Headline
Opinion: Tony Elumelu: God’s Gift To Africa by Ehi Braimah
Published
4 years agoon
By
EditorA great mind such as Tony Elumelu, founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF); Chairman of UBA, Africa’s Global Bank, and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, an African investment conglomerate, amongst several other interests, needs little or no introduction.
He is God’s gift to Nigeria, and then Africa. But Elumelu’s larger than life image obviously transcends the boundaries of Africa, making him a global citizen. The focus of this essay will be more about his amazing philanthropy and burning desire to create enduring prosperity and social wealth in Africa by empowering entrepreneurs and enhancing competitiveness of the private sector.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) which is the philanthropic arm of Heirs Holdings was launched 10 years ago. Since then, TEF has created a legacy of impact and transformational changes in different sectors across Africa including a new strategic approach to philanthropy by leveraging influence and impact. It reminds one of the vision of Rotary which is similar to that of TEF. Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbours, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in their communities, and in themselves.
TEF is funded by an annual grant from Heirs Holdings and supported by the group’s investee companies. In the first five years of its existence, the Foundation spent over N2 billion in furtherance of its mission. TEF has also supported the philanthropic goals of other institutions and not-for-profit organisations working in and for Africa.
Upon inception, the four key focus areas of the Foundation were: supporting entrepreneurship; enhancing competitiveness; policy intervention and leadership development. These strategic goals have continued to propel TEF to break new grounds with significant outcomes but the flagship project is the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme (TEF Entrepreneurship Programme) which was launched on January 1, 2015. The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme represents the vision of Elumelu to empower a new generation of African entrepreneurs by supporting the business goals of at least 10,000 entrepreneurs across Africa over a 10 year period with the aim of creating over one million jobs and $10 billion in additional revenue for the continent.
When the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme was launched, President Muhammadu Buhari was obviously very proud of Elumelu. In his view, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme was essentially a proudly Nigerian project although it has footprints all over Africa. President Buhari was effusive in his praise of Elumelu for his vision for Africa. “I’m pleased to see that efforts like this aimed at promoting self-help and creating jobs and opportunities for Africa’s youths are gaining ground,” President Buhari remarked. “This demonstrates that the work of re-building our country (as well as the wider continent) is one all patriots and stakeholders must actively engage in. I’m proud that Nigeria (and a Nigerian) is taking the lead in the effort to promote self-worth, encourage entrepreneurship, create jobs, build and promote networks for intra-African trade, business collaboration and investment,” the President added. This was clearly a major endorsement for the Tony Elumelu Foundation, coming five years before the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) was launched by the African Union to lower trade and investment barriers between African countries.
It shows Elumelu is a visionary and he was creating a future for Africa when he founded TEF in 2010. Innovation is critical to creating the future. Brian Halligan is an American executive who co-founded HubSpot, an inbound marketing and sales software company. He is also an author and this is what he said about innovation: “Imagine the future and fill in the gaps.” A lot of innovation is required in different sectors of the economy and that is what Elumelu is doing in his transformational journey by using private capital to create wealth in Africa through broad based partnerships with governments, companies, individuals and philanthropies across the globe.
The TEF founder and UBA Chairman, says entrepreneurship is the most effective way to establish true prosperity and he has continued to expand this vision to touch lives by providing seed money for young African entrepreneurs. But more importantly, the TEF founder wants a paradigm shift from the existing narrative whereby Africa depends largely on aids from multi-lateral institutions; it is not sustainable and it confers on Africa a weaker negotiating position in international trade. For example, see the damage from COVID-19 pandemic on the economies of African countries – it just shows how vulnerable the continent is; we do not have buffers to mitigate serious economic headwinds.
According to Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), COVID-19 could cost Africa’s GDP loss of between $22.1 billion and $88.3 billion in the worst case scenario. Economic recession is already here with us, and as African countries look up to the financial capitals of the world for debt forbearance, not forgiveness, Africa’s total public debt will be over $2 trillion in 2020, Adesina further stated. According to data available in the TEF Impact Report, this is the same Africa that has an annual GDP of about $2 trillion, comparable to India or Russia. Twelve African economies are growing at 6% per annum and have been doing so for six years. Every year, $72 billion is invested in infrastructure projects across Africa and by 2030, it is estimated that Africa’s agriculture sector could generate $1 trillion annually.
For Africa to rise above this constant challenge, the solution lies with African entrepreneurs creating a value driven and robust economy that is sustainable. This was precisely why Elumelu created the economic philosophy known as Africapitalism with the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme serving to catalyse the vision. He is not saying that aid is bad per se, but we should stop complaining and get our priorities right. The young entrepreneurs of Africa can become economic disruptors once they are empowered, thereby changing the story from aid to trade and investment.
