5G And COVID-19: Technology, Conspiracy And Ignorance, By Emeka Oparah

April 5, 2020

One would ordinarily have dismissed the “controversy” around 5G technology and the strange connection with COVID-19 being stridently pursued by some people as ignorant rants occasioned by the morbid fear of the rampaging Coronavirus, but with the prevailing circumstances of fear and tension, I have elected, as one familiar with the workings of the telecommunications industry, to say something.

Several years ago, I was part of a global campaign by mobile telecommunications operators to debunk a widely held belief that telecommunications base stations emitted radiations that led to Cancer. As an organization, my employers then spent a lot of money on an awareness campaign to explain that the radiations from telecommunications base stations were within the safe limits and definitely not injurious to health. It worked then and saved the operators a lot of trouble. I hope I succeed this time in helping to clarify this particular issue and stop these manipulative charlatans in their tracks. It has to be stated,though, that times like these are fertile moments for mischief-makers and conspiracy theorists to peddle their virulent wares taking undue advantage of the fears and vulnerability of the people, especially the ignorant and the illiterate. So, while we are keeping safe, we must remain vigilant and ever ready to challenge Fake News and outright lies wherever and whenever.

First, let’s discuss 5G. What is it? To understand 5G, we must first understand G. G stands for generation. So, 5G means 5th Generation Mobile Technology. Most mobile telecommunications operations are currently running on 4G (4th Generation LTE and high-speed mobile internet). Before now, we have had 3G (voice and mobile data) and 2G (digital voice) and 1G (analog voice), of course. It must be admitted that the mobile telecommunications industry is probably one of the most innovative and fastest developing of all. Perhaps, the other will be television and aviation. Lest I digress, 5G is the next level, after 4G, and will “elevate the mobile network to not only interconnect people, but also interconnect and control machines, objects, and devices”, according to Qualcomm. Continuing, the technology research and development company says: “5G will deliver new levels of performance and efficiency that will empower new user experiences and connect new industries. 5G will deliver multi-Gbps peak rates, ultra-low latency, massive capacity, and more uniform user experience.”

5G is similar to 4G but it has much better speed, low latency and has capacity to take more users. It has the capability to enhance the broadband we know today to do more, connect more people and devices and generate more revenue.it is indeed super-fast and has a much smaller cell site than what we already know. And that is no surprise as the world seems to be going smaller, especially in the world of technology. Comparably, 5G is a unified platform that is more capable than 4G.

Here’s how Qualcomm classified the advantages of 5G:

A. Enhanced Mobile Broadband: 5G will not only make our smartphones better, but it will also usher in new immersive experiences, such as VR and AR, with faster, more uniform data rates, lower latency, and cost-per-bit.

B. Mission-Critical communications: 5G will enable new services that can transform industries with ultra-reliable/available, low latency links—such as remote control of critical infrastructure, vehicles, and medical procedures.

C. Massive Internet of Things: 5G will seamlessly connect a massive number of embedded sensors in virtually everything through the ability to scale down in data rates, power and mobility to provide extremely lean/low-cost solutions.

D. A defining capability of 5G is also the design for forward compatibility—the ability to flexibly support future services that are unknown today.

In essence, this is technology that will redefine the way we communicate, entertain, shop, and generally love our lives. If you think 3G and 4G changed the aforementioned, 5G will transform them. By the way, there isn’t much more you really need as a user to know about how 5G is delivered to your device, your device or your home, except that you should get ready for new realities-devices, content, apps, lifestyle. Medical scans and other results will also be delivered much faster than ever before. I still treasure the video of the Esophagoscopy test I did 5 years ago! I know Tito and Muna, my twins will forever cherish the video of their first steps and first words! I’m keeping them safely in iCloud! Now to the conspiracies around 5G and the untenable and fallacious connections to the Coronavirus pandemic.

It is customary in times of strife and great difficulties for bad guys with a proclivity for mischief to take undue advantage of the emotions, the fears and the vulnerabilities of others to peddle all sorts of nonsense including Conspiracy Theories. I must say here that people in that business are usually clever, but they are more often than not clever by half. On the issue of the relationship between 5G and Coronavirus, nothing can be more ludicrously deceptive. The choice of this moment to change the narrative against 5G makes it all too obvious. There has been a strategic campaign against the 5G technology driven by business and diplomacy and propagated by an orchestrated campaign to discredit the innovation. How it got twisted to establish a link to Coronavirus is perhaps the most important argument to debunk the fables.

I would rather not rehash the claims and allegations by those who are behind the fallacious pretensions to intellectualism, so we do not lend further currency and even credence to them, but suffice it to say that the Conspirators refer to two theories to support the claim that 5G accelerates the new coronavirus. Firstly, that 5G might suppress the immune system and, secondly, that viruses can communicate through radio waves. Of course, neither of these theories is backed up by evidence and indeed the new coronavirus is also affecting countries and regions where no 5G is currently present. So what are we even talking about?

The most important point here is that those who should know have come out strongly to debunk them. The UK government yesterday came out with perhaps the strongest rebuttal of these figments of the fertile imagination of some self-styled scientists. “There is absolutely no credible evidence of a link between 5G and coronavirus,” the UK’s department of Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) tweeted, noting that “inaccurate information” was being spread online about 5G. The DCMS pointed to research debunking the supposed link between 5G and the coronavirus, as well as links discussing the actual cause of the infection — direct exposure to COVID-19 particles spread through physical contact, not radio waves.

Trade association Mobile UK, a group which represents all of the major UK carriers, issued a statement, calling the conspiracy theory “baseless” and “not grounded in accepted scientific theory’, and noting that “some people are also abusing our key workers and making threats to damage infrastructure.” The statement read in part: “During this challenging situation, it is concerning that certain groups are using the COVID-19 pandemic to spread false rumours and theories about the safety of 5G technologies. The mobile industry is putting 100% of its effort into ensuring that the UK remains connected and the Government has rightly recognised our workers and the mobile operators as critical to the national effort.”

Continuing, it said: “The theories that are being spread about 5G on social media are baseless and are not grounded in accepted scientific theory. Research into the safety of radio signals including 5G, which has been conducted for more than 50 years, has led to the establishment of human exposure standards including safety factors that protect against all established health risks.”

Categorically speaking, there is no evidence that 5G networks are harmful to health.

Like the previous generations of wireless network technology (4G, 3G and 2G), 5G mobile data is transmitted over radio waves. Other types of technology that use radio waves include smart meters, TV and radio transmitters, and radar and satellite communications. Most modern medical laboratory equipment use radio waves, some use nuclear radiation, but they are used within the guidelines. By the way, every medication has recommended dosage. Even too much food and drinks can become injurious to health. This is basically the same principle on which radio waves operate. There are acceptable safe limits, which are determined, specified, regulated and supervised by International Technology Regulatory bodies. That is a universal truth in international best practice. practice.

