8 arrested over Enugu slave war

Enugu State Police Command, yesterday, arrested about eight persons over the ongoing violence at Alor Uno in Nsukka Local Government Area of the state, following supremacy battle over alleged slavery.

Ugbene and Ejuona communities in Alor Uno have been involved in supremacy battle over who are the aborigines or slaves in the last 40 years.

The matter, however, reached a climax when a young Ugbene man, Arinze Ngwoke, was, on April 11, reportedly chased by youths from Ejuona and attacked with machete for taking a road reserved for the aborigines, Ejuona, who claimed that the Ugbene people are “slaves.”

Ngwoke is the second victim after Izuchukwu Ezema, who was alleged to have been attacked in March and is still in hospital due to machete cuts inflicted on him for passing through the same route.

Weekend, a woman, Onyedikachukwu Omeje was attacked with her three months old baby by some youths, who claimed to come from Ejuona, for also trespassing on the same forbidden road. Two other women, Augustina Oke and Chidera Attah, have also been attacked for allegedly committing same offence.

However, in the early morning of yesterday, youths from Ugbene were said to have re-grouped and attacked some Ejuona people suspected to be the ring leaders of their people.

The youths reportedly attacked the house of one Emmanuel Onah among others and vandalised it, prompting policemen from the Nsukka Area Command to arrest some Ugbene people including a headmaster, Theophilus Ngwu alias Inter-State, Emeka Enyoka and one Sunday Nwa-Ejor, among about eight others whose sons and daughters were said to have carried out the reprisal attack.

Sources told Vanguard that the suspects, who were with the police, were arrested when their sons or daughters fled the town to evade arrest.

Meanwhile, the Police Area Commander for Nsukka, Mr. Monday Kuryasi, has invited seven leaders each from both Ejuona and Ugbene for a peace meeting with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwanyi at Government House, today.

Fulani herdsmen sack Benue community

MAKURDI—Despite efforts by the Federal and Benue State governments to end clashes between herdsmen and farmers, indications emerged yesterday that Moor, a council ward in Kwande Local Government Area of the state had been sacked by armed herdsmen.

   We learned that the crisis, which dates back to 2013, has left over 100 persons dead, scores sustaining varying degrees of injuries and close to 8,000 displaced.

A source said: “Moor in Kwande Local Government Area is now an occupied territory. Herdsmen have sacked the inhabitants from their ancestral homes and taken over the council ward.

The crisis started as far back as 2013 and has led to the death of over 100 persons and many others injured.

“All the local government clinics, including 21 primary and secondary schools in the area, have been completely destroyed. The indigenes of the community are refugees in other communities.”

Corroborating the story, the Executive Secretary of the Benue State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Mr. Boniface Otese, said the agency had been making concerted efforts to avail the displaced persons necessary relief materials.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Moses Yamu, said police, military and other sister security agencies were working round the clock to ensure that peace and normalcy returned to every trouble spot in the state.

Oil prices tumble after Doha talks collapse

Oil plunged Monday a day after top producers failed to reach a deal in Doha to cap output, fanning fresh fears over a supply glut that has plagued the market.

Prices had rebounded last week on hopes the OPEC exporters’ club and other major players, including Russia, would agree to freeze output levels at Sunday’s meeting.

However, discussions in the Qatari capital floundered and a deal to curb abundant global oil supplies failed to materialise, sending the market reeling once again.

At around 1045 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in May sank $1.13 to $39.23 per barrel. Brent crude for June delivery lost $1.23 to $41.87.

The Doha failure “has raised the fear that the current glut and oversupply issue is never going to be solved”, GKFX analyst James Hughes told AFP.

“It has also brought into question the relevance of the OPEC cartel, if the most powerful voice in the group cannot affect change.”

The long-running oil glut sparked a vicious collapse from above $100 in mid-2014 to 13-year lows of around $27 in February.

Kingpin Saudi Arabia insisted it would not agree to freeze production without the participation of fellow cartel member Iran — which boycotted the talks.

– ‘Politics trumped economics’ –

“The much-awaited meeting exposed the political rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and (this) ultimately doomed the agreement,” said Barclays oil analyst Miswin Mahesh in a research note.

“Though Iran initially planned to send their OPEC minister, his participation was cancelled when the Qataris insisted that all attendees would also be signatories to any deal.

“The political tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran trumped the economics for agreeing to a deal.”

