NPFL Match day 11 Preview: Enugu Rangers Seek Return To League Summit

El-Kanemi Warriors Vs Shooting Stars
El-Kanemi Warriors will be looking to secure back-to-back victories when they welcome Shooting Stars on Sunday.
The Oluyole Warriors have made an inconsistent start to the season, winning four and losing five of their opening nine fixtures.
Kadiri Ikhana's charges were 2-0 winners over Ikorodu United last time out thanks to a brace from Sunday Adetunji.
Warriors come into this encounter on the back of a 1-0 loss to Rivers United in midweek.
Bosso may be tempted to make changes to his El-Kanemi Warriors side that lost in Port Harcourt.
As for Ikhana, he will hoping that Adetunji replicates his form in the away fixture as the Oluyole Warriors seek to end their wretched form on their travels.

Ikorodu United Vs Sunshine Stars 
Nigeria Professional Football League's bottom side Ikorodu United face a daunting home match against rejuvenated Sunshine Stars this weekend in urgent need of a win.
Sunshine Stars are in fine form, going into the game off the back of one win and two draws, a run that has moved them to 17th on the ladder.
The Owena Waves were held to a 2-2 draw by Niger Tornadoes in in their last league outing.

Plateau United Vs Giwa FC
Rivals Plateau United and Giwa FC meet in the Jos Derby on Sunday, with the hosts looking to bounce back from their recent defeat to FC Ifeanyi Ubah.
Zachary Baraje's side will be eyeing revenge having lost to the Jos Elephants in the final of the Plateau State FA Cup.
Giwa FC could move to the top six if they win. Gbenga Ogunbote's side won their league match against Kano Pillars on Wednesday.
Plateau United currently sit 14th in the log, having taken 11 points from 10 games.

Heartland FC Vs Rivers United 
Stanley Eguma's men are ahead of MFM FC due to goal difference, so they could move to the second spot if they can snatch an away win and pray that Enugu Rangers crash at home in the Oriental Derby to FC Ifeanyi Ubah.
The Naze Millionaires head into the clash on the back of a 1-0 loss to Nasarawa United in their latest league outing, while the Pride of Rivers can record three wins on the bounce if they come out on top on Sunday.
Alphonsus Dike could use Fortune Omoniwari in attack, while Rivers United could opt for Chinonso Okonkwo.

Abia Warriors Vs Lobi Stars 
Abia Warriors can continue their solid performance in the ongoing league season with a victory over Lobi Stars this weekend.
Kennedy Boboye's side are yet to be beaten in the league, which has placed them third with 17 points.
The club are boosted when they clinched a 1-0 victory over Niger Tornadoes, which was followed by a triumph away to Akwa United in the midweek.
Lobi Stars have drawn in their last two matches. They have amassed a total of 15 points from a possible 30.
The Pride of Benue have the machinery to score goals. A team that has Anthony Okpotu and Kingsley Eduwo doesn't lack the firepower to score goals in an away match.
The home side are likely to start Bolaji Sakin, Ndifreke Effiong and Uche Ihuarulam up front this weekend, while Lobi Stars could opt for Eduwo, Okpotu and Abdul Afolabi in attack.

