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  • Policemen attack The Nation reporter in Aba

    Policemen attack The Nation reporter in Aba

    About seven officers attached to the Imo State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) yesterday in Aba, Abia State brutalised the Abia State correspondent of The Nation Newspapers, Sunny Nwankwo, tearing his cloth and injuring him.

    The incident happened in front of the Aba Area Command Headquarters.

    Nwankwo, who spoke from the hospital, said the SARS personnel attacked him with their AK-47 riffles, machetes and other dangerous weapons.

    He said: “I was going to office this morning (Wednesday) and on reaching Hospital road, a tricycle operator coming out from the command headquarters, hit my car as he tried to manoeuvre an oncoming car.

    “But instead of rebuking the tricycle operator, one of the policemen started shouting at me, calling me all sorts of names.

    “Initially I didn’t reply him, but when the abuse was too much, I told him to be civil and that he should have cautioned the tricycle rider, who I later discovered was one of them.

    “The policemen, whose mouths were oozing of alcohol, pounded on me and started hitting me with their AK-47 riffles, machetes and other weapons. They later drove off after injuring me and damaging my phone. One of them even corked his gun and threatened to shoot me.”

     

  • PHCN contract: Court dismisses Gadzama’s libel suit against The Nation

    PHCN contract: Court dismisses Gadzama’s libel suit against The Nation

    A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Apo has dismissed a suit by a lawyer, Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN) and his law firm against The Nation and two others over some stories this newspapers published about the controversial contracts awarded in the twilight of the Goodluck Jonathan administration for the winding up of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

    In a judgment on February 6, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi held that the plaintiffs- Joe-Kyari Gadzama and J.K. Gadzama LLP – failed to prove their case of defamation and, therefore, are not entitled to the reliefs sought.

    The judge upheld the defence of qualified privilege led by the defendants – Vintage Press Limited (publishers of The Nation newspaper), Mr. Victor Ifijeh (Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief) and Yusuf Alli (Managing Editor, Northern Operations), through their lawyer, John Baiyeshea (SAN).

    Gadzama and his firm had, in the suit, alleged that the publications contained in the June 15 and 18; July 14 and 21, 2015 editions of this newspaper were false, malicious, scandalous and defamatory of their reputation.

    They prayed the court to, among others, declare the publications as false, malicious and defamatory of their reputation; order perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from further publishing such reports against them and a publication of retraction and apologies in five national dailies.

    The plaintiffs equally prayed the court for N950million in exemplary damages, N500million in general damages and N50million as cost of the suit.

    After a thorough analysis of evidence led by parties, Justice Adeniyi held, among others, that although the defendants did not deny making the publications the plaintiffs complained about, the publications did not defame the plaintiffs as they did not contain all the ingredients required to sustain a defamatory suit.

    The judge held that, as against the plaintiffs’ claim that the publications were directed at them, they (publications) were actually about the row between BPP and BPE (two government agencies) and the expenditure of public funds, in the award of a N1.45billion contract by BPE in 2015 for the liquidation of PHCN.

    Justice Adeniyi noted that the questions that would immediately agitate the mind of any reasonable person, who read the totality of the publications complained of, would include whether the contract was awarded to the plaintiffs; whether the money contained in the publications were actually paid to the plaintiffs and whether PHCN had ceased to exist as at when the contract was awarded.

    On the first question, the judge held that even from the evidence provided by the plaintiffs, it was clear that a contract for legal advisory services for the liquidation of PHCN at amount not exceeding N929,613,188.94 was awarded to the plaintiffs.

    On the second issue, the judge held that, as at the time of the publications, the plaintiffs could be said to have potentially earned the fees since it is their case that the contract was approved by the appropriate authority and was signed off by a personality of no less than ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

    According to the judge, if that was the case, then it could be further presumed that as long as the plaintiffs provided the legal services in accordance with the stipulations in the contract (Exhibit P10), the fee of about N929million was as good as earned by them.”

    On the third question, the judge noted that even though the plaintiffs claimed to have secured an order of court to formally wind up PHCN on July 1, 2015 after the newspaper had published that PHCN had ceased to exist, it was a generally known that PHCN had ceased to exist as at when the publications were made.

    The judge said: “In the eyes of a layman, PHCN at the material time, was no longer in operation, but was only in existence on paper. I must hold that the state of affairs of PHCN at this period, was a notorious fact, of which the court is entitled to take judicial notice.

    “I do not suppose that the defendants required to tender a court order dissolving PHCN, as argued by the plaintiffs’ learned counsel, when it was common knowledge and a notorious fact, at that material time, the entity known as PHCN was, in actual fact, non-operational.”

    Justice Adeniyi noted that in deciding a case like this, the position of the law is that the question as to whether the words complained of are, in fact, defamatory of the plaintiff, is a matter the judge can decide on the evidence adduced in support of the complaint; whether they are capable of referring to the plaintiff as well as capable of conveying defamatory meaning in the minds of reasonable persons in the circumstances of the particular case.

    He said: “My finding therefore, on the basis of the analysis in the foregoing, is that a reasonable man that is armed with the totality of the facts and information at the disposal of the defendants, as of the time of the publications complained of in Exhibits P11 – P14 were published, will not construe or regard such publications as defamatory of the plaintiffs.

    “It is also found as a fact indeed, that the said legal advisory services contract awarded by the BPE (Bureau of Public Enterprises) to the 2nd plaintiff (JK Gadzama LLP) was valued at N929,613,188.94 even though it is not correct that, at the material time when the publication was made, there was evidence of actual payment of the amount to the plaintiffs.

    “I therefore hold that the fact that the defendants claimed that a certain amount in legal fees was paid to the plaintiffs when it was not, in fact, paid at the material time, does not make the untrue statement defamatory of the plaintiffs in their professional reputation, in the estimation of a reasonable person, who is availed of all the facts and circumstances.

