The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday Magazine

  • ‘Hand over our son to us’

    ‘Hand over our son to us’

    PRAY, what should be the next step after police have successfully recovered your stolen son and confirmed with sundry evidence, including a DNA test, that you are indeed the parents?

    The above is the question on the lips of Pastor Henry Okiemute Osah and Mrs. Florence Osah, parents of four-year-old Joel Eroghene Osah.

    They are calling on Governors Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Willie Obiano of Anambra State, civil society organisations and other well-meaning Nigerians to intervene and help them recover their son from the police in Anambra State.

    According to the father, Pastor Osah, his little boy, then a little over two years old, was kidnapped in Emede community, Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State on July 19, 2019.

    Naturally, it was a traumatic experience for him and the mother, as they search everywhere without success. Eventually, he was spotted on September 2, 2020, in company of 11 other children recovered by the police in Gombe State in an orphanage in Anambra State.

    But, rather than that news bringing total joy to the troubled parents, it has opened another round of stress, as the police have refused to release their boy to them despite a court intervention, preferring to keep him in an orphanage, Infant Jesus community Children’s Home, Onitsha.

    The Osah’s are however of the opinion that the condition in the orphanage is not good enough – especially for a boy whose parents have been located.

    “As parents, seeing our beloved son in that circumstances has continued to traumatise us, but the Commissioner of Police is unwilling, same for the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of investigation, Yakubu, who has continued to deny us access and custody of the boy.”

    To say the least, Pastor Osah says he and his wife are not happy at the way the case is being handled, as it has literally taken away their peace of mind.

    “We have spent all on this case. Our pains are apparent, as much as the frustration. The couple added that the police even chased them away on a number of occasions, putting fear in them, even when their demand is legitimate.

    The couple narrated how they have had to travel to Anambra on a number of occasions, all in a bid to resolve the problem. They lamented the police’s refusal to obey an enrolment order issued by Hon. Justice C. O. Emifoniye of the High Court of Justice, in Oleh, Delta State on February 1, 2022 (in a case between Pastor Henry Osah and the Commissioner of Police, Anambra Police Command, and Kingsley Umeh.

    Part of the judgement made available to the media read: “The defendants are hereby ordered to release Master Joel Eroghene Henry Osah for the proper and general well-being of the boy. The case has been adjourned till March 3, 2022.”

    Counsel to the plaintiff, Barrister Blessing Amaworo, expressed disappointment police for the emotional torture they have put his clients through, for refusing to obey a simple court order and for threatening to detain his clients.

    “I wonder what society has become, with the police now hindering justice. If a case is complicated, why not follow due process and obey constituted authority? The police, as an institution, should obey court order. The condition of the child should be traumatic to any parent,” Amaworo said.

    Narrating how the boy got missing, Pastor Osah said he was out on a prayer meeting one fateful morning, when the kidnapper sneaked in, taking advantage of the fact that the mother was sleeping, to steal away their child.

    He said it was his wife’s aunt in Lagos, who first spotted the boy on TV on September 2, 2020, while he was being paraded alongside 11 other children recovered by the police in Anambra.

    “After waiting endlessly without seeing their boy the first day, the next day, when my child was brought along others, he almost jumped out of the vehicle trying get to us but was stopped by the police as the door was quickly jammed.

    “CSP Sule informed me later that they were taking the children to Gombe, that the case was cracked by the police in Gombe State. I was advised to go back and get police extract at the station where I reported the incident. We went back to get the extract and other necessary documents as evidence to show the police in Gombe.

    “He showed the picture of my son to me from his Android phone and told me to go back to Delta, which we did.

    ““During the Gombe State Police Commissioner’s press briefing, a certain man from Bauchi claimed that my son was his and wanted to take him away, but my son began to scream and cry in protest. The police bundled him into their van and zoomed away.

    “The O.C, Legal, said I had to do a DNA test that I should pay N150,000 and police later collected N45,000 from me. I have the receipt and bank transaction. I was told to come after 45 days for the result.

    “Later, it was discovered that the man claiming my child bought him from Nkechi, the woman who kept them at the orphanage in Anambra. After interrogation, Nkechi revealed that none of the children came from the North. So, the children were transferred back to Akwa, Anambra State,” he said.

    Expressing her frustration, a visibly sad Mrs. Osah called on the Ministry of Women Affairs in Delta and Anambra states to come to her aid.

    “How can a child that I carried for nine months and lived with me for two years and seven months not recognise me and have a connection?

    “All I want is my child who was kidnapped in Emede. How do I live with this pain? We have spent so much and are still spending, yet the police have refused to give us our son,” the distraught mother said.

    Unfortunately, Deputy commissioner of police in charge of investigation, Anambra State Command, Yakubu, allegedly declined to speak when contacted, while the O.C., Legal, of the Anambra State Police Command, Chris Collins Ifeanyi, also reportedly insisted that a letter be written from media houses before he could speak on the issue, insisting that it is complicated.

  • Bloody day in Lagos community

    Bloody day in Lagos community

    No fewer than 13 persons were allegedly abducted while a policeman was hacked to death by suspected land grabbers who also wounded several residents of Etegbin community in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.

    February 14, 2022, was a black Monday in Etegbin, a riverine community located in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.

    The day, globally acclaimed for the celebration of love otherwise called Valentine’s Day, had started on a peaceful note in the community as fun seekers stormed bars and restaurants to dine and wine with their loved ones.

    But while people were enjoying the bliss on the day, they were oblivious of the ominous cloud that hung over the community. A few minutes past noon, a bloody attack by some hoodlums shattered the revelry and threw the community into pandemonium as residents ran for dear lives.

    The hoodlums believed to be land grabbers stormed the community armed with guns, machetes, axes and other dangerous weapons, descending on some policemen stationed in the community to maintain law and order following the taking of possession by one Adeoku family after the court declared the family as the rightful owner of the landed property.

    By the time the attack was over, the hoodlums had allegedly killed a mobile police sergeant, Edison Fulman, with Force Number 500314. The policeman was gruesomely stabbed to death after he was dispossessed of his rifle while his 16 other colleagues sustained varying degrees of injuries and are still on admission in a hospital where the fate of many of them hang in the balance.

    No fewer than 13 workers of a businessman and property mogul, Chief Moruf Owonla, were also said to have been abducted by the hoodlums. They are Ganiyu Ogunbakinde; Olumide Omoakin; Jamiu Osama; Azeez Oloye; Akeem; Taiwo; Dayo, Wasiu, whose surnames are not known while others who narrowly escaped death were badly wounded by the hoodlums and rescued by men of the Ajangbadi Division.

    According to sources, some of those abducted might have been killed as some bodies were sighted floating on the lagoon around the coastal community.

    A resident who identified himself simply as Salau said: “Few days after the attack, bodies of some men, a few of them headless, were seen floating at the various axis of the surrounding lagoon, fuelling suspicions that some of those abducted may have been killed. Some of the bodies were headless and their killers may have deliberately severed their heads from their bodies to prevent people from recognising them,” he added.