According to Kate Lewis of Full Facts: “Radio waves are a small part of a wider electromagnetic spectrum of waves, which all emit energy called electromagnetic radiation. Radio waves are found at the low-frequency end of the spectrum and—alongside microwaves, visible light and heat—only produce non-ionising radiation. This means that these waves cannot damage the DNA inside cells, which is how waves with higher frequencies (such as x-rays, gamma rays and ultraviolet light) are thought to cause cancer. To improve the speed and capacity of our wireless technology, 5G uses a higher frequency of radio waves compared to its older generations. The frequency of this new wireless technology remains very low: the maximum levels of electromagnetic radiation measured by Ofcom were about 66 times smaller than the safety limits set by international guidelines. Public Health England states that “the overall exposure is expected to remain low relative to guidelines and, as such, there should be no consequences for public health.”

Continuing, Lewis wrote: “The Daily Star quotes an “activist and philosophy lecturer at the Isle of Wight College” saying that electromagnetic radiation from 5G suppresses the immune system, helping the virus to thrive. As mentioned above, the level of radiation from 5G is far below levels of electromagnetic radiation thought to cause damage to cells in the human body. The second theory appears to be that “viruses “talk to each other” when making decisions about infecting a host”. This is not true. The Daily Star article links to a 2011 research paper which suggested that bacteria may produce electromagnetic signals to communicate with other bacteria. This hypothesis is disputed, and refers to bacteria and not viruses like the new coronavirus.

“The new coronavirus is also spreading in places without 5G networks. There are many parts of the UK that do not have 5G coverage yet, but are still affected by the virus (for example, Milton Keynes and Portsmouth). There are no 5G networks at all in Iran, yet this country has been severely affected by Covid-19 (at the time of writing, Iran had the sixth-highest number of reported Covid-19 cases and fourth-highest number of deaths of 177 countries and regions in the world).”

It is regrettable and highly unfortunate that people should prey on the vulnerability and fears of others in a critical time like this. One would even begin to wonder which generation of mobile technology facilitated the spread of the Spanish Flu aka Influenza, which ravaged the world between 1918 and 1920 and killed over 50 million people worldwide including 500,000 Nigerians! What is even more regrettable is the tendency of otherwise educated, enlightened and widely travelled even influential people to lend credence to these fallacies and flights of academic fantasies by either sharing them without commentary or propagating them as truths and facts.

In the long run we are all dead, so said the fatalistic Social Economist Thomas Keynes. We are already surrounded by televisions, refrigerators, microwaves cookers and ovens, wireless electronics, computers and all sorts of mobile devices in addition to the radiations we experience during visits to medical laboratories for one health-related investigation of the other. Why cause panic with 5G? The law of unity and conflict of opposites presupposes that everything we eat to stay alive ultimately contributes to killing us, one way or the other. It is preposterous to single out 5G technology particularly at this time. I will NOT forget that the United States is not particularly pleased that China beat her to the race for 5G, the reason Huawei Technologies has suffered tremendous (apologies to President Donald Trump) persecution in the hands of the US government. In the end, facts are facts, fiction is fiction. Science is fact not fiction. Stay woke! Be safe! Thank you!

. Oparah, a leading Corporate and Crisis Communication Expert, wrote from Lagos.

Nigeria And The Life After, By Garba Shehu

Editorial staff

April 5, 2020

In Nigeria, my country of close to 200 million people, the COVID-19 lockdown began on March 30 in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As with nations the world over, we are following the advice of a scientifically-led national action plan to halt and then defeat the spread of the virus by staying at home to save lives.

With hindsight, it is clear there is no country anywhere on earth that was as ready as could now be hoped. But fortunately, since the election of 2015 – when for the first time in history power changed hands between an incumbent president and challenger at the ballot box – our now twice democratically elected administration has spent five years rebuilding governance after decades of political corruption under an effective one party state.

When President Buhari was first elected in April of that year, Nigeria and the world was reeling at the news that 276 mostly Christian schoolgirls had been kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram. The previous administration had done next to nothing to try to find them. The then president had even delayed for weeks before acknowledging they were missing.

We soon discovered why: tens of thousands of “ghost” soldiers on the military payroll. Many of those allegedly fighting at the front simply did not exist. The previous government claimed to be waging war against terrorists – but was in truth waging financial fraud against its own people and threatening their security through the corrupt theft of salaries of non-existent soldiers.

Today, the majority of the Chibok girls are now returned to their families. Boko Haram is fractured, desperate and in retreat. Our military is rebuilt, and previous partnerships with the British and American militaries that had seen those countries place defence equipment export bans upon previous Nigerian administrations are lifted.

In government, President Buhari has waged an effective war on corruption, with some 60 per cent of the general public personally experiencing its rapid decline – in testament to the administration’s zeal. And earlier this year some USD 300 million in funds looted under a previous regime was finally returned to Nigeria from banks in the US and the UK (Jersey Islands) and all of that money is being channeled into infrastructure financing.

In December 2017, the Federal Government signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Switzerland on the return and monitoring of the $322 million Abacha loot. This money is being used to fund the Social Investment Programmes, including the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) that began in December 2016. Under the CCT scheme the President had promised to assist one million poor and most vulnerable Nigerians with a monthly stipend of N5,000 each.

These funds are now being distributed directly to individual citizens mostly in need during the coronavirus pandemic and to allow for a three month moratorium on loan repayments by farmers and small businesses granted through government schemes.

Repatriated funds can also be used to boost our health spending – which was already expanding year-on-year for the last five years – for the purchase of test equipment, ventilators, masks and protective clothing.

This would simply not have happened under previous administrations – because all Nigerians know from our personal experiences of living under them that the levels of corruption, social strife and distrust in governance they created would have made that impossible.

The fact that it is today under a President who is a Muslim, his Vice, an evangelical Christian pastor, and their cabinet equally balanced between Christians and Muslims does not go unnoticed in Nigeria.

But it is less known externally – which is why individuals who supported previous, corrupt governments seek to use the cover of the coronavirus pandemic as their opportunity to wage a fake news war against the country at this time.

They insinuate to further their false claims that a President who writes for the Church Times and Christianity Today and enjoys a personal friendship with the Archbishop of Canterbury is anti-Christian, and that the same President who calls for stronger trading alliances between Commonwealth nations and signs bilateral trade and military agreements with Britain is somehow anti Britain and the West.

