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MY ADVISE FOR EDO PEOPLE IN THIS COMING ELECTION….. DR. SAMUEL OSAIGBOVO OGBEMUDIA

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Former two-time governor of old Bendel State, Dr. Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia is an elder states man. Many people have been waiting to hear from him to know his stand on this forth coming election in Edo state. In this Exclusive Interview with SUNDAY ADEBAYO, he expresses his belief and assessments of the present Edo state government, and also analyze the likely outcome of the coming election… Excerpt.

 

 

 What is your assessment of the present Edo state government?

Well having been there by qualification, assessing them is that I have been there before and I know the problems and I understand some of their approaches taking the totality of what I know, the man, Adams Oshiomole has performed extremely well and that is why I decided to defend him, and that is why I give him all my support and that is why whatever he does, I look at it against the background of the difficulties which myself passed through. So from the point of view of development, he has done the best he could, but that doesn’t mean he could not do better maybe because there was not enough money.

 For those ones that you think he has not done well, was it that you were not able to brief him about the major problem of the Benin people when he came in?

There is no one that he has not done well, there is nothing I asked him to do that he didn’t do, after looking at the totality of the problems of what I experienced myself, Oshiomole has done wonderfully well.

 Looking  at the activities that trailed during the APC primary that lead to the emergence of Obaseki, do you think the party is united enough to win this election?

Well I cannot speak on that because I was not at the primary, secondly I only read about it in the newspaper and perhaps the rumor here and there by people who attended and those who didn’t attend and there was great variation between the story being tabled by those who attended and those who heard it, so we don’t know which one to believe, but my believe is that if people appreciate goodness in anybody, they should appreciate what Oshiomole has done in this state because if other previous governors have done as much, he would have gone higher than he did now. So far as I am concern I think that people if they look at what Oshiomole has done against the background of what people did in the past, they will vote for APC.

Now Obaseki promised that if he comes in, he is going to provide over 200,000 jobs but people were now speculating, asking the question that when he was the head of economic team in Edo state, he was not able to provide anything of such. Do you think in your own opinion, looking at the present governance with your approval of Oshiomole great performance, do you think Obaseki is up to the task of the promise he is making?

Firstly, Obaseki is not  in my view a politician, he is not a professional politician, he is a technocrat  and in his position as a technocrat, he has information on all the affairs of government, as to whether he could have done that as technocrat, advising the governor, the ultimate responsibility for the job to be done is that of the governor, he may have recommended and the governor did not see it as a priority, so you cannot blame him, when he comes from what I have had in discussion with him and I was convinced that he knew where the pendulum was swinging, he knew where he was going  because his objectives were very clear to him and he’s also not mindful of the fact that while he is looking straight at the objectives, there are many intervening obstacles, diversional obstacles on the way, and he is prepared to negotiate them. So it is that ability that gives him credit over his opponent.

Looking at when you used to be the governor of the old Bende, bringing together Edo state, Delta state and the couple of other states that you manage then, Things were going right, there was no much complain about running the government, but now what is your assessment of the crisis rocking PDP in Edo state right now?

The only word I’ve always used is mismanagement of victory, when a political party of substance going to election whether win, victory or defeat, must set up a committee to access their performance and see where things went wrong, whether PDP did it or not, I don’t know but not to my knowledge if they did, that notwithstanding its management of victory was not and I think too that the people themselves were tired of hearing the same voice every day, the issue of change came into focus.

Do you think pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu had the political sagacity to perform better than Oshiomole if he eventually becomes the governor of Edo state?

Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu is my son, his father was my own father, so when the man was leaving, he said look after your son for me, pastor Osagie has tremendous energy unquestionable in credentials that he can use, but he is on a shaken platform, probably if he was in APC, there would be no problem, he would by now be celebrating, if he was in another party, probably he would be celebrating. But first, he had to kill two birds with one stone, he had to reactivate the reputation of the PDP and then take advantage of it to ask them to vote for him but he cannot do the two together because correcting the hills of the past and calling them to order, by the time they finish, the vote is over. But as a person you can’t beat him, he is a first class fellow and I will go with him anywhere.