    An injured victim, Mrs. Omowunmi Adewale, said she was caught unawares by the hoodlums who attempted to hack her before she escaped by a whisker.

    “But for Providence, I would have been killed by the hoodlums,” she said.

    “I work as a caterer at a site here. The hoodlums were armed with machetes and guns. They brutalised me and one of them was about hacking me with a cutlass but I narrowly escaped before some policemen arrived from a nearby division.”

    How it all began

    A protracted legal tussle had ensued between one Adeoku Family and another family over the ownership of hectares of land in the community. The matter was heard by Justice O. Oshodi of the Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, who recently delivered judgment in favour of the Adeoku Family in 2013.

    Following the judgment, a possession order was given by the court and a certificate of warrant of possession otherwise called Form ‘O’ was issued to the victorious family to take possession of the said property.

    Subsequently, a team of 17 policemen drafted from the Zone 2 Police Headquarters, Lagos and the court sheriffs executed the warrant of possession on February 11, 2022.

    The repossession of the landed property by the owner family led to a misleading alarm to the state authorities that some persons suspected to be land grabbers had invaded the community and held residents hostage.

    The state government had subsequently dispatched a delegation led by the Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Dr. Wale Ahmed, to Etegbin to confirm the alleged invasion by hoodlums.

    State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Cornelius Ojelabi, who was part of the delegation, explained that the visit was aimed at preventing a breakdown of law and order.

    Ojelabi, during the visit, promised that both parties would be invited to a roundtable to resolve the matter amicably and urged residents to eschew violence and reprisals.

    A resident, Ramoni Adio, told The Nation that some persons behind the attack had actually raised the false alarm to the state government after the possession of the landed property was taken on February 11, 2021.

    “The state government consequently dispatched a delegation comprising senior government officials to the community on February 14. Unfortunately, the hoodlums seized the opportunity of the delegation’s visit to storm the community and unleash terror as soon as the government officials left,” Adio said.

    He explained further that the hoodlums destroyed several properties on the land, including hotels and filling stations, and moved around the community with machetes and guns to harass residents and people perceived to be close to the owner family.

    ”The hoodlums came in a convoy of several vehicles and motorcycles and freely moved around with machetes and guns attacking policemen and killing a policeman while they also injured several residents and abducted some men working on a site belonging to a real estate developer,” he added.

    Businessman cries to police over attack

    In a petition to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, Lagos, Chief Owonla, whose workers were abducted and injured by the rampaging hoodlums, urged the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of the investigative department to order a thorough investigation into the incident with a view to arresting the perpetrators and their sponsors.

    In the petition dated February 15, 2022, Owonla said he got ownership of his property through the judgment given in favour of his landlords, the Adeoku Family.

    The petition reads: “It was quite a pathetic situation and with a heavy heart to lay my complaint concerning what happened to my workers and manager at Etegbin and the event that led to the gruesome murder of Sergeant Edison Fulman and so many of my workers that are missing and yet to be confirmed dead.

    “The fact in issue was that my landlord from whom I derived my title to Etegbin property got a judgment in their favour which was fully guaranteed and confirmed with a certificate of warrant of possession, Form ‘O’ given in favour of  Adeoku Family of Etegbin in suit no ID/2370/94; CA/L/415/03  and BDM /6M/2009 dated 8th September 2013 and revalidation of possession to give credence to the judgment for the second time was carried out on Friday, February 11, 2022.

    “Immediately after the possession, peace and tranquillity pervaded the village without let or hindrance and we have started enjoying peaceful possession since then.

    “On Monday, February 14, 2022, my manager, who was at my gas station to oversee my real estate property, equally at Etegbin, briefed me adequately about the dastardly destruction of lives and property and arson which took place that day in a high-level conspiracy and scheming orchestrated and executed by hired armed hoodlums led by the suspects below, despite the peaceful possession given to us by a court of competent jurisdiction as the judgment creditors, to enjoy the fruit of our lawful possession.”

    He added: ”The moment the suspects came into the village with hired armed thugs and hoodlums (including) dreaded cultists, they started shooting sporadically in a scaring tactic to create panic and confusion in the relatively peaceful village and began to terrorise our workers and standby policemen from Zone 2 Police Command.`

    “In the process, Sergeant Edison Fulman from Zone 2 Command dropped dead while many of our workers were missing but yet to be confirmed dead, and these among others include Ganiyu Ogunbakinde; Olumide Omoakin; Jamiu Osama; Azeez Oloye; Akeem; Taiwo; Dayo and Wasiu.”

    Owonla claimed that one Shakiru and over 50 others were complicit in the matter, urging the police to “apprehend the culprits via conducting a wide-angle investigation into this report to know the degree of their complicity in crime and notoriety in criminality, lawlessness, extra-judicial conducts, conspiracy over time and to allow me unfettered access to my gas station and real estate property at Etegbin devoid of hired hoodlums attack, intimidation and harassment whatsoever…”

    Responding via a text message to inquiries from our correspondent, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Lagos State Command, Mr. Adekunle Ajisebutu, said the “Zone 2 Police Command is handling the matter.”

    Contacted, the spokesperson for Zone 2 Police Command, Hauwa Idris-Adamu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), promised to revert to an inquiry sent to her mobile phone by our correspondent.

    “Will confirm and revert back pls,” she said in her reply via a WhatsApp message. She had not however replied as promised at press time.

  • Festering drug cartels’ attack on West Africa

    Festering drug cartels’ attack on West Africa

    The claim by Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo that he and his cabinet members were targetted for elimination because of the war against narcotics trafficking and damning reports by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and INTERPOL indicate that West African nations and international allies must factor the facts in mounting an effective response to a resurgence of military coups in the region. Assistant Editor Bola Olajuwon reports.

    It seems the chickens are coming home to roost, going by the claim of Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo that the coup attempt against his government recently “has to do with our fight against narco-trafficking”. Embalo said some of the people involved in the coup attempt had been arrested.

    The attack in the capital of the unstable country, which came only about two weeks after the military overthrew the democratically elected leader of Burkina Faso, underscored fears that a recent spate of coups is inspiring others in the region. Illicit drug trafficking by cartels is also being blamed for instability in the region.

    The illicit trade

    Drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances, which are subject to drug prohibition laws.  United Nations (UN) member states recognised the importance of strengthening international cooperation to counter the world drug problem.

    The UN’s efforts in countering the problem are based on three major control treaties: the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 (as amended in 1972), the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. These three conventions attribute important functions to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and to the International Narcotics Control Board.

    Guinea-Bissau, West Africa and narco-trafficking

    Though Embalo’s claim could not be immediately ascertained, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) had warned several times  that the West African country was at risk of becoming an epicentre for drug trafficking and the crime and corruption associated with it. Guinea-Bissau, especially, became known as a transit point for cocaine between Latin America and Europe in the 2000s as traffickers profited from corruption and weak law enforcement.