They insinuate that Boko Haram’s terrorist attacks on Christians are somehow the government’s doing; that health spending is somehow declining – when it is in fact increasing after they pilfered the system for decades; and that it is this government that created corruption – when in fact the general public themselves make it clear that it is this twice-democratically elected administration that is finally addressing this stain on our governance and society.

To a large degree, many of those Nigerian names writing to conservatives in the UK and the US are just going round making money off the back of lies.

There is a difference between opinion and fact. Everyone is entitled to express the former, The latter can, of course, be questioned: but it does not then change that it is still a fact.

We can only imagine the untruths that would today be peddled to the Nigerian people and the world beyond our borders during this coronavirus pandemic had previous administrations – or those packed with their heirs – had been in charge. We can only give thanks to the wisdom of Nigerian voters that they are not.

When this worldwide health emergency is defeated, we must look to each other to rebuild the global economy – and look to strengthen partnerships that work. Nigeria is ready to take a more forthright role in the Commonwealth and global economic system as a whole. But today we can only do so because the very thing that allows us to fight the virus at all is a better government, which for the first time in Nigeria’s history is both truly representative of our country’s two great religions and shorn of the limitless corruption of our predecessors.

Garba Shehu is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.

We’re Determined To Save Nigeria From Looming Global Economic Recession – Revenue Boss

Greenbarge Reporters

April 5, 2020

The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Mamman Nami has said that the agency is determined to save Nigeria from looming economic recession as a result of the ravaging coronavirus across the world.

He said: “coronavirus or Covid-19, is currently ravaging the world economy. This is no doubt a frightening scenario for all nations and the global economy, more so for a developing economy like our own.

“No doubt, this is a very trying time for business owners and taxpayers generally. We feel for them, we sympathise with their situations right now, and we pray that the world overcomes this dreadful condition as soon as possible so that businesses can thrive again.

“The FIRS is determined to do everything possible to insulate the Nigerian economy from a probable downward slide or recession which many are predicting would hit the global economy as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Through the indirect taxes available to government like VAT and Stamp Duty, etc, we are confident that FIRS would be able to generate enough revenue for the government to fund its 2020 budgetary provisions (particularly the budget deficit) and make good its promise of providing key infrastructures, social amenities, fight insecurity, and stop further borrowing.

“Against this seamy economic background the Federal Inland Revenue Service is saddled with the task of raising N8.5 trillion in revenue this year. We are, however, determined to meet this target to help the three tiers of government fund their 2020 budgets. We are determined to scale the huddles by doubling up our efforts to collect all taxes due to the Federal Government even though we are aware that the Purchasing Parity of Nigerians is dwindling right now and that people are generally reluctant to pay taxes.”

Muhammad Mamman Nami made these points when he fielded questions from a select panel of of media practitioners to mark his 100 days in office at the FIRS on March 29.

Read the full text of the interview:

Q: Let’s start by setting it straight for the section of the public who might not know you in person. Who is Muhammad Nami?

Nami: Well, my name is Muhammad Mamman Nami. The last word in my name is the name of my village in Agaie Local Government Area of Niger State. I know the name has been misspelt or mispronounced as “Namin” by some of you people, the journalists, or “Mani” by our servants in Katsina state (general laughter). But be that as it may, I had my Primary School education in my village, and Secondary School in Government Secondary School, Suleja. I attended Bayero University, Kano where I studied Sociology. Thereafter, I went to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria for both my Postgraduate Diploma and masters degree in Management and Business Administration respectively. I am a member of several professional bodies like the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, among other accounting and management professional bodies. I had my working career with the renowned tax, accounting and auditing services firm, PKF, in Kaduna since 1993 and later set up and managed my own firm, MANAM Professional Services before my appointment as the Executive Chairman of this august body. As you can see, the experiences I acquired over the years are in the world of private enterprises as an Auditor and an Accountant. So I can say I have practised taxation for the better part of my life.

Q: Briefly, how would you describe your first 100 days as the helmsman at the FIRS?

Nami: I can say so far it has been both exciting and challenging. Exciting because I am practising what I have been doing for almost three decades, and here I am also interacting with some of the best brains there are in the sector. So it couldn’t be more exciting. It’s challenging because it appears I am having to build the entire structure of the Service again from the scratch in addition to meeting the huge target set for us by the Federal Government. So you can see that it is not an easy ride. But, so far I thank God that we are gradually patching things up. The members of staff have been very cooperative and supportive. They are quite excited now and willing to work harder than before because I have taken steps to return the functions previously given to the consultants back to them so that they can perform optimally.

Q: The public expects that things would change for the better at the FIRS under your watch. What can you list as your achievements in the first 100 days in office leading the Service?

Nami: Well, I can say with all sense of modesty that we have achieved a lot since we came on board. Although I would have liked to leave this to posterity but a few points will suffice. When I came on board I found that the entire structure of the Service had keeled over. So I had the daunting task of piecing together the pieces. Now, you will agree with me that this is not an easy task considering the fact that FIRS is a large organisation with about 10,000 staff and I am new to both the environment and the staff. In addition to this, some of the e-platforms on which the operations of the Service depend have one issue or the other which required fixing. So far we’ve been able to cobble together the structure and fixed some e-platforms and introduced automation solutions to drive the revenue collection process. As you can see I have spent my 100 days basically trying to rebuild the system and the confidence of the staff in the operations of the Service. In addition to all these, I want to put on record that we have fast tracked the issuance of TCCs through the window we provided in January. We also lifted the lien placed on taxpayers Bank accounts by the erstwhile management. These are all geared towards easing payment of taxes as well as creating conducive environment for ease of doing business. We have also put measures in motion to introduce other e-platforms as a way of ensuring efficient service delivery. In line with this too we have opened new audit offices, segmented tax returns filing, organised stakeholder sensitisation programmes. So we’re doing a lot of groundwork to improve our collections in the coming months.

Q: The Finance Act 2019 was signed into law recently and came into operation on February 1, 2020. What is in the Act for the individual taxpayer and businesses in terms of tariffs or tax palliatives?

Nami: First of all let me say that the Finance Act is an instrument that is meant to strengthen taxation system in Nigeria and that it is not yet a perfect document. Having said that, the Act contains a number of important palliatives especially for the small businesses. One of these is the exemption of companies whose turnover is less than N25 million from payment of Company Income Tax but they must file tax returns. Also, the Act stipulates a reduced Company Income tax of 20% for companies whose turnover is from N25 million to N100 million. Again, the Act provides that early payment of tax attracts a bonus of 2% of tax payable for medium size companies and 1% for bigger companies. Minimum tax computation has also been amended to 0.5% of gross turnover. And bank transfer of N10000 and above is now to attract stamp duty.

Q: Covid-19 is clubbing the global economy into coma and a global recession is very likely on the horizon for all countries, including Nigeria. How can the FIRS help the nation out, if indeed, there is something the Service can do to help Nigeria in these trying times?