    “I further hold that the reference to the legal fees (paid to the plaintiffs for the contract) as ‘curious’ by the defendants in the publications, represents a fair conclusion that any reasonable person, who read the totality of the publications would come to, particularly taking into account the emphatic content of the press release issued by BPP (Bureau of Public Procurement), Exhibit D3.

    “Again, I do not see how being referred to as ‘PDP lawyer’ in the publications was defamatory of the 1st plaintiff (Gadzama) or occasioned malice. The 1st plaintiff did not deny that he was a lawyer to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the material time. He, in fact confirmed this position under cross-examination by the defendants’ learned senior counsel.

    “I therefore fail to see how the publication insinuated that the winding-up contract was awarded to the plaintiffs just because they happened to have professional relationship with the PDP at the material time, as canvassed by the plaintiffs’ learned counsel. But then, even if that was the situation, I fail to see how that statement conveyed any defamatory connotation.

    “It is my firm view that a reasonable person, who read the words complained of by the plaintiffs, in the context of the totality of the circumstances of the entire publications; and armed with the documentary evidence – Exhibits P10, D2 and D3 – respectively, would easily read in between the lines and come to a fair conclusion that the words were not defamatory of the plaintiffs,” the judge said.

    Justice Adeniyi faulted the evidence by the five witnesses called by the plaintiffs, which he said were contradictory in their claim that the publication defamed the 1st plaintiff, but yet still described him in glowing terms.

    The judge noted that the implication is that the testimonies of the entire plaintiffs’ witnesses were self-contradictory. He noted that, in one breath they described him in glowing terms, and in another breath they stated that the plaintiffs’ reputations were lowered in their estimation.

    The judge noted that, by describing Gadzama as a life bencher in their statement on oath, only to deny knowing what a life bencher means under cross-examination, it was clear that the claim by the plaintiff’s 2nd and 3rd witnesses that the publications defamed the defendants was forced on them and not a product of their individual assessment,

    Justice Adeniyi particularly noted that the plaintiffs’ 5th witness, Abel Ozioko (a lawyer) was “a tainted witness, who had a purpose and vested interest to serve, and whose testimony must be received with a pinch of salt.

    “It is interesting to note that the name of the said Abel Ozioko Esq appears in appendixes D and F to the contract tendered by the 1st plaintiff as Exhibit P10, as one of the key personnel and one of the consultants, led by the 1st plaintiff, involved in the said contract between BPE and the 2nd plaintiff. I therefore attach no credibility to the totality of the testimony of PW5.

    “To further exemplify the insecurity and bad faith of the plaintiffs’ witnesses, whilst they all claimed to have seen and read each of the alleged libelous publications published by the defendants on June 15, June 18, July 14 and July 21, 2015; they however found it convenient to deny, under cross examination, not to have seen and read the 1st plaintiff’s rebuttal, published by the defendants with equal prominence a few days later in the edition of The Nation newspaper of July 28, 2015 (Exhibit D4).

    “In the final analysis, I find and hold that the plaintiffs have failed to establish a very crucial ingredient in order to prove their action against the defendants, in that, they have failed to satisfy the court that the publications complained of, in their ordinary meaning, conveyed any iota of defamatory connotations of and concerning them.

    “These being the case, I further hold that the defendants are completely exonerated from any legal liability and therefore, the questions of retraction, apology, perpetual injunction and damages claimed by the plaintiffs do not arise and cannot be maintained in the circumstances,” the judge said.

    In upholding the defendants’ defence of qualified privilege, Justice Adeniyi noted that parties agreed on the fact that the publication complained of related to matters of public interest, on which the defendants were entitled to comment and which plaintiffs’ witnesses were also entitled to receive.

    The judge said: “It has also long been established that the defence of qualified privilege will only avail a person where the report or publication is shown to be ”fair and accurate”, that is to say that it is substantially accurate, without necessarily being exactly in word for word of what transpired.   See  Iloabachie Vs. Iloabachie [2005] 13 NWLR (Pt. 943) 695; Emeagwara Vs. Star Printing &Pub. Co. Ltd. [2000] 10 NWLR (Pt.676) 489(SC).

    “Now, I do not suppose that parties are in dispute that the Defendant are qualified and entitled to plead the defence qualified privilege in the first place. Apart from the extensive pleading on this point in paragraph 7 of the Defendants’ joint statement of Defence, the 3rd Defendant also testified along the same lines, that the 1st Defendant had a duty to inform the citizens of the nation on matters c public interest.

    “The 3rd Defendant further testified that the news item complained of bordered on how public fund was being spent by a public institution; and as such qualified as a public interest story of which the Defendants are entitled to publish in line with their legal, social and / or moral duty to the public.

    “Evidence elicited from the entire Plaintiffs’ witnesses under cross-examination by the Defendants’ learned senior counsel revealed that the they were all in agreement that public funds were involved in the disagreement between BPE and BPP and that members of the public were entitled to know what happened to public funds.

    “That being the case, it becomes settled that the defendants were lawfully entitled, in the circumstances, to plead and rely on the defence of qualified privilege. The question then arises as to whether the defence availed for them in the circumstances of the present case?

    “I have found as a fact earlier on that the only aspect of the publications that was not true, was the statement that the plaintiffs had been paid the contract sum at the material time, which was proved not to be exactly so.

    “However, as correctly submitted by the learned senior counsel for the defendants, even if this were to be the true situation, the defence of qualified privilege will still avail for the defendants, except the plaintiffs are able to prove conclusively that the statement was actuated by malice.

    “As correctly submitted by the defendants’ learned counsel, the plaintiffs failed to discharge the burden on them to establish that the untrue statement made by the defendants that an amount in excess of N900m as fees were paid to the plaintiffs at the material time, when it was not so, was reckless or actuated by malice.

    “In the present case, I have found and been satisfied that the defendants made out a case of qualified privilege in the circumstances of this case. However, as correctly submitted by the defendants’ learned senior counsel, even though the plaintiffs filed a reply to the joint statement of defence of the defendants, they failed to raise the issue of malice. This indeed, is fatal to the case of the plaintiffs.