In both June and December last year, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries — which pumps about 40 percent of the world’s oil — refused to cut output.

The Saudi-backed policy is aimed at pushing the market lower to hurt less-competitive players, including US shale producers, and maintain precious market share.

Major exporters from Nigeria to Venezuela, and even Saudi Arabia, have suffered billions of dollars in lost revenue as prices have collapsed.

Iran — which only recently returned to world oil markets after the lifting of nuclear-linked Western sanctions in January — has ruled out capping its own production.

“Iran are more likely to increase their output, after years of sanctions, and this is the issue,” added Hughes.

“Iran are in no place to start to cut their output and abide by an OPEC rule after already stating they want to increase output to pre-sanction levels, levels they are nowhere near currently.”

Opinion had been split over whether a deal on Sunday would be enough to tackle the global oversupply, which is also due to slowing demand in major consumer China and burgeoning US shale production.

– ‘Sustained depression’ for prices? –

Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at online broker Interactive Investor, cautioned Monday that global oil supply was being constrained by industrial action in Kuwait and Saturday’s deadly earthquake in Ecuador.

“While there are a number of factors that might curb oil supply in the short-term — including a strike in Kuwait and the earthquake in Ecuador — OPEC’s main problem is the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran and this problem is not going to go away,” O’Keeffe told AFP.

“Indeed, Saudi Arabia may move to increase supply in response to higher Iranian output in an effort to maintain their market share.

“This impasse could see a sustained medium-term depression in oil prices.”

A walkout by thousands of Kuwaiti oil workers entered its second day on Monday, slashing production by over 60 percent as the government looks abroad to recruit foreign employees.

Olympics qualifiers: Nigeria wins 3rd place of Women Beach Volleyball

Nigeria on Sunday won the third place in the ongoing African Women Beach Volleyball 2016 Olympics Qualifiers at the Jabi lakeside in Abuja.

The Nigerian teams 1 and 2 will now participate in the Women Beach Volleyball World Championship.

The Final Beach Volleyball Olympics Qualifiers began on Thursday and will end on Sunday.

The qualifiers are being hosted by the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF) in conjunction with the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB).

Sunday’s win saw Nigeria’s team 2, which has African champions Priscilla Agera and Isabella Laju, defeating Mauritius’s team 1 of Angelique Ramdoss and Vanessa Gellumber, 21-15 and 21-15 to end the game 2-0.

In another game, Nigeria’s team 1, made up of Fransisca Ikhiede and Tochukwu Nnoruga, beat Mauritius’s team 2 of Maita Cousin and Heidy Bauda 21-10, 21-15 for a 2-0 finish.

The winners from the qualifying series will go to the Olympics, while the second-placed and third-placed teams qualify for the World Cup and World Championship respectively.

NAN reports that the 2016 Olympic Games will hold from Aug. 5 to Aug. 21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

CAF clubs create history with midweek games

CAF club history will be created Tuesday when the first official midweek matches in the Champions League and Confederation Cup are staged.

Games in both competitions are also scheduled for Wednesday as the African football body reacts to pressure from some national associations wanting more weekends reserved for domestic fare.

The honour of staging the first official midweek match falls to Zambian club Zesco United, who host Stade Malien of Mali Tuesday at 1300 GMT (1500 local time) in Copperbelt city Ndola.

Since the African Cup of Champions Clubs — forerunner to the Champions League — was launched in 1964, matches have always been scheduled for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Only when unforeseen circumstances like bad weather or the late arrival of a team or match officials occurred were CAF club matches played during the week.

Apart from the last 16 second legs in both competitions this week, return matches in the Confederation Cup play-offs during May are also scheduled for Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

So are matchdays 2, 4 and 6 between June and August in the group phases of the Champions League and Confederation Cup.

The move to midweek club fixtures comes several years after African national teams began playing during the week.

World Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, African Nations Championship and club fixtures have been taking up an ever increasing number of weekends each year.

“We are reacting to a request from some national associations, who want more weekends free for domestic competitions,” a CAF spokesman said.

Other continents have traditionally used midweek dates. In Europe, only the UEFA Champions League final is played at the weekend.

Limited flight options in Africa and expensive tickets make travel a challenge for CAF clubs, who often take unusual, time consuming routes to cut costs.

When South African club Orlando Pirates travel to North Africa they regularly do so via Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, a much longer but cheaper option.