Nami: Yes, you’re right. Coronavirus, or Covid-19, is currently ravaging the world economy. This is no doubt a frightening scenario for all nations and the global economy, more so for a developing economy like our own. No doubt this is a very trying time for business owners and taxpayers generally. We feel for them, we sympathise with their situations right now, and we pray that the world overcomes this dreadful condition as soon as possible so that businesses can thrive again.

Against this seamy economic background the Federal Inland Revenue Service is saddled with the task of raising N8.5 trillion in revenue this year. We are, however, determined to meet this target to help the three tiers of government fund their 2020 budgets. We are determined to scale the huddles by doubling up our efforts to collect all taxes due to the Federal Government even though we are aware that the Purchasing Parity of Nigerians is dwindling right now and that people are generally reluctant to pay taxes. The tax culture in Nigeria at the moment is really not encouraging, if you ask me. We are also going to work on that too as we move along. We will apply some level of diligence in collecting taxes particularly indirect taxes like VAT and the Stamp Duty which the Finance Act 2019 gives us the right to collect. The FIRS is determined to do everything possible to insulate the Nigerian economy from a probable downward slide or recession which many are predicting would hit the global economy as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Through the indirect taxes available to government like VAT and Stamp Duty, etc, we are confident that FIRS would be able to generate enough revenue for the government to fund its 2020 budgetary provisions (particularly the budget deficit) and make good its promise of providing key infrastructures, social amenities, fight insecurity, and stop further borrowing.

Q: You have brought up Stamp Duty and it is pertinent we bring up the controversy surrounding it in terms of which agency of government has more right to collect it…..

Nami: Thank you very much for this question. It is not much of a controversy, really. To my mind, I think there’s a misunderstanding of the issues involved. Let me use this opportunity to set the matter straight. We are all educated people and so we should not confuse postage stamp which traditionally belongs to NIPOST with the Stamp Duty. For the avoidance of doubt, postage stamp is a signage that is affixed on a letter, visa, and in some cases agreements, and it is sold by NIPOST. The money that accrues from the sales of postage stamp is also remitted to the Federal Government’s Single Treasury Account (TSA). The sale of postage stamp by NIPOST is the practice across the world.

On the other hand, Stamp Duty relates to matters executed between a company and an individual, group or body of individuals. It is a tax on legal documents, deeds of agreements and contracts, electronic transfers, and electronic receipts on transactions in the region of N10,000 and above or transfers in like sum from one Current Account to another Current Account. The position of the law on Stamp Duty as at today is that it is the responsibility of the FIRS to collect Stamp Duty on behalf of the Federal Government. This is the tenable position in the light of available evidence. In the first instance, since 1939 the Federal Board of Inland Revenue (FBIR), which transformed to FIRS in 1958, had been collecting stamp duty. Similarly, the recently gazetted Finance Act 2019 has amended s.4(1) of the Stamp Duty Act contained in S.(8) of the Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 to give the FIRS the sole right of collecting Stamp Duty on behalf of the Federal Government. Also, sometimes in 2016, the then Accountant General of the Federation, issued a circular mandating relevant bodies to remit all Stamp Duty revenues collected to the FIRS account with the Central Bank. More important, the Stamp Duties so collected as tax are remitted into the Federation Account for onward disbursement to the three tiers of government, from which NIPOST benefits. These are the indubitable differences between the claim by both agencies of government. And so, the Stamp Duty is one key tax we intend to focus on going forward. We are going to be diligent in collecting Stamp Duty as applicable under extant laws. We are very determined to make sure that all collecting agents of Stamp Duty, that is, the Money Deposit Banks and MDAs, remit it promptly to the FIRS account with the Central Bank.

Given that the FIRS has the sole right to collect the Stamp Duty, it has commenced solid arrangements to make Stamp Duty the goose that lays the golden egg for the Federal Government to shore up its revenue base in order to beat a likely economic meltdown as a result of the outbreak of the Covid-19. To achieve this, I recently met with the chief executive officers (CEOs) of banks in Lagos to enlist their support to achieve 100% compliance in stamp duty collection through the use of automation solutions now being rolled out by FIRS.

Q: What was the response like at that meeting sir?

Nami: Quite enthusiastic, very encouraging. At the meeting, I stressed the need for total compliance and aggressive revenue drive as a means to overcome a looming economic meltdown as a result of the recent crash of oil price from $50 to $29 which is likely to affect our projections in Petroleum Profit Tax. Of course, this market situation is connected to the economic ravages of Covid-19, which have triggered a global economic lockdown. We can not pretend that these have no unintended negative consequences on Nigeria’s economy.

Q: Mr. Chairman sir, what informs this confidence that the Stamp Duty is the trump card for the nation in this perilous times for the economy?

Nami: It is from the measures we are putting in place and the volume of revenue that would come from the sector. We are upbeat that revenue from Stamp Duty collection can rescue the economy from a possible downward slide. We intend to make the Stamp Duty the goose that lays the golden egg for the Federal Government. The good news is that Stamp Duty has the potential to yield tax revenue in trillions of naira. Presently, there are claims from many quarters that if the records of stamp duty on chargeable transactions as far back as the year 2000 are revisited as much as N20 trillion unremitted stamp duty revenue are due from agencies charged with collecting it on behalf of theFederalGovernment. This is more than double the year 2020 budget of the Federal Government. Again, from the initial analysis carried out by us regarding chargeable transactions in the banking sector, we discovered that in 2019 alone the total volume of transactions was over N52 billion. And that the total value of these transactions was over N613 trillion. You can imagine how much would be realised from this value if a Stamp Duty of N50 was charged on it. We are currently carrying out analysis of these transactions to determine the actual chargeable transaction. So you can see that my confidence is not misplaced. I assure Nigerians that this is the beginning of good things to happen to Nigeria.

Q: You are assuring the nation that the FIRS is competent enough to collect Stamp Duty, sir?

Nami: Yes, of course, the FIRS is the only agency of government with the right capacity in terms of manpower and technological know-how to track stamp duty collection. Right now we are working with relevant stakeholders to develop a workable remittance solution that will effectively block leakages and bring in more stamp duty revenue to the government. In due course, we would be deploying cutting-edge technology to drive the process of Stamp Duty collection. Relevant bodies and stakeholders have already been put on notice to support and comply with the process that we have put in place to actualize this objective. Every stakeholder is urged to be fully prepared and ready to adopt the new compliance programme we are rolling out. So failure to comply is really not an option going forward because the cost of noncompliance is far more punitive than the benefit of compliance. So I can say without mincing words that the Federal Government did not make any mistake in entrusting stamp duty collection to the FIRS. In the months and years to come this capacity would be demonstrated in the use of the Stamp Duty as a flagship tax to rescue the economy from the looming downward slide.

