been scoring goals with aplomb. But against Juve in the semi-finals, the players were lost, culminating in Barca not recording a shot at goal in one of the two encounters.

    This isn’t an accomplishment to brush aside, not forgetting goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon’s superlative saves, his commanding presence as the last man in the defence, giving out instructions to his players. One is also worried about the Italians’ collective play without losing sight of key players, such as Gonzalo Higuain, aiming to inflict pain on Real Madrid for daring to send them away at the behest of their big stars. There is also Khedira spoiling for the Spanish side’s fall tonight. Khedira left Real Madrid under acrimonious setting in spite of his heroics with the Spanish side. Khedira joined Real Madrid from Stuttgart on July 30, 2010 for an undisclosed fee. But in June 2015, Italian side Juventus announced that Khedira had signed a four-year deal on a free transfer; the move was completed July 1, at the start of the 2015–16 season.

    Such players seeking vengeance, like Higuain and Khedira, must be reminded that there are players in their former teams who know their strengths and weaknesses, which they will exploit on match day. I will be very surprised if Real Madrid players give Higuain room to operate. Higuain will be marked, having scored five goals so far in the competition.

    So, who are the gladiators at Juventus? Need I restate Buffon’s contributions? I would rather look at the Italians’ defenders, comprising Giorgio Chiellini, Medhi Benatia, Alex Sandro and Dani Alves, who have the daunting task of stopping Cristiano Ronaldo, the talisman of the Spanish side.  Ronaldo will be difficult to pocket over 90 minutes because he has many records he wants to either achieve or possibly surpass. It must be said that victory for Real Madrid offers Ronaldo the best chance of being voted the World Footballer of the Year for the fifth time. If it happens, he equals the feat already achieved by Messi. You can see why it will be too close to call if anyone tries to pick the eventual winners based on facts on paper.

    The Italians are rugged at the rear, but what do they have in the midfield where most of the battles will be fought?  In this area, the Italians will rely on Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira to seize the midfield from the Spaniards. If Juve hopes to lift the trophy tonight, their midfielders must dominate the midfield and supply good passes to their strikers – Gonzalo Higuaín, Paulo Dybala, Juan Cuadrado and Mario Mandzukic – to score goals.

    However, Zidane has identified Dybala as the most dangerous striker for Juve. Dybala will be marked.  “Dybala is definitely Juventus’ number one threat. Juve has many good players and Dybala is one of the best. This will be a special final for me as I played for both clubs. I have amazing memories of Juventus.

    “Bale has nothing to tell me; he’s ready, he has suffered a pretty serious injury but I know each one of my players is motivated and that’s the only important thing for me. We still have some days left to prepare for the game, we’ll do some simple things during today’s training and we’ll go into further details tomorrow (Thursday),” Zidane said.

    Marking out star players is what will make tonight’s game very interesting, with each striving to render the opponents’ dangerous men otiose. Indeed, most pundits are expecting a tight and tactical game, which invariably will reduce the number of goals to decide it. Should this be the setting expected from two teams with immensely talented players? Certainly not, except it becomes necessary. Yes it is. So which of the two coaches will blink first?

    Former Brazil captain Cafu starts the rating of key players tonight, beginning with two defenders – Dani Alves (Juventus) and Marcelo (Real Madrid). Cafu said: “It will be a clash of titans. We are talking about the two best full backs in the world at the moment. Dani Alves attacks a lot, but Marcelo does the same. Tactically, it will be very interesting and it will be fantastic for Brazilian football.”

    Already, Higuain is looking forward to the battle against his former mate at Real Madrid, Sergio Ramos. “Let’s hope Ramos doesn’t score in the 90th minute. I have a lot of affection for him and his family and we still send each other messages.

    “Football sometime places you in situations like this one where I will face Real Madrid in the final. It will be an evenly matched game,” Higuian said.

    Will there be personal honour for exemplary players? Yes. Former Real Madrid legend and goalkeeper Iker Casillas raised the likelihood of tonight’s clash by deciding who the best footballer of the year would be when he said: “If the opponent wasn’t Madrid, I’d want him to win the Champions League with all my heart. He deserves it. It’s obvious that I’m a Madrid fan, but Gigi’s journey shouldn’t end without the Champions League.

    “He’s won almost everything, but this is a trophy he’s missing and it weighs heavily on him He’s had a great season, he’s back in the final and for we ‘old people’ – I’m thinking of myself, Petr Cech… – it’s a good thing. It shows that at 39 you can still feel good and be competitive,” the Blancos legend told Gazzetta dello Sport.

    “He started at 17 when I was 14. It was amazing for me to think that a boy just older than me was already at that level with Parma. It was a pattern, I admired him, I followed in his footsteps and I envied him. That was for a little bit, because when I started playing regularly for Madrid in 2001, he moved to Juve. Then we continued on together. The Ballon d’Or? Maybe a goalkeeper could win it, but I think it’s very complicated.”