Instead of flying from Algeria to Egypt for a Confederation Cup game Tuesday, Algerian club CS Constantine travelled via Turkey.

The big test of the change to midweek fixtures will come at the turnstiles with power costs forcing some clubs into afternoon kick-offs when many supporters are at work.

However, clubs in fixture-intense countries like Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia are likely to welcome the change.

Marketer frowns at meters adjusting to defraud customer

A Port Harcourt based petroleum marketer Chief Chiedu Okonkwo has frowned at the practice of some petroleum marketers adjusting their meters to shortchange customers, saying that Government should look into the act and sanction the culprits.

Chief Okonkwo, who is the Chief Executive of Riquest Oil and Gas Limited expressed his displeasure over the practice while distributing free Petrol and Gas to to hundreds of motorists and Okada operators in Nnewi, Anambra State free and later at reduced pump price to enable parents do their school runs as school resumes Monday.

He said honesty and decency in serving people in business pays better than sharp practices people are involved in, in the business of oil and gas marketing, adding that his company decided to alleviate the hardship faced by fuel consumers in Nnewi as part of its Corporate Social responsibilities.

Chief Okonwko who was represented on the occasion by Mr Ambrose Ibogi promised that the gesture would soon be extended to other towns in Anambra State, and called on the concerned authorities to review their supply of petroleum products to marketers through the appropriate channels and make the products available to enable them get adequate supply for distribution.

Enugu: As PDP goes into 2016 Congresses

SINCE the proposed Timelines for the 2016 Chapter Congresses and National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP was released, the now opposition party that led Nigeria for 16 years has been filled with activities and trepidation.

One would wonder what is still relevant or interesting in a political party that was recently defeated in a national election, negativelybranded  by the ruling All progressives Congress, APC, succumbed to internal crises since it suffered defeat. But beneath the façade of seeming vain glory of the PDP lays the future potential of a resonating national political party that is even more poised than ever to launch itself back to national conciseness and repossess its lost glory.

It is for this futuristic potential of the PDP that it is presently witnessing an upsurge of interest in the leadership of the party, both at the national and state levels.   One of the states where the appeal and magnet for leadership of the party has attracted attention is in Enugu state.

Enugu is a state where the PDP is a household name, a bold brand and towering image of the best appreciated political party. Evidently, there are enough reasons why the PDP carries a larger than life image in the state. One is that since the return of democracy in 1999, the PDP has dominated the state in winning almost all the elections conducted in the state.

Secondly, the party in state has  delivered  the expected dividends of democracy through outputs, not only in physical infrastructure but also in human empowerment and guarantee of freedom of expressions, which is considered as the hallmark of participatory democracy.

It is also pertinent to recall that  since 1999, it has been difficult for any other political party to  win elections in the state because of the brand of leaders the PDP parades.  Not only has the state produced the President and Deputy Presidents of different assemblies of the Nigerian Senate, they were and are still firebrands that glow with intellectual acumen and rescuers of the nation at precarious times.

It was Senator Ken Nnamani as Senate President who saved the nation from near derail to authoritarianism, despotism and almost actualisation of life rule in the guise of third term agenda in 2006. He was of the PDP stock from Enugu state. Same goes in the present effort of the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu at curtailing the excesses of  the APC  at the National Assembly.

Based on the above and more, there is no doubt that there are bound to be concerns on who leads the PDP in Enugu state. While the concerns are good, especially at creating a robust internal party politics, the merit of selecting the best from the poll of interested persons and groups within the state chapter of the party has become one of the vexed issues.

With the advent of the APC,the PDP as an opposition party is becoming more aware of its challenges and the possible consequence of making mistakes in the choice of its party leaders.

As the countdown to Saturday May 7, 2016 state congress of the PDP approaches, more intrigues and horse trading of who becomes the state chairman is unfolding with interesting personas, among whom is Deacon Okey Ogbodo, a-two time commissioner in the state.

Evidently, there is cold war between members of the National Assembly from the state led by Senator Ike Ekweremadu and the state machinery led by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi who until he became Governor was a member of the National Assembly for three terms. Both camps are jogging to convert the incoming state leadership to their side to secure it at least for the 2019 elections.

It is not clear if Governor Ugwuanyi has penned down or has his eyes on a particular candidate but some contestants are said to be aligned to Ekweremadu and Senator Gill Nnaji, who are believed to be working together for a common goal. Such chairmanship aspirants include: Dons Ude, Frank Anioma, Steve Oruruo, Chijioke Ugwueze and Jerry Eneh.