Kano Pillars Vs Nasarawa United
The match day 11 clash between Kano Pillars and Nasarawa United is expected to be tantalising and entertaining.
Revenge will be at the back of the minds of the hosts after the Solid Miners halted their 12-year unbeaten home record in the 2015 NPFL campaign.
The game ended 2-1 in the last campaign in Kano.
In terms of matters on the field, Pillars head into the clash as favourites due to their record of four wins in nine encounters, which has placed them ninth in the NPFL table, four points adrift of leaders FC Ifeanyi Ubah.
It's a different story for Nasarawa United, though, who have been struggling for firepower due to the absence of striker Tayo Fabiyi.
Both sides recorded contrasting results in their week nine games. Pillars lost 2-0 at Giwa FC, while Nasarawa won 1-0 at home to Heartland.
Kabiru Dogo is expected to keep faith with the team that defeated the Naze Millionaires, while Pillars boss Baba Ganaru is likely to make a number of changes to the team that lost in Jos on Wednesday.
  Enugu Rangers Vs FC Ifeanyi Ubah
FC Ifeanyi Ubah will be hoping to maintain their position at the top of the NPFL table when they visit the Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium on Sunday to face Enugu Rangers in the Oriental Derby.
Derbies always attract fireworks and this won't be an exception.
The Anambra Warriors have won six of the first ten league matches, including the midweek's 2-0 success at home to Plateau United.
Rangers haven't lost in their last two games with a 2-1 victory over Enyimba and a 1-1 draw against MFM FC at the Agege Stadium.
Players to watch are Godwin Aguda, Chisom Egbuchulam, Obinna Nwobodo, Nnamdi Anyansodo, Emmanuel Daniel, Christian Madu, Tamen Medrano, Seka Pascal, Arinze Agudosi, Olamilekan Aniyikaye, Bright Onyedikachi and Alberico da Silva.

Warri Wolves Vs MFM FC
With free-flowing football expected to be on the agenda this weekend, Warri Wolves' clash against MFM FC could be an exciting encounter.
Fidelis Ikechukwu's side have had a positive start to their NPFL debut campaign by snatching four wins from their opening ten fixtures.
The Olukoya Boys possibly improve on their sixth-place standing in the table, three points adrift of leaders FC Ifeanyi Ubah.
In contrast, Warri Wolves have had an inconsistent domestic period, picking up ten points points from eight games and placing themselves 15th in the table.
A win is what the Seasiders want at the Warri City Stadium.
To achieve this they need to be clinical in front goal against a side that isn't afraid to attack.
Coach Ilechukwu could name an unchanged team from the side that drew 1-1 against Rangers at midweek.

Akwa United Vs Niger Tornadoes 
Akwa United are looking to secure three points when Niger Tornadoes visit the Godswill Akpabio Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts have won four of their opening ten fixtures, and the midweek loss to Abia Warriors means that they currently sit seventh in the table.
Abdullahi Biffo's side come into the match on the back of a thrilling 2-2 draw against Sunshine Stars at the Confluence Stadium.

Leicester within four wins of glory

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  Jamie Vardy of Leicester City celebrates after scoring

When Leicester City faced Sunderland on the opening day of the season, even their most optimistic fans were expecting another testing struggle to avoid relegation.
As they prepare to visit Sam Allardyce’s side in the return fixture tomorrow, some of those supporters are now pre-emptively buying scarves emblazoned with the words ‘Premier League Champions’.

While many are no doubt steering clear to avoid tempting fate, four victories from the remaining six games of the season will hand Leicester a maiden top flight title and complete one of the most remarkable fairytales in English soccer history.
Leicester lead second place Tottenham Hotspur by seven points heading into tomorrow’s game and need 12 more to put themselves out of sight.
For the Leicester side that plunged to the foot of the table last season, four wins in six games might have seemed like a daunting task.
Yet such has been the collective sense of calm that seems to encircle Claudio Ranieri’s side this year that few are now expecting a collapse in the home straight.
The slip-ups and the wobbles have been reserved for the so-called bigger teams, who have all fallen off the pace while Leicester have sailed smoothly through the supposed choppy waters of the title run-in.
Four successive 1-0 victories have propelled Leicester to the verge of success and been testament to the organisational abilities of their Italian coach.
Leicester have never kept five consecutive clean sheets in the top flight, but, in a season when past records have counted for little, it would be a brave man, or perhaps a foolish one, to bet against another shut-out against Sunderland, whose relegation woes are intensifying.
Allardyce’s side are four points adrift of Norwich City in 17th and entering the now-or-never part of the season when they will have to start winning or become resigned to their fate.
Tottenham, whose hopes of catching Leicester were dented by their 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield last weekend, could find themselves 10 points adrift of the leaders by the time they host Manchester United later today.