    The judge also claimed that THE NATION was fair in bringing to the public that the BPP and a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke(SAN) described the contract for legal services was unnecessary.

    He added: “What is clear from this letter, by my understanding, is that the BPP did not agree to the purported legal advisory services contract for the liquidation of PHCN sought to be awarded by BPE and failed to give the required approval since it did not enjoy the support of the Hon. Attorney-General of the Federation at the material time, in that the Attorney-General was of the view that the liquidation of PHCN was merely “notional”, and as such legal advisory services was unnecessary.”

    The judge dismissed the application on all grounds.

    “In the final analysis, what the court had demonstrated, through the evidence led on record and the totality of the circumstances of this case, is that on the one hand, the publications complained of by the plaintiffs were not defamatory of them; and on the other hand, if it were to be beheld otherwise that the publications were defamatory, the defence of qualified privilege, successfully made out by the defendants, in the absence of evidence of malice, completely exonerated them from liability for libel.

    “The final result therefore, is that the case of the plaintiffs must and hereby fails in its entirety. It is accordingly dismissed. Parties are to bear their costs,” Justice Adeniyi said.

  • KADCCIMA visits The Nation, seeks partnership on Fair

    Kaduna Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KADCIMA) is partnering with The Nation Newspaper on the forthcoming 39th Kaduna International Trade Fair holding between the 23rd February to 4th March.

    The Chamber’s President, Dr Muheeba Dankaka, disclosed this during a courtesy call to the Corporate headquarters of the newspaper, earlier in the week. Dankaka was accompnied by other  members of the Council.

    In her speech, Dankaka commended The Management of The Nation for the giant strides they have made in repositioning journalism as a profession and solicited for the cooperation and improved synergy with the paper towards the overall success of the fast approaching Trade Fair in Kaduna state.

    The delegation also thanked The Nation for its consistent coverage of events at the Trade Fair every year.

    The theme of  this year’s event, is: “Promoting Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for International Competitiveness.”

    Dankaka explained that the theme was chosen to compliment the efforts of the Federal Government towards revamping the economy by encouraging investments in agriculture, manufacturing, trade, services, and technology.

    The 10 day event begins on February 24 and ends on  March 5 at the Kaduna International Trade and Investment Center.

    According to her, this year’s event which is the 39th in the series and will create an avenue through which investors from various parts of the country and across the globe would exhibit their goods and services for the growth of the nation’s economy.

    Speaking on behalf of the management, The Nation’s Online editor, Mr. Lekan Otufodurin, assured the team of the company’s readiness to partner with the Chamber and urged them to always advertise in The Nation to enjoy wider overage.

     

    In his speech, the Advert Manager told members of the Council that The Nation is one of the widest circulating newspapers in the country, ensuring the same daily edition for readers anywhere across the nation.

    “We know you advertise with us and we appreciate your efforts. Our source of revenue is the advert we get from you  and others and I want to assure you that our correspondent wiil be there at the event to report your activities,” he said.

    Osirike assured the Council of a robust relationship if they advertise in The Nation and make the paper to survive.

     

     

  • Arms and the Nation

    Arms and the Nation

    The Rise of Municipal States 

    Without arms, there can be no nation. But with arms everywhere, there is no nation. No matter how territorial space is organized or named, it is arms that protect a society. But they can also propel it into oblivion. The proliferation of arms and their bearers has exposed the fragility and vulnerability of the Nigerian post-colonial state in a way that could not have been imagined even during a civil war that accounted for the life of two million Nigerians.

    There are arms everywhere in Nigeria. We are not talking about the militarization of the society but the weaponization of the protocols of engagement. From the rule of professional managers of violence, we have now arrived at the reign of managers of professional violence. This is worse than placing a territory on a war-footing. The entire country is under an arms lock-down.

    Even a consuming tragedy is not without its engrossing comic relief. The sight of the governor of Ondo State, the indefatigable and obstreperous Peter Ayodele Fayose, decked out in modern military fatigues among a rag-tag militia bristling with Ekiti yokels and dane-gun-wielding hunters from antiquity provokes a delirium of laughter and underscores the most profound ironies of the moment.

    On paper, Fayose is the chief Executive of a state. But the fact that he has had to outsource the defence of his state against marauding Fulani herdsmen to a local hunters’ clan is a profound commentary on the state of the Nigerian state and its current security architecture. In a scene straight out of Rabelais, Fayose is a chief executive who has no power over the security forces in his domain. The federal government, which has the power, does not have the wit or will to transform the police under its control to an effective constabulary against violent criminality in the entire nation.  Capability without power parodies power without capability.

    This is as hilarious as it can get as looming hostilities dissolve into obscene farce. When the aggregate of arms available to non-state actors threatens to overwhelm the capacity of the state for proactive violence and punitive retribution, then the nation has all but unravelled.

    Still on a lighter note, one is not too sure of how Dane guns will fare against A/K 47. It may well be that this time around, Yoruba charms will get the better of mala’s tira. But given the evident mismatch of weapons in terms of sophistication and the swift discharge of obligation, let no one raise any alarm when herdsmen are sighted chasing Fayose and his men across the rugged hills of Ekiti.

    It will be recalled that strange things have a way of causing strange wars in Nigeria. In the last major war in which the Ekiti were involved, it was amatorial misadventure of the part of the Ibadan superintendent that triggered hostilities and a war of all against all in the entire Yoruba land. In the current face off, bovine indiscretion or cows’ right of way, may cause the mother of all wars in Nigeria. If cows could lead men to such carnage, then they must be superior to humans in a manner of speaking.

    A society which allows cows to lead it to war must be something else. Still, the conventional international wisdom is that whenever a state loses its monopoly of the instrument of coercion, such a state has lost its raison d’etre. Inevitably, such a nation implodes due to prolonged or simultaneous armed critique from a single focused direction or several hostile quarters; or is overwhelmed by a combination of enervation and existential adversity.

