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  • Ndume’s sack: Who’s next?

    Ndume’s sack: Who’s next?

     The Senate  has removed Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume as the Senate Leader. Since Ndume’s removal, tongues have been wagging as many observers  contemplate what went wrong. In this report, Assistant Editor ONYEDI OJIABOR traces the senator’s travails to the leadership tussle in the Upper Legislative Chamber.

    The removal of Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume as the Senate Leader was dramatic.
    Senate President Bukola Saraki, who announced Ndume’s removal from his exalted number three position in the Senate hierarchy, kept everybody in the dark as the Upper Chamber conducted its legislative business on Tuesday.
    Ndume’s claim that he was neither consulted, nor told the reason for his removal did not help matters.
    The senator representing Borno South was said to have been given the option to resign over his alleged “excesses”, but he allegedly ignored the option.
    An insider, who does not want his name in print, said Ndume was to be given an option to announce his resignation, but that his departure from the floor close to the end of the plenary gave the senators and the Senate President no other option than to announce his removal.
    He said: “The Chief Whip, Senator Olusola Adeyeye, and the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, were asked to persuade Ndume to tender his resignation on the floor on Tuesday, but Ndume’s disappearance from the floor gave them no other choice. The All Progressives Congress (APC) senators’ letter was submitted and it had to be read once it was signed by an overwhelming majority of the senators involved.”
    Over 38 APC senators signed the removal notice forwarded to the Senate President for announcement.
    Some have already dubbed the removal, which is likely to engender unintended ripple effects in the Senate, a palace coup perfected at dead of the night outside the shores of the country.
    As the drama unfolded, Ndume rushed into the chamber, apparently having been tipped off where he was praying. It was, however, too late for him. The deed had already been done, with his removal and replacement announced by Saraki.
    The build up to Ndume’s removal as Senate Leader did not start on Monday when the APC Senate Caucus was said to have met to perfect and seal the deal.
    The rejigging of the Senate leadership, including the dropping of Ndume as the Senate Leader, began almost immediately after the controversial emergence of Saraki as Senate President on June 9, 2015.
    One way or the other, Saraki had protected Ndume. Saraki’s argument was that he was not in a position to force Ndume to resign, since it was the APC Caucus that nominated him.
    At a meeting in the Presidential Villa attended by the APC leadership where the issue of the leadership tussle in the Senate was broached, Ndume was said to have told the party leadership that they lacked the powers to force him to resign.
    When Saraki announced the replacement of Ndume with Senator Ahmed Lawan on Tuesday, it did not come to many observers as a surprise. The removal of Ndume was seen as the culmination of the intrigues and unending manoeuvrings between the contending forces in the Senate.
    To some, Ndume should simply go home to nurse his wound, as he was the architect of his own misfortune. Those in this group accused Ndume of being “too close” to a camp in the Presidential Villa. The camp Ndume belongs to, they said, is “fast losing his grip in the political chess game of the Villa.”
    It may not be out of place to say that Ndume may retreat to plot how to fight back. Those who know him say categorically that Ndume will fight back at the appropriate. How and when he would do it, they did not say.
    The removal and replacement of Ndume was contained in a letter addressed to Saraki by the APC Senate Caucus. There was a pin-drop silence in the chamber as Saraki read the two-paragraph letter.
    The letter titled: “Notice of Change of Leadership”, read in part: “This is to inform Your Excellency and the Senate that after several meetings held on Monday, January 9, 2017, and upon due deliberation and consultation, the APC Caucus of the Senate, hereby wish to notify you of the change in the leadership of the Senate and that the new Senate Leader is now Senator Ahmad Lawan, representing Yobe North Senatorial District. Kindly accept our esteem regards and best assurances.”
    Although Ndume claimed not to be aware of his “sins,” insiders traced his travails to his pronouncements at the Presidential Villa where he distanced himself from the resolution of the Senate to reject the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
    The declaration of Ndume that the Senate did not actually reject the nomination of Magu was counted as one of the sins of the Borno South lawmaker.
    The Senate, through its spokesman, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, was quick to disown Ndume and restated its resolve to reject Magu’s nomination.
    Some other observers attributed the removal to the cold war between the two main camps in the Senate, the Senate Unity Forum, led by Senator Barnabas Gemade, and Like Minds Senators, led by Saraki himself.
    Although Gemade was visible in the affairs of the Senate Unity Forum, Senator Lawan was considered the unseen hand driving the activities of the forum.
    During the fight for the seat of the Senate President, while Saraki was actively supported by the Like Minds Senators, Lawan was backed by the Senate Unity Forum. Saraki carried the day with the active support of PDP senators.
    The removal of Ndume, it was gathered, was part of a deal reached by the Senate Unity Forum and Like Minds Senators to close ranks in the Senate. Insiders also referred to what they called “Ndume’s excesses.”
    After Saraki’s announcement, an apparently shocked Ndume rushed to address reporters, to express his total ignorance about his removal and the reasons behind it.
    He said: “Let me say I don’t have much to say, because actually I was leading the business of the Senate and when it was like quarter to one, as usual, I asked my deputy to sit in for me while I go for prayers.
    “On coming back, I discovered that the session was over and one of your colleagues approached me and said leader, what happened and I said what happened and he said there has been announcement of change of leadership. I said I didn’t know.
    “At this point that is the position. I didn’t know that there was change of leadership, because I was not there. I went to pray and I didn’t know what actually happened and I cannot say more than that.”
    Prodded to throw more light on what could have led to his removal, Ndume insisted he was not briefed before the decision to fire him was taken. “I don’t know what happened and I cannot say what I do not know,” he added.
    The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, however provided some insight into the development.
    Abdullahi told reporters that with the announcement of Lawan as the leader of APC Senate Caucus, Ndume automatically ceased to be Senate Leader.
    He said: “I speak for the Senate. You heard the content of the letter from the APC Caucus. I am not the spokesman of the APC Caucus, but I am a member and I am here to speak for the Senate. It will be very difficult for me and I do not want to find myself in this controversy.
    “The announcement is self explanatory. Another leader was announced and as far as I am concerned, the new name announced is the leader of the majority and automatically the Senate Leader.”
    Senator Kabiru Marafa, a close ally of Senator Lawan who spoke on the removal of Ndume, noted that APC factions in the Senate agreed to effect the removal.
    The lawmaker representing Zamfara Central said Ndume’s removal was also in line with Order 36 (g) of the Senate Standing Rules.
    Marafa, who became a thorn in the flesh of the Senate and its leadership over the emergence of Saraki as Senate President, said majority of APC senators endorsed the letter to remove Ndume as Senate Leader.
    He said: “Anybody who wished APC well wanted these changes in the Senate. What you have seen today is a culmination of all the consultations among by APC senators.
    “Our Standing Rules has specified how to remove the leadership of a party in the Senate. At the meeting where Ndume was removed, majority of APC lawmakers agreed.”
    Marafa continued: “When we reconvened for the 8th Assembly, you all know what happened and the leadership tussle we had between the Like Minds Senators (LMS) and the Senate Unity Forum, (SUF) where Senator Lawan contested under the SUF and Senator Bukola Saraki contested under the LMS.
    “Like we all know, it is God who gives leadership and God gave it to Senator Bukola Saraki and that brought some friction between the two camps of the same All Progressives Congress.
    “Naturally, when there is such crisis, the next port of call is the parents – in this case, we all know who the parent of all politicians are, who is the President, the leader of the party.
    “We rushed to the party and said this is what happened. The party, after looking at the whole scenario and all that happened, said since he (Saraki) has taken this one, the remaining four positions — that is the Senate Leader, Deputy Senate Leader, Chief Whip and the Deputy Chief Whip — should be ceded to the SUF faction of the APC in order to bring the caucus together.
    “But as fate would have it, the LMS faction didn’t see it that way that time. That was what led to all the crises. We in the SUF felt that it was disobedience (by the LMS faction) to the party.
    “From that time till today, anybody who wishes the APC well had all these at the back of their minds and all hands had been on deck to ensure that the crisis is resolved.
    “Pressure had been mounting on all the APC senators, urging all of us to come together. We (SUF) insisted that the only way we could come together was when we all respect our party, because it was the party that brought us into this place (Senate).
    “If the party says this thing belongs to us (SUF), we want you to give it to us. What you have seen today is just a culmination of all the pressure mounting over time.
    “Our rule says that once you become anything, the only way you can be removed is through constitutional means. Now, since there was a nomination, the only way we can reverse it is to follow the rules. Our Standing Rules, precisely Order 32(6), spells out how leadership can be removed – leadership, not presiding officers; presiding officers have the rules that specify how they can be removed.”
    On Ndume’s claim that he was not consulted before his removal Marafa said: “Ndume does not need to know or be there. The Standing Rules says that a party has the right to remove anybody. The majority accepted and that is final.”
    Order 32 (6) of the Senate Standing rules which talked about change of leadership, states that: “After due notice of the Senate, each party has the right to change its Leader or Whip, provided that the change is made by majority of the senators of the party in the Senate”.