Getting more Nigerians into HIV/AIDS treatment loop

FOLLOWING a spell in which the incidence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome was said to be in decline in Nigeria, the country now faces the grim prospect of a reversal of the gains earlier made, due mainly to lack of sustained and committed funding of the fight against the scourge. A substantial part of the funding for the campaign against the spread of HIV/AIDS comes from international sources. But, while most of the foreign donors have been gradually withdrawing, citing corruption and lack of transparency and accountability in the administration of the funds, among other reasons, the Nigerian government, both at the state and national levels, has failed to step up boldly to fill the emerging gap. 

The result has been a rapid reduction in the number of people having access to treatment, which formed the basis of a recent address by the Governor of Rotary International, District 9125, Mike Omotosho. According to him, only 600,000 of the estimated 3.5 million Nigerians living with the deadly virus are covered by the official treatment programme of the government. This is not good enough for a country that is committed to containing the spread of the deadly ailment.

Invariably, those outside government cover are left with no choice but to fund their own treatment personally. The danger in this situation is that, if such people lack the means to fund their own treatment – which is very likely, given the prevalent dire economic situation in the country – then they are left with the option of a resignation to fate, which translates to a rapid deterioration in their condition and an inevitable death. The damage is not limited to that; lack of access to treatment also paves the way for an increase in the rate of HIV transmission.

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. The virus on its own does not kill, but attacks the human immune system and compromises the ability of an infected person to fight off diseases. By the time the attack on the immune system progresses to the stage of AIDS, the patient becomes a victim of opportunistic diseases that ordinarily could have been fought off by a normal, functional immune system. This natural deterioration is however preventable by administering the anti-retroviral therapy, which keeps down the viral loads and allows a carrier of the virus to live an almost normal life.

Although HIV/AIDS has no known cure yet, access to life saving ART offers a lot of hope to those living with the virus. Apart from slowing down the progression towards AIDS, ART reduces the risk of transmission of the virus by as much as 96 per cent, according to UNAIDS. Administering the therapy also reduces the risk of opportunistic diseases, including tuberculosis, that take advantage of compromised immune system to attack an infected person.

According to figures from UNAIDS, ART averted the death of estimated 5.5 million people in low- and middle-income countries between 1995 and 2012, with most of the survivors accounted for by sub-Saharan Africa. As of 2012, it was estimated that between 23.6 million and 26.8 million people living with HIV were in Africa, with South Africa having the highest burden.

It was because of the positive outlook offered by ART that the United Nations came up with the vision of ending the spread of the disease by 2030. The Federal Government also bought into that vision when it started a programme of free ART at designated facilities across the country in 2006. But, instead of a gradual expansion of the programme to accommodate more patients, lack of funding is now forcing a lot of people out of it.

Most significant has been the inability of the Nigerian health authorities to ensure the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. Despite the fact that this mode of transmission is preventable, Nigeria’s rating in a 2013 UN report was abysmally poor. “Nigeria has the largest number of children acquiring the HIV infection, nearly 60,000 in 2012 – a number that has remained unchanged since 2009,” the report said.  In fact, the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention also observed in 2014 that the number of those living with HIV/AIDS increased by 500,000 in the three previous years, resulting in 217,000 deaths within the same period.

The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, John Idoko, however, disagrees with the claims of resurgence in HIV/AIDS cases.  A report quoting him last year said Nigeria was at a critical stage of eliminating the disease. “The number of new infections is coming down; the number of people dying with HIV is coming down. And one of the big areas we are struggling with: interrupting transmission from HIV women who are positive to their babies is also coming down,” he reportedly said. But with his admission that about 800,000 people were on drugs, out of estimated 3.5 million infected people, it is difficult to see where his optimism is coming from.

Nevertheless, there has to be a new level of commitment from the government at all levels, if the 2030 target is to be met. This has to start by encouraging people to know their status, by voluntarily submitting themselves to HIV tests. This will help in deciding an informed strategic plan. Thereafter, the government has to ensure that treatment is readily available for those that have been infected because of the stated advantages of treatment.