Since 2015, TEF has been disbursing up to US$10 million yearly in direct seed capital to empower young entrepreneurs across Africa under the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme brand, and this vision will be sustained for 10 years until 2025 (the first cycle) by which time $100 million would have been invested in the project by the Tony Elumelu Foundation. According to Elumelu, Africapitalism is the private sector’s commitment to Africa’s development through long term investment in strategic sectors of the economy that creates economic prosperity and social wealth.
For the private sector to thrive there should be an enabling economic environment in the form of investment-friendly government policies. But setting and implementing policies – different layers of avoidable bureaucracy and red tape can frustrate such policies – takes time. TEF discovered that research was a critical component of the strategy for the private sector to unlock the investment potential in Africa so that entrepreneurship can flourish. To bridge the gap, the Africapitalism Institute was launched during the World Economic Forum in Africa which held May 7 – 9, 2014 in Abuja.
The Institute is an independent non-profit think tank with a mission to broaden and accelerate economic prosperity and social wealth in Africa. To achieve this objective, the private sector must have the capacity to create and multiply local value across Africa. The Institute – which is the research and advocacy arm of the Foundation; call it the “brain box” if you like — provides rigorous research, curate and communicate new ideas (innovation), develop and test the ideas, directly engage key stakeholders and advocate for public policies and business practices that will unlock investment opportunities in Africa.
Make no mistake about it, the investment potential in Africa that Elumelu refers to is huge. As noted by Dr Strive Masiyiwa, another African business leader and investor from Zimbabwe in his Facebook post, Africans in the diaspora contribute significantly to the wealth of African countries. “According to official statistics,” Masiyiwa wrote in his insightful FB post, “Africans in the diaspora send home about $65 billion per year. If this represents 10% of their income, then their total income is about $650 billion.” This is a lot of money which is more than the total income of all the 200 million people living in Nigeria — our GDP is about $550 billion. The data indicates that about 25 million Nigerians form part of the African Diaspora nation (about 60 million Africans belong to this community) and they remit about $26 billion back home annually – almost 40% of our oil revenue before COVID-19 pandemic hit us below the belt.
An African Development Bank (AfDB) 2018 report indicated that Africans in the diaspora send home about $82 billion a year which Masiyiwa also cited in his FB post. After Egypt which remitted about $29 billion, Nigeria came second with annual remittances by our brothers and sisters in the diaspora amounting to $26 billion, according to the report. These are funds transferred to family and friends but most of it is not invested; even then, the annual remittances are more than what comes into Africa as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In 2018, FDI into Africa was about $46 billion compared to $82 billion remitted by Africans in the diaspora.
Masiyiwa who has spent most of his adult life as an African Diasporan – over 32 years actually; even now, he’s based in London, UK – is very passionate, just like Elumelu, for Africa to explode with growth and development in different sectors. He believes that there are several business opportunities in the continent, adding that Africa’s entrepreneurship climate is progressively improving. However, he explained in his five-step guide to Africans in the diaspora wishing to invest in Africa that they must look before they leap. A Brookings report, according to Masiyiwa, stated that greater innovation and investment from business is essential to meet Africa’s unfulfilled demand for goods and services, close the gap in its infrastructure, create jobs and decrease poverty.
It is evident that Elumelu and Masiyiwa are two African billionaires with single minded determination to change the fortunes of Africa through entrepreneurship. If I understand the way these two phenomenal and innovative African investors are thinking, Africa should not be a poor continent, and this thinking is rooted in the Africapitalism philosophy. According to the IMF Data Mapper World Economic Outlook, the top ten economies in Africa in terms of their economic size by GDP — which varies from time to time — are as follows: Nigeria ($494.83 bn), South Africa ($369.85 bn), Egypt ($353 bn), Algeria ($178.64 bn), Morocco ($124.54 bn), Kenya($109.13 bn), Ethiopia ($103.61 bn), Angola ($88.98 bn), Ghana ($69.76 bn), and Tanzania ($67.24 bn).
After reviewing the Impact Report of the Tony Elumelu Foundation from 2010 – 2015, Elumelu believes strongly that the most transformative changes in Africa will be created by entrepreneurs who have brilliant ideas and exhibit a passion and innovation in solving local problems and creating social wealth. Let me share a personal experience. In 2014, our public relations and marketing management company was honoured alongside 49 other companies at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos by the Tony Elumelu Foundation and Allworld Network on March 22 which is Elumelu’s birthday. That partnership was a pioneering effort to promote some of the fastest growing but unlisted companies in Nigeria in the “Fast Growth 50” or “Nigeria50” awards. The partnership helped to attract new investors, customers, growth partners and talent for the 50 companies through visibility economics by showcasing their efforts and results on an international scale.