    State monopoly of the instrument of coercion and organized violence in Nigeria has never been more imperilled than at this conjuncture. There is an explosion of opportunities in the arms-bearing industry. Armed gangs roam the streets, the forests, the creeks, the major highways and the urban centres. With their superior weaponry, they often make a mince- meat of local security forces spreading fear and panic among the populace. General insecurity has never been this prevalent in the history of the country.

    More often than not, the ill-equipped, ill-trained and ill-motivated police forces are outgunned and outflanked by criminal elements that often torment and torture them before dispatching them. Consequently and as a result of this, the Nigerian armed forces are increasingly deployed for internal security operations for which they are poorly prepared and even more poorly adapted. By some estimates, the Nigerian military is currently involved in internal security operations in about thirty one of the thirty six states.

    This carries with it very scary prospects. Nigeria never seems to learn from history. It will be recalled that it was the military involvement in the internal security operation to quell the Tiv riots in the First Republic which prepared the ground for the military incursion into politics. There were officers from other ethnic formations who resented the heavy-handed and sledge hammer approach of the military in an internal rebellion against the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy and who vowed that the top commanders must pay for this.

    The good news however as recent scholarly studies have shown is that state collapse is not an automatic phenomenon for nations where the monopoly of the instruments of coercion has disappeared.  Recent Third World scholarship believes that the theory of failed states is a racist scare-mongering and devious agenda setting by western policy planners with the ultimate aim of reoccupation. A state may be comatose, catatonic or exist in limbo for a long time and still manage to be revived or to revive itself.

    For example, Somalia has existed in a condition of stateless anomie for a quarter of century and yet has refused to die. Congo has played hosts to several civil wars in the last fifty years and is currently plagued by many well-organised bandit forces, yet the old Congolese state, otherwise known as Bula Matari (the crusher of rocks) among the natives, survives in a metropolitan enclave around the capital with its capacity for mindless cruelty and proactive wickedness undiminished by attrition and attenuation. In West Africa alone, Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, have all experienced brief or protracted state collapse and have managed to revive thereafter.

    Pound for pound, the Nigerian armed forces remain the best and most formidable fighting machine on the West African coast despite being stretched thin at the moment by various internal security commitments. It plunged to the very nadir of its reputation in the last years of PDP misrule under the corruption-plagued Jonathan administration. But it has since had its morale and fighting spirit buoyed by President Buhari’s disdain for disorder and law and order mantra.

    But the danger is that as the military is increasingly drawn into internal security operations, the proliferation of non-state actors bearing arms with maximum capacity may cause the armed forces a massive demystification or loss of professional mystique and aura of invincibility which may lead to institutional implosion. As the last bulwark of the nation, the anarchy and anomie, the apocalyptic meltdown attendant to this professional unravelling of the most vital state institution in post-colonial Nigeria can be better imagined.

    In a worst case scenario, the humiliation and disgrace of the military due to unending confrontation with equally well-armed and even better motivated rogue fighting units strewn all over the country may lead a new generation of better exposed and more professionally accomplished officers to query the rationale of carrying the can and acting as night-soil personnel for a political class that remains morally, politically as well as institutionally retarded. In the circumstance, the country might witness a return to military rule as a stop-gap device against violent disintegration.

    As we have said several times in this column, the Roman Empire as well as other great human constructs of the past did not die of a single mortal blow to the plexus but of cumulative wounds from a myriad of enemies which eventually upended the historic giants. As we have seen with the example of Somalia, Congo and the old Ivory Coast, the post-colonial nation, rather than swiftly collapsing into its ethnic components when threatened by terminal conflicts, has a way of mutating or metastasizing into something even more dreadful and nastier.

    Unlike the older type European colonial nations which could come apart neatly and surgically, or which could disintegrate without major collateral damage, African nations come as a strange species of nation-states indeed: not intrinsically strong enough to cohere as true nations and no longer discrete and discernible enough to disintegrate into component parts as independent monads.

    One unfortunate explanation for this continental conundrum is that African intellectuals, scholars and intelligentsia rather than coming up with new paradigms of organising territorial space which best suit Africa in the new post-colonial epoch of human transformation are busy aping the old colonial models handed down to them through uninspiring rote and the discursive formation of western institutions. As organic bearers of a new type of human consciousness forged in slavery and colonization, this ought to have been their overriding historical mission.

    In the absence of this conceptual framework and intellectual bulwark, anybody expecting the nation-state paradigm in Africa to follow the western trajectory is living in a fools’ paradise. This is because what has not been conceptually envisioned or intellectually theorized can never come into fruitful being.  African nations created by colonial fiat still have a lot of unpleasant and negative surprises in store for their denizens.

    Consequently, Nigeria’s fate will not be different if elite delinquency eventuates in catastrophic state implosion. The Nigerian state will not collapse in its entirety as a result of the radical rupturing of its authority and legitimacy. Instead the old unified statist and unitarist organogram will give way to a weak and delegitimized centre and swathes of ungovernable territory punctuated by autonomous zones of light and civilized governance.

    These autonomous enclaves of civilization will combine features of fiefdoms, city-states, rogue rumps of nations, libertarian communes and traditional municipalities in their chaotic assemblage. They are likely to remain so until the old state regains its strength and reasserts its territorial authority or some of the autonomous zones muster enough momentum and energy to decouple themselves completely from the sclerotic hulk of the old nation.

    The coming atomization of the nation can already be glimpsed in the swathes of the country that have become ungovernable due to insurgency, terrorism, violent crimes, the menace of herdsmen and other murderous local militia even as autonomous enclaves such as Lagos and its environs, Edo state, Cross Rivers and Kano State appear to be better policed, better surveilled and better governed than the federal aggregate. The future may already be here with us, and it doesn’t wear a pleasant visage.

     

  • The Nation celebrates ex-Editorial Board member Fafowora

    The Nation celebrates ex-Editorial Board member Fafowora

    After eleven and a half years of service on the Editorial Board of The Nation, Ambassador Oladapo Fafowora yesterday bowed out.

    The septuagenarian was hosted to a retirement party at the boardroom of this newspaper at the head office in Lagos.