Q: As a parting shot, what would you say to the taxpayers out there, especially the individual or corporate tax-shy or tax-evading Nigerian?

Nami: Well, I want to urge them to continue to pay their taxes as a civic responsibility. You know tax payment has a ripple effect. What you pay as tax goes round and comes back to you in many forms such as salaries, capital fund for businesses, infrastructural development and the provision of social amenities. If you don’t pay your tax, you draw back our country many years. But if you pay your tax you have the basis to demand for better living condition from your government. So, it’s the obligation of every citizen to pay his tax.

And a word to government?

Nami: I can only plead with the authorities that as taxes are paid, they should please use it judiciously to fund budgetary projections including timely payment of salaries to workers, provision of social amenities to citizens, fight insecurity to secure lives, property, and businesses, and support ordinary Nigerians in this difficult time. I will also like to advise the government not to embark on granting tax holidays or tax exemptions at this critical period apart from the palliatives it is already given through the Bank of Industry, Special Banks, and the Central Bank. This is the time for every Nigerian to rise up in support of the government by promptly paying taxes. The government should educate Nigerians that in a time of crisis like now the only way to avoid recession is by paying taxes so that government will not be constrained to go aborrowing. And even if the National Assembly may consider suggesting tax amendments in aid of the Covid-19 victims they should let the FIRS know or vet such amendments before the President signs it. We are expecting that most businesses will report second quarter return of losses which will further put pressure on the FIRS. Nonetheless, we are upbeat that we shall achieve significant revenue collection.

Nigerian Doctors Oppose Govt Plan To Invite Chinese Doctors On Coronavirus

Editorial staff

April 4, 2020

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has kicked against a plan by the Federal Government to invite an 18-man Chinese team of medical experts, including doctors, nurses and those with sundry expertise to assist Nigeria in the fight against coronavirus.

President of the association, Dr. Aliyu Sokomba, in a statement today, April 4, advised the Federal government to shelve the plan to invite the Chinese Medical team, adding that the government should instead, immediately engage all key relevant Nigerian medical experts including NARD.

According tom him, inviting the Chinese medical experts will portray the Federal Government as championing “illegality,” as all doctors coming into Nigeria are supposed to be licensed by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

Dr. Aliyu, who stressed that the Chinese medical experts have not been licensed to perform any job in the country, said: “attempt to import Human resources for Health from China into Nigeria where many qualified medical doctors and other cadres of health workers are yet to be gainfully employed, is the height of insensitivity and disservice on the part of the Federal Government and their advisers.

“The challenge at hand would have been sufficient marker to agitate the FG to the direction and timing for massive employment of medical and other health care workers to provide enough hands in the industry to battle the COVID 19 as other nations are doing.”

It would be recalled that the nation’s Minister for Health, Dr. Osagie Ohanire, yesterday, April 3, said that China is sending in more kits as well as doctors to support the government’s efforts in the fight against the virus.

“I have been notified of gifts of medical supplies from China, courtesy of a group of Chinese companies working here in Nigeria. A special cargo aircraft shall leave Nigeria in a few days to collect the items which include commodities, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and ventilators,” he said during the briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

The minister had said: “of great interest is that an 18-man team of medical experts, including doctors, nurses and public health advisers shall come along with the flight to assist us.”

Source: Channels Television.

We Can’t Play With Health Of Nigerians In The Name Of 5G Technology – Communications Minister

Editorial staff

April 4, 2020

The minister of communications, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami has made it clear that the federal government’s desire to embrace technology will not be at the expense of the good health of its citizens.

He stressed: “our desire for technological advancement will never be at the expense of the health and welfare of our citizens.

“Government will not act on the speculations only, but rather we will take an informed decision on 5G after due consultation with experts and the public.”

The minister, who responded to reports that the federal government had deployed G5 applications in Nigeria, capable of aiding the spread of coronavirus, said that he had already directed the Nigeria Communities Commission (NCC) to engage citizens on any questions or concerns they may have regarding 5G.

“His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, places a premium on the welfare, health and security of Nigerians.”

He acknowledged the fear expressed by Nigerians about the health implications of the deployment of Fifth Generation Mobile Networks (5G) in Nigeria, saying that the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC), of which he is the Chairman, has not deliberated on or released any bulk frequency spectrum for the deployment of 5G.

Pantami said that as at now no license has been issued for the deployment of 5G in the country.

He acknowledged however that there was three-month study trial which commenced on the 25th of November, 2019 in order to critically review and study the health and security implications of deploying 5G in Nigeria.

“As part of the study trial process, I directed the Nigerian Communications Commission to ensure that a team of experts, security agencies and other stakeholders fully participate in the trial process and my office also invited these agencies to participate in the trial; and

“The trial process has been concluded and the study and reporting process is currently ongoing.”

Pantami thanked the general public for reaching out to him on this issue, and advised Nigerians to remain rest assured that government will always take the welfare, health and security of the public into account while considering the deployment of any technology.

Alleged Assault On Lady Lizzy, Kogi Gov Vows Not To Spare His Commissioner If…

Editorial staff

April 3, 2020

The governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has vowed to bring to book, anyone, including his commissioner of Water Resources, Abdulmumini Danga, that is found guilty of alleged assault on a young lady, called Elzabeth Oyeniyi, popularly called Lizzy.

Abdulmumini was alleged to have kidnapped, assaulted and raped the lady before releasing her.

The governor, in a statement today, April 3, by the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsley Fanwo in Lokoja, said: “I give my word that everyone found culpable in this incident will be brought to book.”

The statement reads apart; “The attention of the Kogi State Government has been drawn to the allegations of assault, battery and other serious crimes levelled against the above-named individual who is a serving Commissioner in Kogi State.

It is alleged that he is involved in the alleged abduction and assault of a woman which allegedly occurred in Lokoja recently.

“His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State is an avowed advocate of the fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens, and especially within the boundaries of our dear State. “Accordingly, the Governor has ordered an accelerated investigation into the matter and hereby assures both accusers and accused, as well as the general public, that the whole truth will be uncovered and justice served as appropriate.

“The Kogi State Government reaffirms its unalloyed commitment to the protection of everyone from all forms of oppression, and will not stand for violence against women or children under any form or guise.

‘We urge our people to continue observing the protocols of prevention and safety relating to the CoviD-19 outbreak and reiterate our commitment to keeping our state free of the disease.”