I recall that the world renowned professor of competitive strategy, Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School, spoke to us. “Strategy is all about winning in the market place by gaining competitive advantage,” Prof Porter explained in one of the sessions. TEF later published The Success Factor to codify the lessons and successes of Nigeria50 and it featured the career of each company CEO/founder, enumerating the steps they took to build their companies. Over 5,000 copies of the book were distributed in Nigeria to young graduates and entrepreneurs.
Subsequently, I became a mentor of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme from 2015 with the first cohort. Mentors are a vital part of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme which supports entrepreneurs across Africa with $5,000 non-refundable seed capital to build their businesses. They also receive training, mentoring and through peer-to-peer engagement, they build a formidable network and alumni. Once the business is launched, Tony Elumelu entrepreneurs may receive additional funding of $5,000 each as loan or equity.
Over 3,000 mentors from 46 countries around the world have provided guidance and support to the nearly 10,000 entrepreneurs that have been empowered by the Foundation across Africa. In the first year of the highly competitive programme, over 20,000 applications were received from 52 countries and the largest number of applications came from Nigeria (49%), followed by Kenya (17%), and Uganda (4.5%). Since then, the numbers have quadrupled every year and to date, the Foundation has received nearly 600,000 applications for its flagship programme. In response to these numbers, the Foundation launched TEFConnect, its proprietary digital platform for African entrepreneurs, where TEF provides comprehensive capacity-building support, advisory and market linkages for nearly one million African SMEs.
The TEF Entrepreneurship Forum which is the physical convening of these entrepreneurs has hosted African Presidents including President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President Uhuru Kenyatta from Kenya, President Felix Tshisekedi of DRC, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda from Uganda, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of Nigeria, amongst others, and it has been recognised around the world for its ambition, size and scale – it is the largest gathering of entrepreneurs in the world each time it is held.
Apart from TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, the Foundation also launched initiatives such as fostering competitiveness (to attract local and foreign investment); impact investing (making money while solving social and environmental problems); Elumelu Professionals Programme (access to world class talents); direct intervention in early stage companies (social technology ventures) through a partnership with Co-Creation Hub (BudgIT and WeCyclers were two of the 20 beneficiaries and they received $5,000 seed capital each) and policy and capacity building (strategic engagement between policy makers and the private sector).
TEF also promotes thought leadership to achieve its goals. In addition, forging quality partnerships and collaborations with relevant organisations and individuals have become an overarching strategy for the Foundation. These partnerships are broad in scope but they are well focused and result-oriented. Some of the outcomes include research, ideation and publications that cover a wide range of socio-economic and investment related topics. Policy makers, thought leaders, journalists and entrepreneurs will find these publications useful.
Elumelu is not alone on this remarkable transformational journey across Africa for the creation of a progressive economic environment. He is ably supported by his lovely wife, Awele, a distinguished medical practitioner in her own right. Awele is a Trustee of TEF and founder of Avon Medical Practice. She also oversees the healthcare investments of Heirs Holdings including Avon HMO, one of Nigeria’s leading health maintenance organisations. The Tony and Awele Elumelu Prize was established to build the next generation of African leaders and entrepreneurs by collaborating with 18 partner institutions across Africa. The awards have been a source of motivation for graduates from African universities who strive to succeed against all odds. Since 2011 when the prize was launched, nearly 140 graduates have received grants for their start-ups.
Elumelu is of Delta State origin. His late dad hailed from Onicha-Ukwu (that is also where Chief Sylvester Moemeke, the advertising veteran of Lintas Advertising fame, comes from) while his mother (the Ada Onicha) is from Onicha-Ugbo, two idyllic towns in Aniocha North local government area of Delta State. By the way, Onicha-Ugbo where Elumelu grew up and had his early education is also popularly known as “Jesus Town”. Maybe Elumelu’s kindness, generosity and humanitarian endeavours have something to do with where he comes from. Naming Onicha-Ugbo “Jesus Town” was clearly not a mistake as it suggests that they are prayerful people and they pray for good things in their hearts.
The Holy Book says, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34). The spiritual injunction implies that everything we speak, think or do will attest to what the abundance of our heart brings forth. And in Luke 6:45, we are also reminded that, “The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart.” As we can see, Onicha-Ugbo and Onicha-Ukwu people’s prayers have been answered; it means prayer works — Elumelu is a good man and worthy ambassador of both communities in whom they are well pleased. They love him and they are also proud of him for his spectacular achievements as an accomplished entrepreneur.
If Elumelu were an artist, his canvas would have been broad and colourful; he opted to be a global celebrity and not a local champion. Each stroke of his brush on the canvas would have represented his deep connection with humanity as a father, husband, pan Africanist, visionary, thinker, economist, banker, philosopher, philanthropist and care giver, mentor, goodwill ambassador, patriot, business leader, investor and serial entrepreneur. We definitely need more great men and transformational leaders like Elumelu from Africa to make the world a better place. One more thing: Elumelu should become an honorary Rotarian in view of his excellent services to humanity and the Rotary Club of Lagos in District 9110 would be glad to honour him.