    In attendance were Board members led by its chairman Sam Omatseye and the management of the company represented by Executive Director (Administrative and Finance) Mr Ade Odunewu.

    Amid cheers and jokes, he was joined to cut the birthday cake of green and white color.

    Odunewu described Fafowora as always punctual.

    “He is the first to come for the Editorial Board Meetings most of the time. He ensures perfection and he is concerned about how the organization is going. He pays attention to the business side of the business.  He wants to know how the business and sales is going and I always cherish him. He tells me things that I don’t know, he is a wonderful father, he is caring and I appreciate him.”

    Odunewu, expressed the wish of the Managing Director of Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation Mr Victor Ifijeh, to be at the event.

    “He would have been here personally but in a meeting with Vanguard publisher and he said that I should express his appreciation to you for the period that you have been here.”

    Editorial Board chairman, Mr Sam Omatseye said he was happy and at the same time sad that Ambassador Fafowora was retiring.

    “We have enjoyed your presence here over the years. You have enlightened us with your wisdom and taught us that age is not just a number. We cannot thank you enough. You have equipped us with your experience, we are going to miss you and please don’t forget us soon,” he said.

    Prof Bayo Williams congratulated the aAmbassador for being part of The Nation and the nation.

    He described him as a source of inspiration, adding that many of them would keep personal contact with him.

    “You are the source of hope, fearless fighter and a principled man. I can never forget is your sense of humor, you are industrious and set out for greatness,” he said.

    Mr Bolade Omonijo described Ambassador Fafowora as humble.

    “Since I got into the editorial board, there is hardly an issue that you bring up that Ambassador Fafowora does not have a special knowledge on. There are certain issues that he is the only one that would be able to supply the solution. When he is around he does not make you feel that gap and may God continue to bless you sir, “he said.

    Fafowora described his years of writing for over 25 years as a columnist as what he enjoys doing.

    “I enjoyed the years working with The Nation from inception. They have a formidable editorial board with bright young and good writers.  They have professors and they are all highly experienced. I consider them to have the best editorial board in the country.”

    He urged upcoming journalists to work hard.

    “I wasa not expecting this elaborate reception, but I say a big thank you.”

  • A SPECIAL PUBLICATION ON NIGERIA’S BUSINESS ICONS(1):The nation’s leading wealth creators

    A SPECIAL PUBLICATION ON NIGERIA’S BUSINESS ICONS(1):The nation’s leading wealth creators

    Their profiles are intimidating. Astute. Enterprising. Renown. They are pace-setters, wealth creators and foremost employers of labour. They define Nigeria’s business. Their names are synonymous with business exploits and excellence.

    In 2017, they dominated Nigeria’s business world, their stars shone brilliantly in the global business firmament. Enter Aliko Dangote, the face of business in Africa.  Enter Mike Adenuga, Femi Otedola, Benedict Peters, Tony Elumelu, Jim Ovia and Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija.

     

    Aliko Dangote:

    His reputation as a businessman has gone beyond Nigeria’s shores. Beyond being the richest man in Africa, his exploits in business, are as noticeable in Nigeria, as they are in several African countries. Dangote Cement is much a household name in Nigeria, as it is in Cameroun, Congo, Ethiopia,  Senegal, Zambia and Tanzania. On cement alone, Dangote has well over 10 running plants across the African Continent.

    Add to that, his ascending engagement in the field of the agriculture value chain, with over $4billion proposed investment in rice production, and several other ongoing  interests in tomatoes, sugar and gum Arabic, just to mention but a few. Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s industrial interests, whether in flour mills, salt, household items and industrial elements, is almost endless. At the moment, a line of auto assemblage is fully on stream, to help provide for the movement of the Dangote Group’s arrays of both raw materials and finished goods for the Conglomerates numerous production and distribution channels that must be serviced 24/7 round the clock to keep the plants running,  and as well satisfy its numerous and diversified customers.

    Another huge sector that is unfolding in the Dangote Group is oil and gas.

     

    Mike Adenuga:

    For millions of users of the GSM services in Nigeria and numerous businessmen and women who seek efficient services in the oil and gas sector,  the name that will pop up will be that of the Chairman, Mike Adenuga Group of Companies, Dr. Mike Adeniyi Ishola Adenuga Jr. (CON, GCFR).

    An investment colossus, Adenuga operates in the oil and gas, telecoms and other sectors of the economy with human face, creating millions of jobs and extending his philanthropic gestures to every nook and cranny of the country.

    In the telecoms sector, he demystified the elitist robe woven around telephony by destroying access fetters consciously erected by the elite class. He did not only crashed the punitive access cost of subscriber identification module (SIM) cards, he also dealt a huge blow on punitive tariff regime.

    It was Adenuga’s Globacom that introduced per second billing in the telecoms industry. He has also blazed the trail in the introduction of very innovative products that have caught the attention of his competitors.

    When he threw his hat into the uncertain telecoms ring about seven years ago, not many felt Adenuga could make any meaningful inroad as the industry was largely dominated by foreigners who not only had the financial muscle but rich experience of successful operation in a couple of sister African countries and the Middle East.

    Though the third to start operation, no sooner had Globacom began operation than it became the toast of subscribers, setting the pace for others that even had track records of successes before starting operation in the country. Today, Globacom is not only the most innovative network in Nigeria, but the fastest growing in Africa and the Middle East, with operations in Nigeria, Ghana.

    Adenuga who is also the Apesin of Ijebuland and Chairman of Globacom, is not just one of the richest on the continent, he is also a philanthropist per excellence whose impact on humanity is phenomenal.

    Over the last two decades, he has consistently touched the lives of several thousands of people through silent donations and empowerment programmes which is unknown to many because of his humility and Spartan discipline.

    One of the world’s wealthiest men, that sits atop one of Africa’s largest business empires and winner of numerous awards in recognition of his personal and business accomplishments, Adenuga is also a promoter of culture and sports.

    A detribalised patriot, his telecoms firm, Globacom co-sponsors the One Lagos Fiesta, sponsors Ojude Oba Festival in Ogun State and  Ofala Festival in Onitsha, Anambra State.