So what you are telling us now is that come this election which is drawing close by, if past Ize Iyamu Can rectify some loop holes that you think  are the problems of PDP in Edo state, do you think he has a higher chance of becoming the next governor of Edo state?

If there are two people that he has to do this to, he has to do this to the elites who at their drinking base, they criticize not himself but his party, then he have to do it to the population, and those population, the majority, card bearers who can vote, the elites their voice he will hear so loud every day, they are minority, so it is not something you can do in one month or two month if he still remain in PDP correct the hills of the past, he will be on top but whether he can do everything together before next two month election is what I don’t know.

Okay recently when the PDP want to have their gathering at Ogbemudia Stadium, there was an information that the governor instruct that they don’t have their campaign at that stadium, do you have any idea ?

No I never heard , the truth is this that as at today the government is the caretaker and trustee of the  stadium, the stadium belong to the people, so it is for them to say yes, this man coming to the stadium, will it be in our own benefit or against us? So they take a decision and that in the decision influences the reply to its letter,  that is what it is. But I believe that when government refuse to allow them to organize at the stadium, the generality of the people who would normally have gone to the stadium didn’t feel too good about it, so they might decide to punish government for it, so you don’t know where the pendulum is swinging but its important for people like us, it should not have been rejected the refused to the use of the stadium because that will not add any much value to whatever they are doing, but by refusing it, it has added value to it.

How can you compare politics in Edo state, the way it is practiced now and the way it was practiced when you were priviledge to be at the realms of power?

Yes remember I was the governor at a time when I was a military officer, I was only on posting by the supreme headquarter to Benin. I didn’t win any election but when I came back and decided to seek election I won because I told them to allow me finish the unfinished job and they agreed and I won so comparing the two, you will find that there is quite monumental difference

What is your advice for Edo people in this drawing near election?

My advice is this, if what they told me in the past and with my experience that they want development, they don’t want their money to be spent paying lawyers and going to court every day, then they must pick the person whose chances are better because every person has a way of accessing , for example I had a meeting here yesterday and I said to them, here is a paper for about 200 people, write down which party you think we should affiliate with, since we are not in politics, they all wrote down, over 100 voted for one party, six voted for one, two voted for one. So if you sent such people to the poll, they will all vote for A, what is in their mind is different, and they will go there.

How far will you tell us you have gone with Samuel Ogbemudia foundation?

Good, over the years I have been a victim of diabetic and from tablets, I progress to insulin injection and I started this 1970 and I started injection 1980 and I didn’t want other people to suffer the same thing because of lack of information, more importantly the diet that can easily cure the problem. So I got together experts who are prepared to help, some of them in America, some in Canada and some in Great Britain. So we set up Ogbemudia foundation to purely accomplish three things, the first is good governance, the second is youth empowerment and detect its non-communicable diseases, from the diabetic information we are putting together and talking to people on what they need to know. Sometimes I address people and at the end of it, I tell if they have diabetics.  And it is going on gradually. But those who are going to help me are yet to come.

Since the beginning of the foundation, how much assistance or donations or help have you received from people that you have sent letters to or you can call to help curb fight the pulse?

We have not gone out, but the present Delta state government has been helpful. When he was coming, he brought a cheque of five million to the foundation, Oshiomole promised to help and am hoping that once the problem on hand is sorted out, he will do something. There are many people we’ve talk to, but we have not asked for help, and when I have got all those information and those visitors have come and put down what they can do, then I will know what I need and ask people to assist us.

So far will you say you have been receiving response from people in terms of visitation, and feedbacks?

Oh yes, a lot of people, our doctors go about talking to people, counseling them on what to use, and what to kind of food to eat because not everybody  can afford insulin of 11,000, to avoid insulin you must take diet that will perform  the same function.

 A diversion from the foundation now, if anybody look at you some people will still think daddy is 70 or 75, but even looking at your present health condition over the years and the fact that you can no longer walk and run the way you used to do some years ago, what would you say you’ve been doing that is making you looks so good like this sir?