    An international affairs expert and former top communication officer with ECOWAs, Mr. Paul Ejime, in an interview with The Nation on the issue, said drug trafficking is a serious problem in Guinea Bissau.

    “The West African country is a drug-trafficking hub. The military chiefs are involved. It will continue until the country stamps it out. When organised criminals see a place as weak, they will continue to strive. In 2020, Embalo asked ECOWAS to remove its force, now he is asking the bloc to send back the force. Organise criminal gangs are not the people a country can fight alone, because they are very powerful,” he said.

    According to him, the drug traffickers have the money to buy weapons and wage wars against governments in power. He added that weapons are very cheap to come by in the West Africa and Sahel regions since the death of Muammar Gaddafi and such weapons were being used by traffickers and criminals in the region.

    The UNODC claimed that no fewer than 50 tonnes of cocaine from the Andean countries – mountainous regions of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru – are transiting West Africa every year, heading north where they are worth almost $2 billion on the streets of European cities.

    According to the UN agency, most cocaine entering Africa from South America makes landfall around Guinea-Bissau in the north and Ghana in the south. Much of the drugs are shipped to Europe by drug mules on commercial flights. Upon arrival, the cocaine is predominantly distributed by West African criminal networks throughout Europe.

    A UNODC report made available to The Nation claimed that between 2004 and 2007, at least two distinct trans-shipment hubs emerged in West Africa: one centred on Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, and one concentrated in the Bight of Benin, which spans from Ghana to Nigeria.

    “Colombian traffickers transported cocaine by ‘mother ship’ to the West African coast before offloading to smaller vessels. Some of this cocaine proceeded onward by sea to Spain and Portugal, but some were left as payment to West Africans for their assistance. The West Africans then traffic this cocaine on their own behalf, largely by commercial air couriers. Shipments were also sent in modified small aircraft from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to various West African destinations,” the report stated.

    Also, Ameripol, an organisation based on the cooperation of police forces throughout the Americas, released a report, which claims that the situation in West Africa demonstrates the flexibility of drug traffickers. “The weakness and poverty in the region make it a good location to establish safe routes,” the report said.

    Reports also indicated that the conflicts in Libya and Tunisia in 2011 interrupted the main drug routes to Europe, and the French intervention in Mali in 2013 had the same effect. But this did not stop the traffickers. “Drug trafficking follows a law of physics – it is neither created nor destroyed, only transformed,” Ameripol claimed.

    In other words, a crackdown on it in one place, and it will pop up in another. “For this reason, the expansive effect of the countries most committed to the fight against drug trafficking has an effect of ‘welcoming’ organisations in other countries,” Ameripol said.

     Drug trafficking as a security threat in West Africa

    Executive Director of UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa put it succinctly: “Drug trafficking is having a destabilising impact on security and development in West Africa. Drug cartels buy more than real estate, banks and businesses, they buy elections, candidates and parties. In a word, they buy power”.

    According to a UNODC report, a declining United States (U.S.) cocaine market and a rising European one appear to have prompted South American cocaine traffickers to make use of low-governance areas in West Africa as transit zones.

    Speaking at the Security Council late last year, Costa said: “Guinea-Bissau has lost control of its territory and cannot administer justice”. The police and justice system, she said, were completely overwhelmed and ill-equipped to deal with the threat posed by foreign criminal groups colluding with powerful local allies. The issue, which had been under-reported in the media, had been breeding silent insecurity in the West African state.

    UNODC enforcement team along with Goodwill Ambassador, Alessandro Scotti, witnessed a seizure of more than 600 kilogrammes of cocaine that had been trafficked through Guinea-Bissau in April 2007.

    A report presented to the UN Security Council claimed that since 2006, 20  to 40 tonnes of cocaine per year were transiting through the West African region en route to Europe. It asserted that “with 20 tonnes valued at approximately US$ 1 billion on the wholesale market – a sum higher than the GDP of some West African countries – the criminal behaviour and corruption that travel alongside the cocaine are seriously affecting the security of the countries in the region”.

    Ghada Fathi Waly, the  UNODC Director-General/ Executive Director since 2020, said rising non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids and drug use disorders are harming health and public safety, as the region continues to be heavily affected by illegal tramadol imports.

    She said greater security threats were being posed by cocaine trafficking with West Africa serving as a major transit area for onward shipments to Western and Central Europe, as well as cannabis resin trafficking.  “The value of these illicit flows exceeds the national budgets of some transit countries, which is highly destabilising in this complex security situation,” Ms Waly said.

    INTERPOL on drug trafficking

    The International Criminal Police Organisation, commonly known as INTERPOL, facilitating worldwide police cooperation and crime control, with headquarters in Lyon, France, said criminal networks traffic a range of drugs, including cannabis, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.  It said as international borders become increasingly porous, global abuse and accessibility to drugs have become increasingly widespread.

    It said: “This international trade involves growers, producers, couriers, suppliers and dealers. It affects almost all of our member countries, undermining political and economic stability, ruining the lives of individuals and damaging communities. The end-users and addicts are often the victims of a powerful and manipulative business.

    “Drug trafficking is often associated with other forms of crime, such as money laundering or corruption. Trafficking routes can also be used by criminal networks to transport other illicit products. As criminals devise ever-more creative ways of disguising illegal drugs for transport, law enforcement faces challenges in detecting such concealed substances. In addition, new synthetic drugs are produced with regularity, so police need to always be aware of new trends and products on the illicit market.”

    In two operations, INTERPOL mobilised law enforcement in 41 countries to arrest 287 individuals and seize illicit narcotics estimated to be worth nearly EUR 100 million in Africa and the Middle East.

    The results of the operations included 17 tonnes of cannabis resin, valued at EUR 31 million, confiscated from warehouses in Niamey, Niger – the largest seizure in the country’s history. Shipped from Lebanon to the Togolese port of Lomé and then transported over 1,000 kilometres by lorry, the drugs were destined for Libya.

    West Africa accounts for three-quarters of tramadol seized globally

    It has been discovered that West Africa accounts for three-quarters of tramadol seized globally on the sea. The amount of this banned substance seized in Nigeria – mostly at its ports – rose from less than eight tonnes in 2014 to close to 150 tonnes in 2018. In the whole of West Africa, more than 430 tonnes of tramadol have been seized in the period between 2014 and 2017 alone, with tramadol seizures being recorded in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria and Togo.

     UNODC and INTERPOL response to drugs’ security threat in ECOWAS

    In October 2008, the ECOWAS, supported by UNODC and the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA) and in partnership with the European Union, held a Ministerial Conference in Praia, Cape Verde, to address the serious security threat posed by drug trafficking in the region. The Political Declaration and Regional Action Plan that resulted from this conference were subsequently endorsed by the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS in Abuja on 19 December 2008.