    With dogged determination to ensure the availability of telecommunications services to every Nigerian and the entire African continent, through the availability of bandwidth, the telecoms giant embarked on the construction of an undersea cable called Glo 1. The multi-million-dollar international submarine cable of the second national operator, berthed in Lagos in September 2009. Officials of the technical partners to the telecoms company, Alcatel-Lucent, handed over the Glo 1 submarine cable to Globacom, signaling the birth of a new era in telecommunications in the continent.

    The 9,800 kilometre-long cable from the UK through Mauritania, Morocco and 16 West African countries, with dedicated extension to New York, USA, was anchored at its Landing Station at Alpha Beach, Lekki, Lagos.

    The Glo 1 cable will deliver transmission capacity that will radically change Nigeria and Africa’s economic landscape by providing unprecedented high speed Internet services and make telecoms services much faster, more reliable and cheaper for consumers.

    With a current capacity of 640 Gigabyte per second and an ultimate capacity of 2.5 Terabyte per second, experts say its ultimate capacity is enough to cater for the required broadband capacity of Nigeria for at least the next 15 to 20 years. The facility will provide the needed opportunity for West African countries and indeed Africa to leap forward economically through an excellent communications network and a cost-effective voice, data, video and e-commerce services across Africa, Europe and the rest of the world.

    With 99.9 per cent reliability, world-class long distance voice, video and data communications services for African customers, the undersea cable will support the large bandwidth requirements of direct consumers and other service providers. The cable will free up resources for other forms of investments, which governments and business developments need, through broad market coverage at high capacity and at a fraction of cost and time and also facilitate foreign investment and employment opportunities in the sub region. The Intrepid, the ship which brought the Glo 1 cable, later left for Accra, Ghana to complete the Phase One of the installation in other West African countries, including Senegal and Cote D’Ivoire.

    The landing of Glo 1 in Ghana will also boost the preparation for the nationwide launch of Glo Mobile Ghana. Glo also said that the Phase two of the submarine cable project will connect South Africa through Angola.

     

    Benedict Peters:

    He is a beacon of the Nigerian oil and gas industry and one now commonly mentioned amongst Africa’s most successful corporate leaders.

    A notable advocate for local content participation in the industry, his primary vision is to transform Nigeria’s economy through deploying cutting-edge, multi – faceted energy solutions.

    Aiteo Group, his company founded in 1999, has adopted this integrated business approach that seeks to continually add value to the nation’s petroleum resources sector, with considerable success. Under Benedict Peter’s leadership, Aiteo acquired OML 29, reputedly Shell’s biggest onshore producing asset in Africa following a keenly contested world-class bid.  On assumption of operational control in September 2015, Aiteo grew the facility’s production output from 23,000bpd to a record 90,000bpd within one year by innovation, professionalism and attention to the needs of the host community. Aiteo’s take-over of Shell’s OML 29 has not only generated over 11,000 job opportunities, but also reinforces Aiteo’s position as a leading indigenous oil and gas company with prospects to become a major global player in the medium-to-long term.

    As a firm believer in Nigeria, Benedict Peters has steered the Group’s strategic focus towards boosting the country’s overall financial capacity. Aiteo’s strategic strides have contributed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth over US$4 billion to the Nigerian economy.

     

    Femi Otedola:

    Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), remain the fuel powering Nigeria’s burgeoning economy. Whether used as combustion fuel for cars or diesel engines, as well as for generators, fuel is central to moving the nation’s economy forward. Granted that there are a number of dealers in this very essential product, the success story of how fuel oils the wheels of Nigeria’s economy, will not be complete without mentioning  the present day Forte Oil Plc. The company is not just listed among other marketers, it is the leader in the pack.

    With an intimidating over 500 retail outlets, doting the nooks and cranny  of the country, there’s no other  better way of conceding the fuel distribution leadership position to this giant Indeed Forte Oil Plc is first among equals when the downstream segment of the oil and gas sector comes into play. The facts speak for themselves.

    Forte Oil Plc’s push to further consolidate its emergence as the leading diversified energy services provider with an ever-expanding portfolio, covering Petroleum Marketing, Upstream Services, Power Generation and now Green Energy Solutions in line with the company’s  2017 strategy to be present along the energy value chain,  is now more than ever a reality.

    The  vision to be the foremost integrated energy solutions’ provider in Nigeria and the need to diversify power segment is being actualized with the completion and certification of the overhaul at the Geregu Power Plant (GPP) and foray into the growing green energy space.

    The N33.4billion Geregu Power Plant  (GPP) overhaul carried out by the Original Equipment Manufacturers, Siemens AG of Nigeria, is especially dear to Forte Oil’s heart and shows commitment to power sufficiency as a major contribution to the Nigerian economy. The overhaul increased the installed capacity of the GPP to 435megawatts from the 414Mw when Forte Oil took over in 2013.

    The multiplier effect of the overhaul includes up-to-date knowledge and technology transfer for the Plant’s Technical Team, Turbines in pristine condition and availability of the installed capacity with all three installed turbines in working condition for the first time since it took over the GPP.

     

    Tony O. Elumelu:

    Tony Elumelu sits atop a few other Nigerians whose sheer weight of economic contributions to the growth of the nation’s Gross Domestic c Product (GDP) cannot simply be ignored by any stretch of the imagination. He has traversed different strata and  sectors of the business spectrum, making his mark and leaving behind, landmarks in whatever areas he has played.

    Whether one adopts a bottom-top approach, or top-bottom approach, ‘Tony’ as he is fondly called, always stands out.

    Tony prepared himself to climb the ladder of life, by first going for the proverbial golden fleece. He has two degrees, the first was in Economics, followed by  a Masters from Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma and the University of Lagos, Akoka, respectively.  He is an alumnus of Harvard.