As the Tony Elumelu Foundation marks its 10th anniversary, I have no doubt in my mind that TEF’s impactful service to Africa will be sustained for another cycle of 10 years. I congratulate Elumelu for his vision and exemplary leadership; I also salute the entire team for their outstanding achievements.
- Braimah is a PR and marketing strategist based in Lagos
Related
You may like
-
Rotary Africa, Taiwan Sign Historic Inter-Country Committee Protocol Agreement
-
Elumelu Calls For National Unity, Heavy Investment in Youths and Women
-
UBA Offers Customers #FunSummer Treat with Exclusive Benefits, Discounts
-
Anglican Comprehensive College, Offa’s Class of ‘83 Holds 40th Reunion
-
African Governments Urged To End Witchcraft Accusations Against Children
-
Top Star, Youssou Ndour headlines UBA Africa Conversations 2022
Headline
Mike Adenuga is Alive, Hale and Hearty, I Just Spoke with Him – Dele Momodu
Published
2 days agoon
November 20, 2024By
EricBy Eric Elezuo
Africa’s biggest philanthropist and Chairman, Globacom Group, Dr. Mike Adenuga is Alive, hale and hearty!
This has been confirmed by Chairman, Ovation Media Group, Chief Dele Momodu via his social media handles.
Following rumours, whose source is yet to be ascertained that the man, known for his quantum giving, passed away, Momodu wrote that he had just spoken with the billionaire businessman, who affirmed his health while thanking all for their concern.
“Ignore the fake news…DR MICHAEL ADENIYI AGBOLADE ISOLA ADENUGA is hale and hearty. He is right now at his desk working round the clock in support of the Nigerian economy…He just called me to thank everyone for their concern,” Dele Momodu wrote.
In addition, members of the top echelon of the group have separately confirmed that the one known as The Bull is alive and healthy.
Dr. Adenuga has remained in the forefront of many families happy with his direct financial and material gifts as well as consistent promo from his Glo brand.
Only last night, CNN celebrated 15 years of his sponsorship of the African Voices Changemakers, where he has foe a decade and half been supporting budding African entertainers to reach their professional zenith.
Related
Headline
A Tale of Two Emirs of Kano: Who Blinks First?
Published
3 days agoon
November 18, 2024By
EricBy Eric Elezuo
The uneasy calm that reared its ugly head in the ancient city of Kano since May 23, 2024, when Governor Yusuf Kabir sacked the sitting Emir, Aminu Ado Bayero, replacing him with Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, also known as Muhammadu Sanusi II, has yet to abate as the two prominent personalities have consistently laid claim to the emirship of the emirate, and operating from different palaces in the town.
The bitter rivalry between the two royalties has caused division not only in the emirate, but the entire Kano State, and spiraling into national politics, leaving the political parties, especially the New Nigerian Peoples Party, which is the governor’s party, the Presidency, alleged to be giving backing to the immediate past governor, Umar Ganduje, who is also the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the security agencies, who receive instructions from the Presidency, taking sides.
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi also known as Muhammadu Sanusi II and Aminu Ado Bayero are the parties embroiled in the bitter rivalry in a bid to outwit each other for the exalted Emir of Kano position. This was since Sanusi was reinstated as the 16th Emir, having been dethroned and exiled on March 9, 2020 by the former administration of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Sources close the two notable figures, and the palace told The Boss that it is not unlikely that both men are being supported by powerful entities.
“While Sanusi has the backing of the Kano State government as visibly manifested in the reinstatement process, Ado Bayero is being backed by the Federal Government of Nigeria,” one of the sources said.
The furore has consequently attracted the wrong commentaries from stakeholders within and outside the Kano Emirate, resulting in heated arguments, threats and possibly outbreak of direct and indirect confrontations. But six months into the leadership quagmire, none of the two has shifted ground, or is willing to shift ground as more and more intrigues of power play and desire for recognition continue to be the order of the day.
The ‘two emirs’, who continue to claim legitimacy, have variously been trying to outdo each other in the quest to be relevant in the scheme of things.
The rivalry between the two emirs and their loyalists has resuscitated with weddings and counter weddings.
Just this weekend, a former governor of Kano State, Alhaji Rabiu Kwnakwaso hosted the wedding of his daughter, Dr. Aisha Rabiu Kwankwaso, and her husband, Fahad Dahiru Mangal, at the palace of Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, which attracted prominent national citizens including former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Kashim Shettima, Waziri Adamawa Atiku Abubakar among others. Fahad is the son of Nigerian business magnate, Dahiru Mangal, founder of MaxAir, one of the country’s leading private airlines.