    The Praia Declarations reflect a strong political commitment and establish the basis for a detailed cooperation framework to combat drug trafficking and organised crime in West Africa. The UNODC was entrusted with leading the process of translating the Political Declaration and Regional Action Plan into concrete programmes to be carried out by ECOWAS member states in partnership with UNOWA, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), the INTERPOL and the European Union.

    UNODC’s response to the call for support from ECOWAS was to design a crosscutting and comprehensive strategy based on the principle of shared responsibility.

    The agency uses its comparative advantage to ensure a cross-border and integrated approach in the fight against illicit drug trafficking and organised crime, including the global threat posed by the transatlantic trafficking route. But, recognising the difficulty of managing vast African blue and green borders, the UNODC has set the objective to promote proactive policing by developing an intelligence-based approach to law enforcement and to improve inter-agency coordination with a view to disrupting the activities of organised crime groups behind drug trafficking.

    On December 27, 2019, INTERPOL, as part of its collaboration with the UNODC ,  assisted Guinea Bissau to obtain a triple prison conviction with the largest cocaine seizures in the country resulting in the sentencing of three drug kingpins arrested during a police operation supported by INTERPOL. An INTERPOL Incident Response Team (IRT) deployed to Guinea Bissau helped local authorities to investigate a record 790 kilogrammes of cocaine seizure where four suspects from Nigeria, Guinea Bissau and Senegal were arrested.

    Therefore, military and security analysts have called on ECOWAs countries to firm up the frameworks and implement them to the letter to tackle organised criminals and cartels making an incursion into the region.

     The need for strong local, national security architecture

    However, Ejime said ECOWAs countries battling drug traffickers must show individual local and national seriousness to fight those involved through local and national architecture. He called for the arrest and prosecution of the suspects before a strong and committed judiciary.

    “A country like Guinea Bissau should show a strong commitment to carry the fights to drug lords by arresting them, confiscating the drugs and prosecuting them before the judiciary,” Ejime submitted.

     The argument for adequate legal framework

    According to the UNODC, one of the fundamental stumbling blocks has been the inadequacy of the legal framework. Many countries in the region are yet to fully domesticate the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Legal assessments carried out by UNODC in 12 countries of Central and West Africa between 2014 and 2019 indicated that only a few national frameworks fully met the requirements of UNCLOS in terms of criminalising offences and establishing universal jurisdiction. Thus, successful investigations leading to effective prosecutions remain rare, making maritime crimes low-risk and high reward criminal activities.

    To counter this threat and improve criminal justice responses to maritime crime, the UNODC Nigeria Country Office said legal frameworks need to follow the quick evolution of criminal offences committed at sea by creating new regulations, improving the quality of existing legal instruments, as well as updating key definitions in line with the UNCLOS.

    Ejime also urged ECOWAS leaders to ratify outstanding protocols they were yet to sign to enhance the fight against criminals and protect the region’s political stability.

    Ensuring global collaboration on military patrols

    However, in an interview with The Nation on the matter, a security chief, who pleaded anonymity, attributed spiralling cases of organised crimes in the area to the weak territorial protection of the Gulf of Guinea by member states. He added that the weak security situation has allowed foreign and local organised criminals to perpetuate their activities in the area. The expert noted that the most active naval force in the area is the Nigerian Navy, lamenting that there is little that other naval forces from the Republic of Benin, Ghana, Togo and others could do.

    Former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside said there was an urgent need for international collaboration to tackle the menace. He said: “Dealing with the issues of maritime crimes requires inter-agency collaboration as well as regional collaboration between sister agencies in the participating countries.”

    The Nigerian Navy (NN) has acquired more patrol crafts to combat maritime crimes in the country’s territorial waters. The Navy said it also arrested hundreds of vessels and barges as well as hundreds of suspects for various maritime offences in the last four years.

    Military experts, however, said navies in the Gulf of Guinea need to come together with the support of European countries to tackle the menace.

    The analyst noted that despite the performance of the Nigerian Navy in patrolling the Gulf of Guinea, it still required advanced naval platforms to bring sanity to the area. The expert added that the cost of lifting platforms and patrolling the area would only be borne by the Nigerian Navy, since the other member countries, who jointly owned the economic zone, are financially not capable. The security expert said the Gulf of Guinea leaders can also reach out to European navies and other foreign powers to assist in patrolling the area.

    To Ejime, ECOWAS leaders should collaborate to tackle the weak links through sharing of military and police intelligence to embark on the joint arrest of suspects through regional collaboration to nip in the bud the festering attack on the region’s political stability.

    To Ameripol, ECOWAS countries should “start to harmonise laws on certain crimes, particularly drug trafficking as a first step and related crimes as a second step, so as to fight in coordination, executing common policies and effective actions against the power of organised crime in the region”.

    Strengthening civil society, democracy and good governance

    Former African Union (AU) Commissioner for Peace and Security and top UN diplomat in West Africa Said Djinnit said ECOWAS needs to address the root causes of the recent coups. Supporting his assertion, analysts also stressed the need to focus more support on strengthening civil society, democracy and good governance in each country between elections, rather than focusing too narrowly just on elections themselves. They stressed that the youths, who were being lured into the drug trade, need to be engaged in productive ventures.

    “Too often, verbal condemnations of coups or autocracy have not been reinforced with concrete actions to address the insecurity that creates fertile ground for coups,” an analyst and Vice President, Africa Centre, Dr. Joseph Sany, said.

  • Family in anguish over 58-year-old contractor’s whereabouts

    Family in anguish over 58-year-old contractor’s whereabouts

    The whereabouts of a building contractor who left his home in Ogun State for a church programme in Lagos remain unknown, causing agonising family members and associates to lament his disappearance reports Kunle Akinrinade.

    Where is Tony Aghene? This is the question on the lips of family members, friends and associates of the 58-year-old building contractor, who has disappeared without a trace since he left home for a church programme on Monday, January 10.

    Aghene, a native of Fobe in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State, had left his home in Gasline area of Ijoko, Ogun State in his church garment and had told a neighbour he rode in the same passenger bus with that he was going to attend a programme at a branch of the Celestial Church of Christ in Ogba area of Lagos where he worships but has since not returned home.

    His wife, Bridget, an educationist, said her husband told her that he would return home after the programme, adding that all the efforts made to trace his whereabouts had been futile.

    “He said he was going to a church programme at Ogba when he left our home at Gasline area on Ijoko Road, Ogun State. He left around 5pm.

    “He had actually gone to our church same Monday morning to pick some items he forgot there on Sunday January 9,” Bridget said.

    Obviously exasperated when her husband didn’t return home on time and could not be reached anymore on his mobile phone, Bridget said she became worried when she was told by one of her husband’s sisters, who was at the church for special prayers, that her husband was not in the church.

    She said: When he didn’t return home on that day, I became worried and tried to reach him on his mobile phone but his line was switched off.

    “I placed a call to one of his sisters who was in the church for special prayers and she told me that she hadn’t seen my husband, which means that he never got to the church.