  • Breast cancer: Who’s next?

    Breast cancer: Who’s next?

    •Early detection to the rescue

    IS Mrs. Abi Adaranijo now a victim of the disease that frightens her most? When Abi, as she is fondly called by family members and friends, discovered a tiny lump in her left breast, she deliberately did not link it as a symptom of cancer.

    She initially did not pay much attention to what she considered a ‘mere’ pimple that would soon vanish.  But, two weeks after, what she took for tiny bean-shaped acne, began to give her ‘uncontrollable’ pain.

    She could neither sit, nor stand. Doing her routine chores became problematic. Even her work as a school teacher was also suffering. All these became a source of concern to her and the people around her.

    The consequences of the development on her were anything but pleasant. At work, she barked at colleagues for no reason. The pain was taking a debilitating toll on her.

    Her two-year-old son, Tolu, was not spared. The little boy got knocks for minor mistakes. Her spouse of five years, Femi, could not understand what the problem was. Her incessant hissing and shouting were too much for him to bear.

    Abi had visited a private clinic at Ikotun, a Lagos suburb, where she complained to a doctor two weeks after the pain started. The doctor assured her that she would soon get better after treatment.

    She wasted no time before buying the drugs that were prescribed at a store within the neighbourhood. Though, she ‘religiously’ followed the doctor’s prescription, the pains persisted.