Other aspirants whom no one is certain the divide they belong are Deacon Okey Ogbodo, and Enoch Agbo. Ugwueze and Agbo, both from Isi-Uzo LGA however have a problem of having affilation with Nsukka cultural zone, especially since the Enugu East senatorial zone is insisting on giving the position to “Core Nkanu Man.” Particularly, he is said to be of the dismatled Ebeano dynasty which has become a leaper in the state but which Ekweremadu is suspected to be rebuilding.

Distinct from the crowd is Deacon Okey Ogbodo whose edge is not just his  humility but also in his faith and belief that power belongs to God. He is a man of many political parts, who has withered all political storms in the state and is seen as the right man for the job.

Ogbodo is not just a founding member of the PDP by 1998 but has swam with the Party in its many travails.So, experience is also a selling point for him. Prowess in  both executive and political party administrations are selling points for a man needed to unite factors and vagrancies of political shades in the state. he has thisese. At no other time than now does the PDP need a stabiliser and a bridge builder like Ogbodo whose political sojourns in the state makes him a dependable name at moments when delivery is of utmost importance.

Mr. Emma Agbo, a journalist, wrote from Asaba, Delta State.

Breaking News: ‎Saraki faces day-to-day trial, as protesters besiege CCT

ABUJA – The Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, sitting in Abuja has ordered a day-to-day hearing on the 13-count criminal charge pending against the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

Justice Danladi Umar who made the order shortly before he stood down the matter for hearing by 12noon today, based the decision on provisions of sections 376 and 315 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015.

“Let me state it here for both the prosecution and the defence that the trial of the defendant shall proceed on a day-to-day basis till the conclusion of this matter and it will begin from 10am to 6pm”, Justice Umar held.

However, the Judge said the court would on each day of the trial, go on break at 1pm and 4pm.

Meanwhile, the case was stood-down following the absence of the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, who was said to be handling another matter at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal.

Consequently, a lawyer that held brief for Jacobs, Mr. Gabriel Esegina, begged the court for an hour stand-down to enable his principal to personally conduct the trial.

Even though the CCT Chairman initially rejected the application, he eventually succumbed to pressure from both Esegina and Saraki’s lawyer, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN.

“My lord I want to beg that you accede to the prosecution’s request for a stand-down. I understand their application even though they never understood mine”, Agabi jokingly added.

Remarkably, the day-to-day trial order is coming on the heels of an intensified bid by the Senate to amend the Code of Conduct Bureau/Tribunal Act, a move that has continued to elicit negative reactions from different quarters.

Meantime, protesters, this morning, besieged the road leading to the CCT premises, chanting solidarity songs for the Senate President.

The protesters who were mainly youths, brandished several placards, among which read “Leave Saraki Alone”, “Say No To Political Witch-hunt”, “Who Is Afraid Of Saraki?”, among several other inscriptions.

The protesters were however barred from gaining access to the CCT by armed security men.

It will be recalled that FG had on April 6, called its first witness before the CCT to testify against Saraki, even as it tendered 17 sets of evidence against him.

The star witness, Mr. Micheal Wetkass who is a Detective Superintendent with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in his evidence-in-chief, told the tribunal that Saraki collected salaries as the governor of Kwara State, four years after his tenure had elapsed.

He said investigation by the anti-graft agency revealed that whereas Saraki’s tenure as governor of the state ended on May 29, 2011, he stopped collecting salary on August 31, 2015.

‎Mr. Wetkass was the head of a three-man crack team that investigated six separate petitions that culminated to the 13-count criminal charge the Senate President is facing before the CCT.

The charge preferred against Saraki by the federal government borders on false/anticipatory declaration of assets, operation of foreign bank accounts while in office as governor and allegation that he acquired wealth beyond his legitimate earnings.
More details soon.

Buhari’s Foreign Trips : My Takeaway – Babatunde Fashola

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola on Monday disclosed his thought on how the series of foreign trips made by President Muhammadu Buhari will benefit Nigeria as a country.
Fashola who made the disclosure in his report titled, “PMB’s Foreign Trips,My Takeaway” which he made available to the media said,  “I hope every Nigerian who cares about our country will have some information about what their President is doing about the things that concern them”
Read the statement in full
PMB’s Foreign Trips – My Takeaway

In making this public intervention, I seek to highlight the benefit of global relationships and cooperation in a world that is changing daily as a result of globalization and transborder economics, social and even criminal activities where no one is safe, except all are safe, and to leave the dispassionate observer his opinion after deep reflection on the value, or lack of it, of the President’s foreign trips.