In what looked like a counter affair, the palace of Aminu Ado Bayero, in Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state, will on December 13, 2024 hosts a double wedding involving Jibrin Barau Jibrin and Aisha Barau Jibrin, the children of the Senate Deputy President, Barau I. Jibrin, to their spouses.
Some stakeholders told The Boss that the whole thing is a case of seeking relevance and originality.
Meanwhile, former Governor Kwankwaso has blamed President Bola Tinubu for the crises that have failed to abate in the state.
While speaking at the convocation ceremony of Skyline University in Kano on Sunday, Kwankwaso accused Tinubu and the political forces from Lagos of attempting to impose their influence on Kano’s leadership, particularly in the selection of the Emir.
“Today, we can see very clearly that there are significant efforts from the Lagos axis to colonise this part of the country. Lagos wouldn’t allow us to choose even our Emir; instead, they want to impose their own Emir on Kano,” he stated.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN…
The Kano State House of Assembly, as widely speculated, repealed the 2019 Law, which was instrumental in removing Sanusi from office, and balkanise the Kano emirate into five jurisdictions.
The Assembly, in the new emirate law stipulated the sack of all the Emirs in the jurisdictions and a restoration of the old order, where only one Emir will be overseeing all of Kano.
As a result, the Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, appended his signature on the bill, giving it the backing of the law, in the presence of the deputy governor, Aminu Abdulsalam, Speaker, Isma’il Falgore, and the SSG, Abdullahi Bichi. and thereafter, proceeded to sacking the emirs with a 48 hours ultimatum to vacate their palaces.
While the Emirs of Bichi, Rano, Karaye, and Gaya complied with the directive, the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, had gone to court to stop the process.
Both by native ordinance and law, every dethroned Emir is banished or expected to leave Kano for good. Recall that in 1965 when Muhammadu I, Sanusi’s grandfather resigned, having got wind of his possible dethronement, he abdicated to Bauchi, and never returned to Kano.
It was therefore, a surprise that on Saturday, Bayero, who was dethroned, returned to the city of Kano, and moved into a palace in Nasarawa LGA of the state; a move that proved that he has not relinquished power. While Sanusi is operating in the main palace, Bayero is operating from the Nasarawa Palace, creating two full blown emirs for one throne.
The letter reads: “The attention of our client was drawn to a video clip being shared on different social media platforms wherein you granted an interview at Emir’s Palace in Kano on Saturday, the 25th day of May 2024, in a very calm atmosphere, and without any provocation whatsoever, falsely accusing our client of using his office to kill the people of Kano State and maim their properties.
“In the clip, you were shown to be speaking in Hausa.
“Your false accusations against our client portraying his office as an appendage of a political party and a willing tool to cause chaos in Kano is false and done to damage the hard-earned reputation of our client in the eyes of the right-thinking members of the society and indeed it has succeeded in doing so.
“In all the places he has served, our client has never been accused of any wrongdoing.
“Given this illustrious background, it is inconceivable that someone would harbour the thought that our client would descend his exalted office so low as to interfere in the local tussle of the Kano Emirate.
“The wide coverage you gave your interview has caused serious embarrassment to our client and his family.
“Since the publication, our client has been receiving a barrage of telephone calls both within and outside Nigeria from friends and associates who felt disappointed in him because of the false allegation owing to the fact that it came from a person occupying the office of Deputy Governor of Kano State.
“Our client and his office take your allegations seriously and by this letter, our client is demanding that you provide irrefutable evidence to substantiate your claims.
The return of Bayero consequently prompted the governor to order his arrest.
In a counter, a federal high court in Kano ordered the state government not to enforce the Emirate Council Repeal Law 2024, and desist from from issuing Sanusi appointment letter.
STAND OF SECURITY OPERATIVES
The Kano State Police Command refused to arrest Bayero, saying he would only enforce the court order restraining the state government from dissolving five newly created Emirates in the state, and restatement of Sanusi.
The state Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Hussain Gumel, while making a broadcast, flanked by representatives of other security agencies, vowed to maintain law and order, assuring that security agencies won’t spare anyone trying to temper the peace across the state.
He said: “Let me also remind you that the position of the law is very clear as whoever, under whatever guise is found to be planning to disrupt the peace being enjoyed in the State or feel that he or she can jeopardize the existing security settings in the State will be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.
“Therefore, as the Police Command is leading other security agencies to sustain the peace and peaceful coexistence for overriding interests, miscreants should steer clear of violence in all its ramifications and should not take advantage or hijack the current situation to launch an unprovoked attack on people, property and infrastructure of the State. Any person found with such a tendency will be ruthlessly dealt with according to the law of the land
“The combined security agencies in the State have set out all machinery in place to ensure no breakdown of law and order as the safety and security of all the inhabitants in the State remain sacrosanct,” Gumel said.
NBA TAKES A STAND, URGES CAUTION
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called for caution in the legal fireworks playing out in Kano, stressing that it is deeply “deeply concerned about these developments in many ways”.
In a statement, NBA chairman in Kano, Sagir Gezawa, said it is the constitutional duty of a state assembly to legislate and once passed, it remains the prerogative of a governor to assent to such law.
“Once assented to by the governor, it has become a Law and its implementation is to be done by state apparatus and of course enforced by a competent court of law,” Gezawa said.
“It’s further within the purview of courts to interpret such law to be in tandem with other existing laws or the constitution.
“In doing so, we urge our members to act responsibly in approaching courts with competent jurisdiction.
“A court order, once given, is sacrosanct and must be obeyed.
“However, it must be noted that while the court has its own mechanism of enforcing its order, it’s not within the powers of the Nigerian Army to deploy troops to enforce court order. This is a sad reminder of the military dictatorship and must be condemned.
“Anyone found wanting or in disobedience of a court order (which is declaratory in nature) must first be proved to have been notified of the existence of the said court order by issuance of Form 48 and subsequently Form 49 notifying such person of the consequences of his or her actions.
“This is in line with the Sheriff and Civil Processes Act and Laws of the various States for enforcing court judgments.
“Engaging security apparatus without the officers of the Deputy Sherriff’s Department of the relevant court that made the order may appear to be self-help which must also be condemned.
“As an association therefore, we call on all state actors, to be mindful of their oaths of office and for the security agencies, their scope of duties so as not to make mockery of our judicial system.”
The NBA said the actions of the state actors “may breach the security and peace” in Kano and “they shall be held accountable in this life or the next,” the statement said.
But some notable personalities including former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has blamed the Bola Tinubu-led federal government for being behind the crisis in Kano.
Atiku made accusation via a statement by his spokesperson, Mr. Paul Ibe on Saturday.
“The action of the Federal Government in deploying soldiers in Kano in the tussle over the throne of the ancient city is an upset to the peace and security of the state, and also in breach of the 1999 Constitution as Amended.
“In performing their constitutional duties of law making, the Kano State House of Assembly (KSHA) passed the amended Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Bill 2024 in consonance with the provision of Section 4 of the Constitution 1999 as Amended whereas the Governor of Kano State, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf subsequently signed into law the said bill. The law therefore repealed the 2019 version which balkanized the ancient Kano Emirate into five.
“The foregoing circumstances happened within the confines of the law and in compliance with the powers conferred on the Governor as provided by Section 5(2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended; and also in consultation with the Kingmakers of Kano, reappointed Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (also known as Muhammadu Sanusi II) as the 16th Emir of Kano State and accordingly handed him a letter of appointment.
It is surprising that in the early hours of today, exactly at about 5:30 am the former Emir of Kano, His Majesty Aminu Ado Bayero backed by Federal might made their way into the Nasarawa Palace of the Kano Emirate while the reappointed Emir, Muhammadu Sanusi II was at the Gidan Dabo, which is the main residence of the Emir of Kano.
“In this wise, the former Emir could not have made his way into the Nasarawa Palace without the support of the Federal Government having done so with the support of the Army and other security personnel in his company. The deployment of soldiers in extra constitutional matters such as this undermines the integrity of the Nigerian military.
“We need to remind the Tinubu administration that Kano State is known for peace and harmony spanning thousands of years and any attempt to destablise the peace of the Land of Commerce shall be resisted. Recall that Muhammadu Sanusi II was dethroned on 9th March, 2020 dethroned, Kano forged on in peace without any fracas.
“We wish to state unequivocally that if for any reason, law and order breaks down in Kano State, particularly Kano Municipal, the Federal Government should be held responsible as the act of providing security cover to the former Emir, Aminu Ado Bayero to come back to Kano is an invitation to anarchy,” he said.
In the same vein, the Council of Ulamas, has President Bola Tinubu against plunging Kano into chaos. The group said, the crisis, if not well managed, could escalate and degenerate into chaos.
With the state backing the reinstatement of Sanusi, the path looks smooth for Muhammadu Sanusi II to repossess the emirship of Kano, but all will depend on how the politics of superiority is played in the coming days.
While Tinubu watches without lifting a finger of settlement, the ancient city of Kano, like Rivers State, is slowly burning down.
Related
Headline
How FG Spent N19bn on Presidential Planes in 15 Months – Report
Published
1 week agoon
November 12, 2024By
EricAt least N19.43 billion has reportedly been spent on the maintenance and operations of the Presidential Air Fleet from July 2023 to September 2024.
According to GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses the Federal government’s spending, showed that for 2024, the payouts amounted to N13.55billion, representing 66 per cent of the allocations for the fleet in the 2024 fiscal year.
Most disbursements were labeled ‘Forex Transit Funds,’ typically funds allocated for foreign exchange requirements to facilitate international transactions and engagements.
In the context of the Presidential Air Fleet, such funds are used to cover expenses related to operations outside the country, including fuel purchases, maintenance or services in foreign currencies.
“When aircraft on the fleet are abroad, payments are often made in U.S. dollars or another foreign currency to ensure uninterrupted operations,” a government official explained.
In July 2023, N1.52bn was disbursed in two tranches of N846m and N675m for ‘Presidential air fleet forex transit funds.’
The following month, N3.1bn was disbursed in three tranches of N388m, N2bn, and N713m for the same item.
In November of that year, N1.26bn was released to the Presidential Air Fleet Naira transit account.
The first overhead for 2024 came in March, where N1.27bn were disbursed twice, amounting to N2.54bn. The transit account received N6.35bn in April, N4.97bn in May and N210m in July.
August saw the highest frequency of transactions, with N5.60bn released in six separate disbursements.
Although these transactions were not clearly labeled, the monies were paid into the Presidential Air Fleet naira transit account, including the N35m transfer made in September.
In late April, the transit account received N5.08bn; this came around the same time the President was on a two-nation tour to the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.
Although Tinubu arrived in the Netherlands in a state-owned Gulfstream AeroSpace 550 Jet, the aircraft could not proceed to Saudi Arabia due to unspecified technical problems. He reportedly continued his journey on a chartered private plane.
At the time, the President’s Boeing 737 business jet was undergoing maintenance. It was later replaced with an Airbus A330 purchased for $100m in August through service-wide votes.
The nearly 15-year-old plane, an ACJ330-200, VP-CAC (MSN 1053), is “spacious and furnished with state-of-the-art avionics, customised interior and communications system,” Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga said, adding that it “will save Nigeria huge maintenance and fuel costs, running into millions of dollars yearly.”
The new Airbus A330 is just one of several aircraft currently on the Presidential Air Fleet, arguably one of Africa’s largest, with around 11 aircraft of various makes and models. Until August, it comprised the 19-year-old B737-700 and a 13-year-old Gulfstream Aerospace G550.
The BBJ was acquired during the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo at $43m but became a money guzzler as it aged.
Onanuga, defending the purchase of Airbus A330, argued that the new Airbus 330 aircraft and the costs of maintaining the air fleet were not for the president but in the interest of Nigerians.
“It’s not President Tinubu’s plane; it belongs to the people of Nigeria, it is our property…the President did not buy a new jet; what he has is a refurbished jet – it has been used by somebody else before he got it, but it is a much newer model than the one President Buhari used.
“The one President Buhari used was bought by President Obasanjo some 20 years ago. There was a time when the President went to Saudi Arabia, and the plane developed some problems. The President had to leave the Netherlands with a chartered jet.
“Nigerians should try to prioritise the safety of the President. I’m not sure anybody wishes our president to go and crash in the air. We want his safety so that he can hand it over to whoever wants to take over from him,” Onanuga said.
The presidential aide said he discussed with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, on the faulty plane [Boeing 737 jet] and he said the maintenance costs were excessive because of the age of the aircraft, hence the need for another plane.
The presidential fixed-wing fleet includes a Gulfstream G500, two Falcon 7Xs, a Hawker 4000, and a Challenger 605.
Three of the seven fixed-wings are reportedly unserviceable. Meanwhile, the rotor-wing fleet includes two Agusta 139s and two Agusta 101s, all operated by the Nigerian Air Force but supervised by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Former President Buhari promised to reduce the number of aircraft in the PAF to the absolute necessary.
In April 2023, three jets were put up for sale, but there were no specifics on which.
However, efforts to sell one of the Dassault Falcon 7x and the Hawker 4000 in October 2016 stalled when a potential buyer reduced their initial offer from $24m to $11m.
Since 2017, budgetary allocations for the fleet have shown a growing trend, with one exception in 2020.
The allocation for the fleet increased from N4.37bn in 2017 to N20.52bn in 2024, showing a 370 per cent rise in running costs.
In 2018, the fleet’s budget rose significantly by 66.13 per cent to N7.26bn, driven by a substantial increase in capital project allocations while maintaining similar levels for recurrent costs. This upward trajectory continued into 2019, slightly increasing the total allocation to N7.30bn.
The exception came in 2020, when the budget dropped by nearly seven per cent to N6.79bn, primarily due to decreased overhead costs, a reflection of the global economic impacts of lockdowns and disruptions in operations.
By 2021, however, the budget surged dramatically to N12.55bn—a record increase of 84.83 per cent from the previous year.
In 2022, maintenance expenses for each aircraft ranged from $1.5m to $4.5m annually.