    Tony Elumelu’s achievements, engagements and successes so far recorded, dwarfs whatever educational  qualifications, he may  have attained.  Tony the Economist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, is the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Transcorp and founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

    He holds the Nigerian national honours, the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) and Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR). Beyond the nation’s shores, Tony Elumelu has been recognised as one of “Africa’s 20 Most Powerful People, far back in 2012” by Forbes Magazine.

    Tony Elumelu has been a consummate banker, establishing his track and mettle in his early days at Allstates Trust Bank. On his exit from Allstates, he  acquired Standard Trust Bank, turning it into among the top five players in Nigeria.  In 2005 he led the acquisition of United Bank for Africa and transformed it from a single country bank to a Pan-African institution

    Following his retirement from UBA in 2010, Tony Elumelu founded Heirs Holdings, which invests in the financial services, energy, real estate and hospitality, agribusiness, and healthcare sectors. In the same year, he established the Tony Elumelu Foundation, an Africa-based and African-funded philanthropic organisation dedicated to the promotion of excellence in business leadership and entrepreneurship and the enhancement  and competitiveness of the private sector, across Africa.

    In 2011, Heirs Holdings acquired a controlling interest in the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp), a publicly quoted conglomerate that has business interests in the agribusiness, energy, and hospitality sectors, and has been appointed chairman of the Corporation.

    Elumelu serves as an advisor to the USAID’s Private Capital Group for Africa(PCGA) Partners Forum. He sits on the Nigerian President’s Agricultural Transformation Implementation Council.

     

    Jim Ovia:

    Jim Ovia started his career working for Barclays Bank (now Union Bank), as a banking clerk in 1973.

    He joined International Merchant Bank (IMB) as a Financial Analyst in 1980 and moved to the management centre in 1987. He headed the Corporate Finance department of Merchant Bank of Africa, from 1987 to 1990. His interest in computers was picked in 1977 when he worked as a part-time Computer Operator at Baton Rouge & Trust Company, Louisiana. He  served as the Pioneer President of the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG). He was a Co-Founder of Zenith Bank plc and served as its Group Managing Director/CEO  from 1990 to July 10, 2010.  Jim Ovia has been the Chairman of the Board and Non Executive Director of Zenith Bank plc since June 16, 2014, as well as that of Quantum Luxury Properties Limited. He serves as a Director of Africa Finance Corporation and a holder of the National Honours  of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR).

     

    Folorunsho Alakija:

    Mrs. Folorunso Alakija is a Nigerian businesswoman, one of the richest African women and also one of the richest black women in the world. In 2014 she unseated Oprah Winfrey as the richest woman of African descent in the world.  She is a business tycoon involved in oil and gas, fashion and printing.

    She is the group Managing Director of The Rose of Sharon Group which consists of The Rose of Sharon Prints & Promotions Limited, Digital Reality Prints Limited and the Executive Vice-Chairman of Famfa Oil Limited.

    Mrs.  Alakija is ranked by Forbes, as the richest woman in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion as of 2015. She is listed as the second most powerful woman in Africa and the 87th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

    Folorunsho started her career in 1974 as an Executive Secretary at Sijuade Enterprises, Lagos, Nigeria. She moved on to the former First National Bank of Chicago, the defunct  FinBank now acquired by FCMB (First City Monument Bank)[8] where she worked for some years before establishing a tailoring company called Supreme Stitches. It rose to prominence and fame within a few years.

    In May 1993, Folorunsho applied for the allocation of an oil prospecting license (OPL).

    The license to explore for oil on a 617,000-acre block—now referred to as OPL 216—was granted to Alakija’s company, Famfa Limited. The block is located approximately 220 miles south east of Lagos and 70 miles offshore of Nigeria in the Agbami Field of the Central Niger Delta. In September 1996, she entered into a joint venture agreement with Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Texaco) and appointed the company as a technical adviser for the exploration of the license, transferring 40 percent of her 100 percent stake to Star Deep. Subsequently, Star Deep sold off 8 percent of its stake in OPL 216 to Petrobras, a Brazilian company. On 9 March 2016 she became the first female Chancellor (Osun State University) in Nigeria.

  • The Nation’s Yusuf is Reporter of the Year

    The Nation’s Yusuf is Reporter of the Year

    The Nation’s rich tradition of investigative journalism got at the weekend a big recognition at the yearly Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) Award in Lagos.

    Multiple award-winning Associate Editor and Head of Investigations Desk Adekunle Yusuf won the grand prize.

    Yusuf’s entry: How corruption, favouritism thrive in UNILORIN, published from March 14 to 16, won the 2017 WSCIJ Nigerian Investigative Reporter of the Year. The entry also won the 2017 Report of the Year in the print journalism category.

    Yusuf, in the three-part series, painstakingly investigated and exposed multiple financial crimes, plagiarism and nepotism, among other vices, at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) in Kwara State and the Fountain University – a faith-based school owned by Nasrul-Lahi-L-Fatih Society (NASFAT)– in Osun State.

    Members of the judges’ panel, in their assessment of entries submitted for the awards, praised in particular Yusuf’s resourcefulness and courage in exposing the ingrained corruption in one of Nigeria’s foremost citadels of learning.

    In the citation of the story read at the event, the judges said: “The story is well-written and it is a benchmark for other newspapers to emulate. The reporter made use of knowledgeable resource persons to interprete data to make the narrative lucid and precise. For a well-rounded and thoroughly-researched story, Adekunle Yusuf makes the list of the celebrated WSCIJ Nigerian Investigative Reporter of the Year.”

    Prof Wole Soyinka personally presented the grand prize to Yusuf.

    The winner hailed the centre for the honour but expressed sadness that the actors mentioned in the story still enjoyed their privileges. The development, he said, cast a slur on the integrity of the Federal Government’s in its anti-corruption battle.

    Yusuf, a graduate of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) also holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, United States (U.S.). He was recipient of the International Ford Foundation Fellowship between 2010 to 2012.

    Since joining The Nation from Tell in 2013 as Assistant Editor, Yusuf has won awards with incisive stories.