    “Since then, we have not seen him or known his whereabouts. His mobile phone is switched off. He went out in his white garment and he is the youth leader in his church.

    “Before he left home, he even allocated tasks to some of his workers at a site where he was executing a building project.

    “He was to go to the site the next day, according to what he told some of his workers on the phone.

    “When we called his workers, they also said that he did not come to the site on the day he left home or thereafter, and his whereabouts remain a puzzle as we speak.” reported the matter to the Sango Police Division in Ogun State while the authorities of their church had also reported his disappearance at the Area G Police Command in Ogba, Lagos.

    “We have reported the matter at Sango Police Station in Ogun State while his church reported the matter at Area G Police Command in Ogba, Lagos State.”

    She lamented that the family has been in anguish over her husband’s whereabouts, saying: “The family is distraught and anguished since he left home and did not return. Everyone is troubled. I am much agonised because he is not only my husband but also a reliable partner.”

    The Nation learnt that aside being a professional builder, Aghene is a highly principled man and a dedicated church worker with special interest in youth development.

    A family friend, who asked not to be named, said Aghene has helped a lot of youths to achieve their educational goals through his philanthropic gestures.

    “He is a diligent and principled professional and church worker who has helped countless young persons in Celestial Church of Christ.

    “Many youths have enjoyed and are still on his scholarship in several institutions of higher learning. It is sad that his whereabouts are unknown.

    “Without prejudice to the outcome of police investigation, I don’t think that his disappearance has anything to do with kidnapping.

    “If he was abducted, his abductors would have contacted his family to demand ransom.

    “Hence, his whereabouts remains a mystery even for law enforcement agents.”

    It was learnt that a public service announcement sponsored by Aghene’s church members is currently being aired on some popular radio stations in Lagos to alert the public to his disappearance and possibly get information on his whereabouts.

    A close associate of Aghene, who spoke in confidence, said his church members are playing a significant role in ensuring that “Aghene’s whereabouts are unravelled before long.

    “In addition to the radio announcement, the church is fervently praying to God to make his whereabouts known so he can reunite with his family and brethren.”

  • Ahmed Musa’s uncommon philanthropy

    Ahmed Musa’s uncommon philanthropy

    Aside football, Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa is a ready reference for altruism due to his sense of empathy towards the plight of others, regardless of ethnic or religious affiliations.

    The 28-year-old winger is the most capped player in the history of Nigerian football with 104 appearances for the Eagles since his debut in 2011 against Guinea in Conakry.

    As a football star, he’s changing the narrative about the art of giving and philanthropy in Nigeria.

    In the past years, his acts of charity have earned the special recognition and words of gratitude from many Nigerians.

    Some even likened Musa to pop star, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido who unexpectedly received N200m from fans and friends and added N50million. He then donated the N250million to all orphanages across Nigeria.

    Musa has a long history of kindness which he has demonstrated over and over again with his succeeding flow of humanitarian support to people and communities. He has made countless donations and also offered scholarships and other forms of help to alleviate the suffering of the needy.

    Musa’s latest gesture was his intervention and show of love with the donation of N2 million to 1996 Olympic gold medalist, Kingsley Obiekwu.

    Obiekwu, a member of the Atlanta ’96 Olympics Gold medal-winning Dream Team, recently opened up on his financial struggles, especially how he uses his only car for commercial transport to sustain his family.

    The 47-year-old former defender fondly referred to as “Shagari” during his professional stint, played for Rangers International FC, Enugu and Udoji United.

    Obiekwu has sent words of appreciation to Musa and Nigerians for their support.

    On how Musa contacted him, he said: “Musa called me and said he had heard my story and that he and his teammates will do something but meanwhile, I should give him my account number and in about an hour’s time, I got an alert of N2 million, I appreciate that a lot.”

    Obiekwu, who said he was forced to retire at 30 in 2004 due to health reasons, said a number of ex-internationals were passing through hard times, urging them not to be ashamed to speak out instead of dying in silence.

    He advised active sportsmen and women to save and invest their earnings to avoid running into hitches when they retire.

  • Abba Kyari: When truth is stranger than fiction

    Abba Kyari: When truth is stranger than fiction

    The story of Abba Kyari, Deputy Commissioner of Police and erstwhile head of the Nigerian Police Intelligence Response Team, is that of a man who is in a gradual but headlong fall from grace to disgrace. All this week the story of his run-in with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) was trending.

    Last year, the Borno-State born police officer ran into trouble with the law, was suspended from the force and relieved from all police duties for allegedly helping convicted internationally- acclaimed fraudster, Ramon Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi, to launder money in America.

    Amidst calls for his extradition to answer charges in the U.S, he’s been battling to prove his innocence.

    Before now, Kyari had a reputation of being a “super cop” who investigated big criminal cases. He received a presidential medal of courage from President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016 after his team rescued three kidnapped schoolgirls in Lagos.

    He was also honoured by the Lagos State government thrice with awards for gallantry between 2011 and 2013. He is known to have cracked difficult crime cases and burst several notorious criminal gangs across the country.

    But in a bizarre twist , the hunter became the hunted – accused of trying to recruit fellow officers into a drug plot. In fact, investigations are ongoing to establish if truly he belongs to an international drugs cartel, authorities say.

    Trouble started for Kyari last year, July 29 to be precise, when Hushpuppi, who is now convicted and awaiting sentencing in the U.S, on charges of money laundering leveled against him by the United States government, implicated him as playing some roles in an international plot to defraud a Qatari school founder. The allegation also involved the laundering of over $1.1 million in illicit proceeds.

    According to court proceedings and documented evidence, a dispute among members of the crime syndicate saw Hushpuppi arranging with Kyari for one Vincent to be arrested and jailed in Nigeria. It was also established that he allegedly sent Abbas account details into which he could make payment for Vincent’s arrests and imprisonment.

    Indications also emerged during the trial that Kyari allegedly travelled to Dubai at the invitation of Hushpuppi and was treated to a good time with airport pickup, luxury hotel accommodation and city tour on the bill of the notorious fraudster. Of course, the embattled DCP denied most of the allegations via his social media handles and in statements made to the various panels investigating him.

    The United States Department of Justice reportedly issued a warrant of arrest and a request for Kyari’s extradition. The IGP, however, suspended him pending the report from the committee in charge of investigation.

    In December 2021, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, submitted the probe panel report on Kyari to the Police Service Commission. But few weeks back, the Commission found loopholes in the report and sent it back to IGP Usman Alkali Baba for further investigation and clarity with regards to the specific indictments pointed out by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

    On 14th February 2022, with Kyari’s fate still uncertain following the Commission’s decision on the report of the panel that investigated him over allegations made by Hushpuppi and the U.S court, a video clip of the suspended IRT Commander surfaced on social media where he was apparently  negotiating the release of 25kg seized cocaine, offering $61, 400 in cash.