    So, how deadly is Ronaldo in front of the goal keeper? Zidane captures Ronaldo’s influence in tonight’s game thus: “As you well know, there are no words that can do Cristiano Ronaldo justice. He has now got more than 400 goals for Real Madrid in all competitions. These are unbelievable statistics, but with him, anything is possible.”

    Zidane looks forward to Ramos conjuring last minute goals for Real Madrid, noting: “Ramos represents the values of Real Madrid, the spirit of doing anything to win. For me, those values are commitment, battling and fighting until the last minute. This club has taught me that and our captain, Sergio, represents this. He is a noble player.”

    Can Ronaldo be trusted to win this title with his goals for Real Madrid? “On the day of the game there is going to be a lot of nerves and I prefer not to think much about the final,” Ronaldo told Real Madrid TV.

    “They are an excellent team but so are we. I have the feeling that we are going to play a great game and we are going to win. I feel very good, very good, a bit cold, but it is better than having an injury. I’m better on a physical level compared to the last five seasons. I also played less, although I’m the one who played the most matches in the team,” Ronaldo concluded.

  • Enduring Lagos

    THROUGH the pages of history you see Lagos and its people’s first as victims of manipulative, mercantile and imperial invading powers. But peer harder and you also see Lagosians, in the midst of their troubles, fighting fiercely to assert their identity and not be pushed around by anyone. The Portuguese, probably the first of European adventurers to arrive, saw a promising island and promptly named it after the lagoon.

    It did not take too long before the British stopped by also, in the early 19th century, to enforce the abolition of slave trade on the Lagos Island, but once this mission was accomplished, they soon settled down to figure out what else to do with the island which had become a popular trading post. Thanks to the enterprising Oba Akinsemoyin, who had made Lagos Island a thriving trading centre, the British could easily batter their gunpowder, tobacco and salt for the islanders’ palm oil, palm kernels, and cloths sourced from sundry parts of the hinterland. The British wanted more. Having successfully bombarded the island in 1851, seizing upon a royal dispute between Akitoye and Kosoko, they annexed Lagos and turned it into a British Colony.

    Things moved fast. In 1861, a dodgy treaty was signed and the island was effectively Crown property to be administered the best way Crown officers knew how. Obas who once governed their people without much qualms were now practically employees of the British authorities, their meagre salaries determined by the new kids on the block. If an oba disagreed with the new masters, he was sanctioned, his salary stopped, and could even be exiled as a few of them were. Though some were cowed and easily manipulated by the colonial administrators, the people proved they were nobody’s plaything. One Oba damned the consequences and protested the water rate imposed by the British authorities. Hebert Macaulay, then Private Secretary, braved it and issued a statement in London that was judged to be contrary to the position of the ruling authorities.

    This was when the colonial administrators took over a parcel of land without paying compensation, an infraction for which Alhaji Ahmadu Tijani, the Oluwa of Lagos, sued the authorities. All of this and more came from the well-researched paper presented at the Eko Hotel & Suites at the 50th anniversary of Lagos State by the eminent scholar Hakeem Danmole, a history professor and Dean, Faculty of The Humanities and Social Sciences, Al- Hikmah University, Ilorin. A former professor of History, University of Ilorin and Lagos State University, Danmole’s presentation was on the topic: Lagos: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow. Prof Danmole also captured resolute Lagosians resisting being lumped together with the Western Region, preferring to be left alone. It was the same Lagosians that Prof Danmole, peering through history, recalled fighting to be separated from the Gold Coast, under which the colony had been put.

    Such was the seriousness and currency of the protest that the Lagos press joined in, eventually forcing the colonialists to reverse the policy, in 1886. Professor Danmole was in good company at the Eko Hotel & Suites. Discussants included Senator H.A. B. Fasino, first Town Clerk, Lagos City Council, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Minister of Works, Justice George Oguntade, a former Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Olusola Hunponu-Wusu, a former Judge of the Lagos High Court, and Asiwaju Olorunfemi Basorun, former Secretary to the 1st Civilian Government in Lagos State.

    The moderator was Prof Fagbohun, VC, Lagos State University. In the audience was Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, alongside his deputy Dr Idiat Adebule and past governors and military administrators of the state. Governor Ambode spoke of Lagos being a melting pot of diverse cultures and traditions. Prof Fagbohun spoke of a land of opportunity, freedom and unity. Chief HAB Fasinro hailed the developmental trend in the state but for him there is no resting on one’s oars. Keep moving, he charged, achieve more, looking up to respected global city-states. He said his dream is for Lagos to become a smart city where vital services are provided without stress. Alhaji Okunnu stressed that Lagos is home to a wide mix of peoples including, to mention only two, the Nupe and Tapa. He also said the state came to being off the efforts of a notable number of people, including Banji Braithwaite, Prof Ganiyu Jawonda, Ade Thomas, Musbau Danmole, Barrister Talabi, Femi Ayantuga, Simi Johnson, Teslim Olawale Elias, and himself, of course.