UN Hails Nigeria’s ‘Remarkable Capacity’ In Response To Coronavirus

Editorial staff

April 3, 2020

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has commended Nigeria’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Guterres, who spoke at a virtual news briefing in New York, the United States today, April 3, singled out Nigeria as one of the developing countries that have “shown a remarkable capacity to respond to the disease.

“I have to say this; some of these developing countries have shown a remarkable capacity to respond.

“I was quite impressed to see, for instance, Nigeria putting in place and immediately establishing a hospital.

“And I saw difficulties in countries that are much more developed to do quickly the same.”

The Nigerian government had put in place several measures to tackle the coronavirus since February 7 when the country recorded its first case of the virus.

Nigeria currently has 190 confirmed cases of cornavirus with two deaths and 24 others discharged after they were given a clean bill of health by medical practitioners.

Buhari Commands Army To Join Police And Flush Out Rampaging Bandits

Editorial staff

April 3, 2020

President Muhammadu Buhari and Chief of Army staff, Lt. Tukur Yusuf Burtai

President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the Nigerian Army to join the Police and flush out bandits from forests around the country, particularly in the areas that witnessed recent attacks.

The President gave the command today, April 3, in response to the killing of 22 people in Sokoto State, whose community was attacked by armed bandits as well as the reported killing of 10 others in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.

In response to the Presidential command, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai has already got in touch with the General Officers Commanding the army formations in the affected states, directing them to reinforce the police efforts to track the bandits and bring them to justice.

President Buhari also commiserated with the governments and people of the two states, assuring Governors Aminu Tambuwal and Simon Lalong of the federal government’s support in bringing an end to the spate of attacks in the regions.

He prayed that Allah would comfort those who lost beloved family members and friends in the attacks.

2020 Pilgrimage In Saudi Arabia: To Be Or Not To Be? By Imam Murtadha Gusau

Editorial staff

April 3, 2020

In The Name Of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful. All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is His servant and Messenger.

Dear brothers and sisters, as Hajj pilgrimage is under risk of cancellation for this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, people ask: is it the first lockdown in history?

Minister of Hajj and Umrah of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad Saleh bin Taher Benten urged Muslims on El-Akhbariya state Television Tuesday to wait for a while before making plans to make the annual Hajj pilgrimage until there is more clarity about the global containment of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic.

Every year, nearly 2.5 million pilgrims visit the holy sites of Islam in Makkah and Madinah for a week-long ritual, which is a once-in-a-lifetime duty for every able-bodied Muslim.

Pilgrimage is big business for Saudi Arabia and the backbone of plans to expand visitor numbers under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious economic reform agenda.

Cancelling the Hajj would be unprecedented in modern times, but curbing attendance from high-risk areas has happened before, including in recent years during the Ebola outbreak.

Disease outbreaks have regularly been a concern surrounding the Hajj, required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their life, especially as pilgrims come from all over the world.

The kingdom stopped Umrah, a non-mandatory pilgrimage, in late February due to the pandemic. With the rising Covid-19 cases around the world, the cancellation of the Hajj pilgrimage, which starts in late July, is also on cards.

Muslims around the world shudder seeing the pictures of empty Ka’abah, a cube-shaped building towards which they pray, since it’s almost always full of pilgrims making rounds and reading verses of the Qur’an.

Though Hajj has been cancelled several times over the centuries, since the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s foundation in 1932 it has never missed a year, nor even during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1917-18 that killed millions of people worldwide.

But if Saudi Arabia cancels 2020’s Hajj, it will be added to a list of almost 40 dramatic cancellations since the first in 629. If the Hajj pilgrimage is truly cancelled this year, it won’t be the first, however. Here are some historical events that prevented Muslims from visiting the holy city in the last 1,400 years:

In 570 AD, Yemeni governor Abraha was building a cathedral in the city of Sana’a to make a new centre for pilgrimage.

He realised that the Ka’abah already served that purpose, so he organised a major military expedition to destroy Makkah to direct pilgrims to his cathedral and make Yemen the only destination for pilgrimage.

In 570 AD, a year before the birth of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), he launched an invasion campaign to Hijaz. He reportedly aided his large army with an elephant. As they came close to the holy Ka’abah, the elephant did not move further.

The residents of Makkah, who were incapable and unprepared to stand against Abraha’s army, fled to the mountains. That year, people could not make the pilgrimage to Makkah, fearing war. Several historians have reported that Abraha’s forces could not maintain the siege as they were struck by divine powers, which eventually crushed his army and ended the siege.

The number of people who came to Makkah for the pilgrimage began to decrease each year after the Shi’ah Qarmatians State started to carry out continuous attacks on Makkah and its pilgrimage routes before 930 AD.

Islamic scholars issued a fatwa in 930 banning the pilgrimage to Makkah because of the lack of life and property security.

In the same year, the leader of the Qarmatians, Abu Tahir al Janabi, raided Makkah and massacred tens of thousands of pilgrims.

Historians state that the Qarmatians had banned the pilgrimage for more than 10 years.

Before the Shi’ah Qarmatians left Makkah, they stole the golden door of the Ka’abah as well as Hajrul Aswad, also known as the black stone, which dates back to the time of Adam and Eve. The two stolen items remained under their control for 22 years. The Abbasids paid 120,000 dinars in 952 for their return.

There were many outbreaks in the Hijaz region of the Arabian Peninsula over the 19th Century, such as the plague, cholera and meningitis.

The spread of the plague epidemic in the Hijaz region in 1814 caused the death of about 8,000 people, and the pilgrimage was not allowed that year. An epidemic started again in the pilgrimage season of 1837, continuing until 1892.

Nearly a thousand had died every day due to the highly fatal epidemic between this period. Doctors from Egypt were sent to build a quarantine on the road to Makkah to look after people.

On November 20, 1979, a rebel, Juhaiman al-Utaibi raided the Ka’abah in the morning (Subh/Fajr) prayer. He expressed several political demands including the dismissal of the Saudi regime, the end of the kingdom’s relations with Western superpowers, the halt of the sale of oil to Western countries, and the closure of foreign military bases.

The High Scholar Committee of the kingdom issued a fatwa, asking the Saudi regime to launch an armed intervention and rid the city of all the rebels.

The raid continued for about 15 days and was only ended with the help of a specialist team from France. During the raid, Ka’abah remained closed for two weeks.

At the end of the two-week period, 127 Saudi soldiers, 117 of Juhaiman’s supporters and 26 civilians had been killed during the clashes. Juhaiman and his 62 followers were later executed.

Respected servants of Allah, this year the Hajj is due to take place in July and as the spread of Coronavirus shows no signs of abating, many people fear that the Hajj may have to be cancelled. More than two million people perform the Hajj in Makkah every year and this idea was previously unthinkable.