For HIV-infected pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, experts recommend that ART should be initiated early to prevent mother-to-child transmission during childbirth or during breastfeeding.  For a country like Nigeria, manufacturing the drugs locally will also go a long way in ensuring their availability and affordability.  Also very important is the need to be faithful with the recommended drugs regimen once treatment starts, as breaking up midway could lead to resistance to drugs and create a more difficult situation.

Saraki alleges plot to unleash sponsored protests

THE Office of Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has alleged that it has uncovered plots by some politicians to sponsor protests against the Senate President, over his ongoing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the Senate President,Yusuph Olaniyonu, yesterday, stated that sponsors of the proposed protests are seeking to forcefully mobilise the public against his boss.
Alleging that the masterminds of the plot have devised several means of inciting the public against the Senate President, Olaniyonu said, “As part of their plans, they are already distributing money and other materials to some faceless civil society organisations, market men and women associations and other shadowy groups with a view to instigate demonstrations in Lagos, Abuja and Ilorin, starting from Monday, April 11.
“They believe that the on-going trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal provides them the opportunity to stampede Dr. Saraki out of office so that their defeated objective of getting their lackey into the office of Senate President will be realised. This is another desperate move by these spineless politicians to achieve through the back door what they failed to realise on the floor of the Senate.
“We are alerting members of the public to the antics of these desperate politicians which may result into breach of public peace, order and health. Dr. Saraki is a peace-loving and law abiding politician. The trial at the CCT is just beginning and while the prosecution’s witness has started giving evidence, he is yet to be cross-examined by the defence team. The defence has also not opened its own case. We urge members of the public to patiently wait for the conclusion of the case, since the fundamental principle of our legal system is that an accused person is presumed innocent until he is found guilty.