    Prof Danmole refreshed minds. Alhaji Lateef Jakande it was, he pointed out, who straightened up the education sector in the state, which was then operating shifts in schools, some pupils in class in the morning, others resuming in the afternoon. All that was abolished, and the system reverted to normal. A visionary, Jakande soaked up the accommodation pressures in the state arising from the influx of people, by building medium and low-income housing estates across the state. His transportation intervention was just as visionary. But Lagos would not settle for past glories, so, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in his time as governor, laid out a plan, beginning with mixing up politicians with technocrats, with a view to getting more out of the state’s governance.

    The agencies he created not only provided jobs but also earned money for the state apart from performing such functions as straightening up traffic and medical emergencies. Who will forget choosing Babatunde Fashola, who succeeded him, proving to be a farsighted leader. The current governor, Ambode, has equally left no one in doubt that Lagos is for greater heights. Nigeria’s first capital city has endured but has quite a lot to teach other states, especially, as Prof Danmole said, if it can keep reinventing itself, looking for areas to improve upon.

  • Moses, Iheanacho, Iwobi, et al

    The English game is arguably the most exciting in terms of talents and the massive global followership, thanks to the country’s vibrant media. Not forgetting the paparazzi, who highlight the oddities of the game. The English game stands out among the European leagues because of its upsets, intrigues, on-and-off field antics and the outlandish actions of the yobos at match venues.

    What excites people the most is the capacity filled stadia, even when there are matches in close areas as the Merseyside, London games and also in Manchester. How do these fans get to assemble weekly? The truth is that most of the English clubs are community-based, such that the people see them as theirs, not government.

    Indeed, a friend was shocked when I told him that Liverpool broke away from Everton, hence the bitter rivalry. This discussion arose before the Arsenal vs Everton game last Sunday at the Emirates Stadium. My friend, a Gunner, wasn’t comfortable with the fixtures, insinuating that Everton will disturb Arsenal to help Liverpool. I told him that would not be right. Arsenal beat Everton 3-1 and he called to say I was right.

    The English game can be ugly, but it is the promptness in which they handle situations arising from such ills that ensure viewership across the country. No sacred lambs. The guilty are not spared. Rules are binding on all, no matter whose ox is gored. Running the game in England, like in other European countries, is a business. But the English have raised the bar to make it their most alluring soccer competition.

    Not many can fault the crowd control mechanism associated with the English game. This mechanism ensures that everyone brings his family to watch games when the need arises. The officiating is chiefly responsible for the shocking results, frills and thrills, making the players the one to follow in terms of statistics and other records.

    Today, Chelsea is the first team to win the Barclays English Premier League, winning 30 matches. Chelsea is the only team to have played 38 games without a red card flashed at its players. Tottenham’s striker Michael Kane is the highest goal scorer, with 29 goals, despite missing 11 weeks, following injuries. Chelsea’s goalkeeper Courtois kept clean sheets in 16 games, making him the best in the league. Of course, nobody can sneer at the choice of Kante as the best player in the 38-match competition. Kante got a back-to-back gold medal for winning the Barclays English Premier League diadem, first with Leicester FC last year and now, with Chelsea. He was also voted the best by his colleagues. Chelsea’s director of football, Nigeria international Michael Emenalo told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that he sent roses to Leicester FC’s management after sealing Kante’s switch to the Blues last season. A worthy buy, if you ask followers of the English game, especially Chelsea’s fans.

    The beauty of the English game is that it recognises landmarks. It elaborately celebrateits stars. Could there have been a better way to escort John Terry out of the Stamford Bridge pitch where he played for 22 years than what the 22 players did for him in the 26th minute? Why the 26th minute? Of course, that is Terry’s jersey number and I won’t be shocked if Chelsea doesn’t assign that jersey to anyone next year, at least. It wasn’t happening for the first time. It also wasn’t because Terry was English. On that same pitch, Cote d’Ivoire’s Didier Drogba was celebrated. How could I have forgotten the immaculate medical facilities provided at match venues? The swiftness with which medical attention is taken to distressed players has reduced the number of deaths, which is commendable. Treatment starts right on the pitch. What it shows is that there are mini-hospitals at match venues to handle any eventuality. No lack of oxygen and the doctors stuck in the traffic. No tales of the ambulance driver going to eat or empty tank and no money for fuel. The stadium announcer doesn’t reel out vehicles’ numbers to re-park to allow the ambulance drive out of where it is parked.