However, the Hajj has been cancelled many times before in Islamic history due to disease, conflict, the activities of bandits and raiders, or other reasons and this idea is not as unprecedented as people think.

Last week, the Saudi King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives released a statement noting 40 times in history during which the Hajj was either cancelled or the number of pilgrims was extremely low.

Perhaps the most infamous cancellation of the Hajj took place in the 10th century AD, which corresponded to the third century of the Islamic calendar, after an obscure sect took over the holy site in Makkah.

The Qarmatians were a heterodox sect based in eastern Arabia, who established their own state under Abu Tahir al-Janabi. Their belief system was based on Isma’ili Shi’ah and mixed with gnostic elements and their society was egalitarian, with American author Kenneth Rexroth calling them the “only communistic society to control a large territory” before the 20th century.

However, they considered the Hajj to be a pagan ritual and in 930 AD Abu Tahir carried out a vicious attack on Makkah during the Hajj season.

According to historic accounts, the Qarmatians killed 30,000 pilgrims while mockingly chanting verses of the Qur’an at them and dumped their bodies in the sacred Zamzam well. They then stole the Black Stone from the Ka’abah. For ten years after this the Hajj was cancelled.

This was not the first violent attack on Hajj pilgrims. In 865 AD, Isma’il bin Yusuf, known as Al-Safak, who led a rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate, massacred pilgrims gathered at the Arafah Mountain near Makkah, also forcing the cancellation of the Hajj.

In 1000 AD the Hajj was cancelled for a much more prosaic reason – rising costs associated with travel. In 1831, a plague from India killed nearly three quarters of the pilgrims performing Hajj, while between 1837 and 1892, infection killed hundreds of pilgrims on a daily basis, according to the King Abdulaziz Centre.

Infections often spread during the Hajj. Before the modern age, they were much more of a problem than today, with thousands of pilgrims gathering together at close quarters and no adequate treatment for sometimes deadly diseases.

Beloved brothers and sisters, while the spread of Coronavirus has alarmed the world and may very well disrupt the Hajj this year, disease, conflict, and the perils of travel have affected Muslim’s ability to perform one of the key pillars of their faith throughout history.

Hajj has been stopped in history more than 40 times… Will it stop again because of Coronavirus?

According to scholars and historians, the Hajj rites have stopped more than 40 times throughout history for several different reasons, including political turmoil, natural disasters, outbreaks of epidemics, economic depression and other causes.

The important question that many people think of today is, will the ritual pilgrimages stop again this year due to the outbreak of the new virus Corona known as Covid-19, especially since it has not yet been contained?

What are the chances of the pilgrimage season for the current year 2020 in the event that the Coronavirus is not completely contained around the world by next July?

The most important years of pilgrimage in history to have been stopped:

865 CE massacre at the level of Arafah: Corresponding to 251 AH, the heroes of the Hajj, after witnessing the massacre at the level of Arafah, where Isma’il bin Yusuf Al-Alawi and those with him attacked the crowds of the pilgrims, and they killed large numbers.

930 CE Qarmatians and theft of black stone: Corresponding to 317 AH, Qarmatians raided a heinous crime on the Sacred Mosque and killed those in it and stole the Black Stone and were absent for 22 years and did not return to its place except in 339 AH, where Qarmatians believed that the pilgrimage is one of the rituals of pre-Islamic and idolatry.

983 AD disputes between Bani Abbas and Bani Ubaid: Corresponding to 372 AH, it was said that no one from Iraq this year went to the year 380 AH because of the discord and differences between the successors of Bani Abbas and the successors of Egypt Bani Ubaid.

1037 pilgrims from Egypt only: Corresponding to 428 AH, no pilgrims from Iraq and pilgrims from Egypt and others.

1253 AD Baghdadis return after 10 years: Corresponding to 650 AH, the people of Baghdad returned to Hajj after an expectation of 10 years, following the death of the victorious caliph.

1257 AD, no one from the Hijaz pilgrimage: Corresponding to 655 AH, none of the people of the Hijaz performed pilgrimage, nor did the banner of the kings of the Kings be taken to anyone in Makkah.

1814 AD The plague: About 8,000 people died in the country of Hijaz due to the plague.

1831 AD An Indian pandemic kills three quarters of the pilgrims: Corresponding to 1246 AH, an outbreak occurred during the Hajj season, an epidemic believed to have come from India, and three quarters of the pilgrims died due to it.

1837 AD Epidemic outbreaks: Pilgrimage seasons saw epidemics until the 1840s.

1846 AD cholera outbreaks for several years: A cholera outbreak spread among pilgrims and remained present during the pilgrimage seasons until 1850 CE. Then he returned in 1865 AD and 1883 AD.

1858 AD escape from the Hijaz to Egypt: A severe pandemic spread, pushing people to flee from Hijaz to Egypt, which built a quarantine in the well of Aden, to avert epidemics.

1864, a thousand pilgrims die every day: 1000 pilgrims die every day due to the outbreak of a highly dangerous epidemic. In 1871 AD, Madinah struck an epidemic that forced Egypt to send doctors and build a quarantine in Makkah on the road from Makkah to Madinah.

1892 AD Accumulation of dead bodies: The cholera outbreak coincided with the Hajj season and was severe, so the dead bodies piled up, it was not possible for time to bury them, and deaths increased in Arafah and culminated in Mina.

1895 AD Typhoid outbreaks: A pandemic of typhoid or dysentery fever spread from a convoy that came from Madinah and continued to a weak degree with Arafah and did not spread later and ended in Mina.

1987 Meningitis outbreaks: Severe and highly infectious meningitis resulted in at least 10,000 infections.

Attempts to prevent pilgrims from epidemics: The epidemics in the history of the Great Mosque of Makkah and the country of Hijaz were very many, as history recorded the intensity of crowding and visitors from different regions around the world during the Hajj season.

In this season, the potential for transmission of infectious respiratory diseases that can be transmitted by droplets from the respiratory secretions such as influenza, meningitis and the current Coronavirus increases.

In the book “The Pilgrimage a Hundred Years Ago”, the Russian traveler and military leader, Abdulaziz Dolchen, who visited the Hijaz between 1898 and 1899, indicated that the epidemic probably begins to spread to Arafah and is very prevalent in Mina. If the stand in Arafah does not witness any epidemic outbreaks, there is great hope that it does not happen A total epidemic of the year of Hajj.

Dolchen also says that in Makkah and Madinah there were quarries and a mobile hospital with capacity for 30 patients, and the Makkan quarantine with the pilgrims moved to Arafah and then to Mina where he would like a building dedicated to him and in these two places as in Makkah the hospital covers free medication and ambulance services when necessary but he is completely incapacitated If a severe epidemic breaks out among the pilgrims.