    Multiple-award winning Editor of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting Fisayo Soyombo won the Online Category with his entry titled: In Borno, children are dying at IDP camps, foodstuffs are disappearing at SEMA store.

    Premium Times’ Kemi Busari and Ripples Nigeria’s Ebere Udukwu are first and second runners-up in the Online Category.

    Also, New Telegraph’s Mojeed Alabi and Business Day’s Chinwe Agbeze were first and second runners up in the Print Media Category.

    At the event, former Education Minister Dr. Oby Ezekwesili and Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda Edetaen Ojo received honorary awards in anti-corruption and human rights.

  • The Nation crime writer wins Africa Security Prize

    THE Nation‘s Senior Crime Correspondent Precious Igbonwelundu has been named Best Investigative Crime Reporter in Nigeria by Security Watch Africa – an outfit for professional African security experts. She will receive the prize at the 15th Security Watch Africa (SWA) Awards, Conference and Exhibition, which will hold in Kigali, Rwanda from December 12 to 15.

    Other categories of the award included security, governance, academic and industrial prizes.

    The event being organised in partnership with Stellenbosch University will be personally hosted by Rwandan President, Mr Paul Kagame, at Radisson Blu Hotel and Convention Centre in Kigali.

    According to a letter signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Patrick Agbambu, and chairman of the Board of Trustees, General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah (rtd), Igbonwelundu is being presented the prize for her intellectual disposition, intuitiveness and incisiveness in reporting security and safety issues in Nigeria.

    The letter reads: “After a meticulous assessment of your official and personal drive for the provision of security and safety through deep-rooted investigative journalism in Nigeria, we write to convey to you the decision of the Africa Security Watch Awards’ Panel of Judges and the approval of the Board of Trustees to confer you the prestigious award as the Best Investigative Crime Reporter in Nigeria.”

    Agbambu said the event would bring African scholars across the world together to discuss security and safety issues confronting the continent.

    Since its inception in 2004 in Abuja, the body has been tackling issues bordering on security in Africa.

     

     

     

     

  • The Nation’s correspondent wins PwC’s award

    The Nation’s correspondent wins PwC’s award

    The Nation’s Senior Correspondent Collins Nweze has won a top prize in the second edition of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Nigeria Media Excellence Awards.

    Nweze, at the weekend in Lagos, won in the Tax Reporting Category for his story: “Taxation: Endless games…endless controversies”, a special report on the government’s new push to get the citizenry to pay their taxes and resistance  from the people over claims that the government misuses tax revenues meant for societal growth.

    The awards celebrate and reward excellence in business reporting in Nigeria.

    PwC, a network of firms in 157 countries and one of the world’s top 10 most powerful brands in the Brand Finance Index 2017, rewarded this year’s category winners with N500,000 each.

    Finalists got N50,000 consolation prize each.

    Nkiruka Nnorom of Vanguard won in the Capita Market Category with her story: “Furore over conversion of dollar debts into equity”.

    Victor Ekwealor of Techpoint.ng won in the Business and Economy Category with his story: “Can technology help dried fish nourish the Nigerian economy?”

    The SME Reporting Category was won by Isaac Anyaogu of BusinessDay for his report: “Pennies for a piece of the sun”.

    Head of Tax and Corporate Advisory Services at PwC Nigeria Taiwo Oyedele said 123 entries were submitted by journalists in four categories, namely: Capital Market Reporting, Tax Reporting, SME Reporting and Business & Economy Reporting. After review, the reports were pruned down to 83 “very good submissions”.

    Of the 83 reviewed entries, 15 were for Capital Market Reporting; 12 for SME Reporting; 45 for Business and Economy Reporting and 11 for Tax Reporting. The entries for Business and Economy Reporting were further pruned down to 12 quality reports.

    Oyedele said the winning entries were selected by a panel of four judges, who scored the reports based on originality, relevance, grammar/language skills and quality of research/insight as well as objectivity.

    Country Senior Partner at PwC Nigeria Uyi Akpata said PwC had a clear objective to partner with the media to improve the state of the economy and transparency in government.

    He said the award should be a motivating factor for journalists working in Nigeria to develop the country.

    Akpata said the number of entries received this year had tripled when compared with the number of entries received at the maiden edition. The quality of reports submitted, he said, also improved.

    “Our support for the media through the media excellence award is in line with our purpose, which is to build trust in society and solve important problems. It is a demonstration of our strong belief that for the Nigerian people to enjoy good governance, the media must perform its role optimally and professionally and this is reflected in the quality of reporting, in the capacity of individual journalists to carry out research and investigations, in the independence of editorial judgments and in their ability to use technology as an enabler,” Akpata said.

  • Wike’s aide visits The Nation correspondent’s family

    Wike’s aide visits The Nation correspondent’s family

    The Special Assistant to Rivers State Governor on Electronic Media, Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu, has described the late Rivers State Correspondent of The Nation, Mr. Precious Dikewoha, as a thoroughbred professional, who practised balanced reporting.

    Speaking yesterday during a condolence visit to the family of the deceased reporter in Port Harcourt, Nwakaudu said Governor Nyesom Wike received the news of the death of Dikewoha with shock and sadness, because he saw him a few days before his death during the meeting of Southsouth and Southeast governors at the Government House, Port Harcourt.

    He said: “Precious Dikewoha was a dedicated reporter, who practised objective reporting.

    “He was a reporter, who stood for truth and ensured his reports were balanced. Precious Dikewoha proved that in the midst of anti-people reporting, a journalist can still use his pen to promote development, stability and peace.”

    Nwakaudu added: “He died young, but left in the sands of time a record of fairness, decency and objective reportage of issues as they concern Rivers State. His death is a loss to Rivers State, Nigeria and journalism.  As a media relations professional, I will miss Precious Dikewoha.

    “Governor Wike received the news of his death with shock and disbelief. He sends his heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and professional colleagues of Precious Dikewoha.”

    He prayed God to protect the deceased’s family and grant it the fortitude to bear the loss.

    Dikewoha’s widow, Ayor Precious, thanked the media aide for the visit.