The 2022, 2023 and 2024 appropriation acts earmarked N12.48bn, N13.07bn and N20.52bn respectively.
On his way to the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Samoa, a foreign object damaged the cockpit windscreen of Vice President Kashim Shettima’s GulfStream aircraft during a stopover at JFK Airport in New York.
According to Lee Aerospace, manufacturers of the Gulfstream, jet windshields consist of thick multilayered structures of varying layers of glass and transparent acrylic built to withstand collision with a 2kg object.
However, damage to the windshield must have affected its inner layers. While specific prices for replacement can vary based on supplier, labour rates and regional costs, estimates suggest that a single windshield replacement for a G550 can range from $50,000 to $70,000 for part and labour costs.
In an interview with our correspondent, the General Secretary of the Aviation Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, blamed the meteoric rise in the allocations for the PAF on the age of some of the aircraft in the fleet and declining value of the naira as well as the “commercial use” of aircraft by the Nigerian Air Force.
Ohunayo said, “The cost will definitely increase over the years because for one, this issue of the naira against the dollar. As the naira keeps falling to the dollar, we will see a rise in cost because most of the costs of training crew and engineers and replacing aircraft parts are all in dollars.
“Also, some of these aircraft are not new. The older the aircraft, the higher the cost of maintenance and operation.
“Lastly, during these past years, terrorism and insecurity have increased in Nigeria, which has also affected the cost of insuring the aircraft.”
For his part, the Executive Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, argued that the administration’s spending habits were opposite to Nigerians’ expectations of frugality.
“What we are getting from this administration is opposite to our expectation. We thought we would have an administration that would be frugal in spending and very meticulous at implementing its budget.
“But what we are getting is an administration that has fallen in love with profligacy; that doesn’t see anything wrong in living big amid a poverty-stricken nation.
“It is a reenactment of the Shagari administration, whereby they bought the biggest Mercedes Benz and made themselves as comfortable as possible without considering how much the masses are suffering.
“So when you look at a Vice President saying he’s not travelling [to Samoa] again because there was a splinter on the windscreen of his private aircraft. Why should that be the case?
“First and foremost, we need to be represented at such an international meeting, where we should be well represented by the first two citizens of this country.
“He abandoned that, which means we would have lost certain representation that we deserve at that forum. Two, money will have been spent on advance parties that went ahead of the Vice President. But he abandoned the journey altogether.”
Related
Senate Approves Tinubu’s ₦1.77trn Loan Request
Simon Ekpa Lands in Finnish Prison Over Terrorist Propaganda Charges
Built to Last: UBA Set to Empower MSMEs with Wealth Management Strategies
Ozekhome Hails Goodluck Jonathan on 67th Birthday
Mike Adenuga is Alive, Hale and Hearty, I Just Spoke with Him – Dele Momodu
Ex-Polaris Bank Chief Remanded in Prison Custody for Alleged Fraud
CNN’s Busari, Efex Confirmed for Mega Star Man of the Decade Awards
Nigerian Engineer Wins $500m Contract to Build Monorail Network in Iraq
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Will Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Join Presidential Race?
World Exclusive: How Cabal, Corruption Stalled Mambilla Hydropower Project …The Abba Kyari, Fashola and Malami Connection Plus FG May Lose $2bn
Rehabilitation Comment: Sanwo-Olu’s Support Group Replies Ambode (Video)
Fashanu, Dolapo Awosika and Prophet Controversy: The Complete Story
Pendulum: Can Atiku Abubakar Defeat Muhammadu Buhari in 2019?
Pendulum: An Evening with Two Presidential Aspirants in Abuja
Who are the early favorites to win the NFL rushing title?
Boxing continues to knock itself out with bewildering, incorrect decisions
Steph Curry finally got the contract he deserves from the Warriors
Phillies’ Aaron Altherr makes mind-boggling barehanded play
The tremendous importance of owning a perfect piece of clothing
Trending
-
News6 years ago
Nigerian Engineer Wins $500m Contract to Build Monorail Network in Iraq
-
Featured7 years ago
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Will Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Join Presidential Race?
-
Boss Picks7 years ago
World Exclusive: How Cabal, Corruption Stalled Mambilla Hydropower Project …The Abba Kyari, Fashola and Malami Connection Plus FG May Lose $2bn
-
Headline6 years ago
Rehabilitation Comment: Sanwo-Olu’s Support Group Replies Ambode (Video)
-
Headline6 years ago
Fashanu, Dolapo Awosika and Prophet Controversy: The Complete Story
-
Headline6 years ago
Pendulum: Can Atiku Abubakar Defeat Muhammadu Buhari in 2019?
-
Headline6 years ago
Pendulum: An Evening with Two Presidential Aspirants in Abuja
-
Headline6 years ago
2019: Parties’ Presidential Candidates Emerge (View Full List)