APC in govt, PDP in power –Buba Galadima, defunct CPC national scribe

BEFORE he took a bow out of active politics, Alhaji Buba Galadima was a key member of the inner circle of President Muhammadu Buhari. Prior to the merger arrangement that culminated in the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he was the National Secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) as well as National Campaign Secretary of The Buhari Organisation (TBO) in the 2007 presidential election. In this interview, he outlined a number of measures the President needs to put in place very quickly to free himself from the entanglement of the PDP’s sympathisers in the civil service to actualize his change agenda.
Given the euphoria that heralded this ad­ministration, would you say President Buhari has achieved enough to meet the yearning and aspiration of the Nigerian people vis-a-vis the enormity of the challenges before him?
The truth of the matter is that a lot of Nigerians may not appreciate the enormity of the decay and the deep rooted corruption, including squandermania that took place in the last 16 years of the PDP unless you are an insider. Of course, the Buhari government ought to have done one or two things to ameliorate the suffering of the masses. There are certain positions of government that can, at least, ameliorate the situation or proffer solution to the situation, but they have not been put in place. Take, for instance, the worse hit sector is the economy. One would have expected that by now government should have put in place an economic adviser who is a very knowledge and senior person who can look the president straight in the eye and tell him the truth. On the alternative, he could put in place an economic team because successive governments had economic team. In the absence of that, Buhari depends only on his own knowledge. And that may not be sufficient to address the situation because no one is an island unto himself. Again, there are enormous political intrigues which are rearing their heads virtually every day. Security situation is part of political situation. He needs a political adviser knowledgeable enough to understand the various interest groups in all parts of the country and advise the government on what to do. If all these are not in place, obviously the president will find it a little difficult to sort out there are certain structures that ought to be put in place quickly such that it will assist in decision making and implementation of certain policies of the administration as well as the vision of Mr. President. At present, 99 percent of key positions of government are still in the hands of the PDP sympathisers, who do not share in the vision of change. Yet, they are the ones implementing the policies of government for which they have no input or believe in. Take the judiciary for example; 100 percent of judicial officers from the Federal High Court to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court are people that were either appointed or promoted by the government of PDP. Therefore, they are not likely, at least for the time being, to see things from the side of the APC and its change mantra. there are certain structures that ought to be put in place quickly
It is the same thing in the civil service also. Everybody who is a director in the federal civil service today has been a beneficiary of the PDP. And the government of APC has not taken steps to di­lute this. I am not saying that everybody in the civil service should be removed or dismissed, but you dilute it with people who share in the vision of the party so that implementation can at least go by 50 percent. These people do not believe the vision of this govern­ment at all. All directors in the civil service were either appointed or promoted within the last 16 years of the PDP administration. Their loyalty obviously is to the PDP.
Thirdly, all the chief executives of parastatal, including direc­tors are all PDP appointees. Do you expect them to work for the success of APC? You sacked the chief executives of departments or agencies and you said the most senior directors should takeover. Both the chief executive and the directors were appointees of PDP. So, they are all the same. If the man has committed any offence, he must have committed it together with those people. We need to look inward so that we can set up a structure that can deliver on our programmes and promises to the people. And time is of es­sence here. One year is already gone. Effectively, the president has only one and a half years left to put in place whatever he wants to put in place. After one and a half years, we will be overwhelmed with political issues, political intrigues and political interests. So, there is a huge gap which needs to be filled. But criticizing the government now will not do us any good. What we need to do is to encourage the man and his team to respond quickly to feelings and aspirations of the Nigerian people. If you merely criticize the government without proffering solution as I have done, then we will be throwing away the baby with the bathwater.
With what you have said, one will expect everybody in your party to play along with Mr. President. But there are speculations about cracks in the APC based on the lines of different political interest groups that merged to form the party. Do you agree to this?
These are sentiments expressed by people who are not demo­crats. When you have people in any organization, they can discuss and concur towards a position. But that does not mean that people don’t have their personal feeling about issues. Again, in a democ­racy, whether we are members of one family, brothers and sisters, we may differ in our approaches to the goal. But what we should maintain is that the goal should be the same. Whatever the lines of differences, there is a consensus on the need to improve the eco­nomic and security situation of the country so that every Nigerian can be free to walk about and look for their means of livelihood. We all want corruption to be eliminated to the barest minimum so that the meager resources available to the government could be put into good use for the benefits of everybody. These are our goals but our approach to economic sovereignty, our approach to security problem, our approach to political problems may be different as human beings. And this is the beauty of democracy. I don’t look at as a crack; I look at it as a good development that will enable those in power to take all options into consideration before they arrive at a decision that will better our future.
What and what would you expect the govern­ment to put in place immediately to ameliorate the suffering of the Nigerian masses that reposed their confidence in this government?
A lot of you young men are not students of history. Therefore, you wouldn’t know. The truth of the matter is that nothing good comes easy without challenges. For you to restructure this country and put it on the path of growth, some pains must be felt for the time being. As a new baby, you have to begin by crawling, walking and then running. The present situation is affecting a lot of people who like to cut corners because there is no more cutting corners now. You have to earn your means of livelihood. You can no longer use pen and paper to steal public funds. This is why some of us were not happy when the President released the 2nd and 3rd quarter allocations to the so-called civil servants because the civil servants are the ones doing all the contracts in Nigeria. The civil servants are the owners of all registered companies used to siphon money. That is why nobody has felt the impact of the 2nd and 3rd quarter allocations released last year to the civil servants. Even the salary bailout to the states, there was no monitoring of implementation.