    The 32-year-old school teacher changed her countenance when she returned to the clinic for a check-up. “The pain is unbearable”, she told the doctor. “What else can you prescribe for me? I feel like dying. Oh my God!”, she exclaimed.

    Abi has become more agitated about her health than ever. She is enveloped with the fear of the worst as the prescription could not help her condition.

    Her dream of attaining the zenith of her career and becoming  a permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Education may not be achieved unless something was done fast.

    The amiable, young and hardworking woman is in a dire strait and she appears to be losing the will to carry on. The weight of the problem has relegated her athletic built and carriage, which complemented her intelligence quotient (IQ).

    Abi, who has heard of women dying of breast cancer, never thought she could be victim until last September.

    “It all started like a joke. I only felt a small pimple,” she explained to a friend, “but I never thought it would become something problematic like this,” Abi said.

    The mother of two has become a recluse of her old self. She at the cross-roads over what steps to take next, since the doctor’s prescription failed her.

    Scared of doctors telling her that she may have her breasts removed, Abi started to seek alternative treatment. She would have allowed an unorthodox doctor to make incisions on her breast but for the timely intervention of relatives who persuaded her to visit the hospital.

    Some of her friends advised her to see an oncologist, the real cancer doctors in orthodox medical practice. She was always lost in thought for fear of having a lumpectomy.

    Not a few women die from breast cancer for not seeking medical help early enough.

    While delaying, she discovered that her breast has shrunken and two tests confirmed her fears. The immediate solution was radical mastectomy, which is the total removal of her two breasts.

    She said: “But, the irony of it is when I had the first test at the Lagos University Hospital (LUTH), it came out negative. That made me lose a lot of time because I was told it was not cancer.

    “When the pain became persistent I went back there but I was told the cancer machine had broken down. So, I decided that I must seek a second opinion.

    “I travelled down to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan in Oyo State where the bombshell was released to me that I have cancer.

    “The doctor said I have cancer and it is at stage three. He said only very little can be done at that stage to save my life. I have been living in misery since he told me that.

    “I cried all night, but family and friends reassured me it would be alright.

    “But, the thought of losing my breast keeps coming into my consciousness. I just could not pretend it is not there. Now, I am ready to lose my breasts but would not I lose my life. This is because the doctor kept saying I presented late,” she said.

    Cancer patients across the country are at their low ebb. They could not access any functional cancer machine for investigation and treatment.

    While Abi struggles to get over her breast cancer, 62 year-old Itoro Etim, a native of Akwa Ibom, was not that lucky. She did not live to tell her story.

    When Ms Etim saw a tiny spot on her breast, she applied some ointment on it.

    But, rather than get better, her case worsened. Consequently, she visited a Primary Health Care (PHC) centre, from where she was referred to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH). She was asked to take some tests but she could not afford the bill.

    So, she discharged herself from the hospital. A month later, she discovered that the lump had grown bigger and affected the second breast. It was then that she decided to seek financial assistant from her elder sister in Lagos.

    On hearing what had happened, her sister, Mrs Julie Ita, sent some money and she returned to the hospital. But, doctors were emphatic in their response.

    “Your cancer has progressed. Where did you go all these while”, a doctor asked. She was told that  the only way to save her life was to remove her breast and place her on radiotherapy. But, she would not have any of that. So, she left the hospital again and returned to Lagos.

    In Lagos, she was having uncontrollable pain. This made her sister to take her to LUTH where she was admitted at the Oncology Unit,

    She was asked to pay for her treatment but it was difficult raising the money.

    Her sister, being a retiree, could not do much. However, her daughter helped with the payment for drugs, oxygen and accommodation.

    Ms Etim became unconscious for weeks and was on the bed until she finally died.

    A radiation oncologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof Remi Ajekigbe said: “Cancer is not a death sentence. This is because people can live through it. This is a reassurance somebody needs to have as she battles breast cancer.

    “But, many people have died from the disease because they presented themselves for treatment at stage three and four. At any of these stages, not very much can be done to help the patients than manage it until they die. And many more may yet die unless something drastic is done about it because cancer is an expensive disease to treat,” he said.

    Ajekigbe also assured that the cancer machine in the hospital was undergoing being repair.

    Ignorance, fear and taboo and religious beliefs are some of the problems, some oncologists believe, that may be partly responsible for late presentation of cancer to doctors in the hospital.

    Lack of facilities is another problem patients grapple with. The dearth of facilities should be of concern to all and sundry. This also hampers experts’ effort to reduce the disease.

    The facilities, which are located at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Lagos, University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Kaduna, EKO Hospital Lagos, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) Edo and Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Gombe, have broken down.

    Only those at the National Hospital, Abuja (NHA) and Utman Dan-Fodio University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) Sokoto, are functional.

    The old and the young, rich and poor, have all died. The most vulnerable are women.

    How many women are waiting to die from breast cancer, a seemingly manageable disease? Nobody knows.The disease, which has claimed many lives, is still on the prowl. Yet, radiotherapy machines have broken down.

    There are indications that breast cancer has come to stay in Nigeria. In the United States (U.S.) kills 600,000 lives annually. But, there is no national cancer registry for proper record in Nigeria.

    The United States Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has warned that about 40 per cent of the people are likely to suffer from one form of cancer or another in their lifetime.

    If detected and treated early, early, some forms are curable. Others are simply manageable. But, a cancer patient can be better treated with early presentation to oncologists.

    President, Cancer Education and Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria (CEFON), Prof Francis Durosinmi-Etti, described the dearth of functional mammograms for cancer treatment as national disgrace.

    According to him, the Federal Government has not enough to reduce cancer in the country.

    The professor of Radiotherapy said that the government can boast of only two functional radiotherapy (linear accelerators – LINAC) machines of the 10 available in the country.

    His words: “We have that of the National Hospital, Abuja and that of Sokoto functional. The machine at LUTH has stopped work. The machines have been affected by irregular power supply. If power had been steady, may be the problem would have been averted. Irregular power has damaged some of the machines.

    “Some experts came from South Africa to repair the machine at LUTH, but they didn’t get it right. There is nobody to pay for the full repair of the radiotherapy machines.

    “We are going backward rather than moving forward,” he said.

    “The truth of the matter”, the professor said, “is that there are no facilities to treat cancer in Nigeria. The facility in Abuja usually treats people up to 2am daily. The pressure on it is too much. And the patients are suffering at present.”

    Durosinmi-Etti, who claimed to have helped to set up four radiotherapy centres in Ghana, called on the Federal Government to do something to stop deaths from breast cancer.

    He condemned the inadequate equipment in the care and treatment of breast cancer.

    Cancer deaths, he noted, remained a major contributor to deaths arising from non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

    The CEAFON president called for a National Task Force on cancer to arrest the situation, as available facilities could not sufficiently serve the numerous number of patients from the six geo-political zones.

    “No fewer than 105,000 cancer patients will require radiotherapy treatment yearly but the facilities are not there. That means we need at least 260 mega voltage machines to meet up with the figures.’’

    He said a recent statistics by Globacon data identified 42.3 per cent of cancers in the as women, with breast cancer being responsible for 26.7 per cent to achieve optimal results in treatment.

    Durosinmi-Etti said the country lacks the required infrastructure and manpower to deal with cancer.

    “We do not even have a National Cancer Registry. Another problem is the lack of political will,” he said, urging the government to partner with private sectors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to fund cancer treatment/management.

    He said: “There is no priority given to cancer care management at all levels. A lot of people lack cancer awareness. Where there is knowledge, poverty becomes an issue. Access to radiotherapy is crucial and we need to make sure it is safe and effective.

    “There is also the need to check the present status of cancer treatment facilities in the country to ensure strategic plans were on to address the problem.

    “About 50 per cent of cancer cases in the world occurred in Africa and among low income countries, which was expected to rise to about 70 per cent by the year 2030.”

    The government, he said, should deploy necessary approach to assist cancer patients, especially those with breast cancer.

    He recommended the inclusion of cancer care in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), adding that multinational companies should also be made to contribute to cancer management.

    Besides, he recommended the implementation of National Health Act (NHA) and private-public partnership.

    Burosimi-Etti said: “We need to enlarge the existing components of cancer treatment such as infrastructural and manpower as well as adding new centres and retrain health workers in cancer care.

    “Nigeria needs a functional cancer registration to cover the states and funding of cancer treatment should be done the way HIV/AIDS was handled.”

    An Associate professor at LUTH, Adetola Daramola, identified breast cancer as the second most common cancer behind lungs cancer.

    According to her, cancer cases have been dropping in the United Kingdom (UK) because the government has been investing a lot of resources to its detection and treatment.

    “According to hospital data at LUTH, 38 per cent of sample brought for examination are breast lesion,” Prof Daramola said.

    Dr. Omolola Salako, an Oncologist at LUTH, said the causes of cancers are unknown but there are risk factors, such as sedentary lifestyle, smoking and consumption of alcohol, among others.

    She urged women to always do regular breast self-examination. “Women above 35 years should do a mammogram once or twice a year,” she said.

    Dr. Salako, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Sebeccly Cancer Centre, said breast cancer is hereditary.

    “Women, who have history of breast cancer in their family, should be watchful. They should do regular tests. If a breast cancer has killed one’s sister or aunt, then that person should be very careful.”

     

  • Who’s next?

    These are interesting times in the Super Eagles. Those hitherto regarded as untouchables in the squad are trembling, having seen what befell their biggest mate. Players are on their toes. They don’t want to be caught unawares. They react to every seeming change. They are the first to hit the media platforms sourcing for news about trends in the Eagles.

    This is what we need in the Eagles. There should be competition for shirts among players. Playing for Nigeria shouldn’t be any player’s birthright. Anyone wearing our jersey should be the best at that point in time, not getting the shirt based on past performances. Current form, discipline and dedication to what the team stands for should inform the selection of players.

    Emmanuel Emenike may have been worried about the new development and how it could affect his chances of playing for Nigeria’s senior team. Could this be why he hurriedly announced his retirement from the Super Eagles?  NFF chiefs should reject Emenike’s resignation, given the fact that the story which informed the striker’s decision has been refuted by the chief coach Sunday Oliseh?