This way I hope every Nigerian who cares about our country will have some information about what their President is doing about the things that concern them.

First I will start with context.

Barely 2 decades ago (between 1994 and 1998) we would not have quarreled with the description that we were a pariah nation.

We were ostracized from global events because of bad governance. We had lost the respect accorded Nations like ours were they well-led and well-run.

I recall that not a few Nigerians complained that the green passport was becoming, if it had not already become, a burden.

That was at the height of the dictatorial government that broke the rules of international relations.

It was from there that we started to heal. Investors entered our country. Many brands that we sought after abroad started coming to set up shop in our country.

The tourist footfalls in our country increased slowly but surely, but again we began to slide.

That was when Buhari declared at a meeting in Lagos during his campaign in 2015, that if elected, he would make us proud about our country again. Proud to be Nigerian again.

That is the context in which I view his foreign trips and the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Foreign Relations which promised to:

Make the Nigerian national interest the overriding factor in its foreign policy and international relations.
Work to reform global governance in multilateral institutions and agencies.
Work to strengthen the African Union to become a more effective organization on global affairs.
Engage the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) on the basis of equality.
Play a leadership role to develop a MINT (Mexico, India, Nigeria, and Turkey) as a counterforce to BRICS.
I will limit my takeaways to 4 (Four) trips that I attended with the President namely: the G7 Summit in Germany, the Oil and Gas Summit in Iran, the Renewable Energy Conference in Abu Dhabi and the State visit and Business Forum in China; and 2  (Two) trips that I did not attend, but whose deliberations I followed, namely: Paris for the COP 21 and USA for the Nuclear Energy Summit.

G7 in Germany

This is a club of eight of the most industrialized, economic and technologically advanced nations.

For the benefit of those who do not follow international politics it was originally the G8 comprising the USA, Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Japan, Italy, and Russia, who were later suspended and had sanctions imposed on them to make it G7 as a result.

It was formed in 1975 as a club of 6 (Six) before Canada and Russia were admitted.

They look after each other, and the rest of the world to put it simply.

They have gone to war together if you remember Iraq and Libya in recent memory and they are all largely collaborating to fight terror. (Most recently the FBI was rendering assistance to Belgium in the aftermath of the terror attacks in that Country).

Why G7 one might then ask?​

Answer: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as host, invited PMB on his inauguration to be their guest along with some three or four other African countries.​

Their agenda was global security, global economy and global health in the aftermath of Ebola, which was still raging in some African countries.

Apart from the personal aides of the President, Governor Shettima of Borno, General Dambazau and myself were the only ones who accompanied PMB.

I recall that upon our arrival in Germany they expressed surprise that our delegation was small and asked if others were still coming.

In the pre-departure briefing, in addition to highlighting how the security and economic agenda of the G7 coincided with 2 (Two) of his campaign promises, security, (corruption) economy, PMB stated the reasons 3 of us were invited.

Governor Shettima was in the front line of terrorists and criminal activities in the north east; General Abdulrahman Dambazau, was a former Chief of Army Staff, and also a faculty associate of Harvard University Weatherhead Center for International Affairs; I had run the single biggest economy of a state within Nigeria for eight years and was in the frontline of Ebola.

Without ministers, one week after taking office, he felt we were the ones best suited to assist, if he needed it, on the issues of security, economy and health on the G7 agenda.

In the event, he did not need us. He held his ground admirably. He was the first person called upon to speak at a Summit in which Nigeria was not a member. I was proud to be a Nigerian.

At global summits we usually got to speak when others had spoken and the hall has emptied.

President Obama was the first G7 member to speak after PMB and he said that Nigeria has elected a President that brings a reputation of scrupulous integrity to the table. I was proud to be a Nigerian.

The opening session was robust and welcoming, we saw some of the world’s most powerful men and women take off their jackets, call each other by their first names in a club-like setting while addressing the world’s most serious problems. Problems  that affect you and I daily.

I was proud that my President was in a room where decisions concerning my planet were being deliberated upon.

Prime Minister Cameron, Chancellor Merkel and others also spoke in similar vein about our President’s reputation and our nation’s strategic position in Africa and the world.