So, a lot of governors just converted it to their personal use. 75 percent of recurrent expenditure is money meant for sharing by the civil servants. So, what the President had done by giving the 2nd and 3rd quarter allocation to the civil servants was just to oil the PDP machinery. That is why APC is losing elections all over the place because the PDP are still in control of the economy. They are still in control of security. What do you expect them to do? They just enrich and help themselves. For me, any money released by Mr. President to various sectors, they must set up a strong monitoring and implementation committee of techno­crats who are of impeccable integrity to monitor government’s projects because they are just releasing money to the civil servants for them to share. We are not moving in the correct way. We must make monitoring and implementation committee to look into how recurrent expenditure is being expended and also look into how capital expenditure is being man­aged. APC is government, PDP is in power.
The president recently declared that 27 states were in distress because they can’t pay salaries. What do you think they can do to lift up the situation because every­body is down economically in those states?
I have a different opinion. I see no reason why states should not be able to pay salary because they receive their grants from the federal government and their local governments also get their allocations from the federation account. What is expected is that the first thing to do is to settle the salaries of the civil servants. It is what remains they should use for the activities of government whether recurrent or capital. Where does the money go, if they cannot pay salary? Has the Federal Government done any research on the bailout money given to these states? There are accusations that certain governors converted the bailout money to purchase furniture and all kinds of unproductive ventures in their states. There should be a monitoring team to monitor the states concerning money given to them. EFCC should follow how such money is spent. No effort is being made to diversify the economy of these states, they only depend on money from oil and oil price is already going down. So, what do we do? Do we fold the states? These are issues whoever is campaigning to be governor should address and prove to the people that he has a magic wand to make the state viable.
Did you take cognizance of the fact that what they are getting now is a far cry from what they used to get when the oil price was over a 100 dollar per bar­rel?
Then you cut your coat according to your cloth.
But you can’t cut the salaries of workers. Can you?
But then what do you do? Workers don’t get salaries? It is better to release some of them to go and do farming as I am doing.
It may sound strange to you that a particular state in Nigeria got N6 million as allocation for the month of February. What can such a state do?
Who ate the previous money by taking loan to do things that were not meant to diversify the economy? It means somebody must have wrecked that state before now. Can’t that person be called to account or explain why the money is being subtracted from the source? Why should they take money to build a stadium when you know that in future you will have no money to pay salaries?
Maybe they didn’t anticipate the present econom­ic recession.
Then, it means we are voting people without foresight into public office. So, it is our fault. Whoever is aspiring to be governor or presi­dent must produce a blueprint of the economy of the state or country as the case may be. It is because we are not holding public officers to their promises this is why it is happening. I hope you know that Aba­cha managed the economy of this country effectively with Prof Sam Aluko when oil was not even as high as it is today. He maintained the exchange rate at N84 or N85 for four years. Today, oil is four times what Abacha used to have. The only addition to what we had then is the National Assembly.
Now, Nigerians are getting worried that dollar is soaring so high. Is this not enough cause for worry?
It is soaring so high because we need to reduce our import bill. What government needs to do is to diversify the economy. Do you know that I have done calculation and a memo to the vice president that from taxes on vehicles alone, Nigeria can raise N300 billion per annum. Why should somebody drive Mercedes benz 600 cc without paying at least N25, 000 because he is driving it on the Nigerian road? Why will somebody drive a trailer on our road from the North down to Lagos without paying at least N50, 000 per annum?
The Minister of the state for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, is now in the eye of the storm for what he said in respect of the lingering fuel scarcity. Should anybody expect the man to do magic?
He was right. It is not his fault; it is his appointment that was wrong. He is not a seasoned member of the oil industry; he is only a commercial lawyer. So, he is not a magician, he can’t do anything. He is the group managing director of NNPC, he is the minister of state and he is also the senior minister. It is what he does that Mr. President as petroleum minister will sign, endorse and take responsibility which is very dangerous. You should also look at the circumstance of his ap­pointment, where he comes from and how many people from where he comes are part of those who strangulated the Nigerian economy in the last 16 years. So, what is happening now is business as usual. He can’t do a lot because he owes a lot to his kinsmen who had eaten with him all these years before he became a minister. He can’t deal with them.
If he can’t deal with them, why do you think Buhari should give him such kind of responsibility?
That is if Buhari knows. Now I am saying, if you do an investiga­tion on the man, he should be fired the next day. He is right by saying he is not a magician because he is not a member of the oil industry. The same set of people who destroyed the oil industry during Obasan­jo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan’s government are still very much there.
Are they too big to deal with?
Well, I don’t know. You can now see the argument coming be­tween Tinubu and the minister, when he said the man should go if he can’t do the job. When you give the GMD an open cheque to appoint whosoever he wants and do what he likes, then Nigeria is in trouble. The president himself will not get the correct situation of things because all those he appointed are loyal to him. They will not reveal the secret of what is going on. Whatever they do, Mr. President should know that he will take responsibility because he is the minister and he endorses what they do even though he has a lot to do in the villa and may not know the intricacies that led to such decision or proposal. The president should appoint another GMD from another part of the country because Kachikwu can’t be a minister and GMD at the same time. We don’t know his contributions to the success of the party. There are one million and one people who have better knowledge of the oil industry than him. There is a need to appoint a new GMD immediately. If you dismantle NNPC and appoint directors, billions of naira that should be used for development will be expended on them. The proposed unbundling of the NNPC is a misnomer in our present circumstance when we are trying to trim down the civil service. By the time we appoint new 30 executives in the oil industry, pay their executive directors, provide them housing and other perquisites of office, you are already creating another bureaucracy. I think people should look at these things once more.

I Was Stoned With Pure Water Bags At My First Show In Nigeria- Tiwa Savage

The event was the Youth Enterprise Conference 2016, which was held at Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Thursday, March 31. Hosted by Akin Al­abi, founder and Chief Executive Officer, Nairabet, the conference was designed to empower youths and one of the celebrities selected to address guests was Mavin Records First Lady, Tiwa Savage.
As the multi-talented singer and songwriter mounted the podium, the venue came alive as it erupted with ap­plause. The 36 year-old diva was all smiles as she opened up on her career and how she built the Tiwa Savage brand, revealing some of her best kept secrets including how to remain relevant in the entertainment industry.
“I left the country when I was young. I was supposed to go to an Air Force school so my parents shaved my hair but my mummy later took me to the UK and some people started bullying me and saying I looked like a small boy,” Tiwa Savage began, going down memory lane, “while I was in the UK I went to the United States. Whenever I said I was a singer they asked for my name and I said ‘Tiwa Savage.’ Next they asked ‘where are you from’ and I told them I am from Nigeria. I realised that they were so interested in Fela’s music, Tuface and Mo Hits.
“It dawned on me that they seemed to be more inter­ested in the music from my country but here I was in the US trying to learn how to sing R n B, hip hop, pop, jazz and gospel music.”
Filling the gap
Starting from age 16, Tiwa Savage has worked with international acts like Mary J Blige, George Michael, Chaka Khan, Babyface and Whitney Houston. When Nigerian hip pop began to gain relevance on the global scene, Tiwa Sav­age said was worried that only few female artistes could be counted among the stars making waves back then. Conse­quently, her resolve to come home and turn the tide around became very intense and this culminated in her relocating to Nigeria in 2010.
“I told myself ‘why should I wait for someone like Beyonce to do Afro beat songs while I am from Nigeria.’ I was like ‘let me go back and do this myself.’ That was when I met my husband who was my friend back then. He was actually playing a lot of Nigerian videos and I fell in love with Yori Yori. That was the best song at that time. I watched videos from Mo Hits and P Square but I noticed there weren’t many female artistes.
“That was when I decided to pack everything and move to Nigeria. I had a good job as a songwriter with Babyface at that time but I sold my car, my belongings and came to Nigeria.
“But when I got to Nigeria I was humbled. I was speaking fone. I was like ‘hello, I am singer,’ and the response in Yo­ruba was like ‘E jo a ko yen je.’ (Please we don’t fancy that). My first performance at Kennis Easter Fiesta was a disaster! I was stoned with pure water bags because I was singing English songs and blowing too much phonetics.
“I ran back to my husband who was my boyfriend at that time and cried ‘my people are not accepting me, I don’t know what to do.’ He told me to start singing songs that they could relate with. And that was how I came up with Kele Kele Love.”
Building the brand
Today, five years after she relocated to Nigeria, Tiwa Savage is one of Nigeria’s most successful singers. She has two albums and a string of hit songs to her credit and is also ambassador to a couple of brands.
Making reference to the advice giving to her by her boss and Mavin Records founder, Don Jazzy, she said: “Some­times, success is not really when you make it but how you sustain it. A lot of musicians were huge when I moved to Nigeria about five years ago but now we don’t really hear much about them.
“What Don Jazzy told me was that getting a hit record is great but building a brand is more important. Music is also a business but we tend to forget the business side of it. You need to create a lifestyle that young people want to emulate. Sometimes, you may not have the biggest song out there but you are still doing shows, getting endorsements and calls to speak to people and that is because you are a brand.”
Leveraging on social media
On how to maximise the benefits of social media she had this to say:”Social media is extremely fantastic for us artistes. It makes you closer to your audience. It has become a great source of revenue for artistes. Some companies want you to endorse their products and they call you. I have over a million followers on Twitter and the same goes for Insta­gram. With YouTube, you get paid for views but it all boils down to building your brand.
“I am not the only talented singer that gets on stage to dance and do all the routines but when you build your brand, it makes you stand out. It is not every day that you will have a hit song but the day you don’t have one, your brand will sustain you.”
Sexual harassment
The Nigerian music industry is awash with tales of men asking for sex from female artistes before giving them any form of assistance. It was not different for Tiwa Savage in the early days of her career. This much the singer revealed to Entertainer.
Recounting her experience, Tiwa Savage continued: “A lot of times they said that they wanted to help me but actu­ally they wanted me to do ‘something’ with them. Luckily I had a crazy boyfriend who ended up being my husband. He just shot them down.
“If you are really talented and good at what you do and you have God behind you, don’t give in to that kind of temp­tation. I guarantee you that your talent will make a way for you. The same people will be the ones calling and you will even get more than you ever imagined if you don’t give in.”
Commenting on her relationship with her fans, Tiwa Sav­age said she has never had a situation where a fan publicly embarrassed her: “Nobody has physically done anything harmful to me. Even when people say bad things about me, my songs, my husband or my marriage, I don’t think I have to take it personal. Of course, I am human,” the singer con­cluded.

Ex PDP chairman, Nwodo, Worgu, others dump PDP for APC

Former National Chairman of the Pe
oples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo; former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Emeka Worgu and former House of Representatives Speaker, Agunwa Anakwe, were some of the heavyweights that dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Others include:  Senators Emma Agboti, Chris Adighije, Nkechi Nwogu and Ifeanyi Ararume.
They assembled in Enugu where they pledged to take over governance in the zone come 2019 for the APC.
Although Nwodo was not present at the meeting, his wife Dorothy, was there to represent him.
Also at the meeting were Senator Jim Nwobodo, Gbazuagu Nweke Gbazuagu, former Imo State House of Assembly Speaker, Benjamin Uwajumogu, and Dr. Ezekiel Izuogu.
APC stalwarts from the South-East present at the meeting include the national vice-chairman and convener of the meeting, Emma Eneukwu; National Organising Secretary of the party, Senator Osita Izunaso; National Auditor, George Moghalu; Deputy National Women Leader, Tina Adike and the standard bearer of the party in Enugu State, Okey Ezea.
While addressing the meeting, Eneukwu noted they are making efforts to reposition the party in the South-East.
He remarked that most of the juicy positions due for the South-East were “being denied us because of our poor performance in 2015 elections”.
“With the array of prominent politicians from South-East joining us now, we shall work hard this time and turn things around,” he assured.
A communiqué issued at the meeting resolved, amongst others: “The South-East APC supports the anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari and we urge Mr. President to go ahead and recover all looted public funds.
“We call on the groups agitating for separation from a united Nigeria, particularly, the IPOB and MASSOB to re-think and abandon the idea and join the other tribes in building a formidable united Nigeria where all Nigerians will be equally treated in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We believe by 2023, the president of a united Nigeria will be a Nigerian of Igbo extraction from the South-East.”