    Last Monday, hours after the NDLEA declared him wanted on suspicion of being “a member of a drug cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria illicit drug pipeline,” Kyari was arrested alongside four other officers namely Sunday Ubuah, Bawa James, Simon Agrigba and John Nuhu , while one other officer, John Umoru, remained “at large”.

    With the NDLEA accusing Kyari of allegedly claiming that he and his team had intercepted and arrested traffickers entering Nigeria from Ethiopia with 25kg of cocaine and asking an unnamed narcotic officer to be part of a plot to sell off part of the seized drug and replace with dummies, Nigerians are waiting eagerly to hear what the erstwhile celebrated cop, who is a member of International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), have to say in his defense this time.

    Nigerians would be particularly keen to know what he has to say about being captured on video and audio engaging in a criminal transaction. Perhaps it was also photoshopped and the footage cloned by mischief-makers!

  • Pantami and his professorship

    Pantami and his professorship

    The elevation of Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, to the rank of professor by the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) continues to generate heat.

    Pantami is not new to controversies. He was appointed in 2019 as a minister at the onset of President Muhammadu Buhari’s second tenure after spending three years (2016-2019) as Director-General and CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

    Last year, he was in the eye of the storm after videos surfaced online showing he allegedly about a decade ago had words of fulsome praise for extremist groups like Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

    Many Nigerians called for his resignation or sack based on those statements. Although the minister later admitted making the controversial comments but said his views on such groups had since evolved and were no longer sane.

    Still swimming in controversial waters, Chairman and CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, went on Twitter to accuse Pantami of preying on her and her staff by chasing them out of their office accommodation and seizing their equipment.

    Now, the minister’s academic elevation is eliciting intense discourse. The row isn’t just about ‘the well-deserved promotion’ but also the claim of over 160 publications attached to it.

    In September 2021, Pantami was among seven academics that were elevated by FUTO to the position of a professorship at the university’s council’s 186th meeting.

    The opposing sides in Pantami’s promotion are academics and political supporters. Many scholars fault the rationale behind his professorship, arguing that he can’t be a professor since he was not a lecturer at the university. They also insist that his highest attainment before delving into politics was the position of lecturer.

    As is to be expected his political supporters have risen stoutly in Pantami’s defence.

    Elated by news of the promotion, the minister has since added the title of ‘Professor’ to his name. But during the week, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) described the appointment as illegal.

    ASUU said the review of the processes that led to Pantami’s elevation found they were against laid-down procedures within the university system.

    The union also argued that the minister has no academic qualifications or certification to be promoted to such a high cadre academic position and cannot occupy different positions in two separate federal government parastatals

    Reacting to ASUU’s position, FUTO Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nnenna Oti, said the institution’s management has gone to court over the matter.

    She stated that the union has no power or right to fault the appointment of any individual to occupy any position in the varsity.

    Oti insists that the school is an independent body and has the power to appoint, fire, or retire any individual in the institution.

    With the matter already the subject of litigation, time will tell if ‘Professor’ Pantami has adorned borrowed robes or his grand new title is the real deal.

  • We’re dying of hunger!

    We’re dying of hunger!

    Two years after the Idiroko end of the Nigeria/Benin border was shut by the federal government, traders, residents, and business operators are calling on the government to consider reopening the border to save them from hunger and death, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE

    It was a sunny Monday afternoon at the Idiroko, Ogun State end of the border between Nigeria and the Republic of Benin.  Three women, Bosede Disu, Mary Sidoku and Patricia Onyejekwe, rued their losses since the border was shut by the Muhammadu Buhari administration about two years ago.

    At the sight of the reporter, the women launched into a protest, soliciting coverage as they expressed their displeasure at the hell that life has become with the continued closure of the border.

    Disu, a food vendor, whose once thriving business has become history, said she had lost all she ever made from her food business over the years since the border was shut by the Nigerian authorities.

    “In fact, some of us have died from the shock of the border closure,” she said. “Several others have developed high blood pressure from pressing domestic bills they cannot pay because they have been pushed out of job as a result of the land border closure.”

    The mother of four explained that her thriving restaurant had been shut down and she had had to resort to hawking with nothing to show for her daily toil as the traffic of people in and out of the border area has vanished.

    Disu said: “I was running a restaurant around the customs border post and people including travellers and traders going to the Benin Republic or coming to Nigeria were largely my customers.

    ”Like my other colleagues around, I was doing well in the business until two years ago when the Nigerian government announced the closure of land borders with neighbouring countries.

    ”We have since been thrown into hunger and our children can no longer go to school because we have lost our business and cannot afford to sponsor their education.”

    She noted that life had returned to communities around other land borders recently reopened by the federal government, asking: “Why has the Nigerian government refused to reopen the Idiroko border when others have since been reopened?

    “Seme border was shut the same time Idiroko border was closed down, but Seme border and others in the North have since been reopened.

    “Residents of the border areas have regained their business groove and life has returned to the areas while the Idiroko border remains shut. We are dying of hunger.

    “We are appealing to the government to reopen Idiroko border to save us from untimely deaths.”

    Another trader, Sidoku, explained that she used to run a beverage store until the border was shut two years ago, throwing her into abject poverty.

    She said: ”I was never lacking when my shop was running. I was selling beverages of different kinds to people going to or coming in from the Republic of Benin, and life was good for me and my family.

    ”However, my life has become miserable since the closure of the border by the government of this country. I am living from hand to mouth because I have been forced out of business by the unfortunate closure of the border. “My husband, who also was working with a merchant at Igolor Market (Benin Republic) has lost his job and now works as a commercial motorcycle operator with an income that could barely feed us because of shortage of passengers.”

    “But for God, I would have died. I was recently rushed to a hospital after I took ill and it was discovered that I had developed high blood pressure linked to too much thinking and restlessness; a result of my worries over the joblessness caused by the border closure.” She added.

    Idiroko

    In a familiar tone of despair, Patricia Onyejekwe, an alternative medicine seller, said the border closure had turned her into a beggar as she could no longer feed well.

    She explained that her shop was shut not long after the border post was closed to human and vehicular movement two years ago.

    ”My business stopped shortly after the border was shut. People and vehicles were barred from passing through the border post and it affected my business because customers, who were mostly travellers and shoppers, were no longer coming to the border.

    ”I can no longer feed well. My children are also suffering. As I speak, my eldest daughter, who was to further her studies in a state-owned polytechnic, could not do her registration at the school because I have no money to give her.”

    She added: “We want the government to save us from extinction by reopening the border at Idiroko. Anything short of that will be catastrophic for business operators who have been largely affected by the border closure.”

    But traders are not the only victims of the border closure. Licensed customs agents have also become distraught over the continuous closure of the border post.

    Some of the licensed agents were also seen milling around the border area with no customer in sight.

    Speaking with our correspondent, the chairman of the agents under the aegis of Global Freightforwaders Association of Nigeria, Idiroko Chapter, Alhaji Tajudeen Adetayo, said the hardship from the border closure had become unbearable for his members.