They pledged support for Nigeria on Terror and the Economy.

Importantly, I learned that their scientists were worried about increasing resistance of strains of infections to antibiotics; and that they were committing enormous resources into finding out why and what to do.

They highlighted the difficulty of time and resources that it will take to develop new antibiotics and the risk to global health.

If we all appreciate how vulnerable we can be without effective antibiotics, especially our children, and if we remember how low life expectancy was and how poor global health was before the discovery of Penicillin after the World War, we will appreciate the seriousness of the platform to which Nigeria was invited. I was proud that our President was there.

If the seven most powerful nations stand with you, who can stand against you?

I need not say more except that I can attest that PMB has been following up on these matters, and the progress on security is visible, while results on the economic front will manifest soon enough.

Iran Oil and Gas Summit

For those who are not aware, one of the reasons why oil prices went up, and from which we benefited in the past, was that Iran, the world’s 7th largest producer of oil, was facing global sanctions from which she was due to emerge in 2016.

Because Iran was soon to be selling oil, the likelihood of a further crash of oil prices that had drastically fallen was a threat to Nigeria’s economy if oil prices crashed further.​(Our 2016 budget proposals had just been formulated on a $38 per barrel assumption)

I was witness to PMB’s persuasion to Iran to come to the market slowly instead of pushing out large volumes which will raise supply and crash prices, even though Iran also needed the cash.

You can’t do that type of diplomacy by letter or by phone, in my view, not when the major players were all there in person.

I witnessed the meeting with the Venezuelan prime minister, who was leading the South American producers to sell more and get cash even if the prices were lower.

PMB’s logic was different.

Hold your volumes, steady the price, and don’t let us hurt one another.

Recorders of history will recall that the Venezuelan government suffered a major political defeat in Parliament, while PMB’s logic has at least steadied oil prices.

It might interest you to know that all European nations sent their oil ministers, except Russia, where Vladimir Putin came in person, because having been suspended from the G8 and facing sanctions, this was the meeting where his country’s interests were best served.

For the record, Russia pledged a $5 Billion state support to Iran, and if the purpose of this is lost on anyone, I interpret it to mean, “Take cash, don’t pump out your oil. It will hurt me.”

This is the reality of international politics.​

Finally on Iran, PMB told us, how when he flew to Iran in his days as Petroleum Minister, he noticed how much gas they were flaring and now he returned as President, all the flares were gone.

We found out that all the gas had been harvested and piped to every home for heating, cooking etc.​


His mandate: “If they can do it, we must do it.”

I am proud to be led by a President who sees good things outside and seeks to bring them to his people.

Abu Dhabi Renewable Energy

This is reputed to be the richest of the Emirates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Apart from seeking cooperation to recover Nigeria’s stolen wealth stored in the UAE [His anti-corruption commitment pursued in person], PMB addressed a renewable energy summit where we learned about initiatives to bring solar power price down to 5 (Five) US cents per kilowatt hour, (approximately N10) as against the price of 17 (seventeen) US cents (N34) per KW/h tariff in Nigeria fixed at privatization by the last Government.

PMB’s mandate was for us to explore collaboration for the manufacture of solar panels in Nigeria to bring down the price and deploy it to the sunlit areas of Nigeria, especially the North that is most prolific for irradiation.

We are currently working on the Energy Mix for Nigeria which is the implementation process of the energy policy that will take us there.

Hopefully we will soon be signing the first set of solar deployment agreements for Nigeria.

In this way, more solar and hydro will be used in the North, more coal and hydro in the Middle Belt, and more gas in the South; so that we take power generation closest to the most prolific source of fuel to bring down the cost and make it more affordable.

On the trip to China (which I will comment on) we met a few Chinese solar manufacturers (who recognized us from Abu Dhabi) who want to set up business of manufacturing solar panels in Nigeria.

China Investment Forum and State Visit

This is the visit that provoked this write up, because I had bottled what I knew. But it was time, I believe, to share some of it.

China is the second largest economy in the world with a per capita income of $8,000 which they are planning to raise to $12,000 by 2020.

By her own assessment, according to President Xi Jinping, they are still a developing nation seeking to achieve what he described as “initial prosperity” by 2020.

If you look at the back of your phone, your TV, your watch, your I-Pad, your Mobile Charger, many other accessories that you use, you are likely to find these three words “Made in China” printed somewhere.