Well, credits goes to that lady (pointed at his wife Mrs Yetunde Ogbemudia), but apart from that, In 1953, I was  admitted into hospital and the doctor diagnosed me of Amoebic dysentery  and I spent twenty one days, but when I had my accident in August 5, 2010, I break my leg and I have to move from one operation to another, and apart from that leg, well so far am alright, I can see, I can move about with my walking stick but better than it was a year ago, so gradually the thing is coming up, because the doctor told me that I am suffering from incurable disease and when I asked him, he said old age and he asked me whether I’ve seen anybody who cured old age, I said no then he must keep off with it.

Looking at how far you have come, when you were born till now, what would you advice the younger generations who are aiming higher to be in the position of good health and proper understanding with their creator, what will be your advice for them?

My advice is simple, when I was a boy, an elder cousin of mine pass his junior Cambridge, we had a wake keeping to thank God that he was able to get to that standard, but since then, there have been PHDs, nobody worries about it, we have made tremendous progress to the young men of today to be able to  catch  up and keep himself and family together, he must educate himself, because education has no age limits, that is the invoice of continuing education and it means that there is no end. Sometime ago, I witnessed the graduation of open university in London and one of the graduates was 94 years old, and when the press asked him at the age of 94, what are you still doing? He said I have always wanted to be educated. Sometime in 1969, I was the sole administrator of the Nigerian Airway and I advertised for an accountant and twenty five thousand people applied and we set up a criteria to screen the application  and we finally came to a hundred and we have to be looking for criteria to reduce it. But finally out of that hundred, there were six with master’s degree, there were two with a PHD, so what do you do, do you leave the PHD and take the first degree.  Nigeria should no longer rely on first degree; they should go further and specialize , when I was the governor, I told the  ministry of education , inform all the student ,anybody who comes out of the college with good result in WAEC because one boy from AGBOR had 7As and that’s an automatic scholarship, if you got a first class from a university degree, you get automatic scholarship to study for higher degree because the Nigeria of tomorrow is going to be very competitive and it has started, so the youth must learn to concentrate on their studies, stop fighting until they have reach the ultimate.

Would you say you are fulfilled in life?

I am fully fulfilled in many ways, first I never thought that I will ever get here till now. One gentle man brought his insurance paper to me in 1960, he said it will mature in 1975 it was 15 years away and I said I wont take because fifteen years is too far , but eventually I was quest to pay into bank in order to insure myself , on a date in 1975 I received a letter , it said your insurance is due, where do you want the money to be paid into, I regretted not putting  more but I never thought I will witness it mature, two, I never dreamt that one day I will be a governor of a state, Benin state for that matter. three I never thought when I join the army I will be a general , I merely go there to go and do my own work  and God was kind to me and they move me forward and fast. I have had children and God has been kind, not one of them has ever been admitted in the hospital, no one is sick. Where I live, this house I inherited it from my mother and I live here, I did my governor job from this very table so what else do I want, all I have gotten didn’t mean anything to my children because they all live at home but my other colleague were told to handover the government house within 24 hours to the new governor, but it didn’t happen to me because I just took my own briefcase and return back to my house where I operated from.

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House Of Reps committee indicts oil firms for tax evasion….

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….As FIRS rejects allegations by the House Committee that he is not doing enough to recover outstanding taxes and bring evaders to book..

 

The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the Structure and Accountability of Joint Venture (JV) Business and Production Sharing Contract (PSC) of NNPC has indicted several oil companies for alleged tax evasion to the tune of trillions of naira.

The committee also blamed and seek the prosecution of the Chairperson of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mamman Nami, for allegedly not doing enough to recover the outstanding taxes from the oil companies, a charge the FIRS boss rejected, saying his agency is working hard to bring all tax evaders to book.

Responding to the allegations levelled against his boss by the committee, the spokesperson for the FIRS chairperson, Johannes Oluwatobi Wojuola, described the claim as untrue, telling PREMIUM TIMES the tax agency is investigating and prosecuting several tax offenders.

According to the report obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), investigation by the committee span 1991 till date with alleged tax evasion running into trillions of naira.

The report is expected to be laid before the lawmakers this week.

The ad hoc committee investigation, chaired by Abubakar Fulata, revealed that the JVs and PSCs of NNPC sold Nigerian oil at lowest cost to their own subsidiaries in a ”tax haven”.

The committee alleged that the company subsequently sold the same oil to other buyers at full price, while inflating the cost of their Nigerian production operations and under-reporting the volume of oil they produced.

This, apart from outright circumvention of the Nigerian tax laws, the committee said is abusive and contrived tax avoidance scheme to minimise their tax liability.

The ad hoc committee is praying the house to adopt the recommendations with a view to bringing sanity in the oil and gas operation in Nigeria.

This according to the report of the committee would be a greater benefit to the citizens.

The committee report also showed that all international and national oil companies who enjoyed capital allowance in Nigeria had no Certificate of Acceptance of Fixed Asset (CAFA) as prescribed by the Industrial Inspectorate Act.

The report, however, said all oil companies that benefited from capital allowance without obtaining CAFA as prescribed by the Industrial Inspectorate Act be made to refund all the monies to the government treasury.

NAN reports that on 1 November, 2022 the House ad hoc committee investigating the structure and accountability of the Joint Venture (JV) Businesses and Production Sharing Contracts (PSCS) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited began probing oil companies accused of tax evasion.

The probe was at the backdrop of alleged tax evasion by some oil companies operating in Nigeria, which led to the constitution of the committee by Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.

Mr Fulata, at a meeting with stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, cited relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

“This committee is relying on Section 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended and we are asking heads of agencies who failed to forward their submissions to do so.

“This committee cannot fail in its mandate and we might resort to the use of Police and other security agencies to compel heads of agencies to do so.”

Mr Fulata decried that tax evasion by oil companies, particularly the International Oil Companies (IOCs) has negatively affected the revenue for the country.

Mr Fulata has expressed disappointment that several letters of invitation sent out to some organisations were not responded to, revealing that those who responded did so shabbily.

NAN reports that on 16 November, 2022, the house committee summoned the chairman of the FIRS.

The representatives of the FIRS, a director and special assistant, were not permitted by members of the committee to make presentations as they insisted that only the chairman is expected to speak on behalf of the agency.

The FIRS representatives had earlier told the committee that the service does not have access to the Stock Certificate of crude oil being lifted.

The representatives said the tax agency only relied on the invoice produced and presented to it by the oil companies. The committee then described the arrangement as ridiculous.

(NAN)

 

 

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Dapo Abiodun, Amosun Trade Words Over Dangote Refinery Siting In Lagos

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Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun and his predecessor, Ibikunle Amosun have traded blames over the siting of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Plant at the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos State.

The refinery with capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day which is owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote was inaugurated on Monday by President Muhammadu Buhari and four other African Presidents.

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Sowunmi reportedly blamed the Ogun State Government for losing the siting of the behemoth Dangote Refinery to neighbouring Lagos State.

Interestingly, both Amosun, who was the Ogun State governor from 2011 to 2019; and Abiodun who has been the governor since 2019, attended the inauguration of the refinery.

The two politicians are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but operate from opposing camps in the state with Amosun preferring another candidate over Abiodun who won his re-election in the March 2023 poll.

‘Amosun Frustrated Dangote’s Efforts To Locate Refinery In Ogun’
In a statement, Abiodun’s Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin said it is painful that the huge investment that should have accrued to the state was lost, especially when the mega project had been initially planned to be located at the Olokola Free Trade Zone, in the Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of the state.

“In truth, everyone knows that Segun Sowunmi is referring to the immediate past governor, Ibikunle Amosun, as the man who frustrated the efforts to locate the refinery in Ogun State.

“We are all aware that the penultimate administration made appreciable and concerted efforts to ensure that the Olokola deep sea port and other ancillary projects in the OKFTZ, become a reality, by rallying major players in the oil and gas sector, including Dangote Group.

“The present governor, Dapo Abiodun, served as the Chairman of the Committee on the Olokola Free Trade Zone projects during the first term of the immediate past governor,” the statement partly read.

Dangote Took Business Decisions — Amosun
However, Amosun, in a counter-statement by his media office signed by Bola Adeyemi, said the Olokola Free Trade Zone project was not solely owned by the Ogun State Government.

He noted that Dangote took a business decision by siting the refinery in Lagos after initial consideration for the Olokola Free Trade Zone.

“From its conception in 2007, it was a Joint Venture. The Federal Government of Nigeria owned the majority 51%, Ondo State Goverment (14.5%), Ogun State Goverment (14.5%), and strategic core investors (20%). Alhaji Aliko Dangote, according to the information availed us when we took office, subsequently bought, and took over the 20% equity of the core investors,” the statement partly read.

“Ogun State was a minority equity stakeholder only, without proprietary strength and capacity to take sole decisions on the Joint Venture enterprise.

“As mere holder of 14.5% equity interest, it is most uncharitable for anyone to churn out lies that Ogun State was in a position to unilaterally frustrate the project or was responsible for the logjam.

“With respect to all sides, it accords more with logic to appreciate the fact that Alhaji Aliko Dangote took business decisions of his own in accordance with the goals of his business strategy and risk assessment.

“No amount of concocted lies, blackmail and orchestrated falsehood will blight these unparalleled facts.

“It is, therefore, interesting to read that the present Ogun State governor holds me responsible for allegedly scuttling the Olokola project.”

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FrieslandCampina WAMCO DDP Revolution Delivers Nigeria’s First Girolando Crossbreeds

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FrieslandCampina WAMCO DDP Revolution

Delivers Nigeria’s First Girolando Crossbreeds

 

FrieslandCampina WAMCO has announced the successful crossbreeding and birth of 25 Crossbreed Girolando calves achieved locally across various farms in Oyo, Ogun and Kwara states, thus spearheading a production revolution and transformation of Nigeria’s dairy sector.  

 

The announcement made by the dairy company’s Executive Director, Corporate Affairs, Ore Famurewa, explained that the Girolando breed is a composite of ‘Milking Gir’ from Brazil and Holstein Friesian from the Netherlands and has produced tremendous results for many decades in Brazil, leading to its transformation to a world power in dairy production. 

 

“In addition to having a high milk yield, the Girolando breed is heat-tolerant, tick-borne disease resistant and possesses other characteristics ideal for production in tropical countries like Nigeria. The Girolando calves are the first generation of a new high milk producing breed in Nigeria” Famurewa said.

 

FrieslandCampina WAMCO continues to contribute to the development of the dairy sector and national food security through its Dairy Development activities and partnerships such as the Value4Dairy Consortium.

 

Launched in April 2021, the Value4Dairy Consortium made up of four strategic partners namely FrieslandCampina WAMCO (Nigeria’s foremost dairy Company), URUS (the largest cow genetics company in the world), Barenbrug (a leading grass seed company) and Agrifirm (a leading feed and supplement company in the Netherlands).

 

The consortium is making progress in implementing sustainable strategies to fast-track growth and development of the Nigerian dairy sector, with proven track records in various agri-related value chains.

 

Two partners of the Consortium, FrieslandCampina WAMCO and URUS Group LP, the global leader in cattle breeding and dairy herd management programs, selected the Girolando breed for introduction to Nigeria and subsequently signed an agreement with a local breeding farm-SMAP Farms Limited. The strategic partnership will maximize success in crossbreeding and increased milk yields on local farms in a sustainable way.

 

In 2022, 1400 Girolando semen straws were produced and 610 artificial inseminations achieved, and 25 Crossbreed Girolando calves have been birthed till date. FrieslandCampina WAMCO sees this key milestone achievement as an important step to give smallholder farmers access to affordable good yield dairy cows in Nigeria.

 

FrieslandCampina WAMCO and other partners of the Value4Dairy Consortium remain committed to providing scalable solutions to agri-related challenges in the Nigerian dairy sector. 

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