    Happily, NFF Secretary-General Dr. Mohammed Sanusi said: “I just heard of it but there is no official confirmation from the player in question, so for us it is mere speculation. However, I also agree that it is the right of any player to play or not to. Our concern as a federation is how to build a formidable team for Nigeria.”

    Good talk Sanusi. This statement also opens the door for Emenike to do a recant or call the coach to deny his tweet, having read the coach’s denial on the subject.

    Clearly, Emenike has allowed thunder to strike on the same spot twice. He ought to have explored all the avenues of seeking redress before heading for the social media to resign. This act shows a high level of disrespect for constituted authority. That has been the trend with our senior players. They have a penchant for making the administrators and coaches look like the problem with our game not them.

    The story about Oliseh’s alleged decision to drop Emenike didn’t have any comment by the coach. The story was hinged on the striker’s goal drought and his recent substitution. In the past, it was seemingly a taboo to substitute the big boys in the Eagles. But I’m sure if Emenike had reflected on the fact that John Mikel Obi has been replaced twice in the last two games that he played in Belgium, he could have called the coach to seek some clarification. I’m sure Oliseh must have told everyone how he felt about the team’s performance in the last two friendly games in Belgium. What did he tell Emenike? Did Oliseh tongue-lash Emenike? If he didn’t, why did Emenike think the coach would head for the media to announce his removal from the squad?

    Come to think of it, Emenike has played four times for Nigeria under Oliseh. How many matches has Oliseh handled? Aggrieved players worried about their substitution or bench roles for clubs, politely walk up to their coaches to find out what was wrong with their game. What the coaches say help them in improving their games. A few of these player/coach interactions have gone awry with the players lampooning their managers.

    When Oliseh got the Eagles job and extended an invitation to Emenike for the double header in Belgium, the striker poured encomiums on the coach for his interpersonal relationship with his players. Emenike told us then that he wanted to quit the Eagles but had to rescind his decision following heart-to-heart discussions he had with Oliseh. If such a relationship existed between the two, why didn’t Emenike put a call across to the coach to find out if he had seen the questionable story? Since when has the media become the basis for selecting players into the Eagles? Our players must show more respect to Oliseh because sometime in the future, a few of them may opt for coaching and some of these acts may return to haunt them.

    I’m sure if Emenike were a coach, he would have doubts about a striker who hasn’t scored a goal in the last two years. But rather than throw such a striker out, Emenike as a coach may strive to either sharpen the striker’s goal scoring skills or find another role for him to play.

    Oliseh isn’t a coach that discloses his list to the media like others do. All his lists have come from the NFF. Speculations on his likely invitees have been laughable. And that is the spirit, since it presupposes that Oliseh is involved in the selection process with his assistants, and not influenced by agents and scouts who leak such lists to the media.

    Besides, losing first team shirt in the Eagles ought to be enough motivation for Emenike to improve on his game, rather than this escapist method of retiring on social media platforms. Indeed, it should strike Emenike’s conscience that Oliseh had him in the Eagles’ plans when he offered him the vice captain role, which Emenike rejected.

    Truth be told, Emenike stopped scoring when Sunday Mba and Brown Ideye were dropped from the Eagles. These two players understood how to play alongside Emenike. One of them, Mba ceaselessly threw defence-splitting passes at Emenike while Ideye created the openings for the striker to score goals. Such tactical movements don’t exist in the Eagles today. And it is why Emenike’s goals have disappeared like ice-cream left under the scorching sun.

    It is sad that Emenike is leaving the team unceremoniously. He did well in the four years he served the country. He surely deserves a testimonial. Emenike doesn’t look like one to change his mind.  Emenike can’t point at one act of disrespect that he suffered under Oliseh.

    Interestingly, Oliseh’s comments on Emenike’s shock retirement shows maturity and it is a welcome development.

    Oliseh said: “I have made him (Emenike) part of our rebuilding process, in fact he has had more playing time than any striker we have had, so I am very very surprised that he has decided to retire. He has not reached me but I have called him twice because immediately I heard this, first I thought it was all these lies on social media so I called him twice yesterday (Tuesday), I am expecting a return call from him, it is when I hear from him that I would fully accept that he is retiring.”

    Our players should stop making spurious allegations about the setting in the Eagles when they want to quit. What one can see from the last two retirements is that Oliseh seems to know who the bad eggs in the team are. They are getting uncomfortable with his commanding presence in the camp. So, those who can’t stand his regime are opting out but they are splashing mud, which isn’t good for the team. Vincent Enyeama’s and Emenike’s exits raise the poser about how long John Mikel Obi will remain with the team. I hope Mikel won’t say soon that he is quitting the Eagles because the new players are not in his class.

    Oliseh must tell the players that he is building a truly young team. Oliseh must be bold enough to tell non-performing players that they won’t get a shirt in the Eagles, if they don’t improve on their game. Nigeria is bigger than any player. No player must be allowed to hold us hostage. After all, a majority of them achieved their heights playing for one of our national teams.

    It was quite shameful watching Mikel reject the Eagles captaincy band handed to him by Ahmed Musa, as he was being substituted in one of the friendlies in Belgium. Mikel ought to have taken the captaincy band from Musa, even if he had reservations. In other climes, that would have been Mikel’s last game in the national team. It is always an honour being the captain of any national team. What Mikel et al did on that night was to desecrate the emblem of our country. As usual, that despicable act has been swept under the carpet because it is football, where sentiments becloud our sense of judgment.

    Indeed, if Mikel must be honest with himself, he ought to know that his attitude towards national team assignment since he hit stardom has left much to be desired. Based on his attitude, no coach will give the leadership of his team to him.

    NFF must help Oliseh by insisting on what is right. Any aggrieved player who doesn’t trust the available channels for seeking redress should go to the public court to state his case. I feel strongly that Nigerians would soon get tired of players’ excesses and support the system. For too long, layers have taken advantage of Nigerians’ passion for the game to ridicule us, particularly concerning things they dare not protest about in their European clubs.

    I’m sure that if Mikel was kept on the Eagles bench like he is experiencing at Chelsea, a players’ mutiny would have occurred to sack the coach. And many of us would have supported the coach’s removal on the grounds that he doesn’t know how to utilise Mikel’s talent.

  • After Diezani,who’s next?

    After Diezani,who’s next?

    Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, in this piece, takes a look at former public officials who have been accused of abuse of office and wonders whose turn it would be at the court.

    The arrest and questioning of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, by the United Kingdom National Crime Agency, is more evidence that the world has become a less hospitable place for people who are accused of looting the treasury of their home countries.

    The arrest of Alison-Madueke, a principal player in the last federal government led by former President Goodluck Jonathan, was an extraordinary moment for the people of the country. This is because in spite of several allegations against her, the Bayelsa State born ex-minister was hardly reprimanded while the regime lasted.

    Her current ordeal also shows how far we have come from the days when government officials empty public treasuries indiscriminately, secured in the knowledge that they would never be brought to book.

    Until recently, it seemed that if you stole a little, you went to jail, but if you stole in billions, you usually got away with it, especially in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.

    Times have, however, changed. Just like two former governors, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and James Ibori, before her, Allison-Madueke is now made to realise the days of accountability are here and she must give account, though not to the helpless people of Nigeria, but to the helpful UK National Crime Agency.

    Arrested, bailed

    The UK National Crime Agency last Friday confirmed on its website the arrest of Alison-Madueke and other persons, over offences related to bribery and corruption it is investigating. “The National Crime Agency’s recently formed International Corruption Unit has arrested five people across London as part of an investigation into suspected bribery and money laundering offences,” the agency had announced.

    A former board member of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, Allison-Madueke came into national prominence when she was appointed Minister of Transport by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007. In December 2008, she was redeployed to the Mines and Steel Development Ministry.

    Following Jonathan’s emergence as president in 2010, she was moved to the Petroleum Ministry. She remained in that position until May 29, 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in to replace Jonathan as the president, following the former president’s defeat at the 2015 presidential election.

    Her tenure as petroleum minister witnessed countless controversies and allegations, especially of wanton corruption and recklessness. But she managed to retain her position even after being indicted by the National Assembly on one occasion. In the midst of it all, she consistently denied all allegations of corruption. In June, after leaving office, Alison-Madueke gaily announced that she never stole a penny from the country’s treasury.

    But the arrest and questioning of the “oil goddess”, as she was playfully called by many, by the UK National Crime Agency, opened a new vista in the unfolding story of how she ran the country’s petroleum sector since she took charge of the ministry in 2010.

    Following her questioning in London same day, Alison-Madueke was granted bail by a magistrate court after she had been detained for several hours. Back home, the Asokoro, Abuja residence of the former minister was reportedly searched by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Sources said the move may be part of a multinational investigation of the former minister.

    Trial

    Indications have emerged that Alison-Madueke may be charged to court in the U.K soon. This followed a decision by the Westminster Magistrate’s Court on Marylebone Road, London, to grant an application for seizure of 27,000 pounds recovered from the former minister.

    The cash was seized under Section 295 of Proceeds of Crime Act 2012. Sources say the move is part of effort to gather evidences for the trial of the embattled politician.  By granting the application, which was filed by the UK’s National Crime Agency, the money would be held in the custody of the court until April 5, 2016.

    Reports said a separate application was also made against a relative of the minister for the seizure of an undisclosed amount of money. The money seized by the court was allegedly found recently with Alison-Madueke when she was arrested. Reports also said the former minister may be arraigned with her brothers on bribery and money laundering charges.

    There are unconfirmed claims that she was arrested along with her brothers, Abiye Agama, 33, and Somye Agama. Both brothers are directors of Hadley Petroleum Solutions Limited, a company suspected by investigators to have been used for money laundering. The company was said to have been registered in June 2013 in Manchester. By February 2015, it was dissolved.

    Back home, sources claim the federal government has concluded arrangement to charge Alison-Madueke and all those fingered in fraudulent activities in the oil sector to court.

    Chief among those slated for prosecution in the next two weeks are those indicted in the fraud associated with the petroleum subsidy where billions were allegedly stolen by marketers and those involved in series of fraud in the petroleum sector, a source privy to the investigation said.

    One of many of such?

    Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, while commenting on the travails of the former minister, described her trial for alleged money laundering as just a tip of the iceberg. Speaking with State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Oshiomhole said the economy had been mismanaged over the past several years and that nobody should be surprised about the trial of the former minister.