    ”Border closure in Idiroko has brought hardship to the people in the community, especially we licensed (customs) agents, and it has become unbearable for us,” he said.

    Adetayo said that despite the loss suffered by his members, they have continued to renew their licences even as they have no patronage or jobs to do with them.

    He said: ”Despite our business predicament, we are still being compelled to renew our licences every year. But we have no jobs to do because of the border closure, and our lives are nothing to talk about. Our people are dying every day.

    “I am using this opportunity to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to use his good offices to assist us by reopening the border so that life can return to the community.”

    It will be recalled that in August 2019, Nigeria closed its land borders with neighbouring Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic as part of its efforts to prevent the smuggling of illegal arms, food, and agricultural products to stimulate local production.

    About 57 borders were subsequently shut across the country as the government intensified steps to limit the influx of contrabands into Nigeria.

    According to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, the reopening of some of the border posts was in readiness for the operationalisation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) which was scheduled for January 1, 2021.

    The Federal Government has since reopened four major land borders, namely Seme, Illela, Maigatari and Mfun in December 2020 while Idiroko remains shut.

    Adetayo, however, noted that the continued closure of Idiroko border has neither curbed insecurity nor reduced smuggling activities in the border areas.

    ”They said the border was closed because of insecurity, yet, there is still so much insecurity in the land. Closing the border has also further encouraged smuggling activities more than ever before.

    “In the first place, if the border was not shut, people would bring in their goods through the land border and pay duties on them. But now, people are smuggling their goods into Nigeria through illegal routes and denying government the duties that should have been paid on such goods.

    ”If the border is reopened, business will flourish and there will be movement of people and vehicles in and out of Idiroko to the Benin Republic. Hence, I am appealing with the government to reopen the border as that would enable more people in that axis to have jobs.

    ”President Buhari is the father of the nation. He should order the reopening of the border to save us from untimely deaths.”

    In November 2019, the Nigeria Customs Service announced a ban on the supply of petroleum products to Nigerians living within 20 kilometres of an international border.

    The Nation learnt that as a result of the ban on petroleum products and continued border closure, a number of small and medium firms have folded up due to loss of patronage and operational cost.

    An industrialist, Gboyega Afolabi, lamented that “a number of businesses have shut down because we rely on the Benin market to sell our products.

    ”The situation is made worse by the ban on movement of petroleum products within the border areas, thereby drastically increasing our operational costs in the last two years.

    ”While it is true the government is trying to prevent smuggling of arms and ammunition and other contrabands through the land border, the attendant situation looks like someone digging a grave for the enemy while digging several others for himself, because the closure has led to the loss of businesses, jobs and revenue on the part of government and people of Nigeria. There is need for a rethink.”

    A resident, Olabode Sunton, said he had lost his means of livelihood as he could no longer go to his shop at Igolor Market in Benin Republic.

    He said: ”I was selling frozen foods and I have a shop in Igolor Market, which has been shut following the border closure because customers are not coming anymore.

    ”I have since been working as a porter at the nearby Owode Market and life has become miserable for me ever since.

    “The government should please consider reopening the Idiroko border to save people like us from dying.”

  • Our battles with prostate cancer

    Our battles with prostate cancer

    In a rare instance of coincidence, Taiwo and Kehinde Abiodun, identical twin brothers based in the United States of America and Canada respectively, have both had to battle with prostate cancer. As they clock 60 years today, they seized the opportunity of their birthday in separate interviews to counsel the young and the old on the need to check their prostate specific antigen (PSA) regularly, considering that early detection of the ailment can help to get rid of it.

    Going down memory lane, Taiwo, who said they were born to the family of the late Joshua Adepoju Abiodun and his wife, Caroline Oladoyin Abiodun (nee Olakunori), recalled that people could hardly distinguish him from his twin brother as growing up children.

    He said: “When we were growing up, people could hardly distinguish us from each other.  In fact, our father could not differentiate us.

    “Our elder brother, Prof. Rowland, would just call us Twins and whoever was concerned would answer him.

    “But as we grew up and got more matured slight differences began to manifest.

    “For instance, it became apparent that I could talk a lot more than Kehinde who is a bit more reserved.

    Corroborating his twin brother, Kehinde said: “Honestly, it is now that we have different characters; one is more jovial than the other or one is more serious in look than the other. It was only with our voice that our father could determine who was Taiye or Kehinde.”

    But beyond their physical appearance, there are many other areas the identical nature of Taiwo and Kehinde come to the fore. These, according to Taiwo, include the schools they attended and even their attitude to life.

    He said: “We have the same attitude to life. We also attended the same primary and secondary schools before we parted ways academically. But I must confess that my twin brother (Kehinde) was more brilliant.

    “When we were at the All Saints’ Modern School, Owo (Ondo State), I would come first in my class while he would come third in his; but his aggregate score was always higher than mine.

    “We were only separated when we gained admission to higher institutions and were further separated when Kehinde joined his family in Canada 22 years ago.

    “The last time we saw was 15 years ago when he came home to attend our mother’s funeral. But thanks to technology, we speak daily and do video calls.

    “In spite of our identical nature, civilization separated us. Imagine he lives in Canada and he and his children are now Canadian citizens while I live in America and by marriage to my wife Ronnie, who is an African-American, sooner or later, I would become one of them.

    “Imagine a set of identical twins belonging to different nationalities, thanks to naturalization.

    Yet by far the most shocking of the things they shared together is that they were both diagnosed with the same life-threatening disease, namely prostate cancer, and they are both living with it!

    Taiwo said: “We share many things in common, like he was operated on for prostate cancer about 10 years ago while I also had my own operation for prostate cancer about two years ago. We are both living with prostate Cancer and have become advocates against the disease, educating men about it.

    Kehinde recalled that he was shocked to the marrow when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer about 11 years ago. But he said his shock did not emanate from fear that he could die.

    “No, I was not afraid and I am not afraid of death,” he said in response to a question

    “I was only shocked at the thought of what would be happening to the men in Nigeria since I was diagnosed prostate cancer here in my base here in Canada. How would they know that they have prostate cancer? Can they afford this?

    “When you hear cancer, your heart would jump into your mouth. So I went straight to one of my brothers, Prof. Rowland Abiodun, in Massachusetts, USA. He calmed me down and prayed for me, and I went for the surgery which was successful.”

    Since then, he has gone into advocacy against the disease, educating people on how to avoid it.

    “Last year, I organised a session for two organisations here in Canada and in America. The major fears about prostate cancer are death and erectile dysfunction.

    “Early detection helps, and there is treatment for erectile dysfunction if it happens after surgery. Therefore, there is no cause for fear at all.

    “I regained my erection nine or ten months after the surgery. It is not a shameful thing. Women are also prone to breast cancer, uterus cancer, ovarian cancer, and so on, and early detection helps.”

    Taiwo on his part said it was his wife that God used to detect his prostate cancer before it could get too bad.