    The European game will be very competitive next year, following the qualification of five big English sides – Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool. Check out the names of the coaches – Conte, Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp. They are not English. This explains why the league is the one used to benchmark others in all its ramifications.

    Talking about Chelsea reminds one of Victor Moses and his exploits with the league champions. Moses was brought in from Wigan Athletic because of his burgeoning skills. He couldn’t pass Mourinho’s standards. Mourinho kept loaning the Nigerian to other teams. Pundits thought that Moses’ sterling show with West Ham penultimate season could have convinced Mourinho to keep him. But faith smiled on Moses when Chelsea recruited Antonio Conte as their manager. It didn’t start easily for Moses until Conte opted for the wing-back formation.

    But like the typical Nigerian who seizes any opportunity to excel, Moses held on to the right wing-back position for duration of the 38-week competition, missing games only due to injuries. Moses won three Man-of-the-Match awards. He is listed as the 28th best player in the English game this season. Moses is one of the revelations of this season. He is being tipped as the next Nigerian to win the 2016/2017 Glo/CAF Africa Footballer of the Year award this year.

    But Moses has Gabon’s Aubameyang to contend with. Aubameyang is the highest goal-scorer in the German Bundesliga with 39 goals, even though Dortmund didn’t win the German title like Chelsea did, with Moses as one of the star actors. It is true that goals make all the difference in matches. However, winning trophies should have higher marks in grading players for the award. Moses is a key player for Nigeria, Aubameyang is a vital for Gabon. But Nigeria looks good to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

    Today is the English FA Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley. Two Nigerians, Moses and Alex Iwobi, will be featuring. My heart tells me that the game will be decided after 90 minutes. I won’t be shocked if it is also decided through penalty kicks. I’m not being a seer here. I’m just thinking aloud. Moses is sure to start the game. And if tradition is to be sustained, Iwobi will be introduced as a substitute. However, Iwobi’s remarkable performance last weekend could earn him a starting shirt and it would be nice watching Moses tackling Iwobi. Where are the photographers? Brothers at war, many would say. Good for the Nigerian game, if you ask me.

    Iwobi distinguished himself with the Gunners but became fatigued, leading to his being sent to the second team. He is back now. And he could be the joker Arsene Wenger may use to retain the English FA Cup, which the Gunners won last year. Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr must be happy with Iwobi.

    Where do I start to judge Kelechi Iheanacho’s showing this season? I would rather say that Iheanacho’s end of season cameo appearances with Manchester City rest with Pep Guardiola’s tactics for every game. Guardiola wants to play his men. But I feel strongly that Iheanacho will blossom next year, especially if Sergio Aguero heads for Real Madrid. Otherwise, a January 2018 transfer will be Iheanacho’s bet option, if he must be in top shape for the Russia 2018 World Cup. Nigeria needs to beat Cameroon in Uyo in August to grab the group’s sole qualification ticket.

    When the news broke that Ahmed Musa signed for former champions Leicester City, many looked forward to how he will outpace his markers in the English game. But sacked manager  Claudio Ranieri didn’t give Musa an unbroken run of matches to adjust to the new system as he did with some of his wobbling stars, such as Vardy, Mahrez and Drinkwater. Musa struggled through with Ranieri, although matters became worse for the Nigerian when the new man, Shakespeare, took over.

    Ndidi turned out to be another Nigerian who distinguished himself in the English Premier League despite joining Leicester in January. Ndidi won many accolades. He enjoyed rave reviews of his performances. He scored some wonderful goals. He certainly was one of the best mid-season buys.

    The EPL has an uncanny way of humbling average players. Many have forgotten that Brown Ideye and Odion Ighalo played in there tlast season. They are in China, a league which is a novelty. But who will blame them for moving to China with the mindboggling figures they earn? Ighalo played for Watford FC. Ideye starred for West Bromwich Albion FC, found a new home in Olympiakos in Greece and now plies his trade in China with Mikel Obi. Ighalo and Ideye turned out to be one season stars for their clubs.

    How does one rate Isaac Success, given the remarkable marks Ndidi has achieved with Leicester in his debut half season displays? Success has been in-and-out of games for Watford. He has scored one goal, most times as a substitute. Ndidi will be useful to Rohr as a substitute, especially when the Eagles need the goals desperately in the closing stages of matches.

     

    Federations’ elections

     

    So much noise is being made by those contesting into the sports federation elections. Everyone thinks he/she has something to contribute. Rich men/women have collected forms, with many asking those seeking re-election what they did with previous tenures.

    Some aspirants are complaining about the use of cash to secure votes. Sports federation elections should not be about money but ideas. Voters ask for money because they know that they are recognised during this campaign period. Once aspirants get into office, they run the place like their estates. This should change.