Dear brothers and sisters, I pray, May Allah in His Infinite Mercy safeguard us, heal the infected patients of Covid-19 and all sick all over the world, and remove the epidemic entirely from the surface of the earth. Ameen.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May the peace, blessings and salutations of Allah be upon our noble Messenger, Muhammad, and upon his family, his Companions and his true followers.

Murtadha Muhammad Gusau is the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumu’ah in Kogi State. He can be reached via: gusauimam@gmail.com or +2348038289761.

Oshiomhole At 68: Short But Not Short Of Anything, By Sufuyan Ojeifo

Editorial staff

April 3, 2020

Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole | Photo credit: Premium Times

The national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who turned 68 today, April 3, had had course at one time to make reference to the issue of his diminutive stature, with the word of Magistad: “we little people are little balls of power.” Read Oshiomhole: “Some people say that I am short but fail to tell the world what I am short of.”

In a piece I wrote in June 2018 titled: “APC and Oshiomhole’s legerdemain” to capture the atmospherics and nuances of our encounter at the Ladi Kwali Hall of Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja, where he hosted a dinner in celebration of the posthumous national honours conferred by President Muhammadu Buhari on the winner of the annulled June 12 1993 presidential election, Chief M.K.O. Abiola and human rights lawyer, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, I had weighed in with the virtues that Oshiomhole was ( and is) not short of, to wit: brilliance, eloquence, wits, logic, patriotism, commitment and conviction, among others.

Oshiomhole’s mojo remains the same in spite of obvious moves to clutter and diminish it by forces within the precincts of the nation’s cloak-and-dagger politics. His gravitas is unassailable. Fortunately for the Iyamho-born political leader, he continues to enjoy critical support that has consolidated his position as the captain of APC’s ship.

Indeed, Oshiomhole’s sense of personal knowledge and appreciation of the assessment or measurement of his individuality by the significant others discounts, to all intents and purposes, whatever their motives are. The force of his oration and intelligent ripostes continue to deflate their essences.

They had severely been put off by his expressiveness which they relate with as “talking too much” and thus “irritating”. Nevertheless, they cannot arrest and tame the restless spirit in constant engagements with and responses to existential socio-pllitical and economic questions.

The good news is that Oshiomhole had long overcome all the artificial limitations and emerged as the inimitable public space intellectual that he is. As I had written before, the comrade is an orator of the very utilitarian hue. He had, without a doubt, prepared himself ahead for engagements with issues that would later define his eon: labour unionism, governance, economy and politics. He is a member of the national institute (mni) and holder of the national honour of Commander of the Order of Niger (CON).

Burnished, from the outset, in the fiery furnace of labour unionism, Oshiomhole epitomises a mature and sharply-focused leadership, who in retrospect, navigated the turbulent trajectory of politics in Edo State where he was governor for eight years at the end of which he ensured that the APC remained the governing party in the State.

As national chair of the governing APC, a position he stepped into, unopposed, in June 2018 by the approbation and consensus of party leadership and membership, Oshiomhole has had his good and bad times in the saddle. He has achieved much more successes than his explicable failings.

His “failings” obviously stemmed from and are magnified by some interests in the party who were at the receiving end of his reforms that found anchorage in party discipline, obedience to rules and regulations as circumscribed in the Constitution of the party, and his audacious move to return the control of the party to members at the lowest rung of the ladder through the adoption of direct primary election for candidates’ selection in many of the states for the 2019 general election.

Oshiomhole had demonstrated that he was and (is still) wired like a dynamite! Yes, that dangerous innovative invention by the Swedish chemist and engineer, the late Alfred Nobel, which he patented in 1867 and which rapidly gained wide-scale use as a more powerful alternative to black powder. The Oshiomhole dynamite has been more potent than other elements either before or after him that pretended or pretend to be critical voices in national discourses and/or conversations.

Consider again my understanding of Oshiomhole in another write-up: “He had ripped through the Nigerian polity at different epochs in ramifications that were episodic: at the levels of his robust NLC presidency and governorship of Edo State. Therefore, Oshiomhole must be handled with respect even by those who may think they own him, as he cannot really be privatised. He is not a man given to political chicanery. He is however ready to go the whole hog with anybody on shared principles and trust. In public space engagements that require the deployment of facts, figures, logic and even adversarial stunts, in pushing through positions, Oshiomhole is not anyone’s run-of-the-mill opponent.

“As NLC president, he was the nemesis of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration in the battle for appropriate pump prices of petroleum products and salary matters. As governor in Edo, he was a thorn in the flesh of the political godfathers. He successfully contended with their influence to enjoy a two-term governorship and went ahead to install a successor.”

Possible truth must be contemplated in the search for explanations to some political actions and reactions that defy understanding. Today, his successor that he installed at all cost is, curiously, baying for his blood and seeking to dismantle his political leadership. But for God, who ensured that Presudent Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Ahmef Tinubu kept fidelity to the original plan to support him to guide APC through his reform voyage, the political animus against him by interests with disparate agenda would have, very recently, terminated his leadership.

Had they succeeded, what would have become of his mantras of party discipline and return of the party to the people by which he had justifiably truncated the governorship aspirations of two former ministers and stopped some imperial, now former governors from using their machinery in their states to foist their anointed successors on the people either through illegal indirect primary election or purpoetedly-manipulated processes? Ogun and Imo states remain two good examples. Both states aare now governed by APC governors in spite of shenanigans by powerful interests within the party.

Oshiomhole has continued to rambunctiously deploy his leadership mojo in the affairs of the APC post-2019 general elections, having particularly produced the president, APC-controlled National Assembly under the leadership decided through consultations and endorsements by the party.

The Comrade Chair has kept his eyes on the ball of driving the party and government architectures in synergy for a robust delivery of the electioneering promises that verge on taking Nigeria to the next level. Distractions are characteristic features in political settings where the battles for survival rage, sometimes subtly and some other times tangibly.

Although, such battles are always fluid, delicate and their consequences are a mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly, I can safely posit that Oshiomhole has the wits, the grits and, above all, the providence and the grace to overcome battles, especially political. Need I say more on the occasion of his anniversary? Better days are ahead to paint a lucid and exhaustive picture of his life and times, including the battles, his triumphs and defeats.

Meanwhile, this is wishing the Comrade Chair a happy 68th birthday (Saturday, April 4) amid the quietness trailing the recent botched conspiracy to upend his chairmanship and the rising ballyhoo spreading globally occasioned by the lingering monstrosity of the novel COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of the global mood, show gratitude to God for the gift of life and clink good wine glasses on your Special day, Sir!

*Ojeifo contributed this piece from Abuja via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com

1...856857858...2,499 Page 857 of 2,499