    He said: “God used Ronnie, my wife, to save my life because she suspected that something was wrong with me. She took me to the doctor who discovered that I had prostate enlargement and cancer and I went through surgery in 2019. She calmed me down and since then I have been living with it.

    “My PSA was high and the doctor was afraid. But later I was operated on and the rest is now history.”

    He added: “Ronnie is one of the most responsible women I have ever met. Although we have cultural differences, she quickly understood me. She loves my dressing some Nigerian ladies would object to.

    “I have met some ladies in Nigeria who condemned my dressing, saying my bling bling is juju despite my spirited effort to explain to them that it is my own style of dressing.

    “My bling bling is my trade mark. It is my logo, so why should I allow a lady to deny me what I love doing?”

  • GUINNESS MD BAKER MAGUNDA: I have no tolerance for bullies

    GUINNESS MD BAKER MAGUNDA: I have no tolerance for bullies

    Baker Magunda, the MD/CEO of Guinness Nigeria, is a Ugandan who has worked in different departments of the famous organisation, garnering expertise and touching lives.  In this interview with YETUNDE OLADEINDE, he talks about working with women, the importance of diversity, the need for more seats for women in parliament, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses and lifestyles, his style of management style and early life, among other issues.

    What has been your experience working with women?

    It is important and it is one of those things that you have to make possible. If you do it because the organisation you work for wants you to do it, you will not go far. The organisation gives you the structure and resources, but first, you have to make it possible, and possible means it is the right thing to do.

    My experience so far in working for this organisation is that it takes leadership.  Secondly, you have to put yourself under pressure by having specific goals. You have to commit resources because resources would always be competed for. There are many things that you can use the resources for. You have to put the resources needed, galvanise the whole organisation around the programme and what you are trying to do.  Every employee must become an ambassador; meaning that they speak about it in the right way, with the right fact and amplify it.

    What has been your personal experience?

    First, I would talk about my personal experiences growing up with women. I’ve got more sisters than brothers: six girls and five boys. My mum had eleven children.  So, my experience is that they respond to the stimulus which gives them equality.  So, we cooked together, boys and girls. We cleaned the house together and washed our clothes together. So, they all respond to the stimulus of equality.

    When we were in the school, the pronouncements were all equal. That I would say helped me.

    Coming to work, I would say females are equal just like all of us. They respond to being treated properly, being human, given a chance, promote them for what they have done from experience. I also know that teams led by women tend to be more effective because they have the sole desire to connect with people, empathise with them and more.

    Of course, there are difficulties of tending to be more aggressive with other females. But I think all of that is conditioned by society. I do not experience what other people usually tell me that when you bring so many females together work would not be done or too much in fighting. We can differentiate that argument by saying that there would always be  good  human beings, there would be  lazy people and there would be  hardworking people.

    Your Organisation has a number of packages for women. Would you say that the women are utilising these packages?

    They know that this support system exists. For instance, when we say that you can have six months of paid maternity, we are not encouraging you to have children if you don’t want. If you chose to do that, this is what is available and we give you the means. On the whole, the answer is yes. We have conversations for Saturday training, coaching and mentorship. We are seeing them responding a lot to opportunities and they are feeling more confident to apply for jobs. We send so many people out of Nigeria to other countries.

    Before now, it was like, how can I work in a strange country? Or my husband would not allow me. Now, we are seeing more females say it is a fantastic opportunity. And there are so many women now in London, USA and other places. Now, they are beginning to feel confident, to confirm to themselves that these things are good for them as well. It is a journey.

    And for the men, I would say don’t feel threatened. There are opportunities for everybody. Don’t compete with the females.Think of how best you can be in the field that you have chosen. We are also coaching them. We have special sessions with the males and it is going well.

    How would you describe the recent bill that advocates for more seats for women in parliament?

    I don’t want to comment on politics, because I am not a Nigerian. However, as a principle, I do believe that in order to create the change that we want, females need to be assisted to participate more in politics. Some countries across Africa and other parts of the world have tried it and it has worked. Maybe 30 per cent of all seats at the local government or parliament have to be females. Different countries have tried different things. What that it does is to give confidence to the others who are still feeling unsure. Politics and social leadership is another area where we need more female participation.

    Some people think that if women are too empowered, they won’t stay in marriage. What do you think?

    Any man who says so is not confident. For our men, I would say be confident; that is number one. Secondly, if you truly value the relationship you have with this female as your wife, girlfriend or spouse, then you need to know that income support each other.  Today, you are the one in the job, you don’t know what would happen tomorrow. Two parents working and supporting the children brings stability to the home. Who knows, one of you might be incapacitated. Being fearful, for me, is lack of confidence.

    The second thing, which is unrelated, is how a female or male behaves in a relationship, especially in Africa. This is a function of who is the breadwinner. So, the more you have shared responsibilities in the home, the more you see each other as equal rather than she is dependent, I’ll boss her around, I would decide what gets done in the house. So, I think where both are learning and into active work, going out every day to cater for their children is good.

    My experience in Nigeria specifically is that most of the small businesses are owned and run by women already. I think we just need to bring voice(s) to what they are doing and shine a light on them. These are women working hard every day.

    There is already evidence that when a female in a home got income, the children would be more successful than the one with unstable income.

    A lot of the women with small businesses had challenges last year with COVID. Others lost their jobs.  What do you think about this?

    There have been many reports that COVID-19 disproportionately affected women more than it did men for reasons we know. They were either in the frontline jobs, at risk of death or they were in the low paying jobs. So, when they fell out, they couldn’t sustain themselves. Also, they already had children they had to raise and they were juggling work, and this affected them.

    For us, however we decided to support more women, hire more women. It is not just because it looks like the right thing but because they deserve it. They are 50 per cent of the population, and why should you leave 50 per cent of the population out, not participating? We had a programme we ran last year called ‘Raise the Bar’, and we were sending packages to these girls and women because they were out of jobs. You identify a woman you know, we then called everyday and sent care packages that included skincare, soaps and other things. We sent out thousands across the country and it was really well received.

    Let’s talk about your management style and mentoring of young people…

    It is guided by the personal purpose that I have. What is that one thing that inspires who I am every day? My personal purpose is to unleash the genius in everyone and enable them to do more. This is because I believe that we are all genius and we just need someone to unleash them. Secondly, give somebody chance and they would thrive.

    I also believe that everybody has got dreams and those dreams are valid. I take the view that my role as leader is to validate those dreams, coaching people to enable them to see angles that they could have missed. It is creating the environment where it can be fully expressed so that they can participate in the full running of the organisation. It is an opportunity for fairness and everybody feels I have a fair chance to progress here. And we illustrate that fairness. Whether male or female, we pay the same amount of money per grade and same allowances.

    I am very intolerant with people who are bullies or harass female colleagues. You will quickly leave us. It is a journey, but we are feeling good with the progress made. There is still a lot of work to be done.