    The governor explained that it was shocking that with the revenue that accrued to the country consistently, the treasury was empty and the nation was running a deficit budget. According to him, over N3.5tr was drawn down by the previous government from pension funds to support recurrent expenditure.

    “For me, I don’t think anybody should be surprised because the most favourable commentator on the Nigerian condition, the economy, the polity and society, everybody agrees that our economy was badly mismanaged over the past several years.

    “I have not seen one commentator that disagreed. Even when they talk about rebasing, have you rebased the level of poverty? Have you rebased prosperity? Have you rebased unemployment? Have you rebased homelessness? Have you rebased hunger? So I have not seen anyone that says Nigerian people are doing better,” Oshiomhole said.

    Lagos-based lawyer, Fred Agbaje, while urging incoming ministers to learn from the embattled former Petroleum Minister’s ongoing trial, said people like Alison-Madueke were the laws of the land during Jonathan’s regime. According to him, the arrest and trial of the former minister will open and unravel many mysteries.

    He said it is not only a welcome development but also a manifestation that the war against corruption is being recognised both locally and internationally, adding that it is a testimony to the fact that there is no hiding place for any criminal in Nigeria again.

    Agbaje said Alison-Madueke’s trial was a manifestation that the war against corruption spearheaded by President Muhammadu Buhari was gaining ground and that looters of the nation’s patrimony would not escape justice. He hailed the trial and said it is a good show for the fight against corruption and that it will make the incoming ministers know that there is fire on the mountain.

    “The likes of Diezani, who became a tin god in Nigeria when she was in office, should know that the end of culture of impunity has come with the war against corruption in Nigeria. They were the laws of the land during Jonathan’s regime. Jonathan became so helpless in taming the ministers he appointed. The ministers became so powerful beyond redemption,” he said.

    Who’s next?

    With Alison-Madueke caged in the United Kingdom, the big question is: who is next? While Nigerians are eager to see the former minister go on trial as soon as possible, they are worried that other prominent figures alleged to have been corrupt, are living comfortably all over the world in spite of allegations and even indictments.

    One of such is former Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, now a Senator. In January 2014, the committee raised by former President Goodluck Jonathan to probe the N255m bulletproof car scandal in the aviation ministry indicted the then minister, Ms. Oduah. The report of the presidential committee agreed with earlier findings of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Aviation on the scandal.

    It was alleged that with the approval of the minister, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) purchased two bulletproof BMW cars at an allegedly inflated rate of N255m. The development sparked a countrywide controversy with many Nigerians and groups calling for her sack. After probing the allegation, the House endorsed the report of its committee and agreed that the minister breached the 2013 Appropriation Act.

    It therefore asked Jonathan to sack Oduah for approving an expenditure of over N643m for the NCAA to procure 54 vehicles. Although Jonathan confirmed the receipt of the report of the presidential committee chaired by a former Head of Service of the Federation, Alhaji Sali Bello, he made no pronouncement on it. Oduah was later relieved of her duties as minister following widespread agitation.

    In April 2014, operatives of the EFCC quizzed Oduah for over five hours at their Idiagbon House headquarters in Abuja. An EFCC source said the former minister was asked questions and thereafter asked to make a statement that could aid the commission’s ongoing investigation into the purchase of two BMW bulletproof cars by the NCAA at a controversial sum of N255m. She was granted a provisional bail after making useful statement that will assist the investigation of the scandal.

    Despite the various allegations against her, in March 2015, Oduah, a senatorial candidate of the PDP in Anambra State, won the Anambra North Senatorial seat. She defeated her major opponent, Chief Dubem Obaze of APGA. She was subsequently inducted into the national assembly as a Senator a month later.

    And following moves by the EFCC to reopen investigation into her matter, Oduah, in September, filed a lawsuit against the commission to forestall the agency’s further investigation into her questionable procurement of two bullet-proof BMW cars at $800,000 apiece during her tenure in office. The lawsuit also seeks to stop the anti-corruption agency from possibly arresting her over the shady deal, first exposed by the online medium SaharaReporters.

    In the lawsuit filed before Justice Mohammed Yunusa of the Federal High Court in Lagos, Ms. Oduah joined the Attorney General of the Federation, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, and the Inspector General of Police as co-respondents. The case, filed by Ajibola Oluyede, is based on an affidavit by Humphrey Enechukwu, the Director of Finance and Accounts at Sea Petroleum and Gas Company, on behalf of Ms. Oduah.

    In the lawsuit, the former aviation minister claimed that, during her tenure, her ministry resorted to approaching embassies to provide armoured vehicles to carry their nationals who visited Nigeria as part of the investigation teams of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) inspection teams. That is the last the nation heard about Oduah’s alleged looting of the treasury as minister.

    Another person on the watch list is former Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, who recently reacted to an alleged report of theft of N21billion in his ministry during his term as minister.

    Moro has consistently denied having a hand in the alleged theft of N21bn. But there are several petitions before anti-graft agencies linking him with the said theft.

    Asides the N21billion allegation, victims of the botched Immigration recruitment exercise are insisting that Moro must continue to appear in court to defend himself whenever the case comes up. They also want Moro to refund the N1,000 the Immigration authorities obtained from each of the victims by false pretence.

    Former Director-General/Chief Executive of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Patrick Ziakede Akpobolokemi, is one other chieftain of the last administration with questions to answer, according to allegations against him. In July, President Buhari terminated his appointment as Director-General/Chief Executive of NIMASA, amidst unending allegations and agitations.

    Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, had directed Akpobolokemi to hand over the management of NIMASA and all government property in his possession to the most senior officer in the agency, who would remain in charge until a new director-general is appointed. Reports had it that Akpobolokemi’s removal was due to an anonymous petition, alleging that about N1.3 billion was removed from NIMASA’s account on June 25, 2015 to celebrate the “Day of the Seafarer” in Nigeria. The Seafarer’s Day is a global event marked on June 25 every year. Some sources alleged that one of the directors was used to continually draining the resources of the agency.

    Barely two weeks after the president ordered his removal from office, Akpobolokemi was questioned by the EFCC on alleged fraud charges. He was arrested in Lagos and detained at the Lagos office of the EFCC in Ikoyi. He was later released on bail by the commission. Not much has been heard of the matter since then.

    A few months back, the EFCC invited former President Goodluck Jonathan’s head of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, to explain allegations of fraud against him. The former Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs to President Jonathan had been invited for questioning at the head offices of the EFCC in Abuja. Kuku and two others are said to be wanted by the EFCC to explain allegations of embezzlement and diversion of hundreds of million naira public funds.

    But up till now, Kuku is yet to honour the invitation or return to the country from a visit abroad in the wake of his invitation. However, he responded to the invitation saying although he was ready to assist the anti-graft agency in its bid to probe the accounts of the agency, he would not be able to honour the invitation. Speaking from the United States of America, Kuku wrote a letter to the EFCC dated July 24, 2015, which was signed by his lawyer, Chief Karina Tunyan, SAN.

    The letter stated in part: “I’m currently in the U.S for an urgent surgery on my knee and will certainly return to honour the EFCC invitation once I recuperate in September. The record of my stewardship under the Presidential Amnesty Programme is an open document and it is available for scrutiny since I have nothing to hide about what we did.”

    In a related development, the EFCC has also quizzed a former Special Assistant on Schools and Agriculture Programme to ex-President Jonathan, Mrs. Baraka Sani.

    She was said to have been grilled for over 10 hours by operatives of the EFCC on July 22 over allegations that she diverted funds meant for schools agriculture programme.

    According to multiple sources, Mrs. Sani was temporarily released after promising to return with documents that will absolve her of complicity in the alleged scam. It is not clear if she has been charged to court or cleared of the said allegation. Since then, the former presidential aide has been keeping a low profile while agitation for her trial persists.

    Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, is one man who is very convinced that former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has a case to answer as to the whereabouts of the $700 million withdrawn from the $1 billion belonging to the Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF). Oshiomhole, who is chairman, National Economic Council Adhoc committee on the management of excess crude and related federation account, insists that it is not true that the money was used to finance the Second Niger Bridge and partially the Kaduna-Abuja rail.

    It would be recalled that NEC, after its meeting, reported that the subcommittee which also had the Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo; his Kaduna counterpart, Mallam El Rufai; Akwa Ibom and Lagos counterparts, Mr. Emmanuel Udom and Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode respectively, discovered that most government revenue-generating agencies like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) were reckless in their financial management under the previous administration.

    Speaking further, Oshiomhole stated that the inquiries into the financial dealings of the past government shouldn’t be mistaken to be personal but to re-establish the culture of transparency and accountability in public office. The governor, who said that admittance of the depleted SWF account was done in the open, also threatened to publish the report should there be any denial by those involved.

    “When I reported to the media that the Sovereign Wealth people in their report told us, which I have in black and white, clearly that they have only $300 million left in the Sovereign Wealth Fund account, they tried to deny it. We have it in black and white and I can publish it if anybody wants to deny that because it was not submitted to me secretly. It was submitted at the plenary of the committee.

    “And then we asked, because I knew that the fund was $1 billion, what was done with $700 million. And they said they have made some investments. We asked them what they invested in and they said the second Niger Bridge and partially in the Kaduna-Abuja rail. That is what they said and I was not alone there. We were about five governors and it was a full plenary. But we know that the Kaduna-Abuja rail was funded with Chinese loan, which even Dr. Okonjo-Iweala spoke about, when they said the loan from China was not used for Lagos, she said it was for Kaduna-Abuja,” Oshiomhole alleged.

    But Okonjo-Iweala denied the allegation that a substantial part of $1.1billion loan obtained from the China-EXIM (Export-Import) for a rail project was diverted by the Jonathan administration.

    “The alleged diversion has no substance, for the simple reason that the Kano-Lagos project was not even among the projects presented for funding by the China EXIM Bank for several strategic infrastructural projects across the country,” the minister said in a statement signed by her spokesperson, Paul Nwabuikwu. But many Nigerians would prefer the matter, like many such allegations involving public officials, go to trial for the former minister to be able to prove her case.

    Well, as the former petroleum czar is awaiting trial, the question on many lips is: whose turn would it be among the other public figures in the former administration?