For such a nation, (with trillions of dollars in reserves, that plans to spend $2 trillion on imports in the next five years and earn $100 billion annually) who still sees itself as a developing nation, such modesty in the face of success, assiduous hard work and productivity is a destination to seek cooperation in the pursuit of economic development.

This is where PMB led an array of Nigerian investors including Erisco Foods, (who now makes our tomato paste at home and employs people locally including farmers who supply the tomatoes), Power operators (DisCos and GenCos), and the Dangote Group, to meet with and address their Chinese partners.

During the meeting with the Chinese President, 6 (Six) collaboration agreements were signed including for agriculture and food production improvement techniques, rail and power infrastructure development,  for funding the Dangote group to continue to expand and create jobs at home and keeping some of our reserves in the currency of the richest nation in the world.

This last mentioned agreement was a legitimate coup by PMB because the intelligence was that some West African countries were going to sign before us.

PMB seized the moment.

Of course he had to apologize for our previous failures on our agreement made to part-fund 4 airport projects in Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna rail project.

The Chinese had provided their agreed part of 85% but the remaining 15% Nigeria did not honour during the last administration.

Some of the recent revelations about financial scandals estimated at $2.1 billion in the office of the National Security Adviser alone during the last administration suggest how impactful such funds would have been in delivering these critical infrastructure ; but we all know what happened.​

This is why PMB is traveling. To repair our reputation severely damaged by the last government, and to assure our partners that Nigeria has CHANGED. And from there to re-negotiate an existing funding agreement to complete critical Transport infrastructure.

Because of his reputation, President Xi Jinping believed him, and to quote him, he said: “It is better late than never. ”

Through him China literally opened the door to Nigeria in areas of infrastructure (power, railways and roads), agriculture, education and manufacturing especially in our Free Trade Zones.

To paraphrase the Chinese President, “ask us for whatever support or partnership and we will be happy to respond.”

“We wish to see you take your rightful place and we are happy that you are the first African president visiting China, after my visit to Africa last year to pledge a $60 billion support for the Development of the continent.”

If this was not initiative I doubt what is?​

As for the trips to Paris, COP 21 and the USA, Nuclear Security Summit, I will only say this:

a) The threat of climate change, global warming, desertification in the north of Nigeria and coastal erosion in the Atlantic (Bar beach in Lagos) and in the south, affecting Rivers, Bayelsa and other coastal states, the clear scientific evidence lays the blame at the door of the world’s most industrialized nation for their pollution.
b) Since the Kyoto protocol they have paid lip service to remedying the situation, which unfortunately affects developing nations more adversely.
c) COP 21 was the first serious commitment that these leaders made to ensure that global temperatures do not rise above 2°C and indeed are reduced to 1.5°C. I am proud that Nigeria was not missing at this historic moment. When the planet is saved, the next and future generations of Nigerians will recall that PMB was present, when all of the world leaders were present to save the planet.
d) In the aftermath of COP 21, the commitment of these nations is to increase production and technology for renewable energy and to reduce the use of carbon fuels. One way they plan to achieve this is increased deployment of nuclear energy.

e) These nations are at the cusp of sharing safe nuclear technology for peaceful uses with developing nations for power generation. This for me was reason enough and a good one at that for PMB to be in the USA because Nigeria has been pursuing a nuclear power program for about 17 years, not as an alternative to gas or Hydro, but as additions to them.
The world leaders must trust you for you to partake.

At that summit, in the group photograph, PMB stood on the second row along side Britain and Turkey. In the past, we used to be on the last row. This is CHANGE.

As he meets with world leaders outside Africa, he has not forgotten the home front. He is regularly visiting and receiving his sister and brother presidents on the African continent.

PMB has earned their trust for all of us and I am proud to carry my green passport.

Yes, some results are not yet manifest, and may take a little while to do so, but a solid foundation for a sustainable, respectable and prosperous future is being laid, block  by block.

This is how to build a solid “home” from whence we can project respect abroad with confidence.

How many of us will do business with total strangers without a reference or a good reputation in this age of due diligence?

PMB is building affiliations everywhere that if well-managed in future, will develop into a global network of friendships, trust and respect for Nigeria and Nigerians.

I once heard that the role of a leader, like that of the head of a family, is that of an aggregator, opening doors and opportunities, breaking down barriers and  forging alliances. I agree.

This is my Takeaway on these trips.

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN